Snowdonia A Year in the Wild


Snowdonia

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There is a land where extinct volcanoes rise out of the sea.

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Where you can stand on top of some of the world's oldest rocks

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and see every country in Britain.

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It is a land where rare wildlife lives in secret valleys,

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beneath the peaks of our island's highest mountain range.

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A privileged few hold the key to this land.

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Their knowledge has made them guardians

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of this extraordinary landscape.

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And given them a unique responsibility

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in preserving one of Britain's most treasured national parks.

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This land is Snowdonia.

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HE WHISTLES

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500 million years ago,

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Snowdonia's mountains erupted from the Irish Sea

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and transformed this part of North Wales.

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As the ice-age glaciers retreated,

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Snowdonia's valleys became an extraordinary wilderness.

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An Alpine landscape on Britain's shores.

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Home to species that can be found nowhere else on these islands.

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For millennia, those who've chosen to live here

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have had to be completely in tune with Snowdonia's seasons.

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And to this day,

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it's still one of Britain's least populated landscapes.

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To survive here you need something special.

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If you asked any shepherd or any farmer,

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very few would say that it's just a job.

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You farm from your heart.

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People often say how lucky I am

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and over the years I'd be thinking, "Me, lucky?

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"Running after sheep and wrestling with cattle."

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And now, as I'm getting older, I think, "Yes, I am lucky."

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I have been very, very fortunate to spend all my life on the mountains.

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This is one of the hardest places in Britain to farm sheep.

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The unpredictable climate means that

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Gwyn has to be constantly aware of the conditions.

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HE WHISTLES

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Tending sheep here in the Ogwen Valley is done much the same

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as it was three centuries ago, when Gwyn's family first started farming.

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Winter is coming now, it's end of November.

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We're preparing the sheep for the winter holidays,

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checking they are fit and healthy on their feet,

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and also it's been a very wet season,

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so we're giving them a drench against fluke, liver fluke.

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That can affect them.

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And because I'm organic, I'm limited to the treatments I can give.

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We are just preparing the ewes now, ready for them to leave the farm,

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go down to lowland pastures for the winter.

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Welsh mountain sheep have been bred especially to cope

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with the inhospitable mountain conditions,

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but Gwyn still has to send his flock to lowland pastures,

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just to survive the winter.

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Very little grass grows during this time.

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Without it, the sheep would soon starve.

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When they've gone away, at least you know that

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if the weather does turn bad,

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at least they've got a better opportunity to stay alive.

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The old shepherds used to say, "The best shepherd is the white shepherd."

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The snow will bring them off the tops.

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If we do get a good covering of snow, then everything stops.

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I like a good, hard winter, where things do go to sleep.

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It charges up the battery of the Earth, you know?

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To kick-start it for spring.

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People might think that I'm a bit odd, maybe they're right,

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but I really enjoy the quietness of this period.

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There are not many farmers left

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who can make a living in these mountains.

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In the coming months,

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Gwyn will have to draw on a lifetime of experience

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if he is to keep his flock from succumbing

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to Snowdonia's unpredictable environment.

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Travel south from the mountains of North Snowdonia,

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and within the space of a few miles, the land changes dramatically.

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Steep mountainside gives way to rolling wooded hills,

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high moorland, and a different way of life.

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Winter down here in the southern end of the park

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can be very different to the weather north in the high mountains.

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Snowdonia is only about 40 miles long or thereabouts,

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but my patch can seem like a different world altogether.

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Humans have been living in southern Snowdonia for over 6,000 years.

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Though it's only in the last 60 that we have sought to preserve it

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within a National Park.

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Over the space of a year,

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Rhys' role as a warden will change as often as the weather.

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He will have to balance protecting Snowdonia's wildlife and culture,

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with the coming and going of some 9 million people

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who visit the park every year.

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But in the quieter months, his only distraction comes from those

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who have chosen to remain over the winter.

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The sound of winter for me is the sound of ravens.

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This is the time of year, January,

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when the ravens start to establish their territories,

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it won't be long before they'll be nest-building.

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They are perhaps the spirit of the mountain, cigfrain in Welsh.

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It's almost like an open-air concert for free, it's tremendous.

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But Snowdonia is more renowned for its unique plant life

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than as a musical venue.

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And it falls upon Rhys to know the flora in minute detail,

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even though they are spread across an area larger than Liverpool.

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Winter is the time to visit one of his rarest residents.

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Juniper is a very rare plant in the southern part of the park.

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They seem to be limited to three individual shrubs.

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Of course, it is one of the three native conifer species of Britain,

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the others being Scot's pine and the yew tree.

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So it has a very old history.

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The male ones produce cones with the pollen on them,

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and the female ones obviously produce the berries,

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the juniper berries, that are so famous for flavouring gin.

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They are obviously in difficult circumstances

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and anything we can do to help should be done, really.

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By taking hardwood cuttings at the end of their growing season,

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when the plant is at its strongest, Rhys is ensuring

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that these rare junipers have the best chance of taking root.

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It will be another year

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before he can return the sapling to its mountainside home.

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But the payoff is worth it.

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A healthy juniper plant can live another 250 years.

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Snowdonia isn't really very big,

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but its geographical scale is beside the point, really,

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because its presence is huge.

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Twm comes from a long line of Welsh poets

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who have written about the mountains of North Wales.

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Their language is as much a part of the mountains as the rock.

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Snowdonia's changing seasons have always been

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a source of inspiration to writers, though one rises above all others.

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Well, winter is the time to come to Snowdonia or to Eryri,

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to give it its proper name.

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There are no pretensions in winter, there's no additives,

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there are no colorants, it's pure Eryri.

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That rawness of terrain that has inspired so many writers,

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has also been a magnet for those in search of adventure.

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There is a pub at the foot of Snowdon called Pen y Gwryd.

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That is the only pub to escape to if the weather turns cruel.

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It has very romantic associations

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because the 1953 Everest climbers came here to train.

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Because Snowdonia was very varied in its terrain.

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A lot of the weather is so fickle and unpredictable,

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that it's good training,

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especially if you have no experience whatsoever as a climber.

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I am the son of one of the members of that expedition.

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To wit, Morris of The Times.

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The Times correspondence sent on that expedition to report back.

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And he had no experience as a climber,

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and so he learnt everything climbing around his hotel.

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Well, it was necessary for any communications from the mountain

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to be in secret because there was great competition

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to climb the highest mountain in the world.

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And so, all the members had codenames.

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Hillary, for instance, was Jerkin or Candlestick.

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Tensing was Asparagus or Carpenter.

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And Morris of The Times was Carpet or Armchair.

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HE CHUCKLES

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But Morris of The Times had a more involved code

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in order to be able to send back whole messages and sentences.

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And the message sent back on May 29th 1953, was,

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"Snow conditions bad. Advance base abandoned. Awaiting improvement.

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"All well."

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And that was sent by a runner down the side of the mountain

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to the telegraph office many, many miles away,

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and sent back to London.

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It didn't sound very encouraging, but the meaning of that sentence,

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when deciphered was,

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Hillary and Tensing have climbed Everest.

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And to think, all this started in a remote corner of Wales.

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The Himalayan experience that Hillary sought in these mountains,

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lasts for only a few weeks each year.

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By the time the melt comes, there is much to do for those who

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depend on March's warm sun to begin the natural cycle of things.

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Spring is very, very important.

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It's when the Earth comes to life again,

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and it gives you the life, it gives you that bang,

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that spring in your feet again, off you go, you've got work to do.

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Another season is here and everybody else comes back as well.

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It's not just the animals coming back to the farm, it's the wildlife.

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It's nice to see the swallow and the swift coming back.

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They are very, very delicate.

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To think that they've come all the way from Africa.

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It's always nice for me to see birds coming

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from such a long, long way away to a small farm in Wales.

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Yes. Nice place for a holiday!

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I'm not farming here for myself,

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I'm farming it for the whole wildlife that's here with me.

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I'm trying to be as sensitive as any shepherd can be,

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and looking after the wildlife.

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We've got some weasels and some stoats maybe coming out, hunting.

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We've got a colony of water voles just down in the field

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in the bottom there.

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I don't grace it, so they are left alone.

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The return of wildlife to the farm is a good sign that

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conditions are right for Gwyn to bring his sheep

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and their newborn lambs back from the lowland grazing.

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With new grass court in the mountains, he can be sure

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that even if the weather does turn, there'll be plenty to eat.

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After they've been away for so long,

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it's like having your children back again.

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And, yeah, it's nice again, doing my shepherding work again.

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The sheep's spring health check needs to be thorough.

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Once they've been checked over, they are released onto the slopes

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and from that point on they're left to fend for themselves.

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The sheep here are a hefted flock,

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so each ewe returns to the same part of the mountain year on year,

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taking with them their lambs, so that their instinctive knowledge

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of this landscape is passed on for generations.

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You can see the type of area we have.

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It's very, very open and it's a large area,

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so there's no point having a small flock

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in one corner of your farm and the rest of the farm empty.

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These sheep really do spread out, you know.

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Up there, there will be probably about 300 sheep to 1,000 acres.

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As I'm getting older, I appreciate it more.

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One moment, there are a group of climbers as we speak now,

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looking at the wall in the bottom there.

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Foot on the barbed wire, jump over, the post snaps, and that's it,

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we have to repair the fence.

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HE WHISTLES

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Hey!

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Hey!

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HE WHISTLES

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Hey! Get off the bloody wall!

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It makes you feel like you ought to go there and say to them,

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"Listen to me or you'll be thrown in the river."

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My father told me many, many years ago, when I was a young lad

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and chasing after the climbers and the walkers,

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who were leaving gates open and climbing over the walls,

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and I spent hours running after them and getting very stressed,

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if that is the word.

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My father told me that I couldn't stop them,

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they were like the tide, coming and coming,

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but I could make use of them, I could take their money.

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Now we've diversified and are doing accommodation and educational visits,

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and now instead of waving my stick at them, saying, "Get off my land!"

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I say, "Come on the land, learn a bit more about farming,

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"where your food comes from, make friends

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"and leave something behind, like a cheque, you know."

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Change from winter to spring is quite a subtle one

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in the mountains of Snowdonia.

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On a day like this, we just hit the good weather this week,

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and it makes such a difference having a bit of sun on your back.

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BIRDS CHIRP

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You're constantly in the middle of wildlife,

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particularly around the lake here.

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The Goosanders have certainly arrived

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and started their breeding season.

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The redstarts and the pied flycatchers are in the woodland,

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so it's just everything.

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You just feel that spring has arrived all of a sudden.

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With so much wildlife activity in early spring,

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it's a good time for Rhys to patrol

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and take stock of the species in his patch.

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This part of south Snowdonia has so many diverse habitats,

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that it's always been a haven for wildlife.

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Some are here in abundance.

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Others, however, need closer attention.

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Take otters, for instance.

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They're not a species you associate with mountainous areas particularly,

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but there are plenty of signs they're on the upland lakes.

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They'll often follow the spawning fish going upstream,

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even up to the highest lakes on Cader Idris.

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Because man and animal have co-existed in the National Park for so long,

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the inevitable loss of habitats means

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that some species require a bit of a leg-up by now.

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Even though there are natural places for the otters to use,

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the addition of artificial holts complements that natural choice.

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Nocturnal otters need somewhere to rest during the day,

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and typically build their holts in the banks of rivers and lakes,

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amongst the roots of old trees.

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But with industry having removed many of these trees,

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Rhys' artificial holt is a mimic of these subterranean

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Otters can have up to 30 such sites,

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which they use throughout their territory.

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And they might only use each one for a couple of days at a time.

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But there is a chance that Rhys' holt will be used for rearing young.

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And with any luck, in a couple of years,

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otters may be a common sight in the mountains again.

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On the western edge of Snowdonia,

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where the mountains tail off into the sea,

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are a series of valleys that face west,

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soaking up the warm spring sun and making them

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a secret refuge for plants, animals and man.

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In the spring I always go to Cwm Pennant, which for me

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is the beginning of Snowdonia because it's a long enclosed valley.

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It's there where spring shows itself wonderfully.

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More than anywhere else in Wales.

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I come every year in May to hear the cuckoo

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and to see the blue mist of bluebells which is always here in cuckoo time.

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The Welsh word for bluebell is clychau'r gog,

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which means, the boots of the cuckoo.

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CUCKOO CALLS

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They say it's becoming very rare for some reason. I don't know why.

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But you can always be sure of hearing in Cwm Pennant.

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Because it is the very last refuge, as it were,

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before the bareness and the ruggedness and the treelessness

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of Snowdonia, there's something very special about it.

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The presence of people is always evident in Eryri.

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There are ruins of farms, there are tumbledown walls, and for me,

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in my writing, this is all important, the presence of people.

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Pam, Arglwydd, y gwnaethost Gwm Pennant mor dlws?

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A bywyd hen fugail mor fyr?

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Why, Lord, did you make Cwm Pennant so beautiful

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And the life of a shepherd so short?

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The impact of a simple farming way of life on this landscape

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was nothing compared to the industry that was to follow.

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The slate quarries of north Wales

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were at one time the biggest on Earth.

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Tens of thousands of men toiled with picks and dynamite

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to supply the four corners of the world with roofing material.

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It was an industry with a global scale

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that spawned entire communities.

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That made a few men rich and took many to an early grave.

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At its height, 5 million tonnes of rock

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were being removed from the mountainsides each year.

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Which is impressive,

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were it not for the fact that in the process,

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the industry was claiming on average the life of a quarryman a day.

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The Second World War deprived many of the quarries of their workers

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and the industry collapsed

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when soon after clay roofing tiles became cheaper than slate.

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But by exposing the rock,

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the quarrymen have attracted a new breed of mountain life.

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It's taken 33 years for climber Johnny Dawes

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to build an in-depth knowledge of the rock in Snowdonia,

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and in that time he's pioneered

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some of the most difficult and dangerous climbs in Britain,

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and etched his way into mountain folklore.

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To climb successfully here you need to know not only where

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but also when to pit yourself against the mountains.

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And spring is the perfect time to visit the slate.

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The quarries throughout Snowdonia

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are places where you see plants come alive a little bit earlier.

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You've got warmed areas, passive solar collectors.

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That slate absorbs so much heat,

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on some amazingly hot days, you could probably cook some bacon on it.

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And where plants grow is just amazing.

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They seem to know where to place themselves to greatest effect,

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like some interior decorator has got to work

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specifically for us, you know.

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When you walk on it, it actually clatters musically,

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so you end up with this beautiful cacophany of sounds,

0:29:180:29:23

clattering out from underneath you as you walk.

0:29:230:29:27

And you've got the sound of peregrines.

0:29:290:29:33

And the whole combination sort of wakes you up and makes you listen.

0:29:380:29:43

Stops you listening to the garbage in your head.

0:29:430:29:47

I love climbing on slate cos it looks so blank.

0:29:560:30:02

It's like a fine-bone-china, slate. It's cooked mudstone.

0:30:040:30:08

It's like nature's porcelain in a way.

0:30:080:30:11

If you know how to go from one shape to the next,

0:30:230:30:28

you can actually use momentum from a long way down a chain of moves.

0:30:280:30:31

But to do that you've got to be relaxed

0:30:350:30:39

and listening to what's going on,

0:30:390:30:42

and that comes with affinity for the rock.

0:30:420:30:45

As you get into the flow of a climb, you get to the point where

0:30:510:30:56

instead of having to focus directly on what you're doing,

0:30:560:30:59

your senses are so much wider and you sort of come alive.

0:30:590:31:04

The only thing to do is to absolutely go for it,

0:31:190:31:22

and the excitement kind of rises as you're doing it

0:31:220:31:27

and the fall rises as well.

0:31:270:31:29

SHOUT ECHOES

0:31:490:31:52

DOGS BARK

0:31:550:31:57

By summer, it's time for Gwyn

0:31:570:31:59

to gather his sheep down from the mountains in time for shearing.

0:31:590:32:03

HE WHISTLES

0:32:030:32:05

The warmer weather will have spread them

0:32:050:32:08

across the highest peaks on the farm, in search of good grass.

0:32:080:32:11

In the past, gathering the sheep

0:32:200:32:22

would have been a huge community event,

0:32:220:32:25

with whole villages ascending the mountain.

0:32:250:32:28

HE WHISTLES

0:32:280:32:30

But now it's left to Gwyn and a handful of neighbours

0:32:300:32:34

to gather 3,000 acres of sheer mountainside.

0:32:340:32:38

One thing hasn't changed, though,

0:32:400:32:44

the shepherd's reliance on his oldest companion.

0:32:440:32:47

The basic commands for dogs, away, come back and lie down,

0:32:470:32:52

the whistles are very similar.

0:32:520:32:54

HE WHISTLES

0:32:540:32:56

Lie down! Lie down!

0:32:560:32:58

If you have one in English and one in Welsh,

0:32:590:33:02

you don't get confused to the commands,

0:33:020:33:04

and as I get older I get very confused.

0:33:040:33:08

And when I had three working dogs,

0:33:080:33:11

I don't know what the third dog's language was,

0:33:110:33:13

it was more swear words and all kinds of stuff.

0:33:130:33:18

Back here now. Back here now.

0:33:180:33:21

We get a few awkward ones that either don't know the way home

0:33:250:33:30

or they just want to stay on the mountain,

0:33:300:33:33

so it's a little bit more difficult with the weather being so hot

0:33:330:33:36

to shift them.

0:33:360:33:39

The dogs get tired very quickly, the shepherds get very tired.

0:33:390:33:42

HE WHISTLES

0:33:560:33:58

SHEEP BLEAT

0:34:060:34:09

As it becomes harder to make a living here,

0:34:380:34:44

fewer local people are farming Snowdonia,

0:34:440:34:47

and there's been a huge loss of knowledge

0:34:470:34:50

about living in these mountains.

0:34:500:34:53

SHEEP BLEAT

0:34:530:34:55

You can't just bring a person in to gather such a large area and say,

0:34:550:34:59

"You stand over there with your dog and gather that part of the mountain."

0:34:590:35:03

They don't know which part to gather.

0:35:030:35:05

It's been passed on from generation to generation, hasn't it.

0:35:050:35:08

The low price of lamb and wool is making it increasingly hard

0:35:140:35:17

for the shepherds, and more communities are now reliant

0:35:170:35:20

on Snowdonia's huge influx of summer visitors in order to survive.

0:35:200:35:25

Tourism isn't a new thing here, of course.

0:35:280:35:32

People have been visiting for centuries.

0:35:320:35:34

It is simply their numbers that have changed.

0:35:340:35:37

INDISTINCT CHATTER

0:35:370:35:40

The first visitors to these mountains

0:35:450:35:50

didn't come for the scenery,

0:35:500:35:53

they were geologists and plant collectors.

0:35:530:35:56

And they needed guides to shepherd them around the mountains.

0:35:570:36:00

The first guides were the local farmers,

0:36:020:36:05

and as word spread of Snowdonia's beauty,

0:36:050:36:10

the competition amongst guides grew.

0:36:100:36:11

And many turned to their second love,

0:36:120:36:15

poetry, to advertise their expertise.

0:36:150:36:19

Well, a famous guide was a fellow called William Williams.

0:36:200:36:23

William Williams' Guide To Snowdon.

0:36:230:36:26

"Anxious that all those who bode in England, Scotland or old Ireland

0:36:260:36:32

"Should place their feet upon much higher land

0:36:320:36:35

"Gives notice that if here they'll ride

0:36:350:36:38

"He with much pleasure as their guide

0:36:380:36:41

"Will show them quarries, lakes and mines

0:36:410:36:43

"Snowdon and the place he finds

0:36:430:36:46

"Plants that nowhere else abound

0:36:460:36:49

"And which by him alone are found

0:36:490:36:52

"Waterfalls with various actions

0:36:520:36:56

"Minerals, ores and petrifactions

0:36:560:37:00

"Anglers too, who with a boat can be supplied

0:37:000:37:04

"And when afloat will find that once by asking him

0:37:040:37:08

"The places where the best trout swim

0:37:080:37:10

"In fact, to him, no place is new

0:37:100:37:14

"Within the range of Snowdon view

0:37:140:37:17

"And as a guide midst many millions

0:37:170:37:21

"There's none so good as William Williams."

0:37:210:37:24

But he fell when he was guiding people up Snowdon in 1861

0:37:240:37:30

and died.

0:37:300:37:32

The cliffs around Snowdon, Wales' highest peak,

0:37:340:37:39

are to this day not places to be taken lightly.

0:37:390:37:42

And in the summer when the villages become inundated with tourists,

0:37:440:37:48

those in the know

0:37:480:37:50

head to one of Snowdonia's most iconic pieces of rock,

0:37:500:37:54

Clogwyn, the Black Cliff.

0:37:540:37:56

Clogwyn's really special.

0:37:590:38:01

I only get that feeling when I come over the top of that hill

0:38:010:38:05

and I see that crag, I don't get it anywhere else.

0:38:050:38:09

Clogwyn is a volcanic cliff,

0:38:090:38:11

where Johnny entered into the annals of climbing history

0:38:110:38:14

with an ascent of the Indian Face in 1986.

0:38:140:38:18

A feat which has only been repeated four times since.

0:38:180:38:23

The names of the climbs here say it all.

0:38:230:38:28

Some of the faces around the side, on the pinnacle,

0:38:280:38:31

things like Psycho Killer and Margins Of The Mind, things like that,

0:38:310:38:35

that don't say, "climb me, climb me."

0:38:350:38:37

Shaft Of The Dead Man, that's not very nice, is it?

0:38:370:38:41

Clogwyn is rhyolite, it's the same stuff as granite

0:38:460:38:50

but it's come out really quickly and cooled really quickly,

0:38:500:38:54

so it's like glass.

0:38:540:38:56

You've got to use it quite accurately

0:38:580:39:01

and it puts your body in very precise positions.

0:39:010:39:05

The solving what to do, it needs to be done quickly and decisively,

0:39:070:39:11

and you've got to look very carefully,

0:39:110:39:13

so you take your eyes out from the rock and scan,

0:39:130:39:17

and by moving your head, you can see where things are.

0:39:170:39:20

Clogwyn has this weird juxtaposition in the climb world,

0:39:410:39:44

there's some of the hardest climbs in Britain on its face,

0:39:440:39:48

set against the backdrop of thousands of people chugging up the hill

0:39:480:39:53

in a little train towards their summit.

0:39:530:39:55

But it's a different mentality, this idea of summiting,

0:39:560:40:02

from actually getting into the rock

0:40:020:40:03

and enjoying the process of being there.

0:40:030:40:07

Nowhere are those two takes on what a mountain means to people

0:40:160:40:20

more exposed than on Clogwyn when you're trying to stay alive,

0:40:200:40:25

trying to get a tiny wire into a crack,

0:40:250:40:29

and you've got Thomas The Tank trundling up behind you.

0:40:290:40:33

You can even hear the train whilst you're climbing.

0:40:340:40:37

TRAIN TOOTS

0:40:370:40:40

Get a climber's view of Snowdonia

0:40:480:40:50

and you'll notice ancient trade routes

0:40:500:40:53

that have been cut into the landscape.

0:40:530:40:56

There are over 1,500 miles of pathways through these mountains.

0:40:560:41:00

MOTOR STARTS

0:41:020:41:04

And it falls upon the wardens to keep them open for walkers.

0:41:060:41:10

Though for Rhys it's clearly more than just a job.

0:41:100:41:15

For me, it's a much deeper involvement with the landscape

0:41:160:41:19

when working with these track-ways.

0:41:190:41:22

The feeling of being in a long line of people responsible

0:41:220:41:25

for creating and keeping them open, and keeping that history alive.

0:41:250:41:30

A lot of the routes that we maintain are very ancient ones

0:41:300:41:36

that would have linked communities.

0:41:360:41:37

They might have been paths to the chapel, postman's routes,

0:41:370:41:42

and they might have been tracks to take goods from a farm,

0:41:420:41:45

perhaps to be sold in the nearest village or the nearest market.

0:41:450:41:49

There is one that crosses the Cader Idris range,

0:41:490:41:51

the Ffordd Ddu in Welsh, the Black Road,

0:41:510:41:54

that was used by the Welsh princes to get to their castle,

0:41:540:41:57

Castell y Bere, on the other side of the mountain.

0:41:570:41:59

And there is a tradition that stretches back,

0:41:590:42:02

of course, 800 years or so.

0:42:020:42:05

Not all the paths we clear are used extensively,

0:42:110:42:15

but I don't really mind that.

0:42:150:42:17

It's the quieter ones very often that turn up the most surprises.

0:42:170:42:21

I often try and look out for hen harriers up here,

0:42:290:42:32

it's a fantastic spot.

0:42:320:42:35

Very often the first thing that you'll see is this

0:42:360:42:39

little white speck, some people liken it to a seagull,

0:42:390:42:42

but to me it looks almost like a bit of drifting snow,

0:42:420:42:46

a little snowflake, and to see that in summer is a curious thing.

0:42:460:42:50

Hen Harriers are one of Britain's rarest birds,

0:42:530:42:58

and in summer they follow their main prey species,

0:42:580:43:01

meadow pipits and skylarks, to the moorlands of remote mountainsides.

0:43:010:43:05

The dense heather of these moorlands

0:43:060:43:09

also provides good protection for these ground-nesting raptors.

0:43:090:43:12

HARRIER CALLS

0:43:160:43:19

It only takes a few weeks

0:43:210:43:23

for the chicks to grow large enough to fledge.

0:43:230:43:26

It happens in such a short period of time

0:43:280:43:30

it almost seems like a small miracle.

0:43:300:43:33

They're still a rare sight in this part of the world.

0:43:340:43:37

Last year there were only 40 to 50 successful breeding pairs

0:43:370:43:41

in the whole of Wales.

0:43:410:43:43

So to spend any time with them at all is a rare privilege.

0:43:430:43:46

SHEEP BLEAT

0:43:480:43:51

Shearing is one of the few times

0:43:520:43:54

the community does come together nowadays.

0:43:540:43:56

These Welsh mountain sheep are bred for their meat

0:43:560:44:00

rather than their wool,

0:44:000:44:01

but the insulation that has kept them alive

0:44:010:44:04

on the mountains for the past six months still needs to be shorn.

0:44:040:44:08

It's a highly competitive time as the shearers are paid per sheep.

0:44:100:44:14

They usually shear between 250 and 300 sheep a day.

0:44:180:44:22

It's still good to have one top gun, lead shearer,

0:44:240:44:27

and everybody's trying to knock him off, you know.

0:44:270:44:30

The wool doesn't have the same value it used to.

0:44:450:44:49

Years ago, it would pay for half the year's rent on the farm.

0:44:490:44:53

Now, my wool cheque will probably put me a tank full of diesel.

0:44:530:44:58

But still, wool produce is very, very expensive,

0:44:580:45:01

so I don't know what's happening.

0:45:010:45:03

Maybe we should start knitting or something, you know. HE CHUCKLES

0:45:030:45:07

The timing of shearing is crucial.

0:45:350:45:38

If it's done too late, the wool won't have enough time

0:45:390:45:42

to grow again before winter, which in Snowdonia is never far away.

0:45:420:45:48

At the end of summer there is a kind of heathery time

0:45:490:45:55

when all the bikers, and the hikers, and the walkers, go back home,

0:45:550:46:00

and you no longer hear chattering and yelling among the rocks.

0:46:000:46:05

And the great silence falls on the mountains,

0:46:170:46:20

but a silence full of the voice of Eryri,

0:46:200:46:25

the true voice, which is water, water everywhere.

0:46:250:46:28

THUNDER ROLLS

0:46:370:46:40

This valley in particular is noted for the volume of rain

0:46:470:46:52

because we get over 100 inches of rain here.

0:46:520:46:55

But these Welsh mountain sheep,

0:46:550:46:57

they are used to finding shelter before the rain comes,

0:46:570:47:01

so now with the clouds coming in,

0:47:010:47:03

and the sheep looking for somewhere to shelter,

0:47:030:47:06

maybe it's time for us to shelter as well or we'll get wet.

0:47:060:47:09

Snowdonia is officially the wettest place in Britain.

0:47:150:47:18

Over 4.5 metres of rain falls here every year,

0:47:180:47:24

and most of it falls now, in the autumn.

0:47:240:47:28

It's a wretched time of year for those who have to

0:47:410:47:44

make a living from Snowdonia's mountains.

0:47:440:47:47

After October, the sun won't reach Gwyn's farm for another four months.

0:47:470:47:54

The changing climate signals the time of departure

0:47:560:48:00

for the fledgling swallow chicks.

0:48:000:48:03

By the time they return next year,

0:48:030:48:05

they will have travelled over 12,000 miles in their migration.

0:48:050:48:09

It's also a time of increased unpredictability

0:48:120:48:15

and danger for the climbers who come here.

0:48:150:48:18

ENGINE STARTS

0:48:220:48:24

But Snowdonia's unique geography

0:48:240:48:26

means that you can escape the tempestuous mountains,

0:48:260:48:30

and within a matter of minutes, be on Gogarth,

0:48:300:48:33

one of Britain's best sea cliff crags.

0:48:330:48:36

The sea cliffs around Snowdonia are older than the mountains themselves.

0:48:380:48:44

And old rock needs experienced hands if it's going to be climbed safely.

0:48:440:48:49

The rock is very old, it's like 650 million years old, pre-Cambrian,

0:48:500:48:55

but because it's been here a long time, some of it's gone to talc

0:48:550:48:58

basically, and so, some rocks break off and some snap,

0:48:580:49:02

some of them are really solid,

0:49:020:49:04

so you've got to have a knack of working out what's what.

0:49:040:49:09

You're not quite sure what's going to happen,

0:49:330:49:36

that's what makes it fun here.

0:49:360:49:38

It does engross you mentally, it's a puzzle,

0:49:400:49:44

and it gets your blood racing.

0:49:440:49:48

Some people experience the landscape through living in it,

0:49:590:50:02

others by working in it, but for me, I mean,

0:50:020:50:05

I've climbed on the rock all these years,

0:50:050:50:08

in a way, I've learnt it by actually feeling it with my hands.

0:50:080:50:12

It takes time to be a good climber, you've got to know a lot about rock.

0:50:190:50:23

There is no better place than Snowdonia

0:50:240:50:26

to learn about the different varieties of rock.

0:50:260:50:29

Such a unique and intimate knowledge of the landscape

0:50:370:50:40

through its geology is rare,

0:50:400:50:42

and it sets Johnny apart as one of Snowdonia's true insiders.

0:50:420:50:48

The proximity of the sea to the mountains of Snowdonia

0:50:510:50:55

is more than just a bonus for climbers,

0:50:550:50:59

it has created a globally important kingdom on a miniature scale.

0:50:590:51:04

The constant influx of fresh, moisture-laden air

0:51:060:51:10

from the Irish Sea into the valleys of Snowdonia

0:51:100:51:13

makes it a perfect location for some of Britain's most sensitive plants.

0:51:130:51:18

At this time of year,

0:51:200:51:21

it's very easy to appreciate a forest on a grand scale,

0:51:210:51:24

you get all the colours coming through.

0:51:240:51:29

But there is another world underneath that,

0:51:290:51:32

which people often pass.

0:51:320:51:34

Lichens are extremely sensitive to air pollution,

0:51:370:51:42

and they've become increasingly rare across Britain.

0:51:420:51:47

Yet the wet autumnal conditions in Wales are so perfect

0:51:470:51:51

that three quarters of all the lichens in Britain

0:51:510:51:54

can be found here.

0:51:540:51:57

In fact, Wales is the most diverse lichen environment on Earth.

0:52:000:52:06

Just a single wall can be such a fascinating treasure trove.

0:52:080:52:13

It's almost like entering into a sub-marine environment.

0:52:140:52:19

They are almost coral-like in formation.

0:52:200:52:24

And they have some beautiful names.

0:52:250:52:27

The map lichen, Rhizocarpon geographicum.

0:52:270:52:31

The matchstick lichen, the Cladonias,

0:52:330:52:36

has bright red tips to them.

0:52:360:52:39

There is a long history of fascination

0:52:410:52:45

with this bizarre underworld.

0:52:450:52:47

It wasn't long ago that people believed

0:52:470:52:49

they had medicinal properties.

0:52:490:52:52

Lobaria pulmonaria, the tree lungwort.

0:52:530:52:57

The idea was that if some aspect of the plan looked similar

0:52:590:53:02

to an organ in the body,

0:53:020:53:05

that plant was then taken to be a source of medication

0:53:050:53:08

for any illness,

0:53:080:53:10

and so this tree lungwort was used for respiratory problems.

0:53:100:53:16

It had no effect at all.

0:53:160:53:20

This combination of diverse micro world

0:53:230:53:26

and the many habitats amongst the peaks and valleys of Snowdonia

0:53:260:53:30

make it truly one of Britain's unique wildernesses.

0:53:300:53:35

But Rhys knows that this wilderness can't be taken for granted.

0:53:350:53:40

Snowdonia's always been in a state of change

0:53:420:53:44

and probably always will be.

0:53:440:53:46

The demands on the land will change

0:53:470:53:52

and more people will visit it.

0:53:520:53:54

In the middle of all that, I think we need to realise

0:53:560:54:00

the value of keeping undisturbed areas for the richness of species.

0:54:000:54:03

And to protect this cultural heritage that we have,

0:54:050:54:09

which otherwise run the risk of disappearing for all time.

0:54:090:54:13

Yet for many it is less HOW the land in Snowdonia will be used

0:54:180:54:24

than WHO is responsible for its future.

0:54:240:54:27

With winter setting in, Gwyn has again sent his sheep

0:54:340:54:38

down to the lowland pastures,

0:54:380:54:41

but this year he has kept back a special flock,

0:54:410:54:44

which he will feed through the winter.

0:54:440:54:46

All the other sheep have left the farm, they've gone to the lowlands.

0:54:480:54:52

These are more like pets really, and they're to encourage Jack,

0:54:520:54:56

my grandson, Jack is six,

0:54:560:54:59

for him to, like I did,

0:54:590:55:02

grow up with animals around him, because being up here farming,

0:55:020:55:05

it's not pounds, shillings and pence, it's about wanting to be here,

0:55:050:55:09

it's that passion you have for wildlife, and for farming,

0:55:090:55:12

and for shepherding, really.

0:55:120:55:14

HE SHAKES FEED Come on, girls. Come on, girls.

0:55:160:55:20

By the time he comes to an age when he can decide for himself

0:55:220:55:26

whether he wants to sell them or he wants to start farming,

0:55:260:55:29

then he'll have that choice.

0:55:290:55:31

The main thing is that there is still be somebody here farming, you know.

0:55:340:55:38

For me, that is very, very important,

0:55:380:55:40

that there is a family here at Blaen y Nant,

0:55:400:55:43

and a lot of other upland farms, before they get amalgamated,

0:55:430:55:48

farmhouses taken back as holiday accommodation,

0:55:480:55:51

and land then not being farmed properly.

0:55:510:55:54

For me it's important that there's somebody here,

0:55:540:55:58

that there has been for hundreds of years, tending to the land,

0:55:580:56:03

tending to the animals, keeping tradition going, you know.

0:56:030:56:07

It takes a lifetime of experience to learn how to farm in harmony

0:56:100:56:14

with the landscape and wildlife in the mountains of Snowdonia.

0:56:140:56:19

Three quarters of North Wales is devoted to farmland,

0:56:190:56:24

but the number of farmers who can make a living from it

0:56:240:56:26

falls year on year.

0:56:260:56:30

There will come a time when Britain needs farmers like Gwyn

0:56:300:56:34

to feed our crowded island,

0:56:340:56:36

so we can't afford to lose their knowledge.

0:56:360:56:41

Two months and it will be flat out again.

0:56:410:56:44

There will be plenty of work to do.

0:56:450:56:48

Snowdonia has always been one of Britain's treasured landscapes,

0:56:500:56:55

though its resilience to change is not everlasting.

0:56:550:57:00

Yet those who know it best know there is a permanence

0:57:000:57:05

to its wilderness that will never be replaced.

0:57:050:57:10

Mae'n well i ni adael y mynyddoedd

0:57:110:57:16

Yma I aros lle mae

0:57:160:57:20

Nhw Rhwng eu tynged a'r gwynt.

0:57:200:57:23

We had better let these mountains remain where they are

0:57:230:57:27

Between their fate and the wind

0:57:270:57:30

Were we to shepherd them with our years

0:57:320:57:35

That would not make a whit of difference

0:57:350:57:37

To their shape and their colour as mountains

0:57:370:57:40

For their outline is for us

0:57:410:57:44

An assurance of the rock's strength

0:57:440:57:47

And the guarantee of a tender blade in that inheritance

0:57:470:57:52

Which is faith in the roar of the wind

0:57:520:57:57

The faith that has no wish to move mountains.

0:57:570:58:03

Next time, the New Forest.

0:58:050:58:09

A magical Eden, thick with myth and legend

0:58:110:58:15

and one of Britain's most loved wild places.

0:58:170:58:22

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0:58:430:58:46

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