Countryfile

Staffordshire (26x35)

: 31, 2014

Jules Hudson and Ellie Harrison are in Staffordshire exploring its wide open moorlands and the imposing millstone grit ridges of the Roaches. It's a landscape of myth and legend as Jules discovers when he goes in search of the mysterious green knight, hears about the mermaids that haunt upland pools and visits the eerie Luds Church. Ellie meets one of the very last survivors of the Women's Land Army and finds out that their vital wartime role is at last being recognised with a new memorial statue at the National Memorial Arboretum. Ellie gives the sculptor a hand casting of one of the most important bits. It's also the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the Peak District Mountain Rescue. Ellie recounts the tragedy that led to the Rescue's formation before putting the expert skills of the rescue team to the test. Adam meets the young farmers whose mobile milking parlour could transform the lives of many in the dairy industry. John Craven is joined by celebrity judges Bill Bailey and Charlotte Uhlenbroek, to select the 12 final photographs from this year's Countryfile Photographic Competition. These dozen pictures will grace the Countryfile Calendar for 2015. Viewers will then be given the chance to vote for their favourite.