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00:00the UK has 15 national parks throughout England Scotland and Wales each has their own unique and
00:15diverse character and landscape the first was created over 70 years ago I'm lucky enough to
00:23live with a national park right on my doorstep and for years I've enjoyed the influence the
00:28parks have on art and culture I could stay here until the Sun sets and be perfectly happy partly
00:35because I know you've got coffee in that flask down there they give me an opportunity to get in touch
00:41with nature will you move your wing she can do whatever she wants frankly and by traveling all
00:48over the UK from the highlands of Scotland isn't this the most beautiful place to the Pembrokeshire
01:02coast are you looking at me they're so sweet and as far south as Dartmoor I've been able to meet the
01:14people who like me feel a real connection to these spectacular locations you are an incredible woman
01:23and you are bringing new people into the National Park I'm Caroline Quentin join me for a very personal
01:30journey through the UK's National Parks for over 70 years National Parks have been welcoming people
01:49into their breathtakingly beautiful landscapes they remain as stunning and as popular as ever with millions
01:57of visitors every year this time I'll be exploring the hidden wonders of the Pembrokeshire coast oh
02:04this is ludicrous this is like a set from a James Bond film taking the easy route to one of Scotland's
02:10highest points in the Cairngorms it's quite scary actually and burying the giant in the peatlands of
02:16Dartmoor why is this so satisfying so join me as I make the journey to some of the UK's incredible
02:24national parks to take in the most awe-inspiring views valleys and vistas
02:31first up on my journey is the Peak District
02:40home to the UK's first long-distance public footpath the Pennine Way the park welcomes more than 13 million
02:53visitors each year it reaches into five counties Derbyshire Cheshire Staffordshire Yorkshire and Greater
03:03Manchester an estimated 20 million people live within an hour's drive but those of us who make
03:10the journey have a group of activists to thank for the actions they took here on Kinder Scout over 90
03:16years ago our wonderful national parks mean that more and more of us are accessing truly beautiful
03:24countryside but it hasn't always been available to us I'm here in the Peak District which saw the birth
03:31of the national parks movement you must be Chris to give me the lowdown on the history of the park I'm
03:42getting the full tour from a National Trust area Ranger we're currently walking along the Pennine Way
03:54which is the nation's first national trail and we're heading towards Jacob's Ladder to climb up onto
04:02Kinder Scout the Kinder Scouts famous because it was the site of the first mass trespass is that right
04:09yeah that's correct in 1932 socialist walking groups gathered in Hayfield before a couple of hundred of
04:16them headed up onto kinder scout but at the time access to what is now the national park was quite heavily
04:22restricted and most of the land was not open to members of the public
04:29Benny Rothman was one of the leaders of the kinder mass trespass there was a very strong socialist walking
04:35movement in and around Sheffield and Manchester at the time I mean we've a lot to thank them for haven't we actually
04:42those people because they went to courts to fight for our right to access this land they've opened
04:47that up for us that we all have a right to come and enjoy either our local national park or to travel
04:54the UK and to witness some of the most exceptionally beautiful countryside and we've a right to be there
05:01no one can tell us to get off a lot of the rights that we have now do stem back to that initial kind
05:08of moment here in this national park the trespass led to five men being imprisoned but the seeds of
05:20change have been sown and in 1949 the national parks and access to the countryside bill was passed in
05:27Parliament without which I wouldn't be able to enjoy this stunning view oh Chris this is fantastic this is
05:36picture postcard peak district isn't it absolutely glorious and yeah it's a really popular spot I
05:43wonder how many selfies have been taken on this bridge it is a historic pack horse bridge that links with
05:51this pack horse route going up and over kinder scalp it would have linked Sheffield and Manchester so
05:58we are quite close to quite big urban conurbation aren't we here does that impact upon the park yeah so
06:04about a third of the UK's population live within an hour's drive of the Peak District so yeah it's
06:10an incredibly popular place for for people to come you know both evening weekends or or holidays for
06:16their kind of their nature fix I didn't know that a third of the country's population that's incredible
06:22we've got Manchester which on a good day you can see from the top of kinder on that direction
06:27Sheffield behind me and then going south we've got Derby Nottingham do you find that people use it well
06:33the park and most people that we have in the park you know behave very respectfully keeping their dogs on
06:39leads taking their litter home bringing a picnic in instead of a barbecue the rest of wildfires being
06:45started with barbecues is always a very real concern yeah don't barbecue in our national parks that's a
06:50stupid thing to do just have a nice time quietly and bring a sandwich I'm glad I bought my good boots
07:00actually because you sort of do need proper walking gear don't you here yeah it's definitely a rugged
07:05national park yeah I don't think many people would be able to do this if they had any sort of mobility
07:13problems but there are lots of places in the park that people can access aren't there yeah and the
07:19section of Pennine Way that we started out on yeah it's currently being resurfaced and that work can
07:25hopefully enable many more people to get out to that wonderful spot by the Pack Horse Bridge where
07:30we were earlier because that's dreamy isn't it it's just extraordinary look at the clouds racing
07:41across is that Heather the light green stuff is bilberry or we call it in Devon we call it
07:47wortelberry and in Scotland they call it blayberry so it has different names wherever you get it but
07:54that's the stuff and it makes great jam it's very beautiful too it was a tough climb but the views
08:03are more than worth it it is breathtaking it is truly the most glorious landscape I mean it's wild
08:11and woolly up here it's marvelous it's our nation's first national park it's probably not too far away
08:17from where you live please do come and visit yes come and visit it's divine next I'm off to Wales and
08:33the Pembrokeshire coast the Pembrokeshire coast is one of the smallest of the UK's national parks but
08:43don't let its diminutive size fool you nestled against the Atlantic Ocean it's also backed by a
08:50stellar supporting cast of incredible countryside those that visit come mainly for the coast whether
08:58to stroll along one of the parks majestic beaches or enjoy a spot of water sports the Pembrokeshire coast
09:05national park has so much to offer but the real jewel in its crown is its coastline and to really enjoy
09:12that you have to get out there come on and what better way to explore the magnificent coastline than
09:24by boat so for the next 10 minutes we'll meet Captain Quentin although I think I'll leave the
09:30driving of the boat to the experts and the experts in this case skipper Fionn and her trainee Sophie who are
09:38taking me out on the Ramsey Sound a stretch of water between Ramsey Island and the mainland and what's the
09:45relevance of this coastline being in a national park I think it's such a special piece of coastline it's
09:52got a hugely rich flora and fauna so you get huge feeding for and seabirds and the islands and the
09:58coast provide ideal habitats for nesting seabirds for breeding seals we've got rare bats we've got rare
10:04birds it's hugely important to keep what is a super special place special
10:12Fionn has certainly built up my expectations and it's not long before we spot our first treat of the day a
10:19porpoise oh my god a porpoise oh yeah they're lovely little creatures I've said I've never seen one before I'm absolutely delighted to
10:26he's over here is he am I lucky to see one they are residents in the area and they tend to feed the ebb tight
10:34they're actually Britain's smallest cetacean which is the overarching name for whales dolphins and porpoises
10:40little shiny charms how lovely
10:42not only is the sea teeming with life so is the sky
10:49so we've got a couple of gannets cruising up ahead here they're our largest seabirds
10:56never seen one in the air like that they're so beautiful as well aren't they the shape of them
11:01with the black tip they're kind of a sort of art deco bird really aren't they yeah and the gannets are
11:07incredible hunters they will drop into the water from anything up to 100 feet in the air 100 feet
11:13up 100 feet up and they can hit the water at 60 miles an hour they've been clocked at a maximum
11:19depth of 25 meters that's incredible they have air pockets in their head and body which they inflate
11:25to cushion the blow so the original airbags and they can change the shape of the lens of the eye from
11:31oval to round on the instant they hit the water so they can see as well under the water as they can above
11:37so far this trip has been full of surprises and there's another hidden gem
11:49our visiting seabirds have very specific areas where they will nest and generally it will be to
11:54do with predator evasion things like that so this little cove we have a handful of fulmers in is that
11:59a fulmer that's a fulmer yeah oh sorry they're just amazing so glad i've seen a fulmer today
12:08the buzzard up there as well yeah i can see him just between the two rocks there
12:12you have got chuffs haven't you most years we have between nine and eleven breeding pairs great
12:17pembridge is a bit of a stronghold for the chuff which given that it's one of the rarest birds
12:21in the country yeah pretty good yeah amazing this particular little cove it's actually called og of
12:28capel which is welsh for chapel cave and it used to be a cave with a little medieval chapel perched on
12:33top but what happened is it all collapsed into the sea a couple of centuries ago and it's left a
12:37beautifully sheltered little microclimate in there there's 14 species of plant that grow in there that
12:43aren't native to a maritime coastline if you look at the rock on the right hand side and follow the
12:48entrance up there's a dark green overhanging bush there with kind of scraggly edges doesn't look very
12:53exciting yeah possibly the rarest plant you'll see today so what is it it's a very rare subspecies
12:59of prostrate juniper it's a juniper yeah if you like gin you'll love this unfortunately it's not
13:04fruiting so no gin from this one that plant could be as much as a thousand years old isn't that amazing
13:11you know i'm impressed when i see a castle by the way but this is i mean really ancient and utterly
13:16extraordinary
13:21look we're going into a cave
13:26oh this is ludicrous this is like a set from a james bond film isn't it if you look over the side you
13:31should be able to see the bottom if i look over the side you can see my bottom if i bend back
13:37well i can see the bottom if it's being calm we get we get fabulous water visibility here
13:42at low water it dries out completely and you'd be stood with dry feet where i am now
13:47seriously yeah it's an almost eight meter tidal range which is among the highest in the world
13:53these rocks are incredible it's unreal
14:04i've been incredibly fortunate today to have seen so much beautiful wildlife
14:09but just when i thought things couldn't get any better it seems pembrokeshire has one more treat
14:14up its sleeve a colony of seals there they are there they are amazing oh look are you looking at me
14:27they're so sweet a little bit of flirting going on having proper snuggles there's one there can you see
14:34it look the little head there little charm look right in the water there hello darling
14:45i don't know if you can see behind me but there is a quite a large gathering of these atlantic gray seals
14:52these are the blokes i mean these are all the batches this is a bachelor pad
14:55i wouldn't be at all surprised to see a dartboard go up in a minute
15:03isn't it amazing to see wildlife like that just happily doing its own thing this is one of the
15:09things the national parks are absolutely brilliant for because there is such respect from the people
15:15who work here we the public get to come and see these amazing creatures just doing their thing
15:21in a cave from seabirds to seals pembrokeshire has delivered some real gems our national parks are
15:30full of surprises just waiting to be discovered
15:39i'm heading back into england my next stop is the yorkshire dales
15:43the dales have many moods they can be wild and windswept or quietly tranquil with valleys full of
15:57hay meadows and dry stone walls breathtaking tarns and mountain ranges with picture postcard villages
16:06that sit within the vast plateaus of beautiful countryside and ancient woodland it's no wonder
16:13they call it god's own country there are so many wonderful things to see in our national park
16:20some of them man-made but a lot of them naturally occurring and some of them are so beautiful they
16:26really have to be seen to be believed oh my god how amazing the engleton falls trail has some of the
16:35most spectacular waterfalls and oak woodland scenery in the uk it's four and a half miles long and features
16:42six unique waterfalls it's not to be missed first up the wonderfully named thornton force where i'm
16:51meeting peter director of engleton scenery company whose family have been involved with the trail for
16:58over 100 years how lovely to meet you what a delightful place it's really wonderful and you walk around that corner and
17:07there it is and what a sight it is i mean that is special isn't it it's 15 meters to the top at the
17:16moment the top is limestone then we go down to ancient boulders shale then it goes into gravel and slate
17:23it's very beautiful isn't it oh it's unbelievable i was kind of the textures of everything plus this
17:29kind of wonderful branch of green going down and then this rock i love these rocks going down here
17:34yes do they know who discovered this waterfall joseph khan joseph khan who was he he was a young lad
17:44in the 1850s 60s and he explored the gales the waterfalls a number of them weren't known to the
17:54farmers and miners in the area it was joseph khan writing in the local newspaper that generated interest
18:01in making the falls accessible to the public and in 1885 a company was formed that constructed
18:08bridges and paths connecting the trail to each waterfall when the wall first opened in 1885
18:16we had the middle workers coming on the train it was a day out and that was why we have the waterfall
18:22train so that started out as a kind of industrial day out as it were from my grandparents would have
18:27been working in the in the cotton mill actually yes so they'd have come here on a day out a day
18:31out on the train and it was developed to encourage my local businessman to encourage visitors to
18:37engleton obviously to spend money the trail was a huge success and records show that not long after
18:48opening it was welcoming over 3 000 visitors a day there were seven local businessmen involved in the
18:54company my great-grandfather who ran the witchy pub in engleton was one of them he bought out other
19:02interests and in 1925 it came into the worthington family so actually my great-grandfather probably had
19:09a drink in your great-grandfather's pub should we go and see the other waterfalls yes we will
19:16just a short stroll from thornton force is another of the trail's spectacular sights peter forgive me
19:28for shouting at you but i'm i'm actually contending with quite a noisy body of water yes it's quite
19:35different from the personality of the waterfall we've just seen isn't it completely different
19:39predominantly slate down here and i love it it's so dramatic and this is holly bush sprout the last
19:45of the pecker fall section how they gave them the name i haven't a clue let's not off we don't want
19:51to go where the pecker falls are named after no but that it's so different isn't it because this is
19:56coming through such a narrow and imagine what it would be like if there was a real flow of water
20:02that we don't have today is there more there's far more normally the best time to come is after a
20:09good period of rain the scenery and the falls are magnificent this one is totally invigorating
20:15yes it is i mean you feel stimulated one of the attractions of the trail is different waterfalls
20:21what an exceptional place to spend a day i can see why people have been spending day trips here since the
20:271800s yeah i've had a brilliant time peter thank you so much for bringing me out it's been a
20:32delight it's been a delight meeting thank you very very much indeed i'm now rather dreading the high
20:37carp hill give us a push will you give us a push start sometimes our national parks have hidden secrets
20:50and treasures that you have to find on your own and here there are these emerald glades and beautiful
20:58waterfalls come and find them next on my journey the wilderness of scotland
21:13and there's no place better to start than the cairngorms
21:16this national park is truly a place like no other
21:27with mountain ranges as far as the eye can see the cairngorms national park offers vital habitat for rare
21:33mountain plants and wildlife the caledonian forest within the park takes its name from the romans who
21:40called scotland caledonia it's home to a quarter of the uk's endangered animal species
21:48the largest of the uk's national parks the cairngorms is twice the size of the lake district
21:53and bigger than the entire country of luxembourg so if you're planning a visit bring your walking boots
22:00so far we've taken in some truly extraordinary views but the one i'm about to see is a little harder
22:06to access now i could take on a two-hour grueling hike or i could find out how they put the fun into funicular
22:22and the man to see about such things is park ranger rory who i'm meeting at the uk's highest rail track
22:30and if you're wondering the word funicular derives from the latin word funis or funiculus
22:36which translates to rope rory thank you very much for agreeing to talk with me today about
22:42the funicular railway funicular is is about pulling a rope yes that's right yeah and it's
22:48basically a it's like a bus on a train track it's pulled up the cables it's electricity driven it's
22:57just over 1.9 kilometers long and it takes us from the car park where we are here just above
23:022 000 feet up to the top station which is at 3 000. does scotland have a lot of funicular railways no
23:07this is scotland's only funicular railway so there are two different carriages one is eagle one is
23:12hair hair and this is this is hair hair coming down
23:21quite peaceful isn't it it's got a bit of a rumble to it but it's quite quiet yeah
23:27it's a huge attraction just to get people at that height without having to walk it's brilliant for
23:32accessibility isn't it for people for older people for people with any kind of impaired movement yes
23:37can you get a wheelchair on this yes it's a totally flat ground level so there's ample space for
23:42wheelchairs on the bottom compartment it is something that everybody can use isn't it absolutely it's
23:47actually really great to see people coming up of all abilities and getting up high and just seeing the
23:53magnificent scenery i can't wait actually i'm quite excited about the view because we are going to be
23:57very very high up opened in 2001 the railway rises 462 meters up the northern slopes of the
24:07cairngore mountain with a maximum gradient of 23 degrees it serves a ski resort and offers panoramic
24:15viewpoints at the peak from the dizzying altitude of 1097 meters
24:32it's quite scary actually isn't it you're fine it's like a massive big dipper isn't it it's like a
24:38fairground ride only on a much grander scale yes it's a it's quite something as a feat of engineering
24:46undertaking this must have been huge when they initially built it's probably one of the most
24:50complicated sites and projects actually do because of where we are when they built it we had a huge cable
24:58crane system that lifted all the the beams into place it looks like we're about to crash into yes
25:07the other car i think oh okay please go that's it well done
25:14it's funny but when you're in it it's moving quite slowly how long does it take to get to the top
25:18so it's about six to eight minutes wow looking back was quite um okay okay we're quite high yeah
25:27they're really very high now this is what i was saying about this national park is different to any
25:33other national park because the geology here and and the landscape is so different isn't it to
25:38anywhere else as well yeah so it's a big lump of scotland is quite high
25:47so we're now in the 250 meter tunnel the reason we're actually in a tunnel was to take the train
25:52from the fiercest winds but also so it wasn't on the skyline so it's not hideous to look yeah you
25:57couldn't see it on the sky that's clever so we are now at the top really at the top yeah we're
26:05now at the top so we're just under 3 600 feet we're now higher than anywhere in england ireland and wales
26:12this is as high as we can get that's the handrake on yeah yeah yeah let's go have a look
26:26just watching that rain coming in over the hell it's amazing it's amazing up here isn't it
26:31it is a breathtaking park this park i love all of them and on my own doorstep at home i've got eggs
26:36more dartmo and i'm immensely fond of them but they're i've never experienced a park quite like
26:41this one this place has an emotional impact it has such an identity this park such a strong
26:47character it definitely has a wow factor today the weather's changing every couple of minutes
26:55we're just watching this big heavy rainstorm coming in and our visibility today is about
27:0070 miles behind the showers you know way to the northwest coast you've got the murray firth in front
27:06of us so you can actually see a lot of the highlands from here is that the firth i can see
27:09like turquoise that's money yep that's the murray firth i don't know how you feel about sort of
27:14spirituality but there is something special about this landscape isn't there it is a spirituality people
27:21feel at peace that is their thing the mountains are their spiritual home if you want to call it that
27:25it's their place to get away from the world one thing that i've experienced here is the sound of
27:31silence the absolute silence where you can't actually hear anything in your ears other than in your
27:36heartbeat i think that's so moving in a modern world that's so rare isn't it and actually thinking
27:45about it now you mentioned it i haven't heard a single aircraft yeah that is amazing yeah
27:54thank you so much it's been a really extraordinary experience being here
27:57i would not have seen myself as a mountain person but i think i might be yeah definitely this place
28:04can change you uh-huh
28:08on a clear day apparently you can see ben nevis from here
28:12but i can't see it today so for me i'm at the top of the world
28:16from the highlands of scotland to the moorlands of devon i'm traveling the greatest distance between
28:29two national parks designated as a national park in 1951 dartmoor was once home to bronze age settlers
28:39and humans have slowly shaped its habitats for thousands of years
28:46a place famous for its wild open landscapes granite tours and vast moorland
28:54dartmoor famous for conan doyle's hound of the baskervilles and you can see why
29:00it's murky it's misty it's mysterious but today it's not sherlock holmes i'm after but a group of
29:09people who are trying to solve a different kind of enigma the art and energy collective
29:15this is really treacherous it's properly boggy hello how lovely to meet you nice to see you you are the
29:24art and energy collective naomi tell me about that well we set up to get people being creative in the
29:32face of the climate emergency and we work with all sorts of people and our strap line is all about
29:38getting people to make the world a brighter greener place what a beautiful sentiment talk me through
29:44bury the giant what is that we were really inspired by how mosses tell a story of deep history and deep
29:52transformation on the planet so mosses are amazing they take carbon out of the atmosphere
29:58taking it from the air and returning it to a biodiverse carbon-rich land
30:03the process of returning this moss to the land they call burying the giant the giant in this case
30:12is carbon what we're doing here is we're helping to restore a piece of landscape on dartmoor
30:21by encouraging the planting of sphagnum mosses in places that have been damaged so you're creating
30:29what little bundles of starter pack moss is it and is this this is our lovely wool here our devon wool
30:36yes we're using it in a little tiny way here to be a nest for the moss to hold it more clearly and
30:43then you'll plant this into the earth yeah so talk me through the process we're covering a stone in
30:49fleece so you pick up a stone yeah you grab a bit of fleece yeah the sheep on this moor have lots of
30:56short spiky tufts on them of course my husband's like that my husband's got short spiky tufts sorry
31:04sam i'm not saying where you cover your stone like that yeah why is this so satisfying and then i'm
31:11going to yeah do that a little bit of yeah and then and then i make it melt together it's bits of
31:16felt this is vegetable soap and a little bit like washing a border collie yeah she said from experience
31:22and then you're turning the stone around to felt it and then what we do is we cut round yeah there's
31:29the stone being revealed everybody's there is oh look at that isn't that adorable you have your little
31:36nest yes i know mine's not perfect but i'd like to put some moss in it please if i may so well here's
31:40thank you nice pieces of moss so i'll pop you in there one little birdie and there's the other little
31:47birdies they're so sweet aren't they now i'm going to plant it yeah where should i go there's an area
31:54of bog over there and it needs me moss woman here i come here we are it's like a little boat oh down you
32:05go there we are so i've done my bit there so from tiny little mosses i'm going to go and look at the
32:13bigger picture with my moss tucked away snugly i'm now off to meet with morag and martin is that the
32:27hanging rock there yes beautiful to learn about the work they're doing with the southwest peatland
32:34partnership try saying that after a few gins what's the peatlands give us a whole range of things really
32:42peatlands store water they filter water for us they've got this amazing biodiversity around them
32:48and today we're really interested in how much carbon are these peatlands storing or when they're not
32:53working properly they release a lot of carbon into the atmosphere what's the kind of major drive of
32:58your work here all the peatland areas across dartmoor and it's been human intervention here so these
33:04areas have been drained so it means that what used to be a waterlogged environment is now drained
33:09oxygen is getting into that so that peat is degrading it's being lost so we're really interested
33:15in restoring that peatland to get it functioning properly again where do you start we worked with
33:21the university of exeter and they did this whole mapping program for us and so they've mapped every
33:26single inch of peatland on dartmoor and they've also mapped where all the erosion features are so that
33:32enables us to do a sort of desk based exercise we know where there's some good remaining peatland
33:37and so we focus our work around those areas this part of dartmoor is owned by the duchy of cornwall
33:45and as a member of the partnership i'm sure they'd be impressed to see the work being done to preserve
33:50this wonderful landscape in front of us is where the restoration is happening so just just to your
33:56right there is the little down that we've put in so here yeah that's it there yeah contractors
34:02literally came in with their diggers dug out the vegetation put that to one side got some nice peat
34:08put that in there and put the vegetation back on and then you can see that the water has been stored
34:13here in front of us all these pools you've created these yeah they weren't here before we did this work
34:19so if we look even further behind us you can see there's the unrestored area where it's still dry
34:25and no pools in that area this green plant down here if i grab it so this is what we want to see
34:31coming in and this is the sphagnum moss and that's a real peat forming plant and it's got this amazing
34:38ability to hold water it can hold about 20 times its weight in water no wow that's incredible so yeah
34:46look at this look at that isn't that beautiful it's incredible to think that the tiny piece of moss i
34:53planted earlier will eventually have such a huge impact on this landscape now that we've got the
34:59water in here and we're starting to see the sphagnum coming back in it means that the water table is
35:04sitting higher underneath us yeah and that means that this area is staying waterlogged that the plants
35:10slowly slowly decompose so then we get this build up of peat and there's less oxygen in there as well
35:16and that's what we want to see here we want to see the water we want to see peat and the sphagnum coming
35:20back really with all this talk of peat i'd love to see some so here's martin with his big instrument
35:28you look like something out of game of thrones it comes to me naturally yeah of course it does
35:32so what is this this is a cora which we're going to try and push down through the peat
35:38and get a sample from down in the bottom of it good i want to see old peat all right i'll give you a hand
35:43i'll give you a hand too i'm doing all the work come on i've oh get any further yeah oh wow that's
35:51the bottom so we'll give it a turn that should be enough shouldn't it yeah i think so and now's
35:57the tricky bit getting it up should we all help all right i think oh my god
36:02okay there we go if you flip that open this yeah oh wow oh this is oh look at that oh this is
36:13marvelous and this is all vegetation from the bronze age look at this can i take a bit yeah yeah no do
36:19and break just break it up oh look at that the little hairs of the plant material assuming we should
36:27start an organization called for peat's sake if there isn't one already yeah i'm sure there must
36:32be something out there but yeah if there isn't if there isn't there'll be a t-shirt along on me any
36:36minute now thank you so much this has been absolutely edifying joyful and actually truthfully quite
36:43hopeful because it's pretty gloomy out there isn't it when it comes to climate change and how we're
36:48treating our planet but this this little joyful little mound of dark dark peat
36:56is is hope in my hand i think yeah no exactly it's our future until today when i thought of dartmoor i
37:05thought of wild open spaces forever today i've been changed because i have seen that this more is a
37:13living environment not just for people not just for animals but for plants this is where under our feet
37:24this glorious peat can change the way we live forever
37:29my final stop is in cumbria at the lake district national park
37:41it's england's largest national park with an area covering 912 square miles
37:56with its 16 lakes it certainly lives up to its name
37:59and offers stunning vistas incredible wildlife and awe-inspiring walks and when it comes to records
38:10the lake district takes the prize as it's home to england's highest mountain
38:14scarfell pike england's deepest lake was water and you join me on the eastern shore of its largest lake
38:22windermere at what is known as the old man's mountain gummers how
38:31each of our national parks has its own unique character and identity here in the lake district
38:37vast expanses of water are flanked by majestic mountains and today i'm meeting rianne
38:43whose initiative has brought women together from across the country
38:51leanne it's so lovely to meet you nice to meet you too you are part of a walking group what are you
38:56called we're called black girls hike and how did black girls hike start so black girls hike started
39:02when i was on a train a few years ago going through the peak district i was just watching people get on
39:06and off and thinking actually i think i want to start hiking this year were they all carrying backpacks
39:10and looking like they're having a good time yeah i called them the beige prance brigade because it
39:14was quite a lot of older people yeah hello husband hear that nobody likes those trousers when you
39:20started what was the percentage of diverse population that were coming here so there was a report done a
39:26few years ago that said about one percent of the visitors to the national parks were from an ethnic
39:30minority but on average i think we make about 14 of the uk population so it's a very very very low number
39:36so we need more people from ethnic minorities it is about encouraging more inclusion and i think
39:42representation is really important as well people need to see themselves in these places so you started
39:48the group and was that a social media kind of event yeah just started it on instagram really randomly i
39:53just created a profile found a walk in the manchester evening news of somewhere to just on the outskirts
39:58and then just advertised it and it took off from that just from that yeah it took off from that so on our
40:02first walk we had someone come from the local paper and then it just kind of like the word just spread
40:07on instagram and we started getting people from all over the country reaching out to us it started
40:12in 2019 now we're nationwide we've got groups in london scotland yorkshire all over the southeast we do
40:19activity days activity weekends we do international trips we recently became a duke of edinburgh
40:25provider and we're also an approved provider for mountain training which means that we can now start
40:30training people up to access the outdoors safely it must be a lovely feeling to go to sleep at night
40:41tired after a long hike and think actually i've enabled lots of people who probably never would
40:45have discovered it to get out there in the open and enjoy nature yeah definitely one woman recently
40:51said that she's been able to come off all the medication for anxiety and depression since she started
40:55coming out with us for a lot of people it's really helped them with the confidence it's boosted the
40:59mental health and it's just helped them kind of get out of the comfort zone meet new people
41:04forge new connections new friendships it's just been really nourishing for all of our members really
41:08and with that in mind i know that you've got some of your fellow hikers here yeah we've got some of
41:14our members at the top waiting to meet us we're going to see them yep okay walking groups have seen
41:26a recent boom black girls hike currently have over 18 000 followers on instagram and continue to
41:32attract new members from all over the uk their love of adventure has brought them together but each has
41:39their own unique reason for joining how did you get involved liz i just stumbled across
41:50i i had been walking you had with me late partner but i'd always been the only black face i ever saw
41:59right and that was a really difficult issue because i felt unsafe and yeah when i discovered black girls
42:07hey i'm perfectly safe just so we can understand unsafe in what way with the people you were with
42:16yeah because sometimes i've had people saying to me are you lost no and yeah yeah
42:24no i definitely wasn't lost i'm the source who would ask them back now are you lost
42:29yes alice how did you join the group i joined the group by social media last year and we went caving
42:39and that was amazing it was amazing experience we're trying to build up the the outdoors amongst our
42:44community and showing that we can do other things as well as hiking we can do canoeing we can do paddle
42:48boarding so caving was a thing that we were offered opportunity to do and we did it yeah did you like
42:53caving it was an experience but the best bit about it was i just wanted to kind of throw myself in at
42:59the deep end and try something different i felt so proud of myself for accomplishing it because i
43:04taught myself in and out of it numerous times before i drove there even on the day when i got there
43:09i was like yes i really want to do this i don't know i want to do this and i was like alice you're doing
43:14what a brilliant testament to the group are you done walking and hiking and all that i used to
43:26then um life happened yeah and and then that came to result yeah so she knew that about me yeah so when
43:33she found out about the black girls high she then got in touch and said you know what you know you've
43:37always just talked about how you want to get back out there you enjoy the outdoors again there's an
43:43opportunity for you so i joined last year we went on what i thought was the most difficult hike ever
43:51um oh my legs were killing
43:59but yeah i really enjoyed it i really really did enjoy it i mean um i'm gonna get a bit emotional about
44:06this because you're sort of like um oh god you get judged you get judged um oh she used to walk she
44:14used to be so fit look at her now she's let herself go so when you're up there on the hike and you're
44:20looking at everybody you just think am i going to do this but the way they supported me on that hike
44:27they hold me because i'm gonna let you go i'm gonna snuggle you oh god i love you because it's
44:36really hard it's really hard i don't think people realize i think you know we all put on the brave
44:42face yeah we all look like we're on the you know top of everything yeah and sometimes you just need
44:47someone to literally give you a hand up you are an incredible woman thank you yeah you are an amazing
44:56person cheers from one idea on a train to this is just extraordinary and it's clear that you are
45:03you know you're changing people's lives and you are bringing new people into the national park and
45:09and you're bringing it to people that that should be here well done because it's a wonderful thing
45:13honestly and it's really it's brilliant thank you for letting me be a part of black girl's hike for
45:21the day lovely to meet you all thank you very very much thank you so much thank you if someone could
45:26help me down i'd be really great don't worry about me i'll be fine bye throughout this series i will be
45:36encouraging people to come and enjoy the national parks and if those women aren't an example of how
45:42these places are meant for all of us no matter what our background then i don't know what is if
45:49you've never been to a national park please come along because they are yours they are ours
46:12so
46:19you
46:21you
46:23you
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