Podcasts
Throughout the Green Pledge Project we published regular podcasts.
Travel with us through time to discover stories of local people who’ve protected nature and addressed climate change.
We dived into the historic archive, bringing to light our environmental past, to reflect on the present, and imagine what our future could be.
It is important to us to capture a wide range of voices for the archives. The views that can be heard in the interviews are the contributors own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the archive.
Listen Now
Episode 12 - Cate Cody
Cate Cody lives in Tewkesbury and is a Green Party member. She's on the local town, borough, and county council. Cate has initiated an abundance of green projects, including Plastic Free Tewkesbury, Toads on the Road, and repair cafes.
Episode 11 Empowering Futures
Empowering Futures is a care farm in Hambrook, South Gloucestershire. Their mission is to use horticulture and animal therapy to create positive meaningful changes to the lives of people living in the local community who are living with disabilities, who are vulnerable, isolated or disadvantaged. They are passionate about relieving social exclusion, increasing wellbeing and reducing the disparity between those with and without disabilities in employment. And they do all of this through the dedication of caring, sensitive staff and the power of being in nature. For further information visit https://empoweringfutures.co.uk/our-services-and-training
Episode 10 Claudia MacGregor
In this episode, Christina talks to Claudia MacGregor. Claudia has a master's degree in environmental development and policy. Her work involves finding new and innovative ways to exist in harmony with the planet. Claudia also facilitates Climate Fresk workshops, which teach the fundamental science behind climate change and empowers you to take action. The workshop uses cards to guide you through the findings of reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global authority on climate science. Claudia came to the Heritage Hub to deliver the workshop to archives staff in July 2024.
To find out more about Claudia's reminiscence project visit www.celebrationofwildlife.com and her edible food gardens www.soilsnack.com
Episode 9 Mollie Meager
Mollie Meager is a lifelong campaigner for social and environmental justice who lives in the Forest of Dean. In this episode we talk about her work with the Save the Wye campaign, her early influences, and her time with CND and the Greenham Common Peace Camp.
Episode 8 George Peterken Part 2 of 2 Grasslands and Churchyard Ecology
George Peterken, lives in the lower Wye Valley in Gloucestershire, and has probably done more than any other living person to protect Britain's ancient woodlands. In this conversation Christina asks him about his time with Nature Conservancy, and his time as specialist woodland ecologist there.
Episode 7 George Peterken Part 1 of 2 Woodland ecology
In the second part of the conversation with George Peterken, Christina asks about the importance of grassland ecology and why Peter set up the Parish Meadows Group, as well as hearing about his latest project about the ecology of churchyards.
Episode 6 Gloucestershire Youth Climate Group's Festival
On Sunday, the 1st of September, the Youth Climate Group held a festival in the centre of Gloucester called What Can I Do? WICID for short. The day was packed with over 50 young people coming together to share ideas and experiences. There were three panel discussions, one with questions for local MPs and councillors, an online catch up with international youth climate campaigners and finally a panel with young local activists. We asked young people at the festival about their thoughts about the climate and ecological crisis. Important records to collect for the archive.
Episode 5 Gail Bradbrook Founder of Extinction Rebellion
Gail Bradbrook lives in Stroud and is one of the founders of Extinction Rebellion. This global environmental movement uses non-violent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping point in the climate system, biodiversity loss and the risk of social and ecological collapse.
In this conversation, Christina asks Gail about her early influences and what it took for Gail to found a movement which led to 10,000 people protesting in the streets of London in 2018 and being named number one influencer on the globe in 2019.
Episode 4 Two Dawn Choruses Recorded Seventy Years Apart
Listen to two dawn choruses, recorded in the month of May, in the same place, but 70 years apart.
In the 1950s, Harry Grimes took his reel-to-reel recorder to a viewpoint on the outskirts of Wotton Under Edge and recorded the cacophony of the dawn chorus. 70 years later, in May 2024, Green Pledge podcast producer, Christina Wheeler, returned to the same spot and recorded the dawn chorus again.
Harry’s son, Hugo, has turned his father’s recordings into a beautiful CD. He tells the story of his dad, interlaced with the sounds of the birds and an oral history recording made of Harry later in his life. Hugo and Christina visit Ed Drewitt, a local bird expert, at his home in the Forest of Dean. Ed listens to the two recordings and gives his insights into what he heard.
Episode 3 John Meadley A life in agriculture and overseas development
John has spent a lifetime working in agriculture and overseas development. He lives in the Stroud area and has spearheaded many local green projects. He is the co-founder of Pasture for Life, a charity focussed on pasture fed livestock for the sake of the animal, the soil and biodiversity.
In 2012 John was voted an Environmental Hero by the Heart of Gloucestershire Community Awards.
Episode 2 GPP at the Two Rivers Converge Festival, Tewkesbury Abbey, Feb 2024
Introducing our first event , catching the thoughts and voices of locals and environmental organisations at the Tewkesbury Two Rivers Converge festival. Diving into our environmental past, to reflect on the present, and imagine what our future could be.
Episode 1 Meet the Green Pledge Team and Sara Kinsey from Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust
Introducing our busy, brilliant project team, as well catching up with Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust volunteer, Sara Kinsey, as she works with Heather Forbes, sorting documents from the Trust's HQ, including beautiful nature journals and notebooks from the 1930s.