SideCountry Podcast

SideCountry Network
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Wilderness

A podcast about the people, places and ideas shaping the British countryside. Featuring voices from across the SideCountry network, each episode brings informed conversation, candid opinion and occasional disagreement to rural life in all its forms. Expect interviews and round-table discussions spanning conservation, farming, forestry, food, field sports, outdoor life, land management, culture and countryside policy.Serious when it needs to be, irreverent when it doesn’t, SideCountry looks beyond the familiar divides to explore how the countryside works, who it belongs to and what its future might hold. SideCountry: https://sidecountry.co.uk/shows/sidecountry/ ABOUT THE SIDECOUNTRY NETWORK SideCountry is an independent multimedia network for everyone who works in, on, lives in or simply loves the British countryside.Through podcasts, films, writing and more, it brings together people, stories, practical knowledge and informed opinion from across rural and outdoor life. SideCountry covers everything from land management, conservation and countryside policy to food, farming, forestry, field sports, outdoor pursuits and rural culture. Discover SideCountry: https://sidecountry.co.uk/ Explore all shows: https://sidecountry.co.uk/shows/ Support SideCountry: https://www.patreon.com/SideCountryNetwork

Episodes

  1. 3 days ago

    Do Britain's Uplands Need Managing?

    Do Britain’s uplands need more management, less management, or simply a different kind? Recorded at The Game Fair 2026, Richard Negus and George Browne are joined by Dr Nick Hesford and Dr Felix Meister of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust to examine the red grouse and the much larger argument surrounding its habitat. The conversation ranges across heather moorland, muirburn, wildfire, legal predator control, grouse disease and GWCT’s long-running research into falling breeding productivity. Nick and Felix set out the Trust’s interpretation of the evidence and explain why they see red grouse management as a driver of benefits for curlew, lapwing, golden plover, black grouse and rural communities. They also confront the politics around grouse shooting, the idea that management is inherently bad, and the difficulty of getting competing camps to look at the same landscape together. Rewilding, ecosystem services and changing Scottish policy all enter the discussion, along with the deceptively simple question beneath it: if nobody manages the moor, what happens next? In this episode Why heather moorland is rare, valuable and politically contestedWhat GWCT’s long-term red grouse monitoring is beginning to revealMuirburn, peat, carbon and the distinction between prescribed fire and wildfirePredator control, the Otterburn experiment and ground-nesting birdsLouping ill, strongyle worms, ticks and grouse breeding productivityThe class politics surrounding grouse shooting and conservationRewilding, ecosystem services and the reality that every land use creates winners and losersHow joint monitoring can bring gamekeepers and raptor workers onto common groundLinks GWCT guide to conservation and grouse moorsThe Moorland Balance — GWCT’s detailed guide to grouse and moorland managementGWCT’s 2026 red grouse research updatePredator control and moorland birds — the Otterburn experimentGWCT Scotland team — Nick Hesford and Felix MeisterGWCT Scotland Moor Walks 2026Future Moors and changing upland policyNatureScot guidance on muirburn licensingScottish Government independent review of grouse moor management — the Werritty ReportPresented by Richard Negus and George Browne Edited and Produced for SideCountry by Amy Green. DISCLAIMER Views are those of individual speakers and do not necessarily represent SideCountry, its presenters, contributors, partners or sponsors. For general information and entertainment only. Laws, seasons, access and guidance change; check official sources, obtain permission and act within your competence.

  2. 3 days ago

    What Makes a Wildfire Wild?

    What makes a wildfire wild? In the first SideCountry episode, Richard Prideaux, George Browne and Amy Green follow that deceptively simple question into the increasingly urgent problem of fire in the British countryside. The conversation begins with a peregrine hitting George’s window and Australia’s alleged fire-spreading raptors, before turning to the fires that have affected moorland, woodland, farmland and communities across Britain. They discuss human ignition, disposable barbecues and campfires; the appeal of ‘voluntary outlawdom’ outdoors; and the difficult balance between greater access, personal freedom and responsibility. There are no neat answers. Rewetting, prescribed burning, cutting, grazing and changes in land management all enter the argument, along with climate change, fuel load, deep-burning peat and the tribal politics surrounding rewilding and grouse-moor management. The result is a wide-ranging discussion about risk, blame and what a more fire-resilient countryside might actually require — with a flaming buzzard, cultural burning and the Theft Act taking the occasional supporting role. In this episode Firehawks, peregrines and opportunistic wildlifeWhat British agencies and the public mean by ‘wildfire’Human ignition, disposable barbecues, lanterns and campfiresClimate change, dry weather and increasingly unpredictable conditionsRewetting, prescribed burning, cutting, grazing and fuel managementCool burns, deep peat fires and ecological damageAccess, freedom, responsibility and enforcementWhy the wildfire debate so quickly becomes ecopoliticalLinks Presented by Richard Prideaux, George Browne and Amy Green Edited and Produced for SideCountry by Amy Green. DISCLAIMER Views are those of individual speakers and do not necessarily represent SideCountry, its presenters, contributors, partners or sponsors. For general information and entertainment only. Laws, seasons, access and guidance change; check official sources, obtain permission and act within your competence.

  • 2 Episodes

About

A podcast about the people, places and ideas shaping the British countryside. Featuring voices from across the SideCountry network, each episode brings informed conversation, candid opinion and occasional disagreement to rural life in all its forms. Expect interviews and round-table discussions spanning conservation, farming, forestry, food, field sports, outdoor life, land management, culture and countryside policy.Serious when it needs to be, irreverent when it doesn’t, SideCountry looks beyond the familiar divides to explore how the countryside works, who it belongs to and what its future might hold. SideCountry: https://sidecountry.co.uk/shows/sidecountry/ ABOUT THE SIDECOUNTRY NETWORK SideCountry is an independent multimedia network for everyone who works in, on, lives in or simply loves the British countryside.Through podcasts, films, writing and more, it brings together people, stories, practical knowledge and informed opinion from across rural and outdoor life. SideCountry covers everything from land management, conservation and countryside policy to food, farming, forestry, field sports, outdoor pursuits and rural culture. Discover SideCountry: https://sidecountry.co.uk/ Explore all shows: https://sidecountry.co.uk/shows/ Support SideCountry: https://www.patreon.com/SideCountryNetwork

Information

  • Creator
    SideCountry Network
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    2
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © SideCountry Network
  • Show Website
    SideCountry Podcast