Countryfile

Cheshire (27x10)

Air date: Mar 08, 2015

The team are in rural Cheshire. Matt Baker is finding out about agricultural apprentices. He follows Jason, a young farmer, as he goes about his daily tasks on his dad's busy dairy farm. Here he gets the chance to put into practice everything he learns in the classroom at Reaseheath College. With the help of one of the college assessors, Matt puts Jason through his paces in a practical examination on the farm. Ellie Harrison is at Tatton Park, where she's hoping to spot the elegant courtship ritual of one of the county's finest feathered friends, the great crested grebe. She also visits Quarry Bank Mill, where she discovers what life was like for Victorian mill apprentices and meets a modern-day heritage builder apprentice working on the site to restore it. Ellie help hims re-hang the bell in the mill's clock tower. John Craven visits a seasonal spectacle at Rode Hall, where the masses flock to see the beautiful blanket of white. The snowdrop's arrival reminds us that spring is just around the corner. Getting your own home in the countryside can be tough. Wages tend to be lower - and property prices higher. Tom Heap asks whether we should be solving the problem by building more affordable houses in rural areas.