Springwatch to begin 2017 series at new location

The beeb’s wildlife series Springwatch is to relocate to the Cotswolds.

“We’re delighted to be welcoming Springwatch to Sherborne. The idyllic estate is like the Cotswolds in miniature – and thanks to the efforts of our rangers, farmers and partners it is home to water voles, red kites and flocks of rare farmland birds. Thousands of families come to our woods and parklands each year to see the nature on their doorstep”. – Simon Nicholas, National Trust countryside manager at the Sherborne Park Estate

Springwatch will return to BBC Two this month, broadcasting live from a new location in rural Gloucestershire. Presenters Chris Packham, Michaela Strachan, Martin Hughes-Games and Gillian Burke will host the three-week wildlife extravaganza live from the National Trust’s Sherborne Park Estate.

The Watches will settle at the site in the Cotswolds countryside in the heart of the UK for the rest of the year, to cover the changing seasons for Autumnwatch and Winterwatch.

With five tenant farms surrounding the village of Sherborne and the constant activity at the working National Trust estate, the Springwatch team will explore: The eighteenth century water meadow which is rich in fish life, otters, dragonflies and damselflies; the disused Second World War airbase where arable crops grow and hares and farmland birds such as skylarks, yellowhammers and the ‘red listed’ corn bunting congregate.

There will also be reporting from historic oak parkland, riverbank environments where the Windrush Rover and Sherborne Brook waterways criss-cross, limestone grasslands, wildflower meadows and the miles of Cotswold stone walls which house weasels, stoats, rodents, lizards and colonies of lesser horseshoe bats.

Springwatch Unsprung will also be filmed at the new Cotswold location, it airs on BBC Two from June 5th to the 16th at 6.30pm while Springwatch returns on Monday May 29th, running through to Thursday the 15th of June on BBC Two.

“I’m thrilled the Watches have found such an extraordinary home for the next twelve months. The Sherborne Estate is the perfect location to bring the very best of British wildlife to our loyal audience”. – Tom McDonald, Head of Commissioning, Natural History and Specialist Factual