大象传媒

Most pet owners already know animals can make you feel better but now scientific research suggests that the benefit they have on our mental and physical health might be even greater than we realise.听 Margherita Taylor visits a primary school in Buckinghamshire where Doug the therapy dog is being used to help give pupils the confidence to read. But if you can鈥檛 have a pooch of your own, Margherita finds out about a scheme that allows you to borrow one.

Paul Martin鈥檚 hard work on his smallholding is starting to pay off. In Spring he took on four Wiltshire Horn sheep to graze his fields.听 Now he wants to expand his flock but if he鈥檚 to have lambs in spring, he needs to start preparing in autumn.听 He visits his mentor, Adrian Andrews, to find the perfect ram for his ewes.听听

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John Craven has come to West Yorkshire, to a farm in Pontefract where they are harvesting liquorice. Not quite the black sticky stuff of childhood sweetshops, this is the natural plant root. John visits Heather Copley, a local farmer, as they gather the town鈥檚 first liquorice crop in more than 50 years. John also chats to Tom Dixon, the last apprentice liquorice boiler in Pontefract who worked in the factories in the 1950s. Tom explains to John why Pontefract鈥檚 liquorice garths (fields) failed to survive the economic changes of the 20th century. Then who better to cook up an autumnal desert than the queen of 2014鈥檚 Great British Bake Off, Yorkshire lass Nancy Birtwhistle. With some autumn berries gathered from the garden, they cook up a colourful autumnal feast infused with chocolate and liquorice custard.

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As the Great Fen is restored to wetland, there is a pressing need to salvage the wreckage of a Spitfire which crashed here 75 years ago.听Joe Crowley joins a team of ex-service men and women as they work alongside professional archaeologists to recover Pilot Officer Harold Penketh鈥檚 plane. His Spitfire wasn鈥檛 brought down in battle. It crashed during a training flight in November 1940. It serves as a poignant reminder of the many tragic losses of World War II, but the dig also offers veterans from more recent conflict a chance to work together and deal with some of the issues they have faced since leaving the forces.

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Britain鈥檚 spider population might not always be the most welcome of guests into our homes but autumn marks the start of spider season.听 As nights get colder, millions of these creepy critters will head indoors to find a mate.听 Among them is the UK鈥檚 most venomous spider, the noble false widow. Jules Hudson meets a woman who has taken drastic action to rid her family home of an infestation of these spiders. Jules meets Matt Shardlow from Buglife who says we should embrace our eight legged friends because of the benefits they bring as houseguests.听 Plus he reveals the best way to get them out of your home.

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