Episode 1 Countryfile Autumn Diaries

There's a change in the air, and with it comes the most spectacular,

the most theatrical seasonal show of all.

Autumn!

It's a time of fruitfulness, of harvest.

When our six million acres of woodland come alive with colour.

It's one of the busiest times of the year across the land.

And for wildlife, it's a chance to stock up before the harsh winter days ahead.

All this week we're travelling the length and breadth of Britain,

bringing the very best seasonal stories that matter to you.

Oooh, that's a biggie!

Yeah, that is our family walnut tree.

This is Countryfile Autumn Diaries.

Coming up on today's programme...

Keeley reports on a contentious plan to protect one of our most cherished

native species, the red squirrel.

It's a battle to save an endangered animal.

Matt stumbles across a magical seasonal phenomenon.

I've been coming up here for 30, 40 years, and I've never, ever seen this.

And I'll be building a new home, up in the trees.

What better place to welcome autumn than here in the breathtaking beauty

of the Kielder Forest in Northumberland?

Stretching for more than 250 square miles,

it's England's largest forest,

producing 20% of the country's timber.

But most of us have a much smaller space to cultivate,

be it an allotment or a back garden,

and these days an astonishing one third of all us Brits grow our own

fruit and veg, and for some, it seems, big really is beautiful.

Margherita has been tracking down the secrets of how to grow extremely

large vegetables.

Forget Bake Off, forget MasterChef,

when it comes to the meeting of marrows,

the conflict of the cabbages,

the battle of the beans, it doesn't get much tougher than this -

the National Giant Vegetable Competition.

79 vast veg growers from all over the country are gathering in Malvern

to compare their colossal carrots and towering turnips.

Competition is fierce.

The goal? To win best in class, or maybe even a new world record,

and the stakes couldn't be higher.

In the giant vegetable world, size matters.

But it's not all about the money, it's about winning!

Going head-to-head in this year's competition are two green giants

from south Wales.

I'm Ian Neale, I've been doing this since the mid-'80s and I've got four

world records.

I'm Kevin Fortey, second-generation giant vegetable grower,

currently hold the world record for the longest radish.

Kevin's obsessed by the giant vegetables.

Sometimes we're out here at 12 o'clock at night with a torch.

A few weeks ago it was about one o'clock, he was still out here working.

We need to get them as clean as we possibly can.

They won't allow any dirt on there.

Despite living just ten miles apart,

Ian and Kevin's approaches couldn't be more different.

The old way's the best way, and it always will be.

Our ancestors knew how to grow,

and they didn't have fertilisers and these chemicals.

Well, for the first time this year we've grown vegetables hydroponically.

I think hydroponic growing is the next step for giant vegetables.

Ian's not a scientist, he just shoves anything in.

But who will come out on top?

The UK Giant Vegetable Championships is the highlight of our growing calendar.

Everybody goes to the show with the chance of winning.

We're all competitive, we all try and get first.

Veteran grower Ian Neale has been big in the giant veg world for the

last 30 years, and I'm hoping he'll let me into his closely guarded growing secrets.

I've got a nice surprise waiting here for you.

OK, can't wait to see this.

I've been hearing about this but I haven't seen it yet.

Oooh, that's a biggie.

Wow! You must be pleased?

-I am.

-Might need a crane in to lift that one.

No, you and I are going to lift that.

SHE LAUGHS

Now, you hold four world records already,

so what is the secret to growing these veg so big?

Just having the right seed, the right weather,

the right ground and good luck.

Is there anything else that's known to help them grow?

Do vegetables like being spoken to, do they like a bit of company,

a bit of music?

Well, I don't speak to mine!

I might open the door and say good morning, and that's it.

Ian's got particularly high hopes at this year's show for a rather special celery,

but first he needs to get it out of the ground.

I'm putting this on to protect us.

We'll get what we call celery burn, big blisters on your arm.

They just don't like being dug up, they get their own back.

So could this be an award winner?

I'm hoping.

Wow, that is a whopper.

Do you not need an army to move all these?

No, I cope.

Crikey, look at that.

Wow.

It's huge. Are you happy with what you're seeing?

-Yes.

-It's looking good?

Very happy.

Does this feel like a world record winner?

It's pretty close, yes.

That's heavy.

That might be a winner!

Up-and-coming youngster Kevin Fortey is also hoping to win big at this year's show.

It's a matter of family honour.

My dad started off giant vegetable growing in the UK in the early '80s,

in a pub just down the road from here.

They then basically decided they had to move to a different pub,

because the pub doors, it was only a single door.

And Kevin's son, Jamie, is also following the family tradition,

with the UK record for the largest sunflower.

You, above everyone, must know the secrets.

Tell us one of the keys we need to think about if we're growing giant veg.

You need to make sure that all the plants have the right vitamins and

nutrients, just like us humans have.

Without that, they're not going to grow to their maximum potential.

For me, it's just trying to better yourself every year.

Can I give you a hand, cutting down some of these veg, getting some of the veg ready for the show?

-Yeah, no worries, as long as you don't put your finger in them.

-OK, I've been told!

Kevin, what have you decided to take to the show?

We're taking the mini crocodile.

The monster marrow there.

I'll lift up the umbrella, and then we can take the fleece off.

If you just want to put your fingernail into there,

that is perfectly soft.

-Yes.

-That is perfectly edible.

So this could be in our tea tonight.

You'd need quite a big pot!

Competition entries have to weigh in by ten o'clock this evening,

so Ian and Kevin will soon discover if it's old-fashioned know-how or

new technology that will triumph.

Do you want the heavy end or the light end?

Oh, crikey.

Right, OK, let me get the knees into this, God.

But first they have to get their huge harvest to the Malvern showground.

I reckon you've got an award winner there.

Yeah, we'll soon see.

What are we taking from this greenhouse?

We're taking our giant bell pepper.

That is a size, wow.

A little bit close!

Do you know what, why don't you look after that one?!

This is a really tricky operation, every ounce counts,

and every root counts.

This radish is the biggest one I believe we've ever grown.

-Lift or roll?

-Roll.

-Oof!

-That's in.

Just how many giant vegetables can you fit in the back of an estate car?

Apparently, quite a lot.

Wow.

We put the small stuff round this now.

So there's much more to come?

There's a lot to come.

And it's not just each other they have to beat.

There are a lot of good growers throughout the UK.

There's David Thomas from Cornwall, Peter Glazebrook, Joe Atherton.

Peter Glazebrook's the one to beat, every year.

I have beat him, so it's up to me to do it again.

I don't know what he's got up his sleeve, but hopefully we've got something bigger up our sleeve.

-Good luck.

-Thanks.

-We'll see you there.

Right, thanks very much, thank you.

So, who will be this year's king of the crop?

Will Ian's prize celery be a record-breaker?

Will Kevin uphold the honour of his family, and come home with a win?

All will be revealed, later.

Can't wait. A recent report has suggested that an alarming one in ten of

our native species is in danger of disappearing completely,

and there's an animal invader which is proving to be a great threat to

its native cousin. Keeley's on the case.

Former police officer Glen Graham is calling on 20 years' experience in

criminal investigations to track a deadly intruder.

This is the latest work in the fight for survival of one of our most

endangered species - the red squirrel.

The red squirrel population has declined by almost 95% since the 1950s.

The culprit Glen's trying so hard to apprehend is the red's nemesis...

..the American grey squirrel,

an impostor introduced by an aristocratic landowner back in Victorian times.

It's painstaking work,

but could the tide finally be turning in the red's favour?

Glen's the squirrel ranger at Wallington Estate in Kielder Forest,

which half of England's red squirrels call home.

Hi there, Glen, good to see you.

-Hello.

-It's probably best that you start by explaining to me what it is

about the grey squirrels that's so bad for the red squirrels.

It basically outcompetes the reds, so it lives in much higher densities,

it can eat a wider range of food and it can eat the food before it's ripe,

which the red can't.

So they will clear out the food before it's available for the reds,

but the additional thing, and the real danger,

is the grey carries a disease called squirrelpox virus,

which is harmless to the grey but is fatal to the reds and kills them

within about two weeks.

And what would be the problem if the grey population thrived and the red

population died out?

Well, there's several actually.

They bark-strip trees,

which are then infected by fungus and things like that.

They cause real problems in fruit orchards,

and we know that they take a number of songbird chicks as well.

So they're a bit of a pest then, really?

They are, they're actually on the UN list of most damaging,

invasive species.

So if this project worked and the grey squirrels died

out and the red squirrels thrived, wouldn't they then be pests?

Well, that's one of those things. Luckily, no, because they evolved here with the other wildlife here,

so there's a niche for them to fit in,

thanks to millions of years of evolution.

In the four and a half years that Glen's been the full-time ranger here,

red squirrel numbers have increased tenfold.

I want to find out how he's managed that.

What are we going to do here today, then?

Well, a big part of the job is monitoring now.

So we've got lots of red squirrels back,

now we have to keep an eye on it and make sure that we don't get greys

coming in and reinfecting them, so we'll be going and doing that today.

Glen's putting his investigative skills to good use.

It's a daily routine of checking the 50 or so feeders for even the tiniest

shred of evidence of a rogue grey.

So you keep these full of food to entice the squirrels in, do you?

Yes, and as we can see here,

some squirrels have been because only they can work out how to lift the lid.

-So the birds can't get in here?

-No, exactly.

-They're not clever enough?

-No. What we're going to look for,

we'll see if there's any red or grey hairs on the sticky pad inside the lid.

As we can see here...

God, there's loads of them on there, and definitely grey.

Yes, definitely grey hairs, a little bit of red there as well,

so we've got both species present.

So, I mean, that's your indicator of a need for fast action.

This could mean disaster for Glen.

If this was to happen on a Friday, say,

and say I was hoping to have that weekend off, really, I can't,

I'm going to have to come in and deal with this grey straightaway.

I actually wouldn't rest thinking that I may lose the reds.

So what's the next step, then?

The next step would be to refill this again.

We could put a wildlife camera up to ascertain the times the greys come

in to feed, and that would inform me to the times I would come,

because I would need to shoot that grey squirrel,

and I couldn't use a trap because obviously reds are coming,

so I'd just keep trapping reds.

It's legal to catch and kill grey squirrels,

as long as this doesn't cause unnecessary suffering to the animal.

Glen's on the case of another grey he's been tracking for some time.

So how long ago did you find grey hairs in this, then?

This was a couple of days ago,

and I had to put a wildlife camera on that tree,

and I know that this grey was coming in the afternoon.

-You can see the hairs are still there.

-And there's some fresh hairs on there.

Yeah, and we also have a bit of red and again, obviously,

that shows you the urgency.

And how crucial is it you get this sorted out ASAP?

It's vital, because it could literally be a disaster if it was a carrier of the pox.

-Even one?

-Yes, even one.

In fact, three years before Glen became full-time squirrel ranger at Warrington,

the entire red population here was all but wiped out by a

single rogue grey carrying the virus.

Some people will be very uncomfortable at the thought of you sat here,

waiting to shoot the grey squirrel.

Yes, absolutely, and I can totally understand that,

because I love animals.

It certainly wouldn't be my first choice of what we have to do.

And, in all honesty, nobody would be happier than me if we can come up

with some alternative method.

Glen's settling in for a long wait.

His work here in Kielder is just one of a number of schemes aimed at

stemming the grey squirrels' dominance.

The pine marten, a relative of the weasel family,

has already proved effective in grey squirrel control in Scotland

and Ireland, and last year these cat-sized carnivores were introduced

in Mid Wales, in a bid to eradicate this pest problem.

Yet, despite these promising projects,

the red squirrel is still being squeezed out and its population remains in decline.

So what, if anything, is the answer?

How about putting the greys on the pill?

Adrian Vass is from UK Squirrel Accord,

a group of leading organisations brought together by Prince Charles

to coordinate red squirrel conservation.

They're working on a radical solution, a squirrel contraceptive.

So tell me about this contraceptive pill.

The oral vaccine would be put into a dispenser halfway up a tree,

and the grey squirrel would then be able to help themselves,

based on their weight, to a small nut, baited nut,

and will then be affected for probably up to about four years.

It would be a nightmare if the reds ended up eating it?

Yes, but the reds are considerably lighter than greys.

They wouldn't have the body weight to open the dispenser?

-That's right.

-And does it affect the male or female of the species?

It affects both.

And what would it look like, how big would it be?

It would, here, I have some here for you.

We're looking at a timeframe of five years to get the product available.

And once it is available,

we would then have three years to bring down the population of the grey squirrels,

probably as much as 70%, our scientists are telling us.

Wow. So it's feasible that within the next decade we could almost have

reversed the problem that the greys have caused?

Absolutely. And the lower you reduce the population of greys,

the lower instance you have of pox virus.

Adrian and his team are currently looking for commercial funding to

get the squirrel pill to market.

They're hoping it will get the green light soon.

It is really a game changer.

It's good for our landscape, it's good for our trees,

probably best of all, it means our red squirrel population can then

thrive and we could actually start seeing red squirrels coming down to

areas in the south of England,

which haven't seen the red squirrel since just after the war.

I think for many, many people that would be an absolute joy.

If this extraordinary project gets the go-ahead and proves a success,

it could reverse the catastrophic decline of one of our most endangered species,

and, hopefully, the red squirrel will become commonplace once again

in woodlands right across the UK in the next decade.

Autumn's when nature prepares for leaner times.

It's a busy spell of filling the larder for animals and humans alike,

but what if you're living and working in one of the most remote locations

in Britain?

The Farnes is a group of 28 islands located off the coast of

Northumberland, and there's only one rather rocky way in for suppliers,

as Ellie finds out.

So, William, you take supplies out most days.

What sort of thing do you take out there?

Well, for the wardens here today we've got the fresh water,

because there's no running water on the island.

We've got some post.

They still get their letters,

even though they've got mobile phones and that, and internet access now.

And, of course, we've got fuel for their heating and to power their boats

as well, the little dinghies that they have.

To land on Brownsman I need to jump ship first to the warden's smaller

boat, because at low tide William's can't get any closer.

I'm joining wardens Ciaran Hatsell and Graeme Duncan on Brownsman.

They look after the Outer Farnes.

Nice. So this is where the parties happen, is it?

-Yeah, absolutely.

-Sometimes, sometimes.

It's all a bit wild out here.

Good gracious. So, here you go, we've got some water here.

What have you got, in terms of mod cons?

We've got electricity in the form of solar power,

and we've also got a generator if that runs out,

but we tend not to need to use it out here.

If you get a little bit of sun,

it's pretty good and it keeps everything going for a while.

The water's so intriguing, though. How do you survive with just water that comes across from the mainland?

-You must have to ration it, do you?

-Yeah, we've got to be pretty frugal.

-So, basically, with regards to washing, we don't really wash that often.

-Nice.

Because, obviously, you've got to conserve it, cos you don't know when you're

getting your next batch of water. So we just use it for drinking and washing up as well.

Confession time then.

When did you last shower?

-About a week ago.

-Nice.

-I don't smell that bad.

-No, it's good, that's not too bad.

-And you, Graeme?

-About the same time, a week ago. We all went

into the mainland at the same time, to joint wash.

With an old lockkeeper's cottage all to yourself, and a view like this,

maybe the no-washing issue isn't such a big deal.

They have plenty in the way of biscuits and beverages to keep their

spirits up.

Nice roof terrace, boys.

Fantastic.

The Farnes are famous for their birdlife,

and in the springtime the islands are home to 30,000 pairs of puffins

and thousands of guillemots.

Come autumn, it's a completely different story.

It's nice this time of year. It's a bit quieter for us.

But, yeah, we start to notice the migrants coming through.

So, birds come and spend the winter in Britain and even further south

into the Mediterranean and they'll be using the Farnes as a stopping point.

It's a good place to be if you're a migrant bird wanting a rest.

-Absolutely. Or a keen birder.

-Or a keen birder.

You definitely need the Robinson Crusoe gene for this job,

but it's a highly sought-after position.

Over 200 people apply every year for just a handful of jobs.

Right now, the wardens are busy getting ready for the seal pupping season.

To find out more, I need to do a little island hopping.

So, where are we heading off to now?

We're going to the North and South Wamses.

It's one of their favourite places for the seals.

It's a bit out of the way. They keep out of the way of us humans.

So, yeah, it's one of the smaller islands as well, one of the smaller Farnes.

What a whopper!

Yeah, he's a bull seal.

You can see the back of his neck. It's lovely and thick and furry.

That's what the bull seals will grab when they're fighting.

There's a couple... We've got an audience behind us there.

-They're pretty curious animals.

-Really curious!

Well, I'm just as interested.

Seals have been monitored here for 60 years,

giving us a real insight into their lives.

Pup season means it's time to start tagging.

Soon, these beaches will be packed with newborns and Ciaran

and Graeme have their work cut out.

So, what's the idea behind the tagging?

Basically, Graeme's got a dye in a bottle and it's got quite a long range on it.

So, basically, he'll spray the pup from quite a long distance and,

from that, every time we come, we can see whether the same pups are still here.

From that, we can calculate the mortality rate.

Mum isn't overly keen on her babies being graffitied,

so Ciaran's on distraction patrol whilst Graeme goes in with the paint.

-That's it, he's got the dye there. Simple.

-Yeah, that's good.

We are actually putting the dye on now,

but they used to be plastic clips that went on their tail.

-Like a piercing?

-Yeah.

So, basically, we had to have a vet present to do that so we don't really do that now.

What a faff!

-Yeah.

-So that was quite simple, wasn't it?

Yeah, it's hassle-free and it keeps the stress levels to a minimum for both the mother and the pup as well.

-They almost have forgotten.

-They're pretty happy.

-Forgotten we were even here.

-That's it.

Two pups down and 12 to go.

Graeme has spotted one on its own without a mum so I'm going in with the paint.

Is this distance any good?

-Erm...

-A bit closer.

-Closer.

-Give it a go.

-Ooh.

-There you go. It's on the flippers there.

-Is that all right? Is that enough?

-Yes, that's fine.

I'm sorry, it's all for science!

Grey seals have bred on the Farne Islands since historical records began.

Way back in the seventh century,

the Christian saints who came here seeking solitude wrote about them.

Recently, the colony has done well,

but whatever the future holds for them,

thanks to the work of wardens like Ciaran and Graeme,

we'll have 60 years' worth of research to help us make sense of it all.

The falling of the leaves heralds the start of autumn and here,

in Kielder, it's starting to look quite spectacular.

But with less than a quarter of the UK now covered in woodland,

it's vital that we preserve our trees for future generations.

So, what's the best way of looking after them?

Here is Paul Martin

with your guide to a seasonal MOT for trees.

I just love mature trees.

I really am a bit of a tree hugger.

They make the most wonderful autumnal spectacle when their leaves turn red and golden.

But, like animals,

they need looking after and now is the time of the year to start

pollarding - topping off, if you want - thinning out and replanting.

It's still quite early in the season and not all the leaves have turned.

So, I've called on Hamish Thompson from the Woodland Trust to

cast his expert eye over my trees to come up with a plan.

Hi, Hamish. Hello!

-Hi, Paul, nice to see you.

-I see you've found the willow trees.

-I have indeed. Aren't they lovely?

-Yeah. I know I neglected to top this one two years ago.

Look at it, it just gets so top-heavy, it really does.

They are beautiful trees and it's such a traditional way of managing

these willow trees, by pollarding, and that's what's happened here.

Pollarding is the process of cutting the tree right back to the bare trunk.

If it's done once,

you have to keep doing it otherwise they become very top-heavy and fragile and they fall over.

-That's happened over there.

-That's what happens?

-Shall we go and have a look at it?

-Yeah, yeah.

So, this particular species of willow is called crack willow.

The whole trunk gets split apart like that.

And that's what's going to happen to that one if I don't take the top off.

It will, it will.

A pollarded tree is much longer than a tree that's left to its own

devices, but it's still alive.

-The horses still graze off this. They pick the leaves.

-They do and that's very interesting because

willow has a natural painkiller in it.

It's from willow that aspirin was derived.

How would I go about sorting this out?

What would you do? Would you pollard this to the knuckle as well,

-even though it's over?

-I would treat it exactly the same as the whole tree itself.

Pollard it right down back to the main bit of trunk and it will

send out heaps of new growth in the spring.

They grow so fast. It will put on a metre a year easily.

With around 123 million of UK trees located outside of woodland,

our garden trees are a vital part of a healthy tree population.

A bit of judicious cutting back this winter can keep them flourishing for years.

I've also noticed an interloper and I want Hamish's advice on ivy.

The ivy is a brilliant habitat.

All sorts of creatures will be living in there.

So, that's not going to strangle the tree?

No, so many people say that to me.

Ivy does not harm trees.

It's a really common misconception, that.

All the ivy is doing is using the tree as a climbing frame.

It's not doing the tree any harm at all.

You can see that the crown of the tree is always above the ivy and the ivy

is just using it to get some light, get to the top, but it won't do it any harm at all.

So, yeah, leave the ivy on the tree, please.

Cutting back my willows will have to wait until winter, when the leaves

drop off and the trees are dormant.

But Hamish has suggested a perfect autumn activity I can do now.

Collecting up seeds to plant to grow new trees.

The Woodland Trust is aiming to plant 64 million trees in the next ten years.

Well, there's a few walnuts here.

I've managed to beat the squirrels to some of these.

-Look at them.

-I've got some beech nuts here and some of them have opened up.

-You can see the nuts inside there.

-Yeah.

-And look at these beautiful crab apples.

-Lovely. Aren't they lovely?

-We can cut them open with a knife and get the seed out.

But the important thing is, they'll need frost to get them going but you've

got to keep the mice off them.

Look after them in pots for the first year

and this time next year think about planting them.

Later on today I'll pot these out with the kids and, hopefully,

-they'll see them grow into the future.

-What a great thing to do.

-Yeah.

-It will inspire them.

Before we do that, I've got another tree-inspired project in mind.

I want to make my woodland a safe haven for wildlife.

In particular, I want to encourage owls to come and nest here,

so I've got to build an owl box.

As their name suggests,

barn owls would have nested traditionally in farm buildings or tree hollows,

but changes in farming and the loss of many native trees has

meant that around half of all UK barn owls now live in man-made nesting boxes.

Woohoo!

This is going to be a lot bigger than a normal bird box because owls

need quite a lot more space, especially when they're rearing young.

And adding lead and roof felt to the top will help to make it watertight.

You can help find instructions for making your own on owl conservation websites.

Making it is one thing, but where to put it?

Luckily, help is on hand from the RSPB's Anya Wicikowski

-Hello.

-Anya, that's perfect timing.

-Excellent.

-That is perfect timing.

I've nearly finished it.

Where were you?! Have you found a good spot yet?

-Yes, I have.

-Yeah? Happy?

Yes, very happy.

So, what do you really look for in a good spot for an owl box.

OK, so one of the most important things is that it should be away from busy roads.

Yeah.

Because they're one of the big killers of barn owls so it's important we

are away from the busy road.

Barn owls are not a woodland bird so you actually want it on a tree by

itself or on the corner of a woodland.

On an easy flight path?

Yes, so they need to be able to see the door as well and be able to fly

straight in and see your door once it's up.

Wait till you see my front door.

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.

I'm really, really pleased with that.

That is a des res for an owl.

But for any hot property, it's all about the location, location, location.

So, is this the tree?

Yes, this is the spot.

It's out of the prevailing wind and there's a good field out there so

there should be lots of prey for them.

Since my owl box is a bit of a beast, we're winching it into position.

A good job I've got Anya's help.

This is definitely a two-person job.

Wonderful! Well, it's up there.

Now we've just got to secure it.

Anya's advised me to position the box at least three metres from the

ground to keep it out of reach of predators.

-It's looking good.

-That's done.

-That is up there.

-Excellent!

There!

-How's it look?

-Looking super.

There's a nice clear hole so any owls passing should want to go and have a look.

Oh, I'm ever so happy.

I can't wait for our first resident, I really can't.

Brilliant.

There's one last job to do.

I'm roping in Meredith and Dylan to help me plant up our tree seeds.

What we have to do is plant these seeds and pot them up,

and do you know what these will make?

-Trees.

-Yeah, good girl, crab apple trees.

-Crab apple trees.

-Exactly.

Come on.

I want you to plant these up,

because in 20 years' time you can look back and say, we planted those

up with Daddy.

Plant your seeds about two centimetres down, give it a good water,

leave it outside to grow.

All of us together, push.

Push. Yeah, that is our family walnut tree.

Well, fingers crossed it will be.

In a few years' time I can see some trees.

Well, from tiny trees to massive marrows,

and here come the results that we've all been waiting for.

It's D for Decision Day,

the National Giant Vegetable Competition in Malvern,

and with all the details, here's Margherita.

After nine months of nurturing their prize produce, it will all come down

to the results of the weigh-in for our 79 competitors who've entered their

vast veg in a colossal 27 different classes.

Just take a look at these.

I'm all right with this.

Hoping to take the coveted first in class are Ian Neale and Kevin Fortey,

from south Wales.

Yeah, this is one that we've grown hydroponically.

-Well done.

-And it's their first chance to see how their prodigious produce

measures up to the competition.

Do you need to name it or label it?

No, I know my stuff.

-This is a swede.

-That's never natural.

-Supernatural.

-Supernatural, yeah.

This is the long cucumber class.

They'll come and measure it after we've all weighed in.

He's not bad at all, is he?

-Are you worried about what Kevin is going to bring?

-No.

-The moment of truth.

-The all-important weigh-in, it's made it here.

OK, here we go.

560g.

Excellent, well done.

Find a home to display that.

You carry it so I can't drop it.

This is an impressive one.

-That's a watermelon.

-Great.

I couldn't grow them any smaller.

I'm doing all right.

When will you know if you've won or not?

-Tomorrow morning.

-And how will you find out?

There'll be a red card there.

OK.

We're here, we made it and, hopefully, we'll get some red cards tomorrow.

So it's a quick change now, Ian, now all the veg is out.

Well, this is it. I'm grubby.

My sister likes me smart.

We used to have a saying,

behind a good man there's a good woman, and my sister is the woman.

-So she's keeping you looking smart to win all these awards.

-She is.

-Well...

-You've got to look sharp if you're going to go home a winner, haven't you?

-You have.

Will there be a special one for the awards day tomorrow?

Yes, the Snoop Dogg one.

Well, I broke the swede record in 2011 and Snoop Dogg saw it.

He invited me backstage because he wanted to know how I grew that big

swede, because he grows some veggie himself.

I was the oldest rapper there.

I thought he wanted some weeding doing so I went to meet him.

But forget rappers,

I'm off to root out trade secrets from some of giant veggie's superstars.

It looks like veg grower extraordinaire David Thomas is already set for victory.

So long as no-one else turns up with a heavier cabbage, I think

I've broken the world record for red cabbage.

And there are a couple of other classes which you may get a first in?

It's been a good year. I've had other good years as well.

I also hold the record for heavy parsnip and the heaviest cucumber,

so I've had a couple of other good years.

Does it become a bit of an obsession?

Yes, I don't know what else you'd call it.

Once you've grown something large, you want to grow it larger.

And it's also a record-breaking year for root veg king Joe Atherton.

Tell us which records you've broken today.

The world's longest radish, the world's longest carrot,

and the world's longest beetroot.

But the people are still coming in with entries.

Are you anxious that someone may beat you yet?

Yeah, anybody can come in with one, yeah, we've done our job now.

We've just got to hope nobody else betters it.

I'm keen to meet the one they all want to beat, Peter Glazebrook.

I've been hearing your name since I arrived at the show.

Has he arrived yet? Are they here yet?

You are the team to beat, it seems.

Well, we keep saying, "Well, not everyone is here yet."

That's right. I mean, it's not until later this evening before you can

say what you've won, really.

You just have to bring your best, don't you?

-You have to bring your best on the day.

-And how will you celebrate a win?

Oh, another meal tomorrow night,

but with somewhere where they have pots of tea.

For all the competitors it's a nail-biting overnight wait to find out

whose veg has tipped the scales to victory.

And the next morning they're back, along with 65,000 visitors,

to find out.

So after a bit of a restless night, the results are in and I have to admit

I'm feeling really nervous to see how both Ian and Kevin have done.

-Morning, Ian.

-Morning, Margherita.

So how's it gone?

-Three firsts.

-Congratulations, yes.

-Thank you.

Including the celery.

Look at that card, fabulous.

-Yes.

-That's Kevin's, isn't it, that's come in second?

Kevin's about ten kilos behind me.

So all those modern growing techniques,

your instinct's working just a little bit better.

-Yes, yes.

-On the celery, at least.

Yes, we got a first behind you, which is the swede.

Who's come in second?

-Kevin again.

-Congratulations, I'm so chuffed for you, really chuffed, so proud.

So it looks like Ian's pipped Kevin to the post in one or two categories.

I hope he's not too downhearted.

Oh, I can see the red card, we got a first.

We - look at it, I'm in it already, we got a first - YOU got a first.

Well, it was all your hard work.

Oh, no!

Oh, God. I'm so embarrassed.

It's a UK record, so it was just short of the world record.

-So how are you feeling?

-Really pleased. It's the first time this pepper class has ever been held

in the UK and we've won the very first show and I think we're going to

-try hydroponics next year, because this really is the way to go.

-A proud dad.

Do you want to put it back on display?

You do that safely, in your safe hands.

And what about that monster radish?

Another winner.

Kevin, what weight did this come in at the end?

6.9 kilos.

For a radish.

-Quite a triumph.

-It is, yeah.

You must be feeling quite pleased.

I am, it's just like my little baby.

Kevin is not the only one upholding the Fortey family honour.

Jamie picked up his first in the sunflower.

-That was your son.

-He is the reigning champion for the last six years.

Third generation who's coming here.

What do you think your dad would say?

My dad would be very proud, I had a pint for him last night.

But it seems that Kevin hasn't lost sight of his Welsh rival.

Ian is the godfather of giant veg.

It goes to show I'm doing the job properly.

We're just trying to inspire people to come here next year,

get their families, their children,

and just to make giant vegetable growing even more massive.

The biggest question of all, who came out on top?

-I think I won.

-Are you sure?

I got more seconds.

-How many firsts did you get?

-Three.

We got four.

You didn't, your son got the fourth.

No, your son got the fourth.

It's never a tie with Ian.

Am I leaving you on friendly terms?

Oh, yes, of course you are.

-Well done, Kev.

-Congrats on this year, good luck for next year.

Thank you.

Well, it certainly has been an emotional roller-coaster of a couple

of days and the dedication of these growers is truly inspiring,

and whether they've been spurred on by a win or they're mourning a loss,

for all of them it is straight back to their gardens and their

polytunnels to prepare the ground for next year.

The Highlands of Scotland are the setting for one of autumn's standout

events, the annual rutting of red deer stags competing for a mate.

But such notoriously shy animals can be hard to catch a glimpse of.

Matt is on the hunt in Perthshire and comes across one of the rarest

and most magical spectacles in Britain.

Witnessing these stags showing off their physical prowess as they

bellow and strut around is a rare, rare treat,

and fingers crossed if this mist does clear...

..we're going to catch a glimpse of these magnificent creatures.

Donald Riddle has lived and worked amongst these mountains his whole life.

If anyone knows where the deer are, it's him.

Donald, how are you doing, all right?

Hi, Matt, not too bad.

-Good to see you.

-And to see you.

-It's a bit misty, isn't it?

-Yes.

-It is.

-It's not ideal deer spotting weather.

It's not ideal, but it's nice and still,

so first thing is... What we can do is we can listen for them.

-Yeah.

-And then the sun is starting to break through.

I think this mist will burn off and, you know,

we actually should have quite a good morning for the stags,

once we can hear where they are and very soon we'll be able to see them

again.

The red deer is the UK's biggest mammal.

Stags can weigh up to 500 pounds.

And when autumn comes they pile the weight on ahead of the rut.

The extra fat they store is vital,

since they don't eat during the mating season.

But unless we get out of this mist, we've no chance of seeing them.

-Look at that.

-It's clearing, isn't it?

It's just absolutely spectacular.

Oh, wow.

Well, we've had this burst of sunshine now.

Look at that pinnacle there.

We've popped out on top. Oh, this is extraordinary.

We're going to have to stop here, Donald. Let's just jump out and have a look at this.

That's beautiful.

Well, we've just had to get out of the Land Rover and have a look at this,

because it is purely spectacular, isn't it?

-It's magical.

-We're looking down on the mist and there's something really

incredible right in front of us.

Just talk us through. What do you call this?

This is what we call a brocken spectre and it's very rare.

You only get it at this sort of time of year, early winter,

and it's when the sun is projecting our shadow onto the mist.

-Here we are.

-And this wonderful halo of rainbow almost round about us.

I mean,

there's only one word - magical, isn't it?

I've been coming up here for 30, 40 years, and I've never, ever seen this.

-It's very, very...

-This is very special, isn't it?

-You're a good luck charm.

This is tremendous.

It's one of the rarest glories of autumn...

..but as fabulous as it is, we've got to press on in search of those elusive red deer.

Finally, the air clears and we get our first sight.

These are hinds - female deer.

There are some young stags too, but no sign of the big ones just yet...

..but we can hear them.

STAGS BELLOWING

Oh, hang on. What was that?

There's a stag calling over there, isn't there?

As we know we're getting close, we stalk them on foot.

-I think there's a bit of something going on over here.

-What?

-Just as that's lifting underneath.

Yeah, the mist has lifted a bit.

In fact, there's a stag right in the middle of that peat hag.

-I think they've sensed us, they're on the move.

-They're starting to move, aren't they?

They have. You know, and it just shows.

Look at the distance we are away.

We're being really quiet and, yet, they've picked us up.

The roar of the red deer stags is one of the characteristic sounds of

autumn in the glens.

Before the rut, their voice box starts to enlarge and they've got this huge

great thick neck on them,

and it just means that they can shout much louder.

And it's just hormones that do that?

It's just hormones. It's just testosterone, yeah, yeah.

-That's amazing.

-It's amazing, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-It's a bit... Sometimes, you know,

you could get sort of 30 stags together and it's like a huge great

cattle market up in the hills, reverberating around.

It's a wonderful sound.

Stags and a magical brocken spectre - stirring stuff.

I'm afraid that's all we've got time for today but please join us again

tomorrow, when Margherita is on the trail of a furry menace that could be about

to invade your home.

They're a nightmare. They got into our water tanks.

To replace both tanks was about £3,500.

Keeley will be joining the battle to save our wild salmon.

These fish, what they go through in a lifetime,

you've got to respect them.

And we'll be investigating how our canine companions could be spreading

a lethal parasite that is deadly to livestock.

Until tomorrow, then, goodbye.