Around half of Britain’s farmers rent some or all of the land they work, but in Britain's changing agricultural landscape, where significant profits can be made through rewilding, tree planting and renting out rural properties to city-dwellers, it is becoming harder and harder for aspiring farmers to find any ground. They were once a cornerstone of rural society but tenant farmers are becoming a rare breed.  Patrick Galbraith meets two tenant farmers in Hampshire at different ends of their careers. First he speaks to Charlie Flindt, a recently retired tenant on the Hinton Ampner Estate, which is owned by the National Trust. Charlie tells him  about the changes he’s seen over the past few decades and he also tells Patrick about where he thinks it’s all going - his outlook is bleak.  Next Patrick meets Flavian Obiero,  one of a new generation of farmers who are making a go of it. Originally from Kenya, Flavian now farms 61 acres in Hampshire, where he raises pigs and goats, as well as running a butchery business and making charcuterie. Flavian tells Patrick about how farming in Britains compares to farming in Kenya. Small-scale holdings, he reckons, can work; farmers just need to think outside the box. Passionate about the countryside? Feed your passion with a Scribehound subscription to get daily reads from 30 of the best countryside writers, including Patrick Galbraith. Click here to find out more

Inspired by the chance discovery of an egg vending machine deep in rural Norfolk, Patrick Galbraith reflects upon the changes to village life that have occurred over the last hundred years or so.  Patrick goes in search of the farmer who owns the pickled egg dispenser - David - and discovers that his family has farmed the land around Great Snoring (yes, really) for the last 150 years, and that David remembers a time when the village had a pub and when he knew who lived in every house. Today the pub is gone, the houses are occupied by 'incomers' and the only retail outlet left in the village is David's vending machine. Later Patrick catches up with fellow Scribehounder Anna Jones, whose work as a rural affairs journalist has led her to make a study of the changes that are affecting rural communities and the impact that these have on their culture. Her book, Divide: The relationship crisis between town and country explores the reasons behind the growing lack of understanding between urbanites and rural dwellers, and suggests that to protect livlihoods and the environment we must all work together to narrow that gap. How does the changing face of Britain's villages fit into this picture when locals can no longer afford to live in them, and those who can don't understand their culture?

Patrick Galbraith meets Marcus Armytage, Grand National-winning jockey and Scribehounder, at his home in Berkshire to find out what   it takes to win the most famous horse race in the world. Patrick learns about Marcus’ route into racing and why he never made the step from amateur to professional, despite still holding the record for the National. Next Patrick visits legendary National Hunt trainer Oliver Sherwood, who trained two Hennesey Gold Cup winning horses, Arctic Call and Many Clouds. Oliver explains what it takes to become a successful National Hunt trainer and why dealing with owners is such a challenge. If you're curious about the countryside, subscribe to Scribehound to get daily reads from leading rural writers.

Patrick Galbraith learns about offal and why chefs love cooking with it. First, he heads to Norfolk with his friend Sachin Kureishi to shoot some woodpigeons and some squirrels. Mission accomplished, he returns to London where the young butcher, chef, and offal devotee, Flossy Philips, comes over to his flat to cook some really impressive dishes, using squirrel and pigeon offal as well herbs foraged in the local park.  Flossy, who runs an offal project called ‘Floffal’, believes that innards are the very essence of a creature and they should be treated with as much gastronomic respect as the most expensive cuts of meat.  You can follow Flossy on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/floffal/ The wine they drink, which comes from Walsingham Vineyards, can be found here: https://walsingham.co/collections/wine

Patrick Galbraith plunges into the fascinating world of English wine. He chats to Henry Jeffreys, the celebrated drinks journalist, about his highly-acclaimed new book Vines in a Cold Climate: the people behind the English wine revolution. Henry tells him that the world of English wine is still very much in its infancy – he also paints a picture of an industry full of extraordinary people who will stop at nothing to produce the best product they can. Henry tells Patrick about the history of wine in this country and how important it is that winemakers get their branding right.   Patrick then, based on Henry’s recommendation, drives to Flint Vineyard, on the Norfolk / Suffolk border, where hares lollop among the vines and sheep eat the weeds. Flint is one of the most interesting English winemakers around. They do things their way and the results, Patrick learns when they get a few bottles out, are extraordinary.  Henry Jeffrey’s book is available to order here.----more---- Beyond the Hedge is brought to you by Scribehound, a digital space where the most important conversations about the countryside can take place. Scribehound gives some of the best countryside writers total creative freedom to write about the things that matter the most to them.  Writers on Scribehound include acclaimed authors like Patrick Laurie, veteran journalists like Guy Adams and Anna Jones, sporting heroes like former England cricket captain David Gower and Grand National winner Marcus Armytage, plus well known rural voices like Jonny Carter, Charlie Jacoby and Adam Henson. With one original column published every day, a Scribehound subscription gives you your daily dose of the countryside from one of these 30 brilliant rural minds, delivered straight to your inbox. Listeners to Beyond the Hedge can take advantage of a one month free trial, as well as a huge 40% discount on an annual subscription to Scribehoud - just visit www.Scribehound.com/subscription to sign up, and tell them Patrick sent you.

Patrick Galbraith shoots a Chinese water deer and learns about Britain’s growing deer problem. There are more deer in this country than there’ve almost ever been and they are causing all sorts of problems. In Scotland they are destroying pine forests and in England they are browsing out scrub and bramble where nightingales used to sing. It’s very easy to say that we simply need to start eating more venison. After all, deer are a very sustainable and environmentally-friendly source of protein but through chatting to Paul Childerley, a deer manager in Bedfordshire, and Jack Smallman, a venison wholesaler from the South Downs, Patrick discovers that it’s not easy. Not least because supermarkets often insist on selling farmed venison that’s shipped here from halfway across the world rather than selling venison from the British countryside.  But things are changing, A growing number of  people are keen to get into deer management and it increasingly feels like veganism and vegetarianism are out and sustainable diets, which include meat, are in. Could it be venison’s moment? Patrick, after cooking up some Chinese Water Deer burgers, thinks that if people got a chance to try it, they’d certainly be back for more.

Patrick Galbraith learns about hedges and what they actually mean. With the help of Dr Leonard Baker, who is an expert on enclosure and those who rose up against it, and Richard Negus, a Suffolk-based conservationist, Patrick discovers that the history of the hedge is thorny and very political. In the nineteenth century hedges were seen as symbols of oppression and across the country they were torn down and were even paraded through the streets while ‘rough music’ was played.  But the countryside is always changing and in the years that followed the War, just a couple of centuries after farmers had hedges planted in the name of agricultural improvement, they were grubbed out for the very same purpose. Bigger fields were thought to be better. Nothing stays the same though and currently, hedgelayers like Richard – who has just finished writing his first book – are out there in the fields with their billhooks and chainsaws, restoring old hedges and planting new ones. If we want nature to recover, Richard believes that good hedges are vital. For more great rural stories in the form of engaging daily reads from some of the best countryside writers around, subscribe to Scribehound Richard Negus' debut book is available to pre-order here

Patrick Galbraith delves into the world of sustainable farming and its impact on Britain's rural landscape. With the help of a farmer, an upland conservationist, a restaurateur and a butcher, he explores the environmental benefits and gastronomic delights of native cattle. Patrick begins his journey by meeting up with fellow Scribehounder and best-selling author Patrick Laurie, who has a herd of Riggit Galloway cattle. Patrick Laurie shares his love of these  hardy beasts and explains their cultural significance in South West Scotland. He also reveals some of the wonders of organic cowpats and some of the hard financial reality of small-scale farming.  Next up is conservationist, Phil Warren, a research scientist specialising in the plight of black grouse. Phil digs down into claims that livestock farming is bad for the environment and shares the findings of some of his work on native cattle and nature restoration.  From the wilds, Patrick heads to London to visit Sophie's Steakhouse, a Soho institution which specialises in serving native breed beef. He learns why these beasts produce, according to Sophie, the best steak around. Finally Patrick catches up with specialist butcher Ian Warren to get a butcher's perspective on beef. Veganism, Ian tells him, has been a brilliant thing for those in the trade who are selling a good product.

Patrick Galbraith goes out in search of the mysterious woodcock, a beloved bird of hunters, chefs and nature lovers the world over. Patrick's journey begins in Suffolk with farmer, conservationist and writer Sam Carlisle, and Sam's Hungarian Vizsla, Merlin. The trio head into the woods in an attempt to bag a couple of birds for their lunch. Later, Tim Maddams, the former River Cottage chef, offers his woodcock-cooking tips, and Sam shows Patrick his favourite way of preparing these remarkable and delicious birds.   Finally, Patrick catches up with Owen Williams, a painter and woodcock conservationist. Owen discusses the complexities of woodcock management and helps Patrick to understand why the question of whether shooting woodcock is sustainable is more complicated than it might appear. Subscribe to Scribehound

Patrick Galbraith explores how writers depict the countryside.  Who are the very best writers on the countryside today and what’s the difference between “rural writing”, “nature writing” and “sporting writing”? Why do so many so-called “nature writers” dislike the term?  To help him to understand the subject, Patrick enlists the help of some old-hands. First he heads to Hampshire to speak to Jonathan Young, who edited both Shooting Times and The Field, Britain’s oldest sporting titles. Jonathan shares his thoughts on how sporting magazines have changed over the years and he reveals the three essential pieces of equipment that the Editor of Shooting Times, in its golden period, used to give to every new member of staff and he also shares his thoughts on what sort of day in the field makes for a great magazine feature.  Patrick then meets up with John Mitchinson, the founder of the publishing house, Unbound. John, who is himself a pig-keeper, has an encyclopaedic knowledge of great books on rural Britain. He also has a very clear sense of what the difference is between ‘countryside writing’ and ‘nature writing’. Do people, Patrick asks John, actually want to read about the countryside as it really is? Finally, Guy Adams, a features writer at the Daily Mail, explains how the internet has impacted economics of newspaper and magazine publishing and he reflects on the effect that this has had on countryside writing. They also discuss the importance of proper writing on the countryside and how new forms of publishing could revitalise the scene by offering writers the chance to be paid properly again for their work. Subscribe to Scribehound here You can order Patrick’s book on rural Britain and how it’s changing here. John Lewis-Stempel called it ‘the best book on the countryside in years’: