The Plodcast

You're in a wintry valley following a boisterous stream high into the Welsh hills. After recent rain, the water boils and churns and the river's song is wild and free. Fighting against the current are huge salmon, leaping lightning fast through the rough waters to reach the calmer spawning grounds.BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Fergus CollinsEmail the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: editor@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Come with us deep into the Welsh hills, to Gilfach Farm, a magical Radnorshire Wildlife Trust reserve in Powys. Here, in the tumbling River Marteg, salmon still leap waterfalls and rapids to reach their spawning grounds. Will plodcast host Fergus spot this incredible natural spectacle. With huge thanks to naturalist Megan Shersby and Radnorshire Wildlife Trust's head of conservation Sylvia Cojocaru for the wildlife insights and expertise. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com. If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s a chilly evening and you are gathered with a crowd of others next to a large bonfire. The warmth it provides is a welcome break from the chilly air and the glow lights up the faces of joy around the neighbourhood park.BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Jack Bateman, presented by Hannah Tribe. Image by Getty Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: editor@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Explore the magic and myth of the Ring of Brodgar – an astonishing neolithic stone circle on Orkney in the company of local ranger Sandra Miller and the Plodcast's own Annabel Ross. Enjoy a blend of history, mystery and folklore…Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com. If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're on the wild and windy beach of Orkney’s South Ronaldsay. You listen to the cry of turnstones, plovers, sanderlings and redshanks, competing for the lead solo part, as they take flight from the water’s edge with the grey seals peacefully watching on.BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Annabel Ross, presented by Hannah Tribe. Image by Getty Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: editor@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join Plodcast host Fergus and wonderful storyteller Duane Fitzsimons as they following in the footsteps of St Patrick along the coastline of Co Down. As they search for St Patrick's Well and his final resting place, Duane recounts tales of local folklore, shipwrecks and chilling ghost stories. This is the final episode of 4 in 2023 exploring St Patrick's Way in Northern Ireland.For more about Duane and the magical Lecale Peninsula see www.lecalepeninsula.com/A huge thanks to Tourism Northern Ireland for making these adventures possible.Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com.If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team.Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the fluttering of pigeons' wings loosen the last beech nuts of the season, you stand under a gentle shower of nature’s crackles and pops, reminding us that autumn is in full flow. Majestic beech trees envelop you, offering up their fruits to passing wildlife.BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Annabel Ross, presented by Hannah Tribe. Image by Getty Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: editor@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Enjoy a night walk in an ancient forest in Gloucestershire with the Plodcast team of Fergus, Hannah and Jack. What is it like walking in the pitch black – and what stories and wild encounters will they experience? To help them in their quest, they deploy night vision scopes…The night vision devices used by the team were:Bushnell Equinox X650Nightfox Corsac Night Vision BinocularsContact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com.If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team.Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Where the Burn of Latheronwheel meets the North Sea, you sit silently on the ancient harbour wall soaking in autumn sun, The waves draw the pebbles back down into the the depths of the peaty water. Once home to fifty boats, where salmon was a regular catch, Latheronwheel is now a ghost of its past, with the voices of long gone fishermen whispering onto the shore.BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be. Recorded by Annabel Ross, presented by Hannah Tribe. Image by Getty Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: editor@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, the Plodcast tales are as ancient as can be. We’re in Dorset with Plodcast regular Annabel Ross hunting 500-million-year old fossils in the company of author and paelontologist Wolfgang Grulke, who has amassed an extraordinary collection of the strangest and rarest fossils on earth.Join them for a weird and wonderful adventure into prehistory.For more about Wolfgang Grulke, inclusing details on how to visit his collection, head to https://wolfganggrulke.com/author.Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com.If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team.Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices