0:00:24 > 0:00:27South Wales - an industrial landscape.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29But step away and there's beauty.
0:00:29 > 0:00:36Open countryside, vast beaches and sand dunes, tall and imposing.
0:00:36 > 0:00:37These dunes are so important
0:00:37 > 0:00:41that they've been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
0:00:41 > 0:00:42But all is not well here,
0:00:42 > 0:00:45because they're turning from free-flowing sand
0:00:45 > 0:00:48to giant, solid grass hills
0:00:48 > 0:00:50and I'm going to be finding out
0:00:50 > 0:00:53why they're moving sand on a massive scale
0:00:53 > 0:00:55to restore life to these dunes.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04I'm inland from Matt, unearthing a tale of deception.
0:01:04 > 0:01:0668 years ago, the biggest escape
0:01:06 > 0:01:11by German prisoners of war from the United Kingdom took place right here.
0:01:11 > 0:01:1470 prisoners tunnelled their way to freedom from this hut
0:01:14 > 0:01:18and now, with the help of a digger and 3D technology,
0:01:18 > 0:01:21we're going to discover exactly how they did it.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30Meanwhile, Tom's hot on the trail of our fastest-growing source of energy.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32You might like to burn a log or two
0:01:32 > 0:01:34to give your living room a bit of sparkle
0:01:34 > 0:01:38but Government and industry are rebranding wood as biomass
0:01:38 > 0:01:42and think it could be a good way to generate
0:01:42 > 0:01:45lots of electricity to power our lives.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49Environmental triumph, or a disaster? I'll be investigating.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54And Adam's finding out how we satisfy the nation's sweet tooth.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59This is a root crop called sugar beet
0:01:59 > 0:02:04and there's around 20,000 tonnes of it down there,
0:02:04 > 0:02:08and it's used to make this stuff - granulated sugar.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11I'll be following this crop from the harvest in the field
0:02:11 > 0:02:13right through to sugar here in the factory.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28The vast beaches of South Wales -
0:02:28 > 0:02:30glistening waters, lined by golden sands.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34Endless rugged dunes hug this land.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40We're on a stretch of the coast between Swansea and Bridgend
0:02:40 > 0:02:42starting here at Kenfig sands.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46This may look like a typical seaside scene,
0:02:46 > 0:02:48apart from the hefty steelworks puffing away over there,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52but there's a lot more to this place than a bucket-and-spade holiday.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55It is, in fact, one of the most important nature conservation sites
0:02:55 > 0:02:59in Britain, and that is all to do with these sand dunes.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02But the ones here in Kenfig are disappearing.
0:03:08 > 0:03:09Over the years,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12they've changed from the exotic Lawrence of Arabia-style
0:03:12 > 0:03:15dusty hues of yellow to a mass of matted green.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20I can't imagine a caravan of camels sauntering across these!
0:03:21 > 0:03:24Being overgrown with all this vegetation
0:03:24 > 0:03:27is the beginning of the end for these sand dunes
0:03:27 > 0:03:29and for what makes this place so special.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33With one of the biggest issues being that some rare plants and insects
0:03:33 > 0:03:36are being driven to the brink of extinction.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40To find out more, I'm meeting botanist Andy Byfield.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44So, Andy, what's going on here then?
0:03:44 > 0:03:47Think about sand dunes from your childhood.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51You remember these windy, open places, lots of bare sand,
0:03:51 > 0:03:55lots of sand pricking the backs of your legs and that sort of thing.
0:03:55 > 0:03:56Those days are over.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59What's happened over the last 20 or 30 years
0:03:59 > 0:04:03is that the sand dunes have become vegetated.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05Wind the clock back 50 years,
0:04:05 > 0:04:09nearly half this place was just open, bare sand.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12The situation today is that the vast bulk of it
0:04:12 > 0:04:14is covered with thick, choking grasslands.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Is it purely the problem that the grass has locked itself into the sand?
0:04:17 > 0:04:21Yes, it starts open but if you don't do anything to it,
0:04:21 > 0:04:23the vegetation starts to grow up and eventually,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27you get a few brambles coming in, a few brushes and ultimately,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30if the process continues, you get to a stage where willows
0:04:30 > 0:04:33and birch trees and that sort of thing come in.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36You go from a beautiful, romantic open habitat,
0:04:36 > 0:04:41a very wild, windy, mobile habitat to a very stabilised woodland.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46And it's this stabilisation that's now threatening
0:04:46 > 0:04:48the future of many rare plant species.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54These things have evolved to grow on bare sand.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56They've just spent millennia doing that.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59Things like this one - it's a classic dune plant.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01You can see two things here, actually.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05There, you can see the variegated horsetail and there,
0:05:05 > 0:05:09a beautiful plant, that's the brick red form of the early marsh orchid.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11That's one thing. What else have we got here?
0:05:11 > 0:05:13That is the marsh helleborine.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15The Americans call it "the chatterbox orchid"
0:05:15 > 0:05:19because its lower lip sort of shakes as though it's sort of freezing.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22The numbers of these must have drastically reduced?
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Yeah, the classic one is the fen orchid,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27which is this beautiful lime green orchid.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29We know really only a few decades ago
0:05:29 > 0:05:32- there were as many as eight or nine sites with the orchid.- Yeah.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36And it's gone from eight or nine sites down to just one site
0:05:36 > 0:05:38- in just a few decades.- Goodness me!
0:05:38 > 0:05:40I can't think of any orchid in Britain
0:05:40 > 0:05:42that's declining more rapidly than that.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52But here at Kenfig, the fight back is under way
0:05:52 > 0:05:55with a rather radical new project.
0:05:55 > 0:05:56The diggers are in,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59removing the top layer of grass to loosen up the sand.
0:05:59 > 0:06:00Once the grass is removed,
0:06:00 > 0:06:03the wind will blow freely through the dunes again,
0:06:03 > 0:06:06distributing the seeds of the precious plants
0:06:06 > 0:06:07that we're rapidly losing.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11Reserve manager David Carrington is the man with the battle plan.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14We like to call it rejuvenation.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17We're sort of breathing life into
0:06:17 > 0:06:20a dune system that's become over stable.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22The diggers are giving mother nature a hand
0:06:22 > 0:06:26but those of us out enjoying the coast can play our part too.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29There are areas of the reserve where the only bare sand we've got
0:06:29 > 0:06:31is because of people's footfall.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34There is that tendency, where you've got some precious habitat,
0:06:34 > 0:06:37to say, "Oh, keep off it, don't touch."
0:06:37 > 0:06:40But it's not necessarily the right approach on a sand dune site,
0:06:40 > 0:06:45where movement of sand and erosion and recovery, you know,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48is critical really to the special plants and insects.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50How often will you have to keep digging here?
0:06:50 > 0:06:52It does depend a bit on the funding.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55The Welsh Government have provided funding for this project.
0:06:55 > 0:06:56Ideally, every few years,
0:06:56 > 0:07:01there'll be another area that's done and we'll create another site.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13- Lee, is it all right to come up and have a chat?- Yeah, no problem.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16I love driving diggers and I love building sand castles.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18- Is it all right if I have a little seat?- Yeah.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22Right, you're going to have to tell me where to dig and what to do.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25So, you're just taking off this corner here, are you?
0:07:25 > 0:07:28- Just taking that off, yeah. So if you get this down here now.- Yep...
0:07:28 > 0:07:31- There we are, we should be good to go.- And then we lift her up...
0:07:39 > 0:07:42Well, while I'm having fun on the sand dunes here in Wales,
0:07:42 > 0:07:45Tom is finding out why burning wood is coming back into fashion.
0:07:52 > 0:07:58Britain by night - a land shining with man-made light.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02It's a power that's created increasingly by renewable energy.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05And our small island is leading the way
0:08:05 > 0:08:08in the latest green fuel to find favour.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13That revolutionary renewable isn't wind, solar or wave,
0:08:13 > 0:08:17but mankind's original fuel - wood -
0:08:17 > 0:08:20or, as it's being called today, biomass.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24Some think it can make Britain and the world a cleaner, greener place.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27Others fear it's an environmental time bomb.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32'To find out the truth, I'm going to follow two very different projects
0:08:32 > 0:08:34'from start to finish.'
0:08:34 > 0:08:37- Hi, Tom, good to meet you. - Very nice to meet you.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41'My journey begins here, in the woods of Richmond Park.'
0:08:48 > 0:08:50I did actually feel the ground shake there!
0:08:50 > 0:08:54'Biomass refers to any plant life harvested for energy,
0:08:54 > 0:08:58'but most currently comes from wood.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00'So here, they're felling trees to use as fuel,
0:09:00 > 0:09:03'feeding a local business converting to biomass.'
0:09:10 > 0:09:13So, I see there's great excitement, great drama in doing this,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16but in what way is it actually good for the environment?
0:09:16 > 0:09:18Well, for this species of tree in particular,
0:09:18 > 0:09:22these have a detrimental effect on the wildlife in the park.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24It's a non-native tree, the Turkey oak.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27By removing them, it'll bring the light levels back into the woodland,
0:09:27 > 0:09:29we retain all the native trees,
0:09:29 > 0:09:31they then flourish, they put on girth,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34put on a larger crown, more leaves, more insects,
0:09:34 > 0:09:37which has a knock-on effect for the birds and the bats.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41So as far as you're concerned, the demand for wood to burn -
0:09:41 > 0:09:45biomass as it's called - is actually helping you to manage the place?
0:09:45 > 0:09:47Absolutely. I'm sure that biomass boilers are fitted in
0:09:47 > 0:09:49because of the climate change agenda
0:09:49 > 0:09:52and that's looking at global conservation.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54If you put the markets into your local woodlands
0:09:54 > 0:09:56you're actually doing local conservation as well.
0:09:58 > 0:10:03The use of biomass has shot up by 17% in the UK
0:10:03 > 0:10:07in the last year alone - a rise driven by the race
0:10:07 > 0:10:10to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15But in what way can burning wood be considered green?
0:10:15 > 0:10:17Well, wood really has two destinies.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21If it falls down and begins to rot like this,
0:10:21 > 0:10:24that emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26The same happens when you burn it.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30The difference is that if that process of combustion is used
0:10:30 > 0:10:34to create energy, you've avoided using a fossil fuel to do that
0:10:34 > 0:10:37and also, whether it rots or whether it's burnt,
0:10:37 > 0:10:42that carbon dioxide is reabsorbed when you plant more trees.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49It seems like everyone's a winner. Or maybe not...
0:10:49 > 0:10:53Some critics are concerned that the figures don't add up.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56They say we're actually creating a carbon debt
0:10:56 > 0:11:00by quickly releasing carbon into the atmosphere
0:11:00 > 0:11:03that new trees will take decades to reabsorb.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05All this at a time
0:11:05 > 0:11:08when we should be urgently reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14What most people do agree on is that small-scale schemes like this one
0:11:14 > 0:11:17do make environmental sense.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20What's proving more controversial are big projects
0:11:20 > 0:11:24that are driving a huge surge in the demand for biomass
0:11:24 > 0:11:26and that's where I'm heading next.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31On his farm near Wetherby,
0:11:31 > 0:11:33Gareth Gaunt is part of a cooperative
0:11:33 > 0:11:36being paid by Britain's largest power station
0:11:36 > 0:11:41to grow 2,000 acres of willow to feed their biomass machine.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44I'm meeting him on site, a few miles from his own farm,
0:11:44 > 0:11:47where the willow's only three years old
0:11:47 > 0:11:50but already ripe for harvesting as an energy crop.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53- Is this one ready to go, ready to be cut?- Yes, this one is ready.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57- This one is three years old and ready to go.- With the big beast here?
0:11:57 > 0:11:59With the big beast here. Here's your...
0:11:59 > 0:12:03- It looks like one hell of a toy! Hi, are you in control of this?- I am.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05- This is Dean. Tom.- All right, Tom?
0:12:05 > 0:12:09- Can I have a go? - Yeah, if you want.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12You'd better give me a lesson, then.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14Throttle up to the top.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16- Right up to the rabbit, here?- Yeah.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22This operation is certainly impressive
0:12:22 > 0:12:23but it's also taking up some land
0:12:23 > 0:12:27that was previously used for growing wheat and barley -
0:12:27 > 0:12:30staple food crops - and this is another concern for critics.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Yeah, that isn't bad at all. Let's call it a day there.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37Yeah, well done.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41How do the figures compare between growing willow like this
0:12:41 > 0:12:43and growing an arable crop?
0:12:43 > 0:12:46Well I'm making about £400 a hectare now on willow.
0:12:46 > 0:12:52Previously, when I was growing wheat, some years I was losing money.
0:12:52 > 0:12:57Doesn't it mean, though, that you would be producing less food in this country?
0:12:57 > 0:13:00It is, whether you like it or not, a sort of food versus fuel battle.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03It is, but I think if farmers really examined
0:13:03 > 0:13:09some of the poorer-quality fields that they're not making a profit on,
0:13:09 > 0:13:13I think they could improve the yields on some of the better quality land.
0:13:13 > 0:13:19I don't think we need lose any land mass for growing food.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21So the country can produce a bit more fuel
0:13:21 > 0:13:24- and the same amount of food going forward?- Absolutely, absolutely.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31How you grow biomass is where the debate starts over its green credentials
0:13:31 > 0:13:35but the scale on which we use it is where things really heat up.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40Some critics are claiming that big business biomass
0:13:40 > 0:13:43could become dirtier than the fossil fuels it's set to replace
0:13:43 > 0:13:46and that's what I'll be investigating later.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57Whilst Matt's exploring the sand dunes
0:13:57 > 0:13:59along this part of the South Wales coast,
0:13:59 > 0:14:02I'm heading inland just a little to the home of a
0:14:02 > 0:14:05man who made the most of the area's natural resources
0:14:05 > 0:14:08and created an industrial landscape.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot,
0:14:11 > 0:14:14known to his friends as Kit Talbot,
0:14:14 > 0:14:18was an extremely wealthy and very savvy Victorian estate owner
0:14:18 > 0:14:24who boosted his fortune by exploiting the minerals, the coal and the iron,
0:14:24 > 0:14:26that lay beneath his land.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30He built ironworks and dockyards over there by the coast
0:14:30 > 0:14:34and the place was named in his honour - Port Talbot.
0:14:34 > 0:14:40He lived here, on his estate covering 850 acres of woodlands, scrub,
0:14:40 > 0:14:45grassland and streams - a vivid contrast to Talbot's industrial port.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47I'm meeting local historian, John Adams,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50to hear more about this gentleman wheeler-dealer who,
0:14:50 > 0:14:53from his mansion, owned all he surveyed.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Well, quite a place that Kit built for himself!
0:14:56 > 0:14:59It really is a statement of how rich and powerful I am.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01Yes, he was a very wealthy man.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04He was a commoner but a wealthy commoner.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08He really grasped the opportunity of the Industrial Revolution, didn't he?
0:15:08 > 0:15:11He realised that there was money to be made for himself
0:15:11 > 0:15:14and basically to benefit the district.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17For instance, he was a pioneer in the introduction of the railways.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19He invested heavily in the docks.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21Much of the estate is on the coalfield.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25So apart from agriculture, increasingly,
0:15:25 > 0:15:29money was to come from beneath the soil and there was the coal,
0:15:29 > 0:15:31there was the black band ironstone,
0:15:31 > 0:15:34there was the limestone, all used for smelting.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37A real Victorian entrepreneur, really.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39A real Victorian entrepreneur.
0:15:39 > 0:15:40And with all his achievements,
0:15:40 > 0:15:43I'm surprised he wasn't offered a peerage or something like that.
0:15:43 > 0:15:44But he was offered a peerage.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48In 1869, Gladstone offered him a peerage, which he turned down,
0:15:48 > 0:15:51and he was offered one on two further occasions.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53At the end of the day, I think he preferred to be
0:15:53 > 0:15:57head of the commoners rather than at the tail of the aristocracy.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02With the fortunes he made on top of the one he inherited,
0:16:02 > 0:16:06Kit Talbot could well afford to model his Margam estate
0:16:06 > 0:16:08exactly to his tastes.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10And though he died in the 1890s,
0:16:10 > 0:16:14the landscape he created here has changed little.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19Except, that is, that there are now several rare breeds living here,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22some that you won't find anywhere else.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25Park manager Mike Wynne is showing me
0:16:25 > 0:16:28some of their really special residents, Glamorgan cattle.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32So how is it that you have the only surviving herd here?
0:16:32 > 0:16:36In 1979, an article appeared in Farmers Weekly,
0:16:36 > 0:16:41and a Major Savage from East Sussex claimed to have the last
0:16:41 > 0:16:45remaining herd of Glamorgan cattle, and this gentleman
0:16:45 > 0:16:48was in his 80s at the time and wanted to give up farming.
0:16:48 > 0:16:54And eventually, the West Glamorgan County Council purchased
0:16:54 > 0:16:57seven females and three males from this last herd.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00Well, you have a fine-looking bull there at the moment.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02Is he a Glamorgan?
0:17:02 > 0:17:05This is a Gloucester bull which we obtained about two years ago
0:17:05 > 0:17:09- from Adam Henson's farm in the Cotswolds.- Really?!
0:17:09 > 0:17:12The Rare Breeds Survival Trust thought that the Glamorgan cattle
0:17:12 > 0:17:16were quite closely related to the Gloucester cattle, so this
0:17:16 > 0:17:20is why we decided to introduce a Gloucester bull into the herd,
0:17:20 > 0:17:22to see what we get, really.
0:17:22 > 0:17:23So, at the moment,
0:17:23 > 0:17:26things are looking quite good for the survival of this breed?
0:17:26 > 0:17:30Well, it's early days and we've got a lot do to increase the numbers,
0:17:30 > 0:17:31but, yes, we're hoping so.
0:17:32 > 0:17:36And that's thanks in no small measure to our Mr Henson.
0:17:36 > 0:17:41But it's not just local rare breeds the Margam estate is keeping alive.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44Roaming this parkland is an animal from China which is now
0:17:44 > 0:17:49so rare that it's extinct in the wild - the Pere David deer.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53How did they get from China to the UK?
0:17:53 > 0:17:55They were effectively discovered in the Western sense
0:17:55 > 0:18:02by French Jesuit missionary Pere David, and he arranged for some
0:18:02 > 0:18:08to be sent to Europe, to France, to Germany and to the UK, in the 1860s.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11And all the Pere David that now exist in the world
0:18:11 > 0:18:13are descended from those animals.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16How many are there now left in the world?
0:18:16 > 0:18:20I believe there are between 2,000 and 3,000 left in the world.
0:18:20 > 0:18:222,000 or more of them now exist in China,
0:18:22 > 0:18:26they've been reintroduced, but they are kept in reserves and parks.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29We maintain a herd of about 45 here at Margam.
0:18:29 > 0:18:34Now, I must say, Mike, they're not the most attractive of deer species.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38Well, yes, the Chinese name translated into English means
0:18:38 > 0:18:39the four unlikes.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43They're supposed to be made up of part coq, part ass,
0:18:43 > 0:18:47- part camel and part deer. - Well, they seem to be thriving here.
0:18:47 > 0:18:48Why do you think that is?
0:18:48 > 0:18:51Well, Margam was selected as a suitable location
0:18:51 > 0:18:54because we have got some marshy wet ground,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57which replicates what they would have been used to in China.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00So that's a real success story, isn't, for conservation?
0:19:00 > 0:19:01Yes, a real success story.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09Kit Talbot could never have guessed that one day his great estate
0:19:09 > 0:19:13would be owned by the local council, but it means that his land
0:19:13 > 0:19:18and the huge impact that he had on it will continue to be preserved.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26Sand dunes like the ones on the South Wales coast
0:19:26 > 0:19:29are for ever on the move, unless, that is,
0:19:29 > 0:19:33these shifting, whispering sands have been too well stabilised.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37But sticking out from the North Sea coast, there is a three-mile stretch
0:19:37 > 0:19:41of land that's moving westwards at the rate of two metres a year.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44It's Spurn Head at the mouth of the River Humber,
0:19:44 > 0:19:46and Katie's been there to see what life is like.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51Though this spit has been here for hundreds of years,
0:19:51 > 0:19:55it's a very dynamic piece of land. It's always on the move.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57The sea may have shaped it and built it,
0:19:57 > 0:19:59but it also has the power to move it.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04Despite this constant shift, people still live and work here.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07There's a permanently-manned RNLI lifeboat station at the point,
0:20:07 > 0:20:10and piloted boats are on hand to guide vessels through
0:20:10 > 0:20:12one of our busiest shipping channels.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Out there on the horizon, just over two miles away,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19you can just about make out a Met mast,
0:20:19 > 0:20:22which is a piece of equipment used to measure weather conditions.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26It also marks the point where the coastline was in Roman times
0:20:26 > 0:20:27and that shows you just how much
0:20:27 > 0:20:30this landscape has changed over time.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34On average, the Spurn moves west up to two metres
0:20:34 > 0:20:35or nearly seven feet every year.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39It's all down to longshore drift, a natural process that never rests.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42I'm meeting geologist Dr Jan Zalasiewicz
0:20:42 > 0:20:44from Leicester University to find out more.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49- Longshore drift, a classic geography term.- It is, yes.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51Can you explain that?
0:20:51 > 0:20:55Well, the Spurn is a classic spit which is formed by material
0:20:55 > 0:20:59being washed by the sea out of these cliffs of boulder clay.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01The waves attack them.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04They break them down, literally, at the rate of one or two metres year.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07The mud and the sand and the pebbles are washed out.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10The waves will carry the pebbles up the beach like this,
0:21:10 > 0:21:14normally coming at an angle, and then the backwash comes
0:21:14 > 0:21:17and it will simply drop back down the beach here.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20The next wave will come, pick it up, take it diagonally again,
0:21:20 > 0:21:24and down it goes again, and so it will go on travelling.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27It'll do a zigzag along the beach and simply will carry on.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30So more and more material will be taken from one side
0:21:30 > 0:21:33of the beach right along, and that is how the spit will form.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35It helps the spit form. It's an ongoing conveyor belt
0:21:35 > 0:21:38which is always coming out of the cliffs, that's the supply,
0:21:38 > 0:21:40and it's carrying on down.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43And it's just travelling. It will travel for miles and miles.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50In the past, man has tried to check this movement
0:21:50 > 0:21:53and prevent erosion by protecting the land
0:21:53 > 0:21:54from the sea's natural passage.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58The Victorians set up a series of sea defences to hold back the waves.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01They were maintained by the MoD until the late 1950s.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06Since then, the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has been
0:22:06 > 0:22:08responsible for the management of the Spurn,
0:22:08 > 0:22:11now a designated national nature reserve.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17Andrew Gibson is the full-time warden in charge,
0:22:17 > 0:22:19and he's going to show me around the reserve.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23- Now, the sea is just over this bank here.- It is, it's over on our left.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25When you've got your spring tides,
0:22:25 > 0:22:29- is the sea actually washing over this bit of land?- It will come over.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31Believe it or not, that's what we want.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34We want it to wash over and move westwards,
0:22:34 > 0:22:37which is what it would do naturally.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40- You want nature to shape this land. - We do.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43But we need to manage it for our own benefit as well.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47And it's striking that compromise between the two things.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56Out we get! Oh, my goodness, it's blowing a gale!
0:22:59 > 0:23:01So, what's the important thing
0:23:01 > 0:23:03about this bit of road and that bit of road?
0:23:03 > 0:23:07That's your traditional tarmac road, which we'd say, bad road.
0:23:07 > 0:23:08This is good road.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11This is a removable interlocking concrete block.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14What it allows it to do is, you can see the sand
0:23:14 > 0:23:19migrates over this very easily, and if the dynamic coastline,
0:23:19 > 0:23:23as it moves, washes it away, we can pick this material up
0:23:23 > 0:23:25and put it back in the recycler and bring it back out.
0:23:25 > 0:23:30Whereas the tarmac road is fixed. It's hard. It needs a sub-base.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33It's a hard scar on the landscape, shall we say,
0:23:33 > 0:23:35whereas what we need is dynamism.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49Flexible roads are one way of meeting
0:23:49 > 0:23:51the challenge of living on the Spurn.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53Keeping the scrub down is a different matter.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57When the grass gets too long, you need the right tools for the job.
0:23:57 > 0:24:02- So, why do you have sheep here? - To manage this, to manage the grass.
0:24:02 > 0:24:07This is fixed dune, it's got its own unique, species-rich grassland,
0:24:07 > 0:24:09very much like chalk grassland.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13And these sheep are needed to take off all this longer grass,
0:24:13 > 0:24:16otherwise it becomes very rank and long
0:24:16 > 0:24:19and the flowers in the spring, the orchids, can't come through that.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23You could come in and cut it and take it off manually,
0:24:23 > 0:24:25but we use these guys.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27It's a much more sustainable way of doing it.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34These Hebrideans are built for this type of environment
0:24:34 > 0:24:37but life on the spit is not for the fainthearted.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41It gets a constant battering from the wind and the waves.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45Andrew Wells and his wife Sue have been braving the elements here for 15 years.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50So, Andrew, why did you decide to come and live here?
0:24:50 > 0:24:52Well, basically, we were looking for a small dairy farm that we
0:24:52 > 0:24:56could afford and because of the location of this place,
0:24:56 > 0:24:59its remoteness and its closeness to the North Sea,
0:24:59 > 0:25:04and the erosion problems down here, it was a very cheap dairy farm.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07And we ended up as the last dairy farm in this area.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10They were coming 40 miles every day to pick our milk up and then
0:25:10 > 0:25:14going 40 miles back and it was just obvious that it wasn't sustainable.
0:25:14 > 0:25:19So I sold the cows in 2008 and we now make a living doing a bit
0:25:19 > 0:25:23of beef farming, but we make the most of our living from bed-and-breakfast.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25What's it like to live here?
0:25:25 > 0:25:27Well, I'll tell you what it's like in the summer.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29I used to come down here to fetch my cows in,
0:25:29 > 0:25:32first thing in the morning, in the summer at about 5:30,
0:25:32 > 0:25:35and you would look down there and you could see the sun rising over
0:25:35 > 0:25:37the sea and you look over there and you could see the ferries
0:25:37 > 0:25:39coming in up the estuary.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42I just used to stand somewhere around about here every morning,
0:25:42 > 0:25:45just for a minute, then I would get on with my day's work, and at
0:25:45 > 0:25:49the end of the minute, I used to say to myself, "You lucky, lucky man."
0:25:49 > 0:25:52- Yeah.- Because it's absolutely gorgeous in the summer.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54- And in the winter? - It's pretty bleak!
0:25:54 > 0:25:56THEY LAUGH
0:25:58 > 0:26:01Summertime it ain't but even in the depths of winter,
0:26:01 > 0:26:05this wild and windswept spit of land has a charm all of its own.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21Back on the South Wales coast, I've been seeing how engineering
0:26:21 > 0:26:25has given conservation a helping hand to rejuvenate its sand dunes.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34Well, this is the effect of the work that was done last year.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38You can see there is still an enormous amount of open sand
0:26:38 > 0:26:43and a lot of water, evidence of an incredibly wet year.
0:26:43 > 0:26:48But fingers crossed, with a lot of wind and a much drier year,
0:26:48 > 0:26:52this place should look like the Sahara of Wales come next January.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Later, I will be finding out for myself how running up
0:26:56 > 0:26:59and down these dunes is helping to maintain them,
0:26:59 > 0:27:03when I join the local college rugby team out on a training exercise.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07But first, Tom has been discovering how we are burning wood
0:27:07 > 0:27:10and crops to help fight climate change.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13But as the use of biomass increases, could it actually
0:27:13 > 0:27:17damage the very environment it is supposed to protect?
0:27:21 > 0:27:25I have been visiting two very different biomass producers.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28In Yorkshire, a farmer growing willow crops to satisfy
0:27:28 > 0:27:31the demand of Britain's largest power producer.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37And at Richmond Park in London, a small-scale scheme,
0:27:37 > 0:27:40selling on the waste wood from routine forest management
0:27:40 > 0:27:42to an expanding local business.
0:27:44 > 0:27:49Although, as I'm discovering, it's not your average pub or cornershop.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53Well, if you are wondering what this emerging building is,
0:27:53 > 0:27:56step out here and the sight and sound should give you
0:27:56 > 0:27:58a bit of a clue.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01Yup, we're in the heart of Heathrow Airport.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03There's a Jumbo just taking off.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07And this entire building, the new Terminal Two,
0:28:07 > 0:28:12will be at least partly heated and powered by burning wood.
0:28:12 > 0:28:1725,000 tonnes of woodchip will be burned here every year, all coming
0:28:17 > 0:28:22from forest management projects within 100 miles of the airport.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25So when passengers are coming through here in
0:28:25 > 0:28:27a year and a half's time,
0:28:27 > 0:28:29how much are they going to be kept warm by wood?
0:28:29 > 0:28:31So 20% of all of the heat
0:28:31 > 0:28:35and also the electricity for the new Terminal Two will come from wood.
0:28:35 > 0:28:39Heathrow is a big energy consumer, so this is one of the steps
0:28:39 > 0:28:42we can take to cut our carbon emissions from the airport.
0:28:44 > 0:28:45But in the grand scheme of things,
0:28:45 > 0:28:48projects like this can only generate a small amount of power.
0:28:48 > 0:28:53Surely something much bigger would be even better, wouldn't it?
0:28:59 > 0:29:02Drax in Yorkshire is Britain's largest power station
0:29:02 > 0:29:08and its biggest single polluter, burning coal to provide us
0:29:08 > 0:29:11with the electricity we use every day.
0:29:11 > 0:29:15But you might be surprised to learn that it is also increasingly
0:29:15 > 0:29:16turning to renewable energy.
0:29:18 > 0:29:21A massive transformation is taking place here as Drax
0:29:21 > 0:29:24changes its diet, changes the fuel it consumes,
0:29:24 > 0:29:26that means an awful lot of building.
0:29:26 > 0:29:30Not least, this extraordinary space-age structure,
0:29:30 > 0:29:34which is to store that most traditional of fuels, wood.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37There will be enough in one of these to keep a million homes
0:29:37 > 0:29:40powered for three weeks.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44'From the outside, it looks big.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47'From the inside, it is something else.'
0:29:47 > 0:29:50- Whoa!- Impressive, isn't it? - It's amazing!
0:29:50 > 0:29:54'Head of Environment Nigel Burdett is giving me the grand tour.'
0:29:54 > 0:29:55It's an extraordinary space.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58So if I was here later this year, I would be buried in wood, would I?
0:29:58 > 0:30:01- You would indeed be buried in wood, yes.- Incredible building.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03Feels a bit like a Bond villain's lair, doesn't it?
0:30:03 > 0:30:07- Very much like that, yes. - Inside the volcano!
0:30:07 > 0:30:11The willow I helped harvest earlier will be used to feed this
0:30:11 > 0:30:14ambitious project, as are many other farms
0:30:14 > 0:30:18and forests all brought on board to help supply this 7 million tonnes
0:30:18 > 0:30:23of plants and wood that will be burned here every year.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26What we have been doing over the last decade or so has been
0:30:26 > 0:30:29gradually increasing the amount of biomass through the plant
0:30:29 > 0:30:32and we are mixing biomass in relatively small amounts with
0:30:32 > 0:30:37coal, so up to about 10% of our total throughput has been biomass.
0:30:37 > 0:30:41Into the future, we are looking at a fairly major transformation,
0:30:41 > 0:30:43taking three of our six units
0:30:43 > 0:30:46and converting each of those to 100% biomass.
0:30:46 > 0:30:50So, rather than being a minority biomass, it will be close to half and half?
0:30:50 > 0:30:53Close to half and half in the next few years, absolutely.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57Biomass gives you a very good saving compared to coal.
0:30:57 > 0:31:03And we think the amount of CO2 emitted, 70% to 80% saving
0:31:03 > 0:31:05compared to the coal we are burning at Drax at present.
0:31:05 > 0:31:09This sounds like great news.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13But groups including the RSPB claim that when you create
0:31:13 > 0:31:18biomass on this scale, its carbon savings can disappear.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20You get the danger that wood
0:31:20 > 0:31:24is from unsustainably managed, intensive forests,
0:31:24 > 0:31:27a long way away, because you can't source enough from your local area.
0:31:27 > 0:31:28That then all has to be shipped,
0:31:28 > 0:31:31potentially halfway across the world, it has to be processed,
0:31:31 > 0:31:32it has to be delivered,
0:31:32 > 0:31:35and you have already got a lot of carbon emissions right there,
0:31:35 > 0:31:38plus you are probably not taking just waste wood,
0:31:38 > 0:31:41you are probably taking, or are in danger of taking, whole trees,
0:31:41 > 0:31:44and that is where we know we incur the biggest carbon debt,
0:31:44 > 0:31:45because that wood is all being burned,
0:31:45 > 0:31:47all that carbon is going into the atmosphere
0:31:47 > 0:31:50and the atmosphere sees it as a greenhouse gas, just like any other.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54Although Drax do use some local suppliers,
0:31:54 > 0:31:59like the farmer I met earlier, 90% of its biomass
0:31:59 > 0:32:03will be imported from forests in Canada and the USA.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07But they insist this doesn't affect its green credentials.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09We have a very important,
0:32:09 > 0:32:13robust sustainability policy in place, which ensures that
0:32:13 > 0:32:17all our wood is coming from forests which are essentially replanted
0:32:17 > 0:32:20and we are not taking any more material from that forest
0:32:20 > 0:32:23- than is actually growing. - And that really is the case, is it?
0:32:23 > 0:32:25If I went over there, to those forests,
0:32:25 > 0:32:28I would be able to see more trees growing than are being taken away?
0:32:28 > 0:32:31- That is the absolute plan, yes. - Right, it's the plan, or is it the reality?
0:32:31 > 0:32:35We do have a reality indeed, yes. We do audits as well to make sure that
0:32:35 > 0:32:39we are in fact taking material from sustainable forests wherever we can.
0:32:42 > 0:32:46All the signs are that biomass looks set to play an increasingly
0:32:46 > 0:32:51important part in our energy mix and many are embracing its potential.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55To take big chunks out of our carbon emissions,
0:32:55 > 0:32:57we need to think big.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01But when it comes to burning wood and other plant material,
0:33:01 > 0:33:04greater scale must be accompanied by greater scrutiny.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07What is being burned? How is it transported?
0:33:07 > 0:33:09What is being planted in its place?
0:33:09 > 0:33:12Without the right answers to those questions,
0:33:12 > 0:33:15the green credentials of this fuel just go up in smoke.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26We've been exploring the shores of South Wales.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29Hidden inland, beyond the coast's undulating dunes,
0:33:29 > 0:33:33is an astonishing story that I am about to uncover.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40Towards the end of the Second World War,
0:33:40 > 0:33:43in a prison camp on the outskirts of Bridgend,
0:33:43 > 0:33:47German captives drew sketches of saucy ladies on the walls.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51The alluring pictures were a distraction.
0:33:51 > 0:33:56Because, in great secrecy, an audacious plot was being hatched.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03In 1945, this stretch of coastline saw a mass escape -
0:34:03 > 0:34:07the biggest breakout by German prisoners of war on UK soil
0:34:07 > 0:34:09during the Second World War.
0:34:09 > 0:34:1270 of them escaped through a tunnel,
0:34:12 > 0:34:15which they dug right under the noses of their guards.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18A dramatic story of deceit, courage
0:34:18 > 0:34:21and, for them all, ultimate recapture.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24It became known as the Welsh Great Escape.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28Using the latest computer technology,
0:34:28 > 0:34:31I am going to update this remarkable event.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35It all happened here at an old farm that had been
0:34:35 > 0:34:37converted into a prison camp.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46It was in this hut that the German prisoners of war
0:34:46 > 0:34:48hatched their plot to escape.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56And in this room, beneath where a bunk would have stood,
0:34:56 > 0:35:00was their secret gateway to freedom. This was the entrance of the tunnel.
0:35:02 > 0:35:06It has been blocked up for decades, but we think the tunnel still exists.
0:35:06 > 0:35:10So I have called in a crack team to help me unlock its secrets.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14We have been granted special permission to dig down to it.
0:35:15 > 0:35:20Nick Russell is a world-class laser mapping specialist and for the
0:35:20 > 0:35:24first time, he's going to bring the escape tunnel to life in 3D.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27What we have now got available to us is an instrument called
0:35:27 > 0:35:29a 3D laser scanner,
0:35:29 > 0:35:33and that lets us record a three-dimensional model of the tunnel,
0:35:33 > 0:35:35so we will be able to reconstruct the escape,
0:35:35 > 0:35:39if you like, by flying through the hut and down the tunnel.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45Brett Exton has been studying the great escape for 12 years
0:35:45 > 0:35:49and hopes to make some new discoveries.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52We are hoping we might be able to find all manner of things.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55A second or third tunnel would be ideal.
0:35:55 > 0:35:59- This one might have collapsed, even! - It could well have collapsed by now.
0:35:59 > 0:36:02Nick and the digger are busy excavating a way into the tunnel, so
0:36:02 > 0:36:07there is time for me to find out some more about the prisoners themselves.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11Well, what do you know, Brett, about the men who were prisoners here?
0:36:11 > 0:36:16Well, initially, when the prisoners came here in November 1944,
0:36:16 > 0:36:19there was about 2,000 of them brought here.
0:36:19 > 0:36:23And they were from all manner of the German military.
0:36:23 > 0:36:27You had army personnel, you had Luftwaffe, you had sailors,
0:36:27 > 0:36:30and so forth. So they were all ranks.
0:36:30 > 0:36:32And when did these 70 men escape?
0:36:32 > 0:36:38Well, they came in November 1944 and on March 10th, 1945,
0:36:38 > 0:36:39they escaped through a tunnel.
0:36:39 > 0:36:44So that only gave them five months to undertake an incredible feat
0:36:44 > 0:36:46- of German engineering. - How did they do it?
0:36:46 > 0:36:48How did they hoodwink the guards?
0:36:48 > 0:36:52There is all sorts of different methods that they used.
0:36:52 > 0:36:54The one for the tunnel itself,
0:36:54 > 0:36:58directly above the tunnel entrance, they drew a scantily-clad lady.
0:36:58 > 0:37:02As the guards came in to do the exploration of the room,
0:37:02 > 0:37:06they would have been distracted by the scantily-clad lady.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09It is clay, the soil, isn't it? How did they get rid of that?
0:37:09 > 0:37:12Well, that is really ingenious,
0:37:12 > 0:37:14because inside the toilet block,
0:37:14 > 0:37:17they fastened onto the end of the wall a false cavity.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21They made a cavity, put a little air vent in the top corner of it,
0:37:21 > 0:37:23and as the soil came out of the tunnel, they would have
0:37:23 > 0:37:27squished it into a ball and I've got one in my pocket to show you.
0:37:27 > 0:37:28That is a genuine clay ball.
0:37:28 > 0:37:30Then they would have taken the vent out of the wall
0:37:30 > 0:37:35- and plopped the ball behind it.- And nobody spotted it?- Nobody spotted it.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39The clay lay undetected until about the 1980s,
0:37:39 > 0:37:43when the wall collapsed and all the soil spilt out.
0:37:43 > 0:37:48By the night of March 10th, 1945, the tunnel was finished.
0:37:48 > 0:37:53The men were ready. At 10 o'clock, the first prisoners made a run for it.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55SIREN WAILS
0:37:55 > 0:37:57By the next morning, 70 of them
0:37:57 > 0:38:00were at large in the South Wales countryside.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02Some got surprisingly far.
0:38:05 > 0:38:07I'll mark the prison camp with the sentry there.
0:38:07 > 0:38:12Well, four of them went about a mile up the road from here.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14They found a doctor's car.
0:38:14 > 0:38:16Obviously, cars would have been a luxury during the war.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19And they had trouble getting the car started,
0:38:19 > 0:38:22so they were pushing the car down the road when some guards
0:38:22 > 0:38:25coming the other way back to the camp noticed them.
0:38:25 > 0:38:29But the prisoners managed to convince them they were Norwegians.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31And they said to the Norwegians,
0:38:31 > 0:38:33"Get in the car and we'll give you a push start."
0:38:33 > 0:38:37So the guards from the farm actually got the first four off and running!
0:38:37 > 0:38:39They got hopelessly lost, ended up in Gloucester,
0:38:39 > 0:38:42abandoned the car, went on foot towards Birmingham...
0:38:42 > 0:38:44- And then got captured. - Then got captured.
0:38:44 > 0:38:46What was the furthest distance that anybody got?
0:38:46 > 0:38:49Well, some of them managed to catch a train
0:38:49 > 0:38:52and they got down as far as Southampton.
0:38:52 > 0:38:54- They made it to the coast.- Yes.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56After a week, the last of them
0:38:56 > 0:38:59were recaptured in a village just 20 miles away.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05We've managed to find a lady who 68 years ago was there
0:39:05 > 0:39:09when the final three German soldiers surrendered in her sitting room.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13And she will be telling us the story later in the programme.
0:39:18 > 0:39:19Down on the farm,
0:39:19 > 0:39:24Adam is rounding up his flock for a routine pregnancy scan.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26It is vital he has plenty of new lambs in spring,
0:39:26 > 0:39:29so he is hoping for some good results.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40Today we are scanning about a third of our ewes already in lamb,
0:39:40 > 0:39:42which is about 250 sheep.
0:39:42 > 0:39:44It is a skilled job,
0:39:44 > 0:39:48so we have called in sheep scanner Wally Chandler.
0:39:48 > 0:39:49- Hi, Wally.- Hi, Adam.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52- Good to see you. It's been over a year.- Yeah! Yeah, it certainly has.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56- It was your first year, wasn't it? - It was my first big season.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59- And have you had a bit of experience since?- I have, yes, certainly.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02I finished that season, so I scanned quite a few out of the UK.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05And then I went to New Zealand at the end of June,
0:40:05 > 0:40:08- for the best part of two months. - Crikey!- And that was brilliant.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10So how many thousands of sheep have you scanned?
0:40:10 > 0:40:14- Well, in New Zealand, I did about 52,000 in 28 days.- No!
0:40:14 > 0:40:17That was pretty good going. So that's about 2,000 a day.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21- Some days were easy. My biggest day was 2,500.- Wow!
0:40:23 > 0:40:26One of the things we are worried about this year is a disease
0:40:26 > 0:40:28called Schmallenberg.
0:40:28 > 0:40:30It's spread by midges and can cause infertility
0:40:30 > 0:40:34and deformity in unborn lambs and calves.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36And often when the scanner is here,
0:40:36 > 0:40:37he can tell if the ewes are empty
0:40:37 > 0:40:40and if that is a higher than usual number,
0:40:40 > 0:40:43then there is a risk that might be Schmallenberg.
0:40:43 > 0:40:45Have you found any signs of it this year, Wally?
0:40:45 > 0:40:48So far, everything has been absolutely fantastic.
0:40:48 > 0:40:53I mean, admittedly, I am not going to go and see fused limbs on my scanner.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56I will see aborted pregnancies and pregnancies that are about to abort,
0:40:56 > 0:40:59and I'll see a dead lamb, but I'm not going to see a fused limb.
0:40:59 > 0:41:03So if the pregnancy is fine when I scan it, that's all I can say.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06From my point of view, everything is going really well.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08And there's lots of lambs around, lots of lambs.
0:41:08 > 0:41:13You're just like a breath of fresh air, Wally! Such a positive man!
0:41:13 > 0:41:15This one's empty... I'm joking!
0:41:15 > 0:41:17No, she's a late single.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22With the Schmallenberg virus already affecting some farms,
0:41:22 > 0:41:24you never know how the year will turn out.
0:41:24 > 0:41:26And arable farming is no different.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28It can be a huge gamble
0:41:28 > 0:41:31and its success or failure is in the hands of mother nature.
0:41:31 > 0:41:35Last year was the wettest year on record in England.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38And farmers had a pretty tough time of it.
0:41:38 > 0:41:42And now, the start of the new year, there is snow on the ground
0:41:42 > 0:41:45and there are still people out harvesting root crops.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47And there is one root crop that I know very little about.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50And most of us eat it most days.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53And I'm hoping over here in the Eastern counties,
0:41:53 > 0:41:55they're going to be lifting some today.
0:41:55 > 0:41:59MUSIC: "Sugar Sugar" by The Archies
0:41:59 > 0:42:03If you haven't guessed already, that crop is sugar beet.
0:42:03 > 0:42:08The average person consumes 2.3 tonnes of sugar in their lifetime.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10And it is our love and addiction to the stuff
0:42:10 > 0:42:12that creates such a huge demand.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15Here we are, this is the stuff I'm after. Sugar beet.
0:42:15 > 0:42:19And I'm going to be following it from the fields to the factory,
0:42:19 > 0:42:21all the way through to a bag of sugar.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27'Ken Rush and Jamie Gwatkin have worked in the sugar beet
0:42:27 > 0:42:31'industry most of their lives and even on a snowy morning,
0:42:31 > 0:42:33'nothing stops them lifting the crop.'
0:42:33 > 0:42:35- Hi, Jamie.- Hello, Adam, how are you?
0:42:35 > 0:42:38- Very well, thanks. Hi, Ken.- Morning. - Goodness me, it's all go!
0:42:38 > 0:42:42Absolutely. I tell you, even on a day with two inches of snow,
0:42:42 > 0:42:46- everything is happening in the fields still.- And you help co-ordinate it?
0:42:46 > 0:42:47We do, yeah.
0:42:47 > 0:42:50Well, I'm the administrator of the Bury Beet Group,
0:42:50 > 0:42:56which is a group of 34 farmers today, delivering 153,000 tonnes
0:42:56 > 0:42:58of sugar beet into the Bury St Edmunds factory.
0:42:58 > 0:43:02Now, a lot of people imagine sugar comes from sugar cane from abroad
0:43:02 > 0:43:05and wouldn't realise that it is grown in this country.
0:43:05 > 0:43:09Well, I don't know if you are aware, but 50% of the sugar that is
0:43:09 > 0:43:13consumed in the UK is grown from sugar beet, rather than
0:43:13 > 0:43:16cane sugar, which is grown in the Afro-Caribbean countries.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18And how long have you been involved in growing
0:43:18 > 0:43:20and delivering sugar beet?
0:43:20 > 0:43:23Well, this is my 60th year.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26Which is making me age a bit,
0:43:26 > 0:43:29but I still enjoy the job,
0:43:29 > 0:43:31and I hope I can do a few more years yet.
0:43:31 > 0:43:34And what was it like in the old days, how has it changed?
0:43:34 > 0:43:37Well, I've got a hook here and it's changed.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40In the old days, we used to have to get sugar beet
0:43:40 > 0:43:41out of the ground like this
0:43:41 > 0:43:43and chop the tops off,
0:43:43 > 0:43:46put them on a heap, then somebody would come along with a fork
0:43:46 > 0:43:48and put them in a horse and tumble, that's how we started...
0:43:48 > 0:43:50- Goodness me!- ..when I first left school.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53Well, you did that very skilfully, you haven't lost the touch,
0:43:53 > 0:43:57and now you've got this massive machine that's worth what?
0:43:57 > 0:43:58About 350,000.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09'The harvested sugar beet is stored in heaps and another
0:44:09 > 0:44:13'specialist piece of equipment is used to load the lorries.'
0:44:13 > 0:44:15Oh, this is a pretty fancy bit of kit, Ken.
0:44:15 > 0:44:19Yes, it's a new, comparatively new, machine to this country over the last few years,
0:44:19 > 0:44:22a load of 30 tonnes in around four to five minutes on average.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27And time is of an essence, isn't it, Jamie?
0:44:27 > 0:44:30Absolutely, I mean, the most critical thing is to deliver
0:44:30 > 0:44:32the sugar beet into the factory as soon as possible.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36Well, that's where I'm off to now. I'm off to the sugar beet factory.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39It's great to see you both and good luck with the rest of the harvest.
0:44:39 > 0:44:40- Thank you very much.- Bye.- Bye.
0:44:40 > 0:44:45'The lorries travel a short distance to the factory
0:44:45 > 0:44:49'where the long process of turning this root crop into granulated sugar begins.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53'Agricultural business manager Dan Downs has kindly offered
0:44:53 > 0:44:56'to show me around.'
0:44:56 > 0:44:59- Hi, Dan.- Hello. - Got our protective clothing on now.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03I've often driven past the factory here and seen the steam
0:45:03 > 0:45:06billowing into the sky and wondering what goes on in here.
0:45:06 > 0:45:10- It's pretty busy, isn't it? - Yes, we're going well at the moment.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13We have 550 lorryloads a day coming into this site,
0:45:13 > 0:45:17so anybody who travels round near this factory at some point
0:45:17 > 0:45:19will have followed a beet lorry at some point.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22And so we weigh the lorries in and that's where
0:45:22 > 0:45:26we test for the amount of sugar in each individual load of beet.
0:45:26 > 0:45:27And then where does it go?
0:45:27 > 0:45:30And then, from here, they go up to be offloaded up onto the big area
0:45:30 > 0:45:33of concrete where it gets ready for going into the factory.
0:45:33 > 0:45:35- Can we have a look at that? - Yeah, let's go.
0:45:40 > 0:45:44Goodness me! What a sight! That is a serious scale, isn't it?
0:45:44 > 0:45:48Yeah, like, we've got about 20,000 tonnes of beet here,
0:45:48 > 0:45:51Adam, on here at the moment. Really what happens is,
0:45:51 > 0:45:56this factory processes about 13,000 tonnes of beet a day
0:45:56 > 0:45:58and about just over half of this will disappear.
0:45:58 > 0:46:00How do you get all this sugar beet into the factory?
0:46:00 > 0:46:03It actually all starts with a yellow loading shovel
0:46:03 > 0:46:06and it pushes the beet into a central flume that washes
0:46:06 > 0:46:09the beet round by using lots of water at high pressure
0:46:09 > 0:46:12and then we clean the beet off.
0:46:12 > 0:46:16'These machines remove soil, stones and any unwanted material,
0:46:16 > 0:46:20'before they're washed in what is basically a huge washing machine.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25'Once they're cleaned, they're shredded.'
0:46:25 > 0:46:27These are the same beet that you saw in the park,
0:46:27 > 0:46:30they have now been sliced up in big slicing machines.
0:46:30 > 0:46:34You can see them on the belt behind you, carrying on for processing.
0:46:34 > 0:46:36We then mix those with hot water
0:46:36 > 0:46:39and it's just the same as you'd have a teacup at home -
0:46:39 > 0:46:44the sugar naturally comes out of the slices of beet into the water
0:46:44 > 0:46:48and then it goes on from there to the next stage in the process.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52'And it's these huge vats that extract the sugar from the beet.
0:46:52 > 0:46:56'Eventually crystallisation occurs and the granules are formed.
0:46:57 > 0:47:01'The sugar is then packed by a neighbouring factory,
0:47:01 > 0:47:02'where it's ready for the shelf.'
0:47:03 > 0:47:07We've now come from the main factory into the final packaging plant
0:47:07 > 0:47:11here in Bury St Edmunds, so we've come all the way from the field,
0:47:11 > 0:47:15all the way now to here, which has only been an average of 28 miles
0:47:15 > 0:47:19from the farm, all the way to getting fine, white crystal in the packet.
0:47:19 > 0:47:22It's just a great story, isn't it? From when the farmer planted
0:47:22 > 0:47:26the beet back in the spring, I suppose it's a year's hard work
0:47:26 > 0:47:30to get to the final product from those dirty beet I saw this morning.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32- It's just fantastic. - That's the full story.
0:47:36 > 0:47:38'Next week, I'm back on the farm,
0:47:38 > 0:47:41'tending to my animals in some challenging conditions.'
0:47:50 > 0:47:52'I've left behind the dunes at Kenfig
0:47:52 > 0:47:55'and travelled seven miles along the coast to visit
0:47:55 > 0:47:59'what is the granddaddy of the whole dune system - the Big Dipper at Merthyr Mawr.
0:48:02 > 0:48:03'Its soft sand and steep incline
0:48:03 > 0:48:06'make it the perfect natural training ground.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09'Many sporty sorts have endured a muscle-burning workout
0:48:09 > 0:48:12'on these dunes, even Olympic gold medallist Steve Ovett.'
0:48:12 > 0:48:15Go on, Tom, off you go. Big dive. Good dive, well done.
0:48:15 > 0:48:17Back you come, bring the ball back.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20'And if it's good enough for an Olympic champion,
0:48:20 > 0:48:23'it's good enough for Bridgend College Rugby Club.'
0:48:23 > 0:48:25- So, Dean, you're one of the coaches of this lot.- Yeah.
0:48:25 > 0:48:27You've trained on sand before, I'm taking it?
0:48:27 > 0:48:29I've trained here before, yes.
0:48:29 > 0:48:31All of this comes from training on the sand?
0:48:31 > 0:48:33I don't know about that, yeah, it's very tough.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35Why do you like to bring your lads down here?
0:48:35 > 0:48:38It's just going to improve their fitness and their skills as well.
0:48:38 > 0:48:40When they're tired, it's good decision-making.
0:48:40 > 0:48:42And some of these lads have got a match tomorrow.
0:48:42 > 0:48:43I think a few of them have, yes.
0:48:43 > 0:48:45So you've got to be a little bit careful.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47Don't tell the club coaches!
0:48:47 > 0:48:50'The lads practise their gameplay over and over again,
0:48:50 > 0:48:52'up the strength-sapping Big Dipper.
0:48:52 > 0:48:56'These individual training benefits are about to become clear to me.'
0:48:56 > 0:48:59Matt, we're subbing you in, in you go, into the second row.
0:48:59 > 0:49:01Here we go, lads, ready?
0:49:06 > 0:49:08Oh, it's lovely, it was high!
0:49:08 > 0:49:12'I feel slightly guilty for setting them off on yet another drill, but who knows?
0:49:12 > 0:49:15'Maybe one day with the help of their local dunes,
0:49:15 > 0:49:19'some of these lads will be scoring in the Six Nations.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22'Well, it was a good warm-up but they're not finished with me yet.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25'Can I hold my own in a race to the top?'
0:49:29 > 0:49:33Yeah, I'll let the wingers crack on, I'll pace myself.
0:49:33 > 0:49:35Now, in a moment, John will be revealing
0:49:35 > 0:49:38the results of the 3D mapping of the tunnel dug by 70 Germans,
0:49:38 > 0:49:41but while I crack on with the rest of this hill, why don't you
0:49:41 > 0:49:44have a look and see what the weather is got in store for the week ahead?
0:51:50 > 0:51:57.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11On the south coast of Wales, I've been discovering
0:52:11 > 0:52:14the story of the Welsh Great Escape.
0:52:14 > 0:52:17During the Second World War, 70 German prisoners
0:52:17 > 0:52:20fooled their guards by digging a tunnel
0:52:20 > 0:52:23out of their rural prison camp.
0:52:23 > 0:52:25For the first time in almost 70 years,
0:52:25 > 0:52:29we're going to bring the escape tunnel back to life
0:52:29 > 0:52:32with the help of Nick Russell, a 3D imaging expert.
0:52:32 > 0:52:36We're hoping to reveal new secrets of this incredible prison break
0:52:36 > 0:52:40but before the tunnel's ready to be scanned, there's a chance for me
0:52:40 > 0:52:44to meet someone who remembers the story very well and with good reason.
0:52:44 > 0:52:47She helped detain the final fugitives.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50'Elaine Jones was 18 at the time.'
0:52:51 > 0:52:55Tell me exactly what happened, that Saturday night.
0:52:55 > 0:52:56Well, as usual, we were sitting,
0:52:56 > 0:53:00listening to the Nine O'Clock News and waiting for the play to start.
0:53:00 > 0:53:04- NEWSREEL:- This is the BBC Home Service. Here is the news...
0:53:04 > 0:53:09We heard them announce on the news that the last three German prisoners
0:53:09 > 0:53:11were still at large.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13Before the news bulletin finished,
0:53:13 > 0:53:16there was a knock on the door. My mother thought that someone
0:53:16 > 0:53:19had come to ask for something from the shop but next minute,
0:53:19 > 0:53:22the three Germans walked into the room with the farmer who had
0:53:22 > 0:53:24met them on the mountain road.
0:53:24 > 0:53:26Elaine's mother, the local postmistress,
0:53:26 > 0:53:30phoned the local police while the farmer set off to get help.
0:53:30 > 0:53:34They were obviously three very cold, tired men.
0:53:34 > 0:53:35They'd been living rough
0:53:35 > 0:53:38and eaten what they could forage in the fields.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42'Amazingly, for an hour, the women guarded the enemy.'
0:53:42 > 0:53:47When the police arrived, they thanked my mother profusely for her kindness
0:53:47 > 0:53:51and shook hands with us before being handcuffed and marched out.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53What's your great memory of it all?
0:53:55 > 0:54:00Well, the fact that it happened to us as it did, I suppose,
0:54:00 > 0:54:04because it's not the sort of thing that happened very often.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09Back at the site of the prison camp, our excavations are going well.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11The tunnel is still there.
0:54:11 > 0:54:15Brett Exton, who's been studying the site for 12 years,
0:54:15 > 0:54:18is itching to get in and have a look.
0:54:18 > 0:54:20It's going to be an exciting moment for you, isn't it?
0:54:20 > 0:54:24Oh, absolutely, I've waited all my life for a moment like this.
0:54:30 > 0:54:32Oh, my word!
0:54:32 > 0:54:34It's the first time he's ever seen inside.
0:54:36 > 0:54:38Is it what you expected?
0:54:38 > 0:54:41I'm almost speechless. It must go a good 30 feet down.
0:54:41 > 0:54:45That is German technology for you, from the Second World War, isn't it?
0:54:47 > 0:54:51Nick is anxious to get his 3D images but first how about this?
0:54:53 > 0:54:55Well, Nick, you're a man who appreciates technology.
0:54:55 > 0:54:59Just before you start your 3D experiments, what do you reckon to this?
0:54:59 > 0:55:02It's something I've brought along and I think it could give us
0:55:02 > 0:55:04a bit of tunnel vision.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15- Is it working, Nick? - It's fallen over.
0:55:15 > 0:55:16JOHN LAUGHS
0:55:16 > 0:55:17Oh, no!
0:55:17 > 0:55:22So much for my bright idea but now it's Nick's turn.
0:55:22 > 0:55:24It's time for the lasers.
0:55:24 > 0:55:26I'm going to go down the hole, Dave,
0:55:26 > 0:55:29if you can pass me the laser scanner, once I'm in position.
0:55:29 > 0:55:33The scanner fires invisible lasers up the tunnel
0:55:33 > 0:55:37and before long, the first images are coming together.
0:55:37 > 0:55:38BEEPING
0:55:39 > 0:55:41That is pretty impressive, isn't it?
0:55:41 > 0:55:44Because of the way the scanner operates,
0:55:44 > 0:55:45there's no darkness.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47We can see absolutely everything in the tunnel,
0:55:47 > 0:55:51so you can see the detail of those pit props and every little stone
0:55:51 > 0:55:54and then, right at the back, you can see where a bit of the roof
0:55:54 > 0:55:58has come down but it does tantalisingly seem to continue.
0:55:58 > 0:56:02- Is there any trace of a second tunnel?- There's just one tunnel.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05It does curve around a bit to the right at the end.
0:56:05 > 0:56:08'Brett's search for another tunnel will have to continue.'
0:56:08 > 0:56:11So this is just your preliminary data, isn't it, Nick?
0:56:11 > 0:56:14I look forward to seeing the finished product.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19And a couple of days later, the final 3D model is ready
0:56:19 > 0:56:23and here it is now exclusively on Countryfile.
0:56:23 > 0:56:27The tunnel reveals its secrets in great detail for the first time
0:56:27 > 0:56:31since those 70 men scrambled through it in 1945
0:56:31 > 0:56:34and made history in the Welsh Great Escape.
0:56:42 > 0:56:45- Well, what a story that is. - Isn't it, yeah? Fantastic.
0:56:45 > 0:56:47And to think that when they escaped,
0:56:47 > 0:56:50they could well have been running over all of these dunes.
0:56:50 > 0:56:53- Just like you now!- I don't suppose you fancy recreating that bit?
0:56:53 > 0:56:56No, I don't! But what is wonderful, I think,
0:56:56 > 0:56:58is that we can use 3D technology now
0:56:58 > 0:57:00to recreate those events of so long ago.
0:57:00 > 0:57:02And it's a lovely way to end the programme
0:57:02 > 0:57:04because that is all we've got time for this week
0:57:04 > 0:57:08because next week we're going to be in the Yorkshire Dales,
0:57:08 > 0:57:10trying to recreate authentic Wensleydale cheese.
0:57:10 > 0:57:13- Hope you can join us then. - Bye for now.- Bye-bye.
0:57:35 > 0:57:37Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd