In this outtake from last week's full episode with the American historian and naturalist Dr William C. Tweed, we discover that the law of the jungle is far from obvious as we explore the history of the Grizzly Bear in California, and the fact that it is incredibly "...hard to kill yourself at 2mph". Enjoy! If you're still reading this then please don't forget to leave us a review wherever you download our podcast, and please, please, PLEASE, head along to https://www.treesacrowd.fm/dr-william-tw...
Jul 13, 2020•9 min
Dr William C. Tweed is a lover of Big Trees - the Giant Redwoods of California to be precise. An historian and naturalist, he has a career spanning over 30 years working for the US national park service, and after holding several roles at the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, spent a decade as its Chief Naturalist. Whether it’s describing what a Giant Redwood is through a comparison to the miniscule mosquito, or a deep dive into numerous secret histories of mankind's fascinations with the...
Jul 06, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 18
The third and final of our "Wildlfower Women" trilogy comes in the form a scene of Shakespearean serenity, unfolding upon the banks of the River Ouse (if you can excuse the sounds of nearby building works!) Serena Manteghi played Ophelia to David Oakes’ Hamlet late last year, a role punctuated by one of the most well-known pieces of poetry about flowers. In this conversation, the pair muse over the mythology of the flowers that are highlighted in Ophelia’s infamous Act 4 speech. From rosemary (f...
Jun 22, 2020•27 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Rosalind Forbes Adam is the founder and project leader of the Woodmeadow Trust in York, formerly the Hagges Woods Trust. The idea of “raising tomorrow’s ancient woodland” was born from a question all husbands have surely asked their wives at some point - “do you want to make a wood?” The concept of the wood has changed since the idea first emerged. Rather than looking 400 years into the future, the aim now is to address something much more immediate - the catastrophic decline in biodiversity in ...
Jun 15, 2020•36 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Jennie Martin is an ethnobotanist and conservationist with a particular interest in ethnomycology and nature literacy. The founder, and 15 year executive director, of the award-winning charity ‘Wild things!’, Jennie has designed and delivered a variety of programmes that support conservation and nature connection, from habitat restoration projects to projects that support the elderly in accessing the great outdoors. When David first made contact with Jennie neither of them were aware that, beyon...
Jun 08, 2020•32 min•Season 2Ep. 15
In this bonus episode of "Trees A Crowd", David Oakes looks into the world of wildlife crime and discusses the benefits of one of the largest planned community buyouts the country has ever seen. Kevin Cumming, the Langholm Initiative ’s project leader, and Gavin Graham, a local resident of Langholm Moor, speak about their hopes to bring 10,500 acres (about 5,600 football pitches) of moorland, just north of Gretna Green, just north of the England-Scotland border, into community ownership. Incorpo...
Jun 01, 2020•44 min
Dara McAnulty is a 16 year old naturalist and writer from Northern Ireland. His love for nature burgeoning at a young age, he began collecting feathers from his garden floor in Belfast. Compelled to share this passion, he began writing a wildly successful blog, joined the likes of Sir David Attenborough as an RSPB Medal winner, received the BBC Springwatch Unsprung Hero Award and has become an ambassador for the Jane Goodall Foundation. His first book, ‘Diary of a Young Naturalist’ , is a brave ...
May 25, 2020•48 min•Season 2Ep. 14
In part two of our conversation with Ireland’s favourite naturalist, Éanna Ní Lamhna, the broadcasting force of nature explains how St Patrick is not to blame for a lack of snakes in Ireland, why one local shop has never sold a mole trap, and why certain trees are dying out in the country. Recorded on the Emerald Isle, on the southern outskirts of Dublin, this conversation is littered with little lessons and intriguing anecdotes, as Éanna embodies her mantra, that if we better educate people abo...
May 17, 2020•33 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Éanna Ní Lamhna is undoubtedly Ireland’s favourite naturalist and broadcaster. She has served as the president of the Tree Council of Ireland, secretary for the Irish part of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, and as president of An Taisce, the Irish National Trust. She’s worked on the radio show ‘Mooney Goes Wild’ since 1995, and has published a number of books about wildlife and education. During part one of this incredible conversation (recorded in early 2020), hear how an endless ...
May 10, 2020•36 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Alastair Humphreys, named as one of National Geographic’s adventurers of the year, has walked, cycled and climbed over seemingly every surface of the planet. He began his adventures in his early 20s, and since then has cycled more than 46,000 miles around the globe. Unusually for a professional adventurer, Alastair is now cutting down on his flights, and finds himself falling in love with Britain’s landscape. As such, we meet him two weeks into his month-long cycle around Yorkshire, where his on...
Apr 26, 2020•57 min•Season 2Ep. 11
The uninterrupted world premiere of Bella Hardy 's song "Curlew", as featured in our "World Curlew Day" episode - https://www.treesacrowd.fm/world-curlew-day/ This release also includes an introduction from Bella, atop Kinder Scout. Many thanks to Bella for agreeing to create this song for the podcast - it's hypnotically beautiful. Hopefully, the song will soon be available to purchase from https://www.bellahardy.com/ as soon as it's back from being professionally mastered. Thanks too to Si Homf...
Apr 22, 2020•8 min
Why the duck is everyone wacky about this wonderful wader? In this special episode of Trees A Crowd, David Oakes calls on friends in lockdown to discuss the wonders of an incredible bird, the Curlew. Featuring field recordings from sound-recordist Chris Watson , a world premier of original music by folk-singer Bella Hardy and poetry recitals by Natalie Dormer and Sam West, this is more than just affectionate “waffle about a wader”. David Lindo, aka “The Urban Birder”, environmentalist and writer...
Apr 21, 2020•50 min
In the third and final episode of the Castle Howard trilogy, you’re introduced to head of gardens and landscapes, Alastair Gunn. Starting in one of the estate’s rose gardens, we meet a stunning, rare, white china rose, thought to be a devoniensis, planted over 40 years ago. Alastair has been on the team for just over two years, coming from managing the gardens at Hatfield House, but he’s very much committed to bringing life back to the gardens with a mandate to renovate, restore and ‘zhuzh thing...
Apr 17, 2020•26 min•Season 2Ep. 10
In the second episode of the Castle Howard trilogy, meet the head of forestry, Nick Cooke. Nick has been part of the team looking after the estate since 1975, and over the years has had to figure out how to maintain the extensive forests, all-in-all covering over 60 miles of pathways. Arriving in the ‘70s to take up a placement at the castle’s Ray Wood, Nick stood open-mouthed as he faced the estate’s obelisk and knew that he would be here for a long, long time. On a walking tour through bluebel...
Apr 15, 2020•26 min•Season 2Ep. 9
We begin this trilogy of episodes at Castle Howard, with Nick Howard himself. Most recognisable to the public from the television show “Brideshead Revisited”, but for Nick the Castle Howard estate was his childhood home, a place where he felt such a distinct sense of freedom roaming around its gardens - at least until the cowbell was rung to call him back in for lunch. Nick now oversees care for its grounds with a desire to better connect the caretaking practises with the will of nature. As he g...
Apr 13, 2020•31 min•Season 2Ep. 8
David, speaking here as an Ambassador for the Woodland Trust, is joined in conversation by Luci Ryan, an ecologist and Lead Policy Advocate for conservation on behalf of the Woodland Trust. HS2 ltd - the company behind the Government's highspeed rail project - is quietly about to start moving the soil from five ancient woodlands. The move goes against both conservation principles and guidance from Natural England. With this in mind, David talks to Luci about the complex communities found in anci...
Mar 31, 2020•18 min
Dr Helen Pheby is the head of curatorial programmes at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Set in 500 acres of historic parkland, the park has provided a “gallery without walls” for artists such as Elisabeth Frink, Auguste Rodin, Giuseppe Penone, and local legends such as Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore. Helen has collaborated on projects in Iraqi Kurdistan, South Africa, India, and even Barnsley! Born in the so-called ‘rhubarb triangle’, Helen reminisces over “the rhubarb express”, a train which ran fro...
Mar 30, 2020•58 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Edward Davey is the Director of Geographic Deep Dives for the World Resources Institute and the Food and Land Use Coalition. Here, David and Ed speak briefly in direct response to the state of the global COVID-19 pandemic and how we might feed the people of the world moving forward. Ed and David discuss the agricultural concerns both in Britain and abroad, how the environment and economy are interlinked and how now is a time for compassion and careful consideration. This epsiode was released as ...
Mar 26, 2020•17 min
Tim Pears is a multi-award-winning author. His novel ‘In a Land of Plenty’ was made into a 10-part drama series for the BBC, and he’s just published the final book in his ‘West Country Trilogy’. Compared to Balzac and Hardy and inspired by Cormac McCarthy and Annie Proulx, Tim draws on his experiences of growing up in Devon and around nature to create the depth behind his fictional worlds. His love of nature came from a sort of “benign neglect” as his parents allowed him to explore the outdoors ...
Mar 16, 2020•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 6
Rosewood Farm makes its home in the Lower Derwent Valley, deep in the Yorkshire Ings. Here, Rob Rose, his partner Natalie Stoppard, and their award-winning herd of 160 Irish Dexters – Europe’s smallest native cattle breed – place conservation, environmentally friendly farming methods, and the highest standards of animal welfare at the forefront of their practice. Rob’s story is one of inspiration, dedication and stubbornness. He started keeping Dexters at the age of 14, and despite being told he...
Mar 02, 2020•57 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Ingrid Newkirk is an animal rights activist, author, and the president of PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals – and after 40 years of activism, her passion remains infectiously captivating. Ingrid was born in Britain, raised in India, and spent much of her life in America. As a citizen of the world – in fact, her location globally has been dictated by the Vietnam War as much as veganism – Ingrid has been witness to many social and cultural uses and misuses of the animal kingdom...
Feb 17, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Dr Bryce Stewart is a marine ecologist and fisheries biologist, and is currently a lecturer for the Department of Environment and Geography at the University of York. His love for marine life began at the age of five, when he decided he wanted to be a “professional holiday man” after a trip to the beach. His father persuaded him to consider marine biology instead, and the rest is writing his phone number on lobsters! Bryce explains that his unnatural obsession with scallops ties into one of the ...
Feb 03, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Dr Catherine Barlow is project manager of the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project, and previously worked on the ground-breaking Osprey Translocation Project at Rutland Water. This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at the Open Book in Wigtown, Scotland. Hear how Catherine’s ‘forced’ love of birds in childhood led to a real passion through adulthood – particularly for the mighty birds of prey. In this episode she takes us through her first experience of a golden eagle – catching ...
Jan 20, 2020•57 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Mark Carwardine is a zoologist, leading conservationist, broadcaster and photographer. He came to prominence through his book and BBC documentary series “Last Chance to See” which he created with Douglas Adams of “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” fame. One of Mark’s big passions is diving - he organises whale and dolphin trips in Baja California, Mexico. In this fascinating conversation dusted with the sounds of nearby Canada geese, coots and black-headed gulls, Mark describes his most movi...
Jan 03, 2020•54 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Joanna Lentini is an underwater photographer and adventurer. She runs ‘Deep Focus Images’, a company that organises trips for those interested in pursuing wildlife photography. She is also the COO of ocean education organisation ‘Oceans in Focus’. Her accolades include having her work exhibited at the 2015 Climate Change Conference in Paris, and featuring as a finalist in the 52nd Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards. In this bonus Christmas episode, Joanna gives us a frank and open insight ...
Dec 16, 2019•24 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Victoria Bromley is a wildlife filmmaker and part of the BBC’s natural history unit. She has produced some of their most recognisable programmes, including Spring Watch, Planet Earth Live and Blue Planet II. She’s worked to highlight the plight of the Siberian Tiger and most recently of the little-known Pangolin. Growing up in Coventry, Victoria learnt much from her grandad - an encyclopedia on birds, who signed her up for the WWF (the World Wildlife Fund, not that Wrestling nonsense) at the age...
Dec 13, 2019•49 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Dr Richard Benwell is the chief executive of England's largest environmental coalition. He has worked at the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and, most recently, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. In a passionate and expressive interview, Richard explains how he once tried to engage with an MP by emulating the sound of screeching swifts – not the only time he’s been caught doing bird impressions! Exploring why he became involved in ca...
Nov 22, 2019•53 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Dr Jo Elworthy is a botanist and the director of interpretation at the Eden Project in Cornwall. She’s been involved with Eden since its inception, and has spent a great deal of time researching plantlife as well as creating books and films specialising in botany and horticulture. A chance encounter with the man who dreamt up the Eden Project, Sir Tim Smit, led her to take the biggest risk of her career – and the best decision of her life. The sounds of robins frame this conversation as Dr Elwor...
Nov 14, 2019•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Professor Sir John Lawton is a fellow of the Royal Society, president of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and chair of the Endangered Landscapes Programme. Previously a trustee of the WWF, head of the Natural Environment Research Council and the most recent chair of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, there are seemingly few environmental organisations that John hasn’t been involved with. That said, it is birds that have driven John’s lifelong obsession with the natural world. Sitting i...
Nov 04, 2019•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 20
Amanda Owen is a farmer, known to readers and television viewers worldwide as the ‘Yorkshire Shepherdess’. With her husband Clive and their nine children, she looks after Ravenseat, Swaledale – one of the most exposed farms in the Dales. Alongside running the farm, she has found time to write a number of books, having come to public attention on ITV's ‘The Dales’. On a “glishy sort of day”, sitting by a brook, David and Amanda chat without the distraction of phones and technology in this stunnin...
Oct 18, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 19
