Episode 1 Glamorgan Coastal Lives

The Glamorgan coast, a natural treasure.

A stone's throw away from the urban sprawl of the Welsh capital.

Just on your doorstep. This is, like,

five minutes down the road from where we live.

A diverse coastline of dramatic cliffs,

sandy beaches and unique geological features.

I couldn't think of any better place to be.

Throughout the summer, we've followed the lives of the people who

live, work and play here.

The Heritage coastline is probably the best coastline in all of Wales

-to fish on.

-Fish of the day.

-From Penarth...

-It's probably the only place in the world where you can go

to the cinema on the beach.

-..to Ogmore.

-The Vale has the coast, it has the country.

It's got a bit of everything, really.

You know, where else are you going to get that?

This is their summer. These are their Coastal Lives.

It's a sunny day at Barry Island beach,

and the day-trippers are out en masse in Whitmore Bay.

Among them are Barrybados fans Judy and Kathleen.

-Oh, I've always loved Barry Island.

-Oh, and me, yeah.

You can't beat it.

Of course, people go abroad more now, don't they?

I suppose they do, but I still prefer Barry Island.

It's not far from home.

No, that's it. It's only up the road!

We always went in the water.

Oh, every time, yeah.

With the little bathers on!

Yes! When you went in the water, they went around your ankle.

Yeah!

Barry Island has long been one of Wales' most popular seaside

destinations. And its pleasure park has been pulling in the crowds since

the 1920s.

Recent years of neglect saw a decline in the fortunes of the fair.

But one man has big dreams.

Everybody's a winner!

Step this way!

And take home the super prize.

New owner Henry Danter plans to invest £20 million into Barry Island

-Pleasure Park.

-It's a one-off.

It's unique. And it was number one in Wales.

He already owns two other successful funfairs.

But it's been his lifelong dream to take over the Barry site.

I was coming here from a very, very little boy.

I think my heart's in it.

72-year-old Henry is head of a huge fairground dynasty.

And three generations of Danters have rolled up their sleeves to get the rides

ready for the summer.

This is my grandson.

All right? This is another Henry,

named after his grandfather.

Henry's 20-year-old son, Harry, runs the log flume.

My son said, "You can't have a girlfriend, Dad."

And I said, "Why?" He said, "Well, you've got a funfair."

My dad's going on strong.

He's getting younger as I get older.

Henry's nephew James, the park manager,

has even uprooted his entire family from Gloucester to live on site in Barry.

This is my youngest son, Jonathan.

He's 15.

My eldest son, James, he's 17.

It's a bit of a dirty job.

Just a little bit.

That's my father, Billy Danter.

Retired five, six years ago.

But he doesn't play golf.

Well, I've gone 74.

My wife's gone 73, and we're still at it, doing.

It keeps him active and it keeps him busy.

The trouble is, he gives me jobs to do as well.

So, I give him one job, and he gives me about ten!

It's May, and James's main job this summer is getting his new big wheel

-up and running.

-Well, we've got the Welsh flag up there,

and that's been a good thing as well.

We had to put something up in it as a centrepiece,

and we chose a centrepiece of the Welsh flag.

For the pride of Barry, you know?

The ride is the fair's biggest financial investment,

and the race is on to get the wheel turning.

We've worked every day except Christmas Day for 12 months.

But people come here for the rides,

and that's where the memories are made.

They may have a lot of work to do,

but Henry's hoping that this summer will see the return of all the fun of the fair.

I couldn't think of any better place to be.

I think it's got something that's awesome.

That's magic. Something that makes you have a reason to get up in

the morning and want to come to work.

Maybe my life on this earth is going to be short,

but I wouldn't mind it as long as I can spend it in Barry Island.

From the glitz of Barry,

head west and you pass through a string of aristocratic country estates.

The Fonmon Estate spans 900 acres of tenanted farmland...

..picturesque villages...

..and the medieval Fonmon Castle.

This majestic estate has been in Sir Brooke Boothby's family for

11 generations.

It all started with one very influential man.

Here, Colonel Philip Jones, who was my ancestor,

actually bought this place.

He was a great friend of Oliver Cromwell's.

Probably the most powerful Welshman of the time.

There was a parliament sitting at that time, of an English MP saying,

"We cannot longer have this country run from a small castle in Wales."

Oops!

Sir Brooke inherited a legacy, and a castle full of artefacts.

This sword has actually fought against Napoleon.

It's fought in the West Indies, it's fought in the Baltic,

it fought at the Crimea.

I mean, those swords were just very tiresomely something I wasn't allowed

to play with! That was very annoying, as far as I was concerned.

They were out of reach as a small boy!

Now he's a grown man, Sir Brooke has the whole working estate to maintain.

But big sister Carol has arrived to help replant the castle's fuchsia border.

I'm here, really, just to keep him under control.

The busy summer wedding season is upon them,

and they have to get their hands dirty.

The problem is at the moment that we have the public here all the time,

weddings going on, and we've got a blank border.

-That's the problem!

-This box wants to be...

-Yeah. We want it down that way.

-Yes.

And I'm having this box up this way.

-Righto.

-If your tulips are in the wrong place, move them.

Righto, very good.

She didn't want me to put it in front of another one,

so actually about in the middle here.

And try not to get a lump of the manure on to the root.

-OK.

-I'm eight years older than my brother.

So I've got bossing rights.

Fuchsias have historic ties to Fonmon.

Sir Brooke's grandmother was the founder president of the British Fuchsia Society.

What you can see here is we've got an unfortunate gap.

Because the fuchsia that was at the base there has died.

And luckily for us, the one that climbs best is called Lady Boothby.

It was named after my grandmother in 1941.

So, unfortunately, she's died again.

Poor Grandma will have to get back.

Reincarnated.

We'd hate Grandma to be lost from her own bed.

Ten miles west of Fonmon,

the Heritage Coast Path meanders past Nash Point Lighthouse,

built entirely from rocks winched up from the cliffs below.

Part-time lighthouse attendant Chris Williams relishes

the perks of his job.

Wonderful, beautiful view.

I wouldn't swap it. It's beautiful.

Extremely lucky to work here on this particular lighthouse.

Yeah.

Can you imagine what an estate agent would make of this?

Just a lovely venue, isn't it?

-It is.

-You know, where could you get a scene as good as this?

Just wondering how I'll get my dress up there.

Well, you've got four bridesmaids.

I'm sure they'll work it out between them.

Cliff and Penny from Eastbourne have had a long love affair with lighthouses.

Got lipstick all over me now.

And each other. Their love blossomed from a blind date,

now they're tying the knot in Nash Point Lighthouse.

If you're a football supporter and that,

you can get married at Anfield Football Ground or something like that.

And you're a Liverpool supporter, then that's the greatest thing in your whole life.

Well, this is our greatest thing.

You know, and it's the only one in the country that you can actually

get married in that is a fully working lighthouse.

Lighthouses, they are so strong, dependable, always there.

Always shining out and stopping you from crashing onto rocks.

It's a sort of thing that we need in our life, isn't it, really?

Yeah. Look at it.

-It's perfect.

-Tall and strong and handsome and...

-Everything.

-You talking about me now?

-Yes, I am.

-Oh, good. That's OK.

As well as the lighthouse.

Umbrella down, dear, umbrella down.

That's it. I suppose we'd better get this place ready.

Yeah, let's get going.

Let's get cracking. We've got to decorate the lighthouse.

So much to do.

-Little time to do.

-So little time to do it all in.

Let's hope the weather improves in time for the big day.

Come here, Mary Poppins.

Back at Fonmon, and Sir Brooke is still getting the castle spruced up for his wedding season,

by replanting the fuchsia bed.

I've got a clipboard here, and a pencil.

Don't leave a rake that way.

Health and safety!

But as Carol ploughs on...

He's idling, you see, while I'm working.

..Sir Brooke has grander issues to attend to.

The Queen and other members of the Royal Family are coming down shortly

to open the new Welsh Parliament.

And the new Assembly. And one of my jobs is to greet the Queen as she

arrives at the Senedd.

As Vice Lord Lieutenant of South Glamorgan,

Sir Brooke needs to ensure his uniform is in impeccable order.

You've got your military cap, you've got your main jacket.

Dungarees, they come right up to about here, and therefore you have to have

braces, because otherwise they'd fall down.

And then you've got the sword and the white gloves.

The Queen is well known for picking out bits of wrong kit.

If you put something on that's completely wrong,

Her Majesty's quite likely to spot it.

But Sir Brooke isn't fazed by his royal responsibilities.

It's an opportunity to return to his youth.

Small boys always like dressing up, and I'm no exception.

I just never grew out of it!

So, yeah,

it's fun to get all dressed up for something and then march off with your sword.

And pretend to be a knight.

Heading east from Fonmon, you'll find The Knap,

a sprawling pebble beach and favourite playground of free spirits

Craig Holmes and Amy Bannister.

-Go on, then.

-I thought you were counting us in.

-Go.

-One, two, three.

Morning! What are you up to?

I'm waiting for you to count us in.

One, two, three.

-Morning!

-What's happening, guys?

-I'm Amy...

-And I'm Craig, and we're vloggers from Barry.

Kinging it!

We're running! We're running!

Craig and Amy are social media stars who post their worldwide travels on

their own YouTube channel.

Hello, Japan! Welcome to LA.

Hello, Las Vegas!

Kinging it. Rule your own world.

We always said we wanted to work for ourselves, that's what we're doing.

So, we're sort of...

We're getting there slowly.

Their internet fame recently reached new heights,

all thanks to a fish and a storm.

I'm here at Barry Island beach, and there's no signs of the storm!

We saw what was trending on Twitter, which was storm Gertrude.

And then

on Barry Island, whenever there's a storm,

the waves come crashing over the promenade.

So we're like, "Right, we'll get a fish and Craig will just throw it at

"my face, like, whenever the wave comes."

Which is what we did.

I'm here at Barry Island beach,

and there's no signs of the storm!

Within, like, half an hour it was on, like, stupid views.

-It was on, like...

-20 million.

-Yeah, 20 million views.

Mental! For a £7 fish!

Best £7 we ever spent!

Having become overnight internet sensations...

-Morning!

-..the couple now share their daily lives on social media.

Like, we've been together for eight years now.

We spend every day together.

"Amy, I'm telling you, you can go this way."

We can't. Amy's right, once again.

It's not all happy days.

We just film the best bits.

What are you saying?

What do you have to say for yourself?

Nothing. I'm always right!

-You need to apologise.

-I'm going to climb over the house and go that way.

-You need to apologise.

-No.

Craig will want one thing, I'll want the other.

I'll knock him out, it'll be fine.

With so much invested in their working and personal relationship,

Craig is feeling the pressure from the fans.

People keep saying, "Marry that woman."

"Marriage, when are you guys getting married?"

We haven't got enough time for that.

No, I know. I'm not completely...

-I'm glad you know!

-I just want you to know that I am marriage material one day.

You should count yourself lucky.

Wedding plans might be on hold for now for Craig and Amy,

but Penny's bagged her man.

Morning. How are you? Are you excited?

It's the final dress fitting,

and she's taken mum Linda and bridesmaid Zoe along for support.

Wow!

-Lovely.

-Amazing.

For the first time in my life, I actually feel like a woman.

Cinderella.

-Yeah, Cinderella.

-You will go to the ball.

I'm the real Cinderella!

Yeah, exactly.

Meanwhile, back at Nash Point Lighthouse,

Cliff and son Michael have been left in charge of decorating the unique

wedding venue.

That goes somewhere.

Wedding.

-That's it.

-Yeah?

That'll be fine, yeah, yeah.

Now, we've got to spread the leaves out.

The branches.

See? Look, it's autumn. All the leaves are falling off.

The lighthouse means everything to us.

It's just an ideal location.

It's perfect. And what could be better than standing here doing your vows,

looking out over a nice sunlit sea?

The rain may be falling,

but nothing can dampen this loved-up couple's spirits.

He is my lighthouse.

I can't express how I feel about him.

It's just, words can't actually...

I can only show him like this.

-That's all I can say.

-It makes me want to cry.

I just feel like crying now, myself.

No, I mustn't cry.

I'm proof of being safe and loved and...

..whisked off my feet

by a lovely officer, and a gentleman.

And he's my Richard Gere, actually!

LAUGHTER

Yeah. I can't find where this leaf goes.

Must be a spare one, I suppose.

When I first met Penny, I just thought, I felt that connection between us.

I don't know, just feels so right.

You know, I even went to see a lady who's a little bit of a psychic.

You know, and... You know, she said...

She even described Penny.

She said about an initial, she said her initial was P.

And you know, she described Penny down to a T.

I thought, well, she's the one.

And Penny had the same sort of thing as well.

She was told by somebody, "Look out for signs" and all this sort of stuff.

She was sitting at the hospital one day waiting for an appointment.

And somebody was reading a paper,

and it just had a thing across it saying "Cliff".

So she said, "Well, if that's not a sign, I don't know what is."

Destiny may have brought them together,

but Cliff has proved himself a worthy suitor after helping Penny and her mum

through some of the toughest times of their lives.

-Lovely, Mum.

-Love you lots, Pen.

Many happy years ahead of you.

Yes, definitely.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

I was very ill, and I had two great big blood clots in both lungs.

And they nearly finished me.

It was touch and go for some time.

But now,

thanks to my two people...

Penny and...

-Cliff.

-Yeah.

They brought me back together and stayed with me through thick and thin.

If it weren't for them, I don't think I would have made it.

Having come so close to losing her,

-it means so much to Penny to have her mum and bridesmaid Zoe here to share her special day.

-My girls.

I've got my girls.

It's an emotional day.

They've been through everything together so it's just the final piece of the puzzle, really.

Yeah.

-Happy ever after.

-Yeah.

-Isn't it?

Over at Barry Island Pleasure Park,

manager James's big plans to put the fair back on the map may have ground

-to a halt.

-Well, unfortunately, the giant Ferris wheel has...

Or, as the locals have dubbed it, the Barry Eye,

is... We was hoping it would have been ready a month early,

to be ready now for this bank holiday Monday.

But one of the computers has come up with an error.

If one of them isn't corresponding and it comes up with an error,

then obviously it won't let the ride operate for safety reasons.

Gutted.

We've been going on so well.

We fought all the bad winds,

we fought all the bad weather to get it ready,

and I did really think it was going to be ready for this bank holiday.

It will cost us dearly, so to speak, you know?

These things happen, and unfortunately it's happened to me!

I haven't told Henry yet.

Luckily, park owner Henry has other things on his mind.

It's not been a good season.

The weather's against us.

He's pleading poverty for a good deal on some new arcade machines.

You're going to help a poor showman here.

You know? And if your rewards are not given to you here,

you'll get them in heaven.

So... But don't rush to get there, just in case it ain't true!

But down at the front,

someone's arrived to give Henry a run for his money.

This is my mobile showroom.

Amusement stockist Clive Sweet calls himself the Keyring King of Great Britain.

I've come down here to sharpen my pencil, really.

Because Henry's not the easiest one to deal with.

Well, you'll have to send me a sample. I can't buy anything until I see it.

You know, he's sort of... He's a bit of a tough cookie when it comes to

dealing, but I quite like the banter.

Free delivery. You'll like that, Henry.

But has Henry finally met his match?

Right, we've got a couple of special offers for you, Henry.

Because you're a good friend of mine,

I think that I can make the effort to give you some good prices,

look after you like I always do.

And sort of treat you a bit special.

They're 38p, right?

38p to you.

That's £380 a thousand.

Yes. If you could halve the price down to, what, 18p?

Oh, no, I couldn't do that, Henry.

As I've known you, is it 40 years?

-Well...

-And we're waiting for that moment when you're going to do a deal when you leave...

Well, that moment in time might have arrived today.

-If you pay a good price.

-I should be smiling and not crying.

I spend more money with you than any other customer you've got.

Yeah, but is there any profit in it?

While Henry and Clive argue the toss,

across town Craig and Amy have a job on.

Having returned from their travels, money is tight.

Look at this. 0-60 in five minutes.

The couple are working as much as possible in an effort to increase their followers

and boost their income.

The best part about this car is when we bought it,

it came with the sunroof already glued in.

-Does leak.

-Actually glued.

What do you expect for £350?

-A bargain.

-The aim of the game at the minute is just to get as much work as we can

and save as much money as we can.

Get the cash flow, innit?

And today, Barry's vlogging stars are shooting a video to help a local

entrepreneur sell his multi-million pound pad.

-He's rocked up in a Lambo.

-Just brought our Clio.

Just a weekday car, that's what it is.

OK, so we're at the mansion.

It's amazing.

We've been inside and it's, like, white marble flooring,

massive open-plan kitchen.

It's so nice.

Just here. So you are asymmetrical.

-I feel like I've got a boss half the time.

-You have.

It's just easier to nod most of the time.

Look at that! Fingerprint unlockage.

My iPhone does that. Oh, my goodness.

We could all get in that!

Top bathroom.

One day. We will have a house like this.

The couple have grand ambitions,

and with a potential £7,000 profit from their fish clip,

they're on the right track.

The reality is not all of our clips go viral, so we were super lucky with the fish one.

And there's no signs of the storm!

But we tried other ones,

and it hasn't done that and we don't make that much money from the videos

that we do put out, from our vlogs.

So this is why we have to come out and do extra work.

Well, this beats a nine to five any day.

-Yeah.

-So we're all done at Phil's house.

Top filming, top gaff.

Didn't have a swim, though.

At Cardiff Bay, it's the opening of the fifth Welsh Assembly.

And the capital is buzzing with anticipation.

Sir Brooke and his wife, Lady Georgiana Boothby,

are responsible for greeting the Queen and Prince Philip on arrival,

and escorting them into the Welsh Assembly.

This is the first time I've personally greeted the Queen as the front person.

My father had a similar job in many years back,

so I had the honour of just meeting her afterwards as part of a group.

But never done it quite at this level before.

Although Sir Brooke's role is ceremonial,

in bygone years, he would have been the Queen's first line of defence.

The theory is that you can draw the sword in defence of the Queen,

should anybody attack.

Today, it's more likely to be an attack with bullets or a bomb,

so your job is basically to put yourself between the Queen and any

problem. But the other thing that you've got to be very careful that,

you know, Her Majesty is not a large lady.

And so I must not fling myself on top of her to shield her body,

as I'd probably do her more damage than the bullets!

With security taken care of,

it's time for Sir Brooke to get into position.

A 21-gun salute signals the Queen's arrival at Cardiff Station.

She's on her way.

As the royal procession arrives, it's time for Sir Brooke's big moment.

-Back in Barry...

-Look at that.

-That's a royal ring.

-..Henry's got his hands on Clive's crown jewels.

Well, I'm sure you could make a lot of girls in Wales very happy.

They're limited-edition, only 1,000 in a box.

It's time to seal the deal.

But Del Boy - sorry, Clive -

is bamboozling Henry with Cockney rhyming slang.

Why don't you slap a monkey... A monkey on top?

Put a monkey on top.

And then you've got a deal. All right, monkey on top.

-No.

-A pony.

Slap a pony on, and be done with it.

Yes or no? Come on.

-Come on, Henry.

-A straight two grand for 1,000 rings.

No, no, no. A cockerel...

A cockerel for the sake of it.

Right? 25 quid.

-Yeah, all right?

-Yeah.

-Oh, I missed!

Oh, I missed!

OK. That's it.

-Right, job done.

-Hard work.

That's it. Right...

Have you got some money I can borrow for diesel to get home?

Back in Cardiff Bay, Her Majesty has left the building.

As his royal duties come to a close, it's been a happy day for Sir Brooke.

And a chance to reminisce with his old pal Charles.

He and I were actually remembering that

50 years ago, when my godfather was Lord Lieutenant here,

the Prince then used to stay with him just outside Cardiff.

And I would go over for evenings, or lunch, or whatever.

And so we were saying it's an awfully long time ago!

Bye. Bye.

It's the morning of Penny and Cliff's lighthouse wedding,

and the groom is flat out.

As you can see, I'm fully mobile, in use of irons and ironing boards.

I wrote her a little text, just saying how much I love her.

And, you know,

that today will be the perfect day and she will get her fairytale wedding.

But she didn't reply to that one,

so I'm not sure if she's received it!

Penny's too busy with a wardrobe malfunction.

I'm just trying to Google how to lace a wedding dress,

see if we can find a video.

Just pull it together slightly.

Tighten here, because it's got to just cover that.

I'm just frightened of pulling it too hard.

It's half-past, so she should be on her way.

Going to lock up for the last time as a single man.

You look beautiful, baby.

-I, Penelope Lydia Fears...

-I, Penelope Lydia Fears...

..take you, Clifford Neil Cook...

..take you, Clifford Neil Cook...

..to be my wedded husband.

..to be my wedded husband.

-I give you this ring...

-I give you this ring...

..as a symbol of my endless love for you.

..as a symbol of my endless love for you.

-All that I am...

-All that I am...

-..and all that I have...

-..and all that I have...

-..I bring to you.

-..I bring to you.

I'm delighted to tell you that you are now husband and wife!

The celebrations get under way.

And lighthouse attendant Chris marks the occasion with a blow of

the lighthouse horn.

HORN BELLOWS

The lighthouse is our beacon.

It shines the way for us.

So, you know, it will guide us through our life, and that.

Any rough seas, rocks, or anything like that, it will tell us,

"No, don't do that, go round the other way."

Here we are, husband and wife, Mr and Mrs Cook.

Bye!

Next time... Amy goes under the needle.

I've got it, it's done!

We meet Penarth's most outstanding citizens.

That is so good!

And it all goes wrong at the fishing competition.

This is horrible.