Highlights from BBC Countryfile Live 2019

BBC’s Countryfile brought some nature to the people this month with its highly successful ‘Countryfile Live’ event.

The popular TV series hosted an outdoors festival-style affair with a focus on rural living, agriculture, environment and wildlife.

It featured the celebrity presenters of the series such as: Matt Baker, John Craven, Anita Rani, Tom Heap, Adam Henson, Ellie Harrison and Charlotte Smith.

The first 2019 event took place at Blenheim Palace from the 1-4 August, then headed north to Castle Howard in Yorkshire from the 15-18 August.

Here are our top picks from Castle Howard:

This was particularly lovely. It was run by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Living Seas team, and took you on a journey along the shore to learn about local marine wildlife. There was a ‘Mindfulness Zone’ for a quick time-out, and you could learn about how spending time in nature can benefit your mental health. There was also a fun kids game called ‘whose poo is whose’ where you had to match the garden animal to their poo. Another important educational element were the workshops on sustainable drainage (SuDs), where you could build your own mini SuDs in a bottle. In the area called t’Peatlands you could help revegetate bare peat by throwing moss beanbags on the peatland target.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust also had a great bed of plants and flowers in an old disused bath tub at their stall. This gave us a nice bit of inspiration for using old household items / furniture as a plant home. A very eye-catching display!

These simple but effective sessions showed children (and parents alike) how to string together bamboo shoots into a cluster. These small crafty creations lent themselves perfectly to sheltering bugs of many sorts. This is certainly something that anybody can create at home, and is a great way to add a little more biodiversity to your garden.

From “will plant some wildflower seeds” and “I will build a bug hotel”, to “a no fly holiday next year”, the fence was covered in colourful pledges and vibrant wildlife images. This was a really effective way of sharing ideas on how to be more wildlife-friendly, and to set small goals for the months ahead.

The pond at Castle Howard is stunning. In the middle, there is the ‘Atlas fountain’ and it dates from 1850. Designed by William Andrews Nesfield, the fountain is fed from the half-million gallon Ray Wood reservoir, to the east of the main house. It served as a pretty central feature, and attracted a little local wildlife too.