0:00:10 > 0:00:13The coast of south-west Wales.
0:00:13 > 0:00:19Our earliest ancestors came to the edge of our islands for sustenance
0:00:19 > 0:00:21from land, sea and sky.
0:00:22 > 0:00:27But this cathedral of the elements didn't only nourish their bodies,
0:00:27 > 0:00:29they also found succour for the soul.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35Far on the horizon lies the vanishing point
0:00:35 > 0:00:36between the sea and sky.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40Out there, it seems as if the heavens and the earth meet.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43No wonder then that natural "walkways to eternity",
0:00:43 > 0:00:46like this one, where the land snakes out into the sea,
0:00:46 > 0:00:51are special places with spiritual power for pilgrims and pagans alike.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59We're on a journey from one great finger of land, at Worm's Head,
0:00:59 > 0:01:02to another on the Llyn Peninsula.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06Travelling up the heavenly west coast of Wales to explore divine
0:01:06 > 0:01:11and devilish goings-on along this stunning shore.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39Having crossed from Brittany,
0:01:39 > 0:01:43we're still in the land of the Celts, but back on home turf.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47Our journey continues, heading for Anglesey,
0:01:47 > 0:01:49starting at Worm's Head in Gower.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57These long fingers of land on the western edge of Britain
0:01:57 > 0:01:59reach out to caress the Irish Sea.
0:02:03 > 0:02:09Gower was the UK's first designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and at the very tip
0:02:09 > 0:02:15of the Gower Peninsula lies this remarkable headland - Worm's Head.
0:02:15 > 0:02:20Vikings coined its name "ormr" from the Old Norse for serpent.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23I can see why that green spine of land reminded the Vikings
0:02:23 > 0:02:26of a serpent reaching out to sea.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30Those same Norsemen buried their dead in tombs they built
0:02:30 > 0:02:32over there on Rhossili Down.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36Who would dare disturb the spirits of their departed
0:02:36 > 0:02:39with such a fierce beast guarding the shore?
0:02:39 > 0:02:43Worm's Head is just a tiny little snake of land poking its head
0:02:43 > 0:02:46out of the Gower Peninsula, which itself
0:02:46 > 0:02:50pokes out like a pimple on the face of the South Wales coast.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52But this is no unsightly blemish,
0:02:52 > 0:02:58more a site of serene beauty scraped clean by the last ice age.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01Its pretty make-up conceals dark dealings, though.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07Nick Crane's looking for trouble in paradise.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10He's on the trail of Gower's secret history.
0:03:16 > 0:03:21On November 1, 1887, this ship, the Helvetia,
0:03:21 > 0:03:26was struck by a terrible storm which swept along the coast of South Wales.
0:03:31 > 0:03:36Now, the skeletal ribs rise from their watery grave every low tide,
0:03:36 > 0:03:41to reveal the remains of a hull once laden with a cargo of wood.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45The Helvetia was an honest trader that fell foul of the weather.
0:03:45 > 0:03:51The same wild shores which wrecked Helvetia were used by other vessels
0:03:51 > 0:03:55for a much more sinister and profitable purpose.
0:03:55 > 0:03:56Smuggling.
0:03:58 > 0:04:03I'm searching for the smugglers who once stalked this coast.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06Surely they couldn't cover their tracks completely.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12Contraband travelled by sea, and so am I,
0:04:12 > 0:04:14with the crew of the Olga.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18Boats like this were built for speed.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21She's a Bristol Channel pilot cutter,
0:04:21 > 0:04:24whose legal trade was to guide bigger ships safely to port.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26See if you can make that off there, Mike.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29But such sleek lines and yards of sail
0:04:29 > 0:04:34also made boats like this ideal for a profitable sideline.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40How suitable would a pilot cutter like this have been to smugglers?
0:04:40 > 0:04:41Very good.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43Lots of space down below,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46lot of contact with all the trade ships coming in, and the boat would
0:04:46 > 0:04:50have beached quite nicely, because it has got a nice flat bottom.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54And the boat actually has legs which she uses to stand on the beach.
0:04:55 > 0:04:56This is actually the Olga.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59- So this is the legs stopping the ship from falling over?- Yeah.
0:04:59 > 0:05:00But that means...
0:05:00 > 0:05:02That pilot cutters could use any part of the coast they wanted?
0:05:02 > 0:05:05Any part of the coast they wanted to, yeah.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09Flat bottomed vessels like this were perfectly suited to the bays
0:05:09 > 0:05:10and curves of Gower,
0:05:10 > 0:05:14which has plenty of spots to beach a boat with an illegal haul.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18The peak years for smuggling were around 1800.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20To fund the Napoleonic Wars,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23communities were heavily taxed on everyday goods.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29Smugglers' boats bulged with basics like salt, soap and tea,
0:05:29 > 0:05:31as well as alcohol and tobacco.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37In lawless areas like Gower, violent criminal gangs roamed,
0:05:37 > 0:05:40and the Customs men were heavily armed too.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42Museum curator Steve Butler
0:05:42 > 0:05:45has brought some of the tools of the trade.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48- My goodness.- This is a blunderbuss.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50This is a very vicious looking weapon, isn't it?
0:05:50 > 0:05:55A blunderbuss was designed to fire shot over a short distance
0:05:55 > 0:05:57- in a broad spread.- You wouldn't want to be hit by anything coming
0:05:57 > 0:06:00- out of the mouth of this, would you?- Absolutely not.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04Armed to the teeth in fast boats,
0:06:04 > 0:06:07you can see how the smugglers kept one step ahead of Customs.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10But they couldn't stay at sea for ever.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13They had to land their contraband somewhere.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16Surely the smugglers had to have hidey-holes
0:06:16 > 0:06:18tucked away along this coast?
0:06:18 > 0:06:23Perhaps one of the store rooms is in a secluded cliff near Port Eynon.
0:06:26 > 0:06:31Below me is one of the most mysterious structures on the coast of Wales.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35This is Culver Hole.
0:06:35 > 0:06:40It's so tightly-packed into the rock, it almost looks natural.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49As front doors go, this is fairly inaccessible.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51I've never seen anything quite like it.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55It's built like a castle. We've got these very strange-shaped windows above.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58There are no floors in it.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Look at these stone niches, lots of them.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07I'm hoping to find out more from National Trust warden Sian Musgrave.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10- Hi, Sian, very good to meet you. - Hi, Nick, and you.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14Now, can you tell me, what is this peculiar building?
0:07:14 > 0:07:17It's very inaccessible, so it's a great hiding place.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20Would it have been used by smugglers, do you think?
0:07:20 > 0:07:24I think there's a high degree of probability that it was used by smugglers.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26When the tide comes in, you can get a boat right in.
0:07:26 > 0:07:31And inside, there's what appears to be a tunnel leading out from the back wall.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35Yeah, there's a small tunnel and a little chamber,
0:07:35 > 0:07:39which again leads us to think that it could have been used to keep things
0:07:39 > 0:07:41out of the customs men's reach.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44The highpoint of smuggling was about 200 years ago.
0:07:44 > 0:07:50But this structure looks much older, medieval even.
0:07:50 > 0:07:56And the old English name Culver Hole suggests an earlier use.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59Culver is an old word which means pigeon. It's a pigeon house.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03It's actually a medieval dovecote.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06So that's what those rectangular niches are?
0:08:06 > 0:08:09Yeah, they were built as an integrated part of the structure
0:08:09 > 0:08:14so that the pigeons could go in and nest, so they'd encourage the populations to multiply
0:08:14 > 0:08:16and then it would serve as food,
0:08:16 > 0:08:18and they'd take the eggs as well as the meat.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23So Culver Hole was originally a coastal larder many centuries ago,
0:08:23 > 0:08:25when pigeon meat was a prized foodstuff.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29But there's layer upon layer of history here.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31I can easily believe that much later on,
0:08:31 > 0:08:36it was converted to a hidey-hole for contraband.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Many Welsh islands owe their names to travellers.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47Often Vikings can take the credit,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50and Skomer is no exception.
0:08:50 > 0:08:55Skomer derives from the Old Norse word "skolm", meaning short sword.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02Vikings aren't the only adventurers that have been attracted to these islands.
0:09:02 > 0:09:08This is a seabird paradise that welcomes some of the greatest airborne travellers on the planet.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12I've visited Skomer quite a few times
0:09:12 > 0:09:14and it's lovely to be back,
0:09:14 > 0:09:17but every time I come here it's like I've got to get to know the island
0:09:17 > 0:09:23all over again, it's ever-changing. It's a place of so many different facets.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26One of the most precarious habitats is the Wick,
0:09:26 > 0:09:31a sheer cliff with ledges ideally suited to nesting birds -
0:09:31 > 0:09:35razorbills, guillemots, kittiwakes and fulmars.
0:09:35 > 0:09:42I'm going to explore this fantastic abundance of birdlife, not just by day, but at night too.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46In daylight, it's puffins that rule the roost.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50And it's not rocky sea cliffs but rabbit burrows
0:09:50 > 0:09:52that's their idea of a perfect des res.
0:09:52 > 0:09:58This is one of the most important puffin colonies in north-western Europe.
0:09:58 > 0:10:03The best way to appreciate the puffin's lifestyle is to get in the water with them.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07Island warden Jo Milborrow is going to help me snorkel right up close.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11I'm absolutely dying to get in. It's been a warm day and the water
0:10:11 > 0:10:14looks so inviting and there are loads of puffins behind us.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17- Yeah, they're great, aren't they? - Yeah, hope we can get close!
0:10:17 > 0:10:21- Hopefully, if we go in they'll come and have a look at us.- Brilliant.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25Oh, it's cool! It's very cool.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30- That's chilly!- It's very chilly.
0:10:31 > 0:10:36Puffins are easily spooked, so we have to be patient and move slowly.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39But we're soon rewarded with a rare chance
0:10:39 > 0:10:42of swimming within just a few feet of them.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54Puffins certainly steal the limelight during the daytime.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00But Skomer attracts vast numbers of globe trotters
0:11:00 > 0:11:04who are much harder to spot until night falls.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07Every summer, Skomer welcomes back a flock of old friends,
0:11:07 > 0:11:10birds from the island who've travelled way out
0:11:10 > 0:11:13to the coast of South America, a round trip of 18,000 miles,
0:11:13 > 0:11:18and they come back here to the island, often to within just a few feet
0:11:18 > 0:11:20of where they were born, to mate and breed.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24I'm in search of one of the greatest adventurers of the animal kingdom -
0:11:24 > 0:11:26the Manx shearwater.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30This tiny island off Wales
0:11:30 > 0:11:33becomes an extraordinary landing strip for Manx shearwaters,
0:11:33 > 0:11:39returning after winter from fisheries far down in the South Atlantic.
0:11:42 > 0:11:47Because they're shy, nocturnal birds, you'd be hard pushed to see them in daylight.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51But, as the sun sets, the atmosphere really changes.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53SQUAWKING
0:11:53 > 0:11:57That cacophony means the Manx shearwaters are arriving
0:11:57 > 0:12:00in their thousands, and I can just glimpse them in the darkness.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08Professor Tim Guildford is going to help me get a closer look.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12- They're everywhere.- They are, the place is absolutely littered with them.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15And this guy has probably just landed.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17I'm guessing this is a non-breeder.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21Fabulous!
0:12:21 > 0:12:26So this one's probably just a recent prospector
0:12:26 > 0:12:28- who's looking to mate. - He's beautiful.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32I don't know if you can see on the top of the beak there, there's two little holes.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36These nostrils are actually salt-excreting glands.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39- Yes, like a storm petrel. - Yeah, absolutely.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43That allows this whole family of birds to live in the open ocean
0:12:43 > 0:12:47without ever having to drink, so they can essentially either create
0:12:47 > 0:12:49their own water metabolically,
0:12:49 > 0:12:52or they can excrete salt sufficiently not to need fresh water.
0:12:54 > 0:12:59'There are more than 100,000 breeding pairs on Skomer,
0:12:59 > 0:13:03'and nest cameras provide new insights into how they rear their young.
0:13:03 > 0:13:09'Researchers like Tim have also been tagging the birds with electronic geo-locators.'
0:13:09 > 0:13:11- OK, that's great.- OK.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13Here they come.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18- Brilliant, so this is one of the tagged birds?- And on this leg...
0:13:18 > 0:13:21That's the geolocator? It's so small.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24Yeah, on this leg is the geolocating device...
0:13:24 > 0:13:29The electronic log of this bird's position is downloaded to produce detailed maps.
0:13:29 > 0:13:35This tells us, for every day and night of the year, where the bird has been.
0:13:35 > 0:13:40So at last, now, we can reconstruct its entire migratory journey.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43The male is the black one and the female is the purple one.
0:13:43 > 0:13:48We see this outward migration down the west coast of Africa,
0:13:48 > 0:13:54across to Brazil and then down to Argentina to over-winter.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57They head back then in the early spring,
0:13:57 > 0:14:00they take slightly different routes, but what you do see
0:14:00 > 0:14:03is this extraordinary curve through the Caribbean.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05They don't come back the way they went out.
0:14:05 > 0:14:10- Isn't that incredible, they're not doing the same journey there and back?- It is.- I wonder why.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14We think they're exploiting the North Atlantic currents,
0:14:14 > 0:14:16this circular current.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19So the currents and the weather systems move like this
0:14:19 > 0:14:22so they're basically following weather systems,
0:14:22 > 0:14:24making it efficient, using the winds.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30And soon they're off, back out to sea.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34By daybreak, the shearwaters have vanished,
0:14:34 > 0:14:41perhaps the most remarkable secret of this magical seabird sanctuary on the Pembrokeshire coast.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53This coast doesn't only promise a paradise of freedom,
0:14:53 > 0:14:58it's also been transformed for terror, here at Harlech.
0:15:02 > 0:15:07At the end of the 13th century, an English King invaded Wales,
0:15:07 > 0:15:13determined the locals would submit to his divine right to rule.
0:15:13 > 0:15:19On this spiritual shore, Edward I of England hatched a devilish plan
0:15:19 > 0:15:24to enshrine his authority over the Welsh - in stone!
0:15:24 > 0:15:29What a piece of work and truly awe-inspiring.
0:15:29 > 0:15:30It looks terrifying now,
0:15:30 > 0:15:35but can you imagine what it would have looked like 800 years ago?
0:15:37 > 0:15:40I want to bring this building back to its former glory
0:15:40 > 0:15:46and discover what made this one of Britain's most formidable fortresses.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55Although the stone walls are largely intact,
0:15:55 > 0:16:00Harlech Castle has been stripped of its strongest defence -
0:16:00 > 0:16:02the sea.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06Rhian Parry knows what's happened to the coast
0:16:06 > 0:16:08since the castle was constructed.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13We do know from this map of 1610 by Speed
0:16:13 > 0:16:16that it was quite a different picture.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19You can see, here's the castle.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21We're presumably somewhere by that mermaid.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24And look at the ships going in and out of the estuary.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28The tradition is, and there's some documentary evidence, of course,
0:16:28 > 0:16:33that there was a port for Harlech at Ynys at Ty Gwyn y Gamlas,
0:16:33 > 0:16:36which literally means the white house of the canal,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39and it's likely that this was all marsh
0:16:39 > 0:16:42and at high tide was under water completely.
0:16:42 > 0:16:47Restoring the sea to lap against the walls of Harlech castle
0:16:47 > 0:16:51is step one of my medieval make-over.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53This is how it looked
0:16:53 > 0:16:58when Edward I of England built it to conquer the Welsh.
0:16:58 > 0:17:03But the sea was more than a barrier. It was also a gateway.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07Andrew, why have you brought me to this lump of masonry?
0:17:07 > 0:17:11The name is explanatory in itself - this was the water gate,
0:17:11 > 0:17:14and the implication is that the water was adjacent to it.
0:17:14 > 0:17:19The sea actually lapped up onto the side of these rocks?
0:17:19 > 0:17:22It did. So you've got to imagine water down here.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26- With jetties and ships and everything? - Certainly a bustling harbour,
0:17:26 > 0:17:29because they had an enormous amount of material to get up there.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31All the stone and iron they were bringing in, food.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35- They were feeding 900 men at one point.- So how do you get up there?
0:17:35 > 0:17:39There's a path that goes up and I'll show you where that is.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43The site of the castle starts to make sense.
0:17:43 > 0:17:48With water guarding one side and steep slopes on the other,
0:17:48 > 0:17:52there was only one way in - a landward gate
0:17:52 > 0:17:54which was heavily fortified.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58Just look at them, those towers!
0:17:58 > 0:18:00One, two, three, four towers!
0:18:00 > 0:18:03Yeah. They give an enormous aspect, don't they?
0:18:03 > 0:18:08Any attacker who got this far would have to breach the gatehouse,
0:18:08 > 0:18:12a massive defensive obstacle that dominates the castle.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16You're making a huge statement, that this is the strongest bit.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19Yeah, very definitely.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21And this is sort of the chamber where...
0:18:21 > 0:18:23This is the chamber where you didn't want to be.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26- Two arrow slits. - Two arrow slits either side.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28So, crossbows would have come through there.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30You've got iron gate there, iron gate there...
0:18:30 > 0:18:33- And attack from above as well. - Murder holes.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36- Murder holes pouring down onto you. - Boiling oil...
0:18:36 > 0:18:38Yeah, that sort of thing.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43This concentric design, walls within walls,
0:18:43 > 0:18:46held back the hostile Welsh nearby.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53That's the Snowdonia range of mountains over there, and there's Snowdon.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55And this was of course the Welsh stronghold
0:18:55 > 0:18:57of the Princes of Gwynedd.
0:18:57 > 0:19:02This was the real point that Edward had to get to, the bit he had to crack.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04So what was his big idea?
0:19:04 > 0:19:06He was going to encircle it with castles.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09So Harlech is one, Caernarvon is the other on the north
0:19:09 > 0:19:12and then you've got Conwy, and then slightly later,
0:19:12 > 0:19:13Biwmares was built as well.
0:19:13 > 0:19:18And this really represented, finally, the conquest of the Welsh.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20It did, yes, yes, very definitely.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26It's likely the grey stone walls of Harlech Castle
0:19:26 > 0:19:28looked very different in its heyday.
0:19:28 > 0:19:33Edward had the structure plastered with a white render of lime mortar.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38Modern weapons are all about stealth, but in an earlier age,
0:19:38 > 0:19:43this fortress was very much about broadcasting a message.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46The building wasn't hiding, it was standing out,
0:19:46 > 0:19:49a brutish display of English power.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52This was the castle in full glory,
0:19:52 > 0:19:56the shock and awe of the 13th century.
0:19:56 > 0:20:01Can you imagine what that castle would have looked like painted all white?
0:20:01 > 0:20:06A symbol of the conquest of Wales, but also a provocation.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17The golden sands and clear waters of Llyn have a majestic backdrop -
0:20:17 > 0:20:20the imposing mountains of Snowdonia.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24And facing them across the water, Anglesey,
0:20:24 > 0:20:28the island known as Mon Mam Cymru - the mother of Wales.
0:20:29 > 0:20:34On its western edge is Llanddwyn Island, home of Saint Dwynwen,
0:20:34 > 0:20:35the patron saint of Welsh lovers.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41Which brings me to my final destination - Llangwyfan.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49I'm on the causeway leading out to the Church in the Sea.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58This is Llangwyfan, the church of Saint Cwyfan.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01The Irish knew him as Saint Kevin,
0:21:01 > 0:21:05and he was from Glendalough, not far from the stretch of Irish coast
0:21:05 > 0:21:07directly across the water from here.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15There's been a church on this site since at least as early as 1254.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18It was extended in the 14th and 15th centuries
0:21:18 > 0:21:22so it wasn't always the humble building that's here now,
0:21:22 > 0:21:26because back in the day, there was a lot more land out here than there is now.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Over the centuries, the sea eroded this site
0:21:32 > 0:21:36until the graves started to fall into the water.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39So now the church sits here on a tiny promontory,
0:21:39 > 0:21:42that, just like Worm's Head where my journey started,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45becomes an island at high tide.
0:21:47 > 0:21:52Places like this, sometimes part of the land, but sometimes part of the sea,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55are reminders that everything is temporary.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58No matter how hard we hold onto things,
0:21:58 > 0:22:00our grasp of them is momentary.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04And just like the tides around this promontory, we're just passing through.