Episode 4 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.

DEER CALLS

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,

searching out the very best seasonal stories that matter to you.

Oh-ho-ho! That's a biggie!

-Yeah! That is our family walnut tree.

-Come on!

This is Countryfile Autumn Diaries.

Coming up on today's programme...

'I'll be reviving a seasonal favourite

'with former Bake Off winner Nancy Birtwhistle.'

So this could be a big new thing. Do you think?

We're looking for new flavour combinations

-all the time, John.

-Yeah.

'In the Cambridgeshire fens, Joe Crowley is digging up the peat

'to find a missing Second World War Spitfire.'

This is the moment you're getting very excited about, really. Yeah.

As you can see, we're all getting quite excited.

And I'm trying to organise a blind date for my girls.

SHEEP BLEAT

We're here in the Kielder Forest in Northumberland,

and, with its 40 miles of trails,

it's a great place for people walking their dogs.

Now, as we know, dogs can be our best friends, even our workmates,

and now some very special canines have been given

a revolutionary new role.

Margherita takes the lead.

DOGS BARK

If you're an animal lover,

you'll already know how great it is just to be out

spending time with your pet.

But now research has shown that the positive effects we feel

can be used in a therapeutic way, benefiting health and wellbeing.

There are thousands of trained therapy pets in the UK,

helping to treat everything from post-traumatic stress to autism.

You can find our furry friends in hospitals,

nursing homes, and now in our schools.

It's the autumn term, and this class have welcomed

a very special visitor -

Doug the therapy dog.

Wow. You're doing such lovely, neat work. Fabulous writing.

You'd think a dog in the classroom would be a distraction

but, in fact, Doug is part of a team of 5,600 therapy dogs

who each week help more than 6,000 children improve their reading.

So how does it work? Owner Cate's on hand to tell me more.

Well, it's very comforting just having Doug on my lap now,

and he is so calm and so lovely,

but they are said to lower your blood pressure and take stress away,

and stress is a real barrier to learning.

It's a barrier to recalling information

and the processing of information,

so children are able to feel much better versions of themselves

when they have an animal with them that just makes them

feel so much calmer.

That's exactly what Doug does for pupils like Connor,

who benefit from that little bit of extra help.

"Our lovely Doug the pug is brave too.

"He's not..."

Not even scared.

"He's not even scared when he hears of the Big Bad Wolf."

And what's it like when you read with Doug?

I like it so much because if, like, I've had a bad day or something,

I can just forget about it and start a bit of a new chapter of that day.

'And it seems it's a thumbs up all round for Doug.'

I just really like him around me.

Whenever I get snuggled up with him, he makes me concentrate.

'With one in six children in the UK struggling with literacy,

'headteacher Elen Peal is already seeing results for her pupils

'from Doug's visits.'

Well, it's absolutely fantastic.

The children love him.

Their confidence and feelings of self-esteem

have really been boosted,

so he's a real essential part of our school community,

and I think the other side of things is that those individual children,

for whatever reasons, wide-ranging reasons,

who actually work personally with Doug,

he really has made a massive contribution -

which is fantastic, not just in academia

but also in those wider contexts -

and helped them to become really, really positive

contributors to the community.

And, as we're now discovering,

there's scientific evidence to back it up.

Dr Sandra McClune has been researching

human and animal interaction.

The presence of a dog can result in, just, relaxation

and the lowering of stress responses.

One of the possible mechanisms is the production of

the hormone oxytocin.

Now, oxytocin is the feel-good hormone that's produced

when mothers are nursing infants or when people who are very in love,

they increase their levels of oxytocin.

And we know that both people and dogs will do this

when they're interacting positively together.

And the other thing with oxytocin is that it suppresses stress hormones

like cortisol, and makes you feel better.

Having a pet dog in our family when I was little,

I always knew how much a part of the family he really was,

but it's amazing to hear the science

behind how a pet can really benefit your health.

Now, if you, like me,

would love a dog but don't have the space that they need or a lifestyle

where you can put their needs first,

join me a little bit later to find out

how you could still get the benefits of our four-legged friends.

Now, all of Paul's hard work on his smallholding

really seems to be starting to pay off.

Just one thing is missing - a Mr Right for his four ewes.

The big question is, will love be in the air?

One of the most important things that I've learned about

being a farmer is planning ahead.

Now, we've thoroughly enjoyed having these girls here

on our smallholding this year.

They've kept the grass really low.

In fact, the fields have never looked better.

But we do need a larger flock,

so if I want to see baby lambs bouncing around come the spring,

I've got to act now.

'This autumn, what these four girls need is a frisky fella,

'so I'm off to pick the perfect ram from my mentor, Adrian Andrews,

'who I got my ewes from.'

-Adrian.

-How are you, Paul?

Yeah, I'm all right. Great to see you.

-Now, we want some lambs for next spring...

-OK.

..so I know we've got to start thinking about that now

and I want to borrow a ram.

OK, I've got three rams in here. Let's go and have a look.

'My four ewes back home are Wiltshire Horns,

'an old native breed that almost became extinct.

'They've been rediscovered,

'and numbers-wise are on a bit of a comeback,

'which I'd like to continue.'

The first one you can see is Archie.

Oh, he's beautiful.

'Contestant number one, Archie, is a relaxed ram

'who enjoys gentle walks in the countryside.'

-Right, Archie caught my eye as soon as I walked in.

-Right. OK.

He's got great legs at the front. Look, he's perfectly symmetrical.

-Yeah, but if you're going to be really, really picky...

-Yeah?

..his legs are a little bit close together in the front.

Oh, is that a bad sign? I don't know.

Well, you'd like them to have a leg in each corner.

'You want the best physical traits passed on to the lambs.

'In 2009, one ram auction for breeding was considered so perfect

'he sold for more than £200,000.

'Archie's offside gait might put him out of contention.'

Open his mouth and check his teeth.

Put your thumb in and run it across like that.

-Can you do that? You feel that?

-Oh, yeah, lovely and smooth. Yeah.

-Very even.

-And they're all there.

-Gosh. They're better than mine.

'A ram's teeth need to be in tiptop condition

'so they don't have any feeding problems.

'It will ensure Archie has all his strength for mating,

'or tupping.

'Now for contestant number two, Bentley.

'He's a racy younger ram who still likes a bit of a gambol.'

Right.

I've got him, so you just look at his feet,

that they're not overgrown...

-No.

-No, they look well. They look as if they're sound.

'A tupping ram can't afford to have bad feet

'if he's going to chase the girls around the field.

'His cloven hooves need to be in perfect condition.'

-And there's four.

-There's four.

Absolutely.

'And finally, meet Xbox,

'a bullish ram who isn't looking to be tied down...

'..by anyone.'

Cor. Well held.

'Xbox is a bit of a beast, as I'm about to find out.'

-Now I would like you to, actually...

-Yes.

..while I've got hold of him,

to grab hold of the ram's testicles.

Make sure they're of even size,

and there's no growths or anything there.

Actually, I should do it from the side, shouldn't I, really?

And they should be about 30cm to 40cm.

I'll take your word for that. I don't have a tape.

-But they feel quite even.

-But aren't they of an even size?

-Yeah.

Now, just for you to comparison,

I would like you just to flex your biceps.

-Just go like that.

-Yeah.

That's how the testicles should feel -

a tensed bicep.

That's pretty good.

This ram...

..if you would like to put your hand from his shoulder all the way back,

he's what they call fit.

'Before the tupping season begins,

'you need to get your ram into peak athletic condition.

'He might require more feeding,

'but his physique must be toned, not fat.'

So he would cover 50 ewes, no problem.

-Really?

-Yeah.

So, him to go with your four,

hopefully, next spring, you'll end up with 12.

That might be too many.

-But you know how I started with eight...

-Sure, yeah, yeah.

..and now I've got 80.

Yeah.

'Modern selective breeding has favoured animals likely to produce

'more than one lamb, so if my four ewes all have twins,

'meaning eight lambs, together, I would end up with a dozen sheep.

'But first I have to pick out the would-be daddy.'

-It is a bit like a dating agency, really, isn't it?

-Yeah. Yeah.

It's a tough decision, but instantly I am going to rule out Bentley.

-You are?

-Yes.

Cos he's on the small side.

'Hard luck, Bentley. Another year, perhaps.'

So it's between Archie and Xbox.

Yeah. Archie's got a great straight back, you know?

-Yeah.

-It's better than Xbox's.

'Archie's a good-looking fella,

'but the older Xbox has a better track record,

'mating with more ewes and siring more lambs.

'I think I know who my girls at home would prefer.'

I mean, despite his name, I actually think Xbox is the best of the bunch.

'With my decision made,

'it's time to get this bad boy in the back of the trailer

'and get him home.'

-Well, come and meet the girls.

-PAUL LAUGHS

And I see he's dressed up for the occasion. Look at that.

Yeah, I've actually put some red marker on him for you,

-so that you...

-I saw that.

And that is so we can tell?

When he's covered all four ewes,

you know, hopefully, they're going to be in lamb.

Yeah, because they'll have all the red dye on their back.

On their back.

'He seems keen enough,

'but when will our ram say, "It had to be ewe"?'

It'll take four or five days

for them to start thinking about producing pheromones.

OK, so it's not going to happen on the first day?

-No, I...

-It might take a couple of days.

'During the breeding season, the ewes will begin to ovulate,

'and that can be triggered by the sudden introduction of a ram.'

He looks majestic. I know I've made the right decision.

You have, actually. Do you think we should get them out?

-Yeah. I'll move that, and you do the slip-rails...

-And I'll do the rails.

'Time to get these sheep frolicking in the field.'

Oh, look at that!

He really is top-drawer.

-Thank you very much.

-Oh, and you.

-It's been a pleasure.

I'm going to need your help a lot, you know that?

You will do. Don't worry, we'll sort it.

-Thank you. Come on, let's get these.

-Let's get these rails up.

'I think I'll leave them to it.'

SHEEP BLEAT

Now, at harvest time,

there are some crops you expect to see, like pumpkins and apples,

and some you don't.

Prepare for a sweet Yorkshire surprise.

I'm on the outskirts of Pontefract

for something of a Countryfile exclusive.

I'm going to be helping uproot the first commercial crop

for nearly 50 years...

of liquorice.

We know it as the sticky black stuff of childhood sweet shops,

but that's not how the story starts.

For thousands of years, in various parts of the world,

liquorice has been used as a medicine to ease coughs,

colds and stomach complaints,

and it's thought that - in the Middle Ages -

Spanish monks brought liquorice plants here to West Yorkshire.

They thrived in Pontefract's sandy soil,

but it wasn't until the 1750s,

when an enterprising chemist added sugar to the crop,

that the liquorice confectionery industry was born.

When I was a lad, John,

all around where the eye can see was just liquorice fields -

nothing else but liquorice fields.

'Tom Dixon comes from a long line of liquorice farmers

'and remembers the time when the famous crops dominated Pontefract.'

Cos, I mean, it was a huge industry, wasn't it?

Oh, it was a massive industry.

At the turn of the century,

there were 17 factories producing sweets in this town,

and now there's only two.

And in the heyday of the liquorice industry,

just about everybody here would have been employed in it, wouldn't they?

Oh, the majority of the girls

from the town and the surrounding villages

was all employed in the liquorice factories.

All of them.

We used to call them stampers - liquorice stampers.

And you could tell a girl, when you went out in Pontefract in the night,

whether she was a stamper,

cos they were walking round town like this, John.

-They couldn't ruddy stop!

-They couldn't stop stamping?

No, they were stamping all the time. They were knocking all the time.

And what about actually harvesting the liquorice?

That must have been hard work.

Oh, it was hard work, John, because there was no automation.

Everything was done by spades,

and they had to dig trenches down about six to seven feet.

It was really backbreaking work.

But the industry became a victim of its own success.

The crop was labour-intensive and slow to grow,

so cheaper imported root began to take over.

By the end of the 1960s,

the liquorice fields of Pontefract were no more.

But after nearly half a century,

one farming family is bringing the sweet stuff back again.

The Copleys took over this 120-acre farm in 2003,

and they decided that, amongst the potatoes and the pumpkins,

there was room for some local heritage -

50 liquorice plants.

-Heather.

-Hi.

-Hi. Good to see you.

Now, this is the first time I've ever seen a liquorice plant.

Well, you and most of the population.

-Yes, it is a rather unique plant.

-Yeah.

And why revive it, then, after 50 years?

Well, the majority of people that can remember it are 80-plus

and if we didn't pick it up or somebody pick it up and run with it,

I do feel the whole history,

the story and the future of liquorice would be lost.

So this is living history now, again?

Yes. Yes, we've revived it,

-and now we'll try and bring it back to Pontefract.

-OK.

And, of course, with liquorice,

-it's not what is above the ground that's important, is it?

-No.

-It's what's underneath - the roots.

-Yes.

And how far would the roots spread from each plant?

They will go down about four feet and up to 25 feet long.

Well, Heather, I know somebody who would really like to experiment

with your liquorice in the kitchen.

That's fantastic. I can't wait to see.

All the best with the harvest.

-Thank you.

-Bye.

-Thank you. Bye-bye.

Nancy Birtwhistle shot to fame as 2014's winner

of the Great British Bake Off.

Nancy.

-CHEERING

-Nancy!

As a Yorkshire lass, Nancy knows a bit about liquorice

and an awful lot about baking.

Nancy, I've brought you some liquorice.

-Did you know it was making a comeback in Yorkshire?

-I didn't.

And this is the fresh root?

It is, straight from the ground. Yeah.

I've never seen it like this.

As I remember it, it was a dried stick and we used to chew on it.

-Oh, yes, yes.

-And, um...

It lasted all day.

And it lasted all day when you were playing,

and I think it was a penny a stick.

I didn't really like the taste of that,

because it was very bitter, wasn't it?

-It didn't really taste like liquorice.

-I did.

I did like it. I did.

'A few seasonal berries will top our dish

'but first to prepare the star of the show.

'Nancy wastes no time preparing a liquorice reduction

'using water, star anise and our freshly harvested roots.'

What we are going to make, what I've got an idea about,

-is a chocolate tart.

-Mm-hmm.

And chocolate and aniseed work very well together,

and there's absolutely no reason why chocolate and liquorice

shouldn't work deliciously well together.

Do you want to pour this liquor into that chocolate

and give it a gentle stir?

-And I'll do this bit.

-What? Stir as I'm pouring it on?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Absolutely perfect.

So this could be a big new thing. Do you think?

-Well, why not?

-If it works.

I mean, we're looking for new flavour combinations

-all the time, John.

-Yeah.

-So, um...

It's a pity you can't have another go at Bake Off.

I think this would win them over, don't you?

JOHN LAUGHS

'It bakes gently for 50 minutes...

'..and our autumn berries complement the chocolate tart,

'flavoured with the oldest newcomer in town, Pontefract liquorice.'

-Well...

-Here you go, then, John.

Time for the taste test.

Time for the taste test.

-Let me cut you a slice.

-Oh, yes.

Now...

Mmm.

Yes, I can definitely taste the liquorice.

-You need a good dollop of it, don't you, into the chocolate?

-Mmm.

-Yeah.

I think you're onto a winner, Nancy.

A Hollywood handshake.

'Great to see liquorice being harvested and back on the menu.'

Now, earlier, Margherita discovered

how a dog could actually improve your health,

but what if you don't own a dog?

Well, how about this for a genius idea?

You know, there's nothing I love more on a beautiful autumnal day

than enjoying a stroll in the park.

But how much lovelier this would all be

if I only had someone to share it with.

Luckily, today, I have found that special someone.

Great fella. His name's Steve.

Steve! Steve!

-Here, boy. Hello, fella.

-SHE LAUGHS

So, is dinner too much for a first date?

Maybe lunch at the pub. Come on.

'Steve's owner, Julie Fretwell,

'has signed her pooch up to BorrowMyDoggy.

'As the name suggests,

'it's a website where people who can't have a dog

'can be lent someone else's.'

-Come on, mate.

-Oh, you're going to come and sit with us?

-Yeah.

So what are the dating criteria for a good match for you and for Steve?

Well, for Steve, a bit different than for myself.

THEY LAUGH

For Steve, plenty of experience with dogs

and a suitable location for him, in terms of security,

and nice people who respond to him in a kind way.

And what do you get out of it?

Friends, for one thing, because I've met some lovely people through it,

and other people who care about Steve.

'The doggy dating site now has 300,000 members

'up and down the country.

'For their first outing,

'owners and borrowers will go out together for a welcome woof.'

So, Julie, it's a while since I've been on a date.

What do I need to remember when I'm looking after Steve?

What are the really important things?

He'll be gentle with you if you be gentle with him.

Keep him on the lead,

and maybe put it at full extent and call him back.

When you're confident that he's going to come back to you,

you can let him off the lead,

cos he loves to have a run around and a sniff on his own.

If you scuff a few leaves around,

he'll enjoy playing with those, and....

Do you? Do you like a leaf? Do you like a leaf?

HE BARKS AND THEY LAUGH

So he likes to play.

-He likes to play and he likes to run...

-OK.

..so the longer you can walk him for, the better he'll like it.

'It's time for Steve and I to get to know one another.'

STEVE BARKS

'Steve currently has two borrowers - a family,

'and Sammy, who's been taking Steve out for eight months.'

Steve was very enthusiastic about her when he met her,

so he gave me the signals that he'd like to see more of her.

MARGHERITA LAUGHS

I think someone's seen their second mum, haven't you?

It's good to see you, Sammy. How are you?

It's so lovely to see you, my little happy chap.

Yeah, I've had a little loan today of Steve.

You've had a loan.

But you have the joy of having him in your life much more.

Yes. Yeah, a bundle of energy.

Lots of character.

You don't own a dog of your own?

I don't. I wish I could, but the situation -

I live in a flat and I can't have dogs, unfortunately, so...

So what do you get from being involved in the scheme?

It's really rewarding to have a dog that's just full of character,

loves to see you, um,

that's just happy to be around you.

You get a sense of being needed and wanted.

Walking has got to be an added benefit.

It's exercise. It's getting out in the air.

And the health benefits of our pooches is something

that leading expert Dr Sandra McClune is only too aware of.

Dogs really benefit us physically,

just getting outside and walking with our dogs,

and that gives us great exercise.

And we've all heard of the benefits of exercise for us, in terms of

reducing rates of depression and certain types of cancer, stroke,

type two diabetes and so on.

'Having a dog has also been shown to reduce the risk factors for

'heart disease, and help people recover quicker from illness.'

What we find is that it's pet owners who are more likely

to still be alive a year later after a serious heart attack.

They have a 94% chance of survival,

whereas non-pet owners have a 72% chance of survival.

And dogs can be great motivators for getting us just to get up

and get out there and do some exercise together.

'So it's official - dogs are good for our health,

'physically and emotionally.

'And if you, like me, aren't in a position to care for

'a dog full-time, taking someone else's out could be the answer.'

Before today, I had no idea that you could just borrow a dog,

and I have to say that spending the day with Steve

has just been an absolute joy.

In terms of health and physical wellbeing,

he really is just what the doctor ordered.

So what are we going to have for tea tonight?

What do you fancy?

-A nice bit of chicken?

-STEVE BARKS

Or sausage?

-STEVE BARKS

-Hmm...

Autumn gives us the spectacle of Bonfire Night,

but November is also a powerful time for remembrance.

Joe Crowley has been on a mission to recover a very special relic

from the Cambridgeshire fens,

but little did he realise what he was going to find.

MACHINERY RUMBLES

I'm getting my wellies on because they're letting me

join the archaeologists for this very important excavation,

and, this being fenland, I'm expecting a fair bit of mud.

They're looking for this plane.

It's a Mark 1A Spitfire, number X4953.

It crashed here just weeks after the end of the Battle of Britain.

Spitfires played a central role in that battle,

repelling waves of attacks by the German fighters and bombers

throughout the summer of 1940.

It was one of the most important victories of the Second World War

and the first major defeat inflicted upon Nazi Germany.

Therefore, the RAF's aircraft and the nearly 3,000 men who flew them

became British heroes.

PLANE RUMBLES

The Battle of Britain was won, but the war was far from over.

The RAF still needed pilots.

Harold Penketh was just 20 when he joined up,

leaving a comfortable job in insurance

to train as a Spitfire pilot.

He had barely 13 hours flying time when, on a routine training flight,

his aeroplane fell from the sky and crashed into the fen.

Harold was killed instantly.

Children on nearby farms saw it happen.

'Maxey Stacey was just ten years old.'

We saw these planes up in the sky,

and they was darting and diving about,

and then, all of a sudden, we heard a revving sound

and it dipped straight down and it spiralled to the ground.

When it disappeared behind the trees,

I mean, it was not long before there was a thud when it hit the ground.

Did you realise at the time that a young man had lost his life?

Yes, I did, and it brought quite a lump to your throat.

'Harold's body was recovered at the time,

'but the crashed Spitfire was abandoned.

'Archaeologist Stephen Macaulay is in charge of the operation

'to dig it out.'

75 years ago, when Harold Penketh's plane crashed into the ground,

rather than exploding on impact,

which is what you'd get on a harder soil -

chalk or something like that -

the plane has ploughed straight through the soil, through the peat,

and it's lodged itself in the clay

which is sitting three, four, five metres beneath our feet.

And so something like that means that the preservation

can be very good, but getting to it is an issue.

Exactly.

'And in a fitting touch,

'modern-day service personnel are helping uncover the past.

'They're part of Operation Nightingale,

'a project to help rehabilitate injured servicemen and women...

'..like former RAF helicopter engineer Anouska Osborne,

'who was injured in Afghanistan

'and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

'Anouska has a good working knowledge of Spitfires

'and is using this expertise to help identify parts of the wreckage.'

We have a nice little structure here,

which just fits on the aircraft with the aerial.

It attaches on top,

-and then the cable goes from the front to the back...

-Oh.

..and then that is what his communications would be.

'But there are more human reminders of the tragedy.

'This is Harold's leather flying helmet,

'claimed by the fen on that fateful day 75 years ago.

'It's an unexpected find and it's left a deep impression on the team.'

What was it like for you, seeing that bit of the helmet?

Because I wasn't really expecting that.

-That seemed a very personal artefact to come out.

-It was personal.

-It was a bit gut-wrenching, really...

-Yeah.

..because, obviously, you know that he passed away,

-so everybody was kicked out of here while I did that.

-Right.

A bit of respect to him, really.

-Really? So you had a personal moment with it there?

-Yeah.

-You're a serviceperson in the Armed Forces, he was as well...

-Yeah.

-..and there's that connection, I suppose, isn't there?

-There is.

He was only 20 years old when he passed away,

and he was the last of his line as well.

His brother passed away a few years before that,

so his mother and father, basically, they lost both their sons.

'The respect for Harold is shared by all

'on the Operation Nightingale team.

'Veteran Chris Hedin is a former serviceman working here at the dig.

'He was injured while serving with the Royal Logistics Corps.'

This Operation Nightingale, the legacy of it for you,

has it improved self-esteem?

Is it helping the recovery?

It does help. It does help. You know what I mean?

-Yes, I have good days and bad days...

-Yeah.

..and I can't guarantee what I'll feel like tomorrow morning,

but being here and staying in RAF Wittering

will urge me to get out of bed tomorrow morning,

-cos I'm with my brothers and my sisters...

-You're part of it.

..and I feel a part of something.

'Back at the dig, there's a buzz of excitement.

'The team have hit something large and metallic.

'Could it be the propeller from Harold's Spitfire?

'Only the merest tip is poking up through the clay.'

All you've got here is the cone of the engine and the propeller.

-That's the propeller up there.

-Wow. OK.

So we're on the absolute cusp of it.

This is the moment you're getting very excited about, really.

As you can see, we're all getting quite excited.

'But, just as the team make the breakthrough,

'work is brought to a sudden halt.'

Well, events have taken an unexpected turn.

They think they've found some human remains,

a fragment of bone,

which means this is now a very different dig.

Everything has to stop,

and the police and the coroner have to be involved.

'These could be the last of trainee pilot Harold Penketh's remains.

'It's given the team here pause to reflect,

'and adds poignancy to the moment a Spitfire flies past.'

PLANE RUMBLES

We have excavated this site

on the locations of one individual sacrifice,

and, in doing so, we wish to honour him.

Let us remember for a moment Pilot Officer Harold Penketh.

PLANE RUMBLES

'When digging resumes,

'the team finds Harold's silver cigarette case,

'clearly engraved with his initials, HEP.

'Once the dig's complete, they leave a small marker.

'The crash site will be eventually filled back in.'

There's now a permanent memorial at the site where Harold lost his life.

GEESE HONK

Now, autumn is the time when you're most likely to see spiders

out and about, as they search for new mates.

Now, these eight-legged creatures can strike fear into many people,

so what can you do if you just don't like them?

Here's Jules.

Now, some of us just don't like spiders full stop,

but maybe there is one that we should be a little wary of.

Meet Britain's most venomous spider, the false widow.

There are four native false widow spiders,

but the most poisonous - the noble false widow -

is a foreign invader.

It arrived on our shores from the Canary Islands 150 years ago.

It mainly colonised the south coast of England,

but as our climate warmed, it spread as far north as Scotland.

But I've managed to find a woman

who's fighting off an invasion of the false widow spider.

In taking on the renovation of her new home,

she has unwittingly opened the door on an eight-legged horror story.

Hello, Gemma. Nice to see you.

-I'm Jules. How are you?

-Hi, Jules. Come on in.

'Before Gemma bought her dream family home,

'it was vacant for two years.

'In that time, the noble false widows moved in and multiplied.'

So, when did you first realise you were sharing your house

with a venomous lodger?

I was sitting on the sofa,

and I just happened to look over my shoulder,

-and I saw a really odd-looking spider hanging in this web.

-Oh.

Was this "hairs on the back of your neck" territory, now?

Yeah. It's doing it now, actually.

Yeah, it was, because it had a really distinctive pattern on it.

It looked like it had almost been painted.

Then what happened?

I kind of started getting the creeps a little bit.

I started noticing the webs in the rest of the house,

over 100, 150, living in the render,

around the windows, in the window seals,

in the fascias by the guttering,

all around the back door...

Do you feel like you're sharing your house at the moment?

I feel like I've got squatters.

-Oh, really?

-I need to charge rent, maybe.

-Yeah?

-Because there has...

Yeah, it does feel there's been a bit of an invasion.

Noble false widows are mostly active at night.

In the daytime, they tend to live in nooks and crannies near their web.

The female is bigger than the male, and lives longer, too -

three years compared to the male's one.

Have they ever bitten you?

Yeah. I was in bed.

I felt something on my face.

No! No!

I sort of jumped up, switched the light on really fast,

-and it fell out of my pillow...

-JULES GULPS

..and ran across the bed and ran back into it.

And I looked down and I had a purple mark,

and the whole of my palm here was raised.

It was like... It looked like a wasp sting.

The false widow's venom is a neurotoxin,

affecting the nervous system.

Symptoms can include pain from the bite, fever and nausea,

but it's not fatal.

I'm just looking over your shoulder there -

is that what I think it is on the windowsill?

Yeah, these... I found these yesterday.

Are they alive or dead?

-These two are dead.

-Let's have a look.

-It's not going to bite me now, is it?

-No. I don't... I hope not.

And then I've got a little baby here.

-That's alive?

-I've got one under there, on the floor, as well.

-Seriously?

-A slightly bigger one.

But you've got a lot on your plate, haven't you?

You've got a young family, you're in the middle of a renovation -

the last thing you want to be doing is taking on a battle

with these little fellas.

What happens next?

I think it's time for the professionals, to be honest.

It's war!

Gemma's spider infestation is so bad,

she's had to resort to professional pest controllers.

However, if you want to reduce the number of spiders in your home

this autumn, you could remove any visible webs

and fill in all gaps in walls and around your pipework.

But of course, thankfully, most of us can live quite happily

with our eight-legged neighbours

because spiders do bring some unexpected benefits.

The main one is how they stop our homes

becoming plagued by other insects.

In the average home,

spiders can munch their way through 2,000 bugs a year.

'One man who really is a spider's best friend is Matt Shardlow

'from the wildlife charity Buglife.'

Well, Matt, in many households,

not least those that are infested with false widow spiders,

spiders in general tend to get a pretty bad reputation.

There are so many myths around them, that they can do us untold harm -

how has that come about?

Well, things like, you know, lots of spiders crawling into your mouth

and swallowing them at night,

and the slightly vampiric sort of sense to them that spiders have,

it all comes out of a fear of spiders that we have

that, you know, is passed down from generation to generation.

But is that a peculiarly British thing?

Yeah, I mean, in Britain there's more fear of spiders

than in any other country in the world.

-Really?

-Yeah, and I think... I think, partly...

It's difficult to know why,

but my theory is that this is because we don't

really have to ever deal with this fear properly.

We never have to actually go,

"Well, which one of these is actually really dangerous?"

If you're brought up in Australia, it's a life-and-death situation -

you have to know which one is dangerous and which one isn't.

But in the UK, we can kind of get away with just bundling it all up

in a whole load of fear and not dealing with it properly.

Britain has around 650 species of spider,

and all of them will use some venom to immobilise their prey,

but very few will cause us any problems.

I mean, here we are in autumn. My house is awash with spiders.

What is it about this time of year that seems to bring up the numbers?

In the house, what you're probably seeing is your big house spider,

which is the one of the ones that scares people most,

although absolutely harmless.

And that's the males, and they come out at this time of year

looking for the females.

So, they'll have these palps at the front and they go off, running off,

trying to find a female in her web, and that's the one we see most.

-Well, let's see if we can find some, shall we?

-Brilliant.

'And it shouldn't be too difficult in this barn...'

Oh, this is spider heaven, isn't it?

-It certainly is.

-Look at all of these webs everywhere.

'..because Matt's already got some for us to look at.'

Well, I've brought some in so that we can have a closer look at some of

the different sorts of spiders that we get around this time of year.

And at this end, we've got a big female house spider, there.

-We can see...

-That is enormous.

Absolutely strikes the fear of God into my family

when one of those runs across the floor.

And what about the one next door?

This is the male, so this is the one that, actually,

people will often see running around on the floor.

It's out looking for love in houses about this time of year.

Now, he's not going to get a lot in there, is he, to be fair?

-Poor little chap.

-No, he certainly isn't. Certainly isn't.

But I always see them in the bath.

Is it true that they climb up through the plughole?

That's another myth. They're not coming up - they're dropping down.

So they will be falling down into the bath

-and they can't get out again.

-They just can't scramble up?

They can't get out, but they've got bigger problems even than that

to deal with, and that's what is in the next jar, here.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-It looks empty.

It's this thing, here, look - it's a daddy-longlegs spider.

Those? That's a daddy-longlegs spider?

We've got hundreds of those.

Yes, this is a spider - not the European crane fly

which sometimes gets nicknamed a daddy-longlegs.

What's more, it's a cannibal.

It specialises on eating the big, hairy house spiders.

It nips the toe of the big spider, and that venom

courses through the system of the big spider and kills it.

That is astonishing.

I would have guessed every time that they would have eaten those.

And what have we got in the smaller jars, then?

-Well, these are false widows.

-Ah!

-So, there's several different sorts in houses.

-Yup.

The three commonest ones. This one is everywhere.

This is the common false widow.

Rather, sort of, beautiful, isn't it, actually?

-Quite enamelled.

-Yeah, it's lovely.

-And so, in the other two smaller jars?

-Well, these...

These are the large false widow.

-Again, harmless.

-I mean, you know, creepy but beautiful.

-Yeah, yeah.

And what's in at the end?

Well, this is the one that everyone gets really worried about.

This is the noble false widow.

And, you know, it's got a terrible reputation,

but, I mean, look how timid it is.

'In truth, most spiders would rather run an eight-legged mile

'than bite you.

'Besides, the vast majority don't have large enough fangs

'to even pierce human skin.

'Vampires, they are not.'

You are fearless, Matt.

-Well...

-Putting your finger into a venomous spider's lair!

I know this little spider is more afraid of me than I am of it.

But the truth is, spiders should be very welcome housefellows,

shouldn't they?

Yeah, and there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to coexist happily

with a spider.

'So, if you still want to rid your home of its spiders

'in a way that doesn't harm them, don't flush them down the plughole.'

So what's your top tip for getting a beast like that

out of your house?

Well, it's got to be the old "glass and piece of paper" method.

-Ah!

-Oh, he's gone down the gap.

-No, he's back again.

-Oh!

-Yay!

-Yay!

What you can't see is the film crew running in every direction

-around the barn when that spider came out of the jar.

-Yeah, yeah.

-There he is.

-There we go, and that can just be picked up,

-hand underneath...

-And out you go.

-..and out he goes.

So, after all this,

I think I need to get my family to revise their attitudes to spiders

and now consider them as welcome housemates.

Maybe we should all try to be a little bit more spider-friendly.

And that's all for today,

but please do join us again tomorrow for the final entries

in our Countryfile Autumn Diaries,

when Keeley discover the effect that light pollution can have

both on nature and you.

Look at the central point at the back.

Paul is on the case,

finding out what you can do if you want to help rescued animals.

-I'd love to give him a home. He's so cute!

-They're adorable.

And I'll be finding out how growing fruit and veg

can improve your children's maths skills.

So, until tomorrow, goodbye.