:01:44. > :01:49.Hidden away in west Wales is a family business like no other.
:01:49. > :01:55.the last count I'm sure it was 18 family members working here. They
:01:55. > :02:03.are the fruit and veg Mafia. There's me, I'm Roland. There's
:02:03. > :02:13.Stewart, ruebin, Tom, Davina, Rachel, Cora. Born a scrubber,
:02:13. > :02:17.
:02:17. > :02:26.always a scrubber. There's Kim, Maria, Maer, her son. Stewart's son
:02:26. > :02:34.John is working here. Rueb in, his son Luke is working here. His
:02:34. > :02:40.daughter, Marie Alys is working here. Ashley, Nicki. Who else? I
:02:40. > :02:50.can't think. I just forget my wife is working there. I'll be in
:02:50. > :02:59.
:02:59. > :03:04.trouble! I don't know, I can't This time on meet the Watkins, the
:03:04. > :03:14.farm shop faces its busiest time of the year. And the family waits for
:03:14. > :03:20.
:03:20. > :03:25.The Watkins have been in business for generations and their latest
:03:25. > :03:30.venture is a farm shop and restaurant. It's nearly Christmas
:03:30. > :03:34.and Roland, the brains behind the farm shop, checks that all is well
:03:34. > :03:41.in one part of the farm that's due to get very, very busy in just a
:03:41. > :03:45.few days' time. This is where we start. Turkeys come out of the shed.
:03:45. > :03:49.They're driven round, quietly into the other end of the building. The
:03:50. > :03:54.building is kept dark, keep them calm. Then they're killed in here.
:03:54. > :03:59.I'm not going to tell you what happens in here, just that they're
:03:59. > :04:05.killed. Then they come into this room. They go into there to be
:04:05. > :04:10.Fathered. When they come out, -- feathered, when they come out they
:04:10. > :04:15.are hung on these hooks. People then tidy them up, anything missed
:04:15. > :04:19.with the feathers. There will be quite a crowd in here. I won't be
:04:19. > :04:24.here myself. I'll be at the shop. It's a lot of work looking after.
:04:24. > :04:29.That all my other brothers will come down here. That's what we've
:04:29. > :04:36.done the last few years. It's good working together, when we're quarlg
:04:36. > :04:41.it's not is good and it does happen -- quarrelling. The farm shop is a
:04:41. > :04:45.familiar sight for many who travel along the A48 between Swansea and
:04:45. > :04:51.Carmarthen. The family have owned two farms within this area for over
:04:51. > :04:58.50 years. The sheep are kept on their doorstep across from the shop,
:04:58. > :05:02.but the cows are kept five miles away on a farm. Although they buy
:05:02. > :05:07.in the fruit and veg all the meat in the shop comes from their own
:05:07. > :05:11.farms. The beef comes from a herd of over 100 pedigree Hereford
:05:11. > :05:17.cattle. Today is the day that could spell the end of the road for the
:05:17. > :05:21.herd, as they're about to be tested for TB. There's a lot riding on
:05:21. > :05:29.this for the Watkins. One negative result could ultimately close the
:05:29. > :05:33.farm down. Today Rubin, who manages the farm, his son Luke and farm
:05:33. > :05:38.hand Gareth are ready for the vet to make a start on the test. We've
:05:39. > :05:43.got to have a TB test yearly, because we're in an area with TB.
:05:43. > :05:51.We've never had a problem with it. Most farmers are on three-year
:05:51. > :05:55.tests. If you've got it, it shuts the farm down. It's all hands on
:05:55. > :06:00.deck and Luke has been taken away from his day job to give a helping
:06:00. > :06:08.hand. Normally I'm in the butchery. Today I'm on the farm. It makes a
:06:09. > :06:13.change. I was brought up on the farm, from a young age. I come back
:06:13. > :06:19.for a change, to come on the farm. We have a TB test now with the
:06:19. > :06:24.pedigree Herefords. It's a big deal for us. If it stops, so all farmers
:06:24. > :06:32.stop, if they don't have it, we can't sell them or kill them. If we
:06:32. > :06:40.didn't have the cattle or the sheep, we'd have to close the shop. Local
:06:40. > :06:50.vet Neil Williams arrives and prepares each cow for the test.
:06:50. > :06:54.we're going -- going along we're testing the skin. They're two types
:06:54. > :06:58.of toxin. We're injecting it and looking for a reaction to the toxin.
:06:58. > :07:03.What we don't want is obviously too much of a reaction to that toxin
:07:03. > :07:06.when we come back to read it on again on Thursday. If we get a
:07:06. > :07:10.reaction that suggests there would be a -- could be a problem there.
:07:10. > :07:19.We'll find out on Thursday what the results are. With the testing comes
:07:19. > :07:22.a lot of forms to be filled in. It's changed in the last 20 years,
:07:22. > :07:28.completely. All the paper work and things you've got to do, all this
:07:29. > :07:34.testing. We never had to do so much of it. It's part of the job now.
:07:34. > :07:40.It's part of the routine. Rubin's sore point may be the paper work.
:07:40. > :07:46.For Luke it's something more basic. Kicked me last time! As soon as I
:07:46. > :07:50.jumped in there, they still kick you. Plenty of muscle in the back
:07:50. > :07:57.legs. You don't want one of them to kick you. Hoof like that, bruise
:07:57. > :08:04.like that. All I did was tap him on the side of of the leg. If they
:08:04. > :08:10.kick you, you are in serious pain. At the farm they've all got a busy
:08:10. > :08:17.morning ahead with over 80 cattle left to test. While Rubin has the
:08:17. > :08:22.worry of the TB testing, family life goes on. Marie, Rubin's wife,
:08:22. > :08:28.takes care of this side of things. They have four children, Luke,
:08:28. > :08:32.teenagers, Alys and Adam and nine- year-old Francis who has cerebral
:08:32. > :08:36.palsy. TB testing is normally nervewracking for him. I get used
:08:36. > :08:43.to it, because we've been together for 19 years. It's just part of my
:08:43. > :08:49.life now. Obviously, you always want it to be clear. That's the
:08:49. > :08:55.main thing is that it does come back clear. Being a farmer's wife
:08:55. > :09:01.isn't always easy. When we first got together it was a bit stressful
:09:01. > :09:08.not knowing what time he'd be home, what time he was going to work and,
:09:08. > :09:14.especially when we first moved down here as well, Luke was only a baby.
:09:14. > :09:19.It was stressful. I was thinking, is he home now or later? What time
:09:19. > :09:23.shall I do food? I got used to it and normally now it's yeah he's
:09:23. > :09:31.home OK, it's fine. I wish he was here more often, especially with
:09:31. > :09:36.Francis. Especially with Fran the way she is, you know, fair play to
:09:36. > :09:44.him, he gets a lot of time off, we have hospitals or if she has to go
:09:44. > :09:54.in or whatever, but sometimes, the holidays and she's here 24 hours a
:09:54. > :09:57.day, it gets quite hard. Back at the farm shop, the turkeys are
:09:57. > :10:05.about to start their journey from shed to table. As usual Roland is
:10:05. > :10:09.keen to get things started. Half of these will go today now. We're
:10:09. > :10:16.going to leave it to Rubin. I won't be here. I'm going back up to the
:10:16. > :10:20.top. You can't be everywhere, can you? These others can do it.
:10:20. > :10:25.Mistake we've got, we should have had the door, lift it off and then
:10:25. > :10:30.you haven't got to go round so far. It's only been like this for nine
:10:30. > :10:34.years! Maybe we'll learn for next year. Meanwhile, behind closed
:10:34. > :10:38.doors, the pressure is on an army of Watkins to get a thousand birds
:10:38. > :10:42.ready for the Christmas table. getting them all to sign what
:10:42. > :10:48.they've had training in each thing and all that. I signed the wrong
:10:48. > :10:56.one. Health and safety, yes. Even before the job starts, things get a
:10:56. > :11:06.little heated. What do you expect me to do? I've got to sort this
:11:06. > :11:10.
:11:10. > :11:13.out! As tempers flair in the turkey shed things are calmer in the shop.
:11:13. > :11:22.Roland and son Will reminisce about past Christmass when the Watkins
:11:22. > :11:29.made money as market traders. first seven -day in the market we
:11:29. > :11:35.worked. We took 700 boxes of tang reens and 200 boxes of oranges and
:11:35. > :11:44.sold all of them. We were empty coming home. It was amazing. We
:11:44. > :11:54.were shocked. There were 17 staff. We had a fork lift down town load
:11:54. > :11:56.
:11:57. > :12:02.the lot. The big kerosine heater cooking chestnuts. We had a tow van
:12:02. > :12:05.behind the lorries and with the kitchen and used to make our own
:12:05. > :12:11.dinner. Maria was six weeks old when we started markets and we've
:12:11. > :12:15.done them since. Until three years ago, now we don't do them at all.
:12:15. > :12:19.They were saying yesterday that the little one there won't have the
:12:19. > :12:23.chance to be out in the market like these had the chance when they were
:12:23. > :12:28.young. Fun times, we've tried it over the times. A Saturday out in
:12:28. > :12:32.the van and Sunday on the market. It was good, wasn't it. I enjoyed
:12:32. > :12:39.it. Good days on the market. Hard work, but it was a good day, yeah,
:12:39. > :12:45.good fun, people you get to know them, didn't you? Back in the tury
:12:45. > :12:51.shed and Stewart can't -- Turkey shed and Stewart can't contain his
:12:51. > :13:01.excitement. Number one! One down and 999 to go.
:13:01. > :13:09.
:13:09. > :13:15.As the defethering continuing, row lapbld's sister remembers how
:13:15. > :13:23.things used to be done. People used to sit down and have a sack over
:13:23. > :13:31.their lap, we're going back many years now. You used to get sore.
:13:31. > :13:35.There was no machines to get the feathers out. Mum went to the kiosk
:13:35. > :13:40.to made a phone call, perhaps I shouldn't tell you this, and she
:13:40. > :13:45.left all her money in the kiosk. She came home without the money.
:13:46. > :13:48.After all our hard work. She rushed back and it was still there. Yeah.
:13:48. > :13:58.She rushed back and it was still there.
:13:58. > :13:59.
:13:59. > :14:02.One year, you closed the new pocket knife on my finger. When something
:14:02. > :14:12.goes wrong, it's always me. They used to call me clever sticks when
:14:12. > :14:19.
:14:19. > :14:25.It's the next day, and things are strangely quiet on the farm yard.
:14:25. > :14:31.There you are, then. That's the end of that. They've had their life now
:14:31. > :14:40.the people are going to enjoy them. They're all done, job's finished.
:14:40. > :14:47.They're all sold. There's the chickens. Chickens from six to 13-
:14:47. > :14:51.pounders. Turkeys from 11 pound to 30-pounders. Friday will be the
:14:51. > :15:00.busiest day. We know that by a long way. On Friday we'll do a week's
:15:00. > :15:04.trade in one day. We probably got about 80, 90 spare turkeys and 30
:15:04. > :15:10.spare chickens and a dozen spare ducks. I think there's about 30
:15:10. > :15:14.spare geese at the moment. We won't sell every one. We have got to keep
:15:14. > :15:20.spares. I'd like to have one myself. One year we couldn't have a turkey
:15:20. > :15:30.ourself, there wasn't enough left. Customers come first. We look well
:15:30. > :15:34.
:15:34. > :15:39.Away from the shop, nine-year-old Francis is at her weekly dance
:15:39. > :15:49.class. For Francis' mum Marie it's a welcome distraction from concerns
:15:49. > :15:51.
:15:51. > :15:55.about the farm, where the results of the TB tests are still to come.
:15:55. > :15:59.I bring her dancing because it gets her out of the house, one thing and
:15:59. > :16:03.the other thing is, she gets to be integrated with other children,
:16:03. > :16:07.other than the children that she's in school with. She does like music.
:16:07. > :16:11.She likes singing and dancing. She's always singing in the house.
:16:11. > :16:20.I think it's nice to bring her here because then she's with other
:16:20. > :16:30.children. She does enjoy coming, so that's the main thing for her. She
:16:30. > :16:44.
:16:44. > :16:48.loves it and they love her, so as With Christmas only a few days away,
:16:48. > :16:56.butchery manager Will and head butcher Justin are bracing
:16:56. > :17:02.themselves for the Christmas rush. Still coming in, flying at the
:17:02. > :17:06.moment now. 2400 so far. Last year we had funnily enough, Christmas
:17:06. > :17:13.eve last year my next door neighbour come in, we were locking
:17:13. > :17:18.the door, 4.30pm, and he come in, "Have you got a goose left?" That
:17:18. > :17:24.was our last customer last year, still looking for a goose. We sold
:17:24. > :17:27.him the biggest one. Yeah! This Christmas itself is a big challenge
:17:27. > :17:30.itself. First Christmas when we opened was a massive challenge
:17:30. > :17:35.because it was brand new. But I think this one is the third one
:17:35. > :17:40.where we get busier. A lot of customers come from further afield
:17:40. > :17:44.all the time. You're getting more and more continuously. We're
:17:44. > :17:48.looking at about 5,000 plus customers that's going to come
:17:48. > :17:52.through that door within two days before Christmas. That's why nobody
:17:52. > :17:57.is allowed a day off before Christmas. We were lucky to have
:17:57. > :18:01.one week. I'm sure last year we didn't have one this week. It's
:18:01. > :18:07.busy in the shop and it's only going to get busier as Christmas
:18:07. > :18:11.Day gets nearer. For one of the clan it's going to be a --
:18:11. > :18:16.especially taxing. Up till now Nicki has been on the fruit and veg
:18:16. > :18:21.vans, supplying remote communities arnica Margeenshire. This year he's
:18:21. > :18:27.shop manager and it's his first kitchen. My brother is looking
:18:27. > :18:30.after them well. We've had a few customers in here and they said
:18:31. > :18:34.he's looking after them. It is strange, but I'm not going to enjoy
:18:34. > :18:40.it in here when the snow comes. I won't be out in the vans then. It
:18:40. > :18:46.will be lovely and warm inside. Yes. The Christmas period is pretty
:18:46. > :18:49.chaotic and will be a baptism of fire for Nicki. It's all new. So
:18:49. > :18:53.I'm learning what to do and trying to guess what is needed and all
:18:53. > :18:59.that. It's quite difficult. I like a challenge, anything like this,
:18:59. > :19:03.something new, yes really enjoy it. By what I can gather my role will
:19:03. > :19:07.be keeping an eye on the shop, keeping an eye on the tills and
:19:07. > :19:17.just checking everything is right. I'm looking forward to it now.
:19:17. > :19:20.
:19:20. > :19:26.We've been waiting long enough now, It's early morning, and a day that
:19:26. > :19:32.could spell doom for the Watkins family business. Today is TB test
:19:32. > :19:40.result day and its outcome could put the whole empire in jeopardy.
:19:40. > :19:43.Nervous, yeah. It's different today, results today. You do worry a bit
:19:43. > :19:48.because we need it for the shop as well. If you don't have it, the
:19:48. > :19:53.shop doesn't make money. We have to close down. We won't have a job. We
:19:53. > :19:58.do worry, yes. As Neil Williams checks the results, all anybody
:19:58. > :20:04.else can do is wait. But it's not an easy time for Neil either.
:20:04. > :20:07.hate the day when you have to give a farmer bad news. I mean obviously
:20:07. > :20:12.it affects their livelihood and can affect the life of the cattle as
:20:13. > :20:15.well. Yes, it's never an enjoyable day. You always hope for a clean
:20:16. > :20:21.test. Basically what we're looking for is a reaction to the injections
:20:21. > :20:25.that we gave the cattle on Monday. Predominantly we're looking for any
:20:25. > :20:35.sign of lumps or thickening in the skin, which suggests there's been a
:20:35. > :20:40.
:20:40. > :20:50.Everybody is eager to discover the results of the test and with it the
:20:50. > :20:51.
:20:51. > :20:56.fate of the farm. Yeah, grand. All good so far. We've got a few
:20:56. > :21:00.more to test at the other premises. All clean so far, so good news.
:21:01. > :21:08.Good, over the moon. Passed, so we've got a few left on the other
:21:08. > :21:13.farm, about eight, fingers crossed. It's good news for the herd, but
:21:13. > :21:23.there are another eight cows left to be tested at home farm. Roland
:21:23. > :21:31.is eager for the news. finished? Yes. Are they all all
:21:31. > :21:36.right? We passed. We're all right for another year then are we?
:21:36. > :21:40.Hopefully, yes. We've never had it yet, thank goodness. It's a huge
:21:40. > :21:45.relief for Rubin and Roland. But Neil's discovered another problem
:21:45. > :21:51.with one of the cows. You don't feel much like an abscess. Equally
:21:51. > :22:01.I can't feel any organs in there. It doesn't seem to want to shrink
:22:01. > :22:07.
:22:07. > :22:11.Is it possible she's in calf? see. She's in calf. She's got to be
:22:12. > :22:19.a good five or six months, possibly a bit more.
:22:19. > :22:24.We'll just see how she goes then. The only thing is if it is a hernia
:22:24. > :22:30.it might get worse as she's heavier. Actually she's heavier than that.
:22:30. > :22:35.She's got to be seven, eight months. It would be cruel to kill her with
:22:35. > :22:40.that. If the calf is getting bigger it could be why she's herniating a
:22:40. > :22:45.bit more. If it all goes wrong, we'll have to put her down, that's
:22:45. > :22:51.all you can do. It's been a good result with the TB, that's a big
:22:51. > :22:56.relief. One cow with a lump on her side, hopefully if she's that close
:22:56. > :23:00.to calving, we'll get the calf and see how she goes from there. If
:23:00. > :23:06.she's all right we'll try to get the calf, but we won't put her back
:23:06. > :23:10.to the bull. All in all a good day. But will it put a smile on Roland's
:23:10. > :23:20.face? I'm always happy, I think. Ask the staff - they won't tell you
:23:20. > :23:29.
:23:29. > :23:33.One of the busiest days in the shop's calendar is finally here.
:23:33. > :23:42.Roland has already been up for hours preparing for the final
:23:42. > :23:45.Christmas rush. I've been awake since 1.30. I couldn't sleep.
:23:45. > :23:53.Another stressful day for Roland and nobody knows better than Gina,
:23:53. > :23:57.his wife of 35 years. Things going to go what he says is going to go.
:23:57. > :24:07.He likes to plan everything ahead, so everybody knows what they're
:24:07. > :24:09.
:24:10. > :24:14.doing. It would frighten you the wage bill for today. It's a quarter
:24:14. > :24:18.of a million for today now. only is the shop expecting a bumper
:24:18. > :24:22.day, but the kitchen are preparing themselves for hungry customers.
:24:22. > :24:28.Fresh from plucking duties in the turkey shed, there's a new job in
:24:28. > :24:34.the kitchen. Bit hectic. Makes you think how quiet the turkey shed was,
:24:34. > :24:41.being back in the kitchen. Heeps and heeps of stuffing. We've done
:24:41. > :24:45.six or eight of these plastic tubs a day. We were 13 children so we
:24:45. > :24:50.got used to big quantities like, not quite this big, mind! We did
:24:50. > :24:54.have big April tights. We used to work out on the fields with dad a
:24:54. > :25:04.lot, in the cold, you're hungry then whu come in. -- when you come
:25:04. > :25:19.
:25:19. > :25:25.In the butcherery, the orders are still coming in thick and fast.
:25:25. > :25:29.file kilo and a smaller one, what chickens? Cheers. Ta. Tom, can you
:25:29. > :25:37.grab me a five kilo chicken and a three kilo chicken for Ashley.
:25:37. > :25:40.Today? Now. Hopefully we've got the orders right so nobody complains.
:25:40. > :25:50.One woman yesterday ordered a goose and she come in and said she wanted
:25:50. > :25:52.
:25:52. > :25:56.a turkey and brought it back. She came back for the goose. It happens.
:25:56. > :26:01.You can fit a couple more of these in. Any more of these? There's a
:26:01. > :26:09.full box up there. For new shop manager Nicki, today, he must
:26:09. > :26:19.really prove his worthment Who's on till there's? Euan on till one.
:26:19. > :26:27.He'll help out. You have Linda and Tammy here and John -- Jan there.
:26:27. > :26:33.There's a mini crisis in the yard. The fruit and veg are getting
:26:33. > :26:43.drenched outside. As usual Roland's taking charge. Rain before seven,
:26:43. > :26:44.
:26:44. > :26:49.supposed to finish at 11. Pass them over. They started getting wet.
:26:49. > :26:54.Keep it dry. Stack them there and we'll put
:26:54. > :27:01.these on the outside. Get the fork lift to bring the rubbish bins
:27:02. > :27:08.facing in, and that will stop the rain coming in. Chuck that outside.
:27:08. > :27:15.Terrible, isn't it? Bring them all in here, food and buy food to go
:27:15. > :27:18.home. That's what we want today. Meanwhile, novice manager Nicki is
:27:18. > :27:23.oblivious to the rain and concentrates on customer service.
:27:23. > :27:27.What do you want them for, just for roasting? Yes. I'd go for the
:27:27. > :27:37.chipping potatoes. Put them straight in the oven to roast them.
:27:37. > :27:49.
:27:49. > :27:59.They make lovely roasties, that one So far so good. Everything's going
:27:59. > :28:06.
:28:06. > :28:11.to Clockwork. We've about three It is very busy because we've got
:28:11. > :28:15.to do all the prep for the day, for the shop, everything comes from the
:28:15. > :28:20.kitchen. So it's a case of we've got to do all. That but I think
:28:20. > :28:30.cooking wise, the most busiest day of the year for food going out into
:28:30. > :28:32.
:28:32. > :28:37.the cafe is Mother's Day. Cooking As one of the busiest days of the
:28:37. > :28:41.year draws to a close, the staff seem quite pleased about how things
:28:41. > :28:48.have gone. It's my first year in the shop as manager, it's been good,
:28:48. > :28:53.tiring, enjoyable, different. Yes, very happy, yeah. We've come to the
:28:53. > :28:57.end of the day. Everybody's having their turkeys hopefully. This is
:28:57. > :29:01.what's left to supply us through to the new year. We've worked as a
:29:01. > :29:04.good team this year. We've got a good team in. We need to keep that
:29:04. > :29:14.going now. Next year will be easier, hopefully and busier. Hopefully
:29:14. > :29:16.
:29:16. > :29:23.everybody will come back and want more. It's the end of the day and
:29:23. > :29:27.Coral has been given another role. Born a scrubber, always a scrubber.
:29:27. > :29:33.After weeks of preparation, it looks as though all their hard work
:29:33. > :29:36.has paid off. And that the Watkins empire has had a good Christmas.
:29:36. > :29:42.Music to Roland's ears. It's nice to see all the people coming in,
:29:42. > :29:48.after all the work we done. Could be nobody come. But nice toe see
:29:48. > :29:58.the car park's jam packed. Should be like it every day, shouldn't it?
:29:58. > :29:59.