Podcasts about Springwatch

Wild Talk: In this bonus episode Ajay chats with wildlife legend Chris Packham about their shared love of birds.  After 3 weeks of filming Springwatch at the Longshaw Estate, Ajay wants to hear more about the stunning cast of characters on this year's show.     In particular, the black and white birds that choose to spend their summer here: the migrant pied flycatchers.     Ajay meets Chris for a walk on the Springwatch set where they share their passion for birds, birding and what we must do to help wildlife.     Production:   Host: Ajay Tegala  Producer: Marnie Woodmeade   Sound Designer: Jesus Gomez   Special thanks to Chris Packham for recording with us and the Springwatch TV team for being so welcoming!      Discover more:   Find out more about Chris Packham's work and what's coming up: https://www.chrispackham.co.uk/   Learn more about pied flycatchers from the British Trust for Ornithology website: https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/pied-flycatcher Follow Wild Tales on your favourite podcast app or on Instagram @wildtalesnt If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a wild tale you're like to hear, you can contact us at podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk  

Disney's muscle, the majesty of Springwatch, incidental household dishes, and paying goodwill forward. Join the Iron Filings Society: https://www.patreon.com/topflighttimemachine and on Apple Podcast Subscriptions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Baz Richards and Michelle Ford's special guest is Michaela Strachan from Springwatch to Dancing on Ice, we'll be chatting all about her amazing career, love of wildlife, and life on (and off!) the ice!

Moose and Dews catch up this week with chat about new music releases and upcoming events in the heavy metal scene. Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine - who is also Music Director at this summer's Back To The Beginning/Black Sabbath show - has been interviewed recently, and has hinted at surprise superstar guests for the event. The guys speculate on potential appearances by stars such as Rob Halford, Elton John, Jack Black and other notable figures, with one major conclusion; If they've ever had beef with Sharon Osbourne, they won't be there!  The conversation then shifts to Linkin Park's recent comeback, exploring the challenges they face in ticket sales and the dynamics of the current live music scene.  Check out our chosen charity Metal For Good and some of the great charity work they do here https://metalforgood.org/ https://primordialradio.com https://www.instagram.com/primordialradio https://tiktok.com/@primordialradio https://www.facebook.com/primordialradio https://www.x.com/primordialradio​  

David Maxwell finds out about storm proof trees at the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland, Kilmacurragh where head gardener, Seamus O'Brien also has tips on creating a wind break with holly, hazel and mix of other native species. At Ardgillan Castle on the coast of north county Dublin, Dominica McKevitt reveals a garden for all seasons where reliable shrubs like Euonymus fortunei ‘Emerald ‘n' Gold' shine out even on dull days. In studio, Colin Agnew explains what to do to get your Amaryllis bulb flowering again next year and with the increasing move away from peat products RSPB ambassador and Springwatch's Lucy Lapwing joins David in studio to talk about the importance of peatland habitats. Contact the programme - gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk

In today's episode, host Samuel Goldsmith is in discussion with writer and broadcaster Kate Humble. Kate shares delightful anecdotes about her cooking adventures, from the nostalgic crumpets toasted on an open fire to her transformative lentil soup. She discusses her love for manual labour, the joy of cooking with fresh ingredients and gives insights on farm life, vibrant community support and why Christmas dinner might just be overrated. The conversation explores Kate's new cookbook, "Home Made," which celebrates true artisanship and the art of simple, good food. Listen as Kate reveals her favourite dishes, offers insightful cooking tips, and shares her unique traditions, like enjoying soup on the beach for Christmas. This episode highlights the beauty of simplicity and the importance of good ingredients. Kate Humble is a writer, smallholder, campaigner and one of the UK's best-known TV presenters. She started her television career as a researcher, later presenting programmes such as ‘Animal Park', ‘Springwatch' and ‘Autumnwatch', ‘Lambing Live', ‘Living with Nomads', ‘Extreme Wives', ‘Back to the Land', ‘A Country Life for Half the Price' and ‘Escape to the Farm'. Her book Thinking on My Feet was shortlisted for both the Wainwright Prize and the Edward Stanford Travel Memoir of the Year. Subscribers to the Good Food app via App Store get access to the show ad-free, and with regular bonus content such as interviews recorded at the good food show. To get started, download the Good Food app today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Broadcaster Kate Humble explains the joy of living in the moment, the glory of nature and the importance of shunning the algorithms. Kate is a broadcaster specialising in wildlife and science programmes, including  Countryfile, Springwatch and Blue Planet Live. A champion of the environment, nature conservation and rural affairs, she is president of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and founded Humble by Nature, a rural skills centre on her farm in Wales. As well as starring in over 70 television programmes, Kate is the author of seven books, including A Year of Living Simply, Home Cooked, Where the Hearth Is and Thinking on My Feet, which was shortlisted for the 2019 Wainwright Prize. Kate's latest book, Home Made: Recipes from the Countryside is a collection of over 60 simple, sustainable recipes from her very own kitchen table, alongside inspiring stories from 20 individuals who play a role in bringing food to us. Kate's book choices are: ** I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith ** Travels in West Africa by Mary Kingsley ** Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton ** Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ** Station 11 by Emily St John Mandel Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season seven of the Women's Prize for Fiction Podcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women's Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, and they continue to champion the very best books written by women. Don't want to miss the rest of season seven? Listen and subscribe now! This podcast is sponsored by Baileys and produced by Bird Lime Media.

Waterlands is back for a third series. Hosted by Megan McCubbin, zoologist, conservationist and Springwatch presenter, join her as she takes you on a journey exploring the UK's vibrant rivers. The series will unveil the vital interplay between our waterways and the life they support. Beyond literally travelling down rivers across the UK, this series also navigates the rich history and crucial roles that rivers play in maintaining balance in the environment and shaping human culture. Megan and her guests will cover all aspects of rivers, from explaining how they are formed to highlighting their critical role in carbon capture and supporting unique species of moss, plants, birds, and insects.

Have you ever wondered how the BBC Springwatch and Winterwatch shows are made? Have you ever wondered how and why bird ringing happens? Well you're in luck! In today's episode, Mike, Andy & Adam have the absolute honour to sit down with BBC Wildlife Researcher, podcast host, author and all round bird legend, Jack Baddams. We chat about Jack's journey into wildlife and television, obsessions, bird ringing, dream wild locations, click bate snake sightings and much much more! This is an episode not to be missed...

We're back! And with a cracking guest. This week Springwatch's Jack Baddams takes Matt on a point survey through Sherwood Forest. Jack's passion for all things birdy is infectious. We had a fantastic walk with him and we can't wait for you to share it with us. Follow Jack on Insta, buy his book 'Springwatch: Birdtopia' and make sure to download his podcast 'How Many Geese'.Email your birding questions to info@rocknrollbirder.com or DM us on socials @RocknRollBirder. Thank you to this week's sponsors Greenfeathers and Eco Bird Food. Don't forget to use our code RNRB20 for 20% off bird food from Eco Bird Food. And RNRB15 for 15% off Green Feathers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ecologist, writer, and wildlife presenter Mike Dilger is a familiar face from his appearances on popular shows such as BBC's The One Show and Springwatch. With a lifelong passion for plants, insects, and birds, Mike has dedicated his career to studying and understanding wildlife. His extensive fieldwork has taken him around the world. As a respected wildlife communicator, Mike shares his knowledge through wildlife filmmaking, writing, and public speaking engagements. In addition, his expertise and genuine love for nature make him a perfect guide for specialist wildlife vacations where he enables others to learn about the natural world. Mike reminisces with Suzy about the birds they have seen together, what excites him about the natural world, and how he came to write his latest book “1000 Shades of Green”. He also shares how he would spend a fantasy birding day. Recorded at Global Birdfair 2023 Links: Mike Dilger's website Global BirdFair information and tickets: Global BirdFair website   Your bird stories Tell me about your bird stories - contact me on the casualbirder.com website The Casual Birder Bird Club The Casual Birder Bird Club is an online bird club that meets every month.  Sometimes we feature guest speakers, but most months a group of us get together to talk about the birds we've seen, share birding moments that have brought us joy, and ask questions or get help from the community. If meeting up with a group of friendly people from around the world to talk about the birds you've seen sounds like something you'd like to do, you'd be very welcome to join us. Sign up here: The Casual Birder Bird Club Read more about the club here: Club FAQs Support the show If you would like to help support the show's production, you can add to the show's tip jar by buying me a virtual coffee here  Thanks to Randy Braun for designing the artwork for the show and to The Drones for the theme music Short Sleeved Shirt. Check out their website at www.dronesmusic.net  

Scott's got a theory on how to make Bridgerton even more naughty... listener Rhiannon gives it a go! Beaver fun on Springwatch and we learn about the Taylor Swift millipede.It's a Coronation Street special Birthday Game and there's a dressing up conundrum for 8 year-old Griff and his mum.Plus, the Music Police are on the case of Emma in Kent's annoying earworm... DCI Mills calls in the help of Radio 2's Garage division, with Detective DJ Spoony.Hit subscribe to get Scott's latest podcast every Friday, or listen live weekdays 2-4pm on BBC Radio 2.

Greggy Jay gets obsessed with made up abbreviations with Rizzy, Mezza and Cee! Plus, Jamie Laing plays What's My Age Again and listener Sarah is set a Springwatch challenge.

Chris Packham from Springwatch, The Really Wild Show, and loads more joins Al to talk about how we get kids interested in the great outdoors, his stepdaughter's rebellion, and his new book! Check out Dadsnet on YouTube for reviews, jokes and loads more: https://shorturl.at/cinZ1 Or head to Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDadsnet Join the Dadsnet community to have your say: https://www.facebook.com/groups/298654160327022 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

About the HostsDavid Tipling is one of the World's most widely published wildlife photographers renowned for his artistic images of birds. His many accolades include a coveted European Nature Photographer of the Year Award (2002) for work on Emperor Penguins, and in North America, Nature's Best Indigenous Peoples Award (2009) for his pictures of Mongolian eagle hunters.He is the author or commissioned photographer for many books including the RSPB Guide to Digital Wildlife Photography (Bloomsbury) and Penguins –Close Encounters (New Holland). In 2013 after 6 years work visiting 39 countries on all seven continents the critically acclaimed Birds & People (Random House) was published. Recently published books include Seabirds of the World, A Parliament of Owls and an instant best seller with Princeton University Press, Britain's Birds. His book A Bird Photographer's Diary charts his 30 year career in pictures.In 2018 David's combined book sales topped 300,000 copies Worldwide. David writes regularly for various magazines including Amateur Photographer. TV and film work have seen appearances in front of the camera on Springwatch and The One Show, while David has worked behind the cameramaking short films and with author Jonathan Franzen on the documentary Emptying the Skies.David's pictures hang in various collections around the World and have been exhibited in New York's Times Square, the Nikon Gallery in Japan and recently the Mall Galleries in London. For 16 years David was a judge for the British Birds Bird Photographer of the Year and was a judge for Bird Photographer of the Year (BPOTY) for 6 years. He currently judges Wild Art Photographer of the Year (WPOTY).In January 2022 David was named an OM SYSTEM Ambassador the scheme honours the talents of photographers creating exceptional imagery with OM SYSTEM equipment.To find out more visit David's website - http://davidtipling.com/David's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/david.tipling/Rob Read has spent many years as a photography competition organiser; firstly as a founding director of, and primary organiser for Bird Photographer of the Year for the first five years of the competition, and more recently as founder, owner, and organiser of WildArt Photographer of the Year. Josh Galicki has been entering competitions for many years and has had significant success in many, including Bird Photographer of the Year. He is now part of the judging team for WildArt Photographer of the Year.Find out more about your host's and view their work on their Instagram profiles:Rob - https://www.instagram.com/robreadphotos/Josh - https://www.instagram.com/galicki_photography/The WildArt Photographer of the Year competition website can be found here - https://www.wildartpoty.com/

Chris Packham is a naturalist, nature photographer and TV Presenter best known for his 40 years of work in television on programmes such as CBBC's The Really Wild Show and the BBC's Springwatch. Chris spoke about his childhood, and the challenges of growing up with undiagnosed autism, the influence punk had, and has, on him, and experiences of religious diversity in the home. Find out more about Chris' work by visiting his website here: https://www.chrispackham.co.uk/ Read the full transcript here: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2024/02/21/chris-packham-on-love-grief-and-autism ***** The Sacred is a podcast produced by the think tank Theos. Be sure to connect with us below to stay up-to-date with all our content, research and events. CONNECT WITH THE SACRED Twitter: https://twitter.com/sacred_podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sacred_podcast/ CONNECT WITH ELIZABETH OLDFIELD Twitter: https://twitter.com/ESOldfield Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethsaraholdfield/ Substack: https://morefullyalive.substack.com/ CONNECT WITH THEOS Theos monthly newsletter: https://confirmsubscription.com/h/d/E9E17CAB71AC7464 Twitter: https://twitter.com/Theosthinktank Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theosthinktank LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theos---the-think-tank/ Website: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/ CHECK OUT OUR PODCASTS The Sacred: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sacred/id1326888108 Reading Our Times: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/reading-our-times/id1530952185

British naturalist, broadcaster and environmental campaigner Chris Packham has been hailed as David Attenborough's successor. He began his broadcasting career on The Really Wild Show in the 1980s, and more recently has presented Springwatch for the BBC. He's found fans and made enemies with his vocal stance on environmental and ecological causes including opposing fox hunting. Recently he launched a legal challenge against the UK government over its plan to water down carbon commitments.

Growing up around farms and wildlife, TV presenter Kate Humble has always had a fascination for nature. After leaving school, she travelled solo to Africa; working her way from Cape Town to Cairo. On her return to the UK she began working for TV production companies, as a runner, then researcher on ‘The Holiday Programme'. It was on her second day in the Holiday office when she was asked by the programme's editor if she had ever presented before. "No," she said "and nor do I want to." Kate has been presenting programmes for over 20 years ever since, as well as writing articles and books, many with a focus around travel. In fact, she has become a beloved mainstay of British television, having presented some of our most iconic shows, including Springwatch & Autumnwatch, Countryfile, Lambing Live, and many, many more. We spoke at The Chelsea Townhouse, a new opening by Iconic Luxury Hotels, the brand behind some of Britain's most legendary properties, like Chewton Glen and Cliveden. Tucked behind one of London's most fancy shopping districts, Sloane Street, we sat in one of its homely suites, overlooking it's lovely garden and towering treetops - an unusual find in the heart of London.Kate is what I would consider a true traveller. She is someone who sets off with pure wanderlust, with a map and hiking boots, and gets stuck in wherever she is heading. She tells us about an extraordinary five weeks spent with a tribe who live north of Timbuktu in the Sahara Desert trading salt; tracking clouded leopards in Borneo and hiking through Afghanistan. And closer to home about life in the Welsh Wye Valley, and her beloved escape in rural France. Destination Recap:Wye Valley, UKCorfuGuatemalaMexicoSouth AfricaCameroonTimbuktu, Mali Saharan Desert, MaliLimousin National Park, France BorneoTsingy de Bemaraha National Park, Madagascar Wakhan Corridor, Afghanistan Siberia, RussiaWalking across JapanGlyndŵr's Way, WalesPolandRomaniaAlbania Kate has a new book out, called Where the Hearth Is: Stories of Home, which interestingly is all about home, questioning the notion of home, is it a tangible place or a state of mind? And considers the views of others living uniquely, extraordinarily and happily. It's a fascinating and comforting read, which I thoroughly recommend - a great Christmas present. Thanks so much for listening today. If you'd like to hear more from the podcast don't forget to hit subscribe, or if you use Apple Podcasts to press follow so that a new episode lands in your podcast app each week. If you want to be the first find out who is joining me on next season come and follow me on Instagram I'm @hollyrubenstein, and you'll also find me on Twitter and TikTok as of a few weeks ago, also @hollyrubenstein - I'd love to hear from you. And if you can't want until then remember there's the first nine seasons to catch up on, that's over 100 episodes to keep you busy there. Don't forget that all the destinations mentioned by my guests are included in the episode show notes here on your podcast app, and listed on my website, thetraveldiariespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is the meaning of home? As the nights begin to draw in and we head into the autumn, 5x15 is delighted to welcome the wonderful authors Kate Humble and Helen Rebanks for a special conversation about the time we spend at home. Kate Humble has inspired many readers with her positive and purposeful approach to life, whether it's reconnecting with nature or changing our lifestyles. Now, in her new book Where the Hearth Is, she turns her attention to life indoors. In the move away from office buildings and traditional workplaces, how do we create spaces that feel happy and healthy, and make the most of our time spent with loved ones? In her debut book The Farmer's Wife, Helen Rebanks offers a gorgeous and unvarnished glimpse at the labour and glory of keeping a home and raising a family. Populated with chickens, sheepdogs, ponies and cattle, and joined by her husband James and their four children, Helen's story on the farm offers a chance to think about where our food comes from, and who puts it on the table. Together, Kate and Helen will reflect on the aspects of everyday life that are perhaps too easily taken for granted, in conversation with host, literary critic and journalist Alex Clark. Join us for a heartwarming and insightful evening in the company of these two fantastic speakers. Speakers Kate Humble is a writer, smallholder, campaigner and one of the UK's best-known TV presenters. She started her television career as a researcher, later presenting programmes such as Animal Park, Springwatch and Autumnwatch, Lambing Live, Living with Nomads, Extreme Wives, Back to the Land, A Country Life for Half the Price and Escape to the Farm. Her other books include Humble by Nature, Friend for Life, Thinking on My Feet, A Year of Living Simply and her first cookbook, Home Cooked. Thinking on My Feet was shortlisted for both the Wainwright Prize and the Edward Stanford Travel Memoir of the Year The Farmer's Wife is the debut book by Helen Rebanks. She and her family work as a tight-knit team that have made their farm globally important with their farming innovations. They advise internationally and host events regularly at the farm to share their expertise and encourage others to farm sustainably. Our Host Alex Clark is a critic, journalist and broadcaster. A co-host of Graham Norton's Book Club, she is also a regular on Radio 4 and writes on a wide range of subjects for the Guardian, the Observer, the Irish Times and the Times Literary Supplement. She is a patron of the Cambridge Literary Festival, and has judged many literary awards, including the Booker prize. She is an experienced chair of live events, and lives in Kilkenny. Learn more about 5x15 events: 5x15stories.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/5x15stories Facebook: www.facebook.com/5x15stories Instagram: www.instagram.com/5x15stories

Jane and Fi have snacked their way through the day and are ready to talk about matching chocolate to your mood, swanning about in a slip, and Fi's past life as a vicar...They're joined by Springwatch presenter Kate Humble to talk about her new book 'Where the Hearth Is'.And we've got a podcast exclusive interview with The Times' Lucy Bannerman about her recently taxidermied tortoise.If you want to contact the show to ask a question and get involved in the conversation then please email us: janeandfi@times.radioFollow us on Instagram! @janeandfiAssistant Producer: Kate Lee Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Springwatch presenter and zoologist Megan McCubbin tells us about her new book 'An Atlas of Endangered Species'. We hear about the work of pioneering conservationists, her own wildlife stories, and those of endangered species in their battle to come back from the brink.

Join us as presenter, author and farmer Kate Humble guides us through magical ancient woodland near her remote Wales home in the Wye Valley. With infectious enthusiasm and occasional impressions, she tells us about the plants and animals along our route as well as the story of her accidental career, becoming host of nation's favourite Springwatch having never wanted to be a TV presenter! Kate also talks worldwide travels, access to nature and planting trees with the Woodland Trust on her smallholding. Don't forget to rate us and subscribe! Learn more about the Woodland Trust at woodlandtrust.org.uk Transcript You are listening to Woodland Walks, a podcast for the Woodland Trust presented by Adam Shaw. We protect and plant trees for people, for wildlife.  Adam: Well, in early spring I went on a woodland walk in Wales with presenter, author and farmer Kate Humble, who was taking me around what promised to be some amazing woodland with her dogs. But as is increasingly common in these podcasts we of course had to begin with me getting absolutely and entirely lost.   This is an absolute disaster. Although I am bad at directions, this is not my fault *laughs* So Kate sent me a pin, she said look this is going to be hard to find my place, she sent me a map pin. I followed the map pin. Look I'm here I don't know if you can hear this you probably can't hear this. This is the gate that's locked, which is across some woodland path. So I can't get there. And of course there is no phone signal, so I'm going to have to drive all the way back to some town to find a phone signal. And I'm already late.   OK. I have managed to find a village where there is a phone signal. I've managed to call Kate and Kate *laughs* Kate has clearly got the measure of me and told me to give up and she is now going to get in her car and find me in this village and I will follow her back. In the meantime, we have passed Google map pins back and forwards, which apparently tell her that I'm sitting outside her house. But I really am nowhere near her house, so I seem to have broken Google which well, that's a first. Anyway I've got a banana here, so if she's a long time, I have dinner and I'll just wait. This will never happen. This will actually never happen.   Well we've found Kate. We've found a whirly country drive lane. Feels a bit like rally driving. It's like, I mean, I don't understand why my map wouldn't find it, but this is certainly a bit of rally driving we're doing here getting to her house. My goodness. We found her house.   OK. Well, we're here. Which I never thought I I really thought it was really lovely. The idea was nice, and next time I'm in Wales, I'll give you a call so really, it's it's better than I thought better than I thought. Anyway, so you're leading me off with your two dogs.  Kate: I am. I am. I'm leading you off into one of the most beautiful I think I mean, obviously I'm a little bit biased but it is one of the most important areas of ancient woodland in Britain. This is the Wye Valley. We're the lower Wye valley, so we are the the the the bit really where the River Wye is in its sort of last bit of its journey. It's risen in mid Wales, about 136 miles from here. I know that cause I've walked the whole route.  Adam: Really, we're not doing that today, are we?  Kate: No we're not no I promise. I promise Adam. So yes and we are basically about 5 or 6 miles from where it flows into the River Severn and then out into the Bristol Channel and the woods around here are a lovely mix of broadleaf, so we're walking through broadleaf woodland now and this is literally this is what I walk out of my front door. Aren't I lucky?  Adam: You are lucky.  Kate: I'm so lucky. So we've got a lovely mix of broadleaf woodland now and we're just coming into that time of year. Which is the time of year that makes everybody's spirits lift, because we are coming into spring, and if we actually just stop just for a second. You can hear that's a blue tit calling *imitates sound* and I mean, this isn't the perfect day for birdsong, but the birdsong was really picking up. And that's the lovely thing about living alongside woodland. So even in the winter, even when you don't think there are any birds at all, what you hear in these words is *imitates sound* that's a very, very bad impression of a great spotted woodpecker.  Adam: OK, I'm glad you. I I was guessing it might be a woodpecker, but I didn't want to.  Kate: So they start to drum around about sort of late January, they'll be drumming. And and then as the and we also have tawny owls, lots of tawny owls in these woods. We've got an owl box and we used to have an owl that we called Percy who we have no idea whether it was a boy or girl.  Adam: I was gonna say it was, a reason it was called Percy?  Kate: Don't know, just it just it looked like a Percy.  Adam: Just fancied the name. Fair enough. Yeah. Yeah.  Kate: But we have lovely tawny owls here. So, you know, at dusk and and when when I take the dogs out sort of last thing at night round about 10 o'clock 11:00 o'clock at night we walk down this track and and you stand here and you hear this wonderful and everyone thinks you know, tawny owls go toowit toowoo. They're the classic toowit toowoo owls, but actually you've got 2 owls calling, so you've got the male going *imitates noise* and then you have the females going *imitates noise*. And they're calling each other, establishing territories or going ooh I like the sound of you, there's a bit of flirting going on. So these are, as I say really it's it's just the biggest treat to live with this on my doorstep.  Adam: Right, so fantastic. You you clearly I mean, you've launched into a sort of fantastic description and detailed knowledge, but you are not a country girl by birth are you?  Kate: No, I am a country girl by birth.   Adam: Oh you are? I though you were born in London?  Kate: I am. No. Well, I was you're right, I was I was  Adam: Sorry, do I know where you were born and you don't.  Kate: Well, being born and where you were brought up is different.   Adam: Yeah, OK. OK, fair enough.  Kate: So I was, you're absolutely right, I was born in London. I was born in well, I was born in Wimbledon in fact. This is my neighbour by the way.  Adam: Right. Right. Wow. I didn't, we're in the middle of nowhere I didn't know there'd be a neighbour.  Kate: I know, but I know. But there are other people mad enough to live in these woods, and he's particularly mad.  Adam: OK. Does he mind you saying that?   Kate: Not at all. Not at all. No. He's absolutely used to it. Hello. Come and say hello to the Woodland Trust podcast.   Adam: No. OK, I'm just checking. OK. Hi, I'm Adam. Hi. Nice to see you. Yeah, I hear you're her neighbour.  Kate: This is this is this is writer Mark Mccrum and his dog Jabba. Yes. So I'm just dragging Adam down to take a look at the ponds and talking about the ponds down there.  Mark: Oh lovely. Which ponds?  Kate: The ponds down there.  Mark: Oh those ones? Yeah, very good. I might see you on the reverse cause I'm gonna go all the way round.  Kate: Oh you're gonna go round. OK, fine. Lovely.  Mark: These are lovely woods cause you never see anybody here. *all laugh*  Adam: I'm sorry.  Kate: Apart from you   Adam: I was gonna say, and me, I've ruined it.  Kate: Yeah we're the only people who see each other aren't we.  Adam: So you were telling me you are you are born in Wimbledon, but you you grew up in the country then?   Kate: Yeah. So I was I was born in Wimbledon and yes. So after about, I think I was about six months old, my mother always says that she realised that London was clearly not the place for me and   Adam: From six months? Outward bound baby were you?  Kate: Yes! She said she said there basically wasn't enough space in London for me. So so yes, so I was brought up in Berkshire, right? And I was brought up next to a farm. So I was always a sort of vicariously farming kid. Even though my parents weren't farmers and and spent my childhood looking after various animals of various descriptions, and I think the wonderful thing about being the age I am, so everyone bemoans being old, but I think I just I I am so thankful that I was born in the sixties.  Adam: Why?  Kate: Because no one had invented health and safety, climbing trees, no one had climbing frames, you climbed trees. And I think the trees enjoyed it, and so did you. And if you hadn't fallen out of quite a lot of trees by the time you were 10 and had various, you know, scars or broken bits as proof of a proper childhood, it wasn't a proper childhood.   Adam: Right. OK.   Kate: So I had a lovely proper childhood of, you know, not being plonked in front of a screen of some description or another. We're going to cut off piste a little bit and head down here.  Adam: OK, I'm is this a precursor warning that I'm about to get bumps and scrapes and?  Kate: This is a precursor warning that you might yes, you might. It's quite a steep descent.  Adam: OK just as long as my, my face is my fortune though, as long as that's safeguarded throughout this, that'll be fine. OK. Well, that's good. Yeah. Lots of leaves around. Yeah.  Kate: Of course it will be a soft landing whatever you say. Lots of leaves. One of the nice things again about broadleaf woodland. And as you can see, I'm sure your leaf identification is brilliant, but we've got a lovely mix of oak here and beech, as well as the evergreen so the hollies and lovely, lovely mosses. But yes, what you're walking on is is a sort of glorious mulchy carpet, but we have a profusion of bluebells.  Adam: Already they've come up?  Kate: Well the bluebells, the the plants themselves have come up so the leaves are up and there are one or two I'm going to show you, is it, will it be your first bluebell of the year?  Adam: It, almost, almost we we can pretend it is for dramatic purposes. Let's let's go along.  Kate: OK, OK. They are, they're just, they're just starting to come here now and and you get that lovely moment. It'll be about probably about three weeks or a month's time, slightly depending on on what the weather does, where you get the, the unfurling of the beech trees. So that glorious kind of neon green which when the light goes through you get that sort of wonderful, almost disco light effect show.  Adam: And aren't they in Welsh, aren't they called cuckoos? The Welsh translation for bluebells is cuckoo clock. I think it's because it's like it's a harbinger of spring along with the cuckoo.  Kate: Oh, I didn't know that.  Adam: Oh my God, I found something you didn't know.  Kate: You know, you know, you'll know lots, I don't know, but  Adam: No, no, let's hope that's true that's that's I'll have to go check that. Do check that before you tell anybody.   Kate: Well, I'll just blame you.  Adam: But no, I do think in Welsh the translation for Bluebell is is cuckoo clock or something like that because it is this harbinger of spring and I think that's it's a really nice I I won't even try the Welsh but in Welsh it sounds very so I mean, I thought we were going to chat about your conversion to nature and everything, but actually that's a lot of nonsense. This is this has been a constant in your life?   Kate: Well, it's been, I mean, coming to Wales, so I did live in London, you know, after I left home.  Adam: Except, I mean, you didn't choose a a nature career, did you? I mean, you you're involved now we can talk about that. But first, what was your first career?  Kate: Well, I mean. Career always seems such a grand word and that you've planned it.  Adam: Yeah. OK, so your accidental career.  Kate: So my accidental career, well, I had this idea that that I that I wanted to work in television, although again I don't really know where that came from. We're going just down here. Part of me also wanted to be a a safari guide.  Adam: Good. I can see the appeal of that.  Kate: I went to I when I was 19 having never really been abroad at all, because again, our generation didn't really go abroad as a matter of course. So I went to Africa when I was 19 and.  Adam: Sorry we're not talking on a holiday?  Kate: No it was a well it was a it was probably a rebellion.   Adam: Right. You went as far away as your your parents as you could. I'm not going out for the evening I'm popping off to Africa?  Kate: Yes, yes. I'm popping off to Africa and I don't know when I'll be back. One of those.  Adam: Right. Yeah, good. Good exit line. So where, where, where in Africa were you and what were you doing there?  Kate: So I I started in South Africa. I ended up in Egypt.  Adam: Right, just bumming around doing sort of bar work or doing something more serious?  Kate: I did I did I was a waitress for a little bit, but I was very, very bad and was sacked. I I was a model for a little bit, also very bad, very bad at that too.   Adam: Why were you so bad at that?   Kate: Because because I really don't like having my photograph taken and I really like food.  Adam: Yes, OK well I would I would have guessed I could have advised you that wasn't the career for you.  Kate: So so the two things, yeah, didn't really weren't terribly compatible to that. But I then got a job as a cook and a driver on a safari, and I drove a truck aged 19, having never really been out of Berkshire, from Cape Town, through Botswana and into Zimbabwe. And and then I hitched back to Cape Town. So I had a a real adventure. But what I what it really did for me was, having had this very sort of unconsciously wild childhood, I don't mean you know lots of parties and taking drugs I mean, a natural wild childhood, I then went to a place where the natural world was was so extraordinary and so mindblowing, and on a scale, you know, everything was was was like technicolour. You know, the birds were amazing. The the you know the the the size of the animals, the proliferation of the wildlife, the size of the landscapes, the emptiness and I think it was that journey that turned my mind to really re-look and re-examine the natural world and think it's, you know, it's extraordinary, it's it's mind blowing in every way and so even though I then came back and thought I want to have this sort of career in telly what I really wanted to do in my career in telly was work for the natural history unit.  Adam: Right. And is that what you did?  Kate: No. Not initially anyway.  Adam: OK, but you have done, I mean you've done nature programmes, lots of nature programmes. What did you first start doing?  Kate: We're going down here. I have. So I first started sweeping streets in the East End.  Adam: In EastEnders?  Kate: No, in the East End, no. I was a runner so I basically got jobs wherever I could get jobs and I got a job on a commercial that happened to be shooting in the East End and they needed the streets swept and so that was one of my jobs. But had no plans to be on the telly that that really did happen by mistake.  Adam: I think you know my first job in telly. I don't know if you remember That's Life with Esther Rantzen. Do you remember they she always had rude, funny vegetables?   Kate: I do, yes  Adam: That was my job to find them, yeah so only only marginally above the street sweeping.   Kate: Oh my goodness!  Adam: So you got how did you get picked there? I mean, we gotta get back to the natural world. But you've had such such a fantastic life. So I mean, I think people will be fascinated to know you have not much of even a vague plan about what you're doing. You're fumbling about a bit.  Kate: None, yeah. Living in a squat. Eating crisps.  Adam: So yeah, right. So not many models will be will be living like that and eating crisps, I get that You're sweeping streets as your way into telly, all of a sudden you're on telly. How did that happen, was that more of a plan or did someone just turn around and go, hey, you, street sweeper, you'll do?  Kate: No, it wasn't. So I had I had graduated from street sweeper, so it took about probably four four or five years I have become by now a sort of senior researcher. And I got a job at the BBC. My first job at the BBC on a programme called Animal Hospital.  Adam: Right. Yes. And you were still a researcher there or presenter?  Kate: Yeah, as a researcher. And and I think the reason that I got the job was actually my childhood. Because I think it was the first series, in fact, I think the only series that they did of Animal Hospital in a rural practice. So we went to a practice that didn't just do small animals, pets type animals, but also bigger animals like farm animals and horses and I think the only reason I got the job was that I was the only person they interviewed who knew what to do with something bigger than a hamster.   Adam: Right ok great.  Kate: And I had my own wellies.  Adam: Oh good. Always important for a career in telly, your own wellies, see these are the secrets people wanna know. Good. So you've got your wellies?   Kate: Always really, really important. They are. So I got that job I got that researcher job. And at the end of it, the BBC do this appraisal thing. And they said we thought you were alright, you did OK, will you come back and do the next series and I said I'd absolutely love to. I'd really loved it, absolutely loved it. Can we just pause here a minute because this,  Adam: A sea of wild garlic?  Kate: No, these are bluebells.  Adam: These are bluebells? Oh, sorry. Look at the ignorance here.  Kate: These are bluebells. Well, those white flowers let me show you these because they're beautiful.  Adam: I thought like I I think that's what I thought was wild garlic shows you *unintelligible* OK, we've got a proper safari expert.  Kate: No. So look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, first bluebell starting to unfurl except my dog's just walked all over it. Come on you're not supposed to walk on there.  Adam: So this is, all of this is bluebells?  Kate: So all of this will be bluebells and in about 3 weeks time you get this absolutely, it's so blue it's like the colour actually detaches itself from the flowers and floats above it in this sort of glorious mist, it's beautiful. But this these flowers here I love. And these are these are one of the flowers along with celandines which are the kind of waxy yellow flowers that people will see in woodlands and even in their gardens at this time of year, these are wood anemones. And they are lovely, very delicate white flowers with these slightly sort of hand-like leaves and the lovely thing about these, they're not looking at their best at the moment because it's been quite a wet day. But when the sun's out, they open to the sun like these brilliant white stars. And sometimes there are areas around here where you'll see carpets of wood anemones and they're one of the first I've seen these as early as January, although not this year because we had lots of frosts.  Adam: It's funny you, you, you, you use the word magical I'm just looking at this tree with covered in moss and everything, there is something magical about these sorts of places, a sort of sense of, sense of, a Tolkien type moment isnt there?.  Kate: Absolutely. Absolutely. I've I I don't think it is a coincidence that lots of fairytales are set in woodlands because there is something otherworldly about them. We're going to head keep heading down just so that you have a really good climb on the way up.  Adam: Yeah, I was gonna say I'm fine going down, I'm assuming you're sending a car to pick me up? It's well a little, a little Uber will just I'm sure,   Kate: Nice try, Adam! Lots of Ubers around here. Look, look, look.   Adam: Oh look now that is OK that's a proper bluebell.  Kate: That is a, a, a bluebell that's a proper bluebell.  Adam: Yeah, that is my first proper bluebell of the year.  Kate: And you can see all the others are just starting to come.  Adam: And that's and it is lovely because clearly so few people come here that's the problem often with bluebells is when people trample all over them. And we've got just one clean path down here and it's completely undisturbed for as far as the eye can see. So yes, we OK, we we did a little pit stop for bluebells. We're back on and the what was the programme, animal?  Kate: Animal Animal Hospital.  Adam: Animal Hospital. So they wanted you back as a researcher. I'm interested in the jump from behind the screen to on screen.  Kate: So so they basically said lovely we'll see you in four months and I said oh well, I've got a landlord and rent to pay, I can't not work for four months. I'm going to have to get another job and it may mean that I'm not available. And they said ohh well, maybe we can find you something else within the BBC as a stopgap. And I had also at that point, so this is the mid 90s now, started writing. I was writing travel. And I'd spent at the the a end of a a, the second Africa trip that I did between 94 and 95, I'd spent the last two months of that in Madagascar.  Adam: Right.  Kate: Madagascar was a place that I was obsessed with because of its wildlife because it has unique flora and fauna. I came back and got an article commissioned to write about it, and it was the first,  Adam: Your first commission?  Kate: Yes, my first commission and my first article, and it was in a broad a broadsheet newspaper, and I was very excited and very proud about that. And so when I was asked by the series producer of the BBC Holiday programme, whether I would consider coming to work for them because I was a travel writer,  Adam: Right OK, yeah, you're now a travel writer because of your one article.  Kate: I am I am now a I am now a travel writer on the strength of one of one article.  Adam: Whoa oh Kate, I'm so glad you were the first person to sort of go over *Kate laughs* That was before me I just want that on record.   Kate: Yeah.   Adam: OK so I haven't gone over yet.   Kate: You haven't got over yet.   Adam: OK. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah.  Kate: Yes. So I got a job on the BBC Holiday programme. Anyway the next day I got called into the big boss's office. And I assumed that my short lived career at the BBC Holiday programme was about to be ended because I wasn't quite sure why, but perhaps because I hadn't been taking the producers guidelines as seriously as I might and that also I had smoked on a fire escape, which probably wasn't a good idea. And instead I was asked to do a screen test and I assumed that this was the sort of common test that the Holiday programme did and I tried to say I really don't want to be a presenter thank you, I love doing, I love making the programmes, I love the research, I love talking to people, I love putting things together. I'm quite, I like logistics. I'm quite, you know, I like all that stuff I don't want to be a presenter. And they went well do a do a screen test. So at this point I just thought I've just got to get out of this office because I feel very embarrassed by the whole situation. So I will just nod smile say yes, do it, it'll be a disaster, and then everything can go back to normal. So that's what I did. Three weeks later, the boss came into the office,  Adam: Sorry, we have to stop. This is a story that's gonna last all day, cause I keep stopping because your dog is posing or it was posing beautifully by this river.  Kate: Well, so this river is an important, one of the sort of parallel streams that run into the River Wye for this is the Angidy, we are in the Angidy Valley, surrounded by amazing woodland on both sides, it's a very steep sided valley. This river is particularly good for dippers, which are those lovely chocolate brown and white birds, they look like little waiters.  Adam: Right *laughs*  Kate: And they and they, they're called dippers because that's exactly what they do. So we'll keep an eye out because we might see some, but they'll sit on a stone like that exposed stone within the waterfall there and they will jump into the water and literally completely submerge. They'll disappear completely and they're looking for things like caddisfly larva, which is what they feed on, and then they'll bob up and come back up and they're they're just these wonderful, perky, very smart little birds.  Adam: Brilliant, OK.  Kate: They're the only British songbird that is also a water bird.  Adam: Wow, OK, good. All right.   Kate: There you are, little bit of, little bit of,  Adam: No, I like these these these sorts of diversions we take, it's it's almost like doing a stand up routine, so we're gonna go gonna go back to the story now. So you thought everybody in the world gets a screen test. So I'm just doing this and then they'll leave me alone.  Kate: Yes, yes. And and then the boss came into the office about 3 weeks later. And she said, can you go to France tomorrow? And I said yes, of course, assuming that they needed somebody to carry the heavy stuff. Bhcause carrying heavy stuff is the other thing that I am good at. I can whistle very loudly and I can carry very heavy things and those are really the only two things that I can offer the world.  Adam: OK, I I you, you have set yourself up for a big whistle at the end, so we'll we'll wait for that then let's hold out.  Kate: It it will blow your ears well, that's all I'm saying. So she said, we want you to present a film on a barge in Normandy, could you please do something about my hair, she said. My own hair.  Adam: I see she didn't ask you to be a hairdresser? Also could you cut my hair?  Kate: Yes could you cut my hair *laughs*. No, could you do something about your hair, she said. I thought she's been talking to my mum, who constantly despairs of my lack of my lack of grooming.  Adam: Right, also right at this point of hair hair disasters, we have to pause because we've come across as you may hear an extraordinary small waterfall, it's a weir, really, isn't it?   Kate: It is really.  Adam: I'm gonna take another photo of this before we get back to the life and misadventures of Kate Humble. So I'm just gonna take a photo. You'll find that, no doubt on one of our Twitter feeds. Oh, I know beautiful, oh no the dogs disappeared, the dog doesn't like posing for me. But all right, so now, you're off to France. You need a haircut and,  Kate: So I'm off to France. I need I need I need to basically smarten myself up. Off I went to France and presented my first film.  Adam: Right. And that was, I mean, we could talk about this forever, but that was the beginning of that was the beginning of this, the story. OK, well, amazing.  Kate: Yes. My first job for the natural history unit came in 2000. And I was asked to do a programme, which was a sort of, was made in response to Blue Planet. So the very first series of the Blue Planet, which I think everybody watched with their mouths open because we had never seen the oceans in that way before, particularly the deep ocean. And there was a phrase used which I have used many, many times since, which was that more people have been to the moon than there have been to the deep ocean. And people were fascinated by these, they were they were creatures that looked like they might have been designed for Star Wars. They were so extraordinary.  Adam: These sort of angler fish which have which have this light don't they.  Kate: That sort of thing, and these these, you know, these astonishing, you know, plankton with flashing lights, there were Dumbo octopus with, you know, little octopus with these sort of literally did look like Dumbo the elephant, you know, deep water sharks that people had never seen before that were really slow moving and and, you know astonishingly well-adapted to live at depths and in in at water pressure that no one thought anything could exist in and come on dogs we're gonna keep, do you wanna have a,  Adam: And so yours was a response, in what way?   Kate: So we did a live,  Adam: The dogs keep looking at me like they want me to throw something for them is that what's going on?  Kate: They do, and I'm going to just try and find a, here let's try let's try this, here we are.  Adam: Look, they're very, oh you've thrown it into the river?   Kate: Go on, in you go.  Adam: Oh, look at that go!  Kate: Come on Teg, do you wanna go in as well? Here you are. This one's going to sink, go on. Ready? Go. Good girl. Where's it gone? Teggy, it's just there. That's it. Well done, well done, dogs.  Adam: Oh they like that.  Kate: Well, I can't go and get it, you have to bring it here, that's the deal with sticks *laughs* So we did a live programme from a boat in Monterey Bay. I made some films to play into that live show. So I went to the Cayman Islands, which is a rotten thing to ask anybody to do, can you imagine?  Adam: Terrible, terrible. You wanted to be back in the East End really.  Kate: I did really, sweeping streets and instead there I was, doing films about coral reefs and this is the one of, this is the wonderful thing about the natural history unit or just about making films with animals is the lengths that you have to go to to be able to capture the natural world in all its wonder. And so I was asked to go and film a shark called a six gill shark that lives very deep and only about 10 people in the world had ever seen. And I was sent to go and find this creature. You know, I can't I can't even now I can't really believe that I was asked to do that.   Adam: And did you find it?  Kate: Eventually. We had to do two, we did one trip we failed to find it,   Adam: How how long was that?  Kate: So that was, we did 6 dives. It was an amazing trip. We didn't get the shark on the first trip. We went back for another trip. We didn't get it. We didn't get it. We finally got it and it was incredible. Incredible moment. And that was the first job that I did for the natural history unit and there was then somebody who came up with the idea of doing British wildlife life live at kind of springtime, like kind of now.   Adam: And this was Springwatch was it?  Kate: This was the precursor to Springwatch.   Adam: Oh I didn't know there was one.  Kate: There were two!  Adam: What were they called?  Kate: So the first one was called Wild In Your Garden. So I'm just going to put the dogs on a lead here. Hold on, poppet. Just hold on my poppet. That's it. We've got to take Adam up the hill now. So yes, so the first one was called Wild In Your Garden and it was Bill Oddie and Simon King and me. And we did two shows a night, from gardens in Bristol, and it sort of worked as an idea.  Adam: Right. OK.  Kate: It worked well enough or it wasn't so much of a disaster that there wasn't a thought of let's try it slightly differently, maybe on a farm instead of in the garden, and we went to this wonderful organic farm in Devon and basically made camp for three weeks. And made a series called Britain Goes Wild. And Britain went a tiny bit wild. And so the following year we thought, well, we'll do it again, but maybe we'll just call it something different.  Adam: Right.  Kate: And someone came up with the idea of calling it spring watch and everyone said, and it always went out at the same time as it does now, sort of end of May and people go, it's not really spring though is it? And we're like, well spring enough, still spring things happening and Springwatch seemed to capture everybody's imaginations and and I presented that for 10 years.  Adam: And you presented that for how many, how many years?  Kate: Ten.  Adam: Blimey! That's a long,  Kate: Yeah, I know. I've just grown old on telly and then Autumnwatch came into being and then Winterwatch and I did Seawatch. So I did a series about British Britain's seas and and marine life. Yeah. So I did eventually get my wish of working for the natural history unit.  Adam: Oh, that's very good. The fairy godmother in the form of the BBC descended and granted your wish. And now from all of those adventures abroad and on TV and everything you then said, I'm gonna move to this really quite, there's another car coming, quite quite remote parts of Wales. Why that?  Kate: We're going to head up here. Hold on, dogs. There we are.  Adam: Oh there's some steps. Hallelujah.  Kate: OK, only for this little bit.  Adam: Look, stop stop taking away the hope.  Kate: *laughs* So so I we moved,  Adam: Yes so you you picked up sticks and then moved to Wales. Perhaps it's not such a big move because the natural world has seemed to be always the centre of things for you. So but why Wales in particular?  Kate: Well, that is a curious question. I had no connection with Wales as far as I was aware. I honestly honestly can't tell you why I felt this extraordinary pull to live here. But it really was it was like a magnetic pull. There is actually a a Welsh word and I'm not sure I'm really allowed to use it in my context, but I can't think of a better word to use for the feeling that I had. And it's hiraeth and is a word that it's sort of more than home sickness. It's like a deep longing for the place that you belong. A yearning, a pit of the stomach emptiness for your home.  Adam: You felt this was a spiritual home, did you?   Kate: I don't know I really don't know, Adam. I, as I say I just had this extraordinary pull to live here. And yeah, I would look at the, there are these old fashioned things called maps, and I would look at the A to Z of Great Britain. And you know, there I was in the South East and if you look at a thing called a map,  Adam: Yes, sorry is this a point about me getting lost on the way to you.   Kate: No no not even remotely. No, it's the fact that no one uses them anymore, and yet, they're the greatest treasures we have. So if you look at a map, the South East of England is just this chaos of colour and roads and towns and names. And it's just, you know, there's not a square millimetre that hasn't got a name in it or something in. The further west you go, the browner the map becomes, and when you go over the border into Wales, it's mainly brown and green and it's got beautiful lyrical names like Abergavenny and and it's got mountains and mountains, when you've been brought up in Berkshire mountains are the height of exoticism. To live in a in a country that had mountains all of its own just struck me as being remarkable. I still, 15 years on, find it remarkable that I can I can get up at breakfast, not go terribly far, and climb a bona fide mountain. I love that. And that's what I love about Wales.  Adam: And and you've done more than, I mean, people might feel that and move to a beautiful part of the country and live there and more or less carry on with their ordinary life. But you've not done that. I mean, you're not just you don't just go for walks, the natural world is something you've created a a new career out of as well. Is that fair?  Kate: I wouldn't call it a career.  Adam: OK but you're very much well, but you make money from it and it fills your days.   Kate: Well, no, no, I don't think I don't know I don't I don't think that's I don't think that's true at all. I think you know I my working life is peculiar. I've I still am involved making television programmes, some of which involve the natural world. I still write, some of that's about the natural world, but not all of it. The natural world for me is nothing to do with making a living. Making a living. But it is about living. And it was one of the things that I was acutely aware of when I lived in London was I felt cut off from the seasons. This year you know, I know I can tell you that I didn't hear a skylark until the middle of March last year it was Valentine's Day. I can tell you that because that's what I'm experiencing. And I love feeling that instead of the natural world being something I watch on the television or I read about in a book that I am able to be part of it. And that's one of the big problems I think that we face now with trying to engage people with the importance of things like biodiversity, species loss, habitat loss. None of those things sound very sexy, and none of those things appear to matter to us because we as a species so weirdly and inexplicably view ourselves as a species separate from the natural world and the natural world has become something that we just watch for our entertainment. But we are just another mammal in this amazingly complex, beautiful, brilliant web that is the biodiversity web, where everything fits in and everything works together, and one thing feeds another thing and you know, until we feel properly part of that, immersed in it and and wrapped up in it, why are we ever going to worry about the fact that it is now a biodiversity net that's full of holes, and those holes mean that the net becomes less and less effective and the less effective that net becomes, the more it affects us, but we see ourselves as somehow immune from that process and we're not. And what I love about living here, what I love about walking in this area every day, twice a day, is the fact that I feel that I can, I'm I'm more in tune with our natural world and that is sadly, it shouldn't feel a it shouldn't be a privilege, but it is.  Adam: And do you feel, I mean, you're you feel passionate about it. Do you feel evangelical about it?  Kate: Yes.   Adam: So what do you, do you have a prescription to help to bring others on side?  Kate: I wish it didn't, I wish you didn't have to ask me that question. I wish it didn't have to be an on side.  Adam: Do you do you feel that's an unfair question? Or do you think there's?  Kate: No, I don't. I think it's a very fair question because lots of people don't feel or don't perhaps don't experience it experience the advantages of the natural world, or they haven't been they haven't been given the opportunities to properly understand the impact that it can have on us and all those impacts are positive. I mean, there's loads of science. And you know, it was talked about endlessly during the pandemic about how green spaces are good for our mental health, blue spaces are good for our mental health, being outdoors, being in nature, listening to birdsong, sing plants grow, all those things are good for us. But we've got to a place where we've been so divorced from it, where we look for our pleasures in shopping malls and online and and we forget that actually all we need is right here. And, you know, it's a hard sell for some to to somebody who's never experienced this, who hasn't had the privileges I've undoubtedly had, you know who have not grown up in the countryside, who find it fearful or boring or inexplicable, don't understand where they fit in.  Adam: And I think one of the perhaps growing debates, I think or interesting ones anyway for me is is the balance between trying to either scare people or make them aware of the environmental challenges and potential for disaster. And then so to sort of go engage with the subject it's really it's really newsworthy, it's it's it's imperative people do things and actually turning people off going well we're we're all going to literally burn, enjoy the party whilst it lasts. So what what do you feel about that?  Kate: Yeah, yeah. I mean, all all, all you have to do, all you have to do is watch Don't Look Up. Have you seen that film?   Adam: Yes.  Kate: And and and that, you know, absolutely embodies what you have just said.  Adam: So what do you think about that? Because I think there's a balance between going, offering hope, the power or audacity of hope is a phrase one hears as opposed to the sort of potential to frighten people into action. Actually the opposite, don't frighten them into action. Offer them hope of change. And I wonder where you feel that, if we've got that balance right, or whether,  Kate: No, we haven't got it right and I, but I don't know what the balance is because I think there's a real, I think that a lot of programmes that are made about natural history now have become so glossy and so beautiful and and so almost otherworldly that they don't actually reflect the reality of the natural world. And a lot of them again show the natural world without the context of people. And of course, that's sort of how we want to see it, we don't want people muddying those pictures. We don't want, as you say, the kind of the awful stories of the litter and the, you know, the the, the, the negative impact that human have humans have had on the natural environment. So we kind of don't want to see it, but equally if we don't see it, we don't engage with it and we kind of can watch one of those documentaries and even if David Attenborough is telling you that, you know, this is a habitat that's in peril or this is the last animal of its type that you will ever see, you don't really take that in because you're looking at these really stunning pictures and you think it's kind of OK. But I don't know what the answer is because I also know that as you say, if all you peddle is hopelessness and helplessness, no one's going to engage, they're going to stick their heads in the sand and just hope that it all goes away and pass it on to the next generation. So somehow we as communicators need to find a way that really does cut through. That really does make people feel, genuinely feel part of the natural world, that it isn't just another thing. I had the great joy of interviewing Tim Peake not that long ago, and I was interviewing him for a book that I'm writing about the concept of home. And I thought he would have, of anybody, a really unique idea of home having not just left home but left the planet. And he told me that he did a spacewalk, he was out in space for over four hours, and he said the blackness is like a blackness you cannot imagine. But he said, you know, you see Mars and Jupiter and Venus and you see Earth. And he said, when you're there, amongst the planets in that way you see that Earth is, as far as anyone's experience, and any telescope has been able to tell us, unique. You look at it and he said there it is, this colour, this blue and green planet, whereas everything else is, you know silver and and ghostly, ours is a living planet and he said he had this, he had this sort of feeling when he was there looking at Earth and imagining somebody, some other being coming up and tapping him on the shoulder and saying hey, hi,  who are you? I'm Tim. And he'd say oh hello so where are you from then? And Tim said I felt this enormous swell of pride to be able to point to our planet and say I'm from that planet there. I'm from Earth. I'm an earthling and I thought if all of us had that experience, could understand what it was like, how special our planet is in a universe that is infinite as far as we know and that we have, we have no idea what's out there, but what we do know at the moment is that our planet is unique and I think we would treasure it that much more and have moments like this of just standing amongst the trees and midges coming out, the drizzle, the mud and go, this is our home, this is where we live. It's really special. Aren't we lucky?  Adam: You're taking me uphill again aren't you.  Kate: I am taking uphill, but you've done the worst bit and you and and actually you marched. I was impressed!  Adam: Oh OK good. You know I'll fall apart after, I'm just doing it so I don't embarrass myself too badly.  Kate: *laughs* I'm afraid it is going to get very, very muddy, so you're going to have wet socks, mud up to your knees, you know, that's why I spend six months of the year in wellies.  Adam: Right OK. But you know, that is the privilege of being an earthling, isn't it?   Kate: It is it is.  Adam: So you've been you've got involved with the Woodland Trust.  Kate: I've been involved with the Woodland Trust for quite a long time, but it really started when we took on a farm near here.  Adam: What's this an arable farm?  Kate: No, it was a small council farm. It belonged to the council and people are not really aware that there are such a thing.   Adam: I've never heard this one.  Kate: No, but there used to be about 16,000 council farms throughout Britain and they were set up as part of the 1906 Smallholdings and Allotments Act and they were there, low rent, small areas, usually 30, 40 acres that sort of size and they would be available to rent for farmers who for whatever reason, didn't have a farm of their own. And over the years, as farming practices have changed as economic models have driven farmers to need to to produce things on a bigger scale, small farms have been basically relegated to either hobby farms or they've been broken up and sold to land that's been added to bigger farms. So we've lost an enormous number of these small farms and with them an enormous opportunity for people with farming skills to stay on the land and produce as food. And that's what was going to happen to this farm. And for whatever reason, I just felt this was not the thing to do and to cut a very, very, very long story short, we ended up taking over the farm and setting up a rural skills centre o prove that a small farm, ours is just over 100 acres, could still be viable. It supports itself and that's really important. But one of the things that we wanted to do, we were really interested to do when we took it over was to add more trees. It's it's got some wonderful ancient trees. There's an oak tree on the farm that we call Old Man Oak, as did the tenants before us. They introduced us to him and we think he's about 600 years old. And but we wanted to plant more trees. But we had this conundrum of how do we increase the tree cover on the farm without taking away the pasture because obviously we needed the pasture for the livestock and it was the Woodland Trust that helped us with that conundrum. So they looked, together we walked round the farm and we identified either areas where there were small copses or where there was a bit of a hedge. So what we did with the Woodland Trust's advice and input was to put in trees as shelter breaks, so not actually impinging on the pasture, just or very much, but adding a kind of a thicker bit of hedge if you like, or making a copse a little bit bigger and in that way we've planted over 1,000 trees on the farm in the last decade that we've had it. And then at home we have a four acre small holding and and so at the beginning of last year I started thinking maybe it's an age thing, you start thinking about legacy and when you when you take over a piece of land, what you start to understand actually very quickly is that you will never own it, that you are simply the caretaker of it for the time that you are around. And I think we've got cleverer now. Our knowledge has become greater. We understand that just planting trees isn't the answer. We need to think about we need to think of landscape as a mosaic and so what we wanted to do was to create a little mosaic. Plant trees, create water or make a space for water, make sure that there was going to be areas that had glade that was good for insects, that was good for wild flowers. And so I talked to the Woodland Trust and said, are you going to be into this idea, because it's not just planting trees and they went, that's exactly what we're into. That's exactly what we want to do. We want to create habitat. It's not about blanketing a landscape with trees. It's about planting the right trees in the right places at the right density to create something that you know, in a generation's time will have real lasting value, and that's what's been so wonderful about working with, you know, an organisation like that that sees big picture, sees longevity as as an advantage rather than as a disadvantage. And and that's what's been so lovely is that, you know, I can go to them and say so I've got this plan. I mean, I'm not even going to be alive to see it kind of come to fruition but do you care? And they went, we don't care, do you care? No. Let's do it. And that's wonderful.  Adam: Wonderful. OK sorry, this is a bit, this is the bit where I'm going ohh well, I'm swimming effectively swimming now.  Kate: Sorry. This is a very wet bit.  Adam: Hold on a second. OK. Right. That's a very Norman Wisdom walk I seem to have. OK. Yeah. OK, so ohh sorry, hold on.  Kate: It gets, that's the that's the wettest bit now, now we're now we're more or less home and dry.  Adam: Oh well you know what we we might be home, but we are not dry. That would be inaccurate at this point. So well, that's a neat story to bring us back to home with isn't it. So you know things are looking good. It's all hopeful. A a long journey and a long one ahead, you know, not just for you, but for that natural world you're creating.  Kate: Well, I hope that you know the the I I think going back to to what you said about how we can, we can help us all feel that we are actually, you know part and parcel of the natural world rather than observers of it or visitors of it and things like planting trees or being aware of the seasonal joys of the bluebells coming through, or, you know the leaf fall in the autumn and the colour, all those things if if i you know if we can build that awareness that brings with it huge joy and reward, then maybe we'll start to cut through again and people will start to feel more like the natural world is their world and not just another part of the planet that they live on.  Adam: Well having arrived back at Kate's home, let me just say there are lots more woodland walk podcasts for you to enjoy wherever you get your podcasts from. And indeed, if you want to find an actual wood near you well, you can go to the Woodland Trust website www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/findawood. Until next time, happy wandering.  Thank you for listening to the Woodland Trust Woodland Walks with Adam Shaw. Join us next month, when Adam will be taking another walk in the company of Woodland Trust staff, partners and volunteers. Don't forget to subscribe to the series on iTunes or wherever you're listening to us and do give us a review and a rating. And why not send us a recording of your favourite woodland walk to be included in a future podcast? Keep it to a maximum of five minutes and please tell us what makes your woodland walk special or send us an e-mail with details of your favourite walk and what makes it special to you. Send any audio files to podcast@woodlandtrust.org.uk. We look forward to hearing from you. 

This week we're meeting naturalist Megan McCubbin who listeners will know from co-hosting TV shows such as Springwatch alongside her step-father Chris Packham. Plodcast host Fergus met up with Megan at the Hawk Conservancy Trust centre in Hampshire to talk about her new book – An Atlas of Endangered Species – and to find out more about her message of hope and action for a better future for our wild world. This is episode 7 of season 16: Get Active in Nature. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com. If read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Write to us: Plodcast, Countryfile Eagle House Bristol BS1 4ST Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're all busy. One day you were just some person with few responsibilities and then, seemingly the next day, you're entire calendar is booked and you still have an overflowing to-do list. In order to accomplish all of this, we're going to need energy. The best way to get energy is through taking time off to focus on the people, activities, and things that you love. That creates quite a conundrum: How do you get more done with less available hours?In this episode, Blake and Verbs share four different kinds of automation that you can use to help you recapture that essential work/life balance.You will learn:How daily rituals buy you time and energyHow your Full Focus Planner is designed to automate elements of your dayHow technology can help you automate various tasksMake sure to get the free Spring Cleaning Guide for your To-Do List at www.fullfocus.co/springWatch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZO5gk9kyKSwMake sure to visit the Full Focus Planner Community on Facebook to find thousands of other planner users: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ffpthinktankFor more episodes, visit www.focusonthispodcast.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Why is forming new habits - the good ones, at least - so hard to do? We've often heard that it take 21 days to develop a new habit, but personal experience tells many of us that it takes much longer than three weeks to truly install the kinds of habits that we feel will make our lives happier, healthier, and more productive. It's important to understand how to do this right because every time that we feel like we've failed at developing a new habit, we're likely to have feelings of extreme disappointment or shame and, maybe we'll be less inclined to try again next time. Luckily, there are ways to help us get back on track!In this episode, Blake and Verbs talk about three strategies to help your new habits stick. Also, Nick speaks with Andy Bachert about how he's used the Full Focus Planner in his own life as an organizational leader.Make sure to get the free Spring Cleaning Guide for your To-Do List at www.fullfocus.co/springWatch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/QDTGX-pmef4Make sure to visit the Full Focus Planner Community on Facebook to find thousands of other planner users: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ffpthinktankFor more episodes, visit www.focusonthispodcast.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our modern world is full of distractions. For example, on average, a person will look at their phone 350 times a day. 350 times in a day! If you sleep 8 hours a night, that works out to almost once every two minutes. How are you supposed to reach your goals if your rhythm is always interrupted by a notification on your phone, a Slack message from your colleague, or a ring at the front door?In this episode, Blake and Verbs offer three strategies to help you minimize the distractions in your day. You will learn how to:Recognize the specific activities or triggers that waste your time and make you lose focusEstablish boundaries with the people in your lifeUse the Full Focus Planner to keep distractions at bayMake sure to get the free Spring Cleaning Guide for your To-Do List at www.fullfocus.co/springWatch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/iG0uUvWiq7cMake sure to visit the Full Focus Planner Community on Facebook to find thousands of other planner users: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ffpthinktankFor more episodes, visit www.focusonthispodcast.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What is your go-to task when you're supposed to be doing another more important task? Is it organizing your desk? Checking Slack messages? Folding laundry? Whatever your go-to task is, it will lead you to the same place: The Distraction Zone. This is a concept first described in Michael Hyatt's book, Free to Focus. It describes the area where you're not contributing anything valuable towards your or your team's goals. We're all going to slide in there occasionally, but the goal is to minimize the amount of time we spend in there.In this episode, Blake, Courtney, and Verbs explain what the Distraction Zone is and provide three reasons why you might find yourself there. After that, in a Focus on This first, we hear a selection from an episode of Full Focus' other podcast: Business Accelerator. In this segment, host Joel Miller speaks with business coach Dustin Guyton about goalsetting and the things that stand in our way. There's some very valuable stuff in there that you won't want to miss.For more from the Business Accelerator podcast, visit www.businessaccelerator.com/podcast.Make sure to get the free Spring Cleaning Guide for your To-Do List at www.fullfocus.co/springWatch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/kEUo3iD-5PQMake sure to visit the Full Focus Planner Community on Facebook to find thousands of other planner users: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ffpthinktankFor more episodes, visit www.focusonthispodcast.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We've all been there: You volunteer to help out with an extra thing at work or you tell a friend that you'll help them over the weekend. Then, as the event itself approaches, you realize that you simply do not have the time or energy and you shouldn't have agreed to do this in the first place. Well, there's good news: There are times when you can gracefully back out of situations like this.Blake, Courtney, and Verbs talk about these tricky situations and offer some tips on how to back out of obligations without leaving the other person high and dry. Also, Courtney speaks with Full Focus' Director of Coaching, Darilynn Hammond.Make sure to get the free Spring Cleaning Guide for your To-Do List at www.fullfocus.co/springWatch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/cgHYM8NOMTsMake sure to visit the Full Focus Planner Community on Facebook to find thousands of other planner users: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ffpthinktankFor more episodes, visit www.focusonthispodcast.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on "Asshole Animals, with Alice", Alice is joined by the inspirational and punk-rock Chris Packham today to talk all things Red Fox – dispelling myths about their asshole nature and also finding the time to discuss Pangolins, Disney and Jimi Hendrix. If you love The Really Wild Show, Springwatch, or any of Chris Packham's other many wildlife projects - this episode is NOT to be missed. Remember, if you've loved what you heard and want to support Alice in making these podcasts, head over to her Patreon to become a donor and help her make you laugh and learn about the assholes of the animal kingdom! www.patreon.com/assholeanimalswithalice.

Gordon Buchanan is a Scottish wildlife filmmaker and television presenter, who has been responsible for some of the most iconic moments in numerous wildlife documentaries, such as filming big cats for Big Cat Diary, grey seals and foxes for Springwatch and his “...and me” documentary series, including The Bear Family & Me, The Polar Bear Family & Me, Snow Wolves, Gorillas, Elephants, Tribes, Reindeers, Grizzly Bear Cubs, Snow Cats and The Cheetah Family and Me. Gordon has been a guest presenter on Springwatch, filming live from Scotland and after a sell out tour in 2022, Gordon is going back on tour in 2023, taking a look back at his incredible 30 years working both behind and in front of the camera.Gordon Buchanan is guest number 264 on My Time Capsule and chats to Michael Fenton Stevens about the five things he'd like to put in a time capsule; four he'd like to preserve and one he'd like to bury and never have to think about again .Follow Gordon Buchanan on Twitter: @gordonjbuchanan & Instagram @gordonbuchanan_wildlife .Follow My Time Capsule on Twitter, Instagram & Facebook: @MyTCpod .Follow Michael Fenton Stevens on Twitter: @fentonstevens & Instagram @mikefentonstevens .Produced and edited by John Fenton-Stevens for Cast Off Productions .Music by Pass The Peas Music .Artwork by matthewboxall.com .This podcast is proud to be associated with the charity Viva! Providing theatrical opportunities for hundreds of young people. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Phil Perry is joined by NFL Network analytics expert Cynthia Frelund to discuss what's next for the evolution of the modern NFL offense. Then, Phil takes a closer look at one advanced stat that shows Mac Jones' potential going forward before breaking down his latest 7-round Patriots' mock draft.1:20- Cynthia Frelund 1-on-15:45- Cynthia shares the advanced metric she looks to first to see the true potential of a QB and why she's not worried about Mac Jones9:40- Cynthia breaks down what the Patriots should do to improve in free agency and the draft this season11:28- Phil digs deeper into the advanced metric Cynthia pointed to as her gold standard and why it's a good sign for Mac Jones' future32:00- Phil shares his latest 7-round mock draft and who he expects the Patriots to take this springWatch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/RkreTagwZ-kSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Despite being raised in the fields of England and having slept upon the Rainforest Canopies of Cameroon, Dr Trevor Dines' heart is intertwined with the flora of Wales. Recorded in his own personal Wildflower Meadow in North Wales' Conwy Valley, this interview charts Trevor's journey from the youngest member of the Wessex Orchid Society (when still only aged in single digits) to one of the inspirational forces behind the UK's largest botanical charity, Plantlife. Trevor has written books, presented a television programme for Channel 4, appeared on the likes of BBC's Countryfile and Springwatch, and prior to that, he spent 6 years manifesting the ground-breaking "New Atlas of the British and Irish Flora" - collating nine million records to map over 4,000 species of plants in the wild. Listening to his passion, you'll find it hard not to agree with Trevor, that: “I think you're born a botanist.” In this first of two episodes, we explore the importance of cattle and other creatures as vectors to help plants survive climate change, discuss what exactly a “Wildflower” is, and hear how when Trevor enters the countryside, it's “…like going to a party, meeting friends, family, and sometimes exciting unexpected strangers…!” Why not become a "Subscription Squirrel" on our Patreon, and help support the production of this podcast? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris Packham is a national treasure. A naturalist, photographer and author, he’s best known for bringing nature into our living rooms as host of The Really Wild Show, Springwatch, Autumnwatch and Winterwatch. He’s also an environmental campaigner and an anti-hunting advocate who has been targeted by threats and arson for his views. Aaron Bastani talks […]

One of Liz Truss's first acts as Prime Minister was to announce a giant plan to protect domestic energy users from huge rises in wholesale gas and electricity costs, meaning a typical household will pay about £1000 less than otherwise would have been the case. We ask how much the Energy Price Guarantee will cost the government and also explain what a “typical” household really is. A consultation has opened into whether we'd like more of our goods and services priced in imperial measures – but some listeners are suggesting a survey on the issue is biased against metric. And we examine a claim made on the BBC's Springwatch programme that all of the gardens in Newcastle are bigger than the combined size of our national parks. Presenter: Tim Harford Series producer: Jon Bithrey Reporters: Nathan Gower, Charlotte McDonald Production Coordinator: Jacqui Johnson Editor: Richard Vadon

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is  Kelly Molson, MD of Rubber Cheese.Download our free ebook The Ultimate Guide to Doubling Your Visitor NumbersIf you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcastCompetition ends October 1st 2022. The winner will be contacted via Twitter. Show references: https://www.pensthorpe.com/about-us-history/https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/business/why-running-pensthorpe-near-fakenham-makes-you-feel-good-by-1395106https://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/content/articles/2008/05/23/springwatch_jordans_interview_20080523_feature.shtml Leading the flock are the enigmatic owners of Pensthorpe; Bill and Jordan. Prior to purchasing Pensthorpe in 2003, the couple lived in Bedfordshire where Deb had a successful career in fashion and photography, and Bill ran Jordans, the hugely successful cereal business he co-founded with his brother.Wanting to raise their two children in Deb's native Northfolk, they jumped at the chance to buy Pensthorpe and combine Bill's knowledge of sustainable farming practices with their longstanding love of nature.They've been part of the landscape ever since. Transcriptions: Kelly Molson: Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in or working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Kelly Molson. Each episode, I speak with industry experts from the attractions world. In today's episode, I speak with Bill and Deb Jordan, owners of Pensthorpe. Bill and Deb share the heartwarming highs and lows of creating this multi-award-winning tourist attraction. Have a listen in to find out what part Bill Oddie played in it all. If you like what you hear, subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue.Kelly Molson: Bill and Deb, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. It's absolutely lovely to see you both. We're going to start off with a few small icebreaker questions just to get us warmed up. So we're going to talk a little bit about cereal today. It's going to be part of the conversation. I want to know, what has been the worst food that you've both ever eaten?Bill Jordan: Oh, my word. I think school food didn't exactly do much for us.Kelly Molson: School dinners?Deb Jordan: One of my flatmates once complained that I had a tin of meatballs in the fridge that was open. So now I realise that many moons ago, I did used to eat badly in London.Kelly Molson: All right. Tins of cold meatballs in the fridge. To be fair, I quite like cold beans straight out of the tin.Bill Jordan: Oh, really.Kelly Molson: So I'd probably go for the cold meatballs, actually.Bill Jordan: Yeah.Kelly Molson: I might be all right with that. Let's go for your unpopular opinions.Deb Jordan: An unpopular opinion. I get very wound up about spin. I really do go off on one. It could be about anything where people actually say, so they pick up on something like children using mobile phones. Therefore, they will say that their business prevents that, and it's all to do with the fact that X, Y, Z. I just get frustrated when people use something that they've heard of in the press that is good for people. Even if it's like a cereal packet where it's saying this is healthy for you. Probably because I'll know that Bill will tell me exactly how many calories it's got in it. It's all a load of rubbish. But that is an opinion I get very wound up about. I hope I don't then fall into the frame of actually being accused of doing the same thing.Bill Jordan: I think when I heard the question, I got slightly concerned that I'd reached a sort of age where I didn't even recognise whether the views are unpopular or not.Kelly Molson: We're all getting there, Bill. Oh, I love that. Well, that's a good opinion to have. I wouldn't say that's very unpopular, but I think that's a good opinion to have.Bill Jordan: Might be the definition of being out of touch.Kelly Molson: I doubt that very much considering what we're going to talk about today. We're going to talk about Pensthorpe today. I mean, I think it's one of Norfolk's best-kept secrets. Whenever I talk about Pensthorpe, I have been describing it to people recently and telling them how fabulous it is, and they go, "I've never been there. We go to Norfolk quite a lot." And I'm like, "Right. Well, you have to go there now." So I've convinced at least 10 people recently that Pensthorpe is top of their list of places to go. It's just phenomenal.Kelly Molson: But, I want to know what were your backgrounds prior to Pensthorpe? Because they're very different. They weren't in the attractions industry at all, were they?Deb Jordan: No, not at all. I think Bill needs to lead on that one.Bill Jordan: Okay. Well, mine, for about 30 ... Probably more years than that. I'd founded and was running with my brother a breakfast cereal company. I guess you'd call it such a natural food company in the days when there was a natural food movement. There was quite a reaction against factory food, which of course still goes on today. So my background was much more about food and land use and farming practice and local food and nutrition and all of those things, which I still find very fascinating. Although, thankfully, I'm not that closely involved as I used to be, because it's hard work.Kelly Molson: I can imagine that's hard work. Did you come from a farming background prior to that? Did you grow up in that environment?Bill Jordan: Yeah. We all grew up at on a flour mill, which still exists in Bedfordshire. Our mum still lives there. She's 96.Kelly Molson: Oh, wow.Bill Jordan: She's lived in the same house for over 70 years. Yeah, we were lucky. We got brought up as kids kind of above the shop, really. It was a mill that made white flour. It made brown flour. It made animal feed. It was an interesting place to live. A lot going on.Kelly Molson: Wow. You were kind of in it, right? You lived and worked there?Bill Jordan: Yeah. School holidays, you had to bag up animal feed or pack flour or something. It was kind of went with living there, really.Kelly Molson: Yeah. Deb, what about you? What's your background?Deb Jordan: Well, I was very lucky to be born and live in Ringstead in Norfolk, which is only about 20 minutes, 25 minutes drive away. My dad was a farmer on the Le Strange Estate. The farm ran at the back of old Hunstanton. Yeah, idyllic. In the summer holidays, we were very lucky to just be out, left to just roam. I think actually once I ran away. I found a really nice spot to sit for the day. And by about 7:00 PM, I thought, "Actually, nobody cares. Nobody's noticed." And that did actually really make me laugh. I remember saying to my mum when I got back, "Did you not know? Did you not notice I'd run away? So she'd, "No. I know you went out in a very mad mood. But no, I hadn't noticed yet, darling. The good thing is you were hungry and here you are."Deb Jordan: I just remember thinking, "Gosh, when you look back, how lucky that was." It sort of made you stand on your own two feet. You used to get involved with a bit of wild oat picking and have jumps around the farm, around the house. But sadly ... I say sadly because it didn't really suit me. I was sent away to boarding school quite a long way away and was rather rebellious and unhappy, but a very privileged start. I think that probably stays with you forever about the nature and the fun. There's so much to explore, and you don't really need too much else other than a bicycle and the nature to make a very happy childhood.Kelly Molson: Oh God, that's really lovely. Ringstead is a very beautiful place as well. There's a lovely pub there called The Gin Trap that I've been to a number of times. Yes.Deb Jordan: Spent a lot of my youth in The Gin Trap. Yes. Sipping gin and orange or something ghastly with a boyfriend from cross lake.Kelly Molson: Oh, what a lovely, so that's really nice to hear, actually. I didn't realise how kind of embedded nature had been into both of your childhoods really, which I guess brings us to Pensthorpe. And you purchased it in, it was in 2003, wasn't it? And it was originally a bird reserve. What made you make the jump into buying something like this and you know, how did that happen?Bill Jordan: Well, it was a very unusual day when we first got to see the Pensthorpe, we had the children were, I don't know, kind of able to walk by that time. And we had a day in wandering around Pensthorpe.Deb Jordan: Six and eight.Bill Jordan: Six and eight. There you go. I'm no good at it. So we had a day looking around Pensthorpe which kind of came out of the blue and no, I think we were sort of rather bowled over, knocked out by it all. It was, the kids was surprisingly quiet and reflective. We were having a good time and we'd read somewhere that it was possibly up for sale. So when we were walking out of Pensthorpe, we asked the lady behind the counter, "Is it still for sale? Has it been sold?" And they said, "Well, you better go and speak to that gentleman over there. That's Bill Mackins." And we did. And then we kind of got pulled into the whole site. Yes that's how it happened.Deb Jordan: It was actually, Bill had been looking for some years. He was always interested in properties for sale in Norfolk. I think he may have been thinking that his connection with Jordan's and conservation and great farming and that he, I think he was already feeling he needed to put his money where his mouth was and start something to do with food in the countryside. A bit like the sort of taste of north, but type thing I think was going on in the back of his head. So he was often buzzing around on the bicycle looking and when Pensthorpe came up, I actually saw it and he was looking at my magazine and I said, "No way, no, no, no." So actually then we were visiting Norfolk because we did a lot with our children to see my parents and it sort of came to that.Deb Jordan: Well, why don't we just go and look? And I really wasn't very on board at all, but I have to admit that once here it's an extraordinary site and it sort of pulls you in. It's a place that you sort of, not too sure why, but you feel very connected to it. And I think that it really surprised us that day that it took us in and it took us along and then meeting the owner and him connecting with the children. It must have been about this time of year because then obviously the birds molt and there was a lot of feathers that the children have just spent the whole time looking for feathers and putting them in a bag. And we had to sort of say to the owner, look, we haven't been plucking your birds. This whole collection is then explaining to us the molting, that how at this time of the year, everything, all the ducks and geese use their feathers and can't fly.Deb Jordan: So they're all on the ground. And it's extraordinary at the moment how we've got hundreds of gray legs and geese all sitting, waiting for that time where the feathers have grown through and they can then take off again. But it was just that he then had some peacock feathers and said, "Look here kids take these home." And he knew my dad. So he was saying that he had known my dad before he died. And so there was a sort of an immediate connection there. And then I think he could see that Bill was very interested. And then he suggested before we left, because we'd asked about it being up to sale, he told us that it'd fallen through and he suggested that Bill meet somebody called Tim Neva, that was working in Cambridge and was working locally. And that sort of rather started the ball rolling. Yeah.Bill Jordan: Yes. I think another sort of link had been the fact that with Jordan, so amongst other things, we'd done quite a lot of work on the supply chain for the cereals. So we were working by then with quite a lot of farmers who were quite conservation minded and were putting habitats onto their farm for increasing wildlife and doing all of those sort of things, which of course was being done at Pensthorpe. So it was an aspect of what we'd been used to in the food industry. And it was done being done very well here at Pensthorpe. So yeah, that's kind of how it fitted in as well.Kelly Molson: What a wonderful story. You went to visit and then ended up buying the place. I love that.Bill Jordan: Well, it was bit of a shock. It wasn't kind of on the cards that's for sure.Deb Jordan: No, I think it was funny things to, you could have looked back and at the time I think we could see the beauty of the place, the fact that you thought, oh my goodness, Nancy's bringing up a family here and getting connected to all this and the bird life and everything else. I think what probably happened, which was, in hindsight, wasn't so good was that this connection with somebody that was a very good salesperson on behalf of filmmakers, who was saying I'll bring my family from Brisbane in Australia because they ran the Mariba wetland out there. So I can run this for you. So we actually spent a lot of time working with Tim prior to buying it and hearing how he was going to bring his wife and do the total daily running of the place. And that it would be Deb, you can get involved in the hub and bringing in crafts people and local produce and local gift and Bill can get involved in farm when we see him, because it's going to, you were still at George.Deb Jordan: And it wasn't. So we signed on the dotted line up on December 20th, 2002. And about three weeks, four weeks later, we had a phone call from Tim Neva there about saying, "I'm really sorry, but my wife, my boys are older than I thought. They're very at home in Queensland. And Gwyneth doesn't feel that it's actually something she could do at the minute, but I will be very supportive and I will come and be helpful." So that was a big shock. And so we put the house up for sale and pretty well moved during Jan, Feb, March 2003.Bill Jordan: I think within about 10 weeks, poor Deborah had to move the children from one school to another and make sure he got some housing. You trying to sell the housing you're in Bedfordshire. So it was a bit of a traumatic time.Kelly Molson: Oh my goodness.Bill Jordan: Amusingly, our children, children. They're big. Now they remind us every now and then that what we put them through and shouldn't we be guilty. We have to take it on the chin every time they raise it.Kelly Molson: I bet. I mean, that's incredible. Isn't it? So you, so suddenly you've gone from, oh, okay, well we're going to do this, but we've got someone that will manage it for us to that's it. They're not coming and you are in it. This is your deal. You've got to do it. So Bill, were you still juggling Jordans at the same time? So you had,Bill Jordan: Yeah.Kelly Molson: You had both responsibilities.Bill Jordan: Jordans were still going full ball. Yeah.Kelly Molson: How did you manage that?Bill Jordan: Well the usual thing, I handed it over to the lady on my left here.Kelly Molson: Of course.Bill Jordan: We done most of it since then.Kelly Molson: Wow, Deb. That was, so that was not what you were expecting at all. And then suddenly you've had to completely change your life, move your children, move them to school, move home, and now you are managing a bird reserve.Deb Jordan: Yeah, we were very naive and it was a struggle. Yeah. I think we're both quite resilient and there really wasn't much that could be done other than let's just crack on. And just try and keep really focused and learn from all the people that were already here. And Tim was definitely in the mix, but I hadn't realised that it would mean moving that quickly or looking for somebody to manage it. It was pretty full on to suddenly find yourself as the person. They had an amazing book in the shop, which was all the garden and it was wildlife of the waterfowl of the world. And I remember putting it under my bed and got some binoculars and looked out at the lake every morning to see what was on there to identify what we'd got.Deb Jordan: And then it was such a small team. There was just four ladies in the shop that ran seven days. Two of them did. You know, and we had about two, two wardens or yes on the farm banding Paul and you know, it was, it was just a very small team and they were really helpful and they explained what I was meant to be doing what happened. And then Tim came and went and we sort of, and it grew. We didn't really have much of a plan I don't suppose. Bill kept saying to me all along whenever I said, "Look, we need a five or a 10 year plan." Or we just sort of, it evolved. We worked with the team and we started to sort of move slightly more towards trying to, we realised our kids aren't kids all get nature you don't have to explain it to them.Deb Jordan: It's just ingrained in them. So we realised we haven't got any young members. That everybody was older and more bird related. We'd really upset one or two of them who wrote in, we just, we had a woman that would offer to become a volunteer here. And she was a fabulous lady and she'd actually been GM at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. And she said, "Look Deb it's really important. We need to get more of a younger generation here. And so what we're going to do is we're going to do play. I worked at Fowl and Wetlands trust. And they did Wellie Boot Land and I'll eat my hat if it doesn't work." And Bill said, "I'll eat my hat if it does work." So we had to park Bill, luckily because Bill went home every Monday night, we'd sort of work on it quietly, Veronica, I and Mark, as to how we were going to get round Bill.Deb Jordan: But by actually investing in an outdoor play area that was as though it was in the water as though it was a nature child. We encouraged people to bring their kids so that by getting them further out into the park, they could learn more about nature. But actually sometimes I think it's the parents that you have to encourage to come to a nature reserve, because they sort of think, what am I going to do with the kids and the kids actually get it and love it. So and one or two of the members that sort of said, I'm sorry, but we are now dropping out. We think that you are making a big mistake. I'm pleased to say that I bumped into the grandparents one day who said, look, I'm going to own up we're the people that wrote to you and were very rude, but this is Dudley and he's our grandson and we can't get enough enjoyment and make enough lovely memories with Dudley. So we forgive you.Kelly Molson: Oh, that's so nice.Deb Jordan: Yeah.Bill Jordan: So we found quite a lot of the heavy duty birders might have started a bit nervous when they saw children's play and different things happening. But yeah, just as Deb explains, after a bit, they realised that yeah, they got grandchildren and here was somewhere that worked for them and you know, actually got to a couple more levels of generations within their family. So we were lucky there. And within the year I told Deb that it was all my idea anyway.Deb Jordan: As you do.Bill Jordan: As I like to.Kelly Molson: It's interesting because earlier you used the word reflective about Pensthorpe and that's very much how I felt when I visited there. And what I found really interesting is that the children's play areas because now you have an indoor play area and the outdoor play area, they have been designed so well that they don't detract from that reflective feeling. Does that make sense? Like I could, I came on my own, I didn't bring my daughter, but I could still see how you could bring your children there and just have the most brilliant day of fun. But it is still a very calm and peaceful. It has a very calm and peaceful energy to it, the place that, and that's, I think that really comes through the minute you arrive. That's that's how I felt.Deb Jordan: Yeah. I think when we tried to look at the site, which is really unique, because it's got so many different habitats and we sort of said to ourselves, "So how can we best use this?" And I think what we've tried to do is just like the play, which looks very natural. We've tried to continue the journey and so that you leave the play and then you head towards the wetland area. But there is a diversion where at the top of the Sandhill, there's in the wood, on the top of the Sandhill, overlooking the lake, there's this amazing den building area. And when you go up there you know very well that this is a family affair. There's no way that the kids have done the den building, but you pass through an area where we cut into the wetland and put a big ponder thing.Deb Jordan: And then we sort of take you further along to a wood at the end where if a huge tree has fallen in the middle of it Richard leaves it there. And then the root base is all explained as to what's going on there, wildlife and we mow a path to it. So you can actually know that you're meant to get on the tree and run along the trunk. And, and I think, in fact we had a meeting here two weeks ago, Eco Attractions and they were saying, which was the best thing I'd heard, best acclaim I'd had. They said, "We've been out there Deb. And we sort of get what you're talking about, that you come across all this wild play, this just natural what's there is being used to tell a story, but have fun with. And we think that the best way of explaining you is a bit like the lost gardens of Halligan." Well boy, that was-Bill Jordan: We didn't mind that at all.Deb Jordan: We didn't mind that.Kelly Molson: That is perfect.Deb Jordan: What we are trying to do is keep the natural, but just encourage people to go out and get further and further from the hub with the trails that Natalie does and her team, which is so brilliant.Kelly Molson: Yeah, it definitely comes across. So that is a perfect description of how I felt when I was there. I want to go back a little bit though, because we've kind of jumped forward. Let's go back to 2008 because you get a call from Springwatch. That must have been pretty exciting at the time. What did that do for the venue?Bill Jordan: Well, perhaps even before answering that, you ought to hear how it actually happened.Kelly Molson: Okay. Ooh, share!Bill Jordan: To tell you about a conversation we had with.Deb Jordan: Yeah. We'd been told that Bill Oddie wanted to come to Pensthorpe for his really wild show. And he was here specifically to look at corn crakes, which we were breeding and releasing with the RSPB and [inaudible 00:24:25] isn't it? And so he came and I hadn't really seen much of him because he'd been whisked away and he'd met the agriculturalist and the team and looked at the corn crakes and then he'd had a little wander as Bill does. And then he came back to the hub and I thought, oh, I'm not very good at selling myself, but there is nobody else. You just got to do this. I went out with my camera and I just said, look I'm Deb Jordan, and I hope you don't mind. Could I take your photos for our newsletter because it's so exciting to have you here.Deb Jordan: And he did this amazing sort of thumbs up picture and he said, "I'm going to do this. And then you can write the copy dead because I absolutely love this place. You can say whatever you like and I'll be happy." Yeah. And it was about three weeks after that, when he'd gone that we received a letter to say, Bill Oddie has put you forward as a possible site for the next move at Springwatch. So I think they'd only done three years in the farm in Devon.Bill Jordan: They had. Yeah.Deb Jordan: And so they felt, and then with it, since then they've moved, I think almost every three years. So when I got this letter, I turned to Martin and said, this is special. Put it under my pillow and it stayed there.Bill Jordan: Until they said, "Yes."Deb Jordan: It stayed there until, until we'd heard we've got it.Kelly Molson: Oh, that's amazing. Well done Bill Oddie. Thumbs up to Bill Oddie. So what, but what did that do that must have brought so much attention to the attraction?Deb Jordan: It was amazing for us because although we can hear sky larks on the hill, above the scrape and we can hear our wildlife and we see our wildlife, it was fantastic for us to really get a grip. But when you see those nests that these guys are so clever and professional about finding, and I remember taking the children to school one day and on the way, hearing Terry Wogan talking about the little ring lovers that had been seen the night before at Pensthorpe on the way to scrape. And I just have pulled into a laid iron with banging my head against the wheel think, oh my God, doesn't get any better than Terry Wogan talking about little ring lovers at Pensthorpe. But it was fabulous. It allowed people to see the breadth of everything, wildlife and habitat wise because it is unusual because we've got the river that runs straight right through the middle. We've got farmland and we've a farm that's running. We've got wetland, we've got gardens, we've got-Bill Jordan: It's 50 acres of lake.Deb Jordan: There's just every sort of habitat you could really want. And I think that allowed people to sort of think, well, that honey little place that we hear about might be worth a visit. So it did help put us on the map.Bill Jordan: I think we all learned quite a lot from it having us when I think there was probably up to 50, 60 people on site producing and one of the sort of excitements of the day for us was that we'd all been pulled back to the cafe building here, which they'd taken over and had about 40 different TV screens and monitors there. And we could see exactly all the bits that they filmed during the day and the night and all the bits that were current from being talked about and the interviews that were happening. Just to see the whole program put together a that end of the day, which was fascinating. And just the way they handled it and the way the sort of information they imparted to audiences is just, no, it was very clever, very clever indeed.Kelly Molson: Was it strange to see the place that you live on the telly?Deb Jordan: Very strange. In fact, one day, I can't quite remember what had happened, but because for eight o'clock they go live. I think it was something like a Muntjack in my garden. It was upsetting me. So I ran as I usually do, got my saucepan and banged my saucepan and prop people. Oh no. You know, and somebody said the next day, what was that noise we had to sort of cover up? But yeah, to tuck into the television, knowing, I mean, some nights we'd creep down and hide or be allowed quite close, but to have those people, to have Kate Humble here, Bill Oddie and then Bill Oddie swapped with Chris Packham. So to have Chris here for a couple of years and yeah, it was very, very special and-Bill Jordan: It was quite a good set for them. They used to, where we're sitting right now, just below us was a sort of room that was completely derelict. So the whole, all of these five cottages here were derelict and poor BBC took pity on us and put a few glass windows and things. And so we wouldn't look too impoverished.Kelly Molson: How kind of them.Bill Jordan: Very kind of them. Yeah.Kelly Molson: I want to ask a little bit, and it's something that you talked about right at the beginning where you said where you grew up, you kind of lived and worked and again now is where you live, and you work. How difficult is it for you to make that work in terms of your kind of like work life balance? Because you are kind of immersed in your business from the minute you wake up in the morning.Deb Jordan: Yeah.Bill Jordan: That not the clever bit, is it? It is hard work. It's quite hard work. And it needs to be mentioned just in case anyone else gets vague and puts their name down for a similar thing. It is hard work and you need to get on well with people and yeah, you are seven days a week, which is how an operation like this has to go. You've got people on site quite a lot of the day when they go home at five o'clock we get the park to ourselves and we can wander around.Deb Jordan: Yeah, I think even as far as the work side of thing, when I look out at the window, I'll immediately think, wow. How lucky. This is extraordinary. And then I'll immediately think all the things that I haven't yet achieved or are on my list for this week that's never long enough. And I think that, on its own, would've been enough. I think, to go through some of the hiccups that life throws to the whole COVID thing, the avian flu thing, those make you pause and really think. That was tough. So we've had some brilliant times, some really big successes, but those things sort of leave you slightly wounded. But there again you've got a big team and everybody's been through the same thing. The whole world has had to reorganise and regroup and move on.Deb Jordan: So yeah, I think that looking forward, one needs to be optimistic that we probably had our fair share of things that haven't really gone our way recently. But on the other hand, there's an awful lot to look forward to. And we've just done the new rebranding and we're very lucky with our marketing team that they totally understand this product. And when you've got a team behind you like that are so inspired by the site and are able to get that message across for all generations, whatever bit it is, whatever age you are, whether it's gardens or birds or families. It's a place for people to come and make memories. And thankfully, hopefully we are now, hopefully COVID is now a thing of the past and sadly avian flu won't be because it's still out there. And it's sort of becoming a real problem. You know, it hasn't really gone away this year for the UK even on Springwatch, we were watching the problems they've got in Scotland at the minute and even slightly closer to home again. So it is something that we are aware of and that we have to sort of rethink going forward, how, how you know, that we work with what we've got.Bill Jordan: We do. But I think we've also sort of figured out that actually there is even more sort of requirement, demand, whatever you call it for getting out there. And nature in its best form and walking and space and all of those things seem to be even more important to a lot of the visitors we talk to.Deb Jordan: Yeah. I think it definitely focused us on what is so special about this place? It's the freedom, it's the feeling of wellness out there, feeling of being able to put things that are worrying you that week away when you come to Pensthorpe. You get out there and you get diverted by the beauty of the place. You know, COVID was really problematic for everybody. I had started six months of chemotherapy in January 2020. So it was going into Norridge weekly for my chemo. So then when the country locked down, I would be sort of driving all with sweet leaf on the bad week. Somebody would be kind enough to drive me and whether it was with my daughter or whoever was kind enough to come with me, it seemed odd to be out on the roads.Deb Jordan: Because the first lock down, there was no one anywhere and you'd get to the hospital and the nurses were amazing, but concerned obviously. It was new to us all. So seeing them afraid but resilient and just pushing on whatever. It was a very unusual time and we did do some furlough, so it was very quiet here because we'd have like one warden in and one avian came and the gardener stayed and the maintenance guy stayed, but everybody in the hub was gone. It was a very extraordinary thing to know that our visitors sadly had no access and were really needing it. There were some very ill people that I was coming across in hospital that were really totally needing nature at that time. And they weren't allowed out in it. So that also, it was a time of sort of looking and seeing, and then the wonderful thing was when we were able to open up, just knowing that at last you could open the doors and people could do what they had so badly been wanting to do and get here and get back outside.Deb Jordan: And so we were very lucky that there was no fear from people that they would come and might get COVID here because there's so much space, as soon as we'd managed to alter the way into the park and get them through quickly. Yeah, sure. It was very rewarding to allow people to.Bill Jordan: Some people were very cautious, wouldn't they, for quite a long time for all the obvious reasons and all worked well.Kelly Molson: Gosh, you've really been through some very big highs and some very big lows there. Haven't you thank you for sharing that with us, Deborah and I'm really glad to see that you are recovered and enjoying your beautiful place again today. So let's talk about the future then, because we've talked loads about what's happened and what, what you've been through the venue has just won some really phenomenal awards. And I have to mention, so you were winners of the Large Visitor Attraction of the Year and winners of the Marketing Camp Campaign of the Year at the East of England Tourism Awards. But you also, you just won a bronze at a very large attractions award, very large toys of award didn't you?Deb Jordan: Yes, we did. We were absolutely thrilled. Yes. We couldn't quite believe that because we'd achieved winner of the east. Then I think they put all the winners of the east and maybe others as well, all the other regions. So you get put into a pot and then the whole thing starts again. And somebody from the nationally won then comes out and looks so you don't know when they're going to come or when they've been. But when we heard that we've been put through, that was extremely exciting. Yeah. To go to Birmingham with the team and accept that award. We had some huge competition with Chester Zoo and actually public actually.Kelly Molson: Oh yes.Bill Jordan: Some pretty huge sort of attractions. So we felt we'd done well to get in that sort of elevated company.Kelly Molson: Yeah. It's wonderful. It was so fabulous to see you get that, get that prize. I was really thrilled for you all. So what next? You've just had a beautiful rebrand and may I say also a beautiful website and it's really, you are in a really wonderful position of kind of exciting new things happening. So what's the plans for the venue?Deb Jordan: Well, I think, the site itself is always going to need investment. Whether it be a cafe which has got a kitchen that needs work on, we're looking at how to get visitors further afield of more exciting things. But those would probably be more about a planning application. We've been working on a new sculpture garden, which is absolutely in its infancy at the moment. And the whole idea is actually to try and encourage sculptors to loan work. So that we've been buying sculpture on a yearly basis, which the visitors seem to love. I often come across the stag with people, with their children sitting on it or the wild boar or whatever it is. And we've just got the new fantasy wide ferry and the dandelions, which are a huge, seem to be pleasing everybody.Deb Jordan: But the whole idea about that garden is actually to try and so that we can, when we've progressed it a little bit further, we can take photos and say to people, look it's not that we wanting to become a sculpture park, but we'd like for our members to be able to see other people's sculpture here, that they could have the opportunity to buy. So that's something that we're working on and it's very much in its infancy.Bill Jordan: There's a sort of ongoing program with reintroductions, which is pencil QNS. We've got a very good agricultural team led by Christy. And yeah, we're working with the MOD, ministry of defense, who are collecting eggs from various different air fields around the east of England. We're then incubating the eggs here, looking after the chicks until they're ready to be released in the washes or Ken Hill farm, which features in spring wash at the moment or this spring anyway. So yeah, there's a lot of that work goes on, which again our visitors, like they can't see a huge amount of it because obviously it's all got to be bio secure, but it's something they like to feel that they're supporting. And it's sort of something that suits the area and yeah, it's something fortunate that some members of the team here are very good at. So yeah, that continues a pace. What else?Deb Jordan: I think it's probably now sitting with the team and working on a more five, 10 year plan where we all know exactly where we're going and we are trying to just even become more wild. It's just trying to find that happy balance of people with giving them something to do that actually helping them want to get their kids further out into.Bill Jordan: Yeah. And there is a lot of space here. We keep going on about that. But you know, the reserve itself is probably 200 acres, but you've got in total more like 500 and we take the discovery tours, land Rover tours out onto the farmland where we're, the wardens are working hard on the habitats there, fulfill encouraging more biodiversity and more wildlife out in that part of the reserve as well. So yeah, it's all part of the same thing and I don't know that we're going to run out things to do.Kelly Molson: No, I think Deb's to-do list is getting longer by the minute. Isn't it? Thank you. This has been so lovely to talk to you. I would implore all of our listeners to please go and visit Pensthorpe because it is a really magical place. Bill Oddie was absolutely right about it. We were at the end of the podcast and we always ask our guests to recommend a book that they love. So it can be something that you've found useful for your career. It can be something that you just love from a personal perspective.Deb Jordan: Well mine, the one I'd suggest that everybody should read, is Fingers In the Sparkle Jar by Chris Packham. I think it may have won best book in the wildlife somewhere. But it's a very remarkable, raw. It gets absolutely into the vulnerability of people with Asperger's. And so Chris did this extraordinary program on television, which was Asperger's and me. And I was amazed by that and how he put himself into that position of saying what was going on in his life and how difficult it had been for him. And this book is very much his early memoir, probably from about five to about 17.Deb Jordan: And I think that it's just as any parent, anybody that has any sort of difficulties with actually fitting into a peer group. And I'm sure there are many people that either went through that themselves, when you are reading that book, you actually sort of feel the pain and you feel the vulnerability. And actually, I think it just makes us all as adults, especially aware if we've had that in our family, it helps us understand it. If we haven't got it in our family, it helps us understand it somewhere else. But it is a mesmerising read. So it's not like a chore. Everybody will read it and his descriptions and the way he explains his life in nature. It's just an absolute extraordinary book.Kelly Molson: I have not read that. That's going top of my list. That sounds wonderful. Bill, what about you?Bill Jordan: Well, we've just had a week away, which was rather nice. I read Sitopia by Carolyn Steel, which is a fascinating book. And it's talks about the way that we haven't been valuing food. We should be doing more on a local scale. The regenerational farming thing comes into it. And of course, Jake Finds and Holkham are all involved. And that's very much a Norfolk thing as well. So, no, I thought it was just a brilliant book. And again, we shouldn't be just talking about buying the cheapest food, although for some it's certainly necessary, but we should be looking at the importance of food in the civilisation rather than just what we can get away with and then factory farming and intensive farming it's got to change. Yeah. So that's my book.Kelly Molson: Very topical book. Thank you both. As ever listeners, if you would like to win those books, if you head over to our Twitter account and you retweet this episode announcement with the words I want Bill and Deb's books, then you will be in with a chance of winning a copy of them. Thank you both so much today. It's been such a pleasure to talk to you. I know that you've got a really exciting summer coming up. There's loads going on at Pensthorpe, and I'm looking forward to coming back and bringing my daughter over to see the place as well. I'll see you then.Deb Jordan: Fantastic. Thank you very much.Bill Jordan: Thank you very much.Kelly Molson: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others find us and remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip the Queue is brought to you by rubber cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website, rubbercheese.com/podcast.

Wildlife screen composer David Poore and ex-screen composer Frances discuss the role of music in movies, TV dramas, documentaries and of course wildlife films.  Conversation also covers conscious and subconscious influences in composition, and the electronic software that has revolutionised the industry these past few decades.David is perhaps best known for his well-loved theme to BBC's Springwatch, but has been composing for TV across the world for over 25 years.Recorded April 2022- -Hear more samples of David's music athttps://www.davidpoore.com

Nikki Bedi and Mobeen Azhar are joined by DJ Fat Tony, who first found fame in the 80s and has played for everyone from Prince and Madonna to Royalty. After 28 years of hedonism, Tony found himself homeless and dying from addiction but he's now over 15 years sober, in demand as a DJ and working to help others. We also have Angela Hartnett MBE, the Michelin starred chef who's written cookbooks, judged on BBC's Best Home Cook and a has passion for good, honest food with the best ingredients possible. Football manager and former player Carlo Ancelotti has navigated Real Madrid to the face Liverpool in the Champions League final tonight. So what's his secret? Spring is in the air and so is birdsong. But how many of us know what we are listening to? We are joined by self taught birdsong expert Lucy “lapwing” Hodson who set up youtube tutorials in lockdown, she also makes props for Springwatch and knows something about Larks. She joins us. Opera singer Brindley Sherratt chooses his Inheritance Tracks: Beethoven: Fidelio, Mir ist so wunderbar and The Carpenters: We've Only Just Begun (photo credit Gerard Collett). And your Thank you. Producer: Corinna Jones

With our countryside fast vanishing under concrete, there is much we can do to mitigate the loss by placing the natural world at the heart of development and planning. “Housing developments and houses themselves should be designed to provide space for both wildlife and people” – The Wildlife Trusts. But how do we get to this mindset? We were very excited to be joined by Chris Packham, naturalist, television presenter, writer, photographer, conservationist, campaigner and filmmaker. A very much respected presenter of BBC's BAFTA Award-winning Springwatch, Autumnwatch and Winterwatch series. In our discussion, we talk about Biophilic Design and he makes an urgent call about why we need to bring nature into our built environment. “If we are not in contact with nature, how are we ever going to learn to love or recognise its true value.”We were joined in this podcast by the insightful environmental correspondent Hartley Milner, who right at the start of the podcast asks about the current government legislation, policy change, the new watchdog being set up and how much is government spin. Chris, with his extensive knowledge of ecology, explains that really the governance is not enough, we need a collective sea-change in political attitudes, where those who govern us recognise an urgent need to address these issues. “Does it have to hurt us a lot more before we do anything? We are brilliant at cures, but not so good at prevention, which is an indictment of our collective intelligence that we wait to fall over before we pick ourselves up”. This is one of the compelling reasons for Biophilic Design implementation. It is an integral part of that prevention I would argue. Surrounding ourselves with nature and patterns of nature, encourages positive memory, association and understanding and appreciation of nature. If we experience it in our everyday built environment we will naturally want to protect the living world we share our planet with, and depend on. “Our planet is on fire,” he says. “One to one contact with nature is essential”.Chris also gives us ideas on how we can bring nature up close and personal in our own gardens, however small. “You might have a tiny patch of garden, but collectively, they are not. Did you know that all the gardens in the UK add up to an area the size of Suffolk?” Chris says that if we can help enable the individual to make a difference, then communities, then collectively all together, we can make a significant difference enabling us to live and survive more sustainably.We talk about how we can design and build good quality affordable housing, new developments and communities with nature in mind. “Ask for help, reach out to those ecologists for help, let's work in partnership. If you have the energy and ambition to build more sustainably and green, don't just go 60% to make it green, go 100% and make it green and fruitful,” he says.Wouldn't it be amazing to see a whole raft of architects, developers, planners and designers who are able to create amazing spaces, offering everyone access to nature, even in intensely urbanised areas, improving health, and air quality, reducing temperature, encouraging biodiversity? We are running out of time. A better way of designing needs to be mandatory.Wouldn't it be amazing if every new build had swift bricks (which cost the same as ordinary ones), bat boxes, and fruit trees for instance? I suggest that maybe we need a simple “takeaway kit” for some developers to just plug and play an implementation. We need to build housing that will work today and tomorrow. The whole ethos of Biophilic Design is summed up when Chris says how we should be giving people the chance to live an harmonious co-existence with nature. When we have first-hand experience of nature, it surprises us, it fills us with awe and wonderment. We have discussed elsewhere on this podcast series, just what happens in our brains when we are close to nature (sights, sounds, smells, light, air, senses, evolutionary psychologyl, and physiological changes for instance), it is humbling to hear first-hand from someone so passionate about the natural world, that together we can really make a difference. So, listeners (and readers), I'm going to ask you. What will you do today?To find out more about Chris Packham, visit his website on https://www.chrispackham.co.uk If you like this, would you like to register for our newsletter? https://mailchi.mp/4001fc945c4f/untitled-pageCredits: with thanks to George Harvey Audio Production for the calming biophilic soundscape that backs all our podcasts. Did you know our podcast is also on Audible, Amazon Music, Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher, vurbl, podbay, podtail, and most if not all the RSS feeds?Facebook https://www.facebook.com/journalofbiophilicdesign/Twitter https://twitter.com/JofBiophilicDsnLinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/company/journalofbiophilicdesign/Instagram https://www.instagram.com/journalofbiophilicdesign

The Cycling Podcast Féminin returns to review the spring Classics campaign. Rose Manley and Orla Chennaoui are joined by Lionel Birnie as they each select their outstanding moments of the spring. Annemiek van Vleuten bookended her spring with victories in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Liège-Bastogne-Liège but she was outfoxed in several of the other classics. It was a spring of two halves for SD Worx, Trek-Segafredo found ways to win with Elisa Balsamo and Elisa Longo Borghini and Paris-Roubaix has evolved from a fledgling event to a full-blown Classic in the space of six months and two editions. Plus, we discuss the possibility of a women's edition of Milan-Sanremo being added to the calendar – although that should actually be re-added... The Cycling Podcast Féminin is supported by Supersapiens and Science in Sport. Supersapiens is a continuous glucose monitoring system that helps you make the right fuelling choices. See supersapiens.com For 25% off all your SiS products, go to scienceinsport.com and enter the code SISCP25 at the checkout. The Cycling Podcast has a new collaboration with MAAP. See: maap.cc Friends of the Podcast Sign up as a Friend of the Podcast at thecyclingpodcast.com to listen to more than 60 exclusive episodes. The Cycling Podcast is on Strava The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

Kate Humble joins us to talk about her debut cook book Home Cooked: Recipes From The Farm. After the huge success of the documentary series 'Escape To The Farm With Kate Humble', this is a celebration of simple, seasonal home cooking full of flavour, comfort and joy, with more than 100 recipes from the kitchen table, inspired by her rural life at home in Wales. Kate Humble is a writer, smallholder, campaigner and one of the UK's best-known TV presenters. She started her television career as a researcher, later presenting programmes such as ‘Animal Park', ‘Springwatch' and ‘Autumnwatch', ‘Lambing Live', ‘Living with Nomads', ‘Extreme Wives', ‘Back to the Land', ‘A Country Life for Half the Price' and ‘Escape to the Farm'. Her other books include Friend for Life, Humble by Nature, A Year of Living Simply and Thinking on My Feet. 5x15 brings together five outstanding individuals to tell of their lives, passions and inspirations. There are only two rules - no scripts and only 15 minutes each. Learn more about 5x15 events: 5x15stories.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/5x15stories Facebook: www.facebook.com/5x15stories Instagram: www.instagram.com/5x15stories

This week on the Andy Jaye podcast, Andy has a fascinating conversation with national treasure, Kate Humble.A hugely established television presenter, Kate is known for shows including Top Gear and Tomorrow's World, as well as a whole host of nature-based shows including Springwatch and Countryfile. Now, Kate can be seen on Escape To The Farm and Coastal Britain and Kate also has a cookbook available - Home Cooked: Recipes from the Farm. In this episode, Kate discusses her incredible life and career in television as well as life on the farm and shares some of her amazing stories including working on a crocodile farm, as well as some excellent anecdotes. Kate also openly discusses her thoughts around the perception of fame, her personal life, and how her cookbook came to fruition. The Andy Jaye Podcast is produced by The Driven Media Group - a Paramex Digital brand. Contact the show, email hello@drivenchat.com. Find our entire back catalogue of conversations in all the usual podcast places. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Gillian Burke is best known to us as a presenter of the 'Watch' television series - Springwatch, Autumnwatch and Winterwatch .She talks to Simon Armitage about her childhood in Kenya where she had a hands-on experience of wildlife, running barefoot outside her house searching for insects . Her love of conservation was inspired by her mother who worked in Nairobi for the UN on environmental projects . From the natural world to a love of Cornwall, along the way their conversation takes in deep sea diving and gospel singing . Produced by Susan Roberts

This week YOLOBirder is joined by naturalist and self-proclaimed nature nerd Lucy Lapwing. Lucy started blogging about wildlife on her Instagram during a period of illness in 2015, and aims to communicate the weird and the beautiful aspects of our natural world in a funny and inclusive way. She works for the RSPB in Communication, Fundraising and Community Engagement and has ongoing bird song series on YouTube and BBC Radio 3. She has successfully spread the nerdy word on a number of [platforms recently including BBC Earth and Springwatch's Instagram, and the Self Isolating Bird Club. In this episode Lucy celebrates the 'little brown jobs' and the often overlooked female birds of a species. Contains cloacal pecking, tiny cowboy birds and birds suckling goats!

This week we're back in the UK talking to countryside ranger and wildlife presenter, Ajay Tegala. Ajay has a degree in Environmental Conservation and nine years' experience working in nature conservation. He was a ranger on Britain's first coastal reserve, Blakeney Point for many years and currently works at Wicken Fen, Britain's oldest and very first nature reserve (1899); alongside 100 Konik ponies and 50 Highland cattle! Growing up in East Anglia, Ajay became interested in wetland birds. Through his career in nature conservation, he went on to work with seabirds, in particular terns; monitoring their breeding behaviour and contributing to national monitoring programmes. He has managed and studied England's largest Grey Seal rookery, off the Norfolk coast. Ajay champions and monitors the success of habitat creation for nature, which partners well with his great love for the fenland landscape, and is passionate about its restoration. Ajay has promoted beach cleans in East Anglia, gardening for wildlife and clothing for Cotswold Outdoor, appearing in shop windows across the UK. Ajay has chalked-up over 15 appearances across the five main channels, including the popular BBC nature documentaries ‘Countryfile', ‘Coast' and ‘Winterwatch' plus a live appearance on ‘Springwatch: Unsprung' and many, many more! He is currently undertaking a talent development placement with the BBC Natural History Unit working on Springwatch 2021. You can follow Ajay on his social to see what he does.YouTube: Ajay TegalaTwitter: @AjayTegalaInstagram: ajaytegala

In this weeks podcast I'm speaking to fellow East Midlander Jack Baddams. He's worked as a bird ringer, volunteered at sherwood forest and currently works on Springwatch as researcher. So we discuss a bit about Jacks career but also look are all non native species bad? Are we at the point of no return with some alien species and discuss a new type of conservation gaining momentum compassionate conservation where you don't kill any thing. Jack's Insta - https://www.instagram.com/jabaddams/   Facebook Page Twitter

This week I have Megan McCubbin who is a zoologist, conservationist, photographer and recent addition to the Springwatch presenting team we talk about what it was like joining the watches, going uncover in Asia to expose the bear bile industry and setting up the self isolation bird club. We also talk about what its like being Chris Packhams step daughter and if theres a feeling of stepping out of his shadow or not? Megan's Insta - www.instagram.com/megan_mccubbinphoto Britains Hidden Fishes - https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/britain-s-hidden-fishes/x/15889418#/ Facebook Page Twitter

In this chat Stephen and I dive into his childhood experiences where the foundations of his love for nature were laid at a very young age. He explains why birds were his primary fascination, and how as he grew up and entered the world of work, this broadened into other flying things such as dragonflies and butterflies after meeting the legendary birder, comedian and presenter, Bill Oddie. Stephen is a former producer at the BBC Natural History Unit with an admirable career spanning three decades. He produced some of the nation's most loved nature series, such as Big Cat Diary, Birding with Bill Oddie, and the BAFTA-winning Springwatch series, which first aired in 2005. We dive into what his role involved and how working in TV is very much a job for those who thrive when working in teams.  ‘Why this, why me, why now'. Through much of this conversation Stephen and I talk in depth about travel and nature writing, from putting thoughts to paper, order, structure, and purpose. As someone who is a senior lecturer at Bath Spa University in the topic, he has some very insightful tips for anyone looking to get into writing. Contact:Website: Stephen MossTwitter

This week YOLOBirder chats to wildlife television producer Laura Howard about her work on iconic shows such Springwatch and Blue Planet, and about her five favourite birds. Contains sky burials, birds with pleasing fat forms and the bird who would be the drummer in the bird band (and it is not a woodpecker!)

It is the final week of the BBC's wildlife series Springwatch; what better time then than for it's host Chris Packham, a long time presenter and supporter of Tweet of the Day, to select five of his personal favourites from the Radio 4 series. Birds which should be calling or singing while Springwatch is on air. In this episode Chris recalls the delight on seeing a sparrowhawk in the garden before introducing the five species he has chosen from his own time presenting on the series, which you can hear Monday to Friday at 05.58 this week. You can hear more from Chris in the Tweet of the Week omnibus podcast, which can be found on the Radio 4 website, or can be found on the BBC iplayer Radio App by searching search for Tweet of the Week. Producer Andrew Dawes.