Episode 4 Meet the Watkins

Hidden away in the Gwendraeth Valley, West Wales,

is a family business like no other.

In the last count, I'm sure it was 18 family members working here.

They are the fruit and veg mafia of Gorslas.

HE LAUGHS

There's me, I'm Roland.

There's Stuart, Reuben,

Tom, Davina,

Rachel, Coral works here.

Born a scrubber, always a scrubber!

And then, there's Moya,

Kim,

Maria,

my son, William.

AIR GUSHES

Down! You'll rip a hole in it.

Stuart's son, John, is working here.

Eh... Reuben - his son Luke is working here.

I've got to go and kill it! What do you expect me to do?

His daughter Marie-Alice is working here.

Ashley,

Nicky.

Eh... Who else is working here? I can't think who's working here.

Also, I've just forgot, I'd better tell you,

my wife is working there, Gina, or I'll be in trouble!

Don't know, I can't think of anybody else off the top of my head.

I think I've got around a few.

How many did you count?

This time, on Meet The Watkins,

the sheep flock get their annual haircut,

birds take over the farm yard...

..and Roland hopes for a win at the Royal Welsh.

It's early summer and usually the busiest season for the family business.

Cwmcerrig farm is midway between Swansea and Carmarthen.

And the Watkins family empire is a familiar sight

for many who travel along the A48 on their way to West Wales.

It's shearing time and local contractor Geraint Rees and his team

have been called to the farm for the day

to relieve some 250 sheep of their fleeces.

Today, it's hot,

but it's a rare sunny day in what's been quite a miserable summer.

And the whole farming year is behind schedule.

It's late this year, about three weeks later than normal,

cos the weather has been cold and wet.

Contractors come every year. We used to have New Zealand boys come over.

Geraint now has taken over.

There's about 242. There's ewes to do, black-faced ewes.

Get back, man.

We've got pedigree Texels to do, ewes and rams.

I've been shearing here for the last seven years, I think.

Yes, it goes back quite a while.

When I first started, I think they had over 500 sheep.

They've cut back since they've opened the shop.

Just...I think, simplifying the business.

One thing you can guarantee with Cwmcerrig is that they're going to have big sheep.

They're big boys, they are big sheep.

And off they go!

Nearly 250 sheep to shear as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Time is money for these boys!

I figure we can do 40 an hour.

That's erm...we'd be going well if we do that.

Over the course of May and June,

that'd be 30,000 sheep on our run to do altogether,

so it's a few hard days' work.

These rams are worth a penny or two.

I know he's paid a lot for some of them.

And I think he's bred a couple of outstanding ones,

which may be worth more than the ones he's bought.

Yeah, you want to take care of these,

you don't want to cut a few things off that shouldn't be cut off.

As long as he's got all his giblets,

at the end of it, it's all right.

The Watkins do good business in the winter

with the sale of Christmas turkeys.

Today is an important day at the farm,

as over 1,000 day-old turkey chicks arrive.

250 by here now, in this pen, we hope.

253 of them? Oh, 255.

Every 200, they give you two extra, they're supposed to.

I can't put the box down.

Yeah.

Within minutes of arriving,

the next stage is to introduce them to their first feed.

Turkey starter crumbs,

so they get off to start.

First time they've been fed since they hatched.

They have all the food they can eat.

They've got to. If they don't have all the food they can eat, they start eating each other.

A day old and a first feel for their new home,

though there's a slight problem with the central heating!

Soon these are going to be warm, are they? Yeah, they're going to...

They're pushing on the sides there.

Lift the heat up a little bit?

We're adjusting the heat there,

cos the turkeys are pushing through the sides

cos they're getting too hot.

So we take the heat up a bit so they've got a bit less heat on them.

Pick that up a bit more.

They get too hot, they're going to dehydrate, aren't they?

So what happens, they pile up

and the ones underneath suffocate and die.

They'll be on the heat now for about four weeks

and then they'll come off the heat and they'll be away then.

Stuart has quite an eye for the birds

and has a soft spot for the peacocks and hens that frequent the farmyard.

To his surprise, there's some new additions to the family.

She laid three eggs

and was sitting on them for quite a while and hatched two.

They're are about a month old now.

Well, she sat on the eggs on top of a big stack of hay

about 15 feet in the air.

After about six weeks, one morning up there,

she was walking and beside were these two little ones.

Two little balls of fluff.

She'd hatched two, so I went up

and brought the eggs that hadn't hatched with me, like.

I doubt if it'll happen now, mind,

but one cock's been here for about, I don't know, 12, 15 years

and we bought these last year.

They came, we bought them in Ffairfach.

It was a Saturday when William got married, and Kate.

So that's Kate and the cock who came with her is William.

We've got our own William and Kate!

The shearing is finished

and the Cwmcerrig flock seem happy to be rid of their fleeces.

It's been a tough day for the shearing team

but it's not over yet.

We'll be doing another bunch of...

probably do another 200-ish for tonight, just to round the day off.

We've got to pack as many into the day as we possibly can,

cos like I said, we are way behind with things,

so it's a case of catching up and we'll get there in the end.

Yes, so, onto the next job, no?

Agricultural shows are a big feature of the summer months.

Not this year, though, as the weather forced many to be cancelled.

So having missed out on the smaller shows,

Roland is taking his pedigree Texel lambs straight to the country's biggest show,

where he's hoping to get an elusive first prize.

Come on, gally. Shut the gate, Flukie.

Come on, then.

'We went into Texels in the year 2000.

'We went up, had a look in 2001 and decided to start showing in 2002.'

We had a fifth prize for a ram lamb.

That was our start

and to date, the best we've had is second for a group of three

and third for a yearling tup.

That was our best so far.

So we'll try and approve this year, but I'm not guaranteeing it.

This year's lambing has produced some good stock

and Roland and his brother Reuben

have chosen the best pick of the crop for showing.

Bit of washing.

'We've got four Texel lambs going up tomorrow,

'two ram lambs and two ewe lambs.

'They'd been born middle of February

'so what were they, four months? Four months.

'I weighed them last Thursday.

'They've come on well. I'm quite pleased with them. Yes.

'Usually on the Royal Welsh, we've done a couple of shows before.

'After you've done one or two shows'

they seem as if they come to know what to expect

and the sheep, they come to it.

This year, the Royal Welsh is going to be the first show

and only show, it's the only one we're doing.

Because of the weather, the lambs haven't been shown before

so Roland has to make sure that they're looking at their very best.

187.

'When you come to the back ends,'

you brush it down so it's nice and tidy

and then brush it out, to get the wool to stick out

so it gives the impression...

You look at that, see it?

And then you look from by there, and you brush it up.

It makes it look a lot wider, so anyone standing beside the ring,

"Duw, good arse on that."

Out of all four lambs chosen for the show, Roland has his favourite.

I think we think he's our best lamb.

He's got a cracking head on him.

Nice dark nose, good eye features,

bold eye there. He's nice and white, naturally white.

He's had no colouring whatsoever and from here to here, look,

a hell of a good length to get the loin on him.

That's what you want, when his offspring is going to come back,

coming down the ladder to the plate, that's what you're looking at.

Really good tight skin, look.

Much tighter than the last one we had.

You look there, you can see how tight it is.

Put your finger in, straight full.

Good back end, good, solid back end.

Good on his legs.

What more do you want?

Should be the best lamb there.

We'll wait and see!

Sunday morning and time to get things under way

ready for the off for Royal Welsh week

and this morning, Gina, Roland's wife, is in charge of the caravan.

It is Roland's annual holiday!

I know we've got the sheep

and we have to feed them and bed them and things,

but it really is a holiday.

It must be one of the focal points of Wales for the year

because the Royal Welsh is, everybody gets together

and everybody enjoys, I think.

The only downside is, there might be a lot of farmers missing

because they'll be busy doing silage

but yes, the Royal Welsh I really enjoy.

SHEEP BLEAT

Things are getting busy in the sheep shed

and Roland has got some friends and fellow show competitors

to give him a hand to prepare and load up, ready for the show.

It's heavy. 70 kilos that's all it is.

Not far off from leaving

but one job left to do.

Just about ready.

Change my shirt and my shoes, we'll be about ready. Are we going?

I'll send those sheep out now, change my shoes and be ready to go.

And off they go.

Llanelwedd, here we come!

24 hours prior to the first competition of the Royal Welsh Show

and things are flat out at the show ground.

Over the weekend, some 7,500 animals are making their way to Llanelwedd

with over 3,000 of them being sheep.

Gina and Roland have found the pens

which will be home for their lambs for the next four days.

'Everything is about show up here. That's what we come here for.

'It'll be a hard competition, I think.'

Quite happy. They look all right.

Don't know if they'll be champions

but they'll be something we can be quite proud of.

Oh, Duw, Duw!

Knackered already!

It's been a busy day for both Gina and Roland

and just the caravan to sort out

before they can finally relax and start to unwind.

'We used to find, every time we went off even for a day,

'we'd go up to the Royal for a day

'and whenever you come back the next day, there was always problems.

'You'd come to the point, it was hardly worth going

'cos you're always sorting problems out the next day.'

It's a bit easier now with the shop, it's more in one place,

it's not spread out like we were on the markets

and working on the farm and doing everything. Yeah.

It's more confined so I think it's easier, to be honest.

I don't particularly like hotels myself.

When it's the caravan, it mightn't be much but it's ours,

so I feel at home in it.

I'm more comfortable. Yes.

It is a week away, it's a holiday.

It's one of those things, it's my holiday as well.

I won't cook a thing this week! It'll be lovely.

I try not to boil the kettle often.

Sunday night showing tomorrow, quiet night, supposed to be.

Let's hope it sticks to that.

Once tomorrow's over, then all the pressure's gone

and then after, you've only got Tuesday, Wednesday

and then Thursday. Itchy then, can't wait to go home.

ANNOUNCER: 'He's making a final decision for,

'is how suitable all of these turnouts would have been...'

Monday morning and it's showtime.

'..the four wheel vehicle, having matching tyres...'

Today is a big day for the Watkins family.

'It's a couple of hours till showing time.

'Hopefully, I know everybody's saying, "Get the sun out,"

'but hopefully it doesn't come too hot

'that they start panting, and things,

'before they go out, and get a little bit stressed

'because they want to be outside.'

Hopefully the animal will show itself

but not to allow it just to stand there

and look very docile, and things,

it needs to look quite perky, you know?

It's his modelling career.

SHE CHUCKLES

The weather for the Royal Welsh week is better than expected.

Today, Reuben and his wife Marie

take advantage of the break in the bad weather

to visit the show with their two youngest children.

This is our annual outing, innit? Come to the show.

Yes, to come to the show every year.

It's our anniversary today so she's happy, now,

that I took her out for the day! No, I'm not happy yet!

Cos we haven't won anything yet, so I can't be happy yet, can I?

She's not very happy cos I said I'm not coming up Thursday. No.

Cos we normally come out for the two days

and I want to come back up Thursday

but, obviously, with the weather being as it is,

he's got to do the silage, so...I'll come up on me own.

Reuben works seven days a week on the farm

so days like this are special for both him and his daughter Frances.

Will I stick it on for you?

'It's very emotional to have a day here and there,

'when I can catch one to spend time with her.

'I don't see her, she's in school five days a week.

'Otherwise, I wouldn't get to see her only in the evenings, when she's tired

'so, we enjoy it when we can.'

'It is very important for Aaron to have our time

'because, obviously, Frances does take up a lot of our needs

'because of how she is.

'Erm, and he does get left out, you know?

'It's important that he feels that he is still part of the family

'and, also, sometimes, you know, he tends to think,

' "Oh, you love Frances more than us."

'You know, trying to explain that to him...'

is a bit hard sometimes

but, yeah, it is really important for him to know

that we are still there for him as well as all the rest, isn't it?

Gina and Roland have been called into the sheep ring,

ready for showing...

..and things are a little tense.

Just hoop it. This is it...

..now or never.

Which one am I...? Go in front Adam.

They're not very well trained!

After months of preparation and hard work,

it's the moment of truth for the Watkins family.

In total, there's a class of 97 rams to be judged.

It's a huge competition,

with the country's finest Texel yearling rams all in one show ring.

Good boy. Good boy.

Good boy.

We got keep his halter on there - give him handles!

Pressure's on and Reuben has arrived ringside

just in the nick of time to keep a watchful eye on his brother.

It's a long waiting game for everyone

and tensions are running high.

The judge has now eliminated half the class

but it's good news as he's just put Roland's favourite ram

through to the next round.

'It's good to get this far, innit?'

We'll see now.

We'll see if we can get a card now - that's the next thing.

It can only get better, eh? HE CHUCKLES

Judge David McKerrow takes his time making his final choice.

The lambs are set loose to see what they're like on the move.

Will Roland's ram survive the next elimination?

Yes, he's still in the final few!

At last! The judges decision on the top ram goes to...

..the Watkins. It's their first ever win at the Royal Welsh

and a very emotional one for Roland, who is lost for words.

First time ever, innit?

Just over the moon,

to win the Royal Welsh, can't get any better than that, don't think.

Just chuffed. Ah, this is good, this is good. It's well worth it, innit?

Yes. Better than the X Factor!

SHE CHUCKLES

I liked the length of him, and his skin, and he had a light male head.

He was very male looking.

The second lamb was a wee bit feminine -

just a wee bit light, light of his bone -

and that's what swayed me from between the two.

It's been a long afternoon but a great day for the Watkins family.

After ten years of showing their pedigree Texel sheep

at the Royal Welsh Show, they finally have a first prize.

It's certainly a day to remember for everyone.

Mavis!

That's good!

'You never expect to have a first -'

you hope but you never expect.

And when you do it is really emotional. Really lovely.

I can't tell you what it's like, honestly.

I'm trying to put my rosettes now! SHE CHUCKLES

Mine, not mine, the family's!

This is the best we've had so far.

I mean, er, and that big class I got...

pleased with that.

A win at the Royal Welsh Show isn't complete without a celebration

with fellow competitors and friends.

We've had a card before

but to have a first at the Royal Welsh, that's incredible.

It really is.

It's hard. You've seen the classes.

Yes, everybody understands there's bloody good sheep there.

It's actually quite emotional because it's something you don't expect.

You hope for but you don't expect, so it is, yes.

I said to Roland, oh, he's not going to have nothing,

he's going to have a card but nothing, not more what he had.

So I'm glad he's had something and, no, very good,

very well done to him and the family of course, innit.

Flushed with their success,

Roland and Gina can relax now for the rest of the day.

Back at the family farm the work has to carry on.

The good weather of the Royal Welsh week

means the rest of the Watkins family

can get on with some of the jobs they've had to put off.

So, time to cut and harvest silage

to ensure plenty of winter feed for the farm animals.

And it's all hands on deck, including trainee butcher Luke.

I'm just a driver today.

Taking the bales from the field down to the bottom yard

and Stuart's unloading them with the tractor.

My dad's out, he's on the baler,

so he's baling and wrapping in one field,

and Gareth's down the other field.

He's raking up, now,

getting ready for Dad to go down there to get baling.

Then he got me and Stuart, then

bringing them from the fields to the bottom yard

ready to mature a bit, ready for the cows for the winter.

Rain's supposed to be coming in tomorrow. A lot of pressure.

We've got to get all the bales off before the rain

otherwise the tractor can't get back out here or the pickup.

Very wet farming in here.

Clay keeps the water,

so once it rains we need two weeks of nice weather to get it dried back up

so that we can get the tractors back on here.

Otherwise they'll be too much mud in the bales,

they'll be no good for our cows.

No feed for the cows, no animals for the butchery,

no money for the workers, no money for no-one.

Farmhand Gareth is a key part of the team.

'I started mowing, mowed the field Saturday,

'er, and cos the weather was going to be good this week

'we left it dry for couple of days.'

Erm, but most farms round here, they'll probably get contractors

but we do everything ourselves.

It saves a bit of money as well, see, and there's plenty of guys here

and we're not having to wait around for people, see?

So, it works out easier for us.

Every season Reuben would do the mowing,

I'd come in, I'd turn the fields, turn them twice...

er, and then I'd roll up and he'd be on the baler,

he's always on the baler,

so if something goes wrong I can't get blame then! HE CHUCKLES

'Some takers, I think.

'We had a big mow to do but I don't think we'll manage that before it rain

So, we'll be more than halfway, we're getting on the three-quarters.

Turn bale to hay tomorrow, now, and we're nearly there.

'I enjoy it because I'm on my own, you know.'

I don't have anybody shouting at me, so...

But, then again, it's,

it's nice to be around everybody at same time, if you know what I mean?

So, everybody's getting on with work, so...it is enjoyable.

Even though the silage making is keeping everyone busy,

Stuart has decided to take a day out from the farm

and for the first time in 30 years has made his way to the Royal Welsh

with his fiancee Moyer.

It hasn't changed much since the last time I was here! LAUGHS

Hot and crowded!

'We've been to the flowers,

'we've seen a few of the flower displays, they were good.

'And just general walk about, really.

'See if there's any new, er, produce for the shop

'and things like that, and see what's about.

'We walked around first thing this morning'

and we've got a lot of the things in the shop.

There's a lot we have got already, so...looking for new things, really.

But how have things been at home while Roland's been away?

'Oh, peaceful!' STUART LAUGHS

I just want to say, a pity! No, it is.

No shouting, everybody's calm! THEY LAUGH

Till Friday.

HE LAUGHS

'What happens on Friday?'

Well, he's home Friday! Yes.

We'll be on the ball tomorrow, now. Everything will be in its place!

And then he'll always find something.

He will, he'll find something, I know he will!

It's the end of the Royal Welsh week

and for both Gina and Roland it's been a week to remember.

'It's been a really lovely week weather-wise, it's been fantastic.'

It's a real big social event. It's been very good, innit?

You can't walk anywhere

without meeting up with somebody you know and having a chat.

You says, "I'll meet you in ten minutes"

and it takes two hours to get there because you get talking to somebody! HE LAUGHS

That's the worst problem, probably.

But, no, it's been really good.

I don't know where she is taking me tonight

because it's our wedding anniversary today!

She hasn't said that she's taking out. SHE LAUGHS

I was expecting a real romantic planned evening, you know?

But it looks as if it's up to me again!

You don't believe that, do you? THEY LAUGH

It's three years since the Watkins took the big decision

to build the farm shop.

It's provided stability and work for the extensive Watkins clan.

When they started, they couldn't be sure what the outcome would be

but, for Roland, it was a risk worth taking.

When we first started on this project, it was a big project,

we didn't envisage spending half the money what we spent on it

but, er, looking back over the time, er,

I think it was the right thing to do to secure a future for the family

cos there's a lot of family members working here. I think it was.

It makes the business more substantial

than what we were doing before, out of markets and things.

You could quarrel with the toby and be kicked off the market.

Well, that can't happen by here.

So, I think it's put a much more secure future for the family

and that was what the aim of the whole thing was.

If my mother had been alive she'd be as pleased as punch.

I couldn't even tell you how much.

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