Summer Wales in Four Seasons

It's July in Wales,

spring flowers have given way to the heat of summer,

and millions of us have left the towns and cities

to head for the coast.

I'm Renee Godfrey,

and as a surfer, my life has always been controlled by the seasons.

This year, in 2011,

I want to find out what these seasons mean to all of us in Wales.

For those people that live from the land, summer is a time of hard work,

when the years' profits can be made or lost.

-Oh, I didn't get that one.

-Up, up, up, got it.

The hot sun totally transforms Wales,

the warmer water brings new visitors to our coastline.

I would not want to be on the receiving end of a fight

with some of these claws.

And our mountains are lit up by the years' greatest farming event.

Wow, look at that.

Over the next three months,

I'm off to explore how the people who live by the seasons

make the most of summer.

And how the rest of us celebrate the weather it brings.

Woo, ooh!

I want to discover the new wildlife arriving on our shores.

Do you want to kiss him before I put him back in?

Yeah, I'm going to go in with him.

I want to get in touch with the rhythms of the season.

I'm glad I had not very much for breakfast this morning.

Summertime is when Wales steps outside,

and we immerse ourselves in the outdoors,

whatever the weather.

For those in the farming community across Wales,

day to day work is dictated by the seasons.

The start of summer on Gareth Wyn Jones' family farm

in the Carneddau mountains

is the time to round up his sheep, and shear the wool ready for sale.

All right? Not bad, not bad, nice to see you.

This is Emrys.

-How are you?

-I'm very well, thank you, that's a firm handshake, isn't it?

Crikey.

Hey, hey, none of that.

In the spring, I helped Gareth take his flock up to these hills,

where they spread out across 27,000 acres of Snowdonia.

I'm now part of his team gathering up this huge flock,

and bringing them back down to his farm again.

So, what we're going to be doing now, behind you,

we'll be going up here, a place called Pant Yr Eryr.

-OK.

-OK, so, that will be "The valley of the eagles."

Mmm-hmm.

-So, quite safe.

-SHE LAUGHS

Then I'll be at the top.

Yeah.

You'll be in the middle, and then Emrys will be on the bottom side.

OK.

But it's a hell of an important,

to take all the sheep with our marks on them with us.

-Right.

-We don't want to take any of other people's.

So, we're cutting the gathering.

And it is important that we do this properly

because we could take 200 or 300 sheep from somebody else,

-and we don't want to do that.

-We don't want to do that.

But as soon as we get up on to the hill

there are so many farmers and dogs

that I totally forget what I should be doing.

Sheep are heading off in all directions,

and I'm running round like a headless chicken.

The farmers take it all in their stride

and Gareth knows exactly what's going on,

so I decide to stick with him.

There's a massive coming together of them all,

and they're just all charging down towards Gareth's farm.

The area that the sheep graze on is so large

that it can't be cleared in a single day,

so the mountains are split up into hefts,

areas of land on which each farmer has ancient grazing rights.

On certain round up days, specific hefts will be cleared.

WHISTLING

Today's round up brings together eight farmers

who all have sheep on the enormous Conway heft.

SHOUTS AND WHISTLES

You had me running round less like a sheep herder, more like a sheepdog.

You did a great job, fair play, it's not easy, is it?

It's hard, you can see you're trying to keep that line coming up the hill.

-Yeah, yeah.

-And then trying to get them all across.

It's important that we come together,

that's why I was trying to push you on.

WHISTLES

After five hours on the mountain,

the sheep are finally coming together.

Wow, look at that.

It's a sight, isn't it?

That is amazing, God, they're just pouring off the hillside.

Yeah.

This is what it's about, getting them all together,

and getting them into these lines.

This is what they call in Welsh, "blaen y ddalfa", head of the gathering,

where we bring the sheep together,

and now we head home for Llanfairfechan, it's all down hill now.

Ha-ha, great!

The round up covers such a huge area

that the farmers need all the help they can get,

all friends and family are roped in.

Basically, these are all Gareth's cousins,

the family and neighbouring farmers and everything,

so everybody's just all pitching in together to help out.

It's a big social event.

-It is?

-Family day, yeah.

'Gareth's sheep are marked at birth with the distinctive blue circle.

'Our challenge now is to separate these ones from all the others.'

Now the fun begins,

now the arguments start, are you ready?

Yeah, here they go, look at them all go.

They're mad, aren't they?

Gareth's flock holds 3,500 sheep,

like all of these farmers, he depends on them for his livelihood.

Today is a vital chance to check on their health,

and see if any have been lost to the mountain.

We're taking all ours to the top side here,

and all the other ones are going along there now.

Aah, OK.

And then Jude is taking his out there.

Yeah.

So, what's important is that we doing go wrong here, now.

If you watch what I'm doing now, he's one of ours,

you can see his ear marks again.

So, that one goes through.

You need somebody special on the gate.

Are you going to have a go in a minute?

Yeah.

'Now, separating sheep

'has to be one of the most confusing jobs I've ever seen.

'Gareth's sheep have a big, blue O on their side,

'after Gareth's grandfather, Owen.

'But lots of other farmers also mark their sheep blue.

'So, Gareth is looking for tiny, distinctive notch

'that he's cut into the sheep's ear when it was born.

'My problem is that I don't know what this notch looks like.'

Right, come on, that's been enough now, your go, get on it.

-My go?

-Yeah, get on the gate.

Crikey, right, so, blue, ours are going in here, yeah?

-Yeah.

-OK.

Concentrate, now.

-That one's down.

-That one's down, yeah.

-Down again.

-Down.

All up now.

Oh! I didn't get that one.

-Up! Up! Up!

-Got it.

-Up!

-Yeah.

-Up!

-Yeah.

Down!

Oh, sorry.

Down.

Up, up!

Down!

-But it's blue.

-Doesn't matter.

Up, up!

Listen to what I'm telling you.

-It's all team work, everybody knows their job.

-Yeah.

It's just unlucky that you get the job on the gate

cos it is quite complicated.

You're not as nice when you're angry, are you?

No, all these are on my back if we don't do it properly,

-we're going to have to catch all them again.

-Yeah, I see.

'New lambs born on the mountain are marked,

'and the whole flock is dosed with anti-worming medicine.

'Summer is a pretty uncomfortable time to be sheep,

'as their thick wool becomes a haven for pests.'

Sheep rodeo, right.

Oh!

You can really see why it's time for these guys

to come down off the mountain and be sheared,

because there's actually quite a small sheep

underneath all this wool,

and also, underneath here, you start to get a build up of mud

and all sorts of nasties,

and that's just going to attract maggots and flies

and generally not be very nice.

'But ten years ago this was a very different scene,

'the price of wool was so low

'that farmers were actually making a loss doing the round up and shearing.'

Right, this is where the shearing's done.

The wool, years ago, used to pay the rent on a lot of farms,

it was very important.

But the last six or seven years it had gone,

-it was really worthless, people didn't really want it.

-Yeah.

They were paying a lot more to shear it

than that they were getting for the wool.

But that's gone full circle again,

-cos the price has gone and rocketed up.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Things are looking up for farmers, hopefully.

-Fingers crossed.

-Yeah. So, are you going to shear a couple for us?

-Yeah.

Come on, then. Go get me one.

'Over the last five years,

'the number of sheep being reared globally has gone down,

'but the demand for wool is still high,

'so farmers can now earn a much better price.'

Sorry, girls.

'In Britain, the price of wool has tripled in the last three years.

'But the price you get for a fleece

'is still determined by how well it's been shorn.'

This needs to be on the skin.

'And an inexperienced hand like mine

'can easily leave it patchy and shredded.'

That wool's going to be worthless now.

Oh, sorry.

No, you're OK. You're OK.

I just messed that up a bit because I was too nervous

and didn't just go in with the clippers,

I was just afraid to cut her, really.

Marvellous.

Sweating.

Sorry.

'A well shorn fleece is worth around £1.50,

'and a quick shearer can get through 200 sheep in a day.'

I tell you what, it's not easy.

They work hard, and they only get 75 pence for doing that.

So, I mean, how does summer compare to the other seasons for you,

in terms of work that you've got to put in.

-Physical.

-Yeah.

Very physical, when we were on that mountain today.

That was very hardcore, yeah.

It is hard work, and you know that's one of seven,

we do seven different gatherings like that.

And it's got to be done quickly, efficiently,

so you see now when everybody works together it's a big social event.

Yeah, yeah.

So, it's so important for us to keep that,

and it keeps the weight off me.

While summer is Gareth's busiest time,

it is, traditionally, holiday season for the rest of us.

Over two and a half million people visit our coastline each year

to lap up the hot sun and sandy beaches.

But the ocean plays a big part in the changing seasons in Wales.

Ocean currents across the Atlantic bring warm water to our shores,

giving us our mild winters and wet summers.

The warm summer waves that I surf

come all the way across the Atlantic.

And these ocean currents are hugely important

to a small part of the Welsh workforce.

Ah, Dean.

-Lovely to meet you.

-You too. You too.

-Beautiful day.

-It's gorgeous, isn't it, amazing.

You couldn't have picked a better day for it, could you?

It's fab, absolutely fab.

-Are you ready for it?

-I am, yeah, oil skins on?

-Let's go.

Right, they're not exactly glamorous these, are they?

They look better on some people than they do on others,

I've got to say, they look pretty good on you.

'Dean Parry has to be one of the friendliest fishermen I've met,

'and has fished the waters off Aberystwyth all his life.

'He owns one of only 500 fishing boats that make up the Welsh Fleet.'

Is it worth going out or shall we go straight to a nightclub?

At the height of summer,

Britain's coastline is busy with small fishing boats.

The warmer waters bring dozens of new species to our shores.

Mackerel and sea bass come to chase the small fish

breeding in the shallows.

Lobsters and crab move inshore from their winter hideouts.

But in recent years, Dean has started fishing for a new visitor.

And I'm joining him today to help out.

-Ah, so, this is the boat?

-This is the Boy Scott.

The Boy Scott?

-This is my little lady.

-Excellent.

-And that's Daniel, there, my assistant.

-Hi, Dan, all right?

-It's a proper looking fishing boat, isn't it?

-It is.

It is a proper fishing boat.

Start the engine then, Dan, let's go for it.

Despite having grown up on the coast,

I still get a buzz of excitement every time I go out to sea.

You never know what you might come across.

There you go.

Oh, he's right here, wow!

Oh, they're playing.

Two seconds out of harbour and I've just seen one.

Oh, there he is, there he is, there he is!

'But for Dean and Daniel it's a chance to prepare the boat

'for their new catch.'

We have prawns in the winter,

but this time of year, now, late summer,

our money is made on spiders.

Spider crabs are summer visitors,

they live in deep water during winter,

but come inshore to breed as the water warms.

-The fishery has changed here totally.

-Yeah.

In the last five, or maybe ten years.

At one time it was just lobster,

there was lobsters, more lobsters and more lobsters.

Really? What, and there were no spider crabs then?

It was, I remember as a young lad, my father catching one

and he just didn't know what to do with it.

Normally, they come in the second, or maybe the third week in May.

When they come in, if you went diving here now,

you'd find one or two females and a mound of males on top of them,

and they're like little pyramids, all on the sea bottom everywhere.

-Really?

-Oh, yeah. It's incredible.

I guess now, in this short window, is quite an intense time for you?

Yeah, it won't be out of the ordinary for me to do a 14 hour day,

and to do it seven days on the trot.

It's a short season, so we've got to make the most of it as we can.

40 years ago, it was rare to see spider crabs in Aberystwyth,

but Dean thinks climate change has made our water warmer,

and this has attracted the giant crabs.

My first job is to catch the buoy attached to the end of their net.

Nothing like being thrown in at the deep end.

Yay!

Have you got it?

Yeah, got it.

-Here you go.

-That's it.

Watch your fingers.

Yeah.

It's quite exciting looking down into the depths below,

not sure what's going to be hauled up.

Here it comes!

'Dean catches spider crabs in tangle nets,

'creating a mesh wall on the sea floor that traps the roaming crabs.'

It's quite hard work, especially when you get a big one

and they're a bit feisty.

I would not want to be on the receiving end of a fight

with some of these claws.

Have you ever had any nasty nicks?

Yeah, ha-ha, of course I have, it's all part of the job.

If one does bite you, the only thing you can do is wait.

Yeah, what, for them to let go?

Yeah, he'll hold you, he'll squeeze you,

if you don't react, he'll just let go.

It will hurt, but he'll just let go.

Oh, we've got one trying to escape.

He's off, he is, chuck him in the water there, make him happy.

He's got his own, personal swimming pool now, see?

'Although the nets give Dean a bigger catch,

'there is the risk that other marine life can get caught up too.'

Oh, wow, what is it?

An angel shark,

or down south they call them buffoons.

Look at him, he's beautiful, isn't he?

We'll be nice to him, and take him out and let him go.

-Yeah, put him back.

-He'll be fine.

Do you want to kiss him before I put him back in?

Yeah, I'm going to go in with him. SHE LAUGHS

Oh, off he goes.

Oh, he's fine.

Where's the best bit of meat on these?

The best meat on the males is in the claws,

I mean, look, even the legs, there's a lot of meat in there.

And there's also inside the clock there, there's a lot of white meat.

With the females it's all in the head,

there is very little claw on it.

-This is a female, isn't it?

-Yeah, that's a female.

So, I mean, on a general scale, is this one, is this a big male?

This is a big male, it's about average for the,

we get them up to about 3.2 kilo,

and this is about, I should imagine, about two and three-quarter kilo.

-OK.

-So this is getting to the realms of big.

You can feel how strong he is as well.

I mean, you can see, that's over three foot there.

-They're beautiful, aren't they?

-Look at those claws. Yeah, lovely.

Beautiful crabs.

You won't get better than that anywhere in the world.

By fishing for crabs on this small scale,

Dean is playing a vital role in balancing his own impact

on the ocean ecosystem.

What spiders do, for this bay in particular,

it eases down on the lobsters,

it eases down on the brown crab.

Because without them, without the spider,

we'd have to fish more for them,

so it gives them a break, it makes our lives easier,

and if we have a good three months,

-then we can forget about the lobsters altogether.

-Yeah.

Because you can earn good money,

you've got to do the hours, you've got to do the work,

you've got to do six months' hours in three months.

But you can earn good money out of it.

But I was amazed to learn hardly any of these crabs stay in Britain,

over 80% are exported to France and Spain,

where they're a real delicacy.

In Wales, we're not used to spiders,

and people haven't been too keen to try them.

So, Dean depends on the continent for high prices.

How much are these worth, then?

A good crab, that sized crab, that's probably about, um, two kilo,

so that's worth, to us, about four pound.

Some of these big ones are worth about six pound each.

Which is as much, if not more, than the lobster.

Really?

Yeah, so we need to look after them now,

because they're going to go up in price.

They're not going to go down in price, they're going to go up in price,

and every year we're getting more money for them.

We're flaking the net before it goes back out.

Getting rid of any bits of seaweed, oops...

..or any remnants of anything that's left behind.

Every time we bring a net in we've got to reflake it.

Every net has got to go in the water clear and clean.

Otherwise you're cutting down on your chance of catching fish.

They don't last long, a spider net,

if you're lucky, you'll get about eight weeks out of it.

Eight weeks fishing and then they're ready for the bin.

It's a lot of work every year.

'Dean's fish merchant only comes once a week,

'so he stores his daily catch in an underwater keep.'

So, essentially, like a living larder full of crabs.

On three.

It's going to go up that way now.

One, two, three.

Ah.

-They're in.

-All done.

The end of another long day.

-That's it, game over.

-It's been lovely, I've got to say.

I've enjoyed your company immensely.

Oh, thanks for taking me out.

-Oh.

-It's been lovely.

Thank you.

If you ever want a job, let me know.

-See you, guys, see you, Dan.

-Bye.

Take care, all the best.

The more I travel through Wales,

the more I'm learning about what controls the changing seasons.

If the ocean currents dictate summer life on the coast,

there is a different story inland.

The sun heats the fields and mountains,

causing pockets of hot air to rise,

and create strong air currents.

In places like the Black Mountains,

this can mean dramatic local weather conditions.

And the best way to experience them is to get in amongst them.

-Martin.

-Hi.

-How are you?

-Very well.

-It's not too windy?

-No, we'll be fine.

-Are you sure?

-Absolutely, we'll have a good time.

OK, I'm trusting you.

'I am absolutely terrified of flying.

'And the thought of going up in a plane with no engine

'makes even less sense.'

There is still a small part of me that is secretly thinking,

maybe it'll be too rainy and we won't be able to go.

'But the crew have told me it's an important part of understanding summer weather.

'So, I'm depending on Martin to calm my nerves.'

Um, and before we go, um,

what we're going to do is put you into the parachute.

Parachute?

Yes, before you get alarmed...

Oh, no, I thought you said it was safe.

..Gliding is a very, very safe sport.

-If you want to put your left arm through there.

-Like a rucksack.

It's just literally like a rucksack.

-That's it, OK?

-Yeah.

And you pull it as hard and as far as you can like that,

and if you just do it with both arms.

-What, like that?

-And then pull it.

-And then pull across?

-Exactly.

-OK.

There'll be a pregnant pause,

and then the parachute itself will inflate,

and then we'll pick you up somewhere over Hereford.

Well, that's a different way of doing it, that's fine.

I've got long legs, you see, it's tricky with long legs.

My heart is about here right now.

OK, overhead canopy.

OK, so, our wings are being held level for us.

And tow plane's now moving forward to take the slack out of the rope.

OK, are you ready to go?

Yeah. Thank you.

Here we go then.

You'll feel a few lumps and bumps as we trundle across the grass.

Slowly accelerating behind the tow plane.

We're going to be airborne any second,

here we go.

That's it, that's as noisy as it's going to get.

That noise you can hear is just the wheel rotating.

You'll feel lumps and bumps as we come over the edge of the runway here,

and up we go.

So, can he hear us, the plane in front?

He can do if I talk to him on the radio, yes.

-And then we decide when to let go?

-Absolutely.

So, we're now free, free falling.

That's it, we're now free of the tow plane completely.

I'm definitely out of my comfort zone.

Well, you'll be pleased to hear, I'm very much in my comfort zone.

Good, well, I am happy.

'Gliders stay airborne by finding rising air.

'In the summer months,

'this can be created by the sun heating the ground,

'which, in turn, heats the air above it.

'The hot air rises,

'creating thermal currents that keep the glider off the ground.

'Martin's challenge is to find these currents

'so that we keep going up rather than down.'

So, what are these clouds telling you around us now?

Well, if you look round to your right here,

you see how the cloud's being formed by the rising air,

and they're our markers as to where we think rising air might be.

To be a successful glider pilot you really do have to understand the weather.

It's just like sailing, exactly the same thing,

you're at one with the weather, you have to understand what it's doing.

'In the summer, gliders can travel hundreds of kilometres

'by flying from one thermal to another.

'Every time they reach a column of rising air, they soar upwards.

'And then glide down,

'searching for the next thermal to give them more lift.'

It's a great way of using nature, isn't it?

It's free energy just gliding us around.

So, this is your playground, isn't it?

This is absolutely our playground round here.

'The longest flight in Britain covered a thousand kilometres

'in a single day.

-You see we've now gone into a gap?

-Yes.

No cloud at all, lots of cloud to our right,

lots of cloud to our left, but nothing in between.

Have you noticed it was beeping at us?

Yes.

That's because we've got some rising air here now.

'But just as I'm starting to get comfortable,

'the weather begins to close in.'

It might just get a little lumpy and bumpy as we cross this bit here.

'Martin has to take me over the mountains before we land.

'These high ridges force the air upwards,

'creating a rush of wind that pummels our glider.'

Wind's coming right from behind us at the moment,

so, we're crossing the ground probably about 80 miles an hour at the moment.

Woo, ooh.

Oh, nothing to worry about there.

Ooh.

-Are you OK with that?

-Yeah.

Mmm, it's really...

..can really feel yourself getting bounced around.

Yes, it is a little bit bumpy.

There's a really quite strong lift now, which is really good.

But it is going to be a bit bumpy.

Gosh, I am a bit scared.

It'll be OK.

-Oh.

-What we'll do is, we'll just fly out this way,

and we'll just get clear of the mountains.

'Martin seems perfectly calm, but I am petrified.'

-So, you're going to hear a bit of a clunking noise.

-OK.

Here we go, that's it.

-OK.

-Nothing too drastic.

Ooh, air brakes are on.

We'll be landing over those white dots,

-can you see the white dots at the end of the airfield?

-I can, yes.

So, that's where we're going to be landing.

And down we come.

Coming in to land.

Here we go.

Here we go. So, I'll just gently raise the nose.

-Woah.

-Whee! Oopsie daisy.

Woah!

Oh!

That's the best bit, landing.

Ha-ha!

Ah, back on terra firma,

I'm glad I had not very much for breakfast this morning

cos I think it wouldn't still be in my stomach if I had.

My day of gliding is one of the last days of summer,

the weather is already beginning to turn,

and the colours of autumn are creeping across the landscape.

But these last months have shown me Wales in all its glory.

This is the season when the energy from the sun

and the sea transform our country.

And as the seasons begin to change once again,

I can see the fruits of summer's growth in the fields and hedgerows.

The prospect of autumn already has me licking my lips.

Next time, I return to Gareth's farm

for the round up of a hundred wild ponies.

Andrew takes me foraging in the fields of the Gower,

I'm initiated in the ancient art of horse logging,

and catch one of Wales' great natural events.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd