🎬BBC South 50 years: Episode 9 Space. A series of 19 mini-features made by BBC South at Southampton in 2011 to celebrate the station's 50 year history.

Episode 9 Space. One of a series of features which celebrate BBC South's 50 years of broadcasting. Tom Hepworth investigates the story of the south's involvement with the space industry and visits Sir Patrick Moore's house in Selsey to look for Britain's first satellite, Prospero.

NFG are indebted to the BBC staff at Southampton for their help in sourcing items for the archive. See more episodes in the Category - BBC South.

🎬Roger Finn explores a remote part of Hampshire to see the wildlife and discover its unusual neighbor.

For Roger, this is an exclusive visit to what is probably the south's best protected wildlife habitat. Thousands of people see it from afar every day, but very few are allowed into the saltmarshes at Fawley Power Station.

Alison Jones, Fawley’s Community Affairs Manager, said: “We have worked incredibly hard over the years to not only protect our environment but to actively help it flourish. The saltmarsh and the reservoir are wonderful examples of how this care and effort has paid off. To be asked to feature in Finn’s Country was a great opportunity for us to share this work with the wider public.”

A BBC South Today Feature

🎬Roger Finn goes in search of Dragonflies in the New Forest. Doug Overton guides Roger through the delicate world of dragonfly spotting. Over half of the UK's forty dragonfly species can be found in the New Forest.

Identified Species:
Damselfly
Hairy dragonfly
Golden-ringed dragonfly
Broad-bodied chaser
Large red damselfly
Southern damselfly

A BBC South Today Feature

Find out more here:
https://newforestdragonflies.com/

🎬Roger Finn presents a short documentary about Aldo Galli who illustrated Watership Down.

Aldo graduated from Agricultural Sciences at the University of Milan in 1992 and moved to England in 2001.

"Creating the Watership Down collection was, without doubt, a unique experience and a great satisfaction. Quite possibly, it was the final development of an idea that I had unconsciously carried in the back of my mind since my childhood, when a Christmas I received as a present a novel that told the story of a band of rabbits…." Aldo Galli.

A BBC South Today Feature

🎬Video clips from hidden cameras shows signs of successful breeding among the New Forest's pine marten population. The footage was captured by conservation group Wild New Forest as part of a long-term study into how the elusive mammals are recolonising in the area.

The cat-sized member of the weasel family was previously only thought to have survived largely in the North of England.

Marcus Ward of the Wild New Forest conservation group said the footage was "incredible".

🎬Pine martens are extremely rare in Britain. But, this is the second time anyone has filmed a sighting in the New Forest - with one first caught on camera in 2016.

The mammals are elusive members of the weasel family. Experts say pine martens were widespread throughout the country but their numbers began declining in the south around 200 years ago due to habitat loss and predator control measures.