0:00:02 > 0:00:06For many, the 1950s were the golden age of British motoring.
0:00:06 > 0:00:11Back then, driving was leisurely, liberating and fun.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17Yes, things have changed a bit since then.
0:00:20 > 0:00:25But perhaps it's still possible to recapture some of that magic.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27Oh, yes.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32I'm setting off on six of the best drives from the 1950s,
0:00:32 > 0:00:36as recommended by the guidebooks of the era.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40And I'll be driving them in some of the decade's most iconic vehicles.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45Gone into reverse.
0:00:45 > 0:00:50I want to find out if these routes still thrill and inspire...
0:00:50 > 0:00:53This is a spectacular road.
0:00:53 > 0:00:58..and how in 50 years, Britain itself has changed.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00Oh, for God's sake!
0:01:00 > 0:01:03They wouldn't have thought to come here without a sat nav.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05I'm sure they wouldn't.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08People don't value each other as much as they did then.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10It was a different type of life, wasn't it?
0:01:29 > 0:01:32Cornwall contains all, or almost all, the ingredients
0:01:32 > 0:01:35that make for a good motoring holiday.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37Fine varied scenery, an exceptionally
0:01:37 > 0:01:41brilliant coast and an excellent summer climate.
0:01:41 > 0:01:46Cornwall has all the climatic advantages of continental residence,
0:01:46 > 0:01:49without the drawback of long and fatiguing travel,
0:01:49 > 0:01:53foreign language, unusual habits and strange attendance.
0:01:54 > 0:02:00I never thought I would be driving into Cornwall in a VW campervan.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05I would like to say that I've got a surfboard attached to the roof,
0:02:05 > 0:02:09but I haven't. I won't be doing any surfing, I'm afraid.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13When the VW van first appeared in 1950,
0:02:13 > 0:02:15it revolutionised leisure motoring.
0:02:15 > 0:02:20it was simple, adaptable and surprisingly spacious.
0:02:22 > 0:02:27With a top speed of just 56mph, this mobile 'home from home'
0:02:27 > 0:02:30might not have been the fastest vehicle off the block,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34but never mind, with its 11 picture windows, driving a campervan
0:02:34 > 0:02:41was as much about enjoying the journey as it was the destination.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44I haven't totally got control of the gears yet but, er,
0:02:44 > 0:02:46we're getting there.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53That was a change from fourth to third I was rather proud of.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57ENGINE STALLS
0:02:57 > 0:02:58Ah, bugger it!
0:03:01 > 0:03:07So time to take my '50s design classic on a classic '50s drive.
0:03:07 > 0:03:12I'm in Cornwall to explore a road described in my 1959 guidebook
0:03:12 > 0:03:15as "one of the finest coast roads in Britain,"
0:03:15 > 0:03:19so I've got high hopes for something pretty special.
0:03:20 > 0:03:25The B3306 starts at the former fishing village of St Ives, hugs the
0:03:25 > 0:03:30dramatic North Cornish coast, and will lead me ultimately to England's
0:03:30 > 0:03:34most westerly point, Land's End.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39The first stop on my road trip is St Ives,
0:03:39 > 0:03:43and my old guidebooks are united in their praise for the place.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02St Ives - a quaint and fascinating little town...
0:04:02 > 0:04:04it is one of Cornwall's gems.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06"All that is best in Cornwall
0:04:06 > 0:04:09"seems to meet in St Ives."
0:04:13 > 0:04:17Fifty years ago, St Ives was living a sort of triple life,
0:04:17 > 0:04:21at once a bucket and spade resort, a traditional fishing port, and
0:04:21 > 0:04:26perhaps most surprisingly given its far-flung location,
0:04:26 > 0:04:31an internationally renowned centre for abstract art!
0:04:31 > 0:04:36Working in studios converted from fishermen's cottages and old net
0:04:36 > 0:04:40lofts were some of the world's most significant abstract artists,
0:04:40 > 0:04:41like sculptor
0:04:41 > 0:04:43Barbara Hepworth, and painter
0:04:43 > 0:04:45Sir Terry Frost.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47All of them inspired by
0:04:47 > 0:04:49the Cornish landscape around them.
0:04:52 > 0:04:53Anthony Frost, son of
0:04:53 > 0:04:56the late Sir Terry, and himself
0:04:56 > 0:05:01a successful abstract artist, was born and brought up in the town.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04- Anthony, hello, I'm Richard Wilson. - Hello, nice to meet you.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08Come in to my.. So what was it like living here as a boy?
0:05:08 > 0:05:12Well, it was fantastic, because you just lived on the beach, for a start.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14And I mean...
0:05:14 > 0:05:16when I first met my wife, I told her that I didn't have shoes,
0:05:16 > 0:05:18and that I only had shoes to go to school in.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21I mean, she never believed me, but it's true, you had your pair of shoes
0:05:21 > 0:05:23to go to school in. Because you didn't need them
0:05:23 > 0:05:27for the rest of the time, because you were on the beaches. Here,
0:05:27 > 0:05:31we used to have football matches, sort of like 40-a side.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37So in the late '50s, the art scene was pretty vibrant here, was it?
0:05:37 > 0:05:41It was fantastic, because it has sort of never reached that climax again
0:05:41 > 0:05:47in the sense of that you know America looked to St Ives, New York looked to
0:05:47 > 0:05:48- St Ives.- It was the centre.
0:05:48 > 0:05:53Yeah, I mean, because you had Rothko, and Klein, all these people,
0:05:53 > 0:05:55and they came here. To meet Patrick Heron, Terry Frost,
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Peter Lanyon, he wanted to meet these people.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01Because for a short time, St Ives was as big as New York.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04You know, the abstract American expressionist painters.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08So the art scene today, how does that differ?
0:06:08 > 0:06:11There is still a fantastic, vibrant art scene, we still have wonderful
0:06:11 > 0:06:14studios. We have galleries everywhere.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16I suppose the difference now is that
0:06:16 > 0:06:18we also have the sort of factory galleries.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22I mean, there is supposedly, allegedly, you know, a gallery where
0:06:22 > 0:06:25the painters go along, somebody paints the sky, the clouds,
0:06:25 > 0:06:28- and the boats.- No, that's impossible.
0:06:28 > 0:06:34But, er, it has changed in that sense. And of course, there is that
0:06:34 > 0:06:37thing of there is people here all the time and people do buy those sorts of
0:06:37 > 0:06:40paintings to take home almost as if like a stick of rock now.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42Because it's got a name for paintings.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44Yes, yes, St Ives has got that reputation.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47But there are still serious painters here.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49It's just that it has become diluted.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00One of those "serious" painters is Bob Crossley,
0:07:00 > 0:07:04a rare survivor from St Ives' abstract heyday.
0:07:04 > 0:07:09Incredibly, Bob is 95 years old and still an active artist.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13Believe it or not, he only gave up skiing four years ago!
0:07:17 > 0:07:18So when did you come to
0:07:18 > 0:07:22- St Ives?- 1959.- '59?- Yeah.
0:07:22 > 0:07:28So in 1959, of course, there must have been lots of artists here?
0:07:28 > 0:07:31- Yeah. I knew them all. - And you knew them all.
0:07:31 > 0:07:36Yes, and I was the oldest of the lot. They've all died now.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40And I suppose the painters come here because the light is so...
0:07:40 > 0:07:41extraordinary.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45It's nice and clear and sunny, yes, it is, yes. Light's light.
0:07:45 > 0:07:50Light is for working, you don't look at the light, you look through
0:07:50 > 0:07:51the light at what you're looking at.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56Bob really is living art history.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00There aren't many painters around today that can claim that
0:08:00 > 0:08:03LS Lowry himself bought one of their pictures.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07And fifty years after he first moved here, he's still going strong.
0:08:07 > 0:08:13His work and indeed the man himself are inspirational.
0:08:13 > 0:08:1595 years, you...
0:08:15 > 0:08:19still haven't run out of ideas, and still doing wonderful stuff.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22Well, I'm lucky to have good health.
0:08:22 > 0:08:29- Well, yes, you are, 95, and you're still standing.- Yeah.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37Thanks to artists like Bob, people no longer come to St Ives simply for
0:08:37 > 0:08:43sun and sand, the town now attracts a new kind of holidaymaker,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46the cultural tourist, drawn
0:08:46 > 0:08:52to sites like Tate St Ives and the Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54Beautiful.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57So it's no longer just the summer season that's busy,
0:08:57 > 0:09:02the town is crammed with sightseers all year round, and driving through
0:09:02 > 0:09:07the narrow streets can be an absolute nightmare.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10So it's with some relief that I'm heading out of town and
0:09:10 > 0:09:16up along the coast road that all my 1950s guidebooks are raving about.
0:09:18 > 0:09:23# Life is but a dream... #
0:09:25 > 0:09:33This is a spectacular road...ahead, it's just beautiful.
0:09:33 > 0:09:38I really can see why this is one of the best drives in Britain.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40The road behind the north coast,
0:09:40 > 0:09:44from St Ives to Land's End, meandering among boulder-strewn
0:09:44 > 0:09:47heaths, is one of the most attractive of Cornish ways.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51The coast from here out to the Land's End
0:09:51 > 0:09:55is as dramatic as any in Cornwall. To drive
0:09:55 > 0:09:57from St Ives and out along this coast
0:09:57 > 0:09:59is always exhilarating,
0:09:59 > 0:10:01an experience never to be forgotten.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05But, for me, driving this stunning road
0:10:05 > 0:10:07is not without its challenges.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11After owning nothing but automatics for the past thirty years, I'm still
0:10:11 > 0:10:16finding the campervan's retro gearbox a bit of a lucky dip.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18- Third. - GEARS CRUNCH
0:10:20 > 0:10:22Ah, I'm going to have to try.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28Oh, I've gone into reverse.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39Just four miles out of St Ives, we arrive at the ancient
0:10:39 > 0:10:44and picturesque village of Zennor, a chance for me to give the gear box
0:10:44 > 0:10:48a rest, grab a spot of lunch and do some swatting up.
0:10:55 > 0:11:01Most of my guidebooks recommend a visit to Zennor. But this one
0:11:01 > 0:11:04is particularly intriguing. In the First World War, DH Lawrence
0:11:04 > 0:11:08lived here for a while, and hated it.
0:11:08 > 0:11:13In fact, he lived for a while in this very pub, The Tinners Arms.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15And then discovered that the reason
0:11:15 > 0:11:18that he hated it was in fact because he was chucked out.
0:11:18 > 0:11:26His wife was German and she was a cousin of the Red Baron, in fact.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29And when you think there were U-boats just off the coast here
0:11:29 > 0:11:31trying to sink British ships,
0:11:31 > 0:11:35and they were going along the coast road singing German folk songs,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38it's not really unreasonable that they were so unpopular.
0:11:38 > 0:11:43So the locals didn't take to them, and DH Lawrence
0:11:43 > 0:11:45didn't take to the locals.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49There's a quote here of what he said about them...
0:11:49 > 0:11:55"Like insects gone cold, living only for money, for dirt.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58"They are foul, they all ought to die."
0:11:58 > 0:12:03So the locals said that they were spies and that she was hanging out
0:12:03 > 0:12:07her red knickers as a signal to the U-boats.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12Which seems a highly unlikely thing to do, but anyway, they thought that
0:12:12 > 0:12:15they were spies and so they kicked them out.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20Lawrence and his wife were expelled from the entire county,
0:12:20 > 0:12:23and it left him with a bitterness for the Cornish
0:12:23 > 0:12:26and their highly individual outlook.
0:12:29 > 0:12:36It seems that even as recently as 50 years ago, the Cornish people
0:12:36 > 0:12:42were still very much a breed apart, as is borne out by my guides.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44The inhabitants are, racially,
0:12:44 > 0:12:47quite different from those in other parts of England.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51It is, in truth, a very foreign land, the whole atmosphere of
0:12:51 > 0:12:56the county is different from that of any other part of Britain.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59To find out if there's any truth in these statements, I'm heading to one
0:12:59 > 0:13:05of my route's recommended stops, Zennor's 12th-century church,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08to meet Cornish storyteller Graham Whitford.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12Graham, my guidebooks which are from the '50s, um, most of them
0:13:12 > 0:13:15talk about the separateness of Cornwall
0:13:15 > 0:13:20and how it was almost a foreign land where the people are very different.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23Is that still true today, do you think, the separateness of
0:13:23 > 0:13:28- the Cornish?- It is to some extent, but it's fast disappearing, I think.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Um, in the '50s,
0:13:31 > 0:13:35Cornwall was very Cornish, probably 95% of people were
0:13:35 > 0:13:39born here. Whereas today, 70% of the people aren't born here.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42So there's been a massive influx from out of the county.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45I mean, people have seen that Cornwall is a lovely place...
0:13:45 > 0:13:48- Yes.- ..and people like to go to lovely places.
0:13:48 > 0:13:53But politically, all these second homes are not popular in Cornwall,
0:13:53 > 0:13:56- because young people can't afford to buy houses here.- Yeah.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58But I think that's
0:13:58 > 0:14:00fired people up, it's fired the Cornish people up
0:14:00 > 0:14:03to keep hold of their history, their culture, and their heritage.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07And storytelling is burgeoning.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09- And Zennor has a few tales to tell, doesn't it?- Yes.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14The mermaid of Zennor, the story is closely attached to this church.
0:14:14 > 0:14:19And some time ago, um, Matthew Trewhella, a local fisherman,
0:14:19 > 0:14:22used to sing in the choir in this church.
0:14:22 > 0:14:27Now, the legend says that his voice was so beautiful that it
0:14:27 > 0:14:31passed out of the church and was heard beneath the sea by Morveren,
0:14:31 > 0:14:33- one of the mermaids.- Ah.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36And she thought that the voice was so beautiful and enchanting,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39she wanted to find out where this voice came from.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42And then on one occasion, Matthew Trewhella happened to look up
0:14:42 > 0:14:45and see her standing in the doorway.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48And with her long tresses and beautiful face, he was in love
0:14:48 > 0:14:50in an instant.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52And he chased after her,
0:14:52 > 0:14:54and several of the congregation
0:14:54 > 0:14:58chased after them as they ran down towards the shore.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01But he said as he disappeared beneath the waves, "This is my true love,
0:15:01 > 0:15:05"and we will be happy together, and I will follow her wherever she leads."
0:15:05 > 0:15:07So he became a merman?
0:15:07 > 0:15:10- One would like to think so. - Sprouted a few gills.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13You can draw your own pictures.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16I'm not mocking you,
0:15:16 > 0:15:18I believe every word of it.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24Well, my guidebook backs up Graham's story,
0:15:24 > 0:15:30"The Zennor, the picturesque village of Zennor, church town 4.5 miles
0:15:30 > 0:15:35"due west of St Ives, is famous for its legendary mermaid,
0:15:35 > 0:15:42"whose image is carved on a pew end in the lovely 12th-century church."
0:15:42 > 0:15:47And this is the pew end, and it looks extraordinarily old,
0:15:47 > 0:15:52and here is our mermaid.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54So, there she is.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57And for those interested in mermaids,
0:15:57 > 0:16:01well worth a visit, but frankly, I wouldn't bother...
0:16:02 > 0:16:05You did ask!
0:16:05 > 0:16:10MUSIC: "Why Do Fools Fall In Love?" by Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers
0:16:22 > 0:16:26Leaving Zennor behind, I'm now headed a further 13 miles
0:16:26 > 0:16:30up the coast to renowned beauty spot Sennen Cove.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34And despite Cornwall's huge popularity,
0:16:34 > 0:16:39this beautiful road has remained remarkably unspoilt.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43A wonderful smell of manure coming in now.
0:16:43 > 0:16:48Ooh, yes, that's a pungent one.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52But of course,
0:16:52 > 0:16:54it's pointless to talk about it
0:16:54 > 0:16:59on television, because you can't smell it...fortunately for you.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04'The makers of this programme, in their infinite wisdom, have decided
0:17:04 > 0:17:07'that because I've got such an obvious natural affinity with
0:17:07 > 0:17:10'this special vehicle...'
0:17:10 > 0:17:12Come on, you stupid...!
0:17:14 > 0:17:17'I hope you note my irony.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19'..I should immerse myself in the '50s
0:17:19 > 0:17:23'driving experience still further.'
0:17:23 > 0:17:26The producers thought it would be a very nice idea
0:17:26 > 0:17:29if I was to camp out in the campervan.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32And I said, "Well, that's a wonderful idea,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35"but...no."
0:17:41 > 0:17:46Trevedra Farm has been welcoming campers for more than 65 years, but
0:17:46 > 0:17:50while once upon a time, it was first and foremost a working farm,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53there's now been a complete turnabout.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57Oh, here we are, all these caravans.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01Former owners Jean and Michael Nicolas
0:18:01 > 0:18:07have watched as tourism has become the predominant Cornish industry.
0:18:07 > 0:18:12Would you say that the farm now is more of a campsite than a farm?
0:18:12 > 0:18:16- Definitely.- Definitely! - Yes.- And is that good, or bad?
0:18:16 > 0:18:18Well, it's just different, isn't it,
0:18:18 > 0:18:21- we change with the times, like, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24You've got to change where the money is. If there's not the money
0:18:24 > 0:18:27in farming, you've got to change your lifestyle...
0:18:27 > 0:18:28and step up the camping...
0:18:28 > 0:18:30- Yeah.- ..and slide the farm back.
0:18:30 > 0:18:37Jean and Mike possess that admirable British quality of adaptability.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40I only wish I could be so flexible.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42I'm driving a...
0:18:42 > 0:18:44split-screen VW.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48- Oh, yes.- I think they are trying to get me to stay in it tonight.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50- Are they? - Do you think that's a good idea?
0:18:50 > 0:18:53- Yes. It will be a marvellous experience for you.- If I was
0:18:53 > 0:18:57staying out there tonight, could I book a toilet just for myself?
0:18:57 > 0:18:59Because I don't like sharing toilets.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01Yes, you can have the key to the family room.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05- And what about a Jacuzzi? Have you got a Jacuzzi up there?- No.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08- No, no.- Do you have a television room, and things like that?- No.- No.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10Do you have a wine list?
0:19:10 > 0:19:13- No, we haven't got a licence for... - Oh...
0:19:13 > 0:19:15I don't know, it's getting worse and worse.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19I suggest that that might be the next step.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23- You get a nice wine list.- We shall have them all out there drunk!
0:19:23 > 0:19:25They'll be out talking to the cows!
0:19:26 > 0:19:30Oh, well, I suppose it would be churlish of me not to give it a go.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34And the producers have assured me they won't let me go hungry.
0:19:34 > 0:19:39Apparently, they've packed my picnic hamper with everything I need
0:19:39 > 0:19:40for a hearty supper.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42HE LAUGHS
0:19:47 > 0:19:49"1950 - corned-beef hash."
0:19:53 > 0:19:56I don't think I've had corned-beef hash for 50 years!
0:19:56 > 0:20:01And I can't honestly say I've missed it much in the interim.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04Still, all this fresh air does give one an appetite...
0:20:04 > 0:20:08as indeed does trying to find my way around all this van's
0:20:08 > 0:20:10little nooks and crannies.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13I'm just looking for a tin opener.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16Ooh, I can smell gas anyway.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22Ah, this is just what we want...
0:20:22 > 0:20:23a hammer
0:20:23 > 0:20:29to bash the cooker with to create a spark and set it alight.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31So, hold on...
0:20:31 > 0:20:33No, I'd better not do that.
0:20:33 > 0:20:34Ah!
0:20:38 > 0:20:42Ah... See, it's easy really.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48Oh, this is a sink, that's handy.
0:20:56 > 0:20:57There we go.
0:20:59 > 0:21:04Oh, yes. I bet everyone at home is just wishing they were here,
0:21:04 > 0:21:06down on this campsite.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10Ah, look at that.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16What more could you ask for? A perfect setting,
0:21:16 > 0:21:21there is going to be the most extraordinary sunset behind us.
0:21:21 > 0:21:22Mmm!
0:21:24 > 0:21:27Really nice. Has it made me have second thoughts
0:21:27 > 0:21:29about sleeping in a campervan?
0:21:29 > 0:21:31Er, frankly,
0:21:31 > 0:21:33no, it hasn't.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41Well, you didn't really think I was
0:21:41 > 0:21:44about to suddenly take up camping at my age, did you?
0:21:45 > 0:21:47GEARS CRUNCH
0:21:49 > 0:21:52This morning, I'm backtracking five miles along my route
0:21:52 > 0:21:54to the village of Botallack...
0:21:54 > 0:21:56an area dominated by the remains of
0:21:56 > 0:21:59Cornwall's industrial heritage...
0:21:59 > 0:22:02Whoa! Bumpy.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11..and I've managed to bag myself what must be one of the
0:22:11 > 0:22:13best parking spaces in Britain.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15Quite spectacular.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31Everywhere one looks, there are relics of
0:22:31 > 0:22:34Cornwall's tin mining past,
0:22:34 > 0:22:40an industry that was once an inseparable part of life down here.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44I've arranged to meet Author and former tin miner Allan Buckley
0:22:44 > 0:22:47at some of the area's most dramatic ruins.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58So, we drive past roads with a lot of mines.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01In fact, the first one I saw, I thought was an old castle ruin.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05Yes, yes. Well, people call them Cornish castles.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07But they're engine houses, and they are
0:23:07 > 0:23:11just the tip of the iceberg, because beneath them underground, there are
0:23:11 > 0:23:15literally hundreds and hundreds of miles of tunnels and workings.
0:23:15 > 0:23:21At its peak in the 1860s, there were several tens of thousands worked
0:23:21 > 0:23:25underground in Cornish mines. There were over two hundred miners working.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29Amazingly, some Cornish mines are 3,000 feet deep, that's
0:23:29 > 0:23:34considerably more than twice the height of the Empire State Building.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37And they don't just run underground.
0:23:37 > 0:23:42So you can imagine the workings go under the sea for half a mile,
0:23:42 > 0:23:44- three quarters of a mile beyond there, where that boat is.- Yeah.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48- So you were working under the sea? - Oh, yes, yes.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53Looking at these noble ruins, it would be easy to romanticise
0:23:53 > 0:23:59a miner's life, but the truth is, it was a tough and archaic existence,
0:23:59 > 0:24:05even when Alan first went down the mines just under 50 years ago.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09- Was it like coal mining, did you get very dirty?- Oh, yes.
0:24:09 > 0:24:10And you had showers and all that?
0:24:10 > 0:24:12- Very primitive showers.- Right.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15A one-inch pipe with holes in it was actually it.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19And a great big bath that was filthy after the first person got into it.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21- Of course.- So it was different, much more primitive.
0:24:21 > 0:24:26And as I say, we used lamps instead of electric lights. And there was
0:24:26 > 0:24:29- a lot of hand labour, as opposed to mechanised labour.- Yeah.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33- So it was a primitive place in those days.- And no conveyor belts?
0:24:33 > 0:24:36No, none at all underground, no.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38What tough men those miners must have been.
0:24:38 > 0:24:44It's bad enough just standing out here at this exposed spot,
0:24:44 > 0:24:47especially when the director insists on shooting everything
0:24:47 > 0:24:49from 100 different angles!
0:24:49 > 0:24:52We'll give you two more minutes in this shot.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57- I'm freezing!- 'It's not like you've ever warmed up.'- Oh, bugger you!
0:25:00 > 0:25:03Like so much of Britain's heavy industry, Cornish mining declined
0:25:03 > 0:25:07dramatically over the past half century, and the last mine closed
0:25:07 > 0:25:11in 1998, spelling the end of an era
0:25:11 > 0:25:16that irrevocably shaped the landscape and people of Cornwall.
0:25:16 > 0:25:22You realise that those tin mines did employ a lot of people, so I suppose
0:25:22 > 0:25:27the sad thing about it going is that these communities all shifted.
0:25:27 > 0:25:32And finally, just 20 miles after this fascinating drive began,
0:25:32 > 0:25:36I'm coming to the end of the road, quite literally.
0:25:39 > 0:25:45MUSIC: "All I Have To Do Is Dream," by The Everly Brothers
0:25:47 > 0:25:51Land's End is England's most westerly point,
0:25:51 > 0:25:55and it's been attracting tourists for generations.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06Oh, wonderful, look at this, spectacular,
0:26:06 > 0:26:10spectacular coastline.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13A proud boast, to have been to Land's End.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17Mere description can never hope to give even the illusion of the thrill
0:26:17 > 0:26:22its name and significance produce in those who have been there.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30Journey's End.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34Land's End. Beautiful...
0:26:34 > 0:26:35Beautiful.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54The colours of the rocks down here,
0:26:54 > 0:26:58the sea, the white and the blue and the dark browns
0:26:58 > 0:27:01and the greens. You can see why people come to paint here,
0:27:01 > 0:27:04the light is quite extraordinary.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08And I suppose there is a feeling of...
0:27:08 > 0:27:15being at the end, there is so much light, so much horizon.
0:27:15 > 0:27:21It's worth driving - it's certainly one of the best drives of Britain.
0:27:24 > 0:27:29You do realise that there are great big stretches of Cornwall, which are
0:27:29 > 0:27:31pretty unspoilt still.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34It's only when you're in the...
0:27:34 > 0:27:39really touristy bits, I suppose, but the road is such a beautiful road.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44A lot of the road and places like this you, can get away and...
0:27:44 > 0:27:48I suppose this was just the way it was in the '50s.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50And it is...
0:27:50 > 0:27:53a spectacular drive, without a doubt.
0:27:54 > 0:27:59Sat here at the edge of Britain, it's easy to see why the Cornish
0:27:59 > 0:28:01people were once so isolated.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05I mean, it really is the road to nowhere.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09But with its rugged good looks and inspirational vistas,
0:28:09 > 0:28:13it was inevitable that outsiders would want to live here.
0:28:13 > 0:28:19Cornwall may be losing the uniquely provincial charm that it had
0:28:19 > 0:28:2350 years ago, but I think that's probably true of much of Britain,
0:28:23 > 0:28:25and indeed the world.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29But, no matter who settles here, with landscapes like this,
0:28:29 > 0:28:34Cornwall will always be a very special place.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:52 > 0:28:55E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk