The Plodcast

It's one of the hottest days of the year and you are glad to find respite in a woodland beside a fast flowing river. You rest on the shady bank, watching trout pluck flies from the water's surface. 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,...

Be inspired to join the Big Butterfly Count with a walk on the Dorset coast with Richard Fox, Head of Science at the charity Butterfly Conservation. Britain's butterflies are in trouble but you can help. Richard leads this week's Plodcast host, Kevin Parr, on a magical butterfly walk at Bindon Hill on the Dorset coast – and shows how you can embark on your own Butterfly Count where you live. Join...

After many dry weeks, heavy rain falls and the oak woodland thirstily drink in the live-giving water. You pause at the base of a particularly magnificent tree and listen to the gentle fall of raindrops. 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 Coll...

Take a springtime wander along the River Test, near the pretty Hampshire town of Stockbridge. Plodcast host Fergus Collins joins regular Plodcast listener and children's author Andrew Hussey to explore the wildlife along this most famous of trout fishing rivers. Listen on for some rare wildlife encounters – and some curious and disturbing tales from the river. Andrew runs a small independent publi...

The sun is sinking low in the sky, its golden light glowing through the meadow grasses. As young swallows twitter in their maiden flights and a blackbird sings a lullaby, the eerie bubbling calls of curlews rise to meet the dusk. 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...

About 1150 years ago, on a ridge on the edge of Salisbury Plain, the Saxons defeated the Vikings in a battle that had a profound impact on the history of the English people and their language. And yet, the battle is surprisingly little known. Discover what happened and why with writer and cultural historian Rupert Gavin. Rupert joins Plodcast host Fergus to explore the battlefield and discover how...

This week's Sound Escape was recorded in Kent by Plodcast listener Jeanette Sharples. Jeanette was up early, walking along the edge of a field when she heard this wonderful male nightingale in full voice. 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 Jeanette...

Enjoy a walk in Devon with Sophie Pavelle and discover the most unexpected relationships in the animal kingdom. In her new book, To Have or to Hold, Sophie explores why some species work together, while others exploit host animals as parasites. It's a fascinating world full of surprises – and even horrors. Plodcast host Fergus joins Sophie for a meander along the River Otter – with a cast of wildl...

As you wander through an old farmyard, the incessant happy chatter of sparrows greets you. Nesting in the crumbling eaves, the colony has had a good year and the walls, shrubs and gutters teem with noisy fledglings and harassed parents. 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 hap...

Britain's wildlife is often extremely elusive and many species are rarely seen. Unless, of course, you head to the British Wildlife Centre in Surrey. Here, David Mills has an unrivalled collection of mammals, reptiles and other creatures that you can watch and photograph in semi-natural surroundings. Join Annabel Ross who visited David and enjoyed a fabulous tour and some unique insight into our n...

A male blackbird sings so seductively, you have to stop to listen. Perched deep in an elder tree, and with his mate snug on a second brood of eggs this year, he has time to croon, his notes sweet and lazy as the scent of the elderflower around him. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wher...

Jason Ingram has photographed some of the world's finest gardens and is regarded as one of the very best in the business. His images of famous gardens, from the National Trust to those belonging to royalty have graced hundreds of magazines and books – and won numerous awards. This week, he shares tips for taking better photos and for getting into the world of photography - with Plodcast host Fergu...

You're walking in the ancient kingdom of Wessex, across a stretch of wild downland that might have looked no different when Saxon warbands passed through 1200 years ago. The intense serenades of skylarks and the spring-loaded whirrs of corn buntings have replaced the clink of mail and swords. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you rela...

Come with us to explore the magic of Martin Down, a glorious stretch of largely unspoilt chalk downland on the borders of Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset. It's Plodcast host Fergus's favourite place to escape to – and he's joined by Plod regular, naturalist Kevin Parr. Join the pair for a gentle afternoon's adventure – some incredible birdsong and one extremely unusual sound captured on the record...

Overlooking the vast escarpment of Watership Down, you pause for thought. The sound of gently swaying beech trees is welcome relief from the hustle-and-bustle of daily life. 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, introduced by Hannah Tribe....

To commemorate D-Day and the 80th anniversary of VE Day, we met with historian Julian Humphrys at Lepe Beach in Hampshire. Lepe was one of the launchpads of Operation Overlord, the daring plan to open a western front and liberate Europe from the Nazis. BBC Countryfile Magazine editor Paul McGuinness is your host. Julian works for the Battlefields Trust, a charity dedicated to the protection, resea...

Climbing a Peak District moor, you fall into step with a small stream tumbling down the hillside. As you walk, the song of the stream changes – from roaring chorus to trickling solo. Meanwhile, meadow pipits call from heather and willow warblers add their own liquid song to the morning. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and...

It's episode 300 of the Plodcast! To mark this momentous occasion, Plodcast regulars Hannah, Jack and Lewis join host Fergus for a return to the scene of episode one: Watership Down in Hampshire – setting for one of the best loved novels about nature, written by Richard Adams. Back in that first episode, Fergus ventured alone in early January – this time the team are seeing what wildlife turns up...

A morning's walk leads you to a ramshackle farm where a bench has been left out for walkers. As you take advantage of this kindness and drink tea from a flask, chiffchaffs, swallows and collared doves compete for your attention – like a parade of avian buskers. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere be...

Plodcast host Fergus Collins returns to his Somerset roots this episode to explore a country house that he used to explore as a child. Now it has been transformed into The Newt, a world-famous country house hotel, garden and farm with innovation and environment at its heart. In this part one of the visit, Fergus explores the farm, meets its livestock and gain insight into its ethos with The Newt's...

A wander through a scrubby wooded cwm brings you out into a glade with a view towards the Preseli Hills of Pembrokeshire. But at your feet is a calm pool, tadpoles squiggling in the margins. Chiffchaffs, blackcaps, robins and others provide a dizzying spring soundtrack. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you som...

A special extended edition of the Plodcast this week as we embark on an adventure with celebrated writer Robert Macfarlane to walk the length of a chalk stream from the centre of Cambridge to its source. Rob has long campaigned to tackle our polluted and degraded rivers and his magnificent new book Is a River Alive? explores inspiring ways to look after our waterways better – through a series of e...

Is there a more peaceful way to travel than by canal boat? You sit back and relax as you potter slowly along the Monmouth-Brecon canal. But what's this? It's action – you've got to operate the lock in order to continue your journey. 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...

Come to the centre of Cambridge to walk along the River Cam with Tony Juniper. Conservationist and chair of Natural England, Tony is one of the world's most influential environmental campaigners and he has written a book, Just Earth, that addresses the critical and drastic change society needs to embrace to counter climate change and biodiversity loss. Listen on to find out more. Fergus Collins is...

You pause beside the river, watching sunlight play on the rapids. Above the rush of the water, you hear the excitable snickering of common sandpipers – a pair are flying in wide circles, low over the water, their wingtips skimming the surface in a daring courtship flight. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you s...