Paul Wood: Tree hunting in Britain and Ireland’s towns and cities

The Outdoors Fix is a podcast to inspire you to make the outdoors a bigger part of your life. It’s hosted by Liv Bolton.

Paul Wood: Tree hunting in Britain and Ireland’s towns and cities

The Outdoors Fix is a podcast to inspire you to make the outdoors a bigger part of your life. It’s hosted by Liv Bolton.

Let me ask you something: How well do you know the trees in your local area? Do you have a favourite?

One of mine is an ancient sweet chestnut in the Ashridge Estate in the Chilterns, not far from where I grew up. It’s enormous, with beautifully twisted bark, and it’s thought to be more than 400 years old. It’s the kind of tree you can’t help but stop and stare at for a while.

And that’s exactly what this episode is about — noticing the trees around us, and seeing them in a new light.

I’m joined by Paul Wood, author of Tree Hunting: 1,000 Trees to find in Britain and Ireland’s Towns and Cities, published by Penguin Books. Paul spent four years travelling across the UK documenting remarkable trees in the places we often overlook — and encouraging us all to pay closer attention to something we usually walk straight past.

As he says, if you simply start looking up a little more, it can completely transform how you experience the outdoors.

We recorded this conversation while walking through Richmond Park in London — so as you listen, keep an ear out for the sounds around us: woodpeckers, parakeets, and the occasional plane heading to Heathrow…

This episode of The Outdoors Fix was kindly supported by outdoor footwear brand Merrell.

This episode of The Outdoors Fix was kindly supported by outdoor footwear brand Merrell.

This episode of The Outdoors Fix was kindly supported by outdoor footwear brand Merrell.