Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Hoo Peninsula

Matt Baker and Anita Rani are on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent, and Tom Heap looks at what leaving the EU could mean for the UK's agricultural migrant labour force.

Matt Baker and Anita Rani are on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent. Matt hears how it's a landscape that's been shaped over the years by 'saltshepherds' and 'muddies', whilst Anita sees how fleece and feather work together to protect the huge numbers of birds that flock to the area. And there's a sense of spring in the air with lots of new arrivals down on Adam's Farm. Tom Heap looks at what leaving the EU could mean for the UK's agricultural migrant labour force and the farms that employ them.

55 minutes

Working the Hoo Peninsula

Working the Hoo Peninsula

Matt Baker meets Rachel Lichtenstein, an Oral Historian heading up a project to preserve and celebrate the working lives of the people on the Hoo Peninsula. It’s an area that was once a working landscape defining the people who lived and worked here. Matt then catches up with Dave and Tony Brooks, the descendants of ‘bargemen’ and gets to work restoring a special piece of the peninsula’s history.

Farming the Hoo Peninsula

Farming the Hoo Peninsula

There are eight protected conservation areas on the Hoo Peninsula and a huge number of birds flock to this area. It’s largely down to clever farming techniques. Anita Rani meets Keith Loveridge who farms these protected areas alongside the RSPB restoring the balance of wetland and wildlife. Anita also meets Julian Nash who explains how they maintain the marshland and Terry Nash, an RSPB volunteer who gives Anita a heron spotting lesson!

A Labour Crisis?

A Labour Crisis?

Tom Heap investigates claims by the National Farmers’ Union that British agriculture is facing a labour crisis. Growers say that workers from the European Union are not coming to Britain in the same numbers since the Brexit vote. But is it really as bad as they claim? The government disagrees, saying that the numbers of workers coming here hasn’t fallen.  

Comic Relief- Jennifer Saunders

Comic Relief- Jennifer Saunders

In a special film for Comic Relief, comedian Jennifer Saunders tells us what Devon means to her and visits one charity making a difference to people’s lives. Jennifer meets young mother of two Zara Wigg, whose husband took his own life on Father’s Day last year. Zara shares her story and explains how she is one of seventy families in Devon benefiting from the support of Pete’s Dragons, a charity that provides comfort to those who have lost a loved one to suicide.

Spring on the farm

Spring on the farm

Down on Adams Farm spring is in the air and lambing is well under way. The new mums and their offspring are already being returned to the fields to take advantage of all the fresh grass. But it’s not just his sheep that are keeping Adam busy at this time of year and it’s not just the sheep excited about getting outside after a long winter.

Nadav Kander

Nadav Kander

This quiet corner of Kent, bounded by the Rivers Thames and Medway, is the Hoo Peninsula, an area of the country that many are not familiar with. Anita Rani meets up with Nadav Kander who may be about to change that. Nadav has worked with some of the world’s most famous faces but now he’s swapped the political elite and Hollywood for the Hoo to capture his latest landscape project.

Fight for the Hoo

Fight for the Hoo

A rural community within a stone’s throw of London is where Matt Baker joins residents Gill Moore, Joan Darwell and George Crozer. The trio of friends explain to Matt how, like David against Goliath, they were pivotal in putting a stop to plans for a new airport which was going to be built on the marshland in Cliffe, an area protected by law and an important habitat for wildlife. 

Credits

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

Broadcasts