There’s something in the air. People are practising hundreds of years old traditions. Morris dancers are clamouring to squeeze into town squares and stick men are dancing through the streets.

One ritual - forgotten until winter 2024 - is about to be revived in one small market town on the Welsh-English border. It’s Wren Day.

In this bonus episode of Heart and Stone, Meg Elliot goes in search of the power of storytelling in one of its most visceral forms, by reviving a forgotten folk ritual in her hometown and with her community.

Meg asks what ritual really is; if the resurgence of ritualistic activty is just an eccentric hobby or if it's something richer, more magical and transformative than most think?

Heart and Stone is an Overcoat Media production for BBC Sounds Audio Lab Written, Produced and Presented by Meg Elliot Executive Producer - Steven Rajam Sound Design and Mixing - Meic Parry Original Music - Elin and Carys Commissioning Editor - Khaliq Meer

Is the countryside really ours to freely explore when half of England is owned by just 1% of its population?

Across the UK, people are breaking the stereotypes and myths surrounding who can have access to our natural spaces.

Meg joins the Muslim Hikers on Kinder Scout in the Peak District, the site of the first mass trespass in 1932. She also speaks with Guy Shrubsole, author of ‘Who Owns England’ and academic and poet, Emily Zobel Marshall.

Heart and Stone is an Overcoat Media production for BBC Sounds Audio Lab

Written, Produced and Presented by Meg Elliot Executive Producer - Steven Rajam Sound Design and Mixing - Meic Parry Original Music - Elin and Carys Commissioning Editor - Khaliq Meer

In this episode of Heart & Stone, Meg Elliot delves into the changing world of British folk music, asking who is remembered in folk stories and song, and who has been written out?

Beginning in the breath-taking joy of a ceilidh dance, Meg meets Sophie Crawford and George Samson of Queer Folk, a group unearthing songs that document and celebrate the LGBTQ+ experience. Meg also meets singer/songwriter Angeline Morrison, who has created the first body of Black British folk song.

Heart and Stone is an Overcoat Media production for BBC Sounds Audio Lab

Written, Produced and Presented by Meg Elliot Executive Producer - Steven Rajam Sound Design and Mixing - Meic Parry Original Music - Elin and Carys Commissioning Editor - Khaliq Meer