- 1 week ago
Countryfile - Season 37 Episode 38 -
Solway Coast
Solway Coast
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00left hand over the front left hand over the front and up it comes that's it I know just
00:07about 20 times quicker that salmon's about two miles ahead of us
00:30this is stunning Joe isn't it yeah look at this half light the shimmering silver water this is
00:46just the perfect time to see this today we're on this breathtaking stretch of the Solway coast
00:51and isn't it stunning it's absolutely extraordinary very different to the Cotswolds now the Firth out
00:56there may mark the divide between England and Scotland but the people here are united by a
01:01deep-rooted love of the land the waters and the wildlife they're doing all they can to protect
01:06this fragile landscape but there's one ancient tradition here that's facing an uncertain future
01:12the Solway coast is a borderland between England and Scotland and home to some of the world's
01:20most precious habitats we'll explore vast peatlands rare dune systems tidal salt marshes and wade into
01:30the Firth itself where Huffnet fishing battles to stay afloat in changing tides and I've got my life
01:37jacket on you've got your buoyancy stuff on quite safe everyone can swim no no this is absolutely
01:46incredible isn't it I'm loving I'm living the dream what perfect that sounds good and healthy
01:55isn't it bingo wow this is remarkable and with the biggest event in sheepdog trialing on the horizon
02:07our way Adam's been putting his dog Gwen Gwen come by through her paces stand well she's not
02:16is listening to me at all yeah no more practice is what you say always more practice
02:25the solway's vast tidal range and shifting sands have created a unique environment a rich tapestry of
02:34peatlands dunes and salt marshes and this is Rockliffe salt marsh
02:46the farmland here is owned by the castle town estate where families have been grazing livestock on this
02:53rugged land for nine generations I've done many cattle roundups in my time but never quite like
03:00this luckily I've got farm director Rory Martin leading the way this is absolutely incredible isn't
03:15it yeah it's fantastic I uh I pinch myself most days when I come out here and think you know this
03:20this is my office this is my well five to nine rather than nine to five but yeah it's it's brilliant
03:25what sort of expanse of landscape have we got here then we're on Rockliffe salt marsh and we're bordered
03:30by two rivers so with the the river rest on the north side with the river Eden to the south of us and
03:35the the marsh is a triangle within that there's roughly two and a half thousand acres of grass and then we
03:41have about 5,000 acres of sand running off to where the two rivers meet in the distance we'll have
03:47certain times of the year where the whole of this grass expanse that we're on will be underwater and
03:51you'll have tree branches and full trees floating about and sounds obviously very movable and what
03:57was a nice sand bank gradually going down to the river will suddenly become a cliff edge crikey goodness
04:02me quite treacherous terrain I'm glad I was following you because I'd have ended up in a ditch yeah it's
04:09you have to have your wits about you when you're out here definitely there's some cattle over there
04:12we'll head over shall we we'll check this creek as we come round and we'll head off away over
04:16towards those cattle okay nice one the marshland changes throughout the year providing a diverse
04:26diet for a thousand cattle but it's shifting nature means regular herding to keep them on safe ground
04:33you could so easily get lost out here couldn't you if the fog comes down you're a bit stuck the
04:44sward is it's not rye grass it's not meadow fescues it's a mix of all different herbs and grass species
04:50and it changes from the the marsh bank out to the very pioneer grass species out on the sand we get what
04:55we call a marsh boost so the the animals have been out here they've been grazing all all different types of
05:00herbage so when we bring them back inside we'll find on that system we're actually getting just
05:05fantastic growth rates that you would you normally wouldn't expect in a credible finishing system and
05:09you can see with these guys that are coming in here they're they're perfectly happy they're nice and
05:13curious they're yeah they're fit and ready to go and so gathering then you have to do that with the
05:19tides yes so each month we'll gather them all off and put them behind the marsh bank into safety for
05:25up to five days maybe that the tide might be high we take the opportunity to to fold that into the
05:31commercial aspect of what we do and start pulling off the biggest animals and it must be a bit of a
05:35logistical nightmare is it it can be yeah my team are already getting organized back in line getting
05:41all the quads fueled up and you're not getting out of it you've got some more work to do as soon as
05:44we get the nod we'll uh we'll go and join in and i'm so pleased to be here it's fascinating i'll follow
05:49you no problem the marsh not only provides a rich diet for the cattle but their grazing also helps
05:58local wildlife thrive ornithologist bart donato works with rory to keep an eye on how the two support each
06:06other hello lovely to meet you bart my word what a day for it it is cumbria is best it really is so
06:18tell me about your role here then and we've been working with the estate for working 20 years i
06:23think my predecessors well before that trying to make the the farming work with the wildlife and get
06:28the you know the right swords all the way through the year for the birds this marsh is the most
06:35important marsh on the solway for breeding birds it's fulfilling different roles for different
06:39species all the way through the year what sort of stuff have we got out here so the sort of
06:45headline is in the winter we have all the barnacle geese come down from svalbard from march april time
06:50onwards the red shank are on here the lapwing are on here the oyster catches are on here the sky is
06:55alive with skylarks it's a beautiful spot in spring the nice thing on the cakes when you see the the young
07:00lapwing taking their first flight in late may early june then you can relax a bit
07:04and so when you've got the the nests out here the eggs the fledglings you definitely don't want a
07:09herd of a thousand cattle walking about no and that's that's the hard bit to manage because you
07:14don't want the cattle out when they're nesting but if you don't get the cattle out when they've got the
07:19chicks then you're not going to get enough of the grass taken off this year for it to be good
07:24marsh next year it seems like a incredible balancing act that you've both got to try and work with
07:30yeah very much so it feels like walking across a tightrope sometimes but it's it's something
07:34that's integral to the ethos and the management of of the whole formed landscape here very much
07:40about working hand in hand with the experts and and the wildlife and making the system work for
07:45you know both sides of the same coin do you get frustrated sometimes you think oh that's not quite
07:50right all the time but every year's different and it's it's a you know it's a constantly evolving
07:55story and species like lapwing and redshank have declined by 60 70 percent over the last 50 years
08:02but on the marsh their population stayed stable all the way through and every year we're coming out
08:07here and we're finding way to chicks at the end of the day and that's that's what's key you know
08:11the birds are getting their chicks away and that's absolutely critical so yeah it's working and it's
08:16working at scale which is just so fantastic so you would celebrate having the cattle here it wouldn't
08:21be the environment without no not at all it's it's absolutely essential to the managing the marsh
08:26as it is and it's been that way for you know hundreds of years i've never seen a landscape like it
08:32and with a nod from the team i can join in with a final leg of the herding the moment i've been waiting
08:40for don't leave me behind i could be out here for weeks
08:44moving the cattle to higher ground might be a regular job for a rory
09:01but for me it's a great experience
09:07even in the soggy cumbrian weather
09:11i'm loving i'm living the dream
09:31to the southwest of rock cliff marsh lies another vital habitat in this extraordinary stretch of coastline
09:41peatland
09:42the plants beneath my feet may not look dramatic but they're quietly doing some of the most important
09:49climate work in the uk this thick spongy layer of peat is crucial for locking away carbon preventing
09:57flooding and boosting biodiversity
10:01wedham flow is part of the south solway mosses some of the largest and most intact lowland peatlands
10:08in the uk
10:11peat was traditionally used for fuel and later for horticulture but its removal came at a price
10:16to the environment and the practice was stopped the centuries of peat extraction has damaged the
10:22land and removed water drying the peat senior nature reserve manager emma austin looks after the
10:30ongoing work to restore and preserve this peatland
10:33to paint a picture for me what was this like when when the extraction was going on here noisy busy with
10:40people a lot of local people were employed here there was a mixture of machinery cutting the peak
10:48quite efficiently and then latterly almost hoovering dried peat 2002 was when the
10:54commercial extraction stopped here and then what's followed really is trials and experiments
11:01in how do you re-wet peat how do you restore peat how do you get the water levels back
11:05how do you get the vegetation back when you start with nothing emma and the team have been
11:11working to re-wet this landscape and some of the peat here is already on the mend
11:17now what is this this is so well i'm actually heading down and down and down well we're in
11:23the middle of installing some water level sensors so um you've landed just at the right time
11:28to twist this is that how it works yeah you can you can give that a go oh it goes down quite
11:32nice and easily all right and now you need to bend your knees and not your back okay and get it
11:37out okay perfect that sounds good and healthy doesn't it are these modern roots these must be
11:44modern roots preserved in it are they not they're old roots they're that well preserved yeah we know
11:48about sphagnum bog mosses which form this sort of living skin over our peat yeah really what we're
11:55looking at is the the pickled remains the pickled vegetation wow emma's clever new kit detects tiny
12:03amounts of energy given off as the plants break down powering the monitor to give her continuous data on
12:10the water level in the peatland do they work this is this is our trial all we need to do is is push
12:17this in now um and we want it to go in so about half a meter is sticking up so between the two of us
12:25if you've cleared out enough we'll be able to just push that in oh yeah a bit more i think that's about
12:31right the sensor down at the bottom actually measures the water pressure all goes well with the with the sensor
12:38stick then this could be the thing of the future great well all in place delighted to experience
12:44solway's new high-tech monitors thank you very much good job done about six miles away is a peatland
12:51that's flourishing through continuous restoration work rspb campfield marsh is a blueprint for wedham
12:59flow and similar projects nationwide helping maintain this precious ecosystem is warden dan cropper
13:08that this looks really interesting it's kind of a prehistoric bog it looks like yeah so this is a
13:15really special part of the reserve sort of my favorite parts as well actually we call it troglans
13:19and it's sort of got this like almost like petrified forest look hasn't it i believe this is maybe
13:23excavated at some point for pete um and trees have sort of colonized it died off and become dead standing
13:28deadwood we've started this year a project um to introduce the white-faced data dragonfly to the site
13:34and i actually had a really exciting and sighting here um in may so you actually saw one in this
13:39very spot i did yeah on this path just over there i've got a photograph of you oh yeah go on yeah yeah
13:44there we go so i see yeah so it's just sat on the short grass yeah and then is that red or is that
13:49orange it's sort of ready orange exactly exactly what the book says ready ready orange and black yeah
13:54the males yeah and they're just really um charismatic actually they they come and look kind of inspect you
14:00and they they land in front of you and it's a really rare species for for this country is you
14:05know a handful of sites left in england it's synonymous with lowland raised bogs 95 of which
14:10we've we've lost in this country so we haven't had whiteface darts here um if ever we don't think
14:15we haven't got any records of it very exciting there the presence of the white-faced data suggests
14:22that this peatland is in top condition and it actually supports a further 12 species of dragonfly
14:29but maintaining the habitats of campfield marsh takes constant care wow dan this is remarkable
14:38it just completely opens up doesn't it and healthy bog in and amongst it absolutely yeah yeah loads of
14:44cotton grass um bog myrtle bog asphodel lovely smell to it yeah and the odd bit of birch as well which
14:50which is what we're here for we don't want too much of it and when we sort of manage a little bit
14:54every year just to kind of stop it from taking over and drying the bog out obviously trees take
14:58up a lot of water don't they so they reduce the height of the water table if we if they left and
15:03that releases carbon into the atmosphere that would have always be stored stored in the peat oh i see
15:09lovely and spongy isn't it you can feel the water underneath keeping the bog wet is everything
15:16removing birch saplings can help keep the water table high so the peat keeps building and
15:21those specialist bog plants have space to thrive okay let's have a look at this
15:29there we are and that's excellent fantastic i mean it does feel a bit weird to be
15:35going at nice healthy trees but it's always about the right tree in the right place i guess exactly
15:39yeah yeah okay here we go how big's the bog and how much of this are you doing every year
15:44so the bog is 60 hectares that we look after we clear birch from two hectares every year so it's a
15:4930-year cycle really as we all know from the news and everywhere else it's been probably one of the
15:55driest years in recent memory and yet it seems to be doing okay it's it's it's amazing how much peat bogs
16:03save us from flooding in the wet periods and they and they provide us with water when it's when it's dry
16:07they're absolutely crucial i was able to send water down from from from the bog onto the grasslands
16:13in august to the rest of the farm yeah wonderful right come on i'm going to give this stump one more
16:18go good luck looking forward the proof that this work is paying off will be in the diverse species
16:26that continue to call this site home so close yes i can feel it there we are excellent work that put
16:33that on your mantelpiece there we go my peatland restoration trophy if down the line white-faced
16:39darters are breeding here it'll show this peatland really is in top condition
16:44at the southern edge of the solway is a vast expanse of sand dunes at marlborough banks nature reserve
16:58two conservationists are combining their efforts to protect this delicate ecosystem and the creatures
17:04that live in it including a rarely seen amphibian it's down to landscape officer sophie badrick to look
17:13after this ever-changing environment so this reserve is so special because it's a fantastic
17:18example of the sand dune system we've got lovely sand dunes on here and the other species that are
17:23associated with that like the natterjack toads despite working towards that natterjack goal
17:29seeing the rare nocturnal toad is no mean feat i've been working here for a few years and we do all this
17:36work and i've never seen an adult natterjack so it would be fantastic to to see one and know that we're
17:41we're doing all the right things for them today sophie hopes her luck will change because also on the
17:47dunes is howard inns vice chairman of the amphibian and reptile conservation trust
17:55the natterjack toad is probably the amphibian that we've got that is most vulnerable to extinction
18:00natterjack toads need to breed in very shallow water some years the breeding ponds that they choose
18:06can dry up you only find the types of pools that they like in certain habitats and sand dunes is
18:14probably one of the key habitats for for natterjack toads we must do what we can to maintain habitats
18:21like this so that they remain suitable for the natterjack
18:27one of the main challenges that we have is the sand dune system is really dynamic and the sand dunes if
18:32they're healthy they move and they don't move quickly but they do move over time so we want to
18:37try and stop them getting fully vegetated with lots of different species that will put their roots down
18:42and make them really solid and stable so we want some open sand we want some lower growing vegetation
18:49not the the really dense gorse that we have which stabilize the dunes and stop them from moving and
18:54stop other species coming in and colonizing some of the species that we have here that are exploiting them
19:01they don't have that elsewhere so we're providing quite a unique habitat for them
19:07we've got some very dense banks of course that are along the side of the site and we are trying
19:12to cut some rides through and we'll get a much more species rich area we've got a fantastic small
19:19team of volunteers who who come and help out and they get stuck into everything that we ask them to
19:24and we couldn't function without them while sophie's team tackle the gorse howard has his own mission
19:33today i'm on a natterjack hunt there's a good reason why 2025 is an important year for us to come
19:40and look for natterjacks at this site when we count natterjacks what we typically count in the spring
19:46are the number of spawn strings and in 2022 there was a really good count made here
19:52of something like 70 different spawn strings the one thing i will be looking for are burrows in the
19:59open sand because once they've come out of the water they will make their way up to the sandy areas
20:05and they will dig a burrow and they'll use that burrow to spend the day in then come out at night
20:10to hunt but as it starts to get cooler in the autumn they'll eventually dig that burrow deeper
20:16and that's where they'll spend the winter the class of 22's offspring are now old enough to breed
20:22themselves but despite having a license to handle them there's no guarantee howard will find any of
20:28these vulnerable creatures while his search continues sophie recruits additional help for her gorse clearing
20:39we have eight belted galloway here on site as well um we call them our conservation grazing team
20:46um and they are really vital to the management of the site not only do they eat some of the the
20:51grasses and things and keep the vegetation lower but by their nature they are turning the ground over
20:58so looking for natterjacks is always a challenge but it is always a great thrill you never lose that
21:04thrill of coming across something that is such a pretty little animal and is so rare so yeah you
21:10never lose that thrill it's fantastic so we've got howard here today and i'm really excited to see how
21:15he's getting on
21:28bingo
21:33so this is definitely one of this year's toads um so this would have come out of the pond probably a month or so ago
21:42and they they feed quickly so quite quickly they get to this sort of size and they're preparing now
21:49to hibernate so it won't be long before this chap retreats into a burrow to spend the winter
21:55and you can see that beautiful yellow stripe which is typical of a natterjack
21:58and so yes a 2025 toadlet which is wonderful to see
22:13look at that the fruits of your labor sophie that's amazing that's brilliant good to see
22:17good to see that so we're obviously doing doing the right thing you are doing the right thing and
22:21that's a good sort of testament to breeding success this year brilliant news it's the first time i've
22:28seen them seen the adults on site and being with howard and and learning from his his skills and his
22:34handling being able to see them so close is is brilliant
22:41when i got here this morning i thought we've got a chance of seeing natterjacks today but i
22:46would have put it below 50 percent we've seen five natterjack toes and to me that is absolutely
22:54brilliant i saw my first natterjack toe probably over 40 years ago and that was a great thrill and
23:00do you know what i still get the same thrill today when i when i find a natterjack toe they
23:04really are a cracking little amphibian love them now before i traveled north to the solway coast
23:19i was busy doing a bit of training back on my farm in the cotswolds across the country the sheepdog
23:26trialing season is in full swing and i've been learning what it takes to swap farming for the trial field
23:35the country's best sheepdogs and handlers work at a level few can match but this isn't just
23:40performance it's the same sharp instinct and precise control that's vital every day for moving stock and
23:48managing the land good good girl that'll do so gwen's a really lovely dog her and i work well together
23:56she's one of the best i've ever had really but i'd really like to know what she's capable of
24:01and what i can do to sort of hone my skills to get the best out of her and so to do that what i've
24:08done is invited well one of the best in the business to give me some lessons to find out
24:13what's in her tank and what i can do to make her better right sheep are in the pen i'll go and meet
24:20them come on then last year ben smith was the only english handler to make it through to the toughest
24:28sheepdog trialing event in the calendar the international supreme hear that whistle amazing
24:37skill to get a dog to understand that and teaching the dog what the commands mean
24:43ben's brought along his partner lisa kaisel seabert also a national competitor she'll really put gwen and
24:49i through our paces you're happy with those little ones lisa we're starting by marking out a little
24:56training course in this field and they've got to be seven yards apart okay let's make them 20 yards for
25:02me no you'll be fine we'll make yours three so it's cones trees and whatever else ben can throw at me
25:09all lined up to test my handling skills drop the sheep out there so we'll do a little out run yes
25:15a fetch straight as we can through the center of them yes around the back of us yes this will be
25:20the drive yeah cross drive will be across around the back of the tree back to our feet and then a
25:25split well i might as well go home now no you'll be fine easy before gwen and i take to the field lisa's
25:35running the course with her dog ben while the other ben gives me a much needed crash course in trialing
25:41on a trial you'll start with 100 points every time you deviate from a line or an extra command
25:48on an outrun you're losing points so for me and gwen she's got reasonable skill yeah but when she gets
25:54a little bit further away tends to sort of stop listening to me yeah yeah and goes into work mode
26:00she does really with the trial you take a little bit of that you still want the natural ability but
26:05we create situations that aren't always natural so the more you do that she's then taking your
26:10command not her natural ability yes but you say you don't want to take all the natural ability
26:14out because at work you don't want to have to give every single command you want to bring them to you
26:17more practice is what you're saying always more practice
26:22the other half of the battle is the sheep and it turns out i've got a few troublemakers in the flock
26:28but lisa's dog ben is doing a great job of muscling them around the course
26:34the final test is the shed where lisa and the dog work together to neatly split the packet of sheep
26:41expertly done lisa
26:45brilliant yeah works really well challenging enough and for you how does that feel being able to control
26:52a dog is that just a lovely feeling yeah it is it is really good um i really enjoy working them and
26:58um he's really responsive and he doesn't really fight me so that's the type of dog i like you know
27:03he's just he wants to work with me we swap the sheep so the others can catch their breath
27:10and now it's our turn to have a crack at it
27:12okay so i'll send her off to the right yep so it's about calmness okay yes straight lines
27:21lay her down create a bit of gap yeah and then start again good luck are we
27:28so they've gone out a bit wide no it's nice that that's a that's a good trial different than work
27:33clean and i would stop her now and try and stop her stop her
27:38that's it nice and now it's about you reading sheep because when they lift they might go one
27:44way or the other and this is the look of dog trial you don't always get the perfect packet
27:50stubborn sheep like lisa i've got a tricky packet of sheep and because gwen's not having an easy time
27:57of it she's reverting to work mode so her problem is she struggled she's fighting sheep all i want to
28:03do is get them back yeah sure so she's trying to help you probably over helping for trialing that's
28:07where you don't need a dog that over helps that's what you do when they split like that come by that's
28:12where you're going to control your dog to tuck him in so you want to cover right around the corner if you
28:16can we've missed the first gate by a mile but at least the sheep are in a group and moving towards us
28:25they even go around us fairly neatly and off towards the second gate
28:29so far it's mostly been the sheep testing me but now gwen's decided my commands aren't worth
28:37listening to gwen come by because you're right stand stand so this is where sometimes so so now
28:44she'll want to go to the right yeah because i want her natural thing is she wants to go round
28:48but i want her to come to the left yeah if you were in a training situation you do a lot of them that
28:52she doesn't want to do gwen soon settles down and shows a bit of patience you're getting the gate
28:57perfect we even get some good fortune at the second gate so you can let it cross drive now
29:02to be honest the sheep the sheep have helped you nicely but just watch she doesn't drift to the
29:07front because that's what she naturally wants to do come by come by but then straight back into
29:15trouble she's good there though she's doing the best i can without being nasty and that's the best
29:19ability of the dog when you get that bit of gap they flow off her stand well she's not listening to
29:25me at all yeah no we'll let you off you go around either tree yeah steady but with my right hand
29:33command still failing the trees are out of reach altogether she's completely lost the plot she's uh
29:39she's just feeling the pressure a little bit our way maybe bring him back and try and do a shed
29:45now a nice clean split of the sheep is our last chance to impress ben and lisa i'll just do this
29:53shed yeah stand stand stand stand come by stand yeah yeah yeah yeah gwen gwen here yeah yeah yeah that'll do
30:03that'll do that'll do that'll do well very very average i have to say back to the back to the drawing
30:11but she had a bad packet and she's tried her best if you put a couple of months working and and that
30:18you would go out and you would get around the track course it's just homing everything in it's
30:21like tightening everything up and a little bit better stop and finesse so if she came to you how
30:26how long before you had a shortage you reckon if i had her a month she would be clean she would be
30:30stopping yeah she you know the the finesse would be on i would say in a month so nine times out of
30:36ten it's down to the person not the dog oh nine and off it's easier to blame the dog sometimes
30:44for my final lesson of the day ben's giving me a master class showing me what his collie roy can do
30:50he's just earned a place on the international team at the english national
30:58just moving those sheep straight away absolutely brilliant
31:01every time ben seems to whistle the dog will move left right onwards slow down almost robotic
31:23it's a skill it's a job but it's also an art
31:26right down the competition is tough but ben's hoping his run at the internationals
31:32will be good enough to land him a place at the supreme for the second year running
31:41for me if the international is the big big goal yeah but it's a big ask big big ask yeah well good
31:47luck thank you very much thank you lisa thank you the action doesn't stop here next week we'll have all
31:53the highlights from the international supreme taking place at the historic brinconalt estate near wrexham
32:05and in two weeks time it's our country file ramble for children in need
32:10here's john and pudsy to tell us more
32:14let's get ready to ramble the country file ramble for bbc children in need 2025 will be on your screens
32:22on the 5th of october well putsy i'm told that you have organized a very special location for this
32:29year's ramble but details are in here are they all right ah it's going to be on a farm great choice pudsy
32:44this year pudsy is asking you to challenge yourself and help us make life lighter for children
32:50only with your support can we continue to help to lighten the load for hundreds of thousands of
32:56children when they need us the most
33:01children like elissa
33:02elissa is very full on she's very bubbly
33:19i love musicals my favorite greatest showman but i also like wicked and matilda
33:2510 year old elissa lives in newport south wales with her dad philip she was always dancing
33:33and singing she never can't stay still for longer than five minutes
33:39elissa has her mum christine to thank for her love of musicals and the fun things in life
33:45i think i'm throwing more to my mum we're both a bit silly because i've got the same hair as her which
33:55is one thing i always get complimented on you've got your dad's eyes but you've got your mummy's hair
33:59and also we both like pizza but to be honest who doesn't like pizza
34:09we love going away we like going to the theme parks she loves the caravans going around
34:14been eating the fresh air being able to ride a bike and you know it was happy times
34:19she was very fun energetic person she was very kind and she could always make me happy when i was
34:27upset about something but while on holiday in 2023 christine fell ill and had to be taken to
34:37hospital and we was in a room three of us was there doctor come in and she said you know can your
34:45daughter leave and go with the nurse then we thought oh something's not good and um
34:54doctor then told us we think you've got liver cancer christine was eventually diagnosed with bile duct
35:03cancer and despite treatment the family were told the heartbreaking news that it was incurable
35:10it's just again it was just total shock totally shocked christine what was 48 you know too young
35:23to uh to die you know so their first thoughts were elissa um how are we going to tell her
35:33christine and philip turned to st david's hospice in newport that runs the unicorn service part funded by
35:43bbc children in need the service gives children and young people access to the support they need
35:50when a significant adult in their life is seriously ill or has died so we went there just me and christine
35:58and we went to see a lady called elaine so she talked to us we said how do we tell our daughter
36:07that her mum is gonna die
36:16elaine robinson is the children and young person's support lead and her role is part funded by bbc
36:23children in need and she said best thing to do is just tell her make a date stick to the date and just
36:30tell her sooner the better and so we did it felt like the world was gonna end i didn't know what to do
36:44and i just felt alone
36:46everybody was in tears it was all in a big hug all three of us and this is like why is it gonna be me
36:57why is it gonna be my mummy
37:04to help her through this difficult time elissa began regular visits to see elaine at the hospice for
37:10one-to-one support hi hi nice to see you i met elaine and she was really nice to me because like i
37:17felt like somebody i could talk to so we said last time didn't we that we were going to do
37:24a memory box yeah elaine's a very nice person she's very comforting and she's very good with kids
37:33the sessions that we had together gave her the opportunity to validate what was happening
37:39and to form her own narrative around the situation that was going on it gave christine peace of mind
37:49you know it was a great relief that she was in good hands much better just
37:57your memory box is absolutely gorgeous
38:02i could tell elaine and she would be able to like have a solution which comforted me knowing that
38:08she knew what to do i remember you doing that you made that didn't you yes and i made that here
38:16and then yeah i went a bit sticker overload yeah and did mum like it yeah she loved it elaine would
38:24explain to her that you know her mum had a cancer it wasn't her mum's fault you know and you've got to
38:33enjoy the time with your mum because we don't know how long she's got in september 2024 elissa and her
38:42family's world turned upside down when christine passed away elissa got to do one very important
38:50last performance for her mum doing the funeral preparations we had to choose three songs for the
38:58funeral and um my mum said oh why don't you record elissa singing castle on the cloud it was called
39:08castle on the cloud it was from les mishrabel and it was um we chose it because it felt like we could
39:16represent me and them as the characters and we did change one lyric which was from cosette's name to my
39:22name because we thought that made it feel more meaningful you know she loved being a mum she loved
39:34being with her daughter and um she loved watching her perform
39:51so is that gonna go in your memory box yeah yeah you got loads of things after the funeral the unicorn
39:58service was there again to support elissa and when mum passed i went to the group sessions
40:04elaine felt i was ready then to and i should be able to connect with kids who have also gone
40:11through my experiences i felt not so alone anymore because i felt like there were other kids and it
40:18felt comforting to know i wasn't the only one and i wasn't alone many many young people with the extra
40:26support like the unicorn service do better in the long run they do better in being able to
40:34see a future without feeling that the loss is defining their future
40:42alissa kind of got through it how she did they've ate the unicorn service
40:46they kind of taught her that you still gotta have a life you still gotta make your journey
40:51and alissa really took that on board and she did she just carried on
40:56and we asked did she miss a moment she said no because she's always in my heart
41:03i think about her often and i feel like she's in a better place she's not in pain anymore
41:08and that she's still looking down on me
41:13so she does miss a month you know she might not show it she does miss her we all miss her
41:25projects like the unicorn service at st david's hospice care can help change the lives of young
41:31people like alissa and this is how you can help you can donate any amount of money online to bbc
41:41children in need by scanning the qr code on your screen right now or head to bbc.co.uk
41:48forward slash country farm or to donate 5 10 20 30 or 40 pounds text the word 5 10 20 30 or 40 to 70705
42:05text will cost your donation amount plus your standard network message charge and a hundred
42:11percent of your donation will go to bbc children in need you must be 16 or over and please ask the
42:19bill payers permission for full terms and more information go to bbc.co.uk forward slash country farm
42:27we're exploring the extraordinary solway coast in north cumbria with the uk's second highest tidal
42:41range this stretch of coastline supports a rare and rich aquatic environment i've crossed over to
42:48the scottish side of the firth to learn of an age-old fishing tradition
42:52now i must admit i am obsessed with underwater wildlife so i'm always keen to hear what's going
43:00on in the fishing world and here on the solway there is a method of catching fish which is unique
43:06to this part of the world it's been practiced for about a thousand years and i'm here to see it before
43:11it's too late george renwick is one of the last remaining half netters george hi how's it going
43:22hi joe good to see you now this looks quite impressive um start at the beginning george
43:27what is half netting half netting is a tradition that's been done in the solway i think it went
43:32back to viking times where they hung the nets off doors on the boats to catch a fish and we carry a
43:37beam which you can see behind me which is 16 foot long on three legs with one mid stick in the middle
43:44for carrying it and so you can lift it when you're fishing by the middle so the beam is what you call
43:49the sort of the thing across the main bit of wood is it yeah that's wood is it nice wood yeah and then
43:54this is to catch what what are you fishing for we're fishing for salmon and sea trout and how long
43:59have you been doing this i'm one of the shortest people i've been doing it for 25 years oh you're a
44:03new newcomer tell me about the nets here george well these i make these myself i've made a couple but
44:12they're very time consuming and this will take me about 60 hours 60 60 60 hours and about a mile and
44:20a half a string with about 26 000 knots in it oh my time i've finished goodness that's amazing this is
44:27obviously a labor of love so maybe this is not the best thing to me have a go on but is there a way i
44:31can experience a bit of yeah half net building i've got a little one here that started for you okay so
44:37you can have a go at this so you get this this is your coil you put it over the coil so every mesh
44:44is exactly the same pull it down tight then pinch it with your fingertips flick it over to the right
44:50come up through between the two bars pull down but keep it tight and then pull so as a knot is there so
44:59it doesn't slip that's not going to slip right i'd like to do an extra demonstration of how hard it
45:03actually is even though you've made it look so easy so so you pick it up from underneath up through
45:08there yeah up through there around the back of the kyle you've got to keep it on the back of the kyle
45:12i pulled down on the back of the kyle yeah pull down ah now i've got a gap so hold that on there
45:17further up no no right up on there right up on there right up on there with your back finger as well
45:22oh back finger as well okay and now through no no flick flick flick don't forget this way don't consider
45:28myself to be particularly slow but this is not going in it's because you're a lefty easily yeah so i'm trying to
45:32do it back to front you want to go the opposite way i may not quite have mastered the art of making
45:40a half net but perhaps i can redeem myself in the water i'm joining some of solway's most experienced
45:48fishermen tony turner and john warwick ready to go and i've got my life jacket on you've got your buoyancy
45:55stuff on quite safe everyone can swim no no don't worry okay have you ever taken a swim well i have
46:04on occasion right but always got out hold on to your beam if you do get carried away yeah and the beam
46:10will float okay excellent last minute safety advice this is brilliant here we go and to think i mean
46:16give or take a few modern materials but this is a site two guys going down there with their beams to fish
46:22it's been going on for hundreds of years i can't wait to get involved
46:35well after a long dry summer we're finally getting some of the autumnal rain we so desperately need
46:41and actually it's come at a good time i'm dressed for it as we're about to go fishing
46:45but what's the weather got in store for the week ahead here's the country fire forecast
46:56good evening thanks joe yes that dry summer a distant memory after that soggy september that
47:01we've been experiencing just take a look at some of the rainfall totals capital keurig 312 millimetres
47:08and parts of wales have actually had twice their monthly average rainfall already not shy from that
47:14across the lake district as well but today well a lot of dry and sunny weather particularly across
47:20north wales very pleasant indeed and actually as we go through the week ahead with high pressure
47:25building in from the atlantic we could actually see a much quieter september week of weather ahead
47:31that high pressure will gradually drift its way steadily east we've had a brisk wind today driving
47:36in some showers through scotland and northern ireland we keep some showers overnight tonight in the
47:41northern isles but with clearing skies elsewhere temperatures are going to fall away it is going
47:45to be a chilly night quite widely across the country in southern scotland northern england rural
47:50parts we could see temperatures just below freezing touch of frost not out of the question first thing
47:56tomorrow morning we still keep the risk of some showers across the northern isles and that brisk breeze
48:01here driving in more clouds through scotland and northern ireland but elsewhere there'll be a lot of dry
48:06settled sunny weather to come temperatures a little bit subdued though circulating around that high
48:12pressure with that northwesterly wind top temperatures of 12 to 16 degrees the air at the moment is
48:17originating from the arctic now it's likely that the high pressure continues to drift its way steadily
48:23eastward through tuesday the isobars open up good deal of quiet weather set to continue fog could be an
48:29issue first thing in the morning it'll be slow to clear but it should do so by lunchtime and into the
48:34afternoon we keep that dry theme for many so not a bad day in prospect again those temperatures still
48:40a little bit below par for this time of year we're likely to see highs of 14 to 17 degrees now as we
48:47move out of tuesday into wednesday subtle change in wind direction could mean we could see a few isolated
48:54showers with that southeasterly wind across essex and kent and there is a weakening frontal system
48:59trying to push in to the far northwest of scotland particularly the western isles but at the moment
49:05there will continue to be some dry weather and a degree also warmer with each day as we go through
49:10the week those temperatures will start to creep back up a little so into thursday again quite dry
49:16bit more of a breeze and this time coming from the south there should be a little more cloud as well
49:20around but essentially a dry quiet theme is set to continue for many and temperatures a little widely
49:27warmer as that southerly wind so 16 degrees in aberdeen 18 degrees in london now as we move into
49:34friday there's a weather front trying to push in from the atlantic this could contain the remnants of
49:41ex-hurricane gabriel so a lot of uncertainty at the moment about what's going to happen towards the end
49:46of the week but some of that rain could be quite heavy if it gradually moves in from the west but on the
49:52whole most of us should stay fine and dry on friday but there's a potential for that rain to arrive in
49:58from the weekend and again those temperatures around 15 to 18 degrees the high so as we move
50:04out of friday into saturday there could be some wetter weather for some but it's not a write-off as
50:10we go through the week ahead a lot of dry fine weather around that's how it's looking whatever
50:15you're doing make sure you enjoy your week let's go back to joe shall we and his fishing take care
50:32i'm on the scottish side of the solway firth for my first ever half net fishing experience
50:41i don't you feel i'm putting my weight john can i take this off you for a bit yeah you certainly can
50:46the huge tidal range and shifting sands make it a dangerous place to fish but i'm with some of the
50:52solways most experienced half netters tony turner and john warwick how do you know where to fish john
51:00well it's experience more than anything else you learn over the years if somebody was just to come
51:05down that had no experience they would probably end up getting stuck in soft sand or getting swept
51:10away and this always changes all the time so you've got the bedrock but you've got the sand on top
51:16and that's always in a state of flux so it depends where the main channel is this year it's very close
51:21into the scott side so there's a deep channel going down annan this year but normally where we're
51:27going to fish you'd walk through over the sands to find other channels that are nearer the english
51:32side right it's fascinating how much and how so dramatically it can change then can change within
51:37a few days totally different in you go there's quite a muddy estuary isn't it yeah silty you need
51:46it muddy so that the fish don't detect the net so when you feel you're comfortable maybe a few more
51:52steps then you can set it into the water yeah facing up water that's it
52:00that's it now you're going to pull the tails off this is the tail that's it so you've got one tail
52:07out take the shallow tail out and then this is the shallow tail let's just it's actually a lot longer
52:12than i thought it would be okay yeah you need enough room for the fish to get in and and not be able to
52:18turn so you rest against your shoulder because you're going to take a bit of net with your left
52:22fingers yeah and on the right hand side you're going to take some net in your right hand fingers
52:26oh i see so the idea is that if a fish swims in you'll feel a pull on your net yeah yeah okay
52:34and at that point you need to step back okay step back step back lift the beam yeah left hand over the
52:40front left hand over the front and up it comes that's it and you're just about 20 times quicker
52:46right that salmon's about two miles ahead yes it will be by then yeah that's right
52:51with a bit more practice i may just get the hang of this one more time i think it's on that i fit
52:57i'm up against it because i've got my shoulders here yeah i'm doing this yeah i feel a pull and
53:01that's it stand back left that's it
53:07when my father fished it was a living for some people but when i started fishing that was already
53:15in decline and gradually over the years it's slowed and slowed and slowed and now it's basically
53:21just a hobby with people that are interested in fishing but particularly in the tradition of the
53:26annan half nets and the royal charter do you have any idea how many are doing it here now there's
53:30about 15 license holders but there's only a handful that do it regularly yeah gosh and what would
53:35it be in its heyday do you think all the way up the sawway on both sides they would have been
53:39half netting gosh so you could have had in any one day you could have over a hundred people out
53:45fishing wow wow wow so that is some significant decline it is back in the day the nets and the
53:52sawway provided a lot of the food for britain so the fish would be sent down to billingsgate market in
53:58london yeah but once farm fishing came in the price dropped so commercial nets the stake nets they
54:07had less influence but also then that's when the not wild fish number started to decline as well
54:15george that you spoke to earlier is one of the youngest half netters tony's the oldest i'm in
54:20my 70s most of us are in the 60s or 70s so i think with this generation it's likely to die out
54:28unless there's some sort of incentive to keep fishing right okay with atlantic salmon threatened
54:35with extinction the scottish government has put a ban on the fish being taken from areas where they're
54:40most at risk here in the solway firth any wild salmon caught must be released but i guess the
54:46regulations are there because you know salmon are are in a really bad way so we agree with conservation
54:52yeah um the thing that annoys us is that the regulation is mainly designed for anglers
55:03the two approaches for catching salmon differ past research suggests that catch and release angling
55:09may result in a higher mortality rate than half netting with that in mind john believes he should
55:14be able to keep a small percentage of the salmon he catches with angling you have to catch the fish
55:22hook it play it bring it into the side take the hook out and then let it go so that could say for a 10
55:31pound salmon take 10 minutes yeah we can release a 10 pound salmon in seconds just by flipping it into
55:36the water so there's a known mortality with angling which is acceptable under the regulations as they
55:45stand just now yeah whereas we are practically zero so if we were given the equivalent of that mortality
55:51yeah it might just keep the tradition going oh okay i suppose the government would say
55:59it's better for them to work on making sure there's no mortality in angling
56:04rather than allowing other fisheries like the half net fishery to kill well they encourage good
56:08erm practice in catch and release on the river but regardless of that there's still going to be
56:14some mortality on the river feels slightly meditative doesn't it when you're just sort of here with
56:20both arms up despite not being able to keep any salmon tony still gets a thrill from being out here
56:28the decline of salmon the sea top there's no doubt about it there's no doubt about it they've declined
56:34tremendously but uh i still come here because i like the tug i like the pull the puller than the
56:41salmon when you feel the net oh it's cool it's the adrenaline rush i probably should have asked this
56:47earlier but when was the last time you caught a fish about three weeks ago are you going to keep going
56:54for as long as you can oh yes yes the things that you see it's amazing now well life we've seen deer
57:00on the shore swimming across the solway we've seen hares we've seen porpoise and dolphins you know it's
57:06it's absolutely terrific magical part of the world isn't it yeah it really is i could happily fish with
57:14john and tony all day but i know the tide's on the way in again hopefully not for the last time for this
57:21age-old practice well joe what a day what a landscape and i've been doing some pretty extreme
57:33farming yeah we've both been immersed in it i think it's fair to say although i'm pleased to be back on
57:37firm land and not still being a bit chilly in the fur i'm pleased too now next week matt and charlotte
57:43will be in wrexham where they'll be watching one of the toughest challenges in the sheepdog trialing world
57:49the international supreme is this the point at which you start getting nervous it's when he
57:54actually walks onto the field then i start hyperventilating there's two there she's
58:01she's got him good good work oh she's got him well done joe
58:06right get this group in the pen job done come on come on come me come by laid out
58:21hope to see you then see you then bye-bye now i'm sorry there's no fish for dinner
58:25maybe the farmer's got something we can i'm sure he's got a joint to beefy there we go come on
58:34dream away this sunday unwind and let radio through soothe your soul on sounds bbc 2 dives into the deep
58:45ocean prepare to enter the kingdom with sir david attenborough at ten past eight
58:50and hicks road show next on bbc one
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