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Holderness

Matt, Anita and John are in Holderness in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Matt is on Spurn Point, which is now the country's newest island.

Matt, Anita and John are in Holderness in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Matt is on Spurn Point, or rather Spurn Island - the country's newest, formed by the big storm surge of 2013. He meets the RNLI crew who had to relocate further up the coast as a result and then goes on manoeuvres with them 'sniffing the channels' as they look for safe passages around the point.

Anita finds out how Spurn's wildlife has responded in the wake of the surge, and she meets the next generation of birdwatchers helping to spot the rare species on display.

John is on Sunk Island, an area of rich farmland attached to the mainland but which once stood cut off in the Humber. He is there with photographer Fiona Caley, who is recording this mysterious landscape and the farming communities who live there.

Adam helps a friend choose some rare breed white park cattle.

And when milk quotas ended two years ago, some dairy farmers here and across Europe thought the sky was the limit. But in the Netherlands that has suddenly changed, and it could be a cautionary tale for us in the UK as Tom Heap finds out.

55 minutes

Last on

Mon 17 Apr 2017 02:30

Music Played

  • 补濒迟鈥怞

    Dissolve Me

Spurn Wildlife

Spurn Wildlife

Anita is on Spurn Peninsula, at the Southern tip of Holderness, visiting the National Nature Reserve with Andy Gibson, from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. She discovers why it鈥檚 so important to help create new wetland habitat for the thousands of wading birds at Spurn, due to an ever-changing coastal landscape, at the constant mercy of the sea. She joins Steve Crawford from Surfers Against Sewage in their fight against marine litter on Spurn, for one of their annual Big Spring Beach Cleans.

Netherlands cattle cull

Netherlands cattle cull

Tom Heap鈥檚 travelled to the Nertherlands, where the dairy industry has come to a grinding halt. After years of expansion, the country鈥檚 herd is producing too much cow muck and it鈥檚 harming the environment. The solution is extreme, the Dutch government has ordered around two hundred thousand cows must go either to slaughter or out of the country. But what does this mean for the UK鈥檚 dairy farmers, given that we also have pollution problems from slurry? 聽

RNLI families of Spurn

RNLI families of Spurn

Matt takes a bumpy ride out to Spurn Point to visit the crew of the Humber Lifeboat Station, the UK鈥檚 only full-time, paid coastal Lifeboat Crew. He joins Coxswain Dave Steenvoorden to find out about the remarkable history of the community who once lived at the station, before it became too difficult to access. Matt discovers what life is like for the crew here, now their families are gone and how the changeable conditions make for an exciting daily routine!

Sunk Island

Sunk Island

Sunk Island is neither sunken nor an island, but is, as John Craven discovers, a remarkable agricultural landscape with a rich history. With vast tracts of pancake-flat land and skies that go on forever, the extraordinary panoramas of Sunk Island are the inspiration for local photographer Fiona Caley. The daughter of a Holderness farmer, Fiona鈥檚 ongoing project records the lives and landscapes of this fertile land.聽

Birding on Spurn

Birding on Spurn

Anita is back at Spurn for one of its wildlife highlights, the spring bird migration. She catches up with Paul Collins from the Spurn Bird Observatory and lends a hand monitoring the migrant bird populations. Anita then meets two young birders hoping to inspire a new generation with the help of social media.

White Park cattle

White Park cattle

White Park cattle have been a part of Adam鈥檚 life for as long as he can remember. His dad, Joe, first brought them onto the farm when he was a boy, and just six years ago Adam lost almost half his herd to TB. So when a friend asked him to find some prize White Parks, Adam new just where to go,聽John Lean鈥檚 farm in Devon.聽After admiring John鈥檚 quality herd, Adam heads to London to聽meet top butcher Nathan Mills who shows him why White聽Park is one of the best steaks you can buy. So good in fact, it was knighted by Royalty in the 16th century,聽hence聽鈥楽ir-Loin鈥欌 apparently!

Sniffing The Channels

Sniffing The Channels

Where the Humber Estuary meets the North Sea, the constantly evolving coastline must be monitored all the time, to ensure the Humber Lifeboat and her crew have a clear, safe passage out to sea. Matt takes the wheel on the 鈥楶ride Of The Humber鈥 under the watchful eye of the Lifeboat Crew, as they head out to 鈥榮niff the channels鈥 and assess access in and out of the Estuary around the notorious Stoney Binks sand banks. With about two hundred-thousand tonnes of shipping passing Spurn point each day, they鈥檇 better get it right!

Credits

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

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