HEREFORDSHIRE'S stunning countryside lit up television screens across the country earlier this month, as the county played host to BBC Countryfile.

Showcasing the work of Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, the Countryfile film crew, with presenter Ellie Harrison, visited the Lugg Valley to see how wildlife had coped with recent floods.

They also filmed staff and volunteers at Queenswood Country Park’s Forest Garden project and met with the Wildlife Trust’s artist-in-residence Richard Bavin at Bodenham Lake, where he regularly paints - and litter picks!

Ellie met with Lugg landscape officer, Sophie Cowling at Bodenham Lake where they discussed how the flood waters meant that toads were now spawning in places where the water would soon recede, and later joined in with a Toad Patrol with staff and volunteers, heading out at dusk to give toads a helping hand across the road separating them from their spawning grounds at Bodenham Lake.

At Queenswood, engagement officer Karen Roberts and volunteer gardener Hayley Williams, who described how therapeutic it can be to spend time outdoors in a supportive environment - something which is at the heart of a special garden created within the orchard at Queenswood.

Frances Weeks from Herefordshire Wildlife said: “Forest gardening is a way of growing food that works with nature and is wholly sustainable. Our Forest Garden is also a haven for wildlife: the pond, old orchard trees and meadow areas all providing different habitats. Both elements contribute to the garden being a very calming and uplifting space – something that is felt not just the staff and volunteers working here but to visitors too.”

The episode, which aired on BBC One on March 29, is available to watch on the iPlayer.