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SideCountry Podcast

SideCountry Podcast

By: SideCountry Network
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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/SideCountryNetworkSideCountry Network Biological Sciences Science
Episodes
  • Gold Fever in Wales?

    Gold Fever in Wales?
    Sep 24 2026
    Should you be allowed to head into a Welsh river and pan for gold?

    After a repeat offender was convicted of illegally gold panning at Coed y Brenin, George Browne, Richard Prideaux and Amy Green look at what seems like a fairly harmless countryside hobby and the much bigger questions sitting underneath it.

    They discuss Welsh gold, who owns it, why disturbing river gravel can matter for spawning fish, and whether prosecuting one gold panner is really an effective use of environmental enforcement.

    From there, the conversation broadens into access versus impact. What happens when a quiet activity becomes popular? Can education and self-policing work better than simply banning things? And does social media inevitably turn good countryside spots into honeypots?

    That leads from mountain biking and bothies to commercial mushroom picking, foraging pressure and the strange reality of people fighting over valuable fungi in Welsh forests.

    In this episode:
    • Geology, rock hounding and reading the landscape
    • Welsh gold and the history of gold mining
    • The Coed y Brenin gold-panning prosecution
    • Who owns gold and silver found in Britain
    • Gold panning and salmon spawning habitat
    • Access versus environmental impact
    • The tragedy of the commons
    • Mountain biking, bothies and countryside honeypots
    • Social media and the pressure on popular places
    • Commercial mushroom picking and wild food
    • Education, self-policing and responsible access
    Links:
    Natural Resources Wales: Repeat offender convicted for illegal gold panning
    The Crown Estate: Commercial exploration of Mines Royal
    Natural Resources Wales: Coed y Brenin
    Natural Resources Wales: Welsh salmon remain in crisis
    Mountain Bothies Association
    Support SideCountry

    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.
    Show More Show Less
    36 mins
  • Why Mountain Rescue Callouts Are Rising

    Why Mountain Rescue Callouts Are Rising
    Sep 17 2026
    Why are mountain rescue teams seeing more callouts when the mountains themselves have not changed?

    After Llanberis Mountain Rescue reported 59 incidents in August alone, Richard Prideaux, George Browne and Amy Green look at what is driving the increase.

    They discuss changing attitudes to risk, the influence of social media, poor preparation, navigation, hypothermia and the small decisions that can turn a straightforward day in the hills into an emergency.

    Richard also draws on his background in mountain leadership, outdoor safety and mountain rescue to explain why experience, judgement and self-reliance still matter, and why fitness alone is not enough.

    The conversation also looks at the volunteers behind mountain and lowland search and rescue, preventative safety education, and the simple skills that can help people enjoy the outdoors more safely.

    In this episode:
    • Why mountain rescue callouts are rising
    • Changing attitudes to risk and self-reliance
    • Social media and outdoor expectations
    • Hypothermia, navigation and fading daylight
    • Why problems often start long before the emergency
    • Mountain Leader training and qualified guides
    • Mountain and lowland search and rescue
    • Outdoor first aid and navigation skills
    • How to support your local rescue team
    Links:
    Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team

    Mountain Rescue England and Wales

    AdventureSmart UK and Ireland

    BMC hill walking skills and safety

    Lowland Rescue

    Support SideCountry

    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.
    Show More Show Less
    57 mins
  • What The Hell is SideCountry?

    What The Hell is SideCountry?
    Aug 28 2026
    What connects baking sourdough, climbing mountains, keeping chickens, deer stalking, forestry, fishing, farming and knowing how to sharpen a chainsaw?

    In this episode - broqadcast across every show on the SideCountry Network - Richard Prideaux and George Browne attempt to explain what SideCountry actually is, why it was built, and where the network is heading.

    They start with George’s idea of the “sourdough pipeline”: the idea that apparently unrelated countryside interests are often connected by the same desire to learn, make, understand and do things for yourself.

    From there, they look at how SideCountry brings those worlds together - not as one enormous general-interest podcast, but as a network of shows, articles, films and resources covering different parts of life in the British countryside.

    They also explain why SideCountry aims to occupy some of the ground between the usual rural tribes and echo chambers; bringing farmers, foresters, anglers, shooters, walkers, conservationists, climbers and others into the same wider conversation without insisting that every subject needs a simple good-versus-bad answer.

    Richard and George discuss plans to establish SideCountry as a Community Interest Company, how the project will be funded, why commercial income will be reinvested into the network, and the importance of maintaining editorial independence.

    There is also a look at what’s already here - SideCountry, Countryslide and Fish and Game - and some of what is coming next, including Wild Food People, a forestry show, How the Countryside Works and Land Girls, alongside articles, gear guides, practical resources and films.

    Plus drive-by agronomy, aggressive protein acquisition, Kevlar kilts, Heath Robinson smokers, professional explaining and the continuing possibility of a company yacht.

    This episode is being published across the SideCountry podcast feeds as an introduction to the wider network.Find out more, sign up for the newsletter or get involved at sidecountry.co.uk.

    CreditsPresented by George Browne and Richard Prideaux

    Produced and edited 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.
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 2 mins
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