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Peak District
It’s the hundredth year of the International Youth Hostel Movement. So this week Matt Baker and Jules Hudson are in the Peak District - home to some of the oldest established youth hostels in Britain. They find out why these iconic institutions have stood the test of time and are still so popular today.
UK Youth Hostel Association website -
The Dairy Wagon
Over the last ten years the number of dairy farmers has almost halved and the trend is set to continue, with two dairy farms going to the wall every day. But is there an answer?
Peak Distict Dairy Wagon website
One group of dairy farmers thinks there is, and they have their own mobile dairy wagon to prove it. It travels the Peak District, demonstrating to other farmers how money can still be made in an increasingly competitive market. Their answer is to diversify and make other products, like cheese and ice cream, to help boost incomes.
Matt’s with dairy farmers Bob and Jane Marsden, who already make ice cream but because of financial pressures are hoping to start making cheese too. Can the dairy wagon save the day? -
Dry stone walling
Matt joins a group of students at the National Stone Centre in Wirksworth, who are learning how to make dry stone walls.
National Stone Centre website
The centre hopes to keep skills like dry stone walling alive, and the students are keen to develop their knowledge of these ancient traditions. So will they be able to show Matt a few tricks of the trade? -
Plane Graveyard
Between 1930s and 1950s, the Dark Peak was the site of a huge number of plane crashes, many of which remain largely unexplained. This led to the area being dubbed the Bermuda Triangle of the North West, and today it attracts many keen amateur detectives.
Peak District Air Accident Research website
Jules Hudson goes off the beaten track to visit some of the crash sites where debris still remains today and gets first hand experience of the erratic weather conditions that led to so many deaths and which still endanger the lives of visitors. -
Countryfile Photo Competition
Jules Hudson brings you an update on the Countryfile 2009 Photographic competition. The theme this year is Wild and Wonderful -- and landscape photographer Nigel Halliwell gives us a few pointers on how he takes such dramatic pictures.
View further information on how to enter the Countryfile Photographic Competition 2009 -
Re-wilding
Beavers have been successfully re-introduced to the wild in this country after being extinct for over four hundred years. It's a notable success for the wildlife experts involved, but not everyone agrees that re-introducing lost species - known as re-wilding - is such a good idea. Landowners fear the damage beavers can do, as they gnaw down trees for food and to build their lodges. And sceptical scientists say we're attempting to return to a mythical 'Garden of Eden' concept of how we once lived. John Craven investigates.
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Adam’s Farm
Every Sunday, Countryfile finds out about real life on the land, with Adam Henson on his Cotswolds family farm. This week, Adam and his dad Joe look back on their epic journey in the early 70s to help save the North Ronaldsay sheep.
Rare Breeds Survival Trust website -
Swimhiking
Katie Knapman ventures to the Lake District to take part in a new outdoor activity called Swim-hiking. Combining swimming with hiking is made easier with an invention known as a swimsac. It's used to carry your belongings and keep your clothes dry. Katie takes a two-mile swim-hike around and across Derwent Water with swim-hiking inventor Peter Hayes. It's all good practice, but eventually Katie has to face the final part of her journey - solo!
Find out how to make your own swimsac
Credits
- Presenter
- Julia Bradbury
- Presenter
- Matt Baker
- Presenter
- John Craven
- Presenter
- Adam Henson
Summer of Wildlife
A special season celebrating the UK's unique and extraordinary wildlife.
