Emergency medicine / nature / wellbeing in nature / gardening / swifts and swift boxes / tree planting

Emergency doctor and nature lover Beanie Merson is more than an inspiration! This episode is about how anyone can pick up the nature bug and start with small scale projects that help transform an area.

Beanie came into practicing medicine during covid - she was one of a generation of doctors who came out into the world at a time of massive stress and when we needed them like rarely before. We met Beanie when she stared talking to people in her village about conservation... then got some folks on board to plant trees in their edges.... then went on to create a swift project locally.. and now campaigns for swift protection and gets her husband to make swift boxes.

Arable Farming / Grants / Agri-envirnoment / Minimum Tillage

In this episode of Tree Amble we headed off to Norfolk to meet Gavin Lane to talk about his efforts to change farming practices on the two holdings he manages. We talk about reducing tillage and the the use of agri-environment grants as a route to fund changes in approach, Pete admits to being a bit out of his depth on this one - not knowing the ins and outs of the arable sectors as well as others, but we hope its an interesting listen!

Lake District / Farming / Food production / Food Supply / Rural Jobs

Tree Amble went to meet the team at Lake District farmers for a chat about their role in bridging the gap between quality meat production in Cumbria's Lake District and markets for that meat further south. The company was set up to create a value chain which brought back more income to the upland farmers of Cumbria and which created a sustainable quality meat supply.

As Pete is a vegetarian - and has been for over 3 decades - this might be a difficult place to go for a conversation. But the aim of the podcast is to talk about good land management and how we get there using all the tools we have and maintaining rural livelihoods and cultures. Animals are now and will always be par of this landscape - it is how we manage and value them which is key. Have a listen and enjoy!

River Restoration / Natural Flood Management / Biodiversity / Salmon / Ponds / Water

Danny Teasdale is one of those characters who pops up in a a generation for whom a pathway was not built for them but somehow the life before leads to the life after... as a mechanic and very capable machinery man he spent his youth chasing after salmon in streams and rivers around Ullswater in the Lake District of northern England. I have worked with Danny on many small projects over about 12 years but after major flooding in the Lakes in 2019 he managed to bring his love of rivers and streams and his ability with machines into a small business doing river restoration, pond building and habitat restoration around water -Ullswater Catchment Management CIC was born! Amazingly even in Cumbria over 75% of our water courses have been changed by people - deepened, dredged and straightened - losing much of the naturalness which supports insect and fish populations.

In this episode Danny and I tale a walk along a beck (the name for a small stream in Cumbria) where he has worked with landowners to restore natural features ...... and we find spawning salmon!

Organic Vegetables / Mental Health / Wellbeing / Tree Planting / Pond Creation / Flower Growing / Community

We spent a lovely morning with Abby and some of the local community who come together, when they want to, to grow veg and cut flowers on this amazing small plot of land in North Yorkshire. I met Abby a few years back when she had just started the project by buying a bit of land from a neighbour and inviting local folks to help plant trees and a hedge. Since then this project has grown into Holme Grown Eastby which now, in the summer, supplies veg boxes to 2 villages along with lovely cut flowers - producing food and importantly bringing isolated local people together to work as a team - its a brilliant wee project!

Ancient Woodland / Cumbria / Rainforest / Farmer / Conservation

I met Jamie Chaplin Brice on a very wild wet woolly day in January and we went for a wander in one of our local ancient woods. Jamie is a lover of woods and woodlands and is a very capable maker of beautiful furniture. He is also a farmer. So, Jamie bridges the gap between farmer and woodsman. We talk here about the things we see on our woodland walk.

Ancient woodland in the UK is now a rare habitat as people through development and agriculture have eroded what was once a very significant woodland cover. In some areas with the right climate and rainfall we can also say that this ancient woodland is rainforest - and our temperate rainforests are just as important as others around the world.

Sheep Farming / Tree Planting / Upland farming / Water / Nature / Tree Planting

If you know the Lakes and perhaps have walked in the fells north of Ambleside you will likely have past Chris at some point or more likely his sheep and cows. His tenanted farm must be in one of the most iconic locations we have - tucked in as it is below Fairfield. But it was once much more tree'd so we have been working with Chris now for over a decade trying to see how we can integrate trees into his farming system - notably via a higher level stewardship scheme. When first met Chris we probably had one of those standard adviser / land manager slightly stilted relationships. But as time has gone on we have become friends and the occasions we can share a cuppa around the kitchen table are always fun and stimulating. The farm is about to launch into its next scheme and trees are again a very significant part of the deal... as is good grazing management.

Farming / Rewilding / Native Breen Cattle / Climate: Chris, Helen and the family agreed several years ago that they were increasingly concerned about the state of nature and that, with some money they had at hand, they would buy some land in North Yorkshire for a tree planting project. I met Chris and Helen around this time more or less when they had acquired their first site. We talked about possible outcomes and went on to create a woodland with wildflowers much like Alwyn did [see one of earlier episodes - Alwyn's Forest of Flowers]. Since then they have acquired more land and started a farming and wildlife operation and employing a small team under the banner "Make it Wild". This interview is with Chris at a gorgeous site which links a low input farming system with ancient woodland and scrub restoration.