0:00:03 > 0:00:07British food is about more than what we put on our plates.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11Our landscape, our climate and our history
0:00:11 > 0:00:14define what we grow and where we grow it.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16Ah!
0:00:16 > 0:00:19This is the mustard that built empires.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23Each place, each region, each food has its own story to tell.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26How many hop flowers do you need for a pint of beer?
0:00:26 > 0:00:28- Just a couple.- Just a couple.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31So like these two, that's a pint?
0:00:31 > 0:00:35I'm exploring Britain to discover how our soils and seas
0:00:35 > 0:00:39have shaped our tastes and traditions.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42How our food is part of who we are.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46Those were the shoes that were put on the cattle.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48- So they would fit those... - They really shoed cattle?- They did.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50Alongside me on this journey
0:00:50 > 0:00:52are historian Lucy Worsley,
0:00:52 > 0:00:54archaeologist Alex Langlands...
0:00:54 > 0:00:57Actually, if you look just a little bit closer,
0:00:57 > 0:01:03you can see all the signs of a working landscape.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05Botanist James Wong.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08And horticulturalist Alys Fowler.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12This really is the most delicious fish.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15Oh, you can taste that it's been somewhere, that you know,
0:01:15 > 0:01:16it's had an adventure.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24This is the story of our food.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36This time, we're in Norfolk.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41Out on the very eastern edge of England,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44this is a county where local, seasonal foods sit alongside
0:01:44 > 0:01:47large scale crops, harvested for the nation.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55A county of enterprise and tradition,
0:01:55 > 0:02:00held together by a watery transport network.
0:02:00 > 0:02:01So how do I make it go that way?
0:02:01 > 0:02:02You pull that that way.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06I'm going to be travelling by quite the nicest heavy goods vehicle
0:02:06 > 0:02:09I've ever encountered.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11Sailing a wherry
0:02:11 > 0:02:14deep into the beating agricultural heart of Britain.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18But my journey begins in the far north of the county.
0:02:18 > 0:02:23I'm starting here, on the Norfolk coast at the crack of dawn.
0:02:23 > 0:02:24In search of a very local delicacy indeed.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30Here, you're going to need that. Let me get your other strap.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32Who normally dresses you in the morning?
0:02:32 > 0:02:33My mam.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36Well, give her my love, will you?
0:02:36 > 0:02:40This is how most days start for John Davies.
0:02:40 > 0:02:41Come on, Giles!
0:02:41 > 0:02:44Fishing for crab off Cromer.
0:02:44 > 0:02:45Very elegant.
0:02:45 > 0:02:50It's one of Britain's few remaining longshore fisheries.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52This means they fish along the shore, There's no harbour.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55The boats launch straight off the beach.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58So you've got a lot of sat-navs here, then.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00Do you not know where we're going, then?
0:03:00 > 0:03:01I have a little idea where we're going.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03You've got pots out, presumably,
0:03:03 > 0:03:04and this is going to tell you where they are.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07Yes, all my pots are marked on that screen.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09And that's where we're now heading to.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11It can't tell you how many crabs there are?
0:03:11 > 0:03:12Can't tell me how many crabs
0:03:12 > 0:03:14and it can't tell me if there are any crabs there.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16In years gone by, you worked some of the ground
0:03:16 > 0:03:18your father and grandfather worked.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Your father and grandfather were fishermen?
0:03:21 > 0:03:24Yeah, we go back eight generations, and not a lot's changed since then.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26The pots have changed a little bit
0:03:26 > 0:03:29but the basics of it are still the same.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37Cromer crab is one of Norfolk's most famous foods.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39There's going to be some surprised crab in there.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42Technically, they're a species found across Western Europe
0:03:42 > 0:03:44but the crabs along this particular stretch of coastline
0:03:44 > 0:03:47have a reputation all their own.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51They're smaller, sweeter
0:03:51 > 0:03:54and have been part of a very seasonal way of life for centuries.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56How old are these fellows?
0:03:56 > 0:04:00It varies. Some like this are eight or nine years old.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03All I can tell you is, it's not going to get any older.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08So why here? Why Cromer? Why are there so many here?
0:04:08 > 0:04:12It's a fairly unique seabed here for this part of the coast.
0:04:12 > 0:04:17It's a very flinty bottom, quite a lot of chalk.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19And the crabs seem to like that.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22As a small crab, they can hide in the crevices.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24Is a Cromer crab a kind of small crab?
0:04:24 > 0:04:27Yes, they are quite a small crab.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29We have one of the smallest,
0:04:29 > 0:04:32if not the smallest, measure in the British isles.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34And that is a special Cromer measure.
0:04:34 > 0:04:35That is a special Cromer measure.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39Which is 115mm, and you measure that across the back of the crab
0:04:39 > 0:04:41and that would just be legal size.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44Does it make them more delicious that they're smaller?
0:04:44 > 0:04:47I think they're sweeter tasting, yes, I must admit,
0:04:47 > 0:04:49but I think a lot of that is to do with the seabed as well.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01Do you want to pick it up, have a look at him?
0:05:01 > 0:05:03Absolutely, yeah. I mean, no.
0:05:03 > 0:05:04No.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Male and female crabs are called jacks and hens
0:05:06 > 0:05:10and are easy to tell apart. Apparently.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12That's a male crab, a nice jack crab, here you are, you hold that.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16Just hold him up the back. He's not going to hurt you.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19Keep your thumb out of the way. Just flat of your hand.
0:05:19 > 0:05:20All right?
0:05:21 > 0:05:25And that's your female crab. You can instantly see the difference.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28You've got the broader apron, where the male has got a narrow apron
0:05:28 > 0:05:30and bigger claws.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34Yeah, it's almost like a drawing of a male...sexual...
0:05:34 > 0:05:36Yeah. He's quite fortunate, because he's got two.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39But we've only got one.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43- Speak for yourself. - The female has got two vaginas.
0:05:43 > 0:05:44Does he put them both in at the same time?
0:05:44 > 0:05:45I would imagine so, yes.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47So it's even more difficult than it is for most other animals.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49Which ones are we keeping?
0:05:49 > 0:05:52We're keeping the male because he's got a good hard shell,
0:05:52 > 0:05:56there'll be meat in that. The female will be virtually empty.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58Ay! Sorry, he's fine, he's just squeezing my wrist. It's OK.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00I'm still listening.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03So this one's got to be returned straight to the sea, unharmed.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07I'm afraid that one has got to end up in the pot.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13For a long time, Cromer crabs
0:06:13 > 0:06:14were just part of a Norfolk fisherman's haul,
0:06:14 > 0:06:16a springtime feast.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19But as cod and herring stocks dwindled,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21the longshoremen started to specialise.
0:06:23 > 0:06:24Their traditional double-ended boats
0:06:24 > 0:06:26made it easier to haul pots in a swell.
0:06:26 > 0:06:31And the expansion of Cromer as a Victorian seaside resort
0:06:31 > 0:06:32opened up a whole new market.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37Tourists came in on the newly built railway, and crabs went out.
0:06:37 > 0:06:38They were no longer a local secret.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41They were a brand.
0:06:43 > 0:06:44These are all too small?
0:06:44 > 0:06:46Those are all too small, you can put them back in, Giles.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49Historically most crabs were sold live,
0:06:49 > 0:06:52but today customers prefer them cooked and dressed.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55John is a rare survivor in a business where costs are rising
0:06:55 > 0:06:57and the number of crabs has fallen.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00The catch is cooked overnight
0:07:00 > 0:07:05and ready to be sold the next morning by his wife, Clare.
0:07:05 > 0:07:06- Hello.- Hi. Pleased to meet you.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08That's a dressed one.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10And what's gone? Is it all there, the brown meat and the white meat?
0:07:10 > 0:07:11Underneath, you actually have the brown meat.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14And then the white meat - all of the legs and everything else.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17So you pick that out, and that goes on the top.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20On a good day, in the height of summer,
0:07:20 > 0:07:22we can sell between 200 to 300 crabs.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25It's a delicacy, really. They're so fresh.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28They're caught, they're cooked and they're presented
0:07:28 > 0:07:29and you can buy them within a matter of hours.
0:07:29 > 0:07:34- It's a taste of the seaside.- It is, yes.- It's a taste of Cromer.
0:07:34 > 0:07:35I consider myself reasonably competent
0:07:35 > 0:07:38when faced with a boiled crab in a restaurant.
0:07:38 > 0:07:39This is where all the hard work is done.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41But Tracy is in a different league.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43How many can you do in an hour?
0:07:43 > 0:07:47I can do 20 in an hour.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Very technical machinery you've got here.
0:07:50 > 0:07:55Girl, boy, girl.
0:07:55 > 0:07:56It's just terrible knowing.
0:08:04 > 0:08:05Like that?
0:08:05 > 0:08:07- That's it. - It's quite a moment for me.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11I'm just going to eat a bit of brown meat, just to see.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14Pure brown.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16Little bit powdery.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Rich, buttery, a bit like sort of foie gras.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20That yellow bit looks hardcore,
0:08:20 > 0:08:22do we know what part of the crab that is?
0:08:22 > 0:08:25No, I don't think so, just the brown meat.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29Smoother, mild, like the froth on a cappuccino.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33Not even remotely fishy, properly creamy, almost dairy.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36I mean, Tracy's doing a beautiful job. I've made a terrible mess,
0:08:36 > 0:08:38but it's incredibly beautiful stuff.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41It's incredibly gorgeous meat, it's incredibly sweet,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43it's incredibly healthy.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45It's incredibly local and sustainable.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47You go out on the boat and it comes back
0:08:47 > 0:08:49and, you know, 24 hours later you're eating it.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00Beyond Cromer, the shingle coastline shifts and changes.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02Salt marshes blur the edges between land and sea.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10To the west, the tide retreats twice a day to a never ending horizon.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13It can feel like the end of the world
0:09:13 > 0:09:15but it's full of edible treasure.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Along the coast, Alys Fowler is discovering a place where
0:09:19 > 0:09:23wild food is still very much part of daily life.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26You'd never guess that I was standing on the shoreline
0:09:26 > 0:09:29because the sea is almost a mile away
0:09:29 > 0:09:34and this is an awesome vast landscape of almost all sky,
0:09:34 > 0:09:37and when you first come here it's slightly flat
0:09:37 > 0:09:39and almost a little dull until you get into it
0:09:39 > 0:09:42and then it becomes this embroidered tapestry,
0:09:42 > 0:09:44this miniature world of diversity.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49Small channels let the seawater flood in on each tide,
0:09:49 > 0:09:52and only specialist, salt-tolerant plants can grow here.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58This is sea beet
0:09:58 > 0:10:01and you eat it much like you would spinach or Swiss chard
0:10:01 > 0:10:05and here is horseradish, that you'd have with beef
0:10:05 > 0:10:10and this mallow here is very good with scrambled egg, delicious.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12I eat tonnes of this stuff.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14But this is the plant I've come here for.
0:10:14 > 0:10:19It's known as poor man's asparagus, glass wort, even crab grass,
0:10:19 > 0:10:22but more commonly as marsh samphire
0:10:22 > 0:10:24and it's an incredibly trendy thing to eat these days.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26You find it in London restaurants and fishmongers,
0:10:26 > 0:10:28but out here in Norfolk
0:10:28 > 0:10:31people have been eating this for a very, very long time.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37There's a reason I'm not picking these plants.
0:10:37 > 0:10:38Much of this coast is protected,
0:10:38 > 0:10:42and the advice from the trusts that manage it
0:10:42 > 0:10:45is that visitors like me shouldn't pick its wild harvests.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49But local people have used this landscape for ever,
0:10:49 > 0:10:51and they have commoners' rights.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55If I'm going to taste samphire, then I'm going to need it picked for me.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57- Hello!- Hello.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59Gary Mears has lived along these marshes all his life.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03What are you looking for when you're picking samphire?
0:11:03 > 0:11:07The main thing is that it's fleshy rather than spindly.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10If it's fleshy, it's got more taste on it.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13Samphire is a curious plant.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16Close up, it looks like a succulent cactus.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18You can eat it raw.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21Oh, my gosh, it's so salty.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23- Very good for you, full of iron.- Mmm.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25It's delicious, actually.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27Samphire is a pioneer species,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30one of the first to establish its roots in a salt marsh,
0:11:30 > 0:11:33stabilising the mud so other plants can move in.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39It's a glue that helps hold the landscape together.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42It's also part of the fabric of life here.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45At one time this marsh, from here down to Cley,
0:11:45 > 0:11:50would have supported 150 different families.
0:11:50 > 0:11:51How? Gosh!
0:11:51 > 0:11:55With bait digging and cockling, with samphire picking.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59You'd have spells where the crabs were shooting their shells
0:11:59 > 0:12:03or breeding, and you would subsidise it with this.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07Then you went herring fishing and that would turn into bait digging
0:12:07 > 0:12:09and that would turn into reed cutting.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11It's amazing, isn't it?
0:12:11 > 0:12:13You can basically seasonally live off this landscape.
0:12:13 > 0:12:18Cockles called stookey blues were also collected by the locals.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22That was nearly all women who came out here in adverse conditions,
0:12:22 > 0:12:24who were absolutely hard as nails.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26Gosh.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30With an apron, and picked cockles with a little dinner fork.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33In the middle of winter, with bare legs.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36- It doesn't bear thinking about. - No, it doesn't.
0:12:41 > 0:12:42Samphire is a summer treat,
0:12:42 > 0:12:45usually picked from June till August.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49- It's more than a food. It's a part of a way of life.- Come on, Alan.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53While some supermarkets now sell samphire from Europe,
0:12:53 > 0:12:57and expensive restaurants give you a sprig beside your Dover sole,
0:12:57 > 0:13:00here, samphire is traditionally picked for what's known as a feed,
0:13:00 > 0:13:03to put on the table as an everyday supper.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08- You just leave a little bit of the woody piece at the bottom.- OK.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10To hold on to when you eat it.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14A lot of people round here just eat it as a vegetable with meals,
0:13:14 > 0:13:17- you know, you just steam it. - Can we try some, then?- Yep.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19Gary eats Samphire by holding it by the stem,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22and running it through his teeth.
0:13:22 > 0:13:23Delicious.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27You end up with a mouthful of soft, warm, salty flesh.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30Mmm.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32Oh, wow, it's a totally different thing when it's cooked.
0:13:32 > 0:13:33It is. It really is.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37- It's sort of sweet. And salty. - Lovely.
0:13:37 > 0:13:38It is really good.
0:13:41 > 0:13:42Samphire comes from a time
0:13:42 > 0:13:46before commercial agriculture and supermarkets,
0:13:46 > 0:13:48a time when, if you wanted vegetables,
0:13:48 > 0:13:51you went out to pick wild ones.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53So what does it mean to be able to come out here and pick?
0:13:53 > 0:13:58I think it's something which country people do have to defend
0:13:58 > 0:14:02because it's one of the most natural things you can do in the world,
0:14:02 > 0:14:04so as long as I can come out here, I will come out here.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12The local, seasonal foods of the coast
0:14:12 > 0:14:15are just the beginning of Norfolk's story.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17This county is also the beating agricultural heart of Britain
0:14:17 > 0:14:21and to make large scale farming work, you need to be well connected.
0:14:29 > 0:14:30In the east of the county,
0:14:30 > 0:14:33that meant the incredible inland transport network
0:14:33 > 0:14:34of the Norfolk Broads.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37A flooded manmade water-world,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40dug out for peat and drowned by nature.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48I'm going to follow the River Yare inland to Norwich.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55Today the Broads are a haven for wildlife and tourists.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57But this was once a working landscape,
0:14:57 > 0:14:59filled with working boats.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07I think that's my ride, which looks very strange,
0:15:07 > 0:15:09like a boat coming through a field
0:15:09 > 0:15:13and, er, that black sail is more than a little bit sinister.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20- Hi.- Hi there, Giles.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22Do you want a hand?
0:15:22 > 0:15:25Yeah. If I could throw you this. Don't miss it.
0:15:26 > 0:15:27Well, you didn't miss me.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32Henry Gowman is skipper of the Albion.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34He and his crew are going to show me
0:15:34 > 0:15:37how Norfolk used to put food on the table.
0:15:37 > 0:15:38So what sort of a thing is this, then?
0:15:38 > 0:15:41This is a traditional Norfolk wherry
0:15:41 > 0:15:44and it's as rare as hen's teeth, almost.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47Only two left of the 300 that used to sail the broads.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49Got to hope the other one sinks, then?
0:15:49 > 0:15:51No, we wouldn't wish that on anybody. Blimey.
0:15:51 > 0:15:56Albion was bought by The Norfolk Wherry Trust in 1949.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00In the early years the trust tried to keep her working,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03but today she spends her time taking out landlubbers like me.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09There's nothing here that remotely refers to health and safety.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12We're not about to put up any guardrails at all.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14If you keep your wits about you, which I'm told you have.
0:16:14 > 0:16:15HE LAUGHS
0:16:15 > 0:16:17You never know. Not boat wits.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23The Albion was built as a workhorse.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26The decks are removable to reveal one big hold.
0:16:26 > 0:16:28Lots of cogs and gears going round,
0:16:28 > 0:16:33so don't get any clothing snagged up in the gearing.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37She was registered to carry 35 tonnes of cargo.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39Everything from turnips to coal.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43Do not ever, ever put your hands on here.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45But even so, could be operated by just one or two people.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47Well, I can swim, if that's any consolation.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49That's not much help on the broads, really.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51It's full of broken trees, all kinds of things.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53Dangerous place to swim.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55I don't have to come at all, you know.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03A wherry's basic design is believed to date back to the Vikings.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05With no engine, she relies on just one sail.
0:17:05 > 0:17:10With the black sail of death hoisted...
0:17:10 > 0:17:11Why is the sail black?
0:17:11 > 0:17:15To start off with, they were white, but they decayed a lot.
0:17:15 > 0:17:20Then they decided to coat them with herring oil
0:17:20 > 0:17:22but they then found that that made them attractive to rats,
0:17:22 > 0:17:24so they then coated them with coal tar, coal dust.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26What, on top of the herring oil?
0:17:26 > 0:17:29- Yeah.- And the rats didn't like that.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32No, but I can't imagine the crew would have liked it either, really.
0:17:32 > 0:17:33Well, the smell must have been...
0:17:33 > 0:17:36So this one presumably is just painted black?
0:17:36 > 0:17:38We cheated. A touch of modernity.
0:17:43 > 0:17:48The landscape here is so flat. It's just river, reeds and sky.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51And the occasional derelict windmill.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54Technically speaking, a wind pump.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56It would once have had sails, that one.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59It would once have had sails, it would have been draining water
0:17:59 > 0:18:02but has been superseded by the little building alongside,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05which is a diesel electric pump controlled by radio signal.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12The next wind-pump along, Hardley Mill, has been restored,
0:18:12 > 0:18:16and my wherrymen suggest I jump off for a look around.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20Now I think I want to lower.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23Despite their best efforts,
0:18:23 > 0:18:27we manage to overshoot it by some 400 metres.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30Because we have no engine,
0:18:30 > 0:18:33we have to enlist a little bit of help to get us back on track.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36It makes you think about the skills of the old ferrymen
0:18:36 > 0:18:39- without a motor having to pull in. - Absolutely.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41With the wind behind you in that direction,
0:18:41 > 0:18:42extraordinarily difficult.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45Do you think it's coming back in, then, the mill?
0:18:45 > 0:18:48There are over 300 of these scattered throughout the broads
0:18:48 > 0:18:52and the idea was bringing water off the land, off the marsh,
0:18:52 > 0:18:56to turn it into land for the grazing of cattle and sheep.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59- So that would be marsh initially? - That would have been marsh.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01It's amazing to think that they could do that.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04There is nothing around the broads which is entirely natural.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06The whole thing is man-made.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08Including some of the rivers.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11And the other thing to note here is that we here, on this river,
0:19:11 > 0:19:13are higher than that surrounding landscape.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15We are, we are, that's extraordinary.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18And that's because all the water's been taken off it,
0:19:18 > 0:19:19pumped off there for generations.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21And it's settled down.
0:19:21 > 0:19:22Yeah. The land has consolidated.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24It's faintly like we're flying.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26That's right, it almost feels like we're flying.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30The flooded landscape started to be reclaimed in the 13th century,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33it's been a slow process.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39Hardley Mill was originally built in 1874.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42Powered by the wind in its sails,
0:19:42 > 0:19:45it could pump 12 tonnes of water a minute,
0:19:45 > 0:19:47draining the land for cattle and crops.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50It's a transformation that's helped put more food on our tables.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00Head deeper into this agricultural heartland
0:20:00 > 0:20:03and beyond the broads is the modern face of Norfolk.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11Vast fields of crops, as far as the eye can see.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14This is major commercial agriculture.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17And it relies on one thing.
0:20:17 > 0:20:18Rich, fertile soil.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25Archaeologist Alex Langlands is discovering how Norfolk farmers
0:20:25 > 0:20:29made their landscape one of the most productive in the world,
0:20:29 > 0:20:31by changing the way we farm.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34We just come down here a bit.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36There's a bit at the edge of this field.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39It's a classic Norfolk field. It's actually enormous.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42I can just about make out the other side of it,
0:20:42 > 0:20:44but this is what we've come for.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46This is classic Norfolk soil,
0:20:46 > 0:20:50and it's famous, really, in this country for its productivity.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54It's the perfect soil to grow crops in.
0:20:54 > 0:20:55But the problem is,
0:20:55 > 0:20:59if you keep growing crops like this year on year,
0:20:59 > 0:21:00what they will eventually do
0:21:00 > 0:21:04is take all of that goodness out of the soil.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06The other thing is, you get a build-up of pests
0:21:06 > 0:21:09and funguses that thrive on that crop,
0:21:09 > 0:21:11so what you've got to do is, year on year,
0:21:11 > 0:21:14you've got to change the crops that you're putting in the ground
0:21:14 > 0:21:17so that you keep it in good heart.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20Farmers have rotated their crops for centuries.
0:21:21 > 0:21:27In medieval times, horses like these at Gressenhall Farm Museum,
0:21:27 > 0:21:30would clear the land for a different crop each year.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33Yup te go, lads, yup te go, yup te go, go on.
0:21:33 > 0:21:40And every third year the land was left to lie fallow and recover.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43This system worked. But there was still room for improvement.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45So Norfolk farmers started to think about
0:21:45 > 0:21:47how they could get more from their rich soil.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49Left hand down a bit.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53I'm with you, I was going a bit deep there, wasn't I?
0:21:53 > 0:21:55Animals were a vital part of medieval farming.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59They provided fertiliser for the land and natural horsepower.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03But they also needed to be fed through the lean winter months.
0:22:03 > 0:22:04Gee up.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08In the early 18th century, a new idea started to take root.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12A four year rotation, with a new crop added.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15The mighty turnip.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19Wheat and barley were now alternated with clover and turnips.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23Clover put nitrogen back into the ailing soil.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26Turnips fed the animals through the winter.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28Professor Tom Williamson
0:22:28 > 0:22:31knows how important this was to British farming.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35The critical thing is that you can keep far more animals.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38More animals means more meat, but above all it means more dung.
0:22:38 > 0:22:39You can get more animals on the land
0:22:39 > 0:22:42if you've got turnips in there rather than fallow.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44- Yeah.- Because it's much more nutritious
0:22:44 > 0:22:47than the kind of weeds they'd be eating otherwise.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51So the knock on effect of that is, having more animals means more dung,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54- more fertility, ergo higher yields. - Higher yields.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59It was a simple idea. And one that Norfolk became famous for.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04It's still the foundation for modern British farming.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06Though one element is missing.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08I'm travelling around Norfolk today,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10and I'm not seeing a lot of animals.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13So what's replacing those in the rotations?
0:23:13 > 0:23:18There's a great change happens through the 19th and 20th centuries,
0:23:18 > 0:23:20which is, farming becomes more industrialised.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23You begin to get artificial fertilisers.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25Because you can get fertility in a bag,
0:23:25 > 0:23:28you don't need to keep sheep or cattle,
0:23:28 > 0:23:34and so in the period of the 1960s, 1970s, farms just shed animals,
0:23:34 > 0:23:35you don't need animals any more.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39You don't need animals for pulling stuff because you've got tractors.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41Right, so you lose horses from the landscape.
0:23:41 > 0:23:42You lose the horses.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44And you don't need the animals for fertility any more.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Once you don't need the animals, you don't need hedges.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50So right through the '60s and '70s,
0:23:50 > 0:23:51there's an orgy of hedge removal
0:23:51 > 0:23:54and there are bits of Norfolk now which are like a prairie.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01The fields and the technology may have changed
0:24:01 > 0:24:03but for farmer, Kit Papworth,
0:24:03 > 0:24:07it's still all about how productive the soil is.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10Computers measure every inch of his harvest
0:24:10 > 0:24:12as it goes through the combine.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16These are maps of what our yields look like with the combine.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19The different colours show the different yields across the field.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21We've got a patch of red in here. What does that mean?
0:24:21 > 0:24:23Just slightly lower yields.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25A waterlogged area or something like that.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27Under a tree. And the darker blue areas are high yield.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30Extremely high tech, this is.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33Absolutely, but this is where modern agriculture is at.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36You think what medieval farmers would have given
0:24:36 > 0:24:38for this type of technology.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40Yes, but they knew their land really well, though.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44Because farms were smaller, they knew their land incredibly well.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47They're harvesting it by hand. They probably knew what we know now
0:24:47 > 0:24:49except that we need the technology to show us.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53The horse and plough are long gone,
0:24:53 > 0:24:55replaced by satellite technology.
0:24:58 > 0:24:59So this is hands-free farming.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01Just amazing! I'm doing absolutely nothing here
0:25:01 > 0:25:03but I'm watching the chart,
0:25:03 > 0:25:08which is telling me that I'm one, two, zero centimetres out
0:25:08 > 0:25:12from a line that's drawn from space down the middle of this field.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16This is absolute precision drilling.
0:25:18 > 0:25:23Crop rotation and turnips might seem like ideas from the past.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26But they're still leaving their mark on Norfolk's agriculture.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29If you get the chance to come up to this part of the world
0:25:29 > 0:25:31and check it out, you will see a landscape
0:25:31 > 0:25:35which is really at the forefront of farming, globally.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38You know, what they're doing here is producing food
0:25:38 > 0:25:42on an almost factory level.
0:25:42 > 0:25:48It's quite awesome. In a way, I regret seeing hedgerows ripped out,
0:25:48 > 0:25:51you know, and seeing an ancient medieval landscape changed
0:25:51 > 0:25:55but at the same time, I can't help but admire
0:25:55 > 0:25:57the farmers here for their tenacity
0:25:57 > 0:26:00and for the way in which they've turned this landscape
0:26:00 > 0:26:03into the food producing machine that it is today.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21On the Albion, we're meandering up the River Yare towards Norwich.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23So how do I make it go that way?
0:26:23 > 0:26:25You pull that that way.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29You're heading straight for the bank, so push that right out there.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31- Push, push, push.- Further?
0:26:31 > 0:26:34Further, further, further. Otherwise you're going to be aground.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40This was once one of the busiest cargo routes on the Broads.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45It was absolutely, for hundreds of years,
0:26:45 > 0:26:49the only way of getting heavy goods from one place to the other
0:26:49 > 0:26:51because the landscape was so, so wet.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54You couldn't get a cart about with heavy goods,
0:26:54 > 0:26:56so the rivers became the main arterial routes.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58The small villages,
0:26:58 > 0:27:02if they weren't connected up to the main arterial route of rivers,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05what they did was to dig a dyke or a channel
0:27:05 > 0:27:09from their village to connect to a river.
0:27:09 > 0:27:10- A slip road.- Absolutely.
0:27:15 > 0:27:16With a good wind behind her,
0:27:16 > 0:27:19a wherry could make around eight miles an hour.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28Whole industries grew up along the riverbanks.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30So what's this big horrible thing here?
0:27:30 > 0:27:34This big horrible thing here is hugely important
0:27:34 > 0:27:36to all the agricultural areas around that grow sugar beet
0:27:36 > 0:27:40and this is where sugar beet is brought to be processed into sugar.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43It's a big Norfolk thing, is it, sugar beet?
0:27:43 > 0:27:44Huge. Huge Norfolk thing.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46This is where sugar beet production started.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49This is where sugar started to be produced in this country.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52This place has been going for over 100 years
0:27:52 > 0:27:55and sugar beet was delivered here by wherries,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58so the wherries would moor up at the bottom of the farmer's field
0:27:58 > 0:28:01and the farmers would load up heaps of sugar beet.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04It's now brought here by lorry.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07This is a register from Cantley Works
0:28:07 > 0:28:09and what's fascinating, really, is the names of the craft.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12These are names that would have occurred in the skipper's family.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15Ben? There's a boat called Ben. There's a boat called Hilda.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17And she's brought in 25 tonnes of sugar beet
0:28:17 > 0:28:19and they've paid her 6 shillings and four-pence.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21Nobody got very rich doing this, did they?
0:28:21 > 0:28:23No, they didn't.
0:28:23 > 0:28:24Albion was actually the last wherry
0:28:24 > 0:28:27to deliver the very last cargo of sugar beet to Cantley.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29- To that very place. - That very place.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32And they probably stopped in that pub for a pint to...
0:28:32 > 0:28:34- Absolutely no doubt. - ..to sign her off.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43Sugar beet might not be delivered by wherry any more
0:28:43 > 0:28:44but it's grown all over Norfolk.
0:28:49 > 0:28:51To the north, near Brancaster,
0:28:51 > 0:28:55botanist, James Wong, is uncovering the roots of this 20th century crop
0:28:55 > 0:28:58that tastes much better than it looks.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09I can safely say I have never seen this many geese before,
0:29:09 > 0:29:12it's almost like a biblical plague.
0:29:12 > 0:29:14These guys have come all the way from Iceland,
0:29:14 > 0:29:15where they spend their summer.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17All to Norfolk, just for one thing,
0:29:17 > 0:29:19and it's the same reason as I'm here.
0:29:19 > 0:29:21They're here to check out the sugar beet.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31For farmers, the beet tops are a useful distraction.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34They keep the hungry geese away
0:29:34 > 0:29:36from their valuable crops of winter wheat.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41These are small pieces of sugar beet
0:29:41 > 0:29:42that have been left over from the harvesting.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45And you can see quite clearly the nibble marks,
0:29:45 > 0:29:48where they have been pecking away at all these pieces.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51And really, this is a brilliant source of calories for them.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53Very few things in nature
0:29:53 > 0:29:55are packed with up to a fifth of pure sugar.
0:30:00 > 0:30:05Sugar has always been precious and, until the 19th century,
0:30:05 > 0:30:08all of ours came from sugar cane grown in the tropics.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12But now an incredible half of it
0:30:12 > 0:30:15comes from this rather grubby looking root,
0:30:15 > 0:30:17which is grown right here in Norfolk.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19Sugar beet is a biennial plant,
0:30:19 > 0:30:22which basically means its lifecycle is two years.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25It's sown one year and sprouts from those seeds.
0:30:25 > 0:30:27And in that first year, all it's trying to do
0:30:27 > 0:30:30is use its leaves to trap the energy from the sun,
0:30:30 > 0:30:33convert it into sugar that they store or warehouse
0:30:33 > 0:30:35in this enormous root.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38And what farmers do is basically capitalise on that
0:30:38 > 0:30:41and don't allow them to flower the next year.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44They raid this big old energy store and turn it into sugars.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47It's almost sort of breaking into a hive and stealing the honey.
0:30:50 > 0:30:51For farmer Mark Thompson
0:30:51 > 0:30:55the harvest is all about getting the most out of the beet.
0:30:58 > 0:30:59So take me through what's going on over here.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02Well, the sugar beet is being harvested.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06It goes into a turbine, where all the stone and soil is thrown out,
0:31:06 > 0:31:10and then into the tank at the back, which empties into the trailers.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13We want to get that beet into the factory as soon as we possibly can
0:31:13 > 0:31:15to get the maximum sugar yield, maximum weight yield.
0:31:15 > 0:31:19We get paid on the weight of sugar within the root.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24The light, well drained, alkaline soil of Norfolk
0:31:24 > 0:31:26is perfect for sugar beet
0:31:26 > 0:31:28but Mark will use this field for other crops too.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31So this is all done on a rotation?
0:31:31 > 0:31:34This field would have sugar beet one in four.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37Between that, it would have a wheat and a barley.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39So what are the benefits of it being on a rotation for you?
0:31:39 > 0:31:45Well, the rotation allows us to control disease.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47If we were to try and grow this crop every year
0:31:47 > 0:31:49because it was the most profitable crop,
0:31:49 > 0:31:53then we would quickly develop disease and problems within the soil
0:31:53 > 0:31:56and the potential yield would drop.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03Norfolk farmers have always been ahead of the game.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07Turnips used to be the key to crop rotation,
0:32:07 > 0:32:09a way to feed the animals through winter.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14But as farms became less reliant on livestock, turnips fell from favour.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20By the early 20th century, sugar beet was the new crop in town.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22It grew well in Norfolk soil,
0:32:22 > 0:32:25it decreased reliance on foreign imports and it made money.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30Farmers here knew a good idea when they saw it.
0:32:30 > 0:32:35Today all UK sugar beet is sold to a single processor, British sugar.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38It's different from all my other crops
0:32:38 > 0:32:40because there's only one buyer.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44In addition, I know the price that I am going to receive
0:32:44 > 0:32:49approximately 18 months before I've sold it.
0:32:49 > 0:32:50So before you've even planted it
0:32:50 > 0:32:53- you know how much you're going to get for it?- Exactly.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56So that must be entirely unique because every other crop
0:32:56 > 0:32:58is subject to market forces and it changes every year.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03Sugar beet has been on quite a journey.
0:33:03 > 0:33:08The crop that grows on Mark's farm is descended from a wild ancestor,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11sea beet, a plant found on Norfolk's seashore.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14This looks just like it.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17Professor Keith Jaggard has spent his career researching it.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20If you were to compare that leaf with a sugar beet,
0:33:20 > 0:33:23- it looks virtually identical on the surface.- Yes.
0:33:23 > 0:33:25Underground, though, they'd be totally different.
0:33:25 > 0:33:30Yes, this would be a root probably as thick as my finger
0:33:30 > 0:33:31and spreading out all over the place
0:33:31 > 0:33:34and with a sugar content of about 2%,
0:33:34 > 0:33:36compared to today's 22%.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41The reason sugar beet is such a modern crop
0:33:41 > 0:33:44is that it took a long while to work out
0:33:44 > 0:33:46exactly how to extract sugar from it.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50It took a series of German scientists in the late 18th century
0:33:50 > 0:33:52to come up with a process that worked,
0:33:52 > 0:33:53and it isn't something you can do at home.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56I can't believe we're attempting to do
0:33:56 > 0:33:58what they're doing in an enormous factory
0:33:58 > 0:34:01in a kitchen and extracting sugar out of these.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04- Have you done this before? - No, never.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07- How many years have you been working with these?- 40!
0:34:09 > 0:34:13Cantley, the first sugar beet factory in the UK, opened in 1912.
0:34:13 > 0:34:18And by the 1930s, the Government was actively encouraging
0:34:18 > 0:34:20the production of home-grown sugar.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23You couldn't just take sugar beet out of the ground and get it.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26- You've got to go through quite a few chemical hoops.- Exactly.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30A lot of chemical hoops to get to the white crystals you buy in a bag.
0:34:30 > 0:34:34Norfolk was at the very heart of the industry.
0:34:34 > 0:34:35It had the farming skills,
0:34:35 > 0:34:39the soil and the transport network to make it work.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41In the first stage the beets are sliced,
0:34:41 > 0:34:45diced and heated gently to 80 degrees Celsius.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47So how much sugar are we going to get out of this?
0:34:47 > 0:34:49About one fifth of the volume will be sugar.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52Half a cup of sugar, roughly, out of the whole of this mix.
0:34:52 > 0:34:53That's not bad.
0:34:53 > 0:34:58This creates a weak syrup to which the chemical milk of lime is added.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01Starting to seem harder than I thought it was going to be.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04And carbon dioxide bubbled through it to help remove any impurities.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07So although we're doing this in a kitchen using regular equipment,
0:35:07 > 0:35:09this isn't really cooking,
0:35:09 > 0:35:11this is really more like an industrial process.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13It is industrial chemistry.
0:35:13 > 0:35:18But at this point, you couldn't eat this, this wouldn't be safe to eat.
0:35:18 > 0:35:20- I wouldn't want to try.- Exactly.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25The mixture is then filtered to leave a form of juice.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29How do you get crystals out of this quite dilute syrup?
0:35:29 > 0:35:31We need to slowly evaporate some water off.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34If it's done industrially, it's done under a vacuum
0:35:34 > 0:35:38because that speeds up the water loss process.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42And in the kitchen, we're just going to put it in a very low oven.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45After five hours, we start to see the formation of the sugar crystals.
0:35:46 > 0:35:48It looks like ice is about to form,
0:35:48 > 0:35:51these little geometric... almost like snowflakes.
0:35:51 > 0:35:53Out of a root we dug up in Norfolk.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56I think we should have some sugar.
0:35:56 > 0:36:00After 40 years, I've never managed this before.
0:36:00 > 0:36:01I've never tried this before!
0:36:01 > 0:36:04These little snowflakes are the beginnings of sugar.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07Not quite the pure white granules we see in our sugar bowls,
0:36:07 > 0:36:09but it's a start.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12This is an entirely artificial process we've used.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14Natural product, but artificial process to extract it.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18Out of a root we dug up in Norfolk. This is crazy.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28On the Albion,
0:36:28 > 0:36:31we're still meandering up the River Yare towards Norwich.
0:36:38 > 0:36:43Henry and Hugh, my wherry skippers,
0:36:43 > 0:36:45have suggested making a short detour into Surlingham Broad.
0:36:47 > 0:36:49You can turn a 90 degree corner under sail like that, can you?
0:36:49 > 0:36:51Yes.
0:36:51 > 0:36:52But can a normal man? Only you.
0:36:52 > 0:36:55Not like... No! No!
0:36:59 > 0:37:01This is no longer a river.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04This is a dyke leading to a broad.
0:37:06 > 0:37:08Unfortunately, the trees along the dyke
0:37:09 > 0:37:11take the wind right out of Hugh's sails.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14Since we've come nearly to a dead stop
0:37:14 > 0:37:18and the current is slightly against us at the moment,
0:37:18 > 0:37:22I think we're going to have to have a little push with the quant
0:37:22 > 0:37:24to get us onto Surlingham Broad.
0:37:27 > 0:37:31Traditionally, wherries don't have engines, they have quants,
0:37:31 > 0:37:34long wooden poles you can punt yourself along with.
0:37:50 > 0:37:52Surlingham is one of the 63 shallow lakes
0:37:52 > 0:37:53that make up the Norfolk broads.
0:37:53 > 0:37:57It looks idyllic, but it's actually man-made,
0:37:57 > 0:38:02dug out for peat hundreds of years ago and then flooded.
0:38:02 > 0:38:04It's very, very beautiful,
0:38:04 > 0:38:07though littered slightly with what these chaps call Tupperware.
0:38:07 > 0:38:08These pleasure cruisers.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12I like that. I like "Tupperware".
0:38:12 > 0:38:14Properly condescending.
0:38:18 > 0:38:21Wherries were built with a shallow draught to negotiate the rivers
0:38:21 > 0:38:23and broads on falling tides.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26Not shallow enough, it turns out.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31I think we're stuck.
0:38:32 > 0:38:34We appear to have run aground,
0:38:34 > 0:38:38a quant isn't going to get us out of this.
0:38:38 > 0:38:39I can see panic in their eyes.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42We've got a sort of flotilla of boats.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45It's like Dunkirk around us, going to drag us off it.
0:38:45 > 0:38:47Any chance of a lift to Norwich?
0:38:48 > 0:38:50You got a... I'll sit on the back.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53'I think they thought I was joking.'
0:38:55 > 0:38:59Fortunately, my wherrymen have a neat trick up their sleeve.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01They can fold the mast flat to stop any wind
0:39:01 > 0:39:03pushing us back onto the mud.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08That, and a lot of shoving from some 21st century engines,
0:39:08 > 0:39:09finally sets us free.
0:39:09 > 0:39:11We've been punting along on this thing,
0:39:11 > 0:39:15laughing at all the day-trippers on their Tupperware boats.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18They've all come through happily and come through the other side.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21They're kind of fine. They're laughing at us.
0:39:21 > 0:39:23Ha-ha! Captain Birdseye stuck on a mud bank again.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26I'm torn in my loyalties.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31Now we're afloat again, Henry has something he wants me to see.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34This is definitely too shallow for the Albion.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38At the very edge of the Broad is a wherry graveyard.
0:39:38 > 0:39:42Two wherries that have been sunk, possibly three,
0:39:42 > 0:39:43there's one behind there.
0:39:43 > 0:39:47And these have been scuppered for financial reasons?
0:39:47 > 0:39:48They haven't rotted away completely.
0:39:48 > 0:39:49Not completely. They're made of solid oak.
0:39:49 > 0:39:53And roughly when? Early 20th century?
0:39:53 > 0:39:54Give or take.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57Late 1800s, early 1900s. Times were changing.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00Road and rail were taking over,
0:40:00 > 0:40:04the economics were all changing
0:40:04 > 0:40:08and no point in keeping them, absolutely no sentimentality.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12So they brought them to places like this, filled them full of mud,
0:40:12 > 0:40:14and sank them to the bottom.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17And are the Broads littered with things like this, then?
0:40:17 > 0:40:21All over, and lots of people don't recognise what they are.
0:40:23 > 0:40:27And over there is the magnificent silhouette of the Albion.
0:40:27 > 0:40:28And she could so easily have ended up like that.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31Absolutely. Very easily.
0:40:31 > 0:40:32I'm actually quite moved.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37The Albion might be a bit of an old dinosaur,
0:40:37 > 0:40:39but at least she's still afloat and lovingly cared for.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50It's time to rejoin the River Yare and head for Norwich.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59On the way, I'm hopping off at the village of Brundall
0:40:59 > 0:41:02to meet a farmer with a rather unusual crop.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04Cheerio, Henry. Keep the meter running.
0:41:04 > 0:41:05I shan't be too long.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11On the hills above the Yare Valley
0:41:11 > 0:41:16lies the Norfolk most people recognise,
0:41:16 > 0:41:20the vast fields of wheat, barley and sugar beet.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23But occasionally, you come across a field that looks quite different.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29This amazingly green crop is not something you normally see
0:41:29 > 0:41:30in whole fields.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33You see them in supermarkets, you know,
0:41:33 > 0:41:35just buy them, take them home, plant them in the garden.
0:41:35 > 0:41:36I've got one myself.
0:41:36 > 0:41:37You have to plant it in a pot,
0:41:37 > 0:41:39cos otherwise it takes over the whole garden.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42You probably can't tell what it is because you can't smell what I can,
0:41:42 > 0:41:46which is a very minty tang in the air.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51This is an exceptionally local variety of mint
0:41:51 > 0:41:53called Brundall Mint, after the village by the river.
0:41:53 > 0:41:58David Bond has been growing it for almost 20 years.
0:41:58 > 0:42:00This is all grown for mint sauce production.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03More than three quarters of the UK crop will be here in Norfolk.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06Presumably there is something special about Norfolk
0:42:06 > 0:42:07that's good for mint.
0:42:07 > 0:42:09It's a very good soil type here for growing mint.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11Good conditions for growing it.
0:42:11 > 0:42:12It grows very quickly when we get warm weather,
0:42:12 > 0:42:15and also, we have a large processing factory at Norwich.
0:42:15 > 0:42:19Mint does need to be processed quickly once we harvest it, so...
0:42:19 > 0:42:20Does it?
0:42:20 > 0:42:23Proximity of the harvest to the factory is very important.
0:42:23 > 0:42:25You're in something of a race against time.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27We are definitely in a race against time.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29If you've ever bought a mint plant,
0:42:29 > 0:42:32you'll know that it turns black very quickly after picking.
0:42:35 > 0:42:37David treats the field as an extension of the factory.
0:42:37 > 0:42:38If the factory stops processing,
0:42:38 > 0:42:42then his brand new mint harvester has to stop too.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44There's only one of these machines,
0:42:44 > 0:42:47so it's not something that you're going to see anywhere else.
0:42:47 > 0:42:48How much did it cost?
0:42:48 > 0:42:50It cost nearly £50,000.
0:42:50 > 0:42:5450,000 quid. And how did you alight upon green?
0:42:54 > 0:42:57Green was the company colours of the people who make it, so...
0:42:57 > 0:43:00- It's rather nice, isn't it? It's a mint green.- Almost, almost.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04The new harvester strips the leaves from the mint without bruising them.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08It's a delicate crop, but it grows so fast
0:43:08 > 0:43:11that David can get three harvests a year from the same plants.
0:43:14 > 0:43:15In the 1970s,
0:43:15 > 0:43:19producers here started testing hundreds of varieties,
0:43:19 > 0:43:21looking for the right species
0:43:21 > 0:43:23to create the perfect jar of mint sauce.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26They brought some in from all over the world.
0:43:26 > 0:43:27The crops manager at the time, John Hemmingway,
0:43:27 > 0:43:29he had some growing in his garden,
0:43:29 > 0:43:32which he brought in as well to put into the trials.
0:43:32 > 0:43:34- This was just in his herb patch? - Just in his herb patch.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36And that was the one that gave the best flavour
0:43:36 > 0:43:38as well as growing the best in this Norfolk environment.
0:43:38 > 0:43:41John Hemmingway lived right next to where
0:43:41 > 0:43:43I jumped off the Wherry, Brundall.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46So he called his little mint plant Brundall Mint.
0:43:46 > 0:43:47Will I see that anywhere else apart from in Norfolk?
0:43:47 > 0:43:51- No, no, just grown here. - The French don't know about it?
0:43:51 > 0:43:53No, they don't. It's just grown here.
0:43:53 > 0:43:56- Are we keeping it secret? - Not so much now, are we?
0:43:56 > 0:43:57I guess not.
0:43:57 > 0:44:02Brundall isn't the only variety that David grows.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05In this field, he's trialling other mint plants.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07Moroccan mint has a more robust leaf.
0:44:09 > 0:44:11You know, it tastes slightly like weeds. Dandelion.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14And this one is the one we call the English garden mint.
0:44:14 > 0:44:16- English garden mint.- Choose a leaf.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21Immediately, wow, but it's not especially minty,
0:44:21 > 0:44:23it's sort of chemically tasting.
0:44:23 > 0:44:25- So where's the Brundall? - Here's the Brundall one.
0:44:25 > 0:44:29Very chewing gummy, very Wrigley's.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37You have to spit it out quickly, otherwise it numbs your tongue.
0:44:37 > 0:44:38It can numb your tongue, yes.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40But there's a bit of sweetness with the Brundall mint.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43There is, peppery and much more interesting than the last one.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45I can't go against Mr Hemmingway.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48I think he's an acknowledged expert.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51I think he's right. The Brundall is definitely the thing.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54- Hmm. I'll just eat all of this now.- OK, yes.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58When you have it all together...
0:44:58 > 0:45:02I think that sort of mixed herb type thing could go well, actually.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04Could go well.
0:45:04 > 0:45:06It's like chewing a duster full of pledge.
0:45:10 > 0:45:12Can't recommend that. Have you ever done that?
0:45:12 > 0:45:15No, I haven't, and I'm not sure I want to.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17I thought you were being brave then.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25Mint isn't the only Norfolk crop that's grown on a grand scale.
0:45:28 > 0:45:29Windmills dot the skyline,
0:45:29 > 0:45:33guardians of seemingly endless seas of wheat.
0:45:33 > 0:45:37But not all of it ends up feeding people.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46Historian Lucy Worsley has picked her outfit carefully
0:45:46 > 0:45:50to discover how a foreign import has grown fat on Norfolk grain.
0:45:52 > 0:45:56There's eight million turkeys living in Norfolk.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58That's half of all the turkeys in the UK.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01It seems like a really traditional British dish.
0:46:01 > 0:46:06We've been eating turkey for Christmas since the 1500s,
0:46:06 > 0:46:09which is surprising, given that they actually come from Mexico.
0:46:12 > 0:46:16Big brand supermarket turkeys are part of the modern Norfolk story,
0:46:16 > 0:46:20but James Graham's family has been raising turkeys here
0:46:20 > 0:46:22for 130 years, and they're particularly keen on
0:46:22 > 0:46:26these more traditional Norfolk blacks.
0:46:26 > 0:46:29They're the oldest breed of turkey in this country, basically.
0:46:29 > 0:46:33These came into this country around the early 1500s.
0:46:33 > 0:46:39They're a small breed of turkey compared to the bronze varieties
0:46:39 > 0:46:40and the colours that you see around here.
0:46:40 > 0:46:44In fact, some people wouldn't even know that was a turkey.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46- It looks a bit more like a pheasant. - Indeed, that's right.
0:46:59 > 0:47:02Moving the turkeys from field to field as harvest progresses
0:47:02 > 0:47:04is a task that's centuries old.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07And it doesn't get any easier.
0:47:07 > 0:47:08Stay away from the fence.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11No! Oh, you're such idiots.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17They seem to go backwards when they're going forwards.
0:47:17 > 0:47:19This is great, look, this is true droving.
0:47:19 > 0:47:24Throughout history, Norfolk has led Britain in poultry production
0:47:24 > 0:47:29because the birds can feed on grain left over from the arable harvest.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32Now, this is how they would have traditionally been
0:47:32 > 0:47:33reared on stubbles.
0:47:33 > 0:47:38Obviously after harvest, there'd be an abundance of corn,
0:47:38 > 0:47:41either from combining or, prior to that,
0:47:41 > 0:47:43when they would thresh the corn, and reap it.
0:47:43 > 0:47:45So it's really efficient, then?
0:47:45 > 0:47:50First you grow your grain, and then you get another foodstuff
0:47:50 > 0:47:52- out of the field, because the turkeys come in.- That's right.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57In medieval times, geese would have been fattening up in these fields
0:47:57 > 0:47:58to get ready for Christmas.
0:47:58 > 0:48:01But within a few decades of their arrival,
0:48:01 > 0:48:06turkeys were challenging the geese as our traditional winter feast.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11Norfolk was in relatively easy reach of the markets of London,
0:48:11 > 0:48:14and this is where most of the birds would end up.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17For James's mother Pat, it's a family business
0:48:17 > 0:48:20and it has a long history.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23Originally, they were walked down to London.
0:48:23 > 0:48:29In the 16th, 17th century, there was no other form of transport,
0:48:29 > 0:48:33so they were walked down the A11 from East Anglia,
0:48:33 > 0:48:36all the pigs, the sheep, the poultry.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39You imagine it all going down.
0:48:39 > 0:48:40How long did that take on their little legs?
0:48:40 > 0:48:45Drovers would drive them down the A11, in early October,
0:48:45 > 0:48:50and they'd do three or four miles a day, picking up the acorns,
0:48:50 > 0:48:54the berries and that on the way. They'd get to London early December,
0:48:54 > 0:48:57down to Smithfield, actually, Smithfield Common.
0:48:57 > 0:49:01And they'd rest around Smithfield Common and finish fattening up
0:49:01 > 0:49:05and then be killed off around 15th December.
0:49:07 > 0:49:11By the 1930s, Pat's family had started to kill and pluck on site.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14The finished birds were then transported
0:49:14 > 0:49:16by steam engine and rail.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20Pat and a small team still pluck all the turkeys by hand
0:49:20 > 0:49:24and she shows me how it was done in her parents' time.
0:49:24 > 0:49:27That's a feather that's still to grow.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30They sometimes get left in the skin,
0:49:30 > 0:49:31and of course people don't like them.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34And that's one of the reasons why the black turkey went out of fashion,
0:49:34 > 0:49:38because the white turkey, you can't really see
0:49:38 > 0:49:39these little stubs that get left in.
0:49:39 > 0:49:41It's gone up my nose!
0:49:41 > 0:49:43THEY LAUGH
0:49:44 > 0:49:48Plucking isn't the only thing that has to be done by hand.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51Well, Christmas-time we do about 2,500...
0:49:51 > 0:49:53- Over a week? - Yes, just over the week.
0:49:53 > 0:49:55You have to de-gas them.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57- You burped it!- We burped it.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59THEY LAUGH
0:49:59 > 0:50:01And so... Can you smell it?
0:50:01 > 0:50:03SHE LAUGHS
0:50:03 > 0:50:05TURKEY EXPELS GAS
0:50:05 > 0:50:08Oh, that's the weirdest thing I've ever seen or heard!
0:50:08 > 0:50:12Rather disgusting, but they have to be degassed
0:50:12 > 0:50:17and then they will keep and they will hang for that ten days or so.
0:50:17 > 0:50:21Oh, my goodness, I've just heard a dead turkey farting!
0:50:21 > 0:50:23Yes, you have!
0:50:31 > 0:50:34On the Albion, we're sailing on into Norwich.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37The river winds out of the broads
0:50:37 > 0:50:39and deep into the centre of the city.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44Coming up here is Carrow Works.
0:50:44 > 0:50:46This would have been the termination of any wherry journey.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48They would have turned round here.
0:50:48 > 0:50:52There would have been dozens of wherries up here
0:50:52 > 0:50:55unloading all kinds of cargoes,
0:50:55 > 0:50:57and they would have been waiting here for tides.
0:50:57 > 0:50:59So it would have been a really bustly place.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03As a working wherry,
0:51:03 > 0:51:06the Albion would have made regular deliveries here.
0:51:06 > 0:51:11But the dock at Carrow also has a special significance.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15This is where Albion was rescued in 1949.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18As far as I'm aware, this is the first time she's ever been back.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21Really? Do you think she's feeling a bit jittery?
0:51:21 > 0:51:25I think if boats had emotions, she'd be feeling a little tear,
0:51:25 > 0:51:26a little tear would be appearing.
0:51:26 > 0:51:28Ahhh.
0:51:35 > 0:51:37We've thrust into the heart of Norwich,
0:51:37 > 0:51:38straight just off the Broads.
0:51:38 > 0:51:41Over there is Norwich City Football Club, home of Delia Smith.
0:51:41 > 0:51:45But this is one food journey that doesn't end with a taste of Delia.
0:51:45 > 0:51:47It's there, it's the Colman's Mustard factory,
0:51:47 > 0:51:49which is this whole building. And just up ahead there
0:51:49 > 0:51:53is where every single pot of Colman's Mustard is made.
0:51:58 > 0:52:01The Albion has brought me here to Carrow,
0:52:01 > 0:52:03to discover what makes mustard so very Norfolk.
0:52:03 > 0:52:05Cheers, Giles.
0:52:05 > 0:52:06- Cheerio.- All the best.
0:52:11 > 0:52:12Mustard is a seasonal summer crop
0:52:12 > 0:52:16which has been grown for its potent seeds since Roman times.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19The fields and fenland around Norfolk are full of it
0:52:19 > 0:52:21because it's here that English mustard
0:52:21 > 0:52:25really made a name for itself.
0:52:25 > 0:52:27Bob Walpole works in a business
0:52:27 > 0:52:29that's been part of Norwich history for 200 years.
0:52:31 > 0:52:3410,000 tonne capacity in total.
0:52:34 > 0:52:38- 10,000 tonnes of mustard seed, and it's all in there now.- Yes.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41All the mustard seed in all of this part of England.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44I would say a good 90% now.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50Jeremiah Colman took the idea of milling mustard seed
0:52:50 > 0:52:53and turned it into an industry.
0:52:53 > 0:52:55A former flour miller,
0:52:55 > 0:52:58he blended both brown and white mustard seeds
0:52:58 > 0:53:00to create a particularly strong English mustard.
0:53:02 > 0:53:03The business prospered,
0:53:04 > 0:53:07and a dedicated factory was built in Norwich in 1862.
0:53:07 > 0:53:11By the 1880s, more than 2,000 people worked here,
0:53:11 > 0:53:15with another 4,000 earning their living directly through the company.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20Of course, they make mustard all over the place.
0:53:20 > 0:53:22The French have French mustard, and it's all right.
0:53:22 > 0:53:24It tastes mostly of vinegar.
0:53:24 > 0:53:26American mustard is put on hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs.
0:53:26 > 0:53:30It's all right, but it tastes very much like the mustard
0:53:30 > 0:53:31of the fattest nation on earth.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34Then you get English mustard. Ah!
0:53:35 > 0:53:37This is the mustard that built empires.
0:53:42 > 0:53:43The blend of brown and white mustard seed
0:53:43 > 0:53:46used in English mustard is what makes it unique.
0:53:46 > 0:53:51The brown seed provides the heat and the white provides flavour.
0:53:51 > 0:53:55All the white seed used by the factory is grown in East Anglia.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59For nearly 200 years, it flourished in the dry climate
0:53:59 > 0:54:02and silty soil, until farmers started to notice a problem.
0:54:04 > 0:54:08By 2007, yields had dropped by half.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12English mustard was failing.
0:54:12 > 0:54:14Agronomist Tony Guthrie had to try and save it.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16So he turned to the archives.
0:54:19 > 0:54:21So come in here, Giles.
0:54:21 > 0:54:24This is the storeroom where fortunately there's a whole,
0:54:24 > 0:54:25as you can see in here,
0:54:25 > 0:54:28there's a whole range of harvest years of seed.
0:54:28 > 0:54:30What an excellent, neatly kept and tidy cupboard.
0:54:30 > 0:54:31It's really good.
0:54:31 > 0:54:35So what I was looking for was some seed that was bright in colour,
0:54:35 > 0:54:38cos if it's bright in colour it gives you an indicator
0:54:38 > 0:54:41that it was stored in good conditions and harvested well and everything.
0:54:41 > 0:54:47So what I did was found some seed from 1995 in one of these tins.
0:54:47 > 0:54:53As you can see here, this seed, even though it's now 15 years old...
0:54:53 > 0:54:54Yeah, you can still make mustard from it.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57..You can still see that it looks nice and bright and clean,
0:54:57 > 0:55:01so we were very fortunate that we able to find seed that grew
0:55:01 > 0:55:05going back to '95 when the yields were still...
0:55:05 > 0:55:07And this is basically seed from the last time
0:55:07 > 0:55:09they had a really good crop.
0:55:09 > 0:55:11This was '95, and it was a good crop.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15Once Tony found the seed,
0:55:15 > 0:55:18he had to check that it would grow into successful plants.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23He sent it to the scientists at a research centre just down the road.
0:55:23 > 0:55:27They tested the old seed against the modern crop, which was failing.
0:55:29 > 0:55:34They discovered that white mustard needs variety to prosper.
0:55:34 > 0:55:37The older seeds were all ever so slightly different.
0:55:37 > 0:55:39And you can see that in the plants.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43All here are different families within the same species.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45They're all variations on the same.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48But this one here, you can see, is taller
0:55:48 > 0:55:52but it's ever so slightly paler in colour to these here.
0:55:52 > 0:55:54So we have taller, paler types
0:55:54 > 0:55:57and then this one is quite interesting here.
0:55:57 > 0:56:01You'll notice that we've got more of a serrated edge to the leaves,
0:56:01 > 0:56:03whereas here they're more rounded leaves.
0:56:03 > 0:56:06In layman's terms, these two are going to fancy each other
0:56:06 > 0:56:08and get it on and make more mustard
0:56:08 > 0:56:11whereas this one's not going to want to do it with its cousin,
0:56:11 > 0:56:12unless it really has to.
0:56:12 > 0:56:14It's a sexier vibe.
0:56:14 > 0:56:16You've got it.
0:56:16 > 0:56:18You're going to turn off the lights
0:56:18 > 0:56:19and they'll create loads of little mustard plants.
0:56:19 > 0:56:24Over the years, farmers had been selecting for white mustard plants
0:56:24 > 0:56:25with larger seeds.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28Pretty logical. Fatter seeds contain more mustard.
0:56:28 > 0:56:32But making them bigger hadn't made them better.
0:56:33 > 0:56:36White mustard needs diversity to survive.
0:56:37 > 0:56:41The old seeds had it, the modern ones didn't.
0:56:41 > 0:56:45Finding the old seeds in the store cupboard had saved the day.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49This is kind of like Jurassic Park. You know, when they find the...
0:56:49 > 0:56:52They're trying to bring dinosaurs back after a billion years.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55You've taken an extinct kind of mustard
0:56:55 > 0:56:58and leapt forward 15 years and got it growing again.
0:56:58 > 0:56:59That's right, we did. Exactly that.
0:56:59 > 0:57:01That's brilliant.
0:57:01 > 0:57:03Do you think you could do it with woolly mammoths?
0:57:03 > 0:57:04HE LAUGHS
0:57:07 > 0:57:10Farmers planted the rebooted version of the seed
0:57:10 > 0:57:12and harvests went back up.
0:57:12 > 0:57:16The English in English mustard was secure.
0:57:16 > 0:57:18It seems to me that, you know, in this part of the world,
0:57:18 > 0:57:22farming and industry and technology and large-scale production
0:57:22 > 0:57:23are all very hand in hand.
0:57:23 > 0:57:26That's what allowed this to happen.
0:57:26 > 0:57:29We're very fortunate that the farmers have got the soil
0:57:29 > 0:57:30and also, we've got the climate.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34We've got a very nice climate and rainfall pattern
0:57:35 > 0:57:37that help us to produce really good quality crops.
0:57:37 > 0:57:41It's all sort of happening in this East Anglian chunk of England.
0:57:41 > 0:57:43So we've got the science, you've got the food manufacturers,
0:57:43 > 0:57:46they're all based similarly in this area,
0:57:46 > 0:57:50but everyone or each company or division is helping one another.
0:57:56 > 0:57:59And that's, for me, the story of Norfolk.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03It's of an agriculture that's rooted in tradition
0:58:03 > 0:58:05but which has moved itself forward.
0:58:08 > 0:58:10Of a county that has kept the local and the seasonal,
0:58:10 > 0:58:12but has also changed the way we farm.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20Next time, we're exploring North Wales,
0:58:20 > 0:58:24a place defined by nature and harnessed with sheer hard graft.
0:58:26 > 0:58:29I've been walking for half an hour to get to these mussels
0:58:29 > 0:58:31and now I'm going to spend the rest of my life here with them.
0:58:31 > 0:58:33Oh!
0:58:33 > 0:58:34HE LAUGHS
0:58:39 > 0:58:42Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd