The Trees That Made Britain

[risby]

I'm looking forward to a new eight part documentary on British trees starting this Friday at 7.30 pm till 8.00 pm on BBC2. I must remember to watch, the first is on yew, next week its oak trees.

The Trees That Made Britain

 

[leon-b]

i will definitly be watching this
leon

 

[andyn]

Sounds like a great program.

"Tonight's featured "silent watcher" is the yew, a knotty evergreen that sees Kew Gardens' Tony Kirkham (northern, bearded, garrulous) and Jon Hammerton (Londoner, balding, seems a bit shy) travelling across Britain in search of its most impressive and elderly models"

Perhaps they will be visiting the fortingall yew then. I was there a few weeks back and it is an amazing tree with how it has withstood some serious abuse over the thousands of years it is thought to have been there.

 

[locum76]

i wonder if thery'll do the beech hedge at meiklour in angus.

 

[beachlover]

Nice find.
Digiguide says the second programme is about the oak, but there are no details on the third yet.

 

[Floyd Soul]

Nice one! I can't watch this fridays cos I've a gig but I'll tape it.

Any guesses to the third tree? Beech perhaps or Scots pine....

Theres 8 episodes so I'm sure they'll cover them all!

 

[risby]

Nice one! I can't watch this fridays cos I've a gig but I'll tape it.

Any guesses to the third tree? Beech perhaps or Scots pine....

Theres 8 episodes so I'm sure they'll cover them all!

What a great programme that was! None of the hype and forced anxiety or excitement that most documentaries these days try to evoke; just information about trees given calmly by people that enjoy the topic.

Although I have to say I found that Jon Hammerton distinctly reminiscent of Marty Feldman and expected his eyes to start swivelling about at any moment.

The BBC Press Office has an interview with Tony Kirkham and Jon Hammerton and also details of the third episode, about how oak is used, and the fouth episode, about hedges, on their site.

 

[andyn]

Always amazes me at how much air time that soaps get and yet this great little gem of a series is only getting 30 minutes per tree

Could have listened to them for hours.

 

[Floyd Soul]

I completely missed the first episode last night. Does anyone know if it's gonna' be repeated?

I'd have loved to have seen the Yew episode. It's such a mysterious tree.

 

[Biddlesby]

Darn, missed this one. Hope it will be repeated, and that there will be one on the birches. Ooh, and lime.

 

[Jodie]

I've not found any indication that they'll be repeated. If you have a
mobile phone and 25 pence* you can set up a reminder for either
15min, 1hr, or 24hrs before the next programme (!!!).
*plus your normal text rate

Crazy stuff - but the details are, for next week's show (22nd Sept)
(found by searching http://www.radiotimes.com for Trees that Made
Britain, then clicking on the 'text reminder' link)

15 MINUTES BEFORE BROADCAST
text RTA 221930105 to 82540

1 HOUR BEFORE BROADCAST
text RTB 221930105 to 82540

24 HOURS BEFORE BROADCAST
text RTC 221930105 to 82540

To cancel all reminders for this programme text
RTSTOP 221930105
to 82540

To cancel reminders for all programmes text
RTSTOP to 82540

**************************************************************************
The Trees That Made Britain
Friday 22 September
7:30pm to 8:00pm
BBC2
VIDEO Plus+: 193
Subtitles, audio description, widescreen

Oak
Documentary series in which tree surgeon Jon Hammerton and Kew's
arboretum manager Tony Kirkham examine how trees have always been
at the heart of Britain's political, artistic and economic life. They go in search
of the oak's finest achievements ? from the first transport, as they tackle
the vagaries of a Bronze Age boat, to the triumphant Tudor flagship the
Mary Rose.
**************************************************************************

According to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew website:
"The featured trees are yew, oak, hawthorn, alder, apple, Scots Pine,
ash and elm" http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/treesofbritain/index.html

Jo

 

[risby]

Hopefully, a timely reminder.

7:30pm - 8:00pm

BBC2 South

VIDEO Plus+: 193
Subtitles, audio description, widescreen

2/8 - Oak

It's the second week of this ruddy-cheeked pastoral delight, and Tony Kirkham and Jon Hammerton are fast cementing their status as telly's finest double act. While stout, bustling Tony happily holds forth on everything from the weather to his admiration of solitary oaks ("I live for them"), tall, reticent Jon limits his utterances to the odd grunt of approval while scampering up trees. But both are united by their love of trees. Tonight the duo explore the cultural impact of the oak - a task that sees them visit the remains of the Mary Rose, discuss the use of medieval log-boats and attack a rogue trunk with a patently inadequate long-saw. Marvellous stuff.

 

[Jodie]

I liked the idea of coins being placed under a newly planted tree - hadn't
heard of that before. The programme definitely should have been an hour
long; the presenters made references to a few things they'd been doing
previously before showing us the final product but it would have been good
to see a bit more of the process.

Probably it's too late to change that now though!

I just googled "Trees that made Britain" repeated and BCUK was the
third link - to a post where we were all wondering if it would be repeated

Jo

 

[Snufkin]

Doh! Forgot to remind my parents to record it, hope they remembered.

 

[Biddlesby]

Forgot about it but caught it by accident! Love the idea of putting a coin under a newly planted tree - and that 900yr or so old oak was quite something!

 

[spamel]

What an awesome programme! I really enjoyed seeing the Mary Rose and HMS victory again after so many years. I loved that old oak tree, what an amazing thought that it started growing around 1200 AD!!!

I am really looking forward to next weeks installment!

 

[Floyd Soul]

I think I'm gonna start putting coins under my trees from now on too!

 

[risby]

Lest ye forget

7:30pm - 8:00pm

BBC2 South

VIDEO Plus+: 271
Subtitles, audio description, widescreen

3/8

The mighty oak tree has had an impact on all sorts of things in this country - everything from boats and buildings to drinks, shoes and pub names. Even more intriguingly, it's also responsible for keeping Kew tree surgeon Jon Hammerton out of prison. When he was a teenager he reckons he was heading for a life of crime until he got a job at Kew and the chance to clamber up one of its tallest trees: a chestnut oak. This sparked a lifelong passion. It's one of the few times the taciturn Jon speaks as they journey around the country, unlike his boss Tony Kirkham who chatters away about everything - particularly when he's had a few nips of oak-flavoured whisky. "There's Christmas cake there on a freshly sanded oak table," he muses, before one too many drams gets his tongue in a twist. Priceless.

 

[Jodie]

Perfect Friday night TV I also caught a bit of a programme called "Meetings
with remarkable trees" about a tree house stuck in the middle of the Pitchford
lime tree.

There's far too much good TV on at the moment; I am turning (more) into a
potato.

There's Autumnwatch tonight as well, on BBC2.

Autumnwatch
8:00pm - 9:00pm
BBC2 London & South East
VIDEO Plus+: 3753
Subtitles, widescreen
1/8
As an intermittently blazing summer fizzles out and the leaves fade to brown,
who better to mark the changing season than Bill Oddie, Kate Humble and
Simon King? The excitable nature-watchers are more used to tracking and
televising the onset of spring, but this new departure should be every bit as
enjoyable. It's in the nature of the programme (so to speak) that much of what
we see will be unrehearsed, unpredictable and often live. But we're promised
dramatic spectacles ranging from red deer stags fighting for supremacy in a
Scottish glen to the birth of grey seal pups on weather-beaten islands. We'll also
be kept up to date on individually tagged geese completing their epic migration
from Canada to their wintering ground in Northern Ireland. Plus, as they say,
much, much more. Oddie will hold it all together with his uniquely shambolic
charm, Humble will smile for Britain and poor old King will be huddled on a
windswept hillside somewhere whispering to the camera. It should be a treat.

RT reviewer: David Butcher

 

[vespa]

Hi all

There is also a book to the series, written by Archie Miles who also wrote 'Silva - The Tree in Britain'.

Alan