0:00:02 > 0:00:05The National Trust has more than four million members.
0:00:05 > 0:00:09It's Britain's largest landowner.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11As English as cream teas.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13Or is it?
0:00:13 > 0:00:18Because it all began...in Wales.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22Where it continues to look after the treasures of this beautiful country.
0:00:23 > 0:00:28But I want to find out what the future holds for this guardian
0:00:28 > 0:00:30of our shared past.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37Gorgeous, isn't it?
0:00:37 > 0:00:42That's prime Welsh countryside behind me -
0:00:42 > 0:00:46but it's also in a fundamental way
0:00:46 > 0:00:54a sort of museum of our own history - a living, working museum.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58'The National Trust has taken on the role of curator of that museum
0:00:58 > 0:01:03'for the 231 tenanted farms it owns here in Wales.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06'What does it take to be one of their farmers?'
0:01:06 > 0:01:09I couldn't just pop up as an ex-comedian
0:01:09 > 0:01:11and say, "Sorry, I want I look after a farm"!?
0:01:11 > 0:01:15'How do they cope with all those redundant farm buildings?'
0:01:15 > 0:01:18Can't cost a lot to restore, can it?
0:01:18 > 0:01:21'And how do they encourage nature, provide access
0:01:21 > 0:01:24'and help this living museum to pay its way?'
0:01:24 > 0:01:27What sort of landlord does it want to be?
0:01:37 > 0:01:42The National Trust owns farmland all over Wales
0:01:42 > 0:01:47but it owns a slightly disproportionate amount
0:01:47 > 0:01:52in high uplands - in Snowdonia, places like that, because it's
0:01:52 > 0:01:55beautiful and romantic land.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59It was as a result of owning coastland
0:01:59 > 0:02:02and buying up coastland that it started to acquire a slightly
0:02:02 > 0:02:06wider portfolio of types of farms
0:02:06 > 0:02:09and it's now become of interest to it
0:02:09 > 0:02:11to expand that portfolio
0:02:11 > 0:02:14and cover more of the history of farming in Wales.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20One of the places where the Trust is addressing that history
0:02:20 > 0:02:25is here in Treleddyd Fawr, close to St David's in North Pembrokeshire.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30I've come to see the Trust's latest bequest -
0:02:30 > 0:02:34it was left to them on the death of its owner, Mr Griffiths.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37They've accepted it, which according to the Trust director,
0:02:37 > 0:02:39Justin Albert, is unusual.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45I get offered a lot of properties on an almost weekly basis and people
0:02:45 > 0:02:48presume that the National Trust can take things on - we can't.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54As a charity we can't take on things that will be a
0:02:54 > 0:02:58financial drain unless it is of such cultural importance and so at risk
0:02:58 > 0:03:03and nobody else can take it on, we will then have to take it on.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07So, what is so special about this little farm worker's cottage?
0:03:08 > 0:03:10Less than 100 years ago
0:03:10 > 0:03:13cottages like this littered the Welsh landscape,
0:03:13 > 0:03:15almost literally,
0:03:15 > 0:03:19because over here there was a sort of system of dispersed villages
0:03:19 > 0:03:24with labourers living in little cottages out in the fields.
0:03:25 > 0:03:30But it's extraordinary how much of that has been swept away.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Farming is now done by far fewer people.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36As a result, many fell into ruin.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39The rest? Well, they were either turned into holiday cottages
0:03:39 > 0:03:43or they were converted. And we can't exactly blame people.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47Because this is a very wet and windy area.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50You need a sealed roof,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53you need windows that shut, you want a proper
0:03:53 > 0:03:56central-heating system, bathroom...
0:03:56 > 0:04:00and all those things changed cottages completely.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04As a result this simple place is very rare.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11Mr Griffiths who used to live here, he was bathing in a tin bath
0:04:11 > 0:04:14in front of the fire up until the day he left.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Nathan Goss, the National Trust's building consultant,
0:04:17 > 0:04:19is showing me around.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22The porch is fantastic - it's one piece of slate up on the top here,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25I absolutely love that detail.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29I love to see a man, you see, in love with things which other people might not even notice.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31This is in the eye of the beholder.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35So I or anybody else might come here and go "Oh, well, it's all right, interesting."
0:04:35 > 0:04:38But this to you is something you just don't see any more?
0:04:38 > 0:04:45I believe that this is the only traditional tythan -
0:04:45 > 0:04:49small homestead - left in Northern Pembrokeshire untouched.
0:04:50 > 0:04:55Nathan, it's clear to see, loves it - every bit of it.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57I believe it needs to be a holiday cottage
0:04:57 > 0:04:59and it needs to be an experience.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02And if Nathan gets his way it will certainly be
0:05:02 > 0:05:04a hell of an experience.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08And that is the only bit of modern plumbing in the entire place?
0:05:08 > 0:05:12- Yes. That's everything - there! - Really?- This is the bathroom!
0:05:12 > 0:05:15- Nothing inside at all? - Nothing at all.
0:05:15 > 0:05:16And you're going to preserve that?
0:05:16 > 0:05:19- I'd like to, yes.- Would you? - Ooh, yeah.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23You'd like people to come here and stay in this cottage
0:05:23 > 0:05:26and have to go out in the middle of the night to use...?
0:05:26 > 0:05:27100%.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29In your dreams.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31THEY CHUCKLE
0:05:38 > 0:05:41This is my favourite window in the whole cottage.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44I challenge you to walk past this and not smile.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46GRIFF CHUCKLES
0:05:46 > 0:05:48Perfectly proportioned window.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55OK, let's have a look at the roof here, Nathan.
0:05:55 > 0:05:56Tell me about this roof.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59The top section of the roof, as you can see, is the traditional
0:05:59 > 0:06:02Pembrokeshire roof - it's slate with lime slurry poured over the top.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06- OK, and that's called a grouted roof?- A grouted roof.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10And why did they pour the lime over the slate?
0:06:10 > 0:06:13Pembrokeshire slate is traditionally poor, it will
0:06:13 > 0:06:17last about ten years, you might be lucky if you get 20 out of it.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21They came up with a mix they could pour straight over the top
0:06:21 > 0:06:23and put on with a brush.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27Once a year get up on the roof, tie yourself to the chimney
0:06:27 > 0:06:29and away to go.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33This is a tradition unique to this part of the world
0:06:33 > 0:06:37and the roof is one of the reasons the Trust has agreed to take it on.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42Your ideal would be to save as much of this...
0:06:42 > 0:06:45bodge as possible?
0:06:45 > 0:06:49The back section we might. The front section, I'm saying no.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52But I can only say from what I've seen from the outside.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00So you have to hold up the whole building at the moment?
0:07:00 > 0:07:05Yeah, the whole building is extremely dangerous at the moment.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08The weight of the roof is coming straight down.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11It's Welsh wallpaper mania in here.
0:07:11 > 0:07:16I think there's 26 layers above that fireplace there.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20Look at that! One of the things that you find
0:07:20 > 0:07:25about Welsh cottages is that people loved their wallpaper
0:07:25 > 0:07:29and they just kept putting more of those... Those are beautiful.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Going back in time. Got to be careful.
0:07:32 > 0:07:37- Got to preserve that and keep that! - Oh, no.- Now look what I've done.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41Note to self - hands in pockets during site visits.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45There are some significant features here
0:07:45 > 0:07:48unique to a farm labourer's cottage.
0:07:48 > 0:07:53It's not even a cut beam. Just a piece of branch to hold up
0:07:53 > 0:07:56the fireplace.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00One of the traditional features is this internal porch that
0:08:00 > 0:08:03stops the draft from the front door.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06This is a particular detail which you don't find in many
0:08:06 > 0:08:08buildings any more. This partition.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11And other more everyday details.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15You missed one fantastic detail which is this wonderful cobweb.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19- I saw the cobweb, you're not going to keep the cobweb?- Well...
0:08:19 > 0:08:20HE LAUGHS
0:08:20 > 0:08:22..we could try.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26But in the end you have to ask - what exactly are we saving here?
0:08:27 > 0:08:32I know we love it but there's going to be an army of experts
0:08:32 > 0:08:36involved coming in to discuss it. I mean, two-up-two-down.
0:08:36 > 0:08:42There's going to be a legion of expert conservators coming - this isn't...
0:08:42 > 0:08:46this isn't built by Inigo Jones, no architect was involved here,
0:08:46 > 0:08:51this isn't a great 17th-century mansion that reflects the political history of our country - why,
0:08:51 > 0:08:53why this place?
0:08:54 > 0:09:01I think this place is probably more important than a 17th-century mansion to me
0:09:01 > 0:09:05and to the people in Pembrokeshire and to other architects.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10It is the Brad Pitt of cottages.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13It's the most photographed,
0:09:13 > 0:09:18filmed, drawn cottage in the whole of Pembrokeshire,
0:09:18 > 0:09:20probably in the whole of Wales.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28If we lose this now then you've taken a...
0:09:28 > 0:09:30you've lost a whole section of history.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50There are a number of conditions which any property
0:09:50 > 0:09:53that the National Trust takes on has to fulfil.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58It has to be aesthetically interesting in some way,
0:09:58 > 0:10:01it to be rather beautiful. I think this place is.
0:10:01 > 0:10:06It has to have a conservation angle to it -
0:10:06 > 0:10:07it has to be saved
0:10:07 > 0:10:11because it's the last of its type or it's in danger of being
0:10:11 > 0:10:12lost for ever,
0:10:12 > 0:10:14and that's true about this place.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17And perhaps most important of all,
0:10:17 > 0:10:22but sometimes the most difficult to fulfil - it has to find a way
0:10:22 > 0:10:26of paying for itself in the future.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28Now, here that's quite difficult,
0:10:28 > 0:10:33because there's only an acre of land and that's hardly a rich endowment.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37The Trust can't make money by farming here nor can they charge
0:10:37 > 0:10:40at the door like they do for, say, Powis Castle.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42The only option
0:10:42 > 0:10:44is really to rent it to people
0:10:44 > 0:10:47looking for an authentic 18th-century experience.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51Well, it's not a big place,
0:10:51 > 0:10:54which you might regard is the entire point,
0:10:54 > 0:10:58but it's not entirely in great nick.
0:10:58 > 0:11:03Still, small - can't cost a lot to restore, can it?
0:11:03 > 0:11:05CASH REGISTER RINGS
0:11:05 > 0:11:07COINS RATTLE
0:11:08 > 0:11:11I've, er, restored a cottage myself and, er,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14because we were on telly I absolutely wanted to do it right
0:11:14 > 0:11:17and...
0:11:17 > 0:11:20I think it's probably the most expensive thing I've ever done
0:11:20 > 0:11:22because there are so many different ways of doing things
0:11:22 > 0:11:24and so many levels
0:11:24 > 0:11:26of heritage, er, conservation
0:11:26 > 0:11:28that you could get.
0:11:28 > 0:11:29A fair criticism
0:11:29 > 0:11:32is that we would do something to such a degree of perfection
0:11:32 > 0:11:35that it became unsustainable for anyone else other than
0:11:35 > 0:11:39a reasonably spendthrift charity so, no, I think we will not do that
0:11:39 > 0:11:43at Treleddyd Fawr - we'll use traditional craft skills
0:11:43 > 0:11:44and we'll make it wonderful
0:11:44 > 0:11:48but we're not going to turn it into a pit which we can throw money in
0:11:48 > 0:11:54to get the perfect join here - I don't see it as my duty to do that,
0:11:54 > 0:11:56particularly if no-one can see it.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58Sorry, I don't.
0:11:58 > 0:11:59HE CHUCKLES
0:11:59 > 0:12:04Boy, my conservators are going to kill me for saying this - but they're still wrong.
0:12:05 > 0:12:10However the details of restoration are settled in the future,
0:12:10 > 0:12:12the big picture is that this acquisition
0:12:12 > 0:12:14shows a new way of thinking.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20It's interesting from the point of view of the National Trust
0:12:20 > 0:12:24because buying this is part of a slightly different
0:12:24 > 0:12:29policy in relation to farms and the countryside.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33A lot of the land they own is in the north of Wales
0:12:33 > 0:12:35and in romantic landscapes,
0:12:35 > 0:12:41landscapes which intellectuals associated with the sublime and the glorious,
0:12:41 > 0:12:45and hence you have hill farms and bits of Snowdonia and mountains.
0:12:45 > 0:12:50But there's not much that tells the OTHER story of agriculture -
0:12:50 > 0:12:56the hard toil, the smallholding - and that's why this place is important.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Changes in priorities are affecting the way the Trust manages
0:13:03 > 0:13:07the land as well as the buildings they own.
0:13:08 > 0:13:14One of the things that's rather interesting about the National Trust
0:13:14 > 0:13:18is that it is a form of autocracy.
0:13:18 > 0:13:23Essentially somebody needs to be there setting standards
0:13:23 > 0:13:26and saying, "This is EXACTLY what will happen."
0:13:28 > 0:13:31To understand more about setting those standards I've come
0:13:31 > 0:13:34to Trehill Farm in South Pembrokeshire.
0:13:36 > 0:13:37Jonathan Hughes
0:13:37 > 0:13:40is the Trust's land manager here.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44- Would you tell me what to do? - No, we wouldn't tell you what to do,
0:13:44 > 0:13:47we would agree broad parameters right at the outset
0:13:47 > 0:13:50and say these are the type of things we're
0:13:50 > 0:13:52looking for from, you know, this particular farm.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55What ones have you had where you go, "That's a good idea, let's do that"?
0:13:55 > 0:13:58One of them would be around public access and enjoyment,
0:13:58 > 0:14:01so if you can accommodate people coming there, whether it's for
0:14:01 > 0:14:04education groups or people camping, something like that.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06I think we'd be very open to ideas which
0:14:06 > 0:14:09introduce people into the landscape.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12I think we'd be very interested in broadening biodiversity,
0:14:12 > 0:14:15so widening hedge banks, creating ponds, that type of thing.
0:14:15 > 0:14:16Right.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19If there were areas that would traditionally have been wet
0:14:19 > 0:14:22but have been drained in the last 50 years and you could allow
0:14:22 > 0:14:25those to become wetter and broaden the range of flowers
0:14:25 > 0:14:29and insects that would grow there, we would be very supportive of that.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36Here at Trehill they farm 600 acres
0:14:36 > 0:14:40and at first glance it looks like any other farm
0:14:40 > 0:14:41but it's a trust tenancy
0:14:41 > 0:14:47and things are never that simple. Appearances can be deceptive.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51About two weeks ago my son came in laughing and he said to me,
0:14:51 > 0:14:55"Mum, Mum, I'm not quite sure what's going on but there's a lady outside
0:14:55 > 0:14:57"who's just asked if she could use the bathroom.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00"So I've just shown her into the house."
0:15:00 > 0:15:02And I just wish I'd been a bit quicker to ask her
0:15:02 > 0:15:04if she was a member as she left!
0:15:04 > 0:15:07Because she'd seen the National Trust sign at the entrance
0:15:07 > 0:15:10and decided that as a National Trust member
0:15:10 > 0:15:13she could come into our home and use the facilities.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16This misconception might be caused by the fact that
0:15:16 > 0:15:20most people don't realise that the Trust runs working farms.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26There are three main reasons why it owns own agricultural land.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Firstly, as part of the endowment on a stately home.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31Secondly, in areas where
0:15:31 > 0:15:35they need to preserve a traditional way of life. And thirdly...
0:15:35 > 0:15:41This farm here arrived with the National Trust almost by default -
0:15:41 > 0:15:45they were after the coastline and they got the farm to go with it.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49So they then had to face the question - what do they do with it?
0:15:49 > 0:15:51How are they going to farm it?
0:15:51 > 0:15:53In order to answer this
0:15:53 > 0:15:56we need to understand a little about the recent history of farming.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01Most commercial farmers today
0:16:01 > 0:16:04have been educated into the post-war consensus
0:16:04 > 0:16:08which sees extra productivity, trying to get
0:16:08 > 0:16:13the most out of their land as the highest priority, as almost
0:16:13 > 0:16:18a sacred duty, but the NT doesn't quite see it that way.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21It has other concerns -
0:16:21 > 0:16:23they might include tradition,
0:16:23 > 0:16:28biodiversity or even the look of the landscape, and that can be
0:16:28 > 0:16:33confusing to a farmer who just wants to earn an honest bob.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36My father-in-law,
0:16:36 > 0:16:40father and mother-in-law came here in 1968 on the back of, um, er,
0:16:40 > 0:16:45the sort of "dig for victory" type, erm, ticket if you like.
0:16:45 > 0:16:50They were into producing as much food as effectively as they
0:16:50 > 0:16:54possibly could - they drained land, they limed land,
0:16:54 > 0:16:57they improved the land,
0:16:57 > 0:17:01and I say "improved" insomuch as for production they improved it.
0:17:01 > 0:17:06Today it has sheep, it has cattle, it has potatoes
0:17:06 > 0:17:09and a new set of priorities.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13We've now moved into sort of balancing
0:17:13 > 0:17:15where we farm the land.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17And that land which is most productive
0:17:17 > 0:17:21we throw a lot of inputs in - fertilisers, sprays,
0:17:21 > 0:17:25pesticides. But there are other parts of our land that aren't quite
0:17:25 > 0:17:28so productive and those are the parts of land that we've identified
0:17:28 > 0:17:33and said, "Well, actually maybe there isn't much point in throwing all these high-value inputs,
0:17:33 > 0:17:37"there's only a finite amount of resources, isn't it better
0:17:37 > 0:17:41"to concentrate those resources onto the more productive land?"
0:17:41 > 0:17:45Intensive farming is right in some places, it's not right everywhere.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47Because it's not sustainable.
0:17:47 > 0:17:52If you intensively farm and you do not leave wildlife corridors
0:17:52 > 0:17:55you will lose that land eventually, that land ceases to be productive -
0:17:55 > 0:17:57your rivers will die, the runoff will kill the rivers,
0:17:57 > 0:17:59kill the fish.
0:17:59 > 0:18:04It is not a sensible way to perpetuate our...our environment.
0:18:06 > 0:18:11Recently this has become the Trust's mantra - it believes that
0:18:11 > 0:18:14if you only farm intensively too many species will die out
0:18:14 > 0:18:17and eventually the land will become barren.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20So the Smithies were encouraged to try a different approach
0:18:20 > 0:18:23with several of their coastal fields.
0:18:23 > 0:18:28I think it was probably quite hard for Dad at one stage definitely and
0:18:28 > 0:18:32he took a while to get his head round the fact that all that work,
0:18:32 > 0:18:37all that effort, all the drainage that he put in was being ripped out.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41You know, when you see diggers in there and bulldozers in there
0:18:41 > 0:18:45pushing soil around, you know, it's quite an emotive thing.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47I think he sort of reaps the rewards now
0:18:47 > 0:18:51and he started the environmental work with the one-field hofflands
0:18:51 > 0:18:55that he put into an environmental scheme in the mid 1980s.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59What the Trust and the Smithies wanted to know is what would
0:18:59 > 0:19:03happen if the land was returned to what it was like before
0:19:03 > 0:19:06intensive farming and fertilisation?
0:19:06 > 0:19:08In order to measure this, they treated the three sets
0:19:08 > 0:19:13of fields differently, each one having the soil nutrients removed.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16What are the results so far?
0:19:16 > 0:19:19One thing that very quickly was different was the birds -
0:19:19 > 0:19:21there's been a huge
0:19:21 > 0:19:24increase of skylarks and choughs.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27The ones that were left without any treatment at all just,
0:19:27 > 0:19:30basically, grew grass, because there was grass there anyway,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33and it's just grown and it's outcompeted everything else.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36The soil scraping and the light acidification with a light dose
0:19:36 > 0:19:39of sulphur are really the, sort of, ones I'll take you to see.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42You know, they're the ones that look good.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45They...they've got heather, they've got... And all sorts
0:19:45 > 0:19:48of other things which I'm sure a botanist can tell you all about.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51But the ones that are as interesting as those are the ones with the high
0:19:51 > 0:19:55levels of sulphur that really we don't quite know where they're going.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57You know, it's a really long-term project, this isn't
0:19:57 > 0:20:01just ten years, this is, sort of, 50 years down the line.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05But there are other sides to National Trust involvement too.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11There's quite a complicated relationship going on here,
0:20:11 > 0:20:16because Peter and Gina pay the National Trust a fee
0:20:16 > 0:20:19in order to use their logo to advertise their potatoes.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25We have to comply with quite a lot of quite stiff
0:20:25 > 0:20:29regulation as to the production of the potatoes and all the crops
0:20:29 > 0:20:33and all the animal welfare within the farm.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36It's been worth it for us - it gives us a market.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40The potato trade is notoriously fickle - you can lose
0:20:40 > 0:20:43quite a lot of money very quickly.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45People who belong to the National Trust or aspire to belong to
0:20:45 > 0:20:48the National Trust trust the brand.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50And we're not at the whim of a merchant that says,
0:20:50 > 0:20:52"Well, actually, today I'll give you £80 a ton,
0:20:52 > 0:20:56"and tomorrow I'll give you 75 and the next day I'll give you 70 and..."
0:20:56 > 0:20:57et cetera, et cetera.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00So, Peter and Gina pay a fee
0:21:00 > 0:21:04and that helps to guarantee an income.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06The Trust gets its rent,
0:21:06 > 0:21:10and the fee and the customer is buying into a brand or known package
0:21:10 > 0:21:14which includes a level of environmental concern.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18I think as time goes on we're going to have an increasing
0:21:18 > 0:21:23pressure on balancing people paying for good conservation
0:21:23 > 0:21:26and people paying for amount of food.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28And over the next 10 or 20 years that balance is going to change
0:21:28 > 0:21:31as to more money going to good conservation.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35And I think one of the jobs of the Trust is to work with our tenants
0:21:35 > 0:21:37and other farmers to help that transition.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42They're not particularly, as such, interested in the value - pound,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45shillings and pence value - of the land, they're more interested
0:21:45 > 0:21:50in the value, as in enjoyment and environmental enhancement.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53And although they want the rent paid
0:21:53 > 0:21:56and so we've got to produce some things, you know,
0:21:56 > 0:22:00they are considerate in how they negotiate rentals, I suppose.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02At Trehill the Smithies
0:22:02 > 0:22:06and the Trust have found a way to set aside marginal land to nature
0:22:06 > 0:22:10while still making an income from farming the other fields.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14But there are other farms where making money in the modern age
0:22:14 > 0:22:17is a much more difficult prospect
0:22:17 > 0:22:21and the Trust's intentions here are different.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25Like Llyndy Isaf, a 600-acre farm on the side of Snowdon.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28What will you try to do there?
0:22:28 > 0:22:30Llyndy Isaf is a kind of unique place.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33The farmer who had it beforehand for 40 years
0:22:33 > 0:22:37maintained an extraordinarily environmentally sensitive...
0:22:37 > 0:22:38Way before it was trendy to do,
0:22:38 > 0:22:40and he grazed it with natural cattle,
0:22:40 > 0:22:43he got rid of the rhododendrons, that were invasive,
0:22:43 > 0:22:45and we're going to keep on going with that.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49The Trust are also investing in young farmers and shepherds so they
0:22:49 > 0:22:53can learn the traditional skills needed to farm this managed wilderness.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02We joined Justin on a site visit with Arwyn Owen,
0:23:02 > 0:23:04the local farm manager.
0:23:05 > 0:23:06There's two full-time shepherds
0:23:06 > 0:23:10and then Bryn is here... permanently, actually.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12Bryn is out on the hills permanently now.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14Such investment costs money.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17And if you can't charge on the door, as it were,
0:23:17 > 0:23:19how do you balance the books?
0:23:19 > 0:23:22Well, the Trust are capitalising on Snowdonia's
0:23:22 > 0:23:24unique environment.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28In high season, we're taking... what, 6% out of the stream?
0:23:28 > 0:23:33The hydroelectric turbine on this farm uses the high rainfall here to
0:23:33 > 0:23:37generate enough electricity to power over 400 homes.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44I hope we can cover some our costs, if not most of our costs.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46But farming on the side of Snowdon?
0:23:46 > 0:23:49It's not one of the greatest investments you could make
0:23:49 > 0:23:52but it's important for the Trust because we have these three...
0:23:52 > 0:23:55the conservation, the finance and the social ambition to do it.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00The Trust's social ambition takes many new forms
0:24:00 > 0:24:04but it also includes the oldest ideal of the National Trust -
0:24:04 > 0:24:07part of its founding ethos -
0:24:07 > 0:24:08access.
0:24:10 > 0:24:11I'm moving on now...
0:24:13 > 0:24:17..to visit another farm, only this is one where
0:24:17 > 0:24:24they've taken on one of principles of National Trust ownership
0:24:24 > 0:24:29to such a degree that they've become farmers, who don't...
0:24:29 > 0:24:31who don't really farm any more.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35I'm at Pwll Caerog, a Trust farm
0:24:35 > 0:24:39in the southwest of Pembrokeshire, just down the road from St David's.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43It still looks like a working farm from the outside
0:24:43 > 0:24:46until you open that door and then you go inside and it's a completely
0:24:46 > 0:24:50different use to the buildings to what you'd expect.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52With the Trust's approval, Ian Griffiths
0:24:52 > 0:24:55and his late wife Judy started a bed and breakfast at their
0:24:55 > 0:24:59250-acre farm, to supplement their farming income.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02In the late '90s it was particularly tough, with cereal prices
0:25:02 > 0:25:08exceptionally low, and we were very much under the cosh as farmers.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11The Trust helped Ian develop a business plan.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14That would give him an income while fulfilling one of the Trust's
0:25:14 > 0:25:16main interests - giving access to the land.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18CHEERING
0:25:18 > 0:25:22We decided to sell the beef herd, sell the machinery
0:25:22 > 0:25:25and the tractors and equipment and reinvest that into toilets
0:25:25 > 0:25:29and showers and kitchens and dining halls and more bunk beds.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32Ian rents the land he doesn't use to neighbouring farmers.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38So all these sheds were turned into places for people
0:25:38 > 0:25:40to bunk down - 300 at a time.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43And they do come - they have a look round the farm,
0:25:43 > 0:25:48they may even dig a few spuds and go for a walk along the coastal path.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52And this is not only a form of diversification for the farmer,
0:25:52 > 0:25:58giving him a bit of income from a different source, it's also
0:25:58 > 0:26:01an embodiment of the philosophy of the Trust -
0:26:01 > 0:26:04it allows access for people.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08The Trust has embraced this in their
0:26:08 > 0:26:13Things To Do Before You're 11¾ initiative.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15Children are encouraged in
0:26:15 > 0:26:20activities in the outdoors, like making a raft, or playing games.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24This one child was gazing out to sea and
0:26:24 > 0:26:27he said, "What's that out there?"
0:26:27 > 0:26:29We said, "What do you mean?"
0:26:29 > 0:26:31He said, "Is that a fire out on the horizon?"
0:26:31 > 0:26:33And she said, "No, that's the sunset."
0:26:35 > 0:26:39To engage children with the countryside and with the sea
0:26:39 > 0:26:42and everything is quite rewarding - you feel valued again as a farmer.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53The National Trust is a huge landlord.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58It looks after a lot of property and, as a result,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01as well as just managing that property,
0:27:01 > 0:27:05clearly it has a series of responsibilities.
0:27:05 > 0:27:10It wants to show that it's doing the right thing.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15It has to help its tenant farmers to make a living
0:27:15 > 0:27:18while being mindful of the costs of intensive farming.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20It has to decide where to invest in
0:27:20 > 0:27:23sensitive restoration of historic buildings
0:27:23 > 0:27:27and in new green technology.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31But it also has to encourage maximum access.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35Is there conflict within your own organisation about what
0:27:35 > 0:27:37example you should make?
0:27:37 > 0:27:41I think there was a greater divergence 10, 20 years ago
0:27:41 > 0:27:46in the Trust between those who loved buildings and concrete
0:27:46 > 0:27:51and masonry and baroque furniture and those who liked getting naked
0:27:51 > 0:27:54and running and jumping into fields and celebrating Mother Earth.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58And there were two pulls on the National Trust for a long time.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01The Trust has come together and that difference between the people
0:28:01 > 0:28:05who wear sandals and brogues is less obvious now.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Whatever your shoe of choice, it's clear that the Trust is
0:28:08 > 0:28:12increasingly following a path back to traditional farming methods.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16Originally the National Trust was founded to take into care
0:28:16 > 0:28:22places of either great historical interest or great natural beauty.
0:28:22 > 0:28:27But today we're increasingly learning that you can't have
0:28:27 > 0:28:29one without the other.
0:28:30 > 0:28:35That farmland like this has its great natural beauty
0:28:35 > 0:28:38only if you take account of its history.