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Gloucestershire Cotswolds
This week Matt Baker and Julia Bradbury explore the limestone hills and valleys of the Gloucestershire Cotswolds. Famed for their distinctive honey-coloured houses, the picture postcard villages nestle along a dramatic spine of grassland and pasture, with the Costwold Way running through the centre. The area was built upon the wool trade and still retains strong links to the Arts and Crafts movement.
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Cotswold Canals
Sweeping through the Stroud Valley, the Cotswold Canals will reconnect two of England’s great rivers, the Thames and the Severn, for the first time in seventy years. The eighteenth-century waterway was built to transport coal to Gloucestershire’s famous wool mills, but as rail and road transport grew, the canals fell into a state of disrepair and many sections dried out and decayed. But now this missing link in Britain’s waterways is being bought back to life. Matt lends a hand to the volunteers who are working to restore a section of the canal to its former navigable glory.
Cotswolds Canals Projects -
The Cotswold Way
It is forty years since the Cotswold Way was created from a network of public paths and rights of way. Stretching over one hundred miles from Chipping Campden to Bath, the Way takes in some of Gloucestershire’s most breathtaking vistas. Julia’s been exploring a stretch between the two highest points on the route - Broadway Tower and Cleeve Hill and takes in the landscapes which inspired the people of the Arts and Crafts movement. She’s also been training with one Gloucestershire man whose mission is to run the entire ‘ultramarathon’ route within twenty four hours.
Cotswold Way: National Trail -
Aerial Archaeology
Matt explores how technology can help to reveal the secrets of Gloucestershire’s past beneath our feet – without digging a single trench. A new aerial photography project by English Heritage has already revealed over nine hundred new archaeological sites in the Cotswold Hills. In the village of Cranham, LiDAR (a type of radar technology) has helped to uncover more hidden sites in places where normal cameras can’t see. With many important sites, such as the Uley Bury fort on farmland, Matt learns how farmers and archaeologists are working together to make sure our history is preserved and protected.
English Heritage: National Mapping Programme -
Power Kiting
Julia heads up Cleeve Hill, the highest point in the Cotswolds to get an adrenaline fix with local power kiters. Power kites use huge sails to harness the power of the wind, lifting the kiter off the ground to perform tricks, or pulling them along on a mountain board. The kites are incredibly light and can span from a metre to a whopping fifteen metres, and as Julia finds out, it takes a lot of practice to really master this graceful, yet adrenaline-filled sport.
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High Speed Rail
Trains hurtling through the countryside at speeds of up to 250 mph would slash the travel time between the Midlands and London; supporters say this would help the environment by getting people off the roads and out of aeroplanes. However, the required railway line has yet to be built, and those opposed to it say it would slice through some of our most beautiful countryside. John Craven investigates.
BBC News: High-speed rail plans announced by government -
Urban Nature
A bustling cityscape doesn’t immediately evoke images of a rich, diverse wildlife habitat. But, as Katie Knapman discovers, plenty of birds and animals are making a beeline for the concrete jungle. She heads to the North East of England where a colony of kittiwakes (gulls which normally nest on rugged clifftops) have made their home on the traffic-packed Tyne Bridge. On the other side of the river in Gateshead, she investigates an unusual structure specifically designed to attract feathered visitors to the city. And out in the suburbs, Katie gets to grips with a project aimed at capturing urban wildlife on camera.
North East Wildlife Trust -
Adam’s Farm
Adam uses a pair of Longhorn cattle as oxen for photo shoots and filming jobs as a way of diversifying. At his last TB test, disaster struck and he lost one of them, Sundance, to TB. This leaves Butch, Sundance's partner, of little use to Adam and he has to send him to market. Determined not to be beaten by TB, Adam visits a longhorn breeder, 83 year old Pat Quinn, to look at some new calves to train up. He also helps Pat with her TB test, but will she get the all clear?
Credits
- Presenter
- Julia Bradbury
- Presenter
- Matt Baker
- Presenter
- John Craven
- Presenter
- Adam Henson
