Countryfile - The Fens
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00:00Flat as far as the eye can see with endless skies, we could only be in one place, the
00:14Fens.
00:15Yep, we've come to the lowest point in the UK to see how people work this low-lying,
00:19often waterlogged land.
00:21And how the animals that call the Fens home have adapted to life at and below sea level.
00:51The Fens of eastern England consist of around 400,000 acres of dramatic, flat landscape
01:05that extends across Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and where we are, Cambridgeshire,
01:12at its lowest point, Home Fen.
01:16With the land here at such low levels, water has always been a driving force, shaping these
01:22Fens for thousands of years.
01:24But since the area was drained, what used to be vast swathes of wetland has become a
01:29precious patchwork of Fenland, surrounded by agriculture.
01:33However, the elements are once again playing their part in creating a future, not just
01:39for the farmland, but the wildlife of the Fens too.
01:45The Fens Centre is providing a home for some Fenland specialities.
01:49When do I admit, Henry, that I don't know how I am with insects?
01:53Wee!
01:54Look at the size of it!
01:56So these are diving beetles.
01:59And could be the answer to challenges in wetland farming.
02:03There's approximately 200,000 to 300,000 of these seeds within each seed head.
02:09Oh wow, oh look at that!
02:12The wind is blowing new life to an old tradition.
02:15OK Dan, push her now.
02:18So it would be quite lively up here and the whole floor would be shaking.
02:22And on the stone floor, both sets of stones running, working in unison, a brick and windmill.
02:30Away, come by.
02:32And in the Cotswolds, away, Adam's gearing up for a busy summer shepherding.
02:37Go on, sheep, look, open your eyes.
02:40Here we go.
02:41It's all about patience.
02:42They've now realised the gate's open.
03:00Out here on the Fens, change is in the air and in the water.
03:06This place is undergoing its biggest transformation since the last of the great Fenland lakes
03:11was drained almost 200 years ago.
03:14And it's all being done to support wildlife.
03:21Right, here we go.
03:22So keep a good lookout over the fields because you never know what's going to run out.
03:30I'm joining Henry Stanier, Research and Monitoring Officer for the Regional Wildlife Trust, on
03:36one of his routine rounds of the area known as the Great Fen.
03:41I never thought I'd be doing a safari in Cambridgeshire.
03:45Well this is a place to do it.
03:47It's important for Henry and his team to keep an eye on the wildlife here, to see how nature
03:53is responding to a habitat creation project they've been working on.
03:57And it doesn't take long for us to see something.
04:01Now look, if you just look ahead here, we've got a kestrel.
04:03There we go.
04:05This is just on the entrance track as we're coming in.
04:07Just at the top there.
04:08This is wonderful.
04:09He's in the sunshine there and he's off to the next telegraph pole.
04:13And that's our first spot and we haven't actually even got onto the main bit.
04:17Given the abundance of wildlife here, it's incredible that this part of the Great Fen
04:22was only turned over to nature last year.
04:25And Henry's team have big plans.
04:28We're looking to create over 120 hectares of habitat.
04:33Restoring it to fen-type habitats.
04:36So we're talking about, in some cases, open water, shallow water, temporary water, but
04:41also reed bed, some of the habitats that people will be very familiar with.
04:45The Great Fen project will link two existing nature reserves, Home Fen in the north-west
04:51and Woodwalton Fen to the south-east, joining up a landscape that's been fractured until now.
04:58As we head deeper into the Great Fen, the wildlife keeps coming thick and fast.
05:04Can you see above the sky, up in the sky on the left?
05:06What is that?
05:07So that's a red kite.
05:08Lovely.
05:09And a lapwing's just chased it off.
05:13It's coming really close now.
05:14Oh, look at that.
05:15You'll see lovely colours of black and white and red.
05:18Look at that marvellous tail as well.
05:20Oh, look at that.
05:21Right over the top of us.
05:22Lovely.
05:24Beautiful bird.
05:25Beautiful bird.
05:28And it's not just birds peeking through the long grass.
05:31We also spot a brown hare and something truly special darting by, a Chinese water deer.
05:39These charismatic creatures, with their distinctive teddy bear faces, are not native to the UK,
05:45having been introduced in the 19th century, but are now thriving here on the Fens.
05:52So, we're doing quite well, aren't we?
05:53We're doing alright.
05:59And other parts of this watery wonderland give a hint of just how much wildlife can flourish here.
06:06We're in the heart of the Great Fen now, the part that really is already quite well established as a habitat,
06:11and we're here to look for invertebrates, particularly beetles and water beetles.
06:16Water beetles are known as an indicator species, as finding them indicates a healthy ecosystem.
06:23So, Henry's team has set traps to discover whether the beetle population of the Great Fen is rising or falling.
06:31It's always exciting, what's the catch of the day going to be?
06:37So, I bring this pink float in?
06:38Yes, you can go down, just so you've got it and grab it.
06:40Here we go.
06:41And that should all come all the way.
06:42Oh, this is going to be exciting. What have we got?
06:44There you go.
06:45Right, I think you might have to sack your assistant here.
06:47Oh, I don't think so, no.
06:48Right, we've got it though.
06:49You're looking good. That's looking very good.
06:50Here we go.
06:51And promising, I think.
06:52You think?
06:53So, let's have a look just down here, yes.
06:55Can you see things moving around?
06:56It's like Christmas. Let's have a look.
06:58But before we open up this particular present under the tree, it's time I fessed up.
07:04When do I admit, Henry, that I don't know how I am with insects?
07:07I'm actually a mere mortal who isn't as gung-ho as I would like to be with creepy, crawly things.
07:14Wee!
07:15Look at the size of it.
07:17We've got something in there, haven't we?
07:19So, these are diving beetles, what we've been looking for.
07:23And it looks like possibly we've got, what have we got in here?
07:27We've got two males and a female.
07:30How can you tell?
07:31Right, so, I'll have a look at one of them and show.
07:34So brave.
07:35On the back here, it's got grooves on.
07:38Can you see halfway down the wing cases, that's grooves.
07:40So, that's the female.
07:41Give something for the male to hold on to.
07:44And if we look at a male, can you see on the forelegs you've got little suckers?
07:49Yes!
07:50Just there, those pads.
07:51So, that's to allow him to hold her.
07:54Now, these have got nice gold trim behind the head and all the way down.
08:01So, this is the king diving beetle.
08:04This is a Fenland speciality that we're doing really well with here.
08:09At an average 3.5 centimetres in length,
08:13the king diving beetle is one of the UK's largest beetles.
08:17And while it may be thriving here on the Fens, on a national scale,
08:21it's classed by conservationists as near threatened.
08:25So, this habitat is a vital home for these giant critters.
08:29And I think this might be the creature to help me face my fear.
08:33You're going to put it into the water.
08:35There you go.
08:36There she goes.
08:37That's good.
08:38So, you can see she's swimming around in the water there.
08:41And then at some point she'll come to the surface and present the bottom.
08:46And the bottom will be the source where they can recharge their source of air
08:51for when they go back under the water again.
08:53What a beautiful fact you've just given us all,
08:55that these beetles breathe through their bottoms.
08:58Bottom breathing, it's a good subject, yes.
09:02Water beetles use their abdomens to store an air supply under their wing cases
09:07so they can dive underwater.
09:09However, the buoyancy this creates means they have to stay on the move
09:13to prevent floating back to the surface.
09:16They look like they're doing a little dance down there, Henry.
09:18They do.
09:19They look very happy indeed.
09:20Now, does this delight you?
09:21It does.
09:22Seeing thriving species like this?
09:24I've always been interested, particularly in aquatic wildlife.
09:28It would have started in the garden pond,
09:30just looking at the frogs in the garden pond,
09:33looking at the tadpoles and utes,
09:35and just being happy outdoors and looking at wildlife.
09:39It's my natural habitat.
09:41There's still so much to learn.
09:46And as he can't be out here on the fens 24-7,
09:49Henry is helped in his mission to understand this landscape
09:53by some very handy tech,
09:55like a motion sensor camera which last night captured a water vole.
10:01But when it comes to surveying birds,
10:03it's not images that are key, but sound.
10:07Henry and his team are in the middle of a huge project
10:10using technology called bioacoustics.
10:14In January, they started installing microphones across the Great Fen,
10:19which will give them an unprecedented level of detail about bird life.
10:24We do surveys with volunteers, with staff.
10:27We're out here, but we don't have to be here too much
10:31because we'll cause disturbance.
10:33And so a sensor doing all the recording for us
10:37will gather that data and minimal disturbance to the wildlife.
10:41And also, it doesn't matter how many people you've got out here,
10:44we're not going to see everything, are we?
10:46No.
10:47Whereas this is going to hear everything.
10:48That's right.
10:51But it's after it's finished recording
10:53that this technology really comes into its own.
10:58This has been passed through some artificial intelligence.
11:01It's dumped everything that's not bird calls
11:03and then identified everything that is.
11:05And you'll see, as it goes along,
11:07there are gaps where it's recorded nothing.
11:09And then all of a sudden, lapwing, lapwing, lapwing.
11:12So that's the lapwings being recorded as it's triggering.
11:15And lapwings are all together.
11:17Yep, lapwings, lapwings.
11:18Oh, a peregrine falcon.
11:19A peregrine falcon.
11:20A peregrine falcon.
11:21So a peregrine falcon has appeared all of a sudden.
11:23And then what happens to lapwing calls?
11:25Nothing, they've disappeared.
11:26They've stopped.
11:27Because the falcon...
11:28Something's happened.
11:29Yes!
11:30You see, something's happened.
11:31So you've now just witnessed in some data shown on a laptop
11:34something that happened out there.
11:36Isn't that magic?
11:37And we can almost visualise it.
11:41Peregrine falcons prey on smaller birds like lapwings,
11:45swooping down on them at up to 200 miles an hour
11:48and snatching them in mid-air.
11:50It's understanding how often behaviour like this occurs
11:53that makes bioacoustics such a vital tool.
11:59Do you want to plug in and listen?
12:00Yeah, here we go.
12:01See what you can hear.
12:15Sounds fantastic.
12:16The lapwings are really good for it.
12:18Yes.
12:19The Great Fen has become a haven for lapwings
12:22through the creation of short grassland
12:24where they hatch their chicks.
12:26Muddy areas on the edge of water bodies also provide food sources.
12:32I mean, this is a magical experience anyway,
12:35but looking out across this beautiful landscape,
12:38listening to the birds, it's quite wild, actually.
12:42It's gorgeous.
12:43What a place.
12:47Wow.
12:53Sound has become an incredible tool
12:55in the efforts to support wildlife here.
12:59But tuning into the sounds around us isn't just for conservationists.
13:06If you have the time to slow down and listen,
13:08every part of our countryside has its own particular soundscape.
13:13And just down the road, across the border in Northamptonshire,
13:16there's a man who's dedicated to capturing
13:18the beautiful atmosphere of an English woodland.
13:25For the last 20 years,
13:26Nick Penny has been taken to the woods and rivers of his local area
13:30to record birdsong.
13:33I'm a musician,
13:34so my ears are really the way that I interface most with the world.
13:39I love listening to birds,
13:41love being out in nature,
13:43and I'm most interested in the patch pretty much on my doorstep.
13:48Since he started, Nick has released four albums of birdsong,
13:52and he's still on the hunt for the perfect recording.
13:56We're in Southwark Wood in Northamptonshire.
13:58I love this wood.
14:00It's quite long and thin,
14:01so there's a real sense of adventure
14:03as you're going up the path into the wood.
14:06And then there are little openings and clearings.
14:09At different times of year, you might hear cuckoos.
14:12That was a green woodpecker.
14:14There have been nightingales here in the past.
14:17Black caps, black birds, song thrushes.
14:25So this is called a parabolic microphone,
14:28and it's a very, very special tool for recording birdsong
14:33because this Perspex dish here works like an ear,
14:37the outer ear, if you like,
14:38and it focuses the sound onto the microphone itself,
14:42and it will make whatever you're pointing it directly at louder
14:46compared to the other sounds around about it.
14:49Obviously, you can't record birds close to a lot of the time
14:54because you'd scare them or change their behaviour.
14:57So this actually brings the sounds closer in a way.
15:01You might pick up sounds that might be up to 100 yards away,
15:04200 yards away sometimes.
15:06So I'm going to click record now and see what's about, really.
15:21I can hear a chiff-chaff in the distance.
15:26There's some sort of tit call over here somewhere.
15:31And insects.
15:37It's a very, very good tool for exploring what's there.
15:40You might actually hear things that are a long, long way away
15:44that you wouldn't have noticed just with your ear.
15:50There's a theory that birdsong is almost a signal
15:55that everything's right with the world.
15:57If you were living out in nature and the birds stopped singing,
16:00you might start getting worried that they were predators about
16:03or something like that.
16:04So in some very deep way in our DNA,
16:07it might be a sign that things are good.
16:11I'm hearing a wood pigeon at the moment.
16:14They're always good for a bit of background.
16:18I'm just getting the sound of a plane coming into my headphones.
16:22It's very, very hard to get away from man-made noise.
16:27That was a wren calling.
16:29I wonder if he's hearing the plane too and objecting to it.
16:40When you're in a more open space with trees all around it,
16:44the birds often call across the space
16:47and you'll get a sense of what's going on.
16:50You'll hear the birdsong,
16:52the birds often call across the space
16:55and you'll get echoes almost more like a concert hall
16:59or something like that.
17:00It's a much more interesting sound
17:03and that's often what I'm looking for in a recording.
17:07Chief Chouster's singing.
17:09And a black cat.
17:13And, oh, there's a rook.
17:16And a wren.
17:19When you get back home and listen back to the recordings
17:23and you find one that really seems to be what you were looking for,
17:28what you were listening for,
17:30that's captured what you actually heard,
17:32that's a wonderful thing.
17:34And if you share it with other people
17:36and they have a similar response,
17:38that really is something.
17:40I think trying to find the best singers in the best acoustic,
17:43that's what drives me on to make more and more recordings.
17:48BIRDS CHIRP
17:57Now, across the nation,
17:59you lovely lots have been doing your bit for our wildlife too
18:02as part of our Wild Britain initiative.
18:07Back in the spring, we encouraged acts of kindness for bees
18:11and lots of you answered the call.
18:13Like these bee hotels
18:15installed by Christine, Richard and Amanda.
18:20But there's so much you can do for other wildlife on your doorstep.
18:25Ellen on the Isle of Wight has put up a feeding station
18:28for red squirrels in her garden.
18:32Anne from Lockerbie has created a fantastic wildlife pond.
18:37And Nick from Moulton has been keeping pollinators buzzing
18:41by helping to sow wildflower seed in a community garden.
18:48We would love to see how you've been helping and supporting wildlife
18:51over the summer.
18:53So let us know about your work to support nature
18:56by heading over to wild-britain.co.uk.
19:01And then log your act of kindness
19:04And then log your act of kindness on the Wild Britain map.
19:07You can also send photos and videos.
19:15Now in the Cotswolds, Adam's got summer shepherding to do.
19:25Farming is all about cycles.
19:27And four months on from lambing,
19:29once again, we're busy with the sheep.
19:31In this field, we've got some lambs that were born back in February
19:34from our early lambing flock.
19:36And they're now living independently from their mums.
19:38They no longer need her milk anymore.
19:40So they've been what's called weaned.
19:42And they're living on grass when they're perfectly happy in there.
19:45And then over here are their mums.
19:47So these are the weaned ewes that will now go back to the ram
19:51this autumn to give birth in spring 2025.
19:54And what we've got to do is take the lambs
19:58And what we've got to do is get this flock in and check them over
20:01and make sure they're all fit and healthy, ready to go back to the ram.
20:06Each year, all sheep farmers expect to have to replace
20:09some of their older or unproductive ewes.
20:12So today, we're sorting through half of our breeding flock,
20:15around 150 sheep.
20:17I'd expect 25% of these to be unsuitable to breed again.
20:21Today, I'm hoping it's less.
20:24Helping me sort through them is our livestock manager, Harry.
20:29So this is what's known as a...
20:33..catching pen and then a race,
20:35a narrow corridor that funnels the sheep down to us
20:38so we can handle them easily in the little pen at the end.
20:41As well as general health,
20:43the giveaway signs we're looking for are missing teeth and udder issues.
20:48So do you want to go on teeth and I'll go udders?
20:50Yep.
20:52So she's got a good set of teeth.
20:56Udder's good.
21:01This one's not looking too good.
21:04I think this is cull on the udder.
21:07Just have a feel of that, Harry. It's like it's got a...
21:13It's not really infectious. It's like a sort of scab on it.
21:15Oh, yeah. Yeah, the teats aren't very nice, are they?
21:18I tell you what, if you just...
21:20Just let her out this way and I'll tip her up.
21:25Oh, this is...
21:28So the udder is split into two halves.
21:30Sheep have got two teats and they're two separate sections.
21:33So if you get an infection, it's generally just on one side
21:37and then once that infection's gone,
21:39you can sometimes feel lumps in the udder, in the mammary tissue,
21:42or there's like a thick pencil in the teat
21:45that'll block the milk coming out.
21:47And, of course, if a ewe has twins,
21:49two lambs will go to drink at the same time.
21:51If one half isn't working, one lamb misses out.
21:54Now, this ewe hasn't got mastitis.
21:57She's just got very, very sore teats.
21:59And she is quite old.
22:01So sheep have baby teeth
22:04and then in the first year they grow two adult teeth
22:07and then the second year they have four, then six, then eight
22:10and then they're known as full-mouthed.
22:12And once those teeth start dropping out,
22:14they're known as broken-mouthed and then we sell them on.
22:18So this ewe has got two, four, six teeth
22:21and she's actually lost her corner ones.
22:24So she's started to lose her teeth.
22:26So I think probably she should go, shouldn't she?
22:29Yep.
22:30I'll just spray that to stop it getting any worse.
22:34This is an antiseptic spray.
22:36And then I'll give her a red dot
22:39and she'll go to market, into the meat trade.
22:43OK.
22:46She's in very good condition.
22:48She is, she's really fine, isn't she?
22:50Like a tabletop.
22:53With these ewes, we don't want to find any problems.
22:56Obviously when I say 25% cull rate,
22:59we'd like it to be less than that.
23:01So we really want them to be fit and healthy
23:03to go round and breed again.
23:05But obviously the older ewes, she's clear,
23:08when they start to lose their teeth,
23:10they can't graze the grass, they get poor.
23:13When they're rearing twins,
23:15they put a lot of energy and effort into that
23:18and they can get sick.
23:20And so you really need them to have good teeth
23:24and good udders.
23:26There we go.
23:28Which thankfully, the majority of this lot seem to have.
23:31Having said that, this one, Harry,
23:34has lost a lot of the tendons in her udder,
23:37so she's got a very saggy udder.
23:39Although it's not full of milk at the moment.
23:41When it is at lambing time
23:43and those teats hang really low to the ground,
23:45the lambs struggle to find them.
23:47How old is she?
23:49She's a full tooth and she's started losing teeth as well.
23:52One's fallen out. Not a great mouth for feeding.
23:57So that's it, Harry?
23:59All done.
24:00It's a pretty decent showing.
24:02Only 15 ewes out of 150 are off to market.
24:0610% is better than the 25 I expected.
24:10I think actually that's not a bad result, is it?
24:12OK, can I leave you to look those out then?
24:14And I'll go and get the rams in.
24:16Brilliant. Thanks, Alan.
24:19Last year at lambing time, we selected some newborn ram lambs
24:23that we hoped would have the right genetics for breeding.
24:26Now they're fully grown
24:28and we need to get them ready to go up for sale in a couple of weeks.
24:32So we've got them in a small paddock here.
24:35There's two Cotswolds and three Kerries.
24:38And hopefully the dog will just bring them along.
24:41Being rams, they're big and strong and full of testosterone
24:45and can be quite grumpy, will sometimes face the dog.
24:48But hopefully they'll be all right.
24:50We'll just send Gwen the other side of this swale,
24:52the other side of this ditch.
24:54Gwen? Here.
24:56Are we?
25:03And then if I stop her there...
25:06Stand.
25:08Here they come. Stand.
25:11Stand.
25:16The rams are stamping at the dog now.
25:19Come by. Stand.
25:22Steady, steady.
25:24Good girl. Good girl, Gwen.
25:28Dogs are at a bit of a disadvantage there, down in a hollow.
25:31Are we? Come by.
25:35Are we?
25:38Come by.
25:39Oh, sheep, look, open your eyes. Are we?
25:43Moving small groups like this, especially rams,
25:46is actually a bit more difficult than a big flock.
25:49There we go. It's all about patience.
25:51They've now realised the gate's open.
25:53But Gwen's confident enough these days to move even the most stubborn sheep.
25:57Hooray! Gwen, that'll do.
26:01With the Cotswolds, the two white woolly ones,
26:04I'll take them to the Cotswolds show and sale.
26:07And when you're showing an animal, what you do is put a halter on it
26:10and teach it to walk on the halter so it looks really smart in front of the judge.
26:14But these rams have never had a halter on,
26:16so herein lies their first lesson.
26:19Right, I'll try and catch one.
26:26One of the easiest ways to control a sheep is to hold it under the chin, like that.
26:32That goes under the chin, and then that gives you more control.
26:35So, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop.
26:38Whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop. Steady. Steady.
26:42These rams weigh as much as I do, and they're very strong.
26:46Right, now then, the judge is looking at them.
26:49They'll get up nice and close.
26:51What they're looking at with a ram like this is good teeth,
26:54like we looked at with our ewes, and then good quality wool.
26:58And we shore these earlier in the year,
27:00so that their fleece was a decent length for the show.
27:04And this boy has got quite good wool.
27:09A couple of minutes on the halter, and they've calmed down a lot.
27:13I can even get them walking around, practising for the ring.
27:19And when you're in the show ring,
27:22of course you don't want them sulking and putting their head down like this.
27:25What you want is their head up.
27:27So heads up nice and high, ears forward, looking alert,
27:31standing nice and square.
27:33So need to position them so their legs are square.
27:36How's that looking? So that's pretty bang on.
27:39And then often, you'll see when people are showing them,
27:42they crouch down themselves, make their sheep look a bit bigger,
27:45and then hold them like that, look at the judge,
27:48and they come over, slap a red rosette on their backs.
27:51And if you get a rosette, particularly if it's a red rosette,
27:54that adds value to your sheep.
27:56So good quality Cotswold ram can sell from anything
28:00for £250 up to £500 or £600.
28:04And I'd say these are pretty decent ones.
28:08And hopefully they'll make the money.
28:11For a first day, it's a pretty good effort.
28:16Good girl. Stand. Stand.
28:20Gwen's coming on really well now.
28:22I'm really pleased with the way she's working.
28:25But for now, it's back into the field until tomorrow's session.
28:29And I think they'll behave just fine by the time we get them into the ring.
28:33Well, it's good to give those rams their first lesson.
28:36Hopefully in a couple of weeks' time, they'll be ready to go to the show and sale.
28:39And it's brilliant getting those ewes sorted.
28:41Not too many to go to market, which is pleasing.
28:43So good day's work. Gwen, good girl.
28:53MUSIC
28:58Throughout history, the fens have been shaped and sculpted for farming.
29:03The land was first drained for agriculture back in the 17th century.
29:08Being so low-lying, it's been a constant battle,
29:12one that over the centuries has had an impact on the environment.
29:17Today, though, there's a project looking towards the future of farming
29:21that also benefits nature by working with water rather than against it.
29:27MUSIC
29:32Dr Jack Clough is a researcher working with the Wildlife Trust
29:36to do just that as part of the Great Fen Project.
29:40Today, he's at Engine Farm on the Great Fen.
29:46Jack, how are you? Hi there, Matt.
29:48I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting to see somebody metal-detecting.
29:51Yeah, it's a bit random out in the fens.
29:53Yeah, what's going on?
29:55So what we're looking for is bits of metal we've put in, so you can hear one here.
29:59You found one, yeah, OK.
30:01And these are what we're calling rust rods.
30:03Rust rods?
30:05So measuring water table is really important because water's so critical to peatlands.
30:10The way it works is if it's below the waterline, the metal stays clean, doesn't rust.
30:15But if it's above the water and it's oxidising, it turns into rust.
30:19I see, so this is basically deep down in the ground, isn't it?
30:22Yeah, this one's about a metre in, so you never know quite what you're going to get.
30:26So hopefully we'll see when we take it out.
30:28Oh, great, we're going to pull it out.
30:30We're going to pull it out.
30:32The rod has been in the ground for at least a year.
30:35Once it's been cleaned, Jack can assess the water content in the peat.
30:39So you can see here, the metal's a bit shinier there.
30:42So that means only this much of the peat, this top 10 centimetres or so, is drying.
30:49And the rest is quite wet, so we're not getting any rust below that line.
30:53Is that good news?
30:54That's really good news, yeah.
30:56So what we want to see is higher water tables on peat.
31:00A high water table means healthy peat,
31:03and that the Great Fen could be suitable for a farming system that embraces wet conditions.
31:08The idea is we can start in polludiculture, which is growing wetland crops.
31:11Polludiculture?
31:12Yeah, so you can also call it wetland agriculture or wetter farming.
31:15Right.
31:16And because water is kind of the key driver of peatland carbon emissions,
31:20it's all about putting water back onto the ground, but by doing so you have to grow new crops.
31:26Right.
31:27So the idea is...
31:28That can really cope with wet conditions.
31:30Exactly, yes.
31:32Rewetting the land will be the latest act in a long history of agriculture shaping this landscape.
31:39So Jack, if we were here 200 years ago, what would it have looked like where we're standing?
31:44Yeah, so we would have had a large lake, sort of over here to the north,
31:48so Whittlesea Mere, one of the largest lakes in the Fenland region.
31:52So where did the lake go?
31:53It was unfortunately drained in the 1850s,
31:57because peat is really fertile when it's drained.
32:00Although the drained land was rich in nutrients for farming,
32:04it quickly became clear that it was having an impact on the level of the ground.
32:09Without the water, the land began to sink.
32:12So we've got these kind of lampposts here then, so what were these used for?
32:15Yeah, so these were put in just before Whittlesea Mere was drained,
32:19and they were used to keep the peat out of the ground.
32:23And you can see on the top, we've got some dates.
32:26So at that top there, I think that says 1848, so that was the surface when they put the post in.
32:31But you can see the next date is 1860.
32:34So that's not that long between the beasts, it's a really big drop.
32:38Over a 12-year period, the land sank by one and a half percent.
32:43And the peat was gone.
32:45The peat was gone.
32:48Over a 12-year period, the land sank by one and a half meters.
32:56The Great Fen project is focused on restoring the peatland here by re-wetting it,
33:01and in doing so, trapping greenhouse gases in the land.
33:05So this is peat, globally one of the world's densest carbon stores.
33:10It's mostly water, but it's also vegetation that's not rotting, so that's what locks the carbon in.
33:16And it can only keep that carbon in when it's wet.
33:19So as soon as you start draining it, that's releasing carbon up to 30 tonnes per hectare.
33:24So if you imagine a rugby pitch, one rugby pitch can emit 30 tonnes per year.
33:28And globally, nearly 4% of the annual emissions of the world is from damaged peatland.
33:33So it's quite a large problem to solve.
33:36So the hope is over time that things like the Great Fen project,
33:39they'll get back to peat-forming vegetation, because only certain types of vegetation form it,
33:44and it only forms when it's waterlogged.
33:46So as you put the water back in, you should hopefully store more carbon.
33:50So that's really important for climate change.
33:54Jack and his team believe that agriculture can still exist in waterlogged land, such as peat,
34:00as research graduate George Emma Hunt is exploring, growing bulrushes in this wet environment.
34:07So here we are then in the bulrushes, and what of the bulrushes is useful?
34:12So it has various uses for different parts.
34:15It even has uses as a living system like this, as a filter.
34:19So it's really amazing for filtering out nutrients within the water and the soil,
34:24and also heavy metals and various other contaminants.
34:27But also when cut, it could be used for various products as well.
34:32So the head, this upper part, this is actually a seed head,
34:36which is made of very lightweight, small fibres.
34:40And then the stalks and the leaves are what I'll be studying
34:44as to whether they could be used in an insulation or a board.
34:47Oh, wow.
34:48The idea of using bulrushes as a form of insulation is being trialled by a textile company.
34:54So you've got some interesting products down here then, George Emma.
34:57Yes, so this is a new sample by a company that founded in 2020.
35:03They're using the seed heads at the top of the plant for a loose-fill insulation within a puffer jacket.
35:10So it's an alternative to goose-down feathering.
35:13Ah, right.
35:14It's at the top of the bulrushes then that are used for seed dispersal.
35:17They're actually harvesting them and putting them in jackets.
35:20Exactly.
35:21So they've worked out a way that they can extract the fibres from the seed head
35:27and then end up with the seeds and the fibres as two separate products.
35:31Gosh, that's incredible, isn't it?
35:33And it feels just like what we know a puffer jacket to feel like, which is really amazing.
35:37Yeah.
35:38And if you want to have a look at how that is in real life,
35:43this is the seed head when it's dried out a bit.
35:46So looking at autumn, and I'll give it to you to snap.
35:51Here we go.
35:52There's approximately 200,000 to 300,000 of these seeds within each seed head.
35:59Oh, wow.
36:00Oh, look at that.
36:04And so it's those fibres inside the jacket.
36:07Exactly.
36:09There we are.
36:10That's amazing.
36:11And then they also are able to mat it together without weaving it into a kind of wadding.
36:21So this jacket I'm wearing right now is made with this wadding.
36:26And that's 100% bulrush?
36:28100% the seeds of the bulrush.
36:30Exactly.
36:31It's really amazing.
36:32Wow.
36:33Okay, so that's the fashion side of things.
36:35Exactly.
36:36A bit of construction going on here then.
36:38Yeah, so I'm now looking at uses for the stalks and the leaves within an insulation material.
36:44So this is a very early stage prototype of what that could start to look like
36:49if you break down those fibres into smaller pieces and bring them together with a binder.
36:54So if you give that a feel, it's quite lightweight.
36:56Yeah.
36:57And that would have good use as an insulation board within construction.
37:02And also soundproofing.
37:04Exactly, yeah.
37:05So sound insulation as well as thermal.
37:07Yeah.
37:08And then there's also an example of if you pulverise the fibres even further into something much finer,
37:14you could possibly bring them together with just water to create a board like this.
37:19And again, that's bulrushes?
37:20That's all bulrushes.
37:22I think they will be really lucrative products once they've got through that initial phase of testing
37:28and proving the need for it.
37:30Yeah, yeah, yeah.
37:31And then being actually viable within the current manufacturing systems as well,
37:36so they sit well.
37:37If they can literally just be replaced effortlessly,
37:40then why would you not go for the more sustainable product?
37:53The flat expanse of the Fens means the wind can really whip across here,
37:59and it's been a very useful resource.
38:01And one man is harnessing the power of just that wind
38:05to bring back a beloved piece of Fenland heritage.
38:10Millwright Dave Pearce is part of a group that runs Wiccan Windmill,
38:14which stands sentinel over Wiccan Fen.
38:19I've been interested in windmills and engineering generally for many years.
38:25And in the windmill industry,
38:28I've always been interested in windmills and windmills.
38:33I've been interested in windmills and engineering generally for many years.
38:38And in the early 1980s, I came across this then very derelict windmill,
38:45and I got together a group of fellow enthusiasts to buy up the windmill.
38:53Windmills could be used for anything that you needed mechanical power.
38:58In this area, most of the mills were probably for pumping out the Fens,
39:03but there were always corn windmills.
39:06It was vital for each village to have at least one mill.
39:14Wiccan Windmill is a smock windmill.
39:17We believe this one was built in 1813
39:20and is one of the relatively few smock mills left.
39:24It's a form of tar mill.
39:26Tar mill is where only the very top of the mill,
39:29the domed cap with the sails, rotates to face the wind.
39:35We finished the restoration back in 2001.
39:40So there you have it.
39:42How happy are we?
39:47Fabulous day.
39:50But if we were to sustain the windmill,
39:53we had to have some sort of income ongoing,
39:56and the best way we found was to actually put the mill back to work
40:01to make good quality flour which we could sell
40:04and thereby get an income that would cover costs.
40:08OK, we have all six machines working inside.
40:14The noise you can hear is our bonker.
40:18There's just enough wind to turn everything at the moment.
40:21She's obviously not going flat out.
40:23It's working.
40:24It is working.
40:34The first job of the day is to pull on this rope
40:37to take off the brake.
40:40A good heavy pull.
40:43The brake is off.
40:45Next we need to pull on this chain
40:47which will close the shutters in the sails
40:50just like a big Venetian blind.
40:54And the sail shutters are closing.
40:57There we are.
40:59Put the big weight on.
41:02And that will keep the shutters closed.
41:05And there we are. We're ready for the off.
41:08Quite often, of course, as today, there's no useful wind.
41:13If we want to show visitors an impression of the mill working,
41:18somebody, usually our friend Dan,
41:21gets the pusher and pushes the sails around.
41:28The first thing to be done if we're going to make flour
41:31is to put the millstones in gear.
41:34There we are.
41:36And then I've got to take away the hooks
41:40which, if we leave those on, causes a lot of trouble.
41:45Next, upstairs, to check that there's grain in the hopper.
41:49See it's full of wheat.
41:52That feeds down into the chute here
41:56which takes the wheat to the centre of the stone,
41:59the eye of the stone.
42:01On a good day, these stones would be turning.
42:03So I'll give a shout to my colleague Dan.
42:06OK, Dan, push her now.
42:11Here we go.
42:14And the stones would go round
42:18at a speed of about 100, 120 revs a minute.
42:22So it would be quite lively up here.
42:24The whole floor would be shaking.
42:30And on the stone floor, both sets of stones running,
42:33working in unison at Wickham Windmill.
42:40The wholemeal flour will come down from the stones,
42:43down the wooden chute, into the sack at the bottom here.
43:00All the proceeds of selling the flour
43:03go back into the mill funds
43:05and because of the amount of work that's needed on it,
43:09we rely on volunteer millers and volunteer millwrights.
43:16I'm really proud of what we've all achieved here.
43:19Windmills had such a romantic past
43:22and they were vital to the rural economy of this area.
43:27And I hope that we can continue long into the future.
43:40Over the past year,
43:42we've been following the fortunes of four young farmers
43:45all around the UK.
43:47This week, we're in Perthshire,
43:50catching up with Crawford at carver time.
43:55Guess what?
43:57What am I looking at?
44:00I'm looking at you.
44:03I'm looking at you.
44:06What am I looking at?
44:09I can't believe it.
44:12More twins.
44:15Set number nine.
44:17Set number nine.
44:19Unbelievable.
44:23Hello, buddy.
44:26So the first calf, this one, is a bull calf.
44:29And then the second calf, number two, is also a bull calf.
44:33So we've had 25% of our cows put out twins this year.
44:37Normally, you're about 2% to 5%.
44:39I don't know what's happened,
44:41but I'm going to get these two twins sorted out
44:43and make sure they get a really good drink of milk.
44:45They're looking at the wrong end at the moment,
44:47but they're looking, which is good.
44:49The first milk from the cow is called colostrum.
44:52It is full of antibodies and goodness.
44:55They need to get a drink of that within the first few hours of life,
44:58and that just sets them up.
44:59So there we go.
45:00This calf's getting a good drink.
45:02This calf is full.
45:04It's off for a snooze.
45:06You can just have a bit of a feel of the belly there,
45:08and it's plump and pretty hard, which is a good sign.
45:11Twins.
45:12Okay, it's a nice wee bonus.
45:14You've got two calves for the price of one.
45:17But there is a lot of potential for problems with twins.
45:20One in the calving.
45:22She's calved herself no problem with these two,
45:24so we've managed to get through that no problem.
45:26Two is the volume of milk this cow can produce.
45:29Can she sustain these two calves?
45:31We'll be able to tell in the next week or so.
45:34One of these might need to come off to be a pet,
45:36so we'll feed that ourself.
45:38But fingers crossed, they get on well and they both get plenty of milk.
45:41And the mother can take care of both of them.
45:43That's the best-case scenario.
45:45Since this cow needs to service twins,
45:48we'll get her a good bite to eat.
45:52Okay, I need to update my calving book.
45:54Also, these two tags for the twins.
45:58All cattle need to be tagged within three days of birth.
46:01So what I do is I put the number that I've written on its right ear.
46:06And if it was a heifer, a girl, a lady,
46:09I put it on the left. Left is for lady.
46:11It's just like getting an ear pierced.
46:13That's it. Hardly feels it.
46:17There's a specific spot to put it.
46:19There's two big lines of cartilage.
46:21And you aim right in between them where it's the thinnest.
46:25That's her. Him.
46:28Good lad.
46:31We've also got another cow just getting started.
46:34You can see some feet poking out.
46:36And that is a nose just above the feet.
46:39So I'll leave her be, not disturb her.
46:41Keep an eye on her, though.
46:43Voila!
46:45Just like that.
46:48A nice wee Abry D'Angus calf.
46:55I'll leave those calves be.
46:57I'll check back in a few days.
46:59And hopefully they're doing cracking.
47:11It's a few days later.
47:13Here's a wee update on twin number one and two.
47:16Getting on well.
47:18Drinking away.
47:20Mother's got a lot of milk, which is good.
47:22Happy days.
47:25Anyway, fingers crossed.
47:27Things continue as they have been.
47:29Which is well.
47:40It's been a stunning day here in Cambridgeshire.
47:43But the weather has been very changeable.
47:46However, how's it looking for the week ahead?
47:49Here's the Countryfell forecast.
47:53Hello there.
47:58It's been a very warm day in the Fens today.
48:01For the week ahead, we can split it into two.
48:04The next few days sees dry weather, lots of sunshine.
48:07Temperatures climbing, particularly across England and Wales.
48:10But generally, across Western Europe, it's getting hotter.
48:13This is the temperature anomaly chart.
48:15That heat is pushing up from Spain through France into England and Wales.
48:19Eastern Europe, by contrast, turning a little cooler.
48:22Changes here because we've got the position of the jet stream more to the north of the UK.
48:27That means higher pressure in charge at the moment.
48:30There is a weak weather front approaching the northwest later on in the night.
48:34That will push in a bit more cloud.
48:36It's going to be quite a warm night tonight, but much warmer than it was last night in Scotland.
48:40And here there will be more cloud around on Monday.
48:43This band of rain on the front in the far northwest of Scotland.
48:47The odd light shower possible ahead of that.
48:49The cloud will break up in Scotland in the east and we'll see a lot more sunshine again across England and Wales.
48:54Here the winds are going to be very light, so there'll be some sea breezes developing as well.
48:58A little more of a breeze picking up, though, in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
49:02Temperatures not changing too much here.
49:04Quite warm across eastern Scotland, but the really high temperatures are in England and Wales.
49:08And in the southeast around London, we could be getting close to 30 degrees as early as Monday.
49:13That weak weather front in the northwest continues to weaken as it moves southwards.
49:17It's just a sliver of cloud by the time we get to Tuesday morning.
49:21Following that, the odd shower possible across Northern Ireland, southwest Scotland.
49:25Otherwise, more sunshine in Scotland.
49:27And again, lots of sunshine, just fair weather cloud for England and Wales.
49:31So another hot day, particularly towards the southeast.
49:34Temperatures are likely to get over 30 degrees, I think, on Tuesday.
49:38It is cooler in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and we can see the real contrast on Tuesday night.
49:43It's going to be a really uncomfortable, humid night for sleeping in the southeast,
49:47particularly in central London.
49:49Heading into Wednesday, still a lot of dry weather around, more sunshine too.
49:54Maybe the odd shower in the far north of England,
49:56but we look towards the south and southwest to maybe see the first signs of change.
50:01Temperatures on Wednesday may not be quite as high,
50:04but it's still going to be a very warm, if not hot, day for England and Wales.
50:08And this is where we start to see the weather changing.
50:10The rest of the week, warm, but just not quite as warm,
50:14and we've got the chance of some rain as well.
50:16And that's because pressure is going to be lowering.
50:19We're going to find this thundery rain moving up from northern parts of France,
50:23heading northwards into the UK.
50:25Now, this far ahead, it's going to be very difficult to get the details right.
50:30This rain could be heavy and thundery.
50:32It may lead to some flash flooding, but it's not certain where it's going to fall.
50:36It may turn drier across the south.
50:38It may miss most of the rain in Scotland and Northern Ireland,
50:41where temperatures are still perhaps into the low 20s,
50:44but we're likely to make the mid-20s again across England and Wales,
50:47even after we see some downpours.
50:49That low pressure takes those downpours away,
50:51but out in the west, in the Atlantic,
50:53a big area of low pressure is filling the picture here.
50:56That's bringing in some cooler air,
50:58and the position of the jet stream is changing.
51:00So we start the week with high pressure.
51:02We end the week with low pressure,
51:04and that's going to push in a couple of bands of showery rain
51:07into northern and western parts of the UK,
51:09whereas further east, it's likely to still be dry,
51:12and there'll be some sunshine,
51:14and actually feel quite pleasant on Friday,
51:16with temperatures into the mid-20s,
51:18out towards the west with the chance of some rain,
51:20temperatures around 19 or 20 Celsius.
51:23That's it from me. Now, let's go back to Matt.
51:31We're in the Fens,
51:33looking at how people and wildlife live at and below sea level.
51:38While some are looking to the future of farming on wet landscapes,
51:42this area already has a rich agricultural history,
51:46with a third of all of our veg grown on fenland.
51:51It's the peat formed over thousands of years
51:54when this place was marshland
51:56that makes the soil so fertile.
51:59Something farmers have made use of here
52:02since the historic draining of water from the Fens.
52:07And for one fenland farmer, it's all about the humble potato.
52:11Spuds are in Luke Ablett's blood.
52:15Potato farming goes back quite a long way,
52:17so I grew up on a farm, a family farm.
52:19My father farms, his father farms, his father farms,
52:22so it's a generational thing.
52:24I think it's been carried on through the generations
52:27because it's a big potato-growing area,
52:29but I think it's as well the knowledge that you know how to grow them.
52:34Luke farms as a tenant on a 360-acre county-owned farm,
52:39two miles from home fen.
52:41His dad, Clive, still farms five miles away,
52:44and father and son share machinery, labour and expertise,
52:48although working with family
52:50sometimes means having frank workplace conversations.
52:54We need to level off the potato headland
52:57because it's getting a little bit bumpy.
52:59I think when you marked out the rows,
53:02you marked them out too short
53:05because there's a bigger gap than what I thought there was going to be.
53:08Yeah.
53:09Too late now.
53:11Today's job is to flatten the gap between the rows
53:14so the crop sprayer has a level surface to drive on.
53:18Even though this is my farm,
53:20for some reason you still go to your father,
53:22I wouldn't say for advice, but he puts his order in now and again.
53:25Dad still farms it as he should as a father
53:27to make sure I'm doing the right thing, if you like.
53:29Sometimes he'll do something and you say,
53:31why did you do that?
53:33Well, I thought he might do it, and I said,
53:35well, you've probably wasted your time,
53:37you should have done it this way, sort of thing.
53:41But farming with family nearby does have its perks.
53:45Clive and Luke's farms are two metres below sea level in places,
53:49so when floods hit last winter,
53:51an extra pair of hands and a spare vehicle was a real bonus.
53:55He's tried to get his vehicle stuck.
53:58Can he, Bob?
54:00Yeah, he's got knobbly cars on, I know.
54:02They're useless when they fill up with mud.
54:04Yeah, but as we're standing here, I don't know if you can hear the...
54:08Last winter was one of the wettest ever recorded in England.
54:11Weather conditions, together with soaring costs for farmers,
54:15led to the price of some potatoes to rise 23%
54:19between January and April of this year.
54:21The inputs costs keep rising, equipment gets more expensive,
54:25equipment breaks is expensive to put right again.
54:28The seed costs, time-wise, lifting takes time,
54:31planting takes time, bagging takes time.
54:34It costs Luke an average of £1,900 an acre to grow potatoes,
54:39compared to £300 for wheat.
54:41Of course, if yields are good,
54:43farmers can recoup those costs and turn a profit,
54:46but if not, the losses can be huge.
54:48Last year, part of Luke's crop
54:50suffered from what's known as small potato disease.
54:54So, instead of doing what you should do,
54:56which is to, if I get my prop here,
54:58is to, as you can see on this crop,
55:00is to put the leaves out and then start to grow the potatoes
55:03so the leaves can harvest the sunlight and then put out the potatoes.
55:06It didn't put the leaves out and then just start putting potatoes out
55:09because it really thought it had the leaves out already,
55:12and then it got to about that size and then stopped growing.
55:15And that was it. I had 10 acres like that,
55:18so nearly a third of my crop.
55:22That added up to a total turnover loss of £50,000.
55:28Given the risks, it's perhaps not surprising
55:31that many family farms are abandoning potatoes.
55:35And Luke has lost one fellow potato farmer very close to home.
55:39Over on the family farm that Luke grew up on
55:42and where his dad still farms,
55:44Clive's taken a big decision.
55:47So this would have been a field of potatoes
55:50when I was growing up, or has been potatoes over the years.
55:53Because I don't grow them any more.
55:56We don't have them on this farm.
55:59Well, this would have been back in the day.
56:01It would have been in the day. We grow them every year.
56:04We just lost money on them, really.
56:06A couple of stages, why put yourself through it?
56:10Well, years ago, around this area, within 5 or 10 miles,
56:14all the farms in that area even further used to grow potatoes.
56:18On a small scale, they weren't a great acreage,
56:21but they'd got the equipment and what have you to do it.
56:24And then the costs, the potatoes weren't making so much money.
56:28I just couldn't afford to invest back in them, so...
56:31But on the upside, Luke's took the job on, more or less,
56:35so I still get to deal with the potatoes one way or another.
56:40MUSIC
56:46Not only is he my dad, he's also my work colleague.
56:49People don't get how you do that sometimes,
56:51but when you work with family,
56:53you know that they're going to do the best for you as well.
56:56So when they're doing something, you know they're going to do it
56:59to the full of their ability and they're going to do it how they would on their farm.
57:03And despite the challenges, Luke's determined to carry forward
57:07his family's potato farming heritage.
57:10Sometimes, if you ask me some days, are you going to pack it in,
57:13I think I'll say yes, but I don't, because when it gets in the blood,
57:16that's all you want to do is grow them.
57:18What's them punch bags where you knock them down and they pop up again?
57:21The farmers like that, he gets knocked down,
57:23ah, I'm up again, and they still keep doing it.
57:26Yeah, we do.
57:28Shall we go the next day and do it again?
57:30Why? I don't know.
57:32But farmers are farmers, they can't change.
57:38Are you feeling fulfilled after your trip to the Fens?
57:41I am indeed, Matt, it's been incredible.
57:43Obviously, we always see wonderful stuff, but I particularly enjoyed hearing it.
57:47All my senses have been stimulated.
57:49Well, that is all we've got time for, for this week.
57:51Next week, Joe will be looking for some of our rarest creatures.
57:55Today, I'm hoping to encounter some of the UK's most elusive species.
58:00I'll lift the edge of the tin.
58:03Yes! There we go.
58:06Yes, what is that?
58:07So that's the slow worm.
58:08Oh, there she goes. Oh, she's gorgeous.
58:11That's amazing.
58:13There.
58:15Oh, yeah.
58:17That's closer.
58:18Yep.
58:19So good.
58:21That's a rapid fire, isn't it?
58:22Really rapid.
58:23It's very exciting.
58:24It's exactly what I'd hoped, actually.
58:27We look forward to you joining us then. Bye for now.
58:29Bye-bye.
58:36An accidental house fire reveals something much more suspicious
58:39for the Turkish detective.
58:41That's tonight at nine, while BBC4 starts a night of jazz
58:44celebrating the iconic voice of Sarah Vaughan
58:47with a special BBC prom.
58:49Watch now.