Gone To Earth Podcasts

An unexpected break from works finds me walking in Dering Woods close to Smarden in Kent. The autumn leaves are falling and a roe deer bounds across the path. I go fungi hunting and discover other enthusiasts and feel a week stuck on a computer drift away, as the magic of the autumnal woods allows me to decompress.

The new year has begun and I am feeling a little melancholy as I head out from St Mary's Church, Eastling, a hamlet in Kent towards the wood of Pett Dane. The woods are silent apart from the calls of buzzards, jackdaws and angry squirrels. The discovery of a bunch of fallen mistletoe brightens my day and makes me feel more positive about the coming year.

A walk across the RSPB Cliffe Pools Nature Reserve in Kent. Setting out on an autumn day from Salt Lane I stroll across the reserve, munching on blackberries and spotting peregrines before reaching the Thames. Along the way I talk a little about history, wildlife and my memories of working on the reserve.

I take a solitary stroll alongside the Thames Estuary passing ruined farmsteads and the remains of the Cliffe Explosives Works before pondering on a positive future for some of the wildlife on the North Kent Marshes.