0:00:03 > 0:00:05We are a watery nation.
0:00:05 > 0:00:09Rivers shape our landscape and they made our history.
0:00:09 > 0:00:14But today they seem like forgotten highways into the back garden of Britain.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18I'm going to explore the close bond between humans and water.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21'This week, I'll be catching a wave...'
0:00:21 > 0:00:23Like riding a sort of express train.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26'..carrying my own coracle...'
0:00:26 > 0:00:29Can see the point of this when you walk a long distance.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33'..and enjoying a ritual river blessing...'
0:00:33 > 0:00:35Shut your mouth!
0:00:37 > 0:00:41'..as I travel down the rivers of the west.'
0:01:07 > 0:01:12'Plynlimon, in the hills of Mid Wales.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17'With me is Dr Stephen Tooth, who knows this place well.
0:01:19 > 0:01:26'They may lack the grandeur of Snowdonia, or the drama of the Brecon Beacons, but with over
0:01:26 > 0:01:32'100 inches of rainfall a year, the Cambrian mountains are like a water tank in the attic of Britain.'
0:01:32 > 0:01:34Getting pretty squelchy here.
0:01:34 > 0:01:40'Five rivers and five more tributaries start on these slopes,
0:01:40 > 0:01:46'including two of our most important waterways, the Wye and the Severn.'
0:01:46 > 0:01:48OK. Let's go find the source of this river.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52'You'd think their sources would be easy to locate
0:01:52 > 0:01:57'but quite honestly, without Steve, I'd be utterly lost.'
0:01:57 > 0:02:00But you'll notice the vegetation's changed a little bit again.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02Bit less mossy, bit drier,
0:02:02 > 0:02:05and now we've got the true bedrock poking out.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09- If you look closely there's a drip of water.- So there is!
0:02:09 > 0:02:13You're just getting a tiny drip there
0:02:13 > 0:02:20and that's all that Plynlimon is giving to the Wye at the moment.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23'And I can see the Wye snaking south
0:02:23 > 0:02:27'on its way to become one of the loveliest rivers in Britain.'
0:02:27 > 0:02:29It makes me want to follow it.
0:02:31 > 0:02:37'But not yet. I plan to reunite with the Wye 150 miles further on.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40'But first I want to find another source.'
0:02:40 > 0:02:42That's it. Good boy!
0:02:42 > 0:02:44Good boy, come on.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47'Thankfully, this one is a little more obvious.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51'A rather elegant weathered post marks the official source
0:02:51 > 0:02:55'of the longest river in Britain, the Severn.'
0:02:55 > 0:02:58It's easier to think of this source
0:02:58 > 0:03:02as being the highest twig
0:03:02 > 0:03:06on a giant bush of water.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11'A great network of streams, brooks and rivulets feeds the Severn,
0:03:11 > 0:03:15'from an area of 4,410 square miles.'
0:03:15 > 0:03:18An extraordinary river system
0:03:18 > 0:03:21and one which I'm going to try to explore.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28'From here, the Severn loops eastwards towards the English border.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32'I intend to go with it as far as Worcester and then re-join the Wye,
0:03:32 > 0:03:36'which has been making its way down through the heart of Mid Wales.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38'In Gloucestershire, I'll double back
0:03:38 > 0:03:41'for a final surge of the Severn to the sea.
0:03:49 > 0:03:54'The stream begins to fatten as I descend only a few hundred feet.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56'This is an ancient waterway
0:03:56 > 0:04:00'with some very recent changes along its course.
0:04:00 > 0:04:05'I enter a dark, man-made forest of pine and spruce,
0:04:05 > 0:04:09'first planted in 1937 to provide timber for industry.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14'These are trees but this isn't a natural intrusion.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18'Together with modern water management systems such as dams
0:04:18 > 0:04:21'and weirs, it has brought a dramatic change
0:04:21 > 0:04:23'to the ecology of the area.'
0:04:23 > 0:04:27'As recently as the 1970s, Atlantic salmon fought their way up here to spawn.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30'But the changes we've made in the last 30-odd years
0:04:30 > 0:04:34'mean that some of these headwaters will never see fish again.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38'These are questions for my journey.
0:04:40 > 0:04:45'How much are we changing and how quickly?
0:04:47 > 0:04:51'Coming out of the forest, it's my first chance to get onto the river.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08'In these parts it's still known by its ancient Welsh name of Hafren.
0:05:08 > 0:05:13'The Romans later Latinised it to Severn, after the goddess Sabrina.'
0:05:20 > 0:05:21Damn!
0:05:21 > 0:05:26'According to legend, Sabrina threw herself in and drowned,
0:05:26 > 0:05:29'but it's too shallow for me and my canoe.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32'I need another form of transport.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36In fact, long before we bought our boats mail order from Canada,
0:05:36 > 0:05:40'the river provided everything that we require.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45'The willows on the riverbank are strong, flexible and can grow as much as four inches a day
0:05:45 > 0:05:50'and they were used to make a boat much more suitable for these shallow waters.'
0:05:50 > 0:05:53Luckily, the vessel that I'm looking for is still made here
0:05:53 > 0:05:57almost exactly as it has been for the last 4,000 years.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02'Helen Porter is originally from Wiltshire
0:06:02 > 0:06:06'but she'd always loved Mid Wales and eventually moved here in 1990.
0:06:06 > 0:06:11'She planted trees and shrubs, including willow, which she used for basket making.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15'She met fellow basket maker Pippa Scott and the business grew from there.
0:06:15 > 0:06:16'They now run courses
0:06:16 > 0:06:20'on how to construct a different sort of basket altogether.'
0:06:20 > 0:06:23It's really easy to turn, it's really light.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27It's entirely willow and it's made upside down.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30Uprights pushed in the ground, and then the weaving.
0:06:37 > 0:06:42Do you have a knitting pattern or can you make a coracle of any size?
0:06:42 > 0:06:43You can make one of any size.
0:06:43 > 0:06:48It was originally dictated by the size of an ox hide or an animal hide.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51I see. So it was the hide itself,
0:06:51 > 0:06:53rather than the amount of willow you had.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57Yes, and they're designed as one-person boats, at the most two.
0:06:57 > 0:07:03The other thing that determines the style of the coracle is what river you're fishing on -
0:07:03 > 0:07:07is it a fast or slow river, shallow or deep, is it very rapidy or whatever.
0:07:07 > 0:07:12'The coracle is basically a giant waterproof woven willow bowl.
0:07:12 > 0:07:17'Canvas with a tar coating is now used as cladding instead of animal hide,
0:07:17 > 0:07:22'but, apart from that, this simple design has remained unchanged for centuries.'
0:07:27 > 0:07:29I certainly see the point of this thing
0:07:29 > 0:07:31when you have to walk a long distance.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33It's incredibly light.
0:07:33 > 0:07:39I suppose they drifted down river all night, poaching salmon,
0:07:39 > 0:07:43and then they'd stop and walk home,
0:07:43 > 0:07:44as easy as that.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51'Coracles can be used in as little as 3cm of water.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55'They are designed for buoyancy, rather than stability.'
0:07:55 > 0:07:58This is what I'm gonna do.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01OK, with the aid of several helpers...
0:08:01 > 0:08:05I've got one foot in,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08I now have the other foot...roughly.
0:08:08 > 0:08:13Put your feet further forward once you've got them both in.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16I think you need to move a bit to your right.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19- I'm going to adjust my... - Remember, no sudden movements.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22Wow, I see what you mean, we are completely...
0:08:27 > 0:08:31This isn't unstable like a canoe is unstable,
0:08:31 > 0:08:33it's utterly unstable.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37Even shifting a buttock is a major movement.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46'The coracle's connection with the river goes back to the Bronze Age.
0:08:46 > 0:08:51'They were used by the Britons to fight the Romans.
0:08:51 > 0:08:52'The Romans were so impressed
0:08:52 > 0:08:57'that they pinched the design for their river-borne troops in Spain.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02'They can carry about 250 kilos when fully loaded -
0:09:02 > 0:09:04'that's nearly four of me.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07'They were originally used for ferrying and, of course, fishing.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11'A fisherman could paddle one-handed, holding a net in the other.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Aaaargh!
0:09:22 > 0:09:27Ha-ha-ha! Aaaah!
0:09:30 > 0:09:34No! My paddle!
0:09:35 > 0:09:37Damn it!
0:09:39 > 0:09:41That's made it more stable.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43It's now full of water!
0:09:46 > 0:09:52'Clearly, the coracle will take some time to master and I must press on.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56'The Severn winds its way south for another 8.5 miles
0:09:56 > 0:09:58'through the heart of Mid Wales.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15And suddenly I'm in Llanidloes,
0:10:15 > 0:10:18the first town on the Severn.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21Not only the first town on the Severn
0:10:21 > 0:10:26but the first town that uses this river, that needs this river.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29The first thing you see, a gigantic mill.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33'This is sheep country.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37'Although the river is still shallow here, it was still able
0:10:37 > 0:10:40'to turn the wheels of these mills to some effect.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47'By the mid-19th century, it's been estimated that out of a population
0:10:47 > 0:10:53'of around 2,500 townspeople, over 2,000 worked in the wool trade.
0:10:53 > 0:10:59'Wool was brought here from surrounding farms and woven into high quality flannel.
0:10:59 > 0:11:06'The long strips of cloth were stretched out on the hillsides to dry on "tenters",
0:11:06 > 0:11:11'a practice which gave rise to the phrase "on tenterhooks."
0:11:11 > 0:11:13'The fineness of the local wool
0:11:13 > 0:11:16'and the softness of the waters of the Severn
0:11:16 > 0:11:21'produced clothing which ultimately found its way down river and across to the Caribbean.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24'It was also used to make another famous local product,
0:11:24 > 0:11:25'the Welsh blanket.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28'And I'm planning to camp here tonight.'
0:11:30 > 0:11:33I want to look at this one first because this has taken my eye.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36- Tell me about this blanket then.- OK.
0:11:36 > 0:11:37Well, this is Victorian.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41It's probably about 1880 or 1890
0:11:41 > 0:11:43and it was made on a narrow loom
0:11:43 > 0:11:46because they didn't have wider looms at the time.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49So what they did was they wove a length of cloth
0:11:49 > 0:11:54- that was twice the length that was needed for the blanket...- Mh-hm.
0:11:54 > 0:12:00..and halfway down the strip, they wove in an extra two borders like this,
0:12:00 > 0:12:04close to one another and then they cut between the borders...
0:12:04 > 0:12:08- Yes.- ..turned one section around and stitched them lengthways down the middle.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11So when they cut them together they don't quite match,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15but, nonetheless, it's that little imperfection that tells us the handmade aspect.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18Not made by some sort of programmed machine.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20I'd be really lucky to find one like this.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22You'd be lucky to find one like this.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26You'd have to go to a dealer, a collector, to find one like this.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29- And how much?- I don't expect you'd get it for less than £150
0:12:29 > 0:12:31and it might be more like £200.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39'Sheep are still the mainstay of the local economy,
0:12:39 > 0:12:41'but these days not for wool but for meat.'
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Good morning, you all right?
0:12:43 > 0:12:47Yes, thank you, I'm camping out and I want to eat some local food.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49- Yeah.- What would you recommend then?
0:12:49 > 0:12:52Spring lamb at the moment is about the best you'll get.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55Some lamb chump, that would be terrific.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57£2.56, please.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00- Thanks very much. Cheerio. - Thanks a lot. Bye now.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17'Here in the early summer,
0:13:17 > 0:13:20'the very essence of the Severn is all around me.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23'The river valley is surrounded by
0:13:23 > 0:13:26'some of the best grazing land in the world.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31'Tom Tudor comes from a long line of sheep farmers.'
0:13:34 > 0:13:36The secret in all this is grass, grassland farming.
0:13:36 > 0:13:42If you haven't got the grass you can't get them to produce two lambs.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46I see, you need quality grass. And that quality grass...
0:13:46 > 0:13:51Depends on water. Water is a major factor in food production
0:13:51 > 0:13:55in the world. Without that water, you can't produce food.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57'Tom's sheep still have to be sheared,
0:13:57 > 0:14:00'but now the wool is very much a by-product.
0:14:00 > 0:14:06'Here on his hill farm, 1,200 sheep will be sheared in two days.'
0:14:08 > 0:14:11How quickly do they do each sheep, roughly?
0:14:11 > 0:14:14It varies, couple of minutes at the most.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18So if I want to become a worthwhile sheep shearer
0:14:18 > 0:14:23I've got to get it down to at least five minutes, haven't I?
0:14:24 > 0:14:29If you want to make a living from it you have to do half of that.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32I see, but first I have to get hold of my sheep, don't I?
0:14:32 > 0:14:34Let me just, I'm going to take over from you.
0:14:34 > 0:14:40- I've got her like that. OK, now. - You all right.- Yeah!
0:14:40 > 0:14:43- Where are we going now? - Bring your leg around here.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46- Bring my leg around. - Spin her round here.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48There we go.
0:14:55 > 0:15:00- And where are we going now?- Up. Knee in there now.- Put my knee in there.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04Don't pull the wool.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10Don't pull the wool. I can't... the trouble with me...
0:15:10 > 0:15:12- DON'T PULL THE WOOL! - Don't pull the wool.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17'Yes. 12 minutes later and I'm finished.'
0:15:17 > 0:15:21She's got the worst haircut of the entire flock.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25She's going to go home tonight and the rest of the sheep are gonna go,
0:15:25 > 0:15:26"Who did that for you?!"
0:15:30 > 0:15:32'Tom brings his wool to nearby Newtown
0:15:32 > 0:15:37'to be sorted and packed before being sent by road for export.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41'Foreign competition now threatens the entire British wool trade.
0:15:41 > 0:15:46'It's actually cheaper to buy imported wool from China than stuff grown on your doorstep.
0:15:46 > 0:15:52'Tom will actually lose money on the sale of his wool.'
0:15:52 > 0:15:55It won't cover the cost of shearing like this.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59No. So the guys that you paid to do all their hard work up there,
0:15:59 > 0:16:02- what you get is not going to cover the cost.- Not cover the work
0:16:02 > 0:16:06of gathering those sheep in and shearing and everything, no.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34Take the wine.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38The dog, as you may notice, won't come anywhere close to my cookery
0:16:38 > 0:16:41in case a sort of explosion happens.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44Here we are, fantastic.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47Real local produce.
0:16:47 > 0:16:53So local we can actually hear the lambs baaing in the background.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57Mmmm.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08Come on, this way, come on.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10There we are. Stay.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01'Market towns lie along this stretch of the Severn
0:18:01 > 0:18:03'like beads on a necklace.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11'I've now crossed the border into England.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14'Long before it became a market town,
0:18:14 > 0:18:17'Shrewsbury was an important strategic divide.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21'From above, you can see how the river
0:18:21 > 0:18:23'formed a basic line of defence.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27'The last battle was fought here in 1645 during the Civil War.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29'But Shrewsbury had been fought over
0:18:29 > 0:18:32'since at least Saxon times in the 7th century.'
0:18:32 > 0:18:34Shrewsbury is a real border town.
0:18:34 > 0:18:39The river acts as a sort of giant moat which the Saxons
0:18:39 > 0:18:42immediately saw because they were threatened by the Welsh.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46In fact the Saxons are the reason we call the Welsh the Welsh,
0:18:46 > 0:18:49because Wealas just means foreigner.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54'In 900AD, the bishops decreed that the English would live
0:18:54 > 0:18:57'on one side of the river, and the Welsh on the other.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00'Perhaps that's the reason there's such confusion
0:19:00 > 0:19:04'over the pronunciation of the name of this place.'
0:19:06 > 0:19:10Excuse me, can you answer a quandary for me? am I in SHREWSbury or SHROWsbury?
0:19:10 > 0:19:13English is Shrowsbury, Welsh is Shrewsbury.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15- Is it?- Shrewsbury!
0:19:15 > 0:19:18Why do some people call it Shrowsbury, then?
0:19:18 > 0:19:22- The bourgeois side. - Does it divide the town?
0:19:22 > 0:19:25Probably, when people have had a couple of drinks!
0:19:25 > 0:19:28Mostly people who live here call it Shrewsbury
0:19:28 > 0:19:30and outsiders call it Shrowsbury.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32In that case I'll call it Shrewsbury from now on.
0:19:34 > 0:19:40'The river has carved its way through this countryside for thousands of years.
0:19:40 > 0:19:45'It wanders and winds and meanders.
0:19:45 > 0:19:51'In fact, "meander" is the technical term used to describe these looping bends in the river.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53'They occur because as the river enters a bend
0:19:53 > 0:19:55'it flows faster on the outside, eroding the river bank,
0:19:55 > 0:19:57'and slower on the inside,
0:19:57 > 0:20:01'where sediments are deposited like beaches.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05'This means the river is constantly shifting its path across the plain
0:20:05 > 0:20:08'like a snake winding through the grass.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12'But it's very flat here near Telford
0:20:12 > 0:20:14'because it used to be the bottom of a vast lake.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18'When it broke through the southern end, another form of erosion
0:20:18 > 0:20:24'cut a gorge, exposing resources like coal, limestone and iron ore.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29'The river provided man with a new set of possibilities,
0:20:29 > 0:20:34'because this is Ironbridge, where the industrial revolution was born.'
0:20:35 > 0:20:41There's been iron produced in this gorge since the earliest times
0:20:41 > 0:20:48but it was the arrival of a man called Abraham Darby in 1705
0:20:48 > 0:20:50who completely changed the method,
0:20:50 > 0:20:55and indeed could be said to have changed the entire world.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58'Darby developed a production method using a blast furnace
0:20:58 > 0:21:01'fuelled with coke which made higher quality iron,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04'on a far greater scale, cheaper and more quickly.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07'That's the sort of recipe you need.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13'The roaring success of iron manufacturing transformed this area
0:21:13 > 0:21:18'from a rural backwater into what must have seemed like a vision of hell,
0:21:18 > 0:21:20'the air thick with sulphurous fumes
0:21:20 > 0:21:23'from blast furnaces blazing day and night.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27'And it was all happening because of the Severn.'
0:21:27 > 0:21:31There's 100,000 tonnes of coal going down the river in the 1680s
0:21:31 > 0:21:34and the reason for that is, it's your motorway,
0:21:34 > 0:21:36it gives you contact with all the cities
0:21:36 > 0:21:40and it was the river that cut through the bottom of the coalfield,
0:21:40 > 0:21:43so all the seams were exposed in the gorge and it was given a head-start.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47And once they get going, the mines also provide one of the first markets,
0:21:47 > 0:21:51cos they're in the market for cast iron wheels and rails for transporting stuff around.
0:21:51 > 0:21:56And as mines get deeper, they get wetter so they need newfangled steam engines to pump them out.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59Where do you go to get them? You're knocking on the door of the foundry.
0:21:59 > 0:22:05You make cast iron pots, can you make us some cast iron cylinders? And it all winds itself together that way.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08'The iron masters became the richest men in the world.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12'And one man in particular epitomizes their love affair with the stuff,
0:22:12 > 0:22:16'John "Iron Mad" Wilkinson.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18'He became so wealthy, that at one time,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22'he offered to pay off the entire national debt.'
0:22:22 > 0:22:24He was the king of iron masters.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28Especially cast iron cos once you've made a mould, you're off - mass production.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31We got windowsills, the rails, everything, all made of iron.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35- Gravestones.- Yeah, got gravestones, chimney pots, the whole lot.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39And John Wilkinson decided - just to continue to market iron
0:22:39 > 0:22:44- after he died, he actually got himself buried in an iron casket? - He did, he did indeed.
0:22:47 > 0:22:52'I'm going to help recreate Iron Mad Wilkinson's most daring,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55'most controversial feat of engineering.'
0:22:56 > 0:23:00On a late summer's day in 1787,
0:23:00 > 0:23:07Mad John Wilkinson brought his new iron boat down to Wooly's wharf on the Severn to launch it.
0:23:07 > 0:23:08Take it away, John!
0:23:08 > 0:23:12A huge crowd had gathered, who'd taken a half-day off work
0:23:12 > 0:23:19to see what they certainly didn't believe was possible.
0:23:19 > 0:23:25Wilkinson said that 999 out of a thousand
0:23:25 > 0:23:30were disbelievers, but he was to prove them wrong.
0:23:30 > 0:23:35His boat went into the water to a salvo of artillery,
0:23:35 > 0:23:40his own guns firing a salute.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45And he proved once and for all, on the Severn river,
0:23:45 > 0:23:49that a metal boat would float.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01Are we floating, ladies and gentlemen?
0:24:01 > 0:24:03THEY CHEER
0:24:03 > 0:24:06I cannot see how it's possible for me to get out of this thing.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10Here we go...
0:24:11 > 0:24:12Get up, and then I'm out!
0:24:12 > 0:24:16CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:24:28 > 0:24:31Metal boats, bridges, steam engines and railways
0:24:31 > 0:24:34all had their beginnings on the banks of this river.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37The industrial breakthroughs made at Ironbridge
0:24:37 > 0:24:40swept over the entire world.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44But just two miles on, it's as if none of that ever happened at all.
0:24:52 > 0:24:58At the moment we're just a few miles north of Bridgnorth.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06This is a complete rarity in Britain.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10If I listen really, really hard,
0:25:10 > 0:25:14I can sort of hear a noise which I think might be some sort of road...
0:25:16 > 0:25:21..but I've sort of plunged into what feels like
0:25:21 > 0:25:24a completely primeval landscape.
0:25:37 > 0:25:44People have probably always been drawn to these reaches of the Severn for spiritual provision.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48In the Middle Ages, hermits lived in these caves,
0:25:48 > 0:25:52seeking seclusion to devote their lives to God.
0:25:56 > 0:25:57They're not natural caves.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01They were carved out of the sandstone as shelters.
0:26:08 > 0:26:14What they used to do was help people across the river here because there is a ford.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18If it was particularly dangerous, you could stay
0:26:18 > 0:26:20in the shelter with the hermit.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24But, of course, a hermit was never really alone because a hermit was
0:26:24 > 0:26:28always accompanied by a very large number of flies, by the sound of it.
0:26:29 > 0:26:30In this shelter, anyway.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33And not just flies. Because, ironically,
0:26:33 > 0:26:36so many people came to seek out these holy men for counsel,
0:26:36 > 0:26:39they probably never had any solitude at all.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42HE SIGHS
0:26:42 > 0:26:43Ssh!
0:26:43 > 0:26:45SNORING
0:26:45 > 0:26:47I can't bear it.
0:26:47 > 0:26:48My dog snores.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53Urgh! Flies!
0:26:53 > 0:26:55Get off.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09The caves are actually man-made,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12but it wasn't the hermits who made them.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15They probably date back to pre-Christian times.
0:27:15 > 0:27:20The many natural wells and springs in the area make it a sacred site
0:27:20 > 0:27:23and modern pagan communities still come here.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28I can't imagine life without water.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33It cleans you, it feeds you, it washes and feeds animals.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37Rivers flood and fertilise the landscape and springs,
0:27:37 > 0:27:41especially springs, where you would go and find clean water,
0:27:41 > 0:27:46were revered and have been holy places all over the planet.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48It is the common denominator of all faiths,
0:27:48 > 0:27:53so if you're looking for a unified world of peace and mutual acceptance
0:27:53 > 0:27:56amongst the religions and faiths and spiritualities,
0:27:56 > 0:27:57water's the key, really.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06The ceremonies of today's pagans may be modern inventions.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08But their intentions are reasonable.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12Hafren, we honour you.
0:28:12 > 0:28:17They're giving something back to the river in return for what it provided.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24I give this milk to the river.
0:28:25 > 0:28:30Though not everyone believes it's better to give than to receive.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32Cadbury!
0:28:32 > 0:28:34That's for the river, not for you!
0:28:34 > 0:28:36Come on, leave it, it's a sacrifice for the river.
0:28:40 > 0:28:46Just spend a moment looking inside for a minute and find something you wished to be cleansed of or...
0:28:46 > 0:28:49Well, I think it's a good opportunity
0:28:49 > 0:28:51for me out here on the river
0:28:51 > 0:28:53to be cleansed of all my
0:28:53 > 0:28:57worldly considerations which come upon me in London.
0:28:57 > 0:29:02With that thought in mind, I'm going to cast off, I'm going to cleanse myself
0:29:02 > 0:29:06- of the media world of London, if I may.- OK, you may.- Thank you.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08OK, good. Ah! Oh!
0:29:08 > 0:29:10Sit down and we'll lay you back.
0:29:10 > 0:29:13Do you know, I'm just going to sit down on my...
0:29:15 > 0:29:17Shut your mouth!
0:29:23 > 0:29:27Can I just say that was such a cleansing experience for me,
0:29:27 > 0:29:33I'd like my entire camera crew, the director and the APs
0:29:33 > 0:29:36would now like to be cleansed as well.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44During the Middle Ages, the banks of the Severn were home
0:29:44 > 0:29:47to more religious foundations than any other part of Britain.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53Religious orders like the Cistercians
0:29:53 > 0:29:56were at the forefront of medieval technological advances.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59They were farmers, practical men.
0:29:59 > 0:30:04And their reasons for building by the river were far from just spiritual.
0:30:04 > 0:30:09They needed water for their flocks and their fish, their washing and their transport.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12The Benedictines at Worcester
0:30:12 > 0:30:16encouraged a settlement to grow up around them.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22You can still see the remains
0:30:22 > 0:30:26of the original monastery built right here on the river.
0:30:26 > 0:30:32The Vikings came and chased all the monks away but they came back.
0:30:32 > 0:30:39And 400 years later, they started work on the terrific cathedral here in Worcester.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48Monasteries provided the financial nous and the organizational skills
0:30:48 > 0:30:53which enabled the building of medieval towns along the length of the river Severn.
0:30:54 > 0:30:58And water management was essential to abbey management.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09Monks were actually at the forefront
0:31:09 > 0:31:13of exploiting the riches of the river.
0:31:13 > 0:31:18I like to think of all the collective brains in a monastery
0:31:18 > 0:31:20getting together and thinking up ideas
0:31:20 > 0:31:24by which they could really use this huge resource on their doorstep.
0:31:24 > 0:31:30It was monks who were responsible for building weirs and fish traps
0:31:30 > 0:31:34and having huge mills to grind their corn and extensive water meadows.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38Of course, we think of these things as coming from the wild,
0:31:38 > 0:31:41but they thought of them as coming from God.
0:31:43 > 0:31:45I'm going to leave the Severn now
0:31:45 > 0:31:49to find out what's happened to the River Wye.
0:31:49 > 0:31:50Come on.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59At its source at the top of Plynlimon,
0:31:59 > 0:32:02it was heading in the opposite direction to the Severn.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05But now the two rivers are coming closer together.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09And they're subtly different in character.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12Where the Severn is a great wallowing brute,
0:32:12 > 0:32:15the Wye is one of the prettiest rivers in Britain.
0:32:15 > 0:32:20Hundreds of thousands a year want to appreciate its natural beauty from the water. And so do I.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28This is what we need, the access point.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32"The owners of this river."
0:32:32 > 0:32:37I am taken aback to find that I'm not allowed to.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40Large sections of the river are privately owned.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44This section of the Wye is by no means unique.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47In fact, there is no access to and along
0:32:47 > 0:32:52a staggering 96% of English and Welsh rivers.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56So most canoeists start their journey here at Ross-on-Wye.
0:32:56 > 0:32:57But now I have another problem,
0:32:57 > 0:33:01because the Wye presents a different set of challenges to the Severn
0:33:01 > 0:33:03and my canoe is not suitable.
0:33:03 > 0:33:07What I need is a kayak, and I've come to meet Graham Symonds,
0:33:07 > 0:33:10who's going to make the necessary introductions.
0:33:10 > 0:33:12This is better for where I'm going?
0:33:12 > 0:33:14Sure, it's shorter, more manoeuvrable
0:33:14 > 0:33:18and we can do some breakouts if we go onto the rapids.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21Little areas that you won't get in in the Canadian canoe.
0:33:21 > 0:33:23And you'll be able to pop in and out.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27- So this is a little bit of white water?- A little bit, maybe grade one or grade two.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29Presumably, I have to get wet-suited up.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32- I don't think this is quite suited.- Isn't it?- No.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35Wye canoe? Because it's fun,
0:33:35 > 0:33:40but this whole document with lots of instructions here...
0:33:40 > 0:33:44And it says here, "Get changed out of public view."
0:33:44 > 0:33:47That's a particularly important instruction
0:33:47 > 0:33:51for people with unsightly beer bellies and hairy bottoms.
0:33:55 > 0:33:57HE LAUGHS
0:33:57 > 0:33:59I hope this is just man boob height!
0:34:11 > 0:34:14Do you know what would make it easier, this whole trip thing?
0:34:14 > 0:34:17If you didn't have to look like you were on
0:34:17 > 0:34:19a Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, quite honestly.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21In this sort of get-up,
0:34:21 > 0:34:25I look like Action Man and I don't feel like Action Man.
0:34:25 > 0:34:26Before I tackle the rapids,
0:34:26 > 0:34:30I have to be taught how to escape from an upturned kayak.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32And in order to do this, first I have to turn it up.
0:34:32 > 0:34:34I'm gonna go.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49Good stuff, try not to hold the skeg, Griff, hold the handle.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55- You OK?- Yeah. - That's it, not too much.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02Over the side.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05Real big effort.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08- Come on, come on, just jump in.- OK.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10Good man.
0:35:12 > 0:35:14Don't step on your spraydeck, good.
0:35:21 > 0:35:23It's very brown underneath,
0:35:23 > 0:35:25very brown and very murky.
0:35:25 > 0:35:27So, there we are.
0:35:28 > 0:35:30Wet, tired and just a little bit frightened.
0:35:34 > 0:35:40That sound you can hear is the sound...of the rapids.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43And it's now my pleasure and duty
0:35:43 > 0:35:48to shoot them on your behalf.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12All I did was, I scribbled around a bit
0:36:12 > 0:36:15and like a man remembering about his ejector seat,
0:36:15 > 0:36:17I sort of ejected from my canoe
0:36:17 > 0:36:20and when I came to the surface we were pummelling down the river.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23Fantastic. Thank goodness you were there, Graham.
0:36:23 > 0:36:28Tourists have been coming to the Wye since the late 1700s.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31In fact, this is where the tourist industry was born.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33During the Napoleonic War,
0:36:33 > 0:36:35it was too dangerous for the well-heeled
0:36:35 > 0:36:37to travel to Europe for their Grand Tours.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41So they came here instead, to appreciate the glories
0:36:41 > 0:36:43of natural scenery in their own country.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46It was the original staycation.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53They were following in the wake of the Reverend William Gilpin,
0:36:53 > 0:36:57whose book, Observations On The River Wye, was the world's first tourist guide.
0:36:57 > 0:37:02In it he stated, "If you have never navigated the Wye, you have seen nothing."
0:37:04 > 0:37:10So, Graham, we're just coming into the wonders of the Wye tour, aren't we?
0:37:10 > 0:37:16Yeah, and the Wye tour would have been the first, I guess,
0:37:16 > 0:37:18package holiday in the UK.
0:37:18 > 0:37:23It all started with the Reverend William Gilpin, he wrote a guide book.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26Also had a purpose-built boat,
0:37:26 > 0:37:32suited to taking passengers and that would have been manned by people
0:37:32 > 0:37:34who worked on the river and who knew the river.
0:37:34 > 0:37:39And that trip he did down inspired him to write that book
0:37:39 > 0:37:43and really touched the blue paper and away it went.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45You have people like Turner coming down
0:37:45 > 0:37:48and artists and poets and writers.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54Gilpin popularised the idea of the picturesque.
0:37:54 > 0:38:00What he meant was that certain views of the landscape were literally as beautiful as a picture.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03And he expected people to organise themselves
0:38:03 > 0:38:06to get proper view points in order to see them.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14It's easy to appreciate what attracted those first tourists.
0:38:14 > 0:38:18Goodrich castle, started by the Saxons, completed by the Normans
0:38:18 > 0:38:21and already a ruin long before Gilpin's day.
0:38:23 > 0:38:2412th century Tintern Abbey,
0:38:24 > 0:38:27only the second Cistercian foundation in Britain.
0:38:29 > 0:38:34And Piercefield House, a treasure of Georgian architecture
0:38:34 > 0:38:39but in recent times, used as an army firing range.
0:38:39 > 0:38:43One of Gilpin's ornaments of the picturesque was the wild,
0:38:43 > 0:38:47romantic, tree-lined bank. Except that it wasn't really wild at all.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50These woods in the Wye Valley are more natural now
0:38:50 > 0:38:53than they've been since the Romans were here
0:38:53 > 0:38:55because they've had nearly a century of neglect.
0:38:55 > 0:38:59Before that, they were very carefully and intensively used
0:38:59 > 0:39:04by cutting to supply small wood, building timber and suchlike, for the local population.
0:39:04 > 0:39:06This forest is one of the most important
0:39:06 > 0:39:08ancient habitats in Britain.
0:39:08 > 0:39:12Some trees have been here since the last ice age.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15George Peterken is an expert on these woodlands
0:39:15 > 0:39:18and he's taking me to meet one of the oldest inhabitants.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20Why is this special?
0:39:20 > 0:39:23This is a small leaf lime to be technical and it's a pollard tree.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26In other words, it's had its branches cut off above head height
0:39:26 > 0:39:28for several centuries, probably.
0:39:28 > 0:39:30About 100 years ago,
0:39:30 > 0:39:32people stopped cutting the top off repeatedly.
0:39:32 > 0:39:38So from here on upwards, we've got a tree that's 100, 120 years old.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40From here to the ground level, we have a tree
0:39:40 > 0:39:44that's been growing with these things on the top for 300, 400 years.
0:39:44 > 0:39:46But from down here it could be any age.
0:39:46 > 0:39:50It could have been growing for hundreds of years, possibly thousands.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54And if you're in the business of hugging trees, and some of us are,
0:39:54 > 0:39:59then you come close to this tree and you're embracing a history,
0:39:59 > 0:40:05which...a living thing, which dates from before the time of Christ.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08Yes, it's history and it's also pre-history.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18The Wye is constantly refreshed along its course
0:40:18 > 0:40:20by tributaries flowing down from the hills.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23I'm following one of the most beautiful,
0:40:23 > 0:40:28the Irfon, to the town of Llanwrtyd Wells.
0:40:33 > 0:40:35It's the smallest spa town in Britain.
0:40:37 > 0:40:41It claims to be the smallest town of any kind. But when the word "Wells"
0:40:41 > 0:40:44was added to its name in the mid-1700s,
0:40:44 > 0:40:46it changed from rural backwater
0:40:46 > 0:40:50to a popular tourist destination overnight.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56"Dol-y-coed spa. Discovered in 1732 by Theophilous Evans
0:40:56 > 0:41:02"and called Ffynnon Ddrewllyd or stinking well."
0:41:03 > 0:41:06When Theophilous Evans first came here,
0:41:06 > 0:41:09he noticed a frog swimming in the smelly water.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12So he drank some to see if it would help his scurvy.
0:41:12 > 0:41:16As you do. His condition improved so dramatically
0:41:16 > 0:41:20that he wrote an article about the incident and soon people came flocking
0:41:20 > 0:41:25to Llanwrtyd Wells in search of cures for anything from rheumatism to the pox.
0:41:25 > 0:41:30The well which gave the town its name has been pretty much forgotten.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34You can still find it, if you follow your nose.
0:41:36 > 0:41:38It tastes like a flavoured water.
0:41:38 > 0:41:42Instead of those sort of things you might get
0:41:42 > 0:41:45where they have mountain berry water,
0:41:45 > 0:41:49it tastes like scotch egg water.
0:41:51 > 0:41:57Water bursts, trickles and oozes into this landscape.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00It seeps through the rocks and gathers in wells
0:42:00 > 0:42:05but it also sits here in another form, as bog.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08The local bog at Llanwrtyd Wells has, for the second time,
0:42:08 > 0:42:12turned the town into an unlikely visitor attraction.
0:42:12 > 0:42:16Because it's the birthplace of an eccentric sport.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19I intend to get as close as I can to this amazing natural phenomenon
0:42:19 > 0:42:21by taking part in a training session
0:42:21 > 0:42:27with current world bog snorkelling champion, Joanne Pitchforth.
0:42:27 > 0:42:31So, Joanne, what is your good advice to a novice like me?
0:42:31 > 0:42:35The rules are you're not allowed to use your arms.
0:42:35 > 0:42:39- You're not allowed to swim?- No, you can put your hands in front of you
0:42:39 > 0:42:42cos when you get in the water, you can't see anything,
0:42:42 > 0:42:43it's zero visibility.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46So what sort of things, pray, might come in my way?
0:42:46 > 0:42:50Well, there's a few little creatures,
0:42:50 > 0:42:53leeches and tadpoles and eels.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56- Best not to swallow them then. - Definitely not.
0:42:56 > 0:42:57It's not drinking water.
0:42:57 > 0:43:01Yeah, just slide into the water.
0:43:01 > 0:43:05Three, two, one, go.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36HE BREATHES HEAVILY
0:43:38 > 0:43:393.14.25.
0:43:39 > 0:43:43Oh, dear! I think I would have made a good time
0:43:43 > 0:43:47if I hadn't got into a situation where my snorkel filled up
0:43:47 > 0:43:51with water and I could not, under any circumstances, get it out.
0:43:51 > 0:43:56Oh, dear, I'm choking on bog water. I've probably poisoned myself.
0:43:56 > 0:44:00I'm probably...I'm probably going to die as a result of
0:44:00 > 0:44:04my investigations into a peat bog
0:44:04 > 0:44:07in an upland condition.
0:44:07 > 0:44:11All over Britain, wetlands are still being drained
0:44:11 > 0:44:13to provide improved farmland.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16But these natural sponges teem with life.
0:44:16 > 0:44:21This one has recently been designated a Site Of Special Scientific Interest.
0:44:21 > 0:44:25By cutting this course,
0:44:25 > 0:44:31they've provided just about the only open stretch of water in the area
0:44:31 > 0:44:35and it can put up with people swimming up and down it.
0:44:35 > 0:44:37In the meantime,
0:44:37 > 0:44:43it encourages a huge range... of wildlife.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46We've got bog St John's Wort here,
0:44:46 > 0:44:51I can see a freshwater snail shell here, we've got bog violet here,
0:44:51 > 0:44:56lesser spearwort here and various...
0:44:56 > 0:45:02a huge range of different kinds of moss just poking through.
0:45:02 > 0:45:05Because the water
0:45:05 > 0:45:07and the bog
0:45:07 > 0:45:11encourages diversity.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17Ray Wood explains how these watery morasses
0:45:17 > 0:45:21once provided man with a vital resource.
0:45:21 > 0:45:23The bog we're talking about now,
0:45:23 > 0:45:27the bog that I swam in just a few seconds ago.
0:45:27 > 0:45:31By being able to swim in it, it just shows that if you cut a section of this,
0:45:31 > 0:45:35the water comes right up almost to the surface,
0:45:35 > 0:45:38so we're almost in the water here.
0:45:38 > 0:45:40That's right, this is a shallow basin,
0:45:40 > 0:45:44full of this spongy material called peat, the remains of dead plants
0:45:44 > 0:45:48pickled by the acidity of the water and the high rainfall here.
0:45:48 > 0:45:50Originally, the landscape of Britain,
0:45:50 > 0:45:53but particularly the landscape around here,
0:45:53 > 0:45:57would have had a lot more bogs than we see today.
0:45:57 > 0:46:01That's because farmers said, "I don't want a bog on my land,
0:46:01 > 0:46:06"it's a nuisance. What I want is a nice green bit growing grass which the sheep will eat".
0:46:06 > 0:46:09That's right. Before that, we also used the bogs for fuel
0:46:09 > 0:46:11cos by about the 1700s, we'd largely run out of wood.
0:46:11 > 0:46:13We'd burnt every tree in the landscape.
0:46:13 > 0:46:18We had to turn to the peat to burn that and so we drained the bogs.
0:46:18 > 0:46:20This was a big raised dome of peat by the 1700s
0:46:20 > 0:46:22and we cut away at the edges,
0:46:22 > 0:46:24drained it to lower the water level inside it
0:46:24 > 0:46:26so we could cut the peat to keep us warm.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31A bog like this can give us a timeline
0:46:31 > 0:46:35dating back to the last ice age, if you know how to read the signs.
0:46:38 > 0:46:40By taking a core sample,
0:46:40 > 0:46:43we can uncover the life history of this wetland.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46Who does this bog think it is?
0:46:46 > 0:46:48Oh, there it's coming out. Good.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51Shall we find somewhere drier? Let's pop it down here.
0:46:51 > 0:46:53We've got to get down to have a look at this now.
0:46:53 > 0:46:54We got to get down close.
0:46:54 > 0:46:58Well, we look at the bottom here, down into this silty layer,
0:46:58 > 0:47:00there's seeds from early plants.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03And if we were to look closely at them, we might be able to identify them
0:47:03 > 0:47:05and find species like wormwood,
0:47:05 > 0:47:08species which we don't get here, sea plantain.
0:47:08 > 0:47:10Species we don't get any longer in Mid Wales.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12Because of the climate change?
0:47:12 > 0:47:15Yes, as the ice retreated, it left behind loads of disturbed open ground
0:47:15 > 0:47:19and open ground species came in, they deposited their seed,
0:47:19 > 0:47:21they got washed into the lake and got preserved.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24And this is possible because it was wet?
0:47:24 > 0:47:26- It was pickled and not rotted.- Right.
0:47:26 > 0:47:28It didn't just disappear back up into the atmosphere.
0:47:28 > 0:47:34So here, we've got lumps of wood, probably 10,500 years old, that.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37I feel I don't want to take it out of its place.
0:47:37 > 0:47:40And then what happens, as the centuries go on,
0:47:40 > 0:47:43is this carries on laying down.
0:47:43 > 0:47:48We can see how the trees came in, then man appears and starts clearing the forest,
0:47:48 > 0:47:51cereal pollen appears when we become agriculturalists.
0:47:51 > 0:47:55Soot appears from the industrial revolution then vegetation changes
0:47:55 > 0:47:57and turns into what we see now - the sedges.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59We don't need peat for fuel any more.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02And we might not have a direct requirement
0:48:02 > 0:48:05for the tadpoles, snails and rare plants to be found here.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08But we most certainly need the sucking,
0:48:08 > 0:48:10spongy properties of these bogs.
0:48:10 > 0:48:15They are natural overspills and reservoirs for our rivers.
0:48:15 > 0:48:19We're looking here at probably 3.5 million cubic metres of peat
0:48:19 > 0:48:23on this site, which holds an enormous amount of water
0:48:23 > 0:48:25to release it slowly at times of drought.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29When we have torrential rain after a dry period, it mops up all the water
0:48:29 > 0:48:32so we don't have flash floods, so it evens out the flows in the river.
0:48:32 > 0:48:36Peat bogs like this are vital to normal functioning of rivers.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46I'm rejoining the river Severn in Gloucestershire.
0:48:47 > 0:48:52From here to the sea, the Severn undergoes a personality change.
0:48:53 > 0:48:57The influence of the estuary 30 miles away begins to be felt
0:48:57 > 0:48:59and the river becomes tidal.
0:48:59 > 0:49:02I'll have to leave my canoe behind.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06There are now huge amounts of water moving downstream,
0:49:06 > 0:49:08making it rather too risky to paddle.
0:49:09 > 0:49:15Local fishermen here have local ways of fishing, which date back thousands of years.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18But these ancient skills are under threat.
0:49:18 > 0:49:20Pollution, over-fishing
0:49:20 > 0:49:23and disturbed spawning grounds have depleted fish stocks.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27When you first started, how many fish would you catch?
0:49:27 > 0:49:31I would catch in excess of 100 a season.
0:49:31 > 0:49:35'76 was the best season ever and I caught 370.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38- And how many fish did you catch last year?- Seven.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41Mike uses a method called lave netting.
0:49:41 > 0:49:45It's dangerous and demands an intimate knowledge of the river.
0:49:45 > 0:49:47How deep do you go, is it safe out there?
0:49:47 > 0:49:50I go through this channel and it could go as much as waist deep.
0:49:50 > 0:49:54The main danger is the speed of the water.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56That it could knock you over.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58Yeah, this is why you come uphill as well,
0:49:58 > 0:50:01so you're going down with the current to the fish.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05The fish is out there and we're going towards it, you see?
0:50:05 > 0:50:09And you wouldn't be in this depth of water,
0:50:09 > 0:50:11you'd only be out in it knee deep or more.
0:50:11 > 0:50:14Oh, but even as you get out, you can feel it.
0:50:14 > 0:50:15- See that?- Feel that!
0:50:15 > 0:50:16That is nothing.
0:50:16 > 0:50:22- This is why it's dangerous for any novice to try this.- Yeah, yeah.
0:50:22 > 0:50:24This is how I'd normally be doing it,
0:50:24 > 0:50:30running to keep in front of my mark, then through here like this.
0:50:30 > 0:50:34Then I would see the fish and I would watch the fish straight into my net.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37And then once he's in, I would lift the net.
0:50:37 > 0:50:40What your doing is you've watched him come up
0:50:40 > 0:50:43and you're intercepting him as he comes through.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46Exactly. Ease him into the shallower water.
0:50:48 > 0:50:50Once I'm in the shallower water,
0:50:50 > 0:50:54I put the staff into the ground and pull the fish up.
0:50:56 > 0:51:01Then I just get the fish in the net and hit him with the knocker.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03When you were a boy and you came down here,
0:51:03 > 0:51:06how many lave fishermen were working this stretch?
0:51:06 > 0:51:09When I started fishing,
0:51:09 > 0:51:13there was one man up there by those pylons, you see up there?
0:51:13 > 0:51:14- Yes.- There was one man fishing.
0:51:14 > 0:51:18There would be another one up the top end of the cliff there,
0:51:18 > 0:51:21another one fishing at Newton Ferry
0:51:21 > 0:51:23and another one fishing right down
0:51:23 > 0:51:26where the pylons go back over the horseshoe bend again.
0:51:26 > 0:51:28I'm the last one in this line
0:51:28 > 0:51:32and I won't be fishing for many more years. I'm 70 next January.
0:51:32 > 0:51:34- It's quite a physical thing.- Yeah.
0:51:41 > 0:51:44Another method of fishing unique to the Severn
0:51:44 > 0:51:47is one of the oldest forms of fishing known to man
0:51:47 > 0:51:49and John Powell and Eric Jackson
0:51:49 > 0:51:53are two of the last remaining practitioners.
0:51:53 > 0:51:55They don't make any money from their work.
0:51:55 > 0:51:58They do it because they love the river.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02If I go away for a week's holiday, you know the first thing I do?
0:52:02 > 0:52:07Is I go down that piece of garden and I look at the river to see what it's like.
0:52:09 > 0:52:13I can't honestly wait to open the curtain in the morning and look out.
0:52:13 > 0:52:14It is spectacular.
0:52:14 > 0:52:17I call it the silvery Severn.
0:52:19 > 0:52:25The fish are caught in these willow baskets, called putchers,
0:52:25 > 0:52:27which are placed side by side in racks.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30As the tide flows out, the fish swims into the basket.
0:52:30 > 0:52:32It's as simple as that.
0:52:32 > 0:52:34Because if the putcher's straight,
0:52:34 > 0:52:36the fish will go in and kick himself out.
0:52:36 > 0:52:39- Yes, there's a fish here, look. - There is a fish here?
0:52:39 > 0:52:43Only a little one but it's a fish.
0:52:45 > 0:52:47It's a bass, is it?
0:52:47 > 0:52:50Yes, it's a bass, it's not a salmon.
0:52:50 > 0:52:54I like the idea of fishing like this. You don't have to do anything.
0:52:54 > 0:52:57Just come down and there's your fish, you hope.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00- The dog will sleep well, Griff. - I've shown several people.
0:53:00 > 0:53:04Whether they'll take it up or that's it,
0:53:04 > 0:53:07that's the end of an era as they call it.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24The Severn has one last potent display of power
0:53:24 > 0:53:25before reaching the sea.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32I've come here in search of a legendary monster.
0:53:32 > 0:53:34Apparently, when the Romans first saw it,
0:53:34 > 0:53:36they thought the end of the world had come.
0:53:36 > 0:53:41The Saxons called it a bara,
0:53:41 > 0:53:44the Celts associated it with the sea god, Nodens,
0:53:44 > 0:53:49and men who learned to foretell its arrival were revered for their wisdom.
0:53:49 > 0:53:54It travels for 31km at speeds of up to 20km an hour
0:53:54 > 0:53:57and can rise to a height of three metres.
0:53:57 > 0:54:03It's called the Severn bore and I'm supposed to wrestle with it.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06Fortunately, I'll be looked after.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09I've come here to this little boatyard right on the river
0:54:09 > 0:54:14to meet record holding bore rider, Steve King.
0:54:14 > 0:54:18Yeah, basically all the tide is, just like the tide coming in at the beach,
0:54:18 > 0:54:22but instead of coming onto a gradual slope on the beach,
0:54:22 > 0:54:26here you've got, kind of, South Wales and North Devon
0:54:26 > 0:54:28and it just funnels it in.
0:54:28 > 0:54:30It gets compressed and compressed and in the end,
0:54:30 > 0:54:34it trips over itself and that's what creates the bore.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37When did you first start surfing it?
0:54:37 > 0:54:40About 26, 27 years ago.
0:54:40 > 0:54:42What's the longest you've been on one?
0:54:42 > 0:54:45The longest ride was a couple of years ago and that was 7.5miles
0:54:45 > 0:54:46and that took just over an hour.
0:54:46 > 0:54:50- An hour of surfing on the same wave. - On the same wave, yeah.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53Do people have accidents? Tell me straight!
0:54:53 > 0:54:57Well, it's water, innit? We surf it for fun. At the end of the day,
0:54:57 > 0:55:00you've got to show it respect, you've got to know what you're doing.
0:55:00 > 0:55:05I've a little confession to make, Steve, I have never surfed before.
0:55:05 > 0:55:08What happens when I miss the wave and I'm left standing?
0:55:08 > 0:55:13You'll have plenty of chances cos we've got boats to pick you up which will take you back over
0:55:13 > 0:55:16in front of the bore, drop you off and you can go through it again.
0:55:41 > 0:55:45Up close, it's clear why they call an incoming tide a flood,
0:55:45 > 0:55:50because all around me, a great mass of debris is being swept along
0:55:50 > 0:55:53by this great gush of chocolate-coloured water.
0:55:53 > 0:55:59What you really get is the sense of how powerful the thing is.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:56:22 > 0:56:25GRIFF LAUGHS
0:56:25 > 0:56:27Like riding a sort of express train.
0:56:27 > 0:56:30HE MIMICS A TRAIN ENGINE
0:56:30 > 0:56:31Good, good, good, good!
0:56:41 > 0:56:45Here in the estuary, the Wye and the Severn eventually join together
0:56:45 > 0:56:48on a final rush to the sea.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58This is the second highest tide in the world.
0:56:58 > 0:57:03The difference between high and low tide can be in excess of 50 feet.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11There is now a proposal to try to harness this power
0:57:11 > 0:57:15by building an enormous ten-mile barrage to generate hydro-electricity.
0:57:17 > 0:57:19It's one more example of the possibilities
0:57:19 > 0:57:23the river continues to offer us.
0:57:23 > 0:57:26It's helped us with farming, fishing, power,
0:57:26 > 0:57:31minerals to fuel a revolution and inspiration.
0:57:33 > 0:57:37But we'd better step carefully, as a tide of modern technology
0:57:37 > 0:57:42offers to overwhelm even this great brown god.
0:57:42 > 0:57:47We've changed more on these rivers in the last 100 years
0:57:47 > 0:57:52than had changed for 2,000 to 3,000 years before then.
0:58:35 > 0:58:38Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd