Open Country Podcast
Countryside magazine featuring the people and wildlife that shape the landscape of the British Isles
Episodes to download
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Midsummer Music in Orkney
Thu 30 Jun 2016
Helen Mark visits Orkney to hear music and stories from 40 years of St Magnus Festival.
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Dawn Chorus across Europe
Thu 12 May 2016
Brett Westwood follows the dawn chorus from east to west across Europe.
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Tennyson's Lincolnshire
Thu 5 May 2016
Helen Mark explores the Lincolnshire Wolds through the poetry of Tennyson.
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Southwell Races, Nottinghamshire
Thu 28 Apr 2016
Helen Mark spends a day at the rural racetrack of Southwell in Nottinghamshire.
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Old Oswestry Hillfort
Thu 21 Apr 2016
Helen Mark visits the Iron Age hillfort in Oswestry, Shropshire.
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The National Forest: 25 Years
Thu 14 Apr 2016
Helen Mark visits the National Forest as it marks 25 years.
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Gainsborough's Nodding Donkeys
Thu 7 Apr 2016
Helen Mark visits the nodding donkeys of the Gainsborough Trough.
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Return to the Fens
Thu 11 Feb 2016
Helen Mark and writer Simon Barnes explore the Great Fen and Charles Rothschild's legacy.
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Scowles in the Forest of Dean
Thu 28 Jan 2016
Helen Mark is in the Forest of Dean in search of geological formations known as scowles.
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Somerset Peat: Past, Present and Future
Thu 21 Jan 2016
Helen Mark uncovers why peat makes the Somerset Levels a special place to visit.
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Yorkshire in the Dark
Thu 14 Jan 2016
Yorkshire looks different in the dark. Helen Mark looks into the heavens and underground.
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River Tay
Thu 7 Jan 2016
Salmon, apples and whisky. Caz Graham follows the fertile flow of the River Tay.
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The Northern Lights at Christmas
Thu 17 Dec 2015
Helen Mark visits Swedish Lapland to discover the myths and magic of the Northern Lights.
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Lincolnshire Coast Revival
Thu 10 Dec 2015
Helen Mark visits the Lincolnshire Coast to find new life and regeneration in the winter.
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Welsh Valleys after Coal
Thu 3 Dec 2015
Felicity Evans asks how the valleys of south Wales have fared since the mines closed.
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Pendle Hill, Lancashire
Thu 26 Nov 2015
Why do witches and radical Quakers haunt Pendle Hill, the much loved Lancashire landmark?
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Prehistoric Gower
Thu 19 Nov 2015
Writer Iain Sinclair seeks the UK's oldest burial site along south Gower's clifftops.
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Big Chill in Llanthony
Thu 29 Oct 2015
Helen Mark visits Llanthony in Wales to hear how the Big Chill festival began 20 years ago
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The Peak District
Thu 3 Sep 2015
Helen Mark is in the Peak District to meet Mountain Rescue Team, who keep visitors safe.
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The Glenfinnan Gathering
Thu 27 Aug 2015
Helen Mark goes to the Glenfinnan Gathering, a Highland games in the west of Scotland.
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Cornish Alps
Thu 20 Aug 2015
Helen Mark visits Cornwall's clay country to see how mining has sculpted the landscape.
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Jersey Shores
Thu 13 Aug 2015
Jersey doubles in size when the tide goes out. Helen Mark goes paddling.
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Thomas Hardy's Dorset
Thu 6 Aug 2015
Helen Mark visits the landscapes of Thomas Hardy's life, death and literature in Dorset.
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Rathlin Island
Thu 30 Jul 2015
Helen Mark visits Rathlin Island, situated just off the north coast of Antrim.
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The North Antrim Coast
Thu 23 Jul 2015
Helen Mark takes to the seas to explore the North Antrim coastline.
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Celebrating Golowan in Cornwall
Thu 9 Jul 2015
Helen Mark lights the midsummer bonfires on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall to celebrate Golowan.
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The Lengthsman with Antony Gormley
Thu 2 Jul 2015
Helen Mark joins Sir Antony Gormley to explore his latest sculpture in rural Warwickshire.
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The ancient sport of hound trailing in Cumbria
Thu 14 May 2015
Helen Mark visits Cumbria to experience the exciting and ancient sport of hound trailing.
