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Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

Countryside magazine featuring the people and wildlife that shape the landscape of Britain

Countryside magazine featuring the people and wildlife that shape the landscape of the British Isles

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Open Country: Heritage at Risk - West Midlands

Heritage at Risk - West Midlands

10/01/2013

BBC Radio 4 - Open Country, Heritage at Risk - West Midlands

Jules Hudson visits the West Midlands to ask why so much of our heritage is at risk.

Thousands of historic monuments and buildings in the UK are at risk of ruin. Jules Hudson visits the West Midlands to assess the threats and ask if all merit preservation.

Thousands of historic buildings and monuments are at risk of being lost through damage or neglect. Jules Hudson tours sites in the West Midlands to assess the level of damage, to ask what's key to helping preserve or restore them and ask if some merit the cost and effort involved. 
Many walking through Bubbenhall village in Warwickshire may not know about the scheduled ancient monument under the earth because even signs of it are only visible for two weeks in the year but experts say it's key to understanding our ancestors. 
He travels to Fazeley near Tamworth which has clusters of Grade 2 listed buildings but some have been destroyed by fire and others virtually abandoned by owners who can't afford the development work. He helps assess one of the buildings with experts from English Heritage who want to produce a database on the state of Grade 2 listed buildings. 
Jules also explores nearby Middleton Hall which was so neglected it was used as a motorbike track. Volunteers set up a trust and have spent 35 years bringing it back into use. However, they say their work is still not done. 

Produced by Anne-Marie Bullock.

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