In the first episode of a new season, the Plodcast team of Fergus, Hannah and Jack meet up with naturalist and One Show regular Mike Dilger to search for some of Britain’s rarest plants in the magnificent Avon Gorge on the edge of Bristol.Along the way Mike shares some astonishing stories from his quest to find 1000 plant species in the UK in the course of a single year. His book about this adventure is called 1000 Shades of Green and is published by Bloomsbury. This is episode 1 of season 16: G...
May 02, 2023•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast We're on the northern edge of the Cotswolds in South Warwickshire – a vast open field of young barley stretches to the horizon. Quietly at first, then all of a rush, a hidden chorus of skylarks rises from the vegetation, singing exultantly, ever higher until they become specks in the cloudy heavens. 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 Collin...
Apr 28, 2023•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast We wandering in deeply rural County Armagh. It's early spring and the rooks rule the woodlands. Nesting close together in the canopies of a dozen roadside trees, the birds create a bustling city of more than 300 birds. Pairs greet each other and squabble with neighbours – and all the while the excitement rises as the first chicks begin to hatch. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewherebeautiful, wherev...
Apr 21, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Plodcast – the nature and countryside podcast from BBC Countryfile Magazine. This is a preview of season 16 of the Plodcast where the regular team of Fergus, Hannah and Jack celebrate early spring, talk about upcoming episodes and invite you, the listener, to get involved. The new season of the Plodcast begins on 2 May. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag p...
Apr 18, 2023•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast We're in Blawith Fells in the Lake District. he walk up to the tarn felt a little like a dream; the sun-warmed lane rising gently – rhythmically – between trickling brooks and beds of bracken, beyond which rolled the flaxen commonlands of the Blawith Fells. You reach the pool and settle on a tussock of grass beside it. Water trickles and birds sing as Lakeland’s higher fells glow to the north in the rare spring sun. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the co...
Apr 14, 2023•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast Sun spills over the Avalon Marshes, driving away the last vestiges of winter. Chiffchaffs have arrived, bringing their flinty song two-note song to the reedbeds and willows. Across the water comes the hysterical giggling of courting little grebes. 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, presented by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team...
Apr 07, 2023•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast The first inklings of spring are stirring in the Rhymney Valley in South Wales. Down at the foot of the dell, where the two streams meet, there is a mossy bank. You lay down your jacket and sit upon it to gaze up at the trees, which soar like skyscrapers into the plain white sky, as spring rain and birdsong spiral down. 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. Reco...
Mar 31, 2023•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast Nature Isn't Neat is a project pioneered in South-east Wales to bring wildlife and a bit of wildness into public parks, gardens and other commonly used spaces. Plodcast host Fergus met Elliot Waters who leads the projects to talk about how the project works and what it does for our wellbeing as well as addressing the terrible loss of biodiversity in Britain. Not everyone is happy however – and we look at some of the challenges the project has faced. Along the way, the Plodcasters encounter the f...
Mar 28, 2023•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast You're among the moss and ferns of a Welsh rainforest in early spring. Against the backdrop of a stream swollen with rain, the trees are dripping – and the birds stirring. A song thrush's voice rings out from the top of an oak tree while coal tits mutter and a green woodpecker yaffles. 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, presented b...
Mar 24, 2023•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dr Amir Khan is a well known GP and TV doctor but has recently been appointed president of the RSPB. We sent Plodcast regular Annabel Ross to meet up with the DR to talk about his new role – and discover just how important the link between nature and health really is. This is episode 11 of season 15 of the Plodcast: Mindful Walks in Nature. Image by Getty. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com. If read out on the show, you could WI...
Mar 21, 2023•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast We're in New Zealand at the top end of the South Island. The nature reserve on the Pelorus river has the last stands of river-flat native forest in the region These beautiful, shaded glades of broadleaf woodland have a dense undergrowth of ferns, tree-ferns and lianas and epiphytes. The chorus of cicadas is the summer song of the forest. 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 ...
Mar 17, 2023•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the heart of Wellington, capital of New Zealand, a brilliant wildlife haven has brought a host of rare species back from the brink of extinction. Margaret Bartlett joins CEO of Zealandia, Danielle Shanahan to meet and hear some of the inhabitants and find out what lessons other countries – especially the UK – can learn from the project. This is episode 10 of season 15 of the Plodcast: Mindful Walks in Nature. Image by Getty. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the coun...
Mar 14, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's a wintry afternoon on the Somerset Levels. In the pre-dusk light, you watch as a thin mist evolves from the reeds and settles on the ice. It’s not all ice, there are sections of the surface that have been broken open by the many waterbirds that live in this winter-gold enclave of the Levels. Undeterred by the by the frigid conditions are coots int their scores. Moorhens call, geese clamour, a marsh harrier rises silently from the din. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly au...
Mar 10, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Enjoy a gentle ramble with poet Kenneth Steven who lives and breathes the wild landscapes on his doorstep on the Isle of Seil. Recorded in early spring last year, this mini adventure includes some wonderful poetry celebrating the joy of nature – and warning us that we must all do more to look after it. Later, join the Plodcast team to talk birds of prey, den building and tomatoes… This is episode 9 of season 15 of the Plodcast: Mindful Walks in Nature. Image by Getty. Contact the Plodcast team a...
Mar 07, 2023•45 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast We're at Becky Brook on Dartmoor. It's the first day of the year where you can feel the warmth of the sun on your face. The light breeze floats through the trees causing the dappled sunlight to shimmer on the water. A dog barks happily while playing in the water. 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 Annie Sanderson. Presented by Hannah Tribe Email t...
Mar 03, 2023•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Listen to the thrilling bustle of a seabird colony as naturalist Megan Shersby visits RSPB Bempton Cliffs on the Yorkshire coast in the company of visitor experience manager Abbie Ferrar. This marvellous haven for nature is one of the few mainland seabird colonies in the UK and anything can turn up, as you'll hear. Later, join the Plodcast team for a gentle chat about nature and countryside. This is episode 8 of season 15 of the Plodcast: Mindful Walks in Nature. Image by Getty Contact the Plodc...
Feb 28, 2023•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast We're in a wooden vale in the Black Mountains of south wales. It’s very late winter but recent bright and dry weather has crisped the autumn leaves – so while your feet crunch in the litter of oak litter, the first birds are singing and raven croaks rain down from the wide blue sky. 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 presented by Fergus Collins E...
Feb 24, 2023•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast Join the Plodcast team as we go fishing with Plodcast regular Kevin Parr on the Bridgewater and Taunton Canal in Somerset. For Jack and Hannah it was the first time fishing – did we catching anything? Did we enjoy it? Listen on for a quite magical day in the countryside. Find out more about Kevin Parr's new book: The Quiet Moon: Pathways to an Ancient Way of Being This is episode 7 of season 15 of the Plodcast: Mindful Walks in Nature. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of ...
Feb 21, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast We're high on the Wessex Downs. A long barrow broods on a lonely ridge – a tomb that has stood here for 5000 years. Caught in a storm while walking the Ridgeway, you are forced to shelter in the barrow's entrance, listening to the raindrops falling from the ancient stones. 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. Presented by Hannah Trib...
Feb 17, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Back in January, a high court upheld an action brought by local landowners and ruled that there was no right to wild camping in Dartmoor National Park. In response, thousands of protesters headed to the moors to protest about access to the countryside – and the right to camp. Our own Maria Hodson was there to explore the issue for us. Later, Maria spoke to folk singer and right to roam campaigner Sam Lee about why so many people are angry at the court's decision. And you can hear one of Sam's so...
Feb 14, 2023•53 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast Walking the coast path around Hartland Point after snowfall Winter’s cold brings many pleasures. Frost-enshrined thorns, glinting in the light of a low sun; nights so silent you could hear a snowflake drop; the lifting lilt of the robin song through icy dawn air. And snow underfoot, a so sound so evocative of being a child that you become one again… for a short while at least. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transpor...
Feb 10, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Cerys Matthews shares her love of nature, music and poetry on a wonderful walk in Kew Gardens with our own Margaret Bartlett. Cerys reveals her deep love from the words of Dylan Thomas and her own retelling of his great work, Under Milk Wood, for children.You can hear Cerys on BBC Radio 6 every Sunday from 10am. Catch up on previous episodes on BBC Sounds. This is episode 5 of season 15 of the Plodcast: Mindful Walks in Nature. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the coun...
Feb 07, 2023•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode we've travelled to the otherside of the world. It's late spring at the Karori Sanctuary near Wellington, New Zealand and the kakas – a large species of parrot – are singing their eerie dusk chorus. 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 Margaret Bartlett. Presented by Hannah Tribe. Image by Getty. Email the Plodcast team – and send you...
Feb 03, 2023•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast We're heading to Cemlyn Bay on the northern coast of Anglesey for a gentle walk around lagoons and quiet coves where birds rule and grey seals sleep. Podcast host Fergus voices a wildlife ramble around this remote haven on a beautiful Welsh island. Recorded in August 2022. This is episode 4 of season 15 of the Plodcast: Mindful Walks in Nature. Image from Getty. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com. If read out on the show, you co...
Jan 31, 2023•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast We're back on a farm deep in the Devon countryside. At some point in the night you stir, woken by the patter of hail on the slate roof. The barn is old, built hundreds of years before your time, and as the minutes pass by you think of the many stories made, and the many told, within these thick stone walls. It’s a comfort – from your warm, cosy bed – and you soon drop back into a deep, dreamless sleep to wake up to clear skies. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard...
Jan 27, 2023•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Head deep into Goatchurch Cavern in the Mendips with historian and artist Amy Jeffs and Plodcast host Fergus to hear ancient tales, myths and legends as we enter the bowels of the earth. Amy's new book, Wild: Tales from Early Medieval Britain explores how our ancestors viewed nature and landscape through their stories, poetry and song. Listen on as ancient magic is conjured deep in the earth. A huge thank you to Daniel Matthews from the Mendip Caving Group for leading the adventure. This is epis...
Jan 24, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the 100th edition of Sound Escapes, we're on a boat in the Outer Hebrides at anchor near a small island. An underwater microphone captures grey seals swimming around the hull of the small boat while a full moon hangs in the still night. Enjoy a specially extended audio experience to celebrate our 100th episode. Recorded by musician David de la Haye. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful...
Jan 20, 2023•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Take a wander along on of Britain's oldest roads: the Ridgeway. TV presenter, writer and archaeologist Mary-Ann Ochota is the patron of the Ridgeway National Trail, and takes host Fergus on a circular walk from the stone circle at Avebury onto mysterious Fyfield Down before walking along the Ridgeway to magnificent West Kennet Long barrow – where a big surprise is awaiting them in the prehistoric burial mound. Photograph by Oliver Edwards. This is episode 2 of season 15 of the Plodcast: Mindful ...
Jan 17, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast You're in a large wildlife-rich garden on Gower, a small and beautiful peninsular in South Wales. At this time of year, the beech hedges are orange, the leaves are curled, crisp and dry. At their base, blackbirds turn over the ones that have fallen, looking for treasure. 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 presented by Hannah Tribe. Image by Getty...
Jan 13, 2023•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our new season of mindful walks in nature explores the power of the green outdoors to bolster physical and mental health. In episode 1, Plodcast host Fergus transports you to his favourite haven of peace along the River Usk. It's early January and the river is high – but the wildlife is stirring on this magical Welsh waterway including a special guest right at the beginning of the recording… Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com. I...
Jan 10, 2023•47 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast 
