The Plodcast

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...

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...

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 ...

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 Maga...

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 Pl...

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 b...

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...

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 s...

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 hu...

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...

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...

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 so...

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… Conta...

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 preciou...

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...

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 mo...

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 su...

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...

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 hel...

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...

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...

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: e...

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 S...

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 Spee...

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...