Trees A Crowd

Trees have captured the imagination of some of Britain’s most important landscape painters, with artists including John Constable and Paul Nash inspired by their diversity of form, character and symbolic significance. Here, in discussion with David in his role as an Ambassador for the Woodland Trust, art historian Christiana Payne and artist Angela Summerfield celebrate the majestic beauty of our woodland and the role of trees in inspiring some of our greatest artworks. “The Art Of Trees” was recorded live at The Times and The Sunday Times 70th Cheltenham Literature Festival in October 2019 and was supported by The Woodland Trust. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Harry Barton is the chief executive of the Devon Wildlife Trust. He has worked for nearly 25 years in the environmental sector, including spells at the Earth Trust, the Council for National Parks, Kew Gardens, CPRE and the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. Amidst extolling the virtues of Devon and it’s newfound beaver population, Harry explains the Trust's mission to preserve, protect and enhance the county's areas of natural wildlife. This conversation addresses the differing roles of the wildlife trusts, environmental groups like Extinction Rebellion and individuals like Greta Thunberg in solving the crisis of climate change, but takes numerous gear changes along the way – from musings over childhood memories of cars being swept away by the river at Richmond, to the threats to our marine environment hidden beneath the waves. Harry also talks about one of the issues closest to his heart, that of the importance of the outdoors for young children, particularly for his son, who has autism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tannis Davidson is the curator of the Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at University College London. From unearthing the dismembered arms of mummies at archaeological digs in Egypt to searching for fossils in Beijing, Tannis has a rich history in researching and examining the stories of the once living. As one of the few people in the world who takes care of animals only once they've died, Tannis' work has her looking after 68,000 specimens. One of the museum’s many accolades is that it houses one of only seven existing quagga skeletons in the world - a type of zebra that is now extinct. Other specimens include biological tissue from the Tasmanian tiger, an elephant tusk with an antique bullet encased within it, a gorilla skeleton which was once photographed hugging H.G.Wells… and a jar of moles! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the second part of the conversation with Chris Watson, following on from the recordings made during the dawn chorus. Chris is a legendary sound recordist and president of the Wildlife Sound Recording Society. He’s worked on a whole host of documentaries, including David Attenborough’s Life of Birds, talks about the time in his band, Cabaret Voltaire, and how he has since collaborated with the likes of Bjork and beyond. His passion for music and nature are brought together as he guides us through these moments, including his attempt to capture, in 18 minutes, the 10,000-year journey of a piece of ice sliding down the side of a glacier, the sound of a cheetah purring, and the song of the blue whale. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris Watson is the president of the Wildlife Sound Recording Society. He’s worked on a range of television and radio documentaries, alongside the likes of Sir David Attenborough. In this serene example of ‘slow radio’, Chris takes David to Stonehaugh, part of the Kielder Forest, in the early hours of the morning. As he sets up his microphones, he explains what goes into capturing each intricate sound. The pair relax as they listen to the epic build up of the dawn chorus, beginning with the night wind rushing through the conifers, and only a tawny owl or two for company. As the soundscape crescendos, the sounds of wrens, nuthatches, chiffchaffs, mistle thrushes, deviously bullish robins and even roe deer begin to break through. 100 meters away from the hidden microphones, Chris and David bathe in the “sound of a place where we can never be”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Jess French is a veterinary surgeon, writer and television presenter. She fronts the CBeebies show Minibeast Adventureand has recently published the book, How to Help a Hedgehog and Protect a Polar Bear, both aimed at getting our younger generations excited by the world they have a part share in. Unflinching when it comes to handling insects, as a child she didn’t realise her love of tiny creatures was unusual – but it eventually earned her the nickname ‘the bug girl’, and ultimately a career she loves. Prodding David with an “Are you scared?” as she unveils the millipedes, this fascinating chat is full of many wonderful moments of distraction, from a tarantula in a box firmly labelled ‘do not open’, to a leaf insect climbing onto the microphone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Terry Gough is the head of gardens and estates at Hampton Court Palace. For nearly three decades, he's followed in the footsteps of the likes of Lancelot Capability Brown, and has made the palace look and smell fit for a king. On a private walking tour through the heart of these historic gardens, Terry shares how his horticultural roots, bedded at the age of 16 by working as a boy in a Battersea Garden Centre, have grown to include working at Buckingham Palace and Historic Royal Palaces. He now oversees three National Collections of Plants, including the lilies, passion flowers, and olive trees that make up Queen Mary's Exotic Collection. As you will discover, there is seemingly little Terry does not know about horticulture or indeed history! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rebecca Speight is currently the CEO of the Woodland Trust and will shortly be taking over the reigns of the RSPB. Beccy began her foray into the Natural World to satisfy her “sense of connectivity”. Following years working for the National Trust she was ultimately appointed to her current role in 2014, where she heads up the largest woodland conservation charity in the UK (for which David has proudly become an ambassador.) In this in-depth conversation, she discusses the devastating decline in ancient woodland - which has almost halved in the past 50 years, elaborates on the “Young People’s Forest” project which aims to inspire and engage new generations on environmental concerns, and talks about the landscapes and literature that have come to shape her as an individual working for our beautiful and historic country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wolfgang Buttress is an award-winning artist who creates multi-sensory artworks that draw inspiration from our evolving relationship with nature, and Dr Martin Bencsik is an associate professor in the School of Science and Technology at Nottingham Trent University. Together they have become a unique creative force! Here, talking to David, they discuss their initial collaboration, HIVE. At 17 metres tall and now based at Kew Gardens, the sculpture represents the intrinsic relationship between bees, humans and our shared landscape. Their most recent collaboration, BEAM, which made its debut at Glastonbury Festival 2019, is co-produced with Greenpeace, and converts signals from a nearby bee colony and ambient sounds from the surrounding concert stages into light and sound effects to provide an ever-changing soundscape – and a truly immersive experience. If that isn’t enough, they recall when they filled Martin’s wife’s cello with bees... as one does! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, David speaks to award-winning folk musician Bella Hardy. A fiddle-singer and songwriter from Edale in the Peak District, she has performed at festivals worldwide and on the UK folk circuit since she was 13. In 2007, she released her debut solo album Night Visiting, for which she was nominated for the Horizon award at the BBC Folk Awards. She has since won at the Folk Awards for original song, for ‘The Herring Girl’ in 2012, and was named BBC Folk Singer of the year in 2014 – but most importantly, earlier this year, she composed the theme tune for this very podcast! David and Bella discuss how folk music has been redefined over the years, deviating from its once rural beginnings, and Bella reflects on her musical influences and inspirations from nature – from hiding in dens with fox cubs, to using “the joy of folk music” as merely a hyper-convoluted way to become branded as “Patron of the Bog”! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.