Adventures in Journalism

Reminiscences of exploring the West Penwith area at the western tip of Cornwall - and the hamlets of Treen and Porthgwarra in particular - featuring interviews with two long term residents. A bit of social history that could be gone before too long...

This podcast was recorded a dozen years ago when I was a parish councillor and I laid down my thoughts after a meeting one evening. It's all about autumn - lovely, beautiful autumn - in the British countryside

Martin Hesp takes is recorder on a jeep tour through the mountains of Madeira. Listen as the four-wheel-drive Land Rover climbs over high passes to reach the famous cloud forests of that beautiful island...

Martin Hesp records a podcast as he enjoys a guided walk along one of Madeira's magnificent 'levadas' - a series of high level irrigation canals up in the island's scenic mountains

Photographer Richard Austin tells Martin Hesp about his home town of Lyme Regis - the Dorset resort where in normal times you can go out mackerel fishing in the summer

A long time ago Martin Hesp invited some English folk singers to the old house where he lived to perform a number of ancient songs about cider. 

A long time ago Martin Hesp interviewed an old friend who had been a Hollywood starlet and who had led the most remarkable life. This is a brief interview he did with Heidi Beer on a Sony Walkman Professional cassette recorder

Martin Hesp travelled to Switzerland with Sherlock Holmes fans from Britain a few years ago - and a remarkable, if not bizarre, trip it turned out to be, 

Martin Hesp hosts a round-table chat with ex-BBC Archers agricultural story editor Graham Harvey and a handful of enthusiastic and knowledgeable cheese experts to discuss how good old fashioned artisan dairy practices could help reduce climate change.  

Another in a series of short stories written during the Big Coronavirus Lockdown, and read by author Martin Hesp. This one follows a woman who is determined to keep her rural community safe. 

The third in a series of short stories written and read by Martin Hesp - all the characters are fictional but this is the sort of thing that might be happening during the lockdown across the UK. The time a well known television journalist goes to ground....

The second in a series of short stories written and read by Martin Hesp - all the characters are completely fictional but this is the sort of thing that might be happening right now in the British countryside. 

We all need some good cheer in these coronavirus times - and we need healthy things to eat. In this podcast Martin meets one of the UK's leading experts when it comes to growing garlic and shallots - he also visits the "happiest village in England" and meets a famous potter who's invented a garlic grater

The first in a series of short stories based on the coronavirus pandemic. It is a tale about a bloke who suddenly realises he is going to have to walk right across the South West peninsula to see his mother during the coronavirus lockdown. But the journey turns into something else - a transformative pilgrimage in some ways. It's not too heavy, I promise - I just hope anyone who bother to listen to...

During this time of lockdown in the fight against coronavirus many will feel hard-done-by or maybe claustrophobic - but spare a thought for the men who used to work in isolated lighthouses, totally restricted in every sense for months on end... This is an interview with one of the old lighthouse keepers 

A round-table discussion with several experts on the subject of British cider - made in conjunction with writer Graham Harvey

Travelling the 12 Atlantic miles to the island of Lundy about the MS Oldenburgh to prepare a beach picnic with Dan the Fishman, celebrating his 25 years working with local North Devon seafood

This podcast finds Martin Hesp in Porthgwarra - a tiny fishing cove located just a couple of miles from Land's End - where he ponders the wild Atlantic Ocean and interviews two men who have just rowed from one side of it to the other. Martin also visits the famous old Logan Rock Inn at Treen. Porthgwarra was part of the inspiration for Martin's new novel, The Cornish Sapper: The Granite Mystery

A day and a night out in Hoi An, one of the most historic cities in Vietnam - hear the sounds and soak up the atmosphere in this short podcast

Funchal guide Sophia Maul takes Martin on an eating and drinking tour around her adopted home city, the capital of Madeira

Just because it's midwinter there's no reason why you shouldn't head down to the beach for a barbecue - it's all a matter of teamwork, good ingredients and the right all-weather gear, says North Devon's Dan the Fishman

This podcast tells the story of a unique traditional Christmas carol which is only ever sung in the medieval village of Dunster in Somerset 

Martin Hesp visits the annual Cutcombe Christmas Show - one of the last traditional 'fatstock' Christmas shows of its kind left in the UK - and soaks up the seasonal atmosphere talking to organisers and previous winning turkey breeders

What happens when a journalist deeply rooted in the rural West Country finds himself in the heart of the world's most populous metropolis? In this episode of Adventures in Journalism , Martin Hesp trades the damp hills of Somerset for the neon-lit labyrinth of Tokyo. Martin isn't just following the tourist trail; he's meeting up with old friend and Somerset native Adam Kennedy, who has called Toky...

"I've done it for 70 years, since I was a tacker... now this fishing will be gone." In this evocative episode of Adventures in Journalism , Martin Hesp heads to the mudbanks of Topsham to join the very last licensed salmon nets-men on the River Exe. For over a millennium, families have used seine-nets to harvest the "king of fish" from these waters, but a new 10-year ban has brought this ancient w...