大象传媒

Helen Mark travels to the Combes of North Devon and, at the Farmers' Market in Barnstaple, she meets Lawrence and Karen Wright who breed sheep for wool and milk, which Karen turns into a variety of cheeses.

Helen goes to the Valley of the Rocks, known for its feral goats, to meet Carolynn Gold and Jan Hunt who are members of the Friends of the Lynton Goats group. There have been goats here as far back as the Domesday Book, although herds have come and gone. This one was introduced in 1976 from the Cheviot Hills of Northumberland and is well-suited to the valley environment. The goats are small and stocky with a large rumen that can be packed full of poor grade fodder which then acts like a furnace to keep it warm. Even its ears are small to ward off the effects of frost and its overall appearance is very much in keeping with the Exmoor Pony, a breed that developed in similar conditions. The Friends believe the goats are a real asset to the valley, bringing tourists into the area and keeping the vegetation under control. Some gardeners in nearby Lynton and Lynmouth aren't so keen as the goats sometimes get into gardens and eat the flowers.


However, charming though the goats are, this part of Devon is best known as Tarka the Otter country, and Helen meets Paul Madgett, who's a wildlife enthusiast and one of the Otter Spotters for Devon Wildlife Trust. The spotters are each given a stretch of river to watch and they visit it every three months to look for evidence of otters. They report their findings so that an overall assessment can be made of how otters are doing in the county. Paul became a spotter about a year ago partly because he realised a stream he knew well wasn't being watched.




Helen meets Birdie Johnson and Dick Rawle at his farm near Paracombe. For the last few years Birdie's been working on an oral history project, recording the memories of people who live on Exmoor. The contributors' ages range from 63-94 and it was thought that memories of a whole way of life would be lost if they were not recorded. Now there's a book and CD about the people she's met. (Dick's photo is on the book's dust jacket). He was born in 1920, has lived on Exmoor all of his life, and grew up on a farm and worked horses before becoming a blacksmith.