Wild Tales | Nature Podcast

As the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup gets underway, we're heading to Wembley Stadium, the home of the England national team, to explore the crucial role the pitch plays in the beautiful game. With Wembley setting the benchmark that World Cup venues across North America are looking to emulate, Ranger Rosie Holdsworth meets Karl Standley, Head of Grounds and Surface Transitions, to uncover what it takes to maintain this world-famous playing surface. From UVC lights and surgically sharp mower blades to turf grown at secret locations, we discover the science, skill and precision behind one of football's most iconic pitches. 
Watch a video of this podcast on the National Trust’s YouTube: https://youtu.be/RwmqQoFgUSk 
Production
 Host: Rosie Holdsworth
 Producer: Pippa Tilbury-Harris
 Sound: Jesus Gomez
 Contributor: Karl Standley

If you’d like to learn more about the pitch at Wembley Stadium, you can book onto a tour here: https://bookings.wembleytours.com/stadiumtours/home.htm
Follow us on Instagram @wildtalesnt
 
 If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected with the National Trust, you can contact us at podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk

Deep in the forests of Transylvania, one of Europe’s largest populations of brown bears still roams freely, often surprisingly close to busy towns and cities. Join National Trust ranger Rosie Holdsworth and her family as they hunt for signs of bears in the forests near Brașov, Romania. There, they discover what it really means to share a landscape with Europe’s largest land predator.
 
Production
 
Presenter: Rosie Holdsworth and Hebe

Producer :  Nikki Ruck

Sound design: Jesus Gomez
 
Contributor: Csaba Domokos from the Milvus Group

Discover More

Find out more about conservation of the European Brown Bear in Romania   
https://milvus.ro/en/mammals/brown-bear-conservation-and-research-program-in-a-model-area-in-romania/

Follow us @wildtalesnt Instagram account

If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected with the National Trust, you can contact us at podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk

Red Squirrels were once a common sight in woodlands around the Uk but now, they’re one of our rarest Mammals. 
In this episode of Wild Tales, we head to Plas Newydd on the island of Ynys Môn in Wales, where a remarkable effort to bring them back is underway.


For the Welsh transcript of this episode please click here.
 
Red squirrel, Anglesey, Wales 
©National Trust Images/Rob Coleman
Production
Narration: Rosie Holdsworth
Producer: Nikki Ruck 
Sound Recordist: Marnie Woodmeade
Sound Design: Jesus Gomez
 
With thanks to Carol Thomas at Plas Newydd 
Find out more 

Visit the red squirrels at Plas Newydd:
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wales/plas-newydd-house-and-garden/red-squirrels-at-plas-newydd

Learn more about Red Squirrel Conservation
The Red Squirrels Trust Wales is working to protect red squirrel populations on Ynys Môn and across North Wales. If you would like to read more about some of the points raised in this episode, look here.
https://www.redsquirrels.info/about/faq/


See red squirrels on Brownsea Island (Dorset):
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/dorset/brownsea-island/the-rare-red-squirrel-on-brownsea-island

Listen to our episode on pine martens (Wallington, Northumberland):
https://ntpodcasts.org/WT25

Follow us on Instagram @wildtalesnt

If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected with the National Trust, you can contact us at podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk

White-clawed crayfish were once common in Britain’s waterways. But thanks to a restaurant craze in the 1970’s, that brought the American signal crayfish to our shores, our only native freshwater crayfish is under threat from this invasive species. 

White-clawed crayfish are eco system engineers keeping rivers and streams clean and they also have amazing limb re growing superpowers. But they’re being outcompeted for food and habitat by the American signal crayfish and succumbing to a killer plague being spread by them. But, with a little help from Ranger Nick Allen and the team at Wallington estate in Northumberland, habitats are being created where white-clawed crayfish can thrive.
Join Rosie and follow the story and the lives of the plucky little characters fighting for survival in England’s Northeast.
Production:
Host: Rosie Holdsworth
Producers: Michelle Douglass and Katy Kelly
Sound Editor: Jesus Gomez
Contributor: Nick Allen  
Discover more:
Find out more about Wallington and their work with the white-clawed crayfish:
Saving the native white-clawed crayfish | National Trust 
Follow us @ wildtales Instagram account

If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or a story idea, you can contact us at podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk

Ever hunted for fossils on a beach and felt like you might actually find something? 

Rosie heads to the Isle of Wight to the scene of the most complete dinosaur discovery in the UK in a hundred years. 

She’s joined by Dr Jeremy Lockwood, part of the original dig team and now casually known as a “namer of dinosaurs,” as they retrace how this once‑buried giant came back into the light. 
Production: 
Host: Rosie Holdsworth 
Producer: Claire Hickinbotham 
Sound Recordist: Nikki Ruck 
Sound Designer: Jesus Gomez 

With thanks to Dr Jeremy Lockwood  

Rosie and Jeremy went for the dinosaur walk at Compton Bay and Downs | Isle of Wight | National Trust  
They parked at Compton car parking information | National Trust  
You can see Comptonatus Chasei at the Dinosaur Isle Museum on the Isle of Wight. 
Welcome to Dinosaur Isle - Dinosaur Isle Museum 

If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected with the National Trust, you can contact us at podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk