Choosing a new series editor for Countryfile can’t be easy, but when Jane Lomas was chosen, just weeks before we went into Covid lockdown in 2020, the BBC must have been pleased to know the series was safely in her hands, because Jane is an eternal optimist and turns a potential problem into a creative challenge. While many other BBC programmes fell off air and fumbled around wondering how to cope, Countryfile didn’t miss a beat. Jane’s positive attitude to work and to life in general was very obvious during our walk and talk in the beautiful autumnal Bourton Combe woods in north Somerset.
Q: We’ve come to walk in Flax Bourton because we both live not far away, but if you could have chosen anywhere in Britain to go for a walk today, where would you be?
A: Oh, I know exactly where I’d be. I would be on the coast of Northumberland, walking from Craster to Dunstanburgh and beyond because there is a very good little pub that does crab sandwiches. And that, for me, well, it’s God’s own country. I think I was probably a Northumbrian in a former life, I just have this extraordinary pull to it.
Q: You are the present series editor for Countryfile. What does that actually mean?
A: Good question. Put the tin helmet on every day and wait for the flak to fly (laughing). Really it’s never me on my own because I have a lot of fantastic help. It’s about looking after the team,it’s the editorial direction of the programme, what you can do, where you can go and obviously how we can film, particularly during Covid. We are still filming with restrictions because we’re very careful. So it’s a big job for everybody, it’s relentless and it’s week-in week-out. But what I love is that all the time, I’m learning.
Denne historien er fra January 2022-utgaven av BBC Countryfile Magazine.
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Denne historien er fra January 2022-utgaven av BBC Countryfile Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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We Are an Island Nation - So Let's Protect Our Seas - Living in the UK makes us islanders and personally I'm proud of that definition - not in any political or jingoistic sense, but simply because I love the sea and in this country we are totally surrounded by it.
Living in the UK makes us islanders and personally I'm proud of that definition - not in any political or jingoistic sense, but simply because I love the sea and in this country we are totally surrounded by it. We live inside thousands of miles of coastline, in a nation whose borders were created by nature and made us what we are.
Discover Jurassic Coast - With its towering cliffs, sweeping beaches and pretty seaside towns, the shoreline of Dorset and east Devon is spectacular.
With its towering cliffs, sweeping beaches and pretty seaside towns, the shoreline of Dorset and east Devon is spectacular. Jo Caird fossicks for fossils and dramatic rock formations. It's an auspicious start to my journey along the Jurassic Coast. This 95-mile stretch of shore mostly in Dorset, but nudging just into east Devon - is blessed with awe-inspiring geological formations and fossil deposits that have garnered it recognition as England's only natural UNESCO World Heritage Site. Snaking east from Orcombe Point near Exmouth to Old Harry Rocks near Swanage, it's studded with monumental rock arches, seemingly endless shingle beaches and fossil beds from which treasures were prised that altered our understanding of prehistory.
Viking shores
We picture Vikings marauding coastal settlements, looting and raiding. But what was life really like in the Viking Age? Historian Eleanor Barraclough reveals what the ancient artefacts found on Britain's shores tell us about our formidable forebears
Sea horses
On Cornwall's coastal clifftops, Melanie O'Shea meets the hardy grazing ponies that are helping to restore the land, so nature can flourish once more
A wing and a prayer
From their desks at Boulmer, 1,000 RAF personnel watch the skies for airborne threats to the country. Yet beyond the concrete of the base, vulnerable birdlife flourishes - thanks to the hard work of a small team
Cast in bone
Cuttlefish bones washed up on our shores have been used to make jewellery since ancient times. Jo Caird meets a craftswoman who's keeping the art alive on the Kent coast
EDIBLE SEAWEEDS
An ancient food harvested by humans for millennia, seaweeds bring an intense and rich flavour of the sea to a wide range of dishes, as well as essential mind-and-body-boosting nutrients
Spines and sulky faces
Watch where you put your feet at the beach - a weever fish could be lurking
Sea stars
The playful performances of Britain's bottlenose dolphins attract avid fans - but they deserve personal space
Harris's wildly beautiful beach
Cornwall may pull in the crowds, but one Hebridean strand stuns visitors
