South Devon Country Tracks

Hello. Today I'm on a journey through South Devon,

zipping through the countryside by rail and road.

I'll be discovering flora, fauna and fishing in this remarkable county.

My train journey will take me to Dawlish,

where I'll be meeting local boy and gardening expert Toby Buckland,

and he'll take me on a horticultural tour of his favourite parts of the area.

Is this a spot you're fond of, Toby?

Well, yeah, because it's a walker's paradise.

Then I'll head inland to Buckfastleigh,

where I'll meet the perfect piglet

and find out why pigs have become such popular pets.

Joe, could you make a pig happy?

Finally, I'll meet back up with the coast in Dartmouth,

where I'll check out the fascinating history of the castle

before sailing out to sea to have a crack at crab fishing.

How much, do you think, for a big crab on sale in a shop?

In a restaurant in London, I don't know.

I couldn't afford to eat in one of the restaurants in London!

Along the way, I'll be looking back at the very best

of the BBC's rural programmes from this part of the world.

Welcome to Country Tracks.

Devon is the third-largest English county,

and just over one million people live here.

Its towns, beaches, moors and seaside resorts

are a huge attraction for visitors.

This is the only county in England to have two separate coastlines,

the Bristol Channel to the north and the English Channel to the south.

My journey today will take me to the south,

travelling through the countryside between Dartmoor and the sea.

The train journey to Dawlish Warren is just stunning.

It's honestly one of my favourite journeys in the UK -

breathtaking views of the beach, and you arrive right by the sea.

'Very few people are privileged to be met off the train

'by local lad and gardening expert Toby Buckland.'

-Hi, Toby!

-Joe, nice to see you.

-Great timing. How are you?

The weather's great, as well.

'Toby is here to introduce me to his much-loved home town

'and to take me to some interesting and obscure spots for plant life.

'Using his local knowledge,

'he'll first guide me to some of the vegetation

'for which Devon is renowned.

'We're driving to the lanes just outside Dawlish

'to look at the hedges that dominate the roadsides here.

'The Devon hedges are part of the countryside.

'There are approximately 33,000 miles of hedge,

'more than in any other county.

'And because of the height of these hedges,

'it feels like a winding maze as you drive down these narrow lanes.'

So, Devonshire hedges, notorious, almost, for their size.

Why are they so tall?

Two reasons. One is that they're very old,

and so the roads that run alongside them

have been sort of worn away by centuries of traffic.

But it's also to do with how they're made,

because Devon hedges, or "Devon banks", as they're called,

are soil-filled.

And if you get your hand in there, you can see the construction of it.

Basically, when a farmer wanted a boundary,

he'd do one of two things -

he'd either cut back a woodland to form a hedge

or he'd pile up soil into a great big mound and put some stones in it

and then plant trees on the top.

And so that's what gives them their bulk and solidity.

So they've been here quite a while.

A rule of thumb - there's a theory that came out in the '70s,

the idea being that if a hedge is planted with one species

when it first is put into the ground,

every hundred years, another woody species will join it.

So the more woody species,

things like oak and ash and holly, that you get in a hedge,

the older it is, and each one corresponds to a century.

So you start with a single plant, it'll be monoculture,

and then eventually others would weed their way in.

Yeah, so start with this one. We've got an oak tree.

One hundred years, OK.

You've got English elm in there,

you've got a bit of hazel there. That's 300 years.

Over a run of 30 yards, let's say, you'd normally do it,

but we've done 300 years in three foot, haven't we?

And then what else have we got?

We've got a bit of privet in there, ivy, brambles,

-erm, cherry plum...

-That's seven.

-700. A bit of ash...

-Ash, 800 years.

-You soon get through them, don't you?

-Yeah.

The numbers can really get quite high quickly in an old hedge like this.

In fact, a quarter of Devon's hedges

are thought to be over 800 years old,

some of which are aged with more scientific methods than we're using!

And out of all the UK's species-rich hedges,

a whopping 20% are here in this county.

So a large number of wooded species! What about other plant life in here?

An immense amount of herbaceous plants as well,

and some of them are garden escapes. They've moved out from the towns.

We're quite a long way away from the town, but this is a garden escape.

It's called Snow-In-Summer. In people's rockeries you often see it,

but it's an established hedgerow plant here, and it does very well.

It forms great big white banks of those blooms. Lovely.

And then from woodlands, there's this blue one.

-You see the blue Forget-me-not?

-Here?

Yeah. It's called Wood Forget-me-not.

So as well as plants spreading out from the towns,

you also get them moving in from other habitats and other areas

like the woodlands around here,

and they start to colonise the hedges.

So it just gets increasingly rich.

And what's so interesting

is that when that plant gets crushed out, maybe,

by the brambles around it or the Wych elm that's starting to come up,

its seed will spring up somewhere,

where maybe the elm trees have been killed off

by the disease carried by the beetles,

and it's just an ever-changing tapestry.

Crikey. What's the general benefits to the countryside as a whole

from what you describe as the rich tapestry of plant life?

Well, the hedges are brilliant for wildlife.

Now, just as the roads that run alongside them

are corridors in which we can travel in our cars,

the hedges are similar for wildlife,

because they can travel in tunnels inside them safely,

or birds can fly from branch to twig to branch quite safely as well

and travel around the countryside.

And that's so important for the health of wild populations

of animals, insects and birds,

because it means that they can come and stay connected,

and by being connected they have a wide genetic pool.

Because of that, their populations stay healthy.

'The plants and trees here in these ancient hedges

'seem more than happy growing along the roadside.

'James Wong took inspiration from a newer type of planting at a Devonshire zoo

'which is pioneering a different way of farming.'

This amazing living wall is just one of several created by Biotecture,

a company who believe that the future of urban food production

could well be vertical.

They've even trialled salad walls like this one

at the Chelsea Flower Show.

This is a hydroponic wall system. They're plants growing without soil.

They're growing in an inert medium,

and they're fed very precise amounts of water with nutrients added in,

and it means we can use a very wide range of plants

which will grow in different situations in the wild

which adapt quite happily to this new medium.

Not just ornamental plants.

I see you've got veg here, really exotic stuff.

The exciting thing for urban food production

is that any vertical wall can grow a salad wall.

And the great thing is you see all the nuts and bolts,

the guts of the structure.

-Is this what you have in there?

-The same panels as there.

You can see the roots on the back of this.

And yes, they're fed nutrients along the top through the water system,

and the plants grow very happily.

What do you think the future application of that is?

Will we see buildings in the city covered in lettuce,

people abseiling down to harvest it?

-Maybe not abseiling!

-JAMES LAUGHS

But definitely growing up the sides of buildings.

A lot of building designs will come into double-skin glazed areas

which are hydroponic systems stacked up with walkways and things.

How do we do this? Chuck it over the parapet?

-Yep, just chuck it over.

-Great!

These monkeys have got a pretty sweet deal.

They get loads of locally-grown fresh salad every single day,

and the zoo's pretty much self-sufficient in growing it.

I think I just hit him on the head there.

'And it's all thanks to this monster,

'what Valcent, the company behind it,

'describes as "Europe's first truly vertical farm".'

This is absolutely amazing!

I feel like I'm in a sort of a science-fiction film.

So it's multiple storeys, and it's going round.

This is all kinds of hi-tech! Why's it going round like that?

Well, it's to allow the light to get good angles

on each level of the tray, because obviously

the top layers get most light

but the bottom levels are shaded by the trays above.

This hydroponic system can produce more than 800 heads of lettuce a week

using 20% less water than conventional farming.

And the run-off is collected and re-used.

Look at that!

-So, what crops are you growing here? This is some kind of mustard?

-Yes.

Do you mind if I have a munch?

We wouldn't feed anything to the animals that we couldn't eat,

and I regularly graze and try bits down here.

-It's good quality control to make sure it's tasty.

-It's good stuff.

Presumably you could grow anything. It's mainly green stuff.

Would you grow any kind of fruit or anything else?

-This has been particularly designed for salads and stuff.

-Yeah.

We couldn't grow carrots, because the trays are way too shallow.

But the system could be adapted to anything.

Now, to me, this whole vertical-crop thing could be really exciting.

It cuts down on food miles and produces loads of yield.

The thing is, though, if this is going to be a major source of our food in the future,

with it being so reliant on technology,

is it really such a good idea?

This is visually the opposite of your traditional image of farming.

It's really technological.

Could that be a problem? What if there's a power cut?

Well, this actually uses very low amounts of energy to run it,

so it's very easily backed up with a generator.

But you can also just as easily power it with solar

if you have enough light availability

and storage ground-source heat pumps.

There are all sorts of sustainable technologies that can combine with this.

A lot of people think hydroponic systems are hi-tech

with artificial lighting and heating, and they don't have to be.

As long as you've got enough natural daylight,

then things like this will sit and grow quite happily.

Amazing to see where the future of farming is heading.

'I'm with Tony Buckland, who's showing me the plant life

'in some of his favourite Dawlish hang-outs.

'He's brought me to Dawlish Warren

'to explore how some plants can thrive in this stark environment.

'And with Toby's knowledge,

'hopefully we can track down a few prime specimens.'

So, Toby, what's special about this place?

Well, this is Dawlish Warren, and in geological terms,

it's very interesting.

It's basically sand, a sand spit that pushes out in front of the River Exe.

And the soil here is very poor,

and when you get an environment that's harsh and poor,

you get a tremendous amount of diversity,

particularly with the plants.

Why would you get diversity?

I thought things struggled to survive so you only get one or two.

It sounds counterintuitive, but in rich ground,

what tends to happen is that dominant species take over,

whether it's grasses in meadows

or it's oak trees where the soil is nice, brown and deep.

But on this thin soil, with air that's quite brackish and salty,

it sort of weeds out these dominant species

-and allows a great diversity of other flowers to thrive.

-Oh, nice.

This is one of my favourite plants here on the Warren.

-What's this?

-Tree lupin.

-Tree lupin?

It's from California originally, but it makes a spectacular plant here.

It grows beautifully well.

Free-draining soil and just full sunshine - it loves it.

We're basically on a sand dune now, so how does it survive?

Like all lupins, it has fleshy roots

that are able to prospect nice and deep to get moisture.

But it also has another trick.

It's a member of the pea family, and like sweet peas and garden peas,

all members of that family are able to breed bacteria around their roots.

And those bacteria are able to trap nitrogen from the air,

which is one of the main plant foods,

and help give the plant a boost and keep it nourished.

And when we look around, there's a lot of green, a lot of grass.

What is that, and how does it survive?

Well, the main, predominant species here

is this long, very, very tough grass, almost like wire.

It's called Marram grass,

and it has deep roots that spread,

and they're the thing that hold the sand dunes together

and stop them being moved by the waves and also by the breeze.

Imagine, they're constantly rolling, the sand particles,

one on top of the other, and it's this stuff that gives

a bit of stability, makes these structures permanent,

permanent enough for plants like the tree lupin to get a toehold.

-So it locks it in, like a carpet over the whole thing.

-Yeah.

-And, curiously, this, you say originally from California?

-Yeah.

I get confused, because some things we say, "It's an invasive species, stamp it out,"

others we celebrate.

This obviously falls on the celebratory side of the divide.

There's this whole thing in ecology about non-natives and natives,

and there IS an issue with some things that take over.

However, we have a very, very limited palette of native plants,

because we were cut off with an ice age.

So there's very few plants here compared to France, for example.

But plants like this are worth having,

because these flowers are such good nectar blooms, really,

for bees and damselfly.

So it's a really good wildlife plant on so many levels.

'Like his parents before him, Toby grew up here in Dawlish

'and he knows the area like the back of his hand,

'even down to the history of how it all came to be.'

And why is this place called Dawlish Warren?

Well, a warren is somewhere where rabbits were farmed originally.

Rabbits are a Southern European, African species of animal,

and they were brought here by the Romans.

And Dawlish Warren was set up as, well,

a rabbit farm in the Middle Ages.

And I think the people that first brought them in

felt they ought to replicate the kind of environment where they came from,

somewhere hot and sandy, somewhere clement for the rabbits to live.

We now know they live anywhere, they're not fussy,

but this is where they were farmed.

And is this a spot you're fond of, Toby?

Well, yeah, because it's a walker's paradise, the Warren.

It's the kind of place - anywhere by the sea is -

where you can walk along and every day it's different,

the tides change, the light levels change,

and it's a beautiful place to be.

-And as a kid, did you come here?

-Yeah, absolutely.

I still come down here every week or so.

I volunteered here when I left school as a conservation volunteer,

looking after and weeding

-and trying to keep the sand dunes and the plants alive.

-Yeah!

'This site supports around 620 plant species,

'and Toby has tracked down a real treat for me.'

There's one.

Ah! So what's this colourful flower?

That's a Southern Marsh Orchid,

and it's one of the biggest orchids that grows in the UK.

This one's quite small, because it's been a dry year, but they can be double that height.

Crikey. And why here? Are they quite rare?

Yeah, reasonably. You see them in the south,

and they thrive on sand dunes and areas like this,

where the ground's very free-draining

but there's also a certain amount of moisture at low level.

So here it's loving the conditions, with the high light levels.

Also, there's sort of a little marsh beyond there

that keeps the ground just moist enough

-for it to get the water it needs.

-OK.

Really pretty, seeing that flash of purple

-amongst all the green.

-A handsome fella!

There are a lot of pressures on this kind of area.

Have you seen it change while you've been here?

Yeah, I'd say that in my lifetime, the Warren's got a lot smaller.

That could be because the sea level's rising

or it could simply be that the storms

that we've had in the last ten years, even,

have washed a lot of the Warren away.

There aren't many place like this.

So you do have to work quite hard to protect them.

The wardens here on the Warren are in a sort of constant battle

to protect certain areas and fence off others

and allow plants and shrubs to grow,

just to block off areas where, for example, these rare plants thrive.

'As with many parts of the coast,

'Dawlish Warren is suffering from sea erosion.

'The Warren used to be 200 metres wider than it is now.

'It's been defended by various methods since the early 1970s,

'but nothing can really stop the force of nature.

'One area with very similar problems to Dawlish Warren is Slapton Ley,

'further south down the coast of Devon.

'It's also under threat from the ever-encroaching sea.'

Just behind the shingle beach at Slapton Sands is Slapton Ley,

the biggest stretch of fresh water in the south-west.

It's one of its most precious nature reserves.

It's an SSSI and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

But it won't be here for much longer.

This lagoon is under threat from the sea

and all that's protecting it is this narrow road...

..a car park, which on a day like today is quite busy...

..and a fairly narrow strip of shingle beach.

One day, the sea will burst through all these barriers

and the freshwater lake will be lost.

Back in 2001, a huge chunk of beach and road was washed away

during a ferocious storm.

The road was rebuilt and the beach shored up.

But the threat to the lake remains,

so scientists are doing what they can to save it.

What you're holding is a reflector linked to the theodolite at the top

and today we're measuring the beach levels

to track how the beach changes over time.

What we're finding is over a period of days, years, weeks,

that the beach level moves up and down all the time in cycles.

Once you've gathered this information, what do you do with it?

OK, what it helps to do is to act as a forewarning

when the beach levels are lower

and there might be the risk of damage when a storm comes along.

And so you've started manoeuvring the shingle,

-creating breaks.

-Yes.

For more protection at vulnerable points, we've used bulldozers

to put some big piles of shingle along the top of the beach.

'These bastions are designed to buy time when storms hit,

'but they won't last forever.'

So the community has to brace itself for, one day,

possibly surviving without this road and the lake will disappear as well.

Yes, it's a long time off, probably,

but those are the sorts of changes that are in the pipeline.

Some experts think the sea poses a more immediate threat.

Because the shingle barrier is porous,

there's a real danger of salt water seeping through into the lake.

Scientists from Plymouth University are testing the groundwater beneath

to see how salty it is.

Special probes are dropped down eight-metre-deep wells.

Readings are taken that show the concentration of salt water.

-What are we getting, Martin?

-2,500 microsiemens.

That's a high reading. The water here is very salty.

Readings taken nearer the lake show how far the salt water has seeped.

What have you got?

-We have 300.

-300?

We had 2,500 at the top of that one

and now we've got 300, which is still brackish, not fresh,

but it's more fresh than salt now.

Why is it important to know all of this?

We have a freshwater lake separated from a saltwater sea

with a very thin, porous shingle barrier in-between.

If there's a lot of salt water going through the barrier,

seeping into the ley, or the lake,

then the freshwater status of that ley will be compromised.

The reason it is an SSSI, a nature reserve, is because it's fresh

and there's freshwater ecology in there.

So if saltwater makes its way in,

even if only maybe once a month during the spring high tide,

it might compromise the freshwater status of the ley.

'It's inevitable that the sea will one day swamp the lake.

'When it does, all the rich habitat at the lake's edge will be lost,

'and with it all the animals that call it home.

'So what are the animals that are under threat?'

In here, we think we have some blue tit babies.

So if we're very quiet, we can show you them.

Right, OK.

Just take this off really slowly.

You can actually hear the parents around us.

They're not very happy, I don't think.

Ready? Have a look in.

Oh, look at that!

-I'd better let them go.

-That's the...?

-That's the parents.

-They're anxious.

-Not at all amused.

-No.

Quite rightly so.

-Aren't they lovely?

-Brucie bonus!

'Onwards into the undergrowth, and a chance to get up close

'to Britain's smallest mammal, the pygmy shrew.'

It's interesting how they've taken advantage of these high-rise homes.

It is interesting for pygmy shrews,

because they would normally nest on the ground, in the ground,

but they've taken full advantage

of the fact we've put up some really nice homes for them.

Why not?

So, we've got three in there, and one in the duster.

'This little fella is only a few days old

'and weighs no more than a one-penny piece.'

Look at the size of his nose, for snuffling out insects and spiders.

Look, how sweet!

It's not just the margins and the life there

that's threatened by the sea,

it's beautiful Slapton Ley itself.

So I'm taking to the water for a different point of view.

-And we're off.

-Here we go.

-Look at them go!

-Racing along.

-She's going, "Get in! Get in!"

We've got a mosaic of habitats

that all come together that make it special.

So you've got the open water and the reed marshes and the fen

and the ancient woodlands and the coppices,

so much diversity, and obviously within each of those habitats

you've got an abundance of different plants and animals.

-You see things so differently from the water, don't you?

-Yeah.

It's stunning today. It's like glass.

Beautiful reflections in the water.

What do you think about the prospect

of all of this being swallowed by the sea?

I'd be devastated.

It's just such a beautiful, amazing place. It's so diverse.

We'd just lose so much if the sea swallowed it up.

But it will do one day.

Well, one day. Hopefully not in my lifetime!

-Selfishly...

-Selfish, yeah!

Experts reckon it could be 50 years before Slapton Ley disappears.

For now, the lake and its wildlife are safe.

'Well, let's hope a solution is found

'to the problems at Dawlish and Slapton Ley.

'I've left Dawlish behind, following the lanes inland

'to the village of Buckfastleigh

'in search of some very small creatures...

'..miniature pigs.

'You've heard about them. Jonathan Ross and Charlotte Church have them,

'and farm visitors love them.

'Who wouldn't?

'They're small pigs bred for size and character

'and sometimes sold as pets.

'They can behave like dogs, sit and lie down on demand,

'and are easily house-trained - the perfect companion, you might say.

'And most owners would agree,

'like the Bailey family, who bought a micropig

'and thought they'd found their perfect pet.'

We got Chester approximately when he was eight weeks old.

Predominantly, the reason we got him was because,

first of all, Joanna doesn't like dogs,

so we thought that was probably a bad option,

and secondly because Samuel is autistic, and apparently

pigs are very friendly towards children,

and we thought that maybe the pig was the right choice.

Everything we were told about house-training him

and his nature was spot-on.

-We managed to house-train him within about a month, didn't we?

-Yeah.

Just like a puppy.

And he's very sweet-natured and craves company,

and he is just adorable.

Chris Murray, once a more traditional pig farmer

and now owner of farm activity park Pennywell,

has made good business from breeding his Pennywell pigs.

Chris, in your opinion, what makes the perfect pig?

One tends to go for colour. Attitude.

Aptitude. Character.

Size.

And also, how they look.

This one here's particularly nice. It's got a nice, short snout.

Neat little ears on it.

I like it because it's carrying all the colours I like to see,

so it's got white, it's got black, it's got honey blonde -

-some people say ginger.

-A very fine mixture, isn't it?

Just individual white hairs amongst the darker hairs.

If I bred from this little chap, I know all those colours would go out.

Black tends to be dominant in pigs, and then white

and then black and white. They're all fairly easy to breed.

Having the selection of colours is harder.

How much would you pay for a little fella like this?

Depending on the breed line,

from 550 down to 400.

-It's the amount you would pay for a pedigree dog.

-Absolutely.

It also makes people respect the animal,

because if you've paid strongly for something,

they tend to look after it.

We used to sell them a lot cheaper, but in fact, the demand got so much,

I felt, "This is crazy."

Increasing the price slowed the demand down

to more manageable levels, which is better.

When you're breeding these, how do you keep them so small?

-Do you pick out the smallest and breed that one?

-No.

It doesn't work like that, because you want to keep your best,

and the best isn't just for size.

The other thing is you've got to choose every so often to breed out,

otherwise you get in-breeding, which isn't good.

So there are dangers. You have to make sure the bloodline's open.

I had to buy in a boar recently to stretch it out again.

And in fact, one time I bought in a boar, six years ago,

and it took me a long time to get them back down in size again.

If you go for your smallest one every time,

people say, "You've gone for the runt."

That'd be stupid, because the runt isn't always your most...

You want a healthy pig.

Size does matter. For example, I wouldn't go for my biggest,

because size is carried.

You've got to be careful, because pigs are like human beings -

you can put two human beings together who are short

and you suddenly get a giant of a child.

My cousin's tiny, her husband's tiny, and their son's massive!

-It's unpredictable, basically.

-It's unpredictable, absolutely.

So nature can sometimes be surprising,

and even an expert like Chris can't always predict

the size of his pigs.

And the Bailey family had a bit of a shock

with their beloved Chester.

Well, as you can see, this is Chester now,

aged just over two years old,

slightly larger than he was when we first got him.

He was this large. We anticipated the size of a cocker spaniel.

He's a little bit larger than that.

Fortunately, we've got quite a large garden here,

so we brought him out of the house and made this little sty for him.

Feelings haven't changed at all.

Ideally, we would have liked him to still be up with us in the house

more often than he is.

We did have him in the house until he was about ten months old,

and he was having trouble getting up the stairs.

He'd have to take a running jump at them.

When he went down the stairs, he'd do a forward roll down them,

and it just wasn't fair on him.

It's very important when thinking about owning a pig

to take it seriously.

Although similar in some ways to a dog,

they do have very different needs.

Back at the farm, Chris has more advice.

Can you guarantee what size a pig's going to get?

If someone buys a nice, cute piglet and they want it for a pet,

how do they know it's not going to end up absolutely huge?

Erm, I'd never guarantee it.

What I always say to people is come and see them,

because then they know what they're buying.

-It's unlikely they'll ever be bigger than their parents.

-Right, OK.

That's one thing. Very, very unlikely.

And also, like putting Pumbaa onto the little girl over there,

-I know they'll be slightly smaller.

-OK.

Also, in his genes, anyway, he's got some very small parents,

smaller than him,

so I know that he's got that in his capacity.

Important that people see the parents,

because they might go, "I can't have that in the house."

And that's small for a pig, but they've got to realise the size.

Absolutely, really important.

This one's only three years old,

so she's one of our more recent breedings.

-And she'll keep growing?

-No, no, she's now fully grown.

-Oh, look at that!

-Joe, could you make a pig happy?

-JOE LAUGHS

-That's brilliant.

-She's lovely.

But you can see that the attraction for these animals are

that if you live in a city and you've got a large enough garden,

-it just keeps you in touch with nature, too.

-Yeah.

And they like to be made a fuss of. That's the nice thing about a pig.

They appreciate everything you give them.

Never insult a pig, because a pig has a good memory.

So never be rude to it.

-Oh, they're all coming!

-They all want the affection. Animal Farm!

One final question - you have to whisper it, but I have to ask it.

Come the time, would they make...

-Good sausages?

-Yeah.

Oh, yeah. I mean, look, the way of all flesh is at one time you die,

so rather than waste the animal, actually have a sausage. Why not?

'So, whatever your reason for getting a pet pig, just take care.

'You could end up with more than you bargained for.'

He's still part of the family, and we love him to bits, don't we?

-Wouldn't swap him for the world.

-No!

SHE LAUGHS

Yeah, he liked it!

Devon is full of beautiful and exciting places to visit,

and here on Dartmoor, there are some secret gems just hidden away,

as Matt Baker discovered.

In 1964, the novelist EM Forster complained,

"There's no forest or fell to escape to today,

"no cave to curl up, no deserted valley."

Well, he'd clearly forgotten about the nearly 400 square miles

of bleak wilderness that make up Dartmoor National Park.

'The rugged, desolate beauty of the moor.

'Granite tors standing proud above rock-strewn grasslands.

'It's both majestic and mysterious.

'Natural perfection, you might think.

'But Dartmoor has a hidden history.

'Around 6,000 years ago, most of this was in fact forest,

'part of the vast wild wood that stretched across Britain

'from coast to coast.

'Like most of the south,

'Dartmoor's open landscape has been almost entirely shaped by man,

'apart, that is, from a few remote and secret spots high on the moor.

'Simon Lee from Natural England

'has agreed to take me into Dartmoor's past.'

-We have well and truly left civilisation behind.

-We have, yeah.

Got a few sheep there.

Apart from the occasional hiker, there's not a soul in sight.

Not a soul in sight, no.

'We're heading for one of Dartmoor's last remaining pockets of wild wood,

'Black-a-Tor Copse.

'It's a steep climb up the Okement Valley

'to where the moor almost touches the sky.'

-There isn't a lot of woodland here now, is there?

-No!

A lot of that was cleared by Bronze Age people.

-And if you scramble up the slope, you might get a glimpse of it.

-OK.

-There you go.

-Black-a-Tor Copse?

-Looking splendid in the mist.

-Doesn't it just?

'Forests like this once covered Britain.

'As people settled and began to farm,

'they cleared the trees and enclosed the land.

'Black-a-Tor Copse is a moment frozen in time...

'..a world of oak trees long since forgotten.'

This is absolutely incredible.

What a spot!

It's so different to what is just a couple of steps behind,

and you walk into all of this that looks so cosy and comfy.

It's rock-hard granite down here,

but because it's covered in all these mosses and lichen,

it's like a big quilt. You just kind of want to dive into it all.

-How old are these kind of twisted oaks?

-There's documented evidence

that there have been trees here for several centuries,

but the individual trees themselves

probably no more than about 200 years old.

Are they stunted simply because they can't get the root system

down into this granite?

No, I think the main reason they're stunted

is because of the weather conditions up here.

It's so high, up about 1,300 feet here,

so it's cold and it's wet.

-Yeah.

-And it's simply that they can't grow any faster or any bigger.

'This is one of only three high-altitude woodlands left on Dartmoor.

'All are protected.

'The unique conditions make it feel almost tropical.

'Not rainforest, but cloud forest.'

It's just loaded with mosses and lichen and ferns.

It is. In terms of what you're seeing at the moment,

it's a woodland that's as near natural as you can get in the UK.

'Walking through these gnarled oaks

'feels like walking into a primeval indigenous landscape,

'a secret of Britain's past.'

Ever since I was a little lad, I have always, always loved oak trees.

I don't know what it's about them. I think they're just...

They're so homely and so protective,

and ever since I've had the chance to come in here,

I've seen yet another side to their character,

the way that they've... Well, look at this.

They've twisted and bent themselves

around this boulderous and boggy landscape of Dartmoor.

And trudging across that misty, bleak moor to get here,

on arrival, it just feels so warm and so welcoming.

And to think really that this landscape hasn't changed at all

since the last ice age - it is really, really rare.

This is a very special spot.

I've driven back out to the coast

to end my journey in the stunning seaside town of Dartmouth.

'I've hopped on a passenger ferry in Dartmouth Harbour,

'set within a picture-perfect seaside town nestled in the hillside

'and recognisable for the pastel-coloured houses

'framing both sides of the water.

Of course, as the name suggests, Dartmouth lies along the River Dart,

and it's this beautiful stretch of water

that really is the soul of the place.

A lot of people take these small ferries to the mouth of the river,

to a very unique place, and we can see it just coming into view now.

It is, of course, Dartmouth Castle.

The castle - or fort, to be accurate -

has watched over Dartmouth for six centuries.

It's never been home to an aristocratic family

but has always protected the town from attack.

It was one of the most advanced fortifications in Britain.

It needed to be, as the local men were aggressive traders

and retaliation and threat to their homes and warehouses was inevitable.

The castle had various ways of keeping its enemies at bay.

And by its nature as a defensive position,

the castle has always been as well-armed as possible,

with gun batteries housing ever more sophisticated weaponry

with greater and greater range out over the water.

In the Victorian guardroom,

there are still three "murder holes" in the ground,

through which guns could be fired to protect the main entrance below.

The castle also has an ingenious and more unusual way

of defending Dartmouth.

One of the best ways of protecting this precious harbour was the chain,

which was literally a metal chain.

It was attached at one end to the rocks underneath the castle

and at the other end across the channel on the Kingswear side.

Now, in quiet times,

the chain would just lie on the bed of the estuary,

but if danger approached, soldiers could wind it in, raise it up

so it would form a sort of heavy barrier across the water,

preventing attacking ships from progressing up the Dart.

The chain was used for almost two centuries.

Its last recorded use was in 1643.

However, as recently as 1940,

under the threat of German invasion,

an emergency barrier combining old fishing boats linked with chain

was set up across the harbour, using the technique once more.

The Second World War was the last time

this castle was used as a military defence,

and since 1984, it's been in the care of English Heritage,

who preserve the history here as a reminder

of how Dartmouth and its people were protected.

Along the coastline,

there are many estuaries and channels

which offer fascinating sights, sounds and history.

The Exe Estuary, north along the coast,

is bustling with life.

This picturesque corner of Britain is a haven for wildlife,

especially as the winter chill begins to bite.

Right now, up to 40,000 birds are heading here.

Each one will have completed a remarkable journey,

from as far away as Siberia and Greenland, just to reach the estuary,

their winter home.

I'm here on the lookout for one bird in particular - the avocet.

But I'm also here to spy on a flock of people.

I'm here to get to the bottom of birding.

Morning!

Right.

'I want to find out what makes this merry band

'get up at the crack of dawn and brave freezing temperatures,

'so I'm joining the RSPB Avocet Cruise

'to get under their skin.

'Tony Whitehead from the RSPB can help me get my eye in.'

Looking at the mud over there on the bank,

a little group of dunlin just feeding.

-Smallest bird on the estuary.

-They are tiny.

Picking tiny little snails and things, invertebrates, off the mud.

Just over here, we've got a nice flock of godwits on the estuary.

-They're all standing up. They've got lovely...

-Long beaks!

Long beaks and long legs. It's a real treat.

I'm going to try to remember them by human names,

so I'll call those Winston Churchills.

I've no idea why you're calling them that, but...

They remind me of Churchill in silhouette.

-And their beaks look like the cigar.

-The cigar? OK.

There are loads of birds out on the estuary today,

but no sign of the elusive avocet.

And then our luck changes.

Just there. A little...

Really close as well. A nice group of avocet you've got there.

One of the great things about these cruises

is you can get really close to these birds.

-They are very, very elegant.

-They are.

They've got these long blue legs and a really distinctive upturned bill,

and the black and white feathers. You don't mistake avocets.

Here, we've got some even closer.

You know I thought the godwits were Winston Churchill-like?

These... These are elegant, tall, good-looking birds.

-So I reckon Kristin Scott Thomas.

-Really? Don't get that, either.

You're just not really taking part, Tony.

So they are a special bird to see.

They are.

To me, they're exciting because they've come back from extinction.

These disappeared as a breeding bird in the UK,

started to come back in the late 1940s to our reserves,

and that's when they were adopted as our emblem.

And is that why you adopted them, because it is a survival story?

-It's a survival story.

-What is it about the estuary they like so much?

What they're here for,

firstly, it's quite mild down here compared to where they've come from,

but the main thing is the food.

This mud is absolutely packed full of energy,

little tiny creepy-crawlies,

-all things these birds are feeding on at this time of year.

-Yummy.

I feel I'm getting into it,

but maybe I haven't quite unlocked the secret of birding yet.

Do you think birders have got a bit of a bad reputation?

No. Twitchers might have, but we're birders, not twitchers.

-Serious difference.

-What's the difference between birders and twitchers?

Twitchers go round the country just picking up rare birds,

ticking rare birds.

-That's their main concern, to get something on their tick list.

-Yeah.

We enjoy the birds for what they are.

What's your favourite bird?

Certainly, here, the avocet. It's got to be. It's got to be.

It's the wow-factor bird.

When anybody gets on the cruise,

"Are we going to see avocets?" is the one question they ask.

-It's a wonderful bird.

-And you get to enjoy landscapes like this.

It's not just local enthusiasts

who flock here for a glimpse of these exotic winter visitors.

-Bye, guys!

-Bye!

-Nice to meet you.

'David Lindo normally scouts out birds in the city,

'but even this urban birder can't resist the lure of the estuary

'at this time of year.'

Hi, there, David. I've just frightened them off.

You just missed four magnificent Black-tailed godwits.

-I could see them. Just their tails.

-They'll be back.

You birdwatch all over the world. Why are you here now?

This is one of my favourite spots in the winter to go birding,

because although I've seen black-tail godwits when they're babies in Iceland,

I've seen them in Ireland on migration,

and I've seen them here. It's great to see their journey completed.

-How did you get into it all?

-When I was a little boy,

I just had this instinctive sort of feeling for natural history.

If I can do it, anyone can get into it. It's no big science.

It's all about enjoying nature. It can be anywhere in the world.

It could be somewhere beautiful like here, in a beautiful city,

it doesn't matter. Look up, look around and you'll notice it.

What's the right age to get into it?

-Any age. But I've got some people I need you to meet.

-OK.

Where have you brought me?

I've taken you to a hide, the RSPB's hide overlooking Bowling Green Marsh,

to meet some real experts.

JULIA LAUGHS They're very young!

-This is Topsham School Godwit Club.

-What exactly are they doing?

They're basically part of an international survey,

looking out for Black-tail godwits.

They're looking for godwits with bands

and studying the migration, linking up with schools in Iceland

and Ireland to see just how many are wintering in this area,

and basically see and study the movements of these birds.

So it's a valid study, it's an important survey?

They've found out that the females and males

winter in separate areas altogether.

They also found out that the populations

in winter are transient - the birds might stay for a week,

a couple of months, but then move on.

-What's your favourite bird, Maddy?

-Um, I like avocets.

-Do you?

-I saw some avocets this morning. They're pretty, aren't they?

-Yeah.

I like their beaks, the way they curve.

-What are you looking at, Leo?

-Crows.

-What are they, crows?

-Yeah.

-What about those over there?

-They're not crows.

-Oh, them?

-Yeah.

-They're wigeon.

-Wigeon.

How many do you reckon are there?

Probably about...

200.

200? Do you think there are that many?

Did you know it's about 1,000 miles from Iceland to here?

-Is it really that far?

-Yeah.

-And they fly all that way, don't they?

-Yeah.

-That is very, very cool.

Julia Bradbury there with the next David Attenborough.

'I've left the castle behind

'and I'm on the quayside at Dartmouth Harbour

'to meet up with local crab fisherman Jody,

'who's agreed that I can join him on his boat, the Nil Desperandum.

'The Dartmouth crab is rumoured to be particularly good,

'and fishing for them here is mentioned in the Domesday Book.

'It's a tough job catching the crabs,

'but I've been assured that the sea is calm today

and the views are spectacular.'

I'll be helping out on board this boat

and finding out about the highs and lows of crab fishing,

but first, the Country Tracks weather for the week ahead.

.

I've been on a journey through South Devon.

I arrived by rail at my first destination, in Dawlish,

where I met with gardening expert Toby Buckland

to find out about the plants in his favourite Devon haunts.

From there I headed inland, to Buckfastleigh,

where I met the very friendly Pennywell pigs.

But today, my final destination is here in Dartmouth,

where I've been to the beautiful castle

at the mouth of the River Dart.

And now I'm heading out to sea with a local crab fisherman.

Jody Channer is taking me out to his patch in the English Channel

to show me how to catch some top-quality South Devon crab,

rumoured to be some of the best crab in the country.

His boat, the Nil Desperandum, takes him out to the nearby waters,

where he braves all weathers to check his pots for crabs

with crew member Steve.

Jody bought his own boat about ten years ago,

although he's been fishing out here for double that.

Jody, coming out this morning, it's not too rough.

-No, it's a nice day.

-It's fantastic.

But what's it like if you do this day after day?

It's the best job in the world when the sun's shining and it's flat calm,

but then, other times, when it's cold and raining, it's a bit like it.

What are the best bits about it?

Why is it the best job in the world some days?

Being your own boss, coming out, lovely day, lovely weather,

and catching some good crab.

Our lifestyle is get in nice and early and supply the markets.

And that's part of it. You can't just go out and pull in the pots.

-You have to think about markets and taking it back on land.

-You do.

We've got to be careful. Sometimes it's nice to catch a bit more.

We're not restricted as of yet,

but I think quotas are probably going to be coming at some point.

-Really?

-Yeah. We are going to get quotaed.

What difference do you think that would make to you if it came in?

Providing it's a level playing field for everybody,

then there won't be a problem.

But if one country has to do it and the other doesn't,

why should one person chuck something back

when the other guy who's fishing next to him

can catch it and take it in and land it?

At the other end of it, you go out in horrible conditions

-and might come back and have very little?

-That's right.

-How does that feel?

-Not very nice, to be honest with you!

But that's part of the job.

That's why they call it fishing, not catching.

The crab pots are set out in long lines on the seabed.

And just as a tractor ploughs up and down a field,

so Jody sails up and down in his boat, hauling each line in.

It's a long process - bringing the pots on board,

checking for a catch, re-baiting and then returning them

to the water ready for next time.

How... That was your first one. You've got a few crabs there. How was that for a haul?

Not very good. We were hoping for a few more, to be honest.

But it's still early in the season, so some days you get it a bit better

and you're pleasantly surprised and other days you come out and you're not.

-And that was 25 pots, was it?

-Yeah.

-How many pots do you have in total?

We've got 700 out all together, but we do 350 each day.

-We try and even it out.

-That's a lot, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Not compared to a lot of boats, but...

Three different types of crabs.

You've got spider crab and these are both brown, are they?

Yeah. That's a hen crab, the female, and that's the male crab there.

-The males are huge.

-Here comes another one.

In this day and age, fishing should be sustainable.

While it's possible to check the stocks of certain fish,

there's no formal assessment of crab fishing at the moment.

So it's hard to know how they're doing.

But they're not on the danger list at present

and because rejected crabs are returned alive,

this type of pot fishing is a sustainable method.

Ah, there's a biggie.

Jody, that big one that just went in the pot there,

I mean, how much would he sell for?

We sell them for about three pound a kilo.

-That is about a kilo, that one.

-OK, so maybe three quid.

But then, in turn, he'd be sold for a lot more, wouldn't he?

Once it comes up the line,

then, the further it gets through the process line,

then it'll be worth a lot of money.

How much, do you think, for a big crab they'd sell in a shop?

In a restaurant in London, I don't know.

I couldn't afford to eat in one of the restaurants in London!

The price of crab hasn't gone up in the time that I've been fishing.

But everything else, the price of bait and the fuel has skyrocketed.

It's gone through the roof.

Jody often chucks back more than he keeps

as there are strict guidelines on the size and quality of crabs.

It looks quite disheartening,

but it's the only way of keeping good stocks for the future.

The South Devon Crab is world-renowned

for its size and taste. And these standards need to be maintained.

Have you ever had doubts about carrying on and continuing?

Yeah, but I can't really see myself doing anything else, to be honest with you.

It's... It's a way of life. It's a nice way of life

when it's working well, but it does get frustrating at times.

We were...

It was a struggle last year, it really was a struggle, but...

-But that is past is now.

-At what point is it you start doubting,

on the hard years, when nothing's coming in?

The further you get into the year and you're still not catching anything,

then you start to doubt yourself as to what's going on.

But...it comes good a lot of the time.

You've just got to keep going, really.

-You've got to have faith in it?

-Yeah.

Do the little ones you're throwing back here give you that faith?

Yeah, there's a future here.

It just needs to be looked after properly, really.

And, luckily enough, it is.

As I found out, it's very physical work.

The guys spend hours out here, hauling in the pots.

It's a job with massive highs and lows.

But, you know what, they don't seem to want it any other way.

What a wonderful journey around South Devon.

I love this part of the country. I come here all the time on holiday.

And I think this journey has shown just how unspoiled Devon can be -

from ancient hedgerows to the rugged coast.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]