10th September 2024
Episode 263: A journey through the Highlands of Scotland.
Head out on a Highland road trip with Plodcast regular Kevin Parr as he explores the wildlife of some of finest peaks and glens of Scotland. A marvellously mindful meander.
11th June 2024
Episode 250: Hear migrant birds as they arrive in the UK at Portland Bill in Dorset – with one very special visitor
Portland Bill in Dorset is famous as a first landing site for thousands of migrant birds as they arrive to breed in the UK this spring and summer. Join Kevin Parr as he wanders this peninsular meeting these avian travellers – and he makes some extraordinary finds along the way. How many bird species can you hear in this recording?
6th February 2024
Episode 232: Exploring a haunted ruined chapel lost in a Dorset woodland
This week, Plodcast regular Kevin Parr explores a lost church in Dorset. St Luke’s Chapel was built to serve the village of Sterte near Abbotsbury, in the 1240s. The chapel remained in use until the mid 16th Century when it was abandoned following the Act of Supremacy (1534) that gave Henry VIII the power to disband religious buildings. All that remains of the chapel (and the village) is a single wall and arch, which stands deep in the woodland of Ashley Chase, although a more recently constructed altar carries votive offerings and painted stones left by the handful of visitors who pick through the trees to pay homage. Kevin samples the atmosphere of this eerie place and looks for ghosts.
16th January 2024
Episode 229: A gentle day’s fishing with Will Millard and Kevin Parr on the Mon-Brec Canal
The Plodcast goes fishing this week with plodcast regular Kevin Parr and author and TV presenter Will Millard. Host Fergus meets them on his local waterway, the Monmouthshire and Breconshire Canal, to talk about why fishing matters to much to them. It’s the perfect combination of gentle adventure, chat and humour. But will they catch any fish?
19th December 2023
Episode 225: Plodcast Christmas Special
Join Plodcast host Fergus and regulars Kevin Parr and Annabel Ross as well as editor Dan Kramer-Arden for a lighthearted look back at a year of recording nature – and take part in Kev’s great Christmas quiz! Plus plenty more natural silliness to enjoy. Wild wishes from the Plodcast team and have a very merry Christmas.
31st October 2023
Episode 218: Spend an evening in the company of a deer stalker in southern England.
It’s dusk in a valley somewhere in Dorset. Plodcast regular Kevin Parr has joined a local deer stalker to talk about why – and how – he culls these large mammals. Join the Plodcast team later in the studio to discuss some of the issues raised.
21st February 2023
Episode 185: A dreamy day’s fishing on a Somerset canal
Join the Plodcast team as we go fishing with Plodcast regular Kevin Parr on the Bridgewater and Taunton Canal in Somerset. For Jack and Hannah it was the first time fishing – did we catching anything? Did we enjoy it?
Listen on for a quite magical day in the countryside.
5th January 2023
Episode 178: Celebrate the best of 2022 in the Plodcast Christmas special!
Welcome to our last Plodcast of 2022 – the Christmas special issue. Plodcast regular Kevin Parr joins author Patrick Galbraith and Brittany Collie in the studio with Plodcast host Fergus.
We talk favourite moments of 2022, look ahead to the New Year and, best of all, invite you to join us for Kevin’s special Christmas quiz. A lovely way to round off the Plodcast year.
6th December 2022
Episode 175: A gentle adventure exploring mysterious Eggardon Hill in Dorset
Head to Dorset in the ever-amiable company of Plodcast regular Kevin Parr. Angler and nature writer Kev takes us up onto Eggardon Hill to explore its wildlife and its mysterious hillfort. On the way, he meets a local farmer with some stark insights into life in the modern countryside, especially the huge problem of dogs off leads worrying livestock. A thought-provoking listen.
19th July 2022
Episode 156: Enjoy a dreamy summer’s day at the Cerne Abbas Brewery in Dorset
It’s a glorious summer’s day in Dorset and Plodcast regular Kevin Parr heads to the village of Cerne Abbas to visit the local brewery. Meet Vic, Jodie and Matt who run the brewery hear their wonderful tales. Kevin also meets local farmer Will who grows barley for the brewing process and shares his deep love of the wildlife that thrives on his farm.
Later, Kevin joins the Plodcast team in the studio to discuss beer, Dorset eagles, Chesney Hawkes and what’s the best food to pack for a country walk.
4th May 2022
Episode 146: Hares and hen harriers on the Wessex Downs with naturalists Kevin Parr and Chris Yates
On the cusp between winter and spring, Plodcast regular Kevin Parr meets his friend and legendary angler-naturalist Chris Yates to explore a little visited but wild corner of the Wiltshire and Dorset downs. Here, at Chris’s favourite spot, they attempt to find one of Britain’s most beautiful and controversial birds of prey: the hen harrier.
Plus unmissable discussions about tea, harrier poetry, adders and warbler song. Recorded by Kevin Parr. The poem, read by Hannah Tribe, is from Hen Harrier Poems by Colin Simms published by Shearsman Books
22nd April 2022
Episodes 142 & 143: Tales from the Riverbank – a relaxing day’s angling in Somerset
Angler and writer Kevin Parr leads a gentle day’s angling on the River Isle. Plodcast host Fergus joins Kev to learn the art of coarse fishing in the peaceful surrounding of the Somerset Levels. Listen on for a marvellous day in very early spring with birdsong, fish and the voice of the river.
In part two of our special angling adventure on the Rivers Isle and Parrett in Somerset, Kevin Parr and plodcast host Fergus continue their gentle meander along the water chatting about wildlife and occasionally catching a fish. They also discuss the ethics of angling as well as the health benefits of just sitting by a river.
Later, Kevin joins the plodcast team in the studio to talk pike, adders, otters and other wildlife joys of spring.
December 2021.
Episodes 130 & 131: Plodcast Christmas Special
Join the Plodcast Christmas special where the team gather in the studio to discuss favourite episodes, guests and wildlife moments from 2021. We talk bitterns, beavers, badgers and nightingales.
1st December 2021
Episode 127: Foraging for fungi in Dorset with two brilliant naturalists
Learn about the magic and mystery of fungi with expert mushroom hunter John Wright. He joins our own Kevin Parr for a ramble in a hidden corner of Dorset. John’s book A Spotters Guide to Countryside Mysteries is out now. Later in the plodcast, the team talk about the etiquette of saying ‘hello’ (or not!) to strangers on a country walk – and we capture on tape a strange bird singing in the depths of November.
8th June 2021
Episode 104: A morning on the Dorset heaths in search of Britain’s rarest reptile
Meet the spring wildlife of one of Britain’s rarest habitats – lowland heaths. Roam the heath-clad landscape in search of rare reptiles including the elusive smooth snake in the company of Owain Masters and Nick Dobbs from the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC).
ARC is leading a project called Snakes in the Heather, which involves working with a number of other organisations from local councils to big conservation bodies to protect smooth snakes and their rare habitats.
Listen on to find out more and meet a host of rare insects, plants and the gorgeous Dartford warbler. Plus, there is a special guest appearance from plodcast favourite Kevin Parr.
11th May 2021
Episode 100: Explore the Dorset coast in search of adders and spring migrants
In the 100th episode of the BBC Countryfile Magazine podcast, explore the Dorset coast in search of adders with naturalist Kevin Parr.
Join naturalist, writer and angler Kevin Parr as he explores the little-known coastal scrublands near Chesil Beach in Dorset to encounter Britain’s only venomous snake, the rare and beautiful adder. Along the way, he meets many other wildlife inhabitants of this lost world. Later, Kevin joins the podcast team to talk about the adventure and share more of his stories.
3rd February 2021
Episode 88: A cold and beautiful winter’s day in Dorset
Join angler and writer Kevin Parr as he spends a day at a local lake in Dorset explaining the joys and frustrations of angling. His quarry is the predatory perch, a fish that become more solitary and elusive as it grows larger. Kevin also enjoys some gentle wildlife encounters along the way.
10th June 2020
Episode 60: Nightingales at dawn in Dorset – magical, beautiful and moving
Kevin Parr heads to a secret common and woodland in Dorset to at the crack of dawn to hear Britain’s most famous songster – the increasingly scarce nightingale. Listen on for a memorable and stunningly beautiful audio experience. Plus, we hear from one of the 20th century’s greatest nature writers and poets, Edward Thomas, on the power of the nightingale’s song.
28th April 2020.
Episode 54: A gentle nature ramble in rural Dorset.
We head to Dorset this episode with nature writer and angler Kevin Parr to hear a magnificent dawn chorus in his village, tucked away in the hills.
Kevin then takes us on his favourite local walk onto a local hill to hear find singing skylarks and stunning views of the Jurassic Coast. Listen out for the surprise finish when Kevin discovers fantastic beasts in his very own garden… It’s a perfect escape into the countryside when you can’t get there yourself.
Kevin Parr 