0:00:02 > 0:00:06I'm taking a hike through one of the least-trampled parts of the UK.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09A land of big skies and majestic views.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12This is the Yorkshire Wolds,
0:00:12 > 0:00:14a swathe of rolling chalk hills
0:00:14 > 0:00:18in the eastern part of God's own county.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20It's a tranquil corner of England
0:00:20 > 0:00:22that's well off the normal tourist track.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25But I've heard the Wolds are full of surprises.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29I'm flying over the Wolds Way.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31Wow. This is amazing.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36In this series, I'll be following the 79 miles of Britain's
0:00:36 > 0:00:38least well-known national trail.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44I'll meet the folk who are proud to call the Wolds their home.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46I can't believe it, look at this.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48There's a whole herd of penny-farthings.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52I'll take on some extreme challenges.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56Are we on some sort of collision course with that cargo ship, do you think?
0:00:57 > 0:01:00And explore its secret history.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02This might have been for queen and country,
0:01:02 > 0:01:05but to me it seems like a job from hell.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10This is Yorkshire as you've never seen it before.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12Welcome to the Wolds.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31I've been lucky enough to spend much of my life exploring isolated parts
0:01:31 > 0:01:35of the planet, like Antarctica or remote islands in the middle of the Pacific.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40You know, I'm really excited about doing the Yorkshire Wolds Way.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44It's a part of the world I know nothing about and so for me this is
0:01:44 > 0:01:46a real voyage of discovery.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51I'm following the route from the south to the north,
0:01:51 > 0:01:55which means I'm starting right by the Humber Estuary and I'll end
0:01:55 > 0:01:56nearly 80 miles later,
0:01:56 > 0:02:00with the North Sea at my feet in the seaside town of Filey.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04The Wolds are a hidden jewel,
0:02:04 > 0:02:08a land of tranquil, secret valleys and isolated villages,
0:02:08 > 0:02:10all just waiting to be explored.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15The start of any expedition is always exciting -
0:02:15 > 0:02:18that wonderful sense of energy and anticipation,
0:02:18 > 0:02:23but I've never started a hike with a view as magnificent as this.
0:02:23 > 0:02:24Look at that!
0:02:26 > 0:02:30The Humber Bridge is one of the great marvels of British engineering.
0:02:30 > 0:02:35It's more than one mile long and took almost nine years to build.
0:02:35 > 0:02:36When it opened in 1981,
0:02:36 > 0:02:39it was the longest suspension bridge in the world.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46In terms of length, it's been overtaken by a few others since then,
0:02:46 > 0:02:51but standing here, feeling tiny in comparison, you just have to say,
0:02:51 > 0:02:52this is an incredible structure.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04We might take the Humber Bridge for granted, but the men who built it
0:03:04 > 0:03:08were pushing at the boundaries of what was technically possible.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11And one of the chief engineers was Douglas Strachan.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16Hi, Douglas, it's great to meet you here at the foot of the great bridge.
0:03:16 > 0:03:21How do you actually go about building the world's longest suspension bridge?
0:03:21 > 0:03:23How do you actually start something like that?
0:03:23 > 0:03:27It was the longest bridge in the world for 17 years,
0:03:27 > 0:03:31but it's just developing techniques which have been used previously
0:03:31 > 0:03:37on other bridges. You look at the geology of the area and so the north side -
0:03:37 > 0:03:39we're on the chalk on this side -
0:03:39 > 0:03:43but on the south side it's on to Kimmeridge Clay.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45And so we had problems on the south side,
0:03:45 > 0:03:48building the anchorage and the foundations.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54The clay at the south end was so soft, engineers had to devise a delicate
0:03:54 > 0:03:59balancing act involving hundreds of thousands of tonnes of concrete.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01There are about 160,000 tonnes of concrete,
0:04:01 > 0:04:05there's about 300,000 tonnes of concrete at Barton.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10This structure only exists because of the ingenuity of the engineers
0:04:10 > 0:04:11and technical teams.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16The bridge is held up by 15,000 of these cables that were spun across
0:04:16 > 0:04:20the estuary and Douglas is going to show me just how they did it.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22You be the Hessle tower.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24- Right, I'm this tower, OK.- Yes.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27- And this is the Hessle anchorage.- Right.
0:04:27 > 0:04:32The spinning wheel sets off, it goes up to the top of the Hessle tower.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34- Right. Which is me?- Yes.- Yeah.
0:04:34 > 0:04:39And for demonstration purposes we'll call this the Barton anchorage.
0:04:39 > 0:04:40The wheel then comes back empty.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43- Right.- And then sets off again.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45- Okey dokey.- Up to the Hessle tower.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47Yeah.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49Down to the Barton anchorage.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51So because it's two at a time, and there's 15,000,
0:04:51 > 0:04:53that's why it's 7,000 crossings?
0:04:53 > 0:04:55- Yes, yes.- Holy smokes!
0:04:55 > 0:04:59- OK.- So each one of them big wires up there has got...
0:05:00 > 0:05:04- ..15,000 of them in it. - Yes.- But they're dead straight.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09The opening of the bridge cut 50 miles off the road journey from Hull
0:05:09 > 0:05:14to Grimsby and connected the great counties of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17though motorists have had to pay for the privilege.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21So after seven years hard work, you've probably now got this
0:05:21 > 0:05:24- lifetime pass, free pass? - No, I'm afraid not!
0:05:24 > 0:05:27Unfortunately I have to pay my toll as everybody else does.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30- After all that they don't give you a free pass?- Exactly.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38Douglas and millions of motorists will continue to pay the tolls
0:05:38 > 0:05:39for some time to come.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43The Humber Bridge cost nearly £100 million to build.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46Almost 40 years later, we are all still paying for it
0:05:46 > 0:05:49and the debt itself might not be cleared
0:05:49 > 0:05:50for another couple of decades.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02Whatever the cost, to me one thing's undeniable - the bridge itself
0:06:02 > 0:06:04is the wonder on the Humber.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13Wow! Look at this.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15Absolutely bloomin' fantastic.
0:06:15 > 0:06:20You can't imagine, can you, Douglas and his mates, stringing those cables?
0:06:20 > 0:06:24And because it's so far and now so heavy that they just sag,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27running them back and forth 7,000 times to get all the cables in place.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30I mean, this is where they worked.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32They walked along them everyday.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35Never seen anything like it.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43There aren't many walks that start within the shadow of such an amazing
0:06:43 > 0:06:46piece of architecture, and even though we're all still paying for it
0:06:46 > 0:06:49nearly 40 years after it was constructed,
0:06:49 > 0:06:50as my mum would have said,
0:06:50 > 0:06:52this remains a grand old view.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59The bridge is certainly impressive, but it's not been the only way of
0:06:59 > 0:07:01crossing the Humber Estuary.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05And we know that by what was found right next to the Wolds Way
0:07:05 > 0:07:06at North Ferriby.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14In 1937, two brothers, Ted and Willie Wright,
0:07:14 > 0:07:17found planks sticking out of the glutinous mud of the Humber,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20but there was more to this find than met the eye.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23The wood looked like it was once part of a boat.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28But how old it was, well, that came as a massive surprise.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32The shape of the boat led the brothers to believe that it was a Viking craft.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34But the reality was much more exciting.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38It turns out that this boat was over 4,000 years old.
0:07:40 > 0:07:46These planks were situated in the most gloopiest, horrible, brown,
0:07:46 > 0:07:47silty mud.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49You know, how they managed to do it.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52You know, twice a day the tide's coming in and covering over
0:07:52 > 0:07:54everything they've actually excavated.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57I mean, what a complete and utter nightmare.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01The mud acted like a preservative and, over several decades,
0:08:01 > 0:08:03three boats were uncovered.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07Not only were these the oldest craft of their type to have been found in
0:08:07 > 0:08:11Europe, but historians believe they were capable of crossing
0:08:11 > 0:08:13the open seas.
0:08:14 > 0:08:20They were plank-built boats made out of maybe seven or eight planks.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24Certainly all three Ferriby boats show a base plank with then planks
0:08:24 > 0:08:26attached to the side of it.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28And they are literally tied together.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32They are caulked with moss to make them watertight.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35Which, again, is absolutely fantastic. That's boating technology
0:08:35 > 0:08:38you would be familiar with today if you went to a boat yard
0:08:38 > 0:08:40making a traditional wooden boat.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43Yet this was done 4,000 years ago.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47The finding of these boats has given all of us a unique insight
0:08:47 > 0:08:49- as to life in those times. - Yeah, absolutely.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53These boats showed us they didn't just look inward, but they looked
0:08:53 > 0:08:55outwards, out beyond Spurn Point,
0:08:55 > 0:08:57out beyond the Humber Bridge we see today.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01So why were people coming to the Wolds,
0:09:01 > 0:09:04and in reality just how difficult a journey was it to make?
0:09:05 > 0:09:08It's fantastically early in the morning.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11The sun is only just up and we're about to do something that seems
0:09:11 > 0:09:12completely crazy,
0:09:12 > 0:09:16but back in the Bronze Age this would have been absolutely normal.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20Neil and I have come over to the south bank of the Humber to use the
0:09:20 > 0:09:24waterway in the same way as our ancestors did - as a superhighway.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27All we have to do is row across.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34The current on the Humber can be lethal, which is why I've roped in
0:09:34 > 0:09:38a bit of extra help from a local adventure centre to get us across safely.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40We're off, Neil.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45So the early people that were living right here on the Wolds Way next to
0:09:45 > 0:09:48the Humber will have just crossed the river when the timing was right,
0:09:48 > 0:09:51so when the tide was right for them,
0:09:51 > 0:09:53and they would use it to go back and forth carrying...
0:09:53 > 0:09:55What were they carrying? Was it trade?
0:09:55 > 0:09:58Well, it would have been pretty much everything to do with daily life,
0:09:58 > 0:10:02you know, whether it was actually harvesting the resources, fishing,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05or actually getting people from the south side to the north side.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07So, again, if you're wanting to get to the Wolds,
0:10:07 > 0:10:11this precious landscape that again has such abundant natural resources,
0:10:11 > 0:10:14you know, you're not going to travel 50, 60 miles inland.
0:10:16 > 0:10:17So this really was a superhighway.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19This was the M62.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22But I'm a bit concerned cos... Are we on some sort of collision course
0:10:22 > 0:10:25- with that cargo ship, do you think?- No.- OK!
0:10:32 > 0:10:36Well, that's got to be the perfect way to get the spirit
0:10:36 > 0:10:38of our ancestors and start the walk.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40Hey, thanks very much again!
0:10:40 > 0:10:41See you, thank you.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47With less than 80 miles to cover, you can comfortably do the Wolds Way
0:10:47 > 0:10:50in a week, but it's worth taking your time.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56In Yorkshire, the Wolds are often overshadowed by the Dales or Moors,
0:10:56 > 0:10:58but they are special in their own right.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01This is the most northerly outcrop of chalk in England.
0:11:03 > 0:11:08The soil's rich, and on a sunny day these south-facing slopes near
0:11:08 > 0:11:10the village of Welton feel just like Provence.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Blimey, that's a nice surprise.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16It's a Yorkshire vineyard.
0:11:16 > 0:11:17Didn't expect to see that.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23I've still a few miles to do, so I'm going to save my glass
0:11:23 > 0:11:25of Cotes de Wolds for another time.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30Because as well as being great walking country, the Wolds
0:11:30 > 0:11:33are perfect for something a bit more adventurous.
0:11:36 > 0:11:37I can't believe it, look at this!
0:11:37 > 0:11:40There's a whole herd of penny-farthings.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43- Hello!- Hi, there.
0:11:43 > 0:11:44Hey, this is all right.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46Hey, can you stop a second?
0:11:46 > 0:11:50- Yeah.- I've never seen these except in a museum.
0:11:50 > 0:11:51Well, they're wasted in museums.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53They should be ridden.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56- So is this a family bike ride or something?- Oh, yes.- It is?
0:11:56 > 0:11:58I was just joking, it really is a family?
0:11:58 > 0:12:02We've got a mum, daughter and granddaughter.
0:12:02 > 0:12:08I'm dad. And son-in-law there and a former pupil of mine.
0:12:08 > 0:12:09Is there a chance of having a go?
0:12:09 > 0:12:12I've always, always wanted to have a go on one of these bikes.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14I spend a lot of time on, you know, modern bikes,
0:12:14 > 0:12:16but not as beautiful as this.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19I mean, mine are carbon and aluminium and all this sort of flash,
0:12:19 > 0:12:21but they're just not beautiful like these are.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24Well, about a mile down the road there you'll get a cup of tea
0:12:24 > 0:12:27- and we'll put you on one. - Right, it's a deal, even better.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29- OK.- Hey, thank you so much.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32OK, right, I'll see you there.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34I need to watch how you do it, actually.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37Now I'm going to have a go, I need to...
0:12:42 > 0:12:44That's a bit of luck.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47They're really going to let me have a go on this.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49Can't flipping wait.
0:12:49 > 0:12:50I think.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55Penny-farthings, or high bikes,
0:12:55 > 0:12:57were once the height of transport elegance.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01And for Tony Huntington and his family, they are much more than a hobby.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04They race them, and even take their bikes on holiday,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07and have been spotted riding high in New Zealand and Russia.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19Tony's done 50,000 miles on his penny-farthings.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22He is now such an authority that people from all over the world
0:13:22 > 0:13:26have sent their bikes to be fixed in his workshop.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28What are your top tips for me?
0:13:28 > 0:13:30I mean, I'm about to have a go...
0:13:30 > 0:13:31- Don't fall off.- Don't fall off!
0:13:31 > 0:13:33- That's the first one. - Know where the step is.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37- Step?- Learning to get on and off is far more important than the
0:13:37 > 0:13:39- pedalling bits in between.- OK.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41Well, how do I ride the thing? How do I get on it?
0:13:41 > 0:13:43Well, you step there.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45- Right.- Right. Stand astride it.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47- Don't stand...- Like this you mean?
0:13:47 > 0:13:50Yeah. Without your toes sticking out.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53Cos if your toes stick out too far then you won't be able to steer it
0:13:53 > 0:13:58- and balance it.- OK.- Then you've got to reach the handlebars and then,
0:13:58 > 0:14:01with your right foot, you're going to have to scoot
0:14:01 > 0:14:04until you are going fast enough to think that you can get up.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07So I get scooting like this, as it were...
0:14:07 > 0:14:10- Yeah, yeah.- And then once I've got some momentum, I'm up.
0:14:10 > 0:14:11- Yeah.- Oh, blimey.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14OK, yeah. It's flipping high up, Tony.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16No, it's not, it's a low one, is this.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18And when you want to stop you've got to find that step again,
0:14:18 > 0:14:22- straight away.- Right, so hang on, let me just bloomin' get the feel of this.- So feel where the step is.
0:14:22 > 0:14:24Flipping high, it's flipping high.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28- Yeah, OK.- Feel where the step is. - All right, step is... - Without looking.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32- OK.- You can't afford to look. - Is that it?- If you can find it
0:14:32 > 0:14:35you can come down again and then you're safe.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37Right. OK!
0:14:37 > 0:14:39Right?
0:14:39 > 0:14:42'I've done some crazy things in my time.' I'm up!
0:14:42 > 0:14:44'But this takes the biscuit.'
0:14:44 > 0:14:45Holy smokes.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49It's a lot higher than it looks, let me tell you that.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53And out of all the great things you can do on the Wolds Way,
0:14:53 > 0:14:55who'd have thought you can do this?
0:14:59 > 0:15:00It's like relaxing is the trick.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02Can't flipping relax.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05If I look ahead I can convince myself I'm not ten feet
0:15:05 > 0:15:07above the ground.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09Tony, I think I'm all right!
0:15:09 > 0:15:11No, you know you're all right!
0:15:11 > 0:15:13- I don't feel very relaxed. - Don't go on the grass, though.- No.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16What do you reckon, Tony, I'm still on!
0:15:16 > 0:15:19If I didn't think you could stop on, I wouldn't let you ride it!
0:15:19 > 0:15:21The bike's too precious!
0:15:23 > 0:15:25- Ready?- OK. Right.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29That's it.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32- OK, well done.- Yes!
0:15:32 > 0:15:34- Well done.- I flipping did it.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37Holy smokes. It's a bit of a gripper.
0:15:37 > 0:15:38I didn't feel I could relax.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40- Well done.- But I rode this, you know!
0:15:40 > 0:15:41- Congratulations.- I rode that.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50I can't promise a sighting of a penny-farthing,
0:15:50 > 0:15:52but if you're near the village of Sancton,
0:15:52 > 0:15:54you'll probably see plenty of these.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01This beast is obviously a tractor.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03Even I know that.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06And in a region farmed as heavily as the Wolds, you see plenty of this
0:16:06 > 0:16:10kind of machinery. But, believe me, this is no ordinary tractor.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15And what makes it different is its hi-tech GPS.
0:16:15 > 0:16:16The one in your car seems pretty accurate,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19it'll tell you which side of the road you're on.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21But this one's a step ahead of that.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24This will give us accuracy to less than an inch.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29This tractor might be rooted in the Wolds, but up there
0:16:29 > 0:16:33there are 18 satellites keeping it on the right furrow.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36It'll not only tell us what's where in the field,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39so we can go back to it year after year,
0:16:39 > 0:16:42we can treat particular parts of the soil, particular crops,
0:16:42 > 0:16:46in a particular way, but it'll do more than that.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49This will steer itself.
0:16:49 > 0:16:50Now we're talking!
0:16:51 > 0:16:54When mechanisation came to the Wolds,
0:16:54 > 0:16:58self-driving tractors would have seemed like science fiction.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01Back then, farming remained a backbreaking job,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04requiring a small army to bring in the crops.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06- Fire up the JCB.- Righto.
0:17:06 > 0:17:07How things have changed!
0:17:07 > 0:17:11- Right, we're off.- I'll just press this little button here and the...
0:17:11 > 0:17:13- And it takes over? - The computer takes over.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15So all you have to do then is get us in the right place,
0:17:15 > 0:17:19press the button, and of course instead of dividing your attention
0:17:19 > 0:17:21between the machinery and what's happening at the back,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24you can concentrate entirely on the work.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28By using these techniques we can improve the quality of the land.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31There's loads of potential with this type of equipment that we're really
0:17:31 > 0:17:35only beginning to scratch the surface of.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38We are on the edge now, aren't we, of driverless cars on the public roads?
0:17:38 > 0:17:43- We are.- Could you see the day when the farmer can be back in the farmhouse
0:17:43 > 0:17:46or somewhere else and these vehicles are going around on their own?
0:17:46 > 0:17:50Well, I think that day might be a lot closer than many people realise.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53I think we'll certainly see that in my lifetime.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59The last time I drove a tractor, both hands were definitely on the wheel.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03So just how does a hands-free vehicle like this shape up?
0:18:03 > 0:18:05All I have to do
0:18:05 > 0:18:09is get looking at the great GPS readout,
0:18:09 > 0:18:12come back more or less online.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15Press that button. Green light.
0:18:17 > 0:18:18I'm now hands-off farming.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25And, unbelievably, I'm doing high-quality farming to a great standard,
0:18:25 > 0:18:28because the machine knows exactly what to do.
0:18:28 > 0:18:29I mean, this is great.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36I have to say
0:18:36 > 0:18:40I'm relaxed. I'm completely relaxed, I could read a book, you know.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43Cos I'm farming. Smoke a cigar, glass of champagne...
0:18:45 > 0:18:46Watch telly!
0:18:48 > 0:18:52Self-driving tractors may soon be a common sight, but elsewhere
0:18:52 > 0:18:55on the Wolds there's an event that's simply unique.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01Each way, if you like.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03Ten quid each way on number 11.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07On the third Thursday in March,
0:19:07 > 0:19:12and that's every third Thursday in March since 1519,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15Britain's oldest horse race runs across four miles of countryside
0:19:15 > 0:19:19in the Wolds. And, believe me, it's a proper spectacle.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25This is the Kiplingcotes Derby, and unlike its famous namesake at Epsom,
0:19:25 > 0:19:27anyone can enter.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30Just fill in one of those for me.
0:19:31 > 0:19:36Back in the 1950s, race day brought out the crowds, and the best part
0:19:36 > 0:19:39of 65 years later, it remains a cracking day out.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42- You must be Sam.- I am Sam.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45And therefor this must be Mr P.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48'Sam Osborne had the ride of her life at the Kiplingcotes Derby.
0:19:48 > 0:19:53'She won it on Mr P, an ex-racehorse who was called the Mad Professor.'
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Well, he looks absolutely beautiful.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58- He is.- What's he like to ride?
0:19:58 > 0:20:02A monkey. The first year we came third.
0:20:02 > 0:20:03And then last year...
0:20:04 > 0:20:06..he took control at the beginning.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09- Right.- And brought us home for victory.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15'But how the winning pair got to the finish line was less than
0:20:15 > 0:20:19'straightforward. Because Mr P is one highly-strung horse.'
0:20:20 > 0:20:22I just want to show you this.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25This will remind you of the great day.
0:20:25 > 0:20:26Right, here we go.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29- Everybody comfortable?- Yes, sir.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32- OK.- That's the start, I mean, the start looks really organised.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34- All pretty much together. - Yeah, all together.
0:20:34 > 0:20:35You're off.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44- Ah!- Can you see now? - You're in front.- Yeah.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50By now, Sam was hanging on for dear life.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55Through my lack of concentration, he decided to bolt.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57And it was pretty scary when he took over,
0:20:57 > 0:21:01went across the road with my eyes shut,
0:21:01 > 0:21:03praying I was going to stay on.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06We led from start to finish.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09He had no intentions of letting anyone past him.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11That's the devil in him.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13He scared the living daylights out of me, he did.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20When we crossed that finish line it was awesome.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24He bolted! I couldn't stop.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26Well done, well done.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30- It's all right, you're here. - I couldn't get him on the grass.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32You're here, you're all right.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35Come on, smile, you're on telly.
0:21:35 > 0:21:36There's no doubt about it, you are a hero.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39- Am I a hero? - Yeah, dead right you are.
0:21:39 > 0:21:40- Would you do it again?- Never!
0:21:40 > 0:21:43Never, never on Mr P, never.
0:21:54 > 0:21:59Sam's a winner and in my mind so is the landscape of the Wolds.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01And I'm not the only one who thinks so.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07These big skies and grand vistas of the Wolds are really something
0:22:07 > 0:22:11special. And they've been brought to life by someone who many people
0:22:11 > 0:22:14would say is Britain's greatest living artist.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20For a couple of years, the Wolds were David Hockney's playground.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23Living nearby, he could often be found painting at some of his
0:22:23 > 0:22:25favourite spots.
0:22:25 > 0:22:30I've learned an enormous amount in the last year
0:22:30 > 0:22:33by looking at nature and trying to represent it.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35Very, very beautiful.
0:22:36 > 0:22:37I shall paint it.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42His giant canvases opened the eyes of the wider world
0:22:42 > 0:22:44to the beauty of this tiny corner of England.
0:22:46 > 0:22:47I like that!
0:22:48 > 0:22:52Walk through the Wolds and you're stepping through a work of art.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Matching the real-life locations with Hockney's pictures can be fun,
0:22:55 > 0:22:59but as I'm finding out at Millington Vale, it's not as easy as it looks.
0:23:05 > 0:23:06All right, so...
0:23:06 > 0:23:09Yeah, there we go. Tree on the left, bushes on the right,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12there's two fences, the road going downhill.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15It's really satisfying to know you're in the exact spot where
0:23:15 > 0:23:18the great man David Hockney would have painted this.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22And of course he's captured the feel of the place perfectly.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24It does what his intention probably was, which was to, you know,
0:23:24 > 0:23:26make us look at the landscape in a different way.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29Which of course is wonderful. But for me this sort of washed-out,
0:23:29 > 0:23:33over-simplified look aren't as nice as the original.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35I prefer the original. So here goes, let's...
0:23:37 > 0:23:38..see what I can do.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42There you go. Got my own beautiful original.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56These big sky views have made the Wolds famous, but it's also worth
0:23:56 > 0:23:58checking out its churches, too.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00This one at Nunburnholme is pretty typical,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03but it does have a remarkable claim to fame.
0:24:05 > 0:24:11In the shadow of St James Church is the grave of the Reverend Francis Orpen Morris.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14He was the vicar here, but he was much more than a man of the cloth -
0:24:14 > 0:24:17he was one of the great naturalists of his age.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23And to find out more about who he was and what he achieved,
0:24:23 > 0:24:26I've called in the help of TV wildlife presenter Mike Dilger.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31Being a church vicar back in the day, he was busy on Sundays,
0:24:31 > 0:24:35preaching to his flock. That left basically Monday to Saturday free
0:24:35 > 0:24:38to wander around with a butterfly net and identify everything
0:24:38 > 0:24:41that flew, crawled, swam.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43He was basically a full-time naturalist and part-time vicar.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49But catching and cataloguing was no easy task.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53Back in the day, bang, he would use a gun for the birds.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56He would use a butterfly net to catch the butterflies and it was
0:24:56 > 0:25:00back in the era of kind of pin it, pickle it, squash it, stuff it.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03You know, they really would bag and tag specimens.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07With the knowledge he gained, he wrote the definitive guides to
0:25:07 > 0:25:11British wildlife that were lapped up by the Victorian middle classes.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17The Wolds were the perfect habitat for this inquisitive vicar and they
0:25:17 > 0:25:20remain a great place to see some amazing creatures.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23All we have to do is wait for darkness to fall.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29Right, Mike, this is exciting, what is going to happen?
0:25:29 > 0:25:33This is a very special bowl, it's a mercury vapour bowl.
0:25:33 > 0:25:38First and foremost, it goes pink, then it gets whiter and whiter and whiter,
0:25:38 > 0:25:41like a brilliant, bright, white light.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44And you shouldn't really spend too long staring at it cos it can
0:25:44 > 0:25:46actually damage your eyes.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49But what it does is, it pulls moths in like you've no idea.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56One theory about why moths find bright lights so irresistible is
0:25:56 > 0:25:59that they confuse them for the moon and become disorientated.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02And once they're in the trap, there is no escape.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06So when we come back in the morning and the bottom there,
0:26:06 > 0:26:10where those egg boxes are, there'll be moths in there, alive,
0:26:10 > 0:26:12but asleep or something?
0:26:12 > 0:26:15They'll be perfectly alive and the great thing is each egg box you lift
0:26:15 > 0:26:18out, you never know what you're going to find underneath.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20It's like Christmas, it's astonishing.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35Seven hours later we're back at Reverend Morris's old stomping
0:26:35 > 0:26:38ground and I'm hoping it's going to be as good as Mike suggested.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42Let's just kind of dive in, shall we?
0:26:42 > 0:26:43If I just take this off.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47- Yeah.- The art is to just kind of remove one egg box at a time
0:26:47 > 0:26:51- and see what you've got.- Oh, there's loads in there.- Occasionally they'll wake up. Most of the time
0:26:51 > 0:26:54they're calm, you get really lovely close-up looks.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57- Look at them.- That's a moth called a buff ermine.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59If you're looking, you might need your glasses.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01There's a reason for me saying put your glasses on.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04- Have a look at the front of his face.- Ah!
0:27:04 > 0:27:07- He's got glasses on. - He's called the spectacled.
0:27:07 > 0:27:08Isn't that brilliant?
0:27:10 > 0:27:13Every time you turn over an egg box, you've no idea what
0:27:13 > 0:27:14might be underneath.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20When I'm camping, I'm usually trying to stop moths getting into my tent.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24But seeing them so close, I can now really appreciate their beauty.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27But of course it's not just moths we catch.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30- What's that?- Look at this. - That's a beetle.
0:27:30 > 0:27:31Check out the antennae.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35I always think they have Denis Healey-type eyebrows.
0:27:35 > 0:27:36Denis Healey eyebrows, yeah.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38This is a cockchafer or May bug.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40Cockchafer, that's some name.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42It is!
0:27:42 > 0:27:44Often called May bug cos it flies in May,
0:27:44 > 0:27:46and this one's probably a little bit late.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52- Look at that!- I think this moth is the Gucci of the moth world.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55- No kidding.- Pink and lilac.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57It's an elephant hawk moth.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00That dispels the myth that moths are dull, boring and brown.
0:28:00 > 0:28:05I'm enjoying this, Mike, cos this is my first ever positive moth experience.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07There he goes.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10- Look at the colour underneath.- Wow.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13Now that is a bobby-dazzler.
0:28:13 > 0:28:14That is a bobby-dazzler.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16Wow. Thank you, Mike.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21Next time on the Yorkshire Wolds Way,
0:28:21 > 0:28:24I'll take a trip through a magical landscape...
0:28:26 > 0:28:28..and see the Wolds from a whole new perspective.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30It's so peaceful.