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Countryfile Season 37 Episode 38
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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
01:00deep-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 most
01:20precious habitats we'll explore vast peatlands rare dune systems tidal salt marshes and wade into the
01:30Firth itself where Huffnet fishing battles to stay afloat in changing tides and I've got my life jacket
01:37on you've got your buoyancy stuff on quite safe everyone can swim no no this is absolutely incredible
01:47isn't it I'm loving I'm living the dream what perfect that sounds good and healthy isn't it
01:55bingo wow this is remarkable and with the biggest event in sheepdog trialing on the horizon
02:07are we Adam's been putting his dog Gwen Gwen come by through her paces stand well she's not
02:16resistant to me at all yeah no more practice is what you say always more practice
02:20the 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 Rockcliffe salt marsh
02:43the farmland here is owned by the castle town estate where families have been grazing livestock on
02:52this rugged 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
03:15isn't it yeah it's fantastic I uh I pinch myself most days when I come out here and think you know
03:20this this is my office this is my well five to nine rather than nine to five but yeah it's it's
03:24brilliant what sort of expanse of landscape have we got here then we're on Rockcliffe salt marsh and
03:29we're bordered by two rivers so with the the river esk on the north side with the river Eden to the
03:34south of us and the the marsh is a triangle within that there's roughly two and a half thousand acres
03:39of grass and then we have about 5,000 acres of sand running off to where the two rivers meet in the
03:45distance we'll have certain times of the year where the whole of this grass expanse that we're on
03:50will be underwater and you know you'll have tree branches and full trees floating about and sounds
03:55obviously very movable and what was a nice sand bank gradually going down into the river will
03:59suddenly become a cliff edge crikey goodness me quite treacherous terrain I'm I'm glad I was
04:05following you because I'd have ended up in a ditch yeah it's uh you have to have your wits about you
04:10when you're out here definitely there's some cattle over there we'll head over shall we we'll check
04:14this creek as we come round and we'll head off away over towards those cattle okay nice one
04:17the marshland changes throughout the year providing a diverse diet for a thousand cattle
04:28but 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
04:43the sword is it's not rye grass it's not meadow fescues it's a mix of all different herbs and
04:49grass species and it changes from the the marsh bank out to the very pioneer grass species out on
04:54the sand we get what we call a marsh boost so the the animals have been out here they've been grazing
04:59all all different types of herbage so when we bring them back inside we'll find on that system we're
05:04actually getting just fantastic growth rates that you would you normally wouldn't expect in it
05:08incredible finishing system and you can see with these guys that are coming in here they're
05:12perfectly happy they're nice and curious they're yeah they're fit and ready to go and so gathering
05:17then you have to do that with the tides yes so each month we'll gather them all off and put them
05:24behind the marsh bank into safety for it's up to five days maybe that the tide might be high we take
05:29the opportunity to to fold that into the commercial aspect of what we do and start pulling off the
05:34biggest animals and it must be a bit of a logistical nightmare is it it can be yeah my team are already
05:39getting organized back in line getting all the quads fueled up and you're not getting out of it you've
05:43got some more work to do as soon as we get the nod we'll there we'll go and join in and I'm so
05:47pleased to be here it's fascinating I'll follow you no problem the marsh not only provides a rich
05:56diet for the cattle but their grazing also helps local wildlife thrive ornithologist Bart Donato works
06:03with Rory to keep an eye on how the two support each other hello lovely to meet you Bart my word
06:12what a day for it it is Cumbria is best it really is so tell me about your role here then we've been
06:20working with the estate for 20 years I think my predecessor's role before that trying to make the
06:26the farming work with the wildlife and get the you know the right swords all the way through the
06:31year for the birds this marsh is the most important marsh on the Solway for breeding birds it's fulfilling
06:38different roles for different species all the way through the year what sort of stuff have we got out
06:43here so the sort of headline is in the winter we have all the barnacle geese come down from Svalbard
06:48from March April time onwards the red shank are on here the lapwing are on here the oyster catchers
06:53on here the sky is alive with skylarks it's a beautiful spot in spring the icing on the cakes
06:58when you see the the young lapwing taking their first flight in late May early June then you can
07:04relax a bit and so when you've got the the nests out here the eggs the fledglings you definitely don't
07:09want a herd of a thousand cattle walking about no unless 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
07:19the chicks then you're not going to get enough of the grass taken off this year for it to
07:23be a good marsh next year it seems like a incredible balancing act that you've both got to try and work
07:29with 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 the whole farm landscape here very much about
07:40working hand in hand with the experts and and the wildlife and making the system work for you know
07:46both sides of the same coin do you get frustrated sometimes you think oh that's not quite right all the
07:51time but every year's different and it's it's a you know it's a constantly evolving story and
07:56species like lapwing and redshank have declined by 60 70 percent over the last 50 years but on the marsh
08:03their population stayed stable all the way through and every year we're coming out here and we're finding
08:08way to chicks at the end of the day and that's that's what's key you know the birds are getting
08:12their chicks away and that's absolutely critical so yeah it's working and it's working at scale which
08:17is just so fantastic so you would celebrate having the cattle here it wouldn't be the environment
08:21without no no at all it's it's absolutely essential to the managing the marsh as it is and it's been
08:27that way for you know hundreds of years I've never seen a landscape like it and with a nod from the team
08:35I can join in with a final leg of the herding the moment I've been waiting for don't leave me behind
08:43I could be out here for weeks
08:44moving the cattle to higher ground might be a regular job for a Ruri
09:01but for me it's a great experience even in the soggy Cumbrian weather
09:14I'm loving I'm living the dream
09:33to the southwest of Rockcliffe Marsh lies another vital habitat in this extraordinary stretch of coastline
09:41peatland the plants beneath my feet may not look dramatic but they're quietly doing some of the
09:48most important climate work in the UK this thick spongy layer of peat is crucial for locking away
09:56carbon preventing flooding and boosting biodiversity Wedham flow is part of the South Solway mosses some
10:05of the largest and most intact lowland peatlands in the UK peat was traditionally used for fuel and
10:13later for horticulture but its removal came at a price to the environment and the practice was stopped
10:19the centuries of peat extraction has damaged the land and removed water drying the peat senior nature
10:27reserve manager Emma Austin looks after the ongoing work to restore and preserve this peatland
10:33so paint a picture for me what was this like when when the extraction was going on here noisy busy
10:40with people a lot of local people were employed here there was a mixture of machinery cutting the
10:47peat quite efficiently and then latterly almost hoovering dried peat 2002 was when the commercial
10:54extraction stopped here and then what's followed really is trials and experiments in how do you
11:01rewet peat how do you restore peat how do you get the water levels back how do you get the vegetation
11:06back when you start with nothing Emma and the team have been working to rewet this landscape and some of
11:14the peat here is already on the mend now what is this this is so well I'm actually heading down and down and
11:22well we're in the middle of installing some water level sensors so um you've landed just at the right
11:28time to twist this is that how it works you can you can give that a go oh it goes down quite nice and
11:33easily right and now you need to bend your knees and not your back okay and get it out okay perfect
11:40that sounds good and healthy doesn't it are these modern routes these must be modern routes preserved in
11:45are they not they're old routes they're that well preserved yeah we know about sphagnum bog mosses
11:50which form this sort of living skin over our peat yeah really what we're looking at is the the pickled
11:57remains the pickled vegetation wow Emma's clever new kit detects tiny amounts of energy given off as the
12:05plants break down powering the monitor to give her continuous data on the water level in the peatland
12:11do they work this is this is our trial all we need to do is is push this in now um and we want
12:19it to go in so about half a meter is sticking up so between the two of us and if you've cleared out
12:25enough we'll be able to just push that in oh yeah a bit more I think that's about right the sensor down
12:33at the bottom actually measures the water pressure for goes well with the with the sensor stick then this
12:38could be the thing of the future great well all in place delighted to experience always new high-tech
12:45monitors thank you very much good job about six miles away is a peatland that's flourishing through
12:53continuous restoration work rspb campfield marsh is a blueprint for wedham flow and similar projects
13:01nationwide helping maintain this precious ecosystem is warden dan cropper that this looks really
13:11interesting it's kind of a prehistoric bog it looks like yeah so this is a really special part of the
13:16reserve sort of my favorite parts as well actually we call it troglans and it's sort of got this like
13:20almost like petrified forest look hasn't it I believe this is maybe excavated at some point for
13:25peat and trees are sort of colonized it died off and become dead standing dead wood we've started
13:30this year a project and to introduce the white-faced arter dragonfly to the site and I actually had a
13:35really exciting and sighting here in May so you actually saw one in this very spot I did yeah on
13:40this path just over there I've got a photograph of you oh yeah yeah yeah there we go so I see
13:46yeah so it's just sat on the short grass yeah and then is that red or is that orange it's sort of
13:50ready orange exactly like exactly what the book says ready ready orange and black yeah the males
13:55yeah and they're just really um charismatic actually they they come in and look kind of
13:59inspect you and they they land in front of you and it's a really rare species 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 lost in this country so we haven't had white-faced arters here and ever we don't think we
14:16haven't got any records of it very exciting then the presence of the white-faced arter suggests that
14:23this peatland is in top condition and it actually supports a further 12 species of dragonfly but
14:29maintaining the habitats of campfield marsh takes constant care Wow Dan this is remarkable it just
14:38completely opens up doesn't it and healthy bog in and amongst it absolutely yeah yeah loads of
14:44cotton grass and bog myrtle bog asphodel lovely smell to it yeah and the odd bit of birch as well
14:49which which is what we're here for we don't want too much of it and 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 up a lot
14:59of water don't they so they reduce the height of the water table if we if they're left and that
15:03releases carbon into the atmosphere that would have always be stored stored in the peat oh I see
15:08lovely and spongy isn't it you can feel the water underneath keeping the bog wet is everything removing
15:17birch saplings can help keep the water table high so the peat keeps building and those specialist bog
15:23plants have space to thrive okay let's have a look at this there we are and that's excellent fantastic
15:31I mean it does feel a bit weird to be going at nice healthy trees but it's always about the right tree
15:37in the right place I guess exactly yeah yeah how big's the bog and how much of this are you doing
15:43every year so the bog is 60 hectares that we look after we clear birch from two hectares every year so it
15:49was a 30-year cycle really as we all know from the news and everywhere else it's been probably one
15:55of the driest years in recent memory and yet it seems to be doing okay it's it's it's amazing how
16:02much peat bogs save us from flooding in the wet periods and they and they provide us with water
16:06when it's when it's dry they're absolutely crucial I was able to send water down from from from the bog
16:12onto the grasslands in August to the rest of the farm yeah wonderful right come on I'm gonna give this
16:17stump one more go good luck looking forward the proof that this work is paying off will be in
16:24the diverse species that continue to call this site home so close yes I can feel it there we are
16:31ah excellent work that put that on your mantelpiece there we go my peatland restoration trophy if down
16:38the line white-faced darters 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 Marlboro banks nature reserve two
16:59conservationists 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 seeing the
17:30rare nocturnal toad is no mean feat I've been working here for a few years and we do all this work
17:36and I've never seen an adult natterjack so it would be fantastic to see one and know that we're we're doing
17:41all the right things for them today Sophie hopes her luck will change because also on the dunes is
17:48Howard Innes vice chairman of the amphibian and reptile conservation trust the natterjack toad is
17:56probably the amphibian that we've got that is most vulnerable to extinction natterjack toads need to
18:02breed in very shallow water some years the breeding ponds that they choose can dry up you only find the types of
18:09pools that they like in certain habitats and sand dunes is probably one of the key habitats for
18:16for natterjack toads we must do what we can to maintain habitats like this so that they remain
18:22suitable for the natterjack one of the main challenges that we have is the sand dune system
18:30is really dynamic and the sand dunes if they're healthy they move and they don't move quickly but
18:35they do move over time so we want to try and stop them getting fully vegetated with lots of different
18:40species that will put their roots down and make them really solid and stable so we want some open
18:46sand we want some lower growing vegetation not the the really dense gorse that we have which
18:52stabilise the dunes and stop them from moving and stop all the species coming in and colonising
18:56some of the species that we have here that are exploiting them they don't have that elsewhere
19:03so we're providing quite a unique habitat for them we've got some very dense banks of gorse that are
19:10along the side of the site and we are trying to cut some rides through and we'll get a much more
19:15species-rich area we've got a fantastic small team of volunteers who who come and help out and they
19:21get stuck into everything that we ask them to and we couldn't function without them
19:25while Sophie's team tackle the gorse Howard has his own mission today I'm on a natterjack hunt
19:35there's a good reason why 2025 is an important year for us to come and look for natterjacks at this site
19:42when we count natterjacks what we typically count in the spring are the number of spawn strings and in
19:492022 there was a really good count made here of something like 70 different spawn strings the one
19:56thing I will be looking for are burrows in the open sand because once they've come out of the water they
20:02will make their way up to the sandy areas and they will dig a burrow and they'll use that burrow to spend
20:08the day in then come out at night to hunt but as it starts to get cooler in the autumn they'll eventually
20:14dig that burrow deeper and that's where they'll spend the winter the class of 22's offspring are
20:21now old enough to breed themselves but despite having a license to handle them there's no guarantee
20:27Howard will find any of these vulnerable creatures while his search continues Sophie recruits additional
20:35help for her gorse clearing we have eight belted galloway here on site as well and we call them
20:44our conservation grazing team and and they are really vital to the management of the site not
20:50only do they eat some of the the grasses and things and keep the vegetation lower but by their nature they
20:55are turning the ground over looking for natterjacks is always a challenge but it is always a great
21:03thrill you never lose that thrill of coming across something that is such a pretty little animal and
21:08is so rare so yeah you never lose that thrill it's fantastic so we've got howard here today and I'm
21:14really excited to see how he's getting on
21:28bingo
21:33so this is definitely one of this year's toads
21:37so this would have come out of the pond probably a month or so ago
21:41and they they feed quickly so quite quickly
21:46they get to this sort of size and they're preparing now to hibernate so it won't be long
21:51before this chap retreats into a burrow to spend the winter and you can see that beautiful yellow stripe
21:57which is typical of a natterjack
22:00so yes a 2025 toadlet which is wonderful to see
22:11look 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 seeing the adults on site and being with howard and and learning from his his skills and
22:34his handling 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 really are
23:05a cracking little amphibian love them
23:15now before i traveled north to the solway coast i was busy doing a bit of training back on my farm
23:22in the cotswolds across the country the sheepdog trialing season is in full swing and i've been learning
23:30what it takes to swap farming for the trial field the country's best sheepdogs and handlers
23:38work at a level few can match but this isn't just performance it's the same sharp instinct and precise
23:44control that's vital every day for moving stock and managing the land good girl that'll do so
23:52gwen's a really lovely dog her and i work well together she's one of the best i've ever had really
23:58but i'd really like to know what she's capable of and what i can do to sort of hone my skills to get
24:04the best out of her and so to do that what i've done is invited well one of the best in the business
24:11to give me some lessons to find out what's in her tank and what i can do to make her better
24:18right sheep are in the pen i'll go meet them come on then
24:21last year ben smith was the only english handler to make it through to the toughest sheepdog trialing
24:28event in the calendar the international supreme hear that whistle amazing skill to get a dog to
24:38understand that and teaching the dog what the commands mean ben's brought along his partner lisa
24:45keisel seabird also a national competitor she'll really put gwen and i through our paces you're
24:51happy with those little ones lisa we're starting by marking out a little training course in this field
24:57and they've got to be seven yards apart okay let's make them 20 yards for me no you'll be fine we'll make
25:04yours three so it's cones trees and whatever else ben can throw at me all lined up to test my handling
25:11skills drop the sheep out there so we'll do a little out run yes a fetch straight as we can
25:17through the center of them yes around the back of us yes this will be the drive yeah cross drive will
25:22be across around the back of the tree back to our feet and then a split well i might as well go home
25:27now now easy before gwen and i take to the field lisa's running the course with her dog ben
25:37while the other ben gives me a much needed crash course in trialing
25:43on 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 say 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
26:32the 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
26:51able to control a dog is that just a lovely feeling yeah it is it is really good um i really enjoy
26:56working them and um he's really responsive and he doesn't really fight me so that's the type of dog
27:02i like you know he's just he wants to work with me we swapped the sheep so the others can catch their
27:09breath and 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
27:21layer down create a bit of gap yeah and then start again good luck are we
27:28so going 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
27:40that'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 trailer 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
28:03to do 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 so what do you do when they split like that come by that's
28:12where you've got 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
28:22they even go around us fairly neatly and off towards the second gate so far it's mostly been
28:33the sheep testing me but now gwen's decided my commands aren't worth listening to gwen come by
28:40right stand stand so this is where sometimes so so now she'll want to go to the right yeah because i
28:46want her natural thing is wants to go round but i want her to come to the left yeah if you were in a
28:50training situation you do a lot of them that she doesn't want to do gwen soon settles down and shows
28:55a bit of patience you're getting the gate perfect we even get some good fortune at the second gate
29:00so you can let her cross drive now to be honest the sheep the sheep have helped you nicely
29:05just watch she doesn't drift to the front because that's what she naturally wants to do
29:11come by come by but then straight back into trouble she's good there though she's doing the best
29:17can without being nasty and that's the best ability of a dog when you get that bit of gap
29:21they flow off her stand well she's not listening to me at all yeah no we'll let you off you go
29:28around either tree yeah steady but with my right hand command still failing the trees are out of reach
29:36altogether she's completely lost the plot she's uh she's just feeling the pressure a little bit our way
29:41maybe bring him back and try and do his shed now a nice clean split of the sheep is our last chance
29:50to impress ben and lisa i'll just do this shed yeah stand stand stand stand come by stand stand yeah yeah
30:00yeah yeah gwen gwen gwen yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah that'll do that'll do that'll do well very
30:08very average i have to say back to the back to the drawing board but she had a bad packet and she's
30:13tried her best if you put a couple of months working and and that you would go out and you would get
30:19around the track course it's just homing everything in it's like tightening everything up and a little bit
30:23better stop and finesse so she came to you how long before you had a shortage you reckon if i had her a
30:29month she would be clean she would be stopping yeah you know the the finesse would be on i would
30:34say in a month so nine times out of ten it's down to the person not the dog oh nine and a half it's
30:39easier to blame the dog sometimes absolutely for my final lesson of the day ben's giving me a master
30:47class showing me what his collie roy can do he's just earned a place on the international team at the
30:54english national it's moving those sheep straight away absolutely brilliant every time ben seems
31:04to whistle the dog will move left right onwards slow down almost robotic
31:09it's a skill it's a job but it's also an art eight down the competition is tough but ben's hoping
31:30his run at the internationals will be good enough to land him a place at the supreme for the second year
31:36running for me if the international is the big big goal yeah but it's a big ask big big ask yeah
31:46well good luck thank you very much thank you lisa thank you the action doesn't stop here next week
31:53we'll have all the highlights from the international supreme taking place at the historic brinquennolt estate
31:59near wrexham and in two weeks time it's our country file ramble for children in need
32:10here's john and pudsy to tell us more let's get ready to ramble the country file ramble for bbc
32:18children in need 2025 will be on your screens on the 5th of october
32:23well putsy i'm told that you have organized a very special location for this year's ramble
32:32what details are in here are they
32:35all 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 children like alissa
33:06your little you can do all on you listen is very full on she's very bubbly
33:19i love musicals my favorite greatest showman but i also like wicked and matilda
33:2710-year-old alissa lives in newport south wales with her dad philip
33:31she was always dancing and singing she never can't stay still for longer than five minutes
33:39alissa has her mum christine to thank for her love of musicals and the fun things in life
33:47i think i'm throwing more to my mum we're both a bit silly
33:53i've got the same hair as her which is one thing i always get complimented on you've got your dad's
33:58size but you've got your mummies here and 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 loved 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 hospital
34:39and we was in a room three of us was there doctor come in
34:42and she said you know can your daughter leave and go with the nurse and then we thought oh something's
34:49not good and um doctor then told us we think you've got liver cancer christine was eventually diagnosed
35:02with bile duct cancer 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 alissa 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
35:58we went to see a lady called elaine so she talked to us we said how do we tell our daughter that her mum
36:08is going to 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 the best thing to do is just tell her make a date stick to the date
36:30and just tell her sooner the better and so we did it felt like the world was gonna end
36:41i didn't know what to do and 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
37:10for one-to-one support hi nice to see you i met elaine and she was really nice to me because like
37:17i felt like somebody i could talk to so we said last time didn't we that we were gonna do a memory
37:24box 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 let's just your memory box
37:58is absolutely gorgeous i could tell elaine and she would be able to like have a solution
38:06which comforted me knowing that she knew what to do
38:12i remember you doing that you made that didn't you yes and i made that here and there yeah
38:17i went a bit sticker overload yeah and did mum like it yeah she loved it elaine would explain to her
38:25that you know her mum had a cancer it wasn't her mum's fault you know and you've got to enjoy the time
38:34with your mum because we don't know how long she's got in september 2024 elissa and her family's world
38:44turned upside down when christine passed away elissa got to do one very important last performance
38:51for her mum doing the funeral preparations we had to choose three songs for the funeral
38:58and um my mum said oh why don't you record elissa singing castle and the cloud it was called castle
39:08and cloud it was from les mishrabel and it was um we chose it because it felt like we could represent
39:16me and them as the characters and we did change one lyric which was from cosette's name to my name
39:23because we thought that made it feel more meaningful
39:32you know she loved being a mum she loved being with her daughter and um she loved watching her perform
39:47so is that going to go in your memory box yes yeah you've got loads of things after the funeral
39:57the unicorn service 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 from
40:11my experiences i felt not so alone anymore because i felt like there were other kids and it felt comforting
40:18to know i wasn't the only one and i wasn't alone many many young people with the extra support like the
40:28unicorn service do better in the long run they do better in being able to see a future without feeling
40:37that the loss is defining their future alissa kind of got through it how she did the
40:44unicorn service they kind of taught her that you still gotta have a life you still gotta make your
40:50journey and alissa really took that on board and she did she just carried on and we asked did she miss
40:58a moment she said no because she's always in my heart i think about her often and i feel like
41:05she's in a better place she's not in pain anymore and 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 children
41:41in need by scanning the qr code on your screen right now or head to bbc.co.uk forward slash country farm
41:50or to donate 5 10 20 30 or 40 pounds text the word 5 10 20 30 or 40 to 70705
42:06text will cost your donation amount plus your standard network message charge and a hundred percent of
42:12your donation will go to bbc children in need you must be 16 or over and please ask the bill
42:20payer's 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
42:47i've crossed over to the 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 the thing across the main bit of wood is it yeah that's wood is it nice wood yeah
43:53and then this is to catch what what are you fishing for we're fishing for salmon and sea trout and how
43:58long have 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 half net building i've got a little one here i started for you okay so you can
44:38have a go at this so you get this this is your kyle you put you over the kyle so every mesh is exactly
44:44the same pull it down tight then pinch it with your fingertips flick it over to the right come up through
44:51between the two bars pull down but keep it tight and then pull so as a knot is there so it doesn't slip
44:59that's not going to slip right i'd like to do an extra demonstration of how hard it actually is
45:04even though you've made it look so easy so so you pick it up from underneath up through there yeah
45:09up through there around the back of the kyle you've got to keep it on the back of the kyle pull down on
45:13the back of the kyle yeah pull down ah now i've got a gap catch it hold that on there further up no no
45:18right up on there right up on there right up on there with your back finger as well oh back finger as
45:23well okay and now over no no flick flick flick don't forget this way i don't consider myself to be
45:28particularly slow but this is not going it's because you're a lefty 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
46:09beam will float okay excellent last minute safety advice this is brilliant here we go and to think i
46:16mean give or take a few modern materials but this is a site two guys going down there with their beams to
46:22fish it'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 but what's the
46:45weather 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 millimeters
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
47:40in the northern isles but with clearing skies elsewhere temperatures are going to fall away
47:45it is going to be a chilly night quite widely across the country in southern scotland northern
47:49england rural parts we could see temperatures just below freezing touch of frost not out of the question
47:55first thing tomorrow morning we still keep the risk of some showers across the northern isles and
48:00that brisk breeze here driving in more clouds through scotland and northern ireland but elsewhere
48:05there'll be a lot of dry settled sunny weather to come temperatures a little bit subdued though
48:10circulating around that high pressure with that northwesterly wind top temperatures of 12 to 16
48:15degrees the air at the moment is originating from the arctic now it's likely that the high pressure
48:21continues to drift its way steadily eastward through tuesday the isobars open up a good deal of quiet
48:27weather set to continue fog could be an issue first thing in the morning it'll be slow to clear but it
48:32should do so by lunchtime and into the afternoon we keep that dry theme for many so not a bad day
48:38in prospect again those temperatures still a little bit below par for this time of year we're likely to
48:44see highs of 14 to 17 degrees now as we move out of tuesday into wednesday subtle change in wind
48:50direction could mean we could see a few isolated showers with that southeasterly wind across essex and
48:57kent and there is a weakening frontal system trying to push in to the far northwest of scotland particularly
49:03the western isles but at the moment there will continue to be some dry weather and a degree also
49:08warmer with each day as we go through the week those temperatures will start to creep back up a little
49:14so into thursday again quite dry but more of a breeze and this time coming from the south there should
49:19be a little more cloud as well around but essentially a dry quiet theme is set to continue
49:25for many and temperatures a little widely warmer as that southerly winds so 16 degrees in aberdeen
49:3118 degrees in london now as we move into friday there's a weather front trying to push in from the
49:38atlantic this could contain the remnants of ex-hurricane gabriel so a lot of uncertainty at the moment
49:44about what's going to happen towards the end of the week but some of that rain could be quite heavy
49:49if it gradually moves in from the west but on the whole most of us should stay fine and dry on friday
49:55but there's a potential for that rain to arrive in from the weekend and again those temperatures
50:00around 15 to 18 degrees the high so as we move out of friday into saturday there could be some wetter
50:07weather for some but it's not a write-off as we go through the week ahead a lot of dry fine weather
50:13around that's how it's looking whatever you're doing make sure you enjoy your week let's go back
50:18to joe shall we and his fishing take care
50:36i'm on the scottish side of the solway firth for my first ever huffnet fishing experience i don't
50:41you 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
50:52solway's 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 away
51:11and this always changes all the time so you've got the bedrock but you've got the sand on top and
51:16that's always in a state of flux so it depends where the main channel is this year it's very
51:21close into the scotch 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 side
51:32right it's fascinating how much and how sort of 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
51:57that's it that's it now you're going to pull the tails off this is the tail that's it so you've got
52:06one tail out take your shallow tail out and then this is the shallow tail let's just it's actually a
52:12lot longer than i thought it would be okay yeah you need enough room for the fish to get in and and not
52:17be able to turn so you rest against your shoulder because you're going to take a bit of net with your
52:22left fingers yeah and on the right hand side you're going to take some net in your right hand
52:26fingers oh i see so the idea is that if a fish swims in you'll feel a pull on the 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
52:40the front left hand over the front and up it comes that's it and 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 fingers on that i'm up against
52:57it because i've got my shoulders here yeah i'm doing this i feel a pull and i step back 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
53:20basically just a hobby with people that are interested in fishing but particularly in the
53:25tradition of the annan half nets and the royal charter do you have any idea how many are doing
53:29it here now there's about 15 license holders but there's only a handful that do it regularly yeah
53:34gosh and what would it been in its heyday do you think all the way up the sawway on both sides
53:39there would have been half netting gosh so you could have had in any one day you could have had over
53:44100 people out fishing wow wow wow so that is some significant decline it is back in the day
53:51the nets and the sawway provided a lot of the food for britain so the fish would be sent down to
53:57billingsgate market in london yeah but once farm fishing came in the price dropped so commercial nets
54:05the steak nets they had less influence but also then that's when the wild fish number started to
54:13decline as well george that you spoke to earlier is one of the youngest half netters tony's the oldest
54:20i'm in my 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 yeah
54:53um the thing that annoys us is that the regulation is mainly designed for anglers the two approaches
55:04for catching salmon differ past research suggests that catch and release angling may result in a
55:10higher mortality rate than half netting with that in mind john believes he should be able to keep a
55:15small percentage of the salmon he catches with angling you have to catch the fish hook it
55:22play 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 okay i suppose the government would say it's better for
56:00them to work on making sure there's no mortality in angling rather than allowing other fisheries like
56:06the half net fishery to kill well they encourage good um practice in catch and release on the river
56:12but regardless of that there's still going to be some mortality on the river
56:15it feels slightly meditative doesn't it when you're just sort of here with both arms up
56:23despite not being able to keep any salmon tony still gets a thrill from being out here
56:29they decline the salmon in the sea top there's no doubt about it there's no doubt about it they've
56:33declined tremendously 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
56:47this earlier but when was the last time you caught a fish about three weeks ago are you going to keep
56:53going for as long as you can oh yes yes things that you see it's amazing all right well like we've seen
57:00deer on the shore swimming across the sawway we've seen hares we've seen porpoise and dolphins you know
57:06it's absolutely terrific it's a magical part of the world isn't it yeah it is it really is
57:12i could happily fish with john and tony all day but i know the tides on the way in again
57:18hopefully not for the last time for this age-old practice
57:30well joe what a day what a landscape and i've been doing some pretty extreme farming yeah we've both been
57:35immersed in it i think it's fair to say although i'm pleased to be back on firm land and not
57:38still being a bit chilly in the fur i'm pleased too now next week matt and charlotte will be in
57:44wrexham 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 actually
57:55walks onto the field then i start hyperventilating there's two there she's got them she's got them
58:02good good work oh she's got a bit well done joe
58:10right get this group in the pen job done come on come on come on come by laid out
58:17hope to see you then see you then bye-bye now i'm sorry there's no fish for dinner maybe the
58:25farmer's got something we can i'm sure he's got a joint to beef there we go come on
58:37dream away this sunday unwind and let radio through soothe your soul on sounds
58:43bbc 2 dives into the deep ocean prepare to enter the kingdom with sir david attenborough at 10 past
58:50eight and he's road show next on bbc one
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