After a healing night in a cabin beside a stream, you awake to a cup of tea and a glorious serenade from a song thrush. Wild garlic sweeps along the banks, the tang fresh and invigorating in the early morning. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Fergus Collins, introduced by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of ...
May 17, 2024•22 min
Plodcast host Fergus heads to deepest Herefordshire to meet Alice Sainsbury, who is championing greater access to the countryside for people with visible and invisible disabilities. Her own story is deeply moving – and offers powerful insight into the challenges so many people face in simply enjoying the outdoors. Plus, enjoy beautiful spring wildlife along the way... The Plodcast is produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. The theme tune was written and performed by Blair Dunlop. If you've enj...
May 14, 2024•46 min•Season 18Ep. 6
Hidden under the canopy of a Cumbrian forest, you sit, listening to the creaking of branches and snapping of twigs. Tiny closed-cup mushrooms are scattered across the brown-ish ground, shimmering in a gentle wash of rain. The dense evening fog descends and life beyond the wood is shrouded in mist. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Lewis Dobbs, in...
May 10, 2024•8 min
It's dusk in the Forest of Dean and Plodcast host Fergus is on the trail of wild boar with author Chantal Lyons. Chantal has been studying these extraordinary mammals for 10 years. How did the boar get here, what impact do they have and will Fergus and Chantal ever set eyes on them? Chantal's new book is Groundbreakers: The Return of Britain's Wild Boar, published by Bloomsbury. The Plodcast is produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. The theme tune was written and performed by Blair Dunlop. If...
May 07, 2024•49 min•Season 18Ep. 5
You're sitting on a tree stump in a vast clearing, deep in the Forest of Dean. It's dusk and the rapidly failing light takes the last humans with it, leaving the stage free for the dusk chorus of song thrushes, blackbirds and robins. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Fergus Collins, introduced by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and send y...
May 03, 2024•9 min
Enter the mysterious Golden Triangle on the borders of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to discover one of Britain's glorious spring wildlife spectacle – the blooming of millions of wild daffodils through the woods and fields. Join Plodcast host Fergus for a special ramble to witness this rare wonder. Later, join the Plodcast team in the studio for nature news, listener emails and a rare countryside joke. Produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. Reading by Hannah Tribe. Music written and perfo...
Apr 30, 2024•59 min•Season 18Ep. 4
This week we're relaxing to a delightful piece of writing about nightingales by Dominic Couzens accompanied by the birds themselves – and read by Fergus Collins. Nightingales is from a collection of BBC Countryfile Magazine articles published new book Countryfile: A Year in the Countryside introduced by John Craven and edited by podcast host Fergus Collins. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beau...
Apr 26, 2024•9 min
Join Plodcast host Fergus and adventurer Phoebe Smith as they take a day-long pilgrimage across the Oxfordshire countryside to explore spring nature - and experience the healing power of walking with purpose. It's a beautiful experience among the skylarks and red kites. Don't miss Phoebe's fabulous new book about her life-changing experiences while on pilgrimage: Wayfarer: Life, Love and Loss and Britain's Ancient Paths If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive rev...
Apr 23, 2024•57 min•Season 18Ep. 3
You're wandering beside a lake in early spring sunlight. A newly arrived chiffchaff sings from nearby willows while the plaintive calls from a scattered flock of Canada geese rise from the lakeside meadows. Celandines and marsh marigolds dance in the fringes. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Fergus Collins, introduced by Hannah Tribe. Email the ...
Apr 19, 2024•13 min
Step out into spring with Plodcast host Fergus for a wander on his local hill to find who's up and about in the wildlife world on this early spring morning. Will we find the much longed for adders and merlins? Join Fergus for a mindful meander through woodland, moor and vale. If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If your letter, email or message is r...
Apr 16, 2024•44 min•Season 18Ep. 2
You're beside a stream at the bottom of a wooded valley. You're nearing the end of a long walk so you pause to rest. But soon the rushing water whispers spells and ancient charms of such power that time drifts away. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Fergus Collins, introduced by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordin...
Apr 12, 2024•18 min
Welcome to spring on the Plodcast and a new season of nature-themed episodes! But first, we have an exciting development! Musician Blair Dunlop and songwriter Duncan Haskell have created an utterly charming theme tune for the Plodcast – so host Fergus met them in a wild corner of Bristol to hear the music live and talk about the inspiration behind the songwriting. It's pure magic - with a natural accompaniment of wild birdsong. Discover more about Blair's music, his new album and upcoming tour d...
Apr 09, 2024•55 min•Season 18Ep. 1
You're on the edge of a the ruins of a Roman town lost in the Hampshire countryside. Only the crumbling outer walls remain, enclosing daffodil-fringed meadows. You plunge down an avenue of trees to emerge into a wide, oval space. You stop beathless, this is the amphitheatre. Half expecting the clash of weapons of ghosts of gladiators – you hear only the stirrings of spring. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport y...
Apr 05, 2024•14 min
This week we're spending the day on a waterway in Gloucestershire in search of a creature that has spawned a thousand myths and monster stories – we're hoping to meet the mighty pike, Britain's largest predatory freshwater fish. Angler and TV presenter Will Millard is joined by the Plodcast team of Fergus and Jack – and later Annabel – to see if they can get close to one of these beautiful and extraordinary creatures. Plus we discuss the ethics of fishing – is it cruel? Listen on for a truly ext...
Apr 02, 2024•54 min•Season 17Ep. 27
You're beside a small pond where toads are thronging the margins, jostling and tootling as they prepare to spawn. Through the magic of a hydrophone, you can hear the extraordinary symphony of the toads' underwater world. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded and introduced by Alice Boyd. Image by Getty Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recor...
Mar 29, 2024•8 min
This week we're off to the Roman town of Silchester deep in the Hampshire countryside. Plodcast host Fergus meets legendary broadcaster Matthew Bannister to talk about folk music and the British landscape and his own podcast: Folk on Foot. Plus, Matthew reflects on his astonishing career with the BBC – and has advice for the corporation and its future. If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the...
Mar 26, 2024•53 min•Season 17Ep. 26
We're in the Bannau Brycheiniog – and an overnight snowfall has dusted the hilltops. It's melting fast so we've headed to the nearest peak for a satisfying dog walk along snow-covered paths marred only by the footprints of foxes and pipits. A skylark rises and sings of warmer days. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Fergus Collins, and introduced ...
Mar 22, 2024•10 min
This week we're off to Epping Forest on the eastern edge of London on a night walk to hear from those who encounter barriers to accessing nature and the countryside because of their social class, race, gender or sexuality. We'll also be talking to organisations that are trying to change things for the better, for everyone. Our guide is folk singer and sound designer Alice Boyd – who joins the Plodcast for the first time. www.aliceboyd.info. Images by Getty. The organisations featured include Wil...
Mar 19, 2024•32 min•Season 17Ep. 25
Saturday in a suburb of gardens full of daffodils and crocuses - and the birds are awake long before the human population. House sparrows chatter in the hedges, a coal tit pipes from cherry blossom while goldcrests and jackdaws add their own joyful spring banter. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Fergus Collins, and introduced by Hannah Tribe. Em...
Mar 15, 2024•12 min
Join the Plodcast team of Fergus, Maria and Jack in the studio to chat about their latest wild adventures and discuss country matters and rural issues that have cropped up in recent Plodcast episodes. Plus, we share some brilliant emails and audio recordings sent in by listeners. If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If your letter, email or message ...
Mar 12, 2024•39 min•Season 17Ep. 24
We've stopped in a forgotten, overgrown green lane on a hillside. A bright sun sears deep into the woodland. Winter's blanket is being unstitched by the songs of three birds – a great tit calls, insistently, to his new partner. A song thrush tries out his phrases, testing and repeating them. A goldcrest in the ivy giggles at the throught of spring. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wh...
Mar 08, 2024•10 min
This week we're off to Sussex in the great company of Plodcast regular Maria Hodson. Maria heads to the town of Lyminster to hunt for a terrifying creature called the Sussex knucker. What is the knucker, you ask? Listen on to hear an extraordinary tale drawn from the British countryside. If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If your letter, email or ...
Mar 05, 2024•33 min•Season 17Ep. 23
This week we’re at Horsey Gap, a long and sandy beach in Norfolk. Over the roar of the North Sea, we can hear the moans and growls of a nearby colony of grey seals. These seals have made their home here, and can be spotted year round on the beach or swimming nearby. Today, they’re sunbathing in the February sun. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded and...
Mar 01, 2024•8 min
Enjoy a walk and talk with documentary maker, writer and TV presenter Philippa Forrester. While exploring a flooded landscape between Bath and Bristol with Plodcast host Fergus, Philippa talks about her inspiring new book: Wild Woman – exploring the challenges and obstacles women face in the world of nature conservation. If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfi...
Feb 27, 2024•39 min•Season 17Ep. 22
This week we're stuck in the greenhouse. We came up to check on the winter salad leaves, and the skies darkened. It’ll only be a short shower, the edges of the cloud are visible through the veil of raindrops on the roof. So, we’ll wait here for a bit, breathing in the rich smell of the earth and listening to the irregular rhythm of the drips off the guttering. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere b...
Feb 23, 2024•8 min
Between the villages of Purton and Sharpness on the River Severn, dozens of barges and ships lie on the riverbank, slowly decomposing into the landscape. But the reason why they're here will surprise you. Plodcast host Fergus takes a walk among the river with countryside writer Simon Heptinstall to learn the story of the Purton Hulks. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, y...
Feb 20, 2024•38 min•Season 17Ep. 21
Deep in the Cambrian Mountains, just outside Wales' remotest chapel, a small stream flows out of the barren hills. Now, in the depths of winter, a skin of ice has formed but the water still runs beneath, a soft voice in an empty landscape. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Fergus Collins, introduced by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and ...
Feb 16, 2024•10 min
Join Plodcast host Fergus and countryside writer Professor Fiona Stafford in the curious hilltop village of Brill to learn how to find hidden history in the landscape around you. Fiona's new book, Time and Tide (John Murray) is a series of fascinating adventures looking at how our countryside is transformed over time - and how quickly things are forgotten. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If your letter, email or message is r...
Feb 13, 2024•34 min•Season 17Ep. 20
You're walking an old tram road in an abandoned quarry in the Welsh hills. It's been deadly cold for weeks and water that normally cascades off the high ground has frozen into dramatic icicles as it runs down rock faces and over cave mouths. But this morning's warm sun has started a thaw and there is a gentle music of water released. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happ...
Feb 09, 2024•18 min
This week, Plodcast regular Kevin Parr explores a lost church in Dorset. St Luke's Chapel was built to serve the village of Sterte near Abbotsbury, in the 1240s. The chapel remained in use until the mid 16th Century when it was abandoned following the Act of Supremacy (1534) that gave Henry VIII the power to disband religious buildings. All that remains of the chapel (and the village) is a single wall and arch, which stands deep in the woodland of Ashley Chase, although a more recently construct...
Feb 06, 2024•54 min•Season 17Ep. 19
