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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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Izak Walton
It's over 350 years since The Compleat Angler, the most famous fishing manual ever to have been written, was first published, and since then it's sold more copies than the Bible and only been out of print once.
Everyone thinks it's just about fishing, but the conversations in the book are between an angler, a huntsman and a falconer, each one extolling the virtues of their sport. Richard Uridge follows in the steps of the author, meeting modern-day equivalents of Walton's Piscator (fisherman), Venator (hunter), and Auceps (falconer). The book is also an affectionate portrait of the English countryside and includes poems and engravings and even recipes. But at its heart it is a perfect manual on the art of angling and how it's as much a form of relaxation and meditation as it is about hooking a fish.
BBC Science info
The Compleat Angler
Richard begins his journey on Walton's favourite angling spot - the River Dove on the Staffordshire/Derbyshire border. He meets Tony Bridgett, who is a long-standing angler and Walton historian. Tony explains the differences between fishing in the 17th century and now - and the similarities. He talks about Walton the man and his famous book which was first published in May 1653 subtitled The Contemplative Man's Recreation. It was re-issued four times during his life and the final edition in 1676 included a supplement on fly fishing written by his very close friend, Charles Cotton. Walton and Cotton spent many hours together, fishing on the River Dove.
River Dove
At Hints, near Tamworth in Staffordshire, Richard meets falconer John Fairclough. John has been involved in falconry for 30 years or so. He started out flying goshawks at rabbits but says he gave it up because "it's a young man's pursuit - they get away too fast!" He currently has three peregrine falcon crosses. Today the hawks are being flown at partridge - all of which are released birds because there aren't enough wild birds left. He says he would feel guilty flying at wild grey partridge until the numbers were much increased. Despite the wind and the rain, Vulcan shows off his skills - which include the ability to take a bath in a puddle!
British Falconers Club
And then Richard is off to meet the third and final member of his Walton triumvirate - the hunter. Walton's hunter was after otters, but in the 21st century Richard meets Tracey Mactaggart, of the Four Shires Bloodhounds - and finds himself the quarry! Tracey began hunting aged four with the Barlow and has hunted the West Shropshire hounds in the past, is now the Huntsman of the Derbyshire-based pack. She is thought to be the only lady huntsman in Britain. She explains to Richard that hunting with bloodhounds began after the Roman invasion. In the 1920s the Mitford girls were regularly hunted. Their father, Lord Redesdale, liked nothing better than to hunt the children of the family round the estate with his pack of hounds. The youngest child, (now the Duchess of Devonshire), was thought too small to be a quarry. But she's always had a soft spot for these charming hounds and is now President of this pack. The name bloodhound refers to the fine bloodlines, rather than a taste for blood. As a scent hound, it has no equal. The long droopy ears help to couple the scent to the nostrils, giving a bloodhound a scenting ability 800 times that of man.
The Four Shires Bloodhounds "hunt the clean boot", that is, they hunt a live, human quarry - not a pre-laid, artificial drag scent. Richard meets Phillip Marks, a runner with vast experience of being chased by these hounds - he can run 21 miles in a day at seven miles an hour to keep ahead of the pack. So naturally, he takes Richard off for a quick jog across the fields with the hounds in hot pursuit.
Four Shires Bloodhounds
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