ScienceNatureSociety & Culture

Open Country

BBC Radio 4

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

Play

Open in

25 episodes
weekly
Avg 24 min
English

Episodes 25

Newest Oldest Longest

All20 Unplayed20 In progress0 Played0

Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.

September 17 · 25 min
Kate Stables and Winchester
Musician Kate Stables explores the landscapes around her home city of Winchester.
September 10 · 23 min
Saving the Rare Plants of Eryri
Martha Kearney finds out how rare arctic-alpine plants are being reintroduced in Eryri.
September 3 · 23 min
Bramble Bank Cricket Match
Alison Mitchell heads to Bramble Bank on the Solent for a famous annual cricket match.
August 27 · 24 min
River Pilgrimage
Martha Kearney joins a group of pilgrims following the route of the River Medway in Kent
August 20 · 23 min
Ancient Technology Centre
Martha Kearney tries her hand at ancient skills like forging a knife and flint knapping.
May 14 · 24 min
Bluebird returns to Coniston
Donald Campbell's restored Bluebird returns to Coniston Water in Cumbria.
May 7 · 23 min
Wildlife Artists on Massingham Heath
Martha Kearney meets the artists documenting the return of this ancient Norfolk grassland.
April 30 · 24 min
Roadside Verges
Martha Kearney explores the forgotten and neglected world of roadside verges.
April 16 · 24 min
Deer Stalking in Essex
Mary-Ann Ochota finds out about deer culling.
April 9 · 23 min
Carrifran Wildwood
Martha Kearney visits an eco-restoration project in lowland Scotland.
April 2 · 24 min
In Celebration of the Daffodil
Martha Kearney is in Cambridgeshire to celebrate the humble daffodil.
March 26 · 23 min
Restoring Wallasea's Wild Coast
The island in Essex has been made into a magical landscape of marshland, lagoons and sea.
March 19 · 24 min
Stroudwater's missing mile
Martha Kearney finds out about ambitious restoration plans for the Stroudwater canal.
March 12 · 23 min
The Rock Houses of Staffordshire
Martha Kearney visits the cave dwellings at Kinver Edge that were lived in until the 1960s
March 5 · 24 min
Hedgerow havens
Martha Kearney finds out about hedgerows, learning about their history and their ecology.
March 2 · 23 min
Savernake Forest
Martha Kearney visits Savernake Forest in Wiltshire
February 20 · 23 min
The Mourne Mountain Fires
How this landscape, often shrouded in cloud and rain, is affected by recurrent fires.
Oct 2, 2025 · 23 min
Black Poplars: How to Save a Tree
Martha Kearney finds out about the black poplar, Britain's most endangered tree.
Sep 25, 2025 · 23 min
The Stones of Snuff Mills
Industrial centre turned nature reserve with stories of ghosts, fossils and an asylum.
Sep 18, 2025 · 28 min
Fair Isle
Martha Kearney is on one of Britain's most isolated islands, famous for knitting and birds

Showing 1–20 of 25 episodes