Let's listen to some people who can teach us a thing or two...
Intro
About this series
The Stowe Ranger
Head Ranger Barry Smith tells us about the delights and challenges of managing Stowe Gardens.
Stowe Gardens website
Political gardening?
Back in the 1700s Lord Cobham had strong views and ambitious plans which Barry helps us find out with a wander around the garden.
Stowe Gardens website
Rinsing a river
It's September in Buckingham which means it's time to get the river back in shape and Mayor Fran Davies tells us how they do it.
Buckingham Events
Buckingham Canal Society
Athena Beckett takes time out from managing a volunteer work party to tell us about the work of the Buckingham Canal Society.
Bard of Stony
Nova Carmen, Bard of Stony Stratford, shares some tips, and a poem, to help us get creative on the long walk to Kings Lynn. Bard of Stony Stratford
Parks Trust
Ellie Durrant tells us about the Parks Trust's new plans for developing their Wetland Arc. Parks Trust
Bradwell Abbey
The new city of Milton Keynes contains some ancient gems including St Mary's Chapel. Camille Poole shows us around.
Museum website
Bradwell Windmill
Richard Wilde from Milton Keynes museum tells us what an old windmill is doing in a new city and the clue is the canal-side setting...
Website
Passivhaus
A wander through Manor Park might take you back in time to the Georgian era, but it's a place where Alan Budden and his colleagues are designing housing of the future.
Eco Design Consultants
Cowper & Newton Museum
Why do people come from around the globe to visit this museum and then sing a hymn in the local church? Tom Jones helps us find out why.
Museum website
Emmaus
It's a charity, a community and a popular place to have a break. I speak to Lynn Reeves to Operations Manager to find out more.
Emmaus website
Harrold Odell Country Park
It's been called the jewel of North Bedfordshire and the Ouse Valley Way passes right through it. I meet Ed Green who shares with us how he keeps this local gem in good order. Park website
John Bunyan and the Pilgrim's Progress
Between Pavenham and Bromham Mill, the Ouse Valley Way joins another walking route - The John Bunyan Trail. I met with John Pestell from the Bunyan Museum to find out more about the man and his greatest work.
Bunyan Museum
Guru Nanak Gurdwara Temple
There's an impressive temple visible from the Ouse Valley Way. Let's go visit it and learn some lessons for people of all faiths and none.
Facebook page
20th Century Preppers
What would you do if an Apocalypse was imminent? Museum director, Zara Matthews, shows us what one incredible group of ladies decided to do.
Panacea Museum
Remembering the R101
Why did the R101's maiden flight end in tragedy? Lydia McDonald, Keeper of Social History at the Higgins helps us find out.
Website
Paxton Pits
Paxton Pits Ranger, Robyn Staddon takes us to a bird hide to descover the special things to see and hear in the nature reserve.
Paxton Pits
Cromwell Museum
Curator Stuart Orme takes us around the Cromwell Museum to learn about one of England's most consequential and controversial figures in history.
Cromwell Museum
Citizen Scientists
Let's join Lucas Tatek who regularly tests the river checking for harmful bacteria at a popular paddling place.
find a citizen science group
Environment Agency
Watermilling
Keith Grimwade and Bridget Flannagan have done a deep dive into the history and geography of watermilling in the area and found some surprising things that will change how we see the landscape.
Book details
A lasting legacy
When avid collector Herbert Norris died in 1931, he left his collection of Huntingdonshire artifacts to St Ives. Richard Carter takes us on a guided tour and shows us how people today are learning about Huntingdonshire.
Norris Museum
RSBP Ouse Fen
A project is underway turning quarried land into a unique reserve, based on reedbeds. Let's talk to the wardens Richard Taylor and Ian Weller to find out more.
Website
Stretham Old Engine
The Fens are Britain's bread-basket thanks to pumping stations keeping the land drained. Volunteer Nick Sharpe shows us how Stretham Old Engine has been helping keep the country fed.
Museum website
Stained Glass Museum
Most of the churches along the Ouse Valley Way contain treasures hiding in plain sight - stained glass. Emily Allen from the Stained Glass Museum is going to help us see what we have been looking through.
Museum website
Cromwell's House
An obvious place to start any visit to Ely is at the tourist information office and it comes with an added bonus - it was also Oliver Cromwell’s family home which Anna Bennett shows us around.
Website
On the Gingerbread Trail
Discover Downham volunteer, Kathleen Wiseman, takes us on a tour of Downham to find out why it's known as the Gingerbread Town. It's also a chance to meet the dedicated volunteers who have been determined to save the artifacts and share the stories of their town.
Discover Downham
Hanse House
We're in a couryard where in medieval times people would have been talking German. Let's talk to Dr Paul Richards to find out why.
Hanse House