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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.
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The borderland of Northern Ireland is a land of contrasts. The rolling, gentle hills of the borderland of Northern Ireland transform on the turn of a bend into rugged, exposed crags. Shallow brooks emerge from narrow valleys into wide lochs that stretch on for miles. Life for the people also turned quickly as the peace and tranquillity of rural life was shattered by the suspicion and violence of the Troubles.
Helen Mark begins her journey in an army helicopter with Major Graham Livingstone of the Parachute Regiment as they fly over South Armagh. Once one of the most dangerous places on earth, the Peace Process has brought an air of stability to South Armagh and Graham explains that the helicopter pilots, whilst always aware of the threat from the ground, are also concerned about minimising their impact on the people below, flying higher over schools for example as they aid the police in their work.
John and Ivy McClure farmed on the border of County Fermanagh and the Republic. By day John tended his cattle, by night he put on the uniform of the Ulster Defence Regiment and patrolled the border, stopping cars and searching them for bombs and guns. His father was a military man and John considered joining the UDR as his duty - but as the violence escalated, one of his colleagues in the UDR was murdered and John decided to move away to a safer area. He remained in the UDR and carried on patrolling the border. Everyone Helen talks to on the border, including John, repeats the phrase "you just had to get on with it" - this abnormal life became normality for those who lived through it.
Eugene McCabe is a writer and farmer who lives in the Irish Republic in the village of Clones. To meet him, Helen crosses and re-crosses the border without any signposts marking the occasions. The border that was once so heavily policed and physically blocked with obstacles is now invisible. Eugene explains to Helen that life on the border created divisions between people that were artificial, friends he could talk easily and freely with became suspicious and taciturn as the violence increased. He says people would talk about anything but the Troubles - even the weather - which, as Eugene, tells Helen can be very dangerous indeed.
The border runs through Joe O'Laughlin's farm - one field is in Donegal and the others in County Fermanagh. He tells Helen that his children, despite being brought up during the worst of the Troubles, have returned from England and Scotland to build their houses on the border. His son has a house in Donegal - a field away - whilst his daughters live in the North on the border, also a field away. He says to people like him and his family the border is meaningless, it's all one country.
Email Open Country: open.country@bbc.co.uk
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Open Country looks back 2003
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