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Matt’s Hedge Laying Challenge
The Blackdown Hills are a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty straddling the border between Devon and Somerset. The fields and lanes are dominated by high hedgerows mounted on banks in the traditional Devon style. Matt Baker joins local hedge layers to learn the tricks of this ancient trade. Helped by George Pidgeon he enters a competition to lay as much hedge as possible in one hour. But there’s something suspicious about their challengers.
FIND OUT ABOUT THE BLACKDOWN HILLS HEDGE ASSOCIATION -
Ellie Enters The Dragon’s Den
Ellie Harrison finds out about two Blackdown Hills’ businesses. One makes sound-proof clouds from waste wool, the other creates brightly-coloured mohair socks from an Angora goat flock. But do either of them have what it takes to catch the interest of businesswoman – and ‘Dragon” – Deborah Meaden? Ellie invites them to nervously enter the Dragon’s Den to pitch their ideas and get the thumbs up – or down – from Deborah.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT DRAGON’S DEN -
Adams Learns To Think Like A Sheep
Adam meets up with animal behaviourist Cathy Dwyer to find out what goes on in a sheep’s head. Experts now believe that within every flock there lies a secret society. Adam discovers why sheep stick together and move around in the way they do. A flock means lots of pairs of eyes on the look out for trouble, especially when coupled with keen instincts to spot predators like wolves and humans. But what will a sheep do when faced with a choice between flock and food?
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SHEEP BEHAVIOUR -
John Craven Investigates The Decline Of Organic Foods
The sales of ethical foods, like those with higher welfare standards, are on the rise in the UK at the moment. However the brand which kick-started the shift towards more ethical produce, ‘Organic’, has started to decline. Sales have dropped by a quarter since 2008. John has been investigating why. With the help of a survey commissioned for Countryfile, he discovers that people care far less about whether their food is organic, than they do about welfare or price.
The survey into ‘ethical’ buying was carried out for Countryfile by Comres in January 2012. Its researchers phoned a sample group of 1003 people across Great Britain. We asked them how important certain factors were when buying food…
• 92% said that price was very or somewhat important.
• 90% said that high standards of animal welfare were very or somewhat important.
• 76% said that wide availability in all shops was very or somewhat important.
• 34% said that the product being organic was very or somewhat important. -
Matt Searches For Butterflies
How do you find butterflies in the winter? With the help of lots of experts, volunteers and a big old magnifying glass, of course. The elusive and rare brown hairstreak butterfly isn’t flying about at this time of year, but its tiny white eggs are hidden in blackthorn hedgerows in the Blackdown Hills area. To find them you need eagle-eyes, because these eggs are about the size of a pin head. But Matt’s not leaving until he has found one.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE BROWN HAIRSTREAK BUTTERFLY -
Ellie’s Winter Picnic
Ellie embarks on a journey to create a winter picnic, using food produced only in the Blackdown Hills. She meets a lady making chorizo and continental meat from her Gloucester Old Spots. Then, with the help of a vintage Morris Minor, joins a woman who’s started making her own cheese from next door dairy herd’s milk. Finally she stops off at a community shop to collect the rest of her picnic, before finding a quiet spot to enjoy her feast.
Credits
- Series Producer
- Teresa Bogan
- Presenter
- Matt Baker
- Presenter
- Ellie Harrison
- Presenter
- John Craven
- Presenter
- Adam Henson
- Participant
- Deborah Meaden
