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Chew Valley

Skirting the northern edge of the Mendips in Somerset, hidden by rolling hills, lies Chew Valley, named after the River Chew that winds its way into the first of two man-made lakes. Betrayed by a patchwork of arable crops and livestock grazing in fields, agriculture has shaped this landscape for centuries and continues to do so. Joe Crowley has come to see how a recent pioneering woodland project hopes to benefit both cattle and the environment. Herding 150 cows, he learns how they are helping to transform four hundred acres of woodland here, in one of the largest farming projects in the UK.\n\nHe also explores how the wider Chew Valley provides inspiration for those who live and work here, including how a small patch of woodland has helped hundreds of people with PTSD by providing them with the opportunity to find solace in nature. We also meet a local resident who uses locally grown vegetables and naturally found raw materials, such as mud, oak bark and charcoal, to create works of art. Joe then visits a classroom of students who have been looking after some unusual guests - eels - that are now are being released into a nearby river.\n \nTom investigates why farming is the most dangerous industry in Britain. Last year, around thirty people were killed in accidents on farms, with the rate of deaths having barely changed in the last few decades. At the start of Farm Safety Week, Tom asks why the HSE stopped their farm inspections earlier this year and what that could mean for safety.

Source: BBC 1