An edition of the Tyne Tees Television rural affairs programme Landmark presented by Eric Robson. In this edition a focus on diversification begins with a report on a Scottish Borders farm who are holding demonstration sheep dog trials for tourists. This is followed by a report on organic farming taking place on a farm at Tayside and finally a report on a Lanarkshire farm who has diversified into the bottling and selling of spring water. Includes taste test with consumers at the Metro Centre...

An edition of the Tyne Tees Television rural affairs programme Landmark presented by Eric Robson. In this edition a focus on diversification begins with a report on a Scottish Borders farm who are holding demonstration sheep dog trials for tourists. This is followed by a report on organic farming taking place on a farm at Tayside and finally a report on a Lanarkshire farm who has diversified into the bottling and selling of spring water. Includes taste test with consumers at the Metro Centre in Gateshead. Title: Landmark Eric Robson the presenter outlines the contents of the programme which includes organically grown food and a farmer selling spring water. The first presentation is a tourist attraction at a farm in the Scottish borders. Visitors to the farm can watch sheep dogs being put through their paces. Viv Billingham the farm owner explains to the visitors that she wants to show people how they are trying to promote and preserve what they see as a dedicated way of life, that of the hill shepherd. They also want to preserve the border collie as a breed. Viv explains further about what the visitors will see and hear during the demonstration. The sheepdog centre was founded after Viv’s husband Jeff was made redundant as an estate shepherd on the Cheviot hills. The enterprise also brings in extra income to supplement the work of the farm. Viv, as well as doing demonstrations, trains dogs for other shepherds and has published two books on the subject and has represented Scotland in international competitions. She aspired to work with sheepdogs from the early age of four, and despite protestations from her parents she became a shepherd. The film shows Viv controlling the dogs by using a variety of whistling techniques. One of the sheep, Charlie a South Country Cheviot, is introduced to the visitors, and gets a warm welcome as Viv recounts his history and character. On another part of the farm a round sheep enclosure is being built with local stone. A visitor asks what it is Viv explains and that locally they are called stells, used by shepherds to keep sheep flocks together overnight. Viv then talks of some of the alterations they had to make to the farm entrance to accommodate tourist buses and they have improved the farm road for the same reason. A picnic area has been provided, and some shallow lochs or lakes have been created with more to follow. On another part of their land there is a small building which was a former school, built in the late 1800s for local shepherds’ children. It’s now used as display area for photographs, and the old school classroom has been recreated. Title: Landmark In the second half of the programme Eric Robson talks of the increased interest in organically grown foods, but of little availability. He says that organic produce accounts for only 2% of all food sold. He goes on to say that the image the industry has and standards they use to produce organic food have improved. On Tayside in Scotland an extensive research programme has begun into organic farming. A partnership which includes the Common Market has developed Jamesfield farm at Abernethy near Perth as a blueprint for organic food production. Tony Combes is Safeways is director for environment who says that his company began selling organic produce in 1981. He hopes that future sales will be successful, but supply of produce will have to improve over the next three years. Although costs are high for organic food, there will be a need to bring costs down so that more will be sold. Ian Miller collects some broccoli from a field, his family have been the custodians of Jamesfield farm for fifty years. The last five years have seen the farm less reliant on chemicals to help grow produce. Ian entered organic farming by utilising some land that had not been exposed to agrochemicals. They only use chemicals if they are environmentally friendly. He agrees that this method of farming is more labour intensive and he acknowledges that organic farming isn’t for everyone, but if the demand for organic vegetables exists, he is quite happy to produce it as it also helps the ecology of the countryside. Angus Marland, project director at the Edinburgh school of agriculture discusses his support for organic farming, the Jamesfield Farm project and land use in organic farming. The Colquhoun family farms near Motherwell and has done so since the 1930s. Because of quotas governing dairy farmers, the family have created another product to increase income. They extract spring water from a newly sunk well and bottle it on site. The spring is on a site is owned by the Forestry Commission. Hew Colquhoun says the product is selling very well. After bottling, boxes of water bottles are taken by van to deliver to shops. Hew says they sell locally and in Glasgow and Edinburgh but the intention is to market the product as far as possible, including the south of England, and then perhaps abroad to Canada and America. Kingshill Forest Glade, the name of the water is currently a still water product but there are plans to produce a sparkling water version. Hew is enthusiastic that mineral water sales in Britain will improve, and he outlines the many benefits of buying bottled spring water. In shopping mall visitors are invited to taste two small beakers of water one of which is tap water the other, spring water. They are then asked if they can taste the difference between the two and identify which is which. Title: Hoi Polloi Film and Video Credits: Camera Chris Sutcliffe Sound Paul Gunn, Ronn Gunn Electrician Bill Hughes Production Assistant Carole McKenzie Production Secretary Coreen Harvey Sound Postproduction George Joisce VT Editors Amanda Baxter, David Middleton, Peter Telford VT Assistant Editor Claire Storey Research William Mount Executive Producer Chris Potter Director Simon Lawson Producer Charles Bowden Waterfront Productions for Tyne Tees Television© MCMLXXXIX