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Folk on Foot

Chris Packham & Martin Simpson in the New Forest

Folk on Foot

Matthew Bannister

Music Interviews, Performing Arts, Music, Nature, Arts, Science

4.8526 Ratings

🗓️ 17 July 2025

⏱️ 69 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Where does Chris Packham want his ashes scattered after he dies? Find out as he takes Martin Simpson and host Matthew Bannister for an enlightening walk in sun-dappled woodland near his home in the New Forest. He points out a goshawk on her nest and other glorious flora and fauna and is delighted when Martin sings his songs “Ken Small” and “Skydancers”. The most emotional moment comes when Martin sings “Ridgeway” under the special tree where Chris wants his ashes scattered (along with those of his dogs Itchy and Scratchy). Listen for beautiful music and spellbinding stories of nature, history and the indomitable human spirit.

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We rely on support from our listeners to keep this show on the road. If you like what we do please either...

Become a member and get great rewards: patreon.com/folkonfoot

Or just buy us a coffee: ko-fi.com/folkonfoot

Sign up for our newsletter at www.folkonfoot.com

Follow us on Facebook/Instagram/Bluesky: @folkonfoot

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Find out more about Chris at https://www.chrispackham.co.uk/ and Martin at https://martinsimpsonmusic.com/


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Thank you for downloading this episode of Folk on Foot. Before we start, I just wanted to share a brief message. If you like what we do, we really need your support to keep going. You can join our wonderful band of members and you'll get great rewards. These include access to our amazing Folk on Foot on Film archive of hundreds of songs shot on location on our

0:23.2

travels around the UK and Ireland. To sign up, just go to folkonfoot.com slash support us.

0:30.1

You'll also get an ad-free version of all our episodes and an email postcard from me each time we go

0:35.6

on a walk. If you just want the ad-free version,

0:38.7

it'll cost you £3 a month, and you can get it through your Apple podcast app or at

0:43.7

folkonfoot.com slash support us. Finally, if you don't want to make a regular commitment,

0:50.0

but do want to show how much you love us, you can simply buy us a coffee.

0:54.8

You can also do that at folkonfoot.com slash support us.

0:59.5

Every penny we get goes back into making more episodes of folk on foot.

1:04.2

So thank you and enjoy the walk.

1:08.1

I have an enormous sense of anticipation because I've come to the new forest on a May morning

1:14.2

to meet the naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham

1:17.5

and the amazing folk singer and guitarist Martin Simpson.

1:22.5

And we're going to find out what connects these two people

1:25.6

is a passionate love of nature as we go for a walk in the woods. Chris, Martin, good morning.

1:54.4

Lovely to see you.

1:55.4

Thank you for inviting us here, Chris.

1:58.5

Tell us where we are and why this place is special to you.

2:01.6

Well this is a small piece of woodland on the edge of the new forest. It's made up of principally

2:06.7

oak and hazel with some ash and various other native species interspersed. I rented a farmhouse

2:13.7

here for about 12 years so this was my back garden. What an extraordinary privilege that was.

2:20.3

So it's quiet and isolated, which suits my temperament. And there's chif-chaff going there. And I mean,

...

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