Episode 10 The One Show - Best of Britain

Welcome to The One Show: The Best of Britain, with our resident

farmer Kate Beavan... And Matt Allwright, with another chance to

see some of our favourite One Show We are in Scotland at one of the

country's most important and largest castles, Stirling Castle.

There has been bloody battles here, Kings ground, Segers on 15 separate

occasions. Within sight of here, one of the most important battles

and the country, Bannockburn, was fought in 1314. Robert the Bruce's

army defeated the English. result is still being celebrated in

some parts because it freed them from 10 years of English rule. Even

when they were not fighting for power and glory, they were fighting

for fun, as Dan Snow found out. 600 years ago, Justin was the

greatest spectator sport. One of the top jousting venues was at

Cheapside. Behind St Paul's Cathedral in London. Nowadays, this

area is full of City traders, but back then people would buy gold,

silver, milk, poultry and honey. And they would watch their sporting

heroes. The jousting happened at the top of Cheapside. It was just

open fields them. There just was not just for show. Knights were

soldiers and jousting was a chance to practise battle skills.

In Wiltshire, one man knows all about it. Alan teaches people how

to just four events all over the country and will try to teach me

now. The these are your weapons. This is a late 15th century sword

which can be used on horseback to try to find the gap in your

opponent's armour. But the primary weapon was the lance. If one of

these hits you full in the chest... You would really know about it.

Let's go and meet your most important weapon.

This horse is the most experienced of jousting horses, he will look

out for you but he will really come alive out there. He is one aim in

life is to just, the Red Rum of the jousting circuit. Medieval Unites

fought on horseback. They were elite warriors selected from noble

families. They started training at about seven years old and it would

take about 10 years to master the skills. I have got two days!

The first thing I will learn is how to use the thought, and this is my

enemy. -- how to use the thought. I have to hit both cabbages - time to

make coleslaw! First cabbage, thoroughly eradicated.

Good! The got them! Now time to move onto the next step, trying to

hit my target. If you don't get through there quickly, you are

likely to where that bag of rocks on the back of your head.

appreciate the back of rocks! It is tough to control.

I am shattered, but it is not over yet. Nine we move onto the next

stage, you being hit with a lance. -- now we move onto the next stage.

I need a full suit of armour first. This barrier dividing the jousting

area in half is called the tilt rail, and it is to stop Allah and I

crashing into each other. But he will have a lance and he will hit

me right there. -- it is to stop Allah hitting the. Our speed will

You can really feel that. The armour gives you a lot of

protection. This is the ultimate individual sport. You can see a

crazy guy charging at you, screaming. I hope you are enjoying

yourself. When I am good enough, I will break some lances on you!

I was told the Health and Safety form for the BBC Four that was 34

pages. Amazing, but not surprising. It has got it all, high-speed horse

riding, pointy sticks, but luckily Dan Snow is invincible. What do you

think of this place? Amazing. great hall, where they had all the

parties, banquets and feasts. On the menu was always lots of wine

and lots of meat. Wild boar in particular was so popular that by

the 1600s it had been hunted to extinction. Now boar are back, and

The One Show sent me to see if I could find any wild boar.

Another busy day on the farm in Wales. There are many mouths to

feed. Of all the animals on the farm, it is the pigs that on my

absolute favourite. It is said that pigs are one of the

top 10 most intelligent animals on the planet, and I can vouch for

that. They are some of the most interesting and comical characters.

At the moment, our pigs have the run of the sheep shed while we were,

outdoor enclosure, which we want it just right. What I would like to do

is get out there and see how pigs live in the wild.

All our domestic pigs originate from a common ancestor. The wild

boar. Once widespread throughout Britain, they were hunted so

furiously for their meat that by the 13th century they became

extinct. But now they are back. Some years

ago, a few wild boar escaped from captivity and established healthy

populations in forests around the country.

Here in Cumbria, Peter manages a herd of wild boar with in the

woodland of his farm. You have had your wild boar for about 20 years.

Legend has it they can be quite ferocious. Have you had problems?

The male is particularly aggressive. If he is cornered, and also when

looking after his Hurd and his territory.

With daily checks on his boar, Peter has a rough idea of where

they may be foraging. Here we go. Finding a couple of fresh

footprints is always a good sign, and there is something even more

exciting further on. This is a typical wild boar NEST.

She will hollow this out, this is where she has her babies. Amazing.

It is the same at home, because before they have the piglets the

females will gather around and make a nest. The instinct is still

baffled stop it is nature's way of looking after them. They are so

clever. -- the instinct is so -- is still there. They are so clever.

This has to be a wallow. I would even be tempted myself! They

literally dig out water, roll, clean themselves and then move on,

they rub off on the trees. Pigs can overheat very easily and they can't

sweat, they don't have sweat glands. There is no such thing as sweating

like a pig! That is a silly saying, you can't sweat like a pig.

As if to prove the point, a huge male boar comes into the wallow for

a much-needed cool down. They are grunting.

Although the males are very territorial, the females seemed

fairly relaxed in our company. We just have to be careful not to come

between them and their babies. They are absolutely gorgeous.

are about three or four weeks old, some of them down there were only

bone a week ago. And their stripes. The humbug! They are like little

humbugs, they are absolutely beautiful.

Like the piglets back home, they will be settling for the first few

weeks until their snouts are strong enough to dig up the roots and

acorns which wild pigs love. This has made my day, it has been

brilliant. For me, personally, when I go home to the enclosure, I can

look at it. I know I am on the right lines, it has reassured me.

Pigs need company, scratching posts, a wallow, all these needs we have

actually got outside for them on the farm and it has been such a

You are a legend, you are one of the few people to have seen a wild

boar in the UK and not be over 400 years old. I am not 400 years old,

but 400 years ago in these woods, they would have been full of wild

boar. You could have picked off a couple with a crossbow, lunch,

brilliant! But they would have made a mess of these beautiful gardens.

Are there any interesting fact you can tell me? For any you should say

Watching entertainments, and playing games such as bowls...

certainly seemed to lead a grand life, but they did not have John

Sergeant honour or Mo! This is the Harley Davidson of

lawnmowers. 22 horsepower, maximum speed eight miles an hour, nor to

28... Well, to be honest, about 10 minutes if I include the time spent

looking for the key. But on these wheels of fury I am going to be

going across Britain, finding out why we are so passionate about

lawns. The journey of 1000 MOTs begins

with a single step, and I am going to Wigan to see some of the best

kept grass in the country. Bill Seddon is the kind of man with two

identical lawnmowers just in case one breaks down, and while his wife

takes care of the flowers, he cuts the grass almost every day.

Hello. These are fantastic lawns. like them. And I think a lot of

other people do as well. When you see a week on the lawn, what is

your feeling? -- a week on the lawn. It does not last long, I dig them

out. Really? Can we see one? don't think there are many around

here at the moment. What are you looking for? Daisies? You won't

find many. Here we are, this is a bit, I think. If it was on my lawn,

I would let it go, what is wrong with leaving it? It spreads

everywhere. I think it is OK. Because most of it has been taken

out. Aren't you being picky? It is the way I am. It is an obsession?

Yes. Bill's lawn is so lush that coach

Hello, Barbara. What about Bill and his obsession? What does that will

mean? It means he spends an awful lot of time on his lawn, probably

more care for that than me, but he gets the results! Have you ever

thought you ought to mow the lawn? I retired earlier than Bill, I cut

the grass to a try to help him but he always did it again afterwards.

I gave up. Bill has got grass to cut, so I

fired up the lawn mower and headed for Chatsworth House in Derbyshire.

I have come to a lawn heaven. This fantastic setting was created more

than 200 years ago by the great landscape gardener Capability Brown.

He did more than anyone else in history to promote the idea of the

Now, this is a very special lawn. It is. It is the work originally of

Capability Brown. That is right. How much do you mess around with

it? We let it do its own thing. We let the weed and the mosque grow.

We have everything growing on this lawn. When you see someone with a

pair of scissors cutting the lawn and get it perfect, you think they

are mad. Yes. I would like to ask a favour. What I would like to do is

to use this lawn mower on this lawn. I want to mow one of the great

lawns of England. You are welcome to give it a go. Can I really?

The Salisbury lawn is said to be the oldest authentic lawn in

Britain, originally trained by grazing deer. They gave way to the

scythes, and now, over 100 years later, John Sergeant, the lawn

It's wonderful, isn't it. It's an amazing way to look at a lawn. This

is perfection, but not the manicured a special perfection.

That is what you can learn from the upper classes. When it comes to

lawns, relax. What I like about castles is that

it all happens here. You have intrigue and treachery and

beheading, but you also have love and multiple marriage. So romantic.

Mary Queen of Scots fell in love here and nursed her cousin back to

health and then they got married soon after. Most of the people who

live too would have had no choice. They would have been earmarked for

each other as infants and grown-up and married the person they were

told to marry, because that was the way it was and they had no choice.

Not very romantic. There was one famous royal who was having none of

that and as Gyles Brandreth reports, he had an unusual approach to

dating and mating. These days, searching for a

soulmate can be easy. Simply log on to a dating agency and checkout

thousands of photos worldwide. But back in the 16th century, long-

distance love was a whole different ball-game. Photography had not been

invented, travel was painfully slow, so sizing up international talent

was quite a headache, especially if you were Henry the eighth and you

had six wives to get through. In his search for wife number four,

Henry got round the logistical problems by employing Hans Holbein,

the brilliant German artist, who painted this classic of the King

posing in a generous codpiece. Henry loved Holbein's work, and

sent him around Europe to paint true-to-life portraits of eligible

brides for him, dimples, warts and all. In 1538, Holbein visit to

Brussels to draw Christina of Denmark. He had just three hours to

capture the 16-year-old's likeness and was under strict instructions

not to exaggerate her beauty. Described as one of the finest

female portraits ever painted, the finished product now hangs in

London's National Gallery. What, for you, is the essence of Holbein

as a painter? I think his portraits particularly are so incredibly

vivid you think the people could jump out of the portraits and they

would be like people you see today and know very well. Here we

recognise Christina of Denmark, also known as Christina of Milan.

These were painted so that Henry could see if he fancied the subject.

And Henry was very concerned that he could see as much of them as

possible. He was trying to marry somebody who would give him a son,

so he wanted somebody who was absolutely in the best of health.

So the full length was quite important. Could we describe her as

sexy? She looks so demure, but she has beautiful full lips. I think it

is meant to be a seductive painting. Contrasting with the glimpses of

flesh, Christina is clothed in black satin. But she was actually

dressed in mourning because she had already been married, aged 11, to

the Duke of Milan, who died before they had even met. Holbein was

clearly impressed by Christine and left the background plane, to focus

on her beauty. This looks so modern. Compared to those portraits over

there, same period. They look virtually medieval, and this looks

as if it could be a modern picture. Yes, I think Holbein was in many

ways a precursor of modern art, in that he did not use the amount of

gilding that you see on portraits like that. It doesn't have the flat

effect, the stylised effect. He is trying to show you a real person in

a real space. When Holbein brought his sketch back to court, it was

love at first sight. Although he had only seen her picture, Henry

proposed marriage and ordered celebratory music to be played all

day. But, for some reason, Christina was not keen on the

middle aged, obese, wife killing monarch. She rejected his kind

offer with the wise words, "If I had two heads, I would be very

happy to put one at the disposal of the King of England". Undeterred,

Holbein continued his romantic mission, painting four more women,

including Anne of Cleves, who Henry did marry, and divorce six months

later. Holbein's legacy of lifelike portraits has earned him the title

cameraman of Tudor history. And as for Christina, well, Henry kept her

portrait on display for the rest of his life. It seems that even after

six wives, he could never forget Christina was not the only woman to

get away from Henry. Really? This is the bed chamber of Mary. Henry

also proposed to her, but she quite wisely said no because she did not

want her head chopped off. He also tried to hook up his son, Edward,

with her daughter Mary Queen of Scots. What are they like, Tudor's?

Filthy! Badgers. Yeah, badgers. They haven't actually given us a

way to get into this next film about badgers. Can you think of

anything? Look, can you see that, a badger walking past the window. I

am sure of it. I think that was a They may be our biggest carnivores,

but badgers can be tricky animals to watch. They are incredibly wary

and they only venture out at night, so you will need plenty of patience

if you want to see them in the wild. But it's absolutely worth it,

because finding am watching badgers has given me some of my most

amazing wildlife moment. -- finding and watching them. Just remember,

if you are going on to private land, get permission first. This is

classic badger country, full of soft banks and rolling woodland. As

luck would have it, badgers don't tidy up after themselves, and they

are really strong, so when they push through fences like this, they

leave behind Classic tell-tale signs. There we have it, a course

badger hair. That would suggest its path is somewhere around here,

leading off just up there. Now that we are on the trail, the next thing

I am looking for his prints. Badger pores are distinct, but that does

not necessarily make them easy to find. They have five toes we just

set up with a kidney-shaped at the bottom and four toes in a line at

the top and a fifth at the side. But this is the tricky one. It is

not always easy to spot the fifth tow. If you happen across a strange

man from the local badger group like Mike, you have pretty much

struck gold. He monitors all of the badger setts in this area. One way

to check if a badger is at home or not is to lay sand across betrayal.

Good and bad news. What have we got? The bad news is a lot of fox

activity. But those are diamond- shaped pause. Crucially, we have a

badger print. You have a heel, and then four of the five toes in

almost a straight line, absolutely typical of a badger print. They did

not retract their claws, do they? No, they hold them up off the

ground, except when they need them for digging or going over slippery

banks. That is a fantastic signed and it means there is an active

badger sett. We should come back later and try to see them. Badger

setts can be enormous, with up to half a mile of Tunnels and two

dozen entrances. But there is usually one preferred way in.

Fantastic! This is the badger set here. It is a perfect example, and

really established. This is just one hole in the complex. If we are

hoping to see badgers tonight, we had better retire to a safe

distance. Badgers have an incredibly powerful

sense of smell. You must make sure you are sitting downwind from them.

There are couple of ways of checking. You could light a match,

or blow a puff of powder into the wind, to see which way it is

blowing. We are all right because we are downwind from the badger

sett. Another thing, make sure you have had a pee because you could be

in for a very long wait. A very, very long wait. If you're really

We have just seen two juveniles come out of the badger sett that

takes some tentative steps into the night. They are pretty nervous so

they will not stray too far from There is something almost too

exotic about badgers to be British. They have black and white stripes

so they do not blend with the muted colours of the British countryside.

But actually they are British. They are in our gardens and our

woodlands, and that does give you a I could have sworn I saw that

badger out here. He must have gone. But we can stay here until we see

another one. Yeah, sure we stay here? OK. Unfortunately they have

to leave because the time is up. We will say goodbye to you from

beautiful Stirling Castle. See you again. Goodbye.

Next week on the One Show, best of Britain. Dom Littlewood and Carrie

Grant set sail around the Jurassic Coast and stop off to be -- to meet

some of the locals. What are we doing? What Every schoolboy and

schoolgirl does, going crabbing. The wind In the Willows, Gyles

Brandreth discovers the place that inspired the novel. We have found