Plug in your headphones to enjoy the best countryside podcasts and radio by BBC Sounds as selected by BBC radio producer Alasdair Cross.
Forest 404
- BBC Radio 4
This award-winning sci-fi drama feels pretty close to reality at the moment. It’s set in a silent future, a world without the sounds of nature. Starring Pearl Mackie, with music by Bonobo.
Listen on BBC Radio 4
Planet Puffin
- BBC Radio 4
Spend a summer on the tiny Isle of May in the Firth of Forth with a colony of fun, fearless puffins. Episode three features the highest concentration of adorable pufflings.
Listen on BBC Radio 4
Slow Radio: Cattle Blessing
- BBC Radio 3
The most relaxing podcasts on BBC Sounds, packed with nature given the space and time to breathe, squawk and moo. This episode follows Irish cattle on their winter drove to new pastures.
Listen on BBC Sounds
Sunday Feature: Waterlog
Alice Roberts contemplates the legacy of Roger Deakin, the writer who turned a generation on to the idea of wild swimming
in Britain’s rivers, lakes and lochs.
Listen on BBC Sounds
Ramblings: LGBT Ramblers
- BBC Radio 4
With 238 episodes available, you can join Clare Balding for a walk anywhere in the UK. Start near Manchester with young LGBT walkers exploring gravel pits and urban edgelands.
Listen on BBC Radio 4
Find the best walks in the UK
On Your Farm: The Yorkshire Shepherdess
- BBC Radio 2
A golden generation of farmers communicate brilliantly about their native soil. Start with the unsinkable Amanda Owen and her Swaledale brood.
Listen on BBC Radio 4
Costing the Earth: The Wolf Is Back
How do you feel about wolves moving in next door? Tom Heap discovers how our European neighbours have coped as resurgent wolf populations have reached Belgium and Holland.
Listen on BBC Radio 2
The Food Programme: Summer Camping Special
Food cooked beneath the stars is delicious. Cerys Matthews forages for wild ingredients and traditional recipes around Monmouthshire.
Listen on BBC Radio 4
Open Country: Holst’s Cotswolds
- BBC Radio 4
Helen Mark walks the hills and explores the landscape in which the young composer Gustav Holst (1874–1934) practiced his trombone and played organ in a village church.
Listen on BBC Radio 4
Natural Histories: The Fly
- BBC Radio 4
These cultural histories of birds and beasties that share our lives are packed with fun facts you can’t help sharing. In this episode, Brett Westwood investigates the humble fly.
Listen on BBC Radio 4
How to listen to podcasts
There are dozens of great science and nature podcasts to listen to, and often for free! Find out how to access them and get listening here, as well as exploring a selection of our favourites with this handy guide by discoverwildlife.com.
Don't forget to listen to the BBC Countryfile Magazine podcast
Enjoy the countryside wherever you are by listening to the BBC Countryfile Magazine 'plodcast', which takes you on adventures ranging from walks with woodlarks to quests to spot killer whales. Editor Fergus Collins is often on hand as your guide, alongside interviews with farmers, naturalists and the odd truffle hunter.