Furness Peninsula Countryfile


Furness Peninsula

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The Furness Peninsula -

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a little-known corner of Cumbria jutting out into the Irish Sea.

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It's within spitting distance of the Lake District,

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but a world away from all of its crowds.

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There it is, in all its glory - the Furness Peninsula,

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a hidden gem waiting to be explored.

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I'll be discovering how this landscape

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has been shaped by nature and by us for centuries.

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While Julia's flying high,

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I'm all at sea with the crew on board the Hearts of Oak.

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The Furness Peninsula is dominated by the shipbuilding town of Barrow,

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which is just behind us.

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It's the neighbouring town of Ulverston

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that put this area on the shipbuilding map

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and that is where this beauty comes in.

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She's a centuries-old gaff cutter,

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and I'm going to be finding out what it takes to sail her.

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In Yorkshire, Tom's investigating a British obsession - the weather.

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This summer, the threat of wet has never been far away.

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Miserable if you're planning a day out,

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but merciless for the rural economy.

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I'll be finding out just how bad it's been.

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And Adam's been taking a break from the farm to explore Orkney.

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I'm heading to Swona Island,

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where a herd of cattle have roamed free for nearly 40 years

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and I'm hoping to catch a glimpse of these wild beasts.

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At the southernmost tip of Cumbria,

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the Furness Peninsula claims to be the sunniest part of the Lakes.

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Sticking out to the west of Morecambe Bay,

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the shipbuilding town of Barrow-in-Furness

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is at the peninsula's heart,

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the island of Walney, hugging the southern tip.

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The peninsula hasn't been here for long.

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It owes its existence to the mountains to the north -

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a story that dates back to the last great ice age.

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The best way to see into the peninsula's frozen past

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is from up there.

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And that's where this baby comes in!

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25,000 years ago, this view was completely different.

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The Irish Sea was in fact a huge glacier.

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And ice blanketed the land as well.

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That magnificent mountain is Black Combe,

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and it measures in at 2,000 feet.

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It would have been totally hidden

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under a sheet of ice 3,000 feet thick.

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As the ice ploughed downhill over the mountains, it cut away rock.

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It was that ice that shaped the Lake District we love today.

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The ice moved down from higher land and carved out these deep valleys,

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depositing rocks and boulders along the way and over time,

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those rocks and boulders created the peninsula and its islands.

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The largest island is Walney, a faint sliver 11 miles long.

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To find proof of its ice age past, that's where I'm landing.

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To help me,

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I've called in some specialists who know the lie of the land.

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Sand artist Jamie Wardley

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is going to sculpt Britain on this very beach.

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We're just doing the side of Scotland here.

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It's a little bit tricky,

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because we've got all of these peninsulas going on.

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We'll be needing Jamie's map later.

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But first, I'm catching up with a boy

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who once skimmed the island's colourful pebbles.

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Half a century later, Colin Waters works at

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the British Geological Survey and knows a thing or two about rocks.

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So what can we see here then, Colin? What's it showing us?

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It's one of the rare occasions we can actually see the deposits

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that make up the heart of Walney Island.

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We know that these are actually glacial boulder clays -

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they formed beneath a glacier.

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So, these boulder clays, as you can see,

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have a wide variety of material.

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All the way from this very stiff clay -

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you can see this has been compressed under great thicknesses of ice.

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We've also got these large boulders.

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Really, it's only ice that can carry such a diversity and size.

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Also if you notice the different colours we've got here -

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the lovely greens, pinks,

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these are from rocks from all round the Lake District

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and all around the Irish Sea area

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and again, it shows is where the ice has actually travelled from.

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But where did all these rocks come from?

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Jamie's masterpiece is taking shape, so it's time to find out.

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Jamie! Fantastic work!

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Well, I'm done now, so I'm going to rush off.

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Your work here is done.

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OK, Colin, let's put it all into perspective,

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let's get us on the map. So, here we are.

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And that is Black Combe, which is just over yonder.

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I recognise that, some lovely granite.

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This one is from the west side of the Lake District,

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let's say about...there.

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My favourite slate comes from the Lake District.

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It's about 480 million years old - one of the oldest rocks in the Lake District.

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This is from Black Combe.

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There we go.

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These are coming from the southern side of the Lake District.

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Round Windermere, perhaps.

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Another granite, that can go to southern Scotland.

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-'Scuse me, Colin?

-Yes?

-What's that?

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That's a bit of brick, actually.

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-This is definitely not glacial.

-No!

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And I suspect it's probably from somewhere roundabout here

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and it's about 10 years old.

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The last few pebbles in place and the picture's complete.

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-Such geological diversity in a small area.

-It's amazing, actually.

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What we are seeing here is pretty much the geology

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of all of northern England, and parts of southern Scotland,

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all transported by glaciers and carried and dropped here on Walney.

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Hard to believe that tens of thousands of years ago

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these pebbles travelled up to 100 miles.

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But now we're heading just up the coast

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to have a go at something more relaxing.

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I hear that Colin was a champion stone-skimmer as a lad -

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so I've challenged him to a skim-off.

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Might have been a mistake...

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Oh!

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If anywhere in the world has got as many pebbles as this, I'd be amazed.

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It's ideal for a geologist.

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You're obviously an expert and spent far too long doing this as well.

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Mine are just going slap bang into the waves.

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Oh, I got a skim! Thank goodness!

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Just a stone's throw from here, James is on the mainland

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exploring some of the often overlooked delights

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of the Furness Peninsula.

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Sitting in the shadow of the more popular Lake District,

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not many venture as far as this westerly edge of Britain's coast.

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But to do so is to be rewarded with some truly breathtaking scenery.

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It might not have the great lakes

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and the mammoth mountains of its neighbour,

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but the twisting coastal curves around the peninsula

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mean there are plenty of these golden beaches.

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And it's the sands here at Sandscale Haws

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that are arguably the most stunning and special of them all.

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This nature reserve is watched over

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by the Lake District's imposing presence across a narrow spit of sea.

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Desert-like dunes rise out of the dramatic landscape.

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It's these dunes and what grows in them that I'm here to see.

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Neil, this is a stunning landscape,

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but there's more to it than meets the eye, isn't there?

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There really is, yeah. For example, where we're walking now,

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this area used to be regularly inundated by the high tide,

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so this area has really been reclaimed from the sea to land.

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The currents in this bay mean that

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new sand is constantly being deposited on the shoreline.

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This is creating new land and gives us the rare opportunity

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to see geology moving in fast forward,

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and to chart the rise of a dune system

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through the plants that live there.

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What are we looking at here, Neil?

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Right, well this area that we're crouching on now,

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this is just four years old

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and it's the very start of a sand dune system.

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This tiny little plant down here, this is prickly saltwort.

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This is one of the first plants that you will get out on bare sand.

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It doesn't really mind the tide coming over it.

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It's a pioneer species - the first thing to colonise areas of land.

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Absolutely. So, that's the very first stage.

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Then we get into these dune-building grasses.

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This is the sand couch-grass, and the flower -

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any gardeners out there will be very familiar with couch -

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it's a notorious weed.

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And then in the background here, we've got sea lyme grass,

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which is a much bigger plant.

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This is when you really start to see how sand dunes can grow.

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-Yeah, there's a real hummock.

-Yeah. So, this is a barrier now.

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When the wind's blowing from the west, the sand's going to

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build up over here and these grasses are so specialised,

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that is actually going to stimulate the grass to grow even more.

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The sand couch and the sea lyme grass,

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they can both grow for about 20-25 centimetres of sand per year.

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But the real star species is the marram grass,

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which can grow for up to a metre of sand per year,

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so dunes can grow very, very quickly.

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Playing detective in these dunes is a dream day out

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for a botanist like me.

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But what I'm even more excited to see are some rare species

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that are thriving deep in the established dune systems.

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OK, so down here we've got Grass of Parnassus,

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which is one of the more showy plants of the dune system.

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Very, very nice, white flower.

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-Beautiful, and ironically, not a grass.

-Not a grass at all, no!

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Down here, we've got something that's even more special.

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This is round-leaved wintergreen, which is quite a rare plant.

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It's nationally scarce in the UK.

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This particular subspecies of round-leaved wintergreen

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is only found in coastal areas like this.

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Where we're standing now, back in the 1980s,

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the high tide would have been getting up to where we are now.

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That's over 100 feet of new land in just 30 years -

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all helping to sustain more than 600 species of flora

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that can be found within the 700 acres of Sandscale Haws.

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And as the shifting sands move across this landscape,

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they shape an ever-moving parade of plant life.

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But of course, when most of us head to the beach,

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there's a far less practical and far more playful use for sand.

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Looks like I need to work on my skills!

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Two guys whose talents stand a little taller than mine

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are James Haig and Jamie Wardley.

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For them, making sand-sculpted marvels is a full-time job

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and they claim the secret is using water, and lots of it.

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But I've heard about a more scientific method

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to making the perfect sandcastle and I'm keen to try it out.

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There is a study from the University of Amsterdam

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that actually says it's all about tiny amounts of water,

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1% water, 99% sand?

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-No, no. 1% water?!

-1% water.

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-Let's give it a try, then.

-Right, OK. You're on!

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-Go on, then.

-OK. So it's...

-Take some away, James, take some away!

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-That is 100ml, right?

-Right, we'll go with that, OK.

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In 10 litres of sand.

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The principle that we use is use as much water as you can.

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'To test our techniques, we're each making a column of sand.

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'And while I'm following the scientific sand sculpting formula...'

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Foreign scientists did trials to find this! This must be the right one!

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'..Jamie's sticking to his wet sludge.'

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I'm done, I'm done!

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Careful now, James.

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Oh, no.

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I was never any good at Jenga,

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-and it looks like you need the same skills.

-Oh, no!

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My mathematical method may be in pieces,

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but will Jamie's sopping wet sand fare any better?

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There we are. Look at that!

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So it seems science might work in the lab

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but here on British shores, soaking your sand is the way to go.

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Do a little window, do a little window.

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Isn't that wonderful?!

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Not only is the landscape of the Furness Peninsula fascinating,

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it's also played a vital role in an industry

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that's put this corner of the country firmly on the map.

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And that industry is shipbuilding,

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and Barrow-in-Furness does it on a massive scale,

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because it's home to these.

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This is the Royal Navy's latest submarine.

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It is nearing completion and it's absolutely massive.

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Making these magnificent machines here not only takes advantage

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of generations of local shipbuilding talent,

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but also the make-up of the surrounding land.

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The banks of the Barrow sit on a deepwater channel,

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which means that big ships and submarines

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can sail in and out of here to the open sea.

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This area is constantly on the move.

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This channel is only kept open by the lads that I'm about to meet.

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The crew of the Norma are part of a team of dredgers

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who work all year round to keep this 40-foot-deep channel clear.

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I'm heading out to get a closer look at her

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with the man who's in charge of the operation.

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So, what's Norma up to out here, Bob?

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The Norma, it's a plough vessel.

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It's about 10 metres wide,

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and this is the final process in the dredging campaign this year.

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What's been going on in the last few weeks?

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The main channel dredgers are much bigger vessels,

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and they come in and take up the material off the bottom.

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This tends to leave quite deep furrows,

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a bit like a ploughed field on the bottom of the channel

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-which we like to level off.

-And that's where the Norma comes in?

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-That absolutely it.

-So, how much stuff are you taking out then?

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It's quite a lot.

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It's well in excess of a million tonnes this year.

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It was the clearing of this deep sea channel that secured Barrow's place

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as the shipbuilding capital of this coast.

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But as Barrow rose,

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it was at the cost of its smaller neighbour, Ulverston.

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So fine were the boats that were built in Ulverston

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they were sold all over the country.

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But as the deep waters of Barrow

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lured more industrial, bigger loads,

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the boat yards in Ulverston were forced to close.

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Up until recently, it was thought that

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all trace of the vessels that were built there had been lost.

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That was until one woman

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stumbled across the story of the Hearts of Oak -

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the last boat to set sail from Ulverston's shipyards.

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Jennifer, how did your connection with the Hearts of Oak start?

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You're not exactly a mad boat fan, are you?

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I certainly aren't a mad boat fan, no.

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It quite horrifies me to think of going in deep water.

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The boat, well, we began in 1977 when I visited an old man

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called John Wilson who lived quite near us.

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He told us about Hearts of Oak and showed me a picture of it.

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I kept thinking about the Hearts of Oak,

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and that she was built in Ulverston,

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and I thought, well really, she needs restoring.

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-Did you know where she was at this stage?

-Not at that stage, no.

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But we sort of got on the trail, my husband and I,

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and we just kept on looking,

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and a series of coincidences and good luck,

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and we eventually found her.

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The Hearts of Oak was built by this man - John Randall McLester,

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the last apprentice of the Ulverston shipyards.

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When she set sail in 1912, she was a thing of beauty.

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Almost a century later, when Jennifer set eyes on her,

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she was a weather-beaten wreck.

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Bonfire condition, probably, is the best thing we could say.

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The guy who owned her said if he hadn't contacted me,

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he was going to set fire to her.

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Thanks to Jennifer, far from becoming firewood

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this last link to Ulverston's glorious past was saved.

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Jennifer bought her for just £1, but helped raise over £80,000

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to pay for three years of painstaking restoration.

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And here she is, look, in all of her glory.

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She's absolutely beautiful.

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Yes, she's a wonderful boat. Quite a history. Yes.

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Later, I'll be finding out what it's like

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to set sail in this historic cutter.

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Cumbria has had more than its fair share of wet weather

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over the last few years,

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but this summer, much of the rest of Britain shared the same fate.

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So what damage has the rain done to our delicate rural economy?

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Tom has been finding out...

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It may have brightened up recently, but let's face it -

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this summer has been a washout.

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As a nation obsessed with the weather,

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the odd damp shower rarely puts us off.

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But this year was different.

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Summer 2012 was a record-breaker - and for all the wrong reasons.

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THUNDER RUMBLES

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-NEWSREADER:

-'Tonight, the Met Office is warning of severe weather...

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'..last month was the wettest June since records began...

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'..the unsettled theme is set to continue for at least the next few weeks...

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'..this washout summer.'

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-Lovely sunshine and now we've got a downpour.

-Hello. Hello.

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-Is everybody nice and dry?

-Yes!

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What a lovely English summer.

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For our countryside and the people who actually live and work within it,

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this summer wasn't just inconvenient, it was really, really costly.

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We've all seen the damage caused by the floods and storms

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on the news and the repair bill is going to be huge.

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One of the main rural insurers, NFU Mutual, has already seen

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a threefold increase in claims compared with last year.

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Five million homes are at risk from the rising waters.

0:20:000:20:03

We are still counting the cost,

0:20:030:20:05

but even a rather conservative estimate for repairing and replacing

0:20:050:20:09

all that damaged property is in the region of £25 million.

0:20:090:20:13

But we're also taking less obvious financial hits

0:20:130:20:17

from our sodden summer.

0:20:170:20:19

Anyone for ice cream?

0:20:190:20:21

Anyone?

0:20:220:20:24

Anyone at all?

0:20:240:20:26

No.

0:20:270:20:28

Drumming up business while it's raining is no easy task

0:20:280:20:32

and visitor numbers to the countryside have certainly fallen.

0:20:320:20:35

For some, while the downpours were torrential,

0:20:350:20:39

cash flow was barely a trickle.

0:20:390:20:41

Someone who knows all about that is the owner of this van.

0:20:410:20:45

He's based on a farm just up the road from here

0:20:450:20:47

where they make the ice cream.

0:20:470:20:49

Normally in peak season, it's selling by the tub load.

0:20:490:20:53

But this summer, much of that business has melted away.

0:20:530:20:57

Thousands of businesses in the UK rely on a healthy tourist trade.

0:20:570:21:01

Gary Rogers is no exception.

0:21:010:21:04

Here in Yorkshire, he and his family have been making ice cream

0:21:040:21:07

for 20 years. This year, they've got lots left over.

0:21:070:21:11

So, what's in there, Gary?

0:21:110:21:14

Completely full of ice cream.

0:21:140:21:16

You'd rather it was empty, rather than chocker like it is?

0:21:160:21:19

It's completely stuffed. Far too much ice cream in there.

0:21:190:21:23

All that stock is normally sold to local tourist venues, shops

0:21:230:21:27

and big rural events. But this summer, Gary was hit hard.

0:21:270:21:30

This is this morning's princely takings.

0:21:300:21:32

-I think there's £9.80 there.

-I'll count it first. Thank you very much.

0:21:320:21:36

That's better than we've had this year so far.

0:21:360:21:38

Well, I think it was partly my poor sales technique.

0:21:380:21:41

The weather wasn't great, but I guess you're used to that.

0:21:410:21:43

We're very used to it this year. Yeah, it's been a catastrophic year.

0:21:430:21:47

Ever since the end of March, we've had virtually rain every day.

0:21:470:21:51

-Really? It's been that bad, has it?

-It's been worse than anybody around here's ever known.

0:21:510:21:55

We think so far this year we're at least 50% down on last year

0:21:550:22:00

and last year, of course, was down on the previous year

0:22:000:22:02

because each summer the weather seems to get worse.

0:22:020:22:05

Gary faced more than 40 cancelled outdoor shows this year.

0:22:070:22:11

Hundreds of other events went the same way because of the weather.

0:22:110:22:15

Even the Great Yorkshire Show had to be abandoned

0:22:150:22:18

for the first time in its history, at a cost of £2.5 million.

0:22:180:22:22

When you add up the lost business, cancelled shows

0:22:260:22:29

and low visitor numbers, you're looking at a loss

0:22:290:22:31

far greater than that for flood or storm damage.

0:22:310:22:34

Again, it's just an early estimate,

0:22:340:22:36

but the cost could well be around £480 million.

0:22:360:22:41

And as I'll be finding out later in the programme,

0:22:410:22:44

the financial blows don't stop there.

0:22:440:22:46

The Furness Peninsula, a finger of land surrounded by sea.

0:22:520:22:57

At the very south, on Walney Island, there's an enterprise

0:22:570:23:00

that's making the most of a landscape

0:23:000:23:02

transformed by both man and nature.

0:23:020:23:05

I'm on my way to visit a unique farm that only exists

0:23:060:23:09

because of an unlikely series of events that started unfolding

0:23:090:23:12

more than 10,000 years ago.

0:23:120:23:15

Way back in the ice age, glaciers deposited

0:23:170:23:20

vast quantities of gravel on Walney, carried down from the mountains.

0:23:200:23:23

Millennia later, that gravel was exploited by man.

0:23:250:23:29

It was extracted to be used in construction,

0:23:290:23:31

leaving behind pits which eventually flooded with seawater.

0:23:310:23:35

The area also became home to one of the biggest

0:23:370:23:40

breeding colonies of gulls in Europe,

0:23:400:23:42

40,000 strong.

0:23:420:23:44

And they provided one more vital ingredient for our farm...

0:23:440:23:49

poo.

0:23:490:23:50

The seagull droppings made the water fertile

0:23:510:23:54

which meant tiny plants called algae could grow,

0:23:540:23:57

the perfect food for farming oysters.

0:23:570:23:59

This modest building and network of pools make up

0:24:010:24:03

the biggest oyster nursery in Europe.

0:24:030:24:06

Bet you didn't know that.

0:24:060:24:09

The 24-acre site rears an astonishing

0:24:090:24:12

100 million baby oysters each year.

0:24:120:24:15

The young shellfish are sold to oyster farms

0:24:150:24:17

across the UK and Europe.

0:24:170:24:19

These are familiar adult oysters.

0:24:210:24:24

There's a mixture of males and females in here

0:24:240:24:26

and this is the perfect environment for them to breed.

0:24:260:24:29

As soon as one of them releases an egg or some sperm,

0:24:290:24:32

the others will follow. Then the water will go milky white.

0:24:320:24:36

A new generation of oysters will be born.

0:24:360:24:39

The baby oysters are put in special tanks to grow.

0:24:390:24:42

Food is dripped in and water piped through

0:24:420:24:45

to keep the youngsters clean.

0:24:450:24:48

So, Mike, here they are. Incredible to look at.

0:24:480:24:50

These ones here are about 1mm in size

0:24:500:24:54

-so really small.

-And how many do you think are in each tube?

0:24:540:24:58

Well, I think altogether there's about five million in this lot here.

0:24:580:25:01

-So in that, maybe one million...

-That's incredible.

0:25:010:25:05

..in just the one bottle.

0:25:050:25:07

-And how old are these fellas?

-They're about three weeks old.

0:25:070:25:10

But as the oysters get bigger,

0:25:140:25:16

feeding and cleaning take on a whole new scale.

0:25:160:25:20

Now, the teenagers here live out in the pools

0:25:200:25:23

and everybody knows that cleaning teenagers can be a messy business.

0:25:230:25:28

The boys are hauling the mucky critters out

0:25:280:25:32

and putting me in charge of mothering duties.

0:25:320:25:34

-Right. Come on, Julia. It's time to wash some oysters.

-OK.

0:25:340:25:38

-Blimey. It's heavy.

-Are you ready?

-Yeah, ready.

0:25:380:25:41

-It will get heavier.

-OK.

0:25:410:25:43

-It's coming.

-Hang fire.

0:25:430:25:45

Blimey.

0:25:450:25:47

And why do you wash them? What are you washing off them?

0:25:470:25:50

Well, all the faeces sit on the top of the oysters

0:25:500:25:54

and washing it gets rid of all of that.

0:25:540:25:58

What it does... The oysters being out of the water...

0:26:000:26:04

-Excuse me.

-Struggling with that?

0:26:040:26:07

It exercises the oyster muscle which makes more of a hardy oyster.

0:26:070:26:12

Now, this is a lot of work. Why do you bother with all of this?

0:26:120:26:16

Why not just harvest them from the wild?

0:26:160:26:18

-Well, there's not as many in the wild.

-Oysters are filter feeders.

0:26:180:26:21

Do they get enough food from these pools?

0:26:210:26:24

From the pond system, generally they get a good bloom of algae.

0:26:240:26:30

At least they did until recently.

0:26:300:26:33

Now, remember seagull droppings are a crucial ingredient

0:26:330:26:35

to grow food for oysters.

0:26:350:26:37

Well, worryingly, seagull numbers have plummeted.

0:26:370:26:40

Has the drop in gull numbers affected you? Because, obviously,

0:26:400:26:43

fewer gulls, less poo, less fertiliser.

0:26:430:26:45

Yeah. Over the past five years or so, the gull colony

0:26:450:26:49

has definitely decreased

0:26:490:26:51

and our pond nutrients have definitely reduced.

0:26:510:26:55

Adding artificial fertiliser was a short-term fix

0:26:550:26:58

for the oyster farm.

0:26:580:26:59

But the risk of losing the gull colony altogether

0:26:590:27:03

was a major concern for the local wildlife trust.

0:27:030:27:06

Last year, they didn't find a single chick.

0:27:060:27:09

I'm meeting Peter Jones to find out why.

0:27:090:27:12

-Hi, Peter.

-Hi, Julia.

-How are you doing?

-Fine, thanks.

0:27:120:27:15

-Good. How are the gulls?

-Very good. Yes.

-Happy and flappy?

-They are.

0:27:150:27:18

-Shall we go and take a look?

-Yeah, definitely.

0:27:180:27:20

The numbers this year... We've had about 3,000 pairs here.

0:27:200:27:25

Back in the '60s when there were the most gulls here,

0:27:250:27:27

we were looking at there being about 40,000 pairs of herring gulls

0:27:270:27:31

-and lesser black-backed gulls.

-That's a dramatic decline.

0:27:310:27:34

-Absolutely, yeah.

-So, what's it down to?

0:27:340:27:36

The main two reasons have been that the food sources dropped for them

0:27:360:27:42

significantly. There used to be a landfill site on the island

0:27:420:27:45

which shut down in the late '80s.

0:27:450:27:47

-Being scavengers that they are...

-Absolutely. Yes, yes.

0:27:470:27:51

The other reason is predation has become quite a big issue

0:27:510:27:55

for them as well.

0:27:550:27:56

Things like foxes and stuff come in and will take the birds

0:27:560:28:00

as they're on the nest.

0:28:000:28:01

And this is your solution, an electric fence?

0:28:010:28:04

It is. The electric fence we had installed this year.

0:28:040:28:06

Last year, without any fences like these,

0:28:060:28:09

we didn't get a single chick away from this whole colony.

0:28:090:28:12

This year, we had nearly 1,000 chicks fledge.

0:28:120:28:15

The gulls and their flying fertiliser are back,

0:28:190:28:22

although they may never reach their previous numbers.

0:28:220:28:26

Hopefully the population will be healthy enough to keep these

0:28:260:28:30

chic little shellfish on the menu around here.

0:28:300:28:33

Just not for me. I can't bear them.

0:28:330:28:35

It's your last chance to vote for your favourite photo

0:28:360:28:39

in this year's Countryfile photographic competition.

0:28:390:28:42

The theme is Walk On The Wild Side.

0:28:420:28:44

Here's John with a reminder of what you need to do.

0:28:440:28:48

In a moment, I'll give you the phone numbers to vote for.

0:28:480:28:50

Calls cost 10p from a BT landline. Other operators may vary.

0:28:500:28:54

And of course, from mobiles may cost more.

0:28:540:28:57

You'll find all the details of the phone vote on our website.

0:30:230:30:26

And don't forget, the phone lines close at midnight.

0:30:260:30:29

Just a warning, if you phone after then,

0:30:290:30:31

your vote won't be counted and you may be charged.

0:30:310:30:34

Adam keeps all sorts of rare breeds on his farm, but today he's hoping

0:30:390:30:43

to see some beasts you definitely won't find in the Cotswolds.

0:30:430:30:47

Once he's checked out what mood his new bull is in.

0:30:490:30:52

This is my new Belted Galloway bull called Crackers.

0:30:540:30:58

My mate Neil, who I bought him from from Yorkshire,

0:30:580:31:01

warned me that he has got a bit of a lively temperament.

0:31:010:31:04

And he's jumped out twice,

0:31:040:31:05

looking for other cows on the farm, since I've had him.

0:31:050:31:08

But now he seems to have settled down with his cows

0:31:080:31:11

and I'm really pleased with him.

0:31:110:31:13

Crackers can be a bit feisty,

0:31:130:31:16

but there's one herd of cattle I've been told about that are truly wild.

0:31:160:31:20

They roam completely free

0:31:200:31:22

on one of the most inhospitable islands in the Orkneys.

0:31:220:31:25

And I've been invited out to the Orkneys to go and see them.

0:31:270:31:30

And that's an offer I can't refuse.

0:31:300:31:32

Thank you.

0:31:420:31:44

'It's quite a journey, but worth it if I can catch a glimpse

0:31:460:31:49

'of these unique cattle.'

0:31:490:31:51

They live on the island of Swona, just west of South Ronaldsay.

0:31:510:31:55

I've arrived on the Orkneys and it's a world away

0:32:020:32:05

from my farm on the Cotswolds.

0:32:050:32:07

I'm travelling south to meet up with Cyril Annal

0:32:070:32:10

whose family have owned Swona for generations.

0:32:100:32:13

And his farm is based on South Ronaldsay.

0:32:130:32:16

You must be Cyril.

0:32:260:32:28

-Yes. Hello.

-Hi. Good to meet you.

0:32:280:32:31

-This is Alexander, my son.

-Hi.

-Nice to meet you.

0:32:310:32:34

How many generations have been on this farm?

0:32:340:32:37

-Since 1600. Came to Orkney first.

-Goodness me.

0:32:370:32:41

That's incredible. I've been doing a bit of research

0:32:410:32:44

and I found these old photographs of the family.

0:32:440:32:48

-Who's this of?

-That is my Uncle Arthur in Swona.

0:32:480:32:51

-And that one?

-That is my grandfather.

0:32:510:32:54

This is over on Swona that you own now.

0:32:540:32:57

Yes, we do.

0:32:570:32:59

And these cattle that were there, domesticated, tame,

0:32:590:33:02

being used to pull the plough.

0:33:020:33:05

Back then, they were pets. They all had names and everything.

0:33:050:33:08

-And now, wild beasts of the island?

-Completely feral. Crazy as can be.

0:33:080:33:14

-And when did the people leave the island?

-1974. March, 1974.

0:33:140:33:19

-And left the cattle behind?

-The theory was that we could go back

0:33:190:33:22

and go and take the calves every year.

0:33:220:33:25

But because cattle are quite smart and bright,

0:33:250:33:28

they got to realise it wasn't the best, seeing these humans.

0:33:280:33:32

So they went more and more wild.

0:33:320:33:34

So eventually, we thought it would be best just to leave them alone

0:33:340:33:38

and that's how they slowly developed into a feral herd.

0:33:380:33:42

Look. BSE came and that was the end of any more in the freezer.

0:33:420:33:46

-Yeah, sure.

-Also, I got a bit older

0:33:460:33:49

and I couldn't run faster than them.

0:33:490:33:52

They could run faster than me, so it was time to stop.

0:33:520:33:55

'Cyril and Alex go to Swona

0:33:590:34:01

'to check on the cattle's welfare a couple of times a year.

0:34:010:34:05

'And today, I'm lucky enough to be joining them.'

0:34:050:34:07

'Despite supporting a vibrant community for generations,

0:34:110:34:15

'the island was abandoned in the '70s

0:34:150:34:17

'when the difficulties of living here meant island life was unviable.'

0:34:170:34:22

How many acres is the whole island?

0:34:220:34:24

-About 270 roughly.

-270?!

0:34:240:34:27

-They've a fair roam, these cattle.

-It varies depending on the tide.

0:34:270:34:31

We might never find them.

0:34:310:34:33

They're here or else they've all gone swimming.

0:34:330:34:36

THEY LAUGH

0:34:360:34:39

No sign of them here. Where could they be?

0:34:450:34:47

Just over that hill there. They can't be anywhere else.

0:34:470:34:50

-OK. So we'll carry on hiking over that way?

-Oh, yes.

-OK.

0:34:500:34:54

There's plenty of cowpats, they're definitely here.

0:34:570:34:59

Oh, well, they'll be about somewhere, hopefully.

0:34:590:35:01

-Is that one there?

-Aye.

-Oh, that's one over there, yes.

0:35:010:35:04

That looks like a bull to me.

0:35:040:35:07

-It's already spotted us, you see him looking this way?

-Yeah.

0:35:070:35:10

And so is it safe to just walk over towards him?

0:35:100:35:13

No, we will certainly go around in a circle,

0:35:130:35:16

-so that we don't get between that bull and the herd.

-OK.

0:35:160:35:20

Because he might decide that he wants to go back to the herds

0:35:200:35:22

and deal with us in between.

0:35:220:35:24

They'll all run together, and they'll not be looking at us,

0:35:240:35:27

-they'll be looking at one another.

-We have to be a bit careful.

0:35:270:35:30

As we cautiously circle around the bull, the herd emerges.

0:35:330:35:37

The main herd sticks together there.

0:35:370:35:39

If you can see the white one in the middle, she will kind of be

0:35:390:35:42

the dominant female, and then, way off in the distance,

0:35:420:35:46

at the other side of the loch, we think we have got an old bull.

0:35:460:35:49

We'll go and check him to see if he's OK.

0:35:490:35:53

Last summer, the dominant bull pushed him out of the herd

0:35:530:35:56

and forced him away from the herd and led him

0:35:560:35:59

to the other end of the island.

0:35:590:36:01

It's really interesting watching this behaviour.

0:36:010:36:04

They're separate from the herd down there,

0:36:040:36:07

just looking at us with ears sticking out like ping pong bats.

0:36:070:36:10

As a cattleman, you know, I can instantly tell that they're like,

0:36:100:36:14

hang on, there's something going on here, ears up, heads up high,

0:36:140:36:18

facing us square on.

0:36:180:36:20

Go and have a look at this rather benign old gentleman down at the loch.

0:36:200:36:25

On a day like today, it looks idyllic,

0:36:280:36:30

but in reality, these cattle have a tough life out here in these conditions.

0:36:300:36:34

It's survival of the fittest.

0:36:340:36:36

-What sort of age do you think he is, Cyril?

-That fellow? 15 to 20.

-Is he?

0:36:410:36:45

-He's a very old gentleman.

-And on a modern farm,

0:36:450:36:48

you just wouldn't see bulls that old, would you?

0:36:480:36:52

You wouldn't see him. He'd never be allowed to age.

0:36:520:36:54

He'd probably have some of the problems that humans have,

0:36:540:36:58

such as stiff and sore as we all get.

0:36:580:37:01

And he's walking along now, he's getting along OK,

0:37:010:37:04

and he's grazing, an amazing shape,

0:37:040:37:06

he's quite heavy at the front end, and narrowing to the back end.

0:37:060:37:10

Yes, this is so that he can push.

0:37:100:37:12

Head down and push the other one out of the way.

0:37:120:37:15

More like a buffalo than a modern Aberdeen Angus.

0:37:150:37:19

Certainly, no tags in their ears now,

0:37:190:37:22

they don't have to comply with all of the Defra rules any more.

0:37:220:37:26

If you help me, we'll go and put a tag on this one!

0:37:260:37:29

I think we'll just leave the poor old fellow alone, shall we?

0:37:290:37:33

It's fascinating to see how the cattle have returned

0:37:350:37:38

to their wild instincts.

0:37:380:37:41

But what of the people who lived on this island?

0:37:410:37:43

A cluster of houses stands as a memorial to a lost way of life.

0:37:470:37:51

At its peak, there were around 30 people

0:37:590:38:01

living on the island in four or five houses.

0:38:010:38:03

The land would have been farmed,

0:38:030:38:05

the gardens would have been immaculate.

0:38:050:38:07

And it would have been very well loved.

0:38:070:38:09

But by 1974, there were only two left -

0:38:090:38:12

Cyril's aunty and uncle who were getting old

0:38:120:38:14

and they decided to leave too.

0:38:140:38:15

And this is how they left it.

0:38:200:38:22

It's almost like they just walked out

0:38:220:38:24

and left all their belongings behind.

0:38:240:38:26

There's an old newspaper here from 1974. Christmas cards.

0:38:260:38:31

Look, even some reading glasses.

0:38:310:38:34

Lovely old recipe book on how to make jams.

0:38:340:38:37

It's as though they thought one day, they'd be back.

0:38:430:38:47

This is their lovely old cattle shed where the cows

0:38:570:39:00

and the oxen would have been brought in for the winter

0:39:000:39:02

and tied up by the neck and led out to work.

0:39:020:39:06

A very quiet, docile, domesticated animal.

0:39:060:39:09

Now, their descendants are running wild on the island.

0:39:090:39:12

As their splendid isolation continues, these Swona cattle

0:39:130:39:18

look set to be classified as a breed in their own right.

0:39:180:39:22

Next week, I'm travelling even further afield.

0:39:240:39:27

I'm in Switzerland, helping gather sheep off the Alps.

0:39:270:39:31

We're exploring the natural wonders of the Northwest's Furness Peninsula.

0:39:360:39:41

I'm making my way from the mainland to nearby

0:39:410:39:44

Piel Island on a very special boat.

0:39:440:39:46

Earlier, I discovered how the Hearts of Oak had been rescued from ruin.

0:39:490:39:54

And now, I have the chance to set sail on it,

0:39:540:39:57

-as I hitch a ride over to Piel Island. How you doing, lads? All right?

-OK!

0:39:570:40:01

Now, I've brought some friends along for the ride.

0:40:010:40:04

-More about these a little bit later on. Handle with care.

-Cheers.

0:40:040:40:07

-There we are. Perfect. Am I OK just to hop over?

-Hop aboard.

-Super.

0:40:070:40:12

Let's go sailing!

0:40:120:40:13

The crew are all volunteers, keen amateurs who have

0:40:130:40:17

fallen in love with the idea of sailing a vintage cutter.

0:40:170:40:20

-And I'm keen to find out more about her. She was a prawner?

-Yes.

0:40:220:40:27

-A Morecambe Bay prawner.

-Which is, Morecambe Bay is...?

0:40:270:40:29

Morecambe Bay is just over there, yes. We're on the corner of it.

0:40:290:40:33

And how would she have worked then? And why is she the design that she is?

0:40:330:40:37

She'd have been worked by, typically, a man and his son.

0:40:370:40:40

They're built like this for speed.

0:40:400:40:43

To get out on the tide and back on the same tide,

0:40:430:40:47

to get the catch back, because there was no refrigeration.

0:40:470:40:51

-And is there any significance with the red sails?

-Yes, it's tradition.

0:40:510:40:55

And they look nice.

0:40:550:40:58

I believe they used to treat the sails, the fishermen of the time,

0:40:580:41:02

they used to treat the sails with stuff like red lead and linseed oil.

0:41:020:41:06

And that gave them the colour to cause them to last.

0:41:060:41:08

I understand there's quite an interesting technique to stop it from tipping over?

0:41:080:41:12

Oh, yeah, stones. You want to have a look?

0:41:120:41:15

-Oh, yeah, if we can.

-Well, if you get to... That's...

0:41:150:41:20

Oh, right, it's just chucked in the bottom there.

0:41:200:41:24

Lead would be ideal, but we can't afford lead.

0:41:240:41:27

-Do they go the full length of the hull?

-They do, yeah.

-Good. Right.

0:41:270:41:31

I might jump up there and do a little bit of rope pulling now.

0:41:310:41:34

-Gordon, you look a picture there.

-Yes, it's pleasant, isn't it?

0:41:400:41:43

You do look at home, and it looks like we've got a little bit of wind!

0:41:430:41:46

-Yes, we're actually sailing.

-Yes!

-A pleasant change.

0:41:460:41:49

-Very, very gently, but we are actually sailing. Come on, show me the ropes, quite literally.

-Right.

0:41:490:41:53

I'm going to try and help the lads tack,

0:41:530:41:56

moving the sail in order to change direction.

0:41:560:41:58

Keep your head down, that's the key, isn't it?

0:41:580:42:00

-OK, so undo these then, Gordon, yes?

-Yes. Cast off the jib.

0:42:000:42:03

-This one as well?

-Yes. Cast them both off.

0:42:030:42:06

Tighten those up.

0:42:080:42:10

Well that felt like plain sailing. There's only one small problem.

0:42:110:42:15

The only problem is, Piel Island's that way!

0:42:150:42:17

THEY LAUGH

0:42:170:42:18

-So it's take two on the turning.

-Just a nice full flow in the sail.

0:42:180:42:23

And this time, things are heading in the right direction.

0:42:230:42:26

-Good. We're going the right way now.

-Yeah.

0:42:310:42:33

We should be there for midnight!

0:42:330:42:35

That's the thing, you go at the pace of nature though!

0:42:350:42:38

-That's the beauty of it!

-Yes, yes, the pace of the wind, yes.

0:42:380:42:41

Well hopefully, the tide is on our side, because I've got to

0:42:430:42:46

make it in time for a royal appointment with the King of Piel.

0:42:460:42:50

Now, while we're exploring Cumbria, Tom's on the other side of the Pennines in Yorkshire,

0:42:550:43:00

counting the cost of some of the wettest weather on record.

0:43:000:43:03

Summer 2012, a season of extremes which has been anything but summery.

0:43:040:43:11

Tourist attractions, county shows, local producers,

0:43:110:43:15

the rural economy has been hit from all sides by record

0:43:150:43:19

and sometimes spirit breaking bad weather.

0:43:190:43:23

Earlier in the programme, we heard from Gary Rogers,

0:43:240:43:27

whose ice cream business has taken a battering over the last few months.

0:43:270:43:31

He's lost an estimated £800,000 this year,

0:43:310:43:35

but not just because of the struggle to sell his wares.

0:43:350:43:39

We think so far this year, we're at least 50% down on last year,

0:43:390:43:44

and last year, of course, was down on the previous year,

0:43:440:43:46

because each summer the weather seems to get worse.

0:43:460:43:49

Gary makes the ice cream on his farm which he runs with his wife Mandy.

0:43:500:43:54

She's had to deal with a whole range of problems caused by the weather.

0:43:540:43:59

You see in here, it's all a bit soft, being in all that mud.

0:43:590:44:03

-Yeah, again, just really down to the wet weather, I think.

-Yes.

0:44:030:44:07

With such wet conditions, lameness was always going to be a problem.

0:44:070:44:12

For Mandy, it's been hard to bear and expensive to fix.

0:44:120:44:16

And that's not all.

0:44:160:44:18

With a spell of drier weather, her Charolais beef herd can finally

0:44:180:44:22

enjoy the outdoors, but feeding them is still a costly business.

0:44:220:44:26

Well, it's been tough, from the very start, really.

0:44:280:44:31

Spring calving, when they calve they go straight out,

0:44:310:44:34

and this year, it was just a mud bath, really.

0:44:340:44:37

I had a particular field over there that I set aside.

0:44:370:44:40

It's the only one really with the trees, so they had some shelter,

0:44:400:44:43

but they were basically getting through a bale of silage a day,

0:44:430:44:47

which is almost more than they eat when they're inside.

0:44:470:44:50

The weather was just so bad.

0:44:500:44:51

With feed prices at an all-time high, livestock farmers

0:44:520:44:55

across the country are going to be faced with some shocking food bills.

0:44:550:44:59

And of the story only gets worse

0:44:590:45:02

when you start to look at how crops have fared.

0:45:020:45:05

So what will the effect of this year's bad weather be

0:45:060:45:09

on farmers and shoppers?

0:45:090:45:11

Well, I've got a harvest festival basket here.

0:45:110:45:14

Scottish fruit growers have said that mould and disease

0:45:140:45:17

could cost them 10 million this year.

0:45:170:45:20

Disease is also affecting cereal crops, so oats and wheat.

0:45:200:45:25

One thing that does like it wet is fungus.

0:45:250:45:27

Bad news if you are growing root crops like carrots or potatoes,

0:45:270:45:32

we could expect to see many more with blemishes on the shop shelves.

0:45:320:45:37

And then you come to honey and apples.

0:45:370:45:41

They are suffering because of a lack of insects.

0:45:410:45:45

To see for myself just how that population has been affected,

0:45:460:45:50

I'm joining in on a butterfly hunt.

0:45:500:45:52

He is away!

0:45:540:45:56

Well done. Quick, Tom!

0:45:560:45:58

THEY CHEER

0:45:580:45:59

There we go!

0:45:590:46:00

This little guy fluttering around here is a Small Skipper.

0:46:020:46:06

Small Skipper.

0:46:060:46:08

Dave Wainwright is a butterfly conservation officer.

0:46:080:46:12

This beauty here is a Common Blue,

0:46:120:46:14

which is something I've hardly seen at all this year.

0:46:140:46:18

He is trying to assess the impact of this year's weather

0:46:180:46:22

on these colourful little creatures.

0:46:220:46:25

Just put the pot over them like so, and...

0:46:250:46:29

HE BLOWS

0:46:290:46:31

Magic blow.

0:46:310:46:32

..blow 'em into the pot and there you go, Tom, there is your butterfly.

0:46:320:46:35

What variety is this?

0:46:350:46:37

That's a Ringlet, and it's actually one of the few

0:46:370:46:39

that's doing reasonably well this year.

0:46:390:46:42

We walked across most of this field, the five of us,

0:46:420:46:45

and this was the first thing we saw. How unusual is that?

0:46:450:46:48

It's pretty unusual.

0:46:480:46:50

It's been a particularly bad summer for butterflies.

0:46:500:46:54

Usually you get bad summers and the butterflies are there,

0:46:540:46:57

they are just waiting for the sun to appear,

0:46:570:47:00

but as you've seen, we've had some quite sunny weather today

0:47:000:47:02

and they are just not there, basically, to find them.

0:47:020:47:04

Butterfly Conservation has recently finished

0:47:040:47:06

its annual big butterfly count.

0:47:060:47:08

We've been given a sneak preview of the results.

0:47:080:47:12

Although some have done better than normal, 15 out of the 21 species

0:47:120:47:15

studied had declined compared with last year, including

0:47:150:47:19

well-known varieties like the Red Admiral, Peacock and Painted Lady.

0:47:190:47:24

But even if we do see fewer insects like butterflies,

0:47:240:47:27

does that really matter?

0:47:270:47:29

What am I looking at here?

0:47:290:47:31

This is a malaise trap, a classical insect trap...

0:47:310:47:34

'Just up the road is another bug hunter, Prof Tim Benton,

0:47:340:47:37

'an ecology expert and government adviser.'

0:47:370:47:39

But, look, you can see there are very little.

0:47:390:47:43

There is a small moth and some flies and that's about it, really.

0:47:430:47:47

Very few bugs, very few beetles,

0:47:470:47:49

almost nothing that I would expect to see at this time of year.

0:47:490:47:52

-It's far from humming.

-It is absolutely far from humming.

0:47:520:47:56

It is actually quite a nightmare.

0:47:560:47:58

Why does an absence of insects matter to farmers?

0:47:580:48:01

The absence of insects matters to farmers in a number of ways.

0:48:010:48:05

They benefit from pollination services, bees, hoverflies and so on,

0:48:050:48:10

provide about £430 million worth of services to increase yields.

0:48:100:48:15

Farmers benefit, the countryside benefits because these things,

0:48:150:48:18

although most people don't care about them,

0:48:180:48:21

they are eaten by birds and even birds that normally eat seed

0:48:210:48:24

feed their babies these,

0:48:240:48:26

and if words don't get their food, they suffer.

0:48:260:48:29

People come into the countryside and like listening to skylarks,

0:48:290:48:31

they like seeing the swifts and the swallows flying around,

0:48:310:48:34

and all that impacts on the rural economy

0:48:340:48:36

in quite a major way.

0:48:360:48:38

There are still fields yet to be harvested and counted,

0:48:390:48:43

but our early estimates suggest losses,

0:48:430:48:46

whether through lack of insects, soggy crops

0:48:460:48:49

or diseased animals, could easily be in the region of £595 million.

0:48:490:48:54

So where does this all leave the rural economy?

0:48:560:49:00

Well, if you add the total for farming to the tourism losses

0:49:000:49:03

and the huge bill for repairing storm and flood damage, we reckon

0:49:030:49:06

the wettest summer in a century has cost us well over £1 billion.

0:49:060:49:12

Another typical summer's day.

0:49:160:49:18

It's just started to rain as another low comes in from the west.

0:49:180:49:22

Whether you treat this place, the countryside, as your workplace

0:49:220:49:26

or your playground, its financial fortunes fluctuate with the weather.

0:49:260:49:31

What this summer has proved, is quite how deep those sodden troughs can be.

0:49:310:49:36

The weather may have been causing havoc with our rural community,

0:49:390:49:42

but we've got a bit of blue sky today.

0:49:420:49:45

The question is, will it stay that way?

0:49:450:49:47

Let's find out with the Countryfile weather forecast.

0:49:470:49:50

We are on the Furness Peninsula, where Julia and I have been

0:53:080:53:11

discovering hidden wonders of this rarely explored Cumbrian landscape.

0:53:110:53:16

I'm ending my voyage at Piel Island.

0:53:160:53:19

At just half a mile long, it's tiny, but exquisitely formed.

0:53:190:53:23

Its only permanent residents are the island's custodians,

0:53:250:53:29

Steve and Sheila Chattaway.

0:53:290:53:31

Not only are they caretakers of the island, but an ancient

0:53:330:53:37

tradition also means that they are King and Queen of Piel,

0:53:370:53:40

so I've come bearing gifts, and I'm off to meet them in their palace.

0:53:400:53:44

Or more to the point, the pub.

0:53:440:53:46

Come on, girls.

0:53:460:53:48

I'll just pop you down there.

0:53:510:53:52

All set, ready to meet Their Royal Highnesses. Here we go.

0:53:520:53:57

-Steve!

-Matt!

-How are you doing? All right?

-Nice to see you.

0:53:570:54:01

I don't really know how to address you properly.

0:54:010:54:03

Sheila, is it ma'am as in ham?

0:54:030:54:05

-Sheila.

-It's just Sheila?

-Yeah.

-OK.

0:54:050:54:08

-This King and Queen thing, this is for real, isn't it?

-Yes, it is, yes.

0:54:080:54:11

How did that all come about?

0:54:110:54:12

This started with back in the Middle Ages when,

0:54:120:54:15

I think it was the last time the UK was invaded,

0:54:150:54:19

by a chap called Lambert Simnel, he was only 11 years old

0:54:190:54:22

but he landed on Piel Island with about 5,000 mercenaries,

0:54:220:54:25

and claimed to be the King of England.

0:54:250:54:27

Following on from then, traditionally,

0:54:270:54:30

the landlord of The Ship Inn at Piel Island becomes the King of Piel.

0:54:300:54:35

Steve and Sheila might be island royalty,

0:54:350:54:37

but they certainly don't live a privileged lifestyle here on Piel.

0:54:370:54:41

They are aiming to make themselves self-sufficient by grazing

0:54:410:54:44

the land as the monks who lived here did in the 12th century.

0:54:440:54:48

And that's where my regal gift comes in.

0:54:480:54:51

See what you think of these, Sheila.

0:54:510:54:53

There you are.

0:54:530:54:55

What?

0:54:550:54:57

I've brought you something appropriate for island life.

0:54:570:55:00

-Fabulous!

-A white star and a black rock.

-Perfect!

-Here we go, girls.

0:55:000:55:05

These girls are a little too young to fend for themselves

0:55:050:55:08

with the rest of Steve's flock so we are releasing them

0:55:080:55:11

into their own palatial surroundings.

0:55:110:55:14

Welcome home.

0:55:140:55:15

-What do you think of that?

-There you are, girls.

0:55:150:55:18

Breathe it in, girls. That's island air.

0:55:200:55:23

But a desire to live out the good life isn't the only legacy

0:55:270:55:31

the monks left on Piel Island.

0:55:310:55:33

This fort was built by the monks of Furness Abbey,

0:55:350:55:38

which is over on the mainland, and the whole idea was,

0:55:380:55:41

it was built to protect grain and wool

0:55:410:55:44

that was going to be traded with Ireland, across the sea.

0:55:440:55:47

Nobody really gets the chance to see inside here,

0:55:470:55:50

but Steve is going to show us around this place.

0:55:500:55:53

It was built in 1327,

0:55:530:55:55

and at the time, it was the largest of its kind in Northwest England.

0:55:550:55:58

The monks of Furness Abbey, they used to run

0:56:010:56:04

something like 12,000 sheep, which was a heck of a lot of wool.

0:56:040:56:08

-Yeah.

-But, obviously, there was other things going on as well.

0:56:080:56:12

There was quite a market for illicit liquor and things like that,

0:56:150:56:19

and they'd bring it via Ireland or the Isle Of Man, or up from Flanders.

0:56:190:56:22

Obviously, they'd take wool to Flanders and they'd bring stuff back.

0:56:220:56:26

-And the monks were into that then, were they?

-Oh, God, yeah.

0:56:260:56:29

Yeah, absolutely. They were the mafia of the day. Big, big business, yeah.

0:56:290:56:32

The fortress might now be past its best

0:56:320:56:35

but it still dominates the landscape,

0:56:350:56:38

with views stretching for miles around.

0:56:380:56:42

This is the perfect spot to look out for shady characters.

0:56:430:56:49

Speaking of which, I've just spotted a little minx perched on a rock.

0:56:490:56:55

Bradbury, Bradbury! Do you read me? It's Baker.

0:56:550:56:58

If you look behind you,

0:56:580:57:00

you will see that I'm the king of the castle and you're the dirty...

0:57:000:57:03

Dirty rascal! Hello, darling! How was your day on the high seas?

0:57:030:57:09

It was good but how did you get on with the oysters?

0:57:090:57:13

An amazing process and I would have brought you one

0:57:130:57:17

but I know you don't really like the oysters, a bit like me.

0:57:170:57:20

That's it from the Furness Peninsula.

0:57:200:57:22

Don't forget there are just a few hours left to vote

0:57:220:57:24

in our Countryfile photographic competition.

0:57:240:57:27

All the details are on our website

0:57:270:57:28

and the results will be revealed on October 7th,

0:57:280:57:31

including the photograph that our judges like most.

0:57:310:57:34

You can see those 12 photos again by pressing your red button now.

0:57:340:57:37

Next week, we're going to be in north Nottinghamshire

0:57:370:57:40

where I'll be following in the footsteps

0:57:400:57:42

of one of our most controversial novelists, DH Lawrence.

0:57:420:57:45

Hope you can join us then.

0:57:450:57:47

Matty, how are you getting off the island?

0:57:470:57:50

Um... I thought we were going back together.

0:57:520:57:55

Well, I'm getting a train, love.

0:57:550:57:57

I've got to leave quite sharpish so good luck.

0:57:570:58:00

I hope you've got your armbands.

0:58:000:58:02

Bye.

0:58:020:58:03

Julia?

0:58:040:58:07

'Julia? Julia!'

0:58:070:58:10

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0:58:180:58:21

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