The Trouble with Sheep

Seriously...

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary

4.1 • 885 Ratings

🗓️ 28 July 2023

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sheep have been instrumental in creating some of the UK’s most iconic upland landscapes – from the sweeping fells of the Lake District, to the moors of Devon and Cornwall.

These humble animals have left their mark on our language, our place names and even our architecture. But upland sheep are under fire. As the farm subsidy system changes post Brexit, it’s getting harder to make money out of them. The wool is now less than profitable, and lamb consumption has decreased. Meanwhile, sheep are being criticised by many environmentalists, who say they have degraded upland habitats.

In this programme, Charlotte Smith travels from Dartmoor to North Wales, exploring the places and meeting the people who have been formed by sheep…and asking what their future holds. What is the trouble with sheep? Answers range from being picky eaters, to getting bad press!

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This was an impregnable fortress. The only way you get out was in a wooden box.
0:05.0	The controversial maximum security prison impossible to escape from.
0:09.0	And one of the duties of a political prisoner is the escape.
0:12.0	The IRA inmates who found a way. of a political prisoner is the escape.
0:12.5	The IRA inmates who found a way.
0:14.5	I'm Carlo Gableer and I'll be navigating a path
0:19.5	through the disturbing inside story of the biggest jailbreak in British and Irish history.
0:25.0	The narrative that they want is that this is a big achievement by them.
0:28.5	Escape from the maze, listen first on BBC Sounds.
0:35.0	BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.
0:39.0	All right there, fellow podcast lovers.
0:42.0	This is seriously from BBC Radio 4 and I'm your
0:46.4	host Vanessa Casile each week this podcast brings you two of the best
0:51.5	documentaries the audio world has to offer.
0:54.0	Here's the most interesting thing you'll hear all week.
0:58.0	Which way we're going?
1:02.0	We'll go that way.
1:04.0	Just follow around the curve around the contour.
1:07.0	You follow the track down here. This is a West Dark River Valley, probably one of the iconic views on
1:19.6	on Dartmoor and I'm afraid I envy anybody that sees it for the first time. It is beautiful
1:25.0	isn't it? We've got the valley sides coming down we've got a little bit of
1:28.4	woodland in front of us. You can see some sheep in the distance, some cattle in the bottom of the valley.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.