Podcasts about Somerset Levels

We're back for series 4 and we're on the hunt for the booming bitterns! Matt and Sarah visit RSPB Greylake Nature Reserve and RSPB Ham Wall on the Somerset Levels. There's also hope for a Merlin and a Glossy Ibis!Keep your Birding Questions coming to info@rocknrollbirder.com or DM @rocknrollbirderWe'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.

It's our first walk in the South West! Join Matt and Sarah as they look for the starling murmuration on the beautiful Somerset Levels. Thank you to this week's sponsors Greenfeathers 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.

In today's episode, Molly is down in Somerset to talk to Decca Lang at the gorgeous Craftsman's Cabin. This hand built cabin on the Somerset Levels & Moors is a place rest your head & get to know this magical part of SomersetJoin Molly and Decca as they chat all about creating a cabin that celebrates the local area and all of its creators and makers.You can find Craftsman's Cabin here https://craftsmanscabin.co.uk/And follow them here https://www.instagram.com/craftsmanscabin/Discover Britain's best boutique spaces with the new Curated Spaces platform here https://app.curatedspaces.club/And join the Curated Spaces conversation hereInstagram / https://www.instagram.com/curatedspacesclub/TikTok / https://www.tiktok.com/@curatedspacesclubLinkedIn / https://www.linkedin.com/company/curated-spaces-clubYoutube / https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXSPidWwH8vkNOPhHB7vcuQCurated Spaces is the podcast on a mission to reignite real world connection.What started as a project to share the stories behind spaces has snowballed into something a little bit bigger.From founders sharing their stories of burnout and loneliness to the spaces leading the charge in rewilding and sustainable food production, Curated Spaces is about living life in full colour and connecting deeply with the spaces and faces around us. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

fWotD Episode 2710: River Parrett Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia’s finest articles.The featured article for Saturday, 5 October 2024 is River Parrett.The River Parrett flows through the counties of Dorset and Somerset in South West England, from its source in the Thorney Mills springs in the hills around Chedington in Dorset. Flowing northwest through Somerset and the Somerset Levels to its mouth at Burnham-on-Sea, into the Bridgwater Bay nature reserve on the Bristol Channel, the Parrett and its tributaries drain an area of 660 square miles (1,700 km2) – about 50 per cent of Somerset's land area, with a population of 300,000.The Parrett's main tributaries include the Rivers Tone, Isle, and Yeo, and the River Cary via the King's Sedgemoor Drain. The 37-mile (60 km) long river is tidal for 19 miles (31 km) up to Oath. The fall of the river between Langport and Bridgwater is only 1 foot per mile (0.2 m/km), so it is prone to frequent flooding in winter and during high tides. Many approaches have been tried since at least the medieval period to reduce the incidence and effect of floods and to drain the surrounding fields.In Anglo-Saxon times the river formed a boundary between Wessex and Dumnonia. It later served the Port of Bridgwater, and enabled cargoes to be transported inland. The arrival of the railways led to a decline in commercial shipping, and the only working docks are at Dunball. Human influence on the river has left a legacy of bridges and industrial artefacts. The Parrett along with its connected waterways and network of drains supports an ecosystem that includes several rare species of flora and fauna. The River Parrett Trail has been established along the banks of the river.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:30 UTC on Saturday, 5 October 2024.For the full current version of the article, see River Parrett on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Ivy.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 15, 2024 is: liminal • LIM-uh-nul • adjective Liminal is a formal word most often used to describe an intermediate state, phase, or condition. It can also describe something that is barely perceptible or barely capable of eliciting a response. // The essay presents an image of the border region as a liminal zone where one culture blends into another. See the entry > Examples: “The House of Broken Bricks is set in a fictional village situated on the very real Somerset Levels in southwest England. This is a liminal space that despite ongoing modernization is constantly fighting to revert into ancient marshlands. Here the flora and fauna intrude into everyday living, whether it be through the ritual hunting of roe deer come autumn, the picking of ripe sloes for gin, the return of house martins every spring or the war against cabbage white caterpillars on the salad greens.” — Fiona Williams, LitHub.com, 10 Apr. 2024 Did you know? Liminal is a word for the in-between. It describes states, times, spaces, etc., that exist at a point of change—a metaphorical threshold—as in “the liminal zone between sleep and wakefulness.” The idea of a threshold is at the word's root; it comes from Latin limen, meaning “threshold.” In technical use liminal means “barely perceptible” or “barely capable of eliciting a response,” and it has a familiar partner with a related meaning: subliminal can mean “inadequate to produce a sensation or a perception,” though it more often means “existing or functioning below the threshold of consciousness.” Limen has served as the basis for a number of other English words, including eliminate (“to cast out”), sublime (“lofty in conception or expression”), preliminary (“introductory”), and the woefully underused postliminary (“subsequent”).

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 15, 2024 is: liminal • LIM-uh-nul • adjective Liminal is a formal word most often used to describe an intermediate state, phase, or condition. It can also describe something that is barely perceptible or barely capable of eliciting a response. // The essay presents an image of the border region as a liminal zone where one culture blends into another. See the entry > Examples: “The House of Broken Bricks is set in a fictional village situated on the very real Somerset Levels in southwest England. This is a liminal space that despite ongoing modernization is constantly fighting to revert into ancient marshlands. Here the flora and fauna intrude into everyday living, whether it be through the ritual hunting of roe deer come autumn, the picking of ripe sloes for gin, the return of house martins every spring or the war against cabbage white caterpillars on the salad greens.” — Fiona Williams, LitHub.com, 10 Apr. 2024 Did you know? Liminal is a word for the in-between. It describes states, times, spaces, etc., that exist at a point of change—a metaphorical threshold—as in “the liminal zone between sleep and wakefulness.” The idea of a threshold is at the word's root; it comes from Latin limen, meaning “threshold.” In technical use liminal means “barely perceptible” or “barely capable of eliciting a response,” and it has a familiar partner with a related meaning: subliminal can mean “inadequate to produce a sensation or a perception,” though it more often means “existing or functioning below the threshold of consciousness.” Limen has served as the basis for a number of other English words, including eliminate (“to cast out”), sublime (“lofty in conception or expression”), preliminary (“introductory”), and the woefully underused postliminary (“subsequent”).

This week we are joined by Hannah Ivory Baker“I am a self-taught artist based in North London painting flora, seascapes and landscapes. I work predominantly in oil paint explores the dynamic interplay between texture, light, and form. I am deeply inspired by the natural world, particularly the rugged Cornish coastline and the serene Somerset Levels. These landscapes provide a wealth of artistic opportunities, each possessing the essential elements necessary for creative interpretation and expression.”

You're walking a muddy track beside a farm on the edge of a vast expanse of flooded land, the water perfectly reflecting a rare January blue sky. From the barns, a heady odour of sweat and dung rises from the cattle within. Across the marshes, swans sail, occasionally taking to the air on heavy, whoomping wingbeats. And from out of the ancient landscape, the eeries cries of cranes rise above tractor and quad bike engine. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Fergus Collins, presented by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: editor@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rodney Wevill can truly be described as a fly fishing allrounder. He is equally at home on the trout streams and still waters of Devon and Cornwall, catching pike from the Somerset Levels, mullet and bass from the coast along with bonefish and permit from the flats of the Caribbean.I learn about his fly fishing story and how it helped him through a difficult time in his life. We also talk about fishing tips, the unnecessary pressure of posting on social media and his plans for 2024.He is great company and talks with a deep fondness about our pastime. 

Where the Somerset Levels meet the sea, broad, marshy pastures and forgotten fields host gulls, rooks, crows and egrets, foraging for food stirred up cattle and horses wintering here. But the birds are ever watchful – there are hunters here, peregrines roving the overcast sky ready to strike. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Fergus Collins. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: editor@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 87-year-old British photojournalist talks about the travels, writers and images that have given him respite from the brutality of war. He paints a vivid picture of India, Turkey, Greece, North Africa, Syria and the healing power of the Somerset Levels.       

It's a wintry afternoon on the Somerset Levels. In the pre-dusk light, you watch as a thin mist evolves from the reeds and settles on the ice. It's not all ice, there are sections of the surface that have been broken open by the many waterbirds that live in this winter-gold enclave of the Levels. Undeterred by the by the frigid conditions are coots int their scores. Moorhens call, geese clamour, a marsh harrier rises silently from the din. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Daniel Graham. Presented by Hannah Tribe Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: editor@countryfile.com Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Scottish farmers say they need to know details of plans for direct payments - and fast. The National Farmers Union Scotland is having its annual conference and its president, Martin Kennedy, says his members need details of the new scheme which will replace CAP - and soon, or it will have a serious impact on food producers, processors and the whole Scottish economy. He says at the moment farmers still don't know how it will work, or what the budget will be. Horticultural peat will be banned next year, but peat is still being extracted from the largest remaining wetland in England - the Somerset Levels. Peat has been taken from the area for burning and for use as compost for over 2000 years – but the Government has now stopped granting licences for peat extraction in England as it's valuable for carbon sequestration and biodiversity. Extraction on the Levels will end when the current licences expire, so the company removing small amounts of peat from the Levels near Glastonbury is re-thinking the future. The right to roam is controversial topic, the Labour party says if it wins the election it will introduce the right in England. In Scotland there is a right to roam and wild camp. Richard Baynes visits a Scottish farming family which relies on tourism. The Duncan family farm beef cattle and sheep on three farms and one of them is on the edge of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National park. The family have two glamping pods, but they say some tourists can be problematic. Presenter: Charlotte Smith Producer: Rebecca Rooney

Farmland on the Somerset Levels is flooded, but farmers say they feel everyone's better prepared than in 2014 when floods wreaked devastation on homes and businesses. They say the Environment Agency has been more pro-active installing extra pumps, rivers are not so silted and sluice gates are in operation. However, they say it will be vital to pump water off the farmland where it's collected, in case the rain continues. Also they say farmers whose fields are used as temporary reservoirs, should be reimbursed for that. Trucks are perhaps the most useful bit of kit on a farm - from hauling a few bales to the school run, and now they're being put to use in Ukraine. Old four-by-fours, many from farms, are being driven out to the war zone and adapted for use in fighting the Russians. We spoke to Freddie from Ukraine Equipment, as he delivered a pick-up to the Donetz region and also to Yarislav, an officer in the Ukraine army. All week on Farming Today we've been talking about machinery. Paul Joseph is a farmer and contractor, who's invested in kit worth millions over the years, and in 10 fulltime staff to use it. They work on 70 farms around Wiltshire and do everything from cutting silage to harvesting. But this time of year - when the weather permits - it's muck spreading. It's pumped from lagoons and applied to crops - and as fertiliser prices soar, using hi-tech machines to apply it precisely is more important than ever. Presenter = Charlotte Smith Producer - Rebecca Rooney

The Mendip hills stretch across the landscape south of Bristol and Bath, running from Weston-super-Mare in the west to the Frome valley in the east, with views down across the Somerset Levels. More than seventy square miles are designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty, with ancient woodland rising above dramatic gorges. Beneath their beauty, the hills hide an intriguing wartime story. Black Down was one of the "starfish sites", where fires were lit at night as decoys to simulate burning cities and so trick the German planes into dropping their bombs on the countryside instead. Its physical remains can be seen in the landscape to this day. Helen Mark explores the area and learns about its history - both ancient and more modern. Nearby Cheddar Gorge may be more famous, but Helen finds out that Burrington Combe has a fascinating past. It's home to what is believed to be the oldest cemetery in Britain, where human bones were excavated from a cave in the 19th century. Modern radiocarbon dating techniques have shown them to be more than 10,000 years old. The area is also an important haven for wildlife. Helen meets a ranger who is busy building a hibernaculum - an underground hiding place where adders and other creatures can spend the winter. Presented by Helen Mark and produced by Emma Campbell

Vice-President of the RSPB, Deputy Chair of Natural Resources Wales and member of the UK Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Steve Ormerod is Professor of Ecology at Cardiff University and has had a lifelong interest in the effects of global change on river ecosystems. Decisions of the Week: Decision of High Court in R (oaf Hardcastle) v Buckingham Council & BDW Trading Ltd [2022] EWHC 2905 (Admin) dated 16th November 2022 dismissing a challenge to the grant of outline planning permission for residential development on a site abutting Maids Moreton where the Claimant contended the application should have been taken back to committee applying the Kides principle, breach of legitimate expectation, exceedance of delegated authority & an error in EIA screening. Decision of an inspector dated 24th November 2022 dismissing an appeal by CG Fry & Son against the non-determination by Somerset West & Taunton Council of the discharge of conditions on a phased housing development based on the absence of an Appropriate Assessment under the Habs Regs 2017 & the application of NPPF 181. The appeal site lies in the Somerset Levels & Moors SPA & Ramsar Site where the interest features are considered to be unfavourable and at risk of eutrophication caused by excessive phosphates. Decision of an inspector dated 23rd November 2022 dismissing an appeal by Miller Homes Ltd & Bargate Homes Ltd against the non-determination by Fareham Borough Council, of an application for outline planning permssion for up to 375 dwellings on for four field parcels lying in the Strategic Gap between Fareham and Stubbington. Issues at inquiry focused on the impact of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area and consistency with the adopted strategy for the location of new housing. Site had been in Reg 18 of emerging local plan but attracted 500 objections. Other appeals decisions considered. No 5 yr HLS. Decision of an inspector dated 22 November 2022 dismissing an appeal by Christchurch Land & Estates (Melton) Ltd against the refusal of East Suffolk Council, of an application for an 80 bedroom C2 home and 72 assisted care bungalows. Issues around suitability of location having regard to its location in the countryside and access to services and facilities, the need for specialist accommodation, effect on the character and appearance of the area & the suitability of the accommodation given its initial lack of 1 bed units in the face of the Council's SHMA assessment.

Historical Fiction is not new, it is something that has drawn my attention for a long time BUT I didn't realize that there is a fun learning history. While Philippa writes fiction, she prides herself on researching for her works for those who read them. I am looking forward to exploring the rest of her catalog of work. Today's interview was more of an introduction to a new world of works we already love. How can you love something before you know it? In DAWNLANDS (November 8, 2022; Atria Books; $28.99), Philippa continues to uncover unknown women of history, this time bringing us the little-known story of Queen Mary of Modena, King James II's second wife and, of course, their enemies. With renewed fascination with the British royal family, Philippa provides a unique insight into our history with impeccable research and unforgettable storytelling. It is 1685, England is on the brink of a renewed civil war against the Stuart kings and many families are bitterly divided. Ned Ferryman cannot persuade his sister, Alinor, that he is right to return from America with his Pokanoket servant, Rowan, to join the rebel army. Instead, Alinor has been coaxed by the manipulative Livia to save the queen from the coming siege. The rewards are life-changing: the family could return to their beloved Tidelands, and Alinor could rule where she was once lower than a servant. Alinor's son, Rob, is determined to stay clear of the war, but when he and his nephew set out to free Ned from execution for treason and Rowan from a convict deportation to Barbados, they find themselves enmeshed in the creation of an imposter Prince of Wales—a surrogate baby to the queen. From the last battle in the desolate Somerset Levels to the hidden caves on the slave island of Barbados, this third volume of an epic story follows a family from one end of the empire to another, to find a new dawn in a world which is opening up before them with greater rewards and dangers than ever before. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tntbsmedia/message

Sculpture, and especially willow sculpture, has always fascinated me, so when I came across Emma Stothard's website, I knew I had to get in touch. Emma is a Yorkshire-based willow and wire sculptor. Inspired by the creatures of the North York Moors, where she lives, she creates sculptures of wild/domestic animals and birds. After receiving a BA Honours in Fine Art from Southampton Solent University, she briefly moved to the Somerset Levels to learn the process of growing, coppicing, bundling, and weaving willow. In 2001, thanks to a loan from The Prince's Trust, Emma started her sculpting business. Her sculptures are exhibited nationally and internationally, with some gracing the gardens of stately homes, galleries, and private homes around the country, including a large-scale portrait of King Charles III's beloved Jack Russell dog ‘Tigga', made from willow grown on the Highgrove Estate and sited there. Emma shares her take on creativity as a continual flow of movement of the materials and of ideas, the relationship between her work and the outdoor space, from which she draws her inspiration, and how she's always pushing herself to explore her own creativity and learn something new, using different scales (from mice to dragons, elephants, and small castles), different mediums (willow, silver, bronze and copper wire, clay, ceramics), and exploring new fields (such as, jewellery, homeware, and garden furniture), with the view to creating functional pieces with a sculptural aspect. She describes the process of going from a 2-D drawing to a 3-D sculpture and of welding a metal armature as a basis to weave the willow around, giving her the freedom to create the shapes she wants. She also explains why she chose willow primarily and what makes it such an evocative and enjoyable medium. From celebrating Whitby's fishing heritage to sculpting hares and six-foot tall scarecrows, there's a palpable sense of excitement in every project Emma takes on, sometimes even adding personal touches to her sculptures and, in the process, attaching a story to them. I had a wonderful time talking to Emma and learning about her creative process, so I hope you enjoy our conversation. Emma's website On Instagram: @emmastothard On FB: Emma Stothard Sculpture On Twitter: @emmastothardart ABOUT THE CREATIVITY FOR ALL PODCAST A maths teacher can be creative. So can a financial adviser, a community builder, and a yoga teacher. Not to mention a speed painter, a potter, or an actor! Creativity is everywhere and I love nothing more than to explore it in The Creativity for All Podcast, either by focusing on a theme – such as perfectionism, feeding your creative brain, or the pressure to be creative – in my solo episodes, or through my conversations with all manner of creative people. I want to challenge the perception of creativity and, in the process, debunk many myths attached to it: it's painful, for artists and the chosen few, etc. My guests and I are keen to zoom in and dissect the origin of an idea, the impulse that makes us engage with our own creativity, with the hope that it will inspire listeners to get creative too. My podcast is designed for anyone who's already being creative, or is tempted to use their creativity, in particular those of you who think they are not creative or can never be. I would love to change your mind!

Could hydroponics be the future of farming? Ex-chef Antonio Paladino welcomes Annabel Ross onto Bioaqua Farm, his smallholding in the Somerset Levels, where he farms trout and vegetables within a mutually supportive system that has very few costs, produces no pollution and creates delicious nutritious food. Is this a blueprint for more sustainable farming or an unattainable dream? Listen on for a fascinating adventure into food.Plus, the Annabel joins the Plodcast team to reveals some secrets from the day at Bioaqua Farm and the team discuss the big issue of: what's the best food to pack for a country walk. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"As one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, Britain has a long way to go. Somerset's super nature reserve is a great start; but it must also be an opportunity to change the way we regard and manage the countryside for the 21st century." (Stephen Moss, Observer Comment,  22 May 22)A conversation with birder, award-winning author, bird tour leader, BAFTA award-winning television producer, a stalwart of the British Birdfair, President of the Somerset Wildlife Trust, teacher of an MA in Travel and Nature Writing at Bath Spa University -  and journalist - Stephen Moss. Stephen and I have been talking about having a chat for a podcast for a while but when I heard last week that Natural Egland and the government had declared a new 'super National Nature Reserve' on the Somerset Levels - which is right on Stephen's doorstep - and moments later read an Observer Comment piece online written by him on this exact same subject ( that quote at the start of this podcast came from that piece) - well, the stars had surely aligned! Just days later we met up at the RSPB's Ham Wall reserve - part of The Somerset Wetlands National Nature Reserve, famed for its huge wintering starling flocks and for being the first reserve in climate-change Britain where three previously vagrant heron species - great white egret, cattle egret, and little bittern - have all bred. So what is a 'super national nature reserve', what function should sites like this have in terms of conservation, public access, and public good, do conservation organisations develop wetland sites like Ham Wall because they're powerless to halt climate change, and will I be able to edit a recording where we were constantly interrupting ourselves to look at Marsh Harriers and Bitterns? I'll give it a go...Stephen Moss Website and Twitter feedObserver Comment This ‘super reserve' is not just for the birds (Stephen MossGovernment press-release New ‘super' National Nature Reserve created to protect rare wildlife (19 May 22)RSPB Reserves Ham WallFor more audio - and blogs -  on wildlife, animal rights, and the environment, please go to offtheleash.substack.com

Bill Ward is a photographer and actor living in Bristol, specialising in creative landscape photography. His photography is mainly project based and he has a strong leaning towards water and enjoys creativity using abstract, ICM and multiple exposure. Staying in the present and  photographing whatever project he's working on at any given time is what sustains Bill. He is currently completing an ITN project on starling murmuration on the Somerset Levels. This is a highly entertaining account of how he balances his acclaimed acting  and photography careers. Peppered with anecdotes he explains how acting is the reason he became a photographer. Whilst thriving on the  energy  he gets from acting, photography allows him to re-establish to himself who he is. He needs the peace, quiet and solitude of photography to bring balance back.  It is important to him to make a connection with wherever he is and describes his work as 'unashamedly emotional'.  He loves 'hanging out with' or 'plugging into' Mother Nature and finds it re-energising.  Chatting about the importance of trying things out and moving on when things don't work out he says this shouldn't be looked upon as failure. His attitude is inspiring!Hear Bill describe how his Theatres in Danger book came about.  It's a beautiful book and all the money raised goes to the Theatres Trust charity.Don't miss this wonderful chat.www.billwardphotography.co.ukTheatres in danger book www.instagram.com/billwardphotography

Angler and writer Kevin Parr leads a gentle day's angling on the River Isle. Plodcast host Fergus joins Kev to learn the art of coarse fishing in the peaceful surrounding of the Somerset Levels. Listen on for a marvellous day in very early spring with birdsong, fish and the voice of the river. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Charlie Moores in conversation with vegan activist and lifelong biophiliac Gina Bates of the Vegan Land Movement. Charlie met up with Gina, whose Twitter handle @hilltopgina reflects the last 17 years spent in a remote area of Sutherland, living very simply without running water and miles from all other amenities and people, at a rather breezy location in the Somerset Levels where the Vegan Land Movement recently bought almost seven acres of former dairy grazing land which they intend - to quote from their website - to "give back to the earth and endangered species in perpetuity". Set up as a Community Interest Company or CIC, the Vegan Land Movement intends to repeat the purchase across the UK - which is both inspiring and (given how hard it is to raise funds at the moment) bold. So what motivates Gina, how does she think the organisation can grow and be effective, and why did she not want me to say exactly where in Somerset we were talking...Vegan Land Movement Website and Twitter FeedGina Bates Twitter feedSara Elgonquin (VLM Director) Twitter feed

A former superintendent with Thames Valley Police, David Hodges is a prolific crime writer and author of fourteen crime novels plus an autobiography on his life in the police service. His debut crime novel received critical media acclaim and a welcome accolade from Inspector Morse's creator, the late great Colin Dexter, and since then he has become the author of several successful stand-alone thrillers, including BLAST and TARGET (formerly Endeavour Media, now Lume Books).In particular, his Somerset Murder Series (Joffe Books), set on the mist-shrouded Somerset Levels in England and featuring the exploits of feisty detective, Kate, and her easy-going partner, Hayden, has gone from strength to strength, attracting keen interest in Europe, the USA and Australia as well as in Britain, with the latest novel in the series, STALKER ON THE LEVELS, being published by Joffe Books in November 2021 in time for Christmas. Six of his previous novels are available on Audible for the sight challenged and those who prefer to listen rather than read, and most of his books can also be obtained in paperback and digital format on Kindle.David has two married daughters and four grandchildren and lives in the UK with his wife, Elizabeth, where he continues to indulge his passion for thriller writing and to pursue his keen interest in the countryside.He is a member of the Crime Writers Association, The Crime Readers Association, The Society of Authors and International Thriller Writers Inc.Today's episode is brought to you by John's full series of crime thrillers available right now. You can get them through Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/John-A.-Hoda/e/B00BGPXBMM%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share  You can also sign up for the newsletter at http://www.JohnHoda.com to get a free copy of John's new novella Liberty City Nights. Thank you for listening. If you have a moment to spare please leave a rating or comment on Apple Podcasts as that will help us expand the circle around our campfire. If you have any questions please feel to reach out to me via my website http://www.johnhoda.com

The King of Wessex had been hunted as a fugitive by marauding Vikings, and he'd been hiding as one in a swamp. Wessex had been overrun and King Alfred had fled, setting up camp amidst the reeds of the Somerset Levels. But despite his survival, it seemed the same could not be said of Wessex. But in one of history's greatest comeback stories, he rebuilt his forces whilst in hiding, conducted a guerrilla campaign from the marshes, and then came surging out to rendezvous with the armies of his still-loyal Earldormen.  It resulted in one of England's greatest ever battles, and led confirmed that Wessex, England's last Anglo-Saxon kingdom, would not fall to the Vikings after all. In doing so, Alfred the Great laid the foundations for the future reconquest of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and the dawn of England.   Subscribe to us here on your favourite podcast channel, follow us on Instagram and Facebook @bitesizebattles, and visit our website at www.bitesizebattles.com. Thanks for listening.

Tom Pattinson is getting ready for National Tree Week and looking at the ecological wonder of trees… Can you imagine a hundred thousand birds flying together in amazing synchronous patterns? Tom Cadwallender reports from starling HQ at the Somerset Levels.And we're going retro …. as Steve Lowe delves into the world of period fashion and flintlocks…Plus some top tips for the garden from Tom P…Support the show

The weekly podcast that talks all things food growing with those doing amazing things from across the UK and the world. Every week we deliver you a podcast that interviews a fantastic food grower that is doing things differently, inspirationally or that has an awesome story to tell. --- In this episode have an amazing chat with not 1, not 2, but 3 amazing guests: Tiff, Sammy and Beth from Earthlight Herbs Cooperative. Earthlight Herbs Co-operative is a medicinal herb farm, apothecary, plant nursery and community healing centre located on the edge of the Somerset Levels. Founded by three friends - Tiffany, Sammy and Beth - Earthlight is working towards a vision of the future where every person is empowered with the basic knowledge and skills needed to naturally maintain their health. In the episode we chat about: How it all started The backgrounds of our guests before growing herbs Herbal CSA model Building and running an Apothecary Infusing plants with love-light, sound and multidimensional healing energy Not wanting to hide and speaking out about esoteric ways of growing and healing. Witch Burn How the economy has driven us to annual foods and western medicine Packaging nursery plants and business On-site events for Earthlight and how that success felt Favourite herbs this year Tips on starting growing herbs and how / what to grow Water, The Moon and our bodies And much much more… Plus the all important quick-fire questions of course…. Will our guests be #teambeer or #teamcoffee ??? --- This is a podcast that will hopefully inspire and inform you whatever experience you have… from aspiring grower, to casual allotmenteer, right through to fully fledged market gardener. We will be talking everything from no-dig to permaculture, mushrooms to marketing. We are your hosts Chris from Fanfield Farm and Jack from Jacks Patch and we will be bringing you an inspirational interview, some tips and tricks from our own farms as well as the fun feature of quick fire questions that we ask every guest…. Obviously including whether they prefer an evening farm beer or morning farm coffee!! Support the podcast and get exclusive content here: https://www.patreon.com/foodgroweracademy (https://www.patreon.com/foodgroweracademy) --- Show Notes: If you'd like to volunteer or to find out more information about the project check out their website or follow them on Instagram or Facebook Earthlight Herbs Website - https://earthlight.uk/ (https://earthlight.uk/) Earthlight Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/earthlightherbs/ (https://www.facebook.com/earthlightherbs/) Earthlight Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/earthlightherbs/ (https://www.instagram.com/earthlightherbs/) Secret of Water Documentary - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3952638/ (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3952638/) Shamirs Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/gridactivations/ (https://www.instagram.com/gridactivations/) Favourite Herbs List: Calendula, Chamomile, Milky Oats, Ashwaganda, Tulsi Herbs to sow in Autumn: Mugworth, Angelica, Take cuttings of other herbs now to propogate Easy herbs to grow from seeds through the year: Hyssop, Catnip, Chamomile, Calendula. --- For all things Food Grower podcast; including upcoming blog posts, additional content, guest opportunities and food grower merch, head over to our website at https://www.foodgrower.co.uk (https://www.foodgrower.co.uk) And please do pass on to anyone in your life who grows food either for fun or funds… You can listen to this podcast completely free, anywhere you normally get your podcasts from. And for more Food Grower Content head to our instagram account https://www.instagram.com/foodgroweracademy (https://www.instagram.com/foodgroweracademy) to interact with us and get updates each week on episodes, additional content, or just to have a chat. Don't forget to hit the follow button on instagram, and the subscribe button on your podcast app. We hope you enjoy the podcast!

Alyson Hallett visits the watery landscape of the Somerset Levels, to encounter an enormous murmuration of starlings. Tom Connolly takes us to a tiny fishing outpost in Scotland, only accessible by foot, which is where his first novel began. The post Location And The Writer, part 20 appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

Somerset artist Lucy Pendrick gets up early to listen to the whole of the dawn chorus of resident and migrant birds in a deciduous woodland on the edge of the Somerset Levels. Revel in this incredible spring orchestra of natural music that most people sleep through. Plus, Lucy also captures the dusk chorus as the birds wind down at the end of the day. Pure magic. Find out more about Lucy's work at her website The Whispering Wild See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Explore the lagoons, reedbeds and woodlands of Somerset Levels with two of the regular podcast team as they try to hear the mournful yet powerful boom of the bittern. This waterbird was once critically endangered but has made a dramatic comeback with 30 pairs in what is known collectively as the Avalon Marshes. But will the team hear it? Listen on for gorgeous spring birdsong, history, mystery and even slithering snakes. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes offer you a short meditative journey into the natural world this spring to find peace, beauty and relaxation. In episode 13, you are transported to a woodland on the edge of a lagoon and reedbed deep in the Avalon Marshes of Somerset where the spring birdsong is in full voice. Sit back and let your mind wander into nature. Recorded by Jack Bateman and presented by Hannah Tribe See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Well known Somerset cider-maker Roger Wilkins talks to Martin Hesp about Banksy the artist and the great many other celebrities who've been to his old cider-house at Land's End Farm, Mudgeley, overlooking the Somerset Levels 

Travelling the length of Britain from Cornwall and the Somerset Levels to the Cairngorm Mountains and northern Scotland, Land's End to John o' Groats is an iconic route and life-long aspiration for many cyclists. In this episode, Cicerone author Richard Barrett joined us to talk about his new guidebook to cycling LEJOG and spoke about the delights and challenges en route, as well as offering plenty of advice about practicalities from booking trains and accommodation to tailoring the LEJOG experience to your own cycling needs.Find out more about the guidebook on https://www.cicerone.co.uk/cycling-lands-end-to-john-o-groats-third, where you can view our full range of guidebooks to outdoor travel in the UK and across the world and find plenty of advice about long-distance cycling.Search for @CiceronePress on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and join our Facebook community group, Cicerone Connect. Please send any feedback or questions to Hannah and Amy by emailing live@cicerone.co.uk. We hope you enjoy exploring the world with Cicerone. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Singer-songwriter Kitty Macfarlane explores how the landscape of the Somerset levels has inspired some of her music, from clouds to curlew, bitterns to eels. Kitty meets Gavin Pretor-Pinney of the Cloud Appreciation Society at Burrow Mump to talk about the importance of looking up, and to Steart Marshes to speak to Mary Colwell author of 'Curlew Moon' about the importance of wetland habitats to the local birdlife. She speaks to Andrew Kerr, Chairman of the Eel Sustainable Group about her work surveying eels and their extraordinary life-cycle, and in RSPB Ham Wall she reflects on the plight of the bittern and the meeting of mankind and nature. Plus there are exclusive live versions of Kitty's tracks 'Starling Song', 'Lamb' and 'Glass Eel'. Producer: Toby Field

On a hot day, Clare and Alice Roberts walk from the village of Draycott in Somerset up through the Draycott Sleights Nature Reserve with views opening out across the Bristol Channel to Wales and across the Somerset Levels to Glastonbury Tor. Alice says she finds the ancient landscape fascinating and imagines the inhabitants of past centuries who would have lived on the small settlements on the Levels. Producer: Maggie Ayre

Kitty Macfarlane is known for her pure voice, poetic song writing and passion for the natural world. She was nominated for the Horizon award at the 2019 Radio 2 Folk Awards. Kitty was born and brought up in Somerset and is often inspired by the landscape of the county. On this unexpectedly sunny January walk, she and Matthew Bannister climb the historic Burrow Mump hill. Here she sings a song inspired by the view, “Man Friendship”.   As they walk along the nearby river, Kitty stops to sing her song about migration: “Glass Eel”. Then it’s off to her favourite bird sanctuary where they observe many different species and she sings her song about witnessing a murmuration of starlings. Finally, they discuss the influence of William Blake and John Taverner, before she sings “Lamb”. It is another thought provoking and uplifting episode.

A delicious taster of some of the amazing new episodes coming your way in season 5 of Folk on Foot. Recorded before the lockdown, we’ve been walking with Kitty Macfarlane on the Somerset Levels, Chris Wood in Faversham and Frank Turner on the Holloway Road in North London. In this trailer you’ll hear some short extracts and details of three additional episodes we’re planning to record in summer 2020.

Hello Listeners!Join us in Part 2 of this Historical Series with Paul and Calum. They take from around 450 AD right up to the Battle of Hastings 1066 with lots of info on geographical context, historical figures of note, what the peoples of the time were like, what they ate, and their settlements. Today covers the first Norsemen invasions and we go up to the time of King Alfred fleeing to the Somerset Levels after the Vikings launched a surprise attack on his base in Chippenham on January 6th 876.We start the episode and end with Blood Swan - Anglo Saxon Music and InstrumentsThis is a video series so watch it here: The Birth of The English Nation Part 2

Stephen Moss is a naturalist, broadcaster, television producer and author. In a distinguished career at the BBC Natural History Unit his credits included Springwatch, Birds Britannia and The Nature of Britain. His books include The Robin: A Biography, A Bird in the Bush, The Bumper Book of Nature, Wild Hares and Hummingbirds and Wild Kingdom. He is also Senior Lecturer in Nature and Travel Writing at Bath Spa University. Originally from London, he lives with his family on the Somerset Levels, and is President of the Somerset Wildlife Trust. His latest book is The Accidental Countryside: Hidden Havens for Britain's Wildlife. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Welcome to the Beyond Your Research Degree podcast from the University of Exeter Doctoral College! The podcast about non-academic careers and all the opportunities available to you... beyond your research degree! In this episode Kelly Preece, Researcher Development Manager talks to Dr. David Musgrove, Publisher at Immediate Media Co.   Music from https://filmmusic.io 'Cheery Monday' by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses   Podcast transcript   1 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:15,000 Hello and welcome to the Beyond Your Research Degree podcast by the University of Exeter doctoral college 2 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:22,000 I'm Kelly Preece, researcher development manager in the doctoral college at the University of Exeter. 3 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:25,000 And I'll be your host today. Hello. 4 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:32,000 Hi. Hi. OK. So my name is Dave Musgrove and I studied here at Exeter. 5 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:41,000 I did my B.A. here in archaeology and I went on to do a PhD in the archaeology department. 6 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:49,000 There was a year in between times when I went out and worked for a few companies doing various temping jobs. 7 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:57,000 But I came back. I was very, very grateful to be asked back and be given a funded opportunity to do a PhD 8 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:06,000 All about the mediaeval landscape archaeology of the Peet Moors of the Somerset Levels a title I remember well from doing it. 9 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:13,000 And I did my PhD in three years and then I left and did not carry on into academia. 10 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:27,000 So the my career since then has been I've been essentially working in the media, specifically in magazine publishing, 11 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:36,000 but also latterly in online publishing because of the realities of the print magazine publishing world. 12 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:42,000 And the fact that online is is clearly an important place in which publishing happens. 13 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:47,000 So how did I get into that role? 14 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:58,000 Well. So whilst I was doing my PhD It became fairly clear to me that I probably wasn't going to become an academic. 15 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:06,000 So I think it was really in the second year of my PhD, actually, that I thought I ought to be thinking about what else I could be doing. 16 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:12,000 So I chatted to my supervisor and said that I was thinking I was quite interested in publishing. 17 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:21,000 I've been doing some work for her, editing some of her manuscripts and doing some page, lay out some of her books. 18 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:28,000 So I'd been developing some skills. There getting a bit of cash and that had sparked a bit of interest to me. 19 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:37,000 So she suggested I go along to the University Press here at Exeter and see if they had any volunteering work experience opportunities, 20 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:44,000 which I duly did. And and I enjoyed that and must have be reasonably proficient because they offered me some part time work. 21 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:50,000 They're just doing general admin and a little bit of light editing. 22 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:56,000 So I did that for the latter part of my PhD 23 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:01,000 And I met somebody there who had some contacts in the magazine publishing world. 24 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:09,000 So when I finished my Ph.D., she very kindly put me in touch with some people at a company called Future Publishing, 25 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:17,000 which is based in Bath, which produces lots of, still going, produces, lots of computer magazines and other things. 26 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:27,000 And I had also, whilst I was in my PhD, I had taken an interest in the Internet, which at the time I was doing my PhD. 27 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:34,000 That was a few years ago the Internet was only really starting off and I learnt how 28 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:42,000 to do HTML coding and I was able to get a job on a magazine about the Internet. 29 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:52,000 Well, I applied for it. And with the contacts that I had been given by this person at the University press, I had a little bit of a step in. 30 00:03:52,000 --> 00:04:01,000 And so I got a job while working for as a very base layer level on this magazine for a couple of years. 31 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:14,000 I was very lucky to get on a training programme there for magazine journalism, and that got me into into the world of of magazines. 32 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:21,000 I worked on various other computer and Internet magazines at Future Publishing for a few years and then 33 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:28,000 heard about a History magazine launching at a rival company in Bristol called Origin Publishing. 34 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:36,000 So I applied for a job there. Got it. And obviously played off my doctoral skills to get that. 35 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:44,000 And I've been with that company ever since. It's been through various guises and was bought by the BBC. 36 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:53,000 And I ended up working on BBC History magazine, which is a very popular History magazine, the most popular History magazine in the UK. 37 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,000 And I've essentially been working on that for the last few years, 38 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:05,000 as in various roles as the editor for about a decade and then subsequently as the publisher and content director. 39 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:10,000 So I'm now in a managerial capacity, but still within a media company. 40 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:15,000 So that's the story. Fantastic thank you so 41 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:24,000 You say things that spring to mind and about the importance of some of that. 42 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:33,000 Experiences you picked up alongside the PhD. So you talked about having had a year gap before and doing various like temping jobs. 43 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:40,000 Were any of those things related to your subject area or to publishing or were they kind of just General? Nope 44 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:46,000 They were a variety of jobs, working in a postroom, working. 45 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:56,000 I ended up working for a market research company, and I think we'd probably be described as a graduate level job, as a market research executive. 46 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:01,000 Which to be honest I didn't particularly enjoy. 47 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:07,000 And that was what led me to think, well, maybe I'll have another crack at academia for a bit. 48 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:13,000 I think all those all those positions, you know, you can pull out some skills from them, 49 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:18,000 some experience which is helpful in getting the first real job that you want to do. 50 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:30,000 And definitely, I think for anyone who's looking to enter the job market, you know, you know, in a professional capacity, 51 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:39,000 you need to draw on any any possible skills you can think of from from Part-Time work or temporary work that you've done and just, 52 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:44,000 you know, make sure that you can you can flag up one thing that you learnt from that. 53 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:50,000 So when I worked in a postroom for instance sure, I would have said that it helped me develop my people skills because I was dealing 54 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:56,000 with a lot of a lot of um trubulent individuals who wanted their post 55 00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:00,000 I don't remember exactly what I said. But, you know, there were you can always find something. 56 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:09,000 Some even from the most uninspiring sort of job. You can always find something that she can allude to in an interview or in a CV. 57 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:16,000 So when you were applying for those that the first role and at the at Future publishing in Bath 58 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:24,000 you talked about kind of drawing in quite a wide range of interests. And obviously you're relying quite heavily on your writing and editing skills. 59 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:36,000 And what else did you draw on in applying and by doing the role in particular in regards to having done a PhD, having done a research degree? 60 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:44,000 Well, I think one of the one of the things that I particularly draw on for that first role was the was the fact that it wasn't specifically related to 61 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:52,000 my PhD but that I done during my studies, which was learning to code websites, 62 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:59,000 which only had the opportunity to do because I had some time in my you know, in my in my research calendar. 63 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:02,000 And there were some facilities here to enable me to do that. 64 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:15,000 So I was clearly able to draw on that, to give me this sort of specialism that they were interested in for that particular magazine. 65 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:20,000 In general, I'm sure I would have said, and I would have meant it, 66 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:34,000 that my my doctoral studies had given me an overarching sense of responsibility in the 67 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:40,000 understanding of the importance of personal responsibility in all aspects of work. 68 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:46,000 And I would have played quite heavily on the fact that I've shown that I have the 69 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:52,000 ability to do a project and carry it through to completion on my own volition. 70 00:08:52,000 --> 00:09:00,000 And I think that's me. That's one of the really big things you can say from from from doctoral research is to say, 71 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:05,000 you know, you clearly have the capacity for independent work. 72 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:10,000 What you need to then do is to demonstrate that you also have the capacity and the flexibility 73 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:16,000 to work in a team environment where you're not working solely to your own agenda. 74 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:25,000 And that's probably one of the things I think maybe is a more difficult aspect for people coming from transitioning out of academia into the business 75 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:31,000 world or or even into into the public sector is to demonstrate that you have 76 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:36,000 the facility to work in an office environment rather than just on your own. 77 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:38,000 And there are numerous ways to do that. 78 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:46,000 You can allude back to your employment experience if you've worked in a, you know, had a temporary job in an office or in a pub or both, which I did. 79 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:51,000 Then you can demonstrate that. But I think that's quite important. 80 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:57,000 I think that's a start is a potential stumbling block for people who who see you may be actually on to see. 81 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:01,000 They think, well, that's great. Can they can they work in an office? 82 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:08,000 Yeah. And I do think and we know from research that's quite prevalent perception of but from employers, 83 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:16,000 of people coming from academia or having done the PhD, it's the idea that that quite solitary and detail oriented, 84 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:24,000 very focussed on themselves and their own work and perhaps lack those kind of team working and interpersonal skills and increasingly with the kind of. 85 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:33,000 Environments that we have in the university and from shared office space to some of the leadership roles are available to our students. 86 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:40,000 Like being a PGR representative or various different things. Actually, there's, you know, even just organising a conference with a group of people. 87 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:44,000 There's some real opportunities to pick up on and draw in those skills. 88 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:54,000 Yeah, I'd say that's super important. I don't think for one moment think that doctoral candidates or PhD students are lonesome. 89 00:10:54,000 --> 00:11:01,000 Weirdos No, I wasn't. Maybe I was, you know, but I think that is that soon. 90 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:07,000 I think you're right. That is a perception from employers that that's something that some perhaps goes with the territory. 91 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:14,000 And I think there are, as you say, there are lots of ways that you can demonstrate that you're not that you have team working skills. 92 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:17,000 You just need to make sure that you've thought about that and you've got some answers, 93 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:22,000 but not down pat that that's that's going to alleviate that concern. 94 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:30,000 Do you think they for somebody that's been through that process for also thinking, you know, where you are now as an employer and as a manager? 95 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:34,000 Are there other areas that you would see that you think a particular kind of stumbling 96 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:39,000 blocks are people who are looking to move from doing PhD to beyond academia? 97 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:50,000 I suppose there's always the sense that is, it is the person who's kind of who's coming to you. 98 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:56,000 Are they actually interested in the role you're doing or are they simply because they haven't been able to get an academic job? 99 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:05,000 And I think that is quite a thing that would be a concern for some employers to think, well, you know this person. 100 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:09,000 They've gone down. They've gone this far down a route of research. 101 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:16,000 Why aren't they weren't they carry on? Weren't they doing what one assumes they wanted to do? 102 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:20,000 So I think that's key. Again, is easy to counter that. 103 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:25,000 You just need to think about it. You just need to be clear about what you're doing and you need to express. 104 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:27,000 Well, this is this goes for any job. 105 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:32,000 You need to have a very good reason why you want the job and you need to be keen and enthusiastic and have a good answer. 106 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:39,000 I mean, if you're in in an interview situation and you're not asked why you want the job, then that's a bit odd. 107 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:44,000 I've never been in an interview, not been asked. So you have to expect it and you have to have a good answer. 108 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:50,000 And and you have to be able to demonstrate that you really want that job. 109 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:55,000 And perhaps it builds on what you did in your in your doctoral studies. 110 00:12:55,000 --> 00:13:01,000 Perhaps it's perhaps it's some in some way linked to or if it's completely ensconsed then that's fine. 111 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:06,000 But you just need to demonstrate that you are fully committed to that. 112 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:13,000 And the reason why you are no longer carrying on academia is whatever it is. 113 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:19,000 And just make sure you've got that nailed down, say, just picking up on it. 114 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:26,000 What was it like for you to do those three really intensive years on that one project 115 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:33,000 and then to leave that project for also research and for a certain amount of time, 116 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:38,000 history and archaeology behind me on something completely different? Did you find that difficult? 117 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:42,000 Did you find it quite exciting? 118 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:56,000 So I was I was very pleased to put away my books about mediaeval Peet Moors and my struggles with the paleo graphy of mediaeval Latin. 119 00:13:56,000 --> 00:14:00,000 Glastonbury Abbey rolls briefly. 120 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:12,000 I was pleased. And then I was yeah, I was I was pretty gutted that I hadn't hadn't carried on with it. 121 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:20,000 But with the wave, a realisation of a practical realised realisation that I wasn't gonna be a great academic. 122 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:24,000 I think I sort of clocked that that, you know, in seminars. 123 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:30,000 I wasn't the person coming up with the, you know, the really insightful grasp of the topics and stuff. 124 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:37,000 So I was aware that I was never gonna become a great professor. 125 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:44,000 But, yeah, I was it was I was sad that I wasn't or wasn't involved in that environment anymore. 126 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:48,000 But on the flip side, it was a really, really interesting role. 127 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:51,000 I was really fascinated in what I was doing. I was learning a lot of skills. 128 00:14:51,000 --> 00:15:01,000 I was under a completely different sort of pressure. I mean, I've been under a long, grinding pressure to get to the end of the of the PhD 129 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:05,000 And then I was immediately shipped and it was pretty much immediate I didn't take a break. 130 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:16,000 And I was skint pretty pretty much straight into into this job, which which was brilliant because I needed work and money and a new new focus. 131 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:20,000 I think if I hadn't had that, then that might have been worse. 132 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:24,000 If I'd just been sat around thinking, oh God, I've done this. PhD 133 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:39,000 Now, I've got nothing. I was I was quite a long way behind my peers in terms of salary and position, which was a bit difficult. 134 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:43,000 But some, you know, things tend to equalise out. 135 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:48,000 So I wouldn't I wouldn't worry about that too much. But it was yeah. 136 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:53,000 In terms of deadlines, it was like so I'd come from this long, long deadline into having a deadline every day, 137 00:15:53,000 --> 00:16:04,000 week, month, and it was unique sort of pressure really exciting. Working with a bunch of people who were really nice and who were all one of the great 138 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:07,000 things was they were just all really interested in the fact that I done a PhF and, 139 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:12,000 you know, I was politely mocked for being a doctor in the house. 140 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:16,000 And I think you'd kind of you do have to accept laughs or traded on that over the years. 141 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:22,000 You know, that the doctors here I. Now how I'm using. 142 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:29,000 So but, you know, it was it was it was actually a really interesting experience. 143 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:38,000 And, yeah, it was fun. So you mentioned about kind of entering in and being behind your peers in terms of salary, but that equalising out over time. 144 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:45,000 Is that because you found that you progressed quicker even though you went in at a lower level? 145 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:51,000 I mean, I don't actually know. I feel quite comfortable in one day and. 146 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:58,000 Yeah, and and what I'm learning now, and that's that's fine, because I think I did progressed pretty quickly. 147 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:03,000 I think I was pretty I was keen. I was enthusiastic and I wanted to get on with stuff. 148 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:10,000 And there was probably people who didn't quite have that sense of urgency. 149 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:17,000 And so that was so that was actually I was released what was good. And I pushed myself forward, you know, and I pushed for promotions. 150 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:24,000 I insisted on promotions. I said, I'm doing this on, I'm really good and you need to give me a promotion. 151 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:28,000 And yeah. And I got something. 152 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:40,000 And then I guess when I blundered back into a role that was closer to my research studies, though actually still some distance. 153 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:46,000 Yeah. And then I was able to play back off that. 154 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:53,000 But now that academic background. Did that give me more of a platform for Payrise? 155 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:58,000 I, I don't know. But I think it is certainly helped me in my career. 156 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:08,000 And I've I've I've I've used the fact that I've done the research to to make a lot of contacts and to push myself forward. 157 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:12,000 And so so I see I see practical benefits there. 158 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:23,000 But I'm reasonably unique space in terms of of my career path going from academia and then finding something that's a little bit similar to it. 159 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:29,000 But but actually still quite different. Yes. Say, you mentioned a couple of things partly. 160 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:33,000 And I wanted to pick up on you mentioned about making contacts, 161 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:42,000 and various different things that obviously that was really fundamental for you in getting that first that first role. 162 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:47,000 What would you experience like of going through that interview process? 163 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:55,000 And like throughout your career, how how fundamental have you found that kind of sense of contacts and networks to be in terms 164 00:18:55,000 --> 00:19:02,000 of moving forward or moving sideways or just essentially changing roles or changing path? 165 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:10,000 I mean, you know, you would like the world to not be somewhere where you get by, by who you know. 166 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:18,000 But reality is that is helpful to have people who can put in a good word if you say this person's good or work. 167 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:22,000 And and that certainly helps. Yeah. 168 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:27,000 I'm very grateful to that first colleague who I mean, they didn't didn't get me the job. 169 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:32,000 They just they just, um, they just put me in touch with somebody and, um, put my name in the frame. 170 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:41,000 And that was that was that was that was much appreciated. And also I just, you know, maybe I wouldn't have applied for that role if I hadn't been. 171 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:47,000 So if it hadn't been mentioned to me, that  there was the role going at the interview. 172 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:51,000 I mean, I think I think I've, in all interviews, 173 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:57,000 always found the fact that I have PhD to be useful just in the sense that it does give you a conversation piece. 174 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:04,000 And they say, you know, I see you've done a PhD and you say, yeah, I was on the mediaeval exploitations of Peet Moors in the Somerset levels. 175 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:11,000 That sounds very boring, doesn't it? And and and and then but you can then say, well, I can say sorry. 176 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:18,000 Mildly interesting about. Oh. But it just gives you it makes you sound Slightly more interesting than other people. 177 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:24,000 And I think that is useful in a in an interview environment. You do need to sound interesting. 178 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:32,000 And that gives you that gives you a little bit more ammunition. So if you have traded on that in every interview environment. 179 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:38,000 I mean it. I don't recall doing much of interview practise when I was studying. 180 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:50,000 So I think my kind of imagine my initial interview was a great success, but it was it was enough to get me the job. 181 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:58,000 Maybe I should have done more interview practise. And I'm not sure I'm not sure how far that's the thing for positions these days to do. 182 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:05,000 But I think that should be useful to make sure that you are doing a bit of that and have an idea about what might well might come your way. 183 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:09,000 Yeah, there's quite a lot of support that if any institution through my team, 184 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:13,000 but also through the career service about things like preparing for interviews, 185 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:21,000 particularly if you get how much experience, job interviews or you have any particular anxieties around them, what they might be like. 186 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:26,000 And we actually have them. We have this piece of software called Interview Stream where you can set up your own questions 187 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:31,000 and kind of record yourself and do practise and get feedback on all sorts of things. 188 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:36,000 It is really interesting to be very disconcerting for me to watch myself, but it does help people. 189 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:41,000 Would definitely, definitely think those sorts of things. Everyone should take advantage of those. 190 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:46,000 Even if you you're brilliant interviewere then I still think you should have a go and just 191 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:50,000 I would just point out that fact that you have something interesting to say. 192 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:54,000 So do make sure you and it will make you feel more at ease if you could. 193 00:21:54,000 --> 00:22:01,000 You know, if you have half a minute to say something that you are a real expert, take pleasure on don't take an hour, obviously. 194 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:02,000 But just say something that sounds interesting. 195 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:10,000 And it is if you to make the whoever is interviewing you think, oh, that's somebody whom I might learn something from, who I might enjoy being, 196 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:19,000 you know, who isn't a strange weirdo who who actually has something interesting say and I guess is something really stand out about that, 197 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:25,000 because it's sort only it's a slightly more unusual thing to be to have people coming in 198 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:32,000 who do have a PhD or who have that level of expertise in something very specific. 199 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:38,000 You know, you talked about that role and going on a training programme. 200 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:43,000 So can you tell me a bit about what that was on and how that came about? 201 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:50,000 But also what I think what it was like to go back to learning that sense once you've started a professional job. 202 00:22:50,000 --> 00:23:00,000 I mean, that was it was brilliant. It was basically a run a year long training programme for trainee journalists, essentially. 203 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:06,000 And every week there was a half a day out for a few, 204 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:16,000 a group of ten of us to go and be taught stuff by professional journalists and editors, which was actually fantastic. 205 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,000 And I embraced it and and and loved it. 206 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:23,000 And it was it was very different because of that. 207 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:26,000 We have direct learning. It wasn't you know, I wasn't researching. 208 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:35,000 I was being told stuff and being given tasks and, you know, being being told to told what to do and then trying to get ahead. 209 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:42,000 So I suppose. That you might you might think you're better than that. 210 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:51,000 If you've got to go to PhD, why? Well, I've already done all this training. But, you know, humility is a good thing in general. 211 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:56,000 And in life. And I was. No, I didn't think that I thought was fascinating. 212 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:03,000 And I realised I really needed to understand things. And I really needed to learn how to do the job if I wanted to progress 213 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:12,000 I was very grateful for it. And it was it was excellent, I think, you know, government's phrase of lifelong learning or whatever. 214 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:17,000 But it's true. You need to you do need to constantly be trying to progress and learn things. 215 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:21,000 And if you're not doing that something, you you'll get bored anyway. 216 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:27,000 But but you do need to do that for your career progression, whatever. 217 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:33,000 So you talked about doing some editing for your supervisor, you know, for a fact they were working. 218 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:36,000 And so you and you worked for the university press. 219 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:42,000 You obviously have some kind of experience with publishing, albeit quite different kind of publishing. 220 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:52,000 And when you you're doing that training course, how different did you find the approach to things like writing and editing and perhaps researching an 221 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:58,000 article or a story where you might have used those fundamental skills when you were doing your PhD? 222 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,000 But how different did you find the use of them in that context? 223 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,000 Or did you find you kind of needed to relearn how to do those things in a different way? 224 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:19,000 Yeah, probably because, well, the stuff those doing for my supervisor was to her standards, to her to to her convention. 225 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:26,000 So that was fine. I was just doing on what I was told and and it was very useful, interesting learning experience. 226 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:30,000 And then everyone has different conventions and and brings. 227 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:40,000 But I think specifically in terms of the question of research and and using your research skills, what you need to do is, 228 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:45,000 you know, work environment is you need to be able to stop once you've done it, once you've found something found out. 229 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:50,000 I once thought we'd done something that's that's that's enough in a day. 230 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:57,000 It's never enough. You always the next rabbit hole to go down in the next journal article to look at the next 231 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:03,000 think to have a look at And you're trying to basically understand everything as much as you can about whatever it is you're looking, 232 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:10,000 whereas particularly in a journalistic environment, if you can't do that, you've got half a half day, half an hour to do something. 233 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:14,000 You've just got to get to the bottom of it as quickly as you can and be happy 234 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:18,000 with that and and develop a sense of pragmatism if you haven't got one already. 235 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:23,000 Did you find that quite difficult and moving from the kind of longer scale project 236 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:28,000 and longer scale questioning to something that is quite discrete and quite quick? 237 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:34,000 Yeah, I understand, but I had no choice because you've got deadline and you've got to you've got to deliver. 238 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:40,000 I mean, there's you kind of I was I was really worried about all the stuff I did for a little while 239 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:47,000 I thought, well i was only given this an hour. Listen, I can't possibly this can't be right. 240 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:53,000 But you just got to rolle with it and trust that you've done as best you can. 241 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:59,000 So you talked about obviously going on to a history based magazine. 242 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:06,000 So you're closer to the kind of background you had in your PhD and that you've moved on to a more managerial role now 243 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:14,000 So thinking about yourself as, I guess as an employer. 244 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:25,000 What if you had a PhD got you or someone that's just come into the PhD interviewing for a similar role, kind of perhaps where you started? 245 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:30,000 You and your team, your organisation, what what are you looking for from them? 246 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:34,000 So I suppose it's a bit different, in fact, of my background. 247 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:40,000 I would be I'd probably look more favourably on someone who's gonna see them, perhaps someone who hasn't. 248 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:45,000 And I think you do need to view. 249 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:56,000 Is it. That's it. But I mean. I interviewed yesterday for for a role and the person I interviewed had all the skills. 250 00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:00,000 I mean, clearly, you need to demonstrate you've got the skills for the job. 251 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:07,000 So that was fun. But she was also. Shouldn't she? 252 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:20,000 She I think she had an MA She she was enthusiastic, keen and had. 253 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:25,000 Enough of a sense of how to describe it. 254 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:36,000 She wasn't afraid to stop and ask for a bit of time to answer questions, so she was confident enough in herself to say, I need to. 255 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:44,000 I just need to address this properly. So I saw a good level of maturity in her. 256 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:52,000 She's quite young. And I think as a as a precondition, you could you could you could trade on that quite well. 257 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:58,000 You could trade on that sense of maturity and sense of of self-worth, 258 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:05,000 self-knowledge without appearing to be some sort of braggart or something that you've you've done extended research. 259 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:10,000 And I think that that is a pitfall you definitely don't want to come across as someone who's, you know better than anyone else. 260 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:15,000 And that's clearly would be a bad. Yes. So that kind of elitist. 261 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:24,000 Yeah. Don't do that. Don't do that. But definitely, you know, I'm looking for someone who has who has great enthusiasm. 262 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:31,000 I want somebody who wants the job. I want somebody who had the same sense of urgency as I had when I was 23 263 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:38,000 24. Looking for a job. I want somebody who's going to be banging on my door saying, I want a promotion. 264 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:44,000 I want to be better. I want to do this training course. You want those people in your in your in your teams. 265 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:51,000 You want people you don't want people to just sit around waiting for wait for the bell. 266 00:29:51,000 --> 00:30:00,000 So so enthusiasm is is there is the absolute thing I look for, you know, and and confidence. 267 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:06,000 I think confidence is is is it is it is great. So in an interview and. 268 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:10,000 So. So you make sure you go out and. 269 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:18,000 We've got any students listening who are thinking about going into into magazine publishing or online publishing as you are now. 270 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:24,000 What advice would you give them in terms of perhaps some of the things to. 271 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:30,000 Do alongside their studies or that particular kind of volunteering experiences you think would 272 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:37,000 be useful or their particular skill sets that you think they really need to focus on developing. 273 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:42,000 So if you're at Exeter, I would expect you to be writing for expose 274 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:54,000 I would expect you to be contributing to that to that magazine in some format. 275 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:59,000 You should have a blog. You should be you should be blogging. You should be on social media. 276 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:08,000 I should be able to find you on Twitter and Facebook and not think that you're completely wild individual. 277 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:17,000 But then I should I should be able to see that you are looking to promote yourself in those in those environments. 278 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:28,000 You probably we're doing a podcast. I mean, those are all the things that a modern journalist needs to be doing. 279 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:34,000 So I would I would advise you to be developing in all those areas. 280 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:39,000 On top of that, there are numerous opportunities to do a bit of work experience or internship or, 281 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:43,000 you know, apply for competitions, writing competitions, that sort of thing. 282 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:48,000 You know, I think the person I interviewed yesterday had won a poetry competition 283 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:52,000 So those sorts of things, I think they are they just make you think, but they are bothered 284 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:57,000 They are interested that they are enthusiastic. They do care about this and they have a passion for it. 285 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:04,000 And that's those would all be things that I would I would definitely try and do. 286 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:12,000 So, yes, you need to show that you that you are actually interested in writing and editing if you are trying to get into a media career. 287 00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:19,000 And that sense of enthusiasm and passion has come across really strongly in all of the answers you've given, 288 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:30,000 actually, that one of the fundamental things is about. Being interested and having that sense of motivation to move forward and find out more. 289 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:39,000 And I certainly think from my experience working with our PhD students on our research degree students, that's something they have in droves, 290 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:47,000 you know, because you need that to be able to pursue a project that is that specialised for that sustained period of time. 291 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:52,000 That's real passion and care for something. And. 292 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:57,000 And so there's something really wonderful that may have to maximise on on on those personal qualities. 293 00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:05,000 Yeah, totally. So you can you can trade on. You can trade on it on that as an as a as a as a marker of your enthusiasm and your passion. 294 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:10,000 And you can you can really gauge talent. And I would definitely recommend that would be a good thing to do. 295 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:17,000 I mean, I think that's what all employers really need and want is that sense of that's somebody who's who is has got a 296 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:23,000 level of excitement and commitment that's that's going to make them actually want to do the job and do it well. 297 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:29,000 Fantastic. Thanks very much. Pleasure. And that's it for this episode. 298 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:44,223 Join us next time when we'll be talking to another researcher about their career beyond their research degree.    

Could this be one of the wettest autumns on record? Two farmers tell us about the actions they’ve taken to keep their farms afloat during extreme rainfall.     Five years on from the Somerset Levels floods, cereals and beef farmer James Winslade reveals how social media anchored the news agenda around the troubles, which helped protect his business today.    With reservoirs fully topped up after the drought, South Lincolnshire grower David Hoyles tells us about the decisions he’s made to reduce damage to water logged land and manage labour.   Using insight from the markets, AHDB’s Phil Bicknell will share how this season’s potato harvest has fared. He talks about the relationship of farmgate prices with retail and the implications for early season planting and livestock production. For more information please visit: AHDB's Weather page (https://ahdb.org.uk/knowledge-library/weather)   Watch our webinar on how to assess flooded forages and standing maize (https://ahdb.org.uk/events/webinar-how-to-assess-flooded-forages-and-standing-maize?hootPostID=35ddfd129ac90f0aa109d9c5455eccce)

Apple: Recipes from the OrchardBy James Rich Intro: Welcome to the number one cookbook podcast, Cookery by the Book with Suzy Chase. She's just a home cook in New York City, sitting at her dining room table talking to cookbook authors.James Rich: Hi, I'm James Rich, and I'm the author or Apple: Recipes from the Orchard, which is out now.Suzy Chase: Apple is a celebration of this humble fruit. What inspired you to write this cookbook?James Rich: That's quite an interesting question, actually. My family, we have a cider farm in Somerset in England, where I'm from. It's been going for generations, and even before we had the farm we were working on the land and working within the fruit and vegetable industry in Somerset for centuries before that. So for me, it represents home, and the inspiration behind focusing on apple in the book is because... it's to link back to my family. It has multiple meanings for me, but also for us as a culture as well. I think it has a number of meanings for us in culture through history and religion, even. It's got multiple meanings, but for me it's something that represents home.Suzy Chase: Did you include any old family recipes in this cookbook?James Rich: Yeah, I did actually. The cider farm back at home, we actually have a restaurant there, as well, so the idea for the cookbook came to me many, many years ago when I worked there as a teenager. We'd use the produce from the farm, the apple juice and the cider, the hard cider it would be called in America, we used those, obviously, in the dishes that we served. We used to have customers come in and ask us about how we used the produce from the farm in the dishes, so we thought about maybe writing out a leaflet or some information about the recipes and sharing them with customers.James Rich: When I actually started writing it a couple of years ago, I was able to go back to the farm and talk to them about those dishes years ago, and include some of them in the book like the stews, pies and things like that. They're slightly, slightly edited versions to what we used to put in the farm, but there's some old recipes in there that we've updated for 2019.Suzy Chase: Wait, you call our hard cider your apple cider?James Rich: Hard cider in the US is just cider in the UK. So, when I say cider, I'm talking about the alcoholic beverage. When I say cider in America, you're talking about apple juice, right?Suzy Chase: Yeah.James Rich: Yeah, non-alcoholic. Cider in the UK has got alcohol in it. It's very confusing.Suzy Chase: So, what do you call the non-alcoholic one?James Rich: Just apple juice.Suzy Chase: Okay.James Rich: Yeah.Suzy Chase: I'm taking notes.Suzy Chase: So, a little history. Where did the apple tree originate?James Rich: Interestingly, the apple tree, originally, is from an areas that's known as Kazakhstan. Out there, they actually have forests. They still do, apparently. I'd love to visit it. Hopefully will be able to one day. They actually have forests of apple trees out there, and if you go out there this time of year, obviously all of the trees are covered in the glorious fruit. The smell must be amazing.James Rich: It originated in that part of the world, and then, through various empires and things, the Roman Empire was crucial in moving the trees around with them as they conquered various parts of the world. Much of the spread of the tree happened during the Roman times. They figured that the apple was, obviously, a very hardy fruit, it's very nutritious, and it was easily stored over winter. So the uprooted some of the trees, I imagine, moved it around their ever-expanding empire, and helped share the fruit to new groups of people and embed it in our everyday life. You can find apples in every single country in the world now, they're so far reaching.Suzy Chase: As you said, you're a master cider maker's son, and your family has been making a living off the land for centuries in Somerset, England. Tell me about one of your fondest memories growing up around the apple trees.James Rich: Oh, I have loads. If you ever get to visit Somerset, I would really encourage you to. We live on the Somerset Levels, which is a very flat part of the country. They Levels are below sea level, so they tend to flood quite easily. In the winter, it's quite a wet environment, but because of that and because of all the water, it's absolutely vibrant green. It's just such a beautiful place, and we're surrounded by all of these wonderful apple trees that grow really well in that part of the world.James Rich: Lots of memories. My dad, obviously, he would be, this time of year in the last part of the year, he was pressing the apples, but in the early parts of the year he was pruning the trees. So, when I was younger, I have many memories of me and my sisters going with him to work and running around an orchard while he's pruning trees and digging, ferreting in ditches and thickets to find little animals, toads and things like that. Having a whale of a time getting lost in this magical world under the trees. It's very evocative for me. This time of year, as well, if you go around September-October when the apples are being pressed, the farm smells of that beautiful crushed apple smell. I've got very found memories of that as well.Suzy Chase: I don't think I know anyone who doesn't like apples, do you?James Rich: No. Funny story. When I was writing the book, I haven't met anybody who doesn't like apples; however, I do have a friend who, when I was testing the recipes... I don't know about you, if you've ever tested recipes, but I can only test them so many times before I lose the ability to be critical or even taste them, which is obviously quite important if you're writing about food. So, I went on social media, spoke to some friends, and said, "Look, if I send you some recipes, can you test them for me?" Obviously, I'm writing an apple cookbook and it was known then that that's what I was doing.James Rich: I sent one to one friend, it was the tumeric and apple soup, and I said, "If you could just give it a test. Let me know, be as critical as you want when you come back." So she made it. She got back in touch with me and said, "Oh, I've made the soup." I was like, "Oh, brilliant. What did you think?" She said, "It was okay, but I don't really like apples in savory dishes." So, I was like, "Oh. I'm not really sure what we can do for you, then." It was very good. She did like it, but she wasn't so keen on apples in cooking, so I suppose the book's maybe not for her.Suzy Chase: I get that, because I love raw apples, but I don't love apples that have been cooked. It changes the crunchiness, it changes the consistency of it. I get it. I'm with her a little bit.James Rich: Yeah. There's a recipe in the book, which I've made a couple of times as I've been doing events launching the book, which is an apple, coconut and ginger curry, and that generally is one dish in the book that people really question. They're like, "Oh, really? How does apple work with a curry sauce?" That recipe, specifically, has its roots in the Caribbean and in Sri Lanka, where they use a lot of fruit and spices together. I personally think it's delicious, but it is one of those, we would say in the UK, a marmite meal where you either love it or you hate it.Suzy Chase: Yes. So, this is a really good story. Tell us about the drinking water situation in Somerset.James Rich: Oh, yes. As I was saying, Somerset is below sea level, and when we have a lot of rainfall that often means that the land floods. In centuries gone past, it would result in the water stagnating and not being incredibly healthy to drink. And actually quite dangerous; it could kill you if it was mixed with something not very friendly. In the very old days, the local landowners and farmers would make cider and beer as a form of payment for the landworkers, and they would take that as payment because it was a form of healthy hydration. So, you'd be allocated an amount you could drink every day. I don't think it was, probably, quite as alcoholic as the hard cider we have today, but the fermentation process and mixing it, it kills all the bugs and the bad things in the water. It brought it back round to being a healthy form of hydration for people.James Rich: So, apples and cider, it's not just a fruit and a drink that we enjoy today at our leisure and we have a great time sitting in a nice square or in the beer garden in a pub, enjoying it on a nice hot day. It actually has roots in that part of the world as being something that was really, really fundamental to society. So it's an important thing.Suzy Chase: I feel a little badly for the apple because it's been labeled a forbidden fruit, and lots of other negative connotations.James Rich: Yeah, it has. It goes well back into religious culture, and I think it's a really unfair label. It's super healthy, it's packed full of vitamins. Yes, of course, it has natural sugars. It's much better. I think that we should revisit our love for this fruit because it would be much better if we snacked on things like apple and other fruits, rather than reached for our refined sugar snacks that we tend to have today or fizzy pop and things like that. So, I think it's an unfair label, but I think people are getting it again now. I think it's having a bit of a resurgence, hopefully.Suzy Chase: Growing apples is no easy business. Describe how they're selected and picked.James Rich: The tree is grafted together. If you need to make a new variety, you'll make a parent stock and you'll graft those two stock together to formulate a new type of apple. So, you can find trees that have multiple different types of apple on them. You can have one tree in your garden that has, say, a cooking apple and an eating apple, an apple fruits in very late August and an apple that fruits in, maybe, October time. Just on one tree because of the way that you draft the young tree to an older version of it. It's a very technical way of growing fruit, but it results in really hardy trees and really hardy fruit stock, which is really important.James Rich: Then, the farmers or the cider makers will go out and assess the types of apple that they want to use. There are absolutely thousands of different varieties in the world. I think it's about 7,500 globally, different varieties of apple. I think, in the US, it's about 4,500 that you grow there, and I think we're about 2,500-3,000 in the UK. There are so many to pick from, and there are constantly new varieties being added. Whether there's some with a higher sugar content for a juice, or whether it's something that's a little bit more bitter-sharp for cider or even cooking, there's an apple for everything. There are apples that have pineapple notes, or even a tobacco taste or strawberry, and there are others that are just very, very sharp, standard apple flavor. It's a very interesting topic, and if you spoke to my dad, who is the master of this, he would talk for hours on how you propagate and grow apple trees.Suzy Chase: So, how are they picked? Is there a machine?James Rich: It's actually better for cider if the apples drop. They drop to the floor, which means they're super, super ripe, and they can then be picked up by a machine or handpicked, depending on the size of the orchard. My family source the apples all from local orchard owners. We obviously grow some ourselves and have our own orchards, but there's never enough to fulfill demand so they always buy them in from other sources, from other orchards. But because a lot of these orchards in that part of the world are super, super old, you sometimes can't get machinery around the trees, so you have to go and handpick, which obviously takes a bit longer. Generally, you'll wait until they drop to the floor, and then you'll pick them up by machine or by hand, or give the branches a little shake to make the ripest apples drop and pick them that way. But yeah, it takes a long time.Suzy Chase: You were talking about all of the varieties. Is there a market for all of these different varieties of apples?James Rich: No, and it's a real shame. When I started writing the variety section in the book, I wanted to try and include as many different varieties, and as many weird and wonderful varieties, as possible, but there are so many, it was practically impossible to do. There are specialists, and I really encourage people to speak to their local farmers market or do some research and find some local growers, there's some amazing ones in the US, who specialize in heritage varieties, older varieties, and something that's a little bit different because you've kept the integrity of the apple that's been there for such a long time. The taste is amazing, it really bursts in your mouth, the juice is often much better. They'll always be seasonal, as well, so you can only ever get them at the time that they're available.James Rich: I put a note in the book just encouraging people to go out and find local growers and sources for different types of varieties, because you can really have a play with those within your food. Like I said, they have multiple different flavor notes in the different varieties, so you can have a play with what works better for the dish that you're creating.Suzy Chase: What's your favorite apple in the US?James Rich: What I see a lot of there is the Macintosh, which is quite a standard variety that's available in supermarkets. It's a good generic apple and, I think, will work really well in salads as well as baking them for a desert would be delicious as well.Suzy Chase: What's your favorite in the UK?James Rich: My favorite in the UK is the Cox's Orange Pippin, which you obviously have in the US as well, so maybe I should have said that.Suzy Chase: What's it called?James Rich: It's called a Cox's Orange Pippin, and it is a very, very old variety. It's quite small, red-green color, quite sharp, but it's actually a parent apple to many of the more popular apples on the market now. If you go up the family tree of the apples, you'll often find the Cox's Orange Pippin there. It's a great apple for dicing up and throwing in a salad, very hardy, but packed with flavor.Suzy Chase: You were talking about the weird and wonderful, and I read about the Knobby Russet, the ugliest apple in the world. That made me laugh.James Rich: Yeah. Awful. That's an awful description of it because I think it's one of the most wonderful apples in the world. You don't tend to see them very often, even over here, because they have quite a hard, textured, brown skin on, and people get turned off by that. They like to see what we've been shown as being the more-preferred varieties, those shiny red- or green-skinned apples that are obviously, clearly very crispy and juicy, whereas these are rough to touch, they're a little bit brown, and they don't last as long as the other varieties do. But they are absolutely delicious, they've got a beautiful, sharp, almost creamy juice to them, and they're great in a whole variety of cooking. Actually, I love juicing them in a smoothie or something because the flavor is so distinctive.Suzy Chase: So, I love using apple cider vinegar, and I've never thought of making it at home. You have a recipe in the cookbook. Can you describe it?James Rich: Now, this is an unfiltered cider vinegar, so you will get the mother, the sediment that will collect at the bottom. So it's not as clean and crisp as the ones that you'll find in the supermarket, but it's very easy to make. What I tend to do is keep the cores and the skins of apples. So, if you're cooking, when I've cored and skinned the apples that I'm cooking with, I'll throw the cores and skins into a little bag and pop it in the freezer until I have enough to make a big batch.James Rich: Then, you add filtered water to the skins and the cores, and a little bit of sugar. What that helps do is helps ferment it. Just leave it in a dark, dry place for about... keep on checking it, but it can take anything from a couple of weeks to three-four weeks for it to ferment. It just sits there, really, and will gradually turn to vinegar. Then, once it's done, around three-four weeks, take it out, strain the apple pieces out of the liquid. Some of the sediment will still come through, so unless you have a proper filtration system it's never going to completely remove the sediment. It's fine, it's not going to hurt you. Then you have your own apple cider vinegar. Very easy, it takes a minute.Suzy Chase: As you wrote, "A book about apples wouldn't be complete without the king of apple deserts, the apple pie." Talk to me about your hunt for the perfect American apple pie.James Rich: I'm very nervous about this.Suzy Chase: Hit it!James Rich: When I was talking to my publisher about the recipes that we were looking to include, I thought, "Oh, I can't include an apple pie because everybody knows how to make that or they have their preferred recipe that's been handed down through the years," but we decided that we should make an attempt to celebrate the American apple pie. I'm very fortunate and have some friends in the US who I talked to about their recipes for apple pies, and their mothers' recipes and grandmothers'. To be honest, you're very protective of your recipes! You didn't want to give away the secrets very much, but I could glean some insight into what people like about it and what people don't like about it. I think the crust is something that you are very, very keen on.James Rich: I also did some research into... I was like, "Right. What's epitomizes America and American apple pie?" I was like, "Well, the kitchen at the White House. Let's see what they use." There was an interview done many years ago, I think it was Obama who was in the White House, so maybe not that long ago... There was an interview by the head chef at the White House who talked about the apple pie that he serves there that, apparently, Obama was very keen on. It talks about using the lard and everything in the pastry, and using a nut so it's like a nut crust in the pastry. So I thought, "Oh, brilliant. I'll try that."James Rich: I tested a recipe with some different varieties of apple. You've got Bramley apples, cooking apples, as well as things like Granny Smith in there, which help give that sauce-and-apple-pieces texture to the sauce. There's a little bit of spice in there too. The key thing, I think, is the crust. We make a hazelnut crust on my pie, so I just make a very basic short crust pastry with some hazelnuts in, as well, and some extra sugar, and bake that. The crust becomes almost like a kind of biscuit, so it's very tasty. I'm hoping that it's a kind of ode to the good old American pie and that people like it, but we'll see.Suzy Chase: Yesterday I made your recipes for the all-American apple pie and the apple and rosemary cake. Describe your final version... Well, you kind of already did this, but give us little bit of overview of the American apple pie.James Rich: The American apple pie, it has a filling that's made up of a variety of different apples. The nice thing about it is that you can, like I was saying earlier, go out and find apples that are potentially new to you, try them out, and decide what your preferred combination is. In there I've got cooking apples, which I think are essential for an apple pie because they break down and they give that lovely, gooey sauce, which I love. I've also got Granny Smith in there, a hard eating apple, which will cook but it keeps its shape. It won't lose it, so you can get that nice... when you cut into a pie and you get that segment, you can see the layers of the apples. Then, I sometimes also put another, red eating apple in there. I sometimes have three varieties, which is quite nice. So, a mixture of varieties in there with some sugar, some cinnamon; got a nice, spicy mix.James Rich: Then, the crust is the hazelnut crust. A short crust pastry mixed with some ground hazelnuts, a little bit of extra sugar in there, which creates a kind of biscuit-like texture to the crust, which I think is lovely. Pastry can be a little bit more tricky to work with because of the hazelnuts, but if you master it then it's definitely worth it. I promise.James Rich: Then, the rosemary cake is an apple loaf with rosemary in. It was a recipe I actually make accidentally. I was making some standard apple loaves and testing the different varieties, and then randomly put in a sprig of rosemary on top of one of the loaves I was testing. It came out and it tasted really delicious, so I upped the rosemary in it, I think I added some almonds on top, and we have our final rosemary cakes.James Rich: Those are actually two of my favorite. The rosemary cake, I think, is actually really good. I like it a lot.Suzy Chase: Oh my gosh, it smells as good as it tastes.James Rich: Yeah, it does, doesn't it. It fills the kitchen.Suzy Chase: Oh my gosh. There's quite a bit of lemon in it, so the rosemary-lemon-apple combination is delicious.James Rich: I wish that was me planning it and being very strategical in the way that I was writing, but it was a total fluke!Suzy Chase: Well, we're thankful for that fluke.Suzy Chase: Now to my new segment this season called My Favorite Cookbook. Aside from this cookbook, what is your all-time favorite cookbook and why?James Rich: Oh, that is such a hard question! Okay, I'm going to give you two or three, and then I'll pick my favorite.Suzy Chase: Okay. Drum roll. Here we go.James Rich: Okay. I grew up in the UK, and over here, I don't know if you're aware of someone called Delia Smith.Suzy Chase: No.James Rich: She is absolutely huge in this country. She basically helped a whole generation of home cooks learn how to cook. She's similar to Mary Berry on Bake Off, that ilk of general icon. Anyway, she released a book called Delia's Cookery Course, I think it's called, which she broke down into three or four volumes, when I was about 10 or 11. I remember getting those books as gifts for my birthday and Christmas and absolutely devouring them, loving the way that she wrote and the pictures. She really stripped it back, so she was teaching you how to boil everything, from an egg to make a stew, as the books progressed. I really love those, and I've got very happy memories of reading those books.James Rich: My two favorite food writers, one is Nigel Slater, who I absolutely love. It's not a cookery book, but I've recently re-read his book Toast, which is about his life growing up with food. Which I love, I love that. Then, his later cookbooks as well, which I think are amazing.James Rich: Then, my ultimate favorite is Diana Henry. I'm a huge Diana Henry fan. I think that the way that she writes... I don't think there's anybody else like her. Her book A Bird in the Hand, the chicken book as it's known in my house, I think that's my all-time favorite cookbook. I just love that book. I think it's so interesting that she's taken one topic, one ingredient, and she's created about 80 recipes, and they're just a whole ton of ways that you can cook with chicken. The way that she describes her early memories of roasted chicken and things like that is just amazing. So, I think that is my favorite all-time cookbook.Suzy Chase: One last question before we wrap up. I wanted to ask you about apple cider donuts. So, in the fall, our farmers markets sell these delicious apple cider donuts, and I didn't see it mentioned in your cookbook. Do you have these in England?James Rich: No, that's not something we have. I think, correct me if I'm wrong, it's the glaze, isn't it, that's apple cider.Suzy Chase: No, I think they work the apple cider into the mix too.James Rich: Oh, right. Okay. No, that's not something we actually have here, hence why I didn't include them. I have got some apple fritters, which are very similar. It's kind of like a donut dough.Suzy Chase: Yes, we know what those are.James Rich: Yeah. That's the closest I've got to it, but I'd love to try one of those. I haven't tasted one. I'm going to be back later on in the year, so I might go and find them in the farmers market.Suzy Chase: Yes! Definitely.Suzy Chase: So, where can we find you on the web and social media?James Rich: You can find me on Instagram, james_rich, and also my website, which is brand-new and I'm trying very hard to keep it updated, which is jamesrichcooks.com.Suzy Chase: Thanks, James, for coming on Cookery by the Book podcast.James Rich: Thank you so much for having me. It's been really fun. Thank you.Outro: Subscribe over on cookerybythebook.com, and thanks for listening to the number one cookbook podcast, Cookery by the Book.

Singer songwriter Kitty MacFarlane has a strong connection to a Sense of Place in her work, especially the Somerset Levels and the birds which flock there providing inspiration. A previous semi-finalist in the BBC Young Folk awards, Kitty begins her first week selecting from the Tweet of the Day back catalogue. You can hear all five episodes chosen this week, and further thoughts from Kitty on how the landscape influences her work via the the Tweet of the Week omnibus edition, which is available to download via the Radio 4 Website. Producer Andrew Dawes.

The famous evening murmuration, fantastic formations of huge flocks of starlings coming in to roost, brings hundreds of visitors to the levels each winter. But far fewer people see the spectacle of the dawn eruption when the starlings take off en masse to start their day foraging in the surrounding fields. Brett Westwood relives programmes from The Living World archives. This episode from 2014 sees Trai Anfield immerses herself in a starling spectacle many people have never seen. Each year the reedbeds of the Somerset Levels become the winter home for hundreds of thousands of starlings. Making their way from across the UK and Europe these birds have found a safe haven to roost with plenty of food nearby. Simon Clarke of Natural England talks Trai Anfield through the spectacle on Shapwick Heath. When it is all over and three quarters of a million starlings have departed for the day, thoughts turn to the reedbed and the effect the presence of so many birds has on their winter roost site and the animals they share it with.

The famous evening murmuration, fantastic formations of huge flocks of starlings coming in to roost, brings hundreds of visitors to the levels each winter. But far fewer people see the spectacle of the dawn eruption when the starlings take off en masse to start their day foraging in the surrounding fields. Brett Westwood relives programmes from The Living World archives. This episode from 2014 sees Trai Anfield immerses herself in a starling spectacle many people have never seen. Each year the reedbeds of the Somerset Levels become the winter home for hundreds of thousands of starlings. Making their way from across the UK and Europe these birds have found a safe haven to roost with plenty of food nearby. Simon Clarke of Natural England talks Trai Anfield through the spectacle on Shapwick Heath. When it is all over and three quarters of a million starlings have departed for the day, thoughts turn to the reedbed and the effect the presence of so many birds has on their winter roost site and the animals they share it with.

We have all dreamed of saving the planet, but we don't do anything about it. Ruth Pavey had a vision to plant trees, so she bought a dilapidated wood on the Somerset Levels. Her adventures include rough living, using a chainsaw and learning about orchards. she had now created an idyllic space for nature and humans. A Wood of One's Own by Ruth Pavey is published by Duckworth. #Nature #gardening #somerset Never miss a podcast: http://radiogorgeous.com/sign-up-newsletter/

With Francine Stock. Warren Beatty tells Francine Stock about the making of Bonnie And Clyde in the year of its 50th anniversary, and why he thought Bob Dylan would make a better Clyde Barrow than him. Hope Dickson Leach explains why she set her family drama The Levelling on the Somerset Levels just after the floods of 2014. How does Sofia Coppola's The Beguiled compare with the 1971 original starring Clint Eastwood ? Larushka Ivan-Zadeh delivers her verdict. Documentary-maker Matthew Heineman discusses City Of Ghosts about a group of journalists who are fighting a war of information against Islamic State in Raqqa, at a personal cost to their families.

It was January of 878. The dead of British winter – and Alfred was running. Through fields, past hamlets, keeping out of sight whenever he could. He ran. He headed for the Somerset Levels. This was a coastal plane during the 9th century – a dense network of impassable marshes. It wasn't ideal, but at […] The post 225 – Alfred in Somerset first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Helen Mark uncovers why peat makes the Somerset Levels a special place to visit, not just for the wildlife. Since earliest times humans have exploited this natural resource. Its wetlands once supported Lake Villagers whose secrets lay buried deep beneath the feet of the modern archaeologist keen to uncover what these wetlands preserves for millennia. A mere 50 years ago the extraction of peat was a major industry employing hundreds of people. It was cut for fuel, for horticulture, even animal feed. That industry has all but faded into history and Helen visits one of the last remaining extraction companies. Once this landscape was scarred by man, littered by trackways and industry, yet today what remains of this scarred is being managed to return it to another use. Helen discovers the memories of those who walked this peatland landscape are enjoyed by a new visitor, the nature watcher. Producer Andrew Dawes.

As the weather starts to chill, Chris Sperring travels to the Somerset Levels to seek out a last glimpse of the great crested newt as it prepares for hibernation. It's at this time of year we discover why ponds that dry up are important for their breeding and how far they are prepared to travel to find a good place to haul up for winter.

The Levels and Moors are an enormous floodplain in the heart of Somerset and for tens of thousands of years were an ever changing mix of different wetland habitats. In this podcast, archaeologist and historian, Dr Richard Brunning, explores how the present day landscape was largely created and 'tamed' in the early medieval period after the Roman conquest.

Paul, Giz & Rhod review Broken Land by The Adventures, jam out the track acoustic stylee, & talk gibberish. Paul learns the true value of alcohol, Giz becomes fixated with the Somerset Levels, & Rhod gets reacquainted with Kylie.

Each year the reedbeds of the Somerset Levels become the winter home for hundreds of thousands of starlings. Making their way from across the UK and Europe these birds have found a safe haven to roost with plenty of food nearby. The famous evening murmuration, fantastic formations of huge flocks of starlings coming in to roost, brings hundreds of visitors to the levels each winter. But far fewer people see the spectacle of the dawn eruption when the starlings take off en masse to start their day foraging in the surrounding fields. Simon Clarke of Natural England talks Trai Anfield through the spectacle on Shapwick Heath. When it is all over and three quarters of a million starlings have departed for the day, thoughts turn to the reedbed and the effect the presence of so many birds has on their winter roost site and the animals they share it with.

The people of Muchelney, Alan Dein discovers, have an intimate relationship with water. They live on the flood plain of the River Parrett in the Somerset Levels. The name of their ancient village, from the Norse and Old English, means 'growing great island', and, despite the draining of the marshes, it is not unusual for Muchelney to become an island again, and the four roads leading to the village inundated. Alan Dein visits in a time of flood and finds the villagers take it in their stride: farmer Graham Walker fires up his old tractor, puts a sofa on his trailer, and runs a bus service, ferrying people to the far shore so they can get to work and to school. He picks up food and mail. There's no traffic. People stop and talk. They look out for one another. It's not just the children who love it. Widgeon, teal, geese, swans and gulls appear in flocks of thousands to the fields that become a lake of tranquil beauty. No one worries, the houses are old, built cannily on land always a few inches above the flood levels - until now. In November the flood waters rose higher than anyone could remember. The potter John Leach describes how, for the first time, the water coming into his house and kiln. Michael Brown, eel smoker, who has lived by the river for decades, recounts his battle to keep the stealthy enemy out. Thatcher Nigel Bunce is thankful that his son's crying, as the waters approached the child's cot, woke him in time. Shirley Gove's beautiful barn conversion is wrecked. Whenever it rains now, she tells Alan, she will be scared. Something is changing, and Alan Dein finds that the people of Muchelney, after centuries of living on their occasional island, much preoccupied, and some considering their options. Producer: Julian May.

This month the team challenge you to the Countryfile Magazine Pub Quiz, while editor Fergus goes in search of one of Britain’s most breathtaking winter spectacles: hundreds of thousands of starlings swirling above the Somerset Levels. To find out more, visit www.countryfile.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.