Christina is always busy...
Adventurer, author, philanthropist and film maker.
In the Covid lockdown I was living with my sister at our house in the Cotswolds. Travel was no longer an option, I needed a new occupation. My sister was busy gardening and she decided to prune the branches off the willow trees in the garden. So I took the branches and experimented with willow weaving - to make life size reindeer. I didn’t want to learn the proper way to do it, I just wanted to try and see what happened. I made 4 reindeer, each with a different character.
I wondered what to do with them, how could I share my love of adventure through them. The idea evolved and I make a film called ‘Teaching Reindeer to Fly’. For the film I took photos and video, wrote the story and narrated it, using my experience of scarey takeoffs and abortive landings from the 1980s when I flew an early microlight across west Africa.
This led to a series of films with the reindeer facing daring quests, battles, kidnap, escape, chases, villains, mysteries, and including some of my own travel experiences. All are now on YouTube.
Being curious to know if the films are any good, I entered one into some international film festivals. The film became a semi-finalist and a finalist, in the Cannes World film festival it became a finalist/nominee., and finally in USA it won the Award for Best Family Programme!
Life was interrupted by an emergency at my farm when a tornado hit my biggest barn, tearing it apart and scattering bits of walls and roof across the fields and tangled up in the trees of the woodlands. It took months to get it cleared up, but the silver lining was that in the ruins of the barn I found some old packing crates that I’d filled 30 years before with artifacts and curios from my travels. Long forgotten surprises: carvings from Papua New Guinea, sacred bamboo flutes, African dinosaur bones, saddle bags, Kamchatka snow shoes, the finds were so numerous and such a treat. BBC Radio Gloucester had been in touch about the tornado, and the opening of trunks became the subject of a radio series with them.
My farm is also a holiday rental venue for groups up to 24 people, www.highcloudfarm.com enjoyed for its beautiful countryside and panoramic views. As an extra attraction, I’ve now built a replacement barn and added a spacious hall, hoping to bring in groups who’ll use it for weekends of Meditation, yoga and Tai Chi.
My travels in the last few years were shared with my sister Joanna, we both enjoy ancient history. She is a wonderful companion, always trying to open new doors to see where they go. Most recently we roamed around Oman and Jordan with a hired car, my sister loves driving small rough mountain roads, trusting to my navigation.
My role in running The Dodwell Trust charity projects in Madagascar came to an end in 2022; after 25 years the Trust had achieved everything I’d hoped it could do. I am left with just a few sponsored school children and annual tree planting. Despite closing the Trust, I cannot end my affection for Madagascar. In collaboration with a Health Centre and an eye specialist, we will test the local school children for eyeslght problems, treat infections and supply glasses where they are needed.
My other wish is to do something to thank the village in Papua New Guinea where I stayed and was initiated into their tribe through the crocodile ritual. Part of me will always belong there. The village is beside a remote lake in the Sepik River basin, beyond any modern facility. I hope to put a solar lamp into every hut and solar street lights for the communal long-drop toilets and washing area. I think a raft will have to be built to get the solar goods to the village. I don’t expect it to be easy.
