The Plodcast

This week we're in the Malverns in Worcestershire to try to find Britain's only venomous snake – the adder. Plodcast host Fergus Collins is guided by local adder expert Nigel Hand, who has spent much of his life working to protect these increasingly rare reptiles. Discover the secret life of the adder and learn why we need to respect – and even love – this springtime jewel. Photo: Steve SayersOur...

A gentle walk at this time of year can suddenly throw up a surprise. A firecrest! The thin, accelerating song of Britain's smallest bird pipes among the robins, wood pigeons and blackbirds. 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 and intro...

Come with us through the high security gates of a flooded quarry in the Forest of Dean to explore Deep project. Here, in the deep waters of the quarry, DEEP is experimenting with creating habitats for long-term human existence underwater. Plodcast host Fergus Collins meets Phil Short, DEEP's underwater research and training lead for a tour of this futuristic mission and its engineering wonders. Le...

Watching ripples of river water swirl and overlap, you allow your mind to wander. The clear water’s constant stream is hypnotic as it makes the vivid green algae dance. The proud chirpings of birdsong send you into comfortable doze. 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...

It's night in the woods deep in the Cotswold Hills. Plodcast host Fergus joins friend and environmental writer James Fair to see if they can witness the great spring toad migration, where toads leave their winter hideouts and head across land in huge numbers to find a pond or lake to breed in. Have the daring duo left it too late? What will they find on this nocturnal ramble? Our Facebook page is...

As dusk falls and human activity finally slows in a small market town, a blackbird decides now's the time to release his latest album of lullabies. Slow, beguiling and wistful, his songs lifts the spirits of all within earshot. 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...

Join the Plodcast team for a new fishing adventure, this time on the Kennet and Avon Canal in Berkshire. Writer, angler and naturalist Kevin Parr joins Fergus, Hannah, Jack and Lewis to see if they can catch an elusive but beautiful predator of the waterways. Better still, they've been given special access to a normally private stretch of this famous canal. Listen on for a truly breathtaking encou...

A rare day of sun across the lake transforms late winter into a hint of spring. Canada geese stir and honk, a great white egret chitters overhead and excitable peeps, churs and hums from the reedbeds suggest nestbuilding and courtship among the waterbirds. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautif...

Award-winning countryside writer Nicola Chester joins the Plodcast this week in her home village of Inkpen in Berkshire to talk about her new book, Ghosts of the Farm. In this amazing story, she weaves her own rural experiences with those of pioneering local farmer Julia White, who farmed in Inkpen in the 1940s and 50s and oversaw fundamental changes to agriculture and the landscape that have enor...

After a long day, green fingers are calling. Sat beside a quiet allotment, you take in the gentle breeze. Watching over the freshly sprouting veg and blooming bulbs, you're soothed by the murmur of fellow growers. 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...

Could you go coldwater swimming in the depths of winter? James Fair attempts to do just that in lake deep in the Cotswolds. He joins his wife Louise and four of her friends to hear about how swimming in freshwater, whatever the temperature, has a hugely positive impact on physical and mental health. It's an inspiring adventure. Later, join the regular Plodcast team of Fergus, Hannah, Jack and Lewi...

Down a windy track in a small valley at the very point where Herefordshire meets Wales, you find a watermill, restored and still working. As water from the leat gushes onto the wheel, it slowly creaks into life. At first, you marvel at the throb of the wheels and gears within the mill before relaxing to the steady pulse of the wheel itself. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly aud...

After serious childhood trauma and a high-octane but destructive life as a model, Brigit Anna McNeill found solace and healing in the company of wild plants – and wise women. Plodcast host Fergus Collins met Brigit in a peaceful corner of Devon to hear about her journey to become whole again – and her advice on how we can all rewild ourselves to improve our mental and physical health. It's an unmi...

Very little is stirring in the deep dark winter woodland. That is until you come to a wide clearing on the edge of the wood, with slumbering farmland beyond. Here, inspired by the light, a song thrush sings over the chatter of a small flock of chaffinches – while a gentle rain falls on the leaf litter. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to hel...

Did you know that, even today, some of London's streets are lit by gas? Annabel Ross heading into the city's twilight zone to meet Aran Osman whose job it is to maintain these Victorian relics, which still illuminate much of Central London. Annabel also talks to Annelie Whitfield, who is writing a book about artificial light and its effect on humans and animals. Find Aran on Instagram @london_lamp...

What's normally a gentle brook, winding through a peaceful woodland, has been transformed by many days of rain into a breathtaking torrent. You get your feet wet crossing the ford but the stream's exuberant song more than makes up for damp socks. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherev...

Did you know that the last battle fought on English soil occurred in the early years of Queen Victoria – out in the Kent countryside? Historical novelist Ian Breckon has unearthed the extraordinary tale of Mad Tom and his 'rising' in the late 1830s and what it tells us about rural life at the time. Ian spoke with Plodcast host Fergus Collins on a walk in London's Highgate Woods. Ian's book Mad Tom...

This week we're featuring a lost sound of the countryside – the curious melodies of clattering mills. These were wind-powered devices on tall poles that made a racket to scare birds from the crops – especially starlings plundering cherry crops. Thanks to Sonke Prigge for collecting these incredible sounds, which will be  included in the British Library’s Very Rare and Lost Sounds collection. This...

What is an honesty box? And how did it help writer Lucy Brazier understand her husband's serious mental health issues and save her marriage? And all this against a backdrop of a quirky and often challenging rural existence in deepest Devon. Plodcast host accepted Lucy's invitation for a walk and deep and meaningful talk on one of those rare, crisp winter days. Lucy's book The Honesty Box: the diar...

You awake to a strange silence, a deep calm. As you draw back the curtain, you are surprised to see a soft blanket of snow across the garden and beyond. This wasn't forecasted. But, like the boy in the Snowman, you quickly pull on warm clothes and dash out to explore – to be the first to lay down a trail of footsteps in the fresh snow. Sparrows, a gorgeous song thrush and distant barking hounds pr...

This week, Plodcast host Fergus sets out to find signs of spring in seldom-visited woodland in south Monmouthshire. Listen on for a mindful Plodcast full of eerie midwinter atmosphere. Later, Fergus returns to his garden to record a Big Garden Birdwatch for the RSPB. The BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is the Publishers Podcast Awards Special Interest Podcast of the Year 2024 & 2025 and the PPA...

The pipes and flutes of curlews, oystercatchers and redshanks rise occasionally above the rush and roar of breakers on this little visited haven along the Sussex coast. You walk along the high tide line, splashing through pools of cockle and limpet shells. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautif...

Hugh Crossley aka Lord Somerleyton has rewilded large parts of his estate on the Norfolk-Suffolk border. After initial success spreading his message across East Anglia – in what he and his rewilding partners called WildEast – Hugh is aiming to spread his 'Map of Dreams' across the whole of the UK.Plodcast host Fergus Collins went for a wander with Hugh around his estate for an entertaining talk ab...

After several days of intense cold deep in the Sussex countryside, a bright, warmer morning encourages a procession of birds to move through the garden in search of food – from rooks and jackdaws to dunnocks, robins and long-tailed tits. The resident sparrows seem to cheerfully welcome these visitors. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help...

Head to the Severn Estuary to meets curlews and other wild waterbirds in the company of singer-songwriter Merlyn Driver. Merlyn's music draws on nature and folk traditions and he talks to Plodcast host Annabel Ross about why he needs this magical connection. Later in the Plodcast, Annabel and Merlyn meet with writer and conservationist Mary Colwell, who has done so much work to save the curlew in...