We are back. Thank you all for bearing with us while we get our ducks in a row for another year of the Country Life Podcast. If it’s even possible, it’s going to be better than last year, that we can guarantee.

Our first guest for 2025 is the legendary Marina Gibson, angler extraordinaire, who was more than happy to indulge me in lots of fishing related conversation. She was at Gleneagles, where she had just been sending out the first cast of the salmon season at the hotel, with accompanying bagpipes and whisky pouring to bless the river. Gleneagles has plenty of fishing and fieldsports related activities, which you can look at here.

It’s also, and this goes without saying, an immensely wonderful hotel. Marina has been fishing pretty much since she could walk and spent 30 minutes making me extremely envious about her career. She’s travelled the world, fishing in rivers, lakes and oceans for everything and anything. We talked about her favourite fishing spots, her favourite fish to catch, and some of the absolute monsters of the deep she’s landed.

We also got a bit more serious, talking about the desperate state of some of the UK’s waterways, and what, if anything, can be done to save them. Salmon in particular have been suffering in recent years, and it’s going to take a lot of work to get stock levels rising again.

But fishing isn’t all about catching fish. It’s about taking time away from the world, from emails and Instagram, and working on your own mental health. The benefits are scientifically proven. Did you know that fishing can even be prescribed on the NHS? 

It was a fantastic conversation to start 2025, and sets a very high bar for the rest of the year. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did recording.

Episode credits

Host: James Fisher

Guest: Marina Gibson

Editor and Producer: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Like all serious journalists, James May used to work for Country Life writing about cars. It didn't go very well, but thankfully he bounced back and went on to present Top Gear, The Grand Tour, and many other TV shows including his latest, James May and The Dull Men. He's also been busy making his own gin.

James Gin started off as something to pass the time during Lockdown, but it soon got a bit serious, as people wanted to drink it. He joins James Fisher to discuss the intricacies of gin making, as well as why he's chosen some unusual flavours. There's a bit where he gets quite serious about parsnips, but don't let that put you off.

• Listen to Country Life podcast on Apple Podcasts
• Listen to Country Life podcast on Spotify
• Listen to Country Life podcast on Audible

We also talk about Dull Men, why cans of baked beans are the wrong size and why he doesn't think it's acceptable for suitcases to have wheels. All very serious research that only he has been brave enough to undertake. He's also very well travelled, having visited Mauritania, the North Pole, and many other unusual destinations. When we asked him where his favourite place in the world was, well, the answer might surprise you.

It was a fantastic chat with one of our favourite ever guests. We hope you'll enjoy listening to it.

Episode credits

• Host: James Fisher
• Guest: James May
• Producer and editor: Toby Keel
• Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'Anything said with absolute confidence and in absolute terms is normally nonsense,' says Oscar Dodd, about Fortnum & Mason's wine and spirits buyer, when it comes to discussing the oft-trotted out truisms about wine, beer and spirits that you often hear. But not everything you hear is so wide of the mark.

'They say that the English drink their red wine too old and too warm, and their white wine too young and too cold,' he adds. 'That is certainly true.'

• Listen to Country Life podcast on Apple Podcasts
• Listen to Country Life podcast on Spotify
• Listen to Country Life podcast on Audible

Oscar has spent over two decades in the wine and spirits trade, starting out by eschewing university in order to stack shelves in his local Oddbins, falling in love with wine within a matter of weeks.

He's since gone on to forge a fascinating career, taking in everything from obscure vineyards that play Mozart to their grapes to help them grow, to walking the streets of New York City persuading people to drink more absinthe. These days, he's found in the more rarefied atmosphere of central London, at Fortnum & Mason, the world's most famous food and drink seller.

Oscar talks to James Fisher about his career, his pet hates, why you really shouldn't be saving that bottle of champagne you have under the stairs, and the amazing discoveries in the world of drink that are changing the industry — including Fortnums' alchoholic sparkling tea.

Then, of course, he shares his tips on the best tipples to buy for the Christmas period, from whisky, wine and liqueurs to the indispensable seasonal bottle of sherry.

Episode credits

• Host: James Fisher
• Guest: Oscar Dodd
• Producer and editor: Toby Keel
• Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dancer, actor, father of four and farmer. There are very few things that Kelvin Fletcher cannot do. ‘Hold on’, you might say. ‘What do you mean farmer? I thought that was just acting?’ Well, it was, until about three years ago when Kelvin and his wife Liz decided that they needed a change of scenery. Plans to move to Los Angeles were touted, but a far more sensible decision (we think) was made: a move to a small family farm in the Peak District.

• Listen to Country Life podcast on Apple Podcasts
• Listen to Country Life podcast on Spotify
• Listen to Country Life podcast on Audible

Not your typical move for an actor and he’ll be the first to admit it. But since the move, he and his family haven’t looked back. Even better for us, they decided to bring some TV cameras with them to document the experience, leading to the creation of Fletchers’ Family Farm, the second season of which began yesterday.

Did playing a farmer on Emmerdale provide any experience for the real thing? What are some of his favourite animals? What did he wish he'd known before he started? And is he still dancing? All these questions, and more.

Episode credits

• Host: James Fisher
• Guest: Kelvin Fletcher
• Producer and editor: Toby Keel
• Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill, the only daughter of the 11th Duke of Marlborough, has by any measure led an extraordinary life. As a girl she moved from the family home in Oxfordshire to Blenheim Palace, the family seat and — by any measure — one of the finest buildings not just in Britain, but the world (it has UNESCO World Heritage Site status to prove it).

• Listen to Country Life podcast on Apple Podcasts
• Listen to Country Life podcast on Spotify
• Listen to Country Life podcast on Audible

Ever since then, first as a resident, then as a world-renowned interior designer who has played a leading role in the conservation of this 18th century masterpiece, her life has revolved back and forth around Blenheim, and we were thrilled that she agreed to talk to James Fisher on the Country Life Podcast this week.

Living at Blenheim, as she explains, brings great privilege: she tells how her father bought a speedboat, and taught Henrietta and her brother to waterski on the lake. Yet living in a house of global stature, and which opens its doors to visitors every day of the year, also brings unique pressures: everything from where to park and struggling to find a spot of lawn on a sunny day, to wondering how on earth they'll raise £10 million to replace a leaking roof that is three centuries old.

Lady Henrietta also discusses Woodstock Designs, her hugely successful interior design company, and talk about her latest book, Blenheim: 300 years of Life in a Palace (Rizzoli, £57.50), a truly sumptuous publication which tells the tales of those who have lived in the palace over the centuries, illustrated with beautiful images taken by Hugo Rittson-Thomas.

Episode credits

• Host: James Fisher
• Guest: Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill
• Producer and editor: Toby Keel
• Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The idea of 'nature as a healer' as become a truism, often repeated without much thought given to how or why it should do so.

One man who has thought about this phenomenon — and spent much of his life researching and writing about it — is Professor Miles Richardson, a member of the psychology department at Derby University, founder of the Nature Connectedness Research Group, and author of The Blackbird's Song & Other Wonders of Nature: A Year-Round Guide to Connecting With the Natural World.

We were thrilled, then, when Miles agreed to join James Fisher on the Country Life Podcast this week.

• Listen to Country Life podcast on Apple Podcasts
• Listen to Country Life podcast on Spotify
• Listen to Country Life podcast on Audible

Did you know, for example, that merely looking at a picture of a flower for a few minutes boosts your mood in very real psychological and physiological ways? Or that even when you're blindfolded, your body knows and responds to the difference between objects that are man made and those that are artificial?

It's a completely fascinating episode of the podcast which explores all this and much more.

You can find more about Miles and his work — particularly with the Nature Connectedness Research Group — at his research website, his blog and his Twitter page.

Episode credits

Host: James Fisher

Guest: Professor Miles Richardson

Producer and editor: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1996, a television show arrived on British screens which changed the way we see interior design: Changing Rooms.

It made household names of several of its stars, including host Carol Smilie and carpenter 'Handy Andy' Kane, but none became so famous as designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, whose flamboyant dress sense, often outrageous designs and laconic demeanour made him world-famous.

As he turns 60, he remains almost as famous as he did at the height of the show's popularity, and we're delighted that he joined host James Fisher for this episode of the Country Life Podcast.

• Listen to Country Life podcast on Apple Podcasts
• Listen to Country Life podcast on Spotify
• Listen to Country Life podcast on Audible

Laurence talks about his early career, his influences as a designer and his entirely accidental transformation into a global TV star. He also talks candidly about ageing, from his thoughts on turning 60 to how retirees and the elderly are seen and treated in modern Britain.

It's something he feels passionate about, and indeed his latest job isn't on the small screen, but instead designing a series of retirement villages for Rangeford.

Instead of the 'beige coffin' that 'smells of cabbage and wee', Laurence is determined to create spaces that are more like boutique hotels that burst with colour, energy and fun.

'We're the generation who saw The Sex Pistols play live,' he says. 'We've been all over the world, and we've done all these kinds of things. We know what Soho Farmhouse feels like. And you know what, why on earth would we want to just sort of slide into this very nondescript, oatmeal environment just to wait to die?'

Episode credits

• Host: James Fisher
• Guest: Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen
• Editor and Producer: Toby Keel
• Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why are country houses so often the perfect settings for horror novels?

That's just one of the questions posed by James Fisher to Louise Davidson, author of The Fortunes of Olivia Richmond, on the latest episode of the Country Life Podcast.

• Listen to Country Life podcast on Apple Podcasts
• Listen to Country Life podcast on Spotify
• Listen to Country Life podcast on Audible

Growing up in Northern Ireland with an aunt who was — and had been since childhood — possessed of supernatural gifts made the idea of thinking, talking and writing about ghosts second nature to Louise. But there's far more to our obsession with haunted houses than just the ghost stories which we tell, as she explains to James.

You can follow Louise Davidson on X and Instagram, or see more about The Fortunes of Olivia Richmond.

Episode credits

• Host: James Fisher
• Guest: Louise Davidson
• Editor and Producer: Toby Keel
• Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When it comes to travel, few know more than our very own Rosie Paterson. She has been to many places, and seen many things. And that’s just this year.

She also has her finger on the pulse when it comes to places people might like to go in the future. Imagine how smug you would feel telling friends at a drinks party that, actually, ‘Japan is a bit overdone at the moment; south-west China is where it’s at’. These are the kinds of insights you could gain if you listen to this week’s episode.

• Listen to Country Life podcast on Apple Podcasts
• Listen to Country Life podcast on Spotify
• Listen to Country Life podcast on Audible

Other insights include, but are not limited to, hiking with leopards in Sri Lanka, walking with wolves in Montana with a man named Randy, plus some of the best spots in New York City, Greece, Rome and the UK. 

It’s a must listen if your thoughts are already turning towards where to spend some time next week. Below is a bunch of links to all the establishments mentioned, so you can check them out for yourself. And we very much hope you enjoy the episode. 

Episode credits

• Host: James Fisher
• Guest: Rosie Paterson
• Editor and Producer: Toby Keel
• Music: JuliusH via Pixabay; Another Pineapple Please - The Fly Guy Five via Epidemic Sound

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Interior designers Nicole Salvesen and Mary Graham, better known by their company name Salvesen Graham, have earned a reputation as some of Britain's most sought-after interior designers, developing an aesthetic which blends classic principles with modern touches.

Yet as well as having a great love of beautiful rooms and objects, they're both firmly rooted in how people actually live day to day in their homes.

• Listen to Country Life podcast on Apple Podcasts
• Listen to Country Life podcast on Spotify
• Listen to Country Life podcast on Audible

'You have to be hugely practical, and you have to have a love, and want to create something and solve a problem,' says Nicole. 'My love of it came from how people live in a home, how they want to use it.'

'I think people are almost surprised actually that it's almost the practical side of it that we tackle first,' adds Mary. 'The decorative side is layered on top of that.'

It makes for a fascinating episode of the Country Life Podcast as Nicole and Mary speak to our host, James Fisher, talking about everything from fabric samples and paint colours to one of Britain's great design resources: the shops that line the Pimlico Road in central London.

You can find out more about Salvesen Graham at their website, follow them on Instagram, and see one of their projects — a house in Berkshire — which was featured in Country Life.

Episode credits

• Host: James Fisher
• Guests: Nicole Salvesen and Mary Graham
• Editor and Producer: Toby Keel
• Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.