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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The Strawberry Line Community
Thu 3 Jan 2019
Far from being abandoned, the Strawberry Line in Somerset has a new role in the community
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Reservoirs and lost villages
Thu 27 Dec 2018
Helen Mark visits Derbyshire to hear about reservoirs and long-gone villages.
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Moorland on the mend
Thu 20 Dec 2018
Caz Graham re-visits moors destroyed by fire this summer, to ask how they are recovering.
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Leicester’s hidden gem - Bradgate Park - bought for the locals, but where’s all the archive?
Thu 13 Dec 2018
Bradgate park bought for the people of Leicester from the heirs of Lady Jane Grey.
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Life on the canals at Foxton Locks
Thu 6 Dec 2018
Life on the canals, from the lock keeper to those who live on the water at Foxton Locks.
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Benjamin Britten's Aldeburgh
Thu 29 Nov 2018
An exploration of how the sea and Suffolk coast inspired Benjamin Britten's music
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Ash to Ash
Thu 22 Nov 2018
Ash trees are dying from ash dieback. Helen Mark hears how Kent is preserving their memory
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The Suffolk Maharajah
Thu 15 Nov 2018
How did an Indian Maharajah end living and being buried in a quaint rural Suffolk village?
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Herodsfoot, Thankful Village
Thu 8 Nov 2018
Helen Mark visits the 'thankful village' of Herodsfoot in Cornwall.
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The Windermere Boys
Thu 1 Nov 2018
How 300 orphans of the holocaust began a new life in the Lake District.
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Liverpool Giants
Thu 25 Oct 2018
Liverpool's landscape is dwarfed by three beloved giants. Helen Mark gets up close.
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The Malvern Hills
Thu 6 Sep 2018
Helen Mark explores the landscape of the Malvern Hills in the Midlands.
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Childhood Holidays in Pembrokeshire
Thu 30 Aug 2018
Charlotte Smith revisits Pembrokeshire, where she spent many of her childhood holidays.
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Purton Hulks
Thu 9 Aug 2018
Helen Mark discovers the fascinating world of the UK's largest ship's graveyard.
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The First Lundy Marathon
Thu 2 Aug 2018
David Lindo visits Lundy in north Devon for the island's very first half marathon race.
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The Boat Builders of Pin Mill
Thu 26 Jul 2018
Helen Mark sets sail from Pin Mill to discover the history of boat building in Suffolk.
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The Great Exhibition of the North
Thu 19 Jul 2018
Helen Mark explores landscapes of the future at the Great Exhibition of the North.
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Humphry Repton and his Red Books
Thu 28 Jun 2018
Helen Mark finds out about Humphry Repton the landscaper gardener and his red books.
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Gertrude Jekyll at 175
Thu 10 May 2018
Helen Mark celebrates the 175th anniversary of the birth of garden guru Gertrude Jekyll.
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Swansea Copper and Choir
Thu 3 May 2018
Helen Mark visits Swansea to hear how heavy industry shaped its landscape and its culture.
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Inspired by flowers, Lincolnshire
Thu 26 Apr 2018
Helen Mark meets people inspired by flowers in Lincolnshire.
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Young people and landscape, Doncaster
Thu 19 Apr 2018
Dominique Moore finds out how young people are engaging with the landscape near Doncaster.
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Coventry Edgelands
Thu 12 Apr 2018
Helen Mark visits Coventry to discover its Edgelands, the places in between landscapes.
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The Isle of Gigha
Thu 8 Feb 2018
Ian Marchant visits the Isle of Gigha to discover if his island dream is a reality.
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Konnie Huq goes back to Kew Gardens
Thu 1 Feb 2018
Konnie Huq visits her favourite London parks - Kew Gardens and Northala Fields.
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Wild Cats in the Highlands
Thu 18 Jan 2018
David Lindo searches for the elusive Scottish wildcat and hears about efforts to save them
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Finding Fossils on the Jurassic Coast
Thu 11 Jan 2018
Helen Mark discovers the story of man's earliest ancestor on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset.
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Torridge and Taw, North Devon
Thu 21 Dec 2017
Writer Linda Cracknell joins Helen Mark in North Devon to seek out her maritime roots.
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Rewilding at Knepp Castle
Thu 14 Dec 2017
Helen Mark explores the wilderness at Knepp Castle and asks if it is really working.
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Red Squirrels in Formby
Thu 7 Dec 2017
Helen Mark is in Formby, a place that is regarded as a haven for the native red squirrel.
