This edition of Country Calendar presented by John Noakes and his dog Skip begins with John meeting prize winning purebred Dale’s pony Stainton Prince and his owner Liz Broadbent from Drighlington near Leeds. John finds out what makes a good pony. Next to the races with John Morgan, racing correspondent of the Yorkshire Evening Post who visits Highfield House Stables at Malton in North Yorkshire to see the day-to-day work of training thoroughbred racing horses. Back in the studio John and...

This edition of Country Calendar presented by John Noakes and his dog Skip begins with John meeting prize winning purebred Dale’s pony Stainton Prince and his owner Liz Broadbent from Drighlington near Leeds. John finds out what makes a good pony. Next to the races with John Morgan, racing correspondent of the Yorkshire Evening Post who visits Highfield House Stables at Malton in North Yorkshire to see the day-to-day work of training thoroughbred racing horses. Back in the studio John and Michael Clegg chat with birdwatcher John Ward, aka Big Jake, who is well known for imitating bird calls. This is followed by Michael and a report on animal tracks and Country Calendar’s own poet Laureate Christopher Curtis give a verse on a day at the races. Title: Yorkshire Television Production Title: Country Calendar John Noakes introduces this week’s programme. Title: John Noakes John is standing next to purebred Dales pony champion Stainton Prince. Horses being the theme of the programme, other contributions include race horse training, and Christopher Curtis literally loses his shirt at the races. The birdwatching item looks at the small wader the turnstone and its relationship to a man called Big Jake. Film follows of a turnstone in the shallows looking for food. Michael Clegg stays with Skip in the snug as John talks to Stainton Prince’s owner Liz Broadbent from Drighlington near Leeds. Liz describes Stainton Prince for John, outlining the criteria for an award-winning pony. Title: Liz Broadbent Liz tells John of Stainton Princes tally of prizes. This breed of pony was used in the lead mining industry. Stainton Prince is now mainly used in driving. Liz walks him round the studio. John introduces the next item where John Morgan, racing correspondent of the Yorkshire Evening Post, visits Highfield House Stables at Malton in North Yorkshire to see the day-to-day work of training thoroughbred racing horses. The report opens with a panoramic view of Malton in North Yorkshire. Early morning and a group of riders make their way along a main road to put the horses through their paces on part of the training course, known as the gallops. This is where the horses learn to race. They make their way to Langton Wold to put the horses through their paces. John Morgan speaks to camera as he stands in front of Highfield House Stables at Malton. Title: John Morgan- Racing Correspondent Yorkshire evening Post He says the stables were purpose built in 1910, a member of the team at the stables tidies one of the stalls. On camera David Smith one of the apprentice jockeys has just had one of his first races and he grooms one of the horses. Title: David Smith – Apprentice Jockey David talks about his experiences in that race. He gets on the horse he’s been grooming and rides out of the stable. At Bill Elsey’s indoor school, the horses get up steam before setting of for the gallops. Bill Elsey talks off camera about his work with these thoroughbred horses. John Morgan reminisces about his time with Bill Elsey's father Captain Charles Elsey, together watching training at the gallops. John Morgan picks up some of the material used on the all-weather gallop, mainly wood shavings and cork. Views follow of horses and riders on the gallop. Bill Elsey talks of the Yorkshire Racing Stables not attracting the cream of the clients that use southern facilities. Title: Bill Elsey – Trainer He says that facilities in the northern stables are good as those in the south. He complains that there is a perception that it’s difficult to get to the stables, which he finds hard to understand when there are adequate transport links. Maintaining the gallops at Highfield House is Shaun McGiff who stamps out any divots made by the horses. This removes the danger of other horses losing their footing with subsequent injury. The tool he is using has a pole with a large wooden block at its base, screwed to the underside are two curved pieces of metal similar to a horseshoe. The tool knocks out the sharp edge of the divot a horse makes when galloping over soft earth. The film moves back to the stables where a horse is undergoing treatment for a cough which can affect the horse’s breathing. The horse wears a muzzle which looks like a bucket with tubes attached to it. A small electric compressor is attached to the tubes. The film then shows staff members unloading feed from a lorry and putting it into a store house. The head lad Brian Murray appears on camera, he oversees the day-to-day routines at the training stables. Title: Brian Murray – Head Lad He says he checks over the horses first thing in the morning, if there is anything wrong, he reports it to Mr Elsey. One of the other staff members walks a horse around a courtyard, another grooms a horse in the stables. Others carry saddles and other items as they go about their business. The film finishes showing horses on the gallops, being watched by a man with binoculars. In the studio John introduces the next item, and welcomes Big Jake to the studio, a man who has the skill to imitate bird calls, particularly waders. Next to him sits resident naturalist Michael Clegg. Jake talks about how got started imitating birds. Title: John Ward alias Big Jake He says he was watching a greenshank at a local birdwatching spot and it made a call, he imitated the call back, and the greenshank flew to him and landed at his feet. Michael confesses that he does not have the same skill. John asks Jake to imitate an oystercatcher. A piece of film showing oystercatchers foraging is shown as Jake produces the high-pitched whistle-like calls. John asks if the birds would react to his calls, Jake replies that it often depends on the time of year. Jake then produces the call of an avocet, a film of avocets in the wild follows. Next the common redshank and film of a redshank in the wild, supports Jake’s performance. Jake is asked if there calls which are difficult for him to produce, he says Sanderling is difficult. Jake talks about how he might use his voice to produce an approximate sound, but it would have to modified in some way to be more accurate. John asks him to imitate a ringed plover, appropriate film of the bird in the wild is shown. Jake and Michael know each other from various bird watching adventures. Jake talks of his recent trip to West Africa and the birds he saw. Michael talks about the next spring migration of birds in this country, which is not far away. Title: Michael Clegg – Curator, Yorkshire Museum However, his topic for today is identification of animal tracks. He says that although he may never see a mole, but he knows they are there, a photograph follows showing a series of mole hills on grassland which he says, start to appear at the end of the winter. Another photograph shows empty cherry stones outside a gap in a stone rockery, a sign that field mouse has been spring cleaning its burrow. A photo of a sand dune follows showing mouse tracks heading back towards its burrow. Chewed pine cones in a wood is evidence of grey squirrels foraging. On sand the round cat-like footprints belong to a fox. Photographs show the typical footprints and a close view of a fox. A photo of chewed mangelwurzels, a type of beet suggest deer have been feeding. Photos of the droppings of a fallow deer and the animal itself, are followed by a photo of a roe deer. Tracks in snow on a riverbank show evidence of an otter being present, a photo follows of a mature adult. John thanks Michael for his item and introduces Christopher Curtis who will perform one of his humorous verses. This week a performance of a verse which reflects his day at the races. Illustrations by John Tickner accompany the recitation. Title: “They’re Off” John signs off on this week’s programme and summarises some highlights of the next edition. Credits: Country Calendar presented by John Noakes with Marylyn Webb, Michael Clegg, Christopher Curtis Editorial Assistant Mark Meysey-Thompson Director Charles Flynn Producer John Wilford © YTV Ltd 1982 Yorkshire Television production