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Hello. Today, I'm on a journey through Norfolk, | 0:00:20 | 0:00:22 | |
taking in the wonderful wildlife this county has to offer, | 0:00:22 | 0:00:26 | |
starting here, on the Broads, | 0:00:26 | 0:00:27 | |
and ending up on the North Norfolk coastline. | 0:00:27 | 0:00:30 | |
Hey, Mark. How are you doing? | 0:00:30 | 0:00:32 | |
Once in the waterways of the Norfolk Broads, | 0:00:36 | 0:00:38 | |
I'll paddle to the outskirts of the village Skeyton, | 0:00:38 | 0:00:41 | |
where I'll set up camp for the night, testing out my survival skills. | 0:00:41 | 0:00:45 | |
Not the most glamorous way to get into bed, but I think it's going to work. | 0:00:45 | 0:00:50 | |
From there, I'll head south to Hethel, a tiny village | 0:00:51 | 0:00:54 | |
with a churchyard teeming with activity. | 0:00:54 | 0:00:56 | |
Next stop, Morston Quay, | 0:00:57 | 0:00:59 | |
where I'll take a boat out to Blakeney Point, looking for the seal colony that live there. | 0:00:59 | 0:01:04 | |
-You need these guys to be here, to come out and see them? -That's right. | 0:01:05 | 0:01:09 | |
We wouldn't be in business if it wasn't for the seals. | 0:01:09 | 0:01:11 | |
Finally, I'll travel to Hunstanton to catch a glimpse | 0:01:12 | 0:01:15 | |
of the incredible nightlife on the sand dunes. | 0:01:15 | 0:01:18 | |
Along the way, I'll be looking back at the very best | 0:01:20 | 0:01:22 | |
of the BBC's rural programmes from this part of the world. | 0:01:22 | 0:01:25 | |
Welcome to Country Tracks. | 0:01:25 | 0:01:28 | |
Norfolk has a rich and varied range of habitats, | 0:01:33 | 0:01:36 | |
from the wild north coast to the busy waterways of the Broads. | 0:01:36 | 0:01:39 | |
A landscape for every imaginable creature, common and rare, watery or winged. | 0:01:39 | 0:01:44 | |
And as it's the fifth-largest county in England, there's plenty of room for the wildlife to roam. | 0:01:44 | 0:01:50 | |
Despite all of the water, Norfolk is actually the driest county in the UK | 0:01:51 | 0:01:55 | |
and although the Broads look like they've been here forever, | 0:01:55 | 0:01:58 | |
they are, in fact, man-made, | 0:01:58 | 0:02:00 | |
created by peat digging here in the Middle Ages. | 0:02:00 | 0:02:03 | |
Peat was used as fuel and the holes which were left once the peat was gone | 0:02:10 | 0:02:13 | |
eventually filled with water as the tides rose. | 0:02:13 | 0:02:17 | |
Now, there are 200km of navigable Broads as a result. | 0:02:17 | 0:02:22 | |
Mark Wilkinson and his faithful companion, Mr Darcy, | 0:02:23 | 0:02:26 | |
are guiding me through the waterways in a canoe. | 0:02:26 | 0:02:29 | |
Mark runs an outdoor-adventure company specialising in canoeing and bushcraft | 0:02:29 | 0:02:33 | |
and regularly takes people out on the water. | 0:02:33 | 0:02:36 | |
Who comes on these trips with you? Cos you do this regularly, for different people? | 0:02:37 | 0:02:41 | |
We do. We have all sorts of groups. | 0:02:41 | 0:02:43 | |
Everything from Scout groups, all the way through to families, | 0:02:43 | 0:02:47 | |
so, yeah, everybody. | 0:02:47 | 0:02:50 | |
And, Mark, your lifestyle has changed incredibly over the years. | 0:02:50 | 0:02:54 | |
-You haven't always done this, have you? -No. I wish I had. | 0:02:54 | 0:02:58 | |
I spent 20-odd years in the financial industry. | 0:02:58 | 0:03:01 | |
-I used to be regional manager for a pensions company. -Wow! | 0:03:01 | 0:03:04 | |
I just hit one of those points in life - | 0:03:04 | 0:03:07 | |
I think some people call it a mid-life crisis - | 0:03:07 | 0:03:09 | |
and I sat down and looked at my life | 0:03:09 | 0:03:12 | |
and decided I never wanted to be in finance, | 0:03:12 | 0:03:14 | |
I never wanted to do that, and before I popped my clogs | 0:03:14 | 0:03:19 | |
I was determined to try and do something I wanted to do. | 0:03:19 | 0:03:21 | |
Talk me through what's ahead. We're canoeing at the moment | 0:03:21 | 0:03:24 | |
and then we'll try and stay out on the banks of the river tonight? | 0:03:24 | 0:03:27 | |
Yeah. Basically what we've done is we've negotiated with the landowner, so we can use some of the land, | 0:03:27 | 0:03:33 | |
-cos wild camping is not allowed on the Broads at all. -Yeah. | 0:03:33 | 0:03:37 | |
So we've got a site where we will haul into the woods, | 0:03:37 | 0:03:40 | |
we'll build some shelters to sleep under, | 0:03:40 | 0:03:42 | |
-we'll cook over open fires, and after that, who knows? -A complete adventure. | 0:03:42 | 0:03:48 | |
We're starting out paddling downstream on the River Bure | 0:03:52 | 0:03:55 | |
at the very north of the Norfolk Broads, close to the village of Oxnead. | 0:03:55 | 0:03:59 | |
There are Broads and there are Broads. | 0:04:00 | 0:04:02 | |
I think of Broads with big motor cruisers, so how come it's so quiet here? | 0:04:02 | 0:04:06 | |
Basically, we're on the unnavigable stretch of the river, | 0:04:06 | 0:04:08 | |
so the Broads run up and through the river system, | 0:04:08 | 0:04:13 | |
but then you hit a lock. Obviously, that stops the river cruisers from getting here. | 0:04:13 | 0:04:17 | |
Canoes are the only way down here and even that is not so easy, | 0:04:17 | 0:04:22 | |
cos getting in and getting out, and finding places to get in and out is quite difficult as well. | 0:04:22 | 0:04:28 | |
Mr Darcy has just popped up. Is he always a paddling companion of yours? | 0:04:28 | 0:04:33 | |
-Yes. He comes everywhere with me. -He's been doing it for years and he's well-trained. | 0:04:33 | 0:04:37 | |
Obviously, we're in a pretty sturdy canoe here, | 0:04:37 | 0:04:40 | |
but how would people have traditionally come along this stretch of water? | 0:04:40 | 0:04:44 | |
In the old days, they used to transport the goods all the way up to Aylsham, | 0:04:44 | 0:04:48 | |
which is a market town in North Norfolk, | 0:04:48 | 0:04:51 | |
in a boat called a wherry, | 0:04:51 | 0:04:52 | |
specifically designed for coming up Norfolk rivers. | 0:04:52 | 0:04:55 | |
Because they were sailing boats, they needed the wind, | 0:04:55 | 0:04:58 | |
so whenever a tree popped its head up the wherrymen used to cut it down. | 0:04:58 | 0:05:02 | |
-So, suddenly a very clear passage along the river? -Exactly. | 0:05:02 | 0:05:06 | |
You find that there are long stretches with no trees at all. | 0:05:06 | 0:05:09 | |
We've passed a few reed beds. What sort of landscape do you tend to see from low down on the water? | 0:05:10 | 0:05:16 | |
Early in the year, when the plants haven't grow up, | 0:05:16 | 0:05:19 | |
you get a good view over the landscape. | 0:05:19 | 0:05:21 | |
As the year goes by and it grows up further and further, | 0:05:21 | 0:05:25 | |
the nettles in particular just start to block it out a bit. | 0:05:25 | 0:05:28 | |
But then a lot of the wildlife comes down to the riverside. | 0:05:28 | 0:05:31 | |
So you get to see the reed warblers and the sedge warblers. | 0:05:31 | 0:05:36 | |
You get lots of birds that come right down beside the river. | 0:05:36 | 0:05:39 | |
Our destination is further downriver, | 0:05:41 | 0:05:43 | |
where later Mark will teach me how to survive under the stars for the night. | 0:05:43 | 0:05:48 | |
The Broads are hugely popular for boating and sailing. | 0:05:50 | 0:05:53 | |
Matt Baker and Julia Bradbury discovered more about the people | 0:05:53 | 0:05:57 | |
who use these waterways, past and present. | 0:05:57 | 0:05:59 | |
Today, more than two million people visit the area each year. | 0:05:59 | 0:06:03 | |
Events like the Thurne Mouth Regatta are a real draw for tourists and sailors alike. | 0:06:03 | 0:06:08 | |
The Broads and boating, traditionally it started out as a transport infrastructure network | 0:06:08 | 0:06:13 | |
and these days it's far more a holidaymakers' paradise | 0:06:13 | 0:06:17 | |
to come to the Broads. Today, the regatta is people | 0:06:17 | 0:06:19 | |
who are sailing on the Broads and enjoying themselves. | 0:06:19 | 0:06:23 | |
So this is the annual big do for them all? | 0:06:23 | 0:06:25 | |
This is one of the regattas on the Broads. | 0:06:25 | 0:06:27 | |
There's a range of regattas through the season. | 0:06:27 | 0:06:30 | |
Thurne Mouth Open Regatta, which has been running since about 1947, | 0:06:30 | 0:06:34 | |
is what we like to think, because it's our club, the premier regatta | 0:06:34 | 0:06:37 | |
of the river network, for sailing on the rivers. | 0:06:37 | 0:06:40 | |
Tell me the history that goes alongside the Cock Of The Broads race. | 0:06:40 | 0:06:44 | |
The trophy originally was designed and presented | 0:06:44 | 0:06:47 | |
to try and find the fastest river cruiser on the Broads network. | 0:06:47 | 0:06:51 | |
These days, because of the handicap system, | 0:06:51 | 0:06:53 | |
not necessarily the fastest boat will win the Cock Of The Broads. | 0:06:53 | 0:06:57 | |
It may well be you will have a slower boat which, due to handicap, has a chance of winning the race. | 0:06:57 | 0:07:02 | |
-But the river cruiser is the class of boat that's competing? -It is. | 0:07:02 | 0:07:05 | |
-A river cruiser is just going past. -They're lovely. -They're beautiful. Some used to be hire boats | 0:07:05 | 0:07:10 | |
you would have been able to hire for a holiday on the Broads. | 0:07:10 | 0:07:13 | |
I'm taking part in today's blue-ribbon event | 0:07:13 | 0:07:16 | |
and I'm joining the team known as the Pink Ladies. | 0:07:16 | 0:07:18 | |
The skipper is Hilary Franzen. | 0:07:18 | 0:07:20 | |
Nice to meet you. Look, I found the brightest, pinkest jacket I could. | 0:07:21 | 0:07:25 | |
-And it so suits you! -Just for you. Pink ladies, yes? | 0:07:25 | 0:07:28 | |
-Fantastic. -She, he? -She. -Beautiful. -Always a she. -Tell me about her. | 0:07:28 | 0:07:34 | |
Her name is Martlet. She's 102 years old. | 0:07:34 | 0:07:37 | |
She was built on the Broads. My parents bought her | 0:07:37 | 0:07:41 | |
when I was eight years old | 0:07:41 | 0:07:42 | |
and they raced her here at this very regatta | 0:07:42 | 0:07:46 | |
and used to help run the regatta. | 0:07:46 | 0:07:48 | |
They sold her in 1984 and I was heartbroken. | 0:07:48 | 0:07:53 | |
But nine years ago, I tracked her down and bought her back. | 0:07:53 | 0:07:56 | |
Right, what do you want me to do? I'm a spare pair of hands. | 0:07:56 | 0:07:59 | |
I'm not very good, but I'll do whatever you tell me to. | 0:07:59 | 0:08:02 | |
-Right, you are the jib puller. -OK, I've done that before. | 0:08:02 | 0:08:05 | |
These are called sheets, as you may know. | 0:08:05 | 0:08:07 | |
When the jib is on the port side of the boat, you pull it in here. | 0:08:07 | 0:08:13 | |
When the wind comes the other side, from the starboard, | 0:08:13 | 0:08:17 | |
-you pull it in there. -Right, just shout out to me and tell me, "Pull!" | 0:08:17 | 0:08:21 | |
-Whatever it is I have to do. -Yes. | 0:08:21 | 0:08:23 | |
-I'm a hard taskmaster. -That's OK. I'm a hard worker. We'll be a good team. | 0:08:23 | 0:08:27 | |
While the regatta is getting under way, | 0:08:27 | 0:08:29 | |
I've come to see one of the oldest types of vessel | 0:08:29 | 0:08:32 | |
to sail these Broads. | 0:08:32 | 0:08:34 | |
The Albion is one of only two remaining black-sailed trading boats, | 0:08:34 | 0:08:38 | |
or wherries, as they're known. | 0:08:38 | 0:08:40 | |
'She was built over a century ago, when hundreds of boats like her | 0:08:43 | 0:08:47 | |
'would have been transporting goods through Norfolk. | 0:08:47 | 0:08:50 | |
'On a boat this old, nothing is automatic. | 0:08:50 | 0:08:53 | |
'With no motor to help us, just getting her out onto the river is a challenge.' | 0:08:53 | 0:08:57 | |
A bit more! 'It's all about manpower and a technique called quanting.' | 0:08:57 | 0:09:03 | |
Stab it down, turn round, walk up, | 0:09:04 | 0:09:08 | |
put the old shoulder in, and start walking. | 0:09:08 | 0:09:10 | |
-My first time quanting and I've pushed it completely off line! -LAUGHTER | 0:09:11 | 0:09:16 | |
Get my speed up a bit. | 0:09:19 | 0:09:20 | |
Henry, in their heyday, how many of these wherries would have been out on the Broads? | 0:09:23 | 0:09:28 | |
A good 300 of them. They were the heavy goods vehicle of the Broads. | 0:09:28 | 0:09:32 | |
They carried everything, | 0:09:32 | 0:09:35 | |
from grain through to metal, | 0:09:35 | 0:09:37 | |
through to flour, absolutely anything they could make money on. | 0:09:37 | 0:09:40 | |
This particular boat could carry up to 40 tons of cargo, | 0:09:40 | 0:09:43 | |
so just as much as a modern HGV does. | 0:09:43 | 0:09:45 | |
And no pollution, of course! | 0:09:45 | 0:09:48 | |
But their demise came about through the growth of the railway system. | 0:09:48 | 0:09:53 | |
And by the 1900s, they were in a very poor way indeed. | 0:09:53 | 0:09:59 | |
It went through a transition. Skippers had to find other ways of earning a living. | 0:10:04 | 0:10:08 | |
They scrubbed out the holds, put in tables and chairs and took people out for day sails. | 0:10:08 | 0:10:13 | |
So, there were lots of these old working boats | 0:10:13 | 0:10:16 | |
out on the Broads with finely-dressed Edwardian ladies and gents. | 0:10:16 | 0:10:21 | |
OK, guys. Prepare to hoist, please. | 0:10:21 | 0:10:23 | |
We've just come to this junction here and you can really feel the wind picking up. | 0:10:29 | 0:10:33 | |
As soon as we get the sail up, she's going to take off. | 0:10:33 | 0:10:37 | |
Eventually, working boats like this one were replaced by pleasure wherries. | 0:10:39 | 0:10:44 | |
Today, Norfolk's boats may be smaller and need less muscle power | 0:10:44 | 0:10:47 | |
but the Albion remains a proud icon of the Broads' boating heritage. | 0:10:47 | 0:10:52 | |
Back at the regatta, the race is under way. | 0:10:56 | 0:10:59 | |
Take the jib and pull it in tightly. We'll jibe round. | 0:11:01 | 0:11:05 | |
Whooh! There it goes! | 0:11:06 | 0:11:09 | |
Track, please! | 0:11:13 | 0:11:16 | |
Conditions on the river are surprisingly changeable with the wind speed dropping dramatically. | 0:11:17 | 0:11:23 | |
But we soon have the finish line in our sights. | 0:11:23 | 0:11:26 | |
ALL: Hooray! | 0:11:27 | 0:11:30 | |
We crossed the finish line! | 0:11:30 | 0:11:31 | |
We may not be the cock of the Broads this year, | 0:11:31 | 0:11:34 | |
but the Pink Ladies managed a respectable 8th place out of 31 boats. | 0:11:34 | 0:11:40 | |
I'm paddling in a quieter section of the Broads with bush craft instructor, Mark Wilkinson. | 0:11:42 | 0:11:49 | |
He's about to show me how to build my own accommodation for the night | 0:11:49 | 0:11:51 | |
using only twigs and reeds and I need to get a move on as there isn't a hotel option if I fail. | 0:11:51 | 0:11:58 | |
OK, we need to get moving because of the light levels. | 0:11:59 | 0:12:02 | |
-Yep. -We are going to start with some saws. -Saws? | 0:12:03 | 0:12:08 | |
We need to build ourselves a frame. | 0:12:10 | 0:12:12 | |
-We are going to build a frame for our shelter and then we're going to clad it. -OK. | 0:12:12 | 0:12:17 | |
-We're only building a shelter that you're going to sleep in. -Yes. | 0:12:17 | 0:12:21 | |
We're not going to build a shelter to live in. We haven't got time. | 0:12:21 | 0:12:24 | |
-No en suite? -Exactly, no en suite. | 0:12:24 | 0:12:26 | |
First off, start taking a look at some of these stems over here. | 0:12:26 | 0:12:29 | |
This is a hazel. As you can see, previously coppiced so it has plenty of wood for us to get work with. | 0:12:29 | 0:12:35 | |
It's a fast-growing tree. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:37 | |
So, by taking a few stems out, we're not doing any damage to the tree itself at all. | 0:12:37 | 0:12:41 | |
So, we're looking for, initially, two things. | 0:12:41 | 0:12:44 | |
One, is our major stem which will be the upright to hold the ridge pole. | 0:12:44 | 0:12:49 | |
-Yep. -And then our ridge pole which has to be long and straight. | 0:12:49 | 0:12:54 | |
-Yep. -And our upright needs to have a fork in it. -Yep. | 0:12:54 | 0:12:57 | |
I'm going to get the long, straight pole and I want you to find the "V" forked pole. | 0:12:57 | 0:13:02 | |
"V" forked pole... | 0:13:02 | 0:13:04 | |
It's going to need to be... by the time it's planted in the ground, | 0:13:04 | 0:13:08 | |
-the "V" needs to be around about three feet high. -OK. | 0:13:08 | 0:13:11 | |
-Yeah, something like that. -That's fine. | 0:13:11 | 0:13:14 | |
Having just spotted one here, is that too thick? | 0:13:14 | 0:13:19 | |
-It seems to have quite a healthy "V" on it. -It has. That should be all right. That should be fine. | 0:13:21 | 0:13:26 | |
Mark has established good relationships with the landowners | 0:13:27 | 0:13:31 | |
so it's OK for me to be hacking at this tree. | 0:13:31 | 0:13:35 | |
I think I've got half a tree here! | 0:13:35 | 0:13:37 | |
After selecting the perfect stick and with the help of Mr Darcy, | 0:13:37 | 0:13:41 | |
I have to sharpen the end that's going into the ground and trim off the top. | 0:13:41 | 0:13:44 | |
I've managed to find your ridge pole. | 0:13:44 | 0:13:46 | |
-Thankfully, in Norfolk, the ground is pretty soft but it's mainly all wet. -Yeah! | 0:13:49 | 0:13:54 | |
-So, er... This end? -Yes. | 0:13:54 | 0:13:57 | |
We're going to build that way with you facing out that way. | 0:13:57 | 0:14:01 | |
-I might have made a rod for my own back here but it's quite a thick piece of wood, isn't it? -Mm. | 0:14:01 | 0:14:06 | |
-This is where those extra few pounds help. -Yes. | 0:14:08 | 0:14:13 | |
I did have a cheeseburger at lunch! | 0:14:13 | 0:14:15 | |
-There you go!. -Pretty solid. | 0:14:17 | 0:14:20 | |
Our ridge pole is basically going to come in somewhere like this... | 0:14:20 | 0:14:25 | |
-Looking good! Test in for length? -Exactly. Test it for length. | 0:14:30 | 0:14:33 | |
You just need your head right by the doorway. | 0:14:33 | 0:14:36 | |
Obviously, what we are taking into account are prevailing conditions. | 0:14:36 | 0:14:40 | |
If we'd had a blowing wind this way which was likely to carry any rain, | 0:14:40 | 0:14:45 | |
then you're in the perfect position. | 0:14:45 | 0:14:47 | |
-Yeah. -Any rain would be going that way and would miss you. -Rather than blow into the shelter. | 0:14:47 | 0:14:53 | |
-This is absolutely fine where we are now. -Great! | 0:14:53 | 0:14:57 | |
-All we've got to do now it is fill it up. -Oh, right! | 0:14:57 | 0:15:01 | |
All this lot needs to do is basically support the thatching material. | 0:15:09 | 0:15:13 | |
There's loads and loads of it around here, and that is Norfolk reed. | 0:15:13 | 0:15:17 | |
-Some of the best thatching material in the world... -Yep. -..used on all your country cottages. | 0:15:17 | 0:15:22 | |
We're going to use it on your shelter. | 0:15:22 | 0:15:24 | |
Well, I think... Let's just double check. Yeah. Sunlight-free zone. | 0:15:34 | 0:15:40 | |
Not bad, not bad. | 0:15:40 | 0:15:42 | |
The proof of the pudding, as they say, is going to be if it pours down overnight! | 0:15:42 | 0:15:47 | |
But, considering the amount of time we've taken to do it, then I think you've done a good job. | 0:15:47 | 0:15:53 | |
Great! We did get our priorities confused, didn't we? | 0:15:53 | 0:15:56 | |
We built a shelter but forgot to put the kettle on. So... Shall we? | 0:15:56 | 0:16:00 | |
-I think we need to. -Let's keep the fire well away from this! | 0:16:00 | 0:16:03 | |
LAUGHTER | 0:16:03 | 0:16:05 | |
As darkness falls, there's nothing else for it | 0:16:14 | 0:16:17 | |
but to enjoy the warmth of the fire, roll out our sleeping bags | 0:16:17 | 0:16:21 | |
and get ready for a night in our own hand-made shelters. | 0:16:21 | 0:16:25 | |
A bit of smoky hot water. | 0:16:27 | 0:16:29 | |
The shelter, good. In the sleeping bag. | 0:16:32 | 0:16:34 | |
Not the glamorous way to get into bed but I think it's going to work. | 0:16:34 | 0:16:40 | |
So... Without more ado, good night. | 0:16:40 | 0:16:45 | |
'Waking up to the birds and bright sunshine at 7am, | 0:17:02 | 0:17:05 | |
'I've had a good eight hours' sleep. | 0:17:05 | 0:17:08 | |
'I might not look it, but I feel surprisingly well rested.' | 0:17:08 | 0:17:11 | |
HE CHUCKLES | 0:17:16 | 0:17:18 | |
Morning... | 0:17:22 | 0:17:24 | |
Good morning, good morning. | 0:17:24 | 0:17:26 | |
That was actually a pleasant night's sleep, I'm pleased to report. | 0:17:26 | 0:17:30 | |
And it didn't rain, which is great, so everything is nice and dry. | 0:17:30 | 0:17:35 | |
And it all went to plan! | 0:17:37 | 0:17:40 | |
Look at that. Almost sorry to leave it behind, a warm little cocoon. | 0:17:40 | 0:17:45 | |
So, you're out here all the time doing this. | 0:17:53 | 0:17:55 | |
What's the best bit of it for you? | 0:17:55 | 0:17:58 | |
What makes you smile? Is it the mornings? | 0:17:58 | 0:18:01 | |
To be honest with you, Joe, it's the bit you missed. | 0:18:01 | 0:18:04 | |
I went out for a paddle this morning at about quarter past six | 0:18:04 | 0:18:08 | |
and saw an otter down the dike here. | 0:18:08 | 0:18:11 | |
And it's just absolutely stunning. | 0:18:11 | 0:18:13 | |
As you can hear, it's absolutely quiet. You've just got the birds. | 0:18:13 | 0:18:16 | |
-It's chilled out. -It is a particularly nice morning, | 0:18:16 | 0:18:19 | |
but no matter what the morning, it's always different. | 0:18:19 | 0:18:22 | |
Always different, yeah. | 0:18:22 | 0:18:23 | |
Depending on the atmospherics and weather conditions, | 0:18:23 | 0:18:26 | |
you get different animals coming out. | 0:18:26 | 0:18:28 | |
And yeah, you're away from your computer, away from your phone. | 0:18:28 | 0:18:32 | |
Just chill out, relax. It's the only time I stop. | 0:18:32 | 0:18:35 | |
We're still in Norfolk. It's lovely, but we're not in a jungle or a mountain range, so we could survive. | 0:18:35 | 0:18:41 | |
We could probably find a pub or something to eat in or whatever! | 0:18:41 | 0:18:44 | |
But these skills, how important is it | 0:18:44 | 0:18:46 | |
they're passed down between generations, different people? | 0:18:46 | 0:18:50 | |
They have their uses in the real world. | 0:18:50 | 0:18:53 | |
This is what people don't understand. | 0:18:53 | 0:18:55 | |
Lighting a fire - how many of us have barbecues? | 0:18:55 | 0:18:58 | |
How many times do we hear of people getting in hospital due to putting petrol on it? | 0:18:58 | 0:19:04 | |
Well, if they know how to light a fire, it all relays back. | 0:19:04 | 0:19:08 | |
Yeah. So there are still practical applications in our lives, | 0:19:08 | 0:19:11 | |
-and this brings them together. -Very much so. Very much so. | 0:19:11 | 0:19:15 | |
That was brilliant. There is nothing like making a shelter and sleeping in it | 0:19:22 | 0:19:26 | |
to give you a sense of achievement. | 0:19:26 | 0:19:28 | |
And if you haven't been camping for a while, | 0:19:28 | 0:19:31 | |
it's a reminder how great it is to wake up outside, in the fresh air. | 0:19:31 | 0:19:35 | |
You can't really beat it. | 0:19:35 | 0:19:37 | |
Anyway, good weather this morning so far, lots to do today, | 0:19:37 | 0:19:40 | |
so on to the next stage of my journey. | 0:19:40 | 0:19:43 | |
Norfolk is perhaps most associated with the Broads I just left behind. | 0:19:43 | 0:19:48 | |
But the county also produces British sugar. | 0:19:48 | 0:19:51 | |
Jimmy Doherty travelled to Wissington to find out more. | 0:19:51 | 0:19:55 | |
This is sugar-beet country. | 0:19:57 | 0:19:59 | |
The vegetable produces 50% of the UK's sugar. | 0:19:59 | 0:20:03 | |
And this is where most of it comes, | 0:20:06 | 0:20:08 | |
the British Sugar factory at Wissington. | 0:20:08 | 0:20:11 | |
It's the largest processor of its type in the world. | 0:20:11 | 0:20:14 | |
They process three million tonnes of sugar beet a year. | 0:20:17 | 0:20:21 | |
But this is a business under pressure. | 0:20:24 | 0:20:27 | |
After decades when the price of sugar beet was guaranteed, | 0:20:29 | 0:20:32 | |
the industry is having to stand on its own. | 0:20:32 | 0:20:34 | |
It needs to squeeze every penny out of every beet. | 0:20:34 | 0:20:38 | |
It's doing that by making a profit out of its waste products | 0:20:41 | 0:20:44 | |
and cutting back on greenhouse-gas emissions at the same time. | 0:20:44 | 0:20:48 | |
Andrew Beresford is showing me around. | 0:20:51 | 0:20:53 | |
The majority of that is water. I've got in there about 75% water. | 0:20:53 | 0:20:57 | |
I've got about 17% sugar and about 5% fibrous material. | 0:20:57 | 0:21:02 | |
The water we're going to recycle, | 0:21:02 | 0:21:04 | |
the sugar you're going to buy - thank you very much! - | 0:21:04 | 0:21:07 | |
and the fibrous material, we're going to sell it off as animal feed. | 0:21:07 | 0:21:11 | |
-So every little bit of this sugar beet will be used? -Including what's stuck to the outside. | 0:21:11 | 0:21:16 | |
Sugar is still their core business. | 0:21:22 | 0:21:26 | |
Washed, sliced, boiled and spun in a huge centrifuge like a spin dryer, | 0:21:26 | 0:21:31 | |
the beet is turned into sugar crystals. | 0:21:31 | 0:21:34 | |
A hundred thousand tonnes of sugar are stored in these huge silos. | 0:21:37 | 0:21:41 | |
But it's their efforts to re-use all their by-products | 0:21:43 | 0:21:46 | |
that I'm really interested in. | 0:21:46 | 0:21:49 | |
You look at this whole process and it looks quite dirty and industrialised, | 0:21:49 | 0:21:53 | |
and you think, "Cor, it must be a big polluter." | 0:21:53 | 0:21:56 | |
When you see thank you beet coming in, it's covered in mud and stones. | 0:21:56 | 0:22:00 | |
They wash that off. They don't throw that mud away. | 0:22:00 | 0:22:03 | |
That is reconditioned and used for the topsoil for football pitches. | 0:22:03 | 0:22:07 | |
The stones are cleaned, and they're sold as aggregate. | 0:22:07 | 0:22:10 | |
All the green bits they cut off are composted, | 0:22:10 | 0:22:12 | |
and that's taken away and that's used in another process. | 0:22:12 | 0:22:16 | |
And also, there's a huge amount of hot water that's produced, | 0:22:16 | 0:22:21 | |
and a thousand tonnes of CO2 a day is produced out of this process, | 0:22:21 | 0:22:25 | |
which they recycle, and they put that in a pipe and it's pumped off. | 0:22:25 | 0:22:29 | |
Normally, carbon dioxide would be pumped out into the atmosphere | 0:22:32 | 0:22:35 | |
along with all this steam. | 0:22:35 | 0:22:37 | |
CO2 is one of the worst greenhouse-gas polluters. | 0:22:37 | 0:22:41 | |
But here at Wissington, they've found an ingenious use for it. | 0:22:41 | 0:22:46 | |
-You follow the pipe. -This pipe here? -Yeah. So, there's the map. Look. | 0:22:46 | 0:22:50 | |
'British Sugar has set up a whole other industry | 0:22:51 | 0:22:55 | |
'that thrives on their waste. | 0:22:55 | 0:22:58 | |
'To find what I've come to see, I just have to follow these pipes. | 0:22:59 | 0:23:04 | |
'The pipes run for over a kilometre, spanning the Wissey River itself. | 0:23:06 | 0:23:10 | |
'Opening up ahead of me is a horizon filled with glass and aluminium. | 0:23:17 | 0:23:22 | |
'Cornerways Nursery, the biggest single glasshouse in Britain, | 0:23:28 | 0:23:33 | |
'spanning an area over 26 acres. | 0:23:33 | 0:23:35 | |
'25,000 panes of glass. | 0:23:41 | 0:23:44 | |
'This one glasshouse produces | 0:23:48 | 0:23:49 | |
10% of all the tomatoes grown in this country. | 0:23:49 | 0:23:55 | |
'It's run by Nigel Bartle. | 0:23:55 | 0:23:57 | |
'I think he feels the same way about his tomatoes as I do about my pigs. | 0:23:57 | 0:24:01 | |
'They're his life.' | 0:24:01 | 0:24:02 | |
The carbon dioxide comes in this pipe, running along here. | 0:24:03 | 0:24:07 | |
If you actually crouch down and have a look underneath, you can see it. | 0:24:07 | 0:24:11 | |
Oh, yeah. Look at that. | 0:24:11 | 0:24:13 | |
-It's like a huge balloon. -All we've got over at the factory | 0:24:13 | 0:24:16 | |
is a fan that just sucks it out of the chimney, blows it across. | 0:24:16 | 0:24:21 | |
There's little pinpricks in it, | 0:24:21 | 0:24:22 | |
and they let the carbon dioxide out for the plants. | 0:24:22 | 0:24:25 | |
You can hear it hissing. It's like a slow puncture. | 0:24:25 | 0:24:28 | |
Yeah, it rises out through there, through the plants, | 0:24:28 | 0:24:31 | |
they take it in through their leaves and convert it into tomatoes. | 0:24:31 | 0:24:35 | |
Nigel's taking advantage | 0:24:38 | 0:24:39 | |
of a fascinating relic of evolutionary history. | 0:24:39 | 0:24:43 | |
He knows his tomato plants can make use | 0:24:44 | 0:24:46 | |
of more carbon dioxide than they normally get. | 0:24:46 | 0:24:49 | |
Plants evolved at a time when CO2 levels in the atmosphere | 0:24:54 | 0:24:57 | |
were much higher than they are now. | 0:24:57 | 0:24:59 | |
So give a tomato extra carbon dioxide and you get extra growth. | 0:25:02 | 0:25:06 | |
Nigel's getting more and bigger tomatoes, | 0:25:08 | 0:25:12 | |
doubling his yield. | 0:25:12 | 0:25:13 | |
And because the plants are using the extra CO2 to produce more sugar, | 0:25:15 | 0:25:19 | |
his tomatoes are sweeter, too. | 0:25:19 | 0:25:22 | |
Everything in Nigel's greenhouse is finely tuned | 0:25:23 | 0:25:26 | |
to give his plants the best possible environment. | 0:25:26 | 0:25:29 | |
I've noticed what I'm leaning on is hot, this pipe here. | 0:25:31 | 0:25:35 | |
We've got about 140 miles of piping here. | 0:25:35 | 0:25:37 | |
It's a giant radiator system. | 0:25:37 | 0:25:39 | |
It runs up and down these rows, round the whole greenhouse, | 0:25:39 | 0:25:42 | |
and that's all bringing surplus energy from the factory. | 0:25:42 | 0:25:45 | |
Thanks to a free supply of carbon dioxide and heat, | 0:25:47 | 0:25:50 | |
this nursery can deliver higher yields | 0:25:50 | 0:25:53 | |
more sustainably than any other glasshouse in the UK. | 0:25:53 | 0:25:56 | |
They produce 70 million tomatoes per year. | 0:25:58 | 0:26:02 | |
Each of these vines can reach up to 36 feet. | 0:26:03 | 0:26:06 | |
There's a quarter of a million of them, | 0:26:06 | 0:26:08 | |
and they all need to be individually hand-tended. | 0:26:08 | 0:26:12 | |
In fact, it's like going up in the canopy of a rainforest, isn't it? | 0:26:12 | 0:26:15 | |
Oh, my God, look, it goes on forever! | 0:26:21 | 0:26:23 | |
-And then you spring out above, in the Norfolk sun! -Look at that! | 0:26:24 | 0:26:28 | |
There are hundreds of them up here. | 0:26:30 | 0:26:32 | |
They all need twisting every week, | 0:26:32 | 0:26:34 | |
so you take a plant and you sort of twist it round the string clockwise. | 0:26:34 | 0:26:39 | |
-Why clockwise, not anticlockwise? -We try and do them all the same way. | 0:26:39 | 0:26:43 | |
If you come back and do it the other way, | 0:26:43 | 0:26:45 | |
you'll untwist the work that you did. | 0:26:45 | 0:26:47 | |
-All the way along? -Yeah. We can move along with the trolley. | 0:26:47 | 0:26:51 | |
If you push the pedal it'll slowly move you down the row. | 0:26:51 | 0:26:54 | |
It's like surfing! | 0:26:54 | 0:26:56 | |
It is. And you're in the sun. What more could you want? | 0:26:56 | 0:26:59 | |
So, how long have you actually been doing this? | 0:26:59 | 0:27:01 | |
Oh, I started growing tomatoes when I was about ten years old. | 0:27:01 | 0:27:05 | |
-That's great! And then you had your first little greenhouse? -I did. | 0:27:05 | 0:27:10 | |
It was an old converted Wendy house covered in polythene. | 0:27:10 | 0:27:13 | |
-You grew tomatoes in a Wendy house? -I grew tomatoes in a Wendy house! | 0:27:13 | 0:27:16 | |
Were you one of the tough kids in your street? | 0:27:16 | 0:27:19 | |
NIGEL LAUGHS | 0:27:19 | 0:27:21 | |
Then from that, I bought my own greenhouse with the profits from it. | 0:27:21 | 0:27:24 | |
Nigel's first greenhouse cost £130. | 0:27:28 | 0:27:31 | |
'This one took ten million to build.' | 0:27:31 | 0:27:34 | |
The glasshouse might be hi-tech, | 0:27:39 | 0:27:41 | |
but Nigel's still dependent on nature to do the crucial work. | 0:27:41 | 0:27:45 | |
Every flower has to be pollinated, | 0:27:49 | 0:27:51 | |
and to do this Nigel uses an army of bees. | 0:27:51 | 0:27:56 | |
They're vital. We've got about a hundred hives in here | 0:27:56 | 0:27:59 | |
with probably about 50 bees in each. | 0:27:59 | 0:28:01 | |
They're on these shelves down here that you can see. | 0:28:01 | 0:28:04 | |
Tomato flowers don't actually have any nectar, | 0:28:04 | 0:28:06 | |
so these poor little chaps have been working away with nothing to eat. | 0:28:06 | 0:28:10 | |
But the beehives have got feed in them. | 0:28:10 | 0:28:14 | |
OK, so these have got their feed in. | 0:28:14 | 0:28:16 | |
They're going to go to the flowers, there's no nectar for them, | 0:28:16 | 0:28:19 | |
but they carry the pollen, because without these chaps | 0:28:19 | 0:28:22 | |
-you wouldn't have any tomatoes, would you? -No. -It's that simple. -It is. | 0:28:22 | 0:28:26 | |
I mean, we've got to pollinate flowers. Insects do it for us. | 0:28:26 | 0:28:29 | |
The bumblebees do all of that. | 0:28:29 | 0:28:30 | |
So long as he lands and looks for nectar, we're laughing. | 0:28:30 | 0:28:34 | |
Isn't it a worry, that your business hinges on how busy your bees are? | 0:28:34 | 0:28:39 | |
We've got to look after our bees. | 0:28:39 | 0:28:41 | |
I always believed it wasn't cost-effective | 0:28:46 | 0:28:49 | |
to grow tomatoes on a huge scale in this country, | 0:28:49 | 0:28:51 | |
but I've been proved wrong. | 0:28:51 | 0:28:54 | |
Here, they've turned waste materials into profits. | 0:28:54 | 0:28:58 | |
I've left Skeyton and my shelter and have headed south | 0:29:03 | 0:29:06 | |
to the inconspicuous little village of Hethel. | 0:29:06 | 0:29:09 | |
There are around 800 churches with churchyards in Norfolk, | 0:29:09 | 0:29:13 | |
more than any county in England. | 0:29:13 | 0:29:15 | |
It also has the highest concentration | 0:29:15 | 0:29:17 | |
of medieval churches in the world, | 0:29:17 | 0:29:20 | |
and this is just one of them, | 0:29:20 | 0:29:22 | |
Hethel village's All Saints Church. | 0:29:22 | 0:29:24 | |
Churchyard habitats are incredibly important. | 0:29:26 | 0:29:29 | |
Often containing ancient grassland, they are very species-rich, | 0:29:29 | 0:29:34 | |
offering perfect refuge for many wild flowers, mosses, lichens, | 0:29:34 | 0:29:38 | |
fungi and ferns, and of course, for many animals and insects. | 0:29:38 | 0:29:44 | |
Churchyards like this are very beautiful places, but they're also quite melancholic, | 0:29:46 | 0:29:51 | |
obviously associated with remembrance, sadness and death. | 0:29:51 | 0:29:55 | |
However, take a closer look and they can be literally teeming with life. | 0:29:55 | 0:30:00 | |
Despite the significance of these places, | 0:30:03 | 0:30:06 | |
it's thought that only around 15% of churchyards in Norfolk | 0:30:06 | 0:30:10 | |
are actively managed for conservation. | 0:30:10 | 0:30:12 | |
Thankfully, Anne Edwards is very actively looking | 0:30:12 | 0:30:14 | |
after this particular one in Hethel, with a group of volunteers. | 0:30:14 | 0:30:17 | |
-You've got the team at work, have you? -Yes, we're just doing a bit of cutting round here. | 0:30:17 | 0:30:23 | |
This is quite a spectacular church, isn't it? | 0:30:23 | 0:30:26 | |
Yes, Grade I listed, it dates back to the 1100s - well, parts of it do, | 0:30:26 | 0:30:30 | |
particularly this old tower here. | 0:30:30 | 0:30:32 | |
-So a classic specimen in terms of Norfolk's medieval churches. -Yes. | 0:30:32 | 0:30:37 | |
How important are churchyards like this? | 0:30:37 | 0:30:40 | |
The churchyard represents a fragment of the ancient meadows | 0:30:40 | 0:30:44 | |
that used to be quite widespread over Britain, and have become lost since | 0:30:44 | 0:30:48 | |
the Second World War, with overuse of fertilisers in farming. | 0:30:48 | 0:30:53 | |
What do we mean by ancient meadows, these are untouched pastures which can grow quite wild? | 0:30:53 | 0:30:59 | |
Yes, untouched - this land would never have had fertiliser, apart from the obvious few bodies around here! | 0:30:59 | 0:31:05 | |
They'll never have had artificial fertiliser, so the nutrient level is quite low. | 0:31:05 | 0:31:10 | |
What difference does that make to the plants? | 0:31:10 | 0:31:13 | |
Well, some of the more delicate wild flowers, we've got some meadow vetchling over there, for instance, | 0:31:13 | 0:31:18 | |
just wouldn't be able to compete with plants like nettles, which are really encouraged by nitrogen - | 0:31:18 | 0:31:25 | |
-nettles and dock - but they do very well in these low-nutrient soils. -Bizarre, isn't it? | 0:31:25 | 0:31:30 | |
So, you're actually trying to keep the soil quality quite poor so that you give fragile species a chance? | 0:31:30 | 0:31:35 | |
-Exactly that, yes. -What are your prized plants here? | 0:31:35 | 0:31:39 | |
I think probably at this time of the year, our real prize is the pyramid orchid, you can see one over there... | 0:31:39 | 0:31:45 | |
-Wow! -It's a single... little-stemmed flower. | 0:31:45 | 0:31:51 | |
Yes. And when we first started managing the churchyard, we didn't know they were there. | 0:31:51 | 0:31:55 | |
Originally we started the conservation because in springtime, | 0:31:55 | 0:31:59 | |
the churchyard is full of wild daffodils, | 0:31:59 | 0:32:02 | |
which are quite rare now, Wordsworth's original daffodils! | 0:32:02 | 0:32:05 | |
It was only after one year of our management that we noticed a few of these pyramid orchids | 0:32:07 | 0:32:13 | |
popped up, and they've gradually increased over the years, so we've got quite a healthy population. | 0:32:13 | 0:32:18 | |
And what about wildlife in here? | 0:32:18 | 0:32:20 | |
When you've got this kind of diversity and all these plants, how much wildlife do you get here? | 0:32:20 | 0:32:25 | |
Well, wild flowers are very nectar-rich, so they encourage a lot | 0:32:25 | 0:32:27 | |
of insects, a lot of butterflies - we might see a few today. | 0:32:27 | 0:32:31 | |
Moths, and those in turn attract birds, and | 0:32:31 | 0:32:36 | |
we also have a lot of small mammals that live amongst the grass - | 0:32:36 | 0:32:39 | |
voles, mice, and then you get the barn owls hunting them. | 0:32:39 | 0:32:43 | |
And the long grass also is home to grass snakes, frogs, a few toads. | 0:32:43 | 0:32:49 | |
-So it's a rich ecosystem. -It certainly is. | 0:32:49 | 0:32:52 | |
It's normally very quiet, but there is a team over there who seem to be very industrious. | 0:32:52 | 0:32:57 | |
That's my team of volunteers that help manage the grassland! | 0:32:57 | 0:32:59 | |
Shall we go and say hello? | 0:32:59 | 0:33:01 | |
It's estimated that around 98% of flower-rich grasslands | 0:33:05 | 0:33:09 | |
like here at Hethel have now vanished, | 0:33:09 | 0:33:12 | |
making these places so important to protect and nurture. | 0:33:12 | 0:33:16 | |
The volunteers use traditional tools like scythes and pitchforks | 0:33:16 | 0:33:19 | |
to maintain the land, rather than harmful weedkillers, which could destroy it. | 0:33:19 | 0:33:24 | |
What is going on here? | 0:33:24 | 0:33:27 | |
This part of the churchyard, there's a lot of nettles. | 0:33:27 | 0:33:31 | |
And of course, nettles have a lot of benefits to wildlife, | 0:33:31 | 0:33:34 | |
particularly butterflies, use them for laying their eggs on. | 0:33:34 | 0:33:37 | |
But they would invade the entire churchyard if allowed to get away with it. | 0:33:37 | 0:33:41 | |
Plus, nettles will come back and they'll be ready for the next wave of butterflies. | 0:33:41 | 0:33:47 | |
Is this a once-a-year job? | 0:33:47 | 0:33:49 | |
Yes, we're cutting the nettles now, | 0:33:49 | 0:33:53 | |
just this section, but the whole of the churchyard gets cut once a year, at the end of summer. | 0:33:53 | 0:33:58 | |
Rural churchyards are one of the few areas of land left untouched and uncultivated. | 0:34:00 | 0:34:05 | |
Even in cities and towns, these peaceful places are a refuge for our precious wildlife. | 0:34:05 | 0:34:11 | |
It's vital we cherish these habitats | 0:34:11 | 0:34:13 | |
and encourage the species found in them. | 0:34:13 | 0:34:16 | |
I'll be heading up to the north Norfolk coastline next, which is where Chris Packham spent some time | 0:34:16 | 0:34:22 | |
appreciating the amazing wildlife. | 0:34:22 | 0:34:25 | |
This coast is incredibly rich in reserves and resources - | 0:34:26 | 0:34:29 | |
there's so much to see and do. | 0:34:29 | 0:34:32 | |
I'm starting at Snettisham, and I'm starting early. | 0:34:32 | 0:34:34 | |
To get the best out of this place, it all comes down to timing - | 0:34:34 | 0:34:37 | |
the time of the moon's cycle, the tide and time of day. | 0:34:37 | 0:34:40 | |
Ideally, full moon - the biggest tide - and get here before it gets light. | 0:34:40 | 0:34:45 | |
There's a great mass of wading birds out there, quite a few oystercatcher, | 0:34:49 | 0:34:53 | |
but all of those small grey ones are red knot. | 0:34:53 | 0:34:57 | |
They're not red at the moment because they're in winter plumage, and they're knot with a K, | 0:34:57 | 0:35:03 | |
named after King Canute, because they share a habit. | 0:35:03 | 0:35:06 | |
Canute was trying to prove he was mortal by proving | 0:35:06 | 0:35:09 | |
that he couldn't order back the tide when it lapped over his feet. | 0:35:09 | 0:35:13 | |
And that's what these birds are going to do. | 0:35:13 | 0:35:17 | |
These knot breed in Arctic Canada and Greenland, flying almost 3,000 miles | 0:35:19 | 0:35:25 | |
in early autumn for the safe roost and plentiful food found in The Wash. | 0:35:25 | 0:35:30 | |
And they'll feed until they're forced off by the highest tide. | 0:35:30 | 0:35:34 | |
Ho-ha! | 0:35:42 | 0:35:44 | |
Superb, absolutely superb. | 0:35:44 | 0:35:46 | |
Oh, look, another lot coming in here. | 0:35:46 | 0:35:49 | |
It's fantastic when they all sort of cohese together, just like that, and the whole thing swerves around. | 0:35:52 | 0:35:59 | |
Look at it! It pulls apart then comes back together, it's like an avian lava lamp in the sky. | 0:35:59 | 0:36:04 | |
The birds slice their way across the shingle and find their way to the lagoons behind the beach. | 0:36:12 | 0:36:18 | |
And I've got to tell you, there's a real treat in store here later. | 0:36:18 | 0:36:22 | |
We're about to witness an astonishing spectacle. | 0:36:28 | 0:36:31 | |
This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. | 0:36:31 | 0:36:34 | |
Remember, the knot are in the lagoon behind the beach, waiting to fly back to the marshes. | 0:36:34 | 0:36:41 | |
Look at the movement - even when they're on the ground, you get these waves of birds sweeping | 0:36:41 | 0:36:46 | |
across, and they seem to be a little bit agitated by the oystercatcher. | 0:36:46 | 0:36:50 | |
Every now and again, one walks through them, | 0:36:50 | 0:36:52 | |
just to be belligerent, by the looks of it, and all the knot part and swirl about around it. | 0:36:52 | 0:36:58 | |
Listen to the sound - | 0:37:00 | 0:37:02 | |
that constant sort of bubbling background call. | 0:37:04 | 0:37:07 | |
One or two of the knot - | 0:37:08 | 0:37:10 | |
can't see one now, I saw one a moment ago, on the ground - | 0:37:10 | 0:37:14 | |
it was still a little bit red, with its summer plumage. Oh, there's one there, look, | 0:37:14 | 0:37:20 | |
that one facing us. | 0:37:20 | 0:37:22 | |
It does look as if they're all going to go at any second. | 0:37:24 | 0:37:28 | |
60,000 knot, all taking off in one long stream of flapping wings. | 0:37:38 | 0:37:44 | |
This is a survival manoeuvre - there's safety in numbers. | 0:37:44 | 0:37:48 | |
But ask yourself, does it really matter why they do it? | 0:37:48 | 0:37:51 | |
I think it's just enough we can enjoy the display - and what a display. | 0:37:51 | 0:37:56 | |
What a show! | 0:37:56 | 0:37:58 | |
Ho-ho-ho! | 0:38:06 | 0:38:08 | |
Look at that. | 0:38:13 | 0:38:14 | |
Oh, my goodness me. | 0:38:19 | 0:38:21 | |
Listen to the sound! | 0:38:27 | 0:38:29 | |
It's like waves breaking over a bouldery beach. | 0:38:29 | 0:38:32 | |
Look at that great arc of birds moving around. | 0:38:32 | 0:38:36 | |
Honestly! | 0:38:36 | 0:38:37 | |
Look at that! | 0:38:42 | 0:38:44 | |
Ho! | 0:38:44 | 0:38:45 | |
That is madness - absolutely fantastic. | 0:38:48 | 0:38:51 | |
This is ornithological Nirvana. | 0:38:51 | 0:38:54 | |
Oh! | 0:38:58 | 0:39:00 | |
I tell you something - people travel all over the world, they go to the Serengeti to see | 0:39:00 | 0:39:05 | |
a load of old wildebeest and zebras | 0:39:05 | 0:39:08 | |
tramping across the grass. Forget it! | 0:39:08 | 0:39:11 | |
Come and see this of a morning. | 0:39:11 | 0:39:13 | |
Incredible - definitely a must-see moment for wildlife lovers. | 0:39:15 | 0:39:20 | |
With Hethel church in the distance, I've made my way to Morston | 0:39:20 | 0:39:22 | |
on the north Norfolk coastline, in search of some much bigger wildlife. | 0:39:22 | 0:39:28 | |
Well, I'm heading out from Morston quay. | 0:39:29 | 0:39:32 | |
400 years ago, this used to be a major Norfolk port. | 0:39:32 | 0:39:36 | |
Today, while it's still busy, it's only really used for small fishing vessels, leisure craft, | 0:39:36 | 0:39:42 | |
and of course, the regular seal-watching trips. | 0:39:42 | 0:39:45 | |
Tourist boats regularly head out from here to a large colony of seals | 0:39:48 | 0:39:52 | |
living on Blakeney Point, and they are incredibly popular. | 0:39:52 | 0:39:55 | |
Seal-watching is big business around here, and there are many companies | 0:39:55 | 0:40:00 | |
in Morston and nearby Blakeney competing for trade. | 0:40:00 | 0:40:03 | |
Willie Reynolds is my skipper for the day. | 0:40:03 | 0:40:07 | |
-Good to see you. How are you? -Fine, thank you. | 0:40:07 | 0:40:09 | |
It's clear even before you get on the boat, it's quite a unique area. | 0:40:13 | 0:40:17 | |
Tell me a bit about the landscape. | 0:40:17 | 0:40:20 | |
All this part across here is Blakeney Point. | 0:40:20 | 0:40:23 | |
This is the estuary, | 0:40:23 | 0:40:25 | |
and this is the south side of the harbour along this side. | 0:40:25 | 0:40:30 | |
So, how rich is the wildlife here? | 0:40:30 | 0:40:33 | |
-Loads of birds coming overhead already... -There's a lot of mammals | 0:40:33 | 0:40:37 | |
and seabirds come and nest here, | 0:40:37 | 0:40:40 | |
and rare plants growing out here as well on the point. | 0:40:40 | 0:40:46 | |
We'll see the seals in a bit, but why are they here? | 0:40:46 | 0:40:50 | |
Is it the food? | 0:40:50 | 0:40:51 | |
It's natural habitat and food. | 0:40:51 | 0:40:54 | |
They like somewhere safe to lay up during the day where there's no danger for them. | 0:40:54 | 0:40:59 | |
And they feel quite safe here - they can move off the beach | 0:40:59 | 0:41:02 | |
at any state of the tide, into the safety of the water. | 0:41:02 | 0:41:06 | |
That's mainly why they come in here. | 0:41:06 | 0:41:08 | |
-Safety from what, from boats? -Anything that frightens them. | 0:41:08 | 0:41:11 | |
The seals spend much of their time on the beach right at the tip | 0:41:14 | 0:41:18 | |
of Blakeney Point - a great spot | 0:41:18 | 0:41:20 | |
for visitors to get close up without disturbing them. | 0:41:20 | 0:41:24 | |
How long have you been coming out here and doing those trips? | 0:41:24 | 0:41:27 | |
This is year 36. | 0:41:27 | 0:41:29 | |
Congratulations! | 0:41:29 | 0:41:32 | |
So there isn't too much you don't know about these seals in the water and on land? | 0:41:32 | 0:41:35 | |
Well, you can always learn something every day about them, there's always something different they do. | 0:41:35 | 0:41:41 | |
They're quite intelligent animals, actually. | 0:41:41 | 0:41:44 | |
How many boats are there that come out and do tours like this? | 0:41:44 | 0:41:48 | |
There's nine ferry boats and five companies. | 0:41:48 | 0:41:53 | |
-How busy are they? -Quite busy when the children are on school holidays! | 0:41:53 | 0:41:57 | |
The rest of the time, it's fairly normal. | 0:41:57 | 0:42:00 | |
You need these guys to be here, don't you, to come out and see them? | 0:42:00 | 0:42:03 | |
That's right, we wouldn't be in business if it wasn't for the seals. | 0:42:03 | 0:42:07 | |
Am I right that they just disappeared a year or two ago? | 0:42:07 | 0:42:10 | |
Last year they disappeared, we thought it was a shortage of food, | 0:42:10 | 0:42:14 | |
they disappeared for two or three months and we were struggling to find them. | 0:42:14 | 0:42:19 | |
Lack of food was one suggestion. | 0:42:21 | 0:42:23 | |
Disease was another. | 0:42:23 | 0:42:25 | |
But the truth is, no-one's really sure why the seals disappeared | 0:42:25 | 0:42:29 | |
from the point last year. | 0:42:29 | 0:42:31 | |
But what became very clear to the people of Blakeney was just how much | 0:42:31 | 0:42:36 | |
they rely on the seals to keep tourists visiting the area. | 0:42:36 | 0:42:41 | |
They must provide the livelihood, then, for 15-20 different guides, I suppose? | 0:42:41 | 0:42:46 | |
A lot more than that. | 0:42:46 | 0:42:48 | |
It's all the people who work behind the scenes in the booking offices, | 0:42:48 | 0:42:53 | |
and people working on the quay selling the tickets and things | 0:42:53 | 0:42:57 | |
like that, plus the men who work on the boats as well. | 0:42:57 | 0:43:01 | |
And it has a knock-on effect with the hotels and the restaurants and the pubs as well. | 0:43:01 | 0:43:06 | |
People coming here, they've all got to eat or sleep somewhere, so it's quite a big business, actually. | 0:43:06 | 0:43:13 | |
Tough times, but thankfully, the seals did return for this year's busy season. | 0:43:13 | 0:43:18 | |
How many different types of seals have we got here? | 0:43:19 | 0:43:21 | |
The black ones you can see are male grey seals, the bull grey seals. | 0:43:21 | 0:43:26 | |
The females are the grey ones with the spotty bellies and the beige colour on them. | 0:43:26 | 0:43:31 | |
-OK. -And the other ones are common seals, | 0:43:31 | 0:43:34 | |
they're at the back of the herd, | 0:43:34 | 0:43:37 | |
there, they've got a mottled back and a shorter nose than the grey seal. | 0:43:37 | 0:43:41 | |
-The grey has got this long profile, hasn't it? -That's right, yes. | 0:43:41 | 0:43:45 | |
They get big, don't they? | 0:43:45 | 0:43:46 | |
400lb, a grey seal bull weighs, fully grown. | 0:43:46 | 0:43:51 | |
First and foremost, if someone says to me, Blakeney, I think seals. | 0:43:51 | 0:43:54 | |
That's right, that's what it's known for. | 0:43:54 | 0:43:56 | |
And long may that continue, I suppose, if it's providing good business for the area? | 0:43:56 | 0:44:00 | |
Hopefully, yes! | 0:44:00 | 0:44:02 | |
Despite the hordes of inquisitive visitors, | 0:44:02 | 0:44:05 | |
the seals seem to have found a safe home here on Blakeney Point. | 0:44:05 | 0:44:09 | |
Occasionally, though, some do get into difficulty, but there's always someone on hand | 0:44:09 | 0:44:15 | |
to help, as Ellie Harrison found out | 0:44:15 | 0:44:17 | |
when she came to see what happens to orphaned seal pups from this colony. | 0:44:17 | 0:44:22 | |
The trouble-struck seals end up in the care of the local RSPCA. | 0:44:25 | 0:44:31 | |
Alison Charles heads up the rescue team. | 0:44:31 | 0:44:33 | |
-Morning, Alison, how are you? -I'm fine, thank you, how are you? | 0:44:37 | 0:44:40 | |
-Good, yeah. It's a bit chilly, isn't it? -It's rather cold this morning. | 0:44:40 | 0:44:43 | |
So, how have the seals ended up here in your sanctuary? | 0:44:43 | 0:44:46 | |
A lot of them are orphaned pups, they've been split up from their mum | 0:44:46 | 0:44:49 | |
for one reason or another, and they've ended up needing some help. | 0:44:49 | 0:44:53 | |
Why did they get separated from their mothers? | 0:44:53 | 0:44:55 | |
We get two species in here, we get the commons and the greys. | 0:44:55 | 0:44:58 | |
The commons have their pups in the summer, they can get split up | 0:44:58 | 0:45:01 | |
by the tide the currents, | 0:45:01 | 0:45:02 | |
and just because they're not strong enough to stay with their mum. | 0:45:02 | 0:45:05 | |
The greys, we had a huge storm up in the north-east and Scotland, | 0:45:05 | 0:45:08 | |
during the winter, and we've had a lot in since then, and we're absolutely packed. | 0:45:08 | 0:45:13 | |
How many are you hoping to release today? | 0:45:13 | 0:45:16 | |
We hope we're going to have five. | 0:45:16 | 0:45:17 | |
We need to weigh them, so we're going to drain the pool, | 0:45:17 | 0:45:19 | |
-then get into the bottom of the pool and you can help me weigh them. -OK! | 0:45:19 | 0:45:24 | |
It's going to take an hour for the pool to drain, but there are plenty of other crucial jobs for us to do. | 0:45:26 | 0:45:30 | |
Top of the list is lunch, | 0:45:30 | 0:45:33 | |
and Alison uses all sorts of tricks | 0:45:33 | 0:45:36 | |
to make feeding time more interesting. | 0:45:36 | 0:45:39 | |
Why is their fish in a crate? | 0:45:39 | 0:45:41 | |
It looks a bit bizarre... | 0:45:41 | 0:45:43 | |
It's a fantastic way of keeping them keen. | 0:45:43 | 0:45:45 | |
It helps them to forage while they're in here, and | 0:45:45 | 0:45:48 | |
we want them to be ready for going out into the harsh old environment. | 0:45:48 | 0:45:51 | |
I'm interested to see how this will work. | 0:45:51 | 0:45:54 | |
OK, let's go. | 0:45:54 | 0:45:55 | |
-Yes, watch it... -He got a freebie. | 0:45:55 | 0:45:58 | |
-He did. -Because of my inefficiency. | 0:45:58 | 0:46:00 | |
No, it's OK, it's good, he's keen. | 0:46:00 | 0:46:02 | |
Give it a little push. | 0:46:02 | 0:46:04 | |
-It's quite a challenge, really, getting the fish out of that. -Yeah. | 0:46:09 | 0:46:14 | |
That must be seal for thank you. | 0:46:14 | 0:46:17 | |
We're going to leave these seals alone now, because the aim is to keep | 0:46:17 | 0:46:20 | |
them as wild as possible, and of course return them to the wild. | 0:46:20 | 0:46:23 | |
We're going back to the pool that's been drained to see if today's seals are ready for release. | 0:46:23 | 0:46:28 | |
At this time of year, Alison and her team release the seals | 0:46:28 | 0:46:32 | |
every couple of weeks, as more and more reach their target weight. | 0:46:32 | 0:46:36 | |
Wow, Barcelona, you're a heavy, heavy pup. | 0:46:36 | 0:46:39 | |
Nice and feisty. | 0:46:42 | 0:46:45 | |
The staff are very, very fit here, as you can imagine! I'm warming up a treat here! | 0:46:45 | 0:46:49 | |
That's all the seals in the van. | 0:46:56 | 0:46:58 | |
All we've got to do now is get them to the release site. | 0:46:58 | 0:47:01 | |
We're not releasing them into the sea, but into the River Nene, | 0:47:04 | 0:47:06 | |
which flows out into The Wash, Britain's biggest estuary. | 0:47:06 | 0:47:10 | |
Alison makes sure she releases the seals at high tide, so they get swept | 0:47:19 | 0:47:23 | |
down the river and straight into The Wash. | 0:47:23 | 0:47:26 | |
-Seriously thick mud there. -There we go. | 0:47:26 | 0:47:29 | |
No emotion, just done your job... | 0:47:31 | 0:47:33 | |
No, job complete, | 0:47:33 | 0:47:35 | |
really good work. All the team have done a good job, and it's fantastic they're back out there. | 0:47:35 | 0:47:39 | |
Yeah. It's really great to see. | 0:47:39 | 0:47:42 | |
The seals will spend the next year learning about their new home, | 0:47:51 | 0:47:54 | |
finding out where's good for fishing, | 0:47:54 | 0:47:57 | |
before they settle down into a more sedentary adults lifestyle. | 0:47:57 | 0:48:00 | |
It's great that the RSPCA are successful in their mission to help out the seals. | 0:48:01 | 0:48:06 | |
I've moved west along the coast from Morston, | 0:48:06 | 0:48:09 | |
and just arrived in Hunstanton, as dusk fast approaches. | 0:48:09 | 0:48:12 | |
Tonight, hopefully, I'm going to get a good night's sleep in a proper bed, which is just as well, | 0:48:12 | 0:48:17 | |
because I'm getting up very early in the morning. | 0:48:17 | 0:48:20 | |
I'm going in search of even more wildlife, | 0:48:20 | 0:48:22 | |
but this time, it's a sort that you can't normally see during daylight. | 0:48:22 | 0:48:27 | |
Although 60 species of butterfly are regularly seen in the UK, | 0:48:27 | 0:48:32 | |
our 2,500 species of moths are far more elusive. | 0:48:32 | 0:48:36 | |
That's because the majority only ever come out at night. | 0:48:36 | 0:48:39 | |
So, to get a closer look at some of these nocturnal creatures, I'm here to help Gary Hibberd | 0:48:39 | 0:48:44 | |
from the Norfolk Wildlife Trust set up a light box trap. | 0:48:44 | 0:48:48 | |
The moths are attracted to the bright light, | 0:48:48 | 0:48:50 | |
then find themselves a place to sit in amongst | 0:48:50 | 0:48:54 | |
the egg boxes, and the key is that once they've been observed, | 0:48:54 | 0:48:57 | |
they can be released unharmed. | 0:48:57 | 0:49:00 | |
In the morning, we'll find out exactly what we've caught. | 0:49:00 | 0:49:03 | |
But first, the Country Tracks weather for the week ahead. | 0:49:03 | 0:49:06 | |
. | 0:50:50 | 0:50:57 | |
I began my journey through Norfolk near the village of Skeyton, | 0:51:06 | 0:51:10 | |
where I spent a peaceful night | 0:51:10 | 0:51:11 | |
in a bush craft shelter I built from twigs and reeds. | 0:51:11 | 0:51:15 | |
From there I headed south to Hethel, | 0:51:15 | 0:51:17 | |
a tiny village with a very important churchyard, where | 0:51:17 | 0:51:20 | |
I saw the multitude of wildlife that live in that precious habitat. | 0:51:20 | 0:51:26 | |
Then I headed north to Morston to sail out to see the seals at Blakey Point. | 0:51:26 | 0:51:30 | |
And now I've reached my final destination here on the sand dunes | 0:51:30 | 0:51:33 | |
by Hunstanton, where I'm hoping for a close-up look at some moths. | 0:51:33 | 0:51:38 | |
So, as instructed by Gary, I'm up bright and early to meet him again at the moth trap | 0:51:40 | 0:51:44 | |
to see what we can find - and hopefully it's been a busy night. | 0:51:44 | 0:51:49 | |
Gary Hibberd has been monitoring the moths here for many years, | 0:51:49 | 0:51:52 | |
and can impressively identify most of the species. | 0:51:52 | 0:51:55 | |
I'm interested to find out more about this often-overlooked creature. | 0:51:55 | 0:51:59 | |
What are we expecting, Gary, what's your hunch? | 0:51:59 | 0:52:02 | |
Well, we only had a little bit of rain this morning and it was a | 0:52:02 | 0:52:05 | |
cloudy night, which bodes quite well, it kept the temperatures up. | 0:52:05 | 0:52:11 | |
And we have got a few moths in the trap. | 0:52:11 | 0:52:14 | |
These flowers here, that's why we put the trap here, | 0:52:14 | 0:52:17 | |
-because the moths feed on that? -Yes, they nectar on the campion, yes. | 0:52:17 | 0:52:21 | |
It's funny, that, I don't really think of moths for nectar. | 0:52:21 | 0:52:24 | |
I always think of bees cross-pollinating things, but moths do it as well? | 0:52:24 | 0:52:28 | |
Lots of moth species do it. | 0:52:28 | 0:52:30 | |
There's 2,500 species of moth in this country, and | 0:52:30 | 0:52:35 | |
this site probably has somewhere around 600 species, | 0:52:35 | 0:52:39 | |
but a lot more species of those than there are bees. | 0:52:39 | 0:52:44 | |
-Staggering numbers. -Yeah. | 0:52:44 | 0:52:46 | |
Can we have a closer look at some of these? What have we got in here? | 0:52:46 | 0:52:50 | |
Is he going to stay where he is as we gently lift the Perspex off? | 0:52:50 | 0:52:54 | |
-He will. -They will, because this is what they rely on for survival. | 0:52:54 | 0:52:58 | |
It's daytime now, so they're really relying on keeping still, | 0:52:58 | 0:53:02 | |
apart from these day flies. | 0:53:02 | 0:53:05 | |
This one here will probably fly away. | 0:53:05 | 0:53:08 | |
What's that, it's got red and black and... | 0:53:08 | 0:53:10 | |
This is a cinnabar moth, and it's nice and fresh, recently hatched. | 0:53:10 | 0:53:15 | |
Sorry to ask an obvious question, | 0:53:15 | 0:53:18 | |
but a daytime moth is different to a butterfly, how? | 0:53:18 | 0:53:21 | |
Well, butterflies have knobbed antennae. | 0:53:21 | 0:53:26 | |
If you look at that cinnabar, | 0:53:26 | 0:53:28 | |
it's just fine, thin antennae, with no knob on the tip. | 0:53:28 | 0:53:32 | |
This one's shimmering its wings, which suggests it's about to fly. | 0:53:32 | 0:53:36 | |
This was probably what was nectaring on the campion last night. | 0:53:36 | 0:53:40 | |
It's a Silver Y. | 0:53:40 | 0:53:42 | |
You can see the Y shape on the wing. | 0:53:42 | 0:53:45 | |
It's a very fine movement, isn't it? | 0:53:45 | 0:53:47 | |
Yes. It's usually the precursor for flying. | 0:53:47 | 0:53:51 | |
Like a lot of moth species, there seems to be some of the huge numbers | 0:53:51 | 0:53:55 | |
that you catch in some of these traps, | 0:53:55 | 0:53:58 | |
it seems to be happening less and less, unfortunately. | 0:53:58 | 0:54:01 | |
So you've noticed a change? | 0:54:01 | 0:54:02 | |
Yes, even in the 15 years I've been moth catching. | 0:54:02 | 0:54:06 | |
You're certainly not getting the catches this year, but that might | 0:54:06 | 0:54:09 | |
be something more to do with the weather and the dry spring we've had. | 0:54:09 | 0:54:14 | |
It's the wide variety of habitat in this area that makes for such a diverse range of moth species here. | 0:54:14 | 0:54:20 | |
The sea and the sand dunes are just 150 metres away. | 0:54:20 | 0:54:23 | |
There are also reed beds and grazing marshes nearby, and we're surrounded by woodland. | 0:54:23 | 0:54:29 | |
Each habitat supports different types of moths. | 0:54:29 | 0:54:33 | |
Ah, here we go. Now we can talk about this colourful fella. | 0:54:34 | 0:54:39 | |
Yes. This is a small elephant hawk moth. | 0:54:39 | 0:54:41 | |
Great mix of colours, isn't it? | 0:54:41 | 0:54:43 | |
Are these one of the more common species? | 0:54:43 | 0:54:45 | |
Yes, certainly, of all the hawk moths, | 0:54:45 | 0:54:48 | |
it's the one that you can see most here. | 0:54:48 | 0:54:51 | |
-Can we have a look at one over here? -Yes, sure. | 0:54:51 | 0:54:54 | |
Most of these think they're on a tree, and they don't look very | 0:54:54 | 0:54:58 | |
camouflaged, but one here does, and he's perfect for an egg box. | 0:54:58 | 0:55:02 | |
This is beautiful, this is a nice, coastal moth. | 0:55:02 | 0:55:08 | |
Most people who do moth catching inland would really | 0:55:08 | 0:55:12 | |
enjoy coming to catch this. | 0:55:12 | 0:55:14 | |
So what's this little fella? | 0:55:14 | 0:55:16 | |
This is a rosy wave. | 0:55:16 | 0:55:18 | |
It's a species that is generally restricted to the coast. | 0:55:18 | 0:55:22 | |
You can see the tiny black dots, they're all in the right place. | 0:55:22 | 0:55:26 | |
Oh, right. This is a really good quality specimen. | 0:55:26 | 0:55:30 | |
Yes, this is something that's just hatched, | 0:55:30 | 0:55:33 | |
probably in the last day or two. It's in perfect nick. | 0:55:33 | 0:55:37 | |
Some of the others keep their wings together in a straight line. | 0:55:37 | 0:55:41 | |
Yes, waves and emeralds, they tend to have both wings wide open. | 0:55:41 | 0:55:48 | |
Gary, why do you trap here? | 0:55:48 | 0:55:49 | |
Well, it is the only way we're actually going to see a sample | 0:55:49 | 0:55:53 | |
of what moth species we've got on the site. | 0:55:53 | 0:55:56 | |
The easiest way to do it is by putting a trap on, | 0:55:56 | 0:56:00 | |
maybe once a week, twice a week, | 0:56:00 | 0:56:04 | |
and just counting a sample, | 0:56:04 | 0:56:06 | |
and identifying a sample of what we catch. | 0:56:06 | 0:56:09 | |
It's been brilliant. What, 15 species, I reckon, we've seen? | 0:56:09 | 0:56:13 | |
Yes, I would think in total | 0:56:13 | 0:56:14 | |
there's going to be nearly 20 species in there. | 0:56:14 | 0:56:17 | |
And the rosy wave I think would be the star moth. | 0:56:17 | 0:56:19 | |
Still sitting there patiently. | 0:56:19 | 0:56:22 | |
Yes! | 0:56:22 | 0:56:24 | |
It would seem that moths are pretty underrated, | 0:56:25 | 0:56:29 | |
often playing second fiddle to the more appreciated butterfly. | 0:56:29 | 0:56:32 | |
But after seeing some of those beautiful species, with spectacular colours and patterns, | 0:56:32 | 0:56:37 | |
it's clear that the only reason we don't know more about them is because many only come out at night! | 0:56:37 | 0:56:43 | |
I've certainly seen some of Norfolk's fantastic flora and fauna, | 0:56:43 | 0:56:46 | |
from the waters of the Broads to a very peaceful wildlife habitat. | 0:56:46 | 0:56:51 | |
So, that concludes my trip round Norfolk. | 0:56:51 | 0:56:54 | |
Now, I am completely biased on this one, it's my home county, | 0:56:54 | 0:56:57 | |
so I cannot recommend this place highly enough. | 0:56:57 | 0:57:00 | |
If you're sitting there watching this on your sofa thinking, | 0:57:00 | 0:57:03 | |
oh, Norfolk, never been there, now is the time to get up and out. | 0:57:03 | 0:57:06 | |
Come and experience this beautiful coastline, | 0:57:06 | 0:57:09 | |
stunning landscape and incredible wildlife for yourself. | 0:57:09 | 0:57:13 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:57:26 | 0:57:28 | |
Email [email protected] | 0:57:28 | 0:57:30 |