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So, John, imagine you were showing a visitor around Northumberland. What makes this a standout experience?

Well, I think whether you're a climber or not, there are quite a number of striking features about Northumberland. It's a big empty county. It's, I think, the least populated county or one of the least populated counties in England. So, rolling hills and moorland, beautiful wooded valleys, big skies, fabulous beaches. And there's an awful lot of history or historical artefacts. Just to run through them, we have the oldest dwelling, on record anyway, in the British Isles, or the remains of, from the Bronze Age. There are Iron Age forts and settlements and so on all over the place. Notable and relevant to talking about rock climbing, notable are rock art, so-called rock art, which are carvings from, you know, many millennia ago. Hadrian's Wall, the northernmost outpost of the Roman Empire to keep the Scots at bay. And being in the borderlands, centuries of conflict left many castles, most of them in ruins now, fortified farmsteads, etc., etc. And then more recently, a very rich industrial heritage, largely to do with coal mining and the fishing industry. So there’s an awful lot of things to see in the county. So, a very special experience, I'd say.

That sounds fascinating. Sounds really beautiful. What special moment or secret can you share with us about rock climbing in Northumberland?

Well, I'm going to be greedy and pick three, actually. And the first is just to go back to what I said, it's the wide-open spaces. Many of the crags that we climb on are perched, are sort of escarpments perched on the top of hillsides with fabulous views. And that's very kind of uplifting. It also can make it quite challenging when a fierce wind is blowing. Related to the wide-open spaces, the second thing is, and it's back to it being the least densely populated county, it's just very quiet compared to what you might call the sort of honeypot climbing, rock-climbing venues in the English peak district where you can guarantee there'll be lots of other people. And then the third thing is, the predominant rock type on which we climb here is sandstone. And through thousands, if not millions of years of erosion, water erosion, it's resulted in some really fabulously sculpted rock that is not only beautiful to climb on, but just kind of beautiful to look at. So those are my special, special moments or, you know, secret experiences.

Right, Julian, I have a few questions for you about this experience. You’ve visited this area. Let’s kick off with the first one where I’m going to ask you to imagine that you’re showing a visitor around the Fens, or specifically the Wicken Fen Vision, which is the project that you visited. What makes this a standout experience?

So, the Fens is this vast swathe of eastern England, about 400,000 hectares. But 99 per cent or more is actually farmland today, and it’s producing about a third of all of Britain’s fresh vegetables. That means that only a tiny amount, less than one per cent of the fenlands is its original ancient landscape. Wicken Fen, I’m pleased to say, is a part of that. And that’s in no small part due to the National Trust and their rewilding project, which is called the Wicken Fen Vision and began in 1999. So, we’re a quarter of the way through that project. And it involves rewilding, not only the Wicken Fen nature reserve itself, but also extending that about 20 kilometres southwest to meet the outskirts of Cambridge in the south. And it has been a huge success.

What special moment or secret can you share with us about the Fens, Julian?

Well, in one word: Mayfly. The Mayfly is a small electric boat, and it runs from March to October every year from a causeway just near the visitor centre when you arrive at Wicken Fen. And it’s, without doubt, the best way to get a feel for the landscape. You hear the rustling and whispering of the reeds as the boat moves along what’s called a lode. Lodes are the man-made waterways cut through the Fens, which allow you to navigate in what otherwise would be a completely inhospitable landscape. And the boat enables you to get up close. You’re right down at low level. You begin to hear and smell and see the wildlife around you. You may see a Norfolk hawker, a dragonfly. You might see a hen harrier flying overhead. You might see a rare orchid poking up through the peaty soil. But there are 9,600 diverse species in Wicken Fen thanks to the rewilding project.