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Explores the Lake District National Park and Cumbria, examining the balance between its spectacular landscapes and the pressures of modern life.
西蒙·里夫在片中穿越了英格兰西北部壮丽的湖区国家公园和坎布里亚郡
西蒙·里夫在片中穿越了英格兰西北部壮丽的湖区国家公园和坎布里亚郡
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TravelTranscript
00:02the lake district this is one of the most romantically beautiful regions in the entire
00:07country it's spectacular here at the heart of cumbria magnificent mountains glacial valleys
00:15you love it 16 glorious lakes and mears this is england's largest national park
00:23almost a thousand square miles one of the great wonders of the country look at this
00:30this ancient landscape is seeing huge changes
00:34with millions more brits now enjoying the benefits of the great outdoors
00:39and an influx of wealthy outsiders that's a car worth as much as a house
00:45a whole way of life is under threat i'll be better off financially if i was
00:50gone and stuck in shelves i'll be meeting the people fighting to preserve and regenerate
00:56this unique british landscape look at this you're standing on a raft of sphagnum moss
01:03and outside the national park i'll be seeing the sights in the county around it they want me to be
01:09the bad guy
01:16i'm going to be exploring the county of cumbria from its wild coast to its soaring peaks and of course
01:22it's iconic lakes
01:40on this first part of my journey i'm starting at the heart of the lakes
01:46in normal times it's said around 20 million tourists visit this iconic landscape each year
01:52to walk hike swim boat and see a bit of wildlife the lake district is the very essence of the
02:01english
02:01country side it's an idealized landscape completely idyllic and a symbol as well i think of our national love of
02:10nature
02:12but just like everywhere else nature here often struggles to survive
02:16i drove east
02:18i'm on my way to meet a woman who is doing all she can to protect
02:22one of the most elusive creatures in this area
02:33i'm looking for some little friends are they tricky to spot they're quite elusive and they're tiny
02:40julie bailey is cumbrian born and bred for more than a decade she's been battling to protect one
02:46of britain's rarer native animals
02:48that's julie looking just behind the tree yeah there's one there there is
02:58red squirrels this is the first time i've ever seen look there's just one here first time i've ever
03:03seen them i'm so used to the slightly bulkier almost steroided up gray squirrels
03:13these are so dainty they just seem to float almost when they leave
03:21if i'm on the rock just here it's such a gorgeous lake district this is one of the iconic animals
03:30of the region it's one of our iconic national creatures but it's been wiped out in so much of the
03:38uk
03:40most remaining red squirrels are in scotland the population in england could be as low as 15 000
03:48most brits say they love nature but it's having a terrible time on our watch
03:53around a quarter of all our mammals face extinction along with countless insects birds and other
03:59creatures cute as wee buttons they are i can't spend enough time with them put some more on here
04:06so cute there's three down here now yeah oh you're just you're posing there aren't you
04:17is it behind me it's behind you what is it that you love about them it was always
04:22squirrel knocking beatrix potter i was for some reason i was i was hooked apparently according to
04:27my parents as a child i was hooked on that one it's a beautiful book to be hooked on oh
04:31absolutely
04:32and i mean i'd never actually seen a real live red squirrel until i moved to the cottage i live
04:37in
04:37now and for 16 years i only had reds until christmas 2009 and we had one of the
04:43the gray ones and it was just not on earth's out in the garden and it was a gray squirrel
04:48three weeks
04:49later i was picking up dead red squirrel carcasses um got them tested and the dolls succumbed to
04:57squirrel pox virus disease um which is hosted by the gray squirrels most of the grays carry the
05:02squirrel pox don't they they don't succumb to it that's right and as soon as a red comes into contact
05:08with one of those particular grays it's then transmitted and then obviously your reds will go
05:14into the drays at night and then it becomes red to red transmission and you can very soon wipe out
05:20a local very fragile population of red squirrels i thought i've got to do something
05:31julie joined and now helps run a red squirrel action group to try to protect her area's remaining reds
05:39come on you reds
05:44julie yes there's quite a lot of squirrels in this room
05:49there's one or two there's a few more in here yep and this is my work oh my goodness
05:56okay well we've got about 20 squirrels just there squirrel iron mongering down here
06:04squirrel on the side of the stove squirrel squirrel squirrel squirrel squirrel squirrel squirrel squirrel
06:12squirrel squirrel squirrel squirrel squirrel squirrel squirrel you get the general gist
06:17this is where i work hence why i've got the squirrel feeder here yeah and the squirrel feeder
06:22there so anytime a squirrel comes i see it we're just going to show you a picture of what the
06:29squirrel
06:29pox can do to a red squirrel it's it's quite gory but it is the reality oh my goodness there's
06:37a horrible
06:37way for them to absolutely awful i mean if you go blind so can't forage and the mouths get that
06:42saw
06:42that they can't eat and that is within two to three weeks of being somewhere near um a gray squirrel
06:50that
06:51has um transmitted it really it's hard going it's really hard going to try and keep the two species
06:57apart to prevent not just the virus but the competition for food and living space
07:02and also you know tree damage as well the gray squirrel has been a bit of a hand grenade
07:09exploding within our our woodlands and countryside hasn't it they've been terrifically successful um
07:16since since the 1800s since they were brought here and you know it's it's it's sad that we have to
07:22keep them apart from from the red ones but if we don't we'll lose our red ones
07:27in england greys could now outnumber reds by 100 to 1. julie and many conservationists
07:34believes one way of protecting the reds is by killing the greys these are the pelts from gray
07:41squirrels i already knew how to shoot because i'm a country girl and i've shot all my life and started
07:49trapping and and shooting the grace from there how many have you got in there um i think there's about
07:55maybe 30 pelts in here which will be enough to make a waste coat at some point there's no point
08:01wasting them is there after they've been shot what happens what you do with them these go to a local
08:07fisherman because they make fishing flies with them and the meat goes in the freezer you eat the you eat
08:13the squirrels yes yes yeah what's your favorite recipe for your squirrels uh mine is dead simple it's
08:23just cook it for a long long time till it falls off the bone and then add some pachino mushrooms
08:29and phil likes curry squirrel curry yeah
08:36what did he say he said squirrel madras perfect squirrel madras
08:42husband phil shares julie's determination to protect the reds
08:46so this would be dog walk time yes the wood where i'm going the river's like uh
08:53i suppose it's a gray squirrel highway in a way they never go far from water they follow water all
08:59the time the greys yes yeah right okay on a dog walk you'll take that shotgun just in case so
09:06if you
09:06see a gray and it's in the right place you you take a shot yes honey pearl are you ready
09:12come on
09:15gray squirrel lovers might be shocked the creatures are targeted like this but humane culling is legal
09:21and even encouraged as part of attempts to protect the reds julie's red squirrel group recently received
09:27more than 200 000 pounds of government funding as this is the pain of the start where there's a few
09:33there's a few oak trees there's a bean tree down there i've been sitting in the morning shooting
09:39grays have you kept a tally of how many grays you think you've shot it's over a thousand yeah and
09:45i'm
09:45just i'm just part-time is that making a tangible difference oh yeah if i don't keep the grays down
09:53i'll never get reds back in in this wood personally i was always fond of gray squirrels but i know
10:01they can
10:01be a pest damaging and sometimes killing young trees the international union for conservation of
10:07nature even puts them in its top 100 of most harmful invasive species in the world
10:13but culling is controversial some experts think it's futile and that grays are here to stay
10:20secretly i'm quite glad that a squirrel wasn't shot i've got quite a soft spot for squirrels of whatever
10:26color but i do also recognize and i do believe that when humans have damaged an ecosystem when we've
10:33introduced an invasive species we probably need to do something about it and they are doing something
10:39very direct whether you like it or not i've shot loads of you i mean at the right time of
10:46year it's
10:47rife with them like
10:54it's not just red squirrels that need a helping hand in cumbria populations of other threatened and
11:00important uk wildlife have plummeted by 60 percent over the last 50 years
11:06the biodiversity of britain is threatened by humans like never before even here in the lake district
11:13i headed to the western side of the national park to ennedale water it's one of the 16 lakes
11:20mares and waters in the lake district and at first glance the valley is home to lovely trees and forest
11:47and that is an astonishing piece of kit i've seen deforestation happening around the world
11:53as we lay waste to thousands of square miles of precious forest
11:57these tree harvesting machines can cut and strip a huge tree in under a minute
12:04billy it's gareth do you read over gareth browning is the head forester at ennedale
12:10gareth hello simon why are you doing this why are you destroying the lovely forest of the of ennedale
12:17so these are sicker spruce that we're cutting down sicker spruce sicker spruce this is a north american
12:22tree and it grows really quick so it's really good for timber but up this end of the valley it's
12:27very
12:27dominant there's no other species really here and that wouldn't be naturally how it is so we're
12:32we're having to fell these trees to allow us to then plant a more open diverse mix of species so
12:38this is
12:38part of our wilder vision for ennedale for more biodiversity we do need more trees but the right
12:46trees we planted sicker spruce industrially after the second world war for timber but it's something
12:52of a desert for wildlife oh my god removing it can be a messy business it is quite an extraordinary
12:59site
13:00isn't it it might look like the destruction of the forest but this is actually one of the biggest
13:07rewilding projects in the entire country and rewilding of course is a recognition that we live in a
13:15country where nature has taken an absolute hammering over decades and centuries and perhaps even thousands
13:21of years and rewilding is a bit of an attempt to just put some of that wild back into our
13:27islands and
13:28into our lives to replace the sitka spruce gareth and his team are now planting half a million new
13:36native trees they're recreating the sprawling natural forests and giant old trees that were here before
13:44they were cleared by humans the wild ennedale project also takes inspiration from the knowledge
13:52that thousands of years ago our island was home to huge grazing animals like wild cattle and bison
13:58uh
14:06if they hear me they normally call back and come and see me come on
14:11Hey! Hey!
14:14Come on!
14:16No!
14:22These are the black bears of Ennerdale.
14:24What a sight this is!
14:26Richard Maxwell is a local farmer helping with the Ennerdale rewilding.
14:30He got rid of his dainty cows and bought tougher cattle who thrive in woodland.
14:35They're a hardy breed, Galloway cows, originally from the south-west of Scotland.
14:39They're here 12 months of the year and they can go anywhere.
14:43Your cattle are replicating the sort of action of ancient cattle
14:50that existed on these islands for thousands and thousands of years.
14:54How do they help?
14:56If you look at the ground, you can see the disturbance they're causing.
15:00You can see the size of its foot with my boot there.
15:02So it's creating a little pocket almost.
15:05And that's an area where soy seeds can come in contact with
15:08and they can then, once they come in contact with soil, they can start and germinate.
15:12So if seeds are laying here, they're not coming in contact with the soil.
15:17But if you get a cow that put his foot there,
15:19then it will push the seed into the sod to make contact with the soil.
15:28Richard is an example of how farming can work alongside rewilding.
15:33His Galloway cattle produce top-notch beef that he can sell for a tidy sum.
15:39So I think they're taking us up to see an area of what they call regenerated forest.
15:47New, improved, change for the better.
15:53Yeah, this is what the future hopefully looks like for the area that we were looking at earlier.
15:57The environment around is, as nature works, relatively slowly but being transformed.
16:03There is grass, there is moss, there are bushes growing here that would never have existed.
16:08And it's just more textually rich. If you look at the landscape, it's very clumpy and bumpy.
16:13In the past I've thought that's a bad thing, but actually this is part of what nature wants, this diverse
16:17structure.
16:17And it then might change again. The cows might not come up here for a while,
16:21because some other area opens up and this might then get away. Or it might not.
16:25It's entirely opportunistic, it's not entirely in our control.
16:28The chaos is, you're accepting it?
16:30Yeah.
16:32There's a little, probably Rowan I think that is, a little round seedling there.
16:38This is much closer to their vision for the future of Ennerdale.
16:42Less of the thick, closed plantations of Sitka spruce, much more of this more open, mixed woodland.
16:51Less production of timber, perhaps, but much more production of wildness.
16:59Natural native forest, Scots pine, birch, rowan, oak, willow and juniper,
17:05supports real biodiversity, helping insects, birds, mammals.
17:11Many think the Lake District needs more of it.
17:15Currently just 12% of the national park is covered by forest.
17:19Even Greater London has 21%.
17:23I carried on up the Ennerdale Valley, towards the High Fells.
17:35Just listen to that.
17:37It's an empty valley.
17:39Feels like we're the only people here.
17:42In this crazy time, we might be.
17:53It is spectacular.
18:04And look!
18:06This is where we're staying.
18:09What a treat!
18:12This is Black Sail Youth Hostel.
18:15A converted shepherd's hut, said to be the most remote hostel in the country.
18:21Yay!
18:23Oh, I'm really looking forward to this.
18:25This will be me here.
18:28With a view out in the morning.
18:31This is great!
18:33Six-star accommodation, in a seven-star location.
18:37Look at that.
18:39God!
18:42The Lake District is really going to have quite a summer.
18:46And we're here now, just at the start of it all.
18:50We're some of the first guests who are allowed out and coming back.
18:54But many are predicting that this could quite possibly be the busiest season for tourism in the Lake District ever.
19:04When you look at this, you can see why they come.
19:08Hmm.
19:32One absolutely stunning morning.
19:40It is very stark that up at this end of the valley, there really are basically no trees at all.
19:48And then one creature, more than any other, that is held responsible, that stands accused of keeping the landscape like
19:55this, for better or worse, are the sheep.
19:59The sheep are such prodigious nibblers of every little bit of possible life that comes up through the grass.
20:07There's even a phrase that's been coined to describe how the sheep control and shape and strip the landscape.
20:14It's said, they sheep wreck it.
20:19Well, that's one strong claim.
20:21Another view recognizes the Lake District has been shaped by farmers and their livestock over thousands of years, but celebrates
20:30it as a unique human landscape, created by toil and sweat and as culturally precious as some of our great
20:37buildings.
20:38Either way, few would claim this is a natural wilderness.
20:41In many ways, it's an industrial landscape.
20:45The Lake District may be a national park, but it's not owned by the nation.
20:49It's mostly private landowners, and there are hundreds of farms and hundreds of thousands of sheep, who certainly nibble it
20:55bare.
20:57I find myself very torn, because I like a clipped lawn. I do. There is part of me that likes
21:05that. But I now recognize, and I think I've come to realize just in the last maybe ten years, that
21:12a clipped lawn is not a good thing for the environment.
21:15It's not a good thing for Mother Nature. Mother Nature wants mess and trees and scrub and life. I think
21:25that's probably what we need as well.
21:31In the Lake District, there are now calls to plant millions of trees and rewild large areas.
21:38But for some farmers here, that feels like a direct attack on their way of life.
21:43I went to see tenant farmers David and Gail Thompson.
21:48David? Guilty. Guilty as charged. Hello, David.
21:52Simon. Oh, we've got to do the elbows. I know, I know.
21:55Hello, Gail. How are you doing? I'm Simon. Hi, Simon.
21:57What have you got here? A tiny one that's just been dropped.
22:00David says he might not make it, but you see his little lips are going.
22:04You've got to try. The way there's life, you've got to try.
22:06There's some proper shaking going on, isn't there?
22:08Oh, no, it's cold. Go on, don't hold them up for us.
22:10There's a farm too. David and Gail's farm is 140 acres.
22:15It's a hill farm, an upland farm, very different to lowland farming.
22:20What are they getting there?
22:22A little bit of supplemental feed, isn't it? These are year rolls.
22:26Year rolls? Yeah.
22:28Farming on the uplands is much tougher than at lower altitude.
22:32Local breeds of sheep here, and perhaps the farmers, have to be hardy enough to survive the harsh climate.
22:39Lambing season can still be touch and go.
22:42Stay there. Stay.
22:43Were you talking to us or the dog? The dog. The dog. Stay there. Stay.
22:50What's happening there?
22:52She walked away and the lambs just didn't jump up and follow.
22:55Didn't follow?
22:56But I think they were just laying snug out of the breeze and fast asleep.
23:00Well, they were just born this morning. They were only a few hours old.
23:02Born this morning? Yeah.
23:04Out here? Yeah.
23:1116% of the land in the Lake District National Park is common land.
23:15And farmers like David have the right to graze their sheep on the open fell.
23:26How long have you been farming out here?
23:28I've been here all my life.
23:30Mum and Dad took the tendency of 1962-63.
23:34That bad winter was the first winter here.
23:37And he lost over half his fell flock that winter in the snow on the fell.
23:45It always has been hard.
23:47To be honest, I think it always will be.
23:51Earning a living on these hills is getting harder and harder.
23:55Wool prices have been at rock bottom.
23:57As a country, we seem happy to pay less than almost any other nation for our food,
24:01while importing lamb from around the planet.
24:04In recent years, the average income of an upland farm in England
24:07has been as low as £12,000 a year, even with hefty subsidies.
24:12Unless we're willing to buy British and pay more for our food,
24:15you wonder if, like other traditional industries,
24:18hill farming could inevitably die out.
24:20These are fell ponies.
24:23They're indigenous to this area.
24:25The Lake District has pretty much been built off fell ponies' backs.
24:28They've been used as pack animals for centuries.
24:32Cat and whatever, lead, slate, wool, you name it, they were used for it.
24:37And there's fewer and fewer of these ponies.
24:39There's only maybe 300 falls bred in the UK per year.
24:44Wow!
24:45These are two of last year's falls.
24:48I think they know what's happening,
24:49because they've been inside all winter.
24:51It's a nice spring day, and they're going back to the fell today
24:54to join the rest of the herd,
24:57and they'll live out on the fell from now on.
24:59So this is quite a moment.
25:01Yeah.
25:02There's only one that's been halted,
25:03the other one hasn't been halted,
25:04so I'm hoping it'll just follow on.
25:06If you can just open us the gate here.
25:08It's nice and calm.
25:09Come on, sweet.
25:13Just bring that gate this way, please, Simon, and...
25:18Come on, sweet.
25:20Hopefully she'll turn around...
25:21This way!
25:22...and follow out.
25:23Yes!
25:25That's it.
25:26Steady, steady.
25:28Oh, sweet.
25:33Come on.
25:35Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.
25:43Yes!
25:46Come on.
25:48Come on.
25:52Hey, hey, hey, hey.
25:53Come on.
25:55Come on.
26:02Come on.
26:03So you breed the fell ponies?
26:07Yes.
26:08It's in me blood.
26:10That's the why.
26:11My father bred them,
26:13my grandfather and my great-grandfather.
26:15It's part of this area,
26:19and it's...
26:20I get an awful lot of pleasure from it.
26:21I think you're doing what you love.
26:23I am, yeah.
26:24So where are we now?
26:26This is...
26:26We're just coming on to Bampton Common now,
26:28and this is where the ponies live and run,
26:30pretty much year round.
26:35Come on, sweet.
26:37Come on.
26:38Come on.
26:38Look, they're coming down to see you.
26:41Oh, they're beautiful.
26:43Look at you.
26:45I mean, it's quite the look, isn't it?
26:47Incredible head of hair and a bit of a moustache.
27:01So they've met the others.
27:03Money can't buy that.
27:06It's...
27:07It's part of me.
27:08I've been here all my life.
27:10Where we are now, you can't put value on this,
27:12and there's more to life than money.
27:15It's a good life.
27:16It's a hard life.
27:17It's a good life if you don't weaken.
27:22Oh, my goodness.
27:28That is quite the view.
27:30But that view is never the same choice, Simon.
27:33No.
27:35Haweswater Reservoir supplies the North West with water.
27:39Much of the land around it, which David farms,
27:42is owned by the water company United Utilities,
27:45a major landowner in the Lake District.
27:48They want tenant farmers like David to sign up to environmental schemes
27:53designed to improve land and water quality,
27:56and perhaps keep customers' bills down.
27:58The plans, described by some as a form of rewilding,
28:02would dramatically reduce sheep grazing on the fells.
28:06Already hammered by the low prices he gets for his woolen meat,
28:09David feels like this is the final straw, and that he's being squeezed out.
28:15Where we are now, I'm sure there are conservation groups looking at this sort of land and thinking,
28:23this is where we need to be planting bushes, trees, where we need to be growing,
28:29we need to be rewilding, creating more plant biodiversity.
28:34What do you feel about that?
28:37There's bits we can all do to improve things,
28:40and conservation is a big part of it.
28:44But I strongly disagree with this rewilding and just planting vast areas of trees,
28:49and letting it go back to scrub.
28:55I don't think it's going to have the desired effect that people think it's going to have.
29:02What do you think of this word sheepbrecht?
29:07People need to get real.
29:10The sheep have been part of making this lake district what it is,
29:14and it's just another way of kicking the farmer.
29:18With a cog, with a very small cog, in a big wheel.
29:22But if you lose us, something else is going to suffer further down the line.
29:28You haven't got the livestock.
29:29You haven't got the need for management, per se.
29:34So there's no need for the local shop, the local garage, the village school.
29:40Your fear then is that the idea of rewilding,
29:44the idea will result in farms being stripped of creatures and people,
29:50and the community suffers as a result.
29:52Yes, yeah.
29:53I can't see how we can have that effect.
29:57And just for that all to come to an end,
30:01it's, you know, you think, what am I working for?
30:04What am I doing it for?
30:05I would actually, I would be better off financially if I was going
30:09and stacking shelves in Sainsbury's or Tesco's or something like that.
30:13But I wouldn't get this.
30:16And I'd...
30:18You don't have to keep it in, you burly chap.
30:23What are you feeling right now?
30:29It's sad that there isn't...
30:37That there probably isn't going to be a future on these type of places in years to come.
30:45Too often in the past, conservation's had a problem with people, wanting humans out of the picture.
30:53But surely rewilding projects across the country have to really involve and inspire farmers like David and Gail.
31:01Farming can work alongside rewilding, helping to sustain jobs in local rural communities,
31:07especially if we properly value our food and pay farmers a decent wage to steward the countryside
31:14and help tackle our biodiversity crisis.
31:17And who could be better than people like David and Gail to actually care for the environment and wildlife?
31:35Sheep farming is in decline in the Lake District.
31:38Young people are moving away.
31:41At the same time, outsiders are moving in.
31:46In some of the most beautiful villages in the Lake District,
31:49more than half of the houses are actually second homes.
31:53The pandemic and the lockdown have seen even more city dwellers moving to this area,
32:00so they can work from home.
32:03It drives up prices and it can make houses totally unaffordable for local people.
32:09Oh my goodness.
32:11Look, it's a parade of supercars.
32:16That's a McLaren.
32:18That's a car worth as much as a house.
32:25The Lake District really has become a playground.
32:29Especially for the wealthy.
32:32There's plenty of rich visitors and day-trippers to the Lake District,
32:36especially during a time of staycations.
32:39But perhaps too few of them head away from the lakes and hills
32:43to explore what's beyond the limits of the National Park.
32:47The rest of the County of Cumbria.
32:53Just 12 miles outside the Lake District,
32:56dangling out into the Irish Sea,
32:58is the town of Barrow-in-Furness.
33:00In the 19th century, Barrow was a boom town
33:03with huge steel and shipbuilding industries.
33:05It was here they built some of the most famous Royal Navy warships.
33:10Much of the housing was built specifically for the dockyard workers.
33:15I'm on Vengeance Street at the moment,
33:17which was named after the great warship HMS Vengeance.
33:22And ironically enough, I'm turning now onto Mikasa Street,
33:27which was named after a Japanese battleship they built here.
33:32Juno Street, that was another Royal Navy battleship.
33:38Look at a map, and you might be forgiven for thinking Barrow is a bit cut off.
33:43Locals joke they live at the end of England's longest cul-de-sac.
33:47But actually, Barrow is still at the vanguard of the nation's defences.
33:57Oh, my.
34:00Bloody hell.
34:01Pretty impressive.
34:03Brian Hurley was responsible for getting HMS Anson,
34:07a nuclear-powered sub fresh out of the factory, ready to go to sea.
34:11It's like a cross between a spaceship and a dolphin.
34:17It's almost impossibly sleek, contoured.
34:23It does look very futuristic.
34:25It's got top-of-the-range combat system, control systems.
34:29It's a phenomenal piece of equipment.
34:32I read that it can circle the world staying underwater.
34:36It produces its own oxygen, its own water.
34:39One of the few limitations on how long it can stay underneath the surface
34:43is how many Weetabix and sausages you're carrying on board.
34:46That's pretty much what stops it staying underwater permanently, yeah.
34:50How much are they, Brian?
34:52You won't get a lot of change out of 1.5 billion with the man-hours and the material.
34:57Brian, are we allowed to go in inside and have a look?
35:00Unfortunately not, no.
35:01This is the forefront of the nation's defence, you know.
35:05And that's one of the things that makes me so proud to work here,
35:07thinking that something that was built in Barrow is certainly navigating the globe, protecting our country.
35:13Your accent sounds pretty local.
35:15I am. I'm a Barrow lad.
35:18I went to school only a couple of miles away from here, and when I finished school there was only
35:23one place I was going.
35:25Why?
35:26When I was offered a job in the shipyard.
35:28Well, back at that time, you know, my father worked in here, his father had worked in here, his father
35:34had worked in here,
35:35so it was a family affair.
35:38Your great-grandfather would have been here in a time of steam.
35:43Yeah, just about. Late 40s, 50s, yeah, working through.
35:48Whether or not you approve of us spending billions on a nuclear deterrent, there's no doubt Barrow depends on BAE.
35:55More than 9,000 workers are employed here, from specialised welders to electrical engineers.
36:02It's by far the biggest employer in the town.
36:05The shipyard looms into view almost everywhere here.
36:08BAE is now the last shipbuilder left in Barrow, and not everyone can find work there.
36:13There is a proud sense of heritage and community in Barrow, but most of the traditional industrial jobs have now
36:20gone,
36:20and some here struggle with poverty and deprivation.
36:26This is quite the building.
36:29This building was the town's technical school.
36:32Not anymore.
36:34The Grand Victorian Building now houses a community support group.
36:38OK, to come in.
36:38Rebecca Robson runs Barrow Women's Community Matters.
36:43What is this place?
36:44We're a women's centre.
36:46We offer support to women and girls, and more recently, young men.
36:50To mainly women experiencing what?
36:54Struggles with the mental health, homelessness, involvement with the criminal justice system.
36:59And that might be as a perpetrator or as a victim.
37:03Most often a victim of domestic abuse or sexual abuse.
37:06Lots of times women just come and say, life is really hard.
37:08I don't really know what's wrong.
37:10Life's really, really difficult.
37:12Some areas of Barrow are among the most deprived in the whole country.
37:17Women often bear the brunt.
37:20The Barrow Women's Community Matters clothes bank.
37:22Yes.
37:23Oh my goodness.
37:28It's a little warehouse you've got in here.
37:30Yeah.
37:31We do babies, girls and boys, lots of women's clothes.
37:39I think we've given out more than a quarter of a million items in the last few years.
37:45A quarter of a million items.
37:47Sorry, I was rolling with that.
37:49Yeah, yeah.
37:49You've got clothes over here, three to four years old, four to five years old.
37:56You know, we know that you can get clothes in this country for a quid a top, really, in some
38:02places, can't you?
38:02Yeah.
38:03A pound is an awful lot of money to lots of people who are living on a budget.
38:06And if you've got no money, where do you get just a pound from?
38:10It doesn't exist.
38:10And if your choice is between buying a child a top or feeding them or putting electricity on the meter,
38:18well, there's no choice.
38:21Lots of poverty is hidden.
38:23We have women who go without toiletries, sanitary products, equipment.
38:27Sanitary products?
38:28Yeah, that's a real big issue.
38:30Again, if you've got a limited amount of income, women have to regard that as a luxury.
38:35It shouldn't be a luxury.
38:36They're a necessity.
38:36You can't not have tampons and sanitary pads.
38:40So they're just free for women and girls, young girls, to take.
38:45People haven't got enough money to live, to eat, to provide what they want to provide for their children.
38:53You know, I'm quite struck by the fact you are, you're just on the edge of the Lake District here,
38:58a tourist destination for millions and millions of people every year.
39:04Barrow feels like a very different part of Cumbria.
39:08I think the Lake District is beautiful, but we're only seeing the top coat.
39:14We're not seeing real life and real people.
39:16And who are the people behind all of those beautiful places and little tea shops and things that we visit?
39:22Where are the real people?
39:23Well, some of them are living here and their lives are really, really difficult.
39:27They're an inspiring bunch at this centre.
39:29Through the first year of the pandemic, they kept helping local women and children, even as more than 900 sought
39:35help for domestic abuse.
39:36Has Barrow struggled during Covid? Have women here struggled during the pandemic?
39:42Massively so. We saw 60 to 70% increase in people looking for help and support.
39:49The numbers of people accessing support for domestic abuse, and I know that's across the country, but we really, really
39:54felt that the numbers quadrupled.
39:58As well as offering community support, Rebecca's running an emergency service.
40:04So sometimes if women are fleeing from domestic abuse situations, you know, sometimes they have to flee immediately and they've
40:11literally only got what they stood up in.
40:13That's all they've got. So we always have some flea bags available so that we can just pull them off
40:19the shelf.
40:21It's just got the essentials in, so underwear, sort of sanitary products, pyjamas, and basic toiletries.
40:32You have to have these ready to go, like a grab bag. You call it a flea bag.
40:38When somebody is running for their life, you haven't got time to be messing about.
40:42That is the most dangerous time. That is when they're at risk of being killed.
40:46Killed?
40:47People don't leave just because they think they might have to.
40:50People leave because they are frightened for their life. They're running for their life. They're fleeing for their life.
40:57That's horrific.
40:58Yeah, it is. It is horrific. When women share their story, I know what that feels like. I know what
41:06that feels like.
41:07I've been to lots of those places within myself and I know what it is to experience some of that.
41:15A man pushed my mum down the stairs and used her head like a football and left her for dead.
41:19I don't want that to happen to anyone else's mum or to any other woman.
41:26And if I can do that much every day, to mean that doesn't happen, then I will.
41:33Oh, my goodness.
41:45Like so many of Britain's post-industrial towns, Barrow has suffered from chronic underinvestment.
41:52Successive governments failed to come up with any real plan for what should replace traditional industrial jobs.
41:58While the country's economy has tilted inexorably towards services and the south-east of England.
42:06Like everywhere, people here work hard to support their families.
42:09But a lack of solid careers and opportunities can leave some with less hope and confidence.
42:16Here on the edge of the Lake District, I went to visit a charity who were trying to use the
42:20power of nature to help local youngsters.
42:26I met up with Youth Development Officer Alicia Moore, who grew up in Barrow.
42:31Morning!
42:32Hello!
42:33The fact that they're here is the main thing.
42:35And they all looked at me this morning with, why have you got me up so early?
42:39How old are you all?
42:4116.
42:4216?
42:4317?
42:4416.
42:45Have you been up into the Lake District before?
42:47Not really, no.
42:48It's not your cup of tea?
42:50No.
42:51What is your cup of tea then?
42:52I'm just staying in my room.
42:55But you're stepping out of it now, aren't you?
42:57Yeah.
42:58You can chuck your masks on.
43:00Alicia was taking her group up into the Lake District, to a centre run by the charity, The Braithay Trust.
43:07We'll follow behind.
43:08We'll see you at the other end.
43:09Enjoy the journey.
43:12Almost all these youngsters have left school, and now face the challenge of finding their path in life.
43:18Some don't have a clear direction.
43:20So they're crossing the bridge, and then on their way to the Lake District.
43:29I think it's so impressive these youngsters have come today on this trip.
43:32So often in life, it's just about turning up.
43:38We headed to glorious Windermere, the largest lake in England.
43:43From their base there, The Braithay Trust takes youngsters, who haven't been born into privilege, on activities and adventures.
43:51It helps expand horizons, and gifts confidence and self-esteem.
43:57Well, I'm putting in a vote for this being gorgeous.
44:01Phoebe's pausing to look around.
44:04Loving it, Bob.
44:05Are we going that way?
44:07Yeah.
44:07Can you see, as you look over to the right, you've got all the trees, and then there's the kind
44:10of green area.
44:11That's huge, isn't it?
44:13Come on, Bobby.
44:14We're going pretty well, pretty effectively together.
44:15We can get there in a reasonable time, I'd have thought.
44:18Are you a positive Thai fan, Luke?
44:19I hope so.
44:21Well, I thought it was all rather inspiring.
44:24We didn't cross an ocean or climb a mountain, but still any activity in the natural world that pushes us
44:30out of our comfort zone can make a difference.
44:34Right, final push.
44:35We're just not panelling.
44:37Come on, guys.
44:39Now, there's quite a few rocks around here, so we're just going to need to thread our way through to
44:42get to the beach, aren't we?
44:43Oh, you do that.
44:44Yeah, now forward.
44:47Thank you, Kristen.
44:49OK.
44:52Get yourselves up the beach.
44:55It's definitely fun.
44:57I thought so.
44:57I think Phoebe definitely thought so.
45:00What's the purpose of this?
45:02What are you trying to achieve?
45:03We've been working a lot, like, in the last few months on personal development and how, like, how they think
45:08and how you guys view situations, don't we?
45:11Helping them to become individuals.
45:12I think if you stay in one place for a long time, you become that.
45:17This is a place that they don't often get to, even though it is so close.
45:21And it's different.
45:22It's different, yeah.
45:23It is different.
45:24The further you go, the more upper-minded you are, I think.
45:27Does it help to make your world bigger?
45:30Definitely.
45:31You feel cramped at home because you're only stuck in your room.
45:34Get out of here.
45:35It's scary but it's really big because you don't realise it, like, at all.
45:40And then I actually want to get out to places like this.
45:42And then you end up talking about it for weeks, don't you? Like, how much?
45:45And then looking at the pictures.
45:46I mean, you're saying it feels like your world is quite small, but for you to be aware of that,
45:51to even be conscious of that, is a massive step.
45:54If we didn't, I don't know where it would be.
45:57Do you see your future in Barrow?
45:59No.
45:59Hope not.
46:00It's not that good for job opportunities.
46:03I think I'd have to go to Manchester for what I want to do.
46:06I think.
46:07But I hate cities.
46:08I hope I can come here somewhere like this to do a job, hopefully.
46:13Well, forgive me for saying, you're very impressive.
46:16OK?
46:17That hasn't descended in a long time.
46:19Years go by without anyone saying it.
46:21You show up and tell us that we're actually very intelligent for our age.
46:24Come on, you're great.
46:29Just keep going backwards.
46:31Well, I think it's wonderful that coming here can help to give the youngsters a sense of the options and
46:38opportunities that are open to them in life.
46:41I think it's also really important that we all feel that the National Park partly belongs to us, especially those
46:51who live just around its edge.
47:06For hundreds of years, farming's been the natural career choice for many teenagers growing up in the Lake District.
47:15I headed to meet some of the next generation of farmers.
47:18It might not fit the first time, but if you turn it all the other way up, you can get
47:21it to fit.
47:23You've always got to think about the next course going up.
47:29Watching them closely was Peter Armstrong, a respected farmer who also teaches at Cumbria's famous Agricultural College.
47:38this is dry stone walling i suppose some people would say it's the 21st century but it is still
47:44i mean it's not just the landscape it's not just how the landscape looks is it it's this is a
47:49tool
47:49really as well for farming isn't it and these guys i'll tell you why why have we got these walls
47:53guys what's good about having these walls if you've got like in the winter if it's bad weather
47:57it's good for shelter so this the shelter they can get behind here can be the difference between
48:02life and death really for a young lamb that's teaching me something it's kind of the trick is
48:06just to try and keep them level course through and then it's easier for the next course thinking about
48:11where the next level's going these are a few of the 500 or so students at newton rig agricultural
48:18college founded a century ago to train up cumbria's young farmers yet newton rig had been deemed
48:25financially unviable and were set to close if you weren't studying at newton rig where else could
48:34you study probably just wouldn't go to college really yeah yeah it's a sad situation for cumbria
48:41really because it's been such a great asset for the county and it needs it because primarily we are
48:48a livestock county and uh you know you can see how fantastic it is and and we need to invest
48:54in that
48:55we need to invest in these guys we need to make it as accessible as we can for them to
48:59to progress in
49:00their careers angus am i right in thinking that you're now you're running the family farm yeah and how
49:08old are you uh 18 18 years old yeah goodness me it's not just your future then is it it's
49:17the it's
49:18the future of the land as well it's the future of rural britain in this area that we're talking about
49:25with with the college is that fair probably very fair yeah surely now more than ever farming needs new
49:36blood new skills and we need farmers who are trained to produce both food and look after the environment
49:43angus has said we can come and visit his farm so we're just heading up there now
49:48oh my goodness i'm sure that was once a remote little farmstead and now it's a very lonely old
49:56building on a very bleak and barren bit of moor
50:04angus farms 1000 feet up on the fells in one of the toughest places to be a hill farmer
50:11there's a saying here that you get nine months of winter and three months of bad weather
50:17for once i brought a bit of sunshine
50:22angus
50:25angus
50:27hello mate all right where to
50:29you've got a fair bit of land here haven't you 1500 acres and just over a thousand there breeding
50:41the house
50:43how many are in here now do you know 160 in all these big pens this morning where do you
50:50sell
50:50to where does your where do your land where does your meat end up pretty sure some of that goes
50:55into
50:55aldi and asda and little i think i just hadn't understood the size of what you're what you're doing
51:05i mean this is this is a big it's a big farm how do you come to be running the
51:11family farm pretty much
51:13on your own dad was hit on the road on a quad bike four years ago uh knocked off uh
51:21he was
51:21his head in the tarmac and he was in icu for a month not long after my mum was diagnosed
51:27with uh
51:28stomach cancer and uh sadly she died uh last march uh 9th of march so and then me dad the
51:37day it was
51:37but he just died this year end uh end of march the end of march yeah it was i think
51:43weeks ago
51:45i mean nobody would expect you to cope after that i've just got to get on with it the farm
51:51doesn't stop
52:02i think it's quite hard for any of us really to fully understand the burden that that young man
52:09is carrying he has lost both his parents in a very short space of time
52:16and he's got all this life to shepherd and care for and and look after
52:28take these yeah angus had wanted to continue at college to be given the essential know-how and
52:36education he needs to keep the farm going with so much at stake he was relying heavily on school
52:42friends to help out yeah we just started coming last year in lockdown and we haven't really stopped
52:47so me and my friend are both in sixth form so whenever it's like holidays time or last year because
52:53it was locked down it was maybe like twice a week three times a week so you're in sixth form
52:57now yeah
52:57you're doing your a levels yes which makes you 17 yeah how old are you ewan 17. what would you
53:06say
53:06your principal role is here keeping them alive yeah just make sure they're all all right and fit and healthy
53:14i'm quite struck by this scene here look you've got the three of them
53:19these three relative youngsters doing the farm and the farming
53:25remember in this county and country the average age of a farmer is about 59
53:32they are the new young blood and yet their means of getting proper education in farming is being taken
53:58away
53:59it's been born dead because its eyes are coloured it's all cloudy i think it's still a birth
54:07it's the reality now he's got to try and keep the other one alive
54:23is that to clear the airway yeah yeah just to get any liquid out of the lungs
54:28yeah are you hopeful it's a second breath slide
54:35they lift the head up they're going to be right
54:40just take a few breaths and then stop it
54:43it's not what you would call fighting for it is it
54:48just not quite right
54:52you're going to put it in the warm box yeah just for a bit
54:54it's holding its head a bit more now isn't it this looks better than it did before
54:58so he's taking it to put it in the warm box
55:03which i presume does what it says on the tin
55:07is this an official bit of kit or has this been made yourselves
55:11somebody's old fleece over the top
55:18and you've got the heater fan and you're on the side yeah and that can really work can it yeah
55:23you've saved life i like that yeah fixed them fixed the road back from death just about yeah good lord
55:42this is the uh room for that night for me you know i just cannot i cannot get over
55:50the level of responsibility this young man this lad has taken on
56:08what a lad he is he's choosing to he's choosing to
56:14rise to an immense challenge and attempt to carry it forward
56:19what can you have for that other than enormous respect
56:23i love that
56:38essential supplies good on them
57:05it's 5 43 on a friday morning morning
57:12angus is up he's about to do the rounds i need to get my boots on
57:24it's all right wow so five first in the last few hours yeah
57:33what happened to the one from last night that went in the warming box
57:37it was this was that one it looked a lot better than what it was what a difference
57:42for starting to live it's made it through the night
57:46i reckon angus will make a great success of his farm despite all the challenges
57:56good luck mate
57:56bird loops cumbrians are certainly a hardy people
58:02but i do worry that the lake district and much of the british countryside
58:06it's becoming a tougher place for young people to work and thrive
58:11yet this seems like just the time for us to support farming young farmers and rural communities
58:19should we go come on jess next time lockdown is ending and the lakes are filling up
58:26there's a busy time in the lake district this summer and you take accommodation wherever you can get it
58:30you have arrived so i think this is it
59:02if the snow is going is good to have everybody
59:03and you can get your own way to win.
59:03and you can get your own way to the lake district this week
59:03and you can get your own way to go and see you
59:03You
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