Beyond the Hedge: The People and Stories that Shape the British Countryside Scribehound

We’ve probably all heard the term ‘regenerative farming’ but what does it actually mean, how do you farm regeneratively, and what does it achieve?
Patrick heads to North Norfolk to meet Jimmy Goodley, a farmer in the Stiffkey Valley who is trying to create a financially viable and sustainable farming business for his young children to one day take on. Patrick and Jimmy discuss wheat, why Jimmy has no interest in farming ‘organically’, and whether it's possible to grow enough food for the nation while farming in an environmentally friendly way.
Patrick then heads to the Holkham Estate to meet Jake Fiennes, the Estate's Director of Conservation. They talk about butterflies, worms and soil health. Patrick puts it to Jake that all these terms, like 'rewilding' and ‘regen’, seem to divide people, rather than bringing people together. Are they, Patrick wonders, often just sticks that we beat each other with?
Beyond the Hedge is a Scribehound productionAbout ScribehoundPassionate about the countryside? Feed your passion with a Scribehound subscription to get daily reads from 30 of the best countryside writers, including Patrick Galbraith. Click here to find out moreAbout the music in this episode
Nelson's Shantymen was established in Burnham Thorpe, birth place of England’s greatest seaman, Lord Horatio Nelson. Now based in Brancaster Staithe at The Jolly Sailors. They are a diverse group of enthusiasts, driven in equal measure by a love of singing and a desire to keep the tradition of the authentic sea-shanty alive. 
Nelson’s Shantymen is a non-profit-making group which aims to raise money for charitable causes. To date they have raised over £28,000 for a range of charities including RNLI, Help for Heroes, Children in Need, Comic Relief, Wells Community Hospital, Tapping House, Campaign Care 94, Nelson’s Journey, Scotty’s Little Soldiers, the Jubilee Sailing Trust, The Bridge for Heroes, Hillside Animal Sanctuary, Kings Lynn Hospital’s League of Friends, East Anglian Children's Hospice and The Big C. Listen to their 2023 album Norfolk Tides here.

It's often said that, within 25 years, the turtledove will be gone from England's hedgerows. When they go, if they go, we will lose something that is a huge part of British culture – they are present in our folk songs and our poetry and for centuries the sound they make, a sort of sweet purring, has been synonymous with springtime. But in Suffolk, on the old road to Norwich, Graham Denny, a small-scale farmer is fighting to save them. 
 
A love of turtledoves, he explains to Patrick, is something that he has shared with grandfather and his father and now he shares that love with his son. Graham has worked extraordinarily hard to turn his farm into a place where turtledoves thrive. His model is based largely on predator control, habitat creation, and providing food for the turtledoves to eat. 
 
In this episode, Patrick sets off at dawn to visit Graham and to try to hear his doves purring. 

Around half of Britain’s farmers rent some or all of the land they work, but in Britain's changing agricultural landscape, where significant profits can be made through rewilding, tree planting and renting out rural properties to city-dwellers, it is becoming harder and harder for aspiring farmers to find any ground. They were once a cornerstone of rural society but tenant farmers are becoming a rare breed. 
Patrick Galbraith meets two tenant farmers in Hampshire at different ends of their careers. First he speaks to Charlie Flindt, a recently retired tenant on the Hinton Ampner Estate, which is owned by the National Trust. Charlie tells him  about the changes he’s seen over the past few decades and he also tells Patrick about where he thinks it’s all going - his outlook is bleak. 
Next Patrick meets Flavian Obiero,  one of a new generation of farmers who are making a go of it. Originally from Kenya, Flavian now farms 61 acres in Hampshire, where he raises pigs and goats, as well as running a butchery business and making charcuterie. Flavian tells Patrick about how farming in Britains compares to farming in Kenya. Small-scale holdings, he reckons, can work; farmers just need to think outside the box.
Passionate about the countryside? Feed your passion with a Scribehound subscription to get daily reads from 30 of the best countryside writers, including Patrick Galbraith. Click here to find out more

Inspired by the chance discovery of an egg vending machine deep in rural Norfolk, Patrick Galbraith reflects upon the changes to village life that have occurred over the last hundred years or so. 
Patrick goes in search of the farmer who owns the pickled egg dispenser - David - and discovers that his family has farmed the land around Great Snoring (yes, really) for the last 150 years, and that David remembers a time when the village had a pub and when he knew who lived in every house. Today the pub is gone, the houses are occupied by 'incomers' and the only retail outlet left in the village is David's vending machine.Later Patrick catches up with fellow Scribehounder Anna Jones, whose work as a rural affairs journalist has led her to make a study of the changes that are affecting rural communities and the impact that these have on their culture. Her book, Divide: The relationship crisis between town and country explores the reasons behind the growing lack of understanding between urbanites and rural dwellers, and suggests that to protect livlihoods and the environment we must all work together to narrow that gap. How does the changing face of Britain's villages fit into this picture when locals can no longer afford to live in them, and those who can don't understand their culture?

Patrick Galbraith meets Marcus Armytage, Grand National-winning jockey and Scribehounder, at his home in Berkshire to find out what   it takes to win the most famous horse race in the world. Patrick learns about Marcus’ route into racing and why he never made the step from amateur to professional, despite still holding the record for the National.
Next Patrick visits legendary National Hunt trainer Oliver Sherwood, who trained two Hennesey Gold Cup winning horses, Arctic Call and Many Clouds. Oliver explains what it takes to become a successful National Hunt trainer and why dealing with owners is such a challenge.If you're curious about the countryside, subscribe to Scribehound to get daily reads from leading rural writers.

Patrick Galbraith learns about offal and why chefs love cooking with it. First, he heads to Norfolk with his friend Sachin Kureishi to shoot some woodpigeons and some squirrels. Mission accomplished, he returns to London where the young butcher, chef, and offal devotee, Flossy Philips, comes over to his flat to cook some really impressive dishes, using squirrel and pigeon offal as well herbs foraged in the local park. 
Flossy, who runs an offal project called ‘Floffal’, believes that innards are the very essence of a creature and they should be treated with as much gastronomic respect as the most expensive cuts of meat. 
You can follow Flossy on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/floffal/
The wine they drink, which comes from Walsingham Vineyards, can be found here: https://walsingham.co/collections/wine