Check out a episode
Each episode focuses on a different site in the Surrey Hills and immerses the listener in the sound of the landscape, guided each time by host Jo Dyson and the expert National Trust rangers.
The brief
This was a special project with a very important objective, to produce a nature podcast to make their countryside places accessible to as many people as possible – especially those unable to visit in person.
Funded by the ‘Access Fund’ from Natural England/DEFRA, the podcast had to be immersive, engaging, and completely location-based, whilst also seamlessly fitting within the Trust’s wider slate of podcasts.
The aim was to capture the spirit of the place, so lots of sounds of nature – wind whistling through trees, birdsong, feet crunching through leaves – and importantly, to hear from their expert rangers. We tapped into our experience transporting listeners into nature (with A Life More Wild, and Waterlands) to make the listener feel they’re there, with their own personal guides.
Recording outdoors
Our expert nature producer Marnie spent a few days with the National Trust team, host, and rangers, exploring three stunning sites in Surrey. Armed with portable recording gear perfect for outdoor conditions, she captured the conversations, as well as hiding in bushes to make sure we got just the right sounds to accompany them. It’s that all-important ‘wildtrack’ audio which really immerses the listener in the environment.
Instead of fully scripted dialogue, we created prompt-based scripts for host Jo Dyson meaning we could get a much more natural, conversational tone that listeners love.
Thoughtful editing
A key objective of this nature podcast is to allow those who are unable to visit Surrey Hills in person, an opportunity to enjoy the nature. So, we intentionally left more space around the dialogue than you may hear in a typical podcast, allowing nature to come through.
We seamlessly blended these natural sounds with tranquil music that complimented the content and the National Trust brand, staying true to the organisation’s identity.
Images courtesy of National Trust www.nationaltrust.org.uk