Countryfile - Montacute House
Countryfile - Montacute House
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Montacute House is one of the jewels in the crown of the Somerset countryside.
00:09Well, the Elizabethan mansion at the heart of the estate is certainly impressive,
00:14but it's the surrounding grounds and countryside where the real treasures lie,
00:19because this is home to some of the rarest wildlife in the UK.
01:00In Somerset, to the west of Yeovil, lies Montacute House Estate.
01:08Its surrounding grounds consist of 270 acres of woodland, parkland, and formal gardens.
01:18The National Trust carefully manages this 400-year-old estate
01:22with wildlife in mind, creating habitats to support some of our rarest creatures.
01:28We'll be meeting people going the extra mile for the species they love,
01:32from finding a home for the UK's largest snail...
01:35They sometimes climb the wall, but then they will come back down.
01:38So they found their snail haven here.
01:41Absolutely, they're loving it.
01:44...to carving out cavities for endangered bats.
01:52How far through will he cut?
01:54About a third.
01:55Go in. There it is.
02:00And attracting back some of our at-risk amphibians.
02:04This is the 14-million-year-old dinosaur about to put in your tree.
02:08My goodness, that's incredible.
02:13And over in the Cotswolds, Adam is experimenting with new technology
02:17that could change the way that he farms.
02:20And that's just going in GPS, dead straight line.
02:22Absolutely, it's flying at eight metres a second,
02:24which is about 24 kilometres an hour.
02:26We should have this field done in 15 minutes.
02:29Wow.
02:36Montecute House Estate is home to an abundance of wildlife.
02:42Now a new residence being introduced.
02:44And despite the slow pace of this species and its endangered status,
02:49its numbers are proliferating at a rapid rate.
02:52Roman snails were introduced to the British Isles by the Romans,
03:04our largest snail species.
03:06They can grow up to 4.5 centimetres in diameter,
03:10roughly the same as a chicken egg and twice the size of the common garden snail.
03:17But in the 20th century, their population fell dramatically
03:21and the 2008 ban on killing or handling them failed to boost their numbers.
03:28Now an important breeding project is taking place in a garden
03:33on the edge of the Montecute House Estate,
03:35belonging to local enthusiast Michael Ratzi.
03:44So here's my little garden where the Roman snails live.
03:47How many snails are in this garden?
03:49There's thousands of snails in this garden, but of the ones that I study,
03:54there's at least 40 of these protected Roman snails living loose in this garden.
04:01Would you like to see one?
04:02Yes.
04:04If you look at the back of that, you can see...
04:08That's a size.
04:11That one is a very large juvenile.
04:15That's a baby?
04:16That's a big baby.
04:18Yeah, they obviously know their way around,
04:19and what's very odd is that they don't go out through the garden door.
04:23They sometimes climb the wall, but then they will come back down.
04:28Roman snails are a rarity in South Somerset.
04:31These ones are descendants of some that Michael adopted
04:34during a trip to the Cotswolds as a teenager more than 50 years ago.
04:40So they found their snail haven here.
04:43Absolutely.
04:43And they're loving it.
04:44They're loving it.
04:44They're having a good life.
04:45They're having a good life.
04:47As well as the snails living in his garden,
04:50Michael has 20 breeding snails that he keeps in his house for research purposes,
04:55and these specimens are a hungry bunch.
05:02Luckily, living so close to the grounds of Montacute
05:05provides Michael with a ready supply of snail snacks.
05:12So Michael, why have we come to this spot?
05:14Well, from about March through till this time of the year,
05:18depending on the weather, dandelion leaves is their preferred food.
05:21And so we've come here because they're really good and succulent and juicy.
05:27So you can see here that leaf is nice and fresh.
05:34So if you'd eat it, it looks like it would be a good meal for the snails.
05:39Yes.
05:41So how much do you have to pick?
05:44This year, in terms of my time, has not been great
05:48because we had such an early mild spring.
05:51They woke up from hibernation in February.
05:56Normally, I anticipate they wake up on the 4th of April.
06:00That's the average.
06:02But they woke early and they were really, really hungry.
06:05And so I was spending sort of seven hours a day.
06:11Oh my goodness, Michael, that's incredible.
06:14In March, three bags of that every day.
06:17So I was in a panic.
06:19A day?
06:20Yeah.
06:24Obviously, you've got a real love for these creatures.
06:28Seven hours a day to feed them.
06:30Yes.
06:30Why, Michael?
06:32This is a question I've asked myself.
06:34Apparently, at the age of three, I started being interested in snails.
06:41I started to race them.
06:44I had a very isolated childhood on a farm.
06:47So I had brothers, but they weren't interested in snails or things like that.
06:52And so we had to amuse ourselves in different ways.
06:56I love them so much because it's such a surprise to get up in the morning,
07:01on a dewy morning or a damp morning,
07:03and see one going across the garden path in its slow and peaceful way.
07:07But not everyone embraces them in the same way.
07:09Why should we perhaps look at them a little more kindly?
07:13Well, I think we need to learn to live with them in our gardens.
07:19They're important in the circle of life.
07:22They're food for other things, but they can also be helpful to us
07:26because they will eat the dead, dying stuff.
07:30You can pick up a snail and move it from one place to another if it's on your hosta.
07:36So if perhaps we were a keen gardener, you might say,
07:40give a snail a break, help it move home rather than...
07:43Yeah, that's right.
07:44If you take them more than 50 yards away, 100 yards,
07:48and it's a suitable place for them, a wall or long grass or something like that,
07:54then they'll be quite happy there.
07:56They'll colonise that area.
07:58Last year was a really successful breeding programme.
08:01So my 20 researching snails produced 23 clutches of eggs,
08:06so I had about 600 babies.
08:08And I couldn't release them all into my garden
08:12because the garden's just not big enough.
08:14And so where do we put them?
08:16The grounds of Montacute provide the perfect new home for Michael's snails.
08:22They need limestone, and our local stone here, hamstone, is a form of limestone.
08:27And the fact that they've successfully colonised the gardens
08:31so I know they do really, really well in this area.
08:37Hamstone is the honey-coloured stone used to build Montacute House,
08:41and it's found in abundance in the earth here.
08:45Snails absorb calcium for their shells from the stone
08:48through the sole of their single foot.
08:53But before the next batch move to their Elizabethan pad, breakfast.
08:58These are last year's juveniles.
09:01Looking really good and big and healthy.
09:04Wow.
09:05Each individual behaves differently.
09:09And I can now almost predict which ones are going to wake up first in the spring,
09:15how active they're going to be.
09:17So they're like people.
09:19There's variety.
09:24Because of their rarity in Britain,
09:27Roman snails are a protected species.
09:34This is a really good spot for releasing Roman snails.
09:38Lots and lots of mixed vegetation.
09:41The stinging nettles, all kinds of things that they really like.
09:46And I'm convinced that they will love it.
09:51Now a year old, they're ready for release at Montacute.
09:57Michael's chosen a spot that's off the beaten path,
10:00but with plenty of that all-important ham stone in the earth.
10:06Shall we move them in?
10:06Yes.
10:11So you just gently fling.
10:17Almost like confetti.
10:18Yeah.
10:20New home.
10:22How does it feel to move them in?
10:26In a way, it's a little bit sad because they've been with me since they were born.
10:32But looking into the future, I know it's a good thing.
10:38You know, I'm giving them a new start in life.
10:42So although you're saying farewell for generations to come,
10:45they should be part of this landscape.
10:46Absolutely.
10:47And I'm really proud of them.
10:49Yeah, absolutely.
10:49And I'm really happy for them.
11:05Incredibly, Montacute is home to 13 of the 17 known breeding bat species in the UK.
11:11But what makes this place so attractive to these flying mammals?
11:19Daniel Hargreaves is the bat programme manager for the Vincent Wildlife Trust.
11:27And he's been monitoring the bats here for the last two years.
11:34We're looking out across the estate here, Daniel.
11:36I mean, you've got such an array, haven't you?
11:38You have different trees, lots of buildings as well.
11:41So do you have the bats sort of spread right across the estate?
11:44We have, yes, yes.
11:45You've got trees, as you've said.
11:47You've got buildings, but you've also got orchards.
11:49You've got trees that are in fruit and in flower.
11:52And basically that mosaic of habitats is allowing all those different species
11:57to fill a different ecological niche.
12:00And so what's really important for you then as the Wildlife Trust,
12:03as far as this part of the estate is concerned?
12:06I brought you here because basically we did a radio tracking study recently.
12:11We caught quite a rare bat.
12:13And we've been following it around to the different trees that that species is using.
12:17So I wanted to show you some of the trees that the bat's using.
12:19Fantastic. Yeah, let's go and have a look then.
12:23Daniel and the team have discovered two rare species on the estate,
12:27the Bechstein and the Barbastelle,
12:30with numbers of both species falling drastically over the last 20 years.
12:37Got a big old oak here, Daniel.
12:39Yeah, it's beautiful, isn't it?
12:41Yeah.
12:42These trees have persisted for so long in the environment.
12:46You can see all the features, all the cracks and crevices,
12:48which is great for bats, also great for invertebrates.
12:51So it's basically bed and breakfast for some of our bats.
12:54Yeah. And so what species of bat have you got making use of this then?
12:58So here we found a Bechstein's bat.
13:03The Bechstein is found almost exclusively in woodland,
13:06weighing around eight grams and likely to feed on flies and moths.
13:12So how are you going about monitoring them then?
13:15So basically for this bat, it's incredibly difficult to follow bats.
13:18They're tiny, they fly at night, often all you see is a shadow.
13:23So we had this transmitter on its back,
13:24which meant we could follow its life for two weeks, which was great.
13:29So every day we were out radio tracking this individual.
13:32Learning about where he roosted, where he foraged and how he moved around the park.
13:38So which feature was it using?
13:40So if you follow the main trunk up to that first limb,
13:43you'll see that it's grown out and basically over time it's got heavier
13:46and it's split a little bit and that's created...
13:48Oh, I see what you mean.
13:49Yeah, created a fracture.
13:50Do you know, I've got this little jazzy thing
13:52where I can use the sunlight on my watch face
13:55and I can point it out like a laser.
13:57And then just like that.
13:58So the Beckstein's bat, we can see that crevice where it's roosting.
14:02It's really a cavity inside there.
14:04So we know that Beckstein's bat like cavities in trees,
14:07typically made by woodpeckers or rotholes from branches going in and decaying away.
14:12So it's a slightly unusual feature for a Beckstein.
14:15But what we know now is perhaps we can recreate these features.
14:19We can match what's happening here on a visual basis.
14:23So if we look at this, we can see that this is a Beckstein's bat.
14:26Match what's happening here on other trees,
14:29trees that haven't got features in.
14:30And that means that in the future,
14:31these bats are going to have more and more roost potential.
14:36Monitoring the bat's movements is crucial to the research
14:39so that the team here know how to provide a welcoming environment in the future.
14:45OK, so the bat with the radio transmitter on
14:47was basically in the evening leaving that tree,
14:50flying along this line of trees.
14:52And then it would either go to forage or it would roost in this lime tree.
14:56Right, so we're on the flight path now.
14:57We're on the flight path of the bat, yes.
15:02Arborist Sean Sherston specialises in bat work
15:06and he's helping the team assess the bat's natural environment.
15:09Internal depth, six centimetres.
15:12And this was its destination then?
15:14Yeah, this big, big old lime and quite an unusual feature.
15:18You can just see where Sean is.
15:20What can you see up there, Sean?
15:22It's a knot hole.
15:24It's empty at the moment.
15:26There's some wood light in there and a bit of debris.
15:28And what measurements have you been taking?
15:30So we're taking the depth and the entrance height
15:36and the height inside the feature.
15:38So it's quite narrow.
15:39It's kind of like a wedge shape inside.
15:41Right.
15:41Only really suitable for maybe one or two bats.
15:46So you're doing this all across the estate then, aren't you?
15:49The estate and wider as well.
15:50It's part of a national project
15:52through Natural England Species Recovery Programme.
15:54So it's actually looking at the whole distribution
15:57for Becksteins and Barbastelle bats.
15:59And the more data we can have,
16:00it means that the better science,
16:02the better knowledge we're going to have for the species.
16:04And hence, that's where the next stage of the project comes in,
16:06where you can actually create those features for them to use.
16:10Yeah, obviously, we don't want to damage or harm the tree,
16:12but we're trying to create these natural features.
16:15And if you've ever seen a tree hit by lightning
16:17or you see another tree hit a tree,
16:19there's a huge impact and we need to recreate that.
16:22Wow.
16:25Park ranger Mark Musgrave and his team
16:27are preparing to create a bat feature in a turkey oak,
16:30a fast-growing tree that, without alteration,
16:33has less appeal to wildlife
16:34but will continue to flourish after the fracture.
16:38He's just about to start his chainsaw.
16:44Big guns for this one.
16:49How far through will he cut?
16:52About a third.
16:53OK.
16:53Yeah.
16:54OK.
16:56And then we're going to snap the limb, basically, with this winch.
16:59With the winch cable, yeah.
17:06I'm on the winching section,
17:09a process that will help to create a natural-looking break in the tree branch.
17:15There she goes.
17:17It's gone?
17:18No, not yet.
17:18So the whole tree's got to hit the deck, the whole branch.
17:22There's a hell of a lot of winching left to do then.
17:24Yeah.
17:27Yeah.
17:33He's going.
17:36He's going.
17:37There it is.
17:48Let's have a look then.
17:50Let's check out the handiwork.
17:52Yeah.
17:52Hey, it does look natural, doesn't it?
17:54Yeah.
17:55You can't actually see any chainsaw cuts from here.
17:57No.
17:58So that's perfect.
18:00That's the cavity for the Bechstein,
18:01and we know they use those spaces.
18:04The feature will remain there for a very long time
18:07because the branch isn't dead.
18:08If it were to die, it would be a feature for a small amount of time.
18:12And why is that new feature then?
18:13Why is it so perfect for those bats?
18:16Because they're cavity dwellers.
18:18Yeah.
18:18Go in there.
18:19It's the right sort of size, shape.
18:21Yeah, yeah.
18:22And is there any way of you helping the bats find these features?
18:25Yes, so we've already done that on this tree itself.
18:28So we've ring barked a different limb,
18:30and we reduced a limb higher than this one.
18:33So the canopy here is open.
18:35Right.
18:35So as the bats are flying around naturally,
18:37they're able to find the opening more
18:38because we've already created the space.
18:40Got it, yeah.
18:41Ring barking is used to control the tree's size
18:44and to reduce the need for pruning.
18:46So effectively, their landing area, you've made a lot clearer.
18:50Exactly, yeah.
18:51Take off some landings.
18:56Well, the team here are going to great lengths
18:58to try and secure the future of this rare wildlife.
19:02And I tell you what, this tree has turned into some bat roost.
19:16Here at Montacute, it's not just the grounds that need constant care.
19:20Inside the house, the team are hard at work
19:22preserving this Elizabethan gem and the treasures it contains.
19:31Robin Hancock is the head of Montacute's Conservation Department
19:35and the custodian of the 2,000 individual items
19:38in the Montacute inventory.
19:42Coming to work here, I've got a lot of experience.
19:45Coming to work here is an amazing privilege.
19:48It's difficult not to get swept up in this wonderful jewel
19:53of Elizabethan splendor in this glorious landscape.
19:58We get to look after the property.
20:00We get to look after the collection.
20:03But also, we get to show off the collection and the house to visitors.
20:08It's one of the things that we enjoy the most
20:11is telling visitors what we've discovered,
20:14what we know about the history of the property.
20:20Of all the rooms at Montacute House,
20:22there's one that really allows you to live as the Elizabethans did.
20:27The Long Gallery.
20:30Long galleries were common in aristocratic houses of the Elizabethan period.
20:34But Montacute is grander than most.
20:37At a huge 52 metres,
20:40it's the longest such space in England.
20:44Galleries were specifically designed to create
20:49a recreational space in houses of the period,
20:52but also an opportunity to display wealth and status.
20:56Everywhere you look out of each window,
20:59you would have seen where the estate extended to.
21:02I'm sure there was plenty of gossip
21:04that would have been bouncing off the walls as well.
21:06Bearing in mind the English weather,
21:08particularly in Somerset, can be changeable.
21:12And so you would have your very expensive,
21:16lavish outer garments as a high-status possession.
21:20You wouldn't want to expose them to the elements
21:23or get them dirty where possible.
21:26The windows are particularly interesting in Elizabethan houses
21:30because they were specifically designed
21:35to throw light around the interior spaces as much as possible.
21:41And the way that the light dances around the window space
21:46is really, really something to behold.
21:50The Long Gallery is currently closed,
21:52so it's the perfect opportunity
21:54to help conserve some of the items here,
21:57especially one that's used every day.
22:01The carpet that we're walking on is made of bullrushes
22:05that are grown and harvested, dried out,
22:09and then woven into strips,
22:12and then each of those strips is stitched together
22:15to make a complete section.
22:18It's entirely natural,
22:19and the process of that rush matting, harvesting,
22:23and weaving into these wonderful carpet strips
22:27has not changed for centuries.
22:31The carpet is over 50 metres long
22:34and so heavy it took nine people to move it into place.
22:38When the rushes have been harvested
22:41and they're being dried out,
22:43they will take on slightly different colours
22:45depending on the weather system at the time they're being dried out.
22:49So they might be a little bit more greener
22:52or have touches of blue in one type of weather system.
22:55With thousands of feet treading on it every month,
22:58the carpet needs to be regularly replaced.
23:02But rather than the whole carpet,
23:03the work's done in sections
23:05as different parts of the carpet
23:07are subject to more footfall than others.
23:10This is a perfect spot to illustrate
23:11a newer section of the rush matting
23:14that we have stitched in.
23:16It has slightly new colours,
23:19and it's a bit more of a greenish-yellowish colour
23:22that we have stitched in.
23:24It has slightly more curved weaves to it.
23:28The older section is much more dried out
23:32and the wear and tear has flattened the fibres down.
23:39The different sections of the carpet
23:41last between 18 months and three years.
23:44And there's a surprising technique
23:46that Robin's team uses to extend its life.
23:49This carpet isn't hoovered,
23:51it's watered.
23:54The more brittle the fibre,
23:56the more likely the wear and tear will be exaggerated.
23:59So we water it just to try
24:01and reintroduce some softness into the fibres,
24:07allowing them to move as we walk on the floor covering.
24:11If we did the whole gallery from beginning to end,
24:15that'd probably take the best part of a day.
24:18Or we can do it in certain sections at a time,
24:22just to try and monitor
24:24and keep a measured increase of moisture into the environment.
24:29Too much humidity could lead to mould growth.
24:32And if the carpet gets too waterlogged,
24:34it could damage the floorboards below.
24:37So it's important to work at a steady pace.
24:41It's so therapeutic.
24:42It's such a beautiful space to be in anyway.
24:45And doing part of our conservation work up here
24:49is just one of the joys of the job, really.
24:54We're just passing through the footsteps
24:55of many a servant from centuries gone by.
25:11Over in the Cotswolds,
25:12Adam is seeing how an experimental technology
25:16could change how he farms his land.
25:25Tractors are essential machines for any arable farm.
25:28And they're incredibly versatile.
25:29They can run pretty much every bit of kit you need to grow crops.
25:33But they're not cheap.
25:36A mid-sized modern tractor can easily cost upwards of £250,000
25:42and that's before you take into account
25:44the day-to-day running costs of pulling heavy equipment.
25:47On top of that, a tractor like this weighs 14 tonnes
25:50and you need to keep them off wet ground.
25:53Not because they'll get stuck,
25:54but because they'll compact and churn up the soil,
25:57destroying the structure that we need
25:59to create good growing conditions for our crops.
26:02And of course, we've had a very wet six months.
26:05That meant our tractors were stuck in the shed
26:08when we desperately needed them out in the fields,
26:10preparing the ground, drilling the crops
26:12and managing our weeds.
26:14But now there's a new high-tech solution
26:17that might solve some of our problems.
26:22Up to now, drones have mostly been used
26:24as a monitoring tool in agriculture.
26:26But now they might be able to start taking on
26:29some of the work that's previously been done
26:31by the government to help us manage our land.
26:35And that could easily be in the tractor's domain.
26:38For the last few years, Rob Pearson has been at the forefront
26:41of introducing agricultural drones to the UK market.
26:45Today, farm manager Martin and I are keen to find out
26:48if they could be a useful tool for us.
26:50My word, what a monster of a machine.
26:53It is a big one, isn't it?
26:55So what can it carry then?
26:57This drone will carry 50 kilos of liquid or granular fertiliser,
27:01or seeds.
27:02And what sort of things are you using it for?
27:04We're doing a lot of cover cropping, inter-sowing.
27:06We're even doing things like nematodes
27:09onto forestry applications.
27:11So good bugs that eat the bad bugs.
27:13And how do they compete with a tractor?
27:16In reality, these are not designed to compete
27:18with your big 36-metre self-propelled
27:21travelling over lovely flat land.
27:22However, we've all noticed the weather's been
27:25a little unpredictable, shall we say,
27:26over the last year or so.
27:28And a lot of people have struggled to get their crops in,
27:31their slug pellets on.
27:32This is ideal for those sort of applications.
27:34Or alternatively, if you have hilly or tricky terrain
27:37where you really don't want to be taking big tractors
27:39or self-propelled, this is the machine for you.
27:42For the trial today, we're going to plant a cover crop,
27:45including stubble turnips, in this field of barley
27:48to help look after the soil once we harvest.
27:50But before take-off, the team needs to calibrate the drone
27:54and Rob has to map the field.
27:56So how does the mapping work then, Rob?
27:58So literally, we can draw it in with our finger
28:00based on the image, or we can import your map
28:02from your system, which makes life a bit easier.
28:04And we have got all the farm mapped, haven't we?
28:07Yeah, yeah, we have, yeah.
28:08So you've got it all GPS mapped,
28:10you're not actually on a joystick?
28:11It is entirely autonomous.
28:13We are here purely in case of a problem
28:15or if a dog walker comes into the field
28:16and we need to pause it.
28:18But we shouldn't be touching the remote at all.
28:20So how much does this cost then,
28:22if you'd come in here and do this field for us?
28:24This is a new market and prices are just sort of
28:26finding their level.
28:27But it's between £30 and £40 a hectare
28:31based on the size and complexity of the field.
28:34How does that sound, Martin?
28:35Well, yeah, I mean, we could do it ourselves
28:37with a specialist kit, but we'd have to get them in.
28:40But they're similar sort of costs really
28:42to what we'd be incurring anyway.
28:44And remember that today we're spreading,
28:46but equally tomorrow we could be spraying with the machine.
28:48So one machine can actually do a big range of work.
28:51I'll be interested to see it flying.
28:53Absolutely.
28:53Let's get it in the air, shall we?
28:58With all the coordinates mapped,
28:59the drone is ready for takeoff.
29:02Taking off.
29:03By law, the operator has to be within 500 metres at all times
29:08and have line of sight in case there's a malfunction.
29:12That's about, is it?
29:14At almost three metres across, this drone is seriously big.
29:17And with an 80 litre hopper full of seeds for our cover crop,
29:21the drone can weigh up to 110 kilograms at takeoff.
29:25For comparison, the Countryfile drone we're filming with
29:28weighs less than one kilogram.
29:32And that's just going in GPS, dead straight line.
29:34Absolutely.
29:35It's flying at eight metres a second,
29:36which is about 24 kilometres an hour.
29:38We should have this field done in 15 minutes.
29:40Wow, that's pretty quick.
29:42Pretty quick.
29:42It'll cover 15, 20 hectares an hour.
29:45And there it is turning.
29:47And now we're coming straight back to us
29:49and this will follow the terrain.
29:51And calibrated to spread the seed at the right rate.
29:54Absolutely.
29:55So this will be spreading it at 12 kilos a hectare,
29:58all based on the calibration of the guys did earlier.
30:04It's impressive, isn't it?
30:05Yeah, it's good, isn't it?
30:06It's really good.
30:08Look at that.
30:09Quiet as well.
30:09It is, isn't it?
30:10It's remarkably quiet.
30:11We won't wake the neighbours up.
30:13No.
30:17By planting a cover crop now, a month before our harvest,
30:20it should give it a chance to establish underneath the barley.
30:24That means the soil will never be left bare
30:26and vulnerable to erosion or compaction during heavy rain.
30:30Helping maintain a loose seed bed that's full of organic matter
30:34when we come to plant the next crop.
30:37Operating one of these, Martin,
30:38you just sit up there and have a cup of tea.
30:39You're Donald, aren't you?
30:40You bring me the cakes.
30:43And you see, this is the whole point.
30:45It separates the operator from the job itself.
30:48So it actually improves the safety on the farm
30:50because you're not sitting on the tractor
30:52while it's going up a steep field or something.
30:53Yeah.
30:55After completing around half the field in just seven minutes,
30:59the hopper's all out of seed
31:01and the drone heads back to base for a refill.
31:05So this is coming into land just completely autonomously?
31:08We haven't done anything.
31:09Scott up there with the controls has also not done anything.
31:12He's just keeping an eye on things.
31:14It's run out.
31:15It knows exactly where it's run out
31:17and it's going to come back, land where it's finished,
31:19for a super quick pit stop.
31:24Look at that.
31:28So it's like a speedy Formula One pit stop?
31:31Absolutely.
31:31We're only as good as our pit crew.
31:33So Andy here is going to quickly swap out the batteries
31:36and then you can charge these up on site?
31:38Absolutely.
31:39These take eight to ten minutes to charge up.
31:41So with three sets, we're running around the clock.
31:45At £40,000, these aren't cheap bits of kit.
31:48So for a farm our size,
31:50you'd likely hire one in with an operator
31:52for a similar cost to a contractor using a tractor.
31:56Clearly, drones aren't going to be replacing
31:58the heavy work tractors do cultivating or harvesting
32:02and even doing this job.
32:03Despite the drone travelling much faster,
32:05with a 36 metre boom,
32:07a tractor would take a similar amount of time to do the job.
32:11However, on rougher terrain or on wet ground
32:14like we've had this year,
32:15you can start to think of scenarios
32:17where it would be a very handy tool.
32:20It's really impressive.
32:21Actually, one of the things I was worried about
32:22was the seed getting down to the soil
32:25but it's got its own downdraft, hasn't it?
32:26So it's sort of almost blowing it down.
32:28Absolutely.
32:29You've got four huge fans blowing it straight down
32:32so actually the seeds almost struggle
32:35to get outside of that downdraft.
32:37I can really see the advantages.
32:39I mean, last autumn, this spring, I've been so wet.
32:42Getting onto the ground to put on pre-emergence herbicides,
32:45slug pelleting has been really difficult.
32:47You know, putting in these cover crops,
32:49you know, in wet conditions would have been ideal.
32:52Absolutely.
32:53You keep your ground in perfect condition and your crop.
32:56And you can get on when you wouldn't normally.
32:59Absolutely.
32:59It's all about timing in farming
33:01and this is just another tool
33:02that allows you to be a little more agile.
33:04And as far as, you know,
33:05if we wanted to buy one and get going,
33:07how difficult is that?
33:09Actually, quite straightforward.
33:10There's a five-day training course at Harper Adams University.
33:13This gets you three tickets,
33:15your drone licence,
33:16your chemical handling licence
33:17and critically, your drone spreading and spraying licence.
33:20With those three, you can be up and running the following week.
33:26In the UK, we're very much in the infancy
33:28of using drones like these in agriculture
33:31and there are still some restrictions
33:32around what applications they can be used for.
33:35But with twice as many of these drones sold last month
33:38as all of last year,
33:40you might start seeing them flying on a farm near you.
33:43So, it's now...
33:44It's nearly done.
33:44Just on its last leg now.
33:46Oh, yeah. Filling in the map.
33:48And then it's back home.
33:51Last little bit.
33:52Here it comes.
33:55And it's a lovely smooth reverse turn.
34:09It's much better at reverse parking than it is at parking.
34:11Much better at reverse parking than I am.
34:13Well, I suppose the proof in the pudding
34:15is whether this actually grows now.
34:18We need a bit of rain to wash it in.
34:19Absolutely.
34:20We do need a bit of rain in the next week or so
34:22but then we let nature do its bit.
34:24Oh, maybe we'll see a lot more of them on farms very soon.
34:26Thanks very much for demonstrating.
34:27You're welcome.
34:28Cheers.
34:28All the best.
34:41Montecute House Estate and its wild residents
34:44certainly fit the bill when it comes to this year's
34:46Countryphile Photographic Competition.
34:48The theme is natural wonders.
34:50And here's John with all the details of how you can enter.
34:56Every part of this country is blessed with miracles of nature
35:03and breathtaking beauty.
35:05But there's one thing that's different about Montecute House.
35:09And breathtaking beauty.
35:16So here in this beautiful setting provided for us by nature
35:20it's my great pleasure to launch our photographic competition
35:24with this year's winning photos
35:26starring in the 2025 Countryphile Calendar.
35:34This annual tradition has been going on since 1998
35:38and since then you've helped raise more than £30 million
35:42for BBC children in need.
35:44The photographic competition culminates with 12 of the best images
35:49being turned into the Countryphile Calendar
35:51so we can enjoy those pictures throughout the year.
35:55This year's theme is natural wonders
35:58and we want you to capture the wild side of our countryside
36:02in all its glory.
36:04Whether it's a magical moment of wildlife
36:06or a captivating landscape, whatever it is
36:09we want to see your interpretation of what a natural wonder really is.
36:16Once all the entries are in
36:18we'll be joined by a celebrity judge
36:20to choose the winning photos that will appear
36:23in the Countryphile Calendar for 2025
36:26which is sold in aid of BBC children in need.
36:29And there'll also be an overall winning photo
36:32chosen by you, our Countryphile viewers.
36:37Not only will that picture feature on the cover of the calendar
36:41but the winner will also get a £1,000 gift card
36:44to spend on photographic equipment of their choice.
36:47And the person who takes the judge's favourite photo
36:50will receive a gift card for £500
36:53to be spent on their choice of photographic equipment.
36:58You can enter up to three photographs.
37:01To submit your photos go to bbc.co.uk forward slash countryphile
37:06where you'll find a link to the entry form.
37:13We're looking for original images
37:15that represent our theme of natural wonders.
37:20Photographs that have won national or international competitions
37:23or have been taken by professionals can't be submitted.
37:27Pictures must have been taken within the UK,
37:30the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.
37:32And I'm sorry but we can only accept online entries.
37:37All the details on how to enter the competition
37:40can be found on our website
37:41plus the terms and conditions and privacy notice.
37:45The submission period closes at 10am on Monday 22nd July 2024.
37:55So now it's over to you.
37:56Grab your camera, your smartphone, your tablets
37:59and capture your images of natural wonders.
38:03We can't wait to see them.
38:06So let's go.
38:21On the edge of the old Montecute estate boundary lies Windmill Farm
38:25that in days gone by used to serve the estate and the wider community.
38:31Today whilst it's no longer part of the grounds
38:34it is still very much a place of work for an aspiring young farmer and her family.
38:44I'm Bridget Baker and I work on this farm with my dad
38:50and my granddad.
38:53I'm a fifth generation farmer in our family.
38:56We used to be dairy but now we're on to beef and arable
39:00and we've got 92 hectares.
39:0325 hectares of that is pasture and grassland to feed our beef.
39:08We started with my great-great-grandma Rose Baker.
39:13She farmed peatland in Mere Somerset.
39:16She milked a cow with her horse and trap.
39:20This farm has been in our family for a long time.
39:24This farm has been in our family for 50 years now.
39:28Granddad along with his brothers purchased it and now we're still here today.
39:33All the kernels are cracked.
39:41No two days on the farm are the same.
39:43There's always a different job to do.
39:48But you've also got the set morning and afternoon feeds
39:51where the animals have to be fed at exact time.
39:58Or doing some tractor driving for the arable.
40:01And every day you learn.
40:09Nothing seems to faze her.
40:11In fact, she finds something scary.
40:15That seems to drive her even more to get stuck in and actually do it
40:18to prove that there's nothing to be frightened of.
40:21That sort of attitude is really putting her in a good stead for agriculture.
40:33I'm doing my bit to be a role model for other female farmers
40:37to show you can do it but also it's not easy.
40:40It's not glamorous.
40:42It's very hard and difficult.
40:44It is very rewarding when you achieve things as a farmer.
40:52I think it's good to be visible to other women and girls in agriculture.
40:59I've gone to young farmers and I talk about my experiences.
41:02We talk about the issues that we have to face in women in agriculture
41:06because you've got slightly different things you've got to work through.
41:09I've also heard from other women in the industry
41:12that you don't get encouraged to drive tractors as much as the young men do.
41:17You get encouraged to do the young stock but you never get asked,
41:21oh, do you want to quickly jump in the tractor and learn how to go serging?
41:28I've had women come up to me who said that they got pushed out from their job
41:32because they didn't know how to do it.
41:34And I've heard that they've been pushed out of their job
41:36because they don't know how to do it.
41:37I've heard that they got pushed out from their family farms because they were female.
41:42And they said seeing me actually doing the job made them feel very inspired.
41:51At university, I studied agriculture.
41:54I did a cultural degree and it set me up to go into
41:59writing for major farming publications.
42:07So now I'm at home working on the farm full time and establishing myself here.
42:18I've also kept my writing up by writing a monthly column for the Monster Keep magazine.
42:24So what is a goat?
42:26It's a pig, a girl pig who hasn't had a litter yet.
42:30Which Bern is the editor of.
42:32So that's been great.
42:33I get to update people on what's happening on a farm every month.
42:38I'm currently chairman of Yo for Young Farmers.
42:41We meet up every week to socialise.
42:44It's just a good way to meet people.
42:50It's sort of like dating as well.
42:52You sort of meet your husband or your wife.
42:56My mum and dad met each other at Young Farmers.
42:58My nan and grandad did.
43:01Most of my family I've met through Young Farmers.
43:08My great great gran started farming and we really hope that we can carry on farming.
43:15We can do her proud.
43:20Hopefully we keep farming in 100 years in the future.
43:23Well, the grounds and the rare wildlife here at Montecute House has really benefited from
43:27all of the recent rain and this glorious sunshine.
43:31But what has the weather got in store for the rest of us in the week ahead?
43:34Let's find out with the Countryfile five-day forecast.
43:53Good evening.
43:54Thanks, Matt.
43:54We have all been asking where has summer gone this week, haven't we?
43:58And just take a look at this.
44:00The first week of July has been very wet across all four nations.
44:04We've already seen above average rainfall in some parts of eastern England,
44:08seeing 200% rainfall so far this month.
44:12And the reason for that is the position of the jet stream.
44:14It's been sitting to the south of the UK.
44:17We're on the cooler side of the jet.
44:19We're on the cooler side of the jet.
44:21And it's this kink here that allows these areas of low pressure to develop
44:26and push their way across the UK.
44:28There are signs as we head towards the end of the week that high pressure might try to build in.
44:34But there is low confidence on this as well.
44:38Today, we have seen sunny spells and sharp thundery downpours.
44:42They are now starting to ease away, but they'll take their time in doing so.
44:45So showers easing through the night and under clearer skies,
44:49actually, that's going to allow temperatures to fall away.
44:51So it could be quite a chilly start for a July morning.
44:55Can you believe it?
44:56We'll see single figures widely across the country,
44:58maybe low single figures in a few areas in sheltered rural parts of Scotland.
45:03But we will start off Monday on a relatively dry and sunny note,
45:07particularly to the north, clouding over quickly into the southwest.
45:10We'll see outbreaks of rain as we go through the late stages of the morning,
45:14pushing its way up into South Wales, the Midlands into the afternoon.
45:18We keep sunshine further north, but there will be a few scattered
45:22sharp showers and with light winds, some of these slow moving top temperatures of 15 to 21 degrees.
45:28Now, as we move out of Monday into Tuesday,
45:31that area of low pressure will continue to push its way steadily northwards.
45:35So we'll have some rain on Tuesday for Northern Ireland,
45:38central and southern Scotland throughout the day.
45:41The wind direction changing to more of a southerly.
45:43So it'll be sunny spells and sharp showers elsewhere,
45:47but it might start to feel just that little bit more humid,
45:49but still the temperatures below par for this stage of the year.
45:54Now, as we move out of Tuesday into Wednesday, that low pressure is still with us.
45:58It's going to linger for some time in the far north of Scotland.
46:02It will be a slightly quieter day to sunny spells and scattered showers.
46:05And again, still quite a humid feel out there,
46:08but nevertheless, a little bit more drier for most.
46:12A few scattered showers into Northern Ireland,
46:14most persistent rain into the far north of Scotland.
46:16Here, temperatures disappointing 13 to 15 degrees.
46:19We might see with some sunshine and some warmth, 22.
46:23The sun is strong at this time of year. That'll feel pleasant enough.
46:26So this high pressure is trying to build in from the west,
46:29but as I say, it will really take its time in doing so.
46:33And on Thursday, the wind direction then will swing around to a northerly.
46:38And so with some showers and cloud across Scotland and northeast England,
46:42that is going to feel quite cool for this time of year,
46:4514 to 16 degrees with a northerly flow.
46:48Highest values further south with a little more shelter of 21 Celsius.
46:52Now, as we move into Friday, hopefully a little bit quieter
46:55if that area of high pressure continues to dominate,
46:58but still that wind direction coming from the north
47:01and down across that exposed east coast is going to feel cool.
47:04Really, I'm afraid for the second week of July,
47:06top temperatures just 13 to 19 degrees.
47:10Saturday, sunny spells and scattered showers.
47:12Sunday, hopefully drier and just that little bit warmer.
47:16But we will all still continue to ask, where has summer gone?
47:20We're at the Montague House Estate in Somerset,
47:38exploring this Elizabethan marvel and its stunning landscape.
47:47The grounds were laid out over 400 years ago.
47:50Over the centuries, they've been repeatedly altered.
47:55In the past, it was the changing tastes of those living in the big house
47:59that influenced how this landscape looked.
48:02But these days, the focus is on managing the land
48:05to support all the wonderful wildlife.
48:13Mark Musgrave, lead ranger for the South Somerset National Trust,
48:17is in the middle of a huge project to encourage
48:20one of the UK's most threatened species to settle at Montacute,
48:25the great crested newt.
48:28So Mark, what's the job we need to do here today?
48:31This whole field, we want to be an amazing wildflower meadow.
48:35Newts actually spend most of their time on land.
48:38They only go to the ponds to breed.
48:40So they'll be foraging here all throughout the summer
48:43before they go into winter hibernation.
48:45And do they have a particular kind of thing they like
48:48or is it just that variety?
48:50They haven't got teeth.
48:52So they'll eat anything that they can just squish into their greedy mouth.
48:56So caterpillars, slugs, squishy insects like that.
48:59So the flowers that we plant here might be favourites
49:02for those particular insects, which is then good for the newts.
49:05So this meadow is going to be really inviting.
49:08Yeah, absolutely.
49:09Ready to go?
49:10Yeah, absolutely.
49:11Let's get started.
49:12Oh, are you going to help me?
49:14You're just going to snooze.
49:16So we're looking to encourage great crested newts in particular
49:20because they are a rare and threatened species
49:22and their habitat and range has declined.
49:25And have you had them at Montagu before?
49:28Possibly.
49:28There's local records of kids finding double crested newts
49:31when they were younger, but recent surveys haven't found any.
49:35But we're hoping that if we build the habitat, then they'll come.
49:40So I've got two types of plants here.
49:42This one's a bettany.
49:44It's very much ready to go in.
49:46And what have we got here?
49:47So you've got some medovex in there, margarita.
49:50It's a member of the pea family.
49:51It'll be a lovely yellow flower, which will attract bees and other insects.
49:56But what we want is for something to come along, lay eggs on it,
50:00and our newt can come along and eat the caterpillar.
50:02So it all adds to the ecosystem.
50:05You're thinking really long term here.
50:07Yeah.
50:08Mark, why are great crested newts so important?
50:11I mean, personally, I think what's best about them is they've got so much charisma.
50:15They're this 17 centimeter long amphibian that have carved up their niche
50:20between being pond and terrestrial habitat.
50:24But a serious answer would be that their numbers and range
50:29have dramatically declined over the last 100, 150 years.
50:33And what's been the cause of that decline?
50:35Ultimately, a loss of habitat.
50:36So ponds have been filled in or neglected.
50:39New ponds haven't been dug out.
50:41Over the course of the 20th century, the UK lost half of its ponds,
50:47which in turn reduced the breeding habitat options
50:50for creatures like the great crested newt.
50:54And what else can we plant to make this habitat more inviting?
50:57I've actually brought some seed along with us.
50:58It's called yellow rattle.
51:00So just...
51:02Yeah, over the bare ground.
51:04And when the livestock come back in here in late summer,
51:07they'll help to tread it in and help it to germinate.
51:10What livestock will you have in here?
51:12Cows and then sheep over the winter.
51:15And both of those will help to keep the grasses down,
51:17the competitive grasses,
51:18to make space for these wildflowers and more for next summer.
51:22Lots of things playing their part, the whole ecosystem.
51:25I mean, cows and sheep.
51:26I wouldn't have thought the great crested newt
51:28would be able to thank them for anything.
51:30But it seems in this field, there is a thanks to be given.
51:33Absolutely.
51:34At the heart of this web of life that Mark is creating
51:37to encourage great crested newts to return to Montecute
51:41are two new ponds.
51:45Come on in.
51:48Oh, what a cool welcome on a hot day.
51:52So why are these pond spaces so important,
51:54especially for great crested newts?
51:56It's where in spring they come to breed.
51:58So they do this ornate corkship dance
52:01between the male and the female, sort of flirting, as it were.
52:05And then the female will lay her eggs in acratic vegetation.
52:11And then what's this going on here behind us?
52:15This is about 10 tonnes of logs,
52:17which were felled due to ash dieback.
52:19And all of the excavated spoil from the pond is graded on top,
52:24which provides it an insulated cap.
52:26And what's the purpose of that?
52:27Overwintering.
52:28That's how it overcomes cold winters.
52:31It basically goes to sleep.
52:32It's got this insulated layer on top,
52:35so the temperature stays stable.
52:36It can stay here until the temperature raises to about five degrees
52:40and then in the spring come out again and go into the pond.
52:44So this habitat is really a home for all seasons.
52:46Yeah, that's what we try to do.
52:48Yeah, absolutely.
52:49Somewhere to breed, somewhere to sleep and somewhere to forage.
52:58To get a taste of what the new pond might look like in a few years
53:01once it gets its new residents,
53:03I've come 10 miles down the road to another National Trust property,
53:08Light's Carey Manor.
53:09Here they have existing Great Crested Newt colonies
53:13and Mark has recently put in six new ponds
53:16to encourage population growth.
53:18So this is one of the new ponds here.
53:21How long has this been in?
53:22Since 2022, so it's still pretty fresh.
53:25Within two years, we've already got so much vegetation
53:28on the margins that has come through and in the pond
53:31that we haven't seeded, it's just come.
53:33So that's what is called succession.
53:35So the pond is already developing itself naturally
53:38as to be ideal habitat for newts, but also for other wildlife.
53:42Mark and his team are in the middle of carrying out
53:44a population survey at Light's Carey,
53:47using humane traps to discover whether Great Crested Newts
53:51are successfully breeding in the new pond.
53:53Setting traps in place where Great Crested Newts
53:56are believed to be breeding is illegal
53:58unless, like Mark, you have a license.
54:02You ready to release your first trap?
54:03Yeah, absolutely, I can't wait.
54:04So I'll let you go in.
54:06OK.
54:14Ooh.
54:16Ah, cool.
54:16Ooh, exciting.
54:21I love it.
54:22They look amazing.
54:24So these are Great Crested Newt larvae,
54:27so young Great Crested Newts.
54:29How old would these be?
54:31Roughly?
54:31A couple of weeks.
54:32Oh, my goodness.
54:33Yeah, yeah.
54:34And I think they're really funky.
54:35They're really cool dudes.
54:37You've got those gills at the back of their head
54:39that just, yeah, they make you look like hipsters.
54:42And how do you feel every time you see the larvae?
54:46It's great.
54:47So if you've got Great Crested Newts,
54:48you know that the water quality is good.
54:51And these species have existed in the UK for 40 million years.
54:55So they know what they're doing.
54:58So this is just proof that if you build the habitat,
55:01then they'll come.
55:03So yeah, I feel chuffed, really.
55:05It's stunning to see them up close like this.
55:07Just amazing.
55:08Yeah.
55:09It's not just beginner's luck.
55:11We soon find even more evidence of how successful
55:15Mark's work here has been.
55:18Oh, and there's an adult one here.
55:21Female Great Crested Newt.
55:22Oh, wow, wow.
55:24Oh my goodness.
55:26So this is the 14 million year old dinosaur
55:31about to put in your tray.
55:32Oh my goodness.
55:37That's incredible.
55:39So she lacks the crest.
55:42The male would have a crest on the back
55:44and then another one on the tail.
55:47But it's quite clearly a Great Crested Newt
55:48because of its size.
55:50So pretty big.
55:53So you need a license, or anyone would need a license
55:56to do what you're doing.
55:57Yeah, because they're actually quite delicate.
55:59She can live up to 15 years of age.
56:01So they can get quite old.
56:04So therefore, the habitat needs to be stable
56:06for that whole period.
56:09So ponds like this really are vital.
56:11Yeah, yeah.
56:12And anyone could dig a pond.
56:13You know, if you've got a garden or field big enough,
56:16dig a pond and see what else might come in.
56:19So time for her to go back in the water?
56:21Yeah.
56:23Oh yeah, she's very happy.
56:25Look at her just cruising.
56:38With the newts thriving,
56:40I've come to check on how the Roman snails are getting on.
56:44Margarita, how are you doing?
56:46Yeah, good.
56:47What are you doing more like?
56:49Helping move some snails into a new home.
56:52You're doing what?
56:53You're moving snails in?
56:54I'm moving snails.
56:55Where are they?
56:56Are they in there in the cardboard?
56:57They're settled in nicely, yeah.
56:59Oh.
57:02With the Montacute team's permission,
57:04Michael's placed cardboard in the foliage,
57:06which the snails love to eat.
57:15Well, they've got a very nice spot.
57:16Small start, big future.
57:18I'll tell you what, we've been very busy
57:19creating lots of different habitats today.
57:21It's been a good day.
57:22It's been absolutely incredible here.
57:24Yeah, it really has.
57:25But that is it from us,
57:26the team and the snails here at Montacute.
57:29We hope that you can join Charlotte and Sean next week
57:32as they head to Christchurch in Dorset.
57:36We're at Hengistbury Head.
57:38To see how the head here protects
57:40Christchurch Harbour over there.
57:45Oh, look at that.
57:47That's a great feeling, isn't it?
57:48We're building a groin.
57:50That's why I'm so interested in willow emeralds.
57:53Just wonderful creatures.
57:55I think you've made us all interested.
57:56Now, that's amazing.
57:59This is Ironstone.
58:00This is the whole reason Hengistbury Head is here today.
58:03And then in the 18th century, they removed it all.
58:10Bye-bye.
58:10We'll see you then.
58:11Leaving to the house party.
58:13Yeah, be a slow one.
58:17A new series of The Infinite Monkey Cage
58:22with Brian Cox and Robin Ince is coming soon.
58:25You can listen to previous episodes on BBC Sounds now.
58:28Next, brand new drama with the Turkish detective.