In this Tree Amble episode we went to the South Lakes to find forester Edward Mills in his patch of ancient woodland. Ed's wood is buried deep in a part of the world rich in a woodland heritage and culture around wood products and management but also one which encompassed mining and farming. We talk about the woodland and its management today but also imagine how these sites were lived in, worked and connected to the outside world through trading of woodland products and their connection with mining, farming and textile production. Our modern world looks at these sites for their conservation value but we often miss the working nature of them - the work that created much of the structure we value today.

In this episode we meet Antonio from Spain and Charles from France talking about what we would call "Wood Pasture". Antonio talks about the value of his old wood pastures for the quality of his stock in his holistic system. He also says that where he lives they are now experiencing temperatures over the mid 30 degrees regularly... and sometimes 40... and his trees are essential to feed his cattle but also for their welfare. Charles talks about adding trees in his french system - 3D grazing. Well worth a listen particularly given our very high temperatures of the moment!

A group of committed volunteers came together in spring 2026 to create the first "Cumbria Nature Festival". We were invited to come along and record some of the festival voices ... and we did... this episode has 18 different voices from the weekend. Such a positive gathering of people who care. I hope you enjoy this Tree Amble Special!

Chloe and Rakesh were instrumental in bringing farmers and climate activists together in the North Pennines and filming the conversations about food, farming and climate..... its a great listen!

Anyone in the "re-wilding" conversation will be well aware of Knepp - from Isabella's book on Knepp's ground breaking work to copious media reports, videos and personal testaments. But fewer folks will be aware of some of the deeper thinking that underlies the conversations about nature people and history and how do we restore vital habitats without erasing or better still positively respecting our culture and history? This podcast episode is of a 2025 meeting of ecologists and archaeologists who got together at Knepp to talk about just that! I hope you enjoy....

One of the most traditional forms of woodland management is that of coppicing - cutting a tree to its base, using the material you have cut to make things like tool handles, fencing or chair legs, letting the tree regrow and cutting it again later on. This craft and way of living has had something of a resurgence in South Cumbria with apprenticeships and co-ops now working to support young workers into a skilled and satisfying craft. Listen here to Sam and Emily on their work and life and ideas....

In this episode we meet Patricia Wiklund from Finland - recorded over TEAMS. Regular Tree Amble listeners will know we spent some time on Aland in 2025, Patricia was behind our journey there. Patricia's company, known as Invenire, has the ambition to create rural landscapes that are regenerative and thriving. It was set up to help farmers and companies design and deliver better, more equal, human-centric and regenerative systems products and services. Check out Invenire.fi - we hope you enjoy this episode.

In this episode of Tree Amble we meet Chris Clark of Nethergill Associates. Chris and his colleagues now work from a North Devon base, though we first came across him on farm in Cumbria. Nethergill Business Management Consultancy has developed a unique approach to farm management which seeks to find a sweet spot where the farm is most profitable which they call the maximum sustainable output (MSO).

To date Chris's team have analysed over 370 farm accounts from all types of farming enterprises, across the UK and overseas, and calculated the MSO for each one. Tree Amble is interested in Chris's work because there is a direct nature feedback. The Nethergill view is that by working in balance with nature and farming in a more regenerative way which maximises free energy (e.g. of sunlight) at MSO we are able to ensure that farm businesses plan for maximum profitability. Conversely money spent on bringing in energy to the farm from outside sources rarely sees itself being repaid.

To delve deeper into this matter have a look at their book "the Profitable Farm" by Chris Clark and Brian Scanlon, or check out their website.

I hope you enjoy our chat with Chris!