BBC Countryfile in the Fens

The BBC Countryfile team were filming in the Fens this week (4th 5th December)
I spent the morning with them in the company of Ben Fogle at Ely. My involvement came about because of my latest book “ Fenland Families” which is about Fenland Families who have been in business/trade or profession for three generations or more. Three families in the book were at Ely, Burrows, newsagents, Gibbs shoe shop and Bonnetts the bakers. The film crew then went on to Elgoods Brewers of Wisbech where they filmed the brewery along with the Elgood family. Elgoods together with Batemans of Wainfleet are two of the few family owned traditional breweries left in the UK. The programme highlights an area of the UK which has by its very nature retained strong links between traditional family concerns and the people who live there. Against all odds these families have survived to retain a unique part of our fenland society. It gave me great pleasure to record them in my book.
The programme will be on BBC TV at 11am Sunday 9th December.
Rex Sly