Hertfordshire Countryfile

We're only a few miles from the

hustle and bustle of the city,

so Hertfordshire is where people

come to escape it all.

I'll be discovering

how the patient pastime

has uncovered some fishy issues.

Off you go.

Sean's been helping

build a home fit for a king.

I feel like a bricklayer.

That's right, yes,

this is natural bricklaying.

Tom finds out the latest

on the controversial badger cull

and meets a cattle farmer

who thinks it's working.

You can finally see light at the

end of the tunnel?

More than light.

You know, it's utter

relief from where we've been.

And Adam's visiting an estate where

farming and nature go hand-in-hand.

My word, what a landscape.

It's different, isn't it?

It's not what you see on most farms.

From pretty villages

to ancient woodland,

canals and fertile farmland,

Hertfordshire's a home county

steeped in history.

The old River Lea marks the border

between Hertfordshire and

Essex - and Kings Weir Fishery

is known nationwide

for its big catch fishing.

Good-sized chub, bream and pike

can all be hooked here,

but it's the powerful barbel

which are most sought-after.

In recent times, they've been landed

at weights exceeding

a whopping 16lbs.

But there's a problem.

Anglers are catching fewer

baby barbel

and that suggests that something

fishy is going on.

This unusual-looking fish

is native to the old River Lea.

Its gravel bed makes it the ideal

spawning ground,

but barbel numbers have dropped,

and anglers believe less

water in the river

has made it difficult

for the fish to reproduce.

Andrew Tredgett

is fanatical about barbel.

His home is

the weir-keeper's cottage

next to the river,

where his family have lived

and worked for more than 40 years.

Andy, I thought

I might find you down here!

What's so great about a barbel

for a fisherman?

Until you play one,

you ain't going to know!

I tell you, it's that feel,

as soon as that reel screams off

and you hit that fish, that's taking

the line, stripping it

all the way down, and then, when

you've got that fish in the net,

it's a moment, especially

when you know it's a big one.

Puts a smile on your face and it

makes older people feel young again.

It's great.

Sounds magic.

How do I get one?

So the barbel here,

they're not like other barbel?

No, they are slightly different

to other barbels,

where you'll go to the River Trent

and they're very long fish.

With these fish,

they're very short and very stumpy,

but very, very muscular.

That's the good thing about 'em,

that's why we want to keep the

Lea strain of barbel going,

because they are a completely

different strain of fish.

What is the problem with it here?

Unfortunately, the silt is

building up along the river,

so where you look at it

and it looks like gravel,

it's three to four inches deep,

so what's happening is the barbel

can't spawn in the gravel,

which is then causing an issue with

the natural reproduction of them.

That's why we're not getting

the small fish, but we're

getting the really big fish.

Andy has made it his mission

to help protect barbel fishing

on the old River Lea,

and teaming up with fellow anglers

and conservation organisations

formed the Barbel Action Group.

But that's not all.

Raising money through

fishing weekends,

he's gone one step further,

building a giant fish tank

in his back garden

to hand-rear the fish

until they're strong enough

to survive in the river.

This is not a tank, Andy.

This is a swimming pool.

I don't want to do things

by half, do I now? So...

How is this going to work? You've

got how many in here, roughly?

There's roughly about 120

in here at the moment.

Wow.

And where have you got them from?

I bought them from a fish farm.

So what have you got in the net?

This is one of the bigger ones.

So how old would that be, then?

That probably would be

three to four years old.

Wow, look at the muscles

on him.

Very feisty.

But surely that's big enough

now to go back...

A little bit more I want to go,

just a tiny little bit more,

just gives them that better ability

to get away from any apex predators.

This is very much

stage one though, isn't it?

Because if the river isn't working

properly, this won't work either.

Obviously we've got to get

the habitat right for them to spawn.

If they are not spawning,

what's the point of this?

This takes a lot of time

and a lot of effort.

Why's it so important to you?

I want there to be fishing

in years to come, when I've gone.

Andy's determination to protect

the barbel is inspiring,

but even he admits restocking

isn't the long-term solution.

Later on, I'll be getting into the

river to see the fish up close

and find out what plans are afoot

to protect the baby barbel.

Now, over the years here

on Countryfile, we've heard

a lot about the badger cull.

Some argue that it's a vital

part of controlling TB in cattle,

others that it's a cruel

and costly waste of time.

So what does

the latest science tell us?

Tom's been finding out.

Within our countryside, there

are few issues more controversial

than the badger cull.

Save our badgers!

Stop the badger cull!

Since 2013,

it's been government policy

to kill these animals in an effort

to curb the spread of bovine

tuberculosis from badgers to cattle.

These large-scale culls

are happening

in parts of the country

most at risk of the disease.

Emotions on both sides run high.

But despite the backlash,

the cull continues.

In fact, four years on,

it's actually expanding,

from an initial two cull zones

in 2013 to 21 today.

So the million-dollar question,

is it actually working?

Good girl.

One person who thinks

it is is James Griffiths,

a dairy farmer inside the

Gloucestershire cull zone.

In 2003, we failed a herd test,

a whole herd test.

We then had 47 consecutive tests...

..and we failed every one...which

was pretty grim.

And how many cattle do you think

you lost in that time?

Oh...

Hundreds...

Hundreds.

But then, two-and-a-half

years into the badger cull,

James had a breakthrough.

We had one clear test.

We needed two to actually get

out of movement restriction

and we got two,

and then we had a third one!

With the help of the badger cull,

we've broken the cycle of disease.

The first time there was

daylight in the job.

We thought we could get out.

So, after years of battling

TB, James' herd

was finally in the clear.

But as is

so often the case with this disease,

it's recently reared its head again.

After that clear patch,

you had another herd break down,

TB's back in the herd,

so it doesn't seem to be

a complete solution.

That's a good question

and a rubbish question.

I'll tell you why it's a good

question - it's because I don't know

why exactly we had another small

breakdown.

We only had three animals go, mind

you, in 2,000 animals we're testing.

It's also a rubbish question

because it infers that it's cattle

movements that does it,

or it's badgers.

It's... Both factors are really

important in this

and we have to get on top of both.

And so, for you and your cattle

farming colleagues around here,

you can finally see

light at the end of the tunnel?

Oh, more than light.

More than light, Tom.

You know, it's utter

relief from where we've been.

Everyone wants to see the disease

eliminated from our countryside,

but James' story alone is not proof

that the cull is the answer.

What's needed is hard scientific

data and that's hard to gather

because rather than happening

in a controlled environment,

the culls are going on in the real

world

and each cull area is different.

Some are wooded,

some are open hillsides,

and each has different sizes

of herds and numbers of badgers.

It's what makes our countryside

so rich,

but for scientists trying to produce

accurate results, it's a nightmare.

So far, the best we've got

are these two reports,

both published by the government

earlier this year.

They use different methods and

they come up with different results,

and they make for some pretty tough

scientific reading.

So, to get the key messages,

I'm going to need some help.

I'm headed to Cambridgeshire to meet

Professor James Wood,

an expert in animal diseases

and a scientific advisor to DEFRA.

He believes that one of these

reports is much more thorough,

the Brundtland Report.

One is a very careful,

detailed statistical analysis of two

years' worth of culling data,

particularly from Somerset

and Gloucestershire,

and the other is a more descriptive

analysis of just the raw numbers

that have come from those two areas

over a three-year period.

And you particularly like this

first one, which is

called the Brundtland Report,

and with the help of this map,

that just happens to be here in the

field, you're going to show me

how it works. So, how did the

Brundtland Report work?

So the Brundtland Report took

the area of where the cull zone

was, which is around 100km squared

of Gloucestershire,

where culling was conducted,

I mark that in red there...

And then compared up to ten

areas of the same sort of size,

where there has been no culling,

to make a valid comparison.

The results from the

Brundtland Report show that,

in Gloucestershire's cull zone,

there were 58% fewer new

cases of bovine TB, compared to the

ten other similar areas during

the first two years of the cull.

And 21% fewer new cases of TB

in the Somerset cull zone.

I know these are early days

and that includes they're not

certainties, but what is this data

suggesting to you?

Well, I think what the

data shows is that badger

culling does have an

impact on the disease rates in

cattle,

which is what it was

intended to do in the first place.

And overall, how important do you

think that finding is?

Well, to an extent, it's a

validation

of the policy to cull badgers.

Are you now fairly sure that badger

culling as part of that

policy works?

Yes.

Simple as.

I mean, I think that's a simple

conclusion and I'd be slightly

more bullish than the Brundtland's

scientific report, but not much.

And if it works, but at the cost

of thousands of badger deaths

and millions of pounds,

is that a price worth paying?

That's an individual judgment.

I don't think that's for science

to take a view on that.

It's for science, people like me,

to say this is useful

or it's not useful.

Then I think it's down to society

and politicians to say this is

right or this is wrong.

So, there you have it.

It's early days, but according to

James, at least one report contains

evidence that the badger cull can

work to cut rates of TB in cattle.

In this controversial issue,

even the suggestion from a senior

respected scientist that the

cull appears to be working

is a seismic shift.

But even if it does prove to be

part of the solution,

not everybody agrees it's

the right approach.

I'll be talking to them later.

Late autumn.

A bird-watcher's paradise.

A sudden flash of blue.

The kingfisher,

a majestic little bird,

with an unmistakable bright plumage.

It could certainly teach us

a thing or two about fishing.

To catch a fleeting glimpse of one

of these elusive creatures

is truly magical.

The big question is -

will I get the chance today?

Here in Hertfordshire,

a team from the Wildlife Trust is

looking for novel ways to attract

more kingfishers to the area.

Louise Sleeman is the people

and wildlife officer for this site.

Louise, lovely to meet you.

Hi.

And what a lovely spot you've

brought me to. Tell me about it.

So, we're at Stocker's Lake Nature

Reserve in Rickmansworth

and it's an old gravel pit. It was

excavated around 100 years ago

and this has left us

with the small islands

that we've got in the middle,

and these provide a fantastic

habitat for the wildfowl

that we have living here.

So a rich,

wide birdlife community here,

but it's the kingfisher you're

really focusing on, isn't it?

Yeah, exactly.

So within the Colne Valley,

there are some suitable

areas for kingfishers to naturally

create their nests within the banks,

but it is quite

difficult for them to find

the conditions that they need,

as they are quite specific in that.

So we're constructing

an artificial kingfisher bank

in order to help the kingfishers

that are here

and attract some new ones

to the area, hopefully.

We actually have a kingfisher hide,

which is really good for

spotting them, round the corner, so

do you want to come and have a look?

Yeah, I'd love to. Where do we go?

Well, this is a great little spot,

isn't it?

Am I likely to see

a kingfisher from here?

We definitely do have kingfishers

here and, in the last few days,

there have been a few

sightings as well,

so we've quite a good

chance of seeing one.

An area like this is ideal, so

we've got shallower areas, we've got

overhanging branches on the edges,

which they'll perch

onto to fish from.

So when they actually go fishing,

they'll bring the fish back up

and they'll strike them

against the perch to make sure that

they're stunned,

or that they've died,

so that they can then get them

down their throat.

Clearly, you're really passionate

about kingfishers. Why is that?

They're just really

impressive birds. You can just...

Just seeing their iridescent blue

and orange colourings and their

long bills, they just look brilliant

and I just love their character.

I could sit here all day

and wait for one to appear.

Soon, she may not have to.

Using traditional methods,

the team are constructing a

permanent home for the kingfishers.

The site's reserve officer

is Rob Hopkins.

He's been tasked with building it.

Rob, you look busy. Can I help?

Oh, hello, Sean.

Yes, I am busy, actually.

You can give me some help.

What do you need me to do?

If I give you this...

Are we going out on the water?

They didn't tell me that.

Yes, we've got our kingfisher

bank on the island over here.

So, this is going to be quite

an operation,

moving this load over

there on a boat.

Yeah, we've got

lots of loads to go as well.

It's quite a task, isn't it?

You're

perfectly timed to give us a hand.

OK. Fits like a glove.

Right.

Off we go.

Let's get to work.

So, we're a little bit bottom down

because we've got a bit more

weight at the back.

Are you OK there?

I think I probably had too much

lunch, didn't I?

I think that's...

Generous lunch, that's right.

And perfect timing, we've arrived.

We've arrived.

That's lovely.

Afternoon.

Rob, it looks fantastic,

but why on earth did you build it on

an island?

Aren't you making it

difficult for yourself?

Well, an island's great because it

means that we don't have the

worries with predators that we'd

have on the mainland,

so foxes and badgers and weasels,

things that might dig

the kingfishers out of their burrow.

Got a great aspect here, it's open,

birds can fly in easily.

There's lots of perches on the way

and they've got terrific fishing

right in front of them.

The construction looks quite

complicated.

Talk me through the design here.

So we've lifted it up on gravel,

then we've actually used

these straw bales,

which are the sort of structure

of the building.

We've got our tunnel and our chamber

in there,

which is where the

kingfisher's going to live.

And then we've got the external

structure, which is the cob.

What do you mean, cob?

Is that this material here?

Cob is the material we're using,

which is the straw and clay and sand

and a little bit of water to make

these lovely soft, pliable bricks.

Can you see it? Plonk it on.

And use the top hand to hold it

and the hand from the side

to push it in,

so it's moulding in with

the layer below.

You're a bit like a bricklayer

there.

That's right, yes. This is natural

bricklaying.

So, put that in.

That's right.

The kingfishers nest in vertical

sandy banks on rivers,

so this is sort of simulating

a nice, steep river bank.

Hopefully by the spring,

or late winter,

they should start moving in

and showing some interest.

Many hands make light work

and the kingfisher bank is

shaping up nicely.

So it seems these vibrant little

birds will soon have a place

fit for a king.

Well, certainly a kingfisher.

Now, a while ago,

John was in Gloucestershire,

getting in touch with

the changing season.

Building an outdoor fire has always

had a special magic for me.

It brings back memories of my days

in the Scouts long ago.

After a day of adventures,

sitting around a campfire to enjoy

a meal together, well,

that was the perfect end to a day.

Not for many years have

I built a fire and cooked on it.

Today is the day. Will it live up

to those childhood memories?

Tom Herbert has made

it his mission to turn the humble

campfire into an outdoor oven.

But he's no ordinary

man of the woods.

He's a fifth generation baker

and one half of

TV's Fabulous Baker Brothers.

Tom!

Hey, John. How you doing?

Good to see you.

Welcome to the

woods.

Thank you very much.

Look, I brought you some kindling,

but the fire's going very

well already.

We could do with more. That will

come in useful. Thank you very much.

I suppose this time of year is

ideal for a campfire,

as long as it's not raining

too much.

Sure.

Because you've got this wonderful

array of autumn food.

Exactly.

So, we've got some gourds

and some beetroot that we can do.

And then I've got some nice steak,

so we can do that dirty,

on the embers. We're going to bake

some bread under the embers.

And you'll be able to do all

that on this one small campfire.

Yep. Well, we'll let it burn down

and, if we need more wood,

there's plenty around. Yeah.

Tom's been doing this

since he was a child,

setting out on adventures

in the great outdoors.

Now, he's pulled his knowledge

together in a book

about wild baking.

But the most important part of the

whole experience is making the

perfect fire and Tom has a clever

technique for keeping it glowing.

So, you just make your fingers into

a little diamond, like that.

Yes.

Like that?

Yeah, yeah. And you just

put it to your lips and blow, yeah.

It works!

Doesn't it? It really works!

My kids, they use it to blow each

other's

birthday candles out with, so...

Of course, Tom has sought

permission from the landowner

to make his fire here.

And when we're done,

it's vital that we leave no trace,

just like any good Scout.

Slowly, our fire goes from

flickering flames to glowing embers.

We've got a really good bed

of embers now.

Ready to bake.

Yeah.

Are you up for helping with this?

I

am indeed.

By holding that...

Right.

Given Tom's baking heritage,

it's not surprising that soda bread

is our first recipe.

Along with what you'd expect,

that's flour, baking powder,

salt and oil,

Tom also uses a special ingredient.

And then, finally to bring it all

together, a bottle of beer.

Wow, yeah. I've never seen beer

used in this way before.

Because this is a fast,

instant dough, there's no kneading,

no rising,

the beer just gives it more flavour.

Really nice, OK.

Does that look OK?

That's pretty much done.

Yeah, great, thank you.

Into the burning embers.

Yeah, straight into the burning

embers, thank you.

So, what, scoop it round like that?

Yeah, and just drop on top.

Just drop it in, like that?

That's it.

That was easy.

And how long will that take, do you

reckon, to be baked?

Oh, 20 minutes?

25 minutes?

Uh-huh.

Yeah, not very long at all.

Tom's brought a harvest

festival of goodies.

It's nice having an assistant.

Well, all great chefs have

assistants behind the scenes,

don't they,

making things look really good?

Some of them are chopped,

some of them stay whole,

before going

straight on to the hot embers.

This is the exact

opposite of fast food.

It's all about taking the time

to enjoy the process.

A real slow burner,

without the need for pots and pans.

And what about the bread?

How's that doing?

That's probably pretty much ready.

So, you see, most of the ash pretty

much all falls off.

The moment of truth.

Yes.

OK.

That looks pretty good to me.

That's done.

Yeah.

Have a sniff of that.

Oh!

That is the most wonderful

thing about a bakery, isn't it?

The smell.

I love it, I love it.

So, how about, shall we try

some of this with a bit of butter?

Bon appetit.

Mmm.

Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful,

isn't it?

Yeah, yeah.

Mmm.

And I can taste the beer.

Mmm.

You really can, yeah.

The vegetable medley has been well

fired, ready for our woodland feast.

The smoke and flames

have worked their magic,

and now we have a mouthwatering

salsa.

But it's not all for us.

Tom's family have come to join in

our campfire gathering.

Hello, everybody.

Hi.

Hi.

Hey there, Milo. Hungry?

Well, it's nearly ready,

our little feast, yes!

So, what's it like, then, eating

out in the woods with your dad?

Amazing.

The food tastes nice.

He's a good cook, do you reckon?

99% of the time.

I'll take it.

Well, that's not a bad average.

I'll tell you what,

I was thinking about 80.

And before we can start, there's

one last thing to go on the fire.

On go the steaks.

I can't think that there's a better

way to do steak, to be honest.

A nice bit of rump

directly on the embers,

so it kind of sears instantly

with that heat.

Ashy.

Watch the burning. How many out

of 10 do you give dad for this?

20.

20 out of 10.

80.

80?

Million...

Well, I'll tell you what, John,

this is much better than my old

campfires in the Scouts.

Not only does this kind of wild

cooking fill your tummy,

it nourishes your soul as well,

doesn't it?

It really does.

Tuck in.

Earlier, we heard new evidence that

the badger cull might be working

in the fight against TB in cattle,

but not everyone's convinced.

Here's Tom.

The British countryside.

Beautiful, bountiful, and sometimes

a battleground.

Free the badgers.

ALL: Stop the cull!

For years, the culling of badgers to

curb the spread of bovine

TB in cattle has attracted support

and outrage in equal measure.

But whatever you think of it,

the badger cull's been government

policy in some high risk

areas for four years.

That might seem like a long time,

but, when it comes to scientific

research,

it's a mere blink of an eye.

However, as we found out earlier,

some scientists believe emerging

data from the Government's

Brundtland Report suggests

it could be working.

But even if the cull did

help reduce TB,

is it worth the cost to our

wildlife and our pockets?

To help answer that question,

I'm heading to one of the few

havens for badgers within

the Gloucestershire cull zone.

And so, you said we are

on the front line here

and there is a sett literally

just up here.

There is, yes,

and it's a very active sett

and the badgers have been vaccinated

here for a number of years,

and on the other side of the fence

there there's cull

contractors killing badgers under

government licenses.

Dominic Dyer from the Badger Trust

has fought against the cull

since the beginning.

So, what do you make of the findings

of the Brundtland Report in

particular?

Well, I think we have got to be

very, very cautious.

You know, you've had fluctuations in

TB levels in cattle,

in and out of the cull zones,

for a number of years.

Trying to draw a parallel between

those figures and what's actually

happening with badger culling, I

think, is a dangerous thing to do.

But a 58% reduction in the cull

zone in Gloucestershire,

as compared to other comparable

areas,

that seems worth talking about.

It's too early to do that.

The Government said they wouldn't

really have any idea of the trends

emerging from the culls until 2018,

until they had four years of data.

We don't have that at the moment.

So, any of this modelling

data that individual

academics are involved with,

that are being put out

there by politicians at the moment,

I think is potentially misleading,

and it's not good because it's

basically telling farmers

that this might be a solution, when

actually the science

just doesn't

tell us that at the moment.

So, Dominic's not convinced by the

emerging data, but his objections

to the cull go far beyond the

results of the Brundtland Report.

If the culling did actually help,

is culling badgers justified to

control TB in cattle?

No.

Killing tens of thousands of badgers

by a cruel method, spending

tens of millions of pounds of public

money for a small

reduction in TB overall is not

something that we feel is

justifiable as a wildlife

conservation group.

We can't have wildlife-free zones

around our farms.

We've got to find better

scientific methods

for dealing with disease in cattle.

Whether or not you agree

with Dominic,

he's got a point about spending.

According to Defra,

the cull has cost taxpayers more

than £23 million so far.

Others put that figure even higher.

For Dominic, a cheaper

and more humane solution is to

vaccinate badgers.

Badger vaccination can reduce

the spread of the disease

significantly in animals that don't

have it, and in newborn cubs,

and it brings farmers and landowners

together in a spirit of cooperation

and mutual confidence that we

really need after all this problem

we've had with culling.

So the Badger Trust is unwavering

in the face of this new research,

and yet it does appear that

something IS causing

rates of TB within cull zones

to drop,

but it may not be

entirely down to the cull.

The Government have said from the

beginning that what's needed

is a combination of tools and one

of the crucial ones is improving

bio-security on farms.

Sarah Tomlinson is from the newly

launched TB Advisory Service.

She gives bespoke advice to

farmers on how to keep wild animals

away from their livestock.

I'm joining her on a visit to

Derbyshire farmer Anthony Smith.

OK, so, Anthony, you've done

a really great job because these

are sheeted gates, and I presume you

shut them and lock them at night.

Can we just shut the door?

Of course.

For one moment.

Now, research has shown that badgers

can get through anything that is

7.5cm or more,

which is about the width of my hand.

And, actually, you can see my hand

is going in quite easily,

which means a badger will fit

underneath that.

OK.

So a simple solution is to run

some rubber strips.

You wouldn't have thought they could

get through such a tight space.

No.

But it's a really simple

thing to do.

Yeah.

So that's one area for improvement

already and, just outside

the gates of the farm, Sarah has

spotted another cause for concern.

So it's important to know what

badger activity you've

got on your farm, and we've come

out of the yard and we can

see here there's quite clear

evidence of badgers rooting.

OK.

What would be really interesting is

if you maybe invested in a wildlife

camera to see if these badgers

that are on the edge of the yard are

coming into the yard.

Anthony, are you happy to adapt

your farming

around the badgers that are near

here?

We have to.

I mean, I've been farming here seven

years. I've never had TB -

my neighbours have. I have always

took sensible precautions.

You do your best.

And what would it

mean to you if you did get TB?

Well, it would be absolutely

terrible.

It would be financial ruin, really,

for the farm.

At the moment,

this kind of advice is only

available in areas of higher risk,

but the plan is to do about 2,500

visits like this to

farms across the country over

the next three years.

The Government has pledged

£1 million to help that happen.

The policy to tackle TB is a very

polarised area.

Do you think this is a place where

people can come together?

Definitely, because we're talking

about measures that anybody

can do and, actually,

in this area of Derbyshire,

we don't have the option at the

moment of culling.

So this is the only option -

looking at badgers and stopping them

coming into their yards.

So, with more farmers recognising

how important it is to protect their

farms against badgers, maybe this,

too, is starting to have an impact.

Even if further research does back

up the suggestion that the cull

might be working,

it's very far from the whole answer.

But when combined with badger

vaccination,

better cattle testing and improved

bio-security, there is now

some hope that we might be getting

on top of this terrible disease.

A stone's throw from north London,

Hertfordshire is a commuters' dream.

The county's countryside

and many waterways remain a haven

for city slickers seeking solace.

Earlier on,

I was hearing that baby barbel

here on the River Lea

are in trouble, but there are plenty

of big barbel and other fish in the

river, so I have dug out my lures

and spooled my reel,

and I'm off to bag a barbel.

Kings Weir Fishery

on the Old River Lea is

known across the land

for its amazing angling,

and Phil Buckingham,

a local fisherman, has been

coming back here for more

than 50 years.

When you were a kid, what did you

catch? What was the main thing?

We came here,

even as young teenagers,

to catch the barbel,

because it was so prolific that you

could literally put a worm out

and you would catch

a barbel of some sort.

Where did you grow up?

Where did you used to come from?

I grew up in north London,

around the sort of Tottenham border,

so we would catch the train with all

our gear early on a Sunday morning

and find it packed with anglers

coming up the Lea Valley

to go fishing.

But what we started doing,

to beat the adults here,

we would get the last

train on a Saturday night

and walk along the canal, wait till

all the lights had gone off

and creep through the garden and

sit in the spots we wanted to fish,

ready for when it got light.

So, as dawn broke,

you were a horrible surprise?

We were already there. Yes.

I can remember quite often

waking up to a frost.

I mean, that is

proper dedication to fishing.

Yeah.

I'll confess,

I'm not the most patient of people.

I can't quite see the allure.

It's just getting away from it all.

I mean, I worked in the city for

40 years, in a high-pressure job,

and I couldn't wait to get out

fishing at the weekend,

just to switch my mind off, really,

and do something else.

And it's very therapeutic if you've

got that kind of stressful job,

particularly,

or just a stressful life.

I'm keeping a slight

eye on the rods here.

There's not a lot going on.

It takes a while sometimes.

If you'd been here earlier, the pike

were chasing everything in sight,

but, quite typically,

under pressure...

But this is the fisherman's tale!

"You should have been here

yesterday.

"The one that got away

was THIS big."

Yeah.

This is what it's all about.

It is, yeah.

That's what keeps you coming back.

Hang on.

You've got a bite there.

I should grab that

if I were you.

OK.

Wind away.

Do you need the net, do you think?

Yeah. You get ready...

Oh, my Lord, it's quite heavy.

Oh, that's an interesting fish.

It is the catch of the day,

a Countryfile calendar.

If you would like to reel

one of these in,

then here's John with

all the details.

It costs £9.50,

including UK delivery.

You can go to our website, where you

will find a link to the order page,

or you can phone the order line...

If you'd prefer to order by post,

then send your name,

address and a cheque to...

A minimum of £4.50 from the sale

of each calendar will be donated

to BBC Children in Need.

We're hearing more

and more about re-wilding.

It's often at odds with farming,

but is there harmony to be had?

Adam's visiting an estate

in West Sussex to find out.

Many farms across the UK manage

specific areas of their farm

for the environment

and we do our bit at home.

We have wildlife margins around the

outside of our arable fields,

providing food and habitat for bees

and butterflies, small mammals and

birds, and those sorts of things,

but here on the Knepp Estate,

they've been far more ambitious.

They've put the whole farm aside

to wildlife and conservation,

all 3,500 acres of it.

The Burrell family have farmed Knepp

for more than 200 years.

Back in 2000,

Charlie Burrell decided to get

out of conventional farming and take

the estate in a whole new direction.

Charlie.

Adam.

Good to see you.

Welcome. Welcome.

My word, what a landscape.

It's different, isn't it?

It's not what you see on most farms.

What were you growing out here

before all this started?

This was winter wheat in 2004,

so that was the last cropping

year of this particular field.

So, you were a normal,

proper farmer before?

17 years of conventional farming.

Where did it all go wrong?

Why did you change to this?

It hasn't gone wrong, actually.

The easy answer to that is that

I have a love of nature,

but I also was having problems

trying to run

the commercial farm on this land.

And are you still producing food?

So, about 120,000lb worth of meat,

which is organic, pasture fed.

I'm getting rained on by acorns.

I know, pig food.

But at this time of year,

the pigs put on maybe two or three

inches of fat, just from the acorns.

Goodness me. And because you are

close to a big population,

you use it as a bit of a safari,

I understand, as well.

Well, we've got this other business,

which has been hugely exciting,

so we've now got five

ecologists taking people

out on safaris into this landscape.

I'm keen to explore the site more,

so I'm off on one of those safaris

he's mentioned with

the farm's ecologist Penny Green,

and Charlie's wife, Isabella Tree,

and I've been promised

a seasonal spectacle.

Issy, this is a brilliant vehicle,

isn't it?

It's a Pinzgauer.

It's an Austrian troop carrier,

so this is what

we do our safaris in.

It's very robust and it's a very

good vehicle to put out on safari

on this really heavy land

that we've got.

That's one of the reasons we gave up

farming, was this really heavy soil.

What sort of people are coming

on the safaris to see these things?

So, we get all

sorts of different people.

It's a really delightful

thing to be doing

because people seem to love it,

and we have people from cities who

really aren't that familiar

with nature, who want to just see

and learn stuff,

and we have people who really

know their birds

and they come just to see them.

And what about this time of year?

What are you looking for?

So, this is towards the end of our

season. This is the big finale.

This is when we have our deer rut

safaris, so we should,

if we're lucky, see red deer stags,

so they'll be sort of

strutting their stuff,

doing their big roaring thing,

getting aggressive for the season.

Red deer numbers on the estate have

been steadily increasing.

That doesn't make them

any easier to find,

but thanks to Penny's expertise,

we've located a good-sized herd,

where the rut is in full swing.

It is absolutely brilliant, isn't

it, seeing these red deer like this?

I mean, Penny, you're the ecologist

here. What a sight.

I know. It's amazing to see

this in Sussex, isn't it?

We seem to associate red deer with

highlands and moorlands,

but, actually, they would have been

much more of a river valley species,

we think, and here at Knepp,

when we do spot the red deer,

they are normally in or

around the water.

It really is quite remarkable

this is all going on

so close to London.

You must be

so proud of what you have achieved.

I think that's been the most

surprising thing about it,

actually, is that something

so close to London,

underneath the Gatwick

stacking system,

surrounded by conurbation...

If this kind of wildlife can come

back here,

it can really come back anywhere.

It does seem that lots of things

have just turned up.

It's not like you have

re-introduced anything.

It's taken a few years to get to

this point, but every year

the numbers of turtle doves

and nightingales are growing.

It's just so exciting,

and you just could never have

guessed that this would have

all happened here,

on an intensive farm that has

changed into this wonderful

re-wilding project.

And all this has happened in less

than 20 years,

but it's still farmed land.

To find out how you rear livestock

in this environment,

I'm meeting stockman Pat Toe,

who tells me

that somewhere out here

there's a herd of English longhorns.

It was quite tricky finding

the deer earlier,

but I didn't realise the cattle

would be quite so elusive.

Yes, you wouldn't think you'd be

able to lose 100 cows, would you?

But it's quite easily done.

Particularly longhorns.

Yeah.

If you're in the wrong

part of a field,

they can be 20, 30 feet away

and you wouldn't see them.

There are few fences here.

The cattle are free to roam

over a wide area

and they're spread out all

over the place, in small groups.

How many have you got altogether?

We've got about 370 all over, in

three different herds.

Goodness me.

And how do you work out

the numbers you need?

Is it all about the ecology,

or is it all about beef production?

The primary objective is ecology.

It's about what they do with their

mouthparts and their hooves and

the impact that they make, but beef

is a very important secondary.

What sort of amount are you

producing?

We probably kill 100 animals a year,

a mix of prime animals under 30

months, and cull animals as well.

Back at home, I know how many

animals our fields will hold

because of the amount of grass

it produces

and, during the winter, we feed them

hay and silage and cattle nuts.

How do you cope here?

Well, what we do is,

in the depths of winter,

when everything is at its worst,

the food's at its lowest,

because we don't feed

the cows anything,

we go out with the vet and we look

at what available fodder is there

and the body condition of

the animals,

and we make a decision

year on year from that.

Most people are used to seeing

cattle grazing out in lush pastures,

but they certainly seemed to enjoy

it in here.

Yeah.

I'd like to think they are some

of the happiest animals around.

They can behave really naturally.

The cattle have all

disappeared into the undergrowth.

I don't know where they've gone.

In fact, I'm glad you're with me,

otherwise I'd get completely

lost out here.

I'll lend you a map.

In just two decades, the Knepp

Estate has been transformed,

the economics of farming going

hand in hand with ecology.

Who knows what the next 20 years

might bring for this

ambitious project?

At this time of year,

as autumn sunshine bathes the land,

getting into the countryside

for a walk

is one of life's simple pleasures.

And if you know where to look,

you might even find some

edible treasures.

Here in St Albans, in Hertfordshire,

two friends are wild about

wild foods.

George Fredenham and Richard Osmond

know this countryside

like the back of their hands.

It's the larder for the delights

they serve up in their pub...

And I've been promised a glimpse

into the magic behind the menu.

It's a spice, so chew on it until it

sort of rehydrates

in your mouth a little bit.

Oh, yeah. Oh, wow.

It's really fragrant, isn't it?

Yeah.

What is it?

It's hogweed seeds.

So, it's

the seedhead of that plant?

Yeah.

This common hogweed is not to be

confused with its close relative,

giant hogweed, whose sap

can severely irritate the skin.

In his favourite foraging spot,

George is keen to tell me

how they got started.

So, George, what came first,

the pub or the foraging?

The foraging came first, for sure.

It was a big

passion of ours at the time,

and, yeah, very quickly we found

a venue that seemed to suit what

we wanted to do,

and the Foragers, I guess, was born

at the Verulam Arms.

So, what's the plan today, then?

We're doing a little bit of a

collection of wild bitter plants

that we use to infuse in strong

spirits to make our own bitters.

We'll then head back to the pub

and make some cocktails, basically.

Sounds good to me.

And eat some food, yeah.

Keeping the pub menu brimming with

wild flavours

is head forager Richard Osmond.

Now, you've got a great job title -

head forager.

There can't be many of those.

How did you get into it?

After university I was just

working as an office temp,

and George actually put an ad

online for an assistant forager.

I saw his ad and just basically

wrote a whole essay saying,

"You don't understand how

much stuff we could do.

"We could make ales.

"We should start a brewery and put

medieval herbs into the ales,"

and I drew this sort of calendar

chart saying,

"These are the things that are

going to be in season

"at this these times, and we can

pair those with these dishes,"

and that showed him

how passionate I was about it.

So, can you eat this?

Yeah, you can.

You can try it right now.

OK.

Hmm. There's like a burst of lemon,

isn't there? Really strong.

Really powerful.

Hmm.

So what other tasty

morsels can we find?

Bitters often have the bark of trees

in them

and things like tonic water,

the quinine from that

comes from the bark of a tree.

Just like that.

That's peeling off really nicely.

It's like peeling an orange.

This birch will recover

from having its bark removed,

and George and Richard have

permission to forage here.

But if you're going to

try your hand at finding wild foods,

don't pick or eat anything you're

not completely sure about.

This is poison hemlock.

If you look at this wild cow parsley

that I've got in the basket...

In fact,

if we get a darker piece of hemlock,

you'll see just how similar

they are.

Edible. Deadly.

That's not a mistake

you want to make, is it?

No.

The best thing about foraging

for wild food is

the prospect of a tasty

treat at the end of it,

and one of the specialities at the

pub is this wild negroni cocktail,

made with their own bitters

and sloe gin.

Ohh!

I can taste the flavours...some of

the flavours.

Maybe that silver birch that

we picked earlier.

It's actually really nice.

I'm glad I'm not driving!

So, what else is on the menu

along with the wild cocktails?

We serve pigeon, we serve rabbit.

Pheasant and partridge,

when it's in season.

And then what we're going to

make this afternoon

is we're going to make two dishes.

One is a signature dish,

which has muntjac deer in it.

Although we have six

species of deer in the UK,

most of the venison we eat is

farmed red or fallow deer.

Muntjac is an unusual

addition to any menu

and is responsibly sourced for the

pub by local deer manager Bruce.

Muntjac, although it's a small

deer, it's very compact.

It's easier to carve, easy to cook.

They breed three fawns in two years.

They don't have a season,

like the other five species of

feral deer that we have got here,

and they're eating all

the finest of foods.

So during the spring,

they've got all the spring flowers

coming through,

crocuses they have got in the wild

here, they've got bluebells,

and you get that lovely aroma

as you walk into the house

in the evening, when it's been

cooking on a slow cooker,

and you immediately start dribbling.

The rich aromas coming

from the kitchen are incredible,

so time to try my first

wild pub grub.

This looks amazing.

Right, make some

space.

Look at that spread.

It's bigger than the table.

Try the loin first.

So, this looks really lean.

Mm. Melts in your mouth.

Exactly.

And then your sorrel that you

guys picked earlier,

just to garnish

and give it some sharpness.

So, what you're saying is -

my contribution was key.

You contribution, it was

the icing on the cake.

I'll...

I think that will be me.

I think you've won there.

It's the perfect way to end

a day of foraging,

eating and drinking your own harvest

in a warm pub.

A part of me feels sorry for

Charlotte out there in the cold,

but only a small part.

Now, if you want to know if it's

the weather to stay cosy, or to get

out and feel the wind in your face,

here's the Countryfile forecast.

We will certainly feel the wind in

our face at times this week. Things

will look and feel very different

compared with the very tranquil

scene from Hertfordshire today. It

did feel cold. A cold start to the

so to areas of low pressure to show

you. One tonight, and another not

far behind, so much more unsettled

this week. With low pressure from

the Atlantic Ocean milder air moules

dumber moves in, changing the field

to the weather. We see the first

area of cloud and rain moving into

the UK, some snow on the high ground

of Scotland. Outbreaks of rain

moving in elsewhere. Light and

patchy across southern England.

Quite a cold start for most of us. A

messy start to Monday, especially

with that rain and hill snow in

Scotland and cloud elsewhere. Rain

afternoon, more of us are getting

double-figure temperatures. A chilly

air from Scotland as we move into

Tuesday. Some wet weather comes in

on Monday evening into Tuesday

morning. Some snow on the hills

again, but changing back to rain on

Tuesday. A band of rain pushing

double-figure temperatures. Tuesday

into Wednesday, low pressure in

active. The jet stream is a player

in our weather once again. This is

mild air coming in. Milder air

contains more moisture and the

uncertainty about the position.

Could well be further south than

this. Most areas in the east of

England stay dry and bright. As we

go into Thursday, still low pressure

dominating the scene. We are going

to see some wind and outbreaks of

rain. Thursday, some colder air may

Ireland. If it does, any wet weather

could see some snow on the hills in

Scotland. From Thursday to Friday,

the isobars turning more northerly,

so colder air moving southwards

again. A fightback from the colder

air on Friday. Initially in Scotland

and Northern Ireland. Some wet

weather for England and Wales moving

southwards. The wind direction

changes for Scotland and Northern

Ireland. Turbulent is one word for

it. Milder for a time, but only

briefly in Scotland and Northern

Ireland. Some rain at times, and

even snow on Scottish hills. Windy

The Lea Valley in Hertfordshire,

fondly known as the

"green lung" for London.

Once the home of industry,

it's been transformed for recreation

and wildlife.

And while Sean has been

foraging for his supper,

I have spent the day

on the Old River Lea.

A leafy enclave meandering through

the valley, it is

well-known across the land

for its big-catch barbel fishing.

The problem is that fishermen

are catching fewer young fish.

Now that means the barbel's

long-term future in the river

is uncertain.

In a bid to protect the fish,

enthusiastic fishermen have

got together

with Hertfordshire and Middlesex

Wildlife Trust,

the Lea Valley Regional Park

Authority

and the Environment Agency

to form the Barbel Action Group.

Today, they're surveying

the river to assess

the health of the current

fish population.

How often do you fall over?

VOICEOVER: George Horne from the

agency has ditched the rod

for something more shocking.

What on earth is going on here,

George?

So, we're here today with

the Environment Agency.

We're doing an electric fishing

survey as part of a wider

initiative to improve barbel

habitats within the Lea Valley.

So, we can see the team with these

things in their hands.

How does it work?

So, what they're doing is,

they're going to be sending

an electric pulse through the water

and what that does is it creates an

involuntary muscle spasm for fish.

It doesn't harm them or injure them

in any way, shape or form.

They'll be removed,

put into a tub on the boat,

and they will be processed by

ID-ing their species,

measuring them, counting them all,

and then we take scale samples from

those fish as well,

and from the data that we have

within this section of the

River Lea,

it does show a decline in barbel

populations

and potentially other

gravel-spawning fish.

What do you think it might be that's

upsetting barbel here?

Because when you look at the water,

the water quality,

it looks really clear.

Yeah, it does.

But if I move my feet, like that,

you see a lot of fine sediments

coming out of it.

What the barbel ideally need is

good, clean gravels,

so that the females can create

an indentation with their tails,

lay their eggs and then scrape the

clean gravels back over the top.

I've got to ask about our elegant

outfits.

Do I really need to be

wearing all this?

As we are going to be doing

electric fishing,

the outfits that we are wearing

are going to protect us

from the electric field that we

will be putting through the water.

This survey will help determine

the habitat work that needs

to be done to improve the river,

such as narrowing it to

create faster-moving water

to clean the gravel.

Unlike my earlier fishing

experience,

when you're stunning fish,

it doesn't take long to catch them.

OK.

There we go. A decent pike.

Yay.

So, are we going to measure him?

Or not bother

because he's not a barbel?

No, we'll process absolutely

everything.

73-ish! Just under.

I give it 72.4.

He's very picky. 72.4.

Yeah.

I was about to say that.

Straight back in here.

So, here we've got a barbel.

It's quite lively.

So, what makes him barbel-y?

Unlike a lot of other fish, he's got

this very long,

lean torpedo-shape to him.

It gives him the ability to live

in very fast-flowing water,

and also this very flat

sort of underside,

making it perfect for them

to be able to feed along the bottom,

and what comes with that is

the classic sort of

under-turned mouth,

positioned underneath his face.

So that he can actually hoover up?

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Then you have got the barbels here

at the front.

What are they for?

So, these are used for rooting

around through the gravels.

It helps them to detect food.

So, what we're going to do now,

we're going to take a scale sample

from it.

Is that going to hurt?

It won't hurt the fish.

So, these will go up to our national

fish laboratory, based in Brampton,

and what they'll be able to tell

is actually the age of the fish.

We'll get that put in

a scale packet.

It's quite a little fish.

It's actually encouraging to see

barbel this size within this

part of the River Lea

because it probably

indicates that there is some

kind of recruitment going on.

So, really, I think

what we would like to do is identify

where those areas are

and can connectivity between

juvenile

and adult habitat be proved?

Checked and measured,

it's time to get the fish safely

back in the river.

Extraordinary creatures.

It would be a great shame to see

the native barbel

disappear from the Old River Lea.

But thanks to the river's

caretakers,

the work to improve their habitat

will insure there are barbel

and other fish here for many

years to come.

There you go...

Hopefully to a happier

future in this river.

Absolutely.

Sean, I have been up

to my knees in freezing-cold water

and you've been in the pub?!

Not all day. It's not what it seems.

I've actually been doing a really

important taste test

and you can join me here.

That's the least you could do.

Thank you very much. Cheers.

I must say,

that's a really good look.

Thank you very much.

Well,

next week we're in the Cairngorms,

and Joe Crowley gets to dress up

nearly as elegantly as me,

as he braves the elements

to get up close

and personal with wildlife getting

ready for the winter.

And Helen Skelton is meeting

eagles that are capturing

the ultimate bird's eye view.

Until then, goodbye.

Goodbye.

I can't believe you've

been in the pub all day!