Countryfile

Luddenden (25x16)

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The Countryfile team heads to Calderdale in West Yorkshire. It is the most southerly of the Yorkshire dales and perhaps not as well known as its northern cousins, but what it lacks in fame it makes up for in beauty. Ellie Harrison follows in the footsteps of Whitely Turner, whose book A Springtime Saunter Round and About Bronte Land was first published 100 years ago. It takes in some of the most stunning landscapes of the area including the village of Haworth where the Bronte family lived. Ellie explores some of the landscapes which inspired the writer Ted Hughes. Ted was born in 1930 in Calderdale and it inspired much of his writing. Matt Baker looks at the food revolution which is happening in the area. Through a scheme called Incredible Edible, Todmorden hopes to be the first self-sustaining town in the country. Matt sees how they plan to achieve this by visiting one school where fish poo is the key. The area is home to the largest concentration of reservoirs in the country. They were built to support the mill industries during the Industrial Revolution, but what are they used for now the mills have closed? Helen Skelton finds out with a bit of wind-surfing and some springtime restoration work. Also on the programme, Britain's bees are disappearing fast and in the last few years a pesticide, vital to many farmers, has been getting the blame. Now Europe wants it banned. Tom Heap investigates if this is a sensible scientific move. On his farm, Adam Henson is really feeling the effects of the bad weather with crops impossible to sow into the hard ground. Adam also travels to North Wales though to see the devastating and heartbreaking effect the harsh weather has had on lambing there.