Joe Mahon visits the local fields of gold

Leona & Richard Kane with Joe Mahon amid the rapeseed fields.

Joe Mahon continues his travels around Lough Foyle and its hinterlands on Monday night, (November 9) as he heads to Magilligan to find out about perfect carrots and rapeseed that both grow in abundance, thanks to the amazing soil and dedication of the growers involved.

‘Lough Foyle’ is a television travelogue series featuring the history, natural environment and cultural heritage of the Foyle catchment area.

Joe spent several months, both pre and post lockdown, exploring the unique watery environment of Lough Foyle.

Willie Cooke has planted his last carrot at Magilligan.

In Monday night’s episode, the eighth in the ten-parter, Joe makes a return after 25 years to Cooke family farm at Magilligan. When Joe first set out to make programmes travelling the Ulster countryside he met Willie Cooke, who explained to him why this part of the world was famous for growing crops of carrots. Joe recently got word that Willie, now in his eighties, had finally decided to retire after growing and harvesting over 180,000 tonnes of carrots.

In the second part of the programme, Joe meets Richard and Leona Kane who will be getting into carrots for the first time with the help of one of Willie’s sons. They grow rapeseed in the townland of Broighter over on the other side of the River Roe. Leona describes the process of pressing the oil they produce from the tiny black seeds.

Lough Foyle is produced by Westway Film Productions, supported by Northern Ireland Screen’s Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund. You can watch this episode on Monday at 8pm on UTV and on catch up on www.itv.com/utvprogrammes