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Cleveland Way

Helen Skelton and Sean Fletcher are on the Cleveland Way in Yorkshire. Helen meets the team of Scouts who have 'adopted' their own stretch of the 109-mile trail.

Helen and Sean are on the Cleveland Way in North Yorkshire. Helen meets the team of Scouts who have 'adopted' their own stretch of the 109-mile trail and are busy clearing gorse and doing some vital maintenance. She then joins the Hardmoors, a group of ultra marathon runners who have also adopted their own stretch, on a run through some spectacular countryside.

Sean explores Yorkshire childhoods through an incredible oral history project, before joining wildlife photographer Glenn Kilpatrick as he attempts to photograph leaping salmon on the beautiful River Esk.

Blacksmith and artist Katie Ventress takes Countryfile to her favourite stretch of coast. Tom has an exclusive look at a major new report into the effects of climate change on our bird populations, and Adam meets the young couple getting into farming despite not having a farm.

55 minutes

Last on

Tue 12 Dec 2017 01:15

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:54

    Foals

    2 Trees

  • 00:57

    Foals

    Inhaler

Cleveland Way Adoption Scheme

Cleveland Way Adoption Scheme

How do you monitor and maintain 109 miles of national trail? For North York Moors National Park the answer is to get local families and community groups together through their adoption scheme. To celebrate the Cleveland way becoming the first national trail to be fully adopted, Helen Skelton is meeting the organiser of the scheme as well as some of its youngest participants. 

The State of Birds

The State of Birds

Tom gets an exclusive look at the latest report on the UK’s birds. Put together by the RSPB, the British Ornithological Trust and the Wildlife and Wetlands Trust, along with the government, it makes for some worrying reading. Warming temperatures are changing the behaviour of our birds and pushing some rarer species towards extinction. 

Salmon and Sea Trout

Salmon and Sea Trout

For local wildlife photographer Glenn Kilpatrick there is no better place to live and work than the Esk Valley. A local celebrity, some of Glenn’s best sightings have come from tip-offs from farmers. He’s taken stunning photos of owls, seals and red deer to name a few.  Sean Fletcher joins him on the River Esk to photograph the leaping salmon and sea trout as they make their long journey up river to spawn.  The fish are fast and difficult to predict making the photo shoot quite a challenge! 

Artisan Blacksmith

Artisan Blacksmith

North Yorkshire has some of the countries’ most scenic coast and rich woodland and for artisan blacksmith, Katie Ventress, it’s an endless supply of inspiration. At 28 years old, Katie has recently decided to go it alone with her own business.  Most of her work takes its form from nature and her items include lobster ornaments, mushroom coat hooks and even tentacle wall sconces. 

First Time Farmers

First Time Farmers

Getting your first foot on the farming ladder, especially if you don’t come from a farming background can be very difficult, but one couple are trying something quite different. Adam meets David and Bekka Corrie-Close, they graze cattle on different sites all over the Lake District and with landlords like the National Trust and the RSPB this is extensive conservation grazing.  

Where the Wild Things Were

Where the Wild Things Were

The post war years of Britain have seen vast changes to our countryside and how we interact with it. Tees Valley Wildlife trust has started an ambitious project to collect the memories of those who grew up playing outside all day and making their own fun from nature. Whether it was catching frogs, tickling trout or collecting feathers they all remember a time when they were free to roam where they liked. Sean Fletcher meets some of them to learn a bit more about what it was like to be young then and an interesting way to light a fire!

The Hardmoors

The Hardmoors

The Cleveland way is a challenging walk, but what about running it? That takes a special kind of dedication. Helen Skelton gets her running gear on to train with the Hardmoors, an ultra marathon-running group that call the Cleveland way home. Not only do they run it, they look after sections and raise money it, but can Helen keep up?

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Helen Skelton
Presenter Sean Fletcher
Presenter Tom Heap
Presenter Adam Henson
Participant Glenn Kilpatrick
Participant Katie Ventress
Executive Producer William Lyons
Series Producer Joanna Brame

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