Open Country Podcast
1) The Stones of Snuff Mills
Tucked away in a wooded valley on the outskirts of Bristol is a magical woodland nature reserve, Snuff Mills. Helen Mark discovers what lies beneath the trees, a now peaceful place with a history of h...Show More
2) Fair Isle
Halfway between Orkney and Shetland, Fair Isle is one of Britain’s most isolated inhabited islands. It's famous for knitting and birds, and those still form the basis of the island's economy, as Mart...Show More
3) The Menai Strait
Martha Kearney visits the Menai Strait - the stretch of water which separates Ynys Môn or Anglesey from mainland Wales. She learns about its treacherous tides and hears about the history of its two br...Show More
4) Pingos and Pool Frogs
Martha Kearney discovers the Ice Age ponds in Norfolk, called pingos, which are being brought back to life, and provide a home for the Northern Pool Frog. It's the UK's rarest amphibian and had become...Show More
5) Exploring the Lakes by wheelchair
Caz Graham tries out Miles without Stiles, a scheme which helps disabled people access the Lake District. She joins a group of people in a fleet of mobility vehicles on a route from Sizergh Castle ne...Show More
6) Aeolian harps on Wicken Fen
Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire is one of the few remaining fragments of England’s original fenland. A place loved by naturalists for generations, it was Victorian botanists and entomologists who led the...Show More
7) Flutterings on the Fleet
Tucked in behind Dorset's famous Chesil Beach is a unique and beautiful place - the Fleet Lagoon. Martha Kearney explores a thousand year history of human guardianship of birds on the lagoon. On the w...Show More
8) Shipshape and Bristol Fashion
Helen Mark visits the port of Bristol – finding out how it changed the local landscape, and how the landscape in turn shaped it. She learns how and why Bristol became a port city in the first place an...Show More
9) Wild and Windy Fylde
The Fylde peninsula stands between Morecombe Bay, the Bowland Hills and the Irish Sea. Its position means that it's a very windy spot. Windmills have been a feature of the area for hundreds of years, ...Show More
10) The People's Forest
Helen Mark hears the story of how the ancient Epping Forest was fought for, and saved by, the people of East London. In the late 19th century, Epping Forest was threatened with enclosures. As elsewher...Show More