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My Countryside Compilation

Anita Rani travels to Malham Cove in the Yorkshire Dales. Plus she looks back at some famous faces who shared special places in the British countryside.

Anita Rani travels to one of her favourite places in the British countryside, Malham Cove in the Yorkshire Dales. It's a precious landscape that she's visited since growing up as a child in nearby Bradford. She learns more about this unique landscape and how it was formed thousands of years ago. She meets an artist, Katharine Holmes, whose passion, like her mother's and grandmother's before, is painting nearby Gordale Scar. She meets Anita in the pouring rain to show her her latest work. In the village of Malham, Anita catches up with the latest incumbent of the local smithy. Annabelle Bradley used to be a tax accountant, but when the smithy came up for sale she changed career and her life took a completely different direction. Anita has been to Malham Cove many times but she's never climbed the walls of this famous limestone amphitheatre - until now. After a quick lesson she tackles one of the biggest challenges she's ever faced on the programme.

Anita also looks back through the Countryfile archives as we re-visit some famous faces who shared with us places in the British countryside that were particularly special to them. Like the time comedian Ed Byrne tried to bag a munro on there Isle of Skye; when England test cricket captain Alistair Cook invited us to the family sheep farm; when Olympic gold winning boxer Nicola Adams took Adam Henson through his paces in her training ground in Leeds and when Josh Widdecombe to us to the beach in Pembrokeshire where he spent many a happy childhood holiday.

1 hour

Music Played

  • London Grammar

    Hey Now

  • Goldfrapp

    Ulla

Limestone Pavement

Limestone Pavement

Anita Rani is at one of her most favourite places, Malhamdale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. For years she has been visiting this beautiful part of North Yorkshire but this time she is going to experience it in an entirely different way. Anita meets with Chris Wildman, the chair of the Kirkby Malhamdale Parish Council on top of the spectacular limestone pavement to learn a thing or two about the formation of it.聽

Ed Byrne

Ed Byrne
Stand-up comedian Ed Byrne travels to the Isle of Skye to climb to the summit of Sg霉rr Dearg, otherwise known as the inaccessible pinnacle. Ed is a self-confessed Munro bagger, that鈥檚 someone who aims to climb every Scottish mountain that is more than 3,000 feet high. The inaccessible pinnacle on the Cuillin range is well named. It is the only Munro that requires ropes to climb. We follow Ed on his journey to bag the toughest Munro of them all and take in the fantastic landscapes as he scales this unforgiving rock face. So, will he make it to the top?

Gordale Scar

Gordale Scar

Anita visits Gordale Scar, a colossal limestone ravine which has been carved out over time by glacial meltwater. Gordale Scar has inspired many artists who have tried to capture its magnificence over the years and none more so than local artist Katherine Holmes. Katherine comes from a third generation family of artists and she shows Anita how painting in all weathers can add to her paintings.聽聽

Josh Widdicombe

Josh Widdicombe
Stand-up comedian Josh Widdicombe takes a trip down memory lane back to his treasured family holidays in Wales. Every summer from the age of 6 Josh spent two weeks camping in Pembrokeshire at the same campsite, revisiting the same beach for almost a decade. A nostalgic Josh recreates the fun times he had on holiday by pitching his tent before a sleepless night in the Welsh countryside. The following day Josh visits the beach for a round of cricket and paddle in the sea before finishing off with a nice Pembrokeshire cream tea.

Alastair Cook

England test cricket captain Alastair Cook does not have to travel far to find his rural retreat, it鈥檚 on his wife Alice鈥檚 family farm in Bedfordshire. Alastair and Alice met at school and he first visited the farm when he was 18 years old. The more time he spent on the farm the more he understood farming and the more it became a lifestyle for him. Farming has now become one of his top passions along with cricket. On the farm its lambing time and Alastair gets hands on helping with the deliveries.

The Malham Smithy

The Malham Smithy

Anita escapes the rain and steps inside The Smithy, where the glowing embers of a fire allow blacksmith Annabelle Bradley to create works of art right in the heart of the village of Malham. The Smithy has produced the echoing sound from a blacksmith for centuries but for Annabelle it鈥檚 a craft she picked up herself, having previously been a tax accountant.

Tony Singh

Tony Singh

Celebrity chef Tony Singh takes us back to Loch Awe on the western Isles of Scotland, where he first found his passion for fresh produce. Tony left home in Edinburgh as an 18 year old trainee chef to spend the summer working at a hotel on the banks of Loch Awe. It was there he first went fishing, foraged for wild mushrooms and discovered Scotland鈥檚 natural larder. Tony remembers the season he spent in the countryside and prepares a trout dish beside the loch that gave him so many happy memories.

Nicola Adams

Nicola Adams

Olympic boxing champion Nicola Adams MBE takes Adam Henson training at the Temple Newsam estate on the edge of her hometown, Leeds. Nicola regularly visited the 1,500 acre estate when she was growing up and still trains there today. Adam joins Nicola for a run before she shows him some more unusual training methods, such as chopping wood. But Adam鈥檚 not the only one learning something new. The estate has its own rare breed farm, which gives him the perfect opportunity to show Nicola the ropes when it comes to herding sheep.

Malham Cove

Malham Cove

Malham Cove is a huge amphitheatre of limestone rock that attracts climbers from all over the world. Anita gets close up to this spectacular rock face and meets with one of the UK鈥檚 best all round climbers, Neil Gresham. Last year Neil completed one of his toughest ever climbs at Malham Cove and he talks to Anita about how it took him a year of preparation to conquer.聽On previous visits Anita has witnessed climbers scale the 80m high Malham Cove but she has never given it a go herself. Neil challenges Anita to take to the cliff face and attempt an easier route but will she make it to the top of the route?

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Anita Rani
Presenter Adam Henson
Executive Producer William Lyons
Series Producer Joanna Brame

Broadcasts