In The Country & Town March 2025

“Not only are they producing our food, but they’re looking after our environment. I think we should shed light and can gather as much support as possible for the farming community, and show people what goes on and how challenging it is. “Our farmers have to be jacks of all trades, you got to be so independent, and they’re providing all of the time. People need to be more grateful to our British farmers for producing our food and looking after our environment. In my eyes, it’s our farmers that make Britain what it is.” From 2009, Baker looked into people, places and stories making news in the British countryside, whilst he co- presented BBC One’s Countryfile. The following year, he stood in for English comedian and presenter Jason Manford, 43, as a guest presenter on BBC One’s magazine programme The One Show. But when Manford resigned in November 2010, Baker was promoted to a more permanent position as a co-host with Welsh TV presenter Alex Jones, 47 – the same year he came second place on the eighth series of Strictly Come Dancing with Russian-Kazakh ballroom dancer Aliona Vilani.

In the first episode of the new Channel 4 series, Baker says that if he were the winning tenant of the farm, he would be bursting with ideas and know exactly where to start. “What is unbelievable is that the lake [on the farm] is where the legend of the red dragon from Wales comes from, which is incredible.There’s a legend that’s told actually in the series where the white dragon and the red dragon had a battle, and basically, the white dragon leaves and the red dragon remains.And that’s why the Welsh dragon is on the Welsh flag, it comes from that lake, which is just unbelievable,” he says. “So I would certainly feature that heavily, I would key into that because a farm like this is so hard to come by. It’s one of the most nature-rich farms the National Trust have in Wales. “I’ll certainly keep up with all of the grazings they do up on the mountain pasture, honestly, the nature there is everything. I love that side of things as well. “But I’d be welcoming people from all over to come and immerse themselves in that kind of world. I would certainly lean into all of the heritage that’s there, including the

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