On the Coast Countryfile Summer Diaries

All this week, we're bringing you the top countryside stories that

define our British summer.

The team has been travelling the length and breadth of the UK.

Wow! Unearthing the seasonal stories that affect you.

My goodness me! What's that?

It's a bad day if these are falling out of the sky.

Whoa! How old is she?

I have to admit, I was expecting to see armed guards,

considering you are growing a drug.

Hey presto, the best slug trap in the world.

This is Countryfile Summer Diaries.

And here's what we've got for you on today's programme -

Keeley is on the case of a killer beneath the waves.

Oh!

You feel insignificant out here.

If I was actually in trouble,

I'm not sure anybody would be able to see me or spot me.

Picking your own fruit is one of the joys of summer, but if you don't

have room to grow your own fruit trees, I'll be showing you how

you can rent one.

And Jules investigates why

you're spotting more and more seagulls in cities.

And I'll be reporting from a secret location on a controversial crop

that not only produces one of the world's most addictive drugs,

but one of our most powerful painkillers.

Now, with the UK ranking in the top ten summer holiday destinations

worldwide, it's no wonder that more of us are choosing to enjoy what

the countryside has to offer here at home.

And what better way to get into the spirit of summer

than by spending some time by the sea?

So we've come to a jewel in the crown of south-west Wales,

to the Gower Peninsula

and it's easy to see, isn't it,

how it got its title of Britain's first

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Within Gower's 70 square miles are salt and freshwater marshes,

wooded valleys, farmland and, of course, beaches,

one of which, Rhossili,

is regularly voted one of the best in Britain.

And with the school holidays in full swing now,

everyone's keen to make the most of the summer sunshine.

But what starts out as fun can so quickly turn to tragedy.

With the number of people losing their lives through drowning at a

five-year high, Keeley now looks at a ground-breaking way of tackling

head-on this issue, this often seasonal issue, of life or death.

Cameron was 18.

He'd just finished high school.

Cameron jumped about 70 feet and a gust of wind got him.

He was unconscious as soon as he hit the water.

One person drowns in UK waters every 20 hours,

and thousands more are left with severe or life-changing injuries after nearly drowning.

And although you might imagine that the power and the unpredictability

of the ocean is to blame,

more than half of those deaths occur in inland waters.

It was the icy cold waters of Preston Hill Quarry,

just outside Inverkeithing in Fife,

that claimed the lives of two young men in less than a year.

Popular with young men who come to chill out and swim in the summer,

this is where the life of Gillian Barclay's son was tragically cut short.

Cameron just finished high school

and had got enough qualifications to get into Napier University,

and one, you know, beautiful Sunday morning,

I asked him what he was going to do for the day, and he said,

"Just something," and I guessed he might jump off the quarry.

I don't know what made me think of it, but I said, "You're not going to jump off the quarry, are you?"

And he said, "No promises, Mum."

And I saw him collect his sailing gear, and I ran after him and said,

"Please don't jump off the quarry. You can do something else."

He said, "Mum, it's fine. I've done it 100 times, I'll be fine."

Cameron jumped about 70 feet, it's quite a height,

and a gust of wind got him halfway down,

changed his angle of trajectory

and he broke his neck on hitting the water.

His cause of death was obviously drowning, but he didn't suffer,

he didn't panic, because he was unconscious as soon as he hit the water.

A year later, at the same spot where Cameron died,

another boy lost his life.

Yes. Really tragic and so preventable.

After the second drowning in the quarry,

I was contacted by a local councillor.

They said they wanted to do something together with

the Fire and Rescue Service and the RLSS and the RNLI to educate young people.

I was shocked by...a fire officer,

who said she'd been in the rescue service for 14 years,

and she'd never had one live rescue from a water situation,

and she'd attended four in the last 24 months.

When people do get into trouble,

it's the job of the Fire and Rescue Service

to try and get them out of it.

But the message that senior fire officer Ian Vincent

wants to get across is it's not that easy.

Well, we take part in the project going around the schools to educate the children,

and what we like to do is to get all the equipment out,

all the dry suits, and we let the kids put the equipment on.

And what it demonstrates to them is how long it actually takes

to get the equipment on. It's going to take time

and that message really hits home when we go around the schools.

The main message from us is, if at all possible, don't go in the water.

That's because you have no idea what lies beneath.

Quarries like these are often used as dumping grounds,

with untold hazards below the surface.

And even on the sunniest of summer days, the water is often so cold

it can send your body into a state of life-threatening shock.

But over half of those who drown each year

never intended to get into the water in the first place.

Most at risk from drowning are runners and walkers who lose their

footing and find themselves unexpectedly submerged.

So, if you're with someone who gets into trouble, what should you do?

The first thing we would say is not to follow that person

that's in the water,

and it will be their instinct to grab on to you as well, and more than likely pull you under.

The first thing to do is look and see if there's anything you can use to pull them out.

Most people don't think of it,

but your jumpers, your jackets, trousers,

tie them together, throw line, or look for something with buoyancy,

a football, something like that,

that you can throw to that person who's in difficulty,

they can hold on to until the emergency services arrive.

One of the most important things for us as well is you may know this area

locally as a quarry,

but that might not mean something to the call centre that you're phoning,

so, to pick another landmark that's nearby and say where you are,

so the emergency services can be directed there quickly.

Every time we have happy family events, it's...

it's hard because he's not there to enjoy them

and to see his older brother graduate last week.

And he won't get married or graduate.

When I go round speaking to schoolchildren,

because they are one of the high-risk groups,

I do talk about Cameron and his loss and the impact that's had,

because I think that that is the message that stays with children,

when they hear of a real-life story and of somebody their own age,

and I ask them to think about their best friends,

and what would happen, how they'd feel if they suddenly disappeared.

And I think it's important that they see me and I get upset,

because it is hard.

I wouldn't underestimate how difficult it is to talk about

Cameron publicly, but I do feel it's worthwhile

if I've saved one child

and one family from going through this awful experience.

It really shocked me to hear today that half the people who drowned

didn't even mean to be in the water in the first place.

I do my regular jog round a lake

and it's really made me question if I tripped and fell into the water,

whether I'd actually be able to get myself out.

Later, I find out for myself what it's like to be caught by one of the

deadliest threats found in our seas

and how to survive it.

Back on dry land,

if you don't have a large enough garden to grow your own fruit,

well, Paul, on his Wiltshire smallholding,

might just have the solution for you.

I absolutely love the summers.

I mean, just look at this.

Everything comes alive.

It's lush and green.

Wonderful smells in the air.

The lavender we can pick up.

But more importantly, we get to enjoy the first fruits of our labour.

Back in spring, I showed you how to plant fruit trees

on my smallholding in Wiltshire.

I planted some young saplings,

the beginnings of my traditional apple orchard.

And now, a few months on, tiny apples are starting to form.

I don't want this tree to fruit this summer

and, as you can see, apples are coming through,

so the bees really are doing their stuff.

If we pluck all the apples off...

..the tree will stop feeding the energy to the fruit

and start feeding itself and then grow stronger and heavier,

and larger and, hopefully, next summer,

we'll have an even bigger harvest.

I'm chuffed to bits with our fledgling mini orchard.

But if you don't have a garden big enough

for growing your own fruit trees, then, fear not.

Now you can rent one.

Banker turned fruit farmer Michael Dalloway has hit on the idea

of renting out his trees to cherry-loving local families in East Sussex.

You get to rent a tree from our orchard. They're all numbered,

they're all lettered, you get your own individual tree,

and then that's your tree for the year to come and pick.

Well, let's take this tree, for example.

How much would that one cost? So, ?46 for a year.

OK. And what sort of harvest will that give you?

We've had comfortably sort of 20-25 kilos off the trees some years.

Gosh, that's quite a lot, isn't it? Exactly. I think you've got a new client. We, literally, do

all the hard work and you get to bowl up and have all the fun.

Yeah, because there's a lot of cutting back and pruning,

there's all sorts going on, isn't there?

Yeah, there is. Yeah, there really is.

They're a difficult crop to maintain, cherries.

But we find it such a lovely, lovely,

rewarding way to run some of the orchard, it really is.

Why is the south-east of England so famous for soft fruits?

It's got the right climactic conditions.

We don't get all the abundance of rain

that the sort of west of the country gets,

the Atlantic fronts die out a bit.

I think the other thing that is perfect that we get in England,

which is why you get the fullness of flavour with the fruit,

is the difference in temperatures.

Cool nights with the heavy dews and then up to 30 degrees the next day,

but this variety in particular caught the best of the pollination weather

and have grown on beautifully, and they're glistening like jewels,

aren't they? They are. It's as if you've gone along with a duster and polished every single one.

They're lovely. I've got to try one, Michael.

Yeah, feel free. Pick one of the darkest ones.

Yeah, absolutely. They're the best ones.

All the flavour's in there when they're that colour.

Mm! Straight off the tree, I mean, it's unrivalled, isn't it,

the flavour like that. That's so...

So sweet! Yeah.

When the fruits are ready for picking,

the families have ten days when they can come

and enjoy harvesting their own crop.

Hi. Hello.

Hello. This looks like fun.

It is lots of fun. Gosh, you've been busy already, look.

I've got a few for you. Why do you rent a tree?

It's really nice to have fresh fruit,

especially lovely, juicy cherries.

You can come and spend the whole day here, you can come and bring

a picnic, and it's a nice, seasonal thing to do.

So, it's a win-win situation?

It is, yes. For the farm and for you?

Yeah. And what kind of harvest do you get?

Almost too much, because I end up giving some away

and I still have some in the freezer from last year.

And for very little money. It's very cost-effective.

The best bit is that you can pick it yourself

and there's clearly a real art to this.

OK, so it's really important that you make sure you don't take

too much of the bud off, so you want to keep this nice, new bit there

so that they reproduce lots next year, so you have to lift...

and twist it.

So, you lift upwards slightly and then a little twist?

Do you know, I didn't know that. A lot of people might think, "Oh..."

Pull the fruit off the stalk.

Pull the fruit off the stalk. But you want to be able to have the stalk.

That's a really useful tip.

So, you just pull the stalk upwards and twist slightly.

That's it. Like that.

Yep. There we go.

Fantastic. I tend to use them in cakes, or...

I was going to say cherry cake. Or I've made alcoholic beverages

with them and soaked them.

They're good for Christmas. Yeah.

They've got all sorts of uses.

Cherries are one of the last true seasonal fruits in the UK.

Adored by us Brits, we picked over 3,500 tonnes last year.

For me, cherries are truly a great British fruit,

steeped in family nostalgia.

They remind me of the summer months I spent with my parents picking your

own and enjoying the fruits of our labour.

That's what it was all about - a fun family day out.

Now, if you ask me, a rentable orchard is definitely the way forward.

As we've seen, it is fun,

but it's also an effective and an economic way of supporting our own

home-grown produce.

Every summer, the British harvest bursts into life

when a year's hard work culminates in a few, short, critical weeks.

But not all these crops are harvested for food.

Margherita now reports on one that's grown right across the country in

secret locations, exclusively under licence from the Home Office

and it's a crop which is more usually associated with the black market.

Conflict-torn Afghanistan

produces an estimated 90% of the world's opium.

It's a trade with links to organised crime and terrorism,

so it's the very last crop you'd expect to find growing here

in the leafy lanes of Hampshire.

Chris Spain is here to explain exactly what's going on.

He's an agronomist for Macfarlan Smith,

the only company licensed to extract opium in the UK.

Chris, when most people think of poppies, we think of those red,

gorgeous fields of poppies.

This field looks stunning, but are they the same thing?

No. These are grown as an agricultural crop rather than a weed,

which the red poppy is.

So, what can we get from this particular poppy?

We harvest morphine, predominantly, from this crop,

but also thebaine and codeine.

So, will this crop make drugs that we can use in our NHS,

in our medical system?

Yes. There is an increasing demand for pharmaceutical morphine across

the world and we're helping to supply that market.

And we can't make morphine or codeine artificially,

it has to come from the natural poppy?

At the moment, it has to come from the natural poppy, yes.

This is just one of 45 secret sites producing 2,000 hectares of opium

poppies right the way across the UK.

A product that's vital to the wellbeing of countless patients,

who would otherwise be in pain.

And nursing the poppies from seed to harvest relies on the expertise of

farmers like Richard Monk.

His family have been farming here for the last 50 years, but opium

production is relatively new.

Richard, how long have you been growing poppies?

We've been farming poppies since 2002.

We've been growing them ever since,

roughly 40 hectares, 100 acres each year.

And it fits into the farm as a different crop to the wheat and barley that we grow a lot of.

Are they an easy crop to grow? Have you faced any challenges?

Choosing the right field with the right soil type, nothing too

difficult, so we can get a fine seedbed for the cultivations.

It takes a while for it to emerge, up to four weeks sometimes,

so you do wonder, sometimes, whether it's actually coming.

Scrabbling around on our knees just to make sure that it's emerging.

And what have you discovered during the process of growing?

The perfect growing conditions are having a bit of moisture

when we're trying to establish the crop.

After that, we're just happy with good amounts of sunshine,

the occasional shower of rain to keep the moisture up,

and then harvesting in dry conditions is actually the perfect

end to the whole thing. And when conditions are good,

the crop is a lucrative one.

In fact, it can make around ?400 per acre.

I have to admit, I was expecting to see armed guards and security when

I arrived here, considering you are growing a drug.

Have you had to change anything on the farm?

No. We have a Home Office licence, but it's very low-key.

There's no issues.

It's a totally different poppy to which you see is grown elsewhere in

Afghanistan or wherever you may be thinking of.

So it's not something you can scrape and get anything out of it.

You can get much better things quicker in the local town

than trying to do anything in the field.

Unlike the Afghan poppy, where each head is individually bled,

the morphine produced by this specially developed variety

is gathered using more traditional farming methods.

Chris, is this our crop ready to harvest when the poppy's in full bloom like this? No.

The plant is actually harvested dry.

The flowers only stay open for about two days.

They open, the petals fall away and they leave a capsule.

And the capsule will keep swelling,

and it'll swell to approximately the size of a ping-pong ball.

The morphine will increase inside the capsule wall of the plant.

Inside the capsule is thousands of seeds.

So, those are the poppy seeds that I might get on my loaf for lunchtime,

or the bun that I might have at lunchtime?

Yes, in the UK, it's almost guaranteed that if you're eating a poppy seed,

it's been grown by us.

So, that's a by-product.

The seeds are a by-product of the poppies.

Where do we actually get the medicine from?

The seed and straw is then separated.

It is then ground up and made into a pellet.

So, if I had a headache, or my back was in terrible agony...

if I swallowed one of those, would I feel any better?

No, you wouldn't. It needs to go through a chemical process

to extract the morphine.

Each acre produces 6kg of morphine.

That's 600 doses of essential painkilling drug

grown legitimately on home soil.

It's hard to believe that a flower that we could find growing in our back garden

could ever be associated with conflict or crime,

but when you're surrounded by a sea of natural beauty like this,

it's very easy to get that sense of the wellbeing

that the poppy provides for our health.

A little while back, I took a trip across the Irish Sea to visit the

Ballinderry River,

which provides the habitat for a species on the brink of extinction.

It's a beautiful river, but it's much more than that.

It's a last stronghold of one of our most endangered creatures -

the freshwater pearl mussel.

Once, there were millions of them on this river.

Now there's perhaps 1,000.

Freshwater pearl mussels are slow-growing creatures.

They can live for up to 150 years,

but they need absolutely pristine conditions to survive.

And there's the problem, because the slightest contamination of the water

can and has wiped out whole populations.

But help is at hand.

Conservationist Mark Horton is heading up a world-leading project to save the pearl mussel.

What's been causing the contamination, Mark?

Well, the catchment is full of agricultural land,

so there's lots and lots of cattle

have been getting in and out of the river and eroding the banks.

And they've simply been doing that to get drinking water.

And it's been proven in the past that cattle standing in the river

are more likely to go to the toilet there anyway.

So, you've got all sorts of things getting into the water.

All this muck and silt can settle on the mussels and suffocate them.

So, keeping cattle away from the river banks is vital.

Mark's using an ingenious bit of kit to help do this.

This is a pasture pump,

and what's great about this is that the cows operate it themselves.

And the cattle simply come here and nudge the pump with their nose,

and this fills the trough from the river,

and so they have access to the drinking water that they need.

This device has helped clean up the Ballinderry.

All we need now are some young mussels.

The Ballinderry River Trust runs this breeding centre,

which is playing a major part in saving the freshwater pearl mussel.

Well, some of these are pretty big, aren't they, Rebecca?

They do, they can grow to quite a large size.

How old do you reckon this one could be?

That one is probably about 100 years old, so to put it into context,

that mussel was a baby when the Titanic was being built.

Goodness! And they're called pearl mussels...

Yes. ..but obviously not every one has a pearl in it.

Not every one. Maybe about one in every 1,000 has a pearl.

These are specimens from the university collection.

They're the two very fine ones, aren't they? Yeah, they are very nice ones.

The brown ones are pearls as well, are they? Yes, you can get them in a range of colours.

So, is the reason that they're threatened now because people do hunt them for the pearls?

It is one of the main reasons. That, along with habitat destruction.

To survive, baby mussels depend almost entirely upon one of the most

unusual relationships in nature.

It's with this local species of trout.

Adult mussels will spit out the baby mussels

and the fish will eat the baby mussels, essentially.

And then the mussels will live on the gills of the fish for about

nine months, and then they'll drop off into the sediment.

And what benefit do the baby mussels get from that?

The oxygenation of the gills.

Oxygen passing over the gills of the fish...

It helps them grow. Wow, that's incredible, isn't it? Mm-hm.

I'm heading to a secret location

where Mark and his team are just about to

release this year's first batch of juvenile mussels.

Mark, what are you doing with that traffic cone?

This is called a bathyscope.

It's a glass-bottomed traffic cone.

So you can look down the inside of it... Right.

..under the water and you'll be able to see the mussels in the gravel.

So, do you want to have a go? I thought we were releasing baby mussels.

What are you looking for ones that are already in the river for?

So, this stretch of river that we're in here is where the remaining wild mussels live

and it's important that we bring them together into a tight group.

It helps in the breeding process.

It means that the females are more likely to get fertilised and,

grouped together, they're actually safer.

Do you put the baby mussels in with the big ones?

You put them in with the bigger ones, yeah.

And that creates a population unit. Have you found any? Yes, there's three just here,

if you want to have a little look under the water, yeah.

Oh, yeah. Yes. So, they're bedded down into the gravel.

And they have a foot that sticks out the bottom of the shell,

and that holds them into the gravel.

So, you're clustering them all together, what, along the bank somewhere?

In a safe place behind a big boulder.

Right. And then we'll bring the juveniles and we'll put

the juveniles out between the adult mussels.

Rebecca, you've brought the young ones along, haven't you?

We have. How old are these?

These ones are about 15 to 16 years old.

They're the teenagers, then? They're the teenagers of the group, yeah.

I hope they get on with the oldies! Hopefully they'll behave themselves.

How many teenagers are we planting in today?

In this patch, we're going to plant 20 teenagers altogether.

From where I'm standing, things are looking rather more hopeful

for the freshwater pearl mussel.

Be it freshwater or seawater, there really is no better place on a hot,

sunny day. Over in Scarborough,

Keeley is experiencing first-hand how Mother Nature may look especially warm and welcoming,

but beneath the calm surface,

there remains a threat to be reckoned with -

the rip current.

Being swept out to sea accounts for more than half of the rescues

the RNLI will carry out this summer.

It's a nice day, it's sunny.

And I'm really cold in here.

I can't even imagine what it would be like to be stuck out here in a bikini.

I've come to Scarborough to find out how you can stop yourself

from becoming just another statistic.

One person drowns every day in the UK,

with the peak summer months of July and August accounting for nearly a quarter of deaths annually.

Even a really strong swimmer can find themselves in trouble with the

challenges of open water.

So, I'm joining Scarborough Swim Safe Team

to find out how I can stay safe.

With young people most likely to get into trouble near rivers, in lakes

and around the coast,

these sessions are being rolled out across 14 locations.

And it's three, two, one, go!

Gareth Oxley is teaching children skills that may one day

help to save a life.

He has a very personal reason for running the scheme here.

How did you get involved with the project?

Well, I'm an RNLI lifeguard and have been for many years,

and I'm close friends with the man, Andrew McGeown,

that drowned further down the beach in February last year.

Having a friend who's drowned must really spur you on to get that message across. Yeah, definitely.

It was, like, very hard to take, but it does definitely make me more driven

for this programme to be a success.

The RNLI courses are run both inland and on the beach.

It's an opportunity for young people to learn practical skills.

The sea is very unpredictable

and it is important that they learn to respect the water,

and how to stay safe when they are around the water.

Swim Safe teaches lessons,

like sticking together if you've drifted out of your depth.

One of you two guys put your arm in the air, until we've attracted attention of a lifeguard.

And making your body into a tight ball to combat the cold.

Even in the height of summer, the coastal waters around Britain,

water very rarely goes above 14 degrees, which might sound warm,

but I think it comes out of the cold tap at 12,

so that gives you an idea of how cold the water is all the time.

So far, the scheme has shared vital skills for staying out of trouble around

water with 11,000 children by teaching the Safe Code.

So, we have to remember the word Safe, is that right?

Yeah. And what does S stand for?

Spot the dangers. And what kind of dangers are there?

Surfboards and...

Boats. And what about A?

Alone. And what does that mean?

That you should always have an adult or a friend with you.

What about F? Follow the flogs. Flags!

Follow the flogs! You need to stay between the red and yellow flags.

And, so, then you know where it's safe to swim.

Yeah. And, finally, what about E?

Emergency. And what does that mean?

You'd call 999 and then ask for the Coastguard.

Although the water may look inviting,

Gareth teaches the class never to underestimate the power of the sea.

It's very calm today, but we have rip currents that can appear

and they can be dangerous, with people being swept off them

when there is high tide and high seas.

And it's rip currents that account for 66% of all RNLI incidents.

Most at risk are teenage boys,

who account for nearly half of those who need to be rescued.

The RNLI want to make sure they get the message.

What is a rip current? So, a rip current... It's probably easier

if I just draw it in the sand, is that OK? Yeah, yeah.

OK, so if you imagine this is the land, OK?

House on the land, or building on the land.

In front of that, we've got some rocks on the shoreline.

At high tide, all that gets covered up, the tide goes back out again,

it wants to find the path of least resistance,

so it will either be through a channel or go around the edge

of the objects, but either way, it becomes quite a pressurised channel,

much like a river.

So, rip currents are fast-moving waters that flow in channels between

sandbanks on a beach or head land.

So, what would happen if we got caught in this part of the rip?

I could explain it to you, but it's probably easier just to show you and to put you in there yourself.

Out there? Then you can feel it for yourself. Yeah, if you like. Go on, then.

Across the UK, five people a day on average find themselves

being dragged out to sea by the current.

OK, here goes.

SHE SHRIEKS

'Matt is dropping me just outside the breaking waves

'where the rip current ends,

'so I can get a taste of where I'd end up if I was swept away.'

Oh, it's gone up my back!

That is really cold.

In two minutes, you can find yourself almost 200 metres from the safety of the beach.

If I was actually in trouble,

I'm not sure anybody would be able to see me or spot me.

I am really cold in here and it's almost like you...

Your hands and legs aren't your own any more!

I have to admit that although Matt and his team are keeping a close eye on me, I really don't like this.

Being dropped in here...

has really illustrated to me how all of the messages that these guys have

been trying to get through to people today,

just how important it is to keep yourself safe in the water...

You know, this is a bit of a struggle

and I consider myself quite a fit person.

And I think... It's so cold, I think I've had enough.

Guys, I'm ready. Come and get me!

What should someone do if they are caught in a rip current?

The best thing you can do is to let it take you out into deeper water.

The worst thing you can do is swim against it, because you're going to

use a lot of energy that you'll need later on.

Just raise your arm up in the air, lie on your back, shout as loud

as you possibly can, try and maintain your head above water.

Somebody will see you and call it in. So, there you have it.

Don't swim against a rip current if you want to stay alive.

I grew up by the seaside and I feel a bit embarrassed,

because I never really gave it a lot of thought

as to just how dangerous the water can be.

A lot of people will find themselves in difficulty in water this summer.

Just make sure you're not one of them.

Well, now, safely back on dry land, we turn our attention to lavender.

It's been recognised throughout history for its potency as well as its beauty.

Adam went to the lavender fields of Kent to find out how this

multifaceted healing flower goes from field to fragrance.

It can be eaten, it can be rubbed into the skin, it helps us sleep

and it has amazing colour.

Caroline Alexander has been growing lavender on her farm

for more than 20 years.

Caroline, this is absolutely stunning, isn't it?

You've caught it at just the right time.

There are actually two very distinct types of lavender.

This one is the true lavender variety

and there'll be lots of different varieties of this that people would have in their garden,

and this one has got a really strong scent to it.

It's a very, very soft, very gentle scent

and the oil from this is what is most valued for perfumery,

for medicinal use, for high-end toiletries,

for aromatherapy massages and for sleep products as well,

because there is nothing stimulating in this one at all.

The other type is actually called lavandin.

It's a hybrid cross lavender

and the specific characteristic of that is that

about 10% of the oil is camphor.

And if you think of how camphor is used in a lot of the products

to help you breathe if your nose is stuffed up, or you've got a cold or something,

it's actually making you inhale, it's waking you up

and it's acting as a stimulant.

That is the sort that will be used in washing powders,

a lot of household products, room sprays, that kind of thing.

But the really crucial thing is to remember that lavandin,

being a stimulant,

is not the one you want to put in the bath at night because that will wake you up.

Make sure you get that right. Yeah.

Lavender is harvested like most crops, with a big machine,

but with lavender, the plants stay in the ground.

The leaves, stems and flowers are collected and, then, on this farm,

they're taken round the back to extract its prize asset - oil.

So, what's happening here, William?

Well, I've just brought this trailer in from the fields with six tonnes

of lavender flowers in it.

This is our distillery.

And I've connected her up to the steam, and I'll show you

what happens, if we go around the other side. OK.

OK, Adam. This distillation process hasn't changed over the years.

And it used to be done in a copper vessel, in a laboratory,

but we're doing it here with a lot of flowers

and we make the trailer into a distillation vessel.

This is the steam valve.

We are introducing steam through here, into the flowers,

heating up the flowers and then picking up the oil from that.

I'm just getting you some here to have a proper sniff

of really fresh... It's almost got a greeniness to it.

Goodness me, it has, yes.

Oh, that's really potent, isn't it?

Very, very strong. And, then, does this need watering down at all,

or do you leave it as pure?

No, this is pure oil and that's what we use for massaging,

and fragrancing, and all the uses that we put it to.

Thanks very much, William.

Not all of the oil distilled here leaves the farm.

Some of it goes full circle and is used back in the fields where it came from.

Caroline, it was fascinating seeing the oil extracted from the plants,

but I didn't imagine to find people being massaged

out in the lavender fields.

Well, this is lavender oil being used at its best, really,

for an aromatherapy massage.

And, in the summer, during the short lavender season,

we like to try and give as many people as possible this experience

of lying out here on a couch,

the sound of the bees and the birds out here,

the scent of the lavender - it's a pretty blissful experience.

What's it like down there? Are you having a good time?

It's absolutely beautiful.

Pam's doing a wonderful job.

And, Pam, as an aromatherapist, are the lavender oils important to you?

Well, yes, absolutely, because the oil is absorbed through the skin,

and that helps you relax and reduces anxiety, so, yes,

it's really important. And do you often massage people out in fields?

All the time. THEY LAUGH

I must remember the difference between lavandin and lavender.

Indeed! And to help you do that, I have here a couple of plants.

Oh, lovely. So, we have got the lavandin...

Yeah. ..and we've got the lavender.

Well, there we are. I'm not sure I'm going to go home and be a lavender

farmer, but these will do lovely for the garden.

Lavandin to wake me up in the morning.

Lavender so I sleep well.

Thank you very much. You're very welcome.

Few things are less relaxing than being pestered

by a flock of hungry gulls.

They're champion scavengers and they've now invaded our towns

and cities in search of an easy meal.

Jules has been to Swansea to find out what the connection is between

a seagull, a pasty and a robot.

It's summertime and our skies are plagued by an aerial menace worthy

of a Hitchcock horror film.

Herring gulls nesting in towns have attacked people and killed family pets.

I felt this sharp peck on my head

and I just started pouring with blood.

They're like flying rats, aren't they?

With a wingspan of up to five feet,

an adult herring gull is a force to be reckoned with.

Now, for most of the year, to be fair,

herring gulls are relatively harmless,

but between the breeding season of June and July,

well, all that changes.

Populations of gulls on our coast

have declined by half, but in urban areas

there's been a fivefold increase.

And they won't let anything stand in the way of their next free lunch.

Something that shoppers and traders in Swansea are all too aware of.

They're a big nuisance.

A very big nuisance. People can't walk the streets some days.

They just come down from behind, whoof, take your food and gone.

My daughter was eating a pasty one day

and one flew down and actually took the pasty out of her hand.

But what can be done about it?

Well, in high-risk areas, such as here at Swansea market,

the council are fighting back...

with one of these.

Layla Bennett runs the largest gull deterrent business in Britain,

with 39 trained hawks and falcons at her disposal.

So, Layla, who and what have we got here?

This is my colleague Shaka.

He's named after Shaka Zulu, one of the most famous Zulu warriors,

because he's really, really confident and very feisty.

He certainly looks quite at home here

given this isn't his natural environment.

He's specially reared for his job. He's what we call a social imprint,

so he's been reared at home with me in my living room.

During the summer months, Shaka the hawk is hired to keep

the city centre free from nesting gulls.

Well, Layla, we've just climbed up here

to the roof of Swansea's market

and the noise that has now accompanied our arrival,

all of these gulls are going berserk at the sight of Shaka.

You must be used to this.

It's incredible. They're highly perceptive. The second that we step

out of any roof door, all the gulls go absolutely mad.

Now, the role that Shaka has isn't to hunt and predate these gulls, is it?

He's not, but they don't know that.

He is both a predator and an opportunist,

so he will take a gull that was at low level,

that was busy doing something else - at roost, on its nest,

something like that. So, as soon as they see him,

all the gulls tell each other there is a hawk here,

that's what all the screaming is about, and they all get up into the air, out of his way.

So, effectively, he's just making his presence known, isn't he?

He actually has the easiest job in the world.

He doesn't have to do anything. Just be here. Just be here.

We've only been working with Swansea indoor market this actual year and

already we've seen an enormous decrease,

80% decrease in the number of nesting gulls up here,

so it's been hugely effective already.

So, he'll just follow you, will he?

He'll just follow me everywhere I go.

He's working as part of the team and he knows I have lots of food for him in my pocket.

But Shaka can only be there one day a week.

For the remaining six days,

the work is taken over by a bird the gulls fear just as much.

What's that?!

Can I lift it out? Yes, you certainly can. This is Pedro.

Forgive me for laughing, but it looks like an enormous budgie.

He is an enormous peregrine, or modelled on a peregrine.

Enormous, luminous feet!

And they're there for a precise reason.

That's exactly what gulls react to on a bird of prey,

it's the big feet, the beak, the yellow and the large eyes.

So, we've taken those features and made them extra large on him,

and it does actually seem to work.

Well, well done, Pedro.

But I have to say my admiration is all with you and with Shaka.

He is the most beautiful bird.

And he's clearly doing a really effective job of trying to persuade these gulls

that this is not somewhere they should call home.

The increasing urban gull population is a problem which is compounded by

the fact that they are a protected species.

Well, this, of course, puts town councils in a tricky position.

They're bound by a duty of care to protect the public,

but also bound by the law to protect the gulls.

Lizzie Wilberforce is from Wildlife Trust Wales.

Lizzie, how is it that herring gulls are protected,

given that there seem to be so many of them taking over our urban centres like this one?

They're protected because of the way their numbers are declining.

We used to have a breeding population of about 150,000 pairs

of herring gull. That's gone down by about 30%.

But by littering our streets and leaving bin bags unprotected,

we've created the perfect nesting ground for gulls.

We've got lots of food waste, lots of rubbish

and you've even got street lamps all night that help you to forage

24 hours a day, if you want to.

The simple truth is that herring gulls wouldn't be drawn to our towns

and cities if we didn't make life easy for them.

Maybe the root of the problem lies in our own wasteful habits.

Perhaps we humans should take some responsibility for the birds' bad behaviour.

In short, maybe we should stop giving them a free meal.

And that's all we've got time for today, but I hope you can join us

again at the same time tomorrow.

I'll be finding out how changing something as simple as your shower gel

could help save our seas and protect our marine life.

And I'll be discovering how a traditional family recipe

based on a summer flower grew into a multi-million pound business.

And it all starts here with the humble elderflower.

So, until the same time tomorrow, goodbye.

Join me, Patrick Kielty,

in a brand-new BBC Two quiz show, Debatable,

where a team of celebrities put their debating skills to the test

to try to win their contestants pots of cash.