Autumn Special
In this seasonal special the team look at how autumn marks a time of transformation for the wildlife, landscape and communities of the countryside.
In this seasonal special the team look at how autumn marks a time of transformation for the wildlife, landscape and communities of our countryside.
Matt Baker heads to Wytham Woods in Oxfordshire to take part in a citizen science project aiming to identify the first signs of autumn. He also joins the University of Oxford using hard science to take an autumn health check of the woodland and reveals how the conkers of horse chestnut trees are under attack from an army of tiny predators.
Ellie Harrison takes to the land as she tries her hand at the Mendip Ploughing Match and takes renowned chef Raymond Blanc back to where his culinary journey first began 55 years ago - foraging in the forests. Tom Heap is joined by weatherman John Hammond as they canoe down the River Wye to take in its autumnal splendour and reveal the science behind the season. And Adam Henson pays a visit to a turkey farm that's using fireworks training to make sure its birds are safe come bonfire night.
Our regulars are joined by wildlife cameraman Richard Taylor-Jones, who heads to Skomer hoping to glimpse some of autumn's newest arrivals - grey seal pups. And leading contemporary sculptor Simon Gudgeon unveils his latest seasonally-inspired work.
Last on
Raymond showed Ellie his special autumn fruits in spiced wine recipe.
Autumn health check
Matt Baker is at the University of Oxford’s Wytham Woods learning about how they use their thousand acre living laboratory to measure the lifecycle of the woodland. He meets research manager Dr Alan Jones from Earthwatch who shows Matt what happens to the forest in autumn and how they measure these changes using technology. Finally they climb the 25 metre high tower to see the way science is revealing how the woodland ‘breathes’ throughout the year.
Ploughing match
Ellie Harrison discovers that, for many rural communities throughout the UK, autumn is the season of the ploughing match, a tradition marking the beginning of the farmer’s growing year. She travels to Somerset to experience the sights and sounds of the Mendip Ploughing Society’s 156th competition, meeting some of the competitors along the way. Bryony Gill shows Ellie the ropes as she takes charge of Shire horses Bravelad and Angel, then vintage enthusiast Roy Hill gives Ellie a hand ploughing a furrow on his World War Two tractor.
Wye Valley
Tom Heap and John Hammond travel to the Wye Valley in Herefordshire to experience the Autumn Equinox – when night and day are the same length. They set off downstream in a canoe to find out how changing temperatures at this time of year affect the lifecycle of the river and John illustrates autumn’s arrival with scientific experiments. At the end of their voyage they get stuck into a spot of fishing, set up camp around the fire and pitch tents for the night, ready for the ‘mists and mellow fruitfulness’ of an autumn morning.
Foraging with Raymond Blanc
Ellie meets Michelin Star chef Raymond Blanc to discover the plentiful bounty of autumn. Ellie and Raymond forage for a range of wild foods that can be found across a variety of habitats, from fairy tale woodland areas to open meadows. Back at his beautiful vegetable garden at Le Manoir, Raymond reveals how to turn humble hedgerow fruits into an autumnal heart-warming desert.
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Young citizen science
Matt explores Wytham Woods in Oxfordshire where he meets Dr Kate Lewthwaite of the Woodland Trust. She explains how their Nature’s Calendar project uses citizen science to collect data about the arrival of autumn around the UK. Matt is joined by local children from Fritwell Church of England Primary School who help him hunt for typical signs of autumn around the woodland.
Sculpture park
We explore the inspiration and artwork of Simon Gudegon whose Sculpture by the Lakes project sensuously captures the serenity and warming colours of autumn. We also see how his newest creation adds to the magic of his 26 acres of land that he has turned into a sculpture park.
Horse chestnuts
Matt gets into the spirit of autumn with a traditional game of conkers at Wytham Woods in Oxfordshire, where he is joined by Dr Michael Pocock and Dr Darren Evans from the Conker Tree Science project. He discovers that all is not well with our horse chestnut trees, which are being blighted by the invading leaf miner moth. It doesn’t stop him and schoolchildren from Fritwell Primary from having their conker competition in the woods. But who will walk away with the coveted Countryfile Conker Champion trophy?
Skomer seals
Wildlife cameraman Richard Taylor-Jones takes a trip to Skomer Island off the west Wales coast to capture a lesser known sign that autumn has arrived.ÌýGrey seals begin their pupping season in Great Britain in the south west during the mild autumn months and Richard finds a perfect place to film them from. At first it's a scene of serenity with the little white pups under the protection of their grey-speckled mothers. But when anÌýadolescentÌýmake seal turns up, the mums are far from pleasedÌý–Ìýand the peaceful scene is shattered.
Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Presenter | Matt Baker |
Presenter | Ellie Harrison |
Presenter | Tom Heap |
Presenter | Adam Henson |
Executive Producer | William Lyons |
Series Producer | Joanna Brame |
Broadcasts
- Sun 19 Oct 2014 18:20
- Sun 26 Oct 2014 07:00
- Mon 27 Oct 2014 01:30Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Two except Wales
- Wed 5 Nov 2014 00:25Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Two Wales