Open Country

Helen Mark visits Coquet Island, a sanctuary for some of Britain's rarest nesting sea birds. It's also home to the world's first 'puffin piano'...Coquet Island is an RSPB reserve which due to the rarity of some of its winged visitors, is protected under European Law and no-one is allowed to set foot on it without special permission. There's no running water and no mains electricity, but every summer a small, dedicated team of wardens and volunteers lead by Paul Morrison take up residence on Coquet Island to ensure that the thousands of birds who migrate there will thrive and live secularly for the duration of their stay, including Britain's rarest nesting sea bird, the roseate tern.Just a mile off the coast of Amble, Northumberland, the reserve is also rich in human history and has been occupied since the 7th Century, initially as a monastic cell and later a lighthouse station. The buildings now provide simple accommodation for those who come to care for the birds. There's no running water or mains power but should they become stranded, assistant warden Wesley Davies has created a board game called 'Coquet-opoly' to while away the hours... and that's not all...Many thousands of nesting Sandwich, Arctic and common terns accompany the roseates in May, June and July, whilst thousands of puffins occupy the main part of the island - and this year they will be treated to their own, fully functioning piano...Each year Wesley creates new items for these naturally curious creatures to play with (there's also been an Olympic stadium and a pirate ship), the filming of which feeds into social media outlets to raise awareness about the valuable conservation work that takes place on Coquet to protect this precious environment.

With the growing Formula 1 schedule and following, there's an increasing appetite for motor racing. Helen Mark heads to Weybridge in Surrey to visit Brooklands - claimed to be the world's first purpose-built motor racing circuit to hear how one Hugh Locke-King's passion for speed led him to have the track designed and built on his land, almost bankrupting him. The site was used for land speed records even before the first race and also became a centre for aviation development. It reached its heyday in the 1920s and 30s but World War II saw it taken over by the Ministry of Defence and its decline as a circuit. Enthusiasts from the Brooklands Society fought to preserve it - both by digging the track free of overgrowing weeds and by getting it listed - and the museum continues to celebrate the records and achievements marked in its history. Malcolm Campbell's grandson Don Wales shares about his family's love of the track. Helen Mark heads to the track in style - in a 1929 four and a half litre Bentley - to see how it's used today. Members of the Vintage Sports Car Club (VSCC) take tests, both of vehicles and drivers, around planned courses but how will Helen fare on her spin up test hill and the historic banking? Produced in Bristol by Anne-Marie Bullock.

With Brunel's iconic Clifton Suspension Bridge towering over head, pull on your hiking boots and join Felicity Evans as she steps away from Bristol's busy city streets and delves into the dense undergrowth of the Avon Gorge.As a haven for rare plant species, it's been classed as one of the top three botanical sites in England and with peregrine falcons circling overhead and goats roaming the land below, you could be forgiven for thinking you are in the most wild of rural landscapes - but in reality you are just a stone's throw from Bristol's City Centre.Felicity meets with botanist and rock climber Libby Houston, who for over 30 years has explored the craggy edges of the Avon Gorge, identifying and even discovering rare plant species - one of which, 'Houston's White Beam', bears her name. Further along the gorge Felicity joins Ben Scouse as he does his daily check on his six 'hairy conservationists' otherwise known as the six billy goats who have been bought in to graze the land in order to support the cultivation of the rare plants.Looking upwards, author and naturalist Ed Drewitt takes Felicity peregrine spotting and reveals their history with the gorge and their royal connections and finally, Merchant Venturer Francis Greenacre explains how this land - so close to a city - came to be preserved as a wild and wonderful open space.

Without quite walking on water, Helen Mark uses a very low spring tide to walk between Tresco and Bryher, two of the Isles of Scilly. She meets people who delight in what is revealed on the seabed, such as 3,000 year old Neolithic field walls, indicating the time when the islands were a single landmass. Local harbour master Henry Birch stands with Helen at the mid point between the islands which normally sits 5 meters below the sea.Helen hears how it's all possible because of what must surely be one the best words to have up your sleeve during a game of Scrabble: syzgy, which is when the sun, moon and earth are aligned creating the extreme highs and lows known as spring tides.Producer: Mark Smalley.

Helen Mark visits the Derwent Valley, an area dotted with old, looming cotton mill structures to discover what the future holds for these 'industrial giants' of the landscape.At the turn of the 19th Century, Britain was world leader in cotton manufacturing and home to the largest industrial complexes on the planet. The last spinning machines closed in 2003 and the UK now produces zero amount of cotton, but the awesome brick structures still tower over the Derbyshire Countryside. Stretching 15 miles down the river valley from Matlock Bath to Derby, the Derwent Valley World Heritage Site contains a fascinating series of historic mill complexes, including some of the world's first 'modern' factories. But how can these structures remain relevant rather than redundant? Visiting Cromford Mills, The Belper River Gardens and the beautiful natural landscape that surrounds these giant structures, Helen meets the people whose passion keeps this history alive.

Felicity Evans visits the waterfalls and swallow holes at the western end of the Brecon Beacons, and discovers that besides its natural beauty, it's an area with a rich industrial heritage. Today its deep, mossy ravines are of great interest to walkers and potholers. But the waterfalls, Felicity discovers, gave rise to local industries - including a gunpowder works, and the silica mines provided firebricks that were shipped around the world.She even walks behind one of the waterfalls, Sgwd Y Eira, the waterfall of snow.Producer: Mark Smalley.

We might think we know the Peak District quite well, but in reality it has many secrets and many stories still to tell, such as its connection with British Imperial India. Helen Mark travels with National Park Ranger Chamu Kuppuswamy as they discover the Indian heritage tucked amongst the wild hills of The Peak District National Park.

Helen Mark travels to Chelford Cattle Market in Cheshire, along with hundreds of buyers and sellers from across the UK. It was first formed over a century ago and has weathered the storms of the foot and mouth outbreak and BSE crisis which resulted in many others closing down altogether. It still nestles on the edge of the village of Chelford, next to the station, as livestock used to be delivered by rail. Like many others though, it has plans to move out to newer facilities closer to the motorway network.The market has sales of more than just cattle - sheep, pigs, poultry and goats but also machinery and horticulture. Helen joins auctioneer Gwyn Williams as he balances 'on the plank' above the pigs and sheep but even from that vantage point the subtle nods and winks of the bidders can be hard to spot for a novice.Not everyone is a buyer though. Helen meets some farmers simply scouting the market for prices and for many it's a great social occasion and an opportunity to catch up on gossip. But keep that between us.Produced in Bristol by Anne-Marie Bullock.

For thirty years, the arts and environment organisation Common Ground has used Dorset as a kind of laboratory for its work celebrating local distinctiveness, before rolling their projects out elsewhere around the UK. Helen Mark hears from Common Ground co-founder Sue Clifford why they began Apple Day events near her home in Shaftesbury, as a way of celebrating and protecting old apple orchards. Helen also meets the sculptor Peter Randall-Page who was commissioned to carve some small wayside sculptures along a footpath above Lulworth Cove, and the composer Karen Wimhurst reflects on Confluence, the three year music project she was involved in that celebrated the river Stour, from its source to the sea.But now that the Common Ground co-founders are retiring, Helen also meets Adrian Cooper, who's taken the helm, and is steering the organisation into new waters.Producer: Mark Smalley.

Helen Mark visits the small Gloucestershire village of Adlestrop that inspired Edward Thomas' famous eponymous poem when his steam train unexpectedly stopped there 100 years ago, on the eve of war. Helen meets Ian Morton of the Edward Thomas Fellowship to find out more about the poet who died in combat in 1917, as well as people who live and work in this beautiful corner of the Cotswolds. She visits Daylesford, the nearby large organic farm operation, makers of their own Adlestrop cheese, and hears about the Wychwood Forest Project.Producer: Mark Smalley.