0:00:25 > 0:00:29MUSIC: Blinded By The Light by Manfred Mann
0:00:34 > 0:00:38We're in the Wye Valley on the Welsh borders,
0:00:38 > 0:00:42looking back upon the long, hot summer of 1976.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Come on, Dad.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51It was a summer like no other -
0:00:51 > 0:00:56day after endless day of blue skies, baking heat,
0:00:56 > 0:00:58and barely a drop of rain.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01It seemed like the sun would shine forever.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05It's 40 years since the summer of '76,
0:01:05 > 0:01:07a summer that's passed into legend,
0:01:07 > 0:01:09and for those who lived through it,
0:01:09 > 0:01:10one never to be forgotten,
0:01:10 > 0:01:12but what were the causes of it?
0:01:12 > 0:01:15What were the lasting effects and will it ever happen again?
0:01:18 > 0:01:21Almost all of the UK felt its impact.
0:01:21 > 0:01:22Here in the Wye Valley,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25the landscape still bears the scars, 40 years on.
0:01:27 > 0:01:28Whilst I'm here,
0:01:28 > 0:01:32I'll be looking back at the best of previous Countryfile programmes,
0:01:32 > 0:01:35to see just how much our notoriously changeable British weather
0:01:35 > 0:01:37impacts on our countryside.
0:01:39 > 0:01:44Like the time Matt was in Teesdale, looking back on 1947,
0:01:44 > 0:01:47and one of the hardest winters of the 20th century.
0:01:47 > 0:01:52Rain, wind, sleet and snow.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56And when Ellie took a battering in the north-west of Scotland.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59Oh, my goodness. That's really hurting. Ow!
0:02:01 > 0:02:03And the time Anita was in Devon,
0:02:03 > 0:02:06after one of the worst storms in decades.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09The chap said, "This is a life or death situation.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12"You've got two minutes and you've got to get out."
0:02:20 > 0:02:23MUSIC: Golden Years by David Bowie
0:02:30 > 0:02:32# Golden years
0:02:32 > 0:02:33# Gold... #
0:02:33 > 0:02:36It was the best of summers.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38It was the worst of summers.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41# ..Gold... #
0:02:41 > 0:02:4540 years ago, you didn't have to go abroad for Mediterranean heat,
0:02:45 > 0:02:46it came to you.
0:02:46 > 0:02:51The country basked in 32-degree temperatures for weeks on end.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53# ..Taking you nowhere Angel... #
0:02:53 > 0:02:55But not everyone welcomed it -
0:02:55 > 0:02:59farmers had it rough, their crops wilted in the searing heat.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02# ..Nights are warm and the days are young... #
0:03:02 > 0:03:04It was the drought of the century,
0:03:04 > 0:03:07and the summer of '76 burnt itself into our collective memory
0:03:07 > 0:03:10like none before or since.
0:03:12 > 0:03:17And telling us just how dry it was, a familiar face.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20Well, now, more about the water shortage that threatens
0:03:20 > 0:03:22a large part of the country this summer
0:03:22 > 0:03:25unless there's an awful lot of rain in the next few weeks.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27# Just let your love flow
0:03:27 > 0:03:29# Like a mountain stream... #
0:03:29 > 0:03:31We were sharing bathwater,
0:03:31 > 0:03:35and then pouring it onto our gardens.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38But for me, actually, it was the most brilliant, endless,
0:03:38 > 0:03:40fantastic summer of my childhood.
0:03:40 > 0:03:46# The boys are back in town The boys are back in town
0:03:46 > 0:03:48# I said the boys are back in town... #
0:03:48 > 0:03:53This is me, aged ten, catching some rays and some waves
0:03:53 > 0:03:54on holiday in Devon.
0:03:54 > 0:04:01Yep, for me, the summer of '76 was as good as it gets,
0:04:01 > 0:04:03but how did it happen?
0:04:05 > 0:04:09To show you, I'm donning the waders and heading into the River Wye.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11Think of the river as the jet stream -
0:04:11 > 0:04:14that fast-moving channel of air, high in the atmosphere
0:04:14 > 0:04:17that usually brings bad weather.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21In '76, it got stuck and Britain baked.
0:04:22 > 0:04:27The atmosphere actually behaves just as a fluid, like this river here.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30Now, what happened in '76 is that we had a block in the fluid,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33just like this boulder in this stream here,
0:04:33 > 0:04:36and our normal weather systems, which are brought to us
0:04:36 > 0:04:40by the jet stream, were deflected either to the north or to the south.
0:04:40 > 0:04:41And it's these weather systems
0:04:41 > 0:04:43which bring the wind and the rain, normally,
0:04:43 > 0:04:47but that meant that the UK stayed high and dry for,
0:04:47 > 0:04:49not just a month or two, which quite often happens,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52but through '75 and through '76,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55so the drought just built up and built up and built up.
0:04:56 > 0:05:01We fed the 1976 data into the modern computers at the Met Office.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06The results look like this - a big block of high pressure,
0:05:06 > 0:05:09seen in red, stuck over the UK all summer long.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14But the jet stream finally won out,
0:05:14 > 0:05:18bringing torrential rain in a very wet autumn payback.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26And isn't that just typical of our British weather?
0:05:26 > 0:05:30Fickle, unpredictable, but rain or shine,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33it never fails to leave an impression.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41Now, the winter of 1947 is memorable for weather at the other extreme,
0:05:41 > 0:05:44and when Matt visited Teesdale,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47he found people keen to keep those memories alive.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54If there's a part of the country that knows how to cope with
0:05:54 > 0:05:59a proper wild winter, it's Upper Teesdale.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03The vast expanse of fell is a stage set for the weather to play out
0:06:03 > 0:06:05its many different moods.
0:06:13 > 0:06:19Rain, wind, sleet, and snow -
0:06:19 > 0:06:22this place gets hammered by the weather and I should know.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24I grew up not far from here.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27Our farm's just on the other side of that dale.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35Teesdale is no stranger to brutal winters.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39Nearly 70 years ago, it was tested by one of the worst.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45The infamous winter of 1947, and in that year,
0:06:45 > 0:06:51Teesdale recorded the most snowfall of any inhabited place in England
0:06:51 > 0:06:54and, in fact, it was recorded at the bottom of this hill.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00But the people who can remember that winter are slowly disappearing
0:07:00 > 0:07:04and, with them, their stories.
0:07:04 > 0:07:05It sparked an idea.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08The North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
0:07:08 > 0:07:13Partnership started an oral history project called A Winter's Dale.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18By recording interviews with elderly locals,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21they created a treasured archive of winter memories.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28I was a ten-year-old boy at the time,
0:07:28 > 0:07:30and I can remember walking along the top of the heaps,
0:07:30 > 0:07:34and you could reach up and touch the telephone wires.
0:07:36 > 0:07:42The sheep were in dire need of food, and it was pitiful to see them.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45They were just skeletons - absolute skeletons.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Well, it was the most magical walk down that valley,
0:07:50 > 0:07:52a moonlight night,
0:07:52 > 0:07:56and great icicles hanging off barns.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59Oh, it was a dream. A dream.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05'One of the surviving contributors to A Winter's Dale
0:08:05 > 0:08:07'is retired farmer Maurice Tarn.
0:08:07 > 0:08:12'He's now 86 but remembers those years like they were yesterday.'
0:08:13 > 0:08:18So, Maurice, what are your memories, then, of that winter of 1947?
0:08:18 > 0:08:21Oh, very, very savage winter. It blew from the east.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23It blew from the west.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25And all of this snow-cutting business as well, then, so...
0:08:25 > 0:08:26Oh, yes.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29I mean, no diggers and all this, that and the other, back then.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31- I mean, it was all... Was it all shovels?- Yes.
0:08:31 > 0:08:36It was hand-shovelled... My father had to go out snow-cutting.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40When the sun shone, he came home with a tan.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43- What, off the reflection on the snow?- Aye, off the snow, yes.
0:08:43 > 0:08:44So, you're telling me all of this, Maurice,
0:08:44 > 0:08:46with a huge smile on your face,
0:08:46 > 0:08:50- and you've enjoyed your time in the Dale, then?- Oh, yes.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52Aye, I wouldn't live anywhere else.
0:08:52 > 0:08:53- No.- No.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57Times have changed since Maurice was a young lad,
0:08:57 > 0:09:00but winter is still tough here.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Tom Hutchinson is a tenant farmer on 100 acres near Middleton
0:09:08 > 0:09:09in Teesdale.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12Today brings clear skies, a blanket of snow,
0:09:12 > 0:09:14and a frosty bite in the air -
0:09:14 > 0:09:18the kind of conditions in which Tom, his dog Kyle,
0:09:18 > 0:09:19and the quad bike can cope.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26All right, then, Tom, let's get these fed up, shall we?
0:09:26 > 0:09:29'It's a welcome change from the eight weeks of solid rain
0:09:29 > 0:09:31'he had before Christmas...' Come on, then.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34'which turned his fields into a mud bath.'
0:09:35 > 0:09:38So, how has this winter been for you, so far?
0:09:38 > 0:09:40It's been very, very wet and very, very horrible,
0:09:40 > 0:09:44- and made life very, very awkward. - Yeah.- Yeah.- I mean, the thing...
0:09:44 > 0:09:46I mean, obviously using the quad and that today,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48but I bet you haven't been able to use one for a while.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51The problem with the quad is that you need traction.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53If you've got an inch of water and slop on the top,
0:09:53 > 0:09:54it just doesn't go anywhere.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56- Well, it goes downhill quite easily...- Yeah.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59..but if you want to go uphill, it's a bit awkward.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02The Dales and Dales folk are all the same -
0:10:02 > 0:10:05whatever the weather comes, they just get on with it.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09Tom's utter passion is his purebred Swaledales.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11He's even been known to describe them as
0:10:11 > 0:10:13"the worst addiction known to man".
0:10:13 > 0:10:19It's what drives him to weather these winters, year in, year out.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21That's the thing about the Swale sheep -
0:10:21 > 0:10:24you have so many different ideas and different thoughts
0:10:24 > 0:10:27on what is a good one, so it means when you go to the mart,
0:10:27 > 0:10:29you can have people having a conversation
0:10:29 > 0:10:32about the same sheep, but have a completely different opinion on it.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34Like, a completely different opinion,
0:10:34 > 0:10:36and it might just be down to one hair that's on its head.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38And when you look down a line of sheep like this,
0:10:38 > 0:10:40the wonderful thing is that back story
0:10:40 > 0:10:44- and that connection that you have with each of your animals.- Yeah.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47Yeah, for me, it is. I mean, it's maybe not the same for everybody,
0:10:47 > 0:10:49but for me, I like to have a bit more history with them.
0:10:49 > 0:10:54Like, I can go back and I know their great-great-grandmothers.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56Farming these hills is no bed of roses,
0:10:56 > 0:10:58and it's not just Tom's dedication,
0:10:58 > 0:11:02but the efforts of the whole family that keep this place going.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05The Hutchinsons are typical of most farmers,
0:11:05 > 0:11:09braving the elements every day to make a living.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11Lie down. Get on the bike.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20The Wye Valley looks lush this summer.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30It was a different story back in 1976 -
0:11:30 > 0:11:33the ground had been baked hard by a drought that had actually
0:11:33 > 0:11:35begun the year before.
0:11:35 > 0:11:40Two years of below-average rainfall left the earth parched,
0:11:40 > 0:11:44and farmers struggled to grow enough to feed us.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47# When will there be a harvest for the world? #
0:11:47 > 0:11:50Graham Hunter Blair was farming in 1976.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54He kept a detailed record of those difficult days.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01I can't help but notice there's an awful lot of zeroes. This is '76.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04Just talk us through the number of dry days we've got there.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06In '76, yes.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08Well, I was going to go back to '75 to start with,
0:12:08 > 0:12:11just to show you the number of dry days over the winter,
0:12:11 > 0:12:14when the average rainfall was half of what it should be.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18Dry weather in '75 fed into dry weather in '76.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20I mean, just take one of these months - June.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22You know, you've got day after day of zero, and then,
0:12:22 > 0:12:25oh, oh, we did get a shower on the 20th.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28- 0.3 inches, so a third of an inch of rain.- Yes, correct.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31And then we went back to zero, zero, zero, zero, all the way through.
0:12:31 > 0:12:32So, it was just such...
0:12:32 > 0:12:34The prolonged nature of this drought -
0:12:34 > 0:12:37what sort of impact did that have on your yields?
0:12:37 > 0:12:39And which crops suffered worst?
0:12:39 > 0:12:41I think probably the winter wheat suffered the worst
0:12:41 > 0:12:45because also we had a big aphid attack because of the warm weather
0:12:45 > 0:12:49and when we harvested, we had less than half a tonne an acre
0:12:49 > 0:12:52- of which normally we'd have been expecting two tonnes an acre.- Right.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54And of course you've got very, sort of,
0:12:54 > 0:12:56dry, sandy soils here, haven't you?
0:12:56 > 0:12:58So, in this part of the world, I guess the impact was greater
0:12:58 > 0:13:00than if you had, sort of, clay soils?
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Yes, we're on sandstone here and it dries out very quickly.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05So, the wheat suffered.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07Did anything actually win out of this situation?
0:13:07 > 0:13:09Yes, sugar beet.
0:13:09 > 0:13:10And why was that?
0:13:10 > 0:13:13As it was originated from the east coast, on the dunes,
0:13:13 > 0:13:16and East Anglia being much drier than we are here,
0:13:16 > 0:13:17it did extremely well.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19- So, wheat needs the moisture...- Yep.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21..but sugar beet is less reliant on the rainfall.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23Yes.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Graham's son Ally looks after the farm now.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29He has more modern tools at his disposal
0:13:29 > 0:13:32when it comes to watching the weather.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36So, Ally, are you as much a weather nut as your dad?
0:13:36 > 0:13:39Well, I think with our job, you have to be a bit of a weather nut.
0:13:39 > 0:13:40I mean, I'm not quite as obsessed.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42I think I've only got one barometer instead of eight in my house.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44We've got data loggers,
0:13:44 > 0:13:47which is our full-on weather station here, and at Dad's.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51Also, on my phone, I've got about eight weather apps that all tell me something slightly different.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54- You can have too much information. - You can have too much information.
0:13:54 > 0:13:55What do you rely on the most?
0:13:55 > 0:13:57Dad has always told me and drummed into me that I'm always
0:13:57 > 0:14:00looking for the Azores high, especially when we start to cut hay,
0:14:00 > 0:14:02and he's made hay for 40 years and never failed.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04One year, I got it totally wrong, so I do listen.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07Of course, the Azores high is the area of high pressure over
0:14:07 > 0:14:10the Azores, which pushes up towards the UK and gives us fine weather.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13Yeah, it blocks our weather and we get a nice period of dry weather.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17Now, if 1976 was going to happen again, how prepared would you be?
0:14:17 > 0:14:21We have got irrigation now, but if we got to that level of drought,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24the Environment Agency would ban us from irrigating, anyway.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26What we're trying to do, which is a much longer-term plan,
0:14:26 > 0:14:28is increase our soil organic matter.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31The organic matter in the soil is actually what can hold the water.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35Now, if we can increase our soil organic matters by 1%,
0:14:35 > 0:14:39we can hold an extra 100,000 litres of water per acre.
0:14:39 > 0:14:40I had no idea.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43That's an amazing effect, just from putting organic matter in.
0:14:49 > 0:14:50Like Graham's sugar beet,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54some crops just love long, hot summers like 1976.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59Take blackcurrants - row upon row of fruits,
0:14:59 > 0:15:01the sun concentrating their sugars.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06It's a sight more common in France,
0:15:06 > 0:15:09but, when Anita visited this Herefordshire farm,
0:15:09 > 0:15:12she met a family with a passion for this sunshine-loving fruit.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17This farm is flying the flag for the British blackcurrant
0:15:17 > 0:15:20in more ways than one.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25Farms like this boomed during the 1940s.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28The Government backed the British blackcurrant as a way
0:15:28 > 0:15:32of getting much-needed vitamin C into people's diet after the war.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37The humble berries packed a punch so healthy
0:15:37 > 0:15:40that blackcurrant syrup was given as a supplement in schools,
0:15:40 > 0:15:42hospitals and nursing homes.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45Due to the amount of hot, sunny weather we've had,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48the sugar levels are very high and the berries are very juicy.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52'I'm bursting to find out more about today's blackcurrant bonanza
0:15:52 > 0:15:54'from farm manager James Wright.'
0:15:56 > 0:15:57So, after the Second World War,
0:15:57 > 0:16:01there was quite a big business in blackcurrants in the UK.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04- Yes.- But what is - I'm so sorry about this -
0:16:04 > 0:16:06the current state of affairs?
0:16:06 > 0:16:09The current state of affairs, Anita,
0:16:09 > 0:16:13is there are about 40 blackcurrant growers in the UK.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16However, there used to be hundreds.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20So, the actual farm dairy, I think, has reduced by about 50%
0:16:20 > 0:16:22since wartime.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25Much of the market has moved abroad, where land
0:16:25 > 0:16:27and labour costs are cheaper, but James
0:16:27 > 0:16:30and his staff are trying to turn the tide using the highest of tech.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34This is basically state-of-the-art, isn't it?
0:16:34 > 0:16:37Yeah, this is the latest model.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40It works by driving over the top of the bush, and those two
0:16:40 > 0:16:44sets of vibrating fingers, which shake the branches on the bush.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46The berries fall down onto the conveyors.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49And then over this conveyor.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51And it's perfect, isn't it?
0:16:51 > 0:16:53It's delicate enough not to destroy the bush,
0:16:53 > 0:16:55but it's releasing all the berries.
0:16:56 > 0:17:01Each year, the farm harvests 300 to 350 tonnes of these zingy
0:17:01 > 0:17:03pearls of goodness.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07Mainly for blackcurrant squash and the frozen fruit market.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10But like so many farms, they've had to diversify to add value
0:17:10 > 0:17:15to their crop, bringing a taste of France to Herefordshire.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18We've started to make blackcurrant liqueur,
0:17:18 > 0:17:20in the same style as French cassis.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23And we've labelled that as British cassis.
0:17:23 > 0:17:25British cassis! Who'd have thought?
0:17:27 > 0:17:30- I must say, you're very good at this.- Do you think I've got a job?
0:17:30 > 0:17:32- You certainly do.- Good.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34'Having mastered quality control,
0:17:34 > 0:17:37'James let me try my hand at harvesting.'
0:17:37 > 0:17:40I can see how you can get used to this.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45Once picked, the cascade of purple, shiny jewels gets crushed
0:17:45 > 0:17:49and pressed into juice, all within 24 hours.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51Then it makes its way to the brewery.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56It's in here that the magic happens.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58Alan Tucker is the farm's cassis king.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02So, is anyone else producing cassis in the UK?
0:18:02 > 0:18:04Do you know, I don't think there is.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08I don't know of anybody else that brews it the same way as we do.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10Wow. It smells incredible.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14It looks beautiful, the colour is just bringing joy to my heart.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17'I've seen the whole process through from bush to bottle.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20'I think I deserve a taste.'
0:18:20 > 0:18:23And if anyone knows how to get the best out of her blackcurrants,
0:18:23 > 0:18:25it's Julie Green,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29matriarch of the Green family, who have owned the farm since the 1880s.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35Julie's laid on cassis-based puddings and cocktails for us all.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40- Oh, yeah.- Now, then. Would you like some of this lovely pudding?
0:18:40 > 0:18:42- I would love some pudding. - What would you like?
0:18:42 > 0:18:45I think we should just get stuck in.
0:18:45 > 0:18:50James and Alan are wasting no time tasting the fruits of their labour.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53- The best of British. Cheers.- Cheers.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05Not all plants welcome the sun as much as blackcurrants.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08And as great as hot, sunny weather is, you can
0:19:08 > 0:19:10have too much of a good thing.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14The long, hot summer of '76 had a dramatic
0:19:14 > 0:19:17effect on the way our countryside looked.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24Lakes, reservoirs and rivers dried up.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26Green grass turned brown.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32And our woodlands took on a distinctly unseasonal appearance.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37In August 1976,
0:19:37 > 0:19:42Dr George Peterkin came here to Lady Park Wood, above the River Wye.
0:19:42 > 0:19:47It looked very different from the way it does today.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51I was astonished. Normally woods are quite dark at the end of August.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55This was bright lit, there were hardly any leaves on the tree.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57It was winter in the middle of summer.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01The trees had decided it was so dry it was autumn
0:20:01 > 0:20:04and had dropped most of their leaves.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06And we've got a tree in front of us here. Is this a victim of 76?
0:20:06 > 0:20:08- It looks like a dugout canoe. - It certainly is.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11It was, until 1976, one of the best
0:20:11 > 0:20:13and fastest-growing trees in the whole wood.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16How does the drought kill a tree, in a nutshell?
0:20:16 > 0:20:18From the bottom upwards, from the top downwards?
0:20:18 > 0:20:22At the top its branches get killed. At the bottom it kills the bark.
0:20:22 > 0:20:27It lets in rot, so as the tree grows and tries to recover,
0:20:27 > 0:20:30it's actually let down by the rot in its own base.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33There are still trees in this wood which are rotting
0:20:33 > 0:20:36and dying from the drought now. 40 years after the drought.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38Some trees actually look really healthy,
0:20:38 > 0:20:42they look splendid trees, but if you look carefully, you can
0:20:42 > 0:20:44see this rot line at the bottom of the stump where
0:20:44 > 0:20:47they've tried to heal, but inside it's very rotten.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52The living part of a tree is the bark
0:20:52 > 0:20:54and the layer just underneath.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57The rest of the inside of the trunk is what holds the tree up.
0:20:57 > 0:21:02As that rots away, the still living tree becomes hollow and unstable.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08This drought victim lived on
0:21:08 > 0:21:13until the millennium before finally succumbing to the wounds of 1976.
0:21:15 > 0:21:1924 years after the drought, this was a drought casualty.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21- A valiant effort to survive. - A valiant effort.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24You just have to respect this tree.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Our weather doesn't just affect the countryside...
0:21:32 > 0:21:36it also shapes our enjoyment of it. All year round.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43Just ask Ellie.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45Although I doubt the word "enjoy" came to mind as she went
0:21:45 > 0:21:49head-to-head with the elements in Scotland last winter.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13The remoteness...
0:22:17 > 0:22:18..the solitude...
0:22:23 > 0:22:26..the glory of the north-west Highlands.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30It's a landscape to fire the imagination,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33stir the spirit and feed the soul.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42And for those with a taste for adventure,
0:22:42 > 0:22:43there's a new way of seeing it
0:22:43 > 0:22:47because stringing all this beauty together
0:22:47 > 0:22:50is a new route making use of old roads.
0:22:52 > 0:22:57'It's called the North Coast, or NC500, a 500 mile-long network
0:22:57 > 0:23:00'of road that loops around the coastline
0:23:00 > 0:23:02'of the far north Highlands.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05'You can drive it or bike it.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07'I'm cycling some of the route that stretches along
0:23:07 > 0:23:11'the West Coast, from the Applecross Peninsula, north to Ullapool.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16'And right now, I'm feeling I might have bitten off more than
0:23:16 > 0:23:18'I can chew.'
0:23:18 > 0:23:19Oh!
0:23:19 > 0:23:21HEAVY WINDS
0:23:21 > 0:23:22Struth!
0:23:22 > 0:23:26You know, you might not be able to see this but the wind is so gusty.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30There are moments where it wants to blow you off the bike.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36'This is the notorious Bealach na Ba, or "pass of the cattle".
0:23:36 > 0:23:39'One of the toughest roads to climb in the UK.
0:23:39 > 0:23:44'Merciless gradients, savage hairpin bends.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47'Six lung bursting miles from sea level to the summit,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50'more than 2,000 feet up in the clouds.'
0:23:53 > 0:23:55It just saps your energy
0:23:55 > 0:23:58when you're up against the headwind.
0:24:05 > 0:24:06Oh, struth.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08It actually knocks you off your bike.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12It's incredibly, incredibly strong. Try that again.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23Testing in the best of conditions,
0:24:23 > 0:24:26the weather today is doing me no favours at all.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29HEAVY HAIL AND WINDS
0:24:29 > 0:24:31Oh, my goodness!
0:24:38 > 0:24:41It's amazing, you can see the weather coming in from miles,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44and I knew this bit was on its way.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48Oh, it's packed with very painful hailstones.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51Ararghh! Ow!
0:24:54 > 0:24:56Whose idea was this in winter?
0:24:56 > 0:25:00Oh, my goodness. That's really hurting! Ow!
0:25:04 > 0:25:05Oh!
0:25:06 > 0:25:09Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!
0:25:09 > 0:25:11My legs are killing.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13That's not even funny.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21'Then, as quickly as it blew in, it's blown out,
0:25:21 > 0:25:23'leaving a dusting of snow in its wake.'
0:25:28 > 0:25:31I will not be beaten. Back in the saddle.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35'And I'm not alone.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38'Tearing up the pass towards me is Mark Beaumont.
0:25:38 > 0:25:43'He's renowned in cycling circles, a record-breaker,
0:25:43 > 0:25:45'a demon on two wheels.'
0:25:47 > 0:25:49- Hey!- Hey.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52- I knew you'd catch me up. How are you doing?- Good, good.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54- Good, yeah.- How's this? - This weather is nuts.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57I was going to give up back down there, but it changed again.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59- Welcome to Scotland. - Yeah, thanks, man.
0:26:02 > 0:26:03Ugh!
0:26:03 > 0:26:06- This is pretty gritty cycling.- Oooh!
0:26:06 > 0:26:09- You all right?- Yeah, I'm there.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13You've made it up the Bealach na Ba, the Applecross Pass.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15Yeah! Quite an achievement!
0:26:15 > 0:26:19- That's the toughest conditions I've ever been up.- Yeah?- Yeah.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22- We must be mad. - Good on you.- Yeah.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24Oh, what fun!
0:26:25 > 0:26:28'The view from the top makes it all worthwhile,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31'but it's been the toughest bike ride of my life.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36'And I've just done a section of the NC500.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39'Mark's done the lot, the whole 500 miles,
0:26:39 > 0:26:45'and he did it in a mind-blowing 37 hours and 58 minutes.
0:26:46 > 0:26:52'That's right, 500 miles nonstop in a day and a half.'
0:26:53 > 0:26:56What possessed you to do the crazy challenge of completing
0:26:56 > 0:26:58the NC500 in that time?
0:26:58 > 0:27:02Well, I've spent my life exploring the world by bicycle.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04I'm just back from cycling the length of Africa.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08But I've never done anything that big and crazy in Scotland,
0:27:08 > 0:27:11so I was quite inspired when I heard about the North Coast 500.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14You're so tuned into the world around you.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16You see, you hear, you smell everything.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19And you see the world in incremental changes.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22You don't sort of fly into place and then compare it to where you've come from.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26You get to see change, see culture and people, places and geography.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28And that, for me, is addictive.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37'Remember, you can also drive the NC500!'
0:27:48 > 0:27:52The green and very leafy canopy here at Lady Park Wood
0:27:52 > 0:27:56in the Wye Valley looks in rude health this year.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02There is no obvious sign of lasting damage
0:28:02 > 0:28:04caused by the drought of 1976.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12But what if I could look inside one of these living beech trees?
0:28:12 > 0:28:14What would I see?
0:28:14 > 0:28:17With the help of Professor Alistair Jump
0:28:17 > 0:28:20from the University of Stirling, I'm hoping to find out.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27Now, Alistair, I've seen you looking round the tree and up and down it,
0:28:27 > 0:28:31but how on earth do we actually look inside this tree?
0:28:31 > 0:28:34Well, all we can do is actually use a tree corer,
0:28:34 > 0:28:36a device that allows us to remove a small
0:28:36 > 0:28:39core of wood from actually inside the stem of the tree.
0:28:39 > 0:28:41We can take that back to the lab, send it down,
0:28:41 > 0:28:44and then that allows us to actually look at the ring boundaries
0:28:44 > 0:28:47of individual years' growth over time.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49- And compare years?- Absolutely. - OK.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53'Alistair has brought an old core sample which shows the damage
0:28:53 > 0:28:56'done by the drought of '76.'
0:28:56 > 0:28:59What you can see is that when the tree was younger,
0:28:59 > 0:29:01you see relatively wide rings
0:29:01 > 0:29:04because it was growing quite fast.
0:29:04 > 0:29:06Then you get to a point up here
0:29:06 > 0:29:09where you see a very sudden narrowing of the rings.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11So, just about this point.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13Really close together.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15- Absolutely.- That means there's hardly any growth at all.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18Yeah, they're so close together you can barely make out
0:29:18 > 0:29:21the individual rings. And this lasts for a good period of years.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24In some cases, three decades of very narrow ring width.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26So it wasn't just '76.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29- The trouble lasted for years and years after that.- Absolutely.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32- Slowly recovering now, 40 years on.- Exactly.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36What I really want to do is look into the past of this tree.
0:29:36 > 0:29:37Can we do that?
0:29:37 > 0:29:39- We can do that, yeah.- Fantastic.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47- Now, does this do it any harm? - No, not really.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51The main living portion of the tree is really just below the bark.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55Everything inside is really structural support.
0:29:55 > 0:30:00'Alistair gets things started before handing over to me.'
0:30:00 > 0:30:02- Go for it.- Right. OK.
0:30:03 > 0:30:04Ooh, yeah!
0:30:07 > 0:30:09I should have been down the gym before this!
0:30:11 > 0:30:13What we'll try and do is get the core out of the tree.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16It's like keyhole surgery, this, isn't it?
0:30:16 > 0:30:18Absolutely - keyhole surgery on a tree.
0:30:20 > 0:30:24- As if by magic...- It's like a pale pencil.- Beautiful!
0:30:24 > 0:30:27- OK, so that's very different to the core we just saw.- Yes.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30This needs to be dried and it needs to be sanded down
0:30:30 > 0:30:32so that you can see these ring boundaries clearly.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36- OK, but even now I can make out some rings in there.- Just about,
0:30:36 > 0:30:38you can see them with the naked eye, yeah.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40And to give us a wider context,
0:30:40 > 0:30:44how did the composition of the forest get affected by '76?
0:30:44 > 0:30:47Well, it was really dependent on the drought sensitivity
0:30:47 > 0:30:48of the particular species.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51So what happened was, beech was hard hit by the drought,
0:30:51 > 0:30:55but other species were relatively unaffected.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58And in a way, by knocking back the growth of the beech,
0:30:58 > 0:31:01it reduced its competition with other species.
0:31:03 > 0:31:07So, there were winners and losers, despite the drought.
0:31:12 > 0:31:17Whether drought or deluge, work in the countryside still needs doing.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19For farmers, it comes with the territory,
0:31:19 > 0:31:23like the time Adam swapped the comfort of his Cotswold farm for
0:31:23 > 0:31:24the wilds of Exmoor,
0:31:24 > 0:31:27rounding up ponies in weather he'll never forget.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38ADAM: Exmoor National Park has a wild beauty, whatever the weather.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42People come here to enjoy the rugged landscape
0:31:42 > 0:31:43and of course its wild ponies.
0:31:46 > 0:31:48Today there is a special event.
0:31:48 > 0:31:52A group of volunteers are gathering to help husband and wife team
0:31:52 > 0:31:56David and Emma Wallace round up their herd of wild Exmoors.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01David and Emma Wallace have gathered a large team of people
0:32:01 > 0:32:04to help them bring their Exmoor ponies off the moor
0:32:04 > 0:32:05down to their farm.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09So, what's the plan now, David? You're splitting everybody up?
0:32:09 > 0:32:11Yeah, we're organising everybody, Adam,
0:32:11 > 0:32:15and making sure that we get an even distribution of vehicles
0:32:15 > 0:32:19and ponies on both sides of this rope. We're hoping to find
0:32:19 > 0:32:23today somewhere near about 30 to 40 ponies, something in that region.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26And the reason for bringing them down at this time of year?
0:32:26 > 0:32:28It's time to wean the foals from their mothers.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31It's the annual time of the year when we're separating out.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34We need to see whether we've got lots of little girls,
0:32:34 > 0:32:39the fillies, or whether we've got lots of little boys, the colts.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41So, looking forward to seeing what we've got.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44- It's like Christmas today. - Fantastic!
0:32:44 > 0:32:46Well, I remember your father, Ronnie Wallace,
0:32:46 > 0:32:49giving my dad three Exmoors when I was just a little boy.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52Yes, and I remember, as a little boy, too,
0:32:52 > 0:32:55delivering them to your father, too, up in the Cotswolds.
0:32:55 > 0:33:00So, it's wonderful that you're here today witnessing this annual event.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02It's very exciting and despite the weather
0:33:02 > 0:33:04I'm really looking forward to it.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06Yeah, glad we've been able to organise a good Exmoor day for you!
0:33:06 > 0:33:11- Right, let's go get some ponies! - Let go and be cowboys!
0:33:14 > 0:33:16'David's team are fully briefed.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20'All they've got to do now is find the ponies and round them up,
0:33:20 > 0:33:22'which is easier said than done.'
0:33:22 > 0:33:24There's a convoy of cars coming up the road.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28It's amazing to see these horses riding across the moor
0:33:28 > 0:33:31in thick fog and rain.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34I'm not quite sure how they're finding these ponies.
0:33:41 > 0:33:43How are you getting on? Have you seen many?
0:33:43 > 0:33:46Yes, we saw some just over the back of the hill there,
0:33:46 > 0:33:49which seem to have moved, come up across the road already.
0:33:49 > 0:33:51So we're just doing another sweep of this side of the moor,
0:33:51 > 0:33:53make sure we've got everyone.
0:33:53 > 0:33:55- Great. All right, good luck!- Thank you!
0:34:02 > 0:34:05I just pulled over and spotted a group of Exmoors here,
0:34:05 > 0:34:07quite close to the road.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11And the horse riders and quad bikes are coming across the moor to bring them this way.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13These animals are quite wild.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16They live out on the moor all year round
0:34:16 > 0:34:18and they're perfectly designed for it.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21They've be living out here for hundreds if not thousands of years.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23They've got these really broad foreheads
0:34:23 > 0:34:26and the rain just runs off their eyes.
0:34:26 > 0:34:28And their tail fans out over their rump.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31And they've got amazing fur that keeps them warm
0:34:31 > 0:34:34and insulated even in the harshest of conditions.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37And, believe me, out here on Exmoor it can get very harsh.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47There are about 20 cantering past now
0:34:47 > 0:34:50and more coming up over the horizon.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53I've never seen so many Exmoors in one place at one time.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00'It really is a spectacular sight as more and more
0:35:00 > 0:35:03'Exmoors are driven off the moor and into the holding area.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08'And now there's just one last trot down the lanes
0:35:08 > 0:35:10'to David and Emma's farm.'
0:35:13 > 0:35:16- So, how did it all go? - It went really well, actually.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19Considering the weather today, we've gathered
0:35:19 > 0:35:23all our ponies off the hill and it's been a spectacular sight.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27It's very exciting to see the mares coming off with their foals,
0:35:27 > 0:35:32and in the next couple of days we'll be weaning the foals from the mares.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36- As then the mares and stallions run back onto the moor?- They do indeed.
0:35:36 > 0:35:40Yes, yes, the foals are weaned from them, they'll go back out
0:35:40 > 0:35:44on to the hill and enjoy a winter without a foal annoying them,
0:35:44 > 0:35:47- and then hopefully give birth again in the spring.- Wonderful.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50Well, there we are, the most ancient indigenous British
0:35:50 > 0:35:53breed of pony, probably the toughest of the lot,
0:35:53 > 0:35:56gathered safely off the moor for another year.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59# Kisses for me, save all your kisses for me. #
0:36:01 > 0:36:06The long, dry summer of 1976 was bad news for a lot of our wildlife.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10Not for insects - they had a bumper year.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15Matthew Oates, the National Trust's main man
0:36:15 > 0:36:18for bugs and butterflies, had just left university.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22For him, 1976 was a year like no other.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26# So long, honey, so long... #
0:36:26 > 0:36:29He's on Rodborough Common in Gloucestershire to tell us
0:36:29 > 0:36:35why that summer, 40 years ago, was so good for his beloved butterflies.
0:36:35 > 0:36:40This summer, this steep slope here in the Cotswolds
0:36:40 > 0:36:45is lush and verdant green, very strong grass growth.
0:36:45 > 0:36:50We're living in the era of wet, mild winters and wet summers,
0:36:50 > 0:36:55and what that means is that vegetation, all vegetation, is growing luxuriantly.
0:36:55 > 0:37:01It was not so 40 years ago in the long hot summer of 1976.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04The grass especially hardly grew.
0:37:04 > 0:37:09It was a year for warmth-loving insects in particular, we are
0:37:09 > 0:37:12talking about butterflies, and obviously at night moths, bees...
0:37:12 > 0:37:17They boomed, ladybirds especially. This was the year of the ladybird.
0:37:19 > 0:37:21Because of the lack of grass growth,
0:37:21 > 0:37:25many of the normally low-growing plants which our butterflies
0:37:25 > 0:37:30breed on actually flourished, like horseshoe vetch here,
0:37:30 > 0:37:33which is the food plant of the beautiful Adonis blues.
0:37:34 > 0:37:39The rare Adonis blue was just one of the species that boomed that summer,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42and all because of the abundance of wild plants.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45But the drought would eventually burn these flowers off,
0:37:45 > 0:37:48forcing the hungry butterflies from the meadows
0:37:48 > 0:37:50and into our gardens.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53Which is why the summer of '76 is also remembered
0:37:53 > 0:37:56for the insect invasions in our towns.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02When the drought broke in the autumn, the butterfly population
0:38:02 > 0:38:07went from boom to bust, washed away by relentless heavy rains.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18Our weather is often wet and windy.
0:38:18 > 0:38:21Atlantic storms are driven in by the jet stream,
0:38:21 > 0:38:23and they can be damaging.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31In 2014, one of the most ferocious storms for decades
0:38:31 > 0:38:32hit the south coast
0:38:32 > 0:38:36and the South Devon seaside town of Dawlish in particular,
0:38:36 > 0:38:38which, as Anita found out,
0:38:38 > 0:38:42was a little too close to home for a member of the Countryfile team.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51TRAIN WHISTLE
0:38:56 > 0:39:00February 4th, 2014 began like any other morning -
0:39:00 > 0:39:03people getting ready for work, kids going to school
0:39:03 > 0:39:07and trains on this rural stretch of rail network were business as usual.
0:39:07 > 0:39:12And then, within 24 hours, everything had changed.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16Countryfile film crews had been scattered across the south
0:39:16 > 0:39:18of the country covering the impact of the weather.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21One of our cameramen, Dawlish resident Steve Briers, had been
0:39:21 > 0:39:23filming the floods with Tom Heap in Somerset,
0:39:23 > 0:39:27completely unaware of what was about to hit his idyllic seaside home.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30You couldn't be much closer to the sea here, could you?
0:39:30 > 0:39:33I mean, this is house, railway line, sea.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35You are in the line of fire.
0:39:35 > 0:39:37Yeah, very much so.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39'By the time Steve got home from his shoot,
0:39:39 > 0:39:44'winds of up to 91mph were creating nine metre high waves
0:39:44 > 0:39:47'heading straight for land, and Steve's house.'
0:39:47 > 0:39:49The waves were just landing,
0:39:49 > 0:39:52literally dumping themselves on top of the car.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54The car would sit down on it springs,
0:39:54 > 0:39:55you obviously had to stop,
0:39:55 > 0:39:58the wipers were doing ten to the dozen, and it was
0:39:58 > 0:40:02just like being in a washing machine on a really fast spin.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05'The dramatic footage that Steve filmed the next day shows
0:40:05 > 0:40:08'the aftermath of just what he was experiencing.'
0:40:08 > 0:40:12At that point I knew there was something exceptional happening
0:40:12 > 0:40:16and, obviously, being a cameraman, I was certainly aware that
0:40:16 > 0:40:19I really should be trying to record it and get some pictures.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22So, I went to set up a light, of all things, to actually
0:40:22 > 0:40:25point down into what I knew was now a hole developing in front of the house.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28I literally put the light stand up - bang, power went.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32- And that's when you dialled 999. - Yeah, that's when I hit 999.
0:40:32 > 0:40:33OPERATOR: Caller, go ahead.
0:40:33 > 0:40:35Riviera Terrace in Dawlish,
0:40:35 > 0:40:38it's been washed away into the sea.
0:40:38 > 0:40:43The sea wall is gone, there is no sea defences.
0:40:43 > 0:40:45The railway lines are suspended in the air.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48They are... They are in the air by about, I'd imagine,
0:40:48 > 0:40:50probably about 10 or 15 foot.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52Dearie me!
0:40:52 > 0:40:55I realised that my utilities had gone out into the English Channel.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57My gas main had split.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00I didn't have any water, no electricity,
0:41:00 > 0:41:04and at that point, it really was getting quite exciting round here.
0:41:04 > 0:41:06Then there was a knock at the door.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09Yeah, shortly after that, there was a knock at the door.
0:41:09 > 0:41:14Obviously pitch blackness, a torch shone in my eyes,
0:41:14 > 0:41:19and a chap in full rescue kit, hard hat and the rest of it,
0:41:19 > 0:41:22just literally said, "You've got two minutes.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25"This is a life or death situation.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28"You've got two minutes. You've got to get out."
0:41:28 > 0:41:30Were you scared?
0:41:30 > 0:41:32Um, I don't think there was time to be scared, really.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35I was certainly confused.
0:41:35 > 0:41:39The amazing thing through all of this is that no-one was injured.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44OK, Steve, back to the day job. You ready?
0:41:46 > 0:41:49The next day, Dawlish was thrown into chaos.
0:41:49 > 0:41:53This railway line is vital, as it connects the south-west
0:41:53 > 0:41:57to the rest of the country, so something had to be done and fast.
0:41:57 > 0:42:02A 300-strong fleet of engineers swept into action.
0:42:02 > 0:42:04Operated by Network Rail,
0:42:04 > 0:42:08they became known locally as the Orange Army.
0:42:08 > 0:42:12Within two months the railway line was rebuilt and back in action.
0:42:12 > 0:42:14Thanks to the Orange Army,
0:42:14 > 0:42:18hundreds of thousands of passengers living in rural communities
0:42:18 > 0:42:21in the south-west have got their lives back on track.
0:42:21 > 0:42:25And Steve? Well, he's got his road back.
0:42:34 > 0:42:35I've been in the Wye Valley,
0:42:35 > 0:42:38where one of Britain's most beautiful rivers
0:42:38 > 0:42:42winds its way along the border between England and Wales.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48It looks stunning here, with plenty of water,
0:42:48 > 0:42:51but back in 1976 it was a very different
0:42:51 > 0:42:54and altogether more devastating picture.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00George Woodward has been a gilly - an Environment Agency bailiff -
0:43:00 > 0:43:01on the Wye for decades.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08- George, do you mind if I join you? - Not at all.
0:43:08 > 0:43:11Good, cos last time I fished was on the River Wye a couple
0:43:11 > 0:43:13of years back, and I nearly caught...
0:43:13 > 0:43:16It was about that big, just got away, but I think it's probably still in there.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19- Well, let's see if we can get it out, shall we?- Yes.
0:43:29 > 0:43:35So, George, you were working here in 1976. What did it look like?
0:43:35 > 0:43:38The river was totally different to how you see it now.
0:43:38 > 0:43:41You could literally walk in your Wellington boots across.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44So, obviously, it must have had a huge impact on the salmon.
0:43:44 > 0:43:49It had a massive impact, not just the water height,
0:43:49 > 0:43:53the water being so low, but the water temperature just shot up.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57By mid-June, it was basically in its high 70s.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00- Bathwater.- Yes.
0:44:00 > 0:44:02How many salmon died, then?
0:44:02 > 0:44:07I remember one particular evening on about a four-and-a-half mile walk
0:44:07 > 0:44:12with the wife round the area I live, we counted 900 dead salmon.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15'And there was another consequence -
0:44:15 > 0:44:18'the low water made the fish easy to spot -
0:44:18 > 0:44:21'easy pickings for the unscrupulous.'
0:44:21 > 0:44:24I don't think a lot of people realised just how many fish
0:44:24 > 0:44:29- ran that river, and it wasn't long before the...- Word got out?
0:44:29 > 0:44:34..the word got out and then, for the next 10 to 15 years,
0:44:34 > 0:44:36the Wye was very, very badly poached.
0:44:36 > 0:44:38So, it was a disaster.
0:44:38 > 0:44:43And how many years has it taken for that to recover? Or has it?
0:44:43 > 0:44:48In the mid-'60s you would have been looking at somewhere in the region
0:44:48 > 0:44:52of 5,000 to 6,000 salmon, rod caught salmon on the Wye.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55And we're nowhere near those sorts of figures now.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59Last year was just over 1,000, about 1,000, somewhere around there.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03There's some way to go before salmon numbers are back
0:45:03 > 0:45:07to their pre-'76 levels, but efforts are underway, as I'll see later.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15Now, this year's Countryfile Photographic Competition is already well underway,
0:45:15 > 0:45:17but there's still plenty of time for you to enter.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21Here's John with all the information for you to get involved.
0:45:24 > 0:45:26For this year's Countryfile Photographic Competition,
0:45:26 > 0:45:29we want you to get out with your cameras to celebrate
0:45:29 > 0:45:34the British countryside at its very best, from morning till night.
0:45:34 > 0:45:36Our theme is "Dawn Till Dusk".
0:45:40 > 0:45:41The very best 12
0:45:41 > 0:45:45selected by the judges will take pride of place in the
0:45:45 > 0:45:47Countryfile calendar for 2017.
0:45:48 > 0:45:50As always,
0:45:50 > 0:45:54we'll have an overall winner voted for by Countryfile viewers.
0:45:54 > 0:45:58Not only will their picture take pride of place on the cover of the
0:45:58 > 0:46:03calendar, they'll also get to choose photographic equipment worth £1,000.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06Whoever takes the judges' favourite photo will be able to pick
0:46:06 > 0:46:10photographic equipment to the value of £500.
0:46:13 > 0:46:15To enter the competition please write your name,
0:46:15 > 0:46:17address and a daytime and evening phone number
0:46:17 > 0:46:21on the back of each photo with a note of where it was taken.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24Then send your entries to...
0:46:36 > 0:46:38The competition isn't open to professionals
0:46:38 > 0:46:41and because we're looking for something original,
0:46:41 > 0:46:44your pictures must not have won any other national competition.
0:46:44 > 0:46:47You can send in up to three photos.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50They must have been taken in the UK and please remember,
0:46:50 > 0:46:54we're looking for hard copies, not e-mailed or computer files.
0:46:54 > 0:46:58And I'm very sorry but we just can't return any entries.
0:46:59 > 0:47:03The full terms and conditions are on our website where you'll also find
0:47:03 > 0:47:06details of the BBC's code of conduct for competitions.
0:47:08 > 0:47:10The competition closes on July 22nd
0:47:10 > 0:47:13so that means you've got just under five weeks
0:47:13 > 0:47:14to send in your pictures.
0:47:14 > 0:47:18So, its time to go out and capture the British countryside
0:47:18 > 0:47:22from dawn till dusk, and we look forward to seeing your entries.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32The jet stream that gifted us the long, hot summer of 1976
0:47:32 > 0:47:36also curses us with severe storms -
0:47:36 > 0:47:40damaging to our coastline and to our wildlife, as Ellie found out
0:47:40 > 0:47:44when she visited an RSPCA rescue centre in East Anglia.
0:47:46 > 0:47:50The biggest storm surge since the great floods of 1953.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53A perfect storm where high tides, high winds
0:47:53 > 0:47:56and low pressure combine to devastating effect.
0:47:58 > 0:48:03Not least for the wildlife, and in particular these grey seal pups.
0:48:03 > 0:48:05Stranded on the region's beaches,
0:48:05 > 0:48:08they were rescued and brought in here...
0:48:10 > 0:48:14..to the RSPCA's wildlife centre near King's Lynn.
0:48:14 > 0:48:15When the storm broke,
0:48:15 > 0:48:20centre manager Alison Charles was left holding the babies.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23So, December the 5th was a bad night. What happened to these pups?
0:48:23 > 0:48:26They ended up with 58 coming in over three days
0:48:26 > 0:48:27so it was incredible,
0:48:27 > 0:48:30we've never had that many in the building in one go.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33- Very, very busy. - How did you cope with that many?
0:48:33 > 0:48:35I really don't know how we coped.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38We look back at it and we think, "What on earth were we doing?"
0:48:38 > 0:48:40But we emptied out all the rooms that we had that had drains in
0:48:40 > 0:48:43and were tiled floors so we could keep them nice and clean
0:48:43 > 0:48:45- and we just put seals in there. - And through the night,
0:48:45 > 0:48:47feeding through the night like newborn babies almost?
0:48:47 > 0:48:50Almost like newborn babies, yes. We fed them up until 12 o'clock.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53But as you can imagine, it takes so long to feed that number,
0:48:53 > 0:48:56it was about half two by the time the staff were getting out of here.
0:48:56 > 0:48:58Then we started again at eight o'clock in the morning.
0:48:58 > 0:49:01But we got through it, and as you see, the seals look really good now.
0:49:01 > 0:49:03Yeah, they do. They look absolutely amazing.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05So if it wasn't for the fact that they were brought in here,
0:49:05 > 0:49:07would this lot probably have survived?
0:49:07 > 0:49:10They came in at under three weeks old, really tiny and emaciated
0:49:10 > 0:49:14- little pups that really needed their mum, and they'd gone.- Wow!
0:49:15 > 0:49:18Because these pups have been fed by hand for so long,
0:49:18 > 0:49:21they need to learn how to feed themselves.
0:49:21 > 0:49:25For these seals, that means only one thing - lovely, oily mackerel
0:49:25 > 0:49:27and milk crates.
0:49:27 > 0:49:29Why milk crates, Alison?
0:49:29 > 0:49:31- Thank you.- What are these for?
0:49:31 > 0:49:34This is to make life a bit more exciting while they're in here.
0:49:34 > 0:49:38They've got quite a long rehab and we just want to liven it up a little
0:49:38 > 0:49:41bit so they have to forage for their fish once we put them in here.
0:49:41 > 0:49:44- The fish go in here?- They do. We're going to slot them into there.
0:49:44 > 0:49:47- Right. Some mackerel weaving.- Yes. We like to be ingenious.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51- Yeah.- This is environmental enrichment on the cheap.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59That's it. Don't fall in. And there we go.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02- Have some of that. - Launch the fish crate.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08And now it rolls over and over and then they get to go
0:50:08 > 0:50:10- and chase the fish. - Can't wait to watch the frenzy.
0:50:17 > 0:50:19'These grey seal pups have not been in the wild
0:50:19 > 0:50:21'since they were just days old.
0:50:21 > 0:50:24'The storm surge that washed them away from their mothers
0:50:24 > 0:50:27'is now a fading memory, and with spring just around the corner
0:50:27 > 0:50:31'there couldn't be a better time to be going home.'
0:50:33 > 0:50:35Oh, I'm stuck in the mud.
0:50:35 > 0:50:37'He can smell freedom.
0:50:37 > 0:50:39'But it's been a while.
0:50:39 > 0:50:40'No surprise he's cautious.'
0:50:42 > 0:50:45- Yay!- There you go. - The fun way in.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48It's just a nice, little slide down there now.
0:50:48 > 0:50:51How do you make sure they are wild rather than coming back to you?
0:50:51 > 0:50:54All the way along, we try to have as little to do with them as possible.
0:50:54 > 0:50:56We try and get them with other seals, we don't talk to them,
0:50:56 > 0:50:59we don't cuddle them, we don't stroke them,
0:50:59 > 0:51:01we don't do anything with them apart from go in and feed them,
0:51:01 > 0:51:03medicate them and look after them.
0:51:03 > 0:51:06So it's all hands off and just try to have as little interaction
0:51:06 > 0:51:07with them as possible.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10So, how does this stage feel when they're released?
0:51:10 > 0:51:12This is the best bit. Everyone thinks we're really sad,
0:51:12 > 0:51:14but it's not sad.
0:51:14 > 0:51:16It's really good to see them go back out to sea
0:51:16 > 0:51:18and then it's up to them to make a go of it.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20They live to 30 years, so you hope that we've done a good job
0:51:20 > 0:51:23of getting them fit and healthy, and then it's down to them.
0:51:27 > 0:51:29'Given up for dead by the storm,
0:51:29 > 0:51:33'nursed back to life and health by Alison and her team.'
0:51:34 > 0:51:37'Now isn't that a sight to warm the heart?'
0:51:37 > 0:51:39Hey-hey! Fantastic!
0:52:02 > 0:52:04We're in the Wye Valley,
0:52:04 > 0:52:08where we've been looking back at the summer of 1976.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11The prolonged dry spell saw water levels plummet,
0:52:11 > 0:52:15with a drastic effect on the salmon population of the River Wye.
0:52:16 > 0:52:20I've come to a tributary in the upper reaches of the river.
0:52:20 > 0:52:24Here, conservationists from the Wye and Usk Foundation are working to
0:52:24 > 0:52:30improve the chances for salmon returning to the river to spawn.
0:52:30 > 0:52:34What practically do you do to help maintain the salmon population here?
0:52:34 > 0:52:37Well, we're putting in fish passes.
0:52:37 > 0:52:40There's a fish pass here to get them over this rather difficult falls.
0:52:40 > 0:52:43You have to imagine there's about two or three feet of water on it
0:52:43 > 0:52:45and it's really quite quick,
0:52:45 > 0:52:47so they can go then for another kilometre or so
0:52:47 > 0:52:49and spawn on the gravel at the top there.
0:52:49 > 0:52:53Now, of course, you remember way back 40 years ago, '76,
0:52:53 > 0:52:56just talk us through that historic event.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58There was no spring rain.
0:52:58 > 0:53:02The sun came out in around the middle of April and beat down
0:53:02 > 0:53:06the entire year until it finally ended with some rain at the end.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09With the flooding rains in the autumn.
0:53:09 > 0:53:11And what sort of plans have you now got in place to
0:53:11 > 0:53:14sort of mitigate the "what if" scenario?
0:53:14 > 0:53:17- You know, if '76 happened again. - Well, several things.
0:53:17 > 0:53:21Firstly, we've taken you to a place that's nicely shaded by trees.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24Now, we'd like all our streams to have this sort of level of shading.
0:53:24 > 0:53:27But there are places further north of here where they're just
0:53:27 > 0:53:29completely bare of trees.
0:53:29 > 0:53:30So we're fencing them off,
0:53:30 > 0:53:33letting the trees grow again to give that sort of cover.
0:53:33 > 0:53:35- And what does that help do? - It keeps the water cooler.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38Also, the streams get narrow again,
0:53:38 > 0:53:42so less evaporation, more depth, more suitable for the young fish.
0:53:42 > 0:53:44- More protection.- Yeah, exactly.
0:53:45 > 0:53:49'The team are using electric probes to stun the young salmon.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52'This makes them easier to catch and count.
0:53:52 > 0:53:56'After a quick health check, they're returned unharmed to the river.'
0:53:56 > 0:53:59So, you can keep a measure on how many fish there are
0:53:59 > 0:54:03- in a certain stretch of the river. - Yeah, exactly.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06- And that measures our success or otherwise.- I see.
0:54:13 > 0:54:15The long, hot summer of 1976
0:54:15 > 0:54:18didn't just leave a lasting impression on me,
0:54:18 > 0:54:21but on our countryside too.
0:54:21 > 0:54:24It could happen again,
0:54:24 > 0:54:26but after the winter we've just had,
0:54:26 > 0:54:28it won't be this year.
0:54:28 > 0:54:30When or if it does, though,
0:54:30 > 0:54:33the lessons we've learnt from '76
0:54:33 > 0:54:37should help us to help nature through the crisis.
0:54:37 > 0:54:41Well, that's it for our look back at the summer of 1976.
0:54:41 > 0:54:43Hope it's brought back some happy memories.
0:54:43 > 0:54:46Next week we're in Pembrokeshire. Hope you can join us then.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52Subtitles by Ericsson