My Countryside Compilation Countryfile

If it's majesty you're after,

the Yorkshire Dales have it on a grand scale.

I think I have the best job in the world.

I hope it's that sunny when we go!

From here in the Countryfile office,

we travel the length and breadth of Britain

to experience the very best of our countryside -

the people, the places,

the most beguiling and magical of scenery -

adventures, whatever the weather.

This is what being a Countryfile presenter's all about.

Today, I'll be exploring my beloved Malhamdale,

on my home turf of Yorkshire.

I think it's pretty obvious

why this is one of my favourite places on Earth

to come walking.

I've been coming here for years,

but today I'm going to experience it as never before.

-No way!

-You can do it, you definitely can do it.

You can nearly reach the next sling.

Go on, Anita.

You've got it, you've got it.

This is my countryside,

my piece of heaven,

and there are places all over the UK

that hold special meaning for others.

I'll be looking back through the Countryfile archives,

revisiting some well-known faces,

from comedians...

Oh! It's quite refreshing after a while.

..to athletes...

and chefs...

Bon appetit.

..who are sharing with us

their favourite parts of this, our magnificent countryside.

People always wonder what it is about folk from Yorkshire

that make them so proud, like me.

Well, it's growing up in environments like this.

This is one of my favourite places on Earth -

the limestone amphitheatre that is Malham Cove.

So, I grew up in Bradford, not too far away from here,

and this was a place we'd come out to on day trips.

My dad would lift me and my brother out of the car

and we'd run around on top, here,

getting rid of all that energy.

One of my most cherished memories and visits

was coming here on New Year's Day about ten years ago.

It was covered in snow,

it was picture-postcard beautiful,

and I remember standing up here, looking out,

and wondering what lay ahead for me and my family...

..looking out to the future, to new beginnings,

all those possibilities,

but still connected to the past...

with history quite literally beneath my feet.

-Hello, Chris.

-Cracking view!

-Isn't it spectacular?

Every time it takes my breath away.

'Yes, there is one man who loves this place as much as I do,

'even in weather like this.

'The man in the waterproofs is Chris Wildman,

'chair of the Kirkby Malhamdale Parish Council.'

I mean, to me this place is just a marvel,

but living here,

do you think you take it for granted a bit?

Probably do take it for granted. Apart from the rain, of course.

But, yeah, even just looking here,

it's amazing what you can see that you haven't maybe seen before,

or haven't noticed before.

-It's a fantastic place, and very atmospheric this morning.

-Isn't it?

It's perfect.

At the end of the last ice age, more than 11,000 years ago,

rain water began to erode this limestone landscape,

following the cracks and crevices

to form the distinctive pavement we see today

and Chris has a clever way of remembering

some of the unfamiliar technical language.

The cracks and the slabs, they're great.

I always used to struggle how to remember it,

but basically the big slabs are hard and they're clints,

Clint Eastwood.

And the gullies are called grikes.

So claims cos they're hard, like Clint Eastwood,

and grikes I can remember cos it's like yikes,

cos running around as a seven-year-old,

you don't want to fall down one of those.

As the ice sheets began to melt,

Malham Cove became a colossal cascading waterfall,

helping to carve out the valley below.

Then, last Christmas,

Chris experienced something he thought he'd never see.

Malham Cove is over 300-foot-high

and was essentially created by a waterfall,

-and of course it did it again last year.

-Did it?!

For one day only, 6th December, we had Malham waterfall again, yeah.

They think that's probably about the first time in 300 years,

-or at least living memory.

-So, did everyone come out to have a look?

It was quite busy, yeah,

there was a lot of people coming and taking photos.

And if the rain keeps coming down like it is today,

-we might have another waterfall later!

-Well, we might, yeah.

The view from this limestone plateau is just gorgeous, isn't it?

And the quest to reach some of our highest summits

is not only exhilarating, but also addictive,

as we found out last year

when comedian Ed Byrne visited the Isle of Skye.

I am a Munro-bagger.

I am someone who is attempting to climb

all of the Munros in Scotland.

The Munros are mountains above 3,000 feet,

of which there are 282.

I don't know why people who tick off mountains are known as baggers,

but they just are,

but I'm not going to argue with it.

I have had days where it's just been torrential rain

and just mist and you never see anything

and it's just a joyless trudge up this steep and featureless hill

to get to the top and not see anything

and walk straight back down and get back in the car

and you've literally done nothing

but tick off a mountain that you haven't done before.

And you go, "What was the point of that?"

I don't know what the point of that is.

I feel sometimes that the whole concept of Munro-bagging

is a cruel trick that the Scottish are playing on tourists,

because 3,000 feet,

the minimum height a mountain has to be to be a Munro,

coincidentally seems to be the very height

that Scottish cloud tends to just sit.

We're here on Skye now because this is the home of the Cuillin Ridge,

which is a chain of 11 Munros

that represents the most extensive mountaineering challenge the UK has.

And in the middle of the Cuillin Ridge is Sgurr Dearg,

also known as the Inaccessible Pinnacle,

which is unique among all the Munros

in that it's the only one that you need to rock climb,

you need ropes, to actually get to the top of it.

So, it looms large in my mind as the one I'm worried about,

basically, cos even though I love mountains,

I'm not actually very good with heights.

That's, er.... That's it. That's the inaccessible pinnacle.

Or "in pin". Er...

It's a lot bigger than I've had it described.

And, er... Yeah, a little bit more frightening than I was expecting.

I'm feeling a certain level of trepidation about the climb.

I don't want to say frightened, or scared,

because that'll make me sound like a coward.

-We're ready to go.

-OK. Let's do it.

-Let's head down.

One metre slack!

OK! Climbing!

Well, it does feel a bit slippy, all right.

If the wind'd just stop blowing,

it probably wouldn't be so bad.

HE PANTS

Yeargh! Oh, my giddy aunt.

Oh! Oh!

Is this it?

-Is this the top? Is it? If I touch you, does that count?

-Well done, Ed!

Thanks for your help, Martin. Appreciate it.

-Pretty wild conditions.

-They were... Yeah, it was unpleasant.

It was unpleasant for a good 60% of it. I think.

Ah, but, you know,

that's certainly the most hard-fought Munro I've bagged.

That's number 76. Ticked off. Another 206 to go.

It's all plain sailing from here.

Well, as exhilarating and exciting as that was, I am glad it's over.

There should be a little bit of self-discovery in every journey

and, er, the main self-discovery from today is I'm a hill walker.

I'm not a rock climber, or a mountaineer. I'm a hill walker

and I'm glad that the rock climbing part of my Munro adventure

is now done.

Right. Where did I leave my rucksack?

On today's programme,

we're visiting places in the British countryside

that mean something special to us.

For me, it's Malhamdale in North Yorkshire.

A landscape to fire the imagination.

WATER FLOWS

Wow! What a place.

This is awe-inspiring.

The noise is all around you, like a wall of sound

and, right now, I feel so insignificant.

This monumental limestone ravine is Gordale Scar,

carved out over thousands of years by torrents of glacial meltwater.

Nature is truly dominant here.

You'd think this place was an absolute gift for an artist

but, at one time, this dramatic ravine was considered "unpaintable",

too majestic to be compressed onto canvas.

I can understand why.

But times have changed.

Today, Gordale Scar inspires countless artists

and, having grown up here in Malhamdale,

Katharine Holmes has spent more time painting this place than most.

-Hi, Katharine.

-Hello!

-The all-weather artist.

-Yes.

-This is dedication.

Yes, well, I love this time of year, actually,

and this sort of weather is interesting.

Interesting is a good way of describing it!

Interesting for painting. It looks good.

The painting's getting rained on, does that matter?

It's actually adding to it.

I put some ink on and it's made all these marks,

which I think are quite good equivalents for the limestone.

-It's getting blessed by nature.

-Yes.

The drama of the Dales has inspired Katharine's artwork.

But she's not the only member of her family

to have captured Malhamdale on canvas.

That's because Katharine's mother and grandmother have also

painted these very same scenes.

So you're third generation female artist.

What was that like growing up in such a creative household?

There were always lots of paints and art materials.

It was just there, just took it for granted.

That's like if you grow up in a farming family,

you'll take on the family farm.

And what do you think your grandma will make of your paintings?

I think she'd be pleased that I was carrying on painting.

And would she go out in all weather as well?

She did, yes, she'd just have a big old tweed coat on,

and she set off on foot, or by bus.

-What was grandma's name?

-Constance.

-Constance Pearson.

-Constance Pearson, a proper Yorkshire lass.

-She was.

-I think not only are you following in her footsteps,

I think, Katharine, you really are your grandmother's granddaughter.

THEY LAUGH

Katharine comes from a dynasty of artists inspired by this landscape.

Now, it's the love of locations that compels us to go back there

time and time again, and last year, Josh Widdicombe shared with us

his treasured memories of the holidays he took in Pembrokeshire.

I came on family holidays for almost a decade, from the age of 6 to 16.

I spent two weeks of summer round the beaches around Pembroke town.

I can kind of make anything nostalgic,

so this is quite a confronting thing coming back here,

cos I might find out it was rubbish and it was just me

pretending in my mind that it was good.

This is the campsite I used to camp on with my parents.

St Petrox Campsite.

I've no idea how we found out in the time before internet,

but once we decided we liked it, we'd do it every year,

which was kind of our attitude to everything.

MUSIC: Country House by Blur

When we'd be putting our tent up, we'd listen to music.

Obviously, 1995,

I vividly remember buying Country House to help Blur beat Oasis.

But it wasn't always that cool.

I remember the year when we had Donald Where's Your Troosers?

The great thing about a tent is, however wrong you get it,

really, it's never going to be a pleasure even if you get it right.

So it doesn't really matter if you get it wrong.

It's going to be an uncomfortable night.

I think we can all agree that move

was absolutely astonishing use of the wind.

AIRBED SQUEAKS

This is suspicious, isn't it?

Wonder whether I'll get to sleep in that.

OWL HOOTS

I'm very tired, so that's a bonus.

KETTLE WHISTLES

I think I'm going to quit camping while I'm ahead now.

I've done it, I slept all right, I only woke up every two hours...

Then I had a nice shower and now I've got some Honey Nut Loops.

Life is seven out of ten. I'm enjoying it.

DUCKS QUACK

When we'd come to Broad Haven Beach, which was our beach of choice,

there was this amazing walk along these lily ponds.

It's unbelievably nice, isn't it? I...

The weird thing is, the bit I remember most

about this is this bridge

with the handle on one side. Perilous.

Surely they can afford two handles.

It's the best way to get to any beach.

Obviously it means once you're on the beach, you're on the beach.

If you need to go to the toilet, it's a dune or the sea.

It's much bigger than I remember.

I mainly remember the wind.

My parents having to buy a windbreak

and hammer it into the beach.

And you'd basically be sheltering as the wind hit you and it's...

not particularly relaxing.

Roll up your trousers, Brits on holiday.

Definitely played cricket

on the beach, that's my main memory of that.

Oh, it's gone!

Oof!

Very low bounce.

All the things you imagine you would do

on a British holiday on the beach.

That is so cold.

It can't always have been this cold, that is un... I mean, that's...

That's colder than a cold shower.

Aah! Bracing.

It's quite refreshing after a while.

Kind of about four or five, when the sun's coming down,

we'd go from the beach...

At the other end of the lily ponds is a tea rooms, um,

actually called, I think, Ye Olde Cafe.

Thank you.

Cheers.

-Cheers, thank you.

-You're welcome.

Now, there's a lot of debate over

whether you put the jam or the cream on first.

Quite high-level debate, as well. And...

You've got to go jam first. The cream is the best bit.

It's not just a replacement for butter.

When you look back nostalgically on something,

you've probably imagined it differently,

or time has changed it in your head,

but it was exactly the same, really.

It's a really, really nice place. I'm glad it is,

because I don't think it would have needed to be that nice a place.

I think it was the circumstance that made it nice, the family holiday.

But it just happens that...

I mean, that beach

is way better than so many beaches.

It's such a nice beach,

and...very lucky, really, to have got to go there.

Maybe too many years in a row, could have mixed it up a bit,

but, um...yeah, it's very nice.

This week we've been revisiting the most cherished places

of some familiar faces.

For England Test cricket captain Alastair Cook,

he doesn't have to travel far to find his rural retreat,

as it's on his wife Alice's family farm in Bedfordshire.

When we visited, lambing was in full swing.

-COMMENTATOR:

-He's made 200 in a Test Match against Australia.

That is a wonderful achievement from Alastair Cook.

-Hey, Tess.

-HE WHISTLES

-COMMENTATOR:

-It's all over.

And England have won their first series in Australia

for 24 years.

-HE WHISTLES

-Here, up.

-COMMENTATOR:

-And Alastair Cook becomes England's

all-time leading run scorer in the history of Test cricket.

SHEEP BLEAT

My day usually starts 6.30 to 6.45.

We're just starting lambing now with the ewes.

This has just been born.

There's about 600-odd acres, mainly arable stuff, here.

Probably about 3,000 sheep around.

I first came up here when I was 18 and I came to see Alice.

We met at school.

I used to come down the farm and podge around

for an hour, hour and a half, not really knowing what I was doing,

but just doing little jobs,

and it was, you know, a big release for me

in terms of, I wasn't thinking about cricket 24/7.

The more time I spent up here

and the more kind of integrated I got into the family

and the more I understood about farming,

the more it has become a lifestyle rather than a release.

It's a serious farm, a serious operation.

This is what I do when I'm not playing cricket,

you know, trying to help out on the family farm,

trying to be more useful than not.

I feel as if I now know what I'm doing.

I can't quite see a head, but normally they come out

and they tuck their noses in front of their hooves at the front...

Yeah, she's not going to be too long off.

I do love it, you know.

Of course there's days when you're electric fencing, either in the cold

or, you know, you're storing stuff, and you're thinking,

"I'd rather be somewhere else,"

but, you know, that's just part and parcel of it.

I think farming does help my cricket,

in the way that I'm not lying on the sofa thinking,

"Oh, what's my technique doing here?"

Cooky was going through a very lean patch once,

but the farm was brilliant.

He came, got completely stuck in,

was tagging sheep,

he was up at 4.30 loading the lorry.

He then went on to score 290,

which I think my dad and all the local farmers

took a huge amount of credit for.

They've never let him live it down.

Whenever he sort of has a bit of a rough time, it's all he gets.

"Get on the farm and you'll be all right! Forget batting practice."

The sheep won't talk to you about cricket,

and I think in any elite team,

the environment is pretty brutal because you're expected to win.

To me it was that release, it was getting away from that...

the pressure, I suppose, of playing international cricket

and doing something totally different

so you're not always thinking about cricket.

-SHEEP BLEAT

-Is she eating it?

Good girl.

We've got a young daughter called Elsie

who's coming up to two in April.

It's an incredible place for, I think, Elsie to grow up.

Alice talks so fondly about her childhood growing up on the farm.

Mum and Dad would be working and we'd just run about in the shed,

and now, you know, Elsie's lucky that, you know,

she has the same thing - Cooky and I are in here working,

she just potters with the dog, the lambs, her wheelbarrow.

Alice's grandparents are just there,

her mum farms just round the corner. You know, her brother's there.

You know, it's such a family environment.

I feel very privileged that that's here.

We're in a great environment for Elsie to grow up in.

Rah!

THEY LAUGH

-Who's in here, Elsie?

-Baby lambs.

-Baby lambs?

Well, the future's really interesting.

Who knows what's going to happen with the cricket?

Hopefully I've got three or four more years left at the top.

That would be brilliant.

But knowing we've got something here which I love doing anyway

and we can get bigger is really exciting.

I feel we're sort of really lucky.

We've just bought a little smallholding five minutes away

and we're really excited to sort of expand on that.

Cooky's quite interested in doing more with cattle.

At the minute we have a few.

Cooky actually bought me two for our first wedding anniversary.

Quite an odd one, but brilliant. Like, my sort of present.

Shoo them on, Els. Shoo them on.

There's so many good things about the farming

kind of community which I love and obviously is challenging.

Cricket has been my life for so long,

it's given me so much that I'd love to stay involved.

If I could combine cricket and farming at the same time,

that would be absolutely ideal for me.

They're both my passions and not many people can say what they do

for their job or their life is what they love doing all the time

and I pretty much love everything to do with it.

This is Malhamdale in Yorkshire,

which I think is one of the best places on Earth.

Over thousands of years, the immense power of glacial ice and torrents

of meltwater sculpted this limestone landscape into the place I love.

It's the elemental power of fire that's most at work here

in the village of Malham today.

METAL CLANGS

WATER FLOWS

The sound of a ringing anvil

has echoed through this village for centuries.

But for local smithy, Annabelle Bradley,

it was a calling that she hadn't expected.

As if it wasn't dramatic enough out there, it's so atmospheric in here.

Very proud to be able to work from here.

Presumably you come from a long line of smithies

-and this is in your blood.

-No, first-generation blacksmith.

Prior to this I was a tax accountant,

-so a big change in career.

-A tax accountant?

Tax accountant to blacksmith. How does that happen?

I've always been kind of active and kind of doing more hobby-type crafts

then when we moved to Malham.

We saw this building and always thought it would make a fantastic business.

So I applied for it on the basis of doing silversmithing

and other kind of crafts from here,

not really planning to begin with to be a blacksmith,

but it's been a blacksmith for over 200 years

and church wardens wanted it to retain as that.

OK, I'll be a blacksmith, then.

And then when people started buying the things... Wow!

SHE LAUGHS

So, what is it that brought you to Malham?

-Because you're not Malham born and bred, are you?

-No, no.

My husband and I, as our first date, we came for a picnic at Malham Cove.

SHE LAUGHS

It's just a place we just fell in love with straightaway.

It is such a romantic story,

particularly for me, cos I love this place,

that you fell in love with Malham,

and then you fell in love with your future husband.

Will you be the first in a long line of female blacksmiths, do you think?

I would like to think so.

My two daughters do come and make things now.

It's their way of getting pocket money is making things to sell.

I am very conscious that the girls will realise that I would

like them to continue blacksmithing, but it may not be feasible for them.

The chances are they will go off, move away and do other things,

but I hope they continue to like blacksmithing

and keep doing a little bit now and again.

But I would like them to come back and take over

so I can retire at some point!

Cos I don't like the thought of ever handing over the keys

to this place to someone else, you know.

I'd like to always be able to come and potter.

A woman after my own heart.

Fell in love with Malhamdale,

left the spreadsheets behind and forged a new career as a blacksmith.

And the natural world can have an effect on us all.

Last year, Chef Tony Singh took us to Loch Awe,

where he first fell in love with fresh produce.

Wow.

Still beautiful, eh?

I can remember coming 28 years ago.

But it just feels...so welcoming.

I was a YTS chef when I was 18

and that led to working here, Ardanaiseig Hotel.

And that was the first time, basically, I'd left home.

The thing I always remember that sticks in my mind was the loch

just around the corner.

It was so stunning.

And... Wow.

There you go. That stayed with me forever.

It's just...feels exactly the same.

Kitchen there, which was great.

The first kitchen I ever worked in that had windows.

It was just phenomenal.

You wonder why people went out camping or climbing mountains.

It's a mountain, yeah.

And when you're here, you're intoxicated by it.

I went over to the island, wanted to go up there.

Wanted to go trekking and everything.

So I was champing at the bit to get out and experience everything.

Well, this is the old boathouse.

This is where I first cast off on my first fishing trip.

And what an adventure that was!

MOTOR WHIRS

-Fancy some fishing?

-Definitely.

I came out and it was beautiful. It was like this.

So we thought we'd go out for a couple of hours,

hopefully catch a trout and put it on the menu.

Fishing rods out, casting off.

And then the weather changed, just like that.

Rain came in, started getting choppy.

Panicked. Water was coming in,

so we tried to head straight back to the shore through the waves.

And then it just got worse.

We ended up a mile and a half away,

had to trudge back to the hotel with the engine.

Late for work, no fish.

Soaked, got into trouble.

Then we had to go back and tie off the boat and everything.

It was a nightmare.

But it never put me off, going back out, or this view or anything.

This is amazing.

So here I am again and hopefully, we'll catch something this time.

Put it down the middle there.

If it's going to snag off...

Luck's out. It's not going to happen.

-Well, that's fishing.

-Shall we head back?

-That's not a bad idea.

-Come on, then.

Everybody talks about Scotland's larder being the best in the world,

and it is, but it was coming to Ardanaiseig

that really etched it into my psyche.

The produce on our doorstep, the butcher coming up with the lamb

that he got from the farmer that he knew.

Catching trout. The guys going picking wild mushrooms or berries.

Look, there we go. Look at that.

Hedgehog mushrooms.

We've got some there.

If you're not sure, never eat anything, eh?

Very, very important. Just...oh...look at that.

What got a fantastic cep there.

Look at that.

It's been eaten a little bit.

They used to be called penny buns. Or ceps. You get smaller ones.

But this was an eye-opener, because back in the city, we were

getting produce and it was great and it was fresh and it was lovely.

But we just didn't connect.

Well, I didn't connect, I didn't add one and one together.

But picking it fresh and seeing it, it was just like...

It was a revelation. It was fantastic.

And it was free. So everybody was a winner.

The things that you pick up, it had a really profound effect on me.

I've got a recipe from a wee coffee shop in town for scones,

and I still use that.

These things always take you back to good times.

It's gorgeous.

Lovely.

In the pocket.

This is it. This is another amazing memory.

This is elemental.

We've got fire, we've got hot water,

we've got some fantastic brown trout that we're going to do justice to.

Just a little bit of spice and cooked on the fire. This is just...

You can't get better than that. Look at that. Look at the view.

So we've got a fantastic brownie here.

Look at that. Beautiful.

And we're just going to cook it on the embers of the fire. So...

Making a little pocket.

To that, we've got some fantastic thyme from the garden.

Just a little bit of cinnamon there. Some garlic cloves.

Some white wine.

Some harissa paste.

Lemon.

Lovely fish, put it in.

Make sure you get right in there.

Rapeseed oil.

The steam and the juices in there

are going to make the sauce for the fish.

And that's it. A Viking boat.

Fit burial for the brown trout.

We just want the embers there.

This is it.

This season I spent in Ardanaiseig,

away from home when I was 18...

..in this amazing countryside.

Ah...look at that.

This made me want to be a chef. This was it.

This fantastic raw produce that we had.

Nah. Words can't describe it.

You have to feel it. And it's just brilliant.

Bon appetit.

Sometimes, what we love about the natural world

can sit right in the shadow of some of our biggest cities.

On the edge of Leeds is the 1,500 acre Temple Newsam estate,

where Adam was put through his paces last year

by two-time Olympic gold medal-winning boxer Nicola Adams.

-Nicola, great to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

Goodness me! Don't run too fast. I'm not very fit.

Oh, I won't. I won't.

THEY LAUGH

So, have you been coming to Temple Newsam for a while?

Yeah, I have. Since I was a little girl.

We used to do sports days here. My parents used to bring me here.

It's like, literally, two minutes round the corner.

And I'm fine. I'm right here.

-Incredible, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-How lucky you are. That's lovely.

So do you prefer the cosiness of the gym or the great outdoors?

Oh, I love the great outdoors.

Nothing beats having the sun on your back and being outside, getting

a bit of fresh air, instead of being stuck in a sweaty gym all the time.

THEY LAUGH

-It's a beautiful sight, isn't it?

-Definitely.

-It's lovely out here.

Pretty intense, your training, though. How often are you doing it?

Yeah, really intense. I train three times a day.

Do you fancy having a go?

-Yeah, OK. Yeah.

-Cool.

Oh, you can punch better than that. What's that?!

THEY LAUGH

-I wouldn't want to hurt you.

-THEY LAUGH

-No, you won't hurt me. I'm tough.

-I know!

Right, that's enough of that, so what next?

Rather than tell you, I'm going to show you. It's exciting.

All right, let's have a look.

You genuinely train like this?

Yeah, this has really helped to build up my shoulders.

-Amazing.

-Yeah.

What makes an Olympic gold medallist.

Do you want to try?

Yeah, why not?

You almost chopped right through it.

I'll be standing way clear!

That's all right, you're not that bad, actually. Pretty good.

-You can really feel it. It's quite hard work, isn't it?

-Yes.

That timing, as well. Does it help with the timing of a hit?

Yeah, it does, definitely.

'As much as I appreciate the workout,

'I think it is time to get back to more familiar territory.

'There's something I want to show Nicola.'

PIGS GRUNT

The farm here at Temple Newsam is a rare breeds centre,

just like my farm,

with the likes of Kerry Hill sheep,

Golden Guernsey goats

and these very cute Tamworth piglets.

Let me see if I can catch a piglet.

The mum might not like this too much.

The piglets tend to squeal when you pick them up, sometimes.

PIGLET SQUEALS

Shh, shh... Come on in, come on in.

It's just that...

It's not hurting it, it's just like a little, "Mum, Mum."

-Have you ever held a piglet before?

-No, no.

You just cuddle it like a baby.

It might squeal a bit when I pass him over.

But it'll soon settle down.

-OK.

-There we go.

-It didn't squeal at all. You've got a natural touch.

-Yeah.

-Aw! What do you reckon?

-Until it finds out it's bacon tomorrow!

Joking, not joking!

'Now Nicola has got to grips with one of the smallest residents here,

'I'd like to introduce her to some of the larger ones.'

COWS MOO

When was the last time you came down to the farmyard here at

Temple Newsam?

The last time I came here, I must have been about ten years old,

-with my mum.

-I bet you were sweet, weren't you?

Yeah, I was quite small.

I'm not that much bigger now, to be fair!

-Have you ever fed cows before?

-No, this is the first time.

There's various different breeds in here.

This is the Belted Galloway,

the ones with the belt round their middle.

They're a really tough, hardy breed.

In the corner there's a little calf. That's a Shetland calf,

from the Shetland Islands.

And the Gloucester, here,

they're what's known as a dual-purpose breed so they are

quite good at producing beef and pretty good at producing milk.

-They produce single and double Gloucester cheese.

-Oh, cool.

I always thought all cows were the same. I'm learning a lot today.

Right, that's the cattle fed. Now I have got something else to show you.

Sweet.

Seeing as Nicola put me through my paces,

I thought I'd return the favour.

Now then, I've got a bit of a challenge for you if you're

-up for that.

-Yeah, I am always up for a challenge.

-As long as you win.

-Yeah!

-Peg, here. This is my Border collie sheepdog, Peg.

What I thought we would try and do, or what I thought I would get

you to do, is get those sheep into that pen over there, using Peg.

So if I teach you the commands and then I'll let you do it.

There's "stand" and "lie down" for stop.

Lie down.

And then "walk on" for on.

Walk on.

Good girl. I'll send her round to the right,

which is an "away" command.

Away. Lie down. Lie down.

And then left is "come bye". Come bye. Good girl.

Are you ready for this challenge?

-Do you reckon you can get these sheep in the pen?

-I'm ready.

Let's do this. Come on, Peg. We've got this.

-Lie down.

-Now away. Say "away", to the right.

-Peg, away.

HE WHISTLES

That's it.

-Lie down.

-Lie down, Peg! Lie down.

-Now left, which is "come bye".

-Come bye.

She works for you better than she works for me!

Oh, we've missed the pen. So away.

Peg, away. Come bye.

Well done, excellent.

-And come bye.

-Come bye. Come bye.

-Lie down, lie down.

-Lie down. Lie down.

And that's it. Hey, you got them.

Well done! Fantastic, congratulations.

Here, Peg, what a good girl. Well, you're a great team, you two.

-Yeah.

-Go and have a drink, Peg.

She'll go in the trough now and go and cool herself down.

If you ever happen to hang up your gloves,

there is always a job for you on the farm.

And Peg has had her drink now, it is time to get ours, isn't it?

-Yeah, and a steak!

-Here, Peg.

This is it, my childhood love - Malham Cove.

I remember that sense of anticipation and it hasn't changed.

As you get closer and closer to the rock,

it just gets bigger and bigger.

Whether you're 7 or 77, the magic never goes.

It's 80 metres to the top.

Some of the most spectacular views once you get up there but

that's easier said than done.

These are some of the hardest rock climbs in the world.

I have so much respect for climbers. What they do is so difficult.

Not only is it a fantastic sport but they are conquering this huge,

dramatic, terrifying bit of nature.

They need strength, not only in body, but also in mind.

Neil Gresham is one of Britain's best all-round climbers.

Oh!

Oh, my goodness me.

Having scaled incredible heights around the globe,

the grandeur of Malham Cove still keeps drawing him back.

I've been coming here my whole life and I've always wondered

what it is that makes you climbers climb this thing.

I don't know, really.

When I first came here I wasn't a climber at all,

I was a schoolboy on a geography field trip.

It didn't really occur to me that I was ever going to climb it but

I just knew that I wanted to come back.

As I grew up and got into climbing,

I always vowed that one day I would come and try and pit my wits

against this place because it really is one of the best places to

go sport climbing in the UK.

You see people here trying routes for years and years.

There's one guy who's even been trying this one climb for nine years

-and still hasn't done it.

-Nine years? Surely you'd give up.

I don't know whether that is something that we should be,

-you know, looking up to.

-Oh, definitely.

-Tenacity.

Totally. We say, in the climbing community,

maximum respect for making big pushes like that.

It took Neil a year to conquer the hardest climb of his life.

Last autumn he became the first person to scale one of the

remaining great challenges of unclimbed rock in the UK.

A route he has christened Sabotage.

There's actually an existing climb here that only goes about

two-thirds, three-quarters of the way up the cliff and then it stops

because there's a really difficult overhang right at the top.

So I was able to kind of do the lower part of this climb and

then pull over the overhang and go all the way to the top.

But it wasn't something that I just did on the whim,

spur of the moment, it took me a whole year of preparation.

Why does it take so long to prepare for a climb?

During that period I really had to devote everything to it,

it was all about following a really strict diet, no alcohol,

training in much the same way as an Olympic athlete would.

And how did it feel when you actually did it?

What was that sense of achievement like?

You can't put it into words.

When you put your heart and soul and everything into something

and then it finally comes good...

Equally, it does leave you with a bit of a sense of anti-climax,

you suddenly think, "What am I going to do now?"

And the answer is, I'll probably try and climb something even harder

because that's what we climbers do.

I am, and always have been, completely in awe of climbers.

I think just the physicality and also the beauty of this sport

-has always amazed me.

-Well, I think it might be your turn next, Anita.

You can't come all the way to Malham and not have a go, can you?

Of course I'll do it. Of course I'll do it!

That's what I like to hear, up for a challenge.

I am going to attempt one of Malham Cove's less challenging routes.

Trouble is, for a beginner like me, it's still going to be

very difficult, especially in this weather.

This tiny bit of overhang is providing me

with just enough shelter.

I may have found the driest spot in Britain today.

But if you want to be better prepared for the weather,

here's the Countryfile forecast for the week ahead.

This week, we've been revisiting some of our most cherished places

in the British countryside.

I've been exploring Malham Cove in North Yorkshire,

a place I've been drawn to since childhood.

It's been a wet and wild day.

Now I'm about to experience this landscape

as I've never done before -

halfway up this vertical limestone cliff face.

It's one of the hardest, if not the hardest places in the UK to

go climbing. Even the easiest route is really difficult.

So, yeah, you're going to need all the skills you can muster and

a little bit of good luck as well.

SHE LAUGHS

'All ably assisted by one of Britain's best all-round climbers,

'Neil Gresham.'

I have got to get over my fear. I've been coming here my whole life.

Never in my life will I have had this perspective, but now or never.

Now or never.

Just how hard is it to climb limestone?

How does it compare to other rocks?

Limestone is probably the most difficult rock type because it

is really smooth and the holds on it tend to be really small.

There is no friction and, yeah,

you often feel like there's nothing positive to grab hold of.

What about on a day like today, freezing cold, wet?

You would normally just stay inside and sit by the fire and read a book.

But seeing as we are here, we'll just have to make the most of it.

OK, well, I don't fancy my chances but I am here.

Look at that, drip of water in my eyes. Shall we go for it?

Yeah, let's give it a go. Come on.

Try and go right towards that plant.

And then back left and follow the orange clips.

All right, now or never, as I said. Shall I just stand on here?

Yeah, yeah, just go for it. Go up a little bit more.

Up a little bit more.

Move my leg?

Yeah, that's good.

Yeah. Pull on that, that's great. Really good.

A little bit higher, there's a hold for you.

You will need to stand up on the left foot. Perfect. There you go.

That's it.

That's really good. You have to trust some quite small footholds.

Look for your foot.

Yeah, yeah, there, that's great. Now pull.

That's it, that's it, that's it. That's it, and now reach.

Ah! OK.

Good try, that's a good try. You are nearly there.

Yeah, there, that's it, well done.

-No way.

-You can do it, you definitely can do it.

You can nearly reach the next sling, go on. That's it, left.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's it.

Go on, Anita.

Come on. Come on.

SHE PANTS

You've got it, you've got it.

Come on, one more move and you've done it. Come on.

Come on!

-Touch the top.

-I can't!

There you go.

Ah!

Yeah, brilliant, well done. That's it. That's the top now.

You don't have to go any higher.

-Wow.

-Well done. Well done.

That was so exhilarating and utterly terrifying, but what a view.

I've got a smile on my face but my legs are totally shaking.

That's it for this week.

I hope you've enjoyed revisiting those beautiful places.

The good news is,

there's lots more to come throughout the rest of the year.

This year, we'll be joining more well-known faces.

From DJs to comedians...

I've been wanting to see an otter for years and I've finally seen one.

..chefs to singers.

# My old man said follow the van... #

To find out which part of our magnificent countryside is

special to them.

I hope you join us next time.

I've just got to figure out how to get down now!