Unlocking Landscapes

Welcome to the Unlocking Landscapes podcast with me, Daniel Greenwood!

Oli Steadman is a founding member of the indie folk pop band Stornoway. Inspired by their music’s deep connection to biodiversity conservation, he has been obsessed for some years with the quest to #FreeTheBatteryHuman, by connecting people to the great outdoors.

This is the mission behind all of the band’s songs (most of which reference specific wild habitats), and behind Oli‘s fundraising hike taking place next month in aid of the Fourth Reserve Foundation who are doing a fantastic job of maintaining Buckthorne Cutting as a nature reserve. It is part of what was once the Great North Wood, a vital part of London’s commercial and folkloric history.

Here are the links to everything we cover in the conversation.

Walking 48km (30 miles) around the historic Great North Wood 

Fundraiser for Buckthorne Cutting

Fourth Reserve Foundation

Conservation Conversations - Oli’s podcast

Mischief Acts (the Great North Wood novel) by Zoe Gilbert

Woodland inspiration with Zoe Gilbert - my recording with Zoe in 2022

The Great North Wood project podcast with Chantelle Lindsay and Sam Bentley-Toon

Stornoway performing for stranded Eurostar passengers 

Stornoway on YouTube

Stornoway’s Linktree

Stornoway's upcoming concert at the Royal Albert Hall in late March

Unlocking Landscapes podcast website

Thanks for listening!

In mid-September 2025 I went for a fungi walk in an area of ancient woodland in the western reaches of the High Weald National Landscape.

I had to search but found some interesting mushrooms. Here's what I found:

Deer shield

Slime mould (slime mould's memory)

Birch polypore

Birch bolete

Hairy curtain crust

Splitgill fungus

Shaggy scalycap

Cep/porcini/pennybun (Boletus edulis)

If you want to see more of my fungi photography I publish every Friday in the autumn on Fungi Friday

Thanks for listening.

In mid-July 2025 I went for a short walk around part of the Sussex Weald, an area of ancient woodland in south-east England to see if any mushrooms had popped up. We've experienced one of the driest springs on record and the warmest June for England, as well as three heatwaves already! Me and mushrooms don't need three heatwaves, thanks.

Mushrooms need rain, warmth and moisture to thrive, and after a downpour earlier in the day I thought it might be worth having a look. Here's what happened:

At the beginning you can hear my water bottle in my bag and a great spotted woodpecker 'kicking'

I began in the presence of Bambi, or a fallow deer

It was one of the driest springs on record in the UK

Fungi need water to allow the mycelium to produce the fruiting body (mushroom)

The first fungus I found was a very dry community of turkeytail

Summer is a time to look for boletes and russulas

The main fungus I found was a Ganoderma bracket

Here's the video of the spore cloud I filmed nearby

You can see more of my fungi blogs on Fungi Friday

Support my work here if you like :)

On Good Friday 2025 I went for an evening walk in the Weald of West Sussex, an area of ancient woodland 30 miles to the south of London.

Is ivy (Hedera helix) bad for trees? Is it a parasite? Does it suck the blood of trees? Does ivy get framed for tree murder?

I worked in woodland management for 10 years and I learned a thing or two in that time.

It's complicated, but there's a lot of misinformation. Info covered here:

What ivy looks like

The ecology of ivy

Managing ivy on trees

Myths and misinformation about ivy

When people commit crimes against ivy(!)

Wildlife supported by ivy

This episode was recorded experimentally on my phone to see how that works - sorry for the odd bip and bop of the microphone peaking.

Further reading: I posted this blog about ivy back in 2013 - Why do people hate ivy?

You can support this podcast by buying me a camomile tea via my Ko-fi page.

Thanks for listening.

Hi everyone, it's spring 2025 and I'm bringing my podcast Unlocking Landscapes back!

This is an informal episode where I talk about some of the recordings I'm hoping to do this year.

Thanks for listening!

Links:

Support me via Ko-fi

My blog

Past episodes