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Woodland Walks podcast with Adam Shaw and Adrian Chiles
Guest blogger
In a lesser known park of West London, we meet journalist and presenter Adrian Chiles to celebrate the benefits and beauty of urban trees.
Accompanied by his niece Loxie and dog Tito, Adrian chats animatedly about his appreciation for green city spaces and the countryside, declaring 'I just love trees'!
We chat too about Adrian's career, and as I first met him almost thirty years ago, we reminisce a little about our good times at the BBC in the nineties. At times both funny and frank, he touches on his experiences of depression and anxiety too, and how urban parks give him relief from the overstimulation of the city.
Also in this episode, hear Adrian on:
- finally conquering the lofty chestnut tree he feared climbing as a child
- visiting Westonbirt Arboretum as a teenager
- not really liking mornings
- attempting to master tree ID
- words of wisdom from Steve Wright and boyband Bros!
Listen to the podcast now on iTunes, Libsyn or Soundcloud.
The smaller, less celebrated urban parks are a massive thing for this country that we take for granted. I walk around them in wonder. Wherever I go in the country, I find a local park and go for a walk. I just think all life is there.
Discover more
Follow in Adrian's footsteps by testing your tree ID skills or taking a tree-themed walk in London.
New to the podcast?
Don’t miss our previous episodes, including:
- England’s largest new native wood at Heartwood
- Loch Arkaig, an ancient Scotland pine forest
- how trees are making a difference on a Nottinghamshire farm
- Ben Shieldaig, a great example of Scotland’s rainforest
- the urban woods and trees of Leeds
- Joyden’s Wood, a tranquil ancient wood close to London
- the Trust’s largest site in England – Smithills Estate
- the ambitious Northern Forest planting project
- the new young people’s forest at Mead
- fascinating staff stories
- a tour of our president Clive Anderson's garden
- special tree-themed interviews with celebrities including Steph McGovern, Tracy Chevalier, Dan Snow, Kathy Clugston, Alastair Campbell, Adrian Chiles and Cressida Cowell.
Listen now on iTunes, Libsyn or Soundcloud.
Get involved
Please subscribe to the podcast if you want to hear more woodland adventures and don’t forget to rate us or leave a review!
I am keen to hear from you as well – so if you have a favourite woodland walk, do tell me about it in a short email. If you can, make a 5 minute or so recording of your own walk and we may feature your woodland walk in a future podcast.
I’ll be off on another woodland walk soon. Hope you can join me.
Take a woodland walk with Adam Shaw
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Go exploring
Primordial landscapes, tangled branches, breathtaking wildlife and miles of woodland trails. From the countryside to cities, we care for thousands of woods throughout the UK, all free to visit.
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