Episode 9 The One Show - Best of Britain

Hello and welcome to The One Show Best of Britain with Gyles

Brandreth. And Miranda Krestovnikoff. We're here in the

beautiful Mountains of Mourne in County Down. Standing testimony to

the wonders of geology, this landscape is often said to have

been "born of the fire, shaped with the ice, and finally cooled down by

the rains." That's right. Originally, this incredible area of

outstanding natural beauty that we see now was the bottom of the

seabed. A long period of bubbling molten rock, at least six ice ages

and 420 million years later, we have been left with this unusually

compact range of mountains and stunning terrain. And this

particular part, the Silent Valley Reservoir, also has a much more

practical purpose these days. In the 1920s, local civil engineer

Luke Livingstone McCassey was tasked with the job of finding a

water source big enough to service the people of Belfast. He chose

this area for the purity of its water and it's remained the water

source for thousands of people in Northern Ireland ever since. It has

touched the lives of millions of people through literature and I

discovered this by watching a film made by Dan Snow when he went in

the footsteps of CS Lewis, who knew this part of the world and used it

Belfast, home to the Titanic, birthplace of George Best and

inspiration for one of our best- loved authors. CS Lewis may have

written The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe and the rest of The

Chronicles Of Narnia whilst living and working in Oxford, but it was

in this house in Belfast that he first started writing stories in

the attic with his brother. They wrote about a magical kingdom

complete with talking animals and it was this that sowed the seeds of

the ideas that were to make him famous 40 years later. The

Chronicles Of Narnia tell the story of the Pevensie children who

discover an uncharted land through Narnia through the back of a

wardrobe. They are guided through it by a lion called Aslan. It was

the rugged landscape Lewis explored as a boy in Ireland which gave him

This is one of his childhood haunts. The castle on the Antrim coast. A

source of inspiration as CS Lewis experts Sandy Smith explains. What

a day, an incredible place and he would have visited here. His family

came to the north coast from 1902 when he was a child. His brother

brought him up here for family holidays. It painted the entire

picture he had. At the end of The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe,

the famous castle he describes could have been based on this site.

This is where the lion of Marney and met the sea. -- Lion of Narnia.

To Peter it looked like a great Closer to Lewis's childhood home in

Belfast, this hill was Monmouth the models for a description of Narnia

from the prequel to The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe. All Narnia,

many coloured with lawns and rocks and heather, and the river winding

through it. You can already see off the top of the hills. Great more

land sloped gently to the horizon. On the left the mountains were much

higher but every now and again there was a gap. They could see

southern lands that lay beyond them. I remember reading these as a kid.

It seems like... This is where it was. It is also unbelievably cold.

Let's get back in the car. CS Lewis is still remembered around Belfast.

There is even some Northern Irish murals commemorating his work. Some

key images from his books. But why did he choose to make a talking

live in the main character? The answer could be found in a church

where his grandfather was the rector. The young Louis's regular

visits to the rectory seem to have had a regular -- last effect.

Imagine a small child coming up to this house and seeing, from about

head height, the Lion, a powerful image on the door. That is Aslan!

very strong image of the lion. Absolutely. It is easy to see how

this landscape captured the imagination of the young CS Lewis.

The stories they inspired have been translated into more than 40

languages and read by over 100 million people around the world.

Who couldn't fall in love with the real Narnia? What do the initials C

S stand for? I did a bit of swotting up, it is Clive Staples

Lewis. You are very clever! You probably will be able to tell me

what this heather is. That is yellow gorse. That is heather.

is where my early love life went wrong. I gave the girl a bunch of

lucky course, it turns out. That whoever provides a beautiful purple

hue to the mountains. Three species survived. And some juniper. Named

after the Greek goddess of gin. tonic. It does really well up here

because the sheep cut the grass short and it gives the juniper a

bit of room to survive and thrive. We could go and look for some.

we could head down and find a coffee shop. I think it is a matter

of going up the hill and looking for flora and fauna so Mike Dilger

is the man for the job. The beautiful Snowdonia mountains

are home to one of the rarest and most hard to find wild flowers in

Britain. We are talking about the Snowdon Lily. This diminutive flour

is found at high altitudes in North America and Europe. In the UK it

has been hanging on for survival in the Snowdonia mountains since the

last Ice Age. 10,000 years ago. Today there are only a few 1002

wild bulbs left and like other mountain plants it is threatened if

by climate change. The Snowdon Lily is flowering two-to-three weeks

earlier than normal. My mission is to track one down. Helping me in my

quest is how all Roberts from the Countryside Council for Wales. How

long is the height? Depends how fit you are. We are talking about an

hour and a half. You have to be well prepared for hiking in

Snowdonia. The Lily lives at an altitude over the 2000 ft and the

About halfway up we came across another rare alpine plant. It is

being pushed to the brink of extinction by climate change. Come

down here. Have a look at this. Lovely plant. These are stone

breakers. I studied my master's degree at anger and I used to love

coming to look for flowers like this. This clump is virtually

cleaving it away the rocks. That is a stellar plant. Finding this loden

Lilley is a lot tougher. Its leaves look like grass and a descent group

-- sensitive to temperature so it only grows in particular locations.

On the flowers are always on the tops of the mountains? Not just on

the top, but the north and north- east facing crags. They will be in

the shade, even in bright midday We are getting a bit exciting now,

as they say. For your sake, I would like you to walk up ahead and see

if you can find it. Look at that! It is just so gorgeous. I have to

say, for those of you that haven't seen many rare plants, you will

never find one rarer than this. Welsh name is descriptive for that

plant. It means the rush like leaves of the mountain. The Snowdon

Lily is a member of the lily family and it is not the only one in the

UK. This is related to the bluebells and the lily of the

valley. A beautiful flower indeed, but one that is facing many threats.

Elvin Jones, the National Trust warden for the area, is trying to

save the plant from becoming extinct in the UK. 100,000 people a

year come into this reserve and if they all want it all over the place,

the plants would be trampled. They are having good path built out of

local stone. It has enable people to enjoy the place without causing

damage. I know the area well and the one thing that has changed is

the sheep on the mountain. A lot of flowers. Yes. Eight years ago the

National Trust took the unprecedented decision to remove

sheep from this family, which is Wales's premiere natural nature

reserve. Isn't this where the going to mark the death of the snow

Lilli? It likes it cold. Scientists are telling us that in the last 50

years there has been a one degree increase in temperature in this

area on average. The Snowdon Lily likes it in the coldest places up

the sunshine. It has nowhere to go. You are right and if the

temperature continues to get warmer, we will see some of these plants

becoming extinct. The Snowdon Lily has been clinging to that rock face

for 10,000 years. Now with the threat of climate change, let's

hope it hangs on for another 10,000. Well done for trekking that one

down. From the snowy mountains of Snowdon... Today's misty mountains.

If you weren't here, I would not know how to get down. Without my

sat nav I am a lost individual. are such a townie! If you did get

lost up here, I have the perfect method of finding it. Let me

introduce you to two gorgeous dogs. This is Jodi and Paddy. Paddy is

three-quarters bloodhound. I always recognise a bloodhound because I

was brought up on Disney films so why recognise the bloodhound.

in your kennel! Their work in different ways. Jodie is an air

scenting dog. If you walked up amounting you would leave a trail

of cent. From the back of the net. It would not be in a straight line,

it would form a cone cent -- cone- shaped as it is dissipated. Jody

would be worked in a zig-zag fashion up the mountain, following

the trail. The smell comes down on the wind. It does and she works

well on a blustery day. Paddy is a trailing dog. If you are lost up

the mountain... His ears! We would find an item of clothing and he

would pick up your cent on this item of clothing. I love dogs and

at home we have got two dogs. A very sophisticated French poodle

and a mongrel I have had for years. It is amazing, the relationship

people have had with dogs going back millennia. Angellica Bell made

a wonderful film about a very special group of dogs that changed

the lives of their owners. This is the tale of a claim to fame

in Royal Leamington Spa and this is the front end of the story. Isn't

she beautiful? Leamington is where you'll find the breeding centre of

the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, the biggest trainer of

working dogs in the world. The charity is celebrating its 80th

birthday. Look at all these signs that it will go on and on. 19 in

every 20 guide dogs in the UK are bred here. There are more than

1,000 puppies born in Leamington each year and even at this early

stage and wrap them knowing it, they are being trained. Look up

there. Daytime television. They are getting used to it normal noises.

The real life they have to get used to. There are around 380,000 blind

and partially-sighted people in this country, but almost half of

that number never leave home alone, independently. Guide Dogs hopefully

can make a real difference to many of those people. Back in the early

1930s, this was the inspiration. Dogs showing humans the way. A

brave new idea pioneered in Switzerland. In the UK, two dog

lovers brought the idea to Wallasey on Merseyside. They hired a Swiss

trainer, a commanding figure who had been an officer in the Russian

Imperial Guard. Here are his pupils. One of the four said he had been

given site itself, a feeling of glorious freedom and independence.

But they were pioneers and Andrea Cooper, who is registered blind and

depends on her guide dog, is amazed how brave they were. Personally I

could not imagine doing that, knowing it was a scheme that had

not been tried and tested. It must have taken an incredible leap of

faith for them to put their trust in this kind of scheme. I am just

so thankful they did it because I would not have her otherwise.

me about what you experience. her when I was 14. I walked to

school with my twin brother. Being able to go on a bus on my own for

the first time with her, being able to walk on my own, at university I

had to get a couple of buses, it The idea of breeding Guide Dogs for

the blind to cough. In a few years, they had outgrown the premises on

Merseyside, and then they move to limit as Bath. The movement has not

stopped growing, opening in the summer, a new �20 million

headquarters. This is this one- year-old's chance to prove she is a

guide dog. Only seven out of ten make the cut. This is her first

confidence test. We will set off a loud noise. We will see how she

reacts. Was that a good reaction? At perfect. She looked across to

see what it was, but it did not bother her. That is what we need

for a guide dog. Kerrin is expensive. Looking after and

treating a single dog from birth to retirement costs nearly �50,000.

Pretending you are on the road is the final challenge, and two-year-

old Nina seems to know the way. As a sighted person, I can't imagine

how I would cope without being able to see. Like the trainees in 1930,

the thought of relying on a guide dog is pretty daunting. But today I

have the privilege of finding out for myself. Off we go. Take it nice

and gently. Keep encouraging her. She will bear off to the left. Well

done. How does that feel? OK? I just trust that Nino will not let

me walk into a wall. No, she is a cautious dock. Slowing down a bit

to determine the best way. It is very crowded. She has to

concentrate a lot in a busy environment. You do not want people

distracting her or trying to talk to her. Thank you! What a feeling

of freedom this must bring to the 4500 people with guide dogs. You

are an eye-opening claim to fame for the people of Leamington Spa.

Gyles, I bring you to one of the most beautiful parts of Northern

Ireland and all you are concerned with is getting a cup of tea.

all have our priorities. I believe in combining civilisation with

nature. The coffee is top notch. a look at the scenery. We have

mountains, woodland, Morland, fantastic. The wildlife that here

is fantastic. There is a healthy badger population, dragonflies,

lizards. You can get coffee anywhere, but here you can get red

kites, ravens, red grouse. You make films about birds. What is the

favourite bird of yours? Mike Dilger is usually your bird man,

but I do love puffins. Small, charismatic, but see little sea

birds, often called the clowns of the sea because they have these

wonderful, brightly coloured beaks. They always seem to be in a hurry

to get from A to B. Is this why you have chosen the film we are going

to see? Yes. There is a large puffin colony on a Skomer island in

west Wales. That is where we are heading next.

Last year I was left with a bit of mystery when I visited Skomer

island of the west Wales coast. It is here that thousands of puffins

arrive every spring to breed, but then in August they disappear. And

no one was sure where they went or how long they stayed. That is why I

am on my way back, because some of the returning puffins now have the

answer. Puffin numbers are dropping dramatically around the British

Isles, especially in the north-east. So last year, Tim Guilford and his

team from Oxford University tact puffins here on Skomer island with

geolocators to find out what is happening to them when they leave

the island. As soon as the puffins go to sea and my great common

knowledge tries up. We know nothing about where birds from individual

colonies go to feed or where they go to winter. That is the gap we

are trying to fill. It is an important part of the puffin's life

cycle. The future of the health species depends on it. Last year,

80 puffins had geolocators attached to them, but with over 13,000

puffins on the island now, how will Tim locate the ones he tagged?

Luckily, the puffins themselves offer the solution. One of the

remarkable things about puffins is that they come back to breed in the

same burrows you should be. They are very sight faithful. They will

go out for the winter, come back and the same pair will meet at the

Colony and defend and claim the same burrow. So in theory, they

just have to put a net over each of the borrowers. When it comes back

to feed its chicks, it will get stuck in the net. Then it is a case

of a good old-fashioned stake out, hoping they all come home. Let me

find a piece of grass without puffin poo on it. Once we are

sitting uncomfortably, it is a matter of waiting, patiently. On

average, puffins live up to 25 years, but the current record on

Skomer island is more than 38. So confidence is high that the tag

ones will return. And one does just that. There is one coming in.

go. Follow me. Keep a close. Speed is essential to free the puffin

from the net, but these birds are defensive, and putting a hand down

a puffin hole will hurt. It has gone in quite deep. Ow! And this

one is not coming quietly. I will have well lacerated hands by the

end of this. Has it drawn blood? We are trying to aid your Com's --

conservation. I will put it straight in a back to calm it down.

It will try and get your fingers. They do come down in the dark,

don't they? This is the moment of truth. The data is downloaded

instantly, and they are getting surprising results. After leaving

Skomer island, the puffins are overwintering in two stages,

firstly heading north and west, with some going as far as Greenland,

before heading south to the mid- Atlantic or off the southern coast

of Europe. It is exciting to see that the puffin has been collecting

dust data over that entire period. It is rough, but it is still

exciting to get that picture. They move up to the north west of

Ireland, then come up over to the north of Scotland and back down to

the South before coming back to Scotland. For such an ambitious

project, the early results are a good start. The fact that you can

do this with such a small device and such a small C Bird, and do it

on multiple individuals, although it is a bit of effort, the amount

of data we are getting is amazing. And as more data is processed, it

should reveal how long these birds are staying in each place. And more

importantly, why. It is sad leaving Skomer island, but with most of the

tact puffins already returned, it is hoped that the information held

on their geolocators will give us an insight into how to protect

their future. Thank you, Miranda, for bringing me

out of the coffee shop and into the rain. Sorry, but the puffins were

good. That was an award-winning film. Now, pub quiz question. What

do you call baby puffins? Puff flat? I don't think so! Boo they go

to puffballs? Baby puffins are called pufflings.

Would they be able to fly this high? They would not get a

beautiful aerial view of the Mourne wall behind us. This is the

celebrated Mourne wall. It was erected to defy the catchment area

in Silent Valley. It was built in 1904 and took 18 years to build.

Thousands of men were involved in its construction. It links the

peaks of 15 mountains and his 22 miles long. I am thinking about the

coffee shop. It is only an eight mile trek back to it. I have my

favourite film earlier. What was yours? I have enjoyed almost all

the films, but the one I want to show people today is one that gets

me into a wrestling ring. The outfit is something you will enjoy

it. Viewers of a more sensitive nature may prefer to look away now.

Britain has a long history of competitive prize-fighting, whether

it is boxing, wrestling, brawling - honourable, unarmed combat has

entertained the great British public for centuries. And in the

1960s, it all went mainstream. On January 2nd, 1965, ITV launched

world of sport, and British wrestling hit the airwaves. From

then on, it had a regular slot every Saturday night, hurling the

sport into the homes and hearts of the British public. Overnight, Big

Daddy, giant haystacks and Nagasaki became household names. It was the

theatrics as well as the fighting that we loved. But all good things

come to an end. In 1987, wrestling was ousted from the world of sport.

The Golden Age of British wrestling was over, replaced by its

undramatic American cousin. Your favourite wrestler? Big Daddy and

giant haystacks. Big Daddy. Mick McManus. He was the guy who used to

give it all that. One of the worst things they did was take it away.

wish it was still there. Heard of any wrestlers? Bit past my time.

What happened to the legacy of British wrestling? What are those

big names doing now? Sadly, not many of them are around to tell the

tale. But there are a few legends left if you know where to look.

Weighing the three-times world champion, what is the move you best

remember? The flying head-butt. Have you found that used for

running the pub on a Friday-night for? Sadly, I cannot run across the

ring any more. Here is a fellow champion, Frank. And Sarah, you are

a champion, too. What for you guys was the secret of wrestling's

attraction? I think it was the camaraderie amongst the wrestlers.

Each one in that era was a character. Different shapes and

sizes. They looked and acted the part. They could entertain you for

hours. They were storytellers in their own right. So the big stars

may have disappeared from the small screen, but what of British

wrestling itself? Is it still going? John is a two-times British

heavyweight champion. He is now training a new generation of

wrestlers, keeping the British style alive. You were there in the

golden age. What was it like? was great, lovely people. I was on

four or five nights a week. Why was wrestling axed from British TV in

1987? They said there was no interest in it and it was a

working-class sport. It was taken off the TV. The older guys were not

passing on their knowledge, and it declined. What is the future for

British wrestling? It is alive and kicking. Will it comeback on the

box? I would like to think so. Maybe you can help. The TV revival

begins tonight! Stay tuned. I have And so, dull, worthy bouts for

real? There was some showmanship. Modern times demand that. But they

were real moves. What you are seeing was real wrestling. It in

its heyday, British wrestling was a national institution, watched and

loved by millions glued to their sets on a Sunday afternoon. We may

have lost the flamboyant costumes and big names on the small screen,

but the sport lives on, thanks to wrestling academies like this. And

as for it not having a broad, popular appeal, let me tell you on