Episode 22 Landward

Hello and a very warm welcome to Landward, your weekly guide to the

working world of the Scottish countryside. In a moment we'll be

finding out why Scotland punches above its weight in the potato

industry. But first here's what else is coming up on the programme: Sarah

explores the culture of the Highland travellers. It was fine when the

weather was good, but when the weather was bad it was a pretty

tough life. Nick begins a new series on foods

linked to specific locations. Apparently this is where the real

Bridies come from? That's right. The Forfar Bridies. The real Forfar

Bridies. And I complete my journey down the

River Clyde. The last of a long line and many folk have generations of

memories sailing down the water to the resorts on the Clyde in their

heyday. Every autumn there is a flurry of

activity in our fields as the potato crop is gathered. It is a hugely

important industry for Scottish farmers who grow potatoes for seed

and consumption. For hundreds of years, the humble tattie was the

staple of the Scottish nation, feeding everybody from crofters to

factory workers. In recent years, our love affair has diminished as

consumers went in search of low carb alternatives. But the potato

industry is fighting back. I met up with Scotland's potato ambassador,

Peter Grewer, the man who's charged with promoting potatoes across the

nation and who needs them every single day. Potatoes are a massively

important crop the Scottish agriculture. We are growing - in old

money - about 66,000 acres, 26, 27,000 hectares. That is over a

million tonnes of spuds. We are growing about 22% on average of the

growing crop in Britain. When you figure we've only got about 10% of

the population, we are punching above our weight. Why is that? Why

is Scotland so good at growing potatoes? A lot of it is climate,

our landscape and soil suits it. We have a very temperate climate, our

summers aren't too hot and we have ample rainfall. We have long, summer

days. We have harder winters which stops the spread of disease and

viruses. We're well suited in Scotland to producing high quality

potatoes. The Scots connection with potatoes went beyond the dinner

plate. As up until not so long ago, generations of schoolchildren took

to the field every October in the tattie holidays to take part in

howking. It's changed a lot since I was

howking tatties when I was young. I've got harvesters now, self

propelled harvesters that can lift 20 acres in one day, which is four

or 500 tonnes of potatoes in one day from one harvester. They come into

cold storage, so we have stores that will hold 3000 tonnes in wooden

boxes and crates and keep them temperature controlled through the

winter. Held in a big fridge basically, at three degrees. We can

supply the market for 12 months of the year with Scottish potatoes.

What's going on here as it still looks quite labour-intensive? These

are your tattie graders doing a sizing job. We can spread them into

three or four different sizes. The pickers are picking out any obvious

defects they can see, any stones or earth that has got through the

harvesting process. When is the big uptake in demand for Scottish

potatoes? It is weather-related. If you get a cold snap, and we have had

a couple of hard winters, we see demand going up. People want a nice,

warm baked tattie and a hearty soup. And at Christmas time everyone likes

roast tatties for their Christmas dinner. We have got some

newly-lifted tatties in front of us. Peter, what have we got? We have

three different varieties. This is the King Edward. Perfect for baking,

lifted out the fields two or three weeks ago. A wee bit of butter,

that's all you need. Look at that, lovely. Ambassador, what does that

mean? It's through the Potato Council. There are ten ambassadors

across Great Britain. Of which I am the sole one for Scotland. It is to

provide the link between potato grower and the consumer, the

purchaser of potatoes. Has the tattie suffered heavily because of

things like the Atkins diet, carbohydrate was the difficult one?

It's not just diet, over the last 40 to 50 years, people's diets in

general have changed. The potato is not the villain of the piece, it has

the ability to be the saviour. It is a complex starch and carbohydrate

which is what the body needs for its energy. Even without the skin, they

are still very nutrient dense. More potassium than bananas, rich in

folic acid. Lots of fibre. Naturally fat-free. What is this one? This is

the rooster. The red-skinned rooster. This is a great variety of

spud. A fluffy interior, but the flavour with this one really comes

out. As a nation hopefully we are starting to eat more potatoes again

and recognise the health benefits of the potato. We are eating them on

their own with a wee bit of butter. You can't do that with a plate of

pasta or a bowl of rice. But you can do it with a tattie. That is the

beauty of it. And there's not a lot you can argue with that. And, we've

had lunch with the ambassador. Fantastic.

Scottish cuisine has seen something of a revival in recent years and

recipes have travelled far and wide. But some traditional dishes have

never left and have become synonymous with the place they were

invented. Over the next few weeks Nick will be going in search of

Scottish towns that give their name to a type of food. This week he's in

Forfar. Arbroath has its smokies, Selkirk

has its bannocks and Aberdeen has its rowies. The mention of some

towns in Scotland brings to mind particular foodstuff. But, have you

ever thought why? Well, I am about to find out. The Angus town of

Forfar, Royal borough and traditional market town, serving

surrounding farmland. When you mention Forfar, you think bridie.

With its origins surrounded in mystery, I have come to one of the

two rival bakeries in Forfar who still produce authentic bridies.

Hello. Karen. Nick, how are you? I'm very good, very good. Pleased to

meet you. Apparently this is where the real bridies come from? That's

right. The Forfar bridie? The real Forfar bridies. What makes a real

Forfar bridie? Do you want to come through to the bake house and I'll

show you how they are made. Fantastic. No problem, this way.

Obviously we make the dough first. The dough is made here. They bring

it up here. So it is a beef filling? Yes, stake. Where is that made? Up

at the table here. And this is all hand done? All hand done here. And

this has been going on for how long? Since 1893. And has the recipe

changed? No, not at all. They said it was made for the bride's meal, so

hence the horseshoe shape. So obviously, a meat bridie would

probably more expensive in those days and it's for good luck, and

that would be why they only had it at weddings. Karen, how many bridies

would you sell of a day? Probably between four and 500. And then on

Saturday, may be over 1000. It is a lot busier the Saturdays, the Forfar

day for the bridie. ??WHIT What a fantastic old oven. How old is it?

1920 it went in. You still use it today? Everyday, yeah. Does it make

a difference? Yes it does, you get good soul in the bridies. Perfect.

Let's see the soul of the bridie. Yes. They look delicious. There you

go. Thank you so much for giving me an insight into something that is

ancient and still survives today. I'm sure more people need to know

about this. Yes. According to the 1929 cookbook, A Scot's Kitchen, the

bridie recipe concludes, "bake them in a quick oven for half an hour and

out they come, golden, dappled beauties fit for a king's supper". I

don't know about a king, but... More than fit for a chef.

Still to come: I complete my journey down the Clyde where the river meets

the sea. In my eyes it ends at the end of the river channel at

Greenock, at what we call the number one bouy, which is the last or the

first bouy of the river channel. Here in Scotland the proud culture

of travellers is celebrated in story and song. Sarah has been to the

Highland Folk Museum to meet a storyteller who spent her childhood

summers on the road in Caithness and Sutherland.

Up until the Second World War tents like this one at the Highland Folk

Museum were a common sight. The travellers who lived in them made

their living on the road. When the schools broke up at Easter time, we

would be away and we did a circuit right round the coast of Sutherland

and Caithness. As far west as Ullapool.

The Stewart family travelled the Highlands for generations. Essie's

grandfather was a tinsmith and her mother hawked goods door to door.

Did you enjoy it as a child, the travelling lifestyle? I did, yeah.

With hindsight, I did. It was hard, you know. I would be lying if I said

otherwise. It was fine when the weather was good, but you know, when

the weather was bad it was a pretty tough life. Although the traditional

traveller way of life all but vanished with the motor car, their

ancient storytelling tradition is still celebrated today.

Essie's grandfather Ally Stewart, was one of the greatest Gaelic story

tellers of the 20th century. His stories were recorded by the School

of Scottish Studies shortly before his death in 1968.

He learned his first story when he was seven. That was the Ocean story

from his mum. That was the first story he recorded for the School of

Scottish Studies and it was the first story I've ever told in

public, you know. So, it's a story I'm particularly fond of.

How important is where the stories? Were they told on a regular basis?

Every day. Every day. When I was little I loved listening to my

grandfather telling his stories. You know, the older I got, I realised

how precious these stories were. He didn't know this value of the

stories, he didn't know how precious they were. Or the legacy that he

left behind. SHE TALKS IN GAELIC.

Essie is now the custodian of her grandfather's stories and passes

them on to the next generation in the original Gaelic as well as

English. The children have absolutely loved working with Essie.

She came in and she told them stories, told them how people use

the environment and superstitions and things. Then she got them to

tell their own story. They were all probably a bit apprehensive. They

haven't done something possibly as creative as this before and using

elements of stories from such a well-known storyteller. After

writing their stories, they are now quite competent storytellers, and

that is another technique Essie was sharing with them as well. That it's

not just writing and creating your story, it's the way you tell people

the stories and pass them on to future generations. The storytelling

tradition of the Gaelic travellers in the Highlands stretches back

hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. This makes it one of the

oldest folk traditions in Europe and keeping it alive in the 21st century

is a challenge. Is it a difficult job to do? To be a tradition bearer,

yes it is. Because I try and tell my story is the way that I heard them,

the way that I heard my grandfather tell them. But, he is a hard act to

follow. He was the master, I'm still learning.

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. The weather here is a bit breezy - bracing, you might say. So

to find out the prospects for the weekend and beyond, it's over to

Christopher Blanchett for the Landward weather forecast.

Many of us saw plenty of sunshine today. Further north it was cloudy.

Tomorrow, high pressure continues to stay in charge but although it is

largely dry, cloudy and a bit grey. They could be mist and fog patches

to start through the central belt. The cloud will thin and break at

times so brighter skies come through. They breeze across the far

north of the country. Around five to seven Celsius. On the whole, it is

dried, fairly cloudy. Across the far north-west into the Hebrides and

Northern Isles, the chance for light rain and drizzle. If you are walking

or climbing, across the western ranges it is dried. Winds from the

north-west around 50 miles an hour. Writer skies in towards the

south-west. -- 15. Fairly dry and cloudy, but across Angus and towards

the border hills, a chance for some brighter skies. Good visibility and

in the East, it is a west to north-westerly. The rest of the

afternoon, evening and overnight, very little in the way of change. At

times the cloud will thin and break to let patchy frost developed in

places and mist and fog patches to form. A breeze across the far north

of the country. Inland it will be chilly, down close to freezing.

High-pressure stays with us as we had to Sunday. Things not really

changing. Largely dry and settled and largely cloudy. The best of any

brighter skies probably through the Southern highlands and towards the

south-west. For Orkney and Shetland, brighter but cooler here. For many

it is about the five to six Celsius mark. As we head towards Monday,

very little in the way of change. Largely dry and cloudy. One to

showers down western side of the country. A change as we head towards

Tuesday. The centre of high pressure begins to pull away and this will

let the weather front to work its way in and bring outbreaks of rain

towards us. In the north-west of the country to the start of the day and

heading towards the south of the country in the afternoon. Through

towards the middle of the week, back to the same. Largely dry and cloudy.

One or two showers in the West but temperatures perhaps into double

digits for most of us. Today I am in the heart of Glasgow

where the banks of the Clyde have been transformed from industrial

heartland into a 21st-century urban landscape.

Despite the futuristic holdings on this part of the river, the Clyde's

ship building heritage is never far away. Here at the site of the John

Brown shipyard in Clydebank, the Titan crane has been transformed

into an industrial monument. Imagine the view from the top? It's pretty

good. The Titan crane is unique because it is the first of its type.

It was the first electric crane to be built anywhere in the world.

Ultimately, there were 11 of them build on the Clyde. 60 in total

worldwide. But the one you are standing on is the first and is a

magnificent piece of engineering. In 1913, believe it or not, three

quarters of a million tonnes of ships left this river. That is an

incredible figure which has never been equalled by any other

shipbuilding river anywhere in the world. How important is it that the

Titan crane on Clydebank has been retained? It is one of the very few

things left of the old John Brown shipyard. The only other part of the

yard that still survives is one of the slips where the ships were

launched from. It is the most important one of the five the yard

actually had. Because from that particular slipway the Queen Mary

was launched in 1934. The Queen Elizabeth in 1938 and the QE2 in

1967. For the next part of my journey and

following in the footsteps of a generation of Clyde-siders I'm

heading down the latter on board the Waverley, the last oceangoing paddle

steamer in the world. These ships have ploughed these waters for many

years and even the first steamships ploughed these waters in 1812. Do

you think the Waverley has a special place in the heart of Glaswegians? I

would like to think so, yes. It is the last in a long line and many

folks, generations have memories of sailing down the water to the

resorts of the Clyde in their heyday from Victorian times to more recent

times, 50s, 60s and up through the 70s to now, which we try to carry on

that tradition. How important was the trip down the water for people

from Glasgow and the surrounding areas? It was very important. The

traditional holiday if you like, what something the workers of the

city looked forward to. It got them clear of the city smog and into the

fresh air of the coast. What do you feel about the fact that the Clyde

is no longer full of ships? There is obviously a nostalgia for an era

past when there was a lot more ships here. But it's still a working

river. Cargo still comes and goes, there's still shipyards building

ships. Long may that continue because it is very important to the

west of Scotland. Where does the river officially end. In my eyes it

ends at the river channel at Greenock, at what we call number one

buoy which is the last or the first buoy of the river channel and from

there you're out into the more open waters of the estuary and the Firth

beyond. SHIP'S HORN BLASTS.

We have passed the number one boy and my epic journey down the mighty

River Clyde now is sadly at an end. A thoroughly enjoyable, but at time

energetic trip from source to sea down the River Clyde. And next week

we'll continue out to sea as we all head for Mull for a special

programme exploring the island's industries and wildlife as well as

following the action on the Mull Rally. So join us for that at the

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

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

Friday night fright night, they are looking to avoid an upset. But Tonga

beat Scotland last year, and France in the World Cup. This is a team