Kent Country Tracks


Kent

Similar Content

Browse content similar to Kent. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

Today I'm in Kent

0:00:210:00:22

exploring the green and glorious Garden of England.

0:00:220:00:26

From its shingle beaches in Dungeness, all the way to the outskirts of London.

0:00:260:00:31

I'm starting my journey in Dungeness.

0:00:370:00:40

Then I'll head to Flatropers Wood,

0:00:400:00:43

in Beckley, before a visit to a fruit farm at Ticehurst.

0:00:430:00:46

I'll stroll through the hot fields of Golden Green

0:00:460:00:50

before my Kent travels comes to an end

0:00:500:00:52

in the skies over Biggin Hill's famous airfield.

0:00:520:00:55

And along the way I'll be looking back at the very best

0:00:570:01:00

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

0:01:000:01:03

This is Country Tracks.

0:01:030:01:05

From here, you can see the famous expanse of shingle that characterises Dungeness.

0:01:150:01:21

The shingle has built up over the century and has formed a kind of Peninsular that has proved deadly

0:01:210:01:26

to ships and their cargo, not to mention the thousands of lives lost.

0:01:260:01:30

By the 17th century, as the shipping lanes around the South Coast became increasingly crowded,

0:01:320:01:38

Dungeness was in desperate need of a lighthouse.

0:01:380:01:41

There have been five lighthouses in the last 400 years.

0:01:440:01:48

Each new structure had to be built bigger and closer to the shore,

0:01:480:01:52

as the shingle beaches grew and the sea continued to retreat.

0:01:520:01:55

The first was built in 1615.

0:01:570:02:01

It was a simple, wooden structure with a fire on top.

0:02:010:02:04

A second brick lighthouse, much taller at 110 ft, was built in 1635.

0:02:040:02:11

It lasted over 100 years

0:02:110:02:12

but it, too, fell victim to the increasing shingle bank.

0:02:120:02:16

After complaints at sea of poor light visibility,

0:02:160:02:18

a third lighthouse was demanded and eventually built in 1790.

0:02:180:02:24

The third lighthouse was similar in height and design.

0:02:240:02:28

It was lit by 17 argon lamps,

0:02:280:02:30

fuelled first by oil and later by petroleum.

0:02:300:02:34

Electricity first came to Dungeness in 1862.

0:02:340:02:38

The fourth lighthouse came in 1904

0:02:380:02:40

after a grand opening ceremony by his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales,

0:02:400:02:45

later King George V.

0:02:450:02:47

At 150 ft, its lights flashed every 10 seconds and it could be seen for 18 miles.

0:02:470:02:53

The fourth lighthouse still stands proud on the landscape here today.

0:02:550:02:59

For 56 years it provided a welcome light to local fishermen

0:02:590:03:04

and other mariners negotiating the perils of the English Channel.

0:03:040:03:07

It was decommissioned in 1960.

0:03:070:03:10

It wasn't the shingle that prompted the building of the fifth lighthouse

0:03:120:03:17

but the arrival of Dungeness power station in the late 1950s.

0:03:170:03:21

The building was so high that it obscured the light from the sea,

0:03:210:03:24

so a new automatic lighthouse was built closer to the water's edge.

0:03:240:03:27

It's still in use to this day.

0:03:270:03:30

Kent's coastline stretches for around 350 miles, making it one of the longest in the country.

0:03:330:03:40

Some of its bays and sandy beaches are renowned for their beauty.

0:03:400:03:44

Some are known for their perfusion of fossils.

0:03:440:03:48

One such place is Botany Bay.

0:03:480:03:51

This landscape of chalk and sand is a rich hunting ground

0:03:540:03:58

for geologists searching for evidence

0:03:580:04:01

of life many millions of years ago.

0:04:010:04:03

These cliffs are a natural storehouse of fossils.

0:04:030:04:07

They are a treasure trove.

0:04:070:04:08

We are very privileged that we have one of the longest stretches of unbroken chalk cliff in Britain.

0:04:080:04:14

It's also particularly soft.

0:04:140:04:15

That's one of the key factors in determining the preservation level we find in the fossils here.

0:04:150:04:21

What are you carrying there?

0:04:210:04:23

This is a portion of a large ammonite

0:04:230:04:25

that lived here in the seas about 80 million years ago.

0:04:250:04:27

These are a relatively common fossil we find here.

0:04:270:04:30

And just a portion - it's huge.

0:04:300:04:32

This is tiny, the full-size would have been a metre and a half across.

0:04:320:04:36

Are you still finding them here?

0:04:360:04:38

Yes, we've got one in the cliffs above us here.

0:04:380:04:41

With it being chalk you must get a lot of erosion.

0:04:410:04:44

Yes, these clips are quite soft.

0:04:440:04:46

Although the island itself is girdled mainly by a concrete promenade,

0:04:460:04:50

this is one of the few bays that's actually completely wild.

0:04:500:04:53

We can see erosion happening on a day-to-day basis.

0:04:530:04:56

After that storm we had yesterday afternoon,

0:04:560:04:58

I noticed there's a cliff fall round the corner.

0:04:580:05:00

It would be wise to have a look at that, you never know what we might find.

0:05:000:05:04

-Here we are.

-Isn't it amazing? A relatively fresh fall.

0:05:040:05:08

We need to be careful not to climb too close to it.

0:05:080:05:13

It is a fantastic place to start looking.

0:05:130:05:16

-There's some here, loads of material.

-What's that?

0:05:160:05:21

This is a fossil sea urchin.

0:05:210:05:23

All of the spines have come off.

0:05:230:05:25

This is another one.

0:05:250:05:28

It's quite a common fossil. None the less, every fossil is unique.

0:05:280:05:31

There is a lump here which I know from looking at it

0:05:310:05:34

has a very nice heart-shaped fossil urchin in it.

0:05:340:05:38

That one will definitely be coming home with me today.

0:05:380:05:41

Along the coastline of Thanet

0:05:410:05:43

you'll also find plant life that can't have changed much

0:05:430:05:47

since flying dinosaurs feasted on giant ammonites.

0:05:470:05:50

It's seaweed in huge variety.

0:05:500:05:53

On the rocks that we can see towards low tide here,

0:05:530:05:57

we have a combination of species that makes it unusual.

0:05:570:06:01

This is also the last outcrop of rock on the east coast of England

0:06:010:06:07

before we get to Yorkshire. It's the last spot where there's hard rock.

0:06:070:06:10

Seaweeds like hard rock to attach to and grow on.

0:06:100:06:14

What have you been finding?

0:06:140:06:15

All sorts of things.

0:06:150:06:17

Most commonly we see this one, the toothed wrack.

0:06:170:06:20

A very common, widespread species.

0:06:200:06:23

This red one is called dulse.

0:06:230:06:28

It was collected by the Scots.

0:06:280:06:31

Dulse is a Gaelic name.

0:06:310:06:33

Eaten in Scotland as a kind of salad.

0:06:330:06:37

What else can you find around here?

0:06:370:06:40

In this pool here, what we have is a large brown seaweed, several seaweeds. This is kelp.

0:06:400:06:47

It's anchored to the chalk.

0:06:470:06:51

It is. The holes you see in this chalk

0:06:510:06:55

are actually bored by a mollusc that actually lives...

0:06:550:07:00

You can just about see the shells inside.

0:07:000:07:04

It lives inside the chalk and weakens the chalk.

0:07:040:07:08

So the effects of waves and tides, and storms

0:07:080:07:13

actually call against the seaweed and cause the chalk to break away.

0:07:130:07:19

We see the seaweed on a piece of chalk here.

0:07:190:07:24

Lots of these beaches along the Kent coast have got blue flags because they are so clean.

0:07:240:07:28

Is that good for the seaweed?

0:07:280:07:30

It's very good for seaweed and all marine organisms.

0:07:300:07:33

The cleaner the sea, the more growth we will get.

0:07:330:07:36

So Thanet's record number of blue flags will benefit

0:07:360:07:40

not just holidaymakers but life in the sea as well.

0:07:400:07:44

As one of the largest expanses of shingle in the world,

0:07:550:07:58

this desolate landscape is officially the UK's only desert.

0:07:580:08:04

Punctuated by crumbling structures,

0:08:040:08:06

this apparent wasteland is a habitat to a unique variety of wildlife

0:08:060:08:11

and over 600 different types of plants,

0:08:110:08:14

a third of all plants found anywhere in the UK.

0:08:140:08:18

Dungeness is also one of the best places in Britain

0:08:210:08:23

to find a rare species of moths, butterflies, bees, beetles and spiders.

0:08:230:08:30

Many of the insects here cannot be found anywhere else.

0:08:300:08:34

It's a really barren landscape in Dungeness, I didn't really instantly warm to it.

0:08:340:08:39

But it has, on closer inspection, got a certain type of prettiness.

0:08:390:08:43

Having said that, I'm not sure I could live here so I'm intrigued to find out why people would.

0:08:430:08:47

I'm off to meet a local resident now.

0:08:470:08:50

Each property has its own individual charm.

0:08:500:08:54

But, over the years, alterations to some of these dwellings

0:08:540:08:57

have disguised the signs of their previous life as a fleet of classic Pullman train carriages.

0:08:570:09:03

-Wow!

-Here is the carriage.

-It's beautiful.

0:09:050:09:08

-You can really feel how it still has that carriage shape.

-Indeed.

0:09:080:09:13

What's great about it is because we've got the curved roof then the stove behind you,

0:09:130:09:21

the Hunter, that convects the heat all the way round so you can be snug.

0:09:210:09:26

How did a railway carriage come to end up on a beach?

0:09:260:09:30

The railway workers who work on the gravel extraction

0:09:300:09:35

loved it here.

0:09:350:09:38

When that was finishing they arranged for the last train to

0:09:380:09:45

become holiday chalets.

0:09:450:09:46

And this was a first-class carriage?

0:09:460:09:48

First class non-smoking.

0:09:480:09:51

But I smoke and it because it's my carriage.

0:09:510:09:54

You can do what you like.

0:09:540:09:56

Dungeness is such a unique landscape, I've never come across anywhere like it.

0:09:560:10:00

-What was it that drew you here?

-I was born and brought up in Africa.

0:10:000:10:04

The majority of the time I was in the Kalahari Desert,

0:10:060:10:10

which is not unlike this landscape.

0:10:100:10:12

All the plants that you see and the landscape,

0:10:120:10:16

they give enough space because nothing will survive

0:10:160:10:20

if they don't allow themselves three metres, six metres, eight metres.

0:10:200:10:24

That has the effect of making the landscape even larger

0:10:240:10:27

because you see these little puffballs receding forever,

0:10:270:10:31

so you've got this sense of vastness.

0:10:310:10:34

Already a successful artist,

0:10:360:10:38

Paddy escaped London ten years ago to settle here in Dungeness.

0:10:380:10:43

He's offered me a personal tour of his studios.

0:10:430:10:47

What is it about Dungeness that gets your creative juices flowing as an artist?

0:10:470:10:52

I basically wander around looking at the same things

0:10:520:10:56

and then one day I look at them and make a small connection

0:10:560:10:59

between something that's there,

0:10:590:11:01

something that might be over there and find a meaning.

0:11:010:11:06

Or I see something so remarkable

0:11:060:11:08

that I drop whatever else I'm doing

0:11:080:11:11

and immediately come back and paint something like this.

0:11:110:11:15

Talk me through this, it's an amazing piece.

0:11:150:11:21

It's the THV Patricia, which is the Trinity House vessel

0:11:210:11:26

that services the buoys all around the coast.

0:11:260:11:30

This ship is perpetually making its way around the British coastline.

0:11:300:11:36

Looking at this picture doesn't look like a particularly bright day.

0:11:360:11:41

It was, it was a day almost exactly like this.

0:11:410:11:44

The boat was as close as it could be and then this strange mist,

0:11:440:11:51

fog mixture, took me over,

0:11:510:11:53

and I couldn't believe what had just happened because the bright sun,

0:11:530:11:58

that was still going through the mist

0:11:580:12:03

and lighting the ship in the most beautiful way.

0:12:030:12:06

I couldn't have imagined it. There was nothing I could do but come back.

0:12:060:12:12

I stopped what I was doing and got to work.

0:12:120:12:17

It's a technical painting but it works.

0:12:170:12:20

I can imagine looking out towards the sea there's some really obvious beauty there.

0:12:200:12:25

But looking over towards the power station, does that ever give you any inspiration?

0:12:250:12:29

Oh, yes! It's Las Vegas at night.

0:12:290:12:34

It's a grey hill in the day, you need a hill.

0:12:340:12:39

We call it The Beast.

0:12:390:12:42

It has its own beauty because the walkways are lit up at night.

0:12:420:12:45

You can see people walking, these tiny people walking along these gantries.

0:12:450:12:51

It's a happy place.

0:12:510:12:53

The people who work there whistle, smile.

0:12:530:12:56

The Tannoys are interesting, banal but sometimes slightly scary.

0:12:560:13:03

Bing-bong-bong, bing-bong-bong, you don't expect it.

0:13:030:13:07

"Reg, can you call your wife, please?"

0:13:070:13:10

It's hard to be indifferent about Dungeness.

0:13:140:13:16

It has an intoxicating effect.

0:13:160:13:19

Paddy has certainly made an intimate connection with the landscape, as both his subject and his home.

0:13:190:13:25

Kent is a county of varying vistas, and my journey takes me through some of the finest it has to offer.

0:13:290:13:36

Flat horizons at its beaches.

0:13:360:13:39

Bountiful orchards Inland and, not far from here,

0:13:390:13:42

dense woodland that provides the perfect hiding place for an elusive animal.

0:13:420:13:48

This positively medieval mammal had been extinct in Britain for centuries.

0:13:480:13:53

Then wild boar farms to provide meat with a difference were set up in Kent.

0:13:530:13:58

And, yes, some animals escaped.

0:13:580:14:00

They avoid contact with human beings

0:14:000:14:02

if at all possible.

0:14:020:14:04

Derek Harman, a former agricultural worker,

0:14:040:14:07

has been on the trail of the wild boar for more than a decade.

0:14:070:14:10

He knows all the signs.

0:14:100:14:11

There's definitely something going on here.

0:14:110:14:14

This is a typical example of wild boar.

0:14:140:14:17

The whole place has been turned over.

0:14:170:14:19

The whole wood is all chestnuts.

0:14:190:14:22

They are looking for the remains of last year's chestnut crop.

0:14:220:14:25

Bluebells and grubs, and worms.

0:14:250:14:27

The evidence for the bluebells is there, tiny shoots where they've uprooted the main bulbs.

0:14:270:14:32

So they have literally turned all the soil over looking for anything they can eat.

0:14:320:14:36

Anything edible.

0:14:360:14:38

What have we got here, Derek?

0:14:380:14:40

We have an actual boar run.

0:14:400:14:43

They come through every night and into the patch of forest on the other side.

0:14:430:14:47

They use the same route night after night.

0:14:470:14:49

Yes, which is why it's smooth.

0:14:490:14:51

Similar to a badger.

0:14:510:14:54

Since their escape, the shy, largely nocturnal creatures have been breeding and spreading.

0:14:540:15:00

From Kent, over the border into East Sussex.

0:15:000:15:04

And it seems there's nothing to stop these animals recapturing all their old stomping grounds.

0:15:040:15:09

Within five to ten years, the whole of the South of England will have a population of wild boar.

0:15:090:15:15

Eventually I would think within ten years, there won't be a large patch of forest in the country

0:15:150:15:21

that hasn't got a population of wild boar.

0:15:210:15:23

And that could cause nationwide hysteria because when the boars first got loose in Kent,

0:15:230:15:28

there were dire warnings.

0:15:280:15:30

Watch out for your pets! Keep your children safe!

0:15:300:15:32

It was a great over-reaction.

0:15:320:15:34

Look what's happened, absolutely nothing.

0:15:340:15:36

Wild boar are very shy animals.

0:15:360:15:37

I spent a week in a forest in Poland looking for bison, but it was full of wild boar. I only saw them once.

0:15:370:15:43

So unless you're unlucky or foolish enough to corner one, you'll be completely safe.

0:15:430:15:47

There hasn't been a problem. Animals haven't been attacked,

0:15:470:15:50

dogs haven't been attacked, people haven't been attacked

0:15:500:15:53

and I think these animals have literally earned their right to stay

0:15:530:15:57

in the countryside, providing they're left alone and not confronted.

0:15:570:16:01

But on the edge of the wild woods where the wild boar live, there are other problems.

0:16:010:16:07

It's harvest time in the hop garden. Hops for British beers.

0:16:070:16:11

This year's crop is good but not good enough to remove the bitter taste in Jenny Farrant's mouth.

0:16:110:16:17

She's had to come to terms with an advancing army of ravenous boars who'll eat anything.

0:16:170:16:23

We have lost half a hop garden because we gave it up after two years of rooting.

0:16:230:16:28

They particularly like the young hop as it comes,

0:16:280:16:32

looking not unlike an asparagus,

0:16:320:16:34

they find that quite delicious so they root up the plant.

0:16:340:16:37

Failing finding hops,

0:16:370:16:39

they'll move on to maize and also spring wheat, delicious.

0:16:390:16:43

We're also on the borders of Romney Marsh and we're famous for our sheep.

0:16:430:16:47

Lambs go too.

0:16:470:16:49

It's a serious problem to us all.

0:16:490:16:52

Given all these worries over the wild boar

0:16:520:16:54

and the fact that their numbers are rising and the territories are spreading,

0:16:540:16:58

what's amazing is the British government

0:16:580:17:00

has no policy on this native British mammal so what's the future for the wild boar? What are the options?

0:17:000:17:07

Wild boar will need to be controlled in exactly the same way that deer,

0:17:070:17:10

if the population gets too high then you need to take certain animals out of the population

0:17:100:17:15

in order to maintain a healthy population of animals left.

0:17:150:17:19

The difference with wild boar and deer being that deer will have one fawn a year,

0:17:190:17:23

wild boar will have four or five piglets a year, so the numbers will increase dramatically.

0:17:230:17:28

Wild boar is a native animal, they do good things in our woods, they root around, they bury seeds,

0:17:280:17:33

so I suggest we do nothing. We enjoy the fact they're here.

0:17:330:17:36

We might be lucky enough to see one. We can see their hoof prints.

0:17:360:17:39

Something else interesting in the countryside.

0:17:390:17:41

Wild boar will cause some problems for farmers

0:17:410:17:43

but farmers have all sorts of things to worry about, this can be another quite small one.

0:17:430:17:47

The accidental reintroduction of wild boar into Britain seems to be unstoppable

0:17:470:17:52

and whether they're hunted for their meat or simply ignored,

0:17:520:17:55

wherever you are, there are likely to be a lot more of these

0:17:550:17:59

in your neck of the woods.

0:17:590:18:01

I've left the spare landscape of Dungeness behind and headed for Flatropers Wood in Beckley.

0:18:080:18:13

It's been almost ten years since that report,

0:18:130:18:17

so have wild boar colonised the forest?

0:18:170:18:21

Derek, were your predictions correct about the population of boars exploding?

0:18:240:18:29

To a certain extent, no.

0:18:290:18:31

The population is governed by the amount of food

0:18:310:18:35

available in the autumn.

0:18:350:18:36

If there's plenty of food about then the majority of the breeding sows will carry piglets.

0:18:360:18:42

If there's very little food about, then probably only one or two,

0:18:420:18:46

maybe will produce piglets and the litter sizes will be down

0:18:460:18:51

so they are in fact, like most wildlife,

0:18:510:18:54

governing their own numbers.

0:18:540:18:56

What's happened to the population you were researching?

0:18:560:19:01

They don't like disturbance

0:19:010:19:02

and the Forestry Commission has been thinning

0:19:020:19:05

and clearing areas of woodland,

0:19:050:19:07

which has driven the boar out and that's been going on for two years.

0:19:070:19:11

What's left of the population?

0:19:110:19:14

The odd boar.

0:19:140:19:17

One or two left in here

0:19:170:19:19

but most of them, due to the disturbance, moved out.

0:19:190:19:23

Flatropers Wood is managed by the local Wildlife Trust

0:19:230:19:26

but the Beckley and Bixley Forests that enclose it

0:19:260:19:29

are owned and managed by the Forestry Commission

0:19:290:19:32

and these forests are now being clear-felled for timber.

0:19:320:19:35

So this is the disturbance you were talking about?

0:19:350:19:39

-My goodness.

-Totally clear-felled.

0:19:390:19:42

This is where the wild boar would've been seen?

0:19:420:19:45

They'd have been laying up because there was enough under story under this to keep them

0:19:450:19:51

settled, calm and away from humans.

0:19:510:19:54

How do you feel about the Forestry Commission's work here?

0:19:540:19:57

Their argument is that this is a commercial forest and it needed to be felled.

0:19:570:20:02

It was a bit upsetting, for a start, a bit disturbing,

0:20:040:20:08

but it will come back and the boar will come back.

0:20:080:20:12

What do you think the wild boar bring to the British countryside?

0:20:120:20:15

It does an awful lot of good.

0:20:150:20:18

It's turning over the soil and it's planting any seeds

0:20:180:20:22

that have fallen on to the surface, like a gardener.

0:20:220:20:25

They're nature's gardeners.

0:20:250:20:27

Providing we leave it alone, it'll leave us alone.

0:20:270:20:32

A representative from Beckley and Bixley Forest said that the Forestry Commission

0:20:320:20:37

follows the Government's national policy on wild boar issued in 2008,

0:20:370:20:42

which states that while there is no need for complete eradication,

0:20:420:20:45

local communities and landowners can manage the populations of wild boar in their area as necessary.

0:20:450:20:52

However, they added that no action has been needed in the last 20 years, as the wild boar in this area

0:20:520:20:58

have been a stable and peaceful population.

0:20:580:21:01

Although they didn't reach the numbers Derek was predicting,

0:21:040:21:08

there is still a significant population in the UK.

0:21:080:21:13

It's estimated there could be 1,000 wild boar throughout Britain,

0:21:130:21:17

with the largest population in the Forest of Dean, where they number well into the hundreds.

0:21:170:21:22

Kent's reputation as the Garden of England makes you think of orchards

0:21:330:21:37

and rolling grasslands but on the border with East Sussex,

0:21:370:21:42

it's densely wooded with shaded walks and towering trees.

0:21:420:21:45

Bedgebury Pinetum and Forest here in High Weald combine

0:21:530:21:56

two very different types of woodland environment.

0:21:560:21:59

There's the Pinetum, which is 320 acres.

0:21:590:22:02

It's very quiet and tranquil and you can sit here and soak up

0:22:020:22:06

the atmosphere created by thousands of fabulous conifers.

0:22:060:22:11

Whilst in the forests surrounding the Pinetum,

0:22:200:22:23

they've developed what will be an all-ability outdoor activity site,

0:22:230:22:27

although I think I've chosen quite a tricky route to start on!

0:22:270:22:31

The Pinetum's been in existence since the early 1920s

0:22:350:22:39

and the forest has been there for another 1,000 years

0:22:390:22:42

before that but there's not a lot of access into the forest for people,

0:22:420:22:46

so what we've tried to do is create new paths, upgrade other paths so we can get people

0:22:460:22:53

from all sorts of social backgrounds and people with disabilities into taking some sort of activity.

0:22:530:22:58

Fun day, lots of activity.

0:22:580:23:01

It's not really important how you do you scores,

0:23:010:23:04

it's how you get on with each other.

0:23:040:23:06

Now that more of the forest is accessible,

0:23:060:23:08

it can welcome schoolchildren who wouldn't normally visit the countryside.

0:23:080:23:12

Today the kids are from John Donne Primary School in Peckham, South London,

0:23:120:23:16

and after some instructions, they're off.

0:23:160:23:18

Go, go, go!

0:23:180:23:20

Orienteering.

0:23:200:23:21

And after a quick break for lunch,

0:23:380:23:40

the kids are taught some basic survival skills, starting with building a shelter.

0:23:400:23:44

So what's the best thing you've learnt today so far?

0:23:470:23:50

-Work in a team.

-To work harder and to listen.

0:23:500:23:52

How good do you think today has been for the kids?

0:23:520:23:56

It's been wonderful, it's nice to get in the fresh air. It's very different to where we come from in Peckham.

0:23:560:24:02

Can you close the door?

0:24:020:24:03

# I want to ride my bicycle... #

0:24:070:24:11

And she's going off-road!

0:24:130:24:17

The Pinetum is in a separate part of the forest.

0:24:210:24:24

It was established in 1925 as a result of the London smog,

0:24:240:24:29

where air pollution and poor soil made Kew Gardens unsuitable

0:24:290:24:32

for growing conifers, so they were brought here instead,

0:24:320:24:36

but this is where I have to get off my bike because as the sign says, no cycling.

0:24:360:24:40

As home to 330 species, the Pinetum is the most complete collection

0:24:420:24:47

of conifers on one site in the world.

0:24:470:24:50

They're not everybody's favourite tree.

0:24:540:24:56

But to me and to a vast number of people

0:24:560:24:59

they're just fantastic living organisms.

0:24:590:25:02

They are huggable trees, aren't they?

0:25:020:25:04

They're like the cuddly bears of the tree world.

0:25:040:25:06

You hit the nail on the head there.

0:25:060:25:08

They're just huggable. Some of these trees, you look around here,

0:25:080:25:12

behind us you've got the coast redwoods. That's the tallest living organism.

0:25:120:25:16

That's pretty tall, but they can grow much taller than that, can't they?

0:25:160:25:19

They grow to about 376 foot when they grow out in the Californian coast.

0:25:190:25:23

That's a very, very large tree.

0:25:230:25:25

And if you look behind us, you've got the giant redwood.

0:25:250:25:28

And that is the largest living organism, the largest living thing on the planet.

0:25:280:25:34

They're only babies here, of course, because in the wild they grow to several thousand years old.

0:25:340:25:40

From the shade of Flatropers Wood

0:25:510:25:54

I'm travelling on to the fertile fields of Ticehurst.

0:25:540:25:57

The south east of England produces 50% of Britain's eating apples,

0:26:020:26:06

65% of its cooking apples,

0:26:060:26:08

three quarters of its pears and 90% of Britain's cherries.

0:26:080:26:13

Many of these orchards are found right here in Kent,

0:26:150:26:17

and several offer the chance to go onto the farm and pick your own.

0:26:170:26:22

Why did you decide to do pick-your-own rather than growing for supermarkets?

0:26:270:26:33

Well, when my parents started doing it back in the '60s,

0:26:330:26:36

people were getting their first freezers in the home,

0:26:360:26:39

and a lot of families getting their first car loved to come out to the countryside.

0:26:390:26:44

It was an economy thing, people would do it because the fruit was cheaper.

0:26:440:26:47

But really that's changed now.

0:26:470:26:49

People come just because they enjoy being in the countryside.

0:26:490:26:52

And so it's quite a good business for us.

0:26:520:26:54

What have we got here looking so red and tempting?

0:26:540:26:56

These are tayberries. You hardly see them in the supermarket

0:26:560:27:00

because they haven't really got a very good punnet life.

0:27:000:27:03

When you're picking them you have to grasp the whole fruit,

0:27:030:27:07

and that tends to squash them and you end up with a bit of juice at the bottom.

0:27:070:27:10

No difference in flavour but it does make a difference in the supermarket.

0:27:100:27:13

I've got this real hedgerow feeling where you see red berries and you instantly feel like jumping in.

0:27:130:27:18

-Would I be allowed to try one?

-Of course, yes.

0:27:180:27:20

There you go, try that one.

0:27:200:27:22

It's a cross between a raspberry and a blackberry.

0:27:220:27:25

You can get both of them coming through.

0:27:250:27:27

That blackberry flavour's really clear in there. How lovely.

0:27:270:27:31

What are these trees here?

0:27:370:27:39

-These are apricots.

-Apricots in England?

0:27:390:27:41

-Yes!

-Wow!

0:27:410:27:42

Wow, these cherries look amazing, Tom, they look absolutely fabulous.

0:27:460:27:50

-They're my favourites!

-Me too! And lots of other people.

0:27:500:27:54

Hmm...

0:27:560:27:58

They're amazing.

0:27:580:28:00

How lovely. On the farm you've got such a huge variety of fruit,

0:28:000:28:05

you pick your own season - it's actually incredibly long, isn't it?

0:28:050:28:09

Yeah, we open the beginning of June and run through till the end of September.

0:28:090:28:12

We start off with strawberries, gooseberries, raspberries, then the cherries and cane fruits,

0:28:120:28:19

and lots of different sorts of plums, because I'm a great plum fan.

0:28:190:28:23

And apples and nuts. But lots of different varieties within that so that I've got a longer season.

0:28:230:28:29

For example, we should have cherries from about late June through to late July, early August.

0:28:290:28:34

Similarly with the strawberries, I try to have about a five or six-week season with different varieties.

0:28:340:28:40

And that also spreads the risk, particularly with cherries,

0:28:400:28:43

if you get cold weather during flowering, you don't get a crop.

0:28:430:28:46

And so if you've got different flowering dates, you're more likely to get one of them coming up trumps.

0:28:460:28:52

There's been a bumper crop of cherries this year,

0:28:540:28:57

with over ten tonnes expected to be picked on the farm this season.

0:28:570:29:01

But if there's one fruit synonymous with pick-your-own, it's the British strawberry.

0:29:010:29:06

The smell of strawberries hits you as you come around the corner.

0:29:080:29:12

The air smells so sweet.

0:29:120:29:14

-Let's pick a row.

-OK.

0:29:140:29:16

This is the bit I'm looking forward to - I've even brought a punnet along!

0:29:160:29:20

What variety have you got here?

0:29:200:29:22

These ones are Amelia, which is a new variety for this year, bred in Kent.

0:29:220:29:28

And it's one that comes at the end of the season.

0:29:280:29:32

There's quite a lot of green fruit still there, but there's also some nice red ones just starting.

0:29:320:29:37

-I'm really pleased with it.

-I've just spotted a massive one.

0:29:370:29:40

-Can I try before I buy?

-Yes!

0:29:400:29:42

You certainly can.

0:29:420:29:45

Oh, this is a whopper.

0:29:450:29:47

-Check that out!

-Looks good.

-Looks good.

0:29:480:29:51

I had supermarket strawberries not so long ago, and the only similarity to strawberries was the texture.

0:29:540:30:00

This is a lovely strawberry flavour, just as I remember.

0:30:000:30:03

-Lovely background flavour, yeah.

-Gorgeous.

0:30:030:30:07

Right then, that's the only one I'll try, I promise!

0:30:090:30:12

Well, I'll believe you! And I'll leave you to it.

0:30:120:30:15

All right, thank you very much. Bye!

0:30:150:30:18

Unlike many commercial growers who prioritise supermarket shelf life and high yields,

0:30:190:30:24

the traditional pick-your-own farmer grows for taste.

0:30:240:30:28

And it's this that keeps people coming back year after year.

0:30:280:30:31

From the fruit fields of Ticehurst I'm travelling on to Golden Green,

0:30:360:30:40

once at the heart of Kent's hop growing industry.

0:30:400:30:44

The county of Kent is particularly famous for producing hops,

0:30:450:30:49

and you can't walk too far without

0:30:490:30:51

coming across a relic of its once booming brewing industry.

0:30:510:30:54

Kent's iconic oast houses

0:30:540:30:56

are a lasting symbol of Britain's cultural heritage.

0:30:560:31:01

These picturesque buildings were used for drying hops

0:31:010:31:05

in preparation for the brewing process.

0:31:050:31:08

Freshly picked hops were brought in from the fields, spread out on the

0:31:080:31:12

floor and dried by hot air from a wood or charcoal-fired kiln.

0:31:120:31:15

They were then left to cool and bagged up for the brewery, ready to make beer.

0:31:150:31:20

Oast houses spread up all over Kent

0:31:200:31:23

in the Victorian era, the height of Britain's hop industry.

0:31:230:31:27

They were carefully constructed and extremely attractive for what was really just a farm building.

0:31:270:31:33

Throughout history, well over half the hops produced in the UK

0:31:330:31:38

were grown here in Kent.

0:31:380:31:40

In recent years the industry has suffered a marked decline.

0:31:400:31:44

But at its height hops were grown on 72,000 acres of land, nationwide.

0:31:440:31:50

Last year only 2,644 acres of land was used to grow hops in the UK.

0:31:510:31:58

And with the number of producers dwindling to only 37, the industry has shrunk dramatically.

0:31:580:32:04

Kent is a county that's proud of its farming heritage.

0:32:050:32:09

The hop fields may not be quite so abundant, but memories of their heyday are very much still alive.

0:32:090:32:15

In its heyday Kent had hundreds of farms growing hops for the brewing industry.

0:32:170:32:23

Every September up to 4,000 Londoners,

0:32:230:32:26

most of them from the East End, would flock here to pick the crop.

0:32:260:32:30

Here at Paddock Wood, this was once the largest hop farm in the county.

0:32:300:32:35

Now it's the Hop Farm Country Park.

0:32:350:32:37

And it's coach parties, not pickers,

0:32:370:32:40

who come here for the annual Hop Festival.

0:32:400:32:43

When the hops got taller...

0:32:430:32:46

Colin Felton dresses as an old-time picker to lead the tours.

0:32:460:32:49

Fifty years ago he was one of six children in a family

0:32:490:32:53

that combined hop picking with a bit of a holiday away from the smoke.

0:32:530:32:57

We always started first week in September,

0:32:590:33:02

and then it was four weeks, maybe five,

0:33:020:33:04

which we used to lose a lot of school.

0:33:040:33:07

But no one worried because we earned money for the family to get clothes to go back to school.

0:33:070:33:11

So at the age of four and five you were earning money?

0:33:110:33:14

Even younger. As soon as you could walk.

0:33:140:33:18

If you couldn't reach the bin, you'd pick into an umbrella.

0:33:180:33:21

Or you'd go behind the bin and pick up the loose hops in a box, so you was earning money.

0:33:210:33:25

-It wasn't much of a holiday then?

-Oh, it was for us.

0:33:250:33:28

We didn't want to go down the coast.

0:33:280:33:30

Every year we got the letter from the farmer to say that we

0:33:300:33:33

could come, and we knew we was going on holiday.

0:33:330:33:35

The farmers provided some rough accommodation, didn't they?

0:33:350:33:38

Yeah, the huts, the famous huts.

0:33:380:33:40

They was about eight foot by eight foot.

0:33:400:33:44

Sometimes they were made of corrugated iron, and as we couldn't leave anything here for the winter,

0:33:440:33:48

cos it was so damp, and we used to hire a lorry with the other families,

0:33:480:33:52

we had to fetch all the bedding, me mum used to fetch curtains, and most times we even

0:33:520:33:58

papered the corrugated iron - and you can imagine how it was getting round the corrugated iron with paper!

0:33:580:34:03

Trying to make it home from home.

0:34:030:34:05

Me brothers and sisters and me mum used to come down here.

0:34:050:34:08

We'd have two beds.

0:34:080:34:10

The boys would be in one bed, and and all the girls would be with me mum in the other one.

0:34:100:34:14

-A bit noisy I should think, wasn't it?

-It was.

0:34:140:34:16

When me dad and that would come down, they'd all go off to the pub.

0:34:160:34:20

Me mum would give us our tea, then she'd go off to the pub.

0:34:200:34:23

And these huts, there was only the walls, they didn't have no apex walls, so the whole huts was joined.

0:34:230:34:29

And when they come back from the pub, usually late at night,

0:34:290:34:33

worse for wear, some of them,

0:34:330:34:35

you could hear everything that was going on.

0:34:350:34:38

The rows...more. Everything that was going on.

0:34:380:34:41

And the kids used to be all there giggling because we could hear everything that was going on.

0:34:410:34:46

Nowadays children come here to glimpse into bygone days.

0:34:480:34:51

But for some visitors this place brings back memories.

0:34:510:34:54

I had three children and it was hard work getting them out for the field for seven in the morning.

0:34:540:35:00

You'd put 'em in the pram and you'd go across the fields till you got to the hop field.

0:35:000:35:04

It was hard work but it was good, it was lovely.

0:35:040:35:07

It was great fun, really.

0:35:070:35:10

-Yeah.

-I believe I earned £7.14.

-That was a lot of money then.

0:35:100:35:14

-Oh, it was, yeah.

-A lot of money.

0:35:140:35:15

In the 1960s, crop picking machinery changed everything,

0:35:150:35:19

and Londoners were more prosperous anyway.

0:35:190:35:23

So the annual hop down to Kent came to an end.

0:35:230:35:26

Today they are fully mechanised you do need people do help out.

0:35:260:35:30

Where do they come from nowadays?

0:35:300:35:32

They're still from the east, but instead of the East End of London, it's Eastern Europe.

0:35:320:35:36

They're still living in temporary accommodation,

0:35:360:35:40

but it's far superior to what the Londoners had in the old days.

0:35:400:35:45

Now the toilets flush and there are showers.

0:35:450:35:48

-So the golden days have gone, really?

-The romance is still there.

0:35:490:35:52

As far as I'm concerned it still will be and ever will be, although at times it drives me mad!

0:35:520:35:58

When you look back now on those days, what are your thoughts?

0:36:000:36:04

I do regret it all finishing and going onto machines.

0:36:040:36:07

And a lot of Londoners, that was it.

0:36:070:36:09

They never went on holiday after that, all the older people.

0:36:090:36:13

It was just a fabulous time down here.

0:36:130:36:15

Following the spiralling fall in demand for British hops,

0:36:230:36:26

the market now seems to have stabilised,

0:36:260:36:28

with the renewed call for traditional ales and the increase of micro breweries.

0:36:280:36:33

I'm continuing my journey through Kent, from its vast empty coastline

0:36:350:36:40

towards the increasingly urban fringes of London.

0:36:400:36:43

My next stop is Biggin Hill.

0:36:430:36:45

Kent is blessed with some of the most fertile and productive fields and orchards in Britain.

0:36:480:36:52

Even though the South East is densely populated,

0:36:520:36:56

70% of Kent's land is farmed.

0:36:560:36:58

But this agricultural heartland has a long-standing bond with another institution - the armed forces.

0:37:020:37:09

I've come to Biggin Hill to get a taste of life in the forces

0:37:150:37:18

with the Air Training Corps.

0:37:180:37:20

MARCHING INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN, WHISTLE SOUNDS

0:37:210:37:24

Squadron 2427 is one of 36 cadet squadrons based here in Kent.

0:37:290:37:35

Their headquarters is the legendary Battle of Britain fighting station just behind me.

0:37:350:37:40

And they are the last uniformed unit to be stationed here at Biggin Hill.

0:37:400:37:45

It's a very disciplined environment of uniforms, drills and parades.

0:37:450:37:50

It's only fair that I have a go and see how I fare in comparison.

0:37:500:37:53

-Would you like to fall in there, please?

-Yes. I look so scruffy!

0:37:550:37:58

You're all right. Stand to attention with your heels together.

0:37:580:38:01

Your left foot goes from there up to the bend the knee position,

0:38:010:38:05

which is thigh parallel to the ground and out to shoulder width.

0:38:050:38:08

Squad! Attention!

0:38:080:38:11

Squad, stand at ease!

0:38:110:38:13

Oh, wrong foot!

0:38:130:38:15

Squad, move to the right!

0:38:170:38:19

Right, turn!

0:38:190:38:22

'I feel Corporal Jones from Dad's Army!'

0:38:220:38:24

March! Left, right, left, right, left, right...

0:38:240:38:30

'Actually this is a real insight into the emphasis on discipline

0:38:300:38:34

'which starts early in the armed forces.'

0:38:340:38:36

-Very well done.

-A bit better!

0:38:380:38:40

When I say, "Squad halt", they're gonna stop. Squad, halt!

0:38:410:38:45

-Thank you for being so patient with me!

-You're welcome.

-Fantastic.

0:38:470:38:51

Seventy cadets meet twice a week

0:38:510:38:54

and take part in a huge range of activities,

0:38:540:38:56

such as drill practice, kayaking and go-kart building.

0:38:560:39:01

A lot of it is fun, but the programme is designed

0:39:010:39:04

to discipline the mind

0:39:040:39:05

and create a unit who act to orders, as one body of people.

0:39:050:39:09

And I get to try out the squadron's flight simulator. Jump in?

0:39:110:39:14

-Yeah, jump in.

-This is extraordinary.

0:39:140:39:17

This feels very real. It's all metal.

0:39:170:39:20

It used to be a real air frame.

0:39:200:39:22

-It did?

-OK, you see this flap on the right-hand side?

0:39:220:39:25

-This?

-Yeah. Pull it down for me.

0:39:250:39:27

OK, and push the little red button.

0:39:270:39:30

That'll start the aircraft underneath the flap. There we go.

0:39:300:39:33

OK, so we reached our safe height of 3,000 feet.

0:39:400:39:43

So, what we're going to do is do our first manoeuvre,

0:39:430:39:46

-which is a barrel roll.

-This is normal practice, is it, for a cadet?

0:39:460:39:49

Yes, this is normal practice.

0:39:490:39:51

-I'm teaching you the same thing that everybody else does.

-OK.

0:39:510:39:54

-So, we reach a safe speed of 120 knots.

-There's the ground.

0:39:540:39:56

Pull the stick back.

0:39:560:39:59

Feet touching horizon. We pull the stick back and left and left foot.

0:39:590:40:03

Horizon rolls.

0:40:050:40:07

As we straighten up again, feet and stick level.

0:40:070:40:10

And pull back up until we see the horizon as it was before.

0:40:100:40:14

-I'm sure I'm going to crash this thing.

-OK, you happy with that?

-No! But yeah.

0:40:140:40:18

-No?

-No, I will, I'll have a go.

-OK, pull the stick back.

0:40:180:40:22

Back a little bit.

0:40:220:40:24

A little bit more. A little bit more.

0:40:240:40:26

There we go.

0:40:260:40:27

Pull the stick back to left, and feet to the left. All the way.

0:40:270:40:32

There we go. As we're coming round, stick it into the middle.

0:40:320:40:37

Oh, I'm going a funny place.

0:40:370:40:39

There we go. There we go.

0:40:390:40:41

-I've seen worse first times.

-You've assisted me very kindly there.

0:40:410:40:45

One other thing you can do in this aircraft is explore its envelope and do a stall.

0:40:450:40:50

Its basically where the aircraft falls out of the sky.

0:40:500:40:53

It's completely safe.

0:40:530:40:54

It's completely controlled.

0:40:540:40:56

What we do is, we cut off the power and let the aircraft rise.

0:40:560:41:00

Why would it rise if the power went off?

0:41:000:41:02

-Sorry?

-Why would the plane rise if the power went off?

0:41:020:41:05

What I'm doing is, I'm pulling the stick back, just to let the air speed bleed off.

0:41:050:41:09

-It's gone quiet.

-And it'll go very quiet.

0:41:110:41:14

Then, all of a sudden you hear a very loud warning telling us that we're falling out of the sky.

0:41:140:41:18

-ALARM SOUNDS

-And you see the ground racing towards you.

-Yeah.

0:41:180:41:22

What you'd do is just power on.

0:41:240:41:26

Stick down. Get a load of airspeed back up.

0:41:290:41:32

-Resume straight to level flight.

-Shall we take it in to land?

0:41:320:41:35

-Yes, that's what we're turning round to do.

-OK.

0:41:350:41:38

-So, as you can see, the airfield is in front of us.

-Is that Battersea Power Station?

0:41:380:41:42

Yeah, that's Battersea Power Station over there.

0:41:420:41:45

You can also see the Millennium Wheel.

0:41:450:41:48

Gently, gently.

0:41:510:41:53

That's incredible.

0:41:530:41:55

OK, and we're down.

0:41:570:41:59

Look at that. Perfect.

0:41:590:42:00

Barely bounced. All in a day's flying.

0:42:000:42:04

Thousands of soldiers, sailors and pilots have passed through

0:42:060:42:09

the airfields and barracks of Kent.

0:42:090:42:11

I'm sure that many of these guys will one day find themselves as new recruits,

0:42:110:42:16

continuing that proud, military heritage.

0:42:160:42:18

But there are some people who have a totally different take

0:42:200:42:23

on celebrating our armed forces.

0:42:230:42:26

UP-TEMPO '40's-STYLE MUSIC PLAYS

0:42:320:42:34

Hello, my name is Joanne Bater.

0:42:410:42:43

I live here on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.

0:42:430:42:45

During the week, I'm a mother of two and a housewife, but during the weekend, I go back to the 1940s.

0:42:450:42:51

Right, today, we're off to Whitstable Castle. It's a big 1940s event.

0:42:550:42:59

'Everyone will be there with their 1940s vehicles, all re-enacting, and we're taking a along the NAAFI wagon.

0:42:590:43:05

'It's quite the star of the show.

0:43:050:43:07

'My father was into it, and he said, come along to a big show, and we just fell in love with everything.

0:43:100:43:15

'We absolutely loved it.

0:43:150:43:17

'We didn't own a vehicle at that time,

0:43:170:43:18

'but everything escalated and now, we've got our vehicles

0:43:180:43:21

'and we just go to a show most weekends throughout the summer.'

0:43:210:43:24

When I first got into this, I said to my husband, there's no way I was going to dress up,

0:43:260:43:30

but when you've got the vehicles, you really do have to look the part,

0:43:300:43:34

so I've got the NAAFI overalls that go with the NAAFI wagon.

0:43:340:43:37

I roll my hair every morning.

0:43:370:43:38

Now this obviously takes quite a bit to do, and I have to tell my

0:43:380:43:42

hairdresser not to cut the layers in too much so I can get it in, so that's what takes over my life a bit.

0:43:420:43:48

The shoes that I wear goes with the overalls, and then you have to think

0:43:480:43:51

about your make-up, the jewellery that you've got on, that will look in time, that will look 1940s.

0:43:510:43:58

We're inside the mobile canteen which was more affectionately calls a NAAFI wagon.

0:44:020:44:07

This would have followed the fire service around during the Second World War.

0:44:070:44:11

If the firemen went out to a house that had been bombed, it would go behind them and

0:44:110:44:14

would be there providing tea and other things for the firemen.

0:44:140:44:18

We were so lucky when we got this NAAFI wagon that it did have a lot of the cups with it.

0:44:180:44:23

We do, obviously collect them if we're out and about

0:44:230:44:26

but everyone loves having a cup of tea out of these enamel cups,

0:44:260:44:29

and when we got it we couldn't believe that they were all here.

0:44:290:44:32

Also, we've collected between us, lots of these tins to go inside, cos everyone loves seeing the

0:44:320:44:37

tins, perhaps remembering what their nan and granddads had, and every

0:44:370:44:40

time we see one, we have to buy it to put it on display, because this is what everyone really enjoys.

0:44:400:44:46

As we all know, the British love a cup of tea.

0:44:460:44:49

If there's a crisis, we all have a cuppa tea. So, when in doubt,

0:44:490:44:52

brew up.

0:44:520:44:55

# Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me

0:44:550:44:59

# Anyone else but me

0:44:590:45:02

# Anyone else but me... #

0:45:020:45:04

We belong to a society which is the Invicta Military Vehicle Preservation Society.

0:45:040:45:09

IMPS, for short. We just love the atmosphere of it.

0:45:090:45:12

There's a lot of vehicles on the parade today.

0:45:120:45:15

My husband and my son are in the parade, and this is what we like to do.

0:45:150:45:19

We must remember that there was a lot of lives lost during World War Two.

0:45:250:45:29

We like to keep the memory alive,

0:45:290:45:31

not that the Second World War was something

0:45:310:45:33

that perhaps was to be celebrated, of course it's not, but the memory, we can't forget, we can't forget

0:45:330:45:39

those people and we haven't got many veterans alive from the Second World War anymore, and it's nice that the

0:45:390:45:44

younger people and especially younger than me, my son and my daughter, will come and keep the memory alive.

0:45:440:45:50

Right, it's the end of the day, I've had a fabulous show here at Whitstable Castle.

0:46:020:46:07

It's a shame to go back to real life, but I do miss my lip-gloss and my high heels, so, never mind!

0:46:070:46:13

I've just arrived at the last stop on my journey,

0:46:280:46:31

Biggin Hill International Air Fair.

0:46:310:46:33

Before I go and explore, I'm getting to go up in this amazing biplane,

0:46:330:46:37

exposed like this, hence the warm jacket,

0:46:370:46:40

and see from above, some of the countryside that I'd been roaming through on my journey so far.

0:46:400:46:46

I started my journey through Kent on the shingle banks of Dungeness.

0:46:460:46:50

I visited Flatropers Wood in Beckley

0:46:500:46:53

and stopped to sample fruit in Ticehurst.

0:46:530:46:57

I travelled through the fields of Golden Green

0:46:570:46:59

and then went on parade with Biggin Hill's 2427 Air Cadet Squadron.

0:46:590:47:05

My last stop is going to be at the Biggin Hill International Air Fair, but first, I've got to land.

0:47:050:47:12

'I'm in a modern biplane usually used for wing walking stunts.

0:47:160:47:19

'I'm safely in the co-pilot's seat, but I still feel very exposed.'

0:47:190:47:24

I've certainly flown before, but I've never felt this connected.

0:47:280:47:32

To the skies, to the wind.

0:47:320:47:34

If you took away the noise, this would be the closest to flying like a bird.

0:47:360:47:41

This area has a long and historic association with the Royal Air Force.

0:47:410:47:46

It was from Kent airfields like Biggin Hill below me that fighter planes

0:47:460:47:51

flew to the beaches of Dunkirk, and it was in the skies over this

0:47:510:47:55

great county that one of the Second World War's most famous battles took place, the Battle of Britain.

0:47:550:48:02

It really gives you a sense of how early flying was very risky,

0:48:020:48:07

very brave.

0:48:070:48:09

You can imagine all of that in amongst warfare.

0:48:090:48:13

It becomes quite imaginable.

0:48:140:48:17

Spitfires, Lancaster Bombers and Hurricanes all landed at Biggin Hill.

0:48:350:48:41

And the rich history of this golden era is celebrated every year at the

0:48:410:48:46

Biggin Hill National Air Fair just down there.

0:48:460:48:49

Woo! Ha ha!

0:48:510:48:53

Oh.

0:48:540:48:56

That's amazing.

0:48:570:48:59

This year's show is expecting 120,000 visitors to flood through

0:49:120:49:16

the gates, but today is reserved for a more exclusive group, the potential pilots of the future.

0:49:160:49:21

Today, it's Youth Day.

0:49:210:49:24

Invited from local schools and colleges, the boys and girls will have a unique opportunity to sample

0:49:240:49:29

the latest equipment on site and talk to career experts from across the armed services.

0:49:290:49:35

The day is set to inspire and excite the next generation.

0:49:350:49:39

A truly hands-on opportunity for young people to pursue their ambition.

0:49:390:49:44

In its 46th year, the Biggin Hill Air Show has been an inspiration to many.

0:49:450:49:50

One of those who've turned that inspiration into the ultimate dream is Red Arrow's number seven.

0:49:500:49:55

Local man and ex-Biggin Hill Squadron Air Cadet, Mike Ling, discovered his dream as a child

0:49:570:50:03

after seeing the Red Arrows display for the first time at this very show.

0:50:030:50:08

Now, he's part of this elite group, renowned throughout the world as

0:50:080:50:11

ambassadors for both the Royal Air Force and the United Kingdom.

0:50:110:50:16

The Red Arrows were officially formed in 1965 and have completed over 4,000 displays in 53 countries.

0:50:160:50:24

I'm so, so excited about being this close to a Red Arrow.

0:50:250:50:29

-Can you hop out to show me around?

-Yes, sure.

-That would be fantastic.

0:50:290:50:33

-This is amazing.

-This is my aeroplane. We get issued or allocated an aeroplane for the season.

0:50:350:50:40

So, how long have you been in the Red Arrows?

0:50:400:50:43

This is my second year with the Red Arrows, so I've been doing the job for just over 18 months.

0:50:430:50:48

I've got another year. We all do three years as the pilots.

0:50:480:50:50

We're here at Youth Day, is it important for you to inspire young people here,

0:50:500:50:54

-cos that's what inspired you?

-Absolutely.

0:50:540:50:56

I came as an air cadet and I remember seeing the teams performing, not just the Red Arrows,

0:50:560:51:00

performing on Youth Days and meeting the pilot and talking to them, and asking them

0:51:000:51:04

what's required of me at school and what I have to do to be able to do this job. So, it's important to me.

0:51:040:51:09

How did you feel from being a small boy, seeing the Red Arrows

0:51:090:51:13

to now being in the Red Arrows.

0:51:130:51:14

-How was that?

-Amazing. I never thought it would happen.

0:51:140:51:17

I didn't think that was possible for me to be able to do that,

0:51:170:51:20

but when I got told I'd got the job, I was over the moon.

0:51:200:51:23

I didn't cry, but I was close.

0:51:230:51:25

-My wife cried!

-Did she?!

0:51:250:51:26

Today's event is filled with excitement and expectation, but the past is never forgotten.

0:51:260:51:33

This show, and so much more, exists thanks to the courage

0:51:330:51:36

and skill shown by those who flew over this county

0:51:360:51:40

defending Britain when so much was at stake.

0:51:400:51:43

One of those heroes is here today.

0:51:430:51:45

Wing Commander Peter Ayerst joined the RAF in 1938 when he was just 18 years-old.

0:51:450:51:52

How long after you arrived before you actually got up in the air, on your first flight?

0:51:540:51:59

-About half a day.

-Is that all?! Half a day!

0:51:590:52:02

I arrived about midday,

0:52:020:52:06

-by 4 o'clock I was airborne.

-That's extraordinary.

0:52:060:52:09

-Were you nervous?

-No!

0:52:090:52:11

But I already had some experience with this friend of mine, so I knew a little bit about it.

0:52:110:52:16

Clocking up 975 Spitfire flights in his career, Peter flew a staggering

0:52:170:52:22

four operational campaigns during the Second World War.

0:52:220:52:26

This was a rarity. Many brave pilots were killed during their first.

0:52:260:52:31

With such an outstanding record, Peter has become one of the most celebrated pilots of his time.

0:52:310:52:36

From his early days as the face of an RAF recruitment campaign,

0:52:360:52:39

to his place at today's event here at Biggin Hill,

0:52:390:52:42

he's still inspiring the pilots of tomorrow.

0:52:420:52:45

You've had the most extraordinary career,

0:52:470:52:49

what are your most memorable and proudest moments from flying?

0:52:490:52:52

We'd been patrolling over our front lines, protecting our troops,

0:52:520:52:58

and we got mixed up with some German fighters.

0:52:580:53:03

I shot two down.

0:53:030:53:05

And I was going after another one when there were a lot of anti-aircraft fire coming up.

0:53:050:53:11

I was hit by the anti-aircraft fire and I saw a track ahead of me

0:53:130:53:17

and I thought, "I've got to land there, come what may."

0:53:170:53:20

So I made a wheels up crash-landing on that track.

0:53:200:53:24

I leapt out of the aircraft and lay flat on the ground, because the Germans were still firing at me.

0:53:240:53:31

So, I just let them think they'd got me, and I didn't move, I lay flat on the ground.

0:53:310:53:36

I was going to start walking off in an easterly direction

0:53:360:53:38

and I heard a motor vehicle coming up and I thought,

0:53:380:53:41

"Oh, my God, here come the Germans," instead of which an Australian voice called out, "Anybody there?!" So...

0:53:410:53:48

I said, "Yes," he said, "Jump in quick."

0:53:480:53:52

So, I jumped in quick and we tore off at a terrific speed in an easterly direction

0:53:520:53:57

across the desert, and after about 25 minutes, half-an-hour, when we got into a safe area,

0:53:570:54:03

the major said to me, "You know that track you crash-landed on?" I said, "Yes."

0:54:030:54:07

He said, "You couldn't have landed anywhere else, it was all mined!"

0:54:070:54:11

Goodness! What luck!

0:54:110:54:13

ENGINES ROAR OVERHEAD

0:54:130:54:16

Pretty spectacular.

0:54:160:54:18

-What you think of the Red Arrows display?

-Very good.

0:54:180:54:21

-It's a remarkable sight.

-Very good.

-Never get tired of seeing that.

0:54:210:54:25

Kent beaches have long been on the front line of defence.

0:54:360:54:39

Its skies have witnessed bitter battles.

0:54:390:54:42

Its fields and orchards have produced food for millions.

0:54:420:54:46

All this makes it a quintessential and today, a really quite perfect image of England.

0:54:460:54:52

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:55:050:55:08

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS