Bethany Handley, 26, Publishes 'My Body is a Meadow' to Challenge Barriers to Nature Access
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 31
Bethany Handley, 26, Publishes 'My Body is a Meadow' to Challenge Barriers to Nature Access
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 31
Bethany Handley, 26, has published My Body is a Meadow, using her experience as a disabled nature lover to argue that access to landscapes should be treated as a right.
Three years after losing the use of her legs completely, Handley says worsening illness was compounded by being "literally padlocked out" of favorite places by stiles, gates and other avoidable barriers.
Her campaign is rooted in the social model of disability: she says mud, grass and sand are often manageable with the right equipment, while man-made boundaries are what exclude wheelchair users from the countryside.
Handley has regained some access through a lightweight wheelchair, an all-terrain chair and adapted gear—including a surfboard modified by her brother—and recently returned to a Black Mountains ridge.
Still facing declining health at 26 and now tube fed after a serious infection, she says the book aims to offer disabled readers role models, joy and proof they can return to nature.
Beyond government funding, how can local communities and landowners collaborate to create a truly barrier-free outdoors for all?
With 140,000 stiles blocking access, what is the true economic and social cost of an inaccessible British countryside?
As we make nature more accessible, are we at risk of losing the very wildness we seek to share with everyone?
Breaking Barriers: The Impact and Advocacy of Bethany Handley’s *My Body is a Meadow* on Outdoor Accessibility and Disability Inclusion in the UK
Overview
Bethany Handley’s *My Body is a Meadow: Finding Freedom in the Outdoors*, published in May 2026, quickly gained critical acclaim for its exploration of accessibility, nature, and the human body. As an award-winning writer, poet, and disability activist, Handley brings a unique and personal perspective, drawing on her own experiences to highlight the barriers faced by disabled people in accessing nature. The book resonated with both critics and readers, establishing itself as an important contribution to contemporary nature writing and disability advocacy. Critics praised its powerful insights and the way it connects personal and environmental challenges.