0:00:04 > 0:00:07Britain has some of the finest gardens anywhere in the world.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11For me, it's about getting in amongst the wonderful plants
0:00:11 > 0:00:13that flourish in this country
0:00:13 > 0:00:17and sharing the passion of the people who tend them.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20However, there is another way to enjoy a garden.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27And that's to get up above it.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31I love ballooning,
0:00:31 > 0:00:35because you get to see the world below in a whole new light.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40From up here, you get a real sense of how the garden sits
0:00:40 > 0:00:44in the landscape, how the terrain and the climate has shaped it.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49And I want you to share that experience with me.
0:01:11 > 0:01:16I'm above Norfolk today, and Noel Coward said, "It was flat."
0:01:16 > 0:01:20And he was right, as flat as a flipping pancake.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22But there's more to this county than that.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32Norfolk. It rolls on for miles.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35One of the ancient counties of East Anglia,
0:01:35 > 0:01:38with a rich Anglo-Saxon history.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46A tapestry of fields and spires, old and new.
0:01:48 > 0:01:53A man-made landscape, where you can attempt to grow anything.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55I don't want either of you two to throw a wobbly.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58- There's a reason.- I hope there is, cos I've got two strange men
0:01:58 > 0:02:00digging a hole in my garden.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06A fertile county, where everyone can have a go...
0:02:06 > 0:02:09If anybody gets an opportunity to form a community garden,
0:02:09 > 0:02:11they should grab it with both hands because I think it'll
0:02:11 > 0:02:14probably restore their sort of faith in human nature.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22..and where imagination and innovation have forged
0:02:22 > 0:02:26fashions in British gardening that are here to last.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28Alan Bloom took conventional horticulture
0:02:28 > 0:02:33and blew it apart with the creation of island beds.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39Norfolk is all about our ability to mould the landscape to fit our ends.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44And it's all laid out like a picnic blanket below me.
0:02:44 > 0:02:50Vast horizons, massive skyscapes and despite the fact there's all
0:02:50 > 0:02:55that water down there, this is one of the driest and sunniest counties
0:02:55 > 0:02:59in the country, and that makes for some very exciting gardens.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08Invaded, defended and invaded again. This is Norfolk.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10The land of Boadicea, where Vikings
0:03:10 > 0:03:13and Danes fought for the right to rule the Anglo-Saxons,
0:03:13 > 0:03:15where King Canute held back the waves
0:03:15 > 0:03:18and where the RAF held off the Luftwaffe.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23And it's home to one of my favourite gardens,
0:03:23 > 0:03:27East Ruston - an oasis of colour in an agricultural landscape.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36The brains behind this exciting and invigorating garden is Alan Gray.
0:03:36 > 0:03:41And from above, you can just see how maverick this character is.
0:03:41 > 0:03:47He's created garden rooms, vast landscapes brought into the garden.
0:03:47 > 0:03:52It exudes passion and I just can't wait to get down there.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00On the north-east coast of Norfolk,
0:04:00 > 0:04:04you'll find these wonderful gardens, just over a mile inland.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10Alan Gray and his partner, Graham, have owned East Ruston
0:04:10 > 0:04:14since 1973 and, over the years, the gardens have grown
0:04:14 > 0:04:17and grown under Alan's guiding hand.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20From two and a half acres, 40 years ago,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23it's grown to 32 glorious acres.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27This is garden-globetrotting without leaving Norfolk.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36East Ruston Vicarage Garden, for me, is like being in the biggest
0:04:36 > 0:04:39horticultural sweet shop that could exist.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44Kaleidoscopic colour in every single garden room.
0:04:44 > 0:04:50Colour, passion, exuberance, and that's what excites me.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00While I'm here, I should really give my mate, Alan, a hand.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05- Hi, Alan, how are you? - Hello, Christine, how are you doing?
0:05:05 > 0:05:06I'm fine. What are you up to here, then?
0:05:06 > 0:05:08I want to make a gap through here
0:05:08 > 0:05:10because I want to put a pathway through here.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12So I've got three plants I want to take out.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15- Do you think you could give us a hand?- I'll give you a hand.- Good.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18- Yeah. Yeah, I mean this is just typical of you, isn't it?- What?
0:05:18 > 0:05:20You grow it, you chop it down, you change it.
0:05:20 > 0:05:21Well, it's refinement, isn't it?
0:05:21 > 0:05:25So I'm going to take a gap through here now this hedge is established.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29- LAUGHING:- Taking a dirty great hole out of the hedge is refinement.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32- No, it's progress.- Come on.- It's progress. Come on, give us a hand.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34- Come on, let's get chopping. - Let's get stuck in.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43I've known Alan for nearly 20 years.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46I've watched him and this garden evolve.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50Together they've grown into a garden and gardener.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57So how did you get into gardening, Alan?
0:05:57 > 0:06:00Well, you know, I had two very indulgent sets of grandparents
0:06:00 > 0:06:04and I was the youngest of all their grandchildren and so,
0:06:04 > 0:06:07aged seven, I had three gardens - one at each grandparents' house and
0:06:07 > 0:06:10one at my parents' house. And it's been with me ever since, really.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18Alan went to London to seek his fortune,
0:06:18 > 0:06:21but knew his roots were in Norfolk and so he and Graham bought
0:06:21 > 0:06:25East Ruston, coming back at weekends to start this gigantic project.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30How experienced were you, at that stage, in gardening?
0:06:30 > 0:06:33Reasonably experienced, I think. I've had no professional training, though.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36- Well that doesn't matter, does it, really?- Well, I don't know.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39I think if you garden from your heart and that's what
0:06:39 > 0:06:42East Ruston is really about, you will create things just naturally.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45- Yes.- Qualifications don't make you a better gardener.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47The way you learn to garden is by gardening.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49Yes. Do you think I passed the test?
0:06:49 > 0:06:52Yeah, I think you could do with a little lesson on using a saw.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54I knew you'd say that.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57But, you know, apart from that, I think you're fine, mate.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00You know, somebody might think this is a bit brutal, mightn't they?
0:07:00 > 0:07:03But you've got to move a garden on all the time, haven't you?
0:07:03 > 0:07:04Well you have got to, actually.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08- Have you got it?- Yeah. - Well done. Brilliant.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10Now you can see the formation of the gap
0:07:10 > 0:07:12and you can actually see where we're going through.
0:07:12 > 0:07:13Yeah, and just go straight through.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16So what makes East Ruston so special to you?
0:07:16 > 0:07:20Well I was born in south Norfolk and Graham's parents
0:07:20 > 0:07:23and grandparents are buried in the local church because
0:07:23 > 0:07:26they actually came from Happisburgh, so that's the family connection.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29- Yeah.- So really, that's why it is special.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32East Ruston has been a labour of love,
0:07:32 > 0:07:35fuelled by a maverick attitude to gardening.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37The soil in the vicarage garden is excellent,
0:07:37 > 0:07:40a sandy loam that will grow almost anything.
0:07:40 > 0:07:46And Alan's done just that with no training, but a huge imagination.
0:07:46 > 0:07:51What often impresses me here at East Ruston, is Alan's desire
0:07:51 > 0:07:57and ability to plant a tropical garden next door to a desert garden.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00This is no traditional English vicarage garden.
0:08:00 > 0:08:05It's a worldwide tour of garden design, in one very large patch.
0:08:05 > 0:08:11A truly spectacular combination of design, planting and sheer bravado.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16There's the Dutch garden, packed full of fuchsias
0:08:16 > 0:08:20and brugmansias, which have matured into trees.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23There's the Diamond Jubilee Garden, a recent addition,
0:08:23 > 0:08:27diamond in shape and just as high carat.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33Alan's designed a Mediterranean garden,
0:08:33 > 0:08:35which you might think shouldn't grow here.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38It's possible because of Norfolk's maritime climate
0:08:38 > 0:08:41and Alan's determination.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45But the wind cuts like a knife across this flat county.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51Understanding the need for high hedges as windbreaks
0:08:51 > 0:08:54early on in his gardening career means that today Alan employs
0:08:54 > 0:09:00one man who takes 11 months a year to clip the hedge shelter belts.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03- The biggest highlight was gaining that sense of enclosure.- Right.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05Which is what we lacked.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08And then that allows you to relate to scale and form
0:09:08 > 0:09:10- and all the rest of it.- Yes.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12But as well as you've got the outer shelter belts,
0:09:12 > 0:09:14you need inner shelter belts as well
0:09:14 > 0:09:17because otherwise the wind comes up and down.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20- Forms an eddy and rips everything up.- Yes, absolutely.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23So you need to hit something else to keep the series of waves going.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26And so lots of those inner shelter belts have now gone
0:09:26 > 0:09:30because they did their job to let this hedge grow that we're now...
0:09:30 > 0:09:33- Now taking out.- ..we're now mutilating.- Yeah, yeah.
0:09:33 > 0:09:34But they allowed this hedge to grow,
0:09:34 > 0:09:38and this hedge is now doing the job that the shelter belts did.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40So that the garden evolves and you've got to keep
0:09:40 > 0:09:44maintaining it and regenerating it and constantly moving it on.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47Nothing is set in aspic in horticulture, is it?
0:09:47 > 0:09:50- Yes, quite.- It's completely evolving, the whole time.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57Time has certainly not stood still since Alan took on East Ruston.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03Before he arrived, the land was an average vicarage garden.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08But under his guardianship, it's expanded hugely.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10Come into the greenhouse, Christine,
0:10:10 > 0:10:14- there's something I think you'll be interested to see.- All right.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17- Here we have an aerial photograph. - Oh, look at this.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Now that was taken some time ago, you see,
0:10:20 > 0:10:24because that is the original parcel of land that came with the vicarage.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27- At the end of this little dogleg here, I had a vegetable garden.- OK.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31And I'd go out to cut the salad or pick some beans, to find
0:10:31 > 0:10:33that they'd gone ugh.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36The problem was, the sprays in those days were much more toxic than
0:10:36 > 0:10:38they were today, so you couldn't eat anything
0:10:38 > 0:10:41and then we sort of spoke to the farmer about it.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44What could we do, and he suggested that we have some extra land
0:10:44 > 0:10:46and I said, "Well, could we have nine acres this side?"
0:10:46 > 0:10:49- He said, "Only if you have the seven acres the other side as well."- OK.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52- "And put a barrier." So that's what we did.- Right.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54Now you see, I find this quite fascinating cos
0:10:54 > 0:10:58I remember it feeling - on the extremities of the garden, you'd
0:10:58 > 0:11:02planted up at that stage - very much like an aerodrome,
0:11:02 > 0:11:07you know, that flatness, that isolation, that vast skyscape.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09- Yes.- Now I can see why.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16A century ago, the fields averaged 15 acres each.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18They were individual smallholdings but,
0:11:18 > 0:11:22as the area became Britain's bread basket, growing wheat
0:11:22 > 0:11:26and barley, and more recently oil seed rape, the fields were combined.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29Bigger fields means more effective farming.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36St Mary's, the 14th-century church next door to Alan's vicarage,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39has stood sentinel throughout the changes to this landscape.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Once the heart of a thriving community,
0:11:42 > 0:11:45the church is the last remnant of the village that surrounded it.
0:11:45 > 0:11:50There are some things that progress just can't budge.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53But while St Mary's stands bare in its solitude,
0:11:53 > 0:11:56next door, Alan's flamboyant gardening technique
0:11:56 > 0:11:59creates a landscape chock-full of plants.
0:11:59 > 0:12:04Do you know what's really striking me from this aerial perspective,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07is just how many flipping plants you're going to need.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09- I mean...- Well yeah, you're absolutely right, do you know.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13- Millions.- Yeah, but do you know, I think what you learn very quickly,
0:12:13 > 0:12:17and you know this as a plantswoman, you learn how to propagate
0:12:17 > 0:12:19plants yourself, because if you don't, you go bankrupt.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Well, propagation is interesting, isn't it? Because, you know,
0:12:22 > 0:12:25so many people will go and buy plants, but one of the great
0:12:25 > 0:12:28pleasures of gardening is chopping and reproducing things. And the
0:12:28 > 0:12:32only way you would survive, on this scale, is by doing that, isn't it?
0:12:32 > 0:12:34Absolutely, yeah, absolutely.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37Alan's garden wouldn't be so well stocked
0:12:37 > 0:12:39if he didn't grow his plants himself.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43And one plant that he grows in profusion here is dahlias.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47Plant their tubers in the garden after the last spring
0:12:47 > 0:12:51frost for a late summer display of vibrant flowers.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54There aren't enough colours in the rainbow to compete with
0:12:54 > 0:12:56the hues from dahlias.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59Their showy flowers come in so many varieties,
0:12:59 > 0:13:03some specially cultivated to produce spectacular show-offs like this.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09With so many flower heads, it's always a temptation to cut them
0:13:09 > 0:13:11and bring them indoors to share.
0:13:15 > 0:13:20Owning a fabulous and famous garden like this is a joy and a burden.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23They have no children, so I wonder what Alan and Graham will do
0:13:23 > 0:13:26with their creation when they're pushing up daisies.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31How are you going to move it on, you know, what of the future?
0:13:31 > 0:13:34I would like, in my heart of hearts, for it to be used educationally,
0:13:34 > 0:13:36if possible, because I think that's lovely.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38But also by the visiting public as well,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41because I think that's important, because it's a garden full of ideas
0:13:41 > 0:13:44and I think that people should be able to take ideas home with them.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47I would like it to be a garden that's carried on creating.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50I mean, I'm going to leave it how I like it.
0:13:50 > 0:13:51The next person will change that.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54My last request is that I have a mausoleum in the middle
0:13:54 > 0:13:58of the garden, so I can keep my eyes on every person that works here.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01Are you going to put the wind up them from the grave?
0:14:01 > 0:14:03Well hopefully not, but you never know.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05THEY LAUGH
0:14:07 > 0:14:1032 acres of gardens, as imaginatively
0:14:10 > 0:14:14and densely planted as East Ruston, requires a team to maintain it.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17Apart from three full-time gardeners employed on site,
0:14:17 > 0:14:21in recent years, Alan has taken on a single volunteer.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29Kathryn Skoyles is East Ruston's gardening groupie.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33The minute I walked into the garden, I was absolutely bowled over.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37I couldn't believe it, it was so amazing to see this enormous,
0:14:37 > 0:14:41beautiful planted garden, right in the middle of the agricultural
0:14:41 > 0:14:43plains of the north Norfolk coast.
0:14:43 > 0:14:48So I started visiting and before long, I found I was visiting
0:14:48 > 0:14:52once, sometimes twice a week, and it just kept carrying on.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56Kathryn was a lawyer in London
0:14:56 > 0:14:59when a friend introduced her to the gardens at East Ruston.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03From then on, visits became habit-forming,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06until there was only one option left to Kathryn.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10I became a volunteer because I missed it in the winters,
0:15:10 > 0:15:15when it isn't open to the public. And eventually I thought, "Well,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18"I wonder if Alan ever has any volunteers." And I asked him,
0:15:18 > 0:15:20and he wasn't terribly keen.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22So I'm afraid I pestered him to death.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26Eventually he gave in and said, "Well, OK." And we tried it for
0:15:26 > 0:15:29a couple of months and the couple of months came and went and actually
0:15:29 > 0:15:32I was still happy going and we never really talked about it after that.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34I just turn up every week.
0:15:36 > 0:15:41That was in 2013, and now Kathryn is a year-round garden fixture.
0:15:43 > 0:15:44I get to go there in the winter.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46I get to stay in the garden when it's not open.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48I see it in the evenings.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52I love going there, it's a refuge, it's a
0:15:52 > 0:15:55place of peace and quiet, but it's also a place to learn.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58I'm very much an amateur gardener myself
0:15:58 > 0:16:02and I'm getting a brilliant teaching course in how to do things
0:16:02 > 0:16:04properly and I've learned so much, not just from Alan,
0:16:04 > 0:16:08but from all the other gardeners in the garden. And I've taken
0:16:08 > 0:16:11ideas from there and brought them back home to my own small garden.
0:16:11 > 0:16:16Things like planting up pots very, very densely, with tulips
0:16:16 > 0:16:17and other spring bulbs.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20It's the kinds of combinations in the summer,
0:16:20 > 0:16:21that Alan puts in the pots.
0:16:21 > 0:16:25The architecture as well as the immediate planting of a garden.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31I've watched Alan's ambition for his garden grow,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34so I'm keen to meet the person who's won his trust as a volunteer.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39Do you get the opportunity to contribute to the garden,
0:16:39 > 0:16:41- do you think?- Well I hope so.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43I think you'd have to ask my colleagues that.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45I like to think so.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47I come here once a week and I weed
0:16:47 > 0:16:50and I think I now can recognise a weed from a plant.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53I'm occasionally allowed to wield the secateurs,
0:16:53 > 0:16:55which I think is quite an accolade.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57Absolutely.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01I hope I'm good with the visitors, too, because I love this place.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04I think it's one of the most magical spots in Norfolk and I'd
0:17:04 > 0:17:07like a person who visits here to go away with that sense as well.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10Do you have a favourite bit of this garden?
0:17:10 > 0:17:13Well, I have a number of favourite places.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16At this time of year, I think it's where we're sitting -
0:17:16 > 0:17:17the exotic garden.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20The planning makes you believe you could be in the middle
0:17:20 > 0:17:22of the Mediterranean.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24I love the colour here and the vibrancy.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27In the winter, probably the pelargonium house.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30It's warm and yet you've got all these beautiful,
0:17:30 > 0:17:33exotic plants that simply wouldn't survive outside.
0:17:33 > 0:17:38It's a series of experiences. And sometimes when I show visitors
0:17:38 > 0:17:42round, you can see in their face, they've suddenly thought, "Wow, this
0:17:42 > 0:17:45"is magical, this is extraordinary, where did this come from?"
0:17:45 > 0:17:47And that's what I love to see.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49And this garden's all of that, isn't it?
0:17:49 > 0:17:53It's vistas, it's rooms, it's landscape, it's good planting.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55I mean it is just magic.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02Kathryn's devotion to East Ruston is the kind of dedication that
0:18:02 > 0:18:04remarkable gardens produce in people.
0:18:07 > 0:18:11Alan has taken on the elements here, holding back the wind to
0:18:11 > 0:18:16create a man-made oasis of colour amidst the sprawling fields.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19It's what Norfolk folk have been doing for centuries.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34The Norfolk broads covers an area of 120 square miles.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38Creating a lattice across this flat landscape are 110 miles
0:18:38 > 0:18:40of accessible waterways.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43That's seven rivers and 63 broads,
0:18:43 > 0:18:47the man-made waterways for which Norfolk is famous.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53During the Roman occupation, Norfolk was largely under sea water.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57But during the following thousand years, the area dried out
0:18:57 > 0:18:59so that by the time of the Norman Conquest,
0:18:59 > 0:19:01the land was thriving under the plough.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Lurking beneath the tilled surface was a rich seam of peat.
0:19:06 > 0:19:11These channels are the remnants of peat digging by medieval Broadsmen.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17One custodian of the heritage of the Norfolk broads is
0:19:17 > 0:19:22Broads Authority Education Officer Nick Sanderson.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24The area was excavated essentially for peat,
0:19:24 > 0:19:27for fuel. And most of the trees, by the medieval period,
0:19:27 > 0:19:32had been felled and new sources of fuel were needed.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36East Anglia was a very populated part of the country.
0:19:36 > 0:19:41Norwich was second only to London in terms of importance and so there
0:19:41 > 0:19:47was a staggering need for fuel to burn, for cooking and for heating.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53The plants that could grow here would become the perfect
0:19:53 > 0:19:56source of sustainable fuel for the locals.
0:19:57 > 0:20:02Peat is partly decomposed plant matter.
0:20:02 > 0:20:08Over centuries, all this kind of fen vegetation has built up
0:20:08 > 0:20:11and sinks down into the mud.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13And because it's waterlogged,
0:20:13 > 0:20:16it doesn't particularly rot down.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21Peat forms at about one millimetre every year, and so peat that's
0:20:21 > 0:20:26dug from depths could be hundreds, if not thousands, of years old.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28But the incredible thing is
0:20:28 > 0:20:32that you've got all these intact bits of plants that come out of it.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35We can see fragments of reed and rush.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38It's not difficult to see why, when this is dried out,
0:20:38 > 0:20:40it makes excellent fuel.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46The technique for extracting peat blocks hasn't changed much
0:20:46 > 0:20:47over the centuries.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50The digging tools haven't altered either.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53Men and women used to cut a straight line, called a face.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56This area of cut turf was called a turbary.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01The right of turbary -
0:21:01 > 0:21:04the right of ordinary people to cut turfs on common land -
0:21:04 > 0:21:08is one of six ancient common legal rights, like sheep grazing.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13It's these worked-out turbaries that form the shallow
0:21:13 > 0:21:16waterways of the Norfolk broads.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18But peat digging was a short-lived free
0:21:18 > 0:21:21source of fuel for our medieval Norfolk ancestors.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23The more they cut,
0:21:23 > 0:21:27the more vulnerable the land became to freak weather and floods.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30We know that the broads started to flood.
0:21:30 > 0:21:36There was a great storm in 1286 that probably started
0:21:36 > 0:21:40the decline of the industry off, flooded most of the area with
0:21:40 > 0:21:45sea water and then it would have taken a lot of effort to
0:21:45 > 0:21:50actually pump the broads to allow for meaningful peat extraction.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52By the middle of the 14th century,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55the peat industry had virtually ceased.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58The Black Death, which decimated the workforce,
0:21:58 > 0:22:00was the final nail in the coffin.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02Over the centuries,
0:22:02 > 0:22:06nature has encroached on what's left of this man-made landscape.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09Today, extraction of peat for commercial use is limited.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12The beautiful landscape that's evolved from the peat
0:22:12 > 0:22:15industry is now a destination for holiday-makers
0:22:15 > 0:22:18and a home to thriving and diverse wildlife.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28But the notion of common land has not been forgotten.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32It's still every Norfolk man, woman and child's right.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35When there's a patch of unused common land going free, well,
0:22:35 > 0:22:38you'd be daft not to put it to good use!
0:22:42 > 0:22:44Hello, troops. All right?
0:22:44 > 0:22:48On Norfolk's north coast is the small town of Sheringham,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51where a local school's horticulture project has turned
0:22:51 > 0:22:55a scrap of scrubland into an abundant vegetable and fruit garden.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58ALL: Welcome to The Patch.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05Matthew Smith is the director of The Patch.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07We live in the heart of north Norfolk.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09Farming and agriculture is a large part of what's
0:23:09 > 0:23:12done in the industry and the community.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15So it's about being able to give those skills to our young
0:23:15 > 0:23:17children and adults here.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25The project employs a full-time gardener and facilitator.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28John Comerford lends a guiding hand whenever it's needed.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30When I grew up in Sheringham,
0:23:30 > 0:23:33sort of in the 1960s, most people had fair-sized gardens
0:23:33 > 0:23:36and an awful lot of people used to grow their own produce.
0:23:36 > 0:23:37People's gardens are smaller now,
0:23:37 > 0:23:39the new builds have next to no gardens.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42There's certainly very little room to grow vegetables and stuff.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45So this gives a lot of children an introduction to gardening,
0:23:45 > 0:23:50which might turn into a hobby, might turn into a career, if we're lucky.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53Norfolk is a rural county, that is our main industry,
0:23:53 > 0:23:56whether it's sheep farming or whether it's arable land.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58This is how the county's made its money and I think that's
0:23:58 > 0:24:02important that they stay in touch with their rural roots, if you like.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06Norfolk's wealth has come from its use of the land.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09And a patch like this couldn't go to waste.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14Previously, it was doing absolutely nothing, this bit of land.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17I think it's a lot better if it's given to productive use.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23The Patch sits between three schools,
0:24:23 > 0:24:26which decided back in 2008, that they could turn the area
0:24:26 > 0:24:31of common land that separated them into a joint horticultural project.
0:24:32 > 0:24:37The first landscaping had happened by 2009 and, since then, The Patch
0:24:37 > 0:24:40has become a place for fresh air, fun and a lot of learning,
0:24:40 > 0:24:44supported by adult volunteers and professional teachers.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49Carol Lennox is the horticultural instructor for Sheringham schools
0:24:49 > 0:24:52who runs a GCSE course for the older pupils.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56The children come out here and,
0:24:56 > 0:25:01not only do they gain from doing the qualification in horticulture,
0:25:01 > 0:25:05but they also gain from working together in teams.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08So they learn to work with other people and gain new skills
0:25:08 > 0:25:10but the amazing thing for me
0:25:10 > 0:25:13is that they gain confidence from what they're doing.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16When I leave school I would like to be a farmer.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20Well I'd like to get a qualification and study agriculture,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23and so this is going to be a big help.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27But understanding the realities of gardening is a hurdle Carol
0:25:27 > 0:25:31has to overcome with each new class that joins her outside.
0:25:31 > 0:25:32They don't want to wear the boots,
0:25:32 > 0:25:35they don't want to get their hands dirty. But once you actually
0:25:35 > 0:25:38start getting them into it and they can see what they're doing,
0:25:38 > 0:25:41they can see that they're growing, they're part of a team,
0:25:41 > 0:25:44they come out, get stuck in and it's all part of being outside
0:25:44 > 0:25:47and learning about working together, supporting each other.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50And being a part of the community.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52I think we're quite lucky really, cos we don't...
0:25:52 > 0:25:56not many schools get to have the opportunity to do this.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59I like the fact that everyone can work as a team
0:25:59 > 0:26:03and that we get to be together and not just do a lesson-based activity.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09The Patch has been so successful that they now supply fresh food
0:26:09 > 0:26:10to the school canteens.
0:26:10 > 0:26:15From the Patch to the kitchen is a total of zero food miles.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23- He likes you. - Yeah, he does like me, yeah.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26But he likes cabbages even better, that's the trouble.
0:26:26 > 0:26:27For primary schoolchildren,
0:26:27 > 0:26:31The Patch is an introduction to all things to do with the garden
0:26:31 > 0:26:33There is something for everybody to do here,
0:26:33 > 0:26:36that's the main point, I think. Anybody can get involved.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39It might get them sort of doing things for the first time,
0:26:39 > 0:26:42like using a wheelbarrow or something like that.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46Across the spectrum, the kids are interested in growing things,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49basically, but also in the flowers and the colours,
0:26:49 > 0:26:52so there's a whole range of things for them to do up here.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55I like it because it's very colourful, with lots of insects.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59Projects like this make my heart leap.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02If you can catch them young, they'll have earthy hands
0:27:02 > 0:27:05and a belly full of fresh food for life.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08Corporations, small local businesses, individuals,
0:27:08 > 0:27:11lots and lots of people have helped us here.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13I think if anybody gets an opportunity to form a community
0:27:13 > 0:27:17garden, they should grab it with both hands because I think they'll
0:27:17 > 0:27:20get an awful lot of satisfaction and it'll probably restore their sort of
0:27:20 > 0:27:25faith in human nature, to be honest, to see how generous people can be.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29It's very, well, heart-warming, for want of a better word.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43In the south of the county lies Bressingham Gardens,
0:27:43 > 0:27:46the life's work of a famous plantsman.
0:27:48 > 0:27:53Like East Ruston, this garden was created through one man's passion.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56Alan Bloom took conventional horticulture
0:27:56 > 0:28:01as we knew it historically and blew it apart with the creation
0:28:01 > 0:28:06of island beds. That took British horticulture on another journey.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16Nurseryman and steam enthusiast, Alan spent 50 years
0:28:16 > 0:28:20of his long life living and working at Bressingham Hall.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24He built a nursery that today covers 220 acres of former
0:28:24 > 0:28:26agricultural land.
0:28:29 > 0:28:34When he was 16, Alan's father gave him a 15 acre plot of his own.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37His father had grown plants for the cut-flower market,
0:28:37 > 0:28:40but it was a struggle to make the business work,
0:28:40 > 0:28:42so Alan decided to grow herbaceous plants for sale.
0:28:44 > 0:28:48By 1930, Alan's nursery business had become one of England's
0:28:48 > 0:28:50largest growers and suppliers of plants.
0:28:50 > 0:28:55And the rest is horticultural history, because Alan's passion for
0:28:55 > 0:29:00herbaceous plants gave birth to a revolution in English garden design.
0:29:00 > 0:29:04Alan invented the island bed and turned the six acres in front of
0:29:04 > 0:29:08Bressingham Hall into an archipelago of richly planted herbaceous beds.
0:29:11 > 0:29:15Today, his son Adrian Bloom is chairman of the family business,
0:29:15 > 0:29:17with a passion of his own.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20- Hello, Adrian, how are you? - Oh, hi, Christine. Fine, thanks.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23How did your dad go about creating this garden?
0:29:23 > 0:29:27Originally, of course, my father was a nurseryman and one of the largest
0:29:27 > 0:29:30growers of perennials, till the early '50s, but he collected a lot
0:29:30 > 0:29:33of different plants and he wanted to show them off because he had
0:29:33 > 0:29:37some new ideas and that was using perennials in a very different way.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40Up until that time, perennials had been grown, you know,
0:29:40 > 0:29:43in mostly formal borders, one side of the hedge.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47So his idea was to use the island beds, taller plants in the middle,
0:29:47 > 0:29:50shorter ones round the outside and they help support the others.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54He's really one of the heroes, so to speak, of the perennial world.
0:29:54 > 0:29:55I'll say.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58I wanted to do something similar to what my father had done with
0:29:58 > 0:30:01perennials, but I wanted my own sort of field, if you like, of plants.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03Things that he didn't know much about.
0:30:03 > 0:30:07So I started with dwarf conifers and heathers and then of course,
0:30:07 > 0:30:11he'd done a perennial garden, so I wanted to do a garden with
0:30:11 > 0:30:13conifers and heathers, to learn really,
0:30:13 > 0:30:17because I had no horticultural training, learn about plants.
0:30:30 > 0:30:31But why conifers?
0:30:31 > 0:30:36I saw more in them. Year round interest, year round colour.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38I felt they weren't being represented largely,
0:30:38 > 0:30:41particularly the so-called dwarf and slow-growing and there was a
0:30:41 > 0:30:45lot more varieties out there than most people were aware of.
0:30:46 > 0:30:50And so Adrian carved a niche for himself within his father's
0:30:50 > 0:30:53business, which had grown into a visitor attraction,
0:30:53 > 0:30:56complete with its own steam train.
0:30:56 > 0:30:59Conifers are not so much in my line, but when my son Adrian
0:30:59 > 0:31:02came to join me in the business, he said, "I don't just want to follow in
0:31:02 > 0:31:06"your footsteps, I want to do my own thing." And I thought a bit about it.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09Well, I thought, that's what I did with my father,
0:31:09 > 0:31:11so fair enough, that's what he could do with me.
0:31:11 > 0:31:15I suppose now we must have got nearly 50 acres of conifers,
0:31:15 > 0:31:18amounting to two or three million plants.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27Conifers have been with us for over 300 million years.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30The world's tallest and longest-living trees are all
0:31:30 > 0:31:34conifers, like the giant redwoods in America.
0:31:34 > 0:31:35Conifers are softwoods,
0:31:35 > 0:31:39and there are many species easily grown in modern gardens,
0:31:39 > 0:31:43like the blue spruce, which we know as the Christmas tree,
0:31:43 > 0:31:45originally a native of Colorado.
0:31:45 > 0:31:49But there are mutations like dwarf conifers, that,
0:31:49 > 0:31:52when cultivated, retain their miniature size.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55But don't be fooled.
0:31:55 > 0:31:59Sometimes a dwarf conifer can grow into a giant.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06Well, this is Little Spire, the tree I was telling you about.
0:32:06 > 0:32:07Little Spire.
0:32:07 > 0:32:10Yeah, do you think it breaks the trade description?
0:32:10 > 0:32:14Yeah, I mean, at least eight of me. Little Spire.
0:32:14 > 0:32:15Go on, get off with you.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18It's becoming a bit of a block. I think we have to have it down.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23I mean, this is nearly 50 years old, this garden, and obviously, I've
0:32:23 > 0:32:27had to thin out conifers. And so it's been a really good exercise in
0:32:27 > 0:32:31trying to look far enough ahead to thin things out, particularly where
0:32:31 > 0:32:35one conifer's spoiling another, which they often are, because
0:32:35 > 0:32:38they're evergreen and therefore, if you've got three growing together,
0:32:38 > 0:32:41by the time you've cut one out, the other two are not looking very good.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43- That's right.- Dead on that side.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46And it's that timing, isn't it? All of the time, with conifers.
0:32:46 > 0:32:48As soon as they meet, you know, that's
0:32:48 > 0:32:51- when you've got to do something.- Yeah.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55We're probably going to need to get a bit of help with the chain saw,
0:32:55 > 0:32:58otherwise you and I could be here until it gets dark.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08I like a gardener who's not scared to tackle an unsightly plant
0:33:08 > 0:33:10and give a new one a chance.
0:33:13 > 0:33:15How are you going to move this bed forward?
0:33:15 > 0:33:19One's looking at plants that will actually give year-round appeal,
0:33:19 > 0:33:22but not get out of hand like this Little Spire did.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26Little Spire. It's a great name for a big tree.
0:33:26 > 0:33:28Yes, true enough.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32But do you know, what I've found so enjoyable about today
0:33:32 > 0:33:35is that this is one of the few gardens where
0:33:35 > 0:33:39all of the principles of gardening come together in a very
0:33:39 > 0:33:43gentle way, and the principles grow as the garden grows.
0:33:43 > 0:33:48I've been extremely lucky to be able to sort of adapt a garden as it's
0:33:48 > 0:33:51grown from a field to this stage. And obviously, it has to continue
0:33:51 > 0:33:55for the future and at the same time, create these really,
0:33:55 > 0:33:58hopefully, very striking combinations,
0:33:58 > 0:34:00which people can learn from as well.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03And you do it so well, so just keep up the excellent work.
0:34:03 > 0:34:05OK, I'll do my best.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10Taking agricultural land and turning it into fabulous
0:34:10 > 0:34:14gardens like East Ruston and Bressingham takes true creativity.
0:34:14 > 0:34:18What was once flat and featureless, has burst into vibrant,
0:34:18 > 0:34:19high-definition colour.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26Taking raw materials and creating art is a talent, an instinct.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30And I've commissioned a piece of art that has nature at its heart.
0:34:30 > 0:34:34And I'm donating it to Alan's garden at East Ruston.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39Local blacksmith, sculptor and artist Toby Winterbourn
0:34:39 > 0:34:41has accepted my challenge.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44I've started by welding the nails together in a clump
0:34:44 > 0:34:45and then I've welded it to a stem
0:34:45 > 0:34:49and I'm just going to put it in the forge and forge this bit part into
0:34:49 > 0:34:52smooth and then I bend the nails out to make the actual seed head.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57I always liked wild flowers
0:34:57 > 0:34:59and I'd see the cow parsley on the side of the road.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02Part of me is taking something that is, you know, a weed,
0:35:02 > 0:35:04you'd consider it something that you'd throw away,
0:35:04 > 0:35:07but then making something out of it, because there are little
0:35:07 > 0:35:11details in things that they've got beauty to them, in themselves.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14My sculptures look quite solid and big and that,
0:35:14 > 0:35:18but they're also quite delicate in a way, and I quite like that.
0:35:18 > 0:35:21With metal you can do that, it can be delicate
0:35:21 > 0:35:22but actually be quite strong.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30After moving from London, Toby trained as a general blacksmith,
0:35:30 > 0:35:33but it's creating art from molten metal that excites him.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36The next step is welding the bits together.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43It was really lovely to get a piece in the Old Vicarage
0:35:43 > 0:35:46at East Ruston, because the gardens are beautiful anyway.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49They're quite well considered around here, you know,
0:35:49 > 0:35:52people really love them. And when I was asked, it made it really.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02So this is the final piece and the rest of these parts are going
0:36:02 > 0:36:06to go off to galvanising and they'll be away about a week.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09When I get them back, I have to just clean off any sort of drips
0:36:09 > 0:36:12and stuff like that, which is left from when they pull them
0:36:12 > 0:36:15out of the hot tank and then it'll be ready to go off to East Ruston.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22Galvanising will put the sheen on this piece,
0:36:22 > 0:36:24making it glint in the sun.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26And I know exactly where I'd like to display it.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40People have left many marks on Norfolk over the past 1,000 years.
0:36:40 > 0:36:45But the 1940s saw a desperate moment in Britain's history,
0:36:45 > 0:36:49when Norfolk once again underwent a transformation.
0:36:49 > 0:36:51The county's flat landscape
0:36:51 > 0:36:55and proximity to Europe served a grim purpose.
0:36:56 > 0:36:58During the Second World War, this area
0:36:58 > 0:37:01of Britain was one of several in the east that stood
0:37:01 > 0:37:05directly in the firing line of the Luftwaffe's nightly raids.
0:37:05 > 0:37:07As the Phoney War came to an end,
0:37:07 > 0:37:10and the fight was brought to British shores,
0:37:10 > 0:37:15the RAF hurriedly established new bases around the East Anglian coast.
0:37:15 > 0:37:19Built in 1939, RAF Oulton became one of a ring of bases
0:37:19 > 0:37:21defending the nation.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25And it's where Navigator Sydney Pike was
0:37:25 > 0:37:27stationed from the summer of 1944.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31We lived very near to RAF Hornchurch,
0:37:31 > 0:37:37which of course was... Initially, it started off with the old bi-planes.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40They were flying around in my youth,
0:37:40 > 0:37:45then they converted to Spitfires, towards 1939.
0:37:45 > 0:37:49We often used to see the aircraft flying about, but I don't think
0:37:49 > 0:37:55we really understood the meaning of total war, not in those days.
0:37:55 > 0:38:02It was some time, 1942 and there on, when the raids in London
0:38:02 > 0:38:07took place, then we really began to understand what was going on.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12You could hear the bombers coming in at night, to bomb London,
0:38:12 > 0:38:15and the fighters were deployed,
0:38:15 > 0:38:19but I don't know that we had a great deal of success at that time.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25Civilians as well as aircrew suffered unsustainable losses.
0:38:25 > 0:38:30More men were called up to replace the pilots, who were dying daily.
0:38:30 > 0:38:34Aged 21, Sydney, keen to volunteer for the RAF,
0:38:34 > 0:38:40headed off to war, finally training as a navigator on Flying Fortresses.
0:38:40 > 0:38:45On finishing our training, we crewed up, as one does in the RAF,
0:38:45 > 0:38:50you know, chuck them all in a room and, "Sort yourselves out, lads."
0:38:50 > 0:38:55We came here, to Oulton, a very quiet part of Norfolk.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00At RAF Oulton, part of Bomber Command's top secret
0:39:00 > 0:39:04network of bases, Sydney became involved in counter-measures.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08One was radar-jamming, to stop the Luftwaffe tracking British
0:39:08 > 0:39:11and American squadrons departing Norfolk.
0:39:11 > 0:39:16We had a transmitter in our bomb bay, which had been converted,
0:39:16 > 0:39:23and we could jam all the VHF frequencies used by the German
0:39:23 > 0:39:27fighter controllers and the anti-aircraft battery controllers.
0:39:28 > 0:39:30We were flying missions all over Europe
0:39:30 > 0:39:32and we could be sent anywhere.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36We were going to Dresden, Magdeburg, Leipzig,
0:39:36 > 0:39:40which were quite long distances. Eight-hour flights or more.
0:39:40 > 0:39:44Flying over Germany, Sydney's job was to drop quantities of "window",
0:39:44 > 0:39:49aluminium foil strips, which flooded German radar with false echoes.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54It fooled the enemy into believing it was a bomber stream
0:39:54 > 0:39:57approaching, when in fact, it might not be.
0:39:57 > 0:40:01It's a long way from today's electronic counter-measures.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03But the theory and the outcome were the same,
0:40:03 > 0:40:06to put the enemy off the scent.
0:40:06 > 0:40:10It's reckoned that about three or four aircraft throwing out window
0:40:10 > 0:40:15could represent something like a bomber force of 300 aircraft.
0:40:15 > 0:40:17So it was useful.
0:40:18 > 0:40:22It was a deft trick that Sydney believes saved many British
0:40:22 > 0:40:23lives and aircraft.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29It did help considerably and it helped in shortening the war,
0:40:29 > 0:40:31I'm sure of that.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38For Second World War pilots heading back to base,
0:40:38 > 0:40:42churches like St Mary's at East Ruston were centuries-old
0:40:42 > 0:40:44beacons in the flat landscape.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48Here, Alan has reinvented his own corner of Norfolk, taking
0:40:48 > 0:40:52farmland and creating a paradise amongst the expanse of prairie.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57He's a gardener who's grown into his garden,
0:40:57 > 0:41:00so I want to honour his work with something that encapsulates
0:41:00 > 0:41:03how I feel about Alan's achievements here.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08Now, I don't want either of you two to throw a wobbly...
0:41:08 > 0:41:10about us digging a hole.
0:41:10 > 0:41:12You know, it's, um, there's a reason.
0:41:12 > 0:41:14Yeah, well, I hope there is, cos I've got two strange men
0:41:14 > 0:41:16digging a hole in my garden.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19Well, these two young men are actually very talented.
0:41:19 > 0:41:21This is Toby and this is Will.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23Hello, Toby, pleased to meet you. Hello, Will.
0:41:23 > 0:41:25And I thought it would be really nice to bring something
0:41:25 > 0:41:28together that really celebrated East Ruston.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33Alan has a spectacular garden.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37He's designed a horticultural worldwide tour.
0:41:37 > 0:41:41But I think my offering should be something very English,
0:41:41 > 0:41:42like cow parsley.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48Now then, what do you think to this?
0:41:48 > 0:41:51My gosh, wow. Where did you get that idea from?
0:41:51 > 0:41:53It's a umbel.
0:41:53 > 0:41:58The countryside, the architecture, the vision, the passion,
0:41:58 > 0:42:00it's all there.
0:42:00 > 0:42:01It's all there in a seed head.
0:42:04 > 0:42:05What do you think, Kathryn?
0:42:05 > 0:42:07Well, I think it's absolutely stunning.
0:42:07 > 0:42:11It encapsulates everything that we've been talking about.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14- Thank you.- There you go. Pleasure.
0:42:14 > 0:42:17That's why we were digging a hole in your grass.
0:42:17 > 0:42:19Right, can you see why?
0:42:19 > 0:42:22- That is absolutely magical. I can't thank you enough.- A pleasure.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26A just stunning thing and I wonder how many visitors to the
0:42:26 > 0:42:29garden will go, "Look at that up there,"
0:42:29 > 0:42:32and they'll deviate from the plan and come straight to look at it.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35- It's fantastic, fabulous. - Yeah, well, I'm glad you're happy.
0:42:35 > 0:42:36I'm happy.
0:42:38 > 0:42:40That sculpture, to me,
0:42:40 > 0:42:43encapsulates everything that East Ruston is about.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46You know, the people, the garden, the magic of it all,
0:42:46 > 0:42:50and there it is in a piece of very beautiful sculpture.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52Christine Walkden, you have made my day.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54- Cheers.- Thank you.
0:42:59 > 0:43:04Norfolk - a county where the common man has made his mark on the land.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07And what achievements have been etched on this landscape.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11East Ruston and Bressingham have been labours of love for men who,
0:43:11 > 0:43:15in my view, have earned their places in the horticultural hall of fame.
0:43:15 > 0:43:19And there's a new generation taking their corner of Norfolk
0:43:19 > 0:43:23and reinventing it for their future as gardeners.
0:43:23 > 0:43:27Centuries of man's relationship with the land lie beneath me,
0:43:27 > 0:43:29in this quilted county.