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Open Country

Countryside magazine featuring the people and wildlife that shape the landscape of the British Isles

Radio 4,529 episodes

Episodes

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Black Poplars: How to Save a Tree
Martha Kearney finds out about the black poplar, Britain's most endangered tree.
02 Oct 2025,24 mins
The Stones of Snuff Mills
Industrial centre turned nature reserve with stories of ghosts, fossils and an asylum.
25 Sep 2025,24 mins
Fair Isle
Martha Kearney is on one of Britain's most isolated islands, famous for knitting and birds
18 Sep 2025,24 mins
The Menai Strait
Martha Kearney visits the stretch of water which separates Anglesey from mainland Wales.
11 Sep 2025,24 mins
Pingos and Pool Frogs
Martha Kearney visits the Ice Age ponds called pingos which are being brought back to life
04 Sep 2025,24 mins
Exploring the Lakes by wheelchair
Caz Graham tries out a scheme which helps disabled people access the Lake District
28 Aug 2025,24 mins
Aeolian harps on Wicken Fen
Martha Kearney learns to make an aeolian harp on Wicken Fen
21 Aug 2025,24 mins
Flutterings on the Fleet
Martha Kearney meets little terns and swans by Dorset's unique and beautiful Fleet Lagoon.
15 May 2025,24 mins
Shipshape and Bristol Fashion
How the port of Bristol fundamentally changed the shape of the city and the land around it
08 May 2025,24 mins
Wild and Windy Fylde
Martha Kearney learns about the part wind has played in shaping the Lancashire landscape.
01 May 2025,24 mins
The People's Forest
How Epping Forest was fought for, and saved by, the people of East London.
24 Apr 2025,24 mins
Time travel on Orkney
Rose Ferraby journeys through the history of the Orkney coastline.
17 Apr 2025,24 mins
Shifting Sands of Sefton
An exploration of the Sefton coastline between Liverpool and Southport.
10 Apr 2025,24 mins
Cornish Mining
Martha Kearney takes a trip through the past, present and future of mining in Cornwall.
03 Apr 2025,24 mins
These Debatable Lands
Helen Mark explores 50 square miles that were neither England nor Scotland.
03 Oct 2024,24 mins
The 100 Mile Wildlife Corridor
Martha Kearney discovers how one of the UK's largest nature projects is taking root.
26 Sep 2024,24 mins
Night under the Stars
Helen Mark joins a group of young carers as they spend a night under canvas on Dartmoor.
19 Sep 2024,24 mins
Aberaeron's Mackerel Festival
How mackerel (and other fish) have shaped the people and landscape of Aberaeron.
12 Sep 2024,24 mins
Wildlife Watching on Mull
This week, Open Country visits Mull to learn about responsible wildlife watching.
05 Sep 2024,24 mins
Battery Rocks
Helen Mark discovers a wilderness in the heart of Penzance.
29 Aug 2024,24 mins
Football Falcons Rookies and Rooks
Footballers and birdwatching.
22 Aug 2024,24 mins
Writing Wildness
Helen Mark heads to the Shropshire hills to discover how to write about nature.
15 Aug 2024,24 mins
The Sound of The Fens
The people and wildlife that shape the landscape of the British Isles
08 Aug 2024,24 mins
The Sound of the Fens
Martha Kearney is on Fen Edge in Cambridgeshire listening to the sound of the countryside.
08 Aug 2024,24 mins
Post-Flood Cumbria
Matt Baker visits Cumbria to see if life is returning to normal after the floods of 2009.
23 Jul 2024,25 mins
Anneka Rice and Maggi Hambling in Suffolk
The landscapes and seascapes that have inspired the artist Maggi Hambling.
13 Jun 2024,24 mins
Wiltshire's white horses
Helen Mark explores the chalk hill carvings of the Wiltshire landscape.
06 Jun 2024,24 mins
Shivering Sands
Martha Kearney explores the history of the Shivering Sands sea forts off the Kent coast.
30 May 2024,24 mins
Bats on Punts
Martha Kearney explores the world of nocturnal wildlife in Cambridge.
23 May 2024,24 mins
Gibraltar Point
Martha Kearney explores the shifting sands of Gibraltar Point, on the Lincolnshire coast.
16 May 2024,24 mins