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Hampshire

Matt Baker and Shauna Lowry are in Hampshire, Charlotte Smith is at London Fashion Week and Tom Heap investigates the potential of tidal power in the UK.

Matt Baker and Shauna Lowry are in Hampshire.

Matt meets the farmers who started with nothing more than a handbook and an empty field. Four years on, their farm is thriving. Shauna explores the New Forest and meets the ponies, donkeys and cattle that graze freely on this land. The number of road accidents involving animals here is high, so measures are being put in place to prevent them, as Shauna discovers.

Helen Skelton meets world champion darts player Scott Mitchell. He is the son of a farmer and with his winnings vowed to buy his dad a new tractor. Charlotte Smith is at London Fashion Week discovering the links between farming and fashion. She also visits a farm where rabbits are kept for their wool. Adam Henson visits a nature reserve where three of his Exmoor ponies are starting a new life helping with conservation grazing.

Compared with wind and solar energy, tidal power has barely created a ripple in the UK. But as Tom Heap finds out, that could change dramatically in the years to come if plans to build six new tidal lagoons go ahead.

1 hour

The handbook farmers

The handbook farmers

Expat teachers Anne and Mike Roberts were in their late fifties and living in Holland when they decided to up sticks and start a new life as self-made farmers in rural Hampshire. Armed with just a set of tools, an old Volvo and a rearing livestock handbook from the 1980s, Anne and Mike arrived at an empty field and realised the scale of the project they were taking on. Four years later, Matt Baker visits the now flourishing mixed livestock farm that covers over 100 acres and is home to ewes, goats, pigs and chickens. He also helps to welcome a new batch of chicks and a litter of piglets to the farm. 

Darts and farming

Darts and farming

When Helen Skelton covered the BDO World Darts Championship at Lakeside earlier this year, darts player Scott ‘Scotty Dog’ Mitchell said he would buy his dad a tractor with the prize money if he won. Two months later, Helen reunites with this country boy – who is now world champion - at his dad’s farm in Dorset to see the new tractor make its grand arrival. Helen learns about Scott’s farming background and how the Young Farmers Association not only introduced him to the world of darts, but also taught him some of the essential skills to be a great sportsman. Then Helen and Scott visit the dartboard where it all began…

Animal road accidents

Animal road accidents

Animals have been able to roam freely across the open landscape of the New Forest for centuries. But its increasingly busy roads are causing deadly clashes between man and nature. Shauna Lowry meets Graham Ferris of the Commoners Defence Association and Robert Maton, an Agister of the Verderers – whose job it is to protect the New Forest. Shauna finds out why there were 138 road traffic accidents last year and what their organisations are doing to help. She also helps ‘commoner’ Jean Smith turn out her donkeys with new reflective collars and meets Road Safety Sergeant, Rob Heard, to see how the effort to save the New Forest’s animals and traditions is a truly collaborative one.

Tidal lagoons

Tidal lagoons

The UK is surrounded by water but as yet we have hardly tapped into the power of the sea. Tom Heap looks at plans for six new tidal lagoons, which it is claimed could supply 8% of the country’s electricity. He visits Cardiff to look at the proposed location of one of the lagoons and visits a tide mill to discover more about how they generate power. Tom also meets the Angling Trust who are concerned about the impact that underwater turbines could have on the local fish population – and he talks to the RSPB who so far have supported the plans for the new lagoons despite being against another tidal project, the Severn Barrage. 

Exmoor farewell

Adam Henson is off to Levin Down nature reserve in West Sussex with a very special delivery – three of his own rare breed Exmoor ponies. He meets reserve manager Mark Monk-Terry from the Sussex Wildlife Trust who explains how conservation grazing is used to manage this nationally important chalk grassland site. Together they help the ponies settle in to their new home, where they will play a vital role grazing higher areas of woody scrub and vegetation.

Farmed fashion

Farmed fashion

Charlotte Smith is at London Fashion Week meeting with the fashionistas who are using the best homegrown products in their daring designs. She gets the latest on beautiful British leather from top designer Amanda Wakeley. Charlotte also tries on some wonderful hats featuring British pheasant feathers. Then it is back into the countryside where she meets a farmer who has branched out into ethical angora – giving Charlotte the chance to have a go at being a bunny barber.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Matt Baker
Presenter Shauna Lowry
Presenter Adam Henson
Presenter Tom Heap
Executive Producer William Lyons
Series Producer Joanna Brame

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