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Hardy animals that can cope with rough terrain and even rougher weather, Herdwick sheep are synonymous with Cumbria. And for one man they have become an obsession. Photographer Ian Lawson has spent five years among the hill farms, capturing the lives of the shepherds and their flocks.Ìý The result is a remarkable and beautiful record of a disappearing world. Matt Baker joins Ian on a tour of some of the farms he has photographed. They reconstruct some of the pictures and Matt tries his hand at capturing the same moments.Ìý

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The black grouse ‘lek’ is the courtship dance that the adult birds perform at the start of the breeding season. It’s an incredibly rare sight performed by incredibly rare birds and something Ellie Harrison has never witnessed. She is at RSPB Geltsdale hoping for a glimpse and meets reserve warden Ian Ryding who tells her that it’s good habitat management that’s making a difference here.Ìý Ellie also hears that whilst sheep have been the mainstay of the upland economy for centuries, they’ve grazed away the fells and the food the grouse eat. That in part has led to the decline in numbers.Ìý Ellie gets stuck in helping with some tree planting to provide the cover and the variety of food that grouse like.

Older than Stonehenge, more mysterious than Callanish, Long Meg and her daughters is a Bronze Age stone circle that has never been excavated, until now.Ìý Countryfile’s cameras have been exclusively invited to film the dig as it happens as part of the North Pennines AONB’s joint archaeology project with Durham University.Ìý Helen Skelton is there with the team of volunteer archaeologists as they scrape away the centuries to reveal what lies beneath.Ìý Project leader, Paul Frodsham, guides Helen through the techniques and tactics for uncovering Bronze Age items and shows her why this site has been so special to people throughout the ages.

Adam Henson and his fellow judges are on their second visit to the finalists of Countryfile’s Farming Heroes Award. They're in Worcestershire to meet 82 year old farmer Joan Bomford. Joan has always been at the heart of the local community. As well as running a beef farm and a riding school she raises money for charities and has brought up four children. The past year has been very difficult for Joan, after the death of her husband of sixty years and losing her brother in a tragic accident. Our judges see how Joan still soldiers on with her passion for farming and discovers that she has no intention of retiring just yet.

Matt meets shepherd Joe Relph. His family has farmed the fells near Borrowdale for three generations. Joe has now been looking after Herdwick sheep for 30 years but this is his last year as a shepherd. Matt talks to Joe about the trials and tribulations of hill farming, why he feels that the Herdwicks are the best breed for the area and how they cope with the brutal weather conditions. Joe also reflects on a landscape that seems to be constantly and what it’s been like for him living and working in these hills.

Illegal off-road drivers are wrecking parts of the countryside, churning up farmers’ fields and ruining sites rich with wildlife and biodiversity. But, as Tom’s been finding out, there is a way to get off the beaten track perfectly legally. It’s called green laning and involves driving on small rural byways, some of which have existed for thousands of years. Some groups though feel allowing any cars, 4x4s or trail bikes on these routes is threatening the enjoyment of other people who use them. Tom puts his driving skills to the test with some responsible green laning on a bumpy track in the Peak District and visits one particular byway that’s causing controversy.Ìý

Ellie visits Newton Rigg, the only agricultural college in the country with its own upland farm. She joins the students as they round up rare Luing cattle to turn out some newborn calves for the first time.Ìý As upland farmers they’ll be expected to know all about dry stone walling, a classic feature of the Lakeland landscape. More than just dividing fields or separating out farmsteads Ellie learns that dry stone walls are being reinvented as important wildlife habitats.Ìý Maintained properly they can provide valuable space for slow worms, frogs, toads, and all manner of insects and invertebrates.Ìý

Herdwick lambs are born black, they only turn grey as they mature.Ìý The wool is very coarse, tough to dye and hard to work.Ìý It takes a real specialist to spin Herdwick wool.Ìý Matt meets once such specialist, Pam Hall, in her spinning workshop on her farm.Ìý Here he learns about the Wool Clip, a cooperative of dyers, spinners, weavers and knitters all with one shared aim - to put Herdwick wool back on the map.Ìý