Countryfile - Wembury Coast
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TravelTranscript
00:00Look at that John, the Great Wembrey Coast. Wow, yeah, spectacular isn't it? No matter what the
00:12weather, you've got the blue of the sea meeting the green of the land. It's absolutely beautiful.
00:17And actually I've got a little game for you. Oh really? Yes. What kind of game? Pick a hand.
00:22What for? If you pick the leaf, you're heading inland. If you pick the shell,
00:27you're going to the beach. Right, I'll go for that one.
00:41What have I got? A leaf. So I'm going in London. And I'm heading out to sea.
00:59The sea around the southwest corner of Devon makes up the UK's only national marine park,
01:12stretching from Wembrey to the other side of Plymouth Sound.
01:17A sparkling expanse of protected waters known for its diversity of life. I'm excited to be releasing
01:23some very special creatures into the waters here a little later on. What are they?
01:27Juvenile spotted rays. Wow. Well, of course, at this time of year, both sea and land are preparing
01:34for the next generation, aren't they? From new beginnings up on the cliffs.
01:40Oh, she's really enjoying that now, isn't she? Yes. To rays of hope beneath the waves.
01:45In you go. There he goes. There he goes. Here he goes. He's diving down now. Oh, that was beautiful.
01:54And havens for some of our rarest insects. They're only a tiny little bee and they will
01:59dig a metre deep hole mining down in there. While Adam is in Norfolk visiting a farm that
02:05comes to life at this time of year. It's a world that you wouldn't really think about.
02:10When somebody picks a bunch of flowers up, I don't think they realise all what goes on behind that.
02:22Right then, John. I'm off on a rather different kind of egg hunt.
02:25Well, it is Easter after all, isn't it? Enjoy.
02:31But I'm not looking for chocolate. I'm heading down onto Wembrey Beach, where volunteers are out
02:38searching for a different kind of treasure. Cat Gordon is the Senior Conservation Officer at the
02:44Shark Trust and founder of the Great Egg Case Hunt. Cat, what is it that we're looking for?
02:51So today we've come down to the beach to look for shark and skate egg cases. They're quite
02:56often called mermaid's purses. You can identify what species they are based on the different features
03:00and sizes and shapes. These mermaid's purses are the egg cases used by embryonic sharks and skates.
03:08Once they've hatched, the cases wash up empty on the shore. And why are we looking for them?
03:14It gives us a good indication of species diversity around the coastline. The Shark Trust is a great
03:20egg case hunt. You can take part anywhere in the UK, anywhere in the world, and you can see how that
03:24species diversity changes as we move around the coastline. So we've got some like the nurse hound,
03:31some of the, this is a species of cat sharks. So the small spotted cat shark and the nurse hound
03:35egg case, they're kind of longer, oblong in shape, and they've got these curled tendrils which they'll,
03:40female will kind of use to kind of tie them onto seaweed where they'll stay while they're developing.
03:44And each one of these will have one yolk sac with an embryo attached developing inside. So when they're
03:49ready to hatch, there'll be an opening at the top where they'll emerge and they'll, they'll swim off.
03:53And a species like that, they can take around nine months or so to reach their kind of full development
03:58phase. As any scientist will tell you, a survey needs a large sample size for a reliable result,
04:05which is why the project is encouraging as many people as possible to get involved in the great
04:10egg case hunt, whatever the weather, and make use of their online resources to help with identification.
04:15I can see lots of cases here. What have you found?
04:20This is a nurse hound. Why did you want to volunteer? Why did you want to help out?
04:24I used to come down with the primary school, so they do like primary school and I came down as a primary
04:28school student and then just, yeah, grew up with it. It was just what I wanted to do. It was great,
04:32really interesting. Why does it matter so much to you to look after our coastlines and know about our
04:37coastlines? Well, spread the, spread the news to others and to our friends and families and that
04:42spreads and it snowballs. So everybody learned, hopefully, learns to love our environment and take
04:48care of it. I didn't even know there were sharks in the UK before I came here. Right. It's quite
04:54heartening because Wembrey has kind of been my home since I've been studying here in Plymouth.
05:00So anyone could find an egg case, that's what you're sort of encouraging. Anyone can take part,
05:04yeah, so become a citizen scientist. Get out to the beach. You just need to search for egg cases.
05:09Once you've found them, we've got resources on the Shark Trust website or through the app that you
05:13can then identify what species you've found. And it's a great way for people to become connected with
05:18nature and with the ocean. In classic egg hunt style, it's a bit competitive. So I'm quite keen
05:23now. What am I looking out for? They've got a kind of a bit of a different colour. They're almost kind
05:27of a bit of a plasticky sheen to them. So it's looking in the strand line where something might kind of
05:32jump out to you. You can have a look. Yeah. Egg cases found on our hunt will be photographed and
05:39the information added to the online map, building up a picture of what's around our coasts for everyone
05:45to see. I can see how it all blends in. Yes. There we go. So this one's from a small-eyed ray. So it's
06:01kind of got these pointed, it's quite broken from that one would have had a longer horn. So kind of
06:05a bit squarer, kind of more rectangular in shape, would have had a pointed horn on each corner.
06:10The egg case hunt is a great way to connect people with some of the surprises hidden under the waves
06:15off our beaches. In the waters around our coasts, there are around 65 species of sharks,
06:21skates and rays, collectively known as elasmobranchs. Ali Hood is Director of Conservation
06:28at the Shark Trust. In the coast of Wembury here, we have a whole diverse set of species. So we have
06:34the second biggest shark, that's the basking shark. There are species like paw beagle, blue shark,
06:39mako shark. So we've got those more open water, more pelagic species. And then you've got the more
06:43coastal species like cat sharks. So we have... Speaking of which... Oh my goodness. There you go.
06:49No, yes, it's a part one. That is a bit of an egg case. This is well found. You've been trained well.
06:56So this is one side of an egg case from one of the skates. Skates lay eggs, rays give birth to live
07:02young. But just to be confusing, in the UK, we call a large number of skate species like thornbacks,
07:09blondes, spotted... We call them rays. Right. Just to confuse things. We then have the larger
07:14bodied skate, things like flapper skate, really big species. They can grow to sort of one and a half,
07:19two plus meters across their wingspan. Really huge. They produce egg cases of, you know, really big
07:24size, so A5 pads, sort of size of an egg case. What impact do we as humans have on the marine land?
07:30Unfortunately, significant. I mean, the decades and decades of overfishing have seen incredible
07:35decreases, incredible impacts on populations with over half of UK species either threatened or
07:39near threatened. We still need more protection for key species, but we have seen some species
07:44show tentative signs of recovery. Keeping healthy shark populations is a good indicator of wider
07:50ocean health. It definitely feels like there's a lot of hope, especially seeing how many people are out
07:54here. Even in the weather that we've had today, people have been happy to be out here looking for
07:58egg cases. And finding the egg cases, this was a way to connect the British public initially with the
08:04diversity we have out there in the ocean that you can't see. It's something that we're uncertain of.
08:28The arrival of spring means a busy time for all wildlife and for farmers as well.
08:35Agriculture is always at the mercy of the elements. And that's especially true here in Wembury,
08:41with the sea winds buffeting against the green fields.
08:48Holly and Adam Atkinson have been living with this challenge of nature for the last eight years.
08:54The organic dairy farm they manage hugs the Wembury coastline. And although the sun's out today,
09:01it is very windy. Here it can be both bleak and beautiful. I really envy your cows with this
09:08beautiful view just chilling out here and the sea in front of them. Yeah, well you've caught it on a
09:14good day. You can see the sea today. Some days when the thick sea fog rolls in, we wouldn't even know
09:19the sea was there. You wouldn't be able to find the cows out. No, we'd have to double check we didn't
09:24leave any behind. Yeah. But no, it's beautiful. What kind of cows are they? So they're a Jersey
09:29Friesian cross. The Jersey brings the higher fat and protein and a slightly smaller cow, but the Friesian
09:35brings the yield and the frame. So a very robust cow, doesn't mind being out in whatever weather.
09:40You can see they're all happy, aren't they? Their heads down grazing. I mean, it's quite windy. Yeah.
09:44Where there's other breeds of cows that we've worked with before that they'd probably all be up
09:49at the gate wanting to go back in the shed, you know, so they're hardcore. They do look very content,
09:54don't they? They are.
09:59The sea winds dry out the soil, so Holly and Adam have adapted the main food source of their 500-strong
10:06herd. Grass is obviously 90% of their diet. So the key is to grow as much grass as we can.
10:12And then being a dry farm, we have that risk of drought and dry source of the grass doesn't grow.
10:16So we've got bespoke species, especially over here, designed by the agronomist. So we've added like
10:22plantain in. What? It's plantain, isn't it? Yeah. And plantain's got a long, fibrous root,
10:29so it'll get moisture from down below. We've upped the amount of clovers. So we're 16% clovers in the lays.
10:38So there'll always be some, you know, tasty grass. Yeah, it's a real salad bar for them. It's not just one
10:45type of grass or one species. But the clovers plantain are really accelerating dry conditions.
10:51And then the grass species, we've got Timothy, Coxfoot. They're a hardy grass, so they'll cope in the dry
10:56conditions. But also when we're trying to graze cows in October, November, February,
11:01it's got to be quite hardy as well, because when it can be wet. So, but yeah, it's all designed
11:06specially here.
11:11This setting hasn't always been home for Holly and Adam.
11:16And how did you two come to be farming in such a stunning location?
11:20Well, we were originally up in Somerset. That's where we met. I'm a vet and I was working on the farm
11:25that Adam was managing at the time. And then we started coming down to this area because we
11:29actually got married just around the coast, just into Cornwall. And we just fell in love with the
11:33area. And then suddenly the job came up not long after we got married. And yeah, we just fell in
11:38love with it, didn't we? Yeah, lots of happy coincidences. Yeah, all worked out.
11:42And have you always farmed a little bit? Yeah, Dad was dairy farming and he was
11:47managing an organic farm. So this being organic and grass-based because I've experienced New Zealand as
11:52well. So this really suited us as what we wanted to do. Yeah.
11:58Holly's past career as a vet has helped to work out a seaside survival plan for the youngest of the
12:05herd. So yeah, this is one of our calf-rearing sheds. This is a sort of nursery, is it? Yeah,
12:11yeah, the calf nursery. Come in and see them. They're ready for us. They're very nosy,
12:16so they'll love to meet you. That's the jersey. How many calves are there at the moment then?
12:23Well, there's 45 in this pen and that's my maximum number per pen and then I've got 160 to look after
12:30in total. And how old are these? So these ones are five to six weeks of age and they're all female
12:38dairy heifers. So they're all going to be in the milking herd in two years' time. Are there any
12:43special difficulties in raising little calves like these so close to the sea? Yes, the thick sea fog,
12:50we get that quite commonly. So you'll be in here and just the bedding will get saturated
12:55and the moisture isn't good for their lungs. That can be a real risk for pneumonia.
12:59Daily I change the bedding, but if we're in the sea fog and it gets really wet, then I'll do it twice
13:05a day. But my important thing is I always say if it's good enough for me to fit in, then it's good
13:10enough for the calves. So that's the rule of thumb. If you're happy to sit in your best clothes, it's all right.
13:23Although the coastal pace might be different, time and routine waits for no one.
13:29So it's milking time now. Right, so the girls are way out in the field there. How do you get them in?
13:35We're going to call them and see if they hear us. What's going to call? Come on girls! Come on girls!
13:41Milking time! They're lifting their heads up. Come on! Come on!
13:48Milking time! Here they come! It's working! Come on!
14:03Time to offload!
14:04This is one of the biggest milking parlors I've ever seen, Adam. How many cows can you get in at any
14:16one time? So 48 each side, so a total of 96. So as soon as this 48's finished, we'll move over and milk that 48.
14:24Can I have a go? Yeah. What, this one? Yeah, if you... Just onto here. That's it. On the front,
14:32on the front there. On that one? Oh, on the front one? Yeah. Careful not to get kicked. Yeah.
14:38That's it. There we go. Then we'll see the mil coming straight away here.
14:43Oh yeah, yeah. So because she's relaxed, she's happy, do you know what I mean? There's no stress.
14:48Yes. And how long will that all take? 200 to 250 cows an hour, two people. So two hours we've done
14:56all 500. Wow. Yeah. How much milk is that? So at the moment currently that's about 20 litres of cow,
15:029,000 litres a day roughly, and milk them twice a day. Awful lot of milk. Awful lot of milk.
15:13The organic milk produced by the farm will end up on the shelves of supermarkets.
15:18But there's plenty set aside for the young calves who are kept separate from their mothers.
15:26Our final job today is feeding the young in the paddock.
15:33There we go. And it's one that all the family like to get involved with,
15:36including seven-year-old Abel. And at Causton Farm, nobody gets left behind.
15:43But Abel, why is this little calf being hand-fed by you and not joining all the others?
15:50So she's smaller than the others, so she needs to be hand-fed because she will get knocked out of the
15:57way and she won't get that much milk. She gets a TLC, doesn't she?
16:01Yeah. Oh, there she goes. There she goes. Oh, she's really enjoying that now, isn't she?
16:06Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it means that she's not forgotten. And she's going to try though.
16:11She's going to try. She'll try. Yeah. Good girl. There we are. Well, they're all having a good feed now,
16:18these calves, but of course they're all females, aren't they? Yes. And what happens to the males,
16:23the bobby calves in the herd? So all the male calves, they will get sold to our beef rearer.
16:29So they'll all get reared for meat up until three years of age. So the really important thing for us
16:35is that no matter whether they're male or female, dairy or beef, they all get the same treatment.
16:41They all get a good life and the best welfare that we can. And that's really important to us
16:45because every calf matters, whether they're male or female.
17:05With its wild and changeable weather, life on the clifftops can be challenging.
17:11Yet below, in the water, thrives a complex society of creatures living fascinating lives
17:18outside to most of us.
17:22Unless you duck your head beneath the surface.
17:28Paul Naylor is captivated by the world below the waves.
17:35When people hear you're into marine biology, they think, you know,
17:38you're going off to the barrier reef, they don't realise what's on their doorstep.
17:48For me personally, getting underwater is totally different from the world above.
17:57It's beautiful visually, the light and the colours, and it's this feeling of a slightly alien world.
18:08The years just fall away, I feel like as a teenager again when I'm snorkelling.
18:17Just the wonder of seeing the animals and the life, and you never quite know what you're going to see.
18:28It's so special because of the varied habitats. You've got rocky reefs, you've got sea grass beds,
18:35you've got deeper reefs with corals and sea fans and those sorts of things, and in shallow water,
18:41you've got amazing variety of fish, all sorts of sea anemones, crustaceans, just a great variety of life in quite small areas.
18:50Lots of different fish caught my eye, one of which is the corkwing wrasse.
18:58Corkwing wrasse, they're sort of classic fish shape, quite thin in profile, and the males in the breeding
19:06season are really colourful. They have quite complex lives, makes this really intricate nest.
19:13They don't just sort of pick any old seaweed and ram it in a hole in the rocks, they pick different types
19:18for different parts of the nest, soft seaweed in the middle of the nest for the female to layer eggs,
19:23crusty seaweed on the outside, and those fragments of crusty seaweed, they actually continue to grow
19:29when they're on the nest, and they knit the outside of the nest together, make it stronger.
19:34People don't generally think of fish as being, you know, they think of them swimming around in a,
19:40they don't think of them having homes and territories and such complex behaviour,
19:45they're far more complex animals than we give them credit for.
19:51One of the most special things about my diving has been getting to know individual fish,
19:56and that's where the, you know, our study of Tompot Blenny's come in.
20:02A Blenny that most people are familiar with is often called the Shani, which is the small rock pool fish.
20:07The Tompot Blenny, it's sort of a slightly more glamorous relative, more brightly coloured,
20:14got these amazing head tentacles, and it lives a little bit deeper, just below the shore,
20:20but in rocky crevices and reefs.
20:22Blenny's are quite small fish, but the way they behave and the way they look gives them a real charisma,
20:27and there have been sort of a few articles about them talking about the small fish with a big personality
20:32and things like that, which I think sums it up beautifully.
20:36One that we call Bertram really stands out.
20:40We suspected that there were sneaker Blenny's, which are young males, which are too not old and bold enough
20:47to keep their own territory, but they sneak into a territory and steal some of the fertilisations
20:53of eggs that have just been laid by a female, so we suspected they were there.
20:56Bertram was the first one we saw actually in the act of sneaking into a territory,
21:02but what was fascinating, and again being able to recognise individuals, we followed Bertram's life
21:07and saw him become a respectable homeowner in later life.
21:10I think Bertram we studied for about six, seven years, all the eggs that he guarded so tenaciously
21:19for all those years will have hatched into lots more mini Bertrams.
21:22Bertram that was great, it was lovely and clear.
21:28Snake locks anemone, which is a really brilliant green velvet swimming crab with bright red eyes
21:33tucked away in a crevice. Now it absolutely amazes people what's here. Sometimes people come over
21:38and say, oh what have you just taken? And then they look and I show them perhaps some of the faces of
21:44the Blenny's or the crabs and they're just utterly staggered and they say, what was that just in there?
21:48You say, yeah, just over by those rocks it was there and they're just, yeah, totally blown away.
21:56Although I enjoy getting the footage and the observations and so on, I think the best purpose
22:01for that material is just to show people how special the habitats are, how individual the animals are,
22:08the complicated lives going on, and that just draws people in and engages them with the sea.
22:14When you talk about marine biology, marine conservation, people tend to think about often
22:20far away coral reefs, turtles, dolphins and so on. Yeah, all are great, but also there's so much more
22:27right on the doorstep that we need to look after and that supports the wider ecosystem with the
22:32dolphins and the turtles as well. Hopefully by showing just how special these places are,
22:38it'll make people want to look after them all the better.
22:52The seas around the UK are renowned for their diversity of habitats and species.
22:58I'm on Wembrey Beach, a rocky shore washed by the waters of the Plymouth Sound, where in 2019,
23:06the UK's first National Marine Park was established, 70 years after our first land-based national parks were designated.
23:15Elaine Hayes was instrumental in its creation.
23:18So, Elaine, why was the Plymouth Sound National Marine Park set up in the first place?
23:24Plymouth Sound is such a special place for both wildlife and people, and we felt that it was wrong
23:28that there were only national parks on land and there weren't national parks in the sea,
23:32and so we wanted to be the first national marine park in the UK so that we could look after the
23:37wildlife that's really special here in the Sound and also reconnect the people of Plymouth to their sound.
23:42For you personally, what's the motivation?
23:45My dad lived in Plymouth, so Plymouth is a special place close to my heart,
23:49and for me, it's about the fact that wildlife really matters,
23:52and it's about helping people understand why it matters and what they value and what they
23:57understand and they love, they'll value and look after.
23:59Yeah.
24:00It started raining, little droplets are appearing on your glasses.
24:04You talk about the future, looking forward, what are the long-term hopes and plans?
24:08Well, the really exciting thing is that the idea isn't that Plymouth is the only national marine
24:13park. We're working with groups across the whole of the UK who are really excited about the concept,
24:17and so we're looking at how we can expand this across the whole of the United Kingdom
24:21and create a movement for change to look after our marine environment.
24:25Conservationists are not going to save the planet, people are going to save the planet.
24:30Getting people inspired by the sea and its inhabitants is a key reason the marine
24:35park was created, and at the Marine Biological Association in the heart of Plymouth Harbour,
24:41there are big plans for one particular species, spotted rays.
24:46So let's see if we've got a boy or a girl. I'm going for a boy.
24:49Dr Alex Harvey leads the Little Rays of Hope project.
24:53There's no claspers there.
24:54Oh, there isn't?
24:54It is a girl.
24:55Yeah, that's it.
24:56There are gills as well, can't you, underneath it?
24:58And helped by Maya Plass, has some very inquisitive pups to look after.
25:03So they're all looking happy and healthy this morning, that looks good to see.
25:06All look good.
25:13So the Little Rays of Hope project is based here in the National Marine Park,
25:16and it's a really important way of telling people in Plymouth what incredible marine life
25:20we've got right on our doorstep. We use spotted rays because they're inshore fisheries,
25:25so we're able to collect them from very close to our waters here in Plymouth, and also because
25:30they have a very distinct spotted pattern, which allows us to then be able to identify them as well.
25:36Although this is a common species in these parts, there's still a lot to learn about their behaviours,
25:43and this project aims to not just engage the public, but open a window into their underwater world.
25:50So what we found is that actually each individual has a completely unique set of spots that look
25:56like their fingerprints. The big hope with this is that as any individuals that are photographed,
26:00and that could be diving, with things like drop-down cameras, or even, you know, people angling,
26:06sending a picture of their spotted ray into Plymouth South National Marine Park,
26:10and we can then compare the photo, and so we can actually start tracking these individuals.
26:15And with modern technology now, we can also start looking at the use of things like AI to be able
26:21to identify these rays. Now it's a bit of a misnomer because spotted rays are actually a species of
26:26skate. They actually lay eggs as opposed to giving birth alive young. So what we did was to go and
26:32catch some of the gravid female rays. That means rays that have already bred and they're ready to lay
26:37their fertile eggs. And by incubating the eggs, we can then sort of measure the development of the embryos
26:44all the way up to when they start hatching. So now that these rays are about six months old,
26:49they are ready to go out into the wild. And the weather conditions are perfect,
26:54the sea's warming up, they are now ready to be released back into Plymouth Sound.
26:58Later on, I'll be getting up close with these juveniles myself and taking them out to sea.
27:05The Wembury coast is striking. A sparkling blue sea hugs fertile green hills that roll away inland.
27:26And along this green half of the coastline, some of nature's little helpers are hard at work.
27:31Not just bumblebees and honeybees, because there are many other types of bees as well,
27:36and they're known as solitaries. Unlike honeybees, they don't work for a queen,
27:42they work for themselves. They're absolutely brilliant at scattering pollen,
27:46and they're in sharp decline.
27:48Loss of habitat inland has pushed our solitary bee populations to the edge. Now over half of these
27:58species are in trouble. This stretch of the Devon coast remains one of the last strongholds for rare
28:05species like the longhorned bee, which was once widespread across southern Britain, both inland
28:11and along the coast. So creating new habitats and food sources is paramount for their survival.
28:22Let's get it going, John. Let's plant some trees.
28:23All right. Rich Snow from the National Trust wants to transform this coastal farm into a veritable feast
28:32for pollinators by planting bee-friendly plants and trees. Right, so it's a really simple process.
28:39We'll make a good hole for this. And if you can pass me one of those plugs, please.
28:44Yeah, there we are. How about that one? That's looking good. Yeah.
28:47This is blackthorn. Yeah. So this will produce some of the early blossom at the start of the year
28:52that some of our bees are really dependent upon. At the start of the year, there's a bit of a
28:56window of good nectar sources that come through. So some of these early flowering and blossoming plants
29:01are really, really important to the bee survival. Yeah. So as well as blackthorn, what other trees
29:07have you been planting? Some of those other ones that are very good for bees at this time of year
29:11are hawthorn. Again, one that flowers really, really well. Yeah. And also as well as the broadleaf
29:15trees, but lots and lots of fruit trees in across the farm here. And how far up the priority list
29:22are bees for you? They're hugely important. 75% of all the world's food crops are dependent upon
29:28pollinators like our bees, our butterflies, our beetles, and even flies have a really important
29:33role to play in carrying pollen from plant to plant. So as we see the catastrophic decline in their
29:38numbers, that has real ramifications for our food security, for biodiversity as well across our
29:44landscapes. So not only are they dying off, but those complex food webs that fit and eat and depend
29:49upon those, like our farmland birds. So what you're doing here is, in a small way,
29:54benefiting everything. Very much so. Humans and all wildlife as well. Yeah,
29:59these little tiny creatures have such a big impact on all of us.
30:06When our blackthorn blooms, it'll help towards the bee's menu. But what about their accommodation?
30:16Sam Skevington from the charity Bug Life, along with his team of volunteers,
30:21is creating the perfect habitat. So what's going on here, Sam?
30:27We're creating a bee bank. So this is a bee bank designed for solitary mining bees. What they like
30:34to do is they make their nests into the solid edge of the bank, and they'll dig, you know,
30:39they're only a tiny little bee, and they will dig a metre deep hole mining down in there.
30:43These prolific pollinators prefer warmer temperatures, so banks are carved in a sunny
30:53south-facing spot. Of the 250 or so species of solitary bees, how many are mining bees?
31:01Around about 70 of them. And how important are they?
31:04I mean, they're really important because they're really good pollinators. Mining bees and solitary
31:09bees have specially adapted hairs on their body, and that gets the pollen stuck to them. And then
31:15it falls off far more easily at the next flower. So they're about 140 odd times more effective.
31:21One single solitary bee will do the work of 140 honeybees. One of our things that we're trying
31:27to do as a project is hopefully allow their populations to increase so that they're able to
31:33come and recolonise back in land again. We're creating stuff like this, these bee banks, and
31:39creating big sections of wildflower-rich grassland throughout South Devon. And we aim to sort of
31:44create a more or less unbroken belt of wildflower-rich grassland from Plymouth all the way around Torbay.
31:49And you're a farmer, aren't you, Sam? I mean, like all farmers, it's in your interest to encourage this
31:56kind of wildlife. Yeah, exactly. I mean, it's really important for agriculture as a whole that these
32:02bees continue to persist. So being able to create extra habitat for them inland will benefit our system
32:10for sure.
32:15It's satisfying to know that this inconspicuous mound of earth could help save a species in crisis.
32:22But spring is a chance to do more to give bees a boost.
32:26Apprentice Simone O'Darrenile and Ranger Jess Tatton-Brown are seeding an idea that should
32:35blossom into a perfect solution to the bee's dilemma. A wildflower meadow.
32:40So this is an amazing mix of wildflower seed. So we've got yellow rattle, birdsfoot trefoil,
32:47we've got lots and lots of red clover in there. It gets scattering. Let's get stuck in.
32:54How long will it take, do you think, before this is really lush wildflower meadowland?
33:00So this area will germinate and will be flowering for us in June. And then slowly through natural
33:07regen, these flowers will spread across the whole meadow. Great. And what can people at home do to
33:12make life easier for bees? I mean ideally if you can, no matter how big or small, if you can leave a
33:18patch in your garden and let it grow naturally, ideally avoiding spreading any chemicals or
33:24fertilisers. If you can leave anything out for them to feed or water, a small bowl of water would be
33:30ideal. If you can also get wildflower seed, sprinkle some of that on as we're doing today, job done.
33:35Oh, it's starting to rain. Not necessarily a bad thing for our seeds though, because it will help
33:43them stick to the soil and they'll germinate sooner. Perfect timing. That's a good for us.
34:06From early germinations on the clifftops at Wembury to a commercial set up on the other side of the
34:12country. Adam's in Norfolk trying his hand at flower farming. Flowers are big business in the UK,
34:21with the industry worth around £1.5 billion a year. But only about 14% of those flowers are actually
34:28grown on home turf. Partly thanks to stiff competition right on our doorstep. With around 80%
34:35of our cut flowers coming via flower superpower, the Netherlands. Our British flower growers are
34:42gaining ground though, and the industry is growing year on year. I'm at Belmont Nursery near Kings Lynn,
34:48at the UK's only commercial outdoor tulip growers, to see how farming flowers is done on a big scale.
34:57Mark Eaves runs this farm with his family, and they grow 450 acres of flowers outdoors,
35:03including tulips and gladioli over the spring and summer months. But the heart of the operation are
35:09the seven acres of greenhouses, where they can grow flowers year round. Hello. Are you Mark?
35:16How you to do? Good to see you. Morning. How are you? Very well. This is impressive. My word.
35:22There's a few tulips here, and they've got one or two, haven't we, to go out there? Wow. So this is just grown in a tray of water?
35:28Yep. So with this tray, it's actually like a load of little spikes. So then when you pick a flower,
35:33the bulb is actually spiked onto it to hold it at exactly the right level. Because obviously if you
35:37put it in too much water, it will then rot. How long would it take to harvest this shed?
35:44This glass house will take probably about an hour, hour and a half. Oh wow, not long? Yeah. And flowers like
35:49this are destined for people's houses? Yes, yes, definitely. These are picked in quite the tight form,
35:55so that by the time they're packed, processed and in store, they'll be ready to flower. So you're
35:59producing flowers what, all year round? But tulips from sort of January through to May. Okay. So can
36:05you talk me through the tips of what you're sorting out here, what you're picking? What we're looking
36:09for is the most darkest colour, because obviously you can see that one, quite a light purple, isn't it? Yes.
36:14And then a deep purple, that one's a bit more deeper purple, we can then... That's the one you want.
36:18That's the one you want. One like that. Yeah, just lift him out. The more vibrant flowers are more mature,
36:23so grouping similar coloured flowers together before they leave the greenhouse helps make
36:28sure the final bunches will bloom at the same time. Presumably you get a trained eye and become
36:35pretty quick at this. Yeah, yeah. Tong Si here, she's very good. She's been doing it quite a few years now.
36:39She's better than most of us put together, I think. Tong Si, is this good? Is this okay? Perfect.
36:45Perfect, isn't it? This is very satisfying, isn't it? It is, it is. Yeah, that's a pretty one.
36:54Okay, here we go. So, we're full. Where do they go from here? Just to the middle. Push it,
36:58just push it. There we go. Goes to the next man.
37:03Here we go. And in the UK, can we compete with the Netherlands, Africa?
37:19We can compete. I mean, for example, I think there's six or seven tulip forces, so that's people who grow
37:24tulips indoors, and they're supplying 75% of the tulips sold in the UK. Okay.
37:29So, we're quite a large force, shall we say, in the tulip business, even. And do we export?
37:34We do sometimes, yes. Yeah. Well, that's quite good then, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah,
37:37we're quite a strong little force, if you like. Yeah. I think I'll be a bit slow for your team.
37:46We'll get you up to speed. You'll be all right. Okay, Tong Si. So, can we follow these to the pack house?
37:53Yep, yep. If you push those through, we'll go to the pack house. After the flowers are picked,
37:58they're sent to the cutting room and fed into one of the two production lines to be sorted and bunched,
38:03ready for shipping to the shops. And because they're grown and sold here in the UK,
38:07these flowers can result in up to ten times less emissions than some imports by the time they reach
38:12the stores. So, this is where they come to next. And then we start what we call debulbing them,
38:18and then put them into bunches. So, these have come straight out of the water from the glass house?
38:25Yep. And then they're now being placed on here singly, so that they can go through this belt
38:30device, which hangs them all by the bulb, so we can measure how long they are, so we can bunch the
38:35short ones all together and the long ones all together. Okay, yeah. Clever. They pass through there,
38:39which then takes the bulb off, and these are the bulbs with all the roots and leaves and things
38:44with them. These will be planted back in the field in October. Yeah. So, we dry them out,
38:49get rid of the roots, and then they'll be replanted in the field. How many years can you keep it going?
38:55And these will take two years to what we call recover or reclaim, and then the following year
38:59we plant them again. They'll then turn into a large bulb to come back in the glass.
39:03So, this machine here is actually looking at what size those flowers are, and any short ones that
39:12then pulls and lays here, we'll bunch them up separately, and then that's automatically putting
39:17string round? Yep. Yep.
39:21These ladies are then putting them into trays, and then they go back in the cool.
39:26This production line is perfect for most of the flowers, but for some customers requiring very exact
39:31bunching. They have a second line that's even more high-tech. So, this one is actually taking
39:36photographs and an x-ray of every single bunch. So, when it comes to bunch them, it can put all the
39:42same size and the same maturity in the same bunch. And why would you do that? Just so it looks even?
39:47Certain supermarkets want them at different stages. Some supermarkets want them more open,
39:51so they're more visual. Some want them a lot tighter. I have to say, you know, it's really exciting
39:56being here, seeing it all going on. It's a world that you wouldn't really think about.
40:00When somebody picks a bunch of flowers up, I don't think they realise all what goes on behind that,
40:05but that's the same with most farming, isn't it?
40:10So, this is the beautiful final product to go onto the shelves. Yep. What will happen from here,
40:15they will go in the chiller, and then when we get the orders through, we then put them in a sleeve
40:20with a barcode on, box them up, put them on the lorry, they're sent off to go around the country.
40:25So, the flowers being important, obviously, for the revenue, but you're basically farming bulbs,
40:30aren't you? We do horticulture on an arable scale, so we've got, you know, 40, 45 hectares of tulips
40:37growing out there, as well as daffodils, peonies, and other crops as well, and gladioli as well,
40:42so out of all. Can we take a look in the fields? Yeah, yeah, sure, we're going to have a look.
40:45Outdoors, Mark only plants tulips to produce bulbs, rather than cut flowers, and before they
40:54go to seed, Mark will trim the heads off the flowers, so all the plant's energy is focused
40:59in the bulbs. Then, after harvest in July, they're stored, and the biggest will be selected
41:05for the greenhouse next year, while the rest go back to the field to keep growing.
41:11Alongside the bulb operation, Mark also grows other flowers outdoors,
41:15that will be sold as cut flowers in the shops, including gladioli, which they're planting today.
41:22Although, I've never seen a tractor or a drill that looks like this.
41:31So, you can see there's a large plough at the front here, ploughing the soil to the sides,
41:36and then if you're looking through the gap there, you can see the gladioli spacing out as they come
41:40through. And then it's covering them back over as it goes forward? Yes, yes.
41:45So, everything is done in a single pass, and that's all auto-controlled with depth and rate
41:50and everything. And they're just slowly coming off the top here from the hopper?
41:54Yes, that's what Nell is doing on there. He does, and when he needs more in the hopper,
41:58he can keep the hopper at the correct level. What a clever bit of kit.
42:02Yes, it's taken a little bit of sorting out to get there, but yes, everything's recorded on the GPS
42:07as we do it. So, the map drawn by the tractor is absolutely accurate.
42:12Yeah, very efficient. And do you mind me asking about the economics of the business?
42:16How are things? Where are you at?
42:19We're okay. We're doing well on the bulb side. The flower side is a lot harder at the moment.
42:24Due to the poor lift in Holland last year, the bulb prices have shot through the roof.
42:28So, next year, our prices have got to increase. You're the only commercial
42:33tulip grower, aren't you, in the country? Yes, yes, we're the last one.
42:36Can we jump on the machine? Yeah, sure, sure. Let's go and have a look.
42:40Mark's tractor set-up is unique in the UK, and you'd have to travel to the Netherlands to see
42:45anything similar. You follow my lead? Okay, I'll hop up.
42:48Mark's tractor set-up. And although I usually prefer my livestock over cool kit,
42:52this is an amazing bit of machinery. So, we've got the bulbs we've just picked up off the trailer.
42:58They're in the top hopper. As and when Neil needs them, he feeds them down into the rear hopper.
43:03Yeah. And then they're falling off there, going down onto the soil. Yeah.
43:07And then getting covered up. Yeah, and you can see the roller there. There's a rubber-based roller there,
43:12which is actually covering those over and just gently pressing them in. So,
43:15and then as far as the amount of bulbs that he's feeding out, and the speed of the tractor,
43:21does it speed out the faster the tractor goes, the faster that goes? Exactly that. The wheels on
43:26the back of the plant, I've got a monitor, which is on the computer down here. Yeah. And that will
43:31actually speed up and slow down the belt to match that. Wow. It's quite hypnotic, isn't it? It is, yeah.
43:39Really impressive bit of kit, isn't it? Yeah. They are coming to the end. Yep. Nearly done.
43:45Well, Mark, thank you so much for showing me around. It's been absolutely fascinating,
43:51and I'm so impressed, particularly the quality of your soil. You can take a bucket home with it if
43:56you want, look, Bertie. Just seeing all those flowers, all that happiness you're bringing to
44:00people's houses. Well, I hope so. I hope so.
44:03Well, it's spring, isn't it? So there's a mix of weather here on the Wembury Coast. We've had some
44:17sunshine, we've got some spitting rain now, but what's the weather looking like around the UK
44:21for the week ahead? Here is the Countryfell five-day forecast.
44:33Hello. So far this month, we've had huge contrast in the amount of rainfall across the UK.
44:38So far, South West England's already had more rainfall than average, not far behind that in
44:43Northern Ireland, in sharp contrast to eastern areas of the UK, where we've had hardly any rainfall.
44:49Now that kind of pattern is going to continue into this week, with some of the wettest weather for
44:54Northern Ireland into Wales and South West England, the driest weather conditions across the eastern
44:59side of the UK, where there really won't be that much in the way of rain this week.
45:04Now today, it's been a glorious day for the bulk of the UK, with loads of sunshine around across the
45:09UK, with temperatures up to about 17 degrees in the warmest spots in parts of Wales, and not far
45:14behind that for the warmest areas of England and Scotland as well. In the south, though, we had a
45:20lot of cloud. It wasn't just cloudy in the south, we also had cloudy skies around some of our North
45:25Sea coasts, and also for Northern Ireland, these various areas of cloud are all going to kind of
45:31gang up on us overnight tonight and converge. So we're going to lose those brighter skies and replace
45:36it with something a lot greyer. Overnight tonight, then it turns cloudy. There will be some rain, particularly
45:41across western areas of the UK, turning quite damp later in the night here. In the east, a few mist
45:47patches, a little bit of drizzle with temperatures down to three or so in the coldest spots. Monday,
45:52well, it's a much cloudier day overall, and we've got this weather front that's going to be very
45:56slow moving, bringing outbreaks of rain to parts of England, Wales and Scotland. It does brighten up for
46:03Northern Ireland, Wales and the South West into the afternoon. Could be an odd passing shower in the
46:07best of the brighter moments. 17 not bad, but where it stays cloudy for much of the day, probably
46:12around 12 or 13 degrees. Into the middle part of the week, we get an area of low pressure affecting
46:17western areas of the UK, so there will be more general heavy outbreaks of rain around. The wettest
46:23weather will be working into Northern Ireland as we go through Tuesday. Ahead of that, a few morning
46:27mist and fog patches, some cloud and rain for the far north of Scotland, and into the afternoon,
46:32one or two showers popping up. But overall, it's not a bad day for Scotland, England and Wales. In the
46:37best of the sunshine, temperatures could reach around 18 degrees, but it'll certainly be quite
46:41wet in Northern Ireland. Into Wednesday, that low pressure is diving southwards into France.
46:47Still close enough to bring some patches of cloud across England and Wales with a scattering of showers.
46:52Probably the driest weather for parts of western Scotland and Northern Ireland. Our temperatures
46:58around 15, 16 degrees. Again, it's not going to feel too bad, given the light winds. Now, later in the
47:04week, we'll start to see high pressure build in from the north. Now, this is going to be associated
47:10with some cooler northeasterly winds, so temperatures will be dropping across Northern and Eastern Scotland
47:15and North East England too. And I think Thursday overall is going to be quite a cloudy day. Some mist patches
47:20around, probably more general outbreaks of rain across parts of the south. The driest weather to the north,
47:26there could be a bit of drizzle falling around some of our North Sea coasts. It will be feeling cooler
47:31for Eastern Scotland and North East England. Some of the warmest weather towards Southern
47:35Wales and South West England. I think overall, Friday, there should be a bit more in the way of
47:39sunshine to go around. The ridge of high pressure is a little bit stronger, but again, some of these
47:44North Sea coasts could keep quite a lot of cloud. Thick enough for an occasional spot of drizzle and
47:49temperatures 11 to 13 degrees. Not feeling too special here. 16, 17 in the warmest spots for Southern
47:54parts of Wales and parts of South West England. That's how your weather's looking in the weekend. Bye bye.
48:12We're on the South Devon coast in and around the Plymouth Sound, the UK's first national marine park,
48:18where John has been busy at a dairy. Come on girls! Come on! Look like me!
48:26This is one of the biggest milking parlors you've ever seen, madam. And I've been on an egg case hunt,
48:33learning about the sharks, skates and rays that populate the waters here. Yes!
48:38The grey egg case hunt is all about getting people involved with the wildlife in the sea they live
48:49beside. And the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth has been rearing spotted rays as part of
48:56the Little Rays of Hope project. These rays have been in captivity for six months, and having been
49:05checked over to see if they're fit and healthy, they're ready to be taken down to the harbour,
49:10to the waiting research vessel. Gently does it!
49:18We're here! We made it!
49:23Fantastic. Today is the day they're set free, and I'm lucky enough to be joining the team. Alex,
49:30Gemma! Hey! It's happening! So they're in here. They are. How do we get them to the boat? So if you
49:37could grab one of those trolleys for us. Ready? And let's go. Is that all right? And one, two, three.
49:48That's the one. All right. How many are in here? So we've got about 15 in this one.
49:54Wow. It's quite heavy, I think. We're going to have two of these.
49:57Three people. The team at the Marine Biological Association has photographed and closely monitored
50:03the fish since they hatched, giving them opportunities to observe the behaviour and
50:08understand them as much as possible before they're released. But it's my first look at these
50:14extraordinary creatures. Oh, I can do it. Yeah, go for it.
50:18What do you think? Oh, they're like pieces of art. They're so beautiful.
50:33The Plymouth Sound is a busy place, home to Western Europe's largest naval dockyard,
50:38and a haven for water sports and fishing. At almost three miles from north to south,
50:44the Sound is a big new world for these tiny fish. So Alex, where are we headed?
50:50So we're really lucky. We're actually within Plymouth Sound National Marine Park.
50:54We've got things like kelp ecosystems. We've got sandy areas. And where we're going to deploy our rays,
51:01just over here, there's actually some beds of seagrass. So this is kind of, you couldn't hope
51:06for a kind of better environment if you were a baby ray. How many are we releasing today?
51:10So we've got 25 to release today. What about predators? So they obviously bury in the sand,
51:16and the only thing you could really see is their actual breathing tubes. And when a predator swims
51:20across, they can sense that, and they will actually hold their breath. And so by holding their breath,
51:24they're actually stopping any sense of their own kind of smell drifting out and around them,
51:28almost invisible to predators. So they should have a really, really good chance of survival.
51:33Are they quite common? Or are they a rarer species? They're relatively common. They are kind of
51:38vulnerable. They're also an umbrella species. If we protect things like skates and rays, we're also
51:43protecting a lot of other kind of fish that would live in these kind of areas. And the whole ecosystem
51:46benefits. That's it. After half an hour at sea, we've reached the release site, and Alex has a plan
51:53for getting these baby rays safely out into the water. So this is our fantastic
51:58ray release contraption. We're going to be placing this little lift platform inside the box,
52:02putting our little rays on top, and then when they're at depth, we're actually able to very
52:06slowly lift this platform and just bring them right up to the surface of the box, and they can
52:10then go and swim off. So we're not just releasing them on the surface of the water where they might be
52:13kind of at risk of being picked off by some seagulls. We're actually going to be taking them down.
52:18Shall we do it? Yeah, let's do it.
52:19The buckets that the rays have travelled in have been fed with fresh seawater during the journey,
52:31acclimatising them into their new environment.
52:35We're going to have a photo so that we can cross-check them with our IDs.
52:39This is ray number one. So if you can hold that up just like that for me.
52:48Yeah.
52:50In you go. I think we're ready.
52:53And finally, after all the preparation, the time has come to let the first youngster loose
52:58into the wild, and there's a real sense of excitement from the team.
53:01There we go.
53:04How's it going?
53:04Oh, bye-bye.
53:07Just exploring, getting a little further and a little further.
53:10There he's going down now.
53:12Oh wait, I can see it.
53:13Oh, that was wonderful.
53:16We go again.
53:16Let's go.
53:17Alex, what was that like for you?
53:33It was just absolutely amazing, wasn't it? To see them kind of going into the marine environment,
53:38into the wild, back to where they belong, and knowing that they're going to be kind of living
53:43here, you know, in sublimar sounds for the future, that was just absolutely magical.
53:47And having reared them as well, you know, saying goodbye.
53:51Goodbye is always hard.
53:52Always. And you know, even though I'm going to worry about them, of course,
53:55I'm sure I'm going to have some sleep this night up thinking about how my babies are getting on.
53:58But this is where they belong. This is where they need to be.
54:01You seem to have been.
54:02I'm just so happy.
54:04So we're getting this one now, I think.
54:06It's beautiful. It's such an intricate design.
54:11And then we're just going to have a photo.
54:13of their spot patterns.
54:15We can get this one lying down nice and flat for us.
54:18The project relies on volunteers helping out.
54:21People like Eleanor Launce.
54:23Eleanor, what do you do with these photos?
54:25We've been photographing them since they hatched.
54:28So if they were ever to be caught or seen in the wild,
54:32and people have photographed them, we can possibly ID them.
54:35And it really does feel like such a special moment where everyone's come together.
54:38That's right. And that was one of the main aims of the project.
54:41Actually, it's not just about the animals.
54:42It's about having our team of volunteers.
54:45We've had school groups come round and being able to communicate that to the wider audiences
54:51to get the wider population of Plymouth and further revealed,
54:54actually interested in the species and the projects that we've got going on here.
54:57And I hope you get to see that same ray from that picture again.
54:59Can you imagine? I really hope so too.
55:01Yeah.
55:02Well, let's let him go.
55:03Let's get going.
55:05Like the great egg case hunt, the Little Rays of Hope project aims to encourage people
55:10to fall in love with the Plymouth Sound and to protect life within the marine park.
55:15Student Gemma Watkins is a proud spotted ray mum.
55:19You've been a part of these spotted rays' journey, their lives, right from the very start when they hatched.
55:24It was a really magical experience, actually. And I managed to get a video if you'd like to see.
55:28Yes, yes I would.
55:29Let me show you. This is one of our egg cases here. This was on the 8th of October.
55:33Oh my goodness.
55:34Yeah.
55:35The way it emerges.
55:36Yeah, yeah.
55:38The very first one hatched on the day before my 21st birthday,
55:41which felt like an early birthday present to me.
55:43Gifts.
55:44And he sort of just sits there half in, half out of the egg for a little bit.
55:47There's a bit of movement here.
55:48Yeah, yeah. He's just thinking about it. And then at the very end, it just pops out.
55:55That movement is so exquisite. They're like an angel.
55:59Yeah, yeah. Almost alien-like as well. They're just so unusual.
56:03Day in, day out, you know, you've tended to them. You've got to know them really.
56:07Yeah. It feels like quite a privilege, actually, to be involved in a project like this and
56:12animals that are real and unique. And they're so personable. Like, you just,
56:19you get attached to a certain few. And especially the one that I mentioned that hatched just before
56:24my birthday. Like, that was a really special one. And that one we released today, so.
56:28How did it feel when you had to say goodbye?
56:30Yeah, it was. It was quite emotional, especially when they floated on the surface and then they
56:34finally went for it.
56:35Yeah.
56:36It just makes you think how strange that must be for them, acclimatising to the darkness and
56:42a whole new depth. I just can't imagine.
56:45I didn't expect to get so much.
56:47No!
56:49Don't! I had a bit of a lump in my throat when I was holding the rope up and sort of letting
56:54you go. But, yeah, hopefully they're going to have a happy, long life out there.
56:59And I think it couldn't have really gone better, to be honest. I think it's gone fantastically.
57:12Oh, there you are. How was it out on the waves?
57:23Oh my gosh, it was so magical. I did not realise there'd be so much joy in releasing these spotted
57:30rays to the sea. And to think they're out there now as well.
57:33Yeah. Well, I was keeping an eye out for your boat from up on the cliffs there.
57:36I gave you a little wave.
57:38But you would have loved the little calves that I met. They were so playful.
57:43Well, I could stay here forever, but unfortunately that is it from us from the beautiful Wembury coast.
57:49Next week, Jo and Margarita will be coming to you from the Forests of Bonland.
57:57Women have always been the backbone, I think, of most family farm operations. And why not sing about it?
58:07What can you hear? It's like rippling. That's wild. That's cool.
58:13Is it a thing, spring cheese? Historically, it was the only wave.
58:16Oh, pro. Yeah, but no, it doesn't really want to come out. I went a bit deep, didn't I?
58:20That's good.
58:24That's next week at seven o'clock.
58:27So, hope to see you next week. Goodbye.
58:36Great friends, beautiful locations, and Ted the Dog.
58:41More tomorrow at Whitehouse.
58:42Scott and Fisher can join them on iPlayer.
58:45Well, we'll stay here for a tropical paradise and a whale's eye view of the Caribbean.
58:49Tom Hanks narrates the Americas. Next.
58:52While Gareth Malone's Messiah, the concert, is underway over on BBC Two now.
58:56Thanks for listening.
59:03Thanks for listening, bye.
59:05hindurch.
59:11Fascinating.
59:11Against Will Bad on Sony.
59:20submit Chi.