Open Country

Up until the 1970s, postmen and women in rural areas walked their delivery rounds - taking routes through the hills dubbed "postal paths". Some routes, and fragments of others, still survive today. In this programme Helen Mark explores one of them, near the village of Shap in Cumbria, with author Alan Cleaver who is writing a book about these old paths. So far he's identified over thirty of them up and down the UK. Others have now been built over and are gone forever. Alan tells Helen about the cultural significance of the postal service in the past, recounting the poignant story of a man who used to write letters to himself, just so that the postman would call by and he would have a visitor. Alan and Helen discuss the disappearing role of postmen and women, in the age of electronic communication.

Helen also explores part of Shap's old Corpse Road, which linked Swindale Head with Mardale - a village which didn't have its own cemetery until the mid 18th century. Before that, bodies had to be carried over the fells to Shap for burial - a distance of about eight miles. The last body was carried along the Corpse Road in 1736. Local historian Jean Scott-Smith tells the story of the Corpse Road and shows Helen part of the route.

Produced by Emma Campbell

The Broomway has been dubbed the “deadliest footpath in Britain”, claiming more than a hundred lives. Helen Mark takes a cautious walk along this treacherous Essex seapath with Peter Carr and John Burroughs from the Foulness Island Heritage Centre. She’ll hear how people can easily become disoriented on the vast mud flats and tragically caught out by the rapidly advancing tides of the Thames Estuary. Helen will also be joined by Thea Behrman, the director of the Estuary Festival, to reflect on how this meeting point of land and sea can provide creative inspiration through its bleak beauty.

Presented by Helen Mark Produced by Robin Markwell

Without quite walking on water, Helen Mark uses a very low spring tide to walk between Tresco and Bryher, two of the Isles of Scilly. She meets people who delight in what is revealed on the seabed, such as 3,000 year old Neolithic field walls, indicating the time when the islands were a single landmass. Local harbour master Henry Birch stands with Helen at the mid point between the islands which normally sits 5 meters below the sea.

Helen hears how it's all possible because of what must surely be one the best words to have up your sleeve during a game of Scrabble: syzgy, which is when the sun, moon and earth are aligned creating the extreme highs and lows known as spring tides.

Producer: Mark Smalley.

Helen Mark visits the Derwent Valley, an area dotted with old, looming cotton mill structures to discover what the future holds for these 'industrial giants' of the landscape.

At the turn of the 19th Century, Britain was world leader in cotton manufacturing and home to the largest industrial complexes on the planet. The last spinning machines closed in 2003 and the UK now produces zero amount of cotton, but the awesome brick structures still tower over the Derbyshire Countryside. Stretching 15 miles down the river valley from Matlock Bath to Derby, the Derwent Valley World Heritage Site contains a fascinating series of historic mill complexes, including some of the world's first 'modern' factories. But how can these structures remain relevant rather than redundant? Visiting Cromford Mills, The Belper River Gardens and the beautiful natural landscape that surrounds these giant structures, Helen meets the people whose passion keeps this history alive.

Felicity Evans visits the waterfalls and swallow holes at the western end of the Brecon Beacons, and discovers that besides its natural beauty, it's an area with a rich industrial heritage. Today its deep, mossy ravines are of great interest to walkers and potholers. But the waterfalls, Felicity discovers, gave rise to local industries - including a gunpowder works, and the silica mines provided firebricks that were shipped around the world.

She even walks behind one of the waterfalls, Sgwd Y Eira, the waterfall of snow.

Producer: Mark Smalley.

We might think we know the Peak District quite well, but in reality it has many secrets and many stories still to tell, such as its connection with British Imperial India. Helen Mark travels with National Park Ranger Chamu Kuppuswamy as they discover the Indian heritage tucked amongst the wild hills of The Peak District National Park.

Helen Mark travels to Chelford Cattle Market in Cheshire, along with hundreds of buyers and sellers from across the UK. It was first formed over a century ago and has weathered the storms of the foot and mouth outbreak and BSE crisis which resulted in many others closing down altogether. It still nestles on the edge of the village of Chelford, next to the station, as livestock used to be delivered by rail. Like many others though, it has plans to move out to newer facilities closer to the motorway network.

The market has sales of more than just cattle - sheep, pigs, poultry and goats but also machinery and horticulture. Helen joins auctioneer Gwyn Williams as he balances 'on the plank' above the pigs and sheep but even from that vantage point the subtle nods and winks of the bidders can be hard to spot for a novice.

Not everyone is a buyer though. Helen meets some farmers simply scouting the market for prices and for many it's a great social occasion and an opportunity to catch up on gossip. But keep that between us.

Produced in Bristol by Anne-Marie Bullock.

For thirty years, the arts and environment organisation Common Ground has used Dorset as a kind of laboratory for its work celebrating local distinctiveness, before rolling their projects out elsewhere around the UK. Helen Mark hears from Common Ground co-founder Sue Clifford why they began Apple Day events near her home in Shaftesbury, as a way of celebrating and protecting old apple orchards. Helen also meets the sculptor Peter Randall-Page who was commissioned to carve some small wayside sculptures along a footpath above Lulworth Cove, and the composer Karen Wimhurst reflects on Confluence, the three year music project she was involved in that celebrated the river Stour, from its source to the sea.

But now that the Common Ground co-founders are retiring, Helen also meets Adrian Cooper, who's taken the helm, and is steering the organisation into new waters.

Producer: Mark Smalley.

Helen Mark visits the small Gloucestershire village of Adlestrop that inspired Edward Thomas' famous eponymous poem when his steam train unexpectedly stopped there 100 years ago, on the eve of war. Helen meets Ian Morton of the Edward Thomas Fellowship to find out more about the poet who died in combat in 1917, as well as people who live and work in this beautiful corner of the Cotswolds. She visits Daylesford, the nearby large organic farm operation, makers of their own Adlestrop cheese, and hears about the Wychwood Forest Project.

Producer: Mark Smalley.

Helen Mark explores the aviation heritage of Lincolnshire, a county criss-crossed with former airfields, and finds out how they are being used today.

She visits Woodhall Spa's airfield, once home to the Dambusters squadron and until recently, a sand and gravel quarry. Bordered by nature reserves, the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust aim to buy the airfield and return it to the heathland it once was, as described by local Victorian naturalist, Joseph Burdett-Davey. Evidence of its past remains in the form of concrete and tarmac runways, lakes which were formed by sand excavation and more surprisingly, alien plants that arrived on the kit of the Australian and New Zealand air-crews who worked here in the 1940s.

Helen meets Dora Garner who lived on the edge of the airfield in 1942. She recalls playing on the planes, writing messages on bombs in chalk, and one morning discovering the nose of a Lancaster bomber three yards from the bedroom window, after it slipped its moorings in the night.

Open Country takes a trip to the Aviation Heritage Centre at East Kirkby to meet Harold Panton and his family. Harold and his brother Fred built a chicken farm on the old runway there, which now sits side-by-side with their privately owned museum. It's the only place in the country where you can still take a taxy-ride in a Lancaster Bomber.

Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.

The Falkland estate in rural Fife is very different to traditional family-owned estates in Scotland. Felicity Evans meets Ninian Stuart, who is using his inheritance to increase public access to the woods and fields that make up this 1,900 hectare estate, which is 35 miles north of Edinburgh. She hears how Ninian's set up the Centre for Stewardship which actively involves schools, playgroups and many others in Fife's wider community to make the most of the estate's varied landscape.

It's a former royal hunting estate where Felicity meets Dr Simon Taylor who's been researching Falkland's Trenches, now understood to have been a way of funnelling red deer towards the royal hunting parties. She also meets playgroup leaders who bring children to the estate's woods so that they can benefit from playing in nature. Ninian Stuart explains why he's using some of his prime arable land for the benefit of people who'd like to start new smallholdings from scratch.

Producer: Mark Smalley.

Helen Mark goes to Strangford Lough, one of the richest marine environments within the United Kingdom, to meet the people who love its isolation and beauty. She talks to Michael Faulkner who moved to Islandmore on the Lough after his business collapsed. For him and his wife, living alone on the island was a time to reflect. This was also the place Michael's father escaped to for family holidays. He was Brian Faulkner, the last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland from 1971-72, who presided over some of Ulster's most tumultuous times. To find out about the wildlife of the lough, Helen meets Andrew Upton, manager with the National Trust and a keen bird watcher. Helen finishes her day listening to flute player Ben Healey who is keen to keep the heritage of Irish music alive. These are some of the people who work, play and rest on Strangford Lough. Produced in Bristol by Perminder Khatkar.

The Battle of Flodden was a turning point in the history of the UK, setting the stage for the subsequent Union of the Crowns between Scotland and England in 1603.

The border village of Branxton lays claim to having the "smallest visitor centre in the world". Housed in a converted telephone box, this unique project - dedicated to the Battle of Flodden - is the brain child of Clive Hallam-Baker a battle expert who lives just opposite. Flodden was the largest battle fought between England and Scotland. However today, Clive reflects on the joy of being a 'borderer' - living happily across the land of two countries.

Lord Joicey owns much of the land that bore witness to the Battle of Flodden. His estate is located in England but in working the land itself he shares the same issues as his neighbour just a mile away in Scotland. He values his cross border friendships and discusses the geographical quirks of this border that lead to his wife coming 'up' from Scotland to marry him in England.

Archaeologist Chris Burgess has been working with groups from both sides of the borders to understand more fully the landscape where the Battle of Flodden took place. Volunteers have come to commemorate their past and to enjoy each other's company in the present.

Just a few miles from the battle ground is the border village of Crookham. Here, the United Reformed Church has created a peace garden and centre for reconciliation. Designed by Dougie James, Rev Dave Herbert and Rev Mary Taylor explain how this is a truly cross-borders initiative which they hope will provide a quiet and peaceful place for people to relax, reflect and perhaps find closure.

Helen Mark visits Doddington Hall in Lincolnshire to talk about how the estate's shoot forms part of the landscape management and a desire for locally-sourced produce. It also provides the farm shop and restaurant with festive fare, including pigeon burgers.

James Birch is Doddington's owner, (his wife's family have owned the estate continuously for around four hundred years). Shooting has always been part of life here and even now there's a full-time gamekeeper, who doubles as security guard and fly-tipping preventer.

The game from the shoot is used in the restaurant and is cooked by Chris Maclure, senior sous-chef, who makes sure nothing goes to waste. Helen talks to university lecturer- turned-florist Rachel Petheram, who loves the challenge of using only locally-grown flowers and herbs in her Christmas displays.

Helen also goes beating with Will Birkett, a young gamekeeper preparing for a day's shooting with his gun dogs.

Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.

The Royal Haslar Hospital in Gosport was created in the 18th century to provide care for the sick and injured from naval conflicts. It later treated other military personnel and in the last few decades before its closure in 2009 went on to treat civilian patients.

The site bursts with centuries of history, having seen patients from battles including Trafalgar, the Crimean War, both World Wars and many others. The staff treated allied troops and prisoners of war. Felicity Evans explores the site, hearing from former staff who treated patients at different periods and have become fascinated by its history. She takes in the range of buildings from the Admiral's house, to the medical wards - including G block where those with shell shock were treated - staff quarters and the memorial gardens and she pays tribute to the thousands buried in unmarked graves in the Paddock.

The site is held with high affection locally and Felicity also speaks to the developers behind plans to reopen the site, building on its heritage of health care.

Presented by Felicity Evans. Produced in Bristol by Anne-Marie Bullock.

Felicity Evans travels along the backwaters of the Shropshire Union Canal meeting people who've adopted a new area as their own.

Starting out near Beeston she joins Wirral Autistic Society who have adopted a 2 mile stretch of the canal, which they've used regularly, to maintain its upkeep. She sets to work and finds out how it's changed how they feel about the area.

Along the way she helps monitor the hedgerows which were introduced when the canals were created to stop stock entering the waterways. Now many sections are in poor condition but they need to be improved to help a rare moth which has adopted it as its own.

Travelling on to Ellesmere Port and the National Waterways Museum finds out who still use the canals and how a new generation are learning the traditional skills to rebuild and restore heritage boats.

Produced in Bristol by Anne-Marie Bullock.

Tales of smuggling and 'lookers huts' unfold as Helen Mark explores Romney Marsh in Kent. Historically, this great coastal marshland was the result of reclamation of land from the sea, and is the site of an on-going battle to drain it and keep the sea from taking it back. Throughout the centuries life on the Marsh had been difficult, but by the 19th century the economy and the landscape was dominated by sheep; the Romney Marsh sheep. Today, alongside the sheep the area boasts a Nuclear power station at Dungeness, sitting in stark contrast to the shingle landscape of the National Nature Reserve it neighbours. This, along with the 14 medieval churches which dot the landscape, is what gives Romney Marsh it's unique character.

Produced by Perminder Khatkar.

The Holy Island of Lindisfarne is probably best known for its medieval religious heritage and in the summer months pilgrims from all walks of life flock to the island and swell its community of 160 to over 650,000. But in the winter it's the birds that flock here, taking refuge on this holy land during their winter migration. Helen Mark arrives on Holy Island just as the birds do and learns about their unique relationship with this island.

Bird Historian, Ian Kerr has been visiting the island for more than 30 years and knows of 318 species that have been recorded. He also knows the long and complex relationship the birds have with this landscape and the generations of islanders. Legend has it that St Cuthbert laid down rules for the protection of nesting Eiders, making him Britain's first conservationists - whilst in later centuries, islanders recruited Goldcrests to clear their cottages of spiders and flies.

Laura Scott is a ranger at the Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve which annually welcomes over half the world's population of pale bellied Brent Geese. They are attracted to the mudflats and the special grasses that grow there. Whilst the birds come for the special habitats that the island provides, they bring with them many gifts. For Rev David Peel, a United Reformed Church Minister and long-time birder, they are a reflection of God's beauty and design, offering moments of transcendence. For award winning Northumberland based writer Ann Cleeves, author of ITV's Drama Series 'Vera' and BBC's 'Shetland' series, the birds are an integral part of building a landscape and creating an atmosphere and Holy Island - a place that she first visited with her retired RSPB warden and keen birder husband Tim - is full of this rich bird life and atmosphere.

Felicity Evans visits the land that inspired Tolkien's Middle Earth and discovers how this Birmingham Bog also kick started the Urban Wildlife Movement.

From the ages of four to eight , J.R.R. Tolkien, author of 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings', lived with his mother and brother opposite Sarehole Mill on the Wake Green Road in Birmingham, a short walk from what is now Moseley Bog and 'Joy's Wood', a local nature reserve. As a boy, it is into this unexpected patch of woodland that Tolkien would disappear - both literally and in his imagination. Years later he would cite this period of his life as the inspiration for the landscapes and characterless of his now legendary books. A century on, urban development of the ever increasing Birmingham City has stopped short of this special site. This rural idyll, just three miles from Birmingham's city centre was preserved by local mum, Joy Fifer who launched a local campaign in the 80's which went on to start a national urban wildlife movement. It is now cared for by enthusiastic volunteers and enjoyed by the local school children who still disappear into this land and their imaginations - much as Tolkien did so many years before them.

The sport of geocaching has become increasingly popular. The modern twist on a treasure hunt involves using GPS to solve clues and follow trails to find caches and the rise of the smartphone has seen its popularity soar.

Helen Mark joins hundreds of geocachers in the Salcey Forest in Northamptonshire where people have travelled from across the world to be at the 'mega-event'. The ancient hunting forest was used by Henry VIII but also once saw elephants roam the land. Will the clues help her find out more about its history?

Produced in Bristol by Anne-Marie Bullock.

Helen Mark rides a mile and quarter of old railway line that the local people of Mountsorrel in Leicestershire have been restoring over the past six years. It was Steve Cramp who was out walking one weekend that first noticed the over grown and disused railway - he then had a crazy idea to restore the track to it's former glory. Built in 1860 it was used to carry granite and stones from the quarry. Helen spends a day on the railway track and discovers how the project has benefited some volunteers coping with illness and bereavement and even meets a volunteer who comes from Paris to help carry out work on the track.

Producer : Perminder Khatkar .

Once strewn with apple, pear and plum orchards the Vale of Evesham has been famous for its fruit since the middle ages. Helen Mark visits the Vale to see the work being done to continue the area's heritage of fruit production.

In Pershore she spends the day at the annual plum festival, a celebration of the close association the town has had with the fruit for hundreds of years. Here, she meets comedian and conservationist, Alistair McGowan, and hears about his memories of growing up in the area and lifelong fondness for plums.

After the boom years of fruit production in the Vale at the end of the nineteenth century, the 1950s saw a decline in the industry and, since then, almost 80% of the orchards have closed in the area. Helen meets Edward Crowther, whose family has run fruit businesses near Evesham for many generations, and hears about the changes in the Vale during the last century. She joins John Porter at Hipton Hill orchard and learns about the work his conservation group is doing to arrest the decline in the number of traditional orchards in the area and restore them to their former glory.

Produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Helen Mark explores the newly safeguarded 'Laurie Lee Wood' and meets the people who inhabit the 21st Century 'Cider with Rosie' Landscape. Earlier this year Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust had an unprecedented response to its appeal to save a plot of ancient woodland. It had once belonged to Slad Valley's beloved son, Laurie Lee. Having become too much for the author and playwright's remaining family to maintain, the trust launched an appeal to take it over. In this week's Open Country Helen Mark meets the people who saved this land and the community that still find inspiration in this valley today including Julie and Simon Cooper at 'The Cider Farm' where they now handcraft frames for old master paintings, artist Amanda Lawrence who draws inspiration from the natural landscape and captures her work in glass and writer Adam Horovitz who is capturing his own 'Cider with Rosie' experience on paper.

The history of Britain's cathedrals is celebrated but much less so that of the quarries and quarrymen, who hewed the stone they're built of. On this week's Open Country, Helen Mark rectifies that. With her hard hat to hand she goes underground in the South West.

She explores Devon's Beer Quarry Caves which supplied Exeter cathedral with the highest quality limestone, reserved for some of the finest carvings in this and many other medieval churches.

Helen meets John Scott who fought hard to make sure that the Beer Quarry Caves weren't demolished in the 1980s. John is a master storyteller who conjures the underground world of generations of anonymous masons and quarrymen at the caves, which are open to the public. They're joined by master mason Peter Dare.At Exeter cathedral the archaeologist John Allan shows Helen the tracery windows and high ribbed ceilings, all carved from the characteristic creamy white Beer stone.

Producer: Mark Smalley.

The skiff - a four-person, coxed rowing boat - was traditionally a common sight in the seas off Scotland's coastal communities. Changes in the populations of these towns and villages, many losing their traditional links with the sea altogether, has meant, though, that the racing of skiffs was becoming less common - until, that is, the advent of the self-build kit skiff.

Named the St. Ayles skiff (in honour of the Scottish Fisheries Museum, where the idea was born and which is built on the site of St. Ayles Chapel in Anstruther), the huge popularity of the kit skiff has taken the coastal rowing world by surprise. Communities up and down the coastline have banded together to buy, build and then share their own skiff, with some villages buying more than one and women particularly well-represented in the sport.

Helen Mark visits Ullapool for a trip out on Loch Broom in the Ulla with the village's over-forty women's crew, enjoying the calm before attending the opening of the inaugural St. Ayles Skiff World Championships. Crews from around the world, linked only by the fact that they have all bought and built their own St. Ayles skiff, have come together for a week's racing and a celebration of coastal rowing. All agree that the skiff has brought unexpected bonuses to their communities, uniting people in fundraising, in boatbuilding and then, finally, in getting out onto the water together.

Helen Mark visits Longshaw Estate in Derbyshire to meet some very special ants...

The northern hairy wood ant has an international, near-threatened conservation status with England's two main populations found in the Peak District (including Longshaw) and in the North York Moors. In a cutting edge experiment in communication and conservation, Samuel Ellis, a biologist from the University of York, will be attaching a one millimetre radio receiver to each ant in a bid to understand how the ants communicate and commute between the vast network of nests. 'The way the ants use this network has important implications for how they interact with their environment. And the way information is passed through the network may even have implications for our information and telecommunications networks.' The findings will also influence how the landscape is managed and how the habitat can be improved for the ants.

Longshaw Estate is home to more than a thousand nests containing 50 million worker ants. Helen hears from Chris Millner, National Trust Area Ranger at Longshaw who has worked alongside these industrious creatures for many years and from the other non-ant residents of the estate who regularly find themselves surrounded by ants as big as your thumb nail.

The profiles of the two Forth bridges, rail and road, are a familiar and much-loved part of the Edinburgh landscape. Spanning the Firth of Forth between North and South Queensferry, the cantilevers of the rail bridge stand as a monument to Victorian ambition and achievement in engineering and building. Learning lessons from the great Tay Bridge disaster of 1879, its architects took bridge building into an entirely new era and the vision and physical toil involved in its construction leave present-day engineers in awe. A recent ten-year renovation programme has left the bridge in line for World Heritage Site status, while, as Helen Mark discovers, its importance to the people who live and work with it day to day goes far beyond its function as a crossing of the firth. Local people tell Helen that it serves as a constant reminder of the men who laboured to build the bridge and who, in many cases, lost their lives in the process.

The road bridge was also a ground-breaker when it was opened in 1964, and quickly became an iconic landmark in its own right. But it will soon find itself overshadowed by a new neighbour, to be named, by public vote, the Queensferry Crossing. The bridge's chief engineer takes Helen to admire the view from the top of one of the road bridge's towers and discusses how it will feel, when the new bridge opens, to surrender the title of Bridgemaster.

The murky waters of this stretch of the Firth of Forth will soon have three bridges - one from the nineteenth century, one from the twentieth and one from the twenty first - and for engineers and local people alike, that says something very significant about Scotland and its place in engineering history.

Felicity Evans visits Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. It boasts the largest expanse of chalk grassland in Europe and is home to over two thousand prehistoric sites, including Britain's most iconic pre-historic Stonehenge. Until recently it was thought that Stonehenge was built as an astronomical calendar or observatory but new theories suggest the site was used for ceremonial cremations. Felicity also discusses plans for its future with a new visitor centre and re-direction of a nearby road, reuniting the Stones with the landscape that surrounds it.The last inhabitants of the village of Imber on Salisbury Plain left in the 1940's when the village was requisitioned by the Army. Now it's at the heart of Army training on the Plain and Felicity finds out why. Many of the original cottages are no longer there but the 13th century St Giles Church at Imber has been restored and is open to the public for a few days each year. The Church has a new set of bells and Felicity gets a chance to ring one of them. She also visits a bee farmer who keeps an apiary behind the church. He also talks about the carpet of wild flowers that thrive on the Plain and provide sources of nectar for the bees, enabling them to produce delicious honey flavoured with wild thyme and wild sage.

Woodlands are often the setting for fairy stories but also for the creation of a new childhood game, a secret adventure or a new den and are cherished places. Helen Mark heads to Gloucestershire to see how children, large and small, share a love for the forest.

In Berkeley she meets children from a 'forest school' where lessons are taken outside and children are taught to use axes and saws, to identify trees and create and build. While the children teach her how to get involved, she hears it's not just the children who've changed through freedom outside the classroom.

Near Tetbury she meets James Shrives and his wife Debs who've crammed 1000 trees into an acre of garden space to create their own forest. The dense growth provides a sanctuary and draws in wildlife but will the pride they've taken in the growth make it heartbreaking to thin down the area?

Finally she heads to the edge of Bristol where a council-managed forest at Ashton Court provides an escape for city-dwellers. She joins a group of friends to see how the wild space inspires them and if it can rival their computers and meets author Ingrid Skeels whose own alternative education led her to create St Cuthbert's Wild School for Boys.

James Herriot's books about life as a country vet in the 1970s sold 60 million copies worldwide. Later many of the stories were made into feature films and a very popular TV series, 'All Creatures Great and Small'. Herriot's real name was James 'Alf' Wight, and he was known as 'Alf' by local people. He practiced as a vet in Thirsk, a small market town just a few miles from the North York Moors, as did his son, Jim Wight. Felicity Evans visits 'Herriot Country' to meet Jim Wight and talk about his father, the changes there have been in veterinary practice since the 1940s and the legacy 'James Herriot' left both the town and the local farming community.

Jim Wight takes Felicity to the old surgery in 23, Kirkgate, Thirsk where Alf served the local community as a vet, initially working with Donald Sinclair, who became Siegfried Farnon in the books. Jim lived here until he was ten and later when he followed his father into the practice, it was also his place of work. Now it's 'The World of James Herriot Museum', where the rooms are lovingly preserved and visitors can see the old dispensary and the veterinary instruments used in the post war era. The visit brings back many memories for Jim including sharing some of the humorous stories that made his father's books so famous.

The farming industry has also changed since Alf Wight's time and Felicity visits John Bowes and his son Jonathan, one of the few remaining dairy farmers now left in the area who remember Alf Wight's visits. She also meets the Town's Mayor, Janet Watson who talks of the 'Herriot effect' on business in the town and proudly shows her the newly laid cobblestones in the Market Square and the restored town clock.

Felicity ends her visit to Thirsk by observing a veterinary consultation at the Skeldale Veterinary practice. Peter Wright talks about the loss of many family run farms who kept livestock which has given way to a veterinary practice that is now dominated by small animals. Happily both Peter and Jim Wight believe that the changes, particularly in disease control, are very much for the better.

Producer: Sarah Pitt.

Felicity Evans introduces Open Country from the Teifi Valley in West Wales and finds that the River Teifi once supported the growth of the 19th century woollen industry and sustains traditional coracle making today. In search of the elusive lamprey she discovers a diversity of wildlife found in the river.

At Cenarth Falls she meets Peter Davis, the last coracle maker in the village, and talks about the traditional hand crafting process of this ancient vessel. Peter holds one of only twelve licences on the Teifi River which allows him to fish five days a week from a coracle where his favourite catch is sea trout. She also pops into the National Coracle Centre to talk to owner, Martin Fowler and see his collection of coracles from around the world. Here she discovers that coracles were used at Cenarth to encourage sheep in and out of the river so that their fleeces could be washed before shearing.

In the 19th century there were fifty-two water-powered mills making Welsh flannel, woven blankets and nursing shawls. A visit to the National Wool Museum reveals the value of the Welsh nursing shawl and 'The Mighty Mule' used for spinning threads. She also meets Raymond Jones, the last maker of traditional Welsh flannel left in Wales.

With the resurgence of interest in the use of traditional wool cloth for textile design a bright future is seen for those mills still in operation. However, there is now only one mill left in the valley which is water-powered. Felicity meets Donald Morgan at Rock Woollen Mill in Capel Dewi. Donald's family have woven cloth here for four generations and their mill once supplied electricity to the village. Now Donald makes a variety of woven textiles including woven purses and handbags favoured by the Japanese.

Producer: Sarah Pitt.

Helen Mark takes a day at the seaside to visit the romance of piers. They have been hailed as great examples of Victorian architecture but the cost of maintenance and repair from weather damage or fire can run into millions. She visits Weston-super-Mare in Somerset where the now hi-tech restored Grand Pier overlooks the damaged remains of Birnbeck. Actors Timothy West and Prunella Scales join her in Clevedon to visit the 'pier of the year' which was once only a vote away from demolition. It was described by Sir John Betjeman as 'delicate as a Japanese print in the mist' but it may have a fragile future. They welcome the paddle steamer Waverley as it docks - revisiting memories of Timothy's childhood holidays.

Produced in Bristol by Anne-Marie Bullock.

The image of a keeper leading a pony off a heather-clad hill, a deer carcass slung across its back, may sound like something from a Landseer painting, but in 21st century Scotland, Highland ponies - or garrons - are still a valued part of the deer stalking business.

Helen Mark visits the Reay Forest estate in Sutherland to find out what ponies can offer which even the toughest off-road vehicle cannot. Garrons were a fixture of most estates until the 1970s, when in many places they were deemed to be part of the past. Some estates, though, kept garrons for use in the most inaccessible corners of their land, and they are now being adopted for the first time by some estates which have come to see the value of these hardy creatures. Helen hears how the garron is part of the Highland landscape not just for sentimental reasons, creating continuity with the past, but for sound economic and practical purposes too.

Produced by Moira Hickey.

Jules Hudson goes to Cannock Chase in Staffordshire to find out about its military past. A major training camp during the First World War, he visits a mock-up of part of the Western Front that was built in order to familiarise troops with the concept of trench warfare, before they were sent to France and Flanders. Now covered in scrub, county archaeologists will begin clearing the site, a model of Messines Ridge, this summer. This is in preparation for the centenary commemorations next year that mark the beginning of the First World War.

Cannock Chase as a whole can be seen as a landscape of commemoration. Besides the mock-up of the Trenches, the area is home to cemeteries for Commonwealth and German soldiers who died in the UK during both world wars, including the crews of the Zeppelins shot down over Britain during the First World War. Jules also visits a memorial to the Katyn Massacre on the Chase, which commemorates the 22,000 Polish soldiers who were shot by the Soviets on Stalin's orders in 1940.

Producer: Mark Smalley.

Felicity Evans visits the Minack Theatre at Porthcurno, in the far west of Cornwall. Built into the rocky cliffs overlooking the sea, the theatre was planned, built and financed by one determined woman - Rowena Cade. Local storyteller Mark Harandon has researched and re-created the character of Billy Rawlings, Cade's gardener, who worked for her for 40 years and helped to build the theatre. Mark, as Billy, leads Felicity around the theatre telling stories collected from the family and people who knew him, and reminiscing about how the theatre was built.

Felicity explores the coast further, visiting the Porthcurno Telegraph Museum, an area which was the hub of international cable communications from 1870-1970. In WWII secret tunnels were dug by Cornish miners to house an underground building and the entire telegraph operations. These bomb proof/gas proof tunnels provided 14 secure cables out of the UK to its allies.

Going east along the coast path from Porthcurno, near the village of Treen, stands The Logan Rock, a massive boulder perched on the edge of a cliff, and locally known as a rocking stone. Felicity hears how legend has it that it could be rocked with one finger, until it was rocked so much by a rowdy group of naval seamen 1824, that it was dislodged from its perch. This apparently upset local residents for whom the rock was a tourist attraction and source of income, who complained so much that the seamen were forced to restore it - at some effort!

Producer: Beatrice Fenton.

What is phenology? Felicity Evans visits Fenland Cambridgeshire to learn about an influential but largely unacknowledged Victorian vicar - the Reverend Leonard Jenyns - who made a lasting contribution to science.

Jenyns is certainly not as well known as Charles Darwin, even though he passed up the chance of sailing on HMS Beagle as the ship's naturalist. In fact, Jenyns never set foot outside the UK, yet his contribution to science was enormous. Felicity hears how phenology has become a key aspect of observing climate change, noting the first and last days of the seasons.

She finds out how much Fenland Cambridgeshire has been dried out since Jenyns' day, and the ways in which this rural vicar bore witness to the habitat destruction and species extinction in his own parish in the mid-Victorian period.

Producer: Mark Smalley.

Helen Mark visits Lyme Regis, along Dorset's Jurassic coast, to explore the Undercliffs, a fascinating jungle-like terrain that's been created by 200 years of landslips, and is still evolving today.

She learns that the exceptional rainfall of the last twelve months has increased the geological instability of this area that lies to the west of Lyme Regis, through which passes the South West Coast Path.

Helen meets geologists, naturalists, and the wildlife artist Elaine Franks, all of whom are passionate about the striking quality of the Undercliffs - a six mile stretch of land that's the nearest to jungle conditions that can be found in Britain.

Producer: Mark Smalley.

Graham Sutherland talked of Pembrokeshire as the place where 'I began to learn painting'. In this week's Open Country, Felicity Evans follows in his footsteps, discovering the landscapes that inspired his work. The abstract shapes and colours of his art are revealed through conversations with a self confessed 'Sutherland Groupie' also known as art historian Sally Moss and geologist and writer Dr Brian John. Felicity also meets with Susie and Nicky Philipps of Picton Castle who recall Sutherland's visits to their ancestral home and local artist Sarah Jane Brown who shares her own artistic view of 'Sutherland's' land.

Presented by Felicity Evans Produced by Nicola Humphries.

The Dumfries and Galloway 10th annual Wild Spring Festival takes place this month and Helen Mark is there to find out what's on offer in south west Scotland as the days lengthen.

Helen rides on horseback around the Craigengillan Estate, Dalmellington, to hear how Mark Gibson has involved the local community in his restoration of the 3000 acre estate. Craigengillan falls within the United Nations designated UNESCO Biosphere for Galloway and Southern Ayrshire, which celebrates the area's combination of special landscapes and wildlife areas, rich cultural heritage and communities that care about their environment and culture.

The Biosphere also contains the UK's only Dark Sky Park in Galloway Forest, and Helen meets observatory manager Robert Ince to enjoy the night sky.

"Food Town" Castle Douglas is also playing a part in the Wild Spring Festival and Helen Mark finds out from Wilma Finlay and Clint Burgess about the local, seasonal produce on offer in the region, and talks to Mark Williams about his wild food foraging.

The Galloway Red Kite Trail makes an important contribution to the local economy and the RSPB's Calum Murray takes Helen to see the daily feeding spectacle at Bellymack Hill Farm near Laurieston.

Produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Solar panels and sheep may not be the first things that spring to mind when you think of a monastery but at Stanbrook Abbey you'll find these alongside a woodchip boiler and a roof covered in sedum grass to insulate the building and attract local wildlife.

The sisters at Stanbrook Abbey (and the sheep) live very much in harmony with their North Yorkshire Moors National Park surroundings. The community of sisters embraced their new, high tech, high spec, eco-friendly home after leaving their more traditional, gothic style 20-acre site in Worcestershire in 2009. Having lived there for 171 years, this was not an easy decision to make but the need to down-size and provide a more practical style of accommodation for the future lead them to this setting in Yorkshire, a place with a strong Cistercian heritage, where in their own words they '...seek to become 'lovers of the place', working in harmony with the National Park ethos to conserve and enhance the natural beauty and cultural heritage of this landscape'.

Helen Mark meets with the sisters of Stanbrook as they care for their livestock, explain the eco workings of Stanbrook, the joys of reflecting nature in art and the excitement of new beginnings.

Produced by Nicola Humphries.

In a year when Derry-Londonderry takes centre stage as the UK City of Culture, Helen Mark steps out into the city's back garden to explore the hidden gems of the Inishowen Peninsula. Located at the northernmost tip of Ireland where it meets with the Atlantic Ocean, and with Lough Foyle to the east and Lough Swilly to the west, Inishowen is rich in history, heritage and landscape, with more than its fair share of undiscovered delights. Helen Mark begins her journey at the Glenevin Waterfall with American, Doris Russo. Now in her 90s, Doris first visited Donegal almost 20 years ago when she fell in love with the area and bought Glen House with its adjoining land and beautiful, yet inaccessible, waterfall. Helen hears how Doris took it upon herself to clear the brambles and undergrowth that blocked the route to the waterfall and so began a project that would take years to reach fruition with the help of the local community and volunteers. There are very few people in the area now without a friend or relative who has been involved in the Glenevin Waterfall including farmer, Michael Devlin, who tells Helen of his own experiences of the waterfall as a child. At the northern tip of Inishowen Helen meets writer, Cary Meehan, to visit the atmospheric Bocan Stone Circle at Malin Head. Cary has made a promise with herself to visit a sacred place every week and feels that these are places that give people a divine connection that there really are no words for. Heading back along the shores of Lough Foyle, Helen stops off for a kayak trip out on the waters with Adrian Harkin before making her way back to the border. Before she leaves Inishowen, Helen makes one last stop to meet Dessie McCallion who takes Helen to one of his favourite hidden gems, a woodland near the village of Muff where he walks and feeds the red squirrels who call the woodland home. Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

Tiny Johnsons Island sits in contrast to the hustle and bustle of Brentford and West London surrounding it. At the confluence of the Rivers Thames and Brent and the Grand Union Canal, the area was important historically for the barges that had carried goods from Birmingham. Nearby boat yards continue to repair and renovate vessels of all types while shiny new developments overlook the island - a mixture of old and new alongside one another. Helen Mark meets the community of artists who work on Johnsons Island and discovers how its nature and surroundings inspire them. A small gallery has been set up to exhibit their work but also to honour the late local character and 'naive artist' Barry Jones - an accomplished jazz musician who sold art works for beer money. The island is shared by one of the boatyards, complete with wet dock, chickens, bees and allotments. Yet many don't know of the island's existence, let alone its history. Helen explores the secrets of Johnsons Island. Produced by Anne-Marie Bullock.

Felicity Evans visits the Black Isle to hear how residents are collecting memories of the landscape, before they are forgotten forever. The Killearnan Memories Group meets to share their knowledge of this part of the Eastern Highlands in order to preserve it for future generations. Members of the group have grown up on the Black Isle and have memories and stories about the physical landscape which they are using to create a written archive. This movement has been inspired by a project run by Cait McCullagh from Archaeology for Communities in the Highlands (ARCH), in which Black Isle residents gathered together to remember buildings, sites and other aspects of their heritage, using old maps and photographs as inspiration. Produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Cley Marshes was purchased in 1926 making it the first Wildlife Trust reserve in the country. It's a fascinating place with inspiring international connections including a special link with the Middle East. In December and January overwintering birds fill the air and the reed beds of Cley but it's not just our winged friends that migrate here. A group of artists drawn from Germany, the US and all around the UK settled in Cley 30 years ago. Inspired by the light and the landscapes the collective known as 'Made in Cley' are regularly drawn to the marshes to create their art, but Cley's power to inspire doesn't stop there. In an act of global solidarity, Nature Iraq made a donation to Norfolk Wildlife Trust to support their work on England's North Norfolk coast. As renowned birder Richard Porter explains, they did this as a gesture of thanks for the help they have received from colleagues in the UK. The links with the Middle East are also close to the heart of Richard Aspinall as his brother, Simon Aspinall was a leading authority on the region's birds. Despite travelling the world, Cley is the place that Simon made home. Simon was diagnosed with motor neurone disease which left him unable to move without significant help, but this did not stop both Simon and Richard visiting the marshes right up until the end of Simon's life. The personal connections to Cley run as deep as the international ones. For three generations Bernard Bishop and his family have cared for the marshes. Bernard's great grandfather was the first warden, followed by his father and then Bernard himself. Between them they've seen visitors grow from the occasional walking party of 10 a day to over 100,000 a year all flocking to see the outstanding bird life that call Cley home.

Producer: Nicola Humphries.

Thousands of historic buildings and monuments are at risk of being lost through damage or neglect. Jules Hudson tours sites in the West Midlands to assess the level of damage, to ask what's key to helping preserve or restore them and ask if some merit the cost and effort involved. Many walking through Bubbenhall village in Warwickshire may not know about the scheduled ancient monument under the earth because even signs of it are only visible for two weeks in the year but experts say it's key to understanding our ancestors. He travels to Fazeley near Tamworth which has clusters of Grade 2 listed buildings but some have been destroyed by fire and others virtually abandoned by owners who can't afford the development work. He helps assess one of the buildings with experts from English Heritage who want to produce a database on the state of Grade 2 listed buildings. Jules also explores nearby Middleton Hall which was so neglected it was used as a motorbike track. Volunteers set up a trust and have spent 35 years bringing it back into use. However, they say their work is still not done.

Produced by Anne-Marie Bullock.

Helen Mark visits the ancient town of Hastings to meet the people involved in the fishing community there. The fishing fleet is made up of small wooden boats which are all under ten metres long. This is important as, unusually, they are launched each day from the beach. This involves pushing them down the shingle bank, by tractor nowadays but traditionally by hand, and winching them back up again out of the sea when they return. Helen meets Paul Joy, a fisherman, who can date his family back as far as the 1000s, all launching their boats from the beach in Hastings as he does today. This is true of lots of the fishing families working there. But even with such a long and thriving history behind them the Hastings fishing industry is now in trouble. Their crews are in their seventies and there's no sign of new blood, and their wages are falling. Before 2006, under ten metre boats weren't subject to any EU fishing quotas as they were deemed exempt, but new legislation brought in six years ago changed all this. Since then the number of cod they're allowed to catch has dramatically reduced, and the fishermen are struggling.

Producer: Beatrice Fenton.

Helen Mark takes us on a journey to the real Never Never Land.

Peter Pan first came to life on the glittering stage of London's Duke of York Theatre on 27th December 1904, but he began life far away from the hustle, bustle and glamour of the West End in the market town of Kirriemuir near Dundee. Helen Mark visits the birth place of J.M. Barrie who immortalised this "wee red toonie" as "Thrums" in his popular (pre-Pan) novels Auld Licht Idylls, A Window in Thrums, and The Little Minister. Helen also takes us out into the landscape that is believed to have inspired Never Never Land and the adventures of Peter Pan himself.

Producer: Nicola Humphries.

Helen Mark is in Norfolk where preparations for Christmas are underway. In Great Hockham Helen meets Vincent Thurkettle whose life has been defined by a love of trees and the great outdoors. During the early part of the year, Vincent tends his fields of Christmas trees, which are allowed to grow with wild flowers at their roots, before spending his summers diving for sunken treasure off the coast of Britain. Returning to Norfolk later in the year, Vincent begins his Christmas tree deliveries and Helen joins him as he sets off. In the coastal town of Cromer, a rather more unusual Christmas tree has appeared in the churchyard and Helen meets fisherman, John Davies, to find out about the 150 lobster pots that were used to build the tree which now lights up the town and celebrates the town's fishing heritage. Helen also finds out how to decorate a Christmas tree for garden birds before heading back to Great Hockham where Vincent Thurkettle has finished the day's deliveries. Vincent, who also spends a week each year chopping wood to heat his cottage and cook his food gives Helen a lesson in how to lay the best wood fire and where the chestnuts will soon be roasting.

Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

A spectacular aqueduct hangs in limbo above the village of Coleford whilst deep green ridges carve their way through forest and fields. Tucked away at the eastern end of the Mendips in Somerset, Jules Hudson discovers the secrets of 'The Canal that Never Was'.

Started in the late 1700s, the Nettlebridge branch of what would have been the Dorset and Somerset Canal, stretches eight miles though a quiet valley between Edford and Frome. The canal itself was planned in order to link the Bristol and English Channels and to connect the counties of Dorset and Somerset into the canal network. The Nettlebridge branch was planned to have boat lifts instead of locks and in a feat of extraordinary engineering one balance lock was built by James Fussell as a trial. The site of Fussell's Trial Balance Lock was located and excavated by The Dorset and Somerset Canal Society who revealed an almost completely conserved masonry chamber.

The route was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1796 but unplanned factors including underestimated costs and inflation due to the Napoleonic Wars meant that the canal was abandoned. Today ghostly structures still rise and fall through the landscape weaving their trail of what might have been.

Helen Mark visits Brighton to find surprising wildlife in the city. She finds an urban flock of sheep grazing on ancient chalk downland areas in the city. Their gentle nibbling is kinder to wildlife than mowing and ensures that green spaces stay clear for wildlife and people. Helen meets a volunteer shepherd in charge of watching the sheep through the winter months.

Nearby, Moulsecoomb Forest Garden and Wildlife Project works with excluded school pupils growing vegetables and gardening for wildlife. Helen is shown the project's tree house, outdoor clay oven, turf sofa, and traditional bee hive. Now a thriving garden run by an army of volunteers the original piece of land, hidden away behind Moulsecoomb railway station, had been left overgrown and derelict for nearly twenty years. Down on Brighton's beach Helen joins Huw Morgan from Sussex Wildlife Trust as he splashes around in rock pools with children from a local school. Their city centre school lacks green space for them to explore so the beach is the perfect place for them to run free and learn about marine wildlife and sustainable fishing.

Producer Beatrice Fenton.

The 12th century St Donat's castle in South Wales was once home to media mogul William Randolph Hearst - subject of Citizen Kane. Fifty years ago it became the home of Atlantic College, a unique educational establishment bringing together students from around the world in the hope of promoting peace and understanding and to overcome the problems of the Cold War. Felicity Evans explores the campus grounds, meeting students past and present, to find out how an alternative education has influenced their lives. She asks how serving the community and working on the land - including running the organic farm and lifeboat unit - has helped shape their views and plans for the future.

Helen Mark discovers the myths and legends of the landscape of Snowdonia. A recent million pound appeal by the National Trust successfully enabled the Trust to buy one of Wales' most iconic farms, Llyndy Isaf, and the land around it on the shores of Llyn Dinas. As well as being important environmentally, legend states that the area is the setting for the mythical battle between the red and white dragon, the red dragon being the victor and claiming the honour of becoming the country's national symbol. Helen also visits Ty Hyll, the Ugly House, a cottage saved from dereliction in the 1980s by the Snowdonia Society. The true origins of the house remain shrouded in mystery, although legend tells of it being built by two outlaw brothers as a 'Ty Un Nos', a house built overnight between sunset and sunrise with walls, roof and a smoking chimney. Under ancient law anyone succeeding in doing this could claim the freehold. What other mysteries surround this stunning landscape?

Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

Helen Mark visits Hicks Lodge, a restored open cast mine in Leicestershire, now a haven for wildlife, walkers and cyclists and other more unusual visitors. Over 100 different bird species have been recorded at Hicks Lodge, which is run by the Forestry Commission and is situated in young woodlands at the heart of the National Forest.

Helen meets Area Forester, Alan Dowell, to find out more about Hicks Lodge and the various walking routes and cycle trails that are available and joins local cyclist, Marc Stapleford for a bike ride through the site of what is now the National Forest Cycle Centre. Helen also hears from Chief Executive of the National Forest, Sophie Churchill, about the background to the Forest itself which covers 200 square miles of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire. They are joined by retired Geography teacher, Dot Morson, and one of her former pupils, Mark Knight. Both are local residents who have seen the landscape around them transformed over the years. And Stuart Malcolmson and Racheal Bailey of the National Forest Mushing Team give Helen a lesson in dog sledding - one of the more unusual pastimes to be found on the site of a former open cast mine!

Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

Open Country visits Scotland's Moray Firth, testing the health of its marine mammal population The beaching of twenty six pilot whales in Scotland's Firth of Forth made headlines, and highlighted the importance attached by many of us to the creatures which live, largely unobserved, in our seas. In Open Country this week, Richard Uridge travels further north, to the Moray Firth, to test the health of its mammal populations, and to try to fathom what it is about these creatures which strikes such a chord in humans.

Helen Mark explores the landscape and waters of the Isle of Bute off the west coast of Scotland where, for over 200 years, visitors have gone 'doon the watter' to take advantage of the island's relaxing atmosphere and healing properties. Suggestions have been made that Bute should be designated as Britain's first 'blue space', an area defined by blue sea, sky and fresh air which all have a therapeutic effect. Boarding the ferry at Wemyss Bay, Helen joins Shiona Lawson, one of those whose family would take the ferry each year to go 'doon the watter'. Shiona recalls that back then the beaches seemed to go on forever and the sun seemed to be always shining and remembers an island that had such an effect on her that she eventually moved to live there. At the harbour to meet Helen is James McMillan. James is a 'Brandane', someone who was born and bred on the island.

Helen then meets up with Roddy McDowell who runs Kayak Bute and who takes Helen out on the waters around the island and gives her a lesson in sea kayaking , an experience which Roddy describes as crossing the boundary between the green space and the blue. Helen then hears from archaeologist, Paul Duffy, about the rich heritage of Bute. Walking from the car park at Scalpsie Beach to the seashore, Paul takes Helen on a journey through 8000 years of history in 8 minutes. Finally, wildlife photographer Philip Kirkham gives Helen a lesson in photography on the shoreline in front of his house under the big skies of the island he loves.

Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

The peat bogs of Ireland's midlands have become a battlefield, with opinions divided on how they should best be managed in the future. Helen Mark looks beyond the present-day arguments and travels to Counties Longford, Roscommon and Offaly to find out how attitudes to the bog have evolved over centuries. From the Iron Age Corlea trackway, an oak road discovered just a few years ago, perfectly preserved in peat, to startling evidence of early Christian links with Africa and memories of childhood days spent peat cutting , Helen explores what the bog has to tell us - and what it might have in store for the future.

Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Moira Hickey.

The festival of Lughnasa (pronounced Loon-asa) is an ancient Celtic celebration of the harvest, with its roots in County Meath in Ireland. The god Lugh is said to have established the festival in honour of his foster mother Tailtiu, who had exhausted herself by clearing forest land for agriculture. Helen Mark visits Teltown in Meath, which is said to have taken its name from that of Tailtiu, to see how Lughnasa is celebrated there today.

Presenter : Helen Mark Producer : Moira Hickey.

From Dover to Dundee, London to Leeds and Cardiff to Cambridge, there is much more to our towns and cities than concrete and cars. Take the time to listen and look and a world of wildlife is there just waiting to be spotted. As Britain's largest city London is alive with wildlife and Jules Hudson takes a journey across West London in search of just a few of the feathered, furry and winged residents that call the city home.

As the day begins, Jules meets David Lindo, aka The Urban Birder, who takes Jules for a walk across Wormwood Scrubs, the 183 acres of open land close to the prison of the same name. This is David's patch, his 'garden' where he says he has had the privilege of seeing Meadow Pipits, Woodpeckers, passing Northern Wheatears, Honey Buzzards and even nesting Skylarks. Leaving David doing what he does best, looking up to the skies, Jules joins Jan Hewlett at the Gunnersbury Triangle Nature Reserve. Cut off from the surrounding area by railway tracks in the late nineteenth century, this reserve in a corner of Chiswick has developed into a lively ecological community which became one of London Wildlife Trust's first reserves when it was saved from development by a local campaign. Jan takes Jules on a walk through the woodland of the reserve, which is home to an array of birdlife, butterflies and bats, as well as hedgehogs and field voles, to the pond to discover what creatures thrive there.

Leaving Jan taking in the peace of the Triangle, Jules continues his journey to the home of Kelly Gray where he finds some surprising residents in her back garden. Longing for the rural lifestyle, Kelly has brought the countryside and the idea of life on the farm to Brentford. Introducing Jules to Rosie and Jim, the pigs that share her back garden with the ducks and chickens she also has, Kelly explains why she took such such a huge decision to bring the countryside in to her West London garden.

No urban wildlife story would be complete without the gardener's best friend, the hedgehog. Jules rounds off his journey with a visit to the home of Sue Kidger in Twickenham from where she runs her hedgehog hospital, caring for orphaned and injured hedgehogs with the aim of releasing them once again to secure gardens. With Sue is Hugh Warwick, self-confessed hedgehog obsessive who tells Jules about an initiative to safeguard the future of hedgehogs whose numbers have been declining rapidly in recent years. As Hugh says, a hedgehog friendly garden is a wildlife friendly garden.

Presenter: Jules Hudson Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

In a year in which the world will be looking in on Britain as we celebrate the Diamond Jubilee and host the London Olympics, Helen Mark goes in search of the people whose lives are inextricably linked with the White Cliffs of Dover.We find out about this iconic part of the British landscape which has played such an important part in our nation's history and discovers why it still holds a special place in the nation's heart.Brian Whittaker and Rob Sonnen of the National Trust tell us why it is so important that landscapes like the White Cliffs are preserved for the nation. Jon Iveson from the Dover Museum tells Helen about the vital part that Dover and the White Cliffs have played in Britain's past and geologist Melanie Wrigley of the White Cliffs Countryside Partnership, which was set up to conserve and enhance the coast and countryside of Dover and the White Cliffs as the gateway to England, takes Helen for a walk on Shakespeare Beach in search of fossils. Helen also meets Kaimes Beasley of HM Coastguard who tells her about the vital role that they play in ensuring the safety of the seas around the cliffs over which bluebirds have never really flown.....or have they? Finally, Helen meets Dame Vera Lynn, whose wartime anthem firmly placed this most iconic of British landscapes in the hearts and minds of the nation.

Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

Jules Hudson explores the waters of Hampstead Heath which have been used for over 200 years by champion swimmers and year round bathers. How and why did they come to be and what stories can they tell? How has the landscape around them changes and what is it about them that still draws over a quarter of a million visitors a year? And what does the future hold for them? Jules Hudson is joined by Caitlin Davies who has swum in the ponds all her life to find out more about these unique ponds.

Presenter: Jules Hudson Producer: Lizz Pearson.

As the excitement mounts around London 2012 Helen Mark visits Much Wenlock, the birthplace of the modern Olympics, and explores the landscape around Wenlock Edge. In the small market town of Much Wenlock in rural Shropshire, Dr William Penny Brookes came up with an inspirational way to promote healthy living to local people by devising an annual Games event which led to the rebirth of the Olympics at its classis home in Athens. The Wenlock Olympian Society has continued with the games which are still a unique annual attraction to this day. Helen Mark hears from some of the people taking part in, and involved with, the Games and also explores the 'living entity' that is Wenlock Edge. This wooded, limestone escarpment stretches for around 17 miles from Craven Arms to Much Wenlock and finds out more about the history, archaeology and wildlife of this incredible landscape.

Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

Helen Mark is in Gloucestershire to find out more about one of our most fascinating creatures, the eel, and hear why efforts are being made to save this endangered species. When eels arrive in the UK as tiny babies, called elvers, they do so at the end of an exhausting 4,000-mile marathon swim from the Sargasso Sea where they have spawned. For generations, their arrival was greeted with much anticipation by fishermen on the Rivers Severn and Wye where they were caught at night and often used in dishes and delicacies. But the eel is in trouble and has been placed on the Red List of Fish to Avoid by the Marine Conservation Society who class it as critically endangered. However, others believe that the decline in the number of eels is not just a result of over-fishing but is also due to the way in which rivers are managed and flood defences are erected, so blocking the eels migratory route, and that by leaving them to their own defences the eels' fate will be sealed. Helen Mark meets some of the people involved with trying to save this precious and mysterious creature including fisherman Richard Cook who has a life-long passion for eels and who is now taking tanks of eels into schools to teach the children who look after them for a few weeks about the importance of the fish, our rivers and the environment . Eventually, the children will release the eels back into the river as part of a restocking project. Helen also hears from Bernadette Clarke of the Marine Conservation Society about the reasons why they felt it was important that eels should be classed as critically endangered and placed on the Red List. And Helen meets Andrew Kerr of the Sustainable Eel Group which is working to devise a recovery plan to protect and preserve the eel.

Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

Jules Hudson shadows a farm vet in Devon. As the landscape has changed and farms have grown larger the role of the farm vet has changed also. A large part of their role is now on disease prevention rather than simply treatment and they can be crucial in spotting disease outbreaks like foot and mouth which have devastated the countryside in the past. Jules shadows newly qualified vet Jen Hall to find out what's involved and how important the relationship with the farmer can be in protecting animals and the countryside.

Producer: Anne-Marie Bullock.

Richard Uridge is in Northamptonshire to discover the inspirational landscape around Rockingham Forest.He meets musician, Nick Penny, who explains to Richard how he records the nightingales that frequently return to Glapthorn Cow Pasture and works with these sounds and other birdsong to create sound diaries of the landscape.His friend and collaborator David Garrett, takes inspiration from the Northamptonshire countryside for his poetry which began with 'Rose of the Shires, a tribute to the county he loves. And artist, Claire Morris Wright, takes Richard for a walk in the forest behind her house in the hamlet of Laxton and explains how important the feelings and textures of the landscape are to her in her work, whether in prints or clay.

Presenter: Richard Uridge Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

As the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal celebrates its 200th anniversary, Helen Mark takes a boat trip to find out about the canal's importance to the South Wales landscape. Helen is joined by David Morgan from British Waterways to find out more about the canal's history and Helen and David help local brewer, Buster Grant, to deliver his celebratory ales to local pubs in the way that they would have been delivered 200 years ago. Stopping off en route, Helen finds out more about the lime industry in the area from Nigel Gervis who still produces lime today which is used in maintenance work on the canal's locks and bridges. Helen also meets Ceri Cadwallader from the Blaenavon World Heritage Site to find out about the Forgotten Landscapes Project and the importance of the canal's industrial heritage and its place within the communities of Monmouthshire and Brecon today. And Helen jumps aboard a second boat with ecologist, Mark Robinson, to find out about the wildlife that now inhabits the banks of the canal. Finally, Helen and David join forces to roll out the barrel as Buster's beer arrives at its final destination.

Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

Where might you find the spot where Saint George killed the dragon and the oldest complete set of medieval bells? The answer lies in the Herefordshire countryside and in the history and legend attached to just some of the beautiful churches that can be found there. The Bishop of Hereford once said that 'The Diocese of Hereford is blessed with so many beautiful church buildings. Most of them stand at the centre of communities they have served for a thousand years or more."

Helen Mark travels around the Herefordshire countryside to meet some of the people involved with the churches that are still at the heart of of the rural communities that they serve. She finds out about their history and heritage, the legend and folklore, their past, their present and what the future holds for them.

Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Anne Marie Bullock.

As parts of the country face a hosepipe ban for the first time in 20 years, Jules Hudson is in Berkshire to find out how the drought is affecting the county.

Presenter: Jules Hudson Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

Flat Holm is the most southerly point in Wales. The Island sits just off the Cardiff Coast. In 1982, the Flat Holm Project was established. The aim was to manage Flat Holm as a local nature reserve and to encourage visitor access and opportunities for education. The Island has a long and varied history having been used by man since prehistoric times. It was farmed for some 800 years and stopped in 1942. It has been fortified twice, most recently during the 2nd World War. The Island has many buildings and structures of historic interest, many are listed buildings and scheduled ancient monuments. In this week's Open Country, Helen Mark finds out what life is like for the wardens and volunteers who live on the Island all year round and what is done to prepare the Island for the influx of tourists in the summer. Presented by Helen Mark and Produced by Anna Varle.

To celebrate the bicentenary of Charles Dickens, Helen Mark visits the Medway towns to find out how important a part the Kent landscape played in Dickens' life and works. Except London - no part of the British Isles features more prominently in Dickens' life than Kent. "Kent Sir - Everybody knows Kent - apples, cherries, hops and women" Mr Jingle, Pickwick Papers. Anyone who's ever thumbed through the likes of Oliver Twist, David Copperfield or The Pickwick Papers will know that the landscape and people of 19th Century Kent provided rich pickings for Dickens. In particular, the clutch of towns around the River Medway including Chatham and Rochester are referenced frequently in Dickens' works. It was growing up here that the author was at his happiest, stockpiling memories he would recycle in later years. Presented by Helen Mark and Produced by Anna Varle.

Jules Hudson discovers an ancient landscape buried deep beneath the East Anglian fens which gives, possibly, the best idea yet of what life was like here thousands of years ago. Several wooden boats, spears, swords and other items have been found on the site of a brick quarry, preserved in silt and peat, and researchers say that this is one of the most important Bronze Age sites ever to be found in Britain Jules hears from David Gibson and Mark Knight of Cambridge University's Archaeological Unit about the history of the Fenland environment and what the discovery of the six boats tells them about the utilisation of the landscape's river system. Amongst the objects that have been found are ancient eel traps, used by some of the first fishermen, and Jules meets Peter Carter who is possibly Fenland's last eel fisherman. Peter takes Jules out on the fens to explain how the the eel traps that have been unearthed at the dig site were made and used and how little this ancient technology has changed over the years. And Maisie Taylor, an expert in prehistoric wood, explains the technology of the boats that have been found and her excitement at the fact that six have been discovered so close to each other. Could there be more?!

Presenter: Jules Hudson Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

Deep in the countryside of eastern England, British troops train in a mock Afghan village designed to look, feel, and sound like the real thing. The 30,000-acre training complex allows soldiers to prepare themselves for the cultural and tactical challenges operating in Afghanistan. The facility, built in 2008, is meant to replicate a typical village in Helmand, with houses, shops and open markets, and the exiles playing the role of villagers. In July 1942 about a thousand men, women and children were compulsorily evacuated from the site north of Thetford. It is an area of heath forming a large part of the unique Norfolk- Suffolk Breckland landscape which was cleared to make way for an army training area where troops could manoeuvre using live ammunition. On today's Open Country, Jules Hudson visits the site to investigate how important the village is in preparing the troops for Afghanistan and finds out how those displaced from their villages in 1942 feel about the evacuation 70 years on.

It's been seven years since hunting with hounds was abolished. But it's claimed the country's hunts, which no longer chase a live animal but a trail of artificial scent instead, are in the best shape anyone can remember. So is the ban working? On Boxing Day, three hundred hunts took place across the country and Agricultural Minister, Jim Paice announced there'd be a vote on whether to repeal the act when there's time in the parliamentary calendar. So on today's Open Country, Helen Mark investigates what the latest is on both sides of the debate.

This is the year of the London 2012 Olympic Games. In just 6 months time, 60,000 people are expected to flood into Weymouth and Portland every day for 2 weeks to watch the sailing events. GB has topped the Sailing medals table at the last three Olympic Games. British sailors will be hoping to repeat the feat at London 2012, battling their rivals in Weymouth Bay. Weymouth and Portland have been preparing for this moment since the location of the sailing events was announced over five years ago. The area has seen major developments in terms of the roads, the marina and the esplanade. For this week's Open Country, Helen Mark visits the area to find out how it has prepared to host such a major event and what impact these changes are having on local residents.

Presenter : Helen Mark Producer : Anna Varle.

Knockando woolmill, near Aberlour on Speyside, has produced fabric since 1784. Its original machinery has supported families down the centuries and the mill has retained a place at the heart of the local community, working with wool from local sheep and weaving tweed and blankets for the flocks' owners. A break had to come, though, for renovation and renewal work which, it is hoped, will allow it to continue its work into the next century and beyond. The trust which runs the mill is determined that it should continue to be far more than a living museum, so Helen Mark visits Knockando just as the restoration work comes to an end to ask where it might market its products, whether anyone nowadays has the skills to keep it alive, and how the Knockando community can be involved in its survival.

Presenter: Helen Mark. Producer : Moira Hickey.

The fisherman’s gansey (a word thought to derive from ‘guernsey’) is a seamless woollen pullover worn by generations of seamen for work and at leisure. It was comfortable, practical and tough enough to provide some protection from the elements, and every community had its own pattern (possibly in an effort to identify drowned fishermen) although these patterns were seldom committed to paper. The ganseys of the Moray Firth coastline, the 500 miles between Duncansby Head and Fraserburgh, have become the focus of a three-year project aiming to preserve the heritage of the fishing communities and save the gansey from becoming a historical curiosity. Project workers are working to save existing ganseys, helping local knitting groups to create new ones and encouraging modern interpretations of this most traditional of garments. The gansey, it turns out, is more than a fisherman’s jumper: it’s a potent symbol of lives past and of a community in danger of losing touch with its early fishing roots.

This is one of the busiest times of year on the Farne Islands off the Northumberland Coast. Almost 1,500 seal pups are being born and almost half of these will die in their first three weeks. Since 1951, wardens have been counting and tagging the pups born on the Farne Islands. During this time, the number of pups born has trebled, from 500 to 1499, making it the largest English colony of Atlantic grey seals.

When the survey began, scientists knew almost nothing about how seals bred, what they ate or where they went during the winter. Those early studies on the Farnes were groundbreaking, setting the standard for all later seal research around the world.

The local port, Seahouses, used to be a major fishing town. During the 1960's and 70's, thousands of seals were shot because they were thought to be a threat to local fish stocks. Now the town relies more on tourism than fishing.

Jules Hudson visits the Farne Islands to find out more about the research project and to investigate the impact the seals are having on the fishing industry and the local area.

The Search and Rescue Dog Association (SARDA) Wales is a specialist element of Mountain Rescue in England and Wales responsible for the training and deployment of dogs to search for missing people in the mountains and on the moorlands of Britain as well as lowland, rural and urban areas. When someone is missing in a rural or mountain environment, a dog team can be more effective than 4 teams of people, covering large areas much faster and effectively. For the handlers and trainers who bring their dogs along to be trained in this work, this work is voluntary and something that they do out of their sheer love of the great outdoors and, of course, the reward of working so closely with their dogs to search for missing people. Helen Mark joins some of the experienced, and not so experienced, dogs and handlers at the foot of Cader Idris in the Snowdonia National Park to find out what this work involves, how important it is to the search teams and to the people they help and to hear why 'one man (or woman!) and their dog are such a fundamental part of the British landscape.

Helen meets Helen Howe, an experienced trainer and handler, who explains how the dogs and their handlers are trained to search and rescue missing people. It can take around 3 years to train a new puppy to become a fully qualified Search Dog and Helen Howe explains how this is done. Between then, Helen and Cluania have had several successful finds. However, it is impossible to train a search dog without the invaluable help of a team of people called 'dogsbodies' and Helen Mark then meets up with Emmer Litt who has been volunteering herself as a 'body' for over four years. At each training event, Emmer spends her time hiding out in the hills that she loves with a good book and a flask of tea waiting to be 'found' by the dogs in training. Without the help of people like Emmer it is impossible to train a search dog because they need someone to search for and so Helen joins trainee handler, Rob Johnson, and his dog Skye as they set off in the hunt for Emmer who is now hidden somewhere under Snowdonia's autumn sunshine in the foothills of Cader Idris.

Finally, Helen joins handler Iain Nicholson and his dog, Mij, who is a trailing dog. Together they demonstrate for Helen how Mij works in a scent specific way by following the actual scent of the person that is missing. Iain and Mij work from the place that the missing person was last seen and have been extremely successful in locating people in more lowland and urban areas as well as helping out with the Mountain Rescue Teams of the Lake District.

Being part of SARDA is extremely important to the handlers and dogs that are involved but their continued presence on the British landscape is just as vital to the people that they help to rescue each year.

Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

Does the British landscape hold the key to a new and revolutionary form of energy? Jules Hudson is in Lancashire to find out about shale gas, a by-product of shale rock which forms much of the geology of the county's landscape. Using a technique known as 'fracking', which involves using a high pressure combination of water, sand and chemicals, the rock is then fractured in order to release the gas. For Cuadrilla, the company responsible for the drilling, these are exciting times. But opponents to the process are concerned about the environmental damage this may cause and also about the possibility of earthquakes after drilling was halted earlier this year following two quakes close to Blackpool. Should we unlock the vast resources of shale gas deep under our landscape? Jules Hudson visits Lancashire to meet the people responsible for the drilling and to find out what is so special about the Bowland Shale.

Presenter: Jules Hudson Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

British Waterways is responsible for over two thousand miles of canals and navigable rivers across the country. Next year, it is just one of many bodies preparing to become a charity due to Government cuts. As part of this new status, the organisation is launching a recruitment drive for volunteers to train as lock keepers. Today's Open Country, is from Caen Hill locks in Devizes, one of the most impressive and iconic canals in the country. Jules Hudson finds out how important volunteers will be in maintaining our canals and what the future holds for British Waterways.

Presenter: Jules Hudson Producer : Anna Varle.

In the second of two programmes on the Channel Islands, Open Country visits Jersey to find out what it was like to live on the Island during the German occupation in World War 2. The Channel Islands were the only part of the British Isles to be seized and for five years, residents lived under Nazi rule. Now a file of papers which spent decades stuffed in the back of a wardrobe has been found revealing graphic accounts of some of those who were deported to Germany after being caught in acts of resistance. Richard Uridge investigates why these accounts are only just coming to light.

Presenter: Richard Uridge Producer : Anna Varle.

Today on Open Country, Richard Uridge visits what's known as the jewel of the Channel Islands. Herm stretches just a mile and a half long. The whole island is leased by one couple, who own everything on it from the hotel to the beach café's and all the houses. 58 people live on the Island and all work for the same employer. Richard Uridge finds out what it's like to live in such a close-knit community and to all work for the same company.

Presenter : Richard Uridge Producer : Anna Varle.

It's been dubbed the foot and mouth of the tree world. Phytophthora ramorum or sudden oak death as its commonly known is ravaging forests across the UK resulting in millions of trees being cut down. The disease has spread from the South West to Wales, the peaks and even as far north as the Isle of Mull. But experts say they are finding fewer and fewer new outbreaks. Today on Open Country, Helen Mark visits The South West, the region that's hardest hit, to find out what impact this disease is continuing to have on the countryside and whether there are signs that we are finally getting on top of it.

Presenter: Helen Mark. Producer : Anna Varle.

Helen Mark is in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire to find out how horses and the natural landscape of Royal Deeside are helping wounded and serving military personnel. Set up by ex-marine Jock Hutchison and his wife Emma, Horseback UK is a charity aiming to provide a safe and secure environment for soldiers returning from active service or those that have already left, many of whom have suffered injury or acute stress as a result of active service. The charity uses equine therapy and the value of the great outdoors and nature therapy to provide part of the rehabilitation process for serving personnel and veterans from the UK military. Helen hears from Jock about their hope that those who have lived their lives on the edge will benefit from the opportunities available to them in the peace and tranquillity of the countryside and the quality of life this offers. Fundamental to this is the relationship with the horses and the style of Western riding which gives these guys the experience of being a cowboy high up in the saddle and looking down on countryside that they might previously not have noticed as they passed through. Mixing equine therapy, nature therapy and adventure training the aim is for people to learn about opportunities in the Scottish countryside, including game-keeping, horsemanship, fishing etc. while getting to know their local community. Helen hears from Jay Hare and Rick Anderson, two of the people who have benefited from the centre, and also from Eric Baird at the nearby Glen Tanar Estate, one of the areas that is supporting the charity by encouraging people there to become involved in conservation work. At the heart of everything are the horses and the way in which they are used to integrate the people they carry on their backs into the community and countryside of the Royal Deeside landscape.

Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

On the 22nd July 1937 the 6 man crew of Heyford K6875 were briefed to carry out a night cross country exercise from RAF Leconfield in east Yorkshire, the weather that night was poor, with low visibility. The crew were seen to fire flares to illuminate the ground beneath to hopefully see a feature they could recognise, this proved fruitless as the aircraft flew up the Vale of Edale striking Broadlee Bank Tor just below the summit.

Jim Watson's Uncle Jim Barker was one of the crewmen lost that night and in 2002 Jim set out to find the site where his Uncle had lost his life. He was aided by Douglas Rowland who had witnessed the crash as a young boy in 1937 and could clearly remember the spot which he had clambered up to the next day. Douglas was able to present Jim with a brass plaque which he had rescued from the Heyford all those years ago.

Jules Hudson joins Jim and Douglas as they retrace the journey they took to the crash site.

Nor is the Heyford the only plane which lost its way in these treacherous peaks. Pat Collins has written about the many hundreds of wartime crashes and the invaluable lessons they have taught airline pilots who have come after them. He and National Park Ranger John Owen take Jules to one of the largest sites, the Super Fortress on Bleaklow.

75% of heather moorland is found here in the UK. The North York Moors are perhaps best known for their glorious purple carpets and on Open Country Jules Hudson explores the past and the potential future of this rare habitat. Heather moorland relies on management. Created over centuries of sheep grazing and man management the blooms require regular burning to remain healthy and attractive to the varied wildlife that makes its home on the moors. Sometimes controversially this management is often only made possible with the finance brought in by grouse shooting. As the slopes and bogs of Spaunton Moor come alive with the vivid colour of the heather the grouse are also reaching their prime. Today at places like Spaunton eight days of shooting allows the moor to be managed and preserved for both the grouse and many other species of birds and invertebrates all year round. The spectacle of purple is testament to the effective nature of management but can conservation and hunting really work in harmony?

The 'Big Society' is alive and well in Pembrokeshire conservation. As grants are cut more organisations rely on volunteers to help keep our rarest habitats thriving and Skomer Island is no exception. Neptunes Army of Rubbish Cleaners are a group of divers who give up their time to keep the Pembrokeshire coastline clean. Manmade debris at the bottom of the sea can affect marine life and their work removing fishing tackle and other litter helps to keep the sea healthy.

This is vital work when you have such rare habitat as Skomer Island to protect. Here there are guillemots, razorbills and puffins who rely on the sea for food. Skomer also uses volunteers. Assistant wardens spend a week at the time helping with the running of the island and conservation work such as surveying. In the future many more volunteers may be needed to help preserve wildlife and ecosystems.

17th Century Scotland was a troubled time. Immortalised by Sir Walter Scott the cavernous 'Devil's Beeftub' and the spectacular 'Grey Mare's Tail' waterfall became hiding places for Border Reivers and Covenanters as the countryside became a battleground for clans and religious factions.

Alistair Moffat has written about the infamous Reivers. They hid the cattle they stole from either side of the border in the 'Beeftub' as it provided a perfect vantage point to see any approaching armies. Theirs was a lawless time and knowledge of the landscape was vital for survival. Today the landscape is being carefully restored to a time before intensive cattle and sheep grazing had created the open vistas we see today. The Borders Forest Trust are attempting to plant thousands of native trees and work with farmers like Jim Mitchell to integrate todays community with conservation for the future.

Just down the road is the 'Grey Mare's Tail', one of the highest waterfalls in Scotland. Today it is home to feral goats and rare plantlife but in the 17th century it provided a hiding place for the Covenanters, those who objected to the interference of the Stuart Kings in the affairs of the Presbyterian Church. The National Trust now own the site and as well as the human history and wildlife the area also features some extremely old fossils.

Just off the coast of Mull lies the tiny island of Ulva. For 200 years it has been virtually abandoned. The Highland Clearances saw the removal of most of the 800 people who had been scraping a living from its shores and its farmland. Today a shot of energy is pulsing through the island, giving this beautiful place a chance of economic and natural revival.

The manager of the island, Jamie Howard has just married field biologist and broadcaster, Tessa McGregor. Together they've come up with a plan to turn Ulva into a paradise for nature tourism. They've identified the island's extraordinary variety of unusual plant and animal species, they're helping archaeologists reconstruct the nine thousand year history of human habitation and they're replanting the native woodland and reconstructing abandoned buildings.

For 'Open Country' Helen Mark will be joining the energetic couple in the middle of a crucial summer for the island's future. Can they use the short tourist season to attract people and money into Ulva to fund their grand revival plans?

Producer: Alasdair Cross.

The Wye historically has been England's greatest salmon river. However stocks have declined massively as a result of drift nets at sea, estuarine putchers, and continuous removal of stocks caught on rod and line. In the early sixties a few hundred barbel were released in the River Lugg. These found their way into the Wye and quickly established themselves from Hay on Wye down to Brockwier. Today The Wye holds a remarkable population of very long large finned lanky and hard fighting barbel.

The barbel year starts in June but recently some good barbel rivers have declined as a result of otter and mink predation, fish eaten by migrant populations and fish being washed out of or back to main river during flooding. There are also those who blame the barbel for the decline in salmon.

Richard Uridge goes in search of this hardy fish, asks whether the salmon will ever return and along the way finds some of the most idyllic spots the River Wye has to offer.

Ordnance Survey, the organisation responsible for mapping every inch of land in England, Scotland and Wales, was set up in 1791 as a military mapping service based in the Tower of London.

It was used to create maps of Britain during the Napoleonic Wars to protect England from the French invasion and the art of map making subsequently played a major role in both World Wars.

Now based in Southampton, the agency has moved from the paper-based hand-drawn maps of its origins, to technologically advanced digital mapping systems in order to cope with the constant changes to the landscape of the country.

Helen Mark visits the Kent coastline to discover how war has shaped the landscape and how important these maps have been in the past and today.

Dale Farm Traveller site in Essex was started in the 70's. It's now the largest Irish Traveller site in the UK and as the site has grown so has local opposition. Today Basildon Council have issued a notice of eviction but the Travellers say they will not leave without a fight.

Helen Mark looks beyond the headlines to ask what this means for the countryside. Some argue that with the urgent need for housing in the South East we need to look again at our greenbelt land. The Travellers themselves argue that they are very much a part of the countryside and that they would rather be homeless than be moved into towns. Whilst Basildon Council argue that we cannot let rules be bent by some, especially when the precious green areas that surround our biggest urban areas are at stake.

How we use our countryside in the future and how we see the Gypsy and Traveller communities as part of this will be a debate which is hard to solve.

How are the people of Cramlington reacting to the open cast mining in their area and to the creation of the largest replica of the human body in their landscape? Will it attract tourists and put Cramlington on the map or will they become the laughing stock of Northumberland?

For this week's Open Country, Jules Hudson visits Cramlington in the north east where work has started on a giant sculpture of a naked woman which is to be carved into the Northumberland landscape. It will be made from 1.5 million tonnes of overburden from the Shotton open cast mine, near Cramlington. It will be 400 metres long and will stand higher than the Angel of the North. The sculpture, known as Northumberlandia, will form the centrepiece of a 29 hectare public park on the Blagdon Estate and, once developed, it is believed it will be the largest human form to be sculpted into the land, in the world. But these plans have prompted opposition from some, as did the plans for the open cast mine. From the car park of the Snowy Owl pub, Jules hears from landlord Colin Ward about his thoughts on his newest and nearest neighbour, before heading off to check on progress. Taking the route along the leg, knee and thigh of Northumberlandia, Jules arrives on the sculpture's forehead with Mark Dowdell and Iain Lowther of the Banks Mining Group to find out about their reasons for embarking on such an ambitious project and what they hope it will bring to the local economy and community. But not everyone is happy. Back at the Snowy Owl, Jules meets Tony Ives who set up a local opposition group, SCRAM - Support Cramlington Residents Against Mining. Tony tells Jules why he is so unhappy with the idea of Northumberlandia, which has been given the alternative nickname of 'Slag Alice' by some people who are against the idea. However, at nearby North Shotton farm, tenant farmers Julie and Robson Philipson are looking forward to the completion of the sculpture and the park. Despite losing much of their farm to the open cast mine, and being left with only two of their fields, Julie and Robson are adapting to a different way of life on the farm and are excited about the prospect of Northumberlandia opening in 2013.

Presenter: Jules Hudson Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

The chalk hills of the South Downs and the rolling Sussex landscape are rich in history, culture and a traditional way of life. The valleys, the woods, the hills and the coastline have inspired people, poets, artists and musicians down the centuries. For this week's Open Counry, Helen Mark takes a musical journey across Sussex and the South Downs talking to some of the people who have put their love of this landscape into song and music or simply been inspired creatively by its existence. Helen is joined by John Copper, his sister Jill and her husband Jon Dudley, of the singing Copper Family. The family, who come from the coastal village of Rottingdean in Sussex, are a living, breathing folk singing tradition. They have lived and worked in this area for over 400 years as farm workers and shepherds and throughout the generations have seen many changes in this landscape. Their songs have been handed down from generation to generation and are still being sung today in the same way that they were sung hundreds of years ago, but at the heart of this music is the countryside around them, the natural beauty of the South Downs and a traditional way of life. Bulgarian composer, Dobrinka Tabakova, tells Helen how she composed a piece of music to accompany the words of poet Francis William Bourdillon. 'On The South Downs' is a symphonic poem which aims to paint a sonic picture of the beautiful South Downs and captures a day's walking on the Downs. Dobrinka was commissioned by the 'Friends of West Sussex Young Musicians' to write the music which was first performed by cellist Natalie Clein and the Chichester Pro Camerata orchestra in 2009 and Dobrinka tells Helen how, while writing the piece, she experienced a slow falling in love with the landscape around her. And musician Matt Hopwood describes how after several years he found himself drawn back to a place he would visit as a teenager, Edburton, a small village at the foot of the South Downs. It was here that Matt spent months in the isolated village church and found inspiration from his surroundings to write music for his new album.

Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

Why has a new scheme to encourage people onto our national trails upset some people? For the first of two programmes from Sussex, Helen Mark has her running shoes on along the South Downs Way to find out about a project to encourage long-distance runners out into the countryside. The scheme has sparked controversy with a petition launched against the installation of electronic boxes on several of our 15 national trails. Trailblaze is a pilot project which has been launched by events company Endurance Life in partnership with Natural England to allow runners to take up the challenge of a long distance route whenever they want to rather than as part of a large event. The aim is to run as far as they would like to go, whenever they choose, and enter an electronic timing tag into boxes fitted at points along the way which records their progress. The scheme is currently operating on several of our national trails and the organisers say that this has been created by a team of trail runners who feel that the joy of running is increased greatly when it takes place in a stunning landscape. But walkers and outdoor enthusiasts are questioning the need for this scheme. Many people are concerned about the aesthetics of the scheme and what they see as the 'commercialisation' of the countryside. The electronic boxes, which appear at various points along the trails, have caused concern amongst traditionalists who see them as unnecessary and ugly and there is also concern about the pressure on the footpaths and how much the natural environment will be affected and damaged. For this week's Open Country, Helen Mark dons her running shoes and heads out onto the South Down Way where she meets Stuart Mills, a keen runner who has taken up the Trailblaze challenge. Helen also hears from Andrew Barker of Endurance Life and Tess Jackson, from Natural England who are behind the scheme about their reasons for setting it up. Nigel Buxton, whose home is close to the national trail and who moved there specifically to enjoy walking on the chalk of the Downs, tells Helen about his unhappiness with the electronic boxes that are found along the South Downs Way and Helen hears from outdoor writer, Mark Richards, about his concern for the welfare of the paths that we walk.

Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

When we hear about the threat to some of our precious and important habitats, our minds often turn to the polar ice cap or the rainforests of the Amazon. But one of our most threatened natural environments is right here in the UK and that is the traditional upland hay meadow - fields packed with grasses and wild flowers, alive with bird song and the buzz of bees. Sadly these meadows have almost disappeared from our landscape. There are less than 4 square miles of this habitat left in the UK and around 40% of that is in the North Pennines. A lot of hard work is currently being undertaken to protect and preserve what we have left. For this week's Open Country Helen Mark travels across the north of England, meeting and chatting with some of the people who are working to preserve these precious habitats. Rebecca Barrett of the North Pennines AONB tells Helen about the work they are doing with farmers such as Karen Scott from Low Way Farm in Middleton-in-Teesdale to save the hay meadows. This work involves harvesting seed from a donor field to sow elsewhere in the hope that the hay meadows of the future will begin to grow. Vet, Neville Turner, shows Helen his former beat where he has travelled over a million miles in 30 years in his work , always accompanied by his trusty camera which captured a year in the life of an upland hay meadow. These photographs now accompany a touring play 'Sward! Story of A Meadow' and Helen catches up with the Blaize Theatre Company and its artistic director, Mike Bettison, in the Yorkshire village of Reeth as they prepare for their afternoon performance. And Helen meets hay meadow expert Professor John Rodwell, who tells Helen about his concern over the decline in our upland hay meadows.......after all, who needs a hay meadow museum?

Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

When Foot and Mouth disease struck the UK in 2001, it caused a major crisis in agriculture and the British countryside. Hundreds and thousands of sheep and cattle were slaughtered in an attempt to halt the disease, footpaths were closed and the countryside effectively closed down. Cumbria was one of the worst affected areas of the country and many farmers found themselves at the very heart and soul of the crisis as mass livestock burials and plumes of black smoke from burning pyres destroyed their livestock and their lives.

Ten years on, Helen Mark visits Cumbria to find out how they have coped with the crisis since then. Some farmers chose to rebuild their lives in completely different ways but many continued to farm whilst also diversifying into other areas. Helen hears from farmer, Trevor Wilson about life after Foot and Mouth and from vet, Iain Richards, who found himself in the thick of the outbreak, travelling from farm to farm to diagnose sick animals. Once the disease was confirmed, Iain would then be declared a 'dirty' vet and would have to remain at the farm until the animals had been destroyed.

Helen also meets Andrew Nicholson who, with his wife Karen, had only been farming in Cumbria for a few years when the disease broke out. Andrew lost many of his valuable Herdwick sheep but now has one of the most remarkable stories to tell of how he dealt with the crisis. And Helen visits the former airfield which became the burial ground for thousands of slaughtered animals and hears from Frank Mawby and director and retired farmer, William Little, about the way in which the local community voted overwhelmingly to turn the site into what is now the Watchtree Nature Reserve.

Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

Helen Mark takes a ride on the new Welsh Highland Railway, which eaves Caernarfon and takes in the stunning Snowdonian landscape, before arriving at its destination in Porthmadog. Along the way Helen hears about the back-breaking work undertaken by hundreds of volunteers to get the railway up and running and about the history of slate mining in the area, which used to rely so heavily on the railways. She also stops off at the RSPB's Osprey Project at Glaslyn to catch sight of the only breeding pair of ospreys in Wales.

Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

Barra, Vatersay and Mingulay are three of the southernmost islands of the Outer Herbrides and their shared history is one of survival by moving with the times. In 1912 the last inhabitants of Mingulay left the island for Barra after the turbulent seas had claimed a boat full of the fishermen who the island relied upon. Today Mingulay's waters are back in discussion as it has become a proposed area of conservation due to ancient corals which lie beneath. The islanders of Barra fear that this conservation zone will make it harder for them to make their living from fishing these waters but Scottish Natural Heritage feel the risks to the coral are too high to let activities go on unchecked. The debate is a heated one but as Helen Mark discovers it is part of a long history of independence from interference from the mainland, a unique past which makes the island stronger today than it perhaps ever has been.

Richard Uridge is in Herefordshire at the annual film festival to hear why it's important to bring the cinema experience to rural areas. On a farm outside the city of Hereford, he discovers a recently rehoused international film archive containing 80,000 documentaries including several old films on life in the Herefordshire countryside dating back to the 1930s that are being preserved as part of our rural heritage.