The Plodcast

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 – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Recorded by Daniel Graham, presented by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 first wonderful surge of spring nature… Image by Getty. This is the last of 12 episodes of season 15: Mindful walks in nature Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Write to us: Plodcast, Countryfile Eagle House Bristol BS1 4ST Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 by Hannah Tribe. Image by Getty. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Write to us: Plodcast, Countryfile Eagle House Bristol BS1 4ST Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 happen to be. Recorded and presented by Margaret Bartlett. Image by Getty. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Write to us: Plodcast, Countryfile Eagle House Bristol BS1 4ST Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Daniel Graham. Presented by Hannah Tribe Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Write to us: Plodcast, Countryfile Eagle House Bristol BS1 4ST Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Write to us: Plodcast, Countryfile Eagle House Bristol BS1 4ST Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 the countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Write to us: Plodcast, Countryfile Eagle House Bristol BS1 4ST Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Tribe. Image by Oliver Edwards. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 songs at the end of this podcast. This is episode 6 of season 15 of the Plodcast: Mindful Walks in Nature. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Write to us: Plodcast, Countryfile Eagle House Bristol BS1 4ST Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Daniel Graham. Presented by Hannah Tribe. Image by Getty. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Write to us: Plodcast, Countryfile Eagle House Bristol BS1 4ST Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Write to us: Plodcast, Countryfile Eagle House Bristol BS1 4ST Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Daniel Graham. Presented by Hannah Tribe. Image by Getty. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 episode 2 of season 15 of the Plodcast: Mindful Walks in Nature Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Write to us: Plodcast, Countryfile Eagle House Bristol BS1 4ST Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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, wherever you happen to be. Presented by Hannah Tribe. Image by Getty. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Walks in Nature Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Write to us: Plodcast, Countryfile Eagle House Bristol BS1 4ST Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Write to us: Plodcast, Countryfile Eagle House Bristol BS1 4ST PPA Podcast of the Year! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're sitting beside a log fire in a farmhouse in Devon. There’s something at once inconstant and rhythmic about fire. Each flame unlike the next, each ember on its own wild course, yet its heartbeat is as regular as yours. Perhaps that’s what lures you in, what comforts you; two beats aligning. Or perhaps the flames reveal a memory inherited from centuries prior. Either way, for those few precious moments, there’s nothing but you and the fire. 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 Daniel Graham. Presented by Fergus Collins. Image by Getty. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're at Hartland Quay, Devon. The day is late by the time you reach the Hartland coast and all you can do is run. Breathless, you reach the shore to see the sun sitting low amid a bed of coral clouds. You settle on a rock. A waterfall spills beside you, lit by the winter sun. Waves roll pebbles up and down the beach. The air feels cold on your cheeks. 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 Daniel Graham. Presented by Hannah Tribe Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to our last Plodcast of 2022 – the Christmas special issue. Plodcast regular Kevin Parr joins author Patrick Galbraith and Brittany Collie in the studio with Plodcast host Fergus. We talk favourite moments of 2022, look ahead to the New Year and, best of all, invite you to join us for Kevin's special Christmas quiz. A lovely way to round off the Plodcast year. Image from Getty. Find out more about Kevin's book, The Quiet Moon And for more information on Patrick's Book One Last Song… Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Write to us: Plodcast, Countryfile Eagle House Bristol BS1 4ST PPA Podcast of the Year! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're at Ham Wall in Somerset for the great starling murmuration. At first they come in small flocks, barely discernible against the winter sky. But as the light begins to fade, their numbers strengthen; a thousand here, two thousand there. They gather like mercury, then split and bind again, growing ever larger until soon there are half a million of them throwing forms across the sky. A strand suddenly breaks free, plummeting into the reedbeds, and the rest follow. The sound absorbs you. Image by Getty. 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 Daniel Graham. Presented by Hannah Tribe Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this our last episode before Christmas – we are appropriately talking about partridges, one of the famous birds of the festive season. In Britain, our native grey partridge is not doing well – so met up with writer, nature lover and editor of the shooting times Patrick Galbraith to search for them in the Hampshire countryside and talk about what can be done to turn the tide. Find out more about Patrick's book: In search of one last song: Britain's disappearing birds and the people trying to save them Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Write to us: Plodcast, Countryfile Eagle House Bristol BS1 4ST PPA Podcast of the Year! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're beside the River Severn in South Gloucestershire on a cold, quiet, crisp, sunny winter afternoon. The air is fresh and still and your breath steams in front of you. A gentle breeze moves through the last remaining leaves on the hedgerows and few birds sing. The occasional dog walker potters past. 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 the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this week’s episode, we're discovering the joys of walking groups. Back in March Plodcast host Fergus joined up with a gang of hikers from the Crickhowell Walking festival to exploring the history and wildlife of the Black Mountains. We began our adventure at the medieval ruins of Llanthony Priory – under the wise instruction of walk leader Andy Johns… 2023's Crickhowell Walking Festival takes place 4-12 March. Click here for more information. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com PPA Podcast of the Year! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We may be in the depths of winter but in this episode we're giving you a little Christmas present of hopeful spring birdsong. We're outside the ruins of Llanthony Priory with the ridges of the Black Mountains of Wales rising on either flank. Robins and song thrushes are singing lustily… 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 – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Head to Dorset in the ever-amiable company of Plodcast regular Kevin Parr. Angler and nature writer Kev takes us up onto Eggardon Hill to explore its wildlife and its mysterious hillfort. On the way, he meets a local farmer with some stark insights into life in the modern countryside. Beautiful and thought-provoking… Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com PPA Podcast of the Year! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's rained for days but there's a gap in the cloud cover this late autumn morning. You wander down to the river to find it in full spate. Another 50cm rise and it will burst surrounding fields. Its voice, a whisper in summer, is a roar now – the surging water unleashed and cleansing. And if you listen very closely, you might even hear the peeping calls of kingfishers. 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 Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meet nature writer and campaigner Hannah Bourne-Taylor who hit the news in recent weeks after walking from Hyde Park Corner to the Houses of Parliament to call for urgent action to help our declining swifts. So what you might ask? Well, Hannah walked the two miles naked, covered only in paintings of feathers… We met up in a forgotten woodland in South Wales to about her extraordinary “Feather Speech” – and to go looking for wildlife. Find out more at Hannah's website. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com PPA Podcast of the Year! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You wake in the small village of Butterton in the Staffordshire Peak District. With the window of the cottage set ajar, you return to bed, rest your head on the pillow and listen as the village slowly wakes. The brook plays like the wind in the trees, which in turn mimics the brook. Blackbirds trill. A garden gate clunks. A milk truck crosses the ford. 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 Daniel Graham, presented by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Explore a wild and craggy stretch of the Anglesey coast path with Plodcast host Fergus as he wanders in search of rare choughs and curlews. Later, in the studio, the team discuss the good, bad and ugly of Bonfire Night. Is this traditional UK festival of fire and fireworks a big problem for pets and wildlife? Image from Getty. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com PPA Podcast of the Year! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Come with us to the gentle pasturelands that link the summit of Y Fal with the bustle of Grwyne Fawr far below. Pause a while amid the patchwork of sheep field, farmyard and hedgerow, and a version of bliss envelopes you; a light wind picks hazel leaves from the hedge and sends them down the lane. 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 Daniel Graham, presented by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com PPA Podcast of the Year 2022 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we’re off to the Hebridean island of Tiree, a stronghold of one of Britain’s rarest and strangest birds. Naturalist James Fair heads out into the wilds to search for the corncrake with local expert John Bowler of the RSPB. It’s a bird not famed for its looks – but it’s voice – well, that’s a different matter. Back in the studio, the team enjoy a very eerie sound of the week – recorded deep in an ancient burial mound. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could win a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com PPA Podcast of the Year! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the southern flanks of the Usk Valley beneath the damp uplands of Mynydd Llangatwg are the remnants of an old limestone quarry. Paths slink between the stepped hillside, now a miscellany of meadow, scrub and tree. When rain falls, the stunted hazel and oak woods are a joy to be among. 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 Daniel Graham, presented by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com PPA Podcast of the Year 2022 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Now the clocks have gone back in the UK and we’re heading into the dark days of winter it feels like a good time to let a burst of light and song into our lives. So this week we’re heading back to spring and an adventure I took in the New Forest with naturalist Dominic Couzens. Dominic is brilliant at recognising birds by their song and he give some clever tips to help you learn them too – a neat trick for impressing friends and family on your next spring walk. Image by Getty. Look out for Dominic's new book An Identification Guide to Garden Insects of Britain Back in the studio, the Plodcast team 'interview' The British Cheese Awards Supreme Champion cheese and discuss how to cope with the dark nights of winter. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could win a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com PPA Podcast of the Year! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

To be in an autumn woodland after rain is a tonic for a great many ills. Perhaps it’s the simple joy of the leaves so lustrous with rainwater, or the way the mosses swell like lungs. Or the maybe it’s the scent of the Earth – of leaf litter and microbes and fruiting fungi – that seems to connect the ground with the air, and thus you with all of it. It’s certain that the streams appear contented. A short walk through woodland brings you to a small waterway, where you pause for a while and breathe it all in. 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 Daniel Graham, presented by Hannah Tribe. Image from Getty. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com PPA Podcast of the Year 2022 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jenny Agutter has been a household name since her starring role in the 1970 film The Railway Children. This year, she reprises her role in The Railway Children Return, set 30 years later in 1940. Hear all about her connections to the countryside and her very surprising choice of favourite wildlife species. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could win a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com PPA Podcast of the Year! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You open the back door and look out into the garden. Rain streaks down, steady and hypnotic. From a bush a robin sparks up occasionally but nothing else stirs in the downpour. It's a day to cosy up indoors by the fire. 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 Maria Hodson, presented by Hannah Tribe. Image from Getty. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com PPA Podcast of the Year 2022 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We return for a second episode at the Folk by the Oak Festival in Hertfordshire. Annabel Ross talks to Karine Polwart from Spell Songs and we hear their song Jay. We also meet nature guide and folklorist Sherloak as he leads a tour in Hatfield Forest and finish with an interview with the great Proclaimers – and listen to two of their most famous songs. We'd like to say a huge thank you to the organisers and the musicians for their time and beautiful music. Photo by Tammy Marlar Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could win a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com PPA Podcast of the Year! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Enjoy a relaxing experience paddleboarding on a stretch of the River Wye in Herefordshire, where a flock of about 300 Canada geese begin an extraordinary evening chorus. The gentle swish of the paddle and the evocative cries of the wildfowl create a haunting river music. Pure delight. 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 Maria Hodson, presented by Hannah Tribe. Image from Getty. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com PPA Podcast of the Year 2022 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Enjoy the delights of the Folk by Our festival In part one of two brilliant episodes, Annabel Ross visits the Folk by the Oak festival in Hertfordshire to meet musicians and hear music steeping in landscape, wildlife and countryside lore. In this podcast, you’ll hear Magpie by The Unthanks, Trouser Worrier by We are the monsters and The Same Land by Salthouse. But first Annabel talks to Caroline and Adam Slough who founded Folk by the Oak… We'd like to say a huge thank you to the organisers and the musicians for their time and beautiful music. Photo by Tammy Marlar Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could win a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com PPA Podcast of the Year! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Besieged by gales and restless sea, a rocky peninsula holds firm on the northern Anglesey coast, unchanged through many millennia of daily assaults. Meanwhile, seals sleep in the quiet bays that it protects. Beyond the breakers, the Skerries lighthouse keeps watch from the largest of a group of raw-looking islets. 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. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected] Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com PPA Podcast of the Year 2022 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Catch up with writer, presenter, farmer, forager and campaigner Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, 20 years after his first adventures into smallholding which inspired millions to grow their own, keep chickens and live the good life. Plodcast regular Annabel Ross heads to River Cottage HQ on the Dorset/Devon border to walk around the farm and learn how Hugh's new book River Cottage Good Comfort offers healthier – and tastier – takes on classic country dishes. There are plenty of adventures along the way – including meetings with strange squashes, hungry pigs and a Hugh-special picnic. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If read out on the show, you could win a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com PPA Podcast of the Year! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices