Open Country

Helen Mark visits the 'thankful' village of Herodsfoot in Cornwall. At its centre is a war memorial that looks like any other, to the extent that most people in the village had no idea that it was not a memorial to the fallen. All thirteen of those who served in World Ward One returned alive. The story of the men of Herodsfoot is unique in Cornwall and has been made into a community play to mark the centenary. But there's another reason why the people of the village were safe from the perils of the frontline, by an accident of the Cornish landscape.

Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery

Helen Mark discovers the true story of the ‘Windermere Boys’, the three hundred child holocaust survivors who found rehabilitation and a new life in the Lake District nearly 70 years ago.

Arriving in the immense and beautiful Cumbrian landscape many of them thought they'd found paradise. Helen meets the survivors, the community that welcomed them and the children that are keeping their memory alive today.

Presented by Helen Mark

More details about The Lake District Holocaust Project can be found at www.ldhp.org.uk

The famous cityscape of Liverpool can seem familiar to visitors and locals alike. But the arrival of three giants is about to transform the way it's seen. A 50 foot giant man has been shipwrecked on a Wirral beach and will make a raft to travel across the Mersey while a 'Little boy giant' and his dog Xolo will soon wake up and stride through the streets exploring. The marionettes are powered by 'Liliputians' and have enchanted thousands of Liverpudlians who line the streets to see them with people from all over the world. The spectacle is the idea of French theatre group Royal de Lux and it's the third and final time the giants will visit the city - each time telling a story about Liverpool.

Helen Mark is literally chased through the streets in a bid to get close to these creatures. She asks why the people have taken the giants to their heart and why the company wanted to return so often. Ten years since it became the European Capital of Culture many say the city has a new confidence and can hold it's head up high.

Presented by Helen Mark and Produced by Anne-Marie Bullock of Radio and Music Production Bristol.

Helen Mark visits the Malvern Hills. She meets a landscape historian, who shows her how human history has left its marks on the topography - if you know where to look for them. She finds out about the inspiration which the composer Edward Elgar drew from the area, and learns how the landscape is reflected in his music. Malvern is famous for its spring water, which has been bottled in the town since the 17th century. Helen meets the man who bought one of the springs by accident - and then went on to revive the Malvern spring water brand. The area is also known for its gas lamps, which are believed to have inspired C.S. Lewis in his description of the entrance to Narnia in 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'. Helen finds that there are some very 21st century developments afoot for the Victorian gas lamps, and meets the man who's worked out how to power them using something which is in plentiful supply on the hills - dog poo!

Produced by Emma Campbell.

Charlotte Smith goes on a trip down memory lane, visiting St Davids in Pembrokeshire. It's the area where she spent many of her childhood summer holidays - but a place she hasn't been back to in forty years. She meets the family still running the farm and campsite where she used to stay as a child, learns how to forage for food in rock pools along the shore, and discovers that the 21st century has found a new use for a disused slate quarry. Life may be very different from how it was in the 1970s, but Charlotte finds nostalgia in the unchanging nature of the Welsh landscape.

Produced by Emma Campbell.

Helen Mark discovers the fascinating world of the UK's largest ship's graveyard Purton Hulks, the largest collection of maritime wrecks above water in Britain.

What began as the intentional beaching of a small fleet of semi-redundant timber lighters in the winter of 1909 to strengthen the nearby eroding canal bank eventually grew into 81 vessels that and today represents the largest collection of maritime artefacts on the foreshore of mainland Britain - including boats that hold scheduled monument status, the same protection afforded by Westminster Abbey and Stonehenge.

Resting on the banks of the River Severn they still provide a barrier of protection for an important stretch of the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal which runs alongside the village of Purton in Gloucestershire. Following an on-going programme of research carried out by a dedicated team of volunteers, the stories of these ships have finally been revealed and their future is being protected for generations to come. Helen Mark uncovers the fascinating history of these stranded ship and the emotional resonance that they still hold for visitors today as she meets with those who care for these ships and manage the special landscape that surrounds it.

Lundy Island sits just off the North Devon Coast in the Bristol Channel. It has a fascinating history which dates back to the Bronze Age and has been home to pirates and outlaws. Previous owners have even had their own stamps and coinage produced but today it is managed by the Landmark Trust and the island and its surrounding waters are recognised for their rich wildlife and habitat. David Lindo visits the island as it holds the very first 'Lundy Marathon'. 250 trail runners will brave the rocky coastal paths over a distance of 14 miles and they hope the sport they love can work in harmony with this precious and remote habitat.

Writer Jonathan Gornall has attempted to row across the Atlantic twice. On the second attempt he nearly drowned but his relationship with the sea has continued. Today he spends his time at Pin Mill in Suffolk where he has just built a small sailing boat for his daughter and he hopes the boat will teach her to love the sea too. Helen Mark meets him and the boat building community who live beside the River Orwell to discover the great history of sailing which remains at the heart of Pin Mill today.

'How to Build a Boat' by Jonathan Gornall

Helen Mark explores landscapes of the future, of the imagination and of the past, at the Great Exhibition of the North, which is centred in Newcastle and Gateshead. It's a three-month celebration of the impact of northern England's creators, inventors, artists and designers.

Helen meets environmental artist Steve Messam to hear his sound sculpture 'Whistle', a series of steam engine whistles echoing around the city walls. There's Naho Matsuda whose 'data poetry' is created by people's interaction with the cityscape and displayed on a split-flap display board at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle. Helen will follow one of GetNorth's story trails with the multi-award winning author David Almond and investigate public transport of the future with Sophie Connor of Ryder Architecture. And she'll find out how local children respond to highlights of the exhibition.

Producer Mary Ward-Lowery.

On the bicentenary of Humphry Repton's death Helen Mark finds out all about the landscape gardener and his red books. Humphry Repton is the last English landscape designers of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown. He created over 400 designs across Britain and Ireland and it was Repton who coined the phrase 'landscape gardener'.