Kent Country Tracks


Kent

Similar Content

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

Transcript


LineFromTo

Today, I'm on a journey under the big skies of Kent.

0:00:200:00:24

Starting in its most remote corner

0:00:240:00:26

and finishing a little bit further to the north, in search of gorillas.

0:00:260:00:30

I kick-off at Lydd, on the south-easterly tip of the UK,

0:00:390:00:42

where I'll test my skills at go-karting.

0:00:420:00:45

Then, it's up to the Aeronautical Museum at Brenzett,

0:00:470:00:50

where memories of the World War II, both in the air and on land,

0:00:500:00:53

are very much alive.

0:00:530:00:55

Somebody once said if it hadn't been for the Merchant Navy

0:00:550:00:57

and the Land Army, England would have starved.

0:00:570:01:00

Pressing northwards to Canterbury,

0:01:010:01:03

I'll get my ears around a psychedelic sound

0:01:030:01:05

that swept through the city in the Sixties.

0:01:050:01:09

It's amazing that, 40 years later, it is still all happening,

0:01:090:01:12

people are continuing that tradition.

0:01:120:01:14

My journey comes to an end near Bekesbourne,

0:01:140:01:17

among the animals,

0:01:170:01:19

where I'll step very carefully into the territory

0:01:190:01:21

'of a clouded leopard.' Now, look at that.

0:01:210:01:25

One of the rarest cats in the world.

0:01:260:01:29

And I'll be finding out how lowland guerrillas,

0:01:290:01:32

born and bred in Kent, are going back to the wild.

0:01:320:01:35

We are repopulating a part of Africa

0:01:350:01:37

that hasn't seen gorillas for 200 years.

0:01:370:01:39

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

0:01:390:01:42

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

0:01:420:01:45

Welcome to Country Tracks.

0:01:450:01:47

Despite being one of our more densely-populated counties,

0:01:520:01:55

Kent boasts more than 1,000 square miles of open countryside

0:01:550:01:59

and 350 miles of unspoilt coastline.

0:01:590:02:02

Having mainland Europe on the doorstep means Kent enjoys

0:02:050:02:08

a warmer, drier climate than much of the UK.

0:02:080:02:10

That in turn supports agriculture and, of course,

0:02:100:02:13

it's renowned reputation as the Garden of England.

0:02:130:02:16

When I think of Kent, I picture orchards,

0:02:200:02:23

hops, meadows, white cliffs...but go-karts?

0:02:230:02:26

There's been a track here for nearly 20 years,

0:02:360:02:39

part of it made from reclaimed marshland.

0:02:390:02:42

It sits within the boundaries of Dungeness, Bromley Marsh

0:02:420:02:45

and the site of special scientific interest at Rye Bay.

0:02:450:02:48

And, somehow, all that co-exists

0:02:480:02:51

rather nicely with the local wildlife.

0:02:510:02:54

You might think we're shattering the peace and quiet

0:02:540:02:56

of the Kent countryside, but hold on to those assumptions

0:02:560:02:59

because Lydd has never been a stranger to noise.

0:02:590:03:02

In 1888, they tested high explosives here,

0:03:020:03:04

which led to the invention of Lyddite, a deadly substance

0:03:040:03:08

used to fill shells in World War One and the Boer War,

0:03:080:03:10

and these days, its neighbours include two power stations,

0:03:100:03:14

an army firing range you can just about hear...

0:03:140:03:16

DISTANT GUNSHOTS

0:03:160:03:18

and an airport, so a few go-karts are hardly noticed.

0:03:180:03:21

The circuit was recently bought by property developer

0:03:250:03:28

and well-known go-kart champ, Andy Scott,

0:03:280:03:30

and all-round record-breaking racer, James Clark.

0:03:300:03:33

Between them, they've won 140 trophies.

0:03:330:03:36

I couldn't help but spot a few trophies.

0:03:390:03:42

Where'd you buy all them?

0:03:420:03:44

THEY LAUGH

0:03:440:03:45

Local charity shop!

0:03:450:03:47

You guys are pretty good at your sport, aren't you?

0:03:470:03:50

You've both driven at a high level, is that right?

0:03:500:03:53

Yeah, it's all down to just living and breathing it and passion.

0:03:530:03:56

Andy, how big is go-karting in this country, is it very popular?

0:03:560:04:01

It's very popular, it's the grass roots of motorsport.

0:04:010:04:05

Ages from four years old can start, right up to 60, 70 years old.

0:04:050:04:10

There is not a Formula One driver today that didn't start in karting.

0:04:100:04:13

MUSIC: BBC Formula One theme

0:04:150:04:19

So, it looks like I'm about to join the likes of Hamilton and Button.

0:04:190:04:23

MUSIC: "Steptoe And Son" theme

0:04:340:04:37

Gently round the corner.

0:04:390:04:41

I think he's getting the hang of this.

0:04:430:04:45

Yeah.

0:04:460:04:48

He's got to be doing...15-20 mph?

0:04:500:04:53

HE LAUGHS

0:04:530:04:54

I think six out of ten for effort.

0:04:550:04:57

Yeah.

0:04:570:04:59

I think our trophies are safe.

0:05:070:05:09

Well, that felt absolutely brilliant, it's so fast,

0:05:130:05:16

it's so low to the ground.

0:05:160:05:19

My driving was a bit horrendous, really, but all great fun.

0:05:190:05:23

Exhilarating experience.

0:05:230:05:24

OK, so maybe I wasn't as fast as I thought.

0:05:260:05:29

So, guys, first time, what do you think?

0:05:290:05:32

First time novice, very good.

0:05:320:05:35

Yeah, we only managed to boil one egg in that time.

0:05:350:05:38

Look me in the eye and say that.

0:05:380:05:41

Thanks, guys, very much.

0:05:420:05:44

Yeah, whatever.

0:05:450:05:47

Anyway, as much as I've enjoyed plodding around the track,

0:05:470:05:50

it's not what I'd expect of rural Kent.

0:05:500:05:52

Matt Baker explored a quieter and wilder part of the county.

0:05:520:05:57

This is Dungeness.

0:05:590:06:02

A bleak, remote wilderness

0:06:050:06:07

clinging to the very edge of our island.

0:06:070:06:10

Few other places can boast both a steam railway

0:06:120:06:15

and a nuclear power station.

0:06:150:06:17

Arriving here feels like stepping through the looking-glass.

0:06:200:06:25

This is the largest pebble beach in Europe,

0:06:280:06:32

and it is on the move - expanding out into the Channel

0:06:320:06:36

at a rate of up to eight and a half feet a year.

0:06:360:06:39

Dilapidated sheds and decaying boats dot the landscape.

0:06:400:06:44

Abandoned in a world of constantly-shifting shingle.

0:06:460:06:49

This arid place is the closest thing we have in Britain to a desert.

0:06:510:06:56

It rains as little here as it does on the Rock of Gibraltar.

0:06:560:07:00

Ecologist Owen Leyshon is my guide to its harsh beauty.

0:07:010:07:05

So, Owen it is an extraordinary landscape.

0:07:070:07:10

It is very, very tough for any plants

0:07:100:07:13

and humans to survive on Dungeness.

0:07:130:07:16

Cold in the winter, really hot and dry in the summer.

0:07:160:07:20

-As close an environment as you can get to a desert?

-Yes.

0:07:200:07:24

So there's no soil or anything. How deep is the shingle?

0:07:240:07:27

It's about 17 to 20 metres deep, the shingle.

0:07:270:07:30

If it's that deep, then the plants are certainly determined.

0:07:320:07:36

Their roots searching the shingle for every nutrient,

0:07:370:07:41

every drop of salt-free moisture.

0:07:410:07:44

There seemed to be a lot of these white-flowered plants here, Owen.

0:07:440:07:49

-What have we got here?

-This is sea kale.

0:07:490:07:53

Nice good old tough seaside plant, nice juicy leaves,

0:07:530:07:56

with a lovely big white pom-pom display of flowers on it.

0:07:560:08:00

A characteristic seaside plant, but on Dungeness you could

0:08:000:08:04

probably say the biggest collection of sea kale in this country.

0:08:040:08:08

Look closer and more than one third of all the plant species in the UK

0:08:090:08:14

manage to grow amongst these pebbles.

0:08:140:08:17

But they're not the only form of life here.

0:08:170:08:20

Further inland,

0:08:200:08:21

fresh water collects in craters left by gravel extraction,

0:08:210:08:24

and in the fresh water,

0:08:240:08:26

live something that was once declared extinct in Britain.

0:08:260:08:30

Oh, my word!

0:08:320:08:33

They're leeches?

0:08:330:08:34

These are medicinal leeches.

0:08:340:08:36

In Europe, Dungeness is one of the best places for this species.

0:08:360:08:41

This has come from a gravel pit, so the water quality's excellent.

0:08:410:08:45

Lots of food for them, frogs and birds for them to feed on,

0:08:450:08:49

because they need blood.

0:08:490:08:50

And you need a special licence...

0:08:500:08:52

You need a licence to handle these,

0:08:520:08:54

as they're quite rare in this country.

0:08:540:08:56

What do you have to do? Keep moving them.

0:08:560:08:58

I have got to keep holding these a bit like a hot potato.

0:08:580:09:01

There we go, let's get this one out here.

0:09:030:09:06

Oh, wow.

0:09:060:09:07

I've got to keep moving him around,

0:09:070:09:09

because he's looking for a place to bite me, now.

0:09:090:09:12

Which end is the teeth?

0:09:120:09:14

That's it, there's 300 teeth on it,

0:09:140:09:16

and they expand about two or three times their size

0:09:160:09:19

when they've had their meal,

0:09:190:09:20

and that'll be it for the rest of the season.

0:09:200:09:23

This is the largest leech in this country.

0:09:230:09:26

You'll not mistake this for anything else.

0:09:260:09:28

Leeches have long been used in medicine.

0:09:290:09:32

and in the 19th century, their popularity reached its peak.

0:09:320:09:36

Over-harvesting lead to dramatic shortages,

0:09:360:09:39

but here in this corner of Kent, the leech somehow hung on.

0:09:390:09:44

It all adds to the atmosphere - an alien storybook world,

0:09:470:09:53

lost somewhere in time.

0:09:530:09:55

Coming as I have from the heart of England's

0:09:590:10:01

green and pleasant land, Dungeness is a startling sight.

0:10:010:10:06

It's strangely alluring, it's dreamlike,

0:10:060:10:11

it's almost in slow motion, this place.

0:10:110:10:14

Totally unexpected, but unforgettable.

0:10:140:10:17

Matt Baker, swept away with the beauty of Dungeness.

0:10:230:10:28

I've left the go-karting track at Lydd and headed north to Brenzett.

0:10:320:10:38

It's definitely a more peaceful spot -

0:10:380:10:40

green fields stretching into the distance,

0:10:400:10:42

and only birdsong to break the silence.

0:10:420:10:45

It couldn't be more different to the scene here

0:10:450:10:48

nearly 70 years ago, during the Second World War.

0:10:480:10:52

Well, it looks just like any other field today,

0:11:020:11:05

but in the summer of 1944, Brenzett Airfield was here.

0:11:050:11:09

It was an ALG - an Advanced Landing Ground -

0:11:090:11:11

specially chosen and strategically positioned to be as close to the coast as possible -

0:11:110:11:16

that is, as close to France as possible.

0:11:160:11:18

As D-Day approached,

0:11:220:11:24

these ALGs were vital fuel stations for allied aircraft.

0:11:240:11:28

It meant their tanks were full as they fought in the skies

0:11:280:11:31

above France, and for those returning from combat,

0:11:310:11:34

it was the first sign of a safe landing spot.

0:11:340:11:37

There were 12 ALGs in Kent.

0:11:370:11:39

If you just passed by here today, you'd have no idea

0:11:420:11:45

of the significance of this place

0:11:450:11:47

towards the end of the Second World War,

0:11:470:11:49

but luckily, its memory is kept alive just up the road.

0:11:490:11:53

The Brenzett Aeronautical Museum has a staggering collection

0:12:040:12:08

of wartime relics and memorabilia, including many precious photographs.

0:12:080:12:13

It also displays items recovered from aircraft crash sites

0:12:130:12:17

during the Battle of Britain.

0:12:170:12:19

At first glance, it might be difficult to identify with

0:12:220:12:26

these large lumps of twisted metal, but when you remember

0:12:260:12:29

these were engines from downed aircraft flown by young men,

0:12:290:12:33

so many of whom lost their lives, it really makes you think,

0:12:330:12:38

actually, just how poignant these artefacts are.

0:12:380:12:42

By 1944, there were three squadrons based here in Brenzett,

0:12:470:12:51

and part of their role was to intercept the flying bombs,

0:12:510:12:54

the infamous doodlebugs.

0:12:540:12:55

Look at this - it's the tip of a Spitfire wing.

0:12:550:12:57

It's completely bent out of shape

0:12:570:13:00

because on one occasion a Spitfire pilot managed to get his wing

0:13:000:13:04

under that of a doodlebug, flip it off course

0:13:040:13:07

so it crashed in the fields of Kent

0:13:070:13:09

rather than its intended target, which was London.

0:13:090:13:12

Absolutely incredible skill and bravery.

0:13:120:13:15

The airfield closed in December 1944.

0:13:210:13:24

The land was returned to agricultural use

0:13:240:13:27

and Brenzett's planes and pilots melted into the history books.

0:13:270:13:32

But this building survived.

0:13:360:13:38

It's been an Aeronautical Museum since 1972,

0:13:380:13:41

but during the war it had nothing to do with the aviation.

0:13:410:13:44

In fact, you couldn't get much more down-to-earth.

0:13:440:13:47

It was a Land Army hostel, and every year a group

0:13:510:13:53

of former land girls come back for a trip down memory lane.

0:13:530:13:58

In a moment, I'll be hearing some of their stories,

0:14:030:14:06

but first to Dover,

0:14:060:14:07

where Neil Oliver explored our determination over the centuries

0:14:070:14:10

to link the British Isles with the rest of Europe.

0:14:100:14:13

The nearest part of France, Cap Gris Nez, is 21 miles away over there.

0:14:230:14:27

And every year, 15 million of us make the crossing.

0:14:270:14:30

For a nation of islanders,

0:14:300:14:32

we're very keen to get away from the place every once in a while.

0:14:320:14:36

While ships have been making that escape possible

0:14:380:14:40

for thousands of years,

0:14:400:14:42

since 1994, trains have been making the journey, too.

0:14:420:14:46

The Channel Tunnel is one of Britain's

0:14:490:14:51

most complex engineering projects.

0:14:510:14:54

The secret of its success is the layer of chalk below the seabed -

0:14:540:14:58

ideal for tunnelling.

0:14:580:15:01

Having a direct line to the Continent still feels like a bit of a novelty.

0:15:030:15:08

But actually, the idea is nothing new.

0:15:080:15:11

More than 100 years ago, there was already a tunnel under the Channel,

0:15:110:15:16

but that audacious plan to connect us to France was never finished.

0:15:160:15:20

'Richard Storer has offered to help me

0:15:210:15:23

'uncover the history of the Victorian Channel Tunnel.'

0:15:230:15:26

-Going to do some tunnelling?

-Yes, we are.

0:15:260:15:29

It all starts with a French engineer, Thome de Gamond.

0:15:310:15:35

He knew that chalk was good for tunnelling, but in the 19th century,

0:15:350:15:40

no-one knew if there was chalk under the Channel or not.

0:15:400:15:43

In 1833, Thome decided that he had to know for sure,

0:15:440:15:48

and the only way to find out

0:15:480:15:50

was to dive to the sea bed and collect samples.

0:15:500:15:54

I've got a sense of trepidation now!

0:15:540:15:57

With Richard's help, I want to find out

0:15:570:16:00

just how hard Thome's task must have been

0:16:000:16:02

in the days before any proper diving equipment.

0:16:020:16:06

It was dive in and hope that he could pick something up.

0:16:060:16:09

What practical difficulties did Thome de Gamond face?

0:16:090:16:13

He prepared himself with lint

0:16:130:16:16

soaked in lard or butter, for his ears, and nostrils.

0:16:160:16:19

-Why?

-That was to keep out the water.

0:16:190:16:22

Because at the lower depths,

0:16:220:16:23

the pressure of the water would affect his ears and nose.

0:16:230:16:27

Just before he jumped overboard, he took a mouthful of olive oil,

0:16:270:16:31

which he'd seen done in the Mediterranean by pearl divers.

0:16:310:16:36

-Like a partial seal?

-That's right.

-What depths did he go to?

0:16:360:16:40

About 30 metres, about 100 feet,

0:16:400:16:43

-the deepest part of the Channel.

-Just holding his breath?

-Yeah.

0:16:430:16:46

'There's no way I'm going that deep.

0:16:460:16:48

'But just as Gamond did on his search for the signs of chalk,

0:16:480:16:52

'I'm going to dive without an air supply.

0:16:520:16:55

'Dive master Richard Bull and his team are here to help.'

0:16:550:16:58

-I've never donned one of these.

-Get that arm in, pulled right up,

0:17:020:17:05

done like an expert.

0:17:050:17:08

-Perfect. Made-to-measure, sir.

-All set.

0:17:100:17:13

It doesn't really help when they look so worried, though.

0:17:140:17:18

Thome de Gamond needed bandages and olive oil and butter. I don't.

0:17:180:17:23

All I'm taking is my gardening trowel and my bag.

0:17:230:17:27

'Like Thome de Gamond, I'm holding my breath.'

0:17:370:17:39

'Digging for evidence of the chalk beneath the seabed.

0:17:410:17:45

'Gamond dived up to ten times deeper than I am,

0:17:450:17:48

'and it's all the more extraordinary,

0:17:480:17:50

'because like me, Thome was not a professional diver.'

0:17:500:17:54

'After only 30 seconds, my lungs are burning.

0:17:590:18:03

'It must have been a nightmare for Gamond.'

0:18:030:18:06

That is extremely difficult. And all I've got...

0:18:130:18:17

is a beach pebble!

0:18:170:18:19

'Thankfully, Gamond was a lot more successful.'

0:18:190:18:23

His dives confirmed there was a continuous layer of chalk

0:18:230:18:28

between Britain and France.

0:18:280:18:30

But sadly for him, he could never raise the money to start tunnelling.

0:18:320:18:36

By the late 1870s, a British railway magnate, Sir Edward Watkin,

0:18:400:18:44

had taken up the challenge.

0:18:440:18:46

Using Gamond's discovery, Watkin's then-revolutionary plan

0:18:480:18:53

was to link London to Paris direct, and for that he needed a tunnel.

0:18:530:18:58

At the base of this cliff

0:18:590:19:01

is the first ever trial tunnel for Watkin's scheme.

0:19:010:19:04

Very forensic. Very Crime Scene!

0:19:070:19:09

'It's hidden away at the end of a ventilation shaft,

0:19:090:19:13

'and we need all this protective gear just to get in there.'

0:19:130:19:17

All right.

0:19:170:19:19

Mind the floor. Right, so, this is it.

0:19:270:19:31

-Amazing, isn't it?

-Unbelievable.

0:19:310:19:33

Considering it's been here for about 130 years.

0:19:330:19:36

It's perfect, it looks like a modern job.

0:19:360:19:39

For some reason, I was expecting it to look hand-cut.

0:19:390:19:43

Oh, no, no, it was cut with a machine, like a big drill.

0:19:430:19:46

And the beauty of it is it's unlined,

0:19:460:19:49

it's just the bare rock that you can see.

0:19:490:19:52

Just shows the strength of the chalk, the integrity of the chalk.

0:19:520:19:56

Have a look at this. A bit of original graffiti.

0:19:580:20:02

-Oh, that's fantastic.

-This tunnel was...

-Was begun?

0:20:020:20:06

I think he had difficulty spelling "begun".

0:20:060:20:09

Spelling is not his strong suit!

0:20:090:20:11

-In 1880.

-A date!

-And a name, William Sharp.

0:20:110:20:15

How much better is that than a brass plaque?

0:20:150:20:19

It is wonderful, absolutely amazing.

0:20:190:20:21

'The newly developed drilling technology worked brilliantly,

0:20:210:20:25

'which made it all the more frustrating for Watkin

0:20:250:20:28

'that in 1882, after getting more than a mile out to sea,

0:20:280:20:32

'the project was halted.'

0:20:320:20:33

'Looking at these newspapers,

0:20:400:20:42

'it turns out that not everyone was happy about the idea

0:20:420:20:45

'of joining our island to the rest of Europe.'

0:20:450:20:48

This letter to The Times is a classic.

0:20:480:20:51

"Providence has given us the sea as our safeguard," it says.

0:20:510:20:55

"Why should we fly in the face of Providence

0:20:550:20:57

"and throw our safety away for what, after all,

0:20:570:21:00

"is a mercantile speculation

0:21:000:21:02

"and certainly cannot be called a necessity?"

0:21:020:21:05

All of the public disquiet became an unstoppable force.

0:21:050:21:08

The project was pulled, and Watkin's dream was over.

0:21:080:21:13

His tunnel was dead in the water.

0:21:140:21:17

Not because it was too difficult to build,

0:21:170:21:20

but simply because the government refused to take the political risk.

0:21:200:21:24

Neil Oliver and the fascinating history of Channel tunnelling.

0:21:250:21:29

I'm at the Brenzett Aeronautical Museum.

0:21:330:21:36

It's a former Land Army hostel,

0:21:360:21:38

and during the war, 36 land girls lived here.

0:21:380:21:42

The Women's Land Army was set up in 1939, as war loomed.

0:21:420:21:45

The government wanted to produce more food at home

0:21:450:21:48

and that meant more help was needed on the farms.

0:21:480:21:52

By 1943, more than 80,000 women called themselves land girls.

0:21:520:21:57

They came from all backgrounds to work in a man's world,

0:21:570:22:00

ploughing, hedging, threshing and harvesting.

0:22:000:22:04

Doris Silk, Eve Light and Doris Bradley

0:22:060:22:08

all joined the Land Army as teenagers between 1940 and 1944.

0:22:080:22:14

And they worked right here in Kent.

0:22:140:22:16

While they didn't live at this particular hostel,

0:22:160:22:18

they meet here every year to reminisce

0:22:180:22:22

and share some of their stories.

0:22:220:22:23

You were all in the Land Army. Were you all based here in Kent?

0:22:240:22:28

I was stationed at the Eastbourne research station,

0:22:280:22:31

where I was trained to be a mobile fruit sprayer.

0:22:310:22:33

So I used to go around parts of Kent spraying fruit orchards.

0:22:330:22:37

Did you have a sense of the importance of your work?

0:22:370:22:40

I suppose as a teenager,

0:22:400:22:42

you took everything that was put in front of you,

0:22:420:22:45

you did as you were told, and just got on with it.

0:22:450:22:50

This work wasn't fully mechanised. You could take it,

0:22:500:22:53

but people forget how hard this was.

0:22:530:22:55

Yes, it was. It was hard. No doubt about it, it was hard.

0:22:550:22:58

In the summer, when it's harvest time,

0:22:580:23:01

you would start at 5:30am

0:23:010:23:03

and you would finish at 11pm when it got too dark

0:23:030:23:06

to bring the harvest in. You worked all those hours.

0:23:060:23:08

It was while I was there, I called my friend and said,

0:23:080:23:11

"Come and have a look. I don't know what this is."

0:23:110:23:14

We looked and we saw something going across the sky,

0:23:140:23:17

with all the flames coming out of it.

0:23:170:23:19

When we went home we heard the first doodlebug had come over England.

0:23:190:23:23

-Wow, you saw the first one?

-Yes.

0:23:230:23:25

Where would we have been without the Land Army

0:23:250:23:27

as a fighting nation?

0:23:270:23:29

Somebody once said if it hadn't been for the Merchant Navy

0:23:290:23:32

and the Land Army, England would have starved.

0:23:320:23:34

It's an honour to hear these memories first hand.

0:23:380:23:41

The green jerseys of the Land Army have become

0:23:410:23:44

as synonymous with the Second World War as any military uniform,

0:23:440:23:47

and it's wonderful to see them worn with pride to this day.

0:23:470:23:51

The land girls were charged with cultivated land and producing food,

0:23:530:23:57

but there's more to the Garden of England than farming.

0:23:570:24:00

Alan Titchmarsh visited Sissinghurst,

0:24:000:24:03

the Kent home of the writer and gardener, Vita Sackville-West,

0:24:030:24:07

and her husband, Harold Nicolson.

0:24:070:24:09

Many of us like to be adventurous with our gardens

0:24:110:24:15

when it comes to colour.

0:24:150:24:16

This desire to experiment and take risks

0:24:160:24:20

began with pioneers like Vita.

0:24:200:24:22

Always one for flouting convention, at Sissinghurst,

0:24:220:24:26

she ripped up the rule book on colour.

0:24:260:24:28

The Edwardians before her championed the use of subtle pastel shades.

0:24:300:24:34

Nothing clashed as they strived for harmonious colour combinations.

0:24:340:24:39

Purple was deemed difficult,

0:24:400:24:42

and white flowers were to be used sparingly.

0:24:420:24:46

It was their reaction to the garish blocks of colour

0:24:460:24:49

so beloved of the Victorians.

0:24:490:24:51

Vita embraced all colours.

0:24:510:24:55

Her palette was sophisticated and cutting-edge.

0:24:550:24:58

You know, there's nothing more contentious than colour in a garden.

0:24:590:25:03

I have friends who won't have yellow or orange flowers.

0:25:030:25:06

I think it's a rebellion against that

0:25:060:25:08

Sixties movement, when it was blue and white alyssum,

0:25:080:25:11

orange French marigolds, scarlet salvias.

0:25:110:25:14

So we all became pastel-orientated in the '70s, '80s and '90s.

0:25:140:25:18

But now it seems to me there's a movement back

0:25:180:25:21

towards those strident colours.

0:25:210:25:23

It's been picked up from the fashion catwalks of Paris

0:25:230:25:26

and making its way into our gardens.

0:25:260:25:28

But Vita was one of the very first to break the mould

0:25:280:25:32

of being careful with colour.

0:25:320:25:34

One of Vita's ideas was to create a single colour border.

0:25:370:25:42

Potentially dull and uninspiring,

0:25:420:25:45

but her technique was to combine a host of shades

0:25:450:25:47

that would create a single hue.

0:25:470:25:49

Here in the purple border, we've knocked in a stake,

0:25:580:26:02

which is coloured at the top with the shade of flower

0:26:020:26:06

which sits underneath it.

0:26:060:26:09

Vita was very clever.

0:26:140:26:16

She's taken the spectrum all the way through

0:26:160:26:19

from the bluest shades of purple and lilac to the pale pinks.

0:26:190:26:24

Lilac here. Here's a slightly darker one.

0:26:280:26:31

This one is almost verging on the red.

0:26:310:26:34

And instead of it being a flat, one-dimensional border,

0:26:340:26:38

just look at all those colours which combine to make it

0:26:380:26:41

wonderfully three-dimensional.

0:26:410:26:44

Not only did it look good,

0:26:440:26:46

but the choice of plants meant it had year-round interest as well.

0:26:460:26:50

But Vita's most dramatic use of single colour

0:26:540:26:57

can be found in the legendary white garden.

0:26:570:27:00

At the time, the white garden was completely radical.

0:27:060:27:10

White was a colour more commonly associated with stark, concrete,

0:27:100:27:14

modernist architecture, not a traditional garden.

0:27:140:27:18

White flowers and silvery foliage had rarely been used on their own.

0:27:180:27:23

The white garden was actually a bit of a publicity stunt.

0:27:240:27:28

It was created in 1951 for the Festival of Britain,

0:27:280:27:32

and Vita and Harold hoped that swarms of foreign visitors

0:27:320:27:35

would come to Sissinghurst and pay to see it.

0:27:350:27:38

The white garden was to become one of the most celebrated

0:27:410:27:44

and influential gardens of the 20th century.

0:27:440:27:47

Copied thousands of times, all over the world.

0:27:470:27:51

Course, you could say, well, anybody could create a white garden.

0:27:570:28:01

Just get a bit of ground and fill it with white flowers,

0:28:010:28:04

but it's not as simple as that.

0:28:040:28:07

Fill a bed or a border with white flowers,

0:28:070:28:09

it can be very dull, very monochromatic.

0:28:090:28:13

You need to be a bit more cunning.

0:28:130:28:15

What sets this white garden apart from the common herd is three things.

0:28:150:28:21

Structure, form, and texture.

0:28:210:28:24

The structure is provided by this path network,

0:28:240:28:27

and the strictly-clipped box hedges which give wonderful shadow.

0:28:270:28:31

The form is the shape of these plants in drifts, and their heights.

0:28:310:28:36

And the texture, by the foliage.

0:28:360:28:39

Some of it soft and fluffy, some of it big and bold.

0:28:390:28:44

This is plantsmanship at its most masterful.

0:28:440:28:47

After the white garden had been created,

0:28:550:28:57

Vita wrote about her ideas on planting for a radio broadcast in 1954.

0:28:570:29:04

"I believe in exaggeration in gardening.

0:29:060:29:10

"I believe in big groups, big masses.

0:29:100:29:13

"I believe it's far more effective

0:29:130:29:15

"to concentrate delphiniums into one big bed,

0:29:150:29:18

"than to dot them about at intervals, in twos and threes."

0:29:180:29:23

What isn't generally known,

0:29:310:29:32

is that this garden was designed to be just as dramatic

0:29:320:29:36

at night time.

0:29:360:29:38

As daylight fades into moonlight,

0:29:430:29:46

this garden takes on a natural, luminous quality.

0:29:460:29:49

Vita and Harold would dine here in the evening,

0:29:490:29:53

so they wanted to enjoy their garden under the stars.

0:29:530:29:57

The arbour of Rosa mulliganii glows under the moonlight

0:30:000:30:04

and the silver-grey foliage all round seems to sparkle.

0:30:040:30:09

The garden's illuminated without the need for artificial light.

0:30:090:30:14

Alan Titchmarsh enjoying a ghostly garden of white.

0:30:180:30:22

I've travelled north to the outskirts of Canterbury

0:30:250:30:28

on my Kentish journey.

0:30:280:30:30

For many, the countryside is a place of quiet repose,

0:30:310:30:34

a pastoral idyll.

0:30:340:30:35

For others, the summer months mean they rush to fields like this

0:30:350:30:38

all across the UK

0:30:380:30:41

which are turned into venues for very loud music festivals.

0:30:410:30:45

# I look to the sky with sunken eyes... #

0:30:500:30:56

In 2009, two million people defied the recession

0:30:560:31:01

and flocked to British music festivals,

0:31:010:31:03

generating £450 million for the economy.

0:31:030:31:07

The biggest chunk of live music revenue

0:31:130:31:16

comes out of London and the south-east.

0:31:160:31:19

It's big business.

0:31:190:31:20

Every July, music fans head to this site near Canterbury

0:31:200:31:24

for the Lounge On The Farm Festival.

0:31:240:31:27

Sean Baker is the organiser.

0:31:270:31:29

How did Lounge On The Farm, the festival, get started here.

0:31:290:31:33

It was a chance meeting with the farmer's son.

0:31:330:31:37

I said I was looking for a place for a festival,

0:31:380:31:41

and he said, "Come on to my farm and give it a go."

0:31:410:31:43

It's grown, hasn't it?

0:31:430:31:46

-This has been something that's just built up and built up.

-Yes.

0:31:460:31:50

It started off with 1,200 people, and now we hit about 10,000.

0:31:500:31:55

Why in the last five-ten years has there been this surge

0:31:550:31:59

in smaller, medium-sized festivals? Why is it so popular?

0:31:590:32:03

I think British people just love to have a good party.

0:32:030:32:07

There's nothing better than a big open field.

0:32:070:32:09

We're so close to Canterbury, you can almost see the cathedral.

0:32:090:32:13

I've been hearing about the Canterbury scene,

0:32:130:32:15

but don't really know what it is or how it relates to music.

0:32:150:32:20

It's sort of late-'60s, really.

0:32:200:32:22

It's like the early sort of prog rock music.

0:32:220:32:26

A group of musicians from the Canterbury area

0:32:260:32:29

who produced this mixture of jazz and rock.

0:32:290:32:33

It was a great sound and it's still around today.

0:32:410:32:44

It's a sound that influenced prog rock across the globe.

0:32:480:32:51

I'm off into town to trace its roots

0:32:510:32:53

and find out why Canterbury has such a unique impact on music.

0:32:530:32:57

Today you might pick up a Chinese takeaway here,

0:33:020:33:05

but this used to be a live music venue called the Beehive.

0:33:050:33:08

One night, in 1964 a new band called the Wild Flowers took to the stage

0:33:080:33:12

and unleashed a totally different sound.

0:33:120:33:16

A fusion - part rock, part folk, part jazz.

0:33:160:33:20

It was the birth of the Canterbury scene.

0:33:200:33:23

Unlike the Beatles, or the Rolling Stones,

0:33:280:33:30

which had a rock 'n' roll and blues influence,

0:33:300:33:33

the Canterbury scene combined choral sounds and a church organs

0:33:330:33:36

with a healthy dose of a far-out psychedelia.

0:33:360:33:39

After the Wild Flowers came bands like Caravan,

0:33:390:33:43

and these guys, Soft Machine.

0:33:430:33:45

As the '60s turned to the '70s,

0:33:450:33:48

these bands found themselves at the cutting edge of prog rock

0:33:480:33:51

gathering a following on both sides of the Atlantic.

0:33:510:33:55

Brian Hopper is an original member of the Wild Flowers.

0:33:570:34:01

He played guitar and saxophone in the band from 1964

0:34:030:34:07

until they split up in 1967.

0:34:070:34:09

Two years later, he joined Soft Machine.

0:34:090:34:13

Brian, why here? Why the Canterbury scene?

0:34:130:34:16

Well, it's a cathedral city,

0:34:160:34:18

a lot of choral music goes on here.

0:34:180:34:21

When were at school we used to sing in the cathedral

0:34:210:34:24

in choirs and things.

0:34:240:34:25

As much as that, it was a group of people

0:34:250:34:28

who were all at school together.

0:34:280:34:31

We all had common influences of culture,

0:34:310:34:33

music art and everything else.

0:34:330:34:35

That contributed to our influences, I think,

0:34:350:34:37

which is what kicked it off as far as the Wild Flowers were concerned.

0:34:370:34:41

-A shared outlook.

-Yeah.

0:34:410:34:43

How was it received? It was a very new music.

0:34:430:34:46

-What was the atmosphere like at gigs?

-Yeah, it was mixed.

0:34:460:34:50

We had to play covers and things to keep people...

0:34:500:34:53

Some of the gigs where they wanted to dance.

0:34:530:34:56

The unique thing about us was we wrote a lot of our own material

0:34:560:35:00

which was unique at that time for a local, provincial band.

0:35:000:35:04

Other places we played, like the Beehive for example,

0:35:040:35:08

it was a much more listening audience.

0:35:080:35:10

People used to sit on the floor and it was a bit hippy-ish,

0:35:100:35:14

a bit psychedelic.

0:35:140:35:15

We had different audiences, depending on where we were playing.

0:35:150:35:18

# Grey skies are forming in the winds

0:35:240:35:28

# To the east in the morning light... #

0:35:280:35:34

Back on the festival site,

0:35:340:35:35

upcoming band Syd Arthur are playing an impromptu set

0:35:350:35:39

in preparation for their appearance on the line up this year.

0:35:390:35:43

They claim to be keeping the flame of the Canterbury scene alive.

0:35:430:35:46

I brought Brian along to see if they are.

0:35:460:35:49

-Very good.

-Yes, great.

0:35:570:36:00

Brian, what do you make of that, up to your high standards?

0:36:000:36:03

I think so. It's a great little band.

0:36:030:36:05

Certainly continuing in the tradition of the Canterbury sound.

0:36:050:36:08

With the unusual time signatures and interesting musical forms.

0:36:080:36:14

-I think they're great.

-There's devices, things you look out for,

0:36:140:36:18

time signatures, instrumentation,

0:36:180:36:20

but to the layman, to the basic music fan,

0:36:200:36:23

what does it make you feel? How would you sum up the music?

0:36:230:36:27

I think you're right. That's the mechanical side of it,

0:36:270:36:30

but it's the emotional response to the music itself.

0:36:300:36:34

What does it make you feel?

0:36:340:36:37

I think one of the things with the Canterbury sound

0:36:370:36:40

and a lot of the bands involved in that

0:36:400:36:42

was a whimsical approach to the music. Slight eccentricity.

0:36:420:36:46

Listening to that, you'd say it had energy,

0:36:460:36:50

but it was also quite reflective and thoughtful.

0:36:500:36:53

Definitely, that's exactly right. A good way of summing it.

0:36:530:36:57

Would you have thought in the '60s that here you'd be

0:36:570:37:00

in 2011 and it would be carried on?

0:37:000:37:03

Never. Never, no.

0:37:030:37:05

I don't think in the '60s

0:37:050:37:07

we really thought that far ahead anyway.

0:37:070:37:10

It's amazing that 40 years later it's still all happening

0:37:100:37:14

and people are continuing with that tradition.

0:37:140:37:17

There's nothing quite like sitting in the sunshine

0:37:190:37:22

enjoying live music in the countryside.

0:37:220:37:24

A little taste of that festival vibe.

0:37:240:37:26

As for the Canterbury scene, it continues to inspire

0:37:260:37:30

and push musical boundaries.

0:37:300:37:32

The fields of Kent throw up

0:37:330:37:35

many archaeological riches as well as musical ones.

0:37:350:37:38

Dr Alice Roberts has been tracking down the Anglo-Saxons.

0:37:380:37:42

You might wonder what I'm doing

0:37:470:37:48

in a car park outside a shopping centre in Sittingbourne.

0:37:480:37:51

But if you come with me through these doors there's evidence

0:37:510:37:54

of Anglo-Saxon Kent at the height of its powers.

0:37:540:37:58

Archaeologists have recovered 2,500 objects

0:37:590:38:03

from around 230 graves at a site called the Meads.

0:38:030:38:07

It's an enormous collection of clues dating back nearly 1,500 years.

0:38:070:38:12

And processing this volume of material

0:38:140:38:18

demands a unique approach.

0:38:180:38:20

Right. I think this must be it.

0:38:220:38:24

Dana Goodburn-Brown is an archaeological conservator.

0:38:300:38:34

A year ago, she pioneered a radical new scheme

0:38:340:38:37

encouraging local volunteers to get involved with conserving the grave goods

0:38:370:38:41

of people who may have been their ancestors.

0:38:410:38:44

Have you got people coming in who've never done anything like this before?

0:38:470:38:51

Yes. No-one's done anything exactly like this.

0:38:510:38:54

They go through a training session,

0:38:540:38:55

we have some practice pieces, then they work on the real thing.

0:38:550:38:59

What are the artefacts that you're working on?

0:38:590:39:02

This is a side view of this block

0:39:020:39:04

which seems to have this enormous brooch that's gilded.

0:39:040:39:11

You can see a little bit of gilt and gold coming out.

0:39:110:39:13

There's quite an intricate design going on there.

0:39:130:39:16

They could see rings. If they lifted them out individually,

0:39:160:39:19

you'd have a series of rings and you wouldn't know what it was.

0:39:190:39:22

If you X-ray it as a block,

0:39:220:39:24

you can see the relationship between one and the other.

0:39:240:39:27

This was something that went around the waist

0:39:270:39:29

and probably keys or things might have hung off of it.

0:39:290:39:32

Dana's innovative project is opening up archaeology to everyone.

0:39:340:39:37

It's already proving popular.

0:39:370:39:39

We've had almost 10,000 people.

0:39:420:39:44

You get people dropping by,

0:39:440:39:47

some people come back again and again.

0:39:470:39:49

We've been open several months

0:39:490:39:52

and people are still just discovering us new.

0:39:520:39:54

Don't you think it's great?

0:39:560:39:58

Loads of people can see it.

0:39:580:40:00

Normally conservation work goes on behind closed doors in a museum.

0:40:000:40:04

I love what I do and it's really nice to share it with other people.

0:40:040:40:07

I do have to stop myself sometimes and think, "This is 1,400 years old.

0:40:070:40:11

"Some craftsmen made this. Someone wore it."

0:40:110:40:15

It's quite special.

0:40:150:40:17

This is such a great example of community engagement.

0:40:190:40:22

Anybody in this shopping mall, they might be coming for their weekly shop,

0:40:220:40:27

or a cup of tea, they can pop in

0:40:270:40:28

and find out more about conservation,

0:40:280:40:31

archaeology and local history.

0:40:310:40:33

If they are really interested, they can also volunteer.

0:40:330:40:36

Right now, I want to find out more

0:40:360:40:38

about the artefacts from those graves.

0:40:380:40:41

Once they've been cleaned, you get a sense

0:40:430:40:46

of the incredible craftsmanship

0:40:460:40:48

that's gone into making these stunning objects.

0:40:480:40:51

But what can they tell us about Anglo-Saxon life?

0:40:520:40:55

Dr Andrew Richardson of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust

0:40:580:41:01

has been interpreting these finds for over two years.

0:41:010:41:05

-These are wonderful objects, are they brooches?

-Yes.

0:41:050:41:09

If you look at this one, this is a plated disc brooch.

0:41:090:41:13

A silver back plate with a gold front plate then gold cell work,

0:41:130:41:19

and then inlaid with garnets

0:41:190:41:22

of very, very fine gold filigree wire.

0:41:220:41:24

It's also very delicately made.

0:41:240:41:27

It is.

0:41:270:41:28

It is highly skilled craft-working

0:41:280:41:32

and when you show this sort of thing to modern jewellers,

0:41:320:41:35

they say that they would have to charge an enormous amount of money

0:41:350:41:39

to make a copy of this.

0:41:390:41:41

The woman who owned this, who wore this,

0:41:430:41:46

would probably have been at the top of the social scale in this community.

0:41:460:41:51

-Incredibly high status, possibly even royal connections.

-Definitely.

0:41:510:41:55

Many of the people buried here by their grieving loved ones

0:41:550:41:59

were adorned with magnificent pieces of jewellery,

0:41:590:42:03

but the whole community is here.

0:42:030:42:05

Some buried with ordinary, everyday items like this iron knife.

0:42:050:42:09

If you think about the full range of objects we've got from this site,

0:42:090:42:14

it's a huge investment in wealth in the ground.

0:42:140:42:17

It isn't recovered by them, it's only

0:42:170:42:19

when we excavate it that it emerges into the light again.

0:42:190:42:23

The people interred here were part of a wave of settlers

0:42:230:42:26

who'd come to make their mark.

0:42:260:42:29

Nearly 1,500 years on, this cemetery is allowing us

0:42:290:42:33

to glimpse how their society functioned.

0:42:330:42:36

A member of a powerful family dies, the family have to reaffirm

0:42:360:42:41

that that family still has power and status.

0:42:410:42:45

This certainly isn't costume jewellery, it is it?

0:42:450:42:48

This is the real thing. These are incredibly prized items.

0:42:480:42:52

This is the real thing.

0:42:520:42:54

For their time, these are the top of the range jewellery

0:42:540:42:57

that Anglo-Saxon England can produce.

0:42:570:43:00

We can suppose that these settlers were seen by the people already living here as invaders.

0:43:000:43:06

And power in these times was wielded at the end of a sword.

0:43:060:43:10

The cemetery bears witness to the importance of these weapons.

0:43:100:43:13

These are iron weapons.

0:43:130:43:15

You've got spearheads. Some of these spearheads inlaid with gold.

0:43:150:43:21

You've got some decorated pyramid mounts from a sword belt.

0:43:210:43:27

They're amazing. Can I pick that up on its face?

0:43:270:43:29

These exquisite items are over 1,000 years old,

0:43:290:43:34

shaped in silver inlaid with gold and topped with garnet.

0:43:340:43:38

An extraordinary amount of effort has gone into crafting them.

0:43:380:43:42

I think they're real, functional weapons.

0:43:430:43:47

But they have a symbolic role.

0:43:470:43:49

Young children, people who were severely disabled,

0:43:500:43:54

have been found buried with weapons,

0:43:540:43:56

people who could never have used them in battle.

0:43:560:43:58

But they still see themselves as warriors?

0:43:580:44:01

They do, they do.

0:44:010:44:02

I think Anglo-Saxon culture, if you look at their poetry,

0:44:020:44:06

their artwork,

0:44:060:44:08

is very, very centred on warfare.

0:44:080:44:11

It's about communicating a message about how they see themselves,

0:44:110:44:15

how their families see the deceased in the funeral rite.

0:44:150:44:20

There is so little documentary evidence

0:44:230:44:26

of early Anglo-Saxon society,

0:44:260:44:28

so cemeteries like this and those amazing grave goods

0:44:280:44:32

offer us a really precious insight into that culture.

0:44:320:44:36

We start to be able to really focus on those people in the forgotten cemetery,

0:44:360:44:41

who themselves have long since faded from memory.

0:44:410:44:45

Dr Alice Roberts exploring Kent's ancient past.

0:44:460:44:50

I've reached the last stop on my journey.

0:44:520:44:55

I'm at Howletts Wild Animal Park near the village of Bekesbourne.

0:44:550:44:59

These 100 acres of English parkland

0:44:590:45:02

are home to some of the world's most rare and endangered animals.

0:45:020:45:05

Not exactly what you'd expect to see in the Kent countryside.

0:45:050:45:09

There's the UK's largest herd of African elephants.

0:45:110:45:15

There's black rhino. There's tigers. There's even snow leopards.

0:45:150:45:18

But the one thing that you really can't miss if you come here

0:45:180:45:22

is the world's biggest captive group of Western lowland gorillas.

0:45:220:45:26

It's feeding time for this group,

0:45:440:45:46

and it's a great opportunity to get a closer look

0:45:460:45:49

with head gorilla keeper Lorna Wanless.

0:45:490:45:51

Wow, look at this. I had no idea you'd be coming up on the roof like this.

0:45:580:46:02

So what benefit is there to be feeding them from above?

0:46:020:46:05

It's really important that they climb.

0:46:050:46:08

They would naturally, in the wild.

0:46:080:46:10

So what we're going to do is throw the celery all over

0:46:100:46:12

so that it's widespread so the gorillas don't fight over a small area of food.

0:46:120:46:16

Then we'll watch them climb up.

0:46:160:46:18

We've got a load of celery here. What do you feed them and how often?

0:46:180:46:21

Pretty much any fruit and vegetable you can think of they get at some point during the year -

0:46:210:46:26

it's very seasonal - and between five and seven times a day.

0:46:260:46:29

And browse as well, obviously they love the browse,

0:46:290:46:32

you know, the trees, all the UK trees they pretty much eat.

0:46:320:46:35

And they pre-empt this.

0:46:350:46:37

I can see a few of them coming closer.

0:46:370:46:39

-They are.

-Always eating? They're big beasts, aren't they?

0:46:390:46:42

Pretty much, yeah. They're browsers. They have a little snooze in the afternoon.

0:46:420:46:46

Apart from that they eat pretty much all day!

0:46:460:46:49

-So are we ready to feed?

-Yep, that's fine.

0:46:490:46:51

If you do this area, don't get too near the mesh.

0:46:510:46:53

All the way on that side. I'll do this side.

0:46:530:46:56

Great, all right. Ring the dinner bell. Here we go.

0:46:560:46:59

Not as ravenous as I thought.

0:47:150:47:17

I thought they'd be devouring that in seconds.

0:47:170:47:20

There's a healthy salad snack there throughout the afternoon, I think.

0:47:200:47:23

Lots of crunching going on.

0:47:230:47:25

Lots of crunching, that's what I can hear.

0:47:250:47:28

Yeah.

0:47:260:47:28

Maybe not everyone's a celery fan. There's no dips or anything.

0:47:280:47:31

True. Would be better, wouldn't it?

0:47:310:47:33

Doesn't suit all tastes, perhaps.

0:47:330:47:35

The story of this park started in 1956

0:47:360:47:40

when it was bought by the club and casino owner John Aspinall.

0:47:400:47:43

It's now been passed on to his son Damian.

0:47:440:47:47

He's got his father's head for business, as well as his passion for wildlife.

0:47:470:47:52

In fact he's been called a real life Mowgli

0:47:520:47:54

because of his remarkable relationship with the gorillas here.

0:47:540:47:57

He's the only person allowed to enter their enclosure and interact with them.

0:47:570:48:03

That's not just for insurance reasons.

0:48:030:48:05

He's the only person the gorillas will tolerate.

0:48:050:48:08

I want to find out if there's more to Howletts than just a wildlife spectacle.

0:48:090:48:14

Though your father started this as a private park,

0:48:140:48:18

you've opened it up to the public.

0:48:180:48:20

Where does conservation come into what you do here?

0:48:200:48:22

Conservation is at the heart of everything we do.

0:48:230:48:26

The idea that a wildlife park or an animal collection or zoo

0:48:260:48:30

is there for human exhibit is abhorrent to us.

0:48:300:48:34

Everything we do here is for the animal and everything we do

0:48:340:48:37

is to try to breed these animals and then, wherever we can,

0:48:370:48:40

try and return them to the wild.

0:48:400:48:42

So it's at the very core of what we're about.

0:48:420:48:46

How is it gorillas born and raised in Kent

0:48:460:48:49

can be taken back to Africa and released successfully there?

0:48:490:48:54

Well, I think you have to be very ambitious

0:48:540:48:58

and you have to be willing to accept a lot of challenges

0:48:580:49:01

cos it's not easy, which is why we're the only people in the world that do this.

0:49:010:49:05

But we're very proud we've introduced over 50 gorillas back into the wild.

0:49:050:49:09

There's all types of problems when you make these types of decisions.

0:49:090:49:13

But it's worthwhile.

0:49:130:49:15

We're repopulating a part of Africa that hasn't seen gorillas for 200 years.

0:49:150:49:19

Which part of Africa do they go to?

0:49:190:49:21

They go to the Congo and the Gambon.

0:49:210:49:23

We protect in Africa 1.2 million acres of land,

0:49:230:49:27

so within this land we put the gorillas back,

0:49:270:49:31

but also we protect the land from poaching,

0:49:310:49:34

and all our animal numbers have increased by 50-60%

0:49:340:49:38

over the last five years. Five, six years ago there were no crocodiles in the rivers.

0:49:380:49:42

Now teeming with crocodiles.

0:49:420:49:44

Chimps have been seen there for the first time in 50 years.

0:49:440:49:47

So it's not just about returning gorillas, it's about protecting the land.

0:49:470:49:52

You have a very close relationship.

0:49:520:49:54

Famously, you go in, they accept you.

0:49:540:49:57

First of all, I consider it a huge compliment and a great honour.

0:49:570:50:01

I think I'm the only person in the world, actually,

0:50:010:50:03

who goes in with silverback gorillas.

0:50:030:50:05

But honestly, it sounds strange

0:50:050:50:07

but actually it's no different from me going out for dinner with a friend.

0:50:070:50:11

I'm considered an old family friend

0:50:110:50:13

and they respect me as such.

0:50:130:50:16

The young ones come up and play

0:50:160:50:18

just like if Uncle Damian was coming round to see his nieces and nephews.

0:50:180:50:23

It's a real thrill. It's not dangerous at all.

0:50:230:50:26

I think what you see at Howletts with gorillas

0:50:260:50:28

is the closest you'll ever see them to act like they do in the wild.

0:50:280:50:32

In a moment I'm going to be on the other side of the fence

0:50:440:50:47

getting a close-up look at one of the most secretive and elusive predators in the world.

0:50:470:50:52

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

0:50:520:50:55

.

0:52:500:52:57

I've been on a journey through Kent, from its southern tip at Lydd

0:53:070:53:12

over to the Brenzett Aeronautical Museum,

0:53:120:53:14

north to Canterbury and ending here

0:53:140:53:17

at the Howletts Wild Animal Park near Bekesbourne.

0:53:170:53:21

Howletts opened to the public in 1975.

0:53:250:53:30

The conservation charity, the Aspinall Foundation, was set up in 1984.

0:53:300:53:35

It aims to protect threatened species by reintroducing animals to the wild.

0:53:350:53:39

A lot of captive breeding work is done here,

0:53:390:53:42

and today I'm getting a rare insight behind the scenes.

0:53:420:53:46

My guide is Ben Warren,

0:53:460:53:48

and his job title gives a bit of a clue as to what's in store.

0:53:480:53:52

He's the Deputy Head of Carnivores.

0:53:520:53:55

Ben, this is a particularly handsome chap. What's he?

0:53:560:53:59

This is a male clouded leopard. He's come from South East Asia.

0:53:590:54:02

He came to us from a park in the States for our breeding programme here.

0:54:020:54:07

How hard are they to breed?

0:54:070:54:09

Very hard to breed.

0:54:090:54:10

The hardest part is actually putting the cats together.

0:54:100:54:13

There's a high chance of the males killing the females

0:54:130:54:17

when you're trying to mix them for breeding. It used to be very difficult.

0:54:170:54:21

Now he we've worked out how to do it

0:54:210:54:22

and probably around a ten-year span

0:54:220:54:24

we've bred around 60 cubs in that period.

0:54:240:54:26

-60? That's phenomenal. Can I go and say hello?

-Yeah, definitely.

0:54:260:54:31

If he wants to say hello to you he tends to wrap his legs around your legs or something.

0:54:310:54:35

Don't back off, just stay there.

0:54:350:54:39

The things to watch out for, obviously, are the teeth.

0:54:390:54:42

They're the biggest teeth in comparison to their size within the cat family.

0:54:420:54:46

They're meant to be the closest relatives to the sabre-toothed tiger.

0:54:460:54:50

OK, despite the teeth, sharp claws, just stand there,

0:54:500:54:53

let him come up to you, let him inspect me, I suppose, and try not to back off?

0:54:530:54:58

Yeah, let him do his thing.

0:54:580:54:59

-Great.

-Hello, big fella.

0:54:590:55:01

Nearly trod on a very big tail there. Not a great start.

0:55:090:55:12

-Hello.

-Hello, fella.

0:55:140:55:18

Hello. You OK? Are you going to jump on me? Yep. There we go.

0:55:190:55:24

Now look at that.

0:55:240:55:26

One of the rarest cats in the world just playing with us here.

0:55:260:55:30

And he likes his boots.

0:55:320:55:33

Isn't that incredible?

0:55:360:55:37

'Clouded leopards are arboreal,

0:55:370:55:40

'meaning they spend most of their time in trees,

0:55:400:55:43

'hence that amazing balance.'

0:55:430:55:45

So soft when he jumps up, just big, soft paws padding on your shoulders.

0:55:450:55:50

He's very good at not using claws.

0:55:500:55:51

If he gets a little bit worked up

0:55:510:55:53

and the play gets a bit more serious,

0:55:530:55:55

the claws come out a little bit then, but nothing too drastic.

0:55:550:55:59

-I think he's a bit of a poser here as well.

-Yeah, he loves it, doesn't he?

0:55:590:56:03

'These beautiful cats are notoriously difficult to study in the wild.

0:56:030:56:07

'No one knows how many live in the rainforests of south-east Asia,

0:56:070:56:11

'but their numbers are thought to be in decline.

0:56:110:56:14

'Tawada is one of 18 clouded leopards here.

0:56:150:56:18

'The breeding programme ensures strong bloodlines for the future.

0:56:180:56:21

He always wants to do what he can't quite get to.

0:56:230:56:25

LAUGHTER

0:56:270:56:30

There's a good boy. Gently. There's a good boy, yes.

0:56:330:56:35

'I'd never even heard of clouded leopard before meeting Tawada.

0:56:350:56:40

'And here we are in his territory.'

0:56:400:56:43

Such a rare cat.

0:56:430:56:44

Very seldom seen in the wild.

0:56:440:56:48

And here he is, just letting me play with him almost like he's a pet cat.

0:56:480:56:52

Absolutely wonderful experience.

0:56:520:56:54

This has been an eclectic journey.

0:56:590:57:01

From go-karts to land girls. From prog rock to gorillas.

0:57:010:57:08

And in keeping with such a rich medley of adventures,

0:57:080:57:10

my journey ends gazing at elephants

0:57:100:57:12

right here in the Garden of England.

0:57:120:57:15

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:57:260:57:31

E-mail [email protected]

0:57:310:57:35

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS