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BBC Radio 4 - 92 to 94 FM and 198 Long Wave

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OPEN COUNTRY

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	PROGRAMME INFO

	Saturday 6.10-6.35am Repeated Thursday 1.30-2.00pm


	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. Email: [email protected] Postal address: Open Country, BBC Radio 4, Birmingham, B5 7QQ.


	LISTEN AGAIN


	Listen to Open Country for 3 June 2006


	PRESENTERS

	HELEN MARK and RICHARD URIDGE



	More about Helen Mark




	More about Richard Uridge


	PROGRAMME DETAILS

	Saturday 3 June 2006
This week Helen is visiting the ancient sandstone ridge known as Kinver Edge - the rugged landscape that straddles the boundary of South Staffordshire and Worcestershire, and which some say was the inspiration for Tolkein's Middle Earth. On one side of the ridge there's woodland - but the trees are mostly no more than 50 years old. And on the other, the new growth has been cleared to restore a unique patch of lowland heath - rare moths, adders, insects and lizards now thrive there. One of the most fascinating things about the Edge are the many rock houses which have been gouged out of the soft sandstone. Abandoned only in the last half of the 20th century, they look like primitive caves but closer inspection shows sophisticated fireplaces, and plastered and painted walls. The National Trust has restored the homes at Holy Austin Rock, and with the help of the local horticultural society, also the gardens and orchard. The actual village of Kinver, at the foot of the ridge, dates back to 736AD when it was called Cynibre. At the Domesday survey, it was called Chenevare, and boasted two mills and a manor. Today it's a dormitory town, but the area has had a varied history. There was a thriving ironworking industry in the 17th century (some say the industrial revolution started here!) and when the Midlands became one huge factory area, Kinver Edge was where the workers came to relax. Contributors: Edwin Blunt, National Trust warden for the Edge Buildings archaeologist Edmund Simons Local historian, David Bills Evadne Wright, custodian of the rock houses Harold Postings from the Kinver Horticultural Society Useful links: National Trust information on Kinver Edge History of the Rock Houses Kinver village How to get to Kinver Email Open Country: [email protected] The BBC is not responsible for external web sites

	RELATED LINKS BBC Holiday Category BBC Country file