Browse content similar to 10/06/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Warwickshire - | 0:00:27 | 0:00:28 | |
a county set deep in the heart of England, | 0:00:28 | 0:00:31 | |
rich in history, rural charm | 0:00:31 | 0:00:33 | |
and captivating countryside. | 0:00:33 | 0:00:35 | |
I'm going to be celebrating | 0:00:37 | 0:00:39 | |
the 80th year of the National Federation of Young Farmers | 0:00:39 | 0:00:42 | |
by brushing up on the old farming skills. | 0:00:42 | 0:00:44 | |
And I won't be chickening out on any of them. | 0:00:48 | 0:00:50 | |
While Matt's getting stuck in, something tells me | 0:00:50 | 0:00:53 | |
I'm going to be a bit saddle sore by the end of the programme. | 0:00:53 | 0:00:56 | |
I'll be learning the ladylike way to ride a horse side-saddle. | 0:00:56 | 0:01:00 | |
I'll also be trying out a classic British bike | 0:01:00 | 0:01:03 | |
and training to race against a former Olympic champion. | 0:01:03 | 0:01:07 | |
Tom's taking on an altogether more serious challenge. | 0:01:09 | 0:01:12 | |
These distinctive black and white cows | 0:01:12 | 0:01:14 | |
are the backbone of the British dairy industry, | 0:01:14 | 0:01:17 | |
but there's a cost to making sure that we are kept in milk, | 0:01:17 | 0:01:21 | |
so I'll be discovering what's being done | 0:01:21 | 0:01:24 | |
to stop the deaths of tens of thousands of dairy calves. | 0:01:24 | 0:01:28 | |
And Adam's up in the Yorkshire Dales. | 0:01:28 | 0:01:33 | |
I've come to see these wonderful Belted Galloway cattle | 0:01:33 | 0:01:35 | |
that help preserve this beautiful limestone countryside. | 0:01:35 | 0:01:39 | |
They live up on the moor here pretty much all year round. | 0:01:39 | 0:01:42 | |
They're hardy beasts but today they're enjoying the sunshine | 0:01:42 | 0:01:45 | |
and wallowing in the water here. | 0:01:45 | 0:01:47 | |
But I'm here to see if there's a good bull to buy. | 0:01:47 | 0:01:50 | |
A landlocked county in the heart of the England. | 0:02:02 | 0:02:06 | |
Warwickshire is a place of pastoral landscapes and picturesque towns | 0:02:06 | 0:02:10 | |
stretched out gloriously across 1,200 square miles. | 0:02:10 | 0:02:14 | |
'Tucked away on its southernmost border is Shipston-on-Stour. | 0:02:15 | 0:02:19 | |
'Founded as a sheep market in the 8th century, | 0:02:19 | 0:02:23 | |
'today farming is still very much at the heart of the local community | 0:02:23 | 0:02:26 | |
'amongst both the old and the young.' | 0:02:26 | 0:02:29 | |
It may sound like a contradiction, | 0:02:29 | 0:02:31 | |
but this year the National Federation of Young Farmers clubs | 0:02:31 | 0:02:34 | |
is 80 years old and it's something that I know all too well | 0:02:34 | 0:02:38 | |
because I'm its president. | 0:02:38 | 0:02:40 | |
Now, you wouldn't believe what our members get up to. | 0:02:40 | 0:02:42 | |
Welly-wanging is just the start of it. Wa-hey! | 0:02:42 | 0:02:48 | |
That's a beauty! | 0:02:48 | 0:02:49 | |
At this farm in Shipston-on-Stour, | 0:02:49 | 0:02:52 | |
they're putting on a county rally, | 0:02:52 | 0:02:54 | |
which I'll be taking part in later. | 0:02:54 | 0:02:57 | |
Across England and Wales, rallies like this take place | 0:02:57 | 0:03:00 | |
throughout the year, as young farmers aged between 10 and 26 | 0:03:00 | 0:03:04 | |
get together to have some fun and pit their skills against each other. | 0:03:04 | 0:03:08 | |
It's something young farmers have been doing for eight decades. | 0:03:08 | 0:03:11 | |
While the way they farm has changed, their passions certainly haven't. | 0:03:11 | 0:03:15 | |
I'll tell you what, James, looking at these, | 0:03:15 | 0:03:18 | |
Young Farmers have certainly come a long way in the 80 years. | 0:03:18 | 0:03:20 | |
Hasn't it just, yeah? | 0:03:20 | 0:03:22 | |
So, 23,000 members these days but it all started back in Devon | 0:03:22 | 0:03:26 | |
when competition was the key. | 0:03:26 | 0:03:29 | |
Yeah, it did. It started with calf and pig rearing clubs. | 0:03:29 | 0:03:32 | |
United Diaries actually organised a competition to encourage young people | 0:03:32 | 0:03:35 | |
to raise livestock - | 0:03:35 | 0:03:36 | |
encouraged to raise the standards that livestock was being reared by. | 0:03:36 | 0:03:40 | |
-It was quite popular back then? -It was amazingly popular, yeah. | 0:03:40 | 0:03:43 | |
It was the core competition that kick-started all Young Farmers. | 0:03:43 | 0:03:48 | |
In under ten years, there were over 100 clubs up and down the country. | 0:03:48 | 0:03:51 | |
The competitions have widened out a little bit | 0:03:51 | 0:03:53 | |
using more and more agricultural skill as well. | 0:03:53 | 0:03:56 | |
-Yeah. -So tractor maintenance and all that kind of stuff. | 0:03:56 | 0:03:59 | |
Exactly. There's a lot of people who owe their skills and careers | 0:03:59 | 0:04:02 | |
to the skills they picked up with Young Farmers. | 0:04:02 | 0:04:05 | |
-The Agricultural Minister for one. -The Agricultural Minister. | 0:04:05 | 0:04:08 | |
-Some guy called Matt Butcher or something(!) -Yeah, very good. | 0:04:08 | 0:04:12 | |
He was in Young Farmers. | 0:04:12 | 0:04:14 | |
You don't have to be a farmer to be a member of Young Farmers. | 0:04:14 | 0:04:18 | |
No, you don't have to "be one to be one" is the old phrase as it goes. | 0:04:18 | 0:04:22 | |
I'm not a farmer. I don't come from a farming background. | 0:04:22 | 0:04:26 | |
If you like being outside, then great. | 0:04:26 | 0:04:29 | |
If you like being stuck to a computer, then maybe not for you. | 0:04:29 | 0:04:33 | |
'There's a lot more to these clubs than just competitions, though. | 0:04:33 | 0:04:36 | |
'They give youngsters a voice on farming both here in the UK | 0:04:36 | 0:04:39 | |
'and in Europe and they are enjoying something of a resurgence. | 0:04:39 | 0:04:42 | |
'This club in Shipston-on-Stour started last year | 0:04:42 | 0:04:45 | |
'and is already thriving with nearly 50 members. | 0:04:45 | 0:04:50 | |
'I'm meeting one if its founders who's lending me his wheels | 0:04:50 | 0:04:53 | |
'to compete around the tractor course later.' | 0:04:53 | 0:04:55 | |
An absolute beauty. Show me the controls before you let me loose. | 0:04:59 | 0:05:03 | |
It's a fairly modern tractor. | 0:05:04 | 0:05:06 | |
So it's not difficult to drive. | 0:05:06 | 0:05:09 | |
All it is is forward and back on that lever there. | 0:05:09 | 0:05:12 | |
Your gears are here so if you want to go faster, it's the hare | 0:05:12 | 0:05:16 | |
and slower, tortoise. | 0:05:16 | 0:05:18 | |
And pedals then just as you would in a car? | 0:05:18 | 0:05:20 | |
Yeah, accelerator, brake and clutch. Simple. | 0:05:20 | 0:05:24 | |
-Perfect. Right. -Your turn. -Let's go for a drive. | 0:05:24 | 0:05:26 | |
Look after it. | 0:05:26 | 0:05:29 | |
This machinery is a lot heftier than the stuff we have on our hill farm. | 0:05:30 | 0:05:36 | |
So, with ten tonnes at my mercy and a trailer in tow, | 0:05:36 | 0:05:38 | |
I'm making sure I get the hang of the handling out in an open field | 0:05:38 | 0:05:41 | |
before I attempt the course. | 0:05:41 | 0:05:45 | |
Right, well, I'm feeling OK actually in an open field | 0:05:49 | 0:05:51 | |
but there's parts of that course that are looking pretty tight | 0:05:51 | 0:05:54 | |
but I'm ready for the challenge. | 0:05:54 | 0:05:57 | |
While the guys here finish their preparations, | 0:05:58 | 0:06:01 | |
I'm heading off to meet one of the club's other young farmers | 0:06:01 | 0:06:04 | |
who's honing her rural skills. | 0:06:04 | 0:06:06 | |
Annabel James lives on a farm a few miles down the road | 0:06:06 | 0:06:09 | |
and is learning the art of shepherding from her dad, Will. | 0:06:09 | 0:06:13 | |
HE WHISTLES | 0:06:13 | 0:06:14 | |
So your dad's teaching you the tricks of the trade | 0:06:14 | 0:06:16 | |
as far as sheepdog trialling or training is concerned. Good. | 0:06:16 | 0:06:20 | |
How long have you been doing it? | 0:06:20 | 0:06:21 | |
-Um, I have only just started. -Right. How are you getting on? -OK. | 0:06:21 | 0:06:27 | |
Well, we're about to find that out, actually. | 0:06:27 | 0:06:29 | |
The challenge is then, Annabel, | 0:06:29 | 0:06:31 | |
for you to get them into that little pen at the end. | 0:06:31 | 0:06:33 | |
Yeah, go for it. Show us your skills. Good luck. | 0:06:33 | 0:06:36 | |
Away. Right, away. | 0:06:40 | 0:06:42 | |
Fly away. | 0:06:42 | 0:06:44 | |
Just to give you an idea of what's going on here, | 0:06:44 | 0:06:47 | |
there's quite a few sheepdog commands. | 0:06:47 | 0:06:48 | |
You might have heard of "come by" and "away." | 0:06:48 | 0:06:51 | |
If you imagine that your field is a clock, | 0:06:51 | 0:06:53 | |
when your dog is running clockwise, starts with a C, known as "come by". | 0:06:53 | 0:06:57 | |
And when your dog is running anticlockwise, it starts with an A, | 0:06:57 | 0:07:00 | |
that's "away". | 0:07:00 | 0:07:01 | |
Away. Get away. Get away. | 0:07:01 | 0:07:04 | |
Walk them on. | 0:07:04 | 0:07:06 | |
Good girl. Walk them on. | 0:07:06 | 0:07:08 | |
This is good, Annabel, it's very good. | 0:07:08 | 0:07:11 | |
Good girl. | 0:07:11 | 0:07:13 | |
Walk them on. | 0:07:13 | 0:07:16 | |
There we go. Teamwork. Perfect. | 0:07:16 | 0:07:18 | |
-How's she coming on, then, as a little pupil? -She learning. | 0:07:18 | 0:07:23 | |
She's keen, so that's brilliant. | 0:07:23 | 0:07:25 | |
'Although Annabel's not planning to be a farmer herself, | 0:07:25 | 0:07:28 | |
'it's great to see how determined she is to learn these skills | 0:07:28 | 0:07:31 | |
'and stay close to her rural roots.' | 0:07:31 | 0:07:34 | |
Earlier in the year on Countryfile, we told you how eating British veal | 0:07:38 | 0:07:43 | |
could help prevent the needless deaths of thousands of dairy calves. | 0:07:43 | 0:07:46 | |
But is anything actually being done? Tom has been to find out. | 0:07:46 | 0:07:50 | |
'Black and white cows grazing in green pasture. | 0:07:53 | 0:07:56 | |
'It's a typically British rural scene | 0:07:56 | 0:07:58 | |
'and one we've been familiar with for centuries, | 0:07:58 | 0:08:00 | |
'thanks to our love of milk and a whole host of other dairy products.' | 0:08:00 | 0:08:06 | |
But behind this idyllic scene lies a problem | 0:08:07 | 0:08:10 | |
which affects many of Britain's dairy farmers | 0:08:10 | 0:08:14 | |
and, more pointedly, their newborn calves. | 0:08:14 | 0:08:17 | |
The problem stems from the fact | 0:08:19 | 0:08:21 | |
that cows need to regularly have calves to produce milk. | 0:08:21 | 0:08:25 | |
Roger Mason runs a dairy farm | 0:08:27 | 0:08:29 | |
here on the southern fringes of the Lake District. | 0:08:29 | 0:08:31 | |
Hi, Roger. Nice to see you keeping your ladies well fed. | 0:08:31 | 0:08:35 | |
-Morning, Tom. -So tell me about the herd you have. | 0:08:35 | 0:08:39 | |
We keep around 150 milk cows, give or take ten either way, | 0:08:39 | 0:08:43 | |
giving 9,000 litres per cow per year. | 0:08:43 | 0:08:46 | |
Wow, that's a lot of milk. | 0:08:46 | 0:08:48 | |
How do you go about making sure | 0:08:48 | 0:08:50 | |
you've got plenty of milk most of the time? | 0:08:50 | 0:08:52 | |
Well, a cow has to be pregnant and have a calf | 0:08:52 | 0:08:55 | |
to be able to produce milk in the first place. | 0:08:55 | 0:08:58 | |
It's just a case of getting a calf off a cow every 12 months. | 0:08:58 | 0:09:01 | |
So you've got a lot of calves being born to this herd? | 0:09:01 | 0:09:06 | |
Yeah, 150 cows, 150 calves. | 0:09:06 | 0:09:08 | |
'In an ideal world the female calves would go on to produce milk | 0:09:08 | 0:09:12 | |
'and the males could be reared to produce beef | 0:09:12 | 0:09:15 | |
'but as we reported back in January, it's not as simple as that.' | 0:09:15 | 0:09:18 | |
95% of our national dairy herd is of the Holstein type, | 0:09:18 | 0:09:24 | |
these familiar black and whites. | 0:09:24 | 0:09:26 | |
They've been specially bred to maximise milk yield, | 0:09:26 | 0:09:30 | |
making them perfect for the dairy industry | 0:09:30 | 0:09:32 | |
but not ideal for the economics of modern beef production. | 0:09:32 | 0:09:37 | |
'Dairy cattle just don't carry as much meat as beef breeds | 0:09:37 | 0:09:41 | |
'so they can cost more to rear than they sell for. | 0:09:41 | 0:09:44 | |
'That means while female calves are kept for milking, | 0:09:44 | 0:09:46 | |
'a quarter of all male or bull calves are shot at birth. | 0:09:46 | 0:09:50 | |
That's around a 100,000 animals every year. | 0:09:50 | 0:09:55 | |
'Members of the Beyond Calf Exports Forum are trying to change that.' | 0:09:55 | 0:09:59 | |
These calves have been historically viewed | 0:09:59 | 0:10:01 | |
as waste and treated as such. | 0:10:01 | 0:10:04 | |
What we wanted to do was see the number of calves exported reduced, | 0:10:04 | 0:10:08 | |
the number of calves being shot at birth reduced, | 0:10:08 | 0:10:11 | |
and an increase in the rearing of these calves in Britain | 0:10:11 | 0:10:15 | |
in higher welfare systems. | 0:10:15 | 0:10:17 | |
-So how are you doing? -I think we're doing pretty well. | 0:10:17 | 0:10:20 | |
From a situation where most calves were exported or shot on farm, | 0:10:20 | 0:10:25 | |
now more than three out of four are being retained in Britain, | 0:10:25 | 0:10:31 | |
reared by British farmers to higher welfare standards. | 0:10:31 | 0:10:34 | |
'As John reported in January, | 0:10:34 | 0:10:38 | |
'one solution could be to rear surplus bull calves for veal.' | 0:10:38 | 0:10:42 | |
Dairy farmers want to rear their animals, look after their animals. | 0:10:42 | 0:10:46 | |
They want to see them have a life. | 0:10:46 | 0:10:47 | |
In the past, production of white veal from calves kept in cramped crates | 0:10:47 | 0:10:53 | |
was seen as cruel and it's an image that still persists. | 0:10:53 | 0:10:57 | |
But in reality those days are long gone, and now in the UK, | 0:10:57 | 0:11:01 | |
the meat from young cattle is a high welfare product. | 0:11:01 | 0:11:06 | |
A new couple of calves for Roger's farm. | 0:11:06 | 0:11:09 | |
British Rose Veal comes with the approval of both | 0:11:09 | 0:11:13 | |
Compassion In World Farming and the RSPCA. | 0:11:13 | 0:11:16 | |
Farmer's like Roger Mason have certainly noticed | 0:11:16 | 0:11:19 | |
an increase in interest since our last report. | 0:11:19 | 0:11:21 | |
Pretty happy to get in here, bouncing about. | 0:11:21 | 0:11:23 | |
That's right. It shows that they're nice and healthy and happy. | 0:11:23 | 0:11:27 | |
-How are veal sales going? -Yeah, they are on the up. | 0:11:27 | 0:11:31 | |
I think the awareness of the public helps | 0:11:31 | 0:11:33 | |
and programmes like this help as well. It puts it out there. | 0:11:33 | 0:11:37 | |
I think it's always had bad publicity, from the '70s and '80s, | 0:11:37 | 0:11:41 | |
of the crates and cruelty, but now because they are welfare friendly, | 0:11:41 | 0:11:45 | |
people realise they can eat veal and it is good to eat it. | 0:11:45 | 0:11:49 | |
It should keep moving forward, but it is slow. | 0:11:49 | 0:11:51 | |
'So is there scope to sell even more? | 0:11:51 | 0:11:55 | |
'After all, in Europe, 10% of their cattle is reared and eaten as veal, | 0:11:55 | 0:11:59 | |
'whereas here in the UK it's less than 1%.' | 0:11:59 | 0:12:02 | |
So if someone came along to you and said, | 0:12:02 | 0:12:05 | |
"The solution to the problem of dairy calves being slaughtered at birth | 0:12:05 | 0:12:08 | |
"would be for everyone to go into veal," what would you say to that? | 0:12:08 | 0:12:11 | |
I just think it would flood the market | 0:12:11 | 0:12:14 | |
and there wouldn't be that market there for it at this stage. | 0:12:14 | 0:12:18 | |
But what do the people who have to sell it think? | 0:12:19 | 0:12:22 | |
The supermarket Asda is a member of the Beyond Calf Exports Forum | 0:12:22 | 0:12:26 | |
and made a commitment to stopping the deaths of newborn male bull calves. | 0:12:26 | 0:12:31 | |
Is veal their answer? | 0:12:31 | 0:12:32 | |
In the UK, we're not really a veal-eating country | 0:12:34 | 0:12:37 | |
and the issue is we do have customers coming in asking for veal | 0:12:37 | 0:12:41 | |
but they only want certain cuts such as the escalope. | 0:12:41 | 0:12:43 | |
The escalope equates for less than 10% of the carcass. | 0:12:43 | 0:12:46 | |
Then what do we do with the remaining 90%? | 0:12:46 | 0:12:48 | |
Then we get into food waste issues and bigger problems. | 0:12:48 | 0:12:51 | |
So your solution is some of it can go as veal | 0:12:51 | 0:12:54 | |
-but we've got to work on the beef? -Exactly, yeah. | 0:12:54 | 0:12:56 | |
'For people with high hopes that veal could stop all the wasteful deaths | 0:12:56 | 0:13:01 | |
'of dairy bull calves, this may come as disappointing news.' | 0:13:01 | 0:13:06 | |
Veal calves like this hungry fella are part of the solution. | 0:13:06 | 0:13:10 | |
They're just not the whole answer | 0:13:10 | 0:13:12 | |
but all is not lost, as we'll find out later in the programme. | 0:13:12 | 0:13:16 | |
This week we're exploring the beautiful Warwickshire countryside | 0:13:19 | 0:13:24 | |
and I'm trotting back in time | 0:13:24 | 0:13:25 | |
to learn about a rather elegant pursuit... | 0:13:25 | 0:13:27 | |
..the graceful art of side-saddle riding. | 0:13:29 | 0:13:33 | |
It was originally developed as a way for ladies to ride horses | 0:13:33 | 0:13:38 | |
in a modest fashion whilst also wearing fine clothing, | 0:13:38 | 0:13:42 | |
though snug-fitting jodhpurs seems to have relegated the spectacle | 0:13:42 | 0:13:46 | |
to the equine archives. | 0:13:46 | 0:13:49 | |
I'm meeting Susanna Forrest | 0:13:49 | 0:13:50 | |
who has recently written a book on its history. | 0:13:50 | 0:13:53 | |
So tell me about side-saddle riding. Where did it all come from? | 0:13:53 | 0:13:56 | |
It was basically a very patriarchal thing. | 0:13:56 | 0:13:59 | |
The first signs you get are on the Greek pots | 0:13:59 | 0:14:01 | |
when the nice Greek goddesses ride side-saddle | 0:14:01 | 0:14:03 | |
and the nasty war-like Amazons wear trousers and ride astride. | 0:14:03 | 0:14:07 | |
It kind of grew from there. | 0:14:07 | 0:14:09 | |
There began to be this idea it was something respectable ladies did | 0:14:09 | 0:14:14 | |
and it was for ceremonial use. | 0:14:14 | 0:14:16 | |
So why did it fizzle out then? | 0:14:16 | 0:14:18 | |
I guess it can't have been terribly practical really? | 0:14:18 | 0:14:21 | |
Basically what killed it to some extent was the First World War | 0:14:21 | 0:14:24 | |
because a lot of young women | 0:14:24 | 0:14:26 | |
who were posh, good hunting girls | 0:14:26 | 0:14:29 | |
ended up working in army remount depots as grooms | 0:14:29 | 0:14:32 | |
and as exercise riders for horses | 0:14:32 | 0:14:34 | |
and there was no point in them doing that side-saddle. | 0:14:34 | 0:14:37 | |
Once they'd shown themselves riding well and respectably astride, | 0:14:37 | 0:14:42 | |
after the war a lot of them just didn't go back. | 0:14:42 | 0:14:44 | |
So before you could say "votes for women", | 0:14:44 | 0:14:47 | |
the skirts were banished to the attic and everyone was riding astride. | 0:14:47 | 0:14:51 | |
But this small corner of Warwickshire | 0:14:56 | 0:14:58 | |
is playing a big part in the renaissance of side-saddle riding. | 0:14:58 | 0:15:02 | |
I'm at one of a few riding schools in the country | 0:15:02 | 0:15:04 | |
where you can learn the art. | 0:15:04 | 0:15:07 | |
Stable owner Roger Philpot is a leading international instructor. | 0:15:07 | 0:15:10 | |
-Hi, Roger. Who's this? -This is Geoffrey. | 0:15:13 | 0:15:15 | |
Geoffrey, what a fine horse. | 0:15:15 | 0:15:17 | |
He's really known as Squadron Leader because of his moustache. | 0:15:17 | 0:15:21 | |
-He has incredibly long eyebrows. I love that. Off we go. -That's it. | 0:15:23 | 0:15:27 | |
Warwickshire has had a long history with side-saddle riding, hasn't it? | 0:15:27 | 0:15:31 | |
It goes right back when hunting came through. | 0:15:31 | 0:15:35 | |
The actual Warwickshire Hunt is based a quarter of a mile from here. | 0:15:35 | 0:15:38 | |
This particular yard was used for liveries for a lot | 0:15:38 | 0:15:43 | |
of the masters of the Warwickshire Hunt who actually rode side-saddle. | 0:15:43 | 0:15:48 | |
-That is how we got involved in it originally. -Excellent. | 0:15:48 | 0:15:52 | |
'Roger has produced the Side-Saddle Rider of the Year in England | 0:15:53 | 0:15:57 | |
'for the last 14 years. | 0:15:57 | 0:15:58 | |
'Let's see if I've got any potential.' | 0:15:58 | 0:16:01 | |
Foot in the stirrup. To get on as if you're going to ride astride, OK? | 0:16:02 | 0:16:07 | |
-So here and then... -That's it. Just swing your leg over. -All right. | 0:16:07 | 0:16:11 | |
-There we are. How does that feel? -Feels very stable, actually. | 0:16:11 | 0:16:14 | |
-I can go now you're on. -You stay here! | 0:16:14 | 0:16:16 | |
What I want you to do now is bring your right leg over that one | 0:16:16 | 0:16:20 | |
and keep your hips square. | 0:16:20 | 0:16:24 | |
That's the whole technique of riding side-saddle. | 0:16:24 | 0:16:26 | |
-So, my legs are at a right angle here? -Yes, very slightly. | 0:16:26 | 0:16:29 | |
Your weight comes through from the right seat bone | 0:16:29 | 0:16:31 | |
through to the back of your right knee. | 0:16:31 | 0:16:34 | |
All the time you're riding side-saddle, | 0:16:34 | 0:16:36 | |
you're turning your body in a clockwise direction. | 0:16:36 | 0:16:39 | |
-I can already feel different muscles being used here. -That's it. | 0:16:39 | 0:16:42 | |
-It's going to be good for me, I know it. -You won't walk tomorrow! | 0:16:42 | 0:16:46 | |
You'd better have some reins. | 0:16:46 | 0:16:48 | |
I'll be walking in circles tomorrow if this right leg does all the work. | 0:16:48 | 0:16:51 | |
Just ask him quietly now to walk on. | 0:16:51 | 0:16:54 | |
Walk on. Good boy. Good boy. | 0:16:54 | 0:16:57 | |
-Bring that right shoulder round. -Yeah. | 0:16:57 | 0:17:00 | |
Are you going to keep going, yeah? Good boy. | 0:17:02 | 0:17:06 | |
The most important thing in side-saddle | 0:17:08 | 0:17:09 | |
is you've got to think elegance the whole time. | 0:17:09 | 0:17:12 | |
Right. Think like a lady. I can have a go at that. | 0:17:12 | 0:17:15 | |
You shouldn't find that very difficult. | 0:17:15 | 0:17:17 | |
Well, I could surprise you, Roger! | 0:17:17 | 0:17:19 | |
'I seem to have grasped the basics, but that's only the half of it. | 0:17:19 | 0:17:23 | |
'Time for a costume change.' | 0:17:23 | 0:17:26 | |
I feel terribly Jane Austen. | 0:17:28 | 0:17:32 | |
Maybe Mr Darcy could give me a hand with my buttons? | 0:17:32 | 0:17:35 | |
So now what I'm going to do is just undo | 0:17:40 | 0:17:43 | |
your modesty bit. | 0:17:43 | 0:17:46 | |
So this is what you would do to get on a horse. | 0:17:46 | 0:17:48 | |
Then keep turning round that way and it all comes out | 0:17:48 | 0:17:52 | |
and now we can see the whole shape of the habit. | 0:17:52 | 0:17:55 | |
Wow, that tailoring is amazing. | 0:17:55 | 0:17:57 | |
So your knee, when you're on side-saddle, | 0:17:57 | 0:18:00 | |
-fits into there. -Look at that. | 0:18:00 | 0:18:01 | |
'So the "habit", as it's known, gives the illusion of wearing a full skirt | 0:18:06 | 0:18:09 | |
'when actually it's more like an apron. | 0:18:09 | 0:18:11 | |
'It's time for me to grace my trusty steed Geoffrey | 0:18:14 | 0:18:18 | |
'with all the refinement of the most dignified side-saddle rider. | 0:18:18 | 0:18:22 | |
'Failing that, I could always be an extra on Downton Abbey.' | 0:18:22 | 0:18:26 | |
No matter what kind of rider you are, you can't help but feel | 0:18:28 | 0:18:31 | |
incredibly elegant in this get-up on this fine horse as well. | 0:18:31 | 0:18:36 | |
'Although I think I'll feel it in my thighs later! | 0:18:36 | 0:18:39 | |
'Well, I've got a long way to go before I'm as good as this lot. | 0:18:44 | 0:18:47 | |
'To watch the ladies ride these noble beasts with such skill and poise | 0:18:47 | 0:18:51 | |
'truly is a sight to behold. | 0:18:51 | 0:18:53 | |
'As for me, Mr Darcy, pass me the muscle rub!' | 0:18:55 | 0:19:00 | |
Later in the programme, I'll be back in the saddle, | 0:19:00 | 0:19:03 | |
this time on a classic British bike. | 0:19:03 | 0:19:05 | |
You can't come to Warwickshire without mentioning the Bard. | 0:19:05 | 0:19:08 | |
John has been in Stratford-upon-Avon. | 0:19:08 | 0:19:11 | |
This is the Warwickshire countryside that surrounds the town | 0:19:15 | 0:19:18 | |
that will forever be associated with William Shakespeare. | 0:19:18 | 0:19:21 | |
And it's this peaceful landscape that provided inspiration | 0:19:21 | 0:19:26 | |
for the county's best known son when he was writing some of the plays | 0:19:26 | 0:19:30 | |
that made him world-famous. | 0:19:30 | 0:19:32 | |
This farm house is where William's mother, Mary Arden, was born. | 0:19:34 | 0:19:39 | |
And, as a young boy, he'd come here to visit his grandparents | 0:19:39 | 0:19:42 | |
from his home in the nearby town of Stratford-upon-Avon. | 0:19:42 | 0:19:46 | |
This would have been William Shakespeare's playground. | 0:19:46 | 0:19:49 | |
'It's now an educational working farm set 400 years ago | 0:19:49 | 0:19:54 | |
'so I'm taking a step back in time | 0:19:54 | 0:19:56 | |
'to see just how these surroundings influenced him.' | 0:19:56 | 0:19:59 | |
This all looks incredibly authentic but just set the scene for me. | 0:19:59 | 0:20:03 | |
Would it have looked like this in Shakespeare's day? | 0:20:03 | 0:20:06 | |
It would have been more rustic. | 0:20:06 | 0:20:07 | |
It would have been more like a working farm. | 0:20:07 | 0:20:09 | |
There would have been a lot of muck. | 0:20:09 | 0:20:12 | |
Shakespeare would have taken part in the life of the farm | 0:20:12 | 0:20:15 | |
when he visited his grandmother | 0:20:15 | 0:20:17 | |
and grandparents undoubtedly. | 0:20:17 | 0:20:19 | |
He would have been happy to turn his hand to mucking out the pigs | 0:20:19 | 0:20:21 | |
or collecting the eggs. He would have loved that | 0:20:21 | 0:20:24 | |
-I'm sure. -He was a town boy, really, wasn't he? -He lived in a town, yes. | 0:20:24 | 0:20:28 | |
Stratford was a town of 2,000 or so people in his time, | 0:20:28 | 0:20:31 | |
but it was a town, not very large, a town with 2,000 or so people. | 0:20:31 | 0:20:35 | |
Shakespeare was deeply imbued | 0:20:35 | 0:20:38 | |
in country life, in country pursuits, | 0:20:38 | 0:20:40 | |
in the landscape of the country. | 0:20:40 | 0:20:43 | |
And he brings it into a place, not consciously, | 0:20:43 | 0:20:46 | |
but because it is part of his mental set-up. | 0:20:46 | 0:20:49 | |
So he can't help but refer to these things. | 0:20:49 | 0:20:53 | |
But he does make fun of country people, doesn't he? | 0:20:53 | 0:20:55 | |
Up to a point he does, yes, but he makes fun of all sorts of people. | 0:20:55 | 0:21:00 | |
He sees the funny side of them. | 0:21:00 | 0:21:03 | |
We are still handling our ewes, | 0:21:03 | 0:21:04 | |
and their fells, you know, are greasy. | 0:21:04 | 0:21:06 | |
Ah, but does not your courtier's hand sweat? | 0:21:06 | 0:21:10 | |
And is not the grease of a mutton | 0:21:10 | 0:21:13 | |
as wholesome as the sweat of a man? | 0:21:13 | 0:21:17 | |
Shallow. Shallow. A better instance. Come. | 0:21:17 | 0:21:20 | |
'Sheep were a common theme in Shakespeare's work, | 0:21:20 | 0:21:24 | |
'including A Winter's Tale.' | 0:21:24 | 0:21:26 | |
Come, spare your blushes and be that which you are - | 0:21:26 | 0:21:30 | |
mistress of the feast. | 0:21:30 | 0:21:31 | |
Bid us welcome to your sheepshearing | 0:21:31 | 0:21:34 | |
so your good flock may prosper. | 0:21:34 | 0:21:35 | |
BLEATING | 0:21:37 | 0:21:39 | |
'I want to get a real feel | 0:21:39 | 0:21:41 | |
'of how Shakespeare would have experienced this farm | 0:21:41 | 0:21:44 | |
'so I present to you...Master John.' | 0:21:44 | 0:21:48 | |
If Ellie can get dressed up, so can I. | 0:21:49 | 0:21:52 | |
'Master Joe here tends to the animals using the same methods | 0:21:53 | 0:21:57 | |
'used in Shakespeare's day.' | 0:21:57 | 0:21:59 | |
This is something I've never done before, Joe. | 0:21:59 | 0:22:01 | |
Hand shearing a sheep. | 0:22:01 | 0:22:03 | |
But I suppose it's something | 0:22:03 | 0:22:04 | |
that young William would have been used to seeing. | 0:22:04 | 0:22:06 | |
Yes, I imagine he'd have been used to these kind of scissors as well | 0:22:06 | 0:22:10 | |
because his dad was a glove maker | 0:22:10 | 0:22:12 | |
and they used shears like this in the glove making trade. | 0:22:12 | 0:22:16 | |
Also his father was a dealer in wool. | 0:22:16 | 0:22:18 | |
Certainly with me an awful lot slower. | 0:22:18 | 0:22:20 | |
It would probably take me a whole day to do this. | 0:22:20 | 0:22:22 | |
There's no rush because this is very valuable. | 0:22:22 | 0:22:26 | |
In Tudor times, this was a very valuable crop. | 0:22:26 | 0:22:29 | |
What you want to try and do is get as close to the skin as possible | 0:22:29 | 0:22:32 | |
because that's where all the money is down there. | 0:22:32 | 0:22:35 | |
'In fact, back in those days, wool made up three quarters | 0:22:36 | 0:22:39 | |
'of the country's exports.' | 0:22:39 | 0:22:41 | |
I will leave this to you. | 0:22:41 | 0:22:43 | |
I was going to go and have a drink of ale while you finished it off! | 0:22:43 | 0:22:47 | |
OK, I'll try a bit more. | 0:22:47 | 0:22:48 | |
'In William Shakespeare's day, the clothes worn by farm workers, | 0:22:48 | 0:22:53 | |
'and just about everybody else, would have been made | 0:22:53 | 0:22:56 | |
'from the precious fleece.' | 0:22:56 | 0:22:57 | |
BLEATING | 0:22:59 | 0:23:01 | |
CAT-WALK MUSIC PLAYS | 0:23:01 | 0:23:03 | |
English wool was known worldwide to be the best. | 0:23:05 | 0:23:09 | |
The crafty mistresses would spin it into some fancy designs. | 0:23:09 | 0:23:12 | |
After a hard morning of labour on the farm, | 0:23:22 | 0:23:25 | |
it is time to prepare for dinner Shakespeare style. | 0:23:25 | 0:23:29 | |
In a Midsummer Night's Dream he wrote of several bad harvests | 0:23:29 | 0:23:32 | |
which just proves the wet spring we've had is nothing new. | 0:23:32 | 0:23:35 | |
But something could always be found in the hedgerows | 0:23:35 | 0:23:38 | |
if other crops had failed. | 0:23:38 | 0:23:40 | |
It seems dramatic touches weren't just saved for Shakespeare's plays. | 0:23:40 | 0:23:43 | |
This salad looks incredibly elaborate. | 0:23:46 | 0:23:49 | |
It was all about showing off. | 0:23:49 | 0:23:51 | |
You wanted to present your food | 0:23:51 | 0:23:54 | |
so that it was a feast for the eye as well as the stomach. | 0:23:54 | 0:23:58 | |
Your board was almost like a stage and you set it | 0:23:58 | 0:24:00 | |
and you wanted it to look good. | 0:24:00 | 0:24:03 | |
You wanted people to go, "Oh!" and gasp at it. | 0:24:03 | 0:24:06 | |
Thank you, Mistress Rosie. That looks good. Soup to start with. | 0:24:13 | 0:24:18 | |
How many courses altogether? | 0:24:18 | 0:24:20 | |
In the warmer summer months, your dinner would last up to three hours. | 0:24:20 | 0:24:23 | |
In that three hours you could have up to eight courses. | 0:24:23 | 0:24:26 | |
Goodness me! | 0:24:26 | 0:24:27 | |
How could you work after that? | 0:24:27 | 0:24:29 | |
The reason for having such an extended dinner break | 0:24:29 | 0:24:32 | |
is so that your oxen are really well rested. | 0:24:32 | 0:24:35 | |
-I don't know if you've ever tried to make a tired oxen work... -Never. | 0:24:35 | 0:24:38 | |
..but it will sit down and not move again. | 0:24:38 | 0:24:40 | |
You need to have that rest. | 0:24:40 | 0:24:42 | |
It acts as a good excuse to have a nice long dinner break. | 0:24:42 | 0:24:45 | |
Absolutely. Yes. And it's lovely to get everyone together as well. | 0:24:45 | 0:24:48 | |
Here's to a very nice meal. | 0:24:48 | 0:24:49 | |
'Just one way that times have certainly changed down on the farm.' | 0:24:49 | 0:24:55 | |
I'm travelling through the lush landscapes around Shipston-on-Stour | 0:25:00 | 0:25:03 | |
meeting some of the members of its Young Farmers' Club, | 0:25:03 | 0:25:06 | |
the newest of more than 650 clubs across England and Wales. | 0:25:06 | 0:25:10 | |
The lad that I am about to meet typifies everything that | 0:25:11 | 0:25:14 | |
Young Farmers' Clubs is about. | 0:25:14 | 0:25:16 | |
Up until a few years ago he hadn't kept anything other than dogs | 0:25:16 | 0:25:19 | |
or cats, but now he has fallen in love with the farming lifestyle | 0:25:19 | 0:25:23 | |
and is surrounded by his own award-winning feathered friends. | 0:25:23 | 0:25:26 | |
How did all this come about? | 0:25:29 | 0:25:30 | |
I've always had a passion for the countryside | 0:25:30 | 0:25:33 | |
and it just grew from there really. | 0:25:33 | 0:25:34 | |
You've ended up with this little yard. How did you acquire this? | 0:25:34 | 0:25:39 | |
The next-door neighbour, a farmer, he keeps a few chickens down here | 0:25:39 | 0:25:43 | |
and I look after them for him. | 0:25:43 | 0:25:45 | |
-Right. -And he lets me keep some here as well. | 0:25:45 | 0:25:47 | |
-OK, so which ones are yours? -The Buff Orpingtons. | 0:25:47 | 0:25:50 | |
This is it? You'll have chickens for the rest of your life? | 0:25:50 | 0:25:52 | |
Yes, definitely, chickens, turkeys, everything. | 0:25:52 | 0:25:54 | |
'Tom might be proud of his birds, | 0:25:54 | 0:25:56 | |
'but he can't afford to get too attached | 0:25:56 | 0:25:58 | |
'because they are bred for a purpose. | 0:25:58 | 0:26:01 | |
'Eggs, of course, but also meat. | 0:26:01 | 0:26:03 | |
'And before you can cook then you've got to pluck them.' | 0:26:03 | 0:26:07 | |
-You don't get them like this in the supermarket. -No, you do not. | 0:26:07 | 0:26:09 | |
'Tom has even entered chicken-plucking competitions, | 0:26:09 | 0:26:12 | |
'so with two birds ready for the pot he has given me a masterclass.' | 0:26:12 | 0:26:16 | |
-These are still warm, aren't they? -Yes, they are still warm. | 0:26:16 | 0:26:20 | |
OK, and where do you start with a record-breaking chicken pluck? | 0:26:20 | 0:26:24 | |
You have got to start... You've got to think which body part loses | 0:26:24 | 0:26:27 | |
the warmth quickest. | 0:26:27 | 0:26:29 | |
-Yes. -You start with the wings. -OK. -Then the legs. | 0:26:29 | 0:26:32 | |
-You just pull upwards, yeah? -Yes. Just twist them. | 0:26:32 | 0:26:36 | |
'Tom's record pluck took just 20 minutes.' | 0:26:37 | 0:26:40 | |
-Tom's onto his second wing. -Yes. | 0:26:40 | 0:26:44 | |
'And it will take more than a wing | 0:26:44 | 0:26:46 | |
'and a prayer for a novice like me to top that.' | 0:26:46 | 0:26:49 | |
I've obviously got quite a bit of this bird left to do | 0:26:51 | 0:26:54 | |
so while I continue, here's what else is coming up | 0:26:54 | 0:26:56 | |
on tonight's programme. | 0:26:56 | 0:26:57 | |
'Ellie is back in the saddle and going for gold...' | 0:26:59 | 0:27:03 | |
John is beating me on the last corner. | 0:27:03 | 0:27:06 | |
'..Adam's up in Yorkshire looking for a new bull...' | 0:27:06 | 0:27:09 | |
-I quite like the look of that black one there. -Yeah. | 0:27:09 | 0:27:12 | |
'..and we'll have the Countryfile weather forecast | 0:27:12 | 0:27:15 | |
'for the week ahead.' | 0:27:15 | 0:27:17 | |
The dairy industry is part of what makes the British countryside tick, | 0:27:28 | 0:27:32 | |
but there is a price to pay for those lush green fields | 0:27:32 | 0:27:35 | |
and beautiful black and white cows as Tom has been finding out. | 0:27:35 | 0:27:39 | |
Every year around 100,000 dairy bull calves are shot | 0:27:39 | 0:27:44 | |
at birth because as boys | 0:27:44 | 0:27:46 | |
they can't produce milk and it costs too much to rear them on for beef. | 0:27:46 | 0:27:52 | |
'As we've heard, turning them into veal is one option, | 0:27:53 | 0:27:56 | |
'but there's simply not enough demand to cope with all those | 0:27:56 | 0:27:59 | |
'extra calves, so what else could we do?' | 0:27:59 | 0:28:02 | |
In an ideal world, every calf born on a dairy farm would be female | 0:28:04 | 0:28:08 | |
and then it could be milked just like its mother. | 0:28:08 | 0:28:11 | |
But that's not possible, or is it? | 0:28:11 | 0:28:14 | |
'At these labs in Cheshire, they're leading the way in the development | 0:28:16 | 0:28:20 | |
'of something called sexed semen - | 0:28:20 | 0:28:22 | |
'effectively, separating the girls from the boys.' | 0:28:22 | 0:28:26 | |
Here is where you can actually see an individual sperm sample. | 0:28:26 | 0:28:30 | |
Absolutely amazing. | 0:28:30 | 0:28:32 | |
It looks very busy, but what are you seeing there? | 0:28:32 | 0:28:35 | |
I'm seeing a really good sample here. | 0:28:35 | 0:28:36 | |
As you can see, there's one or two dead sperm there. | 0:28:36 | 0:28:39 | |
A lot swimming are around in straight lines. | 0:28:39 | 0:28:41 | |
We've got one with a bent tail. | 0:28:41 | 0:28:42 | |
That's not going to get anything in calf. | 0:28:42 | 0:28:44 | |
-It's looking pretty potent, is it? -Really potent. | 0:28:44 | 0:28:46 | |
What exactly is sexed semen? | 0:28:48 | 0:28:51 | |
If you look back on the screen over there, we saw a lot of semen | 0:28:51 | 0:28:54 | |
swimming around and you've got 50 percent female, 50 percent male. | 0:28:54 | 0:28:58 | |
What we want to be able to do | 0:28:58 | 0:28:59 | |
is provide our customers with female calves. | 0:28:59 | 0:29:01 | |
The only difference between a male and female sperm | 0:29:01 | 0:29:05 | |
is a female sperm carries 3.8 percent more DNA | 0:29:05 | 0:29:08 | |
so we add a dye to the sperm. | 0:29:08 | 0:29:09 | |
Because the female sperm has got more dye, she glows brighter. | 0:29:09 | 0:29:12 | |
We then pass past some magnets here | 0:29:12 | 0:29:14 | |
and when the semen comes through | 0:29:14 | 0:29:16 | |
in a single droplet we give a positive charge | 0:29:16 | 0:29:19 | |
and we end up with a female sperm ending up in this pot here. | 0:29:19 | 0:29:22 | |
That pot has got what you want. It's just got female sperm? | 0:29:22 | 0:29:28 | |
There is over 90 percent female sperm in there | 0:29:28 | 0:29:30 | |
and 100 percent live sperm. | 0:29:30 | 0:29:32 | |
'This technology has been developed for over a decade | 0:29:32 | 0:29:36 | |
'and is now being used on farms to inseminate cows across Britain. | 0:29:36 | 0:29:40 | |
'One of the daily farmers trying it out is Geoff Spence.' | 0:29:40 | 0:29:43 | |
Why is sexed semen so useful to dairy farmers like you? | 0:29:43 | 0:29:47 | |
It solves the issue of having a lot of bull calves | 0:29:47 | 0:29:52 | |
and sexed semen gives you a good guarantee of a heifer calf. | 0:29:52 | 0:29:55 | |
So I'll just clean that area there and then we pop the... | 0:29:55 | 0:30:02 | |
-So that is the actual straw with the semen in it? -That is right. Yes. | 0:30:02 | 0:30:07 | |
That is just through the cervix | 0:30:08 | 0:30:11 | |
and we just drop it in | 0:30:11 | 0:30:13 | |
and the semen works its way up the fallopian tubes and... | 0:30:13 | 0:30:16 | |
-Does the business. -Does the business, yes. | 0:30:16 | 0:30:20 | |
COW MOOS | 0:30:20 | 0:30:23 | |
'Waitrose, Tesco's, Sainsbury's and Asda | 0:30:23 | 0:30:26 | |
'are all now supporting the use of methods like this.' | 0:30:26 | 0:30:29 | |
Sexed semen is becoming more widely used, | 0:30:29 | 0:30:33 | |
but it's not a miracle solution. | 0:30:33 | 0:30:35 | |
It's quite pricey, it's a complex procedure, | 0:30:35 | 0:30:38 | |
and not always 100 percent reliable. | 0:30:38 | 0:30:41 | |
Let's get back to that original question - why not rear | 0:30:41 | 0:30:45 | |
more dairy bull calves as beef? | 0:30:45 | 0:30:48 | |
'The argument against doing just that has always been simple economics. | 0:30:49 | 0:30:53 | |
'Because dairy cattle aren't designed to produce meat, | 0:30:53 | 0:30:57 | |
'they don't fetch as much at market as their beefier counterparts, | 0:30:57 | 0:31:00 | |
'and because they cost money to feed and house, on average £400 each, | 0:31:00 | 0:31:05 | |
'farmers aren't always able to make money when it comes to selling them.' | 0:31:05 | 0:31:09 | |
But times are changing. | 0:31:09 | 0:31:11 | |
Demand for beef is on the way up and that increases prices. | 0:31:11 | 0:31:14 | |
'So should we consider keeping some of those 100,000 calves to | 0:31:14 | 0:31:19 | |
'sell on as beef rather than shooting them? | 0:31:19 | 0:31:21 | |
'Members of the Beyond Calf Exports Forum think we should.' | 0:31:21 | 0:31:25 | |
Beef from dairy bull calves can be | 0:31:26 | 0:31:29 | |
just as good in terms of taste | 0:31:29 | 0:31:31 | |
and better in terms of health attributes. | 0:31:31 | 0:31:34 | |
Dairy bull beef from Holstein Friesians can be lower in bad fats, | 0:31:34 | 0:31:40 | |
higher in the good stuff, so it is a better quality product. | 0:31:40 | 0:31:44 | |
So those who say that the best beef comes from a beef breed, | 0:31:44 | 0:31:47 | |
an Aberdeen Angus or a Hereford, or a Galloway | 0:31:47 | 0:31:49 | |
or something like that, are they wrong? | 0:31:49 | 0:31:51 | |
What's wrong is to think that dairy bull calves can't produce | 0:31:51 | 0:31:54 | |
good quality beef. | 0:31:54 | 0:31:55 | |
They can and they do. | 0:31:55 | 0:31:57 | |
That is what a great part of the industry is now picking up on. | 0:31:57 | 0:32:01 | |
'But not everyone is as convinced | 0:32:03 | 0:32:05 | |
'that dairy cattle make such a good beef product - and with good reason.' | 0:32:05 | 0:32:09 | |
It's at the back end where you really see | 0:32:09 | 0:32:12 | |
the difference between a beef breed and a dairy breed. | 0:32:12 | 0:32:16 | |
Dairy cows tend to have a much more bony rump | 0:32:16 | 0:32:19 | |
because so much of the energy is going into the milk, | 0:32:19 | 0:32:22 | |
going into the udder, | 0:32:22 | 0:32:23 | |
whereas your classic beef breed will be much beefier on the back end. | 0:32:23 | 0:32:29 | |
'But there is another way to make your dairy calves beefier - | 0:32:30 | 0:32:34 | |
'a bit of crossbreeding. | 0:32:34 | 0:32:36 | |
'This Holstein dairy cow was inseminated | 0:32:38 | 0:32:40 | |
'by a beef-producing Wagyu bull | 0:32:40 | 0:32:43 | |
'and she's just become a proud new mum.' | 0:32:43 | 0:32:45 | |
Who's this cute little addition to the herd? | 0:32:45 | 0:32:48 | |
This is a freshly calved Wagyu-cross-Holstein calf | 0:32:48 | 0:32:50 | |
just born about two hours ago. | 0:32:50 | 0:32:52 | |
What's the significance of this Wagyu breed? | 0:32:52 | 0:32:56 | |
Wagyu is deemed to be the best beef in the world. It's a Japanese breed | 0:32:56 | 0:33:00 | |
and the traditional cross in Japan is Wagyu-crossed-Holstein | 0:33:00 | 0:33:04 | |
that yields fantastic eating-quality meat. | 0:33:04 | 0:33:07 | |
That means we can replicate it here in the UK | 0:33:07 | 0:33:09 | |
and produce the finest top-quality meat for our customers. | 0:33:09 | 0:33:12 | |
'So from crossbreeding and sexed semen to rearing animals as beef | 0:33:12 | 0:33:16 | |
'and veal, there are plenty of options in the quest to stop | 0:33:16 | 0:33:20 | |
'the deaths of newborn dairy bull calves. | 0:33:20 | 0:33:23 | |
'But how near are we to eliminating the problem completely? | 0:33:23 | 0:33:27 | |
'The supermarket Asda believes it has cracked it.' | 0:33:27 | 0:33:29 | |
We've been working with our farmers trying to solve this problem | 0:33:29 | 0:33:32 | |
since 2007 and we are there now basically. | 0:33:32 | 0:33:35 | |
By getting them to use sexed semen, | 0:33:35 | 0:33:37 | |
encouraging sexed semen through discounts, | 0:33:37 | 0:33:39 | |
through trial work that we are doing, and by discounting | 0:33:39 | 0:33:43 | |
beef semen such as the Wagyu and other breeds, | 0:33:43 | 0:33:45 | |
we're pretty much there. | 0:33:45 | 0:33:47 | |
Problem solved. | 0:33:47 | 0:33:48 | |
You have achieved that aim of being calf neutral pretty much? | 0:33:48 | 0:33:51 | |
Yes. We are there. | 0:33:51 | 0:33:52 | |
'Calf neutral means no wasted bull calves. | 0:33:52 | 0:33:57 | |
'Quite an achievement. | 0:33:57 | 0:33:58 | |
'But the industry as a whole has some way to go yet. | 0:33:58 | 0:34:01 | |
'Thanks to our love of milk and all things dairy, | 0:34:02 | 0:34:05 | |
'cows will always need to have calves to maintain milk production.' | 0:34:05 | 0:34:08 | |
For many years, the death of these bull calves | 0:34:10 | 0:34:13 | |
was dairy farming's guilty secret. | 0:34:13 | 0:34:15 | |
But, as we've seen, exposure of that painful truth and huge efforts | 0:34:15 | 0:34:19 | |
by farmers and some retailers | 0:34:19 | 0:34:21 | |
mean that now fewer of these young lives are wasted. | 0:34:21 | 0:34:25 | |
Down on the farm, Adam is preparing for summer | 0:34:32 | 0:34:36 | |
and so are his animals including hundreds of new arrivals | 0:34:36 | 0:34:40 | |
getting to grips with life in the great outdoors. | 0:34:40 | 0:34:43 | |
Lambing is over now but we have had a month of wet cold weather | 0:34:51 | 0:34:55 | |
and the lambs haven't grown quite as fast | 0:34:55 | 0:34:57 | |
as I might have liked them to do. | 0:34:57 | 0:34:58 | |
But now the sun is out, they're basking in its glory, | 0:34:58 | 0:35:02 | |
there's quite a few sheep chilling out lying in the sunshine | 0:35:02 | 0:35:05 | |
and this stream divides the top part of this field and the bottom half. | 0:35:05 | 0:35:10 | |
We're grazing is bottom half first. | 0:35:10 | 0:35:12 | |
They are starting to get a bit hungry. | 0:35:12 | 0:35:13 | |
Some of the lambs are looking to jump across. | 0:35:13 | 0:35:15 | |
There are two that have already gone the wrong side. | 0:35:15 | 0:35:18 | |
Now they want to jump back and be with their mum. | 0:35:18 | 0:35:20 | |
Here they come. | 0:35:20 | 0:35:21 | |
'While my flock are in good health, enjoying the much-needed sunshine, | 0:35:22 | 0:35:25 | |
'on the other side of the farm my piglets are sharing a field | 0:35:25 | 0:35:29 | |
'with a breed of cattle that I'm very fond of.' | 0:35:29 | 0:35:32 | |
I've got three Belted Galloways - | 0:35:32 | 0:35:34 | |
aptly named because of this lovely white belt around their middle. | 0:35:34 | 0:35:38 | |
They come in three different colours - | 0:35:38 | 0:35:40 | |
a red one, a black one, and a dun one. | 0:35:40 | 0:35:42 | |
They're a lovely cattle. I'm very fond of them. | 0:35:42 | 0:35:44 | |
We had them on the farm now for about 30 odd years. | 0:35:44 | 0:35:47 | |
They produce a fantastic beef - | 0:35:47 | 0:35:49 | |
a very hardy animal that lives outdoors all year round. | 0:35:49 | 0:35:52 | |
A couple of years ago, I sadly lost my stock bull to TB. | 0:35:52 | 0:35:56 | |
So last year we had to use artificial insemination | 0:35:56 | 0:35:59 | |
to get these cows pregnant. | 0:35:59 | 0:36:00 | |
Hopefully they're all in calf. | 0:36:00 | 0:36:02 | |
When they calve, I'll need another bull, | 0:36:02 | 0:36:05 | |
so although I went out shopping for an Irish Moiled Bull very recently | 0:36:05 | 0:36:08 | |
I've got to go again. | 0:36:08 | 0:36:10 | |
Good girl. | 0:36:10 | 0:36:12 | |
'I'm prepared to travel quite a distance for this one | 0:36:19 | 0:36:22 | |
'because I'm keen to find the right bull for the girls back home.' | 0:36:22 | 0:36:25 | |
I'm heading to Malham in North Yorkshire and I'm just | 0:36:25 | 0:36:27 | |
coming into the Dales now with these classic dry stone walls | 0:36:27 | 0:36:31 | |
to meet up with an old buddy of mine, a guy I went to agricultural | 0:36:31 | 0:36:34 | |
college with and he's got a big herd of Belted Galloways. | 0:36:34 | 0:36:36 | |
'Neil Heseltine is fourth-generation farmer up here in Yorkshire. | 0:36:39 | 0:36:43 | |
'His Belted Galloways spend all year out on the uplands | 0:36:43 | 0:36:46 | |
'and they seem to love it.' | 0:36:46 | 0:36:47 | |
-Hi, Neil. -Adam, how are you doing? -Good to see you. -How's things? | 0:36:49 | 0:36:52 | |
All right, yeah, pretty good. This is Malham Cove at its best isn't it? | 0:36:52 | 0:36:55 | |
It is. You will not see anything better. It is beautiful today. | 0:36:55 | 0:36:58 | |
Much needed sun. | 0:36:58 | 0:36:59 | |
-All limestone through here? -All limestone, yes. | 0:36:59 | 0:37:02 | |
Obviously limestone cove and all those walls are limestone. | 0:37:02 | 0:37:06 | |
For me this is completely different topography to what I am used to. | 0:37:06 | 0:37:08 | |
-Pretty rough. -You have it pretty easy down there in the Cotswolds, | 0:37:08 | 0:37:11 | |
it makes life easy, but, yeah, it's different terrain altogether. | 0:37:11 | 0:37:15 | |
How many Belted Galloways have you got now? | 0:37:15 | 0:37:18 | |
We're up to about 80 at the moment which is the kind of amount | 0:37:18 | 0:37:20 | |
we need to satisfy gazing requirements and that sort of thing, | 0:37:20 | 0:37:23 | |
-so that's about the number we need to be at. -Where are they now? | 0:37:23 | 0:37:26 | |
They are right up on the tops | 0:37:26 | 0:37:27 | |
-so we can take you up there now to see them. -Great. Fantastic. | 0:37:27 | 0:37:30 | |
'Over the last 30 years cattle numbers have decreased | 0:37:33 | 0:37:36 | |
'in the upland areas, but the Belted Galloways have been | 0:37:36 | 0:37:39 | |
'introduced as part of a project to restore mixed grazing | 0:37:39 | 0:37:42 | |
'which has its benefits.' | 0:37:42 | 0:37:44 | |
Goodness me. I have never seen a scene like it. | 0:37:44 | 0:37:46 | |
They are having a bit of a wallow. | 0:37:46 | 0:37:47 | |
They are. It has got too hot for them. | 0:37:47 | 0:37:49 | |
-They have had to take to the water. -Why Belted Galloways? | 0:37:49 | 0:37:52 | |
Obviously they look nice, | 0:37:52 | 0:37:54 | |
but they are also well suited to this environment. | 0:37:54 | 0:37:57 | |
They are hairy as you can see so in the winter | 0:37:57 | 0:37:59 | |
when they're up here they can still survive then. | 0:37:59 | 0:38:01 | |
They are easy calving and they can make meat | 0:38:01 | 0:38:04 | |
out of this not particularly productive grassland | 0:38:04 | 0:38:07 | |
we've got up here. | 0:38:07 | 0:38:09 | |
-You leave them up here all winter? -Yes, all year round they're outside. | 0:38:09 | 0:38:12 | |
There is no straw, or no concentrates, or anything like that. | 0:38:12 | 0:38:15 | |
It's just what they pull from the grass. | 0:38:15 | 0:38:17 | |
-Incredible. -They are amazing cattle. They really are. They're incredible. | 0:38:17 | 0:38:22 | |
Conservation grazing is important? | 0:38:22 | 0:38:24 | |
Yes, we have introduced the Belteds to try | 0:38:24 | 0:38:26 | |
and alter what goes on up on this landscape. | 0:38:26 | 0:38:28 | |
We have taken some sheep off and introduced the cattle | 0:38:28 | 0:38:31 | |
because they graze it in a different way. | 0:38:31 | 0:38:33 | |
What were the sheep doing wrong? | 0:38:33 | 0:38:34 | |
The sheep are just a little bit too selective. | 0:38:34 | 0:38:36 | |
They actually eat the flowers when they flower | 0:38:36 | 0:38:39 | |
and the cattle are much less selective and then we take them off | 0:38:39 | 0:38:42 | |
at this time of year when the flowers are flowering | 0:38:42 | 0:38:44 | |
and setting seed and it allows them to develop. | 0:38:44 | 0:38:46 | |
-Is it working, do you think? -Yes, it is. | 0:38:46 | 0:38:49 | |
Today up here there is an array of colour. That colour will change | 0:38:49 | 0:38:52 | |
as the summer goes on and different flowers flower | 0:38:52 | 0:38:54 | |
and, yes, there's definitely been a difference. | 0:38:54 | 0:38:57 | |
What about buying a bull? | 0:38:57 | 0:38:58 | |
We've got a few choices for you. We've either got an old bull, | 0:38:58 | 0:39:01 | |
he's about five years old, | 0:39:01 | 0:39:02 | |
but he is just starting to come back onto his own heifers | 0:39:02 | 0:39:05 | |
so he needs to move on. Or we've got some of his progeny, his sons, | 0:39:05 | 0:39:08 | |
that you can look at as well, so we've plenty of options. | 0:39:08 | 0:39:10 | |
OK, great. | 0:39:10 | 0:39:12 | |
Right, it's time to round this lot up | 0:39:17 | 0:39:19 | |
and Neil is working me like a dog. | 0:39:19 | 0:39:21 | |
Away! Look back! | 0:39:21 | 0:39:24 | |
HE LAUGHS | 0:39:24 | 0:39:25 | |
'The cattle need moving off the moorlands to fresh pasture | 0:39:26 | 0:39:29 | |
'a mile down the hill. | 0:39:29 | 0:39:31 | |
'This allows the flowers to regenerate and seed | 0:39:31 | 0:39:34 | |
'and for the herd they get to feast on un-grazed grass | 0:39:34 | 0:39:38 | |
'at the bottom. | 0:39:38 | 0:39:39 | |
'Moving them is no easy task in this heat and on this rugged terrain.' | 0:39:39 | 0:39:43 | |
Come on then, girls. They're going along quite nicely now. | 0:39:43 | 0:39:47 | |
They are, once we have got them away from that water. | 0:39:47 | 0:39:50 | |
Yeah. There are some little tiny calves there. | 0:39:50 | 0:39:52 | |
Yes, they have just been born. | 0:39:52 | 0:39:54 | |
One was just born last night, | 0:39:54 | 0:39:55 | |
so it's a bit of a surprise to see that this morning. | 0:39:55 | 0:39:58 | |
You don't have to keep a careful eye on them - they are self-sufficient? | 0:39:58 | 0:40:01 | |
Part of bringing them down today is to keep an eye on them when calving. | 0:40:01 | 0:40:04 | |
But they do calve themselves 99% of the time. | 0:40:04 | 0:40:07 | |
Brilliant. So it's really easy-care cattle? | 0:40:07 | 0:40:09 | |
Yeah, easy care and the calves are really wick | 0:40:09 | 0:40:12 | |
when they are born so they get up and they are sucking straightaway. | 0:40:12 | 0:40:15 | |
-Yeah, they're great. -Wick - is that a Yorkshire word? -It is, yeah. | 0:40:15 | 0:40:19 | |
Alive, it means. | 0:40:19 | 0:40:21 | |
It's a long walk down off the hills. It looks like the cows might agree. | 0:40:23 | 0:40:26 | |
They have found a bit of water | 0:40:26 | 0:40:28 | |
so we'll give them a break for a couple of minutes. | 0:40:28 | 0:40:30 | |
-It is quite warm today. We'll just have a bit of a rest. -Yeah. | 0:40:30 | 0:40:34 | |
I don't think I have ever seen so many Belties in one place. | 0:40:34 | 0:40:37 | |
I've only got three! | 0:40:37 | 0:40:38 | |
I think the bull should marry those three, Adam. | 0:40:38 | 0:40:41 | |
-I think he should! -We'd best get on with that job. -Yeah. | 0:40:41 | 0:40:43 | |
'Eventually, the cattle arrive at the lowlands. | 0:40:50 | 0:40:53 | |
'We cross a couple more fields and then the final stretch | 0:40:53 | 0:40:55 | |
'along the old stone lanes where the herd are driven into their new home.' | 0:40:55 | 0:41:00 | |
-Nearly there, Adam. -They are going easier contained in these old walls. | 0:41:00 | 0:41:04 | |
-They are, they were a bit of a run around on that field. -They were. | 0:41:04 | 0:41:07 | |
I think they are getting a bit tired. | 0:41:07 | 0:41:09 | |
And these old tracks would have been used for driving stock along | 0:41:09 | 0:41:12 | |
-for thousands of years, wouldn't they? -They will, yeah. | 0:41:12 | 0:41:14 | |
Malham's quite famous for its monks | 0:41:14 | 0:41:16 | |
and they will have brought cattle along these lanes | 0:41:16 | 0:41:19 | |
and then drovers after that. | 0:41:19 | 0:41:20 | |
-Literally, thousands of years. -So what will happen to them now? | 0:41:20 | 0:41:25 | |
Well, we will leave them here for a couple of days, let them rest up. | 0:41:25 | 0:41:28 | |
And then they will stay down here until they calve again. | 0:41:28 | 0:41:31 | |
Once they get tagged and castrated, they'll be back up onto the hills. | 0:41:31 | 0:41:35 | |
-They seem happy, don't they? -They are just resting up. -Yeah. | 0:41:35 | 0:41:38 | |
'But I have come here to do some bull shopping. | 0:41:39 | 0:41:42 | |
'And Neil has plenty to choose from.' | 0:41:42 | 0:41:44 | |
You've got a nice herd of bulls, Neil. | 0:41:44 | 0:41:45 | |
Yeah, they've done some good over the last 12 months. | 0:41:45 | 0:41:48 | |
-I quite like the look of that black one, there. -Yeah? | 0:41:48 | 0:41:51 | |
He's got a nice length on him, good depth of body, | 0:41:51 | 0:41:54 | |
smart-looking Beltie head and a good white belt around the middle. | 0:41:54 | 0:41:57 | |
-I think it's between that black one and that dun. -Yes. | 0:41:57 | 0:42:00 | |
They have both a bit more length about them, | 0:42:00 | 0:42:02 | |
a bit higher off the ground. | 0:42:02 | 0:42:04 | |
-But good true-to-type Belties as well. -They are. | 0:42:04 | 0:42:07 | |
You wouldn't be wanting a lot of money for them, would you? | 0:42:07 | 0:42:10 | |
It depends who I am selling to, really, to be honest. | 0:42:10 | 0:42:13 | |
I was probably thinking around the two grand mark. | 0:42:13 | 0:42:15 | |
I think that's fair for a good Beltie bull. | 0:42:15 | 0:42:18 | |
-Sure. -Well, let me check out his breeding and work out the haulage. | 0:42:18 | 0:42:22 | |
I might be able to arrange a trip down to you with him. | 0:42:22 | 0:42:25 | |
-That would be great. Nice one. -Cheers. | 0:42:25 | 0:42:27 | |
Next week, I'll be back on my farm, | 0:42:28 | 0:42:30 | |
tending to my animals that need extra attention during the summer months. | 0:42:30 | 0:42:34 | |
This week, Ellie and I are in the wilds of Warwickshire - | 0:42:39 | 0:42:43 | |
not a bad place to get inspiration | 0:42:43 | 0:42:45 | |
for our annual photographic on petition. | 0:42:45 | 0:42:47 | |
The theme this year is "walk on the wild side" | 0:42:47 | 0:42:50 | |
and we want wild landscapes, wildlife and even wild weather. | 0:42:50 | 0:42:55 | |
The best 12 will make up the Countryfile calendar for 2013, | 0:42:55 | 0:42:58 | |
sold in aid of Children in Need. | 0:42:58 | 0:43:00 | |
Here's John with a reminder of how to enter. | 0:43:00 | 0:43:02 | |
Our competition isn't open to professionals | 0:43:07 | 0:43:10 | |
and entries must not have won any other competitions | 0:43:10 | 0:43:13 | |
because what we are looking for is original work. | 0:43:13 | 0:43:16 | |
You can enter up to four photos | 0:43:17 | 0:43:20 | |
which must have been taken in the UK. | 0:43:20 | 0:43:22 | |
Write your name, address and a daytime and evening phone number | 0:43:22 | 0:43:26 | |
on the back of each photo with a note of where it was taken. | 0:43:26 | 0:43:31 | |
And then all you have to do is send your entries to: | 0:43:31 | 0:43:34 | |
Whoever takes the winning photo, | 0:43:43 | 0:43:45 | |
as voted for by Countryfile viewers, can choose from a range | 0:43:45 | 0:43:49 | |
of the latest photographic equipment to the value of £1,000. | 0:43:49 | 0:43:53 | |
And the person who takes the picture the judges like best | 0:43:53 | 0:43:57 | |
gets to pick equipment to the value of £500. | 0:43:57 | 0:44:00 | |
The full terms and conditions are on our website | 0:44:01 | 0:44:03 | |
where you will also find details of the BBC's code of conduct. | 0:44:03 | 0:44:08 | |
The closing date is July 22nd | 0:44:08 | 0:44:10 | |
and I'm sorry, but we can't return any entries. | 0:44:10 | 0:44:14 | |
Best of luck. | 0:44:14 | 0:44:15 | |
Stratford-upon-Avon - a town crammed with ancient buildings | 0:44:21 | 0:44:25 | |
and tourists on the trail of the world's most famous playwright. | 0:44:25 | 0:44:29 | |
Stratford-upon-Avon is a place soaked in history. | 0:44:30 | 0:44:34 | |
But while most people come here for the Bard, | 0:44:34 | 0:44:36 | |
I've come here to get my bike and get back into the saddle... | 0:44:36 | 0:44:40 | |
again. | 0:44:40 | 0:44:41 | |
Stratford is also home to the oldest working cycle company | 0:44:44 | 0:44:48 | |
in England - Pashley's, which was founded in 1926. | 0:44:48 | 0:44:52 | |
Heritage is at the heart of these cycles where classic designs | 0:44:52 | 0:44:55 | |
are given a modern twist. | 0:44:55 | 0:44:57 | |
And every machine is still handmade to order. | 0:44:57 | 0:45:01 | |
But every new bike here starts as a few tubes of metal. | 0:45:02 | 0:45:07 | |
I'm going to help try to turn this into one of these, | 0:45:07 | 0:45:10 | |
a 1930s style race bike known as the Guv'nor. | 0:45:10 | 0:45:14 | |
That's the plan, anyway. | 0:45:14 | 0:45:15 | |
'I'm going to help create the heart of the bike - its frame. | 0:45:18 | 0:45:22 | |
'The joints are all hand-brazed in place, | 0:45:22 | 0:45:24 | |
'giving essential strength to the finished product.' | 0:45:24 | 0:45:28 | |
-Knock, knock. Hello, Mike, how are you doing? -I'm very well. -Good. | 0:45:28 | 0:45:32 | |
'I'm being let loose | 0:45:32 | 0:45:34 | |
'under the watchful eye of experienced welder Michael Tomes. | 0:45:34 | 0:45:37 | |
'He seems relaxed at the prospect, but I am already feeling the heat.' | 0:45:37 | 0:45:40 | |
Can I do it some damage? Don't let me completely mess this up. | 0:45:40 | 0:45:43 | |
-Oh, no, it's fine. -Are you sure? Go on, then. You crack on. | 0:45:43 | 0:45:46 | |
I need these, do I? Are you really sure about me doing this? | 0:45:46 | 0:45:49 | |
Yes, yeah, no problem. | 0:45:49 | 0:45:51 | |
You want to get the point of the flame | 0:45:51 | 0:45:53 | |
-right at the base of the material. -OK. | 0:45:53 | 0:45:55 | |
-How about that? -Yeah. | 0:45:55 | 0:45:57 | |
Once you see it start to go red, you can start dipping your rod into it. | 0:45:57 | 0:46:01 | |
Is that red? I've got dark glasses on, I can't see! | 0:46:01 | 0:46:04 | |
Shouldn't be a problem. Yeah. | 0:46:04 | 0:46:06 | |
This is like needlework, | 0:46:06 | 0:46:07 | |
but under the pressure of burning the place down. | 0:46:07 | 0:46:10 | |
-I'm sweating, Michael. -It is a bit warm. | 0:46:12 | 0:46:15 | |
Oh, that was quite nerve-racking. | 0:46:15 | 0:46:17 | |
'For the safety of the person who ends up buying this bike - | 0:46:17 | 0:46:20 | |
'and the sake of my nerves - | 0:46:20 | 0:46:21 | |
'I think I'll leave the rest of the process to the professionals. | 0:46:21 | 0:46:25 | |
'Once it leaves here, each frame is checked, buffed | 0:46:26 | 0:46:29 | |
'and powder-coated with paint. | 0:46:29 | 0:46:30 | |
'It's then one person's job to assemble a cycle from scratch | 0:46:32 | 0:46:36 | |
'before it's ready to roll out of the door.' | 0:46:36 | 0:46:38 | |
They turn out 50 bikes a day here. | 0:46:38 | 0:46:42 | |
I am pretty sure I brought down that average today, but never mind. | 0:46:42 | 0:46:45 | |
Here it is, the finished bike. | 0:46:45 | 0:46:47 | |
And although it only just came off the production line, | 0:46:47 | 0:46:50 | |
come on, it exudes 1930s elegance. | 0:46:50 | 0:46:54 | |
I'm going to take it for a spin. | 0:46:54 | 0:46:56 | |
1930s-STYLE MUSIC | 0:46:58 | 0:47:01 | |
In fact, you can just tell that as soon as you sit in the saddle, | 0:47:01 | 0:47:04 | |
you're going to feel transported to another era. | 0:47:04 | 0:47:07 | |
It's not just me that's come over all nostalgic, though. | 0:47:09 | 0:47:14 | |
There's a passion for celebrating our past that, once in the saddle, | 0:47:14 | 0:47:17 | |
many find hard to resist. | 0:47:17 | 0:47:19 | |
RINGS BELL Now, tell me, what's with the tweed? | 0:47:21 | 0:47:24 | |
Tweed is commensurate with the era, | 0:47:24 | 0:47:27 | |
I guess, in which these bicycles are designed. | 0:47:27 | 0:47:30 | |
It takes you back to a completely different era. | 0:47:30 | 0:47:34 | |
It's the most relaxing thing to do. I mean, look at where we are now. | 0:47:34 | 0:47:38 | |
-It's glorious. -It doesn't get any better than this. | 0:47:38 | 0:47:41 | |
Chris is part of the Guv'nors Assembly, | 0:47:42 | 0:47:45 | |
a group who always dress "traditionally" on their bikes | 0:47:45 | 0:47:48 | |
but it seems that their old-fashioned attire is catching on. | 0:47:48 | 0:47:51 | |
-So tell me about this Tweed Run? -We get dressed up like we are now. | 0:47:51 | 0:47:56 | |
We tootle along around London. | 0:47:56 | 0:47:59 | |
The criteria is you actually have to ride wearing tweed. | 0:47:59 | 0:48:03 | |
And they get about 600 people riding it. | 0:48:03 | 0:48:06 | |
-We have a Manchester one, there is a Liverpool one... -Oh, wow! -Yeah. | 0:48:06 | 0:48:10 | |
'We might be enjoying a spot of peaceful perambulation, | 0:48:15 | 0:48:18 | |
'but some locals feel the need for speed more than the need for tweed. | 0:48:18 | 0:48:23 | |
'Head of the pack at Stratford cycling club | 0:48:23 | 0:48:26 | |
is 75-year-old John Oxtoby, who, I'm told, is a former Olympian, | 0:48:26 | 0:48:29 | |
'so I can't resist the chance to meet him and take him on.' | 0:48:29 | 0:48:32 | |
Right, I'm in more up-to-date cycling gear now, hence the funny walk. | 0:48:35 | 0:48:39 | |
And I'm here to meet John at his local racetrack. | 0:48:39 | 0:48:42 | |
But to me, I could be in the wrong Stratford, | 0:48:42 | 0:48:44 | |
cos that clearly isn't a velodrome. | 0:48:44 | 0:48:46 | |
-Hi, John. -Hello, nice to see you, Ellie. -Nice to see you. | 0:48:48 | 0:48:51 | |
Not the sort of place I would expect to find a medal-winning Olympian? | 0:48:51 | 0:48:55 | |
Well, it's a long story but that is the medal | 0:48:55 | 0:48:59 | |
and it is the Warwickshire Olympics, actually! | 0:48:59 | 0:49:02 | |
-I've never heard of the Warwickshire Olympics. -I'm not surprised. | 0:49:02 | 0:49:05 | |
The team came fourth out of five. | 0:49:05 | 0:49:08 | |
'OK - so I'm following in the footsteps | 0:49:09 | 0:49:11 | |
'of slightly more modest sporting achievement than I'd thought. | 0:49:11 | 0:49:14 | |
'But I can't resist the chance to race against an Olympian of sorts. | 0:49:14 | 0:49:19 | |
'Since he's shown me his, it's only right that I show him mine.' | 0:49:19 | 0:49:23 | |
Right here, I've got the Countryfile Celebrated Sportsman gold medal. | 0:49:23 | 0:49:27 | |
Well, if I win, that'll be the first gold medal that I have ever won! | 0:49:27 | 0:49:31 | |
Could be yours, could be mine, who knows? | 0:49:31 | 0:49:34 | |
Three, two, one, go! | 0:49:35 | 0:49:37 | |
Come on, shoes, come on, shoes! | 0:49:37 | 0:49:40 | |
Oh, no! I've lost a shoe! | 0:49:40 | 0:49:42 | |
My heart's going. | 0:49:53 | 0:49:54 | |
Would you believe it?! | 0:49:55 | 0:49:57 | |
John is pipping me on the last corner! | 0:49:58 | 0:50:01 | |
I can't believe it! Come on! | 0:50:01 | 0:50:04 | |
No! | 0:50:04 | 0:50:06 | |
-John, your gold medal at last. -Wonderful. | 0:50:08 | 0:50:11 | |
Well, if you fancy getting out and about on your bike this week, | 0:50:11 | 0:50:15 | |
you'll want to know what the weather has in store for the week ahead. | 0:50:15 | 0:50:18 | |
. | 0:52:50 | 0:52:57 | |
'Today, we are in Warwickshire, where Ellie and I | 0:53:10 | 0:53:13 | |
'have been discovering how the heritage and modern-day heart | 0:53:13 | 0:53:15 | |
'of this area have been shaped by its breathtaking landscape. | 0:53:15 | 0:53:19 | |
'And my day has been building up to one thing.' | 0:53:21 | 0:53:23 | |
I have spent the day brushing up on the old farming skills | 0:53:23 | 0:53:26 | |
with the members of the Young Farmers Club. There they are. | 0:53:26 | 0:53:29 | |
CHEERING | 0:53:29 | 0:53:30 | |
This rowdy bunch are in for a treat, | 0:53:30 | 0:53:32 | |
cos I'm about to be let loose on this course here. | 0:53:32 | 0:53:35 | |
'The course has been laid out to simulate a farmyard, | 0:53:35 | 0:53:38 | |
'complete with its own barn and track around the outbuildings. | 0:53:38 | 0:53:42 | |
'All I've got to do is navigate it | 0:53:42 | 0:53:45 | |
'in the ten-tonne tractor and trailer.' | 0:53:45 | 0:53:48 | |
Tom set it up, didn't you? Just talk me through. | 0:53:48 | 0:53:51 | |
Fairly easy course, going round in an S shape. | 0:53:51 | 0:53:54 | |
It is very tight, I have had a go. Then reverse into the little barn. | 0:53:54 | 0:53:58 | |
Get nice and straight | 0:53:58 | 0:54:00 | |
and then just reverse in. Easy? | 0:54:00 | 0:54:02 | |
Yeah, easy as pie(!) Here we go, then. | 0:54:02 | 0:54:06 | |
'With a quick five-minute practice in an open field, | 0:54:10 | 0:54:13 | |
'the pressure is now on. | 0:54:13 | 0:54:15 | |
'I am president of the Young Farmers Clubs and I don't want | 0:54:15 | 0:54:18 | |
'to lose face in front of this lot. | 0:54:18 | 0:54:20 | |
'My mentor, Tom, doesn't seem entirely confident.' | 0:54:20 | 0:54:24 | |
If this was my workshop walls, I'd be quite scared. | 0:54:24 | 0:54:29 | |
'As predicted, the S-bend is the bit that proves tricky.' | 0:54:29 | 0:54:33 | |
Watch your trailer! Oh, he's getting it! Come on, in one! In one! | 0:54:35 | 0:54:40 | |
Keep going. | 0:54:40 | 0:54:41 | |
THEY CHEER AND JEER | 0:54:41 | 0:54:43 | |
'While the cautious approach might not be a crowd-pleaser, | 0:54:43 | 0:54:46 | |
'with the turn behind me, all I have to do now is reverse into the barn. | 0:54:46 | 0:54:51 | |
'And as my driver instructor always taught me, | 0:54:52 | 0:54:55 | |
'check your mirrors before you manoeuvre.' | 0:54:55 | 0:54:58 | |
Oh, using the wing mirrors! | 0:54:58 | 0:55:00 | |
'Job done.' | 0:55:00 | 0:55:02 | |
CHEERING | 0:55:04 | 0:55:06 | |
-Tom. -Well done, mate, you did very well. Well done. | 0:55:08 | 0:55:12 | |
It's tough around the top there, isn't it? | 0:55:12 | 0:55:14 | |
I told you it gets a bit tight. Now, it looked like you enjoyed that. | 0:55:14 | 0:55:17 | |
Yeah. Cheeky little course, that one, though. | 0:55:17 | 0:55:20 | |
'With my pride as Young Farmers' president still intact, | 0:55:22 | 0:55:27 | |
'there's time to relax. | 0:55:27 | 0:55:28 | |
'And whenever there's a party taking place, | 0:55:28 | 0:55:31 | |
'a certain Miss Harrison is never far from hand. | 0:55:31 | 0:55:34 | |
'But these get-togethers thrive on a dose of healthy competition. | 0:55:34 | 0:55:39 | |
'And that is something Ellie knows about all too well.' | 0:55:39 | 0:55:41 | |
Just driven past a cheering cyclist. He was well in his 70s. | 0:55:41 | 0:55:44 | |
Don't start! Thanks for that(!) | 0:55:44 | 0:55:45 | |
-You lost, then? -Yeah, I'm afraid I did. | 0:55:45 | 0:55:49 | |
He was very fit, though. | 0:55:49 | 0:55:51 | |
-We've got a competition lined up for you. -Go on. | 0:55:51 | 0:55:53 | |
-This is your chance. Have you ever tug-of-warred before? -I have not. | 0:55:53 | 0:55:57 | |
-Have you? -Once, once or twice. -OK... -But this is good, OK? | 0:55:57 | 0:56:01 | |
You're going to be over there on the boys' team. | 0:56:01 | 0:56:04 | |
-I'm going to be on the girls' team. -There's loads of them! | 0:56:04 | 0:56:06 | |
Yeah, well, we thought with boys and girls, 11 versus eight. | 0:56:06 | 0:56:10 | |
There are some big boys. I'm happy with that. | 0:56:10 | 0:56:12 | |
Come on, come and meet your team. This is Tom. | 0:56:12 | 0:56:15 | |
-Hi, Tom. -You'll be in good hands. This is Ellie. -Nice to meet you. | 0:56:15 | 0:56:18 | |
-Nice to meet you. -In it to win it, yes? -We will. | 0:56:18 | 0:56:20 | |
-Who cares about blisters. -Just have a look at these weapons here. | 0:56:20 | 0:56:22 | |
-Look at this. Absolutely unbelievable. -Calves of steel. | 0:56:22 | 0:56:26 | |
And the belt. | 0:56:27 | 0:56:29 | |
-We are going to win. -Do you know how this works, Ellie? | 0:56:31 | 0:56:34 | |
You just pull with all your might, right? | 0:56:34 | 0:56:36 | |
The idea is, we are trying to get these T-shirts over the middle | 0:56:36 | 0:56:39 | |
-and you're trying to get our T-shirt over the middle. -Job done. | 0:56:39 | 0:56:42 | |
-OK? -Everyone pick up the rope. | 0:56:42 | 0:56:44 | |
Take the strain...pull! | 0:56:46 | 0:56:48 | |
SHOUTING AND CHEERING | 0:56:48 | 0:56:53 | |
Pull! | 0:56:56 | 0:56:58 | |
Come on! Come on! | 0:57:01 | 0:57:03 | |
Come on, pull! Go on, come on! | 0:57:03 | 0:57:05 | |
CHEERING | 0:57:08 | 0:57:11 | |
It's gone. | 0:57:11 | 0:57:13 | |
Oh! Well... | 0:57:13 | 0:57:15 | |
You deserved to win. Bless you. | 0:57:16 | 0:57:19 | |
-How was that, did you enjoy it? -I was amazed at my wrists. -Brilliant. | 0:57:19 | 0:57:23 | |
Well done, lads, well done. Unlucky, girls, unlucky. | 0:57:23 | 0:57:27 | |
That's it from Warwickshire. | 0:57:27 | 0:57:29 | |
Next week, we are going to be down on the south coast in Dorset. | 0:57:29 | 0:57:31 | |
I'll be on the trail of Enid Blyton. | 0:57:31 | 0:57:33 | |
-And I will be on a reptile hunt. See you then. -See you later. | 0:57:33 | 0:57:37 | |
Oh, my word! Well done, team. | 0:57:37 | 0:57:40 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:58:03 | 0:58:05 |