Episode 14 Landward

Welcome to the highlights of the Royal Highland Society 2014. We have

had a flint has to time. You will not believe what these two will get

up to. If you did not get down here, this is what you missed.

Over the Highland Show weekend one of the most prestigious competitions

is the Overall Beef Interbreed Championship. These are some of the

best breeds. A lot of the skill comes from the person handling the

cattle. What have we got here? We have got a Shorthorn. You are not

getting judged. He is getting judged. He is outstanding. He is

very special. Are you confident? I would like to have a chance. The

crowd are excited. How do you decide which one will be the overall

champion? What are you judging them on? I am judging them on their own

lead characters. Is there pressure to pick the likes of the Aberdeen

Angus? I am not biased towards any one particular breed. He is about to

make his final decision. You can feel the tension. It is a big

decision. He has made his decision. The Aberdeen Angus has won it. A

beautiful beast. It popular choice. It is a beautiful beast.

Congratulations. Did you expect to win? You can never expect to win. He

has done OK. Who would you have picked? I do not know. You cannot

look at them when you are going round. It is a magnificent beast.

I have climbed one of these polls before, but today Sarah and Doogie

are going to race up them. Here we are, ready to go. I did back in

2006. There was controversy. Some said two and a half minutes. I said

19 seconds. Now I feel nervous. I was feeling

quite brave. But not some arch now. We need some crowd support. Give us

each year. We will have to work on that one. Safety is vital. Any tips?

You are attached. Listen to what the lads say on the ground. It is very

hard on the legs. Doody and I are still nervous. We cannot speak. A

good time would be ten seconds. Let us show them.

They are ready to go. We will bring you more on that later in the

programme. The Royal Highland Society is home

to some serious silverware. The most prestigious of them all is

this one here?it?s the Queen?s Cup. The cup was first awarded

by the Queen herself in 1960. The class rotates

between the champions And this year it?s the turn

of the light horse. These horses are smaller than

the powerful draft horse breeds I?m here with Joyce Coltart, the

woman tasked with the very tough What qualities are you looking

for in the winner? I am looking for a horse that comes

into the ring and shouts that it is a supreme champion. I am looking for

quality, beauty, and potential to do a job. They are the best of the

best. They are all champions in their own right. It is difficult to

choose? It is difficult to choose. You have got to be very fair. You

equate what is the best animal of its type on that particular day. How

it goes for you. The overall picture. Good luck in making the

choice. And I like your evenings. And this is the winner.

Congratulations. This is the first time I have ever shown her. She is

now the best of the best. Well done. I am heading off to see one of the

most unusual exhibits. Owner Ben Potter has brought three

vultures to the Highland Show as There are 32 species

of vulture around the globe and over Ben?s vultures all came from

failed conservation programmes. Telly about this vulture. It is the

most. Then will introduce as. It is bizarre to be this close to a

vulture. A feeding vulture is surrounded by Kainene as. --

surrounded by hyenas. Vultures are always associated with the remains

of a lion kill or something else dying. As if that is their fault.

You do not see them portrayed as beautiful things flying in the

skies. It is always a blood spattered gory scenario. These birds

are beautiful, but I am glad to be out of fear. Next, we are finding

out about food that is so special it is protected by European law. I am

heading for a standard that has a special anniversary to celebrate.

This man's family has five generations experience of smoky

production. This goes back to the days of Viking settlements. They

brought fresh preservation skills. The original barrels. Even the Hess

Iain Banks on top. When did the Arbroath Smokie get protected name

status? 2004. You are making my mouth water. Can I taste one? Yes.

Give it a gentle squeeze. Pop it off the bone. Break the skin known to

the deal. The ball comes out as easy as that. That is just amazing. --

the bone. That is Calgary magic. -- that is magic. What an extraordinary

flavour. Let us hope that more Scottish foods follow in the

footsteps of the Arbroath Smokie. This event is a great showcase for

the countryside. It is also where policy is discussed. Half of

Scotland's's land is owned by less than 500 people. The Scottish

Government has stated that they do not think that is the ideal model

for man ownership. They have committed to introducing a new model

for land ownership. In 2012 decommissioned a group of experts to

come up with recommendations. The Government said they wanted radical

suggestions. They got them. One of the recommendations was to limit the

amount of land any one individual can own. I am heading over to the

stand of Scottish land and estates, the body that represents landowners.

What is your reaction? It is hard to see what the drivers are. People are

confusing scale of ownership with control and monopoly. You can be a

great landowner with 100,000 acres. I really cannot see the driver

behind it. But there are states that are less than perfect, maybe not the

majority. I think there is bad practice, as there is in every

sphere of the world. But we are talking about bad land use. It is

not about bad land ownership. I think it suits some people to betray

it as if we are under attack. Our members deliver benefits every day

for Scotland, economic, social and environmental. We are working to try

and deliver the successful Scotland that we all want. The government has

already stated that it wants 1 million acres of land in the hands

of community groups by 2020. What difference could that make to our

countryside? I am meeting up with John Hutchison from community land

Scotland. They represent community landowners. Are there concrete

examples? If you look at the island where the population before 1997 was

63. Deep operation is now 99. -- the population. People have left and

come back again. We have a load of businesses with a community owned

electricity scheme. It is self-reliant on electricity for 95%

of the time. That is a really big deal. People now have confidence to

build their own businesses and go forward in the future. Why should

the taxpayer pay for people to have an idyllic lifestyle? Well, people

are very supportive of the concept of this. Public subscriptions are

possibility. The national lottery is a possibility. There is European

funding. If we do not support these fragile areas, who is going to do

that? Huge sums going to the Edinburgh bypass and that sort of

things. We need to support fragile areas as well. Since the

18th-century, large sporting estates have been the dominating feature of

the Scottish countryside. But it seems to me that in the future,

other models of land ownership will become common as well.

When you buy a ticket for the show, you pretty much get access to all

areas. That is apart from Ingliston house, headquarters of the Royal

high and society. But I have been given access to see some of the

unique pictures that hang in the building. And to find out about a

project that will give the public the chance to own their own copy of

some of the rarely seen works of art. It is almost like stepping back

in time when you come into Ingliston house. This room is just one part of

the archive. Almost every piece of correspondence for the last 250

years is here. Today, I am not too interested in documents. I have my

eye on some art. I am meeting antiques dealer George. How you

doing? He has been given the responsibility of making the society

artworks available to the wider public. How impressive is the

collection of artwork at Ingliston house? It is a very impressive

collection. These paintings are incredibly revel stoppages so hard

to find paintings of this quality. It is a great thing. Looking behind

you, this poll, I do not recognise this, at all. It no longer exists.

It died out in the early 1900. They were found up in Aberdeenshire.

Sadly as years progressed, it died out but now we know what it looks

like. It is so important and that is the thing about the collection. How

did you go about reproducing them? We chose paintings we felt were more

likely to be of interest to people in Scotland. This is why we selected

this one. And another 15. The actual process itself turned out to be a

little bit more competent it than I thought. I managed to source a

couple of very good guys in Edinburgh. They scanned the

paintings from side to side. We then printed out onto a canvas type

fabric to give it more of a realistic look. And we had them

vanished to look like the brush strokes. And then we had them framed

in suitable frames. What is your favourite? I am a beef farmer. The

Highland cow at the end, I am very fond of it. Many of the paintings

were created by the artist Curly Steele. He was appointed animal

painter for Scotland by Queen Victoria in 1872. Here we have what

was called at that time, 1860, a West Highland cow. Of course, if you

turn to your right, this is a copy that we had done. With some of the

paintings in the house, they are a little bit faded over the years.

Because of the modern techniques, they have managed to pick up a lot

of the pigments of the original paintings. The colours are stronger.

If I wanted to leave this with -- leave with this in my possession,

how would I go about it? They are available today in the showground

and in the members pavilion. And a couple of other places in the

showground. And you can contact the society and they will be happy to

help you purchase one of these things. It has been a rare privilege

to see the original artworks inside Ingliston house and it is nice to

know that people will be able to see some of the paintings, albeit in

print form. The direction you would have to have a pretty good idea to

the difference between the originals and the prints.

There are many reasons that people come to the Royal high and show but

if you are a farmer and you are into tractors, there is one exhibit that

is a must see. This is it. One of the biggest tractors in the world.

What a machine. Look at it. I have come to meet Fiona Ross from Case

Machinery to find out about the machine that is causing a stir.

Fantastic, isn't she? All the best tractors are red. She is very

special. This is 4-wheel drive. It is huge, isn't it? Why would you

want one? It gives you very low ground pressure and the benefit of

that is it is it -- it does a lot less damage to the soil. You can

drill and plough. 10,000 acres plus. A completely different farming

operation. Isidore space age technology? It looks like that when

you walk in the cab but it is simple. You have an integrated

control and all. You could drive it. Sadly, we are not allowed to drive

it on the show today. Crunch question, how much? A quarter of ?1

million. Would you do me a discount? I am sure we could come to an

arrangement. I really need one. Now it is time to find out a bit

more about our oceans and see what seafood is on offer. Around the

coast of Scotland are trawlers and fishermen provide us with a rich

range of nutritious delights. And in order for kids to explore the world

of seafood, there is a host of activities for them to do right here

at the show. These schoolchildren are some of the many groups here

today getting a chance to sample different fish and seafood. Nikki

from seafood Scotland is running a taste test challenge. We have got

the fresh fish for them to look at. And we also show them what it looks

like on the supermarket counter. These students are just some of the

children getting the chance to try different fish and seafood and I

think I am going to join them. Can I join in as well? Is that OK? First

ago, it is the touch test. Tell us was that you are feeling. Slimy. I

know what that is. Next, taste. Enjoy. Thank you. Then, smell. I am

going to say again I think it is macro. It is clap. Zero out of three

for me. I am not surprised you have got your tasting wrong. It is a

smoky flavour, fishy, it is read as good if you shut your eyes. They

were brave. -- really difficult if you shut your eyes. What have you

taken away from today? It can benefit you a lot in health, or mega

three is really good for you. This is just one example of the work

going on the show to educate the next generation about our food.

Thousands of schoolchildren have had the chance to visit Ingliston and

learn about where our food comes from.

Back down at the forestry area, Sarah and Dougie are poised to race

up the 100 foot climbing poles. Are you ready? Three, two, one. And they

are off. Sarah has made a stunning five feet already. I think my record

is safe. It is looking good. Dougie is getting into it. Look at that.

Sarah, catch him up. Dougie is well into this. I think there is an

element of cheating going on here. Enough! Serious cheating going on.

Lots of the crowd shouting, cheat! . Nice view. A nice view is little

recompense for apparently being beaten by Sarah. Back on the ground,

there will have to be a stewards enquiry. There was definitely a

clear winner and it was not me. I was going up and I thought I must be

near the top, I could not even see the top. Did you win? It was you.

Two very tired and happy competitors but I can reveal the school. Sarah

got up there in 43 seconds. Dougie, you did it in 58. But there was a

suggestion that yours was manpower assisted. Victory for the spirit of

competition and that brings us to the end of this programme. We have

had fun and we have had a fantastic series. We have all had a great time

at the show and we will do it all over again in the autumn. In the

meantime, if you have any stories, get in touch. The address is on the

screen. In the meantime, from all of the team, exhausted, thank you for

watching, goodbye.