Norfolk Country Tracks


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Hello. Today, I'm on a journey through Norfolk,

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taking in the wonderful wildlife this county has to offer,

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starting here, on the Broads,

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and ending up on the North Norfolk coastline.

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Hey, Mark. How are you doing?

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Once in the waterways of the Norfolk Broads,

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I'll paddle to the outskirts of the village Skeyton,

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where I'll set up camp for the night, testing out my survival skills.

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Not the most glamorous way to get into bed, but I think it's going to work.

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From there, I'll head south to Hethel, a tiny village

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with a churchyard teeming with activity.

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Next stop, Morston Quay,

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where I'll take a boat out to Blakeney Point, looking for the seal colony that live there.

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-You need these guys to be here, to come out and see them?

-That's right.

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We wouldn't be in business if it wasn't for the seals.

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Finally, I'll travel to Hunstanton to catch a glimpse

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of the incredible nightlife on the sand dunes.

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

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

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Welcome to Country Tracks.

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Norfolk has a rich and varied range of habitats,

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from the wild north coast to the busy waterways of the Broads.

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A landscape for every imaginable creature, common and rare, watery or winged.

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And as it's the fifth-largest county in England, there's plenty of room for the wildlife to roam.

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Despite all of the water, Norfolk is actually the driest county in the UK

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and although the Broads look like they've been here forever,

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they are, in fact, man-made,

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created by peat digging here in the Middle Ages.

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Peat was used as fuel and the holes which were left once the peat was gone

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eventually filled with water as the tides rose.

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Now, there are 200km of navigable Broads as a result.

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Mark Wilkinson and his faithful companion, Mr Darcy,

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are guiding me through the waterways in a canoe.

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Mark runs an outdoor-adventure company specialising in canoeing and bushcraft

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and regularly takes people out on the water.

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Who comes on these trips with you? Cos you do this regularly, for different people?

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We do. We have all sorts of groups.

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Everything from Scout groups, all the way through to families,

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so, yeah, everybody.

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And, Mark, your lifestyle has changed incredibly over the years.

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-You haven't always done this, have you?

-No. I wish I had.

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I spent 20-odd years in the financial industry.

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-I used to be regional manager for a pensions company.

-Wow!

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I just hit one of those points in life -

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I think some people call it a mid-life crisis -

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and I sat down and looked at my life

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and decided I never wanted to be in finance,

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I never wanted to do that, and before I popped my clogs

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I was determined to try and do something I wanted to do.

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Talk me through what's ahead. We're canoeing at the moment

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and then we'll try and stay out on the banks of the river tonight?

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Yeah. Basically what we've done is we've negotiated with the landowner, so we can use some of the land,

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-cos wild camping is not allowed on the Broads at all.

-Yeah.

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So we've got a site where we will haul into the woods,

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we'll build some shelters to sleep under,

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-we'll cook over open fires, and after that, who knows?

-A complete adventure.

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We're starting out paddling downstream on the River Bure

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at the very north of the Norfolk Broads, close to the village of Oxnead.

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There are Broads and there are Broads.

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I think of Broads with big motor cruisers, so how come it's so quiet here?

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Basically, we're on the unnavigable stretch of the river,

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so the Broads run up and through the river system,

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but then you hit a lock. Obviously, that stops the river cruisers from getting here.

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Canoes are the only way down here and even that is not so easy,

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cos getting in and getting out, and finding places to get in and out is quite difficult as well.

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Mr Darcy has just popped up. Is he always a paddling companion of yours?

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-Yes. He comes everywhere with me.

-He's been doing it for years and he's well-trained.

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Obviously, we're in a pretty sturdy canoe here,

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but how would people have traditionally come along this stretch of water?

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In the old days, they used to transport the goods all the way up to Aylsham,

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which is a market town in North Norfolk,

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in a boat called a wherry,

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specifically designed for coming up Norfolk rivers.

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Because they were sailing boats, they needed the wind,

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so whenever a tree popped its head up the wherrymen used to cut it down.

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-So, suddenly a very clear passage along the river?

-Exactly.

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You find that there are long stretches with no trees at all.

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We've passed a few reed beds. What sort of landscape do you tend to see from low down on the water?

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Early in the year, when the plants haven't grow up,

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you get a good view over the landscape.

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As the year goes by and it grows up further and further,

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the nettles in particular just start to block it out a bit.

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But then a lot of the wildlife comes down to the riverside.

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So you get to see the reed warblers and the sedge warblers.

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You get lots of birds that come right down beside the river.

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Our destination is further downriver,

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where later Mark will teach me how to survive under the stars for the night.

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The Broads are hugely popular for boating and sailing.

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Matt Baker and Julia Bradbury discovered more about the people

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who use these waterways, past and present.

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Today, more than two million people visit the area each year.

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Events like the Thurne Mouth Regatta are a real draw for tourists and sailors alike.

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The Broads and boating, traditionally it started out as a transport infrastructure network

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and these days it's far more a holidaymakers' paradise

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to come to the Broads. Today, the regatta is people

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who are sailing on the Broads and enjoying themselves.

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So this is the annual big do for them all?

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This is one of the regattas on the Broads.

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There's a range of regattas through the season.

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Thurne Mouth Open Regatta, which has been running since about 1947,

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is what we like to think, because it's our club, the premier regatta

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of the river network, for sailing on the rivers.

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Tell me the history that goes alongside the Cock Of The Broads race.

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The trophy originally was designed and presented

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to try and find the fastest river cruiser on the Broads network.

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These days, because of the handicap system,

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not necessarily the fastest boat will win the Cock Of The Broads.

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It may well be you will have a slower boat which, due to handicap, has a chance of winning the race.

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-But the river cruiser is the class of boat that's competing?

-It is.

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-A river cruiser is just going past.

-They're lovely.

-They're beautiful. Some used to be hire boats

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you would have been able to hire for a holiday on the Broads.

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I'm taking part in today's blue-ribbon event

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and I'm joining the team known as the Pink Ladies.

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The skipper is Hilary Franzen.

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Nice to meet you. Look, I found the brightest, pinkest jacket I could.

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-And it so suits you!

-Just for you. Pink ladies, yes?

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-Fantastic.

-She, he?

-She.

-Beautiful.

-Always a she.

-Tell me about her.

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Her name is Martlet. She's 102 years old.

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She was built on the Broads. My parents bought her

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when I was eight years old

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and they raced her here at this very regatta

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and used to help run the regatta.

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They sold her in 1984 and I was heartbroken.

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But nine years ago, I tracked her down and bought her back.

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Right, what do you want me to do? I'm a spare pair of hands.

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I'm not very good, but I'll do whatever you tell me to.

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-Right, you are the jib puller.

-OK, I've done that before.

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These are called sheets, as you may know.

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When the jib is on the port side of the boat, you pull it in here.

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When the wind comes the other side, from the starboard,

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-you pull it in there.

-Right, just shout out to me and tell me, "Pull!"

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-Whatever it is I have to do.

-Yes.

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-I'm a hard taskmaster.

-That's OK. I'm a hard worker. We'll be a good team.

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While the regatta is getting under way,

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I've come to see one of the oldest types of vessel

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to sail these Broads.

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The Albion is one of only two remaining black-sailed trading boats,

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or wherries, as they're known.

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'She was built over a century ago, when hundreds of boats like her

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'would have been transporting goods through Norfolk.

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'On a boat this old, nothing is automatic.

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'With no motor to help us, just getting her out onto the river is a challenge.'

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A bit more! 'It's all about manpower and a technique called quanting.'

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Stab it down, turn round, walk up,

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put the old shoulder in, and start walking.

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-My first time quanting and I've pushed it completely off line!

-LAUGHTER

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Get my speed up a bit.

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Henry, in their heyday, how many of these wherries would have been out on the Broads?

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A good 300 of them. They were the heavy goods vehicle of the Broads.

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They carried everything,

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from grain through to metal,

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through to flour, absolutely anything they could make money on.

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This particular boat could carry up to 40 tons of cargo,

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so just as much as a modern HGV does.

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And no pollution, of course!

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But their demise came about through the growth of the railway system.

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And by the 1900s, they were in a very poor way indeed.

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It went through a transition. Skippers had to find other ways of earning a living.

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They scrubbed out the holds, put in tables and chairs and took people out for day sails.

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So, there were lots of these old working boats

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out on the Broads with finely-dressed Edwardian ladies and gents.

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OK, guys. Prepare to hoist, please.

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We've just come to this junction here and you can really feel the wind picking up.

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As soon as we get the sail up, she's going to take off.

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Eventually, working boats like this one were replaced by pleasure wherries.

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Today, Norfolk's boats may be smaller and need less muscle power

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but the Albion remains a proud icon of the Broads' boating heritage.

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Back at the regatta, the race is under way.

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Take the jib and pull it in tightly. We'll jibe round.

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Whooh! There it goes!

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Track, please!

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Conditions on the river are surprisingly changeable with the wind speed dropping dramatically.

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But we soon have the finish line in our sights.

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ALL: Hooray!

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We crossed the finish line!

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We may not be the cock of the Broads this year,

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but the Pink Ladies managed a respectable 8th place out of 31 boats.

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I'm paddling in a quieter section of the Broads with bush craft instructor, Mark Wilkinson.

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He's about to show me how to build my own accommodation for the night

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using only twigs and reeds and I need to get a move on as there isn't a hotel option if I fail.

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OK, we need to get moving because of the light levels.

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-Yep.

-We are going to start with some saws.

-Saws?

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We need to build ourselves a frame.

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-We are going to build a frame for our shelter and then we're going to clad it.

-OK.

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-We're only building a shelter that you're going to sleep in.

-Yes.

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We're not going to build a shelter to live in. We haven't got time.

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-No en suite?

-Exactly, no en suite.

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First off, start taking a look at some of these stems over here.

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This is a hazel. As you can see, previously coppiced so it has plenty of wood for us to get work with.

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It's a fast-growing tree.

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So, by taking a few stems out, we're not doing any damage to the tree itself at all.

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So, we're looking for, initially, two things.

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One, is our major stem which will be the upright to hold the ridge pole.

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-Yep.

-And then our ridge pole which has to be long and straight.

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-Yep.

-And our upright needs to have a fork in it.

-Yep.

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I'm going to get the long, straight pole and I want you to find the "V" forked pole.

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"V" forked pole...

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It's going to need to be... by the time it's planted in the ground,

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-the "V" needs to be around about three feet high.

-OK.

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-Yeah, something like that.

-That's fine.

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Having just spotted one here, is that too thick?

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-It seems to have quite a healthy "V" on it.

-It has. That should be all right. That should be fine.

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Mark has established good relationships with the landowners

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so it's OK for me to be hacking at this tree.

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I think I've got half a tree here!

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After selecting the perfect stick and with the help of Mr Darcy,

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I have to sharpen the end that's going into the ground and trim off the top.

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I've managed to find your ridge pole.

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-Thankfully, in Norfolk, the ground is pretty soft but it's mainly all wet.

-Yeah!

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-So, er... This end?

-Yes.

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We're going to build that way with you facing out that way.

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-I might have made a rod for my own back here but it's quite a thick piece of wood, isn't it?

-Mm.

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-This is where those extra few pounds help.

-Yes.

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I did have a cheeseburger at lunch!

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-There you go!.

-Pretty solid.

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Our ridge pole is basically going to come in somewhere like this...

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-Looking good! Test in for length?

-Exactly. Test it for length.

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You just need your head right by the doorway.

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Obviously, what we are taking into account are prevailing conditions.

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If we'd had a blowing wind this way which was likely to carry any rain,

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then you're in the perfect position.

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-Yeah.

-Any rain would be going that way and would miss you.

-Rather than blow into the shelter.

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-This is absolutely fine where we are now.

-Great!

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-All we've got to do now it is fill it up.

-Oh, right!

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All this lot needs to do is basically support the thatching material.

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There's loads and loads of it around here, and that is Norfolk reed.

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-Some of the best thatching material in the world...

-Yep.

-..used on all your country cottages.

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We're going to use it on your shelter.

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Well, I think... Let's just double check. Yeah. Sunlight-free zone.

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Not bad, not bad.

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The proof of the pudding, as they say, is going to be if it pours down overnight!

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But, considering the amount of time we've taken to do it, then I think you've done a good job.

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Great! We did get our priorities confused, didn't we?

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We built a shelter but forgot to put the kettle on. So... Shall we?

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-I think we need to.

-Let's keep the fire well away from this!

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LAUGHTER

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As darkness falls, there's nothing else for it

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but to enjoy the warmth of the fire, roll out our sleeping bags

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and get ready for a night in our own hand-made shelters.

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A bit of smoky hot water.

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The shelter, good. In the sleeping bag.

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Not the glamorous way to get into bed but I think it's going to work.

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So... Without more ado, good night.

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'Waking up to the birds and bright sunshine at 7am,

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'I've had a good eight hours' sleep.

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'I might not look it, but I feel surprisingly well rested.'

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HE CHUCKLES

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Morning...

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Good morning, good morning.

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That was actually a pleasant night's sleep, I'm pleased to report.

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And it didn't rain, which is great, so everything is nice and dry.

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And it all went to plan!

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Look at that. Almost sorry to leave it behind, a warm little cocoon.

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So, you're out here all the time doing this.

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What's the best bit of it for you?

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What makes you smile? Is it the mornings?

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To be honest with you, Joe, it's the bit you missed.

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I went out for a paddle this morning at about quarter past six

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and saw an otter down the dike here.

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And it's just absolutely stunning.

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As you can hear, it's absolutely quiet. You've just got the birds.

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-It's chilled out.

-It is a particularly nice morning,

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but no matter what the morning, it's always different.

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Always different, yeah.

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Depending on the atmospherics and weather conditions,

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you get different animals coming out.

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And yeah, you're away from your computer, away from your phone.

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Just chill out, relax. It's the only time I stop.

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We're still in Norfolk. It's lovely, but we're not in a jungle or a mountain range, so we could survive.

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We could probably find a pub or something to eat in or whatever!

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But these skills, how important is it

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they're passed down between generations, different people?

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They have their uses in the real world.

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This is what people don't understand.

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Lighting a fire - how many of us have barbecues?

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How many times do we hear of people getting in hospital due to putting petrol on it?

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Well, if they know how to light a fire, it all relays back.

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Yeah. So there are still practical applications in our lives,

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-and this brings them together.

-Very much so. Very much so.

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That was brilliant. There is nothing like making a shelter and sleeping in it

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to give you a sense of achievement.

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And if you haven't been camping for a while,

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it's a reminder how great it is to wake up outside, in the fresh air.

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You can't really beat it.

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Anyway, good weather this morning so far, lots to do today,

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so on to the next stage of my journey.

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Norfolk is perhaps most associated with the Broads I just left behind.

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But the county also produces British sugar.

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Jimmy Doherty travelled to Wissington to find out more.

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This is sugar-beet country.

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The vegetable produces 50% of the UK's sugar.

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And this is where most of it comes,

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the British Sugar factory at Wissington.

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It's the largest processor of its type in the world.

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They process three million tonnes of sugar beet a year.

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But this is a business under pressure.

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After decades when the price of sugar beet was guaranteed,

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the industry is having to stand on its own.

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It needs to squeeze every penny out of every beet.

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It's doing that by making a profit out of its waste products

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and cutting back on greenhouse-gas emissions at the same time.

0:20:440:20:48

Andrew Beresford is showing me around.

0:20:510:20:53

The majority of that is water. I've got in there about 75% water.

0:20:530:20:57

I've got about 17% sugar and about 5% fibrous material.

0:20:570:21:02

The water we're going to recycle,

0:21:020:21:04

the sugar you're going to buy - thank you very much! -

0:21:040:21:07

and the fibrous material, we're going to sell it off as animal feed.

0:21:070:21:11

-So every little bit of this sugar beet will be used?

-Including what's stuck to the outside.

0:21:110:21:16

Sugar is still their core business.

0:21:220:21:26

Washed, sliced, boiled and spun in a huge centrifuge like a spin dryer,

0:21:260:21:31

the beet is turned into sugar crystals.

0:21:310:21:34

A hundred thousand tonnes of sugar are stored in these huge silos.

0:21:370:21:41

But it's their efforts to re-use all their by-products

0:21:430:21:46

that I'm really interested in.

0:21:460:21:49

You look at this whole process and it looks quite dirty and industrialised,

0:21:490:21:53

and you think, "Cor, it must be a big polluter."

0:21:530:21:56

When you see thank you beet coming in, it's covered in mud and stones.

0:21:560:22:00

They wash that off. They don't throw that mud away.

0:22:000:22:03

That is reconditioned and used for the topsoil for football pitches.

0:22:030:22:07

The stones are cleaned, and they're sold as aggregate.

0:22:070:22:10

All the green bits they cut off are composted,

0:22:100:22:12

and that's taken away and that's used in another process.

0:22:120:22:16

And also, there's a huge amount of hot water that's produced,

0:22:160:22:21

and a thousand tonnes of CO2 a day is produced out of this process,

0:22:210:22:25

which they recycle, and they put that in a pipe and it's pumped off.

0:22:250:22:29

Normally, carbon dioxide would be pumped out into the atmosphere

0:22:320:22:35

along with all this steam.

0:22:350:22:37

CO2 is one of the worst greenhouse-gas polluters.

0:22:370:22:41

But here at Wissington, they've found an ingenious use for it.

0:22:410:22:46

-You follow the pipe.

-This pipe here?

-Yeah. So, there's the map. Look.

0:22:460:22:50

'British Sugar has set up a whole other industry

0:22:510:22:55

'that thrives on their waste.

0:22:550:22:58

'To find what I've come to see, I just have to follow these pipes.

0:22:590:23:04

'The pipes run for over a kilometre, spanning the Wissey River itself.

0:23:060:23:10

'Opening up ahead of me is a horizon filled with glass and aluminium.

0:23:170:23:22

'Cornerways Nursery, the biggest single glasshouse in Britain,

0:23:280:23:33

'spanning an area over 26 acres.

0:23:330:23:35

'25,000 panes of glass.

0:23:410:23:44

'This one glasshouse produces

0:23:480:23:49

10% of all the tomatoes grown in this country.

0:23:490:23:55

'It's run by Nigel Bartle.

0:23:550:23:57

'I think he feels the same way about his tomatoes as I do about my pigs.

0:23:570:24:01

'They're his life.'

0:24:010:24:02

The carbon dioxide comes in this pipe, running along here.

0:24:030:24:07

If you actually crouch down and have a look underneath, you can see it.

0:24:070:24:11

Oh, yeah. Look at that.

0:24:110:24:13

-It's like a huge balloon.

-All we've got over at the factory

0:24:130:24:16

is a fan that just sucks it out of the chimney, blows it across.

0:24:160:24:21

There's little pinpricks in it,

0:24:210:24:22

and they let the carbon dioxide out for the plants.

0:24:220:24:25

You can hear it hissing. It's like a slow puncture.

0:24:250:24:28

Yeah, it rises out through there, through the plants,

0:24:280:24:31

they take it in through their leaves and convert it into tomatoes.

0:24:310:24:35

Nigel's taking advantage

0:24:380:24:39

of a fascinating relic of evolutionary history.

0:24:390:24:43

He knows his tomato plants can make use

0:24:440:24:46

of more carbon dioxide than they normally get.

0:24:460:24:49

Plants evolved at a time when CO2 levels in the atmosphere

0:24:540:24:57

were much higher than they are now.

0:24:570:24:59

So give a tomato extra carbon dioxide and you get extra growth.

0:25:020:25:06

Nigel's getting more and bigger tomatoes,

0:25:080:25:12

doubling his yield.

0:25:120:25:13

And because the plants are using the extra CO2 to produce more sugar,

0:25:150:25:19

his tomatoes are sweeter, too.

0:25:190:25:22

Everything in Nigel's greenhouse is finely tuned

0:25:230:25:26

to give his plants the best possible environment.

0:25:260:25:29

I've noticed what I'm leaning on is hot, this pipe here.

0:25:310:25:35

We've got about 140 miles of piping here.

0:25:350:25:37

It's a giant radiator system.

0:25:370:25:39

It runs up and down these rows, round the whole greenhouse,

0:25:390:25:42

and that's all bringing surplus energy from the factory.

0:25:420:25:45

Thanks to a free supply of carbon dioxide and heat,

0:25:470:25:50

this nursery can deliver higher yields

0:25:500:25:53

more sustainably than any other glasshouse in the UK.

0:25:530:25:56

They produce 70 million tomatoes per year.

0:25:580:26:02

Each of these vines can reach up to 36 feet.

0:26:030:26:06

There's a quarter of a million of them,

0:26:060:26:08

and they all need to be individually hand-tended.

0:26:080:26:12

In fact, it's like going up in the canopy of a rainforest, isn't it?

0:26:120:26:15

Oh, my God, look, it goes on forever!

0:26:210:26:23

-And then you spring out above, in the Norfolk sun!

-Look at that!

0:26:240:26:28

There are hundreds of them up here.

0:26:300:26:32

They all need twisting every week,

0:26:320:26:34

so you take a plant and you sort of twist it round the string clockwise.

0:26:340:26:39

-Why clockwise, not anticlockwise?

-We try and do them all the same way.

0:26:390:26:43

If you come back and do it the other way,

0:26:430:26:45

you'll untwist the work that you did.

0:26:450:26:47

-All the way along?

-Yeah. We can move along with the trolley.

0:26:470:26:51

If you push the pedal it'll slowly move you down the row.

0:26:510:26:54

It's like surfing!

0:26:540:26:56

It is. And you're in the sun. What more could you want?

0:26:560:26:59

So, how long have you actually been doing this?

0:26:590:27:01

Oh, I started growing tomatoes when I was about ten years old.

0:27:010:27:05

-That's great! And then you had your first little greenhouse?

-I did.

0:27:050:27:10

It was an old converted Wendy house covered in polythene.

0:27:100:27:13

-You grew tomatoes in a Wendy house?

-I grew tomatoes in a Wendy house!

0:27:130:27:16

Were you one of the tough kids in your street?

0:27:160:27:19

NIGEL LAUGHS

0:27:190:27:21

Then from that, I bought my own greenhouse with the profits from it.

0:27:210:27:24

Nigel's first greenhouse cost £130.

0:27:280:27:31

'This one took ten million to build.'

0:27:310:27:34

The glasshouse might be hi-tech,

0:27:390:27:41

but Nigel's still dependent on nature to do the crucial work.

0:27:410:27:45

Every flower has to be pollinated,

0:27:490:27:51

and to do this Nigel uses an army of bees.

0:27:510:27:56

They're vital. We've got about a hundred hives in here

0:27:560:27:59

with probably about 50 bees in each.

0:27:590:28:01

They're on these shelves down here that you can see.

0:28:010:28:04

Tomato flowers don't actually have any nectar,

0:28:040:28:06

so these poor little chaps have been working away with nothing to eat.

0:28:060:28:10

But the beehives have got feed in them.

0:28:100:28:14

OK, so these have got their feed in.

0:28:140:28:16

They're going to go to the flowers, there's no nectar for them,

0:28:160:28:19

but they carry the pollen, because without these chaps

0:28:190:28:22

-you wouldn't have any tomatoes, would you?

-No.

-It's that simple.

-It is.

0:28:220:28:26

I mean, we've got to pollinate flowers. Insects do it for us.

0:28:260:28:29

The bumblebees do all of that.

0:28:290:28:30

So long as he lands and looks for nectar, we're laughing.

0:28:300:28:34

Isn't it a worry, that your business hinges on how busy your bees are?

0:28:340:28:39

We've got to look after our bees.

0:28:390:28:41

I always believed it wasn't cost-effective

0:28:460:28:49

to grow tomatoes on a huge scale in this country,

0:28:490:28:51

but I've been proved wrong.

0:28:510:28:54

Here, they've turned waste materials into profits.

0:28:540:28:58

I've left Skeyton and my shelter and have headed south

0:29:030:29:06

to the inconspicuous little village of Hethel.

0:29:060:29:09

There are around 800 churches with churchyards in Norfolk,

0:29:090:29:13

more than any county in England.

0:29:130:29:15

It also has the highest concentration

0:29:150:29:17

of medieval churches in the world,

0:29:170:29:20

and this is just one of them,

0:29:200:29:22

Hethel village's All Saints Church.

0:29:220:29:24

Churchyard habitats are incredibly important.

0:29:260:29:29

Often containing ancient grassland, they are very species-rich,

0:29:290:29:34

offering perfect refuge for many wild flowers, mosses, lichens,

0:29:340:29:38

fungi and ferns, and of course, for many animals and insects.

0:29:380:29:44

Churchyards like this are very beautiful places, but they're also quite melancholic,

0:29:460:29:51

obviously associated with remembrance, sadness and death.

0:29:510:29:55

However, take a closer look and they can be literally teeming with life.

0:29:550:30:00

Despite the significance of these places,

0:30:030:30:06

it's thought that only around 15% of churchyards in Norfolk

0:30:060:30:10

are actively managed for conservation.

0:30:100:30:12

Thankfully, Anne Edwards is very actively looking

0:30:120:30:14

after this particular one in Hethel, with a group of volunteers.

0:30:140:30:17

-You've got the team at work, have you?

-Yes, we're just doing a bit of cutting round here.

0:30:170:30:23

This is quite a spectacular church, isn't it?

0:30:230:30:26

Yes, Grade I listed, it dates back to the 1100s - well, parts of it do,

0:30:260:30:30

particularly this old tower here.

0:30:300:30:32

-So a classic specimen in terms of Norfolk's medieval churches.

-Yes.

0:30:320:30:37

How important are churchyards like this?

0:30:370:30:40

The churchyard represents a fragment of the ancient meadows

0:30:400:30:44

that used to be quite widespread over Britain, and have become lost since

0:30:440:30:48

the Second World War, with overuse of fertilisers in farming.

0:30:480:30:53

What do we mean by ancient meadows, these are untouched pastures which can grow quite wild?

0:30:530:30:59

Yes, untouched - this land would never have had fertiliser, apart from the obvious few bodies around here!

0:30:590:31:05

They'll never have had artificial fertiliser, so the nutrient level is quite low.

0:31:050:31:10

What difference does that make to the plants?

0:31:100:31:13

Well, some of the more delicate wild flowers, we've got some meadow vetchling over there, for instance,

0:31:130:31:18

just wouldn't be able to compete with plants like nettles, which are really encouraged by nitrogen -

0:31:180:31:25

-nettles and dock - but they do very well in these low-nutrient soils.

-Bizarre, isn't it?

0:31:250:31:30

So, you're actually trying to keep the soil quality quite poor so that you give fragile species a chance?

0:31:300:31:35

-Exactly that, yes.

-What are your prized plants here?

0:31:350:31:39

I think probably at this time of the year, our real prize is the pyramid orchid, you can see one over there...

0:31:390:31:45

-Wow!

-It's a single... little-stemmed flower.

0:31:450:31:51

Yes. And when we first started managing the churchyard, we didn't know they were there.

0:31:510:31:55

Originally we started the conservation because in springtime,

0:31:550:31:59

the churchyard is full of wild daffodils,

0:31:590:32:02

which are quite rare now, Wordsworth's original daffodils!

0:32:020:32:05

It was only after one year of our management that we noticed a few of these pyramid orchids

0:32:070:32:13

popped up, and they've gradually increased over the years, so we've got quite a healthy population.

0:32:130:32:18

And what about wildlife in here?

0:32:180:32:20

When you've got this kind of diversity and all these plants, how much wildlife do you get here?

0:32:200:32:25

Well, wild flowers are very nectar-rich, so they encourage a lot

0:32:250:32:27

of insects, a lot of butterflies - we might see a few today.

0:32:270:32:31

Moths, and those in turn attract birds, and

0:32:310:32:36

we also have a lot of small mammals that live amongst the grass -

0:32:360:32:39

voles, mice, and then you get the barn owls hunting them.

0:32:390:32:43

And the long grass also is home to grass snakes, frogs, a few toads.

0:32:430:32:49

-So it's a rich ecosystem.

-It certainly is.

0:32:490:32:52

It's normally very quiet, but there is a team over there who seem to be very industrious.

0:32:520:32:57

That's my team of volunteers that help manage the grassland!

0:32:570:32:59

Shall we go and say hello?

0:32:590:33:01

It's estimated that around 98% of flower-rich grasslands

0:33:050:33:09

like here at Hethel have now vanished,

0:33:090:33:12

making these places so important to protect and nurture.

0:33:120:33:16

The volunteers use traditional tools like scythes and pitchforks

0:33:160:33:19

to maintain the land, rather than harmful weedkillers, which could destroy it.

0:33:190:33:24

What is going on here?

0:33:240:33:27

This part of the churchyard, there's a lot of nettles.

0:33:270:33:31

And of course, nettles have a lot of benefits to wildlife,

0:33:310:33:34

particularly butterflies, use them for laying their eggs on.

0:33:340:33:37

But they would invade the entire churchyard if allowed to get away with it.

0:33:370:33:41

Plus, nettles will come back and they'll be ready for the next wave of butterflies.

0:33:410:33:47

Is this a once-a-year job?

0:33:470:33:49

Yes, we're cutting the nettles now,

0:33:490:33:53

just this section, but the whole of the churchyard gets cut once a year, at the end of summer.

0:33:530:33:58

Rural churchyards are one of the few areas of land left untouched and uncultivated.

0:34:000:34:05

Even in cities and towns, these peaceful places are a refuge for our precious wildlife.

0:34:050:34:11

It's vital we cherish these habitats

0:34:110:34:13

and encourage the species found in them.

0:34:130:34:16

I'll be heading up to the north Norfolk coastline next, which is where Chris Packham spent some time

0:34:160:34:22

appreciating the amazing wildlife.

0:34:220:34:25

This coast is incredibly rich in reserves and resources -

0:34:260:34:29

there's so much to see and do.

0:34:290:34:32

I'm starting at Snettisham, and I'm starting early.

0:34:320:34:34

To get the best out of this place, it all comes down to timing -

0:34:340:34:37

the time of the moon's cycle, the tide and time of day.

0:34:370:34:40

Ideally, full moon - the biggest tide - and get here before it gets light.

0:34:400:34:45

There's a great mass of wading birds out there, quite a few oystercatcher,

0:34:490:34:53

but all of those small grey ones are red knot.

0:34:530:34:57

They're not red at the moment because they're in winter plumage, and they're knot with a K,

0:34:570:35:03

named after King Canute, because they share a habit.

0:35:030:35:06

Canute was trying to prove he was mortal by proving

0:35:060:35:09

that he couldn't order back the tide when it lapped over his feet.

0:35:090:35:13

And that's what these birds are going to do.

0:35:130:35:17

These knot breed in Arctic Canada and Greenland, flying almost 3,000 miles

0:35:190:35:25

in early autumn for the safe roost and plentiful food found in The Wash.

0:35:250:35:30

And they'll feed until they're forced off by the highest tide.

0:35:300:35:34

Ho-ha!

0:35:420:35:44

Superb, absolutely superb.

0:35:440:35:46

Oh, look, another lot coming in here.

0:35:460:35:49

It's fantastic when they all sort of cohese together, just like that, and the whole thing swerves around.

0:35:520:35:59

Look at it! It pulls apart then comes back together, it's like an avian lava lamp in the sky.

0:35:590:36:04

The birds slice their way across the shingle and find their way to the lagoons behind the beach.

0:36:120:36:18

And I've got to tell you, there's a real treat in store here later.

0:36:180:36:22

We're about to witness an astonishing spectacle.

0:36:280:36:31

This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

0:36:310:36:34

Remember, the knot are in the lagoon behind the beach, waiting to fly back to the marshes.

0:36:340:36:41

Look at the movement - even when they're on the ground, you get these waves of birds sweeping

0:36:410:36:46

across, and they seem to be a little bit agitated by the oystercatcher.

0:36:460:36:50

Every now and again, one walks through them,

0:36:500:36:52

just to be belligerent, by the looks of it, and all the knot part and swirl about around it.

0:36:520:36:58

Listen to the sound -

0:37:000:37:02

that constant sort of bubbling background call.

0:37:040:37:07

One or two of the knot -

0:37:080:37:10

can't see one now, I saw one a moment ago, on the ground -

0:37:100:37:14

it was still a little bit red, with its summer plumage. Oh, there's one there, look,

0:37:140:37:20

that one facing us.

0:37:200:37:22

It does look as if they're all going to go at any second.

0:37:240:37:28

60,000 knot, all taking off in one long stream of flapping wings.

0:37:380:37:44

This is a survival manoeuvre - there's safety in numbers.

0:37:440:37:48

But ask yourself, does it really matter why they do it?

0:37:480:37:51

I think it's just enough we can enjoy the display - and what a display.

0:37:510:37:56

What a show!

0:37:560:37:58

Ho-ho-ho!

0:38:060:38:08

Look at that.

0:38:130:38:14

Oh, my goodness me.

0:38:190:38:21

Listen to the sound!

0:38:270:38:29

It's like waves breaking over a bouldery beach.

0:38:290:38:32

Look at that great arc of birds moving around.

0:38:320:38:36

Honestly!

0:38:360:38:37

Look at that!

0:38:420:38:44

Ho!

0:38:440:38:45

That is madness - absolutely fantastic.

0:38:480:38:51

This is ornithological Nirvana.

0:38:510:38:54

Oh!

0:38:580:39:00

I tell you something - people travel all over the world, they go to the Serengeti to see

0:39:000:39:05

a load of old wildebeest and zebras

0:39:050:39:08

tramping across the grass. Forget it!

0:39:080:39:11

Come and see this of a morning.

0:39:110:39:13

Incredible - definitely a must-see moment for wildlife lovers.

0:39:150:39:20

With Hethel church in the distance, I've made my way to Morston

0:39:200:39:22

on the north Norfolk coastline, in search of some much bigger wildlife.

0:39:220:39:28

Well, I'm heading out from Morston quay.

0:39:290:39:32

400 years ago, this used to be a major Norfolk port.

0:39:320:39:36

Today, while it's still busy, it's only really used for small fishing vessels, leisure craft,

0:39:360:39:42

and of course, the regular seal-watching trips.

0:39:420:39:45

Tourist boats regularly head out from here to a large colony of seals

0:39:480:39:52

living on Blakeney Point, and they are incredibly popular.

0:39:520:39:55

Seal-watching is big business around here, and there are many companies

0:39:550:40:00

in Morston and nearby Blakeney competing for trade.

0:40:000:40:03

Willie Reynolds is my skipper for the day.

0:40:030:40:07

-Good to see you. How are you?

-Fine, thank you.

0:40:070:40:09

It's clear even before you get on the boat, it's quite a unique area.

0:40:130:40:17

Tell me a bit about the landscape.

0:40:170:40:20

All this part across here is Blakeney Point.

0:40:200:40:23

This is the estuary,

0:40:230:40:25

and this is the south side of the harbour along this side.

0:40:250:40:30

So, how rich is the wildlife here?

0:40:300:40:33

-Loads of birds coming overhead already...

-There's a lot of mammals

0:40:330:40:37

and seabirds come and nest here,

0:40:370:40:40

and rare plants growing out here as well on the point.

0:40:400:40:46

We'll see the seals in a bit, but why are they here?

0:40:460:40:50

Is it the food?

0:40:500:40:51

It's natural habitat and food.

0:40:510:40:54

They like somewhere safe to lay up during the day where there's no danger for them.

0:40:540:40:59

And they feel quite safe here - they can move off the beach

0:40:590:41:02

at any state of the tide, into the safety of the water.

0:41:020:41:06

That's mainly why they come in here.

0:41:060:41:08

-Safety from what, from boats?

-Anything that frightens them.

0:41:080:41:11

The seals spend much of their time on the beach right at the tip

0:41:140:41:18

of Blakeney Point - a great spot

0:41:180:41:20

for visitors to get close up without disturbing them.

0:41:200:41:24

How long have you been coming out here and doing those trips?

0:41:240:41:27

This is year 36.

0:41:270:41:29

Congratulations!

0:41:290:41:32

So there isn't too much you don't know about these seals in the water and on land?

0:41:320:41:35

Well, you can always learn something every day about them, there's always something different they do.

0:41:350:41:41

They're quite intelligent animals, actually.

0:41:410:41:44

How many boats are there that come out and do tours like this?

0:41:440:41:48

There's nine ferry boats and five companies.

0:41:480:41:53

-How busy are they?

-Quite busy when the children are on school holidays!

0:41:530:41:57

The rest of the time, it's fairly normal.

0:41:570:42:00

You need these guys to be here, don't you, to come out and see them?

0:42:000:42:03

That's right, we wouldn't be in business if it wasn't for the seals.

0:42:030:42:07

Am I right that they just disappeared a year or two ago?

0:42:070:42:10

Last year they disappeared, we thought it was a shortage of food,

0:42:100:42:14

they disappeared for two or three months and we were struggling to find them.

0:42:140:42:19

Lack of food was one suggestion.

0:42:210:42:23

Disease was another.

0:42:230:42:25

But the truth is, no-one's really sure why the seals disappeared

0:42:250:42:29

from the point last year.

0:42:290:42:31

But what became very clear to the people of Blakeney was just how much

0:42:310:42:36

they rely on the seals to keep tourists visiting the area.

0:42:360:42:41

They must provide the livelihood, then, for 15-20 different guides, I suppose?

0:42:410:42:46

A lot more than that.

0:42:460:42:48

It's all the people who work behind the scenes in the booking offices,

0:42:480:42:53

and people working on the quay selling the tickets and things

0:42:530:42:57

like that, plus the men who work on the boats as well.

0:42:570:43:01

And it has a knock-on effect with the hotels and the restaurants and the pubs as well.

0:43:010:43:06

People coming here, they've all got to eat or sleep somewhere, so it's quite a big business, actually.

0:43:060:43:13

Tough times, but thankfully, the seals did return for this year's busy season.

0:43:130:43:18

How many different types of seals have we got here?

0:43:190:43:21

The black ones you can see are male grey seals, the bull grey seals.

0:43:210:43:26

The females are the grey ones with the spotty bellies and the beige colour on them.

0:43:260:43:31

-OK.

-And the other ones are common seals,

0:43:310:43:34

they're at the back of the herd,

0:43:340:43:37

there, they've got a mottled back and a shorter nose than the grey seal.

0:43:370:43:41

-The grey has got this long profile, hasn't it?

-That's right, yes.

0:43:410:43:45

They get big, don't they?

0:43:450:43:46

400lb, a grey seal bull weighs, fully grown.

0:43:460:43:51

First and foremost, if someone says to me, Blakeney, I think seals.

0:43:510:43:54

That's right, that's what it's known for.

0:43:540:43:56

And long may that continue, I suppose, if it's providing good business for the area?

0:43:560:44:00

Hopefully, yes!

0:44:000:44:02

Despite the hordes of inquisitive visitors,

0:44:020:44:05

the seals seem to have found a safe home here on Blakeney Point.

0:44:050:44:09

Occasionally, though, some do get into difficulty, but there's always someone on hand

0:44:090:44:15

to help, as Ellie Harrison found out

0:44:150:44:17

when she came to see what happens to orphaned seal pups from this colony.

0:44:170:44:22

The trouble-struck seals end up in the care of the local RSPCA.

0:44:250:44:31

Alison Charles heads up the rescue team.

0:44:310:44:33

-Morning, Alison, how are you?

-I'm fine, thank you, how are you?

0:44:370:44:40

-Good, yeah. It's a bit chilly, isn't it?

-It's rather cold this morning.

0:44:400:44:43

So, how have the seals ended up here in your sanctuary?

0:44:430:44:46

A lot of them are orphaned pups, they've been split up from their mum

0:44:460:44:49

for one reason or another, and they've ended up needing some help.

0:44:490:44:53

Why did they get separated from their mothers?

0:44:530:44:55

We get two species in here, we get the commons and the greys.

0:44:550:44:58

The commons have their pups in the summer, they can get split up

0:44:580:45:01

by the tide the currents,

0:45:010:45:02

and just because they're not strong enough to stay with their mum.

0:45:020:45:05

The greys, we had a huge storm up in the north-east and Scotland,

0:45:050:45:08

during the winter, and we've had a lot in since then, and we're absolutely packed.

0:45:080:45:13

How many are you hoping to release today?

0:45:130:45:16

We hope we're going to have five.

0:45:160:45:17

We need to weigh them, so we're going to drain the pool,

0:45:170:45:19

-then get into the bottom of the pool and you can help me weigh them.

-OK!

0:45:190:45:24

It's going to take an hour for the pool to drain, but there are plenty of other crucial jobs for us to do.

0:45:260:45:30

Top of the list is lunch,

0:45:300:45:33

and Alison uses all sorts of tricks

0:45:330:45:36

to make feeding time more interesting.

0:45:360:45:39

Why is their fish in a crate?

0:45:390:45:41

It looks a bit bizarre...

0:45:410:45:43

It's a fantastic way of keeping them keen.

0:45:430:45:45

It helps them to forage while they're in here, and

0:45:450:45:48

we want them to be ready for going out into the harsh old environment.

0:45:480:45:51

I'm interested to see how this will work.

0:45:510:45:54

OK, let's go.

0:45:540:45:55

-Yes, watch it...

-He got a freebie.

0:45:550:45:58

-He did.

-Because of my inefficiency.

0:45:580:46:00

No, it's OK, it's good, he's keen.

0:46:000:46:02

Give it a little push.

0:46:020:46:04

-It's quite a challenge, really, getting the fish out of that.

-Yeah.

0:46:090:46:14

That must be seal for thank you.

0:46:140:46:17

We're going to leave these seals alone now, because the aim is to keep

0:46:170:46:20

them as wild as possible, and of course return them to the wild.

0:46:200:46:23

We're going back to the pool that's been drained to see if today's seals are ready for release.

0:46:230:46:28

At this time of year, Alison and her team release the seals

0:46:280:46:32

every couple of weeks, as more and more reach their target weight.

0:46:320:46:36

Wow, Barcelona, you're a heavy, heavy pup.

0:46:360:46:39

Nice and feisty.

0:46:420:46:45

The staff are very, very fit here, as you can imagine! I'm warming up a treat here!

0:46:450:46:49

That's all the seals in the van.

0:46:560:46:58

All we've got to do now is get them to the release site.

0:46:580:47:01

We're not releasing them into the sea, but into the River Nene,

0:47:040:47:06

which flows out into The Wash, Britain's biggest estuary.

0:47:060:47:10

Alison makes sure she releases the seals at high tide, so they get swept

0:47:190:47:23

down the river and straight into The Wash.

0:47:230:47:26

-Seriously thick mud there.

-There we go.

0:47:260:47:29

No emotion, just done your job...

0:47:310:47:33

No, job complete,

0:47:330:47:35

really good work. All the team have done a good job, and it's fantastic they're back out there.

0:47:350:47:39

Yeah. It's really great to see.

0:47:390:47:42

The seals will spend the next year learning about their new home,

0:47:510:47:54

finding out where's good for fishing,

0:47:540:47:57

before they settle down into a more sedentary adults lifestyle.

0:47:570:48:00

It's great that the RSPCA are successful in their mission to help out the seals.

0:48:010:48:06

I've moved west along the coast from Morston,

0:48:060:48:09

and just arrived in Hunstanton, as dusk fast approaches.

0:48:090:48:12

Tonight, hopefully, I'm going to get a good night's sleep in a proper bed, which is just as well,

0:48:120:48:17

because I'm getting up very early in the morning.

0:48:170:48:20

I'm going in search of even more wildlife,

0:48:200:48:22

but this time, it's a sort that you can't normally see during daylight.

0:48:220:48:27

Although 60 species of butterfly are regularly seen in the UK,

0:48:270:48:32

our 2,500 species of moths are far more elusive.

0:48:320:48:36

That's because the majority only ever come out at night.

0:48:360:48:39

So, to get a closer look at some of these nocturnal creatures, I'm here to help Gary Hibberd

0:48:390:48:44

from the Norfolk Wildlife Trust set up a light box trap.

0:48:440:48:48

The moths are attracted to the bright light,

0:48:480:48:50

then find themselves a place to sit in amongst

0:48:500:48:54

the egg boxes, and the key is that once they've been observed,

0:48:540:48:57

they can be released unharmed.

0:48:570:49:00

In the morning, we'll find out exactly what we've caught.

0:49:000:49:03

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

0:49:030:49:06

.

0:50:500:50:57

I began my journey through Norfolk near the village of Skeyton,

0:51:060:51:10

where I spent a peaceful night

0:51:100:51:11

in a bush craft shelter I built from twigs and reeds.

0:51:110:51:15

From there I headed south to Hethel,

0:51:150:51:17

a tiny village with a very important churchyard, where

0:51:170:51:20

I saw the multitude of wildlife that live in that precious habitat.

0:51:200:51:26

Then I headed north to Morston to sail out to see the seals at Blakey Point.

0:51:260:51:30

And now I've reached my final destination here on the sand dunes

0:51:300:51:33

by Hunstanton, where I'm hoping for a close-up look at some moths.

0:51:330:51:38

So, as instructed by Gary, I'm up bright and early to meet him again at the moth trap

0:51:400:51:44

to see what we can find - and hopefully it's been a busy night.

0:51:440:51:49

Gary Hibberd has been monitoring the moths here for many years,

0:51:490:51:52

and can impressively identify most of the species.

0:51:520:51:55

I'm interested to find out more about this often-overlooked creature.

0:51:550:51:59

What are we expecting, Gary, what's your hunch?

0:51:590:52:02

Well, we only had a little bit of rain this morning and it was a

0:52:020:52:05

cloudy night, which bodes quite well, it kept the temperatures up.

0:52:050:52:11

And we have got a few moths in the trap.

0:52:110:52:14

These flowers here, that's why we put the trap here,

0:52:140:52:17

-because the moths feed on that?

-Yes, they nectar on the campion, yes.

0:52:170:52:21

It's funny, that, I don't really think of moths for nectar.

0:52:210:52:24

I always think of bees cross-pollinating things, but moths do it as well?

0:52:240:52:28

Lots of moth species do it.

0:52:280:52:30

There's 2,500 species of moth in this country, and

0:52:300:52:35

this site probably has somewhere around 600 species,

0:52:350:52:39

but a lot more species of those than there are bees.

0:52:390:52:44

-Staggering numbers.

-Yeah.

0:52:440:52:46

Can we have a closer look at some of these? What have we got in here?

0:52:460:52:50

Is he going to stay where he is as we gently lift the Perspex off?

0:52:500:52:54

-He will.

-They will, because this is what they rely on for survival.

0:52:540:52:58

It's daytime now, so they're really relying on keeping still,

0:52:580:53:02

apart from these day flies.

0:53:020:53:05

This one here will probably fly away.

0:53:050:53:08

What's that, it's got red and black and...

0:53:080:53:10

This is a cinnabar moth, and it's nice and fresh, recently hatched.

0:53:100:53:15

Sorry to ask an obvious question,

0:53:150:53:18

but a daytime moth is different to a butterfly, how?

0:53:180:53:21

Well, butterflies have knobbed antennae.

0:53:210:53:26

If you look at that cinnabar,

0:53:260:53:28

it's just fine, thin antennae, with no knob on the tip.

0:53:280:53:32

This one's shimmering its wings, which suggests it's about to fly.

0:53:320:53:36

This was probably what was nectaring on the campion last night.

0:53:360:53:40

It's a Silver Y.

0:53:400:53:42

You can see the Y shape on the wing.

0:53:420:53:45

It's a very fine movement, isn't it?

0:53:450:53:47

Yes. It's usually the precursor for flying.

0:53:470:53:51

Like a lot of moth species, there seems to be some of the huge numbers

0:53:510:53:55

that you catch in some of these traps,

0:53:550:53:58

it seems to be happening less and less, unfortunately.

0:53:580:54:01

So you've noticed a change?

0:54:010:54:02

Yes, even in the 15 years I've been moth catching.

0:54:020:54:06

You're certainly not getting the catches this year, but that might

0:54:060:54:09

be something more to do with the weather and the dry spring we've had.

0:54:090:54:14

It's the wide variety of habitat in this area that makes for such a diverse range of moth species here.

0:54:140:54:20

The sea and the sand dunes are just 150 metres away.

0:54:200:54:23

There are also reed beds and grazing marshes nearby, and we're surrounded by woodland.

0:54:230:54:29

Each habitat supports different types of moths.

0:54:290:54:33

Ah, here we go. Now we can talk about this colourful fella.

0:54:340:54:39

Yes. This is a small elephant hawk moth.

0:54:390:54:41

Great mix of colours, isn't it?

0:54:410:54:43

Are these one of the more common species?

0:54:430:54:45

Yes, certainly, of all the hawk moths,

0:54:450:54:48

it's the one that you can see most here.

0:54:480:54:51

-Can we have a look at one over here?

-Yes, sure.

0:54:510:54:54

Most of these think they're on a tree, and they don't look very

0:54:540:54:58

camouflaged, but one here does, and he's perfect for an egg box.

0:54:580:55:02

This is beautiful, this is a nice, coastal moth.

0:55:020:55:08

Most people who do moth catching inland would really

0:55:080:55:12

enjoy coming to catch this.

0:55:120:55:14

So what's this little fella?

0:55:140:55:16

This is a rosy wave.

0:55:160:55:18

It's a species that is generally restricted to the coast.

0:55:180:55:22

You can see the tiny black dots, they're all in the right place.

0:55:220:55:26

Oh, right. This is a really good quality specimen.

0:55:260:55:30

Yes, this is something that's just hatched,

0:55:300:55:33

probably in the last day or two. It's in perfect nick.

0:55:330:55:37

Some of the others keep their wings together in a straight line.

0:55:370:55:41

Yes, waves and emeralds, they tend to have both wings wide open.

0:55:410:55:48

Gary, why do you trap here?

0:55:480:55:49

Well, it is the only way we're actually going to see a sample

0:55:490:55:53

of what moth species we've got on the site.

0:55:530:55:56

The easiest way to do it is by putting a trap on,

0:55:560:56:00

maybe once a week, twice a week,

0:56:000:56:04

and just counting a sample,

0:56:040:56:06

and identifying a sample of what we catch.

0:56:060:56:09

It's been brilliant. What, 15 species, I reckon, we've seen?

0:56:090:56:13

Yes, I would think in total

0:56:130:56:14

there's going to be nearly 20 species in there.

0:56:140:56:17

And the rosy wave I think would be the star moth.

0:56:170:56:19

Still sitting there patiently.

0:56:190:56:22

Yes!

0:56:220:56:24

It would seem that moths are pretty underrated,

0:56:250:56:29

often playing second fiddle to the more appreciated butterfly.

0:56:290:56:32

But after seeing some of those beautiful species, with spectacular colours and patterns,

0:56:320:56:37

it's clear that the only reason we don't know more about them is because many only come out at night!

0:56:370:56:43

I've certainly seen some of Norfolk's fantastic flora and fauna,

0:56:430:56:46

from the waters of the Broads to a very peaceful wildlife habitat.

0:56:460:56:51

So, that concludes my trip round Norfolk.

0:56:510:56:54

Now, I am completely biased on this one, it's my home county,

0:56:540:56:57

so I cannot recommend this place highly enough.

0:56:570:57:00

If you're sitting there watching this on your sofa thinking,

0:57:000:57:03

oh, Norfolk, never been there, now is the time to get up and out.

0:57:030:57:06

Come and experience this beautiful coastline,

0:57:060:57:09

stunning landscape and incredible wildlife for yourself.

0:57:090:57:13

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0:57:260:57:28

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0:57:280:57:30

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