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Landward episode 5 2025
Transcript
00:00This time I'm heading up there, for many the greatest mountain in the country.
00:09Welcome to Lambert.
00:30A very warm welcome to Dundonnel in Western Ross, an area of sea lochs and stunning peaks.
00:39It's also home to a favourite of many adventure type, Anceloch, a mountain massive of steep gullies and breathtaking summits.
00:48But that popularity also brings potential issues.
00:52So I'm heading up to find out what's been done to protect this epic mountain.
00:58Here's what's coming up.
01:00Everything's in need of repair.
01:05There's a fish. Oh yes, I see it.
01:08Arlene helps out on the 4th and Clyde Canal.
01:11I've got my first fish.
01:13I'm on a well-trodden path.
01:16And Cammie tries a bit of tractor maintenance.
01:20Stripping things down. Do you remember where all the bits go to put them back though?
01:24But first, over the past 50 years, Lambert has witnessed the benefits of reintroducing one's native species back into Scotland.
01:37And while more often than not it's been a success story, it can lead to unintended consequences.
01:43Rosie's inner guile discovering how the return of one species is having a big impact on traditional farming.
01:53Please be aware that this item contains images that some viewers may find distressing.
02:00Garvicky Farm sits next to Loch Fein.
02:06Two thousand five hundred acres grazed by Ricky and Kirsten Rennie's thousand sheep.
02:13Each sheep instinctively roams a specific area of the hill.
02:18It's hardwired to spend its life there.
02:21And that connection passes on to the next generation.
02:25It's known as a hefted flock.
02:28But the sheep here are facing a threat from the air.
02:31And it's one that could bring an end to this way of farming.
02:35Somewhere up there are the culprits.
02:38White-tailed sea eagles.
02:40The birds were persecuted to extinction in the early 20th century, but were reintroduced to Scotland in the 1970s.
02:52And their presence has been controversial ever since.
02:56These protected birds are now well established and have expanded across the country.
03:01And there are two pairs nesting on the edge of Garvicky.
03:11Kirsten Rennie's family farm.
03:13So we're the fourth generation now.
03:16My dad obviously was farming here before me.
03:19We grew up on the farm.
03:20So then we took on the farm in 2018.
03:23Have sea eagles always been here during that period?
03:26No, no.
03:27They haven't always been here since they were reintroduced.
03:30We started to sort of see subtle sort of changes happening in the farm.
03:35We started to wonder what was going on.
03:37And it's become more and more apparent in the past few years about what's happening.
03:43The eagle has just done this, Andrew.
03:45Just killed this.
03:46You out, out in the hill.
03:48Blood in the back of the net, the talons.
03:50It's still warm.
03:51I've just spooked it and it's just sitting over there.
03:54And what's happening is that sea eagles are preying on lambs.
04:01The family have collected a gruesome catalogue of photos and videos showing the damage done.
04:07Out, out there at the trig point.
04:10That's where you see the eagles most of the time.
04:12Up on the hill, Ricky is showing me where the attacks happen.
04:16Where the trees are out there.
04:18There's another nest in there.
04:19Right past it, behind all these hills, right down to this log.
04:22Everything out the back of that there, there was no arms left on there.
04:24It's really widespread.
04:26So what sort of losses have you seen in your lamb flock?
04:29In 2021, we had over 220 taken to the eagle.
04:332022 wasn't a bad year.
04:35Over the last seven years, Ricky's lost hundreds of lambs.
04:40Devastating for the welfare of the flock and the Rennies' bank balance.
04:45But there's another threat.
04:48A condition of the family's tenancy is that they must keep a certain number of sheep on the hill.
04:54But because this is a hefted flock, you can't just buy replacements.
04:58On a hefty system, these sheep go back.
05:00They know the hill, they know exactly where they go.
05:02So the same yowl go back to the same bit of the hill.
05:04They know all the wet spots.
05:05They know where the shelters is.
05:06They know where the best grass is.
05:08Putting new sheep onto the hill would be hopeless.
05:12They'd go out there and they'd go into the first wet hole and they'd get stuck and they'd die.
05:16Or they wouldn't know where the shelter was in the bad weather and they can't do that.
05:19So, with dropping sheep numbers and no easy way to replace them,
05:23the couple risk losing their farm tenancy.
05:27They've been working with the Scottish Government, trying ways of reducing attacks.
05:32We've tried the version of feeding with Nature Scott.
05:36So they've put a platform out and they've got a deer carcass on it.
05:41And the birds haven't been interested in that.
05:44We've tried lambing jackets, which is just a plastic jacket because of all the lambs.
05:53Nature Scott funds these prevention techniques.
05:56And the budget has recently increased to nearly a million pounds.
06:00But for Ricky, it's not the answer.
06:05Financially, it leaves the burden on the farm.
06:08But the reality is it's not addressing the problem.
06:11We are not against the eagle by any means.
06:13They are impressive birds, we can't deny that.
06:15But they just need to be in moderation.
06:17You come in as young farmers with big ambitions.
06:20And now you just feel like you're a failure, to be honest.
06:23Like, you just feel like you've put everybody down.
06:25Because it's out with our hands, but it's getting taken from our hands in reality.
06:30When a species is reintroduced, it's hard to know what the consequences will be.
06:40But what's happening here is having a massive emotional and financial impact.
06:45The difficult bit is finding a solution.
06:55I'm on my way up, arguably, Scotland's most dramatic and beautiful mountains.
06:59It's a bucket list favourite for many.
07:02And one that some choose as their final Monroe.
07:05But being so popular, brings problems.
07:13Joining me up the hill today is Stuart Uni.
07:16CEO of Mountaineering Scotland.
07:20Hi Stuart, how's it going?
07:21Hi Dougie, how are you?
07:22What a day, what a day.
07:23It's unbelievable, isn't it?
07:24Amazing day to be out in the hills.
07:25What a treat.
07:26It really is.
07:27And is this one of your favourites?
07:28Absolutely.
07:29It has to be on most people's top five, I would say.
07:31But it is one of Scotland's most iconic mountains.
07:34Absolutely.
07:35What kind of issues are you suffering from here?
07:37Well, here is a really good example of what's happening in mountains all over Scotland.
07:41Dougie, we've got lots of people out in the hills enjoying it, which is brilliant.
07:44But with more feet on the paths, it creates erosion.
07:47And with climate change, we've got more rainfall, warmer, wetter winters.
07:52And then all that runoff comes down the hill and it washes the path away unfortunately and creates a lot of erosion.
07:57A little bit further up and round the corner, we'll see where the guys are working on the path at the moment.
08:02Actually, I can see some folks there.
08:03Is that them there?
08:04That's them, yeah.
08:05Just up behind that tree.
08:06Okay.
08:07A wee bit more walk at this.
08:08Let's go on.
08:09Okay.
08:10Even the wild mountain goats here would struggle with some of these paths.
08:17The erosion leaves deep scars on the hill.
08:21Difficult to walk on and very damaging for the fragile upland habitat.
08:27Since 2023, Mountaineering Scotland and the Outdoor Access Trust for Scotland have been working hard to mend the mountain.
08:36The campaign's called It's Up To Us and that's really because if we don't do something about this, who else is going to?
08:43And specifically we're trying to repair the path which goes from Dundonnel all the way up to the first of the two Munro summits.
08:50The target for the path that we're repairing is £300,000.
08:54Wow.
08:55And that's, it's very high quality specialist work.
08:58Yeah.
08:59And it's not cheap, but if we're going to do it, we're going to need to do it the right way.
09:03Absolutely, yeah.
09:06Good Afternoon Hard are Julian Digby and Michael Perry.
09:11Coffee time for Stuart, but not for me.
09:16You're looking halfy busy.
09:18What are you up to?
09:19Oh, we're just winching this stone down to fill this hole in.
09:23It'll create a step riser so that we can bring the path in and put aggregate in front and back and keep everybody on the path.
09:28Okie dokie, can I give her your hand?
09:30I certainly can if you go up and see Ewan up there and he'll pass you some instructions.
09:38Winch ready, it's time to move the 500 kilogram stone.
09:43Very excited to see this going in though.
09:44Excellent, yeah.
09:45We're just using the winch to help lower the stone here so if you jump on that handle and when Julian gives you a shout down there, if you just start working that back and forth.
09:53Ok.
09:54There's probably going to be a bit of weight in it so you might have to put your back into it.
09:58That's it.
09:59Keep it coming dokie.
10:01Keep going, keep going.
10:02That's it.
10:03All the way.
10:04Don't want to upset the Yorkshireman.
10:05Don't upset the Yorkshireman.
10:06All the way dokie.
10:07Keep going.
10:08Slack off.
10:09That'll do.
10:11Just slacking it right off.
10:13There we go.
10:14Perfect.
10:15Pretty hard work up here, yes?
10:16Yeah, so I mean Julian and the guys are doing this, you know, all day, every day basically.
10:20You know, rain, sleet, snow, shine, winds, whatever comes at them.
10:24You know, they're still out building paths.
10:26It seems really labour intensive but it's skilful too, isn't it?
10:29Yeah, it's quite a weird contradiction I suppose.
10:31It's very physical and very difficult manual labour but there's also quite a bit of finesse and stuff.
10:36But it's kind of finesse with sledgehammers and big metal pinch bars and a big mechanical wunch.
10:42Yeah, but it is a very skilled job and it's all landscaped in so well lower down.
10:47Yeah.
10:48A lot of people just remark how long they think it's been here when actually that stuff's only been here a year in some spots, some spots even less.
10:55What are we talking about cost wise?
10:57On this kind of continuous sort of stonework sections where they're doing it like this, you're talking over 200 pounds a metre.
11:03Right.
11:04Big stone cross drain like what the guys have built lower down.
11:06Yeah, you're kind of five, six hundred pounds a piece.
11:08So it's a costly kind of endeavour but everything we're doing up here is to protect this landscape that, you know, as outdoor folk we all love and enjoy and we want to see it protected as much as we can.
11:22It's hard work getting them into the place but yeah, it's a lasting legacy on the landscape.
11:27You take it easy Stuart, while I've got a lesson in interview technique.
11:31So, erm, tell me then what questions choose you never ask a path builder?
11:35Er, do you walk up here every day is the most common one.
11:40Oh no, I'm that guy.
11:42I've done that.
11:43I say ask path builders do you walk up here every day?
11:46Yeah.
11:47What about the erm, are you not going to tarmac at all?
11:49Yeah.
11:50I'm thinking I'm hilarious.
11:51Yeah.
11:52Clearly not.
11:53No.
11:54Yeah, it gets them better patter I think do they?
11:55Yeah.
11:56I think that's a very good idea.
11:57Suitably chasing, it's time to continue my trek to the top.
12:02Keep up the good work.
12:04Is that something else they say to you?
12:05Yeah.
12:06I have to say huge kudos to these guys.
12:09The work they do is extraordinarily heavy but precise it has to be to last for a long, long time and you've got to put up with midges too.
12:19Where's Stuart gone?
12:22While I catch up with Stuart, Arlene's very much on the flat by the Forth and Clyde Canal.
12:3125 years ago it was regenerated to mark the millennium.
12:37And I had the pleasure of navigating it on the way to the Kelpies in 2017.
12:43That is actually quite close in the old head.
12:47But now after a quarter of a century of use, the canal system is in need of repairs.
12:56Arlene is getting geared up to assist.
13:02Now, the lock gates behind me need to be replaced.
13:07But before that happens, the canal has to be drained and bypassed.
13:11But there's 21 species of fish that live here that have to be rehomed.
13:16And that's where I come in.
13:18I'm off to help.
13:19In total, 11 lock gates need to be replaced in the section of canal that runs between the Falkirk wheel and the Kelpies.
13:36Each lock is first drained down to a small channel, then that's when the Forth Rivers Trust team go to work.
13:44Amy Ferguson from the charity can tell me what they're doing.
13:51We have special equipment, so they're like backpacks.
13:54You can see the guys, there's a couple of them wearing those backpacks.
13:57And they put electricity into the water.
13:59It's called electrofishing and it's often used to study fish.
14:04Here, it's been used to save them.
14:07Basically, it brings them towards us.
14:09So it controls their movements towards what we call the anode, which is the ring.
14:13And it brings the fish towards us so that we can catch them.
14:15And we use the nets.
14:16Sometimes we use nets that just sweep them out of the water.
14:19Sometimes we actively have to go in and fish them out.
14:22I like to get hands on, Amy.
14:24So what can I do to help this afternoon?
14:26Yeah, so I've got a job for you.
14:28You can come in with me.
14:29I'll be going in with the backpack.
14:31So I'm the one that's trained up to that level.
14:33Can do all of the electrofishing.
14:35And if you want, you can come in with a net and you can actually try and catch the fish.
14:39I will certainly do that.
14:40Yeah?
14:49The team will do multiple electrofishing passes in each lock to rescue as many fish as possible.
14:55On a busy day, especially in a big basin, they can capture up to 500.
15:00There's a fish.
15:01Oh, yes.
15:02I see it.
15:03Oh!
15:04He's going to come out at the bottom and he's going to...
15:07And then sweep up.
15:08There we go.
15:09And up.
15:10Just keep up.
15:11Yes.
15:12And then pop it in Scott's bucket.
15:13I've got my first fish.
15:14Yay!
15:15I can't believe how excited I am.
15:17Oh, bless.
15:18Look at that.
15:19Now, I just want to clarify, this doesn't harm the fish in any way.
15:24No.
15:25No, it doesn't.
15:26This method is specially designed, essentially, so that we can bring the fish to the fish.
15:29With minimal harm.
15:30And as quick as possible.
15:31I'm not leaving until we find another fish in.
15:32Oh, well.
15:33There's one.
15:34So, 12 o'clock at my right.
15:35Where is it?
15:36Oh, I see it.
15:37Tiny wee one.
15:38Yeah, so just scoop.
15:39There we go.
15:40Scott will get the other one.
15:41Success!
15:42I'm delighted.
15:43But look at these eels caught earlier.
15:44They grow between one to two centimetres every year, making these 20 to 30 years old.
16:01We're Scotland-wide, the environment team.
16:04To travel quite a bit.
16:05Yeah.
16:06Julia Johnston, who is a senior environmental specialist at Scottish Canals, can tell me
16:10what else you can find in the canal.
16:13Generally, in the canal network, we have coarse fish.
16:16So, we've got eels, we've got birch, we've got pike, we get roach and tench as well.
16:22On the whole, you must be very pleased with the environment.
16:25Oh, yeah.
16:26The canals are very clean.
16:27So, if you look at the invertebrates that we've got in the network, you can tell that's
16:31clean water because they won't tolerate pollution.
16:34So, we can tell just from what's living in the canal that it is good, clean water.
16:41Now, it's time for Amy and me to take our catch to their lovely, clean new home.
16:47This is the exciting bit, isn't it?
16:49Yes.
16:50Finally get to release them back upstream so that they're not going to be interfered
16:54with any more.
16:55Now, is there a technique?
16:57Yeah, we don't want to just tip them in.
16:59What we'll do is we'll put the bucket in and let them get used to the idea that there's
17:03more water there now.
17:04I'm going to attempt not to fall in after them.
17:06Yes, please don't.
17:11Oh, there's the toad.
17:12He's gone.
17:13Oh, this is great.
17:15And it's away.
17:16There you go.
17:17Yay.
17:18Happy fishes.
17:23And happy engineers who can now crack on with the much needed repairs, knowing the
17:30fish are safe and happy upstream.
17:37Now, Cammy's never been one for hitting the books, but we sent him back to the classroom
17:42anyway.
17:43He's with a bunch of boarders kids getting hands-on experience of a farmyard classic.
17:47This is Selkirk High.
17:48And in a workshop just over here are a group of estuaries carrying out some serious restoration work.
18:05They obviously know what they're doing.
18:07And what's this bit of kit you've got here?
18:09A draft spring.
18:10A draft spring?
18:11Yeah, that's what I was taking out, this bit, to put a new rubber bit on.
18:15Okay.
18:19I'm just tightening up the half shaft bolts, get them nice and tight so it doesn't fall to bits.
18:24They're restoring a 1960s Massey Ferguson tractor.
18:34Not for fun, they're working towards a national certificate in land-based engineering.
18:43Taking the class is Big Neil McLennan.
18:46I'm not sure how his son, wee Neil, feels about it.
18:50His agricultural engineer dad volunteers at the school for a double period every week.
18:56The teaching side of it makes it a learning curve for myself,
18:59but I just like to see the fact that we can bring on some young talent.
19:03When I left school, I went to the job myself.
19:05I went to the job because I loved the job.
19:07And the opportunity nowadays for these boys and girls,
19:10you need to show them and let them get their hands to me dirty
19:13and see which will I like you to enjoy it, then crack on, they can do it.
19:20They certainly seem to be enjoying it.
19:23It's been good, yeah, it's fun, different.
19:26What's your favourite thing you've done so far with the tractor?
19:29Taking the engine apart.
19:30Yeah, like stripping things down?
19:31Yeah.
19:32Do you remember where all the bits go to put them back though?
19:34No.
19:37It's not very common in schools.
19:39I'd never heard of it before I came here.
19:41I think it's absolutely brilliant.
19:43So you quite enjoy getting hands on and getting the hands dirty.
19:45Yeah, it's quite great that we get to, you know,
19:47get out of the classroom and do some hands on work.
19:51I've been sent to see the head.
19:54Don't worry, I'm not in trouble though.
19:57Mr Bryson, what is this area here?
20:00This is part of our horticultural facility.
20:03He's all for a more practical approach to learning.
20:07I think if you can really listen to students and provide opportunities in the curriculum
20:13which really meet their needs and their enthusiasms, it's just magic.
20:16But when you've got something like that which really takes them out of the traditional classroom,
20:21gets them busy in a way that really relates to the local context
20:25and the fabulous farming tradition in the borders, it's even more special.
20:31Where did this tractor come from?
20:32Well, there's three amazing women at Long Newton Farm.
20:35One of them is my wife.
20:38And we had a tractor that had been sitting for 25 years or so in the shed
20:43and we thought, let's get it across here.
20:51Looks like you're trying to start a fire or something here.
20:53What's happening here?
20:54So I am using this to suction the valve to clean that so it gets a good seal.
21:03It all means nothing to me.
21:05But youth worker Anna Johnson is amazed at how the youngsters have picked everything up
21:10and are happy to get their hands dirty.
21:13We've got 100% attendance and they're all raring to go.
21:17Quite often I have to actually say to them that, right, that's the end of the school day
21:21and kick them out.
21:23We just can't get them to stop.
21:25So what is the plan for the tractor once they're finished?
21:27Well, the plan for this is that we're going to, like, eventually display it at the Yarra Shore
21:31and then what they would like to do is then get an implement for the back of it
21:36and do that up as well and they could actually then start doing displays.
21:41Yep, yep.
21:42So, I mean, it's just getting arms and legs with what they want to do.
21:50Now, we didn't have anything like this back when I was at school
21:53and although I enjoyed the classroom, I definitely preferred to get my hands dirty
21:57and I would have jumped at a chance to do something like this.
22:00I just hope these guys can get finished before the show.
22:10I'm making my way up one of Scotland's finest mountain groups, Ancalach.
22:15This is a mountaineer's must-do. A stunning skyline of pinnacles and peaks.
22:23Guiding me up is Stuart Uni from Mountaineering Scotland.
22:28But it's a well-worn route as all these boots on the ground have taken their toll on the fragile mountain habitat.
22:36We saw earlier how the team here are working hard to repair the path.
22:43But this is a problem wherever there are walkers.
22:47So, the path issues you've got here in Ancalach, is that replicated across the country?
22:51It is, unfortunately. NatureScot did a study back in 2018.
22:55They reckoned over 400 kilometres worth of mountain path needs work like the work that we're doing on Ancalach.
23:03And the total cost is something in the region of £30 million.
23:06And that was seven years ago.
23:08So, why is it happening?
23:10It's a combination of things. There's more people out in the hills.
23:12It's a trend that we've seen, you know, I think adventure sports and lifestyle type sports
23:16have become more and more popular over the last few years.
23:18I think the pandemic accelerated that.
23:20Everybody realised how important it was to be out in the outdoors.
23:25And combined with climate change, higher levels of rainfall, it's washing the paths away.
23:29Quite literally just washing them away.
23:31So, unfortunately, it's a problem that we really need to try and fix.
23:34How far to the summit?
23:36I reckon... another couple of kilometres.
23:39I'm sure you've been saying that for the last half an hour.
23:41Let's go. Bony day, though.
23:44Fixing these battered routes often depends on who owns them and how it's paid for.
23:50There's not an awful lot of funding out there, Diggy.
23:53Unless you're land owned by the John Muir Trust or the National Trust for Scotland
23:58or one of our national parks, there's no real money.
24:01And Anceloch is one of these privately owned mountains like many mountains in Scotland
24:05and there's no funding available for this type of work.
24:07We used to be able to access funding from Europe, but unfortunately due to Brexit
24:11we can't access that anymore.
24:13Let's have a seat before the final push to the summit.
24:15Sounds great.
24:16Stuart thinks the answer may lie in what's happening here on Anceloch.
24:21A public campaign called It's Up To Us.
24:25Securing funding through donations.
24:28So do you think what's happening here on this mountain could be replicated across the country?
24:32I certainly hope so. Yeah, that's the whole point of the campaign.
24:36We've chosen Anceloch quite deliberately.
24:38It's such a fantastic, iconic mountain.
24:40But there's loads of mountains all over Scotland that need this type of work.
24:43So we really want to shine a spotlight on the need to invest in our mountains.
24:47So where does the funding come from so far?
24:50We've got lots of individual donations, donations from clubs, donations from the commercial sector.
24:56What we'd really like now is for the government to actually recognise this is an investment.
25:01Visitor tourism brings in millions and millions of pounds into Scotland.
25:05But what we'd like to see is a long-term sustainable funding solution.
25:09And ideally, perhaps a Scottish PATH fund established that's investing annually into this type of work.
25:17I mean, the time to act is now, isn't it?
25:20Yeah, we can't afford to sit around and wait for somebody else to do it.
25:23It's up to us, Stoogie.
25:25We've got to get up this hill and it's not going to climb itself.
25:27It's not, is it?
25:28Let's do it.
25:32And so we make our way up the final stretches of Ancalach's highest peak.
25:38I am pretty jiggered now.
25:41Is it up close?
25:42Very close. We're so close now.
25:44I think it's just up round the corner here, Doogie.
25:47What do you think? I thought you'd been here before.
25:51Oh, there it is.
25:53There she is.
25:55This is the big moment for me.
25:58Oh, my goodness.
26:00Look at that.
26:02That is just, just beautiful.
26:05It's so worth it, isn't it?
26:07Oh, wow.
26:12Now I know why people call this their favourite mountain.
26:15Well done.
26:17Well done.
26:18What an experience.
26:19A great hill to bag.
26:20Absolutely. Heavens above.
26:29It's a classic view, isn't it?
26:31It looks absolutely fantastic.
26:33That stegosaurus view over there.
26:36What an amazing mountain.
26:38Scotland's favourite.
26:39Well, it's certainly pretty special.
26:41Here's what's coming up on the next programme.
26:43Rosie helps out with the Pine Martin housing crisis.
26:48You can see that's the mum there.
26:50And she's taking the kit out for a bit of climbing training.
26:54I join one of Scotland's biggest dairy herds.
26:57And Shabazz discovers why the Western Ross landscape really is out of this world.
27:06So we find places on Earth which share lots of the similar geology to what we want to explore on Mars.
27:11Please join us for that and much, much more if you can.
27:16In the meantime, from all the Lambert teams around the country, and especially from us here at the top of Anceloch,
27:23thank you so much for your company.
27:25Bye for now.
27:26I think I'll stay here for a while.
27:41Bye for now.