This week, Timo talks to Lou Mayer, Environmental Programme Manager at the Environment Agency. They discuss:

• the value of chalk streams
• the impact of rainfall, the historical human-shaping of rivers, and the hazards to river health common in the Brecks
• the importance of a river to its local community and how spending time outdoors prepares you for accepting change in day-to-day life
• the art of respecting a community’s relationship with a river, whilst also working to modify it and Lou’s personal understanding of that through her love for outdoor swimming
• Lou’s role seeking out and setting up collaborative projects to improve water environments
• the difference a forward-thinking and supportive County Council can make for environmental projects
• the projects the Environment Agency completed and started under the Brecks Fen Edge and Rivers Scheme and what happens next.

Find out more about the Brecks Landscape Partnership at www.brecks.org

You can also learn more about the projects mentioned in thisepisode via the links below:

The fish and canoe pass at Brandon Staunch

The fish pass at Turf Lock, Mildenhall

Gas Pool and Jubilee Fields Consultation DocumentLowering Barton Mills Sluice

{Apologies for the poor sound quality in this episode}

In this episode, Timo talks to Tim Cowan, Brecks Conservation Officer for the RSPB. They discuss:

• Tim’s relationship with the Brecks and the changes to the landscape he has seen over the last 40 years 
• the importance of building public awareness of the Brecks as one of the most important areas in the UK for biodiversity
• the story of the Stone Curlew in the Brecks – one of only two areas in the UK the bird breeds – and the project Tim runs with local farmers
• the new project underway to protect the rare Turtle Doves that nest in the Brecks and how supporting them here differs from other places
• the research being carried out by the British Trust for Ornithology as to how to protect the Common Curlew – a red list bird – of which the Brecks has the largest lowland grassland nesting population
• the essential role of Rabbits in Brecks habitat management and the work Tim wants to see done to protect declining populations
• the role Tim sees the Landscape Partnership playing as the representative of the Brecks as a whole.

Find out more about the Brecks Landscape Partnership at www.brecks.org

You can also learn more about the projects mentioned in this episode via the links below:

The Stone Curlew Project – www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/stone-curlew-projects-anniversary

The Accessible Rivers project at Lakenheath Fen – www.brecks.org/bfer/projects/revealing-the-rivers-connecting-with-communities/4-3-accessible-rivers-improving-access

RSPB Lakenheath Fen – www.rspb.org.uk/days-out/reserves/lakenheath-fen

Operation Turtle Dove – www.operationturtledove.org

The British Trust for Ornithology’s Common Curlew information page - www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/curlew The Mammal Society’s Rabbit information page (including their role as ecosystem engineer) – www.mammal.org.uk/british-mammals/european-rabbit

Timo talks to Imogen Radford about the role of water in one of the driest regions of the UK.

Imogen is a volunteer who ran two projects for the Partnership: one collecting and sharing oral histories of river recreation and the other introducing people to outdoor swimming. She also supported the research for one of The Breckland Society’s projects under the Partnership, examining the history of river-based industry.

This conversation takes place at Brandon Staunch, a popular river recreation spot. They discuss:

• how Imogen discovered outdoor swimming andstarted doing historical research
• how river access and generational knowledge ofriver has deteriorated over the last fifty years
• the recent cultural rediscovery of the joys andbenefits of outdoor swimming
• how outdoor swimming today connects people tolocal heritage and wildlife
• how many people tried outdoor swimming for thefirst time in the Partnership and its impact for them
• the differing feelings of swimming alone and incommunity
• the stories of some of the people involved inher projects
• what Imogen wants to see in the future partnership.

Find out more about collaborative working in the Brecks at www.brecks.org and you can view Imogen’s outdoor swimming website at www.osbrecks.co.uk.

Timo talks to Pete Waters, Executive Director of Visit East of England about tourism in the Brecks. They discuss:

• how to work with what we have in attracting visitors to the area
• how to curate the visitor experience to showcase the Brecks whilst still protecting it
• why storytelling is key and the hidden gems within the Brecks’ story
• how conversations can make or break a project
• how devolution could be a great opportunity for the Brecks
• Pete’s favourite places to visit in the area
• what Pete would like to see next for the Brecks Landscape Partnership.

Find out more about collaborative working in the Brecks at ⁠www.brecks.org⁠ and about Visit East of England at www.visiteastofengland.com

Timo talks to James Parry from The Breckland Society about the often overlooked social and cultural history of the Brecks. They discuss:

• the story of how human activity has changed the landscape from a hostile land of sandstorms and hardship, to the hospitable and varied place we know today  
• how striking the balance between commercial land use and environmental conservation can be used as a model for protecting heritage 
• is there value in delineating the Brecks so it is a visibly marked area?  
• why projects relating to the social and cultural history of the Brecks need extra support 
• what’s next in the human story of the Brecks and what James wants to see in the future Landscape Partnership.

Find out more about collaborative working in the Brecks at ⁠www.brecks.org⁠ and about The Breckland Society at www.brecsoc.org.uk/welcome.

Timo talks to Tina Cunnell, Brandon Town Clerk and former Thetford Town Clerk. Today’s episode takes a walk through Brandon’s green spaces, from the public-access orchard, up the avenue of lime trees planted for Queen Victoria and the memorial playing fields behind the Leisure Centre to the staunch on the Little Ouse river.

Join them as they discuss:

•  the love Breckland people have for the outdoors
• Tina’s project to connect the towns of Thetford and Brandon by river

• finding the balance between preserving heritage structures and adapting our environment to meet today’s material needs
• how strange conservation can be in the Brecks and why a sense of community identity is important for the environment
• how to use engagement to ensure a resilient and sustainable landscape in light of a growing population
• the essential role of the non-expert in heritage and conservation projects
• how projects happen: what dispositions, attitudes and skillsets are needed?

• how the landscape partnerships raise the next generation to continue the work
• Tina’s dreams for the future of the landscape partnership.

Find out more about collaborative working in the Brecks at www.brecks.org and about Brandon Town Council at www.brandon-tc.gov.uk

Timo talks to Andrew Blenkiron, manager of the Elveden Estate, the largest ring-fenced, lowland farm in England.

Join them on Dead Man’s Heath – a classic Brecks landscape of open heath fringed with pine lines and forest. Find out what links Stone Curlews and onions as well as what makes the Brecks so stripey, as they discuss:

• the wild species found on the Estate
• the unique soil of the Brecks and the importance of water, including rare chalk streams, and what it’s like to farm in one of the UK’s driest regions
• how productive arable farming has changed and how the Estate balances it with conservation
• upland sheep-farming in the lowlands
• innovation, technology and artificial intelligence on the Estate today, for farming and conservation
• how farmers in the Brecks collaborate
• what Andrew would like to see in the future management of the Brecks

Find out more about the Brecks, collaborative farming and the Elveden Estate below:

www.brecks.org

www.brecklandfarmerswildlifenetwork.org

www.elveden.com

The Norfolk and Suffolk Brecks has a tangible history of human-shaping that goes back thousands of years yet, today is home to 28% of the UK's rarest species and was described in the University of East Anglia's biodiversity audit (2010) as, "a nationally important biodiversity hotspot".

Artist and place-maker, Timo Peach takes a whistle-stop tour of exactly what makes the Brecks so special, explores the history of its collaborative management and introduces some of the people working with this unique landscape who we will hear more from later in the series.

This episode kicks off the first season of this podcast, exploring the theme of Resilience. How do we manage a landscape to make it more resilient for the future?

Find out more by visiting brecks.org or by reading the Brecks Field Guide to Resilience.