The first episode of the podcast, Wild Weald, looks at the ecological profile of the new development just north of Huntingdon.

A BBC presenter has recorded his first episode of a new podcast at Alconbury Weald.

Mike Dilger, a regular presenter on BBC’s The One Show has teamed up with Urban&Civic to produce the first ecology-focused episode of its new podcast series, Alconbury Weald Stories.

The first episode of the podcast, Wild Weald, looks at the ecological profile of the new development just north of Huntingdon.

Hosted by Mike it features insights from Urban&Civic’s head of communities and partnerships, Rebecca Britton and James Patmore, director of ecology at Bradley Murphey Design.

Mike said: “It was great getting involved in the podcast.

“The thing that gets me up in the morning is helping engage people with this wonderful world of nature around us, and it’s been really interesting exploring what has been done at Alconbury Weald to create a different kind of new community – a home for nature as well as people. And you know what, they mostly rattle along well beside each other.”

Designed with a nod to its military heritage, the new community has been shaped around some of the existing natural elements on the former airfield, including small pockets of woodland and grassland along the runway areas.

The McDonald family, who were among the first residents at Alconbury Weald, take the listeners on a journey around the Wild Weald, starting in their garden, offering the audience an opportunity to immerse themselves into the natural world without leaving their homes.

Rebecca Britton, head of partnerships and communities at Urban&Civic, said: “As more and more people across the country discover a new appreciation for the outdoors after several months of lockdown, we’ve created this episode to inspire people to go out and explore the green spaces around them.

“The team have worked hard to build nature into the concrete landscape of the old airfield, and now Alconbury Weald is home to a variety of wildlife.

“Mike and the team from the local Wildlife Trust will be helping us do more activities in the coming months to help people make a difference in their own gardens, as well as working on future surveys of the species of birds, butterflies and other wildlife we are looking to support at Alconbury Weald.”