Countryfile - Wakehurst
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Oh, look at that.
00:06Now this would be easier if the bees didn't move so much, but actually, I think I've got
00:11a pretty good shot.
00:12I do know, though, that for today, it won't be good enough, because it's that time of
00:17year again to decide which of your wonderful photos from the photographic competition will
00:22make it into the Countryfile calendar for BBC Children in Need.
00:27And our base today is the glorious grounds of Wakehurst.
00:57Deep in the heart of West Sussex, made up of more than 500 acres of habitats from all
01:06over the world, is Wakehurst, home to Kew's Millennium Seed Bank.
01:16There are lots of amazing projects here, not least the one to restore the roof of the Mansion
01:22House, but they're also working to ensure a future for nature on a global scale.
01:28And I'll be exploring the site to meet some of the people doing that work.
01:33But I've also got a rather important job myself.
01:36Judging for the Countryfile photographic competition is today, and I'm honoured to be on the panel
01:42alongside John Craven.
01:47Thousands of you sent in your images, and our task is to get them down to just 12 for
01:53the Countryfile calendar 2025.
01:56OK, look at this.
01:57I mean, admittedly, that is quite ugly, but I think I could live with that for a month
02:02because it's so kooky.
02:04The detail is amazing.
02:07This isn't just a stunning venue for judging our photo competition.
02:11The team here are safeguarding nature for the future.
02:15Welcome to the most biodiverse place on the planet.
02:18It doesn't look biodiverse, does it?
02:20No, we like to keep our seeds tucked up in the cold rooms.
02:24We get the inside scoop from a ranger conserving way-cursed wildlife.
02:29In 2004, I entered the Countryfile calendar competition with three torpid dormice.
02:34I thought I might as well just send it off, and lo and behold, I won it.
02:40I'm also seeing how a very different kind of imagery is helping with conservation.
02:46That drone is so big.
02:48Yeah, there's a lot of equipment in there.
02:50We've got a laser scanning unit.
02:52Right, I'm going to stand back.
03:05Our next Countryfile calendar is going to be all about how you interpreted our theme
03:10of natural wonders, and we've got thousands of entries.
03:15The final 12 images we choose today will make up the Countryfile calendar, which will be
03:20sold in aid of BBC Children in Need.
03:22To help us, we're being joined by a very special guest judge this year.
03:27Journalist, presenter, author, and avid nature lover, Vic Hope.
03:32People would probably best know me from BBC Radio 1, where I present The Drive Time Show.
03:38When I was 10 years old, my family moved from Newcastle, from the city centre, to the beautiful,
03:44rugged Northumberland countryside.
03:47I'm always seeking out any green space I can find, and recently my husband and I have been
03:53beginning a journey into farming.
03:57Any photograph that has a bit of character, that tells a story, I love vivid colours,
04:04I love movement, I love to see the dynamic of what's going on.
04:07I want to ask the question, what's happening here?
04:16Well welcome Charlotte and Vic to the judging panel, and what a fantastic place we've got
04:22here, isn't it?
04:23The Atrium at Wakehurst.
04:24It is very beautiful.
04:26And we've got a real treat in looking at some of the natural wonders captured by our viewers.
04:32I can't wait.
04:33I love taking photos of landscapes, of nature, of animals.
04:38I like to paint them, so I paint a lot of birds and landscapes as my kind of, my wind
04:42down is what I do to just feel good.
04:45And what about you Charlotte?
04:46Are you a keen photographer?
04:47I am a keen photographer, but I use just the camera on my phone, so I'm really looking
04:51forward to seeing what people have come up with.
04:54Natural pictures, nothing posed or too complicated.
04:57You say not posed, I have a cockerel called Smokey, and every time I get my camera out,
05:03he knows.
05:04He knows and he gets up and he likes to show himself off.
05:07I love taking photos of Smokey because he poses for me, he brings the chickens over.
05:12Right, well eyes down looking, we've got some amazing pictures to look through.
05:19See the first three are brilliant.
05:20I don't know how we're going to narrow it down.
05:23No I don't.
05:24It's got to be quite harsh.
05:25We do get quite a lot of favourite subjects, you know, like red squirrels, puffins.
05:30There's so many puffins up near where I'm from in Northumberland, around sea houses
05:35and the kind of Lindisfarne coast, and you see everyone's camera come out all at once.
05:42As soon as one's spotted.
05:46And almost immediately, I've got a puffin that looks, almost looks like a two-headed
05:50puffin.
05:51Putting their heads together.
05:53This year we've sent almost 20,000 pictures to sift through a mighty kaleidoscope of natural
06:04wonders.
06:05It's going to take some tough decision making to whittle them down to the final 12.
06:11There's quite a few seals that I've seen.
06:14This one is the character for me, it's so friendly and gorgeous and happy.
06:19I've got a red squirrel here but it is beautiful.
06:21I'm going to put it in, John, just to see what you think.
06:24Yeah.
06:25Oh look, a puffin.
06:28I'm hearting everything now.
06:30This is indecision writ large.
06:33And they're all different.
06:34They all kind of evoke different atmospheres and emotions.
06:37This goat looks straight out of Lord of the Rings.
06:39It's so dramatic.
06:41The eyes.
06:43That's a beautiful scene.
06:44I mean, I like landscape pictures.
06:48I think that was really beautifully composed, that picture.
06:51I could look at that for a month.
06:52Yeah.
06:53I think when it's sunrise or sunset, the colours are just so exquisite, it's so vibrant.
06:58It's just a lovely thing to have on your wall.
07:01Onward.
07:02Oh dear, John.
07:03It's going to be quite hard and selective.
07:07I sort of think how they'd work together as well, month by month.
07:11The Countryfile calendar has been raising funds for BBC Children in Need since 1998
07:17and during that time, a total of more than £30 million has gone towards helping young
07:23people.
07:24Bottoms up on this one.
07:25I do like hairs.
07:26I'm going to put that one in.
07:27There's something so...
07:28There's something...
07:29Yeah.
07:30Yeah, isn't there?
07:31So regal.
07:32Yeah, exactly.
07:33Sort of standing there like that.
07:34I feel like they're like the supermodels of the natural world.
07:35That's a really good way of putting it.
07:36Wow.
07:37People are so talented.
07:38That is an explosive landscape.
07:39Oh, wow.
07:40Wow.
07:41How about that?
07:42That's incredible.
07:43I mean, it's...
07:44Whoa.
07:45It's the reflection as well.
07:46Yeah.
07:47It feels so dynamic.
07:48It feels like it's moving.
07:49Yeah.
07:50Yeah.
07:51Yeah.
07:52Yeah.
07:53Yeah.
07:54Yeah.
07:55Yeah.
07:56Yeah.
07:57Yeah.
07:58Yeah.
07:59Yeah.
08:00Yeah.
08:01Yeah.
08:02Yeah.
08:03Yeah.
08:04Yeah.
08:05It's moving.
08:06It's moving.
08:07Yeah.
08:08I'm trying to be hard to impress now.
08:09Yeah.
08:10So what about this one?
08:11I really like the water in this, if I'm honest.
08:13Sort of, you feel like you're almost up against the wave.
08:17Uh-huh.
08:18Yeah.
08:19The camera's just under the surface, so you're like almost breaking it yourself, like you
08:21are under the seal.
08:23I've put it through.
08:24I'm hearting it.
08:25Gosh, this is hard.
08:29We've been going for about an hour, and there is no shortage of incredible images to choose
08:34from.
08:35I must admit, this is a harder task than I anticipated.
08:48Away from judging your wonderful photos, I've been exploring the natural wonders on show
08:53at Wakehurst, but not all of them are outside.
08:57Kew's Millennium Seed Bank was opened here, you guessed it, in the year 2000.
09:02In nearly 25 years, it's become the largest and most diverse genetic resource of plant
09:08species in the world, protecting them for the future and making it something of a natural
09:13wonder itself.
09:17There are billions of seeds stored here from more than 40,000 species of plants.
09:26Helping to build this repository is Ian Parkinson, head of landscape and horticulture.
09:35Why is it so important to collect seeds, not just here, but from around the world?
09:40Well, with so many species facing extinction, collecting seed and storing it in the Millennium
09:47Seed Bank, safeguarding those plants for the future, it's absolutely vitally important.
09:53The bank is called a seed bank for a reason.
09:55We're always depositing seed in, but we're always withdrawing it as well.
10:00We make that seed readily available to scientists, researchers, conservationists, so that we
10:06can really study plants, but also use that seed in restoration projects right around
10:12the world.
10:13But also locally, many of our own plants in the British Isles are under threat.
10:19In these little capsules are the ecological blueprints of plants.
10:24We collect these seeds and we store them in the seed bank.
10:27We currently have nearly three billion seeds stored there.
10:31That's an unimaginable number.
10:33And there's a real science to collecting seed.
10:35There's a real art to it, because seed ripens at different times, as we're finding with
10:41this dyer's greenweed.
10:43This sort of yellowy looking thing here.
10:46Yeah.
10:47Yeah.
10:48Yellowy green.
10:49It's a classic plant of upland hay meadows, in fact, hay meadows right across the country.
10:54And actually, this is quite a rare plant.
10:56It's a very important plant for a range of different insects.
10:59It's their food plant.
11:01Because of the loss of habitat, this plant is disappearing from our landscapes.
11:06And that's cause for concern.
11:09It's estimated that since the 1930s, the UK's lost around 97% of its wildflower meadows,
11:16making this habitat one of the rarest in the country.
11:19So is that why you're going to the trouble of then, of collecting the seeds?
11:23Yeah, absolutely.
11:25It's really important that we re-establish it, which is why we hand harvest the seed.
11:32And then we take that seed to our nursery.
11:34We propagate it and grow it into plug plants that we then plant back out into the meadow.
11:39And the seeds are just in these little pods then, are they?
11:42Yeah.
11:43We're looking for these darker capsules.
11:45And you know, there's quite a few here.
11:48There are quite a few.
11:51Once seeds have been collected, they have to be processed before they can go safely
11:55into storage.
11:57Over in the lab, I'm meeting seed curation manager, Sarah Gattaca, part of the team in
12:04charge of this important step.
12:07Hi.
12:09Hi.
12:11I bring you a gift.
12:12I've got some seeds.
12:13I'm not, if I'm honest, sure how ripe they are.
12:17Well, I can tell from the colour of the pods that we have a variety of ripeness here.
12:21But we can open some of these up and have a look at them on the microscope and you can
12:24see the difference between the seeds.
12:26And is that how you tell?
12:27I mean, obviously you can tell this colour is more likely to be ripe, but you need to
12:32have them perfect, do you?
12:34As close to perfect as possible, because the natural dispersal point means that they are
12:38happy to be stored.
12:39And what we want is optimum storage so that we can keep them for hundreds of years downstairs.
12:45Seeds are very clever.
12:47They are specifically designed to store and be time capsules.
12:51So if you can get them when they're perfect, like this dark brown one, they will keep for
12:57a very long time.
12:58Ah, look.
12:59Speaking of perfect.
13:00Look at that.
13:01That's beautiful.
13:02We can just pop it on that bit of paper under the microscope.
13:03I can show you the difference.
13:06Under Sarah's microscope, you can see that an unripe green seed is yet to form the vital
13:10parts it'll need to successfully germinate.
13:15This is an entire embryo inside, just waiting to come out.
13:18Oh, it's so fiddly.
13:21Where is the brown seed?
13:24So you can see a little bit like the root.
13:26Yeah.
13:27It's just about to pop up there.
13:28So it's formed properly, just waiting to arrive in the world.
13:33And that one then would be worth keeping, had you obviously not cut it in half.
13:37Yes.
13:38So that one now, sadly, has been sacrificed for science, but normally it just shows you
13:44that the brown ones are very healthy and perfect for storage.
13:48So do you know exactly where all the seeds came from then?
13:52Absolutely.
13:53We take GPS records so you can narrow it right down to where on the planet it was kept.
13:58We complete cards for every single collection that comes in, and then all of that data goes
14:02onto our database.
14:04Because when I come to try and solve the germination conditions for these, I need to know all of
14:08that important environment data, because otherwise, how do you know what sort of temperatures
14:14it would have been exposed to and that kind of thing?
14:19When seeds are processed, catalogued, and ready to be stored, they're transferred into
14:23the vaults underground.
14:26This is radiation-proof, bomb-proof, flood-proof.
14:29It's like stepping into Fort Knox.
14:31Oh!
14:32So, welcome to the most biodiverse place on the planet.
14:36It doesn't look biodiverse, does it?
14:38No.
14:39It looks kind of...
14:40All the seeds are tucked up asleep in the cold rooms, so they're behind those doors
14:44just there.
14:48It's so secure that only those with special access can enter the cold store.
14:54So the panels show you the temperature the seeds are being kept at.
15:00So these are at minus 20.
15:01Minus 20?
15:02Yeah.
15:03Doesn't that kill them?
15:04No, because they're dry, so they can be frozen quite happily.
15:08It basically puts them to sleep and holds them there.
15:11Wow.
15:12It's so strange.
15:13It's like a cross between a library and a corner shop, isn't it?
15:16Because you've got loads of things in jars and then loads of these movable racks that
15:21you have in libraries.
15:22Whoa.
15:23It's like the world's biggest biological sweetie shop.
15:29The ultimate aim of the seed bank is to conserve and protect wild plant seeds from around the
15:34world.
15:35Understanding how they grow best is one part of this very scientific process.
15:41Using information about habitat and growing conditions collected along with the seeds,
15:46they're then germinated before being nurtured by the nursery team.
15:51In charge of this part of the operation is Alice Livingston.
15:56Alice, I've got some Dyer's greenweed for you here.
16:03Oh, thank you very much.
16:04It is fresh from the deep freeze.
16:06What do you have to do to it before you can actually plant it out?
16:09So normally we'd get the seed ready in November by putting it into cold conditions for three
16:14months.
16:15Hang on, it's just come out of a deep freeze.
16:17Why on earth would you put it in these cold conditions?
16:19So it's in dry, cold conditions in the seed bank, but to break its dormancy, we put it
16:26into wet, cold conditions like it would be in the winter naturally.
16:31So you're sort of waking it up?
16:33Yeah.
16:34Oh, right.
16:35But first, because it's in the pea family, they've got really hard seed coats and what
16:42we do is something called chipping, which is taking off a tiny bit of seed coat.
16:47It's quite fiddly and they can ping, they can ping off.
16:50Oh, there it goes.
16:52It lets the water in to the embryo of the seed.
16:56Once the fiddly work's done and the seeds are set, the new prized plants are allowed
17:01to grow in carefully controlled conditions.
17:06So these are some Janista that were planted in February.
17:10Oh, so this is the Dyer's Greenweed again then?
17:13Yeah.
17:14And this one as well?
17:15Yes, this is a bit older.
17:18These new Dyer's Greenweed plants will help to regenerate populations in British meadows.
17:23But not all of the plants here have such local origins.
17:27Madagascar, Kenya, Burkina Faso.
17:30The work spans the globe and occasionally reaches back in time.
17:37So this plant was grown from seed that was found at the National Archives that was 200
17:42years old and they found the seed in the wallet of a Dutch merchant that had been captured
17:47at sea and the seed was given to Kew and we germinated it here at the Millennium Seed
17:53Bank.
17:54So what sort of a plant is it?
17:57It's a leucospermum conicarpodendron, it's a bit of a mouthful, it's called a pincushion
18:02flower, it's a South African plant.
18:05That's an amazing thing isn't it, that this has been dormant for 200 years and yet here
18:09it is in front of us, flourishing by the looks of things.
18:14The important work being done here, collecting, cataloguing and storing seeds from across
18:19the world to protect them for the future, is a reminder that even the smallest seed
18:24is a natural wonder all of its own.
18:32The wildflower meadows here at Wakehurst are alive with pollinators but the buzz of summer
18:38is slowly being silenced.
18:41Recent research suggests that over the last 20 years there's been a 60% decrease in our
18:46flying insects.
18:49But scientists here are working on something which could make a difference.
18:54Dr Janine Griffiths-Lee studies pollinators and their food choices for the Trees for Bees
19:02project, part of a wider effort to address the decline in bee populations.
19:09This is a tilia tree, or a lime tree, and it has quite magical properties for bees.
19:15It contains a kind of caffeine substance and it's also got an antimicrobial in it which
19:21is activated when it goes into the gut of the bumblebee and that helps it fight parasites
19:25that are in its gut.
19:26The trees are really interesting to us because usually people study meadows in agricultural
19:31landscapes but we're really interested in trees in urban landscapes.
19:35So if you think about a tree, it's got a really small physical footprint but really it's a
19:40huge 3D structure, you know it's like a sky meadow, it's covered in pollen and nectar,
19:45these essential resources for bees and other beneficial insects as well.
19:50And if you think about an urban environment, you don't really have the space for a big
19:54huge 2D wildflower meadow, you don't have the resources, you don't have the water, it
19:59takes a lot of management, so really we should think about what trees to plant.
20:02By 2050, London is predicted to be the same temperature as current day Barcelona, so we
20:07have to start thinking now what to plant for our urban landscapes that will provision pollinators
20:12in the future.
20:15But working out a bee's dietary preferences isn't straightforward.
20:21In the UK, we have hundreds of species of bee, all with different nesting and feeding
20:26habits, and all playing their own important role in our environment.
20:31So Janine has had to come up with some creative solutions.
20:37So this is, to the best of our knowledge, the first experimental bee bank in the UK
20:41And it's an experimental bee bank because we have a specific scientific hypothesis that
20:45we're trying to answer, and that is, what are the best trees for bees?
20:50So this is a bee bank that we use to collect ground nesting bee pollen.
20:56And so because all bees nest in different ways, we have to have different techniques
21:00in collecting that pollen.
21:01So 70% of our bees nest in the ground, and they're notoriously hard to find in the wild.
21:07So by building this bee bank, we thought, OK, if we build a suitable nesting habitat,
21:12then the bees will come to us and we can collect their pollen.
21:14So you can see that there are lots of different holes of different sizes.
21:18And we created this in March, and already we've had about 15 different species of bee
21:22nesting just in this bee bank alone.
21:25So it's really, really exciting that it's happened so quickly.
21:27If there was a bee going in, I would, with a glass vial, cover the entrance, and then
21:33the bee would fly out into the tube.
21:36And if I hold it upside down, the bee just flies to the top, and the pollen drops down
21:40into the tube.
21:41And again, it's a non-destructive method of sampling.
21:47To collect bumblebee pollen, Janine doesn't wait for the bee to go home, but collects
21:51a small sample straight from the bee's leg while it's out foraging, a fast and smooth
21:57operation that does no harm to the bee.
22:01This is a cavity nesting bee box, or an Airbnb.
22:05And I've really considered the different nesting types of bees when I decide how to collect
22:11the pollen from them.
22:13So we created these boxes, and they all have a different size hole, which will hopefully
22:17encourage a diverse range of bees, and we can collect pollen from different types of
22:22cavity nesters.
22:25When we started thinking about this project, how we'd actually find out exactly which
22:28were the best for bees, first of all we started doing it visually, but with 1,500 species
22:32of tree and woolly plant at Wakehurst, that would take a really long time.
22:35So instead we thought about how we could let the bees tell us, if they have all this amazing
22:39choice, what exactly would they choose to forage on.
22:42And the pollen that they've collected is for provisioning for their young.
22:46So this tells us a lot about exactly what they need.
22:48When we've actually collected the pollen, we just take a little bit from each, put it
22:53in a little glass tube, and we can send it off for DNA metabar coding.
22:57So we're collecting this pollen starting in March through to October, and this will
23:01give us a picture throughout the season of exactly what is the best trees for bees.
23:07So we just take a little bit from the top of each of the cells, and then that will just
23:12give us a picture of what's being collected.
23:14So this might be different pollen types in here, and so DNA metabar coding is a really
23:18great way of doing that, because it will give us a list, like a comprehensive list, of all
23:22the different species this pollen is made up of.
23:27And then that is ready for DNA extraction.
23:30When we get the information back, we really hope this will influence policy, urban planners,
23:36landscape architects.
23:37We really want to provide them with a list of the best trees for bees and other plants
23:40they can plant in their urban areas.
23:42It's really important that we do this now so that we can plan for the future.
23:46So we want these climate resilient species that are also really great for pollinators
23:51that we can plant in our landscapes.
23:58Back in the hot seats, we've got some tricky decisions to make as we narrow down our selection
24:03of photos for the Countryfile calendar 2025.
24:08OK, look at this.
24:09I mean, admittedly, that is quite ugly, but I think I could live with that for a month
24:14because it's so kooky.
24:16The detail is amazing.
24:18It's just joyous to see all these beautiful pictures of insects.
24:22I thought I wouldn't like the insect pictures.
24:24I thought I wouldn't like the insect pictures.
24:26And yet, I'm actually really, really into them every time I see one.
24:29That's great.
24:30Well, they have to be attractive pictures.
24:34As well as choosing the images that speak the loudest, we also need to pick photos that
24:39reflect the different seasons.
24:42Look, this is one I'm not sure about.
24:44I think the trees dominate the bluebells in that picture, actually.
24:47I actually have a wood as well.
24:49It's probably a different time of day.
24:51The sun is really blazing through.
24:53I've got another one.
24:54This one, to me, is much more mysterious.
24:56Oh, it's gnarly.
24:57Yeah, gnarly old tree in the front.
24:59Yeah, but no bluebells.
25:02I like yours best.
25:03Do you?
25:04It's blazing, isn't it?
25:05Yeah, it draws you into it, doesn't it?
25:08You do sort of lead with your heart when you're picking these.
25:11You see a scene where the character really speaks to you.
25:14The character, whether it's the animal's eyes are really connecting or it's so evocative
25:18or the colours are so bright and vibrant that it draws you in.
25:22Or maybe it's quite a serene scene which makes you feel calm.
25:26Yeah.
25:27You get quite a personal collection to them.
25:29Yeah.
25:30I was brought up in nature.
25:31We didn't even have a television growing up.
25:34We were outside all the time.
25:36For me, it's where I feel freest.
25:38I feel at home, I feel happy.
25:40It's a sanctuary and it's so beautiful to be seeing all these pictures
25:43of the animals that we love and the scenery that we love
25:46and the landscapes that we love.
25:48Well, I've been looking at these pictures that our viewers send in for, yeah,
25:5325 maybe more years now and I've never failed to be impressed
25:58how much better they seem to be quality-wise each year.
26:03I've been so impressed with how much talent is out there.
26:06It just shows how much our viewers love the British countryside.
26:10Yeah.
26:11They're so good.
26:13Even ones which I'm thinking, oh, maybe not because it perhaps
26:16wouldn't look right on a calendar.
26:17It's a beautiful photo in its own right.
26:21I love this one because they look so expressive.
26:27It's two children demanding lunch.
26:29Oh, yeah, it could be.
26:30That looks like my brother's asking my mum, where's dinner?
26:33When are we getting it? I'm hungry.
26:42My one fear is snakes.
26:44It's just snakes.
26:48I found it really helpful to keep remembering that theme of natural wonder
26:55because then I go back and I think, actually, as much as I love that one,
26:59I don't feel like that quite fits the brief.
27:03This picture of these, I feel like there's wonder in their faces,
27:08in their eyes, which I'm really drawn to.
27:11Of the thousands and thousands of pictures that were sent in this year,
27:16the one that wins, that is on the calendar, cover.
27:21Have you seen that yet, do you think?
27:23Oh, maybe.
27:25It's quite hard because there's been so many that I love.
27:29I have a couple in my mind.
27:31You, Charlotte?
27:32Yeah, me too.
27:33Just a couple that you think, ooh, that really you went to straight away.
27:39Well, it's been slow going so far,
27:41but we are on our way to deciding the images
27:44that will grace the 2025 Countryfile calendar.
27:56While here at Wakehurst, I've also been exploring the work the team's doing
28:00to safeguard the future of the environment we live in.
28:04Here at Wakehurst, science isn't confined to people in white coats
28:09working in temperature-controlled rooms.
28:11Every inch of this estate is used as a living laboratory.
28:23Justin Mote is a research lead for Nature Unlocked,
28:26a project turning to technology to help solve global issues
28:30like climate change, biodiversity loss and food security.
28:35That drone is so big!
28:38It is a big drone.
28:40It's mainly there because it actually takes quite a bit of equipment on it.
28:43We've got a laser scanning unit that builds a 3D map of the landscape
28:46as it flies over, but also a camera there,
28:49a very specialised camera that's hyperspectral.
28:51It looks at multiple wavelengths of light
28:53right into the wavelengths that we can't see into near-infrared as well.
28:56So what does that tell you?
28:58It tells us a lot about what's happening with the vegetation.
29:00Vegetation will respond differently in different wavelengths of light,
29:03so it's absorbing certain wavelengths of light to grow,
29:06but it's actually reflecting large amounts.
29:08So we see green vegetation, but if we look in the near-infrared,
29:11it would be twice as bright,
29:13because it's reflecting a huge amount of light at that point.
29:15And that can tell you then how well an oak is doing
29:18in comparison with an ash, for instance?
29:20Yeah, especially if you run it across time.
29:23So if you do the landscape once and then compare it again the next year,
29:26you can see, OK, the oak's not doing well this year.
29:28Actually, the ash is starting to back through the new seedlings,
29:31so you can see all those flushes and changes in the vegetation.
29:34Right, I'm going to stand back so that you can fly this.
29:37We've also got your colleague, Tim, who's looking out,
29:39because there is a public footpath,
29:41so you have to keep it away from people for obvious reasons.
29:43That's fine.
29:49I love the way the legs go up.
29:52Legs go forward.
29:54Justin's been using this drone technology here for three years,
29:58and with it, is able to capture information from an entirely new perspective.
30:04This data collector allows us to look at the wider landscape,
30:07and this feeds into our main project of Nature Unlocked,
30:10where we're looking at pollination, human wellbeing,
30:13but also the above-ground carbon.
30:15And it allows us to connect all the data together spatially,
30:18so we can see which trees are being used by the bees
30:20and actually map those trees across the landscape.
30:26It's amazing to see it up, isn't it?
30:28It is big, yes. It's really good.
30:30What's the aim behind Nature Unlocked, then?
30:32The aim is to measure in really high detail what nature is giving us as humans.
30:37How is it helping us for pollution, for flooding, etc.,
30:42and carbon and biodiversity, and wellbeing as well.
30:45And all these elements need to be balanced
30:47when we're actually making decisions about which ecosystems we're going to protect
30:50and which ones we're going to plant trees in.
30:52Because there are lots of discussions going on at the moment, aren't there,
30:55between where's best to plant, where's best to put a solar farm,
30:58where's best to grow food?
31:00Yeah, completely.
31:01And as botanists and as people who work in the natural environment,
31:04we can get very frustrated by this.
31:06We're often asked, which trees should I plant where?
31:09And in actual fact, it's nearly always going to be a marriage of multiple different choices.
31:13We need landscapes that can be resilient for climate change.
31:16We need landscapes that can hopefully give us wellbeing,
31:19that are useful to us, alleviate pollution,
31:22but also things like flooding, etc.
31:24So we need those multiple aspects of the landscape which help us,
31:27but also help biodiversity and nature.
31:29That's really fascinating, isn't it?
31:31It is.
31:36Drones aren't the only bit of high-tech kit
31:38the Nature Unlocked project here at Wakehurst is using.
31:42In the wet woodland, Dr Gary Egan and researcher Matilda Digby
31:46are monitoring carbon capture, both above and below the ground.
31:51I use a terrestrial laser scanner to map the above-ground biomass
31:55in our different forest systems here at Wakehurst.
31:58The scanner works by firing out infrared lasers, millions every second.
32:03It spins around in 360 degrees,
32:06and these lasers will hit branches and the tree trunk and the leaves,
32:10and then I would move this scanner around our forest plot.
32:14We would align all of those different scan positions together,
32:18and what we would get from that is a 3D model of the forest.
32:22We then put it through a series of data processing steps,
32:26and that's how we estimate how much carbon we have in the woodland.
32:30We know that different forest types and different structures
32:33store carbon in different ways,
32:35so conifer plantations grow really quickly,
32:38which is why people think they're good for storing carbon,
32:41but they actually are softwoods,
32:43so they don't store so much carbon in the woods,
32:45so we're finding that our broadleaf woodlands
32:48and our larger, older trees that are in those woodlands
32:51are the ones that store the majority of the carbon.
32:53And then we have all this younger generation growing up around it,
32:56and it's having this diversity of ages and species
32:59that is going to store the most carbon.
33:05Often forgotten, the ground beneath our feet
33:08could be more valuable than we imagine.
33:11To find out its worth, Gary has rigged the forest here
33:14with a platoon of monitoring machines.
33:19Here we've got permanent chambers
33:21that continuously measure the exchange of gases
33:24from the soil to the atmosphere.
33:27And down here we've got a dip well.
33:29We're interested in the water level in this wet woodland
33:32because it really affects the amount of methane coming out of the soil,
33:35so we've got four of those.
33:38And this is where all the wizardry takes place,
33:40so below you can see a yellow box.
33:42This is known as a multiplexer,
33:44so it distributes all the gases between the chambers around the landscape,
33:48and it feeds those gases into this most important piece of kit,
33:51the trace gas analyser,
33:53so this analyses the carbon dioxide and methane.
33:59The main objective is to work out
34:01which of the five habitats we've got here at Wakehurst are best.
34:05Here in this wet woodland we're measuring methane and carbon dioxide.
34:08This habitat stores a lot of carbon because it's waterlogged
34:11and it's void of oxygen.
34:13Our job is to see what the net reduction
34:17in global warming potential from these habitats are
34:20because they store a lot of carbon.
34:22Potentially they're a really, really valuable habitat
34:25to try and mitigate climate change.
34:28The work Gary and his machines are doing
34:30by measuring the gases released from the soils in this wet woodland
34:33help him understand how effective it is
34:36in comparison with other landscapes that store carbon.
34:39So we can feed into government policy, which is really important,
34:42so we know what to do in the future
34:44to use landscapes to get towards net zero.
34:49As a scientific community, we're very passionate about soil.
34:53It's immeasurably valuable.
34:55I always get very upset when people call it dirt
34:58because that implies it's got no value,
35:00and it's really, really very valuable.
35:0274% of all life is in the soil.
35:05It's a very complex environment.
35:07It provides many ecosystem services
35:09that are essential for continued life on Earth,
35:12and the primary reason that soils are important
35:15is they mineralise organic matter,
35:17so making those nutrients available to plants again.
35:24For Justin and the team,
35:26this project is only the start of a nationwide push
35:29to understand more about our natural environment.
35:32You've done this obviously here, in your backyard,
35:35as it were.
35:37What's the future for the project?
35:39What we're doing here is developing the techniques,
35:42and these techniques at the moment are potentially science-driven,
35:45but a lot of them will get cheaper and cheaper and easier to use.
35:48We have a whole network of pilot sites across the landscape
35:51where different interventions are being tested,
35:53and this is working with both Forestry Commission,
35:56Natural England and the Environment Agency.
35:58This is a massive project, isn't it? It's massive.
36:01It's a huge project, and it's driven by the need.
36:04We need to basically look at our landscape.
36:06We've underestimated what nature can give us.
36:09I think only now we're starting to recognise
36:11it's incredibly valuable to us,
36:13and we need to value that in some way.
36:22Well, the sunshine today brought out the butterflies and the bees
36:25here at Wakehurst,
36:27but what has the weather got in store for the week ahead?
36:30Here's the Countryfile forecast.
36:35Thanks, Charlotte. Good evening.
36:37Well, this time last week on Countryfile,
36:40I was comparing the extremes of rainfall that we'd seen so far in August.
36:44So on the 18th of August, across eastern England,
36:47there was hardly any rain for the month of August.
36:50In Cambridge, we only had 3% of the monthly average.
36:53Compare that to further north and west,
36:55where we'd already seen over in a month the monthly average.
36:58Now, if we take a look at what we've just had this week,
37:01so this is up to 9 o'clock this morning.
37:03Yes, we've added some much-needed rain across eastern England,
37:06but just take a look at this.
37:08Further north and west, Scotland, Northern Ireland, northwest England,
37:11we've had twice the monthly average rainfall.
37:14And actually, we're going to add to that
37:16for the remaining few days of the month of August.
37:19Another 80mm, possibly, across the far northwest,
37:22but hardly any traceable rain once again
37:25across much of southern and eastern England.
37:28Now, we've seen that today.
37:30The best of the sunshine was in the southeast.
37:32Some more persistent rain and some pretty gusty winds once again
37:35from an area of low pressure
37:37that is going to gradually drift its way eastwards through the night tonight,
37:41leaving this weakening cold front first thing tomorrow morning.
37:45So the front will bring some cloud and some showery bits of rain,
37:48perhaps across southern Scotland,
37:50down into northern England and north Wales.
37:52But south of that, we'll have some sunny spells
37:54and it will be a little bit warmer.
37:56It's a bank holiday away from Scotland,
37:58so 23 degrees pleasant enough.
38:00That said, Scotland, Northern Ireland,
38:02once that frontal system eases through,
38:04more sunshine and warmth for you as well.
38:07But then, as we move into Tuesday,
38:09high pressure clinging on into the southeast of England,
38:12but another low will bring yet more wet and windy weather.
38:15But at the same time, a southerly wind will tap in
38:18to some pretty warm air coming up from the near continent.
38:21So once again, we'll have a bit of sunshine
38:25So once again, this real contrast developing.
38:28Some rain, some of it heavy, moving out of Scotland
38:30into northern England and parts of west Wales.
38:33But in that southeast corner,
38:35we'll continue to see some sunshine and more warmth.
38:3825 degrees, 77 Fahrenheit.
38:41The high pressure is really just blocking this frontal system
38:45from making much of an impression south and east.
38:48So we will continue to see this feed of moisture
38:51pushing up across southwest England, Wales
38:53and up into the northwest.
38:55Few scattered showers the far northwest of Scotland,
38:57but it will be warmer still,
38:59really from Hull down towards the Isle of Wight,
39:02anywhere south and east of that.
39:03Obviously subject to change, but this is the likelihood
39:06that we could see 27 degrees and that'll be 80 Fahrenheit.
39:10Now, it's likely that that frontal system
39:12will start to push through
39:14during the early hours of Thursday morning,
39:16and that's going to allow a slightly fresher feel.
39:19So if you don't like those temperatures in the high 20s,
39:21Wednesday into Thursday is going to be more comfortable for you.
39:25So we're likely to see a good deal of dry weather,
39:27a few scattered showers to the north and west here.
39:30Once again, high teens, possibly 23 degrees.
39:34The high pressure is likely to push back in,
39:36though, across central and southern England.
39:38Once again, fronts desperately trying to push in.
39:41But on the whole, it's not going to be too bad an affair on Friday,
39:44largely fine and dry.
39:45The next low starting to push into Northern Ireland.
39:48There will be some cloud ahead of it,
39:50but not a bad day in prospect.
39:52But that fresher feel continues to the northwest,
39:54highs of 22 degrees in the southeast corner.
39:57But it looks likely that sunshine and heat
40:00will possibly return into next weekend.
40:02So we're not done with summer quite just yet.
40:05Bye-bye.
40:15We've come to Wakehurst in West Sussex,
40:18where we've been poring over your beautiful interpretations
40:21of our theme Natural Wonders
40:23for this year's Countryfile photographic competition.
40:26And there's plenty more to look through.
40:28The pictures we decide on today
40:30will form the Countryfile calendar for 2025,
40:33sold in aid of BBC Children in Need.
40:38So the pressure is on for Charlotte, Vic and I
40:41to find 12 incredible images showing natural wonders.
40:45Once we've selected the final 12,
40:47it's up to you, our viewers, to decide the overall winner,
40:50which will feature on the calendar cover.
40:53The winning photographer will receive a voucher for £1,000
40:57to be spent on photographic equipment.
41:00Plus the judge's favourite will receive a similar voucher for £500.
41:05Right, well, we've all chosen some of our personal favourites,
41:09and now we're going to combine those together
41:12as we head towards our final countdown, OK?
41:16So, what do we think of this one?
41:18I love the way the feathers of the wings and the tail look.
41:22Like, he's on his way up.
41:24Yeah, that's a jay, I think, and a woodpecker.
41:28And it looks to be a battle over landing rights, I think.
41:32And I like the fact that something's happening,
41:34that there's some movement in it.
41:36Yeah, a bit of action. Shall we put that one down?
41:38Yeah. To look at later.
41:40Oh, is this one of your hairs?
41:42This is one of many hairs.
41:44It is one of many hairs.
41:46Let's put that one down.
41:48See how we feel, yeah.
41:50That's a fun one. That's fun.
41:52Isn't it? I quite like it.
41:54Do you? I like the way the snow is...
41:56Yeah.
41:58Like a haze of snow coming off him.
42:00Whoa!
42:02Flying straight at the camera.
42:04What a shot!
42:06It's such a good shot. It's fab.
42:08Have a lot of owl pictures.
42:10See, this is cute, but...
42:12Are you blown away by it?
42:14No.
42:16Oh! See, I like that.
42:18I do like that. There's some real tenderness in that picture.
42:20Motherly love.
42:22It's really full of love.
42:24Yeah.
42:26The ugly fish.
42:28It's interesting in that it's an unusual fish.
42:30It's one I've not seen before, but...
42:32I mean, it's actually so ugly
42:34that it's kind of...
42:36attractive.
42:38It's becoming full circle.
42:40Well, not everything has to be
42:42beautiful in nature, does it?
42:44Exactly. Fair point.
42:46That's the whole point, yeah.
42:48Which brings me to this. I love this.
42:50I think it's brilliant.
42:52It's so unusual.
42:54Wow.
42:56That's an amazing shot. That's so epic.
42:58Wow.
43:00Hang on.
43:02This one makes me smile.
43:04Hang on, hang on. You went steaming past those birds.
43:06There. What do you think?
43:08That looks straight out of a film.
43:10Go on.
43:12You know you want to.
43:14That's very cute.
43:16This one makes me smile.
43:18He's looking out rather startlingly.
43:20Oh, wow.
43:22This is stunning. It's amazing.
43:24Honestly, it's so majestic.
43:26I love the sort of light. It's very strong.
43:28Yeah.
43:30I love this. Pure joy.
43:32Because it's just silly.
43:34When you look at that picture, you automatically
43:36smile, which is just such
43:38a superpower for a photograph to have.
43:40Okay.
43:44After hours of judging,
43:46it's not getting any easier.
43:48But we need to make tough decisions
43:50if we're going to get to our final 12.
43:52I think the
43:54other picture of the goat is more impactful
43:56because you can see his eyes.
43:58I can't get excited about that.
44:00No, I don't think it's exciting.
44:02What about that one?
44:04That looks like where my
44:06family and I used to go camping every year
44:08when we were younger up in the
44:10Scottish Islands. I think it really
44:12draws you in, this photo.
44:14And it's such an empty place,
44:16isn't it? But right down in the
44:18bottom of the picture there, there's a little house.
44:20So somebody lives there.
44:22Tiny ant,
44:24big leaf.
44:26I'm not as keen as you are.
44:28It just
44:30takes a bit of working out, doesn't it?
44:32Yeah, but that's...
44:34That's two to one, Charlotte, sorry. Fair enough.
44:36We're finally
44:38whittling down the remaining photos,
44:40but there are still some up for discussion.
44:42I really
44:44like the warm autumnal
44:46bracken, the browns and reds
44:48and oranges there. It's very September, October.
44:52Well, here's a real murmuration.
44:54Yeah, in the black and white,
44:56you've really got a sense of the movement. Yeah.
44:58I do like the tenderness of this
45:00moment that's been captured
45:02with the head just resting.
45:04It's very sweet.
45:06That's looking at me
45:08like my mum looks at me when I've done something
45:10wrong.
45:12I don't often see
45:14foxes in water. No.
45:16I don't think he likes it.
45:18I think he's thinking, what did I run in here for?
45:20Ooh. Ah.
45:22That's beautiful. That's great. Is he doing
45:24peace signs?
45:26Yeah.
45:28That's really interesting.
45:30We're so used to lovely sunsets
45:32and
45:34nature looking at its very
45:36best there. It looks pretty bleak, doesn't it?
45:38But you could have that kind of, I don't know,
45:40that contrast is nice.
45:42This is lovely, I think.
45:44What is it? Oh, is it swans?
45:48Heading off into the sunset.
45:50Three wise owls, isn't it?
45:52Mm.
45:54To have seen them there like that.
45:56Have you got this in?
45:58This is our last one, I think.
46:00I don't know, it just made me smile.
46:02I really like it.
46:04One, two,
46:06three, four.
46:08It's been a long process
46:10judging the wonderful photographs
46:12that you've sent in.
46:14We've agreed and disagreed,
46:16but the final decisions have been
46:18made.
46:20Well, it's been a long, hard day, hasn't it?
46:22Seeing lots
46:24of beautiful pictures
46:26of natural wonders.
46:28And I think we've
46:30finally got there, haven't we?
46:32It was really tough.
46:34It was really difficult.
46:36And you get quite connected to certain pictures.
46:38You feel quite strongly about them.
46:40Yeah, you want to fight for them, don't you?
46:42Keep them in.
46:44It's amazing how many brilliant photos
46:46we've looked at today.
46:48And so varied.
46:50And it sort of helps you see the world
46:52I feel like I'm going to go out and look at a frog
46:54slightly differently now.
46:56And I'm going to take endless photos of insects
46:58for next year's calendar.
47:00Well, thank you both very much indeed.
47:02And here they are.
47:04Here are our final 12.
47:06King of the Quarry,
47:08taken by Carl Evans.
47:12Woolly Jumper by Wesley Christopher.
47:16Star Jump by Sean Corlett.
47:18All Ears
47:20by Robert Louis Collins.
47:24Take a Bow by George Varley.
47:28Over the Rainbow by Andy Cleave.
47:32Seal of Approval by
47:34Ursula Armstrong.
47:36Night Owl
47:38by Barry Thomas.
47:40Technicolor Temple
47:42by Carolyn McGowan.
47:44Coming into Land
47:46by Michael Delderfield.
47:48Last Light
47:50by Ian Brierley.
47:52And Beeline
47:54by Peter Chamblee.
48:00Well, it's been
48:02another great year for the Countryfile
48:04Photographic Competition.
48:06And we judges had a really hard time
48:08but great fun in choosing
48:10those final 12 photos
48:12which will feature in the Countryfile
48:14calendar for 2025
48:16which we sell in order to BBC
48:18Children in Need. And now, it's over
48:20to you, our viewers, to choose
48:22the overall winning photo
48:24which will feature on the cover
48:26of the calendar.
48:28There's no voting by phone this year
48:30but you can find everything you
48:32need online.
48:34To vote for your favourite, go to
48:36bbc.co.uk slash countryfile
48:38to cast your vote.
48:40The terms and conditions
48:42and privacy notice can also
48:44be found on our website.
48:46The vote will close on Monday
48:482nd September 2024
48:50at 10am.
48:52If you're watching on demand, then the
48:54vote may already be closed.
48:56The best bit is that voting online
48:58is free.
49:00And for an even quicker way to vote
49:02this year, simply scan
49:04the QR code appearing on your screen
49:06now, and you'll be
49:08taken straight to where you need to go.
49:12And now that you've got all the details
49:14it's up to you to vote for your favourite.
49:16And all 12 photographs
49:18together with the details of how to vote
49:20will be shown again at the end of the
49:22programme.
49:24We'll be revealing the winner and the judges
49:26favourite on the 6th October.
49:28But for now,
49:30from me and the whole Countryfile team
49:32thanks to everyone who
49:34sent in their photos. It's been truly
49:36inspiring and we
49:38really couldn't have done it without you.
49:42Wakehurst has helped
49:46create natural wonders of their own
49:48by carefully managing a diverse
49:50range of habitats and supporting
49:52a wide variety of plant and animal
49:54species.
49:56But for the team managing the woodlands,
49:58not everything's within their control.
50:04First identified
50:06in the UK in 2012,
50:08most parts of the country are now
50:10experiencing the impact of ash dieback.
50:14The disease claimed its
50:16first tree at Wakehurst in 2016.
50:18Since then, around
50:2090% of the ash trees
50:22here have been infected.
50:24Managing the
50:26after effects of the disease in Wakehurst's
50:28woodlands is Nature Reserve
50:30Warden of 30 years, Steve Robinson.
50:32Here at Wakehurst,
50:38we have a high population of
50:40ash trees and because our density is so
50:42high of ash, our spore pool
50:44is very high, so infection rates
50:46is pretty dramatic at Wakehurst.
50:48So we guesstimate we're going to lose
50:50around 80-90% of our ash
50:52trees. But one positive is
50:54it makes superb charcoal.
50:56So this is ash timber,
50:58which we harvest from the reserve.
51:00This is infected ash timber,
51:02which we're going to put through the kiln.
51:04And one of the beauties of ash is its properties.
51:06So it's one of our hardest
51:08hardwoods. It's got these very
51:10long straight fibres that go down its
51:12length, so when you hit it really hard
51:14the shock doesn't create splinters.
51:16So it's very good for
51:18axe handles, hammer handles,
51:20hockey sticks and even oars are made out of
51:22ash. It also makes superb
51:24hardwood, lumpwood charcoal.
51:26And even though the wood looks
51:28dry, it's still full of moisture.
51:30And if I had the strength of a giant,
51:32I could wring this out and there'd
51:34be a puddle of water at my feet.
51:36So this is where the kiln
51:38comes into its own.
51:40And what the kiln is doing at the moment,
51:42it's forcing all that water
51:44out of the timber. And if I put
51:46my shovel over the
51:48smoke here and wait,
51:50and now we can see all the moisture
51:52dripping off this shovel.
51:54We call it charcoal burning, but we
51:56don't actually burn the wood. If we burn the wood,
51:58we'll just end up with ash, but we want
52:00charcoal. So what the kiln is doing
52:02is carbonising the wood.
52:04And you can see here, this is a piece of
52:06hazel on a previous burn, and you
52:08can still see the growth rings within
52:10the wood here.
52:12Sold locally,
52:14Steve's made more than a thousand
52:16bags of charcoal out of the diseased ash
52:18trees. But he isn't the first person
52:20to make charcoal in these woods.
52:22At Wakehurst,
52:24we know there's been charcoal burning
52:26in our woodlands for hundreds and hundreds
52:28of years. And to the untrained eye,
52:30it might seem I'm just standing within
52:32a woodland, but I'm actually standing
52:34on an old charcoal burner's clamp.
52:36So this area has been flattened
52:38out here, and then we've
52:40got this scalloped edge around here.
52:42So these clamps, you normally find them
52:44about every hundred metres through our woodlands.
52:46So it's a great big living factory.
52:48And at the height, our woodlands were
52:50producing thousands of tonnes of charcoal
52:52for the iron industry.
52:54For me, charcoal burning is
52:56about carrying on the historic
52:58history of Wakehurst. So I'm just
53:00that small window in that historical
53:02timeline. So
53:04hopefully in the centuries to come, they'll know that
53:06Mr Steve Robinson was a charcoal
53:08burner at Wakehurst.
53:10Not all of the diseased ash trees are
53:12destined for the kiln.
53:14Many are being left where they fall on the forest
53:16floor.
53:18So for some, the sight of these fallen ash
53:20trees in a woodland might seem
53:22quite sad, but these trees
53:24are going to be vital for the healthy ecosystem.
53:26So as they're dying and rotting,
53:28the wood is going to provide a host
53:30of different habitats for different invertebrates.
53:32Mosses, fungis, and lichens
53:34will use them. And then eventually
53:36the trees will just be absorbed back into the
53:38woodland floor. So when the
53:40ash trees naturally fall over,
53:42a great big hole is punched
53:44in the canopy, so you get this huge
53:46burst of light that's thrown down onto the woodland
53:48floor, and we get this really
53:50dense layer of bramble.
53:52We have a very high density of deer
53:54in our woodlands, so a lot of our natural
53:56regeneration, the deer will browse
53:58that. And what we're hoping is the
54:00bramble will act like a natural defence.
54:02So hopefully there'll be some young
54:04trees within this bramble layer here
54:06that the deer won't penetrate, and will
54:08allow the woodland to recover.
54:10About 60% of woodland birds
54:12will nest in the first two metres, so this is
54:14fantastic habitat for our woodland
54:16birds, but also species like
54:18our woodland butterflies,
54:20silver wash fritillaries, white
54:22admirals will utilise these big sunny areas.
54:26Steve hopes this recovery will be
54:28especially beneficial for hazel
54:30dormice, a protected species
54:32which Steve has a licence to monitor.
54:34We've been monitoring
54:36dormice now for 30 years.
54:38We started in 1994, and
54:40what we do is from April through to November
54:42time, I come through and check
54:44270 boxes, between the
54:4615th and 25th of each month,
54:48and any dormice that I do find,
54:50I weigh them, sex them,
54:52and we're one of hundreds of sites across
54:54the whole country that are feeding information
54:56to this huge database, because
54:58dormice have declined by around
55:0050% over the last century.
55:02So there are species that hibernate,
55:04so six months a year, they're on the ground
55:06hibernating, and when they're
55:08awake, they need a constant supply
55:10of food, so different fruits and berries,
55:12insects, so we associate
55:14dormice as being like a flagship
55:16species for a very rich, diverse
55:18species woodland.
55:20And Steve and the dormice of Wakehurst
55:22have a special connection to Countryfile.
55:24In 2004,
55:26I entered the Countryfile calendar
55:28competition with three
55:30torpid dormice, which I found
55:32when I was checking the boxes.
55:34I took them out, weighed them, sexed
55:36them, and took a photograph of them,
55:38not ever thinking I would enter them into
55:40the competition, put the dormice back
55:42in the box, the competition came
55:44up, I thought I might as well just send it
55:46off, and lo and behold,
55:48I won it.
55:58From the thousands of photos
56:00you sent in this year, these
56:02are the final 12.
56:04Now, it's up to you,
56:06our viewers, to decide the overall
56:08winner. You can find the
56:10full list of all the 12 photos
56:12we've chosen today, and details of
56:14how to vote, on the Countryfile website.
56:16The winning
56:18photo will feature on the calendar's
56:20cover. You can vote
56:22for King of the
56:24Quarry,
56:26Woolly Jumper,
56:28Star Jump,
56:32All Ears,
56:34Take a Bow,
56:38Over the Rainbow,
56:40Seal of
56:42Approval,
56:44Night Owl,
56:46Technicolour
56:48Temple,
56:50Coming Into Land,
56:52Last
56:54Light,
56:56or Beeline.
56:58There's no voting
57:00by phone this year, but you can
57:02find everything you need, online.
57:04To vote for your favourite,
57:06go to bbc.co.uk
57:08slash countryfile, to cast
57:10your vote.
57:12The terms and conditions and privacy
57:14notice can also be found on our
57:16website. The vote will close
57:18on Monday 2nd September
57:202024, at 10am.
57:22If you're watching on
57:24demand, then the vote may already
57:26be closed. The best bit
57:28is that voting online is free.
57:30And for an even
57:32quicker way to vote this year,
57:34simply scan the QR code
57:36appearing on your screen now,
57:38and you'll be taken straight
57:40to where you need to go.
57:46I'm really looking forward to
57:48seeing which photo you choose as
57:50your favourite. But that's it from us
57:52here at Wakehurst. Next week,
57:54Joe's going fishing.
57:58I've done plenty of fly fishing before,
58:00but I have never managed to
58:02catch a saltwater fish.
58:04You just never know with mullet. I love
58:06the fact it's so challenging. You can go
58:08down a nothing, and then you'll go
58:10down and you'll catch a few. And that's
58:12the kind of drug.
58:14There they are.
58:16I can see them all. There's quite a few of them.
58:18Cast now.
58:20Perfect, perfect. They're on the fly. Start stripping.
58:22Come on!
58:24That's next week at 7 o'clock.
58:26Hope you can join us then. Bye bye.
58:33Turning his sleight of hand
58:35to animals and agriculture,
58:37Brian May, The Badgers, The Farmers
58:39and Me on BBC iPlayer.
58:41And the lay of the land for lions,
58:43leopards and cheetahs is threatened.
58:45Cats 24-7 is a brand new series
58:47on BBC Two now.
58:49With a jewellery collection to rival
58:51Elizabeth Taylor's, Antiques Roadshow
58:53is next.