The Plodcast

Enjoy a night walk in an ancient forest in Gloucestershire with the Plodcast team of Fergus, Hannah and Jack. What is it like walking in the pitch black – and what stories and wild encounters will they experience? To help them in their quest, they deploy night vision scopes… The night vision devices used by the team were: Bushnell Equinox X650 Nightfox Corsac Night Vision Binoculars Contact the Pl...

Where the Burn of Latheronwheel meets the North Sea, you sit silently on the ancient harbour wall soaking in autumn sun, The waves draw the pebbles back down into the the depths of the peaty water. Once home to fifty boats, where salmon was a regular catch, Latheronwheel is now a ghost of its past, with the voices of long gone fishermen whispering onto the shore. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound E...

This week, the Plodcast tales are as ancient as can be. We’re in Dorset with Plodcast regular Annabel Ross hunting 500-million-year old fossils in the company of author and paelontologist Wolfgang Grulke, who has amassed an extraordinary collection of the strangest and rarest fossils on earth. Join them for a weird and wonderful adventure into prehistory. For more about Wolfgang Grulke, inclusing...

We’re in a little cottage deep in the Dorset countryside. The fire is lit. Steam swirls from a mug of tea. The curtains are drawn and we wait. Outside, there is a moment of calm as though the world is taking a deep breath. A storm is rolling in off the Atlantic, but before the wind comes the rain. Thudding into the brickwork and flicking off leaves and guttering. In the warm, we cosy up to listen....

Meet the new boss of Countryfile and learn about what he has planned for the UK’s most popular countryside TV show. Plodcast regular Annabel Ross takes Mark for a walk in a wonderful Mendip vale in north Somerset – listen on for some fascinating insight into rural passion and programme making. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com. I...

We're following a narrow mountain path through thickets of inpenetrable birch. It's been a long, hot, footsore day and so you are easily seduced by the sound of a tumbling stream. From a rocky cleft, ice-cold clear water pours. You stop to bathe your feet and splash your face. It is delicious. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you rel...

It’s dusk in a valley somewhere in Dorset. Plodcast regular Kevin Parr has joined a local deer stalker to talk about why – and how – he culls these large mammals. Join the Plodcast team later in the studio to discuss some of the issues raised. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com. If your letter, email or message is read out on the...

We're resting on a field gate. Late summer warmth spills into the autumn. The sun slow to rise but blazing when it does. The overnight dew clings on in the shadows, while the long grass of the field margins rattle with the chirrup of grasshoppers. Flies and bees buzz. A nuthatch bubbles from the hedgerow. A last hurrah before the first frost. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly a...

In our latest quest seeking tales from the British landscape, musician Tiny Leaves takes Plodcast host Annabel Ross onto a mysterious hill in Shropshire known as the Long Mynd. Here, Tiny Leaves has discovered a way of recording the songs of trees and plants and incorporating them into his music. But what do the ‘voices’ of trees sound like? Listen on to find out – it’s pure magic. Contact the Plo...

We’re on a small, wooded hill in Herefordshire. Sullen clouds gather over the trees, which cloak the brooding ramparts of an ancient hillfort. It’s silent now, its people long gone, replaced by birds and badgers. A gentle rain falls, pattering through the canopy of hazel and oak. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transpo...

Come with us to a mighty hillfort, all but forgotten on a wooded hill deep in the Herefordshire countryside – and discover tales of dark deeds long ago. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com. If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chos...

It’s early autumn and the sunshine has brought bustle to a small harbour on the south coast. There is a light breeze and the air is soft. Families find fun with crab-lines, lowering baits between the fishing boats and dinghies. The sea a gentle swell beneath the sound of footsteps on the flagstones. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help y...

Wander through a Sussex woodland with Julia Donaldson for a joyous mix of story-telling, mushroom foraging and Gruffalo-reenactment! Relive Julia’s journey to becoming one of the world’s most famous children’s authors as well as hearing the tales behind the Gruffalo and other family favourites, You’ll hear about her new book – The Oak Tree, illustrated by Victoria Sandøy who also joins the Plodcas...

We’re in the garden in a small village in Picardy in Northern France. The early evening warmth teases sweet scent from the lavender bushes and myrtles while a single cicada plays its eternal silvery zither, drawing down the night. 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...

Welcome to a new season of Plodcasts, a new series of quests to explore overlooked corners of countryside where folklore and mystery create curious tales. And along the way, we’ll be encountering wonderful wildlife and fascinating human characters. In this first episode, Plodcast host Fergus and his son Owen wander out into a corner of the Bannau Brycheiniog lost to the ravages of the industrial r...

What weather! At times like this you forget it can rain so hard; the clouds overturned and emptied like water buckets on the ground before you. You find a step in the porch of the old farmhouse and make yourself comfortable. The rain continues to cascade. Puddles sparkle. Leaves spiral down, caught up in the storm. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the count...

It’s the end of summer and the end of a season of Plodcasts. Join the Plodcast team of Fergus, Hannah and Jack in the studio for a look forward to what you can expect over the autumn and winter months – plus a fabulous listener email… and cake. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com. If your letter, email or message is read out on the...

A late summer stroll through the shingle and sand of the south coast. There is warm sunshine between the cloud and a busy beach with families making the most of the holidays. Splash and laughter, ice-cream and sun-screen. And the gentle wash of 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,...

Walk in the company of Jack and Fergus and they tackle Macmillan's Mighty Hike, a half marathon through the Wye Valley. Joining thousands of others, the Plodcast pair explore beautiful scenery, endure ferocious heat and hear the inspiring tales of cancer survivors and affected families along the way. A beautiful, uplifting adventure to end season 16 of the Countryfile Magazine Plodcast For more in...

You’ve wandered into a fairy glen where pure clear water tumbles from pool to pool though mini-gorges of moss covered rocks. As your eyes adjust, you spot small trout swaying in the current, illuminated by soft sunlight that has been sieved by the tree canopy. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere bea...

Talk a wander through a forest in the Ardennes region of north-east France with Plodcast host Fergus – and discover unfamiliar woodland sights and sounds in a land once torn apart by war. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com. If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildli...

Your path down through the meadow’s edge is transformed in late summer as thistles, comfrey and Himalayan balsam swallow up the human-made track. You push gently through, avoiding thorns and clouds of hoverflies while goldfinch song trickles down from ash trees. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere b...

It’s as close to a fairy glen you’ll ever experience. Plodcast host Fergus sets off into Tollymore Forest in County Down with local guide Vikki Canavan to find strange tales and curious wildlife along a river brimming with magic. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com. If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you coul...

Your cool, shady walk through a riverside woodland is pierced briefly by a kingfisher's wheezed whistle. The water roars as you approach rapids, then subsides as you turn away deeper into the trees. A wren sings and a robin scolds the earthy smells that tell of autumn. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you some...

Be transported to the tranquil shores of the Cromarty Firth on the east coast of Scotland. Here, thousands of waders and wildfowl gather as autumn approaches, providing a magical spectacle for human visitors. Join Plodcast regular Annabel Ross and birders Fiona and Graham Reid so see what might turn up in this wild estuary. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countrysid...