Is your cat the devil in disguise? Probably not, although they may act like it sometimes! But once upon a time, they would have been accused of luring you into witchcraft.

In Britain in the 16th and 17th centuries witch hunting became an obsession and supposed ‘witches’ were put on trial, and some were even sentenced to death.

Being an animal lover was considered a sure sign that someone was practicing witchcraft. Friendliness towards cats, rabbits or dogs could lead to accusations of witchcraft, as these animals, known as familiars, were suspected of working for the devil.

One of those accused of witchcraft and seen with familiars was Elizabeth Clarke, a poor, disabled woman from Essex.

Join Rosie and historian Dr Romany Reagan as they uncover Elizabeth’s story and the strange tale of the witches’ familiars.

[Ad] Wild Tales is sponsored by Cotswold Outdoor, your outside retailer and epic guides to adventure.  Quick breathers, calming walks or heart-pounding hikes. We feel better when we get out more.  Find quality kit and 50 years of outdoor wisdom. Plus, supporters save 15% in-store and online. Feel in your element, in the elements, at Cotswold Outdoor. https://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/  

Production: 

Host: Rosie Holdsworth

Producers: Rosie Toy and Katy Kelly

Sound Editor: Jesus Gomez  

Contributor: Dr Romany Reagan

Discover More: 

Find out more about witchcraft:

https://essexwitchmuseum.co.uk

Uncover folklore, legends, myths and lost histories from the British Isles with Dr Romany Reagan:

https://blackthornandstone.com

Watch a video of this podcast on the National Trust’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@nationaltrustcharity/podcasts

If you’d like to get in touch with feedback or a story idea you can contact us at [email protected] 

A new series of Ranger Rae and the Wildlifers is here. Awooo!  

Follow the adventures of Ranger Rae and the Wildlifers, a crew of colourful creatures who use their skills to solve curious cases. 

 

Beaver’s a super engineer. Sleepy Bat’s skill is sonar. Wildcat’s a proud predator. Deer’s strong and speedy. Fox has a nose for trouble. Shy Mole’s an expert digger, and Dragonfly’s always buzzing. 

In Series Two, 12-year old Roxy has finally become a real Wildlifer and can talk to animals. But she's got a lot to learn to be a top Ranger like her hero Rae.   

Luckily the Wildlifers are back on the trail solving puzzles, where they find old friends and new ones too like inventor Luca. 

Join the crew on new adventures in destinations from under the sea to beautiful forests, from cruising the canal to exploring the city after dark. And meet a host of weird and wonderful characters along the way.

Perfect for 5-8 year olds.

Grown ups, follow Ranger Rae and the Wildlifers kids' podcast by finding the show on your favourite podcast app including Apple, Spotify and Yoto.

Or follow this link: podfollow.com/national-trust-kids-podcast

Taiwan is known for its technology — from the chips that power our phones to the satellites orbiting above us, but just beyond the city of Hsinchu, there’s a small forest that tells a different story. 

Trust in Nature Foundation Taiwan is Taiwan’s first environmental charitable trust — a place where protected wildlife and local communities are working side by side to protect some of the island’s natural habitats.

In this episode presented by Rosie Holdsworth, producer Jesse Edbrooke visits the people caring for this forest, meet the protected animals that live there, and explore how conservation can thrive and inspire in one of the most high-tech regions on Earth.

[Ad] Wild Tales is sponsored by Cotswold Outdoor, your outside retailer and epic guides to adventure.Quick breathers, calming walks or heart-pounding hikes. We feel better when we get out more.Find quality kit and 50 years of outdoor wisdom. Plus, supporters save 15% in-store and online. Feel in your element, in the elements, at Cotswold Outdoor.  www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/

Nature Valley Environmental Trust Taiwan -  https://teia.tw/natural-valley-en

Trust in Nature Founation - https://tnf.org.tw/en 

International National Trust Organisation - https://www.into.org

Jhih Han Lyu was a participant in the INTO Incubator programme in 2024, which supports emerging heritage leaders across the globe.

Watch a video of this podcast on the National Trust’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@nationaltrustcharity/podcasts

Hosts: Rosie Holdsworth

Producer: Jesse Edbrooke

Sound Editor: Jesus Gomez

Contributors: Jhih Han Lyu, Wing Lo,

Translation: Joshua Edbrooke

Includes music from Wing Lo’s Aha Moment - https://music.apple.com/gb/album/%E8%AB%8B%E8%AA%AA%E5%AE%A2%E8%AA%9E/1826949430?i=1826949431

Follow us @wildtales Instagram accountIf you’d like to get in touch with feedback or a story idea you can contact us at [email protected]

Warning: This episode contains the unusual mating habits of spiders. 

Autumn is the time for spiders, and the colder months mean our eight-legged friends are searching for something vital: sex. 

Join arachnologist Anna Maka and author and broadcaster Lucy Cooke to uncover the fascinating and freaky sex lives of spiders and what it teaches us about evolution itself. 

[Ad] Wild Tales is sponsored by Cotswold Outdoor, your outside retailer and epic guides to adventure.

Quick breathers, calming walks or heart-pounding hikes. We feel better when we get out more.

Find quality kit and 50 years of outdoor wisdom. Plus, supporters save 15% in-store and online. Feel in your element, in the elements, at Cotswold Outdoor.

www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/  

  

Watch a video of this podcast on the National Trust’s YouTube channel:  

https://www.youtube.com/@nationaltrustcharity/podcasts   

 

 

Production

Presenter:  Rosie Holdsworth 

Producer and sound designer: Marnie Woodmeade

Lucy Cooke  

Anna Maka

Discover more

You can find Lucy’s book Bitch: On the female of the species here. 

You can find out more about Anna’s work with rare diamond back spiders here. 

Follow us @wildtalesnt Instagram account 

Join producer and barge dweller Marnie as she leaves London’s canals behind to explore the Wey Navigations. 

Along the way, she meets the people who care for it, discovers its wildlife, and finds out why this waterway matters so much to so many.

[Ad] Wild Tales is sponsored by Cotswold Outdoor, your outside retailer and epic guides to adventure. 

Quick breathers, calming walks or heart-pounding hikes. We feel better when we get out more. 

Find quality kit and 50 years of outdoor wisdom. Plus, supporters save 15% in-store and online. Feel in your element, in the elements, at Cotswold Outdoor. 

www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/

Watch a video of this podcast on the National Trust’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@nationaltrustcharity/podcasts 

Production

Presenter: Marnie Woodmeade

Producer and sound designer: Nikki Ruck

Contributors 

Derek Croucher

Emily Curtis

Emma Goodwin

Stephen

Perdita

Discover more

Explore the Wey Navigations by electric boat from Dapdune Wharf     

River Wey Navigations boat trips

Wey River Festival takes place on Saturday 27th September 25 at Dapdune Wharf.  Expect food and craft stalls, live music, children’s activities, and a colourful illuminated pageant.  

 River Festival

Learn more about nature prescriptions and the mental health benefits of connecting with the natural world.

 Dose of Nature  

Follow us @wildtalesnt Instagram account  

On 20th July 1969 the world watched as humans first set foot on the Moon. More than half a century on, the view of Earth from space has given rise to a profound idea: the Overview Effect — the shift in perspective that astronauts experience when they see our planet from orbit.

From 250 miles above, the Earth appears as a fragile, glowing sphere suspended in the darkness of space. Borders vanish, noise falls silent, and what remains is a single, shared home.

But what happens when astronauts return to Earth and can never see the world in quite the same way again?

Join Ranger Ajay Tegala as he explores the Overview Effect with artist Luke Jerram and astronaut Tim Peake, and discover how this cosmic perspective might change the way we care for the places closest to us.

[Ad] Wild Tales is sponsored by Cotswold Outdoor, your outside retailer and epic guides to adventure.  Quick breathers, calming walks or heart-pounding hikes. We feel better when we get out more.  Find quality kit and 50 years of outdoor wisdom. Plus, supporters save 15% in-store and online. Feel in your element, in the elements, at Cotswold Outdoor. https://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/  

Host: Ajay Tegala

Producer: Jesse Edbrooke

Sound Editor: Jesus Gomez

Contributors: Luke Jerram, Tim Peake

Find out more about Luke Jerram’s artwork: https://www.lukejerram.com

Discover Tim Peake’s story: https://www.esa.int/peake

Gaia at Inside Out Dorset, 2021. Photo (c) Roy Riley

A big thanks to Jonathan Goldsmith, composer student at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, for their collaboration to this episode with the track "Flying Nymphaea". 

Follow us @wildtalesnt on Instagram

If you’d like to get in touch with feedback or a story idea you can contact us at [email protected]

In 2018 a team of intrepid explorers came in to the possession of a treasure map - one which would see them venture half way around the world to the Australian island of Tasmania.  

Those explorers were a team of garden experts from across the UK and Ireland who were now on a historic mission to save and catalogue plants for the benefit of people and the planet.

Following in the footsteps of the historic plant hunters, find out what was in store for the team of modern-day collectors and how natural history has helped to shape gardens around the world.

Host: Rosie Holdsworth

Producer: Jack Glover

Sound Design: Jesus Gomez

Charlie Bancroft and team BIBET

Caroline Ikin

Images courtesy and with thanks from the Royal Botanic Gardens of Tasmania. All Rights Reserved.

Explore a garden lovers home at Nymans in West Sussex where some of the collected species are now flourishing  https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/sussex/nymans

Read Charlie’s report here: https://merlin-trust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/718-Charlie-Bancroft-compressed.pdf

Find out more about historic plant hunters from our friends at Kew Gardens https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/adventure-and-discovery-around-the-world-with-plant-hunters

BIBET Botantic Gardens  

Republic of Ireland https://www.botanicgardens.ie/kilmacurragh/

Northern Ireland https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/northern-ireland/mount-stewart Wales https://botanicgarden.wales/

Tasmania https://gardens.tas.gov.au/

On 10th August 1925 the Farne Islands came into the care of the National Trust. A hundred years on and this wildlife haven off the coast of Northumberland is home to a breeding colony of 23 different species of seabirds.  

But perhaps its most colourful characters, in looks as well as behaviour, are the 15,000 pairs of puffins that return to the Farne Islands to breed in the spring and summer months each year.

Join Rosie and Rangers Dan Iceton and Tom Hendry on a unique quest to uncover the secret lives of the Farne Islands' feisty puffin population. 

[Ad] Wild Tales is sponsored by Cotswold Outdoor, your outside retailer and epic guides to adventure.  Quick breathers, calming walks or heart-pounding hikes. We feel better when we get out more.  Find quality kit and 50 years of outdoor wisdom. Plus, supporters save 15% in-store and online. Feel in your element, in the elements, at Cotswold Outdoor. https://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/  

Production:

Hosts: Rosie Holdsworth and Dan Iceton

Producer: Katy Kelly

Sound Editor: Jesus Gomez   

Contributor: Tom Hendry 

Discover More:  Find out more about The Farne Islands:

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/north-east/farne-islands/our-work-on-the-farne-islands 

Follow us @wildtales Instagram account  If you’d like to get in touch with feedback or a story idea you can contact us at [email protected]   

The UK’s largest bird of prey is making a comeback.  It’s now possible to spot white-tailed eagles, or sea eagles, as they’re also known, in many parts of the country thanks to an ongoing re-introduction programme.  Join Ranger Rosie Holdsworth as she sets out with Forestry England’s Steve Egerton-Read, a pair of binoculars, and a lot of hope, as they try and spot them on the Isle of Wight.

 

 [Ad] Wild Tales is sponsored by Cotswold Outdoor, your outside retailer and epic guides to adventure.

 Quick breathers, calming walks or heart-pounding hikes. We feel better when we get out more.

 Find quality kit and 50 years of outdoor wisdom. Plus, supporters save 15% in-store and online. Feel in your element, in the elements, at Cotswold Outdoor.

 www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/   

Production

Presenter: Rosie Holdsworth

Producer: Claire Hickinbotham

Sound: Nikki Ruck and Jesus Gomez 

Contributor Steve Egerton-Read, Forestry England.

Forestry England are working with the Roy Dennis Foundation to bring the White-tailed eagle back to the English Landscape. 

If you’d like to read more about some of the points raised in this episode, have a look at this. White-tailed Eagle Project - Frequently Asked Questions - Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation  

Visit Rosie visited Bembridge and Culver Downs | Isle of Wight | National Trust and Newtown National Nature Reserve | IOW | National Trust

If you fancy visiting, why not have a look at  Isle of Wight Holidays | Places to stay | National Trust

And why not check out Wild Tales on Instagram Wild Tales | Nature Podcast (@wildtalesnt) • Instagram photos and videos

Every summer, swifts return to our skies, screaming overhead in joyful, acrobatic flight. But behind their spectacular aerial displays lies a stark reality: these much-loved birds are in serious decline.

Join ranger Rosie Holdsworth in Sheffield as she meets two swift lovers doing everything they can to keep them flying high. 

[Ad] Wild Tales is sponsored by Cotswold Outdoor, your outside retailer and epic guides to adventure. 

Quick breathers, calming walks or heart-pounding hikes. We feel better when we get out more. 

Find quality kit and 50 years of outdoor wisdom. Plus, supporters save 15% in-store and online. Feel in your element, in the elements, at Cotswold Outdoor. 

www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/ 

Watch a video of this podcast on the National Trust’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@nationaltrustcharity/podcasts 

Presenter: Rosie Holdsworth

Producer and sound designer: Nikki Ruck

Contributors

Flora Jeferzade

Chet Cuñago

 

Find out about swift bricks and boxes at Action for Swifts

Follow us @wildtalesnt Instagram account