0:00:02 > 0:00:05Pubs have been at the heart of Britain for hundreds of years.
0:00:05 > 0:00:06Cheers, mucka!
0:00:06 > 0:00:09- In city taverns...- and village inns.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13Landlords have pulled pints for locals, travellers and well,
0:00:13 > 0:00:14the odd king or two.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18Myself included. Try and have a drink now.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25But with 30 pubs closing every week, our historic taverns need defending.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27Left, left.
0:00:27 > 0:00:32We're heading out to discover amazing stories linked to the nation's watering holes.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36- Not far to go.- How far? - Couple of miles.- What?!
0:00:36 > 0:00:38From the Wars of the Roses...
0:00:38 > 0:00:40..to shipbuilding on the Clyde.
0:00:40 > 0:00:45- We've ditched our bikes so we can sample an ale or two.- Get in!
0:00:45 > 0:00:48This is very good.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53So join us for... BOTH: The Hairy Bikers' Pubs That Built Britain.
0:00:57 > 0:01:02Today we're in the Lake District, the place where I was born and bred.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07But it's not all about you, mucka, oh, no, we're hitting the early
0:01:07 > 0:01:11tourist trail, in search of poets and adventurers.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15And the fantastic pubs that fed and watered them. Brilliant!
0:01:17 > 0:01:19David Myers, the Lake District,
0:01:19 > 0:01:23885 square miles of the most spectacular scenery.
0:01:23 > 0:01:28I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o'er vale and hills.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32Yes. The scenery that fired the imagination of the great
0:01:32 > 0:01:35poets Wordsworth and Coleridge.
0:01:35 > 0:01:40When all at once I saw a crowd, a host of dancing daffodils.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43And there they would be, returning from a day
0:01:43 > 0:01:47swooning on the fells, down to the local boozer.
0:01:47 > 0:01:48Come on, mate, let's go.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56We're starting our own Grand Lakes Tour in the late 1700s,
0:01:56 > 0:01:59a time of big change in Britain, thanks to the Industrial Revolution.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05City life was grim, packed full of people and poverty,
0:02:05 > 0:02:09but for those rich enough to escape, a tour of Europe was all the rage.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13The rage that is until unrest, revolution
0:02:13 > 0:02:17and war had folks turning closer to home for their hols.
0:02:19 > 0:02:21The Lakes were a perfect substitute.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24A sort of mini Alps without the hassle of leaving your home
0:02:24 > 0:02:29shores and the market town of Keswick was the holiday hot spot.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33Keswick was a magnet for tourists 200 years ago and it hasn't changed.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35No, no.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37I'll tell you something else that hasn't changed, Dave,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40is the tourists' love of fine food and a good hostelry.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42It gets you in the holiday mood, you know.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45The Royal Oak here was one of the oldest inns in town.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48Since you're a tourist, I think I should take you in for a bit of a tipple.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50- Go on, you've twisted my arm.- Ey!
0:02:53 > 0:02:56The Royal Oak has been around since the 1700s.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58It started life as a locals' local
0:02:58 > 0:03:02until the tourists descended around 1750.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07We're meeting Jeff Cowton, curator with the Wordsworth Trust to find out more.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09- Hello, Jeff.- Good to see you.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12- Hi, Jeff, I'm Si. Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you.
0:03:12 > 0:03:13So, Jeff, tell us about this place
0:03:13 > 0:03:17and how it became an 18th-century tourist destination.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21Well, it was a remarkable transformation.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23If we were living in 1700,
0:03:23 > 0:03:26the Lakes would have been a place perhaps to avoid.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28No reason to come here at all.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31By 1800, it had transformed into one of the most popular,
0:03:31 > 0:03:33fashionable places to visit.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36It was a change in people's taste, people had been to the Alps
0:03:36 > 0:03:39and Italy, they'd seen the beauty of mountains.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42So the improvement in the fashionability meant that
0:03:42 > 0:03:45the inns themselves had to raise their game.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48Armed with their guidebooks, the well-heeled descended on pubs like
0:03:48 > 0:03:52The Royal Oak, travelling from inn to inn as they took in the sights.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55It was like a bit of a posh pub crawl, eh, Si?
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Jeff, do you have any of those books that would enlighten us
0:04:00 > 0:04:02about the times and places here?
0:04:02 > 0:04:07The first famous one, if you like, was by Thomas Gray,
0:04:07 > 0:04:09who was the well-known poet.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13You can see here that he came to Grasmere and says,
0:04:13 > 0:04:15"Not a single red tile,
0:04:15 > 0:04:18"no flaring gentlemen's house or garden wall breaks in
0:04:18 > 0:04:22"upon the repose of this little unsuspected paradise."
0:04:22 > 0:04:27So you move from 1700 where it was a desolate waste area to a paradise.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31And singing the praises of this undiscovered paradise
0:04:31 > 0:04:33were two of our greatest poets.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37Wordsworth was born and brought up in the Lake District but he
0:04:37 > 0:04:41took great pleasure in introducing Coleridge, who was from Devon.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43They came on a walking tour in 1799.
0:04:43 > 0:04:48The lads spent three weeks in the fells, hiking from inn to inn.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52Later Wordsworth even wrote and published a guide book,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55making the Lakes more popular than ever.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57Do you think that Wordsworth and Coleridge would have come here,
0:04:57 > 0:04:59to this very pub?
0:04:59 > 0:05:02- Well, we know that they did. - They did?!- They did.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05We know that there are a couple of mentions around about 1800.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07- But it's nice to think, isn't it? - It is.- It is wonderful to think.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10You might get some creative writing in the graffiti in the loos,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12- you know, with those two. - Aye, you might.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15That's the thing about pubs, isn't it? It's like the living history.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17It still here. It's still in the walls. It still...
0:05:17 > 0:05:19All of those meetings.
0:05:21 > 0:05:22But hey, Dave, man.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25I reckon I could teach those Romantic poets a thing or two.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29I met my wife in Keswick.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32I met her on holiday and we decided to get together.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35In Keswick in the Derwentwater caravan park.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37- Oh.- How romantic was that?
0:05:37 > 0:05:41Oh, you old caravan park Casanova.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44- Well, thank you so much, Jeff. - Thank you, great talking with you.
0:05:44 > 0:05:45- Oh, it was wonderful. - Oh, absolutely.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49- And showing us those books.- What a lovely way to start, isn't it?
0:05:49 > 0:05:51- It is, it is. I think we can have a drink now.- Do you?
0:05:51 > 0:05:53- I'll move the books while you do. - Yes.- Good idea. Certainly.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56- That's a good idea, Jeff. - Can we get you one in, Jeff?
0:05:56 > 0:05:57I would love one.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01So, 18th-century Keswick was heaving with well-heeled tourists
0:06:01 > 0:06:04and inns competing for their custom.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07And to show us just how well The Royal Oak Tree
0:06:07 > 0:06:08did their discerning guests,
0:06:08 > 0:06:13we're meeting Sue Mackay, a curator of Keswick Museum.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15- Sue!- Ah, hello. - Hello, very nice to meet you.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17- Hello. Hi. Nice to meet you. - I'm- Si. Nice to meet you.- Hello.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20I gather you've got some fascinating evidence as to what the
0:06:20 > 0:06:23landlord used to provide for the customers in the very early days.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28We have. We found this fantastic bill here from 1796.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30From The Royal Oak in Keswick.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32- Here.- Right here.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36And it lists all of the services that were available
0:06:36 > 0:06:37to the tourists of the time.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39Oh, what a fascinating look into history. Wow.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42Really nice. Unfortunately, it doesn't say much about food.
0:06:42 > 0:06:43It says eating,
0:06:43 > 0:06:47but it does list all of the drinks that were available.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49- Very important, as I'm sure you'll agree.- Yeah, yeah.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52I'm just having a closer look at that. That's an interesting one,
0:06:52 > 0:06:53servants eating and ale.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56So, that would be for very posh people travelling with servants
0:06:56 > 0:06:58and all that sort, I presume.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02Yes, people who came on a grand tour of the Lake District
0:07:02 > 0:07:04were the better-off people.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08And also seven pence you see on wine and negus.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10Have you ever tried negus?
0:07:10 > 0:07:12I've read about it in an old book.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14I don't know what it is, though.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16- It's a type of mulled wine.- Right.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19An early mulled wine and it was invented apparently
0:07:19 > 0:07:21by Colonel Francis Negus
0:07:21 > 0:07:24and would have suited the early tourists very well.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27A very warming drink to come back to after you've been
0:07:27 > 0:07:31stuck in your carriage down Borrowdale in a ditch for...
0:07:31 > 0:07:33Down Borrowdale, yes.
0:07:33 > 0:07:34Do you have a few pints then, or...?
0:07:34 > 0:07:37- Well, we can make it in whatever quantities you like.- Well, I...
0:07:37 > 0:07:40- Shall we have a go?- Yeah, could we? That'll be fabulous.- Oh, yes, yeah.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43If you want to give this a go you need half a pint of port,
0:07:43 > 0:07:48a pint of hot water, nutmeg, lemon and sugar.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51I never thought I'd be rubbing a sugar cube and a lemon together.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53- You'll never get a tune out of that.- I'll not...
0:07:53 > 0:07:56THEY LAUGH
0:07:56 > 0:07:58And lemon juice going in there.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00Next, some nutmeg.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03We had lots of nutmeg here, didn't we?
0:08:03 > 0:08:06Because the spice ports - Maryport, Whitehaven,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09- we had the lot. And rum and ginger. - Yes.- Grasmere gingerbread.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12- Yes, beautiful.- All from round here.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15Cumberland sausages are peppery, aren't they? Because we had pepper.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18- You see? You didn't want for anything, like, did you?- Na. No.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21You didn't. Other than the odd road.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25And then finally, watering it down, I'm afraid.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27- What a shame.- I know.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30Cor, This would bring you back to life after a day on the fells.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33It would. It would. Warming, soothing.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35That's exactly the idea, I think.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37- And cheers, everybody. - Cheers, Sue, Cheers.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44Oh, it's lovely, isn't it?
0:08:44 > 0:08:46- Mm, warming.- Mm.- Very nice.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49- Bittersweet.- You know what?
0:08:49 > 0:08:51It's like liquid Cumberland sauce.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53It is, isn't it?
0:08:53 > 0:08:56- It's great, that.- Aye.- Mm.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58Tell you what, it's not so grim up North, is it?
0:08:58 > 0:09:00It definitely is not.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04Well, Kingy, do you feel suitably fortified to face the fells,
0:09:04 > 0:09:07to brace the Lakes and go for a bit of a ramble?
0:09:07 > 0:09:09- I do. Should we?- We shall.
0:09:09 > 0:09:10Sue?
0:09:10 > 0:09:13I might just stay at the bar, I think.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15That's a wise choice, you know.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17But I'm looking forward to this beautiful countryside.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20- It's been an absolute pleasure to meet you, thank you, Sue.- And you.
0:09:20 > 0:09:21Thanks, Sue. Bye-bye.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23'Well, that's warmed the cockles, Si,'
0:09:23 > 0:09:26and it's reminded me of a great piece of pub trivia.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29Did you know that the drink port is named after the Portuguese
0:09:29 > 0:09:33city of Oporto, from where that particular beverage is shipped?
0:09:33 > 0:09:35I did. Cos we filmed there, you great plum.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38- Ah, but did you know that at formal dinner parties...- Yeah.
0:09:38 > 0:09:43..that the port is always passed left to left, port to port?
0:09:43 > 0:09:45Oh.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47And if you're after more fascinating facts,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50look no further than the nation's pub signs.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53Behind every sign there's a story.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56And here are some Cumbrian classics.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58The Woolpack Inn in Eskdale,
0:09:58 > 0:10:03sits on a drovers' route that once carried wool from hill to mill.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05Some of that wool was used to fill the
0:10:05 > 0:10:07Speaker's Woolsack in the House Of Lords.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09Get stuffed.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13The Mortal Man at Troutbeck seemingly marks the final
0:10:13 > 0:10:17resting spot of a drunken giant who popped his clogs on top of the fell
0:10:17 > 0:10:19and rolled right down to the pub.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21Do you think he made last orders?
0:10:24 > 0:10:27A legend says the landlady of The Drunken Duck
0:10:27 > 0:10:31mistakenly plucked her ducks thinking they'd died.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34Turned out they had a sneaky beak-full of the broken beer barrel
0:10:34 > 0:10:36and they were half cut.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38Once revived, she knitted them jackets
0:10:38 > 0:10:40till their feathers grew back.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42Oh, that's just quackers.
0:10:48 > 0:10:49Back on our grand tour,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52we're leaving the comforts of Keswick behind.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55To find out what those 18th-century tourists
0:10:55 > 0:10:57got up to in the great outdoors.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00Right, mate.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03- Time for a bit of sightseeing.- Oh, yes. But let's do it Georgian style.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07- Yes.- Cos tourists then, they came here for the beauty.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09And of course the Romantic poets came for the adventure.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11What are you up for?
0:11:11 > 0:11:13Well, it's beauty for a beauty.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15SIMON GIGGLES
0:11:17 > 0:11:21And we're off to find it in the remote western valley of Wasdale.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25While Si's looking for thrills up a hill,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28I'm staying at ground level to meet Professor Sally Bushell,
0:11:28 > 0:11:30who's going to put me in the picture
0:11:30 > 0:11:33on some of the more genteel Georgian pursuits.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38- Hello, Sally. I'm Dave. - Oh, hi, Dave. Great to meet you.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40Oh, look at this. Wast Water.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43It has to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47But why have you brought me here on such a Balticly cold day?
0:11:47 > 0:11:50I'm sorry about that, but what we're going to do today is to try
0:11:50 > 0:11:54and think about the landscape not just through 21st-century eyes...
0:11:54 > 0:11:56- Yes.- But going back in time,
0:11:56 > 0:11:58thinking about it through the 18th century.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05It all starts, really, with what we would call the Picturesque movement.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07- And Picturesque tourism.- Right.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09And actually in the late 18th century,
0:12:09 > 0:12:13that's the start of modern tourism as we would understand it today.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18Picturesque tourists were into bagging as many beauty spots
0:12:18 > 0:12:21as they could and even made their own snapshots.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27So, would a tourist kind of ship up to one of these beautiful places
0:12:27 > 0:12:29and do a drawing or a painting?
0:12:29 > 0:12:32You know, much as a tourist would today take loads and loads
0:12:32 > 0:12:34of snapshots to show their friends?
0:12:34 > 0:12:37They would. And what happens in the 18th century,
0:12:37 > 0:12:39- once the picturesque becomes really popular...- Yes.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42And people go in their carriages, pop out, see the view,
0:12:42 > 0:12:45paint the view, off they go to the next spot.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48- And I suppose stop at the odd inn along the way.- I'm sure.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50Which would be great for business round here.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52Cos there wasn't much else.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55I suppose the thing is, you can wax lyrical as much as you like,
0:12:55 > 0:12:57but unless you could produce a picture...
0:12:57 > 0:13:01Well, you'd be all mouth and no britches, wouldn't you?
0:13:01 > 0:13:03Crikey, I've landed myself in it now.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06Let's hope my old art-school training kicks in.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08Now, in the 18th century,
0:13:08 > 0:13:13all you would have with you in your back pocket is a Claude glass.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17- Right.- Claude glass would be a small, round, pocket mirror, really.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21- Yes.- With a tinted face and convex.- Right.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24And what it would do, it would reflect the landscape,
0:13:24 > 0:13:27- but also reduce it, miniaturise it.- Oh!
0:13:27 > 0:13:30So, it's actually a really useful piece of kit.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33Unfortunately, we don't have a real Claude glass today that we can use,
0:13:33 > 0:13:35but we've got the next best thing.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38A 21st-century equivalent.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42And you use it to get your view of the scene.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44- Right.- Are you good to go?- I think so.
0:13:44 > 0:13:45It's hard this.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47Do you know? It's hard drawing something
0:13:47 > 0:13:50when I think I should be looking at it.
0:13:57 > 0:13:58- Thing is, Sally.- Mm.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01- When I was at art school...- Mm.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05..I spent more time cooking curry than I did doing drawing, really.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10- Oh, I don't know. - Oh, quietly impressed, I must say.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16- Nice.- I'm feeling quite Romantic.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18Glad to hear it.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22To see the world in a grain of sand And heaven in the wild flower,
0:14:22 > 0:14:25To hold infinity in the palm of your hand
0:14:25 > 0:14:27And eternity within the hour.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29William Blake?
0:14:29 > 0:14:31Lines from Auguries Of Innocence. Am I getting there?
0:14:31 > 0:14:34- Getting there.- Smashing.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36HE WHISTLES
0:14:39 > 0:14:41Oh, this landscape really is magnificent.
0:14:41 > 0:14:42And I know it really well.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44You know, I live just down the road.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48Doing this today has made me look at things a little bit more intently.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51And, you know, maybe I'm not taking it for granted as much.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54And I've got a picture to take home at the end of the day.
0:14:54 > 0:14:55Do you want to have a look?
0:15:01 > 0:15:04Well, mate, that's lovely.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06But while you're getting all arty,
0:15:06 > 0:15:09I've gone all rugged with Professor Simon Bainbridge.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13It turns out the poet Coleridge was quite the adventurer.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19It's remarkable, you can kind of see why Coleridge
0:15:19 > 0:15:21and the Romantics came here.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24- Because it's awe-inspiring, isn't it?- Well, absolutely.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28I mean, Wordsworth and Coleridge came here in 1799
0:15:28 > 0:15:31and then Coleridge came here again in 1802.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34They were quite unusual in doing that, really.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36The Picturesque tour which was earlier
0:15:36 > 0:15:39- was more interested in sort of genteeler pursuits.- Sure.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43In less rugged, less wild landscapes.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45But Coleridge, particularly, was a very adventurous walker
0:15:45 > 0:15:49and when he came here in 1802, he made the first known
0:15:49 > 0:15:53ascent of Scafell by someone who wasn't from the local district.
0:15:56 > 0:15:57For nine days,
0:15:57 > 0:16:01Coleridge explored some of the lakes most dramatic landscapes.
0:16:01 > 0:16:07Armed with just a cravat, a spare shirt and a couple of quills.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09Radge as a maggot, as they say around these parts.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13So, Coleridge is very aware that it's a potentially fatal place
0:16:13 > 0:16:15- that he's exploring. - But that all...
0:16:15 > 0:16:17That's the romance of it, though, isn't it?
0:16:17 > 0:16:21And that's the kind of edginess of Coleridge's work sometimes.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23That's very much part of the attraction
0:16:23 > 0:16:25and the excitement for him.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28He really embraces risk and risk gives him a thrill.
0:16:28 > 0:16:29Did he get into any scrapes, then?
0:16:29 > 0:16:31Well, he does.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34I mean, most famously, on a rock climb called Broad Stand,
0:16:34 > 0:16:36- which is on Scafell.- Yeah.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41Coleridge, the daft beggar, got himself stuck up on a crag.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44An ordeal he later wrote about.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46He talked about the effect this was having on his... On his body.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49He says, "The stretching of the muscle of my hands and arms
0:16:49 > 0:16:53"and the jolt of the fall of my feet put my whole limbs in a tremble.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56"The ledge at the bottom was so exceedingly narrow that
0:16:56 > 0:16:59"if I dropped down upon it, I must of necessity
0:16:59 > 0:17:03"have fallen backwards and of course killed myself."
0:17:03 > 0:17:07Luckily, Coleridge spotted a gap in the rock and made his escape.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10That little slit in the rock now is known as Fat Man's Agony.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13Because it's so narrow and such a squeeze.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16So, we get a sense of Coleridge's physique, then?
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Yeah, well, he's fit and active enough to get through that, yes.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22- Well, that... That... - Without getting stuck.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26I think I need the helicopter. THEY LAUGH
0:17:26 > 0:17:28Later, the great poet wrote to a friend using the word
0:17:28 > 0:17:32mountaineering" for the first time in recorded history.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34Who'd have thunk it?
0:17:34 > 0:17:36A poet inventing an extreme sport.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41- Yeah.- You know, while we've been doing this,
0:17:41 > 0:17:44I've had a little go at writing some mock Coleridge.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46It's a little poem, just a few lines.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48- Will you bear to listen to this? - I absolutely, definitely could.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51- Do you want to hear my little poem?- I do.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53"Most awesome powers of nature..."
0:17:53 > 0:17:55I'm doing my poetry-reading voice here, Si.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58"Trembling beneath your lofty crags,
0:17:58 > 0:18:02"I stand and mark the route that bold Coleridge trod,
0:18:02 > 0:18:07"Followed o'er two centuries by brave hikers,
0:18:07 > 0:18:09"Like Si King, one of The Hairy Bikers."
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Oh-ho. That's sheer flipping genius.
0:18:12 > 0:18:13Thank you very much.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16I tell you what though, do you think Coleridge liked a pint?
0:18:16 > 0:18:19Oh, he certainly did. We know from his notebooks that most evenings
0:18:19 > 0:18:21he would have a pint of ale.
0:18:21 > 0:18:22Where's the nearest one?
0:18:22 > 0:18:24Just down in the valley.
0:18:24 > 0:18:25The Wasdale Head Inn.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27- Very famous.- 12 miles.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29Well, we better get walking then, hadn't we? Yeah, yeah.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32- 12 miles that way.- Yeah, OK.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35That's the great thing about the Lakes.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38You can find inspiration everywhere.
0:18:38 > 0:18:39At the top of a fell,
0:18:39 > 0:18:43or at the bottom of a good old pint glass of Cumbrian ale.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48Perfect time to meet a local who loves his local.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55The Old Dungeon Ghyll sits at the head
0:18:55 > 0:18:59of the gorgeous valley of Langdale, deep in the heart of the lakes.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03Like Coleridge, rock climber Bill Birkett
0:19:03 > 0:19:06loves his mountains as much as he loves his local.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09And his local's loved by climbers from far and wide.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14Well, this is the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel at the head of Langdale.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18And there's like 130 years of climbing history from this pub
0:19:18 > 0:19:21and now it's extremely popular with modern climbers.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23It's a great meeting place, really.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25You know, one of my passions, apart from climbing,
0:19:25 > 0:19:27has always been photography.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30But these are some of my photographs here.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34This is Dave Birkett on the first ascent of a route
0:19:34 > 0:19:36called Nowt But A Fleein' Thing.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40First time anybody's ever been on that piece of rock before.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46For climbers, it's important to come in off the hill.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48You're dripping wet, you're covered in mud.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50And you don't want to feel like you're ruining carpets,
0:19:50 > 0:19:53but in this place you just walk in, there's always a fire roaring.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55And it's always welcoming, you know.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58It feels more like going home than going to a pub.
0:19:58 > 0:19:59It's that kind of place.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05But 150 years ago the only drink you'd get your mitts on here
0:20:05 > 0:20:07was a pint of milk.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10This is, you know, where the cows came in
0:20:10 > 0:20:14and they milked the cows and all the rest of it.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17And it's not really changed, you know,
0:20:17 > 0:20:21this pub has not been modernised and beatified,
0:20:21 > 0:20:23it's just as it always has been.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26150 years ago, here you are, this is it,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29and I hope it never does change.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31It's so... You know, it's great.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33DOG BARKS
0:20:33 > 0:20:34Hey, come on.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40Well, Dave, it's almost last orders.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45Yeah, and we finish our tour in Wasdale Head
0:20:45 > 0:20:47at one very pioneering pub.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Coleridge might have introduced the Georgians to rugged rambling
0:20:50 > 0:20:53but the Victorians were even more extreme adventures.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Here we are, mate. There's a pub for you, the Wasdale Head Inn.
0:20:58 > 0:21:03Oh! And on the doorstep, England's highest peak, Scafell Pike.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05And England's deepest lake, Wastwater.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08I'll you what, man, I bet you there's been some tall
0:21:08 > 0:21:10and adventurous tales told in there.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13- Can't wait.- It's going to be brill.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16The Wasdale Head Inn is another pub that started life as a farm until
0:21:16 > 0:21:22its enterprising owner, Will Ritson, turned it into a pub in the 1850s.
0:21:23 > 0:21:24Oh, wow.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31Climber and local historian David Powell-Thompson,
0:21:31 > 0:21:35and possibly our long-lost hairy brother, is going to tell us
0:21:35 > 0:21:38about this pub's links to an intrepid pastime.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42The pub and the area is absolutely entrenched in British rock climbing,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45- isn't it?- It is. - I mean, this is it, this is the...
0:21:45 > 0:21:48- This is the home of British rock climbing.- Wow.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50It is, it all started here
0:21:50 > 0:21:53and it all started here with these gentlemen.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55From the 1880s,
0:21:55 > 0:21:58the inn was packed with pioneering climbers like
0:21:58 > 0:22:01Walter Parry Haskett Smith and Owen Glynne Jones,
0:22:01 > 0:22:05seen here doing some pretty daring stuff up on the nearby crags.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10- That's the first real rock climb that was recorded.- Is that...?
0:22:10 > 0:22:14- Yes!- That's Napes Needle. I've been up that twice in my life.
0:22:14 > 0:22:15- Have you?- Yeah.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18When these chaps weren't scaling cliff faces,
0:22:18 > 0:22:21the were back at the pub scaling the walls.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23The doorway is still there,
0:22:23 > 0:22:26it's all part of some accommodation nowadays,
0:22:26 > 0:22:30but they used to practise by trying to climb over the doorway.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33Look at that! He's climbing up the side of the building.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35Do you think that must have been half-cut?
0:22:35 > 0:22:39And of course, this gives you some idea of the number of people
0:22:39 > 0:22:42who actually stayed here and went rock climbing.
0:22:42 > 0:22:43They didn't have a drying room -
0:22:43 > 0:22:46this is just the porch as you come in through the front door.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49- It hasn't changed much. - The hobnails in the boots.- Yeah.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55- You've got to bet that stunk. - Especially when they're drying out.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57Yeah.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00In 1907, the pub hosted the first meeting of the famous
0:23:00 > 0:23:03Fell And Rock Climbing Club.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05And its members are still supping ales
0:23:05 > 0:23:07and swapping tales in the pub today.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10The wonderful thing as well is the role that the pub,
0:23:10 > 0:23:12or the inn, would have in those days.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15You need somewhere to sleep, somewhere for refreshment.
0:23:15 > 0:23:16But I know when you've been on a hike,
0:23:16 > 0:23:20there's nothing quite like coming into a warm, cosy environment.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23You can drink beer, you feel you've earned it.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26And the food as well, eat the food cos again you feel you've earned it.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29It's part and parcel the same thrill.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32And then the other element that you've not alluded to
0:23:32 > 0:23:34is the welcome you get.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36- Because Will Ritson was quite a character.- Right.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38He was a wrestler,
0:23:38 > 0:23:41he was a huntsman, he was a farmer
0:23:41 > 0:23:43and he was a teller of stories.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Oh, now Dave's got us a bit intrigued.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50We've collared general manager Georgina to tell us more.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53- Hello, Georgie. - Hello, nice to see you.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56We know your pub is really famous for its location
0:23:56 > 0:23:59and its climbing but it's famous for another thing, isn't it?
0:23:59 > 0:24:04It is. The original landlord, Will Ritson, who was the self-proclaimed
0:24:04 > 0:24:08King of Wasdale, was famous for his legendary tall tales.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12- Was he?- He was.- Go on, tell us one.
0:24:12 > 0:24:17Probably one of the most famous ones was his father used to grow
0:24:17 > 0:24:20turnips that were apparently big enough that once the Dalesfolk
0:24:20 > 0:24:23had quarried into them for their Sunday dinner,
0:24:23 > 0:24:25they were then used as sheds to keep
0:24:25 > 0:24:27the Herdwick sheep in from the fells.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30- He clearly had a fertile imagination, then.- He did.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33So, what's this poster all about here?
0:24:33 > 0:24:36Basically, Ritson's legend lives on.
0:24:36 > 0:24:41- Annually, a world's biggest liar competition is held.- Right.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45How about we challenge you two to a world's biggest liar competition,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47and then we can get the locals to vote for the winner?
0:24:47 > 0:24:50No, I couldn't do that, Georgie, because my mother brought me up
0:24:50 > 0:24:52never to lie.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54- I'm sure you can try. - I might be lying, though.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58- I'll take you on, Myers. - I'll take YOU on.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00- Yeah, yeah, well.- Right.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02Let's see who can do the best pork pie.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08First up, yours truly, and I'm feeling pretty confident.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11Remember, lads, keep it short, keep it sweet. Eye contact.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16I think I'll tell them about the time I fixed my dad's dentures
0:25:16 > 0:25:18with a fragment from a satellite.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21Anyway, I went out to the sands and I came back with a piece
0:25:21 > 0:25:24of the Sputnik which I gave to my father
0:25:24 > 0:25:28and he made a new set of false teeth because he was determined,
0:25:28 > 0:25:31from that day on, his false teeth would never shatter.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34The only thing is, when he was cremated,
0:25:34 > 0:25:35they couldn't burn his teeth
0:25:35 > 0:25:39because those teeth had survived re-entry to the earth's atmosphere.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42The crematorium wasn't going to destroy them
0:25:42 > 0:25:44and I've still got those teeth to this day.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49- That's remarkable! - It's perfectly true.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51Flipping heck. Right.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53Now go on, it's your turn.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56Well, I'm going take you back to 1802, you see.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00Well, as for my lie, I think you'll find a dinosaur fossil
0:26:00 > 0:26:02helped thrashed Napoleon, you know.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07William Wordsworth and Coleridge
0:26:07 > 0:26:11were instrumental in defeating Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars
0:26:11 > 0:26:16due to this piece of fossil found in the foothills here.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20- What was the fossil? Was it a bomb? - No, it wasn't.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23It was the tooth of a Tyrannosaurus rex.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25Like that would scare Napoleon.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27Well, yeah, but what happened was, you see,
0:26:27 > 0:26:30they have this huge ceremony and then what happened is
0:26:30 > 0:26:33the energy from that ceremony defeated Napoleon.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36- Oh, and there was me thinking it was the Duke of Wellington.- Yeah.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38No, well, you see, it wasn't.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47OK, ladies and gentlemen, you've all heard the lies.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49- We're now going to take a vote. - Uh-oh.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53So, for those of you that would like to vote for Dave Myers,
0:26:53 > 0:26:55please raise your hands.
0:26:57 > 0:26:58OK.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01And for those of you that would like to vote for Si King,
0:27:01 > 0:27:02please raise your hands.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06It's a local fix. That's all I'm saying.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09You West Coasters stick together, don't you?
0:27:09 > 0:27:12Thank you so much, we've had a wonderful day.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14And thank you for introducing us to the world of lakes,
0:27:14 > 0:27:18mountains, lying and good beer. Cheers!
0:27:18 > 0:27:21Good health, thanks very much. Lovely to see you all. Cheers.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24From summit to snug,
0:27:24 > 0:27:26fellside to fireside.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30- It's lovely, isn't it?- Mm. - Warming.- Mmm.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34It's been a pleasure showing you around my home patch, Kingy.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36I'm feeling quite romantic.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42I'll tell you what, mate, all this flipping walking and fibbing,
0:27:42 > 0:27:44it's thirsty work, isn't it?
0:27:44 > 0:27:46Oh, aye, we've earned this.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49Here, Si, I've got a pub quiz question for you.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51Go on, mate, go on.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54Which body of water in Britain contains more than
0:27:54 > 0:27:57the contents of all the lakes in England and Wales combined?
0:27:57 > 0:27:58Ooh...
0:28:00 > 0:28:02Erm... Go on, put us out my misery.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04- Loch Ness in Scotland.- Oh!
0:28:04 > 0:28:07It contains a whopping 7.4 cubic kilometres of water.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09- You know why that is, don't you? - Go on.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11Because it rains a lot.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13- Hey!- Aye.- Cheers!- Cheers.