Ludlow The Farmers' Country Showdown

Across the country,

thousands of farming families work tirelessly around the clock.

Oh!

Stop arguing, girls, give over.

HE WHISTLES

But there's one day each year

where they get to leave the daily routine behind.

Right. Here we come, Dorset.

These are show days...

A very, very warm welcome to this show.

..when they come together as a community...

..to showcase the fruits of their labour...

I just love showing my girls off.

..and try to win prizes for their breed champions...

-Smashed it.

-SHEEP BLEATS

..and award-winning produce.

That's a really nice cheese, that.

It was very good, darling.

There will be highs...

That's what we want to see, red.

-Red is the best.

-..and lows...

She's not happy enough to go.

..for the dedicated farmers who give everything to walk away a champion.

Fingers crossed!

As we become a nation of eaters who are more tempted by the exotic...

..thousands of farmers across the country are finding ways to satisfy

-our palates.

-This is where the magic happens.

Farm worker turned rapeseed oil-maker Rupert Bennett and his wife Tracey...

..and dairy farmer turned luxury ice cream maker Gillian Kirton...

..are busy preparing to launch their latest delicacies...

-What flavours would you like?

-I want the pinky one.

..at one of the most prestigious food festivals in the country.

There are an awful lot of people here.

The people that are here are the best in their field.

Success here could make or break their businesses.

It's great making people happy.

The open countryside of rural Worcestershire is perfect

grazing ground for dairy cows.

And Gillian is a fourth-generation farmer who relishes the lifestyle,

which she shares with her father Michael.

HE WHISTLES

-The bull, that's the young bull, that one.

-Yeah. Well,

that's definitely not going to calf, that one.

My family has been here at Churchfields now for over 100 years,

I think it's 102 years, so it's been a dairy farm here all that time.

We farm about 350 acres and our dairy herd is just over 100 cows.

Like her great-grandparents before her,

Gillian lives on the farm with all of her family.

-Whoa!

-That was your fault.

Gillian's parents live in one farmhouse and, very conveniently,

she lives next-door with her husband and three children.

It's a brilliant place to bring up my family, the kids love it.

Herdsman Martin also lives on the farm.

His job is supposed to be looking after their pedigree dairy cows.

Martin. This one's water bucket hasn't got any in it.

-This big one over here is a one.

-OK.

But he's also a dab hand at child-wrangling as well as getting

everyone to muck in.

-I like feeding the cows.

-Driving the tractors.

That one was thirsty.

Gillian and father Michael

hope that the children will one day follow in their farming footsteps

and so far, Gillian's youngest daughter Jennifer is definitely on board.

I want to be a farmer.

Let's have a look over here.

Oh, this one's a girl.

So it's called Shogun Heidi, so the name of the sire was Shogun.

-That means the man.

-The father, yes, and the mother was...

-Heidi.

-..Heidi.

We're very lucky to have such an outdoor life,

such beautiful space to grow up in.

It is good fun, good family life, I'd say.

Who's feeding them this weekend, then? Who's on duty?

We can't, we're too busy. We've got homework.

We're all hands on with everything, really.

There you are, you can bed them down.

And I've worked the whole time I've had my children,

there's no such thing as maternity leave on a dairy farm,

but that's just the way it is.

I couldn't ever imagine doing anything else and have no regrets, never, you know?

We work hard but enjoy our lives, I think, you know?

Yeah, it's really good.

But the life of a dairy farmer has become increasingly precarious.

These days, in some places, milk will often sell for less than bottled water.

The milk price, well, I mean, it's still bad, isn't it?

But times have been tough and I'm not sure that we've ever had particularly

really buoyant times within the dairy farm.

The threat of disease is a constant fear.

Foot and mouth, that was a pretty dire time

and we were lucky it didn't come here, did it?

But it came pretty close.

We didn't go out. Couldn't go out for a beer, nothing.

-Saved a bob or two, I suppose.

-We were stuck, stuck down here.

You always have ups and downs in farming and in my time,

you know, times get tough, you tighten your belt and you do the work yourself.

You know, selling up was always an option, but...

it's something neither of us wanted to do.

So, like many other dairy farmers,

if they didn't want to lose their home,

they have to come up with a plan.

You can't just rely on farming nowadays,

you've got to think outside the box.

And 12 years ago, they struck upon an idea.

What can you do with hundreds of litres of milk?

Easy.

Make ice cream.

What I liked about it was that you can make it today and sell it tomorrow

-and at my time of life, that's quite important. If we made cheese...

-We'd looked at cheese.

..we'd have to hang onto it for six months before you can start selling it.

Yeah, he'd have driven me nuts, the thought of having to wait and watch his milk maturing.

25 miles away in the scenic Shropshire countryside

is another farmer with a big dream.

With Poppy the dog by his side,

farm worker Rupert is halfway through a long shift harvesting wheat.

We've done this for ten, 12 hours, and it's

11 o'clock at night, and you're thinking, "I haven't had my tea yet

"and there's another couple of hours to go yet."

Having her just as that little bit of company makes a massive,

massive difference.

Life out in the fields can be lonely, but for 47-year-old Rupert,

it's always been his first love.

Farming is really all I ever wanted to do.

Now I've been doing it for well over 30 years.

Worked with all sorts of aspects of farming,

from milking cattle at five o'clock in the morning to where I am now,

which is I work for an arable farm.

Unfortunately not born into a farming family,

so, therefore, I've worked for farmers really my entire working life.

But Rupert was keen to start working for himself

and the seed from one particular crop he grows inspired a new venture,

not only for him but for his wife, Tracey, too.

One Saturday morning, we were watching a cookery programme on the TV.

One of the chefs on there was using rapeseed oil and Tracey and I both

sort of looked at each other and thought, "Well, hang on a minute,

"as part of my job on the farm, we grow rapeseed.

"Why couldn't we do that?"

Rupert's idea to make rapeseed oil was born

and he decided to make it a family affair as Tracey,

disheartened with her career in sales,

decided to give up her job and join him.

She was selling to some pretty unappreciative people

and I noticed that every day, she'd come back and her shoulders were

just a little bit lower and she was a little bit more fed up,

and really not enjoying her working life as it were.

Lots of couples, I suppose, they take up a hobby together.

Well, we've taken a business up, if you like.

It was a gamble for the couple, but they were passionate about making it work.

I knew I could produce it,

Tracey with her sales background could sell it.

All of a sudden, things started to make a little bit of sense.

In our working lives, we've made a lot of money for a lot of people.

We thought, "Hang on, we can make a little bit of money for ourselves here as well, you know."

Whether it be a pension,

I don't think we're ever going to be millionaires off the back of it,

but if we have a great journey - brilliant.

So to enjoy what you do I think is really important too.

And that's how their new venture started.

We'd actually gone out and purchased a little press first,

just to make sure that the seed Rupert was growing actually tasted good,

before we actually went ahead with production.

Well, it was actually delicious, wasn't it?

-For what it was, it was beautiful.

-Really quite gentle.

It only took two months to set up their small business,

which they now run from shipping containers on the farm where Rupert works.

Which does have its benefits.

That's the horses that are owned by my boss, but our office window

is just through there, so when I sit in our office, that's what I get a look at.

Rupert not only harvests the seed, but he makes the oil too.

This is where the magic happens.

Over the last two years, it has kept him busy 24/7

as he still works full-time managing his boss's farm.

I have my farming role, as it were,

and then my production role and that sort of thing in the evenings

and at weekends.

So far, so good, and they have high hopes for the future.

We want to push the boundaries and see where it can go.

Sort of just move out and go the whole of the UK.

Back in Worcestershire,

the day-to-day work on Gillian's farm is never-ending.

There you go, little ones.

Especially with an ice cream dairy and a newly added cafe to run.

People are just as interested in it being locally produced.

They love to hear that we are actually still a dairy farm.

As much as we do all this ice cream and we're known for the ice cream,

the dairy herd and the cows are still very much at the heart of everything.

But what's also put them on the ice cream map has been their very unusual flavours.

Dad had read an article somewhere about cheese ice cream,

so we decided to make a couple of different batches.

We made Parmesan, which was a bit grim, and Stilton ice cream,

which actually was surprisingly nice.

The town of Ludlow in Shropshire has become a famous foodie destination

and its renowned food and drink festival is just days away.

Gillian and her family are hoping to showcase an exciting new ice cream

flavour at the festival, which will help consolidate their reputation.

Ludlow is definitely the foodie festival of the year because I think

the standard of products that they sell there are really high.

It's kind of prestigious for us to say that we go to Ludlow food show.

With the pressure on, Gillian is working with Claire,

her chief ice cream maker, and helper Kurt.

We'll try something new, try something a bit different.

As we're quite well-known for having different flavours and trying

-different things.

-We could try a bit of a winter warmer one,

-maybe a chocolate chilli ice cream?

-Ooh, yeah.

-That could be quite nice.

What about trying to keep the slight summer theme though,

as we're holding on to the end of the summer.

The brainstorm's working, Gillian has an idea.

Cream tea ice cream.

-Ooh, wow!

-With some strawberry jam.

-Yeah.

-And swirl that through, crumble the scones.

-Mm!

-I think that's a good idea.

And as soon as the new flavour is hatched,

there's no time to waste getting

the new clotted cream tea ice cream made up.

It's a two-day process.

On day one, we will bring the milk across from the milking parlour.

Obviously raw milk, so it goes into a pasteuriser,

which means that it's brought up to 82 degrees,

that's when we add all the different sugars and double cream and things

to make what we call a base mix.

Once the base mix is ready,

the fun can begin with their own freshly baked scones

and strawberry jam puree.

It's the best thing in the world, making ice cream.

Gillian has built a reputation on quirky,

luxury flavours and she needs this one to be just as good.

You don't want anything too massive, obviously, because it'll go into the ice cream and freeze, so we don't

want people to get big chunks of frozen scones.

It's like anything, when you're doing it by hand, you'll get different sizes, but I reckon...

that sort of size is about right.

Happy with the size of her chunks,

the next stage is to mix it all together.

We're good to go.

I'll do the chucking in.

This is a test batch

and Gillian and Claire need to work out the perfect balance

of the three ingredients.

Mm!

It smells amazing because you can smell, obviously, the strawberries

that are going in and the smell of scones as well, so it really does

actually smell like an afternoon tea.

There we go. It's all yummy and fresh.

Hopefully, if it goes down really well, it will all sell out.

Good.

Hopes are high for the new flavour,

but before it's unveiled at the festival,

it has to go through a rigorous family taste test.

I like scones and the strawberry and the ice cream.

-So, do you like at all?

-Yeah.

Yeah, it's good! So, it's a winner?

-Yeah.

-Excellent.

I really like it, I think big bits of scone are OK.

-Can I have some more, please?

-Is that your third helping?

THEY LAUGH

Right, everyone, so what is the verdict?

Do you think we've got it right?

Do we need to do any tweaking?

-I don't know, what do you think?

-Winner.

You think it's a winner. Ed?

-Definitely.

-Good.

-I think it's good, I think it's really good.

-Excellent. Dad?

-Make sure we've got enough of it!

Poor old Claire. So, thumbs up or thumbs down, everyone?

-Thumbs up!

-Thumbs up!

The family love it. Now it's just the public to impress.

Anticipation for the festival is also building over in Shropshire.

Well, Ludlow is massive for us.

It's one of the most exciting times of the year.

There's so much work that goes in before we actually get there,

there's all the preparation.

Making sure that we've got the oil spot on.

It's just getting everything there, isn't it?

Making sure it looks great.

Last year's festival was their launch and it was a terrifying prospect.

It's like a singer on X Factor, they think they're very good, don't they?

Until they come up against the judges. Well, we came up against the judges and we were...

-Yeah, rewarded with a bronze medal.

-It was good.

But they were beginners and had a lot to learn.

Last year was wonderful, except that we hadn't made enough bottles to go

with. This year, I'm aiming to take very nearly a thousand bottles.

With close to 400 litres of oil to make,

Rupert is having to put in extra hours.

You've bottled how many bottles?

We've bottled 700 bottles yesterday.

It's nonstop for this couple.

The cold press runs 24 hours a day.

As well as the oil, this process also creates a leftover product -

rape seed cake.

And in farming, nothing goes to waste.

Rupert sells the rape seed cake on to local farmers like Richard,

who mixes it with barley to make a high-protein feed for his cows.

This was good for both of us, really, me being just up the road.

That's right.

Local produce into local cattle, as it were, I suppose.

You know, we might start introducing it to sheep as well.

It looks quite positive for the future as well.

While Rupert's out and about, Tracey's also got her hands full.

Darling, I'm coming over your way

and I was wondering how many cans you would like me to bring?

Four times five litre.

She once worked on a high-end beauty counter,

so she knows how to charm the clients.

I do all of the deliveries.

It means I can build great relationships with our customers.

You know, the chefs, I pop in, see them, have a chat.

Today, Tracey is dropping off some oil to award-winning local chef

Chris Burt.

-Hello.

-How are you doing, my darling? You OK?

-Yeah, not bad.

-Keeping busy?

-Oh, yeah.

So, how's it been going with the oil?

-Really well.

-So, what are you up to today, then?

-Venison.

-Oh, I love venison!

-Do you want some?

-I would adore some.

Making catering can sizes was a little bit of a hurdle to get over.

But pretty quickly that's become quite a big part of our business,

you know, and to have really good-quality chefs,

great chefs that really are passionate about what they do and the ingredients that they use

and treat those ingredients with some real respect,

it's fantastic to be part of.

-Here we go.

-Oh, wow!

So you've got the venison cooked in your lovely oil.

With liquorice, some fennel and bacon crumb.

Yeah, I get to eat some wonderful food on my travels,

so that's one of the rewards.

Chris, I have to say...

..that is beautiful.

Thank you.

Now they've begun to grow their network of customers in the restaurant world,

they're looking to expand further.

At Ludlow this year, we're launching properly our new dressings.

We're nervous and excited. They're our new baby, if you like

and it's part of our range that we really,

really hope is going to do well for us.

You're getting in touch with the public and if they love it, foodies,

basically, then you know that you're onto a winner.

After weeks of planning and preparation,

it's finally time to pack up for the festival.

Kurt's loading up the 20 flavours of ice cream.

But success is never guaranteed.

It depends on the weather. On a cold, wet, horrible day, you are

never going to sell as much as on a really hot, sunny day, because,

you know, when we have a really good year, it can be great,

but then you have a bad one and it's pretty rubbish.

If you've got something good and you believe in, that's half the battle.

And half of the planning is making sure you've got enough stock,

which we think we may have, but then half of you thinks,

"Hey, hope we sell out."

It's time to set off at Ludlow.

Whilst Rupert and Tracey are full of hopes for a second year of success,

all Gillian can do is hope for better weather.

Right, then, off we go.

Overlooking the picturesque hills of southern Shropshire,

the Ludlow Food Festival is coming to life at the grounds of its 11th century castle.

For the 180 small independent producers setting up their stalls,

this prestigious event is the pinnacle of the food festival season.

This is our tenth time.

Today, we're here to introduce our wines to Ludlow festival.

I'm here to sell as many Scotch eggs as I can, thank you.

To show here,

their farms and businesses must lie within 25 miles of the English Welsh

border and their products approved by a special panel.

The selection committee do tastings

and if we think they're well worthy, then, yeah, they're absolutely in.

A lot of the producers are farmers themselves.

People have gone on, like Tyrrells crisps started with us

and now they are mega.

They've just been sold for 300 million.

The festival gates will open in half an hour

and the pressure is on for today to be a success.

But the damp and cold weather is a worry for Gillian.

Oh, let's hope it warms up a bit.

Her stall is set up within the old walls of the castle

and there's just enough time to spruce up the shop front.

Waah! That's my toe, though!

-A little tiny one.

-Rupert and Tracey are setting up their stall safely

under the shelter of the festival marquee.

Well, it's all a bit frantic to start with,

but we get into the swing of it.

They've roped in Rupert's twin sister Rachel and his daughter Emma

to help. There's more stock here than last year

and it will take a lot to shift.

They are able to articulate really what we're about and they're really good salespeople.

Yeah, they're behind us all the way.

They're very happy to help us, so, you know...

-We do have to pay them as well, though.

-They're getting some money, of course they are.

But the weather is no joke.

The light drizzle has turned into a full-on downpour.

It's looking a bit grim, to be honest.

Despite the weather, Gillian and Kurt plough on.

It's going to be a nightmare. This is going to do this all morning.

Every time we do it, it will steam up again.

As the ice cream lids come off, they try to stay positive.

Hopefully, it's as they say, rain at seven, fine by 11,

so fingers crossed, it'll clear up a bit later on.

And although Tracey's stall isn't hostage to the elements,

they have their hopes pinned on sharing their products to as many people as possible.

OK, I need another half a dozen of the 500ml, please, Rach.

And then four honey mustard.

Brilliant. Right, I think we're all set.

But Rupert's seal of approval is needed too.

All right, what's it look like from a distance?

And he isn't quite happy with the display yet.

Can you just pop my apron down?

I think that banner is lost where it is.

That's looking better. Happy with that.

Tracey takes another look and has some further adjustments.

You could do with making that sign a bit little clearer.

That board just needs to be a bit cleaner, doesn't it?

At the last minute, she's come up with more ideas to draw people in and promote the business.

We need sort of, like, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

Maybe on one of the smaller ones

and then if we could actually put on here the health benefits.

Healthy and delicious, just little things.

OK. It's hard to write in chalk.

-I know.

-We've not thought about doing that before.

-It was Tracey's idea.

-Was it?

-Yeah.

-Wow.

I'm happy, that's great.

So, where are we going to pop it, then?

-At the front.

-What do you think?

There, if I pop a box behind it to prop it?

So, guys, remember, when we run out of the 250ml,

we have a box hiding behind there.

There we go.

Yep.

Finally, samples, signage and bottle displays are ready.

-Ready to go.

-Job done.

-Brilliant.

It's 10am and the festival gates are thrown open to the public.

In spite of the rain, it's a record crowd.

This year, an unprecedented 20,000 visitors are expected.

Everyone here is so friendly,

they're all really interested in what we're doing.

Being granted a pitch at this world-renowned food festival is a badge of honour.

The people that are here are the best in their field, there's no doubt about that.

Over the next eight and a half hours, Gillian

and Rupert and Tracey need to find a way to stand out from the 180

other producers all vying for attention.

We are promoting our sausages, all free-range, all British pork.

We are trying to sell cheese today.

Would you like to try some ciders?

It's a soggy start for Gillian,

as the weather puts a dampener on the crowd's appetite for ice cream.

We're really excited today to be launching our cream tea ice cream,

so hopefully it won't be too cold for people to come and try it.

They're going to need every trick in the book to drum up a trade.

We can kind of entice people in,

just, like, initiating conversation with people who are walking by

and say someone just glances at the freezer,

you kind of put the idea into their head,

tell them about the flavours we've got and the process that we make it

with and sort of about our pedigree herd of cows.

-People love all that.

-Kurt's got the cheeky banter.

-Yeah.

-Haven't you?

-Cheeky banter.

And then when there's a question he doesn't know the answer to,

he looks at me and says, "Gillian...?"

But today, Kurt's banter will have to be pretty exceptional to tempt the rain-lashed customers...

Constant battle. The weather's so horrible.

Been doing this all day long.

..as the rain just keeps on pouring.

Meanwhile, under the dry marquee,

Rupert and Tracey's stall is already awash with customers.

There are an awful lot of people here

and it really is, it's all hands on deck.

But it doesn't mean they're buying.

-This is our delicious oil.

-It's very versatile.

This is an inquisitive foodie crowd full of questions.

What is rapeseed oil, then?

Rupert and his team are expected to have all of the answers.

If you change it from olive oil to rapeseed oil,

then you are cutting down your fats.

I've got is now. I know everything there is to know about rapeseed oil.

-Tell me a little bit about the processing.

-There's no heat involved in the process,

the oil is gently squeezed out of the seed.

We bottle and label all ourselves.

It don't mix with cider, does it?

Rupert's hard graft to get to this point is evident in the way

he passionately advocates his products to his customers.

I can tell you the history of the oil that's in that bottle.

I know that I combine harvested the seed that went into that bottle on

Saturday. You really couldn't get anything fresher.

-As you can tell, I'm quite proud of what I do.

-Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't you be?

Rupert's enthusiasm for his oil is paying off.

-One of those, please.

-A large bottle. Thank you very much.

I like to cook, so he was telling us the difference between olive oil and the rapeseed oil and

how it was a bit more beneficial, or just as good for you.

I didn't really know that, so he was quite informed about his product.

James Martin always talks about it, so we had to try it.

Yeah, I'm going to try and make some mayonnaise with it. Mix that with

some eggs, you know, whip it up in the blender, yeah, lovely.

This foodie festival with a big reputation is actually quite modern.

It began 22 years ago when the people of the town of Ludlow formed

a united front against plans to build a large shopping centre nearby.

We decided that we couldn't fight it, we wouldn't fight it,

but we needed to do something to maintain our butchers,

our bakers and all our sort of little individual shops.

And so after a few pints in the pub, somebody came up with the idea,

two days in the school hall and one day farmers' market out on the square.

22 events later, here we are today.

This new annual tradition plays out in the ancient setting of Ludlow Castle.

It was built in 1086.

Lots of changes have happened over the centuries.

Here's the kitchen now. Most of the hard work was done by young children, they're called scullions.

We also had a brewery just next to the kitchen.

Brewery is very important because the water is not up to much,

so it is much healthier to drink the beer.

We are in the great hall now.

The feasts that they would've had in here was an opportunity for the lord

of the castle to show off to all the local nobility.

So extravagance and expense - it was just lavish.

Magnificent foods were made in here.

They would skin a peacock, roast it and put it back into its skin

and parade it into the hall, salmonella and all.

And lots of theatre, showing how the lord could provide for his guests.

The day is moving on, but the bad weather isn't.

Gillian is still struggling to whip up the frenzy she'd hoped for.

Despite their best efforts...

If you want a taste of any of the flavours, give me a shout

to help you make your mind up.

The grey and damp is still putting people off.

But then there's a glimmer of hope

as the sun finally pokes through the clouds.

The rain's stopped.

It's great.

Now with the brighter weather come the ice cream connoisseurs.

-Would you like one?

-How was it?

-Right, then. Is that for you?

-Yes. What do you say?

What are you going to go for?

There you go.

-What have you got?

-Cherry marshmallow.

I've got cookies and cream.

Cookies and cream and Jaffa Cake.

They're absolutely delicious!

-Brain freeze?

-Is it cold?

-LAUGHTER

But no-one's asked for Gillian's new clotted cream tea flavour

and business can only grow with reinvention.

To make up for lost time, this determined farmer has a plan.

Guys, would you like to try some ice cream?

Would you like to have a taste of our ice cream?

It is a new recipe. It's cream tea ice cream.

-Mm!

-Very nice.

-It's gorgeous.

-So creamy!

Cream tea has been proving a bit of a hit.

As soon as you say to people what's in it, they absolutely love it

-and it's been going down a storm.

-I love that ice cream.

It's great making people happy.

With the ice cream selling at last and the pressure off,

Kurt takes a moment to find something for him and Gillian to eat.

I've been recommended The Beefy Boy.

-The Beefy Boy is the classic burger.

-OK.

-Medium for you?

Yeah, yeah. Whatever's best, you decide.

At events like this, quite often you can do a bit of a food swap, so,

people always want ice cream in the afternoon, so we often go and get

a bit of lunch and offer some ice cream and then

they'll come and get some ice cream off us later in the day,

so everyone wins.

They're good burgers, so, I want a lot of ice cream.

Yeah. I might give you a double scoop, then.

Cheeky!

-OK.

-Wicked.

-Thanks very much.

-Cheers, man.

-Bring me lots of ice cream!

-Yeah, I will, don't worry.

I've done well here with this deal.

For this tight-knit community of food producers,

today is also about networking and getting their names out there

in influential foodie circles.

After their successful debut last year,

Rupert's been invited to host a Q&A session about their young business.

I haven't been as nervous since a few moments before we got married.

With Tracey's support, it doesn't take long for Rupert took warm up.

And you may also think that it's a recent thing, this explosion of oilseed rape.

Well, to a degree you'd be right,

but believe it or not, the first record was in the 14th century.

And once he gets into his stride, there's no stopping him.

Lots and lots of cosmetics are made using rapeseed oil.

My wife already uses the oil on her skin when she gets out of the shower.

And all I can say is, look at her - wow.

And by the way, I'm 95 years old.

LAUGHTER

Rupert's not the only one making people laugh.

Across the castle courtyard,

2013 Great British Bake Off contestant Howard Middleton is showing a

captive audience how to make crunchy nut carrot cakes.

There was a lady who actually came up to me after a demo and she said,

"Excuse me, is it part of your quirky stage persona that you

"sometimes come across like you don't know what you're doing?

LAUGHTER

Gillian's been asked to bring some of her ice cream over and after her

lost morning, any extra bit of exposure helps.

-Hi, there.

-Hi.

-Here she is.

-Churchfields.

-A scoop of ice cream.

-Thank you. Fantastic.

-Could I have a spoon? A fork too.

-I could've brought a scoop as well.

Listen, what you were saying about the dairy farm,

how many cows are used to produce this wonderful ice cream?

We've got a herd of about 100 milking cows at the moment,

but we're just trying to make as much of it ourselves and you'll see,

-you make the ice cream.

-Thank you ever so much.

Gillian, ladies and gentlemen.

-See you later!

-And if you want ice cream, head that way,

-in that direction.

-And there you have it,

two ways of serving crunchy nut carrot cake.

Thanks very much indeed, Howard.

It's really lovely to have a shout out, so,

people will hopefully finish watching the show and then,

come over for an ice cream afterwards.

Soon enough, they're inundated with new ice cream orders.

-Have a lovely afternoon.

-There you are, here's your apple crumble.

Scones with clotted cream ice cream and strawberry jam.

SHE LAUGHS

Rum and raisin.

You guys being served?

Thank you very much.

Nice to be busy.

Back in the tent, Rupert and Tracey have been on their feet now

for almost ten hours.

£3.99, please.

When you're trying to make your way,

there are always those who are hard to convince.

-And it's really healthy for you as well.

-You're going to say that anyway.

No, it is, genuinely.

We're even allowed to put "good for you" on the bottle by Trading Standards.

So, there you go.

-And not many people can do that.

-They've paid you extra for that!

Generally, quite creamy, nutty.

But Tracey's worked her magic.

-Can we have one of them, then, please?

-You can.

Yeah, that's £3.99.

She's a good saleswoman.

He knows what to say.

The new dressings are finally catching people's attention too.

-Thank you.

-That's classic vinaigrette.

This is rapeseed oil and then from that, these dressings are made with the rapeseed oil.

-Yeah, do you need a bag?

-Yes, please.

-So, it's going really well, really well.

-That's five, ten, 20.

-Lovely.

Dressings are absolutely flying, I suspect that we will sell out.

I think it's getting a little warmer in here, don't you?

I think I'm going to have a hot flush in a moment,

or I'm already having one.

Oh!

The day is drawing to a close.

Thousands of people have enjoyed the best of what this year's Ludlow Food Festival has to offer.

And for our farmers, it has been worth all the effort to get here.

For Gillian, despite the disastrous start,

all the perseverance finally paid off.

It's been a really great day.

The ice cream's gone down a storm.

People have loved the cream tea ice cream,

so I'm really chuffed about that.

Loved meeting all the customers, lots of banter, a bit of chitchat.

They love to hear the back story,

the fact that we are still real farmers and that, you know,

we actually have a herd of cows at home, so we are what we say we are.

Obviously, the weather has been a little bit against us, so, you know,

you have to take that into consideration.

I do think that Dad will be really happy with how we've done today.

Because people love ice cream.

Ooh!

Rupert and Tracey are hoping it may take them one step further to being

fully self-employed.

It has been absolutely fantastic.

We're tired, but that adrenaline is still going on in the background

from the buzz of having a really good day.

Met some great people, wonderful crowd.

They've never tried it, open to trying it.

And of course my twin sister and my daughter,

-they've worked so, so hard today.

-Yeah.

We didn't need to tell each other how to do it or what to do

and that's the benefit of having family people involved, because

-there's emotional investment in it, as it were.

-They've got your back, haven't they?

They want it to succeed and that's great.

And when you're proud of something, it's easy to talk about.

And that's it, we are so, so proud of what we've achieved together.