Interview: Annabel Ross <\/strong><\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n U<\/span>nassuming and gently spoken, Mark seems to embrace the countryside wherever he goes, whether he\u2019s filming on location in Oregon or swimming in the Thames. Being series editor for Countryfile <\/em>seems to come naturally to him, another life experience he is quietly attaining. We met in Somerset\u2019s Mendip Hills on a warm sunny evening in early autumn\u2026 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n \u201cYes, it\u2019s an area I really love. I first came here when I was about eight. My grandparents are from Bristol and I remember them taking me on a day out to the Mendip caves and being struck by the countryside. It felt exotic. It was different because I\u2019m from the Sussex coast, originally.\u201d <\/p>\n\n \u201cWe lived on the edge of where the residential areas ran out and the farmer\u2019s fields began. So I\u2019d spend a lot of my time in those fields. In fact, the first unofficial job I ever had was collecting unbroken clay pigeons for a farmer called Frank. He said \u2018I\u2019ll give you one pence for every clay pigeon you find that isn\u2019t broken\u2019. So I spent a lot of time scratching my shins in fields, collecting clay pigeons for a couple of quid. <\/p>\n\n \u201cGrowing up on the coast, the weather is so dramatic. It\u2019s very different to being inland. It gave me a fascination for weather, and for most of my school years what I really wanted to be when I grew up was a weatherman.\u201d <\/p>\n\n \u201cWhen I was 16, I was lucky enough to do my work experience at the Met Office. It was quite something to go in there and meet the people and the machines working out the weather. But it destroyed my romantic idea of being a meteorologist. I\u2019d thought, you wake up in the morning, check your Stevenson screen, tap your barometer, check which way the wind\u2019s going, and then announce to the world what the weather\u2019s going to be for the day. <\/p>\n\n \u201cBut even back then, in the late 1980s, this room was just full of computers doing all the work. And as someone who thought I could get into this as a career, it put me off instantly. But, I never lost my interest in meteorology and of manual forecasting \u2013 if we call it that \u2013 knowing what the clouds mean and so on. I love all that.\u201d <\/p>\n\n \u201cIt really started about eight years ago. I was living in London when I got a phone call from an old colleague asking if I could head over to the USA and direct a series about homesteaders. I thought it sounded fascinating \u2013 the chance to get out to the States. I went to Oregon, Carolina, North Carolina \u2013 all sorts of places. I loved it. <\/p>\n\n \u201cWhen I started working in the UK again I ended up making an observational documentary series about farming. Our job was to document the daily life and work of three farmers over half a year, and that was absolutely fantastic to work on. These farmers were incredible, the way they added to their already heavy workload and gave up their time to talk to our film crews. I learned so much about farming. <\/p>\n\n \u201c<\/span><\/strong>These farmers were incredible, the way they gave up their time to talk to our film crews\u201d <\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n <\/p>\n\n \u201cI\u2019m still not an expert by a long way, but it gave me a fascination for farming and rural life and, as these things happen, by then I\u2019d been firmly pigeon-holed. That\u2019s when Countryfile <\/em>appeared on the horizon.\u201d <\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n \u201cI am, but it\u2019s difficult when you take over a show that is already being run well. I wanted to be seen to be making a difference to the show but, at the same time, it didn\u2019t need lots changing. <\/p>\n\n \u201cOne thing I have introduced is the young farmers\u2019 sections. We\u2019ve got four young farmers spread across the UK and they film themselves and send us their material. We don\u2019t over polish it because we want the viewers to see a sort of unedited view. And what they send in is footage of them doing a task, which could just be the most mundane job to them. But in a way, to us, and I hope to our viewers, it\u2019s privileged access.\u201d <\/p>\n\n \u201cAt weekends I usually get out into the countryside with my daughters. But, on a standard weeknight, you\u2019ll find me on a squash court. I play for my local team. I\u2019m pretty average, but I enjoy it. And I play bass guitar. It\u2019s a lovely instrument to play, but the one downside is that when you get to a certain age, and you don\u2019t have time to be in a band, it\u2019s not the most exciting instrument to play by yourself. I do pick it up and noodle on it, which I really enjoy and it means I can sort of zone out, just tootle away on the bass and not think of anything. And I always keep the phone by my side in case the famous rock band phone up and say, \u2018Can you come? Yeah, you ready?\u2019 And I can say, \u2018Yes. I\u2019ve kept the rust at bay. Where should I head?\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n Well, sadly, they\u2019re no longer a band, really. Nirvana. <\/p>\n\n \u201cI love swimming. A couple of years ago, on holiday with my family, we hired a boat and chugged along the upper reaches of the Thames. The boat was tiny. But it was during a particularly hot spell which meant you could just jump off the boat and have a swim in the River Thames, which sounds disgusting, but when you\u2019re up in Oxfordshire, it\u2019s absolutely lovely. I saw kingfishers and it\u2019s quite the setting to see a kingfisher when you\u2019re having a swim in the river. The water temperature was fantastic. There\u2019s something about swimming in fresh water \u2013 it\u2019s that smell, the smell of the river. I don\u2019t know what it is. I\u2019m sure a scientist could tell me what I\u2019m smelling \u2013 I absolutely love it. <\/p>\n\n \u201c<\/span><\/strong>There\u2019s something about swimming in fresh water \u2013 it\u2019s the smell of the river. I absolutely love it\u201d <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n <\/p>\n\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re swimming, your eyes are so close to the water level. From above, you might look and think, there\u2019s the odd water boatman there or something. But, when a dragonfly goes by, when your eyes are within a centimetre above the water level, you suddenly see that there\u2019s tons of stuff on this water. Then you start to feel, oh, I\u2019m swimming with these creatures.\u201d <\/p>\n\n \u201cWe can all do tiny things and massive things. Tiny things such as: can this car drive be a walk instead? And then massive things such as: who and what am I voting for? <\/p>\n\n \u201cThe great thing is, everyone has the power to make a change. It might just be how you open up the countryside to your kids as you bring them up. Is the countryside somewhere that gets in the way between place A and B? Or is it somewhere you go to slow down and enjoy? And that can really change the outlook of someone, and their relationship with the countryside from a young age, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/10\/848de903-dba7-4435-9297-db0b18519f47.jpg\")
Are you enjoying working in Bristol?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
What was the countryside like where you grew up?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
What was your first job?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
So, you have a natural love for the countryside \u2013 but how did you end up as the series editor for Countryfile?<\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
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Now you\u2019re the series editor, are you allowed to make some changes? <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
What do you get up to when you\u2019re not running Countryfile? <\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
Which band would you want the call from? <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
Do you have a favourite bit of water in the UK?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
Whether we live in the city or a village, what can we each do to support the countryside?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
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