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00:00Oh, it's harder than it looks.
00:02How long does it usually take you to get a stone like this up?
00:05Ten seconds.
00:08What are you saying about me, David?
00:09It's all right, it's OK.
00:44The Cotswolds is known for its honey-coloured villages and beautiful rural landscapes.
00:50But conserving what makes this region so special is no small task.
00:55It certainly isn't.
00:56And as the Cotswolds celebrates its 60th anniversary as a designated national landscape,
01:03we're here to explore just what it takes to protect its unique heritage, its beauty and its way of life.
01:16The Cotswolds is the largest of the UK's designated national landscapes.
01:22Stretching from Bath, North East Somerset and Wiltshire in the south, through Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire,
01:28and up to Warwickshire and Worcestershire at its northernmost reaches.
01:32From preserving its heritage skills and rural architecture to conserving landscapes for local agriculture and wildlife,
01:41the people who live here are doing their bit to make sure this beautiful place keeps thriving.
01:49Well, I know that farming has its absolute downs, but what a glorious place to work, isn't it?
01:55Yeah, absolutely. We are very, very lucky to be farming in this part of the world.
02:00So it's a wrist flick?
02:02Yeah, so it's kind of...
02:03Oh!
02:04There you go.
02:05Explosive!
02:05Just at the end. That's it. That's really good.
02:08What would that one be, then?
02:09I'll call it a cock, yes.
02:11Right, OK.
02:11I'll call this one a head.
02:13Yeah.
02:14Adam is also doing his bit, conserving some of the Cotswolds' rarest breeds.
02:20Oh, you're on it! You're on it!
02:23He's definitely all there.
02:24He's a big old boy, isn't he?
02:36Picture a Cotswold home and you're likely to conjure up a honey-coloured stone building with tall chimneys on a
02:43steep roof.
02:46Well, these roofs are made from a local stone, but the stone is rare.
02:50The skills used to create them are even rarer.
02:54And maintaining this look depends on a dwindling number of people.
03:03Today, I'm meeting one of the last few working to preserve one of the area's most recognisable features.
03:12James Maxwell has been producing these Cotswold roof tiles for four years at this quarry.
03:19It's not slate, is it? It's not the thin black slate that we sort of know?
03:22No, correct.
03:23Slate is actually a metamorphic rock and this is actually a sedimentary rock.
03:27It's actually a limestone, oolitic limestone, which dates back to the Jurassic period.
03:33So these tiles are actually between 160 and 170 million years old.
03:37Wow.
03:38You know, there is an abundance of limestone here in the Cotswolds.
03:42It is really quite heavy.
03:43I mean, each one of these pallets will weigh between sort of 400 and 600 kilos.
03:47Back in the day, and it dates back to the Roman era, they didn't have the local transportation set up.
03:52So the stone really stayed within the region, which is why the Cotswolds was built with this beautiful natural stone.
04:00And so how much do we have available for building work here?
04:03The quarry size here is about 11 acres in total, of which half of it has been quarried already.
04:10My predecessor, who was here for 20 years, spent nearly 20 years working on an acre of land.
04:15Right.
04:15So we've got five acres left.
04:17I think there'll be enough stone in my time to see us through.
04:20About 100 years.
04:21About 100 years, yeah.
04:22And then what happens?
04:23And then we run out and maybe we look to expand the quarry if we need to, but that's going
04:28to be way beyond my time.
04:29Well, it's amazing to see it all cut to size.
04:31You've got them ready for roofing, but it's a very specific technique, right, isn't it?
04:36Yeah. The whole process is really labour intensive.
04:39Yeah.
04:39And when a roofer lays a roof, they're laid in diminishing sizes.
04:43So the biggest tiles and the heaviest tiles are at the bottom.
04:46We usually start with the 24 inch.
04:49And I would incorporate every single size tile that I have all the way down to the six inches, which
04:53are at the top of the roof.
04:54And you get that nice diminishing sort of sizes going up the roof.
04:58We're really here, sort of guardians of the tradition to help preserve the history and heritage of this historic landscape,
05:05which is the Cotswolds.
05:06And what does that mean to you?
05:08Why is preserving that history and that heritage important?
05:10If you take away the history and the heritage of the Cotswold stone and replace it with other stuff, you
05:14sort of lose that unique Cotswold look and feel.
05:19Well, James, I'd love to see where this stone comes from, where the quarry is.
05:22Yeah, for sure. So we quarry up the top, so we'll take you up and we'll get your hands dirty.
05:25Great, yes.
05:26OK?
05:30Buried up to four metres beneath the surface, the quarry provides more than 75 tonnes of Cotswold tiles every year.
05:41Today, excavators are used to remove the larger slabs.
05:44But James is showing me how the stone used to be freed from the earth.
05:50Traditionally, all digging of stone would have been done by hand. So I'm going to introduce you to David, who
05:55has actually been with the company for over 20 years and loves nothing more than actually being up here with
06:01a pickaxe and digging away.
06:03Hi, David.
06:04Hello there, you all right?
06:05Yeah, I'm good. What are you up to?
06:07We're getting some stone out. It's hard work, especially in this weather, and there's techniques to using a pick. Down
06:14there, there's a seam.
06:15Right.
06:15And I'm going to put the pick into there and work me way, just tapping it like that, along the
06:22seam.
06:22OK.
06:23And once I hear the certain noise of separation, so I'll put it in and then I'll actually twist the
06:29pick. It's a little bit like a golf swing.
06:32I'm terrible at golf. I'm not good at it, but we'll give it a go.
06:36Get it in. Once you feel a little bit of movement, we'll just start twisting it.
06:43Right. You've seen there was a little bit of movement there, so we'll try that again. That's it.
06:47Oh!
06:48There was a little pop there.
06:49Yeah, a shudder.
06:52Oh, it's harder than it looks.
06:55There you go. You're getting there. That stone is lifting.
06:58How long does it usually take you to get a stone like this up?
07:00Oh, ten seconds.
07:07What are you saying about me, David?
07:09It's all right.
07:11You have 20 years at this and you'll master a technique.
07:15I can feel it moving.
07:18Oh, we have a lift off. We have a lift off.
07:22OK, good, good, good.
07:24Great, so we can go further in now.
07:27There we go.
07:27That's it.
07:30Do we need a massive stone now to get there?
07:33Can we just take it up?
07:34Right.
07:37And there you go.
07:38Wow!
07:38This, I mean, it's a solid piece, isn't it?
07:42And the wonderful thing is that this is 160 to 170 million years old.
07:46You're the first person to touch it since the dinosaurs roamed the land.
07:51That's an amazing thing to think about.
07:54And there's only two quarries where we're getting this Cotswold stone.
07:58Yeah, there are two quarries left in the Cotswolds that are producing any real quantity of stone,
08:03which, you know, is very durable.
08:05It's non-porous, so it's resilient to water and frost and weather, and it makes perfect rooftop.
08:14Next, the tiles are left to dry for a week and then brought to the hand-finishing room to be
08:19cut to size.
08:20Then their edges are beveled to strengthen them against frost and help rainwater run off.
08:26And to finish, each tile is drilled.
08:3327 miles up the road, the only other quarry to produce Cotswold stone tiles is working with roofer Dave Legg
08:40on an outhouse he's restoring.
08:42He's one of the few remaining specialist roofers keeping the tradition of stone roofing alive.
08:48The difference between these tiles and a normal tile is these are obviously more labour-intensive in terms of they're
08:56a lot heavier.
08:58Probably four or five times heavier.
09:01Working with these doesn't get monotonous because nothing's ever the same.
09:04And it's just a nice product to work with.
09:07A normal tile job this size would probably take you a couple of days.
09:12Whereas with stone, you know, you're probably looking at closer to a week, nine days.
09:18Having roofs like this is part of our heritage.
09:20So sometimes when we put a roof on, you can just simply scratch on a date.
09:34Yeah, so hopefully a roofer doing this trade will see that in a hundred years' time.
09:49The Cotswold Lakes
09:50Surrounding the Cotswold towns and villages, ancient woodlands, flower meadows and sprawling wetlands provide habitats for an abundance of wildlife.
10:02The Cotswold lakes on the borders of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire have one of the finest collections of bird species anywhere
10:10in the country.
10:11But this wildlife sanctuary didn't start off life as the thriving nature reserve that it is today.
10:22All 180 lakes here exist because of quarrying on an industrial scale.
10:29Two million tons of rock, sand and gravel are extracted here every year.
10:35And when the quarry pits are exhausted, they're left to revert to nature.
10:42The result is this wonderful lakeland. The task of preserving it for both wildlife and visitors falls to conservation and
10:52estates director Ben Wellborn and his team of volunteers.
10:59Hello Ben. Hi John.
11:00This is a very appropriate sign, isn't it?
11:03Here let us hide and seek, in flight and beak, in depth and read, nature's open book to read.
11:11And where's it going?
11:13Well, we rescued this from an old derelict sign and we thought it would be appropriate to mount it inside
11:19our reed hide, which we're doing a bit of restoration work on.
11:22Right, let's take it in.
11:24So when was it first built, this hide?
11:27This hide's about 20 years old.
11:28So this hide then dates back to the early days of the nature reserve here.
11:34It does, yeah. The nature reserve was created about 25 years ago.
11:40And now this place is in need of a bit of tender love and care.
11:44It is, yes. We've got a team of volunteers out the front here. Couldn't do without them, to be honest.
11:49And let's have a look at the view, shall we?
11:53Keep up the good work, guys.
11:54Yes, thank you.
11:55It's hard to believe, Ben, isn't it, that not all that long ago, this was a really busy gravel pit.
12:02That's right. And when we acquired the site, it was bare earth. There was no vegetation here at all.
12:07We spent a long time creating what you see now, including planting all these reeds by hand some 15, 16
12:13years ago, and look at it now.
12:16Yeah. If we want to target certain species, you do need to give it a bit of a kickstart.
12:20And the reeds were planted specifically to attract bittern, which are now breeding here.
12:25But I did say at the beginning that the lakes have got one of the finest collections of bird life
12:30anywhere in the UK. How can we can make that claim?
12:34Well, we undertake regular survey and monitoring, including some of the national surveys, such as the British Trust for Ornithology's
12:42breeding bird survey.
12:43And one of the grid squares covering this site actually has more breeding bird species than anywhere else in the
12:49country.
12:51What kind of wildlife can you see here, apart from the bitterns?
12:56Well, obviously, with all the wetland habitats, it attracts a lot of birds, lots of warblers, reed warbler, chetis warbler,
13:02and then some of the bigger water birds, waders.
13:05We've got great white egret breeding here, grey heron, little egret.
13:09And, of course, the dragonflies will be emerging from the water up the reed stems as well.
13:14And we've got otters here, beavers.
13:16We've got lots of otters, water voles, beavers are not far away.
13:21Give it a couple of years and I think they'll be happily colonising the Cotswold Lakes.
13:25Safeguarding the wildlife here is a very important part of your mission.
13:29But what about encouraging people?
13:33Yeah, well, it's really important that people value wildlife and the only way they're going to do that is by
13:37being able to engage with it.
13:39So, structures like this hide and other hides we have allow people to get close to nature.
13:44And it's only by doing that that they're really going to value it and protect it.
13:48You're quite close to the source of the Thames here, aren't you?
13:50Is it Thames water?
13:51In a way.
13:52So, all these lakes are fed by groundwater.
13:55And the groundwater filters through the gravel underneath our feet,
13:58which is all laid down by the ancient River Thames.
14:01Ah.
14:01So, it's actually all ground water.
14:04None of it has been pumped in or fed in.
14:07That's correct, yeah.
14:07All ground water.
14:08So, it's beautifully clean, filtered through the sand and gravel.
14:11Well, thank you very much, Ben.
14:12And guys, you can get back on your noisy restoration work now.
14:18Monitoring the health of the wildlife here isn't limited to bird counts.
14:24Because they need oxygen-rich waterways and lots of aquatic insects to feed on,
14:30dragonflies and damselflies are another key factor.
14:36Biodiversity field officer Kim Milsom is keeping a close eye on the numbers.
14:42Hi, Kim. Hello. Hello, John.
14:44Can I join your survey today?
14:46You certainly can. You're very welcome.
14:48I mean, I've seen loads and loads of blue damselflies already.
14:52How do you do a survey of them when there are so many?
14:54Most of the blue ones you're seeing are common blues
14:57and there are many, many thousands of them,
14:59so you have to make sensible estimates.
15:01If you try to count each one, you'd never get anywhere.
15:03Now, it's a really good day for them today, isn't it?
15:05Yeah, it's a beautiful hot day.
15:07There are lots of different types, aren't there,
15:09of both dragonflies and damselflies?
15:12Yeah.
15:13How many different ones have you got here?
15:14Around this reserve in a normal year,
15:17we'd probably get about 25 different species.
15:20Some come out early in the year, some later.
15:23And they've spent a lot of their lives underwater, don't they?
15:27Yeah, when we see them flying around,
15:29which might only be for a few weeks,
15:30that's a very short part of their life.
15:32The eggs hatch out underwater, and for most species,
15:36the nymph, the larvae, are underwater for a year or two.
15:40Wow.
15:40The nymph climbs up usually a wooden structure or reed stem,
15:44and then gradually hatches out on dry land.
15:47What's that word over there?
15:49That, John, is a banded demoiselle.
15:52That's one of the larger damselflies.
15:55The males have a beautiful, almost metallic blue colour
15:59with a big band on the wing.
16:00The females are a green metallic colour.
16:03Are they quite rare?
16:05No, where they've got suitable habitat,
16:07they're actually quite common.
16:08Along some of the rivers that flow through the water park,
16:11you can see thousands of them at times.
16:14And there's quite...
16:14Any dragonflies around?
16:16Yeah, there's some four-spotted chasers going past.
16:20There's one that landed on the reed stem up there.
16:22I can see why four-spot and obviously chasing. Chasing what?
16:26Ha! Chasing prey, usually.
16:28Uh-huh.
16:28There's another dragonfly just landed on the stem just here.
16:32I think a lot of people don't really know the difference
16:34between a dragonfly and a damselfly.
16:37The dragonflies, if they land, they're bigger in most cases,
16:41and they hold their wings straight out from the body.
16:44What, like an aeroplane?
16:45Like an aeroplane.
16:46Damselflies, nearly all of the species,
16:48hold their wings folded above their back.
16:50There are exceptions, but generally,
16:53if it holds its wings out and it looks bigger,
16:55it's a dragonfly.
16:57Is that a damselfly over there?
16:59That's a tandem pair, or a mating pair,
17:02of blue-tailed damsels.
17:04They have a blue tip to the tail,
17:06but the body, the thorax,
17:08actually comes in four different colours, John.
17:11Wow!
17:11Which is unusual.
17:13It's actually a wonderful thing to see them, isn't it?
17:16They make you feel good.
17:18I love watching them.
17:19I love wildlife in general, I love nature,
17:21so to be somewhere like this where you can see so much,
17:25including all the common blues, yeah, it's fantastic.
17:28There's two on one reed there.
17:30Yeah, two four-spotted chasers together.
17:32Yeah.
17:33So we seem to see no shortage of four-spotted chasers
17:37and long blue damselflies.
17:40Yeah, everything seems to be doing really well.
17:43Very happy with it.
17:44Delighted to be involved with checking what we've got.
17:59The Cotswolds are undeniably beautiful,
18:03but easy accessibility from major cities,
18:06combined with appearances in films
18:08and the powerful pull of social media,
18:11means that the area often now attracts more visitors
18:14than its infrastructure can comfortably support.
18:18Part of the problem is that most of its 35 million visitors a year
18:23arrive by road
18:24and tend to congregate in just a handful of its villages.
18:30Local retired teacher Peter Hill
18:32leads sustainable cycling tours of the Cotswolds,
18:35guiding visitors through the area's quieter, lesser-known corners.
18:42Today, I'm planning a route based on my 40 years of riding here.
18:46I know all the back roads, I know the quietest ways
18:48to link all the interesting places together
18:50and to really try and avoid those honeypot places
18:53that are on everyone else's itinerary.
18:57The tourist trails become a little bit over-commercialised in some areas
19:00and if you get off it, there's some fantastic places
19:04which are much nicer
19:05and you're feeding back into the local economy
19:07and just keeping the whole thing sustainable
19:09for generations to come.
19:13I think sustainability is important.
19:16With electric bikes, we can enjoy the countryside without spoiling it.
19:20They make the countryside accessible for so many people,
19:23you don't have to be Bradley Wiggins to enjoy the big hills here.
19:30There's 810 square miles of landscape to enjoy.
19:33Every single day is different.
19:35The flowers change in the grass verges,
19:37different birds in the sky throughout the season
19:39and really, it's the best office in the world.
19:44We don't want tourists to avoid the area.
19:47There's a welcome here for everyone.
19:48It's just really important that people spread themselves out.
19:51The people responsible for bringing them here
19:53need to think carefully about where the best places are.
19:57I try and explain the landscape to people,
20:00not just to look at it,
20:01to explain why it's here
20:03and how the village has got to be what they are today.
20:10This is a place really dear to my heart.
20:12It's not Burford.
20:13It's not Bybury.
20:14It's not bought on the water.
20:15It's just a genuine little Cotswold village.
20:20People just need to think a bit more creatively.
20:22Look at the maps, look at the internet
20:24and get out and explore the lovely places that you can do
20:27and really experience the authentic Cotswolds
20:29that are still here for people to enjoy today.
20:33The authentic Cotswolds is based on the people
20:36that kind of live and work here.
20:37It is a working landscape.
20:39It's a farming landscape.
20:40There are lots of tiny villages where lots of people still work
20:43and enjoy living here.
20:45They interact.
20:46We have village boats.
20:47They're all going down the village pub.
20:48They use the same cafes.
20:50That's what you want to come and see
20:51because that is what the Cotswolds is all about.
20:59I love bringing tourists to places like this
21:01because it's truly authentic
21:02and of course it shares the love.
21:05Their spend helps the local economy
21:06and keeps up local employment.
21:10I really hope that the Cotswolds retains its authenticity.
21:13Not too many big attractions being built,
21:16spreading the load across the whole area
21:17so that future generations will really enjoy
21:20what we've currently got.
21:37rolling hills, limestone grassland and endless pastures.
21:43The Cotswolds has been crafted by agriculture, farming and livestock over millennia.
21:49Every generation of farmer have left their mark here,
21:52whether it's ancient burial mounds like this one
21:55or the medieval wool trade.
21:57This landscape has been shaped by the people that farm it
22:01and the animals that graze it.
22:04Modern farming might look very different from the world of our ancestors,
22:08but traces of the people who worked these hills centuries ago
22:12are still easy to find.
22:14I've lived and worked on this farm pretty much all my life
22:18and everywhere I look or walk is a constant reminder
22:21about how people have shaped this landscape.
22:24Walking around some of the fields, I've picked up these arrowheads
22:28that could date back, well, Neolithic or before.
22:32So it could be 5,000 to 8,000 years ago.
22:37And here they would have had their crops and their animals and their houses.
22:43They'd have been working the land to survive,
22:46pretty much just like I am now, trying to make a living, make a go of it.
22:51And this landscape is just built off the back of farming and farmers
22:58and the people that have tended it and cared for it.
23:01Through periods of history, the landscape has changed,
23:04the woodland has been cleared, the fields have changed shape,
23:08the crops are different to what was grown in the past
23:11and, of course, the livestock.
23:14In the medieval period, there were thousands of sheep
23:17and that's what gave the Cotswold Hills its name.
23:21A sheep cot is an enclosure on a rolling hill, a wold.
23:26Many of the traditional Cotswold breeds
23:28that once defined these hills are now considered rare,
23:31but some still have a role to play.
23:34So these beautiful Cotswold sheep
23:37have been grazed in the Cotswold Hills here for centuries
23:40and it's thought that they were introduced by the Romans.
23:43When the Romans got here, we had our little northern short-tailed sheep,
23:46things like the North Ronaldsay and the Shetland, as we see today.
23:49And they brought with them these great big woolly sheep,
23:51because there was plenty of meat and plenty of wool
23:53to feed and clothe the Roman legions.
23:56And it was the wool that really made them famous.
23:59During the medieval period, that wool was incredibly valuable
24:02and the wool trade was huge in the UK.
24:06So now it's the time of year that sheep need to be shorn.
24:09And I'm going to get these Cotswolds in, the shearers here,
24:12and we'll get the wool off them and take a closer look at it.
24:15Dog's in the trough. Gwen, here, are we.
24:21Once the sheep are in the sheds, they join the back of the queue
24:24to be shorn along with our younger Cotswolds.
24:29Hi, Henry. Hello.
24:32So, Henry here is a contract shearer.
24:33He's shearing all of our Cotswolds today and a few others.
24:37Shearing technique is quite a skill, quite an art.
24:42And Cotswolds are quite difficult to shear.
24:45They're quite a big sheep, but they've got wool right down their legs,
24:49all over the tops of their heads.
24:51Can be fairly tricky, but produce a beautiful fleece.
24:55And this wool was incredibly valuable.
24:58The wealth made by the wool barons and the wool traders
25:02and the farmers from the Cotswolds sheep was just immense.
25:05So much that it paid for the manor houses and wool churches
25:09and villages around the Cotswolds hills.
25:14Very good, Henry.
25:17So the fleece, beautifully shorn, pick it up by the back legs
25:21and then throw it onto the table.
25:24And there it is.
25:26And so, you always roll the fleece up in the same way.
25:32So you go from the outside of the fleece to the inside, like that.
25:39Any dirty bits like this, they call it skirting.
25:42They take off.
25:44Because each fleece is braided at the wool board
25:47and you get paid per fleece.
25:53There it is, one Cotswold fleece.
25:56And an adult, so a mature ewe,
26:00her fleece would weigh between five and ten kilos.
26:04Most commercial breeds would be two, two and a half kilos.
26:08And if you look at this, what we're after
26:13is a long staple.
26:16So the length of the wool is known as a staple.
26:19And then if you pull it apart, you can see those fine fibres.
26:25Absolutely beautiful.
26:26And it's silky.
26:28Other breeds would have wool that's quite coarse,
26:31better for carpet and matting.
26:32But this is soft.
26:34It's beautiful and fine.
26:38While Henry gets on with the rest,
26:40I'm off to collect our Cotswold ram.
26:43He's called Fandango.
26:46And he's really smart.
26:49He's in with two Hebrideans.
26:51They're four-horned hebs.
26:54They come two or four-horned.
26:55Amazing heads on them.
26:57But look at the difference in size.
26:59So that's a mature Hebridean ram next to a mature Cotswold.
27:04So that's the sort of sheep that would have been here pre-Romans
27:07or something similar.
27:09There we are, mate.
27:11Very well behaved, aren't you?
27:13Let's go and get your winter coat off.
27:17Shearing ewes is hard graft,
27:19but Fandango's a different beast altogether.
27:21Oh, you're on it.
27:23You're on it.
27:23Weighing in at over 180 kilograms.
27:27He's definitely all there.
27:28He's a big old boy, isn't he?
27:32That's a bit with the Cotswold
27:35that shearers don't really like.
27:36They've got wool in every single nook and cranny
27:38all under their armpits and round their shoulders.
27:45That's it.
27:47Good old Fandango.
27:51What a good boy.
27:54Isn't that a smart job?
27:56Well done, Harry.
27:56That's absolutely beautiful.
27:58And leaving this traditional topknot on his head
28:03so that the breeders can see he is actually
28:06a traditional Cotswold.
28:09Although his trim is a bit more complicated,
28:12Fandango's fleece is the biggest we'll get on the farm all year.
28:16Oh, there's some weight in that.
28:18I bet that weighs 15 kilos.
28:22The wonderful thing about wool
28:24is that it grows on the sheep's backs every year
28:27and it's fully biodegradable
28:30because it's a natural product.
28:32And actually, if I could make more from wool,
28:35I could bring the Cotswolds, or certainly my farm,
28:38back to how it ought to be,
28:39growing grass and grazing sheep,
28:42producing beautiful wool.
28:44And if I'm going to be producing beautiful wool,
28:48it might as well be from the Cotswold.
28:53Henry's got plenty of shearing to get on with.
28:56But these sheep aren't the only things on the farm
28:59that survive from the Cotswolds' medieval heyday.
29:03So another feature of farming that was going on
29:06when the Cotswolds' sheep were booming in the medieval times
29:09was this ridge and furrow.
29:11And you can see the ridges in this undulating field.
29:14So they'd have grown food on the ridges,
29:16the water would have drained in the furrows.
29:18And another breed that was around at the same time as the Cotswolds
29:22in those medieval periods was the Gloucesters.
29:25And I've got a Gloucester bull over here
29:27that I've got to put in with the cows.
29:31Gloucester cattle are our county breed.
29:33Oh, it's going that way.
29:36They've been around in these parts since at least the 13th century.
29:41So this is my Gloucester bull.
29:44In medieval times there were lots of them, and dual purpose.
29:47So they were pulling the plough, but they were also producing milk and beef.
29:52So a tri-purpose really.
29:55And they went into decline late 60s, early 70s
29:59because we were then importing continental beef animals
30:03that outclass them in the beef world.
30:05And also we were milking the black and white Friesian
30:09and then the Holstein, the milk producing athletes.
30:11And the Gloucester just couldn't keep up on the beef front
30:13or on the dairy front.
30:15But now they're becoming more popular again.
30:19I need to put him with his wives.
30:21I expect he's keen to get to them.
30:22I'll open the gate and let him run across the paddock and say hello.
30:31Well, he's keen. He's seen his cows now.
30:35Looking after these rare breeds, they're not just antiques on four legs we're trying to preserve.
30:41They've got a purpose in modern day farming.
30:43So the Gloucester cattle, you know, they produce good quality beef and milk off fairly rough pasture.
30:49So very low input for a good output that's giving a premium product.
30:53So there's definitely a place for the modern farmer to keep them.
30:58But what's really lovely having the Cotswold sheep and the Gloucester cattle that have been around for centuries on this
31:06farm.
31:07There's lots of modern stuff going on, our amazing farm buildings and technology and our machines that people from medieval
31:13farming times wouldn't recognise at all.
31:15But there are bits that they would just fit straight back into.
31:22And as a farmer, we're just here for a very short period of time and hopefully we'll leave the farm,
31:29the land and the animals in a better place than when we found them.
31:45Everywhere we go on Countryfile, we meet people with a real passion for the countryside.
31:49And now we're looking for the next generation of them.
31:57Countryfile are in search of a young countryside champion for the BBC Food and Farming Awards 2026.
32:04It might be a young farmer trying out new ideas to boost yields or farm more sustainably.
32:10A young naturalist helping to protect local wildlife.
32:14Or a volunteer opening up opportunities for others to experience the countryside.
32:19However they're making a difference, we'd love to hear their story.
32:25So if you or someone you know is aged between 16 and 24 and passionate about improving the British countryside,
32:31then please get in touch.
32:33To nominate for the Countryfile Young Countryside Champion, go to bbc.co.uk forward slash food awards, where you can
32:41also find the terms and privacy notice.
32:43Nominations close at midday on Monday the 15th of June 2026.
32:49Good luck.
32:59We're exploring the conservation of the Cotswolds landscape.
33:05Dry stone walls are one of its really distinctive features with their beautifully symmetrical bases and their higgledy-piggledy coping
33:14stones.
33:14They stretch for well over three and a half thousand miles right across this national landscape.
33:24Most of the walls date back to the 18th and 19th centuries, when open land was enclosed for agriculture, creating
33:33the distinctive patchwork of fields that defined the Cotswold countryside.
33:37Much of the Cotswold Way National Trail is lined with stone walls, and on top of Leckhampton Hill, a volunteer
33:47group led by 91-year-old veteran stonewaller John Heathcott is building a section in the traditional local style.
33:57Hello John.
33:58Hello.
34:00Laying the next few inches of foundation stones for the walls.
34:02That's right, these are the foundation stones.
34:04Yeah.
34:04They're 60 centimetres apart.
34:06Right.
34:06And then we gradually build up on top.
34:08Builds it up as we walk along.
34:09It's the old rule with all walls, two stones on one, one stone on two, you know.
34:14Yeah.
34:14And every stone has to be laid so it's just slightly sloping outward so that the water drains off the
34:20walls.
34:20I was going to say, this particular Cotswold stone is notorious for absorbing water.
34:26It's all Jurassic limestone, yes.
34:28Yeah.
34:29All limestone.
34:30It goes all the way from Dorset to Yorkshire, across England.
34:33Yeah.
34:34But it also means, doesn't it, that they need quite a bit of repair.
34:38Well, when we've built them, and if we've made them well, it'll stay here for 100 years, we hope.
34:43John and his crew are all Cotswold volunteer wardens.
34:47There's a 400-strong group helping to maintain and conserve the national landscape.
34:53And, like Helen and Jane, learning a few skills along the way.
34:58And what's the point of putting these much smaller stones in the middle?
35:02It's to let the water drain out, because there's lots of holes in between them,
35:07so the water comes down and drains down through the wall.
35:10Straight through the wall and out.
35:12And then you put the bigger stones at an angle so the water drips off.
35:15Yeah.
35:16And how long have you been doing this?
35:18Must be about 10 years now.
35:20Yeah.
35:20And what about you?
35:21My first work party ever was stonewalling, and that was over 20 years ago.
35:26Aha.
35:27Not only is it hard work, stonewalling, but they're often pretty difficult places to get to, aren't they?
35:32Yes.
35:33Yes, they are.
35:33Yes.
35:34Like this one.
35:35Very steep hill to get up here.
35:37Tell us about it.
35:38Yeah.
35:40So, let's move on a little, because we get to the stage here where you need some coping stones on.
35:45Yes.
35:45We call them cappers in some places in the Cotswolds, and toppers, whichever you choose.
35:51Oh, and toppers is nice.
35:52Yes, toppers is nice.
35:53It goes on topper.
35:53Would you like to put a few on?
35:55Yeah, I will, yeah.
35:56Well, there's some gloves here, if you'd like to.
35:57I'll need gloves, yeah.
35:58And they go on, they have to be straight up.
36:00When you put it on, these stones underneath mustn't be able to move.
36:03Okay.
36:03Ah, right.
36:04This one first, eh?
36:06Yep, that's right.
36:07You want it to be sort of flat on the bottom.
36:09That's good, that's good.
36:10Now, I have heard that they've got a different name, named after hen and a cock.
36:14Cock and hen, yes.
36:15Yeah.
36:15That's another thing, yes.
36:16Cock and hen.
36:17A cock is a taller one?
36:19Yes.
36:19Is that right?
36:19That's right.
36:20So, what would that one be, then?
36:23I don't know.
36:23I'll call it a cock, yes.
36:25Right, okay.
36:26I'll call this one a hen, so they're together.
36:28And here's one more.
36:29Yes.
36:30Right, there we go.
36:32What's the point of these big, heavy stones?
36:34They're holding the whole wall down.
36:36So, as long as we've got those on, the wall underneath shouldn't move.
36:39And so is the finishing feature.
36:41If you're really posh, you'd have every stone the same height.
36:44Right.
36:45But we're not posh, yeah.
36:47John, you are, if I may say so, getting on a bit.
36:51Yeah.
36:51I mean, so am I as well, but I don't build stone walls.
36:53So, how long do you think you're going to be able to keep this going?
36:56Well, when I get up to that Iron Age wall up there, I think I'll finish.
37:00Where's that?
37:01And would it have been like this?
37:02It would have been just like this wall there, here.
37:04But it would be higher, about 12 foot high, yes.
37:06From about 3,000 years ago or something.
37:08Yes, yes.
37:08You've never ever found a way of doing it a bit differently?
37:12No, no.
37:12No, they had a technique to doing it then, and it hasn't improved since.
37:17I'm a bit puffed after only putting three cocks and hens on the wall, but I don't know how you
37:23do it.
37:24Ladies, let's keep on going.
37:27Thank you very much.
37:28Thank you very much.
37:43Conserving our countryside depends on so many factors, not least what is coming next from above.
37:50So, let's have a look at what the weather has in store for us over the coming days.
37:54Here is the Countryfile forecast.
38:05A very good evening to you.
38:07Well, let's see what's in store over the next few days then, because the beginning of June was rather unsettled.
38:13We're just through the middle of June now, rather cool too.
38:16The outlook for the week ahead, we're fairly confident, is going to be much, much warmer.
38:23Temperatures are expected to rise.
38:24I want to show you what's happened in the last week or so.
38:28Certainly early in June, we have the jet stream to the south of us with the low pressure close by,
38:32often rainy, windy and cool weather.
38:34Now, there will be a change later this week.
38:36The jet stream is still close by, but it's weaker.
38:39It's a little bit further north, and crucially, this area of high pressure is building towards the south, which will
38:45open up the doors, we think, to much warmer weather streaming in from Spain and into France.
38:50And actually, Europe will be experiencing a very, very significant heat wave this week.
38:56We're just going to be on the edge of it, and I want to show you how close this heat
38:59wave will be.
38:59For example, in Paris, by the time we get to Wednesday and Thursday, we're in the mid-30s.
39:03It'll be in excess of 30 in Amsterdam too.
39:06Berlin will be into the mid-30s eventually in the next few days.
39:09Of course, in Madrid, it's going to be hot.
39:11And we'll find out just how far north this heat is going to reach us in the forecast now.
39:18But this is what it looks like in here and now.
39:20A pleasant enough evening out there with some sunshine, late sunshine there.
39:24And then overnight tonight, apart from a few showers here and there, it is looking generally dry with some clear
39:29spells.
39:30A fresh nine degrees in Aberdeen, eight in Newcastle, about 13 there in southern and southwestern areas of the UK.
39:38Now, here's the weather map for Monday.
39:40So we have this weak area of high pressure over us, but this little weather front just nudges off the
39:45Atlantic.
39:46That might give one or two brief sprinkles of rain.
39:49Now, the cloud cover is going to vary on Monday.
39:52Some areas will be a little on the cloudy side. Others will have some sunshine.
39:56I think the thickest of the cloud will be out towards the west in some central areas.
40:00The sunniest and warmest weather will be further south.
40:03Cardiff, for example, about 24 Celsius. Aberdeen will be closer to 14.
40:07Now, on Tuesday, low pressure still in the Atlantic sending weather fronts our way.
40:11But crucially, notice this high is starting to build to the south.
40:14So on Tuesday, it's already starting to turn very warm across the near continent.
40:19And the clue is also in the wind direction here.
40:22Notice that they're coming in from the south southwest.
40:24Yes, thanks to the low pressure, which is bringing some outbreaks of rain and cloud to western areas.
40:28But that same southerly is just starting to waft in some of that warmth into parts of southeastern England.
40:34Now, the process continues into Wednesday.
40:37In fact, we do anticipate thicker clouds and for a time some bits and pieces of rain crossing the country.
40:42But look at the arrows. They're coming in from the south.
40:44Remember, it's very hot just across the channel.
40:47And I think by Wednesday, we're widely into the mid 20s across parts of England.
40:51Still fresher here in the northwest.
40:53So just on the cusp of that heat.
40:55Now, on Thursday, again, a similar pattern with that low pressure and these southerly winds.
41:00I think we could be not far off 30 Celsius by the time we get to Thursday, at least in
41:06the southeast of the country.
41:07And almost certainly at least a chance of getting up to 30 on Friday.
41:11And look at that. It's also warming up in the northeast of England.
41:14In Yorkshire, for example, temperatures could be up to about 27 Celsius.
41:18So this is the summary for the week ahead and into the weekend, that gradual rise.
41:24But little shifts in wind direction may mean that the temperatures eventually take a bit of a dip.
41:30So warming up for sure.
41:39It's 60 years since the Cotswolds was designated a national landscape.
41:45And we're meeting the people preserving this cherished and beautiful area.
41:50Not only is it hard work, very steep hill to get up here.
41:54Tell us about it.
41:57I can feel it moving.
41:58Yes.
41:59Oh, we have a lift on.
42:01Great.
42:01And there you go.
42:02Wow.
42:11The honey-coloured stone buildings are a defining Cotswolds feature, but it hasn't always been that way.
42:18And a change in architectural trends may have inadvertently put some buildings at risk.
42:27Revealing what these Cotswold villages used to look like is heritage consultant Nicola Dyer.
42:34Visitors to the Cotswolds today expect to see honey-coloured stone, which is so synonymous with this area.
42:41However, if they'd visited before the mid-19th century, what they would have seen was something quite different.
42:48So here we've got a late 19th century postcard of exactly the same areas we have behind us.
42:54But here you can see this building is dramatically different.
42:57Black and white, so obviously we don't know what colour it is.
43:00But a very light lime finish, probably a kind of lime wash.
43:03And it makes the building look so different to how we expect to see these honey-coloured stone buildings today.
43:10So these buildings are made from the local limestone and they're made from what's called rubble stone.
43:16So in other words, it's not the finest, most expensive, finely dressed stone.
43:20And it's what the majority of a lot of the cottages and homes around the Cotswolds were built of after
43:27about the mid-16th century.
43:29Most of these cottages had a lime finish over them, a lime render.
43:33And that was designed to make them watertight, to make them warmer.
43:36But it would have given them a very, very different appearance to the bare stone that we're used to seeing
43:41today.
43:41A lot of the lime finishers were lost.
43:43We think from the mid-19th century when a mixture of fashion and economics meant that they weren't maintained,
43:49at which point they started to disappear.
43:51But also the new interest in archaeology meant that new owners were interested in what they saw as exposing the
43:57original features.
43:58The legend of honey-coloured stone is everywhere.
44:02I think one of the really interesting things for us all to collectively realise is how recent an idea that
44:08is.
44:08And actually to consider looking at the evidence, what beauty there was in a Cotswold village that did have its
44:14lime finishes before Victorian times.
44:17Now, some restoration projects across the Cotswolds are realising the benefits of traditional lime rendered walls.
44:27This stunning Elizabethan manor house in Dufton is in the process of recovering its exposed stonework.
44:34And architect James McIntosh is in charge.
44:39James.
44:40Hi, how are you?
44:41I am great, thank you.
44:42Tell me about this building when you came to it.
44:46It had a lime render, but it was in a state of disrepair.
44:48In a lot of areas it was coming away from the building by about four inches, 100 millimetres.
44:54So we knew it was in a really bad condition.
44:56And a lot of it had been repaired in cement render as well, which is really bad for the building.
45:01But it does look stunning. It looks like a beautiful Cotswolds house.
45:06It does.
45:06Absolutely. It's just, it's missing its skin.
45:08We could see when we did the original condition surveys that a lot of the stone below it had become
45:14frail and friable.
45:16And as a result of not having the render on there, we had to do quite a lot of repairs
45:20to the stonework.
45:22So the render protects the stonework, it protects the mortar, and it gives the building its raincoat that protects it.
45:28It stops water coming in and allows the building to last a jolly long time.
45:32The job of repairing this building's raincoat lies with restorer Francis Stacy, who's showing me the 500-year-old method
45:41of applying lime rendering called harling.
45:46This is beautifully set out. Is it always laid out like this?
45:49Not normally. It's normally a bit more like a building site, but we thought we'd set up so you can
45:52see our ingredients and our traditional mixes.
45:55So when we're lime rendering a wall, what are the stages?
45:59We've got some really old historic render. It's about 300 years old.
46:02So our first stage is we would inject the render with a grouting lime, and then after that we'd remove
46:08all the cement, and then we'll start the process of pointing and then the lime-hull.
46:14Lime-hulling is where we're at now.
46:16Well, what goes into it? What have we got here?
46:18These are locally sourced sands and materials, and then this is the lime.
46:22Lime is caustic, so it can burn your skin and that type of thing, so you need to make sure
46:28you're protected.
46:29And what does the horse hair do?
46:31It acts as a binder for the lime, so as it sets it doesn't crack.
46:38So just kind of try to... I don't know, it's a bit like cooking I guess.
46:41It is a little bit, yeah. This is me making a crumble.
46:43Yeah.
46:45And how much of this would you need for this building?
46:48I think maybe 46 tonnes we've used here.
46:52How's that?
46:53I think it's pretty good.
46:55So this is something that we've prepared earlier for you.
46:59And then we haul it.
47:00Yeah, which is going to be the fun bit.
47:02Mmm.
47:03How do we haul it though, Francis?
47:05It's a little bit like tennis, a little bit like darts.
47:08Why does it need to be thrown, Francis?
47:10Traditionally the mixes were a bit weaker, so if you threw it on that would help with the adhesion of
47:16the mix.
47:16So you just load your haul up like that, and then you can just throw it on the wall.
47:26And you can kind of aim it where you want to.
47:29I like the aftermath, the ricochet of the sand coming off.
47:33Yeah, it's quite a lot of stuff.
47:34Right, how much are we loading up?
47:35OK, so you can just pop your harling trowel in, load up your trowel at the bottom half.
47:40Sort of like this.
47:41Yeah, that's perfect.
47:42And then kind of just do that flicking wrist action.
47:45So it's a wrist flick?
47:46Yeah, so it's kind of...
47:48Oh!
47:48OK.
47:49There you go.
47:50It's a real dynamic sort of booth isn't it?
47:53Yeah.
47:53Explosive.
47:54Just at the end.
47:54That's it, that's really good.
47:56Did it go a bit wide?
47:57Do you want another go?
47:59Was it, was it a good distance from the wall?
48:01I think so.
48:02You want to kind of, just sort of, just before impact basically.
48:05That's it.
48:06There we go.
48:08Oh!
48:10It's got that same effect of a dartboard where you're letting out a little bit of,
48:14just imagining someone's face on the wall.
48:16Probably be quite good for therapy I think.
48:19There you go.
48:20Lovely.
48:20How long is this going to take to do a whole wall, or a whole house even?
48:24It takes a while, it's a couple of months work to do a building this size.
48:30And do we smooth it down or we keep it rough?
48:33No, that's it.
48:33It's a rough finish, which increases the surface area, which helps with the weathering,
48:37and then when that's set off we then lime wash it.
48:40So the technique is so crucial, it's not just the lime itself, but the craft.
48:45Yes.
48:45Craft is something that one trace person passes down to another, so it comes down through generations.
48:51Who taught you?
48:52My uncle, and lots and lots of other people that I've had the privilege of working with for the past
48:5820 years.
48:59And is there a fear that if it doesn't get passed on, it could die out?
49:03Yeah, the trade could die and then we wouldn't be able to preserve these wonderful buildings and our heritage that
49:08we have in the country.
49:09Yeah, so the very techniques that we're using, the way that we're doing it traditionally is keeping this building safe.
49:15Exactly, it's protecting the building, it's giving it a skin.
49:18And preserve it and it will be a nice finish for a couple more hundred years.
49:21It's amazing.
49:39Farming is a key part of the Cotswold identity, making up 86% of the landscape.
49:46And caring for that land and being able to cope with changing demands is vital to its future.
49:57At the Manor Dairy Farm in Chedworth, fourth generation farmer Seb Clark has turned away from modern, chemically enriched pastures
50:06in favour of an age-old approach to conserving and rejuvenating his soil.
50:12Seb, good to see you. How are you? Very well, thanks.
50:15Now, you're a regenerative farmer, aren't you? As well as being an organic farmer.
50:20But you don't have to be an organic farmer to be a regenerative farmer, do you?
50:25No, absolutely not. You know, there are many regenerative practices that anyone can adopt on their farm to make sure
50:30that their farming practices are not degrading the soil and making the farm worse off in the long run.
50:35And what do you do then, Seb, to be a regenerative farmer?
50:38I think the best way to answer that is to go out to the field and I'll show you how
50:42we're doing things.
50:43Right, you are. Let's do it.
50:49Well, I know that farming has its ups and downs, but what a glorious place to work, isn't it?
50:55Yeah, I mean, absolutely. When the weather's like this, the cows are healthy, happy, producing milk.
51:01You know, we are very, very lucky to be farming in this part of the world.
51:12Just look at all these stones. I mean, they look good on houses, but not so good in a field.
51:18Yes, and this is characteristic of Cotswold soil, really. It's Cotswold brash.
51:23Brash?
51:24Brash, exactly. And it's just full of stones, which means that it's not particularly good at retaining moisture.
51:30And it's not very deep, the soil here, is it?
51:32No, I think the average depth of the soil in the Cotswolds is between 15 and 30 centimetres.
51:36So we're not really working with too much. And when you throw these into the mix as well, it's quite
51:41difficult.
51:41Retaining water is a hard thing to do.
51:44So your mission is to improve the soil here. So what can you do?
51:48Well, that's sort of what we're trying to do with our make-up of the plants within our pasture.
51:53Obviously not all grass here.
51:55Absolutely not, no. So this is what we would call a herbal lay.
51:58And that is a mixture of lots of different plant species.
52:02So we've got some grasses, we've got some herbs and we've got some legumes in here.
52:06And all of those have different characteristics, different root structures, which all helps build the soil, but also feed our
52:12animals.
52:12And legumes are things like clover, aren't they?
52:14Exactly. And then our big thing here on this farm, dealing with the drought, is a chicory.
52:19So we graze a lot of chicory. And as you can see, chicories have a very deep rooting sort of
52:25tap root, which can go as far down as sort of a metre.
52:29And even though we've got only about 30 centimetres of soil, this can actually go down below the soil and
52:34access water, moisture, nutrients, minerals, and bring it all back up from...
52:40For the cows to enjoy. For the cows to enjoy, and also to feed the soil biology that's living around
52:44the roots in the upper part of the soil.
52:46Good old chicory.
52:47Exactly.
52:49And what does the milk taste like then?
52:51I think it's some of the best milk that I've ever tasted.
52:54Not only that, but the cows are taking up so many more minerals and nutrients from the ground and from
53:00the plants, and they are being transferred into the milk.
53:02So it's quite a healthy product as well.
53:04And you'd sell the milk to drink?
53:06No, so we've got an artisan cheesemaker on site who takes our milk and turns it into cheese.
53:11We've had a dairy farm here for over a century.
53:14And by having pasture like this, which is hopefully giving back to the soil and regenerating the soil, it should
53:20mean that we should be able to keep a dairy here for the next century.
53:23Well, I wish you well, Seb. And I'm looking forward to tasting this cheese.
53:28Much of Seb's organic milk production goes to the on-site Kingstone dairy, where master cheesemaker David Jowett is putting
53:37his own spin on an age-old Cotswold tradition.
53:41Hello, how are you, John? Very well, thanks. Welcome.
53:45And this must be the latest delivery of Seb's milk, is it?
53:48It certainly is, yes.
53:50This is our second pick-up from the farm this morning, and we've got 1,700 litres in there ready
53:54to make some cheese milk.
53:55Yeah. You must like his milk. It's fantastic.
53:58I mean, we moved our whole operation here specifically to have access to this milk.
54:02Really? Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
54:03Well, I know Cotswold's is well-known for its cheesemaking, and Double Gloucester is the most famous cheese, isn't it?
54:09Absolutely. Do you make that? We don't, no.
54:12We don't!
54:13No, we're ten miles away from Cooper's Hill where the cheese rolling happens.
54:17But we're creating our own new cheeses here.
54:21So, inspired by French classic cheeses, but made on this farm using milk from this farm.
54:27Can I see some? Of course. Shall we go in? Yeah.
54:30From this self-contained site, David and his team produce six unique cheeses that range from three-month-aged hard
54:38cheeses to younger soft varieties.
54:41And today's milk delivery is being put to good use.
54:45Come on in, John. Yeah.
54:47Quite an operation you've got going on here, isn't it?
54:50Why are they all being turned?
54:52Turning's a very important part of the process.
54:55Helps drain the cheese.
54:57And we'll turn these three times during the course of the afternoon.
55:00Do you ever drop them?
55:02Sometimes.
55:05What we've got here are 600 little Rollwrights.
55:08What, after the Rollwright famous ancient stones?
55:11Exactly.
55:12Ah.
55:13They're 20 miles away from here.
55:15Hope they don't taste like stones.
55:17A lot of our cheeses are named after local villages or towns to us.
55:21Well, as it was coming in, I noticed quite a lot of trophies there in your window.
55:26And there's one really big one. What's that for?
55:28That was awarded to Ashcombe, the supreme champion at the British Cheese Awards.
55:33Oh, congratulations.
55:34And why Ashcombe? Any particular reason?
55:37Ashcombe, this part of the farm out of that window, is the Coombs.
55:40All right.
55:41The Ashcombe has a unique claim to fame.
55:44It's the only cheese in the UK to include a layer of wood ash.
55:50It's quite a spectacle, isn't it?
55:52Seeing this ash daubed into cheese.
55:55What gave you the idea of using burnt wood?
55:57Well, like all of our cheeses, we're modelling them on existing French cheeses.
56:02And there's a cheese in France which has this exact same wood ash line to run into it.
56:06And can you actually taste the ash?
56:09No.
56:10You can't?
56:10No, it's purely for aesthetics.
56:13When will it be ready?
56:14About four months' time for these particular cheeses.
56:16Oh, no way.
56:17But we've got a few in the maturing room up here, if you'd like to follow me and have a
56:20taste.
56:20Oh, wouldn't be.
56:23The maturing room has more than 1,500 cheeses.
56:29A cheese lover's dream, isn't it?
56:31Over a three-month period, the ashcombe is turned regularly and washed in a special brine solution to give the
56:38rind a distinctive terracotta hue.
56:41And it ends up with a vivid black line of ash running right through the middle.
56:47There it is.
56:49That's what distinguishes it from any other cheese.
56:52That is a really nice-looking ashcombe.
56:54Yeah.
56:58Let's see what you think.
57:03Mmm.
57:04Not too strong.
57:05No.
57:06Let me get to the ash.
57:10I should say, there's no taste there, is it?
57:12It's the look of the cheese.
57:14All I need now is a few crackers.
57:16Mm-hm.
57:16A little glass of something.
57:17I'd say that's not perfect.
57:18Of the cheese.
57:22Well, it's been fascinating, hasn't it, Vic?
57:31Just to take a glance at some of the conservation work that's going on here.
57:35And to meet the amazing locals who are making it happen.
57:38It seems to me that the Cotswolds are in very good hands.
57:42Yeah.
57:42I'd like to think so.
57:44Next week, Matt and Charlotte are on the search for Hampshire's wild side.
57:49Oh, that's it!
57:50Whoa!
57:51It goes so fast!
57:52Oh, my word.
57:53Have you just found that?
57:54It's like insect paparazzi.
57:58Ooh!
57:59Hey!
58:02Oh, that is so satisfying.
58:07Do you know, I was just getting a bit cocky there, wasn't I?
58:10Look at this.
58:11She's gorgeous.
58:13Britain's rarest snake.
58:15And there she goes.
58:17That's next Sunday at quarter past seven on BBC One.
58:21So join us then.
58:22Bye for now.
58:22Bye!
58:27Well, we've known her as Sonia, but Natalie Cassidy's left to Albert Square for a neat career,
58:32caring together on iPlayer.
58:34And revealing the unusual homes of working families, join BBC Two now for hidden treasures
58:39of the National Trust.
58:40Next here, full of danger, it's Tiger Island.
58:45That's one..
58:55It's exactly inpex.
58:55Great to find friends who've heard this story.
58:55You know we're all tired of the wounded, but the animals seem-
58:55battleful Mistaken!
58:57You're getting lost, ph hype.
58:57Now you're here to find our trueologies,
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