:00:00. > :00:00.They are the iconic symbol of Dartmoor, but they are under threat.
:00:00. > :00:11.Tonight, the controversial culinary plan to save Dartmoor's hill ponies.
:00:12. > :00:18.It is not something any of us wants to do, but if the ponies
:00:19. > :00:21.are to survive on Dartmoor, we must have a meat trade.
:00:22. > :00:34.Why didn't police stop her murderous stalker?
:00:35. > :00:40.I remember saying to them, hf she is murdered, you'll spend millhons
:00:41. > :00:43.We mustn't let it get to the state like in Helen,
:00:44. > :00:47.where an attack is made on ` person, and but for the intervention of
:00:48. > :00:54.And Nick Baker delves into Cornwall's ancient wild wood.
:00:55. > :00:58.Fantastic landscape, patchwork of different things going on.
:00:59. > :01:05.It is almost like a miniaturised sort of tropical rainforest.
:01:06. > :01:24.In some countries, horse meat is a delicacy.
:01:25. > :01:28.the idea of it just does not bear thinking about.
:01:29. > :01:39.But what if eating a partictlar breed could actually help s`ve it?
:01:40. > :01:42.For thousands of years ponies have roamed across D`rtmoor.
:01:43. > :01:52.But this could soon become a thing of the past.
:01:53. > :01:59.All of the studies show that we need a meat trade.
:02:00. > :02:06.We?re just not a nation of horse eaters here in the UK.
:02:07. > :02:11.I'm on my way to the middle of Dartmoor to meet Charlotte Faulkner.
:02:12. > :02:14.Charlotte has spent a life time trying to save the Dartmoor Pony.
:02:15. > :02:19.She runs a sanctuary for thdm at her farm,
:02:20. > :02:24.but it's getting increasingly difficult.
:02:25. > :02:27.In the past, hill farmers lhke Charlotte used to sell their foals
:02:28. > :02:34.but the market's plummeted and so has their value.
:02:35. > :02:37.If we don't ensure the future of the ponies on Dartmoor,
:02:38. > :02:45.People won't be able to walk across it and the gorsd
:02:46. > :02:48.will be too much and the br`mbles and the bracken and the heather
:02:49. > :02:50.It'll all just get completely overgrown and we won't have Dartmoor
:02:51. > :02:54.Charlotte?s spent hours training wild ponies so that
:02:55. > :02:58.But there simply aren't enough customers.
:02:59. > :03:05.Selling the ponies has become almost impossible.
:03:06. > :03:07.I think if we can?t turn thhs around in some way within
:03:08. > :03:13.the next couple of years yot will be looking at no ponies on Dartmoor.
:03:14. > :03:22.Some of the ponies which ardn?t sold end up as feed for zoo anim`ls.
:03:23. > :03:24.At the moment it's just a mass slaughter.
:03:25. > :03:27.And so now as a last resort, Charlotte's decided
:03:28. > :03:31.to try and sell the pony me`t of unwanted foals
:03:32. > :03:35.as a high quality gourmet food product.
:03:36. > :03:38.You?ve got to the stage now that you?ve decided to go down
:03:39. > :03:41.That must have been incredibly difficult?
:03:42. > :03:44.It?s not something that any of us want to do,
:03:45. > :03:48.but all of the studies show that if the ponies are to strvive
:03:49. > :03:53.on Dartmoor, or in the New Forest, or on Exmoor,
:03:54. > :03:58.all of the studies come back and say we must have a meat trade.
:03:59. > :04:03.But the idea of a meat tradd is a controversial one.
:04:04. > :04:05.Some fear it'll put people off coming to the moors.
:04:06. > :04:08.I think people have a very special relationship with the horse,
:04:09. > :04:11.where we are today in civilhsation is built on the back of the horse,
:04:12. > :04:16.very close partnerships are formed between man and horses.
:04:17. > :04:21.in the heart of Exmoor National Park.
:04:22. > :04:24.Although a different breed, the Exmoor?s face similar problems
:04:25. > :04:29.to their Dartmoor cousins, with very little market for the foals.
:04:30. > :04:34.Dawn's trying not to go down the meat route.
:04:35. > :04:38.If the moorland herd owners take responsibility for making stre
:04:39. > :04:42.they're producing the best puality animal and making every opportunity
:04:43. > :04:45.to market those animals and find them good homes then much c`n be
:04:46. > :04:49.achieved before we have to send them to the abattoir and put thel
:04:50. > :05:02.As far as Dawn's concerned, however bad things get, ponies are off the
:05:03. > :05:06.and I certainly wouldn't eat a horse.
:05:07. > :05:09.A horse is as much man's best friend as a dog is,
:05:10. > :05:17.and I think we're just not ` nation of horse eaters here in the UK.
:05:18. > :05:20.Back on Dartmoor, the pony sales are drying up.
:05:21. > :05:25.It means families such as the Abel's who run a herd of nearly 150 ponies
:05:26. > :05:31.have little means of making any money from their foals.
:05:32. > :05:33.I'm seriously considering giving them up because
:05:34. > :05:39.The reason that we keep thel is because my dad kept them
:05:40. > :05:46.and his dad had a few, and ht would just be a shame to see them gone.
:05:47. > :05:51.So Charlotte?s idea might bd just the solution Phil?s looking for
:05:52. > :05:59.Would you eat it? Yes, and H have ate burgers before. We made our own.
:06:00. > :06:03.Did you like it? The burgers was lovely.
:06:04. > :06:05.They were lovely, especiallx after a day out Dartmoor.
:06:06. > :06:09.You come home hungry, cold `nd wet, and as you can see,
:06:10. > :06:11.Dartmoor's like this a lot of the time,
:06:12. > :06:17.Today Charlotte?s coming to collect two ponies as they start
:06:18. > :06:29.Right, that's it now. I?ve got to go and get them there
:06:30. > :06:48.On. Got a few. They will be perfect. It has been mild but it has been
:06:49. > :06:55.very wet. Well fleshed up, hindquarters... I am glad you are
:06:56. > :07:19.pleased with them. Very ple`sed Go on then, go on! , one! Come on! That
:07:20. > :07:31.was very easy. Right, that's it I have got to go and take thel, before
:07:32. > :07:34.I change my mind. That's wh`t it's all about.
:07:35. > :07:37.I do worry and I'd be very concerned if people weren't slightly
:07:38. > :07:42.worried about it as well because we all do love ponids
:07:43. > :07:50.and it's not a decision that's been taken lightly.
:07:51. > :07:59.They're going to try and help Charlotte sell her pony meat.
:08:00. > :08:01.I've come to give sous chef Rob a hand
:08:02. > :08:10.making this slab of horse a bit more appetising.
:08:11. > :08:30.Just pick it up. That much? It is a really hot sensation, isn't it? I
:08:31. > :08:34.have had a few disasters, it is not as easy as it looks. We havd a first
:08:35. > :08:42.batch of sausages. Here thex are. It?s taken months
:08:43. > :08:44.to get to this stage, but the proof
:08:45. > :08:46.will be in the eating. It?s a big moment for Charlotte
:08:47. > :09:02.and hotel owner Tim. That's OK. Compliments to the chef,
:09:03. > :09:13.I think. It is delicious. How do you feel now you have tasted thdm?
:09:14. > :09:16.I suppose I'm glad its tastds nice because if it didn't then
:09:17. > :09:20.But the fact that it?s tastds delicious means we will be `ble
:09:21. > :09:26.Yeah, we?ve got to explain ht in the right way
:09:27. > :09:31.We wouldn?t normally put pony on the menu but it?s being done so we see
:09:32. > :09:34.hundreds of ponies on the moor for years to come and the tourists come
:09:35. > :09:38.to see the ponies, and they may not want to eat them but the re`son
:09:39. > :09:41.they're there is because thdy are worth the farmers keeping them.
:09:42. > :09:42.It?s not just sausages being trialled.
:09:43. > :09:45.It?s hoped a horse meat bresola a dried meat that?s flavourdd with
:09:46. > :09:53.will bring some much needed extra value.
:09:54. > :09:56.Bringing a new food product to market is a long process
:09:57. > :09:59.and Charlotte and the hotel are still working on the ins and outs
:10:00. > :10:03.of the new line, but Charlotte remains determined to save this
:10:04. > :10:17.It's hard to imagine that most of Britain,
:10:18. > :10:20.even open moorland like this, was once covered in thick forest.
:10:21. > :10:26.Today, that woodland is almost gone, but there are some small pockets
:10:27. > :10:47.in the South West where this rich and rare habitat still exists.
:10:48. > :10:50.These are some of the very last remnants of the "wild wood"
:10:51. > :10:59.that once covered the UK after the Ice Age.
:11:00. > :11:02.Here there's a rich and unipue ecosystem, which has evolved
:11:03. > :11:24.largely free from chemicals, pesticides and human interfdrence.
:11:25. > :11:30.I am standing in the ancient woodland. Because of the unhque
:11:31. > :11:37.situation here, the land either side of the woodland has been relatively
:11:38. > :11:47.undisturbed. The woodland is moving outwards and economising thd entire
:11:48. > :11:50.place. Millook are nestled hn a remote corner of the North Cornish
:11:51. > :11:53.coast. Most of the land is owned by the trust. Warden Malcolm looks
:11:54. > :12:01.after them. So we say ancient woodland puite
:12:02. > :12:03.a lot but what are we actually talking about?
:12:04. > :12:05.An ancient woodland is one that has been continuously wooded
:12:06. > :12:06.for 400 years. And what that means is that
:12:07. > :12:12.communities of plants and animals have had that undisturbed existence
:12:13. > :12:15.and it gives them the opportunity to And that?s why ancient
:12:16. > :12:24.woodlands are so important. This place is teeming with ht
:12:25. > :12:30.? lichens, birds, butterflids. Everything
:12:31. > :12:32.about this wood is really special. And you don?t have to look very hard
:12:33. > :12:44.to see what he?s talking about. You are in a habitat, warbldrs are
:12:45. > :12:53.common. And the action?s not just h`ppening
:12:54. > :12:56.in the trees, down under This sure`footed dung beetld
:12:57. > :13:11.seems to be in a hurry. Check out the brambles that line the
:13:12. > :13:18.pathways and you may see thhs. And it?s not just fauna that
:13:19. > :13:20.thrive in the woodland. The trees are host to some
:13:21. > :13:39.very special hangers on. A fantastic patchwork of different
:13:40. > :13:45.things going on. It's almost a miniaturised tropical rainforest.
:13:46. > :13:54.This is one of the things wd were talking about. These plants, they do
:13:55. > :14:02.not colonise or spread quickly. Birds and insects have wings. This
:14:03. > :14:10.is a very slow process. The valley is like this. That is a continuity.
:14:11. > :14:12.Clearly a grand lack of disturbance. This is the sort of thing you get on
:14:13. > :14:16.so many trees. Every one of these splodges
:14:17. > :14:18.of colour represents And that's
:14:19. > :14:31.because it looks a little bht And this is Lobaria scrobictlata,
:14:32. > :14:42.this is a smaller sort If you're not into lichens,
:14:43. > :14:59.and how could you not be, btt if you're not into this, just standing
:15:00. > :15:02.back and looking at every shngle Millook is one
:15:03. > :15:12.of the best woodlands for lhchen in the country but the arrival in the
:15:13. > :15:15.west of the tree disease ash dieback Ash dieback was first discovered
:15:16. > :15:22.in Britain two years ago and it has the potential to wipe out
:15:23. > :15:27.the country's 80 million ash trees. The nearest woodland infectdd
:15:28. > :15:34.with the disease is in Somerset That's close enough to make Malcolm
:15:35. > :15:39.worried. If it lands in the area and it
:15:40. > :15:43.starts killing off some of these ash trees that we've got, smothdred in
:15:44. > :15:49.some of the lichens, it is not just the loss of a high proportion of our
:15:50. > :15:54.ash trees that we are faced with but the collateral extinctions
:15:55. > :16:02.that may go with that. There's not much that Malcolm can do
:16:03. > :16:06.but hope that ash dieback doesn t land here and for now at le`st,
:16:07. > :16:13.this woodland is in perfect health. If you venture in a little deeper
:16:14. > :16:19.you can happen upon a littld oasis. At the heart of
:16:20. > :16:24.the wood is this wildflower meadow. And these wonderfully wet p`stures
:16:25. > :16:28.are full of plantlife, and the grassland is fantastic
:16:29. > :16:31.in its own right. But where the grassland meets
:16:32. > :16:33.the woodland, you?ve got all these sheltered hot
:16:34. > :16:36.sunny spots as well, which lakes it Perfect, unless, that is,
:16:37. > :16:44.you happen to be tangled up This grasshopper should
:16:45. > :17:02.watch where it's going. It's walking right towards
:17:03. > :17:03.a nursery web spider. Ooh, kicked out
:17:04. > :17:06.by this magnificent spider, And this, with its distincthve
:17:07. > :17:15.ragged wing edges, has stopped I'm just having a little bit
:17:16. > :17:25.of a moment here. I have a real fondness for this
:17:26. > :17:33.butterfly, it is a marbled white, They're actually a brown butterfly,
:17:34. > :18:00.just a very beautiful one. From the wildflower meadows,
:18:01. > :18:03.to the woodland itself, Millook is as rich and varidd as
:18:04. > :18:21.the avid naturalist could hope for. Hopefully, it'll escape disdase
:18:22. > :18:25.and endure as a precious haven for wildlife and a welcome dscape
:18:26. > :18:42.from the modern world. Prosecutions of stalkers ard at
:18:43. > :18:46.a record high thanks to new laws. But as Simon Hall now reports,
:18:47. > :18:49.that's of little comfort to one It's been the worst year of
:18:50. > :19:01.Helen Pearson?s life. You just live in a constant fear,
:19:02. > :19:05.absolute fear, because you never I therefore wish to see how well
:19:06. > :19:24.you'd cope if attacked in pdrson. Her attacker's behind bars,
:19:25. > :19:28.but Helen?s struggling to forgive the police, whose handling of her
:19:29. > :19:31.case is now under investigation You mustn't let it get to
:19:32. > :19:35.a state where an attack is lade and, but for the intervention of
:19:36. > :19:41.a third party, Helen would be dead. Helen was on her way to
:19:42. > :19:44.the gym last October, on wh`t began I remember holding
:19:45. > :19:53.my umbrella up and having to angle She was about to be attacked
:19:54. > :20:02.by the man who who?d been stalking His weapon,
:20:03. > :20:07.a pair of dress`making scissors I just felt a sudden stab
:20:08. > :20:15.in my back and went straight down. He turned me around
:20:16. > :20:22.and pulled me up to standing. That's when I saw him and I saw
:20:23. > :20:26.his eyes and knew it was Jod. I was pleading, saying "Ple`se, Joe,
:20:27. > :20:31.don't." I remember him pulling
:20:32. > :20:33.my head to one side and stabbing me in my neck, and
:20:34. > :20:40.punching me in my face and ly nose. You have an absolute fear
:20:41. > :20:44.for your life. I remember him dragging me
:20:45. > :20:55.across the road into the catacombs. I thought I'm not coming out
:20:56. > :21:00.of this alive, this is it. The attack was stopped
:21:01. > :21:03.by a passer`by, but Helen h`d been Her face was completely open,
:21:04. > :21:12.but they let her sip some w`ter The water was dribbling
:21:13. > :21:18.through her cheek. There were all these stab wounds
:21:19. > :21:27.in her back, close to her ltng. One in the side close to thd
:21:28. > :21:30.heart. She was so lucky. Joe Willis was found guilty of
:21:31. > :21:33.attempted murder and is serving a In 2008, Helen moved into hdr own
:21:34. > :21:40.flat in the centre of Exeter. It was an exciting fresh st`rt
:21:41. > :21:42.after some time in supported housing, but Joe Willis
:21:43. > :21:50.was living in the same block. He'd offer to carry
:21:51. > :21:59.if I had shopping bags. There was something
:22:00. > :22:03.a bit weird about him, She declined, but he wouldn't
:22:04. > :22:14.take no for an answer. He was very aggressive,
:22:15. > :22:20.why haven't you responded? Really...
:22:21. > :22:26.loopy about it all. That rejection triggered a campaign
:22:27. > :22:32.against Helen and her familx. With over a hundred incidents
:22:33. > :22:36.reported to the police. The white paint's still there
:22:37. > :22:43.from when that was chucked. It's hard to know that is where
:22:44. > :22:56.he used to watch me from. Helen recorded more than 30
:22:57. > :23:00.malicious messages, more th`n I'd put my swimming costume on
:23:01. > :23:10.in the bath because I wouldn't know Helen kept a detailed diary
:23:11. > :23:14.of events and told officers she The police did send
:23:15. > :23:30.letters to forensics. They put a spyhole camera in Helen's
:23:31. > :23:34.door, but she says it didn't always work and was taken away
:23:35. > :23:36.after a couple of months. They also deployed
:23:37. > :23:38.a covert capture car, but she says that remote surveillance was done
:23:39. > :23:42.at the wrong time of day. Helen's family never felt hdr case
:23:43. > :23:51.was given the attention it deserved. I remember saying to them, hf she's
:23:52. > :23:54.murdered, you'll spend millhons Why not a few pounds now
:23:55. > :24:01.and find out who's doing it? We kept writing, the MP was writing,
:24:02. > :24:08.we had meetings with the police and yet they never took it
:24:09. > :24:11.seriously enough to investigate who Helen's supporters believe she
:24:12. > :24:24.wasn't taken seriously becatse the If we were getting pizza, I remember
:24:25. > :24:31.thinking I don't deserve th`t, I Helen has spent much
:24:32. > :24:38.of her life battling anorexha. I find talking about my food
:24:39. > :24:50.as exposing as showing my scars You can't train police officers to
:24:51. > :24:53.be experts in mental illness, but you can train them to understand
:24:54. > :24:56.some of the things they might see. We see it with rape and domdstic
:24:57. > :25:00.violence, that the minute there might be an issue around mental
:25:01. > :25:02.health, somehow that discredits Two months after the conviction
:25:03. > :25:13.police are meeting at HQ I hear it from most victims,
:25:14. > :25:26.they're fighting two wars. They're fighting the war to survive
:25:27. > :25:29.the stalker and to get you Helen was due to speak here too
:25:30. > :25:42.but in the end couldn't facd it I'm just going to introduce Natalie.
:25:43. > :25:51.Natalie tells trainees about a visit she had from an offhcer a
:25:52. > :25:55.couple of months before the attack. He knew that Helen had ment`l
:25:56. > :26:05.health history herself. She's anorexic,
:26:06. > :26:07.and I very much got the impression, and Helen and her parents too, that
:26:08. > :26:10.because of that, she was considered she was making the
:26:11. > :26:30.whole thing up to get attention The police won't talk about Helen?s
:26:31. > :26:35.case while it's being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints
:26:36. > :26:38.Commission, but they say commitment to taking
:26:39. > :26:39.victims seriously. For most people, if they report
:26:40. > :26:42.something, that's because something has happened and we have to take
:26:43. > :26:44.that seriously, regardless We are delivering a lot of training,
:26:45. > :26:59.face to face training. 240 officers. We are concentrating
:27:00. > :27:14.on frontline officers first. Helen's still a long way from
:27:15. > :27:17.getting back her faith in the police, but she?s feeling hopeful
:27:18. > :27:19.about a new life with her stalker in jail. There now is no re`son to
:27:20. > :27:35.leap out my skin when the post There now is no reason to ldap
:27:36. > :27:38.out my skin when the post comes I try and be hopeful that it
:27:39. > :27:47.won?t always be like this. If you've been affected by `ny
:27:48. > :27:49.of the issues raised by Heldn's Next week,
:27:50. > :28:08.the hidden epidemic of loneliness. What a difference,
:28:09. > :28:28.when you make breakfast for two I left a beautiful world to go into
:28:29. > :28:32.a horrible world. And that's all from the team for now but wd'll be
:28:33. > :28:34.back next Monday with more stories and investigation from around the
:28:35. > :29:11.south`west. See you then. Hello, I'm Sophie Long wat(
:29:12. > :29:13.your 90 second update. A freeze on working-age be.efits
:29:14. > :29:15.for two years. That's among the Ch!nceldor's pda.s
:29:16. > :29:17.to cut welfare and the nation'q de"t hf t(e Tories
:29:18. > :29:20.win next year's general electhof. Pensions,
:29:21. > :29:21.disability a.d laternity p!y wouldn't be affecte$ but Jobsdecers
:29:22. > :29:26.Allowance an$ child benefit woudd Ann Maguire was sta"bed to de`t`
:29:27. > :29:30.at a Leeds school i. Apral. Today thousands attended
:29:31. > :29:32.a memorial service for t`e teac`er. Her family s!y they've bee.
:29:33. > :29:34.comforted by the co-munity. Jailed for sending
:29:35. > :29:36.abusive tweets to a. MP. Peter Nunn targette$ Stell! Cpeas9
:29:37. > :29:39.after she campaigne$ to get the Midwives in ngland have voted po go
:29:40. > :29:46.on strike for the first ti-e They'll hoin a four-hour stoppage
:29:47. > :29:51.with other NHS workers next month Aldi has promised 65 new stores
:29:52. > :29:57.after a huge jump