-
WHISKY GALORE AT PORTH TY MAWR
IMAGE: John searching for whisky at the site of the Stuart shipwreck.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE STUART SHIPWRECK
John Craven discovers one of the most colourful stories ever to come out of Llyn. The cargo ship ‘Stuart’ came to grief at Porth Ty Mawr on Easter Sunday, 1901. The ship was bound for New Zealand with a large cargo that included pottery, pianos and a significant amount of whisky, but her voyage was dramatically cut short. 110 years on, John discovers the site of the shipwreck’s remains, which can be still seen on the spring tide. Historian Tony Jones tells him the amazing stories of six month parties as the locals made the most of their whisky bonanza from the sea. -
HELEN EXPLORES BARDSEY ISLAND
IMAGE: John and Helen with Bardsey Island - and our cameraman Steve - in the background.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT BARDSEY ISLAND
Bardsey Island lies just a couple of miles off the Llyn Peninsula and is famously known as the “Island of 20,000 saints”. It’s been an important place of pilgrimage since Saint Cadfan built a monastery there in the year 516. Some even claim that it is also the burial place of the legendary King Arthur. On this week’s Countryfile, Helen Skelton follows in the footsteps of thousands of pilgrims and meets some of the island’s ten modern day residents. -
JOHN DISCOVERS ANCIENT SKILLS
IMAGE: Director Dan Davies preparing to film Felin U Chaf building a mud wall.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT FELIN U CHAF
North West Wales has a wealth of archaeological remains, providing tantalising glimpses of life in the area more than 2000 years ago. Little is known about the ancient hilltop settlements here, but a project led by Kate Waddington and Raimund Karl from Bangor university is changing that. John joins the archaeologists at the Heritage Lottery Funded excavation site and discovers how the Iron Age settlers lived. John is then invited to learn about the fascinating work being carried out by the Felin U Chaf group, before being treated to some local storytelling in a rebuilt roundhouse. -
HELEN TRAINS WITH THE RNLI
IMAGE: Helen, all ready for her RNLI training.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE RNLI IN YOUR AREA:
The waters around the Llyn Peninsula have a reputation for turning nasty, not least because of the many shipwrecks that surround it. Helen learns just how treacherous they can be when she joins members of the Porthdinllaen RNLI for a training exercise with a difference. She discovers that, around the country, the RNLI are adopting a new set of regulations for first aid, which involves turning these hardened lifesaving volunteers into makeup artists! -
ADAM’S FARM
IMAGE: Easy care sheep, ‘easy’ because they don’t need shearing.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT EASY CARE SHEEP
This week Adam is exploring some new, scientific options to help the welfare of his livestock, but it's far from glamorous! He's learning from expert Eurion Thomas how to take dung samples from his lambs so that he can treat them for some rather ‘uncomfortable’ conditions. Once Adam's mastered that, he's off to visit a local farmer who has a flock of the ultimate in low maintenance sheep; the Easy Care breed. The unique selling point of this breed is that they shed their fleece which means one thing - no shearing. And that’s music to any sheep farmer's ears. -
TOM HEAP ASKS “WHAT IS OUR LAND FOR?”
IMAGE: Tom takes to the skies to see how our landscape in changing.
LISTEN TO FARMING TODAY ONLINE
Over the next four weeks Countryfile is looking at some of the biggest issues affecting the future of food and farming in the UK. The whole series is supported by a specially commissioned poll which asked people across Britain for their views on land use, food waste, farm subsidies, and food security. After each Sunday’s Countryfile you can find out more about each of the topics on Farming Today, every morning at a quarter to six on BBC Radio 4.
This week Tom Heap gets the ball rolling by asking “What is our land for?” From housing to renewable energy he’ll be finding out about the many of the different things that we’ll need more land for in the future. Tom will meet people who think we already have enough land in the UK to do everything we need to, as well as others who are worried that we’re sacrificing food production in favour of creating more wildlife habitats. -
COUNTRYFILE FOOD AND FARMING POLL QUESTION ONE: LAND USE
This month Countryfile has commissioned a national poll to find out what you think about some of the biggest issues affecting the future of food and farming in Britain. For this week’s programme we asked the following question about land use…..
There are going to be competing demands on the use of British farmland in the future. In your view, which ONE of these most deserves the use of MORE British farmland in the future?
Food production: 46%
Expansion of sustainable or renewable energy: 25%
Creation of wildlife habitats: 14%
Increase in supply of housing: 11%
Don't know: 4%
The poll was carried out by ComRes on behalf of the BBC. They contacted 1004 people across Great Britain by telephone over a three day period in July.
Next week we’re asking a question about food security:
The UK currently imports 40% of the food we eat. Do you think we should produce more of our own food, or not?
Credits
- Series Producer
- Teresa Bogan
- Presenter
- John Craven
- Presenter
- Adam Henson
- Presenter
- Helen Skelton
- Presenter
- Tom Heap
- Executive Producer
- Andrew Thorman
