Countryfile 30th Birthday Bumper Pack

The combination of stunning scenery and beautiful music is one of life’s most enjoyable pairings. There’s nothing like a walk accompanied by your favourite songs to transport you away from reality and ease you into a state of relaxation. Countryfile – The Album is dedicated to just that, and features an eclectic mix of music from some of the world’s most talented artists and renowned composers, from Coldplay to Vivaldi. The 4CD album has been carefully curated to only feature songs that have either been played on the show in the last three decades or been inspired by it. It’s not surprising that the TV programme has influenced music – since it first aired 30 years ago, Countryfile has grown into a defining part of British culture, and this is…

Hello – and just for once, it’s not my good friend Fergus welcoming you. He has kindly allowed me to step into the editor’s spot to introduce this special issue, which celebrates quite an achievement – the 30th anniversary of what, for many viewers, is their favourite factual programme of the week. Countryfile started life on 24 July 1988, tucked away on Sunday morning on BBC One. In these pages we’ll be tracing how it has grown and altered over three decades and how the star of the show, the UK’s unbeatable countryside, has changed as well. I joined the programme just under 30 years ago – and who could have imagined then that it would play such a part in my life? Or that it would become a prime-time…

01 “Glencoe – it’s such a dramatic landscape. It was covered in snow when we filmed there but enduring the freezing temperature was made easy by its beauty. It is equally spectacular in every other season.” Ellis Roberts, runner 02 “For me, it’s North Yorkshire every time. I think it’s the best place in the world (and I’m not even a Yorkshirewoman). It’s got everything: hills, moors, sea, occasionally sunshine and great food and beer.” Charlotte Smith, presenter 03 “The Causeway Coast in Northern Ireland. It has the glens of Antrim running down to the sea like giant green fingers, magnificent coastal views, lots of history and, of course, the Giant’s Causeway.” John Craven, presenter 04 “The picturesque beauty of the fishery off Oban made shooting in the Highlands with…

01 Adam Henson entered a competition for a chance to become a Countryfile presenter. Up against more than 3,500 other applicants, he proved he was the best person for the job. He appeared as the show’s resident farmer for the first time in September 2001, presenting a film segment about Welsh herbs. 02 There have been three John Cravens on the show in the past 30 years – if you count the chap called John Craven, who the team met in Norfolk, and Jon Culshaw impersonating John for the programme’s 20th-anniversary edition! 03 The very first Countryfile episode was broadcast at lunchtime on 24 July 1988 on BBC One. It included a film about domestic cats and their threat to small wildlife, a piece about low-cost housing and a look…

In some ways, our countryside has not changed a jot since Countryfile first went on air 30 years ago. It is still the green lungs of our nation, the views from its mountaintops to its seashores still take your breath away and, perhaps more than ever, it’s a place where many urbanites aspire to live. Yet in other ways, the countryside has seen vast changes – not all of them obvious to the casual observer – which have seriously affected its people and their livelihoods, and the creatures that share the land with them. I reported on most of these for Countryfile – from devastating livestock diseases such as foot and mouth, to the growing concerns about rural isolation and deprivation – along with positive trends as well. So what…

1988 Slaughtering is introduced for cattle with BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease). 180,000 animals were infected and 4.4 million culled. 177 people died from the human form of the disease, vCJD. 1992 July sees the Protection of Badgers Act come into effect, making it illegal to wilfully kill, injure or take a badger. It is also against the law to damage, destroy or obstruct the animals’ setts. 2000 The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 – aka the Right to Roam – is passed in November, giving public right of access on foot to open country (mountain, moor, heath and down) and registered common land. 2001 An outbreak of foot and mouth disease occurs in February that quickly begins to have a devastating effect on not…