Episode 3 Pembrokeshire: Coastal Lives

The Pembrokeshire coast path.

For 186 miles, it winds its way through secret coves,

past majestic beaches and over awe-inspiring cliffs.

It regenerates our batteries.

You can get out of the rat race and you can just walk.

God's own country here. I'm very lucky.

Even on a winter's day, when it's cold and miserable,

this still looks beautiful.

Throughout the hot summer of 2013, we've followed

the lives of the locals who live, work and play in this Welsh paradise.

Good boy.

This is their summer.

That's the first lobster we've seen.

This is their story.

Coming up, Fishguard gets ready for a knitted makeover.

I haven't got enough hands.

Nat has her hen night...

And Buzz takes the loo with a view for a spin.

-Oh, it's made a deposit.

-It's a test run.

It's July. The Pembrokeshire coast is bathed in sunshine

and the seas are still.

But the waters are about to witness an epic battle...

..one that has raged on for generations.

Come on.

This is longboat racing. Open sea rowing against the elements,

popular all along the Pembrokeshire coast,

and competition between rival villages and teams is fierce.

Keep the length.

Especially between old foes, Newport and Solva.

Both teams are training flat out for one of the biggest events

of the year, the Dinas Head Challenge,

a race around the coast from Fishguard to Newport.

Put your backs into it. Come on. Push!

And organising the race is down to Newport coach, Pete Fletcher.

Let's look good on the day.

The Dinas Head race started about 15 years ago.

It can be quite a demanding race, because it is eight miles flat out

and you can have to endure some pretty rough water

as you enter the bar into the estuary of Newport.

It's a timed race, so they don't exactly know

whether they're winning or what part they are in the race.

It's very tactical.

Come on!

As Pete knocks his Newport team into shape,

20 miles down the coast, Solva cox Mike Miles is getting his crew

ready for another training session.

There's always been a lot of rivalry between Solva and Newport,

and then in the early '80s, load of Solva boys commissioned a boat,

the five boys, specifically, to beat the Newport rowers

and managed to wipe them out completely.

I'm pretty sure that's it over there. Beautiful boat.

Today's competition rowing boats are made of fibreglass

instead of wood, and are called Pembrokeshire Longboats.

With about 30 teams expected in the Dinas Head Challenge,

local honour is still at stake.

But Mike has some rowing novices in his crew.

Three, four, pick it up.

We've got Mia now who's rowing in bow,

we've got Jasmine in front of her

and I don't think that Newport are going to have a cat's hope in hell.

Up in Fishguard, in the north of the county, bizarre plans are afoot.

The town is going to be given a knitted face-lift,

and the woman behind the project is local artist Lizzie Stonhold.

Granny graffiti started in America.

It's an urban way of covering objects.

Rather than it being painted or altered in some way,

a knitted cover is something, kind of, quite cosy.

But in order to pull off her ambitious plans

to cover Fishguard in granny graffiti,

first Lizzie has to persuade more locals to take up knitting.

My aim is to get absolutely everybody in Fishguard knitting.

I haven't got enough hands.

Right, OK, got you. I think.

Next stop, the lifeboat crew, to try

and rope more non-knitters into to the project.

Thank you all for coming today. I wasn't expecting so many of you.

This is awesome.

We're going to pretty much just cover all of the town in knitting.

You're not the only ones who are getting involved, so don't panic.

It's just if we can get you having a go at knitting.

It's just putting Fishguard on the map in a really positive light,

showing its good community spirit.

Pull it through the stitch. Wrap it round the back.

Most of the crew, like lifeboat man Roger Strawbridge,

are complete knitting novices.

I'm struggling a bit, you know? I'm in a bit of a twist.

These are all your individual stitches, and you get your

right-hand needle and you stick it in through the front

of the first stitch.

Well done.

It's really important, I think, to involve the RNLI in a community

project because, you know, the coastline is our community. It's really good.

This is nice.

For Lizzie, her granny graffiti project is about more

than brightening up Fishguard, it's a personal quest.

I've found it really difficult to get a job which is

more of a career in the area.

I think that is likewise for lots of our friends.

There's so many people applying for jobs that you need to have

something, you know, to make yourself recognised.

Life as an artist isn't paying the bills, so Lizzie's created the

project to bolster her profile and CV, in a bid to get a full-time job.

But for now, she's not getting paid a penny and things are tight.

We were on benefits - well, we still are on benefits.

Financially, I suppose, we can't really afford to do it,

but I see it as some sort of investment.

If I don't invest into my art and I don't invest into our future,

we'll never get anywhere.

But Lizzie has a huge mountain to climb.

She plans to cover over 160 objects in and around Fishguard in knitting,

that will take over 1,000 balls of wool and involve over 500 knitters.

The project has a long way to go,

but so far the people of Fishguard seem to be buying into it.

-I've nearly done a row here.

-You have.

Look at that, eh?

Down the coast at Treginnis Farm near St Davids,

Nat James and her sister Mel are getting ready for a big night out.

In a few days' time, Nat will be marrying her fiance, Dan,

at her dream marquee wedding, held on the farm.

But before that, Nat has to say goodbye to unmarried life in style

with a hen night to remember.

It's minging.

As the girls concoct in the kitchen, mum Kath is trialling

her make-up for the wedding.

Just nice to have someone else do it, actually.

Oh, God, my turkey neck now.

-I've got flabby eyelids.

-You haven't.

-I have.

-At all.

We're going to go into St Davids

and meet up with all the other girls,

and just carry it on in The Farmers - drinks and there will be a few nibbles.

The boys, they've been out all day.

They're planning on going to The Bishops, I think.

We're in The Farmers, they're in The Bishops, which should be nice.

Oh, lovely, Nat.

Dad Les is next in the queue.

-Going to start on me?

-I'm a beautician, not a magician.

Made up and revved up, the girls head off to hit

the bright lights of St Davids city.

Up at their garden centre near Newport, Pete and Lesley Fletcher

are busy trying to juggle running their business

and organising the Dinas Head rowing race that is just one week away.

I wonder whether anybody will beat the record time.

55 minutes and 59 seconds. Aberdyfi Men in August 2008.

There's a bit of a tactical race,

because you might be in front of a boat, but you won't know if you're

actually beating that boat, because they won't know

what time they started.

Everybody has their own unique times. You have to be very, very careful.

We have three stopwatches going.

If anything goes wrong with the time thing, we're finished.

We can start running for the hills.

Solva team cox Mike Miles is also busy with his

building company, but it's a miracle that Mike is here at all.

13 years ago, Mike was told he had weeks to live

with advanced lung cancer.

But he researched the condition and persuaded a consultant to do

invasive surgery, removing one of his lungs.

I've always been one for arguing.

Arguing with people if I feel like it.

And on that particular occasion

it was definitely worth having the argument.

A long time ago, I had done a degree in what's basically

biochemical genetics, which doesn't go amiss in relation to lung cancer.

I only dwelt on what might happen for a few minutes,

because it's counterproductive, and I'm quite good at

sticking things I'd rather not think of to the corner of the mind.

But every time you wake up, you think, "Oh, I've woken up,

"that's a good start to the day."

13 years later, and Mike is still a driving force

behind the Solva Rowing Club.

No time to rest, though, as rivals Solva and Newport will

go head-to-head in the Dinas Head Challenge in just a few days' time.

I think Newport should be quaking in their boots.

I might even be tempted to put it more strongly than that.

It's Nat James' hen night,

and the girls gather at the Farmers Arms in St Davids.

Cheers, everybody.

As the drinks start to flow, Mel decides to get the party going

with some forfeits.

Put lipstick on the closest guy to you.

Is that enough?

-One...

-I had to propose to a bloke.

-Two...

-His wife wasn't very happy.

Had to let that one go.

But as the girls get stuck into their challenges,

some unexpected guests arrive.

The men, obviously, can't keep away from us lovely ladies because

I think a few of the reprobates have appeared from the stag do.

I can't see the stag anywhere, so perhaps that's a good thing.

It might be a bad thing, actually. He's probably in bed or somewhere.

As the night, and the drinks, roll by,

groom Dan gatecrashes the hen party.

Or is it Danielle?!

You're supposed to be at The Bishops.

You're not supposed to be in The Farmers at all.

This is a hen party. Off you go, please.

It's been a rowdy night to remember.

Just time to shake off the sore heads before the wedding.

While the long hot summer pulls in thousands of holiday-makers

to Pembrokeshire's coast,

the routine of life goes on for the locals.

Jack Lloyd is Milford Haven born and bred, and as with any

Monday morning, he's at his local bowls club with his best mate, Tony.

Touch more...

OK. Go with that.

Looks good.

Jack is an international-standard bowls player,

and is ranked third in his class in the UK.

Weight looks good.

-Nice one, Jack.

-Thank you.

And Jack is completely blind.

Jack didn't start bowling until he lost his sight.

I can't imagine what that's like.

I put my hand in what I think is the right position

and Tony tells me just to tweak it a bit.

I let it go and hope for the best, then.

If I make a cock-up, he makes a cock-up, too. Simple as that.

He just gets on with life. He just gets on with life.

People who get a bit fed up, they want to come down here for an hour

and see what people can do. Amazing.

It's been a tough time for Jack after the death of his first

guide dog six months ago.

She was Wilma, a shepherd retriever, and I had her for eight years.

She passed away just after Christmas, and that was the toughest day

I've ever had, because of how close they get to you, or you get to them.

You know.

Jack is now just three weeks into building a relationship

with his new guide dog, Jackson.

I've got to get to know how he approaches different obstacles

to Wilma, who was completely... She was just different.

She indicated in different ways.

Jackson is very cautious, and he's always looking for reassurance

and that's because he's young and it's a new route.

Out you go. Forward. Straight on. Go on.

The new best friends have been getting to grips

with taking on the busy roads of Milford Haven.

Sometimes he gets confused.

We're coming up to a lamppost that I know about somewhere.

He tends to go the wrong side of it

and I don't know why. He's getting better.

But some days it just confuses him for some reason.

But away from the town centre,

there's one place that Jack dreams of returning to -

the coastal path.

We haven't quite done the path yet.

We haven't done a walk since he's qualified, cos he is quite young.

I'm sure he'll enjoy it, but it's taking that first step,

thinking what he's going to be like.

Jack regularly walked the coast path with his previous guide dog Wilma,

but for Jackson, guiding his master along the cliff tops

will be a huge challenge.

Artist Lizzie Stonhold has been getting Fishguard knitting

for her Granny Graffiti project,

in her bid to raise community spirit

and increase her chances of getting a job.

I think, so far, there's been about 500 knitters

involved in the community.

It's been really, really encouraging.

Fingers crossed we get there.

This is amazing!

Look at that. Well done.

And Lizzie has had some good news.

The local arts society has stepped in with some much-needed funding.

It's just an excuse to have a big laugh, I think.

Just to put some fun into Fishguard.

The project is gathering pace,

and even the ferry crew have picked up their needles.

I did actually knit a scarf when I was ill in bed

when I was a very young little boy.

But there is one person in particular

that Lizzie is keen to get knitting -

local sculptor and eco-inventor, Buzz Knapp-Fisher.

All summer, Buzz has been making his portable Loo with a View

for the walkers that visit his Fairy Cafe.

-This is your loo!

-Yes!

-The Mark I.

-Yeah.

Basically, a toilet for the moment and, well, collecting energy.

-Right.

-The idea of this toilet is everything is kept.

Our body produces a lot of products,

which could easily be used for fertilisers and for chemistry.

-Rainwater collects in here.

-OK.

-Then that is filtered.

That goes into the sink.

What I like about this is you tip it up,

which then is used

for flushing the toilet.

Now Buzz wants to spruce up the Loo with a View

with some granny graffiti.

I really like the idea of the plastic drainpipe covering that.

-Brilliant.

-You could just do it, so it's just round there,

if needed be, or it could be...

-You could add on to it each year, really, couldn't you?

-Ah, fantastic. Yeah.

Yes, Buzz, it's time to get knitting.

Oh, I've got the wrong bit!

Oh, that was it. That's very confusing.

That's definitely, sort of, practice, isn't it?

-So, under...

-Yep.

-..and over.

-That's it.

So you pull the needle back out through the way you came.

That is so weird.

Thing is, I can see what's going to happen.

I'm going to make a mistake, I'll get cocky.

Do you reckon you'll be able to carry on then without me?

HE LAUGHS

Not sure...

After just two months learning to be both eyes and guide to Jack,

the big day has come for Jackson

to take his master on the coast path.

I really am looking forward to it. It's a long time since I've been on this path.

Probably 20 years or more since I've been on this section.

Hopefully, it goes well!

They're on a day out with the Pembrokeshire blind walkers group,

to tackle three miles of the path to Broad Haven,

and leading the expedition is park ranger Ian Meopham.

There's quite a brisk, south-westerly wind blowing.

As long as that stays on the right-hand side of your face,

then things are looking quite good.

If you find it on the left-hand side of your face,

I would stop walking if I were you.

And we'll turn you round and set you off in the right direction.

Come on, then. Let's go.

It's going to be a challenge for Jackson and Jack,

so best friend Tony has come along for support.

-You're OK there, Jack. Straight on.

-It's very narrow here.

-Yeah.

At times, the path gets within just feet of the 200ft cliffs.

Jackson, straight.

But Jackson is keeping his master on course.

-Good boy, Jackson.

-Gorgeous today.

-Can you see on to Tuskar Rock?

Go on, forward. He's taking a sniff here and there, I can feel.

Lots of distractions.

-Right, Jack, it's quite nasty here. Keep to your right.

-Jackson, right.

-There we are, you're OK.

-Straight on.

How come you've got the path anyway? You're forcing me up on the grass.

Jack loved walking the path, before he lost his sight completely

eight years ago due to a genetic condition.

But now he experiences the landscape in different ways.

It's beautiful.

I rely on my ears to pick up sounds.

The wind direction on one side of your face

or in front of you, the sun.

That's how I orientate myself on the path.

Sometimes you come down here when there's been a storm.

You can feel the spray at this height, 150, 200 feet, whatever it is.

You just look at things just totally different in your life.

A lot of the time, I think he's playing tricks on me,

that he is sighted.

I mean, obviously, he's got a lot of confidence in Jackson

and Jackson's doing his job, isn't he?

This step is a whopper, this next one.

-There we go.

-OK.

It's like the bloody Grand National.

The coast path presents different challenges for different people.

Some people will run it, some people will walk it,

some people will totter along it, some people will try it in one hit.

It's just lovely when guys with problems visually

are able to come out and enjoy it, as well.

The group have been led safely to their end destination,

Broad Haven Beach.

-OK, we can go onto the beach now.

-Forward.

-OK, we're on the beach.

Jackson has passed his first coast walk with flying colours

and Jack has his freedom back once more.

Good boy! Good boy!

-Thanks, Jack.

-Oh, sorry!

-It's down my boot.

You shouldn't have put your foot there!

The day of the Dinas Head Challenge has arrived,

and as both Newport team coach and race organiser,

it's going to be a busy day for Pete.

May I welcome you to Newport Boat Club.

A record number of boats and crews have arrived to battle it out

over the eight-mile course

around the coast from Goodwick Harbour to Newport.

And after months of gruelling training,

it's time for old rivals Solva and Newport to square up.

-How's the team looking then?

-Oh, OK. Yeah.

I shouldn't be even bloody speaking to you!

Pete has trained his Newport team hard,

but Mike and his Solva crew are feeling confident.

We're going to pull extremely hard

until we get to Newport and then we're going to drink plenty of beer.

Yep! That sounds good to me.

It's very important that you show your starting number that way round.

OK. And do that as you go past and smile.

If you fail to do that, don't blame me if I haven't recorded your time.

There's nothing worse than doing this race

and then I can't even give them their results.

I can tell you there's a lot of pressure on the time keepers.

I've got three other back-up people backing me up on the times.

Time for Pete and his helpers to get the race started.

-Are you happy to let it go, over?

-What number are they?

-What number are they?

-What number is this one, Pete?

I don't know. I told them, if they don't show their numbers.

I do know which team that is, anyway, so it's fine.

Yeah, but we don't.

I'll tell you which number it is.

Set, go!

-Off we go!

-It's a race against the clock, or rather clocks,

and Newport are sent off first in their boat Tonnau Glas

or Blue Waves...

-Go!

-OK!

Let's go!

..closely followed by Solva, with Mike at the helm of their boat,

Auntie Mattie.

We're off!

Both are competing in the mixed team category,

with two men and two women making up the crew.

And as the boats leave Goodwick Harbour,

Newport are holding off Solva.

That's good! Keep it up!

Relaxed power!

But ahead lies eight miles of gruelling open-sea rowing.

It's been a week since Buzz was taught to knit by Lizzie,

and she's back to see how her pupil has been getting on.

-I'll sit down.

-Yeah, sit down!

-Productivity was slow for a variety of reasons.

-Yeah.

-But I have made a sculpture.

-Right.

-And it has got a knitting theme.

-OK.

-I'm intrigued.

-I'll show it to you.

-OK. It'll be wonderful, I'm sure.

So is your sculpture going to go in the loo, then, Buzz?

No, it's going on the outside, funnily enough.

-Right.

-Well, here it is.

-Oh, wow! That's wonderful.

A cartoon image of me, and the snail represents

the slowness of my learning, but I am getting there.

Oh, I love it.

With Mini Buzz made, and with the Loo with a View almost complete,

the time has come for big Buzz to undertake the first test run.

Right, I think we're nearly ready.

Fire up the chip fat-fuelled Land Rover.

It's not a fast getaway vehicle.

It's not ideal for a bank robbery, I have to say.

After months of building,

Buzz's Loo with a View is finally on the road.

HE HONKS HORN

Oh!

It's made a deposit.

Well, it is a test run!

Part of my mother's Vauxhall.

-We'll cross the hurdles when we get them, I always say.

-Yeah.

Back off Dinas Head,

and the fleet are over halfway through the eight-mile race.

Relax, this is lovely.

Keep it going!

And Solva have caught up with their rivals, Newport.

MIKE SHOUTS ENCOURAGEMENT

Keep it going! Let's not let them past us now!

Meanwhile, Pete stands guard at the race finish in Newport Yacht Club,

ready to clock the boats in.

Quite a group of them out there.

-I'd say they're about eight minutes away.

-It's up to me now.

LOUDSPEAKER: OK, here they come.

About two, two and a half miles left!

Keep going! Come on!

LOUDSPEAKER: OK, here comes the team from Tawe Port.

The faster men's teams come in first.

But Solva have dug deep...

..and after over an hour of flat-out rowing, guided by cox Mike,

they easily beat Newport.

Come on, keep it up!

APPLAUSE

Fantastic!

-They rowed an absolute...

-Woo!

It's been a great race for novice rowers Nia and Jasmine.

We said on the way, she's no longer a bum blister virgin.

As the celebrations wash away the pain,

the officials frantically calculate the race times

for all 30 boats.

The results are in.

They all pulled out the stops but didn't quite make it today,

it's the Newport mixed team in Tonnau

in a time of one hour, seven minutes and 58 seconds.

Newport get third place in the mixed team category.

In a time of one hour, four minutes and 24 seconds,

in their boat, Auntie Mattie, was the mixed team from Solva.

CHEERING

But Solva finish three and a half minutes ahead, to take second.

It may not be a class win,

but they've beaten the old foe.

Well, I have to say, "Well done."

You got the best of us this year. There's always next year.

Next time, Fishguard is transformed overnight...

They'll go out and walk the dog and suddenly there'll be all this knitting.

..a footprint sparks a ghost hunt in a coastal fort...

That's the past speaking to us.

Whoa!

..and the big day finally arrives for Nat, as she ties the knot.

THEY ARGUE