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Yorkshire Dales
This week Matt Baker and Julia Bradbury are in the Yorkshire Dales enjoying its rich tapestry of rolling farmland and the limestone formations that make this landscape so unique.
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Settle to Carlisle Railway
The Settle to Carlisle railway connects people in some of Britain’s most remote and beautiful towns and villages. It was a feat of engineering when it was originally carved out of the Yorkshire Dales using a network of spectacular aqueducts and tunnels, but by the 1980s it was rundown and close to closure. A sustained local campaign saved it and now, at least according to one American news network, it’s the second greatest train journey in the world! Julia catches a ride from Settle, and visits the most remote signal box in the country, taking in some of the most beautiful scenery Yorkshire has to offer along the way.
The Settle-Carlisle Railway website -
Lone tree
Limestone pavements are rare, irreplaceable geological formations found in very few places in the UK. They were formed over three hundred million years ago and provide a unique habitat for many of our rarest plants and wildlife. Some forty per cent of these pavements can be found in the Yorkshire Dales and they inspired Countryfile viewer David Stephenson to take his winning photograph for this year’s calendar. Matt and his sheepdog Meg join him in Malham, to pick up some tips and to get some inspiration for his own limestone photographs.
Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority website -
Native crayfish
The UK’s native species of crayfish has been under attack from its American relative, the signal crayfish, since the 1970s. Signal crayfish carry a deadly plague that has killed off a huge number of native white-clawed crayfish. A key element to reviving the UK species is the introduction of a successful breeding programme, something that has eluded scientists for years. Now a farmer from the Yorkshire Dales has managed to succeed where scientists have failed, attracting the attention of experts and specialists from all over the country. Julia visits his farm to find out what it could mean for the future of our native crayfish.
Environment Agency website: Crayfish -
Cave spiders
For the last ten years a National Trust property in the Yorkshire Dales has been home to some very unusual and creepy squatters – a colony of cave spiders. The spiders would normally make their homes in dark, dry caves and cellars, but this colony has been living in an unused orchid house. Now the team at the house want to refurbish the building and this means getting its unwelcome residents safely moved to a nearby cave, but just how do you move a colony of spiders? Matt joins the hunt for the squatters and gets rather too close for comfort to one of Britain’s largest spiders.
UK Safari website: Cave spiders -
Sugar beet
Despite dire health warnings, Britain's love affair with all things sugary continues. But did you know that half of the sugar consumed in the UK, almost a million tonnes a year, is actually grown here? Katie Knapman’s in Norfolk to visit the largest sugar beet factory in the world, and to find out how this largely unpalatable winter vegetable is transformed into the nation's favourite sweetener.
UK Agriculture website: An introduction to Sugar Beet -
Dairy farms
Every week nine of the UK’s dairy farms go out of business. For many farmers the profit margins on milk are just too small, or even non-existent, so they are being forced to give up a way of life that’s been in their families for generations. John Craven investigates.
DairyCo: Datum website -
Adam's farm
Countryfile’s Cotswold farmer Adam Henson keeps a herd of Exmoor ponies on his farm which have a reputation for being wild and difficult to handle. He invites expert horse trainer, Kelly Marks, to help him with a young flighty Exmoor foal called Venus. Kelly’s a colleague of Monty Roberts, known as the horse whisperer, and her technique brings about remarkable results.
Credits
- Presenter
- Matt Baker
- Presenter
- Julia Bradbury
- Presenter
- John Craven
- Presenter
- Adam Henson
- Presenter
- Katie Knapman
- Producer
- Teresa Bogan
