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.