Browse content similar to South Wales. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Today, I'm taking a journey across South Wales, | 0:00:20 | 0:00:22 | |
from the rugged cliffs of Pembrokeshire to the nation's capital Cardiff. | 0:00:22 | 0:00:27 | |
'Pembrokeshire is home to some of the country's most beautiful beaches.' | 0:00:31 | 0:00:36 | |
'The water may be chilly, in spite of the Gulf Stream, | 0:00:36 | 0:00:39 | |
but what the beaches like in warmth they more than make up for in sheer drama.' | 0:00:39 | 0:00:44 | |
'My journey starts in Tenby, on the Pembrokeshire coast, | 0:00:47 | 0:00:50 | |
where a former interior designer has taken up and zookeeping.' | 0:00:50 | 0:00:55 | |
ANIMAL COUGHS | 0:00:55 | 0:00:57 | |
Oh! Are you having a cough? No. | 0:00:57 | 0:01:01 | |
It's a wee warning noise, I think. | 0:01:01 | 0:01:03 | |
'From there, I'll move further along the coast to Laugharne, | 0:01:04 | 0:01:07 | |
'home for a short time to Wales's best-known poet, Dylan Thomas. | 0:01:07 | 0:01:13 | |
'After that, my journey continues to Llanharry, | 0:01:13 | 0:01:16 | |
'where a local resident has been growing | 0:01:16 | 0:01:18 | |
'some unfeasibly large vegetables.' | 0:01:18 | 0:01:21 | |
I'm a poor man, but I feel like a millionaire. | 0:01:21 | 0:01:24 | |
'And finally I arrive in Cardiff, the principality's capital, | 0:01:24 | 0:01:29 | |
'to try out some medieval martial arts.' | 0:01:29 | 0:01:32 | |
Along the way, I'll be looking back at some of the best of the BBC's rural programmes from this area. | 0:01:33 | 0:01:39 | |
SHE SIGHS | 0:01:39 | 0:01:40 | |
Welcome to Country Tracks. | 0:01:40 | 0:01:42 | |
'There are more Blue Flag and Seaside Award beaches in Pembrokeshire | 0:01:46 | 0:01:51 | |
than any other county, providing a haven for both holidaymakers and wildlife.' | 0:01:51 | 0:01:56 | |
It's said that in the UK, nowhere is more than two hours from a beach, | 0:01:57 | 0:02:01 | |
and for walking, exploring and wildlife-watching, it's hard to beat Pembrokeshire. | 0:02:01 | 0:02:06 | |
But I'm going to start my journey by meeting some animals that are not indigenous to this area. | 0:02:06 | 0:02:11 | |
This is Manor House Wildlife Park. | 0:02:35 | 0:02:37 | |
Four years ago, it was bought by interior designer Anna Ryder Richardson. | 0:02:37 | 0:02:41 | |
She's lived here with her family, among the animals, ever since. | 0:02:41 | 0:02:45 | |
She used to change rooms. Now, she's changing a zoo. | 0:02:45 | 0:02:48 | |
'The park was the subject of a television programme | 0:02:51 | 0:02:54 | |
'showing the difficulties of getting such a large project off the ground.' | 0:02:54 | 0:02:58 | |
'I'm dropping in to find out how things have been going since then.' | 0:02:58 | 0:03:02 | |
-Hello, Anna. -Hi. -Thank you for having me in your kingdom. | 0:03:04 | 0:03:08 | |
Aw, it's so peaceful at the moment. | 0:03:08 | 0:03:10 | |
-This is the quiet before the storm, before the visitors arrive. -Yes. | 0:03:10 | 0:03:13 | |
Why a zoo? How do you go from interior design to a zoo? | 0:03:13 | 0:03:18 | |
Sometimes I'm like, "How did that happen?" I don't know. It literally was somebody mentioning | 0:03:18 | 0:03:23 | |
the word zoo, wildlife park, were we interested? | 0:03:23 | 0:03:26 | |
And I went, "Yes!" And that was it. | 0:03:26 | 0:03:29 | |
-And you brought your whole family here. -Yep. | 0:03:29 | 0:03:31 | |
What did they think about it? | 0:03:31 | 0:03:34 | |
I think Bibi and Dixie were like, "Great, we're going to live in a zoo." | 0:03:34 | 0:03:38 | |
Erm, and Colin, who's a big Glaswegian, restaurateur, | 0:03:38 | 0:03:42 | |
never left Glasgow in his life, said, "That's ridiculous. I'm not going." | 0:03:42 | 0:03:47 | |
But he did! | 0:03:47 | 0:03:49 | |
You've got 52 acres, a huge collection of animals. | 0:03:49 | 0:03:51 | |
Who is involved in running it? | 0:03:51 | 0:03:54 | |
Colin is really the man who runs the whole place. | 0:03:54 | 0:03:59 | |
I've tried, but he won't let me. He won't let me, basically. | 0:03:59 | 0:04:02 | |
"I won't work with my wife plus, you're rubbish!" | 0:04:02 | 0:04:05 | |
We've got Ross Brown, our head keeper, and he's just adorable. He talks very fast. | 0:04:05 | 0:04:12 | |
But he just knows everything. He has taught me so much. | 0:04:12 | 0:04:15 | |
Have you always loved animals? | 0:04:15 | 0:04:17 | |
I've always loved horses. Since I was born, I wanted a horse. | 0:04:17 | 0:04:21 | |
You won't remember these things, but Champion the Wonder Horse, Black Beauty. | 0:04:21 | 0:04:25 | |
I knew there were seven Black Beauties in the titles and only one had a real star. | 0:04:25 | 0:04:29 | |
-Did anyone get me one? No. -So you got a zoo. | 0:04:29 | 0:04:33 | |
I had to wait until I was 45 years old. I'm older than that now. It's OK. | 0:04:33 | 0:04:39 | |
And I have got six now. | 0:04:39 | 0:04:42 | |
It all seems like it's under control now. | 0:04:42 | 0:04:44 | |
Has it always been like this? | 0:04:44 | 0:04:47 | |
Can you remember the calm before the storm before starting this adventure? | 0:04:47 | 0:04:51 | |
God. Three years. It feels 300 million years ago. | 0:04:51 | 0:04:54 | |
I don't know whether this is an age thing or living-in-a-zoo thing, but everything goes so fast. | 0:04:54 | 0:04:59 | |
It looks peaceful and under control now, but it isn't, | 0:04:59 | 0:05:02 | |
and it certainly wasn't three years ago. | 0:05:02 | 0:05:05 | |
'The zoo opens in just two hours' time.' | 0:05:07 | 0:05:11 | |
Stop it! Blue! He's been done, as well. | 0:05:13 | 0:05:17 | |
Just a bit of fun, Mum. | 0:05:19 | 0:05:20 | |
That needs a wipe. So they like it? | 0:05:22 | 0:05:24 | |
-They are not going to be there at ten o'clock today, are they? -Buses. | 0:05:24 | 0:05:29 | |
-What bus? A coach? Is coming at ten? -Yes. | 0:05:29 | 0:05:32 | |
We need another day or two | 0:05:32 | 0:05:36 | |
to get things like that away. | 0:05:36 | 0:05:41 | |
No food anywhere today. | 0:05:42 | 0:05:44 | |
The tepees should be out, they're not. | 0:05:45 | 0:05:48 | |
It's not a game. It's my clothes. No! Drop! | 0:05:50 | 0:05:54 | |
Drop! | 0:05:54 | 0:05:56 | |
There we are. One thing leads to another and off they go. | 0:05:56 | 0:05:59 | |
Colin does all the business. Colin does all the worrying. | 0:05:59 | 0:06:03 | |
And I go, "It would be really nice if we could paint that white | 0:06:05 | 0:06:09 | |
and a couple of bits of lavender there and let's get some pigs!" | 0:06:09 | 0:06:14 | |
It'll all change. Once he hears "ding". The first ticket sale. | 0:06:17 | 0:06:23 | |
Just getting the whole place up and running is like a big, heavy bar of concrete. | 0:06:23 | 0:06:29 | |
Once it starts, it won't stop. | 0:06:29 | 0:06:31 | |
SHE GASPS | 0:06:31 | 0:06:33 | |
Can you see what I can see? | 0:06:35 | 0:06:37 | |
'The gates are finally open.' | 0:06:37 | 0:06:40 | |
A coach. Is it ten o'clock? | 0:06:40 | 0:06:43 | |
'This season is under way and the first customers are buying their tickets.' | 0:06:44 | 0:06:48 | |
'Colin is holding the fort at the till | 0:06:48 | 0:06:50 | |
while Anna is supposed to be meeting and greeting the first visitors.' | 0:06:50 | 0:06:54 | |
-Hello. -Hello. | 0:06:54 | 0:06:56 | |
-Hello. -Hello. -Hello. | 0:06:56 | 0:06:59 | |
Hi. Did you want to go in with the wallabies? | 0:06:59 | 0:07:02 | |
HE SIGHS | 0:07:02 | 0:07:05 | |
I need a coffee. | 0:07:05 | 0:07:06 | |
-Can we have a photo? -Yes. Like this? -Yes. | 0:07:06 | 0:07:10 | |
I'm just going to show them how to light the fire | 0:07:10 | 0:07:13 | |
and then I'm coming back to the front gate. | 0:07:13 | 0:07:16 | |
-You can send that to daddy. -Ah! | 0:07:17 | 0:07:20 | |
I'm pleased that there are people here. | 0:07:22 | 0:07:25 | |
I'm very pleased there are people here, because we don't know. | 0:07:25 | 0:07:28 | |
At least there's a good, healthy throughput of people already. We have to take the positives. | 0:07:28 | 0:07:34 | |
In you come, boys. | 0:07:34 | 0:07:36 | |
'Manor House has been a zoo since 1975.' | 0:07:40 | 0:07:44 | |
'But the new owners are trying to do things differently.' | 0:07:44 | 0:07:47 | |
That's it. Do you want to leave your pushchair here, otherwise they get in it. | 0:07:47 | 0:07:51 | |
LAUGHTER | 0:07:51 | 0:07:52 | |
And before you know it, you'll be pushing a lemur down the road. | 0:07:52 | 0:07:56 | |
Right. It's quite busy in here. | 0:07:59 | 0:08:01 | |
'One of the major features of the zoo's makeover are the walk-throughs, | 0:08:01 | 0:08:05 | |
where the public can interact with the animals.' | 0:08:05 | 0:08:08 | |
Hello. | 0:08:08 | 0:08:09 | |
'Anna I wants her Tenby zoo to play a part in conservation | 0:08:09 | 0:08:12 | |
by helping to breed rare and endangered species.' | 0:08:12 | 0:08:15 | |
There's not that many in here. There will be lots more, but we don't want to flood it. | 0:08:15 | 0:08:20 | |
There we are. Oh, I just want to kiss them so much. | 0:08:20 | 0:08:25 | |
We have ring-tailed lemurs and we've red-belly lemurs. | 0:08:25 | 0:08:30 | |
Oh, I want to tickle that belly, but I can't! | 0:08:30 | 0:08:34 | |
Madagascar, which is where they all come from. | 0:08:34 | 0:08:36 | |
Highly threatened. | 0:08:36 | 0:08:38 | |
HE COUGHS Oh! | 0:08:38 | 0:08:41 | |
Are you having a cough? No. | 0:08:41 | 0:08:43 | |
It's a wee warning noise. Is it because I was talking about Madagascar? | 0:08:45 | 0:08:48 | |
HE SQUEAKS I know. | 0:08:48 | 0:08:49 | |
Because they're chopping down the forest, chopping down your habitat. | 0:08:49 | 0:08:53 | |
It's not going to be there any more. HE SQUEAKS | 0:08:53 | 0:08:55 | |
This is why we're doing it. | 0:08:55 | 0:08:58 | |
This is why Colin and I are completely broke and hate each other(!) | 0:08:58 | 0:09:02 | |
SHE CHUCKLES | 0:09:02 | 0:09:04 | |
'No matter what the cost, Ann is determined the zoo will succeed.' | 0:09:06 | 0:09:09 | |
This is the jewel in our crown at the moment. | 0:09:09 | 0:09:13 | |
This is where people can really understand what we are all about | 0:09:13 | 0:09:17 | |
and if it means they come here just for this and experience it | 0:09:17 | 0:09:20 | |
and go away with a beam on their face, and they come back, it means we can do more. | 0:09:20 | 0:09:25 | |
'She's trying to turn the way we think about zoos on its head.' | 0:09:25 | 0:09:29 | |
We are in their house, in their territory, | 0:09:29 | 0:09:32 | |
and they are observing us, rather than the other way around. | 0:09:32 | 0:09:35 | |
So, all these people are just visiting. | 0:09:36 | 0:09:39 | |
And should be observing and enjoying it. They're being lemurs, really. | 0:09:39 | 0:09:43 | |
It's freedom. | 0:09:44 | 0:09:45 | |
'Two years on and the lemurs are well ensconced in their walk-through. | 0:09:52 | 0:09:57 | |
Head keeper Ross Brown has joined Anna and myself to explain more of their zoo philosophy. | 0:09:57 | 0:10:03 | |
We could not be any closer to the animals. Look! | 0:10:03 | 0:10:06 | |
If I lay down I could touch him, but I shouldn't do that. | 0:10:06 | 0:10:09 | |
-They don't like being touched. -Don't kiss them. I'm not allowed to. | 0:10:09 | 0:10:12 | |
-You learnt that the hard way? -Yeah. Not unless you're not looking. -Yeah. | 0:10:12 | 0:10:16 | |
But this is a totally different philosophy. | 0:10:16 | 0:10:19 | |
This is a new way and looking at zoos, being able to walk amongst them like this. | 0:10:19 | 0:10:23 | |
-Is it working out for you? -Yeah. This is their freedom. -Yes. | 0:10:23 | 0:10:27 | |
-This is their home and we are in their territory, really. -Yeah. | 0:10:27 | 0:10:32 | |
The way I like to say it is all we are to them is traffic. | 0:10:32 | 0:10:37 | |
The reason why we don't let people touch them or feed them is that you have... | 0:10:37 | 0:10:43 | |
You have no effect on their behaviour. | 0:10:44 | 0:10:47 | |
We're all laughing because look at the lemur. He's... | 0:10:47 | 0:10:51 | |
SHE LAUGHS | 0:10:51 | 0:10:52 | |
I love how relaxed they are. I'm not going to touch them. | 0:10:52 | 0:10:56 | |
I'm just going to get close. | 0:10:56 | 0:10:57 | |
Oh, they look quite chilled out. | 0:11:00 | 0:11:02 | |
Are they all right about me being so close to them? | 0:11:02 | 0:11:04 | |
Yeah, they are fine. You can get as close as possible to them, | 0:11:04 | 0:11:08 | |
as long as you don't touch them, they don't see you as a threat. | 0:11:08 | 0:11:12 | |
You're just there to them. That's what's nice about it. This is their home. | 0:11:12 | 0:11:15 | |
They spend all the time in here. This is new, so they are investigating it. | 0:11:15 | 0:11:19 | |
That's what they're doing. | 0:11:19 | 0:11:20 | |
Did it take them long to get used to been this close to people? | 0:11:20 | 0:11:24 | |
The public wander through their home. | 0:11:24 | 0:11:26 | |
If people wandered through my living room, I'd be unhappy. | 0:11:26 | 0:11:29 | |
Because this has been established for a few years. | 0:11:29 | 0:11:33 | |
and these animals have been getting used to it. | 0:11:33 | 0:11:36 | |
Initially, the first year was stressful. | 0:11:36 | 0:11:38 | |
They were getting used to the environment, people wandering through. | 0:11:38 | 0:11:41 | |
But now we've established the guide rules as to how people are to act when they are in here. | 0:11:41 | 0:11:47 | |
They're much more relaxed. | 0:11:47 | 0:11:49 | |
In an old fashioned zoo, you would lean up to the cage | 0:11:49 | 0:11:52 | |
and you wouldn't be able to interact with them like this. | 0:11:52 | 0:11:55 | |
Was this zoo like that when you first took it over? | 0:11:55 | 0:11:58 | |
Very much so. | 0:11:58 | 0:12:00 | |
There are still many zoos like that, where it's the wrong way round. | 0:12:00 | 0:12:05 | |
The animals are almost there on show in a small enclosure | 0:12:05 | 0:12:09 | |
so you cannot miss them. | 0:12:09 | 0:12:11 | |
And you can literally spend... | 0:12:11 | 0:12:12 | |
I think two seconds was the average time people would stand in front of an animal. | 0:12:12 | 0:12:17 | |
Whereas here, you are in their environment, | 0:12:17 | 0:12:20 | |
so you have to sit and observe them doing what they would normally do on a daily basis. | 0:12:20 | 0:12:25 | |
Have you got more walk-throughs in the zoo? | 0:12:33 | 0:12:35 | |
Oh, yes. The wallaby walk-through is popular. It's at the beginning. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:39 | |
You can feed the wallabies. | 0:12:39 | 0:12:42 | |
We have the African walk-through as well, which we could go into now. | 0:12:42 | 0:12:45 | |
-Yeah. -Stroke the pygmy goat. | 0:12:45 | 0:12:47 | |
'Anna was inspired to create the African village after spending time there.' | 0:12:58 | 0:13:01 | |
'It seems she has a love of Africa.' | 0:13:01 | 0:13:03 | |
'As well as the Madagascan lemurs, the zoo boasts oryx, ostrich and zebras.' | 0:13:03 | 0:13:10 | |
Everything in the park has to have an education slant to it. | 0:13:12 | 0:13:15 | |
There are a couple of roles for wildlife parks, zoos, now | 0:13:15 | 0:13:19 | |
which are insurance policies for species that are being wiped out daily. | 0:13:19 | 0:13:23 | |
Breeding programmes and education. It's all about education. | 0:13:23 | 0:13:28 | |
So if we do nothing but educate a child, then we're doing something. | 0:13:28 | 0:13:31 | |
'I admire Anna's style - freedom for the animals and education for the kids.' | 0:13:33 | 0:13:39 | |
'Just off the Pembrokeshire coast, Skomer Island is a seabird paradise.' | 0:13:42 | 0:13:46 | |
'Miranda Krestovnikoff came to see its existing residents and its new rivals.' | 0:13:46 | 0:13:51 | |
I've visited Skomer quite a few times and it's lovely to be back. | 0:13:55 | 0:13:59 | |
Every time I come here, I've got to get to know the island all over again. | 0:13:59 | 0:14:02 | |
It's ever-changing. It's a place of so many different facets. | 0:14:02 | 0:14:07 | |
'One of the most precarious habitat's is the Wick, | 0:14:07 | 0:14:11 | |
a sheer cliff with ledges ideally suited to nesting birds - | 0:14:11 | 0:14:15 | |
razorbills, guillemots, kittiwakes and fulmars.' | 0:14:15 | 0:14:20 | |
'I'm going to explore this fantastic abundance of birdlife, not just by day, but at night, too.' | 0:14:20 | 0:14:26 | |
In daylight, it's puffins that rule the roost. | 0:14:29 | 0:14:32 | |
And it's not rocky sea cliffs | 0:14:32 | 0:14:34 | |
but rabbit burrows that's their idea of a perfect des res. | 0:14:34 | 0:14:38 | |
This is one of the most important puffin colonies | 0:14:38 | 0:14:41 | |
in north-western Europe. | 0:14:41 | 0:14:43 | |
The best way to appreciate the puffins' lifestyle | 0:14:44 | 0:14:47 | |
is to get in the water with them. | 0:14:47 | 0:14:49 | |
Island warden Jo Milborrow is going to help me snorkel right up-close. | 0:14:49 | 0:14:53 | |
I'm absolutely dying to get in. | 0:14:53 | 0:14:54 | |
It's been such a warm day, the water's been so inviting | 0:14:54 | 0:14:57 | |
-and there's loads and loads of puffins behind us. -Yeah. They're great, aren't they? | 0:14:57 | 0:15:01 | |
-Let's hope we can get close. -Hopefully they'll come over and have a little look at us. After you. | 0:15:01 | 0:15:06 | |
-It's cool! -It's very cool! | 0:15:08 | 0:15:10 | |
-That's chilly. -It's very chilly! | 0:15:12 | 0:15:15 | |
'Puffins are easily spooked, so we have to be patient and move slowly. | 0:15:17 | 0:15:22 | |
'But we're soon rewarded with a rare chance | 0:15:22 | 0:15:24 | |
'of swimming within just a few feet of them.' | 0:15:24 | 0:15:27 | |
'Some of Skomer's grey seals are lounging nearby. | 0:15:38 | 0:15:40 | |
'But, for me, it's the puffins that steal the show.' | 0:15:40 | 0:15:43 | |
Absolutely surrounded by puffins, maybe just six feet away from me. | 0:15:44 | 0:15:48 | |
Some of them just skimming over the top of my head. Incredible. | 0:15:48 | 0:15:53 | |
They seemed to be oblivious to the fact that I was there. Maybe I just fooled them I was a seal. | 0:15:53 | 0:15:58 | |
'Puffins certainly steal the limelight during the daytime... | 0:16:00 | 0:16:03 | |
'..But Skomer attracts vast numbers of globetrotters | 0:16:05 | 0:16:09 | |
'who are much harder to spot until night falls.' | 0:16:09 | 0:16:12 | |
Every summer, Skomer welcomes back a flock of old friends - | 0:16:13 | 0:16:16 | |
birds from the island who've travelled way out | 0:16:16 | 0:16:18 | |
to the coast of South America, a round trip of 18,000 miles. | 0:16:18 | 0:16:23 | |
And they come back year to the island often to within just a few feet | 0:16:23 | 0:16:27 | |
of where they were born to mate and breed. | 0:16:27 | 0:16:29 | |
I'm in search of one of the greatest adventurers of the animal kingdom - | 0:16:29 | 0:16:33 | |
the Manx shearwater. | 0:16:33 | 0:16:35 | |
'This tiny island off Wales becomes an extraordinary landing strip | 0:16:38 | 0:16:42 | |
'for Manx shearwaters, returning after winter from fisheries | 0:16:42 | 0:16:46 | |
'far down in the South Atlantic. | 0:16:46 | 0:16:49 | |
'Because they're shy, nocturnal birds, | 0:16:51 | 0:16:54 | |
'you'd be hard-pushed to see them in daylight. | 0:16:54 | 0:16:57 | |
'But, as the sun sets, the atmosphere really changes.' | 0:16:57 | 0:17:00 | |
BIRDS CALLING | 0:17:00 | 0:17:03 | |
'That cacophony means the Manx shearwaters are arriving | 0:17:03 | 0:17:06 | |
'in their thousands, and I can just glimpse them in the darkness. | 0:17:06 | 0:17:10 | |
'Professor Tim Guildford is going to help me get a closer look.' | 0:17:13 | 0:17:18 | |
-They're everywhere, aren't they? -They are. The place is littered with them. | 0:17:26 | 0:17:30 | |
And this guy has probably just landed. | 0:17:30 | 0:17:33 | |
I'm guessing this is a non-breeder. | 0:17:33 | 0:17:36 | |
-Fabulous! -This one's probably just a recent prospect | 0:17:39 | 0:17:43 | |
-who is looking to mate. -He's beautiful, isn't he? | 0:17:43 | 0:17:46 | |
Can see on the top of the beak these two little holes? | 0:17:46 | 0:17:50 | |
-These nostrils are actually salt-excreting glands. -Like a storm petrel. -Absolutely. | 0:17:50 | 0:17:55 | |
So that allows this whole family of birds to live in the open ocean | 0:17:55 | 0:18:00 | |
without ever having to drink, so they can essentially just | 0:18:00 | 0:18:04 | |
either create their own water metabolically, or they can | 0:18:04 | 0:18:07 | |
excrete salt sufficiently not to need fresh water. | 0:18:07 | 0:18:11 | |
They look a bit hopeless on land. The legs are placed | 0:18:12 | 0:18:15 | |
so far back on the body that they can't balance well. | 0:18:15 | 0:18:18 | |
They flatten themselves out, don't they? | 0:18:18 | 0:18:21 | |
-They are sort of waddling very low. -Yeah. -Very strange gait, isn't it? | 0:18:21 | 0:18:26 | |
-Very strange gait. -SHE LAUGHS | 0:18:26 | 0:18:27 | |
'There are more than 100,000 breeding pairs on Skomer. | 0:18:30 | 0:18:35 | |
'And nest cameras are providing new insights | 0:18:35 | 0:18:37 | |
'into how they rear their young. | 0:18:37 | 0:18:39 | |
'Researchers like Tim have tagged the birds | 0:18:39 | 0:18:42 | |
'with electronic geolocators.' | 0:18:42 | 0:18:44 | |
OK, that's great. | 0:18:45 | 0:18:47 | |
-Out you come. -Brilliant. | 0:18:48 | 0:18:50 | |
-So, this is one of the tagged birds. -On this leg... | 0:18:50 | 0:18:54 | |
That's the geolocator there? | 0:18:54 | 0:18:56 | |
-On this leg is the geolocating device. -It's so small! | 0:18:56 | 0:18:58 | |
It's a bit perturbed now. | 0:18:58 | 0:19:00 | |
'The electronic log of this bird's position is downloaded | 0:19:00 | 0:19:04 | |
'to produce detailed maps.' | 0:19:04 | 0:19:06 | |
This tells us, for every day and night of the year, | 0:19:06 | 0:19:09 | |
where the bird has been. | 0:19:09 | 0:19:11 | |
So, at last now, we can reconstruct its entire migratory journey. | 0:19:11 | 0:19:15 | |
The male is the black one and the female is the purple one. | 0:19:15 | 0:19:19 | |
What we see is an outward migration down the west coast of Africa, | 0:19:19 | 0:19:24 | |
across to Brazil, and then down to Argentina to overwinter. | 0:19:24 | 0:19:30 | |
They had back then in the early spring, | 0:19:30 | 0:19:32 | |
they take slightly different routes, but what you do see is this | 0:19:32 | 0:19:37 | |
extraordinary curve through the Caribbean. They don't come back the way he went out. | 0:19:37 | 0:19:41 | |
-Isn't that incredible they're not doing the same journey there and back? -It is. -I wonder why. | 0:19:41 | 0:19:46 | |
Well, we think they're exploiting the North Atlantic currents, | 0:19:46 | 0:19:50 | |
these circular currents. | 0:19:50 | 0:19:52 | |
So, the currents and the weather systems move like this | 0:19:52 | 0:19:55 | |
so they're basically following weather systems, | 0:19:55 | 0:19:58 | |
making it efficient, using the winds. | 0:19:58 | 0:20:00 | |
'And soon they're off back out to sea. | 0:20:03 | 0:20:06 | |
'By daybreak, the shearwaters have vanished. | 0:20:08 | 0:20:10 | |
'Perhaps the most remarkable secret of this magical seabird sanctuary | 0:20:10 | 0:20:15 | |
'on the Pembrokeshire coast.' | 0:20:15 | 0:20:17 | |
'Miranda Krestovnikoff and the beautiful birds of Skomer Island. | 0:20:22 | 0:20:27 | |
'My journey continues along the coast to Laugharne, | 0:20:29 | 0:20:31 | |
'the occasional home of a great Welsh poet.' | 0:20:31 | 0:20:34 | |
1953 was an interesting year. | 0:20:42 | 0:20:45 | |
The Coronation happened, Stalin died, Everest was conquered | 0:20:45 | 0:20:49 | |
and Dylan Thomas, one of Wales' greatest literary heroes, | 0:20:49 | 0:20:52 | |
was spending the last few weeks of his life | 0:20:52 | 0:20:55 | |
here on the south coast of Wales. | 0:20:55 | 0:20:57 | |
'In my craft or sullen art | 0:21:00 | 0:21:03 | |
'Exercised in the still night When only the moon rages | 0:21:03 | 0:21:06 | |
'And the lovers lie abed With all their griefs in their arms, | 0:21:06 | 0:21:10 | |
'I labour by singing light Not for ambition or bread | 0:21:10 | 0:21:14 | |
'Or the strut and trade of charms On the ivory stages | 0:21:14 | 0:21:18 | |
'But for the common wages Of their most secret heart.' | 0:21:18 | 0:21:22 | |
He lived here with his wife and family | 0:21:22 | 0:21:25 | |
and it was the spectacular views from this boathouse | 0:21:25 | 0:21:28 | |
that inspired some of Dylan Thomas' greatest works, | 0:21:28 | 0:21:31 | |
Including Under Milk Wood, Fern Hill and In My Craft or Sullen Art. | 0:21:31 | 0:21:36 | |
'Not for the proud man apart From the raging moon I write | 0:21:38 | 0:21:42 | |
'On these spindrift pages Nor for the towering dead | 0:21:42 | 0:21:45 | |
'With their nightingales and psalms But for the lovers, their arms | 0:21:45 | 0:21:51 | |
'Round the griefs of the ages, Who pay no praise or wages | 0:21:51 | 0:21:56 | |
'Nor heed my craft or art.' | 0:21:56 | 0:21:59 | |
His flamboyant and evocative use of language | 0:22:01 | 0:22:05 | |
created poetry and prose of gothic, mystical and surrealist imagery. | 0:22:05 | 0:22:10 | |
His writing shed here on the clifftop | 0:22:10 | 0:22:12 | |
is where he could most often be found. | 0:22:12 | 0:22:14 | |
Hello, John. | 0:22:21 | 0:22:22 | |
'Jon Treganna is a curator at The Boathouse, | 0:22:22 | 0:22:25 | |
'which is steeped in the history of Dylan's life.' | 0:22:25 | 0:22:28 | |
-Jon, it really is like stepping back in time coming in here. -Yeah, it is. | 0:22:31 | 0:22:36 | |
How different is it now to how it would have looked when Dylan Thomas lived here? | 0:22:36 | 0:22:40 | |
This house was bought for them by Margaret Taylor, | 0:22:40 | 0:22:43 | |
an American actress who was a big fan of Dylan's. | 0:22:43 | 0:22:46 | |
So, when they move in, it would have been plain, cold and damp. | 0:22:46 | 0:22:49 | |
One of the first things they did was - Caitlin and Dylan were very bohemian, very vibrant. | 0:22:49 | 0:22:54 | |
You don't get that in black-and-white images, but... | 0:22:54 | 0:22:57 | |
He'd go out talking to local farmers and he'd have purple trousers on | 0:22:57 | 0:23:02 | |
and she would have a dress made out of curtains. They were really vibrant people | 0:23:02 | 0:23:05 | |
so they painted the walls bright colours and they got rugs | 0:23:05 | 0:23:08 | |
-and they begged, borrowed and stole all furniture they could get. -Tonight is a relatively warm | 0:23:08 | 0:23:14 | |
summer's evening, golden sunshine, but I imagine on winter's night this place could feel very bleak. | 0:23:14 | 0:23:19 | |
It would have been freezing. There was no central heating. Today, you can put the heating on. | 0:23:19 | 0:23:24 | |
They had nothing like that then. There would've been coal fires. But the house is right on the coast, | 0:23:24 | 0:23:29 | |
it's exposed, you've got all the winds. When Dylan went to write in the shed, | 0:23:29 | 0:23:33 | |
he probably went to warm up because the shed was tiny and he had a little coal stove in there. | 0:23:33 | 0:23:38 | |
This house was busy. It was full of children, it was full of Caitlin and friends, | 0:23:38 | 0:23:43 | |
it was full of people dropping in, there was a housekeeper here, there were dogs. | 0:23:43 | 0:23:47 | |
This was a noisy house. The man needed his peace and quiet to work. | 0:23:47 | 0:23:50 | |
Caitlin, I think, is undervalued in the impact she had. | 0:23:55 | 0:23:59 | |
He used to run a lot of material past her to get her approval. | 0:23:59 | 0:24:03 | |
I think it was very important to Dylan that Caitlin not only loved him passionately as a woman | 0:24:03 | 0:24:07 | |
but also admired him as a writer. | 0:24:07 | 0:24:10 | |
And in real life then when business had to be done, | 0:24:10 | 0:24:13 | |
was she quite strict? | 0:24:13 | 0:24:15 | |
If he didn't deliver poetry or a story or a broadcast to the BBC, | 0:24:15 | 0:24:19 | |
they wouldn't have any money. So, if he had a deadline, she'd march him up to the shed, | 0:24:19 | 0:24:23 | |
she'd lock him in at 2pm in the afternoon | 0:24:23 | 0:24:26 | |
and then come back and get him at 7pm in the evening, | 0:24:26 | 0:24:28 | |
with nothing but his work and the coal fire | 0:24:28 | 0:24:32 | |
and maybe a bucket for company. | 0:24:32 | 0:24:36 | |
-How did he write poetry? Was it easy for him? -No, no. | 0:24:36 | 0:24:39 | |
It was terribly difficult, yes. | 0:24:39 | 0:24:42 | |
He used to go into his little shed and scrape and scratch and mutter and mumble... | 0:24:42 | 0:24:47 | |
..in tone and change. He was frightfully slow, you know. | 0:24:47 | 0:24:52 | |
In one afternoon, from about two till seven, he might have | 0:24:52 | 0:24:55 | |
done just one line or taken out one word or put in one word. | 0:24:55 | 0:24:59 | |
He had a bit of a rock 'n' roll image though, didn't he? | 0:25:03 | 0:25:06 | |
Yeah. I mean, when he went to New York in the '50s, he was mobbed in the streets. | 0:25:06 | 0:25:11 | |
People asking for autographs, women throwing themselves at him. | 0:25:11 | 0:25:14 | |
He wasn't the best looking guy in the world, but had charisma. People wanted to be with him. | 0:25:14 | 0:25:18 | |
It's hard to marry that image with this lifestyle | 0:25:18 | 0:25:21 | |
because it's a beautiful home, but it's very basic and it's in the middle of nowhere. | 0:25:21 | 0:25:26 | |
But I think it's what happens when you take any kind of simple soul | 0:25:26 | 0:25:29 | |
and give them that level of fame. | 0:25:29 | 0:25:31 | |
I think that's as much today now as it was then, you know. | 0:25:31 | 0:25:35 | |
But when he was back here, he was diligent and hard-working. He was a caring, family man. | 0:25:35 | 0:25:40 | |
'Dylan Thomas left the boathouse on 8 October 1953 and went to America, | 0:25:42 | 0:25:49 | |
never to return to Wales. Just one month later, he died. | 0:25:49 | 0:25:53 | |
'Further along the coast is Swansea, a town with a great | 0:25:57 | 0:26:00 | |
'metalworking tradition that's been carried on for generations. | 0:26:00 | 0:26:04 | |
'It was nicknamed "Copperopolis" | 0:26:04 | 0:26:07 | |
'because an amazing two thirds of the world's copper was once produced here. | 0:26:07 | 0:26:11 | |
'Mark Horton uncovers the story of the area's metal monopoly.' | 0:26:11 | 0:26:15 | |
'I'm here to discover an alchemist's ancient secret | 0:26:17 | 0:26:21 | |
'that once made Swansea the copper capital of the world.' | 0:26:21 | 0:26:26 | |
Open it at the bottom, close it at the top. | 0:26:27 | 0:26:29 | |
'Eddie Daughton is an experimental archaeologist.' | 0:26:29 | 0:26:33 | |
This is a lot of fun, isn't it? | 0:26:33 | 0:26:35 | |
-Erm, to start with! -THEY LAUGH | 0:26:35 | 0:26:38 | |
'We're using 4,000 year old methods | 0:26:38 | 0:26:41 | |
'to rediscover the magic of turning rock into metal. | 0:26:41 | 0:26:45 | |
'The Welsh knew the secret and Eddie thinks he's cracked it. | 0:26:48 | 0:26:51 | |
'First, we have to get the fire hot enough, | 0:26:53 | 0:26:55 | |
'and it's not as easy as it looks.' | 0:26:55 | 0:26:58 | |
-So, if you want to stop bellowing. -Phew! That's exhausting! | 0:26:58 | 0:27:03 | |
So, what's the recipe to make copper? | 0:27:03 | 0:27:06 | |
For this furnace, it's about 10 kilograms of charcoal, | 0:27:06 | 0:27:10 | |
half a kilogram of copper ore... | 0:27:10 | 0:27:14 | |
..and a little tiny bit of ironstone. | 0:27:16 | 0:27:19 | |
And we should end up making a quarter of a kilogram of copper, | 0:27:19 | 0:27:23 | |
maybe not quite that much. | 0:27:23 | 0:27:25 | |
So, what you're seeing is you need 10 times as much fuel | 0:27:25 | 0:27:30 | |
-and carbon to make copper than the copper ore itself? -Yeah. | 0:27:30 | 0:27:35 | |
So that explains why Swansea's here | 0:27:35 | 0:27:38 | |
-where there's masses of coal. -Masses of carbon. | 0:27:38 | 0:27:41 | |
FOLK MUSIC | 0:27:41 | 0:27:44 | |
'Put together copper ore with coal to make the metal | 0:27:44 | 0:27:48 | |
'and the sea to transport it, and you get a winning formula.' | 0:27:48 | 0:27:52 | |
-Do you think this is going to work? -With luck...yes. | 0:27:53 | 0:27:58 | |
-I'm deeply sceptical. -It's so simple! Believe! | 0:27:58 | 0:28:01 | |
'As Swansea's metalworkers mastered the art of copper extraction, | 0:28:01 | 0:28:05 | |
'a city grew from primitive beginnings | 0:28:05 | 0:28:09 | |
into a scene of satanic industry.' | 0:28:09 | 0:28:11 | |
'By the late 18th-century, | 0:28:15 | 0:28:17 | |
'the whole of the Towy Valley was filled with smelters. | 0:28:17 | 0:28:22 | |
'The works operated day and night, producing sulphurous fumes | 0:28:22 | 0:28:26 | |
'so horrendous that downwind the land is still toxic to this day. | 0:28:26 | 0:28:31 | |
'These docks were built to expand the trade still further. | 0:28:35 | 0:28:39 | |
'200 years ago, Swansea's copper was in demand. | 0:28:43 | 0:28:47 | |
'Who was after it? The Royal Navy.' | 0:28:47 | 0:28:50 | |
-Hello, David. -Hello, Mark! Croeso i Tywi. -Oh, fantastic! | 0:28:50 | 0:28:54 | |
'David Jenkins knows the story | 0:28:54 | 0:28:57 | |
'of the city's copper-bottomed deal with Nelson's Navy.' | 0:28:57 | 0:29:01 | |
This is an ingot of pure copper, as would have been produced in Swansea. | 0:29:01 | 0:29:06 | |
-That's pure copper? -That is pure copper. | 0:29:06 | 0:29:10 | |
That was the essential copper. | 0:29:10 | 0:29:12 | |
-What did they need it for in the 19th century? -The main use of copper was this. | 0:29:12 | 0:29:17 | |
This is what gave Nelson's navy | 0:29:17 | 0:29:19 | |
-massive tactical advantages. -Fantastic. | 0:29:19 | 0:29:22 | |
It's a sheet of copper ore | 0:29:22 | 0:29:23 | |
from the hull of HMS Victory. | 0:29:23 | 0:29:26 | |
You can see, Vivian & Sons, Swansea. | 0:29:26 | 0:29:28 | |
Look, I can see. And the number, 2802. | 0:29:28 | 0:29:32 | |
That's right, yes. Copper ore | 0:29:32 | 0:29:34 | |
and obviously copper itself was very valuable, | 0:29:34 | 0:29:37 | |
but its value was not so much monetary as tactical. | 0:29:37 | 0:29:39 | |
The manoeuvring that took place before the Battle of Trafalgar | 0:29:39 | 0:29:43 | |
owed a great deal of its success | 0:29:43 | 0:29:45 | |
to the fact that Nelson's ships had this on their bottoms. | 0:29:45 | 0:29:49 | |
It means that no weeds grow on the hull of your ship. | 0:29:49 | 0:29:51 | |
The water slips much more quickly over the hull of the ship, | 0:29:51 | 0:29:55 | |
and therefore it gave the ship excellent manoeuvrability. | 0:29:55 | 0:29:59 | |
Swansea's dominance of the world copper trade | 0:29:59 | 0:30:03 | |
meant that the Royal Navy | 0:30:03 | 0:30:05 | |
had copper-bottomed boats that the French didn't. | 0:30:05 | 0:30:10 | |
A tactical advantage that could be traced back 4,000 years | 0:30:10 | 0:30:14 | |
to those prehistoric Welsh experiments in metallurgy. | 0:30:14 | 0:30:19 | |
Now, have we managed to rediscover the secrets of their success? | 0:30:23 | 0:30:28 | |
-Carry on pumping? -Carry on pumping. | 0:30:28 | 0:30:30 | |
-You must have a stitch by now. -Just a bit. | 0:30:30 | 0:30:33 | |
Do you think you've got copper? | 0:30:33 | 0:30:35 | |
I think so. I hope so, | 0:30:35 | 0:30:37 | |
but I'm not giving any guarantees. | 0:30:37 | 0:30:39 | |
-OK. -All right, I'm going to stop pumping. | 0:30:39 | 0:30:43 | |
-Keep pumping. -Right. | 0:30:43 | 0:30:45 | |
OK, stop pumping. Get round the other side with the stick. | 0:30:50 | 0:30:53 | |
-Whoa! -Whoa! -Isn't that fantastic? | 0:31:05 | 0:31:09 | |
That's it. | 0:31:09 | 0:31:11 | |
That is probably frozen by now. | 0:31:13 | 0:31:16 | |
I can probably pick that up with the tongs. That is copper. | 0:31:16 | 0:31:20 | |
-A small ingot of copper. -A small lump of copper. | 0:31:20 | 0:31:23 | |
It's absolutely incredible when you think of the energy | 0:31:23 | 0:31:26 | |
and that effort that's gone into winning a metal. | 0:31:26 | 0:31:30 | |
Needless to say, don't try that at home. | 0:31:30 | 0:31:34 | |
My journey which began in Pembrokeshire | 0:31:37 | 0:31:39 | |
at the coastal resort of Tenby | 0:31:39 | 0:31:41 | |
and continued to Laugharne in Carmarthenshire | 0:31:41 | 0:31:44 | |
has now reached Mid-Glamorgan. | 0:31:44 | 0:31:46 | |
Just up the road from Pontyclun | 0:31:50 | 0:31:52 | |
in the Welsh valleys is the little village of Llanharry. | 0:31:52 | 0:31:55 | |
It's typical of the south of Wales in that it has links with mining, | 0:31:55 | 0:31:58 | |
a working men's club, and of course, a rugby team. | 0:31:58 | 0:32:02 | |
It also has some rather impressive vegetables, | 0:32:02 | 0:32:05 | |
and I am talking giant vegetables. | 0:32:05 | 0:32:09 | |
Local man and gardener Philip Vowles has been growing | 0:32:18 | 0:32:21 | |
giant vegetables for over a quarter of a century. | 0:32:21 | 0:32:24 | |
He exhibits in the Llanharry Giant Vegetable Show, and wins nearly every year. | 0:32:25 | 0:32:31 | |
Last year, he grew a 300lb pumpkin. | 0:32:31 | 0:32:34 | |
His 128lb marrow nearly smashed the world record. | 0:32:34 | 0:32:37 | |
But don't worry, his 1990 cucumber | 0:32:37 | 0:32:40 | |
did make the Guinness Book of Records, | 0:32:40 | 0:32:44 | |
weighing in at 18lbs, five and three-quarter ounces. | 0:32:44 | 0:32:47 | |
Yeah, I grew a very good marrow last year, | 0:32:47 | 0:32:49 | |
just a pound from the world record. | 0:32:49 | 0:32:52 | |
But it split on me. That's the joy of growing. | 0:32:53 | 0:32:56 | |
You get some bad luck and you get some good luck, | 0:32:56 | 0:32:59 | |
and I had the bad luck last year. | 0:32:59 | 0:33:01 | |
And it's not just Philip that gets involved. | 0:33:01 | 0:33:04 | |
The whole family does too, | 0:33:04 | 0:33:06 | |
including his grandchildren. | 0:33:06 | 0:33:08 | |
Look at that! | 0:33:12 | 0:33:13 | |
Granddad's vegetables are much nicer than the shop vegetables. | 0:33:19 | 0:33:24 | |
I'm really proud of my grandpa growing all this veg all himself. | 0:33:33 | 0:33:37 | |
He's put a lot towards it, you know. He's up here most of the time. | 0:33:37 | 0:33:43 | |
You hardly get to see him because he's working so hard up here. | 0:33:43 | 0:33:46 | |
And what he does, I'm really proud of him. | 0:33:46 | 0:33:50 | |
Philip's brothers grow giant veg too, | 0:33:50 | 0:33:53 | |
and can be a bit competitive with him. | 0:33:53 | 0:33:56 | |
Philip, are you going to give us our plants | 0:33:56 | 0:33:59 | |
a little bit earlier this year than last year? | 0:33:59 | 0:34:02 | |
You can have them at the same time | 0:34:02 | 0:34:04 | |
-as I plant them. -Last year, we were six weeks behind you. -Right. | 0:34:04 | 0:34:08 | |
So the pounds we were down on in the show... | 0:34:11 | 0:34:15 | |
-..we would have made up in them six weeks. -You're just making excuses. | 0:34:17 | 0:34:20 | |
Philip's prize-winning allotment is tucked away | 0:34:22 | 0:34:24 | |
at the back of his house. | 0:34:24 | 0:34:27 | |
He's very proud of his rows and rows of vegetables. | 0:34:27 | 0:34:29 | |
Well, let me show you my allotment. | 0:34:32 | 0:34:36 | |
It's a bit of ground I've tidied up 40 years ago. | 0:34:36 | 0:34:39 | |
I grow a bit of everything. | 0:34:40 | 0:34:42 | |
Mainly for the house originally, because I've got a large family, | 0:34:44 | 0:34:51 | |
and we try to supply them all. | 0:34:51 | 0:34:53 | |
Then I decided I'd go into growing giant veg, | 0:34:53 | 0:34:56 | |
and I've had a lot of fun out of it. | 0:34:56 | 0:34:59 | |
I grow a lot of stuff, as you can see. I've got my strawberries. | 0:34:59 | 0:35:03 | |
I grow a lot of flower plants. | 0:35:03 | 0:35:06 | |
I've got some nice lettuce, which I supply the whole family with. | 0:35:06 | 0:35:10 | |
I've got my garlic, my onion bed. | 0:35:10 | 0:35:12 | |
And these are my giant cabbage, which I'm very proud of. | 0:35:15 | 0:35:18 | |
I've had a lot of luck over the years, | 0:35:18 | 0:35:20 | |
growing them up to about 80lbs | 0:35:20 | 0:35:22 | |
in weight, which is a lot of cabbage. | 0:35:22 | 0:35:25 | |
At the end of the day, they're too big for the house, | 0:35:25 | 0:35:28 | |
so I supply the local pub, and they cook them up for Sunday lunch. | 0:35:28 | 0:35:33 | |
We've grown them now for 25 years. | 0:35:33 | 0:35:37 | |
They seem to get bigger and bigger every year. | 0:35:37 | 0:35:40 | |
Anybody can grow a big cabbage. Anybody. | 0:35:41 | 0:35:44 | |
No, there's no big secret. | 0:35:44 | 0:35:47 | |
I start them off in the autumn, | 0:35:48 | 0:35:50 | |
I pot them through the winter months, | 0:35:50 | 0:35:52 | |
and then just plant them out | 0:35:52 | 0:35:54 | |
early spring in a good bed of manure, | 0:35:54 | 0:35:58 | |
and it's as simple as that. | 0:35:58 | 0:35:59 | |
But really, if it's that easy, why aren't we all growing giant veg? | 0:36:01 | 0:36:06 | |
Well, actually, | 0:36:08 | 0:36:10 | |
there is a little bit of a secret to growing giant cabbage. | 0:36:10 | 0:36:14 | |
It really started with an accident. | 0:36:14 | 0:36:17 | |
As you can see, I like to keep the ground really clean, | 0:36:17 | 0:36:20 | |
and I caught the actual stalk of the cabbage | 0:36:20 | 0:36:24 | |
with my hoe and split it. | 0:36:24 | 0:36:26 | |
So I thought I had damaged it, but it rehealed itself, | 0:36:26 | 0:36:31 | |
and the cabbage seemed to grow that much quicker and bigger. | 0:36:31 | 0:36:35 | |
And now every year, I get a knife and I cut through the main stalk. | 0:36:35 | 0:36:40 | |
And I only do it to one, but very often, that's the one I show, | 0:36:40 | 0:36:45 | |
the best cabbage. | 0:36:45 | 0:36:47 | |
So it's damaging the stalk | 0:36:47 | 0:36:49 | |
and making it reheal, getting it to grow quicker and bigger. | 0:36:49 | 0:36:53 | |
That's one of my secrets. | 0:36:53 | 0:36:55 | |
Oh, the bell's gone. Got to go. | 0:36:58 | 0:37:00 | |
Going for dinner. | 0:37:01 | 0:37:03 | |
Once that bell goes, I've got to go. | 0:37:04 | 0:37:06 | |
Or I'll have a row off the wife. | 0:37:09 | 0:37:11 | |
When it's time for Philip to come down for breakfast, | 0:37:14 | 0:37:17 | |
I ring the bell once. | 0:37:17 | 0:37:18 | |
I come back in, I start eating my breakfast. | 0:37:18 | 0:37:21 | |
I wait a few minutes, no Philip, | 0:37:21 | 0:37:23 | |
I go back out and ring the bell a little bit harder, | 0:37:23 | 0:37:26 | |
because he's always talking. | 0:37:26 | 0:37:27 | |
Phillip spends so much time at the allotment | 0:37:27 | 0:37:30 | |
that I feel like the allotment widow. | 0:37:30 | 0:37:32 | |
I'm always here by myself. Come the weekend - | 0:37:32 | 0:37:35 | |
"I've got to go up to the allotment. We'll go out later." | 0:37:35 | 0:37:39 | |
And later comes, and he doesn't come down. | 0:37:39 | 0:37:42 | |
Well, I spend all day, every day up in my allotment, | 0:37:42 | 0:37:46 | |
and I thoroughly enjoy it. | 0:37:46 | 0:37:47 | |
Brenda thinks I'm mad. Well, she might be right. | 0:37:47 | 0:37:51 | |
But I thoroughly enjoy it. | 0:37:51 | 0:37:53 | |
And sometimes she'll come up and help me out. She enjoys it, really. | 0:37:53 | 0:37:58 | |
We have a wonderful time. | 0:37:58 | 0:37:59 | |
I'm a poor man, but I feel like a millionaire, | 0:38:06 | 0:38:09 | |
because I get so much enjoyment | 0:38:09 | 0:38:11 | |
out of growing vegetables, all of them as well as the giants, | 0:38:11 | 0:38:16 | |
and supplying the house and the grandchildren. | 0:38:16 | 0:38:20 | |
I do feel like a millionaire. | 0:38:20 | 0:38:23 | |
Philip Vowles, a man rich in his passion for vegetables. | 0:38:24 | 0:38:28 | |
He may not specialise in giant marrows, | 0:38:28 | 0:38:30 | |
but Jimmy Doherty is a passionate farmer. | 0:38:30 | 0:38:33 | |
He's travelled the country to find out about new farming practices. | 0:38:33 | 0:38:37 | |
He went to Caerphilly, | 0:38:37 | 0:38:38 | |
where he found a dairy farm that's swapping tradition for change. | 0:38:38 | 0:38:42 | |
And they're pretty radical changes. | 0:38:42 | 0:38:45 | |
Alan and Paul Price run 400 cows on their farm. | 0:38:51 | 0:38:53 | |
It's one of the biggest dairy businesses in South Wales. | 0:38:53 | 0:38:57 | |
The brothers inherited a very traditional farm, | 0:38:57 | 0:39:00 | |
and they come from a very traditional farming family. | 0:39:00 | 0:39:02 | |
We're the third generation farmers. | 0:39:02 | 0:39:06 | |
They've always produced milk there. | 0:39:06 | 0:39:09 | |
We used to milk the cows before we went to school. | 0:39:09 | 0:39:12 | |
We started off with 24 cows, and we've gone on from there. | 0:39:12 | 0:39:15 | |
They've just installed a new £400,000 milking parlour, | 0:39:15 | 0:39:20 | |
but the real money-spinner is round the back of the shed, | 0:39:20 | 0:39:24 | |
and it's not what I expect to see on a farm. | 0:39:24 | 0:39:27 | |
These farming brothers have changed the way they use their land completely. | 0:39:29 | 0:39:34 | |
They have turned their farm into a giant rubbish dump. | 0:39:36 | 0:39:40 | |
It's incredible. When you look at this, you see a big pile of pallets, | 0:39:40 | 0:39:44 | |
a big pile of timber over there and wood chippings. They form these lovely little hills. | 0:39:44 | 0:39:49 | |
At the back, you've got the Welsh hills in the background. | 0:39:49 | 0:39:52 | |
You've built your own landscape, haven't you? | 0:39:52 | 0:39:55 | |
What I like about Alun and Paul is they are using their farm | 0:40:02 | 0:40:06 | |
to help solve a major environmental crisis. | 0:40:06 | 0:40:09 | |
Most of our household rubbish is buried in landfill sites. | 0:40:09 | 0:40:15 | |
The problem is, | 0:40:15 | 0:40:16 | |
the UK is running out of suitable places to stash our junk. | 0:40:16 | 0:40:20 | |
On this farm, Alun can recycle 80% of all the rubbish he receives. | 0:40:21 | 0:40:27 | |
When you stand here and look at all these piles around you | 0:40:27 | 0:40:30 | |
and you go back five or six years, they were going to landfill. | 0:40:30 | 0:40:33 | |
-Yes. -Now, we are turning them into a useful product, | 0:40:33 | 0:40:38 | |
-which as you can see, is going to produce electricity. -Yes. | 0:40:38 | 0:40:42 | |
They have invested £3.5 million and now employ 20 men to sort | 0:40:44 | 0:40:48 | |
and recycle the rubbish. | 0:40:48 | 0:40:50 | |
It is not as easy as it looks. | 0:40:56 | 0:40:58 | |
This is such good fun. | 0:41:01 | 0:41:04 | |
It is a bit like being at the pier. Trying to pick up those teddy bears. | 0:41:04 | 0:41:08 | |
But in fact, this is easier. Because those teddy bear thing's a con. | 0:41:11 | 0:41:16 | |
He doesn't want to stop! He's enjoying himself! | 0:41:16 | 0:41:20 | |
HE LAUGHS | 0:41:20 | 0:41:21 | |
Just sorting out where all these little things go. | 0:41:23 | 0:41:27 | |
I can go for a cup of tea and leave him to it! | 0:41:27 | 0:41:30 | |
What they are doing at this farm here is to take all this material | 0:41:30 | 0:41:34 | |
and recycle it into a product which we can use | 0:41:34 | 0:41:37 | |
and it's what we are going to have to do more and more in the future. | 0:41:37 | 0:41:41 | |
These guys are really on the button. | 0:41:41 | 0:41:43 | |
It's clear that a major part of all this household rubbish is food. | 0:41:49 | 0:41:55 | |
And this really upset me. | 0:41:55 | 0:41:57 | |
As a farmer, looking at someone throwing away a perfectly good tomato, to me, is a sin. | 0:41:57 | 0:42:03 | |
There is a world food crisis. | 0:42:05 | 0:42:08 | |
Crop prices are rising and yet we throw away a third of all our food. | 0:42:08 | 0:42:13 | |
The great thing is that in this building, | 0:42:18 | 0:42:20 | |
they can turn food waste into something very useful. | 0:42:20 | 0:42:24 | |
Compost. | 0:42:24 | 0:42:26 | |
Sawdust is mixed in with the waste food to soak up the surplus liquid. | 0:42:27 | 0:42:31 | |
Then it is all fed into a giant shredder to be very finely chopped. | 0:42:31 | 0:42:36 | |
The important thing is that all the food items | 0:42:36 | 0:42:40 | |
are broken down sufficiently enough that they are not then | 0:42:40 | 0:42:45 | |
eaten by rats and become a problem for pests and vermin. | 0:42:45 | 0:42:49 | |
Actually, compost is quite exciting. | 0:42:49 | 0:42:51 | |
It doesn't look exciting but I love the process because you are turning | 0:42:51 | 0:42:55 | |
waste into something you can use and it is something we all have to do. | 0:42:55 | 0:43:00 | |
As Alun loads a tunnel, I feel like a midget in a giant's kitchen. | 0:43:03 | 0:43:07 | |
This tunnel is in fact a monster cooker which heats up | 0:43:08 | 0:43:11 | |
and kills unwanted bacteria in the food. | 0:43:11 | 0:43:14 | |
Alun is paid to take in the food waste. | 0:43:18 | 0:43:21 | |
-So it turns into a good business for him. -It is fairly profitable. | 0:43:21 | 0:43:25 | |
Like any business you've got costs and overheads. | 0:43:25 | 0:43:28 | |
-It is more profitable than milking cows. -Yes. | 0:43:28 | 0:43:30 | |
The Price brothers turn all the food waste into rich compost | 0:43:37 | 0:43:40 | |
which they can use themselves or sell. | 0:43:40 | 0:43:43 | |
And this is the end product. | 0:43:46 | 0:43:48 | |
Thick, lush compost. It's really quite moist and juicy. | 0:43:50 | 0:43:54 | |
Doesn't really smell but that is lovely and warm. | 0:43:55 | 0:43:57 | |
That composting process, but all this from rubbish. | 0:43:57 | 0:44:01 | |
Now at last I feel like a farmer again | 0:44:15 | 0:44:17 | |
because it's time to help Alun spread his compost on the fields. | 0:44:17 | 0:44:20 | |
When I first arrived - I have been in every machine here | 0:44:24 | 0:44:27 | |
and picking out plastic bags and sofas and broken records - | 0:44:27 | 0:44:32 | |
I felt like a million miles away from farming, but, the composting | 0:44:32 | 0:44:36 | |
and now putting it back on the grass that the cows are going to eat that you're going to milk | 0:44:36 | 0:44:41 | |
-and sell the milk to go into the shops. -It is complete circle. | 0:44:41 | 0:44:44 | |
Jimmy Docherty looking at the use of farming land for recycling. | 0:44:45 | 0:44:49 | |
My journey is now reaching its end in the capital of Wales, Cardiff. | 0:44:49 | 0:44:54 | |
Nowhere quite says Cardiff like Cardiff Castle. | 0:45:00 | 0:45:04 | |
The Romans built a fort here, the Normans erected a keep | 0:45:04 | 0:45:07 | |
and over time, this site has established itself | 0:45:07 | 0:45:10 | |
as one of the UK's truly great medieval castles. | 0:45:10 | 0:45:13 | |
So it is a pretty good place from which to start a journey back in time. | 0:45:13 | 0:45:17 | |
Today, at Cardiff Castle, there is going to be a re-creation | 0:45:17 | 0:45:21 | |
of a 13th century joust, put on by the Knights of Royal England. | 0:45:21 | 0:45:27 | |
And in true medieval fashion, before the spectacle come the sideshows. | 0:45:27 | 0:45:32 | |
There are lots of school children here to see the action | 0:45:35 | 0:45:38 | |
and pick up a bit of first-hand history. | 0:45:38 | 0:45:41 | |
Jousting was a hugely popular form of entertainment | 0:45:50 | 0:45:53 | |
during the Middle Ages. But it was more than just a sport. | 0:45:53 | 0:45:57 | |
It helped knights keep fit between battles, honing skills | 0:45:57 | 0:46:00 | |
and improving strength. | 0:46:00 | 0:46:02 | |
The jousting knights represented their liege lord or entered | 0:46:04 | 0:46:07 | |
competitions to compete for prize money. | 0:46:07 | 0:46:11 | |
In this tournament, the knights in the red colours led by Sir Jasper | 0:46:16 | 0:46:20 | |
are battling those wearing blue and the kids love it! | 0:46:20 | 0:46:24 | |
CHILDREN CHEER | 0:46:24 | 0:46:25 | |
Sir Jasper is played by Jeremy Richardson. | 0:46:52 | 0:46:55 | |
Jeremy! I am in absolute awe, Sorry, I should say Sir Jasper. | 0:46:57 | 0:47:02 | |
-Why, thank you, Lady Helen. -I am in absolute awe of what you did out there. | 0:47:02 | 0:47:06 | |
You organise and perform in the tournament and you look after the horses. Please tell me | 0:47:06 | 0:47:10 | |
you have been riding horses for a very long time. | 0:47:10 | 0:47:13 | |
I have, yes. I think if you have got to go out there | 0:47:13 | 0:47:16 | |
and you have to start thinking about how to ride | 0:47:16 | 0:47:18 | |
and thinking about the horse, then you have got a problem. | 0:47:18 | 0:47:21 | |
Once the horse is trained, it takes a couple of years, | 0:47:21 | 0:47:24 | |
once he is trained and sorted, he will be great for life, then. | 0:47:24 | 0:47:27 | |
-Tell me about this horse. Who is this? -This is Debetto. | 0:47:27 | 0:47:31 | |
He's an Andalusian stallion. | 0:47:31 | 0:47:33 | |
And, as you can see, away from the arena, nice and quiet, lovable, nothing wrong with him. | 0:47:33 | 0:47:38 | |
Doesn't kick, bite, he's perfect. | 0:47:38 | 0:47:40 | |
Out in the arena, he is a wild beast! | 0:47:40 | 0:47:42 | |
CHEERING | 0:47:42 | 0:47:45 | |
'Looks like Ashley for the reds!' | 0:47:45 | 0:47:48 | |
-Is it dangerous? -Yes. Yeah. It's dangerous. Horse-riding's dangerous. | 0:47:48 | 0:47:54 | |
-Have you ever been hurt? -Yeah, lots. | 0:47:54 | 0:47:57 | |
Actually, when I was a teenager, more than later on in life. | 0:47:57 | 0:48:01 | |
But as a teenager, I got hurt a lot. Had a lot of falls and stuff. | 0:48:01 | 0:48:05 | |
Got a good few injuries, a good few broken shoulders and things. | 0:48:05 | 0:48:09 | |
But not too bad now. I get about one injury a year. | 0:48:09 | 0:48:12 | |
'Right, who wants to see a fight?!' | 0:48:12 | 0:48:15 | |
CHEERING | 0:48:15 | 0:48:17 | |
-How historically accurate is it? -Reasonably. Probably about 75, 80%. | 0:48:17 | 0:48:23 | |
The main difference is, we put on a 45-minute jousting tournament, | 0:48:23 | 0:48:26 | |
that same jousting tournament would have lasted probably three days. | 0:48:26 | 0:48:30 | |
It's condensing everything that goes on in that tournament to 45 minutes. | 0:48:30 | 0:48:34 | |
So there's a lot more jousting and fighting and combat | 0:48:34 | 0:48:37 | |
and talking than you would normally see in a real jousting tournament. | 0:48:37 | 0:48:40 | |
Thank you for the show. Thank you, I'm going to let you de-robe... | 0:48:40 | 0:48:45 | |
-Undress! -..the horse. Thank you! | 0:48:45 | 0:48:47 | |
Well, the rain has been almost torrential here in Cardiff | 0:48:53 | 0:48:56 | |
but it has not dampened our mood | 0:48:56 | 0:48:58 | |
and I will be getting into the fighting spirit a bit later on. | 0:48:58 | 0:49:01 | |
But first, here is the Country Tracks weather for the week ahead. | 0:49:01 | 0:49:04 | |
'My journey today has taken me along the beautiful South Wales coast.' | 0:51:07 | 0:51:11 | |
I met lemurs in Tenby, visited the home of Dylan Thomas in Laugharne, | 0:51:11 | 0:51:16 | |
and admired monster marrows in Llanharry.' | 0:51:16 | 0:51:19 | |
'Now I've reached Cardiff and I'm about try my hand at medieval martial-arts.' | 0:51:19 | 0:51:25 | |
'Earlier on, we saw Mark Vance fighting in full armour.' | 0:51:30 | 0:51:34 | |
'Mark is trained in stage combat and has been performing with medieval swords for over 20 years.' | 0:51:34 | 0:51:39 | |
'I want to have a go, | 0:51:39 | 0:51:41 | |
but first, I asked him how he makes the fights look so realistic.' | 0:51:41 | 0:51:45 | |
The secret is that many of the moves we put in | 0:51:48 | 0:51:51 | |
come from real fighting manuals from the period. So they are real moves. | 0:51:51 | 0:51:56 | |
We just incorporate that into the staged combat. | 0:51:56 | 0:51:59 | |
If they're real moves, don't you ever get hurt? | 0:51:59 | 0:52:02 | |
Yes, which is why I am going to put you in some armour, | 0:52:02 | 0:52:05 | |
particularly gloves and a helmet. | 0:52:05 | 0:52:08 | |
-Oh, my parents will be pleased. Let's get me some armour. -Get some armour. | 0:52:08 | 0:52:12 | |
Da-na! I thought I would feel like a fearless warrior. | 0:52:16 | 0:52:20 | |
That wasn't meant to happen, was it? | 0:52:20 | 0:52:23 | |
But I feel a bit cumbersome. It's heavy, isn't it? | 0:52:23 | 0:52:26 | |
-It's heavy, but you look good. -Right. | 0:52:26 | 0:52:30 | |
-I want to look like a fighter. -Let's teach you some moves. -OK. This way. | 0:52:30 | 0:52:35 | |
Mark, this isn't just thrashing around with swords and cool costumes. | 0:52:36 | 0:52:41 | |
-These are actual moves from medieval times? -Exactly. | 0:52:41 | 0:52:44 | |
Medieval knights were trained warriors. | 0:52:44 | 0:52:47 | |
These are real moves from a real sword fighting book that I'm going to show you. | 0:52:47 | 0:52:51 | |
It's Italian, it's called Flower Of Battle, it's 600 years old. | 0:52:51 | 0:52:54 | |
-OK. -It's very much a Western martial art. | 0:52:54 | 0:52:57 | |
-Is this how you learnt, from this book? -Yes. | 0:52:57 | 0:53:01 | |
-Left leg forwards. Hold the sword in both hands, right hand on top. -OK. | 0:53:01 | 0:53:05 | |
The secret of a good cut, and this is a fendente cut, | 0:53:05 | 0:53:09 | |
the secret of it is you're not just hitting with your arms. | 0:53:09 | 0:53:12 | |
There's not enough power. If you're enemy is wearing armour, you won't get through. | 0:53:12 | 0:53:16 | |
What you need to do is step into the cut. | 0:53:16 | 0:53:18 | |
As the sword comes down, step forward. | 0:53:18 | 0:53:20 | |
-OK. You put all your body weight behind it. -Yep. | 0:53:20 | 0:53:25 | |
Nice one. | 0:53:25 | 0:53:27 | |
Together. | 0:53:27 | 0:53:28 | |
Good. | 0:53:30 | 0:53:32 | |
-Ha-ha! -That's your first cut. Next bit is to teach you how to block. | 0:53:32 | 0:53:37 | |
Start in this position, which is called "iron door" - porta de ferro. | 0:53:37 | 0:53:41 | |
I want you to step back and bring the sword up and strike mine. | 0:53:41 | 0:53:46 | |
-So knock your sword out of the way? -Place it on it. | 0:53:46 | 0:53:49 | |
You're blocking, you're protecting this side of your body. | 0:53:49 | 0:53:52 | |
But keep the point pointing towards me. | 0:53:52 | 0:53:55 | |
When you work out a routine that you show to the public, | 0:53:55 | 0:53:58 | |
do you and your guys know what you're going to do next? Is it like a dance routine? | 0:53:58 | 0:54:03 | |
There are different ways to do it. Most of the fights that we do are pretty much free-flowing. | 0:54:05 | 0:54:10 | |
We've trained together, we know how each other fights | 0:54:10 | 0:54:13 | |
and we might put little bits in, some exciting bits. | 0:54:13 | 0:54:17 | |
An end or a star. But most of what is happening is as it happens. | 0:54:17 | 0:54:21 | |
So if it's as it happens and it is free-flowing, | 0:54:21 | 0:54:24 | |
presumably there are more accidents. | 0:54:24 | 0:54:28 | |
Well, yes and no. Because it's free-flowing, you have to watch. | 0:54:28 | 0:54:32 | |
Sometimes with over-choreographed fights, people are expecting something to happen | 0:54:32 | 0:54:36 | |
and when it doesn't, or happens in a different way, that's the danger. | 0:54:36 | 0:54:41 | |
So it keeps you sharper, if not all the moves are fully worked out. | 0:54:41 | 0:54:45 | |
-Back and block. -Yes. -And then you stab. -Got it. | 0:54:50 | 0:54:55 | |
-Argh. -Excellent. | 0:54:56 | 0:54:58 | |
When knights are wearing full body armour, it is incredibly tough stuff to cut through. | 0:54:58 | 0:55:04 | |
Your best way is to stab through it. | 0:55:04 | 0:55:07 | |
The extra control and the close grappling work means that it's far more effective | 0:55:07 | 0:55:13 | |
-if you grab the sword in a position like this. -OK. | 0:55:13 | 0:55:16 | |
From here, you can use it to stab, you can also use this end to smash. | 0:55:16 | 0:55:21 | |
-Ooh! -HE LAUGHS | 0:55:21 | 0:55:25 | |
And so you can also wrestle and push with it. | 0:55:25 | 0:55:27 | |
Mark, you've got the devil in your eyes when you do that! | 0:55:27 | 0:55:30 | |
There's a lot more control. | 0:55:30 | 0:55:32 | |
-I am going to mean it this time. -Oh, gosh. -Ready. | 0:55:32 | 0:55:35 | |
-Argh! -Excellent. | 0:55:38 | 0:55:39 | |
This is a Western martial art. | 0:55:39 | 0:55:42 | |
This is as worthy as any of the martial arts that are around in modern times. | 0:55:42 | 0:55:47 | |
How popular is it? | 0:55:47 | 0:55:49 | |
It's one of the fastest-growing forms of martial art, historical martial arts. | 0:55:49 | 0:55:53 | |
There's a lot of treatises that have been translated or rediscovered in the last few years. | 0:55:53 | 0:55:59 | |
Italian ones, German one, English ones, that all date from the Middle Ages. | 0:55:59 | 0:56:03 | |
'My journey along the south coast of Wales has been enhanced by a series of colourful characters.' | 0:56:11 | 0:56:17 | |
'A designer-turned-zookeeper, | 0:56:17 | 0:56:20 | |
'a record-holding vegetable grower, | 0:56:20 | 0:56:23 | |
'a rock'n'roll poet... | 0:56:23 | 0:56:24 | |
'..jousting supremo Jeremy Richardson... | 0:56:27 | 0:56:29 | |
'..and a medieval martial arts expert, Mark Vance, | 0:56:33 | 0:56:37 | |
'who seems to have taught me rather well.' | 0:56:37 | 0:56:39 | |
-So, eyeball, so you can see when I start. -OK. | 0:56:39 | 0:56:42 | |
Here we go. In you come. | 0:56:42 | 0:56:44 | |
Smash, slash, stab. | 0:56:44 | 0:56:48 | |
One in the thigh, one in the neck, and a jump on your chest just for good measure | 0:56:48 | 0:56:52 | |
and then go again! Yielded? | 0:56:52 | 0:56:55 | |
-Yeah. -And I have ended my journey across the south coast of Wales on a high. | 0:56:55 | 0:57:00 | |
Come on, then, get ready for round two. | 0:57:00 | 0:57:03 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:57:04 | 0:57:07 | |
E-mail [email protected] | 0:57:07 | 0:57:10 |