Episode 21 Landward

Hello and a very warm welcome to Landward, taking you on a weekly

journey across the great Scottish countryside.

Later in the programme, I will be continuing my epic voyage down the

length of the River Clyde. Here is what else is on Landward this

week... Aspen trees get a helping hand to

flourish... You make sure you have got a large

number of male and females together and try and get them to flower

together, so you have a decent variety of genetics.

We find out how to make biscuits from acorns...

And this requires an essential ingredient - elbow grease.

And I will be helping make a massive work of art on Bennachie Hill.

The idea itself is very simple, actually. It is just looking at

forestry management and how the Forestry Commission plants the land

and how, in general, they manage the whole landscape.

The news is full of stories about young people struggling to find good

opportunities in the current economic climate, but Sarah has been

to find out about one internship scheme that is paid and gives

trainees plenty of practical experience in rural businesses.

For years, we have been hearing that the average age of farmers is

increasing. At the moment, it is about 58. On top of that, the

farming workforce tend to be older, too. More than half are over 44. It

is estimated that, by the year 2020, though up to 30,000 employees are

required to take up jobs in land-based industries. These include

farming, forestry and horticulture. But where are all these skilled

people going to come from? There is a big skills shortage. We

have to look at why and a lot of it, I would say, is we maybe have one or

maybe two generations who were not encouraged to go down the

skills-based route of apprenticeships, whether it be in

agriculture or other industries. It was further education, further

education. It is now hitting home. And Ringlink is one organisation

trying to tackle the problem. It is a co-operative group that

specialises in machinery and labour-saving - very roughly, a temp

agency for farmers. They have started the own internship scheme.

Through our organisation, Ringlink Services, we take on the interns and

we then contract them out to mentors that we have got from the

membership. The scheme starts with two weeks of

training, in areas such as health and safety and first aid. Then, it

is out onto the farm. They are just finishing school. They

do not want to go on to further education or college or certainly,

not at this stage. Some of them just want to get out there and earn and

learn and find out, is this the career for them? At 16, not all

16-year-olds know what they want to do.

Euan Will and David Petrie are both interns on the scheme. Do you have a

farming background? No, my granny was a farmer, but that

was as close as I got. When I was 13, during a school holiday I got a

weekend job with a local farm for a three years and then I saw the

internship and thought, "That three years of experience let me know that

farming was for me. I want to expand my knowledge even more." Now, your

bosses is just out of earshot, so you can say what you like, you can

tell the truth. How much are you enjoying it?

It is the best place I have been. Everyone is good to work with, the

boys here are really helpful. You could not ask for much more, to be

honest. What sort of things are you getting

to do? A wide variety, from carting silage,

to picking up bales, gathering bales, feeding cattle, working with

cattle. A wide variety. And what would you like to do at the

end of it? Hopefully, carry on in farming, in

some way or another. What about you, David, what would

you like to do at the end of it all? I would love to get into farming as

a full-time job and, hopefully, at some point, get my own farm, if that

is possible. It will be a lot of work but, hopefully, it will work

out. Each intern works on one farm. David

Petrie is being mentored by Ian Green of Corskie Farm, near

Fochabers. How big a commitment is it for you, in terms of your time

and, even, your money? It is a commitment, but I see it as

a beneficial commitment. Obviously, it is taking a bit of time up, not

just my own, but also the staff. Obviously, there is also the

financial commitment - there is a weekly wage. But I think it is

important to give the ones that are interested and keen on agriculture

that commitment. It is just a pilot scheme at the

moment. How are things working so far?

It has been quite beneficial, I would like to think for all the

parties involved. It would be disappointing if it did not

continue. The plan for next year is to expand

the number of places on the scheme from six to 12. One could argue that

this is not going to make much of a dent on the 30,000 employees

required by 2020, but it is a start. Over the last two weeks, I have

followed the path of the River Clyde, from its source in Leadhills

to the outskirts of Glasgow. The Clyde is perhaps best known for its

industrial heritage,. But it is also home to some spectacular medieval

architecture. Bothwell Castle has stood guard over

the Clyde for 700 years. It really is one of the most

outstanding 13th-Century castles anywhere in the realm. It tells us

so much about the siege warfare, it tells us a lot about how life was

lived in a-high lordly status. How important was the river to this

castle? Really important, because it gave it

a strategic importance. And the way it wrapped itself around the castle,

along the south and west, give it a very clear defence on that side, as

well. And how big a role did the castle

play in the history of medieval Scotland in this area?

It was really important in the wars of independence. It was quite a

target for Edward I forces. He besieged the castle twice. The

castle went through a number of sieges. It changed hands several

times, but at the end of the 14th century, it fell into the hands of

the Douglas family, the Black Douglases, who are a very important

family nationally, second only to the royal family of Scotland. They

extended and repaired the original castle and built brand-new

architecture of their own. From Bothwell, the River Clyde winds

its way to Glasgow Green, in the East End of the city.

Today, the Green is where people come to relax and enjoy themselves.

It is also home to one of Scotland's oldest rowing clubs.

We have been on the Clyde for about 150 years. We have been on this site

for 105 years. We have had numerous Olympic champions come through the

door. Right now, we are experiencing a real surge of interest in the

sport, post the Olympic Games. We are going out on the water today.

What are we going to do and how tough and difficult is it? I am

pretty hopeless at these things. You will be fine, you will be fine.

You will find it is not as easy as these boys are making it look. There

will be the odd "pander moments", when it gets a wee bit wobbly. But I

have never gone in and I do not intend to go in today.

Right, that is good news. Very good news.

So much training do you have do to be to be OK at this?

To be OK? Well, that is the thing about this sport, most people tend

to train a lot. At the, sort of, club level of the sport, most people

are training once a day. Once a day,really? Even at club

level? Yes, they would be doing six or

eight sessions a week, just to get by in the sport. The really good

ones will be training twice a day and that is just to compete at

national level. OK, start to work a bit, will you?! Let us have a bit of

effort! A bit of effort? I thought I was

doing a bit of effort. Come on, push!

Whoa! I thought I was going in there. Classic. That is fantastic.

Going overboard into the water, just as we get back to the boathouse.

Thought you were going in, did you? I just,,, Don't do that! Not funny!

Next week, I will be back on dry land, finding out about the Clyde's

shipbuilding heritage. Still do, hope to make a sweet snack from

acorns. As the autumn leaves change colour

and fall in our woodlands, one of the most spectacular is the aspen,

but as Euan has been finding out, these trees are a bit thin on the

ground and need quite a bit of encouragement to reproduce.

This is one of the most enigmatic and beautiful of Scotland's native

trees. The aspen, so-called because it appears to tremble in the wind.

Aspen are real in the native woodlands and most can be found in

the north of the country, usually in small and isolated stands.

The goal in colonies that spread through a single system.

Genetically, they may be thousands of years old, because a tree will

die and a small part of that will come back from the route and take

life. So these trees where effectively one tree? Yes, they were

one tree for thousands of years. That would system survives and from

the root system of the original, they come up continually. What about

biodiversity? Yes, 20 years ago that would not have been seen as

important. But it has now been identified as being a extremely

important. It is also the home to a very rear fly. Also, you get the

likes of the beetle moth which are normally found near places like

this. And every animal seems to love it. If you give them a choice of

leaves to eat, they will invariably always choose the leave of the Aspin

's. In common with other species which are male and female genes, the

aspen is really flower in the Scottish climate. They are made up

of genetically identical trees of a different sex. Growing them in a lab

is one we've which would allow the species to flourish. Scientists at

the high-end island wildlife park are doing just that. Aspin 's have

male and female clients, so it has to have flowers on both male and

females to flourish. We set up our own situation here, so if you can

get enough columns, getting off meals and females together, you can

get them to flower and then get a decent Friday of genetics. The idea

is that we want them to flower. We actually go along and cut the tree,

so it feels threatened and feels the need to flower, to survive. This is

the north and this is some of the first seagoing switch of been

produced. Once they are older, they will be planted amongst the

fragmented strands of Aspin 's break the Highlands. It would be good to

have Aspin is linked up across the entire landscape here. It is a

native tree to Scotland and the super icon. It is absolutely

fantastic to look at. Despite its ancient lineage, aspen has been

overlooked and become rear. But with a bit of help, this enigmatic cheek

and take its rightful place at the top of the table.

Now, if you have a comment you want to make about anything you see on

the programme or maybe you have an amazing story to tell, then drop us

an e-mail to... No, the sun is trying to poke through, but the wind

is absolutely raw. To find out the prospects for the weekend and

beyond, it is now over to Christopher Blanchett, for the

Landward weather forecast. This weekend, a tale of two has.

Saturday, cloudy and mail, Sunday, sunny and called. We have this

weather front of the north-west of the country, of which is bringing a

lot of wind. It is rather murky and drizzly in the central belt and the

West. The rain will begin to push its way south during the course of

the day. The fragment as it comes down. Some parts of Aberdeen show

will avoid any note together. Nason mailed via, comparatively, with the

rise of 13 Celsius. Though, on the health and maintenance, it is going

to be pretty wet virtually everywhere. In the eastern ridges,

not quite as much rain. Again, a lot of very heavy wind. Here are the

unsure Watters over in the East, it is once again a

south-westerly force five, strengthening to GeForce seven

during the course of the day. That weather front continues to sink

South, fragmenting all the whale. It will leave it try, clear and cold as

we head into the early hours of Sunday, with the widespread frost on

the way. Still windy in the North, and if we look at the detail for

Sunday, there is this weather front pushing, but well away from us.

Sunday, not looking too bad. It is dry, bright and sunny, but it is

called, with the temperatures struggling to get above seven

Celsius. As we head towards Monday, the next system is working its way

in. It is a messy all day, but it is a day of transition. There will be

areas of rain on Monday, with temperatures still around the eight

Celsius mark, but in choose the, much colder. -- Tuesday. At best,

daytime temperatures of only three or four Celsius. Add on a strong

northerly wind and it will feel even colder than that. Wednesday, a

similar story, with more frequent showers in the East Coast.

Over the years, woodland forager and outdoor survival expert Patrick

McGlinchey has shown us a host of ancient bushcraft skills.

This week, he is taking us into the woods to collect acorns for one of

his favourite autumn recipes, acorn biscuits.

Autumn is my favourite season of the year. It is a time when the nature

provides the forager with a wide variety of fruit and nuts.

There is probably a lot of reasons why this has been a good year. We

have had the wet spring, a lot of blossom on the trees and a lack of

wind. Of course, we have also had the glorious summer.

This is what I have gathered today. This seed of the matey -- the acorn.

It is packed full of carbohydrates and minerals. It was a staple food

for our ancestors. Today, I am going to make acorn biscuits, not unlike

what takes. I am also collecting some whale apples.

Now, for the fruit paste, this sorrel will do the trick. As always,

be careful about what you pick, if you are unsure about it, leave it

alone. Before we can make the flower, we have two scraped the

membrane of the outside of the acorn.

What we have got to do is kind the acorns into a paste. Believe you me,

this is a lot of work and requires an essential ingredient -- elbow

grease. That was hard work. But in true blue

Peter fashion, this is something that I don't earlier in the week. I

have put it in a bottle with some water. It is important to separate

the bitter chemical tannin from the paste. If you leave on Friday, the

water will Brown and take that out and you can then pour it away. After

a couple of days, you have nice tan in three flower.

To make the boat takes, I use a little flour and some brown sugar.

This is the best part. Well the door rests, I can get on

with the paste. What we are looking for is it to be

nice and flat. Not too thick. We will cut out a nice round shape. The

rehab it. A beautiful cake, ready for the pan.

After a couple of minutes each side, pretender topping. -- put in

the topping. It is no time for the taste test.

I have got to say, these are delicious. Full of flavour, nutty,

with the fruity time. A true taste of Scotland.

Last week, I joined over 30 artists on Bennachie Hill in Aberdeenshire

to help create a large scale work of art. Here is what happened.

I am here on the fourth and final day of the project. The work is hard

vision. The idea is very simple, looking at forestry management and

how the Forestry Commission manages the manned -- the land and the whole

landscape. The whole idea started with looking at the landscape from

an ADL point of view. I just wanted to create another triangle of my

own. What am I going to do? We're going to give you a paintbrush and a

bucket. You just follow everybody else. When I was told I was going to

be creating a work of art, this did not really come into my mind, but,

hey. The site chosen was recently cleared

by the Forestry Commission. I love this area and this has been the year

of magical Scotland. We were looking for Reagan for various individuals

and groups to work with artists and we approached them and they said,

that is an interesting project. I had been up here looking at the

natural environment and painting some pictures, but they said, we

could get more and get more contemporary artists involved. I

thought that sounded interesting and we decided to go for it and that is

where we are today. So it is not just about providing a canvas for

the actors, you are actually taking part? Absolutely. Yes, we have had

other members of the commission note as well. It has been great fun. I

never thought I would be painting tree stumps. The only way you could

view the whole thing is by standing on top of the hill. For me, that is

because a lot of my work, it can be hidden unless you see it from a

certain angle. As installations go, it is

incredibly simple. It is as a free trees have gone back into the

landscape, but for this view alone, this walk is well worth it.

All this and art as well. And that is almost all we have time

for this week. Here is what is coming up on the programme next

week... Why Scotland punches above its

weight in the potato industry. And I conclude my journey down the

River Clyde. The ships have been on these waters for many years in the

first of these came down in 1812. So join us for that and much more at

the same time next week - Friday night, 7.00pm, on BBC Two Scotland.

In the meantime, from all the team here, thanks for your company. Bye

for now.