Episode 19 Landward

Hello and a very warm welcome to Landward,

where Arlene and I are going to undertake a marathon road trip

around the south-west of Scotland.

Landward is on the move this week, with a difference.

With a ban on all new petrol and diesel cars in prospect from 2040,

Arlene is joining me in Dumfries and Galloway on a trip into the future

of driving.

You can see how we get on in a minute, but first,

here's what else you can look forward to.

Euan is in the hills to meet the locals who want to take over Cairngorm Mountain.

Technology has come on a long way and so we would look to

manufacture snow and farm snow.

While Anne is in a forest visiting a community who have already taken

control of the land.

So the horse can really be effective in these conditions.

-He's gorgeous.

-Yes, he's a good horse, isn't he?

-Yeah.

And we look at the unique challenges facing a guide dog in the countryside.

The last thing you would want is for his tail to be run over.

But now, Landward is on a road trip to the glorious south-west.

But before we can get moving,

Arlene and I are tracking down our transport in Dumfries.

Over the years on Landward we've walked, run,

cycled and driven some of the most fantastic roads and routes across

-the country.

-One of the most famous routes is the North Coast 500,

that Dougie did, completed successfully, in both car and motorbike.

It is a wonderful route,

but now in the south of the country there is a new one to rival it.

Yes, the South West 300, a circular 300 mile route,

starting in Dumfries and taking in Kirkcudbright, Newton Stewart...

Cairnryan, Stranraer, Girvan, New Cumnock, Moffat, and then Lockerbie.

-Well remembered.

-Thank you.

And how are we going to tackle this route?

Well, by car, but it's not that simple.

Not that simple at all because the car we're going to is over here

by the charger. It's an electric car.

-Yes.

-This one, and the man from Nissan is Chris Baxter,

who is going to take us through it. Nice to see you.

-Hello, Chris.

-Hello.

-Now, how much battery power do we have?

How many miles are we going to go on one charge?

You will get up to 124 miles from one charge.

-OK, that's all right.

-It really couldn't be simpler.

You can charge up to 80% of the battery in only 30 minutes,

so with a bit of planning there's absolutely no reason you can't complete

-this route.

-Yeah. And what about charging points?

-How easy are they to find?

-Very easy.

You download an app to your phone, it will tell you where they are.

You just drive up to them, plug in.

I'm not very good with gadgets. Can you talk us through it, please?

Absolutely. Let's show you how to get charged.

-OK.

-Straight into the socket and push in till it clicks.

-And you...

-Have you hurt your hand?

No!

How are you feeling? Are you ready?

-I'm excited.

-Yeah, 300 miles.

-Yeah.

-We've got a fully charged car.

And we have some macaroons, as well, in case we get hungry.

-We're good to go.

-Hit it.

Right.

Whoa!

THEY LAUGH

-Have you ever driven an electric car before?

-No, I've never driven an electric before,

and I've still never driven an electric car.

No, well, I'm sorry, you weren't there when he said,

"Who's driving first?" So I volunteered.

No, I'm very happy to have a snooze, actually.

No time for snoozing on this trip, Dougie,

because the journey takes in some of the best sights the south-west has

to offer, and we'll be stopping off at a few of them on the way.

Travelling clockwise from Dumfries,

we'll be hugging the coastline

for much of the route.

There's lots to see, but so far the novelty of the car hasn't

worn off.

I was talking to someone who said that they took their electric car

up to Orkney and they think it cost them £12.

Wow, that is amazing.

Yeah, yeah, and that's driving from Dumfries to Orkney and back.

In Scotland, with an annual subscription,

it can cost as little as £20 a year to run this car,

but if you pay as you go it's more expensive.

We've got plenty of miles left on the battery as we approach our first

stopping off point of the day,

this amazing lighthouse on the Solway Firth.

Approaching Southerness Lighthouse.

On a clear day. We're not going to be able to see it today,

because it's a wee bit hazy, but Cumbria.

All the way to Cumbria, yeah.

It's a weird shape for a lighthouse.

-It's really old, isn't it?

-1748.

Decommissioned in 1936.

Only time for a quick look around

before we head onto our next destination.

VOICEOVER: And I finally get a chance at the wheel.

Keeping in mind the car's limited range.

So 54 on the doodah, and 31 to go,

so we're going to have some slack.

-That all depends...

-Not an awful lot.

-Yeah,

-it all depends on whether I'm driving economically or not.

-Yes.

We are heading for the 12th century Dundrennan Abbey near Kirkcudbright.

There are lots of abbeys on this route but Dundrennan is a particularly beautiful one.

It is. And quite a historic one as well.

Mary, Queen of Scots spending her final night here before taking

a boat across, and her life being ended by Queen Elizabeth.

She took a boat across to Maryport.

I wonder whether Maryport was named after the fact that she was

going across in the boat.

It's beautiful, isn't it?

Amazing it's been built with that hard grey stone

so lots of it still remains.

And I think in the village they've recycled the stone and there's

a lot of it to be seen. Well, they call it recycling.

-Yeah.

-I don't think it's supposed to have been removed but it is

absolutely beautiful.

Sadly, we don't have time to have a wander about,

because we have a date with a mountain bike.

Oh, right. Going to have to reverse.

How do we do that again?

Find out if I found reverse

and if we have enough battery power to visit

one of the South West 300's outdoor gems later in the programme.

Now, from the south-west to Cairngorm.

It's a popular skiing resort but as Euan's finding out,

some believe its potential is being squandered.

Scotland's land is a precious asset.

And the Scottish Government want local people to take more control

over land in their area. Back in 2015, they set a target.

By 2020, they want community groups to own at least one million acres.

There are lots of different reasons why communities will want to take

control of land.

Here, it is dissatisfaction with the way the ski hill is being managed.

The ski resort is owned by Highlands and Islands Enterprise

and managed by a tenant called Natural Retreats.

Together they decided to scrap two of the chairlifts here.

Now the chairs are being sold off to hang in people's gardens,

with no prospect of the lift systems being replaced.

It's a very sad sight, isn't it?

That frustrates Michael Dearman

from the Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust.

I remember coming here as a child,

when I was maybe seven years old and coming to the car park,

going up the chairlift,

you know, it was a magical time for Scottish snow sports.

And now all we are seeing is decline.

It is very sad to see.

But does it matter because, you know, the pub is still there,

there's loads of chairlifts, got the funicular on the other side,

does it really matter if one set of equipment comes out?

It's... Snow sports is only going one way at the moment

in Aviemore and that is in decline, sadly.

There's this belief that snow sports is not viable, well,

that's kind of coming to fruition because of the policies

that have been in place here for the last 20 years.

So what would you do differently?

Because you do have a sitting tenant at the moment.

That's right. There is a tenant in place at the moment and, as the landowner, we would have to

honour that lease, so we would look to support the tenant in terms of

their use of the snow sports infrastructure and in growing the snow sports

business, and we would look to put new technologies into place.

There is now snow making equipment

which will allow us to manufacture snow in up to 20 degrees centigrade

and so we would look to manufacture snow and farm snow

in order to keep the lower runs full throughout the season.

So, we could, in theory, guarantee some level of skiing over Christmas

and over the half-term and over Easter.

And every hospitality provider in the area will tell you that is the Holy Grail.

They make their money over those periods.

The community trust wants to use a legal power called asset transfer to

take control of Cairngorm.

In a bizarre bureaucratic quirk,

Highlands and Islands Enterprise not only owns the mountain

but also advises communities on how asset transfer works.

That's Sandra Holmes' job.

Asset transfer is new legislation that came into being in January of

this year, and it is concerned with assets that are generally in the ownership

of public authorities, such as organisations like Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

It gives communities an opportunity to seek to purchase or to

lease or to use assets in public ownership where the community can

demonstrate they can provide added value and make more productive use

-of the asset.

-Is this not quite a complex situation?

Because you are advising those who may want to take part in an asset

transfer but you are also advising ministers as to whether it should go

ahead or not. There is a potential conflict of interest...

It might be perceived as being quite complicated, but I think within High we are quite a large organisation.

My role in High is very much community facing,

so my job is to support communities in developing their aspirations,

irrespective of who owns it,

so from my perspective, the fact that High is the owner doesn't affect what

I do, I have other colleagues that look after High's ownership interests.

And in this case that is Susan Smith.

She says High had no choice but to remove the chairlifts.

We got an engineer's report which condemned the infrastructure in the

piste and our fundamental priority is that of health and safety,

and it was for these reasons alone that we acted with pace

to clear that legacy infrastructure.

But Susan assures me that they are committed to

winter sports, as she reveals an addition for the coming season.

Well, I am very excited today to tell you

of a new snow factory trial which

we are bringing forward in December and January along with the operator,

and I have to say this is the first technology of its kind

to be implemented in Scotland today.

Despite that announcement from Susan,

the community trust still plan to

pursue the asset transfer and Landward

will continue to follow this story as the bid proceeds.

While the campaign to take control of Cairngorm is at an early stage,

figures show that groups across the country are heeding the call to take

land into community ownership.

We sent Anne to the Highlands,

one of the areas that stands out as embracing the idea,

to see how some of these new owners are getting along.

Nearly half a million acres of land in Scotland

is now owned by community groups.

In the Highlands alone, more than 120 different community groups have

bought up parcels of land, and all of this is owned by one of them -

Aigas Community Forest - and I can hear some work going on now.

Sitting in Lower Strathglass, between Glen Affric and Beauly,

the locals felt they could do a better job of managing the forest

and bought the 640 acre site from the Forestry Commission in 2015.

Hello. Hello, how're you doing?

-How are you?

-It's quite noisy here, shall we go and have a chat?

-Let's have a wee chat.

-Have a walk around.

Helge Hansen, born and brought up in the woods of Germany, is the forest

manager here, and is responsible for implementing the community's plan to

restructure and restore the woodland.

OK, Helge, so what are we seeing here now?

We are amongst old and middle-aged Scots pine trees and some of them

have been planted round 1900.

So what we try to encourage is to promote the native tree species,

Scots pine, in here and try to get rid of some non-native conifers that

have been planted over the last century, basically.

You have an example of the type of trees you are trying to get rid of

-over here.

-Yes, just behind you, over there.

Well, this is a big imposing bit of machinery here.

Tell me a little bit about what exactly he is doing here.

This whole area is designated ancient woodland, so what we are trying to do

is to remove a small pocket of Sitka spruce in here.

It has to be said that Sitka spruce is a very important commercial

species in Scotland.

We just don't want it right in this place in here,

because there's only about 55,000 hectares of ancient woodland left in

Scotland, which is less than 3% of the total wooded area.

Removing these non-native trees and thinning the remaining Scots pines

will create more space and light,

hopefully encouraging back other members of Scotland's ancient woodland.

But not all the horsepower doing the work is diesel driven.

So you use modern machinery for the work that you do here,

but also this fabulous beast?

Yeah, obviously being a community woodland,

we try to work with local people as well,

and to give them employment opportunities to become involved with the forest.

So the horse log assignment is a very good example of somebody who lives

local, has trained recently to use horses.

So a great opportunity for him to work with us.

And he will also become very valuable for us if we do harvesting on steep

slopes, where the modern machinery are struggling in terms of safety.

So a horse can really be effective in these conditions.

-He's gorgeous.

-He's a good horse, isn't he?

-Yeah.

And the felled timber doesn't go to waste.

Bigger logs are sold to the construction industry,

whilst the community get their hands on the smaller ones.

This is part of our firewood business that we are starting at the moment.

We have different sides of barks, like smaller barks,

like people might come up to the forest and pick up their own barks.

We also have large sized barks and we will deliver them.

It's just basically adding value to the timber we have.

Now this is one of the biggest community forests in the whole of Scotland.

What would be the benefits to the community of this type of thing?

I think there was a very strong desire from the local people to get

more engaged with this forest.

Some of the people that live in there, have actually planted trees in here, like,

50 years ago, and they can still remember that.

We also engage with two local primary schools.

What we do with them is we take the kids into the forest,

try to teach them what kind of species we have in here.

But we also do fun stuff with them.

Does that take you back?

I believe you are a man of the forest.

That's true, actually. I grew up in the forest myself,

and my father is a forest manager in Germany.

I spent my childhood doing stuff, like fun stuff.

It sounds magical.

Yeah, it was magic, yeah.

I bet you didn't have midges in Germany.

We don't have midges, we have ticks, but no midges.

Our bag's full. I'm not sure if I've got the muscle power to help you

-lift it, but...

-I'll give you a hand.

And I think we should go for some lunch after that.

-I'll do that.

-Oh, really?!

Thank you.

Undoubtedly there is an awful lot of work required in this type of

project. But, you never know, it might serve as inspiration

for any communities who want to take up the challenge.

Now, making her way around the forest was pretty straightforward

for Anne. But what if you are one of the nearly 200,000 visually impaired

Scots who live in, or want to enjoy the countryside?

Sam Little, who investigated disability access for Landward earlier in the

year, is back to show us how it can be done,

with a little help from man's, or woman's, best friend.

This is Ziggy, a recent addition to my life.

Over the past few months we've bonded brilliantly,

and we've become really good pals.

Ziggy, up. Good boy. Straight on.

We've both been trained to deal with road,

pavement and whatever an urban setting can throw at us.

But as somebody who lives in a rural area and loves the great outdoors,

I want to find out how we should be navigating the countryside,

and what we need to consider when we're out and about.

Ziggy did his basic training here at Scotland's only guide dog training centre in Forfar.

-Hello!

-How are you doing?

I'm very well, thank you.

-How are you?

-Good to see you.

-Will we head through?

-Yes, let's do it.

And trainer Gemma Findlay is going to show us how to get the most out

-of the countryside.

-So we're just going to head in here, just to your right.

-I'll get that door for you.

-OK.

Thank you. OK, Ziggy, straight on.

Oh, yeah, he definitely knows where he's going, doesn't he?

Definitely. He's been here quite a lot.

So if you just get him to sit.

Ziggy, sit. So what do we need to consider when we're out and about in

the countryside, compared to working in the urban areas?

In the countryside it is quite a bit different because

there's a high level of distraction.

There's going to be lots of animals,

lots of smells that they just won't be familiar with.

What we'll do is we'll have a chat about all of that when we get outside

-and get into the country.

-Ziggy, are you ready for the countryside?

Yeah, you can tell he's taking in all those country smells. Good boy.

OK, the first thing you need to bear in mind is that in the urban settings,

Ziggy is trained to walk centrally in a pavement.

We are on a road that has no pavement,

so he's going to try to walk you in the centre of the road.

You stick to the right-hand side,

so you're walking towards the oncoming traffic.

Keep the lead in your right hand.

You need to keep encouraging him to stay in to the right.

So it's actually been quite nerve-racking walking up here,

because you're not sure if a car is going to come.

I'm surprised at how good he is doing.

He has been a really good boy today.

He has, especially when we've got distractions.

Ziggy, sit. Like these horses.

Yeah. If he does sit, make sure his tail is off-road,

even if you just shift his tail in.

The last thing you would want is for his tail to be run over.

So what do you need to do to ensure that a guide dog reacts like this

when he comes across a farm animal?

When he comes into early training,

his guide dog trainer will have done country walks with him,

and she'll have done quite a few of them.

There's a couple of farms that we do use that often have cattle in the

cow sheds, depending on the time of the year.

Can we go to one today?

We can go to one today, yeah.

OK, brilliant. Let's go.

So you've got cows on your left.

And he's not that fussed by them at all, which is really good.

-Good boy.

-I definitely don't feel as relaxed.

There's a lot more obstacles and the terrain is really uneven as well.

-Yeah.

-I do definitely feel the difference in him here,

compared to when we were walking on the country road.

You are going to have the animals.

You've also possibly got a farm dog.

And, you know, they might often have a cat as well.

Some dogs aren't very good with cats.

They might be great with horses, but not with cats.

So these are the kind of things you need to consider.

And also your traffic.

You've got your tractors, your pickups,

all this different stuff that you could come across.

So it is possible to live in the countryside and have a guide dog?

Absolutely. You can live an independent life with a guide dog if you were to live rural.

Well, it's obvious we've still got a bit more training to do.

But being able to get out and enjoy the countryside safely

gives Ziggy and I a whole new sense of freedom,

independence and the chance to get our feet a wee bit muddy.

OK, Ziggy? Up.

Earlier in the programme, Arlene and I began our journey round the

South West 300, trying to manage it in an electric car.

With all its unfamiliar doodahs.

This is the new thing, isn't it, because we are in the B mode.

Am I in B? No, I'm not.

-Oh, you're not, you're in D.

-SHE GASPS

We've already been sightseeing and now we're heading away from the

coast for a bit of exercise.

-Where is it we're going?

-Um...

-Kirroughtree.

-Is that how you pronounce it?

Kirroughtree. Kirroughtree.

-I don't know.

-Kirroughtree.

Kirroughtree it is, for a spot of cycling.

I haven't mountain biked since I was about 13.

The last time I mountain biked I came off and knocked myself out.

So tips, advice, on how to do it safely?

Yeah. Keep your head above your ankles and you'll be fine.

Kirroughtree is one of the 7Stanes mountain biking trails on

Forestry Commission land across the south of Scotland.

There are a range of routes here and it's the perfect antidote to sitting

in the car.

These trails attract visitors from all over and it's hoped

the South West 300 will push numbers up.

And for the less fit amongst us, there is battery-powered help here,

as well as in the car.

So, Sam, owner of Brake Pad Bike Shop here at Kirroughtree,

which is just fantastic,

I've had an absolute blast going round some of the trails here.

Thank you very much. And, given that I haven't been on a bike for a very

long time, I thought I did quite well.

Might have something to do with the bike though.

-Well, this is Trek's Powerfly, which is an e-bike.

-Ah.

And the ebike is power assisted.

It's not just a press button and you go, you have to pedal,

but you can adjust the assistance that you get, the level of assistance,

so it's battery-operated.

How much of a difference will the marketing of the South West 300

-make to you?

-Oh, tonnes.

We want as many visitors here as possible.

It's such a beautiful area and the more the merrier.

We cater for events at the moment and lots of people,

roughly about 75,000 people here a year, so having more people,

-the more the merrier.

-Well, thank you very much indeed.

I'm definitely hooked on one of these, but I need to go and find Dougie because he

was supposed to be joining us and I've no idea where he is,

so I'm going to leave you with this.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you, Sam. And I'm heading out this way.

-Glad you had fun.

-Thanks so much.

-Cheers.

While Arlene has been enjoying the pleasures of Kirroughtree,

I've been doing a bit of pedalling on my own.

Did you have a nice time?

I did, I had a great time, thanks.

-What are you doing?

-Somebody had to charge the battery while you were

-having fun.

-Have you been at it all this time?

You could say that, yes.

If only the car was as easy to charge as it is to fool Arlene.

Hopefully though the battery has enough left in it to get us to our

stop for the night, but it is going to be close.

-Oh.

-What did it say there?

A warning light has come on.

-A low battery light.

-Oh, no.

It's flashing at 16.

How far is it to Newton Stewart?

I don't know.

This, I believe, is what they call range anxiety.

Well-known to electric car owners.

That is really off-putting, seeing that thing flashing at you.

However, we do make it to Newton Stewart,

but once we get there we've still to find a charging point.

100 metres.

We've arrived at the destination.

-No, we haven't.

-No.

-No.

-Oh, there it is.

-Can you see it?

Yes, I can. Left, left, left.

Yes, yes, yes.

And fortunately there's a free space.

Oh.

SHE SIGHS

'But the day is far from over.'

Right.

So, to start session, present your...

What?

'Accessing the charge point isn't as easy as we were told.'

No. No.

What?

That didn't work.

'With the number to pay not working, we tried the helpline,

'which is less than helpful.'

What's the number for "Oh, my goodness this is a disaster",

what's that number? 01912...

Have you got a pen?

THEY LAUGH

01...

'As night falls, the frustration rises.'

-OVER PHONE:

-..The recharging session has taken place.

-Oh, God.

-If you'd like us to text you the location of the nearest charge point

to use this service, please press five.

If you would like to speak to us, please call the

helpline number on the charge point.

We're phoning...

We've phoned the helpline number twice.

-You wouldn't want to be doing this in a rain storm, would you?

-No.

'While we endeavour to plug in our car,

'there's just time to tell you

'what's coming up on next week's programme.'

Euan is on the Cromarty Firth

to see the results of a wildlife experiment.

It's very, very much like a marsh.

It's a real surprise to us about how quickly that's come about.

Ann meets scientists uncovering the story hidden in the soil.

So this is an indicator that humans have altered the soils and have used

the soil and grown crops here.

And Arlene and I try some cheese with a difference.

How easy is it to milk a sheep?

Oh, it's much easier because there's only two teats.

But that's next time.

How are we getting on back at Newton Stewart?

I'm not chirpy any more.

No, me neither.

Let's plug this in and let's see if this app works.

If this baby doesn't work, I might swear.

Starting charging, this may take a moment.

Come on!

We've got a blue light in the car.

It's working.

So we will be continuing our journey on the South West 300

next Monday.

Night-night.