The enthusiastic historian and naturalist Michael Clegg travels the Yorkshire region meeting colourful characters, looking at interesting places and uncovering some off-beat jobs and trades. In this episode of Clegg’s People, Michael Clegg visits Thorpe Hall near Rudston in the East Riding. He speaks to the owner, Sir Ian MacDonald of Sleat who has turned his estate into a nature classroom for children to visit. This episode begins with a flight across crop fields in the Yorkshire Wolds....

The enthusiastic historian and naturalist Michael Clegg travels the Yorkshire region meeting colourful characters, looking at interesting places and uncovering some off-beat jobs and trades. In this episode of Clegg’s People, Michael Clegg visits Thorpe Hall near Rudston in the East Riding. He speaks to the owner, Sir Ian MacDonald of Sleat who has turned his estate into a nature classroom for children to visit. This episode begins with a flight across crop fields in the Yorkshire Wolds. Off camera Michael Clegg bemoans this fact as the change in agriculture from sheep and cattle to grain crops has affected the natural ecology of the chalky landscape. Michael walks along a perimeter path that surrounds All Saints church in the Wolds village of Rudston just west of the seaside town of Bridlington. He approaches a large standing stone in the churchyard known as the monolith, the tallest megalith (standing stone) in the United Kingdom and placed on the site in the Neolithic or the bronze age period. He points out a headstone in the graveyard with the inscription, ‘Macdonald of the Isles’. Michaels heads off to solve the mystery of this grave stone, which seems out of place. The film follows with an aerial sequence over one of the crop fields and forest to Thorpe Hall home of the Macdonalds of Sleat, on the Isle of Skye the estate having come into the Macdonald family by marriage in the 18th century. On a terrace overlooking a rose garden Michael talks to the present owner Sir Ian Macdonald a keen conservationist. Sir Ian talks about aspects of their land management which has protected some of the chalk landscape and in turn flowers and plants have survived on these areas which were previously lost to the Yorkshire Wolds when the farming emphasis went from cattle and sheep to grain crops. An aerial view shows the setting of the hall surrounded by trees and forest. Michael then goes on to talk about the ‘living classroom’ initiative at Thorpe Hall. Part time conservation manager Tony Eason leads a group of schoolchildren and teachers on one of many of his organised visits. Today Boynton primary school are making a visit with teacher Ibsten Jones. They stop at a moth trap that Tony has constructed and look inside to see if any moths have been captured. On his hand Michael shows off a burying or sexton beetle that has been caught in the trap. Michael explains to the children the life cycle of this beetle. Tony shows some of the moths that are resting on cardboard egg trays which make up part of the trap. He identifies for the children the other moths in the trap. Reluctantly at first and with Michael’s encouragement the children start to handle the moths allowing them to perch on fingers and hands. Other parts of the estate have a wide range of natural habitats, the film shows a small tortoiseshell butterfly searching for nectar on some flowers. Sir Ian encourages naturalists to visit the estate and study the wildlife and record what the find. Michael reels off the list. So far over 350 plants, 166 bird species, 350 butterflies and moths, 20 mammals, 100 spiders, 150 beetles and many more. Michael meets up with Philip Winter of the Scarborough naturalists society who has a special interest in insects. He carries a large black square fabric frame which is slightly turned up at each side. He takes a stick to some overhanging branches of a young willow tree, to shake some insect specimens into the shallow curvature of the frame. He removes some broken twigs and leaves to reveal a caterpillar and some moths. They move to another area as Philip uses the same technique on a hawthorn bush capturing a shield bug and a small caterpillar which can only be identified if its allowed to grow fully. Michael moves on to meet John Chiles a snail enthusiast. Michael meets John on a bridge which crosses a currently dry and overgrown stream bed, one of many streams in the East Riding of Yorkshire which are fed by a spring. On the stonework of the bridge John displays a small collection of snails. One of which is the brown lipped snail, referring to the brown stripe bordering the opening of the shell. Moving to an older part of the woodland the 220 species of fungi are an attraction for Colin and Beryl Stephenson. Michael meets them next to the remains of a tree trunk. Colin pulls off a section of what is known as the artists fungus or Ganoderma. The nickname comes from the fact, as Colin demonstrates, is that you can draw on the pale underside with a sharp instrument and it will leave a permanent brown mark. In her basket Beryl so far has collected a fungus called ‘cramp ball’ which grows on decaying ash, and was thought to help with cramp if worn round the neck. The schoolchildren’s visit is coming to an end with a visit to see Jeff Edmond’s owls. He works on the estate and looks after injured birds in his spare time. The film shows him with a short-eared owl. Jeff explains to Michael that the veterinary treatment the owl has had for some broken bones will help the owl’s full recovery. Geoff then shows the children a tawny owl which was concussed after being hit by a car but is also recovering well. Jeff then shows the children the little owl, and as Michael explains it is small but nevertheless fully grown. After treatment Jeff hopes the bird will eventually go free. Michael takes his turn to hold the owl and tells the children more about the little owl. On the terrace overlooking the hall gardens Michael asks Sir Ian Macdonald how his scheme for educational visits started. He says it was his idea and he wanted to share the exploration of such a diverse habitat with local schools and naturalists. His idea seems to have caught the imagination of these groups as he had a great response from schools during a period of cautious experimenting with the idea. Sir Ian explains that currently interest to visit Thorpe Hall comes from schools in all parts of Yorkshire. Michael continues his tour along with a small dog, Tiny the farm terrier. He seems to enjoy going round with the visiting parties. An aerial view shows the hall and some of the estate well into the distance. Michael explains that he is heading to a conifer plantation to meet a visiting group of lower sixth form students, from Bridlington school and their teacher Rick Myerscough. Students from the school as part of a long-term project make regular visits to the hall; Tony Eason the conservation manager guides them. The students help to clear areas to improve habitats for animals and improve access for visitors. Tony says that the students get a lot out of the practical work they do. Michael agrees with and expands on Tony’s observations. Some of the girls gather seed from rarer wild plants with the possibility of helping seed distribution either to new areas, or to areas where plants have now gone. Seeds are gathered from the eyebright plant, an important plant for various species of moth. Student Rebecca Bremer gathers seeds from the agrimony plant. Michael asks her how the plant usually spreads its seeds. She points out the spikes on the seed get caught in animal hair and fur, which is the main mechanism for seed distribution. Michael spots an agrimony plant still in flower, probably one of the last of the season. Michael asks Rebecca if she’s enjoyed the day's work. She says she’s enjoyed the work and what she’s learned and that it is worth people of her generation to get involved, as they will be the custodians for natural ecology and landscape preservation in the future. More aerial views of the estate follow as Michael brings the programme to a close. Credits: Sound Paul Gunstone, Dominic Field Graphics Richard Wisdom Editors John Allen, Peter Fitzhugh Produced/Director/Cameraman Charles Flynn Series Editor David Lowen Executive Producer Graham Ironside. © Yorkshire Television Ltd 1989 End credit: Yorkshire Television production