0:00:03 > 0:00:05Across some of the most beautiful
0:00:05 > 0:00:08and remote landscapes of the British Isles...
0:00:08 > 0:00:11This is not a bad office, is it? You know, look at it.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13..Scotland's farmers carve a living...
0:00:14 > 0:00:16Everything has a time and a season.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18Nature doesn't stop.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20..breeding sheep and cattle...
0:00:20 > 0:00:21There's a lot of old friends here.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24They've come to the end of their working life. Quite a sad day.
0:00:26 > 0:00:27Wait a second!
0:00:27 > 0:00:29..bringing new life into the world...
0:00:31 > 0:00:33..and battling with the elements.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37They're all cute in their own way,
0:00:37 > 0:00:40and especially if they end up on your plate as a lamb chop. Yum.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45Over a year, five very different families
0:00:45 > 0:00:47let cameras onto their farms...
0:00:47 > 0:00:49Hell of a size of nuts on him.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51..and into their lives
0:00:51 > 0:00:53to share their struggles...
0:00:53 > 0:00:56I don't know why you want the... Do you need to do this?
0:00:56 > 0:00:58..and their triumphs...
0:00:58 > 0:01:00Look at my baby. He's alive!
0:01:02 > 0:01:06..as they try and turn a profit, in testing economic times.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08That's just depressing, that, really.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10There's cause for celebration...
0:01:10 > 0:01:12Gorgeous.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14..and a time to reflect...
0:01:14 > 0:01:17I feel sad that I haven't provided the next generation
0:01:17 > 0:01:19to carry on here.
0:01:19 > 0:01:20..but it's never dull.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23I'm not letting go!
0:01:23 > 0:01:25It's not a job, it's a way of life.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44It's late spring.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48Across Scotland, farmers are welcoming a new generation of lambs.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54On many farms, the season is well underway,
0:01:54 > 0:01:58but hill farmers Bobby and Anne Lennox are just getting started.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00It's an exciting time.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03We're looking forward and seeing what the outcome of the lambs,
0:02:03 > 0:02:07that - we know we've picked the ewes to go with appropriate rams,
0:02:07 > 0:02:10and just to see whether the lambs turn out as well
0:02:10 > 0:02:11as we hope they would.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15It's also good at this time of year that the kids come about
0:02:15 > 0:02:19and everyone basically just mucks in and helps wherever they can.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27Bobby and Anne are tenants of two neighbouring farms
0:02:27 > 0:02:29near Loch Lomond in central Scotland.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33Their land runs from the shores of the loch
0:02:33 > 0:02:35up into the surrounding hills,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38where they keep a flock of nearly 2,000 blackface sheep.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43With their lambing season about to begin,
0:02:43 > 0:02:46the plan today is to bring 400 pregnant ewes
0:02:46 > 0:02:48down from the hills to the lambing sheds.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52We're going to be gathering the sheep off the hill
0:02:52 > 0:02:54from the snow away in the distance,
0:02:54 > 0:02:57right down this side of the valley,
0:02:57 > 0:02:58all the way back down to the farm.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01So that's where we're going,
0:03:01 > 0:03:03so it's quite a big walk.
0:03:07 > 0:03:1161-year-old Bobby has more than leg power to get him around.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15His trial bike means he can cover three times the ground
0:03:15 > 0:03:16of someone on foot.
0:03:18 > 0:03:19Across the glen,
0:03:19 > 0:03:2462-year-old Anne has trusty sheepdog Jim as her assistant.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27They don't really understand orders, sheep.
0:03:27 > 0:03:28Like my dog.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33I better go, or I won't be where I should be.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37Welcome to my life! Ha-ha.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43The ewes are spread over 2,000 acres of hillside,
0:03:43 > 0:03:45so Bobby and Anne have brought in extra help,
0:03:45 > 0:03:47including their eldest daughter Gill,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50who's taken a day off from her job as a tour guide in Glasgow.
0:03:52 > 0:03:53I do what I'm told, pretty much.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56Get told we need your body out in the hill, off I go.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58That's pretty much what I'm doing here.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01Ho, ho, ho!
0:04:01 > 0:04:04Gathering's quite a big job, gathering lamb and shearing.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06All the big jobs, kind of need to lend a hand a bit,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09so, quite happy to do that.
0:04:09 > 0:04:10Ho, ho, ho, ho!
0:04:12 > 0:04:14I tend to try and cross over the middle,
0:04:14 > 0:04:16cos I tend to get sent up or down the hill,
0:04:16 > 0:04:17wherever someone shouts me so,
0:04:17 > 0:04:23I'm going that way, and we'll all meet, at a gate, just over there.
0:04:23 > 0:04:24That's the plan.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30The gather is expected to take about four hours,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33but this is familiar territory for the family.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36They've been doing this all their lives.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40The Lennoxes have tenanted this farm since 1750,
0:04:40 > 0:04:42and four generations still live here.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46Right, guys, let's go feed the tups!
0:04:46 > 0:04:48Holding the fort at the farm
0:04:48 > 0:04:50is Bobby and Anne's youngest daughter Kay.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54She lives in the house next door, with her husband and two children.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58We do this every morning. We come down and we feed the tups,
0:04:58 > 0:05:00here, and we stay at the sheds often
0:05:00 > 0:05:04and put the feeders into the... into the feeders for the sheep.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Come on.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09Well, this is what we used to have to do, as well, whenever...
0:05:09 > 0:05:10whenever we were at home,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12we always had to come out and do the feeding and help out
0:05:12 > 0:05:14if we couldn't stay in the house.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16Come on. Come on.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20Blair is coming up three in May
0:05:20 > 0:05:23and Ailsa will be two at the end of September,
0:05:23 > 0:05:25so she's just kind of 18 months at the moment.
0:05:25 > 0:05:26Wahey. One, two, three, up.
0:05:28 > 0:05:29With kids, I thought I'd be like,
0:05:29 > 0:05:31"Don't touch this" and "Don't do that",
0:05:31 > 0:05:34but I just kind of let them get on with it and hope it's all all right,
0:05:34 > 0:05:35but they learn, you know?
0:05:42 > 0:05:45I allegedly used to eat the sheep feed, which I don't believe.
0:05:45 > 0:05:46My mum tells me I did.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49But I know I'm going to find them eating that one day,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52so I think they'll have really good immune systems, my kids!
0:05:52 > 0:05:53Won't you?
0:05:59 > 0:06:04Bobby's 89-year-old father and his wife also live at the farm.
0:06:04 > 0:06:05This is my grandpa Robbie
0:06:05 > 0:06:07and this is my gran Marie
0:06:07 > 0:06:08and who's this? Who are they?
0:06:08 > 0:06:10Grandpa and granny.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14Yeah, great-gran and great-gramps, isn't it? That's it.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16Having his 90th birthday in May
0:06:16 > 0:06:19and I think we're having a party.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21Think something at Shantron in May.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23I think we'll have a do, a marquee or something.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26We've done it before for the 80ths and things, so...
0:06:26 > 0:06:28Just need to get organising now. It's not far away.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36Robbie's been working at the farm all his life
0:06:36 > 0:06:38and passed on the day-to-day running of it to Bobby
0:06:38 > 0:06:40around 30 years ago,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43maintaining a long-standing tradition in the Lennox family.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47I left school at 15, actually.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50I think my father was quite keen to have me at home.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52I don't know whether he had a premonition that he wasn't
0:06:52 > 0:06:55going to last very long, but it never occurred to us that
0:06:55 > 0:06:57what was going to happen did happen,
0:06:57 > 0:06:59cos it was just a heart attack,
0:06:59 > 0:07:02and he was all right one day and went to bed and died.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10It was a lot of hard work, you know, during the war time.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14There was a big push on to increase food production,
0:07:14 > 0:07:18so it was - it was quite a lot of work.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24For his services to agriculture during World War II,
0:07:24 > 0:07:26Robbie was awarded an OBE.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30He's so proud of it. He's so proud.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33He's such a proud man of his family and the history and everything,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35so I love just spending time listening to it all
0:07:35 > 0:07:38because, to be fair, once, once, unfortunately -
0:07:38 > 0:07:39I know one day they'll not be here
0:07:39 > 0:07:41and I'll be devastated,
0:07:41 > 0:07:43but we might listen now and then you'll have it
0:07:43 > 0:07:45and then we can pass it on, do you know?
0:07:45 > 0:07:47So that's the point. That's the whole point.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50If there's no point for family, what is the point?
0:08:03 > 0:08:06In the northeast of Scotland, north of Aberdeen,
0:08:06 > 0:08:10an unseasonal blast of wintry weather has arrived
0:08:10 > 0:08:12at the worst possible time for the Irvines.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20Sheep farmer Mel and fiance Martin have just started lambing.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27We're in spring, so we're in end of March, beginning of April,
0:08:27 > 0:08:28ten days into lambing
0:08:28 > 0:08:33and the weather's decided to go wrong for us, really.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36So, the weather was really good in February and beginning of March.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38It was looking like a good early spring,
0:08:38 > 0:08:40but since the sheep have started lambing
0:08:40 > 0:08:41the weather's just decided to go wrong,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44so we've had rain, we've had wind, we've got snow today
0:08:44 > 0:08:48and we're just kind of getting backed up with lambs at the moment.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54The lambs are born in the shed
0:08:54 > 0:08:57and are usually put out into the fields within a few days -
0:08:57 > 0:09:01but the weather's too cold for the lambs to survive,
0:09:01 > 0:09:03so Mel must keep them indoors.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06With over 800 lambs on the way,
0:09:06 > 0:09:09it's a huge workload and a new experience
0:09:09 > 0:09:11for pedigree bull breeder Martin.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15He knows what he's doing.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19The ewes are pregnant from Mel's 14 rams, or tups.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24It's quite good watching the tups run away, chasing all the women.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27Over the past two years, Mel's expanded the flock
0:09:27 > 0:09:29with some judicious breeding.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33The girls, when they're ready, they'll stand,
0:09:33 > 0:09:35and their tails do this little flicking thing.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43It'll just literally be, two pumps and a squirt, really.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Mel even convinced Martin to take on the contract
0:09:46 > 0:09:50to manage the flock owned by the estate they rent their farm from.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57Now, they are in charge of 520 pregnant ewes
0:09:57 > 0:10:00and there's three weeks of lambing to go.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08I'm tired and cold. It's worse as it's cold.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10This last four or five days,
0:10:10 > 0:10:12it's been about the minus two, three, four at night.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15It's frosty, it's cold, it's wet,
0:10:15 > 0:10:17and it just kind of gets into you...
0:10:17 > 0:10:19and it's nae enjoyable.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21- And you don't get a full night's sleep.- Nah.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23Ever.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26Mel's plan is for them to manage this enormous workload
0:10:26 > 0:10:28completely on their own.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31So they've moved into the lambing shed.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36This is the love shack, as Martin likes to call it. No.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42Because the farm, Braehead, is about four, three or four miles away,
0:10:42 > 0:10:46we've got to...and someone needs to be here all night.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48Some folk say when you turn the lights off
0:10:48 > 0:10:50you should just go away and leave sheep to lamb
0:10:50 > 0:10:51and they'll do their own thing.
0:10:51 > 0:10:52It's a complete lie.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57We quite often can get about,
0:10:57 > 0:11:01anything, from like ten to twenty sheep lamb in a night.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04So we feel that we've always got to be here.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07It's just easier than getting out of your bed at two o'clock
0:11:07 > 0:11:09and then having to drive four miles up here,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12and then back again, and so we just stay in the caravan
0:11:12 > 0:11:13cos you're up during the night,
0:11:13 > 0:11:16so we try and aim to be up about every two hours.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21And a pregnant ewe could need assistance at any time.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26Mel has spotted one.
0:11:26 > 0:11:27She just needs to catch her.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35We're just going to lamb this one.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38Mel's too light for this, you see?
0:11:43 > 0:11:46No, no, no, no.
0:11:46 > 0:11:47I'm not letting go.
0:11:50 > 0:11:51It looks cruel but it's not.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56That's one leg.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01Martin learnt everything he knows about lambing from Mel...
0:12:02 > 0:12:04..but not every birth goes well.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06Don't tell me that's dead.
0:12:08 > 0:12:09Oh, God.
0:12:10 > 0:12:11Swing.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Swinging the lamb should help to clear any fluid
0:12:15 > 0:12:16out of its airways...
0:12:17 > 0:12:19Come on.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23..but he's slow to come round.
0:12:23 > 0:12:24Wake up.
0:12:25 > 0:12:26There he goes.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31Just stimulate, stimulating the lamb to breathe.
0:12:31 > 0:12:32There he goes.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37Just stimulating his back to make him stimulate his lungs
0:12:37 > 0:12:39and get air into them.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41There you go.
0:12:41 > 0:12:42Happy.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54That's one lamb happily settled in a pen with his mother.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57Just another 500 to go.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14Further south, near Loch Lomond, the weather is much milder.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17The Lennox family are two and a half hours into their gather.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21The sheep are running well and seem fit enough,
0:13:21 > 0:13:23so, quite happy with...
0:13:23 > 0:13:25Often at this time of year, they're heavy in lamb,
0:13:25 > 0:13:26they've had a hard winter,
0:13:26 > 0:13:30there are a few slow ones, dragging away at the tail end that...
0:13:30 > 0:13:34but weren't any at all today, so quite happy at the moment.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41It's just nice, you get a day like this
0:13:41 > 0:13:43and if you look out there and look up,
0:13:43 > 0:13:46later in the spring when everything just started to green up
0:13:46 > 0:13:49and you sit up on the hill and just look out over that view,
0:13:49 > 0:13:50I know why I'm still farming here.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57The farm is Bobby's passion,
0:13:57 > 0:14:01but it only earns enough to support him and Anne.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03So, when the children were younger, he encouraged them all
0:14:03 > 0:14:07to pursue other careers outside of farming.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10Ten years ago, the outlook for sheep farming was not very rosy,
0:14:10 > 0:14:13post-foot and mouth, and I said to them,
0:14:13 > 0:14:16"Look, go to school. Go and get an education.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19"Go and get another trade. Find something else to do.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21"The farm will be there if you want it at a later stage,
0:14:21 > 0:14:23"but go and get something behind you" -
0:14:23 > 0:14:27and they've gone and done their own individual careers
0:14:27 > 0:14:29and been successful.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35With grandfather Robbie's 90th birthday looming
0:14:35 > 0:14:37and Bobby nearing retirement,
0:14:37 > 0:14:41the question of who will take over the farm is on everyone's mind.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44Did Great-Gran make the shortbread? Is it good shortbread?
0:14:44 > 0:14:47Kay runs her own cleaning business,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50but spends as much time as she can helping out on the farm.
0:14:50 > 0:14:56I would love to be able to be here and stay on the farm
0:14:56 > 0:14:59and be part of it and have mum and dad there and we'll...
0:14:59 > 0:15:02between us, cos my husband, as much as he works full-time...
0:15:02 > 0:15:07He's a boat builder, so his joinery and fixing skills are brilliant.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10He's very clever and mechanically minded as well.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12He's got a classic car he's doing up
0:15:12 > 0:15:15and when it comes to maintenance on the farm
0:15:15 > 0:15:18I'm pretty handy with stuff as well and with him there, too, so...
0:15:18 > 0:15:19and I've got a brother and sister, as well.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22I'm sure they'll be involved somewhere along the line.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24As I say, we've not really ironed anything out yet.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28Kay's twin brother, Alan,
0:15:28 > 0:15:30who works in the oil industry in Aberdeen,
0:15:30 > 0:15:34is building a boat in one of the farm sheds in his spare time.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38We're not, at the moment, we're not in a position to
0:15:38 > 0:15:41make a decision on what's going to happen with the farm in future
0:15:41 > 0:15:44cos Grandpa and my dad are running it, so...
0:15:44 > 0:15:47that's the way it is,
0:15:47 > 0:15:49and Kay's on the farm at the moment,
0:15:49 > 0:15:53so I don't know what her thoughts are on...
0:15:53 > 0:15:57We've not had to broach the subject of taking over the farm yet
0:15:57 > 0:16:00and, obviously, Dad's in his 60s,
0:16:00 > 0:16:02so I would imagine be looking for retirement.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08My reckoning, Kay's got her eyes on it, anyway.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13Whoever takes over the farm, it will be a huge endeavour.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17It's 5,000 acres of...
0:16:17 > 0:16:20You've seen it. You know, it's up high.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24You need quite lot of bodies, which costs money, cos, you know, so...
0:16:24 > 0:16:26So, it's just about making it work.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30We don't know what it is yet, but we're going to make it work.
0:16:33 > 0:16:34The gather is near the end.
0:16:35 > 0:16:36That was a good day.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38It went quite well, actually, I thought.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41Anne, Gill and contract shepherd Derek
0:16:41 > 0:16:43are waiting for Bobby near the pens.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45He's got much the easiest job.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47He doesn't have to do anything like what...
0:16:47 > 0:16:50He does cover a lot more distance.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54- No, he covers the distance of about three folk.- Yeah.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58Aye. No, I wouldn't fancy his job. It's all right on a nice...
0:16:58 > 0:17:00He's standing the whole time, so it's still a lot.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04He's not just sort of sitting, dondering about, like it's a lot.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07It's hard work on the shoulders and, you know, and the...
0:17:07 > 0:17:09Not bad for a 60-year-old.
0:17:09 > 0:17:1061-year-old.
0:17:10 > 0:17:11Oh, that's right!
0:17:14 > 0:17:17The pregnant ewes will now be taken into sheds,
0:17:17 > 0:17:19where Bobby and Anne can monitor their feed
0:17:19 > 0:17:21and help them during lambing if they need it.
0:17:23 > 0:17:28We will go and have our lunch and work our way through there.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31The sheep shed there is full of ladies-in-waiting now.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49In the north of Scotland near Inverness,
0:17:49 > 0:17:54large-scale sheep farmer John Scott runs a successful family farm.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01He is three weeks into his lambing season and with over 4,000 ewes
0:18:01 > 0:18:05to care for, this is lambing on an enormous scale.
0:18:07 > 0:18:11With such a mammoth task, the whole family gets stuck in,
0:18:11 > 0:18:12whatever their age.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19Today, John's being assisted by youngest son, seven-year-old Archie.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23Right. Come and practise this.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26When lambs are first born,
0:18:26 > 0:18:30they're marked up with the same numbers or letters as their mothers,
0:18:30 > 0:18:31so John knows who belongs to who.
0:18:36 > 0:18:37That good?
0:18:37 > 0:18:39I'm pretty happy with that.
0:18:39 > 0:18:40- You happy with that?- Yeah.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43It's very important that we encourage the next generation
0:18:43 > 0:18:45to get involved in agriculture.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49So, for us, it's great to have the kids here.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51Tremendous to have the kids out working with us.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53James I can leave to it.
0:18:53 > 0:18:54He can get proper tasks to do,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57whereas Archie just comes and helps a little bit
0:18:57 > 0:18:59and mucks around a bit too, which is fine.
0:18:59 > 0:19:00It's good.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03The young lambs are also banded.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06A tight rubber band on the tail restricts the blood supply,
0:19:06 > 0:19:08leading it to wither and fall off.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12If you can imagine in the summertime, the grass is rich
0:19:12 > 0:19:14and if there's a bit of dirt about the tail,
0:19:14 > 0:19:18if it's longer, there's more risk of fly strike.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22Dirt on the tail encourages flies to lay their eggs on the lamb,
0:19:22 > 0:19:26which could lead to an infestation of maggots.
0:19:26 > 0:19:31So, that's why we rubber band the tail, to make it shorter,
0:19:31 > 0:19:33so that'll just...
0:19:33 > 0:19:36In two or three weeks' time, that'll just drop off that bottom part.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40It doesn't... The lamb's only 24 hours old,
0:19:40 > 0:19:41it doesn't affect them at all.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47Most of the male lambs also have their testicles rubber banded.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51So, here's one I need to castrate, so we'll just...
0:19:54 > 0:19:57..put a rubber band over the testicles.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59Check they're both there, and that's that.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03This lamb's not suitable for breeding.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06This is just for meat, he's going to be.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10So, he doesn't need to have his testicles.
0:20:10 > 0:20:11He's a longer keep lamb as well.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14It's likely that this lamb is a house lamb.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16He's not going to be ready till probably December time.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18If we left him entire, he would cause problems -
0:20:18 > 0:20:21ie, he would maybe mate with ewe lambs,
0:20:21 > 0:20:22so we don't want that happening.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26With extra staff staying during lambing,
0:20:26 > 0:20:28there are constant mouths to feed
0:20:28 > 0:20:31and, as Easter is looming, it's only going to get busier.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37Daughters Izzy and Lexie are helping mum Fiona back at the farmhouse.
0:20:37 > 0:20:38125.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42We seem to be baking every day at the moment,
0:20:42 > 0:20:47because everybody's so hungry after lambing, so we're...
0:20:47 > 0:20:50It seems to be a bake a day, or a cake a day,
0:20:50 > 0:20:52so we're stockpiling just now.
0:20:56 > 0:20:57About there.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01That's about right, yeah. Perfect.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05We've got three extra staying in the house
0:21:05 > 0:21:08and an extra guy that comes in at lunchtime.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13And now with the kids being on holidays it's, yeah...
0:21:13 > 0:21:17It's a never-ending mission of making food,
0:21:17 > 0:21:19clearing up and making more food.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30John's trusty assistant is a little distracted.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33Archie, do you want to come and do these numbers again?
0:21:33 > 0:21:35Come and do these numbers again?
0:21:35 > 0:21:38I'm making a real mess of them. I think you should come and do it.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40Look at the lazy little brute.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45I can mark and band, maybe, 100, 120 ewes with lambs
0:21:45 > 0:21:48every morning and it can get a wee bit tedious,
0:21:48 > 0:21:49so, if you've got him for a few hours
0:21:49 > 0:21:51or just for a few minutes, even,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54just to lighten things a little bit is great.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57So, can you do a capital "K"?
0:22:00 > 0:22:01So, a big one?
0:22:01 > 0:22:05Yeah, a big one. Like a big K. Curly K.
0:22:05 > 0:22:06So...
0:22:06 > 0:22:08Well, no, yeah, but it's like that.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10Yeah, on there.
0:22:13 > 0:22:14Sorry.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21Meant to put it on the sheep, not me.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27- Never mind. It was a good K until that part, wasn't it?- Yeah.
0:22:27 > 0:22:28Right, I'll put one on the ewe, will I?
0:22:28 > 0:22:31See if I can make mine as neat as yours.
0:22:31 > 0:22:32Oh, no.
0:22:43 > 0:22:44A big K.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48Well, I think mine is better than Archie's, don't you, Arch?
0:22:48 > 0:22:50No!
0:22:50 > 0:22:51I drew better.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54Think you're probably right, I'm afraid.
0:22:58 > 0:22:59Across the yard,
0:22:59 > 0:23:03Archie's big brother James is helping with lambing.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05He's under the watchful eye of farmer's daughter Emma
0:23:05 > 0:23:08from New Zealand, who's studying in the UK,
0:23:08 > 0:23:11and who John's hired in to help over this busy period.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16He's learning and he's really keen to learn,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19so it's good actually having an extra pair of hands.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21An extra set of eyes in the shed.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25- Is it there?- Yeah, it's there.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29I feel a head and some legs...
0:23:29 > 0:23:31..and it's quite gooey, actually.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33You'll make a good farmer.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36He's got a good quiet way with stock.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40So, I think that's something that you can't really be taught.
0:23:40 > 0:23:41You just have it or you don't.
0:23:43 > 0:23:44That's it, well done.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50I've lambed four sheep this morning.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52I'm enjoying doing lambing, it's good fun.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14Further east, there's no let up of the unseasonal wintry weather.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19Mel and Martin are still lambing,
0:24:19 > 0:24:22and their sheds are bursting with nearly 300 newborn lambs.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33They're living on site, sleeping for no more than two hours at a time.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37On top of an already heavy workload,
0:24:37 > 0:24:40Mel must bottle feed the orphan or pet lambs.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44These lambs, for various reasons, are not able to feed
0:24:44 > 0:24:46from their mothers,
0:24:46 > 0:24:49so they're kept warm by a heat lamp and fed by hand.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52This one's Mum didn't have enough milk.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56This one is the same, which as you can see, it's a lot smaller.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59So, I thought I would take it away and bottle-feed it,
0:24:59 > 0:25:02so I'm basically giving myself more work,
0:25:02 > 0:25:06but it's more likely it'll live with me than it will with Mum.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09It takes Mel an hour to feed them all
0:25:09 > 0:25:12and she must do this four times a day.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16I used to love feeding pet lambs when I was about eight.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19It's when I started really loving sheep
0:25:19 > 0:25:21and I used to just go in and sit with them and they used to
0:25:21 > 0:25:23do this, climb all over you,
0:25:23 > 0:25:26cos basically they just wanted fed.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31Pet lambs, when I grew up, are just a pain.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36They're like babies, they need fed at least four times a day.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41We have a wee heat lamp there just going to keep them warm
0:25:41 > 0:25:43because they've got no mum to snuggle up to,
0:25:43 > 0:25:47so you'll see them all piled in the corner to keep them warm.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51Martin's not convinced it's time well spent.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54Need a pet pen.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59Mel spends about four hours a day in this pen feeding and feeding
0:25:59 > 0:26:01and feeding and checking.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03That's four hours that could be spent somewhere else,
0:26:03 > 0:26:06but every lambing shed will have a pet pen and this is our pet pen.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12Worst thing is you could spend probably 30 quid,
0:26:12 > 0:26:14each lamb, in milk to feed it.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16But at the end of the day, it's only going to be worth 50 quid
0:26:16 > 0:26:18on a good day.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21The pet lamb will always be the runt and the small
0:26:21 > 0:26:22and take up a lot of time.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26This is Mel's pen. This is not my pen.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33As pet lambs need bottle-feeding for six weeks,
0:26:33 > 0:26:35Mel has come up with a plan to relieve her workload.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42This ewe is giving birth to a single lamb.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45But Mel is going to trick her into thinking she's having twins,
0:26:45 > 0:26:48by covering the pet lamb in her birth fluids.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51She doesn't know whether she's had two or one.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54So, all the fluids and everything that comes out with this lamb,
0:26:54 > 0:26:58we'll soak this lamb in it and it's just to disguise the smell.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03She starts licking it and you can see her being happy with it,
0:27:03 > 0:27:04that's it, she'll have a take.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08This is the pet.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11So we're going to try and trick with this one.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22Ewes are drawn to mothering their lambs through smell...
0:27:22 > 0:27:23OK, you got her?
0:27:25 > 0:27:27..but this ewe might not be fooled.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44Mel puts the pet lamb in the pen first to give him the best chance...
0:27:48 > 0:27:50..followed by the ewe's own lamb.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01Fingers crossed. They both smell the same now - or should do.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09She's just got to remember that she's got two...
0:28:09 > 0:28:12and not, maybe, favour one more than the other.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17It looks like the ewe is going to accept the lamb as her own.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23So, by being able to put a pet onto a single's great for us,
0:28:23 > 0:28:27because it means that I don't have to feed it with a bottle,
0:28:27 > 0:28:29and she can provide the milk,
0:28:29 > 0:28:31and she can do the work like she's meant to,
0:28:31 > 0:28:34and it gives me more time to concentrate on other things,
0:28:34 > 0:28:37or maybe other pet lambs, so...
0:28:37 > 0:28:39I would say that this would be successful.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43But there are still more hungry mouths to feed.
0:28:45 > 0:28:50It's exhausting. I can't stress enough how tired you get.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53I'm feeling OK now. The point when I'll get most tired
0:28:53 > 0:28:56is when I go home, we'll have tea, you've got a full belly
0:28:56 > 0:28:58and you go get a shower, and you sit down.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01That's when you go, "I need to up and go",
0:29:01 > 0:29:04because you're just shattered.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07And your hands are constantly black.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10My nails are cut short and black.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12I don't look very feminine at the moment.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15And you'll also notice that I don't wear my engagement ring.
0:29:15 > 0:29:19Just thought, couldn't really go in and say to Martin,
0:29:19 > 0:29:23"Just lost my engagement ring in a ewe."
0:29:23 > 0:29:26Don't know whether insurance would cover that, to be honest.
0:29:26 > 0:29:27I don't think it would.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31But with most of the lambs still to be born,
0:29:31 > 0:29:33Mel's unlikely to get any rest soon.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58Nearly 200 miles northwest,
0:29:58 > 0:30:01on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides,
0:30:01 > 0:30:05ex-barrister turned crofter, Sandy Granville
0:30:05 > 0:30:06is yet to begin lambing.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10Alongside his 12 Highland cattle,
0:30:10 > 0:30:13he keeps over a hundred blackface sheep.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16His lambing is scheduled to start in a few weeks
0:30:16 > 0:30:17when the weather is warmer.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20So today he's spring cleaning his holiday cottage.
0:30:20 > 0:30:24The weather's absolutely rotten, it's soaking wet outside.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28I have got some outside jobs I could be doing,
0:30:28 > 0:30:31but this isn't the day for draining and ditching.
0:30:32 > 0:30:37But it is the time for, erm, making sure that this...
0:30:37 > 0:30:41this house is all ready for the visitors coming.
0:30:42 > 0:30:46In a... I think the first one's coming in about a month.
0:30:48 > 0:30:52Sandy makes his living selling mutton and beef,
0:30:52 > 0:30:53but, as a crofter,
0:30:53 > 0:30:56needs to supplement his income by diversifying.
0:30:59 > 0:31:05This is the house we moved into when we came here first in 2002.
0:31:05 > 0:31:07I always do a bit of touching up with paint,
0:31:07 > 0:31:10and this year it's new tweed curtains all through.
0:31:10 > 0:31:15It's traditional tweed hand-woven by a friend, named after Harris,
0:31:15 > 0:31:18the southern part of the island.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22It's a delightful fabric to be using.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27The machine, well, I'd seen my mother using it,
0:31:27 > 0:31:32so I knew how to wind a bobbin and it always works beautifully,
0:31:32 > 0:31:35just needs drop of oil now and again.
0:31:35 > 0:31:38I expect there might be people watching this who'll think,
0:31:38 > 0:31:42that's a really funny way to make a curtain.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45It's just the way I do it.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50Crofting's always been a life where you have to do
0:31:50 > 0:31:52a lot of different things.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54Weaving, weaving is a very,
0:31:54 > 0:31:57very important part of crofting life.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59It was a good work for people to have
0:31:59 > 0:32:02that they can do when they - when it suits them.
0:32:02 > 0:32:07And it all...it all helps to balance the rather complicated books
0:32:07 > 0:32:09that one has.
0:32:12 > 0:32:14Across the road at home,
0:32:14 > 0:32:17Sandy's wife Ali is getting ready for the Easter weekend.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21We used to order hot cross buns and have them delivered by the...
0:32:21 > 0:32:23by the baker when we lived in Kent,
0:32:23 > 0:32:25and then we started making them ourselves
0:32:25 > 0:32:28and today, I've made something called Swedish buns,
0:32:28 > 0:32:33which are a bit like a Chelsea bun, they're sort of bready and spicy
0:32:33 > 0:32:37and delicious, and I'm just going to take them out of the oven.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41Oh, yes. Oh, they look good, they look lovely.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44There they are.
0:32:44 > 0:32:48Not really hot cross buns, but spicy buns.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51We'll have them later with our coffee.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54So, so it's looking like a good Easter.
0:32:58 > 0:33:02It's Sunday, and on the mainland at the Lennox family farm,
0:33:02 > 0:33:04there's an Easter egg hunt.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10Bobby and Anne have laid a trail for Blair and Ailsa.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13There are eggs in there.
0:33:13 > 0:33:15I found the eggs!
0:33:15 > 0:33:16Whoo!
0:33:16 > 0:33:17No...
0:33:17 > 0:33:19THEY LAUGH
0:33:19 > 0:33:21I see the eggs!
0:33:21 > 0:33:23No eggs in there.
0:33:23 > 0:33:24Cow!
0:33:24 > 0:33:25There's an egg!
0:33:27 > 0:33:28Got another two.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32Ah! Cheese!
0:33:32 > 0:33:37And at the Scott's family farm, they've invited a few friends...
0:33:37 > 0:33:40Right, do you know what the rules are, guys?
0:33:40 > 0:33:42Yeah, one from each nest.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44You can only take one egg from each nest,
0:33:44 > 0:33:47and you can have a bunny rabbit, each.
0:33:47 > 0:33:48Can we go out either door?
0:33:48 > 0:33:50No, you're going out this door.
0:33:50 > 0:33:52Alison, do you want to go out in front of them?
0:33:52 > 0:33:55Found one! Yeah!
0:33:55 > 0:33:59Found one there, didn't he? Oh, no, he didn't.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03- Can you tell us what's happening, please?- Not at the moment.
0:34:03 > 0:34:04COCK CROWS
0:34:07 > 0:34:10I'm optimistic there may be one or two Easter eggs left over for me...
0:34:10 > 0:34:12but if not, I'll steal it from the kids.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16I have a bunny. A little egg and a bigger egg.
0:34:16 > 0:34:17I'm struggling with my conscience
0:34:17 > 0:34:19to maybe, share it with a young child
0:34:19 > 0:34:22who maybe needs a chocolate, or just eat it.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26- There you go.- That's my tax. No? Is it not for me, no?
0:34:26 > 0:34:29No. Unless you pay me £20.
0:34:29 > 0:34:34You think that bunny's worth £20? How about a pound?
0:34:34 > 0:34:35No.
0:34:53 > 0:34:57There are no Easter celebrations for Mel and Martin.
0:35:02 > 0:35:06Although the snow is starting to ease off,
0:35:06 > 0:35:09it's still below freezing outside,
0:35:09 > 0:35:13and still too cold for the very youngest lambs to be put out.
0:35:16 > 0:35:20After just a few hours' sleep, Martin's up
0:35:20 > 0:35:22and checking for any problems.
0:35:22 > 0:35:24If I see any lambs with empty bellies or hunched up,
0:35:24 > 0:35:25they're not looking well,
0:35:25 > 0:35:28and obviously they've not found their mums,
0:35:28 > 0:35:30I'll have to pair them up again or pen them.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34Just take a walk through and see how everything is.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38BLEATING
0:35:41 > 0:35:44He finds a lamb that needs help.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47Number 119 was born in the middle of the night,
0:35:47 > 0:35:51but his mother was not producing enough milk to feed him.
0:35:51 > 0:35:54Now he's critically weak.
0:35:54 > 0:35:55This is one of the twins,
0:35:55 > 0:35:58and you see this hyperextending,
0:35:58 > 0:35:59he's throwing his head back,
0:35:59 > 0:36:01he's got an empty belly.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03He doesn't look good, so what I'll do,
0:36:03 > 0:36:04I'll go fill his belly with milk,
0:36:04 > 0:36:06put him under the heat lamp.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10He doesn't look like a happy camper.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16Number 119 is severely dehydrated.
0:36:16 > 0:36:18Martin takes him straight to the pet pen.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25Mel's trying to catch up on her sleep,
0:36:25 > 0:36:27but the new arrival needs her.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29Hey, sleepy head.
0:36:30 > 0:36:32HE LAUGHS
0:36:32 > 0:36:35It's the worst thing, getting out your bed in the morning
0:36:35 > 0:36:37or getting out of bed any time of night.
0:36:37 > 0:36:39You're lying, you're warm, you're cosy, it's nice,
0:36:39 > 0:36:43and you've to get up into the cold, so, not a nice feeling,
0:36:43 > 0:36:46but once you're up you're OK, but it's just that point of getting up.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48Everybody knows that feeling.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51Even Tilly gets it, don't you, Tilly?
0:36:52 > 0:36:53MEL MUTTERS
0:36:58 > 0:37:00Morning.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19Can't function.
0:37:23 > 0:37:25Not enough sleep.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27SHEEP BLEAT
0:37:31 > 0:37:34Just mixing up some milk...
0:37:34 > 0:37:39some milk for the pet lambs, again...
0:37:43 > 0:37:45..and having breakfast.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50It's cold. I'm cold already, I can feel it.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55This is just a milk replacer so it's like,
0:37:55 > 0:37:59baby's formula type stuff, but for lambs.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02Mel's priority is Number 119.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06We'll give it a belly full of milk, give it a chance.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09If it won't survive a belly full of milk and a heat up
0:38:09 > 0:38:11then there's something wrong with it.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15If it doesn't survive that, it'll die pretty quickly.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20The lamb is too weak to suck from the bottle,
0:38:20 > 0:38:23so Mel has to pass a tube down his throat
0:38:23 > 0:38:26so she can syringe the milk directly into his stomach.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31With the way that lamb's looking now
0:38:31 > 0:38:35I'd give it a 20% chance of living the rest of the day.
0:38:35 > 0:38:39If it's going to come round, it'll come round the next couple of hours.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42If not, it'll just deteriorate and get worse.
0:38:47 > 0:38:52119 is in such a bad way, Mel wants to keep a closer eye on him.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58The little pet lambs are all crowded round the heat lamp,
0:38:58 > 0:39:00so to give this one a better chance,
0:39:00 > 0:39:06just going to keep him in the caravan, which is nice and warm.
0:39:06 > 0:39:11Wrap him in a towel, keep him warm for a wee while
0:39:11 > 0:39:13so he doesn't get piled up on.
0:39:15 > 0:39:19While 119 rests, Mel's keen to get outside
0:39:19 > 0:39:21and check on the older lambs
0:39:21 > 0:39:24they put out into the field a few days ago.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26I see some lambs.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28It's amazing - for all the size of a lamb,
0:39:28 > 0:39:30it's amazing how tough they can be.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32As long as they've had a belly full of milk...
0:39:32 > 0:39:34- Kept dry. - Kept dry, they'll be OK.
0:39:34 > 0:39:39So, the two sheep on the left-hand side, 31 and 15,
0:39:39 > 0:39:44they're both coloured blue, which means that they're twins.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47But each ewe's only got one lamb with them,
0:39:47 > 0:39:49so, just trying to remember that
0:39:49 > 0:39:51and see if their other lambs are up here.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55There's 65, she's got her baby - quite happy.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59Look see, there's another one just popped out the other side of it,
0:39:59 > 0:40:00132.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03Now these guys aren't sitting in the snow, that's good a sign.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06Yep, getting the sun, getting a warm up.
0:40:08 > 0:40:13That's all the ewes and lambs - seem to come over to this,
0:40:13 > 0:40:16can see lambs skipping about, they're quite happy,
0:40:16 > 0:40:19everyone's up for breakfast
0:40:19 > 0:40:24so, it seems OK so far, which is surprising.
0:40:30 > 0:40:34At the caravan, Mel checks on her special case.
0:40:36 > 0:40:40Let's try, keep him warm, as best we can.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42Heater's on full blast.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46He's gotten really cold and Mum's just not looked after him at all.
0:40:48 > 0:40:49Shut the caravan door, keep the heat in
0:40:49 > 0:40:51and keep him as warm as possible,
0:40:51 > 0:40:54and that's all I can really do for him at the moment.
0:40:54 > 0:40:58So, go out and feed the other pet lambs just now.
0:41:00 > 0:41:04While the lamb rests, so do Martin and Tilly.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08I've let him away with that, because I had a...
0:41:08 > 0:41:11I was later in getting up this morning as well, myself,
0:41:11 > 0:41:13so, it's quite important to -
0:41:13 > 0:41:15when everything's half quiet -
0:41:15 > 0:41:19just to have a sleep and...whether it's ten minute, five minute,
0:41:19 > 0:41:23usually makes you feel a hell of a lot better.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28An hour later, Mel's back to get them up.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31So he should just be coming out in a minute.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39Ha! Look at my baby!
0:41:44 > 0:41:47What's happened?
0:41:47 > 0:41:49He's alive!
0:41:49 > 0:41:53We've gone from a flat little lamb, to... I was thinking that
0:41:53 > 0:41:5720% he might not live... no, 20% he'll live.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00Now look at him. Magic milk, you know?
0:42:04 > 0:42:06I stayed in and looked after it for you.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08No, you did not, you were sleeping!
0:42:08 > 0:42:10Ten minutes.
0:42:10 > 0:42:12That wasn't ten minutes.
0:42:12 > 0:42:13An hour or something?
0:42:13 > 0:42:16Something like that.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19If that's not a miracle I don't know what is.
0:42:19 > 0:42:21LAMB BLEATS
0:42:21 > 0:42:23Da-da-da-da-da!
0:42:23 > 0:42:26I'll pop him in the pet lamb pen, see how he does.
0:42:26 > 0:42:27If he gets a bit more cold,
0:42:27 > 0:42:29can always put him back in the caravan, so...
0:42:37 > 0:42:40The little lamb has made it.
0:42:40 > 0:42:44Now he can join his twin, also 119.
0:43:05 > 0:43:09In Central Scotland near Loch Lomond,
0:43:09 > 0:43:12lambing has now started for the Lennoxes.
0:43:14 > 0:43:18But the family recently suffered a tragedy.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21Just four weeks before his 90th birthday,
0:43:21 > 0:43:25Bobby's father Robbie was suddenly taken ill, and died.
0:43:27 > 0:43:32He's going to be sadly missed. We've worked together all my life.
0:43:34 > 0:43:39I've been farming 40-odd, plus years, since I left college.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42Now I've seen him virtually every...every day,
0:43:42 > 0:43:44somewhere around time on the farm.
0:43:46 > 0:43:47It's funny in a sort of way,
0:43:47 > 0:43:51because we're just so busy with lambing,
0:43:51 > 0:43:53it just went whoomph. You've just
0:43:53 > 0:43:57got to keep going, and there's that much work ahead, if you...
0:43:57 > 0:43:58that you go on.
0:43:58 > 0:44:02I haven't had time to dwell on it too much, or, to be quite honest,
0:44:02 > 0:44:07I sadly haven't missed him from the mourning point of view.
0:44:07 > 0:44:09I think that'll probably come, again,
0:44:09 > 0:44:12once I've got time to think about it.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17He was a great man.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20He'd done an awful lot in his time.
0:44:20 > 0:44:22He'd seen a lot of the world.
0:44:22 > 0:44:26And, you know, I think the tribute at the funeral
0:44:26 > 0:44:29when the church was standing room only,
0:44:29 > 0:44:33for a 90-year-old's... quite a tribute.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39It's very surreal, very strange.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42It's very strange him not being there.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44You just expect him to walk through a door.
0:44:48 > 0:44:50No, he's a great miss.
0:44:52 > 0:44:56But, anyway, we were lucky.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00I was lucky he was a lovely man and I was treated so well by him.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04He was a real gent.
0:45:15 > 0:45:16Life has to go on.
0:45:16 > 0:45:20We're on a farm, nature doesn't stop,
0:45:20 > 0:45:23and everything has got a time and a season that happens,
0:45:23 > 0:45:26irrespective of what happens roundabout.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28We've still got to get on with the farm. We've got to work,
0:45:28 > 0:45:32and everybody's got to get on and do what they have to do,
0:45:32 > 0:45:33to make the farm keep going,
0:45:33 > 0:45:36cos you can't leave the animals stuck in a place
0:45:36 > 0:45:39where they can get into distress or into trouble.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42We've got to look after them, so life just does go on.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13On the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides,
0:46:13 > 0:46:17Sandy and Ali are expecting the first guests of the year
0:46:17 > 0:46:18to their holiday cottage.
0:46:18 > 0:46:24People coming today, and we're a bit behind hand...
0:46:24 > 0:46:28with the sorting out.
0:46:28 > 0:46:30It's all finished now, more or less.
0:46:30 > 0:46:33Ali usually cleans the kitchen.
0:46:33 > 0:46:37I mostly do the...do the rest of it.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46The last people didn't score very highly.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53Five days ago, Sandy and Ali
0:46:53 > 0:46:57welcomed a different kind of arrival to the croft.
0:46:57 > 0:47:01Tormod is the second calf to be born in the last few weeks.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04As Highland cattle are so hardy,
0:47:04 > 0:47:08his mother Morag gave birth to him outdoors on her own.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12It was Wednesday - I got a call from a neighbour
0:47:12 > 0:47:15saying my cow was calving, he was watching,
0:47:15 > 0:47:18so I raced down on the quad,
0:47:18 > 0:47:22and went and had a look, and it's a big calf, nice calf, very good calf.
0:47:22 > 0:47:26It's always very worrying, because the first couple of days
0:47:26 > 0:47:30they're really, really, you know, a bit vulnerable,
0:47:30 > 0:47:34and this chap, I think he was getting loads of milk,
0:47:34 > 0:47:36loads and loads of milk from his mother,
0:47:36 > 0:47:38but because he was getting so much milk,
0:47:38 > 0:47:40he just kept falling asleep and looking like he was dead,
0:47:40 > 0:47:43and just lying there, completely abandoned -
0:47:43 > 0:47:46but I had to keep going and poking him,
0:47:46 > 0:47:49making sure, then he'd jump up and rush around and be absolutely fine,
0:47:49 > 0:47:52but after a while we realised that he was actually having to sleep
0:47:52 > 0:47:55because he was getting such a lot of good food from his mother,
0:47:55 > 0:47:56so that was all good.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59So they're both good, they're both fine.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02Yeah, good calf. Good calf. Nice strong boy.
0:48:02 > 0:48:08He'll... Next thing got to catch hold of him and put his ear tags in.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12And that's...
0:48:12 > 0:48:14The earlier the better,
0:48:14 > 0:48:17before he can put up too much of a fight.
0:48:20 > 0:48:24The last people who were here, I told them
0:48:24 > 0:48:26they were in charge of the calving.
0:48:26 > 0:48:29They seemed a bit nervous about it.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35It's an interesting thing for people coming up here
0:48:35 > 0:48:38to meet our funny old-fashioned ways of doing things.
0:48:39 > 0:48:43- All clean?- That's it. I think it's fine.
0:48:44 > 0:48:46- We're gone?- Yep.
0:48:57 > 0:49:02On the mainland in the northeast, the snow has finally cleared.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05Nearly all the lambs are out in the fields,
0:49:05 > 0:49:08so Mel and Martin can take a welcome break.
0:49:10 > 0:49:12They're back at the house,
0:49:12 > 0:49:16and at last have time to think about something other than lambing.
0:49:16 > 0:49:18They're getting married in two months,
0:49:18 > 0:49:20and today Martin has a kilt fitting.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24We've both spoke about it
0:49:24 > 0:49:26and just said that we wanted everyone in different kilts
0:49:26 > 0:49:31and the same jacket and waistcoat for the wedding party,
0:49:31 > 0:49:32and socks and that.
0:49:32 > 0:49:36So, I wasn't really that bothered, to be fair.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39This is the sort of thing that Martin's got to sort out,
0:49:39 > 0:49:43and it's about the only thing that he needs to sort out.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46- Ta, Mel! - I've done everything else.
0:49:46 > 0:49:50I haven't booked the bus yet, though.
0:49:52 > 0:49:55Eight weeks tomorrow. Look at the stress on Mel's face.
0:49:55 > 0:49:58She worries, but I know everything is just going to fall into place
0:49:58 > 0:50:00when it comes. That right, Mel?
0:50:00 > 0:50:04How do you know that when you've not done, booked anything?
0:50:05 > 0:50:07THEY LAUGH
0:50:07 > 0:50:09It'll just fall into place, I ken it will.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12Mel panics, Mel worries over everything, don't you?
0:50:12 > 0:50:14I'm just, yeah, I think I've got everything done
0:50:14 > 0:50:19it's just going to be that week before, and I'll forget something,
0:50:19 > 0:50:21or something's going to happen,
0:50:21 > 0:50:23but we've just got so much to do in between.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27This eight weeks are going to be the fastest eight weeks
0:50:27 > 0:50:30I've ever had, probably.
0:50:30 > 0:50:32All right, so, it's half past ten -
0:50:32 > 0:50:36half past eleven, half past twelve, half past one.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38I'll be back at half one.
0:50:42 > 0:50:44Martin is meeting his two brothers
0:50:44 > 0:50:48and dad Stevie in the nearby town of Grantown-on-Spey.
0:50:48 > 0:50:51Yeah, it's a nice kind of place.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54- It's not all hillbilly country up here.- Hello.- Hello.
0:50:56 > 0:50:57Who's in first?
0:50:57 > 0:51:00It's a proper Highland outfitters
0:51:00 > 0:51:05with a complete range of tartans, including the Irvine Clan -
0:51:05 > 0:51:07but, for Stevie, it's a new experience.
0:51:09 > 0:51:11Dad, he needs the full shebazz.
0:51:11 > 0:51:13- All right, Stevie. What kind of kilt?- Erm...
0:51:13 > 0:51:17You want something with purple in it because is purple the theme?
0:51:17 > 0:51:18No, it's just any...
0:51:18 > 0:51:20Anything you like.
0:51:20 > 0:51:22You can always have purple, but...
0:51:22 > 0:51:25Never worn a kilt in my life.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28I've got the Douglas, which is quite like the Irvine.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31Just show me - you can pick whatever you fancy.
0:51:31 > 0:51:33Let me have a look at this here.
0:51:33 > 0:51:35This is the Isle of Skye.
0:51:35 > 0:51:37You want to have a wee look, Martin?
0:51:37 > 0:51:39You dinna know, really, do you?
0:51:39 > 0:51:43So, why don't we just try something on and then we can go with colours?
0:51:43 > 0:51:45- Aye.- I'll look stupid with a kilt on.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48No, you'll be fine, trust me. Trust me, you'll be fine.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51- Really white legs!- No, it's fine, I've got tan and stuff, no problem.
0:51:53 > 0:51:55Right, so let's go and we'll try, we'll pick...
0:51:57 > 0:52:00- 16.- Aye, 16. You got a phone in there?
0:52:00 > 0:52:02LAUGHTER
0:52:02 > 0:52:04I'll not tell anybody.
0:52:04 > 0:52:06Can you see the panic in his face?
0:52:06 > 0:52:10This would be the first time Dad's ever wore a kilt. Never.
0:52:10 > 0:52:11Get oot.
0:52:11 > 0:52:13Sook it in, Dad.
0:52:19 > 0:52:21It's great fun, actually.
0:52:21 > 0:52:23There's nothing nicer than seeing a'body all dressed up
0:52:23 > 0:52:24for their weddings.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27You try to make people feel comfortable that have never
0:52:27 > 0:52:29worn a kilt before, my dear.
0:52:33 > 0:52:37There's enough room in there for one whisky and two pints.
0:52:38 > 0:52:40My knees.
0:52:44 > 0:52:46Go on, Dad, give us a twirl.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50- What do you think?- Very smart.
0:52:51 > 0:52:52What can you tell me?
0:52:52 > 0:52:55- What do you think? - Comb your hair, at least.
0:52:55 > 0:52:57Strike a pose.
0:52:58 > 0:53:00Usain Bolt!
0:53:02 > 0:53:06It takes eight yards of tartan to make a kilt,
0:53:06 > 0:53:08and Martin's is yet to be sewn together,
0:53:08 > 0:53:10which is just as well,
0:53:10 > 0:53:13as all the hard work of lambing has taken its toll.
0:53:13 > 0:53:15He's lost an inch and a half.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19As soon as you've finished your lambing and that, pop back,
0:53:19 > 0:53:21make sure that your kilt's fine.
0:53:25 > 0:53:28At the farm, Mel's got her hands on a new bit of kit
0:53:28 > 0:53:30that could change her life.
0:53:30 > 0:53:33This is our shepherdess bucket.
0:53:33 > 0:53:37What it is, it's a bucket within a bucket,
0:53:37 > 0:53:42with two teats in it, and it's got a thermostat at the bottom
0:53:42 > 0:53:46that keeps the water warm around the milk bucket.
0:53:46 > 0:53:48So these lambs are our pet lambs
0:53:48 > 0:53:52that constantly have, basically, ad lib milk,
0:53:52 > 0:53:55so it's milk on tap, or on teat,
0:53:55 > 0:53:59so I don't have to feed them.
0:54:01 > 0:54:05This one doesn't always put himself onto it,
0:54:05 > 0:54:08so I've got to physically hold him there.
0:54:08 > 0:54:10He will get it, just about.
0:54:10 > 0:54:15It saves me and Martin, or mostly me, a lot of time.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18They're nibbling my waterproofs!
0:54:18 > 0:54:22This bucket will save us about four hours a day.
0:54:22 > 0:54:24It's brilliant.
0:54:24 > 0:54:26They're content, they're not squealing, you know,
0:54:26 > 0:54:28"Feed me, I'm hungry," type of thing.
0:54:28 > 0:54:33They just feed themselves, which is great.
0:54:33 > 0:54:37This little 119 with the blue head and the pink nose
0:54:37 > 0:54:41is the little lamby that we took into the caravan
0:54:41 > 0:54:44and me and Martin said it's only got about a 20% chance of living,
0:54:44 > 0:54:47and showed us up and lived, which is great,
0:54:47 > 0:54:50and that lamb just hasn't looked back.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54Hey, toots, come on. So, it's a little rascal.
0:54:54 > 0:54:58It feeds itself. It's quite happy, aren't you?
0:54:58 > 0:55:03And he's put on a lot of weight and he's looking good.
0:55:04 > 0:55:06So you have, haven't you?
0:55:06 > 0:55:08It's a boy so we won't be keeping it.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11We won't be keeping any of these, they get sold, so...
0:55:11 > 0:55:14but, yeah, it's a miracle little lamby, aren't you?
0:55:14 > 0:55:17LOUD BLEATING
0:55:33 > 0:55:37In Central Scotland, near Loch Lomond,
0:55:37 > 0:55:41the Lennoxes are getting together at the family farm.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44It's been four weeks since the death of Bobby's father Robbie.
0:55:46 > 0:55:49This would have been Dad's 90th birthday party today.
0:55:49 > 0:55:51His 90th birthday would have been yesterday,
0:55:51 > 0:55:53so there's a party arranged.
0:55:53 > 0:55:55The invites were due to go out
0:55:55 > 0:55:58at the weekend that, unfortunately, he passed away,
0:55:58 > 0:56:02but tonight was the night that we'd planned to have a party for him.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05We'd put the marquee up in the garden behind there
0:56:05 > 0:56:09and there's about 35, 40 people, would have been coming to it.
0:56:09 > 0:56:11It wasn't to be.
0:56:12 > 0:56:16Right, if you want to come through and we'll get started,
0:56:16 > 0:56:19get drinks organised. Who's on red wine?
0:56:19 > 0:56:21GENERAL CHATTER
0:56:21 > 0:56:24- Well, good health. - To grandpa.- Grandpa.- Grandpa.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27GLASSES CLINK
0:56:44 > 0:56:45With Robbie gone,
0:56:45 > 0:56:49Bobby's been thinking about the future of the farm,
0:56:49 > 0:56:52and it seems that Kay is the natural successor.
0:56:54 > 0:56:56There's no doubt with Dad dying now,
0:56:56 > 0:56:59I think that's concentrated all of our minds to the future.
0:56:59 > 0:57:01Kay is learning the ropes just now,
0:57:01 > 0:57:04she's starting to try and learn the paperwork side of things
0:57:04 > 0:57:06and doing the accounts and bits and pieces
0:57:06 > 0:57:11and learn as much as she can, but that's the bit that is the hard bit.
0:57:11 > 0:57:13It's running the business side of it
0:57:13 > 0:57:17and all the red tape and rules and regulations
0:57:17 > 0:57:20that you've to comply with now, is a big task.
0:57:20 > 0:57:23I'd be fine, cos I'd have Dad to kinda keep me right, you know?
0:57:23 > 0:57:26I mean, at the end of the day, you would just get on with it.
0:57:26 > 0:57:28I just really enjoy it. It's nice to be part of
0:57:28 > 0:57:31it. I've got really, really strong ties to the farm,
0:57:31 > 0:57:33and obviously the family, and really enjoy the work.
0:57:33 > 0:57:37Obviously, I don't do it every single day, so that might change.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40Day in day out, I know it's a hard slog and you're out in the rain -
0:57:40 > 0:57:43no matter what happens, a job needs done, but I don't mind that.
0:57:43 > 0:57:45I don't mind getting my hands dirty, always have done,
0:57:45 > 0:57:47always been a bit of a tomboy, so...
0:57:47 > 0:57:50Things might need to change a little bit to make it work,
0:57:50 > 0:57:53but all of us will be together with it, and we'll work it through.
0:57:55 > 0:57:57Next time...
0:57:57 > 0:58:01John Scott has to call on the vet to do an emergency Caesarean.
0:58:01 > 0:58:06A live calf, very narrow pelvis, small heifer.
0:58:08 > 0:58:13Martin's cattle finally get to go outside after eight months indoors.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16That feeling there for them must be a great feeling.
0:58:16 > 0:58:18Just getting back onto the grass again and away.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21And George MacPherson celebrates a big one...
0:58:21 > 0:58:25# Happy Birthday to you! #
0:58:25 > 0:58:28Thank you very much - and don't give up your day job!