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Kent: Garden of England (2024)
Celebrating the county's beauty - from the White Cliffs of Dover to the Thames Estuary.
Writing:
Release Date:
Wed, Sep 11, 2024
Country: GB
Language: En
Runtime: 44
Country: GB
Language: En
Runtime: 44
Bill Nighy
Narrator
Season 1:
Celebrating the beauty of Kent, with a look at the lives of those who live, work and play in this county, harvesting the best of what England has to offer. The series opens on an old Second World War grass airstrip, where a 1944 Spitfire takes flight from, before barrel-rolling over the White Cliffs of Dover in the capable hands of Spitfire veteran 'Parky' Parkinson.
In Whitstable, Terry Braine harvests oysters and at Larkins Farm near Chiddingstone, the hoppers arrive to harvest Kent's quintessential crop - the hop. Boatman James Matharu poles his punt along Canterbury's River Stour, while mason Benn Swinfield shapes a stone for one of Canterbury Cathedral's flying buttresses.
At Swimmers Beach in Dover, 74-year-old Kevin Murphy trains accountant Rob Sisley in preparation to swim the English Channel, as he's hoping to make the crossing within the next week. On the River Medway, cameras follow Quentin Strauss on board his boat, Whisper, as well as Leanne Clark, who is ropemaking in the old Chatham Dockyard.
Matt Coker can trace his family's fishing lineage back to the 19th century. With him at the helm of the Portia, a party of sea anglers heads out of Dover. Hever Castle was once home to Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII. In its gardens, Head Gardener Neal Miller explains the ancient art of topiary, as he clips away at a 100-year-old Yew tree shaped into a tortoise. There's also a trek to Kent's highest village, Ide Hill, and a visit to the fields near Biddenden at Kent's oldest 'modern' vineyard.
This edition opens on the kitchens of the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Gravesend, it's the largest Sikh Gurdwara in Europe. Outside, Gurmit Raina of the Gurdwara's women's football team warms up for an important cup match. At the Gravesend docks, the Paddle Steamer Waverley is also warming up to steam along the Kent coast and on, up to London's Tower Pier.
