Chris Skinner's Countryside Podcasts

High Ash Farm
  • 4.8 (113)
  • Nature
  • Updated weekly

  Nature, Wildlife and Countryside Living with Chris Skinner from High Ash Farm Chris Skinner, a Norfolk farmer, takes a unique approach to farming, prioritizing biodiversity and wildlife conservation in every practice. Tune in every Sunday morning as Chris, alongside broadcaster Matthew Gudgin, explores topics on nature, wildlife, and rural life. Join them for strolls through High Ash Farm and beyond, spotting wildlife and addressing your queries about the natural world. Email questions for Chris to answer to Chris@highashfarm.com

  1. 2 days ago

    Episode 2.85 - Eclipse Crowds and Buzzard Bales

    Send us Fan Mail On another scorching mid-August morning at High Ash Farm, the day after a spectacular partial solar eclipse, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin reflect on an extraordinary evening. Around 500 well-behaved visitors and 250–300 cars gathered peacefully on one of the farm’s high points for the best view of Norwich and the setting sun. Dads fashioned pinhole cameras from cereal boxes and sieves; Chris shared his welding mask so everyone could watch safely. By morning the site was spotless — not a single tin can or crisp packet left behind — putting a huge smile on his face.The pair then visit a hay bale that has become a busy “takeaway” for two newly fledged buzzards. Parent birds watch peregrines make pigeon kills near the cathedral or on neighbouring pea fields, then dive-bomb the falcons and claim the carcasses (plus the occasional young rabbit). Trail-camera footage captures the young buzzards squabbling over their meal and tumbling off the bale. Chris celebrates the remarkable recovery of buzzards: once almost extinct in southern Britain, numbers have risen to around 50–55,000 birds, with three successful pairs now nesting on the farm.As dusk falls, Chris sits on his patio and watches a colony of pipistrelle bats stream from the old piggery roof and new extension. He explains their tiny size, delayed implantation, echolocation, and evening feeding routes over hedgerows and the duck pond, while noting the larger noctules that roost in a lightning-struck Scots pine. Later, in the welcome shade of Fox’s Grove, speckled wood butterflies patrol sunny patches on the woodland floor. Males vigorously defend their territories with aerial dogfights, using eye-spots on their wings to deter predators, before the pair discuss the grasses outside the wood that serve as their larval food plants.Listener letters bring further delight: a holiday photograph of barn swallows nesting on a balcony in Lesvos, reflections on churchyard wildflowers, and a gentle enquiry about rats on the farm (and the enduring popularity of Rat the terrier).This episode is a joyful celebration of shared wonder, recovering predators and the delicate night-time world of bats and butterflies — ideal for savouring an unexpected community eclipse gathering, the cunning of young buzzards, and the quiet magic that still thrives at High Ash Farm even in the depths of a prolonged heatwave. https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/19650899-episode-2-85-eclipse-crowds-and-buzzard-bales.mp3?download=true Support the show Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to Chris@highashfarm.com This podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here: https://donorbox.org/podcast-12 or from the Podcast page here: Podcast | High Ash Farm

  2. 8 Aug

    Episode 2.84 - Drought Whips and Hornbeam Bracts

    Send us Fan Mail On a breezy mid-August morning at High Ash Farm, with temperatures still high after another week above 30°C and only a fleeting six millimetres of rain quickly absorbed by the parched ground, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin survey the aftermath of intensive fire-prevention work. The last of the waist-high pollen and nectar fields have been cut short, tedded to knock seeds to the ground, and baled — one bale per acre — removing the worst of the fire risk, though the stubble remains flammable. Chris reflects on a close shave with a takeaway barbecue in Successional Woodland the previous week and welcomes the temporary removal of disposable barbecues from supermarket shelves across the UK. Standing among the Sahara-coloured fields, Chris openly shares three “cockups.” A two-year-old double-row hedge of 750 hawthorn and oak whips, planted to divide a large arable block, has largely failed in the drought despite tree guards; fingernail tests reveal most stems are brown and dead. He also recounts the ill-fated “Hideaway” bird-hide venture of twenty-five years ago, when paying visitors used the sound-insulated hides as toilets, ruining carpets and forcing him to sell most of the carefully built structures. Nearby, a carbon-offset acre planted in 2006 for Notre Dame School pupils’ flights to China prompts deeper reflection: one day’s emissions from Norwich Airport would require the entire farm to be wooded for a century, while recent pollution killed thousands of fish in the River Wensum after a short downpour. Moving to Cantley Hill Plantation, they admire ancient, gnarled hornbeams marking the woodland corners — hard, slow-growing native trees at the northern edge of their range. Chris examines the hanging seed bracts containing twin nutlets, a favourite of bramblings and hawfinches, and digs tiny seedlings from the dry woodland floor to gift to a neighbouring bonsai enthusiast. Amid the dryness, swallows skim the cut fields, pipistrelle bats replace them at dusk, and a pied wagtail forages on horse-grazed pasture already being fed winter hay. Listener letters bring further notes: the return of chatty starlings after the departure of swifts, and a Dorset farmer’s shared anxiety over tinder-dry land and nearby open fires. This episode is an honest, sun-baked reflection on drought, human error and the quiet resilience of native trees — ideal for savouring the hard lessons of extreme weather, the overlooked beauty of hornbeam, and the everyday wildlife that still thrives at High Ash Farm.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Support the show Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to Chris@highashfarm.com This podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here: https://donorbox.org/podcast-12 or from the Podcast page here: Podcast | High Ash Farm

  3. 1 Aug

    Episode 2.83 - Tinder Fields and Hobby Missiles

    Send us Fan Mail On a fiercely hot, windy late-July morning at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin stand on one of the highest points of the farm as temperatures push into the 30s and a strong breeze turns the landscape into a tinderbox. Chris recounts a heart-stopping encounter with a group of people barbecuing in Successional Woodland — the smell of cooking meat leading him to intervene and then race to mow nearly 80–100 acres of pollen-and-nectar fields that had just finished flowering. The cut crop, now brittle and dry as hay the moment it hit the ground, will be baled for animal bedding, reducing the risk of a catastrophic fire that could have raced through ancient hedges, oak avenues and the southern half of the farm. As the pair survey the newly opened fields they watch kestrels hovering and dropping on prey, a lightning-fast hobby streaking through the oaks after swallows and house martins, and a hare that would have been invisible only days earlier. They then drive the Teasel Walk, where a hummingbird hawk-moth feeds at close range, painted ladies nectar on thistle, and Chris explains the seeding of perennial sow thistle and creeping thistle — favourite food of goldfinches — alongside emerging sunflowers, flax (a crop his mother remembered from the year he was born in 1949), phacelia and borage. A short journey takes them to the edge of the Roman town of Venta Icenorum and into Caistor St Edmund churchyard. Chris reflects on the quiet importance of churchyards as wildlife refuges — hoary mullein, nettles and wildflowers attracting pollinators — while walking among family graves and sharing memories of a lifetime lived within a few hundred yards of this peaceful spot. Listener letters bring further colour: advice on an unwanted ant hill, a remarkable close encounter with a young badger in Scotland, and a thoughtful discussion of Larson traps and countryside ethics. This episode captures the raw tension of extreme summer heat and the quiet beauty that survives it — ideal for savouring the urgency of fire prevention, the dazzling insect and bird life of the farm, and the deep sense of place that runs through High Ash.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Support the show Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to Chris@highashfarm.com This podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here: https://donorbox.org/podcast-12 or from the Podcast page here: Podcast | High Ash Farm

  4. 25 Jul

    Episode 2.82 - Rook Roosts and Meadow Makers

    Send us Fan Mail On a still late-July evening at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner settles beneath a field maple in Fox's Grove as thousands of jackdaws and rooks gather overhead for their nightly communal roost. As dusk falls and the woodland fills with a remarkable chorus of calls, Chris reflects on the social lives of these intelligent birds and the peaceful spectacle that marks the close of another summer's day. Returning in daylight with Matthew Gudgin, they explore the hidden world of seed production. From bluebells casting glossy black seeds across the woodland floor to towering foxgloves carrying thousands of dust-like seeds, Chris explains how these familiar plants ensure the next generation. The pair also harvest yellow rattle — the famous "meadow maker" that suppresses vigorous grasses and helps wildflowers flourish — before a welcome encounter with the year's first clouded yellow butterfly brightens the morning. Listener questions range from the extraordinary wingbeats of hoverflies and the noisy gatherings of gulls to blackbird song, declining insect numbers and the importance of creating flower-rich habitats for wildlife. This episode celebrates the remarkable journeys of birds and plants alike—from bustling evening roosts to seeds waiting for autumn winds—offering a fascinating glimpse into the quiet processes that keep the countryside renewing itself year after year.  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/19548859-episode-2-82-rook-roosts-and-meadow-makers.mp3?download=true Support the show Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to Chris@highashfarm.com This podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here: https://donorbox.org/podcast-12 or from the Podcast page here: Podcast | High Ash Farm

  5. 18 Jul

    Episode 2.81 - Flamingo Pond and Burnet Banquets

    Send us Fan Mail   On a beautiful but still dry mid-July morning at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin explore Woodcock Wood and a rarely visited blue clay pond — an old hand-dug clay pit that now serves as a precious watering hole in the drought-stricken north half of the farm. With the water table dropping and a hosepipe ban in force, Chris explains the pond’s history, the floating water fern (Azolla filiculoides) known locally as flamingo weed that turns bright pink, and its vital role for wildlife. Trail-cam footage reveals buzzards, tawny owls, barn owls, little owls, deer, badgers, foxes, and horses all coming to drink, while parent buzzards mew overhead from a nearby nest — one of three pairs on the farm this year. The pair then move to a sun-drenched south-facing wildflower meadow alive with six-spot burnet moths and common blues feeding on knapweed and birdsfoot trefoil. Chris details the moths’ life cycle, their remarkable cyanide defence that once puzzled early collectors, the hairy green caterpillars that hibernate through winter, and the paper-like cocoons attached high on grass stems. Swallows sweep overhead gathering aerial plankton as the meadow pulses with summer insect life. An early-morning interlude from Chris’s porch captures the fascinating swarming behaviour of black garden ants — first the winged males, then the larger females on a thundery morning — complete with observations on their social structure, mating flights, and colony life. Listener letters add warmth and reflection: late-arriving house martins near King’s Lynn, the sad impact of early silage cutting on curlews, a remarkable painted lady migration witnessed from a kayak off Sicily, and Anna’s inspiring recovery story from a hip injury while enjoying butterflies and deer in the Wenning Valley. This episode is a sun-baked celebration of drought refuges, dazzling meadow moths, and the hidden dramas of insect societies — ideal for savouring the preciousness of water, the resilience of summer wildlife, and the everyday wonders unfolding at High Ash Farm even in challenging conditions. https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/19511536-episode-2-81-flamingo-pond-and-burnet-banquets.mp3?download=true Explore Azolla filiculoides ecology Investigate UK chalk aquifers Refine title to highlight ants Think Harder   Support the show Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to Chris@highashfarm.com This podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here: https://donorbox.org/podcast-12 or from the Podcast page here: Podcast | High Ash Farm

  6. 11 Jul

    Episode 2.80 - Butterfly Banquets and Nettle Nurseries

    Send us Fan Mail On another scorching July morning at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin explore the extraordinary abundance of butterflies thriving despite the relentless heat. Among thistle-lined field margins they encounter meadow browns, green-veined whites, six-spot burnet moths, peacocks and a surprise brimstone butterfly, while Chris explains how drought, migration and nectar-rich wildflower crops shape the fortunes of Britain's summer butterflies. The pair then visit a carefully managed patch of stinging nettles, where Chris reveals why he deliberately mows sections each year to produce fresh growth for caterpillars. From eggs and hungry larvae to chrysalises and adult butterflies, he follows the complete life cycle of species including the small tortoiseshell and red admiral, showing how thoughtful habitat management can make a remarkable difference to wildlife. Along the way they admire brilliant blue chicory flowers glowing beside the farm walks, discuss their surprising culinary history, and enjoy yet more butterfly encounters among teasels and wildflowers. Listener letters bring plenty to ponder, including brimstone butterflies, haymaking and wildlife, horse mushrooms after summer thunderstorms, roosting rooks and pipistrelle bats, organic wildflower strips, protecting swallows during heatwaves, and a dramatic crab spider feasting on a bumblebee. This episode is a celebration of Britain's summer butterflies and the hidden importance of their humble food plants—ideal for discovering how nettles, wildflowers and careful conservation combine to keep the countryside alive with colour and life. https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/19479846-episode-2-80-butterfly-banquets-and-nettle-nurseries.mp3?download=true Support the show Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to Chris@highashfarm.com This podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here: https://donorbox.org/podcast-12 or from the Podcast page here: Podcast | High Ash Farm

  7. 4 Jul

    Episode 2.79 - Hayfield Kites and House Martin Mud

    Send us Fan Mail On a glorious early-July morning at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner rises at 6 a.m. to follow Neil mowing hay across Cantley Hill. A swirling flock of lesser black-backed gulls and red kites follows the mower, hunting small mammals and insects disturbed by the blades. Later, they watch the tedder fluffing and turning the crop in the intense summer heat, while Chris explains the shift from traditional small bales to modern Heston bales. In the farmyard, a delightful surprise: house martins gathering mud for nests — late arrivals whose origin remains a mystery. A massive honeybee swarm forms a football-sized ball on a pine branch, the old queen and workers seeking a new home. They also admire vibrant sainfoin and colourful wildflowers, including beautiful field bindweed, in the meadows. Listener letters bring warmth: cockchafer beetles (“blind bees”), Scottish hedgerows, summer bird feeding, and more. This episode bubbles with the energy of high summer — ideal for savouring haymaking drama, bee swarms, late-arriving martins, and the colourful meadows of High Ash Farm. https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/19441037-episode-2-79-hayfield-kites-and-house-martin-mud.mp3?download=true Support the show Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to Chris@highashfarm.com This podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here: https://donorbox.org/podcast-12 or from the Podcast page here: Podcast | High Ash Farm

  8. 27 Jun

    Episode 2.78 - Foxglove Spires and Peregrine Kills

    Send us Fan Mail On a breezy mid-June morning at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin stand among towering foxgloves in dappled woodland — spectacular spikes of purple, pink and white, buzzing with bumblebees. Chris explains their biennial life cycle, vast seed production, and the important heart medicine (digitalis) derived from them. Nearby, a sobering discovery: the fresh remains of a little owl, plucked by a peregrine falcon near a busy road — a stark reminder of the raw predator-prey balance on the farm. They then admire a vibrant stand of sainfoin (wholesome hay) in the wildflower field, its pink blooms alive with bees and its deep roots fixing nitrogen in the light soil. Listener letters add warmth: a rescued spotted turtle dove in Tasmania, sweet cicely’s aniseed burst, and more. This episode captures high summer’s beauty and its sometimes brutal realities — ideal for savouring the tall foxglove spires, nitrogen-rich meadows, and the unfiltered dramas of life at High Ash Farm. https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/19360959-episode-2-78-foxglove-spires-and-peregrine-kills.mp3?download=true Support the show Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to Chris@highashfarm.com This podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here: https://donorbox.org/podcast-12 or from the Podcast page here: Podcast | High Ash Farm

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4.8
out of 5
113 Ratings

About

  Nature, Wildlife and Countryside Living with Chris Skinner from High Ash Farm Chris Skinner, a Norfolk farmer, takes a unique approach to farming, prioritizing biodiversity and wildlife conservation in every practice. Tune in every Sunday morning as Chris, alongside broadcaster Matthew Gudgin, explores topics on nature, wildlife, and rural life. Join them for strolls through High Ash Farm and beyond, spotting wildlife and addressing your queries about the natural world. Email questions for Chris to answer to Chris@highashfarm.com

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