When Foot and Mouth disease struck the UK in 2001, it caused a major crisis in agriculture and the British countryside. Hundreds and thousands of sheep and cattle were slaughtered in an attempt to halt the disease, footpaths were closed and the countryside effectively closed down. Cumbria was one of the worst affected areas of the country and many farmers found themselves at the very heart and soul of the crisis as mass livestock burials and plumes of black smoke from burning pyres destroyed their livestock and their lives.
Ten years on, Helen Mark visits Cumbria to find out how they have coped with the crisis since then. Some farmers chose to rebuild their lives in completely different ways but many continued to farm whilst also diversifying into other areas. Helen hears from farmer, Trevor Wilson about life after Foot and Mouth and from vet, Iain Richards, who found himself in the thick of the outbreak, travelling from farm to farm to diagnose sick animals. Once the disease was confirmed, Iain would then be declared a 'dirty' vet and would have to remain at the farm until the animals had been destroyed.
Helen also meets Andrew Nicholson who, with his wife Karen, had only been farming in Cumbria for a few years when the disease broke out. Andrew lost many of his valuable Herdwick sheep but now has one of the most remarkable stories to tell of how he dealt with the crisis. And Helen visits the former airfield which became the burial ground for thousands of slaughtered animals and hears from Frank Mawby and director and retired farmer, William Little, about the way in which the local community voted overwhelmingly to turn the site into what is now the Watchtree Nature Reserve.
Presenter: Helen Mark Producer: Helen Chetwynd.