01/05/2011

The Countryfile team travels through Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire to find out why spring is such a special time in the Three Counties. Julia Bradbury discovers why Britain has lost half of its traditional orchards, and takes to the skies for an aerial survey of those that remain.

Meanwhile, Matt Baker sows the seeds for a bumper harvest when he puts a hive of bees to work pollinating Herefordshire's fruit trees, and Katie Knapman finds out why Worcestershire's apple, plum and pear blossom is becoming a tourist attraction in its own right.

Plus Tom Heap investigates how tighter EU regulations could see more of our bathing water failing safety tests, and Adam Henson puts would-be farmers through their paces when a group of agricultural students descend on the farm.