Open Country

Helen Mark visits Brighton to find surprising wildlife in the city. She finds an urban flock of sheep grazing on ancient chalk downland areas in the city. Their gentle nibbling is kinder to wildlife than mowing and ensures that green spaces stay clear for wildlife and people. Helen meets a volunteer shepherd in charge of watching the sheep through the winter months.Nearby, Moulsecoomb Forest Garden and Wildlife Project works with excluded school pupils growing vegetables and gardening for wildlife. Helen is shown the project's tree house, outdoor clay oven, turf sofa, and traditional bee hive. Now a thriving garden run by an army of volunteers the original piece of land, hidden away behind Moulsecoomb railway station, had been left overgrown and derelict for nearly twenty years. Down on Brighton's beach Helen joins Huw Morgan from Sussex Wildlife Trust as he splashes around in rock pools with children from a local school. Their city centre school lacks green space for them to explore so the beach is the perfect place for them to run free and learn about marine wildlife and sustainable fishing.Producer Beatrice Fenton.

The 12th century St Donat's castle in South Wales was once home to media mogul William Randolph Hearst - subject of Citizen Kane. Fifty years ago it became the home of Atlantic College, a unique educational establishment bringing together students from around the world in the hope of promoting peace and understanding and to overcome the problems of the Cold War. Felicity Evans explores the campus grounds, meeting students past and present, to find out how an alternative education has influenced their lives. She asks how serving the community and working on the land - including running the organic farm and lifeboat unit - has helped shape their views and plans for the future.

Helen Mark discovers the myths and legends of the landscape of Snowdonia. A recent million pound appeal by the National Trust successfully enabled the Trust to buy one of Wales' most iconic farms, Llyndy Isaf, and the land around it on the shores of Llyn Dinas. As well as being important environmentally, legend states that the area is the setting for the mythical battle between the red and white dragon, the red dragon being the victor and claiming the honour of becoming the country's national symbol. Helen also visits Ty Hyll, the Ugly House, a cottage saved from dereliction in the 1980s by the Snowdonia Society. The true origins of the house remain shrouded in mystery, although legend tells of it being built by two outlaw brothers as a 'Ty Un Nos', a house built overnight between sunset and sunrise with walls, roof and a smoking chimney. Under ancient law anyone succeeding in doing this could claim the freehold. What other mysteries surround this stunning landscape?Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

Helen Mark visits Hicks Lodge, a restored open cast mine in Leicestershire, now a haven for wildlife, walkers and cyclists and other more unusual visitors. Over 100 different bird species have been recorded at Hicks Lodge, which is run by the Forestry Commission and is situated in young woodlands at the heart of the National Forest. Helen meets Area Forester, Alan Dowell, to find out more about Hicks Lodge and the various walking routes and cycle trails that are available and joins local cyclist, Marc Stapleford for a bike ride through the site of what is now the National Forest Cycle Centre. Helen also hears from Chief Executive of the National Forest, Sophie Churchill, about the background to the Forest itself which covers 200 square miles of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire. They are joined by retired Geography teacher, Dot Morson, and one of her former pupils, Mark Knight. Both are local residents who have seen the landscape around them transformed over the years. And Stuart Malcolmson and Racheal Bailey of the National Forest Mushing Team give Helen a lesson in dog sledding - one of the more unusual pastimes to be found on the site of a former open cast mine!Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

Open Country visits Scotland's Moray Firth, testing the health of its marine mammal population The beaching of twenty six pilot whales in Scotland's Firth of Forth made headlines, and highlighted the importance attached by many of us to the creatures which live, largely unobserved, in our seas. In Open Country this week, Richard Uridge travels further north, to the Moray Firth, to test the health of its mammal populations, and to try to fathom what it is about these creatures which strikes such a chord in humans.

Helen Mark explores the landscape and waters of the Isle of Bute off the west coast of Scotland where, for over 200 years, visitors have gone 'doon the watter' to take advantage of the island's relaxing atmosphere and healing properties. Suggestions have been made that Bute should be designated as Britain's first 'blue space', an area defined by blue sea, sky and fresh air which all have a therapeutic effect. Boarding the ferry at Wemyss Bay, Helen joins Shiona Lawson, one of those whose family would take the ferry each year to go 'doon the watter'. Shiona recalls that back then the beaches seemed to go on forever and the sun seemed to be always shining and remembers an island that had such an effect on her that she eventually moved to live there. At the harbour to meet Helen is James McMillan. James is a 'Brandane', someone who was born and bred on the island. Helen then meets up with Roddy McDowell who runs Kayak Bute and who takes Helen out on the waters around the island and gives her a lesson in sea kayaking , an experience which Roddy describes as crossing the boundary between the green space and the blue. Helen then hears from archaeologist, Paul Duffy, about the rich heritage of Bute. Walking from the car park at Scalpsie Beach to the seashore, Paul takes Helen on a journey through 8000 years of history in 8 minutes. Finally, wildlife photographer Philip Kirkham gives Helen a lesson in photography on the shoreline in front of his house under the big skies of the island he loves.Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

The peat bogs of Ireland's midlands have become a battlefield, with opinions divided on how they should best be managed in the future. Helen Mark looks beyond the present-day arguments and travels to Counties Longford, Roscommon and Offaly to find out how attitudes to the bog have evolved over centuries. From the Iron Age Corlea trackway, an oak road discovered just a few years ago, perfectly preserved in peat, to startling evidence of early Christian links with Africa and memories of childhood days spent peat cutting , Helen explores what the bog has to tell us - and what it might have in store for the future.Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Moira Hickey.

The festival of Lughnasa (pronounced Loon-asa) is an ancient Celtic celebration of the harvest, with its roots in County Meath in Ireland. The god Lugh is said to have established the festival in honour of his foster mother Tailtiu, who had exhausted herself by clearing forest land for agriculture. Helen Mark visits Teltown in Meath, which is said to have taken its name from that of Tailtiu, to see how Lughnasa is celebrated there today. Presenter : Helen Mark Producer : Moira Hickey.

From Dover to Dundee, London to Leeds and Cardiff to Cambridge, there is much more to our towns and cities than concrete and cars. Take the time to listen and look and a world of wildlife is there just waiting to be spotted. As Britain's largest city London is alive with wildlife and Jules Hudson takes a journey across West London in search of just a few of the feathered, furry and winged residents that call the city home.As the day begins, Jules meets David Lindo, aka The Urban Birder, who takes Jules for a walk across Wormwood Scrubs, the 183 acres of open land close to the prison of the same name. This is David's patch, his 'garden' where he says he has had the privilege of seeing Meadow Pipits, Woodpeckers, passing Northern Wheatears, Honey Buzzards and even nesting Skylarks. Leaving David doing what he does best, looking up to the skies, Jules joins Jan Hewlett at the Gunnersbury Triangle Nature Reserve. Cut off from the surrounding area by railway tracks in the late nineteenth century, this reserve in a corner of Chiswick has developed into a lively ecological community which became one of London Wildlife Trust's first reserves when it was saved from development by a local campaign. Jan takes Jules on a walk through the woodland of the reserve, which is home to an array of birdlife, butterflies and bats, as well as hedgehogs and field voles, to the pond to discover what creatures thrive there. Leaving Jan taking in the peace of the Triangle, Jules continues his journey to the home of Kelly Gray where he finds some surprising residents in her back garden. Longing for the rural lifestyle, Kelly has brought the countryside and the idea of life on the farm to Brentford. Introducing Jules to Rosie and Jim, the pigs that share her back garden with the ducks and chickens she also has, Kelly explains why she took such such a huge decision to bring the countryside in to her West London garden. No urban wildlife story would be complete without the gardener's best friend, the hedgehog. Jules rounds off his journey with a visit to the home of Sue Kidger in Twickenham from where she runs her hedgehog hospital, caring for orphaned and injured hedgehogs with the aim of releasing them once again to secure gardens. With Sue is Hugh Warwick, self-confessed hedgehog obsessive who tells Jules about an initiative to safeguard the future of hedgehogs whose numbers have been declining rapidly in recent years. As Hugh says, a hedgehog friendly garden is a wildlife friendly garden.Presenter: Jules Hudson Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

In a year in which the world will be looking in on Britain as we celebrate the Diamond Jubilee and host the London Olympics, Helen Mark goes in search of the people whose lives are inextricably linked with the White Cliffs of Dover.We find out about this iconic part of the British landscape which has played such an important part in our nation's history and discovers why it still holds a special place in the nation's heart.Brian Whittaker and Rob Sonnen of the National Trust tell us why it is so important that landscapes like the White Cliffs are preserved for the nation. Jon Iveson from the Dover Museum tells Helen about the vital part that Dover and the White Cliffs have played in Britain's past and geologist Melanie Wrigley of the White Cliffs Countryside Partnership, which was set up to conserve and enhance the coast and countryside of Dover and the White Cliffs as the gateway to England, takes Helen for a walk on Shakespeare Beach in search of fossils. Helen also meets Kaimes Beasley of HM Coastguard who tells her about the vital role that they play in ensuring the safety of the seas around the cliffs over which bluebirds have never really flown.....or have they? Finally, Helen meets Dame Vera Lynn, whose wartime anthem firmly placed this most iconic of British landscapes in the hearts and minds of the nation.Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Helen Chetwynd.