Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú

Snowdrops are often the first signs of garden life after the cold dark winter months.Ìý But the desire of a few enthusiasts to own some of the rarer varieties has seen a rise in plant theft, with valuable bulbs vanishing from collections and gardens.Ìý Margherita meets botanist Barry Clarke at the Sir Harold Hillier Garden to find out the measures he has been forced to implement to keep his prized flowers safely under lock and key.

Ìý

If you’re travelling up the M40 or M4 and look up in the sky, you’ll see swarms of red kites. These magnificent birds were all but extinct in the UK until a few decades ago but our own John Craven was involved in their reintroduction in 1993.Ìý They are scavengers and so need a bit of extra help over winter.Ìý Steve heads to the Reading suburbs to meet John Vincent, one of many local residents who put down food for the kites in their own gardens. ÌýHe then hears from Professor Mark Fellowes, of the University of Reading, about the part that humans have played in their population explosion, and learns that the latest research that suggests feeding birds over winter could do more harm than good.Ìý

Winter brings some of the most treacherous driving conditions of the year: dark nights, wet roads and the sub-zero temperatures, which herald snow and ice. To keep drivers safe, each year we spread up to 200 million tonnes of salt onto our roads. But where does this valuable mineral come from? Keeley meets Richard Severn at the Boulby Potash and Salt mine to descend over 1100m into Europe’s Ìýsecond deepest mine. ÌýThey supply around a third of the much-needed salt used to grit winter roads.Ìý As winter temperatures plummet outside, at the bottom of the mine it’s a sweltering 46C. Keeley sees for herself how mining for salt involves tough working conditions, in a very hostile and challenging environment.ÌýÌý

More than 500 years ago wolves still inhabited the British Isles. But hunting and loss of habitat meant this remarkable predator disappeared from our landscape. John Craven meets Cumbrian couple Dee and Daniel Ashman who run a predator experience business in the Lake District. For three years the couple have owned a pair of hybrid wolves - two brothers called Maska and Kajika. ÌýJohn joins them on a wolf walk, where he learns the intricacy of social ranking and the subtle art of canine communication. Will John have what it takes to become part of the pack?Ìý

Ìý

Paul’s land is bordered by the Kennet & Avon Canal, and winter is the perfect time for essential maintenance on our historic waterways.To find out more about what needs to be done to keep the canals flowing freely Paul meets Paul Fox, the Canal and River Trust’s dredging manager to see first-hand the important work done by the maintenance teams.

But it’s not only the human visitors who benefit from canals; they are also a haven for a vast array of wildlife. Volunteer Supervisor Max Ward explains to Paul how you too can help out.

The winter of 1947 was one of the coldest on record in the UK. The North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Partnership wanted to preserve memories of those hard, bygone winters so set about interviewing the elderly locals who remembered them - and created an oral history archive called ‘A Winter’s Dale’. Matt Baker met Maurice Tarn, a retired farmer who experienced the winter of 1947, and visited a family in the grip of winter on their hill farm. Tom and Kay Hutchinson spend their days looking after their beef herd and flock of prized Swaledale sheep.

Ìý