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.buysubscriptions.com/print/bbc-countryfile-magazine-subscription

Episodes

Sound Escape 241. Take a breather overlooking Exmoor's stunning coastline

October 2, 2025 • 13 mins
With the sun high on a cloudless day, you listen to the rippling waves of the Exmoor coast. The gentle foam trickles over deep red seaweed and smoothed rocks. Everything feels calmer here. 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 and introduced by Hannah Tribe. Email the P...
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318. Discover the power of old ballads with Amy Jeffs on a walk along an enchanted stream

September 29, 2025 • 70 mins
A wonderful Plodcast walk this week – in Vallis Vale in the Mendip Hills. Plodcast host Fergus joins artist, historian and musician Amy Jeffs on a late summer walk along a beautiful stream discussing Amy's new book: Old Songs, which looks at the origins and importance of traditional ballads. Listen on for some true Plodcast magic – some unexpected wildlife encounters, beautiful singing and a bone whistle! Old Songs: Stories of L...
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Sound Escape 240. Wind down to the evening song of a rural farm

September 25, 2025 • 19 mins
As the day draws to a close, the cattle gather for their night-time routine, and the birds sing their final calls of the day. The pink-and-orange sunlight spills through the trees and onto the farmyard's vast fields. 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 and introduced by...
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317. Haunting poetry and crashing waves on the Cornish coast with poet Katrina Naomi

September 22, 2025 • 55 mins
The Plodcast heads to Penzance in Cornwall this week to hear the haunting poetry of Katrina Naomi. Katrina met Plodcast host Fergus on a beach near the town to discuss her latest collection of poems Battery Rocks, inspired by the sea in all its dark beauty. Poor Katrina had injured her foot so was on crutches – and the whole Plodcast team wish her a speedy recovery. Battery Rocks is published by Seren. And now you can get in...
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Sound Escape 239. Listen to the night-time snuffles of a garden hedgehog

September 18, 2025 • 17 mins
Just as you're closing the back door as dusk falls, you hear a rustling in from the end of the garden. Is it a cat or a rat? No, it's a hedgehog foraging for slugs, beetles and worms around the compost heap. You sit quietly and listen to your visitor - its snuffles like the puffs of a tiny steam train. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you som...
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316. Inspiring conservation stories from the Global Birdfair 2025

September 15, 2025 • 50 mins
This week we return to the Global Birdfair, held in summer at Rutland every year. Hear two inspiring conservation stories: the first interview is with Stephanie Borrelle who works with Birdlife International to conserve seabirds such as albatrosses in the Southern Hemisphere. The second chat brings us back to the UK and efforts to save two endangered birds: the curlew and the corncrake. Nick Acheson is our guest, talking about hi...
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Sound Escape 238. Pause on a bridge over a late summer stream

September 11, 2025 • 19 mins
Deep in a cool woodland, you hear the rumour of a stream long before you see it. A small stone bridge crosses the water, just above a small waterfall. It's the perfect place to stop and dream. 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 introduced by Hannah Tribe. Emai...
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315. Relax with a dreamy day's fishing beside a sleepy Somerset lake

September 8, 2025 • 53 mins
Let the Plodcast take you to a peaceful lake deep in the Somerset countryside. Lily pads float in margins, dragonflies buzz past and kingfisher makes regular sorties across the water. And you'll meet the Plodcast team of Fergus, Hannah, Lewis and Kev chatting on the bank, and trying to catch the elusive tench – a mysterious fish of lazy summer ponds. Listen on for a joyful adventure... And now you can get in touch with the Plod...
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Sound Escape 237: Soak in the sounds of rushing rain through the drainpipes

September 4, 2025 • 14 mins
We're listening to the rain. Its been dry for weeks, and this shower feels like its washing the world clean. The water runs down the roofs and gurgles in the drainpipes. 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 and introduced by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound...
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314. Meet the people behind the Merlin app that helps you ID birdsong

September 1, 2025 • 38 mins
This week we're at the Global Bird Fair, held every summer on the edge of Rutland Water in the tiny county of Rutland. Plodcast host Fergus met two of the people behind the incredible Merlin app which you can use to help you identify birdsong. Alli Smith and Ian Davies from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on the podcast stage at Birdfair to hear how the magic happens. With special thanks also to Charlie Bingham for organising the ...
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Sound Escape 236. Perch by a still Somerset lake

August 28, 2025 • 17 mins
Soothed by the gentle lapping of water, you pause by a quiet lake. It's a hot day, but you find refuge sheltered under the rustling willow trees. Moorhen families drift by as the lively fish swim beneath. 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 Tri...
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313. A quest to find storks and turtle doves at Knepp Wildlands - with Isabella Tree

August 25, 2025 • 70 mins
An extremely special edition of the Plodcast this week as we head to Knepp Wildlands in Sussex to look for storks and listen for turtle doves in the company of Isabella Tree. Isabella and her husband Charlie Burrell have transformed their former dairy farm into one of the best examples of rewilding in Europe – and it's a magical place to explore. Plodcast host Fergus was lucky enough to meet up with Isabella one midsummer evening...
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Sound Escape 235. Listen to the distinct chorus of London's parakeets

August 21, 2025 • 11 mins
We're on hampsted heath. A light shower has covered the trees in raindrops, and parakeets. As they gossip to pass the time before they're free to fly once more. 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 and introduced by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound re...
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312. Join the Plodcast team for a Mighty Hike around the Gower Peninsula

August 18, 2025 • 53 mins
The Plodcast team of Fergus, Hannah, Jack and Lewis embark on a 15-mile hike around the Gower Peninsular in South Wales as part of a Mighty Hike organised by the cancer care charity Macmillan.The team explore the coast path, chat to fellow hikers and enjoy some rare wildlife encounters along the way. Have a listen to their charming adventure, and for more plodding along the Gower Peninsula, listen to Ep. 96 with Fergus and Hannah!A...
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Sound Escape 234. Relax to the joyful gossip of ducks and hens

August 14, 2025 • 21 mins
Take time out to sit by a chicken pen and listen to the gentle gossip of the hens – plus a pair of ducks - as they go about their daily business. Meanwhile, wood pigeons, wrens, goldfinches and others pass comment from the surrounding trees. 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 ...
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311. Explore the mysteries of the peat bog with Alys Fowler

August 11, 2025 • 57 mins
This week we're heading out into the boglands of North Wales with writer and gardener Alys Fowler. Alys has a passion for these wild wetlands so host Fergus followed her into one of the strangest and most beautiful landscapes the Plodcast has ever visited. Join them for a journey into another world. Alys's book, Peatlands: A Journey Between Land and Water is published by Hodder. And now you can get in touch with the Plodcast t...
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Sound Escape 233. Embrace the surging sea on the North Cornwall coast

August 7, 2025 • 13 mins
Following the South West Coast Path through North Cornwall, you chance upon the ruins of Wheal Coates tin mine at the cliff's edge. Below, the sea seethes and surges, a wall of salty sounds rising up and through the mine's towering engine house. Any stray cobwebs you may have had hanging around are blown clean away. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and tran...
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310. Meet the monsters lurking in the corners of our landscape and imagination - with Nicholas Jubber

August 4, 2025 • 47 mins
Monsters haunt the myths and legends of almost every culture in the world. Take a walk along the Dorset coast with Nicholas Jubber looking for the footprints of ancient monsters, to explore why humans have felt the need to invent frightening beasts and beings to scare us from the shadows. Kevin Parr is your Plodcast host this week. Nicholas's book, Monsterland: A Journey Around the World's Dark Imagination, is published by Scribe ...
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Sound Escape 232. Be lulled to sleep by the buzz of grasshoppers in a summer meadow

July 31, 2025 • 13 mins
It is late morning, the sun is high and the heat brings out butterflies, bees and, as your ear becomes attuned, grasshoppers fizzing and buzzing in the meadows. You lie down letting the sounds wash over you as you realise you can hear no human sounds at all. 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. ...
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309. Connection to nature helps can help us tackle life's challenges says author Nic Wilson

July 28, 2025 • 63 mins
Discover how nature helped author Nic Wilson navigate chronic illness and childhood trauma as well as enabling her to develop a crucial sense of belonging. Plodcast host Fergus met with Nic on a walk through a wild park in North London where they discuss the life challenges that we can all relate to and learn how Nic coped with them. Nic's book is called The Land Beneath the Waves and is published by Octopus And now you can get i...
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