BBC One’s Countryfile marks the official start of summer with a return visit to Seaton, as presenters Matt Baker and Sammi Kinghorn head to the East Devon coast for a solstice edition focused on environmental change and rural tradition.
Baker revisits the Seaton Wetlands project, checking in on a sand martin nesting wall he helped build 12 years ago. The update includes this year’s hatchlings, now being ringed and tracked as part of the site’s conservation work.
Kinghorn looks at how the wetlands are being managed to support year-round and migratory bird populations. She also spotlights the heritage craft of wheelwrighting, still practiced locally despite shifting rural economies.
The episode also features a fourth-generation fisherman dealing with tighter marine protections introduced around Seaton’s coastline, and what that’s meant for the sustainability of his trade. On his Cotswolds farm, Adam Henson closes the episode with a hands-on segment involving new arrivals preparing to leave the herd.
Countryfile airs Sunday at 5.00pm on BBC One.
