0:00:04 > 0:00:08For Edwardian Britons, a Bradshaw's was an indispensable guide
0:00:08 > 0:00:11to a railway network at its peak.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16I'm using an early 20th-century edition
0:00:16 > 0:00:19to navigate a vibrant and optimistic Britain
0:00:19 > 0:00:22at the height of its power and influence in the world.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27But a nation wrestling with political,
0:00:27 > 0:00:30social and industrial unrest at home.
0:00:56 > 0:01:01As I conclude my journey in Wales, I fulfil a personal ambition -
0:01:01 > 0:01:04visiting the home of one of my political heroes,
0:01:04 > 0:01:08the only Welsh Prime Minister we've had, David Lloyd George.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11Before the First World War, he pushed through economic,
0:01:11 > 0:01:16social and constitutional change as a liberal.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20He applied his inexhaustible energy to winning that war,
0:01:20 > 0:01:24emerging as the nation's leader in victory.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27Yet, when peace came, he led a coalition
0:01:27 > 0:01:31that was mainly Conservative, plunging the Liberals into
0:01:31 > 0:01:36a wilderness from which they have yet to emerge 100 years later.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48My journey started in East Yorkshire
0:01:48 > 0:01:50and went on to the city of York.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53I tracked inland across the industrial heartlands
0:01:53 > 0:01:57of West and South Yorkshire and Merseyside.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00I explored Edwardian Liverpool
0:02:00 > 0:02:03and made my way along the North Wales coast,
0:02:03 > 0:02:06so as to finish in Caernarfon.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09I begin the last leg of my journey in picturesque Snowdonia,
0:02:09 > 0:02:13taking advantage of its splendid heritage railways,
0:02:13 > 0:02:17to make my way to the hometown of David Lloyd George.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20I'll strike north to Penrhyn Slate Quarry
0:02:20 > 0:02:24and then west to finish my journey in Caernarfon's imposing castle.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30Today, I follow in the footsteps of Edwardian climbers...
0:02:31 > 0:02:33We've made it! Good stuff.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35- And a great view.- Yeah, stunning.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39..meet a descendant of a great British Prime Minister...
0:02:39 > 0:02:42How would you assess Lloyd George's role in winning World War I?
0:02:42 > 0:02:44Victory was his goal, not glory.
0:02:44 > 0:02:50..and after the Flying Scotsman, watch out for a flying Englishman.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53Oh, my goodness! Oh, so close to the ground!
0:03:03 > 0:03:07My train is running along the valley of the River Conwy
0:03:07 > 0:03:11towards Betws-y-Coed, which my Bradshaw's describes as,
0:03:11 > 0:03:16"One of the most, if not THE most charming spot in North Wales."
0:03:16 > 0:03:21It offers a combination of rock and mountains, valley and river.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25People come for the exhilarating air and the delightful scenery,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28and Snowdon may be ascended.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32It seems that a Welsh solicitor on his way to 10 Downing Street
0:03:32 > 0:03:36was not the only one to see the opportunity
0:03:36 > 0:03:38to climb out of the valleys.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46Very well, enjoying the scenery so much.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48- Oh, it's beautiful, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54At the time of my Bradshaw's,
0:03:54 > 0:03:58this railway line served both the slate industry and tourists.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20And my visit to this charming, exhilarating place
0:04:20 > 0:04:25begins with one of the prettiest railway stations I've ever seen.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31Betws-y-Coed means "prayer house in the wood",
0:04:31 > 0:04:34but the town certainly has a bucolic quality.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40One establishment here would have welcomed guests
0:04:40 > 0:04:41at the time of my Bradshaw's
0:04:41 > 0:04:44and it seems to have an interesting history.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51Nick Pullee is owner and manager of the Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55- Hello!- Hello there!
0:04:55 > 0:04:56Hello, how are you? Nice to meet you.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58- Very good to see you.- How's things?
0:04:58 > 0:05:02I saw the sign outside says, "The home of British mountaineering."
0:05:02 > 0:05:05- How so?- From the very earliest days of the Victorians
0:05:05 > 0:05:09coming out here to explore and climb in this area,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12along with those people came some folks
0:05:12 > 0:05:14that later went on to become quite famous,
0:05:14 > 0:05:20climbing some of the larger peaks in the Alps and around the world -
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Winthrop Young, in particular.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25The journalist and poet Geoffrey Winthrop Young
0:05:25 > 0:05:30created a mountaineering community here by organising climbing parties
0:05:30 > 0:05:34between 1903 and the 1930s.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38Despite losing a leg during the First World War, he pressed on,
0:05:38 > 0:05:43using his training in Snowdonia to prepare for great climbs,
0:05:43 > 0:05:44including the Matterhorn.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47I always think of British mountains as being rather puny
0:05:47 > 0:05:49but they are useful, are they, to practise?
0:05:49 > 0:05:52They are. Very, very useful, actually.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54I mean, if you came back here midwinter,
0:05:54 > 0:05:56you can find gullies and ravines,
0:05:56 > 0:06:01exactly like there are in the Himalayas, covered in snow and ice.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05In 1953, a team of climbers who had trained in Snowdonia
0:06:05 > 0:06:08made their way to the Himalayas,
0:06:08 > 0:06:13among them were Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16the first two men to reach Mount Everest's summit
0:06:16 > 0:06:19and to return to tell the tale.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22A lot of the history and all the first ascents and everything
0:06:22 > 0:06:26have been very handily put down in this lovely old book.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30We've had that here, even before our family were here in the '40s.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32It goes right back to 1850.
0:06:32 > 0:06:37And this is the day that Everest was climbed, in '53.
0:06:37 > 0:06:38It's a lovely thing, this.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42There's a little illustration of Everest and a Union Jack!
0:06:42 > 0:06:44"The news reached Pen-y-Gwryd
0:06:44 > 0:06:46"at four minutes past one on Coronation Day that
0:06:46 > 0:06:49"Everest had been climbed by Hillary, the New Zealander and Tenzing.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53"We celebrated this wonderful occasion in the PYG,
0:06:53 > 0:06:55"the Pen-y-Gwryd Manor."
0:06:55 > 0:06:58Oh, and here, photographs of the entire team, yeah?
0:06:58 > 0:07:00That's right, they all came to stay here and train here.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02And they continued to come, having climbed the mountain.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05So your grandfather knew all these people then, did he?
0:07:05 > 0:07:06Yeah, very much, they were good friends.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09I mean, I remember them myself when I was younger.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Certainly Tenzing giving us piggy-backs up and down the stairs.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15And so this book lives in the pub?
0:07:15 > 0:07:16Under lock and key.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19It's part of the foundation and history of the building,
0:07:19 > 0:07:22- so it has to stay here, yeah. - Beautiful.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27I don't expect ever to climb Everest,
0:07:27 > 0:07:29but I want a taste of what Winthrop Young,
0:07:29 > 0:07:33Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing experienced.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37Climbing instructor David Rudkin has agreed to take me on
0:07:37 > 0:07:40some of the easier routes that Snowdonia has to offer.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46Just over the clearing cloud is Snowdon,
0:07:46 > 0:07:48the highest mountain in Wales.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50How much of it can we not see at the moment?
0:07:50 > 0:07:53It's just the last couple of hundred metres, really,
0:07:53 > 0:07:55- that's not quite showing. - Beautiful valley.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00So, this is where we're going to start the scrambling from, Michael,
0:08:00 > 0:08:04so we'll pop our helmets on here as it just gets a little bit steeper.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08- We're going up that thing, are we? - That's it.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10So, we're just following this line of big footholds
0:08:10 > 0:08:12- straight up.- OK.
0:08:12 > 0:08:13Doesn't look too bad so far.
0:08:15 > 0:08:16Yeah, that's it, placing your boots there.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20That's spot on, Michael.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22- Happy with progress? - Yeah, really good.
0:08:22 > 0:08:23That's a good one just there.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25- Good.- Great.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28One big step here, so you've got to place your foot up.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31Oh, I've got you. We've made it!
0:08:31 > 0:08:33Good stuff. It's like a staircase, really.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35- Yeah.- And you call this scrambling?
0:08:35 > 0:08:37Is that a recognised activity, then?
0:08:37 > 0:08:38- Absolutely, yeah.- Uh-huh.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40So, this is where you are often just ascending
0:08:40 > 0:08:42those steeper parts of the mountain,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45where you are going to use your hands a little bit more.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47Spot on, great.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53- Are you quite a fraternity, you climbers?- Yeah, definitely.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56It's a real sort of bond you get with the friends that you climb with
0:08:56 > 0:08:58and you're certainly used to looking after each other.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01- And one last one to the top. - A nice big step at the end.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07Made it again. And a great view.
0:09:07 > 0:09:08Where have you climbed, David?
0:09:08 > 0:09:10I've climbed all over the world, actually,
0:09:10 > 0:09:13in some of the mountains in the Alps, in the Himalayas,
0:09:13 > 0:09:15like Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Well, I'm a city man myself,
0:09:17 > 0:09:20but I do see the point of scrambling
0:09:20 > 0:09:23- when you end up looking at that. - Yeah, that's it.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25A fantastic view, eh? Stunning.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39I'm bound now for Criccieth.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41For the first leg of my journey,
0:09:41 > 0:09:44I have the pleasure of travelling powered by steam.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48I last travelled on the Ffestiniog Heritage Railway
0:09:48 > 0:09:52seven years ago and I have very fond memories of it.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55The line was built to take the slate down to Porthmadog.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58And this locomotive is very exceptional.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00It's called a Double Fairlie.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02It's like a mirror image of itself.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04And today, guess what?
0:10:04 > 0:10:07My locomotive is named David Lloyd George.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12It's a good omen, as he is the very object
0:10:12 > 0:10:15of an excursion that is special to me.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43I'm making my way by degrees towards Criccieth,
0:10:43 > 0:10:48which Bradshaw's tells me is situated overlooking Cardigan Bay.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52"A high conical rock with an old castle juts out
0:10:52 > 0:10:54"and divides the sea frontage.
0:10:54 > 0:10:59"Modern terraces and villas are built east and west of the castle."
0:10:59 > 0:11:04Was it something about this place that made David Lloyd George,
0:11:04 > 0:11:10in his own words, "wage implacable war against poverty and squalidness"?
0:11:40 > 0:11:42- Thank you.- Thank you very much.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44I've forgotten how spectacular it is.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46- It's superb, isn't it? - Oh, it's wonderful.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48- Thank you. Bye-bye. - Thank you. Goodbye, Michael.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53Bye-bye!
0:12:00 > 0:12:04I'm swapping narrow gauge for standard gauge at Minffordd.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13Before arriving at Criccieth, the railway hugs the coast,
0:12:13 > 0:12:16giving me a chance to catch a glimpse of its beautiful castle.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29My destination lies a couple of miles west of Criccieth,
0:12:29 > 0:12:33in Llanystumdwy, where David Lloyd George grew up.
0:12:33 > 0:12:38I'm excited to be meeting one of his descendants, Benji Kerry Evans.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42- Hello, Benji, I'm Michael. - Michael, lovely to meet you.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45- Welcome to the Lloyd George Museum. - Thank you very much indeed.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48And there we have a bust of David Lloyd George, the great man.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51- What relation was he to you? - He was my grandfather.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53And did you know him?
0:12:53 > 0:12:56Well, yes, I did know him up till about 17 or 18,
0:12:56 > 0:13:00- when I joined the services. - What are your memories of him?
0:13:00 > 0:13:02Well, he was a dramatic personality.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04Charismatic, fabulous man.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06I've never met anybody like him.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08- Extraordinary.- What in particular?
0:13:08 > 0:13:10Well, his memory. He never seemed to forget a book that he read.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12Did he have affection for you as his grandson?
0:13:12 > 0:13:14Well, yes, he was very good with...
0:13:14 > 0:13:16He always wanted to know what we were doing in school,
0:13:16 > 0:13:18and since I wasn't doing very well
0:13:18 > 0:13:20it was rather a disappointment for me!
0:13:20 > 0:13:23David Lloyd George was born in Manchester
0:13:23 > 0:13:26under the name David George and was one year old
0:13:26 > 0:13:29when his father died and he moved to this village.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33Benji, I've often thought about seeing this house.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35This is where Lloyd George grew up.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42His mother moved the family to this house to live with his uncle
0:13:42 > 0:13:44Richard Lloyd, a staunch liberal,
0:13:44 > 0:13:49whose influence was such that David would add Lloyd to his surname.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52So here we are in the childhood home of Lloyd George,
0:13:52 > 0:13:54and it is quite a comfortable place.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56I'm wondering, where do you think
0:13:56 > 0:13:59his great interest in social justice came from?
0:13:59 > 0:14:02Well, this was an industrial area in those days.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05The Ffestiniog quarries were slating the roots of the world
0:14:05 > 0:14:07and I think that's where he got his social justice,
0:14:07 > 0:14:09all the hardship of the quarrymen.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11And the Lloyd Georges spoke Welsh at home, did they?
0:14:11 > 0:14:14Yes. Absolutely. Yes, first language.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17So, for David Lloyd George, English was the second language?
0:14:17 > 0:14:20Yes. Yes, definitely.
0:14:20 > 0:14:21Remarkable thought.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24Equipped with a brilliant mind,
0:14:24 > 0:14:29Lloyd George was elected Liberal MP for Caernarfon at the age of 27.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33He became Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1908.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35Two years into the Great War,
0:14:35 > 0:14:40he became Secretary of State for War and, within months, Prime Minister.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43How would you assess his role in winning World War I?
0:14:43 > 0:14:44Oh, it was absolute.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46Victory was his goal,
0:14:46 > 0:14:49not glory. He never took credit for anything.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52He said, "Oh, no, no, no, I didn't win the war.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55"Three things won the war - the blockade, the women,
0:14:55 > 0:14:58"and the remarkable courage of the British troops.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00"That's what won the war."
0:15:00 > 0:15:03He was what they call a people's Prime Minister.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05He wanted to do it right by the people.
0:15:06 > 0:15:11In his own words, Lloyd George saw his task as making Britain
0:15:11 > 0:15:14a country fit for heroes to live in.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17He's buried in the village in which he grew up.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30Here lies David Lloyd George.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33You may be surprised that he's a hero of mine
0:15:33 > 0:15:36since his politics and mine were very different.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40He was personally responsible for social reform,
0:15:40 > 0:15:45for waging the Great War, for writing the peace.
0:15:45 > 0:15:52A statesmen carries to his grave all his successes and all his failures.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54The important thing is to make a difference.
0:15:56 > 0:15:57He did.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21It's a new day in the mountains of North Wales.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27Under this beautiful landscape
0:16:27 > 0:16:30lies some of the highest quality slate in the world.
0:16:33 > 0:16:3820 miles north of Llanystumdwy, I'll find the Penrhyn Slate Quarry.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42At the turn of the 20th century, it was a vast operation,
0:16:42 > 0:16:47with a main pit nearly one mile long and over 1,000 feet deep.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55News here of a highly acrimonious industrial dispute -
0:16:55 > 0:16:59a lock-out at the Penrhyn Slate Quarries.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02The Wrexham Advertiser of the 1st of December, 1900
0:17:02 > 0:17:06reports that work is completely at a standstill.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10Men have left for South Wales in search of work.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13It's not known how long it will last, some say for months,
0:17:13 > 0:17:15others say it will be permanent.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18I'm headed to the quarry myself now
0:17:18 > 0:17:21to find out what caused such a deep rift in the valleys.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30The historian David Gwynn can tell me all about it.
0:17:32 > 0:17:36David, I find it hard to grasp the scale of Penrhyn Quarry.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38What was it like in its heyday?
0:17:38 > 0:17:43Well, 117 years ago, it was much the biggest slate quarry in the world.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46Huge employer. But it had become a bit of a dinosaur,
0:17:46 > 0:17:50still working on methods that would have been recognised by quarrymen
0:17:50 > 0:17:53who'd been there in the middle of the 19th century.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55Conditions were hard,
0:17:55 > 0:17:59and serious accidents and fatalities were common.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02The quarry's owner, Lord Penrhyn, and his English manager,
0:18:02 > 0:18:07were determined to prevent their workforce from becoming unionised.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10What was it that caused the lock-out, do you think?
0:18:10 > 0:18:13Fundamentally, I think we would have to say that
0:18:13 > 0:18:17it was a conflict of two social visions.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20The conservative Anglican forces represented by
0:18:20 > 0:18:23Emilius Alexander Young, the quarry manager,
0:18:23 > 0:18:26an Englishman who literally found it impossible
0:18:26 > 0:18:30to speak to his workforce, who were Welsh in speech,
0:18:30 > 0:18:34radical in their politics and dissenting in religion.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36In November 1900,
0:18:36 > 0:18:422,800 workers walked out over pay and union recognition.
0:18:42 > 0:18:47Young and Lord Penrhyn retaliated by locking them out.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50Although the dispute officially lasted three years,
0:18:50 > 0:18:54making it the longest in British industrial history,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57some workers returned before 1903.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59As men are drifting back to work,
0:18:59 > 0:19:01this must be divisive in the community.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04Very much so. The divisions persist to this day.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08It really divided friends and families in a very serious way.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12By the end of the strike, both parties were weakened
0:19:12 > 0:19:15and a depression had hit the building industry,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18so that demand for roofing slate declined.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22The North Wales slate industry would never recover...
0:19:24 > 0:19:27..and the region would have to reinvent itself.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32Modern Wales is full of surprises, new uses for old places.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36In this quarry, which once roofed Britain,
0:19:36 > 0:19:38which produced so much slate and wealth,
0:19:38 > 0:19:43but also toil and sweat and bitterness, there's now a zip line
0:19:43 > 0:19:46and supposedly the fastest in the world.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58This is the little zip wire, but you're bypassing that
0:19:58 > 0:20:01- and going straight to the big one. - Is this a good idea?- Yes.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03THEY LAUGH
0:20:06 > 0:20:11We are around 1,500 feet above the base of the quarry
0:20:11 > 0:20:15and somehow it feels like I'm about to meet my maker.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23The test weights have just zoomed off down the wire,
0:20:23 > 0:20:25accelerating at a terrifying pace,
0:20:25 > 0:20:28and, in a moment, becoming just dots in the distance.
0:20:30 > 0:20:31OK.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34There are times when you just have to trust strangers
0:20:34 > 0:20:36and follow their orders...
0:20:36 > 0:20:38I'm just going to pull the harness down
0:20:38 > 0:20:40and then, if you relax into the harness...
0:20:40 > 0:20:43..and this is clearly such an occasion.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45Bring your arms back for me.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47They'll just tuck in, just down the side there.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50- How's that?- That's not bad.
0:20:50 > 0:20:51There you go, enjoy.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56I'm trussed up like an oven-ready chicken
0:20:56 > 0:20:57and just about as powerless.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59It's such a lovely view, it's a shame to spoil it
0:20:59 > 0:21:03- by being scared to death. - OK, Michael, are we ready?
0:21:03 > 0:21:05Oh, I'm ready.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07- Are we steady?- Steady.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09- Holding on.- Three, two, one.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12Oh, my goodness! Oh, so close to the ground!
0:21:15 > 0:21:18Nought to 60 in less than ten seconds!
0:21:18 > 0:21:22Accelerating over the quarry.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24Oh!
0:21:25 > 0:21:26I'm flying!
0:21:47 > 0:21:49- Yeah!- Yay!
0:21:49 > 0:21:52- Lovely.- How was it? - Oh, exhilarating.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55Fantastic. Nice and fast.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59Can you let go for me? And I'll come up and get you down.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02The chicken has landed!
0:22:02 > 0:22:05That was completely exhilarating.
0:22:05 > 0:22:06Very fast.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09- Let's go again.- Excellent!
0:22:23 > 0:22:26I'll continue at a rather more sedate pace
0:22:26 > 0:22:28aboard a heritage train that was built
0:22:28 > 0:22:30to transport slate to the coast.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38I'm boarding at Waunfawr.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52I'm back in the lap of luxury,
0:22:52 > 0:22:57perhaps appropriately because today my mind is on princely matters.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00I remember the investiture of Prince Charles
0:23:00 > 0:23:03as the Prince of Wales back in 1969.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07The ceremony was full of pomp and circumstance,
0:23:07 > 0:23:12but also intimacy between the monarch and her son.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16I'm on the Welsh Highland Railway, headed for Caernarfon,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19in whose castle the royal event took place.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30- Hello, may I join you a moment? - Of course. My pleasure.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32How are you enjoying the ride?
0:23:32 > 0:23:33Very much so, it's my birthday today.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Ah, well done. And that's why you've come on the railway, is it?
0:23:36 > 0:23:38It is. We know the area very well.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40We've done the Blaenau in the other direction.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42This is quite an extensive network, isn't it?
0:23:42 > 0:23:43Between the Ffestiniog and this one.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45Well, I think, if you put the two together,
0:23:45 > 0:23:48it's the longest combined network in the country, I think.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51- You would know! - Well, I believe it is, yes.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54And there's just something so magical about these tiny trains
0:23:54 > 0:23:59that were built for dusty, horrible, hard work.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01And now we sit here on comfy chairs,
0:24:01 > 0:24:05drinking coffee and enjoying the surroundings. It's paradise.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23Situated on the banks of the Menai Strait,
0:24:23 > 0:24:27Caernarfon was an important harbour for the slate industry
0:24:27 > 0:24:30in Victorian and Edwardian times.
0:24:30 > 0:24:35Then, as now, the town was dominated by its impressive fortress.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39Wales is, of course, famous for its grand castles.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43But can any claim to be finer than Caernarfon?
0:24:45 > 0:24:51Tour guide Sue Kirk is introducing me to its royal connections.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53- Hello, Michael.- Hello, Sue.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56Prynhawn da. Croesawch y castell yn Caernarfon.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58Thank you very much, that means
0:24:58 > 0:25:00- "welcome to the castle at Caernarfon", I think.- It does.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03And what a spectacular space. Sue, I watched on television
0:25:03 > 0:25:06the investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08What do you think was the impact on Caernarfon?
0:25:08 > 0:25:10Well, I think that the impact was positive in many respects,
0:25:10 > 0:25:13in that it put Caernarfon on the map internationally
0:25:13 > 0:25:14with the TV coverage.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18However, 95% of the local population here speak Welsh
0:25:18 > 0:25:22as their first language and it does rouse deep passion.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27Having an English prince crowned in the Welshest town in Wales
0:25:27 > 0:25:30was a little controversial with some people.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34Controversy has haunted Caernarfon since the 13th century,
0:25:34 > 0:25:38when English King Edward I built this fortress.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42Legend has it that he also tried to woo the locals,
0:25:42 > 0:25:46promising them a Welsh-born prince who did not speak English.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48He brings his wife, the queen, here,
0:25:48 > 0:25:51contrives to have his son born in Caernarfon.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54A mere ten months after building work starts,
0:25:54 > 0:25:57in the middle of what must have only been a building site,
0:25:57 > 0:25:59he produces this newborn in front and says,
0:25:59 > 0:26:01"There you are, here is your prince,
0:26:01 > 0:26:04"born in Wales, and he can speak no English."
0:26:04 > 0:26:06Speak no English because he speaks nothing at all.
0:26:06 > 0:26:07He speaks nothing at all.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10- And we've had Princes of Wales ever since.- Pretty much.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13No ceremonial accompanied
0:26:13 > 0:26:17the investiture of Princes of Wales until 1911.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21With the death of King Edward VII the previous year
0:26:21 > 0:26:23and the accession of his son George V,
0:26:23 > 0:26:26the title of Prince of Wales had fallen vacant.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30His eldest son David, the future King Edward VIII,
0:26:30 > 0:26:32was to take it on.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37David Lloyd George, then the MP for Caernarfon,
0:26:37 > 0:26:39took the opportunity to invent a tradition.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43He appropriated this idea of having a big deal
0:26:43 > 0:26:46royal ceremony in this ancient pile.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50Caernarfon had grown from a medieval town of about 400
0:26:50 > 0:26:54to a town of over 12,500 in less than 100 years.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58It was a huge expansion for this area and people wanted to celebrate.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02The investiture of the new Prince of Wales
0:27:02 > 0:27:06celebrated the British Empire and Welsh industry.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09The royal family and aristocracy attended,
0:27:09 > 0:27:14along with a choir of 200 women clad in Welsh national costume.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16I see what was in it for David Lloyd George,
0:27:16 > 0:27:18who was the local Member of Parliament,
0:27:18 > 0:27:20but were there broader interests here?
0:27:20 > 0:27:22I think there were. On one level,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25this was about celebrating Caernarfon in particular,
0:27:25 > 0:27:28but Wales's success in the industrial context.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32In South Wales, the coalfields were powering the world.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35Here in North Wales, we were busy roofing the world.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37There were also a lot of other things going on in Wales
0:27:37 > 0:27:39at that time. With the industrialisation,
0:27:39 > 0:27:43there were social, economic, political, and cultural divides
0:27:43 > 0:27:46that were opening up. It seems that part of this ceremony
0:27:46 > 0:27:49was to kind of unify all these different divisions in Wales
0:27:49 > 0:27:54and try and, at the same time, celebrate and have that party.
0:27:55 > 0:27:59During my journey across England and North Wales,
0:27:59 > 0:28:03I've had a snapshot of a country that was undergoing change.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09While King George V was investing a new Prince of Wales,
0:28:09 > 0:28:14suffragettes were breaking windows and going on hunger strike in jail,
0:28:14 > 0:28:19Ireland was headed for home rule and maybe civil war,
0:28:19 > 0:28:22and the unions threatened to close down the railways,
0:28:22 > 0:28:27the coal mines and the docks. It was not a quiet time.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30When Britain emerged from the Great War,
0:28:30 > 0:28:33women over the age of 30 got the vote,
0:28:33 > 0:28:37Ireland fought bloodily for independence,
0:28:37 > 0:28:39and a general strike loomed.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43The World War had proved just an interval
0:28:43 > 0:28:46in a continuing domestic agenda
0:28:46 > 0:28:50and the Member of Parliament for Caernarfon was still in high office,
0:28:50 > 0:28:54but now David Lloyd George was Prime Minister.