Open-cast mining rips the heart out of the countryside and leaves terrible scars. But once the machines have moved on, you're left with a blank landscape on which to dream. Chris Baines questions whether the planners are imaginative enough when it comes to restoring sites.
From Leicester, Ian Breach reports on Britain's largest farmers - the Co-op - and Caroline Hall investigates the role of the Women's Institute in the modern countryside.
Plus the week's most comprehensive weather forecast with John Kettley at 12.55
Editor MICHAEL FITZGERALD BBC Pebble Mill