Episode 9 Landward

Hello and a very warm welcome to Landward.

I am here in the Forth Valley,

enjoying some cycling now that spring has well and truly sprung.

This week I'm on my bike, to find out about a campaign to provide

better protection for cyclists on our roads.

Also on the programme, Sarah explores one of the most

mysterious diseases in the animal kingdom.

It is really not easy to detect, actually.

Euan meets the farmers having a nosy round their neighbours' businesses.

And we're on the road with an aspiring Commonwealth Games athlete.

But first, the joys of spring are all around,

and some of the signs are earlier than you might expect.

Euan is in Perthshire to see what's flowering,

and what that can tell us about our climate.

Carpets of bluebells transform many of Scotland's

woods into magical places at this time of year.

And they are a marker that spring has arrived.

This year, our bluebells have arrived very early.

But the actual date

when an individual species makes an appearance can tell us a lot

about the wider picture, and there's quite a lot of science involved.

-Good morning. How do you do?

-How are you?

The garden is looking lovely, isn't it?

'I'm on the south side of Loch Tay to meet Mervyn Brown,

'a farmer who records nature's changes every year.'

Let's go into the forest, see some bluebells.

We're here to look for signs of spring.

We are going down to a bluebell wood, just down there.

-But this is a perfect example, isn't it, of that old rhyme?

-Yes, indeed.

So what have we got? We have the oak.

What is the rhyme, in the first place?

Oak before ash You're going to get a splash

Ash before oak You'll surely get a soak.

And uniquely, we have got an oak tree and we have got an ash tree.

-So which one come first?

-The oak, definitely, this year.

-So we'll get a splash?

-That's what they tell us,

but it doesn't always hold true.

Mervyn, like many others,

keeps a record of the times that various events occur.

It's a branch of science called phenology, and it's not new.

In 1736, a Norfolk landowner called Robert Marsham began recording

the first occurrences of seasonal events.

He called them his indications of spring, and documented weather,

temperatures, tree foliation, crop progress and migrating birds.

-It's beautiful, isn't it?

-It is. Lovely place.

An absolute carpet of bluebells as well.

They're a wee bit later than most of them because of the shade here.

You spend a lot of your time documenting. Let's go for a wander.

You document the changing seasons, the different species.

-Yes, coming and going.

-A wood sorrel, as well.

-Wood sorrel, yeah.

-All sorts of funny things here.

-Fantastic taste.

-So what other things do you keep track of?

-Migrants.

Swallows, swifts, all the small birds.

Curlews, peewits, which are getting scarcer, oystercatchers.

-Anything that we see here.

-What about cuckoos?

-We heard a cuckoo earlier.

-Yes, cuckoo.

At one time I could stand here

-and hear five cuckoos going at once.

-We heard one earlier.

You will hear one and it will stay a much shorter period than

-it used to.

-Lovely wee rhyme about the oak and the ash earlier on.

-There is a nice one about the cuckoo.

-Oh, yes.

In April, come he will

In June, he changed his tune

In July, he prepares to fly

In August, go he must.

You have seen this, you have been doing it for a long time.

-Are you seeing changes?

-Oh, yes.

The main question in the past 10, 15 years has been climate change.

Earlier blooming, earlier external migrants, earlier leaving

in autumn of migrants, earlier fading of flowers and leaves.

Like Mervyn, almost 50,000 people across the UK are actively involved

in monitoring the seasons and gathering this important information.

But the Woodland Trust would like even more willing volunteers

to get out in the fields and forests, and do their bit.

Rory Syme of the Woodland Trust explains.

The Woodland Trust runs a project called Nature's Calendar and it is

a UK wide citizen science programme,

basically encouraging people to get out into their local woodlands, to

get out into the fields and record all the signs of spring and autumn.

There's a series of records that stretches back nearly 400 years,

and it is really important that we keep that continuation.

Obviously, the more recorders we have the better picture

we can average out across the UK.

Is there a specific species of plant that are affected more than others?

You have this hawthorn here. May flowers, is that right?

It traditionally flowered in May, but now it doesn't.

As you say, hawthorns,

known as the May flower, it tends to flower quite late on in May.

You can see it is well in flower now.

This is happening earlier and earlier

so that meaning in some ways is becoming redundant.

-Should change its name.

-Exactly. The April flower, possibly.

What the data gives us is a very clear indication that climate change

is happening, it's further evidence

of the need to kind of make habitats more resilient to climate change.

And to help wildlife adapt to the changing circumstances.

In these days of global warming and devastation caused by floods,

storms and other weather extremes,

we can all become our own nature monitoring detectives.

So next time you hear that first call of the cuckoo or the first

flush of a bluebell, record it and let others know

because it says a lot about our wider world.

Scotland's bluebells are everywhere at the moment.

But for the most spectacular displays,

head to Culzean Castle in Ayrshire, Glen Finglas

near Callander, House of Dun by Brechin or the Fairy Glen, Fortrose.

An early start to the spring means an early start to the cycling season

and more cyclists on the roads.

But do they need more protection?

That is what campaigners behind the proposed change to the law think

and I'm keen to find out more.

But I had better start by declaring an interest. I am a keen cyclist.

I regularly cycle on the roads in Scotland, sometimes by myself,

often with a group of friends.

Anyone who cycles regularly will have experienced near misses.

Whether it is a car coming a little bit too close or overtaking

where they shouldn't, it happens time and time again.

Me, I must have experienced dozens,

if not hundreds, of "that was close" moments.

Thankfully, I have never been seriously injured.

But not everyone is so lucky.

In 2012, the most recent year figures are available for,

nine cyclists were killed.

Most cycling accidents happen on busy urban roads.

But most fatalities occur on rural roads, just like this one,

where speeds are higher.

Now, cycling groups have come together to back a campaign

called Road Share.

They want a change to civil law that would introduce something

called presumed liability.

That would mean, if there was an accident involving a bike

and a car, it would be assumed that the motorist was responsible

unless they could prove otherwise.

I am meeting up with Donald Urquhart from CTC Scotland,

a national charity that promotes cycling and is backing the campaign.

The principle is intended to bring home to vehicle

drivers that they have a responsibility

because of the size of the vehicle that they are driving.

They have a responsibility to other road users.

But surely cyclists have responsibility as well.

That is right and we are not suggesting that cyclists

should behave inappropriately.

But by far the vast majority of cyclists do behave well,

but they feel uncomfortable

when they are being passed by vehicles far too closely.

You know yourself as a cyclist, the slipstream from a vehicle can

cause you to be destabilised really easily.

Presumed liability would apply in cases involving horse riders

and walkers as well, not just cyclists.

Donald used to be a traffic cop.

He has enforced the law and seen the results

when things go wrong on the roads.

I would imagine any driver watching this would think,

this is the most ridiculous idea,

you're presuming that a driver is guilty of causing an accident

or whatever before anybody is actually spoken to.

It is not a matter of guilt or innocence, it is

a civil matter, it is about whether you are negligent or not.

I am a driver.

When I am passing a cyclist, I take care,

I make sure I give the cyclist plenty of space.

It is about reassuring drivers that this is

not about identifying them as guilty all the time.

If a cyclist is behaving inappropriately,

if they're behaving stupidly and the evidence illustrates that,

then drivers have nothing to worry about.

Just to give us a sense of how dangerous

and potentially difficult it is, cycling in heavy traffic,

I am going to spend the next half an hour or so bimbling around the

centre of Glasgow and we will record it all on this natty little camera.

So here we go, if it's safe. Yep.

-BRAKES SQUEAL

-Oh!

Yeah, he pulled out and gave me some space, that was decent of the taxi.

OK, I want to get out. Indicating right.

Good man. Moving out into traffic.

Look how close those buses are, goodness gracious.

'Riding around the busy city streets and seeing the potential

'hazards makes me think presumed liability might be a good idea.

'Maybe it would make drivers more considerate of cyclists.

'And the proposed legal change is not as bizarre as you might think.

'There are only five countries in the EU that don't have

'presumed liability in one form or another.'

Transport Scotland,

the government agency who should know about these sort of things,

looked into the countries that have presumed liability.

They say they could find no evidence that cyclists were actually

safer in those countries.

That is one reason that the Scottish Government does not back

a change to the existing law.

And neither do motoring groups like the Institute of Advanced Motorists.

I have come to meet Neil Greig from the Institute.

We have some of the safest roads in the world here in Scotland.

Drivers are already responsible,

they are already contributing to record lows in deaths on our roads.

We have seen a slight increase in cycling deaths in the last

couple of years, but ultimately we do have very safe roads here.

I do wonder if this sort of thing

would make people feel it's slightly unfair.

Normally you're innocent until proven guilty,

this kind of turns that on its head.

I worry that car drivers might see this as perhaps being a bit too much too quickly for cyclists.

I just don't think it will go into people's heads that,

"Yes, oh, I must drive a bit safer because of presumed liability."

They will either drive safely or badly because of human error.

I don't think it will actually change people's attitudes

that much, it won't make that much difference.

Despite Neil's view and the Government's stance,

presumed liability has support across the political spectrum.

It is backed by numerous organisations and individuals.

However, a change in legislation is still a long way off.

In the meantime, I think if the campaign changes the attitude

of a few drivers, it has to be a good thing for all of us.

Now, Euan's in Renfrewshire to meet some very open-minded farmers.

A warm welcome to everybody through to Renfrewshire.

For those of you who have never been through before...

Can you imagine any company opening its doors to its competitors

and allowing them access to all aspects of the business?

It sounds ludicrous and a sure-fire route to failure.

Incredibly, that's exactly what is happening here today.

Farmer Willie Harper from Bridge of Weir is part of a community

of farmers and he has invited them in here today to see exactly

how he runs his business.

It is based on a concept called Monitor Farms.

Here in Scotland it's just celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Johnny Mackey is head of the industry development

for the livestock promotion body, Quality Meat Scotland.

He has witnessed the development of the Monitor Farm movement

over the last 10 years.

It started a number of years ago, back in New Zealand.

The idea came to Scotland in 2003 with the first Monitor Farm

in the Borders and the second one in Perth.

What are you trying to achieve with it, what is the aims of it?

The number one aim of the Monitor Farms programme is to

improve the profitability of the Monitor Farm

and also the farms in the local area.

How do you convince farmers to open up their business?

How do you convince them to let other farmers come in

and look at the books and tell each other how it is working?

There has been a big change in farming in the last 10 or 15 years.

-It must be a nightmare.

-Well, it is, it can be.

But if you find a farmer in the local area who's well respected

and typical of that area, farmers have a big thirst for knowledge now,

they're more willing to work together and open up.

There are now 40 Monitor Farms throughout Scotland.

One of the pioneers of the movement was Robert Parker from Stranraer.

His farm was in the scheme from 2004 to 2007.

He's come along today to see how things have evolved

over the last 10 years.

What was your reaction when you first heard about the whole concept? Because, to me,

it sounds like a real nosy parker's charter, opening up your business.

It is a bit.

You know, you've got this group of farmers coming round,

kicking tyres and, you know,

looking at your business quite closely once every couple of months.

Is that not an uncomfortable place to be?

Well, I've always said, if you're not slightly uncomfortable

when you're doing it, you're probably not doing it properly

because it does go into your business so far.

It is nice for farmers to get together and share stories

and you can share problems as well, you can share tips too.

You can actually improve your business quite a bit.

You're obviously pretty passionate about it,

you're convinced about it.

Let's see what the other farmers think.

I'm here because I think I can learn something from him.

Farming's a very lonely business and when you have problems

you don't know whether you're the only one that has problems.

And a problem shared is a big part...

-It is not just nosiness then?

-Oh, no, it is definitely not nosiness.

Have you seen any ideas that you want to steal today?

One or two, yes, aye. One or two.

We've heard the theory of the Monitor Farm concept,

we've seen it in action and we've heard from one of the pioneers

who grew his business and grew as a person.

Now I'm on my way to Carstairs Mains Farm near Lanark

to meet Andrew Baillie and he's completely changed

his farming operation as a result of being a Monitor Farmer.

Today I'm going to be giving Andrew a hand to weigh his bulls,

to see if they are putting on weight at the right pace.

Weighing also helps identify

any potential health issues with the cattle.

-Euan.

-Pleased to meet you. What changes have you made here?

Carry on, don't let me stop you.

We're making better use of monitoring the livestock performance.

We're weighing them regularly

-and it tells us the daily live weight gain in the stock.

-Can I open it?

Yes. It shows up if there is ill-health or anything in the animals

because of performance.

You know, there's nothing a farmer likes more than having

a wee rake around somebody else's farm to see how things are operating

and what changes they can make to their own farm.

Show me your farm.

We realised we had a ventilation problem in the shed,

so we let off a smoke bomb...

-That must have been fun!

-..and watched the flow of the smoke and

it came up out from where the cattle are, went to the centre ridge,

and because the ridge was enclosed, it started just travelling back

down the roof and back onto where the cattle were.

So we took off the ridge sheets and within five minutes of taking

the ridge sheets off, we realised the smell in the shed was far fresher.

So you have got healthier cattle?

Far healthier ventilation for the cattle, so any infectious issues that

the cattle may have now just travel straight up and out of the ridge.

-Just by opening the roof up?

-Just by opening the roof.

We're in one of the lambing sheds with the world's ugliest sheep,

the Texel, you might disagree.

I think you'll find that's personal preference.

There are a lot of sheep coming in to compete with it.

OK, we're going to disagree about that, but we are

going to agree about this lovely yellow thing here, what is this?

A biomass boiler, helping to heat the lambing shed and the house

and supplying hot water for calving and lambing,

which is saving about 3,000 a year in oil.

We're trying to bring these sheep

and these lambs out on a chicory-based grazing system.

-Chicory?

-Yes, they reduce feed input costs

-and it also reduces the worm burden in the lambs.

-How does that work?

Is it that it interferes with the life cycle of the worms?

The worm can't live on the leaf of the chicory like it can

in normal, standard grass.

That's going to reduce the amount of inputs into worming?

It is drastically reduced the amount of worm drenching

that we require, so that's saving cost to the business.

You know, at the end of the day the Farm Monitor scheme is

designed to improve farm efficiency and alternately profitability.

And given you've been so open with all of the farmers,

how much have you saved?

-In the biomass system potentially we save about 7,000 a year.

-Wow.

-To the farm business.

-Brilliant. So it's worth it?

-It is definitely worth it.

-You just have to get prettier sheep!

If you are horse owner, there's one phrase

you really don't want to hear from your vet.

Grass sickness.

It's a devastating disease with survival rates as low as 5%

and the majority of horses that get it suffer a slow and painful death.

Yet, despite being discovered over 100 years ago,

its cause is still unknown.

Sarah's near Inverurie in Aberdeenshire to find out the latest.

It is one of the great unsolved mysteries of veterinary science

and a disease which, above all others, horse owners dread.

Equine grass sickness was first recorded

in the north-east of Scotland in 1907.

Following the First World War, horses were in short supply

and this frightening new disease was seen as a dire threat

to the future of the farm horse.

Hundreds of Clydesdales died in local epidemics

and by 1918 research into isolating the cause of the disease began.

Nearly 100 years on, the cause of the disease is still unknown.

One theory is that it could be caused by a microorganism in the soil

called Clostridium botulinum,

but the only way to prove that theory is to test it.

I've come to the Cabin Equestrian Centre in Aberdeenshire.

Over the past 20 years they have lost four much-loved horses

to equine grass sickness.

The Animal Health Trust has developed a vaccine which might

guard against the disease, if it is caused by Clostridium botulinum.

Clinical trials are now taking place across the UK,

including 20 horses here at this centre.

Christy Richardson helps manage the centre.

What are the early warning signs?

It is really not easy to detect, actually.

It is one of those things that maybe colic symptoms, as in a sore tummy,

they can get sweat patches all over their body but probably

one of the main ones is the tremors, their whole body goes into a tremor.

Obviously it's one of those things that is the dreaded grass sickness, it's horrible.

-The thing that everyone doesn't want?

-Yes, exactly.

There's nothing you can do, nothing really.

If they've got grass sickness, that's it.

There's not a thing you can do, it's just very distressing.

You are part of this trial, so tell me how that's working and how you became involved?

We're very excited to be part of the trial cos obviously anything

to help find a cure or the causes of grass sickness is brilliant.

-Is this one part of the trial?

-Yes, this is Clay.

-A big one!

-A big horse.

-A big horse.

-A very nice horse.

-A very nice horse.

-She's going to be part of the trial so...

-Fingers crossed.

Fingers crossed, exactly.

Graham Hunter is a vet who specialises in horses.

He's here to administer the vaccine.

1,100 specially selected horses will be vaccinated as part of this trial.

Like Clay, they are all considered to be at risk of developing the disease.

Having the Clostridium botulinum bacteria in its gut does not mean

a horse will definitely develop grass sickness.

Graham...

Sorry to stop you mid examination, what are you checking for?

'Graham explains how there are certain risk factors that affect

'any individual horse's chance of developing the illness.'

We know that horses generally between the ages of two and seven

are the high risk group, it's very rare in young foals

and rarer in older horses that have developed

a degree of immunity or tolerance to the disease.

There are, indeed, weather patterns that we can see that

horses are more likely to develop the disease in spring

and early summer, possibly when we are getting cool,

dry spells for, you know, 10 days,

we know outbreaks have been seen after weather patterns like that.

So even as a vet there's a bit of a mystery as to why some horses

-get it and some don't?

-Absolutely. Yes.

Are you testing horses across the country?

Yes, at the moment it is a nationwide pilot candidate trial

and really we've only just started recruiting horses for it

and we're hoping to get 1,100 horses in total onto the trial. So, please,

if you've had experience of grass sickness on your premises

in the past few years it would be great

if you could contact the Animal Health Trust directly

with a view to possibly enrolling your horses onto the trial.

You can find out more about the clinical trial

by visiting our website.

Getting out and about on a bicycle is a great way of seeing Scotland,

as I experienced earlier in the programme.

But, with only just over two months until the beginning of

the Commonwealth Games, the countryside is also being used

as a tough training ground for some of Scotland's top athletes.

Over the next few weeks we'll be meeting three of them.

18-year-old Florrie McLeish is a triathlete

hoping she'll be selected for the Games.

Her coach Chris Bolle trains her in the cycling,

swimming and running disciplines she has to compete in,

and the countryside around Stirling University

is an integral part of that training.

For many of us, the cycle up to Dumyat Hill above Bridge of Allan

would be quite enough, but it's just a wee warm-up for Florrie

in preparation for the intense running session ahead.

So I'm about to do 6 x 90 seconds hill reps.

They are pretty solid sessions as well because it's quite uneven ground.

OK, so as explained, every rep starts laying on the floor

until I say up and go.

There's sheep poo everywhere!

Yep, get down in the sheep poo, go on.

Why are you such an animal?

That is a fair point, Florrie! Ready, up!

90 seconds starts now. Go.

Come on, go, go, go. Drive, drive, drive.

Sheep poo is an occupational hazard for Florrie,

but her coach thinks that the countryside offers more than just

rough terrain and a tough environment to train in.

We're blessed to be in a really nice place that can allow us

to use countryside for inspiration

and on a day like today there's no better place,

and while Florrie is having to absolutely kill herself

to do these reps, she's doing it in a place which hopefully gives her

some inspiration at the same time. Plus it gives the coach

some inspiration as well, it makes the office a nice place.

Florrie mainly grew up in Preston, Lancashire.

Her parents are Scottish and when her dad's job moved north,

so did the family.

Looking good, Florrie, that's the minute mark there.

Come on, 30 more quality seconds, please, up, up, up.

It's obviously a regular thing that I run up on a Saturday morning,

just a long endurance run.

There's people who come cycling around here,

doing sessions with running and biking.

Yes, it is just really inspirational, compared to

what I was used to back down south.

That makes training so much more enjoyable

when you're running around things like this.

Florrie has only been competing in triathlon since 2012

after switching from swimming.

Her rapid improvement in the sport has made her a strong

Commonwealth Games prospect.

It would be an absolutely amazing experience

if I was to get to the Commonwealth Games, with it being a home crowd

and everything and just the support of family, friends,

everyone around you. But there's obviously a lot of other people

with the same aspirations as me so it's just a waiting game to see

who's got in and I'm sure whoever gets into the team will do

the best job possible for Scotland.

It's the goal of representing her country that keeps Florrie going

during these punishing sessions.

You're in the perfect place, come on. Good girl, well done.

Strong and controlled, let's go, go, go, go.

Easy!

The sheep may be oblivious to her chances of competing in Glasgow,

but Florrie will find out if she's made

the Scottish Commonwealth Games team in a few weeks' time.

Next week, we'll be looking at the magnificent River Spey.

Sarah will find out about the devastating flood of 1829.

The height of the water would have been as high as the bridge?

I imagine it would have been towards the top of that arch there.

Nearly three quarters of the river's water is being diverted away.

We find out where it is going.

And I go for a paddle in a Spey Currach.

It's a very strange experience,

it's like a kneeling in a peanut shell.