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We have a Country Tracks with a difference. | 0:00:20 | 0:00:23 | |
Normally, we seek out the countryside, | 0:00:23 | 0:00:26 | |
but today, we're as far from it as you can get - the centre of London! | 0:00:26 | 0:00:31 | |
I'm seeking out the of the best green space | 0:00:31 | 0:00:34 | |
our capital has to offer. | 0:00:34 | 0:00:36 | |
'My journey begins in the Square Mile, | 0:00:43 | 0:00:47 | |
'London's historic financial centre, seeking out a very special oasis. | 0:00:47 | 0:00:53 | |
'Next, the short hop to Pepys Street, where a new hotel | 0:00:53 | 0:00:57 | |
'is showcasing Europe's tallest green wall.' | 0:00:57 | 0:01:00 | |
It's not just a hotel for paying guests. It's a hotel for wildlife. | 0:01:00 | 0:01:05 | |
'Leaving the Square Mile, I'll head north to Dalston, | 0:01:07 | 0:01:10 | |
'where I'll be checking out a farm in a shop.' | 0:01:10 | 0:01:13 | |
There isn't a project like this in the world. | 0:01:13 | 0:01:17 | |
'I'll end my journey in the open space of Hampstead Heath, | 0:01:17 | 0:01:21 | |
'where I'll take the plunge, | 0:01:21 | 0:01:23 | |
'swimming in its historic ponds.' | 0:01:23 | 0:01:26 | |
Along the way, I'll be looking back at some unusual wildlife films made here in London. | 0:01:31 | 0:01:37 | |
Welcome to Country Tracks. | 0:01:37 | 0:01:39 | |
'London is one of the great cities of the world. | 0:01:42 | 0:01:46 | |
'Many of its historic landmarks are famous the world over, | 0:01:46 | 0:01:50 | |
'having survived plagues, fires and bombardment. | 0:01:50 | 0:01:54 | |
'The city welcomes more than 20 million visitors every year. | 0:01:54 | 0:01:58 | |
'Many visit London's well-known parks, | 0:01:58 | 0:02:01 | |
'but I'm on a quest to find green spaces | 0:02:01 | 0:02:05 | |
'in more unexpected places.' | 0:02:05 | 0:02:07 | |
London's a massive city. I live here, but I didn't grow up here. | 0:02:07 | 0:02:12 | |
There's loads of parts that I haven't been to. | 0:02:12 | 0:02:15 | |
I'm hoping we can uncover some gems on my journey today. | 0:02:15 | 0:02:19 | |
'Over the centuries, London has sprawled outwards, | 0:02:19 | 0:02:22 | |
'creating a vast urban landscape. | 0:02:22 | 0:02:26 | |
'And yet, there are precious pockets of green, | 0:02:26 | 0:02:29 | |
'even here, in London's financial heartland.' | 0:02:29 | 0:02:32 | |
I've been cycling round the City hoping to find an oasis | 0:02:32 | 0:02:37 | |
to set the tone in my quest to find London's best green spaces. | 0:02:37 | 0:02:41 | |
I hope my destination is just round the corner. | 0:02:41 | 0:02:44 | |
'This beautiful ruin is St Dunstan's in the East. | 0:02:47 | 0:02:51 | |
'A church has stood on this site since the 11th century. | 0:02:51 | 0:02:55 | |
BIRD SONG | 0:02:59 | 0:03:01 | |
'Today, it's no longer a place of worship, | 0:03:02 | 0:03:06 | |
'but one of quiet reflection, | 0:03:06 | 0:03:08 | |
'almost totally reclaimed by nature.' | 0:03:08 | 0:03:12 | |
I love places like this. | 0:03:17 | 0:03:20 | |
This has great architecture. | 0:03:20 | 0:03:22 | |
It's being reclaimed by the trees and bushes, by nature. | 0:03:22 | 0:03:26 | |
It's just a place to come, sit, relax, leave the office, | 0:03:26 | 0:03:31 | |
turn the phone off, leave the nagging boss behind. | 0:03:31 | 0:03:35 | |
Take a bit of time for yourself, just sit, think and relax. | 0:03:35 | 0:03:40 | |
'The original mediaeval church was destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666. | 0:03:46 | 0:03:53 | |
'It started only four streets away, where a monument still stands. | 0:03:53 | 0:03:57 | |
'In the years following, the church was rebuilt, | 0:04:02 | 0:04:05 | |
'including a tower by London's great architect, Sir Christopher Wren.' | 0:04:05 | 0:04:12 | |
Catastrophe struck again in 1941, during the Second World War. | 0:04:12 | 0:04:16 | |
The German bombing campaign, which became known as the Blitz, | 0:04:16 | 0:04:20 | |
devastated huge parts of central London, | 0:04:20 | 0:04:23 | |
including right here in St Dunstan's. | 0:04:23 | 0:04:26 | |
But, luckily, Wren's beautiful tower survived. | 0:04:26 | 0:04:31 | |
'The ruined church became derelict and abandoned. | 0:04:36 | 0:04:40 | |
'Then, in 1967, the Architects and Parks Department decided | 0:04:40 | 0:04:44 | |
'to turn it into a garden. | 0:04:44 | 0:04:46 | |
'Martin Rodman is in charge of looking after | 0:04:46 | 0:04:51 | |
'the City of London gardens.' | 0:04:51 | 0:04:53 | |
Martin, here we are in the centre of the business Square Mile. | 0:04:53 | 0:04:58 | |
Why was this ruined church turned into a garden? | 0:04:58 | 0:05:02 | |
The City of London has always had a very passionate and forward-thinking | 0:05:02 | 0:05:08 | |
Open Spaces Committee. | 0:05:08 | 0:05:10 | |
Back then, in 1967, when we purchased the space from the Church, | 0:05:10 | 0:05:14 | |
the Trees, Gardens and City Open Spaces sub-committee had a vision | 0:05:14 | 0:05:20 | |
that you should see a tree from every corner in the Square Mile. | 0:05:20 | 0:05:25 | |
After the Second World War, there was the opportunity | 0:05:25 | 0:05:28 | |
to buy up lots of small bomb-damaged pockets of land | 0:05:28 | 0:05:32 | |
and many bombed-out churches. | 0:05:32 | 0:05:34 | |
It's thanks to their vision that we have so many open spaces. | 0:05:34 | 0:05:38 | |
You can hear a bit of traffic but, considering there's a major road, | 0:05:38 | 0:05:42 | |
it's pretty good. | 0:05:42 | 0:05:44 | |
Cladding it with climbers deadens the noise, soaks up pollution. | 0:05:44 | 0:05:49 | |
You don't realise that Thames Street is just a few metres behind you. | 0:05:49 | 0:05:54 | |
I've seen quite a few people around, but do people come here a lot? | 0:05:54 | 0:05:58 | |
They do. They come in their droves. | 0:05:58 | 0:06:01 | |
We have 330,000 commuters coming into the Square Mile every day. | 0:06:01 | 0:06:06 | |
No disrespect to Heron Tower and to the Gherkin, | 0:06:06 | 0:06:09 | |
they're wonderful but you can't tell the seasons from steel and glass. | 0:06:09 | 0:06:13 | |
It's the right space in the right place. | 0:06:13 | 0:06:16 | |
People come to see the changing of the seasons and to get away from that office environment. | 0:06:16 | 0:06:22 | |
'What an amazing sight that church is! | 0:06:25 | 0:06:29 | |
'It never fails to amaze me just what you can find in London. | 0:06:29 | 0:06:34 | |
'Even bee-keeping is thriving here.' | 0:06:34 | 0:06:37 | |
'It's an ancient method of food production | 0:06:40 | 0:06:43 | |
'flourishing in the heart of the capital. | 0:06:43 | 0:06:46 | |
'Orlando Clark and Steve Benbow are among those who harvest London's honey.' | 0:06:46 | 0:06:51 | |
Bee-keeping in the last three years has become almost fashionable. | 0:06:51 | 0:06:56 | |
People are wanting to produce their own produce, like keeping chickens. | 0:06:56 | 0:07:01 | |
It's a way of producing a product and putting it on your table. | 0:07:01 | 0:07:07 | |
The idea of bee-keeping's very popular at the moment. | 0:07:07 | 0:07:11 | |
In the association I'm a member of in Twickenham, | 0:07:11 | 0:07:14 | |
we've had over a 40% increase in membership in two years. | 0:07:14 | 0:07:19 | |
I've ended up with two acres in King's Cross. | 0:07:21 | 0:07:25 | |
I keep a dozen hives up there, plenty in my back garden. | 0:07:25 | 0:07:31 | |
I've also got bees on my allotment, over towards Brixton. | 0:07:31 | 0:07:36 | |
We were asked to install hives for Fortnum and Mason three years ago, here in Piccadilly. | 0:07:36 | 0:07:42 | |
They're based on architectural designs such as Mogul and Gothic. | 0:07:42 | 0:07:47 | |
Each has a different facade. | 0:07:47 | 0:07:49 | |
They're oak with a gold-leaf finial and a fantastic copper roof. | 0:07:49 | 0:07:56 | |
Height is key to keeping bees in an urban environment. | 0:07:56 | 0:08:00 | |
They're out of sight, they don't drop down to street level | 0:08:00 | 0:08:03 | |
and start hassling people. | 0:08:03 | 0:08:05 | |
They head out at that height, | 0:08:05 | 0:08:08 | |
drop down to what they're foraging on, then work their way back. | 0:08:08 | 0:08:12 | |
They'll fly up to three miles so there's plenty in London for them. | 0:08:12 | 0:08:16 | |
In an average city garden like this, with neighbours on both sides, | 0:08:23 | 0:08:27 | |
about 15 hives, maybe, | 0:08:27 | 0:08:29 | |
somewhere in the region of half a million bees in the middle of summer! | 0:08:29 | 0:08:36 | |
Bees can come in with honey from April to the end of October. | 0:08:36 | 0:08:41 | |
Beginning of November, I've seen honey coming in. | 0:08:41 | 0:08:45 | |
I was ten or 12, the first time I'd gone into a reference library. | 0:08:45 | 0:08:50 | |
I remember picking up three books. One was on ventriloquism. | 0:08:50 | 0:08:54 | |
Which I'm still no good at! | 0:08:54 | 0:08:56 | |
The other one... There was one on printing presses. | 0:08:56 | 0:09:00 | |
The third book was on bee-keeping. | 0:09:00 | 0:09:04 | |
I was fascinated by that and got the rest of the books on bee-keeping. | 0:09:04 | 0:09:10 | |
I started keeping bees on the back of my council block in Bermondsey, | 0:09:10 | 0:09:14 | |
a brilliant place for keeping bees. | 0:09:14 | 0:09:17 | |
They would head off across London, | 0:09:17 | 0:09:19 | |
bringing in the most amazing honey. | 0:09:19 | 0:09:22 | |
So we give them a little puff to say we're coming. | 0:09:23 | 0:09:27 | |
This generally calms them down. | 0:09:27 | 0:09:30 | |
They think there's a fire. They gorge themselves on honey. | 0:09:30 | 0:09:34 | |
They're a bit more passive to deal with - hopefully. | 0:09:34 | 0:09:39 | |
In the city, I've worked on an average of a hive producing | 0:09:39 | 0:09:43 | |
about 50 pounds of honey a year. | 0:09:43 | 0:09:46 | |
My best hives have been producing | 0:09:46 | 0:09:48 | |
between 120 to 160 pounds of honey over the last three years. | 0:09:48 | 0:09:54 | |
At this time of year, they're coming in with lime honey. | 0:09:54 | 0:09:58 | |
It's got a real bittery sort of taste to it. | 0:09:58 | 0:10:01 | |
I love that honey. | 0:10:01 | 0:10:03 | |
It's a fantastic honey on fruit or mixed with yoghurt. | 0:10:03 | 0:10:08 | |
It's a really lovely honey. | 0:10:08 | 0:10:10 | |
Then, later in the year, you get almost like a butterscotch honey. | 0:10:10 | 0:10:14 | |
That's really complex and different to honey from the countryside. | 0:10:14 | 0:10:19 | |
On a day like this, when the sun's shining, | 0:10:19 | 0:10:23 | |
it's just rained, everything's fresh, | 0:10:23 | 0:10:25 | |
the bees are working nicely and buzzing around, | 0:10:25 | 0:10:29 | |
there's nothing I'd rather be doing. | 0:10:29 | 0:10:31 | |
It's really relaxing, very enjoyable, almost meditative. | 0:10:31 | 0:10:36 | |
One of the great things about keeping bees in the city is the variation of forage. | 0:10:36 | 0:10:41 | |
There's usually something in bloom that the bees can be feeding on. | 0:10:41 | 0:10:46 | |
You've got so many diverse flowering plants and trees, | 0:10:46 | 0:10:50 | |
people replacing bedding plants in their gardens | 0:10:50 | 0:10:53 | |
and in these fantastic parks. | 0:10:53 | 0:10:56 | |
You don't have the same agricultural pesticides and herbicides used. | 0:10:56 | 0:11:01 | |
The bees seem to thrive a little better. | 0:11:01 | 0:11:04 | |
And it's great for bees because they continue to fill up their stomachs | 0:11:04 | 0:11:09 | |
with the most amazing nectar sources. | 0:11:09 | 0:11:12 | |
You can hear the sound of traffic below | 0:11:18 | 0:11:21 | |
but above it all is someone is tending their bees, | 0:11:21 | 0:11:25 | |
often oblivious to the other people in the city and I like that. | 0:11:25 | 0:11:29 | |
I think it's quite fantastic. | 0:11:29 | 0:11:32 | |
I think people are interested | 0:11:33 | 0:11:35 | |
and engaged with where their food comes from. | 0:11:35 | 0:11:39 | |
I think bee-keeping is another strand of that overall interest. | 0:11:39 | 0:11:43 | |
'The bee-keepers of London. | 0:11:47 | 0:11:49 | |
'I'm on a journey through Britain's capital city in search of its hidden green spaces. | 0:11:51 | 0:11:57 | |
'I've moved on from the secret garden in the ruins of St Dunstan's, | 0:11:57 | 0:12:01 | |
'and travelled a couple of blocks to Pepys Street, | 0:12:01 | 0:12:05 | |
'still in London's Square Mile.' | 0:12:05 | 0:12:08 | |
Most people going along here keep their eyes at street level, | 0:12:09 | 0:12:13 | |
but if you do happen to glance up, | 0:12:13 | 0:12:16 | |
you'll catch a bit of green, an enticing peek | 0:12:16 | 0:12:20 | |
of Europe's tallest living wall. | 0:12:20 | 0:12:22 | |
'The Mint Hotel on Tower Hill opened in December 2010, | 0:12:26 | 0:12:30 | |
'a modern building close to the Tower of London. | 0:12:30 | 0:12:34 | |
'Its unique selling point is an astonishing | 0:12:34 | 0:12:37 | |
'vertical garden | 0:12:37 | 0:12:39 | |
'born out of a push to bring biodiversity into the Square Mile. | 0:12:39 | 0:12:43 | |
'Landscape construction specialist Aidan Lane designed a garden | 0:12:43 | 0:12:48 | |
'that defies gravity. | 0:12:48 | 0:12:50 | |
'It's made up of modules of soil, | 0:12:52 | 0:12:54 | |
'each carefully slotted into place to create a towering wall of green. | 0:12:54 | 0:13:00 | |
'I'm here as monthly maintenance is carried out, | 0:13:00 | 0:13:04 | |
'but it doesn't need much work. | 0:13:04 | 0:13:06 | |
'The plants were carefully chosen to stay fresh all year round.' | 0:13:06 | 0:13:10 | |
Aidan, this living wall is incredible. | 0:13:10 | 0:13:13 | |
What's going on right now? | 0:13:13 | 0:13:16 | |
-These two guys on this hoist? -They're checking the moisture. | 0:13:16 | 0:13:20 | |
They're also checking the foliage | 0:13:20 | 0:13:23 | |
and removing any dead branches that may be there. | 0:13:23 | 0:13:27 | |
You designed this. What was the brief? | 0:13:27 | 0:13:30 | |
I was quite keen to have a biodiversity wall. | 0:13:30 | 0:13:35 | |
Again, having a number of species, which we have here 45, | 0:13:35 | 0:13:39 | |
rather than having one species. | 0:13:39 | 0:13:41 | |
It gives more interest for the hotel guests. | 0:13:41 | 0:13:44 | |
How many plants in total are used on all the walls? | 0:13:44 | 0:13:48 | |
-In total, about 180,000 plants. -180,000! -Yeah. | 0:13:48 | 0:13:53 | |
How does this help biodiversity? | 0:13:53 | 0:13:55 | |
I look at it like a little green lung for London. | 0:13:55 | 0:13:58 | |
The cities and urban areas are under huge stress at the moment, | 0:13:58 | 0:14:03 | |
particularly in biodiversity. | 0:14:03 | 0:14:05 | |
We need to get bees into the urban areas, and moths, caterpillars, | 0:14:05 | 0:14:11 | |
butterflies and invertebrates. | 0:14:11 | 0:14:14 | |
It's not just a hotel for paying guests. It's a hotel for wildlife. | 0:14:14 | 0:14:19 | |
-What are the benefits for the wider environment? -We've got to look at the urban heat island effect. | 0:14:19 | 0:14:26 | |
You've got a lot of concrete and tarmac. Cities are getting hot. | 0:14:26 | 0:14:31 | |
It's taking in carbon dioxide and giving out oxygen, | 0:14:31 | 0:14:35 | |
so you're getting clean air. | 0:14:35 | 0:14:37 | |
We're also helping to cool down the cities, and that's a big plus. | 0:14:37 | 0:14:42 | |
How does this help with flooding problems that cities are prone to? | 0:14:42 | 0:14:46 | |
The green infrastructures, the walls and the roofs will soak up the rain, | 0:14:46 | 0:14:51 | |
but they will hold between 40% and and 100% of that rainfall. | 0:14:51 | 0:14:55 | |
If it does release that water, | 0:14:55 | 0:14:58 | |
it will be several hours after the flash floods. | 0:14:58 | 0:15:01 | |
How much potential is there to open up roofs and spaces to be green? | 0:15:01 | 0:15:06 | |
All new buildings are having green infrastructure, which is great. | 0:15:06 | 0:15:10 | |
The big picture is the retro-fit of existing buildings, getting roofs and walls onto those buildings. | 0:15:10 | 0:15:17 | |
I'll give you a stat. | 0:15:17 | 0:15:19 | |
If you took a six-kilometre radius from Trafalgar Square, | 0:15:19 | 0:15:23 | |
there's a potential 10 million square metres of retro-fitting green roofs. | 0:15:23 | 0:15:28 | |
Imagine what that would do in terms of biodiversity, water attenuation. | 0:15:28 | 0:15:32 | |
It's incredible, but it needs commitment from government, | 0:15:32 | 0:15:36 | |
individuals and companies to make it happen. | 0:15:36 | 0:15:40 | |
It's been a revelation seeing these visionary projects bringing nature into the urban environment. | 0:15:48 | 0:15:54 | |
One in an old church, the other here at this brand new hotel. | 0:15:54 | 0:15:58 | |
Not only is it nice to just see greenery around you, | 0:15:58 | 0:16:02 | |
but I really believe it makes sense on every level. | 0:16:02 | 0:16:07 | |
'Walk a couple of hundred yards south and you come to the river. | 0:16:09 | 0:16:14 | |
'The Thames is 215 miles long. | 0:16:14 | 0:16:17 | |
'As it passes through London, it creates one of the world's great urban waterfronts.' | 0:16:17 | 0:16:23 | |
Over the centuries, the Thames has been a source of food, | 0:16:23 | 0:16:27 | |
a transport artery and a place of recreation. | 0:16:27 | 0:16:30 | |
As London grew bigger and bigger, | 0:16:30 | 0:16:32 | |
man's activities had an increasingly negative impact on this great river. | 0:16:32 | 0:16:37 | |
Industrial waste and sewage had a devastating effect on water quality. | 0:16:37 | 0:16:41 | |
So much so that, in 1957, the river was declared biologically dead. | 0:16:41 | 0:16:47 | |
'The good news is that the Thames recovered. | 0:16:48 | 0:16:52 | |
'It's one of the cleanest capital city rivers in Europe, | 0:16:52 | 0:16:56 | |
'home to 125 species of fish. | 0:16:56 | 0:16:58 | |
'Some end up at Billingsgate Market, but when angler Charles Rangeley-Wilson went, | 0:16:58 | 0:17:04 | |
'he was looking for something specific - | 0:17:04 | 0:17:07 | |
'wild trout caught in London water.' | 0:17:07 | 0:17:10 | |
'If it's true that the Thames is cleaning up | 0:17:24 | 0:17:28 | |
'and its fish are nosing their way up-river, | 0:17:28 | 0:17:32 | |
'then the fishmongers at Billingsgate will know. | 0:17:32 | 0:17:35 | |
'They may even have a few fish from the estuary.' | 0:17:35 | 0:17:39 | |
Red snapper. Won't find that in the Thames. | 0:17:39 | 0:17:42 | |
Sea trout. | 0:17:49 | 0:17:51 | |
-Ever get sea trout? -Like ginger-headed girls. Very rare! | 0:17:51 | 0:17:55 | |
-Not that rare! -Aren't they? -It depends where you go. | 0:17:55 | 0:17:59 | |
-Have you ever heard of them? -Yeah. | 0:17:59 | 0:18:02 | |
-You do see them. -They show up? -They are rare. Why, I don't know. | 0:18:02 | 0:18:06 | |
I'm trying to find trout in the Thames. | 0:18:06 | 0:18:09 | |
Er... I don't know if Lee does them over there. | 0:18:09 | 0:18:12 | |
He does have a few sea trout, but why they're rare I don't know. | 0:18:12 | 0:18:18 | |
-Salmon's coming back. -It's a lovely river. | 0:18:18 | 0:18:21 | |
Underestimated now. Years ago, you'd catch the flu out the water! | 0:18:21 | 0:18:25 | |
-Diabolical! -It was dead really. -Terrible. | 0:18:25 | 0:18:28 | |
-All right? -Fascinating. -Fantastic. | 0:18:28 | 0:18:31 | |
'The Thames was once so prolific, | 0:18:31 | 0:18:34 | |
'it supported hundreds of fishermen catching thousands of fish for the market.' | 0:18:34 | 0:18:40 | |
Some amazing stuff here. | 0:18:43 | 0:18:45 | |
'But in the early 19th century, it was suddenly suffocated | 0:18:45 | 0:18:49 | |
'by sewage and industrial pollution. | 0:18:49 | 0:18:51 | |
'Everything perished.' | 0:18:51 | 0:18:54 | |
You don't have sea trout? | 0:18:56 | 0:18:58 | |
-Do you know where I can get one? -You can try Lee's. | 0:18:58 | 0:19:02 | |
Right, OK. | 0:19:08 | 0:19:10 | |
-Can I help you? -Are you Roger? -Could be. | 0:19:10 | 0:19:13 | |
I want to pick your brains. | 0:19:13 | 0:19:16 | |
-Not a lot of 'em, sir. -All right! | 0:19:16 | 0:19:19 | |
-I was talking to your man down there... -Michael. -..about fish out of the Thames estuary. -Yeah. | 0:19:19 | 0:19:26 | |
He says you might know if they come in occasionally. | 0:19:26 | 0:19:30 | |
We got herrings, we got sprats, we got Dover sole, skate. | 0:19:30 | 0:19:34 | |
This time of year you get a tremendous amount out of the Thames. | 0:19:34 | 0:19:39 | |
There's more fish now caught out of the Thames... Yeah? | 0:19:39 | 0:19:42 | |
-More fish now... What's he want? -Seven and a half pounds of halibut. | 0:19:42 | 0:19:47 | |
-Yeah. -No problem. | 0:19:47 | 0:19:49 | |
-Right, this time of year... -Roger's a busy man. | 0:19:49 | 0:19:52 | |
It's very seasonal fish out of the Thames estuary. | 0:19:52 | 0:19:56 | |
Another two months, you'll get a load of sprats. | 0:19:56 | 0:19:59 | |
The Thames has never been so clean for 100 years than it is at this time. | 0:19:59 | 0:20:05 | |
If you go off Westcliff, which is right on the Thames estuary, | 0:20:05 | 0:20:09 | |
there's even a colony of about 12 to 15 seals. | 0:20:09 | 0:20:12 | |
Which is a tremendous sign that it's clear and the fish is good, there's enough for them to eat. | 0:20:12 | 0:20:19 | |
So it's got better and better. | 0:20:19 | 0:20:22 | |
Do you ever hear about sea trout in the Thames? | 0:20:22 | 0:20:25 | |
On the odd occasion. We have had them on the odd occasion. | 0:20:25 | 0:20:29 | |
We do have them on the odd occasion. | 0:20:29 | 0:20:31 | |
Thank you very much. That's such good news. | 0:20:31 | 0:20:34 | |
There's boxes of fish here from the Thames estuary. | 0:20:34 | 0:20:39 | |
I didn't expect to find a sea trout on a slab | 0:20:39 | 0:20:43 | |
from the Thames, but he's heard of them so that's fantastic. | 0:20:43 | 0:20:49 | |
'It's the clue I'd hoped to find. | 0:20:51 | 0:20:53 | |
'The real test is whether the sea trout can get beyond the Thames | 0:20:53 | 0:20:58 | |
'and spawn in London's once-dead rivers. | 0:20:58 | 0:21:00 | |
'This amazing fish can live in fresh and salt water, | 0:21:04 | 0:21:08 | |
'as brown trout or sea trout. | 0:21:08 | 0:21:10 | |
'To catch either would be a miracle.' | 0:21:10 | 0:21:13 | |
'We'll be catching up with Charles later to see whether he finds that elusive fish. | 0:21:16 | 0:21:22 | |
'My journey through London continues. | 0:21:25 | 0:21:28 | |
'On the Thames sits the Tower of London. | 0:21:28 | 0:21:31 | |
'It's been a prison and a place of execution since the 11th century, | 0:21:31 | 0:21:35 | |
'and remains one of the city's most imposing buildings.' | 0:21:35 | 0:21:40 | |
This place has seen its fair share of famous people. | 0:21:40 | 0:21:44 | |
Before she was Queen, Elizabeth I was incarcerated here, Guy Fawkes was tortured here | 0:21:44 | 0:21:49 | |
and Henry VIII's wife, Anne Boleyn, lost here head here. | 0:21:49 | 0:21:54 | |
'Today, it's one of London's principal tourist attractions. | 0:21:54 | 0:21:58 | |
'Those visiting can't help but notice its resident population of ravens. | 0:21:58 | 0:22:04 | |
'Chris Skaife is Yeoman Warder, as well as the Tower's Raven Master.' | 0:22:04 | 0:22:09 | |
I look after the safety and the welfare of the ravens at the Tower. | 0:22:13 | 0:22:18 | |
The first part of the day is to let the ravens out their cages | 0:22:18 | 0:22:22 | |
so that they can go and find their territories. | 0:22:22 | 0:22:26 | |
Good morning, Erin. How are you today? Come on, darling. | 0:22:26 | 0:22:30 | |
Out you go. | 0:22:30 | 0:22:32 | |
Ravens are fed on a diet of meat, | 0:22:32 | 0:22:35 | |
and they're fed twice a day. | 0:22:35 | 0:22:37 | |
The public have a tendency to feed them, | 0:22:37 | 0:22:39 | |
but they don't really like crisps or cheese and tomato sandwiches. | 0:22:39 | 0:22:44 | |
There we go, girl. | 0:22:45 | 0:22:47 | |
An ancient legend says, should the ravens leave the Tower of London | 0:22:47 | 0:22:51 | |
it would crumble into dust and a great harm befall England. | 0:22:51 | 0:22:55 | |
I have quite a responsible job to ensure that doesn't happen. | 0:22:55 | 0:23:00 | |
They are wild birds. We trim their flight feathers | 0:23:00 | 0:23:04 | |
to keep them on the ground. | 0:23:04 | 0:23:06 | |
We do that every two to three weeks. | 0:23:06 | 0:23:08 | |
It's like cutting their nails. It doesn't harm them in any way. | 0:23:08 | 0:23:12 | |
There are six ravens, by Royal decree. | 0:23:16 | 0:23:20 | |
This came about in 1660, | 0:23:20 | 0:23:22 | |
when Charles II was restored to the throne of England. | 0:23:22 | 0:23:27 | |
Is that good? | 0:23:27 | 0:23:29 | |
You're like a baby, aren't you? Eh? | 0:23:29 | 0:23:33 | |
To be a Yeoman Warder, you have to have served in the military, | 0:23:33 | 0:23:37 | |
a minimum of 22 years in the Army, the RAF, | 0:23:37 | 0:23:42 | |
the Royal Marines or the Navy. | 0:23:42 | 0:23:44 | |
We have to be the rank of a Warrant Officer and above before we retire, | 0:23:44 | 0:23:49 | |
and have one of these, a long service and good conduct medal, | 0:23:49 | 0:23:53 | |
which is 15 years' exemplary record. | 0:23:53 | 0:23:55 | |
There's a good girl! Gonna say hello? Say hello? | 0:23:57 | 0:24:00 | |
CAWS Good girl! | 0:24:00 | 0:24:03 | |
To be the Raven Master, | 0:24:03 | 0:24:06 | |
there is no set criteria - of course, you need a love of animals. | 0:24:06 | 0:24:09 | |
It's not just about the day-to-day looking after the birds. | 0:24:09 | 0:24:14 | |
It's about their welfare, | 0:24:14 | 0:24:16 | |
knowing what they're thinking, knowing their characters | 0:24:16 | 0:24:20 | |
and understanding the birds' day-to-day needs. | 0:24:20 | 0:24:23 | |
They look at me as their main alpha male, if you like. | 0:24:23 | 0:24:28 | |
The interaction of ravens with the tourists, we keep to a minimum. | 0:24:28 | 0:24:33 | |
They are wild birds. | 0:24:33 | 0:24:35 | |
I keep them wild. They are not friendly towards the public. | 0:24:35 | 0:24:39 | |
Although we do have some odd public that go up there | 0:24:39 | 0:24:42 | |
and try to put their finger in a bird's mouth, they will bite. | 0:24:42 | 0:24:46 | |
I have a fabulous job at the Tower of London. Who can be called the Raven Master? | 0:24:46 | 0:24:52 | |
It's an honour to live and work inside the Tower of London. | 0:24:52 | 0:24:57 | |
'The Tower of London's wonderful ravens. | 0:24:59 | 0:25:02 | |
'So far, we've seen, hidden away among the buildings and streets of central London | 0:25:02 | 0:25:09 | |
'little pockets of green and a hint of wildlife. | 0:25:09 | 0:25:13 | |
'In the southwest of the city, | 0:25:15 | 0:25:17 | |
'Bill Oddie headed to one of the more famous open spaces | 0:25:17 | 0:25:22 | |
'for a breathtaking early morning sight.' | 0:25:22 | 0:25:25 | |
I haven't nipped up to Scotland. | 0:25:25 | 0:25:27 | |
I'm barely five miles from Westminster, | 0:25:27 | 0:25:33 | |
in Richmond Park, London's biggest nature reserve. | 0:25:33 | 0:25:39 | |
These are red deer. | 0:25:39 | 0:25:43 | |
It's barely...half past four in the morning. | 0:25:46 | 0:25:51 | |
Not surprisingly, it is wonderfully peaceful. | 0:25:52 | 0:25:56 | |
Very surprisingly, it's wonderfully natural, too. | 0:25:56 | 0:26:00 | |
I love the way the light's changed. | 0:26:13 | 0:26:16 | |
In the last half hour, it's gone from blue to pink to orange. | 0:26:16 | 0:26:20 | |
Some rather splendid stags around. | 0:26:30 | 0:26:32 | |
You can identify individual stags by the points on their antlers. | 0:26:34 | 0:26:39 | |
They call them a ten-pointer or 12-pointer. | 0:26:39 | 0:26:44 | |
Some of these have got more than that. | 0:26:44 | 0:26:47 | |
Oh, dear, oh dear! | 0:26:54 | 0:26:56 | |
Look at the state of that! | 0:26:56 | 0:27:00 | |
It's very hard to believe | 0:27:01 | 0:27:04 | |
we're almost in the middle of London. | 0:27:04 | 0:27:07 | |
The heart of the city has to be the river. That's half a mile away. | 0:27:07 | 0:27:11 | |
The vast majority of the banks along the River Thames in London | 0:27:15 | 0:27:20 | |
are not natural, they've all been shored-up with bricks and concrete | 0:27:20 | 0:27:25 | |
to make sure they don't fall into the river. | 0:27:25 | 0:27:28 | |
This is one of the very few stretches | 0:27:28 | 0:27:31 | |
of what you could call a genuine wild river bank. | 0:27:31 | 0:27:35 | |
Even this is in danger of disappearing. | 0:27:35 | 0:27:38 | |
Why? Not development. Nothing like that. | 0:27:38 | 0:27:41 | |
It's all because of a rather sinister little creature. | 0:27:41 | 0:27:46 | |
So, what made all these holes in the river bank? | 0:27:48 | 0:27:53 | |
A rat? No. I wouldn't keep a rat in a bucket! | 0:27:53 | 0:27:57 | |
The holes were made by a crab, or rather hundreds of crabs. | 0:27:57 | 0:28:01 | |
I have one representative here. | 0:28:01 | 0:28:04 | |
There he is. | 0:28:04 | 0:28:06 | |
This is a Chinese mitten crab. This is quite a small one. | 0:28:06 | 0:28:11 | |
They can grow to the size of a dinner plate. They come from China. | 0:28:11 | 0:28:16 | |
They appeared about 100 years ago. | 0:28:16 | 0:28:18 | |
Probably in the water ballast of cargo boats. | 0:28:18 | 0:28:22 | |
The mitten bit, that's these claws on the front here. | 0:28:22 | 0:28:26 | |
They're sort of furry, and when that gets in the water, it swells up | 0:28:26 | 0:28:30 | |
and makes them look particularly impressive | 0:28:30 | 0:28:33 | |
along with these nice white claws, | 0:28:33 | 0:28:36 | |
for the male to show off to the female. | 0:28:36 | 0:28:39 | |
But he has been rather naughty. | 0:28:39 | 0:28:42 | |
He and his chums have been causing an awful lot of damage. | 0:28:42 | 0:28:46 | |
They make these burrows. The banks are being riddled with these holes. | 0:28:46 | 0:28:51 | |
They're eroding all along the natural shoreline | 0:28:51 | 0:28:56 | |
and trees are collapsing. | 0:28:56 | 0:28:58 | |
Fortunately, I'm going to take a bit of hope. | 0:28:58 | 0:29:02 | |
A lot of cormorants, a lot of herons around here. | 0:29:02 | 0:29:05 | |
Crab, perfect food for them, I say. | 0:29:05 | 0:29:08 | |
Herons? Cormorants? | 0:29:08 | 0:29:10 | |
'Bill Oddie, and just some of London's wildlife. | 0:29:12 | 0:29:16 | |
'I've left the Square Mile behind me | 0:29:16 | 0:29:19 | |
'and my journey's brought me north to Dalston | 0:29:19 | 0:29:22 | |
'in the borough of Hackney.' | 0:29:22 | 0:29:25 | |
This is a really busy area - lots of people, lots of traffic. | 0:29:25 | 0:29:30 | |
Tarmac, concrete. It's not exactly the place you'd look for a farm. | 0:29:30 | 0:29:35 | |
But I'm told there is one right here in this shop. | 0:29:35 | 0:29:39 | |
This is Farm:Shop, quite a unique place. | 0:29:55 | 0:29:58 | |
Part farm, part greengrocer, part community centre, part cafe. | 0:29:58 | 0:30:02 | |
This is their farm-made ginger beer. | 0:30:02 | 0:30:05 | |
You'd struggle to find any other place like this in London. | 0:30:05 | 0:30:10 | |
'Andy Merritt is co-founder of Farm:Shop. | 0:30:11 | 0:30:15 | |
'The aim is to create a place where food is grown and sold, | 0:30:15 | 0:30:19 | |
'where urban dwellers can experience food production, | 0:30:19 | 0:30:22 | |
'get in touch with nature, have a cuppa and maybe be inspired | 0:30:22 | 0:30:26 | |
'to try something similar themselves.' | 0:30:26 | 0:30:30 | |
-Andy, I'm Joe. -Hello. -Good to see you. | 0:30:30 | 0:30:33 | |
This place is incredible. | 0:30:33 | 0:30:35 | |
How come there are fish right here by a main road | 0:30:35 | 0:30:38 | |
in almost your front room of the Farm:Shop? | 0:30:38 | 0:30:42 | |
We wanted to do a laboratory of food growing in London. | 0:30:42 | 0:30:47 | |
So we got this average London shop | 0:30:47 | 0:30:49 | |
and we're testing to see how much food we can grow. | 0:30:49 | 0:30:54 | |
Aquaponics is one of the food systems that we're using. | 0:30:54 | 0:30:58 | |
Talk me through aquaponics. There is so much activity in the room. | 0:30:58 | 0:31:03 | |
Water dripping, fish feeding, plants growing. | 0:31:03 | 0:31:06 | |
It's all one system. | 0:31:06 | 0:31:08 | |
It's basically fish linked up to vegetable growing. | 0:31:08 | 0:31:12 | |
It's like a mini ecosystem. | 0:31:12 | 0:31:15 | |
All the poo, basically, from the fish | 0:31:15 | 0:31:19 | |
provide the nutrients for the plants. | 0:31:19 | 0:31:21 | |
At the same time, because these plants are sitting on water... | 0:31:21 | 0:31:26 | |
-Oh, yeah. There's no soil. -No. They're on air-filtered water. | 0:31:26 | 0:31:31 | |
It means the roots are nice and healthy, | 0:31:31 | 0:31:34 | |
feeding off the faeces from the fish | 0:31:34 | 0:31:38 | |
and filtering the water. | 0:31:38 | 0:31:40 | |
This whole system's linked together. | 0:31:40 | 0:31:42 | |
By the time it gets back into the tanks, the water's a bit cleaner. | 0:31:42 | 0:31:47 | |
They don't look like British coarse fish. What are they? | 0:31:47 | 0:31:51 | |
They're tilapia, Nile tilapia. | 0:31:51 | 0:31:54 | |
-The second most farmed fish in the world. -Are they? -After salmon. | 0:31:54 | 0:31:58 | |
A lot of countries eat them. | 0:31:58 | 0:32:01 | |
-Are they good eating? -Yeah. They're like a white-fleshed fillet. You get two fillets. | 0:32:01 | 0:32:07 | |
They're good for aquaponics cos they're immune to diseases | 0:32:07 | 0:32:11 | |
so they can grow in these small conditions. | 0:32:11 | 0:32:14 | |
That's how they live on the Nile. It's a big river, but they group together! | 0:32:14 | 0:32:20 | |
-If you see, some of the fish have got pink heads. -Yeah. | 0:32:20 | 0:32:24 | |
They're the ones that are the bosses. | 0:32:24 | 0:32:28 | |
If you take them out, another fish will take up their mantle. | 0:32:28 | 0:32:32 | |
-And they'll get a pink head. -Wow! So it's very tribal. -Yeah. | 0:32:32 | 0:32:35 | |
So you can farm the fish. You can eat them. | 0:32:35 | 0:32:39 | |
You've got your salads, different plants, all in one system. | 0:32:39 | 0:32:43 | |
I've never seen anything quite like it, especially in this location. | 0:32:43 | 0:32:47 | |
In the centre of a city, | 0:32:47 | 0:32:49 | |
we're pretty sure there isn't a project like this in the world. | 0:32:49 | 0:32:53 | |
'And from shop-front aquaponics, we come to back-yard farming.' | 0:32:55 | 0:33:00 | |
So, here we are in the polytunnel, | 0:33:02 | 0:33:04 | |
-where we're growing in something called soil. -I've heard of that! | 0:33:04 | 0:33:09 | |
In a polytunnel, it extends our months of growing. | 0:33:09 | 0:33:13 | |
There's a sense of scale here. It is all very small. | 0:33:13 | 0:33:16 | |
-It's in very urban London. -Yeah. | 0:33:16 | 0:33:19 | |
So, you know, how does that work? | 0:33:19 | 0:33:22 | |
-If everyone said, "I want salad," you couldn't really do it. -No. | 0:33:22 | 0:33:26 | |
Food growing is one part of it. It's also educational. | 0:33:26 | 0:33:30 | |
Because we're in the city, a lot of people can come in here, | 0:33:30 | 0:33:34 | |
see how the food's growing, which they normally wouldn't be able to. | 0:33:34 | 0:33:39 | |
Because normally, you buy your food, it's already packaged up, | 0:33:39 | 0:33:42 | |
you don't really understand how it's been grown. | 0:33:42 | 0:33:47 | |
Here, you can see something turn from seed to plant to plate. | 0:33:47 | 0:33:51 | |
That educational side is very important. | 0:33:51 | 0:33:55 | |
We want it to be fun. | 0:33:55 | 0:33:57 | |
The technology is also quite engaging to younger people. | 0:33:57 | 0:34:02 | |
-They're not particularly interested in dirt. -Can you keep it going? | 0:34:02 | 0:34:07 | |
Is there enough in this to make it sustainable from the point of view of paying for it? | 0:34:07 | 0:34:13 | |
It's a non-profit organisation. | 0:34:13 | 0:34:15 | |
Because we're in the city, we've got a lot of people around. | 0:34:15 | 0:34:19 | |
We want to use the space for other things as well as food growing. | 0:34:19 | 0:34:24 | |
We can do talks. We have bands playing. | 0:34:24 | 0:34:27 | |
-I noticed a glitter ball. -It turns into a dance area! | 0:34:27 | 0:34:30 | |
We're very adaptable! | 0:34:30 | 0:34:33 | |
We also see the limitations of how much food you can grow | 0:34:33 | 0:34:37 | |
in a small shop and backyard. | 0:34:37 | 0:34:39 | |
So we have been looking into using other bigger spaces in London. | 0:34:39 | 0:34:44 | |
There are warehouses empty around here, and other large buildings. | 0:34:44 | 0:34:49 | |
-We'd like to turn those into farms as well. -Great. Let's go. | 0:34:49 | 0:34:54 | |
'Finally, it's up to the roof to check on the hens. | 0:34:59 | 0:35:03 | |
'There's a chicken coop in Dalston! | 0:35:03 | 0:35:06 | |
'Out of reach of those urban foxes | 0:35:06 | 0:35:08 | |
'and laying plenty of eggs for Andy's shop.' | 0:35:08 | 0:35:12 | |
-So here they are! -Yeah. We've got four hens on the roof. | 0:35:12 | 0:35:16 | |
They've come from a farm that's just outside of London. | 0:35:16 | 0:35:20 | |
They've been laying ever since. | 0:35:20 | 0:35:24 | |
-You've got something for them? -A bit of leftover basil for them. | 0:35:24 | 0:35:28 | |
Just the rough cuts so we can feed them. | 0:35:28 | 0:35:32 | |
Let's see if we've got any eggs. | 0:35:35 | 0:35:37 | |
-Have they laid? -Yeah. We've got one. | 0:35:37 | 0:35:41 | |
Pretty good. | 0:35:41 | 0:35:43 | |
One healthy little egg. | 0:35:43 | 0:35:46 | |
-Ah! -Got two more. | 0:35:46 | 0:35:49 | |
Two more! | 0:35:49 | 0:35:51 | |
-How many do you normally get a day? One each? -Three or four. -So, three. | 0:35:51 | 0:35:55 | |
Pretty good day. | 0:35:55 | 0:35:58 | |
Very good! There we go. | 0:36:00 | 0:36:02 | |
A proper Dalston egg, metres from Dalston Junction. | 0:36:02 | 0:36:06 | |
-Thanks for showing me round. We should get these on display. -Yes. | 0:36:06 | 0:36:10 | |
It's its own little world in there. I can't believe that's in the heart of Dalston! | 0:36:23 | 0:36:29 | |
Absolutely brilliant. | 0:36:29 | 0:36:31 | |
'Earlier, we saw angler Charles Rangeley-Wilson embark on a quest | 0:36:41 | 0:36:46 | |
'to track down wild trout in a London river. | 0:36:46 | 0:36:49 | |
'After a fruitless search fishing all over the capital, | 0:36:49 | 0:36:52 | |
'his journey has now pushed him to the city's outer limits.' | 0:36:52 | 0:36:59 | |
'Right from the start of my search, | 0:37:04 | 0:37:07 | |
'I had a resigned suspicion that I'd end up on a train to the suburbs, | 0:37:07 | 0:37:12 | |
'to the far end of the Underground, | 0:37:12 | 0:37:15 | |
'to a different tidal zone of struggle between the sprawling city | 0:37:15 | 0:37:19 | |
'and what is left of wild countryside.' | 0:37:19 | 0:37:22 | |
It's the last day of the season. | 0:37:22 | 0:37:25 | |
I've been chasing my tail all over London for a week. | 0:37:25 | 0:37:29 | |
I feel I've been on a ghost hunt. | 0:37:29 | 0:37:32 | |
Lots of people with stories of trout but I haven't seen any. | 0:37:32 | 0:37:37 | |
But there's a river I know of, flows under the M25 to Rickmansworth | 0:37:41 | 0:37:46 | |
and there's some fishing there by the playing fields. | 0:37:46 | 0:37:50 | |
I've got a feeling, well, I really hope, | 0:37:50 | 0:37:54 | |
that I'll find my trout there. | 0:37:54 | 0:37:57 | |
'Of the handful of chalk streams still flowing towards the city, | 0:38:03 | 0:38:07 | |
'the tiny River Chess in northwest London | 0:38:07 | 0:38:10 | |
'was always one of the best.' | 0:38:10 | 0:38:12 | |
Looking for a way in here. | 0:38:15 | 0:38:16 | |
Just yomp on through the bushes, see if we can find the river. | 0:38:16 | 0:38:21 | |
Bit of a fence. | 0:38:25 | 0:38:27 | |
Ah! Looks like Borneo! | 0:38:34 | 0:38:37 | |
No-one's been along here in a long while. Here we go. | 0:38:40 | 0:38:44 | |
This chalk stream is right on the margin | 0:38:46 | 0:38:52 | |
of the countryside that way, the other side of the M25, | 0:38:52 | 0:38:56 | |
and the very edge of London over there. | 0:38:56 | 0:38:59 | |
It feels very rural and very unspoilt. | 0:39:03 | 0:39:07 | |
I know that's deceptive, | 0:39:07 | 0:39:09 | |
because this river relies for its flow on underground springs. | 0:39:09 | 0:39:15 | |
And London is just over there. | 0:39:15 | 0:39:19 | |
I can hear it throbbing away in the background. | 0:39:19 | 0:39:23 | |
It's something of a tick on the landscape, | 0:39:23 | 0:39:26 | |
sucking the life out of it, out of these rivers. | 0:39:26 | 0:39:29 | |
I know this river was a great river 150 years ago. | 0:39:29 | 0:39:35 | |
And my suspicion is that it's just holding on. | 0:39:38 | 0:39:43 | |
Let's see what we can see. | 0:39:43 | 0:39:45 | |
-WHISPERS: -Oh, wow. It's like a jungle. | 0:39:46 | 0:39:51 | |
There's certainly some fish down there. | 0:39:51 | 0:39:53 | |
I think several of them are chub, my friend the chub. | 0:39:53 | 0:39:57 | |
It looks trouty. | 0:39:57 | 0:40:00 | |
If there isn't trout at the end of this I'll Napalm the river! | 0:40:06 | 0:40:10 | |
Conservationist becomes agent of death in a strop. | 0:40:10 | 0:40:15 | |
It's actually dirtying up. | 0:40:21 | 0:40:24 | |
There's someone walking a dog up-river, I reckon, | 0:40:24 | 0:40:28 | |
which is not helping. | 0:40:28 | 0:40:31 | |
Dog walkers go away! | 0:40:31 | 0:40:33 | |
Don't you realise that I'm on a mission? | 0:40:33 | 0:40:36 | |
Come on, trout. Where are you? | 0:40:38 | 0:40:41 | |
Be here! | 0:40:41 | 0:40:43 | |
There's a fish right in front of me. | 0:40:50 | 0:40:53 | |
But it's a chub. | 0:40:53 | 0:40:56 | |
The one thing about the cloudy water is I can get closer to them. | 0:41:10 | 0:41:15 | |
Ah, Christ! | 0:41:21 | 0:41:23 | |
There's a bunch of kids. They've been paddling. | 0:41:23 | 0:41:26 | |
Some school exercise. | 0:41:26 | 0:41:29 | |
'The kids have scuppered my chances. | 0:41:31 | 0:41:34 | |
'As long as they're muddying the water, I won't see any trout. | 0:41:34 | 0:41:39 | |
'And THEY won't see my fly. | 0:41:39 | 0:41:41 | |
'I need to find a secret corner, | 0:41:41 | 0:41:44 | |
'somewhere that's been left alone for a while. | 0:41:44 | 0:41:49 | |
'I move upstream to the hard shoulder of the M25.' | 0:41:49 | 0:41:54 | |
TRAFFIC RUMBLES | 0:41:58 | 0:42:02 | |
I've lost the river. | 0:42:02 | 0:42:05 | |
TRAFFIC RUMBLES, BIRDS SING | 0:42:06 | 0:42:10 | |
Good-looking hole, | 0:42:25 | 0:42:28 | |
but more or less impossible to fish. | 0:42:28 | 0:42:31 | |
'I haven't given up trying, | 0:42:38 | 0:42:40 | |
'but I've given up believing. | 0:42:40 | 0:42:43 | |
'I'm depressed, ankle-deep in an emaciated stream. | 0:42:48 | 0:42:52 | |
'What I've come looking for seems beyond reach. | 0:42:56 | 0:43:00 | |
'This was always a personal journey, | 0:43:02 | 0:43:05 | |
'but I'm surprised how personal it's become.' | 0:43:05 | 0:43:09 | |
What is this? What is this? | 0:43:21 | 0:43:23 | |
Wa-hay! | 0:43:24 | 0:43:26 | |
It's a trout. | 0:43:26 | 0:43:28 | |
Stay on the line. Stay on the line. | 0:43:28 | 0:43:31 | |
Get in there. We have done it! | 0:43:35 | 0:43:37 | |
We have done it. I've proved it. | 0:43:38 | 0:43:41 | |
They're here. Magic! | 0:43:41 | 0:43:44 | |
Out of the middle of nowhere. | 0:43:46 | 0:43:48 | |
I thought I'd chuck the fly and see what happened. Look at that! | 0:43:48 | 0:43:53 | |
It is such a beautiful fish. | 0:43:53 | 0:43:56 | |
A trout inside the M25. | 0:43:56 | 0:43:59 | |
I'm moderately speechless. | 0:44:04 | 0:44:06 | |
But they're here. | 0:44:09 | 0:44:11 | |
Holding on. | 0:44:15 | 0:44:17 | |
Look at it. | 0:44:21 | 0:44:23 | |
It's the first one we've seen. | 0:44:23 | 0:44:26 | |
Definitely worth it. | 0:44:29 | 0:44:31 | |
-It just shows, you see, they're... -CLEARS THROAT | 0:44:33 | 0:44:37 | |
The contrast between this fish and the road. | 0:44:40 | 0:44:44 | |
TRAFFIC RUMBLES | 0:44:44 | 0:44:46 | |
CLEARS THROAT | 0:44:51 | 0:44:53 | |
But they're here. | 0:44:55 | 0:44:57 | |
And they're waiting for us to, um... | 0:44:57 | 0:45:00 | |
..take a bit more care of the environment. | 0:45:02 | 0:45:05 | |
Then they'll come back. | 0:45:05 | 0:45:08 | |
Just on the edge. You've got to reach the edge, reach that hinterland... | 0:45:08 | 0:45:13 | |
..between where we're rapidly buggering up the world | 0:45:16 | 0:45:21 | |
and they can just about hold on. | 0:45:21 | 0:45:24 | |
And if we can learn to throw | 0:45:25 | 0:45:28 | |
a few less motorbikes and mattresses and bedsteads in our rivers, | 0:45:28 | 0:45:33 | |
there's no reason why these guys can't come back into London. | 0:45:33 | 0:45:38 | |
And, I suppose, honour us with their presence. | 0:45:42 | 0:45:45 | |
I'm going to let him go now. | 0:45:45 | 0:45:48 | |
Job done. | 0:45:54 | 0:45:56 | |
Fantastic. | 0:46:04 | 0:46:06 | |
They're here. | 0:46:11 | 0:46:13 | |
A lot more chub, but one or two trout. | 0:46:14 | 0:46:18 | |
'An emotional moment there for Charles Rangeley-Wilson. | 0:46:18 | 0:46:23 | |
'Hopefully, the continued recovery of the Thames means wild trout | 0:46:23 | 0:46:27 | |
'will soon be in the heart of the city, too. | 0:46:27 | 0:46:30 | |
'My journey has brought me to one of London's truly great green areas, | 0:46:30 | 0:46:35 | |
'Hampstead Heath, in the borough of Camden.' | 0:46:35 | 0:46:38 | |
Five miles from Piccadilly Circus, up the road from Camden, | 0:46:44 | 0:46:49 | |
it feels like open countryside - lovely! | 0:46:49 | 0:46:52 | |
'It could have been a different story. | 0:46:54 | 0:46:57 | |
'In the 1860s, there were plans to build on Hampstead Heath. | 0:46:57 | 0:47:01 | |
'Powerful and passionate opposition kept the developers at bay. | 0:47:01 | 0:47:05 | |
'In 1871, | 0:47:05 | 0:47:07 | |
'more than 200 acres were sold to the Metropolitan Board of Works, | 0:47:07 | 0:47:11 | |
'who pledged "to forever keep the Heath open, | 0:47:11 | 0:47:14 | |
'"unenclosed and unbuilt on." | 0:47:14 | 0:47:16 | |
'Today, it's owned, managed and protected by the City of London.' | 0:47:16 | 0:47:22 | |
As capital cities go across the world, London is absolutely superb. | 0:47:22 | 0:47:27 | |
It has loads of green spaces - parks, commons, little squares, even woodlands. | 0:47:27 | 0:47:32 | |
On Hampstead Heath, one of the unique features is its ponds. | 0:47:32 | 0:47:36 | |
Three of them you can swim in. | 0:47:36 | 0:47:38 | |
I'm going to learn more about their history, and take a quick dip. | 0:47:38 | 0:47:42 | |
First, the Country Tracks weather for the week ahead. | 0:47:42 | 0:47:46 | |
. | 0:49:50 | 0:49:57 | |
'I've been on a journey across London, | 0:50:05 | 0:50:07 | |
'finding the countryside in the capital. | 0:50:07 | 0:50:10 | |
'I started in its very centre, exploring gardens in the City. | 0:50:10 | 0:50:15 | |
'I headed north to investigate an urban farming project in Dalston. | 0:50:15 | 0:50:19 | |
'Finally, I've arrived at Hampstead Heath, a rural escape in the city. | 0:50:19 | 0:50:24 | |
'I'm here to explore its ponds. There are dozens on the Heath. | 0:50:28 | 0:50:32 | |
'Three have a tradition of public bathing, which continues today. | 0:50:32 | 0:50:37 | |
'Someone who knows all about the ponds - she's written a book about them - is Caitlin Davies.' | 0:50:37 | 0:50:43 | |
Caitlin, where do these ponds come from? Have they always been here? | 0:50:43 | 0:50:48 | |
There's 29 ponds on Hampstead Heath. | 0:50:48 | 0:50:52 | |
A lot of them, like this one, | 0:50:52 | 0:50:54 | |
go back about 300 years, and even before that. | 0:50:54 | 0:50:59 | |
Although they look natural, they were built as reservoirs to supply London with water. | 0:50:59 | 0:51:05 | |
This one here was probably created early 1700s | 0:51:05 | 0:51:10 | |
by the Hampstead Waterworks Company. | 0:51:10 | 0:51:13 | |
Some people say it goes back even further. | 0:51:13 | 0:51:16 | |
In Tudor times, they decided that the City of London could tap the springs on the Heath | 0:51:16 | 0:51:22 | |
and take water into London. | 0:51:22 | 0:51:24 | |
-These are naturally spring-fed? -Yes, but it is a reservoir. | 0:51:24 | 0:51:28 | |
How many can you swim in? | 0:51:28 | 0:51:30 | |
Officially, only three. The mixed pond. | 0:51:30 | 0:51:32 | |
-This one. -Also known as fourth pond. | 0:51:32 | 0:51:35 | |
Then there's the Highgate men's pond and Kenwood ladies' pond. | 0:51:35 | 0:51:39 | |
This one's the oldest one. | 0:51:39 | 0:51:41 | |
People have been swimming here since the early 1800s. | 0:51:41 | 0:51:45 | |
Am I right that tradition continues, people swim all year round? | 0:51:54 | 0:51:59 | |
People swim all year round but this mixed pond is only open to the public in the summer. | 0:51:59 | 0:52:04 | |
At the Highgate men's pond, they've still got the Christmas Day race that's been running since 1893. | 0:52:04 | 0:52:10 | |
'In London's far north, intrepid swimmers weakened on Christmas Day, | 0:52:10 | 0:52:15 | |
'and warmed the Hampstead swimming pool before preparing to dive in. | 0:52:15 | 0:52:19 | |
'Everyone pretended they were having a grand time in the sunny south. | 0:52:19 | 0:52:24 | |
'Spectators managed to keep quite warm in the excitement of a race. | 0:52:35 | 0:52:40 | |
'Hardy competitors seemed happy to take part in an annual event | 0:52:40 | 0:52:44 | |
'with the water at 41 degrees.' | 0:52:44 | 0:52:47 | |
What is it about this place? | 0:52:50 | 0:52:52 | |
Was it because it was a clean water source, people could swim safely? You wouldn't swim in the Thames. | 0:52:52 | 0:52:59 | |
People loved swimming here because it was fresh water and free, | 0:52:59 | 0:53:03 | |
but it wasn't safe. | 0:53:03 | 0:53:05 | |
It was really dangerous because people swam in all of these ponds. | 0:53:05 | 0:53:10 | |
Going back to early 1800s, | 0:53:10 | 0:53:12 | |
people couldn't really swim, it was more of an immersion than a swim. | 0:53:12 | 0:53:16 | |
-How deep is it? -Now, it's about 12 feet deep in the middle. | 0:53:16 | 0:53:21 | |
It's much shallower over there, about six foot. | 0:53:21 | 0:53:24 | |
The depth's varied. At times, it was only four foot, | 0:53:24 | 0:53:28 | |
which is really dangerous for people diving in. | 0:53:28 | 0:53:32 | |
You've done so much research, what stands out for you? | 0:53:32 | 0:53:36 | |
-Some interesting characters must have come here. -I've been swimming in these ponds for 40 years. | 0:53:36 | 0:53:42 | |
I'd never asked myself, "Where do the ponds come from?" or "Who used to go there? | 0:53:42 | 0:53:48 | |
What struck me most was the men's pond, which opened in 1893, | 0:53:48 | 0:53:53 | |
had the first professional diving stage in the country. | 0:53:53 | 0:53:57 | |
The history of diving, life-saving, swimming clubs, | 0:53:57 | 0:54:01 | |
all of this goes back to these ponds. | 0:54:01 | 0:54:03 | |
'The ponds attract many regular swimmers, | 0:54:19 | 0:54:22 | |
'like Hampstead local Margaret Dickinson. | 0:54:22 | 0:54:25 | |
'As I'm new to this, she's a good person for me to talk to.' | 0:54:25 | 0:54:29 | |
-Hello, Margaret. -Hi. -Mind if I join you? | 0:54:29 | 0:54:33 | |
-No! -What's the temperature like? -Not too bad, is it? | 0:54:33 | 0:54:36 | |
Ah! A bit parky! Not too bad! | 0:54:36 | 0:54:39 | |
I understand you're a regular swimmer. | 0:54:39 | 0:54:42 | |
About six days out of seven, most of the year. | 0:54:42 | 0:54:47 | |
-Most of the year? -Yes! -Come January, would you be in one of the ponds? | 0:54:47 | 0:54:51 | |
-I would. -Where do you like to swim out of the three? | 0:54:51 | 0:54:55 | |
Weekdays, I do it mainly here. | 0:54:55 | 0:54:57 | |
Weekends, I do it at the women's. | 0:54:57 | 0:54:59 | |
Morning always, before breakfast. | 0:54:59 | 0:55:02 | |
And how does that set you up for the day? | 0:55:02 | 0:55:05 | |
It's a cliche, it sets us up for the day. That's exactly what we say. | 0:55:05 | 0:55:10 | |
Well, it ensures you get a walk. | 0:55:10 | 0:55:13 | |
And, of course, in winter, it's a token swim. | 0:55:13 | 0:55:16 | |
Don't imagine that we're going round and round in winter. | 0:55:16 | 0:55:20 | |
No! It's kind of in and out. | 0:55:20 | 0:55:22 | |
'I'm impressed by Margaret's tenacity, | 0:55:22 | 0:55:25 | |
'but I don't think you'd catch me stripping off for a dip in January. | 0:55:25 | 0:55:30 | |
'Luckily, today, the water is a scorching...17 degrees Celsius.' | 0:55:30 | 0:55:35 | |
Any tips for me? I'm not used to cold water, so take it a bit slow? | 0:55:35 | 0:55:40 | |
Yes, don't swim too violently when you first get in. | 0:55:40 | 0:55:44 | |
If you're not liking it, get out, don't do it just for the camera. | 0:55:44 | 0:55:48 | |
I make a point of not listening to directors. | 0:55:48 | 0:55:51 | |
I do my own thing, don't you worry about that. | 0:55:51 | 0:55:55 | |
I know from dipping my feet in that it's pretty nippy. | 0:55:59 | 0:56:03 | |
If I try and lower myself in, I'd be here all day. | 0:56:03 | 0:56:07 | |
So, I think it's all or nothing. Here goes. | 0:56:07 | 0:56:10 | |
And breathe! | 0:56:21 | 0:56:23 | |
'This has been a Country Tracks with a difference. | 0:56:33 | 0:56:36 | |
'Even though I'm a London resident, I found so much I didn't know about its green places and wildlife. | 0:56:36 | 0:56:42 | |
'A beautiful garden created in the ruin of a bombed church, | 0:56:42 | 0:56:47 | |
'the marvel of a living wall, | 0:56:47 | 0:56:49 | |
'fish returning to the city's rivers and a farm in a shop | 0:56:49 | 0:56:54 | |
'all speak of our yearning for nature within the city. | 0:56:54 | 0:56:58 | |
'There can be no better example than ending my journey in the cool waters | 0:56:58 | 0:57:03 | |
'of Hampstead Heath.' | 0:57:03 | 0:57:05 | |
When you first get in, it definitely takes your breath away. | 0:57:07 | 0:57:11 | |
But as soon as you swim around, it's not that cold at all. | 0:57:11 | 0:57:15 | |
And look at it! It is just so peaceful, so quiet, so tranquil. | 0:57:15 | 0:57:20 | |
And yet, here we are in London. | 0:57:20 | 0:57:22 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:57:36 | 0:57:39 | |
E-mail [email protected] | 0:57:39 | 0:57:43 |