Changing Times An Island Parish

Lying at latitude 51 degrees south,

the Falkland Islands are only 800 miles short of the Antarctic Circle.

Swept by the winds of the South Atlantic, this wild

and rugged landscape is home to a population of around 2,500 people,

many of whom are descended from

19th-century Scottish and Welsh pioneers.

There's nothing better than going over the hill and

putting your dog around 3,000-4,000 sheep. It's freedom.

It's at one with nature. That's what we're about.

Since the Argentine invasion and subsequent war of 1982,

the Islands have seen big changes.

Fishing and tourism have overtaken sheep farming as the main industries,

and huge reserves of oil have recently been discovered offshore

and could transform this small,

tight-knit community beyond recognition.

The Rev Richard Hines is rector of the Falklands.

Good morning.

A very warm welcome to you all.

But, after almost seven years here, he's coming up for retirement

and will soon be returning to the UK.

So, these will be his last few months on the Islands.

There's a unique way of life here.

There's a kind of rhythm that I've been privileged to enter into.

Are we remote from almost everywhere,

or is this actually the centre of the universe?

The Falklands archipelago covers an area roughly

the size of Northern Ireland.

The main islands are West and East Falkland.

Stanley, the capital, and the only town,

is on the far east tip of the East island.

In high season, Stanley is buzzing with tourists, but now it's April.

Summer is over in the southern hemisphere

and the islanders have the place to themselves again.

In the deanery, the Rev Richard and his wife, Jen,

are getting ready to go on an outing.

In a few days' time, it's Palm Sunday,

and there's an important job that needs doing.

-I've just got to go and get my gloves out of the polytunnel.

-OK.

Well, we're making preparations for next Sunday, Palm Sunday,

and whereas in the UK we would have crosses made of palm fronds

to carry on our Palm Sunday procession,

here in the Falkland Islands, we don't have palms,

so we're going to use tussock grass.

The lengths we go to to prepare for our services!

Richard and Jen are heading out to "camp", which is

the Falkland Islands word for anywhere outside of Stanley

and comes from the Spanish "campo", meaning "countryside".

As they leave the town, the tarmac ends

and the road turns into a dusty dirt track.

That ship there you see, rusting away quietly,

We call it the Lady Liz,

and she limped into Stanley from quite an adventurous

passage around Cape Horn and she was moored further up

in the harbour for quite a long time, then she came loose

in a big wind one night and ended up here, and that's where she remains.

A few miles to the north of Stanley is Gypsy Cove.

At this time of year,

most of the migratory penguins that nest here in summer have left,

but there are plenty of upland geese feeding on diddle-dee berries,

growing on heather-like bushes that thrive in this windswept landscape.

Up on the cliff's edge, Richard finds what he's looking for.

Got to decide what sort of...

Looks all right.

What we're really interested in is to make sure that we've got

something we can make a tussock cross out of.

We've got a diagram at home to help us make it.

We have to fold it and do things round and tuck it in.

You'll be amazed the way we get the tussock cross out of this.

I reckon that 50 crosses would be good, so 50 good-quality fronds

plus 20 attempts that go wrong and a few more for luck, I think

we'll probably go for 100!

Over the years, Gypsy Cove has become

a favourite haunt of Richard and Jen's.

It's one of the many special places they'll miss when they leave.

I think what we're seeing here is the tracks of the Magellanic penguin

saying goodbye to the Falkland Islands for a season.

They've gone off into the ocean and they'll come back next year.

This is where I feel a touch of the old heartache

because I know that although I've enjoyed things like this

for nearly seven years now, we're saying farewell, soon.

Things change.

Very conscious of that in the Falkland Islands at the moment.

Saunders Island lies just off the coast of West Falkland,

about 90 miles, as the crow flies, from Stanley.

In summer, it's a key stop-off for wildlife lovers,

thanks to its abundant penguin population.

At least four different varieties can be found here including

colonies of Magellanics and rockhoppers.

Now that the tourists have gone, life reverts to the traditional routine.

And, at this time of year,

that means getting ready to send the sheep off to market.

Down on the foreshore, David Pole-Evans and his sister,

Biffo Tuson, are making sheep pens.

The boat's coming to pick up some lamb for export,

and we'll send them some old wethers, which is

anything between four and six years old, I think.

The boat can't come in to this jetty.

David's dug up the beach and made a pile of stones there,

that it can come in and put its ramp down on,

and we build the race right down onto the boat,

and they run down the race and up and into the crates, straightaway.

What could possibly go wrong?

Ha-ha!

The ship's going to arrive this evening, that's coming in this

evening, and it'll load first thing in the morning.

But we've got to build these pens.

They're not a permanent fixture here, so it's a lot of work

just for a half-hour's job of loading the sheep.

The island covers an area of 31,000 acres

but is home to only five people.

Biffo lives in the UK with her husband but spends

part of the year here on Saunders helping her brother out on the farm.

I grew up here from a baby. My dad came to Saunders in 1949,

and he stayed here until he died a couple of years ago.

Him and David bought the island in 1987,

and now David owns the whole lot.

It's just lovely. No pollution!

No crowds.

20 years ago, the price of meat and wool was at an all-time low,

and the future of the farm was in doubt.

But, with the added money from tourism, things have picked up,

and David's two daughters, Carol and Louise,

are hoping to take the whole thing on when their dad retires.

Quite heavy work, this, for a girl.

Yeah, but there's no boys, so we'll just do it.

THEY LAUGH

You grow up with it, you're used to it.

The only way to get livestock or any heavy freight

on or off the outlying islands is on the Concordia Bay ferry,

which visits each island roughly every six weeks,

and also provides the main link between East and West Falkland.

John Thain has been the captain of the Concordia Bay

since it first set sail six years ago.

For passengers, our max number is 30 at any one time.

Domestic vehicles, probably about 14, perhaps 16,

but you always get a mixture. You get vehicles, you get passengers.

You get sheep and you get cattle.

Each day is different.

The weather certainly changes frequently,

as you will have picked up by now.

The sheep pens are ready but, because of the tides,

the Concordia won't be able to return to Stanley tonight.

So it'll anchor in the bay, ready to load up first thing in the morning.

One of the most recognisable landmarks in Stanley

is the imposing Government House.

Built in 1845,

it's the official residence of the governor of the Falkland Islands.

The current incumbent is interim governor, John Duncan.

He's no stranger to the place,

having served here as a diplomat in the '90s.

The whole of this conservatory is quite remarkable.

We are the most southerly Foreign Office post in the world.

This is the famous grapevine of Government House.

It must be over 100 years old.

This is as far south as you can have grapes. But they are tasty.

The Falklands are a British Overseas Territory.

And, as governor, John is the Queen's representative on the Islands,

at least for the next few weeks

until the new, permanent governor is able to take up his post.

100 years ago, we were much more powerful.

We essentially ran the territories.

But today we have devolved power to the elected representatives,

as is right and proper in the 21st century,

but we still have a major role.

In this territory, I chair the Cabinet meetings.

I enact rules and regulations and laws.

So, today, I've got legal documents to sign, rather like

Her Majesty the Queen does, when she passes British laws into effect.

There is rather a lot of signing in this job.

As well as their own government,

the Falklands also have their own judicial system and police force.

Fishing, tourism and wool revenues pay for most of the public services.

But they rely on the UK for defence.

Since 1986, there's been a permanent military presence on the Islands,

based at Mount Pleasant, 35 miles south-west of Stanley.

But there's also a brigade of local volunteers,

the Falkland Islands Defence Force.

Today, a group of these volunteers are being drilled in preparation

for the Queen's birthday parade, by their very own Major Biggs.

Attention. Present arms!

We are the local army of the Falkland Islands.

It's called a Defence Force.

Up!

Largely a part-time army, it's quite small and we have the same aims

and objectives as the British force on a south Atlantic island.

You know, operating a Defence Force

in a place like the Falkland Islands is something you have to

take very seriously, really, because there is a bit of history there.

On the day of the Queen's Birthday Parade, Major Biggs

and his men will be joined by regular serving soldiers,

and a massed band from three different regiments

that's been flown in specially from the UK.

Together, they'll march along the seafront

to the flagstaffs at Victory Green.

Over at the deanery, Richard, Jen

and some members of the cathedral youth group

are starting work on the tussock grass crosses,

following instructions Jen found on the internet.

So, we've got our piece of tussock

and the piece in your right on the right,

you bend to go upright in the middle

then you fold it back

and then up again.

Don't worry, we've only got 50 to do!

LAUGHTER

Not too bad!

This is an example of what can happen when it goes wrong.

JEN LAUGHS

Because the community is so spread out,

there isn't a strong church-going tradition on the Falklands,

but Palm Sunday is a popular service at the cathedral

and so Richard's expecting a good turnout.

Think this is going to be a good 'un.

I was full of apprehension when we started this afternoon.

I wasn't sure how we were going to do.

It's a long time since any of us had made one

but, though I say it myself, having just made that one,

and seen all these pile up here, I think it's job done

and we just hope they last well for Palm Sunday.

At Bluff Cove, about 20 miles west of Stanley,

it's the night of Kevin and Hattie Kilmartin's end-of-season party.

Putting some morsels in.

Some of these have got smoked mullet in them.

Right.

Bluff Cove is a 30,000-acre sheep and cattle farm.

During the summer months, they also run a successful cafe and restaurant

here for tourists.

This party is their way of saying thank you to all the people

who helped them throughout the season.

It's also keeping up

the age-old Falkland Islands tradition of the two-nighter.

All parties were always traditionally two nights.

It used to take a whole day to get to another settlement

before the roads, so to go anywhere for just one night was ridiculous.

Jane and I actually had to start last night,

just to keep up the proper Falklands tradition, but we faded

last night, didn't we, Jane?

Outside in a specially adapted smokehouse

Kevin is starting on the marinated lamb,

fuelled by the house speciality, the diddle-dee berry Bellini.

I can use it.

Pwah!

What time do the guests arrive, then?

Too soon.

Er, 7.30.

Between now and then, I've got to cook the reindeer and the fish.

Hattie's a gourmet chef who trained in England

before she settled on the Islands 20 years ago.

Most of her recipes feature ingredients

that are special to the Falklands and this part of the world.

It's an upland goose terrine,

yes, flavoured and coloured with a few diddle-dee berries.

It's there and like, the diddle-dee, we just go out and pick it,

and the same with the geese, we just go out and wait

until they're nicely fattened by the berries

and then they're fantastic.

Taking the reindeer kebabs out to the barbecue.

Look at the moon on there - that is just gorgeous.

So, yes, we've got some Patagonian toothfish kebabs

as well, to go on the barbecue,

and then everything else is sort of salads and...

and we smoked some upland goose breasts earlier

so we'll have those, as well.

So, a good feast of Falkland flavours.

Does smell good, doesn't it?

OK, I'm bringing your reindeer.

-Can you put it over there?

-OK.

Kev is going to go slightly mad with this light going, "Doob, doob, doob".

It's too late - I'm mad already!

LIGHT BUZZES

What's the history of the reindeer, Kevin?

The Norwegians brought reindeer down to South Georgia when there

were as many as 10,000 Norwegians whaling round South Georgia.

And it was a source of food and recreation.

Now, people find they want their chickens

frozen from Sainsbury's or somewhere.

It's going to be a long night for Kevin

and he can't afford to slack off. The first guests have just been spotted

on the far side of the bay.

It is a little bit early, but you know, they are keen.

I might have to get the bar sorted out.

There might be a demand for drinks, any minute.

They've invited around 70 people this evening

and after a busy summer either on the farm or looking after tourists,

everyone's looking forward to letting their hair down.

Hello, wayward souls!

CONVIVIAL HUBBUB

A bit of meat, boy, a bit of meat.

A bit of Falkland Island meat.

Put hairs on your chest!

-Food is lovely.

-Really good.

I've got to get some of that smoked meat.

Freshly smoked upland goose breast.

Very good.

It's always very good here.

Always.

Just nice to have a really good evening.

It's always a good excuse to cook up a feast.

But one person is missing out on the fun.

There's been no let-up for Kevin.

I'll have to have words with Hattie about this afterwards.

The toothfish is breaking up in these small chunks.

Kevin is actually getting a bit stressed.

He's very smoked up.

You can tell - the eyes have got a funny sort of glazed look,

and yeah, it's going to take several days to get that smell off of him.

It's dawn on Saunders Island.

And the Concordia Bay ferry is lying offshore

waiting to be loaded up with its cargo of sheep.

For the Pole-Evans family, this is a twice-yearly event

and they all play their part.

Well, half past six in the morning.

The aim is to bring the animals down from the wool shed up on the hill

into the specially constructed pens on the foreshore.

We'll see how it goes!

SHE LAUGHS

The worst that can happen is that they all get out

and we have to gather them again. That has happened before.

We've lost the sheep up on the side of the hill

and you just gather that paddock and start again.

Boat's just starting up.

And then they'll come into the ramp as soon as the tide's high enough

and then we'll just chase them onto the boat.

Getting a bit of a drift on there, John.

The Concordia captain, John, needs to get

as close to the shore as the tide allows him, without running aground.

We get about four metres, nearly, rise and fall, so

we've still got another two metres

and then you've got that two metres to go back

so, yeah, like, there's plenty of time.

The next job is to make a narrow race, wide enough for one sheep,

leading up to the pens on board.

In all, 208 spring lambs and a few older wethers

are being loaded onto the Concordia Bay.

Most Falklands lamb and mutton is sold to the European market

and, with prices currently on the up,

this should be a good year for the Pole-Evans family.

That all went really well.

Loading the sheep is always easy, yeah.

25 minutes and they're all loaded.

FERRY HORN BLARES

New industries like tourism and even oil

may ultimately bring greater riches to the Islands

but sheep farming is part of the fabric of Falklands life

and it looks set to stay that way.

Back in Stanley and Rev Richard is looking forward

to a very special day.

Today is Palm Sunday

and it kind of marks the beginning of Holy Week.

We are celebrating and reflecting on the heart of the Christian faith.

It's the climax of the year, really, for us.

The 50 tussock crosses have dried out nicely

in time for the big day

and are ready to be handed out to the congregation.

Good morning. A very warm welcome to Christchurch Cathedral today,

on this, Palm Sunday.

I feel like I should say straight away, please don't get

too settled in your seats because, very shortly,

we're going to take up our tussock crosses

and we're going to go processing around, singing.

Stanley-based vet Steve Pointing

has volunteered to lead the congregation

in a procession out and around the cathedral.

# All glory, praise and honour to you... #

This Palm Sunday tradition is played out in churches all over the world

as a reminder of the Bible story where Jesus enters Jerusalem

surrounded by crowds waving palm fronds.

# And we with all creation... #

The tussock grass alternative has proved a winner

and should last all the way up to Easter Day.

What I tend to do with my cross is, I've got an empty wine bottle

at home, and I usually put the cross in the wine bottle

and have it in the kitchen, so it just reminds me of things

when I'm going round my kitchen.

An empty wine bottle, I presume.

An empty wine bottle, yes. Ha-ha!

It's the morning of the Queen's birthday parade

and, down by the harbour, 30 members of three different military bands

have flown in from their bases in the north of England to take part.

It's actually, from door to door, 10,222 miles.

I did my research before I came.

We rehearsed for two days, three different bands

-and it came together, didn't it?

-Yeah.

The Islands are unique in celebrating the Queen's actual birthday

rather than her official one and a good crowd has turned out to watch.

Major Biggs leads a detachment of the armed forces,

along with the troop of the Falkland Islands Defence Force.

Parade, shoulder - arms!

BAND PLAYS "GOD SAVE THE QUEEN"

With a final fly-past by a Sea King helicopter,

the well choreographed event comes to a successful conclusion.

BAND PLAYS "THE PINK PANTHER" THEME

Back at Government House

and the post-parade reception is in full swing.

It's an important occasion in the Falkland Islands,

the Queen's birthday. I was very pleased with the way it went.

You wouldn't think, being so far away from the UK,

that people would be really interested in demonstrating

their loyalty to the Queen, but people here are interested

and they do want to do that.

We value our way of life and that is tied to the United Kingdom

and we want to keep it that way.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like, without further ado,

to raise our glasses - the Queen.

-ALL:

-The Queen.

Next time, Easter is almost upon us.

There we go.

Perfection on a tray.

And Richard lends a hand at the local bakery.

That's it.

I can smell the spice in the hot cross buns

and I know what they're going to taste like cos I've eaten them

every Good Friday for the last seven years.

And over on West Falkland,

it's time to find out whose dog is going to have its day.

Oh, we're getting desperate now!

Getting desperate! Ohhhh!

It's all right, I don't think the judges saw it.