0:00:03 > 0:00:07British food is about more than what we put on our plates.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11Our landscape, our climate and our history define
0:00:11 > 0:00:13what we grow and where we grow it.
0:00:14 > 0:00:15Ah!
0:00:15 > 0:00:18This is the mustard that built empires.
0:00:18 > 0:00:23Each place, each region, each food has its own story to tell.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26Does it make them more delicious that they're smaller?
0:00:26 > 0:00:28I think they're sweeter-tasting, yes.
0:00:28 > 0:00:33I'm exploring Britain to discover how our soils and seas
0:00:33 > 0:00:36have shaped our tastes and traditions.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38Because our food is who we are.
0:00:38 > 0:00:39So, if we carry on in this direction,
0:00:39 > 0:00:43- do we have to shout something before we go?- Haiptrw ho!
0:00:43 > 0:00:44THEY WHISTLE
0:00:44 > 0:00:46Alongside me on this journey
0:00:46 > 0:00:49are horticulturalist Alys Fowler,
0:00:49 > 0:00:51botanist James Wong...
0:00:51 > 0:00:55Look at that. I've never seen that much essential oil.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59- It will build in this tank so that we get 40 litres or so.- Wow.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02..archaeologist Alex Langlands
0:01:02 > 0:01:04and historian Lucy Worsley.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08We've been eating turkey for Christmas since the 1500s.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11Quite surprising, seeing as they actually come from Mexico.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17This is the story of Our Food.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32This time, we're in North Wales.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36A raw, elemental landscape, defined by nature.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40And I'm exploring it in the footsteps of the drovers,
0:01:40 > 0:01:43remarkable men who once walked livestock
0:01:43 > 0:01:45hundreds of miles to market.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50You know, an odd thing, when I was preparing to come up here
0:01:50 > 0:01:52to follow the route of the drovers,
0:01:52 > 0:01:55I was with my wife at my mother-in-law's house,
0:01:55 > 0:01:57and she said, "My family were drovers,
0:01:57 > 0:02:00"my great-great-great-great grandfather was a drover."
0:02:00 > 0:02:02And she went upstairs and got this photo.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05And it shows four drovers and the one on the far left of the brothers
0:02:05 > 0:02:08is Daniel Jones, her great-great-great-great-grandfather.
0:02:08 > 0:02:13And thus my great-great-great-great great-grandfather-in-law.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16It mightn't sound like much, but it connects me
0:02:16 > 0:02:19to these strange, mysterious people.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22I'm going to try and pick up the route of the drovers
0:02:22 > 0:02:26to find out just exactly what these forgotten fellows actually did.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31I'm going to be travelling right across North Wales.
0:02:31 > 0:02:36Through rugged terrain that can only be harnessed by sheer, hard graft,
0:02:36 > 0:02:40using just some of the droving tracks that crisscross the country.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43My journey begins in the far west,
0:02:43 > 0:02:46meeting the animals that were once at the centre of the droving trade.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51I'm starting on the island of Anglesey,
0:02:51 > 0:02:54just off the coast of North Wales.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59I'd say they might be a bit stiff.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02Farmer Brian Thomas is taking me to see his pedigree herd
0:03:02 > 0:03:04of Welsh Black cattle.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08We're safe, are we? As long as we're in the Land Rover?
0:03:09 > 0:03:12Welsh Blacks have been farmed out on these hills
0:03:12 > 0:03:16since before records began. How long before, we don't know.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21And they look incredibly sweet and fluffy and furry.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24These, the breeding stock, as you can see,
0:03:24 > 0:03:28now, they've got very good coats on them, they're tough and hardy.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31Their hardiness has presumably been developed over time
0:03:31 > 0:03:33because of the, you'll forgive me,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36incredibly harsh conditions in this part of the country.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39We get a lot of wind and rain and that's why the breed has developed.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42They've actually got very, very thick hides on them,
0:03:42 > 0:03:45compared to the continental breeds of cattle.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47I've seen cattle with icicles hanging down their bellies
0:03:47 > 0:03:52- and things like that.- These ones? - Yeah.- Really?- They survived fine.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56Brian's family have been farming this herd for more than 80 years.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59His father and grandfather bred prize-winning bulls
0:03:59 > 0:04:02and developed their own bloodline.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05They don't have names, do they? There's too many.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07- All the cows have got names, they're pedigree.- Have they?- Yeah.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09They're all called Gladys, presumably?
0:04:09 > 0:04:12No, no, there's a lot of Mariannes and Blodwens.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15- And Branwen? - No, we haven't got a Branwen.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18We've got Brendas, Princesses.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21So, these are pretty independent, they don't really need you at all.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24- Very little.- You just come out here and drive round in circles.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27I just check they're all right, there's nothing new,
0:04:27 > 0:04:29which very, very rarely happens.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37This is Brian's breeding herd.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39The next field has the cattle that are ready for market,
0:04:39 > 0:04:42his store cattle. Today, he's bringing them into the farm
0:04:42 > 0:04:44for an inspection.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47Brian has several hundred Welsh Blacks.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50His predecessors, the original farmers of North Wales,
0:04:50 > 0:04:53would have had only a handful.
0:04:54 > 0:04:55I know that they don't stampede,
0:04:55 > 0:04:59but they're all coming this way and I'm just going to be up here.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03I'll just be behind this bush, should you need me for anything.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Before road, rail and supermarkets,
0:05:06 > 0:05:09farmers would sell their cattle to drovers
0:05:09 > 0:05:13who would then walk them to market. They covered huge distances,
0:05:13 > 0:05:16some even going as far as the greatest meat market of them all,
0:05:16 > 0:05:18London Smithfield.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Well, what does it feel like to be walking after cattle, then?
0:05:21 > 0:05:25It's good, it's fine. We could go all the way to London, no problem.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28- How far is it from here? - About 250 miles, I think.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33For Welsh farmers, these were, quite literally, cash cows.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36They were a currency to be traded.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40The English upper and middle classes feasted on Welsh beef,
0:05:40 > 0:05:43but, for farmers, the meat was money in their pocket,
0:05:43 > 0:05:44rather than food on the table.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51So, if you had to drive cattle to London, would you choose these?
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Oh, definitely. For a number of reasons.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58A, they're very, very quiet, as you see, compared to some of the cattle.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00Almost no chat at all, I've noticed.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02Also, if you look at them, they've got good, strong bones,
0:06:02 > 0:06:08which would be good for walking, they're fit cattle.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13As much as I'd love to drove these cattle all way to London,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16Brian only walks them from the field down this lane to the farm.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Modern regulations mean any movement beyond the farm
0:06:19 > 0:06:22needs licences and big cattle trucks.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25- Here we are, London.- Ha-ha.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28Brian farms the cattle with his father Owain Gwilm
0:06:28 > 0:06:30and his son Carywan.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34And it's all about getting the cattle into the best condition.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39Put your hand on the loin there, feel that.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41- Better meat.- So, that's got better meat, has it?
0:06:41 > 0:06:44I don't think it's got as much covering on the ribs.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47- I'm talking about the loin now. - Wait a minute.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49So, you're saying that this one, this animal here has a good loin,
0:06:49 > 0:06:51but the one over here has better ribs?
0:06:51 > 0:06:54This carcass will be heavier than that one.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56It's high time this went now.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00If you left this one another month, it might just go over the top.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03And what? Start shrinking?
0:07:03 > 0:07:05No, getting a bit too fat.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07- Getting too fat.- Yeah.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09Brian and his father need to judge
0:07:09 > 0:07:12when the cattle are ready to go to market.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15But not all of them will go to auction.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18- Where are these likely to go?- These are going to my own meat business.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21They'll be either going to the farmers' market
0:07:21 > 0:07:25or to the shop in Beaumaris or they'll be eaten in the restaurant.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27So, you have your own restaurant, serving your own beef?
0:07:27 > 0:07:30I have our own restaurant serving our own beef.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38Producing Welsh Blacks used to be all about getting your meat
0:07:38 > 0:07:41taken huge distances to market, but, today,
0:07:41 > 0:07:43what sells is eating local.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47Brian's butchery and restaurant is just a few miles from the fields
0:07:47 > 0:07:49where the cattle are fattened up.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51It's true, you are also the butcher.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54Although, being the farmer, the butcher and employing the chef
0:07:54 > 0:07:56has to be pretty unusual.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00I was, basically, feeling there.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02You were feeling it from that angle.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05I could feel that and that that was in good condition.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08What would it have looked like if it hadn't been in such good condition?
0:08:08 > 0:08:11There wouldn't be the fat cover that's on that to start off with,
0:08:11 > 0:08:13and, also, the muscle wouldn't be nearly as thick.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15And if you hadn't got the fat,
0:08:15 > 0:08:17it wouldn't have the marbling, so it would eat tough.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22Cattle that were walked to the hungry English cities
0:08:22 > 0:08:24were fattened on the way.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28The lusher grasses of the Midlands and the south
0:08:28 > 0:08:30provided the final ingredient on their journey to market.
0:08:30 > 0:08:35Now, with clever farming, Brian can deliver this kind of taste locally.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41Mmm.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Mmm. Oh, that's amazing.
0:08:44 > 0:08:45Walking around in the field with the cows
0:08:45 > 0:08:48and just seeing all that grass that they're eating,
0:08:48 > 0:08:51you become very aware that it's just an animal,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54a machine to turn the grass into something we can eat.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57I'm almost imagining that slightly acidic Welsh soil
0:08:57 > 0:09:00actually gets through the grass into the...
0:09:00 > 0:09:03We're also high in mineral soil in Anglesey.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07In Roman times, the biggest copper mines in the world were here.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10Amazing to think the Romans ate these steaks.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13I'm sorry, Brian, you're standing there with your knife and fork
0:09:13 > 0:09:14and I'm not letting you near it.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17But, I guess, you've eaten plenty of this stuff.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20I need to prepare myself for the long journey ahead.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23Welsh Blacks are hardy, and they need to be.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27The North Wales landscape is full of challenges.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31To you and me, the mountains of Snowdonia look beautiful,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34but, historically, they were harsh, unforgiving places.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38It's hard to grow anything here,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41but, in the far north-east, the mountains briefly fall away
0:09:41 > 0:09:44to reveal a precious oasis of rich soil.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49Botanist James Wong is discovering the roots
0:09:49 > 0:09:51of a very traditional Welsh crop.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54What would the Welsh choose to grow
0:09:54 > 0:09:58in their prime bit of agricultural land?
0:09:58 > 0:10:01Well, it's the leek, of course. Thousands of them.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04And the incredible thing that you never notice in the supermarkets
0:10:04 > 0:10:08is this amazing, kind of, powdery, steel blue
0:10:08 > 0:10:10as far as the eye can see.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12Almost, kind of, exotic-looking.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16Despite it being a Welsh icon, the botany, the origin of the leek
0:10:16 > 0:10:18is still a little bit of a mystery.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22There is a native plant from which the species is derived
0:10:22 > 0:10:24that does grow in Wales and the South West of England
0:10:24 > 0:10:27and right across the Mediterranean,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30but there's an alternate theory that the Romans introduced it.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37The humble leek has been part of the Welsh diet for thousands of years.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41They were grown here, on every smallholding and in every garden.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44A hearty, winter food with a distinctive flavour.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50The first thing you notice, when you slice into one of these little guys,
0:10:50 > 0:10:54is that really pungent, sort of sulphury smell
0:10:54 > 0:10:57and that's made by sulphur compounds that are found in everything
0:10:57 > 0:10:59in the allium family, the onion family.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02So, onions, shallots, garlic etc.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04It's a chemical called allicin
0:11:04 > 0:11:10which is developed in the plant as a kind of internal insecticide.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13It's also antibacterial and antifungal,
0:11:13 > 0:11:16kind of like a plant's security system
0:11:16 > 0:11:18to ensure it doesn't get attacked by things.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21To be farmed on any kind of scale,
0:11:21 > 0:11:23leeks need fertile, well-drained soil.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27Until recently, Wales had to import commercially-grown leeks
0:11:27 > 0:11:28from England and Holland.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32Charlie Lightbown, though, brought Welsh leeks home.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34How many acres have you got here?
0:11:34 > 0:11:36About 400 acres all together.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38So, this area of Wales,
0:11:38 > 0:11:41is this one of the best places to grow leeks in the country?
0:11:41 > 0:11:46Well, Wales has got an awful lot of agricultural land, as you've seen,
0:11:46 > 0:11:50but there's probably only 2% of it that's Grade 1 or Grade 2.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53And you need Grade 1, Grade 2 land to grow vegetables
0:11:53 > 0:11:57and especially leeks, they're a very thirsty and a very hungry crop.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00So, presumably, these are quite small pockets of land, you know.
0:12:00 > 0:12:0350 miles away, could you grow a crop like this, necessarily?
0:12:03 > 0:12:06No, 15 miles away, you couldn't grow a crop like this.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10You know, if you look over there, you're up the top of a hill.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19Leeks are as embedded in Welsh history as they are in the soil.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22The association is thought to have started with St David,
0:12:22 > 0:12:25who was said to have lived on bread, water and leeks alone
0:12:25 > 0:12:27in the 6th century.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30From this, came stories of them being worn into battle
0:12:30 > 0:12:34against the Saxons and even the French.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36Now, they're a symbol of St David's Day.
0:12:36 > 0:12:41Not just a vegetable, a source of Welsh pride.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46These are what we call our really Welsh leeks,
0:12:46 > 0:12:50the ones that we sell in Wales, we sell them through Welsh stores.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52And what about the Union Jack ones?
0:12:52 > 0:12:56The Union Jacks are sold throughout the rest of the UK.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00And it's the same product, just packaged differently?
0:13:00 > 0:13:03On the Welsh, we allow just a little bit more flag.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05There are a few traditional Welsh leek recipes
0:13:05 > 0:13:08that call for the use of more of the flag,
0:13:08 > 0:13:09so more of this part of the leek.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13So, when you say the flag, you mean this green section, here,
0:13:13 > 0:13:14- the extra section of leek.- Exactly.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18Really? So, there's a consumer difference between in Wales
0:13:18 > 0:13:20- and the rest of the UK? - That's right, yeah.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24This is leek farming on an industrial scale.
0:13:24 > 0:13:29The harvester can process up to seven tonnes of leeks a day.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33It moves across the field, following the workers as they cut the crop.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35Leeks are trimmed, washed, sorted and packed, all on the move.
0:13:35 > 0:13:40Supermarkets have notoriously exacting standards.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43- If you look at that one.- Yeah. - That's bent.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45If you look at this one, it's too thin.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48You've got some here that are kind of quirky-shaped,
0:13:48 > 0:13:50presumably, these don't make the grade.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53They'd be difficult for customers to put in shopping baskets.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56They will either go and be sold for processing
0:13:56 > 0:14:00or they will be put into the discounted ranges.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02So, it's not only about washing and cutting and selecting
0:14:02 > 0:14:04that makes them perfect,
0:14:04 > 0:14:07presumably, it's right down from when you sow the seed,
0:14:07 > 0:14:09it's about getting the right variety.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14We want a uniform crop. It becomes so much faster and more economical.
0:14:22 > 0:14:24Leeks were once a subsistence staple.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27Now they're a 21st-century crop.
0:14:27 > 0:14:32In this field, Charlie is trialling over 200 different varieties
0:14:32 > 0:14:36to try to find the perfect range of supermarket leeks.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39- This is the future of leek growing, what we're standing in.- It is.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43I can't tell the difference between any of them.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45They all have different characteristics
0:14:45 > 0:14:47in terms of disease resistance, their growth habit
0:14:47 > 0:14:49and the time of year we want to harvest them.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54Number 237, here, this is much more of a blue-green than, say, this one,
0:14:54 > 0:14:56- if you have them alongside each other.- Oh, wow.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59And what we find with these blue-green varieties
0:14:59 > 0:15:01is they go through the winter a lot better.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03If we're going to have more really cold winters,
0:15:03 > 0:15:05we've got to look for varieties
0:15:05 > 0:15:08that'll withstand the cold temperatures.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10Fantastic. So, what else are you selecting?
0:15:10 > 0:15:13So, different varieties for different end customers.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17So, for pre-packaged leeks, pre-packed leeks,
0:15:17 > 0:15:19we don't want any leaf at all, we want a really long shank.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22So, like, if you get one of those multi-buy packs,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25it's a different genetic variety from buying individual leeks.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27- Yes.- That's so cool.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42On Anglesey, I'm picking up the trail of the drovers
0:15:42 > 0:15:45and their prized Welsh Black cattle.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49The movement of meat on the hoof is centuries old.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51As cities grew, so did the trade.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56- These cattle look like they're being droved. Look at them.- Oh, yes.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59- They're walking along in a perfect line.- They know one another.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03Reverend Emlyn Richards has been researching
0:16:03 > 0:16:06the Anglesey droves for years.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09Farmers would hand their animals over to skilled drovers
0:16:09 > 0:16:12who'd bring the herd together in lanes like these.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15Cattle would join in their ones and twos,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18however many needed to be sold that year.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24All the little lanes and roads in those days
0:16:24 > 0:16:30were very, very narrow, just the width of a cart and a horse.
0:16:30 > 0:16:31But this is different all together.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34This is wider.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36Yes, much, much wider.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40- And you brought the cattle in here, but why?- To bring them together.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44- Otherwise, they'd be fooling around. - Because they didn't know each other.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47They didn't know one other, they'd be afraid of one another.
0:16:47 > 0:16:53If you keep them together in here, they soon become friends.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56- It's like a departure lounge.- Yes, to get them ready for the journey.
0:16:56 > 0:17:01But, to a drover, every face here would mean something.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05Can you do that? This one with the white face, right in the middle,
0:17:05 > 0:17:09- I would, I would say she's pretty mean. Is that fair?- Ha-ha.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12Well, that could be, that could be.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14Whereas, this one coming through is the boss, surely.
0:17:14 > 0:17:19But they would know the nature of every one of them, you know.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26It was a very special relationship
0:17:26 > 0:17:28between man and an animal.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35Once the cattle were gathered,
0:17:35 > 0:17:37the drovers would head to the Menai Strait,
0:17:37 > 0:17:41the stretch of tidal water that makes Anglesey an island.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45The Reverend's brother Harry joins us
0:17:45 > 0:17:48as we reach this rather significant hurdle.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53And supposing this were a couple of hundred years ago
0:17:53 > 0:17:56and we were driving our cattle here, there was no bridge.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58I mean, this is Victorian.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02Oh, yes, there wasn't a bridge until 1826, you see.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04And when you think of it,
0:18:04 > 0:18:09there could be anything between 300 and 400 cattle.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13We've got all these cattle and we've driven them here,
0:18:13 > 0:18:16then we have to get them onto the mainland, so how do we do that?
0:18:16 > 0:18:20Cattle are afraid of anything strange. And to them,
0:18:20 > 0:18:26this vast water will be a cause of fright for them.
0:18:26 > 0:18:30The boatmen would be here, ready, you see,
0:18:30 > 0:18:33- to start them.- The boatmen? So, they put the cattle on boats?
0:18:33 > 0:18:39No, no. The boats were looking after them, to guide them over.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41- And how deep is it? - Oh, it's very, very deep.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44- So, the cattle don't walk, they swim?- Goodness me, no.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48- So, basically, they looked like ducks with horns.- Yes, quite true.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51If it wasn't for a reverend telling me,
0:18:51 > 0:18:53I think I'd find it hard to believe
0:18:53 > 0:18:56that cattle actually swam to the other side.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01The drovers had songs for their epic journeys.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03Songs and stories that are kept alive by people
0:19:03 > 0:19:06like the Reverend and Harry.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11# Fe gerddais lawer milltir
0:19:11 > 0:19:13# Yng ngwres yr haf a'r swch
0:19:13 > 0:19:19# A rhyfedd y ddylanwad Ar eidion gwyllt a byw... #
0:19:19 > 0:19:21You know, it's not actually as hard as I thought it would be
0:19:21 > 0:19:22to imagine how it looked.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24The noise and the shouting
0:19:24 > 0:19:28and the people singing like this to keep themselves entertained,
0:19:28 > 0:19:32drown out the apparently miserable sound of these lowing animals,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35just, sort of, heading off into the unknown
0:19:35 > 0:19:37for months and months and months.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41# Roedd gyrroedd gwartheg ffeiriau
0:19:41 > 0:19:43# Yn nabod swn dy lais
0:19:43 > 0:19:45# Yn nabod swn dy lais
0:19:45 > 0:19:47# Yn nabod swn dy lais
0:19:47 > 0:19:50# Roedd gyrroedd gwartheg ffeiriau
0:19:50 > 0:19:53# Yn nabod swn dy lais. #
0:19:54 > 0:19:58The Menai Strait was the first big challenge for the drovers
0:19:58 > 0:19:59on their journey east.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01This stretch of water is famous
0:20:01 > 0:20:04for its ever-changing and often treacherous tidal currents.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11At the eastern end, near Beaumaris, the Strait opens out.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15Before I head any further on my journey,
0:20:15 > 0:20:17I'm stopping off to take a closer look.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23This dramatic, melancholy, rather beautiful scene -
0:20:23 > 0:20:26the fast-flowing, grey water of the Menai Strait,
0:20:26 > 0:20:30the rain lashing down on a fast-disappearing Snowdon
0:20:30 > 0:20:33on the Welsh mainland - has remained more or less unchanged
0:20:33 > 0:20:36for thousands of years, barring the odd, bright orange buoy,
0:20:36 > 0:20:38the odd house, the odd pylon.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41What has changed is what lies beneath the surface,
0:20:41 > 0:20:45which is one of Wales's newest pieces of farmland.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49But to see it properly, we'll have to wait until the tide goes out.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57The coasts around North Wales are rich in shellfish.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01Cockles, mussels and oysters are amongst our truly indigenous
0:21:01 > 0:21:05and ancient foods and they've been harvested by locals for centuries.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10Traditionally, they were raked by hand.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13Hard, backbreaking work for little return.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19But a group of enterprising fishermen thought
0:21:19 > 0:21:21there had to be a better way.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25They decided to supplement nature's harvest and start farming shellfish.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28The result? The UK's biggest mussel farm,
0:21:28 > 0:21:32where a staggering three quarters of our farmed mussels come from.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34Not that you'd ever know it.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38Where we're standing now, on a normal tide, it's about...
0:21:38 > 0:21:42- the height of the tide would be about three metres here.- Really?
0:21:42 > 0:21:44That's an enormous amount of water to go out and in.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47James Wilson doesn't often visit his farm by foot.
0:21:47 > 0:21:5015 minutes of trudging across muddy sand
0:21:50 > 0:21:53and I still haven't seen a mussel.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58It's amazing, I've never stood in a place like this. The sea disappears
0:21:58 > 0:22:01and it's just a whole land mass that's appeared out of nowhere.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04This is the great expanse of Lafan Sands.
0:22:04 > 0:22:05Is there anything about the tides
0:22:05 > 0:22:07that makes it particularly good for your purposes?
0:22:07 > 0:22:10It's got enough flow of water over it,
0:22:10 > 0:22:11so there's a lot of food coming in,
0:22:11 > 0:22:14but it's not too much that they get dislodged and pushed away.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16It's a fantastic place to grow mussels.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20It takes another 15 minutes of walking
0:22:20 > 0:22:24but, suddenly, we reached the first mussels.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27Hoards of mussels, like the armies of Genghis Khan
0:22:27 > 0:22:29across the plains of Mongolia.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32- Yes, slightly less effective and not so bloodthirsty.- And more fishy.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36To the untrained eye, this might look like a natural mussel bed,
0:22:36 > 0:22:40but these fishy hoards have actually been brought here as seed mussels
0:22:40 > 0:22:45by James and his team. The farm is divided into three zones,
0:22:45 > 0:22:47each one further from the shore.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49The first area we reach is the nursery,
0:22:49 > 0:22:51where the youngest mussels are left to toughen up.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54They grow really, really fast, so in the first year,
0:22:54 > 0:22:57they'll probably grow, that's 30mm in size.
0:22:57 > 0:22:58And you could eat it now?
0:22:58 > 0:23:03Well, I mean, yeah, the legal minimum size is 45mm.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05- Right.- So, another third bigger than that one now.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07To get that third extra in size,
0:23:07 > 0:23:09- that will probably take another year.- Right.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12We have them here to get them used to being exposed to the air,
0:23:12 > 0:23:15makes them stronger and they grow a harder shell.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18Some farmed mussels are grown on ropes,
0:23:18 > 0:23:22but all these need is the seabed, which I'm slowly sinking into.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26A mussel is a filter feeder, so it filters stuff out of the water,
0:23:26 > 0:23:29some of which it eats, some of which it can't.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33The stuff it can't eat, it excretes out and that's what this is.
0:23:33 > 0:23:38A kilo of mussels will produce about 17 kilos of faecal matter a year.
0:23:38 > 0:23:39- It puts everything into...- Hey!
0:23:43 > 0:23:46Yeah. That could have been worse, I think.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48Do you think? Pull me out of here.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51I've been walking half an hour to get out to these mussels
0:23:51 > 0:23:55and now, I'm going to spend the rest of my life here with them.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58Wait, wait, wait. There's some movement, there's some movement.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00I'm getting stuck now.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02THEY LAUGH
0:24:02 > 0:24:06This is the most dangerous kind of farming I've ever known,
0:24:06 > 0:24:08I would rather fish for shark.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10This is ridiculous.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13James isn't deterred and, once I'm free,
0:24:13 > 0:24:16makes me walk even further from the safety of the shoreline.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19The mussels from the nursery area
0:24:19 > 0:24:22are moved here by boat, when their shells have hardened up.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26We're in the intertidal, subtidal boundary now,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29so the mussels are underneath the water for slightly longer.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32But if you feel those, they feel quite solid,
0:24:32 > 0:24:37- but a bit light. If you feel these ones now, after they've...- Yeah.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40They're considerably heavier and more solid.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43- And these are these fellows, here. - We hold them here for about a year.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48For the last stage, the mussels are moved beyond the reach of the tides.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51Submerged all the time, they feed constantly
0:24:51 > 0:24:54in the rich waters of the Menai Strait.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57Those mussels are safe from us for another day.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59They'll be safe from us until we're on the boat, in which case,
0:24:59 > 0:25:03- we can get them.- Then you.... - They're not safe from me ever.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15James's boat is one of a small fleet
0:25:15 > 0:25:19that can harvest 11,000 tonnes of mussels a year.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24The dredger has a shallow draft, so she can float serenely
0:25:24 > 0:25:27over the mussel beds I've just been falling over in.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30Everyone takes their shoes off in here, I'm sorry.
0:25:30 > 0:25:31How very Japanese of you.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36The job today is to re-lay mussels in the deepest beds
0:25:36 > 0:25:39for the final fattening-up stage.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48Fishing by dredging has a terrible name
0:25:48 > 0:25:51for destroying the fragile ocean bed. But the idea here
0:25:51 > 0:25:54is that they slice through the mussel mud,
0:25:54 > 0:25:56leaving the seabed underneath untouched.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00And, as they scoop up the mussels,
0:26:00 > 0:26:03much of that sludge gets washed away in the current.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05We're as natural as we can be.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09The only thing that we're doing is moving the animals themselves
0:26:09 > 0:26:11around into different parts of the seabed.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13You're doing what mussels would do, if they had legs.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17- I suppose so.- And you're just giving them a little wash there, are you?
0:26:17 > 0:26:19- Little wash to get off some of the...- Look at that!
0:26:19 > 0:26:21Looks like a car wash.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31I'm not sure I'm cut out to be a mussel farmer,
0:26:31 > 0:26:33but I do know how to eat them.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36- Where can I buy them?- Unfortunately, you can't buy them in this country.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38- Certainly not...- You what?! - I know, it's crazy.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42James can't find a market in British supermarkets,
0:26:42 > 0:26:45so he sells to the Dutch, who supply shops across Europe.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51I'd like to sell mussels not just locally in North Wales
0:26:51 > 0:26:54or within Wales, but throughout the whole of the UK.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56It would be a brilliant thing to do.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58It's a really strange cos this whole story has been, to me,
0:26:58 > 0:27:00nice and local and sustainable,
0:27:00 > 0:27:03and it's us and you're British, and it's here and it's in Wales,
0:27:03 > 0:27:06and it's great, and we're making the most of our natural resources,
0:27:06 > 0:27:08and then they're going abroad.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11When I have talked to buyers in supermarket chains, they say,
0:27:11 > 0:27:13"Oh, dredged mussels, I don't want to eat them, they're gritty."
0:27:13 > 0:27:17And, you know, they do live in mud, but these have been cleaned,
0:27:17 > 0:27:20so, perhaps, you can tell me.
0:27:20 > 0:27:21Gritty?
0:27:22 > 0:27:25- Any?- Amazing.- Yeah? - Yeah, yeah, they're like butter.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29While James and I polish off the moules mariniere,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32the boat is still relentlessly lifting
0:27:32 > 0:27:36their younger brethren into the dredger.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38- What's the difference in colour? - Different sexes.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40That's very orange, what's that?
0:27:40 > 0:27:43That's a female. The paler ones are male.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46Now the dredged mussels are flushed out of the ship
0:27:46 > 0:27:48to settle in their new home.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52In a few months, all plump and succulent,
0:27:52 > 0:27:56they'll be harvested and sent off to the lucky old Dutch.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00It's time to leave the boat
0:28:00 > 0:28:03and continue my droving journey into the mountains.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13In North Wales, persistence is what counts.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17Persistence to produce food in a landscape full of challenges.
0:28:17 > 0:28:22Historian Lucy Worsley has headed east to the Welsh borders,
0:28:22 > 0:28:25in search of an exotic crop with its roots in the past.
0:28:26 > 0:28:30The local baker Wynn Roberts has been making something special for me,
0:28:30 > 0:28:33something you wouldn't expect to find in Wales.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37- Hi there, Wynn.- Hi.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40So, this is what I've come to see.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42How would you describe the scent of it then?
0:28:44 > 0:28:45What's it like?
0:28:45 > 0:28:49Like a sweet...sour, earthy.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52- It's quite hard to categorise, isn't it?- Very hard.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55There's also something a bit rough and wild about it.
0:28:58 > 0:29:03We're making buns with saffron, the most expensive spice in the world.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08- Oops.- Oops.- Do you know?
0:29:08 > 0:29:11It was really, really common in medieval and Tudor diets.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13- They loved it.- Good Lord.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16Believe it or not,
0:29:16 > 0:29:18this saffron was grown just up the road from here, in Wales.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22It's a spice we associate with exotic, foreign places,
0:29:22 > 0:29:26but, actually, it has a long British history.
0:29:26 > 0:29:28Why does this feel rude? HE LAUGHS
0:29:28 > 0:29:31England was once a major grower of saffron
0:29:31 > 0:29:35and entire towns made their name from it. By the 16th century,
0:29:35 > 0:29:37Chipping Walden in Essex
0:29:37 > 0:29:42was so famous for the spice that it became known as Saffron Walden.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45Look at these lovely buns!
0:29:45 > 0:29:49It's a spice whose taste nearly defies description.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52- There's an aftertaste on it. - Yeah, definitely.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55There's something exotic about it. Very nice, indeed.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02Autumn crocuses hold the secret of saffron.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05They've been cultivated by humans for 5,000 years.
0:30:05 > 0:30:10And the only reason they're growing in this corner of North Wales
0:30:10 > 0:30:11is Caroline Riden.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15What's the correct picking technique?
0:30:15 > 0:30:19Well, you want to go as far down the stem as you can.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23- Not picking a leaf.- Like that? - Yeah, that's right.
0:30:23 > 0:30:28So, those are its three red stigmas,
0:30:28 > 0:30:32female organs of the plant, the bit we want.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35And the yellow stamens, male part of the plant.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38- That's right.- We don't want.- No.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40Saffron is the product, not of nature,
0:30:40 > 0:30:44but of thousands of years of hard work.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47The crocuses have been so extensively bred for their stigmas
0:30:47 > 0:30:50that they're now sterile. They can't reproduce without our help.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53It may have come over with the Romans.
0:30:53 > 0:30:56They introduced so many things, didn't they?
0:30:56 > 0:30:58But because saffron is human-dependent,
0:30:58 > 0:31:01saffron dies out in land and it has to be reintroduced.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05We have surges of historic reintroduction of saffron
0:31:05 > 0:31:07for quite different reasons.
0:31:07 > 0:31:12Edward III, when he wanted the wool to develop into a cloth trade,
0:31:12 > 0:31:17encouraged dyeing, and saffron, then, became one of the big dyes.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22By the 19th century, British saffron was in decline.
0:31:22 > 0:31:24It was labour intensive
0:31:24 > 0:31:27and the expanding Empire sucked in ever more spices.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32Caroline's the only commercial grower of saffron
0:31:32 > 0:31:35left in Britain and she does it on a very small scale.
0:31:35 > 0:31:38In saffron's English heyday,
0:31:38 > 0:31:44it was grown in the hot, dry soils of Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk,
0:31:44 > 0:31:46not wet, old Wales.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49When we started growing it in '85, we didn't know how to grow it.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52We've got rather nasty, clay soil here,
0:31:52 > 0:31:54and it prefers a chalky, sandy soil.
0:31:54 > 0:31:59But we've added quite a bit of sand and compost.
0:31:59 > 0:32:00It likes a very hot summer
0:32:00 > 0:32:04and then a drop in soil temperature to trigger flowering.
0:32:07 > 0:32:12Harvesting saffron is so delicate that it's almost always done by hand.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20So what happens to the red stigmas next? What do we do with those?
0:32:20 > 0:32:24Take a flower and gather together the three.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27And then, you get the end
0:32:27 > 0:32:32- and you see how far you can pull it down the stem.- Ah-ha. Oh, OK.
0:32:32 > 0:32:34And we've got to dry them.
0:32:34 > 0:32:38The whole secret of turning - this is called wet saffron -
0:32:38 > 0:32:41- into hay, which is the spice, is in the drying.- Ah.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45And there are as many ways of drying saffron
0:32:45 > 0:32:49as there are of picking it, probably.
0:32:49 > 0:32:51It's a painstaking process,
0:32:51 > 0:32:56but when a spice costs £4,000 a kilo, it's worth it.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59I got a bit daunted by the fact that you need 150 crocuses
0:32:59 > 0:33:01to produce just one gram.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04But, actually, one gram is a lot of saffron, isn't it?
0:33:04 > 0:33:08- Well, one gram is between 450 and 500 threads.- Yeah.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12And if you're having between ten and 20 threads a pinch,
0:33:12 > 0:33:15you're going to get between 20 to 40 meals out of that.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18- Out of one gram only.- Yes. It is very good value
0:33:18 > 0:33:20because you only need a very little bit.
0:33:20 > 0:33:22Do you like the taste of saffron?
0:33:22 > 0:33:25Yes, I do. It's more a sensation than a taste.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28When you eat something with saffron,
0:33:28 > 0:33:31to me, it's like a very good wine and you suddenly feel a lift
0:33:31 > 0:33:34at the back of your palate, you think, "Mmm, I like that."
0:33:34 > 0:33:37But what I really like is the colour.
0:33:37 > 0:33:39Yes, it's a beautiful, clear yellow, isn't it?
0:33:39 > 0:33:43There's no colour like saffron yellow, sunlight yellow.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50I'm heading east, following the routes of the drovers
0:33:50 > 0:33:51who walked Welsh meat to market.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56We're now approaching a true drovers' road,
0:33:56 > 0:33:58over this terrific piece of mountainside.
0:33:58 > 0:34:03- Where it says, I notice, "Unsuitable for motor vehicles."- That's right.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07Idris Evans, a droving historian, is taking me up into the hills.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11These tracks through the valleys
0:34:11 > 0:34:14kept the drove from mixing with other livestock along the way.
0:34:14 > 0:34:18But drovers also forged their own paths through the mountains.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22They didn't like to pay tolls cos it would cost them extra money.
0:34:22 > 0:34:24- So, are we dodging toll roads? - That's right.
0:34:24 > 0:34:28Very often, they had to divert around the toll houses
0:34:28 > 0:34:32which, in fact, was a problem because it cost them extra time.
0:34:32 > 0:34:34They'd worked out a system of an average speed
0:34:34 > 0:34:37- of about two miles per hour.- Were there dangers of bandits up here?
0:34:37 > 0:34:40Of course. Highwaymen were waiting for them,
0:34:40 > 0:34:42they knew they were carrying money.
0:34:42 > 0:34:44Cattle rustlers were all around here.
0:34:44 > 0:34:47- You could sort of see a bandit coming, more or less.- That's right.
0:34:47 > 0:34:50- For example, I don't think there are any now.- I hope not, I hope not.
0:34:55 > 0:34:58Many of the roads that cut through the mountains and valleys today
0:34:58 > 0:35:00started life as drovers' tracks.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06In other places, these trails have all but disappeared.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09A lone bridge stands stranded,
0:35:09 > 0:35:13the ghost of a droving route and trade long since gone.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15This bridge is, er...
0:35:15 > 0:35:18The other interesting thing is, when we were wading through that water,
0:35:18 > 0:35:21if we hadn't got our modern wellies, we'd have got wet.
0:35:21 > 0:35:23Problem with feet.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27So they greased their feet before they ever started with pig fat.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30This acted like an oil in an engine because there was no friction,
0:35:30 > 0:35:33no friction - no blisters, no blisters - no pain.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36So, they walked 300 miles with their feet in lard,
0:35:36 > 0:35:39- sliding around in their shoes?- In pig fat. Known in Welsh as bloneg.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41- What a lovely name, bloneg.- Bloneg.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43Yes, the best of the pig fat.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46- They'd put on their pants, put on their bloneg.- That's it.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49Once on the road, the drovers would try and keep
0:35:49 > 0:35:52their hundreds of cattle organised.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55The head drover would have gone on about half an hour ahead,
0:35:55 > 0:35:59normally ringing a bell and shouting two words.
0:35:59 > 0:36:02Haiptrw ho!
0:36:02 > 0:36:04- What does that mean?- Nobody knows.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07Nobody really understands. Whether cattle understood it, nobody knows.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10And is he coming back and shouting it to the cattle?
0:36:10 > 0:36:12He would just be warning people that he was coming through.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15- It's like golfers shouting fore. - That's right.
0:36:15 > 0:36:17They needed to communicate at all times.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20Obviously, they hadn't got any mobile phones. They did this.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23WHISTLING
0:36:23 > 0:36:26- So, these whistles you're doing, they had meanings?- Oh, yes.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29You've got these hundreds and hundreds of cattle crossing there
0:36:29 > 0:36:32- and the sound of whistling and shouting.- Sure.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35If we carry on in this direction, do we have to shout something?
0:36:35 > 0:36:37Advisable, just in case.
0:36:37 > 0:36:39Cos I would hate people to be surprised that we're coming.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42- Can you give them a...?- Haiptrw ho!
0:36:42 > 0:36:44- Right.- We'd better give them a whistle as well.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57Looming large over this landscape,
0:36:57 > 0:37:00are the dark peaks and crags of Snowdonia.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03In recent years, they've become an adventure playground
0:37:03 > 0:37:07for climbers and hikers. But for archaeologist Alex Langlands,
0:37:07 > 0:37:10this wild landscape has far older tales to tell.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17This is an absolutely awesome landscape, it really is.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20You know, it's harsh, harsh out here. You've got thin soils
0:37:20 > 0:37:23and then it's boggy right down in the valley bottoms.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26But, actually, if you look just a little closer,
0:37:26 > 0:37:30you can see all the signs of a working landscape
0:37:30 > 0:37:34cos all around here, you've got these long, sinuous walls.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40Before the hikers came, this was the land of the sheep farmer.
0:37:40 > 0:37:42And it still is.
0:37:44 > 0:37:46That is textbook glacial valley, isn't it?
0:37:46 > 0:37:48It is talked about as a glacial valley,
0:37:48 > 0:37:52- but, for me, it's home, isn't it? - Of course, yeah.
0:37:52 > 0:37:57Gwyn Thomas shares his farm with half a million visitors a year.
0:37:57 > 0:38:02He also shares it with around 300 purebred, Welsh Mountain sheep.
0:38:02 > 0:38:05Like the shepherds who've worked the valleys before him,
0:38:05 > 0:38:07Gwyn is producing the best quality meat he can
0:38:07 > 0:38:10from the land that he has.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13Sheep are one of the few animals that can use the whole mountain
0:38:13 > 0:38:16and Gwyn farms the landscape in harmony with the seasons.
0:38:18 > 0:38:22Spring, the animals are down the bottom here in spring.
0:38:22 > 0:38:24They've been down all winter. The middle bit of the farm
0:38:24 > 0:38:26- is called the ffryd.- The ffryd.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29The sheep would have been lambing
0:38:29 > 0:38:32and they'd move up into the middle part of the field.
0:38:32 > 0:38:33Cos the temperature's rising,
0:38:33 > 0:38:36so the grass is growing a bit further up the mountain, right?
0:38:36 > 0:38:38- Then the sheep would move up to the mountain.- OK.
0:38:38 > 0:38:42And that's where they'd stay over the summer.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45Today, winter is approaching, and Gwyn is bringing the sheep down
0:38:45 > 0:38:47from the top of the mountain.
0:38:47 > 0:38:48Off she goes.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53- Is the dog running up that...? - She's running up that side now.
0:38:53 > 0:38:55- That's a cliff though.- Yeah.
0:38:55 > 0:38:57- HE WHISTLES - Bagia nol.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01- What did you say there?- Look back.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05- In Welsh?- Bagia nol. Because we work two or three dogs together,
0:39:05 > 0:39:07we give them different commands.
0:39:07 > 0:39:13- Right.- One in Welsh, one in English and one in all kinds of language.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17Gwyn's sheep belong to the landscape as much as to him
0:39:17 > 0:39:19The sheep are all making their way along that road, over there.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22They seem to know where they're going here, Gwyn.
0:39:22 > 0:39:23Yes, they've been gathered that way
0:39:23 > 0:39:26- for, probably, hundreds of years, you know.- Right.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29And because these sheep are hefted to this particular farm...
0:39:29 > 0:39:31So, when you say hefted, what do you mean by that?
0:39:31 > 0:39:36The ewe lambs have been taken up on to the mountain with their mothers.
0:39:36 > 0:39:38They all know where to graze
0:39:38 > 0:39:41and where their grazing is on that particular mountain.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44- It's like a knowledge, the knowledge that your parents gave you.- Yes.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48- That's constantly being handed down through generations of sheep.- Yeah.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52If you lose the hefting, it's a huge task then, to get the sheep back
0:39:52 > 0:39:55- to stay on that particular part of the mountain.- Right.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57That's really precious to you.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00- Hefting is very, very important for the uphill farms.- Yes.
0:40:00 > 0:40:04What's the rationale, then, behind some of these walls I can see?
0:40:04 > 0:40:07Well, that wall at the top, there, is a boundary wall.
0:40:07 > 0:40:12That wall is very, very old. It was built by the French prisoners of war
0:40:12 > 0:40:14during the Napoleonic Wars.
0:40:14 > 0:40:16If you took your sheep up on the mountain in spring
0:40:16 > 0:40:20and the wall wasn't there, they'd come down again.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24- Ah, I see.- So, it's just to keep them up on the mountain area.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28So, this all allows you, on your own, just with your dog
0:40:28 > 0:40:31- and your hefted sheep, to work this landscape.- Yes
0:40:31 > 0:40:33It's very, very simple.
0:40:33 > 0:40:35- HE WHISTLES - Lie down.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43The Welsh Mountain breed is a true upland sheep.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47Small, nimble and able to make the best of these rocky slopes.
0:40:47 > 0:40:52Lie down. Behind you, boy. Lie down, lie down!
0:40:53 > 0:40:56There's a bit of a disagreement here about who knows best, I think,
0:40:56 > 0:40:59between dog and shepherd.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01Come by.
0:41:05 > 0:41:07When the sheep are gathered,
0:41:07 > 0:41:09it's a chance to give them a quick once-over.
0:41:09 > 0:41:13- And you've got three rams in here? - There's three with this small group.
0:41:13 > 0:41:14Just have a check, see how things are.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17The sheep are good at taking care of themselves
0:41:17 > 0:41:21but, nonetheless, Gwyn has to keep tabs on them.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24What I am wondering about, though,
0:41:24 > 0:41:27although we've got some walls here,
0:41:27 > 0:41:30- they're pretty light-footed, these characters.- Yes.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34If they go into someone else's land, how do you go about identifying them?
0:41:34 > 0:41:39What's unique for us here is that we have an ear notch or notches
0:41:39 > 0:41:42several different notches in the ears of the sheep
0:41:42 > 0:41:45that are specific to this particular farm.
0:41:45 > 0:41:49Farmers like Gwyn make holes and notches in the ears of their sheep,
0:41:49 > 0:41:51an ancient system of identification.
0:41:51 > 0:41:53I've got a whole book here
0:41:53 > 0:41:58with all the local ear marks and this is done by hand.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02- Oh, my word. Have you got your farm in here?- Yes, it's there.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05And you're doing this by the notches, not by...
0:42:05 > 0:42:08Yes, not by what's written down, I'm looking at the notches.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10Oh, there we are.
0:42:10 > 0:42:12- Blaen y Nant.- Oh, yes.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15And to the right, off the left ear.
0:42:15 > 0:42:19- Top of the left ear there. - And in the middle, you have a hole.
0:42:19 > 0:42:21That is absolutely amazing.
0:42:21 > 0:42:26The cuts have been made so that if you alter the notches at all,
0:42:26 > 0:42:28- you couldn't cheat. - Someone could tell.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32- This is an absolutely superb system, this.- Yes.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35These sheep will stay together through the winter.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38The lambs that are born next spring
0:42:38 > 0:42:41will go on to learn the flock's hefting for the future.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45It's a cycle that's been going on in these valleys for centuries.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52Shepherds and their sheep have shaped this working landscape
0:42:52 > 0:42:57and they're still putting food on the table.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00No, come on, you do this, you're the expert.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03Now, this is lamb, one of your lambs, is it?
0:43:03 > 0:43:05This is not lamb, this is mutton.
0:43:05 > 0:43:11- Three years old.- OK.- A hogget, a male that's been castrated.- Yeah.
0:43:11 > 0:43:15My father, especially, preferred mutton to lamb.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18- Try it, try it.- OK.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23Mmm. Oh, that is nice.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26Gwyn has worked to return the traditional balance of farming
0:43:26 > 0:43:30to the valley, but he's one of the last remaining shepherds here.
0:43:30 > 0:43:32- Same landscape, same animals. - Same animals,
0:43:32 > 0:43:37but a lot less people, really. Is it a lonely place now?
0:43:37 > 0:43:39No, we have half a million visitors
0:43:39 > 0:43:43coming to the upper part of the farm. So, really, it's not lonely.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46It's different now. What I can't get my head round is,
0:43:46 > 0:43:49when I come off the mountain in the morning,
0:43:49 > 0:43:54and these visitors are going up to climb, nobody will say hello to you.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57I say good morning.
0:43:57 > 0:44:01And they look at me as if I've got two heads, you know.
0:44:01 > 0:44:03It's just amazing, really.
0:44:03 > 0:44:06And you're clearly passionate, not just about farming,
0:44:06 > 0:44:07but the landscape as well.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10Well, you keep on trying, don't you?
0:44:10 > 0:44:14Survival, it's built into us in the mountains here, you know.
0:44:14 > 0:44:15Yeah.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19Eat your food, it's getting cold.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31The drovers had to make their way through these mountains.
0:44:31 > 0:44:33Travelling at around two miles an hour,
0:44:33 > 0:44:37it could take just over two weeks to reach the Midlands.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41Idris and I have got as far as the village
0:44:41 > 0:44:45of Llanarmon Dyffrn Ceiriog. It stands at what was once the junction
0:44:45 > 0:44:48of several key droving routes
0:44:48 > 0:44:52and would have been a welcome sight for weary herdsmen and their cattle.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55I mean, from here, we can see, sort of, ten white cattle and four sheep.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59Presumably, there'd have been times, in the 17th century,
0:44:59 > 0:45:02you'd have looked down, it would've been incredibly noisy and smelly
0:45:02 > 0:45:05and just steaming, like the car park of a modern service station.
0:45:05 > 0:45:08- It would.- Steaming with cattle traffic.- Those fields would,
0:45:08 > 0:45:11if you looked down from here, you'd see a sea of black,
0:45:11 > 0:45:13because there could be hundreds of animals at this stage.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16Almost like the Wild West of its day.
0:45:16 > 0:45:18Drovers would stop to graze their cattle
0:45:18 > 0:45:21in the lush fields on the valley floor.
0:45:21 > 0:45:27They'd also take the opportunity to visit the local blacksmith.
0:45:27 > 0:45:29Do you know what these are?
0:45:29 > 0:45:32- Have a good look.- Earrings. - Good guess, but not so.
0:45:32 > 0:45:36Those were the shoes that were put on the cattle.
0:45:36 > 0:45:38- So, they would fit those... - They'd really shoe cattle?
0:45:38 > 0:45:41They are known as cues, cattle cues.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44These would have been made over the winter months by blacksmiths,
0:45:44 > 0:45:47farriers, families that had set up around the areas.
0:45:47 > 0:45:49- One for each half of the hoof? - That's right.
0:45:49 > 0:45:51It's a cloven hoof, so you had to have eight of these per animal.
0:45:51 > 0:45:55It really is not unlike a service station in that you roll in,
0:45:55 > 0:45:58drop your cattle off to eat and be shoed and then you for a...
0:45:58 > 0:46:00- That's right. It was an old... - ..a beer.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04You were allowed to drink and drove? That was all right, was it?
0:46:10 > 0:46:13Drovers used to meet at this inn, called The West Arms,
0:46:13 > 0:46:16in the 16th century.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19Idris has called ahead and asked the chef Grant Williams
0:46:19 > 0:46:21to fix me up with some drovers' tucker.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27Apparently, an 18th-century head drover would have started his meal
0:46:27 > 0:46:30with oatcakes and buttermilk,
0:46:30 > 0:46:34followed by mutton and leek cawl, a kind of traditional Welsh stew.
0:46:34 > 0:46:36This is amazing, this soup.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39I've decided, on this basis of this bowl alone, that Welsh cuisine
0:46:39 > 0:46:42- is infinitely better than French. - Very good, excellent.
0:46:42 > 0:46:45And for dessert, toasted cheese.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49Drovers brought with them money, trade and news.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52The first reports of British victory at the Battle of Waterloo
0:46:52 > 0:46:54were carried to Wales by the drovers.
0:46:54 > 0:46:57These were trusted men with an important job to do.
0:46:57 > 0:47:02- I think we should toast the drovers. - Ah, so do I. Cheers.- Cheers.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07The story of North Wales isn't just about farming.
0:47:07 > 0:47:08People had to get everything they needed
0:47:08 > 0:47:11from this beautiful and elemental landscape.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16Alys Fowler is venturing to the very edge of Wales,
0:47:16 > 0:47:18in search of a truly wild prize.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22A fish that can live both in fresh and salt water.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27On a clear day, you can see all the way to Snowdon,
0:47:27 > 0:47:31and it's a remarkable view, a sort of land of counterpane, of patchwork.
0:47:31 > 0:47:34And down below there is the Dovey Valley
0:47:34 > 0:47:37and in the Dovey Valley runs a pristine river.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46The waters of the Dovey are rich fishing territory.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49And prince amongst these fish is the sewin.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52This is the Welsh name for a sea trout.
0:47:52 > 0:47:56The sewin is hard to catch, but that's not its only secret.
0:47:57 > 0:48:01Nigel Milner is a fisheries scientist working at Bangor University
0:48:01 > 0:48:04and he's going to show me that not all trout are the same.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09- One large sea trout.- Ha-ha. Oooh.
0:48:11 > 0:48:16He's brought along two fish, a brown trout and a sewin or sea trout.
0:48:16 > 0:48:20So, this is a sea trout, which is also known here as a sewin, right?
0:48:20 > 0:48:22It is, in Wales, they're called sewin.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26- The sewin is a characteristic, iconic fish of West Wales.- Right.
0:48:26 > 0:48:30These fish are exactly the same species, but one of them
0:48:30 > 0:48:33- has stayed in the river, that's the brown trout...- With all the spots.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36..and the other one has gone to sea as a sea trout
0:48:36 > 0:48:38and it's just come back to the river
0:48:38 > 0:48:41and it's taken on this really silvery colouration,
0:48:41 > 0:48:43which is an adaptation to let it survive in the sea.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47They're two different fish, but they were exactly the same beginning?
0:48:47 > 0:48:51They come from the same eggs, the same parents,
0:48:51 > 0:48:53but some make a decision to go to sea.
0:48:53 > 0:48:56They can feed on sand eels and sprat and they grow large very quickly
0:48:56 > 0:49:00and they come back as big, fat females with lots of eggs.
0:49:00 > 0:49:04There may be more food, but there's also a lot more predators in the sea.
0:49:04 > 0:49:06Absolutely. And that's the interesting aspect of this
0:49:06 > 0:49:08from the biologist's point of view.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11There's a strategy here to be adopted. To go to sea, or not,
0:49:11 > 0:49:14is a huge trade-off, a huge risk, huge decision for the fish to make.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19For most fish, the change from salt to fresh water at the estuary mouth
0:49:19 > 0:49:21is an invisible barrier.
0:49:21 > 0:49:24But the sewin isn't most fish.
0:49:24 > 0:49:26It can choose to live in the sea
0:49:26 > 0:49:28and then come back to spawn in the river.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33If I'm going to catch one, I'm going to need some help.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38Traditionally, you fish for sewin at night.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41They're so precious that licences on the Dovey are strictly controlled.
0:49:41 > 0:49:46A season licence will only be granted if you were born within four miles
0:49:46 > 0:49:49of the river, which, luckily, my tutor Illtyd was.
0:49:51 > 0:49:53Go.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56Nearly. Right, nearly. There we are.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59He's been catching sewin for almost 50 years
0:49:59 > 0:50:01and it's taught him patience.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08It takes a lifetime to do that, so I think I'm just going to spend
0:50:08 > 0:50:10the rest of the evening flailing about.
0:50:10 > 0:50:11I managed to tie a knot.
0:50:17 > 0:50:21We dress warmly for the night ahead and pick our flies carefully
0:50:21 > 0:50:24because a sewin's mind isn't on its stomach.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27What we have to remember is these fish don't actually feed
0:50:27 > 0:50:30- in fresh water.- Right.
0:50:30 > 0:50:32Once they've passed the juvenile stage and they've gone to sea,
0:50:32 > 0:50:35they come back, they come back purely to spawn.
0:50:35 > 0:50:39So, the type of flies that we use are a little bit gaudy.
0:50:39 > 0:50:42- Does that make sense? - Yes, I see what you're doing.- Yes.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45This was the river the sewin were born in,
0:50:45 > 0:50:47but their time at sea has made them wary.
0:50:47 > 0:50:51Not interested in feeding, they lie in the deep pools by day,
0:50:51 > 0:50:56venturing out to search for spawning partners under the cover of darkness.
0:50:56 > 0:51:00The slightest torch light near the river will scare them away,
0:51:00 > 0:51:03so our camera switches to night vision.
0:51:10 > 0:51:11(A fish behind me just leaped.)
0:51:14 > 0:51:17It's this very meditative state where it's just you and the river
0:51:17 > 0:51:20and the hope of a fish.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23And there is something very poetic about that.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26I'm yet to quite put the poetry in motion though.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32Have you caught something?
0:51:32 > 0:51:33I heard this leap and a plop.
0:51:37 > 0:51:41There's no fish in this river, it's a big lie.
0:51:41 > 0:51:45Around 1am, the clouds clear and a bright moon comes out.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48I'm delighted to be able to see the river banks again,
0:51:48 > 0:51:51but, for Illtyd, it's a bad omen.
0:51:51 > 0:51:53What I've noticed is, since the moon really came up,
0:51:53 > 0:51:59that, in itself, is deadly for fishing for sea trout at night.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02- Thank you.- But, of course, fishermen are great for making excuses.
0:52:02 > 0:52:07We give up. Illtyd brings, from his car, a brown trout
0:52:07 > 0:52:11he was going to have me compare my sewin with,
0:52:11 > 0:52:13but my sewin is still in the river.
0:52:13 > 0:52:17Fortunately, he caught one yesterday and he's willing to share.
0:52:19 > 0:52:24We can compare the taste now of the sea trout with the brown trout.
0:52:24 > 0:52:25Which shall I go first for?
0:52:25 > 0:52:30Try the brown trout first because I want you to see which one you...
0:52:31 > 0:52:33Mmmm. Mmm.
0:52:33 > 0:52:34The brown trout is delicious.
0:52:36 > 0:52:39But the sewin is in a league of its own.
0:52:39 > 0:52:40The cream of fish.
0:52:43 > 0:52:47- Oh, my God, it's, it's just... - Something special.- Oh, yeah.
0:52:47 > 0:52:51- That is just amazing, the difference is huge, isn't it?- It is, yeah.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54It's the flavour of more life experience,
0:52:54 > 0:52:56of a fish that's become bigger, stronger, tastier food
0:52:56 > 0:52:58by going to sea.
0:52:58 > 0:53:03This really is the most delicious fish.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05Oh, you can taste that it's been somewhere,
0:53:05 > 0:53:08that, you know, it's had an adventure.
0:53:08 > 0:53:09A little bit of Wales.
0:53:09 > 0:53:12- It is. A rather big bit of Wales, actually.- Yeah.
0:53:15 > 0:53:18I'm nearing the end of my journey through North Wales.
0:53:20 > 0:53:24Professor Richard Moore-Colyer is an expert on the droving way of life
0:53:24 > 0:53:27and I'm meeting him where the Welsh drovers would have caught
0:53:27 > 0:53:30their first glimpse of English pastures.
0:53:30 > 0:53:34What a wonderful, typically Welsh view, it is.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37It is a typically Welsh view because it's a typically Welsh sort of day.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41I would have to take your word for it that that is England.
0:53:41 > 0:53:45Behind us lie the mountains of North Wales and, in the mist before us,
0:53:45 > 0:53:49sit the border town of Oswestry and the lush plains of the Midlands.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54By this time, the cattle would begin to smell the rather splendid grass
0:53:54 > 0:53:57that was growing down there, in England.
0:53:57 > 0:54:01- So, what's so great about that grass?- We have to remember that,
0:54:01 > 0:54:04in the years before, I suppose, the mid-1930s,
0:54:04 > 0:54:06people just thought grass grew,
0:54:06 > 0:54:08it was a sort of God-given herb that grew every year
0:54:08 > 0:54:11- and you just got on with it. - I thought that too, I must be frank.
0:54:11 > 0:54:13The problem, of course, as far as Wales was concerned,
0:54:13 > 0:54:16that the naturally-occurring grasses which grew,
0:54:16 > 0:54:18were growing, essentially, on acid soils.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21Much of Wales was acidic, it was wet.
0:54:21 > 0:54:25The quality of the grass that grew there was sufficient to grow cattle
0:54:25 > 0:54:26to what we call store condition,
0:54:26 > 0:54:29but it really wasn't quite good enough to fatten them.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32Whereas, across there, once you got into England,
0:54:32 > 0:54:34the climate, the soil type were such
0:54:34 > 0:54:38to produce grass which was even capable of fattening cattle.
0:54:42 > 0:54:44Only just across the border into England,
0:54:44 > 0:54:47Oswestry is a true market town.
0:54:47 > 0:54:51They've been holding a market here every Wednesday since 1190.
0:54:58 > 0:55:00Sheep and cattle from both sides of the border
0:55:00 > 0:55:02are brought here to be sold.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05And there's one breed that looks very familiar.
0:55:05 > 0:55:08- What's that?- It's a Welsh Black.- Is that a Welsh Black?
0:55:08 > 0:55:10Look, it's Welsh Blacks. Cool.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15What we have here is farmers bringing their cattle to market to be sold.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18Whereas, 150 years ago, most of the cattle
0:55:18 > 0:55:24would be sold by farmers from their farms directly to drovers.
0:55:24 > 0:55:27- That is a thing that still happens? - It still happens today, yes.
0:55:27 > 0:55:28In parts of Wales now,
0:55:28 > 0:55:32because of the improved quality of grassland, animals can be fattened.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34But, still, a lot of farmers,
0:55:34 > 0:55:37particularly on the more remote hill and upland farms,
0:55:37 > 0:55:40produce store cattle for sale for fattening elsewhere.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43When they drove them, did they come back a lot scrawnier than that?
0:55:43 > 0:55:46After they'd been driven for three weeks from Anglesey
0:55:46 > 0:55:48or from Caernarvonshire or West Wales somewhere,
0:55:48 > 0:55:52they would have been very, very, considerably leaner than this one.
0:55:52 > 0:55:55These ones have basically had a big breakfast and got in a car.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58I don't know about a big breakfast, but they've got into a lorry.
0:55:58 > 0:56:02Things have changed enormously, but is there any similarity between
0:56:02 > 0:56:04the people who were here 100 years ago and this lot?
0:56:04 > 0:56:08These men will have had a bacon and egg breakfast and a cup of coffee,
0:56:08 > 0:56:12whereas, most Welsh drovers would have breakfasted on strong beer
0:56:12 > 0:56:17so they'd have been a little more animated than these fellows.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20Would they have all been a bit drunk by the time they came along?
0:56:20 > 0:56:22Well, they might have the odd one or two.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27In the 17th century, it was reported that 3,000 cattle a year
0:56:27 > 0:56:30were walked from Anglesey to England.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33By the 18th century, this number had trebled.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40The Industrial Revolution increased demand for meat in the cities,
0:56:40 > 0:56:43but it also brought with it a new form of transport.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49The coming of the railways in the mid-19th century
0:56:49 > 0:56:53meant meat could be moved cheaply and, above all, quickly.
0:56:53 > 0:56:57So, really, the advent of the railways put paid to the drovers.
0:56:57 > 0:57:01To a very large extent. It certainly put paid to long-distance droving.
0:57:01 > 0:57:04On the other hand, of course, local droving would still be required
0:57:04 > 0:57:08because you've to get the cattle from the farms
0:57:08 > 0:57:11- to the railhead to the market.- This symbiosis between man and beast
0:57:11 > 0:57:14living together and moving through the landscape,
0:57:14 > 0:57:16that was the thing that slowly petered away.
0:57:16 > 0:57:18I think that petered away, yes.
0:57:18 > 0:57:22Pretty well by the 1860s, 1870s, that had largely gone.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25Over time, the railways also fell from favour.
0:57:25 > 0:57:29Oswestry's train station was once a hub for livestock,
0:57:29 > 0:57:32now, it's being restored as a museum.
0:57:34 > 0:57:37Today, all cattle movements are restricted and licensed.
0:57:37 > 0:57:39Animals are transported directly
0:57:39 > 0:57:43from field to farm to market by road.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46They're very well looked after, of course, but it's different.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51It's all a long way, really, from back in Anglesey
0:57:51 > 0:57:53with Reverend Richards and with Idris,
0:57:53 > 0:57:56coming over the water and into Wales.
0:57:56 > 0:57:59And we talked about life being lived at the pace of the cattle,
0:57:59 > 0:58:00a symbiosis between man and nature.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03Then, the railways came, everything got mechanised and speeded up
0:58:03 > 0:58:06and, suddenly, here, it's all about the trucks and the lorries
0:58:06 > 0:58:08and traffic and the cars and the metal cages
0:58:08 > 0:58:11and hundreds and hundreds of cattle being driven through.
0:58:11 > 0:58:13And we're not living at their pace anymore,
0:58:13 > 0:58:15we're making them live at ours.
0:58:21 > 0:58:23This market is all that's left of a trade
0:58:23 > 0:58:26that helped shape North Wales and its food.
0:58:29 > 0:58:33This is a part of the country defined by nature and harnessed
0:58:33 > 0:58:35with sheer, hard graft.
0:58:35 > 0:58:39A land carved out by people like the drovers.
0:58:45 > 0:58:49Next time, we're exploring Kent,
0:58:49 > 0:58:52the garden of England on the doorstep of Europe.
0:58:52 > 0:58:55I don't think I've ever seen anything
0:58:55 > 0:58:59- that looks less like beer. - It's ale, lad, it's ale.- Ale!
0:59:06 > 0:59:09Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd