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Open Country

by BBC Radio 4
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Latest episodes

  • Walter Scott country

    October 1, 2026 · 24 min

    Martha Kearney visits Walter Scott country. She traces the writer's footsteps through the Scottish countryside, visiting Abbotsford House near Melrose, where he built his Scottish baronial dream. Scott was the best-selling author of his…

  • Whitwell Bird Ringers

    September 24, 2026 · 24 min

    Brett Westwood goes to meet ornithologist Jack Baddams and his fellow bird ringers in his home village Whitwell in Derbyshire, to find out how the practice of ringing has been passed down the generations there, and learns about the impact…

  • Kate Stables and Winchester

    September 17, 2026 · 26 min

    Musician Kate Stables visits her favourite spots in Winchester to find out more about the area that she used to call home. From St Catherine's Hill you can see across the whole city. It's where Kate flew kites, and celebrated her wedding…

  • Saving the Rare Plants of Eryri

    September 10, 2026 · 24 min

    Martha Kearney meets the people protecting and restoring rare arctic-alpine plants in Eryri, also know as Snowdonia. Robbie Blackhall-Miles is a conservation horticulturist working for the charity Plantlife. He shows Martha his secret…

  • Bramble Bank Cricket Match

    September 3, 2026 · 24 min

    Between the mainland and the Isle of Wight, when the tides are low enough and the days long enough, a sandbank emerges from the Solent. At some point each summer, in most summers since 1984, this exposed bank becomes the venue for an…

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  • River Pilgrimage

    August 27, 2026 · 24 min

    Pilgrimages are usually associated with the Middle Ages, when they were at their peak. Banned by Henry VIII in the 16th century, they are now regaining popularity. In this programme, Martha Kearney joins a group of people on a river…

  • Ancient Technology Centre

    August 20, 2026 · 23 min

    Martha Kearney learns ancient skills like forging a knife, flint knapping and making a fire with flint and steel, alongside local schoolchildren at the Ancient Technology Centre in the Dorset countryside. The centre is a unique collection…

  • Bluebird returns to Coniston

    May 14, 2026 · 25 min

    When Donald Campbell died on Coniston Water in Cumbria in January 1967, attempting to break his own water speed record it was, to many people, the end of an era. Many would always remember where they were when the images of Bluebird K7…

  • Wildlife Artists on Massingham Heath

    May 7, 2026 · 24 min

    Martha Kearney is in Norfolk to walk the heathland that is being returned to its ancient grassland habitat by Olly Birkbeck. The Society of Wildlife Artists is holding a year-long residency documenting the recovery of the land and the…

  • Roadside Verges

    April 30, 2026 · 24 min

    Britain's roadside verges rarely get much attention, but can play host to a whole range of plant and animal species. In this programme Martha Kearney finds out about this overlooked habitat. She meets a community group in East Sussex whose…

  • Deer Stalking in Essex

    April 16, 2026 · 24 min

    Britain’s deer population has surged to around two million. These iconic animals are well-loved, but their growing numbers are putting real pressure on the countryside - stripping young hedges and woodlands, damaging crops, preventing…

  • Carrifran Wildwood

    April 9, 2026 · 24 min

    Martha Kearney visits one of the UK’s earliest environmental restoration projects. Southern Scotland was once covered in broadleaf woodland, rich scrub, heath and bog. That was before sheep, humans and conifers took hold. Now a group of…

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About the show

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