John Craven heads to the Cairngorms in Scotland to look back at some of the team's most memorable visits to the jewels of the British landscape - its rivers and mountains.
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Mountains, foreboding, rocky peaks towering dramatically over lush green valleys. | 0:00:24 | 0:00:30 | |
Britain's highest peaks may have been conquered long ago, | 0:00:30 | 0:00:33 | |
but many are the last remaining pieces of true wilderness. | 0:00:33 | 0:00:37 | |
And rivers, the watery veins and arteries flowing through our countryside. | 0:00:41 | 0:00:46 | |
Whether river deep or mountain high, | 0:00:46 | 0:00:50 | |
these are the jewels of our countryside | 0:00:50 | 0:00:52 | |
and for this special edition of Countryfile, | 0:00:52 | 0:00:54 | |
I've come to somewhere which has them in great abundance - | 0:00:54 | 0:00:57 | |
the Cairngorms in Scotland. | 0:00:57 | 0:00:59 | |
The 25,000 acres of the Rothiemurchus estate | 0:01:01 | 0:01:04 | |
stretch from the River Spey to the summit of Braeriach, | 0:01:04 | 0:01:09 | |
Britain's third highest mountain at over 4,000 feet. | 0:01:09 | 0:01:12 | |
As well as meeting the Laird of this vast estate and discovering just how it's managed, | 0:01:12 | 0:01:17 | |
I'll be revisiting some of our favourite Countryfile moments | 0:01:17 | 0:01:21 | |
that have taken the team up hill and down stream. | 0:01:21 | 0:01:24 | |
Here's just a taste of what's to come. | 0:01:24 | 0:01:26 | |
It's downhill all the way for Matt in North Wales. | 0:01:28 | 0:01:30 | |
Oh, look at that view! | 0:01:30 | 0:01:34 | |
Julia takes a swim on the wild side in Oxfordshire. | 0:01:34 | 0:01:38 | |
I'm just desperately staying afloat | 0:01:38 | 0:01:41 | |
cos I don't want to put my foot in anything slippery. | 0:01:41 | 0:01:44 | |
And Adam helps herd sheep down the slopes off the Lake District. | 0:01:44 | 0:01:48 | |
Hey, hey, hey. Come on, sheep. | 0:01:48 | 0:01:50 | |
At the heart of the Cairngorms National Park in the eastern Highlands | 0:01:58 | 0:02:01 | |
is the Rothiemurchus estate. | 0:02:01 | 0:02:03 | |
More than ten million trees in a natural forest, | 0:02:03 | 0:02:07 | |
and the fastest flowing river in Scotland. | 0:02:07 | 0:02:09 | |
But facts and figures only hint at its beauty. | 0:02:09 | 0:02:13 | |
This is the place to get away from it all, | 0:02:13 | 0:02:16 | |
to hear the sound of silence, | 0:02:16 | 0:02:18 | |
and even on a summer's day like this, when it's raining | 0:02:18 | 0:02:22 | |
and the clouds are crashing into the mountains, | 0:02:22 | 0:02:25 | |
it's quite magnificent. | 0:02:25 | 0:02:27 | |
And hardly surprising that one of the most iconic images of Scotland | 0:02:27 | 0:02:31 | |
the Monarch Of The Glen, was painted only a couple of miles from here, | 0:02:31 | 0:02:35 | |
by Sir Edwin Landseer exactly 160 years ago. | 0:02:35 | 0:02:40 | |
And things have hardly changed. | 0:02:40 | 0:02:42 | |
Since the 16th century, the estate has been in passed down | 0:02:42 | 0:02:46 | |
through the Grant family. | 0:02:46 | 0:02:48 | |
The 17th laird of Rothiemurchus is Johnnie Grant. | 0:02:48 | 0:02:52 | |
This is a fantastic skyline. Are you laird of all you survey here? | 0:02:52 | 0:02:57 | |
I'm not so much laird over it, | 0:02:57 | 0:03:00 | |
I'm responsible for most of what you see here, yes. | 0:03:00 | 0:03:03 | |
Presumably, over the centuries, | 0:03:03 | 0:03:05 | |
the responsibilities changed, really, for a place like this? | 0:03:05 | 0:03:08 | |
Hugely. | 0:03:08 | 0:03:10 | |
Back in the 16th century, the laird was kind of next to king, really, | 0:03:10 | 0:03:15 | |
was responsible for everything, up until the 19th century. | 0:03:15 | 0:03:18 | |
If people starved, it was the laird's fault. | 0:03:18 | 0:03:20 | |
So, you know, big responsibilities in the old days. | 0:03:20 | 0:03:23 | |
Now what we're interested in here at Rothiemurchus is biodiversity. | 0:03:23 | 0:03:27 | |
In terms of wildlife and nature, | 0:03:27 | 0:03:29 | |
we are signed up to international agreements | 0:03:29 | 0:03:32 | |
by which we actually have to keep this place in improving condition. | 0:03:32 | 0:03:36 | |
And that is a major responsibility, | 0:03:36 | 0:03:38 | |
especially when you have large numbers of people | 0:03:38 | 0:03:41 | |
who want to come and enjoy it. | 0:03:41 | 0:03:42 | |
It may be in private hands, | 0:03:42 | 0:03:44 | |
but much of the land is accessible to the public. | 0:03:44 | 0:03:48 | |
Later, I'll be heading down the mountain | 0:03:48 | 0:03:50 | |
to see what's happening on the rivers | 0:03:50 | 0:03:52 | |
that criss-cross the estate. | 0:03:52 | 0:03:54 | |
As you've heard, this part of Scotland | 0:03:54 | 0:03:56 | |
has the UK's third highest mountain, Braeriach, over there. | 0:03:56 | 0:04:01 | |
But in the shadow of the highest peak in Wales, | 0:04:01 | 0:04:04 | |
Matt rode a train that lets gravity take the strain. | 0:04:04 | 0:04:08 | |
The summit of Mount Snowdon marks the highest point in England and Wales. | 0:04:08 | 0:04:14 | |
It stands 3,560 feet above sea level | 0:04:14 | 0:04:18 | |
and sits within the Snowdonia National Park | 0:04:18 | 0:04:21 | |
in the north-west of Wales. | 0:04:21 | 0:04:23 | |
It's a breathtaking, mountainous landscape | 0:04:23 | 0:04:26 | |
and holds a special place the nation's heart. | 0:04:26 | 0:04:29 | |
But, here in Blaenau Ffestiniog | 0:04:32 | 0:04:34 | |
a new landscape has been formed, | 0:04:34 | 0:04:36 | |
not by ice, but by centuries of heavy industry. | 0:04:36 | 0:04:39 | |
These hills are formed by slate. | 0:04:39 | 0:04:43 | |
Slate has been mined in North Wales for hundreds of years, | 0:04:43 | 0:04:47 | |
and in the 19th century, over half the world's slate was Welsh. | 0:04:47 | 0:04:51 | |
Today, with open cast mining, slate production continues, | 0:04:51 | 0:04:55 | |
albeit on a much smaller scale. | 0:04:55 | 0:04:58 | |
These days, the slate produced is transported by lorries throughout Britain. | 0:04:58 | 0:05:04 | |
But back in the 19th century, | 0:05:04 | 0:05:06 | |
they had to solve the problem of transporting the slate from here, | 0:05:06 | 0:05:10 | |
13 miles to the ships which were waiting to transport them worldwide. | 0:05:10 | 0:05:14 | |
The solution was to build a railway, | 0:05:14 | 0:05:16 | |
but it was before the days of oil or steam, so they relied on gravity. | 0:05:16 | 0:05:21 | |
This engine is part of the Ffestiniog Railway, | 0:05:23 | 0:05:27 | |
hauling tourists through the breathtaking scenery of Snowdonia. | 0:05:27 | 0:05:30 | |
Originally, the railway was built to carry slate | 0:05:30 | 0:05:33 | |
from the quarries in Blaenau Ffestiniog to the port of Porthmadog. | 0:05:33 | 0:05:37 | |
And today we're going to recreate that very journey. | 0:05:37 | 0:05:40 | |
And while we can rely on gravity to take us down the mountain, | 0:05:40 | 0:05:44 | |
we need this beautiful steam engine to get us up there first. | 0:05:44 | 0:05:47 | |
None of this would be possible without a group of enthusiasts | 0:05:47 | 0:05:50 | |
who've spent months restoring the wagons. | 0:05:50 | 0:05:53 | |
-Is it full? -It is. -How are you? | 0:05:54 | 0:05:57 | |
-Hello, welcome. -Very impressive indeed. | 0:05:57 | 0:06:01 | |
Lovely little wagons these, aren't they? | 0:06:01 | 0:06:04 | |
Yes, these are the old wagons the railway used to ship the slate | 0:06:04 | 0:06:08 | |
from the quarries down to the port. | 0:06:08 | 0:06:10 | |
When the train is running down the hill by gravity | 0:06:10 | 0:06:14 | |
these guys have to work the brakes | 0:06:14 | 0:06:16 | |
and make sure the thing doesn't go zooming off. | 0:06:16 | 0:06:19 | |
-And that's what these levers are? -This is the very basic brakes. | 0:06:19 | 0:06:22 | |
And very effective they are, too. | 0:06:22 | 0:06:24 | |
Where's the best place for me, then? | 0:06:24 | 0:06:26 | |
I think the best place for you today, Matt, | 0:06:26 | 0:06:28 | |
is with our head brakes man, Iain, | 0:06:28 | 0:06:31 | |
who will be at the top end of the train. | 0:06:31 | 0:06:33 | |
Iain, how are you? What's the idea? Where shall I sit? | 0:06:33 | 0:06:36 | |
Because there isn't any seats. | 0:06:36 | 0:06:37 | |
There are no seats. | 0:06:37 | 0:06:38 | |
You sit on the side of the wagon, so get yourself up there. | 0:06:38 | 0:06:41 | |
And we can get off. | 0:06:41 | 0:06:43 | |
-We're off. -Yes. | 0:06:47 | 0:06:49 | |
Brake's off. | 0:06:49 | 0:06:50 | |
'150 years ago, horses would have taken the empty wagons up the hill | 0:06:59 | 0:07:03 | |
'where they would be loaded with slate from the quarry. | 0:07:03 | 0:07:06 | |
'Today, we're steaming along nicely, | 0:07:06 | 0:07:08 | |
'but soon, we'll be unhitched from the engine | 0:07:08 | 0:07:11 | |
'and gravity will take over.' | 0:07:11 | 0:07:13 | |
The steam engine has now decoupled so all of these 30 wagons | 0:07:19 | 0:07:23 | |
with us at the front are about to free-wheel down the hill. | 0:07:23 | 0:07:27 | |
Right, brakes off. | 0:07:29 | 0:07:30 | |
HORN | 0:07:33 | 0:07:36 | |
'I'm the privileged passenger on this 13-mile coast down to the sea, | 0:07:36 | 0:07:42 | |
'and while these seating is hardly first class, | 0:07:42 | 0:07:45 | |
'riding the gravity train is by invitation only.' | 0:07:45 | 0:07:47 | |
It is quite an odd feeling as you feel it getting faster and faster. | 0:07:49 | 0:07:55 | |
It feels like a roller-coaster. | 0:07:55 | 0:07:56 | |
You want to put your hands up in the air. | 0:07:56 | 0:07:59 | |
HORN | 0:07:59 | 0:08:02 | |
That was a lovely little tinkle, that one. | 0:08:02 | 0:08:06 | |
Oh, yes. We were saving that one. | 0:08:06 | 0:08:09 | |
Oh, we're moving now, we're moving now! | 0:08:14 | 0:08:16 | |
Porthmadog, here we come! | 0:08:16 | 0:08:18 | |
Oh, look at that view! | 0:08:18 | 0:08:22 | |
Oh, there's something wonderful about this kind of travel, you know. | 0:08:27 | 0:08:31 | |
Everybody's on the side, waving away, | 0:08:31 | 0:08:34 | |
-we're just zipping through the countryside. -All aboard? | 0:08:34 | 0:08:37 | |
-Is that Snowdon over there? -Yeah, the peak up there, that's Snowdon. | 0:08:44 | 0:08:49 | |
Right, so, here we are, then. Our destination, the end of the line. | 0:08:49 | 0:08:52 | |
We can put the brakes on fully, come to a grinding halt. | 0:08:52 | 0:08:56 | |
We've dropped about 200 metres from the very top, gradual gradient, | 0:08:58 | 0:09:02 | |
all the way down here to Porthmadog. | 0:09:02 | 0:09:04 | |
The destination...of the slate. | 0:09:04 | 0:09:07 | |
And... that... is it. | 0:09:09 | 0:09:14 | |
-Lovely. Iain, thanks ever so much. -Thank you. -Super braking. | 0:09:14 | 0:09:18 | |
The railway remains a testament to the generations of people | 0:09:18 | 0:09:22 | |
who dedicated their lives to exporting Welsh slate all over the world. | 0:09:22 | 0:09:26 | |
Rothiemurchus in the Cairngorms may be a private estate, | 0:09:28 | 0:09:31 | |
but it welcomes up to 400,000 visitors a year. | 0:09:31 | 0:09:35 | |
Most are attracted by the tranquil wilderness of the mountains, | 0:09:35 | 0:09:39 | |
lochs and rivers. | 0:09:39 | 0:09:40 | |
But it's a difficult balance between catering for tourists | 0:09:43 | 0:09:46 | |
and preserving the special landscape. | 0:09:46 | 0:09:49 | |
Everything we do | 0:09:49 | 0:09:51 | |
is to enable people to enjoy Rothiemurchus | 0:09:51 | 0:09:54 | |
in a way which helps us look after it. | 0:09:54 | 0:09:56 | |
-So, opening up the estate to visitors creates jobs for people. -Yes. | 0:09:56 | 0:10:00 | |
Presumably, this is all very useful | 0:10:00 | 0:10:02 | |
when it comes to raising money to keep the estate going? | 0:10:02 | 0:10:05 | |
That's a huge struggle. It's how do you look after, | 0:10:05 | 0:10:08 | |
and pay for conservation? You can't have environmental sustainability | 0:10:08 | 0:10:12 | |
unless you have economic and social sustainability. | 0:10:12 | 0:10:15 | |
But I think that if we can go on enabling people to enjoy the right thing here | 0:10:15 | 0:10:20 | |
in the right way, it'll be something which actually, hopefully, will be the answer | 0:10:20 | 0:10:25 | |
to how you keep it looking really special. | 0:10:25 | 0:10:28 | |
Well, a more traditional way of having fun in a river, | 0:10:29 | 0:10:32 | |
especially on a hot day, which this one isn't, is to go for a dip. | 0:10:32 | 0:10:36 | |
And Matt and Julia went wild swimming in Oxfordshire. | 0:10:36 | 0:10:40 | |
I'm going to find out what attracts people to wild swimming for fun | 0:10:42 | 0:10:46 | |
while Matt takes to the water with the river swimming convert, Karen Pickering | 0:10:46 | 0:10:50 | |
who's best known for winning medals in indoor pools. | 0:10:50 | 0:10:53 | |
So, Robert, what is the difference between wild swimming | 0:10:53 | 0:10:56 | |
and gentle, family river swimming? | 0:10:56 | 0:10:59 | |
Well, I think gentle, family river swimming is wild swimming. | 0:10:59 | 0:11:03 | |
I mean, there's all kinds of wild swimming you could do. | 0:11:03 | 0:11:06 | |
Very hardy swimming in the winter, | 0:11:06 | 0:11:09 | |
but basically, wild swimming is not concrete, not chlorine. | 0:11:09 | 0:11:12 | |
And what is it about swimming in a river that's so intoxicating? | 0:11:12 | 0:11:16 | |
Well, just look here. You've got sunshine, you've got trees, | 0:11:16 | 0:11:20 | |
you've got live water coming down. | 0:11:20 | 0:11:22 | |
But before you take the plunge, you want to make sure the water's clean. | 0:11:22 | 0:11:27 | |
The Environment Agency grade rivers for cleanliness. A is the best. | 0:11:27 | 0:11:31 | |
This is probably B. | 0:11:31 | 0:11:34 | |
-Pretty clean. -For a lowland river, pretty good. | 0:11:34 | 0:11:37 | |
You also need to check that it's safe. | 0:11:37 | 0:11:40 | |
The easiest thing to do is to find a local swimmer | 0:11:40 | 0:11:43 | |
who will tell you what the hazards are, | 0:11:43 | 0:11:46 | |
and preferably go in front of you. | 0:11:46 | 0:11:49 | |
I'm not going to be taking any risks so I've enlisted the help of Karen Pickering, | 0:11:49 | 0:11:53 | |
four-times world swimming champion, | 0:11:53 | 0:11:56 | |
who, today, has swapped the pool for the river. | 0:11:56 | 0:11:59 | |
-Well, Karen, we are fully suited up here, aren't we? -Yeah. | 0:11:59 | 0:12:02 | |
I'm sure people watching this at home are thinking, | 0:12:02 | 0:12:05 | |
"What does it matter? I used to jump in there in my pants." | 0:12:05 | 0:12:08 | |
But we're fully suited, and you always wear this when you wild swim. | 0:12:08 | 0:12:12 | |
When kids come into the water, and on a beautiful day like this, | 0:12:12 | 0:12:15 | |
they don't feel the cold and they're out on the side, drying off, and it's fine. | 0:12:15 | 0:12:19 | |
But if you're in the water for any length of time, | 0:12:19 | 0:12:21 | |
even when it feels comfortable like this, | 0:12:21 | 0:12:24 | |
you'll be grateful you've got a wetsuit on | 0:12:24 | 0:12:26 | |
as it's surprising how quickly you can lose heat and that's when you can get into difficulty. | 0:12:26 | 0:12:31 | |
So, Robert's leading the way. | 0:12:31 | 0:12:33 | |
'I'm only going in for a short splash around, so no wet suit for me.' | 0:12:33 | 0:12:37 | |
SHOUTING | 0:12:37 | 0:12:39 | |
Way! | 0:12:41 | 0:12:42 | |
The only thing is, you don't quite know what's under your feet | 0:12:51 | 0:12:56 | |
so I'm just desperately staying afloat | 0:12:56 | 0:13:00 | |
because I don't want to put my foot in anything slippery. | 0:13:00 | 0:13:04 | |
Is the visibility sometimes a problem? | 0:13:12 | 0:13:15 | |
That was probably one of the biggest shocks I had | 0:13:15 | 0:13:18 | |
when I first swam in a river because I couldn't see my hand, | 0:13:18 | 0:13:21 | |
I'm used to seeing the bottom of the pool. | 0:13:21 | 0:13:24 | |
For you, then, you know, looking at this seriously, | 0:13:24 | 0:13:27 | |
do you just get your head down, just swim for miles? | 0:13:27 | 0:13:30 | |
You've just got to be careful | 0:13:30 | 0:13:32 | |
because the river changes every day, so you don't know which bits are deep, | 0:13:32 | 0:13:36 | |
you're not sure what's underneath. There might be swans, | 0:13:36 | 0:13:39 | |
they can get a bit angry. You've got to look out for fishermen, boats. | 0:13:39 | 0:13:44 | |
So you have to be really aware and be sensible. | 0:13:44 | 0:13:47 | |
We're swimming breaststroke because were talking, | 0:13:47 | 0:13:49 | |
-but would you have your head down doing front crawls for a couple of miles? -Absolutely. | 0:13:49 | 0:13:54 | |
The fastest stroke is front crawl so if you're racing, it's the best stroke to do. | 0:13:54 | 0:13:58 | |
If you're having fun and enjoying yourself, then it doesn't matter. | 0:13:58 | 0:14:02 | |
It's lovely. And it helps with the wetsuit, | 0:14:02 | 0:14:05 | |
-doesn't half keep you afloat. -Absolutely. -I'm not even kicking. | 0:14:05 | 0:14:09 | |
It keeps you warm and it's added safety because they're so buoyant. | 0:14:09 | 0:14:13 | |
As well as safety, there are also some legal considerations. | 0:14:13 | 0:14:17 | |
In Scotland, you can swim in any river as long as you behave responsibly. | 0:14:17 | 0:14:22 | |
Elsewhere, you mustn't trespass on private land, | 0:14:22 | 0:14:25 | |
and in only 4% of rivers, | 0:14:25 | 0:14:26 | |
is the right to swim undisputed. | 0:14:26 | 0:14:29 | |
So, if in any doubt, check with the landowner. | 0:14:29 | 0:14:32 | |
The water is so invigorating, really fresh. It feels lovely and clear. | 0:14:37 | 0:14:43 | |
Silky smooth and cold on the body. Really makes you feel alive. | 0:14:43 | 0:14:48 | |
I'm swimming against the tide now. Good exercise, too. | 0:14:48 | 0:14:52 | |
I wonder how Matt's getting on. | 0:14:59 | 0:15:01 | |
Seems he's got a bit of a race on his hands. | 0:15:01 | 0:15:04 | |
I've got a challenge on here. Karen's not using her arms. | 0:15:04 | 0:15:08 | |
He still loses. | 0:15:12 | 0:15:14 | |
Well, come on, she is four-times world champion. | 0:15:15 | 0:15:19 | |
Oh, well! | 0:15:19 | 0:15:22 | |
Coming up on Countryfile, Julia has designs on an Italian classic. | 0:15:24 | 0:15:29 | |
Tasty. | 0:15:29 | 0:15:31 | |
James discovers a new treatment, made from an age-old Welsh symbol. | 0:15:31 | 0:15:36 | |
And we'll have the weather forecast for the week ahead. | 0:15:36 | 0:15:39 | |
From beautiful rivers to our highest mountains, | 0:15:47 | 0:15:51 | |
we're revisiting some Countryfile highlights. | 0:15:51 | 0:15:54 | |
-'Trying to find a woman missing...' -Both can be dangerous places to be, | 0:15:54 | 0:15:58 | |
especially in cold weather, as Ellie discovered | 0:15:58 | 0:16:01 | |
in the Lake District back in the winter. | 0:16:01 | 0:16:04 | |
I'm here to find out how visitors to this landscape are kept safe. | 0:16:06 | 0:16:09 | |
I'll be spending the day | 0:16:09 | 0:16:11 | |
with one of the region's 12 mountain rescue teams, | 0:16:11 | 0:16:14 | |
who between them, respond to more than 600 emergencies every year. | 0:16:14 | 0:16:19 | |
What kind of incidents do you get, Mike? | 0:16:19 | 0:16:21 | |
There's a huge variety of incidents. | 0:16:21 | 0:16:23 | |
You might just think it's climbers and mountaineers, | 0:16:23 | 0:16:27 | |
but the most frequent accidents are walkers, | 0:16:27 | 0:16:31 | |
twisted ankles and lower leg injuries. | 0:16:31 | 0:16:34 | |
There's a wide range of incidents happening in the mountains | 0:16:34 | 0:16:38 | |
because people are doing so many different things now. | 0:16:38 | 0:16:40 | |
-Can it be a case of life or death? -Absolutely, every team... | 0:16:40 | 0:16:43 | |
You join a mountain rescue team | 0:16:43 | 0:16:45 | |
because you think you're going to help and make a difference, | 0:16:45 | 0:16:49 | |
that's why people join mountain rescue teams. | 0:16:49 | 0:16:52 | |
I think it was 26 deaths in the Lake District mountains last year. | 0:16:52 | 0:16:56 | |
That's got to get into perspective to the thousands of people | 0:16:56 | 0:17:00 | |
actually out in the mountains. | 0:17:00 | 0:17:01 | |
One man who was lucky to escape with his life is Al. | 0:17:01 | 0:17:06 | |
Two years ago, he was at the centre of his own rescue drama, | 0:17:06 | 0:17:09 | |
after a climbing accident. | 0:17:09 | 0:17:10 | |
Today he's returning to the scene for the first time. | 0:17:10 | 0:17:14 | |
-This is the spot then. -Yes, I was climbing up there. | 0:17:14 | 0:17:18 | |
I was very close to the top when apparently I fell off | 0:17:18 | 0:17:21 | |
and I landed amongst the boulders just here. | 0:17:21 | 0:17:24 | |
-That's not a soft landing. Solid rocks. -Absolutely. | 0:17:24 | 0:17:28 | |
-That's an enormous height. -Probably about ten metres. | 0:17:28 | 0:17:34 | |
It's far enough to hurt. | 0:17:34 | 0:17:37 | |
That's an understatement. | 0:17:37 | 0:17:39 | |
Al was in a bad way with serious injuries. | 0:17:39 | 0:17:41 | |
Duddon and Furness mountain rescue gave him urgent medical attention | 0:17:41 | 0:17:45 | |
and organised an airlift. | 0:17:45 | 0:17:47 | |
Today, I'm going to find out first-hand what it's like to be rescued. | 0:17:51 | 0:17:56 | |
We're at Stickle Pike, one of the many peaks that tower above the valley, | 0:17:56 | 0:18:00 | |
to take part in a training exercise. | 0:18:00 | 0:18:02 | |
I'm going to put myself in the shoes of an injured walker who's fallen down a steep hill. | 0:18:04 | 0:18:09 | |
-OK? -Yes. I just have to lay out awkwardly. | 0:18:09 | 0:18:14 | |
Mike sends out an alert and the mountain rescue is scrambled. | 0:18:17 | 0:18:22 | |
At base, the team are gathering, | 0:18:22 | 0:18:24 | |
but all they've been given is a rough location for the injured walker. | 0:18:24 | 0:18:29 | |
Their job is to find me and get me off the mountain safely. | 0:18:29 | 0:18:32 | |
We've got a young lady fallen, near Stickle Pike, | 0:18:32 | 0:18:36 | |
on the side of the hill. | 0:18:36 | 0:18:38 | |
They're on their way, but the clock is ticking. | 0:18:38 | 0:18:41 | |
In cold weather, an injured person can develop signs | 0:18:41 | 0:18:44 | |
of hypothermia in less than an hour. | 0:18:44 | 0:18:46 | |
Not been here all that long and already I can feel the chill. | 0:18:46 | 0:18:50 | |
It's about four degrees today and not that windy, | 0:18:50 | 0:18:53 | |
but by sitting here and not moving, | 0:18:53 | 0:18:55 | |
the cold has started to seep into my bones. | 0:18:55 | 0:18:58 | |
Further down the valley and the rescue team are getting closer. Their vehicles can only get so far. | 0:19:01 | 0:19:07 | |
OK, have we got everything? Let's go. | 0:19:07 | 0:19:10 | |
The team are now on foot | 0:19:10 | 0:19:12 | |
and they don't have any detailed information about my location. | 0:19:12 | 0:19:17 | |
All they know is that I'm up here somewhere and they better start looking. | 0:19:17 | 0:19:21 | |
They're relying on just their eyes and ears, | 0:19:23 | 0:19:27 | |
but they know these mountains well | 0:19:27 | 0:19:29 | |
and it's not long before I'm spotted. | 0:19:29 | 0:19:31 | |
-I'm Ellie. -Hi. | 0:19:31 | 0:19:35 | |
Precise position of casualty is 100 metres west of summit cairn, over. | 0:19:35 | 0:19:39 | |
'Now the real work starts. | 0:19:39 | 0:19:41 | |
'My injured leg has to be made as secure as possible | 0:19:41 | 0:19:45 | |
'before I'm moved.' | 0:19:45 | 0:19:47 | |
Just so everybody knows, we've got a lower leg injury. | 0:19:47 | 0:19:50 | |
On the left, left leg, | 0:19:50 | 0:19:52 | |
so can we be as careful as we can to not make it any worse? Thank you. | 0:19:52 | 0:19:57 | |
'To make it as realistic as possible, | 0:19:57 | 0:19:59 | |
'I'm going to be lowered down on a stretcher.' | 0:19:59 | 0:20:02 | |
Ready? One, two, three, lift. | 0:20:05 | 0:20:07 | |
'But the rough terrain is going to make it tricky.' | 0:20:07 | 0:20:12 | |
Ready, steady... lift! Take it steady! | 0:20:12 | 0:20:16 | |
'It's a case of one step at a time.' | 0:20:16 | 0:20:19 | |
Stop, stop, get out the way. | 0:20:19 | 0:20:21 | |
Please get out of the way. | 0:20:21 | 0:20:23 | |
Just one more metre. | 0:20:25 | 0:20:27 | |
'And although there's nothing wrong with me, | 0:20:33 | 0:20:35 | |
'being cocooned like this makes me feel strangely vulnerable. | 0:20:35 | 0:20:39 | |
'But the team's hard graft pays off. | 0:20:39 | 0:20:42 | |
'After half an hour, we've made it back to the road. | 0:20:42 | 0:20:45 | |
'It's mission accomplished.' | 0:20:45 | 0:20:47 | |
That was an extraordinary journey. It's a real strange mix of emotions. | 0:20:47 | 0:20:51 | |
Feeling daft with people helping you, and then the journey itself. | 0:20:51 | 0:20:55 | |
You're really locked into a position, and you have to go to your happy place a bit. | 0:20:55 | 0:20:59 | |
Now, I just feel grateful that I've been in these | 0:20:59 | 0:21:02 | |
incredibly safe hands and I've been saved. | 0:21:02 | 0:21:04 | |
And I'm not even injured! It's amazing! | 0:21:04 | 0:21:07 | |
Well, if you don't want to brave the mountains like Ellie, | 0:21:07 | 0:21:12 | |
maybe fishing on Scotland's freshwater lochs and rivers is an easier bet. | 0:21:12 | 0:21:18 | |
It's worth 130 million a year to the economy, | 0:21:18 | 0:21:21 | |
and the Rothiemurchus Estate is a big draw for anglers. | 0:21:21 | 0:21:25 | |
Alf, one of the countryside rangers here is releasing | 0:21:25 | 0:21:29 | |
rainbow trout into one of the lochs. | 0:21:29 | 0:21:32 | |
There's around 100,000 of them swimming wild, here. | 0:21:32 | 0:21:35 | |
Some will be taken by anglers, | 0:21:35 | 0:21:38 | |
but others will be caught by another regular visitor here, the osprey. | 0:21:38 | 0:21:42 | |
The osprey is also known as the fish eagle, | 0:21:42 | 0:21:46 | |
and that's why it is doing well here | 0:21:46 | 0:21:47 | |
because of the abundance of food in the rivers and lochs. | 0:21:47 | 0:21:51 | |
Roy Dennis from the Highland Foundation For Wildlife | 0:21:53 | 0:21:56 | |
has been studying ospreys in this area for 50 years. | 0:21:56 | 0:21:59 | |
I've been following the populations | 0:21:59 | 0:22:02 | |
right from when we had one pair in 1960, | 0:22:02 | 0:22:04 | |
until now, we have about 240 pairs in Scotland. | 0:22:04 | 0:22:08 | |
They've re-colonised England and Wales. | 0:22:08 | 0:22:10 | |
But the other amazing thing is, in 1960, | 0:22:10 | 0:22:13 | |
we didn't even ring the chicks, | 0:22:13 | 0:22:15 | |
we were so worried, and they were so precious. | 0:22:15 | 0:22:18 | |
Nowadays, we have birds with satellite trackers that can | 0:22:18 | 0:22:21 | |
tell us where they are, anywhere in the world, every hour of the day. | 0:22:21 | 0:22:25 | |
So where do they go to when they leave the UK? | 0:22:25 | 0:22:29 | |
Well, this bird is almost certainly going to be one of the ones | 0:22:29 | 0:22:32 | |
who fish here this morning, is Red 80, | 0:22:32 | 0:22:36 | |
and he winters on the Casamance river in Southern Senegal. | 0:22:36 | 0:22:40 | |
And nowadays, we can tell the hour that he sets off to come over | 0:22:40 | 0:22:44 | |
the Sahara, back home. | 0:22:44 | 0:22:46 | |
But the really exciting thing, this spring, | 0:22:46 | 0:22:49 | |
is that for the very first time, | 0:22:49 | 0:22:51 | |
we have tracked a bird back at two years old. | 0:22:51 | 0:22:54 | |
So it came from Rothiemurchus, this estate, | 0:22:54 | 0:22:57 | |
went and lived in Senegal all last summer, grew up in Africa, | 0:22:57 | 0:23:02 | |
and then this late-spring it headed back. | 0:23:02 | 0:23:07 | |
And it should be here, | 0:23:07 | 0:23:08 | |
because male ospreys come back to where they were born. | 0:23:08 | 0:23:11 | |
As well as being havens for wildlife and anglers, some of our rivers - | 0:23:21 | 0:23:26 | |
like the Thames - are also favourite spots for sailors and boaters. | 0:23:26 | 0:23:30 | |
When Julia went to Windsor, she met a dynasty of boat-builders | 0:23:30 | 0:23:34 | |
who use the wood from the great oaks of the great park. | 0:23:34 | 0:23:38 | |
For centuries, wooden boat builders have lived and worked along the Thames, | 0:23:42 | 0:23:46 | |
catering for local gentry | 0:23:46 | 0:23:47 | |
and big events like the Henley Regatta. | 0:23:47 | 0:23:50 | |
In the 19th century, there would have been | 0:23:50 | 0:23:52 | |
about 600-boat builders in this vicinity. | 0:23:52 | 0:23:54 | |
Today, there's just a handful left, | 0:23:54 | 0:23:57 | |
but the enthusiasm for wooden boats is very much alive. | 0:23:57 | 0:24:00 | |
I'm meeting Robin Ford to find out more. | 0:24:00 | 0:24:03 | |
-Hi, Robin. -Hi, Julia. | 0:24:03 | 0:24:04 | |
We've lost the sun for a moment. | 0:24:04 | 0:24:08 | |
-Now, you're a boat enthusiast. -I am. | 0:24:08 | 0:24:10 | |
What's the big event for you guys? Is it the regatta? | 0:24:10 | 0:24:14 | |
It's not the regatta. I think the regatta is a fantastic event, | 0:24:14 | 0:24:18 | |
but the real event is the Thames Traditional Boat Rally, | 0:24:18 | 0:24:21 | |
which started about 34 years ago. | 0:24:21 | 0:24:23 | |
A group were worried about the craft disappearing. | 0:24:23 | 0:24:27 | |
The first rally was really just a barbecue and a party, 27 boats. | 0:24:27 | 0:24:31 | |
The next year they had 80. Now, we have 200. | 0:24:31 | 0:24:35 | |
One of the major supporters of that boat rally was Peter Freebody, | 0:24:35 | 0:24:40 | |
a prolific boat builder and a philanthropist. | 0:24:40 | 0:24:43 | |
He bought his boatyard in the early '60s at a time | 0:24:43 | 0:24:46 | |
when wooden boat building was declining completely, | 0:24:46 | 0:24:50 | |
and he hung on there and built a complete market for traditional craft. | 0:24:50 | 0:24:55 | |
-For storing them, maintaining them and building them. -He rebuilt the industry? | 0:24:55 | 0:24:59 | |
He rebuilt the industry pretty single-handedly. | 0:24:59 | 0:25:02 | |
Sadly, Peter passed away recently. | 0:25:04 | 0:25:07 | |
But examples of his excellent workmanship live on in his boatyard in Hurley. | 0:25:09 | 0:25:15 | |
This is Peter's legacy, and today it's his children | 0:25:19 | 0:25:22 | |
who are keeping the 300-year-old family tradition alive. | 0:25:22 | 0:25:26 | |
Richard and his sisters, along with a team of seven, | 0:25:29 | 0:25:32 | |
make and restore wooden boats just like their dad used to. | 0:25:32 | 0:25:35 | |
This is actually one of Dad's last completed dinghies that he built. | 0:25:38 | 0:25:44 | |
-Aw. -My dad's nickname for my mother was Duckie. | 0:25:44 | 0:25:48 | |
But this isn't his boat? | 0:25:48 | 0:25:49 | |
It wasn't his, it was for a customer, exactly. | 0:25:49 | 0:25:51 | |
That's lovely. She is beautiful. | 0:25:51 | 0:25:55 | |
So, Julia, here we've got basically the last boat | 0:25:58 | 0:26:01 | |
that Dad hadn't quite finished, | 0:26:01 | 0:26:04 | |
and I was working alongside him in the build of this. | 0:26:04 | 0:26:08 | |
You can see, he hasn't quite finished what we call riveting up the nails. | 0:26:08 | 0:26:12 | |
These are the timbers, and they would be steamed | 0:26:12 | 0:26:17 | |
and then moulded into position. | 0:26:17 | 0:26:20 | |
-What would this boat look like, in the end? -Identical to Duckie. | 0:26:20 | 0:26:24 | |
And you didn't go to engineering college, or university. | 0:26:24 | 0:26:27 | |
-You've done no formal course? -No, not at all. | 0:26:27 | 0:26:30 | |
Your dad passed it all down? | 0:26:30 | 0:26:32 | |
Absolutely. It's in the blood, and a lovely thing to be involved with. | 0:26:32 | 0:26:35 | |
You're probably not going to sell this boat. | 0:26:35 | 0:26:38 | |
But a boat like this, like Duckie, what sort of price are we talking? | 0:26:38 | 0:26:41 | |
12-foot dinghies go for around £12,000. | 0:26:41 | 0:26:44 | |
-£1,000 a foot? -That's it! | 0:26:44 | 0:26:46 | |
For wooden boat lovers, this place is like a sweetie shop. | 0:26:51 | 0:26:55 | |
There's something to suit every taste. | 0:26:55 | 0:26:57 | |
I've just spotted an Italian beauty that's in for restoration. | 0:26:57 | 0:27:03 | |
Ah. I'm not going to call you Richard, now. | 0:27:03 | 0:27:06 | |
I'm going to call you Ricardo. | 0:27:06 | 0:27:08 | |
Of all the boats, this would be the one for me. | 0:27:08 | 0:27:10 | |
They're something special. This is a 1965 Riva Ariston. | 0:27:10 | 0:27:14 | |
The fittings, everything about them is just spot on. | 0:27:14 | 0:27:20 | |
How much is this going to cost me, Ricardo? | 0:27:20 | 0:27:24 | |
Riva Ariston, in this condition, roundabout £130,000. | 0:27:24 | 0:27:28 | |
-Try it for size, Julia! Hop in. -OK. | 0:27:28 | 0:27:31 | |
Ah, tasty. Very tasty. | 0:27:35 | 0:27:38 | |
Now if I were to buy a boat, like businessman Lawrence Green has, | 0:27:39 | 0:27:43 | |
I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to take this on. | 0:27:43 | 0:27:46 | |
-So, Lawrence, you haven't owned a boat before? -Never, no. | 0:27:46 | 0:27:50 | |
-This is our first foray into boating. -This is your first boat? | 0:27:50 | 0:27:53 | |
Absolute first boat, yes. | 0:27:53 | 0:27:55 | |
-It's a Venetian water taxi. -Mm-hmm. | 0:27:55 | 0:27:57 | |
Richard tells me, the only one on the Thames. | 0:27:57 | 0:28:00 | |
I can understand, I can believe that! | 0:28:00 | 0:28:02 | |
What did it look like when you first laid eyes on it? | 0:28:02 | 0:28:05 | |
What made you fall in love with it? | 0:28:05 | 0:28:07 | |
It was in a warehouse | 0:28:07 | 0:28:09 | |
covered in at least an inch-and-a-half of dust. | 0:28:09 | 0:28:13 | |
But it needed saving, frankly. | 0:28:13 | 0:28:14 | |
-Can you drive a boat? -No. Not as yet. | 0:28:14 | 0:28:19 | |
Right. When's the first lesson? | 0:28:19 | 0:28:22 | |
Two weeks before this is launched. | 0:28:22 | 0:28:24 | |
THEY LAUGH | 0:28:24 | 0:28:27 | |
-So the L plates will be firmly on for a while! -Absolutely! | 0:28:27 | 0:28:30 | |
We're back to Wales now, to the Brecon Beacons, | 0:28:37 | 0:28:41 | |
where James Wong saw how hill farmers are growing, at altitude, | 0:28:41 | 0:28:45 | |
something that couldn't be more Welsh | 0:28:45 | 0:28:47 | |
to help combat the effects of Alzheimer's. | 0:28:47 | 0:28:51 | |
What you do think of when you think of Wales? It might be dragons. | 0:28:52 | 0:28:56 | |
It could be male voice choirs. | 0:28:56 | 0:29:00 | |
It might be rugby, which I was always a little bit rubbish at. | 0:29:00 | 0:29:03 | |
And of course, there's always the sheep. | 0:29:03 | 0:29:07 | |
But to me, as a confirmed plant geek, | 0:29:07 | 0:29:10 | |
the one thing I think of is the humble daffodil. | 0:29:10 | 0:29:14 | |
But there is more to this Welsh icon than meets the eye - | 0:29:15 | 0:29:20 | |
or in this case, the mind. | 0:29:20 | 0:29:22 | |
The daffodil produces many chemicals, one of which is galantamine. | 0:29:22 | 0:29:27 | |
The drug, originally found in wild snowdrops, combats Alzheimer's, | 0:29:27 | 0:29:32 | |
the most common cause of dementia. | 0:29:32 | 0:29:35 | |
But it's expensive, and difficult to make. | 0:29:35 | 0:29:39 | |
The Stephens family farmed predominantly sheep until 2004, | 0:29:40 | 0:29:45 | |
when they decided to try growing daffs | 0:29:45 | 0:29:47 | |
as an alternative source of the drug. | 0:29:47 | 0:29:50 | |
My son decided he wanted to be a farmer when he grew up, | 0:29:50 | 0:29:53 | |
and hill farming is not a really commercial, | 0:29:53 | 0:29:57 | |
viable alternative going forward, | 0:29:57 | 0:30:01 | |
so I was looking for diversification opportunities for a Welsh hill farm. | 0:30:01 | 0:30:04 | |
We're off the beaten track, there's no passing trade, a farm shop wouldn't work, | 0:30:04 | 0:30:10 | |
we needed a crop that had an industrial application. | 0:30:10 | 0:30:14 | |
Presumably, the conditions here mean the things you can grow are limited. | 0:30:14 | 0:30:18 | |
It's full of stones, high altitude, | 0:30:18 | 0:30:20 | |
so it's cold, not the easiest place to plough and cultivate. | 0:30:20 | 0:30:24 | |
You're right. Some daffodil-growing experts | 0:30:24 | 0:30:26 | |
have considered me to be mad, but I'm not growing daffodils, I'm growing galanthamine. | 0:30:26 | 0:30:33 | |
What's the market like for the product? | 0:30:33 | 0:30:35 | |
Currently, the market is worth about 8 billion. | 0:30:35 | 0:30:39 | |
The problem with Alzheimer's disease is it's increasing at a terrific rate. | 0:30:39 | 0:30:45 | |
That's set to double in the next 20 years, then again the following 20 years. | 0:30:45 | 0:30:48 | |
Anything that can tackle those numbers has to be a good thing. | 0:30:48 | 0:30:53 | |
Galanthamine is only found in a few varieties of daffodil, | 0:30:57 | 0:31:01 | |
and only in significant quantities when it's grown at altitude. | 0:31:01 | 0:31:05 | |
This stresses the plant and causes it to produce the chemical. | 0:31:05 | 0:31:08 | |
The smell of some of these varieties is really intoxicating. | 0:31:10 | 0:31:14 | |
The thing is, I wouldn't be tempted to start knocking up a home remedy out of these, | 0:31:14 | 0:31:20 | |
because they are extremely toxic. | 0:31:20 | 0:31:24 | |
Armed with my daffodils, I'm off to a trial site | 0:31:24 | 0:31:28 | |
high in the Brecon Beacons to meet Professor Trevor Walker. | 0:31:28 | 0:31:32 | |
His research has gone a long way | 0:31:32 | 0:31:34 | |
in treating some of the 465,000 people affected by Alzheimer's in the UK. | 0:31:34 | 0:31:41 | |
It looks like we've got a picnic set up here, Trevor. | 0:31:44 | 0:31:46 | |
What are we going to do? | 0:31:46 | 0:31:49 | |
We're going to see if there's any galanthamine in these varieties you've picked for us. | 0:31:49 | 0:31:53 | |
OK. | 0:31:53 | 0:31:55 | |
We'll cut these bulbs off. | 0:31:55 | 0:31:57 | |
We'll squeeze some juice out of them | 0:31:57 | 0:31:59 | |
and take that juice back for filtration. | 0:31:59 | 0:32:04 | |
So you're already looking for the presence of galanthamine in different plants. | 0:32:04 | 0:32:09 | |
What sparked off that hunch? | 0:32:09 | 0:32:12 | |
We had a eureka moment when the wife of a colleague was diagnosed | 0:32:12 | 0:32:17 | |
with Alzheimer's at the age of 58, | 0:32:17 | 0:32:19 | |
and we decided we'd do something about it, | 0:32:19 | 0:32:21 | |
we'd make galanthamine available as an anti-Alzheimer's drug, | 0:32:21 | 0:32:26 | |
to do something about the extortionate costs | 0:32:26 | 0:32:30 | |
and the tremendous cost of care. | 0:32:30 | 0:32:32 | |
If you could delay someone going into a home for a few years, | 0:32:32 | 0:32:36 | |
you've made a great saving. | 0:32:36 | 0:32:39 | |
-Look at that! Look at that! -That's absolutely perfect. | 0:32:39 | 0:32:42 | |
-We'll take that back to the girls at the labs. -That's enough? -Plenty. | 0:32:42 | 0:32:45 | |
You'd never think that bit of plant juice would contain such an important drug that can change lives. | 0:32:45 | 0:32:51 | |
Now, for the first time, the daffodil fields are able to commercially supply galanthamine. | 0:32:52 | 0:32:59 | |
Currently, people like Keith Worwood get the drug elsewhere. | 0:32:59 | 0:33:01 | |
He was diagnosed two years ago. | 0:33:01 | 0:33:03 | |
So how do you take galanthamine? Is it a pill or an injection? | 0:33:03 | 0:33:07 | |
It's a pill. It's a little thing, about that big. | 0:33:07 | 0:33:09 | |
Right. So a single pill day has this huge impact on your life? | 0:33:09 | 0:33:13 | |
It's unbelievable! Unbelievable. | 0:33:13 | 0:33:16 | |
The work these guys are doing here, growing these daffodils, | 0:33:16 | 0:33:19 | |
you think they just look pretty, but it's so important to so many people. | 0:33:19 | 0:33:23 | |
It is. Especially me! | 0:33:23 | 0:33:26 | |
You might think you'd need to trek into the Amazon | 0:33:35 | 0:33:38 | |
or into the heart of Siberia to find botanical cures for major diseases, | 0:33:38 | 0:33:42 | |
but who'd've thought the humble daff would be such a giant | 0:33:42 | 0:33:46 | |
at treating a debilitating disease that affects so many people? | 0:33:46 | 0:33:51 | |
Still to come, Matt and Julia explore the Fens by paddle board. | 0:33:56 | 0:33:59 | |
-Look at you! -It's all coming back to me now. | 0:34:01 | 0:34:03 | |
And we'll have the Countryfile weather forecast. | 0:34:03 | 0:34:07 | |
Here in Scotland, cool, clear water filters through the rocky Cairngorms. | 0:34:13 | 0:34:19 | |
But across the countryside, waterways have not always been so clean. | 0:34:19 | 0:34:23 | |
To Hampshire now, where Matt helped to put the finishing touches to a successful river restoration. | 0:34:23 | 0:34:29 | |
The River Itchen flows through the heart of historic Winchester | 0:34:30 | 0:34:34 | |
and on into the Hampshire countryside. | 0:34:34 | 0:34:37 | |
At 28 miles, it's much, much shorter than the Severn, | 0:34:39 | 0:34:42 | |
and it's nowhere near as famous as the Thames. | 0:34:42 | 0:34:45 | |
The river wasn't always this peaceful. | 0:34:45 | 0:34:49 | |
Centuries ago, a channel was opened up so ships could carry coal | 0:34:49 | 0:34:52 | |
and wool to and from Winchester. | 0:34:52 | 0:34:56 | |
Nature has since reclaimed these man-made sections of the river, | 0:34:56 | 0:34:59 | |
but at a price. | 0:34:59 | 0:35:01 | |
Large chunks of the banking have given way, and big stretches have become choked with weeds. | 0:35:01 | 0:35:06 | |
When Hampshire Wildlife Trust were looking for a special project to mark their 50th anniversary, | 0:35:06 | 0:35:11 | |
they thought what could be better than restoring this section of the river back to its former glory? | 0:35:11 | 0:35:16 | |
But it's certainly come with its challenges. | 0:35:16 | 0:35:19 | |
The project's costing around £2.5 million | 0:35:19 | 0:35:23 | |
and will take five years to complete. | 0:35:23 | 0:35:26 | |
Already, it's breathing new life into the river. | 0:35:26 | 0:35:29 | |
-Hi, how are you doing? -Hi. -So what's going on here, then? | 0:35:29 | 0:35:34 | |
Today, we're harvesting some plants from the opposite bank, | 0:35:34 | 0:35:37 | |
the section that gets overgrown. | 0:35:37 | 0:35:39 | |
We're taking them upstream and planting them | 0:35:39 | 0:35:41 | |
along some banks which we've recently repaired. | 0:35:41 | 0:35:45 | |
'And I'm here to do my bit.' | 0:35:45 | 0:35:47 | |
So it's on with the waders, a life-jacket, just in case, and off we go. | 0:35:47 | 0:35:52 | |
So what is so special about these reeds? | 0:35:52 | 0:35:55 | |
These plants are called sweetgrass. | 0:35:55 | 0:35:59 | |
They're going to be really good for binding the banks together | 0:35:59 | 0:36:03 | |
and preventing erosion in the future. | 0:36:03 | 0:36:05 | |
Yeah. And how much of this are you taking out? | 0:36:05 | 0:36:08 | |
From this section, we've got two or three truckloads, but lots of plants from elsewhere as well, | 0:36:08 | 0:36:13 | |
and we've got about a kilometre of bank upstream that we need to plant up, so we do need a lot of plants. | 0:36:13 | 0:36:18 | |
Yeah. | 0:36:18 | 0:36:19 | |
And that's where I'm off to with my basket-load right now. | 0:36:19 | 0:36:22 | |
John, how're you doing? This is a lovely little site. It's like a floating wheelbarrow. | 0:36:22 | 0:36:29 | |
'John Millican's an engineer who's bringing his skills to the restoration project.' | 0:36:29 | 0:36:33 | |
This is great! | 0:36:33 | 0:36:36 | |
'This bit of the river is teeming with wildlife, | 0:36:36 | 0:36:40 | |
'thanks to the army of volunteers helping make the difference.' | 0:36:40 | 0:36:43 | |
OK, so to plant this down, we just make a little... | 0:36:43 | 0:36:47 | |
It's like putting plants in your own garden. | 0:36:47 | 0:36:51 | |
Just make sure it's nice and secure. | 0:36:51 | 0:36:54 | |
-OK. This is some of the stuff that... -The Glyceria that you took earlier. | 0:36:54 | 0:36:59 | |
Looks quite messy, but believe me, this will do very well. | 0:36:59 | 0:37:02 | |
These plants tie the whole bank together. | 0:37:02 | 0:37:05 | |
They're almost nature's glue. | 0:37:05 | 0:37:08 | |
They'll stop the bank from becoming eroded | 0:37:08 | 0:37:10 | |
and produce a fantastic habitat for plants and lots of animals and birds. | 0:37:10 | 0:37:15 | |
-We had a poke around earlier before you turned up. -Oh, right. | 0:37:15 | 0:37:19 | |
-We've had some fish in these trays. -Oh, right! | 0:37:19 | 0:37:23 | |
-Oh, yeah, look at these! -There's several species here. | 0:37:26 | 0:37:32 | |
These really are terribly common. | 0:37:32 | 0:37:35 | |
-We've also got these. -Are those bottom feeders? -Those sit on the bottom, yeah. | 0:37:36 | 0:37:41 | |
Fantastic to see, to get this diversity of fish. | 0:37:41 | 0:37:45 | |
There's also trout and salmon and a host of coarse fish. | 0:37:45 | 0:37:49 | |
-Yeah. -In these chug streams. | 0:37:49 | 0:37:51 | |
But what is it like to own a piece of the queen of rivers? | 0:37:55 | 0:37:58 | |
I'm off to find out. | 0:37:58 | 0:38:02 | |
Anthony, how are you? | 0:38:02 | 0:38:03 | |
Very well. Very well. | 0:38:03 | 0:38:06 | |
I'm just trying out my rod. | 0:38:06 | 0:38:08 | |
It's an almost-new rod and a new line, and it's marvellous. | 0:38:08 | 0:38:11 | |
I've done a quick up and down the river to check how things are ready for the season. | 0:38:11 | 0:38:16 | |
-How did you come to own this stretch of river? -My father bought it at auction in 1970. | 0:38:16 | 0:38:21 | |
We did a lot of work when we took it over. | 0:38:21 | 0:38:24 | |
-It was all but full of shopping trolleys and prams, that sort of thing. -Was it really? -Yeah. | 0:38:24 | 0:38:29 | |
All but choked with weeds, but we did a lot of work, | 0:38:29 | 0:38:33 | |
and now for the last 40 years, the association has been maintaining it | 0:38:33 | 0:38:37 | |
and doing all the work in the river and on the banks. | 0:38:37 | 0:38:41 | |
What's the biggest fish you've caught in here? | 0:38:41 | 0:38:44 | |
-I guess that's what everyone asks! -Yeah, absolutely! | 0:38:44 | 0:38:47 | |
The biggest fish that's been caught by a family member or friend | 0:38:47 | 0:38:50 | |
was six and a half pounds, caught further down the river there, | 0:38:50 | 0:38:54 | |
-and I'm very envious. -Blimey! | 0:38:54 | 0:38:55 | |
'Thanks to the ongoing restoration, | 0:38:55 | 0:38:59 | |
'the Itchen will truly live up to its claim to be the queen of rivers.' | 0:38:59 | 0:39:03 | |
The Cairngorms National Park in the Eastern Scottish Highlands | 0:39:07 | 0:39:11 | |
is the biggest in Britain, twice the size of that in the Lake District. | 0:39:11 | 0:39:14 | |
With about a third of the park getting on for 3,000 feet above sea level, | 0:39:14 | 0:39:18 | |
its peaks have an arctic quality. Perfect for an animal we associate with Lapland and Christmas. | 0:39:18 | 0:39:25 | |
Reindeer lived in the Highlands up until around 8,000 years ago, when, | 0:39:25 | 0:39:30 | |
because of climate change or hunting or both, they became extinct. | 0:39:30 | 0:39:36 | |
Now, they're back again. | 0:39:36 | 0:39:37 | |
It's the only place in Britain where you can see them in their natural habitat. | 0:39:37 | 0:39:42 | |
They were reintroduced in the 1950s by a Swedish reindeer expert | 0:39:42 | 0:39:47 | |
who brought them here to the Rothiemurchus estate. | 0:39:47 | 0:39:50 | |
-So reindeers aren't just for Christmas? -They certainly aren't! | 0:39:50 | 0:39:54 | |
We have them all year round. | 0:39:54 | 0:39:56 | |
They look a bit scruffy at the moment, if I may say so. | 0:39:56 | 0:40:00 | |
They do, and you know why that is, | 0:40:00 | 0:40:02 | |
they've got such a big, thick winter coat, and that's got to come off to reveal a dark summer coat underneath. | 0:40:02 | 0:40:08 | |
Their antlers are getting furry. | 0:40:08 | 0:40:09 | |
They are, they've got their velvet antlers that've grown from nothing. | 0:40:09 | 0:40:13 | |
Nothing to this height in a couple of months. | 0:40:13 | 0:40:15 | |
They'll be fully grown in a couple of months. | 0:40:15 | 0:40:18 | |
So, these are... | 0:40:18 | 0:40:20 | |
Everybody gets covered in reindeer hair this time of year! | 0:40:20 | 0:40:24 | |
-Are these males? -Yes, they are. These are all males. | 0:40:24 | 0:40:28 | |
Some are young, like a year old, and some are mature males | 0:40:28 | 0:40:31 | |
we have trained to harness and can pull sleighs and do Christmas for us. | 0:40:31 | 0:40:34 | |
So where are the girls, then? | 0:40:34 | 0:40:36 | |
The girls are up on the high tops, in the mist with their young calves. | 0:40:36 | 0:40:39 | |
They seem to do better on the higher ground at this time of year. | 0:40:39 | 0:40:43 | |
They're suckling their calves. The calves are getting the good, natural vegetation. | 0:40:43 | 0:40:47 | |
At Christmas, they're used as Santa's reindeer around the country. | 0:40:47 | 0:40:51 | |
They are. These big guys here with their lovely antlers, | 0:40:51 | 0:40:55 | |
beautiful in their red harness. | 0:40:55 | 0:40:57 | |
Harness them up and off we go. | 0:40:57 | 0:40:58 | |
You'll have to feed one. They've got really soft noses. I'll give you a bit of food. | 0:40:58 | 0:41:03 | |
Thank you very much. There you are. | 0:41:03 | 0:41:04 | |
-And I'll see you next Christmas with Santa! -That's right! | 0:41:04 | 0:41:10 | |
And how about this for a set of antlers? | 0:41:24 | 0:41:27 | |
It's great to see reindeer back again in the Scottish Highlands. | 0:41:27 | 0:41:31 | |
For centuries, Herdwick sheep have grazed the slopes of the Lake District, | 0:41:31 | 0:41:36 | |
and Adam went to help one farmer | 0:41:36 | 0:41:38 | |
bring his herd down for their annual shearing. | 0:41:38 | 0:41:42 | |
Lying in the south of the Lake District, | 0:41:43 | 0:41:45 | |
Coniston Water is flanked by dramatic fells and countryside | 0:41:45 | 0:41:50 | |
and it's home to a rather woolly character. | 0:41:50 | 0:41:52 | |
Herdwick sheep are an icon of the Lake District, | 0:41:52 | 0:41:55 | |
and are vital in helping shape this landscape. | 0:41:55 | 0:41:58 | |
The Fells rise up to 2,500 feet, and the Herdwicks can roam across | 0:41:58 | 0:42:02 | |
thousands of acres, so rounding them up is different to working on | 0:42:02 | 0:42:06 | |
my farm in the Cotswolds, | 0:42:06 | 0:42:07 | |
where the fields are relatively flat and small. | 0:42:07 | 0:42:10 | |
Anthony Hartley is the fourth generation of his family to run this Herdwick flock. | 0:42:16 | 0:42:21 | |
95% of all Herdwick sheep are found around the Coniston Fells. | 0:42:21 | 0:42:25 | |
So these sheep have a huge responsibility for the way this place looks. | 0:42:29 | 0:42:32 | |
They do, yeah. They keep it looking like it is. | 0:42:32 | 0:42:35 | |
-Keeping it grazed. -All those little grazing mouths. -That's right. | 0:42:35 | 0:42:40 | |
How many sheep have you got? | 0:42:40 | 0:42:42 | |
Um, well, about 1,200 ewes. | 0:42:42 | 0:42:45 | |
Crikey, it's quite a flock. | 0:42:45 | 0:42:48 | |
So when you're gathering the Fell, you do a little at a time, really. | 0:42:50 | 0:42:54 | |
We do. Two of us gather together, and we just gather a section we can manage between us | 0:42:54 | 0:43:00 | |
to gather the sheep off that area. | 0:43:00 | 0:43:02 | |
-What have we got here today? Couple of hundred? -About 200, yeah. | 0:43:02 | 0:43:07 | |
And their hardiness, a lot of it is to do with the fleece. | 0:43:07 | 0:43:10 | |
It is, yeah. It keeps them warm. It's like got two layers on. | 0:43:10 | 0:43:13 | |
When you open into it, you can't see through to the skin. | 0:43:13 | 0:43:16 | |
A jacket and a waistcoat, we call it! That keeps the weather out. | 0:43:16 | 0:43:20 | |
It's amazing. Anthony's like a mountain goat, the way he runs around, | 0:43:25 | 0:43:29 | |
and sheep know all the nooks and crannies to hide in! | 0:43:29 | 0:43:32 | |
I'm going to whiz over here and get these. | 0:43:32 | 0:43:34 | |
Hey, hey! | 0:43:39 | 0:43:40 | |
HE WHISTLES Come on, sheep! | 0:43:40 | 0:43:41 | |
Anthony has called in freelance shearers | 0:43:50 | 0:43:52 | |
to give his sheep their annual buzz cut. | 0:43:52 | 0:43:55 | |
It's incredible watching these guys shearing. They're so fast. | 0:43:58 | 0:44:01 | |
I always struggle with shearing, so this is my chance | 0:44:03 | 0:44:07 | |
to improve my technique with advice from an English champion. | 0:44:07 | 0:44:10 | |
Pop that leg there like that. Just hold that one. | 0:44:11 | 0:44:14 | |
-Then straight down there like this? -Down the left side. | 0:44:14 | 0:44:17 | |
The Herdwicks are quite woolly, aren't they? | 0:44:17 | 0:44:22 | |
-OK. All right? -Yeah. | 0:44:22 | 0:44:25 | |
You'd've thought that coarse wool, you know, | 0:44:40 | 0:44:44 | |
that they'd be more difficult to shear, | 0:44:44 | 0:44:47 | |
-but it glides easily, doesn't it? -Yeah, they do, yeah. | 0:44:47 | 0:44:50 | |
I might give you a job! | 0:44:54 | 0:44:56 | |
Oh, there. Lucky sheep. | 0:45:01 | 0:45:03 | |
-This is really rough. -You'd've thought it'd be silky, but it's not. | 0:45:03 | 0:45:06 | |
It's like a scouring pad. | 0:45:06 | 0:45:09 | |
Does he go down that? Yeah. | 0:45:09 | 0:45:12 | |
What's this worth to you, then, this wool? | 0:45:21 | 0:45:24 | |
Um...they're paying us seven pence for the dark wool | 0:45:24 | 0:45:29 | |
and eight pence for the light fleeces. | 0:45:29 | 0:45:31 | |
-Goodness me. A kilo? -A kilo, yes. -And how heavy is a fleece? | 0:45:31 | 0:45:35 | |
Well, um, kilo, kilo and a half. Not much more than that. | 0:45:35 | 0:45:38 | |
-You're not getting much more than ten pence a fleece. -No. -Goodness me! | 0:45:38 | 0:45:42 | |
What do you pay the guys to shear them? | 0:45:42 | 0:45:45 | |
Um, around 80 pence to £1 a sheep. | 0:45:46 | 0:45:49 | |
-Crikey! So you're losing 70, 80 pence a sheep! -Yes, we are, yeah. | 0:45:49 | 0:45:54 | |
We shear them for the welfare of the sheep. | 0:45:54 | 0:45:58 | |
So what's the loss? If you've got a few thousand sheep and are losing, what, 70p a sheep... | 0:45:58 | 0:46:03 | |
-That's right, 70p a sheep. -£1,400. -That's right. It's a lot of money. | 0:46:03 | 0:46:07 | |
Amazing! | 0:46:07 | 0:46:08 | |
Why can't anything be done with it, just because it's so coarse? | 0:46:10 | 0:46:14 | |
Yeah, it's very coarse fibre and very difficult to dye, | 0:46:14 | 0:46:18 | |
so it's just carpet wool, really. | 0:46:18 | 0:46:21 | |
They use it for insulation as well. | 0:46:21 | 0:46:25 | |
As a way of farming, this all seems pretty unsustainable. | 0:46:26 | 0:46:30 | |
We need to find more ways of using British wool. | 0:46:30 | 0:46:33 | |
Right now, the very survival of the Herdwick sheep as a breed | 0:46:33 | 0:46:37 | |
relies on the dedication of hill farmers like Anthony. | 0:46:37 | 0:46:40 | |
The mountains of Scotland might be having their fair share | 0:46:42 | 0:46:45 | |
of rain this year, but elsewhere, we've had prolonged dry spells. | 0:46:45 | 0:46:49 | |
Parts of the country are still experiencing drought conditions. | 0:46:49 | 0:46:52 | |
It's leaving farmers praying for more rain. Whatever the weather, we're fascinated by it. | 0:46:52 | 0:46:58 | |
It's a national obsession. | 0:46:58 | 0:47:00 | |
Here, we like to think our forecast for the week ahead is one of the best on television. | 0:47:00 | 0:47:04 | |
It helps us decide whether to take a brolly or sun cream, or both. | 0:47:04 | 0:47:08 | |
Although we all talk a lot about the weather, how much do we understand? | 0:47:08 | 0:47:13 | |
Where do clouds come from? | 0:47:13 | 0:47:15 | |
Do we really get tornadoes in this country? | 0:47:15 | 0:47:19 | |
Where's the wettest spot, and where can we go for the most sunshine? | 0:47:19 | 0:47:22 | |
A brand new show to BBC One called The Great British Weather will reveal all. | 0:47:22 | 0:47:28 | |
It goes out this Wednesday at 7.30pm, | 0:47:28 | 0:47:30 | |
and I've been learning about it from three people in the know. | 0:47:30 | 0:47:34 | |
BBC weather presenter Carol Kirkwood, | 0:47:34 | 0:47:37 | |
BBC Breakfast's Chris Hollins | 0:47:37 | 0:47:40 | |
and comedian Alexander Armstrong. | 0:47:40 | 0:47:43 | |
So, a new weather show on BBC One instead of just a forecast. | 0:47:43 | 0:47:46 | |
That's right. It's a live show. We'll do it every week from a different location, | 0:47:46 | 0:47:50 | |
talking about a different weather topic as well in front of a live audience. | 0:47:50 | 0:47:54 | |
-A live audience? -Yes! -They kept that quiet! | 0:47:54 | 0:47:58 | |
It's a fascinating subject. We're all obsessed with weather. | 0:47:58 | 0:48:02 | |
All of us. We talk about it every day, don't we? None of us know what it holds. | 0:48:02 | 0:48:06 | |
-Steady on, Xander! -Oh, sorry! | 0:48:06 | 0:48:09 | |
But yeah, we're obsessed with it. | 0:48:09 | 0:48:13 | |
It's shaped our character, shaped our history. | 0:48:13 | 0:48:16 | |
It plays a massive part in our lives. | 0:48:16 | 0:48:18 | |
Stepping out of the safety of the BBC studio, Carol heads for the clouds. | 0:48:18 | 0:48:23 | |
Here we go! Ooh! Yee-ha! | 0:48:23 | 0:48:26 | |
It's just great! | 0:48:26 | 0:48:28 | |
Oh, I love this! | 0:48:28 | 0:48:30 | |
It's beautiful and cold and it's very windy. | 0:48:30 | 0:48:35 | |
-What were you doing that for?! -To collect one. If you watch the show, you'll find out how to make a cloud. | 0:48:35 | 0:48:42 | |
-We will help you. -Did you have a bottle to collect a cloud in? -Yes! | 0:48:42 | 0:48:46 | |
We scooped up that cloud. | 0:48:46 | 0:48:47 | |
Chris dons his walking boots to trek up Lake District Fells | 0:48:47 | 0:48:52 | |
in search of a good drenching in England's wettest place. | 0:48:52 | 0:48:55 | |
-When does it rain? 211 days every year. -Where's this? | 0:48:55 | 0:49:00 | |
In the Lake District, and we had a scorcher! | 0:49:00 | 0:49:03 | |
It was like, oh, no! | 0:49:03 | 0:49:04 | |
What about all these myths about the weather, Alexander? | 0:49:04 | 0:49:07 | |
We're going to try to uncover these myths. | 0:49:07 | 0:49:10 | |
How delightful for shepherds are red skies at night? Really? | 0:49:10 | 0:49:14 | |
What's the other one? Cows, do they sit down when it's about to rain? | 0:49:14 | 0:49:18 | |
-I think they're lazy. -They are! Lazy cows. It's a massive problem. | 0:49:18 | 0:49:22 | |
You missed out on a few adventures. Swimming with sharks. | 0:49:23 | 0:49:27 | |
-You've been swimming with basking sharks. -Yes. | 0:49:27 | 0:49:30 | |
Did you see any basking sharks? | 0:49:30 | 0:49:32 | |
Well... I can't tell you, John. | 0:49:32 | 0:49:34 | |
I can't tell you. You'll have to watch. We haven't given up yet, let's put it that way. | 0:49:34 | 0:49:38 | |
If someone said to me, I'd be looking for sharks in a wetsuit in the water, they'd be mad! | 0:49:38 | 0:49:44 | |
What have they got to do, basking sharks, with the weather? | 0:49:44 | 0:49:49 | |
All to do with the Gulf stream, that warms up the water | 0:49:49 | 0:49:52 | |
and that helps plankton to grow, and who feeds on plankton? | 0:49:52 | 0:49:55 | |
-Basking sharks! -They love it. -I got there in the end! -Well, sort of! | 0:49:55 | 0:50:01 | |
You can watch The Great British Weather | 0:50:01 | 0:50:04 | |
this Wednesday on BBC One at 7.30. | 0:50:04 | 0:50:06 | |
It's live, so let's hope they get some good weather. | 0:50:06 | 0:50:10 | |
Here's the main man, | 0:50:10 | 0:50:11 | |
getting in a bit of practise. | 0:50:11 | 0:50:12 | |
This is a real treat for me. | 0:50:12 | 0:50:14 | |
Thank you very much, John, a phrase that has passed into legend, much like the man himself. | 0:50:14 | 0:50:19 | |
Can't believe I'm about to say this, but if you're out and about in the next few days, | 0:50:19 | 0:50:23 | |
perhaps you'd like to know what the weather has in store. Here's the forecast for the week ahead. | 0:50:23 | 0:50:28 | |
. | 0:52:50 | 0:52:57 | |
The Cairngorms. Five of the six tallest mountains in Scotland. | 0:53:07 | 0:53:11 | |
All framed by still, glass-like waters. | 0:53:11 | 0:53:14 | |
It's been the perfect setting to look back at some memorable moments | 0:53:14 | 0:53:19 | |
that have taken us up to the highest peaks and down our most beautiful rivers. | 0:53:19 | 0:53:23 | |
There are no mountains in Cambridgeshire, but they do have plenty of water on the Fens. | 0:53:23 | 0:53:28 | |
And Matt and Julia found a great way to explore these man-made waterways. | 0:53:28 | 0:53:32 | |
The lodes, which criss-cross the fens with water, were once bustling, | 0:53:35 | 0:53:39 | |
transporting goods from the fenlands out to nearby Cambridge and Ely. | 0:53:39 | 0:53:43 | |
Nowadays, though, they are peaceful backwaters, a small oasis for budding sportsmen. | 0:53:43 | 0:53:50 | |
Right, I've got my shorts on, and I'm holding this paddle | 0:53:50 | 0:53:53 | |
cos I'm off for a different view of the Fens. | 0:53:53 | 0:53:56 | |
Not from a boat, but from a board. | 0:53:56 | 0:54:00 | |
Now, the surf certainly isn't near. | 0:54:00 | 0:54:03 | |
We're nearly 40 miles inland, but apparently, this is one of the best ways to see this place. | 0:54:03 | 0:54:07 | |
-Roly, how're you doing, all right? -Very well, thanks, Matt. | 0:54:07 | 0:54:11 | |
-Look at you, man of the reeds! -Yep. -Are you jumping on the side here? -Certainly am. | 0:54:11 | 0:54:15 | |
All right. | 0:54:15 | 0:54:17 | |
-Brilliant stuff. So this is a really unusual way of getting around. -Yeah. | 0:54:17 | 0:54:22 | |
I think when people see it for the first time, they're surprised, | 0:54:22 | 0:54:25 | |
but it's a fantastic way to see the Fen. | 0:54:25 | 0:54:28 | |
I fancy having a go. | 0:54:28 | 0:54:30 | |
I've got the board here. I want to learn how to do it. | 0:54:30 | 0:54:34 | |
Yeah, you're fine. Spread your feet out a bit now. | 0:54:34 | 0:54:38 | |
-That's pretty good, actually. -Keep your knees bent! | 0:54:38 | 0:54:43 | |
That's your first lesson about having straight legs. | 0:54:43 | 0:54:47 | |
Keep your knees bent and look ahead, you'll be fine. | 0:54:47 | 0:54:50 | |
-Quite responsive, isn't it? -Very much so. | 0:54:55 | 0:54:59 | |
If you keep paddling on that left-hand side as we go over those lilies, | 0:54:59 | 0:55:01 | |
just keep your knees bent, that's it, so if you look ahead, | 0:55:01 | 0:55:04 | |
you should be able to see down through the water as you go along. | 0:55:04 | 0:55:08 | |
-You should see the fish. -Oh, we're going, we're going! | 0:55:08 | 0:55:11 | |
-It's like a fish tank. -Yeah. | 0:55:15 | 0:55:17 | |
That's what most people say when I take them for a paddle. | 0:55:17 | 0:55:20 | |
It feels like you're floating over the top of a giant aquarium. | 0:55:20 | 0:55:25 | |
You must come across loads of wildlife as well, | 0:55:28 | 0:55:31 | |
-cos you sort of creep up, you're so silent. -Very much. | 0:55:31 | 0:55:36 | |
I think we get to paddle from spring through to autumn, | 0:55:36 | 0:55:40 | |
so you see all the migrating nature that comes through here. | 0:55:40 | 0:55:43 | |
What kind of big fish have you got in here? | 0:55:43 | 0:55:47 | |
We've got pike and perch, a lot of roach. | 0:55:47 | 0:55:52 | |
Occasionally, there'll be tench or carp along here. | 0:55:52 | 0:55:55 | |
Hey, talking of wildlife, look what we've got here! | 0:55:55 | 0:56:00 | |
A lesser spotted Bradbury! | 0:56:00 | 0:56:02 | |
-Hello, Baker boy! -How're you doing? | 0:56:02 | 0:56:04 | |
You're looking very good on that. He's got it all sorted out. | 0:56:04 | 0:56:07 | |
I knew he would have, a couple of hours, like a little otter! | 0:56:07 | 0:56:11 | |
I'm really enjoying it. You've had a little go. | 0:56:11 | 0:56:14 | |
I had about three minutes. | 0:56:14 | 0:56:15 | |
-It's a bit like being on a door on water. -Very much so. | 0:56:15 | 0:56:19 | |
-I wonder if it'll come flooding back to me. Do you reckon I'll go overboard? -Hang on. It's good. | 0:56:19 | 0:56:25 | |
-Right. -Are you on? -Feet wide apart, yeah? | 0:56:25 | 0:56:28 | |
-Bend the knees. There we go. -That's good. You're there, you're doing it. | 0:56:28 | 0:56:33 | |
-Yeah. -Hang on, I'll move back. -There we go. Avoid the lilies! Don't get caught. | 0:56:33 | 0:56:38 | |
-Look at you! -It's all coming back to me now. | 0:56:38 | 0:56:42 | |
-Where are we going to go? -Where do you want to go? | 0:56:42 | 0:56:45 | |
-Let's head up there. -Have you seen any eels? | 0:56:45 | 0:56:47 | |
I haven't, but it's like gliding along the top of an aquarium. | 0:56:47 | 0:56:53 | |
It's lovely. I could be wearing a long skirt to do this in. | 0:56:53 | 0:56:57 | |
That's about it from the special edition of Countryfile. | 0:56:59 | 0:57:03 | |
This is one of the most photographed views in Scotland. | 0:57:03 | 0:57:07 | |
Which reminds me, don't forget to enter our photographic competition with its theme of best in show. | 0:57:07 | 0:57:13 | |
You can find the details on our website. | 0:57:13 | 0:57:15 | |
Next week, we'll be in Bedfordshire, | 0:57:15 | 0:57:18 | |
exploring the landscape | 0:57:18 | 0:57:19 | |
that inspired John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. | 0:57:19 | 0:57:23 | |
Hope you can join us then. Goodbye. | 0:57:23 | 0:57:25 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:57:36 | 0:57:39 | |
E-mail [email protected] | 0:57:39 | 0:57:42 |
John Craven heads to the Cairngorms in Scotland to look back at some of the team's most memorable visits to the jewels of the British landscape - its rivers and mountains.
Matt Baker and Julia Bradbury discover the delights of wild swimming in Oxfordshire, while Adam Henson helps a Cumbrian farmer bring his Herdwick sheep down from the mountain for shearing.
James Wong is on the slopes of the Brecon Beacons learning about the medicinal properties of a Welsh icon, and Ellie Harrison discovers that amid all the beauty lurks danger when she goes out with the Lake District mountain rescue team.