0:00:02 > 0:00:05For many, the 1950s were the golden age of British motoring.
0:00:05 > 0:00:11Back then, driving was leisurely, liberating, and fun.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13SCREECHING BRAKES, HORNS HONK
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 old magic.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27Oh, yes!
0:00:28 > 0:00:36I'm setting off on six of the best drives from the 1950s as 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 > 0:00:45# Oh, I've gone into reverse! #
0:00:45 > 0:00:49I want to find out if these routes still thrill and inspire.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52This is a spectacular road.
0:00:53 > 0:00:58And how, in 50 years, Britain itself has changed.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00Oh, for God's sake!
0:01:00 > 0:01:05- They wouldn't have thought to come here without a sat-nav. - I'm sure they wouldn't.
0:01:05 > 0:01:10- People don't value each other as much as they did then. - It was a different type of life.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12TRUCK HORNS BLARE
0:01:25 > 0:01:30Wye Dean is one of the most popular inland holiday areas in Britain
0:01:30 > 0:01:32and deservedly so.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37It includes scenery of diverse and often spectacular beauty.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41Whatever road you take within the confines of the forest
0:01:41 > 0:01:44you can be sure that it will give you a picturesque
0:01:44 > 0:01:46and often exciting journey.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52# Sweet, sweet the memories you gave to me
0:01:52 > 0:01:55# You can't beet the memories you gave... #
0:01:55 > 0:01:58Sounds just super, doesn't it, and I'm going to experience it all
0:01:58 > 0:02:04in this lovely thing, a 1958 Austin Cambridge.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06Very sweet it is too.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10I suppose one of the differences in motoring today
0:02:10 > 0:02:18and motoring in the '50s, I think the car has got much more of an identity.
0:02:18 > 0:02:24This is a very cheerful-looking car, it has got a very nice sort of character.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27# ..The memories you gave to me
0:02:27 > 0:02:30# Then have the wedding bells... #
0:02:30 > 0:02:36Going back 50 years ago, there wouldn't be very many people who could afford a car like this.
0:02:36 > 0:02:42This costs about £650 which is, of course, a year's wages for many people.
0:02:42 > 0:02:48# These are the dreams you will savour... #
0:02:48 > 0:02:53My route is on the Welsh-English border in an area
0:02:53 > 0:02:56which some consider the birthplace of British tourism.
0:02:56 > 0:03:03From Chepstow I'll be driving north on the A466 along the famous Wye Valley.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07I'll then loop up through the Forest of Dean before heading to my final
0:03:07 > 0:03:13destination, the renowned viewpoint of Symonds Yat.
0:03:14 > 0:03:22Very straightforward with a modern sat-nav, not quite so when you're travelling in authentic '50s style.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26The producers and their rather warped sense of humour
0:03:26 > 0:03:30thought it would be an idea to use a guidebook of the period.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32So what do we have here?
0:03:32 > 0:03:38"Travellers by car coming from the south or south-west will find that the Severn crossing
0:03:38 > 0:03:43"by the Aust Beachley Ferry will save a detour of some 50 miles."
0:03:43 > 0:03:50My map shows me the Aust Beachley Ferry here
0:03:50 > 0:03:55but clearly the Aust Beachley Ferry finished many, many years ago.
0:03:57 > 0:04:03And the reason is plain to see, on my map it's conspicuous by its absence,
0:04:03 > 0:04:06in real life it's unmissable.
0:04:20 > 0:04:27The first Severn Bridge was opened in 1966 to carry the new M4 motorway into Wales.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30- Hello there. - Hello, darling, how are you doing?
0:04:30 > 0:04:34- I'm fine, better for seeing you. - And you.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38Since then more than 300 million vehicles have crossed it,
0:04:38 > 0:04:41well and truly putting paid to the old car ferry
0:04:41 > 0:04:45that had been plying its trade below for the previous 40 years.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51Very cheerful, that ticket lady, very charming.
0:04:53 > 0:04:58It may have been a giant leap towards modernity but this magnificent mile-long bridge
0:04:58 > 0:05:01must surely be one of Britain's best drives in itself.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06Oh, spectacular, wonderful.
0:05:06 > 0:05:11Vistas... Very nice.
0:05:11 > 0:05:18On a clear day the views must be even more spectacular, just a slight mist this morning.
0:05:18 > 0:05:19It's very handsome.
0:05:37 > 0:05:42On the far side of the river in Chepstow lies a rusting reminder of the past.
0:05:42 > 0:05:49The actual ferry that, 50 years ago, would have carried my little Austin Cambridge across the water.
0:05:49 > 0:05:50- Good morning.- Good morning.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53Welcome aboard the Severn Princess.
0:05:53 > 0:05:58Dr Richard Jones has a very personal connection with this old relic.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02This was your grandfather's ferry, you helped out when you were a boy.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06Yes, he used to allow me to come down with some persuasion
0:06:06 > 0:06:09to work on the pier, initially, when I was quite a young lad.
0:06:09 > 0:06:14It was great adventure and I would be responsible for taking the ropes
0:06:14 > 0:06:19from the boats as they came onto the pier, tying them up and having a good day for little money.
0:06:19 > 0:06:26It seems difficult to estimate how you got 19 cars on,
0:06:26 > 0:06:28was that a difficult task?
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Well, yes, the crew were extremely skilled in loading.
0:06:31 > 0:06:37There were gangplanks, which you can't see now, which used to be let down onto the pier
0:06:37 > 0:06:39and the cars came onto the turntable,
0:06:39 > 0:06:44some of them could drive straight into their position, others of them had to be swung
0:06:44 > 0:06:51into a more tight space but it was quite a close squash to get the 18/19 that this boat would carry.
0:06:51 > 0:06:56There are tales of The Beatles coming across and kids getting a half day from school, is that true?
0:06:56 > 0:07:01Yes, that is quite true. There were quite a few people like that and, of course, royalty at times.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04What would the Queen do, would she stay in her car?
0:07:04 > 0:07:07Oh, yes, she didn't seem to want to get out,
0:07:07 > 0:07:10but it was quite a perilous crossing in some people's eyes.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14The actual tide was quite dangerous, wasn't it?
0:07:14 > 0:07:17Yes, it's a very large rise and fall.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19In fact, I believe it's the second largest in the world.
0:07:19 > 0:07:25- Have you ever had any sinkings of these ferries?- No, there was never any threat to life
0:07:25 > 0:07:31or no car was lost. I think a couple became waterlogged but, of course, it was quite a perilous thing,
0:07:31 > 0:07:36particularly for elderly ladies and not-so-elderly ladies and gentlemen
0:07:36 > 0:07:39coming on and off the gangplank onto a very muddy pier
0:07:39 > 0:07:42and they could easily have slipped off into the water.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45But to my knowledge, it never really happened to that extent.
0:07:47 > 0:07:52So you enjoyed yourself as a boy, Richard, working this ferry.
0:07:52 > 0:07:57Do you still think that the ferry days were the freer,
0:07:57 > 0:08:01more open, more exciting days?
0:08:01 > 0:08:07Well, certainly I have very fond memories of my childhood and adolescence in those days.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11I enjoyed the whole thing of the ferry, not just because it was a family concern,
0:08:11 > 0:08:16but it was an adventure and it was really reflective of times gone by
0:08:16 > 0:08:21when life was a little quieter and somehow a little more important.
0:08:22 > 0:08:28The Severn Princess may have come to the end of her journey, but I'm just at the beginning of mine.
0:08:28 > 0:08:35From Chepstow I'm heading up the A466 to the Wye Valley, a road that promises much.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46The Wye, justly considered one of the loveliest of rivers,
0:08:46 > 0:08:50is perhaps seen at its best when making the northward journey
0:08:50 > 0:08:53from the Severn estuary into Wales.
0:08:53 > 0:08:58The Wye Valley includes some of the happiest cameos of riverside scenery in all Britain,
0:08:58 > 0:09:05two historic towns and one of the most beautifully situated of abbey ruins.
0:09:10 > 0:09:15Ah, whoops. Stalled.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24Just went through a red light, but don't tell anyone!
0:09:24 > 0:09:26HE LAUGHS
0:09:26 > 0:09:29Oops.
0:09:29 > 0:09:35The law will be after us all the way down the Wye Valley now. ..Sorry, sorry.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Sorry.
0:09:39 > 0:09:46I wonder if they make an allowance for a very old car and a very old driver?
0:09:51 > 0:09:58And there it is, the abbey just suddenly comes into view, a spectacular moment.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05Astonishing...
0:10:05 > 0:10:07But covered with scaffolding.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10Oh, wonderful.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Wonderful view as you drive past it.
0:10:16 > 0:10:21Tintern Abbey was founded in the 12th century by Cistercian monks
0:10:21 > 0:10:24attracted by the isolation of the valley.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28The car park and gift shop are slightly more modern additions!
0:10:30 > 0:10:36After the dissolution of the monasteries, it fell into disrepair and that is when it took on
0:10:36 > 0:10:42a whole new lease of life, because if there's one thing a tourist loves, it's a good ruin!
0:10:45 > 0:10:49I'm meeting historian, Anne Rainsbury, to find out how one 18th century book,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52written by the Reverend William Gilpin,
0:10:52 > 0:10:58led to an absolute flood of sightseers eager to experience a brand new concept -
0:10:58 > 0:11:00the "picturesque".
0:11:02 > 0:11:04"Observations on the River Wye,
0:11:04 > 0:11:08"relative chiefly to picturesque beauty."
0:11:08 > 0:11:11Was "picturesque" a word that he invented?
0:11:11 > 0:11:17Not completely, but I would say that he was one of the masters of it's definition
0:11:17 > 0:11:23because picturesque, it's quite a difficult thing, because really it just means,
0:11:23 > 0:11:28"what would make a good picture", which is quite a hard thing. What exactly is that?
0:11:28 > 0:11:33Looking at nature was something that was quite new to people in the 18th century.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36What did Gilpin have to say about the abbey in particular?
0:11:36 > 0:11:43Ah, well, the abbey didn't quite from the outside totally meet up
0:11:43 > 0:11:45with his expectations for the picturesque
0:11:45 > 0:11:52because the straight lines of the gable, the gable ends on the abbey really offended him.
0:11:52 > 0:11:58They didn't quite match up with the irregularity that the picturesque required.
0:11:58 > 0:12:06It liked shagginess, broken things, irregularly shaped things, not smooth beauty.
0:12:06 > 0:12:12And, of course, the gable ends are triangular and quite harsh
0:12:12 > 0:12:14and he has this wonderful quote of,
0:12:14 > 0:12:19"If a mallet judiciously used, but who durst use it? You know one would quite dare."
0:12:19 > 0:12:22So he wanted someone to break it up with a...
0:12:22 > 0:12:27It was just a bit too regular for the picturesque ideal.
0:12:27 > 0:12:33Even some animals were more picturesque than others.
0:12:33 > 0:12:40- Shagginess, sort of unkemptness was...- Yeah. - ..about the "picturesque".
0:12:40 > 0:12:46In a way, distinguishing it from what was considered beautiful,
0:12:46 > 0:12:53which was smooth, rolling, tamed countryside, pastoral beauty.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56How is picturesque viewed now though?
0:12:56 > 0:13:00I mean, that's quite an interesting one, isn't it?
0:13:00 > 0:13:04What, what people understand now by "picturesque".
0:13:04 > 0:13:09I mean, it's almost sort of quaint, isn't it or chocolate box picture.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13- It's almost got a slight patronising...- Slightly, yes, yes.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15- ..twinge in it now.- Yes, yes.
0:13:15 > 0:13:21Um, but then it was what everybody was looking for, Pursuit of the picturesque.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28I wonder if Gilpin would have considered scaffolding picturesque?
0:13:31 > 0:13:32Doubt it.
0:13:41 > 0:13:48Leaving Tintern Abbey behind, my route continues along the valley and very nice it is
0:13:48 > 0:13:52but I'm not sure it quite lives up to its description in my '50s guidebooks.
0:13:56 > 0:14:03It is a road which passes now over green pastures, now beside the wide flowing river,
0:14:03 > 0:14:08now on a ledge commanding long views across the valley to the hills on the farther bank.
0:14:10 > 0:14:16Problem is, from my Austin Cambridge, long commanding views are in short supply.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22Very nice aspects of rock faces and forest,
0:14:22 > 0:14:27but, as of yet, I haven't really seen any spectacular vistas.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35Pretty as it is, much of the road is flanked by dense trees
0:14:35 > 0:14:39that must have grown up over the last half century.
0:14:43 > 0:14:49Still, despite the lack of panoramas, it's an undeniably beautiful route.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54Ah, it's a pretty, little village.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57Brown's General Store.
0:15:02 > 0:15:07Browns in Llandogo has stood on this road for 80 years and present owners
0:15:07 > 0:15:14Roger and Ruth Brown have fond memories of village life here in the 1950s.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17What was the village like then?
0:15:17 > 0:15:21Very different from what we've got today. Much quieter.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24I remember Ruth stayed, when she was at school, here.
0:15:24 > 0:15:29- She stayed with a school friend, and you...- That's right.- You were playing tennis in the road.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31- On the road, yes.- It was so quiet.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35I've got a lovely photograph I'll show you of Mr Joins going to serve
0:15:35 > 0:15:40some petrol to a police motorbike smoking a cigarette.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42ALL LAUGH
0:15:42 > 0:15:49He literally put his cigarette onto the pump, and it was a hand pump, and it was literally on the side.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52- Dear, dear, dear.- We could have been blown to high heaven.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55What's the big difference in what you sell now?
0:15:55 > 0:16:02Well, strangely enough, we're going back to the way we were in after the war.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06They bought from local farms producing sausages and bacon
0:16:06 > 0:16:09and we sell a lot of local, we get a lot of fruit.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12- We've had strawberries in today, asparagus in today.- Right.
0:16:12 > 0:16:18- It's all local.- All local, yes. Yes.- And it's what people want.
0:16:18 > 0:16:25It is returning to that, because at that time the local farm produced the butter, the milk, cream, eggs.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29The farmer used to come around, and we were talking the other night,
0:16:29 > 0:16:35Mr Morgan used to come around delivering the milk and he'd literally have eggs in his pocket.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40If your mother wanted some eggs, "Oh, I've got a couple in my pocket".
0:16:40 > 0:16:41But it was very...
0:16:41 > 0:16:43It was wonderful, looking back.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45But where do they shop now?
0:16:45 > 0:16:50- Er.- Mostly Tesco.- Tesco Online!
0:16:50 > 0:16:53- Online, of course. - Yes, they do, yeah.
0:16:53 > 0:16:58- £1.59, please. Would you like a bag? - No, that's fine.- Thank you.
0:16:58 > 0:17:03When you look back to the old days, do you regret that they've changed?
0:17:03 > 0:17:05In some ways, yes.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08I would say no, Everyone's better off.
0:17:08 > 0:17:09- Yes.- Absolutely, yes.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11There was poverty.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15- Life was quite hard, in the old days.- It was quite hard. - Yeah.- It was very hard.
0:17:15 > 0:17:22- Yeah.- People don't appreciate the standards of living they've got today.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Leaving Browns family store behind
0:17:28 > 0:17:32my route continues to wind its way alongside the Welsh bank
0:17:32 > 0:17:38of the River Wye before crossing over this natural border and back into England.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44The next part of my journey, if I'm to believe my old guidebooks,
0:17:44 > 0:17:48will plunge me into an ancient and curious world.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54Even now as we drive along the minor roads
0:17:54 > 0:17:59we shall be slowed down by pigs and sheep and chickens
0:17:59 > 0:18:01wandering off the unfenced forest land.
0:18:01 > 0:18:06If we leave our car, we shall meet people whose outlook on life
0:18:06 > 0:18:10is not so very different from that of their distant ancestors.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14It's extraordinary the way the sheep here...
0:18:15 > 0:18:19..sit very close,
0:18:19 > 0:18:21very close to the edge of the road.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25I'm not quite sure what the attraction is for them,
0:18:25 > 0:18:32but this one's absolutely asleep, right on the white line on the verge of the road.
0:18:32 > 0:18:37I wonder if they get some comfort from cars going by, I wouldn't have thought so.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39But they're just right on the verge.
0:18:41 > 0:18:48The medieval Royal Forest of Dean comprises 27,000 acres of woodland,
0:18:48 > 0:18:51sandwiched between the Rivers Wye and Severn.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55It's relative isolation has fostered a very distinct cultural identity
0:18:55 > 0:19:00and the freely roaming sheep are an ancient reminder of this.
0:19:00 > 0:19:06The men who own them have the intriguing title of "sheep badgers".
0:19:08 > 0:19:10They probably remember these cars, Henry?
0:19:10 > 0:19:16'50 years ago many foresters, like Henry here, kept sheep in this way to supplement their incomes.'
0:19:18 > 0:19:22Yes, I've had sheep on the forest 60 years.
0:19:22 > 0:19:28Lets put it like this, I worked at the pit, I looked after the sheep, I fished the Severn
0:19:28 > 0:19:32and I never took my trousers off for a week.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34Because you were working so hard?
0:19:34 > 0:19:36Yeah.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40As locals born and bred, Henry and his good mate, Mick,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43have the right to graze their sheep anywhere in the forest.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52- Oh, you're greedy.- He is!
0:19:52 > 0:19:57So what's the actual meaning of the word badger, sheep badger?
0:19:57 > 0:20:03Well, to badger, or to badge, means to agitate or to keep on the move.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06The right to keep sheep in the forest was granted
0:20:06 > 0:20:10- by a charter in the year 1217.- Yeah.
0:20:10 > 0:20:16Right, and that was given and called the Charter Of The Forest.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20We're born with the right, and no doubt, we'll die with it.
0:20:20 > 0:20:26- And is anyone questioning the right?- Oh, it's anybody and everybody.
0:20:26 > 0:20:31The Forest Of Dean is a very unique place to be.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34It's different from anywhere else in the country.
0:20:34 > 0:20:39It's a beautiful place to live and in some places, you see, there are not very many sheep.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42So people come along, they buy a little property
0:20:42 > 0:20:45and they knock down the garden walls and they knock down the fences.
0:20:45 > 0:20:51So they can drive their motors in, big cars in and park wherever they want to.
0:20:51 > 0:20:57Along comes a sheep to graze and they say, "Oh, dirty sheep grazing on my garden, I don't want it."
0:20:57 > 0:20:59Well, what we say is this.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02The sheep have been in the forest since the 1200s.
0:21:02 > 0:21:07Now then, if you want to come and join us welcome.
0:21:07 > 0:21:12If you don't like what we're doing don't bother to come! It's as simple as that, sir.
0:21:12 > 0:21:13Yeah, absolutely.
0:21:13 > 0:21:18So, you've been around sheep a long time. What do you think of sheep?
0:21:18 > 0:21:20Lovely, lovely.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22- Are they nice animals?- Yeah.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24Some people call them a bit stupid.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28Don't worry about them being stupid. They know where their bread's buttered.
0:21:28 > 0:21:34Don't worry. And people say they're stupid, that's bunkum as far as we're concerned.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42Back in the '50s, it was a wonderful time compared with today.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45When you think about what did we have in the '50s?
0:21:45 > 0:21:51We had railways, engineering works, we had the pits open,
0:21:51 > 0:21:55you didn't get the drug problems in the '50s,
0:21:55 > 0:21:58you didn't get the problems with road rage and things like that
0:21:58 > 0:22:03and young people fighting and injuring others.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06It was a different type of life, wasn't it?
0:22:06 > 0:22:10The only thing we got left from the '50s, is the countryside.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12We still got the Forest Of Dean.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15But what we've got to be careful of is that we don't let
0:22:15 > 0:22:19the modern-day things take away these things like sheep grazing.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23Anybody who wants to come and live in the Forest Of Dean, welcome,
0:22:23 > 0:22:27come and live with us, but don't try to alter us, please.
0:22:28 > 0:22:3450 years ago, keeping sheep like this would have been, more often than not, a sideline.
0:22:34 > 0:22:40Most men made their livings down the huge coalmines that dominated this community.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43But now there's no trace of any such industry.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47Due to falling demand, the pits all closed down in the '60s.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51However, one man refuses to stop digging.
0:22:51 > 0:22:5873-year-old Robin Morgan began mining in the forest when he was just a boy of 13.
0:22:59 > 0:23:06Hello, Robin. And, like the sheep badgers, Robin also has an ancient birthright.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10He's a freeminer and as such can open his own mine.
0:23:10 > 0:23:16At one time there was about 10,000 of us underground everyday in the Forest Of Dean.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18You know, at one time.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22Now, there's only just four small mines left
0:23:22 > 0:23:28and, like this, there's three men working at the one, one at the other and two and then there's me here now.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31Now I'm doing all this developing myself.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37So, you were 13 when you came down?
0:23:37 > 0:23:40Well, the first mine I ever went down, yes, I was 13 years of age.
0:23:40 > 0:23:46Instead of going to school my two brothers had their own mine and they used to drop me down the shaft
0:23:46 > 0:23:51100-foot-deep in a 40 gallon drum with two hooks inside. That's the first mine I went down.
0:23:51 > 0:23:58And then at 14 years of age, I was working down a mine 700-foot deep.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00I was always bottom of the class,
0:24:00 > 0:24:02never went to school.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05But I've enjoyed my life, what more do you want?
0:24:05 > 0:24:12No, that's the main thing. The big pits they closed in 1965 and is that when you became a freeminer?
0:24:12 > 0:24:14No, no, I was a freeminer before that.
0:24:14 > 0:24:20- Would you work in the big bits and then go and work in your own pit? - Yes, yeah.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24- As a hobby. - On weekends and in the evenings to try to get it going,
0:24:24 > 0:24:27we hadn't got any money and we were trying to get it going.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29So you'd be working long days?
0:24:29 > 0:24:35Yeah, and then in the 1960s, like, we were working there full-time then.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39Yes, we've worked long days and, in fact, sometimes we've worked out there all night.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43We've had a day's work and then worked out there all night, you know?
0:24:43 > 0:24:50But you were talking up top about the satisfaction you still get from taking coal out the ground.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54- That is right.- It's interesting to know what that actually...
0:24:54 > 0:24:58What is it that makes you think, "Ah, that's a good day, I'm enjoying this."
0:24:58 > 0:25:01Is it the actual digging?
0:25:01 > 0:25:05The amount of coal you get out, the more you get out, the more pleased you are,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08the more money you're making. You put your wooden supports up
0:25:08 > 0:25:13and you look at it after and think, "Well that's a tidy job, like." Yeah, I've actually...
0:25:13 > 0:25:18- You still enjoy it.- Yeah, I'm still enjoying it now. A lot of people call me a fool,
0:25:18 > 0:25:21and no doubt they are right, but I'm enjoying myself.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23Well, it's your decision, you can do what you like.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27- No, I shall keep going on as long as I can.- Ah, very good.
0:25:30 > 0:25:36Industry and tourism existed side-by-side in the Forest Of Dean for centuries.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40The pits may be gone, but the sightseers are still coming
0:25:40 > 0:25:46and the final part of my drive leads me to one of the Wye Valley's biggest draws.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50Symonds Yat Rock is the culmination of my route
0:25:50 > 0:25:53and I can't wait to see what the fuss is all about.
0:25:56 > 0:26:02Beyond Monmouth, the Wye enters what is perhaps the loveliest stretch of all, with the famous
0:26:02 > 0:26:06double bend seen in all its glory from the summit of the Yat Rock.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11Symonds Yat, a delightful place.
0:26:11 > 0:26:16The road is narrow but the view is well worth the effort.
0:26:16 > 0:26:17Ah...
0:26:18 > 0:26:23Symonds Yat Rock, at last!
0:26:30 > 0:26:32Oh, wonderful!
0:26:45 > 0:26:47Spectacular!
0:26:50 > 0:26:52Beautiful!
0:26:53 > 0:26:57See this big loop of the River Wye.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03Very, very spectacular.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05Breathtaking. Beautiful.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17Ah, yes...
0:27:17 > 0:27:21That's the river down there, so it goes,
0:27:21 > 0:27:24it's a big loop.
0:27:24 > 0:27:25Beautiful.
0:27:28 > 0:27:29Beautiful.
0:27:30 > 0:27:37Well, there's no doubt this view from Symonds Yat Rock is the highlight of the tour.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40This is the crown of the trip, visually.
0:27:40 > 0:27:47A lot of the early part of the drive was sort of shrouded by trees,
0:27:47 > 0:27:50very nice, very picturesque,
0:27:50 > 0:27:54but this is just well worth the whole journey.
0:27:56 > 0:28:02But above that, I think, what one takes away from the journey is not so much the views
0:28:02 > 0:28:06and this particular view, but is meeting the people,
0:28:06 > 0:28:12meeting people who are hanging on to ancient traditions that have survived.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18That's what, to me, has been the most memorable part of the trip.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23Yeah, it is a journey well worth making.
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