Countryfile: Season 31, Episode 8

31 - 8: Gloucestershire

Matt and Helen are in Gloucestershire where Matt pays a visit to the world-famous Slimbridge wetland reserve to see how a massive multi-million-pound refurbishment is going. Matt gets a sneak peak of Sir Peter Scott’s personal studio, soon to be opened to the public for the first time. He also finds out how some old hunting kit is being used to aid conservation. Duck decoys were used to funnel ducks for shooting, but now they are being used to help gather data on Slimbridge's many duck species. Helen is on a dairy farm where two enterprising brothers have come up with a winning use for their produce: kefir, a kind of fermented milk drink from Russia that is currently one of the hottest foodie trends. She also meets an artist who draws with wire and takes her inspiration from the wildfowl at Slimbridge. Also in this programme, Hannah Cockroft is on the Gower helping rid its beaches of plastic. And Adam’s in Devon, where despite it being winter, it’s shearing time for one special breed of sheep, and Joe investigates the row over how some of the UK’s richest landowners want to manage our moorland.