 |
|
|
|
|
PROGRAMME INFO |
|
|
|
|
|
From Shetland to the Scilly Isles, Open Country travels the UK in search of the stories, the people and the wildlife that make our countryside such a vibrant place. Each week we visit a new area to hear how local people are growing the crops, protecting the environment, maintaining the traditions and cooking the food that makes their corner of rural Britain unique.
Email: open.country@bbc.co.uk
Postal address: Open Country,
91热爆 Radio 4, Birmingham, B5 7QQ.
|
|
|
|
|
LISTEN AGAIN |
|
|
|
|
PRESENTERS |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
More about Helen Mark |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
More about Richard Uridge |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PROGRAMME DETAILS |
|
|
Out Skerries, Shetland
Famous for its birdlife, the Out Skerries are little more than a rocky outcrop 20 miles beyond the island of Shetland and they feel remote, even the people of Shetland consider them remote. The rocks lie at the confluence of the Atlantic and the North Sea half way between Scotland and Norway - in fact the nearest railway station is on Bergen and the islands were, back in the dim and distant past, Norwegian. The weather and its effects on the seas surrounding the islands have shaped Skerries. The island's history is one of adapting and overcoming the elements. Every household has a boat and even children as young as nine take their own boats out to fish. But the islanders have a new force to overcome: the global market has blown the harsh winds of economic reality across the rocks of Skerries, the salmon farm has gone out of business and the school, with only six pupils, has been threatened with closure. There are only 70 islanders left and the people of Skerries are fighting to keep the island alive.
Richard Uridge begins the programme aboard The Filla, the ferry that shuttles back and forth three times a week between Lerwick and Skerries. The boat has had to face its share of storms and the captain explains to Richard how it copes as he manoeuvres the boat between the rocks at the entrance to Skerries harbour.
Alasdair and Jean McBride came to Skerries 10 years ago which, in Skerries terms, means they are relative newcomers. Jean was the community nurse and fell in love with the island at first sight. She and Alasdair love the space and sense of community on Skerries. They say "everyday is different" and the subtleties of the light and the extremes of weather make the island special.
Denise Anderson and Brenda Hay tell Richard how Skerries is a wonderland for children. It's their kids who make up the schools complement of pupils. Denise has four at the primary school and Brenda has two at the secondary school. They say the island gives children much freedom and, if the schools were closed down, their children would have to leave the island at the age of 11 to attend school on Shetland - depriving the kids of family life. For Denise and Brenda it would mean they wouldn't see their kids from Monday to Friday and that they say is "unthinkable".
Davie Johnson was born and bred on Skerries. He has been a fisherman all his life and has built boats since he was a boy. His last boat was a wooden 39-foot fishing boat. Built without plans, it became his pride and joy but, unfortunately, one foggy day off the coast of Whalsay it sank and Davie tells Richard how he survived - even though he couldn't and still can't - swim.
Alice and Gibby Arthur are both Skerry folk through and through. Alice has seven part-time jobs and Gibby used to work on the salmon farm. They are passionate about keeping Skerries alive and tell Richard how the island's history and tangible reminders of their ancestors, the people that have battled to survive on Skerries, are always on their shoulders urging them on. They are determined that the island will thrive and face its future with the spirit that has served Skerries well in the past.
Email Open Country: open.country@bbc.co.uk
The 91热爆 is not responsible for external web sites
|
|
|
RELATED LINKS
91热爆 Holiday Category
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Audio Help
|
|
|
|
|
|
PREVIOUS PROGRAMMES |
|
|
|
|
Current Week
Last Week
The A44
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire, River Don
Aberfan
Alderley Edge, Cheshire
Ancient buildings
Anglesey
Applecross Peninsula
Aran Islands
Armistice Day, Somerset & Sussex
Auxiliary Units
Bardsey Island
Batsford Park Estate, Glos
Berkshire
Berwyn Mountains
Birdsong
Blackwater Estuary, Essex
Blaenafon
The Blean, Kent
Bosworth Field
Brecon Beacons
Buckinghamshire
Butterflies
By Brook Valley
The Cairngorms
Caithness
Cambridgeshire
Carmarthenshire
Cheddar Gorge
Cherwell Valley
Cheshire: Harrop Valley
Chesil Bank
Clee Hills, Shropshire
Climbers
Corfe Castle
Cornwall
Cornwall: Cape Cornwall
Cornwall: Padstow Lifeboat
Cornwall: Roseland Peninsula
Cotswold
Cotswold Way
County Clare, Ireland
Cranbourne Chase
Cumbria: Eden Valley
Cumbria: Coniston Water
Cumbria: Sellafield
Cumbria
Daingean in Glengarry
Dee Estuary
Derbyshire
Devon & Somerset: Grand Western Canal
Donegal
Dorset
Dorset: Cranborne Chase
Dorsetman
Dowsing
Dunalastair
Durham
Durham: Witton Park
East Anglian Churches
Eden Valley in Cumbria
Eigg
Eire: Co. Mayo
Eire: Skibbereen
Eire: West Cork
Elan Valley, Wales
Eshott, Norhumberland
Essex
Essex: coastal
Exmoor, churches
Falkirk
Farne Islands, Part 1
Farne Islands, Part 2
Fenn's, Whixall & Bettisfield Mosses National Nature Reserve
The Fens
Fife
Flanders
Forster Country
Glencoe Mountains
Glencoe
Gloucestershire
Goa
Goodwin Sands
Gower Peninsula, June 2006
Gower Peninsula, October 2005
Grouse shooting
Guernsey
Hadrian's Wall 2003
Hadrian's Wall 2004
Hambledon Cricket Club
Hampshire: Odium
Hampshire: Selborne
Hardcastle Crags
Heart of Wales Railway
Hebden Bridge
Herefordshire
Hertfordshire
Hidden Treasures
High Weald, Sussex
Holy Island
Ilmington
Isle of Gigha 2004
Isle of Gigha, 2005
Isle of Man - Seas
Isle of Man
Isle of Wight, 2003
Isle of Wight, 2005
Izak Walton
Kent: Dover
Kent: Dungeness Peninsular
Kent: North
Kielder Water
Kinver Edge
Kingham, Oxfordshire
Lake District
Leicestershire: Bosworth Field
Leicestershire: death rituals
Lincolshire farming
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Loch Morar
Looe Island
Ludlow
Lunar Influence
Don McCullin
Richard Mabey
Marsden, West Yorkshire
Mary Towneley Loop
Mersea Island
Mersey Marshes
Metal Detectingg
Mid-Wales
Morecambe Bay
Moel Findeg, North Wales
Morecombe Sands
Nant Gwrtheyrn
National Forest
New Forest
Newton Dee, nr Aberdeen
Norfolk Broads
Norfolk: Thetford Forest
Norfolk: North Norfolk coast
North Devon Combes
Northants: Sulgrave Manor
Northants: Underground
Northern Ireland: Belfast
Northern Ireland: Border Counties
Northern Ireland: Moneypenny's Lock
Northern Ireland: Sperrin Mountains
Northern Ireland: Strangford Lough
Northern Ireland: Toomebridge
North Norfolk Coast
Northumberland, part 1
Northumberland, part 2
North Wessex Downs
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire Moors
North Yorkshire Moors Railway
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire: Sherwood Forest
Oak Trees
Offa's Dyke
Orford Ness
Orkneys
Out Skerries, Shetland
Outward Bound
Oxfordshire
Peak District
Peak District
Pembrokeshire Coast
Pentland Hills
Perthshire
Poachers
Pony Club
River Severn
Romney Marsh
Rutland Water
Scilly
Scotland: Abernethy Forest
Scotland: Loch Morar
Scotland: Shetland
Scotland: Strathclyde
Scotland: What value the countryside?
Scottish Borders
Sefton Coast
Self-sufficient communities
Severn Valley Railway
Shropshire: Ellesmere
Shropshire: Much Wenlock
Shropshire and Wales, Newport
Skegness
Skomer Island
Snowdon
Snowdonia National Park
Somerset Levels
Somerset Levels
Somerset: Montacute House
Somerset writers
South Downs
South Somerset: watermills
Southwold
Spurn Peninsular
Start Bay
Stour Valley
Survival
Sussex
Sutherland, Scotland
Tamar Valley
Thornham Estate, Suffolk
Thurstonland Cricket Club
Twyford Down
Tyntesfield, North Somerset
Village Life
Terry Waite
Wales
Wales: Flatholm Island
Wales: Nant Gwrtheyrn
Wales: Snowdonia
Warwickshire: rare breeds
Wayoh Reservoir
Wenlock Edge
West Sussex
West Yorks: Calder Valley
Weston Common, Surrey
Wild boar
Wiltshire
Wiltshire: Savernake Forest
Women's Institute
Wroxeter
Yorkshire Dales, June 2002
Yorkshire Dales, 1 July 2006
Yorkshire Dales, 8 July 2006
Z to Z Britain
Open Country looks back 2003
|
|
|
|
|
MESSAGE BOARDS |
|
|
|
|
Join the discussion:
The Learning Curve
Pick of the Week
Questions, Questions
Woman's Hour
Word of Mouth |
|
|
|
|
RELATED PROGRAMMES |
|
|
|
|
Excess Baggage
Changing Places
|
|
|
|
