0:00:11 > 0:00:14In the heart of southern England,
0:00:14 > 0:00:18Britain's newest national park rises out of the ocean.
0:00:23 > 0:00:24The South Downs.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Its rolling hills stirred William Blake to write the words
0:00:31 > 0:00:33for the Jerusalem anthem.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44This ancient land has been shaped by people
0:00:44 > 0:00:46since the end of the last ice age.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53As I journey through the seasons,
0:00:53 > 0:00:58I'll be exploring its rich history, landscapes and wildlife.
0:01:01 > 0:01:02Look at this.
0:01:02 > 0:01:07It's one of the most iconic views...
0:01:07 > 0:01:08on the planet.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16And I'll be meeting with the people who live and work
0:01:16 > 0:01:18in England's mountains green.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21They've got this own... Like when I grew up.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50I arrived in the South Downs ten years ago
0:01:50 > 0:01:53to take up a new post as a parish priest.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57And the moment I got out of the car, I knew I'd found her.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59I knew I'd found...home.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06I felt very deeply that this was where I belonged.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12I've been working here ever since,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15serving three little parishes at the eastern end
0:02:15 > 0:02:18of these windswept hills.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22I spend all my spare time walking the South Downs.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25It's my passion, and I've come to know them well.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33They start at the Seven Sisters Cliffs, near Eastbourne.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42Stretching over 100 miles west,
0:02:42 > 0:02:44they pass through rare chalk grasslands...
0:02:46 > 0:02:48..ancient forests...
0:02:50 > 0:02:52..and flooded river valleys.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01At their western end, they give way to the ancient city of Winchester.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09My journey follows the entire length of these hills
0:03:09 > 0:03:11along the South Downs Way,
0:03:11 > 0:03:16and it begins close to my home on Firle Beacon at the end of winter.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23This whole area was once a huge dome of chalk
0:03:23 > 0:03:26created by the same tectonic forces
0:03:26 > 0:03:31that pushed the Alps and the Himalayas up out of the ground.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35And at the end of the last ice age,
0:03:35 > 0:03:41a huge swathe of meltwater carved out the heart of the Downs,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44leaving the Thames Valley to the north,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47and, here, the South Downs.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55When man returned after the last ice age 10,000 years ago,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58he would have walked along this ridge,
0:03:58 > 0:04:00which is now the South Downs Way,
0:04:00 > 0:04:04and he must have thought, "This is paradise."
0:04:06 > 0:04:09There was fresh water coming up out of the ground
0:04:09 > 0:04:11through the chalk aquifers,
0:04:11 > 0:04:14the rivers would have been full of fish,
0:04:14 > 0:04:18and the forest, which stretched down on the side of these slopes,
0:04:18 > 0:04:19would have been game,
0:04:19 > 0:04:23and of course there was flint to create arrowheads for hunting.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29Around 7,000 years ago,
0:04:29 > 0:04:32Neolithic man began to clear the forest for grazing
0:04:32 > 0:04:35and to build his first settlements.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44Evidence of early human existence is laid bare all across the Downs.
0:04:46 > 0:04:51Some of the most important ancient sites in Britain are found here.
0:04:58 > 0:05:04The South Downs' rich history, landscapes and wildlife
0:05:04 > 0:05:07was finally recognised in 2010
0:05:07 > 0:05:11when it became Britain's newest national park.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19SHEEP BLEAT
0:05:23 > 0:05:26What makes the South Downs so special
0:05:26 > 0:05:28is that this land has been shaped by people,
0:05:28 > 0:05:33and that their relationship with it has continued, unbroken,
0:05:33 > 0:05:35right to the present day.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43It's early March, and I've come to help local sheep farmer Andrew Barr
0:05:43 > 0:05:46bring the ewes off the hill into the lambing barns.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50Come on! Baa!
0:05:52 > 0:05:53Baa!
0:05:53 > 0:05:57The idea is to sound like an old ram, so the sheep come to you.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59That's my call from a sheep.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02It hurts your throat when you've got a sore throat!
0:06:03 > 0:06:05Baa!
0:06:05 > 0:06:08Without sheep, the chalk grasslands that dominate the eastern end
0:06:08 > 0:06:10of the Downs would not exist.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14Their constant grazing keeps woodland at bay,
0:06:14 > 0:06:17and has done for thousands of years.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22It's created one of the rarest landscapes on earth.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27When I came here, I thought I'd gone to heaven.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29I thought, yeah, just exactly where I want to be.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34And I never actually meant to stay here, but...I'm still here.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39I've been working with Andrew for ten years at lambing time.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42We're getting everything ready to go,
0:06:42 > 0:06:46and you get the sense that everything is about to bloom.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52I started lambing when I was a boy.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54I was 16.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Yeah, it really got a hold of me
0:06:56 > 0:07:00and it never loses its wonder, its excitement.
0:07:01 > 0:07:02DOG BARKS
0:07:03 > 0:07:07Yep, she's lambing. You can see a little white foot.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10They start to go round in circles and make themselves a nest.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13They stargaze, they look up at the sky,
0:07:13 > 0:07:17and I suppose that's all straining themselves to start getting the idea
0:07:17 > 0:07:19of pushing the lamb out.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21Here we go. Here we go.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26And, eventually, she'll start talking to the lamb,
0:07:26 > 0:07:28and the lamb will start talking to her,
0:07:28 > 0:07:32and those two things get imprinted on their brain,
0:07:32 > 0:07:36their memory, so they know that little, "'Baa' - that's my lamb."
0:07:36 > 0:07:40- They all look the same, but they've all got their own... - HE BLEATS
0:07:40 > 0:07:42They've all got their own particular,
0:07:42 > 0:07:45individual sound and smell.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51It's sheep more than anything
0:07:51 > 0:07:55that are responsible for the kind of even green... SHEEP BLEATS
0:07:55 > 0:07:57The even green... SHEEP BLEATS
0:07:57 > 0:07:59It's all right. It's OK.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01..on the hills of the South Downs.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05And this tradition has been carrying on for thousands of years,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08and long may it thrive. Long may it thrive.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22Sunlight touches the head of the Long Man of Wilmington.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29Recent evidence suggests it was made in the 16th century,
0:08:29 > 0:08:33but some locals believe it dates back to Neolithic times
0:08:33 > 0:08:36and that this moment marked the beginning of spring.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45As the days lengthen, the rich green covers these hills again.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55But this is a fragile landscape.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59Only a thin layer of soil,
0:08:59 > 0:09:02in places no more than a few centimetres thick,
0:09:02 > 0:09:04covers the chalk.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12The chalk was formed over 65 million years ago
0:09:12 > 0:09:14when this was an ancient seabed.
0:09:19 > 0:09:24It is made from the shells of microscopic algae called coccoliths
0:09:24 > 0:09:26which sank to the sea floor,
0:09:26 > 0:09:30leaving vast chalk deposits made of the mineral calcite.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39Rain soaks fast into the highly porous chalk,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42creating a landscape that dries out very quickly.
0:09:44 > 0:09:49Yet the South Downs is one of the richest and most diverse landscapes
0:09:49 > 0:09:51in Britain.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18The open chalk downland is found almost exclusively
0:10:18 > 0:10:20in southern England.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27The dry soils provide the perfect conditions
0:10:27 > 0:10:31for some of Britain's rarest and most beautiful plants to flourish.
0:10:33 > 0:10:38About 30 species of orchid are found here, including the bee orchids.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44The petals of orchids perfectly mimic the bees,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47wasps and other insects that pollinate them.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59What a beautiful morning.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02I'm standing here just above the Cuckmere Valley
0:11:02 > 0:11:06and I've come to meet one of the country's leading experts
0:11:06 > 0:11:08on butterflies, Neil Hulme.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12This is our version of the rainforest.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17The diversity of plants is absolutely fantastic.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19It's a very, very rich environment,
0:11:19 > 0:11:23and it's so rich because the soil, it's what we call a skeletal soil,
0:11:23 > 0:11:25it's very, very low in nutrients
0:11:25 > 0:11:28so these things are really having to compete.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30This chalk downland is unique.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32It is, but it takes an awful long time.
0:11:32 > 0:11:37This has taken thousands of years to form.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40It's the sheer number of different plants.
0:11:40 > 0:11:46You know, we're talking 40 species here in a tiny area, a square metre.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49We're talking 30 species at any one time of butterfly.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54- Get that!- Oh, yes.- Look!
0:11:54 > 0:11:55There we go.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05When you see the Adonis blue, you know it's the Adonis blue.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08Yeah, the colour, it would not look out of place
0:12:08 > 0:12:10in a South American rainforest.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16They are as good as anything, anywhere in the world.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22If you said Adonis blue, corn bunting,
0:12:22 > 0:12:23yellowhammer, chalkhill blue,
0:12:23 > 0:12:27you know you're talking about the South Downs. Absolutely.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31- It's that suite of species which is unique to this landscape.- Mmm.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33But the Adonis is...
0:12:33 > 0:12:36- The jewel. - It's the jewel in the crown.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39They should be prescribed by the National Health Service.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41They just bring instant happiness.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43They raise your spirits.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55The caterpillar of the Adonis blue butterfly
0:12:55 > 0:12:58has a special relationship with ants.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02They protect it from parasites and small predators.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05In return, when the ants tap them with their antenna,
0:13:05 > 0:13:09the caterpillar feeds them with a tiny drop of sugar.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11It's a win-win situation for both.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19The ancient Greeks used psyche to refer both to the butterfly
0:13:19 > 0:13:20and the soul.
0:13:20 > 0:13:25And, for me, it's a passion, it's a love, a deep love affair,
0:13:25 > 0:13:28and it's an important connection, I think.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31Put it there. Put it there.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44Across Britain, butterflies are in steep decline
0:13:44 > 0:13:47and the Downs are a critical refuge for them.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53But 80% of these grasslands have been lost in the last 70 years.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59During the Second World War, with our supply routes under siege,
0:13:59 > 0:14:01they were ploughed up to feed the nation
0:14:01 > 0:14:04in the Dig For Britain campaign.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08It changed the face of the South Downs faster than at any time
0:14:08 > 0:14:09in recent history.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15The impact of the war is evident all across the national park.
0:14:17 > 0:14:22Nowhere more so than the Cuckmere Valley, close to the Seven Sisters.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31Look at this.
0:14:31 > 0:14:36It's one of the most iconic views in Britain.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39It's one of the greatest sights on the planet.
0:14:41 > 0:14:46And it is entrenched, it's seared onto the British psyche.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51We thought that this was where the Germans might land.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58This beach was heavily surveyed by the Luftwaffe
0:14:58 > 0:15:00during the Second World War,
0:15:00 > 0:15:03in preparation for a German landing force.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10And the architecture of the Second World War
0:15:10 > 0:15:12still very much remains.
0:15:12 > 0:15:13There are tank traps here,
0:15:13 > 0:15:17and on either side of the River Ouse, there are pillboxes.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21And this whole river valley stretching out in front of me here,
0:15:21 > 0:15:26this would have been lit at night during the Second World War
0:15:26 > 0:15:30to fool the Luftwaffe into dropping their bombs here
0:15:30 > 0:15:35rather than on the strategically important port of Newhaven,
0:15:35 > 0:15:38which lies some four miles to the west along the cliffs.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50Whoa!
0:15:52 > 0:15:56It is hard to imagine that, 72 years ago,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59a couple of men would have been standing where I'm standing.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01They would have had a machinegun in front of them,
0:16:01 > 0:16:07waiting for their worst nightmares to arrive from across the sea.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12And in all the villages along the Downs,
0:16:12 > 0:16:16there were local volunteers that formed part of suicide squads
0:16:16 > 0:16:19called the auxiliary units,
0:16:19 > 0:16:25and their job was to hold the line in case the Germans invaded.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36The South Downs has always been at the front line
0:16:36 > 0:16:40against armies intent on conquering Britain.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43Its beaches and its hills are riddled with defences.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51Centuries earlier, in about 870AD,
0:16:51 > 0:16:56King Alfred's army marched from Winchester across these hills
0:16:56 > 0:17:01and established a chain of ports to repel the Vikings and the Danes.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05But their history here goes back much further.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11There are the remains of several major ancient settlements
0:17:11 > 0:17:13along the South Downs Way.
0:17:14 > 0:17:21This Iron Age hill fort at Cissbury is over 2,000 years old.
0:17:21 > 0:17:26It is the largest Iron Age hill fort on the South Downs.
0:17:26 > 0:17:34Men moved by hand 30,000 tonnes of chalk to construct this place.
0:17:35 > 0:17:40These ramparts would have had ten foot high wooden walls
0:17:40 > 0:17:44completely surrounding the entire fortress.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47But this wasn't a place of aggression.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49This was a place of protection.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53This was a place where the local farmers stored their foods
0:17:53 > 0:17:57from the raiding parties of other Iron Age tribes
0:17:57 > 0:17:59looking for easy pickings.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05And, if the farmers had their food stolen, they would have starved,
0:18:05 > 0:18:09so they went to all of this trouble to protect their families
0:18:09 > 0:18:12and their livelihood and their land.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20But there is something else here that drew early man to the Downs,
0:18:20 > 0:18:23and it is pivotal to the history of Britain.
0:18:25 > 0:18:30Cissbury is also home to the remains of over 270 mines.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37It's probably one of the first industrial landscapes that we have
0:18:37 > 0:18:41in Britain, and a lot of people were going to a lot of trouble
0:18:41 > 0:18:44to find just one thing.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51Flint.
0:18:52 > 0:18:57A man was probably sitting on the banks of this pit 6,000 years ago
0:18:57 > 0:19:02napping up arrowheads, spearheads, axes, knives, skinning tools.
0:19:03 > 0:19:08And these mines, went down... some of them went down 12 metres.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10And, underneath where I'm standing,
0:19:10 > 0:19:14there would have been shafts that fed into the ground horizontally
0:19:14 > 0:19:19that were mined, they were dug out using antler horn.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23And most of those shafts, probably, if they haven't caved in,
0:19:23 > 0:19:25still exist.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30They were after not the first seam of flint in the ground,
0:19:30 > 0:19:31or the second,
0:19:31 > 0:19:34but the third, and the fourth, and the fifth seam,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37because the flint was more workable, it was more malleable.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42People would have come here to trade.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48Flints from here have been found as far afield as East Anglia.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51This was wealth.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54This was the gold of its day.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02Ever since Neolithic times,
0:20:02 > 0:20:04the South Downs has been shaped by people.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17Recent evidence from aerial surveys has found that prehistoric man
0:20:17 > 0:20:24was cultivating huge swathes of this land as far back as 3,000 years ago.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28The field systems, many of which are now covered by woods,
0:20:28 > 0:20:32suggests that there was a highly-organised civilisation
0:20:32 > 0:20:33in existence here.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38As old as ancient Egypt,
0:20:38 > 0:20:42could these verdant hills have been the ancient heart of Britain?
0:20:52 > 0:20:56Today, our relationship with the land continues to evolve.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00With its dry, chalky soil,
0:21:00 > 0:21:03and more sunlight than anywhere else in Britain,
0:21:03 > 0:21:06a new industry is emerging on the Downs.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12It's summer, and winemaker Peter Hall is hard at work
0:21:12 > 0:21:15at the Breaky Bottom Vineyard.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17It took my breath away when I came over the hill,
0:21:17 > 0:21:21because it was a Wuthering Heights without the coldness.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25I did fall head over heels in love with it straightaway.
0:21:25 > 0:21:26Yeah.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29Peter arrived here 50 years ago.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31And I found a tiny cottage here.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35Derelict, broken windows.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38And I asked the governor, could I live there?
0:21:38 > 0:21:41He said, there's no electricity, no telephone,
0:21:41 > 0:21:43just a stand-pipe for water outside.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45I said, that's all fine by me.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48So, as a 30-year-old bachelor,
0:21:48 > 0:21:51I was able to come here and live here on my own, and I loved it.
0:21:52 > 0:21:57Peter was one of the pioneers of the English winemaking industry
0:21:57 > 0:21:58in the '70s.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02And it's almost exclusively sparkling wine.
0:22:02 > 0:22:03Champagne method sparkling wine.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08Really, what we've got is a very similar climate to Champagne,
0:22:08 > 0:22:12which is the northernmost region in France for growing grapes,
0:22:12 > 0:22:15and similar geology and soil type.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18Well, these are Chardonnay,
0:22:18 > 0:22:20so they're the white grape from Champagne.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24These are predominantly the ones that are planted in the UK,
0:22:24 > 0:22:26along with Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier...
0:22:28 > 0:22:29..which are black grapes.
0:22:29 > 0:22:30All have white juice, of course,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33so your champagne is often a blend of all three of those.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35Or a blend of two of them.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40Today, the South Downs has about 40 wine producers
0:22:40 > 0:22:42and many are international award winners.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46I'm bottling before I harvest my next lot.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49They've had some sugar put in and some more yeast,
0:22:49 > 0:22:50and the yeast will say, "Wake up!"
0:22:50 > 0:22:53So the alcohol will go up from about 11
0:22:53 > 0:22:56to about 12.1, 12.2, something like that.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58Which is just what you want.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00And, of course, you get huge pressure,
0:23:00 > 0:23:04six atmospheres of pressure, building up.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07So that is the real champagne. That's...
0:23:07 > 0:23:08Yeah, wonderful.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19People have always been drawn to the South Downs.
0:23:19 > 0:23:26Many great writers and artists have been inspired by this place.
0:23:26 > 0:23:31Tennyson, Kipling, Hilaire Belloc, Jane Austen, just to name a few.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35And, in the early 1900s,
0:23:35 > 0:23:39the Bloomsbury Group would gather for their early meetings
0:23:39 > 0:23:43in Charleston Farmhouse, which is just over that brow there.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50An influential group of writers,
0:23:50 > 0:23:53philosophers and artists, that included Virginia Woolf,
0:23:53 > 0:23:56her sister Vanessa Bell, and Duncan Grant.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01They painted everything they could get their hands on.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04The tables, the chairs, the piano.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09Their liberal attitude was a strong reaction
0:24:09 > 0:24:14to the strict Victorian view of the world that existed at the time,
0:24:14 > 0:24:17and their art reflected the softness,
0:24:17 > 0:24:19beauty and intense femininity
0:24:19 > 0:24:22of these gently-rolling hills.
0:24:26 > 0:24:31There is something in the light, there is something in the soil here
0:24:31 > 0:24:35that really just gives you a sense of freedom.
0:24:35 > 0:24:40And I think that is what attracted so many to this place.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44I was speaking to a man in Firle yesterday
0:24:44 > 0:24:45who used to live in London,
0:24:45 > 0:24:48and I said, "Are you thinking about moving?" And he said,
0:24:48 > 0:24:52"No, they're going to have to carry me out of this place in a box."
0:24:52 > 0:24:53And that's how I feel about it.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07As I follow the South Downs Way west towards the middle of the park,
0:25:07 > 0:25:10much of the landscape turns to woodland.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15Just north of Chichester is Kingley Vale,
0:25:15 > 0:25:19one of Britain's most spectacular ancient woods.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27These yew trees are thought to be over 2,000 years old.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35Katherine Birch from Natural England is the reserve manager.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45So, the yew trees were very special here.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48You get these really gnarled, twisted,
0:25:48 > 0:25:53ancient shapes which create this sort of wild feeling to the place.
0:25:56 > 0:26:01People call this tree The Octopus, reaching out with its arms,
0:26:01 > 0:26:03and it's all twisted and fluid and moving.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06It's probably one of my favourite trees on the reserve.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08It's really beautiful.
0:26:08 > 0:26:13And you can see there, the blood red where the bark comes away.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16This is just part of the natural colouration of the tree.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19And the story goes that there was a great battle with the Vikings,
0:26:19 > 0:26:22and the men of Chichester came out and fought them,
0:26:22 > 0:26:24and the men of Chichester won the battle here,
0:26:24 > 0:26:26and the Viking blood ran into the ground,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29and that blood now runs through the yew trees.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38People do say the trees here come alive and move around at night.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49This is another male yew tree,
0:26:49 > 0:26:51and what's really special about this tree,
0:26:51 > 0:26:53which is known as The Grandfather Tree,
0:26:53 > 0:26:57is that you see how it's put a branch down...
0:26:58 > 0:27:01..and it's rooted itself back into the ground here,
0:27:01 > 0:27:06and then produced another generation, the next generation.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09And then it's rooted itself again in the ground,
0:27:09 > 0:27:11and produced another generation.
0:27:11 > 0:27:12So there's three generations
0:27:12 > 0:27:15all still attached to this original male tree.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21The male trees also produce pollen to fertilise the female yews
0:27:21 > 0:27:22in the forest.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Once a year, over just a few days,
0:27:30 > 0:27:33they release their pollen together.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38And Kingley Vale erupts in clouds of yellow smoke.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50A lot of the myths about the trees being immortal,
0:27:50 > 0:27:52they live for such a long time, they're slow growing,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55you can see why they're kind of associated with this eternal life.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15This ancient lands throws up constant reminders of our past.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20Here, close to Chichester,
0:28:20 > 0:28:24the South Downs became a key area for the Roman invasion
0:28:24 > 0:28:27of Britain in 43AD.
0:28:27 > 0:28:32And I'm standing on what would have been one of the first Roman roads
0:28:32 > 0:28:35to be built in the British Isles, Stane Street.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43You can see Chichester basking in sunlight,
0:28:43 > 0:28:47but it's thought that Chichester harbour was a key staging post
0:28:47 > 0:28:49for the Roman invasion of Britain,
0:28:49 > 0:28:54and that this road would have supplied the Roman military machine
0:28:54 > 0:28:56as it marched north.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04This 6km section,
0:29:04 > 0:29:07running through the National Trust Slindon Estate,
0:29:07 > 0:29:12is one of the best-preserved pieces of Roman road in the country.
0:29:14 > 0:29:15At its height,
0:29:15 > 0:29:19it would have been just under 7.5 metres wide
0:29:19 > 0:29:22and this central section here, this was called the agger.
0:29:23 > 0:29:28This would have taken the ox carts carrying the really heavy goods.
0:29:28 > 0:29:30And, either side of the agger,
0:29:30 > 0:29:33there would have been two lanes for the lighter traffic,
0:29:33 > 0:29:35the horses and the pedestrians.
0:29:38 > 0:29:43But this was a major highway running from the harbour to London,
0:29:43 > 0:29:46carrying supplies, military equipment,
0:29:46 > 0:29:50but also food - cheese, Parma ham, truffles and wine.
0:29:55 > 0:30:00This whole area around Chichester became a very important stronghold
0:30:00 > 0:30:01for the Romans.
0:30:02 > 0:30:07Roman farms, houses and palaces have all been unearthed around here.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16They also introduced brown hares and rabbits,
0:30:16 > 0:30:20pheasants and stinging nettles.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23The soldiers were said to have flogged themselves with the nettles
0:30:23 > 0:30:25to stimulate blood flow,
0:30:25 > 0:30:29and keep themselves warm in the cold northern winters.
0:30:29 > 0:30:31BIRD CHIRPS
0:30:31 > 0:30:37Centuries later, when William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066,
0:30:37 > 0:30:39many of the forests in this part of the Downs
0:30:39 > 0:30:43were declared royal hunting grounds for the Norman kings.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49And they remained a haven for wildlife
0:30:49 > 0:30:51for hundreds of years after.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03It was in these wooded Downs in the 18th century
0:31:03 > 0:31:08that one of our greatest naturalist, Reverend Gilbert White,
0:31:08 > 0:31:11transformed our view of the natural world
0:31:11 > 0:31:13and how we see ourselves within it.
0:31:15 > 0:31:17His home was here in Selborne,
0:31:17 > 0:31:20close to the northern boundary of the park.
0:31:21 > 0:31:25He lived in the 1700s, well before Darwin,
0:31:25 > 0:31:29when nature was considered as something that should be ruled over,
0:31:29 > 0:31:30controlled and tamed.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35Gilbert White was the first to challenge that view.
0:31:37 > 0:31:43The original manuscript of The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne,
0:31:43 > 0:31:47and this writing, these words, have changed the world.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53Before Gilbert White,
0:31:53 > 0:31:59no-one had written in detail about the natural world.
0:31:59 > 0:32:05No-one had gone outside and sat down, and looked, and listened
0:32:05 > 0:32:07and been able, from that,
0:32:07 > 0:32:13to deduce the separation between species and the intimacies of genus.
0:32:22 > 0:32:27Gilbert White spent hours in these woods observing detail.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31He was the first to identify the differences
0:32:31 > 0:32:33between the willow warbler,
0:32:33 > 0:32:36the wood warbler and the chiffchaff by their song.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39He identified the harvest mouse as a separate species.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41He must have been here at night,
0:32:41 > 0:32:46because he identified the noctule bat as a separate species.
0:32:46 > 0:32:52Really, he laid the foundation stone for the study of natural history
0:32:52 > 0:32:55and the environmental movement as we know it today,
0:32:55 > 0:32:59to such an extent that Charles Darwin declared that he stood
0:32:59 > 0:33:02on the shoulders of Gilbert White.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17At the western end of the South Downs,
0:33:17 > 0:33:21the park fans out north across an area known as the Weald.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30It's a very different landscape with its own unique wildlife and history.
0:33:35 > 0:33:37Look at this!
0:33:37 > 0:33:39This is Blackdown Hill.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42It's the highest point in Sussex,
0:33:42 > 0:33:47and it's a part of the national park that I was completely unaware of.
0:33:50 > 0:33:55This habitat was created by meltwater from the last ice age,
0:33:55 > 0:34:02which has eroded all the chalk, just leaving clay and acidic greensand.
0:34:02 > 0:34:06And that has created this rare habitat called lowland heath.
0:34:08 > 0:34:11And the kings and the lords that owned this land
0:34:11 > 0:34:13would have probably given it away,
0:34:13 > 0:34:16let it out to the locals to graze their cattle,
0:34:16 > 0:34:19because the agricultural value here is pretty minimal.
0:34:21 > 0:34:26The name "heathen" actually stems from those who would have lived
0:34:26 > 0:34:28and worked on this land.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30Imagine what they must have been like.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39With its rare mix of dry heathland and ponds,
0:34:39 > 0:34:43this part of the Weald is of great value to wildlife.
0:34:44 > 0:34:49It is the only area in Britain that can claim to have all 12 native
0:34:49 > 0:34:52species of amphibians and reptiles.
0:34:53 > 0:34:57And just a couple of miles from here, on Marley Common,
0:34:57 > 0:35:00I'm hoping to find Britain's only venomous snake.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09Senior ranger Matt Bramich, from the National Trust,
0:35:09 > 0:35:12and biologist Lucy Struthers
0:35:12 > 0:35:15have been tagging and tracking the adders here for two years.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19- We haven't caught this one before. - OK.- So we are quite excited.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22- Oh, yes. Is it a female?- Yes.
0:35:22 > 0:35:24Isn't she lovely?
0:35:24 > 0:35:28- How old do you think she is? - They can live up to 30 years.
0:35:28 > 0:35:30- I didn't know that.- No. - I didn't know that!
0:35:30 > 0:35:32Amazing.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36And she will give birth in late August, September.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38Then she goes on a month-long feeding frenzy
0:35:38 > 0:35:40before retiring to hibernate.
0:35:40 > 0:35:44- Typically, she'll be underground for six months.- Wow.
0:35:44 > 0:35:4545g.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49Once the tag is on, what information are you hoping to garner?
0:35:49 > 0:35:54This year, I'm hoping to establish where they go to post-breeding.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57That would be a really important thing for us,
0:35:57 > 0:36:00as land managers, to know about.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03The adders travel between their feeding and breeding areas
0:36:03 > 0:36:06on the pockets of heathland across the Weald.
0:36:06 > 0:36:08By understanding where they're going,
0:36:08 > 0:36:12Matt hopes to better protect them and the wildlife corridors
0:36:12 > 0:36:15they need to maintain a healthy population.
0:36:15 > 0:36:17Very neat!
0:36:17 > 0:36:20In Australia, I saw a snake on the ground and I said to the guy,
0:36:20 > 0:36:22"What happens if that bites you?"
0:36:22 > 0:36:26And he said, "If that one bites you, you just sit down and have a smoke."
0:36:26 > 0:36:28THEY LAUGH
0:36:28 > 0:36:30What a way to go.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34It's time for her to go back to her world now.
0:36:34 > 0:36:35So I'm just going to put her down.
0:36:38 > 0:36:39There she goes!
0:36:49 > 0:36:51Oh! Wasn't that beautiful?
0:37:07 > 0:37:10With its thick clay and acid soils,
0:37:10 > 0:37:14the Weald was of little value to man and it remained sparsely inhabited
0:37:14 > 0:37:16for thousands of years.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20But that changed in the 16th century,
0:37:20 > 0:37:23when something of great value was found in the ground.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29Time has a way of hiding histories.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35Looking out here, it's hard to imagine
0:37:35 > 0:37:39that during the 16th century, this was a hive of activity.
0:37:39 > 0:37:44There are three things here that are critical to the beginning
0:37:44 > 0:37:46of the iron industry in Britain.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49First of all, there was water to drive the bellows.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51Secondly, there was wood for charcoal.
0:37:51 > 0:37:55And, lastly, this is the most important ingredient,
0:37:55 > 0:37:57this is iron ore,
0:37:57 > 0:38:02and it was probably dug up no more than three miles away from here.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05Right here, at the Fernhurst Furnace,
0:38:05 > 0:38:09and on 15 other sites in the western Weald,
0:38:09 > 0:38:13this was the place that seeded the Industrial Revolution.
0:38:13 > 0:38:17It produced the best iron in the country,
0:38:17 > 0:38:20where the cannon were made that defeated the Armada,
0:38:20 > 0:38:25from the water in the ponds, the charcoal from the trees
0:38:25 > 0:38:28and this little beauty from the ground.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36I'm standing on what would have been the furnace.
0:38:36 > 0:38:41In front of me, there would have been two huge water wheels
0:38:41 > 0:38:46and they would have powered two massive 15 foot bellows,
0:38:46 > 0:38:49feeding air into the bottom of this furnace
0:38:49 > 0:38:53to generate the heat needed to melt the iron ore.
0:38:53 > 0:38:58And this went on 24 hours a day for well over 200 years.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11Nearby, just eight miles to the east on Ebernoe Common,
0:39:11 > 0:39:15the heathland of the Weald mixes with woodland
0:39:15 > 0:39:18to create one of the richest habitats in Europe.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23In the open forest, where sunlight reaches the ground,
0:39:23 > 0:39:27there's an incredible diversity of plants and insects.
0:39:29 > 0:39:31Fungus runs rampant in the warm
0:39:31 > 0:39:35and often damp glades, and fallen trees rot more quickly.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41It provides the perfect food for the grubs of creatures,
0:39:41 > 0:39:43like this rare hornet beetle.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48The beetle lays its eggs in the dead wood.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51Its stripes and jerky movements are thought to mimic the hornet
0:39:51 > 0:39:55it's named after, and ward off potential predators.
0:39:57 > 0:40:01The trees also provide shelter for some creatures
0:40:01 > 0:40:04that only emerge after dark.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15Ebernoe Common is a world hot spot for bats.
0:40:16 > 0:40:22An amazing 15 of the 18 species of bats found in Britain live here,
0:40:22 > 0:40:26including the very rare Bechstein and barbastelle bats.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32One of the UK's leading bat experts, Steph Murphy,
0:40:32 > 0:40:35has been tracking them for more than ten years.
0:40:35 > 0:40:39Using this fine net, she has a few minutes to catch,
0:40:39 > 0:40:41tag and release them,
0:40:41 > 0:40:43so any stress is kept to a minimum.
0:40:43 > 0:40:46So, this is a lovely female barbastelle.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48Aren't they beautiful?
0:40:48 > 0:40:50- They almost look quite pug-faced. - Yeah.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54So, the ears join at the base, and...
0:40:54 > 0:40:57So, that's quite an identifying feature, as we can see.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00She has had a baby this year, so she's got a dependant young
0:41:00 > 0:41:03at the moment, so, as you can see, she's quite clearly lactating.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06And they're quite a dark, blackish colour.
0:41:06 > 0:41:07They are, they're dark.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09When were they first discovered here?
0:41:09 > 0:41:12It was about 2000.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15Extraordinary. I mean, how long had they been here before that?
0:41:15 > 0:41:17Oh, probably before we were.
0:41:17 > 0:41:19- I mean, I just find that so wonderful...- Yeah.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22..that in the year 2000 we make a discovery like this...
0:41:22 > 0:41:23- Yes.- ..here.
0:41:23 > 0:41:25Why Ebernoe Common?
0:41:25 > 0:41:27Well, in this part of Sussex,
0:41:27 > 0:41:30it's quite a unique wooded landscape.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32It's connected across the South Downs,
0:41:32 > 0:41:35that provides lots of roosting habitat,
0:41:35 > 0:41:36foraging habitat.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39You have everything in one landscape.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42- It's not disturbed.- How far away are their feeding grounds?
0:41:42 > 0:41:44They have been recorded up to 25km.
0:41:44 > 0:41:45They go quite a distance.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48- So, they're flying 25km...- Yes. - ..out and back every night?
0:41:48 > 0:41:50They're doing a 50-mile round trip?
0:41:50 > 0:41:54It's pretty extraordinary for a small bat to do that.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58So, habitat connectivity such as tree lines
0:41:58 > 0:42:01and hedgerows and water courses
0:42:01 > 0:42:03are very important, and enable these bats
0:42:03 > 0:42:06to navigate from their roost sites to their feeding grounds.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08Of course.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10'Fitting the bat with a tiny transmitter,
0:42:10 > 0:42:13'Steph hopes to learn more about where they're roosting,
0:42:13 > 0:42:16'and protect their breeding sites.'
0:42:16 > 0:42:18OK, so she needs to fly now.
0:42:18 > 0:42:20- She needs to fly now. She's, em... - Yeah, right.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23And I think she's probably quite hungry. There you go.
0:42:23 > 0:42:25There we are. Whoa!
0:42:25 > 0:42:27There she is!
0:42:27 > 0:42:29And there's the tawny owl on cue.
0:42:29 > 0:42:31Absolutely. SHE LAUGHS
0:42:31 > 0:42:34- A lot of people get freaked out by being in the woods at night.- Oh, no.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37It's much scarier being in central Brighton on a Friday night than...
0:42:37 > 0:42:39SHE LAUGHS
0:42:39 > 0:42:41Let's just call them different environments!
0:42:41 > 0:42:43THEY LAUGH
0:42:43 > 0:42:45Well, what an amazing night.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48To see the barbastelles, to see that they're breeding,
0:42:48 > 0:42:51to see them alive and healthy and flying -
0:42:51 > 0:42:53what a privilege. What a privilege.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13Across the South Downs Park, summer is drawing to a close.
0:43:18 > 0:43:20The farmers are bringing in the last of the crops.
0:43:24 > 0:43:27With more than 80% of the park now farm,
0:43:27 > 0:43:31the wild areas that remain and the corridors that connect them
0:43:31 > 0:43:34are not just important refuges for wildlife,
0:43:34 > 0:43:36they're also important to people,
0:43:36 > 0:43:39and have been for thousands of years.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45It's the last week of September.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48In the morning, the grass is heavy with dew,
0:43:48 > 0:43:51the leaves are beginning to change colour
0:43:51 > 0:43:55and the bushes are ripe with haws,
0:43:55 > 0:43:58and elderberries, sloes and damsons.
0:43:59 > 0:44:03I'm here to meet Lucinda Warner, who's a herbalist,
0:44:03 > 0:44:08and who knows every flower and berry and leaf on the Downs.
0:44:10 > 0:44:12Today, she's gathering berries from hawthorns.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18Here on the Downs, we get lots of these beautiful lone hawthorns.
0:44:18 > 0:44:20It berries so profusely,
0:44:20 > 0:44:23and it's full of these wonderful starches
0:44:23 > 0:44:26that would have been so important for our ancestors.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30Starch was one of the hardest foods, those kind of staples,
0:44:30 > 0:44:32for them to come across.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35Well, I think there's actually a massive resurgence
0:44:35 > 0:44:37in interest in foraging and
0:44:37 > 0:44:39herbal medicine and wild foods.
0:44:39 > 0:44:43And I think a lot of that is because...
0:44:43 > 0:44:46I mean, you can see just being out here that the medicine
0:44:46 > 0:44:48is not just in the taking of the substance,
0:44:48 > 0:44:51it's in the picking, it's in the harvesting,
0:44:51 > 0:44:53it's in the being with the plants.
0:44:53 > 0:44:57The whole process becomes the medicine, really.
0:45:01 > 0:45:03We've got so many beautiful plants here,
0:45:03 > 0:45:07we're so lucky in the Downs that we have so many wild flowers
0:45:07 > 0:45:08growing on the chalk.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11Yarrow is a really great example of that.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14- And then we've also got selfheal here.- Mm.
0:45:14 > 0:45:18- This one's gone past flowering now...- Uh-huh.- ..but just the name,
0:45:18 > 0:45:21the fact that our ancestors chose to call it selfheal
0:45:21 > 0:45:24says how much it was valued, really.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27And, so, to our ancestors, this was a medicine chest?
0:45:27 > 0:45:31Absolutely. I mean, everything had a use, it had a sacredness.
0:45:31 > 0:45:33Some for food, some for medicine,
0:45:33 > 0:45:35- some for tinder, some for shelter.- Mm.
0:45:36 > 0:45:40I think, today, we talk very much about this idea of
0:45:40 > 0:45:44- reconnecting with nature...- Mm. - ..but I think, to our ancestors,
0:45:44 > 0:45:46that would have been a laughable notion because...
0:45:46 > 0:45:49- HE LAUGHS - ..the idea that we weren't nature...
0:45:49 > 0:45:52- Yeah.- ..would have been a completely alien one.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00Across the Downs, autumn takes hold.
0:46:03 > 0:46:07For wine grower Peter Hall, it's time to pick the grapes.
0:46:07 > 0:46:10We've had such good sunshine this summer,
0:46:10 > 0:46:12this is the...
0:46:12 > 0:46:17culmination of one of the best years I've ever known, actually.
0:46:17 > 0:46:19Yeah... I think if you're...
0:46:19 > 0:46:23Oh, hello. I take all the help as it comes.
0:46:23 > 0:46:25We must have, maybe,
0:46:25 > 0:46:27nearly 20 people picking today.
0:46:29 > 0:46:31Now, I think we do need another bucket.
0:46:31 > 0:46:33Don't you think?
0:46:41 > 0:46:43It's a wonderful atmosphere.
0:46:43 > 0:46:45Well, some... I mean, Richard has been with me since the start.
0:46:45 > 0:46:47In fact, I went to school with Richard.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50- We never argue, do we? - No, no, never.
0:46:50 > 0:46:52Never fall out.
0:46:52 > 0:46:54I'm going to turn the press.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59BELL RINGS
0:47:02 > 0:47:06We have the support of our friends and family
0:47:06 > 0:47:10and we don't pay them but we give them
0:47:10 > 0:47:12a really nice lunch...
0:47:12 > 0:47:16and that's an important part of why they come, actually.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20This sort of lifts your spirits,
0:47:20 > 0:47:24that such nice people come and they help you,
0:47:24 > 0:47:28and then they feel part of the wine, as well.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32And, you know, they use it in their own lives, because they might use it
0:47:32 > 0:47:34for their weddings or their christenings.
0:47:34 > 0:47:38We're so small, but we're an important part of this community.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44We love each other.
0:47:44 > 0:47:45I say it with a full smile.
0:47:45 > 0:47:47And we work well as a team.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51Without that, I think it would be impossible, yeah.
0:47:51 > 0:47:53Impossible to work.
0:47:57 > 0:48:01As winter draws near, the first storms roll in,
0:48:01 > 0:48:03battering the Seven Sisters.
0:48:05 > 0:48:06Every three years,
0:48:06 > 0:48:10almost a metre of these cliffs are taken by the waves
0:48:10 > 0:48:13as they reclaim this ancient seabed.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20Winter visitors start to arrive.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23Bewick's swans fly in
0:48:23 > 0:48:26more than 2,500 miles from Siberia.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33They'll overwinter in the flooded river valleys.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39Short-eared owls arrive from their breeding grounds
0:48:39 > 0:48:42as far away as Scandinavia and Iceland.
0:48:44 > 0:48:46They'll stay here for six months,
0:48:46 > 0:48:49hunting for mice and voles along the hedgerows.
0:48:56 > 0:48:58In the forests,
0:48:58 > 0:49:02woodsman coppice hazel and birch for fencing and to make charcoal,
0:49:02 > 0:49:06keeping the forests open for wildlife to flourish.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22On the chalk grasslands in the eastern Downs,
0:49:22 > 0:49:26rangers and volunteers turn to clearing the scrub,
0:49:26 > 0:49:31keeping the woods at bay, just as it has been done since Neolithic times,
0:49:31 > 0:49:337,000 years ago.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47The South Downs is a landscape that has been shaped by people,
0:49:47 > 0:49:50and it has in turn shaped the people that have lived here.
0:49:54 > 0:49:58For me, it is without doubt one of the most beautiful landscapes
0:49:58 > 0:50:00that I know.
0:50:06 > 0:50:11And, as life turns inwards across its rolling hills,
0:50:11 > 0:50:14the words of one of the Downland's greatest poets,
0:50:14 > 0:50:16Hilaire Belloc, echo in my ears.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21"If I ever become a rich man
0:50:21 > 0:50:23"or if ever I grow to be old...
0:50:25 > 0:50:27"..I will build a house with deep thatch
0:50:27 > 0:50:30"to shelter me from the cold
0:50:32 > 0:50:35"And there shall the Sussex songs be sung
0:50:35 > 0:50:37"and the story of Sussex told.
0:50:44 > 0:50:47"I will hold my house in the high wood
0:50:47 > 0:50:49"within a walk of the sea.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53"And the men that were boys when I was a boy
0:50:53 > 0:50:56"shall sit and drink with me."
0:51:15 > 0:51:21As winter takes grip, the first snows begin to fall.
0:51:21 > 0:51:25# I never mind the wind Or the driving rain... #
0:51:25 > 0:51:27In my local, it's folk night.
0:51:27 > 0:51:29# Or the driving rain... #
0:51:29 > 0:51:32Some of the Downland songs date back to Saxon times.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35# Tis my pleasure... #
0:51:35 > 0:51:39Their music and words passed on through the ages.
0:51:39 > 0:51:43# Oh, of this island I am made
0:51:43 > 0:51:47# Oh, of this island I am made. #
0:51:47 > 0:51:50CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:51:59 > 0:52:02As the winter snow and rain seeps into the chalk,
0:52:02 > 0:52:05hundreds of springs across the Downs come to life.
0:52:07 > 0:52:10They flow into several rivers that have carved valleys
0:52:10 > 0:52:13through the South Downs.
0:52:14 > 0:52:19As water levels rise, the rivers spill across the flood plains,
0:52:19 > 0:52:23creating some of the most important wetlands in northern Europe.
0:52:25 > 0:52:29In the Arun Valley, Bewick's swans, with their distinctive yellow beaks,
0:52:29 > 0:52:32spend the winter grazing on water plants and grass.
0:52:36 > 0:52:38In the western Downs,
0:52:38 > 0:52:40the springs flow out across the chalklands
0:52:40 > 0:52:44to create a very different kind of river.
0:52:47 > 0:52:52Here is the source of two very special rivers.
0:52:52 > 0:52:56The Rother, which begins at the base of Grandfather's Bottom, just there,
0:52:56 > 0:52:59and the Meon, on the other side of the valley.
0:53:02 > 0:53:04Fed by springs all year round,
0:53:04 > 0:53:08the Meon flows a short 21 miles down into the Solent.
0:53:12 > 0:53:16Its clear waters are under pressure from fertiliser and farm waste
0:53:16 > 0:53:18that leach into the river,
0:53:18 > 0:53:22but Nick Heasman of the South Downs National Park Authority
0:53:22 > 0:53:26has been working with the local community to clean it up.
0:53:26 > 0:53:28The rain comes down on top of those Downs,
0:53:28 > 0:53:32it filters through that chalk and it comes out purified by the chalk
0:53:32 > 0:53:36and we end up with crystal-clear... They call this gin-clear water.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42Some hydrologists think that some of this water coming passed us now
0:53:42 > 0:53:44in the river might have fallen 60 years ago
0:53:44 > 0:53:47and it has taken all that time to filter through the rock.
0:53:47 > 0:53:48I didn't know that.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51And this gives rise to an amazing amount of biodiversity.
0:53:52 > 0:53:56By reducing pollution and widening the river-edge habitat,
0:53:56 > 0:53:59the community has encouraged more birds to return
0:53:59 > 0:54:02and fish stocks to improve.
0:54:02 > 0:54:07And, in recent years, a very special creature has come back to the Meon.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13Water vole have returned, so we've been involved
0:54:13 > 0:54:16with the largest water vole reintroduction in the UK.
0:54:16 > 0:54:17It's been brilliant.
0:54:19 > 0:54:23After being wiped out locally by the American mink,
0:54:23 > 0:54:26the park has been working with the community to release
0:54:26 > 0:54:30more than 300 water voles back into the river.
0:54:30 > 0:54:32So, we've enhanced the habitat,
0:54:32 > 0:54:34we've been controlling the American mink,
0:54:34 > 0:54:36and we've seen the water vole return in really good numbers.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47And this is really good water vole habitat, here. Really good.
0:54:47 > 0:54:50- That's good.- They can get everything they need right here.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53Beautiful. Beautiful.
0:54:55 > 0:54:57After an absence of 20 years,
0:54:57 > 0:55:00the river is also seeing the return of one of Britain's
0:55:00 > 0:55:02rarest predators.
0:55:03 > 0:55:07Assistant Ranger Laura Deane has set up remote cameras
0:55:07 > 0:55:10to film several platforms along the river.
0:55:10 > 0:55:14We have, currently, seven wildlife cameras out on the River Meon...
0:55:14 > 0:55:16- Yeah.- ..and this is on one of our sites.
0:55:16 > 0:55:18Oh! No!
0:55:19 > 0:55:22That's extraordinary.
0:55:22 > 0:55:25'They've captured the first footage of otters in the South Downs
0:55:25 > 0:55:28'for more than 20 years.'
0:55:28 > 0:55:31- So, the otters use the mink rafts to spraint on...- Yes.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34- ..to set out their territory.- Yes.
0:55:34 > 0:55:36So, a lot of these images are of the otters sprainting
0:55:36 > 0:55:39or smelling other otters that have sprainted on them.
0:55:43 > 0:55:47- It's just so lovely to see them, to know that they're here.- Yes.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50And we've got breeding otter, with cubs.
0:55:50 > 0:55:52Fantastic.
0:55:52 > 0:55:55This year, they've returned to the Rother.
0:55:55 > 0:55:57So, we've had the first recorded evidence for a long time
0:55:57 > 0:55:59- on the Rother. Really exciting news.- That's fantastic.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02Because we'd expected it here on the Meon but to get it on the Rother...
0:56:02 > 0:56:05- Mm.- And that means we can start seeing them move right across
0:56:05 > 0:56:08- the rivers...- Yeah, of course.- ..to east of the Downs and hopefully see them on the Cuckmere.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10Oh! Can you imagine? THEY LAUGH
0:56:35 > 0:56:38The last hill.
0:56:40 > 0:56:44On the other side of the brow of this hill,
0:56:44 > 0:56:47St Catherine's Hill, on the western edge of the park,
0:56:47 > 0:56:50the South Downs Way runs into Winchester.
0:56:50 > 0:56:52Journey's end.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00The ancient capital of England.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04And it was here that Alfred, in the 9th century,
0:57:04 > 0:57:08had Latin texts translated into English.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11And through his educational reforms
0:57:11 > 0:57:15he fostered the birth of the English language,
0:57:15 > 0:57:19which was instrumental in tying the nation together.
0:57:24 > 0:57:27The South Downs is seared into our psyche.
0:57:29 > 0:57:31I love this land.
0:57:31 > 0:57:35The land that I found over the last year, this land of silver rivers.
0:57:37 > 0:57:41This land of winding sheep tracks across
0:57:41 > 0:57:45the faces of escarpments.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48This land that has a wealth of butterflies,
0:57:48 > 0:57:50a wealth of wild flowers.
0:57:52 > 0:57:56But, most of all, what I've learned is that this land
0:57:56 > 0:58:00has been formed by many different peoples...
0:58:01 > 0:58:04..and you can see their influence
0:58:04 > 0:58:07through history, through the landscape,
0:58:07 > 0:58:08which they clearly loved,
0:58:08 > 0:58:11in every single aspect
0:58:11 > 0:58:13of this extraordinary national park.
0:58:15 > 0:58:18Long may it thrive.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21Long may it be a place of welcome.
0:58:21 > 0:58:23And long may it be
0:58:23 > 0:58:26a haven for all life,
0:58:26 > 0:58:28human and natural.