Harriet Noble, Clare Balding, Robert Macfarlane, George Monbiot, Harriet Noble (Read by), Robert Macfarlane (Read by), Roger Deakin (Read by), Jim Al-Khalili (Read by), Tom Heap (Read by)

Go Wild

A BBC nature collection

Select a format:

Audio Download

Retailers:

Apple Books Audible Google Play Hive Kobo Libro.fm Spotify xigxag

Summary

22 BBC radio programmes celebrating the great outdoors, introduced by Harriet Noble

Spending time in nature is good for both our bodies and minds - but with our hectic lives (not to mention the unreliable British weather), it can be hard to get outside as much as we'd like. But fear not: we've selected some of BBC Radio 4's best nature documentaries to transport you to the great outdoors - and encourage you to take your own trip into the wild.

Discover the tranquility of canoeing down the River Waveney; go rambling in the countryside with Clare Balding; explore al fresco cooking with the Food Programme team and learn the history of Cornwall's colourful flower fields. Or why not go surfing in Scotland, off-grid in Wales or on a journey of a lifetime with Paralympian cyclist Karen Darke?

These captivating programmes will let you experience the sights and sounds of nature - from an oak woodland to a rainforest canopy and a rock pool - and introduce you to some remarkable naturalists, such as filmmaker Roger Deakin, author Robert Macfarlane, pioneering ornithologist Emma Turner, writer and poet Nan Shepherd, and perfumer and mountain photographer Walter Poucher.

Whether you're an intrepid explorer, a weekend micro-adventurer or simply a nature lover, you're sure to be inspired - so step away from your screen, get out into the open air and enjoy the beauty of the natural world.

Contents

Cigarette on the Waveney - presented by Roger Deakin

Ramblings: In Search of the Old Ways with Robert Macfarlane - presented by Clare Balding

Open Country: Nan Shepherd's Cairngorms - presented by Helen Mark

The Food Programme: Outdoor Cooking - presented by Sheila Dillon and Simon Parkes

One to One: Isabel Hardman on nature and depression

Ramblings: George Monbiot in search of the wild - presented by Clare Balding

The Life Scientific: Sky at Night with Maggie Aderin-Pocock- presented by Jim Al-Khalili

Open Country: Off Grid in Mid-Wales - presented by Ian Marchant

A Guide to Coastal Wildlife: Rock Pools - presented by Brett Westwood and Phil Gates
Sound recordist: Chris Watson

Soundstage: The Oak Woodland
Sound recordist: Chris Watson

Costing the Earth: Cycle City - presented by Tom Heap

Open Country: Surfing on Scotland's North Coast - presented by Helen Mark

Journey of a Lifetime - Karen Darke: From Source to Sea via Me

Nature: The Rainforest Canopy
Recorded by wildlife cameraman John Aitchison

Nature: Emma Turner - A Life in the Reeds
Sound recordist: Chris Watson

The Flower Fields - presented by Michael Bird

The Perfumed Mountaineer - presented by Hayden Lorimer

Living World: Winter Seashore - presented by Trai Anfield

Open Country: The Boat Builders of Pin Mill - presented by Helen Mark

Ramblings: Bonding Walks: Stiperstones, Shropshire - presented by Clare Balding

Open Country: Somerset Wassail - presented by Helen Mark

Winter Starlings
Sound recordist: Chris Watson

© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
(p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

About the authors

Clare Balding

CLARE BALDING is an award-winning writer and broadcaster who has been at the forefront of sports presentation since 1998. She has been a key anchor at seven Olympic and six Paralympic Games as well as multiple Commonwealth Games and Winter Olympics. She was awarded a special BAFTA in 2012 for her work at the London Olympics and Paralympics. In 2023, she took over as the lead BBC TV presenter at Wimbledon. She was a key commentator on the BBC's television coverage of King Charles III's Coronation in 2023 and for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee coverage in 2022. She has presented the television coverage of Crufts for nearly two decades and Lost Dogs Live on Channel 5, which helps reunite missing dogs with their owners. During most of her childhood she thought she was a dog and has tried to live with the mentality of a Labrador puppy: be pleased to see everyone and treat every new task as an exciting adventure. Her first book, My Animals and Other Family, was published in 2012 and won the National Book Award for biography of the year. In 2013, she was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List and in 2023 received a CBE for services to sport and charity in the Queen's final Honours List.

Learn More

Robert Macfarlane

Robert Macfarlane is internationally renowned for his writing on nature, people and place. His bestselling books include Underland, Landmarks, The Old Ways, The Wild Places and Mountains of the Mind, as well as a book-length prose-poem, Ness. His work has been translated into more than thirty languages, won prizes around the world, and been widely adapted for film, music, theatre, radio and dance. He has also written operas, plays, and films including River and Mountain, both narrated by Willem Dafoe. He has collaborated closely with artists including Olafur Eliasson and Stanley Donwood, and with the artist Jackie Morris he co-created the internationally bestselling books of nature-poetry and art, The Lost Words and The Lost Spells. As a lyricist and performer, he has written albums and songs with musicians including Cosmo Sheldrake, Karine Polwart and Johnny Flynn, with whom he has released two albums, Lost In The Cedar Wood (2021) and The Moon Also Rises (2023). In 2017, the American Academy of Arts and Letters awarded him the E.M. Forster Prize for Literature, and in 2022 in Toronto he was the inaugural winner of the Weston International Award for a body of work in the field of non-fiction. He is a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and is currently completing his third book with Jackie Morris: The Lost Birds.

Learn More

Go Wild

Select a format:

Retailers:

Summary

About the authors

Harriet Noble

Clare Balding

Robert Macfarlane

George Monbiot

More from this Author

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter