Honouring the Past An Island Parish

Isolated in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean,

8,000 miles from the UK,

the Falkland Islands is a British overseas territory,

and the 2,500-strong population

are keen to keep it that way.

During his time here, the Anglican rector of the Falklands,

the Reverend Richard Hines, has visited nearly every corner

of his 6,000 square mile parish,

but now he's coming up for retirement

and these are his last precious months here on the islands.

I've seen the Andes mountains

and I've seen the Rocky Mountains,

and so on.

But the Falkland Islands, easily,

is alongside them in terms of beauty.

It's June in the southern hemisphere

and winter is officially here.

But the bitter cold doesn't stop the Scouts commemorating

the Battle of Mount Tumbledown.

..and as dawn was breaking,

on the morning of 14th of June,

the Scots Guards managed to get to the top end there

where we can just see the top of the cross.

And on a farm outside Stanley,

Lisa is getting the pints in

and preserving a bit of Falklands heritage.

It's always been the way of life here.

There was no other way around things.

It was like everybody milked cows years ago

because there was no other milk.

Government House in Stanley

has been the home of the governors of the Falkland Islands since 1845.

Over the years, it's played host to many important guests,

including the famous polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton,

who described his stay there as being far colder

than any time he'd spent on the ice.

Luckily, central heating has warmed things up a bit,

and the house is now a much more welcoming place.

The new Governor, Colin Roberts, is the 35th to hold the post.

For the next four years, in the absence of the Queen,

he'll be the islands' de facto head of state.

But having only recently arrived,

his first job is to get on with the unpacking.

Our son's toys, or at least that's what it says on the box -

"Best Magic Tricks."

Colin has previously been posted to Japan and Lithuania,

where he was Ambassador.

If you're a diplomat, basically,

you will spend most of your life

in a big city, because most diplomatic missions inevitably

are in the capital, or in a big regional city.

This is an opportunity to do a job which is really interesting -

er, yes, we're in a capital here in Stanley -

but this is by the sea, in the hills...

You know, five minutes from the beach.

And thinking, as inevitably we did do, before we came here,

about our children and our dog,

that's an important part of the decision, where...

You know, it's a wonderful place to come and live.

Colin's wife Camilla is also a diplomat,

but she's been on unpaid leave

since their two sons were born.

The boys are now 12 and 10,

and are at boarding school in the UK,

but will be coming out to join their parents for holidays.

I've got to sort these for the different rooms,

because people usually like to see a few private photographs

up in the public areas,

and then we want some private ones in our areas,

so that it feels more like home,

and more like our house.

It's really just a question of working out

what's suitable for where.

There's quite a lot of the Queen already in the drawing room,

so maybe they can go on there somewhere.

I had nine boxes I'd sorted out this morning.

I'm down to the spices and things I haven't yet sorted.

Camilla has also packed some of their favourite foods

that they wouldn't want to be without.

Some of my jams and things, which I actually need to find a proper home.

This is a real old-fashioned larder -

you can feel the temperature drop as you come in.

All my unpacking...which is lovely! It's so nice to see.

We've got tinned peppers and some red cabbage, and some sauerkraut.

But I've got lots and lots of stuff from the UK

that's difficult to get here, or expensive.

A big factor in making this official residence feel like a home

will be the arrival of the family dog.

18-month-old Bonnie, a Welsh Springer spaniel,

is currently at sea on a military cargo ship

travelling down from the UK.

She's due to arrive in a couple of days' time.

I'm not even sure what the best...

And Stanley vet Steve Pointing

will be there to greet her.

What happens is that, although the dog's been treated

against worms and fleas just prior to leaving the UK,

we repeat that down here,

because we don't have any fleas in the country.

So we want to be absolutely certain we don't allow any fleas in.

And the reason we insist on all the vaccinations you've had done

is because we don't vaccinate any of the dogs that are born on the islands,

because we don't have any of those diseases.

So it's an added cost and expense that people here don't need to go through.

But those dogs would be 100% susceptible

to all the common dog diseases, if it was introduced.

-It's a lovely place for a dog to be, here.

-It is.

-Fantastic place for a dog.

-All those open spaces.

-She'll have a wonderful time.

-She will.

And I advise you to, erm,

read my article in the Penguin News today.

-LAUGHING

-I haven't got my copy yet but, yes.

Right, well, the article on the front page is all about...

-I can see the headline!

-"If it's your dog, it's your mess."

So I recommend that you read that, all right?

Over at the deanery, the Reverend Richard

is preparing to go on an expedition,

and after seven years here in the South Atlantic,

he's not going to get caught out by the weather.

The basic equipment for going anywhere in the Falkland Islands,

even in the summer,

is merino wool and silk thermals, black -

regulation order for clergy -

woolly hat, muffler, de rigueur, at least one pair of gloves.

He and his wife Jen are going to join a party of local Cub Scouts

to climb Mount Tumbledown, four miles west of Stanley.

There, that should tide us over. It gets very chilly up there.

I was in the Cubs in Norfolk,

and just at the time when I was due to become a Scout,

I went away to boarding school in Norfolk,

to a place called Wymondham College.

So I never was actually a Scout.

The man in charge of shepherding Richard, Jen,

and a troop of Cub Scouts safely up the mountain is Tim Miller.

Tim leads this annual expedition to commemorate

the Battle of Mount Tumbledown,

which saw some of the fiercest fighting of the whole Falklands War.

Now get yourself belted up in there.

Bye, Mummy.

All right, have fun!

This is nine-year-old Hugh's second time on the trip.

Do you know how many Cubs are actually going, Tim?

Erm, about 23, I think.

We go up every 13th of June,

which is the anniversary of the date

of the battle with the Scots Guards, on the night of the 13th,

and that was one of the last battles in the fight for Stanley.

We think it's important that the younger generation today

learn about what happened,

then hopefully in 30 or 40 years' time

they will be taking the future generation of youngsters

up some of the hilltops and remembering,

what happened in 1982 and, in particular,

remembering the tragic human cost, of lives.

-Peter?

-Yeah.

-Theo?

-Yeah.

At the foot of the mountain Tim and Hugh meet up with Tim's wife Jen,

and the rest of the party.

-Ryan?

-Yes.

Got the Falklands flag, the Scouts flag,

there's the Scottish flag,

or there's the Guards' flag.

Can I carry the Guards' flag?

Yep. Yep, you can have the Guards' flag.

Yep, here we are. You can have the Falklands Island one. Here we are.

In here...

we have some...

poppy crosses

with the names of three

of the Scots Guards who were killed up here in the battle,

32 years ago tonight.

And also the very cap of one of the soldiers

who was killed up here,

and the Scots Guards' veterans...

They've asked could the Cubs please

find a spot and bury this cap up on the top of the mountain for them.

This kind of memorial and thanksgiving

is part of daily life here,

and as Rector, Richard has been involved

in many such commemorations

over the years.

Here in the Falkland Islands,

individual people's names are remembered,

and little acts of remembrance by people who knew them,

or on behalf of others, take place.

It is a specific kind of way of remembering a unique life,

as well as a general thanksgiving

and a sense of...

a sense of a debt that's owed.

All the way to the top!

Phew!

At 250 metres, Mount Tumbledown rises up behind Stanley,

dominating the surrounding area.

On June 13th, 1982,

it was occupied by highly trained Argentine marines

who, from their strategic high point,

could effectively prevent British troops

from retaking the capital and ending the war.

The task of attacking Tumbledown

was given to the 2nd Scots Guards.

They advanced under covering fire

from three other regiments and two battleships down in the bay.

-Hugh?

-Yes?

-You see this hole here?

-Yeah.

-Do you know what made that?

-What, a bomb?

-Well, a sort of a bomb.

-Yeah.

It would have been a gun - a shell - fired from one of the British ships.

One of the Royal Navy ships helping the Scots Guards.

While they were firing all their big guns,

you see the Argentines would be, very sensibly,

would be in their shelters with their heads down for protection,

so that would enable Scots Guards to get closer and closer.

We're just walking and it's hard, they've got to run and everything.

They were having to run AND carry their rifle, their guns

and their ammunition, and fight a battle on the way up.

Quite a lovely afternoon.

I wasn't sure what to expect.

Tim and Jen said,

"Come as our guests, you don't have to do anything."

And I liked the idea of that!

Everything is going well. The weather is clearing up nicely,

it's on our side, and nobody seems to be flagging too far behind,

so I think all's going well.

Hugh's bringing up the tail end.

The regimental flag is up the rear!

HE LAUGHS

Most farms on the Falklands keep a few cattle.

But the cost of buying in special feed to supplement the poor grazing here

means that numbers are always pretty small,

and they are almost all beef cattle.

But seven miles outside Stanley,

Murrell Farm, belonging to Lisa Lowe, is one of the exceptions.

Willow? Where are you?

LONG LOUD MOO

Come on.

Amongst her small herd of Ayrshire crosses,

Lisa keeps a few much-loved dairy cows.

I think I started milking cows when I was...

Probably, my earliest memories was when I was about five years old,

with my sisters.

It's always been a way of life here.

There was no other way round things.

Everybody milked cows years ago because there was no other milk.

Well, there was condensed milk

and there was the Ideal milk...

..and some horrible powdered milk,

but then again people didn't have the money to buy it either in those days.

There's very few people nowadays that milk cows,

and even out round the camp,

everybody has packet milk, UHT, really.

That's you finished, Faggy.

Out you go.

Moll, where are you?

Come on. Come, Moll.

Outside of Stanley, you've got to be, basically,

a jack-of-all-trades, really

because, you know,

you never know when your electricity's

going to go up the creek,

or - this time of the year - your water freezes.

And you can't just call a plumber

or an electrician all the time.

Island people have to be hardy, don't they, really? (Stop it...)

Lisa's parents bought Murrell Farm in 1980.

Two years later, war came to the islands

and took a heavy toll on Falklands farmers,

many of whom lost most of their animals.

When they heard about this back in the UK,

British farmers responded, and in 1983, a ship was sent south

with a very special cargo on board.

Ah, yes...! It's one of these bits.

I don't want to tear it.

"Operation Noah's Ark."

A lot of people round England donated animals

down to the Falklands after the conflict

to replace a lot of the animals that were lost.

Horses and cattle were either blown up with mines

or shot off by the Argentines to eat.

I would say all the cattle, here on the farm now,

are descendents to those that came on the ship,

about three or four generations further along the way.

Don't want to ever go through that again. Never. Never, never.

It brings everything back.

Brings everything right back, you know.

It's a cold, clear Falklands morning

and vet Steve is on his way to the military port at Mare Harbour,

where he'll welcome to the islands a new VIP -

a very important pet.

It's not any old dog, no.

This is the dog belonging to the new Governor.

He arrived back in April.

And, um, and the Governor's wife.

We've already got something from the vet in England

to say that it was fit and healthy, just before it embarked

on the voyage, and we will make sure that in the three weeks

that it's taken to come down here,

that it's just as fit and healthy on arrival as it was on departure.

Bonnie the spaniel is waiting aboard what's known as

a Falkland Islands resupply ship.

Two such ships each make five journeys a year from the UK

bringing everything from military equipment to food supplies

and building materials.

Space for pets is limited,

so Bonnie's slot was booked six months ago.

-DOG BARKING

-I can hear a dog.

I heard a dog barking.

And you must be Bonnie.

Hello, Bonnie. How are you?

How are you?

You're going to be seeing your owners very soon. Yes, you will.

I don't need to examine her too closely,

to know that that looks like an extremely healthy dog.

We will read the microchip...

If we can keep it still long enough to read the microchip.

Are we going to have a still...? Oh, no, got it first time.

I got it first time. Well done.

That dog is the dog it should be.

Now we're going to worm the dog.

Trying to hide it as best I can...

Here we are, what about that? What about that?

Bonnie gets a final dose of anti-flea treatment,

and she's ready to take her first steps on Falklands soil.

Bonnie, Bonnie, come on, this way.

Let's go and meet your owners.

She's doing what she should do, look - she's sniffing.

First time to the Falkland Islands!

Who's that? Who's that?!

Good doggie!

There we are.

Oh...!

Absolutely wonderful. She doesn't looked fussed at all by her journey,

-actually, does she?

-No, she doesn't. Ahhh, you're beautiful, aren't you?

Happy now?!

We're conscious that we're going to have to control her quite well

or we'll have some issues with Falkland Islands conservation.

And a few others! As for penguins...

I think we're going to have to leave that for quite a while

before we introduce her to penguins,

otherwise we're really going to be in trouble.

Back at Government House,

Bonnie wastes no time checking out her new digs.

These rugs are being put down just to help protect the carpets,

and guard a little a bit against white dog hair all over the red.

Oops... Up the stairs.

Official residences and dogs are always a slightly

surprising mixture.

It's slightly eyes in the back of your head.

She is still quite a puppy in many ways,

and she will chew cushions and run off with them.

Uh-uh! Get off!

The long journey down acted as a quarantine period,

but it'll be a couple of days before

Bonnie's worm and flea treatments

take effect and she can finally

be let loose on the great Falklands outdoors.

Back on Murrell Farm,

and after a hard morning's milking,

Lisa has around two gallons of the white stuff to dispose of.

Most of it will be distributed to a select group of loyal customers

either as milk, or cream.

You've got to be a bit careful when you turn it on

because if it goes through too quick, it won't separate properly.

You've got the cream coming...

When it gets up to this black mark it's half a pint

and that's what most people have.

Proper cow's cream is pretty much like gold dust.

Normally, if I put it on Facebook, if I have an excess,

it's gone within a couple of minutes.

But what I don't sell, I make up into the butter.

This is the butter that we make from the cream.

It's probably nearly... nearly two pound of butter.

Tell me about the containers that you sell the milk in.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Well, we like rum to drink,

and I prefer to use glass rather than plastic

because you can sterilise the glass ones.

Most important thing... My list!

My list.

Each bottle of milk sells for a pound.

It's a lot of effort for not that much financial reward,

but for Lisa, it's all about keeping the old traditions alive.

Well, people wouldn't know what -

as I put it - real milk is.

Because even what you get in England is totally different

because it's pasteurised.

Where this isn't pasteurised, this is as it comes from the cow,

so it's in its raw state,

I suppose is the way you put it.

And the reason we put them there, in the summer,

when the sun's shining, they're always in the shade.

I think people have just got so used to the packet milk, the UHT milk

and the squirty cream,

or the packets of cream and things like that.

But for me it's part of my life,

it's part of what I do, you know.

We're not going up to the cross yet.

Bean, don't rush around, please.

Reverend Richard, Tim Miller and the Scouts

are an hour into their climb up Mount Tumbledown.

Here they come, lads - look! Look!

That was cool! I watched them do a somersault!

We contact the 1435 - the Typhoon flight -

and they're only always too happy to come and give us

a little fly-past like that, and it, you know,

it sort of makes it a little bit more special for the kids, as well.

Right, who hasn't been up here before?

I'll just tell you quickly a little bit about the battle,

that happened here 32 years ago, tonight.

The Argentines were well...

They'd been up here for quite a few weeks.

They had lots of very good strong positions

with lots of stones and rocks in front of them to hide behind.

And it was the job of the Scots Guards to capture this mountain...

capture Mount Tumbledown.

And as dawn was breaking,

the morning of the 14th of June,

the Scots Guards managed to get

to the top end there,

where we can just see the top of the cross.

I would say, push them in the ground,

I'd say with the back of the cross towards the rock.

Just below the summit, they plant their poppy crosses,

and bury the beret that was entrusted to them

by the family of a fallen Scots Guardsman.

This is his uniform cap.

Obviously, he wasn't wearing this at the time -

he'd be wearing his helmet,

but it would've been with him in his pack.

And this is the one that his family have said they would

like the cubs to bury up here,

on the top of Mount Tumbledown.

-What, their son died?

-Their son died.

He was killed here in the fighting.

Do you want to place it in the hole?

You're the Scots lad, aren't you?

There we are.

At the top of the mountain, a cross made out of steel commemorates

the nine British soldiers that were killed during the battle.

We have here...

the old ammunition box and inside here...

all the cleaning kit.

All the memorial sites in the Falklands

have one of these alongside them,

in the hope that anybody and everybody who comes up

to a memorial will then spend a couple of minutes

polishing it up and cleaning everything up again.

So we always give this one - the Scots Guards one -

a good thorough clean every time we come up.

For once, it won't be Richard leading the prayers.

The Cubs have prepared a service to honour the dead.

Almighty God, grant that the Scot Guards,

who wear the cross of Thy Holy Apostle

may follow Thy Son with impunity,

be made stronger in brotherhood

and fierce against all enemies of Our Saviour.

I thought they conducted their little service beautifully.

It's a very hands-on, a very real, tangible thing

that they do to honour the people who are remembered

by those plaques and that cross.

I'll go home always remembering,

I said my thank you with others

for the Falkland Islands.

At the Stanley vet surgery, it's good news.

Bonnie the dog, recently arrived from the UK,

has just been given the all-clear from her quarantine

and she and Camilla are heading to Surf Bay.

I'm taking her to the nearest beach to Stanley

because I think she needs to let off some steam,

having been on a lead for the last month

so I'm expecting that she will see the sea and the beach

and be in heaven.

Look at that, Bonnie.

You can't wait, can you?

Good girl!

SHE BARKS

CAMILLA LAUGHS

Wonderful to have her here.

Just sailed over half the world to get to us.

It's a wonderful place to have a dog,

with all the outside, open space

I can't really imagine anything more fun for her.

-Bo-nnie...!

-SHE WHISTLES

Come here...!

Next time, it's Liberation Day

and the crew of HMS Clyde

join the islanders for the commemorations.

We led such a sheltered life in the Falklands, prior to 1982.

When somebody takes your country away from you

and suddenly you get it back,

it is very difficult to describe the emotions.

CHATTING AND LAUGHING

Right, come on. Richard, let's go.

And Reverend Richard and vet Steve brave the cold

for the annual midwinter swim.