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THE LIVING WORLD
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PROGRAMME INFO |
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The Living WorldÌýis a gentle weekend natural history programme, presented by Lionel Kelleway, which aims to broadcast the best, most intimate encounters with British wildlife.
nhuradio@bbc.co.uk |
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LISTEN AGAIN Ìý25min |
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PRESENTER |
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"The Living World is the next best thing to being there. Our contributors are skilled naturalists who are able to reveal those fascinating facts about animals and plants that you don't always find in books. It's like having a personal guided tour of the countryside, without needing to leave the house."
Lionel Kelleway
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PROGRAMME DETAILS |
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| Lionel Kelleway and Phil Gates in Teesdale |
Lime,ÌýGin and JuniperÌý
In the first of a new series, Lionel Kelleway travels alongside the River Tees on the Pennine Way from Bowlees to High Force in the company of botanist Phil Gates, from Durham University. The two men are not here for their health but to uncover a wealth of fascinating and in some cases nationally rare plants, which have attracted botanists to this area since the 18 th century.
The Teesdale limestone local specialities include alpine bistort and bird's eye primrose that thrive on the river margins, plus the rare shrubby cinquefoil which is very deep rooted and adapted to survive the torrential winter floods that can sweep down river, especially after a rapid snow thaw.
There's also the globe flower (locally known as 'double dumplings') that thrives in some of the valley bottom pastures, where around 100 plant species have been identified, including woodland plants like wood anemone and wood cranesbill.
The geology in this part of the dale is predominantly limestone but where peat accumulates on the sandstone fell, and in boggy areas on the limestone lower down, the surface deposits can be very acid, making for an interesting and varied flora.
As Lionel and Phil travel further up the river they reach the thundering falls of High Force, above which is a gin-scented ancient gnarled juniper forest, home to beautiful lemon-scented ferns. A fragrant end to this part of their fascinating foray.
From here they travel further up the valley onto an area of windswept moorland near Cow Green Reservoir in search of a famous arctic alpine; the spring gentian. These brilliant blue flowers are believed to be survivors of the early flora that colonised the area soon after the ice sheets retreated about 10,000 years ago, but were eliminated elsewhere in England when forest vegetation developed. |
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