Open Country

It’s just before dawn in late May when we join wildlife cameraman John Aitchison as he steps out of his home to be greeted by a rich chorus of birdsong before strolling across his garden towards the woodland and then the shoreline beyond at the start of this coastal walk near his home in West Scotland. As John approaches the shore he spies one of his regular neighbours; an otter, scouring the weed near the edge of the shoreline for food. The otter is not alone, John also spots a roe deer swimming near the far shore, as well as a group of Canada geese which are wary of the otter and keep their distance. In a shelter belt of trees, John pauses to enjoy the songs of a song thrush and a willow warbler; one a resident bird here all year round the other a summer visitor from Sub-Saharan Africa. Further along the shoreline, John passes a stunning bed of flag irises; vivid yellow against a green background. Out at sea a group of porpoises dive for fish. As the sun breaks through the skyline there’s another wonderful surprise when a white tailed eagle appears; a huge bird with a 6 foot wingspan which lands briefly on a rock in the shallows. As he approaches the end of his walk, John makes a discovery near the water’s edge, is serenaded by skylarks and has a surprising close encounter with a very special mammal. Producer Sarah Blunt

On the West Coast of Scotland, the village of Shieldaig nestles in the shadow of a mountain. On the steep sides of Ben Shieldaig is a very rare habitat called temperate rainforest. Under the trees the air is humid and the rocks are soft with moss.

Recently, the mountain has been bought by the Woodland Trust, which aims to cover the whole area in trees through a combination of natural regeneration and some planting.

Unable to leave her home in lockdown, Helen Mark meets locals online for a virtual tour of this magical place. She learns about the history of the village and its once isolated community, and find out what the future will hold.

Produced by Heather Simons

With the country in lockdown, archaeologists have had to cancel plans for excavations which would have allowed them to explore the history of our landscapes. Unable to put their trowels into action this summer, many are finding alternative methods of research. In this programme, Helen Mark finds out how some have turned to "virtual archaeology", using new technologies to continue to make discoveries about the past. She also hears about a new educational project, set up to help with home-schooling, which is using archaeology as a means to teach other skills - and in the process introducing the subject to a new generation, and perhaps inspiring the archaeologists of the future.

Produced by Emma Campbell

Dame Julie Walters shares memories of her favourite childhood park, Warley Woods in Smethwick. It's an urban green treasure with one hundred acres of woods and parkland. But while most parks are looked after by local authorities, Warley Woods is entirely managed by a Community Trust. One third of its income is dependent on the generosity of local people who donate money, another third comes from the golf course and on-site shop, while the remaining third is funded by the Council. So, when Lockdown forced the closure of both the shop and golf course and threatened people's ability to donate, the fear was that the pioneering Community Trust would fail putting the future of this historic site in jeopardy.

Producer: Karen Gregor

The signs of spring are everywhere, transforming our gardens and fields with splashes of colour and signs of new life. Unable to travel to explore new locations and landscapes as she normally would for Open Country, Helen Mark takes a walk around her own family farm on the edges of Lough Foyle in Northern Ireland, spotting the signs of seasonal change. She talks to wildlife experts and local farmers, finding out how the rhythm of the seasons affects their relationship with the land.

Produced by Emma Campbell.

It seems hard to believe, when so many of us are coping with lockdown and more, that the power of nature continues unfettered: Spring, in all its fecundity, is altering our landscape as it always does. To chart this time of great change we gave the naturalist, Brett Westwood, a microphone at the end of March and asked him to record a nature diary. He lives in urban Stourbridge in the West Midlands, which doesn’t sound an obvious setting for a spring journal but actually it’s perfect: What he sees at close quarters, with his expert eye, is available for us all if we know where and how to look. His sightings include feather-footed flower bees who live in the brickwork of our houses, buzzards that might steal frogspawn from your pond, bee-flies which coat their eggs with dust before shooting them at the nests of solitary bees, and mistletoe... which doesn't sound as intriguing, but it really is: Brett can explain why our behaviour is causing it to spread further than ever before.

Note: The podcast contains extra material that couldn't be squeezed into the original programme: see the 'related links' box below for how to access and download the BBC Sounds App.

Producer: Karen Gregor

Birmingham is one of only fifty-nine cities around the globe to be awarded the status of 'Tree City of the World'. This is an international framework for a healthy, sustainable urban forestry programme, an award that's all down to the passion of Birmingham's citizens for trees.

Helen Mark meets tree planters young and old from near and far; tree wardens, who are kind of like traffic wardens, but for trees (and just as fierce: really, don't mess with their trees); an academic who runs the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (he really loves trees) and an arboriculturalist who gets to work at 6.30 every morning in his mission to extend Birmingham's canopy cover. Helen finds out why the city's tree-focussed ambitions go well beyond just planting trees. All these people know you have to take care of trees for their whole life, not just plonk them in the ground. They also know that urban trees suffer more than those planted in the countryside, so they need extra tenderness.

Helen also finds herself in a once-famous garden that has re-wilded itself. Once the immaculate BBC show garden of TV gardener Percy Thrower, this patch of tree-laden wilderness-heaven is in a secret corner of Birmingham's Botanical Gardens. She thinks on the whole, he'd approve of the trees. Although maybe not the weeds.

Recorded in early March.

Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery

Ian Marchant meets musicians inspired by the landscape of the Surrey Hills, including concert pianist Wu Qian, who found it terrifying when she first arrived from China aged 12. She soon learned to love the place and co-founded an international music festival which incorporates into its programme inspiring country walks in this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Ian meets Julia and Henry Pearson, who help to run the festival and live in the picturesque village of Shere, with its thatched cottages and 'terminally cute' setting. They are music lovers and keen walkers, so the festival is a perfect fit. Since the programme was recorded in early March, the festival has been cancelled, but imagining the concerts in the 'cathedral in the woods' at Ranmore Church, is still a piece of 'enchantment'.

Ian was born in this area and remembers being told that the view from Newland's Corner was the best in England. It was, in fact, what England should look like, according to his father. Ian now knows this isn't quite true, but it is how people all over the world picture the English countryside: rolling hills, woods, clear, babbling streams and a vista that extends to the English channel.

Ian meets sound artist Graham Downall who has created music/soundscapes to reflect the locations of five sculptures which have been placed in the landscape, and he discovers that the tipple of choice at this festival isn't to be found in the Worker's Beer Tent, but in the sparkling white wine which is produced from the chalky slopes of Denbies Vineyard near Dorking.

Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery

How a little known fish, rare and remarkable, is driving a huge project on the River Severn.

Weirs may look dramatic and sound wonderful but, for fish, they are nothing more than a barrier, preventing progress upstream. That's why you'll see anglers, both human and heron, hanging around weirs for an easy-ish catch. One fish in particular, previously found in healthy numbers on the Severn, has suffered. It's the Twaite Shad, sleek and fast, but not fond of leaping. However, a project called Unlocking the Severn is well underway to install gigantic fish-passes at four weirs. These will allow the Twaite Shad to swim through and reach their spawning grounds in significant numbers for the first time since the Victorians installed weirs to improve navigation during the industrial revolution.

Because of Covid19, the sound-quality of this programme will be a little different: all the interviewees recorded themselves, on their phone voice-recorders, in their own homes... many thanks to each of them for persevering!

Producer/Presenter: Karen Gregor

We were going to kick off this series with Helen Glover exploring Newlyn in Cornwall: on an RNLI lifeboat, and with open-water swimmers... However, at the last minute, Covid19 stymied our plans. Instead of the wild open countryside of Cornwall, she's reporting from the confines of her back garden, on the River Thames, in Buckinghamshire. Luckily, she's married to the naturalist Steve Backshall, so she has access to a ready-made expert who helps to explain the wildlife in their midst.

Producer: Karen Gregor