Countryfile plants its flag in Bradford this week, exploring the city’s recent designation as UK City of Culture and tracing the surprising links between urban creativity and the surrounding rural landscapes. Airing Sunday at 5:25 PM on BBC One, the episode sees Anita Rani return to her home city to examine how Bradford’s artistic heritage has been shaped by the countryside on its doorstep.
Rani teams up with environmental artist Steve Messam, whose ten-meter-high tower—crafted entirely from local sheep fleece—takes center stage. Rani gets hands-on, helping construct the ambitious installation, while Sean Fletcher takes viewers on a parallel journey, following the fleece from shearing to grading and its eventual arrival at the tower site.
Meanwhile, Adam Henson heads to the Yorkshire Dales to meet with a pair of tenant farmers who are rewriting the rules of modern agriculture. Managing over 750 rugged acres with 280 native-breed cattle and a Texel sheep flock, these forward-thinking farmers focus on slow farming, conservation grazing, and traditional hill breeds.
From the Bronte sisters to the modern-day Commoners Choir, the episode makes a case for how the landscape continues to inspire creativity. Fletcher takes a look at the Yorkshire Dales National Nature Reserve, designed to link Bradford’s urban dwellers to the sprawling countryside nearby—a fitting nod to how nature continues to permeate art, industry, and the wider cultural identity of the city.
“Countryfile” airs Sunday, 1 June at 5:25 PM on BBC One.
