Springwatch 2025: Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan coming to Peak District for 20th anniversary show

Springwatch will be celebrating its 20th anniversary with a series of shows filmed on the Longshaw Estate - just a few miles from Sheffield

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Presenters Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan will be broadcasting live from the National Trust site in the Peak District on May 26, June 2 and June 9 as they explore the countless wonders hidden on our doorstep.

Longshaw, which is also Britain’s first national park, is home to a range of species never before featured on the Springwatch live cameras.

Producers hope to capture shots of the Red Listed ring ouzels and whinchats, which nest on the moorland slopes as well as the moorland curlew, one of Britain’s most threatened birds, which inhabits these landscapes, with the wildlife trying to record their distinctive calls.

This year’s show will also introduce the new ‘Springwatch Street’, where camera’s installed in people’s gardens on a street in Sheffield capture day-to-day nature in action.

Chris Packham said of the new intiative: “Springwatch Street is a really good idea.

“We’ve found one street in Sheffield and we’ve bugged the gardens there with our cameras to record the wildlife.

“We’re always very keen to build communities where people share their passion for wildlife. So, if they can show it over the garden fence, that's great.

“The cameras will record what they don't see because they'll be switched on at night. We're hoping that badgers and foxes and hedgehogs, and those sorts of things will turn up.

“We'll be keen to explore what the residents are doing with their gardens to enhance them for wildlife. And obviously, if the viewers see it and they see it working, hopefully they'll want to emulate that and improve their own spaces for wildlife.”

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Craig Best, general manager at the National Trust in the Peak District, said: “We are delighted to welcome the Springwatch team to Longshaw for the 20th anniversary of the series.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing the incredible wildlife you can find in the Peak District become the stars of the show this year.

“The woodlands, grasslands, rivers and moorlands here support a huge variety of life and we work hard to care for these habitats to make sure birds, mammals and insects feel at home.

“The BBC will be able to bring us fascinating footage of the well-known wildlife characters as well as those we know less about, or that are harder to spot. Hopefully that will give us a greater understanding and insight into why we need to protect this special landscape.”

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