The Plodcast

Could you go coldwater swimming in the depths of winter? James Fair attempts to do just that in lake deep in the Cotswolds. He joins his wife Louise and four of her friends to hear about how swimming in freshwater, whatever the temperature, has a hugely positive impact on physical and mental health. It's an inspiring adventure.Later, join the regular Plodcast team of Fergus, Hannah, Jack and Lewis in the studio for a roundup of your messages, audio postcards and other nature nattering,Our Facebook page is back! Search "BBC Countryfile Magazine - Plodcast Community" or join the discussion here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/countryfilemagazineplodcast/?ref=shareThe BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is the Publishers Podcast Awards Special Interest Podcast of the Year 2024 & 2025 and the PPA Podcast of the Year 2022. If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: theplodcast@countryfile.com. If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. The Plodcast is produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. The theme tune was written and performed by Blair Dunlop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Down a windy track in a small valley at the very point where Herefordshire meets Wales, you find a watermill, restored and still working. As water from the leat gushes onto the wheel, it slowly creaks into life. At first, you marvel at the throb of the wheels and gears within the mill before relaxing to the steady pulse of the wheel itself. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Fergus Collins and introduced by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: theplodcast@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After serious childhood trauma and a high-octane but destructive life as a model, Brigit Anna McNeill found solace and healing in the company of wild plants – and wise women. Plodcast host Fergus Collins met Brigit in a peaceful corner of Devon to hear about her journey to become whole again – and her advice on how we can all rewild ourselves to improve our mental and physical health. It's an unmissable story. Brigit's book, The Wild Within: What plants taught me about life, recovery and renewal is published by September, an imprint of Duckworth Books.Our Facebook page is back! Search "Countryfile Magazine - Plodcast Community" or join the discussion here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/countryfilemagazineplodcast/?ref=shareThe BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is the Publishers Podcast Awards Special Interest Podcast of the Year 2024 & 2025 and the PPA Podcast of the Year 2022. If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: theplodcast@countryfile.com. If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. The Plodcast is produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. The theme tune was written and performed by Blair Dunlop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Very little is stirring in the deep dark winter woodland. That is until you come to a wide clearing on the edge of the wood, with slumbering farmland beyond. Here, inspired by the light, a song thrush sings over the chatter of a small flock of chaffinches – while a gentle rain falls on the leaf litter. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Fergus Collins and introduced by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: theplodcast@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Did you know that, even today, some of London's streets are lit by gas? Annabel Ross heading into the city's twilight zone to meet Aran Osman whose job it is to maintain these Victorian relics, which still illuminate much of Central London. Annabel also talks to Annelie Whitfield, who is writing a book about artificial light and its effect on humans and animals. Find Aran on Instagram @london_lamplightersFind Annelie on Instagram @lighthumanukOur Facebook page is back! Search "Countryfile Magazine - Plodcast Community" or join the discussion here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/countryfilemagazineplodcast/?ref=shareThe BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is the Publishers Podcast Awards Special Interest Podcast of the Year 2024 & 2025 and the PPA Podcast of the Year 2022. If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: theplodcast@countryfile.com. If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. The Plodcast is produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. The theme tune was written and performed by Blair Dunlop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's normally a gentle brook, winding through a peaceful woodland, has been transformed by many days of rain into a breathtaking torrent. You get your feet wet crossing the ford but the stream's exuberant song more than makes up for damp socks. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Fergus Collins and introduced by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: theplodcast@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Did you know that the last battle fought on English soil occurred in the early years of Queen Victoria – out in the Kent countryside? Historical novelist Ian Breckon has unearthed the extraordinary tale of Mad Tom and his 'rising' in the late 1830s and what it tells us about rural life at the time. Ian spoke with Plodcast host Fergus Collins on a walk in London's Highgate Woods.Ian's book Mad Tom's Rising: The Revolutionary Mystic Sir William Courtenay and the Last Battle Fought on English Soil is published by Icon Books.Our Facebook page is back! Search "Countryfile Magazine - Plodcast Community" or join the discussion here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/countryfilemagazineplodcast/?ref=shareThe BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is the Publishers Podcast Awards Special Interest Podcast of the Year 2024 & 2025 and the PPA Podcast of the Year 2022. If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: theplodcast@countryfile.com. If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. The Plodcast is produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. The theme tune was written and performed by Blair Dunlop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we're featuring a lost sound of the countryside – the curious melodies of clattering mills. These were wind-powered devices on tall poles that made a racket to scare birds from the crops – especially starlings plundering cherry crops. Thanks to Sonke Prigge for collecting these incredible sounds, which will be included in the British Library’s Very Rare and Lost Sounds collection. This is special strand within the Library's national sound archive dedicated to preserving audio that’s at risk of disappearing or already forgotten.BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Sonke Prigge and introduced by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: theplodcast@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is an honesty box? And how did it help writer Lucy Brazier understand her husband's serious mental health issues and save her marriage? And all this against a backdrop of a quirky and often challenging rural existence in deepest Devon. Plodcast host accepted Lucy's invitation for a walk and deep and meaningful talk on one of those rare, crisp winter days. Lucy's book The Honesty Box: the diary of a broken marriage, a mental health crisis and a large marrow is published by Bloomsbury.The BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is the Publishers Podcast Awards Special Interest Podcast of the Year 2024 & 2025 and the PPA Podcast of the Year 2022. If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: theplodcast@countryfile.com. If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. The Plodcast is produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. The theme tune was written and performed by Blair Dunlop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You awake to a strange silence, a deep calm. As you draw back the curtain, you are surprised to see a soft blanket of snow across the garden and beyond. This wasn't forecasted. But, like the boy in the Snowman, you quickly pull on warm clothes and dash out to explore – to be the first to lay down a trail of footsteps in the fresh snow. Sparrows, a gorgeous song thrush and distant barking hounds provide the commentary.BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Fergus Collins and introduced by Hannah Tribe. Image from GettyEmail the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: theplodcast@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Plodcast host Fergus sets out to find signs of spring in seldom-visited woodland in south Monmouthshire. Listen on for a mindful Plodcast full of eerie midwinter atmosphere. Later, Fergus returns to his garden to record a Big Garden Birdwatch for the RSPB. The BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is the Publishers Podcast Awards Special Interest Podcast of the Year 2024 & 2025 and the PPA Podcast of the Year 2022. If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: theplodcast@countryfile.com. If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. The Plodcast is produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. The theme tune was written and performed by Blair Dunlop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The pipes and flutes of curlews, oystercatchers and redshanks rise occasionally above the rush and roar of breakers on this little visited haven along the Sussex coast. You walk along the high tide line, splashing through pools of cockle and limpet shells. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Fergus Collins and introduced by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: theplodcast@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hugh Crossley aka Lord Somerleyton has rewilded large parts of his estate on the Norfolk-Suffolk border. After initial success spreading his message across East Anglia – in what he and his rewilding partners called WildEast – Hugh is aiming to spread his 'Map of Dreams' across the whole of the UK.Plodcast host Fergus Collins went for a wander with Hugh around his estate for an entertaining talk about his WildKingdom plans – and how he has needed to break convention and challenge tradition to make his voice heard.For more about WildKingdom and the Map of Dreams, head to wildeast.co.ukThe BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is the Publishers Podcast Awards Special Interest Podcast of the Year 2024 & 2025 and the PPA Podcast of the Year 2022. If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: theplodcast@countryfile.com. If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. The Plodcast is produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. The theme tune was written and performed by Blair Dunlop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After several days of intense cold deep in the Sussex countryside, a bright, warmer morning encourages a procession of birds to move through the garden in search of food – from rooks and jackdaws to dunnocks, robins and long-tailed tits. The resident sparrows seem to cheerfully welcome these visitors. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Fergus Collins and introduced by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: theplodcast@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Head to the Severn Estuary to meets curlews and other wild waterbirds in the company of singer-songwriter Merlyn Driver. Merlyn's music draws on nature and folk traditions and he talks to Plodcast host Annabel Ross about why he needs this magical connection. Later in the Plodcast, Annabel and Merlyn meet with writer and conservationist Mary Colwell, who has done so much work to save the curlew in the UK.Plus, listen on for the Plodcast team who meet for the first time in 2026 to read your messages and play your recordings of nature.The BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is the Publishers Podcast Awards Special Interest Podcast of the Year 2024 & 2025 and the PPA Podcast of the Year 2022. If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: theplodcast@countryfile.com. If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. The Plodcast is produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. The theme tune was written and performed by Blair Dunlop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just a few miles from its source, the River Severn is already a dashing, tumbling river, full of youthful promise and energy. You meet it while walking in a small market town – listening to the river's winter song as it cascades over rocks and through mini gorges before heading out into wide pastures and down into the borders. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Fergus Collins and introduced by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: theplodcast@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The RSPB's annual Big Garden Birdwatch is one of the world's biggest citizen science projects and provides incredible insights into the populations of our common birds.To find out more, Plodcast host Fergus meets the RSPB's Chief Operating Officer James Robinson in beautiful RSPB Nagshead Nature Reserve in Gloucestershire. As they listen out for winter birdlife, James explains to Fergus why the Birdwatch matters and how to get involved – and provides a fascinating insight into the work of this great conservation organisation. You can find out more about this year's Big Garden Birdwatch here: https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/big-garden-birdwatchThe BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is the Publishers Podcast Awards Special Interest Podcast of the Year 2024 & 2025 and the PPA Podcast of the Year 2022. If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: theplodcast@countryfile.com. If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. The Plodcast is produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. The theme tune was written and performed by Blair Dunlop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's bright and sunny but it's an illusion: a gale is swirling through the treetops, the aftermath of last night's storm. Shielded among the trees, you enjoy a walk through piles of fallen leaves – even the most reluctant faller plucked from its twig by the wind.BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Fergus Collins and introduced by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: theplodcast@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy New Year and welcome to the first Plodcast of 2026. The Plodcast is a weekly adventure in the British countryside brought to you by BBC Countryfile Magazine. In this episode, Plodcast host Fergus Collins sets out on a bright morning into a little known upland landscape in the Bannau Brycheiniog to search for the legendary Chartists' Cave. He is joined by friend and regular walking leader for the Crickhowell Walking Festival Andy Knifton. Listen on for an eerie walk into an atmospheric realm.The BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is the Publishers Podcast Awards Special Interest Podcast of the Year 2024 & 2025 and the PPA Podcast of the Year 2022. If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: theplodcast@countryfile.com. If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. The Plodcast is produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. The theme tune was written and performed by Blair Dunlop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's early morning and the winter's frost is receding as you step out into the brisk air. The low coos of wood pigeons greet you as you gaze at the mellow pink sky. The sounds of people to-ing and fro-ing tell you it's time to put the kettle on.BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Jack Bateman and introduced by Hannah Tribe. Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: theplodcast@countryfile.comAnd just a reminder, the BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is a media partner for the Speakies! The British Audio Awards from The Bookseller Magazine. The awards celebrate the best in audio books and the Plodcast is the partner for the non-fiction category. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices