Episode 3 Landward

It's a new dawn for Scotland's politicians,

and there's plenty going on in the countryside to keep them busy.

Hello, and a very warm welcome to Landward.

We have a packed programme for you, including some of the most

pressing issues facing the Scottish countryside.

But it's not ALL serious....

'I try my hand at making rare-breed sausages...'

It's amazing how tense I'm becoming.

HE LAUGHS

'..Sarah meets the woman who wants to paint

'every castle in the Highlands...'

You just have to paint, get out there and paint as much as possible.

Just to the end and toss it, turn it over. OK?

'..and Nick's cooking up a storm in the food van.'

Who will taste my pork?

But first, I'm off to Perthshire to investigate one of the very

first things the new Scottish Government

will have to decide upon.

This is Archie, Finn and Darrach...

and their owner, Mo Bailey.'

-Here.

-BLOWS WHISTLE

Come on, then.

They're working spaniels whose job involves retrieving game birds

from thick scrub during the shooting season.

Unlike most dogs in Scotland,

they've had their tails shortened or "docked".

This was done to prevent them

suffering tail injuries while working.

The docking of dogs' tails has been banned in Scotland since 2007.

It was hugely controversial, and, after years of opposition,

the Government announced a consultation on the issue.

Well, that consultation has now finished,

and the new Scottish Government will have to decide whether to

relax that ban for certain groups of dogs such as working spaniels.

Mo, these are your dogs, and they are docked. Tell me about them.

This is Archie. He's a working cocker. I bought him in England.

-So he's got a half-docked tail.

-Yes.

-This is Darrach.

He is ten, so he was obviously born before the ban came in.

He's got just a third off his tail.

And then I've got wee Finn here sitting at the back.

He's an Irish dog and he's also got a half-dock.

'Unlike in Scotland,

'the docking of working dogs' tails is legal in England and Ireland.'

Why do you have tails docked on your dogs?

It's to prevent them getting damaged and injured when they're out

beating, because I obviously use them

at beating in the shooting season.

You know, I wouldn't buy a dog if it had a long tail.

And have you seen other dogs out working that have got

-the long tails that cause problems?

-Yep. Mm-hm.

I've had a couple of my friends who actually had to get

their dogs' tails amputated.

They just had great big, long tails and just kept

breaking down all the time, so...

the dogs had to get their tails amputated.

It took weeks, maybe even sometimes months,

because even if they've got a wee bit taken off, if it wasnae

taken high enough up, it would

maybe get re-infected again and then the whole process starts again.

'Over the years, there have been many documented cases of working

'dogs who did not have their tails docked at birth suffering injuries.

'Vet Neil McIntosh has treated several cases.'

Well, we see lots of tail injuries in spaniels.

Of course, we didn't see any prior to 2007,

because most of them had their tails docked.

After 2007, there was a slight lag, a couple of years where dogs

that were born after the ban went into work.

By 2009, 2010, we were starting to see a lot of chronic tail injuries.

So we were seeing dogs that were bleeding a lot. They were wagging

their tails in deep cover,

the tips of their tails were getting damaged, they started to bleed.

We have an example here. He's a working dog.

His back end's covered in blood from his wagging his tail.

-He loves working, so his tail wags all the time.

-Yes.

And the only option now is to amputate this tail.

That's a completely different situation compared to tail

shortening of puppies.

That involves a snip for a few seconds

and then the puppies return to the litter.

Tail amputation in an adult dog is a big procedure.

You have to cut the skin, you have to sever the tail,

you have to tie off the blood vessels.

It's a very complicated procedure. It's one that's not without risk,

and a lot of vets don't like doing it.

A lot of docking in the past,

there were some stories of some dodgy practices, scissors

used and puppies suffering and all that kind of thing.

Surely we need to get rid of all that?

We have got rid of all that.

We're talking about shortening one third of the end of the tail,

where there's very little nervous tissue.

And you do that by a vet who knows that those dogs are going to

go into working homes, and that's going to be a very important

part, hopefully, of the legislation.

The original legislation came in for good reason

on animal-welfare grounds, so what's your thoughts on that now?

I think the original legislation was designed to

stop people from docking tails.

I don't think they realised it was going to cause

so much problems for working dogs.

This is not about being anti-hunting or shooting or snaring or

anything like that or rich sporting estates.

This is an animal-welfare issue.

I know that a lot of people are very anti it,

but a lot of people are anti it because they don't have knowledge.

They've never seen a tail injury,

they've never seen an adult tail being amputated.

Or, alternatively, sometimes people, I think, are

really anti-shooting and that's why they want to be anti tail docking.

And later in the programme,

we'll hear from campaigners who want the ban to

remain in place and the scientist whose research will help

the Government decide

if the sight of docked puppies like these will return to Scotland.

But before that,

I'm heading to the south-west to discover how farming

traditional rare breeds of livestock

can pay off both for the farmer, who

can command a premium price for his meat,

and the consumer, who benefits with a great-tasting product.

-Hiya, how you doing?

-Hi there. Nice to see you.

-Nice to see you.

'Here at Clash Farm in Dumfries and Galloway, Caron Stewart

'has been farming pedigree saddleback pigs for ten years.'

-So, here we are.

-Yeah, so, this is the litter.

-They were born yesterday morning.

-Oh, fantastic! Look at them!

My goodness. And look at her! She's a whopper!

'It's a much slower process than mass-market pork production, but the

'upside is quality for the customer and more cash for the farmer.'

We've got a pedigree herd, and, in fact, this sow here, there was

only two registered sows in the country when we got them.

So we've built that particular bloodline back up again.

And how do they differ from commercial pigs, then?

It's the eating, really. It tastes fantastic.

It's a slower-maturing animal,

and there's a marbling of fat through it.

So it makes it more succulent and tender.

'Meat of breeds like the British saddleback fell from favour in

'the 20th century as faster-growing commercial breeds took over.

'But the tables seem to be turning again.'

They were a slower-maturing animal,

and everybody wanted fast food, especially post-war,

and a lot of the commercial breeds were brought in.

So the numbers dropped dramatically.

Are they staying there now that these piglets have

been born, or do they get into the field quickly?

We like to keep an eye on them, make sure they're OK,

and then they'll go outside.

We've got another gilt here.

She's a first-time mother, and she's got a litter,

so we're going to put them out.

-Okey dokey. So, I'll give you a hand?

-Yes, sure.

-Fantastic.

-Out this way?

-Yep.

-Right, let's go.

Come on.

Look at that.

Off you go. Come on.

-We've lost one!

-Come on.

-Come on, come on.

-You're not supposed to be up here.

-Right, come on.

DOUGIE LAUGHS

20 minutes later...

Come on, let's go, guys.

CARON LAUGHS We're out of the shed!

That's more like the thing!

-In one pile?

-Yeah, just chuck it in.

So, Caron, first time outside, pretty much.

Will they be out here for a while now?

Yes. They'll be with their mum till they're eight weeks old, and then

they'll be weaned and they're pretty much left to their own devices

until they've grown up.

What's your passion for these saddlebacks? You clearly love them.

I do. They're just fantastic animals.

They've just got great temperaments and characters.

They taste fantastic,

and they're just a fantastic breed to deal with.

Are they quite easy to cook, as well?

It's a very quick-cooking meat compared to commercial type,

-and you're going to be helping us make some sausages.

-Am I?

-Yes!

'We're going to make them in the farm's butchery unit,

'where Caron cuts and cures the pork.

'It sells for a premium price at farmers' markets, and I'll be taking

'some of her pork fillet for Nick to cook up in the Landward food van.'

So, here we have the raw meat for the sausages.

So, what's the process? MACHINE WHIRS

What we'll do is we'll mince this through.

-And what cuts are you using for the sausages?

-It's primarily shoulder

and belly.

That's what gives it the moisture, the succulence and the flavour.

MACHINE STOPS

There's the raw minced meat now.

Nice fat in there as well. That's lovely.

That's going to taste brilliant.

-Yep, so...

-So, next up?

Yep, what we next do is the spices and the salt and pepper,

sprinkle it across the meat.

-If we give that a good mix...

-OK.

-Just all with the hands, yeah?

-Yep.

That's quite a nice feeling, actually!

CARON LAUGHS

And off we go.

'The mixture goes through the mincer again, then it's ready to be

'made into sausages.'

Just feed it through.

'And apparently, I'm making them.'

Oh, my goodness me.

You just want to keep a bit of tension.

You don't want to overfill them.

It's amazing how tense I'm becoming.

THEY LAUGH

'And this is the easy bit.'

So, if we take three,

twist that round there...

Loop up.

Wrap that over and through.

-So, you want about sausage length, over the top.

-Over the top.

-Yeah.

-And twist?

-Yeah. Under and through.

-And then they...

-Yeah, so hold that in your...

Yep.

Oops. You know, this really isn't as easy as it looks.

But I'm going to take some of these and a pork fillet up to

Nick in Perth in the Landward food van to see if he can work his magic.

They're going to be tasty. They may not look so great...

They'll be lovely.

Now, when I heard about a woman wanting to paint every

castle in the Highlands, I thought, "She'll need some big brushes,

"a lot of scaffolding and thousands of gallons of paint."

But then I found out I'd got the wrong end of the stick.

Sarah's come to Dornie on the west coast to get the true story.

Scotland's formidable castles are evidence of our bloody past.

They've withstood sieges, religious rebellions

and changing royal allegiances.

Despite this violent history, there's no doubt that these

mighty strongholds are still a thing of beauty.

That's why thousands of people visit them each year

to enjoy their architecture and stunning surroundings.

You could just spend hours looking at them.

This of course is Eilean Donan,

a common sight on biscuit-tin lids and in Hollywood blockbusters,

and one of the most-photographed spots in Scotland.

But it's not just photographers it inspires.

-Claire?

-Hi, Sarah.

-Good morning! How are you doing?

-I'm good.

-How are you?

-You're well under way already, I see.

'I'm here to meet Highland artist Claire Innes,

'who's currently on a bit of a mission.'

I thought it would make for quite an interesting art project to try

and paint all the castles in the Highlands, and I think

there's about between 50 and 60 of them, so it's a bit of a challenge.

-Why castles?

-I just think they make such an interesting subject.

They've got this air of mystery about them.

There's a lot of history

with the castles, and they've each got their own story to tell.

'Claire's been working on the project

'since the start of the year.'

So, these two you've done already?

-Yeah, this is a couple of preparatory sketches.

-Mm-hm.

I would normally go out and sketch as much as I can on location

and then transfer it onto canvas.

And this is the finished article.

Well, these are very nearly finished.

So, this is Castle Stalker on the left

-and that's Dunvegan Castle on Skye.

-And super-bold and very colourful.

I use quite a lot of colours in my palette.

I think you need to, with the grey Scottish skies,

-inject a wee bit of colour.

-It can sometimes be like that.

Well, don't laugh, I am going to join you later and have a go.

I know you want to crack on at the moment and get going,

-so I'll see you in a bit.

-Right, no problem.

'In just a couple of hours,

'Claire manages to get the bulk of the painting done.

'She obviously has a lot of talent,

'and the amazing thing is she hasn't had any formal training.

'I, on the other hand, need a bit of instruction.'

The idea of sketching is that you're not committing to anything.

It's really just about you working out how to get that onto the papers.

So, to begin with,

-you want to be quite free with the marks that you're making.

-Mm-hm.

So nothing too hard. Don't press down on the pencil too hard,

and just be quite free with the marks.

And it's really just about you working out which

-marks are working for you.

-OK.

How did you get started in all of this?

Well, I'm self-taught. I think I was probably about 14

when I discovered a real passion for painting,

when I decided I wanted to be an artist when I grew up.

But I worked really, really hard.

I remember years ago I met the artist John Lowrie Morrison.

-I don't know if you've heard of him.

-Yeah. Who hasn't?

One of Scotland's most successful artists.

And I always remember him saying you just have to paint,

get out there and paint as much as possible.

'Claire has definitely taken that message to heart.

'She's given herself a year

'to finish her castle-painting challenge,

'then she's hoping to exhibit in either Inverness or Edinburgh.'

-So, Claire's been working on her picture for five hours.

-Yep.

-Is it done?

-Yeah, I think so, but I'll probably take it home

and do a wee bit more work to it at home.

I think it looks amazing, given the time given.

-I'm not 100% happy with it yet.

-Are you ever 100% happy?

-No.

I don't think any artist ever is.

OK. So that gives me a get-out clause.

-Are you ready for my moment of truth?

-Yeah.

-OK. Everyone ready?

Ta-da!

-What do you think?

-I think you've done really, really well.

-Really?

-Yep.

-I mean, given the fact that I haven't picked up a sketch pad or

pencil since school, I'm not that displeased with it.

No, I think it's really good.

We've got Eilean Donan, Claire's work and Sarah Mack's sketch.

I can see you're thinking,

-"Don't give up the day job."

-No. I think it's fantastic.

If you have any other great ideas for things you'd like to see

on the programme, get in touch via our Facebook page or e-mail:

Throughout the series, as I travel the length and breadth of Scotland,

I'm going to be stopping off to show you some of my favourite pitstops.

Grandtully in Perthshire is a stunning, tranquil place.

But it's also famous for this.

'That's Mark French, a guide with Beyond Adventure.

'Today, he's going to show me how to traverse the Grandtully Rapids.'

As a rafting trip from Aberfeldy,

it's the last rapid that people come down. They always remember it.

For kayakers and canoers, as well,

the anticipation of paddling from Aberfeldy with the rapids gradually

getting bigger and bigger and then they get to Grandtully

and it's like, "Ohhh, it's Grandtully! This is brilliant!"

-Are you planning to swim today?

-We're not planning on swimming...

-I'd really like to stay in the canoe.

-So would I.

But there's always a chance.

Nice day though it is, the water's still freezing. Let's remember that

-before we go in. Come on, let's go.

-Perfect!

Whoo-hoo-hoo!

That wasn't supposed to happen.

'The canoe hit a lump of water,

'causing the bow to shoot up in the air.

'When it came back down, it hit a rock and the canoe began to roll...

'sending us both into the water.'

And, yes, it is cold!

Earlier in the programme, we heard the arguments for a relaxation

of the legal ban on the docking of dogs' tails.

The exemption would be for certain types of working dogs.

But there are those who are not in favour of this relaxation.

There are some groups who believe the original animal welfare aims

of the 2007 legislation are just as valid today.

'The policy director of the Scottish animals campaign charity

'OneKind is Libby Anderson.'

'Dogs need their tails.'

They need their tails for balance, for communication,

for movement, to support their spine.

So if you're talking about amputating part of a dog's

anatomy, you need to be very, very sure

that it's the right thing to do.

Every dog that's docked in infancy suffers an amputation,

and that is a painful mutilation.

So what we want to see is a full cost-benefit

assessment of the animal welfare.

When we spoke to a vet earlier in the programme,

he admitted there was an element of discomfort and pain to a puppy.

I think for a long time there's been a slightly old-fashioned view

that they're so little and neonates don't feel pain.

Well, nobody really believes that any more.

Everyone knows that young vertebrates do feel pain

and it may be even worse than what they feel in adulthood.

-The people we spoke to are clearly people who love dogs.

-Yes.

And they don't want to see suffering in their dogs.

Well, you must remember that they are using their dogs.

They're working dogs, even though they love them.

But they're putting them into a situation that they're working in.

Are those owners being irresponsible, then?

They should consider the terrain that they're working in

and whether the animal's likely to be put at risk.

Is this an animal welfare issue or do you just want to stop hunting?

No, it's a welfare issue about dogs. It's 100% about welfare.

Yes. That's what we're interested in.

The final decision rests with the Scottish Government.

They have consulted widely and also commissioned independent

'research from Glasgow University vet school.'

-Hi, Tim. How are you?

-Hi. How are you?

-Yeah, very well.

-Good, good.

'That research was carried out by Tim Parkin.'

Well, from the survey, it was quite clear that spaniels

and hunt-point retrievers were far more likely to have tail

injuries than any other breed working in Scotland.

Spaniels specifically, in one shooting season, approximately

57% of them had at least one tail injury in that one season.

-More than half?

-Yep.

-Wow.

-Hunt-point retrievers, about 39%.

-Uh-huh.

Other working dog breeds, less so.

Those two breeds were specifically those

that are at much greater risk of ending up with a tail injury.

So, what was your opinion on tail docking before you started

-doing this research?

-I've got to say, I was pretty neutral.

I really did have no opinion on this at all.

-I'm not a hunting-shooting-fishing guy.

-And what's your opinion now?

My opinion now is that there is clear evidence that it's

irrefutable that if you have a dog that has had a shortened tail,

then they are clearly at much reduced risk of ending up

-with a tail injury.

-Mm.

The key, for me, is that actually, what we need to do is target

-that intervention as a puppy as much as possible...

-Right.

..such that you really target those individual dogs

-that are genuinely likely to go on and work.

-Uh-huh.

And that would mean targeting the intervention,

the docking, at hunt-point retrievers or spaniels.

And as soon as the Government announces its decision,

we'll be sure to bring it to you.

Earlier in the programme,

I was in the south-west at a rare-breed pig farm.

I'm now with the Landward food van in Perth

and chef Nick Nairn to see if the citizens of the Fair City

can tell the difference between rare-breed and mass-produced pork.

But first, Nick has got to try my sausages.

Here we go. I made these sausages yesterday at Clash Farm, Port Logan,

just south of Stranraer.

They're saddleback sausages. See what you think.

-Visual inspection - slightly overcooked.

-Yes.

-They're irregular shapes. Makes them look very home-made.

-Uh-huh.

Mm. Now...

-Lots of meat in there.

-Oh, yeah!

-Not much filler.

-Good, huh?

-Delicious.

-Absolutely brilliant.

It really breaks my heart to say that, but they are fantastic.

We're not here to congratulate you on your sausage-making skills,

we're here to cook pork fillet. Look at the difference.

-That's supermarket stuff. This is the stuff from Clash Farm.

-Yeah.

You see the colour's different,

texture's different. But it's expensive.

And what we want to find out is, do the great citizens of Perth

appreciate the difference between the two?

I'll cut them into medallions, pan-fry them,

but let's put a very light spice on the outside,

just a little bit of a glaze to make them a little bit interesting.

Not so strong that it would overpower

the natural flavour of the meat.

So, if you make a little spice mix with coriander seeds,

Szechuan peppercorns, fennel seeds, cumin seeds,

black peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon bark and cloves.

That's a hot pan.

Just choose the spices that you want,

go by the smell of what you get back up from the pan.

It's the Dougie Vipond spice mix.

-Now, they're really coming alive.

-Chuck them into that mortar.

OK. And use the pestle to grind them down.

-Oh, it smells fantastic.

-Really does, doesn't it?

I'm just going to trim away the fat from the outside of the pork fillet.

And you can see the colour of the saddleback pork. It's much darker,

the grain of the meat is much finer, it feels soft.

It's a beautiful piece of meat.

You know you could buy a spice grinder, you know?

-Do you know, I've got an electric one at home.

-Have you?

I was going to bring it, then I thought you need the practice.

No, I certainly do.

I'm going to cut the loin in half.

And then I'm going to cut each half into quarters,

and then we'll cut these quarters into little dice.

And that gives a nice little cube of pork that we can first of all

rub with the spices and then we'll pan-fry.

Why are you using this particular cut of pork?

Well, partly because it's very lean and it cooks very quickly.

-It likes flash-frying, which suits what we're doing here.

-Uh-huh.

But partly also because I think it represents fabulous value for money.

'The pork is coated in the Dougie Vipond spice mix

'and fried in rapeseed oil in two separate pans.'

Just toss it and turn it over. OK?

-That one there.

-Yep.

Nice!

'Then Nick adds a final glaze.'

Then we add a little bit of honey, a little bit of soy and then,

to cut through the richness and the sweetness,

a little bit of lemon juice.

'Finally, it has to be tasted. First, the mass-produced pork.'

Now, this just smells absolutely amazing, doesn't it?

-This is nice. However, there's two bits of this left.

-Ah.

Let's see how this is.

-It's a deep flavour.

-Oh, man, immediately!

-Mm-hm.

-Immediately, much bigger.

-Yeah.

-More complex.

-The texture is different, as well.

-Mm-hm.

However, it's not up to us.

It's up to these fabulously turned-out

beautiful citizens of Perth.

Who will taste my pork?

DOUGIE LAUGHS

-A bit tough. This one is a bit dry.

-Be honest with me.

-A bit dry.

-That's not bad.

-Overcooked, you might say?

-Can you help yourself?

-Just a wee second. I'll come to you.

-The second one is the rare breed.

-That's...

-Yeah?

-..moist.

-Yeah.

-Full of flavour.

Which one do you prefer?

-Both.

-Say that was £1. What would you pay for that one?

Well, I don't know.

Like, 1.50?

-Got quite a strong taste.

-That one.

-That one?

-Yep.

-That's much more tender? OK.

-That's a bit chewy.

-"That's a bit chewy"!

-That's the one I cooked!

-Chewy.

-A bit chewy?

-Mm.

-Quite tough.

-"Quite tough"!

-Well, it is, yeah. It's not...

-He made me stay.

He made me cook it a bit longer. I think it's deliberate.

Say that was 100% premium. Say that was £1, that £2.

-Would you pay that?

-Mm, definitely.

You're the only one that went for the rare breed.

-Oh!

-Everyone else went for the mass-produced.

So, how did you fare?

Well, I feel... And I'm really worried, I'm really,

really worried that I overcooked the saddleback,

because I had 4-1 in favour of mass-produced.

-Really?!

-Yes.

-100% saddleback.

-Oh, thank goodness! I'm glad of that.

I was a little concerned that we both slightly overcooked it,

but I just thought, "Public tasting - don't want to have pink pork."

But really, to taste that at its best, it should be slightly pink.

So, saddleback won despite my cooking.

And that's almost all we have on the programme.

Here's what's coming up next time around.

'Managing deer on remote estates...'

We've only been doing the culling here since 2008.

If you went back, none of these seedlings would be here,

because every time a seedling comes up, the tops are being nipped off.

'..recreating farming from a bygone era...'

That's what the old shearing huts would look like.

And you go in there and you sleep and everything else you do outside.

-Despite the weather.

-Yeah, absolutely.

'..and we're in the hills above Braemar for one of nature's most

'amazing spectacles.'

I can never tire of watching black grouse at the lek.

So, join us for that and much, much more, same time next week,

7.30, Friday night, BBC One Scotland.

In the meantime, from all of the Landward team, Nick, me

and everyone here in Perth, thank you for your company.

-Bye for now.

-Goodbye.