Cheshire 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.
Matt and Ellie are exploring Cheshire and a wildlife haven in the Wirral. Matt is on a dairy farm meeting sixth-generation farmer Henry Cooke and hearing his plans to become the biggest producer of clotted cream outside the south west. Matt takes a look at Henry鈥檚 Danish red cattle, whose rich milk is the secret ingredient. He then sees how the cream is baked to become clotted cream. Ellie meets the retirees who have hooked up with Cheshire Wildlife Trust to make bespoke furniture, the sales of which go toward helping local wildlife. She then heads to the Wirral, to the unspoiled Hilbre Island, with bird enthusiast Allan Conlin to see the wide variety of birds there and to hear about Allan鈥檚 passion for this remote island, just a stone's throw from Liverpool city centre. Also in this programme Hannah Cockroft travels to beautiful North Uist in the Outer Hebrides to get a taste of the crofting life. Tom is looking at the struggle faced by many rural vets to stay in business, and Adam is in Somerset finding out about a scheme to help young people get a foot on the farming ladder.
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Furniture-Making
Ellie is at the Cheshire Wildlife Trust's headquarters, meeting a group of volunteers who are getting crafty in order to help their local wildlife.聽
A group of retired locals have turned their hand to woodwork, making bespoke pieces of furniture to sell with the aim of funding conservation projects across the county. 聽
It鈥檚 part of a wider government initiative to tackle social isolation in the over-50s. 聽聽
After seeing the group鈥檚 skills and hard work, Ellie meets farm manager Ben Gregory to see how the money raised by the group is being put to use on site.
Vet Crisis
Tom investigates the challenges facing today's farm vets working in an industry that has changed drastically since the days of James Herriot.聽
Today,聽50 per cent of all practices say they鈥檙e understaffed and many are being snapped up by new global corporations.
Now, just a handful of companies own half of all the UK鈥檚 vet practices. 聽
What does this corporatisation mean for farmers used to seeing the friendly face of their local farm vet? 聽聽
Young Farmer Partnership
Adam鈥檚 in Somerset meeting two farmers from across the generations whose innovative partnership could be a lesson for us all.
Established farmer Bob Honey has gone into business with neighbour Will Awan, ensuring the future of his farm while giving a youngster a big step up the farming ladder.
Hilbre Island
Sitting in the Dee Estuary聽lies Hilbre Island, one of three islands that see more than 120 bird species visit a year.
A 45-minute walk across the tidal sands from West Kirby, it's home from home for Allan Conlin, who has grown up a stones鈥� throw from here and is now a聽'patcher' - someone who records the birds of one area meticulously.
Ellie travels with Allan across the sands to explore Hilbre and its natural history.聽
And she learns about his passion for the place and how a serious operation led to him co-writing a highly-acclaimed book about the rare birds of Cheshire.
Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Matt Baker |
| Presenter | Ellie Harrison |
| Presenter | Hannah Cockroft |
| Presenter | Tom Heap |
| Presenter | Adam Henson |
| Series Producer | Becky Pratt |
| Executive Producer | William Lyons |
