🐾Many of you know that Dr David Bellamy opened our Butterfly Meadow at Shipley Station, but WHO REMEMBERS –

Bellamy’s Backyard Safari?

A celebration of a TV classic — and a reminder that Bradford’s wildlife is still right outside your door.

🌿 A TV series that changed how Britain saw its gardens

In the early 1980s, naturalist David Bellamy brought something revolutionary to British television: the idea that you didn’t need to travel to Africa or the Amazon to discover wildlife — you only needed to step outside your back door.

His BBC series Bellamy’s Backyard Safari (1983) was a gentle, enthusiastic exploration of the creatures living in ordinary British gardens:

• beetles under paving stones

• spiders in sheds

• birds nesting in privet hedges

• frogs and newts in tiny ponds

• the “mini jungles” of compost heaps

Bellamy’s trademark whispering excitement made even a woodlouse feel like a rare discovery.

Although the programme isn’t available online today, Bellamy’s message still rings loud:

“You don’t have to go far to find nature — it’s already found you.”(David Bellamy)

📚 The book that inspired a generation

Bellamy later published Bellamy’s Backyard Safari as a companion book, packed with:

• simple wildlife experiments

• identification guides

• drawings and diagrams

• tips for turning gardens into mini reserves

It encouraged families to explore the “hidden world” beneath stones, logs, leaves, and flowerpots — a world that still exists today in Bradford’s gardens, yards, allotments, and even a few plant pots on the pavement outside your front door can attract an amazing array of wildlife

🌼 Bradford’s Back Garden Wildlife: Still Here, Still Thriving

Bellamy’s message is perfect for Bradford in 2026.

You don’t need to visit a nature reserve to see wildlife. You can find it in:

• Keighley’s terraced back yards

• Shipley’s allotments

• Idle’s hedgerows

• Thornton’s gardens

• Bradford’s pocket parks and green corridors

Even the smallest outdoor space can host:

• Hedgehogs (still present across the district)

• Frogs and newts in garden ponds

• Moths attracted to porch lights

• Sparrows, robins, blackbirds nesting in shrubs

• Butterflies on buddleia and nettles

• Beetles, woodlice, worms in compost heaps

• Foxes passing through at night

• Peregrines overhead — Possibly Bradford’s most famous residents

Bellamy would have loved Bradford: a city where wildlife squeezes into every crack, crevice, and corner.

How Bradford Residents Can Create Their Own Backyard Safari

1. Build a tiny pond 

      Even a washing up bowl sunk into the ground attracts frogs, beetles, and dragonflies.

2. Leave a wild corner

     A pile of logs, leaves, or stones becomes a micro habitat.

3. Grow native plants

     Hawthorn, ivy, bramble, nettle, buddleia — all brilliant for insects and birds.

4. Add night time interest

     A simple moth trap or even a porch light can reveal dozens of species.

5. Record what you find

     Use apps like iRecord or report sightings to Bradford Urban Wildlife Group.

🐞 Why This Matters Today

Bellamy’s message is more relevant than ever:

“Every garden is a nature reserve — if you let it be.”(David Bellamy)

Bradford’s wildlife doesn’t need permission to exist — it just needs space. And every resident, from city centre flats to suburban gardens, can create their own Backyard Safari.