In 1996, having spent 7 days living underground, Dan Hooper was forcibly evicted from a protest tunnel and thrust into the spotlight of the waiting media. From that day forward, Dan Hooper was known by most of the British population simply as “Swampy”. 26 years on from that high-profile eviction, Dan remains a committed environmental activist. In this month’s episode, David Oakes travels to South Wales to meet Dan to hear how his environmental protests have changed over 30 years, and to garner h...
Nov 01, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Midway through the Isle of Man’s Manx TT motor-racing festival lies a day (terrifyingly aptly) branded as “Mad Sunday”. David Oakes chose this bacchanalian festival, one filled with inebriated petrol-heads and super-charged exhaust eruptions, to talk with the Manx Wildlife Trust’s CEO, Leigh Morris. Recorded in perhaps the only two quiet enclaves the island possessed that Mad Sunday, Leigh expands upon a journey that took him from horticultural nurseryman to the head of a Wildlife Trust that ove...
Oct 04, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Upon Salisbury Plain - nestled amongst exploding ordnance and dim-witted Tawny Owl fledgelings - the child that would become Dr Amy-Jane Beer found both a love for nature and a love for adventure. Training originally as a biologist, Amy grew into one of Britain’s best loved nature writers. Whether articles in British Wildlife , diary entires for the Guardian’s ‘ Country Diary ’, or her latest book “ The Flow ” (which explores our relationships with Britain’s numerous wild water ways), Amy’s writ...
Sep 06, 2022•54 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Dr Gavin Broad’s love of nature was initially inspired by the birdlife of the Wirral. However, the summer lull in avian activity lead the 15-year-old Broad towards an interest in moths, and from there it was only a zombie caterpillar away from the creatures that were to inspire his professional identity and take him as far afield as Chile; Parasitoid wasps! “Darwin Wasps” account for 10% of all British insects - that’s over 7000 distinct wasps - and Broad insists that everyone can easily “admire...
Aug 02, 2022•57 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Since the late 1960s, Lundy Island - just off the north coast of Devon and measuring only half a mile wide at its widest point - has been owned and operated by two British charities; the National Trust and the Landmark Trust. Prior to this, Lundy was owned by wealthy megalomaniacs, pirates, gamblers, revolutionaries, neolithic fisher-people, and a whole array of wildlife. In this week's episode, David Oakes visits Lundy to speak with the island's current wildlife wardens, Rosie Ellis and Stuart ...
Jul 05, 2022•43 min•Season 4Ep. 3
A little bonus Bea that we couldn't quite squeeze into this month's main episode. Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 14, 2022•4 min
In her Brighton studio, the artist, explorer, science communicator and self-professed 'child', Beatrice von Preussen, explores her obsession with "little things". Whether tadpole, snail shell, wax-worm or fossilised prehistoric crustacean, Bea explains how it is the small things that have made her dream big. Here she discusses her journey to the arctic - where she spent weeks alone during the sun-drenched midsummer, armed with pencils, paper, (an emergency rifle for polar bear repellant), and th...
Jun 07, 2022•47 min•Season 4Ep. 2
George Monbiot is a prolific writer and journalist, known particularly for his environmental and political activism. But, this episode - not simply about his being beaten or arrested for his political views, or indeed about the time he was stung into a coma by hornets or when he actually died (according to a Brazilian newspaper) - is about fixing our follies and feeding our future. Over a glass of George’s home-brewed cider, David and George discuss the possibility of a 'regenesis' - a revolutio...
May 24, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 4Ep. 1
BONUS EPISODE: For Christmas, David Oakes explores the cultural importance of the non-native Christmas Tree, the Norwegian Spruce (Picea abies) . Although native to our shores before the most recent Ice Age, it took Vikings from Scandanavia, Princes from Saxe-Coburg, Violinists from Italy and Horses from Aintree to truly root the Norwegian Spruce into our National identity - and that's not to mention any British Christmas rituals. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Dec 24, 2021•9 min•Season 3Ep. 42
Our fifty-sixth (and final!) tree, Holly (Ilex aquifolium) . Released to coincide with the Winter Solstice, aka the end of the rule of the Holly King, this episode celebrates a tree that is rooted in the winter celebrations of Celts, Romans, Christians, and even Cretaceous Dinosaurs! For centuries it has also fed the cattle that feeds us, it has supported generations of over-wintering birds (such as the greedy Mistle Thrush) and it has kept Goblins, Witches and arson-obsessed Cumbrian villagers ...
Dec 21, 2021•32 min•Season 3Ep. 41
Our fifty-fourth and fifty-fifth trees, the Wayfaring Tree (Viburnum lantana) and the Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus) - aka the Viburnums. It’s all about names this week. Not only do these trees have two of the strangest common names, but they also have a rich array of traditional folk names too. But whether you’re discussing Crampbark, the Snowball Tree, the Water Elder, or the Hoarwithy, its fair to say that these two trees aren’t the most palatable plants for our nation’s wildlife, but they’re...
Dec 14, 2021•11 min•Season 3Ep. 40
Our fifty-third tree, Elder (Sambucus nigra) . The “medicine chest of the common people” has probably helped keep more people healthy than any other native British tree, and yet it is derided for its smell, associated with Christ’s betrayal, and when burnt is said to provide a mouthpiece for the devil and/or a malign tree spirit. The Elder is a symbol of Summer, has one of the most cherished berries out there (cherished by both man and beast), and has inspired our greatest playwrights, botanists...
Dec 07, 2021•20 min•Season 3Ep. 39
Our fifty-second tree, Privet or Wild Privet (Ligustrum vulgare) . It's NATIONAL TREE WEEK! To celebrate; the tree our host was dreading writing an episode about - a tree he has sadly often cast aside as dull and uninteresting. Far from it (ish). Here grow stories of Spitfires and school Biology labs, as well as the pretty special manner in which Privet creates its foliage (which is fantastic for nesting birds, hungry insects, and even draws in bats!) (Special thanks to Al Petrie and Louise Bowe...
Nov 30, 2021•9 min•Season 3Ep. 38
Our fifty-first tree, Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) . One of the British Isles’ most plentiful trees… for now. This week’s episode explores the Ash’s struggle against “Ash Dieback” and what you can do to help halt its spread; a refreshed look at the Viking’s obsession with the Ash Tree in their mythology, and; an exploration of the oh-so-many things this magnificent tree has offered up to society. That, and a good old sing-song courtesy of Lady Celia Congreve and music maestro Gary Hickeson. More fro...
Nov 23, 2021•21 min•Season 3Ep. 37
Our fiftieth tree, the Strawberry Tree (Arbutus undo) . The sole tree on our list of “native trees to the British Isles” that does not occur on the British mainland. The Strawberry Tree, or “Killarney Strawberry Tree”, is very much an Irish tree. Ant there’s no surprise for why the Irish keep it to themselves, for the Strawb is a stunner! More colourful fruits than any of the English trees; leaves that hide tales of a semi-tropical past; several subterranean secrets (and not just the usual old f...
Nov 16, 2021•13 min•Season 3Ep. 36
Our forty-ninth tree, is Dogwood (Cornus sanguina) - aka, the Whipple Tree, the Bloody Rod, Prickwood… one of our most colourful native species (with both foliage and twigs turning a rich scarlet) and a tree that contains multiple medical uses - it acts as an anti-inflammatory and can even induce the neurogenesis of stem cells in rats! It has inspired a fairy race of brownie-like “Dogwood people”, may well have been the tree that Jesus was crucified upon, and it was used as a love token by amoro...
Nov 09, 2021•11 min•Season 3Ep. 35
Whether you know her from her Wainwright Prize nominated “Dancing with Bees” , from her time on the BBC’s “It’s Not Easy Being Green” , or from her intoxicating twitter-feed, there’s no denying that Brigit Strawbridge Howard is charming, endlessly-inquisitive and has truly let nature into her very soul. But it has not always been that way. Here - in an incredibly personal interview - Brigit explains how Nature didn’t feature in her early childhood whatsoever - only eventually making itself known...
Nov 05, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 34
Our forty-sixth and forty-seventh trees are our two native Limes, (Tilia cordata) and (Tilia platyphyllos) . These are trees you can hear before you get the chance to set your eyes upon them - they literally hum with invertebrate life. Limes attract the most psychedelic of caterpillars, doomed bees destined to be decapitated by greedy birds, and (somewhat predictably) humankind seeking the lime’s delicate timber and the versatile bast fibres that lie beneath the bark. This “benevolence to biodiv...
Nov 02, 2021•22 min•Season 3Ep. 33
Our forty-fifth tree, Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) . Suffering from a somewhat mistaken identity (partly due to Christianity, and partly due to some pompous Elizabethans), the Sycamore is a much maligned non-native - but now naturalised - tree. It’s a sticky survivor that loves our country. Only now, with the help of Silvologists like Dr Gabriel Hemery, are we beginning to place greater value upon this mighty immigrant. Add the fact that a lone Sycamore in Tolpuddle, Dorset, helped solidify ou...
Oct 26, 2021•16 min•Season 3Ep. 32
Our forty-fourth tree, Field Maple (Acer campestre); the sole truly native member of an incredibly colourful family. Their branches have supported Roman vines, the fruits have inspired modern military design, and the wood is one of the most sonorous - inspiring everyone from Stradivarius to Fender. You can drink its sap, make salads from its leaves; but the best way for your senses to enjoy the Field, and indeed all Maples, is simple to open one’s eyes at the end of Autumn. Unforgettable foliage...
Oct 19, 2021•15 min•Season 3Ep. 31
Our forty-third tree, Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) . As hard as horn, and... well... 'beam' just means 'tree'. A beautiful leafy canopy supporting biodiversity year-round, it has been used by humans for centuries to smelt iron and to harness the power of beasts, and you probably just thought it was an odd Beech tree! Truth is, it should be more loved than it is... because it isn't planning on going anywhere anytime soon! More from David Oakes as he uproots the secrets and stories beneath the 56(i...
Oct 12, 2021•8 min•Season 3Ep. 30
Our forty-second tree, Hazel (Corylus avellana) . DORMICE! Enjoy. But, if you need more: we explore the pros and cons of modern agricultural hedge-care, how the Elizabethans were addicted to ‘filberts’, how Ferrero accidentally use 25% of the whole World’s hazelnuts, and we have poetry from all four corners of the British Isles - Phil Cumbus reading Shakespeare and Keats, Pollyanna McIntosh with Rabbie Burns, Katie McGrath with some cob-guzzling-salmon-based ancient Irish folklore, and Dylan Tho...
Oct 05, 2021•19 min•Season 3Ep. 29
Our fortieth and forty-first trees, the Silver Birch (Betula pendula) and Downy Birch (Betula pubescens) - with apologies to the Dwarf Birch (Betula nana) . Our birches are some of our very earliest colonisers, and as such there is little the birch does not nurture; for example, its mycorrhizal relationships support hallucinogenic mushrooms, witches’ brooms and barber’s razors, we drink it, and prisoners of gulags have even written love letters on it… The birch was also instrumental in helping D...
Sep 28, 2021•18 min•Season 3Ep. 28
Our thirty-ninth tree, Alder (Alnus glutinosa) . A tree designed for water; as strong as steel when submerged, alder timber has been keeping Venice from sinking for centuries. In the wild, our Alder provides homes for otters within its exposed root systems and can be found carpeted in the most verdant of mossy carpets. But more important than that, in cahoots with a bacterium, Alder fills our waterlogged and swampy soils with life-building nitrogen. This week’s episode was recorded with our host...
Sep 21, 2021•11 min•Season 3Ep. 27
Our thirty-eighth tree, the Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa) . A mighty tree, but actually a non-native archeophyte; one whose fruit has both fattened us and inspired us. We soak the chestnuts in sugar, we sing christmas songs about them, and they’ve inspired histories greatest fable-fabricators to have a LOT of fun! So, whether you want stories of 4000 year old trees growing in the shadow of a volcano and sheltering 100 horsemen, or myths about a horny Roman god wanting to make illegitimate lov...
Sep 14, 2021•17 min•Season 3Ep. 26
Our thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh trees, the Oaks; Pedunculate (Quercus robur) & Sessile (Quercus petraea) . Revered by Druids, Vikings, Fascists, Socialists, Shipbuilders, Piglets, Invertebrates, Epiphytes and (most importantly) Dr George McGavin, our British Isles would not be in the shape they are now if it wasn’t for our Oaks. For good or ill; they’ve given us wine and warships, literature and law, cricket balls and currency, and that’s not even mentioning the gifts they have given to ...
Sep 07, 2021•35 min•Season 3Ep. 25
Peter Wohlleben is a German forester, an international best-selling author and (unfortunately for our host) a rival dendro-podcaster! Here Peter talks not only in the manner for how he has become internationally renowned - speaking of how trees can have families, of how they can feel panic and of how they may LITERALLY be able to see what we are doing with tiny optical lenses in their leaves - but also more personally - about how he was the “green sheep” of his family, spending his childhood imi...
Sep 03, 2021•38 min•Season 3Ep. 24
Our thirty-fifth tree, Beech (Fagus sylvatica) . Without the Beech, we would not have literature (ish). The tree has been so useful to human/British kind that its substantial distribution across the country proudly represents this. It has fed us, clothed us, given us books to read and even provided us with a soft bed for the night - but NONE of this would be possible without its fungal friends. This week we examine the first of the Fagaceae and the fungi that feed her. This is the Queen tree; ou...
Aug 31, 2021•20 min•Season 3Ep. 23
Our thirty-fourth tree, Wych Elm (Ulmus glabra) . Following on from a rather dour episode on the fate of many of our nation’s fine Elm trees, David Oakes is delighted to delve into a species of Elm which is proving more resilient to Dutch Elm Disease, and discovering how it is triumphing. Looking back to a time when the Elms were a dominant tree on the British Isles, David shines a light on the intoxicating flowers, the huggable trunks and the design-perfect samara of the Wych Elm, and how they ...
Aug 24, 2021•13 min•Season 3Ep. 22
Our thirty-second and thirty-third trees, the English - which may or may not be called (Ulmus procera) - and Field Elm (Ulmus minor). Recorded live in the Salisbury Cathedral Close, David reminisces about fine art, Nobel-prize winning literature and performing pagan rituals in the spire’s shade. Then from Cathedrals to Constable; then Crystal Palaces, Columella and coffins; then dreams, nationalistic deception and one of the worst botanical diseases the British Isles has ever faced - Dutch Elm D...
Aug 17, 2021•13 min•Season 3Ep. 21
