Episode 7 Landward

It's June and what better place for an examination of the king of fish

than Royal Deeside?

Hello and a very warm welcome to the programme

from the Falls of Feugh on Royal Deeside.

In a moment, I'll be looking into the health of migratory

salmon stocks that have made this river system famous the world over.

But first, here's what else is coming up.

Sarah discovers the local revolution taking place in hospital catering...

Mince and tatties followed by syrup sponge and custard.

..Euan harvests wild seeds...

See, it's just like a velvet pile, it's incredible.

It's lovely, isn't it?

But as soon as it starts to ripen, it basically just explodes out.

..and how concrete and mathematics combined to map Britain.

We can measure from the south coast of England

to the far end of Shetland.

The Dee - one of Scotland's great fishing rivers.

And earlier this year,

I had the privilege of opening its annual salmon season.

The river and the communities that live on its banks

were just recovering from the devastation of Storm Frank.

That natural event followed some of the biggest changes to affect

Scottish salmon fishing in generations -

a temporary ban on coastal netting for salmon

and the imposition of strict catch-and-release rules

for many of the country's angling rivers.

These controversial moves are designed to allow

scientists several years to research the health of wild salmon stocks.

Now, if the number of salmon returning to Scotland's

coastlines and rivers is deemed sustainable

then fishing will be allowed to resume.

But that is a long way off.

I'm back on the Dee to find out exactly what the scientists

are up to in their pursuit of the answer to one critical question -

is fishing for wild salmon sustainable?

-How are you? Nice to see you.

-Hi, Dougie. Good to see you.

-Yeah.

-Shall we head down?

-Yeah, come on.

Lorraine Hawkins from the River Dee Trust

is one of those scientists

and I'm joining her to measure smolts,

young salmon and sea trout about to head downriver.

But first, you've got to catch them.

So, this is a rotary screw trap and it's catching all the juvenile

fish that are coming downstream at this time of year.

This is a sea trout. It's 150mm long, 36g.

And what are you actually learning from this information, then?

We don't measure, weigh, scale sample every single fish,

just a sample to give us a picture

of what the whole population is so we can understand

what the population is made of, how many age groups, we can look

at survival of different age groups and how that might change over time.

Are you able to track, you know,

-which salmon can come back to the river?

-Yes.

There's... I mean, there's been decades of work, tracking fish.

So these are pretty small fish.

-The tags must be absolutely tiny.

-Yes.

It's basically just bigger than a Tic Tac.

-Just.

-Actually bigger than I thought it was going to be.

The batteries will not last that long.

We're very much focused on tracking the fish as they go out to sea,

and particularly through the coastal waters.

But the tags will remain in the bodies of the fish

throughout their lives,

and they will come back into the river with the tag.

-They make a ping.

-Yeah.

And then these pings that they make are picked up

by receivers that we place through the river and into the harbour.

Shall we go further down the river and see that, then?

Absolutely.

The majority of the salmon this year have already made their way

past Lorraine's survey.

It can take up to three weeks for the tiny tagged smolts to travel

the 20 miles to where the river meets the sea at Aberdeen Harbour.

The Harbour Board staff are going to help us

lift one of our hydrophone receivers out of the harbour,

which has hopefully picked up some of our tagged salmon smolts

that have come downstream.

So what do you actually hope to do with the information

you're getting from these tags?

Well, understanding, following our fish to the river,

through the harbour, we can see if

there are any areas where we start to lose fish.

According to Lorraine's data, 34 of the 50 smolts she's tagged

so far this year have made it safely downriver and out to sea.

We know that fewer adults are returning from the sea

so there's an area where there is high mortality of salmon occurring.

We don't know where that is. We are concerned that, you know,

we might be losing fish even before they get to sea.

Issues such as predators are a possibility

and we're really at the very first stage of finding this out.

This is a three-year project

so we hope to have a much better understanding,

sort of, in three years.

Lorraine is just one of many people working around Scotland's

coastline on this vitally important research project,

and hopefully, in time, this work will provide results

that netters and anglers alike are wanting to hear -

that the mighty salmon is flourishing once again

in rivers and out at sea.

And later in the programme, we'll be cooking some wild salmon

in the food van and we'll be letting the people of Stirling

compare it to salmon from the fish farm.

Now, whilst wild salmon isn't something that is likely to

appear on hospital menus any time soon, Sarah's been finding out

why the quality of food served to patients may be improving.

Scotland's food is the envy of the world

but not if you're a patient in one of our hospitals

because, as we all know, NHS food has a terrible reputation.

But that could be all about to change

because some NHS trusts are opening on-site kitchens

and sourcing produce from local suppliers.

This is Failte Produce in Glasgow.

The company was established in 1952

and has been supplying fresh produce to businesses for all that time.

-A busy, busy room.

-A busy place, yeah. Very busy.

They're getting all the produce ready for tomorrow.

John Forsyth is the company director.

-So this is a full-time operation.

-Full-time, yes. Full-time.

Throughout the day, they're making up produce throughout the day

for all the hospitals throughout Scotland.

They're getting it ready for delivery tomorrow morning.

So this will end up in hospitals around Scotland.

Throughout Scotland, yes.

How much of what you supply to hospitals comes from Scotland?

100%.

The destination for this batch of 100% Scottish vegetables is

the Forth Valley Royal Hospital, just 30 miles away in Larbert.

Here we have the evening meal.

It's mince and onions for approximately 600.

-That is a shed load of mince.

-Yes, it is.

Ann Davidson is the manager for catering contractor Serco,

who have been serving fresh local food here

since the hospital opened in 2010.

How much local produce do you use?

We use our butcher, baker, milkman, fresh fruit and veg - all local.

-All comes from...

-Within a 30-mile radius.

-A 30-mile radius.

-Yes.

-So it all comes from Scotland.

-Yes.

Hospital meals are notoriously cheap to make

so can you source local produce but still stay on budget?

We have an excellent reputation here and what we supply is we look for

a quality product at the best price but not necessarily the cheapest.

-So you're happy to spend more...

-Yes.

-..to get local produce.

-Yes.

And Ann's team likes to make sure they're keeping

all their customers happy and well fed.

We have questionnaires out every month.

We work in line with the dieticians, the Patient Public Panel, and we get

feedback from all these groups on our menus and we review regularly.

Would you like to see this type of system roll out to other hospitals?

Oh, yes. Uh-huh. Yes. We're very proud of what we do.

We think we're the best. We are.

So, what's it like to actually work here? Time to meet the staff.

Sarah, let me introduce you to Mary. Mary's the batch chef this evening.

-I'll leave you with her.

-See you later. Hi, Mary.

-Hello, Sarah.

-How are you doing? What's on the menu?

It is broccoli Mornay tonight.

-So how much do you enjoy working with local produce?

-Fantastic.

I prefer working with the fresh produce.

It's just so much nicer, so much better, so much healthier.

'So I've followed tonight's dinner from pallet to plate...'

Oh. Saw that being made earlier, didn't we?

'..and now for the proof of the pudding.'

That Alison's in bed 20.

Bed 20. Thanks.

Alison. Hey! Here we go.

Mince and tatties, followed by syrup sponge and custard.

-Exactly.

-Does that look good?

-Yes, it looks good.

I couldn't remember what I'd ordered so that's great.

Very good quality, yes.

It's... Oh, that was a lovely chicken fillet we had tonight.

We had chicken Szechuan last night.

I'm going on a chicken diet, I think! But everything's perfect.

Before I came in, I wasn't eating at all,

and since I've came in,

my appetite's built right back up again so it's been good for me.

The food is really good. I've no complaints about it.

Food helps you get better, doesn't it?

If you're no' eating, it sets you back in your recovery.

Preparing 3,500 meals a day is a big ask for any kitchen but,

to me, it does make sense to source and use local produce where you can,

and it would seem that this hospital is making

big steps in the right direction.

Now, while Sarah tackles the washing up,

Euan's in Angus to discover how a new research project could

help arrest a decline in our wild flower meadows.

Before the Second World War, meadows dripping with wild flowers

and humming with insects were a familiar sight across the country.

But these days, you'd be hard pushed to find one.

Here at Scotia Seeds,

they grow over 150 different species of native wild flower,

and, as you can see,

some of them are just starting to come into flower.

-Fiona.

-Hi, Euan.

-Trying not to stand on your plants.

'Fiona Guest is a director of Scotia Seeds.'

This is a red campion. You've probably seen it in hedgerows.

It's beautiful. It's lovely, isn't it?

It's amazing to see it as one big crop.

The company harvest seeds from the variety of wild flowers

grown across their 40-acre site

and put together seed mixes which allow anyone to recreate

a wild flower meadow.

But of course, it's not just about the plants.

The meadow habitat becomes a home and a supply of food for insects

and a whole diversity of birds and animals.

So, does it have a big impact on the insect population?

Oh, I think it has a massive impact on the insect population.

I mean, you come here midsummer

or even when it's a little bit stiller

and there's just bumblebees everywhere.

Lots of different species.

That's why grasslands and species-rich grasslands,

meadows, are so important.

But they're really getting thin on the ground now.

Oh, they are. I mean, meadows themselves,

these grasslands have declined hugely since the 1930s.

It's something like a 90% decline.

And the natural grasslands that you find, seminatural grasslands,

-are really, really precious.

-But what's not to like?

I mean, imagine having a picnic.

Yeah, that idea of a grassland that you can go in and sit down in

and when you're small as well, meadows...

I remember from when I was a kid,

that feeling of being in something really tall.

-I still have that!

-Well...!

Scotia is at the forefront

of a £3 million Europe-wide research project

designed to share knowledge across the continent

about seed science and conservation.

I'm just making up a mix which is a meadow mix for a wet meadow.

Giles Laverack is one of the scientists involved.

So this is appropriate technology.

This is great.

So, I mean, this is the delightfully low-tech end,

but there's a lot of hi-tech stuff going on as well.

What are you doing?

Yeah, we're also having to do some science as well because it's a very

recent kind of form of agriculture, producing native wild flower seeds.

There's a lot to learn about the species that were using.

We're developing new techniques, also applying things which

have been used in agricultural seed production,

for instance, to new species.

So there's lots and lots of new information coming out of this

all the time which, for scientists, is great.

But to study the seeds, they need to be harvested,

and Fiona's taking me to the site's wetland area.

I've got the waders on, you've got your wellies on,

you've got your stick - what are we going to do?

We're harvesting bulrush, which is one of the first

-things that's ripe in the season.

-Harvesting bulrush.

-Yes.

Unfortunately, it means you actually have to get into the pond, hence the waders.

-Just fine. Take me to your bulrushes.

-Just over here.

So what's the technique?

Just come along and just cut the seed heads off.

So, as you can see, we've harvested a wee bit of it to start off with.

-I'll go a bit deeper than you. You take the stick.

-OK.

Watch yourself.

-OK. Just there?

-Yeah.

-Let's go back to the shore.

Are you getting stuck there?

OK, so, what's the process now?

Well, the amazing thing about bulrushes,

you see it's just like a velvet pile, it's incredible.

It's lovely, isn't it?

But as soon as it starts to ripen,

it basically just explodes out.

Those tiny little seeds there are actually what end up being

cleaned down, so all the fluffy stuff gets cleaned off it

and you just end up with pure seed.

And, as you can see, in this little handful,

-this one bulrush head...

-It's a lot of seeds.

-Masses and masses of it.

-This is the most fun I've had in weeks.

You know, as the sun comes out and the flowers are in bloom,

this whole field just comes alive

with the sounds of insects and birds.

But wild flower meadows like this are in serious decline

and let's just hope that some of the work here will enable future

generations to come to a field,

lie down, and enjoy the sights,

the sounds and the smells of summer.

Look. I do like butter.

And if you've got any other great ideas for things

you'd like to see on the programme or great places for us to visit,

you can get in touch

via our Facebook page or e-mail...

Throughout the series,

as I travel thousands of miles crisscrossing Scotland,

I'm going to stop off and show you some of my favourite places.

Today, I'm on the River Dee at Potarch,

home to the legendary Dinnie Stones.

The heavy events are a highlight of our Highland games.

Their origins can be traced back to ancient stone lifting competitions,

and examples of these stones of strength can still be found.

Perhaps the most famous stones of strength are these,

the Dinnie Stones.

Now, the biggest one weighs 430lbs,

the small one a mere 340.

That's a combined weight of more than a third of a metric tonne.

The stones are named after Donald Dinnie.

Described as Scotland's greatest athlete,

the strongman became world-famous in the 19th century.

But it was here in 1860

that he performed his greatest feat of strength.

Legend has it that Dinnie picked up both stones

and walked across this bridge.

I mean, that's only six steps. How tough can it be?

HE GROANS

I'll try again later.

Although few have heard of Donald Dinnie today,

he was the most successful Scottish sportsman of his age.

And since his death a century ago,

some people have suggested the story of the stones is a myth.

But even today, strong men from all over the world come here to

Potarch to take on the challenge,

but so far, no-one has managed to match Dinnie's epic lift.

It's now 18 years since a project began

to map out the precise shape of the UK.

It was done through a network of concrete triangulation pillars,

commonly known as trig points.

Sarah's been to East Lothian to find out how they helped map Britain.

If you enjoy walking in the hills, whatever the weather,

then I've no doubt that at some point, you've done this.

But have you ever stopped to wonder why these concrete pillars,

which were originally white, are dotted across our landscape?

80 years ago, men were climbing up and down hills across the country,

carrying the materials to build these trigs -

sand and mortar, along with food, tents

and car batteries for powerful lights.

But they also carried this - a theodolite, which measures angles.

It weighs more than 2st

and they would have to, in the early days,

lug this up a hill to carry out surveys.

-Right, Duncan, you've got that, I've got the maps.

-Let's go.

Trig points were going to form the corners of invisible triangles

all across Britain.

I think we're going to head up that way, Sarah.

Duncan Moss from Ordnance Survey

is going to show me how the trig points work.

The triangle is the most simple shape possible and we know that,

for each triangle,

all of the corners should add up to 180 degrees.

If we know the length of one side,

if we measure the angles of that triangle,

we can calculate the other sides

and we can continue that throughout all of the triangles in the network

and eventually we can measure

from the south coast of England to the far end of Shetland.

I've had a feel of how heavy this is.

How did the early surveyors use these?

What did they do with the theodolite?

So, they would turn the theodolite

and, once that was pointing

precisely at the distant trig pillar,

we would read the angle using this small eyepiece here

and, once we have all the angles measured, by using trigonometry,

we can then calculate the size of all the triangles

and eventually the coordinates of this trig pillar.

We have zero visibility today.

What would they have done in these circumstances?

Today is not a good day for observing so,

if you take Ben Nevis as an example,

it took 20 days to take the measurements

on the triangulation pillar on Ben Nevis.

17 of those days were like this

so the team had to go up and down every day.

Can you imagine bringing an instrument like this

up and down every day with a team of people?

An incredible feat to do that.

Even in places where there are no hills,

the early mappers could still use trig points.

This one at Rhunahaorine is the lowest in Scotland,

just a couple of metres above sea level.

Trig points are largely redundant today

but they're still an iconic part of the British landscape

and people like to have fun with them,

painting them, doing acrobatics, and...

balancing their dogs on them?

Today, mapping, like many things, has gone hi-tech

and I'm off to meet a man who knows all about that.

-Derek. Good morning. How are you doing?

-I'm doing very well.

-It's not exactly climbing in the hills, is it?

-No, it's not.

But this is the environment I work in.

Derek Smith is a modern-day surveyor.

He's mapping our ever-changing landscape.

So why a housing estate?

Well, it's all new and it's all got to go in the map.

People need to know where it is, how to get here.

And the level of detail we're picking up,

the emergency services, not only can they find the right street,

they can find the right house that they're looking for.

It's that accurate, the information.

So just tell me what equipment you've got here.

Well, the computer here has the map.

This is a very detailed map

showing all the individual houses, roads, fences.

This bit of equipment here picks up some satellites,

navigational satellites,

and that gives me my coordinates,

pinpoints exactly where I am so when you look down,

the little red circle there is exactly where we are just now.

How does it compare? I mean, I suppose, in my imagination,

you'd be marching up hills and across glens.

Is going round a housing estate that exciting?

Well...every day, it's a different housing estate

so...different location all the time.

Yes, there's not so much going up hills these days

cos the hills don't change.

This is where the change takes place.

So the work Derek and has colleagues are doing is still pioneering,

and it all started back in 1936

with the humble trig pillar.

Earlier in the programme, I was on the River Dee to see the latest

research taking place into the health of wild salmon stocks.

Now I've come to meet Nick in the Food Van for a special taste test.

Can we and the good people of Stirling

tell the difference between wild and farmed salmon?

Nick, what are we doing today?

This is a unique opportunity to try tasting back-to-back

-wild salmon versus farmed salmon.

-Uh-huh.

Because farmed salmon has come a long way in the last ten years.

Wild salmon's disappearing.

You know, there's just hardly any of it left.

And the one we've got here was actually caught last year,

-before the ban...

-On coastal netting.

-..on coastal netting.

-Yeah.

And it's been frozen.

But these are the same size of fish

and we're going to poach them in court-bouillon, nothing else.

So it's a very straightforward comparison.

And which tastes the best - farmed or wild?

-Right, what do I have to do?

-You're going to make the court-bouillon.

-OK.

-Carrot, leek and celery.

Slice them up, slip them into a pan of simmering water,

a few slices of lemon, a little bit of salt.

Fast as you like. Beautiful.

This gives the water a bit of flavour

and in turn passes it on to the salmon.

And we're going to slip the salmon in.

And we're just going to pop the lid back on,

going to bring it up to the boil

and then take it off and leave it overnight.

As much as I love being in Stirling,

I don't fancy spending the night in this van, Nick,

so hopefully you have something prepared earlier, right?

Of course I have. Ta-da!

Now, can you tell me, once they're cooked, which is which?

-I would say...

-Take a guess.

I would suggest that that is the farmed and that is the wild.

Yeah, you're right.

-Are you disappointed that I'm right?

-Very.

-OK.

-You can have the wild.

-Thank you very much.

And I've got the farmed.

And all we're going to do now is just flake this down so if you

just sort of break it open, you can see,

just beautifully cooked.

Now, what we don't want is this stuff here, OK? The fat.

So if you just take a spoon and just take the fat off.

Now, we just need to open it up

and take the pin bones out.

-The wild fish is much drier...

-Uh-huh.

..whereas the farmed fish, because of the extra fat content,

is much more moist.

Will that affect the taste, do you think?

It won't affect the taste.

It will affect the mouthfeel.

'Nick seasons each bowl of salmon

'with salt, pepper and a little lemon juice...'

Exactly the same seasoning.

Mix it through.

'..and serves it up on a crouton.'

Ta-da!

-Good work.

-Yeah, should we have a wee tasty?

-Let's do it.

'We try them both and, for us, the result is clear.'

Wow.

-Huge difference.

-Clear-cut.

Wild fish, fabulous flavour.

-Much bigger flavour. Farmed fish...

-Farmed fish.

-Moist.

-Moist texture.

-Much better mouthfeel.

-Yeah.

-But for flavour, wild.

-By a country mile.

-By a country mile. Unbelievable.

-Extraordinary.

-But what will the people of Stirling think?

-I don't know.

Let's go and find out.

-Righty-ho, who wants a wee go at this, then?

-Nice.

I think that one's got more flavour.

-Oh.

-Like the first one?

-That one was nice, yeah.

Do you like that? Have a wee go at this one. This is B.

This one looks drier already.

I think the first one was nice, it was quite delicate-flavoured.

That just seems a wee bit stronger.

Kind of dry, though.

-It's what, sorry?

-Kind of dry.

I can tell you what would taste better. Wild every time.

Mm..

I like the first one best.

A bit bland.

Wet.

-This one seems to be a bit milder than that one there.

-OK.

You prefer farmed salmon.

That must be cos it's what I'm used to.

-I actually prefer this one.

-You prefer the second one.

-Yes, I do actually.

-OK.

-That's the wild salmon.

-Oh, wow.

-This one has much more of a fresh feel to it.

-OK.

It seemed a wee bit more... Yeah. Is this the wild one?

That is the wild one.

-Oh far better.

-Really?

-Mm! Far better.

-OK.

Much more flavour.

-Second one.

-Second one's better.

See, I knew you had a discerning palate.

That's the wild salmon you chose.

-Will I tell you which one you preferred?

-Go for it.

-You're going to tell me I picked farmed, aren't you?

-You did.

-You did.

-That's amazing, that.

Nick, I was really surprised with my results. What are yours?

I was surprised as well. 3-2 to the farmed salmon.

I was 4-1 to farmed salmon.

That's extraordinary,

because we were both absolutely agreed that the wild tasted

-better than the farmed.

-Yeah.

12 years ago, the wild fish

was clearly way ahead of the farmed fish.

This time, it was closer,

but I still preferred the wild.

OK, well, it's very interesting indeed.

He preferred the wild, the people of Stirling preferred the farmed.

And on that note,

just got time to tell you what's coming up next time around.

It's 40 years since Landward first hit our television screens and

next week, we're celebrating with a very special anniversary edition.

Euan travels the country

and delves into the archives to bring you the people...

Considerably less grey here in that version of Tom Mitchell.

..the places...

This is Ettrick Primary School.

This is where I went to school in the 1970s.

..the memories.

But now a series of 14 ponds stretches across the entire farm.

We bring you the drama...

Clyde Coastguard, this is yacht Josephine, yacht Josephine,

yacht Josephine, over.

..the battles...

You want to be on our side of income

then you'll bloody know what we're talking about.

..and we explore how life in rural Scotland

has changed over the last four decades.

So join us next week for this hour-long special...

So, until next time, thanks for watching.

From Nick, me and all the team here at Stirling,

-thanks for your company. Bye for now.

-Bye.