Llyn Peninsula Countryfile

The wild and rugged expanse of the Llyn Peninsula.

A landscape famed for its unspoiled beauty.

And what lies beneath the surface of the waves is just as stunning,

because down there, it's an incredibly rare habitat.

I'll be taking a peek and finding out what's been done to preserve it.

Steve's meeting the dairy farmers who are cutting out the middlemen.

We're responsible for that milk, from when it's milked

until that bottle goes into the recycling.

Adam's in a jam up in the tree tops.

This is where the expression "being caught red-handed" comes from.

We are stained indelibly, there's no hiding the evidence.

and Simon King to choose the final 12 pictures in this year's

Countryfile photographic competition.

I like a rebellious kingfisher. I love this.

Tucked away beyond Snowdonia's craggiest peaks lies the wildly

An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty that

stretches for 30 miles into the cool waters of the Irish Sea.

I'm heading to the rugged north coast, where towering cliffs

few are as picture-perfect as Porthdinllaen.

But Porthdinllaen isn't just beautiful above shore.

Hidden beneath the waves is an underwater Garden of Eden.

This green oasis isn't seaweed, it's a

And Porthdinllaen is home to the biggest in Wales.

This rare habitat supports some of our most vulnerable marine life.

Conservationist Ben Jones and Richard Unsworth are from

Project Seagrass, a charity dedicated to protecting it.

Ben, you're pretty passionate about seagrass. Why is it so valuable?

Well, it's just an, you know, underappreciated habitat,

these forming secret underwater meadows that are really

kind of unknown to the general public.

They're incredibly biodiverse, they're full of marine life,

they're vital in the fight against climate change because they absorb

vast amounts of carbon dioxide, and they produce oxygen that we breathe.

And what are you all gearing up for behind me?

Actually, we're collecting data on the fish.

So you're going to capture that marine life?

We're going to capture the marine life and then bring it to shore,

I do that, measure those, the fish that are found

in the seagrass, and then we are going to release them back.

These surveys happen four times a year.

The team use this 30 metre seine net, weighted at the bottom and

buoyed at the top, to bring all the fish living in this area

And the hope isn't to catch it and cook it for dinner. No.

Just measure it and get it back in. Yes. All right. Are we good?

Yeah, we're good. It's the looping round now? The looping round.

I'm going to stay here until he's parallel with me.

All of the fish are getting pushed into that end of the net.

It looks really heavy. It's because we've caught so many fish.

I can see some movement. This is exciting.

The fish can't be out of the sea for too long,

so we act fast to pick them out of the dense seaweed.

This is actually hopping life, it is teeming with life.

With all the fish gathered into buckets, it's time to take stock.

So, what came in? We've got a really good catch.

I think there's some interesting fish in here.

The pollock that you might find on your fish and chips.

So this baby fish would have settled as the warmer

And it's grown and spent a critical period of its life

in the seagrass, being protected, having lots of food available to it.

Do you want to measure its size? Yes. So we've got 8.5...

Somewhere in here we've got a corkwing wrasse.

They're really abundant fish in the seagrass in Porthdinllaen.

And they'll be eating lots of little shrimp.

So, seagrass is a fantastic nursery for all kinds of juvenile fish.

And it's also home to some weird and wonderful adults, too.

Do you want to hold a little scorpion fish? Yes, I do.

It spends all of its life living here.

It's quite a little ferocious predator.

It will be hidden in the sand, waiting to capture some prey.

Richard and Ben identify and measure every single fish

To date, they have recorded more than 40 different species

of fish and crustaceans, from cod and herring to lobster and crab.

It all helps them understand why Porthdinllaen's seagrass meadow is

But these guys have been out of the sea for long enough,

On their way to enjoy the rest of the seagrass.

It's been reassuring to see just how many

And it feels great to return the youngsters to their beautiful

The theme for this year's photographic competition was

the call of the wild, and thousands of you took part.

The standard has been incredibly high, which is going to

give our judges a heck of a time choosing the final 12 to

As usual, it will be you who chooses the overall winner.

But first, here's John to get us started.

Our photographic competition is always a pivotal

A few months ago we asked you to heed your call of the wild,

capturing the very best of British with images of our countryside

You sent in well over 30,000 entries.

So, selecting from all of those just 12 outstanding

images for the next Countryfile Calendar certainly won't be easy.

And we've got a perfect setting for the challenge, we've found ourselves

a remote bolthole hidden away here in the wilds of the Chiltern Hills.

Joining us for the judging is a cast of previous calendar finalists

Oh, wow, this is nice. Yeah, lovely, yeah.

Our keen eyed team has a huge task ahead,

sorting through the entries to compile a long list of just 2,500.

is Mark Blake, who earned a place in the calendar,

and on our judging team, with Winter Weasel in 2011.

He's paired with last year's finalist Helena Spinks,

with her picture Sunrise Standoff.

You've got wildlife, you've got wild landscape, even wild weather.

So it will be really interesting to see what turns up.

Our second pair are 2005 judges' favourite winner Rosy Burke

And Ben Andrew, whose Happy Hedgehog won him

The photo's got to be calling to you, it has to be speaking to you,

or speaking to that animal, and that to me is vital.

Completing the team are Lawrie Brailey,

whose Fox Love photo made the calendar in 2014.

And 2015 finalist Dianne Giles with Magical Mist Trees.

I do like something that's got a nice atmosphere,

maybe some outstanding landscape imagery, but something that's

a little bit different, a little bit fun for me today, I think.

And for the very first time, we invited you to send in your pictures

online, so there are digital images for the judges

to consider as well as lots of photos that were sent in by post.

That's nice. Oh, I like that. I really like that. That's nice.

Trying to remember how the technology works. Me, too. Yeah.

Not used to this... I am. I know what I'm doing.

I like that one. Do you like that one? Yeah.

Oh, I like that, too. That's quite cool.

He's being called to the wild, definitely, isn't he?

Now, you're a ladybird man. What do you think of that one?

I do like that one, actually. Sucker for a ladybird.

What's "call of the wild" about that? For me, it's nothing.

Quite nice composition there. No. Really? Oh, OK.

And he's got the call of the wild hasn't he, that climber? Yeah.

Yeah. Shall we pick that one? Yeah. That's definitely a "yes," that one.

What is not to like about that? You like your frogs, don't you?

I like the frogs, but would you like that on your kitchen wall

I like that. Nice sky. Exposure's good.

I like the whole "call of the wild"... Yeah. ..out there walking,

After many hours of sifting, our judges have selected

the photographs to go through to the final stage,

and some of your images have really stolen their hearts.

is you can very clearly see the hedgehog,

whereas the rest of the background just disappears, really,

And also you can see the action. He's on a mission.

It's telling a little bit of a story, so I really like this one.

We've got two gannets here, beak-to-beak,

wrestling over a mackerel, and I just think it's a really,

This on, you really get a great sense of place from it.

and you can really say where they are, what they're doing.

and it just screams "call of the wild" to me.

But will they cut the mustard with Bafta award-winning cameraman

..And the Den's most discerning Dragon, Deborah Meaden.

I like a rebellious kingfisher. I love this.

VOICEOVER: How will we pick the best from the rest?

Deborah, Simon and I have the daunting task

of selecting from all those images handed on to us

what we think are the finest 12, and each one will have a coveted

place in the Countryfile Calendar for 2018.

Join us later to find out how we get on.

a rocky finger of land surrounded by a ruggedly beautiful coastline.

Inland is just as wild, and remote, and farming here can be tough.

Sion and Nia Jones know just how tough.

Their dairy farm is remote, a long way from the nearest big

markets, and they've been hit especially hard by poor milk prices.

So Sion, Nia, both coming from generations of farming,

but it's not always been that easy, has it?

You know, this time last year we were getting 13p a litre

for our milk, and that wasn't even covering our feed bill for the cows.

You know, we've always known that we were producing good quality milk.

it was heartbreaking, and giving up has never been an option.

So that's when we decided, really, to change

Now, all the milk they produce is processed

You've got the calves, you see them growing... Yeah.

..you milk them, you produce it... We know them.

You know everything about the process. Yeah, we do.

It is a big responsibility, I feel now,

because we're responsible for that milk from when it's milked

until that bottle goes into the recycling.

Lots of the milk goes to local shops. They've been lapping it up.

I remember seeing somebody putting a two-litre bottle in his trolley,

I was overwhelmed, and I did go up to him, and I explained

that they were our cows, and I'd probably milked them that morning.

I find myself hovering around the fridge watching people,

and thinking, "Why have they bought the other milk?"

We do one red, which is the non-homogenized, where it's

the old-fashioned type of milk where the cream will settle on top.

As it happens, we've got some here you can try.

Do you know, this brings back so many memories of going round

my grandparents' house and watching my nan scooping the cream off.

And for customers who like a bit of old-fashioned service,

Sion and Nia's milk is dropped off on the doorstep,

by a bunch of young farmers who've started up their own milk round.

VOICEOVER: They're not normally this mob-handed,

but I wanted to hear the secret of their success.

Thank you. Shall we get this milk delivered?

How has the number of customers grown and changed?

It's definitely doubled, hasn't it, since we've started doing this?

We need a new float, really, don't we?

We've reached that point, now, where we

can't go any bigger with what we've got, so we need to expand.

And what about the size of the area that you deliver to?

Well, our milk doesn't go any further than ten miles

And do you think your customers appreciate that?

A lot of people like things being sourced locally,

so you can't get any more local than this, really.

And do you know your customers personally?

VOICEOVER: One of their regular customers is Bethan Mary.

delivered by the fine gentlemen from the local village.

for these guys to start a new venture like this,

it's brilliant, and the quality of the milk is excellent as well.

And the farm where it's produced is only a mile away,

and it's brilliant. You can see the cows from your kitchen window.

Yes. And now you're holding the milk. Yes.

We didn't think it'd go this far, did we? No.

But the support we've had from the local... It's brilliant.

We couldn't do anything without them.

And it just helps to keep us young people here, cos it's...

You know, you hear of people going away with no jobs and stuff,

but you can do something if you think about it, you know.

Today, the village - next year, the world, eh?

ELLIE: It's back to the Chilterns now, to catch up with John

and the judges in their hillside hideaway, where they've

reached a crucial stage in this year's photographic competition.

From more than 30,000 entries, our team of past winners and

finalists has compiled an impressive longlist of 2,500 pictures.

That's a fabulous shot. It's a fabulous shot.

We need 12 remarkable photographs to grace

the pages of the Countryfile Calendar for 2018.

To help me find the winners are the Den's country-loving Dragon

Deborah Meaden, and globetrotting wildlife cameraman Simon King.

Hello again. Hey. It's that time of year.

We're going to be doing our judging over there, under canvas.

That's more like Africa than the Chilterns. Or Out Of Africa.

Well, after our judging last year, Deborah,

more than half a million people invested in the calendar.

Record sale. Whoa! Now, why don't we get

VOICEOVER: It raised a massive ?2.2 million, thanks to you, so let's see

Now, that tells us "call of the wild", doesn't it?

I like that, but that looks very tranquil to me.

It is pretty... It's a nice composition, isn't it?

I mean, we've seen lots of damselflies and lots of ladybirds,

but... Oh, my, that's... That is fun.

You see, that, if it had been photographed in portrait

rather than landscape, would be a strong image. Yeah.

But the photographer hasn't done it, and we've got to assess these

based on what we've been offered by the photographer.

What we've seen. Yeah. So would you put that as a "no," then?

Whilst Deborah and Simon continue to cast their critical eyes,

I'm off to explore the fields surrounding our hillside hideaway.

The landowners are trying to restore the meadows, and that's

something that local naturalist Matthew Oates is passionate about.

Well, it's lovely to see a field like this, isn't it?

Because they're disappearing so quickly.

Well, we've lost 97%, 98% of our old wild flower meadows.

But, yes, the importance of places like this really cannot

Bird's-foot trefoil, there. One of my favourite little flowers.

It's got lots of nicknames, hasn't it?

Same here. I mean, "egg and bacon" is a classic name for it.

I've heard it called "granny's toenails"!

It's supposed to do what it says on the packet.

So if you've got a wound, you rub it on, or something?

Supposed to be that. I've never tried it myself.

Is it a good indicator of how healthy this field is? Yes.

Yes, it is, and this field is... This meadow is in recovery phase.

It's recovering really, really well, I think.

It hasn't got the rare orchids and things like that in it,

but everything else is here and is thriving.

Well, Matthew, I'm quite reluctant to leave this meadow.

After you. It is a very beautiful, special place. Have a look at this.

Now this is THE plant of the Chiltern Hills, marjoram,

and just pick a bit of this leaf and smell that,

because it is so pungent, so aromatic. Mm!

Of course, the bees, the butterflies,

We really can't afford, can we, to lose any more of these meadows?

Absolutely. Well done to the owners here, and this place is mending.

Back in the judging tent, Deborah and Simon are working

their way through this year's new feature - the digital entries.

Well, from a peaceful Chilterns meadow,

There's a lot to choose from, you'll be pleased to hear,

but it's a lot of work to get through it all.

We're going to have to knuckle down and get tough,

because time is running out, and we have to agree on the final 12.

Then it will be over to you to pick the overall winner,

which will have pride of place on the cover of the

Countryfile Calendar for 2018, sold in aid of Children in Need.

Join us later for the final countdown.

ELLIE: Porthdinllaen, on the north coast of the Llyn, is hard to beat.

What more could the avid beachgoer dream of?

Well, if you're anything like me, a great wildlife experience tops

off an ideal day at the beach, but for that, I need to look out to sea.

that Porthdinllaen hides its greatest treasure -

I want to take a closer look at this magical environment,

and the person who's going to help me do that is local lad

and National Trust ranger Jake Davies.

Seagrass is so important ecologically.

We're trying to minimise the impact from boat-using

as well as we're going to try and set up some monitoring locations to

see the extent of the seagrass and how dense it is,

and look at the species associated with it.

The plan today is we're going to do some snorkelling.

If you want to come and join, we'll have to get some kit. Love to.

The seagrass is thickest within the sheltered harbour.

Despite the clear skies, underwater, it's a different story.

and it's unsettled all the sediment on the seabed.

That is the worst visibility I have ever known in the water.

Yes, it's not good at all today. Unless you duck dive,

and then there's lots of it right in your face.

VOICEOVER: We might be struggling to see any marine life today,

but on clearer days, Jake's filmed all kinds of fantastic species,

like this huge conger eel wrestling the bait from the camera pole,

and this impressive bull huss from the shark family.

All the kind of things that are probably below us right now,

With this footage, I've been putting it on in Caban Griff, which is

to educate the public to show them what's down here.

I guess the challenge, particularly if the visibility is bad,

because you can't see it very easily,

people don't know about it to care about it, to protect it.

Yeah, it's probably this "out of sight, out of mind" habitat.

I don't feel like I've had good look at it yet. Can we have another go?

VOICEOVER: Well, fish or no fish,

this is one of the most gorgeous spots I've ever snorkelled in,

and Jake's been lucky enough to have been enjoying it his whole life.

and then before going to school in the mornings,

I used to go fishing with my dad, who's a lobster fisherman.

So you've been living this and breathing it since childhood.

This is just in your blood, isn't it?

It is. Amazing. And now I get the chance to protect it.

That's important. It is. It's been a gorgeous snorkel.

Shall we do one last turn and then head back?

I may not have seen many fish, but I did see just how much Jake

cares for this rare habitat, and how important it is to protect it.

For growers up and down the country, this time of year is crucial -

harvest, when orchards bear the fruits of farmers' labour.

Adam's in Essex, seeing how the big producers do it.

Farmers are, of course, the starting point for food that ends up

in our shopping basket and on our plates across the country.

This farm in Tiptree has a long association with jam.

Tiptree's jams are sold up and down the country.

Many of them are made with fruit grown and harvested on this farm.

Joint managing director Chris Newenham is

responsible for making sure it all happens smoothly.

Tell me a little bit about the business here, then, Chris.

So the Wilkin family have farmed here for 300 years - in excess

of 300 years, actually - and they've been growing fruit

here for about 150 years, and we've been making jams for 132 years.

And what sort of fruits? How many different types?

About 25 different types of fruit, but don't ask me to name them

And strawberry's an important one for you?

Strawberries is the single largest volume crop that

we're growing, so yes, very important crop for us.

And here, you seem to have got strawberries

at all different growth stages. What's happening?

These, in contrast to a traditional June-bearing strawberry variety...

These are an everbearing strawberry variety, and they crop over a much,

so you can see on here that we've got fruit in every

from recently opened flowers to recently pollinated green fruit,

to slightly larger green fruit, white fruit,

and through to red fruit that's ready for picking.

So you're really trying to make the most of all your resources,

Yes, we are, and I can show you a fantastic

example of that in relation to water, if you come this way.

VOICEOVER: Water is a mixed blessing in these parts.

Rain's never good during the harvest,

plants do need plenty of water to keep growing.

Andrey Ivanov is in charge of getting this balance just right.

Andrey, this looks like a remarkable system. What are the advantages?

What we've got here, it's the footprint.

Footprint is reduced, comparing to conventional system,

by about two times, and the second thing is water collection,

and water is really important for our crops.

So we live in the driest part of the driest county in the country,

and water that we collect from the roof of this structure will

give us 80% of what the crop will use.

And as far as the footprint goes, then,

you've managed to achieve that by this sort of double-tiered system.

When we finish with that bottom level,

we will raise it up and we'll drop the top level down to be picked,

And what about the yields? The productivity?

The yields per plant essentially are the same as we're getting

outside, but of course, because we've got twice as many plants

per area, the yield per area is double what we're getting outside.

Well, I think the proof of the pudding is always in the eating,

so I'll let you be the judge of that.

It's wonderful. Here's to the British strawberry.

being at the forefront of new techniques pays dividends.

But there's still room for tradition.

Old-fashioned fruits like quince, crab apple, Victoria plum

And they're one of the last farms to still grow mulberries,

a fruit that's tricky to pick, and needs incredibly delicate handling.

These trees are the oldest trees we have in the whole of the estate.

We know that they're something over 100 years old.

Yeah, absolutely. They're a wonderful tree.

Once they're established, they carry on in spite of us, virtually.

They look quite sort of gnarly, and there's a broken bit off there.

Does that matter? No, it doesn't. I mean, that's a good example.

Where a branch has broken off, as long as that branch can carry

a crop, then we're quite happy to leave it.

But we're right at the tail end of the season now, so it's

really the last knockings of fruit that we're just trying to get in.

I don't think I've ever picked a mulberry before,

or hardly ever seen one, so can I give it a go?

OK, Adam. We've got to jump in here to get up to the last few

I can see them all. There's lots up there, isn't there?

I think the reality was, they didn't.

I think what was left at the very top of the tree,

Not any more, though. So which ones are you going for?

We're looking for the really dark berries. OK.

But they do come with a health warning.

We've literally just touched them... Look at that!

Oh, yes. And they really... Look at the juice!

This is where the expression "being caught red-handed" comes from.

The problem is we'll wash our hands now, and we'll be stained indelibly.

VOICEOVER: The telltale signs might have put off potential scrumpers,

but farmers, too, have their reservations.

Why didn't they take off? Because they're so squishy?

I think they're a really difficult fruit to deal with.

When we were still making mulberry jam, the team of ladies within the

factory would have scissors and would cut that individual stalk out.

Very difficult to pick in the first instance,

but subsequently, down the line, very, very labour-intensive as well.

Well, while we're up here I suppose we might as well pick

the rest of the crop. As long as I don't eat it all.

VOICEOVER: So there may not be mulberry jam for tea right now,

but with new and interesting ways of using the fruit,

we could be picking them for another 100 years yet.

Here we go, Adam. The end of the process, and essentially

the fruits of our labours, and some fresh mulberry juice.

Beautiful colour. And a lovely flavour. Very unique.

I was expecting it to taste like blackberries,

but it's very sweet, and a little bit earthy at the same time.

It is a unique flavour, and I think we'll add a fantastic addition

to our current range of fruit gin liqueurs.

Innovation and history all in one place.

From the thousands and thousands of photos that you entered,

Here's John to reveal who has made the grade.

We've seen a kaleidoscope of wonderful pictures,

This competition gets harder every year,

and the online pictures have made it even harder, I think, to choose,

but we have got down to about 100 now, and we've got to be brutal.

And we're certainly on the way to the final 12,

but when we're done, it will be down to you to choose the overall

winner that'll be on the front cover of the calendar for 2018.

The winning photographer will receive a voucher to the

value of ?1,000, to be spent on photographic equipment.

Yes, that's not a very elegant squirrel, but very effective.

You see, I have to keep reminding myself it's "call of the wild",

because actually, some of these are lovely photographs,

but they don't really address the topic.

Peep-o. Oh, I love that. Another little owl moment. That's great.

In fact, we've had plenty of surprising entries.

Now that's unusual, isn't it, to see the big family of stoats?

Well, they do have big litters, but to get them all in a gang,

all obviously focused on the same thing,

whatever it was that caught their interest...

The position of them, I would much rather they were down, so

they weren't so central, but they're on the right side of the frame.

Look at that. Look at that. Wow. That is great, isn't it?

That's a great shot. Isn't it? What an electric storm.

Yeah, phenomenal, and really well-executed, you know?

That's a considered image, big storm out at sea. Keep the shutter open.

Sorry. I know what he feels like. I've had hair days like that.

I've gone out in the rain, and I just know how he feels.

I like this one. I know it's sheep, and I know...

It just, to me, looks like it's very wild,

The tree's been blown by the wind, that's certainly true. Yes.

But it's just a picture of sheep and a tree.

OK. THEY LAUGH

What about this? Gets the seal of approval.

It does get the seal of approval. Not from me.

VOICEOVER: After a day of deliberation and debate,

We've finally got the 12 stunning photographs that are going to

star in the Countryfile Calendar for 2018.

here are the 12 that will make up the calendar for 2018.

Now, it's up to you to decide the overall winner.

You can select your favourite by phone,

or you can also cast your vote online.

and the best bit is it's completely free.

Voting by phone costs 10p, plus your network's access charge.

That's all the numbers, and you've got our website address,

..please don't call or click after then,

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

We'll be showing all 12 photos again

with the details on how you can vote at the end of the programme.

And we'll be revealing the overall winner

and the judges' favourite on Countryfile on October 1st,

but for now, a really big thank you from all of us

As always, we couldn't have done it without you.

I'm on the Llyn Peninsula, a jewel of the north west Wales landscape,

with mile upon mile of extraordinary coastline.

It's no surprise that these summer beaches are popular with visitors.

And what a better treat on your holiday than an ice cream?

Who doesn't like a scoop or two of vanilla, chocolate,

strawberry, maybe even rum and raisin?

But what about something more exotic?

I'm going to make an ice cream that no-one has ever tasted before,

Hazel Jones grows some very unusual berries.

Hazel. Hello. Lovely to see you. How are you? I'm very well, thank you.

These are your berries. These are aronia.

Aronia berries. Tell me everything about aronia berries, please.

Well, aronia is commonly known as the black chokeberry.

It's grown on a very big scale in Eastern European countries.

But as you can see, it's grown here in Wales.

They're not very well-known in this country.

They're becoming a little bit more popular now,

because they are one of the super fruits.

They're very high in antioxidants and polyphenols.

They're a little bit sharper than a blueberry.

It is a little bit sharper than a blueberry,

This year looks like being a bumper harvest, too.

and there's no end of uses for the fruit.

We make syrup, we make jelly, we make chocolates.

You know, as quickly as I'm putting them into my bucket,

I'm putting them into my mouth, as well.

Good. They are quite nice. They're very, very good for you.

But will they be any good for ice cream? Only one way to find out.

So I've got my berries. Now I need some know-how.

Hi there, Anwen. Oh, hello. Nice to see you. And you. Good to see you.

VOICEOVER: Dylan and Anwen Jones are dairy farmers

and then this is some aronia berry juice.

Would you like to add some fresh berries in? Yeah.

So how's this for numbers? That's fine.

Straight into the bowl? Yeah. There we go.

And how did you get into making ice cream in the first place?

2012, she was getting married, and she wanted a product

and then we decided, well, what better than ice cream?

Cos we had the milk. So we started off on a little kitchen top machine.

From kitchen top to town centre, their business has boomed.

To help keep up with demand, they get extra cream

from farming neighbours Sion and Nia, who I met earlier.

So how does it work? How have they got cream that you haven't?

Well, they're skimming the milk to get semi-skimmed,

so they've got a surplus of cream, and it's just worked together, so...

So you need more cream to make ice cream, and they need less cream

cos they make skimmed milk, and so together it works perfectly.

To call an ice cream "dairy ice cream,"

you only need 5% dairy into the ice cream.

VOICEOVER: Right, it's time to find out if this aronia berry ice cream

is the knockout flavour I've been hoping for.

Wow! There you go, Steve. You can be the first to try it. Look at this!

Now, if you want to taste the summer,

here's a flavour of what's coming up on Countryfile's Summer Diaries,

How are you doing, there? Are you all right?

Agh, it's cold! Master at this! Master!

I didn't realise we were going to see quite this much.

There's Countryfile Summer Diaries every morning this week at 9:15,

and if you're interested in the weather in your area,

Hello. It has not been quite as lovely today, but it has cheered up

since this weather watcher picture was taken earlier this morning, some

sunshine has come through. I will take you to a different coastline

and skyline, this is Norfolk, some very warm sunshine, parts of England

and Wales will hold onto some warm sunshine tomorrow, although high

pressure is being squeezed southwards by these weather fronts

coming in, Scotland and Northern Ireland tomorrow, high pressure will

come back later in the week as I will show you in a moment. Let's

take it day by day, Monday, bank holiday for some of us, but ASBO

Lovren, brisk winds whipping southwards over Scotland and

Northern Ireland, not much rain in eastern Scotland, cloud ahead of

that in north-west England, west Wales, Snowdonia, could be cloud,

some drizzle maybe, some warm sunshine elsewhere in England and

will spot up a contrasting temperatures, 17 in Glasgow, upper

20s in the south-east of England. Anything above 28.3 Celsius would

make it the warmest late August bank holiday on record. This is Monday

evening and the rain edges further south into parts of northern England

and North Wales, clearing up in Scotland and Northern Ireland, just

one or two showers left behind. But Tuesday, this is a weakening weather

feature, could be patchy rain with it, northern England, Wales, and

Midlands for a time on Tuesday, and very slow-moving. Ahead of that,

East Anglia and South East England will feel humid with warm sunny

spells. North of our weather front, it is a fresher picture, sunny

spells and showers, in Scotland and Northern Ireland the odd heavy

shower and windy in the far north of Scotland, temperatures have come

down away from East Anglia and the south-east but still some warmth to

be had. A lot of uncertainty about Wednesday due to not one but two

areas of low pressure, this could produce some rain in the west of

England and Wales, and the other one could produce heavy downpours in the

south-east of in and, lots of uncertainty and none of it is set in

stone, so keep watching for updates on Wednesday. More straightforward

in Scotland and Northern Ireland, fresher air, a few sunny spells, the

showers not as heavy. By the time we get a Thursday these low pressure

systems are pulling the rain away from south-east England and high

pressure is building back in across the UK. Around that it could still

bring around a few showers in Scotland and Northern Ireland but

many places will be dry, variable cloud, sunny spells camber

temperatures close to average. On Friday, by the way that is the first

day of September, the day that meteorologists say autumn stars,

high-pressure established across the UK, low-pressure, you will notice,

but stopped in its tracks by the high pressure, a few light showers

on Friday, pleasantly warm in the sunny spells at the weekend by day

but some cool nights by the end of the week. This week starts with

warm, even some very warm weather for some of us. It will be turning

cooler, though not cold. A lot of dry weather to come, rain on

Wednesday but later this week as high pressure becomes established,

lasting into the weekend. We sometimes hear about former tropical

weather systems and hurricanes crossing the Atlantic and affecting

our weather and you will know Harvey is in the news in Texas at the

moment but it could still be raining in Houston by Wednesday and even at

the end of the week, what's left of Harvey is very much locked in the

USA, so a flooding disaster in Texas but not an issue for us this week.

Updates on the We've been exploring

the Llyn Peninsula in the far The strong currents that

swirl around the coast here have carved the contours of the land

and the spirit of its people... A little way inland on its western

edge, the eco-village Felin Uchaf. This is a creative community

built by volunteers And it's here that a local

craftsman is hard at work keeping one of the cornerstones

of the old Llyn ways alive. For 20-year-old Urien Davies-Hughes,

restoring boats is a labour of love. What an amazing workshop! It's

bigger than most people's houses. What are you working on here?

This is the Orion. 80-year-old clinker

built Aberdaron boat. What makes a clinker boat

different from another boat? So there's two different main types,

which is carvel and clinker. Carvel is when

the planks are together, and clinker built

is when they overlap by about three quarters of an inch,

and you don't use any glue. Given that it's just nails

that are holding it together, There must be around

a thousand nails, probably more. VOICEOVER: Aberdaron clinkers

are unique to this part of Wales, and were originally

used for fishing. Urien wasn't even born when

these boats were in regular use, but it turns out that building

clinkers is in his blood. My great-grandfather

was a boat-builder, did it as an apprenticeship

in college, and then went on to doing it for the rest

of his life in Pwllheli, It would have been

great to meet him, because I've been using his old

tools, his old hammers, a few saws. These are the nails

that I've been using. These are actually the ones

that my great-grandfather And how does it feel

to be using his tools and carrying on the crafts

that he started? It feels really great.

I feel quite proud of myself. It would have been good

to learn lots off him. I'm sure he could have told me

a lot, but it feels really nice. It'll be a special day

when you first take this out. Yeah, it will be. You'll feel like

he's sitting with you somewhere. There are only around 30 original

Aberdaron clinker boats Not many people fish with them any

more, but they do have another use. Every week during the summer,

for 150 years, clinker boats have been raced

in the waters around Aberdaron, and it's a tradition

that's still going strong. 79-year-old Dafydd Griffiths

has been around these boats Dafydd, lovely to meet you.

Hello. How are you? I'm well. Are you?

Very well, thank you. Good. Good day for sailing? It's ideal.

Ideal. Nice breeze. And when did you first start

racing them, yourself? Well, I used to go when I was 15,

and then I bought my own boat, and I had that

one for about 35 years, I think. I knew how to sail before I even

went in a boat, you know what I mean? Yeah.

Some idea, like, you know. And did you have much

success in the racing? I think I won the championship about

12 times over the 30-year period. That's impressive. Yeah, yeah. Mind

you, other people have won as well. No, but that surely must be

a record, isn't it? Well, I suppose it is, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Dafydd retired from sailing

five years ago, but he's still very much

part of the sailing club here, and today he's giving me the great

honour of starting the clinker race. It's not like a sprint start,

is it, with sailing boats? But, you know

we're in it for the long haul. Wonderful to see the boats

out in the bay like this, and I think it's safe to say that

the sport of clinker boat racing How beautiful is

the Llyn Peninsula, Steve? Isn't it just wonderful? Look at

these views. Oh, yeah, I love it. You've got me a treat! I've got

this for you. Summer holiday treat! Well, have a guess.

You're never going to get it. It's purple,

and it tastes like blueberries. Similar. It's called

the aronia berry and, apparently, Well, whatever flavour it is,

it tastes absolutely delicious. That is sadly all we've got

time for from the gorgeous there's just time to remind you

of how you can vote for your favourite from the final

12 in our photographic competition. Calls cost 10p plus

your network's access charge, and you can also vote free,

on our website. The website also contains

a full list of the photos together with the terms and

conditions for the competition. Please don't call

or click after then, as your vote won't be counted,

and you may been charged. They are all cracking pictures. It's

not going to be very easy to choose. Join us next week, when we're

talking all things harvest. Hope you can join us then.

Hwyl fawr. That's good! Bye-bye.