
Countryfile (1988)
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Ellie Harrison as Self - Presenter
Episodes 118
Autumn Special
This edition of the countryside magazine revels in the colours of autumn. Ellie Harrison visits Perthshire, where the woodlands are a kaleidoscope of colour by both day and night.
Read MoreShropshire
Countryfile is in Shropshire, where John Craven visits a seed bank and Ellie Harrison is on the hunt for the elusive Shropshire pine marten.
Read MoreNorfolk Broads
Matt Baker joins student gamekeepers at work, while Ellie Harrison reveals how cranes have returned to Norfolk after an absence of 400 years.
Read MoreWye: Hay Festival
At the Hay Festival, Ellie Harrison goes on a wildlife safari and Sean is on a literary adventure with a group drawing inspiration from the Wye Valley countryside.
Read MoreWorking Animals Compilation
Sean Fletcher is in Carmarthenshire in west Wales taking a look at working animals. He meets one of the world's leading experts on birds of prey.
Read MoreWorcestershire
Ellie joins a family who have set up a traditional cottage industry producing natural elderflower cordials and presses, and tracks lesser horseshoe bats in Worcester.
Read MoreRoots and Shoots
Ellie Harrison visits a Bristol herb garden to find out about a plant that is on the front line in the fight against cancer.
Read MoreSummer Special
Anita Rani explores the Artisan Trail in Dartmoor, a newly created route that links some of the area's best artists and craftspeople.
Read MoreLlyn Peninsula
On the Llyn Peninsula, Ellie goes snorkelling to explore the rich seagrass habitat underwater. Steve meets the dairy farmers who produce and deliver their own milk.
Read MoreRame Peninsula
Ellie Harrison visits Mount Edgcumbe on Cornwall's Rame Peninsula, where the UK's first ever native dark honeybee reserve has just opened.
Read MoreProtected Countryside
To mark it becoming a Unesco World Heritage Site, Ellie explores what makes the Lake District an area of international cultural significance.
Read MoreSouth Yorkshire
Ellie is in South Yorkshire, right on the border of the Peak District, following in the footsteps of the Clarion Ramblers.
Read MoreNature Strikes Back
Thirty years on from the Great Storm of 1987, Ellie Harrison visits Wakehurst Place in West Sussex to learn how it dealt with the devastation.
Read MoreRamble for Children in Need
A special programme following the team as they lead the way on rambles of their own through some of Britain's best landscapes, all in aid of Children in Need.
Read MoreAutumn Special
Matt Baker crunches through the leaves to find out about a new charter to protect woodlands, and Ellie Harrison meets Skomer's new seal pups.
Read MoreRemembrance
Ellie Harrison finds out about the so-called 'Idle' women of the canals, who played a vital role in the Second World War.
Read MoreThe Brecks
Ellie Harrison finds out about a conservation effort to save two species from extinction in Breckland, on the Norfolk-Suffolk border.
Read MoreMy Countryside Compilation
Ellie Harrison sees her home county of Gloucestershire as she has never seen it before. And Nina Wadia explores the Highlands.
Read MoreChristmas Special
In this Christmas special, Matt Baker, John Craven and Anita Rani are in Castleton in the Peak District, where the Christmas tree festival is in full swing.
Read MoreLeicestershire
Anita Rani visits Leicester University's herbarium to investigate the city's plants' past, present and future, and Tom Heap looks at the rural fire services.
Read MoreWinter Special
Matt Baker meets the Dorset man championing local winter produce. Anita Rani finds out how making jewellery inspired by nature can improve the winter blues.
Read MoreCambridgeshire
Ellie Harrison and Matt Baker are in Cambridgeshire, where Matt looks at a huge project to turn a quarry into the UK's biggest reed bed.
Read MoreWaterworlds Compilation
Helen Skelton is at Kielder Water in Northumberland, exploring the ways in which water shapes our lives. Plus watery worlds from the Countryfile archive.
Read MorePembrokeshire
Ellie Harrison is in Pembrokeshire looking at the effect of recent storms on the coastline.
Adam Henson is in Scotland exploring the mystery behind some missing upland sheep.
Tom Heap looks at the problems faced by the UK's sheep farmers and asks why people have fallen out of love with lamb.
Read MoreShropshire
Matt Baker immerses himself in Shropshire Wildlife Trust's Love Your Rivers project. It's a huge conservation operation, involving 12 organisations.
Read MoreSpring Special
Ellie Harrison meets the designer who's creating a celebratory 30th anniversary Countryfile garden for the Hampton Court Flower Show.
Read MoreRoyal Special: Balmoral
To celebrate 65 years since HM the Queen's coronation, Countryfile has been given unprecedented access to the Queen's Balmoral estate.
Read MoreRoyal Special: Sandringham
To celebrate 65 years since Her Majesty's coronation, Countryfile visits the Queen's Sandringham estate. Adam Henson looks into the farming history of Sandringham.
Read MoreWest Sussex
In West Sussex, Matt explores the phenomenon of 'champing' - where people pay to stay in churches - and Ellie meets Maya Leonard, a self-proclaimed insect activist.
Read MoreHampton Court
Ellie Harrison and Sean Fletcher explore the grounds and surrounds of Hampton Court Palace, which is home to the last stable of working shire horses in London.
Read MoreThe Seven Wonders of Wales
Sean Fletcher introduces his 'seven wonders of Wales' - the mountains, hill farming, heritage, wildlife, castles, food and the coastline.
Read More30th Anniversary
To celebrate Countryfile's 30th anniversary, John Craven takes us through 30 of the most memorable moments from the programme from the past three decades.
Read MoreNottinghamshire
Matt, Ellie and Steve are in Nottinghamshire where Matt reports on the plight of the original Bramley apple tree and there's a double hit of wildlife from Ellie.
Read MoreCountryfile Live
The team are at Countryfile Live, set in the stunning grounds of Blenheim Palace. Steve Brown goes backstage at the first ever British charcuterie awards.
Read MoreSaltmarsh, Sand and Sea
Steve Brown goes on a tour of the Isle of Sheppey. A flat landscape typified by saltmarsh, sea and big skies, this is a wilderness full of wildlife.
Read MoreWildlife Special
Ellie Harrison takes a look at the state of the country's wildlife - the pressures it is under, the challenges it faces and the prospects for vulnerable species.
Read MoreA Different Day Out
Ellie Harrison is in Derbyshire to explore ideas for a different day out, including building a makeshift raft and taking in an arts trail.
Read MoreRamble for BBC Children in Need
The fourth annual Countryfile Ramble for BBC Children in Need features the show's presenters leading rambles across the UK, joined by viewers and inspirational youngsters.
Read MoreEast Sussex
Countryfile visits East Sussex, where Sean Fletcher meets the family with a passion for poultry.
Read MoreChristmas Special
Matt Baker and the team are in the small village of Elsdon in Northumberland, where preparations are in full swing for a big Christmas bash.
Read MoreNorth Yorkshire
Turner Prize-winning artist Rachel Whiteread shows us her sculpture, commissioned to mark the Forestry Commission's centenary.
Read MoreWinter Wildlife Rescue Compilation
Steve Brown visits Lower Moss Wood nature reserve in Cheshire to meet the volunteers and is shown the specialist hospital unit.
Read MoreWinter Special
The team reveal how the countryside is full of life even in the coldest of months. Steve Brown discovers the challenges faced by barn owls during winter.
Read MoreCheshire and the Wirral
Matt and Ellie explore Cheshire and a wildlife haven in the Wirral, and Hannah Cockroft travels to beautiful North Uist in the Outer Hebrides.
Read MoreShropshire
Matt meets the farmer using a no-till method of raising crops to help save our soils, while Ellie is on the trail of Shropshire’s Clun sheep.
Read MoreSpring Special
Matt Baker is at Morecambe Bay to meet caravan enthusiasts celebrating 100 years of caravanning history, while John Craven tries his hand at sheep shearing.
Read MoreLiving on the Edge
With sea levels rising and ferocious waves battering our coasts, Ellie Harrison finds out what it’s like living on the edge of land and sea all year round.
Read MoreQueen Victoria
This month marks 200 years since Queen Victoria’s birth, so Countryfile is exploring the Victorian fascination with nature and the great outdoors.
Read MoreSouth Wales
Matt Baker learns about a scheme to create new structures from the fabric of the land, while Tom Heap asks whether our countryside has become a tax haven for the super-rich.
Read MoreLincolnshire
In Lincolnshire, Ellie kicks back in a bar where it’s not drinks on the menu but clouds! Meanwhile, Adam looks at what Brexit could mean for our farmers.
Read MoreCaring for Our Planet Compilation
Machynlleth is the first town in Wales to declare a climate emergency. Anita sees how the community is doing its bit in the fight against a warming planet.
Read MoreSummer Special - Royal Highland Show
The team are at the Royal Highland Show celebrating the best that rural Scotland has to offer, including the Arbroath smokie and an award-winning Scottish gin.
Read MoreBedfordshire
John Craven visits the secluded Luton Hoo estate, once a training ground for land girls, and Tom Heap looks at new forms of environmental campaigning.
Read MoreWorking Animals
Sean is in the Lake District taking a look at some of the jobs working animals do, and we take another look at working animals we’ve featured in the past.
Read MoreNature's Bounty
Helen Skelton learns about the history and traditions of harvesting, and we revisit the times when our presenters got stuck in to help harvest this country's varied produce.
Read MoreCountryfile Ramble for BBC Children In Need
Matt Baker leads the fifth annual Countryfile Ramble for BBC Children in Need.
Read MoreAutumn Special
John Craven takes a walk in the footsteps of the poet John Keats and explores the landscape that inspired his poem To Autumn, written 200 years ago this autumn.
Read MoreConwy and Gwynedd
Matt Baker walks the Snowdonia slate trail, while Ellie Harrison finds out about the Outdoor Partnership, a project to get people outdoors and into the countryside.
Read MoreChristmas Special
John Craven and the team are at Tyntesfield in Somerset, a stately pile that celebrates Christmas in high Victorian style.
Read MoreCottage Industries
Countryfile celebrates cottage industries, with Ellie Harrison meeting a woman who sells hand-crafted products all revolving around fire.
Read MoreShaftesbury
Matt, Ellie and Steve are in Shaftesbury in Dorset, where they take part in the town's celebrated snowdrop festival. Matt meets the growers and enthusiasts dedicated to the small white flowers. He discovers some of the rarer varieties and learns of the high prices some bulbs attract. Steve meets a potter whose snowdrop planters are in demand and who has his own special way of sourcing the clay he uses. Ellie finds out that there is more to spring flowers than just snowdrops. She goes on a seasonal stroll and sees some of the different plants whose early flowering is a blessing for insects. She then joins Matt and the townsfolk of Shaftesbury on a snowdrop-themed lantern parade that takes in the famous cobbled street, Gold Hill.
Elsewhere, Adam meets a trailblazing vet, and Tom looks at whether the UK’s farmers can go carbon neutral by 2040.
Read MoreGwent Levels
This week the team are on the Gwent Levels. Matt Baker meets a group of fishermen who are still catching salmon the way it has been done there for centuries. Ellie Harrison is on the trail of a star species that has made an amazing comeback on the Levels. Tom Heap is looking at what is being done to ensure that those most in need in the countryside can access the healthiest fresh food, and it’s the calm before the lambing season storm down on Adam’s farm.
Read MoreLake Vyrnwy
Lake Vyrnwy in Wales is gearing up for the warmer spring days ahead, when there will be a huge increase in migratory birds and tourists. Matt Baker and Ellie Harrison immerse themselves in the landscape, discovering the history of this man-made Victorian reservoir. Ellie finds out about the bird species that make the surrounding forests and breathtaking moorland home. The Evans family farm the moorland for the RSPB, and Matt helps out as they gather in their ponies for health checks and get their ewes ready for lambing.
Meanwhile, Adam, Charlotte and Tom are joining forces for a special report on what future global trade deals could mean for UK farming and food production.
Read MoreSigns of Spring
Ellie is in the Lugg Valley in Herefordshire, where recent heavy floods have left their mark. Despite this, she is on the hunt for signs of spring - not least toads. She joins volunteers making sure the amorous amphibians can make it safely across main roads to their favoured spawning grounds. Ellie also meets members of the community who have just planted out their first forest garden, and she joins an artist who sees beauty in the flooded landscape.
Read MorePresenter Favourites
The Countryfile presenters take you on a trip down memory lane, as they pick out their favourite films from the archive, including Anita Rani surfing in Snowdonia, Ellie Harrison counting gannets, Matt Baker visiting an alpaca blood bank and Helen Skelton fell running. Adam will be on his farm finding out about the pecking order of his chickens, and as always, we’ll be celebrating the glory of the countryside that surrounds us and the people who make it so special.
Read MoreEllie's Home Patch
Ellie Harrison is on her home turf in Gloucestershire. At the Slimbridge Wetland Centre she helps with important conservation work and gets a ringside seat to watch some kingfisher parents busy feeding their young. She also visits an ancient bluebell wood, exploring the treasures of the forest floor. Adam Henson reveals how his horses are helping to create a wildlife haven, and Tom Heap investigates how fly-tipping is blighting the countryside more than ever.
Read MoreCharlecote Park
As organisations like the National Trust open up to visitors again, Ellie Harrison is at Charlecote Park in Warwickshire, one of the great estates of the Elizabethan era. She’s rolling up her sleeves to help with Britain’s oldest managed flock of Jacob sheep and visits a working Georgian water mill that’s busier than ever, supplying the lockdown baking boom. Dwayne Fields investigates the challenges facing members of the BAME community living in the countryside, and Adam is judging entrants in an online livestock show.
Read MoreShropshire Hills
Ellie Harrison and Tom Heap are in the Shropshire Hills to find out about an ambitious project to create a nature corridor between the two peaks of Long Mynd and Stiperstones. Tom meets a farmer who has become a convert to environmentally friendly regenerative farming, while Ellie goes in search of some rare and much misunderstood wildlife. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, and with Brexit on the horizon, Charlotte Smith tests the strength of Britain’s food supply system. And could the pitter patter of tiny hoofs be on the horizon for Adam’s Suffolk Punch?
Read MoreWeird and Wonderful
Day in, day out, our countryside is a hive of activity. Farmers grow our food, while guardians nurture our nature and wildlife. But you don’t have to dig too deep to discover the weird and the wonderful, as Ellie Harrison finds out. She is in the Cotswolds to visit Broadway Tower, a folly which sums up British eccentricity.untryside - such as the time Anita Rani met the farmer growing a crop of chairs, and when Margherita Taylor made microscopic art from nature.
Read MoreThe Lake District
Ellie Harrison and Joe Crowley are in the Lake District to celebrate the 250th anniversary of William Wordsworth’s birth. They discover how his sister Dorothy and her writings were as influential as the beauty around him. And while Wordsworth’s poetry may lure many of us to the lakes, visitors can mean extra challenges. So we’re also commemorating another significant anniversary - 50 years of Langdale and Ambleside Mountain Rescue. And Adam finds out where he might get the best prices for his rams - online or at a traditional livestock market?
Read MoreSouth Devon
Matt Baker and Ellie Harrison visit south Devon, once the cider capital of England, to discover how orchards are being revived. Matt meets eighth-generation cider-makers who have as close an eye on conservation as they do in making the liquid gold, while Ellie finds out why one of Britain’s rarest bats is so at home in this particular part of the south west. Adam Henson is on a quest to ensure the survival of one of Britain’s rarest cattle breeds, the Albion, and Tom Heap investigates whether efforts to combat air pollution could come at a high cost to those rural communities already fighting fuel poverty.
Read MoreLake Vyrnwy
Matt and Ellie are in Wales, exploring how industry and conservation are working together to safeguard important habitats at Lake Vyrnwy. Ellie gets hands-on with woodland management in a bid to protect a rare day-flying moth, while Matt discovers the fascinating story of the Bank of the Black Ox. After a disappointing harvest, Adam hopes some new crops will make for an improved yield, and Charlotte investigates concerns that the UK’s environmental watchdogs aren’t doing enough to protect our wildlife and their habitats.
Read MoreHealing Countryside
The healing powers of the great outdoors have never been more valued than now, so Ellie Harrison visits Gloucestershire to discover just how our countryside can provide the perfect tonic in troubled times. From forest bathing to wild swimming, she immerses herself in nature. We also take a restorative visit to the Countryfile archives to rediscover the health-giving potential of the UK’s green havens. John Craven finds out how nature helped wartime wounds, Anita Rani visits a farm giving respite to refugees, and Steve Brown learns about the healing power of goats’ milk.
Read MorePlant Britain
Countryfile launches Plant Britain, an ambitious two-year challenge aimed at galvanising everyone in the nation to get planting.
Matt Baker is in Cheshire, planting the very first trees in what will become the Countryfile Plant Britain wood, while Anita Rani is in her home town of Bradford, helping residents of the Canterbury Estate to plant trees in their front gardens and at the local primary school. Anita is also on her home turf in Hackney, discovering how her local area is going green with help from voluntary organisation Tree Musketeers.
Margherita Taylor is at Wytham Woods in Oxfordshire, discovering exactly how trees capture carbon. Steve Brown is in Neath, south Wales, to learn which trees to plant in which location, while John Craven discovers a micro-forest close to his home and plants a simple window box to demonstrate how you can still do your bit even if your outdoor space may just be a window ledge.
Read MoreBlack Mountains
Ellie Harrison and Sean Fletcher are in the Black Mountains, which straddle the border between Wales and England, to find out more about a drive to preserve ancient rural skills and traditions. Sean gets a bird’s eye view of the spectacular landscape, while Strictly alumni and former thatcher Joe Sugg battles for supremacy in a hedge-laying competition. Joe Crowley investigates the challenges facing the Scottish salmon industry, and Adam has high hopes that his smart new ram will be a hit with the ewes in his flock.
Read MoreWildlife Compilation
Ellie Harrison has a love for the natural world and all creatures great and small. She is in Bristol to meet wildlife photographer and friend of Countryfile, Simon King, to get a crash course in how to photograph wildlife. His top tip is, if you’re experimenting with nature photography, don’t make your life too hard by picking nervous subjects. So they attempt to capture on camera birds in flight over the magnificent Avon Gorge, inquisitive city squirrels and a herd of deer who live semi-wild in the nearby Ashton Court estate. Ellie has also combed the Countryfile archive for some of her wildlife highlights plus a few extra treats.
Read MoreMendips
Ellie Harrison and Tom Heap are in the Mendips looking at how this stunning but fragile area is being protected from the invasion of visitors. Ellie scales Cheddar Gorge and discovers the damage cars are wreaking on narrow, winding roads. She also learns how white-clawed freshwater crayfish are being saved from voracious invaders. Tom finds out how the countryside can help transform lives and investigates if the government’s new green subsidy scheme can really deliver for farmers and the environment. Meanwhile, Adam meets one of his heroes, international rugby ref turned farmer Nigel Owens, who is facing his herd’s first TB test.
Read MoreEllie's Home Turf
Ellie Harrison is in Gloucestershire, finding out how communities on her home turf are pulling together to support each other in these tough times. She meets the producers on a mission to get everyone eating local and healthy meals at affordable prices, finds out why gardening is on prescription and helps out with Britain’s favourite mammal, the hedgehog, which is facing a precarious future. Wildlife film-maker Jack Perks gets up close to dippers, Adam sizes up a new boar for his pigs, and Charlotte investigates what future trade deals could mean for the food on our plates.
Read MoreLambing Special
In this special episode, Ellie joins Adam and his team for 48 hours of hectic lambing action. She may be the rookie in Adam’s lambing shed, but Ellie quickly gets to grips with multiple births, touch-and-go adoptions and the emotions of the life-or-death decisions faced each day during this busiest of spring seasons on the farm. Tom Heap finds out why mountains of wool, historically the nation's most valuable sheep product, are now piling up in warehouses across the country. In Cumbria, Hannah Jackson – the Red Shepherdess - meets young upland farmers bringing new ideas to this traditional form of sheep farming. Plus how to count sheep using an almost forgotten Celtic language system.
Read MoreFirst Signs of Spring
Ellie Harrison celebrates the arrival of spring on her home turf in the Cotswolds. From the millions of snowdrops in Painswick’s Rococo Gardens to discovering some old folklore, finding out about a scheme to enable wheelchair users to enjoy tougher terrain in the great outdoors and meeting the cattle that encourage wildflowers, Ellie also raids the Countryfile archive. There’s the time she went on dolphin watch in Cardigan Bay, Matt Baker's visit to tulip fields in Lincolnshire and the day Adam Henson went to North Yorkshire to catch his supper.
Read MoreDaffodil Way
Ellie Harrison visits the 'golden triangle' in Gloucestershire to find out why the area is so famous for the wild daffodil. She takes a trip down memory lane with villagers who recall picking the daffs as children and how the flowers were sent by rail on the daffodil line to cities across the country. She discovers the difference between wild and cultivated daffodils and witnesses some of the finest medieval wall paintings in England. We also meet the Meanwells - a mother and son fulfilling their dreams of farming in the Cumbrian hills - and Charlotte Smith investigates the challenges facing our rural churches and the communities they serve.
Read MoreHambleden Valley
Sean Fletcher goes wild in the Hambleden Valley in Buckinghamshire with a whistlestop trike tour of a chocolate box landscape that has been the beautiful backdrop for many TV dramas and films. But how can we breathe new life into the area? Sean finds out how the old cottage industry of lace-making is poised for a comeback, and he saddles up to meet a couple opening up their farm to enable safer riding in this corner of the countryside. Adam Henson is busy with some new arrivals, and as picking season dawns, Charlotte Smith investigates whether UK farmers can cover any shortfall in the number of seasonal farm workers needed to gather their harvests.
Read MoreCranbourne Chase
Matt Baker and Ellie Harrison uncover the wonders past and present of Cranborne Chase.
Matt unravels a puzzling piece of the area’s past as he explores a 900-year-old mediaeval ‘miz maze’ hidden in the woods, before crossing the Chase to help tend to Britain’s biggest modern day maze on the Longleat Estate. Ellie joins the UK’s only ‘supercluster’ of farmers working together to encourage wildlife on their land. She also heads to the River Ebble to disccover what makes this chalk stream so special and how it’s helping to give rural teenagers a sense of purpose. Steve Brown is in for some special stargazing in the Chase - the UK’s first designated dark sky reserve. Tom Heap investigates plans to launch a new space race from the heart of our countryside – but at what cost to the environment? And Adam Henson has a nervous wait on his hands as his rare-breed Suffolk Punch Lexi goes to the maternity unit.
Read MorePlant Britain Spring Special
Plant Britain is all about encouraging community gardens and planting wildflowers in a two-year initiative to help combat climate change, help wildlife and pollinators and transform our own wellbeing. Matt Baker and Margherita Taylor help Bristol locals to create a community garden, and Charlotte Smith visits a project in Glasgow that is blooming. Sean Fletcher is in Northern Ireland with primary school children to find out about their field-to-fork project. Helen Skelton is with a young botanist who is on a mission to save our native wildflowers, while Joe Crowley discovers the secret life hidden in a special meadow in north Wales. The Natural History Museum do some cutting-edge soil and pond DNA forensics, and John Craven finds out how to do your bit no matter how small a space you have - from a pot on a windowsill to a balcony planter. Also, look out for special messages from some well-known faces.
Read MoreArt in the Countryside
Ellie Harrison is in Gloucestershire at Nature in Art, the world’s first museum and art gallery dedicated to art inspired by nature, as she goes in search of her inner muse. Under the expert eye of award-winning wildlife artist Jackie Cox, Ellie picks up some top tips including how old make-up can do just as good a job as fancy pencils.
Read MoreWimbledon Common
Matt Baker and Ellie Harrison explore Wimbledon Common to celebrate its 150th anniversary. Matt saddles up with one of the UK’s only mounted rangers, finding out how horseback patrols have been enforcing the common’s 57 bylaws for the past seven decades. Ellie goes on the hunt for miraculous but often maligned moths, discovering how these winged wonders can be creatures of beauty and are more prolific pollinators than bees. And Matt and Ellie join together to celebrate the common’s most famous ‘residents’, the Wombles, meeting the daughter of their creator and seeing how these original eco warriors are still inspiring others today.
Elsewhere, Adam Henson has a busy day on the farm as some new bulls are introduced to the herd; Tom Heap investigates whether efforts to protect the world’s oceans are delivering for UK waters; and, in the first of a four part series, explorer Dwayne Fields leads four youngsters at a crossroads in their lives on an expedition into the Welsh wilderness.
Read MoreOffa's Dyke Path
Countryfile
Matt Baker and Ellie Harrison are on the border of England and Wales to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Offa’s Dyke Path and to explore the fascinating history and treasures that lie along this 1,200 year old man-made monument. Matt kicks off conservation efforts to help to preserve the dyke and the surrounding landscape for future generations to enjoy, while Ellie abseils to measure and record one of the UK’s rarest trees. She also discovers the engineering skills of nature’s very own master builders. Adam Henson has got the experts in to calculate the carbon footprint of his farm, and, in its 30th year, it’s decision time in Countryfile’s photographic competition. Which of the thousands of entries will make it into the top 12?
Read MoreIslands
Joe Crowley is on Isle Martin, a dot of an island off the west coast of Scotland, which is getting ready to host Scotland’s very first seaweed festival. Joe meets the island's sole occupant, explores the magical qualities of seaweed and sees how it is at the forefront of the battle against climate change. Joe also delves into the Countryfile archives to revisit some island jewels around the UK, including the time Anita Rani visited the Hebridean island where all the farmers are women, Ellie Harrison's trip to Church Island in Northern Ireland, and Margherita Taylor surveying seals off Looe Island. And we catch up with Mari Huws on Bardsey Island, just off north Wales’s Llyn Peninsula.
Audio
Read MoreCountryfile Ramble for BBC Children in Need 2021
In this 75-minute special, the Countryfile Ramble for BBC Children in Need heads out on a tour of the UK in the company of some truly inspirational youngsters. Matt Baker takes on a challenge in the Lake District with Alfie & his family, all of whom were helped by Hope House Children’s Hospice after Alfie had his leg amputated following cancer treatment. Steve Brown heads to the Mendips with sports-mad eight-year-old liver transplant patient Violet, on a ramble with a high-octane finish; Margherita Taylor walks the vast open sands of the Norfolk coast with 17-year-old Chloe, who shares how therapy sessions have helped her with anxiety and other issues; Ellie Harrison is in County Down, hearing how the Children in Need-funded charity Women’s Aid helps children caught up in domestic abuse; and, for her first Countryfile Ramble, Charlotte Smith is on a memory-filled stroll along Scotland’s stunning east coast with brother and sister Finn and Ailsa, whose dad passed away during lockdown.
Read MoreNewlyn
Joe Crowley and Ellie Harrison are in Cornwall, exploring the fishing port of Newlyn with a remarkable secret history. Joe also discovers the fishy equivalent of ‘nose to tail’ eating, while Ellie finds out how the area is reeling from the 2021 Staycation Invasion. As global climate change talks get underway, Tom Heap investigates the threat posed by rising sea levels here in the UK. And on his farm, Adam Henson has some new arrivals - but will they all be delivered safely?
Read MoreStaffordshire National Memorial Arboretum
For Remembrance Sunday, Ellie Harrison visits the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire to help the Royal British Legion mark their centenary and to explore the diverse ways nature can offer healing and recovery. She also treks with llamas and discovers how an old pair of jeans are key to converting old Second World War pillboxes into new des res for bats. Adam Henson discovers why military veterans are armed with just the right skills to be the farmers of tomorrow, and Charlotte Smith investigates the true cost of protecting the countryside’s most historic landmarks and landscapes.
Read MoreCompton Verney
Ellie Harrison and Joe Crowley are at the Compton Verney estate in Warwickshire to mark 300 years since the death of Britain’s greatest master carver, Grinling Gibbons. Known as the Michelangelo of wood, Gibbons was influenced by nature, and Joe discovers how his legacy lives on today. Ellie explores Compton Verney’s 120 acres of parkland, shaped by 18th-century landscape architect Capability Brown, and finds out why it is now a haven for local wildlife, including orphaned badgers. Tom Heap investigates the crisis facing UK pig farmers, and Adam Henson is on Exmoor to help with the annual round-up of one of the UK’s rarest native pony breeds.
Read MoreClinton Devon Estates
Matt Baker and Ellie Harrison visit the largest privately owned estate in Devon, which has been in the same family for more than 700 years, to discover how the 25,000 acres are shaping up to the future. Matt joins the calving team at Clinton Devon Estates and sets the wheels in motion at a 900-year-old watermill, while Ellie checks out a mammoth project where the sea will be more than welcome to flood the land. Then, she meets the organic farming duo who also juggle part-time jobs as a lecturer and a GP.
Read MoreAllerton
Matt Baker and Ellie Harrison are at the Allerton Project in Leicestershire, where cutting-edge research by farmers for farmers enables agriculture to keep ahead of the challenges facing the industry.
Matt finds out how sheep urine is contributing to climate change, Ellie discovers the miracles of the humble hedge, and binoculars at the ready, both do their bit for the Big Farmland Bird Count. Also, Tom Heap investigates what’s being done to keep antibiotic-resistant superbugs out of the food chain, and Adam Henson is busy with winter checks on his livestock.
Read MoreWrest Park
John Craven is at Wrest Park in Bedfordshire to help with an ambitious 20-year restoration project to breathe new life into fabulous features that reflect fashions across three centuries, from statues to cascades and an 18th-century bath house. And it’s the perfect place for John to dip into the Countryfile archives, revisiting the occasions when Ellie Harrison helped to spruce up the Cerne Abbas Giant, Anita Rani mucked in to clear a toxic scrapyard in Shropshire, and Matt Baker rolled up his sleeves to help restore a 12th-century church in Herefordshire.
Read MorePlant Britain by the Sea
Countryfile's Plant Britain by the Sea special shines the spotlight on the incredible coastline of our island and how we can all do our bit to help combat climate change, revive the fortunes of our wildlife and boost our own mental wellbeing.
Matt Baker launches Countryfile’s Coastal Clean Up initiative, while Ellie Harrison helps to sew meadows out at sea and discovers the miracle properties of seagrass. Charlotte Smith goes on the hunt for rare dune plants saved from the brink of extinction, John Craven finds out how helping our coast to be in the best of health is also remedying young people’s eco anxiety, and Tom Heap investigates the importance of protecting our sand dunes.
Read MoreWarwickshire Greenways
As cycling booms, Matt Baker and Ellie Harrison jump on their bikes to explore a new greenway in Warwickshire, and Tom Heap investigates the increase in cycling deaths on our rural roads.
Read MoreWonderful Wildlife
Ellie Harrison is at Oxfordshire Wildlife Rescue to help care for injured creatures great and small, and to find out why the centre has been so busy that it had to temporarily close its doors.
Read MorePlant Britain Finale
John Craven and Ellie Harrison visit the Countryfile wood in Cheshire, and Charlotte Smith finds out how community gardens are changing lives.
Read MoreRural Power
Ellie Harrison heads to Bethesda, in north west Wales, to see how the village has transformed itself into a growing community of energy self-sufficiency.
Read MoreHogmanay and New Year Traditions
Margherita Taylor is in Auchindrain, a fascinating and perfectly preserved example of a Scottish Highland farm township to discover the roots and traditions surrounding New Year and Burns Night.
Read MoreGoing to Extremes
On the seventieth anniversary of the first summit of Mount Everest, Ellie Harrison is put through her paces at a materials research facility, including a cold chamber that reaches -40 Celsius.
Read MoreWild Britain
Picking up the baton from Sir David Attenborough’s Wild Isles, Countryfile launches 'Wild Britain', an ambitious initiative to galvanize us all to help and save our wildlife.
Read MoreWild Britain
As part of Countryfile's Wild Britain initiative, Ellie Harrison and Hamza Yassin visit Wytham Woods in Oxfordshire.
Read MorePoole Harbour
Ellie Harrison and Anita Rani are at Poole Harbour for the conclusion of a three-year environmental study, and thety celebrate Ellie’s last Countryfile episode with a trip down memory lane.
Ellie visits artificial rock pools and learns the results of a trial which uses 3D printed reef blocks on the sea floor, hoping to make sea defences more habitable for marine wildlife. Ellie also harvests an unusual cooking ingredient - sea spaghetti.
Anita joins a crew fishing for Manila clams on one of the final catches of the season, and she explores bird haven RSPB Arne to see the work done to protect the land for nesting birds such as oystercatchers. Anita also tries paddleboarding for the first time, meeting a local water sports group to find out how structures like piers help to reduce the impact of water sports and walkers on the bird population. Adam Henson is busy on the farm checking in on his Cotswold ewes and seeing how the recent back-to-back storms have affected his wheat crop.
Read MoreLambing
To wrap up this year’s lambing season, we’re at Adam Henson’s farm in the Cotswolds to see what’s next for his new spring additions. As well as the mischievous lambs, Adam checks in with his Highland calves, Gloucester old spot piglets and a brand new Exmoor pony foal. With ewes and lambs to sell on, and one-year-old rams to shear, there’s plenty to be getting on with.
Adam also takes a dive into the Countryfile archives to revisit some of our favourite lambing memories – from hardy breeds that lamb outdoors to exhilarating moments from the lambing shed.
Read MoreThree Rivers Race
Joe Crowley joins the teams at the Horning Sailing Club as they get ready for the Three Rivers Race.
Read MoreBritain's Rarest Creatures
Joe Crowley is on the lookout for some of the UK’s most elusive animals at Thursley National Nature Reserve in Surrey, one of the largest remaining areas of heathland.
Read MoreWestonbirt at Autumn
John Craven visits Westonbirt, The National Arboretum, in Gloucestershire, to see it in all its autumnal glory. At this time of year, 2,500 different species of trees, from around the world, burst into a mosaic of colour.
John finds out about the history of the arboretum’s autumn colour parties, which were celebrated in the Victorian period, and discovers why leaves change colour at this time of year. He meets the team saving the arboretum's older trees from the winter storms and plants a rare native Sorbus tree to help preserve the species for the future. In celebration of the season, we also delve into the Countryfile archives to revisit autumn stories from around the UK.
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