Podcasts about Oxfordshire

This week on the BBC Introducing in Oxfordshire and Berkshire podcast, hear backstage interviews and live music from our BBC Introducing stage at TRUCK. Including: INDIYA, Bear Trap, Frannie B, Suspire, Josephine Illingworth, Mount St. Helen, Abi Farrell, Mazawattee, Tino, Kanadia, Getdown Services, Barricane, Danny Mellin and more!Here's this week's track list: • The Dreaming Spires - 21st Century Light Industrial Adult DVD - Do Something Danny Mellin - Tagliatelle Josephine Illingworth - Black Rabbit (Live at Truck 2026) Premium Leisure - Water Pistol Mazawattee - Animals (Live at Truck 2026) Westside Cowboy - I've Never Met Anyone I Thought I Could Really Love (Until I Met You) Abi Farrell - To Be Happy (Live at Truck 2026) Getdown Services - The Radiator (live on Later... with Jools Holland) Tino - No Boy No Girl (Live at Truck 2026) Willie J Healey - Ditch [tipped by Jess Iszatt at BBC Radio 1] Kanadia - Where's Your Friends / Wild (Live at Truck 2026) Mr Fogg - Close to the Surface Frannie B - Got a Feeling (Live at Truck 2026) SLAG - Face Off Mount St. Helen - Zurich (Live at Truck 2026) Barricane - Moon CMAT - Stay For Something • If you're making music in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, send us your tunes with the BBC Introducing Uploader: https://www.bbc.co.uk/introducing/uploader

From Million Dollar Listing to building a boutique agency in Oxfordshire, Lucy Joerin shares lessons on branding, growth, premium property sales and lead generation. We discuss launching from scratch, avoiding cash flow mistakes, recruitment, franchising and what it really takes to build a successful estate agency.

Send us Fan MailI'm excited for you to hear my wonderful guest this week because she's talking all about something that we don't talk about enough — and I've only had one other guest on the podcast talking about this particular thing. Hennie Thomson is a single woman in her 30s living and working in Oxfordshire. She has been long-term single and a few years ago she realised that her lack of interest in pursuing a romantic relationship does actually have a name. Discovering her asexual / aromantic identity has helped Hennie make sense of why she has chosen a solo life in a world that promotes coupling up. And as you guys know more than most, there is far more to people than their relationship status, and Hennie is keen to build a life full of meaning and connection. In our conversation we talk all about what life has looked like for Hennie as someone who now identifies as asexual and aromantic, and I think you will find this conversation to be as fascinating as I did.Follow Hennie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moorhen.prints/Books Hennie mentioned:Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society & The Meaning Of Sex by Angela Chen: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ace-Asexuality-Reveals-Identity-Meaning/dp/080701379XLoveless by Alice Oseman: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Loveless-Alice-Oseman/dp/000824412XSupport the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/bookJoin my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesoloDownload my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacksCheck out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=shareFollow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!

In this episode we take a close look at Thames Water's proposed White Horse Reservoir in Oxfordshire – one of nine new storage schemes advancing under Ofwat's PR24 plans to confront growing climate pressures, population growth, and the urgent need for long-term water security.The investment is much needed. No new reservoirs have been built in the UK for more than 30 years leaving an potential shortfall of up to 5 billion litres a day in England by 2055,  according to Ofwat's recent reporting. As if to highlight the challenge right now, Thames Water has this week announced a new hose pipe ban across the region. Clearly work needs to happen to reduce leakage but without new storage capacity we are heading for problems. My guest today is Nevil Muncaster, Strategic Water Resources Director at Thames Water and the man masterminding plans to tackle this challenge, including the £7.5 billion mega-project to build a 12 square kilometre reservoir near Abingdon. This facility is designed to hold 150 billion litres of water, drawn from the nearby River Thames during winter, and released to bolster supplies and secure drought resilience of up to 15 million people across London and the South East for the next century. Supporters call it a critical, non-negotiable insurance policy against a changing climate and a rapidly growing population.However, the path to a 2040 opening is far from smooth. Local communities, environmental charities, and councils have raised fierce objections over its massive ecological footprint, carbon cost, and the disruption of local livelihoods. Add to that the multi-billion-pound pressure that the investment will add to Thames Water's already precarious financial position, which see the company currently saddled with nearly £20 billion of debt and racing against a looming autumn cash-flow crisis.So much to talk through as we explore progress toward Development Consent Order application for the project this year. ResourcesThames Water White Horse Reservoir Thames Water websiteOfwat Major Water Infrastructure Programme Ofwat RAPIDGovernment announcement on PR24Independent Commission on Water - Sir Jon Cunliffe

Joanna Williams, Tom Slater and Fraser Myers discuss the emptiness of Burnham-mania and what we now know about Ann Widdecombe's murder. The conversation continues on spiked podcast: unlocked, where we discuss the Oxfordshire village in uproar over illegal migration and Cody Harper, the latest victim of Britain's two-tier policing: https://www.spiked-online.com/podcast/spiked-podcast-unlocked/  Become a spiked supporter to access all of spiked's exclusive content, and enjoy a whole host of other perks: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Donate £40 or more to spiked's summer appeal and receive a limited-edition ‘10 years of Brexit' pint glass. Find out more and donate here: https://www.spiked-online.com/spiked-summer-appeal/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on the BBC Introducing in Oxfordshire & Berkshire podcast: blending jazz, R&B, and pop - Dave introduces you Mac Adams ahead of releasing his new single GOLF.Plus hear what Lauren got up to at the Rusty Bicycle Street Party in East Oxford, and Alex is live at Truck as the festival gets underway!Here's this week's track list: • V.I.C - Best in the World Frannie B - So High rennie - Travelator Sundaughter - Silver Park Motive - Buried Folly Oh Yes - Out In The Sun Oscar Scannell - DO 4 YOU Go Leema - Rattled mustbejohn - Get The Time Back [tipped by Jess Iszatt at BBC Radio 1] i4M2 - Lear Jet Charis - Shadow Pulse Mac Adams - GOLF Yxng Dave - LOCO Kiimi - Taste [tipped by Jaguar at BBC Radio 1 Dance] FAWLERS - in the sun Lizzie Esau - Day in the life The High Life - Honey JuuL - Like I Do Forever Autumn - LET ME GO [tipped by Alex Holcombe at BBC Radio 1 Rock] ruth gitau - ugly Sparky Bosque - Still Living Here • If you're making music in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, send us your tunes with the BBC Introducing Uploader: https://www.bbc.co.uk/introducing/uploader

After the sudden death of her husband, a woman tries to rebuild her life and create a new future for herself and her young daughter. But as strange events begin to occur, she is forced to confront the possibility that some bonds are not easily broken. A poignant ghost story that explores the lingering presence of those we love. Author Bio: Frances Brindle lives in Oxfordshire, England, with her husband, a Greek dog, and an American cat. After studying microbiology at university, she moved into marketing and was once responsible for sending an animatronic kangaroo down a ski jump in New Zealand for a beer campaign. She was shortlisted for the H.G. Wells Short Story Prize, and her stories have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies.The Kaidankai Podcast features original short fiction exploring horror, fantasy, science fiction, and the strange.New episodes every Wednesday.Subscribe on Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.Read the stories at kaidankaistories.comFollow the show:InstagramFacebookBlueskyHave a story you'd like us to read? Send submissions to kaidankai100ghoststories@gmail.com.

Jessica Fellowes discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Jessica Fellowes is an author, journalist and public speaker. The Mitford Murders is her debut series as a novelist and has been nominated for awards in Britain, France, Germany and Italy, and sold into eighteen territories. Jessica is also the author of five official companion books to ‘Downton Abbey,' various of which hit the New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller lists. Former columnist for the Mail on Sunday and deputy editor of Country Life, she has written business books with Sophie Cornish MBE, 'The Devil You Know' with forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes and short stories for Vogue Italia and L'Uomo Vogue. Jessica makes frequent appearances on radio, podcasts and television, has a Substack – ‘Your Fellowes Reader' – and lives in Oxfordshire with her family. The work of school governors https://boardsforeducation.org.uk/ Hitster https://hitstergame.com/en-gb/ The advantages of hearing aids https://www.outsideclinic.co.uk/blog/impact-of-hearing-aids Jessica Fellowes https://substack.com/@jessicafellowes The Sale Room https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb Singled Out by Virginia Nicholson https://www.virginianicholson.co.uk/singled-out This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

This week on the BBC Introducing in Oxfordshire & Berkshire podcast, blending cinematic pop, warm emotive vocals with sharp lyricism, Dave meets al coffey!Plus, celebrating Oxford's music scene in the 90s and beyond - hear about Sounds of the City at the Museum of Oxford, Alex previews our excellent line up at TRUCK, and we take a deep dive into one musicians journey with BBC Introducing, this week Lauren Loves... SISTRA.Here's this week's track list: • Willie J Healey - Ditch The Samurai Seven - Duck and Cover Wiiince - Seagull Season (Cool Summer) Genevieve Miles - cinnamon Civil Villains - Canvas Stretcher The Pink Diamond Revue - She Is Kloyd - Far From Us Mia Mirch - If I Had My Way Lost Velvet - Right Back Adam Reds - Out of Love Harrison - Lonely Road HENKA - Sukeban al coffey - nice meeting you, again 4BEL - Miami Heat Jody and the Jerms - Some Day Wolf Cutt - STARSEED Veridian - The Other Side SISTRA - In Two Nicole Allan - Put 'Em Up Eds - Late Night Josephine Illingworth - The Mythical Toby Sebastian - Oona Cheap Suits - Come To Mine Erin Snape - Happy • If you're making music in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, send us your tunes with the BBC Introducing Uploader: https://www.bbc.co.uk/introducing/uploader

Murder doesn't often feature in swimming. In this podcast, two places are linked through this theme: Ballarat and St George's Lake, in Australia, with Wallingford and the River Thames in Oxfordshire, in the UK. Both places have factual andfictional claims to being ‘murder central' in their respective countries. Both have good swimming, and both have murder mysteries attached to their locale. In addition, Ballarat has seen several real-life, gruesome murders in recent years. It shouldn't put you off swimming in its nearby lakes though.

At just before three in the morning on Saturday the 19th of March 2011, a 22-year-old woman named Sian O'Callaghan left a nightclub in the centre of Swindon, Wiltshire, and began the 800-metre walk home to the flat she shared with her boyfriend. She never arrived. Within days, Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher of Wiltshire Police had identified a suspect. Within a week, he had made a decision that would save one family from years of wondering, deliver another family a second set of remains that had been missing for eight years, and destroy his own career in the process. Fulcher took the suspect, a local taxi driver named Christopher Halliwell, to an Iron Age hill fort north of Swindon. He deliberately broke the Police and Criminal Evidence Act to interrogate him. And there, without a solicitor present, Halliwell led him first to Sian O'Callaghan's shallow grave in an Oxfordshire field, and then, on the drive back to the police station, offered him a second body. This is the story of two young women who died eight years apart, the detective who broke the rules to find them, and the spade in a Swindon shed that eventually put their killer behind bars for the rest of his life.Become a Patreon or Apple + subscriber now for ealry and ad free access from as little as $1.69 a week. All the details hereSubscribe to Crime at Bedtimes Youtube channel HERE Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 204: In Conversation with Grant Walters – Co-Author of "Decades: The Bee Gees in the 1980s" – Part 2 In this episode, Brian and Sarah continue their conversation with Grant Walters, co-author of the Decades series of books covering the career of the Bee Gees. The latest volume, Decades: The Bee Gees in the 1980s, has just been released in the UK, and it will be available to purchase in the US in September.  Part 2 of the discussion finds Grant, Brian, and Sarah talking about the solo work undertaken by Barry, Robin, and Maurice during the 1980s. Barry released a solo album, which was accompanied by a full-length film; Robin released three solo albums; and Maurice composed movie scores, produced an album for Swedish singer Carola, and worked with both his brothers on their solo projects.  In the second half of the decade, the Bee Gees returned to the studio as a group, recording and releasing the albums E.S.P. and One. In between these albums, they suffered the great loss of their youngest brother, Andy. As the 1980s come to a close, the Bee Gees find themselves enjoying a resurgence in their popularity, once again achieving worldwide success on the music charts. As mentioned in Part 1, Grant and Andrew are going on tour to support the new book, including an appearance at the Thame Museum in Thame, Oxfordshire, which is home to the Robin Gibb Gallery. The event is on September 5, and you can purchase tickets for both in-person and livestream attendance. To learn more, visit this link:  https://thamemuseum.org/join-us-for-a-very-special-evening For more information on all the books in the Decades series about The Bee Gees, as well as more information about Grant and Andrew's upcoming book tour, visit www.beegeesdecades.com Videos for songs discussed in this episode:  Barry Gibb - "Shine Shine" https://youtu.be/fhO3gcpWBBk?si=b5eA_4TG4wvCmclU  Robin Gibb - "Juliet" https://youtu.be/D3k3y7dykx0?si=GD60EgFKtclw30Zp  Robin Gibb- "Boys Do Fall in Love" https://youtu.be/D8WSSG3UzwU?si=goQT5Fx5Gux69L_a Bee Gees - "You Win Again" https://youtu.be/xviuC-0FwQ0?si=RhQMxPoEQlvRm6cb Bee Gees - "One" https://youtu.be/KRUeMgzOCCo?si=A75q6vm0e_2V3f5i  Read more at http://www.permanentrecordpodcast.com/ Visit us at https://www.facebook.com/permrecordpodcast Check out some pictures at https://www.instagram.com/permanentrecordpodcast/ You can also find us on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@permanentrecordpodcast Join the ever-growing crowd on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/permrecordpod.bsky.social Leave a voicemail for Brian & Sarah at (724) 490-8324 or https://www.speakpipe.com/PermRecordPod  - we're ready to believe you!

This week on the BBC Introducing in Oxfordshire & Berkshire podcast, Dave introduces you to indie pop singer Lydia Shute - to hear about her new single DOWN WE GO.Plus, Alex catches up with Oscar Dunbar, and Lauren has everything you need to know about avant-pop artist and composer, Maddie Ashman.Here's this week's track list: • Mandrake Handshake - En Vol Mr Speed - Sweet Sweet Rot Orchid - No Narcotics Zilcho Hamblin - The One That Goes to Sea Roseanna - Awake Waiting for Smith - Tidal Wave ledbyher - DIRTY RUMOURS [tipped by Jess Iszatt at BBC Radio 1] Coraland - Jackdaw Jess Tuthill - The Last of Us Camille Baziadoly - Tightrope (feat. The Filthy Honey) Garfield & Nico - Sweet Sorrow Spinner Fall - Cat's Eyes Matilda Pratt - All I Want Lydia Shute - DOWN WE GO Gen and the Degenerates - Sex Symbol [tipped by Alyx Holcombe at BBC Radio 1] Oscar Dunbar - Polkadots Lily Beck - Super Magic Brickwork Lizards - All That We Are Maddie Ashman - Behind Closed Eyes Red Tape Resistance - How I've Wanted You Endless Idiot - Avianism 1 shanelle - you don't deserve me Tiger Mendoza - You're Forgiven (feat. Octavia Freud) Julia-Sophie - Telephone • If you're making music in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, send us your tunes with the BBC Introducing Uploader: https://www.bbc.co.uk/introducing/uploader

Episode 202: In Conversation with Grant Walters – Co-Author of "Decades: The Bee Gees in the 1980s" – Part 1 A few years ago, Brian and Sarah had the privilege and pleasure to speak with Grant Walters, one of the authors of a fantastic series of books chronicling the careers of Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb—also known as the Bee Gees. The first two installments of the Decades series were written by Grant Walters, Andrew Môn Hughes, and Mark Crohan, and cover the 1960s and the 1970s. The newest edition of Decades is written by Grant Walter and Andrew Môn Hughes, and not surprisingly, covers the 1980s. It follows the format of the previous books, going chronologically through each year of the decade, detailing the various projects and events that were keeping the Gibb brothers busy.   Once again, Brian and Sarah had a fantastic time talking with Grant, getting the scoop on the creation of the book, and learning more about many of the topics covered in the book. This time, however, they talked so long, they needed to break the conversation up into two episodes.   This episode focuses on where the Bee Gees were career-wise at the start of the 1980s, and goes on to discuss the songwriting and production work they did for other artists such as Barbra Streisand, Dionne Warwick, Kenny Rogers, and Diana Ross. (Swedish artist Carola will be covered in Part 2.) There's also information on the promotional tour Grant and Andrew will be undertaking to support the new book, including an appearance at the Thame Museum in Thame, Oxfordshire, which is home to the Robin Gibb Gallery. The event is on September 5, and you can purchase tickets for both in-person and livestream attendance. To learn more, visit this link: https://thamemuseum.org/join-us-for-a-very-special-evening For more information on all the books in the Decades series about The Bee Gees, visit https://www.beegeesdecades.com  Videos for songs discussed in this episode: Barbra Streisand & Barry Gibb performing "Guilty" live in 1986: https://youtu.be/h27J_95OtQA?si=nHLb5fCXpK3epspD Dionne Warwick – "Heartbreaker" official video: https://youtu.be/9xHQsMYosao?si=h9iN1C-ESODraDfD Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton performing "Islands in the Stream" live: https://youtu.be/NE7Z8_-rnb0?si=8W5qBTlbHnr_VOWF Diana Ross – "Eaten alive" official video: https://youtu.be/SjhRAZStS9M?si=EGVjqtnzLSN_QJXj Diana Ross – "Chain Reaction" official video: https://youtu.be/lspNn8ZBAsI?si=xRQxmS2q2L2TC8-m Diana Ross – "Experience" official video: https://youtu.be/LCuQjAlf1Z8?si=GZUffzeQQGyNbvc0 Visit us at https://www.facebook.com/permrecordpodcast  Check out some pictures at https://www.instagram.com/permanentrecordpodcast/  You can also find us on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@permanentrecordpodcast  Join the ever-growing crowd on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/permrecordpod.bsky.social  Leave a voicemail for Brian & Sarah at (724) 490-8324 or https://www.speakpipe.com/PermRecordPod  - we're ready to believe you!

This week I'm speaking to the lovely Charlotte Bowie from Oxfordshire, mum to nearly three-year-old Felix, about toddler breastfeeding, extreme sleep disruption (including split nights), and her struggle with repeated bouts of mastitis. Charlotte's recurrent mastitis has spanned across nearly three years, including multiple antibiotic courses, a confirmed breast abscess drained via ultrasound-guided needle aspiration, and a later hospital admission with suspected sepsis. She also shares anxiety around breast lumps due to a family history of breast cancer. We discuss the updated mastitis guidance (avoiding vigorous massage and heat, using ice, anti-inflammatories, gentle lymphatic techniques, and managing hyperlactation/overpumping), and how a virtual consultation with breastfeeding specialist GP/IBCLC Dr Naomi Dow helped Charlotte self-manage and reduce recurrence as she continues to feed Felix. Charlotte would also like to acknowledge the support she received from La Leche League Oxfordshire. One peer supporter, Hannah, in particular was especially kind and supportive and sought advice on mastitis from the professional liaison team.My picture book on how breastfeeding journeys end, The Story of Jessie's Milkies, is available from Amazon here -  The Story of Jessie's Milkies. In the UK, you can also buy it from The Children's Bookshop in Muswell Hill, London. Other book shops and libraries can source a copy from Ingram Spark publishing.You can also get 10% off my books on supporting breastfeeding beyond six months and supporting the transition from breastfeeding at the Jessica Kingsley press website, by going to https://bit.ly/JKPbooks and using the code MMPE10 at checkout.Follow me on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com Resources mentionedFind Dr Naomi Dow at https://drnaomidow.com/ and on instagram @‌drnaomidow_bfmedThe new mastitis spectrum guidance can be read at https://abm.memberclicks.net/assets/DOCUMENTS/PROTOCOLS/36-mitchell-et-al-2022-academy-of-breastfeeding-medicine-clinical-protocol-36-the-mastitis-spectrum-revised-2022.pdfCharlotte would also like to mention that she received some great support from La Leche League.This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

It was an absolute pleasure to speak with Ronnie Lee, founder of the ALF. He tells his story of how direct action led him to prison, how that has shaped him, and what he thinks is best for the movement going forward.Ronnie Lee (born 1951) is a British animal rights activist best known as the founder of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), an international, leaderless movement that utilizes direct action and economic sabotage to oppose animal exploitation.Here is a quick breakdown of his life and evolution as an activist:1. The Early Days & "Band of Mercy"Lee became a vegetarian in 1970 and fully committed to a vegan lifestyle in 1972. Looking for active ways to protect wildlife, he joined the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) in the early 1970s to disrupt fox hunts.Frustrated by the legal limitations of the HSA, Lee and a fellow activist, Cliff Goodman, wanted to take more aggressive, law-breaking actions. In 1972, they formed a breakaway group called the Band of Mercy (named after a 19th-century anti-hunting group). The group expanded its targets from hunting vehicles to pharmaceutical laboratories and animal research facilities, pioneering the use of property damage and arson to inflict economic losses on industries that exploit animals.2. The Birth of the ALFIn 1974, Lee and Goodman were arrested after raiding an animal testing facility in Bicester, Oxfordshire, and were sentenced to three years in prison.Lee served a year before being paroled. He emerged from prison more militant than before. In 1976, he organized a group of roughly 30 activists to form a new, decentralized campaign. Wanting a name that would "haunt" those who used animals, he chose the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). Lee initially acted as the group's public Press Officer.3. Imprisonment and Later ActivismLee's commitment to direct action led to a heavy personal cost. He ended up serving three separate prison stints totaling roughly 9 years:1974: Sentenced for the Bicester laboratory raid.1977: Sentenced to 8 months for a raid on a facility breeding mice for lab experiments.1987: Sentenced to 10 years for conspiracy to commit arson and criminal damage targeting laboratories and department stores (he was released in 1992).4. Shift to EducationFollowing his final release from prison in 1992, Lee's strategy fundamentally shifted. Recognizing that the vast majority of animal abuse occurs within the food industry, he stepped away from illegal direct action.He now focuses his energy on legal advocacy, grassroots organizing, and vegan education. Lee strongly advocates that the most effective way to achieve true animal liberation is to peacefully change public consciousness and encourage people to adopt a vegan lifestyle.Instagram - @PLANTGEEZERPODCAST / @PLANTGEEZER. Email - PlantGeezer@gmail.com

In this episode of the Anglotopia Podcast, Jonathan Thomas sits down with Professor Paul Robichaud — Professor of English at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut — to discuss his remarkable new book, Stories of the Stones: Imagining Prehistory in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany, published by Reaktion Books on July 6th. Paul is not an archaeologist but a literary scholar, and his book takes a completely different approach to prehistoric monuments: rather than asking who built them or how, he asks what stories people have told about them across the centuries — and what those stories reveal about us. From the earliest Greek account of a possible spherical temple on a northern island (possibly Callanish), through Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th-century account of Merlin flying Stonehenge from Ireland, through the antiquarian fantasies of Inigo Jones (who decided Stonehenge was Roman and helpfully corrected its geometry to fit) and William Stukeley (who invented the Druid connection that has never entirely gone away), through the Romantics — Wordsworth's visions of human sacrifice, Blake's prophetic paintings, Turner's atmospheric canvases — to the 1970s counterculture, folk horror films, and our own climate-anxious present, the book traces how five millennia of imagining these ancient places tells us as much about the people doing the imagining as it does about the stones themselves. Jonathan and Paul also share their personal favorite prehistoric sites, including Avebury, Wayland Smithy, and — Jonathan's top pick — Castlerigg in Cumbria. Links Stories of the Stones by Paul Robichaud (Reaktion Books, July 6) Stores of Stones - Amazon Stonehenge — English Heritage Avebury — National Trust Wayland's Smithy, Oxfordshire — English Heritage Castlerigg Stone Circle, Cumbria — National Trust Callanish Standing Stones, Isle of Lewis Stanton Drew Stone Circles, Somerset Newgrange, Ireland The Ridgeway National Trail Albertus Magnus College Friends of Anglotopia Club Takeaways The word "prehistoric" didn't exist until the mid-19th century. For most of human history, people encountering these monuments had no framework for understanding them as ancient — they were simply there, part of the landscape, and the stories told about them reflected whatever worldview the storyteller brought: giants, biblical patriarchs, Roman engineers, druid priests, or earth energies. Stonehenge is unique among stone circles not because of its age or size but because of its distinctive architecture — upright stones with lintels resting on mortise-and-tenon joints, clearly intentional and clearly extraordinary. Its location on a relatively populated southern English plain also meant it was seen by far more people across the centuries than monuments in Wales or the Outer Hebrides. The Stonehenge we see today is not how it looked for most of recorded history. Many of the stones that appear upright were raised during restoration work in the 19th and 20th centuries, and the contemporary visitor's experience of a cleaned-up, presented monument is itself a kind of modern imagination of what people thought it should look like. Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th-century account — in which Merlin magically flies the stones from Ireland to Salisbury Plain as a memorial to fallen British nobles — dominated the medieval imagination for centuries because there simply were no rival stories. With no archaeological framework and no competing account, his version was accepted as genuine British history. Inigo Jones concluded that Stonehenge must be a Roman temple, and helpfully corrected its irregular geometry in his drawings to make it look properly classical. William Stukeley correctly identified the Druids as the likely builders — and then spent decades constructing increasingly elaborate Druidical fantasies connecting ancient Britain to biblical monotheism. Both men are cautionary examples of how we make evidence fit our assumptions. The Druid/Stonehenge association is almost entirely modern — an 18th-century invention that has almost no basis in archaeological evidence. The Iron Age Celts we associate with Druids arrived in Britain centuries after Stonehenge was built. But the association was cemented through repeated reproduction in engravings and illustrations — like a cultural meme — and has proved impossible to dislodge. The Romantics found in prehistoric monuments the perfect embodiment of the Sublime — Edmund Burke's idea of awe and terror in the presence of something vast and unknowable. Wordsworth had what he described as visions of ancient Britons and human sacrifice after being stranded near Stonehenge in a carriage accident; Blake incorporated megaliths into his prophetic paintings; Turner painted Stonehenge in dramatic atmospheric light. These Romantic responses shaped how visitors expected to feel at these sites for generations afterward. Paul's most unexpectedly moving site visit was to Wayland's Smithy in Oxfordshire — a Neolithic chambered tomb accessible via the ancient Ridgeway path. He had it entirely to himself in the rain, found a fresh offering of flowers left by a previous visitor, and experienced the kind of quiet communion with place that Stonehenge, with its crowds and visitor management, rarely allows. Jonathan's personal favorite prehistoric site is Castlerigg in Cumbria — a stone circle set on a hill and surrounded by mountains, relatively unknown and often visitable in near-solitude. Paul's is Avebury, which he recommends over Stonehenge for anyone wanting to actually walk among the stones rather than view them from a distance. Our contemporary fascination with prehistoric monuments is increasingly shaped by environmental anxiety — a need to reconnect with the landscape and with deep human time at a moment of climate crisis and technological acceleration. The stories we now tell about standing stones are as revealing of our own moment as Geoffrey of Monmouth's were of the 12th century. Soundbites "I had one book that had a picture of a druid kind of surfing on a large stone coming into Stonehenge — like he's landing. The idea was that they must have levitated the stones using Earth energies. The 70s was a time when there was a lot of interest in what we call New Age thinking. All that was kind of in the air when I was a kid." — Paul on his childhood introduction to prehistoric Britain. "I'm more interested in what these stories are doing and what they reveal about the people who are telling them. We can get some insight into what these places have meant to people who have visited them and lived alongside them for centuries and even millennia. The stories are interesting in their own right." — Paul on what a literary scholar sees that an archaeologist might not. "Geoffrey of Monmouth claimed to get his information from a mysterious book in Welsh that no one else had ever heard of and has never been identified or located. He was clearly a fabulator. But his account dominated the Middle Ages and kept getting retold all through the Renaissance because there were no rival stories." — Paul on Geoffrey of Monmouth's enduring influence. "Inigo Jones with his very careful architectural drawings, correcting the shape of Stonehenge to make it fit his vision, is a kind of exaggerated form of what we're all tempted to do — which is make things fit our assumptions about the world." — Paul on antiquarian projection. "The controversy around Druids in the 1700s was not whether they conducted their rites at Stonehenge — that was assumed — but whether the Druids were noble philosophers who had a secret wisdom, or bloodthirsty priests using human sacrifice to terrify the population into submission. Stukeley and his friend Borlase fell out over this." — Paul on the 18th-century Druid debate. "You've got a stone circle, you've got a druid there, and they're just always together. It becomes like a meme. And then they're taken up by the Romantics. So it really gets cemented in the popular imagination." — Paul on how the Druid/Stonehenge association became inescapable. "The Romantics find this admiration for the rugged beauty of these sites. Edmund Burke's idea of the sublime — that we experience awe in wild places that provoke a frisson of fear — becomes a kind of defining experience that travelers have at Stonehenge. These sites are viewed through the same lens as Niagara Falls." — Paul on the Romantic discovery of the prehistoric sublime. "I walked from the visitor center and I was glad I did. You see the barrows and the wooded land and then finally, a little bit in the distance, Stonehenge itself. And it really is impressive. You get at least a little bit of that experience of what it must have been like to suddenly see it in front of you in the landscape." — Paul's practical advice for visiting Stonehenge. "I drove up to Wayland's Smithy and I had the place to myself. It was raining, just one of those English drizzles. You walk down this pathway and then all of a sudden this really magnificent tomb is in front of you with standing stones around it. Someone had left an offering of flowers there. It was really beautiful." — Paul on his most unexpectedly moving prehistoric site visit. "As we're living in this increasingly dire moment of climate change, there's a sense of urgency in thinking about our relationship to the landscape. And we live in a time of unprecedented technological change — we spend so much of our time staring at screens. I think this interest in the deep past is something more and more people are developing as a way of connecting to our cultural and human origins." — Paul on why prehistoric monuments still matter today. Chapters 00:26 Introduction — Jonathan introduces Paul Robichaud and Stories of the Stones 02:15 Origin Story — Leonard Nimoy's In Search Of, Usborne books, and a trip to Callanish in 1998 03:42 A Literary Scholar Looks at Standing Stones — What Paul's approach reveals that archaeology alone can't 05:28 Why Britain, Ireland and Brittany? — The megalithic density of northwestern Europe and the span from 4500 BC to 3000 BC 07:42 A Catalog of Monument Types — Burial mounds, menhirs, stone circles, dolmens, earthworks, and what distinguishes them 08:57 The Word "Prehistoric" Didn't Exist Until the 19th Century — How the lack of a framework shaped every story told before it 11:13 Why Stonehenge Above All Others — The lintels, the mortise-and-tenon joints, the location, and the architecture of uniqueness 13:49 Stonehenge Is Not What It Looked Like — Restoration, re-erected stones, and why we see a cleaned-up version 16:33 Avebury vs. Stonehenge — Why Avebury often offers a more powerful experience, and the tip to walk rather than take the bus 18:06 Diodorus Siculus and the Spherical Temple — The earliest possible written reference to a British megalithic monument 20:51 Geoffrey of Monmouth and Merlin — The 12th-century account that dominated the medieval imagination for centuries 23:54 The Welsh Tradition — Arthurian connections, early saints, St. Samson, and the distinct Welsh relationship with prehistoric places 26:04 Old English Anxiety — Giants, barrow demons, Beowulf's dragon, and the fear that ran through early medieval English culture 28:26 The Antiquarians — Inigo Jones decides Stonehenge is Roman and corrects its geometry to fit 31:05 William Stukeley — The genuine archaeological pioneer who invented the Druid connection that has never gone away 36:05 Why Modern Druids at Stonehenge Are Performing a Modern Tradition — And why that doesn't make it meaningless 38:15 The Romantic Imagination — Burke's Sublime, Wordsworth's visions, Blake's prophecies, Turner's light 41:01 Wordsworth's Carriage Accident and the Wicker Man — How personal experience and literary reading combine at these sites 43:38 The Modern Era — Counterculture, New Age, Doctor Who, folk horror, and our climate-anxious present 46:33 Practical Tips for Visiting — Stonehenge, Avebury, Stanton Drew and its pub, Callanish, and what to prioritize 48:33 Personal Favorites — Wayland's Smithy (Paul) and Castlerigg in Cumbria (Jonathan) 51:00 Wrap-Up — Stories of the Stones out July 6 from Reaktion Books Video Version

Clare joins Alistair MacNichol for part of his long‑distance walk from Holborn in London to Tong in Shropshire as he recreates the journey made by Little Nell and her grandfather from Charles Dickens's novel The Old Curiosity Shop. The 166‑mile route has been meticulously researched by Alistair, who for many years has questioned whether this fictional adventure could ever be mapped onto real English landscapes.Preparing for the walk has taken him deep into Dickens's world: re‑examining the novel, studying nineteenth‑century maps, and delving into many decades of Dickensian research. He has even carefully traced Dickens's own travels through the Midlands using the author's diary entries and letters.Alistair hopes to complete the walk in eleven days. As a veteran of long‑distance trail walking, including a 1,514‑mile hike from Cape Cornwall to Cape Wrath, the challenge is well within his reach, although averaging a little under fifteen miles per day represents a considerable test.Clare joins him for part of day six, walking from Wroxton in Oxfordshire to Warmington in Warwickshire, and asks how his twin passions for walking and the works of Charles Dickens have come together in this, his latest adventure.Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor

This week on the BBC Introducing in Oxfordshire & Berkshire podcast, Dave's joined by Jess and James from Reading's indie-rock band The Race - to hear about making music again after a 16-year break!Plus, there's an incredible live track from South Arcade at Glasgow's TRNSMT Festival, first play's on the show from Jazzthieves and Blockade - and tips from Jess, Jaguar and Alyx at BBC Radio 1.Here's this week's track list: • Tino - No Boy No Girl the cloud - in my aquarium Martha May - YOU HANG UP! Nineteenth Hour - Something In the Water Kah'Nya - HOWYAFEEL?! (feat. Zoka The Author) Giant Party - A.I Prayer May Kolta - Hard No Drez Camino - We Go Up, We Go Down Ivy Marcia - Cigarette Song haemoGOBLIN - FAT CAT jazzthieves - Old School Raver (feat. Mia Rosé & Firero) Kamran Ramsden - Heal Troy Javelona - SALTWATER [tipped by Jess Iszatt at BBC Radio 1] Bone-Idle - Liquorice South Arcade - 2005 (live at TRNSMT) The Race - Best Is Yet To Come The Race - D of E Flaurese - Almost Lover [tipped by Jaguar at BBC Radio 1 Dance] Juliana - I Just Miss The Sex Glass Bridges - Pray Suspire - Garden of Life Blockade - Mess You Made Dream Phone - Strut The Jacques - Spawning SNAYX - Brain Cellz [tipped by Alyx Holcombe at BBC Radio 1 Rock] MarysGarden - Gasoline BLISSFOOL - finding butterflies LAKE ACACIA - They Won't Break Us Willie J Healey - Heaven Now • If you're making music in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, send us your tunes with the BBC Introducing Uploader: https://www.bbc.co.uk/introducing/uploader

This week on the BBC Introducing in Oxfordshire & Berkshire podcast, would he Rather Be In Berlin? Maybe, but tonight Baby Maker joins Dave to tell us about his new EP Packed Lunch! Plus, Alex hears about Chameleons's 'Music for MS' - a live music night at Reading's Purple Turtle supporting the Berkshire MS Therapy Centre. And, there's incredible live tracks and interviews with MacKenzie at the Isle of Wight Festival, and South Arcade at Download!Here's this week's track list: • Big Fear - Darling Boy Girl Like That - Katie Nick Magenta - I Spent All My Money! Hannah Jane Lewis - Wisteria Oscar Dunbar - Blue Millionaire (feat. Dyl Smith) Matilda Pratt - Sick Pretty Boy Mackenzie - That Much Better (live at the Isle of Wight Festival) JGrrey - take my hand [tipped by Jess Iszatt at BBC Radio 1] Makeup - Have a Nice Life Finn Flood - Smile  HIFEELINGS - Better Matt Sage - I Trained A Spy Means Of Production - Paper Dub (Multifari Remix) Unbelievable Truth - From This Height Sadie Fine - HEARTBREAK IS A HABIT Leighton Tongue - Ghost Of Myself Baby Maker - Inguhlund Baby Maker - Blah Di Blah Lu.Re - Rock The House [tipped by Jaguar at BBC Radio 1 Dance] South Arcade - DEADMEAT My Liberal Pony - OUMUAMUA f:sv - Something New Moonrakers - Sickle Moon • If you're making music in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, send us your tunes with the BBC Introducing Uploader: https://www.bbc.co.uk/introducing/uploader

This might be the most important conversation we've had on this podcast. There's a science of how human beings actually learn – and much of what happens in schools runs against the grain of it. In this episode, James is joined by affective neuroscience specialist Mike Goves and returning guest Kate McAllister, founder of the Hive in the Dominican Republic, to make that case from two directions at once: the research that explains it, and a school already living it. The core idea is deceptively simple: we learn what we care about, not what we're told. Mike makes the scientific case that affect – the felt sense of how good or bad something is – is biologically primary to all learning and memory. Kate offers the living proof: an environment she built, long before she had the vocabulary for it, around children's genuine curiosity and a daily practice of checking in on how they feel. When the science and the lived practice line up this precisely, it's hard to look at a normal classroom the same way again. Along the way we get into: - Why memory prioritises emotional salience over semantic accuracy – and why we reconstruct memories rather than retrieve them - The 'seesaw' model of attention: task focus (the executive control network) at one end, reflection and daydreaming (the default mode network) at the other, with the salience network as the pivot - The research suggesting that keeping young people permanently in task-focus mode may inhibit their development – linked to brain growth, wellbeing and life satisfaction well into their twenties - How narratives bind learning into identity, and why 'a person, a place, a problem' makes kids care about electrolysis - What this looks like in practice, from the freedom of the Hive to the real constraints of a 2,000-pupil urban secondary - A rich, wide-ranging conversation about emotion, meaning and what education could be if we took the biology seriously. Guests Mike Goves – psychology and neuroscience graduate turned teacher and school leader, now working at a multi-academy trust in Oxfordshire, with a growing focus on affect and affective neuroscience. He runs the Affective Learning Lab and has authored a white paper, The affective foundations of human learning, on the science discussed in this episode. Kate McAllister – founder of the Hive in the Dominican Republic and a long-time intuitive practitioner of affect-led, unschooling-inspired education. She returns to the podcast around five years after her first appearance. Links The Affective Learning Lab - https://affectivelearninglab.com White paper: The affective foundations of learning: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bCQYKfm5xbYmlrqG68sPlbbcyVjHrOSg/view Support #repod The Rethinking Education podcast is brought to you by Crown House Publishing. It is hosted by Dr James Mannion and David Cameron, and produced by Sophie Dean. This podcast is a labour of love, with the emphasis on both the labour and the love. If you'd like to support the podcast and convey your appreciation for these conversations, you can: Become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/repod Buy us a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/repod

This week on the BBC Introducing in Oxfordshire & Berkshire podcast, Dave's joined by Jody Prewett to hear about his new 10-track album, Places Beyond. Plus, Alex catches up with Baisingstokes Late Spring Folk Festival organiser, Samuel Austin, and there's tips from Jess Iszatt and Jaguar at BBC Radio 1.Here's this week's track list: • Sebastian Reynolds - Glow Ball (feat. Jonas Torrance) Laura Nahr - Girlfriend (Yes, I do) P.S. Finn - Lighthouse Maddie Ashman - Behind Closed Eyes Si Noble - Kiss Goodnight Emma Hunter - Window Liam Vincent & The Odd Foxes - Keep Running Girl In The Year Above - Ode To The Glory [Tipped by Jess Iszatt at BBC Radio 1] Roxanne - 3 Words Oliver Green - Heaven Awaits 916 - Money Long (feat. Nayyah) Craig Harris - We Go On Tomorrow Bird - Godless B Anca - Push Push Baby Sophie Blyth - Wishbone Jody Prewett - Wild Mind Jody Prewett - Oblivion JAZ IMSKY - SUPREME ARRAY Stereo Silence - Old Pair Of Shoes Ella Clayton - Please Me Outlier. - The Coffin Junior Simba - I Think Im About To Break [Tipped by Jaguar at BBC Radio 1 Dance] Genevieve Miles - cinnamon doops - Toxic • If you're making music in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, send us your tunes with the BBC Introducing Uploader: https://www.bbc.co.uk/introducing/uploader

Jeremy Kyle unpacks the latest as Oxfordshire's bid to ban roadside Union and St George's flags has reignited arguments over patriotism, safety and council priorities. The High Court challenge comes during England's World Cup campaign, prompting Conservatives and Reform to accuse Liberal Democrats of overreach. Meanwhile, revelations that pro-migration campaigners coached refugees for Question Time have intensified scrutiny of BBC impartiality on immigration.Wake up with Talk Breakfast in full on YouTube, DAB+ radio, Samsung TV Plus or the Talk App on your TV from 6am every morning. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Keir Starmer could be gone within days. That's the verdict of Sun columnist David Wooding, who reveals Westminster is awash with leadership chatter — including claims that Ed Miliband has already been offered the Chancellorship by a rival contender. With Cabinet ministers refusing the Prime Minister's calls and resignations potentially imminent, the clock may finally be ticking on Starmer's tenure.Then, as England's World Cup campaign kicks off, Oxfordshire County Council is seeking a legal injunction — backed by taxpayer money — to ban Union flags and England flags from lampposts. Philip Kiszeley of the New Culture Forum joins Julia to expose the jaw-dropping double standards of a political class that celebrates Pride and Palestinian flags whilst treating patriotism as a hate crime.Plus: the BBC's £500 million cuts, a Question Time migrant plant scandal, and civil servants being paid to play Grand Theft Auto and role-play as earthworms in the name of public policy.Julia Hartley-Brewer broadcasts on Talk from Monday to Thursday, 10AM to 1PM. Available on YouTube and streaming platforms, along with DAB+ radio and your smart speaker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you spend your time? In this conversation, John Mark and Dr. Sittser continue exploring the desert movement as it became more organized in monastic communities, and specifically how these communities related to one of humanity's most valuable commodities: time.This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes to: Aaron from Huntsville, Texas; Sheryl from Auburn, California; Jane from Oxford, Oxfordshire; Eleanor from Eugene, Oregon; and Alexandra from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you all very much.If you'd like to pay it forward and contribute toward future resources, you can learn more at practicingtheway.org/give.

Ciaran Goggins is an independent investigator and researcher who has frequently written about, discussed, and analyzed the suspicious death of British weapons expert Dr. David Kelly. [1, 2, 3, 4]The Context of Dr. David Kelly's DeathThe Background: In 2003, Dr. David Kelly was unmasked as the source behind a BBC report accusing Prime Minister Tony Blair's government of "sexing up" a dossier regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). [1, 2]The Incident: Shortly after being grilled by a parliamentary committee, Dr. Kelly was found dead on July 17, 2003, in Harrowdown Hill, Oxfordshire. [1, 2]The Official Verdict: The government-appointed Hutton Inquiry bypassed a traditional coroner's inquest and ruled the death a suicide caused by a slashed wrist and a Coproximal overdose. [1, 2, 3]Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-opperman-report--1198501/support.

This week on the BBC Introducing in Oxfordshire & Berkshire podcast, Dave introduces you to Isabella Richardson, who mixes country, folk and indie-pop, as we play her music for the first time. Lauren catches up with South Arcade as they get ready for Download festival and Kerrang's K! Pit show, plus Alex hears how SISTRA's debut album launch party went at Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes in Hackney!Here's this week's track list: • Henry Grace - Rust Beth Thornton - Bones Jody Prewett - Truthseeker Dani Sylvia - If You Don't Love Me Anymore RUDI - Fighting Fires (feat. Lucca Mae) Chris Kinsey - M40 Rules (feat. Shya) - As Soon As I Get Home [Tipped by Jaguar at BBC Radio 1 Dance] South Arcade - DEADMEAT Louise Gains & The Delta Kills - Everything Hurts Emmeline - Wild Horses, Running Free Lisa Kahn - HEALING Chima Anya - Brain Fog BLISSFOOL - watch me dance (feat. India Raine) Isabella Richardson - Waiting Room Danny Griffiths - Lightweight Champion [Tipped by Jess Iszatt at BBC Radio 1] Nate Simpson - See you again RIA - Fallin' Meadowsuite - Rhythm of the Moon SISTRA - In Two GIGSY - Dial Tone LMNL - Little Boy Lost Eliza Beth - Hot Like Ibiza PallBear - Indignance Then Apathy LULU - Needy • If you're making music in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, send us your tunes with the BBC Introducing Uploader: https://www.bbc.co.uk/introducing/uploader

This week's show comes to you from Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire where the Irish Farmers Journal team attended the Cereals event. We chatted to Ceres Rural agronomist Will Sturdens, hear from Kaleb Cooper and report the highlights. Importantly we keep an eye on crops in Ireland. Brian Reilly of Drummonds reports from the north east. We look at the paper and grain prices. You can listen to the podcast here. The Tillage Podcast is supported by Bayer Crop Science.To register for the UCD Lyons open evening and the live podcast recording click here: https://share-eu1.hsforms.com/1TD2IPxPUTuyqGnuWFnPwQwets9e Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this honest, open, and reflective conversation, Sunday Times bestselling author, journalist, and podcast host Clover Stroud joins Mandy Manners, SHE RECOVERS Trusted Advisor and Coach, to discuss writing as a tool for recovery, letting go of shame through sharing our story, and how it can help as a way to connect with and help others.Clover talks about her process as a writer to connect with her emotions and how it has helped her through grief, motherhood, and change. She talks about what has shifted since becoming sober. How she has found it a powerful tool for creativity and connection. Clover discusses how her sister Nell inspired her sobriety journey in the years before she sadly died from cancer at the age of 46 in 2019. Together, Clover and Mandy discuss growing up in the UK in the 90s and the hedonism of that time, especially both growing up in the English countryside. They discuss what home means to them whilst living abroad, which was the subject of Clover's fourth book, The Giant on the Skyline, and how belonging may not necessarily be a place or a person, but a specific feeling. Clover talks about learning to find new ways to connect in sobriety through crafts and her Substack community. She discusses what being sober has given her in terms of connection with her children and her marriage, and how it is something she feels proud to talk about.About Clover:Clover Stroud is a Sunday Times bestselling writer, journalist, and host of her own podcast, Tiny Acts of Bravery. Her first book, The Wild Other, was shortlisted for The Wainwright Prize. Her critically acclaimed second book, My Wild & Sleepless Nights: A Mother's Story, and third book, The Red of My Blood, were instant Sunday Times bestsellers and rated amongst the best books of the year in which they were published. Her fourth memoir, The Giant on the Skyline, was published in May 2024. Having spent the past three years living in Washington, DC, with her husband and the youngest three of her five children, she recently returned to her UK home in Oxfordshire.https://www.cloverstroud.com/https://www.instagram.com/clover.stroudhttps://cloverstroud.substack.com/https://shows.acast.com/tiny-acts-of-braveryAbout Mandy:Mandy Manners is a certified life and recovery coach. A qualified coach supervisor, trainer, speaker, and author. She is a certified SHE RECOVERS Coach and Trusted Advisor for Education and Pedagogy for the SHE RECOVERS Foundation.https://www.mandymanners.com Resources Mentioned in Episode:https://sherecovers.org/recovery-storytelling-workshop/SHE RECOVERS Retreat: From Memory to MemoirLooking to heal with writing or recover with words?Find your voice, write your recovery, or begin your memoir on retreat with award-winning author and psychotherapist Ann Dowsett Johnston.Over 5 days in a cozy chalet in the maple forest of Québec, you'll explore healing through daily writing practice, embodied movement, nature, deep rest, and meaningful connection with like-hearted folks.Step into your story this autumn. Explore this retreat here.About SHE RECOVERS® FoundationSHE RECOVERS Foundation is a non-profit public charity and a global grassroots movement serving thousands of women and non-binary individuals in or seeking recovery from life challenges, including mental health issues, trauma, and substance use. SHE RECOVERS is dedicated to redefining recovery, inspiring hope, ending stigma, and empowering women to increase their recovery capital, heal themselves, and help other women do the same.If you found this conversation helpful and you are able, please consider donating to our lifeline organization or sharing it with others who may benefit. We would love to also receive your rating and review of the SHE RECOVERS Podcast on your favorite platform.Visit sherecovers.org to donate today. 

and testings their quizzin' brains its Malcolm in Hastings and Sarah in Oxfordshire!

This week on the BBC Introducing in Oxfordshire & Berkshire podcast, Dave's joined by Mount St. Helen to hear how everything from religious iconography to black and white photography has influenced his music, plus what to expect when he plays our stage at Truck this year!Plus, Alex catches up with Rila's edge to hear about their gig at Reading's Purple Turtle, and there's a little taste of their new music.Here's this week's track list: • Wilderness States - Split (Kid Kin remix) SISTRA - In Two White Label - I'm a Mess Jennifer Lourea - Shades of time Joe Hicks - The Architect Kerr Mercer - Love Me Twice [tipped by Jess Iszatt at BBC Radio 1] Joe Bray - Options Purple Grace - Just 19 YOURBOYWONDER - Keep It Sweet Matilda Pratt - Valentine BUSHROD - People Pleasing Mount St. Helen - Helpless Mount St. Helen - California A Better Life - Under The Setting Sun (feat. Holly Taymar)  kemastry - Jezebels and Jellybeans SideBanks - Oh, How I Tire Santa Carla - Meteor Beth Zero - Down with the Ship Rila's Edge - Buck Michy Tree - Rock Bottom Mark Bosley - I Know Why You Don't Call Me Krabberz - Engage Marlia Rae - Name In Lights • If you're making music in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, send us your tunes with the BBC Introducing Uploader: https://www.bbc.co.uk/introducing/uploader

This week on the BBC Introducing in Oxfordshire & Berkshire podcast, Dave catches up with Richard Neuberg to hear about his new solo album 'The Vine'. Plus, Alex chats to May Kolta about her new music and gig at Pizza Express Live!Here's this week's track list: • Premium Leisure - Afters DJ Amricky - Burnin (feat. YK) Mona Vale - Just Danny Chaska & Oscar Grouch - Lights Bidz Music - Arrivals Gigi Wilde - do you still smell like jasmine MOTHER - UNHOLY Shao Dow - MATA また Naked Brunch - Bitter Soul Lewis Bolland - Calm (Sleep Version)  BSEARL - HARMONY Lucy Leave - Tractor Richard Neuberg - Everything Dark Is Light Richard Neuberg - Saltwater Je'Zell - Hard Fall Flyboy Jetty - LA Forlorn - Keeper Of The Well  Headphones Wasp - Coming Through Bear Trap - Why Won't You Disappear The Dionysus Ensemble - Connections Emily Frances - Hymn May Kolta - Empress (NKK) Henry Taylour - A Fleeting Moment Grace Angelique - All Time Low Brook Ellingworth - Whole Damn Time • If you're making music in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, send us your tunes with the BBC Introducing Uploader: https://www.bbc.co.uk/introducing/uploader

On this week's My Week In Cars podcast, Steve Cropley and Matt Prior find themselves inside an Ineos Grenadier and outside a pub. The two talk Steve's new Mini, kit cars, the Gentleman's Ride, why a Ford F250 is perfect for Oxfordshire and more.There's even more too, including your letters, and details of a special offer which gives you SIX issues of Autocar for just £6 if you click here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the BBC Introducing in Oxfordshire & Berkshire podcast, Dave meets rennie, who after working with some of the UK's most respected live acts is now stepping forward with his own music on his debut EP. He also catches up with Ronan Munro from Nightshift magazine on the eve of the final ever issue. Plus, Lauren finds out about Henley Jazz Festival with Rebecca Poole and Denny Ilett, and Alex catches up with Shock Horror after their gig in Oxford's James Street Tavern.Here's this week's track list: • Remember Monday - Delusional montykeates - Casual den of dog - Make Me FAWLERS - slob Orchid - DRIP Young Knives - Your Car Has Arrived Charis - Frequency HOLiDAY MYSTICS - Dream Big (for Stevie Nicks) doops - flatlands Mazawattee - Animals Rebecca Poole - You Still Make Me Laugh INDIYA - MUSE overpass - Is This Real? Rose Rey - Last Call Lover Rennie - Great Height Silo - Low Sun BJERGLUND - On Repeat Shock Horror - On TV Ellie Chadwick - Was It Just Me NE1 - Oh Please • If you're making music in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, send us your tunes with the BBC Introducing Uploader: https://www.bbc.co.uk/introducing/uploader

It's double trouble with Jane in Solihull & Nick in Oxfordshire.

Shed Sessions have stepped into Glasshouse Studios in the Oxfordshire countryside for this enticing episode with The August List.The music is bold, haunting, and beautiful. It also has the habit of transporting our host Warren into other realms.There's talk of horror films, a British Bullterrier in a field of turnips, tattooing Ryan's artwork, and creating and recording music in different places to bring songs together.It's a stripped back and acoustic set crafted specially for us. There's double bass, violin, acoustic guitar, two exquisitely enter-twined voices and a shed load of soul.We love The August List and we're confident that you will too.Thank you for listening.Audio by QuenYou can find out more about The August List here:https://open.spotify.com/artist/4wLyGH4PoT6RRyn6j9Zbsu?si=yyPIi6d1SFe9jOchYIFmMw@theaugustlist (Instagram)https://theaugustlist.bandcamp.com/album/sun-pinned-on-ghost-sky (bandcamp)Photos from the session by @ianhanhamphotos (Instagram) can be found on @shedtreasures (Instagram).

They named their band after a cabinet in Oxford's Pitt Rivers Museum, and once formed a band with Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood... this week on the BBC Introducing in Oxfordshire & Berkshire podcast, Dave catches up with Charms Against The Evil Eye.Plus, Lauren meets Niki Kini at her immersive headline show... but did she have a sweet or spicy experience?! And, Alex has a report from Reading's excellent Are You Listening? Festival with Lost Velvet and Puma Theory.Here's this week's track list: • The Race - Best Is Yet To Come Ace Clvrk - Heavenly Waters Folly Oh Yes - Zombie Of Silicon Valley Haints - Hollow Temples The Subtheory - Things that caught my attention Niki Kini - Murder You 1-800 GIRLS - sometimes [tipped by Jaguar at BBC Radio 1 Dance] The Afterword - An Illusion My Crooked Teeth - Stay At Home Twin Skeletons - Useless DRZ - Like U The Deadbeat Apostles - Keep it to Yourself Felix Ross - Everything's Changing Sofia and the Antoinettes - I Don't Know What I'm Doing on Earth, I Don't Know What on Earth I'm Doing [tipped by Jess Iszatt at BBC Radio 1] Charms Against The Evil Eye - Dark Matter Kelly Michaeli - Tephra Hey! This is Brad - Just Listen Frozemode - dirtyman [tipped by Alyx Holcombe at BBC Radio 1 Rock] Lost Velvet - Burnt Puma Theory - Hit & Run (Live at Farm Road Studios) Meli Foster-Turner - Serendipity Murds - Land Of Me Eva Gadd - Have It All • If you're making music in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, send us your tunes with the BBC Introducing Uploader: https://www.bbc.co.uk/introducing/uploader

After watching their local river grow murky and lifeless, two retired neighbours decide to take on the water industry and its regulators. The unlikely sleuths begin a ten-year battle to clean up our rivers.On the banks of the River Windrush in Oxfordshire, Kate Lamble meets campaigners Ash Smith and Peter HammondReported and presented by Kate Lamble Producer: Elle Scott Sound Design: Andy Fell Executive Producer: Joe Kent Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke Rinsed is a BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4

This week on the BBC Introducing in Oxfordshire & Berkshire podcast, Dave's joined by The Samurai Seven to talk about their brand new single Punching Down, their first release in 25 years! Plus Lauren meets Danny Mellin backstage at The Bullingdon in Oxford, and Alex speaks to Natalie Gray about her new music and headline gig at Wycombe Community Arts Centre.Here's this week's track list: • Tom Caro - Until Eventually Orchid - DRIP V.I.C - 40 Doors Almost Alice - Okay, Tomorrow Sebastian Croft - Better than ever Camille Baziadoly - Unlikely Places Felix Green - Forgot To Love You Gen and the Degenerates - Favourite Jumper [tipped by Alyx Holcombe at BBC Radio 1 Rock] Conor McLain - In My Nature (People Pleaser) TRASHCAT - GOSPEL Danny Mellin - Meet Me in the Afternoon Shiny Brain Crayons - So Alive Jess Tuthill - Until You Tell Me Not To The Samurai Seven - Bonnet The Samurai Seven - Punching Down Yung Toro - no regrets [tipped by Jess Iszatt at BBC Radio 1] The Covasettes - Honeymoon Forever Cherry Mint Koala - Slow Motion Nineteen Natalie Gray - Favourite Megan Wroe - Lovestep [tipped by Jaguar at BBC Radio 1 Dance] Civil Villains - Punching Down Benza - Back Down Memory Lane (feat. Swali) • If you're making music in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, send us your tunes with the BBC Introducing Uploader: https://www.bbc.co.uk/introducing/uploader

This episode with Ben Selby from the Fire Brigades Union takes a clear and honest look at the pressures facing the UK fire and rescue service, from funding cuts and the loss of around 12,000 firefighters since 2010 to the real-world impact seen in places like Oxfordshire and Dorset and Wiltshire. We explore the strain on on-call systems, the need for national standards and how workforce changes, duty systems and family support are shaping the modern job. The conversation also dives into firefighter health, contamination and the move toward health monitoring, alongside a critical discussion on water infrastructure, flow rates and the risks of relying on a system firefighters do not control. This is a grounded, wide-ranging discussion about safety, resilience and what the future of the fire service could look like if the current trajectory continues.Support & Join the FBU HERE Connect with Ben HEREAccess all episodes, documents, GIVEAWAYS & debriefs HEREPodcast Apparel, Hoodies, Flags, Mugs HERE Please check out our Partners supporting this episode areWilliam Wood Watches - Discount code FFPODCAST gives the user 10% off full range on websiteFIRST TACTICAL- tactical gear for elite operatorsGORE-TEX Professional ClothingMSA The Safety CompanyJAFCOIDEXFIRE & EVACUATION SERVICE LTD Send us Fan MailSupport the show***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew

This week on the BBC Introducing in Oxfordshire & Berkshire podcast, Dave's joined by Josephine Illingworth to hear about her new EP 'Bright Things I Found In The Dark', plus she's playing live in session too - tap here for the full live video - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0nhtljqWant to know what's planned at this years Are You Listening? festival - Alex West catches up with organiser Dave Maul.Here's this week's track list: • Octavia Freud - Platforms Kah'Nya - WELELE PLAIINS - Dirty Fish May Kolta - Tides Right Honey Grace B - First Day Of My Life Garfield & Nico - Find A Way Emily Francis Trio - Lydian Child Pixie McCann - Deja Vu [tipped by Jess Iszatt at BBC Radio 1] White Horses - One Step to Heaven i4M2 - Unwound (Radio edit) KalemGR - Everything GR Nolan Chenchery - Memori Josephine Illingworth - Old Holy Feeling Josephine Illingworth - The Mythical (live acoustic session) unpeople - clouds [tipped by Alyx Holcombe at BBC Radio 1 Rock] Rhi'N'B - Let You Know  Puma Theory - Telephone Man (Live at Farm Road Studios) Nicole Allan - Used To Be LAKE ACACIA - Tear You Down Stephen Caulfield - Blue Vessels Polly b Rose - the Drifter Ginja - Golden Henry Taylour - If I Only Knew • If you're making music in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, send us your tunes with the BBC Introducing Uploader: https://www.bbc.co.uk/introducing/uploader

This week on the BBC Introducing in Oxfordshire & Berkshire podcast, Dave catches up with the energetic indie-pop band Still Pigeon to talk all about their brand-new self-titled EP. Plus, blending jazz, gospel and R&B, f:sv brought her distinctive sound to Reading's South Street Arts Centre, where Alex joined her for a special listening party celebrating her debut EP GREEN TEARS. And Lauren dives into the story behind one of her favourite BBC Introducing musicians - this time it's alt-pop artist Mackenzie!Here's this week's track list: • Giant Party - Into The Never Age Big Fear - Anger Niki Kini - Murder You Hannah Jane Lewis - Riding in Cars with Boys SKINSHIP - I Make Me Wanna Go Dancing With Me Bevs - Break You Down Shock Horror - On TV Ivy Marcia - Who Am I To You? (Live from Bluebell Studios) VENUS GRRRLS - Eve Still Pigeon - Odd Sock Still Pigeon - Season 2 Mackenzie - Idiot Of The Decade Arkayla - Run Kid Mount St. Helen - Nineteen Beaker - 50 Men f:sv - Advocacy (feat. kiNOTES) Captain Kuppa T and the Zeppelin Crew - Crooks and Nannies DRIIA - Void Drawing Room - New World shanelle - somebody like me Denzil Grenade - Easy On Me Lily Beck - Free Bird • If you're making music in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, send us your tunes with the BBC Introducing Uploader: https://www.bbc.co.uk/introducing/uploader

Throwbacks are where I re-release old episodes from the archives. So don't worry if you have heard it already, as 'New episodes' will continue to come out on Sundays. To get some of the old episodes heard.~~~Tonight's guest is David in South Wales with a strange encounter in 2007 in a field in Oxfordshire, and the events that followed only sprinkled more high strangeness onto the incident.More information on this episode on the podcast website:https://ufochroniclespodcast.com/ep-235-the-bicester-encounter/Want to share your encounter on the show?Email: UFOChronicles@gmail.comOr Fill out Guest Form:https://forms.gle/uGQ8PTVRkcjy4nxS7Podcast Merchandise:https://www.teepublic.com/user/ufo-chronicles-podcastHelp Support UFO CHRONICLES by becoming a Patron:https://patreon.com/UFOChroniclespodcastX: https://x.com/UFOchronpodcastAll Links for Podcast:https://linktr.ee/UFOChroniclesPodcastThank you for listening!Like share and subscribe it really helps me when people share the show on social media, it means we can reach more people and more witnesses and without your amazing support, it wouldn't be possible.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ufo-chronicles-podcast--3395068/support.

Throwbacks are where I re-release old episodes from the archives. So don't worry if you have heard it already, as 'New episodes' will continue to come out on Sundays. To get some of the old episodes heard.~~~Tonight's guest is David in South Wales with a strange encounter in 2007 in a field in Oxfordshire, and the events that followed only sprinkled more high strangeness onto the incident.More information on this episode on the podcast website:https://ufochroniclespodcast.com/ep-235-the-bicester-encounter/Want to share your encounter on the show?Email: UFOChronicles@gmail.comOr Fill out Guest Form:https://forms.gle/uGQ8PTVRkcjy4nxS7Podcast Merchandise:https://www.teepublic.com/user/ufo-chronicles-podcastHelp Support UFO CHRONICLES by becoming a Patron:https://patreon.com/UFOChroniclespodcastX: https://x.com/UFOchronpodcastAll Links for Podcast:https://linktr.ee/UFOChroniclesPodcastThank you for listening!Like share and subscribe it really helps me when people share the show on social media, it means we can reach more people and more witnesses and without your amazing support, it wouldn't be possible.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ufo-chronicles-podcast--3395068/support.

A new independent report, commissioned by DEFRA, examines the unique challenges facing upland farmers and communities in England. We speak to the author of the report Dr Hilary Cottam. She has been asking people living and working in the uplands what they want for the future. Our National Parks mark their 75th anniversary this week. We hear about the importance of volunteers to the Peak District National Park, and we also visit a peatland restoration project in Bannau Brycheiniog, formerly the Brecon Beacons, in Wales.As the conflict in the Middle East continues, we've been reporting on the impact on farmers and food producers here in the UK who are facing pressure from increasing fuel and fertiliser costs. After farmers in the Republic of Ireland were offered a 100 million euro support package by their government to help cope with increasing costs, farmers in Northern Ireland are asking the UK government for more financial support too. Another impact of the war in Iran is the knock-on effect of spiralling fuel prices on the availability and cost of the plastic wrapping used for silage bales. With tractors already out in the fields cutting grass to make silage, an agricultural supply business tells us prices of some crop plastic may go up by as much as 40%.As the Environment Agency begins to clear thousands of tonnes of domestic and commercial rubbish from a huge flytipping site in Oxfordshire, we hear from the Country Land and Business Association who say that flaws in the application system to become a licensed waste carrier are making it easier for criminals to illegally dump waste at scale.Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Jo Peacey. A BBC Audio Bristol production.

From a listener's mystery novel set in a perfume shop, refillable candles, a handsome man holding a bouquet by a fireside and where to find vintage fragrance posters - this episode is a veritably bulging postbag of perfume-matching pondering!Kathy (aka Kat LaGue) is a long-time listener and author of two ‘cosy mystery' novels set in a fictional perfume shop of her hometown, Baltimore, Maryland. You can read all about her work here: https://katlague.comWith her first ever signing event happening in May, Kathy ‘thought it might be fun to bring a bit of the shop experience to the table by offering pre-sprayed blotters for people to sniff.' For the first book she wanted a leathery/rose Chypre; for the second, the smell of a ‘kouign-amann, the glorious Breton butter cake. I'd love to find a fragrance, or even a layering combination, that evokes caramelized sugar, rich butter, and just a hint of salt.'We suggested…For the leathery rose Chypre:Angela Flanders Leather Rosa‘Inspired by the soft and sensual quality of leather with its naturally dry aroma, yet warm skin like touch. Leather Rosa is a new dark rose scent, deep and bewitching in nature, cherished rosa damascena, but dressed this time in a coat of the finest vintage leather.Sophisticated and elegant notes of exotic agar wood and smoky oudh add a leathery tobacco accord, while the warmth of amber makes an appearance in the base of this sensuous combination cherishing a heart of rosa damascena and a sweet top note of rose du mai and raspberry.'Hermès Kelly Calèche‘Kelly Caleche is a nod to two iconic Hermès objects: the Kelly bag and the caleche, a horse-drawn carriage and the House's signature. Kelly Caleche was created in 2007 by perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena. This "perfume exuding leather and flowers, as light as an angel's wing" is dedicated to women who exhibit free-spirited elegance and whose unisex equestrian style refuses to take itself too seriously.A floral and leathery fragrance, Kelly Caleche Eau de Parfum combines the opulent notes of rose with powdery mimosa, along with the enveloping character of benzoin.'For the second book:Maison Margiela Afternoon Delight‘Afternoon Delight captures a moment of self-indulgence, transporting you to a Parisian café where the uplifting aroma of warm madeleines fills the air. This sweet yet light, ambery gourmand fragrance evokes moments of joyful escapism.At the heart of the fragrance is a Madeleine accord, evoking Afternoon Delight perfume's sense of comfort and conjuring a moment of “me time,” where the quotidian fades away. This blends with the creamy and woody notes of sandalwood, while the deliciousness of Madagascan vanilla pod lingers in the fragrance. These notes all capture the memory of an enveloping moment for oneself.'Frassäi Blondine‘Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a fair and gentle princess grows up beloved by her father, surrounded by precious jewels, exotic fruits and mouthwatering dainties. When left behind in an enchanted forest by a deceitful coachman, BLONDINE is captivated by the most beautiful flowers she has ever seen. Rejoicing in their profusion and delighting in their perfume, she commences to fill her hat and pockets with them, until she finds herself farther and farther away from home. A fragrant tale of alluring florals, decadent sweets, and enigmatic musks, where courage and hope are the key to living happily ever after; here Blondine's story begins.Green mandarin, pear leaves, salted butter caramel, tiger lily, ashok flower, cocoa, castoreum, blond musks, and tonka beans.'Kylie Cosmetics Caramel Cloud Hair & Body Mist‘Caramel Cloud is a warm, ambery gourmand hair and body mist that envelops the senses with a smooth, buttery fragrance profile. The scent opens with rich notes of almond and pistachio butter, creating a nutty foundation that melts into a heart of caramel and brown sugar accords for a toasted, sweet character. At the base, soft musk and pure vanilla extract leave a delicious, cloud-like finish on both skin and hair.'(Layered with…)Demeter Fragrance Library Pretzel (available in Cologne, Bath & Body Oil, Body Lotion, Perfume Oil)‘Savour the iconic aroma of a New York Style Warm Pretzel. This fragrance captures the essence of freshly baked dough, lightly salted and perfectly warm, creating a scent that is both comforting and nostalgic. This fragrance will transport you to the bustling streets of New York City.'Penhaligon's Changing Constance‘Constance is what one might call A Very Modern Woman. She has no regard for custom, and does exactly as she likes. Cool cardamom, hot pimento, salted caramel - her contrary perfume breaks every rule.Key notes: cardamom, salted butter, caramel, tobacco.'PHLUR Caramel Skin Body Mist‘Decadent, deep and full of warmth. Caramel Skin is a deliciously sweet sensation that sparks desire, with refined sophistication and bold attitude. The dance between spun caramel, brown sugar and vanilla provide an indulgent and tantalizing taste. Bergamot adds brightness, while creamy sandalwood and musk elevate the fragrance into a confident and sensual symphony. Caramel Skin Body Mist is sweet, sexy and simply irresistible.'For B.O'Riodan, who's ‘rying to be a more discerning shopper' and wants to find fragrance candles where you can buy a refill separately, we recommend…Lords Fragrance House Candle Refills‘A new harder vegetable stearin wax formulation that allows us to make refills to slot into your pots! Available in 3 scents, Positano, Yellowstone and Oxfordshire. These fit our classic 1 wick vessel and our ceramic stripe vessel.'TOLD London Candle Refills‘This refill is hand-poured in the UK with 100% natural wax for a clean, long-lasting burn. Designed to refresh your Told London illustrated porcelain vessel, it delivers the same fine scent while reducing waste.'The Constant Candle Company (the one that Nicola promised she'd mention in the notes)"Constant Candle supplies everything you need to create a new candle sustainably - direct to your door. Pre-fragranced luxury eco-friendly candle wax to heat and pour into a candle holder of your choice, cotton wick plus a wooden wick holder together with instructions and videos."Also try: finding a candle-making workshop near you. Many of them ask that you bring your own vessels to be filled!Rachel Cooke loves wearing men's fragrances, but is looking for something pretty specific, scent-wise. Namely, one that smells like ‘a sexy bearded man in a suit that's smells typically masculine but he's holding a beautiful bunch of fragrant flowers but also in front of an open a fire!!'We thought these might night the spot…Floris Leather Oud‘Leather Oud has an opulent, deep sensual note of rich earthy vetiver and warm amber that combines beautifully with rose and sandalwood. Leather Oud has an opulent, deep sensual note of rich earthy vetiver and warm amber that combines beautifully with rose and sandalwood.Top notes: bergamot, leatherHeart notes: carnation, geranium, oudh, patchouliBase notes: oudh, vetiver, woody amber.'Penhaligon's The Cut‘Penhaligon's The Cut Eau de Parfum is a refined blend of spices and woods. Opening with an energetic twist of saffron, nutmeg, and coriander, the fragrance is stitched together with remarkable precision, offering a bold yet refined first impression.The heart unfolds with cistus labdanum, rose, and incense, creating a smoky, resinous warmth softened by a floral undertone. This sophisticated harmony evokes the swagger of Savile Row, where clary sage strides confidently, followed by lavender's dignified applause.In the base, patchouli, cedarwood atlas, and sandalwood deliver a deep, grounding finish. The result is a long-lasting fragrance of elegance and character, perfectly suited to both men and women who appreciate classic craftsmanship with a modern twist.Parfums de Marly Layton‘Layton blends juicy apple with calming lavender, wrapped in the earthy depth of patchouli. Elegant, sensual and flamboyant.Top Notes: apple, bergamot, cardamomHeart Notes: lavender, violet, geraniumBase Notes: patchouli, vanilla, guaic wood,praline.'Horace Oud Rose‘Oud Rose is refined yet extravagant, like wearing a leopard-print tuxedo to the opera. Geranium Rose and Rosemary offer a vibrant aromatic freshness. At the heart, a sensual, freshly cut Rose blends with a deep Patchouli. Finally, Oud, Cypriol and Sandalwood create a mysterious intensity.'Anforh Sorn‘Smoky, leathery, and floral with a deep amber resonance. Sorn is the most ornate and expressive of the three Anforh fragrances: indulgent but refined, modern yet vintage in structure.From the Scots word “sorn” (to linger by charm or persuasion), Sorn is a fragrance of memory and atmosphere. It captures the sense of what remains - the warmth in the air, the trace on the fabric, the echo of an evening.Top notes: pimento berry (allspice), clove bud, bergamotHeart notes:...

Professor Stephen Westaby is a former heart surgeon and writer. During his career he performed over 11,000 operations and pioneered the use of life long artificial hearts as an alternative to donor transplants.Stephen was born in Scunthorpe in 1948 and went to medical school at Charing Cross Hospital in 1966. The following year he suffered a serious head injury during a rugby match which had a major impact on his personality. He changed from being a shy person lacking in confidence into a fearless, ambitious operator – qualities, he believes, made him entirely suited to being a surgeon. In 1981 he took up a Research Fellowship in Alabama with John Kirklin, the first surgeon to successfully perform a series of open-heart operations using a heart-lung machine. During his time there Stephen discovered that medical nylon caused some patients to die of post-perfusion syndrome. Following his discovery, the manufacturers of the equipment removed it from the circuit which led to a substantial drop in cardiac surgical mortality.In 2000 he implanted a revolutionary new heart pump into a man who was terminally ill with heart failure using a device called the Jarvik 2000. Temporary devices – known as bridge to transplant devices – had been used to stabilise patients while they waited for a donor heart but this surgery – transplanting a permanent artificial heart instead of a donor heart was the first of its kind.Stephen retired from the NHS in 2016. The following year he published Fragile Lives: A Heart Surgeon's Stories of Life and Death on the Operating Theatre which won the BMA President's Award.Stephen has two children and lives with his wife in Oxfordshire.DISC ONE: Wonderful Land - The Shadows DISC TWO: Viva La Vida - Coldplay DISC THREE: Baker Street – Gerry Rafferty DISC FOUR: America - Simon & Garfunkel DISC FIVE: Forever Autumn - Justin Hayward DISC SIX: Moonlight Shadow - Mike Oldfield DISC SEVEN: Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac DISC EIGHT: Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 18. Andante cantabile Performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano) and London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by André PrevinBOOK CHOICE: Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus by William Harvey LUXURY ITEM: A family photograph CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Forever Autumn - Justin Hayward Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Landscape designer Luciano Giubbilei joins host Steph to reveal all about his dream garden. He describes growing up in Italy, his own landscape inspirations, including Villa Gamberaia in Florence and Rousham in Oxfordshire, and his own new landscape project at The Field in Mallorca. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Peter Gibbs and the GQT panel have traded parks and community gardens for a visit to the Oxfordshire home of Dame Mary Berry. On this week's panel are Matthew Pottage, Christine Walkden and Bunny Guinness.Among today's questions, the panellists troubleshoot evergreen roses plagued by black spot, unravel the mystery of why clematis keep failing on one side of a small London garden, and help a listener planning a late‑August wedding by suggesting plants that peak at the tail end of summer.Later in the programme, Mary shares her own gardening triumphs, from peaches ripened under winter covers, to treasured raised beds of herbs, strawberries and asparagus.Producer: Dan Cocker Assistant Producer: William Norton Producer: Matt SmithA Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4

Today's poem is a sonnet for a war-torn world with a collapsing center. “…As the oldest of four children born in rapid succession, Wilfred developed a protective attitude toward the others and an especially close relationship with his mother. After he turned four, the family moved from the grandfather's home to a modest house in Birkenhead, where Owen attended Birkenhead Institute from 1900 to 1907. The family then moved to another modest house, in Shrewsbury, where Owen attended Shrewsbury Technical School and graduated in 1911 at the age of 18. Having attempted unsuccessfully to win a scholarship to attend London University, he tried to measure his aptitude for a religious vocation by becoming an unpaid lay assistant to the Reverend Herbert Wigan, a vicar of evangelical inclinations in the Church of England, at Dunsden, Oxfordshire. In return for the tutorial instruction he was to receive, but which did not significantly materialize, Owen agreed to assist with the care of the poor and sick in the parish and to decide within two years whether he should commit himself to further training as a clergyman. At Dunsden he achieved a fuller understanding of social and economic issues and developed his humanitarian propensities, but as a consequence of this heightened sensitivity, he became disillusioned with the inadequate response of the Church of England to the sufferings of the underprivileged and the dispossessed. In his spare time, he read widely and began to write poetry. In his initial verses he wrote on the conventional subjects of the time, but his work also manifested some stylistic qualities that even then tended to set him apart, especially his keen ear for sound and his instinct for the modulating of rhythm, talents related perhaps to the musical ability that he shared with both of his parents.In 1913 he returned home, seriously ill with a respiratory infection that his living in a damp, unheated room at the vicarage had exacerbated. He talked of poetry, music, or graphic art as possible vocational choices, but his father urged him to seek employment that would result in a steady income. After eight months of convalescence at home, Owen taught for one year in Bordeaux at the Berlitz School of Languages, and he spent a second year in France with a Catholic family, tutoring their two boys. As a result of these experiences, he became a Francophile. Later these years undoubtedly heightened his sense of the degree to which the war disrupted the life of the French populace and caused widespread suffering among civilians as the Allies pursued the retreating Germans through French villages in the summer and fall of 1918.In September 1915, nearly a year after the United Kingdom and Germany had gone to war, Owen returned to England, uncertain as to whether he should enlist. By October he had enlisted and was at first in the Artists' Rifles. In June 1916 he received a commission as lieutenant in the Manchester Regiment, and on December 29, 1916 he left for France with the Lancashire Fusiliers.”-via Poetry Foundation This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe