THREATENING skies and heavy drizzle didn't stop veteran TV presenter, John Craven, from jumping in a canoe and paddling down the Wye as part of a Countryfile film about the Wye Valley Walk to be shown this Sunday (April 8). "Fair play, he turned out to be a very good canoeist," says Graham Symonds of Monmouth Canoe Hire who was leading the trip. "I was surprised with the power of his paddling. He certainly knew what he was doing and the support boat with the camera crew on board just couldn't keep up with him. It turned out afterwards, he's a former member of Leeds Canoe Club. "We managed to talk about the quality of water and how it's improved since most of the industry on the river has closed and how I'm seeing a lot more wildlife than I've ever seen before – especially kingfishers and cormorants. "I also talked about the problems of getting access to the river," said Mr Symonds. "If we can't get access to the water, how do we train the young people?" Other locations for the filming included Monmouth, where amateur archaeologist, Stephen Clarke, explained the layers of history lying under the paving slabs of the town centre. Andrew Nixon, Community Links Officer for the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) was interviewed on the banks of the river at Bigsweir about the work of the AONB in protecting and preserving the landscape. Filming also took place at Eagle's Nest viewpoint near Chepstow and at the Forestry Commission Wales viewpoint of Whitestone above Llandogo, near to where Wordsworth is thought to have been inspired to write his: 'Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey' in 1798. Countryfile's film on the Wye Valley Walk forms part of an occasional series for the long-running BBC1 rural affairs programme following John Craven on countryside walks. Filming took place in early October 2006. Transmission will be on April 8. John Craven has been the main presenter on Countryfile since 1989 – nearly 17 years. Before joining the Birmingham based series, he presented 3,000 editions of Newsround which he launched in 1972.