Mike Raine Upland Lives: Recent Episodes
Mike Raine
A podcast for hillwalkers and climbers about the people we share the hills with. Get to know some of the other users, managers, and owners of our uplands. Meet characters and personalities who live Upland Lives. This podcast is aimed at informing mountain leaders, hill and moorland leaders and mountaineering instructors, but it's hoped anyone who climbs or walks in the hills of the UK and Ireland might be interested too.
Angela heads up the Ramblers in Wales. She leads a team campaign on behalf of footpaths and walkers. We chat about what the Ramblers are doing and how they are going about it. We touch on many topics, such asworking with Welsh Government, volunteers and landowners.
Sarah believes passionately in the importantance of walking for all. Her business is based in a lowland area and she thinks the Lowland Leader could be more valued. “There are such a high percentage of the population that, if you have ‘hill’, ‘mountain’, ‘challenge’ or ‘hike’ in the title of anything, they won’t even consider it.” Sarah Price.
Staff Sergeant Nathan Jones is an Adventurous TrainingInstructor (ATI) in the Royal Army Physical Training Corps (RAPTC), Nathan is on a mission to transform people's lives through the power of the outdoors by connecting wannabe adventurers with professional guides and instructors through the Discover A Guide platform.
Rhys works for a combination of the National Trust, theEryri National Park and Natural Resources Wales. He is the warden and public engagement officer for the National Nature Reserve that contains Cwm Idwal.
Rob is the current Chair of the Association of Mountaineering Instructors (AMI). He is a keen climber, freelance mountaineering instructor and technical advisor based in the South Lakes. He offers offer Rock Climbing Instructor (RCI), Climbing Wall Instructor (CWI) and Climbing Wall Development Instructor(CWDI) courses. He can provide guiding, and a range of climbing courses.
David is a conservationist and naturalist, and this book isa story of nature, farming, conservation and reconciliation in the Welsh uplands. It is set on one particualr farm and we get to learn about that farm, the people who work there, their history and the story of their land. It's a great read. In this podcast we discuss some of the issuesraised in the book and glance at the interaction between farming and conservation.
Shane is the Chief Executive Officer of Ourea events. OureaEvents are well known as the organisers of challenging running events such asthe Dragon’s Back Race and the Cape Wrath Trail Run. He is a seasoned eliterunner and extreme climber himself; he currently holds the record for thefastest unsupported round of the Lake District Classic Rock Routes. Shane is alsoa member of the Kendal Mountain Rescue Team and has held senior roles withinthe team for the last ten years. Our conversation took place the day after hehad run across Wales on a weekend off.
Chris Forrest – Chief Instructor Joint Services Mountain Training, former Senior Instructor at Plas y Brenin and Instructor at Glenmore Lodge. UIAGM Guide, Kayak and Canoe Coach, Climber, skier, paddler and family man.
Alec works for the Eryri National Park and is the projectmanager for the Yr Wyddfa Plastic Free project. The project is about much more than just plastic. Listed to Alec explain what is going on, why it's important, how it's making a difference and how you can help. Can Snowdon become the world’s first ‘plastic free’ mountain?
Rich is a climber, walker, biker and A&E Consultant. He heads up the medical team for Ourea Events and is an active member of, and doctor with, the busiest mountain rescue team in the country.
The Snowdonia Society is a member-based conservation charity that works with local communities, organisations, businesses and individuals to help look after Snowdonia. Since 1967 the Snowdonia Society has worked tirelessly to ensure that Snowdonia is well-protected, well-managed and enjoyed by all.
Mountain Leader, Nature Friendly Farmer, former Bannau Brycheiniog Ranger, former Yr Wyddfa Warden, Former Head Warden and Senior Manager at Eryri National Park; Helen Pye chats about her new role at the National Trust theland the Trust own, how it’s managed and a few other tangents besides.
Former headteachers Fiona and Rob Nicholson have beenrunning Gwesty Plas Coch in Llanberis since 2019. Their vision was to develop Plas Coch as part of the outdoor community whilst themselves working hard to become part of their new home village community. Their knowledge of the Eryri mountains and lakes have helped them to establish themselves and drove their recent endeavours to become the first ‘Gold Level’ business under the Plastic Free Yr Wyddfa scheme.
Phill has been an active mountaineer for over 40 years.During that time he has completed the Winter Mountain Climbing Instructor (WMCI) qualification and the British Mountain Guides scheme (IFMGA) which qualifies him for all aspects of mountaineering activities world wide. Phill is a qualified teacher and has worked for private and local Education based centres throughout the country on an instructional basis and as a technical expert. Based in Snowdonia, he is now a very popular provider of NationalGoverning Body Awards for Summer Mountain Leader (ML) Rock Climbing Instructor (RCI) and Hill & Moorland (HML)
Pete Edwards owns and runs his own business, Prowess Climbing Coaching; helping climbers of all abilities and ages to not only improve their climbing grade but also their enjoyment of their climbing by helping improve technical, tactical and psychological skills. Prowess also provides coach education courses, including the BMC FUNdamentals of Climbing workshops and other CPD workshops.
Pete speaks intelligently about the relatively new world ofclimbing coaching.
In a wide ranging conversation with Tom about his role and how he comes to be doing it we touch on all sorts of things, including the fact that it didn't freeze on Clogwyn Ddu (850m) at all last winter!
Mal Creasey has influenced thousands of mountain leaders, instructors and guides in a climbing career spanning over 60 years. He worked as the Technical Officer for Mountain Training England, as a Guide in the Alps and as amember of staff at Plas y Brenin. He was involved in the first two MIA (now MCI) courses, he’s an author, writer and is still active walking and climbing every week.
Dewi Davies is the Project Manager for National Trust Cymru focussing on the Uwch Conwy catchment in the east of Eryri National Park.
Dewi leads a team of people on the restoration of nature,predominantly peatland at the head of the river basin, but also working on rivers and their catchments to improve habitats by restoring natural processes and increasing tree cover. The project also supports farming tradition andheritage. They are working on access improvements, so that people living and visiting the area can benefit from nature, too. All this helps with mitigating the effects of climate change -fire, drought, floods and species and habitat declines.
Paul Poole runs a range of mountain based training courses in north Wales. He's a very popular provider of the Mountain Leader Courses and the Rock Climbing Instrucotor courses. Paul also runs trips to Scotland, Morocco and Nepal. Listen in to find out more about him and the way he does things.
My guest today is Robbie Blackhall-Miles of Llanberis. Heis, amongst other things, a conservation scientist, ethno-ecologist, ecology lecturer at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, writer, horticulturist, and the charity Plantlife’s Vascular Plant Officer for the National Heritage Lotteryfunded Natur am Byth project - a partnership project between Natural Resources Wales and 9 environmental charities.
Dan Lane, Operations Manager at RAW Adventures is a Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor, Chemistry Graduate, keen climber and proud dog owner. Dan is also a trustee of the Tom Furey Trust.
In Dan's role he employs many walking leaders and climbing instructors, he organises major events and manages to climb in between. He works on ML courses and has been central to the setting up of the Tom Fury Trust.
Jut a little chat about First Aid in the outdoors. To fill the mid-summer gap before Outdoor Lives returns in the Autumn.
James McHaffie is well known in climbing circles for his high-endascents of some of the hardest sport and trad rook climbs in the world. He has climbed over 200 routes of E7 and above. He has soled 100 Extremes in a day in the Lake District, he has completed all the climbs in Ken Wilson’s Extreme Rock book and he’s the ‘King of the Pass’ having climbed Jerry’s Roof, Central Icefall Direct and Lord of the Flies all on the same day. But he’s more than a climber and today I wanted to ask him about working for the BMC, working as a mountaineering instructor, climate activism, but most of all his new book Eleri.
Warning, this podcast contains bad language.
Let me tell you more about the pictures used in The Mountain Leader -a practical manual.
This is a bonus podcast where I simply talk about the book, The Mountain Leader - a practical manual. How the book came about, what it covers, who it's aimed at and much more. Just a bit of insight for you really.
Sabine Nouvet is a project officer with the Celtic Rainforest Project. This 7-year LIFE project is funded by the European Commission Nature and Biodiversity Fund and Welsh Government Green Infrastructure Grant. It focuses on protecting and restoring 5 designated temperate rainforests across 40,000ha of Wales.
As an Ecologist, Sabine has been working with farmers and landowners across Eryri for more than 15 years with the mission to improve the environment in cooperation with people and their livestock. Before that, she studied Fish and Wildlife Management in her home country of Canada, and helped with various ecological research projects across North America, from the Yukon to New Hampshire. Her appreciation of the role humans have in our natural systems stems from experience with hunters and trappers of Canada, as well as journeys around the world. For Sabine, the Holy Grail of conservation management is finding solutions which deliver high value nature while including people and their culture.
We find out what these rainforests are, how to recognise them, how special they are and how the proect is working hard improve them.
Guy Wilson is the founder of Pure Outdoor, based in the Peak District. An award winning Outdoor Training Centre and B Corp. Guy has been working as a
mountaineering instructor and in business development at Pure Outdoor for over 15 years and loves spending all of his spare time in the hills. Guy is another example of people who make things happen and makes them happen well. Lot's of inspirational advice in this one.
Dr. Nathan Chrismas, Mountain Leader, climber and Lichenologist. Nathan is a keen outdoor person with a passion for the natural world. He’s a key member of the British Lichenological Society’s education team. Nathan has joined in with one or two of my workshops and his enthusiasm and natural way of introducing the world of lichens has proven fascinating and inspiring to the group. Nathan will the be leading on a Nature of Snowdonia - Lichen Special Workshop in the Rhinogiau, look out for these on www.mikeraine.co.uk
Kevin Walker, author, photographer, mountain leader and public speaker, perhaps best known for his range of mountain and moorland navigation books and courses which he runs from Crickhowell, in the Brecon Beacons.
Ned Feesey, Nature Trust Ranger and Farmer. Ned works for the National Trust in north Wales and he’s currently the Area Ranger for the Carneddau and Glyderau. Ned set up and led the National Trust’s footpath team from 2017 to this year. Ned, with his wife Teleri Fielden, runs a small nature friendly farm. The farm we visit on our Down on the Farm Workshop.
We talk about managing the National Trust’s projects in the Carneddau, footpath work and running a small nature friendly farm.
For this year's Christmas special I was very pleased to be joined by Nick Livesay, expect it all, with baubles on ! Nick Livesey lives and works in Snowdonia. He’s appeared on podcasts before and has an uplifting story. Many of you will know him from the cheery counter service he provided at the Moel Siabod Café, but what has he been doing since he left? We engage in conversation bout what Nick has been doing, though lockdowns and building the Secret Snowdonia brand. We share our passion for Yr Wyddfa and the quieter, less spoilt, corners of Snowdonia.
Lucy Wallace, Mountain Leader. Lucy is a Mountain Leader, Winter Mountain Leader and International Mountain Leader living and working on Aran. She is also the President of the Scottish Ramblers. She is a member of the Aran Mountain Rescue team. Lucy leads wildlife walks on Aran and travels to work as a Mountain Leader including to train and assess other Mountain Leaders. We also talk about Lucy’s role as the Honorary President of the Scottish Ramblers, being a role model and our shared love of the upland environment.
Her photograph is used courtesy of the Scottish Ramblers
John Cousins is the Chief Executive of Mountain training UK and Ireland. Mountain Training UK & Ireland administers six qualifications and is also the coordinating body for all of the national Mountain Training organisations of the UK and Ireland.
John is an experienced leader and instructor himself, being a qualified British Mountain Guide and Mountaineering Instructor. He’s been on many climbing expeditions and has done some particularly interesting and challenging family canoe adventures across the Canadian Wilderness, he’s still very active in the hills as a keen fell runner.
Rachael Crewesmith, mountaineering instructor, mountain bike leader, former hockey international and compere. Rachael has been heavily involved in the Women’s Trad Fest and the Women in Mountain Training Conference. She will be hosting a stage at the Kendal Film Festival. We talk about getting to be an instuctor, leader and coach and the importance of role models.
Dom Ferris founder and director of Trash Free Trails.
Dom began thinking about doing something different back in 2017 whilst still working for Surfers Against Sewage. He wanted to be for something not against. He knew there were litter problems in our society with many businesses producing materials for us to waste. Rather than see poor littering habits developed in urban and roadside areas spreading to our trails and footpaths he wanted to positively influence the way people behave in the countryside. He wanted them to connect better with these special places and the nature within them and thence look after them better. This is his story…
My guest in this episode is Belal Younis. Belal is a mountain leader from Scotland. His mother is from Egypt whilst his father is Libyan. Brought up in Edinburgh, Belal is a proud Scot who now resides in Birmingham. After working as a specialist immigration lawyer he now runs Adventure Peak UK and prides himself on getting more under-represented groups out into the hills. Much of his work is with BAME groups and Islamic Relief. He is also a key player in the Muslim Hikers groups. We talk about how Belal got into hillwalking became a mountain leader and now runs his own outdoor business. We explore some issues of race and prejudice and how we all a can do better.
Peter Rutherford Access and Wellbeing Manager for the Snowdonia National Park. Pete Rutherford is a Caernarfon born, former copper miner, former farmer, former National Park Warden. He’s a walker, climber, bird counter, breeder and international judge of Welsh Cob Ponies. Peter Rutherford is a man of many talents. His day job is managing access in the Snowdonia National Park. It’s a job with many successes, some challenges and quite a few frustrations.
Dr. Mark Avery is a former Conservation Director with the RSPB, a scientist and naturalist, he his passionate about birdlife. Mark is the author of Inglorious (2015) a hugely influential book which accused the driven grouse shooting industry of being completely unsustainable. He campaigns on conservation issues, he’s a blogger, writer and public speaker. Mark, along with Ruth Tingay and Chris Packham, is a director of the legal campaign group Wild Justice
Amanda Anderson is the Director of the Moorland Association.
Amanda steers the Moorland Association’s management of heather moorland, boosting populations of important birds, animals and plants. She liaises with Government and key national bodies.
With a master’s degree in aquaculture, honours’ degree in zoology, plus a further degree in post-16 education, sha has also worked in marketing and communications, working with leading countryside agencies, companies and estates.
Moorland Association members are responsible for over a million acres of the moorlands of England and Wales. This includes 860,000 acres of upland heather representing almost all of this precious habitat south of the Scottish Border. The Moorland Association was set up in 1986 to tackle serious declines in the treasured landscapes, dating back to the Second World War.
Lee Schofield is a naturalist and nature writer living and working in the Lake District National Park. As Senior Site Manager for RSPB Haweswater, Lee manages a large upland hill farm and conservation operation.
His interests include river restoration, rewilding, reintroductions and farming in the British countryside. His first book, Wild Fell, is due to be published by Penguin/Transworld in 2022.
In this podcast we have fascinating discussion about the nature of the Lake District, how it looks, how it's manged and the changes that are afoot.
Dave is a Bushcrafter. He runs The Coastal Wanderer a small company which aims to introduce people to bushcrafting and foraging.
Bushcraft can elicit a bit of a mixed response from many of us in the outdoor community. It does seem to cover quite a wide range of activities. We have all seen some very bad practice around fire lighting and so called wild camping in the outdoors and we’ve often blamed bushcraft TV shows or military wannabees in cotton camo gear. So, I wanted to find out more about what real bushcraft is and what we really mean by foraging and how it fits in to the Outdoor world.
Elfyn is the Access and Conservation officer for the BMC in Wales. Elfyn hails from Blaenau Ffestiniog, he’s a walker, climber, mountaineer and qualified mountain leader. He volunteers with the Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team. He’s a qualified countryside manager who has worked for the Pembrokeshire National Park and as the National Trust Land Manager for the Carneddau. He’s the son of a farmer, a farm his brother still work whislt his mother is from a slate quarrying family. Elfyn is a first language Welsh speaker, all this makes him the perfect ambassador for Hillwalkers and Climbers in Wales… He’s also a cancer survivor.
Helen is the Access and Conservation officer for Mountaineering Ireland, she’s also a keen walker and naturalist.
Mountaineering Instructor, mad keen rock climber and internet sensation. Jez is one of a new wave of Mountain Training course providers. Most of his work now revolves around teaching and guiding climbing and running Mountain Training and assessment courses, but he’s also an internet sensation…
Steve and Helen run a business offering First Aid and other training courses for mountain leaders. Steve and Helen are very experienced mountain rescuers, search dog handlers, they have walked the Munros and most of the Corbetts too. They are both recipients of the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal for services to Mountain Rescue.
Graham is a lifelong hillwalker. This has led to a continuous crossing of the Welsh Hewitt’s, over 300 Scottish Munros and Corbett’s. He’s the author of the recently published and bestselling ‘Walking the Wainwrights’.
Graham has written several other books such the series Backpacker’s Britain, guides to walking in places as diverse as Cornwall and Shetland. Graham is also an ornithologist, photographer, horticulturist, ecological surveyor and counter of birds.
A former employee of the RSPB, a former Helvellyn Fell top assessor, a mountain rescue volunteer, Graham now runs Graham Uney Mountaineering providing a range of courses for hillwalkers and climbers. He’s lived in Wales, Scotland and England and is now based in the Lake District.
Russ is a climber and mountaineer who was a member of the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Team for twenty years serving as chairman for two years before retiring from the team. He’s climbed in the Scottish winter and the Alps as well as the greater ranges of Greenland, Alaska and Patagonia.
He says that whilst sitting in a hotel room once, playing with geo-location code ( as you do) he came up with a germ of an idea that became SARLOC. SARLOC is a technology which has been adapted by search and rescue teams around the World and is a standard part of UK practice, listen in and find out more ……
Richard Talbot is the Product & Marketing Director for Mountain Equipment. He’s a summer and winter mountain leader who dabbles in backpacking and mountain walking, climbing, mountaineering, fell-running and he occasionally ski tours. Richard is a lover of wild and mountainous environments, so so much so that he now lives on his own traditionally managed plot of land in the Yorkshire Dales and is as likely to be found reading a nature book as climbing guide. We ask him what he does, what it’s like to work with kit every day and what challenges the sector faces. We’re interested in how out kit is designed, how it performs, how it’s made and what its environmental impact is.
Be aware there was delay on our line whilst recording. We are blaming Storm Alwen, which visited the day before, sorry, bear with, we do get used to managing it as the podcast procedes.
Pete Barron is the John Muir Trust Property Manager for the Glenridding Estate. He’s the man that manages Helvellyn. Pete worked for the Lake District National Park as a ranger for 23 years on everything from upland management and path maintenance to raptor protection, supervising volunteers and community engagement. He is now charged with looking after one of our favourite mountains. We find out what the JMT intends for Helvellyn and how they will achieve their aims.
In this episode Mike Raine, Nature of Snowdonia, chats to Carey Davies editor of TGO. Carey has made a successful career as an outdoor journalist. He has written for many outdoor publications and the Guardian newspaper. He has also had a stint as the BMC's Hillwalking officer. Carey remains a keen and committed hillwalker.
Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation provides a search and rescue service for the mountains and rivers of Northern Snowdonia. This area includes Tryfan. the little mountain that easily bites back. The team carries out about 130 operations per annum. A number of these are to assist North Wales Police, Welsh Ambulance Service and the Fire & Rescue Service. The fifty or so members are all volunteers who give of their time to provide this Search and Rescue service, as well as regularly train in numerous skills and manage and administer this charity.
Chris, a familiar face around north Wales, became a Full member of OVMRO in March 1977. During his membership, he has served as Communications Officer, Equipment Officer, Secretary and Chairman (twice). He’s been the Press Officer and Archivist for over 20 years. He’s currently involved with a national scheme to capture the heritage of Mountain Rescue in England and Wales. If history is not recorded, it is quickly lost. Today, is tomorrow's history.
Chris remains an active operational member as well as informing younger team members about the history of the team and Mountain Rescue.
Aside from using his limited spare time to run his own mapping business
Chasing Maps (https://chasingmaps.com), he spends his 9-5 working as a
geospatial consultant for the mapping and geodata heavyweight that is
Ordnance Survey, Britain's National Mapping Agency.
Here, his life as a geospatial consultant to the public sector combined
with his professional outdoor experience, provides him with a unique
perspective on the mapping of Britain historically and today.
Phil grew up in the lower Alps in the tri-border region of Germany,
Austria and Switzerland. Here, his love for the mountains was born, though
he didn't fully realise his passion in this area until studying in
England. By chance he was roped (no pun intended) into the University
Climbing Club and the rest, as they say, is history.
Unfortunately, Phil decided to throw in the towel with a part-time PhD
looking at geographical factors in risk perception a couple of years ago,
though his spare time and stress levels have thanked him for it.
In the past 7 years Phil has held a number of positions at Ordnance Survey
in a variety of departments. Through this he has gained a broad insight
into the inner workings and mechanics of OS, as well as the difference OS
makes to every British citizen's life on a daily basis - you just don't
know it.
During this time, the geospatial industry has changed rapidly and it is
ever accelerating. With this, demands on the data and on the people
working with the data are ever expanding and OS today is a very different
beast to where it was at the turn of the century.
With that, the once core business of "making maps" has long become a side
endeavour to a much larger geospatial data business. Unbeknown to many,
the orange and pink paper maps so many outdoor users love or love to hate
represent merely 5% of OS' annual revenue. So where does the remaining 95%
come from? What does OS actually do? Are there better maps that we just
can't get our hands on? And how does OS survey the country and make maps
today, surely it's all just satellites? Phil will answer all these
questions and more.
What could be easier than running an online subscription based website where the content is generated by the subscribers? Join me and let’s ask David and Chris how www.walkingworld.com started, way back in the internet dark days of 2000, how it’s developed and where it’s heading next. What seemed like a good idea, in line with the ethos of the internet’s pioneers, that of sharing information as freely as possible, has certainly provided us all with challenges. Can subscription channels work or will advertising always be the beast that calls the tune? How did they get where they are today and where will they go in the future? Join me for a conversation with the team at www.walkingworld.com , for a conversation about using the internet, sharing and spreading good messages and helping people to get out walking, safely and within their comfort zones.
The Carneddau is a special and varied landscape. A partnership of organisations is delivering a scheme to help people discover, record, care for and celebrate the Carneddau with the help of funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Marian oversees the programme of 24 projects that make up the Carneddau Landscape Partnership Scheme, supporting the core team and partners to achieve the Partnership’s vision. As a local resident, hill walker, runner, biker, and place-name enthusiast, it’s a place that’s grown close to Marian’s heart and has been her refuge during lockdown.
Dewi Davies is the National Trust’s Project Manger for the Upper Conwy Catchment Project -a landscape scale project to improve the quality of the environment and heritage of the Upper Conwy catchment. Dewi comes from a background of working in the uplands on land management, access and conservation. He has also worked for Snowdonia National Park as Senior Warden and was the first Cwm Idwal partnership officer. Dewi believes in taking action to improve access to the countryside and land management for nature, and doing this with other people who care about the same things. A fluent welsh speaker, Dewi wants future generations of people living and caring for Eryri to be able to spiritually connect with this special place, its names and its people through Cymraeg. He is a passionate believer that the communities of Eryri can work together and lead the way in protecting its special qualities, and that even when individuals can seem at odds with each other, there is always common ground. Perhaps this passion can be traced back to his childhood, roaming the hills and valleys above his home town of Llanfairfechan. We’ll be trying to find out where Dewi comes from, what makes him tick and how he has landed a succession of dream jobs.
Just a few thoughts from a wet and windy morning. What is there to see, hear and look out for at the moment. And, is it spring yet?
Iolo is a one time rugby playing (both codes) RSPB officer. He’s had a passion for birds and all nature since being introduced to the great outdoors as a child by his Taid. He’s authored several books on the natural world and has been particularly keen to make sure Welsh words for our animals, plants and trees are not lost. Llyfr Natur is Iolo’s Welsh guide to Welsh wildlife. Iolo is passionate about Wales, about nature and about encouraging greater environmental awareness amongst everybody. Iolo is now a regular on TV most recently fronting up Winterwatch. Join me to find out a little bit more about nature in the hills and Iolo’s relationship to it. You can purchase Iolo’s books from https://www.serenbooks.com/author/iolo-williams
Tracey Evans is the CEO of The Outdoor Partnership here in north Wales. The Partnership seeks, successfully, to increase the participation of local people in outdoor activities. During Tracey’s time in charge the number of Welsh speaking instructors employed in the north Wales outdoor sector has risen from 4% to over 25% and she has help to create over 100 new Outdoor clubs.
Tracey is a member of the Snowdonia National Park Management Committee, she represents the Outdoor Sector to Welsh Government and in her spare time she goes hillwalking. Tracey is also an excellent sportsperson having represented Wales at Football, downhill skiing and jujitsu, for which she won a Commonwealth Games Bronze Medal.
Have you ever wondered how farming works? Have you heard bad things about sheep and overgrazing? How tough is hill farming? How well do you know the Carneddau? Can farms be more nature friendly? Do you have any idea about the way our hills are managed? Who owns them? How do farmers support local communities? What happened to British wool? Why is lamb so expensive? Can cattle be grazed on the hills? Should gorse be burnt off? What is ‘common’ land? Join me for a conversation with a young farmer, trying to farm in a nature friendly way on the Carneddau mountains of Snowdonia.
Franco is the managing director of Pesda Press which he founded and has steered to becoming one of the most respected specialist outdoor publishing houses with a fleet of sea kayak, canoe, climbing and canyoning guidebooks alongside specialist instructional manuals and the visionary Nature of Snowdonia; the ‘ML’s bible’.
He worked for many years as a kayaking coach and a mountaineering instructor including stints as Head of Paddlesports at Plas y Brenin and at Plas Menai. He has paddled throughout the United Kingdom and in many parts of the world including Nepal, Scandinavia, the coast of Brittany in France, the European Alps, Peru and Western Canada.
With his partner Kath he has spent the last five years living on a thirty-six foot yacht called ‘Caramor’, whilst running his business, and sailing around South America (via South Georgia) and across the Pacific to new Zealand.
Covid 19 has forced a longer than expected break from this journey but he is making the most of being back in North Wales (climbing, cycling and kayaking) and plans to re-join Caramor and continue with the circumnavigation in 2022.
Paul Hodges, the accidental café owner. We're sorry the sound quality isn't brilliant on this episode. It was never Paul’s dream to own the number one outdoor cafe in the UK. Paul used to run large and successful construction company, but life chances, happenstance and fortunate meetings led him Capel Curig and to what is now the Siabod Café. Find out about Paul his journey and how he, with his fantastic team, have turned the Moel Siabod Cafe in to your number one destination. Find out about Paul charity works, his running and what he thinks about Snowdonia and what might lay ahead
Andy Robinson, CEO the Institute of Outdoor Education and CEO The Lindley Trust. Andy is a lead spokesperson for the outdoor sector to Government and he’s been busy recently…
Andy’s work with the IOL over recent years has focussed on the development of apprenticeships, of the development of professional standards for outdoor educators and the provision of quality resources to support his. The IOL has also recognised the need for a more focused voice from the outdoor sector and had started work towards the establishment of UK Outdoors to better communicate the aims of outdoor education to the powers that be. The Lindley Trust is a provider of high quality outdoor education in the Peak District. It is a well established provider working with a variety of groups of young people to help them develop confidence and grow into resilient adults.
The Coronavirus crisis has dominated Andy’s life over the last twelve months during which Outdoor Education has been decimated. In trying to promote support for the outdoor sector he has been instrumental in the establishment of an All Party Parliamentary Group for Outdoor Education.
IN the interview we talk about Andy’s back ground, the organisations he now leads, what he’s had to do over the last year and the role of outdoor learning in the wider society, is there a future for it?
Helen Pye is the Head of Engagement with Snowdonia National Park Authority and that has been a very hot seat to be in during this horrible year of coronavirus. Helen has been involved in the tough decisions needed this year and has taken flack from all sides.
But who is Helen Pye? Well on the one hand; she is a Senior leader with over 10 years’ experience working for protected landscapes who specialises in organisational strategy, policy development, community engagement, PR, communication and sustainable tourism. The teams she manages cover access, communications, sustainable tourism, volunteering and wellbeing. As part of her work Helen has written the Snowdon Management Plan, she has developed the National Park Plan and all this comes after a career as warden in the Brecon Beacons and on Snowdon.
On the other hand; she is a Director of Pye Scholes Ltd - a farm business specialising in production of a carbon neutral native beef, she has a 1st Class degree and she grew up on a self-sufficient small-holding where the family produced pretty much all of their own food, even their own butter! She loves cycling and has done lots of long-distance trips including the length of New Zealand. Helen is a Mum to Jac (11) and partner to Ben, she’s from a large Anglesey family and has 5 siblings including a twin.
30 year old Teleri is a new entrant farmer who, despite not growing up on a farm, has always wanted to be in agriculture - announcing to her Mum at the age of four that she wanted to be a 'lady farmer'! Teleri has recently began a 10 year tenancy on a 100acre farm in Nantmor, Beddgelert with her fiancé Ned (who also isn’t from a farming background!) and sheepdogs Roy and Ralff. She works off-farm for FUW (Farmers’ Union of Wales) and is also on the Nature Friendly Farming Network steering group for Wales.
Barbara is an ecologist and climber who was, until a few years ago, the Upland Ecologist for Wales involved in researching and advising on the ecology, conservation and management of the Welsh uplands. Her main interest is in arctic-alpine vegetation and she is the expert on the Snowdon Lily. Cwm Idwal is a special place for arctic-alpines and it was Barbara who worked to conserve these plants and increase the size of their populations by removing most grazing from the Cwm. Hopefully, you have spotted the difference there in recent years! Barbara often pops up on TV as ‘the strange woman who hangs off ropes looking at plants in the mountains. She has a long association with the BMC where she acts as an adviser on the interaction between climbing and the natural world. She taught outdoor education for a number of years and being an active climber she works hard to help reduce conflict between recreation and conservation interests. In recent years this has included setting up the ‘Groups in Gorges’ initiative, the White Guide booklet, informing winter climbers how to reduce their impact on cliff vegetation and writing conservation notes for the Climbers Club guides in North Wales.
Steve Long is an International Mountain Guide, Author of “Hillwalking” and “The Climbing Handbook", editor of Professional Mountaineer magazine, former Senior Instructor at Plas y Brenin, former Chief Officer of Mountain Training UK, former Development Officer for AMI, former Head of Cwm Pennant Outdoor Centre and currently Chairs the Training Committee of the UIAA and is project leader for the multi-lingual Alpine Handbook. Steve has trained walking and climbing leaders and their tutors in Ladakh, Jordan, Nepal, Kenya, Turkey, Malaysia and Mongolia... So, it’s safe to say Steve knows a thing or two about the Outdoors. On a personal level Steve is a brilliant, remarkably enthusiastic climber, gardener, political commentator, raconteur and friend. Interview by Mike Raine.
This is an informal chat with Julian about how he got into birding. The conversation is aimed at mountain leaders, mountaineering instructors and anyone else who enjoys walking in the hills, Julian talks about his early influences and key moments, he helps us to understand why north Wales is so good for birds, and through stories helps us to learn a little more about the birds we’ll see on the hills, the coast and in our woodlands.
Join me, Mike Raine, for a question and answer session with Dr. Sophie-Lee Williams of the Eagel Introduction Wales project. Hear what might be possible and join in with the dream. The first 20 minutes of this podcast was accompanied by a PowerPoint slide show.
Golden eagles and white-tailed eagles are biggest of our birds, there's a real thrill when you see them, find out more by listening to this podcast.
The buzzard, known as the lazy raptor, often dismissed as 'only a buzzard', find out why...
The Raven, a constant, year round, companion for walkers and climbers. Thanks to Tony Pope for the image, some of his other pictures are featured in my book Nature of Snowdonia II.
A much maligned bird, but it does have it's attractions. It's also a bird you frequently see in the mountains, so here's an introduction.
This bird is a sign of summer in the British and Irish hills. It's name is a source of amusement for hillwalkers and climbers.
The bird you thought you'd heard, but might not have. The bird you might have seen, but not realised it!
Did you know that the swift is the fastest bird on the wing? That it rarely lands at all? To find out more, listen in. The image is a Carl Bovis image, I strongly recommend his book.. https://carlbovisnaturephotography.blogspot.com/p/shop.html
We're seeing fewer greenfinches in our gardens than we might expect. You however, might be able to help...
Discover a little more about the lovely nuthatch. Including why it might be called the upside down bird or the mud dabble. Image copywright Neil Aldridge/Wildlife Trusts - please support the Wildlife Trust near where you live.
Find out more about your local flock of once white corvids, our smallest, and most sociable, crow.
The enigmatic Chough, a bird accused of arson. Like King Arthur, a symbol of Cornwall that is more at home in north Wales.
They are in decline, they need us, but do they mirror us? Find out more about the birds that live closest to us.
An introduction to one of our most popular birds. Learn how it started out with the wrong name, a name which has stuck.