19/08/2012

Countryfile pays a visit to Grizedale Forest in the heart of the Lake District. Julia Bradbury discovers why the forest is such a haven for mountain bikers - so much so that it is home to the only purpose built black-run for bikes in the country.

It is 19 years since John Craven witnessed the first release of red kites back into the English countryside; he is now present for the culmination of the project, which sees the last of these amazing birds released into Grizedale. He also looks into the legacy left in the area by artist, social commentator and rural campaigner John Ruskin.

Julia, meanwhile, is on the trail of Beatrix Potter; it is not her stories of bunnies, kittens and squirrels which have caught Julia's attention, however, but the author's little-known love of funghi.

It is no secret that the British dairy industry is in trouble, but behind this year's crisis is a problem that goes back decades. Tom Heap investigates whether the future for dairy farmers has to be as bleak as its past.

On Adam's farm, it is not the animals which are causing Adam headaches - it is his harvest. The terrible weather this year has tested him to the limit, and Adam has been unsure that he would have anything to bring in. Now he learns whether he will make any profit from his fields at all.