I’m delighted to welcome author and explorer Levison Wood to Highclere, where we talk about my great love; trees and his book, The Great Tree Story: how forests have shaped our world.

Levison shares how studying the Grand Tour at university inspired his lifelong passion for travel and storytelling, from hitchhiking across Europe and Central Asia to serving as an officer in the Parachute Regiment and deploying to Afghanistan. He recalls founding a production company and undertaking extraordinary long-distance walks, including nine months walking the White Nile from its farthest source to the Mediterranean, followed by the length of the Himalayas and other epic routes.

We explore what drew him to write about trees, especially an experience with the Asháninka in the Amazon and we discuss ancient yews, cedars, redwoods, Highclere’s planting of 22,000 trees and his plans to adapt The Great Tree Story into a feature documentary.

01:05 Grand Tour Roots

03:26 Modern Travel Risks

04:56 Army Years and Afghanistan

05:49 From Soldier to Storyteller

07:31 Walking the Nile

09:06 More Epic Expeditions

10:33 Planning and Logistics

12:31 Highclere Explorer Heritage

14:30 Why Trees Matter

17:32 Ancient Trees and Estate Planting

19:42 Redwoods and Tree Lore

23:29 Trees in Culture and Craft

24:33 Green Man and Next Film

You can hear more episodes of Lady Carnarvon's Official Podcasts at https://www.ladycarnarvon.com/podcast/

New episodes are published on the first day of every month.