Episode 2 The Hill Farm

For thousands of years, farming has shaped the landscape of Wales.

Hey, come on!

Generations of farmers have worked the land

and in Snowdonia, one family has been farming

the slopes of the Carneddau Mountains for centuries.

Meet the Joneses.

For 350 years, my family can say that we have farmed this valley.

Gareth Wyn Jones is the latest in a long line of hill farmers

to rear sheep on the mountains near Llanfairfechan

on the north Wales coast.

But the way we buy our food has changed.

Lots of people have lost contact with the land,

with agriculture, with farmers.

Gareth's wife, Rhian, takes care of the family,

their home and the garden.

Picking peas.

There is nothing better than eating peas fresh from the pod.

Their sons, Rolant, and his elder brother, Sior,

are following in their father's footsteps.

Steady. Steady. Hey, stand! These sheep get on my nerves.

And their daughter, Mari, isn't far behind.

Sit. Elin, sit.

Elin! By!

Their grandparents also live on the farm.

Gareth's mother, Eryl, and his father, Rolant Senior.

We will follow Gareth and his family through the course of a year,

as they take their animals from the mountainside

to the market place.

That's it. That's the end product.

After all that hard work, this is what we sell.

But with bad weather and rising costs, what does the future hold

for the traditional Welsh hill farm?

Physically, mentally, emotionally, it's tough.

But if you are born and bred into it, you know nothing better.

That's the way it is. That's the way the mountain is.

It's spring in the Carneddau Mountains.

Food!

At Ty'n Llywfan, the Jones family farm, the sun is up.

It's the weekend, but there is a lot of work to be done.

The coming weeks are vital for the farm.

It's one of the busiest times of year and the sheep need to be

taken on to the mountain pastures for the first time.

There is a full day's work ahead, but today Gareth won't be working alone.

I've got ten dogs at the moment.

These are the three main working ones,

which is Cap and Tess, my old bitch.

And Lad, a very, very good youngish dog.

And these are the younger dogs.

This is Bill, this is Sior's first dog.

And he is doing well.

Both don't listen sometimes, which can be a bit difficult!

At the end of the day, we can't do without these.

These are an integral part of our life.

I spend more time with these dogs than I do with my wife!

It's an awful thing to say, but it's true!

I do absolutely love them.

Rolant and Sior will also be joining their father

as he ventures up the mountain.

Having spent the winter on lower pastures, the farm's sheep now

need to be turned out on to communal grazing land of the Carneddau.

We'll get the dogs out now.

We'll get up and get these new lambs on to the top.

Come on, Sior!

As they reach the flock, the weather begins to close in.

Conditions on these slopes can change in an instant.

But as they're already nearly a month behind,

Gareth needs to push on, despite the wind and the rain.

This is what it's like. You can never depend on the weather.

What's important is they are going up strong.

We can just about keep up with them.

And that really makes me feel good.

This is the whole idea of proper hefting. Old-fashioned hefting.

Gareth and the boys are guiding the sheep up to their heft.

The heft, or 'cynefin' in Welsh, is a patch of grazing land

that the family's flock has returned to year after year.

It's the foundation of the hill farm and so far, they are going up well.

These sheep are a hardy Welsh mountain breed,

born and bred for these slopes and these harsh conditions.

Tess! Here. Good boy. Good boy. Hey, hey, good boy.

Good boys!

It's tough going, really.

The majority of people are sitting in front of the telly watching Andrew Marr.

Or kids are playing on their PlayStations.

I'll be coming up every day doing this

until they're up there and stay there.

This is what it takes to produce food up here.

I'm getting too old for this, mate. I'm really getting too old for it.

With thousands of sheep to bring on to the mountain,

this will be the first of many trips for Gareth.

He has to teach the sheep to stay on their heft

by walking them there each day.

This was a way of farming that he was taught by his father

and something he must pass on to his sons.

Once here, this is where the sheep will graze

and fatten up for the rest of the year.

Whoo! It's nice to see them up here, I'll tell you that much.

Really nice to see them up here.

21 days late, but hey, they're here. That's what is important really.

Right, are we ready, boys?

Come on then, let's home, James, and see your mother.

HE WHISTLES

Are you wet? That's a silly question, really!

-What do you think?!

-The food has been roasted.

Right, then. I'll heat up the gravy.

The beef is probably cold.

It looks absolutely lovely.

Sorry, the potatoes, I tried to keep them warm as long as possible.

It's May, and now this year's lambs need to be turned out

on to the mountain pastures.

But first they need to be rounded up

and given a special mark to identify them as Gareth's property.

We are bringing these in now.

We are going to ear mark the lambs and get them ready for the mountain.

That's the job today.

Gareth needs to separate the lambs from their mothers.

It's a chance to get a closer look at this year's stock.

You know, it's a labour of 12 months to have that lamb.

This is the important piece.

At the end of the day, the little boys are the ones that will be sold

for eating and slaughter and the girls are being kept for breeding.

So it's really important to look after them this year.

Best lambs I've seen for years.

I'm not for boasting, but they are very, very good.

My brothers here can vouch for that.

The females now are having this ear mark

and the males have a different ear mark.

And a 'fanw' is a female and a 'gwryw' is a male.

So if you hear them shouting 'gwryw' and 'fanw',

it's male and female in Welsh.

There are over 500 lambs to mark today,

so members of the extended family have come along to lend a hand.

This is my Uncle Will.

That's Owen John.

This is my Uncle Teg.

That's Robert Jones.

And that's Ieuan.

All related, cousins and uncles together.

This is how we do our jobs up here.

Gareth works as part of a successful family business,

founded by his grandfather, Owen Jones.

Tradition is important to the Joneses and the rights to graze on the mountain

have been passed down through the generations

and still form the basis of the business today.

Every farm has its own notch.

So if these sheep stray to wherever,

they have people that they call a 'setiwr',

which is a policeman to the mountain.

My father's the 'setiwr' for this area, for Llanfairfechan,

so if there are any disputes, it's over there you go, to sort it out.

With their ears marked, the lambs are reunited with their mothers

and sent back out into the fields.

I've done nothing else. I know nothing else.

Spending time with my father as a little boy up here

and Sior does the same with me now.

There's heritage.

For 350 years, my family can say that we have farmed this valley.

Not many people can say that.

You know hefting is a job that we do every single day,

but I believe that my father's hefted me as well.

He's taught me, he's brought me up

and I hope I can do that to my son as well.

And to my children.

You are always looking ahead and trying to plan ahead.

I think that's what we do as farmers for the next generation.

What can I do to make it easier for our children to farm?

Back at the farm, the heir to the family business is hard at work.

Sior's first exams are only a few weeks away.

Soon, he will have decide what to do next.

To continue his work on the farm

or to go in search of a different career.

You do feel a bit of pressure. It's always there.

You know there is a lot of heritage and a lot of history to what we do.

350 years could be lost because I couldn't be bothered to go farming.

Schoolwork is very draining and very boring.

You are there by yourself for an hour, two hours,

without seeing anybody.

You are just there writing and trying to learn quotes.

And maybe if you're doing physics and stuff,

the key words you have to learn and stuff.

I don't know. I have no idea.

I don't know what the future holds for me.

We'll have to see how it goes.

A nice, peaceful life maybe. Not too much stress.

Not too much pressure.

I don't like this GCSE.

Terrible.

Down! Stay down!

It's Saturday morning.

Drive on now. Come on.

Weekends on the farm are a chance for the children to learn more

about the skills needed to rear sheep on the mountains,

like how to work with their sheepdogs.

He is quite good, really.

His father has taught him quite a bit,

but he doesn't walk enough with it.

That's my opinion. They are here now, you see.

Stay. Stay. Stay! Stand!

He has good control on the dog, really.

-Stop him!

-Stand!

-Stop him.

If you want the sheep to go that way, you come by or whatever.

You go 'away' and then 'stand' and then 'come on'.

-Stand!

-Bring him on.

-Bring him on.

-Stand.

We try to teach them English,

because the English people will pay for a good dog.

Not like the Welsh!

A good working dog can cost anything

from several hundred to several thousand pounds.

They are an essential part of farming on the hills,

but training them can be a long and difficult process.

These sheep get on my nerves. All they want to do is jump fences.

Sior has been training Bill for a few months,

but both shepherd and sheepdog still have a lot to learn.

Give him a little bit more oomph. He is a bit laid back, easy going.

Not like me.

I'm very wild really, but I have cooled down a bit now.

But he's coming all right. We don't have to worry too much about it.

Sheepdogs are not only a useful tool,

but trialling them is also a popular pastime.

Soon, Sior and Bill will be ready for competitions.

But he is not the only one practising his sheepdog skills.

Elin, stand. Down. Down.

Down, Elin.

Elin. Stand, Elin. Stand!

Come at me. Come at me.

Elin.

Elin, sit. Sit!

There is always work to do on the farm.

Things to fix.

Animals to feed.

And dirty jobs to be done.

It can sometimes be difficult for Gareth to get away from the farm

and spend time with the kids.

But today, he has arranged an outing to his brother's fishing lake.

We're in. We're in. Caught one.

I lost it. Oh!

A bit of a change.

We don't get a lot of this time, so it's nice to see my brother

and the kids are loving it.

It's just that we haven't caught anything.

I've lost about six fish tonight. I can't believe it.

She's caught one!

OK, OK, OK, we've got one!

-You've caught a fish, Mar!

-Yes!

While the rest of the family are out, Rhian has some visitors.

She used to be the lead singer in a band and still is,

when she can find the time.

This is a song I've written for the boys.

Strange, you know, that you think you have experienced

a lot of emotions - sadness happiness, love.

But the first time you actually hold that baby. Boof!

I can remember with all three of them,

when they're just born and the first time you get to hold them

in your arms, how soft their breath is on your skin.

Just that overwhelming emotion you feel.

It just bursts out of your whole body. It's amazing.

So that's what I wrote down, for them to remember.

When they grow up and have kids themselves, maybe they'll realise what I was talking about.

# There's a little fishy on the little dishy. #

Hallelujah! Who caught it?

-Yaaaay! Champion!

-Mari!

-What a girl!

We're going to need a bigger fridge!

As spring turns to summer the days are longer,

the sun is out and the temperature is rising.

It's time for one of the most important events

in the farming calendar - shearing the sheep.

But first, they need to be gathered.

On hills and mountains all over Wales,

people are coming together to collect their flocks.

And here on the Carneddau,

thousands of sheep are collected over the course of a week.

But with no fences on the mountain,

rounding up every single one can be a mammoth task.

Even at the height of summer, the weather can be unpredictable

and in sun, wind and rain, Gareth, his dogs, his family and his friends

bring their sheep off the slopes and down to the lower pastures.

It is 6:00am and Gareth is waiting patiently

high in the mountains for the last of the summer gatherings to begin,

just as his family has done for generations.

My grandfather and our forefathers

would have to start in the middle of the night.

About 12:00am or 1:00am in the morning.

They would walk up to here, so they'd get up here for first light.

They must have been tough old people.

They must have worked really, really hard.

But there was no television. There was nothing else in their lives.

All they lived for was for these mountains and these sheep.

You know, there was no money. They were very, very poor people.

Every year, friends and neighbours come together for these gatherings.

No money changes hands,

but they all rely on each other to round up each other's sheep.

With all the shepherds and sheepdogs present, the gathering can begin.

WHISTLING

Ia! Ia! Ia! Ia!

So what we are trying to do,

is to keep a line here as much as we possibly can.

Rob is on that ridge there.

Hefin is above me.

Arwyn, Gareth and Dylan.

So everybody knows their place and their spot.

What we are trying to do is to take the sheep and heft them this way down.

As they work their way across the mountain, each shepherd keeps

a close eye on their patch, using the dogs to round up any stragglers.

Dogs, sticks, people.

OK, there are quads here now, but the majority of this...

Get back, Tess!

..was done exactly the same way.

And you know, these are hefted right.

These are things that your father has handed down to you.

From generation, to generation.

It's a happy time.

Hard work, but you know, it's a really happy time.

Go down, Tess!

This is when the net closes in now.

From the few, come the many.

This is exactly what we like to see.

Rob is down there now, just holding them.

The lads are pushing them down off the top.

Because you can never ever trust a sheep.

They could all go back under them

and if you are not in the right position at the right time, it's a disaster.

The only way to herd sheep on these mountains is to work together.

But with fewer young people working in agriculture,

these gatherings may one day become a thing of the past.

It is a dying job.

There are not many people that want to come on into this.

And the truth is, it's long hours for very little reward.

Physically, mentally and emotionally, it's tough.

But the truth is, if you are born and bred into it,

you know nothing better.

That's the way it is. That's the way of the mountains.

Shearing marks the high point of summer.

Today, there are around 600 to get through.

Last four years, the weather's been so changeable

and we want to get the silage done, the shearing done.

We used to do all the shearing, the gathering, the dipping, the dosing.

But now, it's a lot easier to get the contractors in.

We get it all done in one day.

These lads are the top boys.

They don't come any better than this.

They can go to New Zealand, Australia, anywhere,

and they won't beat those boys.

These boys get 90 pence per sheep for doing these

and fair play, it's a bloody hard job.

It's worth every penny of it.

Wool is a global commodity

and around 75% of Welsh wool is sent abroad,

much of it used in carpets.

But the prices farmers get can fluctuate greatly.

Many years ago, this stuff would pay the farm rent on a lot of farms.

The wool was a really, really big part of the income.

And today, you are lucky to get enough for this, to pay these boys.

Things have changed, you know.

As well as their money, tradition demands that the shearers get a square meal,

and this falls to Gareth's mother and his Auntie Valmai,

who monitor their progress carefully.

The camera is here really for when they are calving.

Rol will get up in the middle of the night

and have a look at the cows.

So that is what it is normally used for,

but shearing time, it's very useful for us.

We switch it on and we can see how far they have got with their batch of sheep.

And then we'll know they will be ready for lunch in half an hour.

They'll have finished, won't they? That's all they have got left.

-Is it?

-I think so, isn't it?

I don't know if they have any in the shed.

The shearing is a time for the family to come together,

and the kids are kept home from school to help out

and pick up important skills.

You know, we keep the kids home.

Sior has been home two days, Rolant has been home two days.

Only for the shearing day, because it is a big day, you know.

That's the last lot today. That's it.

Very pleased with this now, aren't we?

Luckily, the rain came and we finished. Thank God for that!

With all the sheep sheared, they are turned back out on to the mountain,

where they will graze and fatten-up throughout the summer months.

And with this important job behind them,

there are good times ahead for the farm.