Episode 5 Countryfile Spring Diaries

Across the UK, days are warmer,

brighter and longer.

In the countryside, the air is filled with birdsong,

and the scent of flowers.

Spring has sprung.

It's the time of year when nature wakes up.

And there are new beginnings everywhere you look.

It's a time to plant and sow.

And to get out and enjoy everything

our wonderful countryside has to offer.

All week, while travelling the length and breadth of the UK...

For every one degree temperature rise

flowering advances by five days.

..bringing the very best seasonal stories that matter to you.

Is it time for me and my family to stop feeding ducks?

Bread is not good for birds.

It's junk food for them.

A very warm welcome to the most joyous of seasons.

This is Countryfile Spring Diaries.

Coming up on today's programme:

Keeley will be discovering the incredible benefits

these birds can bring to our old folk.

It gets us out of the house.

Now I virtually know all the residents by name.

It's just changed my life completely.

Paul will be sharing his experience as he reflects on the highs and lows

of a year trying to live the good life.

There is a nest in there.

We have an owl in residence. How exciting.

And I'll be taking a look at the sort of house we could all

be living in in the future.

All this week I've been based here in Devon celebrating the delightful

transformation that springtime brings

to our countryside and our coastline.

We've seen its ancient woodland burst into flower...

..its rolling hills filled with lively lambs...

..and everywhere take on that special hue of green

that you only get in spring.

Now, eggs and chicks are, of course, a key symbol of the season.

But right now some hens are doing more than just laying.

They're helping to tackle loneliness.

Up in the north-east, Keeley is meeting the hens who are having

a miraculous impact

on reducing social isolation amongst our elderly.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

To make our OAPs more chirpy, of course!

I've come to Gateshead to visit HenPower,

a project that's using chickens to boost the health and happiness

of older folk in residential care.

Hello there, gents. How are you doing?

The chickens in this coop have no end of carers.

It's an inspiring scheme which is run by Joss Forester Melville.

Initially we kind of set out about trying to target hard-to-reach

older men. So, historically, older men will stay at home

and won't get engaged in social activity

and it was about finding a meaningful way of bringing men

out into the environment and into communities and getting them to work

with each other.

A lot of the time when you're older I think you kind of

have a lot of responsibility taken away from you.

So this kind of project is really a springboard

to a new style of life for older people,

so, working together collectively,

having a shared responsibility and letting the hens out in the morning

and having arguments about who has fed them and who hasn't fed them.

There's lots and lots of benefits.

So much so that other homes are picking up on it.

We get approached by care settings who want hens with a hen house,

some fencing and literally give them the skills and knowledge

to become hen keepers in later life.

-Has it been a success?

-It's been an amazing success.

It has really revolutionised their lives.

People who were isolated, lonely, didn't socialise and didn't mix

before are now coming out.

They've got opinions, they've got feisty about chickens, you know?

And you can just genuinely see in all of the older people that we work

with that it's really, really been a massive benefit to them.

Alan Richards is one of the hen men at Wood Green.

He's lived here for the past 12 years.

He and his pal, Owen, take care of the chickens.

They have been dubbed the "hensioners".

So are you down here every day then, Alan?

Virtually every day, yes,

mostly of a night-time putting them to bed and making sure they're

reasonably clean and there's water for them for the next morning.

Tell me how this has changed your life.

It gets us out of the house.

Us folk are a lot closer together, especially the men.

A lot of residents just said good morning and that was it, but now,

I know virtually all the residents by name

and some of them are now personal friends.

Before Alan got involved with the hens,

he spent most of his time alone watching telly.

The hens have given him the perfect excuse to get out of

the house and get socialising.

I've made friends with people from four-year-old to 94,

just through the hens.

And the best thing of the lot,

one of the residents has got two granddaughters,

I've got none of the family left, and them two lasses call me Grandad.

That's as good as winning the Lottery, to my way of thinking.

It's just changed my life completely.

87-year-old Owen Turnbull is up at the crack of dawn

to care for the chickens.

I get up at 6.30am at this time of the year,

go and let the bantams out.

I really enjoy it.

Owen lives with his wife who has dementia.

They have been together for 62 years.

The hens, all named after the female residents at Wood Green,

give him a break from the responsibilities of home.

This is Belle coming out.

-This is Belle.

-This is the one that's named after your wife?

-Yes.

-She's beautiful.

They've all got different names.

Pam. She is the last one in of a night-time, Sandra.

And what's Sandra like?

Sandra's lovely. She does all the organisation for the charities.

But what's the chicken like?

THEY LAUGH

She is all right. She is lovely to handle.

There's a Millie somewhere, isn't there? My nan is Millie.

What's Millie like?

-She is making the noise.

-That's Millie making the noise?

Oh, that doesn't surprise me.

-Is your nana noisy then?

-Yeah!

The hens provide Owen with an outlet that's just for him.

How important are the chickens to you?

Oh, they're very important at the present moment, the way Belle is.

You can sit and watch them all day.

I don't know what I'd do without them.

But it's not just the men that have embraced the project.

Ladies like Doreen Realton and Pat Cain have also benefited.

I didn't know anybody here, not a soul.

I came from a different district to live here.

I was asked to come up and see what's happening

and see all the hens, and people were so nice and friendly.

Because people come to see the hens and then you meet people, you know.

Pat and Doreen now regularly take the chickens on HenPower roadshows.

We've had some fun. We've been to Edinburgh, to Belfast, Wales,

-everywhere and everybody.

-Helsinki.

-Helsinki.

-All over.

But they often share their love of hens closer to home

either at other retirement homes or in local schools.

It's lovely going to the schools because they like to talk to you,

the children, and they want to know all about chickens

and whether they lay eggs. It's lovely to go to them

and see how they react to the hens. We take the hens with us.

But today the schoolchildren are paying THEM a visit.

It's a wonderful way to bring older folks and youngsters together.

I really like spending time with the hensioners

because they're really nice and they help you sometimes.

Have they taught you things about the chicks?

Yes, tell us facts about them.

This is such a brilliant idea.

I'm loving it. Are you guys loving it?

CHILDREN: Yes!

Very hengaging!

Sorry(!)

The charity that organises all this feathery fun

is actually an arts charity.

All of these chicken capers are an elaborate way to get the elderly

to engage in creative pursuits.

A bit like art therapy with hens.

Today, the schoolchildren and the Wood Green residents

are making tiles with a local artist.

There's a hive of activity going on here. What is going on?

So HenPower isn't just about keeping chickens,

though the chickens are a catalyst for the creative work.

We like to bring people together,

whether that's children and older people,

whether that's older people and more older people to do something

meaningful so it's about not just staying at home

and looking at your four walls, it's about using your own creativity.

The hens activate, stimulate and inspire the elderly to get arty.

From its humble beginnings,

this idea is now being used in more than 50 care settings

across the country, and has even spread overseas to Holland

and as far afield as Australia.

At a time in life when most people are starting to slow down,

this lot are caring for chickens,

forming new friendships and making masterpieces

and they're creating a wonderful community to live in.

It's amazing what a few hens can do.

Who would have thought that the simple hen could be so uplifting?

So much of our well-being depends on what's around us, and nothing lifts

the spirits quite like being out in the sunshine,

surrounded by the sight and smells of our wild flowers.

Nature's ability to heal has been recognised for centuries,

but do the benefits go beyond simply filling our lungs with fresh air

and putting a spring in our step?

Margherita is on the hunt for the healing power of flowers.

Who doesn't love flowers? They're a...

Oh, thank you!

..they're a beautiful thing to see, and to be given,

and they not only look great at this time of year when our natural flora

is bursting into life, they may actually be good for our health,

but can they really do us good?

Deep in the Herefordshire countryside there's a man

who believes in the restorative properties of British flowers.

Herbalist Julian Barnard has been creating natural flower remedies

for nearly 30 years.

I'm so interested to find out. Why are flowers so good for our health?

Well, in short order it's the healing power of nature.

Dr Bach, who discovered the flower remedies in the UK in the 1930s,

said that our health was related to our emotional and mental state

so he found a variety of different plants which express,

through the way they grow, a quality

that's equivalent to an emotional state.

So the flower links to an emotion?

Absolutely.

Edward Bach was a qualified doctor

who had grown dissatisfied with orthodox medicine.

Giving up his lucrative Harley Street practice,

he tested each plant personally and identified 38 flowers

which he believed could be used to treat different emotional issues.

One of which is the flower of the conker tree,

otherwise known as white chestnut.

This, Dr Bach says, is for when we have obsessive-compulsive thoughts

that go round and round our head,

the complexity of ideas which we cannot just drop and let go of them.

So when we've got a lot going on in our minds, we're juggling, I don't know,

kids, mortgage, work problems,

this is connected to the complexity of the plants?

Absolutely and so, if you see the individual structure of the flower,

it's actually shapeless, it's almost amorphous,

and that's to do with, if you like, dispelling the structured geometry

of thinking that takes hold of our minds.

-What else is in the garden? I'd love to see more.

-Well, let's go.

Another tree with healing properties is the walnut.

Well, this is a remedy when you need protection.

It could be if you go through a divorce or you change your job

and you're in a new situation

and you don't quite know who you are any more.

So it helps you come back to yourself.

And the way it does it, if you touch the leaves,

give them a good squeeze - they won't mind - and smell them.

Oh, it's quite pungent.

Oh, yes. And that protects it because the insects and the animals

stay away from this tree.

They won't come near it because of that smell.

So nature is giving us a chance to protect ourselves,

-perhaps, emotionally.

-Absolutely.

And allow to us to get back on track to where we need to be.

Perfect.

Time for Julian to analyse which plants I might benefit from,

using pictures of the 38 flower remedies.

OK, well I'm drawn to that pink.

That's very vibrant. There's something about that that I like.

Well, that's a very interesting flower.

That's red chestnut.

This is a remedy for people who have a tendency

to project fear and anticipate misfortune for other people.

I'm a worrier. What can I do?

Why not? That's exactly right.

What about this one? This one seems interesting.

That's good. That's beautiful.

That's an olive tree from the Mediterranean

and Dr Bach says this is a remedy for absolute total exhaustion.

With that one, you're dead, absolutely flat, the battery is out.

What woman isn't tired these days?

So that would help give me some spring?

Yes, it's about rejuvenation.

I need to book a holiday.

Definite, yes. That's what that remedy is for.

This all sounds great in theory, but do these remedies actually work?

I'm off to meet dairy farmer Steve Fletcher,

a previously sceptical local who not only used it on his RSI,

but also on his animals.

So Steve tell me, how did you start using flower remedies?

Well, I had a problem with my wrist and I had terrible pins and needles

in both hands and very bad swelling on the right wrist.

About five years ago a friend of mine said

that I should try the cream and just see what happens, and so I did.

I was a bit sceptical, but I tried it and after about a fortnight

the pins and needles almost stopped and after two months

the swelling in my wrists completely went.

Steve was so impressed with the results

he decided to give it a go on the cows

and their cracked and injured teats.

Because the cream is so healing it allows the milk to still flow out of

the udder and that's the most important thing

because then, that udder is allowed to be, to return to normal

and not have any infection.

-So from a sceptic, you have become a bit of a convert?

-I have, yes.

Correct.

But is there scientific basis to all this flower power?

Andrew Tresidder is a GP in Somerset who uses natural remedies

alongside his orthodox treatments.

I work with them because they've helped me greatly

over a number of years

and also family, friends and patients as well.

We learn at medical school about our hardware bodies,

but we don't learn very much about our software beings.

Now, our soul, our software being, is fed by nature,

it's fed by art, it's fed by music

and all these aspects can help us retune when we go out of balance.

To some of us, flower remedies are a new thing,

but prescribing plants has been around for quite a while.

The Egyptians used the healing powers of flowers.

The aboriginals do still, I understand,

and if I was a GP in 1945, 75% of my prescriptions

would actually be herbal prescriptions from plants.

Well, if even medical professionals think there's something in it,

I'm prepared, tentatively, to give it a go.

So how do you get from beautiful blooms to usable flower remedies?

Herbalists like Julian know exactly what's safe to pick

and have two different ways of preparing them.

One is the boiling method, where we've gathered the flowers before

and we pour some water in from spring water

and we put it on to boil for 30 minutes.

And this is the sun method.

So if you like to finish that,

just pick off the flowers and put the last ones

on the surface of the water.

The sun method requires a perfectly clear day

and not a cloud in the sky.

The flowers are left to float in spring water for up to three hours.

Both preparations are then filtered and then a few drops of brandy added

to act as a preservative.

So all the goodness of the flowers is what you're getting down

-into a pure essence.

-Absolutely.

Absolutely, and that, hopefully, has got a message

which is helpful to the individual person.

So this is the dosage bottle that I prepared for you

with the choice of your remedies.

That's an olive and red chestnut and we recommend

you take four drops four times a day.

So this little bit of nature should put a spring into my spring?

-Absolutely, a spring into your step.

-Thank you so much. That's great.

-It's been a pleasure. It's been great to see you.

-Thank you.

Well, I reckon it's worth a try.

And, I mean, who can argue with the power of nature?

Well, that's one way of capturing spring.

Better still, experience it for yourself.

This is a great time of year to get out of the countryside

and go for a really good walk.

So here are some of our top Countryfile tips

of places to go walking this season.

We're a nation of ramblers with

literally thousands of walks

all across the UK.

Some are long-distance, others no more than a stroll in the park.

If you're in England,

anywhere between Derbyshire and the Scottish Borders

why not head out to the wild and windswept moors on the Pennine Way?

For years this area has been a Mecca for hikers

who travel here from far and wide

to take on one of the most challenging walks in the world.

Or further south, how about soaking up the endless patchwork views

along the South Downs Way?

100 miles from Eastbourne to Winchester.

It's very popular with cyclists, with horse riders

and people who want to go on a very long walk.

Over to the West, Northern Ireland offers one of my favourites,

the Causeway Coast, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

A two-day hike along the Causeway Coast path

taking in the Unesco-protected Giant's Causeway,

huge basalt, volcanic pillars that stretch from clifftop

down to the sea.

As islanders, we're drawn to our coast and in Wales,

there's over 870 miles of stunning coastal path to choose from.

Walking is a wonder drug. The Victorians were right.

The smell of the sea air in walking can reduce all types of illnesses.

And even if you're stuck in the city,

there are places to get out to.

In Edinburgh, you'll find a fabulous hill walk

right in the heart of the city.

I'm up on Arthur's Seat, the highest point in Edinburgh,

and, let me tell you, the views from up here are incredible.

As for me, well I'm happy to be walking on the spectacular wild side

here in North Devon, where recently they have been restoring

some much-loved long-distance paths.

Here in the stunning setting of Lynmouth is where four major walks

converge, including England's longest waymarked footpath,

the 630-mile South West Coastal Path.

I'm here to meet Dan Barnet, the man in charge of looking after

these trails in Exmoor National Park.

Greetings to you. What a glorious day for a walk.

Absolutely. You really brought the weather with you.

And you need a head for heights, certainly in this bit.

You do. You do. And it's what makes it quite a challenging path to look

after at times, as well.

You get a lot of cliff falls and things like that,

the path falling away. In the case of the South West Coast Path,

there's actually millions of people who use it every year.

So it does create a bit of damage and wear and tear.

So there is plenty of work to be done to look after them.

And you try to make sure that they stay as natural as possible.

Absolutely, yes. It's important that we maintain the character

of the path, so we try and use local materials and natural materials

at all times, and really using techniques

that have been used for hundreds and thousands of years.

And as well as the south-western coastal path there are some other

really good long-distance trails across Exmoor, aren't there?

There are, there absolutely are.

We've got the Two Moors Way, which starts over on Dartmoor

and comes down here. We've also got the Coleridge Way

which starts in the Quantock Hills at Nether Stowey

and we've also got the Tarka Trail as well.

Tarka The Otter, Henry Williamson's famous story.

I didn't realise there were other romantic poets

interested in this place.

What exactly then is the connection between romantic poets,

like Samuel Coleridge, and this place?

Samuel Coleridge himself lived not too far away on the Quantock Hills

and he used to enjoy walking on the Quantock Hills,

Exmoor National Park, and out as far as here,

as far as Valley of the Rocks.

-Did he write about it?

-There is quite a bit of connection

between some of his most famous works and this area,

you know, Kubla Khan, and The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner,

and in both those poems you can sort of understand the landscapes

that he's describing

have a lot of connections with Exmoor and this area.

200 years on and this area continues to be a great source of inspiration.

It's even triggered agricultural mechanic Richard Graham

to develop a new skill in sculpting.

-Hello, Richard.

-Hi.

What a great workshop you've got here.

What a lovely spot to have it in.

-It's amazing, isn't it?

-Now, what got you into sculpture?

Welding was my first passion, really.

Farm machinery, tractors, all that kind of work

and then here, looking out the window,

the trees, and I just thought I'd start making a tree one day.

His first wire tree certainly started something.

Now Richard spends more time on his sculptures

than he does on fixing broken farm machinery.

That would be good for what hanging rings on, or...?

Yes, car keys, jewellery, rings.

What about this one here? This is quite something.

Yes. This is a bit of an experiment I've got going on.

This is all moss which I'm training to grow on the branches.

Oh, right.

So anybody who buys this, they'll have to keep on watering it!

There is a certain level of upkeep.

So, tell me about this big new commission of yours.

The wire man sculpture that I have been making

to mark the Coleridge Way, the Two Moors Way,

the South West Coast Path, and Tarka Trail.

These are the rough, preliminary sketches I did for myself.

Is he more like that one or that one?

-More like this one.

-Has he got a walking stick?

He has got a thumb stick? Yes,

and the other hand is held out so people can shake his hand

as a congratulation on finishing the walks, or starting.

To ensure the walking man can withstand the elements,

Richard has used stainless steel.

The 8ft statue has taken him 12 months to complete.

And have you ever had any commission like this before,

where thousands and thousands of people are going to come

-and have a look at it?

-No, I haven't.

This is the first public sculpture that I've got being unveiled.

So, it's, yeah, nerve-wracking and exciting and, yeah,

everything all at once.

And Richard's statue is going to be revealed to the public later today

in Lynmouth.

And I've been given the honour of unveiling it.

But now, just a short hop south of here on the slopes of Dartmoor

is Buckfastleigh, the centre of Devon's wool trade.

The monks of the abbey here have kept sheep for the past 800 years

and today the same age-old process is used to turn muddy sheepskin

into the softest fleeces, as Anita finds out.

In medieval times, there were 700 weavers in Buckfastleigh.

It was the one-stop shop for all things wool and sheepskin in Devon,

and guess what? It still is.

In the town is Britain's last remaining large sheepskin tannery.

It handles fleeces from local flocks,

like these grey-faced Dartmoors.

Come on. That's it.

They are fantastic looking.

This historic rare breed flock is owned by Paula

and her son, Lewis Steer.

They're in full fleece at the moment.

Right.

They're due for a haircut, then?

Yes, the next three or four weeks we'll probably get the shears out

and we'll shear them all.

The Dartmoors don't just provide wool.

The meat we get back is a nice, succulent, slow-grown meat.

We have the meat back and then we also have the by-product.

-The sheepskin.

-Which is the sheepskin.

As well as the grey faced Dartmoors, Paula and Lewis

keep other rare breeds for their spectacular fleeces, too.

This is the white-faced Dartmoor, and then here

we have the Devon and Cornwall long wool.

It's so tactile and so soft.

There's obviously a marked difference.

Very tight little curls.

-Yes.

-This is a lot shaggier and longer.

More like a clotted cream curl, I'd say.

That would make a great wig.

THEY LAUGH

It takes time and skill to turn a muddy, knotted sheepskin

into a lovely, soft fleece.

This is the Devonia sheepskin tannery, run by Geoff Woods.

So tell me what the process is.

I mean, actually, this one of the cleaner sheepskins we'll get.

But, yeah, We will put it through a series of processes.

It will clean it up.

We'll obviously convert the raw skin into leather.

We'll tan it and, hopefully, it'll end up

as a very attractive sheepskin rug at the end of the day.

Very nice. One that I'll be leaving with?

Unfortunately not. It'll take at least three to four weeks

-to go through the process.

-Why does it take so long, Jeff?

Obviously, a fleece or a sheepskin has two parts to it.

It has the wool, and it has the skin itself.

So we have to treat the two different parts separately

and that's why it's a very complicated and quite long process.

So the sheepskin will go in here and the warm water and a liquid soap

will hopefully get all the dirt and salt out of the sheepskins.

Oh, it is warm, isn't it?

It's a nice, big lovely bath for the sheepskin to go in.

You know what? It could do with a wash because it absolutely reeks.

-Yes, it does.

-In she goes.

Once the wool's washed,

the skin of the fleece needs treating just like any other hide.

This is looking at the leather.

-We're turning it from its raw state, so the raw sheepskin...

-Yes.

-..and we're turning it into leather.

-Let's see how that happens.

What do you put into the river water?

We add some salt. That's the first stage of the process.

It's sort of a pickling process.

Yeah, pretty much. Just like a pickled egg.

The skins take five days to cure in this chemical and salt bath.

Cleverly, it doesn't damage the wool.

It really does feel as though we've stepped back in time.

There's something really satisfying about doing something that feels

really ancient. There's nothing modern.

There is nothing newfangled.

This is how it's been done for 200 years.

Last stop on the ground floor is this massive drier,

handling dozens of fleeces at a time.

Right.

And in it goes.

The top floors of the factory are where the washed,

tanned and dried sheepskins receive their final TLC.

This machine is called an ironing machine, but it acts like a comb.

It's a hair straightener.

That's what it's doing. That is so soft and lovely.

Look at the difference.

That's incredible.

So here, it's matted and a bit knotted,

and that is soft and smooth.

How wonderful to experience this age-old process still being done

in a way it's always been done,

and I suppose this is where I should give you a thoughtful conclusion

about sheepskins. Well, actually all I want to do is...

SHE GIGGLES

It's so soft and lovely!

Well, it's good to see such an old tradition still thriving

and know that nothing goes to waste.

Now, for many of us there's a special place

that we'd love to call home,

but for millions of Brits, the idea of that affordable,

dream home is likely to remain out of reach.

But in Pembrokeshire there's a unique project

which could have a solution. Jules now investigates.

Back in the 1950s,

the Government set out to build 300,000 new homes a year

to meet post-war demand.

Six decades on,

though there are 15 million more of us living in the UK,

we're building less than half that number of houses each year.

That's left 1.4 million people stuck on housing waiting lists

and millions more with no hope of owning their own home.

But a small team here in Wales have been pioneering a project that they

hope will help change the way we think about housing forever.

Last summer Countryfile visited the Ty Solar Housing project

in the village of Glanrhyd in Pembrokeshire.

At that point the developers were mid-way through a project

to build six solar houses.

Nine months on and the homes are almost finished

and the first tenants are moving in.

I want to see for myself what makes this project so unique.

DOORBELL RINGS LOUDLY

Oh, well, the doorbell works!

The development is the brainchild of Glen Peters.

So, Glen what gave you the idea? Because it's not a small one, is it?

Well, I read this energy report about energy poverty, actually,

in housing and discovered that 40% of people in social housing

were having to make a choice between food on the table and energy,

and I thought, this is crazy.

So how did you go about coming up with the solution?

Well, we were producing tonnes of energy on our solar farm

and we thought, well, surely it shouldn't be difficult

to produce lots of energy, and two guys came to talk to me,

an architect and a carpenter, and we got together, almost like a creative

hot house, and said let's create a prototype.

The houses are largely heated by something called passive solar.

It means that the big south-facing windows trap the heat of the sun,

a bit like a greenhouse.

Most of the rest of the energy comes from solar panels on the roof and

properties are insulated with 11 inch-thick walls.

They're made in a factory just a few minutes away.

This is a cross-section of one of the walls.

I tell you what, it's really solid, isn't it?

It is all locally sourced, within 25 miles of here.

So here we have larch. That's come from the Gwaun Valley.

This larch was being burned in power station to make energy

-for inefficient houses.

-Yes.

Now we're use that larch to make highly efficient houses.

And this is your insulation. What is that made of?

It's probably the newspapers that you've been reading all of 2016.

This is recycled newsprint.

We looked at sheep's wool.

We looked at glass insulation, and this is the best thing

we could actually come up with. What actually happens,

you've got this solid mass of paper there, which actually provides

something called thermal mass,

so as the house warms up, it actually retains heat.

This has been actually treated with caustic soda

so it's completely fire-retardant.

We're trying to show that there is an alternative way

rather than bricks and mortar.

These efficient homes use just 12% of the energy

of a conventional house, and most of it is generated within the property.

So to get a picture of day-to-day life in an ecohouse

I'm meeting one of the new residents, Tessa Hope.

The idea of living more or less bill-free has got to be attractive,

-surely?

-Yeah, it's great.

We haven't had a bill, as yet.

There aren't any times that we can't turn on the appliances

apart from the night and for me, personally,

I really like the fact that we've got the solar panels

and we're connected to the elements.

We know if there's a run of cloudy days then we can tell,

because the temperature in our water dips, so we're very happy

when it's sunny and we can have hot showers all week!

But it doesn't stop you having hot showers,

you just have to pay with them with a little bit of a top-up?

Yes, and that bit extra doesn't seem to be very much.

Last month we turned on the hot water twice

and I have been assured by the builder that that costs us

a grand total of 45 pence.

-45p?

-Yes. So, not breaking the bank.

You're not breaking the bank!

And if you weren't renting, would you buy this?

Potentially.

I mean, I'd like to see what it's going to be like

when it turns into a bit more a community, so we'll see.

There is no getting away from the fact that we have a real crisis

when it comes to genuinely affordable rural housing.

Can wooden homes powered by solar panels cure it?

Well, probably not.

But it would be nice to think that they are, at least,

part of the solution.

80% of people in the UK live in urban areas,

so it's no surprise that, for many, there is a long-held dream

to escape to the country and live off the land.

On their small holding in Wiltshire,

Paul and his family have done just that.

But one year on, is it living up to the fantasy?

It was spring time last year that we embarked on our self-sufficiency

adventure. But I can't believe how far we've come

in such a short space of time.

The big question is, has it all been worth it?

One of the best things about working on the land is how much we have been

able to do together as a family.

Look at those beauties, Meredith.

Well, look, that's another strawberry plant.

That's our first quail egg, Dilley.

In 20 years' time, you can look back and say we planted those out with

daddy. Our honey, when we do get some, should taste like this.

Go on, then, let's try it.

-Drink it.

-Drink it!

It's been hard graft at times

and we've certainly learnt by our mistakes.

Our biggest mistake was building the quail pen too low, and too small.

So I built a new one and it's made life a lot easier.

It's much quicker to muck out and we don't end up with backache

from having to stoop every time we collect the eggs.

The birds are much happier, too, and happier birds should mean more eggs!

As you can see, the eggs are really small and they tend to camouflage

themselves with the sawdust floor, so you've got to be careful

what you're treading on, but we've now realised

we don't produce enough eggs, so if we double up the amount of birds

we've got because we have a spare room here,

another aviary, look, all free, ready for some residents.

If we get some more quails in there and double up our production,

then we can supply a farm shop as well as the local deli in Devizes.

Then we become more self-sufficient and these guys

definitely pay for themselves.

One of the things that attracted us to this area is this beautiful

woodland with its mature trees and, with the help of the Woodland Trust,

I've learnt how to care for them,

but also how to nurture brand-new seeds and saplings.

So we've planted out 100 trees here, extending the existing woodland,

echoing what's going on out there with beech trees,

oak trees and adding a splash of colour, the odd cherry blossom.

It's important for the next generation.

My son helped me plant all of these and, of course,

it's just brilliant for the planet and while we were at it,

we planted up 1,000 hedgerow trees making stock fencing

for a wildlife corridor so while life can actually access

the woodland and get all the way down

to the willow trees on the canal.

There's one creature I'm hoping has already taken up residence

in my woods.

Last autumn, under expert guidance,

I turned my hand to making a home for some of our feathered friends.

Look at that!

Perfect. That's great. So you've got a nice, clear hole for the owls

to get in and a nice little ledge as well,

so when the owlets are learning to fly

they can come out and have a look and practise flying.

This is the first time that I've come to inspect it.

I'm not feeling that optimistic

because we were told it might take two years

before we get our first owl resident, but you have to check.

So, it could be exciting, you never know.

Fingers crossed.

The moment of truth!

There's a nest.

There is a nest in there.

I can't believe it. We have an owl in residence.

I don't know what sort of owl,

but it's full of twigs and feathers and bits of moss.

How exciting. Right, let's leave it alone.

For me, one of the best moments of last year

has to be the arrival of our Wiltshire longhorn sheep

from local breeder, Adrian Andrews.

In they go. Oh, look at this, Dil.

-That wasn't too bad, was it?

-No.

I have been feeling rather nervous for the last few weeks

and now they're here, I feel totally relaxed.

Well, they look very, very settled.

That's brilliant, isn't it?

I absolutely loved watching them settle in and since then

they have been the perfect means of keeping the grass down.

So much so, we decided to have more and last autumn,

we enlisted the services of one of Adrian's rams, with great success.

You've probably noticed they're missing.

This is the field they normally graze in.

Well, they are in safe hands.

They're back with Adrian, who is looking after them

during the lambing season, and I cannot wait to get them back!

I mean, look how long the grass is!

Last August our colony of bees got so big

the queen bee took off, taking thousands of worker bees with her.

But she did leave eggs in some queen cells

so with the help of Liz, our bee mentor,

we've managed to select a new queen and rebuild the colony.

-Hi, Liz.

-Paul. Hi, Charlotte.

-Hi again, are you all right?

-Yes.

Thanks for helping us out on our weekly inspection.

Yes, let's go and see what ladies are up to.

Today Liz is back.

She's here to inspect the hive for crowding

and give it an overall spring health check.

We're going to take the roof off very, very gently.

Let's have a look what's happening.

Last week, you just had the wax foundation in,

the bees hadn't done anything to it and if we just have a little look,

can you see the nectar in there?

-Yes.

-Wow.

-Yes, I can.

So that's the honey, but it's not ready to have yet

because it has not been capped over with wax.

But Liz has spotted a problem.

What's that that you can see there?

Oh gosh, we've got a little bit of Varroa, which is a mite.

The Varroa is quite an unpleasant thing.

That's the first time I have ever seen that.

The Varroa mite is a tiny parasite that sucks blood from the adults and

the developing brood, bringing disease.

It has been responsible for the collapse of honeybee colonies

across the UK.

We are going to be thinking about how we can treat the Varroa

and get the Varroa out of your hive.

I can see eggs on that frame.

-Would you...?

-Yeah, there.

Have you got them? Fantastic.

They are so tiny, aren't they?

So if we see eggs we know that the queen has been on there

in the last few days.

They're not the happiest ladies today.

I'm getting a bit uncomfortable.

Well, that got a bit much for me.

I know you're going back in a moment to inspect further, but so far,

-so good?

-Yes, the colony is building up really well.

There is honey on the hive.

You said we could get honey later on this spring, which is incredible.

-We didn't think that, did we?

-That's so good.

-We'll be extracting.

-I wonder what it's going to taste like?

Hopefully a florally scent because of the lime trees, maybe.

It should be the best honey you've ever tasted

because it will be your own, and your first.

It's worthwhile.

I'm really proud of what we've achieved this year as a family.

We've taken on a lot and we've thoroughly enjoyed it.

We've learnt new things as well, but we've also made mistakes,

but I think we're now well on the way to being more self-sufficient.

Well, we have had a lovely week here in North Devon

and now for the big moment

when we unveil the statue of the walker.

Richard, come on in.

Right, you will be shaking that hand in a moment!

So, I'll ask the mayor, if you don't mind, to pull the strings.

I'll pull this one, shall I?

And hopefully, all being well, the walker will now be unveiled.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

What do we think of it?

CHEERING

It's fantastic, isn't it?

And after you, mayor.

And that brings us to the end of our Countryfile Spring Diaries,

but please join us again in three months' time

when we celebrate summer. Until then, goodbye.