Podcasts about wetlands trust

Kate Humble has presented the majestic Animal Park from Longleat for more than two decades. As a champion of the environment and rural affairs, she's been the president of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and founded Humble by Nature, a rural skills centre based at her farm here in Wales. But when she's not frolicking in the fields or mucking out meerkats Kate unwinds at home, often in the kitchen, creating recipes for her latest book. I don't know about you, but a bit of Beethoven always beats the boredom out of a bolognas...I wonder if Kate's the same? Inherited: Suzanne by Leonard Cohen Passed on: Ain't got no / I got life by Nina SimoneProducer: Ben Mitchell

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.

Helen Mark visits 50 square miles that were neither England nor Scotland. The Debatable Lands, between Carlisle and Gretna, were home to untameable crime families that petrified the most powerful of Lords and Kings. For hundreds of years governments in London and Edinburgh left the region to its own laws and moral codes. When they did intervene, the result was an explosion of violence that's still visible in the landscape of derelict towers and still audible in the Border Ballads collected by Walter Scott.Author, Graham Robb guides Helen through the region's complex history and Ian Scott Martin takes her to the ramparts of Gilnockie Tower- the fearsome stronghold of the Armstrong family, one of the most notorious clans of Border Reivers.The Union of the Crowns in the early 17th century brought the age of the Debatable Land to an end, ushering in a long period of peace broken abruptly in 1915. On the Western Front the British Army was running out of shells. In Westminster the government fell and the decision was made to build an enormous 9 mile long munitions factory, stretching across the region. Rebecca Short of the Devil's Porridge Museum guides Helen around the remains of the industrial landscape in which 30,000 people- 16,000 of them women- worked in the production of the cordite that propelled shells across the battlefields of Belgium and France. The western tip of the Debatable Land reaches out to the saltmarshes of the Solway Firth. This apparently peaceful landscape soon yields its secrets. The land is constantly battered and transformed by the tides while animals and plants have to adapt to survive the harsh and dynamic conditions. Helen explores the creeks, bogs and rivers with David Pickett of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and Chris Miles of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland.Producer: Alasdair Cross

It's difficult to imagine a more intense rivalry than Humans and Geese. We eat them at Christmas time, they terrorise our picnics. It's a feud as old as time, with countless tears and bloodshed, and yet we are doomed to torture each other as long as we both walk this Earth. Championing the Goose's side of the war, while still acknowledging the living chaos that our feathered friends rain upon mankind, is Ornithologist, host of the "How Many Geese?" podcast, and first EVER returning guest: Jack Baddams, who exhibits what we like to call "BGE" or Big Goose Energy. Jack joins Alice this week to discuss why Geese are the antithesis to the British public, the crazy story behind Barnacle Geese, AND why we should all "be more Goose" when we need a dash of brazen confidence. Our Charity of the Week this week is the WWT - the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, who are not only protecting the habitat where Geese (and other birds) roam, but have been pivotal in the repopulation of the Hawaiian Goose! Visit one of their sites today and find out why Wetlands are crucial to a healthy planet at: www.wwt.org.uk. This episode of the show is sponsored by the incredible Nature Spy - the wizards of wildlife-watching tech, who are offering a 10% discount on all trail cameras with a code you can only find in the episode! Find out more about their inspirational organisation and how they're helping conservation projects across the world at www.naturespy.org! The episode is also sponsored by Effin Birds, who strike that perfect balance of Birds and insults. Preorder their 2025 calendar today and don't miss out on their new comics, which find creative new ways to insult people! Shop for their hilarious mugs, t-shirts and playing cards at www.effinbirds.com!

To celebrate Superb Owl weekend (or the big football game for some folks), we decided to throw you an episode about one of our star players, the Snowy Owl!We all love owls! Please take a moment to learn more about safely observing and photographing owls. Join the Great Backyard Bird Count. It takes as little as 15 minutes to make a difference and you can participate from anywhere in the world! The Nocturnal Owl Survey will be looking for helpers from February through April. And the Christmas Bird Count would love your help in December and January.  Andrew Coughlan is a biologist with a wide range of experience working with birds. Born in England, Andrew has lived in Québec since 1996. Before becoming the Director of Quebec for Birds Canada, he worked for 10 years as a research officer at Laval University. Before that, in England, he worked for the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and the Zoological Society of London. Andrea Gress (she/her) secretly thinks Piping Plovers are better than all the other birds...studied Renewable Resource Management at the University of Saskatchewan. She pivoted towards birds, after an internship in South Africa. Upon returning, she worked with Piping Plovers in Saskatchewan and now coordinates the Ontario Piping Plover Program for Birds Canada.

It's time for our now apparently annual tradition of bringing you a How Many Geese? Slimbridge Summer Special!  A whole year to the day that that made our first visit to the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust's flagship reserve in Gloucestershire - we returned with our attentions set firmly on the amphibious. Join us as Kay Baxter, Living Collections Supervisor for the ectotherms, takes us on a behind the scenes tour of Slimbridge's assortment of frogs, toads, newts, salamanders and everything else in between.  Plus - we delve into the simultaneously rarest AND cutest bird we've ever tackled with our pals Birda, as the Spoon-billed Sandpiper is our Birda of the week.    To learn more about our partners Birda and download their free birdwatching app, visit their website at https://birda.app/how-many-geese   For more on the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, check them out here: https://www.wwt.org.uk/   To support the show by leaving us a donation to help keep growing the podcast, please visit: www.buymeacoffee.com/howmanygeese  

A Waikato wetland sanctuary is reintroducing rats to try to stop birds pooing in a prized lake. It's a last resort to try to scare off half a million sparrows and starlings roosting at Lake Rotopiko. The birds defecate so much, it's changing the ecosystem and affecting the water quality. National Wetlands Trust spokesperson, John Innes says they've released 30 rats to try and deter the birds in a first for the nation. "This is experimental, that's the first thing, and this is all being closely monitored to see if it works. It's only one species of the twelve or thirteen mammals that were taken out and everybody's very keen that the others don't go in." LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For our final episode, we're peering into the depths of some mysterious local ponds with a hydrophone, discovering how the ghosts of wetlands past can lead us towards a more hopeful trajectory for living with water.  With nearly all of our wetlands gone since the Roman times, we hear the story of how they disappeared so drastically, reaching back to a time when Britain was a wild, wet landscape and King Alfred hid from Vikings in the Somerset marshes. Holding onto the little that remains, we ask, what is the radical potential of wetlands today?  Featuring: Jack Greenhalgh (Bristol University PhD), John Chamberlayne (of Hill Farm Longley) and Geoff Hilton (Chief Scientist and Head of Research, WWT). Presented by Roxy Furman.  If listening to this podcast inspires you to take action for wetlands then please do join our campaign! Search 'Wetlands Can' to find out more and sign our pledge here. Waterlands is a series brought to you by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. It's an 18Sixty production, and the producer is Eliza Lomas. 

The ebb and flow of the waters that cover our lands is one of nature's well-known phenomenons, defining our yearly cycles and driving life on earth. But these cycles are being thrown out of balance, with devastating effects. On this episode, we explore the history of flooding in Britain — is what we're experiencing now unique, or has it all happened before?  We go to a special place in Somerset where water has been allowed to take over the landscape, as it did in the past. And we meet someone whose home was flooded, and hear how that experience led her to some profound truths about climate change.  Featuring: Daisy Hildyard (author, The Second Body), Hannah Cloke OBE (Professor of Hydrology at the University of Reading), Tim McGrath (Head of Project Development, WWT). Presented by Roxy Furman.  If listening to this podcast inspires you to take action for wetlands then please do join our campaign! Search 'Wetlands Can' to find out more and sign our pledge here. Waterlands is a series brought to you by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. It's an 18Sixty production, and the producer is Eliza Lomas.

Around the world, we're witnessing the increasingly extreme impacts of climate change and global warming. Floods, landslides, tsunamis, storms, heatwaves and droughts are all becoming more frequent and more intense. When disaster strikes, it usually manifests itself through water.  But can water also be part of the solution to solving the climate crisis? To find out, we're spending time in the lush swamps of Madagascar's mangroves and the wild beauty of our British Estuaries. Along the way, we'll ask how a mere trillion dollars could help the cause.  Featuring: Leah Glass (Blue Ventures, Madagascar), Rowan Hooper (Editor, New Scientist magazine), Alys Laver (Site Manager, Steart Marshes WWT). Presented by Roxy Furman.  If listening to this podcast inspires you to take action for wetlands then please do join our campaign! Search 'Wetlands Can' to find out more and sign our pledge here. Waterlands is a series brought to you by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. It's an 18Sixty production, and the producer is Eliza Lomas. 

We meet ‘the mermaid swimmer', Lindsey Cole, at Conham River Park in Bristol. While travelling the River Avon to raise awareness of plastic pollution, she ran afoul – literally – of another issue, when she suddenly fell very ill, poisoned by sewage. We learn more about why, exactly, our waterways are such a mess and head to Gloucestershire to look at an ingenious human-made wetland on the banks of the Severn. We discover how special places like these can protect us from some of the nastiest bugs that make their way into our water, all through the power of nature.   Featuring: Lindsey Cole, Dan Roberts (Project Manager, WWT), Hugo Tagholm (Founder, Surfers Against Sewage). Presented by Roxy Furman.   If listening to this podcast inspires you to take action for wetlands then please do join our campaign! Search 'Wetlands Can' to find out more and sign our pledge here. Waterlands is a series brought to you by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. It's an 18Sixty production, and the producer is Eliza Lomas. 

Why is it that being close to water makes us feel so much better? We travel to the water's edge to understand more, meeting people whose lives have been profoundly changed by its effects. We hear from experts in nature prescribing who offer practical tips for improving our wellbeing, and we learn about the emerging science that reveals just how essential water is for our minds as well as our bodies.  Featuring: Fashion designer Savannah Miller and Sarah Guise (The Rewild Swim Club), Dr. Lewis Elliott and Dr Jo Garrett (European Centre for the Environment and Human Health), Will Freeman (Health and Wellbeing Officer, WWT) and Ceri-Louise (Psychotherapist and Mindfulness Practitioner, WWT). Presented by Roxy Furman.  If listening to this podcast inspires you to take action for wetlands then please do join our campaign! Search 'Wetlands Can' to find out more and sign our pledge here. Waterlands is a series brought to you by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. It's an 18Sixty production, and the producer is Eliza Lomas. 

Craig David joins Julia Bradbury and Richard Coles. The singer-songwriter found fame age 18 with ‘Rewind' and over the next 22 years dealt with the highs and lows of fame. Craig talks about his career, overcoming obstacles and rediscovering his good vibes. Kwesia aka City Girl in Nature grew up in Deptford, an inner city area of London. Growing up Kwesia dealt with violence and trauma but an opportunity to go to the Peruvian Amazon rainforest changed her life and she now works to share her love and passion for the outdoors. Sandy Nairne was deputy director of London's Tate Gallery back in 1994 when he was woken in the early hours to be told that two Turner paintings, on loan from the Tate, had been stolen in Frankfurt. They were worth £30 million. He became the person responsible for tracking them down, which would take eight and a half years. Jamie Oliver shares his Inheritance Tracks: (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay by Otis Redding and Only To Be With You by Roachford. Susannah Constantine made her name as a stylist in What Not To Wear. She talks about her life, from being an 80s IT girl to the impact of her mother's illness, and her own alcoholism. Craig David's new album 22 is out now and his book What's Your Vibe is out on the 6th October. Kwesia features in a new podcast called Waterland's from The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. Catching the Art Thieves is on the BBC iPlayer now. One by Jamie Oliver is out now Ready for Absolutely Nothing by Susannah Constantine is out now. Producer: Claire Bartleet

Humans are now officially an urban species, with over half of us living in cities. But how are urban centres and wetlands intertwined? And why should we continue to strive for a closer connection with the water on our doorstep? We travel to London Wetland Centre, in the shadow of Heathrow Airport, to find out what impact these small but vital pockets of wetland have on our collective health.  Featuring Kwesia (City Girl in Nature), Beth Collier (psychotherapist, Wild in The City), Nick Oliver (Engagement Manager, WWT) and Tom Ash (Policy and Advocacy Officer, WWT). Presented by Roxy Furman.  If listening to this podcast inspires you to take action for wetlands then please do join our campaign! Search 'Wetlands Can' to find out more and sign our pledge here. Waterlands is a series brought to you by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. It's an 18Sixty production, and the producer is Eliza Lomas.

Coming 13th September 2022. Introducing Waterlands, a brand new series from the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust. Immerse yourself in the sounds of the riverbank, crashing tides, wild marshes filled with birds and the underwater sounds of the humble pond.  Waterlands takes you on a journey around our incredible wetlands here in the UK - and reveals their power to shape our future for the better. Through personal stories and intriguing interviews, join Roxy Furman, as she explore the wonders of our watery worlds.

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.

Millie Sutherland Saines is an ecologist and science communicator with the Woodlands & Wetlands Trust, that looks after two reserves in the ACT: Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary & Jerrabomberra Wetlands. Emersed in important box-gum grassy-woodland, a critically endangered habitat, Mulligans Flat is a wildlife reserve situated on Ngunnawal country with a feral-proof fence protecting some unique and threatened Australian animals like the Eastern Bettong, the Eastern Quoll and the Spotted-tail Quoll.You can follow her updates on Instagram @ecology.millie and twitter @milliekss, and you can find out more about Mulligans Flat at their website or on social media. And, if you find yourself in Canberra, why not pay a visit to Mulligans Flat – they even have a new visitors centre and café, Wildbark – and offer Twilight Tours to experience the amazing nocturnal fauna that call the wildlife sanctuary home!  #ITSAWILDLIFE #itsawildlife is a podcast and blog, sharing the great work being done for wildlife conservation worldwide and solving problems for ecologists by ecologists. If you're a fellow wildlifer, whether you're just starting out or you've been about the traps for a while, you're in the right place! Tune in each week to talk all things nature: amazing projects, inspiring ecologists, and step-by-step advice to land your dream job in wildlife conservation. Read a transcript of Millie's story here.FREE RESOURCES:Feel like you've tried everything to land your dream job in wildlife conservation? We got you! Here's a whole bunch of free resources to inspire your next move and hand you some tricks of the trade.·         FREE guide: 10 steps to land your dream job in wildlife conservation·         FREE guide: 3 ways to stay confident whilst “stuck” applying for jobs·         FREE guide: How to get clear on your dream job in 3 easy steps·         FREE template: How to write a kickass CVFor more information, check out our website www.itisawildlife.com for more free resources, blog posts and more. SUPPORT & CONNECT:If you like what you hear, please subscribe, rate and review to support the show and share the love with your network.Check out the website to get on board and subscribe for #itsawildlife updates– we send monthly emails with fresh tips and fun updates! We'd love to hear from ya! Get in touch by email itsawildlife3@gmail.com or connect on Instagram @itisawildlife or Pinterest.

It's just a tiny collection of houses and a church. But could Steart in Somerset have found a pioneering solution for carbon capture? In partnership with the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, the village has flooded neighbouring land to help protect against future flooding caused by climate change - with surprising environmental benefits.More information on the The Times and Sunday Times Christmas Appeal can be found here: https://thetimes.co.uk/christmasappealThis podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes. Guests:-Kaya Burgess, science reporter and religious affairs correspondent, The Times.-Dr Hannah Mossman, Senior Lecturer in Ecology, Manchester Metropolitan University.-Dr Rachel Dunk, Principal Lecturer Environmental Management and Sustainable Development, Manchester Metropolitan University.Host: Manveen Rana.Clips: Channel 4 News. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Our twenty-ninth tree, Common Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica), and our thirtieth tree, Alder Buckthorn (Frangula alnus) - The BUCKTHORNS of the Rhamnaceae. Their unripe berries made paint pigment that was stored in a pig's bladder, their charcoal made gunpowder that has defined a society and their toxic seeds have made humans purge their bowels making countless regretful foragers! Our Buckthorns are an easily ignorable shrub that have left an indelible mark upon humankind. (Special thanks to Ian Bartholomew, Darren Moorcroft of the Woodland Trust, and James Robinson of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust for all adding their voices to this episode.) More from David Oakes as he uproots the secrets and stories beneath the 56(ish) Native Trees of the British Isles can be found at: https://www.treesacrowd.fm/56Trees/ Weekly episodes available early AND bonus content made free to forage by "Subscribtion Squirrels" on our Patreon. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Lead has been used in ammunition for hunting and sports shooting and in fishing tackle for centuries. It is estimated that each year around 100 000 tonnes of lead is dispersed into the EU environment from these uses. The European Chemicals Agency has looked into the possible risks from these uses to wildlife, livestock, the environment, and human health. It concluded that there are risks that are not adequately controlled and need to be addressed at the EU level.We interviewed representatives from different organisations during an event organised by ECHA where stakeholders shared their views on a potential restriction on the use of lead in ammunition for hunting and sports shooting.In this episode, we interview Dr. Ruth Cromie from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust to share her views on the restriction of lead ammunition in hunting.According to their website, WWT is a UK-based conservation charity that protects wetlands for wildlife and people. Ruth manages their ecosystem health unit that carries out a variety of different activities including surveillance for emerging and priority wetland diseases such as avian influenza and lead poisoning. They also carry out advocacy work to try and persuade shooters to use non-toxic ammunition.Watch our documentary video on the topicMoreLead in shots, bullets, and fishing weights: what is the EU doing?--------------------Disclaimer: Views expressed by interviewees do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Chemicals Agency. All content is up to date at the time of publication.

Join us for our first episode of Unfurling, as we explore the topic of 'Joy and Wonder'. Unfurling will cover a broad range of subjects - from climate change to networks, economics to adventure - but we’ve chosen to start with a personal conversation between the two of us, simply about the joy and wonder that the natural world evokes in us. We share experiences, stories, science, poetry, and more -- from the intimate and personal, via networks and relationships, through to the wider world and universe. Together, we have experience as coaches; in non-profits; in local politics; as writers; and more, and we bring experience of all of these worlds into our episodes. 'Joy and Wonder' is the subject for our first episode because we want to weave in a dimension of joy and wonder throughout our entire podcast series - whatever topic is at hand and however complex or challenging it is. We end by sharing a few ideas about accessing joy and wonder in and through the natural world: 1. We leave you with three questions to reflect on.2. We encourage you to explore the concept of “biophilia”, a love of living things and nature; to notice what’s around you, however small; and to experiment with a more nature-inspired mindset. 3. We also share book and documentary recommendations, also outlined in the Reference section below.We would love to hear your reflections and feedback on this episode and encourage you to join our Facebook group, 'Unfurling Podcast', in which we’ll be sharing questions and resources, and encouraging conversation about joy and wonder and future episode themes: https://www.facebook.com/groups/313645743154222/Thank you, and enjoy this unfurling conversation!References (with minute markers):Minute ~1: “Oh The Places You’ll Go!” by Dr. Seuss~4: “Recovering Together” by RSPB (https://www.rspb.org.uk/globalassets/downloads/recovering-together-report/recovering-together-report_nature-and-green-recovery_rspbyougov_june-2020.pdf)~8: J. D. Salinger quote: “The fact is always obvious much too late, but the most singular difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is a solid and joy a liquid.”~11: Marcel Proust quote: "The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."~14: “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett ~15: “Last Child in the Woods” by Richard Louv~16: “Teach the Children” from “Upstream: Selected Essays” by Mary Oliver~18: “Ode to Falcon Park” on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/odetofalconpark/~19: “The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver~22: Arukah Network (https://www.arukahnetwork.org/)~22: “How Trees Talk To Each Other” by Suzanne Simard (https://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_simard_how_trees_talk_to_each_other)~25: Sir Peter Scott (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Scott)~26: Slimbridge Wetland Centre: https://www.wwt.org.uk/who-we-are~26: Robert Falcon Scott quote: “Make the boy [Peter] interested in natural history if you can; it is better than games."~26: Story about Sir Peter Scott from “Sir Peter Scott's legacy lives on at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust” in The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/nov/10/peter-scott-wildfowl-wetlands-trust)~29: “Apollo 11” on Netflix (https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81078076)~32: “Pale Blue Dot” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_Blue_Dot)~34: “To see a World in a Grain of Sand…” from “Auguries of Innocence” by William Blake (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguries_of_Innocence)~38: “The Canticle of the Sun” by Saint Francis of Assissi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canticle_of_the_Sun)~42: “The Overstory” by Richard Powers~42: “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry~42: “Anne of Green Gables” by L.M. Montgomery ~43: “Unfurling Podcast” group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/313645743154222/)Podcast Music: “Birds Day” by Elizabells (www.premiumbeat.com) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

I caught up with my long time Twitter friend David Dinsley to talk about his obsession with wildlife conservation, photography and adventures as a ranger working with the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust. We talk about his expedition to Arctic Russia trapping and tagging Bewick's swans to trace their movements and find out why they are declining. There's also some healthy, competitive debate in the great North-South divide in who has the best wildlife, Northumberland or London. Sadly for me I think David's winning. Wait until you hear about some of the fantastic species he sees and photographs regularly! Jealous, me?!Sean's Wild Life podcast is produced and edited by Thomas Ntinas. Title track 'A Wild Life' kindly composed and donated by Mark Rose. Production costs are self funded by Sean McCormack, but donations to fund future episodes are welcome at www.patreon.com/seanswildlife See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Professor Debbie Pain has spent the last 30 years solving some of the most devastating threats to birdlife, saving many species from the brink of extinction. Her childhood passion for bird spotting drove her into conservation research with the RSPB and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. She's led scientific groundwork all over the planet: from reversing a dramatic mysterious decline in Asian vultures in the Indian sub-continent through to daring helicopters journeys into remote foggy North-East Russia in a bid to locate and conserve eggs of a hugely charismatic and threatened bird - the Spoon-billed Sandpiper. And as she tells Jim, her career defining research into one of the great hidden threats to birdlife - the toxic effect of billions of spent lead shot used to catch game birds - is finally turning the tide on attitudes to the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of wildfowl. Producer Adrian Washbourne

Catriona Horey is an executive coach based in London and a lead trainer, supervisor and assessor of coaching for the MOE Foundation. She spent the first ten years of her career transforming the performance of nonprofits, social enterprises and leaders in social innovation, but in 2013 a bereavement and a collapsed lung led to her reassessing her priorities, with the message ‘I'm too far away from the joy' appearing in her mind. That set her off on her journey into coaching, leading to a thriving business today working with leaders in social innovation, high potential professionals and women who want to redefine their priorities.In this episode, we talk about:- How becoming a mother has been fundamental in the way she has developed her business and how it is possible to have it all, but over a lifetime.- The question her coach asked her which made her look at her whole career plan completely differently.- Marketing: why you should choose the marketing strategy that works for YOU, and the marketing distinction that made the difference for Catriona.- What Catriona did to generate 11 clients when her first batch of practice clients wrapped up.- The way Catriona thinks and talks about her purpose in life.Over the course of this podcast, Catriona and I hit SO MANY of the common questions and challenges coaches face, including money, the question of niche, coaching on the phone, networking, connecting and more. And in case we had missed any, make sure to listen to the end for Catriona's five brilliant tips to shortcut to coaching success!www.thecoachsjourney.com For more information about Catriona, find her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/catrionahorey or visit her (minimalist) website, which has been ‘coming soon' ever since I met her, at https://www.withcatriona.com/For information about Robbie's wider work and writing, visit www.robbieswalecoaching.com.Music by My Good Man William: listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4KmeQUcTbeE31uFynHQLQgThings and people we mentioned (that you might be interested in):~2 mins – Future Leaders Trust, now rebranded as Ambition School Leadership: https://www.ambition.org.uk/~4 - Andrea Berkeley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-berkeley-4056673/~15 – Camilla Mendoza: https://camillamendoza.com/~22 –Simon Hampel: https://leadersquest.org/people/simon-hampel~23 – MOE Foundation: https://moefoundation.com/~25 – Culture at Work: http://www.coachingcultureatwork.com/ and Carol Wilson: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/coachingcultureatwork~27 – Natalie Scholey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-scholey/~28 – Tony Phillips: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonyjphillips~32 – Rich Litvin: https://richlitvin.com/~33 – Coaches Rising: https://www.coachesrising.com/~33 – CTI + their certification programme: https://coactive.com/~37 - Nicole Berg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolejberg/ and Coaching at Work: https://www.coaching-at-work.com/~42 – International Coaching Federation (ICF): https://coachfederation.org/ and their credentials, ACC and PCC: https://coachfederation.org/icf-credential~44 – Anna Lundberg: https://annaselundberg.com/~45- The Prosperous Coach by Rich Litvin and Steve Chandler: https://richlitvin.com/the-prosperous-coach/~48 - My LinkedIn Articles: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbieswale/detail/recent-activity/posts/ and the first post I wrote as part of the '12 minute'/train practice I designed with my coach: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/train-series-1-stories-robbie-swale/~64 – Catriona's LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catrionahorey~66 – Climate Change Coaches and their Coaching Circle: https://www.climatechangecoaches.com/startyourjourney~69 – The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge: https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/slimbridge~70 – Ramsar Treaty: https://www.ramsar.org/ ~93 – Robert Holden: https://www.robertholden.com/~95 – Darren Robson: https://www.darrenrobson.com/~96 – Ben Dooley: http://bedo.org/~99 – Catriona's List of Training: Masterful Coaching Mentor Group - Ben Dooley MCC - Completed 2018; Narrative Coach Enhanced Practitioner - WBECS (Dr David Drake) - Qualified 2018; Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) - The Coaches Training Institute - Qualified 2015; Associate Certified Coach (ACC) and Member - International Coach Federation - Qualified 2015; Licensed Firework Career Coach - The Firework Coaching Company - Qualified 2015; Organisation & Relationship Systems at Work - CRR Global - Completed 2015; Core Skills Coaching Programme (Education Sector) - Growth Coaching International - Completed 2015; Coaching and the Enneagram - Success Intelligence (Robert Holden) - Completed 2014; MOE Professional Certified Coach - The MOE Foundation - Qualified 2014~102 – Ann Farrell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annfarrell1/~109 – WBECS: https://www.wbecs.com/, London Coaching Group: https://www.londoncoachinggroup.co.uk/~110 – Hub Dot: https://hubdot.com/

Planet Pod visits three very different world-leading projects, protecting wildlife and acing sustainability in the North East.  Amanda is the guest of Climate Action North who act as her guide visiting the RSPB's Saltholme Nature Reserve, a Pollinator Park in the middle of the North East Business and Innovation Centre (BIC) in Sunderland and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust's Washington Wetland Centre. Amanda is in the company of Sharon Lashley, MD of Climate Action North, who is responsible for Europe's only solar powered flamingo house.  Intrigued?  Then listen in for more...... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This year's State of the UK's Birds report highlights how climate change is affecting our wintering and breeding birds. This annual 'stock take' of bird numbers is a collaboration between the RSPB, the British Trust for Ornithology and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust with the UK's statutory conservation bodies. On this month's Nature's Voice Jane Markham finds out more from RSPB conservation scientist Dr Daniel Hayhow and Dr Teresa Frost from the BTO. 

Aasmah Mir and the Rev Richard Coles are joined by broadcaster and actor Reggie Yates. From Desmonds to Top of the Pops, he's been on camera nearly all of his life, but it's as a documentary filmmaker that he's now familiar, investigating everything from religion in South Africa, race and homophobia in Russia to gun crime in Chicago. John Virgo has spent the last forty years playing snooker as a player and commentator. Famous for his impersonations of fellow players from Ray Reardon to Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins and and his jazzy waistcoats, he'll be telling us how he went from a childhood in Salford, through smoky snooker dens, to winning the UK Snooker Championship. Mandy Hickson is a former Royal Air Force fast jet pilot - only the second woman to fly a Tornado GR4 aircraft - who served on the front line defending the no fly zone in the Gulf. Julia Newth is a Bewick swan specialist at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, who is awaiting the arrival of the Bewick swans to the UK this weekend from their summer billets in Russia's Arctic north. The musician, Benny Andersson, formerly of the seventies group Abba reveals his Inheritance Tracks - Rattvikarnas Ganglat by Dalarnas Spelmansforbund Mon oeur S'ouvre A Ta Voix (Samson Et Dalila) by Maria Callas. If you are listening to this programme on demand, competitions may no longer be running. Unseen by Reggie Yates is published by BBC Books. Say Goodnight JV - John Virgo - My Autobiography is published by John Blake.

Do you prefer woodland or wetland? Jason Cummings doesn't have to choose, he's looking after both! Jason's the General Manager of the Woodlands and Wetlands Trust, and he's very very pro-betong! The Wholesome Show is @rodl and @willozap, Communications Manager and Puppy Wrangler is @ellageebee

Gravitational waves have been detected for a second time. These waves are ripples in the curvature of space time, predicted by Einstein in his General Theory of Relativity in 1916. Back in February, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (better known as LIGO) announced that they had detected the signal of gravitational waves from the collisions of two big black holes. The detection in February was the first observation of these waves, and confirmed General Relativity. This week, LIGO confirm a second detection. BBC Science Correspondent Jonathan Amos explains what is new about these new gravitational waves. We know more about the surface of the moon than we know about the ocean floor. Admittedly, the sea is much more dynamic, the scene of many chemical and biological processes, about which scientists would like to learn more. This week, cartographers meet in Monte Carlo, to discuss their plan to map the ocean floor by 2030. Roland Pease reports on the ocean-mapping options. 40 years ago, The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins was published. Since then, it has been a perpetual bestseller. In it, Dawkins explains that the gene is the unit of natural selection, an idea that has become central to all biology. Adam Rutherford speaks to Richard Dawkins, and his co-author on ‘The Ancestor’s Tale’ Yan Wong, at the Cheltenham Science Festival, to discuss the impact of The Selfish Gene. The spoonbilled sandpiper is standing on the edge of extinction, but in good news, Adam hears about of a clutch of eggs laid not in their native Russia but in Slimbridge in Gloucestershire. BBC producer Andrew Luck-Baker visited the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust’s population back in April, and describes these birds to Adam.

In winter, the UK's estuaries and wetlands play host to many species of 'dabbling,' or surface feeding, ducks. Chris Sperring visits the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire to find out more about them.