Hill of Dreams: bringing transhumance back to the Highlands

Available for over a year

Transhumance died out in Scotland’s Highlands in the 19th century when small farmers were cleared from the land to make way for sheep. Now with the backing of owner, Hugh Raven, on the Ardtornish estate in the remote Morvern peninsula, Lizzie Mackenzie and Alec Heywood are reviving the practice of moving cattle with the seasons onto the high ground to graze. Semi-wild ponies are also being used to revive the estate’s uplands, but conservation enthusiast Raven must also balance the books with tourist enterprises and agricultural production. Can it all work? Presented and produced by Richard Baynes