Across Yorkshire's moors and dales,
the world's most famous vet set the benchmark for animal care.
And James Herriot's legacy lives on.
SHEEP BLEAT
His former trainee, Peter Wright...
All my life, I've enjoyed doing this.
..has been a Yorkshire vet... PETER CHUCKLES
..for over 40 years.
There we are! How you doing, me old mate?
Peter's old partner, Julian Norton...
- Not quite the same as operating in theatre, is it? - I know.
..now has two practices...
I don't want to let him go.
..one of them in the town where Herriot worked,
surrounded by the North Yorkshire landscape he loved.
Everything that you can see all across there is Yorkshire.
And in the foothills of the Pennines...
- That's a Hollywood smile. - SHE LAUGHS
..a new generation of town and country vets...
- Oooooh-aaaah. - ..also uphold the Herriot ethos.
I'm gonna feel a bit deeper inside to see what we've got.
The teams are united...
- Oh! - LAUGHTER
..and always determined to hit their target...
CHEERING
..as they help animals of all shapes...
It's trying to grow an extra pair of legs.
- ..sizes... - Hello, gorgeous.
- ..types... - Catch.
LAUGHTER ..and temperaments.
No, don't be nasty.
It's definitely not glamorous...
- Get that mucus out. - ..but it's varied.
- So, we've actually found gold, literally found gold. - Yeah.
- It's rarely easy... - You've won Mr Wet T-Shirt.
..but they continue the Herriot tradition...
- It's alive. - ..treating all creatures...
- It's moving! - I can't believe it.
..great... HE LAUGHS
- You're all right, little bird. - ..and small.
- There we are - in. - Yay.
Like water flowing down a stream...
or seeping through limestone...
..in Yorkshire...
..farming expertise moves smoothly and surely
from one generation to the next.
Here, the sense of history and heritage...
..is inescapable.
And up on the North York Moors...
..that's especially true for Dan,
who farms in the shadow of the majestic Rievaulx Abbey.
We've had this field for...
oh, as long as I've been alive, anyway,
so it's a pleasure to be down here.
I'm fourth generation where we are now.
Before that, t'previous generation was also in agriculture,
so it's sort of, like, five generations on my dad's side,
and then on my mum's side,
it's, like, five or six generations, as well.
So it's definitely in your blood.
But any farmer's day can quickly turn to ruins.
Syringes, needles.
And this afternoon, Dan's had to rush down
to the practice in Kirkbymoorside to see Peter.
'He's got a ewe who's having difficulty lambing.'
The problem is, he's described it as,
"a very small ewe with a small birth canal
"but a very large lamb inside".
'In these situations, it's life or death.
'I'm not sure whether it's still alive.
'You know, time's critical.'
- We've got two legs. - Ah, have you? Ah, right.
- Haven't got a head, though, have we? - No.
- A big head. - Yes.
- There isn't a lot of room, eh? - No.
Have you had a good pull already?
- Yes. When I came out to t'shed, the head was out and one leg. - Yeah.
- But I couldn't get the other leg back. - Yeah.
- So I popped his head back in to get the other leg. - Right.
- Soon as I did that, he's twisted inside. - Yeah.
And his head dropped back and down to the right,
and because he's a big lamb,
I can't get the room to get my hand in
and get him twisted and through her pelvis.
Let's have a look, see what we can do.
That's a biggish head.
His head's upside down at the moment, which doesn't help me.
Because there isn't room to get your hand through
and the lamb's head at the same time.
SHEEP BLEATS
That's the problem.
- I'm gonna try and get a rope on his head. - Yeah.
It's the only chance of getting him out, really.
I'm fearing the worst here. It could be a Caesarean section.
Right.
In the historic North Yorkshire market town of Knaresborough...
..Dan has embraced a modern trend in pet-owning.
We are here for the exotic animals, like Rex here.
So, we rescue and rehome lots of exotic animals.
We help everyone. We never turn an animal away.
Would you like to have a hold?
'We've been on the high street now just over five years.
'That's how we raise our money, by being open to the public.'
It's great for the kids.
It's great for them to come and have a look
and see the animals up close and get hands-on with them.
Sometimes, Dan's work goes straight to his head.
He'll get there in a minute.
His claws aren't that bad at the moment, so he's not too bad.
So, he will sit there quite happily now.
But today, he's come to the practice in Wetherby
with a creature notorious for its bottom.
So, this is an unusual animal that has a distinctive smell to it.
In the box, we have got Pepe. He's a great skunk.
You don't normally see them in the UK at all.
They're really rare.
He came to us because he got dumped with a note attached
to see if we could take him in.
We have a female in, so we've had to adapt the enclosure he's in
and split it in half.
So, Fifi's at one side, and Pepe's on the other side.
So he's here to be castrated
so hopefully then we can mingle both together,
and they can become friends.
But before becoming friends with Fifi...
Pepe?
- Away we go. - So, this is a skunk?
..Pepe has to make Julian's acquaintance.
Come through, yeah.
So, I don't know much about skunks.
I mean, I've had a few in the past,
- but this one is the best I've had with handling. - Good.
- I've have one before which was a female, and she... - Yeah.
You couldn't get near her.
She just pounded her feet in front of you,
and you know if she does it more than twice,
- you're gonna get sprayed. - Pounding like that?
So, they'll just go like that in front of you.
If it happens, do we have to evacuate the building?
- Is it that bad? - Apparently. I don't know.
It's never happened to me. I'll introduce you to Pepe.
- Come on, you. There we go. - Ooh, stripey.
Hello, Pepe.
Have you checked he's got two testicles?
- I haven't. - Is that safe to hold him?
- Yeah. - DAN LAUGHS
Oooh, God. Did you hear that noise?
There's something there that looks like it's...
I've seen them from a distance.
- I don't want to make him agitated. - No, no.
- What we'll do, basically, we'll anesthetise him. - Yeah.
We'll just treat him like a ferret, but a big ferret.
- So, shall we pop him back in his box? - Pop him back in.
- Be a good boy. - Oh, there is one.
Don't be squirting anybody, you hear me?
- Very good. Nice to see you again. - Thank you very much.
- Come on, Pepe. - Enjoy, Pepe.
- I hope it all goes well. Thank you. - Yeah, hopefully, it will.
- Bye. - Bye.
Nurses Lucy and Lucy can smell potential trouble heading their way.
- Here's our skunk. - Oh, my God!
I've never even seen a skunk before, let alone at work.
- Oh, my God, he's so cute, isn't he? - This is our little fellow.
So, the risk for Julian is obviously the skunk is...
if it sprays, it sprays.
Come on, mate.
'And the spray will take hours, days, to get out of the system,
'especially if you get sprayed with it.'
If he starts stamping,
that means he's going to empty his scent glands,
and that's very bad if that happens.
Apparently, bathing in tomato sauce helps.
- Hello. Oh, don't be frightened. - Oh, he's scared.
Do you want to go back in for a bit?
I was gonna sedate him.
- LUCY GASPS - Get your bum-bum down.
So I hope they've got loads of tomato sauce about.
- He's gonna do it. - Ooh, oh! Julian, he's thumping!
- What's he doing? - Julian! - He just went like that.
He's just thumped, which means he's gonna do it.
Oh, no, he is. What do we do? What do we do?
Howay, come on.
Hard work, trying to save a newborn.
- His head was twisted right round. - Yeah.
So the head was upside-down almost. Nightmare.
Holiday news from hell...
I was adamant we were flying home when we first found out.
It was just super, super scary.
..as David's dog suffers a serious injury.
Lost quite a bit of blood and he nearly lost a leg.
And it can only happen to a vet...
The big man's gonna eat it.
..how to tarnish a tea break.
I made some cakes that look like horse poo.
Facts confirmed - wombat poo is cubed.
- It does look like a cat litter tray. - THEY LAUGH
In North Yorkshire...
- I've tried to put a rope on. - Yes.
..Dan has rushed from his scenic farm on the moors
to the Kirkbymoorside practice...
Nearly.
..where Peter is trying to save his young ewe's large stuck lamb.
Making a bit of progress. We're making progress here.
SHEEP BLEATS
Ah, lovely.
- SHEEP BLEATS - Oh, what a lamb.
Howay, come on. Oh.
Get his airways clear.
- His head was twisted right round. - Yeah.
So the head was upside down almost. Nightmare.
- Still a bit of rattle on, hasn't it? - Yeah.
Find summat to dry him off a bit.
Yeah, he's just struggling.
Problem is, with having to pop his head back in again,
he'll have swallowed quite a bit of cleansing and stuff.
Let's give you a bit of a clean up.
Bloody cold floor's no good, is it? That's it.
Now, then. Now, me old mate.
- Sometimes, you just have to work at them, don't you? - Yeah.
It's touch and go.
- Is he shaping? - I think so.
You're gonna go, aren't you?
That's better.
- I like it when their head starts to move about a bit. - Yeah.
We've had a bit of luck there.
- Another half an hour, we might not have made it. - Yeah.
I was dreading a C-section, to be honest.
So I'm pleased Peter's been able to...
Well, when you said, you know, "little ewe, big lamb",
- I was getting ready for one. - Yeah.
He's starting to breathe a bit more freely now.
You're tired, aren't you, missus? Eh? Give him a lick.
Go on, you know you want to. Yeah, I think he's gonna go.
Very good.
Do you think you'll put the lamb in t'front?
I don't want her to lay on him on t'way home.
Yeah, pop him in t'footwell in t'front, Peter.
- Solid. - Yeah!
THEY CHUCKLE
There you are!
Nice and warm in there for you, isn't it? Eh?
Nice and warm there! Right, you need a hand with mother?
Yeah, please.
'Ey up, we don't want her down Kirkbymoorside High Street, do we?
- THEY LAUGH - Not really!
- SHEEP BLEATS - All right, lass.
- Ready? - Yeah.
- THEY STRAIN - Lovely.
'It's always worth coming to t'vets when you leave with a live lamb.'
Best case scenario, that. Spot on.
- That's worked out quite well, Dan, really. - Yeah.
There's a possibility we could've had a dead lamb,
but it's a win-win situation.
You've got a live lamb and no Caesar.
- So that's good. That's excellent. - Yep, ideal. Spot on.
And hopefully, you'll be back on the straight and narrow now,
and you might not need us again in a hurry, eh?
- Hopefully not. Thank you! - THEY LAUGH
- All the best! - See you later!
Snow has fallen on the hills surrounding Huddersfield...
and at the Donaldson's practice's Farm and Equine HQ...
Would you like some cake? Enjoy.
- Big man's gonna eat it. - THEY LAUGH
You can't have it, can you?
..Shona has a good reason to charge for treats...
Oh, very kind. Thanks, Peter.
You can have plenty of cakes for that.
SHONA LAUGHS
..while David's manning the kettle
in a tea break to really warm the cockles.
We're having a Macmillan coffee morning to raise some funds today.
'People have been doing some baking.
'I've ended up doing the teas and coffees.'
That one's a bit stronger than the other.
Better not give that to Matt. He won't sleep tonight.
'We've only been in this office for our farm and equine base
'for a few months now, so it might be one of the first times
'I've had to make 'em a brew here.'
Oh, you're a gem. Thanks, David.
For dedicated vets...
There we go.
..it's hard to see beyond the job.
We've been waiting for lots of horses to poo,
so I made some cakes that look like horse poo.
I didn't even think of faecal horse ball,
- but I can't actually unsee it now. - SHE LAUGHS
Although, when Matt's hungry...
- Mmm, that is tasty. - Rohin, welcome to the tuck shop.
We've got a cat litter tray protecting the cake.
It's a cake tray, but it does look like a cat litter tray.
THEY LAUGH ..Rohin isn't easily put off either.
It's good to have everyone together and have a laugh.
That's what it's about, isn't it?
So good.
And some...
- What's the verdict, David? - Not bad.
..have an insatiable appetite for charity work.
Matt, second cake, second donation.
- I've got it, I'm on it. - LAUGHTER
Could be a decent amount of funds raised
by the time Matt's had his fill.
There you go!
I think I've sampled the entire selection.
But there's one cake that Matt hasn't tried yet...
No way!
..which might be down to his exotics expertise.
It looks like wombat poo.
Facts confirmed - wombat poo is cubed.
It's the elasticity of the large intestine
that shapes the poo into those squares
so they can mark the territory and it doesn't roll away.
- No way. - No! - Yeah.
It doesn't roll away?
- Yeah, yeah. - That's brilliant.
There we go. Well, it tastes better than it looks.
THEY LAUGH
Even worse than wombat poo, at the practice in Wetherby...
Look at all you lot
- waiting behind the firing line. - THEY LAUGH
..it's a fear of skunk spray that's causing a stir...
Can we just take the top off?
..as Julian and the Lucys nervously prepare Pepe for surgery.
Hi! It's OK.
- Turn your tail round that side. - LUCY LAUGHS
- It's OK. - All right, darling?
- You're a brave boy. - What shall we do?
- It's OK, little one. - It's OK. Oh, you little brave boy.
- Oooooh! - It's all right, darling.
Right it's in. Close him in.
- OK. - Sorry, darling!
So, hopefully, that will send him slowly and quietly off to sleep.
Pepe needs to be castrated so he can live with a female skunk
at the exotics rescue where he was dumped.
If the testicles are big, which they are,
we're gonna do him like he's a dog, basically.
This is the first time
that I've managed to set eyes on these testicles.
He was a bit wriggly before,
and I didn't really want to interfere around the danger zone.
So, this is definitely the most exotic patient
I've ever had to deal with.
Every day's a school day.
It'll hopefully go OK,
but it's a little bit of a step into the unknown, so...
My concern is that we need to get him done and dusted
and woken up as soon as possible.
Is he all right up there?
Yep, all good so far.
It's rather unusual. It's not like a normal castration.
I can feel and I can see the testicle there, but it's quite big.
But... Ooh, there we are.
That's the first testicle... quite a chunky one.
Right, so...
The other anxiety,
apart from the anaesthetic and the surgical challenges,
the skunk's anal glands are there and there.
So literally, if anything was to go wrong,
I am absolutely literally in the firing zone.
One down, and one to go.
Second one's there.
Right.
Thank goodness he hasn't reacted to anything.
His heart rate and breathing and everything's been settled,
so I'm really quite pleased with him.
Just need Julian to do that last stitch and then I can wake him up.
- Coming up. - SHE CHUCKLES
There we are.
The anaesthetic was smooth, testicles are off,
and importantly, as well, he's kept his scent to himself,
so, so far, it's gone quite well.
But I won't be happy until... he's waking up and eating his snacks.
- Do you wanna switch the lights off? - Yeah, let him recover a little bit.
See you in a bit. Take it easy.
Back over near Huddersfield, David's latest coffee is at home
with his wife Meg and his mum and dad.
And relaxing brews have been needed recently
because of their beloved Labrador cross, Yogi.
It has been a stressful couple of weeks.
We were away on holiday, and Yogi had a little bit of an accident.
He is a bit of a danger dog, always charging round,
and unfortunately, he just chased a ball out on a family walk
and spiked himself on a bit of metal that somebody had left there.
Lost quite a bit of blood and I think he nearly lost a leg.
- I was adamant we were flying home when we first found out. - Mm.
It was just super, super scary.
For David's parents, Vicky and Paul, it was a dog-sitting nightmare.
Very traumatic - it looked like something out of Jaws.
It was just a huge open wound right down his leg.
So it was a really scary time
and with obviously Dave being away, as well.
Fortunately, my family got some pressure on the wound straight away.
My colleagues down at the hospital managed to save his life, basically.
There has been some complications because of how deep the wound was.
The metal was obviously really dirty.
There's been a significant infection.
So it is taking quite some time.
So, at the Huddersfield hospital,
there are regular "bring your dog to work" days...
Good boy. This way.
- Hi, David, you all right? - Hi, I'm good.
..as they continue to help Yogi with a cutting-edge laser treatment.
Becka, one of our nurses, has been doing the laser therapy.
She's been keeping a close eye on him,
especially cos I was away in New Zealand when it happened,
so we're really grateful for that.
- How are we getting on? - Getting there.
- Cool. - Pleased to see you.
He's like, "Oh, God, not back here again."
- As long as I don't leave him, he'll be all right, won't you? - Yeah.
- Hm? Shall we go and have a look? - Come down. - Come on.
There's a lot less swelling, a lot less discharge.
About two weeks ago...
No, a week and a half ago, it was that big.
Yeah, it's massively changed.
'When he first came in, it was a bit of a mess, really.'
The idea with the laser
is that it sort of gives the cells in that area more energy
so it's easier for them to heal,
which is really good for wounds like this,
which are quite big, they're in a bit of a difficult area,
and obviously, we were managing it as bit of an open wound,
so it can just help that area shrink down a lot quicker than it would.
Thanks for that, Becka. I'm really pleased.
I think it's looking great.
Yeah. I think we're doing really well.
Do you think another couple more laser sessions,
or has it had its fill now?
Yeah, I think maybe a couple more sessions.
- There's a tiny drop of fluid coming out of the bottom. - Yeah.
But that area where it got all really stretched is tons better,
- with how big that was. - Yeah, that looks way better.
And it's not too bad up there.
That looks really good in the middle as well.
- Yeah. - That's all healed, hasn't it?
Need to get a couple of the stitches out soon
but I've been so paranoid,
cos it opened a bit more and got infected,
I've been waiting as long as possible.
Just can't wait till we can have him off the lead again, cone off.
I know he gets a bit fed up with the cone on all the time.
His favourite thing to do is run and chasing balls,
which got him in this problem in the first place.
Hey up, off you go, hey up.
A well-rounded education...
You just break the skin, with a point on that.
- ..for farming's next generation. - Come on, then.
Don't drink a lot, don't go out,
much rather be down here, working with these lot.
- And for Julian, it's "je t'aime". - Pepe?
But will the skunk enjoy a tete-a-tete...
It's a love-hate relationship with Fifi.
..or feel like Pepe Le Poo?
Eurgh, skunk! Skunk!
In Wetherby, Dan is back at the practice...
- Hi there, all right? - Yes, are you?
..to collect Pepe the skunk after Julian castrated him.
So, it went very well. Un-eventful really, in all ways.
- 'Ey up, dude! - He's brilliant, really.
He's had a great time.
He's made a lot of new friends.
You're more lively than I thought you would be.
- There he is. - There he is.
And he's... So that's what we've done there,
- so there's... - Oh, wow.
There's stitches in there,
internal stitches that will dissolve
so we don't have to worry about taking them out.
- Good. - And he'll just go from strength to strength.
He's such a cute and friendly little fella,
- he's been saying hello to everyone hasn't he? - He is.
I brought you a mini-Pepe to keep.
- Excellent. - There we go.
- Excellent. - A souvenir from Pepe.
It's not as handsome as you, though, Pepe, I don't think.
That's very kind, thank you very much.
Pepe, look, it's a selfie. Pepe!
The operation was to enable Pepe to live with his lady friend.
- Oh, that was cool. - Good boy, very good.
Any problems, give us a shout, but I think it'll be plain sailing.
- Thank you. - Excellent. Good to see you again.
- Bye, Pepe. Be good. - See you later.
And it will lead to other perks.
He's got a banquet when he gets back
cos I've got him a special meal ready, so...
- Not that he's spoilt in any way. - What's his special meal?
- It's a bit of meat. - Oh, Pepe.
- With a bit of banana, obviously. - Absolutely, he likes his bananas.
Meat and banana, what more could you want?
Meat and banana, know what I mean?
Fifi will prick her ears up when he turns up.
Couple of weeks, and then we'll slowly introduce them,
and hopefully, a love story will begin.
A few weeks later, Dan's exotic rescue centre
in Knaresborough is a hive of activity.
Easter holidays is super busy at the moment.
So here, we've got the African Grey Parrot.
She's called Sully, she's about 24, 25 years old.
People love coming into the centre to learn about exotic animals.
These guys like eating crickets, cockroaches and locusts.
'We show them how to look after them.'
If people want to adopt, then they can do so,
but it's mainly showing people
what is out there that people have as pets as well.
As for Pepe...
Pepe here we go. Good boy.
..he's recovered nicely from his operation.
So, Pepe was a bit sluggish when he first came back.
He was a bit fed up, to be honest. I think I would be.
But now he's brilliant. Come here, you.
Back to his usual, happy self. He likes to be cuddled, does Pepe.
But when it comes to enjoying cuddles with Fifi...
Hiya.
..he can probably relate to his cartoon namesake,
the hopeless romantic Pepe Le Pew...
What we normally do is reintroduce them, slowly let them sniff.
..in his yearning for amore.
It's a love-hate relationship with Fifi.
It's just teaching him to be a bit more gentle with her,
a bit more patient with her.
She hasn't stressed.
She isn't running about. They're not attacking each other.
So I think today is a positive day.
The main thing is we don't want her to spray
cos if we spray, then we're all gonna get it.
Lots of people here have succumbed to Pepe's charms
He's become a favourite for the public, actually.
A lot of people just come and see him and have a little stroke of him.
But the idea of rendezvous with a skunk can make some cause a stink.
Eurgh! Skunk! Skunk!
- Where? - There. - Oh, yeah.
Do you wanna say hello to him?
- Yes. - This is Pepe.
- Can I pet him? - You can pet him, there you go.
He's beautiful. A bit smelly, but beautiful.
We love Pepe.
He's gone, he's on his travels now.
This is Pepe's house, not mine.
In Huddersfield, they don't treat dogs
at the practice's farm and equine centre...
Good boy.
..but David can make a small exception
for his own labrador-cross Yogi.
This way.
Yogi's been having laser therapy on the injury
that nearly cost him his leg... or even his life.
- Hi, Shona, you all right? - Hello! Hello, you.
Have you still got your cone of shame on? Have ya?
- Who's a good boy? How's he been? - He's doing quite well.
It's getting better week by week. It's nearly closed over now.
It's been five weeks, I think, nearly,
so I'm hoping to get the stitches out today.
Are you all right to hang onto him for me, please?
I can hold on to him. I'll give him a cuddle.
- Come here. - Go on, Auntie Shona will hold you.
I'll give you a cuddle for two minutes, won't I?
Are you gonna be a brave boy?
When this first happened, it was a really big wound.
To see how it is now in actually quite a short space of time
when you think about wounds like this, is just brilliant.
I think Yogi's been a really good boy.
He's also got a vet for a dad, which can help some times,
and I think the laser therapy really does help,
it helps the wounds heal a lot more quickly.
It does seem to just accelerate everything.
Good boy.
It's a really big relief to get these out.
It's just been slowly getting better.
He's getting there.
- Good boy. Yeah, you did well. - Good lad.
- Thanks for your help, Shona. - It's all right.
All the stitches out, we've a couple of staples to get.
It's another step down the road to full recovery,
but we'll get there in the end.
Hopefully, he can be out chasing a ball again.
Up on the North York Moors...
..Dan is the fourth generation of his family...
..lucky enough to farm with a view of Rievaulx Abbey.
A couple of weeks ago,
he feared for one of the new generation of his flock...
..and rushed his pregnant ewe to see Peter.
All right. Shh, shh, shh.
'Thankfully, Peter managed to get the lamb out
'without doing a c-section, which is always a bonus.'
Good girl.
The problem with taking them to the vets is
you get there, you get the lamb out.
Right, OK, that's it, done. Back home again.
Gently put the ewe in the back,
and then put the lamb in one of t'footwells.
They miss that bonding period...
for sort of 20 mins, half an hour while you get home,
so it's always a bit of a, "Is she gonna be OK?"
Come on, lass.
She's been really good, to be fair.
Popped him back in t'pen with her, and she was absolutely fine,
and Peter gave her some antibiotics and some pain relief
after she lambed, so she was light as rain after that.
They've had rough weather all winter.
She'll be relieved to get out,
and they always do so much better when they're on grass.
That's what they were born to eat, so...
they're always glad to be out into t'field
and have some freedom and run about and, you know, please theirselves.
I doubt she'll appreciate the view of Rievaulx Abbey.
But, yeah, glad she's OK.
The farming baton being passed down through a family's generations
is familiar to many of Peter's clients...
Come on, come on!
..like Steve Stonehouse.
It's a good life. A hard life, really.
You never have a lot of money.
You're what we call asset-rich and cash-poor.
Come here, you little devil.
'But I wouldn't swap it for anything, really.
'I worked with my dad. I was very lucky.
'We got on real well.
'And the thing is, we're just missing a generation now.'
- Steve's now in his 70s. - Come on!
And while his children aren't following in his footsteps,
his 18-year old granddaughter Elisha is keen to do so...
And I see we've got an extra pair of hands today.
- Oh, yes. - That's it.
..as Peter's discovered on his visits to the farm.
- And is Grandad a good teacher? - Yeah.
- Is he? - Yeah. - Well, you had to say that.
THEY LAUGH
'Elisha'll be the fifth generation here,
'and God willing that it works out for her.'
Right.
I'm just pleased that somebody else wants to farm, take over from me.
Once you see the mark there,
then you just break the skin with a point on that.
We're just scratching the lambs just to prevent them from getting orf,
which is like warts around their mouth and stuff.
Quite painful.
Right.
I used to be able to catch them quite easy,
but nowadays, they're faster than I am.
It's a lot of fun. We work quite well together.
We get a lot of stuff done.
Makes it a lot easier, having a couple of us doing it.
This is the last one to scratch. That's it.
- Right, then, you get the rings. - Yeah.
- I'll bring the lambs, you do 'em how you normally do 'em. - OK.
We're gonna put rings on the lambs' tails,
which just stops them getting flies and stuff in the summer.
'Grandad's been fantastic. He's the best person to learn from.'
That's right. Good.
'I've been helping down here since I could walk.
'I've got pictures of me feeding chickens at, like, 18 months old.
'I absolutely love it.'
Come on, then.
'Spend a lot of time outside, working with stock like this
'in this part of the world, I think it's just brilliant.'
I don't drink a lot, don't go out,
much rather be down here working with these lot.
Pretty good.
While Elisha can learn from her grandad's years of experience,
she's also studying agriculture in York
at one of the country's leading specialist colleges.
You've all grown since I last saw you, haven't you?
I'm coming towards the end of my second year here at Askham.
I spent my Easter holidays being the only student here, helping lambing.
I was out at seven in the morning to feed up,
do rounds, make sure everything had water, nothing else had lambed.
MOOING
We do a lot of vaccinating calves,
weighing calves, feeding, bedding up,
just anything that we can get involved in, we will.
One of Elisha's teachers here on the campus farm...
Hey-up, off you go. Hey-up.
..is Tony.
You've got a Saturday job doing this, haven't you?
- Yeah, we milk 140 Holsteins. - 140?
- Yeah. - How's it compare to this system?
- It's a very older system. - Is it?
- Yeah, six-a-side herringbone. - Six a side? - Yeah.
We try and teach the students
the best routine that we can of preparing a cow for milking.
About spotting mastitis,
and basically, the general health of the cow.
'Elisha's very good at it. She's taken to it really well.'
You might just have to keep your finger on that one a bit longer.
That's it.
So, just putting the units on each cow.
I love milking, I think, just the structure of it I enjoy.
In the future, I'd quite like to have a few dairy cows,
enough for a couple of houses in the village.
But Elisha has already learnt enough from her grandad
to know that a farmer's life won't be easy.
It's very long hours but willing to put the work in.
I know what it's like,
I know that that's how farming is, and I'm willing to do that.
Come on, girls.
- All right? Nice to see you. - Yes, thank you. Are you?
Will Elisha graduate from the university of Peter Wright?
How can you tell what you're feeling for?
You feel for different things
- at different stages of pregnancy. - Mm-hm.
- And a big day for Yogi... - You excited?
..as he's finally let of the leash.
- Ready? - Go on, then.
Near Huddersfield,
it's been a tough couple of months for David's labrador-cross, Yogi.
Going to the park? Go on, then.
David and Meg's recent dream holiday to New Zealand
turned into every dog owner's nightmare...
He's excited.
..when they heard that
Yogi had suffered a horrific leg injury back home.
All right, calm down!
Good boy. Good boy.
I was just really worried he was gonna firstly lose his leg,
or when we got the first initial phone call,
they said he went into shock and he might obviously lose his life.
Well, it's been a couple of weeks
since I got the stitches out of his wound,
and a good couple of months since the original injury.
We knew it would take time to heal,
but we're thinking today is the big day.
He can finally get off the lead and chase the ball,
which is his number one favourite thing to do.
He's not done it in a couple of months,
so he's gonna be really excited.
- Ready? - Go on, then.
Go on, then. Ha-ha-hey!
Woohoo!
You got it!
There you go again.
THEY LAUGH
- Some things never change. - THEY LAUGH
I've missed this. You're out of practise, aren't you?
Come on, then.
Yogs! Bring it here!
Good boy!
Go on, then. Go on.
That's too far.
Go get it.
- Go on, then. - Nothing's changed.
I end up chasing after the ball as much as he does,
but it's still nice to see.
Come on then. Come on! Good boy.
Come on. Good boy.
He looks really happy just to be back having a run and a sniff.
There was a time when you thought
it seemed a long way away from it being possible,
and there was a chance he was gonna lose his leg.
So it's such a relief today
to see him out there, tail wagging, chasing the ball.
Hear his little squeak.
THEY LAUGH
Good boy!
It's been a massively long road to get here, hasn't it, Dave?
I mean, we're so grateful for what everyone's done.
So excited to be able to see him today doing what he loves to do.
He might be stiff later
but looks like he's pretty much made a full recovery
so really pleased with that.
He's gonna be tired today. He's gonna have a nice sleep, I think.
We'll get a bit of peace and quiet.
- Come on. - Let's go back.
Oh, butterfingers. Come on.
In North Yorkshire at the Stonehouse family farm...
Go for it, put the food in.
..for Elisha, it's another day of learning from her grandad Steve.
'Ey-up! Go on, lass, in you go! Whooshhh!
And the agriculture student is about to face her next big test.
Get your swede forward a bit. Come on, hey-up!
Always keen to see if the new generation of farmers can cut it
like his old friends...
..Peter's just arrived.
- What a grand day! - Isn't it beautiful?
- Lovely. - How are we doing?
Pleasure to be in Yorkshire on a day like this.
- You couldn't be anywhere better. - You couldn't, no.
- How are you keeping? - I'm well. Good to see you.
Peter needs Elisha's help pregnancy testing some of the farm's cows.
She looks like she'll be a bit fitter and be able to run faster.
Be able to run faster than thee and me.
- You all right. Nice to see you. - Yes, thank you. You too.
Have we got some ladies to check in with?
- PD. There's 14 to PD. - Right. Very good.
Elisha will take you round to the business end,
and I'll be at the back end.
COWS MOOING
Right, our first contestant.
This one won't be so far on, Peter,
but I think she'll be six or eight weeks.
Yes, I will put her to about nine or ten weeks in.
- Right, right, yeah. - Possibly nearer ten.
Come on, then, somebody else, hey-up!
- Go on, hey-up. Go on, lass. - Hey-up!
Now, unless she's been caught in the last couple of weeks or so,
- she's not pregnant. - Right.
If they get out to grass, it'll bring them on.
- You could say it tunes them up. - Yeah, it tunes them up, yeah.
- Dr Green! - It's good stuff, isn't it?
A good, experienced hand bringing them in,
and an even better hand on the front of the crush, yeah.
Get your head in a bit further, come on.
Elisha's got it off to a fine art.
MOOING
Steady on, buggalugs.
Have you finished with your course now, Elisha?
I've submitted all my assignments.
I got my exam results back yesterday.
- And? - I passed with merit in my exam.
- Whoa! - So very happy with that.
So now I'm just waiting for rest of my results in August.
And what have you enjoyed most about the course?
- Meeting people who've had, like, a same upbringing to me. - Yeah.
- You're with people, like-minded people, yeah. - Yeah.
COW MOOS
I think she's in the very early stages of pregnancy.
Right, you could be, then, Peter, you could be.
I think she's very early.
Now, this one is slightly different.
I can actually feel a calf in this one.
Yes, I thought you might do. I was waiting for you to say.
He's just blinked his eye, he just winked at me.
Go on, off you go.
How can you tell what you're sort of feeling for?
You feel for different things at different stages of pregnancy.
And that last one, you know,
when you can feel the calf's head in there, you're laughing.
Now, this one is moderately early.
While Elisha is the future of the farm...
- So is the plan actually, ultimately, to take over from grandad? - Yeah.
- Does he know you're taking over? - Yeah. Yeah.
..she isn't the first strong female presence here.
They used to say, "I wear the trousers in our house,
"but my wife says which pair?"
That's what they always used to say.
Go on, lass, off you go! Hey-up, hey-up, go on, lass.
Again, we're early pregnancy here.
Steady, steady, go on, lass.
I can't say I've done many pregnancy diagnosis sessions
where I've had grandad and granddaughter
working in perfect harmony as we have here, and it's lovely.
This is the last one.
Let's hope we can give Stephen some good news.
- Yeah, she's pregnant. - She is, right.
Yeah. About nine weeks, I would say.
That's it, then, with them. Right, Elisha, how we done?
- Oh, there's just one question mark. - Not too bad on the whole.
No, no, no, that's right. Thank you very much.
- You're welcome. - Much appreciated.
- Thoroughly enjoyed it. - Thank you.
Well, nice to see you both,
and good luck with your future in farming.
Been very pleasant coming to see
Stephen and his granddaughter Elisha today.
- Nice to see you both. All the best. - Thank you.
'And I think Elisha has a very, very bright future
'ahead of her in farming.
'Family farms are the backbone of the British countryside.'
Go on, lasses!
And long may people like Elisha continue
and take the tradition forward.
- Come on, girls. - CLICKS TONGUE
It's been about five months since Peter came and PD'd.
So, we've now got five wonderful, healthy little heifers
running around.
All really, really well, didn't need any help at all.
ELISHA CLICKS TONGUE
Love spending time up here in amongst the cows.
They're so friendly, always curious about what's going on,
especially if there's food involved.
When it comes to working with animals,
it's not a thing that I would change about it.
So, hoping to take over the family farm.
Love what we do here. So, rewarding, but it's hard work.
It's empty. I know, I'm sorry.