Browse content similar to Northern Ireland. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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This is Northern Ireland, | 0:00:31 | 0:00:33 | |
a place steeped in tradition, | 0:00:33 | 0:00:35 | |
but when it comes to farming, there are some people here | 0:00:35 | 0:00:38 | |
who are looking to the future by planting their crop in the sea. | 0:00:38 | 0:00:43 | |
Anita is discovering how one pioneer left his footprints | 0:00:46 | 0:00:50 | |
on this landscape for all to follow. | 0:00:50 | 0:00:53 | |
I mean, a man to walk the whole of the Ulster Way | 0:00:53 | 0:00:56 | |
when he was 88 takes some doing. | 0:00:56 | 0:00:59 | |
When he was 88?! | 0:00:59 | 0:01:00 | |
Tom's finding out about the dangers of being | 0:01:00 | 0:01:03 | |
a modern-day James Herriot. | 0:01:03 | 0:01:06 | |
Unfortunately, about four years ago, | 0:01:06 | 0:01:09 | |
I was operating on a cow and did receive a kick in the face. | 0:01:09 | 0:01:11 | |
A broken nose, I bit through my lip, a couple of loose teeth | 0:01:11 | 0:01:15 | |
and fairly bruised and swollen for a few weeks. | 0:01:15 | 0:01:17 | |
And Adam has got his hands full with some new Berkshire pigs. | 0:01:17 | 0:01:21 | |
He's lovely. | 0:01:21 | 0:01:22 | |
We've never had them on the farm before, | 0:01:22 | 0:01:25 | |
so it's really quite exciting to be introducing a new breed. | 0:01:25 | 0:01:29 | |
The timeless, verdant landscape of Northern Ireland, | 0:01:45 | 0:01:49 | |
ringed by unspoilt coast. No wonder film and TV drama crews flock here. | 0:01:49 | 0:01:54 | |
Today, Countryfile is also relishing the beauty of this place. | 0:01:55 | 0:01:59 | |
We'll be exploring the country from rural Armagh | 0:02:01 | 0:02:04 | |
to rugged Rathlin Island. | 0:02:04 | 0:02:06 | |
Whether we know it or not, most of us are very familiar | 0:02:08 | 0:02:11 | |
with the beautiful scenery of Northern Ireland, | 0:02:11 | 0:02:13 | |
as so much of it appears in film and television programmes. | 0:02:13 | 0:02:17 | |
Take this dramatic avenue of trees known as the Dark Hedges, | 0:02:17 | 0:02:20 | |
a very fitting name for a place that | 0:02:20 | 0:02:23 | |
appears in Game Of Thrones as the King's Road, | 0:02:23 | 0:02:26 | |
and, unsurprisingly, now it's a very popular tourist attraction. | 0:02:26 | 0:02:29 | |
But it's not just scenery that productions need. | 0:02:40 | 0:02:44 | |
The filming boom has been brilliant for local businesses. | 0:02:44 | 0:02:48 | |
Kenny Gracey from Tandragee, County Armagh, | 0:02:49 | 0:02:52 | |
is a rare-breeds farmer. | 0:02:52 | 0:02:54 | |
Seven years ago, he was asked to supply his historic longhorns | 0:02:54 | 0:02:59 | |
for a period film, and he's never looked back. | 0:02:59 | 0:03:02 | |
Longhorn cattle. | 0:03:05 | 0:03:07 | |
These are the old longhorns, yeah. I have a herd of these, | 0:03:07 | 0:03:10 | |
and they're recognised as one of the oldest breeds of cattle around. | 0:03:10 | 0:03:14 | |
Some people would even say they're the picture of what's depicted | 0:03:14 | 0:03:17 | |
in the cave drawings, with their markings and their horn formation. | 0:03:17 | 0:03:20 | |
I have them to give the credit to, because the first film I did | 0:03:20 | 0:03:24 | |
was Your Highness, and they wanted old, medieval-looking cattle. | 0:03:24 | 0:03:28 | |
-These are ideal. -They look pretty fearsome to me. Are they tame? | 0:03:28 | 0:03:31 | |
Oh, they're very, very docile. | 0:03:31 | 0:03:33 | |
Filming may take Kenny away from the farm for days on end, | 0:03:35 | 0:03:39 | |
but looking after the animals day to day still needs to be done. | 0:03:39 | 0:03:42 | |
A wee bit on top of that silage | 0:03:42 | 0:03:44 | |
-while I grape it up. -I'm the assistant. -Yeah. That's it. | 0:03:44 | 0:03:48 | |
With his time-warp menagerie, Kenny has become THE go-to man | 0:03:49 | 0:03:53 | |
for period dramas and films produced in the province, | 0:03:53 | 0:03:56 | |
and if it doesn't exist, he'll create it. | 0:03:56 | 0:03:59 | |
Kenny has turned the clock back 2,000 years | 0:04:00 | 0:04:03 | |
and bred his own type of Iron Age pig. | 0:04:03 | 0:04:06 | |
So, tell me about Hilda and Mabel. What's special about these two? | 0:04:08 | 0:04:11 | |
Well, Hilda and Mabel, you probably wouldn't recognise them as a breed. | 0:04:11 | 0:04:14 | |
Of course, you can't get Iron Age pigs nowadays, | 0:04:14 | 0:04:17 | |
but I wanted something to look like period, | 0:04:17 | 0:04:20 | |
so they are a mixture of about four or five different breeds, | 0:04:20 | 0:04:23 | |
which I bred to look like Iron Age pigs. | 0:04:23 | 0:04:26 | |
They have fitted the bill really well - | 0:04:26 | 0:04:29 | |
lovely, coarse hair, lovely colouring. | 0:04:29 | 0:04:31 | |
Both Kenny's Iron Age pigs | 0:04:38 | 0:04:40 | |
and his rare-breed saddlebacks have appeared in Game Of Thrones. | 0:04:40 | 0:04:44 | |
As well as animals, Kenny has a fair few historical agricultural items | 0:04:46 | 0:04:50 | |
that grace the film sets. | 0:04:50 | 0:04:52 | |
So, what else do you have in here? | 0:04:52 | 0:04:54 | |
Well, I have something I think rather special | 0:04:54 | 0:04:57 | |
and I reared this from a wee baby, and I'll let you see it | 0:04:57 | 0:05:01 | |
-and make your own mind up. -OK. | 0:05:01 | 0:05:03 | |
-Yana. -Oh, wow. | 0:05:04 | 0:05:06 | |
Yana... | 0:05:06 | 0:05:08 | |
Hello, darling. Come on. | 0:05:08 | 0:05:09 | |
-Oh, it's a deer. -Yeah. | 0:05:09 | 0:05:11 | |
HE CLICKS HIS TONGUE | 0:05:11 | 0:05:12 | |
-Yeah. Look at that. -So friendly. | 0:05:12 | 0:05:14 | |
Can I stroke...Yana? | 0:05:14 | 0:05:17 | |
-Yana, yeah. -Yana. | 0:05:17 | 0:05:19 | |
Kenny, I'm amazed by this, | 0:05:19 | 0:05:20 | |
-because deer are known to be very nervous animals. -Yes. | 0:05:20 | 0:05:23 | |
So how have you managed to get Yana so friendly? | 0:05:23 | 0:05:26 | |
Well, now, I did rear her from a baby. She was an orphan. | 0:05:26 | 0:05:29 | |
She lived in the house with me for a year. | 0:05:29 | 0:05:32 | |
And her and I are great friends. | 0:05:32 | 0:05:34 | |
Shake hands, come on. Shake hands. | 0:05:34 | 0:05:37 | |
Good girl. Oh, she's a good girl. | 0:05:37 | 0:05:40 | |
Besides Yana, Kenny has several other remarkably well-behaved deer | 0:05:40 | 0:05:45 | |
he supplies to productions. | 0:05:45 | 0:05:47 | |
-Yes. There we go. -Amazing. | 0:05:55 | 0:05:57 | |
Kenny's obviously got the knack, | 0:05:57 | 0:05:59 | |
but it's my turn to direct a real diva - the Empress, | 0:05:59 | 0:06:04 | |
a middle white sow who stole the show in the BBC drama Blandings. | 0:06:04 | 0:06:09 | |
-Come on, then, this way. -That's how you guide her. -Say hello to the dog. | 0:06:09 | 0:06:12 | |
-All right, this way. This side, this side. -Yeah. | 0:06:12 | 0:06:15 | |
-We've got it. -Up her nose, down closer, and that will... | 0:06:15 | 0:06:19 | |
-That's it. Good girl. -That's it. | 0:06:19 | 0:06:21 | |
How does the Empress understand? | 0:06:21 | 0:06:23 | |
Well, she feels guided by the stick at this side, | 0:06:23 | 0:06:26 | |
and you're keeping her going | 0:06:26 | 0:06:28 | |
because that stick is keeping her from going to the right, | 0:06:28 | 0:06:31 | |
and you're keeping her from going to the left with your body. | 0:06:31 | 0:06:34 | |
-She's very happy right now, is she? -Yes, she is happy. | 0:06:34 | 0:06:37 | |
She seems pretty happy, doesn't she? | 0:06:37 | 0:06:39 | |
Well, I've tangoed, I've cha-cha-cha'ed and I've salsa'ed | 0:06:39 | 0:06:43 | |
but waltzing with a pig? Now, that's a first. | 0:06:43 | 0:06:46 | |
This way, this way. This way. | 0:06:47 | 0:06:49 | |
-Oh, look at that, Kenny, I've done it. -Well done. | 0:06:49 | 0:06:51 | |
When I go to Yorkshire next year, | 0:06:51 | 0:06:53 | |
we'll be able to get you into the show ring to show the pigs for us. | 0:06:53 | 0:06:56 | |
In we go. Easy as that. Look at that. | 0:06:56 | 0:06:59 | |
I've just taken a pig for a walk. Amazing. Come on. | 0:06:59 | 0:07:03 | |
If someone had said to you eight years ago that this is what | 0:07:10 | 0:07:13 | |
you would be doing, that you would be on film sets with tame deer | 0:07:13 | 0:07:17 | |
and wonderful rabbits that actors want to cuddle, | 0:07:17 | 0:07:20 | |
would you have believed them? | 0:07:20 | 0:07:22 | |
Not in the least. | 0:07:22 | 0:07:24 | |
I'd have thought their head was gone because... | 0:07:24 | 0:07:26 | |
Well, the film industry in Northern Ireland has really taken off. | 0:07:26 | 0:07:29 | |
I would say it's my main income now. | 0:07:29 | 0:07:32 | |
I can't believe what has happened, but it's great, | 0:07:32 | 0:07:35 | |
it's interesting, and long may it continue. | 0:07:35 | 0:07:38 | |
This could well be one of the most famous farmyards in the world. | 0:07:38 | 0:07:42 | |
My father always said, "Where there's muck, there's money," | 0:07:42 | 0:07:44 | |
so I'm hoping. | 0:07:44 | 0:07:46 | |
I think he was right. | 0:07:46 | 0:07:47 | |
Safely handling powerful animals like these | 0:07:50 | 0:07:52 | |
isn't something to be taken lightly. | 0:07:52 | 0:07:54 | |
Get things wrong and it could end up in a serious injury and, | 0:07:54 | 0:07:57 | |
as Tom has been finding out, | 0:07:57 | 0:07:59 | |
that's a problem faced every day by Britain's farm vets. | 0:07:59 | 0:08:02 | |
MUSIC: All Creatures Great And Small theme | 0:08:02 | 0:08:06 | |
Think of a rural vet going about their daily business | 0:08:10 | 0:08:14 | |
and it's easy to conjure nostalgic images | 0:08:14 | 0:08:17 | |
of a tweed-clad gent tending all creatures great and small. | 0:08:17 | 0:08:20 | |
But the truth is, farms are dangerous places to work, | 0:08:23 | 0:08:26 | |
with the death toll across the industry being six times higher | 0:08:26 | 0:08:31 | |
than construction sites, and many of the toughest jobs fall to vets. | 0:08:31 | 0:08:36 | |
Foot-trimming, castration - it's all in a day's work for a farm vet, | 0:08:41 | 0:08:46 | |
but when a large part of your working life is | 0:08:46 | 0:08:49 | |
spent at the back end of a big beast, | 0:08:49 | 0:08:52 | |
kicking, crushing and butting are all occupational hazards. | 0:08:52 | 0:08:56 | |
In fact, being a vet who works with horses is now recognised | 0:08:57 | 0:09:00 | |
as having the highest risk of injury of any civilian profession. | 0:09:00 | 0:09:05 | |
Research has shown that in a 30-year career, an equine vet | 0:09:07 | 0:09:11 | |
can expect to sustain seven or eight injuries | 0:09:11 | 0:09:14 | |
serious enough to impede their work, | 0:09:14 | 0:09:17 | |
with nearly a quarter of those requiring hospital admission. | 0:09:17 | 0:09:20 | |
But detailed statistics like that just aren't available | 0:09:22 | 0:09:26 | |
when it comes to vets who work with farm livestock. | 0:09:26 | 0:09:29 | |
The best indicator is a small study | 0:09:29 | 0:09:32 | |
by the British Veterinary Association. | 0:09:32 | 0:09:34 | |
It showed that more than half of vets working with livestock | 0:09:34 | 0:09:38 | |
were injured in a single year, nearly a fifth of them severely. | 0:09:38 | 0:09:43 | |
This lady seems a bit lively, a lot of crashing about. | 0:09:43 | 0:09:46 | |
Yeah. She's a fairly fresh-calved cow. Was quite animated just now. | 0:09:46 | 0:09:49 | |
She wants to get back into the shed and back to her calf. | 0:09:49 | 0:09:52 | |
Today, vet Colin Buchan is pregnancy-testing on a farm | 0:09:52 | 0:09:55 | |
in South Lanarkshire, and he's got a couple of flighty customers. | 0:09:55 | 0:09:59 | |
It's a time when I am glad there's heavy metal between me and her. | 0:09:59 | 0:10:02 | |
-Absolutely. -You get on with what you have to do | 0:10:02 | 0:10:04 | |
and if there's any safety things, just shout. | 0:10:04 | 0:10:06 | |
-We'll just all stand back, and then she's good to go. -OK. | 0:10:06 | 0:10:10 | |
COW MOOS | 0:10:10 | 0:10:12 | |
One by one, the cows are brought in to a metal pen called a crush | 0:10:13 | 0:10:17 | |
so they can be diagnosed. | 0:10:17 | 0:10:19 | |
It's one of the riskiest parts of the job. | 0:10:19 | 0:10:22 | |
So, how's that one? | 0:10:25 | 0:10:26 | |
Yeah, three months in calf. So good news. | 0:10:26 | 0:10:28 | |
What are the main risks for vets? | 0:10:28 | 0:10:30 | |
Obviously, standing behind a cow like this, | 0:10:30 | 0:10:32 | |
there's a very real risk of getting kicked. | 0:10:32 | 0:10:34 | |
We've got a nervous animal, | 0:10:34 | 0:10:36 | |
performing procedures to her that she potentially doesn't want, | 0:10:36 | 0:10:40 | |
so a kicking injury, a very real occurrence. | 0:10:40 | 0:10:43 | |
Likewise, if the handling facilities aren't great, | 0:10:43 | 0:10:46 | |
she can back out of this and potentially crush me | 0:10:46 | 0:10:49 | |
against a gate behind me, | 0:10:49 | 0:10:51 | |
another animal being brought up behind. | 0:10:51 | 0:10:53 | |
So there are plenty of opportunities for being injured at work. | 0:10:53 | 0:10:56 | |
After ten years in the business, Colin knows | 0:10:56 | 0:10:58 | |
first-hand about the hazards posed by the hooved and dangerous. | 0:10:58 | 0:11:02 | |
Unfortunately, about four years ago, I was operating on a cow | 0:11:02 | 0:11:05 | |
and did receive a kick in the face myself. | 0:11:05 | 0:11:08 | |
A broken nose, I bit through my lip, a couple of loose teeth | 0:11:08 | 0:11:11 | |
and fairly bruised and swollen for a few weeks afterwards. | 0:11:11 | 0:11:15 | |
But unfortunately, it is part of the job. Work goes on and life goes on. | 0:11:15 | 0:11:19 | |
According to the Health and Safety Executive, | 0:11:19 | 0:11:22 | |
the vet should be working with the farmer to achieve | 0:11:22 | 0:11:25 | |
the right level of safety for the job, | 0:11:25 | 0:11:27 | |
but the farmer has to provide well-maintained equipment. | 0:11:27 | 0:11:31 | |
Luckily, certainly in this area, we have a good working | 0:11:31 | 0:11:33 | |
relationship with our farmers. | 0:11:33 | 0:11:35 | |
There have been times where you've got to say, | 0:11:35 | 0:11:37 | |
"I don't feel safe," | 0:11:37 | 0:11:39 | |
and they understand that if we say we aren't happy | 0:11:39 | 0:11:41 | |
with something, they take it on board | 0:11:41 | 0:11:43 | |
and seek to rectify any problems. Unfortunately, on a frequent basis, | 0:11:43 | 0:11:47 | |
-there are facilities that are substandard. -Hmm. | 0:11:47 | 0:11:50 | |
This farm is an example of good practice, | 0:11:52 | 0:11:55 | |
but data from the Health and Safety Executive | 0:11:55 | 0:11:58 | |
suggests that nearly half the injuries | 0:11:58 | 0:12:00 | |
sustained on farms from livestock are due to inadequate facilities. | 0:12:00 | 0:12:05 | |
Here at Edinburgh University Royal Vet School, | 0:12:10 | 0:12:13 | |
they teach their new breed of students | 0:12:13 | 0:12:15 | |
how to recognise risk from day one. | 0:12:15 | 0:12:18 | |
Nobody likes doing paperwork, nobody likes writing risk assessments. | 0:12:18 | 0:12:22 | |
Actually, once you've been out on farm, | 0:12:22 | 0:12:24 | |
you've been knocked about a few times, | 0:12:24 | 0:12:26 | |
you'll start to run a continuous risk assessment in your head, | 0:12:26 | 0:12:29 | |
and you don't even realise you're doing it. | 0:12:29 | 0:12:31 | |
As a lecturer and a practising vet, Dr Alex Corbishley has to be | 0:12:31 | 0:12:35 | |
prepared to work in a variety of situations. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:37 | |
Of course, we'll never knowingly put ourselves or anyone else | 0:12:37 | 0:12:41 | |
in a risky situation, | 0:12:41 | 0:12:43 | |
however, we will try and get the job done as often as we can. | 0:12:43 | 0:12:47 | |
To give you one anecdote, to compare to a different industry, | 0:12:47 | 0:12:50 | |
I've been out on a farm in a previous job where we had | 0:12:50 | 0:12:53 | |
a number of builders helping on the unit, | 0:12:53 | 0:12:56 | |
and a couple of the chaps actually walked off the farm and said, | 0:12:56 | 0:12:59 | |
"You wouldn't get away with this on a building site." | 0:12:59 | 0:13:02 | |
Now, we actually completed that job safely and the system that | 0:13:02 | 0:13:05 | |
was available was actually very effective and safe to work in. | 0:13:05 | 0:13:08 | |
I think it made me much more aware of some of the risks we do take. | 0:13:08 | 0:13:11 | |
But it's quite an interesting comparison, | 0:13:11 | 0:13:13 | |
because people have talked about how the injury | 0:13:13 | 0:13:15 | |
and accident rates in construction have been pushed down in a way | 0:13:15 | 0:13:18 | |
that, sadly, on farms we haven't seen yet, have we? | 0:13:18 | 0:13:22 | |
That's commonly what you hear and, at the moment, there's | 0:13:22 | 0:13:25 | |
probably some lessons we could learn from that. | 0:13:25 | 0:13:28 | |
This is one of the world's leading vet schools, | 0:13:29 | 0:13:31 | |
with a top-of-the-range farmyard. | 0:13:31 | 0:13:34 | |
So, can anyone describe the features that we're looking at here? | 0:13:36 | 0:13:39 | |
It's got a high side, so they can't really see anything too scary, | 0:13:39 | 0:13:43 | |
-and it's going to push them in one direction. -Absolutely. | 0:13:43 | 0:13:46 | |
If a cow can get its nose over the top of something, | 0:13:46 | 0:13:48 | |
it thinks it can get itself over the top of something, so the last | 0:13:48 | 0:13:51 | |
thing you want is 600 or 700 kilos of cow landing on top of you. | 0:13:51 | 0:13:54 | |
But farms don't always glitter with gold-standard equipment. | 0:13:54 | 0:13:58 | |
Now, I look at this kit here. This is pretty much the Rolls-Royce end. | 0:13:58 | 0:14:02 | |
I haven't seen much like this on the average cattle farm in the country. | 0:14:02 | 0:14:06 | |
I mean, you've got an unfair advantage here. | 0:14:06 | 0:14:09 | |
So, this system has cost thousands of pounds to put in, | 0:14:09 | 0:14:12 | |
but what we try and teach our students are the features of it | 0:14:12 | 0:14:14 | |
that make it safe, that make it effective, | 0:14:14 | 0:14:17 | |
and you can do much of this quite cost-effectively on many farms. | 0:14:17 | 0:14:21 | |
So the principles that are here can actually be applied | 0:14:21 | 0:14:25 | |
-pretty simply in most farmyards? -Absolutely. | 0:14:25 | 0:14:28 | |
So, should more be done to make farmyards a safer place for vets | 0:14:31 | 0:14:35 | |
and farm workers? | 0:14:35 | 0:14:37 | |
And could lessons be learned from sectors like the building industry, | 0:14:37 | 0:14:41 | |
where the number of injuries has fallen by 40% in the last 15 years? | 0:14:41 | 0:14:46 | |
'Andrew McCornick runs a mixed beef and sheep farm | 0:14:50 | 0:14:53 | |
'in Dumfries and Galloway, | 0:14:53 | 0:14:54 | |
'and is also vice president of NFU Scotland.' | 0:14:54 | 0:14:57 | |
Are farmers doing enough to keep vets safe on their farms? | 0:14:57 | 0:15:00 | |
We're working in partnership with the vets. | 0:15:00 | 0:15:03 | |
We're trying to get everything right, | 0:15:03 | 0:15:05 | |
because it's not in our interest to get vets or ourselves injured | 0:15:05 | 0:15:08 | |
while we're working with cattle. | 0:15:08 | 0:15:10 | |
But the Health and Safety Executive has said that nearly | 0:15:10 | 0:15:13 | |
half of injuries involving animals are due to inadequate facilities. | 0:15:13 | 0:15:16 | |
It sounds a bit like the farmers' fault to me. | 0:15:16 | 0:15:18 | |
It's a good way to put the blame onto someone else. | 0:15:18 | 0:15:21 | |
We certainly need to keep everything up-to-date as much as we can. | 0:15:21 | 0:15:23 | |
We've got to make everybody aware of what the risks | 0:15:23 | 0:15:26 | |
and the liabilities are in this. | 0:15:26 | 0:15:28 | |
Is there a reporting structure for maybe, perhaps, | 0:15:28 | 0:15:31 | |
minor injuries, like we've seen in construction, which has | 0:15:31 | 0:15:34 | |
helped to drive the whole culture of safety? | 0:15:34 | 0:15:37 | |
Does that exist in farming? | 0:15:37 | 0:15:38 | |
I don't think you're comparing apples with apples, | 0:15:38 | 0:15:41 | |
comparing us with the construction industry. | 0:15:41 | 0:15:43 | |
We're in a totally different environment. | 0:15:43 | 0:15:45 | |
We are working with animals. | 0:15:45 | 0:15:47 | |
The minute we put them into handling facilities, | 0:15:47 | 0:15:49 | |
we're actually inciting the flight-or-fight mechanism in them, | 0:15:49 | 0:15:53 | |
so we can't say 100% we could control that. | 0:15:53 | 0:15:57 | |
That's why we have to have good facilities. | 0:15:57 | 0:16:00 | |
Fresh efforts are now being made to reduce these risks. | 0:16:00 | 0:16:04 | |
The HSE is revising its strategy | 0:16:04 | 0:16:06 | |
on safe working practices in agriculture, | 0:16:06 | 0:16:09 | |
and the NFU is working with them. | 0:16:09 | 0:16:11 | |
We actually are part of a farm safety initiative that was | 0:16:11 | 0:16:14 | |
started last year with the Health and Safety Executive, NFU Scotland, | 0:16:14 | 0:16:19 | |
NFU England and the National Farmers' Union Mutual. | 0:16:19 | 0:16:22 | |
We're out there in the forefront | 0:16:22 | 0:16:24 | |
trying to highlight what the issues are on farms. | 0:16:24 | 0:16:26 | |
And so do you think if vets come onto farms in Scotland, | 0:16:26 | 0:16:30 | |
and as far as you can speak for England, | 0:16:30 | 0:16:32 | |
they can be pretty confident they're going to come to a safe place? | 0:16:32 | 0:16:36 | |
Yes, they should. | 0:16:36 | 0:16:37 | |
We are trying to bring this to the forefront. | 0:16:37 | 0:16:40 | |
Safety is really important to our industry. | 0:16:40 | 0:16:42 | |
Whatever we can do to try and improve that, we will, | 0:16:42 | 0:16:44 | |
and that initiative is trying to draw attention to farmers | 0:16:44 | 0:16:47 | |
and to make them think twice | 0:16:47 | 0:16:49 | |
before they do some of the tasks that they're doing. | 0:16:49 | 0:16:51 | |
Moves from the industry to make farm working safer could make | 0:16:53 | 0:16:56 | |
a real difference, but when you're working with unpredictable animals, | 0:16:56 | 0:17:01 | |
then the life of a farm vet can never be entirely risk-free. | 0:17:01 | 0:17:05 | |
They might say, "It shouldn't happen to a vet," | 0:17:05 | 0:17:08 | |
but it's not easy to make sure it doesn't. | 0:17:08 | 0:17:11 | |
Just off the coast of Northern Ireland | 0:17:26 | 0:17:28 | |
lies the island of Rathlin. | 0:17:28 | 0:17:30 | |
At just six miles long and one mile wide, | 0:17:33 | 0:17:36 | |
the island is small in size but rich in wildlife. | 0:17:36 | 0:17:39 | |
Its beauty doesn't stop at this rugged coastline. | 0:17:47 | 0:17:51 | |
Perhaps its greatest asset lies hidden beneath the surface | 0:17:51 | 0:17:55 | |
of the sea. Here, the Atlantic Ocean meets the Irish Sea, | 0:17:55 | 0:18:00 | |
and the mingling of these waters provides the perfect setting | 0:18:00 | 0:18:03 | |
for one of the most dynamic, most productive ecosystems on our planet, | 0:18:03 | 0:18:08 | |
a forest of kelp, | 0:18:08 | 0:18:10 | |
and the one here on Rathlin is truly spectacular. | 0:18:10 | 0:18:15 | |
Just off its shores, this vast resource of seaweed provides | 0:18:23 | 0:18:27 | |
a nutrient-rich and protective habitat for marine life. | 0:18:27 | 0:18:31 | |
And though its value to wildlife is widely known, in recent years, | 0:18:31 | 0:18:36 | |
people have been exploring the potential health benefits | 0:18:36 | 0:18:39 | |
of this edible seaweed. | 0:18:39 | 0:18:41 | |
Keen to make the most of this growing market, | 0:18:46 | 0:18:49 | |
Kate Burns set up the UK's first kelp farm here on Rathlin in 2013. | 0:18:49 | 0:18:56 | |
Well, here we are, Kate, | 0:18:56 | 0:18:57 | |
on this beautiful rocky shoreline on a kelp hunt. | 0:18:57 | 0:19:00 | |
-Indeed we are. -Why kelp? What's so special about kelp? | 0:19:00 | 0:19:04 | |
Well, kelp is a superfood | 0:19:04 | 0:19:06 | |
that we haven't really been eating much in the British Isles, | 0:19:06 | 0:19:09 | |
and it's only now that we're realising | 0:19:09 | 0:19:12 | |
A, how good it is for you, and B, what a great food product it makes. | 0:19:12 | 0:19:16 | |
So, what is so good about it? | 0:19:16 | 0:19:18 | |
Well, it's got more calcium and iron than any other vegetable. | 0:19:18 | 0:19:21 | |
It's high in protein and vitamin D, in roughage. | 0:19:21 | 0:19:25 | |
-It doesn't look very nice. -No, it doesn't, actually, | 0:19:25 | 0:19:28 | |
and when we farm it, it's different, | 0:19:28 | 0:19:30 | |
-and you'll see that later on. -Right. | 0:19:30 | 0:19:32 | |
And also, how we cook it makes it very palatable indeed. | 0:19:32 | 0:19:36 | |
Kelp is very much a staple of Asian cuisine, | 0:19:37 | 0:19:40 | |
but Kate's taking a more European approach. | 0:19:40 | 0:19:43 | |
She's targeting gastronomes with her selection of | 0:19:45 | 0:19:47 | |
ready-to-eat kelp tagliatelle and pesto, | 0:19:47 | 0:19:51 | |
and although her crop grows out at sea, the work begins here on shore. | 0:19:51 | 0:19:55 | |
So, what exactly are we looking for? | 0:19:57 | 0:19:59 | |
Well, we're looking for a kelp which has spores on it, | 0:19:59 | 0:20:02 | |
and at the moment, we're looking for sugar kelp. | 0:20:02 | 0:20:04 | |
In the month of February, | 0:20:04 | 0:20:06 | |
it's the kind of kelp which is ready to release spores. | 0:20:06 | 0:20:10 | |
That's some sugar kelp there, | 0:20:10 | 0:20:13 | |
but it hasn't got any spores on it. | 0:20:13 | 0:20:15 | |
-Oh, right, so that's no good. -No. | 0:20:15 | 0:20:18 | |
-Here's a piece here. -Oh, right. | 0:20:18 | 0:20:20 | |
So, where are the spores, then? | 0:20:20 | 0:20:22 | |
Well, can you see that black, dark line down the middle of it? | 0:20:22 | 0:20:26 | |
-Like a spine going down. -That's actually spores. -Uh-huh. | 0:20:26 | 0:20:29 | |
Out in the ocean, kelp reproduces naturally, | 0:20:34 | 0:20:36 | |
but Kate is taking a more hi-tech approach. | 0:20:36 | 0:20:39 | |
Hers is cultivated in a lab before being transferred out to sea | 0:20:39 | 0:20:43 | |
to grow into adult plants. | 0:20:43 | 0:20:46 | |
First, the spores collected on the beach are cut out and cleaned. | 0:20:51 | 0:20:55 | |
Then they're chilled for 24 hours before being | 0:20:55 | 0:20:59 | |
released into sterile seawater. | 0:20:59 | 0:21:01 | |
When they release, they become zooplankton for 24 hours, | 0:21:02 | 0:21:05 | |
and they have tails, and they're male and female, and they swim, | 0:21:05 | 0:21:09 | |
and they look for something to attach to, | 0:21:09 | 0:21:12 | |
and if they don't attach within 24 hours, they die. | 0:21:12 | 0:21:15 | |
So, you put string down for them? | 0:21:15 | 0:21:17 | |
There are spools of string in the lab, and after about 35 days, | 0:21:17 | 0:21:22 | |
they are one millimetre, two millimetres long, | 0:21:22 | 0:21:25 | |
and we transplant them to ropes at sea in our licensed kelp farm. | 0:21:25 | 0:21:30 | |
Why go to all that bother, though? | 0:21:30 | 0:21:32 | |
Why not just get it from the sea anyway? | 0:21:32 | 0:21:34 | |
Well, we can choose what species we want to grow. | 0:21:34 | 0:21:38 | |
Some are better for the market, for processing, than others. | 0:21:38 | 0:21:41 | |
We can be selective about the time of year we're growing them. | 0:21:41 | 0:21:44 | |
Also, kelp that grows in ropes isn't coarse | 0:21:44 | 0:21:47 | |
like the kelp you see round the beach. It grows in big sheets, | 0:21:47 | 0:21:51 | |
and that's better for processing and better for eating. | 0:21:51 | 0:21:53 | |
It's also more sustainable. | 0:21:53 | 0:21:55 | |
You're creating new habitat for invertebrates | 0:21:55 | 0:21:57 | |
and small fish under the water, feed stocks for sea birds. | 0:21:57 | 0:22:00 | |
So all those good reasons. | 0:22:00 | 0:22:03 | |
So, this sustainable vegetable of the ocean starts out in a lab, | 0:22:06 | 0:22:10 | |
gets planted out at sea and is then harvested. | 0:22:10 | 0:22:14 | |
But Kate's venture is just the latest in a long and beneficial | 0:22:16 | 0:22:19 | |
relationship between Rathlin and its kelp, as I'll be discovering later. | 0:22:19 | 0:22:24 | |
Northern Ireland has it all... | 0:22:32 | 0:22:34 | |
..dramatic coastline, | 0:22:35 | 0:22:37 | |
rugged mountains, | 0:22:37 | 0:22:39 | |
ancient ruins... | 0:22:39 | 0:22:41 | |
..and one of the best ways to experience them all | 0:22:43 | 0:22:46 | |
is the 600-mile circular Ulster Way footpath. | 0:22:46 | 0:22:50 | |
But in recent years, | 0:22:56 | 0:22:57 | |
the tourists are having to share it with an increasing number of TV | 0:22:57 | 0:23:01 | |
and film crews, who are drawn to this dramatic landscape. | 0:23:01 | 0:23:04 | |
Now, behind me is Dunluce Castle, but if you're a fan | 0:23:04 | 0:23:07 | |
of Game Of Thrones, you'd recognise it as Castle Pyke. | 0:23:07 | 0:23:10 | |
The castle is one of the many highlights on the Ulster Way. | 0:23:16 | 0:23:20 | |
70 years ago, whilst on a walking holiday in the Pennines, | 0:23:20 | 0:23:24 | |
Wilfrid Capper, Northern Ireland's very own Wainwright, | 0:23:24 | 0:23:27 | |
dreamt of this circular path around Ulster. | 0:23:27 | 0:23:31 | |
But hostile landowners and a lack of footpaths meant | 0:23:35 | 0:23:38 | |
it would be another three decades before his dream became a reality. | 0:23:38 | 0:23:43 | |
On the path is Ballintoy Harbour. | 0:23:45 | 0:23:47 | |
As a young man, Reg Magowan helped Capper create the route. | 0:23:48 | 0:23:52 | |
What was his personality like? | 0:23:54 | 0:23:55 | |
A very interesting guy. | 0:23:55 | 0:23:57 | |
I think you could say he was the first green man in Ireland. | 0:23:57 | 0:24:01 | |
He was a vegetarian, he preferred to use public transport, | 0:24:01 | 0:24:05 | |
he very much insisted that exercise was important, | 0:24:05 | 0:24:10 | |
and I guess it must have worked, because he lived till he was 93. | 0:24:10 | 0:24:14 | |
He must have been some wilful character. | 0:24:14 | 0:24:16 | |
It's very difficult to make progress on walks and so on, because | 0:24:16 | 0:24:20 | |
we have a lot of different landowners on the route, | 0:24:20 | 0:24:23 | |
but he would go out and often sit with a farmer and have a cup of tea | 0:24:23 | 0:24:27 | |
and come back with a permissive path agreement, which is quite something. | 0:24:27 | 0:24:32 | |
I mean, a man to walk the whole of the Ulster Way | 0:24:32 | 0:24:35 | |
when he was 88 takes some doing. | 0:24:35 | 0:24:38 | |
-Wow! -Over 600 miles. | 0:24:38 | 0:24:41 | |
When he was 88, he did the whole thing?! | 0:24:41 | 0:24:44 | |
So that will give you an idea of the determination of the man. | 0:24:44 | 0:24:47 | |
How important is Wilfrid Capper to Northern Ireland? | 0:24:47 | 0:24:50 | |
Without him, we wouldn't have the Ulster Way, obviously, | 0:24:50 | 0:24:53 | |
but with the Ulster Way came many, many other paths, | 0:24:53 | 0:24:56 | |
many other walking routes, | 0:24:56 | 0:24:58 | |
and that has now developed into canoe trails in Northern Ireland | 0:24:58 | 0:25:01 | |
and mountain-biking trails, | 0:25:01 | 0:25:03 | |
so we can attribute a lot of that to Wilfrid Capper, I think. | 0:25:03 | 0:25:06 | |
On many a walker's wish list is a remarkable | 0:25:13 | 0:25:16 | |
33-mile stretch of the Ulster Way, across the top of Northern Ireland. | 0:25:16 | 0:25:21 | |
Now, the jewel in the crown of Capper's long-distance trek | 0:25:23 | 0:25:26 | |
is this, a two-day hike along the Causeway Coast Path, | 0:25:26 | 0:25:29 | |
taking in the Unesco-protected Giant's Causeway - | 0:25:29 | 0:25:33 | |
huge basalt volcanic pillars | 0:25:33 | 0:25:35 | |
that stretch from cliff top down to the sea. | 0:25:35 | 0:25:38 | |
It's such an incredibly special place. | 0:25:50 | 0:25:53 | |
It's so dramatic, with the waves lapping up around me. | 0:25:53 | 0:25:56 | |
It's a real wonder of nature | 0:25:56 | 0:25:58 | |
and so much fun to explore. | 0:25:58 | 0:26:01 | |
Once upon a time, | 0:26:09 | 0:26:10 | |
it was considered good luck to wedge coins into the rock. | 0:26:10 | 0:26:13 | |
I'm going to use these coins to wish good luck upon all the | 0:26:13 | 0:26:16 | |
walkers on the Ulster Way and also, | 0:26:16 | 0:26:19 | |
I hope that it gets a little bit warmer. | 0:26:19 | 0:26:21 | |
This plucky group of walkers is attempting to complete | 0:26:29 | 0:26:33 | |
the whole 600-mile circuit. | 0:26:33 | 0:26:35 | |
Oh, it's so spectacular, isn't it? | 0:26:38 | 0:26:40 | |
It's lovely, this. That's what we like about it. | 0:26:40 | 0:26:43 | |
This must be one of our favourite walks. | 0:26:43 | 0:26:45 | |
How much of the Ulster Way have you done? | 0:26:45 | 0:26:47 | |
We've done, in total, about 160 miles now. | 0:26:47 | 0:26:50 | |
The Ulster Way is made up of a lot of waymarked paths | 0:26:50 | 0:26:54 | |
scattered right round Northern Ireland, | 0:26:54 | 0:26:56 | |
and the Ulster Way, really, is linking up all those paths. | 0:26:56 | 0:27:00 | |
You would do about 10 to 12 miles at a stretch. | 0:27:00 | 0:27:03 | |
And can it get quite difficult? | 0:27:03 | 0:27:05 | |
Yes, the terrain can be difficult in places, making your way | 0:27:05 | 0:27:08 | |
through tussocks of grass and that kind of thing can be very difficult, | 0:27:08 | 0:27:12 | |
and quite a lot of it is not waymarked, | 0:27:12 | 0:27:15 | |
and you have to find your own way across, particularly, open ground. | 0:27:15 | 0:27:18 | |
Why do it? Why stay out in the freezing cold, | 0:27:18 | 0:27:22 | |
when it's lashing down with rain and do this? | 0:27:22 | 0:27:25 | |
People who have never been up at a height before don't | 0:27:25 | 0:27:29 | |
realise what the views are like, and it's really superb | 0:27:29 | 0:27:33 | |
when you get up there and you look around and people just say, | 0:27:33 | 0:27:37 | |
"Wow! Isn't that beautiful? | 0:27:37 | 0:27:39 | |
"I never thought it would be like that up here." | 0:27:39 | 0:27:42 | |
Sections of the Ulster Way, like the Mountains of Mourne, | 0:27:44 | 0:27:47 | |
can be challenging, | 0:27:47 | 0:27:49 | |
but this stretch, the Causeway Coast Path, is far more accessible. | 0:27:49 | 0:27:53 | |
Have you ever got lost? | 0:27:55 | 0:27:56 | |
Well...we wouldn't admit to that. | 0:27:56 | 0:28:00 | |
These ramblers have Wilfrid Capper to thank | 0:28:03 | 0:28:05 | |
for creating this beautiful route. | 0:28:05 | 0:28:08 | |
Later, I'll be meeting the people fighting to keep it open for all. | 0:28:08 | 0:28:12 | |
I'm on Rathlin, Northern Ireland's only inhabited offshore island. | 0:28:27 | 0:28:32 | |
Today, kelp is providing a fruitful 21st-century business opportunity. | 0:28:37 | 0:28:43 | |
But the seaweed along these wave-battered shores has long | 0:28:46 | 0:28:50 | |
played an important part in the island's economy. | 0:28:50 | 0:28:53 | |
For centuries, | 0:28:55 | 0:28:57 | |
the fortunes of this small community have been deeply entwined with the | 0:28:57 | 0:29:01 | |
natural resource that grows in such abundance in the waters around here. | 0:29:01 | 0:29:07 | |
But just as the tides change, | 0:29:07 | 0:29:09 | |
the value of kelp to the islanders has come and gone. | 0:29:09 | 0:29:13 | |
Back in the 18th and early 19th century, | 0:29:16 | 0:29:19 | |
Rathlin kelp was in high demand. | 0:29:19 | 0:29:21 | |
It was processed as a bleaching agent | 0:29:21 | 0:29:25 | |
for the thriving Irish linen industry, | 0:29:25 | 0:29:27 | |
but it had many other uses. | 0:29:27 | 0:29:29 | |
At the height of production, | 0:29:29 | 0:29:31 | |
this tiny island's population swelled to more than 1,000. | 0:29:31 | 0:29:35 | |
Jim McFaul was born and bred on the island. | 0:29:40 | 0:29:42 | |
He's taking me to the ruins of the kelp store, | 0:29:42 | 0:29:46 | |
a monument to what was a very tough way of life. | 0:29:46 | 0:29:49 | |
A group of families would have been allocated a certain | 0:29:50 | 0:29:53 | |
part of the shore to gather, and you didn't go anywhere else. | 0:29:53 | 0:29:57 | |
Now, that could have been on a very inaccessible place on the cliffs, | 0:29:57 | 0:30:01 | |
where you would have had to have gone down using ropes to climb down | 0:30:01 | 0:30:05 | |
onto the cliffs, but if that was the way it was, | 0:30:05 | 0:30:07 | |
that was the way it was. | 0:30:07 | 0:30:09 | |
Baskets, creels they called them, that had rope handles on them, | 0:30:09 | 0:30:14 | |
and they carried them | 0:30:14 | 0:30:16 | |
on their back to carry the kelp from the water line. | 0:30:16 | 0:30:19 | |
I heard my father saying that he remembered, in his young days, | 0:30:19 | 0:30:23 | |
their back would be raw from the saltwater off the wet seaweed | 0:30:23 | 0:30:27 | |
and the things rubbing against their back, | 0:30:27 | 0:30:29 | |
and that was the sort of work they had to do to survive. | 0:30:29 | 0:30:33 | |
They draped the entire kelp stocks over the wall to dry in the sun. | 0:30:33 | 0:30:37 | |
When they were completely dry, they burned them in the kilns. | 0:30:37 | 0:30:40 | |
Why did they burn it, then? | 0:30:40 | 0:30:42 | |
The reason they burned it was to concentrate it. | 0:30:42 | 0:30:45 | |
A ship came in and anchored in the bay, | 0:30:45 | 0:30:47 | |
and it was taken off to chemical factories. | 0:30:47 | 0:30:50 | |
Some of it was used for bleaching, | 0:30:50 | 0:30:52 | |
some of it was used for chemicals, like iodine. | 0:30:52 | 0:30:54 | |
In the 1830s, the kelp industry declined | 0:31:00 | 0:31:03 | |
when alternative chemicals came onto the market, | 0:31:03 | 0:31:06 | |
and Rathlin was also hit hard by the potato famine. | 0:31:06 | 0:31:10 | |
Between 1846 and 1850, roughly half of the population | 0:31:12 | 0:31:16 | |
emigrated to America, and numbers never recovered. | 0:31:16 | 0:31:20 | |
Around 100 years later, | 0:31:26 | 0:31:28 | |
a BBC documentary depicted a community under threat. | 0:31:28 | 0:31:32 | |
People still go, and through a glassless window, | 0:31:33 | 0:31:37 | |
you can see the discarded relics of the last family. | 0:31:37 | 0:31:40 | |
The question is, how long can a place live | 0:31:41 | 0:31:44 | |
if its people are drained away? | 0:31:44 | 0:31:46 | |
Numbers continued to decline and, just a few years ago, | 0:31:50 | 0:31:54 | |
only 75 people were left on the island. | 0:31:54 | 0:31:57 | |
Today, though, the picture looks very different. | 0:32:05 | 0:32:08 | |
There's now around 125 islanders, | 0:32:09 | 0:32:13 | |
and there is something of a baby boom. | 0:32:13 | 0:32:16 | |
-Who is this? This is Oscar. And? -This is Darragh. -Freya. Barra. | 0:32:17 | 0:32:22 | |
And how many altogether on the island now, little ones? | 0:32:22 | 0:32:26 | |
-There have been six babies born since 2014. -Really? | 0:32:26 | 0:32:30 | |
There was five born in the one year, in 2014, | 0:32:30 | 0:32:33 | |
and that was a real record for the island. | 0:32:33 | 0:32:35 | |
There had been nothing like that for more than 30 years. | 0:32:35 | 0:32:38 | |
And then a baby was born in 2015, and there is one more on the way. | 0:32:38 | 0:32:42 | |
The woman that owns this cafe is pregnant with her second child. | 0:32:42 | 0:32:46 | |
Were you born on the island? | 0:32:46 | 0:32:47 | |
No, myself and my husband Stephen, we moved here in 2009. | 0:32:47 | 0:32:52 | |
We actually both moved here from Dublin. | 0:32:52 | 0:32:55 | |
So, it was quite a dramatic change to move from a busy city life | 0:32:55 | 0:32:59 | |
-to Rathlin. -What brought you here? | 0:32:59 | 0:33:01 | |
We were ready for a change in lifestyle. | 0:33:01 | 0:33:03 | |
We were both academics in Dublin, | 0:33:03 | 0:33:05 | |
but it is really special to come home each day to Rathlin Island. | 0:33:05 | 0:33:09 | |
-Where you born on the island? -No! | 0:33:09 | 0:33:11 | |
You're another newcomer. | 0:33:11 | 0:33:13 | |
Yeah, I am from Kildare in Ireland, | 0:33:13 | 0:33:16 | |
and I moved to Belfast some years ago, and we've just recently moved, | 0:33:16 | 0:33:19 | |
but we've been coming here for about 15 years. | 0:33:19 | 0:33:23 | |
I'm originally from County Down, and I've married an islander. | 0:33:23 | 0:33:26 | |
-What's the atmosphere on the island now? -I think it is great. | 0:33:26 | 0:33:29 | |
There's a lot of community spirit, community events and things. | 0:33:29 | 0:33:32 | |
All the generations often get opportunities to be together, | 0:33:32 | 0:33:36 | |
and that is very special, living in a small community. | 0:33:36 | 0:33:39 | |
So, do you think the future of the island is now secure | 0:33:39 | 0:33:42 | |
because of all these little ones? | 0:33:42 | 0:33:45 | |
As secure as it can be, I suppose, but, yeah, | 0:33:45 | 0:33:47 | |
it definitely looks hopeful. | 0:33:47 | 0:33:48 | |
Small businesses are opening up and employment | 0:33:48 | 0:33:51 | |
and that seems to be, definitely, a lot more secure. | 0:33:51 | 0:33:54 | |
TRADITIONAL MUSIC PLAYS | 0:33:54 | 0:33:57 | |
There has always been a great sense of community on Rathlin, | 0:33:58 | 0:34:02 | |
with the echoes of the past never far away. | 0:34:02 | 0:34:05 | |
Today, that island spirit is as strong as ever. | 0:34:05 | 0:34:08 | |
It is intrinsically linked to its rugged landscape, | 0:34:08 | 0:34:11 | |
its weather and its natural resources. | 0:34:11 | 0:34:14 | |
Later, I'll be harvesting and sampling the kelp that's | 0:34:16 | 0:34:19 | |
playing a role in reviving Rathlin's fortunes. | 0:34:19 | 0:34:22 | |
MUSIC ENDS | 0:34:24 | 0:34:26 | |
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE | 0:34:26 | 0:34:28 | |
LAMB BLEATS | 0:34:32 | 0:34:33 | |
The days are drawing out. | 0:34:36 | 0:34:38 | |
Spring sunshine is driving out the morning chill. | 0:34:38 | 0:34:42 | |
And work on Adam's farm is picking up apace. | 0:34:44 | 0:34:48 | |
This spring sunshine is absolutely perfect for these ewes | 0:34:48 | 0:34:52 | |
and lambs that have been turned out onto the grass. | 0:34:52 | 0:34:54 | |
Fingers crossed it stays like it, | 0:34:54 | 0:34:56 | |
but we've still got lots of animals still in the sheds | 0:34:56 | 0:34:59 | |
that need special attention and, also, | 0:34:59 | 0:35:01 | |
I've got a new breed of pig turning up later. | 0:35:01 | 0:35:04 | |
So plenty to be getting on with. | 0:35:04 | 0:35:06 | |
Some of our sheep may have been put out on the fresh grass, but | 0:35:10 | 0:35:14 | |
the majority of the flock are still in the sheds waiting to give birth. | 0:35:14 | 0:35:18 | |
Their diet at this late stage of pregnancy is vital to the | 0:35:20 | 0:35:23 | |
health of the ewes and unborn lambs. | 0:35:23 | 0:35:26 | |
Lambing is well under way and it is going very well, | 0:35:27 | 0:35:30 | |
and, ideally, we want the ewes to have two lambs each, | 0:35:30 | 0:35:34 | |
and when farmers talk about the number of lambs | 0:35:34 | 0:35:36 | |
that ewes are having, they talk about it in percentages, | 0:35:36 | 0:35:40 | |
so if they were having one each, that would be 100% lambing. | 0:35:40 | 0:35:43 | |
If they were all having two each, that would be 200% lambing. | 0:35:43 | 0:35:46 | |
Ours is working about 185% at the moment, | 0:35:46 | 0:35:49 | |
so nearly two lambs per ewe, which is absolutely brilliant, | 0:35:49 | 0:35:52 | |
but when the ewes are carrying so many lambs inside them, | 0:35:52 | 0:35:55 | |
the nutrition is absolutely essential. | 0:35:55 | 0:35:58 | |
Thankfully, we made this really good-quality silage last summer, | 0:36:01 | 0:36:04 | |
which is full of energy and protein, | 0:36:04 | 0:36:06 | |
but we do still need to top these ewes up | 0:36:06 | 0:36:08 | |
with some high-protein sheep nuts, | 0:36:08 | 0:36:11 | |
and that's what I am going to do now. | 0:36:11 | 0:36:13 | |
And we work out how many sheep nuts to feed them | 0:36:17 | 0:36:20 | |
depending on the quality of the silage. | 0:36:20 | 0:36:22 | |
And these sheep nuts are full of protein and minerals and energy. | 0:36:25 | 0:36:29 | |
These are all singles. They've only got one lamb inside them, | 0:36:29 | 0:36:32 | |
so they don't need so much grub. | 0:36:32 | 0:36:33 | |
If we give them too much, the ewes will get too fat and the lambs | 0:36:33 | 0:36:36 | |
will be too big, and they will struggle to give birth to them. | 0:36:36 | 0:36:40 | |
We separate the ewes based on how many lambs they are carrying. | 0:36:40 | 0:36:43 | |
This way, we can tailor their diets to suit their condition. | 0:36:43 | 0:36:47 | |
These are twins and triplets in here, | 0:36:47 | 0:36:50 | |
and they need twice as much grub as the singles. | 0:36:50 | 0:36:54 | |
They don't care about me. | 0:36:54 | 0:36:55 | |
They'll just knock me over trying to get to their breakfast! | 0:36:55 | 0:36:59 | |
And they need more because of the multiple lambs inside them. | 0:36:59 | 0:37:02 | |
The lambs do about 75% of their growth | 0:37:02 | 0:37:05 | |
in the last five to six weeks of pregnancy. | 0:37:05 | 0:37:08 | |
In fact, there is a disease called twin lamb disease that affects ewes | 0:37:08 | 0:37:13 | |
that are giving birth to twins and triplets, | 0:37:13 | 0:37:15 | |
and if the nutrition isn't right, those lambs are drawing on all | 0:37:15 | 0:37:19 | |
the mother's resources, and it can make them ill and they can die. | 0:37:19 | 0:37:22 | |
So the nutrition has to be right, and if we get it right, | 0:37:22 | 0:37:25 | |
the ewes will lamb down in good condition themselves, | 0:37:25 | 0:37:28 | |
producing plenty of milk, and the lambs will be a perfect size. | 0:37:28 | 0:37:32 | |
At the moment, I think we are getting it just about spot-on. | 0:37:32 | 0:37:35 | |
The ewes are sharing the shed with our herd of pregnant nanny goats. | 0:37:41 | 0:37:44 | |
They've been politely waiting in the wings for their breakfast, | 0:37:44 | 0:37:48 | |
but I am being patient with them too. | 0:37:48 | 0:37:51 | |
When a goat gives birth, it is called kidding, | 0:37:51 | 0:37:54 | |
and all these nannies are supposed to have kidded by now. | 0:37:54 | 0:37:58 | |
We put the billies in in the autumn | 0:37:58 | 0:38:00 | |
and the nannies come into season ready to accept the billy | 0:38:00 | 0:38:03 | |
as the day lengths get shorter, but because we had such a mild, | 0:38:03 | 0:38:06 | |
warm autumn, we don't think the nannies came into season | 0:38:06 | 0:38:10 | |
when we expected them to, so, actually, | 0:38:10 | 0:38:12 | |
they all are supposed to have given birth, but none of them have. | 0:38:12 | 0:38:16 | |
They are looking pretty huge at the moment, | 0:38:16 | 0:38:18 | |
and I am expecting them any day. | 0:38:18 | 0:38:20 | |
Right, they can have their breakfast. | 0:38:20 | 0:38:22 | |
There you go, girls. | 0:38:22 | 0:38:24 | |
So, although these are all still expecting, there is one that | 0:38:24 | 0:38:27 | |
did give birth when I was hoping, and she is in a pen over there. | 0:38:27 | 0:38:31 | |
Well, here she is. | 0:38:32 | 0:38:34 | |
Goats are very similar to sheep in many ways. | 0:38:34 | 0:38:36 | |
They have the same gestation period, | 0:38:36 | 0:38:38 | |
they give birth to similar amounts of young, | 0:38:38 | 0:38:40 | |
they've both got two teats to feed them on. | 0:38:40 | 0:38:43 | |
The only difference, really, is that sheep are much hardier | 0:38:43 | 0:38:45 | |
because they have got a fleece that is full of grease | 0:38:45 | 0:38:48 | |
and they can cope with wet, cold weather, | 0:38:48 | 0:38:50 | |
whereas goats need a shelter, so they like being in the shed here. | 0:38:50 | 0:38:54 | |
And this nanny gave birth to twins. | 0:38:54 | 0:38:57 | |
One lovely little goat kid here. | 0:38:57 | 0:39:00 | |
That's a real corker. | 0:39:00 | 0:39:03 | |
But the twin was tiny, and we thought it was going to die, | 0:39:03 | 0:39:06 | |
so we had to tube it with colostrum, | 0:39:06 | 0:39:08 | |
the first milk that the nanny produces, and now we have got it | 0:39:08 | 0:39:12 | |
in a warmer pen out the back there, with lots of little triplet lambs. | 0:39:12 | 0:39:16 | |
We'll go and have a look at it. | 0:39:16 | 0:39:18 | |
So, in here, we've got two little pens with heat lamps on, | 0:39:31 | 0:39:35 | |
with lambs in. | 0:39:35 | 0:39:36 | |
This is where we have our triplet or quad lambs. | 0:39:36 | 0:39:39 | |
A ewe has only got two teats, so if she has more than two lambs, | 0:39:39 | 0:39:43 | |
she can't feed them all, so we rear the spares in here, | 0:39:43 | 0:39:46 | |
and this is where the little goat kid is. | 0:39:46 | 0:39:49 | |
And he is still quite small. | 0:39:49 | 0:39:51 | |
He is about half the size of his brother, but doing really well now. | 0:39:51 | 0:39:55 | |
Looking really healthy. | 0:39:55 | 0:39:57 | |
And usually, with these pet lambs, | 0:39:57 | 0:39:59 | |
we have to feed them during the day and the night. | 0:39:59 | 0:40:02 | |
We have got them on this automatic feeder, they have got some teats | 0:40:02 | 0:40:05 | |
in here, so they can suckle milk whenever they want. | 0:40:05 | 0:40:07 | |
It is fed by these tubes that come from this automatic feeder. | 0:40:07 | 0:40:11 | |
The powdered milk is in the top, it's mixed up with the water, | 0:40:11 | 0:40:15 | |
warmed up and then feeds straight through to them. | 0:40:15 | 0:40:18 | |
I will see if he wants to have a little suckle. | 0:40:18 | 0:40:20 | |
There we go. | 0:40:22 | 0:40:23 | |
There. | 0:40:23 | 0:40:25 | |
Perfect. Goats are clever little creatures, | 0:40:26 | 0:40:29 | |
and he's really getting the hang of that, which is brilliant, | 0:40:29 | 0:40:32 | |
because it will save us a lot of time, | 0:40:32 | 0:40:34 | |
and at this time of year, we are always busy. | 0:40:34 | 0:40:36 | |
The ewes giving birth here are from the commercial flock | 0:40:40 | 0:40:43 | |
we keep on the farm but, as you know, rare breeds are my passion. | 0:40:43 | 0:40:47 | |
Today, pig farmer Chris Coe is bringing me a very special delivery. | 0:40:48 | 0:40:52 | |
PIG GRUNTS | 0:40:55 | 0:40:57 | |
Well, this is all quite exciting for me. | 0:40:57 | 0:40:59 | |
I've ordered some Berkshire pigs, but I haven't seen them yet. | 0:40:59 | 0:41:02 | |
-Hi, Chris. -Hi, Adam. Nice to meet you. -And you. | 0:41:02 | 0:41:04 | |
-So, have you got me some nice ones? -I do hope so. | 0:41:04 | 0:41:06 | |
-Shall we let them out? -Yes, let's. | 0:41:06 | 0:41:09 | |
Who have we got here, then, Chris? | 0:41:11 | 0:41:13 | |
-This is Henry. -The boar? -That's right. | 0:41:13 | 0:41:15 | |
He is 11 months old and raring to go. | 0:41:15 | 0:41:17 | |
-Is he friendly? -Yeah. -Go on, then. | 0:41:17 | 0:41:20 | |
Go on. | 0:41:20 | 0:41:22 | |
'Chris has one of the largest herds of Berkshire pigs in the country, | 0:41:22 | 0:41:26 | |
'and as well as Henry the boar...' | 0:41:26 | 0:41:28 | |
There we go. He's lovely. | 0:41:28 | 0:41:31 | |
'..she has also kindly sold me two pregnant gilts, | 0:41:31 | 0:41:34 | |
'young female pigs who are yet to have a litter...' | 0:41:34 | 0:41:38 | |
He's pleased to see you. | 0:41:38 | 0:41:39 | |
'..and a sow that has recently given birth to seven little piglets.' | 0:41:41 | 0:41:45 | |
HE CHUCKLES | 0:41:45 | 0:41:47 | |
Look at you with all your babies! | 0:41:47 | 0:41:49 | |
It's all a bit strange, isn't it? All a bit new. | 0:41:49 | 0:41:52 | |
Right, let's get them in the stable, shall we? | 0:41:52 | 0:41:54 | |
Come on, little piggies. Come on. | 0:41:54 | 0:41:57 | |
In you go with your mum. | 0:41:59 | 0:42:01 | |
Quite a different temperament to my Iron Age pigs. | 0:42:04 | 0:42:07 | |
Yeah, they are very, very calm | 0:42:07 | 0:42:08 | |
and they're great because even when they farrow, | 0:42:08 | 0:42:11 | |
you can be in with them, and they're absolutely, completely relaxed. | 0:42:11 | 0:42:14 | |
No problem whatsoever. | 0:42:14 | 0:42:16 | |
Having never had the breed before, it is very exciting to have them | 0:42:16 | 0:42:19 | |
on the farm, but take me through the finer points of a Berkshire. | 0:42:19 | 0:42:22 | |
What am I looking for? | 0:42:22 | 0:42:24 | |
Black coat all over, and then you've got six white points - | 0:42:24 | 0:42:27 | |
one on each foot, on the tip of the tail | 0:42:27 | 0:42:29 | |
and then just down the front of the face. | 0:42:29 | 0:42:31 | |
How much down the front of the face? | 0:42:31 | 0:42:33 | |
I see some of the piglets differ a bit. | 0:42:33 | 0:42:35 | |
Yes. It shouldn't be too much. You don't want their whole face covered. | 0:42:35 | 0:42:38 | |
It should just be, literally, across the top of the nose. | 0:42:38 | 0:42:41 | |
Not round the eyes. And not too much round the muzzle either. | 0:42:41 | 0:42:44 | |
And in stature, in comparison to the Tamworth | 0:42:44 | 0:42:46 | |
and the Gloucester Old Spot, quite a small pig. | 0:42:46 | 0:42:48 | |
They are. They're known as "the ladies' pig", actually. | 0:42:48 | 0:42:51 | |
They're great for someone my size | 0:42:51 | 0:42:52 | |
because you don't feel overpowered by them, | 0:42:52 | 0:42:54 | |
but it's their temperament which is what attracts you to them. | 0:42:54 | 0:42:58 | |
What about the Rare Breeds Survival Trust? Where are they on their list? | 0:42:58 | 0:43:02 | |
-Cos they're quite rare, aren't they? -Yes, they are. | 0:43:02 | 0:43:04 | |
They are a vulnerable category. | 0:43:04 | 0:43:05 | |
There are only about 200 active sows in the whole of the country. | 0:43:05 | 0:43:08 | |
They're really lovely. | 0:43:08 | 0:43:10 | |
Well, thank you so much for bringing me such a lovely herd. | 0:43:10 | 0:43:13 | |
-It's great to get started in them. -Absolutely. | 0:43:13 | 0:43:16 | |
Earlier, I began exploring the circular walk, the Ulster Way. | 0:43:40 | 0:43:44 | |
My journey has brought me to the | 0:43:46 | 0:43:48 | |
remote White Park Bay on the Antrim coast, | 0:43:48 | 0:43:51 | |
one of creator Wilfrid Capper's favourite spots. | 0:43:51 | 0:43:55 | |
Capper helped buy the bay for the nation 80 years ago. | 0:43:55 | 0:44:00 | |
Here, his path crosses the beach and dunes. | 0:44:03 | 0:44:06 | |
Footpaths bear the brunt of a lot of walking boots and weather, | 0:44:09 | 0:44:12 | |
and need care and attention to stay open. | 0:44:12 | 0:44:15 | |
But when there is more than 600 miles of it, | 0:44:15 | 0:44:18 | |
that's a lot of hard graft. | 0:44:18 | 0:44:19 | |
'The two-mile stretch of path across White Park Bay | 0:44:26 | 0:44:30 | |
'is maintained by a hardy team, | 0:44:30 | 0:44:32 | |
'led by National Trust warden Cliff Henry.' | 0:44:32 | 0:44:36 | |
Lovely to see you too. | 0:44:36 | 0:44:37 | |
Now, this is not a bad spot to be responsible for, is it? | 0:44:37 | 0:44:40 | |
It's beautiful, isn't it? Every day is different. | 0:44:40 | 0:44:43 | |
The weather is always different, so every day, | 0:44:43 | 0:44:45 | |
-it is beautiful in a different way. -So, what is your involvement? | 0:44:45 | 0:44:49 | |
My job is area ranger, so I look after the site, | 0:44:49 | 0:44:51 | |
for its conservation, so I would manage any scrub clearance, | 0:44:51 | 0:44:55 | |
or any problems on site, I would be responsible for looking after that. | 0:44:55 | 0:45:00 | |
Why does it need scrub clearance? | 0:45:00 | 0:45:02 | |
Why can't you just let nature take its course? | 0:45:02 | 0:45:04 | |
There have been a number of issues with under-grazing | 0:45:04 | 0:45:07 | |
since the Trust took the site on, and this has led to brambles | 0:45:07 | 0:45:10 | |
and blackthorn just growing uncontrollably, | 0:45:10 | 0:45:13 | |
so now bramble and blackthorn cover nearly a third of the park. | 0:45:13 | 0:45:16 | |
We are trying to turn the clock back | 0:45:16 | 0:45:18 | |
and get it back to its pristine state. | 0:45:18 | 0:45:20 | |
Well, you've got another willing volunteer here, Cliff, | 0:45:20 | 0:45:23 | |
and I love burning stuff, so lead the way. | 0:45:23 | 0:45:25 | |
I'm off to help Cliff and the volunteer working party | 0:45:28 | 0:45:31 | |
clear the scrub on the slopes here. | 0:45:31 | 0:45:34 | |
80 years ago, when Capper fell for this place, | 0:45:35 | 0:45:38 | |
grazing farm animals would have kept the undergrowth in check. | 0:45:38 | 0:45:42 | |
Now the dominant blackthorn and brambles | 0:45:42 | 0:45:45 | |
smother all the other plants. | 0:45:45 | 0:45:47 | |
Cutting them back will allow the recorded 1,000 species | 0:45:47 | 0:45:52 | |
to re-emerge and thrive again. | 0:45:52 | 0:45:54 | |
What plants and species have you got here that you want to preserve? | 0:45:56 | 0:46:00 | |
We have 13 species of orchid on site here, | 0:46:00 | 0:46:03 | |
and some of those have only been seen once, | 0:46:03 | 0:46:06 | |
so they are very rare. | 0:46:06 | 0:46:08 | |
Whoo! | 0:46:20 | 0:46:21 | |
It is a hard job but it is very satisfying. Oh... | 0:46:21 | 0:46:25 | |
White Park Bay has four-legged volunteers, too, | 0:46:38 | 0:46:41 | |
roaming the beach and dunes. | 0:46:41 | 0:46:44 | |
These cattle are a vital weapon | 0:46:44 | 0:46:46 | |
in the battle to rid | 0:46:46 | 0:46:48 | |
the bay of pest plants. | 0:46:48 | 0:46:49 | |
Wonderfully easy to please, | 0:46:49 | 0:46:51 | |
they can tackle brambles and other unpalatable vegetation. | 0:46:51 | 0:46:55 | |
National Trust manager and livestock farmer Frank Devlin | 0:46:55 | 0:46:59 | |
keeps a close eye on the cattle. | 0:46:59 | 0:47:01 | |
Frank, I have seen it all now. | 0:47:02 | 0:47:05 | |
-Cows on the beach? -Yes. Indeed. | 0:47:05 | 0:47:07 | |
They are very at home on the beach, actually, | 0:47:07 | 0:47:10 | |
but you are just as likely to see them way up on the scree slopes. | 0:47:10 | 0:47:13 | |
What are they doing here? Is this their ground? | 0:47:13 | 0:47:16 | |
This is where they graze. | 0:47:16 | 0:47:17 | |
There's not too many of them here in the wintertime | 0:47:17 | 0:47:20 | |
because the vegetation is low and there is not too much feeding, | 0:47:20 | 0:47:23 | |
but in the summertime, the numbers increase. | 0:47:23 | 0:47:25 | |
What you've seen today, the guys out working with the chainsaws, | 0:47:25 | 0:47:28 | |
the strimmers, the tractors, is a short-term measure to try | 0:47:28 | 0:47:31 | |
and get all the scrub under control and at that stage, then, | 0:47:31 | 0:47:36 | |
we will allow the cattle to take their place | 0:47:36 | 0:47:38 | |
as a long-term measure for conservation. | 0:47:38 | 0:47:40 | |
What type of cows are they? | 0:47:40 | 0:47:42 | |
They must be a certain breed that can handle this sort of terrain? | 0:47:42 | 0:47:45 | |
These are young Angus cattle. | 0:47:45 | 0:47:47 | |
They are young because we have a bit of an issue here on site with ticks, | 0:47:47 | 0:47:51 | |
and the ticks on the site carry a parasite, | 0:47:51 | 0:47:54 | |
and the parasite attacks their red blood cells, | 0:47:54 | 0:47:57 | |
which can be very dangerous and actually fatal in some cases, | 0:47:57 | 0:48:01 | |
so the younger cattle are more resilient to that parasite. | 0:48:01 | 0:48:04 | |
-I can see you have got a soft spot for those cattle. -Oh, absolutely. | 0:48:04 | 0:48:07 | |
They are so at home here, and it works so well, | 0:48:07 | 0:48:10 | |
for both the National Trust and the livestock here. | 0:48:10 | 0:48:13 | |
They're getting a great habitat, | 0:48:13 | 0:48:15 | |
the tenant is getting the livestock outside, | 0:48:15 | 0:48:18 | |
good conditions to keep them in, less winter feeding, | 0:48:18 | 0:48:21 | |
and it's a win-win situation for both of us. | 0:48:21 | 0:48:25 | |
Thanks to the National Trust wardens and all their helpers, | 0:48:28 | 0:48:32 | |
this bay will again become the place that Wilfrid Capper knew and loved. | 0:48:32 | 0:48:36 | |
This year marks the 70th anniversary of one man's vision that has | 0:48:36 | 0:48:41 | |
left us this glorious, pristine bay | 0:48:41 | 0:48:43 | |
and the Ulster Way path that crosses it. | 0:48:43 | 0:48:46 | |
He's a local hero here in Northern Ireland, but I think you'll agree | 0:48:48 | 0:48:52 | |
his flash of inspiration deserves to be commemorated across the UK. | 0:48:52 | 0:48:57 | |
I mean, just look at it! | 0:48:57 | 0:48:59 | |
Today, we are exploring Northern Ireland | 0:49:20 | 0:49:23 | |
and while Anita is discovering the Ulster Way, I'm on Rathlin. | 0:49:23 | 0:49:28 | |
This small island lies just off the Antrim coast. | 0:49:31 | 0:49:34 | |
It has a rugged and beautiful shoreline, alive with wildlife. | 0:49:35 | 0:49:40 | |
The islanders have always been great sailors. They've had to be. | 0:49:48 | 0:49:52 | |
And along with farming, fishing has been a vital source of income here. | 0:49:52 | 0:49:57 | |
But today, in these waters, there is an intriguing new enterprise. | 0:49:57 | 0:50:02 | |
An underwater farm. | 0:50:02 | 0:50:04 | |
I'm joining fourth-generation fisherman Benji McFaul. | 0:50:08 | 0:50:12 | |
When he's not harvesting shellfish, | 0:50:12 | 0:50:14 | |
he turns his hand to a spot of aquaculture. | 0:50:14 | 0:50:18 | |
His family cultivate kelp plants in a lab on shore before fixing them | 0:50:18 | 0:50:23 | |
onto ropes to mature out at sea. | 0:50:23 | 0:50:26 | |
They've found conditions are good here for growing this sea vegetable | 0:50:29 | 0:50:32 | |
and now it is time to gather it in. | 0:50:32 | 0:50:35 | |
The temperature here tends not to fluctuate too much, | 0:50:35 | 0:50:38 | |
we've got quite consistent temperatures. | 0:50:38 | 0:50:40 | |
-That's good for growing kelp? -It's good for growing kelp, yeah. | 0:50:40 | 0:50:44 | |
In the summertime, it will increase a bit but not by a wild lot. | 0:50:44 | 0:50:47 | |
The waters are quite cold round here, | 0:50:47 | 0:50:49 | |
and the kelp seem to thrive in colder waters. | 0:50:49 | 0:50:52 | |
How deep does it go? | 0:50:52 | 0:50:54 | |
When the rope is set at first, the rope is situated about seven feet | 0:50:54 | 0:50:58 | |
below the surface, but then, as the kelp starts to grow, | 0:50:58 | 0:51:01 | |
the rope becomes heavier and heavier, and the rope will sink. | 0:51:01 | 0:51:04 | |
It won't sink to the bottom but it will pull the floats down, | 0:51:04 | 0:51:07 | |
and whenever that happens, | 0:51:07 | 0:51:09 | |
that means the rope is ready for harvesting. | 0:51:09 | 0:51:11 | |
-But it's very sustainable, isn't it? -Oh, it is totally sustainable. | 0:51:11 | 0:51:14 | |
We are not to do any harm to any wildlife. | 0:51:14 | 0:51:16 | |
In fact, you create a wee bit of a habitat while the stuff is going. | 0:51:16 | 0:51:20 | |
Wee shrimps and fish thrive and live within the kelp ropes. | 0:51:20 | 0:51:23 | |
Which do you prefer, getting lobsters and crabs, or kelp? | 0:51:23 | 0:51:26 | |
Um... | 0:51:26 | 0:51:28 | |
Ach, I like fishing for shellfish, you know? | 0:51:28 | 0:51:30 | |
But I don't mind doing this either. But it is more pleasurable | 0:51:30 | 0:51:34 | |
when the weather is a bit better, in the summer, like. | 0:51:34 | 0:51:37 | |
But, no, it's grand. | 0:51:37 | 0:51:39 | |
Once collected, the crop is taken back to the island. | 0:51:47 | 0:51:51 | |
There, it is made into foods like noodles and pesto. | 0:51:51 | 0:51:55 | |
And Kate Burns, Benji's mum and company founder, | 0:51:58 | 0:52:01 | |
is keen to show me how versatile and tasty this superfood can be. | 0:52:01 | 0:52:06 | |
So, we've got a little salad here. | 0:52:06 | 0:52:08 | |
Here, we've got kelp made with basil and garlic, into a pesto. | 0:52:08 | 0:52:12 | |
We have it mixed with creme fraiche with... | 0:52:12 | 0:52:14 | |
-One of Benji's lobsters. -..one of Benji's lobsters, with kelp butter. | 0:52:14 | 0:52:18 | |
-Lovely. -And then we have it with noodles as well. | 0:52:18 | 0:52:21 | |
So we're just going to put some noodles... | 0:52:21 | 0:52:23 | |
In here, they're actually mixed with regular noodles. | 0:52:23 | 0:52:26 | |
You would normally cook the noodles for maybe two minutes. | 0:52:26 | 0:52:29 | |
-Just to soften them up? -Just to soften them up a bit, yes. | 0:52:29 | 0:52:31 | |
-So, I'll just lift them out. -Yeah. | 0:52:31 | 0:52:33 | |
The kelp doesn't have much of a taste. | 0:52:33 | 0:52:36 | |
You will see when you try them now. | 0:52:36 | 0:52:38 | |
It just tastes vaguely of the sea. It is not strong, generally. | 0:52:38 | 0:52:41 | |
It is an ingredient. | 0:52:41 | 0:52:43 | |
It looks more like tagliatelle to me than noodles. | 0:52:43 | 0:52:46 | |
Well, we call it our tagliatelle cut. | 0:52:46 | 0:52:48 | |
I see what you mean about tasting of the sea. | 0:52:55 | 0:52:57 | |
-Yes. -Yeah. It is a rather nice flavour, actually. -Yeah. | 0:52:57 | 0:53:01 | |
-Isn't it? -It has. | 0:53:01 | 0:53:03 | |
It is quite a subtle flavour. Not salty at all. | 0:53:03 | 0:53:06 | |
What do you see for the future of kelp? | 0:53:12 | 0:53:15 | |
-Is it just on this island? -No. | 0:53:15 | 0:53:17 | |
Actually, I really think the British Isles are in a really sweet | 0:53:17 | 0:53:21 | |
place to be a major producer of farmed kelp. | 0:53:21 | 0:53:24 | |
We can't actually grow what we would like to here, | 0:53:24 | 0:53:28 | |
and that is actually because our sea is too rough. | 0:53:28 | 0:53:31 | |
And we'd be looking to other peripheral coastal communities, | 0:53:31 | 0:53:34 | |
communities that are struggling, where fishing is a challenge, | 0:53:34 | 0:53:38 | |
and help them start to grow kelp. | 0:53:38 | 0:53:41 | |
Well, I am going to take this back to the mainland to | 0:53:41 | 0:53:44 | |
a friend of mine, see what she makes of it. | 0:53:44 | 0:53:46 | |
-See if she can guess what this tagliatelle comes from. -OK. | 0:53:46 | 0:53:50 | |
Lovely to see you, Kate. And all the very best for your business. | 0:53:50 | 0:53:53 | |
Thank you very much. | 0:53:53 | 0:53:54 | |
It's great to see that kelp looks set to be an integral | 0:53:59 | 0:54:03 | |
part of Rathlin's future while, at the same time, | 0:54:03 | 0:54:06 | |
providing a fitting link to the island's past. | 0:54:06 | 0:54:10 | |
Hi, John. I'm the welcoming committee. | 0:54:11 | 0:54:14 | |
-Well, thank you. Lovely to see you again. -How was it? | 0:54:14 | 0:54:17 | |
Fantastic little place, yeah. I really loved it there. | 0:54:17 | 0:54:20 | |
What about you? Welcome back to Countryfile, | 0:54:20 | 0:54:22 | |
-after all the glamour of Strictly. -It's good to be back. I know. | 0:54:22 | 0:54:24 | |
I've got some sequins hidden under here somewhere. | 0:54:24 | 0:54:27 | |
Look, I've got you something from the island. | 0:54:27 | 0:54:29 | |
Ooh! Now, if this is the secret to being youthful like you, John... | 0:54:29 | 0:54:33 | |
Now, what do you think that is? | 0:54:33 | 0:54:35 | |
-Tagliatelle of some sort? -Hmm. | 0:54:35 | 0:54:37 | |
Hmm! | 0:54:37 | 0:54:39 | |
Oh, it's delicious. | 0:54:39 | 0:54:40 | |
Do you know what it is made from? | 0:54:40 | 0:54:42 | |
-Tell me. -Seaweed. | 0:54:42 | 0:54:43 | |
-Have some more. -Thank you. -You can have the whole lot! | 0:54:43 | 0:54:46 | |
Well, that's it for this week. | 0:54:46 | 0:54:48 | |
Next week, Adam is going to be in Aberystwyth, | 0:54:48 | 0:54:50 | |
finding out what life is like for a young farmer. | 0:54:50 | 0:54:53 | |
-Until then, from Northern Ireland, goodbye. -Bye. -This is good stuff. | 0:54:53 | 0:54:57 |