Episode 1 Home Ground

Hello, and welcome to Home Ground,

a brand-new series here on BBC Northern Ireland

celebrating the richness of rural life.

Yes, it's a huge part of all of our lives,

and for the next six weeks Jo and I will be introducing you

to a host of stories and people

who use the countryside for work, rest and play.

And here's what's coming up on tonight's programme.

When he's not needed in the scrum, he's needed on the farm.

Ireland rugby captain Rory Best as we've never seen him before.

It started out as a house that needed a new roof,

but we've uncovered one of the most important thatched cottages

in Ireland, and it's under threat.

And a hunt for one of the most elusive river

birds in Northern Ireland.

He's watching us watching him, so it's a stand-off.

Also on tonight's programme we'll have a full weather forecast

for you for the week ahead, but first we're on a busy sheep farm

just outside Saintfield in County Down.

It's lambing season, and I'm here to give them a hand.

It's the height of spring, and lambs are out in the field,

but it's also the busiest time of year for sheep farmers.

Crosby Cleland and his team expect around 1,200 lambs

to be born on his farm in a three-week period.

-Well, Crosby, how's it going?

-Hiya, Jo, hiya. How are you going?

-Nice to see you.

-Indeed.

This is my favourite time of the year,

but for you it's pretty intense, isn't it?

-Get that sleeve rolled up.

-THEY LAUGH

Look, I can't wait any longer.

-I need to get in to see these guys.

-You want to see these? No problem.

Hello!

Who's going to come for a little cuddle? Hello!

-Aw, can I lift him?

-Yeah, sure.

-You see the number on it now, the number on the side?

-Where's Mummy?

-48, I think this one here's 48.

-48.

So, ewe 48, that's how we know.

Aww!

The other thing we do, too, um...

if the lamb's a single you do the 48 with a dot.

So if we're out field and we see them all, that's a double,

but if there's a dot with it, we'll know to only look for one lamb.

OK. So, the marking's really important.

Oh, very important in the field.

I hate to ask the question, but where is this wee man destined?

-Or lady. You're a lady.

-Well, at the end of the day...

This is all about, we have to earn a living, so that's how.

-We sell the lamb, it goes onto the plate of the end of the day.

-They're all meat?

Yeah, well, they're going to all the various supermarkets about the country.

So, how many different breeds do you have?

Right, we have the Lleyn, that would be our main breed.

It's a narrower shoulder, smaller head and smaller legs.

-What do you sell it for, do you know?

-Oh, not much.

That's always the farmers, you think. Last year was a bad one.

Other years, we managed to get an income from it,

but last year was bad because of the euro.

That made a big diff...

I was actually 10lbs of lamb short on 1,200 lambs,

so that's £12,000 short.

-Makes a big difference.

-Yeah.

But it's hard going. I mean, Do you enjoy it?

Ach, yeah, it's in the blood.

We moan and groan a lot but, yes, it's in the blood.

-I wouldn't do anything else.

-It's a way of life.

-Yeah, I know.

Do you know, when you see the likes of this, isn't it fantastic?

'Well, it was time for me to help with the hard work

'as I followed Crosby down

'to some expectant mothers in the lambing shed.'

'And within moments Crosby was hard at it.'

Two feet and a nose, this is going to be...Ah, see, it's there.

SHEEP BLEATING

That lamb will start to breathe in a minute.

With a big lamb, it takes longer before they start to breathe,

blood circulation and everything.

It's OK, Jo, yours will be an easier one.

'Then, it was my turn.'

Oh, my word! It is warm. Get my scarf out of the way.

-Now, do you feel two feet?

-Yes, I feel two feet.

-Do you feel a nose?

-Er...

-Just go a little further with the fingers till you feel the nose.

-Yes, I think I feel a nose.

-Well, that's the way you want.

The head should be coming across and the two feet below. Right, big pull.

Pull on the two feet.

-So, it's warm and it's very slippy.

-Pull down the hill.

Oh, come on, wee baby.

Oh!

-I'm going to give you a little hand.

-Oh!

-That's it, keep going.

-Keep going?

There's the head, coming there.

Oh!

Ergh!

Oh, hello!

CROSBY CHUCKLES

Oh, you're so gentle.

-And then you get the...

-That's it...

..colostrum away. Hello!

Get the hold of his two back legs.

-Hey, this is...

-Lift it up and just give it a little shake.

Oh, a little shake.

A little shake, and slowly,

when you let it out to the gap, let it fall so as...

-That's it, yeah.

-There you go.

Welcome to the world!

This is our first lamb of Home Ground.

'And, very soon, she's joined by a little brother

'and is up on her feet, ready to start her life on the farm.'

That was just incredible!

I really enjoyed that and I can tell you, it was my first time,

I was a wee bit anxious about it but it was exhilarating,

and look at these gorgeous lambs.

Wowee!

Well done, ewe.

Ewe! Did you see what I did there?

You.

I knew she'd get her hands dirty. Fair play, Jo, well done.

Now, over the years I've conducted countless interviews

with the Ireland rugby captain, Rory Best, but none quite like this,

as I went to find out about his other great passion in life, farming.

CHEERING

As Ireland's captain and leader,

it's Rory Best's job to provide experience and inspiration.

But today on the family farm he has an altogether different job -

prepping his bull calves ahead of the Balmoral show,

with a little help from Bert the donkey.

This is Bert. You couldn't get away from him.

You know, if he doesn't want to go

somewhere, he'll not go.

Whereas, like, if I took the bull

by the halter now,

there'd be no stopping him. I think me and you, even with your strength,

I think we would struggle.

And it's really just getting him used to being handled.

You know, especially with what I do,

I wouldn't really like to phone up Joe or Bryn or Les and say,

"Look, I've hurt myself on the farm." I don't think they'd...

I've been arguing with my bull today, I'll not be in.

If you see the two in there, that's what we'll start off with.

We'll catch them, we'll tie them and maybe leave them tied for the day.

-That just gets them used to it?

-Just get them used to being tied.

I'll come in and just stand with them for 10, 15, 20 minutes,

just get them used to being really touched

and to know that we're not...

it's not bad, we're not trying to do anything bad to them.

-Try and take him and see if he'll...

-Yeah, so he'll just walk.

You stay just nice and tight up in beside him,

and then that way the bull can't swing round into you.

-Now he's happier, he's back in his...

-Yeah.

..back in his familiar surroundings.

Well, the first boy's going to be on show, what are the qualities he has?

What are you looking for in one of these beasts? Oh, oh, oh, calm boy.

You know, we look for a nice head. Erm, a good poll on top,

a nice flat line across his back and that he's good in his legs.

Erm, the other thing to look for is that he's a powerful bull.

You know, we don't want anything that's sort of too soft, you know.

We want something that when you sell...

This has so many parallels with your life, doesn't it, in rugby?

There are a lot of things familiar about it.

We'll just let them off here and then, so what we'll do is...

I was going to say dogs look like their owners, but can't really.

So, we'll just let him... He'll probably remain tied now for, erm,

a couple of days, just on and off.

Obviously when I'm away, or haven't got time when I'm home,

Dad'll leave him on for a day or two,

and then I'll let him back off again,

or he'll let him off and then I'll put a different one on.

Is this a release for you, almost, from the pressures of the day job?

Ach, it definitely is.

Depending on how the day's training has went,

I can come down here and spend an hour, and the cattle,

they don't talk back to you, you know, no matter what you tell them.

They don't understand you and they won't do it,

whereas our boys understand and just choose not to do it sometimes.

So, it's nice just to come down here and deal with proper animals

instead of the animals that I deal with.

'The family farm is mostly cereal crops

'and pedigree Aberdeen Angus cattle, and Rory is just

'one of a number of generations of Bests to grow up here.'

What was it like growing up on the farm, your dad having you out here?

Did that even, I suppose even toughen you up,

but make you physically strong, as well?

It was just something you never really thought much about, you know.

I think if I was 15 or 16 and being told

you had to go the gym and you had to do this,

probably at that sort of age I wouldn't have done it.

I just had no real interest in that side of things

and that to me was like hard work,

whereas coming out here and doing bits and pieces out with Dad

and the summer was all about, as soon as school was over,

that was great - that meant two months now

of helping Dad and doing stuff at home.

Erm, like a say, it was never really something you

thought of as work, you know, it was just...

It was what you did, you went out and you helped

and you did whatever you could.

This is very much a family farm led by Dad, John,

and former rugby star and brother, Simon.

How have you noticed the change over the years?

Did you think these two would ever end up doing what they've

done for Ireland, and then even he's captaining them now?

No, it's a great honour for us all.

A great honour for Pat and I and the family.

You see them growing up,

and I remember the first Ulster Schools try-out Simon had.

We said, "Jeepers, we'd better go to this. This might be the last."

Just keeps progressing and you make the most of it.

You started it all. You played in the front row, didn't you?

It was very much social rugby, Gavin.

It was an excuse to get to the bar on a Saturday evening.

Did you ever expect him to go on and do this?

Cos you were the superstar first of the household, were you not?

Oh, sort of. We joke from time to time that when Rory first turned up

he was known as my brother and he didn't like that very much,

but now I have to suffer as Rory's brother.

Nobody really remembers me.

SINGING

Now, you two boys are here, day in, day out.

What about this gentleman farmer, eh? Does he do much?

Is he much of a hand?

Ach, that would be revealing secrets, Gavin.

I'll not embarrass him.

I'll embarrass him privately but not with you standing there.

IRISH ANTHEM

Well, Rory, they like to keep you going, but is it nice to get

back here and get involved back on the family farm?

Och, it is, yeah, and obviously, I don't spend anywhere near

as much time as I'd like to.

It's very much a clean break from what I do at Ulster and Ireland,

and to come back here and, I suppose as much as anything,

to come back here and get slagged and, you know,

to get brought back down to earth again, you know,

it's what you need. I like to keep involved in what's going on.

Let me tell you, Gavin, if we're relying on him

to feed the cattle every day they would go hungry.

-There, named and shamed by his own father. Why not?

-Absolutely.

Well, thankfully these guys are snug and warm inside,

but what about those of us who have to brave the elements?

Let's find out what the weather forecast has in store for the week ahead.

A thatched cottage is a thing of beauty, echoing traditions

and cultures of a bygone era,

but it takes craftsmanship and money to keep them in good condition.

Well, our reporter, Ruth Sanderson, has been to Limavady to see

a thatched cottage in need of urgent repair.

Nothing says rural Ireland like a thatched cottage,

but these iconic symbols could be a thing of the past.

The grants awarded for their upkeep have been stopped, meaning

many of these buildings could be consigned to the history books.

COCK CROWS

'I'm in Limavady to see the home of Edward and Eileen Quigley,

'a retired brother and sister who have lived in this thatched house

'for their whole lives.

'They're shy and prefer not to be on camera,

'but their nephew, Mark Canning, has been campaigning

'on their behalf to try and get their thatched roof repaired.'

-No, it's my aunt and uncle's cottage.

-It's beautiful.

So, it's been in our family for four generations now, so...

Gosh! So what's that, about 300 years or so?

Well, it was actually built in the early 1700s,

so it would be slightly older than 300 years.

You say there's been trouble with the thatch?

To be honest, the cottage from the front actually looks well

but it's whenever you get round the back you can see the damage,

and I can actually show you that.

-So, where are we going, round here?

-So just round this way.

'This is a listed building, so it must be thatched

'or the owners face a fine.

'However, when the family went to apply for a Built Heritage Grant,

funded by the Department Of The Environment,

they were told that, due to budget cuts, all money available to help

maintain thatched roofs in Northern Ireland had been completely cut,

so there'd be no money to fix the roof.

-So, that's the roof there.

-Oh, yeah.

You can see it's covered with plastic in a few different places.

You know, I hope this doesn't sound harsh, but they don't have

an inside toilet, they don't have electricity,

it does cost a lot to get the roof redone -

you know, why don't they just move somewhere else?

A lot of people might say they'd have a happier, nicer time if they

were in a wee bungalow somewhere which wasn't leaky and wasn't cold.

Well, that's... You're right, but this is their home, like.

They've lived here all their lives, like.

This is what they know and what they're used to,

and if they had to move I think it would be the beginning of the end for them.

I think it would...it would kill them, like.

This is the room here, Ruth, where the ceiling collapsed in.

'Mark estimates that it will cost around £60,000 to fix this roof,

'part of which fell in last year when Mark's uncle was asleep.'

Oh, my goodness! That's full of thatch.

Yeah, and the beams are fallen on the bed, the won't door open.

'Mark has been lobbying politicians, heritage organisations

'and government departments, all to no avail -

'and time is running out.'

I'm very concerned.

The roof's unstable now and it's only going to get worse.

'Four months have passed, and I'm back to catch up with Mark.

'Also visiting today is Fidelma Mullane.

'She's a leading built heritage expert from the University

'of Ireland in Galway. 'So, has any progress been made?'

We haven't made much progress in terms of, like,

fundraising or whatever, um,

but we've pulled together like sort of a team of experts -

Fidelma being one of them -

to try and help us kind of get things going.

-Yeah.

-So, fingers crossed.

And so, from your point of view then, Fidelma,

you deal with buildings like this all the time,

you're an expert in built heritage,

so what is so important about this particular cottage?

It's very interesting for a number of reasons, and the two most

important ones, I think, are the materials and the method.

The materials are all gathered locally.

They come from the seashore,

from the sand dunes,

and it's a type of wild grass that's called bent here locally.

And this is probably the last house that I know of in Ireland

that would have this kind of covering on the roof.

-In all of Ireland?

-In all of Ireland.

A house with bent on it as the outer covering of thatch

is probably unique.

Therefore this house is extremely important in Ireland.

So, as it turns out,

the house is much more significant than even Mark realised.

It's very hardy and the point to be made there is that

these materials were not just picked up because they were available.

These were selected by people who had tried and tested

lots of materials, and this is the one that is the most durable.

-And it comes from 500 metres over there.

-Just locally.

It's all very well and good

saying it's historically interesting, etc,

but there are obviously people who live in this house

and should they still be living in a house like this?

There might be an argument that

they could be more comfortable somewhere else.

We must be part of the support network

that allows for this house to be comfortable and habitable,

and the only way to do that is to conserve it in the same way

that they have done when they were fit and younger.

We now need to, in some way, find a way -

and we can be very creative about this - to do the same.

So it's about maintaining their way of life and their knowledge,

as well as the roof.

That's exactly what we must do.

'Whilst the Department says it sympathises with the family's situation,

'it still maintains that budget cuts rule out any money for the roof.'

Let's get down to brass tacks here.

If there's no money available,

then there's not really that much Mark or his aunt and uncle can do

to save this roof, is there?

I think it would be entirely remiss not to do this

on the pretext that there isn't any money.

It is not just of local importance or of national importance.

This house is, without any doubt, of major international significance.

Whilst the future is still unsure,

these new findings at least offer a glimmer of hope that this

very special building might be saved from disappearing for ever.

Bird-ringing involves catching birds, putting a unique

ring on their legs and releasing them back into the wild.

It's vital if we're to learn about their population, health and movement.

But it's a strictly controlled activity

so, to find out more, I joined a group of volunteers in the Glens of Antrim.

The Glenarm river runs straight through Glenarm Estate

here in County Antrim.

It's an area brimming with birdlife.

I'm here to meet bird-ringer Aidan Crean and his team of volunteers.

Today, we're in search of an elusive bird - the dipper.

The Ulster Wildlife Trust,

they look after this stretch of land here for Lord Antrim,

and one of the elusive birds they talk a lot about, er,

on the river is the dipper.

So, they've really no idea how many dippers there are on the water,

so they've asked us, the bird-ringers,

to come along and try and catch some.

With nets stretched across the river at different points,

the idea is to chase or walk the bird along and into the nets.

You've had days, though, when you haven't caught dippers.

-Is that correct?

-Yeah, yeah.

But not today?

Well, you're putting me under pressure here now,

but I can say we've got kingfishers in this river,

we've got grey wagtails in the river and we've got dippers the river.

I think we'll get something and we should get a dipper.

-We're going hunting.

-Let's go.

And things get off to a good start.

Further downstream, the team have already caught a bird

but it's not a dipper.

This is a grey wagtail.

This is one of the stunning little beautiful birds

of the rivers of Ireland. That lovely canary yellow.

It's a real skill handling him.

Well, it's just gentle touch with lots of experience and practice.

Gala's going to put the ring on the bird and then

we'll measure the wing, we'll weigh it and then we'll release him.

OK, Gala?

'Bird-ringing is a strictly controlled activity.

'Gala, who's from Croatia,

'is a volunteer training to get her licence.'

This little bird's now, technically, an ambassador for his species.

He's a dot on a map of the world,

not just the Glenarm river or County Antrim or The Glens.

This is the beauty of the ringing scheme.

'The nature reserve here on the estate is leased

'and managed by the Ulster Wildlife Trust.'

Tell us about these birds. They're fascinating little creatures, aren't they?

Well, they get the name "dipper", I mean, if you spend

long enough looking at them, if you find a patch of river

with rocks in it, fast flowing water like that...

-There, perfect.

-Like there, perfect.

..they come up and they perch themselves on the rocks really prominently.

They're wee, squat, fat, wee-looking birds with a white belly,

and they dip the tail. Constantly dipping the tail, they don't stop.

They never, ever stop and that's why they're called dipper.

And in they go into the water and they're basically flying along the bottom of the river,

the riverbed, looking, overturning stones, looking for wee insects,

and that's how they live their lives.

'And, before we know it, there's another bird in the net,

'and this time it is a dipper.'

-Take him out.

-Look at that! Gently, yeah.

-Look at that.

-Isn't that lovely?

-You're a big boy.

Your leg's shaking, son. I'd be shaking, too.

-Lawrence, this is your ring, and now...

-Now you measure the wing.

-Surgeons hands required.

-Yeah.

You a bit nervous or you all right?

I am. This is my first dipper!

I know, on TV.

Watch his wee wing, now. Excellent.

So you get the carp over the wing.

-Yes.

-And you get the longest primary feather,

which is about 98, I would say there.

Yeah, yeah, 98. 98 mil.

Now he's ready to go.

This a big moment then, when you release him?

Yeah, well, you just lift it. Watch this.

THEY CHEER

Wow, look at that!

Land! Oh, he's away for cover.

-Well done, James. Well done, Lawrence.

-Well done, everyone.

-Right, where's Gavin?

-Next one! Brilliant.

You know, it does seem like a stupid question, but hey, I'm your man.

How do you beat a bird along? Is the bird not just going to go, "Tell you what, I'm off?"

Well, the very fact that we are down and along the river bank

will gently nudge the bird along the river.

So if we see any little wagtails, dippers or kingfishers moving along,

we'll start to get very, very excited, and I apologise for that.

-We've got movement.

-We've got movement, yeah. We've got a dipper going towards the net.

-Went in left.

-Right, OK.

So, were just moving it in, yeah.

-So it's on their side?

-Yeah.

-It's just on the other side.

-OK.

So gently-gently.

Yeah, we've got it. Whereabouts are you?

If he goes over the bridge he might go into the second net.

If he goes under the bridge he goes into the first net.

-He's in trouble either way.

-Either way.

Now, but remember he's watching us watching him.

So, this is...

-It's a stand-off.

-Yeah.

-He's in!

-He's in!

THEY CHEER AND CLAP

'But it's a false alarm. Somehow the bird has managed to evade the nets.

'Now I understand why these birds are so elusive.'

So he went under the net?

-You're talking...

-You told me they were clever.

-You're talking an inch!

An inch!

The bottom line of the shelf of the net is an inch off the water,

and he went under it.

'Further downstream we spot the distinctive white breast of our little friend.

'Encouraged by its presence, we set a new net.'

If that's not going to catch anything, nothing will.

'The thrill of the chase is infectious.'

We've got a dipper.

Slow down!

No, keep going.

'This time we have a dipper in the net,

'but it's one that we caught earlier.'

Let him go.

It's been all action here on the farm

and it was an incredible experience delivering my first lamb.

Well, this one seems to be doing pretty well.

That's it from this episode of Home Ground.

Join us at the same time next week,

LAMB BLEATS but from us - and from her - it's bye-bye.

Bye-bye.