91Èȱ¬

The beautiful Buckinghamshire countryside was a source of inspiration for the great children’s writer Roald Dahl. Focusing on the village of Great Missenden, which Dahl called home, John Craven is guided by the Roald Dahl museum director Stephen Gardam. Together they visit the landmarks that inspired books like The BFG and Danny the Champion of the World in the village and the surrounding landscape. 

Matt Baker meets Chris Rose, a recipient of the Wildlife Trusts’ Undersea Artist bursary; a scheme that helps artists learn how to scuba dive so that they can seek inspiration beneath the waves. Matt learns about the North Sea’s underwater world from Seasearch, an organisation mapping the sea bed, before he dons a wetsuit and explores it for himself. Armed with adapted waterproof paper and pencils, Matt and Chris dive a site just off the Farne Islands, capturing the underwater landscape as they go. Back on dry land Chris reproduces in paint what they saw under the sea.

The Roald Dahl Museum holds the interior of Dahl’s famous writing hut, where he wrote most of his renowned works. John Craven takes a look behind-the-scenes and shares some gems from the museum’s archive including the evolution of Fantastic Mr Fox.  

Matt Sewell has been described as the Banksy of the bird world. The artist is probably best known for his wildlife murals painted on walls up and down the country but the urban artist is a country lad at heart - an avid ornithologist who brings to life caricatures of birds with chirpy personalities. Ellie meets Matt at the Hollies Nature Reserve, a popular stop off for migrating winter thrushes such as redwings. While there, Ellie has a go at sketching in Matt’s unique style before heading to Shrewsbury to finish spray painting a mural dedicated to Shropshire wildlife.

Matt Baker reveals more about this year’s Countryfile Ramble for 91Èȱ¬ Children in Need including how you can take part. Taking place over the weekend of 8th and 9th October, we're hoping that for one weekend Countryfile viewers cover the country rambling and raising money to help some of Britain’s youngsters. Some of those helped by the charity will join Matt and the other presenters on rambles – including 15 year old Olivia who has Downs Syndrome and is helped by a local community group, supported Children in Need.

Adam Henson has left the Cotswold countryside and travelled to a North Cornish beach. Local surfer and ocean scientist Dom Clarke demonstrates how the huge waves and dramatic tides, caused by stormy weather, have washed ashore secrets from the sea. They are then joined by Dom’s friend Susie Ray who teaches Adam how to turn treasures from sea into works of art, by using an old Japanese fisherman’s technique.

Roald Dhal had a passion for rural life and gardening. John Craven visits Keith Pounder, landscaper and gardener to the Dahl’s since the late 1980s.  While setting John to work on some plants, Keith recounts his own memories of Dahl. He recalls Dahl’s cheeky character, but also his passion for things that grew and shows John the Cherry tree that bizarrely inspired the giant peach. It also turns out that Dahl wasn't altogether honest when it cam to growing giant onions! 

The River Dart has its source in the soil of Dartmoor. Thousand-year-old rain seeps from the peat before carving its way across South Devon to reach the sea. Halfway along its journey it flows through the town of Totnes. Anita Rani meets Alarik Greenland who is an artist born and bred in the area. He sculpts trees by intricately weaving up to a mile of metal wire and many thousand semi-precious gems. His inspiration is the relationship between trees and the relics of human architecture. Anita attempts to weave her own metal branch in the ruins of the 15th Century Berry Pomeroy Castle. There’s one final ingredient to Alarik’s sculptures, something which may have lain hidden for hundreds of years. To track that down Anita must go face first into the River Dart!