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Although it's classed as Britain’s only 'desert' - and despite its bleak aspect in the depths of winter - the shingle headland of Dungeness is home to an incredible array of wildlife, plants and birdlife. 

Matt meets Owen Leyshon, who's been the warden of the national nature reserve here for the past 25 years, to find out more about the rich and diverse species that make Dungeness their home.

He also discovers that this is a landscape on the move – one that is growing outward at a rate of up to two metres a year. 

Matt also joins a group of volunteers to tackle an important winter job that keeps some of the unique species here in tip-top condition – clearing bramble from the blackthorn bushes that grow on the headland.

One man's life at Dungeness became a work of art: Prospect Cottage was home to influential artist, filmmaker, and gardener Derek Jarman. 

Jarman died in 1994 but the house, its contents and its extraordinary garden have been lovingly maintained. 

Few people have been allowed inside, but Margherita is visiting with Jarman’s close friend, David Lewis, who hasn’t been back for decades!

Since Jarman's partner's death in 2018 there's been a risk the property could be sold, its contents split up and the artistic legacy lost. 

So an urgent appeal has just been launched to raise the money needed to preserve this important creative treasure trove.

Special guest investigator Deborah Meaden returns to Cornwall where she ran part of her business empire for many years.But this TV Dragon is back today to help reinvigorate a struggling but vital rural service: the village post office.Deborah discovers the challenges facing the thousands of post offices still open across the UK and sees a new vision for how they could operate in the future.Could The Lizard's local services be delivered from a low-cost, modern hub like a shipping container? 

Steve meets Chris Shore, a landscape photographer who has been capturing Dungeness’ wild and desolate beauty for the past 40 years. 

Chris loves to record the evocative array of fishing detritus that is scattered across the ever-changing shingle ridges, especially the decaying boats that lie abandoned on the shoreline. 

But Chris doesn’t use modern digital equipment to document this landscape, he uses large format cameras and shoots on film. 

With Chris’ help, Steve takes a photo of a trio of old fishing boats and creates a beautiful black and white print.

It’s the height of winter… not a good time for a sheep to lose its fleece! 

But, according to Emma Boyles, this is the perfect time of year for her shepherd Susie to shear her Swedish Gotland sheep.

Adam takes a look at how this rare flock are managed and how their fleece makes for such high-quality wool.

The soft, shifting shingle at Dungeness makes launching a lifeboat a real challenge but for years there was a group of local women willing to help out.

Margherita meets Betty Paine, one of the last ‘lady launchers’, who used to drag heavy oak planks into place to provide a smooth journey for the boat across the beach. 

We see footage of Betty in 1970 hard at work but discover that she never actually went on the lifeboat herself.

M

argherita then takes Betty back to the sea’s edge to see how the RNLI lifeboat is launched more than 40 years later: transported on caterpillar tracks 200m down to the beach edge. 

The blackthorn plants that grow on Dungeness are prized for their fruit – the sloe berry, and this harvest is put to good use by the locals in the making of sloe gin. 

Every year, the local pub holds the annual sloe gin contest and competition for the crown is fierce. 

None more so than amongst family members who jealously guard the secrets of their own concoctions and strive to take the prize. 

Matt meets current sloe gin queen Sue Baldwin and her husband, Tony, who is aiming to steal her crown this year...but how will they do?