Episode 1 Cardigan Bay Coastal Lives

Cardigan Bay - the sweeping west coast of Wales.

This is just something else.

Home to the largest population of bottlenose dolphins in the UK...

It really is the New Zealand of the northern hemisphere!

..and the only place in Wales where you can buy a pier...

This is the best beer garden in Wales.

..and even a zoo.

Don't forget to wash your hands after you've played with the snakes.

Over spring and summer, we've followed the rich and varied lives...

This is just not Elvis enough.

..of the locals who call this coast home.

Toilet lady from Ceredigion will do me.

Quite proud, really, I'm going to start a business here again.

He's the boss, obviously.

Yes, yes, I've explained that to them!

Why on earth would you want to live anywhere else?

This is their Cardigan Bay.

It's late March and Cardigan Bay is waking up from its winter slumber.

In Aberporth, the Saturday car-boot sale is getting underway.

But one local isn't just here to clear out his garage.

Councillor Gethin James is standing as the local UKIP candidate

in the upcoming General Election.

I've brought a few bits and bobs I wanted to get rid of.

Hopefully, people coming to look at them might engage with me as well.

Plus I needed to clear the garage out!

While the major parties will have an army of helpers,

Gethin is a one-man band.

Lean that there for a minute.

Right, then.

Well, the Liberal Democrats have held the seat

for the last ten years.

They've sort of chopped and changed

between Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru

over the last sort of 20 years.

Let's see if I can upset them.

Well, I thought I'd take a different approach.

But Gethin's switch to UKIP has ruffled feathers on the council.

Well, I was dismissed by the leader of the council,

who's Plaid Cymru, and she took umbrage at the fact

that I'd joined UKIP,

but I truly believe in what UKIP are standing for

and I don't see why she should have dismissed me, to be honest.

As a result of switching to UKIP,

Gethin was dismissed from his council cabinet post

and has taken a financial hit.

The extra responsibilities of the cabinet post brought with it

an allowance of nearly £12,000 so, yeah,

I've gone from £25,500 a year down to £13,000 a year

and, with four children, that is a struggle, I'll be honest.

First sale of the day! Thank you very much.

Nonetheless, Gethin is pinning all his hopes on winning over the locals.

-Excuse me, can I have my picture taken?

-Yes, certainly.

-Are you a UKIP supporter?

-Yes, I am, very much so.

But while some are receptive...

Ahhh! See, there's quite a lot of support out.

..others are harder to win over.

-Why are you here?

-Why am I here?

-Yeah.

-There's an election on.

-Is there? Do you think you're going to make a difference?

-Eh?

Do you think you're going to make a difference, your party?

Well, I think there's a lot of people supporting us.

-Is there?

-Yeah.

It just seems that you're another party

that seem to be about people who've already got everything they need

and you're not interested in the people that are at the bottom.

-Well, I'm at the bottom.

-And that's where you should be looking.

-I'm at the bottom.

-Are you?

-And I'm interested in the party.

You're at the bottom? What do you do for a living, then?

I'm a county councillor.

All right.

And I stood to be a councillor 11 years ago

-because I wanted to improve my community.

-Oh, well, interesting.

-Thank you for giving me your time.

-Nice speaking to you, thank you.

Gethin stands his ground.

In the north of Ceredigion lies Borth.

This sleepy seaside village is home to Alan and Jean Mumbray and friends.

This is Tarquin. He's an albino Burmese python.

This is Baby Snake.

This one weighs three and a half stone

and we've got Basil the boa constrictor.

They all live together quite happily.

And in the kitchen...

Snake-necked turtles.

This is Fonzie.

Asian water monitor lizards.

These will eventually grow six to eight feet long.

That's basically my house pets, really.

But this pair of animal lovers don't just have a domestic menagerie.

Outside their door, they have an entire zoo.

We fostered children for 12 years, difficult teenagers,

and, after 12 years, you start getting worn out a bit, really,

so we thought, "Let's do an animal thing instead."

Years ago, you could go to a pet shop and buy a monkey

-and so that's what we did, didn't we?

-Yeah.

They started off in the house.

They'd come in through the kitchen window and do the washing up.

They're rubbish at washing up.

Roly would run round the room and pick up everything

and drop it in the washing up bowl and if he could find a teabag,

he'd dip that in the washing up and paint the walls.

It came out brown and he thought that was a really good idea,

to paint the walls.

When we first bought this place, it was a rare breed place.

There were some monkeys here.

It was mostly rabbits and sheep and tortoises, poultry.

Then we moved here, we got more zoo-type animals

and when we started doing that, people started contacting us

to say they had animals they'd like us to take.

You've got the male over there.

From what started off with two monkeys

has grown to over 300 hungry mouths to feed.

When I was a child, I remember watching Thunderbirds,

the puppet show, and they had a live baby,

I suppose it was a caiman or an alligator, in the sink

in the show and that probably set me off when I was a child.

But now, after 15 years,

Alan and Jean are thinking of calling it a day.

There's no reason we shouldn't stay and carry on.

It's just that we really should retire. Well, I should, anyway.

I'm 76!

I really should retire, you know.

BIRD HONKS

This is a territorial display he's doing now.

The pair have decided to hand the role of zoo manager to keeper...

Come on, matey!

..and bird fanatic Joe.

I've been interested in birds ever since I can remember.

Animals, in general, but birds in particular.

My first word was actually "bird".

But now, manager Joe is keen to take the zoo in a different direction,

away from animal rescue.

As far as I'm concerned, there is a far bigger problem in the world

and that problem is the mass extinction of species

and I think any zoo should have the conservation of species

and the breeding of endangered species as their main goal,

as their main focus.

I really hope that we can build up Porth Zoo

to be a world-class small zoo,

into a zoo that really makes a real difference

in terms of saving species and that is famous for doing that.

But with running costs of over £150,000 a year,

the zoo's survival relies on pulling in the punters

for the 2015 holiday season.

Last summer, we hit around the 24,000 mark

in terms of visitor numbers.

With a bit of luck this summer, I reckon we could stretch to 35,

maybe even 40.

As the zoo pins its hopes on a good summer,

down the coast in Llangrannog,

a toilet attendant is hard at work.

But he had better watch out because his boss is on the prowl.

OK won't do. They've got to be spot on.

Jasmine Wilson is in charge of Ceredigion's public toilets

and she has high standards.

Every day when I wake up, I think about my work.

I'm proud that sometimes people say,

"Oh, yes, she's the toilet lady from Ceredigion."

I put it in this box of tricks...

BEEPING

Yep, I'm pleased with that.

Other people might think that's a bit strange, but I am who I am.

And today, Ceredigion's toilet queen

has come armed with some hi-tech kit

to help her in her fight against grime.

Toilet inspection - ladies entering.

This is what we call blacklighting, OK,

and it'll show up any what you might like to call hidden dirt, OK?

Actually, those are very, very good.

You do your work and she'll be OK.

If you don't do your work,

well, she's going to talk to you, isn't she?

But these aren't just any loos.

Bring it down a little bit.

There we are.

Ceredigion officially has the cleanest public amenities in Britain.

-Platinum standard - can't get any better.

-Not too bad.

This is something we work for all year round.

We're proud that Ceredigion is known throughout the UK

as a mecca for toilet standards.

But with the Loo of the Year judges

due to inspect her toilets any day soon,

Jasmine has invested in a secret weapon - the iMop scrubber/dryer.

As far as I'm aware, we're the first to purchase it.

I'm really pleased with it.

With a battery, it's about £3,000.

And so far, the only one trained and trusted to operate the iMop

is new team member Phil.

If someone would have asked me when I was in school,

"Would you clean toilets for a living?"

I would have said, "No,"

but when I was faced with trying to find a job in a student town

where it's quite difficult to find work,

when I saw a job with the council, I was keen to take it.

Emma has been cleaning Borth's seafront toilet for over 15 years,

but she has a problem that could cost Jasmine her crown.

In you go.

Toilet inspection - ladies entering.

OK, come in.

-Right, now then.

-We had a problem the other day with kids in here.

What were they doing?

Chucking toilet paper all over the ceiling,

the doors - everywhere, it was.

-Yeah.

-Local children?

-Yeah, probably.

That's been happening for years, though. We get bouts of it.

It's annoying, though, when you come here in the morning

and you just think, "Oh, God!"

There is a lot of cleaning to do after it.

But Jasmine has a plan to stop the toilet vandals - flower power.

The council doesn't pay for this.

As the staff, we decide that we want to do it.

It shows people we take a pride in our work

and then I think people look after the toilets a lot better.

Back in Aberporth,

Gethin has finished the first day of his campaign.

-How did it go?

-Surprisingly good.

They thought I set it up cos there were so many positive responses.

-Really?

-They said, "Are you sure you haven't phoned everybody?"

Oh, brilliant! Guys, do you want biscuits?

Family man Gethin has lived in the village all his life.

He has four sons and is married to Jess.

-If today's sample was anything to go by...

-You're going to win?

I'm off to London!

It's like, "Yes, I'm getting rid of him!"

He used to be a bus driver and you asked a friend of mine about me

or something like that when I was in Cardigan College and, yeah, well...

He picked me up on the buses.

-25 years now, isn't it?

-Yes, 25 years.

Oh, God, I've got 19 bloody e-mails just since I've been out earlier.

But now Gethin's political ambitions are taking over the family.

He spends more time on his iPad than he does with us.

-GETHIN GASPS

-You do!

You take it everywhere - the toilet...

You take it to the toilet!

When he first started this, right,

-he signed up to be a councillor going back...

-11 years ago.

11 years ago now and he told me it would be one evening a month.

That's what he told me. I was like, "Yeah, OK, then."

Council offices, tomorrow morning at...

'And then it just escalated from there.

'It's just really, really escalated now.'

I want him to get in and I don't want him to get in.

If he does get in, he'll be in London all the time

and we'll hardly get to see him.

And if he doesn't get in, then he has to find a new job.

We've got a backup plan - the cafe down there.

Yes.

As if standing for Parliament wasn't enough,

Gethin also has plans to build a cafe...

The site is down this way.

..in front of his old family home across the road.

This is Glanmordy, where I was born and brought up.

This is where my grandmother lives.

Mum's probably just inside the door there.

Four generations of Jameses have run a business from the old family home.

I've got a picture here of my grandfather,

me and one of my brothers outside the shop back in the '70s,

back in its heyday, really.

My father worked in the shop, my brother worked in the shop,

my aunties and uncles worked in the shop.

It was really a genuine family business, you know what I mean?

Now, Gethin is turning Glanmordy back into a family business

by building his cafe on land in front of the house.

Cafe on the far side over there and then across,

underneath this grass area here, looking across the five beach huts.

While the other side of the bay is thriving,

Gethin's side has seen many businesses go.

I'm hoping that this will invigorate this side of the beach

and get people over here drinking nice lattes and coffees,

looking down at the beach.

It's always been a commercial premises

and I thought it would be a good thing

to start another small business there.

My kids could be working there.

As Gethin dreams of coffee and 99s, 15 miles up the coast,

New Quay lies quiet before the onslaught of the holiday season.

But all is not as it seems.

On the quay, there's a war being fought...over dolphins.

And there are three rivals in this one small town.

You know what it's like.

If you've got a good thing going, everyone wants a slice of it.

You get what you pay for, basically.

Oh, we all get along wonderfully.

Winston Evans has been running trips here for over 50 years.

When the weather's nice, it's a lovely trip.

When it's not so nice, it's not so good.

But with Winston getting on a bit,

his son Jonathan has moved back from London to work with Dad.

This is my third year back in New Quay helping,

as you can see, my father.

Put the nut on.

I couldn't imagine coming back

and living here originally when I was in London.

Now that I'm here,

it just seems like the most natural thing in the world,

but it's cos it's home, isn't it?

It probably wouldn't suit lots of people

and it's nice to be working with Pops, obviously.

When I say "working", I mean watching, currently.

Next one!

Winston's oldest rival is Steve Hartley,

up the hill at the Marine Wildlife Centre.

It's all very shut down at the moment.

In a couple of weeks' time, all the shop area will be filled.

We'll have the little aquarium.

The competition can be quite intense sometimes,

but we all get along wonderfully.

I wouldn't hear a bad word said about them!

We started off doing pleasure trips, then he started off doing that

and then he went into dolphins and we were advised not to go

into dolphins, but, of course, once he started, monkey see, monkey do.

We had to follow suit.

Winston's multi-passenger,

they can carry on one of their boats 60 or 67 passengers in one go.

It's cheaper than our trips, but then ours,

we only carry 12 passengers,

slightly more of a one-to-one thing going on

from the passenger and the guide point of view.

While out on his trips,

Steve monitors the local dolphin population.

We're so lucky to have these bottlenose dolphins

semi-resident in the bay here.

We see them on a daily basis from the land and the sea

and it's a huge attraction.

And this year, Steve has a new trick up his sleeve to pull in the punters.

It's a very small community

so each person's got to do lots of different jobs.

So, er, local councillor

and I'm actually going to be mayor this year

so...big chain.

Could this be the marketing ploy Steve is crying out for

to get one up on Winston?

What do you reckon, Winston?

This summer, I could say,

"Come for boat trips with the Mayor of New Quay!"

-Are you mayor?

-Apparently.

HE LAUGHS

But old hands Steve and Winston have new competition in town.

Winston's ex-skipper Brett is going solo

and is rushing to finish his new shop and ticket office.

-So, how's things, boys? Still good?

-Yeah, going well.

And Brett has a prime location on the front,

right opposite Winston and Jonathan.

Dolphin spotting - if you've got a family of five people,

their prices are really, really good. It's nice and cheap.

If you've just got a box to tick, it's a boat trip.

With us, it's an individual sort of experience.

In the long run, it's good, really, but ask me

when it's quiet and we've got two or three boats working

and not enough passengers to go round and it's...

It's too many boats.

All the trips in New Quay, I think,

offer something slightly different so you take your choice.

They're all very good.

Ceredigion's toilet queen Jasmine Wilson

is coming to the end of her coastal loo inspection.

I had one last year

that said these are the best toilets outside Harrods.

But she has one more call to make in Borth.

I'll be honest with you, I'm feeling a bit nervous.

It's the first time I've done this in about 18 months.

She's visiting her friend and clairvoyant Sharon.

Sharon has a centre

where she does healing and reiki and suchlike

and we've also used it for psychic and medium mystic readings.

But today, it isn't Sharon who's doing the psychic reading -

it's Jasmine.

I'm about to do my first reading in about 18 months

so it's very nice to be able to sit here, just gather my energy,

centre myself, connect to spirit...

..and just know that I'm in that space to be able to work.

Jasmine discovered her passion for the spiritual

after a tragedy in her life.

Back in 2003, my son Aled was killed in Milton Keynes

and, with such trauma and grief,

I needed to make absolutely certain...

I needed that certainty of whether there was an afterlife or not.

I didn't want to just sit there and puzzle about it, you know?

Motorcycle instructor Aled was killed when his bike was hit by a car.

He was just 31 and left two young children.

Seeking answers and closure to her son's death,

Jasmine went on a psychic training weekend

and discovered she had psychic abilities of her own.

Most definitely, I've had proof that there is an afterlife

and that's brought such...

..healing and, erm, calmness to my life, you know?

It's brought me back to life, I shall say that,

then, you know, because my grief was such of losing a son...

Well, you know, you'd give your life for your children

and I certainly would have done.

Now, Jasmine gives comfort to others with her psychic abilities.

-Where do you want me to sit?

-Oh, if you just take a seat there.

So, how are you feeling? OK? I just want you to relax, OK?

From such pain and grief,

I would say that I'm a better person.

'I'm less judgmental, I'm more empathetic.'

I've opened myself up to people and that wasn't always the case.

I've got to say, with these cards that you've drawn

and what's emanating, I feel you've got a lot going on in your life.

Not that... Not that I'm, um, you know...

SHE LAUGHS

I'm considerably impatient, but I do feel that

I'm a better person now than what I ever was in the past.

..but absolutely believe in yourself, because within you...

'It's a sense of being at peace with one's self and with one's spirit.'

It's a big day at New Quay harbour.

-I'll need to...before we go, yeah?

-Yeah, I know.

The Dolphin Warriors have hired a crane

to get their boats in the water for the season.

And for once, the rivals are working together.

It's a team effort to get in every year. Yeah, yeah.

Getting all the boats in.

It's great that everybody helps each other.

Makes it a lot easier for everybody.

-Plug it in, boys.

-Yeah.

Friends now, competitors later on!

But Winston and Jonathan are about to unleash their big artillery.

A 67-seat Ermol 6.

All winter, this monster has been resting in Pembrokeshire

having her hull repaired.

And now the narrow streets of New Quay have come

to a standstill for the heavyweight.

If I'd thought, what I could have done is gone

and leafleted all the cars stuck in the traffic.

Captive audience!

Just in danger of clipping that railing

on the inside there now, I don't know if you can see.

And to get to the quayside,

she has to be inched right past rival Brett's brand-new shop.

This is the competition's shop, so we've been very considerate.

"Considerate"(!)

We don't want to smash the windows by accident,

that's the main thing.

-LAUGHING:

-I've got to go.

Much to Jonathan's relief, his boat remains unscratched.

Reminds me of driving, getting that down there.

-Not many inches to spare, was there?

-HE CHUCKLES

Final job, lower on to Winston's carefully positioned timber chocks.

Who put all that timber in the wrong place then?

LAUGHTER

Eh?

I don't know.

Must be old age.

The boats are in the water.

And the gloves are off for the start of the season.

We get on great at this time of year.

Come back in August!

Back at Borth zoo

and the staff are gearing up for the start of the holiday season.

The biggest draw is Raja, the African leopard.

RAJA GROWLS

There, lad!

As you can see, quite aggressive.

It's time for his keeper Tom to serve lunch.

Good boy.

He's in his bigger back section,

so we've got access to the front section safely now.

We're going to put some meat on a telegraph pole up high

and make him work for his food.

As you can see, everything's done on an airlock principle.

Never should both be open.

Because you only get to make one mistake doing this

and then it's all over.

RAJA GROWLS

But Raja is about to lose his position as king of the Borth jungle.

The zoo is expecting two new residents.

And these beasts need special measures.

LION ROARS

This is where the first lions of Ceredigion should be

arriving in a few months' time.

Yes, the zoo is getting two lions.

Zulu and Vilma will be moving from their zoo in Bristol

to the sleepy seaside town of Borth.

The new lions will be a massive draw for the zoo.

We've had a number of people express interest in

coming back just to see the lions.

People around are hysterical with delight. They love it.

The council are in a flat panic.

Borth's big cats are giving the council kittens.

And they are demanding extra safety measures.

They want us to put flat steel straight up the post and then

coach bolt into the wood, so really clamping the wire onto the wood.

With the new enclosure having cost £50,000 to build...

Yeah, so it's one, two, three...

..it's vital that the lions

arrive in time for the start of holiday season.

Now, how many did I say?

How many did I say?

12, I think. Or was it 14?

-It was something...

-Right, one, two, three, four...

-Start again.

But with the council stalling the licence

until the inspectors are satisfied,

Borth zoo's big new attraction is on hold.

Well, we must have had our lion enclosure inspected about six times

now and, every time, they want something else done to it.

We will get there.

There's no way we are giving up. So we will have lions.

Next time, it's judgment day for Jasmine's loos...

It's game on!

..Alan and Jean go for a spin...

If it rains, it has a lid that goes on.

..we get up close and personal to Cardigan's king of rock and roll...

-This is my wife's G string.

-HE LAUGHS

It just gets better, doesn't it?

..and Gethin gets some unwelcome attention.

I've been chopping my face off some of the signs

because they've been defaced.

Somebody gave me a small moustache and a bit more of a fringe.