0:00:19 > 0:00:22Today, I'm on a journey through the lowlands of Suffolk.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26It's a place with all the rural trappings you'd expect
0:00:26 > 0:00:28from this tranquil corner of the country,
0:00:28 > 0:00:32but with some mysteries and surprises too.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34I'm starting my journey in Thorpeness,
0:00:34 > 0:00:40then I'll head for Rendlesham Forest before visiting the archaeological site at Sutton Hoo.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42My Suffolk travels will end among the butterflies
0:00:42 > 0:00:44at Wherstead Farm, south of Ipswich.
0:00:44 > 0:00:50And along the way, I'll be looking back at the very best of the BBC's rural programmes
0:00:50 > 0:00:54from this part of the world. This is Country Tracks.
0:01:00 > 0:01:05Beginning my journey, I'm near the Suffolk coastline on this beautiful mere in the village of Thorpeness.
0:01:05 > 0:01:10Thorpeness Mere covers an enormous 64 acres and is alive with wildlife.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15But this is not a natural lake.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18It's entirely man-made.
0:01:18 > 0:01:24In fact, the whole idea of the village was dreamt up by friend of Peter Pan author JM Barrie.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27Thorpeness was originally a small fishing hamlet.
0:01:27 > 0:01:33Then, in 1910, a Scottish barrister called Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie bought a swathe of local land
0:01:33 > 0:01:38and transformed the village into a fantasy holiday destination.
0:01:38 > 0:01:44His aim was to create a fashionable resort which took people back to the days of merry old England.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49I'm meeting his great-grandson Glen Ogilvie to find out more about this enchanting place.
0:01:49 > 0:01:54His idea was that he would create a village that had something for everybody.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58He's quoted as saying, "If children are happy, parents have a holiday,"
0:01:58 > 0:02:02and that, believe me, is as true today as it was back in 1910,
0:02:02 > 0:02:04when he started the village.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08And this example here - rather unusual-looking building.
0:02:08 > 0:02:13- Undoubtedly, it's unique. - It's many of the odd ones here. Give me some of the history of this.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17Great-grandfather built a steel water tower,
0:02:17 > 0:02:20and it was a monstrosity and he hated it.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22He didn't know what to do with it.
0:02:22 > 0:02:27And a friend of his, a lady called Mrs Mason, said, "If you turn it into a house, I'll live in it,"
0:02:27 > 0:02:32and that is how it came to be. The name The House In The Clouds came from Mrs Mason.
0:02:32 > 0:02:37Great-grandfather was going to call it The Gazebo, and she said, "No, no, that's my house in the clouds."
0:02:37 > 0:02:42- That's where it got it's name. - It's a romantic name and I can see why she named it that.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45I'm going to take a closer look if I may. It's so unusual.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01So, Glen, this is another iconic building in Thorpeness,
0:03:01 > 0:03:05- but it wasn't originally built on this spot, was it?- No, it wasn't.
0:03:05 > 0:03:11It was moved here from the village of Aldringham, which is about two miles inland,
0:03:11 > 0:03:15and converted from its original function as a corn mill to a water pump.
0:03:15 > 0:03:21It was dismantled by a millwright whose name I believe was Ted Friend, taken to pieces and brought here.
0:03:21 > 0:03:29The millwright had to drill that great big post, which is very hard oak,
0:03:29 > 0:03:31for the driveshaft for the pump.
0:03:31 > 0:03:36And he had to get it absolutely perpendicular, and he had to get it right first time,
0:03:36 > 0:03:40and it was all done with a hand auger. I think it's an absolute work of art.
0:03:40 > 0:03:47How was life in its heyday, when Thorpeness was buzzing and the full vision of the village came together?
0:03:47 > 0:03:51It was a place, perhaps not of grandeur, but of splendour and fun,
0:03:51 > 0:03:53which was the original idea of the village.
0:03:53 > 0:03:59And even today, it's still enjoyed in very much that same ideal.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02Yes, it really is. It's still a haven for children.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06Even the adults living out their childhood fun with all those activities on offer.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09For the Peter Pan in us all - the boy who never grew up.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12- Yes, I suppose there is that about it, yes.- Absolutely.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32Thorpeness is nestled next to the sea, so I've taken the chance
0:04:32 > 0:04:36to continue my journey with a bracing coastal walk.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40The Suffolk coastline is a haven for flora and fauna.
0:04:40 > 0:04:45A few hundred metres inland is a man-made lagoon with its own rich ecosystem,
0:04:45 > 0:04:47which Michaela Strachan explored.
0:04:47 > 0:04:52Saline lagoons act as a halfway house between marine and freshwater environments,
0:04:52 > 0:04:56and as such are home to very specialised plant and animal communities.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59They're one of the rarest habitats in Europe, and here
0:04:59 > 0:05:02on the east coast of Britain are some of the best examples.
0:05:02 > 0:05:07But these precious habitats and the wildlife they encourage are now under threat.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12Most coastal areas now have sea defences which don't allow new lagoons to form.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14Rises in sea level and climate change
0:05:14 > 0:05:17can also have a catastrophic effect.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20So conservation groups have got together to look at
0:05:20 > 0:05:25not only how to manage the lagoons we've already got, but also how to create new ones.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28There's very little saline lagoon throughout the whole of Europe.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31They're listed in the Habitats Directive
0:05:31 > 0:05:34as a priority habitat - they're the most rare and the most threatened.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38In the UK, we've only got about 5,000 hectares dotted around the whole coast,
0:05:38 > 0:05:40most of them small sites like this.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44Also, we have species that are specialised to live in lagoons -
0:05:44 > 0:05:48quite harsh conditions, extremes of temperature and salinity.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52Some species are protected under the Wildlife And Countryside Act because they're so rare.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56The guide has been written by conservation groups working together,
0:05:56 > 0:06:01amongst them, English Nature, the Environment Agency and the RSPB.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04Matt, what creatures do you find here that you don't find anywhere else?
0:06:04 > 0:06:06Well, we've got some here.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10- I'll just get them into this tray. - So it's lots of very wee beasties,
0:06:10 > 0:06:13- really?- Yeah, most of the things are small invertebrates.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17That's what most of the important things in lagoons are.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20What about these little transparent things?
0:06:20 > 0:06:25They're a sort of little prawn, really, which you get in lots of brackish water bodies,
0:06:25 > 0:06:28and there's lagoon corophium, which is another crustacean.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32They are really like a stretched out woodlouse.
0:06:32 > 0:06:38From the RSPB's point of view, species in the lagoons support birds.
0:06:38 > 0:06:43You've got wading birds feeding on them. The avocet, which feeds and lives and nests on saline lagoons,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46will be feeding on these sorts of species in the lagoons.
0:06:46 > 0:06:53If it's birds you're interested in, then one of the best lagoons to come to in the UK is Minsmere in Suffolk.
0:06:53 > 0:07:00Here, the RSPB have created man-made lagoons where you can find over 300 different species.
0:07:01 > 0:07:06- Hi, Geoff.- Hi, Michaela. - Any good birds today? - It's a bit mixed at the moment.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08The breeding season's over now,
0:07:08 > 0:07:10so most of the things like the avocets have left.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14But we're seeing lots of migrant waders coming through,
0:07:14 > 0:07:18birds which bred in Arctic Europe. They have a quick refuel stop, then on to West Africa.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21The amazing thing about this lagoon is that it's man-made.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25Yeah, it was the first lagoon of its type in the world.
0:07:25 > 0:07:32It was based on the fact that this was partially flooded during the war, and natural lagoons began to form.
0:07:32 > 0:07:37We've excavated three main lagoons, put lots of islands in, a very intricate water-control system,
0:07:37 > 0:07:41and it's been copied everywhere from Spain to Australia.
0:07:53 > 0:07:58Right next to the sea, the shingle beaches are a feature of the Suffolk coastal landscape.
0:07:58 > 0:08:04What I find amazing is that these windswept shores can harbour such a diverse selection of plant life.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09Malcolm Farrow is an expert in the field.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14Malcolm, it's so lovely walking along the beach on a day like today, isn't it?
0:08:14 > 0:08:18- Yes, fantastic, isn't it? You couldn't be in a better place, really.- No, not at all.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23Most people expect to see plants colonising the dunes and that part of beach life,
0:08:23 > 0:08:28- but down here on the shingle it's quite a surprise to come across so many.- It's amazing.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30It's the last thing you'd expect to see,
0:08:30 > 0:08:33because shingle's such a hostile environment for plants.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35It's a pretty tough place for any kind of life,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38- so to get such a huge variety is amazing.- And flowering plants.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42- What's this with these beautiful white flowers?- This is sea kale
0:08:42 > 0:08:44and this is a real tough customer.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49- Yes!- It's just sort of purpose-built for this kind of environment.- How so? - You have a feel of these leaves
0:08:49 > 0:08:54- and feel how thick and rubbery they are.- Like rubber.- Incredible, isn't it?- Astonishing.
0:08:54 > 0:09:00- So what conditions do these plants have to deal with? There's not a lot of fresh water.- No, that's right.
0:09:00 > 0:09:05The only fresh water you get is the stuff that comes down from the sky,
0:09:05 > 0:09:07- and it's going to go straight through these stones.- Yeah.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11These plants have incredible root systems to suck up as much moisture as they can
0:09:11 > 0:09:16- and store it in the leaves. - This is in flower. What time of year would you expect to get this?
0:09:16 > 0:09:21Well, it's just starting to come out now and it'll flower right the way through May and into June.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24Then, once the flowers have set seed,
0:09:24 > 0:09:26you get lovely seed heads all over the plant.
0:09:26 > 0:09:32It looks like the kale you get in gardens and supermarkets, but I presume we can't eat this stuff.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36You could. It's a very close relative and people do... Here, they're protected.
0:09:36 > 0:09:42You'd have to get the permission of the landowner to eat or harvest them, so I wouldn't recommend it here.
0:09:42 > 0:09:48- What else have we got on the beach after the kale?- Well, another famous incumbent here is sea pea.
0:09:48 > 0:09:53- Shall we go and have a look at some? - Yeah, let's see if we can find some sea pea.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07This is a much rarer plant than sea kale.
0:10:07 > 0:10:12- It looks completely different. Looks much more delicate. - Yeah, it does, doesn't it?
0:10:12 > 0:10:17- It looks much more fragile. - And is it?- Well, no, it's just as tough in its own way.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20It's just got a different strategy for survival here.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24While the sea kale makes a big clump, sea pea likes to stay low.
0:10:24 > 0:10:30This one hugs the ground as a way of staying out of the worst effects of the wind and the elements here.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34You tend to find sea pea growing quite close to the wilder part of the beach.
0:10:34 > 0:10:40What happens is, after it sets seed, the seeds end up in the sea,
0:10:40 > 0:10:45and they'll float about and colonise another bit of beach. It's quite a scarce plant.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48- Goodness. What a great find. - Yeah, it is.- And that's its flower?
0:10:48 > 0:10:53- Yeah. A lovely flower.- Gosh, that is pretty. Given that this is so rare,
0:10:53 > 0:10:57and it's doing well in Suffolk, do you think local people are quite proud of this
0:10:57 > 0:11:02- and like having all the plants on the beach?- I do. I think it's a real Suffolk speciality.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06We've got a lot of really good areas of vegetated shingle beaches,
0:11:06 > 0:11:11and sea pea is perhaps the real, most glorious plant here, really.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14It is very pretty. I'm so glad to have seen it.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21My coastal walk continues to the village of Aldeburgh.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25In the 16th century, Aldeburgh was a leading port and had a flourishing ship-building industry.
0:11:25 > 0:11:31Sir Francis Drake's ships Greyhound and Pelican were both built here.
0:11:31 > 0:11:38But the town is also known as home of one of the country's best-loved composers - Benjamin Britten.
0:11:38 > 0:11:44I have tried to live elsewhere, but a magnet always brings me back.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48I feel at home in this kind of scenery.
0:11:48 > 0:11:53The marshes, the small villages, the fishermen in their boats -
0:11:53 > 0:11:59that all is a part of my life without which I cannot seem to do.
0:11:59 > 0:12:04This is the old mill in the village of Snape, and Britten was living here when he wrote
0:12:04 > 0:12:11his most famous work, Peter Grimes, a story of a local fisherman who was a loner and an outcast.
0:12:11 > 0:12:16And from this balcony, Britten would be able to look down to the old barley maltings in Snape.
0:12:16 > 0:12:23And later, when those buildings became derelict, he was inspired to turn them into a great concert hall.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26It was a completely mad idea in many ways,
0:12:26 > 0:12:29but there again, starting up a music festival in 1948
0:12:29 > 0:12:33in a tiny fishing village about as far east in England as you can go
0:12:33 > 0:12:35also must have seemed pretty mad at the time.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38The concert hall was a huge success from the start,
0:12:38 > 0:12:46mainly because the natural qualities of the venue - the acoustics that come from the brick and the wood -
0:12:46 > 0:12:51meant that it had a very fine sound indeed, and musicians and audiences were very excited by that.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54And also, of course, its incomparable setting.
0:12:54 > 0:13:01His routine was to walk along the riverbank every afternoon, after spending the morning composing.
0:13:01 > 0:13:07Then he'd work again from tea-time till dinner, but no later in case any wrong notes got through.
0:13:12 > 0:13:17Britten loved the church here at Orford, a couple of miles from his home,
0:13:17 > 0:13:20not least because the acoustics are excellent.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23And in fact he chose this church for the very first performance
0:13:23 > 0:13:28of his much-loved work for young people, Noah's Flood, the biblical story of the Ark.
0:13:28 > 0:13:34And here's a small statue of Noah reaching out to the returning dove to remind us.
0:13:41 > 0:13:46The performance was such a success, technically as well as artistically,
0:13:46 > 0:13:51that Britten decided to record another of his works here in the church.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53It was the Burning Fiery Furnace,
0:13:53 > 0:13:58and the recording session took three days in May 1967.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05It was filmed by the BBC, and not everyone in the village
0:14:05 > 0:14:09was pleased to see an invasion of so many musicians.
0:14:11 > 0:14:16Well, the traffic's shocking. It's worse than Piccadilly Circus on a Saturday night.
0:14:16 > 0:14:21I cater for my local trade and I don't even stop to think about what visitors might want.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24If I haven't got what they want, that's just too bad.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27In any case, their attitude is, "Oh, haven't got so-and-so?"
0:14:27 > 0:14:31You'd think it was Fortnum & Mason's, not the village shop!
0:14:31 > 0:14:36There's a much warmer welcome these days, but even then, tourists were beginning to discover the area.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41Britten needed tranquillity, and he moved here, to the Red House in Aldeburgh,
0:14:41 > 0:14:46with his partner, the singer Peter Pears. It was to be his last home.
0:14:46 > 0:14:51Previously, the Red House was, for about two centuries, a dairy farm,
0:14:51 > 0:14:56and the room in which we're now sitting was actually a milking shed
0:14:56 > 0:14:59and a school for dairy maids and dairy lads, I suppose.
0:14:59 > 0:15:05In 1963, they really decided that they wanted a place where they could store books, manuscripts,
0:15:05 > 0:15:08scores that they collected as well.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12Obviously too, they wanted a space that was large enough to accommodate the rehearsals,
0:15:12 > 0:15:16a place that could accommodate small local ensembles.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20They also wanted a room large enough for a nice large grand piano.
0:15:20 > 0:15:27The rooms are quite large but not large enough for a ten-foot concert grand, so they built this place.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31They started in 1963 and I suppose it was opened in '64.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35You have a great collection of photographs, covering most of Britten's life?
0:15:35 > 0:15:39Indeed, yes. We've got 12,000 photographs in the collection.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43Here's a photograph of Britten in the 1930s, at work composing.
0:15:43 > 0:15:48It's a rare photograph of him wearing spectacles. You didn't often see him wearing spectacles.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50There he is on the beach at Aldeburgh.
0:15:50 > 0:15:56That's right, yes. Very near his beloved sea, where he found a great deal of inspiration, of course.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00And finally, we've got a picture of him with Peter Pears,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03taken not long before his death.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07And of course, towards the end of his life, he heard in this very room
0:16:07 > 0:16:11one of his last completed compositions, a string quartet, the Third String Quartet,
0:16:11 > 0:16:15which was performed in the space at the end of the room here.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19He was extremely ill and the Amadeus came and played the quartet for him.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22It must've been a very moving moment.
0:16:22 > 0:16:27Oh, yes, it would have been extremely emotional for him. For everyone concerned, I should think.
0:16:40 > 0:16:45Benjamin Britten died nearly 30 years ago and, until recently,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48there was no memorial to him here in Suffolk.
0:16:48 > 0:16:53But in November 2003, this sculpture, highly controversial,
0:16:53 > 0:16:57by Maggi Hambling, was unveiled here on the beach at Aldeburgh.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02It symbolises his love for this coastline and for the sea.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10When you listen to his music, when you're actually here on the Suffolk coast,
0:17:10 > 0:17:16there's something about his music that taps into the spirit of his place.
0:17:18 > 0:17:23It's feeling that connection, I think, between the music and the place
0:17:23 > 0:17:28that I think is very, very special, and certainly speaks to me.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39I've left Aldeburgh behind and I'm heading 12 miles inland to Rendlesham.
0:17:39 > 0:17:44Driving into the heart of Rendlesham's forest,
0:17:44 > 0:17:48I'm planning to set up camp and enjoy a night amongst the trees.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52But first, I want to investigate a mystery that continues to baffle.
0:17:52 > 0:17:57This may look like a picturesque and peaceful spot with the sun setting but, in 1980,
0:17:57 > 0:18:02an incident happened in this very forest that made headlines
0:18:02 > 0:18:04all around the world.
0:18:07 > 0:18:13Now then, you may remember the sensational claim earlier this week that a glowing UFO had landed
0:18:13 > 0:18:17in some woods near the US Air Force base at Woodbridge in Suffolk.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19We had an eye-witness, a former security guard
0:18:19 > 0:18:22who wanted to remain anonymous, and this is what he had to say.
0:18:22 > 0:18:27This thing came down, it went right over and sat there maybe two seconds.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30It was just a ball of light in the air.
0:18:30 > 0:18:36Maybe 20 feet off the ground, 30 feet, and it dispersed in a multitude of colours,
0:18:36 > 0:18:40and they all seemed to fall on top of this thing. And before our eyes,
0:18:40 > 0:18:46it's almost indescribable, but there was a craft, an alien spacecraft or whatever.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49Servicemen initially thought it was a downed aircraft.
0:18:49 > 0:18:55Three of them entered the forest to investigate, armed with torches, a Geiger counter and a dictaphone.
0:18:55 > 0:19:00150 feet or more from the initial suspected impact point...
0:19:00 > 0:19:04What happened next sparked interest around the world.
0:19:04 > 0:19:09A number of strange lights appeared to move through the trees, while a single bright light
0:19:09 > 0:19:11appeared to emerge from an unidentified object.
0:19:11 > 0:19:16I'm meeting the first civilian on the scene that evening, Vince Thurkettle,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19to retrace the steps those servicemen took through the forest.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21That night, OK, we've got...
0:19:21 > 0:19:26This here was a tactical American air base. Tons of planes, tons of weapons,
0:19:26 > 0:19:30and I believe there were three young airmen on guard here.
0:19:30 > 0:19:31And it's probably a bit like this.
0:19:31 > 0:19:36We're late at night. They saw something burn in the sky.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40They thought it crashed in the forest. They asked permission to go out and were told,
0:19:40 > 0:19:44"Leave your weapons, go out and see what it was." Can you imagine?
0:19:44 > 0:19:47They must have had kittens! This is where it all started.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51This is the east gate. They left their weapons and three of them went into the forest
0:19:51 > 0:19:55around midnight or something. This is Close Encounters Of The Third time.
0:19:55 > 0:20:01This is a very exciting, very serious time, so when these guys set off in the woods
0:20:01 > 0:20:04to find something that had crashed, this is a big deal.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08Now, call me paranoid, but there's a lot of activity going on.
0:20:08 > 0:20:14I think a lot of the UFO people are paranoid, but I have to say, every time I've brought people here,
0:20:14 > 0:20:20a military helicopter comes and seems to shadow us, and by God, it's happened now, even at night.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22- It's amazing.- It is amazing.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Well, let's move on to our next destination in this story.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29- OVER RADIO:- OK, why don't we do this? Why don't we make a sweep?
0:20:29 > 0:20:31I think it's much better...
0:20:31 > 0:20:36So this is odd, isn't it, walking through the woods at night?
0:20:36 > 0:20:41Well, not really, because this is what the young airmen will have experienced when they came out.
0:20:41 > 0:20:47They've left the gate, come up the tracks and walked through a forest pretty much like this.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52- What did they see?- They're looking for something that's crashed, so they're wandering about
0:20:52 > 0:20:58and then they see this pulsing light through the trees ahead of them.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02It's described as yellow or reddish, but there's this pulsing light
0:21:02 > 0:21:06five, six feet above the forest floor, illuminating the forest.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10And very bravely, actually, they follow it, they move towards it,
0:21:10 > 0:21:14and it appears to move away from them through the trees as they get towards it.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17They must've been so excited at this point - terrified excited!
0:21:17 > 0:21:22- Terrified and slightly mad to follow it. I'd have raced home. - They're pretty brave.
0:21:22 > 0:21:28- Very brave! Well, we need to follow in their footsteps. Let's bravely... - Let's push on through the woods.- OK.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER
0:21:31 > 0:21:34OK, here we are on the edge of the forest.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36So what would have happened next?
0:21:36 > 0:21:42Well, they've got here. Whatever they were seeing, they think it's now flown out across these fields.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46We're whispering! Interesting - we've started whispering!
0:21:46 > 0:21:49But animals went berserk about here.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53Now, whether they were wild animals they flushed out of the forest
0:21:53 > 0:21:55or whether it was farm animals, I don't know.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59- What's your explanation for what they saw? - They were following a light.
0:21:59 > 0:22:04They followed it, it moved away, then they got to the edge of the forest, where we are now,
0:22:04 > 0:22:09and they stared out across these fields, and were staring straight into the beam of a lighthouse.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13So science suggests that it could have been the lighthouse they saw,
0:22:13 > 0:22:18and the animals could've been spooked by them? So what's kept this myth, potentially, going?
0:22:18 > 0:22:22We still have the core that, on two separate nights,
0:22:22 > 0:22:26two groups of airmen came out in this forest and saw a pulsing light within the woods,
0:22:26 > 0:22:29and watched it for hours in one case.
0:22:29 > 0:22:34They WERE staring at a lighthouse, but in all honesty,
0:22:34 > 0:22:38whether it could've fooled them for two nights, that's incredible.
0:22:38 > 0:22:433.05, we see strange, strobe-like flashes...
0:22:43 > 0:22:49They're sporadic, but there's definitely something there, some kind of phenomenon.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51I've just finished the UFO trail,
0:22:51 > 0:22:56which I found absolutely fascinating, and even as something of a non-believer,
0:22:56 > 0:23:00it's left me suitably spooked to be staying alone in the forest at night.
0:23:00 > 0:23:05But if you're going to camp out, you might as well do it in style.
0:23:05 > 0:23:11My accommodation for the night may look vintage Americana, but it is in fact brand-new...
0:23:11 > 0:23:13OWL HOOTS
0:23:13 > 0:23:18..and very snug. I always love camping, but there's something about camping on your own
0:23:18 > 0:23:24that's pretty spooky, and having gone round the forest in the dark,
0:23:24 > 0:23:30hearing about UFOs doesn't often help your cause when you're feeling a bit spooked.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34But there's something about camping in this incredibly luxury vehicle
0:23:34 > 0:23:39that has a lock on the door... that really helps.
0:23:39 > 0:23:45And I tell you what also helps is... outside, I can hear two nightingales singing,
0:23:45 > 0:23:50which is quite a rare thing these days, and it makes me think that the dawn is coming
0:23:50 > 0:23:55because it's birdsong. Now I'm not quite so frightened.
0:24:02 > 0:24:08I had a very good night's sleep in my wagon of dreams last night.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11It was a lighthouse, not a UFO!
0:24:11 > 0:24:16I feel much braver this morning... and a little bit daft.
0:24:18 > 0:24:23This is perhaps the most famous UFO incident to have happened in Britain,
0:24:23 > 0:24:27and ranks amongst the best-known UFO events worldwide.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31Two decades earlier, just down the coast at Orford Ness,
0:24:31 > 0:24:37a series of events occurred which, though frightening and fantastic, were definitely of this planet.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45This was the United Kingdom's own Area 51.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47Grant, what's Orford Ness
0:24:47 > 0:24:50got to do with weapons of mass destruction, then?
0:24:50 > 0:24:54This is where they were carrying out tests on Britain's atomic arsenal
0:24:54 > 0:24:58between the 1950s and the 1970s.
0:24:59 > 0:25:07This, Adam, is the type of bomb that they were testing here on Orford Ness, and this is a WE177,
0:25:07 > 0:25:10which was the last of Britain's own atomic weapons,
0:25:10 > 0:25:17and this was developed here on Orford Ness from the mid-1960s onwards until 1971.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21And this particular weapon is a fairly small strategic weapon
0:25:21 > 0:25:24of 200,000 tonnes of TNT,
0:25:24 > 0:25:29which is about 200 times the power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
0:25:29 > 0:25:34- Terrifying.- It is, for something so small, and it's often what people comment on.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38They're expecting something massive, but actually it's very small.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42And what sort of tests were they doing on bombs like this here?
0:25:42 > 0:25:44They called them environmental testing -
0:25:44 > 0:25:50looking at all the environments that the bomb may be subject to, doing things like vibration testing -
0:25:50 > 0:25:53mimicking the vibration in an aircraft carrying it.
0:25:53 > 0:25:58And they were also looking at extremes of temperature - the highs, the lows -
0:25:58 > 0:26:03and the humidity encountered, and a whole host of other different tests
0:26:03 > 0:26:09which basically were designed to make sure that it was transported safely and, when it arrived,
0:26:09 > 0:26:11it was in a good condition to operate.
0:26:13 > 0:26:19One young man involved in those tests during the '50s and '60s was Jim Drane.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21What work were you doing here, Jim?
0:26:21 > 0:26:25Originally I was on the trials team. We were doing airborne trials.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28So the planes used to fly over here?
0:26:28 > 0:26:32Yes. They were controlled from this building. This was the bomb ballistics building,
0:26:32 > 0:26:36and they controlled the aircraft. There was a target
0:26:36 > 0:26:38about three-quarters of a mile out,
0:26:38 > 0:26:41more or less in that direction over there.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44Was it quite exciting? Was there sort of a good team working?
0:26:44 > 0:26:51Well, on the airborne trials, we were working to a timetable in a lot of cases
0:26:51 > 0:26:54because of the live nuclear tests taking place at Christmas Island,
0:26:54 > 0:26:58and we had to complete our tests before those ones could take place.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01HUGE EXPLOSION
0:27:01 > 0:27:06Although the work was quite secretive, did you ever feel like the Russians were looking in on us?
0:27:06 > 0:27:12If we heard that Russian vessels were in the area, we had to switch all our equipment off.
0:27:12 > 0:27:13Yes, that did happen.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17'Here at Orford, in May 1935,
0:27:17 > 0:27:22'a small team of experimental scientists was detached from Slough
0:27:22 > 0:27:25'to conduct these first experiments in RDF...'
0:27:25 > 0:27:32RDF, or radar as it later became known, was tested here too, along with aircraft-delivery systems,
0:27:32 > 0:27:36free-falling bombs, and a pilot's best friend - the parachute.
0:27:36 > 0:27:42'..a typical aircraft at 10,000 feet up to 45 miles.'
0:27:44 > 0:27:46So what's the future, then?
0:27:46 > 0:27:49Well, it's a National Trust property,
0:27:49 > 0:27:51and what we're looking at is continuing the restoration.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55We're continuing to enhance it for its conservation interest.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58Some buildings we're restoring, others we're not.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01The best way of illustrating is to look at Orford Castle.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05Here we have a military structure built in the late 12th century
0:28:05 > 0:28:11which became redundant, and so it was just allowed to ruinate.
0:28:11 > 0:28:16It was many hundreds of years later that somebody decided it was worth preserving.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18This may be the same for these buildings.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22We have neither the resources financially or technically
0:28:22 > 0:28:26to do much in the way of restoration of some of these very large buildings.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28But who knows what the future holds?
0:28:28 > 0:28:34Money may be available, the technology may be available, and the will to do it.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36Somebody will come along and restore them
0:28:36 > 0:28:41and the Cold War will be a major historical feature, and Orford Ness in it.
0:28:48 > 0:28:54Leaving Rendlesham and Orford Ness behind, I've travelled south to Sutton Hoo.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58Opposite the harbour, along the bluffs of the eastern bank of the River Deben,
0:28:58 > 0:29:04lies the site of two Anglo-Saxon cemeteries dating back to the 6th and 7th centuries.
0:29:05 > 0:29:10When Edith May Pretty and her husband moved into this house in 1926,
0:29:10 > 0:29:14they heard local stories of untold gold,
0:29:14 > 0:29:19but it wasn't until 1937, when she employed Suffolk archaeologist Basil Brown,
0:29:19 > 0:29:26that Britain's most important and atmospheric archaeological site was uncovered here at Sutton Hoo.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31I'm meeting Sutton Hoo guide Lindsay Lee.
0:29:32 > 0:29:39So, Lindsay, this is Mound One that Basil Brown excavated all those years ago. What did he find?
0:29:39 > 0:29:42Well, the most exciting thing was that he put in a trench
0:29:42 > 0:29:45from that area round there, right through,
0:29:45 > 0:29:51and discovered pretty well straight away ship rivets, iron ship rivets or clench nails,
0:29:51 > 0:29:54but the important thing was that they were in situ.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56They had not been moved by man.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00And so, as he followed them along and down,
0:30:00 > 0:30:06then he discovered that they were actually following the lines of a clinker-built ship.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09So what was the significance of finding the ship?
0:30:09 > 0:30:17The importance of an Anglo-Saxon ship here, of late 6th, early 7th century,
0:30:17 > 0:30:20is that nothing had been found of that period in this country before,
0:30:20 > 0:30:25indeed, in the world before of that period, apart from outside Scandinavia.
0:30:25 > 0:30:31And here, there are two ships on this site, a third one being about ten miles away at Snape,
0:30:31 > 0:30:32which was slightly earlier,
0:30:32 > 0:30:38and it looked as if, obviously, this site was a very special burial site
0:30:38 > 0:30:41of these early Anglo-Saxon rulers
0:30:41 > 0:30:46who had pagan burial practices of being buried in a ship.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49So was it absolutely ground-breaking at the time?
0:30:49 > 0:30:52It was ground-breaking, and it changed the history books
0:30:52 > 0:30:56and it's changing the history books to this day. And Sutton Hoo,
0:30:56 > 0:31:01because of layers and layers of history on this one site, continues to change the history books.
0:31:01 > 0:31:06We're still writing and finding out about this site and about this special place.
0:31:06 > 0:31:10- And, other than the ship, did you find anything else here in Mound One?- Of course.
0:31:10 > 0:31:15The treasure. An amazing amount of artefacts were found.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18This was the richest hoard ever discovered to this day
0:31:18 > 0:31:21of this early period,
0:31:21 > 0:31:26and these artefacts came not only from here but from all over Europe,
0:31:26 > 0:31:33from the Mediterranean areas, right up through the Rhine region, through to Scandinavia,
0:31:33 > 0:31:37and that pinpoints that this was not just any old local ruler.
0:31:37 > 0:31:38This was an important man.
0:31:38 > 0:31:43The fact that the treasure was here suggests it hadn't been robbed at Mound One?
0:31:43 > 0:31:47There had been an attempted robbery in the 16th century, and the robbers came here,
0:31:47 > 0:31:51just about where you're standing, and actually sunk a shaft.
0:31:51 > 0:31:56We know they'd been here because they left their lunch at the bottom of the shaft at some stage,
0:31:56 > 0:32:01and it was a 16th-centruy Bellarmine jar, which of course we could date.
0:32:01 > 0:32:06- And they had missed the burial chamber by about 9 to 12 inches. - What luck!
0:32:06 > 0:32:10Absolute luck, and it's a luck to this day that they had done that.
0:32:15 > 0:32:19So, Lindsay, what are these flint markings here on the ground?
0:32:19 > 0:32:24These just mark out where some early graves were, which came as a big surprise,
0:32:24 > 0:32:28another great surprise at Sutton Hoo. There's so many of them.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31They're actually of a slightly later date, we think.
0:32:31 > 0:32:37To begin with, we didn't know what they were, because the sand bodies were quite obviously
0:32:37 > 0:32:39very badly mutilated when we dug them up.
0:32:39 > 0:32:46And then, in the following five, ten years, a lot of research has been done about these early pagan sites.
0:32:46 > 0:32:51We now think pretty firmly that they were executed by early Christians.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54So firstly, why are they called sand bodies?
0:32:54 > 0:33:01OK. Right, Sutton Hoo, sand is very acidic here and it destroys everything.
0:33:01 > 0:33:05A bone, a 90-foot ship, you name it, anything,
0:33:05 > 0:33:10disintegrates very quickly in the acidic soil,
0:33:10 > 0:33:14and so what you have here is not skeletons but,
0:33:14 > 0:33:17as the body matter leaches out on decay,
0:33:17 > 0:33:24it actually melds with the soil, the sand, and makes rather like an inverted sand castle.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28So the sand takes over the body that was there,
0:33:28 > 0:33:35and so, a thousand years later, you dig up and you see the shape in sand.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40So, Lindsay, there are two mounds of flint here. What are these for?
0:33:40 > 0:33:43Well, yes, it isn't two mounds, it's one mound.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47And here again is the surprise. It took us completely by surprise.
0:33:47 > 0:33:52And when we dug here, we went down the middle of the mound,
0:33:52 > 0:33:55as one would expect, and that's what robbers did.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59At some stage in the past, they went right down the middle
0:33:59 > 0:34:04and they missed two graves on either side, in the middle of the mounds.
0:34:04 > 0:34:09Here we found an intact grave of a young warrior man,
0:34:09 > 0:34:17aged between 17 and 24, perhaps, with his knapsack, with his spear,
0:34:17 > 0:34:21with his sword. He had been groomed for kingship maybe.
0:34:21 > 0:34:25And in the other one was a horse, a male horse,
0:34:25 > 0:34:3114.2 hands high, maybe his favourite steed, we don't know,
0:34:31 > 0:34:37and that horse was killed as a sacrifice on his death,
0:34:37 > 0:34:42which was quite normal in Anglo-Saxon burial practice.
0:34:42 > 0:34:47How was it for you personally, coming across something so rare and intact?
0:34:47 > 0:34:54Well, I'm privileged to have dug here because every barrow-load came up with something.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58You can dig for years at sites and not come up with anything.
0:34:58 > 0:35:03But Sutton Hoo has so many layers of history to it, so much archaeology,
0:35:03 > 0:35:05and things had survived
0:35:05 > 0:35:11as a testament here, particularly to these early, wonderful years,
0:35:11 > 0:35:16and the first page of English history, which is Sutton Hoo.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19Over the decades, Sutton Hoo has slowly given up
0:35:19 > 0:35:25its ancient secrets of Saxon kings, their ships and weapons of war.
0:35:25 > 0:35:30In more recent times, this part of Britain has been associated with people who work the land.
0:35:30 > 0:35:35It was this rural tradition which inspired theatre and film director Sir Peter Hall,
0:35:35 > 0:35:38and he came to Suffolk to tell this story.
0:35:38 > 0:35:44Blending fact with fiction, he set out to create an enduring portrait of a farming community.
0:35:46 > 0:35:50Over 30 years ago, a film about rural life
0:35:50 > 0:35:52set in a beautiful, fictional Suffolk village
0:35:52 > 0:35:54entered cinematic history.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57It told the story about three generations of a farming family
0:35:57 > 0:36:02and the changing face of the English countryside.
0:36:02 > 0:36:06That village was called Akenfield, and what made this film unique
0:36:06 > 0:36:10was that it wasn't actors carefully reciting lines from a script.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14It was local people speaking from the heart about the lives they loved and lived.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20Directed by Sir Peter Hall, the film takes place over one day in Akenfield.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23It revolves around the funeral of Old Tom, who,
0:36:23 > 0:36:27apart from going to fight in the First World War, like so many,
0:36:27 > 0:36:29never left the village in which he was born.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32Events are seen through the eyes of Young Tom, his grandson,
0:36:32 > 0:36:36with loads of lovely flashbacks to years gone by and the two great wars.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39He used to be so fond, Tom, of this village.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42Well, you see, he was born here and went to school here,
0:36:42 > 0:36:44got wed here.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47This is his real native place.
0:36:49 > 0:36:51- Village has changed...- It has, yes.
0:36:51 > 0:36:56Some of the poor old cottages have been knocked down.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00Of course, it's only right, I think, this progress.
0:37:00 > 0:37:07Originally a book, Akenfield was adapted for the screen by its author, Ronald Blythe.
0:37:07 > 0:37:11Ronnie, you're a Suffolk man born and bred. Is the book autobiographical?
0:37:11 > 0:37:16Oh, very. Yes, it is based on things
0:37:16 > 0:37:18I've seen since I was born before the war -
0:37:18 > 0:37:24changes in farming, the sort of people I grew up with - so it's very autobiographical.
0:37:24 > 0:37:30I think, like all writers, from childhood onwards, you listen to family voices,
0:37:30 > 0:37:36and in the countryside, people talk about things, many, many years ago sometimes,
0:37:36 > 0:37:40and you notice certain changes
0:37:40 > 0:37:45and you understand people's difficulties and the old poverty.
0:37:45 > 0:37:53It's all the sort of...thing which a writer would do anywhere, really, but I did it in Suffolk.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56How did the book turn into a film?
0:37:56 > 0:37:59Peter Hall got in touch with me. He'd been born in Bury St Edmunds,
0:37:59 > 0:38:03not far away, and he was very moved by the book,
0:38:03 > 0:38:07then shortly afterwards proposed that we made it into a film.
0:38:07 > 0:38:14So I wrote a story based on the book, covering the same period and the same work and the same kind of people,
0:38:14 > 0:38:20so I made it into a story as seen through the eyes of a young man at his grandfather's funeral.
0:38:22 > 0:38:24'You be careful of the governor.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27'Farmers still aren't used to their men being free.
0:38:27 > 0:38:32'I know he gives you little things - petrol for your motorbike, things like that -
0:38:32 > 0:38:36'and one day he'll give you a cottage, but he wants more than your work.
0:38:36 > 0:38:41'He wants you to be beholden to him in some way, just like the old days.
0:38:41 > 0:38:46'He wants you to throw your life into his farm. He wants to own you.'
0:38:46 > 0:38:48Akenfield was a fictional place.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52In reality, filming took place in six neighbouring villages,
0:38:52 > 0:38:55and I'm here in Hoo where the church scenes were shot.
0:38:57 > 0:39:02And one of those locals who had their life turned upside down back in the '70s
0:39:02 > 0:39:05was Peggy Cole who played Young Tom's mum.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07Peggy, it's lovely to meet you.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09- How are you doing?- Fine, thank you.
0:39:09 > 0:39:11I love the film. I thought it was fantastic.
0:39:11 > 0:39:15I really did. It completely drew me in when I saw it.
0:39:15 > 0:39:19What was it like when you had these big names coming down from London?
0:39:19 > 0:39:24Well, at first, I couldn't quite understand why they wanted to
0:39:24 > 0:39:26make a film about us.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28That's really what it was based on -
0:39:28 > 0:39:34Suffolk people and how we worked and farmed the land, really.
0:39:34 > 0:39:39I had met Ronnie Blythe the day before with Peter Hall at the flower show,
0:39:39 > 0:39:41and I sold him some raffle tickets.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44And, in fact, I didn't know who Peter Hall was.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48I thought he was somebody buying a house in the village,
0:39:48 > 0:39:52and he said, "Now, just talk anything and chat."
0:39:52 > 0:39:56Well, we talked the biggest squit on earth! That's the truth.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00And Peter Hall said to me, "Now, Peggy,
0:40:00 > 0:40:04"I don't want any posh talk or anything put on."
0:40:04 > 0:40:08I said, "I can't put posh talk on, not for anybody!"
0:40:08 > 0:40:12I said, "I am what I am and you won't change that."
0:40:12 > 0:40:15Because, through the movie, there was no script.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18You basically were given a cue and then you just went with it.
0:40:18 > 0:40:25Yes, that's what... At various stages, he said, "Now, Peggy, you're a mother and I want you to be riled."
0:40:25 > 0:40:29Well, my two sons were in the room when we were doing one scene and I always remember them.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33They said, "Mum, you were riled with Tom, weren't you?
0:40:33 > 0:40:35"Just like you get with us sometimes."
0:40:35 > 0:40:40- Wouldn't have hurt you to have poured me one out today.- Why don't you?
0:40:41 > 0:40:45Wonder if Jean'll wait on you like this.
0:40:45 > 0:40:47Did you ask her to come?
0:40:47 > 0:40:49- Maybe later on.- Give me a hand.
0:40:51 > 0:40:56She didn't say if her mother was coming, I suppose? HE MUMBLES
0:40:56 > 0:41:00- Don't answer with your mouth full. - If you talk to me when I'm eating, I've got to answer!
0:41:00 > 0:41:04Peter knew I made homemade wine. He said, "Can you bring some down?"
0:41:04 > 0:41:08- This is what I done. I took a gallon down and I'd got parsnip... - A gallon?!
0:41:08 > 0:41:15Yes, I'd got parsnip, gooseberry wine, and they'd all had a tiddle of this before we started the scene.
0:41:15 > 0:41:20Well, by the time we got through the scene, there was two or three gallons went,
0:41:20 > 0:41:25cos I know I had to send my son home to get some more. That was gone.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28- So they were well-oiled? - They were well-oiled, yeah.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32And the tales were coming out, and Peter Hall was cracked up.
0:41:32 > 0:41:34THEY LAUGH
0:41:34 > 0:41:40Funny thing, I should be at this funeral today, but I remember Tom laughing one day...
0:41:40 > 0:41:45When they went to have a cup of tea like we are having now,
0:41:45 > 0:41:48he was saying, "What sort of husband was he?"
0:41:48 > 0:41:52"Oh," she said, "one of the best. You couldn't wish for a better one.
0:41:52 > 0:41:57"We used to lie in bed Sunday mornings and hear the church bells ringing.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01"We used to go up with the ding and come down with the dong."
0:42:01 > 0:42:06And she said, "If it hadn't been for that fire engine going by at the time, he'd have been alive now!"
0:42:06 > 0:42:08THEY ALL LAUGH
0:42:08 > 0:42:12How did you cope? Your life must've turned around doing this filming.
0:42:12 > 0:42:14Well, it did, really.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18I used to, um...cook and put it in the deep freeze
0:42:18 > 0:42:22so the family had a meal for the weekend, but that got...
0:42:22 > 0:42:26Through the film, I was cooking for the crew and that as well.
0:42:26 > 0:42:32- For the whole crew?- I used to bring cakes and pies and things down, yeah.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36- So you acted and you also supplied the food?- Yes.
0:42:36 > 0:42:41I often said, "I don't expect Elizabeth Taylor would've done this when she was in films!"
0:42:41 > 0:42:47And we had to sort of stand by the roadside sometimes and be sort of...
0:42:47 > 0:42:50a bit of make-up and that put on, and I thought,
0:42:50 > 0:42:55"Where are your posh caravans where you see these film people go in and get ready,"
0:42:55 > 0:42:57but there was nothing like that.
0:42:57 > 0:43:03Garrow Shand, who played Tom, told me how the schedule was organised under such unusual circumstances.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06The way they made the film, cos it was only done at weekends,
0:43:06 > 0:43:10which was nice, so you could do your normal job during the week,
0:43:10 > 0:43:13and they did it over a whole year to get all the seasons in.
0:43:13 > 0:43:19- So it didn't affect your normal work, really.- So it just became part of your life, really?
0:43:19 > 0:43:21Yeah, for a sort of year, yeah.
0:43:21 > 0:43:27There's this one scene I remember, which is you on the morning of the funeral having your breakfast,
0:43:27 > 0:43:33and you were getting your breakfast cooked by Peggy, who played your mother in it,
0:43:33 > 0:43:37but it wasn't as straightforward as it seems on TV. You didn't like her cooking.
0:43:37 > 0:43:39I think the thing was...
0:43:39 > 0:43:45They'd shot that scene four times, so I'd had four cooked breakfasts, and I'd just had enough.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48I had to go out and made myself physically sick so I could eat another breakfast!
0:43:48 > 0:43:50- So it wasn't her cooking?- No, no.
0:43:50 > 0:43:52I've had enough of this.
0:43:52 > 0:43:57I'm trying to run a school here, and every day, half my class is away out working on the farms! Sit quietly!
0:43:57 > 0:44:01Stop that! All right, hands on your heads. And no smirking there, you.
0:44:03 > 0:44:08'Well, at the time, I was actually teaching up in London, in Hackney,
0:44:08 > 0:44:12'and you had to be pretty strict to deal with the kids in Hackney,
0:44:12 > 0:44:15'so Peter said, "Just come in really hard,"
0:44:15 > 0:44:18'and I did my research, you know, about Victorian times.'
0:44:18 > 0:44:22Hands on your head, I said. On your head! That's better.
0:44:22 > 0:44:24What did you have to do at the screen test?
0:44:24 > 0:44:27We had to talk to Sir Peter Hall and then he said,
0:44:27 > 0:44:30"Could you tell a joke in a Suffolk dialect?"
0:44:30 > 0:44:33And I said, "I suppose I could."
0:44:33 > 0:44:37- I told this joke and they said, "Thank you very much," and that was it.- What was the joke?
0:44:37 > 0:44:39Go on!
0:44:39 > 0:44:42I was sittin' in a pub in Southall with my friend
0:44:42 > 0:44:48and the nights were starting to draw in, and my friend came and he sat down next me.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51He said, "Oh, blast, that's getting late early nowadays, in't it?"
0:44:51 > 0:44:55THEY LAUGH
0:44:55 > 0:45:00For some of the original cast, the memory of Akenfield and all it symbolised is bitter-sweet.
0:45:00 > 0:45:06Farming is changing and everything is happening so quickly, it's frightening, really.
0:45:06 > 0:45:09Um, you know, I know they say they were hard times.
0:45:09 > 0:45:15They were hard times, but people were more happier and more contented in them days,
0:45:15 > 0:45:17I'm sure, than what they are today.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20It's rush here, rush there, haven't got time.
0:45:20 > 0:45:24I see the fields, a lot of them now have got put out to set-aside,
0:45:24 > 0:45:29you know, and that's so pitiful for the farmers, I'm sure.
0:45:29 > 0:45:3261 miles of film was shot over that year,
0:45:32 > 0:45:36and this is now stored in the East Anglian Film Archives,
0:45:36 > 0:45:39where it's treasured as a unique piece of social history.
0:45:39 > 0:45:46What Akenfield achieved was to capture the magic and misery of life on the land in 20th-century England,
0:45:46 > 0:45:52and it left us with a legacy that will fascinate and enthral many generations to come.
0:45:52 > 0:45:57We men were beaten, for the farms took every ounce of our physical strength.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00It was the farm against our bodies.
0:46:01 > 0:46:04The farm always won.
0:46:04 > 0:46:07My Suffolk journey continues.
0:46:07 > 0:46:10Of course, Sir Peter Hall's brilliantly realised Akenfield
0:46:10 > 0:46:13doesn't feature on the map, but the rest of my route does.
0:46:13 > 0:46:17I started in Thorpeness, travelled to Aldeburgh,
0:46:17 > 0:46:20and then on to Rendlesham Forest and Sutton Hoo.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23Now I've wound my way to Wherstead.
0:46:25 > 0:46:31Farming is still one of the most important industries in Suffolk, but times have changed.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34Farms are diversifying to stay viable.
0:46:34 > 0:46:39I'm visiting Jimmy's Farm, a small pig farm that was borne to our screens five years ago
0:46:39 > 0:46:43after a cash injection from Jim Doherty's friend Jamie Oliver.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46It's been a very public first five years.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49I'm meeting Michaela, Jimmy's fiancee,
0:46:49 > 0:46:54to find out how the farm is faring when the cameras and Jimmy are away.
0:46:54 > 0:46:58What was the vision for the farm at the very beginning, all those years ago?
0:46:58 > 0:47:00I think that the first point of the farm
0:47:00 > 0:47:03when we set it up was that we had to concentrate
0:47:03 > 0:47:05on bringing back the rare-breed pigs.
0:47:05 > 0:47:10That was number-one priority. And, as things evolved, we wanted to
0:47:10 > 0:47:14make it a lot more accessible to people to learn about farming, understand farming,
0:47:14 > 0:47:21see where their food came from, so we opened the farm shop, we started going to shows selling sausages,
0:47:21 > 0:47:26- so, yeah, it's evolved.- How have the last few years felt? Has it been pretty hard work?- Really hard work.
0:47:26 > 0:47:32God! The last few years have been...probably some of the hardest.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36I mean, we've just hit a recession, obviously, now,
0:47:36 > 0:47:40so we're up against harder times, but, yeah, it's been hard.
0:47:40 > 0:47:44But we're still here, and you keep learning and fighting.
0:47:44 > 0:47:45I'm getting nibbled!
0:47:45 > 0:47:47THEY LAUGH
0:47:48 > 0:47:52Come this way! Piggies!
0:47:52 > 0:47:55- Come on, sweeties.- Come on, piglets.
0:47:57 > 0:48:03And how's life here on the farm now, cos Jimmy's away a lot filming other programmes, isn't he? He's busy.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06Yeah, he is. Obviously I miss him madly when he's away,
0:48:06 > 0:48:10but he's just been here for the last two weeks
0:48:10 > 0:48:16and we've both been bothering each other, but we've built Chicken Safari. He's here a lot of the time.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19If he's not here, he's on the end of the phone.
0:48:19 > 0:48:23- Yeah. But you're working constantly here, aren't you? - Yeah, this is my baby, yeah.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25Absolutely, this is, um... Which is great.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29It works really well, even with him being away.
0:48:29 > 0:48:31So describe what countryside life is like.
0:48:31 > 0:48:37It's fantastic, actually. I mean, certainly it's a big transition
0:48:37 > 0:48:41to move from London to Suffolk, but it's such a beautiful county.
0:48:41 > 0:48:43I was gobsmacked when I arrived,
0:48:43 > 0:48:48because it's these huge open skies, beautiful, beautiful vistas.
0:48:48 > 0:48:52We're right on the coast, so you get these amazing estuaries that come in.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54The wildlife, the flora, the fauna, the whole thing.
0:48:54 > 0:49:00- It's actually a bit dreamy, but it's a beautiful county.- Fantastic. Oh, these pigs are hungry!
0:49:00 > 0:49:02We'll need to give them some more food, I think.
0:49:02 > 0:49:04Look at them.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07Cheeky little monkeys.
0:49:07 > 0:49:09Look at you, you monkeys!
0:49:17 > 0:49:22So the farm really began with the saddlebacks, but it's diversified so much in a really short time.
0:49:22 > 0:49:27Yes, it has. We've got all sorts of rare breeds, actually, certainly in pig.
0:49:27 > 0:49:29We've got saddlebacks, large blacks,
0:49:29 > 0:49:36Gloucester old spots, Berkshires, so we've got a full range of rare-breed pigs, but we've also...
0:49:36 > 0:49:40Jimmy's a bit nuts about cows as well,
0:49:40 > 0:49:44- and he loves sheep.- You've got sheep as well?- Yeah. So we've got some Jacobs and some Soay.
0:49:44 > 0:49:49But actually this young lady over here was one of our prize Red Poll cattle,
0:49:49 > 0:49:53which is indigenous to Suffolk, and she's just had a little calf.
0:49:53 > 0:49:57Oh, sweet! That's quite an amazing colour she is.
0:49:57 > 0:50:02- Really rich, rich, red.- Beautiful. They're actually a dual-purpose cow, so used for beef and dairy.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06But, yes, it's really exciting cos it's also a heifer.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09- So you'll be able to breed with the calf?- Yes, so good news.
0:50:09 > 0:50:14- Good news for Jimmy's Farm. - That's fantastic. She looks very content, actually.
0:50:14 > 0:50:18- Are rarer breeds harder to look after?- All of our stock - sheep,
0:50:18 > 0:50:24cows and pigs - are all used for meat, so we mature them slowly.
0:50:24 > 0:50:29So, yes, they're harder to keep in that you've got to keep them for longer but otherwise, no.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32We're a small farm. We're not a commercial farm.
0:50:32 > 0:50:39There are probably far more problems and excitement on larger, more commercial farms.
0:50:39 > 0:50:46But here? No, piece of cake! Piece of cake. Loads of food and they follow you anywhere.
0:50:46 > 0:50:47See you later.
0:50:49 > 0:50:57Although mostly stocked by rare breeds, an exception has been made for a small group of orphaned lambs.
0:50:57 > 0:51:01After taking the orphans in from neighbouring farms, Michaela and her team
0:51:01 > 0:51:04are hand-rearing them, ready to join the rest of the flock.
0:51:24 > 0:51:28I've been on a journey through Suffolk. I started in Thorpeness.
0:51:28 > 0:51:33I then went into Rendlesham Forest before visiting the fascinating site at Sutton Hoo.
0:51:33 > 0:51:35My travels are ending
0:51:35 > 0:51:38among the butterflies at Wherstead, just south of Ipswich.
0:51:38 > 0:51:43I'm on Jimmy's Farm with his fiancee Michaela, who's running the place while Jimmy's away.
0:51:43 > 0:51:47- This place is amazing.- I know, very hot.- I'm boiling. - Take your jacket off!
0:51:47 > 0:51:51- Why have you got a butterfly house on the farm?- It's a good question.
0:51:51 > 0:51:56I think probably, predominantly, Jim studied entomology as a PhD,
0:51:56 > 0:52:01and it was his great passion, so he decided that this was one of the things
0:52:01 > 0:52:06that had to be on the farm, and also he worked in a butterfly house when he was very young.
0:52:06 > 0:52:11But probably, secondly, it's sort of the educational value side to it.
0:52:11 > 0:52:15Fantastic. So it was another of Jimmy's ideas that you had to put your back into?
0:52:15 > 0:52:19I know. Very much certainly on the whole gardening side.
0:52:19 > 0:52:24It was the design in here and the type of plants that were going in, etc, etc.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27So, yeah, it was back-breaking work, actually.
0:52:27 > 0:52:31And then, once you've got the structure, how do you get butterflies in here?
0:52:31 > 0:52:35There's a company in London that sends out pupae. They send them out
0:52:35 > 0:52:39and they arrive by post, which is great.
0:52:39 > 0:52:44- In the mail.- In the mail, in a little polystyrene box, and basically you glue them up on these sticks.
0:52:44 > 0:52:49- Oh, wow.- So along here, you've got little points where they're glued on.
0:52:49 > 0:52:53Then, after a couple of days, they emerge, they hang from these,
0:52:53 > 0:52:59- they pump their wings full, and then they set like glass, and then they fly.- Amazing.- Yeah.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02So the ones you've got in here - they're also breeding away?
0:53:02 > 0:53:08Yes, there's lots of caterpillars all over the shop, so we're hoping that we're going to have our own reserve.
0:53:08 > 0:53:10So what's in there?
0:53:10 > 0:53:17We have got, I believe, lots of Plains Tiger, we've got a Common Mime, which is there.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20- Fantastic.- And a Common Crow as well.
0:53:20 > 0:53:22They are absolutely beautiful.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25- Can I have a go at releasing them? - Yeah, go on.
0:53:25 > 0:53:29- This is what I'm most excited about. - It's the first time they've flown. - Is it?- Yeah.
0:53:29 > 0:53:31I hope I don't let them down. OK...
0:53:36 > 0:53:41'..Now a crow Which in a cage he fostered many a day
0:53:41 > 0:53:44'And taught to speak As men may teach a jay
0:53:46 > 0:53:48'White was this crow As is a snow-white swan
0:53:48 > 0:53:52'And counterfeit the speech of every man
0:53:52 > 0:53:54'He could when desired to tell a tale...'
0:54:07 > 0:54:09Look at that!
0:54:09 > 0:54:14- They are beautiful. Aren't they crackers?- Yeah.
0:54:14 > 0:54:18The colours on the wing... It's great, isn't it?
0:54:18 > 0:54:23Absolutely gorgeous. What a fabulous way to end my trip through Suffolk.
0:54:23 > 0:54:25Aw...
0:54:40 > 0:54:43Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd