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| | | From Shetland to the Scilly Isles, Open Country travels the UK in search of the stories, the people and the wildlife that make our countryside such a vibrant place. Each week we visit a new area to hear how local people are growing the crops, protecting the environment, maintaining the traditions and cooking the food that makes their corner of rural Britain unique.
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Richard Uridge | | | | |
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The idea of countryside means different things to people depending on where they live. In more densely populated parts of the UK, patches of green or woodland, however small, offer urban dwellers a quiet space in which to observe nature.
The Commons Nature Reserve in Hertfordshire is one such space. Thirty-five acres of waste ground sandwiched between Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield have been lovingly restored to fenland, woodland and pasture over the past decade by a dedicated group of local people.
Richard Uridge visits the reserve and talks to painter and author Jenny Ruby, who has written and illustrated a book on the history of the area. She documents the lives of the people who have inhabited this part of the county since the Stone Age and explains why she cares so passionately about the The Commons. It is because human lives are lived at such a fast pace today she says, that we need to slow down and not lose touch with the natural world.
Peter Oakenfull grew up near to the Commons Nature Reserve and went to the nearby Commonswood School, whose grounds adjoin the woodland. He is the volunteer warden on the reserve and shows Richard around the site, explaining how wildlife such as harvest mice, shrews and voles are monitored and preserved with a simple trapping device and how the fenland was cleared and restored by himself and a group of volunteers. Having played on the land as a child and having seen his own children do the same, he is committed to encouraging children to enjoy nature, even if it means having to clear up the occasional bits of litter after them.
 | Ralph Hintle
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You don't meet many characters like Ralph Hintle these days. For 40 years he has dedicated himself to preserving the ancient country craft of wooden spoonmaking. Using a piece of sycamore a tree from the Commons Nature Reserve, he demonstrates to Richard how to make a wooden ladle. From sun signs, to hearts and anchors, the love spoon carries a huge amount of symbolism, being as it was, a way for young men hundreds of years ago to woo the girl of their choice. Being presented with a spoon meant the boy's intentions were serious. Ralph's own wife is the proud possessor of hundreds of love spoons crafted by Ralph throughout their life together.
Another old way of life is demonstrated at the nearby Mill Green Museum where 16th century milling techniques are displayed to visitors and groups of school children. Museum assistant David Ratcliffe explains why local people look upon the hamlet of Mill Green as a quiet haven amid the busy traffic of the A414 and A1M.
Mill Green Museum
Retired headmaster Mike Paine was instrumental in developing the Commons Nature Reserve as a wild area for the schoolchildren to study nature. He introduces three pupils of the Commonswood School who read poetry inspired by the Reserve and they talk about the benefits of having an area of wildlife and natural beauty on their school doorstep.
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Z to Z Britain
Open Country looks back 2003
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