0:00:02 > 0:00:04This is the picturesque island of Sark,
0:00:04 > 0:00:07the smallest of the main Channel Islands.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11Only 80 miles off the mainland, Sark has its own parliament,
0:00:11 > 0:00:13president and laws.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18It's a world away,
0:00:18 > 0:00:20but, being a British dependant,
0:00:20 > 0:00:23it's still part of the British Isles,
0:00:23 > 0:00:28with no cars, no street lights, but full of charm and eccentricity.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Perhaps they thought we were professional!
0:00:31 > 0:00:34Sark has just 600 inhabitants,
0:00:34 > 0:00:37but relies on ten of thousands of visitors coming in the summer.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40Everybody is part and parcel of that tourism machine.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43There's nobody it doesn't really affect.
0:00:43 > 0:00:44LAMBS BLEAT
0:00:44 > 0:00:48As winter finally starts to relax its grip,
0:00:48 > 0:00:52all on the island can look forward to the joys of spring.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55Everybody's getting ready for the start of the new season
0:00:55 > 0:00:57and everything's springing to life again,
0:00:57 > 0:01:00so it's a really good time of celebration.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04The Easter holidays bring both churches on the island together...
0:01:04 > 0:01:06Bad weather forecast, but it's turned out well.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09..and herald the start of the tourist season,
0:01:09 > 0:01:11fundamental to Sark's survival.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15But the one thing you can't rely on is the weather.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18It was so, so cold, it just went right through you.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21This winter's been one of the worst winters we've had.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58It's March. Across Sark, there's a feeling of anticipation.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00Bracken!
0:02:00 > 0:02:03The lambing season is about to start for shepherd Dave Scott...
0:02:05 > 0:02:08It's a vulnerable time of year, with the ewes about to lamb.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11If we get some bad weather, it can really do some damage.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14..the Seigneurie Gardens are busy getting ready
0:02:14 > 0:02:15to open to the public...
0:02:15 > 0:02:17We've planted out these beds this winter.
0:02:17 > 0:02:22Tulip bulbs, 7,250, so that's to get the wow factor.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25..and with Easter just a few weeks away now,
0:02:25 > 0:02:27it's a very meaningful and important time
0:02:27 > 0:02:29for both churches on the island.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34Easter, for me, is that wonderful celebration
0:02:34 > 0:02:37when we can really think about what Jesus has done for us on the cross
0:02:37 > 0:02:40to enable our lives to be transformed
0:02:40 > 0:02:42and it's the same within the community
0:02:42 > 0:02:45in that everybody's getting ready for the start of a new season
0:02:45 > 0:02:47and everything's springing to life again,
0:02:47 > 0:02:50so it's a really good time of celebration.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Hoping for spring probably more than any others are those running
0:02:56 > 0:02:59one of the biggest tourist attractions on the island,
0:02:59 > 0:03:00the Seigneurie Gardens.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Jo Birch is the main gardener in the Seigneurie Gardens.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08She actually organises the gardeners and what's happening
0:03:08 > 0:03:10and the plants and this sort of thing.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12I came to Sark in 1947,
0:03:12 > 0:03:14so I was three,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18but I left and then I came back 17-18 years ago.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24So this is the Millennium Rose Garden.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27All the roses have been pruned and then they've been given
0:03:27 > 0:03:30a lovely dressing of well rotted horse manure.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34And the thing we're all waiting for is the wonderful magnolia tree
0:03:34 > 0:03:36to come out and do its spring thing.
0:03:37 > 0:03:42So it's not dead as a dodo, but it needs that great burst of sunshine.
0:03:42 > 0:03:43Next month, it'll be out.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48There's a lot of jobs to do. They always say with gardening,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51"If you don't do any work in winter, you'll have nothing in the summer",
0:03:51 > 0:03:54so even though it's not much...
0:03:54 > 0:03:57It's quite hard when it's dark and cold and all wet,
0:03:57 > 0:04:01but, nevertheless, we're ready now and the ground is prepared,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04hedges are cut, stuff is coming up,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07and we just need some nice weather and Easter.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15For 24 hours, Sark is battered by a blizzard...
0:04:16 > 0:04:18..weather so extreme,
0:04:18 > 0:04:21it shocked even those who've lived here all their lives,
0:04:21 > 0:04:23like fisherman Baz Adams.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29I would say that this winter's been one of the worst winters we've had.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35The prevailing wind was northeast and it was so, so cold,
0:04:35 > 0:04:38it just went right through you.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42Even Sark's postal system, run by Caroline Langford,
0:04:42 > 0:04:43grinds to a halt.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47It was an extraordinary blizzard and I believe the snow
0:04:47 > 0:04:50was so high down on Little Sark, it went from hedge to hedge
0:04:50 > 0:04:52and one of the few occasions
0:04:52 > 0:04:55that my postmen couldn't actually deliver, for one day,
0:04:55 > 0:04:58because it was just too deep and too dangerous for them to go out.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05But with a week before Easter, and with the snow beginning to melt,
0:05:05 > 0:05:07the lambing season is in full swing for Dave.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10We've had three lots of triplets,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12we've had ten sets of twins...
0:05:13 > 0:05:14..and five singles, I think.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18Dave's flock is the Welsh Lleyn breed.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22He'll expect to get over 150 lambs during the season,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25but with almost 100 ewes going into labour,
0:05:25 > 0:05:28he's ready to help with any difficult births.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31- I'll have to give her a hand, this one.- OK.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35It's a big lamb.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40And the other foot isn't there, so I should be able to just...
0:05:40 > 0:05:41SHEEP BLEATS
0:05:41 > 0:05:43..whip it out like this, hopefully.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49Just a bit more of a job for it.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51Good girl.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53SHEEP BLEATS OK.
0:05:53 > 0:05:54There we go.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00There we go.
0:06:00 > 0:06:01SHEEP BLEATS
0:06:06 > 0:06:07I'll bring him straight round.
0:06:09 > 0:06:10All right?
0:06:10 > 0:06:12I've never seen a lamb born before.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14- Well, there you go. - It's lovely, isn't it?
0:06:14 > 0:06:15DAVE CHUCKLES
0:06:15 > 0:06:18- I bet you never get bored of seeing that.- You don't, no, no.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20It's lovely.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29Has it been a good season so far?
0:06:29 > 0:06:31Yeah, so far, we're...
0:06:31 > 0:06:35Only just really kicking in now.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37But we've already got over 50 lambs.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49The first one lubricates, winds everything up.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53The second one usually pops out fairly easy.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57That's two nice-sized lambs, that.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01But just when Dave thought it was a lucky twin birth,
0:07:01 > 0:07:02out pops number three.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05- That was a surprise.- Yep.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07Not surprised I didn't feel it - it's a bit tiny!
0:07:10 > 0:07:12LAMB BLEATS
0:07:24 > 0:07:25Back at the Seigneurie,
0:07:25 > 0:07:29head gardener Jo Birch now has an even heavier workload -
0:07:29 > 0:07:32clearing the debris left by the blizzard.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37Well, I think we got away lightly, quite honestly.
0:07:37 > 0:07:38It was a terrible blizzard.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42And you don't get force 9 for nearly 24 hours without some damage.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46But most of the garden's OK.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51It's not devastation. It's just a set back.
0:07:51 > 0:07:52And how long till you open?
0:07:52 > 0:07:55Two weeks today, Good Friday.
0:07:55 > 0:07:56Panicking?
0:07:56 > 0:07:59No, not panicking, really. I mean, what can we do?
0:07:59 > 0:08:02We can do the best we can and clear it all up, make it look nice.
0:08:02 > 0:08:03I think it'll be fine.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08It's amazing, the powers of recovery.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10It really is, isn't it?
0:08:10 > 0:08:13Look at the roses. They were already in leaf,
0:08:13 > 0:08:16but not in bud, so they seem to be not too bad at all.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19The weather's getting better, spring is round the corner.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21You wouldn't think, looking at it now,
0:08:21 > 0:08:24what an awful scene it was on Monday and Tuesday.
0:08:24 > 0:08:25Oh, it was horrible.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41There's someone on Sark wishing for an end to winter
0:08:41 > 0:08:43perhaps more than anyone else.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45Ronaldo the horse has had a hole in his life
0:08:45 > 0:08:48since his beloved trainer, Julie,
0:08:48 > 0:08:51left for a few months' work in New Zealand.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55What Ronaldo doesn't know is that today she's back.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58- Hi!- Hello.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Back again!
0:09:04 > 0:09:06Oh, is this Hayley?
0:09:06 > 0:09:08Oh, it is, Hayley, my workmate.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15'Well, funniest thing was, because of my loud voice,
0:09:15 > 0:09:17'as I was coming up the hill
0:09:17 > 0:09:19'she said, "Oh, I've got a surprise for you."'
0:09:19 > 0:09:20Oh, my God!
0:09:20 > 0:09:23'I went, "Oh, my God!"
0:09:23 > 0:09:24'I don't know if they care or not,
0:09:24 > 0:09:27'but I think he did recognise me, sort of.'
0:09:27 > 0:09:29- Oh!- He's grown a bit since you've gone.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31'He's probably thinking, "Oh, no!
0:09:31 > 0:09:33' "She's back!" '
0:09:33 > 0:09:36Julie's welcomed home by Ronaldo's owner, Helen.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39But he gets the biggest kiss.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41Oh!
0:09:41 > 0:09:44Oh, what a surprise that was.
0:09:44 > 0:09:45How brilliant.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51As the seasonal staff start to arrive for the summer,
0:09:51 > 0:09:55the island's population increases significantly,
0:09:55 > 0:09:59but Julie Baker at Food Stop is always glad to see them.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02Nice to see people that have been before coming back.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05There's lots of those and, um...
0:10:05 > 0:10:08Yes, just hoping for a very good season.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11If the weather's good, then people will come,
0:10:11 > 0:10:13but you need good weather for Sark.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16The weather might not be spring-like,
0:10:16 > 0:10:17but across Sark,
0:10:17 > 0:10:20optimistic preparations for the tourists continue.
0:10:23 > 0:10:24Lovely colour.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29Right, first day back, then, eh, girlies?
0:10:31 > 0:10:34Stocks Hotel is on the verge of opening up for the season...
0:10:34 > 0:10:37- Morning, all. Welcome. - ..and the manager, Paul Armorgie,
0:10:37 > 0:10:39welcomes his team of staff.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41The dawn of a new season
0:10:41 > 0:10:43as we awake from our winter slumbers.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Welcome. Welcome back, those who were with us last year
0:10:46 > 0:10:49and the year before. Another busy summer season in prospect
0:10:49 > 0:10:52and looking forward to a busy time.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54Today, in particular, we have a group of people arriving.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56Julie's gone down with a horse and carriage
0:10:56 > 0:10:58to meet them at the top of the hill
0:10:58 > 0:11:00and they'll be here within the next half hour,
0:11:00 > 0:11:04so, literally, we're operational as from today.
0:11:04 > 0:11:05- JULIE: You on?- Yeah.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08We're delighted to see Julie back. This will be her third season with us
0:11:08 > 0:11:11and she does a cracking job, but it's very much a seasonal job
0:11:11 > 0:11:15and she works with us from Easter through until the end of October.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19It's always a concern, actually, as to whether Julie and, indeed,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22our other members of staff are able to find winter work,
0:11:22 > 0:11:24so it's always a relief that Julie...
0:11:24 > 0:11:27Julie's very enterprising, of course, and she'll always find work
0:11:27 > 0:11:29because she's so good at what she does.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33I had a brilliant time in New Zealand,
0:11:33 > 0:11:35but it's great to be back on Sark.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40Here we are coming down the avenue and it looks like...
0:11:40 > 0:11:44some sort of warzone. Everything is shut.
0:11:44 > 0:11:45No people.
0:11:47 > 0:11:52We're busy tonight. We've got some party of about 20 people, I think.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54Two of them I'm picking up now.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58They've been before, these. Mr and Mrs Weil.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00So I'm picking them up.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04They're my first customers of 2013.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07SHE IMITATES DRAMATIC MUSIC
0:12:08 > 0:12:09SHE COAXES THE HORSE
0:12:11 > 0:12:13- Does it feel like you've never been away?- It does.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15It's like yourself, you've been all that way
0:12:15 > 0:12:18and yet it's like a dream or a film, you know.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22- Yeah, but I'm glad to be back anyway. Mr and Mrs Weil?- That's us!
0:12:22 > 0:12:25- Pleased to meet you. I'm Julie. - Hi.- This is Molly.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28SHE COAXES THE HORSE
0:12:31 > 0:12:37- It's very quiet at the moment.- Yeah. - Yeah.- It was raining 20 minutes ago.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39Oh! It was lovely at home. Pretty grey, though.
0:12:43 > 0:12:44Yeah, well, we don't want rain.
0:12:44 > 0:12:49- We had enough rain last year to flood three continents.- I know! Terrible.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55With Easter just around the corner, both churches on Sark are busy
0:12:55 > 0:12:58preparing their traditional services.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02Methodist lay preacher, Karen Le Mouton, has also just learned of
0:13:02 > 0:13:06her church's decision to train her to become a fully fledged minister.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08Obviously, it's really exciting news about being
0:13:08 > 0:13:10accepted for pre-ordination,
0:13:10 > 0:13:13but in some ways I just have to park that for the time being,
0:13:13 > 0:13:17because there's still a job in hand to do and get ready for Easter.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21The search for a permanent vicar for the Anglican St Peter's goes on,
0:13:21 > 0:13:25but locum vicars are standing in for a month at a time.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29In January, they had Neville. In February, they had Neil.
0:13:29 > 0:13:34And the vicar for March and the Easter period is Nigel Walker.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38Yes, there's another locum called Nigel, and it'll be good working
0:13:38 > 0:13:42with him and continue building on the partnership between the churches.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46And I understand he's got an exciting idea for us to try.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50This being Good Friday, Nigel has plans.
0:13:53 > 0:13:59Well, the cross is the symbol of the Christian faith,
0:13:59 > 0:14:03and, on Good Friday, 2,000-odd years ago,
0:14:03 > 0:14:06Jesus Christ died on a cross.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08- Right, are we ready, everybody? - ALL: Yes.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10Let's go.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15I think we bunch together, really.
0:14:25 > 0:14:30By taking the cross out, it actually stirs things up a bit.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33And it'll make people think, "Why are they doing it?"
0:14:33 > 0:14:37It's a bad weather forecast, but it's turned out well.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41And hopefully, maybe one or two might ask us en route.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43You never know. We'll see what happens when we go.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45I don't think they've done it here before,
0:14:45 > 0:14:48so it's going to be a new experience for a lot of people.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55And that's a prime motive of what we're doing - we want to be able
0:14:55 > 0:15:00to take Jesus out into the community and let them be challenged afresh.
0:15:04 > 0:15:09This dust sort of reminds us of what it could have been like at Calvary.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11Hello.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20It's interesting, you know, because, commerce would have been
0:15:20 > 0:15:24going on at the same time while Jesus was dying on the cross.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27- They would have been going about their regular activities.- Yes.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34I've just seen the vicar go by and he's carrying the wooden cross
0:15:34 > 0:15:36in a procession down the avenue.
0:15:36 > 0:15:37And what a lovely idea,
0:15:37 > 0:15:41because it makes us realise what Easter is really all about.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46I hope we are going to see old Basil.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48- Who?- Basil.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Yeah, there he is. Basil!
0:15:57 > 0:15:59Is that Basil?
0:15:59 > 0:16:01Where's old Basil?
0:16:09 > 0:16:12He said he'd be very busy.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14You'll get a mixed reaction.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17I spoke to some people who think we're a bunch of nuts.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24For some perhaps older people, it may remind them of their childhood
0:16:24 > 0:16:28and Sunday school and all the days when they used to go to church.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31Something has been lost down the years.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34And it might just trigger something.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38- Hello.- Hello. - Do you know why we're walking?
0:16:38 > 0:16:42Today is really special, because it's Good Friday.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46That's why we've got a holiday, to remember Jesus's death on the cross.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49- So well done, you three! Brilliant!- Well done!
0:16:49 > 0:16:52It was interesting that it was the children who actually stopped
0:16:52 > 0:16:54and said, "What's all this?
0:16:54 > 0:16:58"What are you doing?" So, sometimes we can learn things from children,
0:16:58 > 0:17:02because they are sort of straightaway curious and asking questions.
0:17:02 > 0:17:03Mrs Brown, if you take it in...
0:17:08 > 0:17:11I think Mary will invite everybody back to the vicarage.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16I think it went OK. I mean, slightly quicker...
0:17:16 > 0:17:20We'd hoped perhaps to have a few more conversations with odd people
0:17:20 > 0:17:23meeting in the street, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26It's cold and perhaps people are not out as they might otherwise
0:17:26 > 0:17:29have been if it had been a really warm day.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35Checking the weather forecast more than most
0:17:35 > 0:17:37is Jo of the Seigneurie Gardens.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39She now just has a few days left
0:17:39 > 0:17:42for final preparations before opening to the public.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46We just need a week of sunshine, or at least higher temperatures,
0:17:46 > 0:17:49and I think a lot of these lovely plants will come out.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52They're so ready. They just...
0:17:52 > 0:17:54don't like to put their heads above the ground.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56But look at the primroses.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58They seem to come out and flower whatever.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01I think even the vine is beginning to plump up a little bit.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05And look at the magnolias. Really within a gnat's whisker of being out.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08So we're waiting. We're waiting.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11- Waiting for spring. - Waiting for spring.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Unfortunately, I don't think Easter weekend is going to be great,
0:18:14 > 0:18:16but, you know, you never know.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18We're going to open anyhow.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22And what's the priority for getting the gardens ready?
0:18:22 > 0:18:25I think making it all nice and clean and tidy - fresh notices...
0:18:25 > 0:18:28Sweep out the spiders.
0:18:28 > 0:18:29The path is in good shape.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33It's just making the place tidy and ready for the season, really.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37We need to put benches out so people can sit down and...
0:18:37 > 0:18:39Turn on the fountains.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41We need to take the net off the fish pond,
0:18:41 > 0:18:44because the heron was eating all the fish. But anyway, that'll happen.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47No, I think we're ready to go, really.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49We'd like the season to start.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00The first Easter sunshine arrives
0:19:00 > 0:19:04and Julie prepares Ronaldo for his first job of the season.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06Who needs a horse?
0:19:06 > 0:19:07SHE LAUGHS
0:19:09 > 0:19:13Well, today, we've got a wedding and we're using both the carriages.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17This is Ron's first actual performance!
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Hayley is driving him in the wagonette, with four guests.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24Anyway, he's all done now and I've done his tail.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27He was four yesterday. It was his birthday. He had a party.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29He's on Facebook!
0:19:29 > 0:19:33He's got balloons and streamers and he had stuff in his hair.
0:19:33 > 0:19:38He had a bath photograph with a bucket of water going over his head.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42Here comes the hairspray. He had conditioner and everything yesterday.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46Right, five to one. We'll start putting his gear on.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54This is his new collar.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57Just arrived a few days ago.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00I mean, it's only an occasion because we are making it one.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04It's just another day to him, you know. Carriage, get fed after.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06That's all he thinks about!
0:20:16 > 0:20:19Ronald, stop chewing your reins!
0:20:21 > 0:20:27- It's the one for the album! - The boy and his slaves. Eh, mate?
0:20:27 > 0:20:29RONALDO WHINNIES
0:20:29 > 0:20:31See there.
0:20:32 > 0:20:33Right.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40Oh, I'm so proud of him. After all that time and all that work.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44I said to the people, "You're the first people
0:20:44 > 0:20:48"he's actually taken out." I said, "To you, he's just a horse,
0:20:48 > 0:20:51"but the story behind him, for me, it's just brilliant."
0:20:51 > 0:20:53He just comes out, Mr Cool.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56I took him out and it was like he'd done it for 20 years.
0:20:56 > 0:21:01In he went, got his lunch, that was it. Never looked back.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11Over at Dave's lambing shed, there are a lot of proud mums
0:21:11 > 0:21:14and over 100 newborn lambs now.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18Feeding time. We were hoping to avoid it this year, but...
0:21:19 > 0:21:22As usual, we've had a few ewes that have...
0:21:22 > 0:21:25got sick and, er...
0:21:27 > 0:21:29..whilst they were all recovering,
0:21:29 > 0:21:33they don't eat for a couple of days and their milk dries up.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35We've got to help a few of them out.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37SHEEP BLEAT
0:21:37 > 0:21:39We've got a few hungry babies out there.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41LOUD BLEATING
0:21:43 > 0:21:45Hello!
0:21:46 > 0:21:48OK, guys, who's first?
0:21:48 > 0:21:50Who's first?
0:21:50 > 0:21:52You're all a bit peckish, aren't you?
0:21:54 > 0:21:55Now then...
0:21:55 > 0:21:57One there... And who else have we got?
0:21:59 > 0:22:00There we go.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05If we could get them all connected up...
0:22:05 > 0:22:07LOUD SUCKING
0:22:13 > 0:22:16The most I've done is four bottles at once.
0:22:16 > 0:22:17Wow.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21I think you've had enough, mate.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26Yes, it...it is very satisfying.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30It's lovely when you...
0:22:30 > 0:22:34You know, the lambs go out of the shed and they're nicely covered
0:22:34 > 0:22:37and you can put them on a nice patch of grass.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10It's Easter Sunday.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15Traditionally, the very beginning of Sark's tourist season.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18But until the boats come in, they can only hope -
0:23:18 > 0:23:20nay, pray - for a good season ahead.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25At the Methodist Chapel, Karen Le Mouton is putting
0:23:25 > 0:23:28the finishing touches to her interpretation of Easter.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32We've got various activities to do with eggs, obviously,
0:23:32 > 0:23:35but trying to put the Christian message into the eggs.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37Obviously, Holy Week is a very busy time,
0:23:37 > 0:23:42because we try to depict all the events leading up to Easter Sunday,
0:23:42 > 0:23:47and obviously today is the combination of a busy week, yes.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50Locum vicar Nigel, at the Anglican St Peter's,
0:23:50 > 0:23:53will be presenting a more traditional version.
0:23:53 > 0:23:54BELL RINGS
0:23:54 > 0:23:57Well, the service today is an Easter Communion.
0:23:57 > 0:24:02It'll be extra joyful, obviously, because of the event.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06And I hope very much that people will really grasp
0:24:06 > 0:24:08when we say those words, "Jesus is risen,"
0:24:08 > 0:24:10they will come back with a great response -
0:24:10 > 0:24:12"He is risen from the dead."
0:24:12 > 0:24:15# This joyful Eastertide
0:24:15 > 0:24:21# What need is there for grieving?
0:24:21 > 0:24:24# Cast all your cares aside
0:24:24 > 0:24:30# And be not unbelieving. #
0:24:30 > 0:24:33- Jesus is risen! - ALL: He is risen indeed!
0:24:33 > 0:24:36Hallelujah!
0:24:37 > 0:24:42And after Easter comes sunshine and a full boat of tourists.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45We are always very grateful when the weather turns nice
0:24:45 > 0:24:49and visitors start coming back, because it's vital for
0:24:49 > 0:24:53the shipping company, for the shops, for the cafes, for everybody.
0:24:53 > 0:24:54That's how we make our living, really.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05- JO:- Winter was long and it wasn't very nice.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08Now we've got some visitors coming back.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11Amazingly, nature does its thing - all the flowers have come out,
0:25:11 > 0:25:13the birds are going like mad
0:25:13 > 0:25:16and we're well on the way to a good season, I think.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19Certainly, the gardens look lovely. They are full of colour.
0:25:19 > 0:25:24The magnolia tree is out and we're all systems go, I think.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27The majority of Clark's economy relies on the visitors
0:25:27 > 0:25:31who come here. They are the island's lifeblood.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Everybody is part and parcel of the tourism machine.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39There's nobody it doesn't really affect.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43Because, you know, if you work in a hotel, you spend your money in shops.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45It all comes full circle.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57Hungry tourists will need lobsters and crabs to eat
0:25:57 > 0:26:00and Baz's boat is ready for the new fishing season.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03Baz going down to the harbour on his tractor, pulling his boat,
0:26:03 > 0:26:05that's a sure sign of spring.
0:26:32 > 0:26:33Lovely job.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40All right, mate, thank you!
0:26:44 > 0:26:45It's nice to get back on the sea.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48Do you think it's going to be a good season?
0:26:48 > 0:26:50I hope so. I hope so.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52Back!
0:26:52 > 0:26:54HE WHISTLES Here! Oi! Heel!
0:26:54 > 0:26:56LAMB BLEATS
0:26:56 > 0:26:58Dave's lambs are almost a month old now.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Lie down. Lie down.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03Hello, number 13!
0:27:03 > 0:27:05But some need more attention than others.
0:27:05 > 0:27:06Hello, number 10.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10Guess which one the bottle fed lamb is.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13HE CHUCKLES
0:27:13 > 0:27:16You always want more, you guys, don't you?
0:27:19 > 0:27:21Yeah, no, it's all going very well.
0:27:21 > 0:27:27The grass is growing, I've sewn my barley... So, um...
0:27:27 > 0:27:29Yeah, no, things are good at the moment.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33- HE WHISTLES - Here! Come here!
0:27:40 > 0:27:42In the days to come...
0:27:42 > 0:27:44The dog can see the rabbit now.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47..volunteers gather to clear a path down to the island's
0:27:47 > 0:27:51favourite beach after it's closed by a landslide.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55It's one of the nice things about living in Sark, actually, isn't it?
0:27:55 > 0:27:58You make a little cry for help and everybody turns up.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01Let's get to work!
0:28:01 > 0:28:05The community spirit also extends to the emergency services,
0:28:05 > 0:28:08who have their own training days down at the harbour.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10They are what this island has got as an emergency service.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12There's nothing else.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16Hopefully, we're never needed.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19But we're here for them.
0:28:19 > 0:28:20- WOMAN:- Oh, my goodness!
0:28:20 > 0:28:22This volunteer culture
0:28:22 > 0:28:26is the foundation of Sark's community services.
0:28:26 > 0:28:30But sometimes that means going way beyond the call of duty.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34Right, then, we need big, cheesy laughs and smiles. Yay!
0:28:34 > 0:28:36That's great.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38Are you done? LAUGHTER