Rachael Crewesmith, mountaineering instructor, mountain bike leader, former hockey international and compere. Rachael has been heavily involved in the Women’s Trad Fest and the Women in Mountain Training Conference. She will be hosting a stage at the Kendal Film Festival. We talk about getting to be an instuctor, leader and coach and the importance of role models.

Dom Ferris founder and director of Trash Free Trails.

Dom began thinking about doing something different back in 2017 whilst still working for Surfers Against Sewage. He wanted to be for something not against. He knew there were litter problems in our society with many businesses producing materials for us to waste. Rather than see poor littering habits developed in urban and roadside areas spreading to our trails and footpaths he wanted to positively influence the way people behave in the countryside. He wanted them to connect better with these special places and the nature within them and thence look after them better. This is his story…

My guest in this episode is Belal Younis. Belal is a mountain leader from Scotland. His mother is from Egypt whilst his father is Libyan. Brought up in Edinburgh, Belal is a proud Scot who now resides in Birmingham. After working as a specialist immigration lawyer he now runs Adventure Peak UK and prides himself on getting more under-represented groups out into the hills. Much of his work is with BAME groups and Islamic Relief. He is also a key player in the Muslim Hikers groups. We talk about how Belal got into hillwalking became a mountain leader and now runs his own outdoor business. We explore some issues of race and prejudice and how we all a can do better.

Peter Rutherford Access and Wellbeing Manager for the Snowdonia National Park. Pete Rutherford is a Caernarfon born, former copper miner, former farmer, former National Park Warden. He’s a walker, climber, bird counter, breeder and international judge of Welsh Cob Ponies. Peter Rutherford is a man of many talents. His day job is managing access in the Snowdonia National Park. It’s a job with many successes, some challenges and quite a few frustrations.

Dr. Mark Avery is a former Conservation Director with the RSPB, a scientist and naturalist, he his passionate about birdlife. Mark is the author of Inglorious (2015) a hugely influential book which accused the driven grouse shooting industry of being completely unsustainable. He campaigns on conservation issues, he’s a blogger, writer and public speaker. Mark, along with Ruth Tingay and Chris Packham, is a director of the legal campaign group Wild Justice

Amanda Anderson is the Director of the Moorland Association.

Amanda steers the Moorland Association’s management of heather moorland, boosting populations of important birds, animals and plants. She liaises with Government and key national bodies.

With a master’s degree in aquaculture, honours’ degree in zoology, plus a further degree in post-16 education, sha has also worked in marketing and communications, working with leading countryside agencies, companies and estates.

Moorland Association members are responsible for over a million acres of the moorlands of England and Wales. This includes 860,000 acres of upland heather representing almost all of this precious habitat south of the Scottish Border. The Moorland Association was set up in 1986 to tackle serious declines in the treasured landscapes, dating back to the Second World War.

Lee Schofield is a naturalist and nature writer living and working in the Lake District National Park. As Senior Site Manager for RSPB Haweswater, Lee manages a large upland hill farm and conservation operation.

His interests include river restoration, rewilding, reintroductions and farming in the British countryside. His first book, Wild Fell, is due to be published by Penguin/Transworld in 2022.

In this podcast we have fascinating discussion about the nature of the Lake District, how it looks, how it's manged and the changes that are afoot.

Elfyn was the Access and Conservation officer for the BMC in Wales. Elfyn hails from Blaenau Ffestiniog, he’s a walker, climber, mountaineer and qualified mountain leader. He volunteers with the Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team. He’s a qualified countryside manager who has worked for the Pembrokeshire National Park and as the National Trust Land Manager for the Carneddau. He’s the son of a farmer, a farm his brother still work whislt his mother is from a slate quarrying family. Elfyn is a first language Welsh speaker, all this makes him the perfect ambassador for Hillwalkers and Climbers in Wales… He’s also a cancer survivor.

Helen is the Access and Conservation officer for Mountaineering Ireland, she’s also a keen walker and naturalist.