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Matt Baker visits Abbotsholme School near Uttoxeter, where he explores its farm and the history behind it. Situated on the beautiful Staffordshire and Derbyshire border, this special school offers children the chance to work closely with farm animals. Matt meets head teacher Steve Fairclough who describes the school’s quirky founder, Cecil Reddie, and explains how he brought agriculture into the curriculum. With the sixth form pupils busy preparing for lambing, Matt then mucks in with the class, helping to vaccinate and check over the schools expectant ewes.

Ellie Harrison meets an inspiring couple who have built their very own nature reserve. Sylvia & Alan Williams retired in 2002, but rather than put their feet up, they decided to throw themselves into nature. What started as a small patch of woodland, soon became a haven for the rodents and - before they knew it - the pair had created the perfect habitat for one of Britain’s best loved birds; the barn owl.  At the reserve’s secret location Ellie lends a hand, getting the barn owl boxes ready for the coming breeding season.  She also helps Sylvia dissect some pellets to find out what the owls are eating.

Last year on Countryfile Adam Henson visited Ayrshire farmer Alan Blackwood to meet a rather special animal. Alan had been part of a consortium that spent £150,000 on a prize Texel ram called Vicious Sid. Twelve months later, Adam is back to see how Sid is getting on and to meet some of his offspring. But farmer Alan is not a man to put all his eggs in one basket and so he’s now invested in free-range hens – tens of thousands of them!

Since it first arrived in the UK in 2012, a disease called Ash Dieback has been spreading across the country infected and in many cases killing trees. At the moment there is no cure and, according to some estimates, we could lose 90% of British ash trees to the disease. However, as Tom Heap finds out, a chance discovery has offered a glimmer of hope that our ash trees could be saved.

Extravagant feather hats and headpieces, sourced from the plumage of native and exotic birds, were the height of fashion in the 18th and 19th centuries. But the Victorian Plumage League, later to become the RSPB, stopped the practice of killing birds for their feathers. Ellie Harrison meets Jane Winstanley, a plumassier - or feather artist – who creates headpieces for the more ethical follower of fashion. Jayne only using feathers that she can source responsibly - be it those she collects from the forest floor or the local butcher. Ellie joins Jayne on Cannock Chase as she goes looking for material for her latest creations. Then they both head to Jayne’s studio so Ellie can learn the lost art of plumasserie herself. 

The students at Abbotsholme School have moved onto the most technical lesson of the day, tractor driving. Farm manager Christina Liddle instructs the students, teaching them important manoeuvres and basic reversing techniques. It’s a fun and entertaining lesson but also an essential skill for a career in the agricultural business. Matt’s farming experience means he’s done it all before but there’s a late arrival to class - Ellie! So can she impress Christina with her driving?