Browse content similar to 26/06/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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The vast chalk grasslands of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. | 0:00:24 | 0:00:29 | |
Once, this land was at the heart of a powerful, prehistoric civilisation | 0:00:29 | 0:00:34 | |
that drew people from all over Europe. Those days are gone, | 0:00:34 | 0:00:37 | |
but much of the remains lie hidden, sometimes literally under our feet. | 0:00:37 | 0:00:42 | |
So how do you work land where, at any moment, | 0:00:42 | 0:00:45 | |
you could be unearthing a precious piece of our past? | 0:00:45 | 0:00:48 | |
I'll be finding out just how far we have to go to protect our heritage. | 0:00:48 | 0:00:52 | |
But it's not all about ancient history. | 0:00:56 | 0:01:00 | |
I'll be helping spruce up a newer addition to the landscape. | 0:01:00 | 0:01:03 | |
This beauty is younger than most of the monuments around here, | 0:01:03 | 0:01:07 | |
but the Cherhill White Horse is still in need of a bit of TLC. | 0:01:07 | 0:01:10 | |
Right, come on. Stamp on. That's it. | 0:01:10 | 0:01:12 | |
Naturally, I'll be on hand to give Matt some help, whether he likes it or not. | 0:01:12 | 0:01:17 | |
-Baker boy! -That'll be Little Miss Instruction. | 0:01:17 | 0:01:20 | |
Time for some hard work. Remember that? | 0:01:20 | 0:01:23 | |
I'll be investigating whether British farmers will be cashing in | 0:01:27 | 0:01:30 | |
on the rapidly-growing world demand for beef, | 0:01:30 | 0:01:33 | |
or losing out to foreign competition. | 0:01:33 | 0:01:36 | |
Also on Countryfile tonight... | 0:01:36 | 0:01:38 | |
a few months back, Adam's rare White Park cattle | 0:01:38 | 0:01:42 | |
were devastated by bovine TB. | 0:01:42 | 0:01:44 | |
-It's a reactor? -Yeah. -Oh, I can't believe it. | 0:01:44 | 0:01:47 | |
But now he's had the all-clear, | 0:01:47 | 0:01:50 | |
so it's off to a farm in Devon for a spot of shopping. | 0:01:50 | 0:01:53 | |
We need to pick out our favourites, and work out if we can afford it. | 0:01:53 | 0:01:57 | |
And I really like Kylie. | 0:01:57 | 0:01:59 | |
The Salisbury Plain. A stunning landscape in every way. | 0:02:12 | 0:02:16 | |
Famous for its rich archaeology, the plain boasts over 2,000 monuments, | 0:02:16 | 0:02:21 | |
some of them very familiar, some impressively large, and others just downright curious. | 0:02:21 | 0:02:26 | |
So living alongside all these amazing archaeological remains | 0:02:28 | 0:02:32 | |
isn't always easy. | 0:02:32 | 0:02:33 | |
How do archaeology, wildlife and farming lie together? | 0:02:33 | 0:02:37 | |
With the help of a chosen few, I'm going to dig a little deeper. | 0:02:39 | 0:02:42 | |
To do that, I'll need a farmer... | 0:02:42 | 0:02:44 | |
..a conservationist, | 0:02:45 | 0:02:48 | |
an archaeologist, | 0:02:48 | 0:02:49 | |
..and a badger. First up, archaeologist David Vaughan. | 0:02:50 | 0:02:55 | |
David, what are we standing on? | 0:02:55 | 0:02:57 | |
One of an impressive range of Bronze Age round barrows. | 0:02:57 | 0:03:00 | |
Burial chambers, basically, | 0:03:00 | 0:03:02 | |
that were built for important people about 4,000 years ago. | 0:03:02 | 0:03:05 | |
They actually form a part of a cemetery of about 18 in total. | 0:03:05 | 0:03:10 | |
Not all of them are upstanding, | 0:03:10 | 0:03:12 | |
but those that are are extra-special, | 0:03:12 | 0:03:14 | |
because they represent the five main types of burrows, | 0:03:14 | 0:03:17 | |
and that's a rare experience. | 0:03:17 | 0:03:19 | |
Archaeologists like David have done their best | 0:03:19 | 0:03:22 | |
to persuade our farmers not to plough too close to these barrows, | 0:03:22 | 0:03:25 | |
also known as tumuli. | 0:03:25 | 0:03:27 | |
There's another problem. | 0:03:27 | 0:03:28 | |
These ancient sites are slowly being eroded | 0:03:28 | 0:03:31 | |
by little fellas that live down here. | 0:03:31 | 0:03:33 | |
Badgers. | 0:03:33 | 0:03:34 | |
Our crew set up a couple | 0:03:35 | 0:03:37 | |
of mini-cameras, to capture any activity | 0:03:37 | 0:03:39 | |
over the last couple of days. | 0:03:39 | 0:03:41 | |
And this is what they got. | 0:03:41 | 0:03:44 | |
Now, I'm imagining that this is a problem for you, | 0:03:45 | 0:03:48 | |
because we're on this very important burial site. | 0:03:48 | 0:03:51 | |
Absolutely. It's interesting to see that footage. | 0:03:51 | 0:03:54 | |
The suggestion is there is only one badger, | 0:03:54 | 0:03:56 | |
and if that's true, then that in itself is a great success, | 0:03:56 | 0:04:00 | |
cos we had, initially, a family. Seven, maybe up to 15 at one point. | 0:04:00 | 0:04:03 | |
So to have just one left in these tumuli is a huge success. | 0:04:03 | 0:04:08 | |
Obviously, there's more to be done. | 0:04:08 | 0:04:11 | |
How have you been trying to move the badgers off | 0:04:11 | 0:04:14 | |
this very, very important site? | 0:04:14 | 0:04:17 | |
Well, this and another one, | 0:04:17 | 0:04:18 | |
we've worked in partnership with the farmer, Natural England | 0:04:18 | 0:04:22 | |
and English Heritage and ourselves, | 0:04:22 | 0:04:24 | |
to exclude the badgers through a series of initiatives. | 0:04:24 | 0:04:28 | |
The main one is the artificial sett, constructed about four years ago, | 0:04:28 | 0:04:31 | |
where we think now the badgers are mostly living. | 0:04:31 | 0:04:34 | |
We've encouraged them into that space | 0:04:34 | 0:04:36 | |
through a series of fences, one-way gates, all very sensitive. | 0:04:36 | 0:04:40 | |
The badgers are getting a bit wise, | 0:04:40 | 0:04:42 | |
and we've got a one-way gate which this little fella has dug around. | 0:04:42 | 0:04:46 | |
-So it's still a problem. -They're clever, aren't they? | 0:04:46 | 0:04:49 | |
They certainly are, | 0:04:49 | 0:04:50 | |
but it's a challenge they've given us for four, five years. | 0:04:50 | 0:04:54 | |
But on the whole, | 0:04:54 | 0:04:55 | |
-you've successfully relocated most of them? -We feel we have. | 0:04:55 | 0:04:59 | |
This one barrow, we had 60 sett entrances on | 0:04:59 | 0:05:02 | |
only a few months ago, | 0:05:02 | 0:05:03 | |
and through those initiatives, we've got about six. | 0:05:03 | 0:05:06 | |
There's still more work to be done, but it is a huge success. | 0:05:06 | 0:05:10 | |
David Shepherd farms this land, with all its historical wonders. | 0:05:11 | 0:05:17 | |
He works closely with the experts to keep it safe. | 0:05:17 | 0:05:19 | |
Did you know how significant these burial mounds were | 0:05:19 | 0:05:22 | |
from the beginning? | 0:05:22 | 0:05:23 | |
No, not initially. | 0:05:23 | 0:05:26 | |
It was only really when I was told that there are all the different types of tumuli in this group, | 0:05:26 | 0:05:32 | |
which apparently is quite rare to find them all together. | 0:05:32 | 0:05:36 | |
We always knew that we had to keep well clear of them | 0:05:36 | 0:05:39 | |
when the field was under cultivation, | 0:05:39 | 0:05:41 | |
which made it not the easiest field to cultivate. | 0:05:41 | 0:05:45 | |
And when did this field come out of arable production? | 0:05:45 | 0:05:48 | |
We took this out three years ago | 0:05:48 | 0:05:50 | |
and put it into this down-land reversion scheme. | 0:05:50 | 0:05:53 | |
And since then, the array of plants that have appeared out here | 0:05:53 | 0:05:58 | |
have been very surprising. | 0:05:58 | 0:06:00 | |
The government pay farmers like David | 0:06:00 | 0:06:03 | |
to grow native flowers and grasses | 0:06:03 | 0:06:06 | |
to help preserve our ancient pastures. | 0:06:06 | 0:06:09 | |
Thanks to David's work in this one field, | 0:06:09 | 0:06:11 | |
there could be as many as 60 species. | 0:06:11 | 0:06:13 | |
Steph Payne from Natural England has come to check on progress. | 0:06:13 | 0:06:16 | |
-Hi, Steph. -Hello. -What have we got here? | 0:06:16 | 0:06:20 | |
We've got hoary plantain, | 0:06:20 | 0:06:22 | |
which is a chalk grass and indicator species, | 0:06:22 | 0:06:25 | |
and it's really lovely, vanilla-scented, if you get down. | 0:06:25 | 0:06:28 | |
-OK, let me get down on my bum. -Yes! | 0:06:28 | 0:06:30 | |
-Oh, yes. That's lovely. -It's gorgeous. | 0:06:30 | 0:06:33 | |
And another one, this wild carrot, | 0:06:33 | 0:06:35 | |
which is great for insects when it flowers, | 0:06:35 | 0:06:37 | |
-and you can really smell the carrot smell. It smells like carrots. -Yeah! | 0:06:37 | 0:06:41 | |
-And then you've got... -I've seen this before. -Yeah. | 0:06:41 | 0:06:44 | |
Some people call it eggs and bacon. | 0:06:44 | 0:06:46 | |
-Yes. -Or there's bird's-foot trefoil, and that's good, | 0:06:46 | 0:06:49 | |
it's a food plant for the common blue butterfly, which I saw earlier. | 0:06:49 | 0:06:53 | |
So this is all wonderful stuff, isn't it? | 0:06:53 | 0:06:56 | |
Yeah, it's really good to see how well it's developed | 0:06:56 | 0:06:59 | |
in such a short period of time. | 0:06:59 | 0:07:01 | |
It's got a long way to go, but with the right management, | 0:07:01 | 0:07:04 | |
hopefully in the future... | 0:07:04 | 0:07:06 | |
It's already attracting a few different insects. | 0:07:06 | 0:07:09 | |
It's a tricky balance, isn't it? | 0:07:09 | 0:07:10 | |
The fauna, the flora, the ancient burial mounds, the badgers. | 0:07:10 | 0:07:14 | |
Yes, it is a very, very tricky balancing act. | 0:07:14 | 0:07:17 | |
But we are slowly getting there, | 0:07:17 | 0:07:19 | |
and we've had a lot of success | 0:07:19 | 0:07:21 | |
with the establishment of this grassland. | 0:07:21 | 0:07:23 | |
Good news for our grasslands and our ancient monuments which, | 0:07:23 | 0:07:26 | |
with a bit of luck, will live on for another 4,000 years. | 0:07:26 | 0:07:30 | |
That's if the badgers can be persuaded to play ball! | 0:07:30 | 0:07:34 | |
This is an arable farm, but elsewhere in the country, | 0:07:34 | 0:07:38 | |
beef farmers will know that the global demand for meat | 0:07:38 | 0:07:41 | |
is at an all-time high. | 0:07:41 | 0:07:42 | |
So how will British farmers take advantage of this boom? | 0:07:42 | 0:07:45 | |
John has been investigating. | 0:07:45 | 0:07:47 | |
The booming economy of China means many millions of people there | 0:07:55 | 0:07:59 | |
now have more money to spend. | 0:07:59 | 0:08:01 | |
And the same thing is happening in other countries | 0:08:01 | 0:08:04 | |
in the East and Middle East, and in parts of Africa. | 0:08:04 | 0:08:08 | |
As these countries rapidly transform into modern economies, | 0:08:08 | 0:08:11 | |
there's a growing appetite for the things we already have in the West. | 0:08:11 | 0:08:15 | |
Cars, designer clothes and good food. | 0:08:15 | 0:08:18 | |
And there's one thing that's of particular interest | 0:08:18 | 0:08:21 | |
to our farmers - beef. | 0:08:21 | 0:08:24 | |
It's a great time to be in the beef trade at the moment. | 0:08:24 | 0:08:27 | |
Prices are rising, demand is very strong worldwide | 0:08:27 | 0:08:30 | |
and we expect prices to go even up further, | 0:08:30 | 0:08:32 | |
which is good news for British farmers and processors. | 0:08:32 | 0:08:36 | |
Global demand for beef is growing by 1% a year. | 0:08:36 | 0:08:40 | |
It might not sound much, | 0:08:40 | 0:08:42 | |
but it's a huge opportunity for established producers like the UK. | 0:08:42 | 0:08:45 | |
There are few things more British than beef, | 0:08:45 | 0:08:48 | |
and after the difficulties faced by our cattle farmers in recent decades, | 0:08:48 | 0:08:52 | |
this should be really good news. | 0:08:52 | 0:08:54 | |
Rising demand and higher prices could reinvigorate the industry. | 0:08:54 | 0:08:58 | |
Last year, our beef exports rose to more than £300 million. | 0:08:58 | 0:09:04 | |
But there's a big obstacle to further growth. | 0:09:04 | 0:09:08 | |
Compared to competitors like the US or Brazil, | 0:09:08 | 0:09:10 | |
British beef is more expensive to produce. So why is that? | 0:09:10 | 0:09:15 | |
I'm on my way to meet one man who knows the answer - | 0:09:15 | 0:09:18 | |
Worcestershire farmer Adam Quinney. | 0:09:18 | 0:09:20 | |
-How are you? -Morning. -Another farmer called Adam on the show! -Yes! | 0:09:22 | 0:09:26 | |
How many beef animals have you got here? | 0:09:28 | 0:09:30 | |
Well, yesterday 400, today 404. | 0:09:30 | 0:09:32 | |
-Overnight, some more arrived? -Some more have arrived, yeah. | 0:09:32 | 0:09:35 | |
Despite receiving large subsidies, | 0:09:35 | 0:09:37 | |
many British farms still struggle to make ends meet, | 0:09:37 | 0:09:41 | |
let alone compete in the world market. | 0:09:41 | 0:09:43 | |
One of the main reasons | 0:09:43 | 0:09:45 | |
is that the UK has strict standards on animal welfare, | 0:09:45 | 0:09:48 | |
and food traceability, | 0:09:48 | 0:09:50 | |
which is why Adam is tagging his newborn calves. | 0:09:50 | 0:09:53 | |
Put the first tag in. | 0:09:53 | 0:09:55 | |
And then the second one. | 0:09:58 | 0:09:59 | |
And what are these tags telling you? | 0:09:59 | 0:10:02 | |
These tags are unique and they're both the same. | 0:10:02 | 0:10:06 | |
So if it loses one tag, we take the number down. | 0:10:06 | 0:10:08 | |
That's our herd number there at the top, which is unique to us. | 0:10:08 | 0:10:12 | |
And then that's its unique animal underneath. | 0:10:12 | 0:10:14 | |
And what goes into this book, Adam? | 0:10:14 | 0:10:16 | |
From this book, we put in the cow, | 0:10:16 | 0:10:18 | |
the date of birth, the weight of the animal. | 0:10:18 | 0:10:21 | |
-The tag details? -Yes, and whether it's easy to calve | 0:10:21 | 0:10:23 | |
and that sort of thing. | 0:10:23 | 0:10:24 | |
That will go into our computer records | 0:10:24 | 0:10:26 | |
and then into the national database. | 0:10:26 | 0:10:28 | |
So for the rest of its lifetime, wherever this animal moves, | 0:10:28 | 0:10:32 | |
the national database will be updated. | 0:10:32 | 0:10:34 | |
-You're all down in this book. -Yes, you're numbered now! | 0:10:34 | 0:10:37 | |
And is it possible to say, over this cow's lifetime, | 0:10:37 | 0:10:41 | |
how much do you think it will cost you just to keep it healthy? | 0:10:41 | 0:10:44 | |
It costs about £400 a year to keep a cow on a farm. | 0:10:44 | 0:10:47 | |
-And out of that, about £40 to £50 would be in medicine charge... -COW MOOS | 0:10:47 | 0:10:52 | |
That's its mum. | 0:10:52 | 0:10:53 | |
All its medicine, its paperwork. | 0:10:53 | 0:10:55 | |
It's quite a lot of paperwork that has to go with an animal, | 0:10:55 | 0:10:58 | |
and that has a cost. | 0:10:58 | 0:10:59 | |
If I was in America, | 0:10:59 | 0:11:00 | |
only a third of farms there are registered as having cattle | 0:11:00 | 0:11:04 | |
even though they've got cattle, | 0:11:04 | 0:11:05 | |
and if it was against my religious beliefs, | 0:11:05 | 0:11:08 | |
I wouldn't have to tag it. | 0:11:08 | 0:11:09 | |
America's vast farms are very different to ours. | 0:11:09 | 0:11:13 | |
As well as benefiting from huge economies of scale, | 0:11:13 | 0:11:16 | |
they're allowed to use GM feed and inject cattle with growth hormones, | 0:11:16 | 0:11:21 | |
both of which boost profits but are banned here. | 0:11:21 | 0:11:24 | |
And Adam's got another surprising statistic up his sleeve. | 0:11:24 | 0:11:28 | |
Take this medicine. Made in Germany, which we use on young calves. | 0:11:28 | 0:11:32 | |
In the States, it would cost me £40 for this bottle. | 0:11:32 | 0:11:35 | |
-In this country, this bottle is £140. -Wow! Why the difference? | 0:11:35 | 0:11:39 | |
It's because in Europe they have to get a separate licence | 0:11:39 | 0:11:42 | |
for each country. That adds cost. | 0:11:42 | 0:11:44 | |
And they must perceive British farmers to be more rich | 0:11:44 | 0:11:46 | |
and able to afford it. | 0:11:46 | 0:11:48 | |
But these things need to be sorted. It's just not fair. | 0:11:48 | 0:11:51 | |
But all this extra cost doesn't just stop at the farm gate. | 0:11:51 | 0:11:55 | |
The cattle have to be slaughtered, and even at this final stage, | 0:11:55 | 0:11:59 | |
the bills are still mounting. | 0:11:59 | 0:12:02 | |
I'm being given an insight | 0:12:02 | 0:12:03 | |
into how one Oxfordshire abattoir is affected | 0:12:03 | 0:12:06 | |
by its sales director Ian Mutch. | 0:12:06 | 0:12:08 | |
Just how strict are the regulations over hygiene and welfare | 0:12:08 | 0:12:12 | |
in places like this? | 0:12:12 | 0:12:14 | |
Welfare is paramount. | 0:12:14 | 0:12:15 | |
If, for instance, we take animals in overnight, | 0:12:15 | 0:12:18 | |
they're strawed down, well looked after, well spread out, | 0:12:18 | 0:12:21 | |
that's what we do. | 0:12:21 | 0:12:23 | |
Every day, there has to be a vet and four hygiene officers on-site, | 0:12:23 | 0:12:28 | |
mostly paid for by the abattoir. | 0:12:28 | 0:12:30 | |
And there's not much room for error. | 0:12:30 | 0:12:33 | |
One small mistake, one small blip, one contamination, stop. | 0:12:33 | 0:12:37 | |
The line is stopped, we wash down and we start again. | 0:12:37 | 0:12:40 | |
Our meat industry is probably the cleanest in the world. | 0:12:40 | 0:12:44 | |
Do you think that puts you in an unfair position? | 0:12:44 | 0:12:46 | |
-Nobody would want to compromise on animal welfare and hygiene? -No. | 0:12:46 | 0:12:50 | |
But we're paying for it. | 0:12:50 | 0:12:52 | |
We're paying for it because we're the good, old Brits, | 0:12:52 | 0:12:55 | |
we stand in the queue, we line up, and we do as we're told, | 0:12:55 | 0:12:59 | |
and that's what we do here. It doesn't happen everywhere else. | 0:12:59 | 0:13:03 | |
So how much does it cost you a month, say, | 0:13:03 | 0:13:05 | |
to have all these checks? | 0:13:05 | 0:13:07 | |
At the moment, for all these checks, it's costing me... | 0:13:07 | 0:13:11 | |
on average, about £15,000 a month. | 0:13:11 | 0:13:14 | |
No wonder the average wholesale price of British beef | 0:13:14 | 0:13:17 | |
is about £3 per kilo. In America, it's significantly lower. | 0:13:17 | 0:13:23 | |
So how can we compete on the world market? | 0:13:23 | 0:13:25 | |
That's what I'll be asking in a few minutes' time. | 0:13:25 | 0:13:30 | |
Evidence of Wiltshire's past is everywhere to be seen. | 0:13:35 | 0:13:39 | |
This county is peppered with important archaeological sites. | 0:13:39 | 0:13:42 | |
Two miles north of Salisbury is the Iron Age hill fort of Old Sarum, | 0:13:42 | 0:13:48 | |
where Romans, Normans and Saxons have all left their mark. | 0:13:48 | 0:13:52 | |
This windswept bank is a jumble of 5,000 years of history. | 0:13:54 | 0:13:59 | |
What you can see mainly started with the Iron Age settlers, | 0:13:59 | 0:14:02 | |
who created these banks. | 0:14:02 | 0:14:04 | |
When William The Conqueror arrived, | 0:14:04 | 0:14:06 | |
he had this moat and mound commissioned for a royal castle. | 0:14:06 | 0:14:10 | |
And this is where the central tower would have been. | 0:14:10 | 0:14:13 | |
Absolutely huge, created out of wood. But it doesn't end there. | 0:14:13 | 0:14:18 | |
Here on the left is the original site for Salisbury Cathedral, | 0:14:18 | 0:14:22 | |
created in 1092. | 0:14:22 | 0:14:24 | |
And on the opposite side, just popping up above the bank, | 0:14:24 | 0:14:28 | |
you can see the spire of the new Salisbury Cathedral. | 0:14:28 | 0:14:31 | |
In the Middle Ages, the place became so big | 0:14:33 | 0:14:36 | |
that the whole town was moved. | 0:14:36 | 0:14:38 | |
A new city was built at Salisbury and Old Sarum was abandoned. | 0:14:38 | 0:14:43 | |
But today, it's going to be occupied once again, | 0:14:43 | 0:14:46 | |
but this time by sheep. | 0:14:46 | 0:14:48 | |
So, Sarah, what's the plan with these sheep? | 0:14:48 | 0:14:51 | |
English Heritage have carried a large amount of scrub clearance | 0:14:51 | 0:14:55 | |
on the outer banks, | 0:14:55 | 0:14:56 | |
the idea being to restore the chalk grass and habitat, | 0:14:56 | 0:15:00 | |
and protect the archaeology here. | 0:15:00 | 0:15:02 | |
Where we're restoring sites which haven't been grazed for many years, | 0:15:02 | 0:15:05 | |
you need to get the right grazing regime in, so the right stock, | 0:15:05 | 0:15:09 | |
the right timings, the right density, that kind of thing. | 0:15:09 | 0:15:13 | |
So we use specific breeds of livestock, and here at Old Sarum, | 0:15:13 | 0:15:16 | |
we've brought on some Herdwick sheep to help with the grazings. | 0:15:16 | 0:15:20 | |
Originally from the Lake District. | 0:15:20 | 0:15:22 | |
That's right, a long way from home. | 0:15:22 | 0:15:24 | |
But having come from the Lake District up on the fells, | 0:15:24 | 0:15:27 | |
they're incredibly hardy sheep. | 0:15:27 | 0:15:29 | |
And what's great about them is they survive on almost anything, | 0:15:29 | 0:15:32 | |
so the regrowth that we get here at Old Sarum, | 0:15:32 | 0:15:35 | |
the scrub, the brambles, the nettles, | 0:15:35 | 0:15:37 | |
the coarse grass that's going to come back, | 0:15:37 | 0:15:40 | |
the Herdwicks are great because they'll eat almost anything, | 0:15:40 | 0:15:43 | |
they'll tackle that tough regrowth | 0:15:43 | 0:15:45 | |
and really help to restore the chalk grassland. | 0:15:45 | 0:15:49 | |
-You can see them, straight up onto the bank side. -Yeah. | 0:15:49 | 0:15:52 | |
That must put a smile on your face straightaway. | 0:15:52 | 0:15:54 | |
Definitely. They're absolutely perfect for the job | 0:15:54 | 0:15:57 | |
and great for these steep banks. | 0:15:57 | 0:15:59 | |
They just don't have any problems with them. | 0:15:59 | 0:16:02 | |
Conservation work here hasn't always been welcomed. | 0:16:02 | 0:16:04 | |
The recent removal of trees to protect the banks from root damage, | 0:16:04 | 0:16:08 | |
safeguarding this historic site, led to local protests. | 0:16:08 | 0:16:13 | |
But these four-legged lawnmowers | 0:16:13 | 0:16:15 | |
will help preserve Old Sarum for generations to come. | 0:16:15 | 0:16:18 | |
Later, Wiltshire's wild past... | 0:16:22 | 0:16:24 | |
-I've got a shocking revelation for Julia... -Woo! | 0:16:24 | 0:16:28 | |
Adam's made his dad's day | 0:16:28 | 0:16:30 | |
with a delivery of rare White Park cattle... | 0:16:30 | 0:16:33 | |
This is a fantastic moment for me. Thanks. | 0:16:33 | 0:16:37 | |
THEY LAUGH | 0:16:37 | 0:16:38 | |
..and Katie's hitching a lift on a helicopter | 0:16:38 | 0:16:41 | |
to find out how to map the weather. | 0:16:41 | 0:16:43 | |
You can see what's in store for the weather in our forecast. | 0:16:43 | 0:16:47 | |
In the ancient grasslands of Salisbury Plain, | 0:16:53 | 0:16:56 | |
something is stirring! These are the largest flying birds in the world, | 0:16:56 | 0:17:02 | |
and until recently, they'd been extinct here for almost 200 years. | 0:17:02 | 0:17:07 | |
Finally, fingers crossed, things are looking up for the great bustard. | 0:17:07 | 0:17:12 | |
Back in 2004, | 0:17:12 | 0:17:13 | |
Countryfile was on hand to see the ground-breaking re-introduction | 0:17:13 | 0:17:17 | |
of the elusive bustard to Britain from Russia. | 0:17:17 | 0:17:20 | |
It's been slow progress since, | 0:17:20 | 0:17:22 | |
and there are thought to be around 20 healthy birds here. | 0:17:22 | 0:17:26 | |
David Waters is the inspiration behind the project. | 0:17:26 | 0:17:29 | |
Very exciting. You've got more new chicks? | 0:17:29 | 0:17:34 | |
Yes, and that's what the project's all about. | 0:17:34 | 0:17:37 | |
There's great progress and it's really exciting | 0:17:37 | 0:17:40 | |
to be able to move birds from Russia, | 0:17:40 | 0:17:42 | |
do all the rearing and get a sufficient number | 0:17:42 | 0:17:45 | |
to survive here in England. | 0:17:45 | 0:17:47 | |
But what it's about is British-bred birds, | 0:17:47 | 0:17:49 | |
to start this self-sustaining population. | 0:17:49 | 0:17:53 | |
It all takes a long time with bustards. | 0:17:53 | 0:17:55 | |
The survival rate is not great for the British-born chicks, is it? | 0:17:55 | 0:17:59 | |
Once a female starts to breed, | 0:17:59 | 0:18:00 | |
which is normally about two years old, | 0:18:00 | 0:18:02 | |
it takes them a good couple, maybe three goes, | 0:18:02 | 0:18:05 | |
-before they're likely to rear chicks through to adulthood. -Right. | 0:18:05 | 0:18:09 | |
In the bustard world, young mums are bad mums. | 0:18:09 | 0:18:12 | |
We've had breeding attempts in previous years | 0:18:12 | 0:18:14 | |
and the females don't tend to work first time. | 0:18:14 | 0:18:17 | |
But the ones we've got this year have been second-, third-year breeders, | 0:18:17 | 0:18:21 | |
so fingers crossed, | 0:18:21 | 0:18:22 | |
that's the start of the proper British bustard population. | 0:18:22 | 0:18:26 | |
But the great bustard isn't our only bird under threat. | 0:18:27 | 0:18:32 | |
And not far from here, bird-lovers are doing their best | 0:18:32 | 0:18:35 | |
to make sure that other farmland favourites | 0:18:35 | 0:18:38 | |
don't go the way of the bustard. | 0:18:38 | 0:18:39 | |
Meet the "arable six". | 0:18:39 | 0:18:41 | |
These once-common birds are now under threat. | 0:18:41 | 0:18:43 | |
There's the lapwing, | 0:18:43 | 0:18:45 | |
the yellow wagtail, | 0:18:45 | 0:18:47 | |
the grey partridge, | 0:18:47 | 0:18:49 | |
the turtle dove, | 0:18:49 | 0:18:50 | |
the tree sparrow. | 0:18:50 | 0:18:52 | |
And the leader of the pack, the corn bunting. | 0:18:52 | 0:18:56 | |
So why are these birds in such serious trouble? | 0:18:56 | 0:19:00 | |
I'm meeting Tracy Adams to find out more. | 0:19:00 | 0:19:02 | |
-Hiya, Tracy. -Hi, Julia. -Hello. So what are you on the hunt for, then? | 0:19:02 | 0:19:07 | |
-I'm looking as many insects as I can find. -To feed our arable six? -Yes. | 0:19:07 | 0:19:10 | |
We need plenty of insects cos that's what the birds feed their young on. | 0:19:10 | 0:19:14 | |
It's like baby food for birds. | 0:19:14 | 0:19:16 | |
-But as you can see... -Not a lot. -The nest is empty. | 0:19:16 | 0:19:19 | |
Not a huge surprise, though, | 0:19:19 | 0:19:21 | |
bearing in mind you're looking through an arable crop. | 0:19:21 | 0:19:25 | |
Yeah, that's right. I mean, this has been grown by the farmer to feed us. | 0:19:25 | 0:19:29 | |
It's going to be made into bread eventually | 0:19:29 | 0:19:31 | |
and this is where he makes his money. | 0:19:31 | 0:19:33 | |
He doesn't really want anything competing with the wheat, so... | 0:19:33 | 0:19:36 | |
What have we got? | 0:19:36 | 0:19:39 | |
-Yeah, the cupboard is bare. -Nothing. -We've got a very small fly. | 0:19:39 | 0:19:43 | |
-Great. -So not very good here, but where we're going to go next, | 0:19:43 | 0:19:47 | |
the farmer's growing some wild flowers. | 0:19:47 | 0:19:50 | |
It's called a nectar mix and it brings in lots of insects | 0:19:50 | 0:19:53 | |
and we should see a lot more going on, | 0:19:53 | 0:19:55 | |
and that's where the birds will be going to feed their young. | 0:19:55 | 0:19:59 | |
Experts like Tracy have got together with local farmers | 0:20:02 | 0:20:05 | |
to set up the South West Farmland Birds Initiative. | 0:20:05 | 0:20:08 | |
They hope to reverse the decline by creating the rich pastures | 0:20:08 | 0:20:12 | |
that the birds need to thrive, | 0:20:12 | 0:20:13 | |
like this area, left fallow for lapwings, and these bird boxes. | 0:20:13 | 0:20:17 | |
This is a whole different ball game, isn't it? | 0:20:17 | 0:20:20 | |
It's fantastic. It's one of my favourite parts of the farm. | 0:20:20 | 0:20:23 | |
It's a real sacrifice on the farmer's part, isn't it? | 0:20:23 | 0:20:26 | |
Because he could be growing crops to sell here. | 0:20:26 | 0:20:29 | |
Originally, the oilseed rape which is behind us | 0:20:29 | 0:20:32 | |
would be all the way up to the track and this wouldn't be here, | 0:20:32 | 0:20:35 | |
but through environmental stewardship, | 0:20:35 | 0:20:38 | |
the farmer's getting a compensatory payment for this, | 0:20:38 | 0:20:41 | |
-he's not earning money from it. -Yep. | 0:20:41 | 0:20:43 | |
He can't sell this. But it's fantastic for the birds. | 0:20:43 | 0:20:46 | |
This is something he's doing to encourage those birds | 0:20:46 | 0:20:49 | |
back to the farm. | 0:20:49 | 0:20:50 | |
Which is vital, from your point of view. | 0:20:50 | 0:20:52 | |
Yes, we need to get the numbers going back up. | 0:20:52 | 0:20:55 | |
Right, what have we got? | 0:20:55 | 0:20:56 | |
It's a bit like Christmas. Well, it is for me, anyway. | 0:20:56 | 0:20:59 | |
-Saddo! -I know! OK, so we've got...pointy-nose things. Weevils. | 0:20:59 | 0:21:05 | |
Loads of aphids, which are nice and squidgy | 0:21:05 | 0:21:08 | |
and easy for young birds to eat. Lots of little shells as well. | 0:21:08 | 0:21:12 | |
-Yeah, what are they? -I'm not a big mollusc expert, | 0:21:12 | 0:21:15 | |
but they're very good for thrushes, redwings, | 0:21:15 | 0:21:18 | |
blackbirds to eat throughout the winter and the summer. | 0:21:18 | 0:21:21 | |
So you can see there's a hell of a lot more in here | 0:21:21 | 0:21:24 | |
-than there was in the wheat crop. -And it looks so beautiful as well. | 0:21:24 | 0:21:29 | |
That's the bonus for everybody, including the farmer. | 0:21:29 | 0:21:32 | |
Yes, I think he gets a lot out of coming here and we've got | 0:21:32 | 0:21:35 | |
a right of way here, so anybody that walks through | 0:21:35 | 0:21:37 | |
can enjoy this as much as the farmer does. | 0:21:37 | 0:21:40 | |
But birds aren't just beautiful to watch. | 0:21:40 | 0:21:42 | |
They also fill the air with song. | 0:21:42 | 0:21:44 | |
So Natural England have come up with a chart-topping idea | 0:21:44 | 0:21:46 | |
to make us aware of what we're in danger of losing. | 0:21:46 | 0:21:49 | |
James Phillips is here to tell me about a CD | 0:21:49 | 0:21:52 | |
featuring the arable six's unmistakable calls. | 0:21:52 | 0:21:55 | |
-James, hello. -Hi, Julia. | 0:21:55 | 0:21:57 | |
Tell me it's a good day for birdsong. | 0:21:57 | 0:21:59 | |
It's a fantastic day, yeah. | 0:21:59 | 0:22:00 | |
We're hearing a lot of birds today. You've come on a fantastic day. | 0:22:00 | 0:22:04 | |
-What have you heard? -Corn buntings. | 0:22:04 | 0:22:07 | |
-Mm-hm. -We've heard yellowhammer, which has a very evocative sound. | 0:22:07 | 0:22:10 | |
It makes the sound, "A little bit of bread and no cheeeese." | 0:22:10 | 0:22:14 | |
YELLOWHAMMER CALLS | 0:22:14 | 0:22:16 | |
"A little bit of bread and no cheeeese. | 0:22:16 | 0:22:18 | |
-"A little bit of bread and no cheeeese." Really? -Yeah, really. | 0:22:18 | 0:22:22 | |
I am - I have to admit this - USELESS at remembering birdsong. | 0:22:22 | 0:22:25 | |
Well, we could give you a bit of a quiz to see how good you are. | 0:22:25 | 0:22:28 | |
-How bad I am, you mean? -How good you are. -How bad I am. | 0:22:28 | 0:22:32 | |
I'm pleased to see that you're here, Tracy, | 0:22:32 | 0:22:35 | |
because I'm going to need your help. | 0:22:35 | 0:22:37 | |
Someone tells me that this CD we're talking about | 0:22:37 | 0:22:40 | |
is something that you listen to quite regularly. | 0:22:40 | 0:22:44 | |
-Um, yes. -Come on, fess up! -Yes. You're right. | 0:22:44 | 0:22:47 | |
I do drive around with a birdsong CD in my car | 0:22:47 | 0:22:49 | |
and my friends do think I'm a little bit odd. | 0:22:49 | 0:22:52 | |
Well, I'm pleased she's here, because she can help out. | 0:22:52 | 0:22:55 | |
So we've got pictures of all the lovely birds here. | 0:22:55 | 0:22:57 | |
So yellow wagtail, corn bunting, grey partridge, | 0:22:57 | 0:23:01 | |
turtle dove, lapwing, and the little tree sparrow. Our arable six. | 0:23:01 | 0:23:05 | |
The arable six. | 0:23:05 | 0:23:06 | |
Hit me with their birdsong, James. | 0:23:06 | 0:23:10 | |
OK, what do you think this one is? | 0:23:10 | 0:23:12 | |
CHIRRUPING | 0:23:12 | 0:23:14 | |
The classic sound of early spring. | 0:23:18 | 0:23:20 | |
-Is that the sparrow? The tree sparrow? -Give it another try. | 0:23:20 | 0:23:24 | |
Tracy? | 0:23:24 | 0:23:26 | |
-It's the lapwing! -That's the display flight of the lapwing. | 0:23:27 | 0:23:30 | |
That's the noise they make | 0:23:30 | 0:23:32 | |
-when they do these amazing display flights. -Right. -OK. | 0:23:32 | 0:23:36 | |
-I'll try to remember that one. -What do you think this one is? | 0:23:36 | 0:23:39 | |
COOING Oh, it's a lovely sound. | 0:23:39 | 0:23:42 | |
-That's the turtle dove. -Brilliant. Fantastic. | 0:23:42 | 0:23:45 | |
Yeah. That sounds very dovey. | 0:23:45 | 0:23:47 | |
It does. It sounds a bit like a purring cat as well. | 0:23:47 | 0:23:49 | |
-It's lovely. -Evocative sound. We've heard that today. | 0:23:49 | 0:23:52 | |
TWITTERING | 0:23:54 | 0:23:56 | |
Sounds a bit like jangling keys. | 0:23:59 | 0:24:01 | |
-Brilliant. Fantastic. -It's the corn bunting. | 0:24:01 | 0:24:04 | |
Excellent. Well done, yes. | 0:24:04 | 0:24:06 | |
-Another quite easy one. -Yeah. | 0:24:06 | 0:24:08 | |
So, "Doodle-oo, doodle-oo," | 0:24:08 | 0:24:10 | |
-and then, "Tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk." -That's it. | 0:24:10 | 0:24:12 | |
That's it, absolutely. Yeah. | 0:24:12 | 0:24:14 | |
Yeah, OK. Well, that's two that I think I could probably remember. | 0:24:14 | 0:24:18 | |
-That's fantastic. -Until tomorrow at least! | 0:24:18 | 0:24:22 | |
I shall drive off listening to birdsong straightaway. | 0:24:22 | 0:24:25 | |
Fantastic. Brilliant. | 0:24:25 | 0:24:27 | |
Earlier, we discovered why British beef exports | 0:24:27 | 0:24:29 | |
are more expensive than other countries'. | 0:24:29 | 0:24:32 | |
Does this mean that our farmers are missing out | 0:24:32 | 0:24:34 | |
on the current beef boom? John has been investigating. | 0:24:34 | 0:24:37 | |
All around the world, demand for beef is growing by 600,000 tonnes a year. | 0:24:45 | 0:24:52 | |
It's a huge opportunity for British farmers, | 0:24:52 | 0:24:55 | |
but they face stiff competition. | 0:24:55 | 0:24:58 | |
The danger is that our beef is simply too expensive | 0:24:58 | 0:25:02 | |
and it'll be undercut by cheaper producers abroad, | 0:25:02 | 0:25:05 | |
but just what's causing this upsurge in demand for beef | 0:25:05 | 0:25:09 | |
and how can we tap into this new market? | 0:25:09 | 0:25:11 | |
It's in China where the appetite for beef is really taking off. | 0:25:12 | 0:25:17 | |
But what exactly do they want, and can we provide it? | 0:25:17 | 0:25:21 | |
I'm meeting an expert in the Chinese diet, Lorraine Clissold. | 0:25:21 | 0:25:25 | |
Well, we're having beef hotpot, Lorraine - but if we're going to | 0:25:25 | 0:25:28 | |
sell beef to China, | 0:25:28 | 0:25:29 | |
I can't see Chinese people sitting down and eating steak and chips. | 0:25:29 | 0:25:33 | |
Absolutely not. Traditionally, Chinese people have always eaten | 0:25:33 | 0:25:38 | |
every part of every animal and they understand the benefits. | 0:25:38 | 0:25:42 | |
In fact, they particularly appreciate | 0:25:42 | 0:25:44 | |
the benefits of the organ meat and the parts of the animal | 0:25:44 | 0:25:48 | |
that we, recently, have almost given up eating in the West. | 0:25:48 | 0:25:51 | |
Perhaps it would be best to concentrate on selling offal | 0:25:51 | 0:25:54 | |
-to the Chinese? -Absolutely. | 0:25:54 | 0:25:56 | |
Definitely, because the Chinese believe | 0:25:56 | 0:25:59 | |
that these organs are particularly good for your health. | 0:25:59 | 0:26:02 | |
In fact, they believe that if you eat liver, it's good for your liver. | 0:26:02 | 0:26:06 | |
If you eat eyeball, it's good for your eyesight. | 0:26:06 | 0:26:09 | |
The good news is that, with offal, we're able to compete on price, | 0:26:09 | 0:26:14 | |
and exports to China are already growing. | 0:26:14 | 0:26:16 | |
Jean-Pierre Garnier works for | 0:26:16 | 0:26:19 | |
the British beef trade organisation EBLEX, | 0:26:19 | 0:26:23 | |
and says the opportunities are huge. | 0:26:23 | 0:26:25 | |
We have a growing population in China, moving from 1.3 billion | 0:26:25 | 0:26:30 | |
to 1.4 billion people, and increasing wealth. | 0:26:30 | 0:26:33 | |
People are moving from the countryside to towns, | 0:26:33 | 0:26:36 | |
then to eat more beef as well. | 0:26:36 | 0:26:37 | |
So we have a growing market in China | 0:26:37 | 0:26:39 | |
and obviously we want to be part of it. | 0:26:39 | 0:26:42 | |
This week, for example, we've got 20 people | 0:26:42 | 0:26:44 | |
representing the main UK processes in China. | 0:26:44 | 0:26:47 | |
-We're trying to expand the market. -And how much is that worth? | 0:26:47 | 0:26:51 | |
At the moment, a market of probably £20-30 million, yeah. | 0:26:51 | 0:26:55 | |
Selling cheap meat to China is one thing, | 0:26:55 | 0:26:57 | |
but what about the rest of British beef? | 0:26:57 | 0:27:00 | |
With high standards of production meaning higher costs, | 0:27:00 | 0:27:03 | |
success on the world market depends on convincing buyers | 0:27:03 | 0:27:06 | |
that British beef has quality that's worth paying for. | 0:27:06 | 0:27:10 | |
So what's the trick? | 0:27:10 | 0:27:13 | |
British beef needs to become a sought-after brand, | 0:27:13 | 0:27:16 | |
something so desirable that people are willing to pay | 0:27:16 | 0:27:18 | |
that little bit extra for it. | 0:27:18 | 0:27:20 | |
It already happens with one particular breed - | 0:27:20 | 0:27:23 | |
the Aberdeen Angus. | 0:27:23 | 0:27:24 | |
The last decade has seen Aberdeen Angus transform from a breed | 0:27:24 | 0:27:30 | |
little-known outside the UK into a global phenomenon. | 0:27:30 | 0:27:34 | |
Good marketing has made all the difference, | 0:27:34 | 0:27:37 | |
so could the same magic work for British beef as a whole? | 0:27:37 | 0:27:41 | |
Hello, it's John Craven to see Marcel. | 0:27:41 | 0:27:43 | |
Branding guru Marcel Knobil has been working on some ideas | 0:27:43 | 0:27:48 | |
to sell the concept of Britishness. | 0:27:48 | 0:27:51 | |
There's "trustworthy". | 0:27:51 | 0:27:52 | |
We have a heritage of justice and democracy. | 0:27:52 | 0:27:57 | |
"High quality." And that is certainly signalled | 0:27:57 | 0:28:00 | |
through the likes of Harrods, the BBC and so forth. | 0:28:00 | 0:28:02 | |
And then also, fine taste, and actually, from the world of cuisine, | 0:28:02 | 0:28:08 | |
Britain has really upped its reputation, | 0:28:08 | 0:28:11 | |
thanks to the likes of Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay. | 0:28:11 | 0:28:16 | |
And do you think there may be some lingering doubts | 0:28:16 | 0:28:19 | |
with some foreign customers | 0:28:19 | 0:28:21 | |
about the standard of British beef because of BSE and foot and mouth, | 0:28:21 | 0:28:25 | |
the export ban - things like that? | 0:28:25 | 0:28:28 | |
Whilst I think one needs to be conscious of the platform | 0:28:28 | 0:28:31 | |
from which we will build a brand from, | 0:28:31 | 0:28:34 | |
at the same time, we need to underline that | 0:28:34 | 0:28:37 | |
with a guarantee that our standards | 0:28:37 | 0:28:40 | |
are of the very, very highest nature, | 0:28:40 | 0:28:43 | |
and I think that's helped by marks. | 0:28:43 | 0:28:45 | |
So, for example, we currently have the likes of | 0:28:45 | 0:28:49 | |
the Quality Standard mark and what's called the Red Tractor mark. | 0:28:49 | 0:28:53 | |
I think that will be an underlying guarantee. | 0:28:53 | 0:28:56 | |
Well, he's won ME over. | 0:28:56 | 0:28:58 | |
The world might take a bit more convincing. | 0:28:58 | 0:29:01 | |
But those in the know | 0:29:01 | 0:29:02 | |
believe the prospects for the beef export industry are bright. | 0:29:02 | 0:29:05 | |
-Six years ago, export from Britain of beef was zero, wasn't it? -Absolutely. | 0:29:05 | 0:29:10 | |
-What are your predictions? -We started from zero, | 0:29:10 | 0:29:13 | |
only five years ago, 2006. | 0:29:13 | 0:29:15 | |
And now we export 16% of the beef we produce and we plan, | 0:29:15 | 0:29:19 | |
by the end of next year, to export nearly 20%, | 0:29:19 | 0:29:23 | |
eventually go to 25%. | 0:29:23 | 0:29:25 | |
I think it's a good success on the part of the exporters. | 0:29:25 | 0:29:29 | |
We've shown that they can respond to market demands. | 0:29:29 | 0:29:32 | |
-But it's good to hear a Frenchman speaking up for British beef. -Oh, well... Why not? Why not? | 0:29:32 | 0:29:37 | |
And there's more good news. | 0:29:37 | 0:29:39 | |
South Africa has just lifted its 15-year-long ban on British beef. | 0:29:39 | 0:29:43 | |
If exporters can continue to harness emerging markets and | 0:29:43 | 0:29:47 | |
consolidate on more traditional ones, it could mark a real change in the fortunes of British beef farmers. | 0:29:47 | 0:29:54 | |
Nowadays we take for granted the ability to predict the weather, | 0:30:02 | 0:30:06 | |
and complain bitterly if the forecasters get it wrong. | 0:30:06 | 0:30:10 | |
It's 100 years since the death of the man who founded modern meteorology, | 0:30:10 | 0:30:13 | |
and Katie's recruited the Army Air Corps to find out more | 0:30:13 | 0:30:17 | |
about weather forecasting, past and present. | 0:30:17 | 0:30:21 | |
Troops, tanks and helicopters are all a bit of a fixture on Salisbury Plain | 0:30:21 | 0:30:25 | |
and while they may seem a bit impervious to the weather, our army helicopter pilots | 0:30:25 | 0:30:29 | |
might never get off the ground if it wasn't for the Met Office. | 0:30:29 | 0:30:33 | |
So where better to come for a lesson in weather forecasting? | 0:30:33 | 0:30:36 | |
Middle Wallop is the Army Air Corps base | 0:30:38 | 0:30:41 | |
where pilots compete advanced training before they're deployed to fly frontline helicopters. | 0:30:41 | 0:30:46 | |
Tucked away in a small room underneath the control tower, | 0:30:46 | 0:30:49 | |
two meteorologists are on duty almost round the clock. | 0:30:49 | 0:30:54 | |
It's their job to provide an accurate weather forecast to everyone who needs it on this base. | 0:30:54 | 0:31:00 | |
Lives depend on it. | 0:31:00 | 0:31:02 | |
On the left-hand side, we have Catherine. She's duty forecaster. | 0:31:02 | 0:31:06 | |
She's providing the forecast service, in whatever form that might take, to the Army today. | 0:31:06 | 0:31:10 | |
So it'll just be standard weather conditions. | 0:31:10 | 0:31:12 | |
It's very settled and calm weather today, | 0:31:12 | 0:31:15 | |
so it's relatively straightforward but on a busier day we could be dealing with cloud bases, | 0:31:15 | 0:31:20 | |
wind strengths, weather types, snow in the winter and things like that. | 0:31:20 | 0:31:23 | |
On the other side we've got Matthew. | 0:31:23 | 0:31:25 | |
He's our duty observer, providing an hourly reference weather observation | 0:31:25 | 0:31:30 | |
and if the weather is deteriorating or improving in any way, | 0:31:30 | 0:31:33 | |
then we do extra observations to provide air traffic | 0:31:33 | 0:31:37 | |
with a direct service through to the pilots. | 0:31:37 | 0:31:40 | |
The Met Office and meteorologists around the world | 0:31:40 | 0:31:42 | |
are indebted to a man called Francis Galton, | 0:31:42 | 0:31:45 | |
who died 100 years ago this year. | 0:31:45 | 0:31:47 | |
Galton was an explorer and a statistician, but he's perhaps most famous | 0:31:47 | 0:31:52 | |
for his work as a meteorologist and an idea that's so simple you'll probably wonder what we did before. | 0:31:52 | 0:31:58 | |
The weather map. | 0:31:58 | 0:32:01 | |
Galton's weather map was first published in The Times on April 1st, 1875, | 0:32:01 | 0:32:06 | |
and detailed the previous day's weather. | 0:32:06 | 0:32:09 | |
It's now a standard feature of weather forecasting around the globe, in newspapers, the internet, | 0:32:09 | 0:32:15 | |
mobile phones, and from the first TV broadcasts, to Countryfile's very own five-day forecast. | 0:32:15 | 0:32:21 | |
Hard to imagine a forecast without it. | 0:32:21 | 0:32:23 | |
Galton's idea with the weather map was really how you could visualise lots and lots of data. | 0:32:23 | 0:32:31 | |
Instead of having rows of columns of figures and raw data, put it into a visual form. | 0:32:31 | 0:32:38 | |
So what was people's reaction to this weather map when it came out? | 0:32:38 | 0:32:42 | |
People were very mystified. | 0:32:42 | 0:32:44 | |
It wasn't helped by the fact that it came out on the 1st April, 1875. | 0:32:44 | 0:32:48 | |
There was a lot of press coverage about this. | 0:32:48 | 0:32:51 | |
Punch started issuing spoofs that showed things like catarrh, headaches... | 0:32:51 | 0:32:56 | |
It was very accurately done. | 0:32:56 | 0:32:59 | |
But it laid the foundations. | 0:32:59 | 0:33:01 | |
Very soon after - only four years later - they started issuing | 0:33:01 | 0:33:05 | |
weather forecasts in the newspapers using Galton's map. | 0:33:05 | 0:33:09 | |
And it's extraordinary, I think, that Galton's map is largely unchanged today. | 0:33:09 | 0:33:15 | |
At ten to the hour, every hour, at thousands of locations all over the globe, readings are taken | 0:33:17 | 0:33:22 | |
that build up an accurate picture of the weather | 0:33:22 | 0:33:25 | |
and help predict what's going to happen in the hours and days ahead. | 0:33:25 | 0:33:28 | |
When forecasters combine their readings, the first chart they produce owes a lot to Galton | 0:33:28 | 0:33:34 | |
and his concept of the isobar. | 0:33:34 | 0:33:37 | |
So this is a synoptic chart, so every hour | 0:33:37 | 0:33:39 | |
the observer will go outside and do an observation, | 0:33:39 | 0:33:43 | |
and we get information on all kinds of weather parameters | 0:33:43 | 0:33:46 | |
and these come through to us on the hour, in this sort of form. | 0:33:46 | 0:33:49 | |
From here we can draw up a chart very similar to this one that they've drawn. | 0:33:49 | 0:33:53 | |
The isobar is a line drawn on a map that connects points of equal pressure. | 0:33:53 | 0:33:58 | |
That has to be below it or above it? | 0:33:58 | 0:34:00 | |
-That one's above. -I tell you what - this is actually quite difficult! | 0:34:00 | 0:34:06 | |
Once drawn, the isobars also show wind direction and speed. | 0:34:06 | 0:34:10 | |
With your back to the wind, low pressure is on the left, | 0:34:10 | 0:34:13 | |
-we know that the wind is going this way. -So I can do that on all these? -Yep. | 0:34:13 | 0:34:16 | |
The closer together the isobars, the windier it is. | 0:34:16 | 0:34:19 | |
Low pressures mean wet and windy weather. | 0:34:19 | 0:34:22 | |
Today's higher pressures give us dry, sunny weather. | 0:34:22 | 0:34:25 | |
It's like join-the-dots but far harder! | 0:34:25 | 0:34:28 | |
Every morning, a briefing is delivered in person to each of the four squadrons around the base. | 0:34:28 | 0:34:33 | |
Catherine's doing the first one but I'll be heading across the base to brief the Lynx team next. | 0:34:33 | 0:34:38 | |
A large area of high pressure centred across the UK today. | 0:34:38 | 0:34:42 | |
That brings a fairly light north-easterly flow across the area. | 0:34:42 | 0:34:44 | |
Sometimes we need bad weather cos we need to train in those conditions | 0:34:44 | 0:34:48 | |
so that when it come to operations | 0:34:48 | 0:34:49 | |
we know how to fly, what sort of conditions to expect, that kind of thing. | 0:34:49 | 0:34:53 | |
Whereas good weather days can be good for carrying out general handling and general exercises. | 0:34:53 | 0:34:58 | |
I can't believe they're letting me do their weather briefing. | 0:34:58 | 0:35:01 | |
-Good morning, everyone! ALL: -Good morning. | 0:35:06 | 0:35:09 | |
So, here we have our synoptic chart. | 0:35:09 | 0:35:13 | |
'This is my debut as a forecaster.' ..Generally a very nice day. | 0:35:13 | 0:35:16 | |
If you're going out flying later, temperature's going to be about 24 so you might like to think about | 0:35:16 | 0:35:21 | |
having a nice lunch and some water to drink so you don't get dehydrated up in the air. | 0:35:21 | 0:35:25 | |
I think Katie was fantastic today. | 0:35:25 | 0:35:27 | |
She's definitely got a future career as a forecaster. | 0:35:27 | 0:35:30 | |
She was better than most of the forecasters we get on a day-to-day basis. | 0:35:30 | 0:35:33 | |
So, yeah, hats off to her - she did a very good job. | 0:35:33 | 0:35:36 | |
-There we are. -How much? | 0:35:36 | 0:35:40 | |
You owe me. You owe me big time! | 0:35:40 | 0:35:42 | |
'There's only one way to see how important these forecasts are to the pilots.' | 0:35:43 | 0:35:49 | |
Ready. 'And that's to get up amongst the clouds myself.' | 0:35:50 | 0:35:55 | |
I'm going up in a Lynx helicopter. | 0:35:55 | 0:35:57 | |
For all our sakes, I hope that forecast was right. | 0:35:57 | 0:36:00 | |
This is incredible. You can see little things on the ground. You can see dogs running around. | 0:36:06 | 0:36:10 | |
You realise just how close to the ground you are and how you really are just in amongst the clouds. | 0:36:10 | 0:36:15 | |
Passenger aircraft are usually flying at around 35,000ft - | 0:36:15 | 0:36:18 | |
well above the clouds and above all the weather that we experience on the ground. | 0:36:18 | 0:36:23 | |
This helicopter and the others like it, fly at around 2,000 to 3,000ft, | 0:36:23 | 0:36:27 | |
so they're right in that weather zone so the Met Office forecasting is critical. | 0:36:27 | 0:36:31 | |
100 years since his death and nearly 140 since his revolutionary weather map was first published, | 0:36:35 | 0:36:43 | |
Francis Galton's legacy is felt today by us all | 0:36:43 | 0:36:46 | |
and I've seen first-hand how his pioneering work | 0:36:46 | 0:36:50 | |
is key to the safety of our pilots in the armed forces. | 0:36:50 | 0:36:54 | |
Shortly, I'll get more than I bargained for when I arrange | 0:36:58 | 0:37:00 | |
a startling historical revelation for Julia. | 0:37:00 | 0:37:04 | |
I think I'm more shocked than you are! | 0:37:04 | 0:37:07 | |
And if you're hoping to get some sun on your skin, you'll need the Countryfile weather forecast. | 0:37:07 | 0:37:12 | |
It was more than 40 years ago Adam's dad, Joe Henson, realised that White Park cattle were a breed in danger. | 0:37:21 | 0:37:27 | |
He was one of just a few farmers who kept faith with them and helped cattle like these to survive. | 0:37:27 | 0:37:34 | |
Now it's up to Adam to keep up the family tradition of protecting rare breeds. | 0:37:34 | 0:37:39 | |
White Parks may be off the danger list | 0:37:45 | 0:37:47 | |
but they're still a minority breed. | 0:37:47 | 0:37:49 | |
At one time, they got down to only 60 breeding cows in the country | 0:37:49 | 0:37:52 | |
but thankfully, they're back up to around 500 now. | 0:37:52 | 0:37:55 | |
But last winter, we had a TB test | 0:37:55 | 0:37:58 | |
and I lost virtually half my White Park herd | 0:37:58 | 0:38:01 | |
and I was absolutely devastated. | 0:38:01 | 0:38:03 | |
The TB test was going well. | 0:38:04 | 0:38:06 | |
-Then, suddenly... It's a reactor? -Yeah. | 0:38:06 | 0:38:09 | |
Oh, I can't believe it. | 0:38:09 | 0:38:11 | |
One after the other, our White Parks were condemned. | 0:38:11 | 0:38:15 | |
-Yeah, I'm afraid this one is a positive as well. -OK. | 0:38:15 | 0:38:17 | |
Dad was very upset. | 0:38:17 | 0:38:20 | |
We've lost our stock bull. | 0:38:20 | 0:38:22 | |
Hopeless, isn't it? | 0:38:22 | 0:38:25 | |
All we've got left now are three cows. | 0:38:27 | 0:38:30 | |
This one, who I think is barren. | 0:38:30 | 0:38:32 | |
We've got one there that's calved and another one that's due to calf, but it's hardly a herd. | 0:38:32 | 0:38:37 | |
But things are looking up. | 0:38:37 | 0:38:39 | |
We're clear of TB now and at last we can rebuild our herd. | 0:38:39 | 0:38:43 | |
So I'm off down to Devon with Mike, my stockman. | 0:38:43 | 0:38:46 | |
We're going shopping. | 0:38:46 | 0:38:48 | |
This farm near Tiverton specialises in White Park cattle. | 0:38:49 | 0:38:53 | |
They have one of the biggest herds in Britain, and I'm hoping to take a few off their hands. | 0:38:53 | 0:38:58 | |
Coming down the drive, I've never seen so many White Parks in one place. | 0:38:58 | 0:39:02 | |
That's good, we've got a fairly large herd. | 0:39:02 | 0:39:04 | |
-We have over 100 here now. -Crikey. | 0:39:04 | 0:39:06 | |
We've spent 15 years building it up | 0:39:06 | 0:39:09 | |
and it's proving reasonably successful. Reasonably. | 0:39:09 | 0:39:12 | |
And why White Parks, out of all the British breeds? | 0:39:12 | 0:39:15 | |
Very small numbers, and also it's an economic breed. | 0:39:15 | 0:39:19 | |
I think you can make money out of it. | 0:39:19 | 0:39:21 | |
That's because some of John's animals go to top restaurants in London. | 0:39:21 | 0:39:25 | |
Their meat has a marbled appearance and great flavour. | 0:39:25 | 0:39:28 | |
The ones we've come to see are on the other side of the valley. | 0:39:28 | 0:39:32 | |
This is the kind of shopping I like best. | 0:39:32 | 0:39:35 | |
I just hope I don't spend too much. | 0:39:35 | 0:39:37 | |
-They're just up here in the field, so we'll walk up the lane and look over the fence. -OK. | 0:39:40 | 0:39:45 | |
'These cattle could cost me nearly 10 grand.' | 0:39:45 | 0:39:49 | |
They look lovely sitting there in the sunshine, don't they? | 0:39:49 | 0:39:52 | |
Quiet and relaxed, they're quiet, you know, they're good. | 0:39:52 | 0:39:55 | |
-I think the secret is to handle them a lot. -Yes. | 0:39:55 | 0:39:58 | |
No use turning them out in a big field and leaving them for the whole winter. | 0:39:58 | 0:40:02 | |
You need to get them in and feed them and look after them. | 0:40:02 | 0:40:05 | |
-How many breeding cows have you got? -At the moment we have 30. -And how many have you got to sell? | 0:40:05 | 0:40:09 | |
Mark, you've been speaking to Mike on the phone, there's half-a-dozen? | 0:40:09 | 0:40:13 | |
There's eight here for sale. | 0:40:13 | 0:40:14 | |
They're all in calf, we've pregnancy tested them, and they'll calve from July onwards. | 0:40:14 | 0:40:19 | |
Let's get in and take a closer look. | 0:40:19 | 0:40:21 | |
Let's go back to the gate and we'll walk in. | 0:40:21 | 0:40:23 | |
'These cattle have been clear of TB for nearly three years, and their general health is good, too. | 0:40:24 | 0:40:31 | |
'We can pick up to eight from this group.' | 0:40:31 | 0:40:33 | |
I might beat them at the path. | 0:40:33 | 0:40:36 | |
'Mike and I need to get in amongst them to choose the ones we want.' | 0:40:36 | 0:40:39 | |
What's your overall impression of the herd? | 0:40:44 | 0:40:47 | |
A good type. They're all very similar to ours, as well. | 0:40:47 | 0:40:49 | |
It'll be nice to bring in cows similar to ours | 0:40:49 | 0:40:52 | |
so they're not big and small, | 0:40:52 | 0:40:54 | |
they're all going to be very even with ours. | 0:40:54 | 0:40:56 | |
-Good quality cattle, aren't they? -Yeah. | 0:40:56 | 0:40:58 | |
We have a reputation of selling some of the best White Parks in the UK, | 0:40:58 | 0:41:02 | |
so if we're going to replace them, we want to buy good ones. | 0:41:02 | 0:41:05 | |
These are beefier as well, so the meat we sell is going to be good. | 0:41:05 | 0:41:08 | |
No, I like them. | 0:41:08 | 0:41:11 | |
We just need to pick out our favourites, really, then work out whether we can afford it. | 0:41:11 | 0:41:15 | |
I know that John's suggested he wants somewhere just under £1,000. | 0:41:15 | 0:41:21 | |
I think that's a fair price, I'd like to think it was closer to 800 rather than 1,000, | 0:41:21 | 0:41:25 | |
but we'll talk about that when we've decided which ones we want. | 0:41:25 | 0:41:29 | |
I really like Kylie. | 0:41:29 | 0:41:32 | |
These heifers were all born in the same year, so their names all begin with the same letter. | 0:41:32 | 0:41:37 | |
OK, so we will tick Kirsch and Kelly. | 0:41:37 | 0:41:40 | |
That's Kate. She's a no. | 0:41:42 | 0:41:45 | |
-What's that bottom one there, then? -That's Kit Kat. | 0:41:45 | 0:41:48 | |
Kit Kat. | 0:41:48 | 0:41:50 | |
Right. | 0:41:50 | 0:41:52 | |
Katerina, Karat, Kiora and Kirsty we need to find. | 0:41:52 | 0:41:58 | |
-A lovely head on that bull. -He looks good, doesn't he? | 0:41:58 | 0:42:01 | |
He's not for sale, but there is a bull for us to see not far away, on another farm. | 0:42:01 | 0:42:05 | |
Kiora, then round the back... | 0:42:05 | 0:42:08 | |
'We still need to choose our favourites from the final few.' | 0:42:08 | 0:42:11 | |
And what's that one over there? | 0:42:11 | 0:42:13 | |
-Kirsty. -So, out of those four, which would you leave behind? | 0:42:16 | 0:42:21 | |
The one down there, I think, is my least favourite of the four. | 0:42:21 | 0:42:25 | |
That's Kiora. Got to get this right. | 0:42:25 | 0:42:28 | |
-Would you agree with that? -I would, yeah, absolutely, bang on. | 0:42:28 | 0:42:33 | |
So, money-wise, then? | 0:42:33 | 0:42:35 | |
-We were talking about 950, but if they calve, 1,150, I thought. -OK. | 0:42:35 | 0:42:42 | |
But we've got six weeks or so to move them. | 0:42:42 | 0:42:47 | |
-Yeah. -So it's up to you, really? | 0:42:47 | 0:42:49 | |
And TB testing, how soon can you do that? | 0:42:49 | 0:42:52 | |
We'd do that next week. | 0:42:52 | 0:42:53 | |
-So, we'd get a result by the end of next week. -And so we could move them then straight away. -Yes. | 0:42:53 | 0:42:58 | |
'In the space of an hour or so, we've done a deal. | 0:43:01 | 0:43:03 | |
'And if they get the TB all-clear, they could be with me in the Cotswolds soon.' | 0:43:03 | 0:43:08 | |
Great, well, thank you very much, John. | 0:43:11 | 0:43:13 | |
-Thanks, Adam. -Let's hope they pass their pre-movement TB test. | 0:43:13 | 0:43:16 | |
-Absolutely. -I'm very excited about having them back at the farm. | 0:43:16 | 0:43:20 | |
-I hope they do well for you. -Thank you very much. -All the best. | 0:43:20 | 0:43:23 | |
That's the heifer sorted. | 0:43:30 | 0:43:32 | |
I've arranged to go and see a bull who's also in Devon, | 0:43:32 | 0:43:35 | |
but it would be worth having a look at him, eh? | 0:43:35 | 0:43:37 | |
-Yes, whilst we're here. Nice to make a day of it. -Yeah. | 0:43:37 | 0:43:40 | |
'The bull's called Druid. | 0:43:47 | 0:43:49 | |
'He's part of a herd that's owned by the Devon Wildlife Trust, | 0:43:49 | 0:43:52 | |
'and their White Parks even thrive on really poor wetlands. | 0:43:52 | 0:43:55 | |
'Simon Berry looks after them, and he shows me Druid and his mates.' | 0:43:55 | 0:44:01 | |
This is Hannah, she's the last White Park due to calf, | 0:44:01 | 0:44:04 | |
any time now, as you can see, beginning to make an udder. | 0:44:04 | 0:44:06 | |
Starting to move a bit, isn't she? | 0:44:06 | 0:44:07 | |
He's got lovely markings, very dark, | 0:44:07 | 0:44:09 | |
black nose, black ears and black feet. | 0:44:09 | 0:44:12 | |
-Yeah, and a good top line, too, isn't he? -Mmm. Quiet enough? | 0:44:12 | 0:44:14 | |
-Yeah, give him a stroke. -There's a good boy. | 0:44:14 | 0:44:18 | |
He does a bit of head waving, like bulls do. | 0:44:18 | 0:44:22 | |
What we're trying to do his select for slightly beefier animals | 0:44:22 | 0:44:26 | |
to market the beef, | 0:44:26 | 0:44:27 | |
and he's perhaps a little narrow in the back end for us, really. | 0:44:27 | 0:44:30 | |
BULL MOOS | 0:44:30 | 0:44:32 | |
Unfortunately, that bull isn't really the sort I want, | 0:44:32 | 0:44:35 | |
and also they're closed down with TB, | 0:44:35 | 0:44:37 | |
but while I'm here I'm just helping Simon move these cows | 0:44:37 | 0:44:41 | |
onto some conservation grazing. | 0:44:41 | 0:44:42 | |
It's lovely walking these cows down this old Devon lane. | 0:44:45 | 0:44:49 | |
People would have walked animals down here for centuries. | 0:44:49 | 0:44:54 | |
The cows seem to know exactly where they're heading for. | 0:44:56 | 0:44:59 | |
They hardly need us at all. | 0:44:59 | 0:45:01 | |
Not a bad job to do on an afternoon. | 0:45:01 | 0:45:03 | |
No. | 0:45:03 | 0:45:04 | |
There's good girls. | 0:45:08 | 0:45:10 | |
It's great, really, that rare breeds have got a place doing it, isn't it? | 0:45:10 | 0:45:14 | |
If you put a modern, continental breed in here, it would be | 0:45:14 | 0:45:16 | |
bellowing at the gate, wouldn't it? | 0:45:16 | 0:45:18 | |
They would, yes. It seems like rare breeds and all traditional | 0:45:18 | 0:45:21 | |
breed cattle do like this sort of pasture, | 0:45:21 | 0:45:23 | |
particularly if they're brought up on it and born here. | 0:45:23 | 0:45:26 | |
The White Park cattle look great in the fields in Devon, | 0:45:26 | 0:45:28 | |
and I can't wait to see them on my farm in the Cotswolds. | 0:45:28 | 0:45:31 | |
My special delivery comes sooner than I was expecting. | 0:45:31 | 0:45:36 | |
I just hope the new cattle get Dad's approval. | 0:45:36 | 0:45:38 | |
Beautiful. | 0:45:42 | 0:45:44 | |
They've travelled well. | 0:45:45 | 0:45:47 | |
They have, they've got a bit mucky, but they always do in the lorry. | 0:45:47 | 0:45:50 | |
They always do. | 0:45:50 | 0:45:51 | |
This is a fantastic moment for me, because when we lost half the herd | 0:45:51 | 0:45:57 | |
in that TB test six months ago, I was devastated, as you know. | 0:45:57 | 0:46:02 | |
Because that was my life's work going down the drain. | 0:46:02 | 0:46:06 | |
I just couldn't believe it. | 0:46:06 | 0:46:09 | |
We lost those cows and the stock bull, cows that were in calf - | 0:46:09 | 0:46:13 | |
it was appalling. | 0:46:13 | 0:46:15 | |
But you've put it right, and thanks. | 0:46:15 | 0:46:18 | |
Our herd is back-up to strength, | 0:46:27 | 0:46:29 | |
and we have the birth of new calves to look forward to, as well. | 0:46:29 | 0:46:33 | |
Next week, I am hoping to add to my collection of rare breed animals | 0:46:33 | 0:46:37 | |
with some fancy fowl. | 0:46:37 | 0:46:38 | |
These chalk white horses are icons of Wiltshire, | 0:46:42 | 0:46:45 | |
and if you too would like to create an iconic image, | 0:46:45 | 0:46:48 | |
how about entering our photographic competition? | 0:46:48 | 0:46:51 | |
This year's theme is best in show, and the winning | 0:46:51 | 0:46:53 | |
photos will feature in our calendar, all sold in aid of Children In Need. | 0:46:53 | 0:46:57 | |
If you haven't entered yet, here's John with all the details. | 0:46:57 | 0:47:00 | |
There are 12 different classes you can enter photos in. | 0:47:02 | 0:47:04 | |
Country People. | 0:47:06 | 0:47:07 | |
Farm Life. | 0:47:09 | 0:47:11 | |
Birds. | 0:47:11 | 0:47:15 | |
Insects and Spiders. | 0:47:15 | 0:47:18 | |
In All Weathers. | 0:47:18 | 0:47:20 | |
Working Animals. | 0:47:21 | 0:47:23 | |
Landscapes. | 0:47:23 | 0:47:25 | |
And Wildlife. | 0:47:26 | 0:47:28 | |
Then there's Leisure And Pleasure. | 0:47:29 | 0:47:31 | |
And Water Worlds. | 0:47:33 | 0:47:34 | |
Plant Life. | 0:47:37 | 0:47:39 | |
And finally, the Lighter Side Of Country Life. | 0:47:39 | 0:47:42 | |
The best photo in each class will be put to the viewers' vote. | 0:47:43 | 0:47:47 | |
The person who takes the winning photo | 0:47:47 | 0:47:49 | |
will be declared Best In Show and gets to choose from a range | 0:47:49 | 0:47:51 | |
of the latest photographic equipment to the value of £1,000. | 0:47:51 | 0:47:56 | |
Whoever takes the judges' favourite photo, | 0:47:56 | 0:48:00 | |
will get to choose equipment to the value of £500. | 0:48:00 | 0:48:04 | |
Our competition isn't open to professionals. | 0:48:04 | 0:48:05 | |
Your entries mustn't have been offered for sale | 0:48:05 | 0:48:08 | |
or won other competitions. | 0:48:08 | 0:48:09 | |
That's because we want something original. | 0:48:09 | 0:48:14 | |
You can enter up to four photos, which must be taken in the UK. | 0:48:14 | 0:48:18 | |
Please write your name, address and daytime and evening phone number | 0:48:18 | 0:48:23 | |
on the back of each photo, with a note of which class | 0:48:23 | 0:48:26 | |
you want it to be judged in. | 0:48:26 | 0:48:28 | |
Each photo can only be entered in one class. | 0:48:28 | 0:48:31 | |
Then all you have to do is send your entries to... | 0:48:33 | 0:48:36 | |
The full terms and conditions are on our website, | 0:48:43 | 0:48:46 | |
as well as details of the BBC's code of conduct for competitions. | 0:48:46 | 0:48:50 | |
Please write to us enclosing a stamped addressed envelope | 0:48:50 | 0:48:54 | |
if you want a copy of the rules. | 0:48:54 | 0:48:56 | |
The closing date isn't until Friday 12th August, | 0:48:56 | 0:49:00 | |
and sorry, but we can't return any entries. | 0:49:00 | 0:49:02 | |
Earlier in the programme, | 0:49:03 | 0:49:05 | |
Katie tried to present an accurate weather briefing. | 0:49:05 | 0:49:08 | |
Now it's time for the proper job. | 0:49:08 | 0:49:09 | |
Here's the Countryfile forecast for the week ahead. | 0:49:09 | 0:49:12 | |
. | 0:50:50 | 0:50:57 | |
Salisbury Plain is full of ancient archaeology, from Stonehenge... | 0:51:11 | 0:51:16 | |
To Avebury. It's a treasure-trove of historical significance, | 0:51:16 | 0:51:19 | |
but while serious students pursue their theories on early man, | 0:51:19 | 0:51:23 | |
more recent ancestors have made a contribution | 0:51:23 | 0:51:26 | |
to myth and legend all of their own. | 0:51:26 | 0:51:29 | |
And none more so than the horse shapes cut into the chalk hillsides. | 0:51:29 | 0:51:33 | |
The Cherhill Horse was created in the 1780s by a doctor from Calne. | 0:51:33 | 0:51:38 | |
Oxfordshire may have the biggest and oldest white horse, | 0:51:42 | 0:51:46 | |
Uffington is over 3,000 years old, | 0:51:46 | 0:51:49 | |
but Wiltshire has a whole herd of these amazing beasts. | 0:51:49 | 0:51:53 | |
There are 13 known white horses in the county, | 0:51:53 | 0:51:56 | |
but five have been lost, and local people are doing their best | 0:51:56 | 0:51:59 | |
to make sure the survivors don't get buried | 0:51:59 | 0:52:01 | |
or overgrown like the rest. | 0:52:01 | 0:52:03 | |
So, Bob, this horse then was the idea of a local doctor. | 0:52:04 | 0:52:07 | |
That's right, a chap called Alsop. | 0:52:07 | 0:52:10 | |
It sounds bizarre that he's a doctor, I don't know why. | 0:52:10 | 0:52:12 | |
Well, he was known as the mad doctor, which may give us a clue. | 0:52:12 | 0:52:16 | |
-OK, and any idea why he wanted to create a horse? -Not really. | 0:52:16 | 0:52:20 | |
It is a tradition, and it could be, arguably, | 0:52:20 | 0:52:24 | |
-the sort of "my horse is better than your horse" tradition. -Right. | 0:52:24 | 0:52:29 | |
Equally, it could be just a matter of local identity, we don't know. | 0:52:29 | 0:52:34 | |
And Bob, people are out in force here, | 0:52:34 | 0:52:36 | |
-of all ages... -Yes. -..so it's obviously very important | 0:52:36 | 0:52:39 | |
to the community here. | 0:52:39 | 0:52:40 | |
Exactly, it is important to the village, to the immediate area. | 0:52:40 | 0:52:44 | |
'It's an identity. | 0:52:44 | 0:52:46 | |
'It's, if you like, a symbol of this place, | 0:52:46 | 0:52:49 | |
'as opposed to any other place.' | 0:52:49 | 0:52:51 | |
It might sound desperately localistic to say that, | 0:52:51 | 0:52:55 | |
but if you don't have something beyond a collection of houses, | 0:52:55 | 0:52:59 | |
what do you have? You've got nothing. | 0:52:59 | 0:53:01 | |
You've got to have something that you can say "this is ours". | 0:53:01 | 0:53:04 | |
And this is Cherhill White Horse. | 0:53:04 | 0:53:06 | |
Around 30 Cubs, Scouts, friends and leaders are here today | 0:53:06 | 0:53:11 | |
to complete this horse's biennial grooming. | 0:53:11 | 0:53:15 | |
It's a tried-and-tested method - bags of chalk, ropes to hold on to, | 0:53:15 | 0:53:20 | |
and a bit of fancy footwork to compress the chalk. | 0:53:20 | 0:53:24 | |
But I sense we're in for a bit of horseplay. | 0:53:24 | 0:53:27 | |
Go film a cow. | 0:53:27 | 0:53:28 | |
CHATTER | 0:53:28 | 0:53:32 | |
The man who was inspired to create this horse was actually a local, | 0:53:32 | 0:53:35 | |
but he didn't want to get his hands dirty, | 0:53:35 | 0:53:37 | |
so he gathered a group of likely lads, got himself a loud hailer | 0:53:37 | 0:53:40 | |
and barked instructions at them | 0:53:40 | 0:53:42 | |
until they finished all the hard work. | 0:53:42 | 0:53:44 | |
My kind of man. The art of delegation. | 0:53:44 | 0:53:47 | |
Right! | 0:53:47 | 0:53:49 | |
That'll be Little Miss Instruction, no doubt. | 0:53:49 | 0:53:51 | |
Baker boy, can you hear me? | 0:53:51 | 0:53:53 | |
ALL: Yes. | 0:53:53 | 0:53:55 | |
Let's get going. Jump up and down if you can. | 0:53:55 | 0:53:59 | |
That's my boy. | 0:54:02 | 0:54:04 | |
-OK, time for some hard work. -Hang on, listen. | 0:54:04 | 0:54:06 | |
Remember that? No sitting on a sofa, get your hands dirty! | 0:54:06 | 0:54:11 | |
-One, two, three... -ALL: Shut up! | 0:54:11 | 0:54:15 | |
He hates me so much. | 0:54:15 | 0:54:17 | |
I don't know, | 0:54:18 | 0:54:20 | |
that Bradbury's got some bare-faced cheek. | 0:54:20 | 0:54:22 | |
And I've got some for her. | 0:54:22 | 0:54:25 | |
Right, Jules, let me transport you back to the 18th century. | 0:54:28 | 0:54:32 | |
-Very good start, I'm feeling it. -Good. | 0:54:32 | 0:54:33 | |
-We know that this was the main route from London to Bristol. -Mm-hm. | 0:54:33 | 0:54:37 | |
There'd be no shortage of noblemen who would use this route. | 0:54:37 | 0:54:40 | |
They've gathered up all their valuables, they'd be heading west, | 0:54:40 | 0:54:43 | |
set sail to America in search of even greater fortune. | 0:54:43 | 0:54:46 | |
-Right. -So, who would they be targets of? | 0:54:46 | 0:54:49 | |
-They're big cheeses, yes? -Huge. | 0:54:49 | 0:54:52 | |
-So, big cheeses carrying all their booty with them... -Yes. | 0:54:52 | 0:54:56 | |
..lots of cash, it's got to be thieves and robbers, highwaymen! | 0:54:56 | 0:55:01 | |
Eighteenth-century highwaymen! | 0:55:01 | 0:55:03 | |
-Highwaymen, yeah. -Highwaymen. -Yeah. -Yeah? | 0:55:03 | 0:55:05 | |
Within an inch. | 0:55:05 | 0:55:07 | |
Stand and deliver! | 0:55:08 | 0:55:10 | |
Agh! | 0:55:10 | 0:55:12 | |
'Not just highwaymen - naked highwaymen.' | 0:55:12 | 0:55:14 | |
Hang on a minute, hang on. What do you want us to do? | 0:55:14 | 0:55:19 | |
-Your watches. Your money. -You want the watches? -OK. -OK, OK. | 0:55:19 | 0:55:23 | |
-Alright, alright. -There we are. | 0:55:23 | 0:55:24 | |
My word, this is extraordinary, and I've got 35p and an old receipt. | 0:55:24 | 0:55:29 | |
-Is that it, Baker? -That's the best I can do. | 0:55:29 | 0:55:31 | |
'Thanks to a very accommodating local drama group, | 0:55:31 | 0:55:34 | |
'we're recreating the exploits of the notorious Cherhill Gang, | 0:55:34 | 0:55:37 | |
'who really did terrorise travellers around these parts | 0:55:37 | 0:55:40 | |
'in the 18th century without clothes.' | 0:55:40 | 0:55:42 | |
'Thankfully, this lot are happy to do refunds.' | 0:55:42 | 0:55:45 | |
I tell you what, we'll do a deal. | 0:55:45 | 0:55:47 | |
If you give my 35p back, you can put your clothes on. | 0:55:47 | 0:55:49 | |
This was actually my surprise for you, | 0:55:51 | 0:55:53 | |
but I think I'm more shocked than you are! | 0:55:53 | 0:55:54 | |
You couldn't just stand together so I can take a picture, could you? | 0:55:56 | 0:55:59 | |
-That is brilliant. -I have to ask the question, why? | 0:56:00 | 0:56:03 | |
Well, a long time ago in these parts, there were a group of highwaymen | 0:56:03 | 0:56:07 | |
that used to intercept the coach from London to Bristol in the hills here, | 0:56:07 | 0:56:13 | |
and they did it naked to divert the eyes | 0:56:13 | 0:56:15 | |
and make sure that they weren't recognised. | 0:56:15 | 0:56:18 | |
It certainly works, doesn't it? | 0:56:18 | 0:56:19 | |
I can vouch for it, it does actually work. It's amazing, actually. | 0:56:19 | 0:56:22 | |
Yes, it's quite extraordinary. | 0:56:22 | 0:56:26 | |
And so you're sort of carrying on the tradition, then? | 0:56:26 | 0:56:28 | |
Only for you today. | 0:56:28 | 0:56:30 | |
It's not something we do every Friday, no. | 0:56:30 | 0:56:33 | |
No, it isn't how you spend your Fridays. | 0:56:33 | 0:56:35 | |
-Thanks. And thanks for our stuff back. -Yes. | 0:56:35 | 0:56:37 | |
But that is all we've got time for tonight. | 0:56:37 | 0:56:38 | |
I can promise you that next week is going to be a lot more sedate. | 0:56:38 | 0:56:41 | |
We're going to be searching for butterflies. | 0:56:41 | 0:56:42 | |
We are, in the beautiful Cotswolds, so we'll see you then. Bye-bye. | 0:56:42 | 0:56:46 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:57:03 | 0:57:06 | |
E-mail [email protected] | 0:57:06 | 0:57:09 |