0:00:03 > 0:00:07'British food is about more than what we put on our plates.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10'Our landscape, our climate and our history
0:00:10 > 0:00:13'define what we grow and where we grow it.'
0:00:13 > 0:00:16Ah!
0:00:16 > 0:00:19This is the mustard that built empires.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23'Each place, each region, each food has its own story to tell.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25Oi!
0:00:25 > 0:00:26HE LAUGHS
0:00:26 > 0:00:29It's the most dangerous kind of farming I've ever known.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31I would rather fish for shark!
0:00:31 > 0:00:33'I'm exploring Britain to discover
0:00:33 > 0:00:36'how our soils and seas have shaped our tastes and traditions
0:00:36 > 0:00:40'because our food is who we are.'
0:00:40 > 0:00:44Those were the shoes that were put on the cattle.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47- So they would fit those... - They really shoe cattle?- They have.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50'Alongside me on this journey are historian, Lucy Worsley,
0:00:50 > 0:00:53'archaeologist, Alex Langlands...'
0:00:53 > 0:00:55Definitely whisky in that!
0:00:55 > 0:00:58- And does that find its way into the fish, ultimately?- It does, yeah.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01..'botanist, James Wong,
0:01:01 > 0:01:04'and horticulturalist, Alys Fowler.'
0:01:05 > 0:01:06Oh, wow!
0:01:06 > 0:01:09- It's a TOTALLY different thing when it's cooked.- It is. It really is.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15'This is the story of our food.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27'This time, we're in Kent.
0:01:27 > 0:01:32'This is the garden of England, rich with orchards and fruitful harvests.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36'It's also on the doorstep of Europe, a source of new tastes and ideas.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40'And it's all within easy reach of the markets of London
0:01:40 > 0:01:42'via an ancient network of rivers and estuaries.'
0:01:45 > 0:01:48What's the great thing about falling off here?
0:01:48 > 0:01:49Remember to go that way!
0:01:49 > 0:01:52'I'm going to be travelling by traditional Thames barge,
0:01:52 > 0:01:55'taking a trip up the Medway
0:01:55 > 0:01:57'to see how the white van men of the waterways
0:01:57 > 0:02:00'helped put Kentish food on the map.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03'But my journey begins in the heart of the county.
0:02:03 > 0:02:08'I'm starting with a crop perfectly suited to Kent's soil and climate,
0:02:08 > 0:02:11'a crop brought here from Europe to transform our national drink.'
0:02:14 > 0:02:18These amazing towering plants are hops,
0:02:18 > 0:02:22and their pale green flowers are the beginnings of a very Kentish taste
0:02:22 > 0:02:26because they're what gives English beer its bitterness,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29the clean, grassy, palate-cleansing tang
0:02:29 > 0:02:31that makes British beer beer.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38'Hops are a very labour-intensive crop,
0:02:38 > 0:02:40'grown purely for their cone-like flowers.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46'Kent became their stronghold, thanks to favourable growing conditions
0:02:46 > 0:02:50'and the number of seasonal workers prepared to travel from nearby London.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52'Whole families would race to pick the hop flowers
0:02:52 > 0:02:56'that were then dried before being added in the brewing process to create flavour.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01'Hop farmer Chris Nicholas has just started this year's harvest.'
0:03:02 > 0:03:05I guess you know when they're ready because of the timing,
0:03:05 > 0:03:07but is there anything...
0:03:07 > 0:03:08How can you tell that this particular...
0:03:08 > 0:03:10This fellow... How do you know it's ready?
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Well, the traditional way is...
0:03:15 > 0:03:17- ..if you look at a hop...- Yup.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19- ..there's a seed.- Mm hmm.
0:03:19 > 0:03:20When the hop first forms,
0:03:20 > 0:03:22the seed inside is milky.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26As the hop becomes ready, the seed starts to dry out.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29You can see the lupulin, which is the brewing value,
0:03:29 > 0:03:31on the petals.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33- Is that the yellow stuff?- Yeah.
0:03:33 > 0:03:34Now the seed is not milky.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38It's actually quite firm. That means it's ripe.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40How many hop flowers do you need for a pint of beer?
0:03:40 > 0:03:43- Just a couple.- Just a couple?- Yup. - So, like...
0:03:43 > 0:03:46- These two... That's a pint?- Yup.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48- It smells of very hoppy beer... - Yeah.- ..when it's on your fingers.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52It smells sort of garlicky when you fist smell it, and then lemony.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55And then, when it's on your fingers, it smells like...
0:03:55 > 0:03:57I smell like I've come back from a really, really good night.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02'You CAN flavour beer with fresh green hops,
0:04:02 > 0:04:04'but usually, they're dried.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07'This would once have been done in an oast house,
0:04:07 > 0:04:10'but these days, they're dried in kilns.'
0:04:10 > 0:04:11So, you dry them here?
0:04:11 > 0:04:13This is part of the drying system.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17Hops is 83% water, and we try and dry them down to 10%.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19To tell when they're dried,
0:04:19 > 0:04:21I just get into the kiln while it's going,
0:04:21 > 0:04:23and grab a handful, and then you rub them.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26These aren't anywhere near ready. These are about half dried.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29And what will happen, if you end up with three
0:04:29 > 0:04:32of just the strigs left in your hand, that's 10% moisture.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35That's how the old Victorian driers dried them off.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37- And you still do it that way? - Still do it that way.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40It's done all over the world, all the hop driers.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42They might have got electronic equipment,
0:04:42 > 0:04:43but it's always still done by hand.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46It's a very kind of heady smell, isn't it?
0:04:46 > 0:04:48It's very kind of, "Woah!" Makes you feel a bit woozly.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54'Hops and beer have been the perfect Kentish partnership for centuries,
0:04:54 > 0:04:57'but go back further into history, and the story is very different.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01'Brewing has been going on for millennia.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04'It's a way of making our water safer to drink.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06'But hops weren't always part of the recipe.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10'In medieval England, there were no hop gardens,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12'and beer as we know it simply didn't exist.
0:05:15 > 0:05:16'Master brewer, Stewart Main,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19'is going to introduce me to the original British pint.'
0:05:23 > 0:05:26- So, what was beer like before hops? - It would be very variable.
0:05:26 > 0:05:27It was called ale.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30It was only called beer when hops were added.
0:05:30 > 0:05:31Before that, it was ale,
0:05:31 > 0:05:33and ale wives, women,
0:05:33 > 0:05:36used to brew the beers. It was a farmhouse kind of thing.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38- We now, when we talk about real ale...- Yeah.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40..we do mean a hopped drink like beer?
0:05:40 > 0:05:42Yes, we do. Yes, we do. Yes.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44But at the time, there was a distinction?
0:05:44 > 0:05:47We're looking at the alcoholic beverage,
0:05:47 > 0:05:49before hops came to this country.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51'Malted milled grain is mixed with boiling water.'
0:05:51 > 0:05:55It's a lot of trouble to go to, just cos you can't drink the water.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58- Well, it's that or dying, I suppose! What would you choose? - GILES LAUGHS
0:05:58 > 0:06:01- Beer or death!- It's just a wholesome, natural drink.
0:06:01 > 0:06:02It doesn't have to be highly alcoholic.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05- Children drank it, didn't they? - Of course they would.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09'Flavourings like rosemary, honey and heather are added.'
0:06:09 > 0:06:10I have to say
0:06:10 > 0:06:14that I don't think I've ever seen anything that looks less like beer.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16- It's ale, lad. It's ale!- Ale!
0:06:16 > 0:06:19'It's left to ferment for several days.'
0:06:19 > 0:06:21Now, you can see how it looks exactly the same.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23But you see the fluid in there?
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Now, what would they do? They'd allow that to sediment out.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28I bet they would because what they've got there is
0:06:28 > 0:06:30a yeasty-smelling muddy puddle.
0:06:30 > 0:06:31But it's not going to kill you!
0:06:31 > 0:06:34We'll just see how this tastes.
0:06:34 > 0:06:35Mmm.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37It smells of mouldy bread,
0:06:37 > 0:06:39but it tastes of beer.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41You can imagine that chilled, nicely cooled.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43That's a lovely drink.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47You're going to have such a big sales problem with the colour.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50What do YOU think the alcoholic content of that is?
0:06:51 > 0:06:53Six.
0:06:53 > 0:06:54Six?
0:06:54 > 0:06:56would you be surprised if I told you it was 13?
0:06:56 > 0:07:00- GILES LAUGHS - Yes!- 13%.- Really?- Honestly. 13%.
0:07:00 > 0:07:01Gosh, I drink too much, don't I?
0:07:04 > 0:07:05'Although our British ale was alcoholic,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08'it was unpredictable and it spoiled quickly.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12'The Europeans were really the first to brew with hops.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15'The Germans were using them in beer by the 12th century,
0:07:15 > 0:07:17'soon followed by the Dutch and the Flemish.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24'When Flemish weavers came here to work in the late 14th century,
0:07:24 > 0:07:26'they brought with them a taste for hopped beer.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32'It took a couple of hundred years, but it caught on,
0:07:32 > 0:07:33'and by the early 16th century,
0:07:33 > 0:07:36'Kentish farmers had a new cash crop and a new drink.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41'English beer today would be unthinkable without hops.'
0:07:43 > 0:07:44So these are...?
0:07:44 > 0:07:47These are the hop pellets. Hops have been
0:07:47 > 0:07:50milled and reconstituted in pellet form.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52- It still smells just exactly of hops.- They do.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55And we're going to add them now to this copper.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57Brilliant.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59'Shepherd Neame is Britain's oldest brewery.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02'There's evidence that its heritage dates back to the 16th century,
0:08:02 > 0:08:05'the industry growing on the back of Kentish hops.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10'It's Stewart's job to monitor every part of the process.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13That's the freshest beer you will ever taste, Giles.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18I think I can taste the hops.
0:08:18 > 0:08:19- Oh, you can? - I'm so into hops now that I'm...
0:08:19 > 0:08:22- You can taste the hoppiness and the bitterness.- It's very bitter.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25You've got a lingering bitterness now just at the front of your palate.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29That seems bitterer to me than beers you normally drink in the pub.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33Shepherd Neame's beers are famous for being very bitter.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35We're in the heart of hop country!
0:08:35 > 0:08:39'The possibilities for beer expanded with the arrival of hops.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42'Different varieties create different flavours.'
0:08:42 > 0:08:45Now, you look at that. Lovely golden colour,
0:08:45 > 0:08:46light chestnut.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48With a lovely dry bitterness as well.
0:08:48 > 0:08:49Mmm.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Yeah, I know. I can see. I just need to just quickly get a...
0:08:52 > 0:08:54- Just to be sure.- Just to be certain I need to get a...
0:08:54 > 0:08:57- I'm keen that you make your mind up. - Mmm.
0:08:57 > 0:08:58Yeah... Yes...
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Yeah. Mmm hmm. That obviously went down well.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04If you compare the ale that they were drinking before they had hops,
0:09:04 > 0:09:06it's got this kind of... which had no structure.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08Well, if you think about it,
0:09:08 > 0:09:10we're adding different hops with different bitternesses
0:09:10 > 0:09:13to give different aromas and different flavours.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17They would add different types of flowers and herbs to give different flavours,
0:09:17 > 0:09:21so you can see the parallel between what was done in Saxon times.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23The hops are added, yes, to make the beer bitter
0:09:23 > 0:09:26and to give a nice hoppy and fruity aroma, but they're
0:09:26 > 0:09:28actually one of nature's preservatives.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30So, they will preserve the beer. They make it last a long time.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32This means, presumably, hops not only gave it flavour,
0:09:32 > 0:09:37but it must have made it possible to move from a thing that was just done
0:09:37 > 0:09:40- at home to something that could be done on a commercial scale. - Absolutely.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42Well, it became commercial, of course.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44And the commercial aspect of brewing
0:09:44 > 0:09:46coincided with the infrastructure of distribution.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49So, it would start with canals and then roads.
0:09:49 > 0:09:54Beer has always been part of Britain's way of life.
0:09:54 > 0:09:55It's our national drink.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59'Kent has a long history of embracing new ideas and flavours.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03'But it didn't hurt that it had thousands of customers practically on its doorstep.
0:10:03 > 0:10:09'So for brewing to work commercially, Kent needed another ingredient. Transport.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14'The brewery sits on a tidal creek in Faversham that leads out into the Swale Estuary.'
0:10:15 > 0:10:20- Morning, Brian.- Good morning. - A beer run to London.
0:10:20 > 0:10:25Thank you very much indeed. That will get us half way anyway.
0:10:25 > 0:10:30'Brian Pain is the skipper and owner of this barge, the Lady Of The Lea.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35'He and his crew are going to show me how Kent used to get goods to market.'
0:10:35 > 0:10:37- Well, it's very thirsty work.- Really?
0:10:37 > 0:10:42Lots of pulling and heaving. The crew is in danger of getting dehydrated.
0:10:42 > 0:10:47- I thought it was easy. I thought that was the point.- They're easy, yes. You'll find out later.
0:10:47 > 0:10:52'Before modern roads and railways, barges were the safest and cheapest
0:10:52 > 0:10:55'method of putting Kent's food on the table.
0:10:55 > 0:11:00'This network of rivers and estuaries were once the motorways of their day.'
0:11:00 > 0:11:03- Do we know what route we're taking? - I think we do.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07If not, I've got a road map of Britain down below. I'm sure we can find a way.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11'In their heyday, there were over 2,000 of these barges,
0:11:11 > 0:11:13'the largest fleet in Europe.
0:11:13 > 0:11:18'They could navigate narrow creeks to pick up goods direct from farmers and suppliers.'
0:11:33 > 0:11:35I'm amazed you're out so quickly.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38Seconds ago, we were in the bustling, glittering lights of Faversham.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41Suddenly, we're in open fields. It's like Belgium or something.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45Yes. It's got a strange beauty around here, the marshes.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50'The earliest barges were simple floating boxes, rowed to shore.
0:11:50 > 0:11:55'But bargemen soon realised they could be transformed to sail the windswept estuaries.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59'A sailing rig was added and the Thames barge was born.'
0:11:59 > 0:12:04What sail are you going to put up? Like I know the difference between sails!
0:12:04 > 0:12:08We're going to put the top sail up and the clue's in the name.
0:12:08 > 0:12:13- The great thing is we fall off here...- What's the great thing about falling off here?
0:12:13 > 0:12:18- Remember to go that way. You'll be in the water.- Is it deep enough? I'll be OK?- You'll be fine.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22Do you want to see a back somersault with a triple pike?
0:12:22 > 0:12:26Just in time for the Olympics. Would you like to know just how terrified I am?
0:12:40 > 0:12:44'Beer from the brewery would have been delivered straight to London,
0:12:44 > 0:12:49'but we're settling sail for a different destination, heading to the River Medway
0:12:49 > 0:12:52'and a journey upriver into the very heart of Kent.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01'This is where Kent's reputation was really built.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04'Grapes and apples are all very well, but by late summer,
0:13:04 > 0:13:08'it's cherries that are the real stars of the show.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14'Kent led the way with the first English cherry orchards in the early 16th century.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16'It's still leading the way today.
0:13:16 > 0:13:21'Horticulturalist Alice Fowler is uncovering a new cherry revolution
0:13:21 > 0:13:25'with its roots firmly in the past.'
0:13:26 > 0:13:31Now this is a traditional orchard with traditional wide spacing
0:13:31 > 0:13:36and huge trees, hence the need for these very tall ladders.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41The ladders have a wonderful feel.
0:13:41 > 0:13:46You can sort of tell that hundreds of people have climbed up and down them and they're stained.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49They're sort of brilliant dark cherry red along each rung.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52'This is Kent farming with a rich history.
0:13:55 > 0:14:01'John Leigh-Pemberton's family have been growing cherries here for more than three generations.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03'And as with any old orchard,
0:14:03 > 0:14:06'the fruit trees can tell their own stories.'
0:14:06 > 0:14:13If you have a look around this side, you can see where it's growing out of the lower part of the tree.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17What's happened is that the graft is here,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20that's where the top stop was put onto the tree.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23This is the root stop. This has shot out from beneath.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27It's showing its true form, which is it's a wild cherry tree
0:14:27 > 0:14:32and it's got these little sour wild fruits on with tiny stones and tiny pips
0:14:32 > 0:14:37and it is from this that the cultivated cherries have developed.
0:14:37 > 0:14:42And probably, if you look up in here, that's a cultivated cherry.
0:14:42 > 0:14:47- There's a huge difference in size. - Huge difference from these tiny things.
0:14:47 > 0:14:52And the wild cherry is native to Britain. We've actually always eaten it.
0:14:52 > 0:14:58It's one of our early forage foods because there's evidence in Bronze Age sites and stuff like that.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02But when did we go from eating this to eating this?
0:15:02 > 0:15:06The Romans, I think, were probably the first to start grafting cherries
0:15:06 > 0:15:09and selecting varieties deliberately and propagating them.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12Because if you grow from seeds you're only ever going to have
0:15:12 > 0:15:13one tree of a particular variety.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17The only way you're going to get lots of trees of the same variety is by grafting.
0:15:17 > 0:15:22In the UK the real start of the fruit industry in Kent
0:15:22 > 0:15:25was with a chap called Richard Harris
0:15:25 > 0:15:28who was Henry VIII's fruiterer.
0:15:28 > 0:15:33Harris set up an orchard in nearby Teynham
0:15:33 > 0:15:35and brought graft wood in from France.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37All on the orders of a King
0:15:37 > 0:15:40who wanted a sweeter cherry for his dinner table.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43- Henry VIII really backed it. - Oh, he backed it, he backed it.
0:15:43 > 0:15:50He saw it as part of his attempt to modernise the country.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52And I think probably he'd seen the French were doing it better
0:15:52 > 0:15:55and thought that we've got to do something about it.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57There's a wonderful description
0:15:57 > 0:15:59in William Lambarde's Perambulation Of Kent,
0:15:59 > 0:16:02which was one of the first county guides
0:16:02 > 0:16:07written in 1570, of Richard Harris's orchards.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09And it says, "In the year of our Lord Christ, 1533,
0:16:09 > 0:16:13"he obtained 105 acres of good ground in Teynham
0:16:13 > 0:16:16"which he divided into ten parcels
0:16:16 > 0:16:19"and with great care, good choice and no small labour and cost,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22"brought plants from beyond the seas
0:16:22 > 0:16:24"and furnished this ground with them
0:16:24 > 0:16:28"so beautifully as they not only stand in most right line
0:16:28 > 0:16:32"but seem to be of one sort, shape, and fashion
0:16:32 > 0:16:34"as if they'd been drawn through one mould,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37"wrought by one and the same pattern."
0:16:37 > 0:16:40And it's just so beautifully written, this.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44And you can see that for Lambarde to walk into this orchard
0:16:44 > 0:16:46and see trees in a straight row,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49in a completely new style of growing
0:16:49 > 0:16:52must have been really a wonderful thing for him.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56You can sort of see why it's called the garden of England, Kent.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00Because it does have this...just such a romantic air. But...
0:17:00 > 0:17:03Yup. It is very lovely and very romantic
0:17:03 > 0:17:06but I'm afraid that it has...
0:17:06 > 0:17:09it's in the past, you know?
0:17:09 > 0:17:10It's as much in the past
0:17:10 > 0:17:13as taking your children to school on a horse and cart.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15It's just, it's very lovely
0:17:15 > 0:17:19but it doesn't fit with what the world wants.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21The cherries that come out of this orchard
0:17:21 > 0:17:24I would not be able to sell in a supermarket.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27Before the Second World War, around 40,000 acres
0:17:27 > 0:17:30of cherry orchards stretched across Southern Britain.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33But these trees were too tall,
0:17:33 > 0:17:37too delicate, too unpredictable for modern tastes.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40By the turn of the century, less than 1,000 acres were left.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45What Kent needed was a new kind of tree.
0:17:45 > 0:17:51And once again, they looked abroad for inspiration.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54In West Germany, breeders had created
0:17:54 > 0:17:56a new, dwarf rootstock known as Gisela.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00And for farmers like John, it was the perfect solution.
0:18:00 > 0:18:05The trees only grow to around three metres or ten feet tall.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08They make it much easier to pick.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11- And I pick like that?- That's right. - Not holding the fruit?
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Not holding the fruit, you pick with the strig. That's right.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17- And the colour?- Colour wants to be...
0:18:17 > 0:18:18There is a good example.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20The left hand cherry is the right colour,
0:18:20 > 0:18:22the right hand one is a little bit too dark
0:18:22 > 0:18:24and it's too small so that's going on the ground.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27The dwarf trees can even be grown under covers
0:18:27 > 0:18:29to protect them from rainstorms,
0:18:29 > 0:18:33further guaranteeing the crop for supermarket shelves.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37There is a big renaissance going on in UK cherry growing.
0:18:37 > 0:18:42The acreage is expanding again after years and years of decline.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45The technology, the techniques are improving.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48We've got better varieties of cherry,
0:18:48 > 0:18:51we've got better rootstock, so we've got smaller trees.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53We've got tunnels...
0:18:53 > 0:18:56All sorts of things are working in the industry's favour now.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58The key to this whole renaissance
0:18:58 > 0:19:02really is about having this smaller rootstock, isn't it?
0:19:02 > 0:19:03That was the moment?
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Absolutely, for sure. Suddenly our picking costs are halved.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09Suddenly we have trees that we can manage and prune easily,
0:19:09 > 0:19:12that we don't need ladders. We don't need anything like that.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15These trees are only eight or nine years old.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17They're still only this size
0:19:17 > 0:19:21and they'll be smaller once we've pruned them after finishing picking.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23It's completely revolutionised the business.
0:19:23 > 0:19:29Kent broke new ground with the first cherry orchards.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33But the traditional trees pioneered by Henry VIII have had their day.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35Cherries are part of a bigger story of Kent.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38A reflection of the willingness of farmers here
0:19:38 > 0:19:41to embrace new ideas and make them their own.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43The best of both worlds are farmers like John,
0:19:43 > 0:19:46who are going to keep the old orchards going
0:19:46 > 0:19:49for as long as possible but invest in the future of cherries.
0:19:49 > 0:19:50And the future of cherries
0:19:50 > 0:19:54are small, and covered, and perfectly ripe.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01On the Lady Of The Lea,
0:20:01 > 0:20:05we've reached the coast and are now in full sail.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08As I sweat it, you can pull it in, OK?
0:20:10 > 0:20:12We've left Faversham far behind
0:20:12 > 0:20:15and are sailing round the Isle Of Sheppey
0:20:15 > 0:20:16into the Medway estuary.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19Are there not nautical songs we could sing?
0:20:19 > 0:20:22There are, yes. They've got lots of swear words in, though.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26Cherries would once have been transported on barges like this.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32Kent's soil and climate are perfect for growing fruit
0:20:32 > 0:20:35and the waterways got it to market before it could spoil
0:20:35 > 0:20:39Before heading down the Medway proper
0:20:39 > 0:20:45I'm stopping off at an orchard that still has its own wharf.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47That's the line in.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Yes. >
0:20:50 > 0:20:53- And we're going in there?- Yeah.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56You look a little bit more concerned than I thought you would.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58Ha-ha! No, just looking at the way out.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00That must mark the way out as well.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03You can see yourself where the wharf is.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05You can actually only get to it at high water
0:21:05 > 0:21:09cos it's mud there at the moment, still.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12The Lady Of The Lea is designed for shallow waters,
0:21:12 > 0:21:15provided Brian gets the tides right.
0:21:15 > 0:21:162ft draught and we're aground!
0:21:16 > 0:21:19'Turns out, we're a little early.'
0:21:19 > 0:21:22Theoretically, there should be
0:21:22 > 0:21:24another 3ft of water before high water.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27So there should be just enough to get on that jetty.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59Lovely jubbly! That'll do!
0:22:03 > 0:22:05Heave!
0:22:19 > 0:22:22- Ah-ha, Robert.- Welcome, Giles.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24- Do you like my transport? - Yeah, it's lovely, isn't it?
0:22:24 > 0:22:26'This is Shoregate Wharf.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28'And the orchards that run down to it
0:22:28 > 0:22:31'are owned by fourth generation fruit farmer, Robert Hinge.'
0:22:31 > 0:22:35And what are these? I mean...these are apples.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38- Don't tell me! - Yeah, yeah, these are Cox's.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40And am I allowed to eat them?
0:22:40 > 0:22:43Can you sell that? Is that a bit small?
0:22:43 > 0:22:44No, no. That's fine.
0:22:46 > 0:22:47- Bit sharp.- No, no.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50We're here about a week early, I think.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52It's delicious. Amazing.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54So you don't use the estuary any more?
0:22:54 > 0:22:57No, it's all done by road now. But it would have been years ago
0:22:57 > 0:22:59by my grandfather, great-grandfather.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03Fruit would have been taken up to London and the organic matter,
0:23:03 > 0:23:07manure, would have come back and been ploughed into the fields.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10To create nice apples like that. Is there any other reason? Why Kent?
0:23:10 > 0:23:14Well, we're more of a continental climate.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18So it is warmer and tends to be a bit drier here as well.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20You just grow old-fashioned varieties like this?
0:23:20 > 0:23:22No, no. We still grow a lot of them
0:23:22 > 0:23:27but more and more, we're planting Gala, Braeburn, Jazz...
0:23:27 > 0:23:29- Jazz!- Jazz, yes.- Come along now! - HE LAUGHS
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Around two thirds of tree-grown fruit in Britain
0:23:32 > 0:23:34now comes from Kent.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36And Robert is a major commercial supplier
0:23:36 > 0:23:38of varieties both old and new.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40This is a traditional variety of Worcester
0:23:40 > 0:23:42which we've just finished picking.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45- Tremendous flavour. - I've never heard of a Worcester.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48Beautiful, perfumey flavour.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51- Mmm, yup. Mild, though.- Yeah.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55- And what's this, a Gala? - Gala, yeah.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00And it's becoming the most widely grown variety now in the country.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02Totally different texture.
0:24:02 > 0:24:03That's much more an apple grown
0:24:03 > 0:24:05for people who prefer to eat sweeties, isn't it?
0:24:05 > 0:24:08People who like Mars bars but they know they should eat fruit.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11So they eat this incredibly accessible,
0:24:11 > 0:24:12pink, sweet, sugary apple.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16- Children's fruit...Grown up's fruit. - Absolutely right!
0:24:16 > 0:24:18OK, well, we've got traditional Bramleys.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21Really the only commercially grown cooking apple now.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24- Let me eat some raw. I like a raw Bramley.- Are you sure?
0:24:24 > 0:24:27- Yeah! Make your eyes water. - It will do.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30- A wasabi of an apple. - Nice with a bit of cheese...
0:24:30 > 0:24:33- HE LAUGHS - ..and a pound of sugar!
0:24:33 > 0:24:35Mmm! Wow!
0:24:37 > 0:24:40Robert's apples now make their way to market by road
0:24:40 > 0:24:42but here in this orchard,
0:24:42 > 0:24:44it's easy to see how the waterways
0:24:44 > 0:24:48helped put Kentish food on the table.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50Apples could be loaded onto barges
0:24:50 > 0:24:52and make it to London in less than 12 hours.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54But that's not where I'm headed.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56- Hi, Brian.- Ah!
0:24:56 > 0:25:00- More produce. - Thank you very much indeed.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03I'm following the Medway further upstream
0:25:03 > 0:25:05into the heart of the county.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09Fruit is only part of Kent's story.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13To the South, rolling chalk gives way to open marshland.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16But this is an important part of the Garden Of England too.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24Archaeologist Alex Langlands is discovering
0:25:24 > 0:25:26how farming has left its mark
0:25:26 > 0:25:29on this seemingly wild landscape.
0:25:29 > 0:25:36You're never far from a dyke or ditch out here on Romney Marsh.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38And that's because all of this land around us
0:25:38 > 0:25:40has been reclaimed from the sea.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43The present coastline today lies some five miles
0:25:43 > 0:25:45in a southerly direction.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49This 100 square mile stretch of marshland
0:25:49 > 0:25:53is difficult to cultivate and is vulnerable to flooding and disease.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55In the hot summer months,
0:25:55 > 0:25:57these ditches would have held stagnant water.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00And they would have proved a fertile breeding ground
0:26:00 > 0:26:03for malaria-carrying mosquitoes and all sorts of diseases.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07Things like cholera and dysentery. They would have been rife.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09And in fact, one in three babies
0:26:09 > 0:26:12never lived to see their first birthday.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14So it was a pretty desolate place at that time.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21It's hard to imagine what could possibly prosper
0:26:21 > 0:26:23in this treacherous environment.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25But this landscape actually holds
0:26:25 > 0:26:28some of the richest pastureland in Kent.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32And the one creature that positively thrives on it
0:26:32 > 0:26:34is the Romney Marsh sheep.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39Hardy and nimble, the Romneys have allowed farmers
0:26:39 > 0:26:42to make the most of this marsh for centuries.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46Converting grass into valuable meat and wool.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53You're going to show me how to catch a sheep now?
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Sixth generation farmer, Howard Bates,
0:26:56 > 0:26:58is continuing the tradition.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00And today it's time to check the flock.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03You've always got to catch the one that wants to be caught.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06- That's the first.- Yeah! - Right, let's catch this one here.
0:27:09 > 0:27:10Lovely!
0:27:12 > 0:27:14Now THAT is how you catch a sheep!
0:27:16 > 0:27:19So what are you looking for in a good a Romney sheep?
0:27:19 > 0:27:22We start right at the front. They've got to have a good mouth.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26A right square muzzle, so she can graze this grass nice and short.
0:27:26 > 0:27:31All the higher value meat is in the back of the animal.
0:27:31 > 0:27:32You want this triangle shape.
0:27:32 > 0:27:33Goes from front to back
0:27:33 > 0:27:36and from the top of the sheep triangularly.
0:27:36 > 0:27:37OK, across the top here.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39A triangle out here and a triangle out here.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42Because I guess all roads are pointing to this rump end?
0:27:42 > 0:27:45Yeah. And, of course, then this triangular shape
0:27:45 > 0:27:47is far easier at lambing time.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49She's beautiful, this sheep.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52She's just got this nice square muzzle.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54Nice white face. Good coat.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58So today the plan is to run them through the race
0:27:58 > 0:27:59and check them over for condition?
0:27:59 > 0:28:01Yes. They've got to have good set of teeth.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03Their udder has got to be sound
0:28:03 > 0:28:06- for milk production next year. - Right, OK.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08Yeah. OK, if you just walk back there.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10Oh, right. This one, look!
0:28:10 > 0:28:12Walk to her now. I think she'll come up there.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15She just doesn't want to go!
0:28:15 > 0:28:16Come on, you! Come on.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20No harm here. It's all about your health, sweetheart.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27So you're just feeling to see if they're missing any molars, yeah?
0:28:27 > 0:28:30Because if they can't break down their food properly
0:28:30 > 0:28:33then that's going to impact upon milk production, I guess?
0:28:33 > 0:28:34Yep, yes.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36'Romneys are a dual purpose breed,
0:28:36 > 0:28:39'used for both their meat and wool.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43'Nowadays it's the meat that makes the money,
0:28:43 > 0:28:47'but their fast growing fleece was once a prized commodity.'
0:28:47 > 0:28:50- It's got a lovely, long staple. - Yeah.- I mean, look at that.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Remembering that this is only a few months' of growth.
0:28:53 > 0:28:54These were shorn in July.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57Of course, so you've still got the best part of the year to go.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01Absolutely, yeah. A Romney staple is about eight inches long.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04That's amazing, isn't it? You're look at something like that.
0:29:04 > 0:29:05That's superb.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09You begin to understand why it was so valuable, the wool of these sheep.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12Anything else you're checking at this point?
0:29:12 > 0:29:16In legislation now we have to check they've got their correct ear tags.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19Right, OK. You do that. Now that's the only part of this job
0:29:19 > 0:29:22that isn't something that was practised hundreds of years ago.
0:29:22 > 0:29:24Otherwise, what we're doing here
0:29:24 > 0:29:27- has been done for hundreds of years here.- Absolutely.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30- With this breed of sheep on this marsh.- Absolutely.
0:29:30 > 0:29:32'What has changed for Howard,
0:29:32 > 0:29:36'and the few remaining sheep farmers on the Marsh,
0:29:36 > 0:29:39'is that they get to go home at night.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42'Until the 1930s, at certain times of the year,
0:29:42 > 0:29:47'farmers would need to live out on the Marsh to tend their sheep.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49'This difficult and dangerous job
0:29:49 > 0:29:53'was often delegated to freelance farm-hands, called lookers.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59'Their legacy is preserved by local sheep farmer, Dennis Cole.'
0:29:59 > 0:30:01Well, of course, they call them lookers
0:30:01 > 0:30:03here on Romney Marsh, instead of shepherds.
0:30:03 > 0:30:07Because quite often the lookers would look after two or three flocks
0:30:07 > 0:30:10for the rich owners that lived on the hill.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13Because it's not such a healthy place to live down here.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15So that's the difference between a looker and a shepherd?
0:30:15 > 0:30:17Yeah, that's right.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20It's not that he's any better looking.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23Ha-ha! Is that what they tell you?
0:30:23 > 0:30:26'Whilst tending the flocks in his care,
0:30:26 > 0:30:30'the looker would roam this wide open marshland,
0:30:30 > 0:30:33'with little to interrupt the landscape
0:30:33 > 0:30:35'other than these curious brick huts.'
0:30:35 > 0:30:38Wow! This is lovely.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42So what were these huts used for then, Dennis?
0:30:42 > 0:30:46Well, it was for the looker to stay in during the lambing period.
0:30:46 > 0:30:47To look after the sheep.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50And, of course, you need to be close to the sheep
0:30:50 > 0:30:53at this time of year because when they're lambing,
0:30:53 > 0:30:56they could lamb in the middle of the night, couldn't they?
0:30:56 > 0:30:59Yeah, that's right. And if he got the odd weakly lamb
0:30:59 > 0:31:02he could bring it in, in front of the fire and get it going again.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04It sounds very romantic to me at the moment!
0:31:04 > 0:31:07- Don't think it was!- Ha-ha!
0:31:07 > 0:31:11They worked long hours and it's fairly basic.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14No electricity. No plumbing.
0:31:14 > 0:31:20In their heyday, there were around 350 lookers' huts on the marsh.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23Today, barely a dozen are still standing.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30The Romneys are such a resilient, dependable stock
0:31:30 > 0:31:33that they've been exported to breed all over the world.
0:31:33 > 0:31:37And they're still here on the marsh where they belong.
0:31:45 > 0:31:49Sheep have helped shape this community and this landscape.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52'I'm sure we can pour you a little something.'
0:31:52 > 0:31:53Been a tough day out there on the marsh.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56'And they still provide excellent quality meat
0:31:56 > 0:31:59'which is known for being particularly succulent.'
0:31:59 > 0:32:01So here we go.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04- We've got a rolled leg of Romney Marsh lamb.- Whoa!
0:32:04 > 0:32:07It's probably one of the nicest lamb joints that you can get.
0:32:07 > 0:32:10That is juicy and you can see the marbling in there, can't you?
0:32:10 > 0:32:12Yeah. All the way through it.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16I have to say, that's really how I like my lamb, so...
0:32:19 > 0:32:21Mmmm!
0:32:23 > 0:32:25- That is absolutely delicious, Scott. - Good.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28The fats are coming through there.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31But not in a congealy way, just the taste.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35The fat's not completely dissolved so it's still very tasty.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38- Absolutely stunning.- Good.
0:32:38 > 0:32:40- Now I know what keeps you here on the marsh.- Ha-ha!
0:32:40 > 0:32:43That is delicious.
0:32:43 > 0:32:48On my journey through Kent, I've reached Rochester
0:32:48 > 0:32:51where the Medway starts to narrow.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59Barges like this could ply their trade in the estuaries
0:32:59 > 0:33:01but they were also designed to sail upriver.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08BARGE WHISTLE SOUNDS
0:33:12 > 0:33:14Eh? Do what? I've forgotten!
0:33:14 > 0:33:16Just turn it a bit.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18Turn it a bit?
0:33:18 > 0:33:20METAL CLANKS
0:33:20 > 0:33:21OK, Giles. Hold it there.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24- Like that?- That's it.
0:33:26 > 0:33:28That meant they needed to be adaptable.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31Because rivers have bridges.
0:33:31 > 0:33:33We're coming to Rochester Bridge
0:33:33 > 0:33:35where we've got to lower all the gear flat on deck
0:33:35 > 0:33:39because the problem of the bridge being lower than the mast, you see.
0:33:39 > 0:33:41'Because time and tide were of the essence,
0:33:41 > 0:33:44'bargemen would hire in specialists known as hufflers
0:33:44 > 0:33:46'to quickly lower the mast.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48'Fortunately for me, there's still one available.'
0:33:48 > 0:33:52This is Spider. He's the great-grandson of the hufflers
0:33:52 > 0:33:54that have been huffling on the Medway for years.
0:33:54 > 0:33:56Centuries, probably.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00The hufflers were tall, powerful men who would row out
0:34:00 > 0:34:02and lower the mast for a fee.
0:34:02 > 0:34:06The aim was to try and shoot the bridges,
0:34:06 > 0:34:09the barge sailing on while the huffler lowered the gear.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18I've got to say, I've heard all these stories
0:34:18 > 0:34:21about how they shot the bridge, they didn't stop moving,
0:34:21 > 0:34:23the hufflers ran out and put it down. Is that...
0:34:23 > 0:34:25Spider IS only a trainee huffler.
0:34:25 > 0:34:27It does solve one mystery though.
0:34:27 > 0:34:29How they get a ship into a bottle.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31We could go straight into a bottle of cognac and we'd be away.
0:34:31 > 0:34:36Absolutely, and be having a whale of a time in there, I think.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39'We're following the Medway inland, towards the orchards and wharves
0:34:39 > 0:34:42'once visited regularly by barges like the Lady Of The Lea.
0:34:42 > 0:34:44'Traditional crops like hops and fruit
0:34:44 > 0:34:46'still have their place here
0:34:46 > 0:34:49'but history has shown Kentish farmers
0:34:49 > 0:34:52'are never afraid to embrace new ideas
0:34:52 > 0:34:55'even when they turn out to be old ones.
0:34:55 > 0:34:58'To the West, in the Darenth Valley,
0:34:58 > 0:35:00'a sea of indigo is in full bloom.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03'Botanist James Wong has gone to learn
0:35:03 > 0:35:07'about a very fragrant and flavourful modern Kent crop.'
0:35:07 > 0:35:09Look at this!
0:35:09 > 0:35:11I think the first thing you notice
0:35:11 > 0:35:14when you walk into this big purple haze
0:35:14 > 0:35:17is the scent that really hits you in the face.
0:35:17 > 0:35:21And almost psychedelically purple. God, that's good!
0:35:21 > 0:35:23You feel like you've been dropped inside
0:35:23 > 0:35:28one of those French Impressionist paintings, Mary Poppins style.
0:35:28 > 0:35:29You know, when I was growing up,
0:35:29 > 0:35:32French Impressionist paintings were my only knowledge of lavender.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35I grew up on the other side of the world, in tropical Asia.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37And it is brilliant to walk into one of them.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40Lavender has a great flavour and a long history
0:35:40 > 0:35:45in our kitchens as well as in our medicine cabinets.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49Queen Elizabeth I loved lavender and had a particular fondness
0:35:49 > 0:35:52for lavender jams, jellies and teas.
0:35:52 > 0:35:56It's not really so strange when you think about it.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59Lavender is a member of the mint family, a close relative
0:35:59 > 0:36:02of rosemary, sage, and thyme. All flavours we use regularly today.
0:36:02 > 0:36:06People have preconceived ideas about lavender.
0:36:06 > 0:36:08They think about it as these little grains
0:36:08 > 0:36:12that you find in the sachets in your granny's linen cupboard.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14But it's so much more exciting than that.
0:36:14 > 0:36:16It has a whole raft of chemicals.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19150 different chemicals that give it different medicinal qualities.
0:36:19 > 0:36:23Everything from being antibacterial to antifungal
0:36:23 > 0:36:25to even anti-inflammatory.
0:36:25 > 0:36:27And you could almost argue
0:36:27 > 0:36:30that the reason why we're so drawn to its scent and flavour
0:36:30 > 0:36:34is it's the same chemicals that give it these medicinal qualities
0:36:34 > 0:36:36that have that scent and flavour.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39So we've almost been hardwired instinctively
0:36:39 > 0:36:44to find chemicals like this exciting and want to consume them.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47Lavender is a Mediterranean plant,
0:36:47 > 0:36:51most likely first brought here by the Romans.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54It was grown in kitchen gardens and then on a larger scale
0:36:54 > 0:36:57in the 19th Century in the southern suburbs of London
0:36:57 > 0:37:01until rising land prices squeezed it out of business.
0:37:01 > 0:37:03But modern Kentish farmers are just as enterprising
0:37:03 > 0:37:07as their predecessors and saw a gap in the market.
0:37:07 > 0:37:08Less than 20 years ago,
0:37:08 > 0:37:11Caroline Alexander helped this extraordinary crop
0:37:11 > 0:37:14find a home right here.
0:37:14 > 0:37:15And it's thrived.
0:37:15 > 0:37:19She grows it for pharmaceuticals and as a flavouring.
0:37:19 > 0:37:24There's more lavender grown in Kent than any other county in the UK.
0:37:24 > 0:37:26- Which is great. - Yes, rows and rows of the stuff.
0:37:26 > 0:37:28I bet you're glad you're not having to do it by hand.
0:37:28 > 0:37:30You've got that fancy machine!
0:37:30 > 0:37:31- SHE LAUGHS:- Absolutely!
0:37:31 > 0:37:34It's so beautiful to see a field so intensely purple.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37But how do you know when to harvest? Is it the colour? When it changes?
0:37:37 > 0:37:40Yes, it's partly the intensity of the colour
0:37:40 > 0:37:43which just grows as the season progresses over these few weeks.
0:37:43 > 0:37:47But, in particular, it's the exact flowering stage you get to.
0:37:47 > 0:37:49If I show you one of those.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52What we've got there is on the flowering stem,
0:37:52 > 0:37:54you've got about a third of it is still in bud,
0:37:54 > 0:37:56a third of it is in full flower,
0:37:56 > 0:37:58and then a third is just beginning to go over.
0:37:58 > 0:38:00So that's a perfect description
0:38:00 > 0:38:03for when it's at its mid-point of flowering.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05Yes, exactly maximum oil yield stage.
0:38:05 > 0:38:07And if it goes on beyond that,
0:38:07 > 0:38:10there's the risk of it shedding and dropping onto the ground
0:38:10 > 0:38:11and then we've lost it.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14So you're not growing lavender for its flowers,
0:38:14 > 0:38:16- you're growing it for its oil. - Exactly.
0:38:19 > 0:38:22Lavender is well suited to the free-draining chalk soil
0:38:22 > 0:38:26and rolling hills of the North Kent Downs.
0:38:26 > 0:38:30The conditions mean the flowers are particularly rich in oil.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33Caroline's husband, William, runs a distillery on-site.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35Well, we've just brought this trailer in,
0:38:35 > 0:38:38full of about six tonnes of lavender flowers.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40And we're now connecting onto the steam,
0:38:40 > 0:38:42because, ingeniously,
0:38:42 > 0:38:46we use this as the still pot in the distillation process.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48And the steam, you can hear it
0:38:48 > 0:38:50and see it there now, going into the trailer.
0:38:50 > 0:38:52It's got a special floor
0:38:52 > 0:38:56that allows the steam to go through all the plant materials.
0:38:56 > 0:38:57It opens up the cells
0:38:57 > 0:39:00and lifts the lavender, which then exits
0:39:00 > 0:39:04through the chimney up there and through into the separation unit.
0:39:04 > 0:39:07It all does it in one kind of pressure cooker way?
0:39:07 > 0:39:11Yeah. We've taken a lot of hard, back-breaking work out of this
0:39:11 > 0:39:13by inventing and developing a system
0:39:13 > 0:39:16which enables us to do large quantities.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19- You don't lose a single drop? - No, we keep it all.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22So all the cooked lavender is left over in here
0:39:22 > 0:39:25and all the good stuff is pumped up in gas form through there?
0:39:25 > 0:39:27- Exactly that.- Fantastic.
0:39:27 > 0:39:32- I can't wait to see what's in there. - Come this way.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35- Wow!- So this is a steam condenser
0:39:35 > 0:39:38and already we're starting to get some liquid out.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40It's pushing out the air that was in the trailer.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43And that's all the steam.
0:39:43 > 0:39:47But now we can see it's condensing to a liquid.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50A mixture of oil and water,
0:39:50 > 0:39:55And the way we separate it is oil floats on water,
0:39:55 > 0:39:58so we just allow it to float on water in this tank.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01And already you can see the oil rising to the top.
0:40:01 > 0:40:06I've never seen that much essential oil!
0:40:06 > 0:40:10- It will build in this tank so we get 40 litres or so.- Wow!
0:40:10 > 0:40:12How much lavender do you have to put in
0:40:12 > 0:40:14to get 40 litres of essential oil?
0:40:14 > 0:40:17Five or six tonnes, but it depends on variety.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20But that's the first oil, and it pours off initially.
0:40:20 > 0:40:25You get a lot of oil in the first 15 minutes of distillation.
0:40:25 > 0:40:26I normally know essential oil
0:40:26 > 0:40:30from those tiny little ten or five millilitre bottles.
0:40:30 > 0:40:31And that's LITRES!
0:40:31 > 0:40:33It's so strong my eyes are watering!
0:40:33 > 0:40:36It's really strong at this stage of the distillation.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38It's all mixed in with the air.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42The second you walk in you're really hit in the face by the amount of it.
0:40:42 > 0:40:43It's incredible to believe
0:40:43 > 0:40:46that was fresh plant material half an hour ago.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49Caroline and William produce essential oil
0:40:49 > 0:40:54for pharmaceutical use but they also process it for food production.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57They turn it into a water-soluble essence
0:40:57 > 0:40:59which is easier to cook with.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01'It's a modern twist on an old ingredient.'
0:41:01 > 0:41:05- So, Matt, I hear you're a bit of a local food hero.- That's right!
0:41:05 > 0:41:07'And Matthew Kearsey Lawson has used it
0:41:07 > 0:41:08'to bring back a Victorian recipe
0:41:08 > 0:41:10'for lavender conserve.'
0:41:10 > 0:41:12So my question is, why am I slicing up apples?
0:41:12 > 0:41:15- Ha-ha!- Ha-ha! Because you have to!
0:41:15 > 0:41:17The base of the jelly is all Kentish Bramley apples.
0:41:17 > 0:41:18So that's the bulk of it.
0:41:18 > 0:41:22- The core and peel and everything? - The whole lot.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25Cos that's what contains the pectin, which is what's going to make it set.
0:41:25 > 0:41:27The lavender's right at the end, actually.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29Yeah, cos this is the pulp here.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32Why do you add the lavender at the end?
0:41:32 > 0:41:35Purely because if you add it too early,
0:41:35 > 0:41:36you will cook away the flavour.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40- The flavours are volatile oils and as you heat them, they evaporate. - They will do, yeah.
0:41:40 > 0:41:43Your kitchen will smell lovely, but your jam won't taste of anything.
0:41:43 > 0:41:44That's right.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47It's strange, because we think of lavender as quite unusual
0:41:47 > 0:41:50to use in food, and quite modern, and quite cool.
0:41:50 > 0:41:54But at one point it would have been a real staple of the kitchen.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57Just as common as rosemary, parsley, sage,
0:41:57 > 0:41:59all those common kitchen herbs.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01This would have been right up there as one of them.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03Yeah, you're exactly right.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06Lavender jelly, people would have put it on pork, on lamb,
0:42:06 > 0:42:07things like that.
0:42:07 > 0:42:09If you want to be very posh,
0:42:09 > 0:42:11you can have it on croissant and scones.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15Even one customer said to me you can put it on cheese on toast.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18Excellent! So it's kind of a sweet and savoury thing.
0:42:18 > 0:42:19I guess that works.
0:42:19 > 0:42:21It's got floral stuff which works with sweet.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23But at the same time it contains the same chemicals
0:42:23 > 0:42:26that are in things like pine and eucalyptus and rosemary
0:42:26 > 0:42:27so it has that herbal flavour.
0:42:27 > 0:42:31- Exactly. - Right, proof's in the pudding.
0:42:31 > 0:42:32That's it.
0:42:35 > 0:42:37- Yep.- Wow!
0:42:37 > 0:42:39Yep, I know. It's surprising, isn't it?
0:42:39 > 0:42:42With the apples and plums
0:42:42 > 0:42:43and lemons and everything,
0:42:43 > 0:42:46it almost kind of has a mincemeaty kind flavour.
0:42:46 > 0:42:48Kind of sweet and spicy.
0:42:48 > 0:42:50But at the same time it's really familiar.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52It doesn't taste like anything too out there and crazy.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55- Go oh, pile it on. - I can see you enjoyed that so much.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58- Mmm.- Mmm.
0:42:59 > 0:43:00Fantastic!
0:43:08 > 0:43:11On the Medway, we've reached Allington Lock,
0:43:11 > 0:43:13where the tidal waters end.
0:43:13 > 0:43:15The river was so important to transporting food and goods
0:43:15 > 0:43:17into and out of Kent
0:43:17 > 0:43:21that locks were built to make it navigable as far as Tonbridge.
0:43:23 > 0:43:27Cargoes were closely monitored and tolls were charged.
0:43:29 > 0:43:31Tim Benger is the current lock keeper
0:43:31 > 0:43:33and he's still collecting money today.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36- Hi there!- Hi, how are you doing?
0:43:36 > 0:43:39Very good. Looking forward to paying you some money.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41Always, always!
0:43:41 > 0:43:43Come up to the office and we'll sort the licence out.
0:43:43 > 0:43:45So how much is it?
0:43:45 > 0:43:49All depends on length of time you stay and how long the boat is.
0:43:49 > 0:43:51- I'm passing through. - Passing through.
0:43:51 > 0:43:52Just pay for a daily licence.
0:43:52 > 0:43:54- You're bigger than 11 metres. - Thank you.
0:43:54 > 0:43:56Stick your signature there.
0:43:56 > 0:43:58So how long have there been tolls for coming through here?
0:43:58 > 0:44:00Ever since this was put in place.
0:44:00 > 0:44:02And they were able to stop boats, work them,
0:44:02 > 0:44:04take the details, and pay the fees.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07These are the original ledgers. We can open up some pages.
0:44:07 > 0:44:09You see here, lists.
0:44:09 > 0:44:11These are the vessels that used to come through.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13This is what they were carrying.
0:44:13 > 0:44:15You've got fruit, timber, coal.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17- When is this?- This is 1960.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20So as recently as 1960 they were still using the canal?
0:44:20 > 0:44:23Absolutely. I think it was about the mid-'70s
0:44:23 > 0:44:26that they stopped using it as a commercial venture.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29These are copies of goods inwards ledgers.
0:44:29 > 0:44:32These go back to the 1800s. 1870s.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35That's nice handwriting. You see, they cared.
0:44:35 > 0:44:39You can see it's hops, seed, maize.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42At this point they were just charging them for going past?
0:44:42 > 0:44:44That's right, yeah. They just paid a toll.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47And you still do it today. The traffic wardens of the water.
0:44:47 > 0:44:49- Ha-ha! Oh, don't say that!- Ha-ha!
0:44:52 > 0:44:55Zoink! Well, there we are. That's done. 18 quid you owe me.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59These waterways were once the lifeblood of Kent.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02They connected it to market and made its food famous.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04I'm sailing on further inland
0:45:04 > 0:45:07in search of a uniquely Kentish harvest.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15But there are also riches to be found on the coast.
0:45:15 > 0:45:19To the East, shingle beaches shelve gently out to sea.
0:45:25 > 0:45:27Historian Lucy Worsley is searching
0:45:27 > 0:45:30for one of the most ancient foods this county has to offer.
0:45:30 > 0:45:34A food that has helped shape people's lives here for centuries.
0:45:36 > 0:45:39Now imagine you are a Neanderthal person wandering along this beach.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42There's lots to eat here, if you can find it.
0:45:42 > 0:45:46Just lying on the shore. Mussels, all sorts of stuff.
0:45:46 > 0:45:50And if you're lucky and you know what you're looking for,
0:45:50 > 0:45:51a delicious oyster.
0:45:51 > 0:45:53But I reckon you'd have to be pretty hungry
0:45:53 > 0:45:56to work out that there was something tasty in there.
0:45:59 > 0:46:01Now if you hadn't seen it before,
0:46:01 > 0:46:04would you eat a blob of grey mucus like that?
0:46:04 > 0:46:07You'd have to be quite brave to give it a taste, I think.
0:46:07 > 0:46:10We haven't got many truly indigenous British foods
0:46:10 > 0:46:12but they do include shellfish.
0:46:12 > 0:46:17And here, where the Swale meets the sea, that means oysters.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21The Romans were the first to spot their commercial potential,
0:46:21 > 0:46:24even shipping them back to Rome for the greatest of feasts.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27These days we tend to think of oysters as a luxury.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30but that wasn't always the way.
0:46:30 > 0:46:35This coast can tell a story of a food that's fed both rich and poor.
0:46:35 > 0:46:41By the Victorian era, towns like Whitstable
0:46:41 > 0:46:44had started to grow fat on the oyster trade.
0:46:44 > 0:46:47Fishermen were skilled sailors,
0:46:47 > 0:46:49jostling for space and a daily catch.
0:46:49 > 0:46:53It's a tradition that still continues today.
0:46:56 > 0:47:00Richard Green's family are the custodians
0:47:00 > 0:47:03of the Whitstable Oyster Company,
0:47:03 > 0:47:06a business that can trace its origins back to the 1400s.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09They trawl the same oyster beds
0:47:09 > 0:47:13fishermen have trawled for centuries.
0:47:13 > 0:47:18Looking for the top prize - a native Whitstable oyster.
0:47:22 > 0:47:24- There's a native! - You've got the touch!
0:47:24 > 0:47:27That's a true, proper, genuine, real,
0:47:27 > 0:47:30absolute native from Whitstable.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32It looks like a little pony club rosette.
0:47:32 > 0:47:34- It's a nice, neat little thing. - It's like a heart.
0:47:34 > 0:47:36What do they need to grow well?
0:47:36 > 0:47:38Well, they need shallow water.
0:47:38 > 0:47:40You need brackish water.
0:47:40 > 0:47:42Does that mean a bit salty and a bit clear as well?
0:47:42 > 0:47:46Correct. You need a lot of nutrients coming off the ground,
0:47:46 > 0:47:49which we have here, because we've got these wonderful salt marshes.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53You've got the Swale estuary here. Not just the Thames.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55All the old oyster hands would say
0:47:55 > 0:47:59most of the goodness for native oysters comes from the Swale.
0:47:59 > 0:48:03You can see how much work there is...
0:48:03 > 0:48:07just to get...
0:48:07 > 0:48:09- There's a native!- Well done!
0:48:09 > 0:48:11How many have we caught this afternoon?
0:48:11 > 0:48:14We've done not bad. In the dozens. Maybe not the hundreds.
0:48:14 > 0:48:16What was the year in which the most oysters
0:48:16 > 0:48:19went out of Whitstable and up to London?
0:48:19 > 0:48:23The peak time I believe was about 1860.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25And that was the year in which 50 million oysters
0:48:25 > 0:48:27went up the river from here to London.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30That's it. 50 million oysters at least, they reckon.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33By the middle of the 19th Century
0:48:33 > 0:48:35there were nearly 100 oyster fishing boats or smacks
0:48:35 > 0:48:37working out of Whitstable.
0:48:37 > 0:48:41Catches were landed, sorted, and sent direct to London
0:48:41 > 0:48:43to be sold on every street corner.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46Oysters were cheaper than meat.
0:48:46 > 0:48:49Beef and oyster pie was a Victorian classic.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52The richer you were, the more beef you added.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54The poorer you were, the more oysters.
0:48:54 > 0:48:56It couldn't last.
0:48:56 > 0:49:00By the 20th century the industry had begun to burn itself out.
0:49:00 > 0:49:04Over-fishing and two winters that froze the sea solid
0:49:04 > 0:49:07pushed the native oyster to the brink.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10That is a rock oyster, from the Pacific.
0:49:10 > 0:49:13Yeah, you've got it, rock oyster. Though they've been here...
0:49:13 > 0:49:17They're pretty indigenous now.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20'Rock oysters were introduced in the 1970s to boost numbers.
0:49:20 > 0:49:22'They grow fast and you can fish them all year round.'
0:49:22 > 0:49:24That's a native, that's a small one.
0:49:24 > 0:49:27THAT'S a native! That's a really good contrast.
0:49:27 > 0:49:28You can see the difference.
0:49:28 > 0:49:30With a rock oyster there's a much deeper shell.
0:49:30 > 0:49:32Native oysters are flatter and the reason it's flat
0:49:32 > 0:49:37is cos it sits in the mud like that, and that's what holds it in place.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40'It's the natives that made Whitstable famous.'
0:49:40 > 0:49:43This is about as good as you're ever going to get with oysters.
0:49:43 > 0:49:45It's a good size. This is the native.
0:49:45 > 0:49:48This is the Rolls Royce. This is the real thing.
0:49:48 > 0:49:52It doesn't look like the most beautiful object in the world.
0:49:52 > 0:49:54- Well...- The shell's pretty.
0:49:54 > 0:49:55Well, I like them.
0:50:00 > 0:50:01Should have brought some wine shouldn't I?
0:50:04 > 0:50:06What do you think?
0:50:06 > 0:50:08It's amazingly sweet.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12I guess I've just maybe not had very nice oysters before now.
0:50:12 > 0:50:14Give me more, give me more! I like it!
0:50:14 > 0:50:17In the summer they're breeding, so they're creamy.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20In fact nobody has natives in the summer because they're too creamy.
0:50:20 > 0:50:22Yes, they taste not so good.
0:50:22 > 0:50:24But we're OK now we're in October.
0:50:24 > 0:50:26There's an r in the month, It's OK to eat them.
0:50:26 > 0:50:28This is a good time.
0:50:33 > 0:50:35- Mmm!- You like that as well?
0:50:43 > 0:50:45Oysters have made their way back after the boom and bust
0:50:45 > 0:50:47of Victorian times.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50They're now a modern delicacy.
0:50:52 > 0:50:56- Is this a good day's catch, then? - That's good. About 400-500 oysters.
0:50:56 > 0:50:59Do you see a parallel with prosperous Victorian Whitstable
0:50:59 > 0:51:03and Whitstable again, from the 1990s onwards?
0:51:03 > 0:51:07Well, the difference is Victorian Whitstable had a lot of industry.
0:51:07 > 0:51:13- Now we have a wonderful, wonderful tourist trade.- Sure.
0:51:13 > 0:51:15The face of Whitstable has changed.
0:51:15 > 0:51:17This is a town that has risen and fallen
0:51:17 > 0:51:22and risen again on the back of this harvest from the sea.
0:51:22 > 0:51:26I've had a terrific day here in Whitstable.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29I've learnt that I like oysters. I'm not frightened of them any more.
0:51:29 > 0:51:30And I've also learned
0:51:30 > 0:51:32they're not just luxury food for rich people.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35Way back when, they were dirt cheap.
0:51:35 > 0:51:37Poor people foraged for them on the beach.
0:51:37 > 0:51:40And they knew if you just popped them into a fire,
0:51:40 > 0:51:43after a while they magically pop open.
0:51:43 > 0:51:46What could be easier than that?
0:51:51 > 0:51:53Mmm!
0:51:57 > 0:51:59Back on the Medway we've passed through Allington lock
0:51:59 > 0:52:01and are heading towards Maidstone.
0:52:01 > 0:52:05This is starting to feel like a proper river.
0:52:09 > 0:52:13When I envisaged the idea of the Garden Of England
0:52:13 > 0:52:16I wasn't thinking of Faversham and the cranes and the grey skies.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19This is it.
0:52:19 > 0:52:20This is the beautiful part.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23But you have to remember, things like the lock
0:52:23 > 0:52:26and even places like this were industrial.
0:52:26 > 0:52:28And they're here, and are like they are
0:52:28 > 0:52:31because of the past trade and industry that worked on them.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34I do find the fact that all the riverbanks
0:52:34 > 0:52:37have been populated by houses and twee little boats
0:52:37 > 0:52:38rather sad, really.
0:52:38 > 0:52:40Because, erm...
0:52:40 > 0:52:46You know, I suppose I'm being an old Faversham dinosaur.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50- A Favershaurus?- Ha-ha! Yes! - They died out quite early on.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53We're motoring towards Maidstone. But first,
0:52:53 > 0:52:56I'm hopping off for a detour west of the river
0:52:56 > 0:52:59in search of a seasonal treat that I've loved since I was a child.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05I'm on the trail of cobnuts.
0:53:05 > 0:53:08A cultivated form of the hazelnuts that grow wild across Britain.
0:53:08 > 0:53:11All my life I really have loved cobnuts
0:53:11 > 0:53:13but I've never been certain what they were.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16And thus I was never certain when they're in season
0:53:16 > 0:53:18and I never knew quite where to get them.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20I happen to know that now is the time
0:53:20 > 0:53:22and that this is the place to get them.
0:53:22 > 0:53:27This is Shipbourne church. There's a market every Thursday
0:53:27 > 0:53:32and from August to October you can find fresh cobnuts here.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41- Morning. You're John, aren't you? - I'm John, that's right.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43- I'm Giles.- Hello, Giles.
0:53:43 > 0:53:44I'm here for cobnuts.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48This is very, very, very exciting. Genuinely.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51The Victorians always finished a meal with Kent cobnuts.
0:53:51 > 0:53:56They'd have a glass of port and a Cox apple and some cobnuts.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59The greatness of the British Empire was basically built
0:53:59 > 0:54:00on a cobnut after-dinner nibble.
0:54:00 > 0:54:02The thing with cobnuts,
0:54:02 > 0:54:06the reason that I don't get to eat them as much as I'd like,
0:54:06 > 0:54:08is this very, very short season.
0:54:08 > 0:54:10And that you eat them fresh.
0:54:10 > 0:54:12NUT CRACKS
0:54:14 > 0:54:15Nice and soft to crack.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18If they're young you can do it with your teeth.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21The older they get, the leatherier the skin.
0:54:21 > 0:54:22You can break a tooth on that.
0:54:22 > 0:54:24Quite small, quite sort of acorny.
0:54:28 > 0:54:31Mmm! It's so nice! There's so much juice and milk.
0:54:31 > 0:54:35It's not a thing that people associate with nuts.
0:54:35 > 0:54:37Is there any reason
0:54:37 > 0:54:40why Kent is so good for cobnuts?
0:54:40 > 0:54:44It's the soil and the climate. And it's traditionally been grown.
0:54:44 > 0:54:46I mean, there were 7,000 acres of cobnuts
0:54:46 > 0:54:48before the First World War in Kent,
0:54:48 > 0:54:51which has got down now to a growing 500 acres.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54Traditionally from Sevenoaks right out past Maidstone
0:54:54 > 0:54:58there's a greensand ridge, and there were thousands of acres of cobnuts.
0:54:58 > 0:55:00And what is the greensand ridge?
0:55:00 > 0:55:02Presumably that's Limestone, is it?
0:55:02 > 0:55:06It's loamy soil with a lot of stone but it grows cobnuts very well.
0:55:06 > 0:55:09Who wants a nut? Who hasn't got a nut there?
0:55:09 > 0:55:11Molly, have you had one?
0:55:11 > 0:55:13Molly, did you say, "Ugh"?
0:55:13 > 0:55:17- Eat your cobnut. - She doesn't like them.
0:55:17 > 0:55:18- Where do cobnuts come from?- Kent.
0:55:18 > 0:55:20- And where are they grown?- Plats.
0:55:20 > 0:55:22And what's a plat?
0:55:22 > 0:55:24A plat is like an orchard. But for cobnuts.
0:55:24 > 0:55:26Really? I confess, I didn't know that.
0:55:29 > 0:55:35Plats, or cobnut orchards, start to bear fruit come late August.
0:55:35 > 0:55:38At Richard Dain's farm, it's time to start picking.
0:55:40 > 0:55:42I'm fascinated in how they pick.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44Do they just shake them and they fall off?
0:55:44 > 0:55:46At this stage, you pull them off.
0:55:46 > 0:55:50The nuts grow principally under the branches.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53This is a first nut, is it? This is the youngest kind?
0:55:53 > 0:55:54Are these the most popular kind?
0:55:54 > 0:55:57Oh, yes. They're called green at this stage. Green nuts.
0:55:57 > 0:56:00It's best to do it with your teeth, isn't it?
0:56:00 > 0:56:02No, it is not! You will crack the enamel!
0:56:02 > 0:56:05- It's very unwise to do that.- Is it?
0:56:05 > 0:56:08Yes. Please don't tell our English public to do that.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10It would be a dentist's charter.
0:56:10 > 0:56:12Oh, he's shaking the trees.
0:56:12 > 0:56:14You can do so. Some of them do.
0:56:14 > 0:56:16I'd love to shake a tree.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19TREE RUSTLES
0:56:19 > 0:56:22- You've got one or two off, well done. - One or two! Look at that!
0:56:22 > 0:56:24And he's got 'em! How many have you got picking today?
0:56:24 > 0:56:29- 22 pickers I think, today...23. - And how much will they pick?
0:56:29 > 0:56:32- They'll pick something like two tonnes today.- Two tonnes?!
0:56:32 > 0:56:36Isn't it easier to shake them? Do you not do that?
0:56:39 > 0:56:42That's surely quicker, isn't it?
0:56:45 > 0:56:47God, I was born to do this!
0:56:55 > 0:56:57Though the season for fresh nuts is short,
0:56:57 > 0:57:00Richard's figured out a way to produce oil.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04So the cobnut taste can be enjoyed year round.
0:57:08 > 0:57:10Fantastic! You really can taste the cobnuts.
0:57:10 > 0:57:12- It's much milder than a walnut oil. - Yes, it is.
0:57:12 > 0:57:14And not as greasy as groundnut oil.
0:57:14 > 0:57:16It's a low temperature oil.
0:57:16 > 0:57:22Although you CAN cook with it, drizzle it over fish for grilling,
0:57:22 > 0:57:24It's really a salad oil.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30Mmm! That's like eating 10,000 cobnuts all at once.
0:57:30 > 0:57:31It's very concentrated.
0:57:31 > 0:57:34You get all the benefits of cobnuts, just...mmm!
0:57:34 > 0:57:37THEY SING SONG IN OWN LANGUAGE
0:57:39 > 0:57:41Kent's pickers used to come from London.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44Now they come from across the globe but the harvests remain the same.
0:57:44 > 0:57:49Cobnuts, cherries, hops, apples.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51Foods that made this the Garden Of England.
0:57:54 > 0:57:56On the Lady Of The Lea
0:57:56 > 0:58:00we're nearing Maidstone and the end of my journey.
0:58:05 > 0:58:07But our barge isn't suited to this modern world
0:58:07 > 0:58:09with its concrete bridges.
0:58:09 > 0:58:13As you can see, it's going to be very tight.
0:58:13 > 0:58:15He'll reverse, won't he?
0:58:15 > 0:58:18Reversing is not going forward quite as fast as we were.
0:58:31 > 0:58:35Cheerio, huffler. All good. I'm off!
0:58:35 > 0:58:38'Kent's position on the map and unique appetite for new things
0:58:38 > 0:58:41'are what made it so important for food production.
0:58:41 > 0:58:44'The Garden Of England on the doorstep of Europe.'
0:58:44 > 0:58:46STEAM TRAIN CHUGS
0:58:46 > 0:58:49Next time, we're exploring the West Of Scotland.
0:58:49 > 0:58:52Travelling through the Highlands to find out
0:58:52 > 0:58:55how a story of subsistence became a story of supply.
0:58:55 > 0:58:58- Your man's a long way away, is he? - Yeah, you don't need to worry.
0:58:58 > 0:58:59- Are you sure?- Yeah, I'm 100% sure.
0:59:00 > 0:59:04GUNSHOT
0:59:04 > 0:59:06- Is he alive, the geezer?- Just about.
0:59:28 > 0:59:32Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd