The Plodcast

As we pay our respects to the fallen on Remembrance Day (11 November), the Plodcast recalls a special visit to Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey earlier in the summer to witness a new type of war memorial that truly embraces nature and landscape. Plodcast host Fergus Collins met with David Richardson of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which looks after the graves of servicemen and women across the world, to learn more about this beautiful project and how it might change the way we tend to our war dead in future. Find out more about the vital and extraordinary work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission at www.cwgc.org Get in touch on Facebook! Search "BBC Countryfile Magazine - Plodcast Community" or join the discussion here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/countryfilemagazineplodcast/?ref=share The BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is the Publishers Podcast Awards Special Interest Podcast of the Year 2024 & 2025 and the PPA Podcast of the Year 2022. If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. 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. The Plodcast is produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. The theme tune was written and performed by Blair Dunlop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the heat of high summer, away from the dark, dank of late autumn, we rest on a gate beside a wheat field in Dorset. Here, among the thick of the sun-scorched stalks, slinks a gamebird no bigger than a mistle thrush. We can’t see it, but we can hear it. The curious, insect-like call of a quail. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Plodcast 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 Kevin Parr and introduced by Hannah Tribe. Image by Getty Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Charlotte Edwardes is an award-winning journalist and war correspondent who has interviewed some of the biggest names in politics, entertainment and culture. This week, she joins the Plodcast for a walk from Lulworth Cove to Durdle Door to talk about her first novel, Trouble Was.Set in the countryside during the drought summer of 1976, Trouble Was explores family life and trauma through the eyes of a child. Charlotte talks about how she came to write the book – and reveals tales from her life as a journalist – with Plodcast host Fergus Collins (who hopes to pick up interviewing tips along the way).Trouble Was is published by Bloomsbury. Get in touch on Facebook! Search "BBC Countryfile Magazine - Plodcast Community" or join the discussion here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/countryfilemagazineplodcast/?ref=shareThe BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is the Publishers Podcast Awards Special Interest Podcast of the Year 2024 & 2025 and the PPA Podcast of the Year 2022. If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. 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. The Plodcast is produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. The theme tune was written and performed by Blair Dunlop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's late afternoon and your riverside walk is bringing you gently towards home. From the west, a golden light floods the valley so you settle by the chuckling the water to immerse yourself in this fleeting moment of beauty. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Plodcast 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 Collins and introduced by Hannah Tribe.Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Animals play an enormous role in improving our lives – and healing us. Author Jay Griffiths reveals tales of extraordinary animals rescuing people and explores the many studies that show how pets calm and console us. She takes this week's Plodcast host Annabel Ross on a wonderful walk in Powys, mid Wales.. Jay's book, How Animals Heal Us is published by Hamish HamiltonNote, this episode was recorded over the summer so there are references to drought etc. Get in touch on Facebook! Search "BBC Countryfile Magazine - Plodcast Community" or join the discussion here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/countryfilemagazineplodcast/?ref=shareThe BBC Countryfile Magazine Plodcast is the Publishers Podcast Awards Special Interest Podcast of the Year 2024 & 2025 and the PPA Podcast of the Year 2022. If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews. Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. 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. The Plodcast is produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. The theme tune was written and performed by Blair Dunlop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices