Episode 3 Extreme Wales with Richard Parks

The Cambrian mountain range slices through Wales,

running almost the entire length of the country.

I'm exploring this wild and rugged landscape

near Ffair Rhos in south-west Wales,

which was formed by the movement of mighty glaciers

during the last ice age, over 10,000 years ago.

Behind me are a group of reservoirs called the Teifi Pools,

and that's where I'll find the source of the River Teifi.

So that's where I'm heading.

Giving me a chance to do some trail running across this barren

but breathtaking wilderness.

This place is so sparsely populated

that some of the locals refer to it as the desert of Wales.

And this is it - the source of the River Teifi.

As you can see, it's just a small stream

running from the Llyn Teifi reservoir above me.

But this is the start of my adventure.

And I'll begin by running, then further down the river,

challenging myself to learn a new skill - kayaking.

I'll be on foot for nine miles

from the Teifi Pools to the Cors Caron Nature Reserve.

Kayaking isn't permitted on all parts of the Teifi,

or the Teifi, as it's also known,

so I'm entering the river at some of the best kayaking locations.

Llandysul for raging rapids,

Cenarth for a tough waterfall,

and Cilgerran,

where I'll paddle its tidal waters to Cardigan Bay,

the mouth of the river, 75 miles from where I started.

Most... HE PANTS

Most of my cardiovascular training is done on a bike, but...

..it's amazing to be out here.

I love trail running.

I feel like a kid again.

I'm about to be challenged a little more when I get into the kayak.

I'm not a paddler.

You know, this is very much...

..a new skill for me, and that is...

the adventure.

And in the blink of an eye,

gone are the barren landscapes of the glacial troughs,

giving way to a lush valley.

This area is called Strata Florida,

which means valley of the flowers,

and you can see why.

The Teifi is growing from a stream into a river,

and I doubt this will be the last time I get wet.

Ah!

As I move further downstream, the terrain doesn't fail to deliver.

I move through thick mud, and into wet marshland...

..which brings me out

at the remarkable Cors Caron nature reserve.

This vast 12,000 year-old wetland

covers an area of more than 2,000 acres.

Here I'm meeting Ian Tillotson,

who is known locally as an oracle when it comes to wildlife.

This place is so special to him

that he's lived here overlooking the bog for 40 years.

Ian, I know you used to be a chief warden

for the Countryside Council for Wales,

but why is Cors Caron so special to you?

Cors Caron is special to us all, because it's not quite unique,

but it is very special, because it is a raised bog.

Cors Caron is one of only two raised bogs left in Wales.

A raised bog is created when layers of vegetation

build up on the lake bed.

The bog then grows from its centre,

and can reach up to ten metres above ground level.

All of this is thanks to one plant.

The Sphagnum moss. Sphagnum!

Yes. That's its name. Now, what do we know about Sphagnum?

At the top, it's green, where it can photosynthesise,

but as you come down the stem,

it becomes paler and paler and paler, and then at the bottom,

it begins to die back.

But it doesn't rot away.

It never rots away.

It humifies.

"Humify" means simply that it's transformed

into something else, namely peat.

Now, what you're standing on is something like 30 feet of peat,

resting on what was the old lake bed.

As recently as the 1950s, peat was dug from here and used for fuel.

As well as clearing for agriculture,

this has resulted in the destruction of 94% of the raised bogs in the UK.

It's why habitats such as Cors Caron are so rare.

Now protected, it's home to an abundance of wildlife.

But there's one specific creature for which Ian has real passion.

He's spent his entire life studying it.

The moth.

Now, some of these moths are likely to go fairly quickly.

Oh, I can see one now.

Now, then.

Ah! There's an interesting moth.

Right at the top.

That looks like a piece of bark.

There you are. That's an amazing camouflage.

That's an adult buff-tipped moth.

Buff-tipped moths are common in Cors Caron.

The larvae feed on the birch trees

that thrive throughout this reserve and along the banks of the Teifi.

That cryptic colouring - that's his only defence.

He's soft-bodied, he's got no shell, nothing like that -

he is vulnerable to a beak.

Yeah. Any old beak.

So he's got to protect himself in the best way that he can,

and that's to hide. Nature's an amazing thing, isn't it? Yeah, yeah.

I mean, that, really... You'd be hard-pressed to see it

unless you knew what you were looking for. Well, it's blended, hasn't it? Yeah. Blended.

Thank you so much, Ian. My pleasure.

It's been wonderful to spend time with you here.

It looks like I'm going to have to get in the kayak, though, now.

OK. Good luck!

Good voyaging!

The Teifi is now wide enough and deep enough

for me to get my first taste of kayaking.

I've spent very little time in one of these,

so I'm having to figure it out.

I've been given special permission

to kayak to the edge of the reserve, and it's perfect for a beginner.

It's calm and pretty slow moving.

What worries me is that I know it won't stay like this for long.

So far, I've only kayaked on a small stretch of calm water.

I'm still very unsteady in my kayak.

So I'm meeting Jet Moore,

who coaches some of the British Olympic kayakers.

He's invited me to paddle with him on some flat stretches of the river,

where I can get to grips with this new discipline.

OK, so, right to left?

Yeah. Paddle right to left.

I'd like to think that I'm taking to kayaking like a duck to water.

Well, maybe not quite.

And now I'm going down backwards.

Actually, could I say something? That...

it's easier to go backwards!

THEY LAUGH

My confidence is growing.

That was lush.

And it's not long before Jet decides it's time

to take the skill level up a notch.

This is Llandysul.

A one-kilometre stretch of the Teifi.

Home to seven sets of naturally-occurring,

but pretty technical rapids.

Rapids are graded from one to six -

one being easy, and six being so tough that they are rarely ridden.

The rapids here are grade two to three,

which is large enough to bring the British Olympic

and Welsh kayaking teams here to train.

This is world-class water, isn't it?

You know, it's produced some of the best paddlers around, I would say,

for... you know, 30, 40 years now.

At the moment, it's a really, really good level.

It's not high, it's not low. Is it?

But it comes up another, I don't know, three metres probably on this.

Oh, wow. OK.

Talk me through the bits of the river, if you can, please?

It's slalom. Yeah? You can see the poles on the river here.

The green gates, the red gates? The green and red gates.

Green's down, red's up, is that right? That's it, you've got it!

The aim is to get from top to bottom on the course in the quickest time without hitting them. Yeah.

But I've actually got to get down this at some point.

Yeah. And my bar is a low bar.

I want to stay upright, and I want to keep my eyes open.

Having worked with you a little bit already on a few sections,

I've no doubt that you'll get down it fine.

Obviously... I'm glad you've got confidence in me!

Obviously there's the chance if you do close your eyes,

you might get wet. But, no. Keep your eyes open,

follow the nice lines, and we're looking for the downstream V's.

So, yeah, yeah. Looking for those downstream V's to give us the clues as to where to go.

OK.

A downstream V usually means fewer obstacles, but not always.

So I'll need to recce the toughest part of the course.

This is the challenging one - the quarry.

We've got the gates to give you a bit of guidance on it.

Looking at it quickly, where would you sort of head on this bit?

I'd be aiming for the middle of that V...

Yeah? ..and then a straight line through it.

Yeah, brilliant.

Pretty much through the green gate.

As you come down next to gate 20 there,

where that kayaker is at the minute.

He's in the eddy - avoid the eddy, really, for the minute.

But if you do end up in it, then mind you get that wobble...

Yeah, sure. ..as you've experienced a few times. OK.

What's the key there is to keep paddling.

So as long as you've got pressure on your blade,

that'll keep you more stable.

But before I run the gauntlet, I'm meeting Gabrielle Ridge.

She's still only 19 years old,

but already making waves in competitive kayaking.

For her, Llandysul is key to her success.

Tell us why Llandysul is such a great place to train.

I personally love it because it's natural river.

You've got poles, and you have to dodge through them,

no matter what's going on around you.

It's always a new environment that you're working in. Yeah.

So, like, today for example, you've got a bit of rain,

so the water's coming up, which is always great,

because it means more waves and a bit more fun!

Fun for you! Yeah. Fear for me! Yeah!

Definitely. Was it slalom you got into first,

or were there any different types of kayak that you went through?

No, I've literally just come straight to slalom.

I'm currently top Welsh girl in Britain.

And ended last year as the top-ranked female junior

across all of the kayak category in Britain. That's amazing.

And hot on her heels, at age 14,

Etienne Chappell is another youngster being trained up

for future Olympic Games.

The Teifi has had a life-changing impact on him and his future.

I've never been great in school.

I've never had, like, good grades,

I've never been the best-behaved kid in the class.

But, to me, kayaking keeps me chilled,

and it's, like, given me a better attitude towards school.

Yeah. Do your work, keep your head down, and things.

When I paddle this section,

I can imagine that they're the best lines.

Yeah. I know that, I get that, I can see it from the bank,

but actually, controlling the kayak is a different thing. I mean...

Yeah, it's all well and good, like, standing on the bank

checking your lines and doing the course walks and stuff,

but the majority of the time,

you only hit about 50% of those lines.

OK, yeah. So, like, when you're going down the course,

maybe you'll hit a boil, so a surge in the water,

that'll knock you off line a little bit.

Yeah. So it'll mess you up for the next gate.

So you're constantly having to adjust?

Constantly having to adjust on the water.

That's the great thing about it. You like the adrenaline, don't you?

Yeah. Definitely.

Bigger water, the better! Bigger buzz. RICHARD LAUGHS

Right, I can't put this off any longer.

I'm kitted up, and I'm ready to go.

But before I do, I want to see these two at work.

Are you going to show me how it should look now, are you?

I love watching experts do what they do.

They make it look so easy!

Yeah! I guess the next thing will be for yourself to do it.

This is my second day in a kayak, and now...

..the guys have got me going down Llandysul Rapids,

which are used by the Welsh and GB teams, so, erm...

..yeah, it's pretty insane, if I'm being honest.

Nice. Bit of power, get the line, Rich.

This fast water is tougher than it looks.

Today, it's flowing at about eight cumecs.

Carry on.

That's kayaker talk.

One cumec is one tonne of water per second.

And with all that weight crashing down on a ravine full of boulders,

I really don't want to capsize.

Keep on going a little bit.

Keep going. Keep it straight, keep it straight, keep it straight.

Three sets of rapids down, four to go.

Carry on!

Keep paddling, keep paddling.

Got it!

HE LAUGHS

It's an awesome ride, and it's not over yet.

Up ahead is Quarry Rapid, the toughest section on the course.

With the other rapids behind me, I'm feeling good.

Just one last push, and I'll have made it.

Jet's coached me well,

and I really want to complete the entire course.

Nice one, Rich - swim to the side.

BLEEP Came out the boat!

That's how I feel.

What you're...

What you're seeing now is...

..you know, is the competitor in me.

Nothing is second nature to me, so everything has to be...

..you know, processed and then done, and by the time you do that,

that few seconds,

that split second is too late, and, you know,

I'm in the wrong place at the wrong time, and, er...

..it's tough.

I might not be, er... graceful in defeat...

..but I'm not going to give up, either.

That's not in my nature!

I don't like to think that these waters are beating me,

so I've decided I'm going to take them head-on at Cenarth.

I was always going to go in learning on a kayak.

And we all learn more when things go wrong.

I'm not one to give up, though, and...

I've had a good night's sleep,

I've had a cup of coffee...

and I'm back on it now.

And what a way to get back on it.

This is Cenarth Falls.

It's famous locally as an extremely dangerous,

grade four combination of waterfall and rapids.

Here we are, Cenarth Falls,

the biggest sort of waterfall on the river,

and that's where I'm thinking,

having seen you paddle now, and having worked with you yesterday

and everything else, if you're up for it,

I think your ability to get down there is fine.

I must admit, I'm hoping Jet's right.

Watching the river drop away in front of me is a worrying feeling.

A couple of strokes in, and my heart is in my throat.

There's no turning back now.

HE LAUGHS

Great. Waterfall tackled.

Next, the rapids.

Jet told me to go right...

..and, you know,

I went left. Let's do this again.

OK. Take two.

Whoohoo!

Yeah, baby!

HE LAUGHS

Ah!

I'm feeling like I could actually

be getting the hang of this paddling.

I don't want to speak too soon, though,

as I've organised to meet an expert on a vessel

synonymous with the Teifi, and it's not a kayak.

This is Denzil Davies.

One of only a handful of master coracle makers and paddlers

left in Wales.

Siwmae?

Siwmae?

Hiya, Denzil. Croeso.

Coracles have been used on these waters since pre-Roman times,

and are designed to be lightweight, manoeuvrable and tough,

bespoke for their original use - salmon fishing.

Denzil, can you tell me how these are actually made?

During autumn time, my forefathers,

they would go out looking for willow saplings.

They would cut the branches out, about that thickness,

they would knife down them then into lattice work.

Yeah. These bits here? These lats here, you see?

They would weave them then, around the corners of the seat,

to anchor the seat into the whole structure, then, you see.

It's amazing.

Denzil has paddled these coracles all of his life,

and it's not just the Teifi he's set sail on.

So you're the first and only person to have paddled the English Channel

in one of these? That's it.

It caused many people to laugh, you know?

I know. Mainly because it's a challenge.

It's a challenge for me, and a challenge for the coracle.

Yeah. And that was this Teifi coracle.

Before I take on the coracle,

Denzil gives me a few pointers on how to use it.

Step into it in a balanced way.

Sit on that unfortunately very, very wet seat.

Place one foot in each corner then to balance yourself,

and no doubt you've got the experience

with your canoe handling of how to paddle it.

You'd be... You've got more faith in me than I have, Denzil!

Well, let's hope I'm right, then!

Denzil, you made this look so easy.

I reckon I can push off, Denzil!

Do you reckon you can?

I think you can.

There we are.

Try paddling now, then, Richard, towards me.

Over the front, you paddle.

You don't paddle on the side.

You're not in a canoe now.

That's the one.

From side to side.

Use it from corner to corner.

Denzil, I'm just turning round in circles here!

Yeah - a different manoeuvre altogether.

Well, he's putting his right hand now over the top of the notch.

Yeah. The left hand, then, about halfway down the paddle...

Yeah. ..so that with both hands, you can swivel the wrists to help turn.

OK. Turn the paddle at a 45 degree angle...

Yes. ..from the left corner to the right corner.

Back then from the right corner to the left corner.

Easy!

Maybe not.

Yep, I'm still turning round in circles.

Try and go in for a land now, then.

Remember the balance.

Remember the balance.

Yep.

Are you beginning to get the hang of it now?

No, not at all.

Go for the land now, then.

Oh...

RICHARD LAUGHS

Come in now, please.

Yeah, well, I'm trying, believe it or not.

I've been trying to come in for the last ten minutes!

THEY LAUGH

Eventually, I'm out of a coracle

and into what's known as a touring kayak.

I join the river at Cilgerran and as I get closer to the sea,

the river is really starting to widen.

I'm meeting with Johnny Young,

Olympic para-canoeist, and a double world championship medal winner.

He's a 200-metre sprint specialist,

and paddles at a rate of 146 strokes per minute,

covering 100 metres in just 20 seconds.

For him, kayaking has had a profound effect on his life.

Hiya, Johnny.

It was December 2012 I had a skiing accident,

and I basically landed and burst my L2 vertebra,

which then caused a spinal cord injury.

Like, initially, it was just nothing was going on from here down,

you know? The...

The surgeon was excellent, actually, in France.

And he said, "You've had a bad break of your lower lumbar spine.

"In order to give you the best chance of being able to walk again,

"we need to operate."

And he said to me afterwards, he said,

"I don't know how successful this is going to be.

"I don't know if we've got all the nerves,

"or what we're going to see...

"..but time will ultimately tell."

What was your biggest challenge through your injury?

While...

I did feel strongly that my identity...

..was still the same, it was how that was displayed

that was going to be different.

And I think that that was the thing, then,

that I wanted to really find...

how to show that.

Our bodies don't have to define us.

I think that's the good thing about it, and...

Yeah, injuries, while they're hard to deal with,

they can be dealt with.

Yeah. I tell you what I've learned, though...

is your legs do a lot of work in kayaking.

When I started on the programme,

I was very much a full-time wheelchair user.

I just didn't have the strength in my legs to stand up.

Whereas now...

Yeah - the rotation, and all those little messages sending down -

they fire up all the little muscles that are working in my legs.

While they're still skinny, having that ability to fire them up

has just got me so much more out of it.

That's amazing. So, I didn't really expect to get it at all, so...

I'm itching to see what Johnny can do in his sprint canoe...

and I can't help getting competitive about it.

I know I'm going to lose...

..but I can't paddle with you without wanting to have a crack. Have faith in yourself!

Go on, then. Give me a head start, though, won't you? A little bit. OK.

If I can keep it in a straight line.

RICHARD LAUGHS

My 50-metre head start quickly evaporates.

It's amazing to witness his skill and speed in the water.

As Johnny powers off to continue his training,

I make my way to the mouth of the river.

This is Cardigan Bay,

and it's where the river meets the sea

and widens into a vast and glorious estuary.

As it opens up in front of me,

I can feel a breeze rolling up the river.

It's now only a short distance to where the Teifi ends.

Paddling into it is...

hard work. It's bringing...

It's giving me nightmares of skiing into the wind in Antarctica.

Paddling is slow going.

I find myself with plenty to reflect on from the last three days.

The people that I've met along my journeys

have been awesome humans.

What I learnt is that each of them

has embraced the spirit of adventure in their own unique way.

This is Poppit Sands,

73 miles from where I started my adventure.

And what an eye-opening adventure it's been.

Warming up next to the fire, it's...

It's made me think about the last few days, and...

how stepping outside of my comfort zone, and...

..attempting to learn a new skill has...

Well, it's already enriched my life, but...

the actual river...

the River Teifi has...

..enriched so many people's lives, and...

And that's really wonderful.