Yorkshire Dales Countryfile


Yorkshire Dales

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'You can have known its hills and its valleys since childhood.'

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But it can still surprise you. Take this place - Crummack Dale.

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a region that I love, but this small dale is completely new to me.

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Huge boulders lie scattered all across the valley floor.

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They're known as the Norber Erratics.

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Now, a name like that sounds to me much more like a punk rock band!

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But these rocks have been around for much, much longer.

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I'll be finding out how they got here and how the Erratics

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have inspired artists, from painters and poets to dancers.

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Tom is finding out that there really is no such thing

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and shopping from supermarket shelves,

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the idea of finding your own food from wild in the woods

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But is our appetite for samphire or mushrooms

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threatening parts of the countryside?

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Helen's meeting the English team going for glory in this year's

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Can we see her in action? Yeah. Meg!

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SHE LAUGHS She's like a whippet!

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'..while Adam is over the water checking out the Irish competition.'

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I'd love to take this little one home,

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I'll see you in the Cotswolds. No bother.

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Lush, green pastures, babbling streams and brooks,

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all surrounded by dramatic limestone escarpments.

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Quiet yet grand, like a deserted, natural amphitheatre.

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One of the Yorkshire Dales' best kept secrets,

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Crummack Dale is tucked between the big box office destinations

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of Ingleborough and Pen-Y-Ghent in the south-west corner of the Dales.

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The Crummack Dale landscape encapsulates

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The shifting of the continents and the comings and goings

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of the ice ages have created this unique landscape

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and every fold, every dip, every rise -

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everything is all because of the rocks.

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'Limestone dominates this part of the Dales,

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'most noticeably in the striking limestone pavements,

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'furrowed by weathering with character in every grike and clint.'

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But step over the limestone and this is what I've come to see.

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and there are lots of them around here.

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Large boulders perched precariously on much smaller stones.

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It's an amazing sight, I've never seen anything quite like it before.

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And if you think that it needs Stonehenge-type manpower

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or modern lifting equipment to achieve something like this,

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"Erratic" means this piece of rock shouldn't be here.

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This hulking bit of sandstone on Norber Hill

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is 100 million years older than the relatively tiny pieces of limestone

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To explain this bit of upside down but completely natural geology

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It does look as though somebody's put the big one on top of the little one.

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They'd need to be very strong, John, because there's a few tonnes there.

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And we as geologists have always wondered

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how these boulders had possibly got here.

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And we have to look no further than ice.

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And we believe that the ice came down from the north

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some 17,000 years ago in what we call a moraine field.

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This is where, effectively, ice was melting,

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Basically, all of these rocks were inside the ice while it was frozen,

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and when it melted and retreated, they fell to the ground.

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So what is the age of the big rock and the limestone?

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The block on top was laid down in a sea 400-odd million years ago,

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so it's very, very old, and we think these have come

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from about two miles up the valley

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because that's where we can find bedrock of the same material.

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Whereas the limestone underneath would have been here

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In terms of geological time, where we build the layers up,

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the oldest at the bottom, this is completely upside down geology.

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and this is a world-famous erratic field, as we call it.

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There's a large area of these boulders left for us to see,

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While these Erratics can be explained by nature,

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'In his book, Walks In Limestone Country,

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'Alfred Wainwright had a similar view.'

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'Monoliths lie stranded in confusion.

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'An amazing scene, one that imparts a feeling of unreality,

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'as though this were not Earth, but some strange lunar landscape.'

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And it isn't just Wainwright who's been inspired to commit

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'Local painter Peter Osborne has been interpreting

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These rocks make perfect subjects, don't they, Peter?

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This place, more than almost any I know,

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has got this character about it, it's built into these rocks.

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Because of their enormous geological life cycle

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and the things that they've kind of suffered.

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You feel these rocks have been lifted out of their home,

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carried away and dropped, and worn away by the weather,

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and so there's a feeling of endurance and strength in them.

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you try to bring out more than what the camera would see.

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There's so many different shapes here.

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There's architectural, there's movement in them,

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There's everything here so they're a terrific subject.

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It's like a sort of great museum of strangeness here.

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The erratic nature of the Erratics certainly sparks the imagination.

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A whole troupe of artists has been inspired by these humble

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Photographer Paul Rogers focused on the millennia of lichen growth

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that's created patterns like a night sky...

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..whilst poet Elizabeth Burns has portrayed the Erratics in verse.

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'Stopped, halted, frozen. A scatter of rocks in a field.

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'The things that held them - glacier and limestone -

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And here's a dance performance going on, in and around the Erratics.

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Well, Louise, you've created this, how did it come about?

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This was originally part of a three-day performance

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that happened in Crummack Dale and beyond.

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And during the performance, an audience made a 25-mile journey

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and as they travelled, they experienced dance, poetry, music

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and scientific talks in the landscape,

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and this was one of those... one of those moments.

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So, the Erratics became a stage for this ballet? That's right.

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I mean, you can hardly resist these amazing Erratics,

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and we were really drawn to them for their shape, their textures,

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the fact that they're literally splitting in half,

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so with the choreographer, we made a piece that responded

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very much to the boulders themselves.

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we looked back at some of the resourceful people

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we've met recently who managed to gather food

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from our natural landscape. But, as Tom's been finding out,

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sometimes foraging can seem to go too far.

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Our countryside provides space for recreation, relaxation

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and a bountiful buffet of wild food.

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Foraging is the age-old activity of finding food in our natural world,

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appealing to the hunter-gatherer in us all.

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I guess I could make a little meal out of these sweet chestnuts here.

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But is a frenzy of foraging now damaging our countryside?

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'has been visited by foragers for centuries.

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'In recent times, the mushrooms here have been hitting the headlines.'

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This is a cepe de Bordeaux, this is perfection.

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A deadly Amanita? Deadly, deadly. Angel of death.

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'Brigitte Tee-Hillman and has been picking mushrooms here

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Well, it's a beefsteak... or we call it a beefsteak,

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because if it's not bloody any more, it's too old.

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It's good to eat, is it? It's excellent to eat, yes.

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As a stir-fry - the Japanese use it in stir-fry. Can we cut it off?

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But you have to cut it very close to the tree.

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And this year, they are growing like crazy.

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Yeah? Is this a good year for fungi?

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Absolutely, because last year was the worst year

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because of the rain and the weather, and this year is a fantastic year.

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'Brigitte sells the best examples to high-end restaurants in London,

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'and believes the way she harvests fungi

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'doesn't damage the natural environment.'

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How can I damage them if I'm still picking my same spots for 42 years?

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Mm. I'm looking after them. Mm. I help them grow, yeah?

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If they are over the top, I leave them on the tree.

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Other people just knock them off the tree.

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If they have poisonous mushrooms, they kick them over.

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I don't do that, that's destroying nature.

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'After a lengthy legal battle, Brigitte was granted

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'the first and only licence in the New Forest

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'She says she knows how to forage responsibly.'

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Tell me what you think about some of the other commercial pickers.

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They pick everything and they come with truckloads, with vanloads,

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and they sell them illegally to hotels, whereas in some of them,

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they have much stricter rules right now because they have to show where

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So only some people do it, but they still do it.

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'For Brigitte, it's the groups coming in for mass pickings

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'with no regard for the natural world who are causing the problem.

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'But what's driving their desire for large-scale foraging?'

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Well, for a start, TV chefs have been extolling

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the virtues of finding food for free in the wild,

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encouraging viewers to fill their basket from nature's supermarket.

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'Dishes like wild mushroom risotto and wild garlic soup

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'are increasingly commonplace on trendy menus.'

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So, I've come to London where many hand-picked wild mushrooms end up,

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in fashionable restaurants and eateries like this one,

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Right, look at that. So we've got these,

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lovely couple of beefsteak mushrooms,

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so we're going to use a bit of that, and we're going to use...

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We're going to do mushrooms on toast, keep it nice and simple.

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'Head chef Oliver Rowe's passion is for the seasonal,

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'and mushrooms are about as seasonal as it gets.'

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It's like...mushroom times 100, isn't it? They're amazing.

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It's amazing. Super-strong flavour, it's gorgeous.

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There is some concern, though, in some areas about over-foraging

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and about the amount of money that can be made by this.

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Do you ever worry that places like this are driving that demand

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I think it's a fairly recent concern.

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We haven't over-foraged so much in the past,

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so when I've started sourcing as locally as I do,

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and I felt it was something which we could do more with.

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Now, people have cottoned onto it a lot more,

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and I think they need to take a bit of care about what they're foraging.

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If they sense other people have done a lot of foraging in the areas

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But I think it's a shame if you don't utilise

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the fruits of the countryside and actually make the most of them.

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And on a wider note, the more in touch we feel with our food,

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the more care and responsibility we'll have towards

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sourcing it carefully and sourcing it responsibly.

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'as you'd expect from a top chef with fresh ingredients.

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'But what happens if we all start eating them?'

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appears to be the ultimate organic choice.

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that worries some environmental organisations.

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'One of the concerned bodies is the British Mycological Society.'

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It's called this because of this kind of inky effect there,

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and that black splurge on my fingers there,

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that contains all the spores for this fungus.

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Justin Smith is one of their conservation officers.

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So, what do you think about people coming and foraging for mushrooms?

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It's not a problem with picking fruit bodies per se.

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the sheer volume of people going out and picking.

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And then certainly there's increasing evidence that suggests,

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especially near the bigger populated areas,

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that collectors are going in and stripping the sites of everything.

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So they are taking the edibles, the inedibles, everything,

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taking them off site, sorting through them in the car park or at home,

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and then picking out all the edible things that they

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want to eat themselves or they want to sell and then discarding the rest.

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I think it's the scale, really, that's the problem.

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Fungi are nature's recyclers, an essential part of our ecosystem.

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And it will take decades to measure any damage.

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Few people want foraging stopped altogether,

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but there is growing concern that when it's done on a large scale,

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especially commercially, it could have an impact on our natural world.

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So, how do we make sure that it's done responsibly?

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That's what I'll be investigating later.

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It's not only in our woodlands that wildlife thrives.

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As Ellie discovered when she visited Essex in the summer.

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Industry and urban landscapes as far as the eye can see.

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The shorelines of the Thames estuary aren't exactly the sort of places

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you'd expect to find much life, let alone wildlife.

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What happens when oil refineries, landfills

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and industrial sites like these come to the end of their useful life?

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Well, this site has been abandoned for more than 40 years,

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and it looks like it hasn't been cared for at all in that time.

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But that couldn't be further from the truth.

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Places like this are known as brownfield sites.

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And the conventional wisdom is to build on them.

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But they're finding a new lease of life as nature reserves.

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And some of them are up there with the best.

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Of the UK's top five sites for rare and endangered species,

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only three are traditional nature reserves.

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The other two are brownfield sites. Both of those are here in Essex.

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This one, on Canvey Island, is the best.

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And get this, there's more biodiversity here, per square foot,

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This area used to be a coastal grazing marsh.

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But in the 1960s, it was decided to build an oil refinery here.

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Changing circumstances meant that it was never finished.

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And in 1973, the builders and developers moved out.

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Now its evolution is being monitored by Sarah Henshall from Buglife.

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Hi, Sarah, how are you doing? Yes, good, thank you.

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some of the really rare bumblebees that live here.

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Got it! Here we go. What's this one? This is a brown banded carder bee.

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It's one of our rarest bee species. It's a really cute one.

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As you can see, it's really fluffy and ginger

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and it's got lots of brown bands on its abdomen, hence its name.

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We've got 1,400 different species of invertebrates or insects here.

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The reason these sites are important is because we've lost

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lots of our more natural habitats in the wider landscape.

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Sites like these are mimicking wildflower meadows,

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heathlands, sites like that. It's covered in sandy Thames dredgings.

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That's perfect habitat and substrate for insects and wildflowers.

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That's a great find. Well caught. We'll let it go.

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We need every single one of them out there, don't we? We do.

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The value of brownfield sites has only really been recognised

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in the past decade, so no-one knows much about how to look after them.

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But they are a valuable asset, so how do we protect them?

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is running an experiment here to find out.

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I'm using a thermal camera here to measure how much heat

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we're getting off these bare patches of ground.

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The reason for that, a lot of the insects here really enjoy

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having these bare scrapes, this exposed substrate.

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So they can bask in the sunshine and warm themselves up.

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So this plot here is actually part of a trial that we're doing

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to look at how we manage brownfields.

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If this was a woodland, or a fenland or a sand dune,

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because someone has written a book about it.

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So it's a new area of conservation, isn't it? It is, yes.

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Brownfields are probably the biggest slice of luck that conservation

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has had in the UK in the past 20 years. They're fabulous.

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But in order to maintain the value of the sites,

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we have to know how to manage them, and that's what we're doing here.

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So, what does the trial involve and what's it going to tell you?

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If we look here and behind us, we've got

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three trial areas, and essentially what's happened is,

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the vegetation has been removed, either a little bit,

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a median amount or in this case, underneath our feet here, a lot.

:20:16.:20:17.

Right. So what we are now doing is we're going to measure

:20:18.:20:21.

and whether we get the species we actually want.

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The transformation of Canvey Wick from oil refinery

:20:26.:20:28.

to Site of Special Scientific Interest is complete.

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But it's happened almost by accident.

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The same can't be said about another site

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Here, a new nature reserve has been created from scratch,

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London's rubbish was brought 30 miles down the Thames by barge

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and dumped in one of the largest landfill sites in Western Europe.

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A million tonnes of it a year in a never-ending stream.

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Two years ago, the landfill site closed, but the barges still come.

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Not bringing rubbish from our bins any more, but instead

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bringing the waste from the big tunnelling projects in the city.

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And the chalk and soil from that gets used to cap this vast area.

:21:13.:21:18.

The capping process was started just 18 years ago.

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And since then, plants and animals have been colonising it.

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They've had a little help from their friends.

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and reptiles from some of the major developments nearby were rehoused.

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Now, this whole end of the site, 120 acres of it,

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has been turned into Thurrock Thameside Nature Park.

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The reserve has only been open since May,

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so they don't really know what's out there yet.

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But already the species list is growing.

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The reserve is being surveyed by Lisa Smart, the reserve manager,

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and Darren Tansley, a mammal expert from Essex Wildlife Trust.

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Darren, Lisa, how are you doing? Hello.

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Are you all right? Yes, we're fine. Has it sprung?

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Yes, this one has here, we can see the door's down.

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So I'm assuming something's in there.

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We'll just try to tease the bedding out

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and hope the animal will come out with it.

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And just see what we get. Any movement? It's exciting.

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Ah, now, that's what we wouldn't necessarily expect

:22:23.:22:29.

in a grassland area, but wood mice are common everywhere.

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He's gone quite quiet there, that's not a sign that he's calm,

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Do we need to crack on? We'll just let him go.

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That's one new species added to the list.

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But it's not just mammals they're looking for.

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So, Lisa, we're on a reptile hunt. We are. Hopefully, anyway.

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That's just in case we are lucky enough to find an adder.

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because there are plenty on the site.

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But I don't need the gloves because it's not an adder we find.

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These experiences always lift my spirits, I love this.

:23:08.:23:19.

what is it about this site that you love, Darren?

:23:20.:23:24.

I mean, it's seeing animals like this, it's fantastic.

:23:25.:23:27.

You rarely get a chance to see something like this

:23:28.:23:30.

The local people here have had to put up

:23:31.:23:36.

with it being a landfill site for 40 years.

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And now to have a site that's going to be restored

:23:40.:23:41.

to something that's going to support things like slowworms

:23:42.:23:45.

and reptiles and short eared owls is just amazing for them.

:23:46.:23:48.

We've got another over 600, 700 acres to come along to us,

:23:49.:23:53.

from landfill site to nature reserve, where I've seen

:23:54.:24:11.

slowworms, skylarks and wood mice has been truly remarkable.

:24:12.:24:16.

And it's a great example of how we can rethink our brownfield sites

:24:17.:24:21.

and how quickly our land can recover.

:24:22.:24:26.

before the final of One Man And His Dog here on Countryfile.

:24:27.:24:31.

And in the run-up to the big event, we're meeting the national teams.

:24:32.:24:35.

Later in the show, Adam will be in Ireland.

:24:36.:24:37.

But first, Helen caught up with the English competitors

:24:38.:24:40.

I'm meeting two people - a handler at the top of his game...

:24:41.:24:51.

And I have a fair few miles to cover because our English contestants

:24:52.:24:58.

are from the far-flung corners of the nation.

:24:59.:25:01.

I'm starting just over the border from my home county of Cumbria,

:25:02.:25:05.

here in the wilds of Northumberland.

:25:06.:25:11.

Home to Ben Smith, a shepherd from the village of Great Whittington

:25:12.:25:15.

and a competitor in the singles round. But what about his dog?

:25:16.:25:20.

Ben has an ever-expanding pack of companions to choose from.

:25:21.:25:28.

Where are they? Oh! They're tiny. Yeah, they're only three weeks old.

:25:29.:25:33.

Three weeks old? Can I meet them? Yeah. Go on in. Hello!

:25:34.:25:37.

'Ben continues a family tradition of breeding collies.

:25:38.:25:44.

'This fellow might be a champion of the future!'

:25:45.:25:47.

So these guys are clearly too young to go to One Man And His Dog.

:25:48.:25:51.

Who will you be taking? I'll be taking Meg,

:25:52.:25:53.

who I won the national with last year.

:25:54.:25:54.

Shall we go and meet Meg? Yeah. Lead the way, Ben.

:25:55.:25:57.

'At six years old, Meg is in her prime, and a national champion.'

:25:58.:26:09.

Tell me a little bit about Meg. What makes her so good at trialling?

:26:10.:26:13.

She's very quick, very responsive, and has got a very good stop on her.

:26:14.:26:16.

When you want her to stop, she stops instantly.

:26:17.:26:20.

She'll correct things very sharp, also. Can we see you in action? Meg?

:26:21.:26:28.

She's like a whippet! Yeah, she's quick.

:26:29.:26:34.

She can be very close to sheep without upsetting them,

:26:35.:26:38.

Once they get close, sheep get upset, which is her trait.

:26:39.:26:42.

When you get into the shedding ring or the penning, she can be

:26:43.:26:45.

literally a foot away where other dogs can't get anywhere near that,

:26:46.:26:48.

so she's very on hand, so if you need her to move, she's there.

:26:49.:26:51.

So do you train much with her or is she purely a working dog

:26:52.:26:54.

No, once I train a young dog I pretty much take them to work every day.

:26:55.:26:59.

Trialling is my second thing. They've got to earn me a living.

:27:00.:27:01.

I go to trials and sort of wing it. You don't! I'm afraid I do, yeah.

:27:02.:27:06.

A lot of people do a lot of schooling, but I don't.

:27:07.:27:10.

'And Ben's winging it seems to be working.

:27:11.:27:12.

'In the past six years he's been in the England team four times,

:27:13.:27:16.

'competed in the International Sheepdog Trials,

:27:17.:27:18.

'and won the English National Championship in 2012.

:27:19.:27:22.

'The foundations for his success began at a young age.'

:27:23.:27:30.

My granddad used to buy and sell dogs and train dogs.

:27:31.:27:32.

I near enough grew up with my granddad, so it was what he liked,

:27:33.:27:36.

and I loved being with him, and that's how I got into it.

:27:37.:27:39.

Do you think about your granddad now when you do it? A lot, yeah.

:27:40.:27:41.

He died just before I won the national, a couple of months,

:27:42.:27:44.

so he just missed out seeing me win the national.

:27:45.:27:46.

He would have been very proud. I'm sure he would.

:27:47.:27:48.

That would have been a good one for him.

:27:49.:27:50.

What would it mean to you, then, to win One Man And His Dog?

:27:51.:27:54.

I used to sit with my granddad and watch this kind of programme,

:27:55.:27:58.

and it would be a proud moment if I could win it.

:27:59.:28:01.

'But Ben is up against some seasoned opponents.

:28:02.:28:05.

last year's One Man And His Dog singles champion,

:28:06.:28:10.

You're facing some pretty stiff competition. Of course.

:28:11.:28:15.

So you've got to go with the game face on.

:28:16.:28:22.

or the closest thing you're going to get to it, isn't it? Yeah.

:28:23.:28:27.

but I'm not going for second place either.

:28:28.:28:35.

Ben and Meg are pretty confident, but this is a team event,

:28:36.:28:38.

so they're nothing without the young handler

:28:39.:28:40.

that they'll be competing alongside as Team England.

:28:41.:28:44.

'To meet this young handler, I've got a lot of travelling to do.

:28:45.:28:52.

'24 hours, a few modes of transport, one sleep,

:28:53.:28:55.

'and 470 miles later, I'm on the not-so-sunny shores of Cornwall.'

:28:56.:29:02.

The young handler that I'm here to meet is the youngest of them all.

:29:03.:29:09.

'This 14-year-old strapping lad is from the village of Veryan.

:29:10.:29:14.

'He was runner-up in this year's international trials

:29:15.:29:16.

'with his working dog Zac, who he trained himself.

:29:17.:29:22.

'Mark inherited his passion for trialling from his dad Trevor,

:29:23.:29:26.

'a shepherd who looks after 900 ewes on this cliff-top farm.

:29:27.:29:31.

'Straight back from school, and Mark's practising with Zac.'

:29:32.:29:35.

Mark! Sorry to interrupt this glorious Cornish evening.

:29:36.:29:43.

How old were you when you started, you know, first running a dog?

:29:44.:29:49.

I first started running a dog when I was ten. How often do you train?

:29:50.:29:53.

Not any more. I love how you're looking at your dad there.

:29:54.:30:03.

Does he really get up early? He's laughing at me, so I thought...

:30:04.:30:10.

Tell me a bit about Zac, then. Zac is waiting patiently. Yeah.

:30:11.:30:13.

He's two and a half years old. He's a Border collie dog.

:30:14.:30:17.

'As Zac is a young dog, he is sometimes too keen.

:30:18.:30:23.

'He can go in tight on the sheep and unsettle them.

:30:24.:30:26.

'But making sure the flock stays calm

:30:27.:30:28.

'is key to keeping it all under control.

:30:29.:30:30.

'Fortunately, Mark has a friend on the farm who's taught him

:30:31.:30:33.

'the experienced, now semi-retired, Tweed.'

:30:34.:30:39.

You've seen him kicking around and you used to run him.

:30:40.:30:41.

I learned to keep the dog off when working sheep

:30:42.:30:46.

as he tends to come in and spook the sheep.

:30:47.:30:49.

And I also learned just to relax when working a dog,

:30:50.:30:52.

because your feelings can transmit to the dog and then the dog

:30:53.:30:56.

acts differently and possibly doesn't listen to your commands.

:30:57.:31:01.

So are you going to have to keep the lid on your nerves

:31:02.:31:04.

on competition day? Yep. Can you do that? I'll try.

:31:05.:31:08.

What would it mean to you to win One Man And His Dog?

:31:09.:31:15.

because I came as a runner-up in the international, so I almost got there,

:31:16.:31:21.

So winning One Man And His Dog would be quite an achievement.

:31:22.:31:27.

'To get there, this young man and his dog Zac

:31:28.:31:29.

'will need to hold their nerve and work as a team.'

:31:30.:31:32.

What, if anything, is going to let your team down?

:31:33.:31:36.

I have let the dog down in the past by giving him the wrong command,

:31:37.:31:40.

It might be Zac's inexperience as well,

:31:41.:31:44.

coming in too tight onto the sheep, or something like that.

:31:45.:31:48.

If it goes wrong, it'll probably be my fault.

:31:49.:31:53.

'He might be the youngest by almost a year, but Mark is a cool customer.

:31:54.:31:59.

'Mum and Dad, on the other hand, are a little more tense.'

:32:00.:32:02.

I'll probably be more nervous watching him

:32:03.:32:05.

than he will actually be running him. Do you think? Yeah.

:32:06.:32:09.

I just walk away to the other side of the field and leave him to it.

:32:10.:32:13.

How would you feel if he won? Over the moon.

:32:14.:32:16.

The whole of Veryan is going to be watching anyway,

:32:17.:32:19.

so if he won there would be a big party. It would be great!

:32:20.:32:24.

So there we have it. Team England - Ben Smith and Mark Hopper.

:32:25.:32:31.

Later in the programme, Adam will be catching up with

:32:32.:32:34.

the last of the contenders, Team Ireland.

:32:35.:32:40.

Earlier on, we heard how the fashion for wild foods has led to concerns

:32:41.:32:44.

that over-foraging is threatening parts of our countryside.

:32:45.:32:48.

So how do we strike a healthy balance? Here's Tom again.

:32:49.:32:57.

Foraging for free food in the great outdoors.

:32:58.:33:03.

But some people are not simply foraging to get a taste of nature.

:33:04.:33:12.

A mushroom like this can fetch ?40-?50 a kilo on the market,

:33:13.:33:22.

leading woodlands that are close to some of our cities

:33:23.:33:25.

needing to reach for extreme measures to protect their fungi.

:33:26.:33:30.

'looks after 16 green spaces around our capital.

:33:31.:33:36.

'After parts of its woodlands were stripped of fungi,

:33:37.:33:39.

This is an almost magical feeling in this glade, isn't it?

:33:40.:33:45.

Quite a few fungi around. Yeah. It's a fantastic show, this year.

:33:46.:33:49.

'Paul Thompson is the superintendent at Epping Forest.'

:33:50.:33:53.

We're very happy to support foraging in general,

:33:54.:33:56.

but I think the big issue for us here in the forest,

:33:57.:33:58.

two-thirds of it is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

:33:59.:34:01.

around the desire to pick edible fungi.

:34:02.:34:08.

Have you really seen that pressure grow in recent years?

:34:09.:34:11.

We're undertaking record numbers of discussions

:34:12.:34:14.

and conversations with the public, and, unfortunately,

:34:15.:34:16.

confiscations of large quantities of material being picked. Really?

:34:17.:34:20.

Maybe ten years ago, we had individuals coming up with

:34:21.:34:23.

a small basket, taking what they need for personal consumption,

:34:24.:34:26.

and now they're coming with bin bags and collecting large,

:34:27.:34:30.

very large quantities of material, and it's no longer...

:34:31.:34:34.

'Here at Epping, they started with a formal code of conduct,

:34:35.:34:42.

'but when neither worked, it led to an outright ban.'

:34:43.:34:48.

Our process is very much an educational approach.

:34:49.:34:50.

We will approach people who are fungi picking

:34:51.:34:53.

and try to explain to them why we don't want it to happen.

:34:54.:34:56.

We encourage people to put back what they've found.

:34:57.:34:59.

And reluctantly, if that doesn't work, we will prosecute.

:35:00.:35:03.

Our forest keepers have constabulary powers,

:35:04.:35:06.

and we can take people to court. Have you done that? We have.

:35:07.:35:10.

and nine prosecutions in the last couple of years,

:35:11.:35:14.

and we've got new impending prosecutions with this season.

:35:15.:35:18.

So here, you're simply not allowed to pick mushrooms,

:35:19.:35:21.

but in other parts of the country, the rules aren't so clear.

:35:22.:35:25.

For example, it's banned in some but not all protected areas,

:35:26.:35:29.

like Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

:35:30.:35:32.

And then, generally, you need the landowner's permission,

:35:33.:35:35.

but that becomes a bit blurry when you've got public access.

:35:36.:35:39.

And then there's the amount you're going to take - are they just

:35:40.:35:42.

for you, or are you hoping to make money from the mushrooms?

:35:43.:35:47.

and perhaps even more restrictions on foraging the answer?

:35:48.:35:53.

Well, most organisations would like to try education first.

:35:54.:35:59.

'Urban forager Andy Hamilton is here to teach me the basics.

:36:00.:36:03.

These could be my final words, however.

:36:04.:36:11.

there's not a massive amount of taste, but they weren't unpleasant.

:36:12.:36:14.

You have to have a few in one go to get a big taste.

:36:15.:36:17.

There's a few things I'm more familiar with there.

:36:18.:36:19.

We've got some elderberries just there.

:36:20.:36:21.

You want to leave a few for the birds.

:36:22.:36:23.

You're already introducing that idea of being a bit

:36:24.:36:25.

responsible, thoughtful, about how you go about it.

:36:26.:36:28.

Yeah, we're sharing this area, it's not just us that come

:36:29.:36:31.

and pick, there's animals, birds, insects...that come

:36:32.:36:35.

For us to come in - when we can buy these foods -

:36:36.:36:40.

it's good to just leave some for the species.

:36:41.:36:44.

This, of course, is a real autumn favourite, the blackberry,

:36:45.:36:47.

The phrase that's always used here is that foraging is

:36:48.:36:51.

"food for free", but in a sense that's not quite...

:36:52.:36:54.

There is a cost, possibly, to wildlife,

:36:55.:36:57.

to yourself if you get it wrong... You need to think about that.

:36:58.:37:00.

No, exactly, and I got it wrong once.

:37:01.:37:03.

I remember going out and seeing a patch of wild rocket and picking it

:37:04.:37:07.

cos I got so excited, came back the next year, there was none there.

:37:08.:37:10.

You know, you're doing yourself out of food for free as well

:37:11.:37:13.

Even on a selfish level, you perhaps don't want to do it.

:37:14.:37:17.

'taking only what you need from a plentiful supply,

:37:18.:37:23.

'just picking what you can confidently identify

:37:24.:37:27.

'and leave any rare, protected or poisonous species well alone.'

:37:28.:37:33.

So your amateurs should stick to the blackberries

:37:34.:37:36.

and the obvious things we all know about,

:37:37.:37:38.

and then if you want to learn more, do a bit of reading, get stuck in.

:37:39.:37:41.

Exactly, just to get started you could even go out in your garden

:37:42.:37:44.

and see what's there - probably nettles, dandelions, yarrow.

:37:45.:37:49.

'If you're in any doubt, foraging courses

:37:50.:37:55.

And the British Mycological Society are working on updating

:37:56.:38:01.

There's a link to the current one on our website.

:38:02.:38:06.

This has been a tremendously abundant autumn,

:38:07.:38:08.

but that's so much more than simply a mouthwatering spectacle,

:38:09.:38:12.

and we shouldn't let our greed blind us to the fact that these are

:38:13.:38:16.

beautiful and critical components of the British countryside.

:38:17.:38:22.

Earlier, Helen met the competitors representing England in

:38:23.:38:25.

Now it's time to find out the strength of the Irish challenge.

:38:26.:38:31.

Lush green hills, soaring mountains, spectacular coastlines.

:38:32.:38:44.

Home to the senior and junior members of the Irish team hoping to

:38:45.:38:50.

I'm on the west coast in County Mayo,

:38:51.:38:57.

and I'm meeting up with the first member of the Irish team

:38:58.:38:59.

everything One Man and His Dog will throw at him.

:39:00.:39:08.

Competing in the singles is Michael Hastings.

:39:09.:39:11.

He's been working with sheepdogs since he was ten years old.

:39:12.:39:16.

He keeps around 100 black-faced ewes and uses eight dogs to work them.

:39:17.:39:23.

My word, Michael, you've got plenty of dogs here.

:39:24.:39:25.

Well, actually, Adam, they're all the one family,

:39:26.:39:28.

All sons and daughters of this dog here, Kilgreen Ben.

:39:29.:39:33.

Oh, Ben's my favourite, yeah, my first trial dog.

:39:34.:39:37.

Friends of mine have got bitches and they've brought them to be

:39:38.:39:42.

covered by Kilgreen Ben, cos he was working well and trialling well.

:39:43.:39:45.

I take a stud pup instead of taking money, you know.

:39:46.:39:48.

So rather than taking money for getting their bitches

:39:49.:39:51.

pregnant by Ben, you choose to have a puppy from them instead?

:39:52.:39:54.

That's right, Adam. How old is he now?

:39:55.:39:56.

He's ten years old after Christmas, he's getting on a bit.

:39:57.:40:00.

And is he the one you're going to work on One Man And His Dog?

:40:01.:40:02.

Well, he is my favourite, but I'm not too sure,

:40:03.:40:05.

cos he's getting a bit stiff in the bones.

:40:06.:40:07.

I might decide to bring Meg, his daughter, instead.

:40:08.:40:09.

Let's go and see them running in the field, shall we? OK.

:40:10.:40:12.

Lovely, it's a great set-up you've got.

:40:13.:40:20.

Let's see him go, then. Yeah, I'll send him off to the left here.

:40:21.:40:23.

Oh, he's got a lovely wide out run, hasn't he?

:40:24.:40:27.

Yeah, he's going a bit too wide maybe at this stage of his life,

:40:28.:40:32.

And is that what you're worried about

:40:33.:40:36.

That's right, I'd be a bit concerned about that

:40:37.:40:40.

going over to England, if you had a small course it mightn't suit him.

:40:41.:40:43.

Because he doesn't like to weave quickly,

:40:44.:40:45.

he likes to take a nice, wide gentle turn?

:40:46.:40:46.

'At ten, Ben has plenty of experience in trialling, but Michael

:40:47.:40:53.

'still practises regularly with him to keep him at the top of his game.'

:40:54.:40:57.

So this is quite an art, he's going to try and get the two big rams

:40:58.:41:01.

out here and split them from the rest of the flock.

:41:02.:41:06.

It's really working man and dog in harmony. Come bye, Ben.

:41:07.:41:09.

The dog has got to try and understand what he's doing.

:41:10.:41:12.

Lie down, Ben. He's got the rams to the edge now.

:41:13.:41:20.

It's as much about understanding the sheep and what they're thinking and

:41:21.:41:24.

where they're moving, and working with the dog to make it happen.

:41:25.:41:30.

'he's separated the two rams from the flock.'

:41:31.:41:35.

Brilliant, he's done it, look at that!

:41:36.:41:37.

Here, here. That's brilliant, Michael.

:41:38.:41:42.

Very good, I'm impressed. That'll do, Ben.

:41:43.:41:47.

Shall we put Meg through her paces now, see how she gets on? OK, yeah.

:41:48.:41:55.

So this is little Meg, do you want to send her off? We'll send her off.

:41:56.:41:59.

Good dog, good dog. Away, Meg, away. Meg.

:42:00.:42:05.

Lie down there. She's good, isn't she?

:42:06.:42:07.

I hear you praising her there - is that something you use a lot?

:42:08.:42:11.

When you're training a young dog, I use the praise a lot, like,

:42:12.:42:14.

"Good dog, good dog." They love that, like.

:42:15.:42:16.

So if you see them doing something nice that you like,

:42:17.:42:19.

And they're always looking for that praise,

:42:20.:42:22.

'Michael's success with his dogs is remarkable.

:42:23.:42:28.

'He has to fit training around his full-time job.'

:42:29.:42:33.

No, no. Actually, I work at a telephone company,

:42:34.:42:37.

How long have you been trialling? Six years now.

:42:38.:42:42.

but there will be plenty of people with more experience.

:42:43.:42:46.

That's right, I've only six years. Does that put you at a disadvantage?

:42:47.:42:51.

It does a bit, like, but I've been working with sheep

:42:52.:42:53.

You've got every chance. Good luck. Thanks very much, thank you.

:42:54.:43:09.

Joining Michael in the Irish team is Jake Hamilton from County Antrim.

:43:10.:43:13.

At 18, Jake's the oldest of our young handlers.

:43:14.:43:17.

His passion for sheepdog trialling started

:43:18.:43:19.

when he was given a collie pup for his birthday.

:43:20.:43:22.

But it's four-year-old Jim that he's relying on to steer him

:43:23.:43:24.

He's fast, isn't he? Quite a big dog. Aye.

:43:25.:43:40.

Look at him, he's very responsive, straight down.

:43:41.:43:44.

Aye, he listens well, he knows. And what's the right-hand command?

:43:45.:43:47.

So that's away. JAKE WHISTLES

:43:48.:43:51.

Brilliant, look at him, he's like a robot. And to the left?

:43:52.:43:59.

Really powerful mouth whistle. Do you ever use a plastic one?

:44:00.:44:11.

If you use your fingers and your mouth, then you can't forget them

:44:12.:44:16.

if you go to a trial. So it's handier. Good point.

:44:17.:44:20.

And how old were you when you first started working dogs?

:44:21.:44:23.

About 15, 14 or 15. And now you're 18? Aye.

:44:24.:44:26.

So you've had a few years at it, but not that long.

:44:27.:44:29.

Good to be in the Irish team. Aye, it's nice to get onto it. Amazing.

:44:30.:44:34.

You've got more than just him, haven't you?

:44:35.:44:36.

Aye, there's about seven or eight,

:44:37.:44:37.

Oldest would be about eight months old.

:44:38.:44:40.

Can I see some of the others? Aye, come on, I'll show you.

:44:41.:44:43.

Let's bring that dog, where is he? C'mon. Good boy!

:44:44.:44:54.

Finding a young dog who's showing all the

:44:55.:44:56.

right signs for working sheep can pay dividends,

:44:57.:44:59.

and this is young Jess, who's only 12 weeks old

:45:00.:45:03.

and could be a future trialler one day, like her dad Jim over there.

:45:04.:45:07.

Now, Jake is training a young dog who's only eight months old

:45:08.:45:11.

called Bob, and you can see his inexperience.

:45:12.:45:15.

He's keen to work, working his way round the sheep,

:45:16.:45:19.

sitting when he's told - but he hasn't got the skill

:45:20.:45:22.

and ability of Jim, who's his trialler.

:45:23.:45:27.

He's trying to get the dog to go round the sheep,

:45:28.:45:29.

he's running in too close, he's overexcited.

:45:30.:45:33.

And Jim has just laid there patiently,

:45:34.:45:36.

watching the young understudy making mistakes.

:45:37.:45:49.

How long does it take you to get from that standard up to Jim?

:45:50.:45:53.

Well, it all depends, some of them are quick learners

:45:54.:45:55.

He's a fast learner, but it'll still take a good year,

:45:56.:46:00.

year and a half before he's up around that standard.

:46:01.:46:03.

Little Jess is certainly very keen, wants to join in.

:46:04.:46:09.

Would you ever sell Jim? No, definitely not.

:46:10.:46:13.

I got offered good money for him there,

:46:14.:46:15.

I got offered 10,000 for him. Did you? 10,000!

:46:16.:46:22.

But no, I definitely wouldn't sell him.

:46:23.:46:24.

What if someone offered you more than that?

:46:25.:46:26.

That's good, isn't it, really? It's good that you adore him so much.

:46:27.:46:31.

do you fancy your chances on One Man And His Dog on the day?

:46:32.:46:36.

If he's on form, he's capable of winning,

:46:37.:46:39.

but time will tell, it's a lot to do with luck on the day,

:46:40.:46:42.

holding your nerve and things like that.

:46:43.:46:45.

Well, best of luck, I think you've got every chance.

:46:46.:46:48.

You'd better have this one back, I'd quite like to take it

:46:49.:46:50.

back to the Cotswolds, but I think he'd better stay with the experts.

:46:51.:46:53.

Good to see you, all the best, bye-bye. All right, cheers.

:46:54.:46:56.

Join us for the big event next Sunday,

:46:57.:47:01.

Well, it's all shaping up to be a cracking final

:47:02.:47:15.

And talking of things to look forward to,

:47:16.:47:18.

I know a lot of you will want to buy this -

:47:19.:47:20.

the Countryfile calendar for 2014, so here's how to get one.

:47:21.:47:31.

The calendar costs ?9, including free UK delivery.

:47:32.:47:35.

You can buy yours on our website. That's:

:47:36.:47:43.

To order by post, send your name, address and cheque to:

:47:44.:48:06.

And please make cheques payable to "BBC Countryfile Calendar."

:48:07.:48:10.

A minimum of ?4 from the sale of each calendar will be donated to

:48:11.:48:14.

In a moment, I'll be helping to bring back a special creature

:48:15.:48:26.

here in the Yorkshire Dales, as part of a conservation project

:48:27.:48:29.

which is the first of its kind in the UK.

:48:30.:48:33.

But before that, here's the detailed

:48:34.:48:34.

Countryfile weather forecast for the weekend.

:48:35.:48:52.

Good evening. The weather across Yorkshire has been stormy with

:48:53.:48:56.

reports of flooding and thunderstorms. Flooding is something

:48:57.:49:01.

we might need to keep in the back of our minds, as these is rain and

:49:02.:49:07.

strong winds. On Tuesday, the warmth is spread across the country, higher

:49:08.:49:15.

than we would expect temperatures at this time of year. This will be

:49:16.:49:21.

choose the and Wednesday, bringing high temperatures. Perhaps by the

:49:22.:49:26.

end of the week, things will cool off, bringing temperatures back down

:49:27.:49:34.

to where we would expect them. The one weather across as today with the

:49:35.:49:37.

moisture has led to thunderstorms and reported tornado in Hampshire.

:49:38.:49:43.

There will be a bit of a break, allowing some mist and fog falling

:49:44.:49:49.

across Scotland, but it is not set to last. The rain will move north

:49:50.:49:57.

across England and Wales during tomorrow morning, accompanied by

:49:58.:50:00.

some strong winds, with gales around the coasts. Things are cloudy for

:50:01.:50:06.

Northern Ireland in the morning, but clearing a little in the afternoon.

:50:07.:50:10.

In the North of Scotland it will be some showers, but staying mainly dry

:50:11.:50:14.

and bright for the afternoon. The cloud will thicken across Northern

:50:15.:50:21.

Ireland through the afternoon. It stays cloudy across England and

:50:22.:50:24.

Wales, with strong winds and patchy rain, with temperatures like the

:50:25.:50:29.

weekend, forecast to reach high temperatures of 17 or 18 degrees.

:50:30.:50:33.

But the rain keeps on coming, with the low pressure staying across the

:50:34.:50:39.

Atlantic. The temperatures will stay up, and it will be another male

:50:40.:50:44.

mate, leading us into the start of Tuesday. The low pressure will

:50:45.:50:50.

dominate the forecast. East Anglia might start off on Tuesday with a

:50:51.:50:54.

dry day, but you can see a lot of rain still across the country,

:50:55.:50:58.

across the North and West, and the rain is slowly and erratically

:50:59.:51:04.

moving its way through the country during the day. It is all

:51:05.:51:07.

accompanied by strong winds, drawing one temperatures from the South.

:51:08.:51:14.

High temperatures 15-18 degrees. The low temperature will sit to the

:51:15.:51:17.

north by Wednesday, so while we have lost the weather front, everything

:51:18.:51:22.

is pretty unsettled. It looks as if Wednesday will be a day of sunshine

:51:23.:51:26.

and showers. The thundershowers could be heavy with strong winds,

:51:27.:51:29.

the risk of Gill forceful stop but when we get rightness in between,

:51:30.:51:35.

England and Wales will see how temperatures of 15-18 degrees.

:51:36.:51:47.

Starting to cool off a little. The forecast at the moment from England

:51:48.:51:50.

and Wales brings with it some cloud and rain, and with the rain

:51:51.:51:54.

continuing to move northwards, some of it could be on the heavy side.

:51:55.:51:59.

This is where we might need to keep an eye on things as the week goes

:52:00.:52:06.

on. On Friday, much of the rain will stay across England and Wales, with

:52:07.:52:11.

Scotland and Northern Ireland seen the mixture of sunshine and showers.

:52:12.:52:23.

From the millstone grit peaks to the limestone pavements,

:52:24.:52:29.

a landscape shaped over millions of years by ice and water.

:52:30.:52:38.

But for all its beauty, there is an epidemic in the rivers,

:52:39.:52:41.

This disease is crayfish plague, and it's having a devastating effect.

:52:42.:52:52.

This is our native white-clawed crayfish,

:52:53.:52:55.

and its numbers are being decimated by the plague which is

:52:56.:52:59.

brought here by this - its American cousin, the signal crayfish,

:53:00.:53:03.

which has now invaded our streams and rivers.

:53:04.:53:06.

It carries the plague, but it's not affected by it.

:53:07.:53:10.

I'm not allowed to touch this signal crayfish for fear that

:53:11.:53:13.

I then contaminate this native crayfish,

:53:14.:53:16.

and others that I'll be seeing for the rest of the programme.

:53:17.:53:23.

'Imported in the 1970s as a food delicacy,

:53:24.:53:27.

'signal crayfish have quickly found their way around the country.'

:53:28.:53:31.

Today, for the first time, captive-bred native crayfish

:53:32.:53:49.

are going to be released into the wild, and we'll be there.

:53:50.:53:55.

When Julia was here in 2010, she met Paul Bradley and Neil Handy,

:53:56.:53:59.

who were trying to produce the right conditions to

:54:00.:54:02.

This is what we call an ark site. As in Noah's Ark? Yes.

:54:03.:54:09.

This was set up simply to try and keep some alive, local crayfish.

:54:10.:54:15.

They were the first people in the UK to successfully breed

:54:16.:54:18.

Now, they're seeing the fruits of their labour.

:54:19.:54:23.

How successful has this project been since Julia was here?

:54:24.:54:26.

Since Julia was here, we've got to breeding quite a lot of

:54:27.:54:30.

these guys, female white-claw crayfish.

:54:31.:54:33.

You were just starting back in 2010. What lessons have you learnt,

:54:34.:54:36.

Paul, from this breeding process here?

:54:37.:54:39.

We've got a succession of tanks here,

:54:40.:54:41.

and through monitoring water quality every month for two years,

:54:42.:54:45.

we found very slight differences through the tanks,

:54:46.:54:49.

and they actually breed more successfully in the lower tanks,

:54:50.:54:52.

where the water quality is just that little bit better.

:54:53.:54:55.

It's a small difference, but it's significant.

:54:56.:54:57.

more appropriate sites to release them,

:54:58.:55:03.

and it also helps us to manage where the species is still

:55:04.:55:05.

hanging on and has a good prospect for survival as well.

:55:06.:55:09.

What we're going to try and do today

:55:10.:55:12.

is put some of these back into a safe haven,

:55:13.:55:15.

hopefully recreate their own population.

:55:16.:55:19.

Shall we set them free? We certainly shall.

:55:20.:55:35.

There are unaffected streams in the Dales,

:55:36.:55:37.

and we're heading to one right now, but I can't tell you exactly

:55:38.:55:41.

where it is, because Neil and Paul want it kept secret.

:55:42.:55:46.

So, Paul, what have you found in this sample?

:55:47.:55:49.

We've got quite a diversity of life here, John.

:55:50.:55:51.

We've got storm flies, mayflies - indicative of good water quality.

:55:52.:55:55.

So we can be reasonably sure that the crayfish are going to be

:55:56.:55:58.

Well, this threat to our native crayfish is getting very serious,

:55:59.:56:03.

isn't it? We've got this crayfish plague

:56:04.:56:06.

spreading through our native population,

:56:07.:56:08.

and it seems to be eliminating entire populations from catchments.

:56:09.:56:13.

And are these signal crayfish doing other damage as well?

:56:14.:56:17.

They are doing enormous damage to fish as well, to salmon

:56:18.:56:22.

and to trout, they seem to compete with them for shelter,

:56:23.:56:25.

There's one stream not too far from here where,

:56:26.:56:29.

if you turn a stone, you find three signal crayfish.

:56:30.:56:32.

Clearly, if a salmon goes under there,

:56:33.:56:34.

they'll be attacked by a signal crayfish.

:56:35.:56:36.

And is there anything you can do to stop these invaders?

:56:37.:56:40.

once they're in a river system, we can't get them out.

:56:41.:56:46.

So the best thing we can do is try to prevent them

:56:47.:56:48.

getting into river systems in the first place.

:56:49.:56:53.

'The first captive-bred white-clawed crayfish to be

:56:54.:56:58.

Now you've got a life jacket on, Neil. Do I need one as well?

:56:59.:57:03.

I've got mine on specifically if I have to get in the water.

:57:04.:57:08.

All right, I'll let you do the wading then.

:57:09.:57:11.

Here we are, John, this will be our first release site,

:57:12.:57:13.

I'll get in the water, and if you can pass me them down... I will do.

:57:14.:57:18.

So, what would you like, a big male first? Please.

:57:19.:57:23.

There we go. Thank you. How many are we going to put down here?

:57:24.:57:27.

What we're doing, we've got two males and four females.

:57:28.:57:31.

Two females to every male. Dainty little female.

:57:32.:57:37.

And how can you guarantee that signal crayfish won't find this spot

:57:38.:57:42.

We've chosen this site specifically because of the habitat, but also

:57:43.:57:46.

because there's an impassable waterfall about a mile downstream.

:57:47.:57:50.

So that will be a big impacting factor

:57:51.:57:52.

Signal crayfish can't get up here unless man physically brings them.

:57:53.:57:58.

It is actually against the law to release crayfish into a watercourse.

:57:59.:58:01.

I've got a licence and we, as the Environment Agency,

:58:02.:58:06.

will record all the data of where these are going, and we can

:58:07.:58:09.

come back in six months' time and hopefully find some of these

:58:10.:58:12.

females carrying up to 100, 120 eggs.

:58:13.:58:19.

Well, this is the very last one we're going to release today,

:58:20.:58:22.

but before we set her free, can I just remind you that on our website

:58:23.:58:25.

you'll find all the details about how to buy a Countryfile calendar.

:58:26.:58:29.

And next week we have the One Man And His Dog championships.

:58:30.:58:32.

Now, off you go, little lady. Let's hope you stay safe.

:58:33.:58:37.

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