Tree Amble
After 30 years working to restore nature in forests and on farms, Pete Leeson takes time out to revisit the people he’s met along the way. Throughout the series, Pete discovers how land managers are adapting and responding to the nature crisis we all face, while navigating the economic challenges within farming today. People are at the heart of this podcast, holding the potential to do some incredible things. We meet farmers, ecologists, rewilders and more to find out how communities are building a future together which respects and supports nature.
For 30 years, Pete has been at the Woodland Trust, working with partners and landowners to plant trees.
While his work has focussed on sites across Cumbria, he has built partnerships and supported projects across the UK with a focus on restoring nature.
In this podcast, Pete has in-depth conversations with land managers, ecologists and rewilders to hear how they support nature on farmland and beyond.
For more about Pete, here's a 2 minute film about his work and motivations:
Episodes
Wednesday Apr 24, 2024
Series 3 Episode 4 - Lake District Farmers with Phil Scott
Wednesday Apr 24, 2024
Wednesday Apr 24, 2024
Lake District / Farming / Food production / Food Supply / Rural Jobs
Tree Amble went to meet the team at Lake District farmers for a chat about their role in bridging the gap between quality meat production in Cumbria's Lake District and markets for that meat further south. The company was set up to create a value chain which brought back more income to the upland farmers of Cumbria and which created a sustainable quality meat supply.
As Pete is a vegetarian - and has been for over 3 decades - this might be a difficult place to go for a conversation. But the aim of the podcast is to talk about good land management and how we get there using all the tools we have and maintaining rural livelihoods and cultures. Animals are now and will always be par of this landscape - it is how we manage and value them which is key. Have a listen and enjoy!
Wednesday Apr 03, 2024
Series 3 Episode 3 - River Restoration with Danny Teasdale Cumbria
Wednesday Apr 03, 2024
Wednesday Apr 03, 2024
River Restoration / Natural Flood Management / Biodiversity / Salmon / Ponds / Water
Danny Teasdale is one of those characters who pops up in a a generation for whom a pathway was not built for them but somehow the life before leads to the life after... as a mechanic and very capable machinery man he spent his youth chasing after salmon in streams and rivers around Ullswater in the Lake District of northern England. I have worked with Danny on many small projects over about 12 years but after major flooding in the Lakes in 2019 he managed to bring his love of rivers and streams and his ability with machines into a small business doing river restoration, pond building and habitat restoration around water -Ullswater Catchment Management CIC was born! Amazingly even in Cumbria over 75% of our water courses have been changed by people - deepened, dredged and straightened - losing much of the naturalness which supports insect and fish populations.
In this episode Danny and I tale a walk along a beck (the name for a small stream in Cumbria) where he has worked with landowners to restore natural features ...... and we find spawning salmon!
Thursday Mar 21, 2024
Series 3 Episode 2 - Vegetables Flowers and Wellbeing with Holme Grown Veg
Thursday Mar 21, 2024
Thursday Mar 21, 2024
Organic Vegetables / Mental Health / Wellbeing / Tree Planting / Pond Creation / Flower Growing / Community
We spent a lovely morning with Abby and some of the local community who come together, when they want to, to grow veg and cut flowers on this amazing small plot of land in North Yorkshire. I met Abby a few years back when she had just started the project by buying a bit of land from a neighbour and inviting local folks to help plant trees and a hedge. Since then this project has grown into Holme Grown Eastby which now, in the summer, supplies veg boxes to 2 villages along with lovely cut flowers - producing food and importantly bringing isolated local people together to work as a team - its a brilliant wee project!
Wednesday Mar 06, 2024
Series 3 Episode 1 - Ancient Woodland Walk with Jamie
Wednesday Mar 06, 2024
Wednesday Mar 06, 2024
Ancient Woodland / Cumbria / Rainforest / Farmer / Conservation
I met Jamie Chaplin Brice on a very wild wet woolly day in January and we went for a wander in one of our local ancient woods. Jamie is a lover of woods and woodlands and is a very capable maker of beautiful furniture. He is also a farmer. So, Jamie bridges the gap between farmer and woodsman. We talk here about the things we see on our woodland walk.
Ancient woodland in the UK is now a rare habitat as people through development and agriculture have eroded what was once a very significant woodland cover. In some areas with the right climate and rainfall we can also say that this ancient woodland is rainforest - and our temperate rainforests are just as important as others around the world.
Thursday Feb 22, 2024
Series 2 Episode 9 - Chris Hodgson Lake District Sheep Farmer
Thursday Feb 22, 2024
Thursday Feb 22, 2024
Sheep Farming / Tree Planting / Upland farming / Water / Nature / Tree Planting
If you know the Lakes and perhaps have walked in the fells north of Ambleside you will likely have past Chris at some point or more likely his sheep and cows. His tenanted farm must be in one of the most iconic locations we have - tucked in as it is below Fairfield. But it was once much more tree'd so we have been working with Chris now for over a decade trying to see how we can integrate trees into his farming system - notably via a higher level stewardship scheme. When first met Chris we probably had one of those standard adviser / land manager slightly stilted relationships. But as time has gone on we have become friends and the occasions we can share a cuppa around the kitchen table are always fun and stimulating. The farm is about to launch into its next scheme and trees are again a very significant part of the deal... as is good grazing management.
Wednesday Feb 07, 2024
Series 2 Episode 8 - Chris Neave Make it Wild
Wednesday Feb 07, 2024
Wednesday Feb 07, 2024
Farming / Rewilding / Native Breen Cattle / Climate: Chris, Helen and the family agreed several years ago that they were increasingly concerned about the state of nature and that, with some money they had at hand, they would buy some land in North Yorkshire for a tree planting project. I met Chris and Helen around this time more or less when they had acquired their first site. We talked about possible outcomes and went on to create a woodland with wildflowers much like Alwyn did [see one of earlier episodes - Alwyn's Forest of Flowers]. Since then they have acquired more land and started a farming and wildlife operation and employing a small team under the banner "Make it Wild". This interview is with Chris at a gorgeous site which links a low input farming system with ancient woodland and scrub restoration.
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
Oxford REAL - Voices of ORFC 2024
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
Oxford REAL Farming Conference has become one of the most exciting, warm and creative events in the calendar. Set, as you would imagine, in Oxford the event brings together people from all walks of life but who share a passion for changing our farming and food systems to include people at all levels but also nature in all its glory. In January 2024 1800 paying delegates went to Oxford REAL - this REAL has become a big DEAL!
Tree Amble went along with a mic and a bag of questions. We interviewed many people and this episode brings together many of those voices into one space to give you an idea of the variety of people, thoughts and activities on offer.
IF you can ... book in for 2025!
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
Oxford REAL Farming Conference - conversation with founders
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
Oxford REAL Farming Conference has become one of the most exciting, warm and creative events in the calendar. Set, as you would imagine, in Oxford the event brings together people form all walks of life but who share a passion for changing our farming and food systems to include people at all levels but also nature in all its glory. In January 2024 1800 paying attendees went to Oxford REAL - this REAL has become a big DEAL!
Tree Amble interviewed two of the founders - Ruth West and Colin Tudge - to hear about the inspiration and the early days of ORFC.