Austen, ponies and Alan Titchmarsh ... could TV get any more comforting?
WHen you’ve had enough of politics, and protest marches, and touched-up royal photographs, sometimes you just want to sit down in front of some comforting, undemanding television.
And it doesn’t come much more comforting and undemanding than
Somerset: Wonder Of The West Country (Ch5).
not only could we gaze at some of Britain’s most beautiful scenery, but Alan Titchmarsh was doing the voiceover. It couldn’t have been any more relaxing if Channel 5 had plumped up our sofa cushions and delivered a mug of Ovaltine to every viewer.
‘Visitors are flocking to the picturesque towns and cities,’ said Alan. ‘The most famous of these is Bath.’
Ah, now, let me stop you there, Alan. If this were a completely different sort of programme, a pedant with a very rural accent would be on hand to explain that Bath is not really part of Somerset. It left to join Avon in 1974, and there are people in the rest of the county who have never really forgiven it.
It is now part of what is known as ceremonial Somerset,
which I suppose lets the city off on a technicality.
Wherever it belongs, Bath can put on a good show. One of the biggest events of the year is the Jane Austen festival, for which people come from all over the world to dress up in frocks and bonnets and 18th-century army uniform to parade through the city. Takes all sorts.
‘We’re very excited,’ said one lady, looking like an extra from Pride And Prejudice. ‘We’re looking for Mr Darcy.’ Who isn’t, dear?
A house in one of the city’s poshest streets can apparently set you back £4.75m. ‘Let me just check me piggy bank,’ said Alan.
Little asides like that might be annoying from anybody else, but the former Gardeners’ World presenter is really very good at this sort of work. He’s chirpy and upbeat without being intrusive.
Being chirpy was definitely a help, because this was not exactly cutting-edge television. We visited a potato farm that has also developed a line in doughnuts. The cameras also peered, for reasons that weren’t entirely clear, into the fridge of a bed and breakfast narrow boat on the Kennet and Avon canal. It contained eggs. Also bacon.
The undoubted highlight was an event known as The Gathering, which sounds like the title of a psychological thriller but is actually the annual round-up of exmoor ponies.
every autumn they are herded up for a health check to ensure they’re fit to survive the harsh moorland winter. The sight of about 20 ponies cantering across exmoor was a joy, but there were also moments of light comedy. Farmer emma Wallace, official guardian of one of the biggest herds, spotted a handful of escapees. She stood in front of them and bellowed ‘Stop!’ in a voice that could probably be heard in the West Midlands.
It is my solemn duty to report that this tactic was not entirely successful.