A FARMING family from South Zeal who still herd their livestock on horseback on the moor are appearing on TV on Monday night.

Crispin and Diana Alford and son Steve feature in two episodes of More4’s Devon and Cornwall series, which focuses on people who live and work in the region.

Episode two at 9pm on Monday (April 8) follows a difficult time for the Alfords as they test their cattle for suspected bovine TB.

The series returns to follow the family in episode 4 on Easter Monday, April 22, as they prepare to sell five of their hill ponies at the Chagford pony sale.

Prices for ponies brought off the moor have fallen in recent years and while the Alfords sell the colts, sired by a coloured stallion from the other side of the moor, they are lucky to break even.

The film crew also covered the building of a new house for Steve on land the family have bought on the edge of the moor to ensure the farm’s survival in the long-term. Crispin and Diana have held a county council farm tenancy for 43 years at East Week Farm but there is no right of succession from parents to son.

The film crew spent last summer and autumn with the Alfords.

‘They were down here quite a bit,’ said Steve. ‘They came with us when we were gathering sheep off the moor for shearing on horseback.

‘Then we had to gather all the cattle off the moor for TB testing. They filmed us gathering our Galloway herd and then they filmed us when we were testing.’

The news that there was indeed TB in some of the South Devon cattle on the farm was not something the family wanted to be told.

‘That shut us down, basically we were shut down for 12 months and we have just got clear in February this year,’ said Steve.

‘The TV programme was a feelgood project but the reality is that farmers struggle with TB in cattle in the countyside. So although they were trying to get across that we live in a beautiful area, for those of us for whom this is a working environment, this is one of the things we have to deal with. Sometimes you have to get that reality across.’

The Alfords are unusual in that they still herd their livestock on horseback.

‘There aren’t many farmers who gather animals off the moor on horseback; there’s us and our neighbours locally but there are less and less who do,’ said Steve.

‘We have got some really good horses – we call them moor horses – and we have also got some good working collies and New Zealand hunterways for herding sheep.’

Their appearance in the TV series came about through their neighbour Tich Scott who runs guided tours on Dartmoor.

Steve said: ‘A lady who works for More4 down in Totnes was talking to Tich and we were just starting the new build on our fields right at the edge of the moor. They said they would be interested in covering it.’

He said the film crew became part of their lives.

‘It was a bit of fun to be honest,’ he said. ‘They were a good bunch to have around which makes it easier and it was quite interesting to see how they did it. I’ll definitely be watching on Monday.’