0:00:12 > 0:00:1512 years ago, as a new millennium beckoned,
0:00:15 > 0:00:17I travelled across Britain to meet
0:00:17 > 0:00:21people in some of the country's most hard-pressed communities.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29These were the early years of Blair's Britain.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32- TONY BLAIR:- A new dawn has broken, has it not?
0:00:34 > 0:00:37And for most of us, the official story was of hope.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43It was the longest boom in British history.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47No return to Tory boom and bust.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51But my journey took me into another Britain,
0:00:51 > 0:00:55to places that seemed forgotten in the new age of prosperity,
0:00:57 > 0:01:01among people who felt they belonged to a different nation,
0:01:01 > 0:01:07talked about by politicians, but whose own voices were rarely heard.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10Everybody tells you to tighten your belts.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12You know, it's on the last hole now,
0:01:12 > 0:01:14so we can't tighten it any further.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18'And they would turn out to be some of the most powerful voices
0:01:18 > 0:01:20'I'd ever encountered.'
0:01:20 > 0:01:24- Do you think your dream is dying in front of you? - No, but it's in intensive care.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30In Scotland, I met shipyard workers fighting to stop decades of industrial decline
0:01:30 > 0:01:32and save their jobs.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37In Wales and Cornwall, I met rural communities ravaged by
0:01:37 > 0:01:41the crisis over BSE-infected cattle and crippling debt.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46In Leeds, I found families trying to build a community
0:01:46 > 0:01:49on a housing estate blighted by crime and drugs.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54In the 12 years since I made that journey,
0:01:54 > 0:01:56the world has been transformed.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01With Britain struggling to emerge from the deepest recession
0:02:01 > 0:02:04since the Second World War, I want to see how the families
0:02:04 > 0:02:08who made such an impression on me back then are coping now.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12Country houses, you knock and then you can go in.
0:02:12 > 0:02:17Tonight, I'll be visiting the countryside of Cornwall and North Wales.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23I'm going back to find out what's changed for the people and places
0:02:23 > 0:02:26that felt like part of a Forgotten Britain.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29I'm coming. I'm coming.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32I feel quite nervous, you know that, about meeting these people.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35I feel quite nervous about meeting them.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58Cornwall is, to visitors,
0:02:58 > 0:03:01one of the most beguiling parts of the British landscape.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08But when I first came here 12 years ago,
0:03:08 > 0:03:10it was the poorest county in the nation.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17Tourism and agriculture were the mainstay of the local economy.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20But back in the late '90s,
0:03:20 > 0:03:24British farming faced its worst crisis in half a century.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30Farmers were borrowing to keep their businesses going,
0:03:30 > 0:03:32like Cornish dairy farmer, Ben Bailey.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39When I met him, his world seemed to be closing in, as the debts escalated.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47I owe...somewhere in the region of 130,000 to the bank.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50They are getting a bit nervous, cos it's not just me,
0:03:50 > 0:03:54but there's a lot of farmers out there who owe them a lot of money,
0:03:54 > 0:03:57and the interest charges on the money I owe them
0:03:57 > 0:04:01are more than my profit, let alone me making a living out of it.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07The Baileys had borrowed to increase their herd.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10Only large herds produced enough milk to make a living.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15But when the milk price collapsed, so did their income.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Ben and Jackie continued to work all hours,
0:04:20 > 0:04:22but the farm wasn't breaking even.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25We wouldn't have thought that this would ever happen to us, but it has.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27I don't even mind working for nothing,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30but when you're working for less than nothing,
0:04:32 > 0:04:36you just lose all enthusiasm. It just goes, really.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45The Baileys were tenant farmers.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48They couldn't even hope to buy the land they lived on.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52For Ben and Jackie, and their daughters Alice and Eloise,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55the cattle were their only wealth.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59I watched as they were forced to sell their herd to pay off the bank.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04'We need the money. Cows are our assets. They'll have to go.'
0:05:05 > 0:05:08To us, on most days, they're just a herd of cows,
0:05:08 > 0:05:10but they mean everything.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19When you've had 'em as babies, you know, you've reared them,
0:05:19 > 0:05:22you've watched them being born, and some of them do...
0:05:22 > 0:05:25Well, they've all got characters,
0:05:25 > 0:05:27they're all individual and they're our life.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30Once our cows are gone, our security's gone.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36Things looked so bleak back then and I think their own sense,
0:05:36 > 0:05:41you know, no matter how brave a face they were putting on things,
0:05:41 > 0:05:44there was a sense coming from them that it wasn't going to last.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49Do you think your dream is dying in front of you?
0:05:50 > 0:05:54No, but it's in intensive care. It's suffering pretty seriously.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01What we're doing is trying to keep the dream alive.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05Here it is, same yard.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08It was just down in there, I remember,
0:06:08 > 0:06:11we were there for the sale of the cows.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13Right, there you are, lot one, lot one,
0:06:13 > 0:06:1727.2 on the weigh-in. 27.2 on the weigh-in.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30I feel quite nervous, you know that, about meeting these people.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33I feel quite nervous about meeting them. I do, yeah.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38I think because, when you come into peoples' lives,
0:06:40 > 0:06:46after, you know, and you witnessed them in extremis...
0:06:46 > 0:06:48Normally, what I do is I vanish,
0:06:48 > 0:06:50and I never go back into people's lives.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53It's the nature of foreign correspondents -
0:06:53 > 0:06:54you flit in and you flit out.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57- Anyone home?- Hello.
0:06:57 > 0:06:58Hi, how are you?
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Good to see you, man. Fantastic. How are you?
0:07:01 > 0:07:04- Well, I'm still here. Are you all right?- I'm good, fantastic.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07- We're a bit happier this time. - I'm glad to hear it.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10I was coming down and I was remembering the time of the sale
0:07:10 > 0:07:12and, er, and I just said,
0:07:12 > 0:07:15"Maybe it was the sun was shining,"
0:07:15 > 0:07:16THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER
0:07:16 > 0:07:18It was the middle of November, wretched weather.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21- It was a disgusting day. - It was terrible.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25Everything was sort of combining in an atmosphere of gloom.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31I remember the tension and the anger.
0:07:31 > 0:07:37At the moment, I'm just bitter, fed up, exhausted, defeated slightly.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49We're going to come out of it much the wiser.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52Come back and start milking again, which is our ultimate goal,
0:07:52 > 0:07:55to start milking our own cows again.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59By selling the herd and reducing their debts,
0:07:59 > 0:08:01the Baileys were at least able to pay their rent
0:08:01 > 0:08:04and stay with their children in the family home.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10But I doubted then that they'd get back to dairy farming.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15I should have had more faith.
0:08:18 > 0:08:19Put your body on the line.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22How about that, look at that, how about that?
0:08:22 > 0:08:25It's probably been 40 years since I had anything to do farming.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27I can't help that and it isn't that long,
0:08:27 > 0:08:29because you were here last time.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33- Yeah, but I did no work the last time.- No, probably not.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35Go on, shift, shift, shift!
0:08:35 > 0:08:37Hey! Scram!
0:08:39 > 0:08:43After the sale of the cattle, the family began an epic struggle.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46At one point, Ben juggled five different jobs.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51Away from the farm, Jackie, too, found other work.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54In the years since I've last seen you,
0:08:54 > 0:08:57how much of a struggle has it been to pay off that debt?
0:08:57 > 0:09:01Well, it's been a never-ending struggle, and it still is.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03How much do you owe now?
0:09:09 > 0:09:11Well, probably 75,000, I guess.
0:09:11 > 0:09:1475,000. Do you think you'll ever pay that off?
0:09:14 > 0:09:15Oh, yeah.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Why wouldn't I?
0:09:17 > 0:09:21People wouldn't lend it to me if they didn't think I'd pay it back, would they?
0:09:22 > 0:09:26Half of Britain's dairy farmers went out of business in the decade
0:09:26 > 0:09:28the Baileys were fighting to come back.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Their farm is the last of seven in the area.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39I'm not one to just walk away at the first bit of trouble,
0:09:39 > 0:09:41and I don't think Ben is.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44Well, Ben obviously isn't, cos he could have walked.
0:09:44 > 0:09:45It's a lot of pressure
0:09:45 > 0:09:49and could have gone so differently wrong, if we'd wanted it to,
0:09:49 > 0:09:55I suspect. We could have just walked, but we didn't. We chose to stick it out.
0:10:02 > 0:10:03920!
0:10:05 > 0:10:07The Bailey's eldest daughter, Alice,
0:10:07 > 0:10:09was 16 at the time of the sale of the herd.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15Those animals were not my livelihood directly,
0:10:15 > 0:10:17but they were important to me.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22You're not supposed to have to be patient!
0:10:22 > 0:10:25It's an old-fashioned one. It just takes a minute to warm up.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29Now aged 29, Alice lives in the nearby town of Truro.
0:10:29 > 0:10:34As a child, she didn't fully understand her parents' money problems.
0:10:34 > 0:10:39Mum and Dad have always kept the farm and the house
0:10:39 > 0:10:43as two, sort of, separate things, really.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47We still, we always ate and we didn't, you know...
0:10:47 > 0:10:49We were never denied anything.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51We were from, you know...
0:10:51 > 0:10:53I worked, I started my first job when I was 14,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56but I think that's mostly because Mum and Dad wanted me
0:10:56 > 0:10:59to get a work ethic, rather than money.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06I wondered what the Baileys would make now
0:11:06 > 0:11:09of the events I'd filmed back then.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11'Amid the final preparations for the sale,
0:11:11 > 0:11:13'I can sense the growing tension.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16'Gotta put a brave face on it tomorrow and smile for the buyers,
0:11:16 > 0:11:20'and make them think they're buying some very profitable animals.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23'Although everybody knows that the reason we're selling them
0:11:23 > 0:11:24'is cos we're not making any profit.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28'So, dunno what, I don't know.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30'It's miserable.'
0:11:30 > 0:11:33I thought I'd got more eloquent, but I don't think I have.
0:11:33 > 0:11:34Dangerously eloquent.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36LAUGHTER
0:11:36 > 0:11:37'Lot 34.'
0:11:42 > 0:11:45Oh, my God.
0:11:45 > 0:11:46This is shit.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50Hopefully, Ben's going to be able to find some work.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52He'll find work, I know he will.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57And we're going to come out of it much the wiser.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03Giddy aunt!
0:12:03 > 0:12:05That was good.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07- Good?- Well, it was well made.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14Oh, I found that quite upsetting.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16I suppose that was the object of it.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18I think it was good.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20Good, in what way?
0:12:20 > 0:12:21Well, cos you're still here.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24You were strong then and you're even stronger now.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26That's what I think.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Yeah. Didn't feel strong, though.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32No, but look, we're still in the same house,
0:12:32 > 0:12:36whether you like it or not. We're still on the same farm.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39- Are you proud of your parents? - I'm so proud of them.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42What's it like to hear that from your daughter?
0:12:42 > 0:12:44It's brilliant.
0:12:44 > 0:12:45THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER
0:12:45 > 0:12:48We like to think they think to be proud of us,
0:12:48 > 0:12:52but we don't really... We just assume we all love each other,
0:12:52 > 0:12:54but when it's actually said out loud,
0:12:54 > 0:12:56it makes such a difference, doesn't it?
0:12:56 > 0:12:58Cos we're very proud of them.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01When you look at the prospect of the future, you know,
0:13:01 > 0:13:05so much of that film was about the disaster that was occurring at that time,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08and things turned out a lot better than you expected.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10- Yeah.- They really did.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13But I still don't feel secure.
0:13:13 > 0:13:14No.
0:13:16 > 0:13:17No, there's always...
0:13:17 > 0:13:20You just get up there and something comes
0:13:20 > 0:13:22and smacks you back down again,
0:13:22 > 0:13:24and then you start climbing back up again.
0:13:24 > 0:13:30It's partly the nature of farming, as a job -
0:13:30 > 0:13:33you're always only as good as the next thing
0:13:33 > 0:13:35that's going to knock you back.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40Experience has made Ben wary
0:13:42 > 0:13:45and, this summer, events would justify his caution.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49- NEWSREADER:- Dairy farmers from across the country will
0:13:49 > 0:13:52gather in Westminster today to protest against further cuts
0:13:52 > 0:13:54to the price they're paid for milk.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58- NEWSREADER:- The National Farmers' Union says some supermarkets,
0:13:58 > 0:14:01including Morrisons, Asda and the Co-op,
0:14:01 > 0:14:03are squeezing farmers' margins.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07When you depend on the price of milk,
0:14:07 > 0:14:09there's no guarantee of security.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22Falling prices took the Baileys to the brink 12 years ago,
0:14:22 > 0:14:25and global prices have fallen again.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32Now they're in a situation where it can cost them more to produce
0:14:32 > 0:14:35a litre of milk than they get paid for it.
0:14:35 > 0:14:36From the 1st of June,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39our milk price went down a penny and a half per litre.
0:14:40 > 0:14:45That is going to mean about £1,000 less in my milk cheque.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49What benefits the shopper hurts you.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51Well, I don't know if it will benefit the shopper.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53Well, it's cheaper milk.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55Well, is it? Will it be cheaper in the shop,
0:14:55 > 0:14:58or will it benefit the shareholders of some supermarket?
0:14:58 > 0:15:00Do you feel you're being screwed over?
0:15:00 > 0:15:04Yeah, I think we are, up to a point. I mean, it's voluntary.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08I don't have to do this job, but...
0:15:11 > 0:15:13We make quite a good living now,
0:15:13 > 0:15:17now we're financially relatively stable again,
0:15:17 > 0:15:20but for us to make quite a good living...
0:15:22 > 0:15:26We have to do the work of three people,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30you know, from seven in the morning till eleven at night,
0:15:31 > 0:15:33and that's not necessarily right.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43The Baileys are paid little more than 25p a litre for milk,
0:15:43 > 0:15:47about what dairy farmers were being paid 15 years ago.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55And in the last two years, the cost of feeding their herd has doubled.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59To stay financially stable, they must watch every penny.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05I worry much more about over-committing ourselves,
0:16:05 > 0:16:09and getting back into the situation that we were in,
0:16:09 > 0:16:12so I'm the one who nags, I suppose.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15You're the person in charge of the finances, in the sense that you...
0:16:15 > 0:16:18He calls me the financial controller, yeah.
0:16:24 > 0:16:25In today's world,
0:16:25 > 0:16:29the British farmer must develop the skills of an accountant.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31- Have you got a bill? - Yeah, sixty quid.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33Cos they rung up yesterday.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36Yeah, I do, but I do need to add up and take away.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39Yeah, well, you've got to do it properly.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41You've got to do it properly.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44Don't let me tell you who to pay, cos you'll only snarl at me.
0:16:44 > 0:16:45I know!
0:16:45 > 0:16:47All around him in the last 12 years,
0:16:47 > 0:16:51Ben has seen other dairy farmers go out of business,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54and across England, nearly a quarter of small farms
0:16:54 > 0:16:56have vanished in the last decade.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03Falling prices are a real threat,
0:17:03 > 0:17:06but also the influence of nature.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09as I'll find out when I return to Cornwall.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13For now, though,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16I have another journey to make, to a different rural family.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21Theirs was also a story of struggle -
0:17:21 > 0:17:25to preserve not just their livelihood, but their way of life.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34This is Cwmpenanner - the valley of the Calf's Head - in North Wales.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42It's the home of a Welsh-speaking community, proud of its identity.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49They lived in what felt to me the most remote part of Britain
0:17:49 > 0:17:51when I came here 12 years ago.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57Returning after a decade, I'd forgotten the sense of isolation.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04The mobile signal vanishes in this place of mountains and valleys.
0:18:06 > 0:18:07It's so magic here.
0:18:07 > 0:18:12The colours change every day, no matter what time of year it is.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16If I stop talking, you won't hear nothing,
0:18:16 > 0:18:19and it clears your head. It's beautiful.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25Here, I'd met a family of tenant farmers,
0:18:25 > 0:18:28for whom land and language were at the core of their identity.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33It was a story about belonging,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36as much as it was about financial survival.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41That survival was in doubt when I last visited here.
0:18:46 > 0:18:51The BSE crisis of the 1990s cost the British economy billions.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55It hit both beef and sheep farmers who exported to the Continent.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06The family I met here made their living farming sheep.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12And in those days, the price of lamb was collapsing.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17You should be able to make a living out of it, but we're not.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19Everybody tells you to tighten your belt.
0:19:19 > 0:19:25You know, it's on the last hole now, so we can't tighten it any further.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30I dread to think what will happen in five years' time.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39When I met the Roberts family, the sense of crisis was palpable,
0:19:39 > 0:19:41as Arwyn worked impossible hours,
0:19:41 > 0:19:43trying to pay the family's rising debt.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50During lambing, he's lucky if he gets four hours' sleep.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55As a family, we hardly ever see Arwyn, anyway.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57He starts at seven o'clock in the morning,
0:19:57 > 0:19:59he won't come home till half past midnight.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02Starts again, seven o'clock the next morning.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04He's like a robot.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10It began for me as a journey to a rural community,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13but it would also become the story of a mother
0:20:13 > 0:20:15and her struggle against loneliness.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19How difficult is it, just getting by on a day-to-day basis?
0:20:19 > 0:20:23Pressure sometimes - oh, it's terrible. Really is terrible.
0:20:25 > 0:20:30And I'm young. I feel I've aged 40 years, really!
0:20:38 > 0:20:41Country houses, you knock and then you can go in.
0:20:42 > 0:20:43Who's there?
0:20:45 > 0:20:47Aha, jeepers! Good to see you.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49Hello!
0:20:49 > 0:20:51LAUGHTER
0:20:51 > 0:20:54- Good to see you.- How are you? - I'm great. Hello, my dear.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57God almighty, look at the size of you guys!
0:20:57 > 0:20:58How are you?
0:21:01 > 0:21:04- He's new.- Yeah.
0:21:05 > 0:21:06Cai!
0:21:06 > 0:21:09He's right, he's doing what he should be doing -
0:21:09 > 0:21:11getting in the way.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14That's what young fellows are for, to get in the way.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17What's that? Wahey!
0:21:17 > 0:21:18What's that?
0:21:18 > 0:21:21'I was a very welcome visitor, but I did wonder
0:21:21 > 0:21:25'if I represented memories of a time they would rather forget.'
0:21:34 > 0:21:38Gwlithyn, what, it's 13 years since I last saw you.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41- An awful lot has changed in that time.- Yes.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45What did you imagine the future was?
0:21:45 > 0:21:46I didn't know then.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50- You told me you thought you weren't going to survive here.- Yes.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53Well, we're here.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58- Can you watch the film now?- No.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01No, I can't. I can't, no.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04- Why?- It's still raw, you know.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08Farming then - it was tough, the prices were tough.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13You just felt like you were in a big black hole,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16and there was no light at the end of the tunnel then.
0:22:18 > 0:22:23This is a receipt Arwyn had for selling the ewes from Ruthin yesterday.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26- At the market, right.- Yes. - How much did he get again?
0:22:26 > 0:22:28Er, £420.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31- That's six months' work, amounting to £420.- Yeah.
0:22:33 > 0:22:34It isn't a lot.
0:22:34 > 0:22:39And how much a kilo do you pay for your meat afterwards?
0:22:39 > 0:22:41It's a lot more than 56 pence.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45Really, we're just the bottom end of the chain.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53Arwyn worked constantly, on his own and other farms,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56to supplement the family income.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59At home with the children, preoccupied with debt,
0:22:59 > 0:23:01Gwlithyn was depressed.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05You seemed quite isolated and alone at that time.
0:23:05 > 0:23:06Mm, yes.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10Yeah, and Nest - she started school full-time
0:23:10 > 0:23:17and then suddenly you're going from all the children here wanting your attention to nothing.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22I've got nobody really to talk to until Arwyn comes home,
0:23:22 > 0:23:26and the last thing he wants to know is about me, really.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28CLEARS THROAT
0:23:28 > 0:23:30So...yeah.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35It's a lonely life.
0:23:39 > 0:23:44How difficult is it, just getting by on a day-to-day basis?
0:23:44 > 0:23:48I have good days, I have bad days and I have very bad days.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55- Tell me about the very bad days. - Oh, I just cry.
0:23:57 > 0:23:58Really, really cry all the time.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04How did you get out of the mess that you were in?
0:24:04 > 0:24:07We've just worked incredibly hard,
0:24:07 > 0:24:08made lots of sacrifices.
0:24:10 > 0:24:11And then it came through.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22This seems to be the one section of the economy that's doing well...
0:24:22 > 0:24:24- Yes.- ..at the moment.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26Market prices are really good at the moment.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Better than we've ever seen.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34But nothing's certain in life.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37It all depends on the market.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41That's what governs our livelihood.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51The BSE crisis ended and the global market improved dramatically.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57In the 12 years since I last came to the valley,
0:24:57 > 0:25:01the price of a leg of lamb has increased by 75%.
0:25:06 > 0:25:11But the farm's survival wasn't simply the result of better prices for lamb.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21The Roberts came from a community whose very remoteness has
0:25:21 > 0:25:23helped create strong family bonds.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29'I am really proud of my children's achievements.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35'Mali - she's going to do her A levels next year.'
0:25:35 > 0:25:40- She's a very good artist?- Very. Her and Alo are very good artists.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47Alo, the Roberts' eldest daughter, has left home since I last visited.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51Like her mother before her, she's getting married to a young farmer.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57And then Nest - she's just a comic for me.
0:26:01 > 0:26:06- She's just, just crazy. - She has a great sense of humour?
0:26:06 > 0:26:09She makes me laugh, anyway. All of them.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14Cai - he wants to shear. He like his tractors.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18You know, give him a spanner or a hammer and some nails,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21and he's happy, happy as Larry.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26And I found here a shift in attitudes -
0:26:26 > 0:26:32the idea that the farm might be taken over by one of the girls, rather than their son.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36Do you think he'll be the one running the farm in the future?
0:26:36 > 0:26:39Er, out of the four, I think Nest will.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44But girls don't normally inherit the tenancy, do they?
0:26:44 > 0:26:48No, but what I say is, just because he's a boy, it's not fair.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52Because Nest and Mali... All four of them have worked hard.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58Arwyn is still the shy and quiet man I remembered,
0:26:58 > 0:27:03a man who lets his work, rather than his words, speak for him.
0:27:05 > 0:27:06When I last spoke to you,
0:27:06 > 0:27:09you worried that Arwyn would work himself into the ground.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13- Mm.- But he strikes me as someone who loves work.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17- I know!- I think it's the thing that will keep him going.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19That's what keeps him going.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22Yes, his whole family, they're exactly the same.
0:27:22 > 0:27:23He thrives on it.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28- He does come across as the strong silent...- Oh, yes!
0:27:28 > 0:27:30Very traditional man.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33He's not confident in speaking English,
0:27:33 > 0:27:35even though it's perfect and he can.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37You know, he doesn't feel comfortable.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41It's our second language, remember.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47Very proud, very hard-working. Wouldn't have him any other way.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53The Roberts family are financially better off,
0:27:53 > 0:27:55but something deeper has happened.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05Gwlithyn is a transformed person.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10BEEPS HORN
0:28:10 > 0:28:14Last time I came, there was this very honest,
0:28:14 > 0:28:17very vulnerable person sitting opposite me.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19I still am.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22You're very honest, but I sense that you're much stronger.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24Oh, yeah. Yes.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31What's made the difference?
0:28:31 > 0:28:33I made myself like myself.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37I think to myself if I don't like me,
0:28:37 > 0:28:39nobody else will.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45I'm not bothered about what people think of me any more.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47I was trying to please everybody, then.
0:28:50 > 0:28:52Work has made THE difference.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56Gwlithyn's found a job with the National Farmers' Union.
0:28:58 > 0:29:02She's no longer alone at home, but part of a wider community.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08In work, I'm not anybody's wife, sister, mother, daughter.
0:29:08 > 0:29:09I'm just me there.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13I just love it.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16- And the sense of being wanted?- Yes.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20Yes, and you feel like you've got something to offer.
0:29:20 > 0:29:21That's what I like.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28The Roberts' farm has survived.
0:29:28 > 0:29:3112 years ago, I didn't think it would.
0:29:31 > 0:29:35They'd been saved because they worked so hard,
0:29:35 > 0:29:37and the market delivered better prices.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44But I knew this was one family's experience.
0:29:44 > 0:29:49There is a bleaker narrative of rural communities across Britain,
0:29:49 > 0:29:51a story I'll come back to later.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01Back in Cornwall, the Baileys have a serious problem.
0:30:01 > 0:30:05A disease that had been controlled for decades
0:30:05 > 0:30:07is now threatening the herd.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10- NEWSREADER:- There's been a rise
0:30:10 > 0:30:14in the number of cattle in England infected with bovine TB.
0:30:14 > 0:30:18Last year, 25,000 cattle were destroyed because of the disease.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23Bovine TB now affects around 8,000 farms across Britain,
0:30:23 > 0:30:26and it'll cost the taxpayer up to
0:30:26 > 0:30:29£1 billion to control over the next decade.
0:30:35 > 0:30:3912 years ago, the Baileys had to sell the herd to pay their debts.
0:30:40 > 0:30:44This time around, they can't, and the farm is overcrowded.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48To prevent TB entering Britain's food chain,
0:30:48 > 0:30:50farms with infected cattle
0:30:50 > 0:30:53aren't allowed to sell them onto the open market.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57It's meant keeping animals the Baileys would normally have sold.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00These are all for sale, this lot. I know they are.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02There's a big cost here.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05I've been through 'em,
0:31:05 > 0:31:08looking for ones that could potentially be for sale.
0:31:08 > 0:31:13At the moment, we've got 22 that we can sell, or could potentially sell.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18They're going to have to go because I haven't got any more food,
0:31:18 > 0:31:22and they're lying in shit when they should be lying on straw,
0:31:22 > 0:31:25and I've only got three bales of straw left, so I'm rationing them.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34Since a routine TB test two years ago,
0:31:34 > 0:31:37the Baileys' farm has been under restriction.
0:31:38 > 0:31:43The milk can be sold, because it's pasteurised to remove any diseases,
0:31:43 > 0:31:44so they do have an income.
0:31:46 > 0:31:51But the cost of keeping more cattle than they can afford means mounting stress.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55We know loads of people who've been under restriction lots of times,
0:31:55 > 0:31:57but until we had been under it for two years,
0:31:57 > 0:31:59we didn't realise quite how much they were suffering.
0:31:59 > 0:32:03Well, we spend more time TB-testing than we do on holiday.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05It's two days every 60 days and has been,
0:32:05 > 0:32:08apart from one six-month break in two years.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11- Over two years now. - Over two years now, yeah.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17But today could mark a turning point for the Baileys,
0:32:20 > 0:32:23the beginning of the end of costly restrictions.
0:32:25 > 0:32:27I'm on the farm to meet the vet.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32Jason, what are you going to be doing exactly this morning?
0:32:32 > 0:32:35I mean, how many cattle are you testing?
0:32:35 > 0:32:38We are going to be testing all Mr Bailey's stock,
0:32:38 > 0:32:40basically two jabs per animal,
0:32:40 > 0:32:42and when we come back three days later,
0:32:42 > 0:32:44we're going to compare the lumps on the two sites,
0:32:44 > 0:32:47and that's going to determine the result of the test.
0:32:49 > 0:32:5115 years ago, there was much less TB around.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54I wouldn't say it was completely clear but much, much less.
0:32:54 > 0:32:56What's bringing it in?
0:32:56 > 0:32:59Erm, well, that's the big question, isn't it?
0:32:59 > 0:33:02I think...probably the consensus is going to be that there's
0:33:02 > 0:33:06an issue with the wildlife reservoirs, unfortunately.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08The wildlife reservoirs sounds to me like
0:33:08 > 0:33:11a really polite, politically correct way of saying badgers.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14Yeah, I think that is basically the bottom line.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20I don't hate badgers, I like badgers,
0:33:20 > 0:33:24but I like healthy badgers and I'd like to meet the bloody man
0:33:24 > 0:33:27who thought a badger needed anybody's protection, let alone,
0:33:27 > 0:33:32you know, all badgers needed protecting, cos that's such a...
0:33:32 > 0:33:34It's ridiculous.
0:33:34 > 0:33:3813% of the badgers that get run over on the road are actually infected,
0:33:38 > 0:33:42apparently, or they were, until they stopped testing 'em.
0:33:42 > 0:33:48And to some, 13% isn't very much, but if 13% of humans had TB,
0:33:48 > 0:33:51that would be a major health epidemic, wouldn't it?
0:33:51 > 0:33:53I'm coming. I'm coming.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57I can see the beasts coming toward us.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59Have you ever been whacked by one of them?
0:33:59 > 0:34:02Yes, yes. Not as often as I could have been, to be honest.
0:34:02 > 0:34:04I've always been very careful, I'll be frank with you,
0:34:04 > 0:34:06cos obviously they're big girls.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10But, yeah, occasionally you get the odd kick and you get the odd butt,
0:34:10 > 0:34:13but the thing with TB testing is you tend to get your fingers trapped,
0:34:13 > 0:34:16hence the gloves and the tape, but...
0:34:16 > 0:34:18So, yeah, you have to be a little bit careful.
0:34:18 > 0:34:24Obviously, big animals, close confinement, sticking needles in them - rarely a happy combination.
0:34:24 > 0:34:25They can get aggressive.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31There won't be any results today.
0:34:31 > 0:34:33The vet will be back in three days
0:34:33 > 0:34:35to see how the cattle have reacted to their jabs,
0:34:35 > 0:34:39and Ben and Jackie have been through enough to be able to take
0:34:39 > 0:34:41today's tests in their stride.
0:34:42 > 0:34:44Go, go, go, go!
0:34:48 > 0:34:51Besides a limitless capacity for hard work,
0:34:51 > 0:34:55humour is a vital part of life on a small farm.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57This triplet hasn't had her calf yet.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00- That's Britney. This is... - Is that after Britney Spears?
0:35:00 > 0:35:04- Yeah, and this is Gaga. - Heaven forbid! After Lady Gaga?
0:35:04 > 0:35:07If only she knew that one of your cows was called after her!
0:35:07 > 0:35:09The other one's Beyonce.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12I have to say, on first looking, I can't spot the resemblance.
0:35:12 > 0:35:14No.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18Well, I didn't know how she was going to develop when we named her.
0:35:18 > 0:35:20But she's got quite a nice butt on her.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28You've never regretted being a farmer?
0:35:28 > 0:35:30No, not in the least.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35I've fulfilled my lifetime's ambition.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39But, unfortunately, it's turned out to be a crock of shit.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41But that's beside the point.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03Neighbours Frank and Maureen have come to help,
0:36:03 > 0:36:06along with Rachel, the Bailey's apprentice,
0:36:06 > 0:36:09whose job depends on their survival.
0:36:09 > 0:36:13We didn't fully appreciate what it was like to be locked up with TB.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17We had friends in Devon who were, for a while.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19Whinging bastards, we used to call 'em!
0:36:19 > 0:36:21LAUGHTER
0:36:22 > 0:36:23Lot of moaning.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26Every business has its whingers, even the bankers.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29They get a million and a half bonus and they're still whinging.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33So, everybody does it.
0:36:33 > 0:36:35'I was struck by their sense
0:36:35 > 0:36:37'of not being valued by the people of the city.
0:36:37 > 0:36:42'It was a theme that had deepened in the 12 years since I'd last been here.'
0:36:42 > 0:36:45Do you feel a town and country divide?
0:36:45 > 0:36:49When I say town and country, people in London,
0:36:49 > 0:36:52who come down here to their holiday homes,
0:36:52 > 0:36:54who come down to their holiday homes.
0:36:54 > 0:37:00They like a sterile, aspic-coated countryside.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02That's what they think it should be like,
0:37:02 > 0:37:04rather than what it actually is like.
0:37:04 > 0:37:09I think the worst, though, Ben, is when they come and they just want to turn it into suburbia.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12They've moved from suburbia to the countryside,
0:37:12 > 0:37:15- and then they immediately want to put a...- Change it.- Yeah, change it,
0:37:15 > 0:37:19and don't want you driving your tractor past or moving your bullocks
0:37:19 > 0:37:23or something, all the things that they moved to be a part of.
0:37:23 > 0:37:28If I was a builder, I wouldn't mind so much, cos they make shitloads of money out of them.
0:37:28 > 0:37:30- But you resent them? - They're just parasites to me.
0:37:30 > 0:37:34I'd rather they stayed in London and ate my produce without troubling me.
0:37:34 > 0:37:35LAUGHTER
0:37:35 > 0:37:38- And left our countryside alone! - Yeah.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45I'll return to Cornwall for the results of the TB tests,
0:37:45 > 0:37:48but rural anger isn't just about TB.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57Recession has also deepened a sense of alienation.
0:37:57 > 0:38:02It's increased the pressure on rural communities already struggling with decline.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09In Wales, some 3,000 rural businesses have been lost in two decades.
0:38:09 > 0:38:13- NEWSREADER:- Rural parts of Britain are being hardest hit by the recession,
0:38:13 > 0:38:17according to new research from the commission for rural communities.
0:38:17 > 0:38:19There's a warning today that Britain's villages could die
0:38:19 > 0:38:23without radical action to give more power to the people who live in them.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36When I last visited North Wales,
0:38:36 > 0:38:41there were already worries about what rural decline might mean for local children.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45Back then, at the local school in the nearby village of Cerrigydrudion,
0:38:45 > 0:38:49the Roberts' girls were being taught by Gwlithyn's aunt, Nan.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54A lot of children want to be farmers,
0:38:54 > 0:38:57like their parents and like grandparents.
0:38:57 > 0:38:59What should I say? Should I tell them,
0:38:59 > 0:39:03"No, there won't be any farming community at Cerrigydrudion.
0:39:03 > 0:39:04"Don't even think about farming."
0:39:07 > 0:39:10This thriving school is an exception here.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15Four others in the area have closed in the last 20 years.
0:39:17 > 0:39:21It's a trend threatening the identity of this community.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27And it doesn't seem to augur well for the Roberts' son Cai,
0:39:27 > 0:39:29or his sisters, who want to farm.
0:39:29 > 0:39:30This is it, I think.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32NAN TALKS TO THE CLASS IN WELSH
0:39:32 > 0:39:34I recognise that voice.
0:39:34 > 0:39:38- Nan.- Hello, how are you? - How are you doing?
0:39:38 > 0:39:41- All right, thank you.- How nice to see you.- And you, Fergal.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44You're still with young ones, even though we're all older.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48Yes, year three and four. Seven to nine year olds.
0:39:48 > 0:39:53I've got 19 in the class and they're flabbergasted.
0:39:53 > 0:39:55- Good afternoon, everyone. - Good afternoon.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59- How do I say that in Welsh? - Pnawn da.- Pnawn da.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01CLASS: Pnawn da.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05Computers - they weren't here the last time I was here.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07No, no, no. We're very lucky.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11We've moved on in this technological world we're living in.
0:40:11 > 0:40:12They're composing.
0:40:12 > 0:40:16They're playing around with composing on the computer.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25How many of the children in your class do you think
0:40:25 > 0:40:28want to become farmers or work on the land?
0:40:28 > 0:40:31The boys, I would think, half of them.
0:40:33 > 0:40:35And how many will actually get there?
0:40:35 > 0:40:39Oh, another matter. Something to do with agriculture, maybe.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51How important is this school in creating a cohesion here,
0:40:51 > 0:40:55and protecting your Welsh identity, particularly given the fact
0:40:55 > 0:40:58that other schools in the area have closed down?
0:40:58 > 0:41:04I really believe you have to have children believe in their identity.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08Being Welsh is more than just learning the language.
0:41:08 > 0:41:09You've got to live it.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12THEY SING IN WELSH
0:41:22 > 0:41:26It saddens me to see local schools around the area closing
0:41:26 > 0:41:28or even going very small schools now.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36Why is that happening?
0:41:36 > 0:41:39Because people are moving out and no children.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45Young people are moving away,
0:41:45 > 0:41:49and supermarkets in the towns are taking the business.
0:41:49 > 0:41:54We've only got one shop now. We haven't even got a pub.
0:41:54 > 0:41:58- And what about the butcher shop? - No. Gone.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01- In a place with so much livestock? - Couldn't... Yes.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05Couldn't live on the income that they were generating.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12It strikes me there's a bit of a paradox here,
0:42:12 > 0:42:16because on the one level, you want to protect your identity,
0:42:16 > 0:42:19and your language and everything that's been here for centuries,
0:42:19 > 0:42:23but parts of the community are dying, because there isn't enough...
0:42:23 > 0:42:26There isn't enough people, there's not enough new blood.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29No, no. So I'm telling all the young ones,
0:42:29 > 0:42:31"Come on, get some children in!"
0:42:31 > 0:42:34But in reality, I know what you're saying. I can...
0:42:34 > 0:42:36I haven't got the answer to it.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47On so many levels, this is a very attractive place to be.
0:42:47 > 0:42:50If you're a parent, you're not worried about your children,
0:42:50 > 0:42:53and you've got an identity that's been with you for hundreds of years,
0:42:53 > 0:42:57but I really worry about it lasting, because jobs are vanishing,
0:42:57 > 0:42:59people can't fill their shops.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02They're going to have problem filling their schools,
0:43:02 > 0:43:06because without an infrastructure of employment for people,
0:43:06 > 0:43:08you just see slow, steady decline ahead.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14As more young people leave,
0:43:14 > 0:43:17the Welsh language is declining in its heartlands.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23The Welsh government has spent nearly £1 billion
0:43:23 > 0:43:26trying to boost rural development in the last decade.
0:43:30 > 0:43:34But during the recession, rural youth unemployment rose sharply.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40What would you like to see them do, the girls?
0:43:40 > 0:43:44I just want them to be happy and achieve their goals.
0:43:44 > 0:43:49If that means leaving here to go to the city, how would you feel?
0:43:49 > 0:43:51If that's their choice,
0:43:51 > 0:43:54you know, I'll back them up 100%,
0:43:54 > 0:43:59because if you don't get your parents' encouragement...
0:43:59 > 0:44:02I'd prefer them to go from here,
0:44:02 > 0:44:05knowing that they know that we're happy with them,
0:44:05 > 0:44:07than going without our...
0:44:08 > 0:44:12- I don't know what the English is. - Blessing?- Yes.
0:44:12 > 0:44:14Yes.
0:44:16 > 0:44:21The Roberts' girls want to be the fifth generation of their family to farm in this valley.
0:44:24 > 0:44:25Who's this stranger?
0:44:25 > 0:44:30'And, constantly, I was reminded of how land and language defined their identity.'
0:44:32 > 0:44:34Do you think you'd like to be a farmer?
0:44:38 > 0:44:39Why?
0:44:48 > 0:44:51I mean, you see your parents working very, very hard.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54Would that put you off the idea of being a farmer?
0:45:06 > 0:45:10The girls want to stay, but may have to consider leaving.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17But I wonder if the language might be a barrier
0:45:17 > 0:45:19to a future for them beyond these hills.
0:45:21 > 0:45:26Do you think the fact that Welsh is their first language would be a hindrance to them?
0:45:26 > 0:45:29- Oh, no!- Do you not think so?
0:45:29 > 0:45:32I think it's an advantage, really.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38You don't think when they're born, "Oh, I'll speak English to them,
0:45:38 > 0:45:43"just to make sure that they have the right track to begin with."
0:45:43 > 0:45:44Oh, no.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51Whatever they might wish for, I worry that the next generation
0:45:51 > 0:45:54will have to leave the hills in search of work.
0:46:00 > 0:46:03The evidence points to many young people here being
0:46:03 > 0:46:06forced to plan for a life in the towns and cities.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15'Sitting with this happy family,
0:46:15 > 0:46:19I wondered how much would be lost' with the decline of rural Britain.'
0:46:19 > 0:46:24'It was a question that lingered through the good humour of our farewell meal.'
0:46:28 > 0:46:30For everyone at the table, a quiz -
0:46:30 > 0:46:34if somebody said to you, you could have your dream, what would it be?
0:46:34 > 0:46:36- Oh, I'm living the dream.- OK.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41- ALO:- I'd have a Range Rover.- OK.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43LAUGHTER
0:46:43 > 0:46:45SHE SPEAKS WELSH
0:46:47 > 0:46:52- Sheep. You want sheep of your own? - Yeah. It's sheep from Yorkshire.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55- How about you, Nest?- World peace.
0:46:55 > 0:46:57LAUGHTER
0:47:03 > 0:47:06The great Welsh post R S Thomas once bleakly observed
0:47:06 > 0:47:10that there was no future here, only the past.
0:47:12 > 0:47:14I know the Roberts would disagree.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17All are working towards a future here.
0:47:17 > 0:47:20After a long struggle, they feel entitled to hope.
0:47:32 > 0:47:35In Cornwall, I'd left the Baileys waiting to hear
0:47:35 > 0:47:37if any of their cattle had TB.
0:47:38 > 0:47:40It's results day.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44Ben's apprentice Rachel helps Jason the vet
0:47:44 > 0:47:46inspect the bullocks on the headland.
0:47:54 > 0:47:58Jason checks for lumps that would betray the presence of infection.
0:47:59 > 0:48:00Yeah, OK.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03A cow found with the disease is called a reactor
0:48:03 > 0:48:05and will have to be destroyed.
0:48:07 > 0:48:08All good.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18Good news so far, but there's a lot more cattle to go.
0:48:21 > 0:48:25I think Ben is clearly nervous, waiting down there.
0:48:25 > 0:48:28He got the news by phone from Rachel
0:48:28 > 0:48:32and you've got 100-plus more cattle still to go.
0:48:47 > 0:48:51An hour later and the family watch the rest of the herd being tested.
0:48:57 > 0:49:01Just stop the third one. The first two are all right.
0:49:01 > 0:49:03The first two are all right.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05Just stop that third one, if that's all right.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24Right, OK there.
0:49:26 > 0:49:28OK for her.
0:49:30 > 0:49:32Good start, anyway.
0:49:40 > 0:49:44After a scare, the vet gives Jackie's favourite cows the all-clear.
0:49:48 > 0:49:52Gaga and Britney went through fine. Now Beyonce's gone through fine.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05- How many have we done now? - I don't know.
0:50:05 > 0:50:07Fair enough.
0:50:08 > 0:50:10Just keep going.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13I should think we've probably done half of the cows.
0:50:13 > 0:50:14And all clear so far.
0:50:16 > 0:50:18There'll be another 60 or so after this, I guess.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25- But it only takes one.- Yeah.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28It could be the first one or the last one, it doesn't make any odds.
0:50:28 > 0:50:30Better stop the second one, folks, I'm afraid.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33Hmm, that doesn't sound so good, does it?
0:50:42 > 0:50:46Yeah, She's going to be an inconclusive, I'm afraid to say.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48What does that mean?
0:50:48 > 0:50:53Um, essentially, she has a slightly larger lump at the bottom,
0:50:53 > 0:50:54than at the top.
0:50:54 > 0:51:00But there's a range of increase over which we retest.
0:51:00 > 0:51:02Beyond that, they become a reactor.
0:51:02 > 0:51:04She is within the range in which we retest.
0:51:06 > 0:51:11Middle of the road, in terms of not that close to being clear.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15But desperately close to being a true reactor.
0:51:15 > 0:51:17Will you retest?
0:51:17 > 0:51:21She'll be retested after 60 days, so, yeah.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30Does that mean you don't get an all-clear, Ben?
0:51:30 > 0:51:33I don't know. You'd better ask Jason about that.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36It would mean you don't get an all-clear, yeah.
0:51:39 > 0:51:44The Baileys have slaughtered eleven cows with TB in two years.
0:51:44 > 0:51:48If it tests positive, this animal, too, will be killed.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51- WOMAN: So, nothing's changed? - Not yet, no.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55They get paid compensation, but it doesn't cover the losses.
0:51:55 > 0:51:58- It's just her isn't it? - I don't know.
0:51:58 > 0:52:00THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER
0:52:02 > 0:52:03I know Ben well enough by now
0:52:03 > 0:52:06to leave him alone when he gets bad news.
0:52:06 > 0:52:11He's a really proud, hard-working, decent guy,
0:52:11 > 0:52:17and he couldn't be doing more to try and keep his farm, his herd,
0:52:17 > 0:52:20clear of TB, and then he gets this.
0:52:20 > 0:52:24You just can't help the feeling it's so unfair.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27That's the word that comes to mind - it's just unfair.
0:52:29 > 0:52:31Asshole!
0:52:35 > 0:52:38Jason found just one cow that might have the disease.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41If you can squeeze through, there's a seat over there.
0:52:41 > 0:52:45But it means the entire farm must stay under restrictions.
0:52:45 > 0:52:49In the old tradition of the country, there's dinner for all who help.
0:52:52 > 0:52:54The cow's going dry again, look.
0:52:54 > 0:52:56Been a long morning.
0:52:56 > 0:52:59Particularly when you don't get the result you're after.
0:52:59 > 0:53:01Disappointing but, erm, you know,
0:53:01 > 0:53:05I regret to say, in good company, at the minute, so...
0:53:08 > 0:53:10It's a bit disappointing, really.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13Should've guessed it was all a bit too smooth.
0:53:15 > 0:53:17Hope rather than expectation.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20- Yeah. - RACHEL:- Bit too high, wasn't it?
0:53:20 > 0:53:21SHE CHUCKLES
0:53:21 > 0:53:26- In 21 years, we didn't have a reactor.- Hardly a bump.
0:53:26 > 0:53:28And then suddenly, like,
0:53:28 > 0:53:32for no, I don't know, for no apparent reason then,
0:53:32 > 0:53:34obviously there's a reason,
0:53:34 > 0:53:38but you go down and you can't get out of it.
0:53:39 > 0:53:41But it's just...
0:53:43 > 0:53:46It makes a mess of people's cashflows and things.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53So, we have to rethink our plans, Ben.
0:53:53 > 0:53:55- Yeah.- Plan B.
0:53:55 > 0:53:58- So what's Plan B? - Well, if we can sell...
0:53:58 > 0:54:03Plan B is we're going to think about it and see what we can do.
0:54:03 > 0:54:07It does put a bit of a downer on everything now, doesn't it?
0:54:07 > 0:54:10Well, it was going to go one way or the other.
0:54:10 > 0:54:14I know. I just hoped that it was going to be clear.
0:54:26 > 0:54:29The farm will stay under restrictions.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34The Baileys' herd will be tested every 60 days
0:54:34 > 0:54:36until they get the all-clear.
0:54:47 > 0:54:51For all that, there isn't the sense of siege I remember 12 years ago.
0:54:51 > 0:54:55The straight-talking Baileys have defeated the odds before.
0:54:57 > 0:54:59Put your head in and drink.
0:54:59 > 0:55:03When I look at the changing facts in the 12 years since I last came,
0:55:03 > 0:55:05the big picture is worrying.
0:55:08 > 0:55:10The number of small farms
0:55:10 > 0:55:12and agricultural workers has been falling.
0:55:15 > 0:55:19The obstacles faced by people like the Roberts and Baileys are numerous,
0:55:19 > 0:55:22but, for them, the pride they take
0:55:22 > 0:55:25in producing our food is the real prize,
0:55:25 > 0:55:28and they'll do it as long as their energy lasts.
0:55:34 > 0:55:36What do you do when you get too old to do this?
0:55:36 > 0:55:38I don't know. I don't know, Fergal.
0:55:39 > 0:55:43We had a little dream...that we're going to sell everything up
0:55:43 > 0:55:44and get a Winnebago,
0:55:44 > 0:55:47just bugger off, and just go away.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50- Where would you go?- Probably start in Plymouth, get on a ferry
0:55:50 > 0:55:53and just keep driving, till we run out of money,
0:55:53 > 0:55:56or killed each other, cos we were living in a Winnebago!
0:55:56 > 0:55:57I don't know.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10I can't draw big conclusions about the rural future
0:56:10 > 0:56:13from the experiences of two families.
0:56:15 > 0:56:19And we don't know what the recession will ultimately mean for them.
0:56:20 > 0:56:22But, for me, their work ethic
0:56:22 > 0:56:25and faith in community is an inspiration.
0:56:27 > 0:56:31And, whatever comes, they'll never settle for being forgotten.
0:56:34 > 0:56:36You look, all of you,
0:56:36 > 0:56:39like you really belong here, that's the thing.
0:56:39 > 0:56:40THEY LAUGH
0:56:40 > 0:56:43- It doesn't suit everybody. - No, I can imagine that.
0:56:45 > 0:56:46But it suits me.
0:56:54 > 0:56:58I'm leaving on a high, coming away from those people,
0:56:58 > 0:57:00cos they really would do you good.
0:57:02 > 0:57:07'If you took reality to be what you read in the newspapers,
0:57:07 > 0:57:11'what you see lined up in front of you on the nightly news,'
0:57:11 > 0:57:14you'd jump off the edge of a cliff,
0:57:14 > 0:57:18because you would come away with the impression there was no hope.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21But that isn't the story of people on this island
0:57:21 > 0:57:24or the story of people everywhere. It really isn't.
0:57:24 > 0:57:28And I've played my own part in all of that, I know.
0:57:28 > 0:57:30And do I regret it? Yes.
0:57:30 > 0:57:32I do regret...
0:57:34 > 0:57:38..seeing everything or seeing too much through the prism of misery.
0:57:38 > 0:57:40Time we stopped it.
0:57:49 > 0:57:53Next week, my journey around the forgotten Britain I visited 12 years ago,
0:57:53 > 0:57:57will take me back to the cities of Glasgow and Leeds,
0:57:57 > 0:58:00to find out what happened to the families I met back then.
0:58:02 > 0:58:04I'll tell you this much - you haven't aged.
0:58:04 > 0:58:06Well, I can probably say the same about you.
0:58:06 > 0:58:07Put a bit of beef on, though.
0:58:29 > 0:58:32Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd