Dumfries House

Countryfile returns to Dumfries House as autumn is in full swing and the first year of teaching gets underway at the new rural skills centre recently opened by the King.

Margherita Taylor and Joe Crowley find out how this hub of agricultural learning will benefit future farmers and the wider countryside whilst aiming to remove the disconnect between people and the land. Margherita joins the first group of schoolchildren to put the new facilities to the test and lends a hand (and an arm) in helping with a brand-new piece of educational equipment - the calving simulator. Margherita also dons her gardening gloves to help prune some of the thousands of roses in the estate's collection. Joe tackles one of the biggest jobs of the Dumfries House cleaning team, dusting down a priceless chandelier. Joe also gets to grips with one of Scotland’s most traditional instruments, the bagpipes.

Tom Heap investigates the problems facing families trying to get additional support for their children in rural schools and Adam Henson learns how a new research project is developing technology to understand more about the sweet science of honey.