The enthusiastic historian and naturalist Michael Clegg travels the Yorkshire region meeting colourful characters, looking at interesting places and uncovering some off-beat jobs and trades. In this episode of Clegg's People, Michael Clegg teams up with expert animal tracker Dr. Roy Brown. They travel across the North York Moors National Park in search of evidence, tracks, and signs left by animals and birds, even those that lived hundreds of years ago. The programme opens showing a...

The enthusiastic historian and naturalist Michael Clegg travels the Yorkshire region meeting colourful characters, looking at interesting places and uncovering some off-beat jobs and trades. In this episode of Clegg's People, Michael Clegg teams up with expert animal tracker Dr. Roy Brown. They travel across the North York Moors National Park in search of evidence, tracks, and signs left by animals and birds, even those that lived hundreds of years ago. The programme opens showing a moorland scene with a valley in the distance. Off camera Michael introduces it as part of the ‘North York Moors National Park, 550 square miles of superb landscape’. He describes farms of the area, typically nestling in dales with hillside pasture leading up to heather moorland. General views follow of wooded dales and moorland. Michael refers to the rich wildlife of the area where tell-tale tracks are left in the soft mud near rivers. A water vole runs over a half-submerged piece of branch, followed by a view of nesting herons. Michael goes on to say that even animals that lived in the park thousands of years ago have left their mark. Michael describes a 100,000-year-old hole in a rock face, as a former hyena den. Evidence of a host of animals that lived in the area thousands of years ago, appear in Kirkdale cave and quarry, near Kirbymoorside. Michael appears near an outcrop of rock which is part of the Kirkdale site. On camera Roy Brown explores an area of moorland as an expert in animal tracks and trails. Michael says he will be spending a day with him, tracking the small game that lives in the area. In his hand Roy has a skull from a roe deer, a victim of roadkill, not quite an adult and female. Roy describes features on the skull provide evidence to support his conclusions. Roy produces another part of a skull which is from a young wolf and is about 500 years old. Another smaller skull he produces is that of a rabbit, and he compares this with the skull of a brown rat. He points out the difference in the animals’ dental structure. Michael and Roy head off on their exploration. They head off into woodland and Roy explains that in such an environment they may see roe deer, grey squirrels and other small mammals. Roy spots a dead weasel on the footpath; he picks it up to examine it. Roy says it’s been hit by a vehicle and goes on to reveal that it’s female and has produced no young. He also points out the differences between the weasel and the stoat. Up in a tree Michael points out a grey squirrel’s nest or drey, that Roy has spotted. As they walk along a wooded lane Roy talks about his background and interest in animals, going back to his childhood, with enough knowledge by the age of 19 to have published a book on tracks and signs of British mammals. They stop at the side of the road to examine a gravel patch which has the debris from several nuts on it. Roy notices some have been opened by a nuthatch, others by squirrels and bank voles have opened snail shells to eat the contents on the same patch of gravel. An unexpected discovery of a toad in the grass near Michael gives Roy the chance to talk about the tracking of toads and the differences in the feet between toads and frogs. Roy talks to Michael about more books he’s had published, and where his work as a senior national park officer is taking him. They stop to talk on a bridge which crosses a stream. It’s almost dry except for some pools dotted around the exposed river bed. From his vantage point Roy has spotted some stoat tracks in the mud. Michael and Roy walk from the bridge to the river bed. Roy examines the stoat tracks more closely. More tracks are spotted nearby. Roy finds some broken egg shells, he concludes they have not been broken naturally and the evidence of nearby squirrel tracks suggest that a squirrel has eaten the egg. Not far from the broken eggs Michael and Roy find the remains of a water bird’s nest, probably the one raided by the squirrel. Nearby Michael points out the tracks of a heron in the mud, and a view follows of a heronry further up the dale as Michael explains that heron tracks were probably from on one of those birds. Roy points out some more tracks which belong to an otter. The film shows a water vole which swims along part of the river and settles on an exposed tree root or branch, before moving on through the maze of bankside roots and branches. Michael and Roy cross open country to explore an old barn, where barn owls might roost. Roy finds some owl pellets, which reveal the diet of the owl. In this case some of the pellets have bones in them, as Roy points out they are remains of voles and a shrew. Michael off camera sys that barn owls are getting scarce as are the old barns they like to use. Roy and Michael are crossing open moorland; the ‘golf balls’ of Fylingdales early warning station are seen in the distance. Roy explains the importance of animal droppings in detecting animal species and activity. Roy points out grouse droppings amongst the heather, and from those he identifies the type of diet which sustains the grouse. In this case Roy notes that there are also young and a nesting grouse present. General views show the local landscape and then Roy and Michael head off across an open field, which ends the programme. Credits: Camera Steve Falvey Sound Lindsay Dodd Editing John Hey Dubbing Don Atkinson Production Assistant Catherine Mounsey Graphics Tony Sharpe Producer Marylyn Webb Director Geoff Hall Series Editor David Lowen Executive Producer Graham Ironside. © Yorkshire Television Ltd 1988 End credit: Yorkshire Television production