Cairngorms
In the Cairngorms, Matt Baker meets Tilly Smith and her herd of 150 reindeer, whose grazing habits are being studied by scientists to assess their environmental impact.
Matt Baker, Sean Fletcher and Margherita Taylor are in the Cairngorms, where Matt meets Tilly Smith and her herd of 150 reindeer. The reindeer roam wild and free and a team of scientists are studying their grazing habits to assess its impact on the environment. Sean spends the day with ten-year-old Xander Johnson, who is part of a big effort to save one of the UK's rarest insects - the pine hoverfly, found only in two places in the Cairngorms and under threat in both of them. Margherita learns all about mountain safety and smartphones should not be trusted out in the wild. She also hears from Amanda Thomson, an academic who is on a mission to preserve disappearing Scots words and whose work has inspired Marina Dennis, a crofter keen to preserve old crofting traditions and the language used to describe them. And with Christmas just a week away, Adam Henson checks in on a couple of new arrivals who lend a very seasonal air to the farm, and Tom Heap investigates whether enough is being done to help the rural homeless when extreme weather hits.
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Passenger
Keep On Walking
Reindeer
Matt steps out into the wild and rugged landscape of the Cairngorms to meet the farmer who dotes on her 150 reindeer.
And he discovers how scientists are investigating the behaviour of Britain's only free-range herd - before seeing for himself how these reindeer earn their keep.
Matt lends a hand at the聽Cairngorm Reindeer Centre, helping to train young reindeer to take the reins of Santa's sleigh.
Mountain Safety
Margherita gets a taste of the hillwalking challenges presented by the Cairngorms, where five of Scotland's six highest mountains are to be found.
Here she learns about the risks posed and the safety precautions to be considered when tackling the rough terrain of an area where blizzards and high winds can hit at any time.
Margherita is joined by inspirational mountain safety advisor Heather Morning, whose love for the Scottish mountains brought her here from Yorkshire.
With 30 years' experience, Heather is now the safety advisor for Mountaineering Scotland.聽
Rural Homelessness
Pine Hoverfly
Sean meets the ecologists fighting to save the pine hoverfly in one of Britain's last pockets of prehistoric pine woodland.
The pine hoverfly plays a vital role in pollinating the rare plants in the ancient forest of Curr Wood - but it's an insect on the brink of extinction.
Today Sean's on a bughunt - ably-led by a聽very knowledgeable 12-year-old, Xander, who is working hard to ensure the insect's survival.Lost Words
Margherita meets Amanda Thomson who has been collecting and preserving disappearing Scottish words.聽
Amanda and Margherita visit Abernethy Forest where Amanda was first inspired by these words while she was working on her PhD.
And Margherita also visits crofter Marina Dennis, whose family have been working on the edge of the forest for more than 200 years.聽
Marina is steeped in the language and traditions of her ancestors and works hard to keep these vanishing words alive today.
Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Matt Baker |
| Presenter | Sean Fletcher |
| Presenter | Margherita Taylor |
| Presenter | Adam Henson |
| Presenter | Tom Heap |
| Executive Producer | William Lyons |
| Series Producer | Joanna Brame |
