This summer my daughter and I undertook our second road trip together, making the seven-hour drive up to the Lake District. For this Jess had prepared a playlist. It was a mixture of sentimental songs and songs that I had never heard before, including the censored version of the ‘Earth’ song by Lil Dicky. This song really resonated with me as we drove through the remarkable landscapes, which make up this ‘green and pleasant land’. It also seemed to chime with the many things that have happened over the summer in relation to our planet. They include Greta Thunberg’s 15-day, 3,000 mile voyage from the UK to New York to highlight climate change, ever-growing concerns over the raging fires in the Brazilian rain forests and the recent Hurricane Dorian wreaking havoc across the Bahamas.

Yet this blue planet of ours is such an amazing thing. One of the joys of where we stayed in the Lake District was the access to natural light. It was truly remarkable to sit in the garden and watch the wondrous stars appear. It reminded me of Tim Peake’s first words when he looked down at the Earth from the International Space Station: “Looking out of the Cupola window from the ISS for the first time down on planet Earth was a very special moment. It was one that clearly I’d thought about and looked forward to – any astronaut who goes into space knows that it’s going to be one of the greatest things they’ll see and it didn’t disappoint in any way.”