Brits at Play

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0:02:47 > 0:02:49The soft, green countryside of Kent

0:02:49 > 0:02:50with its apple orchards...

0:02:53 > 0:02:54..and its hop farms.

0:02:59 > 0:03:02Picking hops, that's the purpose of THIS outing.

0:03:11 > 0:03:15The visitors live in corrugated iron sheds, which have to be made as much like home as possible.

0:03:15 > 0:03:18So they've brought the spare-room lino

0:03:18 > 0:03:20and a spot of fancy wallpaper.

0:03:31 > 0:03:34Settled in - well, almost - with old friends from home.

0:03:34 > 0:03:37And you remember the people who were here last year.

0:03:43 > 0:03:45It's not long before supper's cooking.

0:03:45 > 0:03:47Scrumptious!

0:03:47 > 0:03:51The bigger families have their own kitchen where they cook...

0:03:51 > 0:03:53and eat

0:03:53 > 0:03:55and sit around listening to the wireless.

0:03:55 > 0:03:58The hops grow like runner beans, climbing up strings.

0:03:58 > 0:04:01You pull one down, and everyone sets too

0:04:01 > 0:04:04to nip off the green flowers and toss them into the family bin.

0:04:07 > 0:04:09Many of the hoppers are old.

0:04:10 > 0:04:12But there are young ones too.

0:04:17 > 0:04:19"Look what you're doing, can't you!"

0:04:21 > 0:04:24Mm-hm, another hop garden romance on the way.

0:04:24 > 0:04:27There's not been a specially large crop of hops,

0:04:27 > 0:04:28but it's good-quality stuff.

0:04:28 > 0:04:32In the three-week season, nearly 15,000 tons of hops

0:04:32 > 0:04:36have been picked, and that's enough for 800 million pints of beer.

0:04:41 > 0:04:43Before the hops go to the brewery,

0:04:43 > 0:04:46they must be dried in the oast house.

0:05:04 > 0:05:06Soon the hop gardens will be bare.

0:05:08 > 0:05:11And the last trailer on its way to the oast house.

0:05:11 > 0:05:13Then comes payday!

0:05:13 > 0:05:17The head of the family presents the tally card to the farmer and receives the cash.

0:05:17 > 0:05:18A happy time.

0:05:27 > 0:05:30Yes, the time for celebration.

0:05:30 > 0:05:33And, having picked so many hops, who can resist tasting a few?

0:06:05 > 0:06:07Holidays with play...

0:06:07 > 0:06:10The subject is always news.

0:06:10 > 0:06:15Millions of us, all over Britain, start planning our holidays soon after Christmas.

0:06:15 > 0:06:17We save up for them all of the year round. We take them in the summer

0:06:17 > 0:06:21and then we're ready to talk about them for the rest of the year.

0:06:35 > 0:06:38Can you wonder that the water's becoming more and more

0:06:38 > 0:06:40part of the national way of life.

0:06:44 > 0:06:46Just a quiet deckchair on the beach,

0:06:46 > 0:06:48and there's plenty to do and, er...

0:06:48 > 0:06:49plenty to look at!

0:06:52 > 0:06:57Steady now! A chap gets short of breath watching all this exercise.

0:06:59 > 0:07:01By the time the season's over,

0:07:01 > 0:07:05about eight million people will have sat on Blackpool sands.

0:07:05 > 0:07:10Many of them day-trippers, many of them from the town's 5,000 hotels and boarding houses.

0:07:11 > 0:07:13If you're in the mood, you can do the shows,

0:07:13 > 0:07:16which range from West End films and spectaculars,

0:07:16 > 0:07:17to Punch and Judy.

0:07:17 > 0:07:19THEY LAUGH

0:07:28 > 0:07:30The Golden Mile and the funfairs

0:07:30 > 0:07:33are Blackpool's own answer to the competition of the holiday camps,

0:07:33 > 0:07:36and other resorts are meeting the challenge too.

0:07:36 > 0:07:38If it's been a hard year's work you can unwind

0:07:38 > 0:07:42and forget all about it among the sideshows. There's always something to do.

0:07:54 > 0:07:56Today, in this restless world,

0:07:56 > 0:07:59most of us have more money in our pockets than ever before

0:07:59 > 0:08:02and there are a wider and wider choice of holiday to choose from.

0:08:15 > 0:08:19Every year about 1.5 million people in Britain go to holiday camps.

0:08:19 > 0:08:22Today there are camps to suit all tastes.

0:08:22 > 0:08:26In the last ten years, the number of holiday campers has trebled.

0:08:31 > 0:08:34The big attraction of holiday camps is undoubtedly the fact

0:08:34 > 0:08:37that everything is laid on in one place. You can join in, or not, as you wish.

0:08:37 > 0:08:40Most camps are near the sea, or a river.

0:08:41 > 0:08:45And, even in a self-catering camp,

0:08:45 > 0:08:48there are restaurants if you want a change from doing your own cooking.

0:08:51 > 0:08:54The holiday camp is one place where you'll never see the sign

0:08:54 > 0:08:56"no children allowed".

0:09:08 > 0:09:11In these camps, children are catered for

0:09:11 > 0:09:13probably better than in any other form of organised holiday.

0:09:13 > 0:09:15From the moment they get up, bright and early,

0:09:15 > 0:09:19until it's time to go to bed and leave their parents to spend

0:09:19 > 0:09:20the sort of evening THEY want.

0:09:22 > 0:09:24At the modern holiday camp, of this size,

0:09:24 > 0:09:26there's every kind of entertainment,

0:09:26 > 0:09:29from organised sports, to film shows.

0:09:29 > 0:09:33There's dancing for as many hours as anybody could possibly want.

0:09:33 > 0:09:36Events like mother and child contests

0:09:36 > 0:09:38help while away a wet afternoon.

0:09:38 > 0:09:41One of the big problems of British holiday camps is the weather

0:09:41 > 0:09:43and alternative indoor programmes

0:09:43 > 0:09:46are ready to be brought into operation whenever they're needed.

0:09:46 > 0:09:48For those with a little more money to spend,

0:09:48 > 0:09:51and who want to be sure of the sunshine,

0:09:51 > 0:09:55there are now holiday camps around the Mediterranean.

0:09:55 > 0:09:57Some of the new ones are British.

0:09:57 > 0:10:00These holidaymakers are on their way to a camp, south of Naples -

0:10:00 > 0:10:04one of 14 along the Mediterranean coast run by a French organisation.

0:10:22 > 0:10:25This, of course, is a holiday camp with a difference,

0:10:25 > 0:10:28with blue skies and golden beaches and a South Sea Island welcome.

0:10:35 > 0:10:39At this kind of holiday camp, the accent is always on sunbathing,

0:10:39 > 0:10:41despite all the other diversions.

0:11:01 > 0:11:02And when the sun has set,

0:11:02 > 0:11:05the evenings are warm enough to dance in the open air.

0:11:09 > 0:11:12When you arrive at the camp, you buy yourself a necklace

0:11:12 > 0:11:16and you pay for your drinks, and anything else you want, with a bead or two.

0:11:16 > 0:11:20All this may seem a far cry from holiday camps in Britain,

0:11:20 > 0:11:23though it's really the same mixture with a continental flavour.

0:12:01 > 0:12:03Down the coast towards Rome, we come to Pisa,

0:12:03 > 0:12:06with its famous leaning tower.

0:12:07 > 0:12:10It really does lean,

0:12:10 > 0:12:11more than 16 feet out of the perpendicular

0:12:11 > 0:12:14but it's been leaning for 800 years,

0:12:14 > 0:12:17so it's no good hanging around for it to fall.

0:12:17 > 0:12:21Even if you don't understand the language, shopping is easy.

0:12:21 > 0:12:22So easy, it's hard to say no.

0:12:24 > 0:12:27The flower of Italy is Florence.

0:12:27 > 0:12:30So full of art treasures it would take weeks to see them all.

0:12:32 > 0:12:36Here's the Ponte Vecchio, one of the loveliest bridges in the word.

0:12:36 > 0:12:38But we're bound for Rome

0:12:38 > 0:12:42and we pass along the Assisi road, reminding us of St Francis,

0:12:42 > 0:12:44the founder of the Franciscan Order of monks.

0:12:48 > 0:12:50The warm Mediterranean at last.

0:12:52 > 0:12:54And time for a paddle.

0:12:54 > 0:12:56There's no doubt about it, it's warmer than Blackpool.

0:13:06 > 0:13:09The great romantic Byron wrote,

0:13:09 > 0:13:12"While stands the Colosseum, Rome shall stand.

0:13:12 > 0:13:15"When falls the Colosseum, Rome shall fall.

0:13:15 > 0:13:18"And when Rome falls, the world."

0:13:58 > 0:14:00And so to the air ferry,

0:14:00 > 0:14:04the fastest method of transplanting the motorist and his car

0:14:04 > 0:14:06furthest away from it all.

0:14:07 > 0:14:10Having booked several months in advance,

0:14:10 > 0:14:13you drive to Southend, Lydd, or Bournemouth,

0:14:13 > 0:14:15according to where you want to go.

0:14:15 > 0:14:17Onto the ramp goes your medium-sized car,

0:14:17 > 0:14:19up and into the plane's nose

0:14:19 > 0:14:24to the Channel Islands, France, Switzerland or Holland.

0:14:24 > 0:14:26At this moment, you, your partner and your car

0:14:26 > 0:14:28are 50 minutes away from Le Touquet,

0:14:28 > 0:14:33a trip that'll cost you, altogether, about £25 return.

0:14:33 > 0:14:35You are also 75 minutes away from Rotterdam

0:14:35 > 0:14:37for roughly double that cost,

0:14:37 > 0:14:41and 2 hours 35 minutes from Geneva, at double the cost again.

0:15:02 > 0:15:06You don't have to be a motorist trying to pass it

0:15:06 > 0:15:09to realise this has become a familiar sight on Britain's roads.

0:15:09 > 0:15:14In less than 20 years, caravanning has established itself

0:15:14 > 0:15:17as one of the most popular ways of spending a holiday in this country.

0:15:17 > 0:15:21Today there are nearly 75,000 touring trailer caravans,

0:15:21 > 0:15:23about 10,000 motor caravans

0:15:23 > 0:15:27and around 250,000 caravans which are permanently on sites.

0:15:35 > 0:15:39This camp in Dorset is one of 4,200 up and down the country.

0:15:39 > 0:15:41It's also one of the biggest.

0:15:41 > 0:15:43There are more than 1,000 caravans here

0:15:43 > 0:15:47and all kinds of amenities for all ages.

0:15:47 > 0:15:50There are shops of one kind and another.

0:16:00 > 0:16:03There's plenty of space for games...

0:16:03 > 0:16:06and bicycles made for two.

0:16:08 > 0:16:09There's even a miniature railway.

0:16:13 > 0:16:17This kind of caravan accommodates the whole family comfortably.

0:16:17 > 0:16:19You can buy a caravan today

0:16:19 > 0:16:23for anything from £250 to more than £3,000.

0:16:23 > 0:16:27Of course, you don't have to buy a caravan to put up for the night by the roadside.

0:16:27 > 0:16:29You could, for instance, do this...

0:17:17 > 0:17:19Up in the Highlands of Scotland,

0:17:19 > 0:17:23they're saying, "There's no business like snow business."

0:17:23 > 0:17:26Right across the Cairngorm mountains, the spine of Scotland,

0:17:26 > 0:17:28towering more than 4,000 feet high,

0:17:28 > 0:17:32the icy vastnesses are being turned into a skiers' playground

0:17:32 > 0:17:34from the middle of December to April

0:17:34 > 0:17:37and even into May on the higher ground.

0:17:38 > 0:17:40It all adds up to a revolution,

0:17:40 > 0:17:43to a business worth £500,000 a season.

0:17:43 > 0:17:46It has all been created in the last few years.

0:17:47 > 0:17:51Every weekend some 10,000 Scots make for the main skiing centres

0:17:51 > 0:17:54to join tourists from all over Britain in some 70 hotels,

0:17:54 > 0:17:58many of which used to close down for the winter.

0:17:58 > 0:18:01Ski schools like this have been set up,

0:18:01 > 0:18:04with experienced instructors from Norway, Austrian and Switzerland.

0:18:07 > 0:18:09But not all learners make as successful a run as this.

0:18:16 > 0:18:19And not many expert skiers, with their novice days long behind them,

0:18:19 > 0:18:22can mamba like these aces.

0:18:22 > 0:18:26This deep, crisp snow has brought new life to the Highlands

0:18:26 > 0:18:29and a new light on the age-old problem

0:18:29 > 0:18:33of how to make the most of this far north of Britain.

0:18:33 > 0:18:36In a changing world, the people of the Highlands

0:18:36 > 0:18:39are moving fast with the times.

0:18:39 > 0:18:43They're out to make skiing as Scottish as haggis and whisky.

0:18:43 > 0:18:45They're leaping into a prosperous future.

0:19:02 > 0:19:05There's one golden rule for keeping fit nowadays - enjoy it.

0:19:05 > 0:19:08It doesn't matter, say the experts, what exercise you do,

0:19:08 > 0:19:11so long as you WANT to, then you'll get results.

0:19:12 > 0:19:15This tough, muscle-pulling stuff, for instance,

0:19:15 > 0:19:19is all very well, but for the likes of you and me,

0:19:19 > 0:19:22perhaps it's better to try something that comes more naturally.

0:19:28 > 0:19:30That's what the Central Council Of Physical Recreation says

0:19:30 > 0:19:34and that's what they encourage at evening classes throughout the country

0:19:34 > 0:19:37and at their three centres where, yearly,

0:19:37 > 0:19:40more than 15,000 people spend a week's sporting holiday.

0:19:44 > 0:19:47Experts are on hand to teach and encourage.

0:19:47 > 0:19:48Maybe it's archery.

0:19:52 > 0:19:54Weightlifters from all over the country

0:19:54 > 0:19:57come to Bisham Abbey for instruction from Al Murray,

0:19:57 > 0:19:59Britain's national and Olympic coach.

0:19:59 > 0:20:03Remember - nothing to stop you trying so long as you want to.

0:20:09 > 0:20:11What's this? A family of weight lifters?

0:20:11 > 0:20:13Looks like it.

0:20:15 > 0:20:17Hey! Take it easy, son.

0:20:17 > 0:20:19Timber yard manager Jack Edmonds, of Mortlake, Surrey,

0:20:19 > 0:20:21says it's the best exercise of all.

0:20:21 > 0:20:26So he has his three sons out in the back garden every morning.

0:20:26 > 0:20:2860lbs for Jackie, aged 8.

0:20:32 > 0:20:3465lbs for Raymond, 11.

0:20:40 > 0:20:42And, for Keith, who's only a three-year-old,

0:20:42 > 0:20:44just 16lbs.

0:20:46 > 0:20:48Here's more my idea of exercises,

0:20:48 > 0:20:51rhythmical movements to music by the Keep Fit Association.

0:21:03 > 0:21:05More movement to music -

0:21:05 > 0:21:08the Margaret Morris technique of self-expression.

0:21:08 > 0:21:11Given a subject to represent, each person expresses it in her own way

0:21:11 > 0:21:14and gets plenty of exercise in the process.

0:21:14 > 0:21:17After being solids, they now imagine they're liquids -

0:21:17 > 0:21:20water, not beer - and weave all over the place.

0:21:36 > 0:21:40A favourite is to imagine they're tied up in plastic bags.

0:21:40 > 0:21:42Then they've got to claw their way out.

0:21:58 > 0:22:00London businessman Albert Meltzer

0:22:00 > 0:22:03has solved his problem of exercise by stopping off every morning

0:22:03 > 0:22:05at Highgate Ponds.

0:22:05 > 0:22:08He's been doing it for 15 years now, summer and winter.

0:22:15 > 0:22:19He allows himself a ten-minute dip.

0:22:28 > 0:22:32Then a good rub down and he's on his way to his King's Cross bookshop.

0:22:40 > 0:22:42Cycling's another way.

0:22:44 > 0:22:47Mr Murphy of Streatham rides for an hour every morning,

0:22:47 > 0:22:50whatever the weather.

0:22:52 > 0:22:54Oh, well, at least he gets the exercise!

0:23:26 > 0:23:31Yoga exercises are practised today in homes up and down the country,

0:23:31 > 0:23:32or at classes at a yoga centre,

0:23:32 > 0:23:35where lectures are given on the meaning of the science.

0:23:35 > 0:23:38Here, once or twice a week, students learn

0:23:38 > 0:23:41the two kinds of exercise that form Hatha yoga -

0:23:41 > 0:23:45the yoga of physical fitness and the control of mind and body.

0:23:45 > 0:23:50First they must learn to control their breathing and their minds.

0:23:58 > 0:24:00Next come the pure exercises.

0:24:00 > 0:24:04There are 84 traditional postures in Hatha yoga

0:24:04 > 0:24:08and they are variations of seven basic postures.

0:24:08 > 0:24:10Yoga, say its teachers, is not a religion,

0:24:10 > 0:24:14it's a way of life. The techniques taught at a yoga course

0:24:14 > 0:24:16are claimed to keep the students fit

0:24:16 > 0:24:19and to enable them to achieve perfect relaxation,

0:24:19 > 0:24:22to remove tension and to balance body and mind.

0:24:45 > 0:24:48For some people, relaxation means keeping perfectly still.

0:24:48 > 0:24:50For others, it means just the opposite.

0:24:50 > 0:24:53And, if you're between 4 and 14,

0:24:53 > 0:24:55your idea of relaxing is never to relax for a minute,

0:24:55 > 0:24:58like these children in some of London's playgrounds,

0:24:58 > 0:25:01which have been specially designed for them to do just that.

0:25:07 > 0:25:09The Greater London Council

0:25:09 > 0:25:13began to think along adventure playground lines in 1959.

0:25:13 > 0:25:16Now 28 parks all over the London area

0:25:16 > 0:25:19have special play parks in them, like this one in Battersea Park.

0:25:19 > 0:25:23Play parks open during the spring and summer school holidays all day,

0:25:23 > 0:25:26and from 5:30pm to 8pm in term-time.

0:25:41 > 0:25:43No two play parks are exactly alike.

0:25:43 > 0:25:45Each reflects the outlook of its leader.

0:25:45 > 0:25:47Free play is encouraged,

0:25:47 > 0:25:50but it still needs unobtrusive leadership to be enjoyable.

0:25:54 > 0:25:57Up and down the country, the idea of free, creative play

0:25:57 > 0:25:59is being developed.

0:25:59 > 0:26:02This playground, on the edge of a Birmingham housing estate,

0:26:02 > 0:26:05was laid out by the Landscape section of the city's architects' department.

0:26:05 > 0:26:09While this comprehensive playground was still being built

0:26:09 > 0:26:11by the Nuneaton local authority,

0:26:11 > 0:26:13it was invaded and occupied by the children.

0:26:17 > 0:26:19The mounds have been made with rubbish from the site

0:26:19 > 0:26:22and surfaced with concrete for bad-weather use.

0:26:22 > 0:26:26Another new piece of equipment is the aerial ropeway,

0:26:26 > 0:26:28which became a firm favourite in no time.

0:26:28 > 0:26:31Good fun and good exercise too.

0:26:40 > 0:26:42Even with free, creative play,

0:26:42 > 0:26:44healthy competition can be stimulating.

0:26:44 > 0:26:48Leader Murray Marks, of the Cumberland Play Centre in Camden,

0:26:48 > 0:26:51decided to organise a soapbox derby

0:26:51 > 0:26:53among the children in the area

0:26:53 > 0:26:56and everyone entered into the spirit of the thing with a will.

0:27:14 > 0:27:16The heats were run on a time basis

0:27:16 > 0:27:19and there was what could be called "a soft finish".

0:27:24 > 0:27:28This is the sort of contest in which it doesn't really matter who wins.

0:27:28 > 0:27:30It's the adventure that counts.

0:28:35 > 0:28:38Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd