Tales of the River: A Podcast Collaboration
A podcast series celebrating the River Colne, produced in collaboration with Watford Borough Council and students of West Herts College.
CLIENT
Watford Borough Council
SECTOR
Public sector · Heritage · Environment
SERVICES
Podcast production · Recording · Student collaboration · Editing · Final delivery
The brief
Tales of the River is a podcast series exploring the history, environmental significance and future of the River Colne in Watford, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and hosted by the Elected Mayor of Watford, Peter Taylor. Watford Borough Council wanted a genuine podcast partner alongside project partner Groundwork East and students from West Herts College.
The brief was genuinely different from most council communications, a proper podcast series rather than a single video, with real environmental and heritage storytelling running through every episode.
The series needed to work for listeners of all ages, mixing historical insight with environmental discussion in a way that felt genuinely engaging rather than educational in tone.
The approach
Working alongside Watford Borough Council and Groundwork East, the priority was giving West Herts College students genuine creative involvement rather than treating them as a token collaboration.
Rather than a single episode, the aim was a series that helped listeners understand:
- The rich history of the River Colne through Watford
- The environmental challenges the river genuinely faces today
- Why nature and green spaces matter for community wellbeing
- How listeners could get involved with the wider River Colne project themselves
Each episode was built to be enriched with real sound from events and activities connected to the broader River Colne project, rather than studio recording alone.
Production
The project involved genuine collaboration across three partners, the council, Groundwork East and West Herts College students. This included:
- Podcast production and structure across multiple episodes, each covering a different aspect of the river
- Recording with the Elected Mayor of Watford, Peter Taylor, as host throughout the series
- Working directly with West Herts College students, bringing their own talent and perspective into the series
- Capturing sound bites from real events and activities connected to the wider River Colne project
- Editing each episode into a genuinely listenable format, balancing heritage, environment and community stories
Throughout, working closely with the council and Groundwork East ensured the series reflected the genuine ambition of the wider Rediscovering the River Colne project.
The result
The finished series gave Watford Borough Council a genuine, ongoing piece of heritage content, not a single film but something people could keep coming back to.
Elected Mayor of Watford, Peter Taylor, said the council was thrilled to launch the series and bring the story of the River Colne to life, thanking the talented students at West Herts College for their unique talent, and National Lottery players for making the project possible.
By combining genuine student talent with real production standards, the project became more than council communications, it became a piece of local heritage content the community could actually enjoy listening to, not just be informed by.
Why this project worked
This project shows what podcast production can do for local heritage that a leaflet or webpage never could, genuine storytelling that brings a familiar local landmark to life for people who walk past it every day without a second thought.