Podcasts about chilterns

Kallum Pritchard is a formidable trail and ultra-distance runner from the UK, renowned for his impressive performances in endurance events. He has excelled in prestigious races such as the Country to Capital Ultra, the Centurion Thames Path 100, and the Manchester to Liverpool Ultra, frequently securing podium finishes.Recently, Pritchard claimed second place in the challenging Hundred Hills 50km, a race that demands resilience with over 4,000 feet of climbing through the scenic Chilterns.With a remarkable ability to adapt across varied terrains and distances, Pritchard continues to distinguish himself as a standout figure in the UK ultra-running scene.XMILES UK - 10% discount via the link below.https://xmiles.avln.me/c/RiwxnARvfHeRRunderwear - Use code TEATRAILS15 for 15% off your orderhttps://runderwear.avln.me/c/GPVNMgMfYfLPSHOKZ - Use code TEA102025 to receive £10 off.https://uk.shokz.com?sca_ref=7394994.MfsDQZBAeLQihiPrecision Fuel & Hydration https://visit.pfandh.com/3GKxHjUPrecision Fuel & Hydration Planner https://visit.pfandh.com/3RuP25zHarrier - Use code TEA10 for 10% off. https://harrierrunfree.co.uk/Fenixlight Limited - Use code T&T5 for 5% off your order.https://www.fenixlight.co.uk/Protein Rebel - Use code Tea15 for 15% off your first order. https://proteinrebel.com/Centurion Running - Use code TEAANDTRAILS10 to receive 10% off *Excluding Sale Items.https://centurionrunning.com/LIFE JACKET SKIN PROTECTION - Use code GOTYOURBACK for 10% off your first order.https://lifejacketskin.com/PRIMUS UK - Use code TT-PRIMUS-20 for 20& off.https://primusequipment.co.uk/Content may contain affiliate links which can help support and grow this channel at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your continued support!Brew with the Coaches - CLICK HEREKeeping Dry & Staying Warm - https://amzn.to/42JCexqFix Your Feet - https://amzn.to/3FE4nf0Running Challenges by Keri Wallace - https://amzn.to/3KGdU7eROAR - https://amzn.to/3WU7xB2NEXT LEVEL - https://amzn.to/3Hu15LrUltra Trails - https://www.ultratrails.co.uk/Greener Miles - https://greenermilesrunning.co.uk/Hannah Walsh - https://www.hannahwalsh.co.uk/Punk Panther - https://www.punkpanther.co.uk/Pen Llyn Ultra - https://penllyn.niftyentries.com

Contributing our latest episode is London's ANNX, a regular figure within the city's cutting-edge undercurrent whose many contributions include co-curation of the Whomp, Perspectives, and once-shrouded Magick events, and a residency at the beloved Above Below festival. Anna's tireless dedication to the scene goes hand-in-hand with her unmistakable talent behind the decks, as evidenced by an impressive repertoire of mixes and set recordings, and which I was fortunate enough to witness first-hand last summer in the Chilterns. Here Anna demonstrates her well-honed craft over the course of two meticulously plotted hours, diving seamlessly into manifold forms of deep, heavy psychedelia before emerging in a wave of euphoric bliss. Thanks Anna! @annx-anna-whomp Artwork by Angelina Nikolayeva.

This week Matt heads to the Chilterns to go for an early morning walk with The Early Birder. Jon is full of birding pearls of wisdom and even helped Matt spot a lifer! We'd love it if you'd go and subscribe to Rock 'n Roll Birder TV on YouTube if you haven't already!Thank you to this week's sponsors Green Feathers and Eco Bird Food. Hosted by Matt SpracklenProduced by Sarah SpracklenMusic by David JosephFor Wren Productions Ltd. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 World. And rather like Roald Dahl's characters, Guy uses the issue of pheasant shooting to challenge conventional ideas of how land is owned and managed in Britain today and suggests that things need to change if our wildlife and wild habitats are to survive. Guy's book, The Lie of the Land is out now and is published by William Collins. The Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is the Publishers Podcast Awards Special Interest Podcast of the Year 2024 and the PPA Podcast of the Year 2022. If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: theplodcast@countryfile.com. If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. The Plodcast is produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. The theme music was written and performed by Blair Dunlop. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The "Ideal Husband" of the title is Sir Robert Chiltern, with his equally upright wife Lady Chiltern. He has never committed a crime, never had a "past" and never bowed to corruption or influence, or so she thinks... The disreputable Mrs Cheveley is about to appear and try her hand at both politics and blackmail - can the Chilterns come through the encounter with both public and private honour intact? And what about Miss Mabel Chiltern's roguish beau, Lord Goring? What does he have to do with all of this?Oscar Wilde's witty comedy of manners, trust and politics shows human nature in a typically merciless light. The main themes are blackmail, political corruption and the uses and abuses of power both in politics and in private life. Quote from the play: “It takes great deal of courage to see the world in all its tainted glory, and still to love it.”This is a dramatic reading.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The "Ideal Husband" of the title is Sir Robert Chiltern, with his equally upright wife Lady Chiltern. He has never committed a crime, never had a "past" and never bowed to corruption or influence, or so she thinks... The disreputable Mrs Cheveley is about to appear and try her hand at both politics and blackmail - can the Chilterns come through the encounter with both public and private honour intact? And what about Miss Mabel Chiltern's roguish beau, Lord Goring? What does he have to do with all of this?Oscar Wilde's witty comedy of manners, trust and politics shows human nature in a typically merciless light. The main themes are blackmail, political corruption and the uses and abuses of power both in politics and in private life. Quote from the play: “It takes great deal of courage to see the world in all its tainted glory, and still to love it.”This is a dramatic reading.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Step into the heart of an ancient woodland as we explore Ashenbank Wood, a Site of Special Scientific Interest rich in history and teeming with wildlife. Woodland has stood here for centuries, but this haven is under threat. A proposed tunnel project, the Lower Thames Crossing, could harm the irreplaceable ecosystem and ancient trees here. Jack, leader of our woods under threat team, explains what's at stake and the challenges and strategies involved in trying to maintain a delicate balance between development and nature. A decision on whether the project goes ahead is due from Government in May 2025. We also meet estate manager Clive, who delves into Ashenbank Wood's history, tells us more about why ancient woodland is so important and shows us the unusual approach of strapping deadwood to trees. Don't forget to rate us and subscribe! Learn more about the Woodland Trust at woodlandtrust.org.uk Transcript You are listening to Woodland Walks, a podcast for the Woodland Trust presented by Adam Shaw. We protect and plant trees for people to enjoy, to fight climate change and to help wildlife thrive.  Adam: Today I am at a site of Special Scientific Interest in the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which is teeming with extraordinary wildlife, and I'm told you can stand in the shadows of gnarled veteran trees and even spot some shy dormice, rare bats, and woodland wildflowers if you're there at the right time of year. But it is also a site under threat. National Highways propose to build a new tunnel linking Essex and Kent under the River Thames, and many feel that that will create a threat to the trees and wildlife here. So I've come not just for a walk, but to chat to experts and the first is the man responsible for coordinating the Woodland Trust response to big infrastructure projects and to chat to him about how infrastructure and nature can live hand in hand.  Jack: So I'm Jack Taylor, I'm the programme lead for the woods under threat team at the Woodland Trust.  Adam: Brilliant. And we're at Ashenbank Woods?  Jack: We are indeed.  Adam: Good, OK, sorry, yeah *laughs* I know I should sound more sure, we are at Ashenbank Woods.  Jack: I think its full title might be Ashenbank Woods SSSI, site of special scientific interest.  Adam: Oh right yes, yes. And we're going to see a bit later a colleague of yours, Clive, who will tell us more about the details of this woodland. But the reason why I wanted to talk to you first as we walk through, what is a lovely, actually dappled, dappled bit of woodland here is about your role in protecting places like this from development because, so what, what is your job?  Jack: Yeah, it's beautiful. That's a good question *laughs* what is my job? I I suppose the the base of it, the basis of it, the foundation really is about trying to protect ancient woods and ancient and veteran trees from forms of development, but also from other threats outside of that as well. So non-development threats like air pollution, pests and diseases, deer overbrowsing. Most of my work does focus on working within the development sector and trying to protect against those development threats.  Adam: Right, and you're the project lead.   Jack: Yeah.  Adam: When I first saw that, I thought you meant you're the project lead for this woodland, but you are not. You are the project lead for all development threatening woodlands throughout the UK. This is an extraordinary, I mean that's quite a job.  Jack: Yeah, it's it's a lot. There are a lot of threats to have to deal with across the UK because we're always building always sort of growing as a nation. We always need sort of new forms of infrastructure and new sort of housing. We recognise that. But all of that does come with the added impact of having threats on our ancient woods and ancient and veteran trees, so we have a team of myself and my my wonderful team of four as well.  Adam: Alright. Yeah, it's not big.  Jack: No, it's not big, but they they are enthusiastic and they're great at what they do.  Adam: So this is quite a political area because we've got a new government which has promised to improve lots of things, get the country working, build lots of homes. I think, I think the Prime Minister only recently talked about, you know, we're going to get spades in the ground, we're going to be doing stuff. Well, is it your job to stop all of that, I mean, or how do you balance what needs to be done for the country and what needs to be done to protect woodlands?  Jack: Yeah. So it's so none of this is really about stopping development from from happening and we we have to be sort of quite clear that that's not what we're set out to do as an organisation. It's about trying to ensure that where development is happening. It's not going to impact on our most important and our most valuable woods and trees and that's why we do have a focus specifically on ancient woodland, but and then also on ancient and veteran trees as well, because we know that for the most part, there are lots of really valuable woods and wooded and wooded habitats and trees that are plenty sort of valuable and important. But we know that ancient words and ancient and veteran trees are likely to be our most important sites. We have to focus on protecting those. So we do have to object to some developments where we think the harm is gonna be too great, but we're never really looking to stop them from happening, unless the harm is too great.  Adam: OK. Which way?  Jack: Umm, I think right.   Adam: OK. So one of the things I've noticed before, I mean, when I was following the HS2 debate, was politicians were going ‘it's fine, it's fine, it's fine. We'll cut this down, we're going to replace them. I tell you what, we'll do you a deal, we'll plant two for every one we cut down.' On the face of it that sounds reasonable?  Jack: OK. Yeah, not to us.   Adam: Why not?   Jack: Well, I think if you're, if you're looking at ancient woodlands and ancient and veteran trees, you're looking at something that is an irreplaceable habitat. There is no sort of recreating that habitat in in one space again, once it's been lost and the reason for that is these things take centuries to evolve and develop to create those sort of vital links between animals, plants, fungi, the soils as well. So ancient woodlands are especially important for their soils. So you can't really just take those soils and put them elsewhere because once that happens you completely disturb the relationships that have built up over centuries within them. And ancient and veteran trees, so you're talking about trees that for the most part are going to be centuries years old. How do you how do you replace centuries of development creating these wonderful sort of niche habitats for different parts of our ecosystems?   Adam: And is it, you said quite clearly that it's not your job or the Trust's job just to stop development, just to sort of blanket go, ‘hey, stop building' so is it about going, ‘don't build here' or is it about saying, ‘if you're gonna build here, this is how to do it with the least amount of impact'? What's the sort of your approach?  Jack: Yeah. In some cases it is about saying not, not building here. It depends what we're dealing with, I suppose so it's different if you're dealing with, say, housing developments or leisure facilities as opposed to something like rail infrastructure or road infrastructure, which is quite linear in nature, so they can only really go in one place to deliver its purpose, whereas housing is not as locationally dependent.  Adam: I see. So you feel you've got a better argument if it's a housing project, cause you can go, ‘put it somewhere else', but the train journey from A to B has to sort of go through this area. You're you're on a loser there are you?  Jack: Well, sometimes, but there are there are ways of of getting around sort of kind of impact. I mean it doesn't have to go absolutely sort of A to B in one way. You can think very carefully about the design to try and minimise impact on ancient woods. You can also look at alternative solutions, engineering solutions like tunnelling for example, so HS2 is a good example of that. The Phase One section which is going ahead between London and Birmingham, they actually put in a tunnel under the Chilterns, which saved about 14 hectares of woodland saved these three really good prime areas of ancient wood. And of course the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty came into that in a way, and they were trying to protect that also. But that was one solution to stop wildlife and nature being harmed.  Adam: Right. So that's, was this, were you involved with that?   Jack: Yeah, yeah.   Adam: Amazing. So how difficult was that to get that that project through and try to avoid the destruction of all that woodland?  Jack: Well, a lot a lot of destruction still is happening from High Speed 2. So about 20 hectares of ancient woodland has been destroyed at this stage now. A lot of the sort of preparation works for the Phase One section, that London to Birmingham bit, are now complete. So it it was difficult, but it it the way in which we were involved is we really brought ancient woodland to the table and put it at the forefront of considerations and and gave it a voice I suppose. It's not that it wasn't being looked at at all, but not nearly to the degree that we thought it needed to be looked at. And so we sort of kind of introduced that idea of well look, there's ancient woodland here, you need to be thinking carefully about the design and, you know, you think you're talking about halving the impacts on ancient woodlands from from our sort of kind of involvement and involvement of other conservation organisations in there as well.  Adam: So a lot of it is trying to say, to make the argument, but also to raise the profile of that argument,   Jack: Sure.  Adam: To bring, population and say this is actually a loss. You know, cutting it down is is a loss. So how much harder or easier has it got for you to make that argument?   Jack: Well, do you know, interestingly, I I would probably say that projects like High Speed 2, where there is such a big argument around the ancient woodland has raised the profile of ancient woodland itself. That's one of the sort of silver linings of that project for us, it's put sort of ancient woodland on the map in terms of habitat that needs to and is worthy of protection. So I think a lot of people now understand ancient woodland a bit better and what it is. There's still lots of awareness to do, you know, people just think of ancient woodlands as bluebells, big large oaks and it's not quite there. I mean, they're all so kind of varied in their nature and geographically across the country, but it's got people thinking about them.  Adam: So that was something of a success, although I know more complicated than just ‘yes, we won that'.   Jack: Sure, yeah.   Adam: Any areas you feel you really lost that, you know, keep you up at night, you go, that was that was a failure and you know, we've lost that woodland?  Jack: Yeah. I mean, there've been, there've been some over the years. Back in 2012 a a large quarry was built on an area of woodland called Oaken Wood in Kent, probably taking about out about 30 to 35 hectares of ancient woodland which is massive, massive amounts, I mean, you're talking about in the region it's like 40 to 50 football fields and and and we're actually dealing with another threat to that woodland from an expansion of that same quarry. So yeah, you know that that one is one that gnaws gnaws at us, is that, you know, we don't want to see that happening anymore.  Adam: Are you getting more optimistic that you know the public are more on your side that this is at least something that plays in policymakers' decisions now?  Jack: I I actually think the public have always really been on our side. I think if you ask the the general public, they would probably say to you, we do not want to see ancient woodlands subject to any loss or deterioration, whatever the cause.  Adam: Yeah, I think you're right. But they also say, yeah, but we like cheaper housing and want better transport links so.  Jack: Yeah. Well, I mean the Lower Thames Crossing, which is going to be affecting this site that we're in now, Ashenbank Wood is sort of a prime example of that the the intention of that project is to relieve traffic congestion on the existing Dartford Crossing.  Adam: Which I think actually I can hear in my headphones this, although we are, I mean it looks beautiful, there's quite a lot of background traffic noise. So we can't be that far away actually from from transport, from big roads. So explain to me you say this this particular site, Ashenbank Woods which is a site of Special Scientific Interest, so it's not just any old woods, this is a really special place, is under threat. What is the threat here?   Jack: So the threat here is partially there will be some loss to the wider SSSI ancient woodland in the area when you're losing sort of kind of, Ashenbank Wood itself is not going to be subject to much loss, although there is a cycle route diversion going through the woods that might impact on some of its special features.  Adam: Oh one second just, we've we've just turned off the path, we're just, oops crawling under some trees. I don't quite know why we've come, we we seem to have chosen the most difficult route. Well, it is beautiful because we've come off the path right into a magic dell.   Jack: There we go.  Adam: Oh, look, there's obviously some, I think, probably some kids have built a sort of camp, tent out of fallen branches. OK, so sorry so I understand that this is under threat from development, the the development plan though is what? What are they trying to do here?  Jack: So so what they're doing is they're building a new crossing further to the east of Dartford Crossing, but that's going to involve connecting...  Adam: A river crossing, a tunnel?  Jack: Yes a river crossing.   Adam: But it's a tunnel.   Jack: Yeah, it's a tunnel.  Adam: Why would that? That's that's great, surely?  Jack: Well, the tunnel goes under the Thames. But in order to connect the A2/M2 to the to the sort of tunnel portal, they're going to be going through a lot of ancient woodlands as a result. So just down the way Clay Lane Wood is one that's going to be heavily impacted by by the proposals, you know several hectares of ancient woodland loss there, but in terms of our wood itself, you're you're gonna have impacts on some of the veteran trees from some of the works that are required in here. But you're also sort of increasing the traffic around the area on A2/M2. And as you can hear, there's already quite loud background noise from the traffic. If that becomes louder, it further reduces the suitability of this habitat for a lot of species.  Adam: Right. So what are your, what are you doing?  Jack: Well we're campaigning against it for one thing. So we've been campaigning against it since 2016, trying to bring those bring those sort of impacts down as far as possible. At this point in time, I would probably say that it's unfeasible, that it could go ahead without causing loss or damage to ancient woodland and veteran trees, and that's something that we have to oppose as an organisation. So we're working with other environmental NGOs, conservation orgs like RSPB, Buglife, Wildlife Trust, CPRE to to oppose this scheme.  Adam: So, and if people want to keep an eye on the sort of campaigns you're running, and the sort of live issues around the country, where can they get that information?  Jack: They can go along to woodlandtrust.org.uk/campaigns and they'll be able to find out about what we're doing in terms of campaigning for protection of ancient woods and veteran trees. We've got a really great campaign at the moment, all about protecting ancient and veteran trees and we're stood in in front of one of these at the moment, we call them Living Legends.   Adam: Right OK, what a lovely link, because I I was gonna say you've brought me to a stand. It looks like a sculpture this, so what, so let me just briefly describe this. I mean, it's a hollowed out tree. There's, it almost looks like there's 3 or 4 bits of different trees supporting each other, and you can go hide in the middle. I mean, there's, I'd, I couldn't spread my arms in the middle, but I mean almost, you know, there's probably, I don't know, 4 or 5 foot wide in the middle. It's most extraordinary. What is this? What's going on here?  Jack: So I would probably say this is an ancient ash tree. As trees sort of grow older, they they have to sort of kind of allow their heartwood to to rot away because that's what keeps them sort of stable and secure and in doing so that creates really important habitat for wildlife. And so this is what has happened to this ash tree effectively, its heartwood has sort of rotted away, it's still got this kind of all important surrounding ripewood to be able to support the rest of the tree.  Adam: That's extraordinary. So the the, the, the wood at the centre of the tree, the heartwood has gone?  Jack: Yes, yeah, yeah, cause it it's not it's not really useful for for trees at that sort of point. It's it's no longer the part of the wood that's carrying the sort of the water and nutrients up the tree. That's what the sort of outer ripewood does. So the heartwood decays away as they as they grow older.  Adam: And that's just ash trees is it?  Jack: No, that's that's pretty much all. Yeah.  Adam: How ignorant am I? OK, fine. OK. I didn't realise that that happens to all trees. And it looks like that would cause an instability problem, but this looks actually fairly fairly stable, it's fine.  Jack: It it's it's actually it's actually the other way they do it because it allows them to remain as stable as possible. And I I mean this one it doesn't, it doesn't look in the best sort of structural condition does it, but they need to do that for their sort of physiological condition because if they have if they're trying to support too much sort of heartwood then it affects the trees energy balances. And I mean that there's actual sort of scientific things here between the kinetic and the potential energy in a tree and why why they do this but all old trees do it and in turn it creates this amazing habitat, so you can see all these little holes in the in the sort of kind of inside wood and the decaying wood as well, where insects have sort of burrowed into it, where birds would be, woodpeckers, you know would be would be accessing that as well.   Adam: Yeah. Amazing   Jack: Amazing structures, aren't they?  Adam: And so I'm going to meet now, one of the people responsible for actually managing woods such as Ashenbank, and he's waiting for me a bit further into the woods.  Clive: OK, I'm Clive, Clive Steward, I'm one of the estate managers for the Woodland Trust working in the South East.  Adam: So what is important about this site? What makes this wood special?  Clive: What makes this site special is that it's ancient woodland or partly ancient woodland, but it's also managed as a wood pasture or has been managed as a wood pasture in the past, and because of that habitat it has lots and lots of old trees and old trees is very important in terms of what they support in terms of dead and decaying habitats.  Adam: Right, so well we're standing by this extraordinary ash tree, I mean, it's extraordinary that there's an ash tree at all, given ash dieback, but it's extraordinary for all sorts of other reasons. But is ash a big part of this woodland?  Clive: In terms of its name, Ashenbank, you you think it should be but but it's it is a component of the site but it's not, the majority species is not ash.   Adam: What is this site then?  Clive: So mostly sycamore and we're in the northern part of Ashenbank where we've got a lot of sycamore and we've got some really big old sweet chestnuts, but there are lovely old oak trees and hornbeam trees.  Adam: Right. And so when we talk about ancient woodland, it's always worth, I suppose, explaining a bit about what we mean because clearly will go, well, that's old. But old for trees can be a whole different sort of thing. So how, what, what, what do you mean when you're talking about ancient woodlands?  Clive: Well, when we say ancient woodland ancient woodland is defined as areas which have been permanently wooded since 1600AD. That's the sort of the the the date.  Adam: Oh right, I didn't realise it was that precise.  Clive: Well, it well, yes, it's roughly when big old estates used to produce maps, so they discovered paper and started drawing maps of what they owned but prior so before this this, the assumption is that if it's wooded then it would have been wooded ever since the Ice Age retreated but managed by mankind for for thousands of years.  Adam: So we're, we're assuming actually that ancient woodland is all it's probably been here since the Ice Age?  Clive: Yes. Yeah.  Adam: So that's why I mean that's it's worth I think pausing on that because it's why when we're talking about ‘oh, we'll have to destroy a bit of woodland for a tree, for a road' sorry, we're talking about taking away a bit of the landscape, which has been there since the Ice Age probably. So that's quite a big deal to have done that.  Clive: Yeah, yeah. It is. It is. Yeah. The the other part of Ashenbank, which is the bit we're in is a more recently wooded area, probably about 200 years old. I have a a map here which is not good for a podcast, but I can show you a map.  Adam: Go on go on, we can describe this. Hold on. I'll hold the microphone and you can describe what we're seeing. So go on, yes.  Clive: So we have a a map here of Ashenbank Wood dating from 1797, which shows the woodland it used to be. I have another map showing the wood as it is today. So here's a map from a couple of years ago, but we're we're actually up here, which in the 1797 map shows fields. And now, now, now it's woods. So so basically, what's happened this Ashenbank used to be owned by Cobham Hall, which is a big estate to the east of Halfpence Lane, so this used to be partly of Cobham Hall Estate and in 1790, as many of these big old estates houses used to do, they used used they they employed a landscape architect to make their their grounds nicer as it were. So it wasn't Capability Brown, but it was a chap called Humphrey Repton who worked on this site from 1790 to about 1880, when he died 1818 when he died. And he landscaped the estate and the view from the house over to here looking west to what is now Ashenbank Wood was obviously important to him. So they actually planted a lot of these big old chestnuts which we walked past, which date from 200 years ago.  Adam: Which is very nice and we often hear about cutting trees down and looking at old maps going ‘oh, we've lost all that wood', here's an example of the reverse to actually that's a good nature story.  Clive: Yeah, yeah, definitely it is. Yes. As you get older, as they get older, these trees there are microhabitats which develop rot pockets, branches fall off, they they rot, big holes develop and that that's these microhabitats which are home to what's called saproxylic species.   Adam: OK, that's a new word, saproxylic?  Clive: Saproxylic. So saproxylics are are basically insects and beetles and flies which only exist in dead and decaying wood. So if these big old trees weren't around, they've got nowhere to live.  Adam: Right, which is why it's useful to have deadwood on the ground. It's not so, it looks untidy, but actually that's often the richest place.  Clive: Indeed. Yeah, yes, but often, but often these insects and beetles are actually in the living tree, not in the in the horizontal, dead and dying stuff. And it's the living trees, which are are why this habitat is so important.  Adam: But I thought you said you said they're living in the living trees, but but saproxylic means they're living in the dead trees?  Clive: But within these big old trees, there are these rot holes and pockets and little microhabitats within the tree...  Adam: Yes, which are dead and that's where they live?   Clive: Where they live yeah that's right.  Adam: Right OK. Yeah, very interesting. OK, very interesting. Now, there's also, I knew I was told, but I'm completely confused by, an idea that I'm told that goes on here of strapping deadwood to live trees. Did I did I misunderstand that?  Clive: No, no, you you didn't misunderstand it. No.   Adam: OK and you're going to show me where this is ?  Clive: Yep. Shall we shall we go, we'll we'll walk there, have a look.  Adam: Alright. Brilliant. So you've taken me to this tree, a very substantial tree, but next to it, this is the a bit of, what, you better explain, because this is really odd and I don't really understand what I'm looking at.  Clive: Right. Well, going back to 1999 when High Speed One was being built, they took out three hectares of Ashenbank Wood along with lots of other woodland in the area. And fortunately, somebody had the idea of of suggesting that we could save some of those big trees they felled and reerecting them against living trees to help them degrade and and become part of the habitat.  Adam: So I mean to describe this, we've got a very big tree. What sort of tree is this?  Clive: So you've got a big, big oak tree.  Adam: That's a big oak, and next to it is 6, 12, I don't know, 30 foot, 40 foot high dead tree, bit of bark. But it's it's not like a small, it's a 40 foot bit of bark which you have propped onto the living tree. Why is it better to have done that than just to leave it on the ground?  Clive: Well, it's about these microhabitats. So I mean, it's not just propped up it's actually strapped to it, so it's actually quite secure.  Adam: It is secure, that's y your health and safety hat on.  Clive: We had to make sure it was strapped up, but vertical dead or decaying wood is equally as important as horizontal, dead and decaying wood.  Adam: OK. Is it different? What, does it do different things?  Clive: The wood doesn't but it attracts different insects and species so that that that's why so. But in most in most woodlands you'll see deadwood as being felled trees which are lying or windblown. You don't often see dead vertical trees.  Adam: I've never seen that.  Clive: Well, they're often well, they're often felled and taken out for firewood or something but they are important as as a sort of microhabitat for these saproxylics. That that's purely why.  Adam: So the saproxylics which are insects which live on deadwood prefer, some prefer the high rise living of the vertical tree rather than the low level bungalow type living. But what what sort of, do you do, don't worry if you don't know, but do you know which insects prefer living vertically?   Clive: I I don't know that.  Adam: You don't. Somebody will, somebody will.  Clive: Yeah somebody will. But if you look at that tree, you'll see that it's a there's a there's a U-shaped crook 2/3 way up and in that there's there's a there's a hole which has probably got water in it. So water gathers from rain and that's that that little microhabitat will be, something will live in it. And if that was horizontal, it wouldn't be there.  Adam: Right, yes, yes. Well that I think this must be, I mean, we've been doing this for a few years. I've never seen that. So that is amazing. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. So I know that the history of this site goes back quite a long way, not just the natural history, but the human history as well, and am I right in saying there's quite quite a lot of sort of Bronze Age heritage here?  Clive: Well, we've got a Scheduled Ancient Monument which has been dated to between 2000 and 1500 BC, which is a big burial mount and it is scheduled and it's, you know, English Heritage monitor it and we have to make sure it's free of trees and it's there to see.  Adam: Right. Wow. And it's interesting you talk about it's there to see because we came and parked in the Woodland Trust car park. Free parking, as is normal in Woodland Trust places, first time though a full car park. We are here midweek during the day. I was surprised to see it's full so talking about visitors, this is clearly a, I mean have I just come at a weird time, have they all come to see the Woodland Trust podcast being made, it's right, it's a popular site. That always feels like contention to me because I know you want to encourage people to come, on the other hand, coming in a sort of, destroys a bit of what we see. How much of a problem are the level of visitors?  Clive: Well, we basically have a path network through Ashenbank Wood which we maintain, we mow, we make sure it's open and safe. So most people walk on those those paths which steers people around the the wood, as it were, so and we we don't stop people from walking off the path but most people don't cause it's, you know, nettles or brambles or whatever. It's difficult to do.  Adam: Right, yes. And keeping dogs on the lead and everything. You've been with the Trust for a long time, haven't you, really. What sort of change have you seen in the the the debate around the natural world in your time here?  Clive: That's a big question.  Adam: Have you, I mean, sort of, it assumes you have seen a change, you might not have seen a change. I mean I the reason I ask it is because it feels to me it's gone up the political agenda, that it's not just, you know, people dismissively talking about crazy tree huggers and let them onto their own thing. It's become more mainstream. Do you think that that's it's become more optimistic, do you think it's become more pessimistic, do you think, you you know, it's become more informed, I suppose?  Clive: Well, I think there's a growing recognition that ancient woodland is a special habitat, but it hasn't quite gone far enough to get total protection. But I think there's a growing realisation that ancient woodland is special and we need to look after it. And I think the politicians probably do understand it, but maybe can't quite make that move to legislate against total protection.  Adam: Yeah. And I think that's part of the Living Legend campaign that the Woodland Trust is organising, isn't it?  Clive: Definitely is. Yeah. Yeah, very much so.  Adam: Well, there were two websites we talked about today. So if you want to get involved in a local campaign, search for ‘Woodland Trust campaigns' and you can find out more about the attempts to get better legal protection for ancient and veteran trees by searching for the Living Legends campaign and of course I hope you get a chance to visit Ashenbank Woods yourself. So until next time, happy wandering.  Thank you for listening to the Woodland Trust Woodland Walks. Join us next month when Adam will be taking another walk in the company of Woodland Trust staff, partners and volunteers. And don't forget to subscribe to the series on iTunes or wherever you are listening. And do give us a review and a rating. If you want to find out more about our woods and those that are close to you, check out the Woodland Trust website. Just head to the visiting woods pages. Thank you. 

Recorded live at Above Below 2024, Chiltern Hills, UK. Earlier this summer I had the pleasure of finally visiting Above Below, a magically warm and inspiring festival tucked intimately within the Chilterns which I had heard so much about over years. What I discovered there was a community that immediately felt like home, a weekend full of moments both immaculately deep & breathlessly exuberant, and a true sense of independence and discovery in the spirit of the festival. Playing in the UK will always be a special honor for me, and I wanted to capture my appreciation for such a pivotal scene while pushing myself in ways that are distinctly my own. This set helped me find more than a few footholds in my own practice and I'm so happy to share the recording, one from a lineup full of friends & inspirations. Hope you enjoy it! @abovebelowfestival Artwork by Malte Schumann.

Bringing the fourth series of the SFT podcast to a close, Patrick Holden caught up with longtime friend and one of the pioneers of the UK's organic farming movement, Iain ‘Tolly' Tolhurst. “We need to bring farming back into society. It's become completely divorced from society.” Tolhurst Organic, located on the Hardwick Estate between the Chilterns and the river Thames, is a model of sustainability, and one of the longest running organic vegetable farms in England. For over 40 years, Tolly has been producing a wide range of seasonal, organic fruits and vegetables, which are sold to the local community through a box scheme. His farm was the first to attain the “Stockfree Organic” symbol in 2004, and there have been no grazing animals and no animal inputs to any part of the farm for over 30 years. To build soil fertility, Iain uses green manures as part of a crop rotation, as well as using vegetable and woodchip compost from waste materials. With his extensive knowledge and experience of organic food production, Iain also delivers educational talks across the UK and beyond, and runs a consultancy service giving advice on organic conversion and production, helping to train and educate farmers and growers for the future. During this episode, Patrick and Tolly explore the economics of farming and what it means to pay the ‘right price' for our food. Tolly also talks about the productive capacity of Tolhurst Organic and how they're feeding the surrounding community through their veg box scheme. Patrick and Iain delve into the current state of the UK farming sector amidst the changing policy around farm subsidies and how this is affecting both organic and conventional farmers, before closing with a conversation on the importance of demonstration farms for informing and educating people about the story behind their food and the need to incentivise farmers for this. To find out more about Iain and Tolhurst Organic, follow @tolhurstorganicveg on Instagram, or visit www.tolhurstorganic.co.uk. This conversation has been split into two episodes – for part one click here, or find the episode wherever you get your podcasts from. To listen to more SFT podcasts, featuring some of the biggest names in regenerative food and farming, head to our main podcast page. And to keep up with our news, you can subscribe to our fortnightly newsletter or follow us on Instagram, X or Facebook.

Bringing the fourth series of the SFT podcast to a close, Patrick Holden caught up with longtime friend and one of the pioneers of the UK's organic farming movement, Iain ‘Tolly' Tolhurst. Tolhurst Organic, located on the Hardwick Estate between the Chilterns and the river Thames, is a model of sustainability, and one of the longest running organic vegetable farms in England. For over 40 years, Iain has been producing a wide range of seasonal, organic fruits and vegetables, which are sold to the local community through a box scheme. His farm was the first to attain the “Stockfree Organic” symbol in 2004, and there have been no grazing animals and no animal inputs to any part of the farm for over 30 years. To build soil fertility, Iain uses green manures as part of a crop rotation, as well as using vegetable and woodchip compost from waste materials. With his extensive knowledge and experience of organic food production, Iain also delivers educational talks across the UK and beyond, and runs a consultancy service giving advice on organic conversion and production, helping to train and educate farmers and growers for the future. During this episode, Patrick and Iain recount how they first met in 1981 when the UK Organic Farming movement was still in its infancy, and Iain shares the origin of his passion for horticulture, including his earliest influences. They also discuss the impacts of World War II on agriculture in the UK and what lessons we can learn from this, before digging into Iain's farming practices including the use of wood chip, as well as a discussion around the the role of livestock. To find out more about Iain and Tolhurst Organic, follow @tolhurstorganicveg on Instagram, or visit https://www.tolhurstorganic.co.uk. This conversation has been split into two episodes – tune in for part two on Wednesday 10th April. To listen to more SFT podcasts, featuring some of the biggest names in regenerative food and farming, head to our main podcast page. And to keep up with our news, you can subscribe to our fortnightly newsletter or follow us on Instagram, Xor Facebook.

Paul and Rob's epic trot through the beautiful Chilterns draws to a close. Featuring Rob's transcendental potato, Paul's pack, a pretty park, the view from the top, a bit of yoga talk, the quest for moderation, the commitment to a twenty mile run, plans for the train home, a surprise moment of vertigo practice, the inspirational final descent and the search for inspiration in the main event, and... Tring! Part Three is also available now, if you haven't heard it yet; you're welcome, long-runners.SUBSCRIBE for early access, ad-free listening and more... and BUY OUR BOOKS; you can get Rob's book Running Tracks here - https://www.waterstones.com/book/running-tracks/rob-deering/9781800180444 - and you can get Paul's book 26.2 Miles to Happiness here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/26-2-miles-to-happiness/paul-tonkinson/9781472975270You can download Rob's show Long Distance Man here: gofasterstripe.com/ldThanks for listening, supporting, and sharing your adventures with us. Happy running.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/runningcommentary. Thanks for listening - we'll be back next week, and if you're desperate in the meantime, subscribe and become a Fan - there are hundreds of old episodes you can have a go on, AND you'll get next week's episode three days early. Happy running! https://plus.acast.com/s/runningcommentary. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rob and Paul's mileage is into double figures as their run through the Chilterns continues - with a long long climb back up to the tops. Featuring hydration vest but no hydration, Rob's continuing thumbnail drama, a little bit of fuelling, Mothers' Day, old roads, new railways, notes on the Brits, time being called on Rob's #RunningTracksRadioHour, no poles for Paul, men's midlife medical material, a spooky spot, a transcendental potato, 'asking the question' in training, and a nice surprise, distance-wise.Part Four is also available now; you're welcome, long-runners!SUBSCRIBE for early access, ad-free listening and more... and BUY OUR BOOKS; you can get Rob's book Running Tracks here - https://www.waterstones.com/book/running-tracks/rob-deering/9781800180444 - and you can get Paul's book 26.2 Miles to Happiness here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/26-2-miles-to-happiness/paul-tonkinson/9781472975270You can download Rob's show Long Distance Man here: gofasterstripe.com/ldThanks for listening, supporting, and sharing your adventures with us. Happy running.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/runningcommentary. Thanks for listening - we'll be back next week, and if you're desperate in the meantime, subscribe and become a Fan - there are hundreds of old episodes you can have a go on, AND you'll get next week's episode three days early. Happy running! https://plus.acast.com/s/runningcommentary. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Back to the Chilterns with Rob and Paul in the second of the four episodes that make up this epic run - but will they make it to twenty miles? Featuring magic number four, that Chiltern-and-Ridgeway vibe, more posh places, gig report and the changes to the comedy circuit, Paul's pack part two, wending through Wendover, Rob sustaining a shocking, zip-based injury, the half-way obelisk objective, losing mileage by not getting lost, international marathons and best-before dates.Part One is also available now, if you missed it, and there'll be two more chapters next week; you're welcome, long-runners!SUBSCRIBE for early access, ad-free listening and more... and BUY OUR BOOKS; you can get Rob's book Running Tracks here - https://www.waterstones.com/book/running-tracks/rob-deering/9781800180444 - and you can get Paul's book 26.2 Miles to Happiness here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/26-2-miles-to-happiness/paul-tonkinson/9781472975270You can download Rob's show Long Distance Man here: gofasterstripe.com/ldThanks for listening, supporting, and sharing your adventures with us. Happy running.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/runningcommentary. Thanks for listening - we'll be back next week, and if you're desperate in the meantime, subscribe and become a Fan - there are hundreds of old episodes you can have a go on, AND you'll get next week's episode three days early. Happy running! https://plus.acast.com/s/runningcommentary. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We join Paul and Rob in Chesham where they head off into the Chilterns in the first of the four episodes that make up this epic run - but will they make it to twenty miles? Featuring Paul's pack, Herbert's Hole, many a muddy morass, a fun parkrun, happy campers at the MDS, salt tablets, stopping and starting, posh places, Chiltern love and how to solve a drinking problem.Part Two is also available now, and there'll be two more chapters next week; you're welcome, long-runners!SUBSCRIBE for early access, ad-free listening and more... and BUY OUR BOOKS; you can get Rob's book Running Tracks here - https://www.waterstones.com/book/running-tracks/rob-deering/9781800180444 - and you can get Paul's book 26.2 Miles to Happiness here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/26-2-miles-to-happiness/paul-tonkinson/9781472975270You can download Rob's show Long Distance Man here: gofasterstripe.com/ldThanks for listening, supporting, and sharing your adventures with us. Happy running.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/runningcommentary. Thanks for listening - we'll be back next week, and if you're desperate in the meantime, subscribe and become a Fan - there are hundreds of old episodes you can have a go on, AND you'll get next week's episode three days early. Happy running! https://plus.acast.com/s/runningcommentary. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The boys head off the Heath towards Primrose Hill, Regents Park and beyond, on a windy, muddy Tonks' MDS training run. Featuring Paul kitting himself out for the MDS - technically AND spiritually, Rob mis-identifying a classic car, tough talk, the what the why and the guy on high, top hat, white tie and tails, Susie Chan and Lisa Arscott, fear of heights (untested by Primrose Hill), Rob's posh minibreak, Paul's many guests, a legendary moment of slapstick, foot talk, long run report, strength training and/or breaking America, man down, 'on we go', digesting in the desert, and next week's potential ultra dress rehearsal in the Chilterns.SUBSCRIBE for early access, ad-free listening and more... and BUY OUR BOOKS; you can get Rob's book Running Tracks here - https://www.waterstones.com/book/running-tracks/rob-deering/9781800180444 - and you can get Paul's book 26.2 Miles to Happiness here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/26-2-miles-to-happiness/paul-tonkinson/9781472975270Sponsor Paul's MDS here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/paul-tonkinsonYou can download Rob's show Long Distance Man here: gofasterstripe.com/ldThanks for listening, supporting, and sharing your adventures with us. Happy running.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/runningcommentary. Thanks for listening - we'll be back next week, and if you're desperate in the meantime, subscribe and become a Fan - there are hundreds of old episodes you can have a go on, AND you'll get next week's episode three days early. Happy running! https://plus.acast.com/s/runningcommentary. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Local leaders are to receive £4.7 billion to transform transport in the North and Midlands through the Local Transport Fund – money that has apparently been reallocated from HS2. But is there a catch? Why has the Government still not committed to Northern Powerhouse Rail? Henri Murison, Chief Executive of The Northern Powerhouse Partnership joins us to discuss! Avanti West Coast talk about what they are doing for women, and we hear from an expert on what more the whole industry needs to do. The countdown to the return of rail services to Levenmouth is on. And… Florence the HS2 TBM (tunnel boring machine) completes her 10-mile journey under the Chilterns. Green Signals: Website - http://www.greensignals.org Newsletter - http://www.greensignals.org/#mailing-list   Follow: X (Twitter) - https://twitter.com/greensignallers LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-signals-productions-ltd Instagram - https://instagram.com/greensignallers   Credits: Presenters - Nigel Harris (@railnigel on X) & Richard Bowker CBE (@SRichardBowker). General Manager: Stef Foster (@stefatrail)

This weeks assembled panel convene to discuss some of Buckinghamshire's most mispronounced place names and discuss their brushes with fame with the local celebrities they've met in and around The Chilterns. We also answer our usual mindfulness teaser to close out the show where we get self reflective with our favourite character traits. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Friends2Gether is the intergenerational project funded by The National Lottery focusing on improving the wellbeing of those aged 18-25 and 55+. The aim of the project is to bring older and younger people together to provide mutually beneficial support and skill sharing opportunities in a creative and fun environment.

Back after Ben's January hiatus. In the first of our 2024 themed sections - School - we talk about trundle wheels, home-made sports kits, last day golf and dog-tod. Sadly I lost an episode at Christmas , but salvaged the quiz.We review The Holdovers, and cover Chiltern Brewery  in the brand new drinks section.Big fat bonus episode because we like to spoil you.Additional music by SergeQuadrado, AlexiAction, Muzaproduction, Ashot-Danielyan, Julius H, RomanSenykMusic, AudioCoffee, SoundGalleryBy, Grand_Project, geoffharvey, Guitar_Obsession, Lexin_Music, AhmadMousavipour, melodyayresgriffiths, DayNigthMorning, litesaturation, 1978DARK, lemonmusicstudio, Onoychenkomusic, soundly, Darockart - All can be found on Pixabay.Main Reclining Pair theme by Robert John Music. Contact me for details.

Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast: Land Rover Edition This is one of our "Land Rover Editions" which is to say, slightly noisy.  I'm on my way to and from the Hearing Dogs for a shoot, which is always lovely.  Various topics, but mostly "Yvonne's Law: Shoot For Dough Before Shooting For Show".  In other words, it's all about your client before it's about us and our lust for awards! haha.  Sadly, it does mean you can't always create award-winning or qualification-worthy images on every client job, no matter how much you want to! 00:00 Introduction and Land Rover Editions 01:06 The Journey and the Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast 03:04 The Importance of Being Part of the Photography Industry 04:35 The Challenges of Recording Podcasts and Listener Engagement 06:00 The Timelessness of Radio Programs 07:05 The Arrival at Hearing Dogs and the Importance of Initials 07:45 The Challenges of Building a Website and Judging Image Competitions 16:08 The Arrival at the Wedding and Yvonne's Law 20:14 The Wedding Shoot and the Difference Between Shooting for Show and Dough 27:17 Conclusion and Farewell   Enjoy! Cheers P. If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography, for more articles and videos about this beautiful industry. You can also read a full transcript of this episode. PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think! If there are any topics, you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk.  Full Transcript: EP145 Yvonne's Law Introduction and Land Rover Editions [00:00:00] As I'm absolutely certain you can hear, I'm back in the Land Rover. I think maybe, maybe I should call these the Land Rover Editions and actually separate them out from our normal podcasts. Mostly because when I was at the photography show at the beginning of the year, quite a few people came up to me and said how much they enjoyed them. [00:00:24] Though looking in the mirror right now, I do look like I think a pilot, with my microphone, it's either that or Madonna, and I don't know which is better. I'm gonna go with pilot with the microphone on. However, quite a few people came up to me and said how much they enjoyed the podcast, when it's from the Land Rover, the podcast episodes. [00:00:43] Except for Fiona. Fiona told me in no uncertain terms that not so keen, doesn't like them, wish I'd stopped doing them. Sadly however, look at the weather out here, it's just ridiculous. There's a huge flood. Water everywhere. Good job I'm driving this thing, I think. It's going to be an exciting trip. [00:01:03] Note to self drive careful. The Journey and the Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast [00:01:06] Anyway, this is one of the Land Rover editions of the Mastering Portrait, no, hang on, yes, no, that's right. I'm Paul. This is a Land Rover edition of the Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast. [00:01:33] The challenge with doing these particular versions of the podcast is, of course, the priority is to arrive safely at wherever it is I'm heading. [00:01:44] Today it's the Hearing Dogs: I've got to photograph of some newborn puppies. Well, eight weeks old, so cute, yeah, cute. And also some Christmas stock imagery. The date today is the something of February. What is it? 7th, 8th, 9th something of February. Haven't looked the date up. And we're doing the Christmas, or some of the Christmas stock imagery ready for the end of the year. [00:02:06] Now in some ways it feels absolutely ridiculous that we're doing that, but on the other hand, it's perfectly planned. So I'm actually quite happy about it because normally, every year I've photographed Christmas stock imagery in sort of August, which makes life very tricky when you're trying to hide flowers, make it, the light look slightly bluer. [00:02:25] And ignoring the fact that the dog is panting in the heat. Today, that's not going to be a problem. It's 4 degrees according to the thermometer on the car. It is absolutely tipping it down with rain and has been by the look of it for the past 12 hours because there are floods everywhere. It's going to be a slightly lively journey through the lanes of Buckinghamshire to the Hearing Dogs site. [00:02:49] So anyway, Fiona, I'm sorry I've, I set out at the beginning of the year that I was going to run at least once a week, the podcast would come out once a week, but finding the time for that has been nigh on impossible. On Tuesday. The Importance of Being Part of the Photography Industry [00:03:04] We spent the entire morning judging the images for the British Institute of Professional Photographers, the BIPP image competition, which is such a joyous, I mean, you know, some of the greatest pleasures of getting involved in the industry are that I'm involved in the industry. [00:03:21] I know that may be alien to some people. I get asked quite a bit, what do you get out of it? And I'm going to guess that everybody who sticks their head over the parapet and does judging, mentoring, gets involved with various associations. You get a fairly, a fairly repeated question of what on earth is in it, for me, for other, you know, people asking why they would join, for instance. [00:03:44] What do I get for my 15 quid a month or whatever it is, I don't even know how much it is. And the answer I'd always say is I get to be part of something. I get to be part of something bigger than just myself, Sarah, Michelle, and we're actually a pretty big business when it comes to the photography industry in terms of brand, but also in terms of turnover. [00:04:02] We have a You know, a reasonably big business, the three of us run but it's still, in terms of the industry itself, if it wasn't for the associations, we'd be running it on our own, and yeah, alright, I'm with clients all the time, which is amazing, but it's the, things like the society's convention. Being part of the BIPP. [00:04:19] com, being a judge for the FEP, that's just started this week, so I'm judging for the Federation of European Photographers as well, and it looks like I'm about to do some judging across the pond. with our American friends. The Challenges of Recording Podcasts and Listener Engagement [00:04:35] So, all in all, a lot's going on and, and , finding time to record the podcast just isn't that easy. [00:04:42] On top of that, the thing I've suddenly had to become increasingly cognizant of is I've started to get emails of people who are discovering the podcast for the first time and are now listening to back episodes, and this particular message, I suppose, was triggered, or this thought was triggered, by an email that came from another Paul, I mean, great name, of course, another Paul, who had started listening to the podcast, and when he emailed in the other day, he was on episode 31. [00:05:09] Now, I didn't look up the date of episode 31, but given we've been doing this for about Eight years now. Seven or eight years. Episode 31 is quite a long way back. Goodness only knows what's changed since then. And it may be another six years at that run rate before he gets to this episode of 145. So, who knows? [00:05:33] So now I've got to be very careful. I don't get too specific on dates because by the time some people listen to these episodes it could be well out of date. Equally, there are people who've probably started episodes What, 144, and are now working their way backwards, but still won't get to 100, this episode, 145, for quite a long time. [00:05:53] So forgive me if some of the stuff I talk about is very particular to the moment. Can't do a lot about that. The Timelessness of Radio Programs and the Future of the Podcast [00:06:00] One of my favourite radio programmes to listen to is Letter from America. Have I talked about this before? I've no idea. Letter from America, by a guy called Alastair Cook. He's, he's dead now. [00:06:12] This was on Radio 4, BBC Radio 4, and I think you can still Listen to it. Oh, I listened to it on the BBC Sounds app and many of the back episodes are there. And I really like the fact that it's of its time. I was listening to an episode the other day that was actually about the Middle East, and it's incredible. [00:06:31] I mean, These episodes must be, I think, 40 years old? You're looking at the mid 80s. And the politic of the region and things that were going on sounded like they could have been today, right here, right now. And I find stuff like that really interesting. So I suppose in a sense you can have a recording that is of its moment and yet still be pertinent later on. The Arrival at the Hearing Dogs Site and the Struggles of PodcastingThe Arrival at the Hearing Dogs Site and the Struggles of Podcasting [00:06:57] If I'm still doing this in 40 years, I don't know if I'm going to be driving around the country photographing hearing dogs, but that's what we're doing today. So thank you to Paul for emailing in. It's lovely to get these emails. We get them from people dotted all over the world. [00:07:12] Describing what they're up to. I try to get back to everybody within a certain time frame not always possible, but I do try to, to do it. And those that sort of make me smile, I, I talk about on the podcast itself. Uh, An awful lot going on just at the moment, which is also a reason why I haven't managed To do a sit down at my desk recording really, the only time I've got. [00:07:34] Sorry, I'm so sorry Fiona, I know, alright, I know. But I'll try and make the broadcast as clear as I can. [00:07:41] Even in this clattering vehicle. The Development of the Mastering Portrait Photography Website [00:07:45] Still building the masteringportraitphotography. com website, causing me no end of head scratch. The hardest bit is a combination of technology and trying to figure out where Articles should sit. It's not, it turns out, as straightforward as I would like. Mostly because the platform we're using, or trying to use, or switching to, is more basic than the one I have at the moment. [00:08:12] So the one I have at the moment, I can do anything I like. WordPress, with all of its plugins and all of its technology, of course you can do anything you like. But the problem is, with that kind of power comes an immense amount of work. Keeping on top of it, making sure it's patched correctly, making sure that all my licenses are up to date. [00:08:32] And on top of that, a huge amount of expenditure. Because of its sophistication, well, you pay for it. So, what we're trying to do is simplify everything, because I don't really need that power to do the things I need to do. It's overkill, really, although I enjoy having that sort of level of control. [00:08:54] But the kicker, of course, is now we're simplifying things down, is I'm discovering that certain core things that I relied on, for instance, the structure of how one article can be the child of another article, so you can have a parent which is a really simple idea. The Challenges of Creating a User-Friendly Website [00:09:12] But very powerful. I can't do that on the new platform, so I'm having to figure out ways of still making the content visible, make it logical make it easy to upload and easy to access. [00:09:24] And have a structure that really makes sense, but haven't necessarily been able to find the way of doing that. The Experience of Judging for the BIPP Image Competition [00:09:32] Of course, things like judging the other day they take up time too, but it warranted pleasure. It was just It's the new BIPP monthly competition. So this was month one. So if you're listening to this podcast five years later, you will know whether the BIPP. [00:09:47] com monthly competition has been a success because this was the very first round. A couple of hundred entries, which is really nice. Hopefully that will climb but the, the fun of it is sitting we've recorded the call, so I have it as an audit trial, but sitting on this video conference with two judges looking at images and enjoying the process of assessing images. [00:10:10] Now, the only thing is, it didn't really occur to me, I thought we'll film this, we'll do it properly, so we're using a bit of software called Squadcast which is brilliant, it's one of the, it's, there are various things, a bit, Riverside FM is another one. Where you do it as if it was Zoom, but the video and audio for each participant is recorded locally on their machine, which means it's really high quality. [00:10:29] I can run that then into our podcast software and do an automated transcription, transcribe it, because the new AI tools are Word Perfect. It's brilliant. However, what I hadn't allowed for in the four hour recording is, of course, we judge in silence. Why? Well, it's not because we're really dull. [00:10:53] Well, maybe it is. It's because, actually, we want each judge to determine the score for the image independently. And if there's chatter, if people are sighing, if people are going, Oh, if only they'd done this better, it influences the, the, the judges. They influence each other. And of course, we want there to be an independent scoring because that helps to take out any sort of personal or subjective, I mean the whole thing is subjective, but sort of variability and, and outside influence. So it's great, they judge in silence, they punch in their scores, I announce the score and record it. It doesn't make for a very interesting video. So I'm now not certain that we'll ever release these things because the idea was, and still is, to find ways of providing insight into why an image does well, why an image maybe hasn't done so well, what the judge's thoughts are, but we never really do that during judging. [00:11:50] So, having to have a think about how we might do it. We certainly can't critique a couple of hundred images in the time we have available. And we're going to do this every month. And the thing about the judges is that they are not retired. They are not Part time photographers. These are the best of the best. [00:12:10] They have to be. They have to be current. They have to have their eye in. They have to be working pros for the judging to have validity. If I just used people who are no longer in the industry, they're no longer up to date. They're no longer current. So it's not that I can use judges that have, or we can use judges that have a ton of time at their fingertips. [00:12:33] The most important thing about the judges is they are current and as such they need to be working and if they're working I cannot get a hole in their diary for more than a few hours at a time so we can't critique every image. It's not physically possible but somehow I've got to find a way of getting some of this information out to everyone who entered, entered the monthly competition. [00:13:00] Anyway, it's a lot of fun doing it and those results, the first set of results, will come out. Next week. So if you're a BIPP. com member, look out for those results if you're listening to the podcast. And of course, I would encourage all of you to enter. You get one free image every month. You don't need to pay any money. [00:13:18] But just make sure, just because it's free, doesn't mean that it can be any old image. It's a real competition. We're judging it to the international print competition standard. So it's tough. I make no apology for that. It's really tough, and as such, it's not your everyday work that is going to do really well. [00:13:41] And I'm gonna come back to that as a topic of conversation on the return leg of this journey. However, before I do that, as I'm getting fairly close to the hearing dogs now, the weather's improving. It's still pretty horrible, but at least it's not literally lashing it down as it was when I got into the car. [00:13:58] Quick tip! The Importance of Presets in Photography [00:13:59] This is a quick tip for nothing. It's not the subject of the podcast, but I thought about it while I was a moment ago prepping some files for a upload, and I was in Lightroom, and then in one of the Nik ColorFX, uh, plugins. Is, there are so many presets, lots, presets for plugins, presets for Lightroom. [00:14:23] Presets for Photoshop. There's so much stuff around actions that it gets really hard to track the ones that you created for yourself. And I have this very simple rule of thumb. is for any, any preset, any action, any workflow item, any LUT, any, sorry, a LUT, L U T, lookup table, any color LUT anything at all really, I put my initials at the front of it. [00:14:51] I always put P W because it identifies the things that I created for myself. As opposed to the things that I may have bought the things that I may have downloaded, the things that somebody else was helping me with, the things that I've done for myself, they have the initials PW at the front. And it's not an ego thing. [00:15:11] A couple of times people have cocked an eye because everything I've got has got PW, PW, PW, PW. It's got nothing to do with that. It's got everything to do with the fact that I get really easily confused with the different things that are in the business, the different presets, folders, you name it. So I stick PW at the front to make it clear I did that one and then in two years time Because some of the things I've written they are like five six years old There's some scripts I wrote for Photoshop that we're still using and I think I wrote them ten years ago I know they're mine because they have PW at the front as opposed to some of the scripts I found and downloaded Which are by third parties, and of course, you know, I can use them. [00:15:51] But I certainly couldn't distribute them. And I want to know that if I'm modifying them, I'm modifying somebody else's work. Which is only fair. So, stick your initials. At the beginning of any presets and things that you create for yourself. There you go, that's a top tip for nothing. The Arrival at the Hearing Dogs Site and the Weather Conditions [00:16:08] I'm just about to pull in to the hearing dogs. [00:16:11] Wow, it's a grey day. Look how blue the light is, it's horrible. Ha, ha, ha. Usually, usually at this side of the hill, we come over a slight hill. Um, so it's only, how long I've been driving? What, 10, 15 minutes? It's not that there's a huge difference in location between us and the hearing dogs. The geography does change slightly. [00:16:33] We come over a slight rise onto the other side of a hill, and then onto a plateau, a little bit of a plateau at the foot of the Chilterns. And the weather here is quite often different, very different. Sometimes, particularly, it's most pronounced when it's snowing. We will have snow and they won't, and vice versa, and it really is only 10 minutes separate. [00:16:51] Today, sadly, the weather is exactly the same, which is to say, shitty. There's no, I'm sorry if you're offended by the word, but it's the right word. It is shitty. Dead flat light, cloudy, wet. It's gone down by 0. 2 of a degree since I've been driving. Over this side of the hill, it's 3. 8 degrees. Usually the temperature rises. [00:17:17] Today, it's slightly colder. And I normally would say that I am looking forward to photographing the Hearing Dogs, particularly the puppies. Today, I'm looking forward to the photography. I am not looking forward to lying in a wet field. God, that car park needs a little bit of TLC you can hear the car rattling around on all of the divots and holes and puddles. [00:17:42] And then my, my car cam pinging as it thinks I've hit something. I do think at the moment we live in a country where the roads are in such bad condition. My dash cam. Constantly thinks I've had an accident and records that little bit of footage automatically because it thinks I've hit something, and I haven't hit anything, I'm just driving along the A40. [00:18:05] Right, I'm here. I shall return with the actual subject of this podcast. Maybe that's what Fiona doesn't like, is the randomness of it. Sarah says I repeat myself a lot when I'm recording from the car, so apologies if I am about to do that. However I will see you at the end of this particular shoot. [00:18:23] Right, I'm back. So at the end of that, I've just spent, what is it now quarter past two, uh, four and a bit hours photographing puppies which is beautiful, photographing dogs which are equally beautiful, running dogs, jumping dogs, wet dogs, god the weather's been horrible, and some Christmas images. Of course it's this time of year when we shoot Christmas stuff, but actually created some really, well I mean I think they're beautiful, my client seems to think they're beautiful at this stage, I've only seen them on the back of the camera, but a lot of fun. [00:18:59] We're using more and more and more LED lighting. Which is great when you're balancing up against Christmas lights and fairy lights and daylight. It's so much easier using LED than strobes for that. For the studio stuff, we are still using strobes because we can freeze movement really well, which is really, really important. [00:19:20] So for the white background stuff, those standard shots we create for the charity, very much still strobe, and I don't see that changing. In the near future, uh, because that ability to have, you know, F 16 and that instantaneous pulse of light that freezes motion is a very particular look and just the moment, I don't see that becoming that being replaced. [00:19:44] However, the LED side of it we had four different LED lights two with modifiers, two focusable spots with modifiers and two LED bars. Which just added beautiful touches of light where I wanted them. Made life really easy. I'll share a few of those hopefully on Insta over the next couple of days. [00:20:04] Actually, I won't show them on Insta because they're our Christmas pictures. So no, no, I won't be showing them on Instagram. They're the Christmas pictures, but maybe I'll get to show them. In December next year, or this year. The Concept of Yvonne's Law in Wedding Photography [00:20:14] Over the weekend, and this is, I guess, we're heading towards the point of this particular podcast. [00:20:19] I was photographing a wedding, beautiful wedding, only 13 people, pretty hectic, lots going on, Friday night, Saturday all day, Sunday morning and some of the afternoon. A really beautiful venue, and on the Friday night I got sitting chatting to the mothers of the groom, or the mother, sorry, mother and father of the groom, mother and father of the bride. [00:20:38] And one of them said to me, she said Yvonne told me this. Now at that stage I didn't even know who Yvonne was, so Yvonne, Yvonne, said that she was complaining that all of the shots of her son were the back of his head. And it turns out Yvonne, at a different wedding, was the mother of the groom. And every shot of the groom, it was just the back of his head. [00:21:00] And I said, I don't understand. She said, well, there's lots of shots of them as a couple. You can see the bride's face, very moody, just the back of the groom's head. And do you know what? Instantly, instantly, I knew the kind of shot she was talking about. It's the kind of shot that we see quite a lot when we're judging competitions, or maybe doing Quals. [00:21:21] There's some, it's very moody, but essentially it's a bridal portrait using the groom as context. It's fine, there's definitely a place for it. But if you're shooting a wedding, you might just find yourself getting the reaction that, clearly, Yvonne gave. So, Yvonne is not happy that the photographer has not done what she would regard as the photograph that she would like. [00:21:43] Which, I'm gonna guess, is a photograph of the bride, the groom, three quarter length, front on, snuggled up. Smiling at camera. That's the, that's the, still one of the best selling shots you can create. Certainly if you're pitching to sell to the parents of the couple. Yvonne's Law, I'm going to call it from now on, and I think we're going to talk about this, and I'm going to add it to my list of things that people should think about. [00:22:09] Yvonne's Law is this. When you're photographing a wedding, make sure you cover everything that the people who are attending and the people who might be buying the pictures would wish for. Going for awards is fine. We all do it. We all need to do it. We need to push ourselves and be creative. That is For most of us, why we came into these industries in the first place, we want to do something exciting and different. [00:22:32] We want to do something engaging and moody, and on the whole, those are not the shots that you can sell to the couple. Not always, it's not an entire, there is a Venn diagram with an overlap. You can, of course, sell really dark, moody pictures of the bride to the couple, and that may well happen. But there's a law of averages here and you're being paid by the client to satisfy numerous different angles. [00:22:57] Now, the other thing I don't know about the wedding that was being described is whether the bride and groom had asked specifically for a certain type of image. I have shot a wedding, this is going back a little bit in my career. Where the bride and groom wanted me to, and I kid you not, ignore the mother of the bride. [00:23:16] That was my brief. Do not pay any attention to her. She's gonna ask you to do all of these different shots with different people, but she is not paying. The bride and groom were really very clear about that. The problem is, from a diplomatic point of view, I've got a nightmare because, of course, the mother of the bride is asking me to do things. [00:23:36] And I've been briefed not to, because it'll draw time and they're not shots that the bride and groom, who are my client, are going to buy. So yes, you can end up in that situation. But here's the rub for that particular wedding, is I ended up going back and doing a portrait shoot with the whole family, because the mother of the bride felt she hadn't got the pictures of them as a family that she would wish for. [00:23:56] We ended up dancing through, or jumping through a few hoops, jumping through a few, I can't even say the word, hoop, jumping through a few hoops, hoops to get to the end goal. So Yvonne's Law simply states, remember that you're shooting for a client, you're not just shooting for you. Eventually I'll word it slightly differently as I probably think of 25 iterations of it. [00:24:17] Let's just let these people out here. There you go. You go through there. That's good. Perfectly good. And so it was a really beautiful wedding and throughout the day though I laughed with the two mums about Yvonne's law and made it perfectly clear that I was getting everything they had asked for. The Differences Between Shooting for Awards and Clients [00:24:35] Now there's a slight addendum to this thought process which is well how come what you shoot for a client doesn't necessarily do so well in awards or so well in qualifications. [00:24:49] And the truth of that is that we have to, to a degree, separate out context from the picture. So when we're judging we don't have the context which makes it sometimes a little bit tricky. As wedding photographers we know that shooting on a commissioned wedding is that little bit more complicated which is why in the categories for wedding photography most of them state really clearly Must be linked to the wedding day, must be commissioned. [00:25:16] You can't use models, it can't be you just shooting for fun, because once you eliminate that sense of pressure, the time pressure mostly, but the performance pressure and having to work for a client, everything's much easier. Which is why fashion magazines have these beautiful pictures of models in bridal gowns and actually on a real wedding day. [00:25:37] It's a lot trickier, it's not impossible but it's a lot trickier to get those images. So there's this thing, and I, we all know it the best I've ever heard it was shoot for show, shoot for dough. The difference between shooting for your portfolio, shooting for awards, shooting for qualifications, and shooting for the money, shooting for your client. [00:25:58] They are slightly different things, and one photographer, a really nice photographer called Hoss Madavi, photographer, Put it like this. He said, think about designing for a catwalk. Think about what you would design out there for a catwalk and then think about what you actually end up selling through a high street chain like John Lewis or Marks and Spencer or whatever in the UK or maybe Macy's or someone like that in the States. [00:26:27] Think about the difference between those two. Your haute couture arranges that you're going to produce on the catwalk. By the time they end up being sold to the mass public, not quite the same thing. Nor should they be. They're for different purposes. One is to show the world what you're capable of. One is to show, or it's actually sell to the world. [00:26:46] Not quite the same thing because most people are not going to buy a really funky haute couture dress or outfit off the catwalk in the same way that a lot of our clients won't wish. to buy a moody dark shot that's of the back of the groom's head. There you go. Yvonne's Law is now what we're calling it. [00:27:05] I might have to change it. I feel, I don't, I've never met Yvonne. I'm going to credit her with it because that was the story that was told to me. On that happy note, I am just pulling into a garage because I am absolutely starving. Conclusion and Farewell [00:27:17] I need to get some food and I need to get some food quick before I start getting grumpy. [00:27:22] So I'm going to park up and I'm going to wish you all well for the week. So for this week's podcast, thank you for listening. Of course you can email me. At paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk. You can head over to masteringportraitphotography.com. Please do subscribe to the podcast wherever it is that you consume your podcast. [00:27:43] And if you feel like it, please leave us a review. If you feel sorry, if you feel like leaving us a nice review, please leave us a review. If you feel like leaving us some nastiness, then please email me so I know what we could improve on. But on that happy note, I hope you're having a good week. I hope the weather is better where you are than where we are. [00:27:58] And of course, in the spirit of this morning, a very happy Christmas to you all on this February day. And whatever else, be festive, but be kind to yourself. Take care.

"The Nature Kicks Hiker's Club members regularly go hiking in beautiful nature and the wilderness in The Chilterns and throughout the southeast of England." ~ Shameer Shah, Founder and Adventure Guide Get outdoors with the Nature Kicks Hiker's Club! Whether you're an avid or beginner hiker, join us for fresh air and a break from modern-day stresses. If you like hiking or want to start walking in nature, and want to meet like-minded others and take advantage of being in a hiking group regularly, join the Nature Kicks Hiker's Club to benefit from this. Remove yourself from the endless cycle of the busyness of life and explore nature to de-stress, exercise and find mindfulness regularly. TAP HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HIKING CLUB Like what you've heard? It would mean the world if you'd like to show appreciation for my work by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠buying me a coffee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ☕️ Any amount would be greatly appreciated. Please consider contributing to my ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠coffee fund⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! It helps me keep the inspiration flowing. Follow on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@shameer_shah⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@ShameerShahProject⁠ Intro & Outro Music: The Clock (instrumental) by RYYZN

In partnership with Club Oenologique - the world through the lens of wine and spirits. David chats to Stephen Duckett, whose dream of producing top quality English sparkling wine led him and wife Fiona to a grassy valley in The Chilterns, where they started from scratch to establish Hundred Hills. Wines featured: Raimes English Sparkling Classic Brut 2018 (gold and a trophy) Hattingley Valley Wines Classic Reserve Brut NV (gold) Roebuck Estates Rosé De Noirs Brut 2017 (silver) Gusbourne Reserve Late Disgorged Brut 2015 (silver) Langham Wine Estate Corallian Classic Cuvée Extra Brut NV (silver) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's a foul November night, so why not come and join me aboard the Erica by the warm glow of fire light. I have with me a lovely book that I found last year in a second-hand bookshop and think that it's perfect for a night like this.   Journal entry: 1st November, Wednesday.“November is born brave This morning.The dark water is alive With movement And a scatter Of light.The walk from the boat To car Is under a starfield and A bold moon.”Episode Information:In this episode I read the following poems:‘The Chilterns' by Rupert Brooke (extract)‘Cotswolds' by David Ashby‘Cotswold Roads' by Eva Dobell‘Tewkesbury Road' by John Masefield‘The High Road' by John Haines‘Dedicatory Ode' by Hillaire Belloc (extract)‘The Ancient Wall' by Brian Waters‘The Cotswold Farmers' by John DrinkwaterAll poems (excluding Brooke's) are found in Forest and Vale and High Blue Hill: Poems of Gloucestershire, the Cotswolds and Beyond collected by Johnny Coppin (1991). I finish with an extract from LTC Rolt's Narrow Boat.   With special thanks to our lock-wheelersfor supporting this podcast.Allison on the narrowboat Mukka Derek and Pauline Watts Anna V. Sean James Cameron Orange Cookie Donna Kelly Mary Keane. Tony Rutherford. Arabella Holzapfel. Rory with MJ and Kayla. Narrowboat Precious Jet. Linda Reynolds Burkins. Richard Noble. Carol Ferguson. Tracie Thomas Mark and Tricia Stowe Madeleine SmithGeneral DetailsIn the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org. Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence. Piano and keyboard interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.All other audio recorded on site. Support the showBecome a 'Lock-Wheeler'Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.ContactFor pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on: Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoswPod Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw I would love to hear from you. You can email me at nighttimeonstillwaters@gmail.com or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon. For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com.

22nd Sept 2023: There's a pungent aroma in the Chilterns so Dan and Kel discuss its creation, stunning vistas, a tacky mag, and dogs and guns. XSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/nice-time-ramble/donations

It’s our 700th episode of [edit] radio. That’s 700 handpicked playlists of new music with a side portion of natter that our team has pulled together. Thank you to everyone that’s been listening for more than 13 years. On this week’s show, Tom Crook and co. share their latest favourite new tracks and marvel at... The post Podcast 700 | Featuring Akusmi, The Chilterns & Donger appeared first on .

22nd March 2023: It's Series 5, and Dan and Kel are back rambling in the Chilterns, with Kel's amazing vista, new Taskmaster chat, and a bizarre Weirdo-couple incident. XSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/nice-time-ramble/donations

Lewis describes being confronted by a black panther in the Chilterns area back in 2006, on the edge of the Prime Minister's Chequers estate. Lewis was with three friends messing about in the snow by moonlight, when the panther emerged. Lewis describes events as they fled from the hill.  Our second guest is the experienced investigator Paulo, who runs the Big Cats of the Chilterns FB page. He updates us on recent trends of sightings across the Chilterns area, and we finish with details of a fresh big cat incident very close to Paulo's home in mid December 2022. Words of the week:   call blasters & hunting decoys22 December 2022

''Sustainability is simply really considering all our actions in terms of the impact on the planet. If we carry on at the rate that we're doing, we need three planets to sustain our current lifestyles. The equivalent of three planets' resources, just to do what we're doing at the moment.''I chat to Heinz Richardson, award-winning architect, Royal Society of Arts fellow, teacher, mentor and industry commentator. Join us as we talk about rocketing energy prices, sustainable, low-energy homes and the time Heinz cycled across America from west to east coasts.A graduate of the Bartlett School of Architecture University College London, Heinz is an award-winning architect, teacher, mentor, and industry commentator. He's a former director of Jestico+Whiles Architects, an international practice that has won many awards.Heinz is a pioneer of employee ownership as a model for business. He has particular expertise in sustainable design, housing and education projects. He believes passionately in the considered use of the Earth's natural resources to create architecture which is enduring and socially responsible. In 2016, he designed and built his own carbon-neutral home in the Chilterns area, House 19, which was long-listed for the RIBA House of the Year award and has been widely published. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Outdoors Fix is a podcast to inspire you to make the outdoors a bigger part of your life. It's hosted by Liv Bolton. Are you looking to join an adventure community or thinking about setting one up? For this episode, I went for a walk with Kate Capelli, the founder of Adventuress in the Wild. It's an adventure community for women based in London and the South East that's massively grown since Kate set it up a couple of years ago. The group offers everything from weekly walks around London and bouldering through to hikes in Surrey and the Chilterns, and wild weekends in Snowdonia, the Peak District and South Downs. There are trips abroad in the works too. With so many events on offer, Kate, who is now a qualified lowland walk leader and hiking guide, has created a big buzz around the community and she's opening up adventure to hundreds of women. As someone who defines herself as queer, she emphasises that the group is open to all women, particularly those in the LGBTQIA+ community & women of colour.  Kate and I met back in the summer and chatted in Ashridge Estate in the Chilterns, only about 10 minutes from where I grew up! I wanted to find out what sparked the idea to set up her adventure community, how Kate runs it and how it's profoundly changing her life. Kate shares her tips for getting outdoors more and great places to explore in London at the end of the episode, so make sure you don't miss her advice. There's also a minute of the sounds of nature at the end for a little bit of escapism in your busy day. Kate's episode of The Outdoors Fix is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts. I hope you enjoy it! Liv x The Outdoors Fix is a podcast produced and hosted by Liv Bolton @liv_outsideuk You can find photos of the guests on Instagram @TheOutdoorsFix This episode of The Outdoors Fix is kindly supported by outdoor footwear brand Merrell. Merrell are offering listeners of The Outdoors Fix a 20% off discount on their shoes at Merrell.co.uk So just use the code FIX20 which is valid on all full price items on their website. The post Kate Capelli: The founder of Adventuress in the Wild championing women in the outdoors appeared first on The Outdoors Fix.

As promised, and by popular demand, Catherine from Tai Chi in the Chilterns returns to the Frank Hodge podcast studio to share her 'Three for Freedom' selections after time got the better of us in our previous podcast! You know the drill. A Movie, a book and a song/artist that has inspired our guest during the following periods of their life: 1. As a child 2. As a moody, yet impeccably cool teenager 3. As a moody, yet impeccably cool(er) adult What did Catherine pick, and more importantly, why?! Was it worth the wait? You Betcha!!!

With autumn settling across the UK, there's a great multi-sensory walk that could help you enjoy the wonders of nature.  Joining our Paulina Kuchorew to tell us all about the multisensory nature walk in Chilterns is Andy Shipley from Natural Inclusion. The walk will take place on the morning of Friday 28th of October as part of the Chilterns Walking Festival. Find out more here: Chilterns Walking Festival - Chilterns AONB | Chilterns AONB Or get in touch with Andy via email: andy@natural-inclusion.org Image is of a red and orange autumnal forest. 

In this episode we were kindly joined by Katherine of Tai Chi in the Chilterns, one of the class providers here at The Bagnall Project, and Tai Chi instructor, to discuss her pathway to all things Tai Chi. As ever we got to know Katherine a little better with our Lets Be Frank Q&A before our journey of Tai Chi discovery led us down many an interesting rabbit hole including pizza metaphors, yin and yang(ery), swords and singing bowls!

To mark the 2nd anniversary of The Earth Sea Love Podcast, we are bringing you two special episodes.    The second episode is with the lovely and wise, Dr. Geeta Ludhra. Geeta, a  Lecturer in Education at Brunel University, talks about the walking group she set up after recently moving to The Chilterns, Dadima. In this episode we also talk about: *  the privilege of living in a certain place * the meaning of the name 'Dadima' * the grandmother figure and wisdom within diverse cultures * an embodied connection with nature * being a seeker of knowledge, culture and connection * the diversity of nature connections and amplifying these stories * walking, self-care and nature * nature and creativity * the trauma baton and choosing joy * the privilege of serving community * future plans and dreams.   Bio: DR GEETA LUDHRA (A British-born South Asian woman, of Hindu religious background. She/her) Dr Geeta Ludhra lives in the Chilterns, after living in Slough, Hounslow and Nottinghamshire. She was raised within humble circumstances, as the daughter of first-generation South Asian parents who settled from India in the early 60s. Geeta's heritage, education journey and research interests bring a unique lens as a Board Member of the Chilterns Area of Natural Beauty. Geeta is passionately committed to diversity and representation in relation to natural landscapes as inclusive green spaces for all. Geeta works as a Lecturer in Education at Brunel University, where she teaches across Postgraduate programmes and engages in academic research. She is currently researching her book on ‘successful' South Asian women. Her background is rooted in primary school teaching and leadership, where she has worked across diverse London schools, specialising in English. Her working interests touch on women's studies, social inclusion in education, anti-racism, and respectful ways of working with more ‘hard-to-reach' communities. As part of her community interests, Geeta runs a registered community enterprise, where she promotes intergenerational heritage cooking and storytelling, monthly nature walks and leads a women's writing group.   Instagram: @_dadimas  Twitter: @educatinggeeta  

An extraordinary discovery has been unearthed by archaeologists working alongside the HS2 rail project. The find, made at an undisclosed location near Wendover in the Chilterns, consists of a 5th-6th century burial site that has been described as one of the most important post-Roman, early medieval discoveries of our lifetime.It offers the chance to see more clearly a part of British history that has been hidden from us until now. If there was a real, historical King Arthur, this is the part of history he's hiding within.In this special episode, join our very own Dan Snow and Gone Medieval host Matt Lewis as they chat to the team behind the dig about some of their revelatory finds, and begin to see the people behind them, and the way they may have lived their lives.A special thanks to HS2, INFRA and Fusion for giving History Hit special access behind the scenes!The Senior Producer on this episode was Elena Guthrie. The Producer was Rob Weinberg. It was edited and mixed by Aidan Lonergan.If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the History Hit app please go to the Android or Apple store. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

An extraordinary discovery has been unearthed by archaeologists working alongside the HS2 rail project. The find, made at an undisclosed location near Wendover in the Chilterns, consists of a 5th-6th century burial site that has been described as one of the most important post-Roman, early medieval discoveries of our lifetime.It offers the chance to see more clearly a part of British history that has been hidden from us until now. If there was a real, historical King Arthur, this is the part of history he's hiding within.In this special episode, join our very own Dan Snow and Gone Medieval host Matt Lewis as they chat to the team behind the dig about some of their revelatory finds, and begin to see the people behind them, and the way they may have lived their lives.A special thanks to HS2, INFRA and Fusion for giving History Hit special access behind the scenes!The Senior Producer on this episode was Elena Guthrie. The Producer was Rob Weinberg. It was edited and mixed by Aidan Lonergan.For more Gone Medieval content, subscribe to our Medieval Mondays newsletter here.If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android or Apple store. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Millions of trees were brought down by this winter's storms. Storm Arwen in November proved particularly damaging, taking out whole swathes of woodland in Scotland and the north of England. It comes at a time when there is more focus than ever on planting trees, with the urgent need to both tackle climate change and produce more home-grown timber. At the moment, the UK imports more than 80% of the timber it uses. In this programme, Tom Heap visits two forest estates in the North East of Scotland, to see for himself what havoc the high winds have wrought. One estate manager tells him that they'll be clearing up for the next three years, with an estimated 45,000 tonnes of timber now lying broken on the ground. Tom finds out what this means for the work of foresters on the estate, and how it will affect the value of the timber they'll be able to sell. Meanwhile he discovers why the National Trust for Scotland is seeing the damage caused by Storm Arwen as an opportunity to re-think the kind of woodland it has on its land. Tom talks to the Royal Forestry Society at their research site in the Chilterns, and finds out what techniques can be used to improve the resilience of woodlands to future storms. He asks whether - when the clear-up is over and it's time to re-plant - we may need to explore using different species of trees, better able to survive in the climate we expect to have in another fifty years' time. He also meets a meteorologist from Reading University, who explains what changing weather patterns may mean for storms in the future. Producer for BBC Audio in Bristol Emma Campbell

28th Feb 2022: Dan and Kel continue through The Chilterns, chatting about unfortunate sheep, tiramisu, BFG, and this week's weirdo, an extremely bizarre artist... xSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/nice-time-ramble/donations

The ELO story is one of continued success for over 50 years. From inauspicious beginnings in 1971, where live audiences barely reached double figures, ELO would become one of the most popular bands in the world by the end of the decade, thanks largely to the songwriting and production talents of Jeff Lynne. There were hits such as “Evil Woman”, “Mr. Blue Sky” and “Don't Bring Me Down”; multi-platinum albums like ‘Out Of The Blue' and ‘Discovery', and, of course, their spectacular stage shows. Although ELO finally called it a day in 1986, they re-emerged in 2014 as Jeff Lynne's ELO, playing a triumphant comeback concert at London's Hyde Park. Since then, they haven't looked back, releasing further albums to critical and public acclaim, culminating in ELO's biggest ever live show at Wembley Stadium and 2019's chart topping album, ‘From Out Of Nowhere'. As well as examining all of ELO's recorded catalogue, Barry Delve has spoken to many people who have been involved with the band over the decades, uncovering along the way previously unseen photographs and new information about the group and their recordings, making this one of the most comprehensive guides to ELO ever published.Barry Delve is an author and artist. He is acknowledged as the foremost ELO expert in the Chilterns, if not the whole of South Buckinghamshire. Purchase a copy of "Electric Light Orchestra: Every Album, Every Song" through Burning Shed in the UK: https://burningshed.com/barry-delve_electric-light-orchestra-on-track_bookPurchase a copy of "Electric Light Orchestra: Every Album, Every Song" through Amazon in the US: https://www.amazon.com/Electric-Light-Orchestra-every-album/dp/1789521521/refVisit Sonicbond Publishing website: https://www.sonicbondpublishing.co.ukListen to a playlist of the music discussed in this episode: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/63tZ9aVd2h5w6U3g6mTT5d?si=f5734aca947e48f6The Booked On Rock Website: https://www.bookedonrock.comFollow The Booked On Rock with Eric Senich:FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/bookedonrockpodcastTWITTER: https://twitter.com/bookedonrockSupport Your Local Bookstore! Find your nearest independent bookstore here: https://www.indiebound.org/indie-store-finderContact The Booked On Rock Podcast:thebookedonrockpodcast@gmail.comThe Booked On Rock Theme Song: “Whoosh” by Crowander [ https://freemusicarchive.org/music/crowander]

I'm excited to introduce this week's guest, Hedley Thorne. The second time I walked the Ridgeway, I started to think about getting a drone. I love Iron Age hillforts, and I really struggled to photograph them from the ground. Upon my return, I started writing blog posts about hillforts and I discovered Hedley's Instagram account. I absolutely love his photography, and I still fantasize about getting a drone of my own. Photography adds a new layer to our outdoor adventures, and drone photography adds a whole new perspective. I've really enjoyed seeing all of my favorite Ridgeway sites from the air. It makes it easier to really appreciate these ancient sites. I hope you find this episode inspiring! Whether or not you're interested in aerial photography, it might help you to find new ways to enjoy your own outdoor adventures.   About Hedley The basics: Name- Hedley Thorne Age - 46 (by the time of the podcast!) Family - married, 3 teenage boys, living in Didcot Occupation 1- IT Operations Manager/Controller for London Heathrow Occupation 2- Aerial landscape photographer Voluntary work - Chairman of 2410 Air Training Corps committee - Didcot Air Cadets Hobbies- cycling (road or MTB), walking, UAV drone pilot (A2 qualified), aerial photography Likes- F1, chess, music (I used to play piano and did my degree in music/Business), aviation, art Fears- fish, being upside-down, claustrophobic and needle phobic Dislikes- Bitcoin, politics, bad coffee, bad music (life is too short for these)   Background: For 10 years I worked in Henley-on-Thames and road cycled between Didcot and Henley most days, sometimes doing between 60 and 90 miles on a work day which led to many foreign cycling group adventures in the Pyrenees, the Alps, Ventoux, Prince Edward Island in Canada, Mallorca and Teide in Tenerife, however redundancy struck a few years ago and I started working at Heathrow (managing and controlling the daily IT operation, managing major IT incidents that affected the airport etc) which halted cycle commuting and I then became quite unfit. The airport is 24x7 and so doesn't recognise weekends or times of the day so shifts are very long and at bad times, often overnight. Ultimately my big adventures dwindled and I had to replace the cycle commuting with something more manageable.   Introduction to photography of The Ridgeway: I live in South Oxfordshire near to The Ridgeway long distance path and since working at Heathrow I started using my days off work to walk along it. The kids (teenagers!) were at school and my wife Hayley was working so I had some days to myself. As I walked different stretches of The Ridgeway my relationship with it grew and I started looking closely on the web at the areas I walked in - many results came back with pictures from renowned landscape artist Anna Dillon and I quickly became a bit of a fan of her work, sometimes using it to guide and plan my walks, which expanded out into The Chilterns, Berkshire, Hampshire and Wiltshire.   I found my walks (and more recently mountain bike rides) helped balance out work and then ultimately became a necessity- stress levels dropped and I had space to think. I tried to replicate some of Anna's artwork taking mobile phone pictures. Then, my love of anything that flies, led me to buying a drone (well, initially using one that I had bought for one of my sons!). The aerial shots of these areas added a really unique dimension to the landscape and I quickly realised that these were views that had probably not been seen before, and I was the first to witness them.   Partnership with Anna Dillon: As I grew my Instagram and Twitter social media accounts using my new found aerial photography, Anna noticed one of my pictures of Wittenham Clumps and got in touch, asking whether she could commission it for a painting - I couldn't say "yes" fast enough! The originality of aerial landscape pictures along The Ridgeway became even more exclusive when distilled into a work of art and we both realised this through feedback. This ultimately led to our "Wessex Airscapes" exhibition at the Sewell Centre Gallery in Radley College through September 2021 just after lockdown restrictions eased in the UK, and the response to the exhibition, particularly our opening night, was terrific.   Leading up to the exhibition we teamed up with Pipstick Walks to lead a series of hikes around the Lowbury Hill area of The Ridgeway which has a very dark and rich history and formed the centrepiece of the show. We are now in the process of preparing for future events- notably a second iteration of "Wessex Airscapes" exclusive to Wiltshire, and to be held at the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes in 2023, and before then Oxfordshire Artweeks at Anna's studio in South Oxfordshire. We also have other projects on the boil relating to Uffington White Horse Hill and Grim's Ditch.   Injuries, and areas of interest: The last 2 years have been rough for me if I am honest. I suffered two injuries during my walking and cycling requiring extensive surgery on my wrist on 2 occasions (no general anaesthetic due to covid restrictions!) and also surgery on my knee for a snapped patella following a fall on White Horse Hill at Uffington - on this occasion the weather was terrible- I updated my situation live on Twitter and had company on there from many, and I was ultimately rescued by a group of brave local villagers from Woolstone (one of whom was an ex military medic with a Landrove Defender), and then I had to guide the emergency services using "What 3 Words".   These injuries, along with Covid restrictions and general lack of self-care led me to become overweight but I have a Mallorca mountain road cycling event next year to work towards and plenty of mountain biking to do over the winter! My favourite areas to ride and walk are The Ridgeway, Lowbury Hill area, Uffington/Waylands Smithy, Tan/Milk hill and nearby areas in Wiltshire, Wittenham Clumps and anywhere along The Thames. I am (as an amateur) interested in the history of these areas and I have become friends with many of the land owners, The Ridgeway Officer and people connected with The Thames from my photography mini adventures , exhibition, social media and picture sales.   My past, my work and my future: Anna's mother has done a genealogy report on my father's bloodline and it turns out that most of my previous generations on that side of the family had strong connections with the countryside, working on farms throughout Berkshire, Hampshire and Wiltshire (with a nod to royalty going far back but that is yet to be confirmed!).   Last year I was supposed to become the Aircraft Operations Duty Manager for Heathrow Airport but unfortunately the airport was massively affected by Covid restrictions and went through large staff cuts, including the role I was moving into which disappeared right before my appointment. This stopped the intensive training that I was undertaking and led me to diverting my learning efforts instead towards developing my photography and learning about the RAF as part of my duties as Chairman of the local Air Training Corps committee (Air Cadets).   Looking to the future I want to walk or cycle the entire length of The Ridgeway in one go, produce the best pictures that I can for selling on my website and the exhibitions, and also focus on what I want to do in the future at Heathrow.   Beliefs and conflicts: I sit in an awkward position which is constantly the "elephant in the room" for me - I love the countryside, its history and I am passionate about its preservation, yet I sit in the control room helping to run the country's largest airport. But knowing the remarkable people who work at the airport there is a huge and ongoing push towards sustainability that has been enhanced by the big operational reset provided by Covid.   I truly believe that those working for large organisations such as airports towards a more sustainable future are having more of a genuine impact on the environment than those throwing themselves down on the motorway in front of cars, who just seem to serve to make the public angry and detract from the very views they are passionate about. The green spaces around us are smaller than they were just 30 years ago, and yet in this high paced age of transport, industry, communication and construction they are more important now than they ever have been and those who enjoy their presence like me need to actively engage in their preservation.   Website Twitter Instagram   Listen To This Episode        What You'll Learn How Hedley combines cycling, hiking, and aerial photography Why the Ridgeway is such a great place for drone photography How to get started with aerial photography Everything you need to invest in to get started Good starter equipment—and how to upgrade  How to use Google Earth to plan your shots in advance Drone etiquette—where not to fly and what not to do Hedley's top tips for getting into drone photography   Things We Discussed Waylands Smithy Wittenham Clumps Anna Dillon Wessex Airscapes exhibition Lightroom Uffington White Horse hill Barbury Castle CAA drone test DJI Drones A2 CofC course Altitude Angel app DJI Mini 2 DJI Air 2S DJI Mavic 3 Earth Trust Brightwell Barrow Henley on Thames Lowbury Hill Pewsey Downs   Related Episodes 435 Chris Bedford ~ Adventures With Abandoned Railways 430 Sue-Ann Hickey ~ Adventures in Solo Cycling Tours 426 Doris Lance ~ Nature Bathing for the Five Senses 421 Cara Wilde ~ Adventures With Stone Circles   Connect With Holly Website Facebook Instagram Twitter Pinterest Google+ LinkedIn   How to Subscribe Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher   Help Spread the Word If you enjoyed this episode, please head on over to iTunes and kindly leave us a rating and a review! You can also subscribe, so you'll never miss an episode.

Explore usually takes riders a little further afield than just a few kilometres from their home but in this episode Lionel Birnie sets out on his familiar festive route in the eastern edge of the Chilterns. On the route are 12 hills and so this is the 12 hills of Christmas, a 90-kilometre route peppered with short climbs. While Christmas is a time for celebrations, lightheartedness and joy it's also a time for reflection on the year almost passed. Regular listeners will know Lionel missed a big chunk of the season and cancelled his Tour d'Écosse series for Explore at very short notice. While the roads may be reassuringly familiar, he also takes the time to explore less comfortable territory as he talks about his mental health and what happened this year. GPX file: If you want to ride The 12 hills of Christmas route, you can download the GPX file from Dropbox here. The Cycling Podcast is supported by Supersapiens and Science in Sport. Supersapiens is a continuous glucose monitoring system that helps you make the right fuelling choices. See supersapiens.com For 25% off all your SiS products, go to scienceinsport.com and enter the code SISCP25 at the checkout.

The former presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton has a new book out, “State of Terror”, a political thriller written with the award winning author Louise Penny. The two women were already friends before deciding to pen the novel which features a President who “smells of meat” and appears to resemble Donald Trump and a British Prime Minister who's “a twit” and seems to have a more than a passing resemblance to Boris Johnson. Anita Rani talks to the duo about their collaboration and some of the uncanny parallels between “State of Terror” and global politics today. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a very common virus – Cancer Research UK estimates around 8 out of 10 people will be infected at some point in their lives. HPV spreads through sexual activity. In most people, it doesn't cause any problems and goes away on its own, but HPV can increase a woman's chance of developing cervical cancer. Gynaecological charity The Eve Appeal have found a ‘worrying' trend in HPV kits being sold online by private companies, advertised alongside misleading information. Tracie Miles is a gynaecologist cancer specialist nurse at The Eve Appeal. Mercedes Gleeson is someone who has been open about her own experience with HPV. Anita is joined by two guests who are trying to encourage women to get outside and go on adventures. Army Officer Preet Chandi is preparing for a solo, unsupported trek across Antarctica to the South Pole in November. She will be the first Asian woman to do this. Dr Geeta Ludhra set up a walking group in the Chilterns to encourage women from diverse backgrounds to get out on smaller scale adventures in the UK to connect with nature and feel the health benefits. Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Lucinda Montefiore

Description:Boris Johnson reluctantly delayed the easing of England's lockdown for another month, due to the spread of the Delta strain of coronavirus. Will the July 19 easing go ahead? Plus we discuss the Liberal Democrats' surprise victory in the Chesham and Amersham by-election abs what it means for the government's planning reforms. Presented by Sebastian Payne, with Jim Pickard, Sarah Neville, Robert Shrimsley and Jasmine Cameron-Chileshe. Produced by Howie Shannon. The sound engineer was Breen Turner.Review clips: News pool-Read the latest on https://www.ft.com/world/uk-Follow @Seb Payne, @Robert Shrimsley, @Jasmine Cameron Chileshe, @Jim Pickard and @Sarah Neville-Subscribe to https://www.ft.com/newsletters See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

“An unexpected spring afternoon thunderstorm heading towards the Chilterns, recorded from a first floor window of our house. All the usual features are here: the steady rumble of a passing […]

Joanna Wakeman is the Director of Worship and Prayer at Restore Hope, a charity based in Buckinghamshire, England. She joined the charity with her husband Graham and 3 daughters in 2016. She leads the Worship & Prayer life of the charity and the pastoral care for the staff. She is passionate about the work of coming alongside Mums, children and families. Restore Hope is a Christian charity that has a proven track record of bringing hope to people from all walks of life. The charity was established in 2002 and is based at Latimer Park, a special place of hope and peace set in the heart of the Chilterns countryside, near Little Chalfont, Chesham and Amersham. They come alongside people from a wide variety of backgrounds, but especially those who are experiencing difficult circumstances. see https://www.restorehopelatimer.org/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/E2H/message

Ben Branson is the Founder of Seedlip and Æcorn Drinks, the world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirits and aperitifs. His mission is two fold: Solve the dilemma of ‘what to drink when you’re not drinking’ and continue his family’s 300 years of farming heritage. With offices in the Chilterns, Los Angeles and Sydney, Seedlip is now available in 29 cities including New York, Barcelona, Shanghai & Singapore and served in many of the world’s most awarded bars, restaurants, hotels. Ben was named as one of the Top 50 most influential people in food and drink by The Telegraph and awarded Young Achiever of The Year by The Drinks Business. He continues to pioneer the non-alcoholic category forward with the launch of Æcorn Drinks in Selfridges and The Savoy in May 2019. Bon and Ben talk about tackling the public health challenge of excessive alcohol consumption, normalizing the choice not to drink alcohol and how peas can be turned into a delicious cocktail.

Ben Branson is the Founder of Seedlip and Æcorn Aperitifs, the world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirits and aperitifs. He gained inspiration from his family’s 300 years of North Lincolnshire farming heritage, and grew up alongside his two younger brothers, eights dogs, horses, rabbits and guinea pigs. Stoically a country boy, Ben now lives with his girlfriend and two dogs in a 15th Century cottage in the Chilterns, bringing his heritage with nature to the forefront of his new business venture.With offices in the Chilterns, Los Angeles, and Sydney, Seedlip is now available in over 35x countries and served in many of the world’s most awarded bars, restaurants and hotels including 350x Michelin * Restaurants & 9/10 of the world’s best cocktail bars. In just 5 years they have become a leader in the drinks industry, keeping the environment and nature at the heart of what they do. In January 2018, Seedlip announced plans for the launch of a new Non Alcoholic brand to complement the existing portfolio, and to help further grow the category of Non Alcoholic drinks. In December 2019, Æcorn Aperitifs was announced as the sister brand to Seedlip. Æcorn Aperitifs will be a stand-alone brand that occupies its own distinctive place within the landscape.  Ben was named as one of the Top 50 most influential people in food and drink by The Telegraph and awarded Young Achiever of The Year by The Drinks Business. He continues to pioneer the non-alcoholic category forward with the launch of Æcorn Aperitifs in Selfridges and The Savoy in May 2019. Learn more about Oracle for Startups(Interviewed by StartupGrind's Chris Joannou).

This week on The Mojo Podcast my guest is Ben Branson the founder of Seedlip and Æcorn Drinks, the world's first distilled non-alcoholic spirits and aperitifs. Ben shares the ups and downs of his mojo journey from conceiving the idea for Seedlip in his kitchen and his first listing in Selfridges to where the brand is now. With offices in the Chilterns, Los Angeles and Sydney, Seedlip is now available in over 25x cities including New York, Barcelona, Shanghai & Singapore and served in many of the world's most awarded bars, restaurants and hotels including 350x Michelin * Restaurants & 9/10 of the world's best cocktail bars. Creating a new brand is tough enough but building a whole new category in food and drink is a whole other level of challenge. So, what made Ben do it? Belief and, in Ben's own words, being deluded about his chances. He simply refused to believe it couldn't be done. There's also another key element to Ben's drive and ambition... Ben describes Seedlip as a nature company that makes drinks and we delve into his love of nature and the natural world which forms the basis for what his has done, is doing and will do with Seedlip. As he says, no nature, no Seedlip. Meaning his recent meeting with Sir David Attenborough was even more important to him. You'll get a huge amount of insight into what it takes to build a business like Seedlip and what has helped and tested his mojo along the way. It's a revealing and inspiring conversation. The Linked In article I reference is here As Ben says - Peas and Love Richard x The Mojo Podcast Hosted by executive and business coach Richard Stokes from Ibiza @mojorichard on Instagram www.mojodevelopment.co.uk richard@mojodevelopment.co.uk #benbranson #mojo #business #ceo #founder #brand #seedlip #drinks #noalcohol #noandlow #nature #naturalworld 

Getting his mind focused and in the right place, Charles Adrian talks about another ghost book and two books based on real life.   More information and a transcript of this episode is at http://www.pageonepodcast.com/.   In case you are interested, Charles Adrian talked about the hot weather in Page One 178 and about getting up early in the morning in Page One 172 (http://www.pageonepodcast.com/season-6#/172-poir-16/).   You can read about The Ridgeway here: https://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/en_GB/trails/the-ridgeway/ and about the reintroduction of Red Kites into the Chilterns here: https://www.chilternsaonb.org/about-chilterns/red-kites.html   Books discussed in this episode were previously discussed in Page One 93 (http://www.pageonepodcast.com/season-3#/93-tom-bowtell/) and Page One 94 (http://www.pageonepodcast.com/season-3#/94-colin-bartlett/).   Episode image is a detail from an image by Charles Adrian.   Episode recorded: 1st September, 2020.     Book listing:   How To Be A Bad Birdwatcher by Simon Barnes Yoruba Girl Dancing by Simi Bedford The Ivankiad by Vladimir Voinovich (trans. David Lapeza)

In this new episode, I’m talking to Ali Mackie, who is, a painter and mixed media artist based in the Chilterns in the UK. We talk about wide ranging subjects, encompassing all what it entails to live and work as an artist, including motherhood and how that experience influenced and informed our artistic journeys and how in its own magical way has given some weight to what we do now and, what we pursue as artists. We also talk about Ali's work in great detail.Her main subject is nature and her inspiration comes from the landscape that captures her attention. She uses lots of unexpected colours in her work that is, part of her unique way of not only translating into artworks what she sees but expressing joy and beauty of her subject. Nature portrayed with bright colours plays an essential role in her paintings, collages and mixed media work. She also comes from, an interior design background, which, she tells me more about in our conversation, and how she draws on those experiences in her current work, both as a small business owner and as an artist.Ali’s website and InstagramArtists Support PledgeAli’s Artist Support Pledge pageRecommended resources to read by Ali:Elle Decoration Michael Morgan RI in WaterstonesOutlander - Diana Gabaldon in Waterstones—If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe,leave a review or share it with a friend.You can find me as @walkinglantern on instagram and on twitter.And if you are interested to hear more about Dialogues with Nature Network, please follow the new instagram account @dialogueswithnature here and sign up to the mailing list here.—Ways you can financially support this podcast now:One time donation of a virtual cup of coffee hereBecome a regular patron supporting me with a recurring donation of £1 per month via Patreon here—The music for the podcast is by Band of Burns ‘Now Westlin' Winds’ song that was recorded live at Union Chapel in 2017. I used this song with the band’s permission.Follow Band of Burns on instagram here and their website for tour dates is here: https://www.bandofburns.com/  

Our very first #isolatonchat is here. This time we are joined by 5 colleagues and friends for a lovely chat. We talk about yoga, exercise, Disney, food, sign language, Paul and how we are staying sane. Or trying anyway. Our guests are Jodie-Anne Maunick, who is a General Manager in one of our pubs in Manchester. She is the better half of Paul Aisthorpe, who was one of our guests in Season 1 and he also pops in to say hello this time. Liz Summers who is a District Trainer for All Bar One in Worcester. And she has the brightest hair! Rob Cozens another returning guest - a Regional Business Manager for Castle who his currently enjoying life in Chilterns. Jonathan Peach who is a Training Partner for the Premium Division and our wonderful colleague based in Hull. And our lovely Sally Baker is dropping in for a few minutes to say hello and tell us how she is getting on. Things that we recommend and mention: Yoga Down Dog app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/yoga-down-dog/id983693694 Disney Plus - both Jodie and Natalie are huge fans! Disney episode anyone? Houseparty app - https://app.houseparty.com/unsupported/ Joe Wicks - https://www.youtube.com/user/thebodycoach1 Eat the frog - https://blog.noisli.com/what-it-means-to-eat-the-frog/ Open University Free courses - https://www.open.edu/openlearn/education/free-courses The City Division’s Podcast is created by Jana, Mark and Natalie who are three friends that found themselves working in the hospitality industry for the last decade. They decided to create this podcast to start a conversation about amazing people who work around them. This industry has such a mixed reputation and they want to clear it up! All three have grown and developed while working in pubs and love it!! And can’t wait to tell you why. You can follow the podcast on instagram @citydivisionspodcast Jana Puisa @janapuisa Natalie Morrison @natalie_morrison86 Mark Hobday @mark.hobday.mab

Self isolation has never been so much fun! This special mini episode sees Simon Whale & David Mintz speak to Andy Overman of Chilterns & the EA podcast, Oliver Press of Oliver James estate agents, the birthday boy Sam Hunter of Homesearch and the Godfather of Positive Vibes Mr Neil "Nelly" Giller of Stuff the Rest. We cover the industry news, talk Rightmove and Positivity.

From very different beginnings, both Philippa Battaye and Tom Probert are experienced endurance riders, having completed GBDURO, the Silk Road Mountain Race, numerous Transcontinental races, Further and Italy Divide to name just a few. But how do you get into this kind of racing, and what are the mistakes you learn from along the way? We huddled around the campfire with some whiskey and our friends to find out.Check out more from our guests at:https://www.theracingcollective.com/ https://www.instagram.com/theracingcollective/https://www.instagram.com/philippabattye/https://www.instagram.com/pilgrimcyclingco/If you'd like to take a closer look at the GBDURO route, check out the official Collection on komoot:https://www.komoot.com/user/gbduro/collectionsIf you'd like to try the route that Mark from Bikezone Oxford made for us around the fringes of Oxford you can find it on our komoot account here:https://www.komoot.com/collection/905732/-unpaved-podcast-routes-and-highlights-on-komootThanks to our podcast sponsor, komoot, we can offer new users a free map region bundle! To claim your free region bundle as a new user of komoot, head over to https://www.komoot.com/account/gift/?code=UNPAVED .Read the episode transcript here.www.unpavedpodcast.comwww.komoot.com/user/unpavedpodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/unpavedpodcast/https://www.facebook.com/unpavedpodcast/https://twitter.com/UnpavedPodcastNewsletter Sign Up: https://mailchi.mp/189b389ee675/unpavedpodcastCover art thanks to Hannah from Yoke Creative and Tim Wilkey (design)Music by Hirola and Vegyn (https://phantomlimblabel.bandcamp.com/album/hirola & https://plzmakeitruins.bandcamp.com/)

Check out more from our guests at:https://www.theracingcollective.com/ https://www.instagram.com/theracingcollective/https://www.instagram.com/philippabattye/https://www.instagram.com/pilgrimcyclingco/https://www.instagram.com/lachlanmorton/Watch Rapha's incredible film on Lachlan Morton's GBDURO:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e74xncSCoqwIf you'd like to take a closer look at the GBDURO route, check out the official collection on komoot:https://www.komoot.com/user/gbduro/collectionsIf you'd like to try the route that Mark from Bikezone Oxford made for us you can find it on our komoot account here:https://www.komoot.com/collection/905732/-unpaved-podcast-routes-and-highlights-on-komootThanks to our podcast sponsor, komoot, we can offer new users a free map region bundle! To claim your free region bundle as a new user of komoot, head over to https://www.komoot.com/account/gift/?code=UNPAVED .Make sure you enter our giveaway to be in with a chance of winning a pair of tickets to Brother in the Wild by signing up to our newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/f4c8a3b0741a/brotherinthewild - You'll find full details and T&Cs on that page.Read the episode transcript here.www.unpavedpodcast.comwww.komoot.com/user/unpavedpodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/unpavedpodcast/https://www.facebook.com/unpavedpodcast/https://twitter.com/UnpavedPodcastNewsletter Sign Up: https://mailchi.mp/189b389ee675/unpavedpodcast Cover art thanks to Cadence Images (https://www.instagram.com/cadence_images/), Hannah from Yoke Creative and Tim Wilkey (design)Music by LTO & Vegyn

A high speed rail line linking London to Birmingham first proposed 13 years ago. The cost back then: £7.1 billion. Gordon Brown was Prime Minister when the Labour government extended High Speed 2 with spurs to Manchester and Leeds. But the idea at that stage was already facing widespread opposition amongst Conservatives as the proposed route went through the Chilterns, to the north west of London, where many backbenchers had safe seats. Nevertheless, when a decision was needed back in 2013, and despite the cost put at £30 billion, David Cameron pressed ahead.

Ian Marchant visits the Chilterns to test out some of the ideas for new ‘National Landscapes’ in the recent government-commissioned Glover Review into England’s National Parks. What barriers do some people face when it comes to visiting the countryside? (Hint: it’s not just owning a pair of wellies). And why does spending a night under the stars for every child matter for the protection of the countryside? Ian meets the author of the new review, Julian Glover, in a wet wood above Wendover, just a stone's throw from the Prime Minister's country residence, Chequers. Julian is confident that the government will support his recommendations, one of which is to improve access to the countryside for people from diverse backgrounds. This includes High Wycombe born-and-bred Sadia Hussain, who loves the countryside but understands some of the barriers faced by people like her parents, who settled here from Pakistan. To them, the countryside has a different meaning and set of associations. And it also includes Layla Ashraf-Carr, a Chiltern Ranger. Born in Singapore, Layla suspects the Malay side of her family might have preferred her to be a lawyer or a doctor rather than a custodian of the natural landscape. Ian also meets farmer Ian Waller, who loves his worms and his flock of Herdwick sheep, and historian and teacher Stuart King, who can explain how the landscape of the Chilterns allowed the local furniture making industry to flourish. Producer Mary Ward-Lowery

https://ukwildman.blogspot.com/2019/12/a-lost-purse-leads-to-strange-sickly.html16/5/06 - A couple of days ago it was a nice day so I decided to get off the bus early and walk back home because I didn't have any homework or anything to rush home for. I went the usual route via the golf course so I could roll down the hill. I had heard the big cat rumours from around the course and its golfers but I wasn't scared. I love cats and London zoo had denied they had an escaped animal so I thought nothing more of it. I thought the golfers were all just making it up for some publicity stunt to get more members to join as they had been talking about a cat being seen up there. I never thought for a moment it was maybe real, I was sure it was complete BS. Until I saw the yellow eyes glaring at me, but I've never seen a cat that big. 'He' was either poorly or not a panther at all, 'he' was mangy like a feral fox like the ones that visit Linda's, but 'it' was about a 100 times bigger than a fox, 'it' was grey and the eyes were not catish in any way. The 'thing' looked more like some sort of love child between a wolf and a panther. But not cute and fluffy at all 'it' was really fugly. I remember 'it' had a lump between 'it's' shoulders 'It' was obviously scared and poorly but what could I have done? I thought I was brave until that moment but instead I nearly cried. I thought I could cope with 'it' and if 'it' looked like a cat I could have but 'that' was not a cat.27th May 2006 - I bumped into a guy called Mike and his buddy George who were playing golf on the course. I told them about what I saw and asked if they had seen 'it'. Mike swore he saw "the panther from London zoo" but he said 'it' didn't look like a cat either. His mate said we were both mad but I knew, and he knew, and we both believed each other.

Chris Sale is a landscape photographer based in Cumbria in the north west of England. I caught up with him after a a sunrise shoot where we had explored the beautiful Chilterns landscape at Coombe Hill monument and Wendover Woods and got his thoughts on life as a professional landscape photographer. Please support the podcast and allow it to remain add free by buying us a coffee.! https://ko-fi.com/openaperturepodcast

If you thought Buckinghamshire and the Chilterns was a tame area of countryside close to London, maybe think again…We hear from Darren who kept close watch of his dog when he realised a young puma was nearby in scrubby land by an airfield – he felt the mother could be close by. Darren is a councillor and discusses the pros and cons of acknowledging the presence of big cats. We then discuss the recent history of big cat sightings in the Chilterns with Paulo. He grew up in North London but was inspired to learn about Chilterns big cats by his teacher who claimed to have seen some. Paulo takes us through highlights of recent reports, discusses what we can learn from the leopards of Mumbai, and reveals how he accidently called up a leopard through the sound of his chainsaw.Word of the week: Varmint 8 September 2019

I’m so excited to present my interview today with Ben Branson.   Ben is the Founder of Seedlip and Æcorn Aperitifs, the world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirits and aperitifs, intent on changing how the world drinks.    With offices in the Chilterns, Los Angeles and Sydney, Seedlip is now available in over 25x cities including New York, Barcelona, Shanghai & Singapore and served in many of the world’s most awarded bars, restaurants and hotels.    In the podcast today we discuss Seedlip’s evolution from a kitchen project to a globally recognized brand How Ben thinks about culture creation Wellness as hygiene Advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, and so much more.    Ben is not only an incredible founder, but he is humble and generous as well, and I hope you love this interview as much as I do.    Social handles Find Seedlip www.seedlipdrinks.com @Seedlipdrinks on IG   Follow Ben on IG @seedlip_ben

In the latest programme of the monthly series, Mishal Husain introduces dispatches from journalists and writers around the United Kingdom that reflect the range of contemporary life in the country. Alison Holt considers with a Somerset family why adult social care is the policy reform no UK government does anything about. In the week of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, Martin Smith asks how far the Welsh heritage in singing is endangered and whether it might yet be part of Wales' economic future. With the time-worn quips over an Essex town ringing in her ears, Jo Glanville discovers that established notions of Southend as a seaside resort with its best days behind it are out-of-date. Andrew Green looks at the idea of the bird celebrated in the most popular piece of classical music in Britain and the reality of its existence today on the Chilterns. And Dan Johnson contemplates the personal and social links between a stately pile near Barnsley and those who live in the communities close to it. Producer: Simon Coates

Wildflower magazine is a new publication all about the cultural and creative heart of the Chilterns. It's bursting with everything from lifestyle and interiors features, beautiful gardens, luxury travel, the local food and drink scene, fashion, wellness and so much more. If you've never been to the Chilterns let me tell you that it's an area of stunning beauty and Wildflower magazine showcases all that gorgeousness. Today's guest is going to be sharing all about launching the magazine, what it takes and where she's headed. I'm delighted to be chatting with the editor and publishing director of Wildflower magazine Zoe Levey Wildflower Magazine show notes  on InsideStylists.com   Find WildflowerMagazine.co.uk here 

Mimi Meets Dr Helen Matthews and Dr Neil Matthews musing on their slow travel around the Chilterns and The Thames Valley, the Wombles of Wimbledon Common and Daleks! Mimi Meets is broadcasted live on a Sunday afternoon on Wycombe Sound the multi-award winning local radio station for High Wycombe. For More information: www.wycombesound.org.uk

Mishal Husain introduces dispatches from journalists and writers around the United Kingdom which reflect the range of British life today. Writer and broadcaster Horatio Clare reveals the deeply personal story of how he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and his experiences on an in-patient ward in Yorkshire. In the month of the National Parks Dark Skies Festival and a star-counting survey run by the British Astronomical Association and the Campaign to Protect Rural England, Andrew Green discovers why an unblemished night sky is so hard to find even in the Chilterns - and why that matters. We often take our senses for granted. Charmaine Cozier recounts how she suddenly came to lose her sense of smell - and also to be left with a much diminished sense of taste - and explains the various strategies she's employed to try and recover them. With little sign of an early end to Britain's housing problems, the ups and downs of squatting in a former industrial building are described by Lizzy McNeill. And Adrian Goldberg climbs aboard "the cutest train in England" which, in its canary-yellow livery journeys modestly between stops in the West Midlands town of Stourbridge, yet offers a possible solution to transport problems elsewhere in the UK. Producer: Simon Coates

In the latest programme of the monthly series, Mishal Husain introduces dispatches from journalists and writers around the United Kingdom that reflect the range of contemporary life in the country. Petroc Trelawny celebrates the glittering world of Dingles, a Plymouth department store which weathered two firestorms and introduced him to glamour, magic and red gingham - but tellingly has now been humbled by the mundane; Alison Holt reflects on a thought-provoking conversation with an older woman in a Dorset care home about the growing financial pressures she and the home itself are facing, while Gareth Jones ponders the links between the NHS and the town of Tredegar - whose MP set up the service 70 years ago but who today might wonder at what he found there; Charmaine Cozier dons her best I-don't-care-look and reveals the pleasures of going to gigs alone; and Andrew Green, who is himself a villager in the Chilterns, wonders what the often tense relations between weekend cyclists and locals on country lanes tell us about life today on the open road. Producer: Simon Coates

Institute of Historical Research The Socio-Economic Impacts of the Coming of the Railways to the Chilterns Dr Rudi Newman (Independent Scholar) Transport and Mobility History seminar series

Sylvia Townsend Warner's debut novel 'Lolly Willowes' is the main book under discussion in this episode. It's nominated by journalist, author & playwright Samantha Ellis, and she discusses witchcraft, spinsters and the Chilterns with John, Andy and Mathew. Also touched on: epic poetry on Dartmoor in the rain, and J.B. Priestley's influence on David Bowie.

In this new series of Ramblings, Clare Balding will be walking in search of new places, new people and new experiences. In this first programme she joins the Chilterns American Women's Club hiking group, who walk in search of learning more about their new home and meeting other ex-pat spouses. The club offers a range of activities for ex-American and International women who find themselves living in Britain but the walking group is one of the most popular allowing them to discover and explore their adopted home. Later in the series Clare talks to people who walk in search of a new partner, to discover more about the environment and she walks with the celebrated author Robert MacFarlane who walks to discover the old routes. Producer Lucy Lunt.