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
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • What Happens When Wheat Stops Paying?

    What Happens When Wheat Stops Paying?
    Aug 20 2026
    Britain's 2026 harvest has been brutally early, dry and disappointing. With cereal yields down across much of the country, the obvious story is drought. But the economics underneath it may be more important. Herefordshire farmer Martin Williams joins Richard Prideaux and Richard Negus to explain why he decided last year not to grow cereals at all. What follows is a wider conversation about the business of British farming: shrinking margins, fertiliser and fuel costs, SFI, global grain markets, dairy, land prices, mixed farming, anaerobic digestion and solar. They also look at the uncomfortable question of what farmers should actually do when producing food no longer offers the best return from their land. Martin argues that British agriculture is already consolidating, that policy has helped shape some decidedly odd business decisions, and that adapting to a changing climate will require more than simply hoping next year's weather is kinder. The conversation finishes with water: storing more of it, keeping more of it in soils, sharing it better, and using it to build farming businesses capable of coping with hotter summers and wetter winters. Plus: Poldark, recreational tillage and the important distinction between a Merlo and a bottle of Merlot.In this episodeWhy Martin Williams decided not to grow cereals this yearWhat the 2026 harvest looks like across England and ScotlandWhy wheat margins have become increasingly difficult for some farmersThe impact of fertiliser, diesel and other input costsHow SFI and agricultural policy are influencing cropping decisionsWhy a poor UK harvest does not necessarily mean higher food pricesGlobal grain markets, Russia and the importance of logisticsLand values, agricultural borrowing and the strange economics of farmlandWhy dairy farmers can be buying and selling cows at the same timeWhether British farming could ever return to more mixed farming systemsThe long-term decline in the number of farms and the consolidation of agricultureEnergy crops, anaerobic digestion and the debate around food versus fuelSolar farms, land use and what happens to agricultural land over the long termHow climate change and increasingly erratic weather affect farm resilienceWhy Martin thinks water storage and water management should be a priority for British farmingThe role of collaboration, farm reservoirs and soil organic matter in adapting to drier summersLinksSustainable Farming Incentive 2026 — Defra guidanceAgricultural Industries Confederation (AIC)AIC policy team — including Ed BarkerLloyds Bank agriculture — with Ben MakowieckiFuture Biogas — anaerobic digestion and energy cropsTurriff ShowNational Farmers’ UnionDefra drought support — including funding for on-farm reservoirsDefra guidance on farming during prolonged dry weather and droughtCreditsPresented by Richard Negus and Richard PrideauxProduced for SideCountry by George Browne and edited by Amy Green. DISCLAIMERViews 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.
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    40 mins
  • Do Britain's Uplands Need Managing?

    Do Britain's Uplands Need Managing?
    Aug 11 2026
    Do Britain’s uplands need more management, less management, or simply a different kind?

    Recorded at The Game Fair 2026, Richard Negus and George Browne are joined by Dr Nick Hesford and Dr Felix Meister of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust to examine the red grouse and the much larger argument surrounding its habitat.

    The conversation ranges across heather moorland, muirburn, wildfire, legal predator control, grouse disease and GWCT’s long-running research into falling breeding productivity. Nick and Felix set out the Trust’s interpretation of the evidence and explain why they see red grouse management as a driver of benefits for curlew, lapwing, golden plover, black grouse and rural communities.

    They also confront the politics around grouse shooting, the idea that management is inherently bad, and the difficulty of getting competing camps to look at the same landscape together. Rewilding, ecosystem services and changing Scottish policy all enter the discussion, along with the deceptively simple question beneath it: if nobody manages the moor, what happens next?

    In this episode
    • Why heather moorland is rare, valuable and politically contested
    • What GWCT’s long-term red grouse monitoring is beginning to reveal
    • Muirburn, peat, carbon and the distinction between prescribed fire and wildfire
    • Predator control, the Otterburn experiment and ground-nesting birds
    • Louping ill, strongyle worms, ticks and grouse breeding productivity
    • The class politics surrounding grouse shooting and conservation
    • Rewilding, ecosystem services and the reality that every land use creates winners and losers
    • How joint monitoring can bring gamekeepers and raptor workers onto common ground
    Links
    • GWCT guide to conservation and grouse moors
    • The Moorland Balance — GWCT’s detailed guide to grouse and moorland management
    • GWCT’s 2026 red grouse research update
    • Predator control and moorland birds — the Otterburn experiment
    • GWCT Scotland team — Nick Hesford and Felix Meister
    • GWCT Scotland Moor Walks 2026
    • Future Moors and changing upland policy
    • NatureScot guidance on muirburn licensing
    • Scottish Government independent review of grouse moor management — the Werritty Report
    Presented by Richard Negus and George Browne

    Edited and Produced 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.
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    32 mins
  • What Makes a Wildfire Wild?

    What Makes a Wildfire Wild?
    Aug 11 2026
    What makes a wildfire wild? In the first SideCountry episode, Richard Prideaux, George Browne and Amy Green follow that deceptively simple question into the increasingly urgent problem of fire in the British countryside.
    The conversation begins with a peregrine hitting George’s window and Australia’s alleged fire-spreading raptors, before turning to the fires that have affected moorland, woodland, farmland and communities across Britain.

    They discuss human ignition, disposable barbecues and campfires; the appeal of ‘voluntary outlawdom’ outdoors; and the difficult balance between greater access, personal freedom and responsibility.

    There are no neat answers. Rewetting, prescribed burning, cutting, grazing and changes in land management all enter the argument, along with climate change, fuel load, deep-burning peat and the tribal politics surrounding rewilding and grouse-moor management. The result is a wide-ranging discussion about risk, blame and what a more fire-resilient countryside might actually require — with a flaming buzzard, cultural burning and the Theft Act taking the occasional supporting role.


    In this episode
    • Firehawks, peregrines and opportunistic wildlife
    • What British agencies and the public mean by ‘wildfire’
    • Human ignition, disposable barbecues, lanterns and campfires
    • Climate change, dry weather and increasingly unpredictable conditions
    • Rewetting, prescribed burning, cutting, grazing and fuel management
    • Cool burns, deep peat fires and ecological damage
    • Access, freedom, responsibility and enforcement
    • Why the wildfire debate so quickly becomes ecopolitical
    Links


    Presented by Richard Prideaux, George Browne and Amy Green

    Edited and Produced 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.
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    58 mins