The Plodcast

We climb a little-known hill in the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) called Allt yr Esgair to search for a mysterious tower lost in the woods. Who built it and why was it abandoned? Join us for a Plodcast of exploration, with wildlife encounters and signs of spring along the way. The BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is the Publishers Podcast Awards Special Interest Podcast of the Year 2024 and...

After three days of snow and deep cold, a westerly weather front has swept in – a warm breath to thaw the frozen landscape. You stop outdoors among chirruping redwings, transfixed by the steady drip of meltwater and falls of slush from barn roofs and hedgebanks. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere b...

Poorly trained dogs can be a menace to wildlife and livestock – and are a major issue in the UK countryside. This week, host Fergus is joined by friend of the Plodcast James Fair and his dog Dakota to explore the issue. Dakota, James and Fergus spend a day with dog trainer extraordinaire Helen Merrett in the Gloucestershire countryside to discover the most effective methods for understanding and c...

It's not quite a white Christmas but early in the New Year, the land is transformed by a thick layer of snow. You can't resist the joyful urge to be the first to make footprints across the sheep fields. Ahead, smoke rises from farm cottages – everyone else is snug indoors. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you...

Writer, angler and Plodcast regular Kevin Parr is your host this week, exploring the wild of the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire. Kev is on a quest for material for a mysterious new book and the object of his mission in Bowland is finally revealed in the studio with the Plodcast team at the end of the adventure. The BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is the Publishers Podcast Awards Special Interes...

Overnight, temperatures fell sharply and you awake to fields made ghostly pale by frost. You put on your boots and shake off the cold with a tramp through the sheep fields accompanied by crows, redwings, ravens and, best still, the brooding calls of a distant stock dove. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you so...

As the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch approaches (24-26 January 2025), the Plodcast team of Fergus, Hannah, Jack and Lewis explore what birds are visiting their own very different patches. Check in to hear their tales and local dramas. And get involved in the Big Garden Birdwatch by visiting www.rspb.org.uk The BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is the Publishers Podcast Awards Special Interest Podcas...

It's bitterly cold outside but the fire is lit and crackling in the hearth. You sink into a favourite sofa and sip from a cup of hot chocolate – the gentle chatter of the fire providing all the company you need. 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 An...

Explore the murky world of fog and mist with Laura Pashby. Laura has devoted much of her adult life to experiencing how these strange weather phenomena change ourselves as much as our surroundings. Plodcast host Fergus Collins meets Laura at the mysterious hill fort of Uley Bury in the heart of the Cotswold Hills and discovers that there's a frightening modern-day story hidden in the fog. Chasing...

We're on the south coast of Gower. You’re using a rocky outcrop as a perch to watch the tide come in. The scene is a wash of grey and the sunshine is as watery as the sea. 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 Hannah Tribe. Email the Plo...

Join a quest in the little-visited no-man's land between Monmouthshire and Herefordshire to seek out a mysterious church built by the Knights Templar 800 years ago. Who were these warrior monks and what were they doing in this corner of the British countryside? And should we believe any of the modern legends about the Templars? As ever, there will be wildlife surprises along the way. The Countryfi...

After a long roam across the vast mountains of the Bannau Brycheiniog, you stop to catch your breath. The timid chirps of starlings echo through farmland overlooking the misty, early morning valleys. 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, i...

The Plodcast team of Fergus, Hannah, Jack and Lewis – with special guest Kevin Parr, attempt to climb a mountain in the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) with myths, wildlife and midwinter winter magic all the way to the summit. Have a very happy new year from all of us at the BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast – may it be filled with wild adventures – and Plodcasts! The Countryfile Magazine Plod...

You're walking up a shallow valley, smoky with mist, on the border between Wales and Herefordshire. Ravens and jackdaws rule the airwaves here while hungry sheep gather around in the hope that you might be the farmer with a bag of feed. In the hedge, a dunnock gently calls. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you...

It's Christmas Eve and the Plodcast team of Hannah, Jack and Lewis have gathered at host Fergus' cottage on a farm in the Monmouthshire countryside. The fire is lit, the mulled wine is poured and guest Kevin Parr is about to deliver the infamous Plodcast Christmas Quiz. Plus, we take a look back at highlights from 2024. So pour a drink, grab paper and pen, make yourself comfortable and join the fe...

It's nearly Christmas, and you've escaped the preparations and the bustle to find a moment's peace on a short walk to your local woodland. In a tangled copse, a stream sings merrily, its waters cold and clear. 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 Ferg...

The siege of Ludlow in Shropshire was one of the earliest skirmishes in the vicious 15th-century civil known as the Wars of the Roses. It was also home to Cecily, mother of two kings and protagonist of Annie Garthwaite’s celebrated novels about the period. Podcast host Fergus Collins meets Annie at the gates of Ludlow Castle to hear tales of betrayal and bloodshed - and the important, little-told...

When snow falls, all other sounds recede. All you can hear is the soft pattering and gentle hiss of millions of snowflakes falling onto the track ahead of you. For once, you stop to listen, to really listen, to the song of snow. 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 b...

Meet brothers Ben and Ethan who farm sheep and beef on the edge of Cardiff in harmony with nature. Annabel Ross is your host this week, learning how the farmers are making their land more welcoming to the local wildlife – and better for their livestock. The BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is the Publishers Podcast Awards Special Interest Podcast of the Year 2024 and the PPA Podcast of the Year 2...

After a cold night, the sun rises brightly in a brilliant blue sky. You take advantage, walking across the nearby fields, wellies swishing through the long, dewy grass. The low dawn light makes long shadows of your footprints. 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....

This week, we return to a summer Plodcast hosted and recorded by historian Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough. Here Eleanor visits the National Forest, a project transforming 200 square miles of the Midlands from industrial landscape into wildlife-rich habitats. Eleanor meets Stuart Dainton, head of land management and estates in the National Forest, who explains the importance of this incredible transf...

It's a foggy, gloomy day on the hill and you've strayed into a quiet farmyard - quiet that is except for the mutterings of starlings. The gang's dark silhouettes are scattered across the rooftops of the cow shed and farmhouse. Their earthy conversations of whistles, rattles, whoops, cackles and chuckles helps dispel some of the heavy atmosphere. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekl...

Plodcast host Fergus walks with campaigner Guy Shrubsole in the Chilterns' woodlands that inspired Roald Dahl's famous children's book: Danny Champion of the World. And rather like Roald Dahl's characters, Guy uses the issue of pheasant shooting to challenge conventional ideas of how land is owned and managed in Britain today and suggests that things need to change if our wildlife and wild habitat...

As the sun is setting over the Welsh coast, we’re sitting above a cleft in the cliffs. Rhythmically, the waves rush and recede in this open-roofed cave. The mist throws up the scent of salt and cold water. As the daylight fades, a blackbird scolds us to go home to bed. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you some...

Take a walk though the leafy suburbs of south Birmingham with historian Corinne Fowler. Corinne's studies of how the British Empire impacted rural Britain and her report into how some National Trust properties are linked to slavery drew a chorus of protest from some quarters. Here she explains her work to Plodcast host Fergus Collins and reveals why an honest understanding of rural history is so i...