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PODCAST

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts

Nature, Wildlife and Countryside Living with Chris Skinner from High Ash FarmChris 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

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All Episodes

47:24

Episode 2.66 - Firebug Frenzy and Min-Till Marvels

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/04/04

Send us Fan Mail A beautiful early-April morning at High Ash Farm and Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin are treated to classic “Mad March hares” — pairs and trios boxing and chasing across the overwinter seed mix, the females standing up on hind legs to fend off over-eager males. A short drive to the oat field reveals Neil’s min-till cultivator at work, its wide array of angled discs turning the soil with minimal disturbance while a swirling flock of rooks, jackdaws, carrion crows and gulls fe...

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48:51

Episode 2.65 - Owl Odyssey and Second Chances

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/03/29

Send us Fan Mail Fresh from a successful quadruple bypass at Papworth Hospital, Chris Skinner returns to High Ash Farm after nine days away, still bruised from head to foot but glowing with renewed purpose. In the living room he shares extraordinary stories of the operating theatre where three members of the surgical team recognised him from the podcast and asked (unsuccessfully) to play it during the nine-and-a-half-hour procedure, and of the young farmers from the Philippines and South Suda...

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40:11

Episode 2.64 - Spawn Surge and Mad March Hares

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/03/22

Send us Fan Mail Just days before his successful triple bypass surgery at Papworth Hospital, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin stand at the overflowing lake at High Ash Farm, where a sodden winter has triggered one of nature’s most spectacular annual events. Hundreds of frogs and toads have emerged from hibernation in a single night, laying millions of eggs: the frogs producing huge glistening rafts of “tapioca pudding” spawn, while the common toads create long, double-rowed ribbons resembling...

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44:37

Episode 2.63 - Cricket Bat Canopies and Tally Tales

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/03/15

Send a text In the soft pre-dawn light of mid-March at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner sits patiently in the Fox's Grove hide hoping for a glimpse of the elusive willow tit, one of the farm's dwindling specialities, while blue tits, coal tits and long-tailed tits swarm the feeders. Later, joined by Matthew Gudgin in a newly planted extension of Woodcock Wood, they celebrate the willow – all five British species thrive here, from towering white and crack willows to the three sallow species. Chris...

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48:34

Episode 2.62 - City Coos and Collared Comebacks

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/03/08

Send a text In the bustling heart of Norwich city centre beneath the clock tower of City Hall and the ledges of St Peter Mancroft, Chris Skinner answers listener Jocelyn Baxter’s question about five different-coloured pigeons in her garden. Surrounded by swirling flocks of up to 500 feral pigeons (the domesticated descendants of the wild rock dove), he traces their extraordinary journey from remote Scottish cliffs and Welsh caves to urban rooftops, including their role as ancient Egyptian mes...

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39:02

Episode 2.61 - Brimstone Breakthrough and Violet...

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/03/01

Send a text On a gloriously mild first day of March at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin are stopped in their tracks before they even leave the yard by the season’s first brimstone butterfly — a dazzling male sulphur-yellow vision emerging from dense ivy on the stable wall, its ivy-shaped wings proving once again why this hero plant is the ultimate winter refuge. Just yards away, the 42 sparrow nest boxes are a riot of chatter and activity, every one occupied in a heart-warming ...

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50:56

Episode 2.60 - Pine Pillars and Peacock Pauses

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/02/22

Send a text In the crisp northerly chill of late February at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin explore the historic carriage store turned log haven, where a meticulously stacked pile shelters hibernating peacock butterflies—jet-black camouflaged wings mimicking shrivelled leaves, their glycerol-laced blood warding off frost amid tales of metamorphosis from egg to voracious nettle-feeding caterpillars, red pupae, and nine-month lifespans, alongside brimstone and small tortoiseshe...

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42:40

Episode 2.59 - Redwing Rallies and Snipe Searches

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/02/15

Send a text In the drizzly gloom of mid-February at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin marvel at a restless flock of 200 redwings—migratory thrushes with speckled breasts and rusty flanks—congregating en masse on close-grazed pastures, their seep calls and defensive flights a prelude to their North Sea crossing back to Scandinavian breeding grounds, amid tales of nocturnal migrations, tundra nests, and communal roosts, while watchful goshawks and buzzards lurk nearby. A zigzag qu...

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45:08

Episode 2.58 - Goshawk Glimpses and Woodcock Waves

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/02/08

Send us a text In the cruel grip of February's easterly winds at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin brave the chill to explore an eruption of woodcocks fleeing frozen Europe, their numbers swelling amid redwings, fieldfares, and nomadic lapwings, while frost-lift threatens crops and prompts calls for protecting red-listed species like the beleaguered grey partridge. A thrilling discovery unfolds: a new badger set, the farm's third, teeming with four displaced newcomers—including ...

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49:32

Episode 2.57 - Bypass Journeys and Thrush Tunes

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/02/01

Send us a text In the cosy confines of High Ash Farm's office amid blustery rains, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin sift through aerial snapshots chronicling decades of agricultural evolution—from bustling dairy herds and beef cattle in clay barns to solitary stewardship amid modern uncertainties. Chris recounts a train odyssey to Papworth Hospital for his impending triple bypass, traversing Breckland's pine corridors and sandy warrens, then plunging into Cambridgeshire's jet-black fens teemi...

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38:48

Episode 2.56 - Fungal Flurries and Mole Mysteries

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/01/25

Send us a text In the rain-softened fringes of Fox's Grove at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin recount Rat's near-fatal burrow plunge into a rank-scented fox den, thwarted by a timely tether amid the terrier's muffled underground barks. Amid global well-wishes for Chris's heart surgery—from Yorkshire's aconite admirers to Michigan's feeder-watching fans—they explore nature's revival rhythms: annuals racing seed-to-seed in one fervent burst, perennials like bluebells and snowdro...

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42:07

Episode 2.55 - Foxglove Flourishes and Teasel Triumphs

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/01/18

Send us a text In the sun-dappled depths of Fox's Grove at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin thwart Rat's subterranean ambitions with a timely tether, averting a repeat of his 30-minute underground escapade amid fox burrows scented with rank winter musk. Delving into nature's revival, they unravel the rhythms of plant life cycles: annuals sprinting through seed-to-seed in one fervent year, perennials like enduring bluebells and snowdrops returning eternally from bulb-bound solar...

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45:16

Episode 2.54 - Frosted Footprints and Floral Pioneers

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/01/11

Send us a text Amid the thawing remnants of a harsh January frost at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin witness the Norfolk countryside stirring from snowbound stillness, where a mild south-westerly wind sweeps away icy veils to reveal resilient early blooms like sweet violets, viper's bugloss with its ox-tongue bristles, and cobalt-blue speedwells defying the chill on sandy slopes. Chris shares a personal turning point—clogged arteries leading to urgent bypass surgery, echoing h...

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45:09

Episode 2.53 - Gull Glides and Tit Troupes

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/01/04

Send us a text In the crisp dawn of a new year at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin usher in 2026 with the aerial spectacle of black-headed gulls wheeling westward in V-formations, drawn to ploughed fields teeming with worms, while a muntjac deer ambles across the lawn and scraps from last night's dinner lure a swirling flock to feast. Reflections on evolving habits reveal how these "laughing gulls"—once harvested for eggs and masqueraded as plover meat—have adapted to inland li...

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44:50

Episode 2.52 - Urban Arias and Flocking Festivities

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2025/12/28

Send us a text As the year draws to a close under grey December skies at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin embark on a twilight quest that uncovers unexpected melodies amid urban clamour—a robin serenading from a floodlit supermarket car park in Poringland, its song piercing the roar of lorries and shoppers, a testament to avian adaptability in human realms. Back in the farm's tranquil lokes, flanked by ancient ivy-draped hedges, they delve into the robin's winter repertoire: ma...

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38:17

Episode 2.51 - Solar Shadows and Solstice Songs

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2025/12/21

Send us a text In a festive yet contemplative midwinter visit to High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin mark the approach of the shortest day with reflections on renewable energy's double-edged sword. Amid the bustling farmyard, tales of a bygone wind pump—installed in the 1930s to harness gusts for electricity and water—spark a journey into modern dilemmas, as they venture to the proposed East Pie Solar Farm in South Norfolk's undulating clay lands. There, amid ancient hedgerows tee...

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45:10

Episode 2.50 - Cannon-Seeded Conifers and Winter Warmth

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2025/12/14

Send us a text In the mild glow of a mid-December morning at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin bask in unseasonably warm skies, where a jay's loping flight heralds a day of countryside revelations. Amidst the lingering half-moon and sun-kissed fields, they explore the enigmatic European larch—a deciduous conifer that defies tradition by shedding its needles, introduced from southern Europe in the 1620s for its graceful form and later prized for its resilient, resin-rich timber. ...

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56:01

Episode 2.49 - Inside the Hornet Cathedral & the...

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2025/12/07

Send us a text Join Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin on a frosty early-December morning as they squeeze inside a 350-year-old hollow oak to stand beneath Britain’s largest wasp species’ abandoned hornet palace – a two-foot-tall paper cathedral of perfect hexagonal brood cells and ventilation chimneys, built by a single overwintering queen who turned a rotten heart into a palace of exquisite engineering. Discover the deadly beauty of the English yew – the churchyard tree whose blood-red arils ...

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43:55

Episode 2.48 - Bombs, Bootlaces and Winter Orchids

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2025/11/30

Send us a text Join Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin on a crisp, overcast late-November morning in Fox’s Grove as the last leaves carpet the woodland floor and light floods in for the first time since spring. Stand beside the old ash tree that still bears the carved letters “UXB” from 1942, hold the jagged 3 kg lump of bomb shrapnel that tore through the farmhouse wall while Chris’s pregnant mother sheltered inside, and feel the weight of history on a quiet Norfolk morning. Discover the invis...

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39:11

Episode 2.47 - Sluice Secrets and Jelly Jiggles

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2025/11/23

Send us a text Join Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin on a crisp November morning venturing to Lakenham Mill on Norwich's outskirts, exploring the historic River Yare's controlled sluices, ancient mill wheels, and granaries that once ground local grains, amid discussions on recent torrential rains unleashing 220 tonnes of water per acre and innovative flood management through managed retreat and river re-wiggling. Return to High Ash Farm to witness the aftermath of storm surges transforming st...

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132 results

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