Shows / The Plodcast
The Plodcast
BBC Countryfile Magazine brings you The Plodcast - a weekly escape to the British countryside with fascinating guests and the wonders of the great outdoors. Enjoy a new escape into the countryside every Tuesday and wind down with our Sound Escapes on a Friday. Find out more about us at www.countryfile.com/podcast Subscribe to the print version of BBC Countryfile Magazine at https://www.ourmediashop.com/bbc-countryfile-magazine-wmonx25
Episodes
The Plodcast284. How to train your dog to behave perfectly around livestock and wildlife
Poorly trained dogs can be a menace to wildlife and livestock – and are a major issue in the UK countryside. This week, host Fergus is joined by friend of the…
The PlodcastSound Escape 206. Experience a landscape transformed by snow
It's not quite a white Christmas but early in the New Year, the land is transformed by a thick layer of snow. You can't resist the joyful urge to be the first…
The Plodcast283. What lives in the wilds of Lancashire's Forest of Bowland?
Writer, angler and Plodcast regular Kevin Parr is your host this week, exploring the wild of the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire. Kev is on a quest for…
The PlodcastSound Escape 205. A winter morning's walk through fields of frost
Overnight, temperatures fell sharply and you awake to fields made ghostly pale by frost. You put on your boots and shake off the cold with a tramp through the…
The Plodcast282. Join the Plodcast team for a Big Garden Birdwatch
As the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch approaches (24-26 January 2025), the Plodcast team of Fergus, Hannah, Jack and Lewis explore what birds are visiting their…
The PlodcastSound Escape 204. Sit beside a crackling wood fire in the depths of winter
It's bitterly cold outside but the fire is lit and crackling in the hearth. You sink into a favourite sofa and sip from a cup of hot chocolate – the gentle…
The Plodcast281. A quest to explore the mysteries of fog, with author Laura Pashby
Explore the murky world of fog and mist with Laura Pashby. Laura has devoted much of her adult life to experiencing how these strange weather phenomena change…
The PlodcastSound Escape 203. Listen to the tides wash over the Gower shore
We're on the south coast of Gower. You’re using a rocky outcrop as a perch to watch the tide come in. The scene is a wash of grey and the sunshine is as watery…
The Plodcast280. A quest to find a Templar church lost in the Herefordshire countryside
Join a quest in the little-visited no-man's land between Monmouthshire and Herefordshire to seek out a mysterious church built by the Knights Templar 800 years…
The PlodcastSound Escape 202. Take a pause next to a farm in the heart of rural Wales
After a long roam across the vast mountains of the Bannau Brycheiniog, you stop to catch your breath. The timid chirps of starlings echo through farmland…
The Plodcast279. Follow the Plodcast team as they climb a midwinter mountain to celebrate the New Year
The Plodcast team of Fergus, Hannah, Jack and Lewis – with special guest Kevin Parr, attempt to climb a mountain in the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons)…
The PlodcastSound Escape 201. Wander in a misty valley of ravens and sheep
You're walking up a shallow valley, smoky with mist, on the border between Wales and Herefordshire. Ravens and jackdaws rule the airwaves here while hungry…
The Plodcast278. Join the the Plodcast Christmas Special and team quiz!
It's Christmas Eve and the Plodcast team of Hannah, Jack and Lewis have gathered at host Fergus' cottage on a farm in the Monmouthshire countryside. The fire…
The PlodcastSound Escape 200. Be enchanted by the song of a Christmas stream
It's nearly Christmas, and you've escaped the preparations and the bustle to find a moment's peace on a short walk to your local woodland. In a tangled copse…
The Plodcast277. Meet the women of the Wars of the Roses with novelist Annie Garthwaite
The siege of Ludlow in Shropshire was one of the earliest skirmishes in the vicious 15th-century civil known as the Wars of the Roses. It was also home to…
The PlodcastSound Escape 199. Listen to the soft patter of snowfall in a garden
When snow falls, all other sounds recede. All you can hear is the soft pattering and gentle hiss of millions of snowflakes falling onto the track ahead of you…
The Plodcast276. Explore an innovative Welsh farm where nature thrives alongside the livestock
Meet brothers Ben and Ethan who farm sheep and beef on the edge of Cardiff in harmony with nature. Annabel Ross is your host this week, learning how the…
The PlodcastSound Escape 198. A calming walk through fields of dewy grass
After a cold night, the sun rises brightly in a brilliant blue sky. You take advantage, walking across the nearby fields, wellies swishing through the long…
The Plodcast275. What is the National Forest? Explore this magnificent project with historian Eleanor Barraclough
This week, we return to a summer Plodcast hosted and recorded by historian Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough. Here Eleanor visits the National Forest, a project…
The PlodcastSound Escape 197. Listen to the amusing chatter of starlings in a farmyard
It's a foggy, gloomy day on the hill and you've strayed into a quiet farmyard - quiet that is except for the mutterings of starlings. The gang's dark…
The Plodcast274. A walk in Roald Dahl country with environmental campaigner Guy Shrubsole
Plodcast host Fergus walks with campaigner Guy Shrubsole in the Chilterns' woodlands that inspired Roald Dahl's famous children's book: Danny Champion of the…
The PlodcastSound Escape 196. Be soothed by the rush and fall of waves on a rocky coast in Wales
As the sun is setting over the Welsh coast, we’re sitting above a cleft in the cliffs. Rhythmically, the waves rush and recede in this open-roofed cave. The…
The Plodcast273. Discover how Empire shaped the British countryside with historian Corinne Fowler
Take a walk though the leafy suburbs of south Birmingham with historian Corinne Fowler. Corinne's studies of how the British Empire impacted rural Britain and…
The PlodcastSound Escape 195. Hear the eerie bellows of red deer stags during the autumn rut
It's a sound that seems more attuned to the uplands of the north and west: the deep haunting bellows of red deer. But we're on the edge of London, among the…
The Plodcast272. A wander in the Cambridgeshire Fens with ground-breaking broadcaster Catherine Carr
Catherine Carr is a podcaster and creator of BBC Radio 4's famed 'About the boys' series on what it's like to be a teenage boy in 2024. Hear her insights on a…
The PlodcastSound Escape 194. Enjoy the beguiling patterns of rainfall in a back garden
Forbidding sheets of rain and flooding mean that outdoor adventures must be postponed until tomorrow. But there's something cosy and deeply comforting about…
The Plodcast271. A quest to go fishing on a lake where anglers are rarely allowed
We've gone fishing! The Plodcast team of Fergus, Hannah, Jack and Lewis plus angler-writer Kevin Parr are given a unique opportunity to spend a day fishing at…
The PlodcastSound Escape 193. Sit beside a waterfall in a once-bustling landscape reclaimed by nature
Walking in a wide vale of crumbling relics of a long-lost industrial age, you stumble across a small stream, caught in the act of tumbling over a waterfall…
The Plodcast270. Robert Macfarlane and Johnny Flynn join the Plodcast to celebrate their new children's book
Nature writer Robert Macfarlane and singer-songwriter-actor Johnny Flynn take Plodcast host Fergus on a ramble along the River Lea in East London. Having…
The PlodcastSound Escape 192. Relax to wind in the willows
It's early afternoon after heavy rain and you've followed a small brook past waterlogged fields and a stand of willows. The trees' feet, submerged in the…
The Plodcast269. A wonderful walk and talk with Hamza Yassin
Wildlife cameraman and TV presenter Hamza Yassin joins Plodcast host Fergus on a walk through an urban oasis deep in the city of Manchester. Hamza talks about…
The PlodcastSound Escape 191. Sit for a while in a sunny valley of sheep and fungi
You're in a small, steep sided valley with a clear stream fizzing through it. Sheep graze among anthills, and while buzzards and crows call from the clear blue…
The Plodcast268. Explore a haunted landscape of lost industry in Yorkshire with historian Eleanor Barraclough
We welcome historian and BBC radio presenter Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough back to the Plodcast this week, with a walk through an ex-industrial landscape near…
The PlodcastSound Escape 190. Escape to a mountaintop among buzzards and ravens
You're climbing a small mountain in the Bannau Brycheiniog – and it's hot. So hot, you stop early for your picnic. High on the peak, ravens, buzzards and a…
The Plodcast267. Join a Big River Watch to help save our waterways
Plodcast host Fergus Collins enjoys an autumn walk by the River Avon near Bath with Emma Brisdion of the Rivers Trust to take part in a Big River Watch. This…
The PlodcastSound Escape 189. Listen to life go by along a quiet country lane
It's late morning on a quiet autumn day and you're sitting on a welcome bench beside a small lane that winds between wooded pasture and a small estuary…
The Plodcast266. Take an early morning walk to explore a hillfort in the Bannau Brycheiniog
Take a magical walk on the last day of summer to find a hillfort on the edge of the town of Brecon and the Bannau Brycheiniog. Plodcast host Fergus looks for…
The PlodcastSound Escape 188. Sitting by the banks of a canal
You're beside a canal, enjoying a few stolen hours fishing – but really it's an opportunity to relax alone beside the water after the busy summer. A September…
The Plodcast265. Meet wildlife ranger and TV presenter Ajay Tegala
This week we return to our visit to the Global Birdfair in Rutland. In the second Plodcast interview of the festival, Plodcast host Fergus met wildlife expert…
The PlodcastSound Escape 187. Take a break next to a rushing Dartmoor stream
This week, you're perched on a mossy bank, listening to a gentle stream pass through a Dartmoor forest. The water is crystal clear, revealing a microcosm of…
The Plodcast264. Join the quest to return eagles to the skies of Wales
Will eagles return to Wales in the next couple of years? Sophie-Lee Williams of Eagle Reintroduction Wales is confident that mighty white-tailed eagles will be…
The PlodcastSound Escape 186. Listen to the tide rising over a saltmarsh in Carmarthen Bay
It's early morning and we're alone beside the River Towy estuary just downstream from the ancient town of Carmarthen. The tide is rising in mini surges, softly…
The Plodcast263. A journey through the Highlands of Scotland
Head out on a Highland road trip with Plodcast regular Kevin Parr as he explores the wildlife of some of finest peaks and glens of Scotland. A marvellously…
The PlodcastSound Escape 185. Be bewitched by the whispering leaves of aspen trees
Walking through a lakeside woodland, you become aware of a shimmering, ghostly whisper rising snd swirling around you. A light breeze is gentle bewitching the…
The Plodcast262. Explore the strange music within ponds with Alice Boyd
Join folk singer and sound designer Alice Boyd in Epping Forest on the eastern edge of London as she explores the eerie, little-know soundscapes of ponds with…
The PlodcastSound Escape 184. Relax to the rhythms of waves on the mysterious shores of the Severn Estuary
You're walking along a seawall above a forgotten stretch of the Severn Estuary – a gentle tang of seaweed is a reminder that the open sea is not far – as are…
The Plodcast261. Join the Plodcast team for a train ride out to a forgotten wilderness near Bristol
The Plodcast team of Fergus, Hannah, Jack and Lewis jump on a little train from central Bristol to explore a wilderness of mudflats, saltmarsh and wildflowers…
The PlodcastSound Escape 183. Delight in the last birdsong of the summer woodland
It’s early evening as you follow a long path that disappears into the woods. The trees create a green tunnel high above you. A recent downpour has left the air…
The Plodcast260. We're on stage at the Global Birdfair with naturalist and geese fanatic Nick Acheson
This week, we look back at the amazing Global Birdfair in Rutland, which took place in July. Plodcast host Fergus was on stage to record some plodchats – and…
The PlodcastSound Escape 182. Be mesmerised by the songs of yellowhammers
It's a hot summer's day and you're heading from the open slopes of a small mountain to the welcome cool of woodland in the valley below. But before you reach…
The Plodcast259. Find lost artefacts on the River Thames with mudlarker Lara Maiklem
Join Plodcast host Fergus on the Thames foreshore with legendary mudlarker Lara Maiklem searching for historical artefacts and oddities among the sand, shingle…
The PlodcastSound Escape 181. Take a moorland stroll among pipits and skylarks
This week we're striding out across a wider moorland ridge with bilberry, bracken and heather flanking the path. It's a rare calm day in the uplands and the…
The Plodcast258. Spend the day in a summer meadow at glorious Wakehurst in Sussex
This week we're exploring the Royal Botanical Gardens of Wakehurst in Sussex exploring why meadows filled with grasses, herbs and flowers are so vital for…
The PlodcastSound Escape 180. Be calmed by gentle rain on summer leaves
You're walking an ancient tree-line lane up a hillside when a brief summer rain shower takes you by surprise. Sheltering under a kindly horse chestnut, you are…
The Plodcast257. A quest for beauty - and yellowhammer song - on a midsummer mountain
This week the Plodcast heads into the uplands of the Bannau Brycheinog to explore the summer wildlife that abounds there. Plodcast host Fergus is hoping to…
The PlodcastSound Escape 179. Chill to a lazy symphony of birdsong in a lakeside woodland
The anglers have departed, the dog-walkers have gone home. The lake is still. You are alone by a strip of woodland on the edge of the water, listening to a…
The Plodcast256. One man's quest to drive back the dark woods with music
Head into the deep dark wood with composer and pianist Alexander Chapman Campbell to hear about his quest to raise awareness of the perils of conifer…
The PlodcastSound Escape 178. Relax in an overgrown churchyard on the mellowest of summer evenings
It's evening, just after midsummer's day, and a walk has taken you down a winding lane to a tiny medieval church. In the churchyard, lichen-crusted gravestones…
The Plodcast255. A quest to explore the magic of flight with Lev Parikian
The Plodcast heads to the dreamy surrounds of Richmond Park in south-west London to discuss the wonders of flights with author and conductor Lev Parikian…
The PlodcastSound Escape 177. Sunlight and birdsong stream through a summer woodland
Morning has broken. A wood pigeon coos its lazy welcome to summer, surrounded by a chorus of chaffinches, blackbirds, wrens and chiffchaffs. The new green…