Cotswolds Natur Gwyllt Iolo

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-I've been birdwatching

-and observing wildlife all my life.

-But pressures on nature

-due to man's intervention...

-..have seen some species decline

-or disappear altogether in Wales...

-..over the past half a century.

-I'm travelling to England, to

-locations teeming with wildlife...

-..to rediscover species

-no longer found at home.

-I'm standing on a slope in

-the Cotswolds in Worcestershire.

-They say

-that on a clear day like today...

-..if you look all around you...

-..you can see 12 different counties

-from this location.

-I can see the Brecon Beacons

-in the distance.

-I've passed through the Cotswolds

-many a time...

-..but I've never spent

-any time here.

-I'm looking forward

-to exploring the area.

-The Cotswolds' Area of Outstanding

-Natural Beauty crosses six counties.

-It's the largest of its kind

-in England and Wales.

-It covers almost 800 square miles.

-Most of it is in Gloucestershire,

-which is where I begin my journey.

-The Cotswold Way leads you through

-hills above towns like Cheltenham.

-The land is rich in lime, providing

-a stunning floral display in summer.

-As well as

-a plethora of butterflies...

-..and birds

-that eat their caterpillars.

-80% of the Cotswolds

-is agricultural land...

-..but not much of it is richer in

-wildlife than this particular area.

-I've come to a special farm today -

-Whittington Lodge Farm...

-..not far for Cheltenham.

-The farmer keeps cattle

-and cultivates crops.

-But look at this place.

-He's made a site for wildlife.

-He's kept some sites wild, he's

-created others, such as these pools.

-It's an ideal habitat for wildlife

-that was familiar in my childhood...

-..but has since disappeared.

-One of the things the farmer

-has done surrounding the lake...

-..is laid

-strips of zinc on the ground...

-..in order to monitor what's here

-in terms of snakes.

-I'm going to lift it up

-to see what we find.

-Look.

-This a slow worm. I'm not

-going to pick it up by its tail.

-If I do that, I might lose it

-as the tail comes off.

-Oh, yes, yes, yes. Do you see that?

-It's a grass snake. It's curled up.

-I'm not sure if there are two there.

-It's a big one curled up.

-Her head is here.

-I'm not going to pick her up.

-It wouldn't be fair on her.

-She's working her way down.

-There's her head.

-I'll put this back down.

-Great, isn't it? I haven't seen

-one of those since last year.

-Once she's warm...

-..this'll heat up and she'll

-be ready to hunt in the water.

-There's a vole.

-A bank vole.

-Nice, isn't it?

-This is a great place for mice.

-They nest under the zinc.

-He's happily just sitting there.

-This is great

-because they can hide...

-..from buzzards and kestrels

-that prey on them.

-I'd better put this back down.

-It's nice to see a bank vole.

-Alright, sweetie, watch yourself.

-Though the farmland

-is both private and commercial...

-..you can come here

-and observe wonderful wildlife.

-I've seen more hares

-in the last 10 minutes...

-..than I've seen in Wales in a year.

-I've seen at least a dozen.

-It's an incredible place.

-Ian the farmer tends to his crops

-but he also leaves a wide area...

-..alongside every single field.

-It's an ideal place for hares...

-..and partridges.

-It's incredible.

-I never thought

-I'd get quite so worked up...

-..about a small, fat

-inconspicuous bird.

-It's currently singing.

-It's a corn bunting.

-If we went back a century, these

-were common in the Welsh lowlands...

-..where there were crops

-and a few animals.

-They've completely disappeared.

-The last pair nested in Wales

-about a decade ago.

-Hearing one on farmland such as this

-lifts my spirits.

-As well as the wild farmland...

-..farmer Ian Boyd...

-..has created

-wildflower meadows for his cattle.

-Ian, hello. How are you?

-Very well today.

-I have to tell you,

-I'm so impressed with your farm.

-It's an amazing place, I'd swear

-I was on a wildlife reserve...

-..not a working farm

-because it is a working farm.

-How do you balance the business

-of making money, producing meats...

-..crops and then wildlife?

-As part of an environmental

-stewardship scheme...

-..we have to manage the habitat.

-I get compensation for not

-growing intensive crops of wheat.

-That is an important part

-which Natural England funds.

-But also

-we balance it with selling the meat.

-The crux is having top-quality meat

-to sell that people want to buy.

-If I was to bring

-farmers that I know here...

-..who are lovely people,

-they'd look at this and say...

-.."This is no good, this has to be

-ploughed, re-seeded, fertilized.

-"We need ryegrass in here

-to feed the cattle."

-And yet you make it work.

-And yet you make it work.

-

-You've got to have the right cattle.

-Having the slow-growing breeds

-wouldn't work.

-They're largely Herefords,

-the older type of Hereford.

-They mature much earlier and can eat

-a much poorer quality of grass.

-The wildflower meadows

-is what they thrive on.

-I've left the Cotswold Way now...

-..and I'm near another

-important path called Fosse Way.

-A Roman road connecting

-the southwest with the north.

-There are all kinds

-of Roman ruins in the Cotswolds.

-This is a villa. It's enormous.

-I can't get over its size.

-I haven't come

-to learn about its history...

-..I've come to see a special snail.

-Here is is. It's a Roman snail.

-The Romans brought them over

-from Italy as food.

-They were portable.

-They thrived here.

-They also fed them milk.

-They claimed the milk

-gave them a better flavour.

-I don't know if that's true or not.

-They're still thriving here.

-It's trying to escape to the walls

-as the sun's rising.

-They hang on the wall all day

-and come out at night...

-..as it gets damper and darker

-with decreased sunlight.

-It's rather pretty.

-It's big but it's pretty.

-Whereas our snails are brown,

-these are white.

-This is Painswick Beacon.

-It's the site

-of an ancient hill fort.

-It's no wonder they built

-an Iron Age hill fort here.

-It's a great vantage point.

-There's Gloucester,

-with its cathedral.

-England's flat plains over there

-stretch to the north.

-I can see

-the Beacons in the distance.

-The Severn Estuary comes into view.

-I'm continuing to push southwards...

-..and my next stop is

-that tree-covered hill over there.

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-I've come to the Ebworth Estate,

-which belongs to the National Trust.

-Their buildings are behind me.

-They say

-it's a good place to see deer.

-If you ever go deer spotting,

-this is the ideal habitat for it.

-There are plenty of trees,

-where they spend the day.

-There's also pasture here,

-so they come out at night to feed...

-..to feed on fresh grass.

-The wind blows in this direction...

-..and my scent

-is being blown that way.

-They have a keen sense of smell...

-..so I'm going to

-find somewhere suitable to sit...

-..hoping that they venture out

-to the field, looking for food.

-I've found a sheltered spot.

-There's a wall behind me,

-which keeps the wind at bay.

-There's a carpet of nettles

-in front of those woods.

-Deer can venture out of the woods

-without being completely exposed.

-They can still hide

-before feeding on the grass.

-You have to wait an hour or two...

-..before a deer appears.

-But at least there's other wildlife

-to observe in the meantime.

-Sometimes,

-if you're completely motionless...

-..you'll see a fallow deer.

-This is a very smart animal.

-Her summer coat looks very healthy.

-A lovely reddish brown coat.

-They aren't native

-to this country...

-..the Normans introduced them...

-..back in the 12th century.

-They're fairly common nowadays.

-This is the commonest deer in Wales.

-You'll often find them

-in Gelli Aur and Margam.

-It's a very smart animal.

-This place is teeming

-with butterflies. Look at them all.

-Most of them

-are green-veined whites.

-This is something

-everyone should do.

-Find a meadow, sit down...

-..and enjoy the flowers and all the

-insects that inhabit these places.

-I'm in one of a series

-of nature reserves in the Cotswolds.

-We've lost 98% of our meadows.

-I remember them everywhere

-as a child.

-Almost all of them have disappeared.

-This place is full of orchids.

-This is a pyramidal orchid.

-My favourite orchid is here too,

-the bee orchid.

-It's a very pretty flower.

-That used to be

-my favourite orchid until now.

-Look at this, it's so rare...

-..it only grows

-in the meadows of the Cotswolds.

-This is the wasp orchid.

-There are none in Wales,

-so this is currently my favourite.

-Swift Hill...

-..is the name given to this spot.

-It's cloudy today, thank goodness.

-The perfect weather

-to come to somewhere this steep.

-I've left the Cotswold Way.

-That's over there now,

-and it stretches 102 miles...

-..right through the Cotswolds.

-What's surprised me

-more than anything...

-..is that I remember the Cotswolds

-as an area of hills and valleys...

-..but forgot about the peaks

-which are also prominent.

-There are a few of them

-and they're very wooded too.

-Stroud is over there

-in the distance...

-..and like many

-of these towns and villages...

-..it lies neatly in these valleys.

-I'm even further away

-from the Cotswold Way here...

-..and over that way

-is the Golden Valley.

-It's a very fitting name...

-..because a creature lives there

-with an interesting background.

-It's something I've wanted to see

-ever since I was a child.

-I think there's one over here

-but I can't see very well.

-I think there's one here.

-Yes, up here.

-Here it is. Oh, wow!

-I don't want to get too close to it.

-It's over there with its wings open.

-This is the large blue.

-It's Britain's rarest butterfly.

-It's sitting there in the sunshine.

-It's so smart.

-Notice the black spots on its wings.

-Off it goes.

-They became so rare that they

-died out in Britain for a time.

-They've been reintroduced

-from Sweden...

-..but you'll only see them in three

-places in Britain, including here.

-I've probably seen...

-..about half a dozen of them

-in this patch alone.

-There must be dozens more of them.

-Some of you might think...

-..why has so much effort gone into

-reintroducing a butterfly like this?

-Well, it's sad that it's died out

-in the first place...

-..and that's our fault because

-they lost their original habitat.

-But I think it's important

-we bring them back, if we can.

-What's ironic

-is that they came from Sweden...

-..and last year, because the

-population was doing so poorly...

-..they took butterflies from here

-back to Sweden.

-The population

-is obviously thriving here.

-It's wonderful that they can

-help the population in Scandinavia.

-This is the Cotswold Water Park.

-I've come right down to the south,

-past Cirencester, almost to the M4.

-I didn't realize...

-..there were so many lakes here.

-There are 157 of them in total.

-Remarkably,

-at the beginning of the 1960s...

-..there were none here -

-this was all farmland.

-They turfed out the gravel

-and stone to create lakes.

-In winter

-it's a great place for water birds.

-It's not so great

-during high summer like this.

-If you venture to more sheltered

-areas, you'll still find wildlife.

-This is the reason

-I wanted to come here in summer.

-I wanted to come somewhere like

-this, where there was still water...

-..with plenty of vegetation.

-It's a great place for dragonflies,

-of which there are many species.

-What I'm looking at here...

-..is the Emperor,

-one of our most prominent.

-The male is back and forth

-but doesn't land.

-I'm watching the female.

-She's laying eggs.

-She's putting her tail...

-..under the leaf

-and lays one egg on every leaf.

-She moves on and does the same

-over and over again.

-Flying back and forth in the air,

-defending its territory...

-..is the four-spotted chaser.

-This is Frocester Hill.

-Though the Severn Estuary

-is nearby, I'm standing...

-..nearly 800 feet above sea level.

-I have to say, the views have been

-spectacular, from start to finish.

-This is where I end my journey,

-but the Cotswold Way carries on...

-..all the way to Bath.

-I must admit, I've had an unexpected

-surprise here in the Cotswolds.

-Next time,

-I venture to the Yorkshire Dales.

-The uplands

-and dramatic valleys of Yorkshire.

-S4C Subtitles by Adnod Cyf.

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