0:00:02 > 0:00:06Britain was once a difficult country to cross.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10Roads were few and paths obscure.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14And yet, our ancestors travelled.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16For work, and for pleasure.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19For faith, and for fortune.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24But the routes that they followed are lost.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28I'm going to rediscover them,
0:00:28 > 0:00:30and the people who took them.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33What they saw, and why they travelled.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36Who they met, and where they went.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38I'm following the forgotten routes
0:00:38 > 0:00:41that made this country great.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55'This week, we are starting on the northwest coast of Wales.'
0:00:58 > 0:01:03We're in the Dee Estuary, and we are on our way to a small
0:01:03 > 0:01:05but very ancient port
0:01:05 > 0:01:08called Greenfield.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11My job is to get these good people
0:01:11 > 0:01:13safely ashore, and embarked on
0:01:13 > 0:01:19an arduous trek across the entirety of Wales.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21Because we are going to follow
0:01:21 > 0:01:23a medieval pilgrimage route
0:01:23 > 0:01:25to St David's.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31It's a 160-mile journey.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33From the shores of the Dee estuary
0:01:33 > 0:01:35to Britain's smallest city,
0:01:35 > 0:01:38hidden away on the tip of the Pembrokeshire coast.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41St David's Cathedral was one of the most important
0:01:41 > 0:01:44religious sites in the country
0:01:44 > 0:01:45during medieval times,
0:01:45 > 0:01:47and the destination of choice
0:01:47 > 0:01:50for Britain's first mass travellers.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53Between the months of May and October,
0:01:53 > 0:01:56thousands of pilgrims, from Ireland and the North country,
0:01:56 > 0:02:00could be seen travelling across the Welsh countryside.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02That wind is blowing like the clappers.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05And the tide is coming in.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07In retracing this perilous route,
0:02:07 > 0:02:08my compatriots and I
0:02:08 > 0:02:12will imagine ourselves back in 1450,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15when the popularity of medieval pilgrimage was at its height.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19I want to find out what it was like
0:02:19 > 0:02:20to travel through this country
0:02:20 > 0:02:24as a religious pilgrim, over 500 years ago.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29I want to discover the legacy of the pilgrimage route today.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31Monumental picture.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34The mountain passes,
0:02:34 > 0:02:35the forgotten tracks.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37This looks like footprints.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41The towns and villages that grew up along the way.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44But most of all, I want to try to understand why,
0:02:44 > 0:02:47over a period of three centuries or more,
0:02:47 > 0:02:49thousands of people embarked on a journey
0:02:49 > 0:02:51which many would never survive.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Greenfield Dock has been here
0:03:04 > 0:03:06for more than 2,000 years.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08It would have been used by medieval pilgrims
0:03:08 > 0:03:10from the north.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12Like the characters in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales,
0:03:12 > 0:03:14I've chosen not to travel alone,
0:03:14 > 0:03:16but to tag along
0:03:16 > 0:03:20with people that might be of help to me along the way.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22Maddy Polonceaux, for example,
0:03:22 > 0:03:24is a member of the St John's Ambulance.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26Given possible danger ahead,
0:03:26 > 0:03:28she is top on my list to make friends with.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30What have you got there, Maddy?
0:03:30 > 0:03:32Just a standard first aid kit.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34The rest is in the bag here.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36- Is there more in your bag? - Yeah, just in case.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38It's a matter of prevention, more than anything.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40And St John,
0:03:40 > 0:03:44they were originally serving pilgrims, weren't they?
0:03:44 > 0:03:46Yes, they did, in Jerusalem.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48Joining Maddy are Nathan,
0:03:48 > 0:03:52Bob, Lara and Dave.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54Each, I hope, will make their own contribution
0:03:54 > 0:03:56to our pilgrimage, as we go on.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01In 1450, when we are setting off,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04this trip would have been difficult,
0:04:04 > 0:04:06but it was meant to be.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08A medieval pilgrimage was undertaken
0:04:08 > 0:04:10as a penance
0:04:10 > 0:04:12for sins that had been committed.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14It was no good if it was too easy.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17In fact, as early as 1250,
0:04:17 > 0:04:19everything had been codified
0:04:19 > 0:04:22to such an extent that it had been decided
0:04:22 > 0:04:24that two trips to St David's
0:04:24 > 0:04:27were worth one to Rome,
0:04:27 > 0:04:28which is why so many people
0:04:28 > 0:04:32from Ireland and Lancashire and the North of England went on it.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39But pilgrimage wasn't confined to those who wanted to save their souls
0:04:39 > 0:04:40from hell and damnation.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42Sickness and disease were rife
0:04:42 > 0:04:45during the medieval era.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48Many pilgrims were either ill or dying.
0:04:50 > 0:04:51What they were looking for
0:04:51 > 0:04:53was a miracle, here on Earth.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59After a short walk from the dock,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02the pilgrims would have arrived here,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05at Holywell.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07This holy Catholic shrine
0:05:07 > 0:05:09survived the destruction of the Reformation,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12and - to my astonishment - is still thriving
0:05:12 > 0:05:14in non-conformist Wales
0:05:14 > 0:05:17where Catholics are now a tiny minority.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23The miraculous healing powers of St Winefride's Well -
0:05:23 > 0:05:24the Lourdes of Wales -
0:05:24 > 0:05:28have drawn the sick, the lame, and the downright curious
0:05:28 > 0:05:30since the eighth century.
0:05:32 > 0:05:33Ah!
0:05:34 > 0:05:35Oh!
0:05:38 > 0:05:39Ah!
0:05:39 > 0:05:41Oof!
0:05:41 > 0:05:42HE LAUGHS
0:05:44 > 0:05:45I'm stuck!
0:05:45 > 0:05:47SHE LAUGHS
0:05:47 > 0:05:50There was a duke, apparently,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53who felt that the healing waters
0:05:53 > 0:05:55would be so efficacious...
0:05:57 > 0:05:59..that the longer he stayed in,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02the better off he would be.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05But of course, he stayed in so long, he died
0:06:05 > 0:06:08of hypothermia.
0:06:08 > 0:06:09Ah! Oh!
0:06:09 > 0:06:11All I can say is,
0:06:11 > 0:06:13any ailments I have
0:06:13 > 0:06:15have to be...
0:06:15 > 0:06:18lower than my chest,
0:06:18 > 0:06:21cos I'm not going any further down.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28HE LAUGHS
0:06:30 > 0:06:33So, very welcome to St Winefride.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37To this oldest shrine of unbroken pilgrimage
0:06:37 > 0:06:39in Britain.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41The holy well of St Winefride's
0:06:41 > 0:06:43reminds me that Wales was once amongst
0:06:43 > 0:06:46the most devoutly Catholic countries in the world.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49It is a place of faith, a place of devotion.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51It is a place of healing.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54Italian priest Father Salvatore Musella
0:06:54 > 0:06:56has been appointed by the Vatican
0:06:56 > 0:06:58to provide daily services
0:06:58 > 0:07:02for the 30,000 visitors that still come to this shrine every year.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06Although few of them would walk on to St David's.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08- Glorious Virgin and Martyr. - ALL: Pray for us.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Mounted inside this elaborate case
0:07:11 > 0:07:15is a fragment of St Winefride's 1,400-year-old
0:07:15 > 0:07:16finger bone.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20Kissing a holy relic
0:07:20 > 0:07:24is also reputed to have healing powers.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27But what made the owner of this bit of finger a saint?
0:07:27 > 0:07:30The story goes that Winefride,
0:07:30 > 0:07:31the daughter of a Welsh nobleman,
0:07:31 > 0:07:33rebuffed the passionate advances
0:07:33 > 0:07:35of an amorous prince.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38The prince took it badly and beheaded her.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41From the very place that her severed head hit the ground,
0:07:41 > 0:07:44a spring burst forth.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46It was the spring water that rejoined
0:07:46 > 0:07:49her head to her body.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55This was the miracle that brought Winefride back from the dead
0:07:55 > 0:07:58and led to her becoming a saint.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00Imagine the impact this extraordinary story
0:08:00 > 0:08:05must have had on a medieval mind.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07I feel as if we've been...
0:08:07 > 0:08:09transported back
0:08:09 > 0:08:11to the Middle Ages.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13So many of the things in this service
0:08:13 > 0:08:16are actually the concerns
0:08:16 > 0:08:21that an ordinary Welshman in the Middle Ages
0:08:21 > 0:08:23would have had about his life,
0:08:23 > 0:08:25and about his health,
0:08:25 > 0:08:27and about his beliefs,
0:08:27 > 0:08:31that would have prompted him to go on his grand tour.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36There were miraculous wonders to be found
0:08:36 > 0:08:38in this world.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40That's why the pilgrim went,
0:08:40 > 0:08:43and the longer the journey - the more effort made to get to them -
0:08:43 > 0:08:47the more powerful those miracles might be.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50With our visit to the holy shrine of Holywell
0:08:50 > 0:08:51under our belts,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54we are ready to negotiate the long and difficult journey
0:08:54 > 0:08:56to our ultimate destination,
0:08:56 > 0:08:59now just 156 miles away.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06Dave Kelly-Parkinson spends his life
0:09:06 > 0:09:10guiding people up the most dangerous mountains in the world.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12He is here as our chief navigator.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15We need to have a little think here.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18This looks the more obvious road, though.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21- The one to the right.- The direction we need to go is southeast.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24It is actually going this way, on the left fork.
0:09:24 > 0:09:25OK, great.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30Dave has based his route
0:09:30 > 0:09:32on the strip maps of John Ogilby.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34It's called the Pilgrim Way,
0:09:34 > 0:09:39even though it was drawn 100 years after the last pilgrims walked it.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41And it takes the form of a strip,
0:09:41 > 0:09:44showing the route and the major landmarks along the way.
0:09:44 > 0:09:49A sort of 17th-century version of a satnav.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55What's astonishing is how much of this ancient route
0:09:55 > 0:09:57lies just under the surface,
0:09:57 > 0:09:59waiting to be discovered amongst the tracks, paths
0:09:59 > 0:10:01and roadways of today.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05I didn't realise there was so much thought that went into medieval...
0:10:05 > 0:10:08At the moment, we look like a bunch of Sunday walkers.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12It is time for us to acquire the true badge of pilgrimage.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14Seen one in there.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17Let's have a look.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20What we are doing now is looking for staves,
0:10:20 > 0:10:24an essential part of the pilgrim kit.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26Here's a nice strong one.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28Can you give me a quite knobbly one?
0:10:28 > 0:10:30I like a little bit of character.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32A little bit of a Gandalf staff for me...
0:10:32 > 0:10:36- "Gandalf staff"? - You know what I mean?
0:10:36 > 0:10:38Nathan Goss is a carpenter by trade,
0:10:38 > 0:10:40hence his collection of tools,
0:10:40 > 0:10:43and the know-how in using them.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45About there, you are.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48Nathan's never happier than when he's got an axe in his hand.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52Oh! Speared myself right in the nadgers!
0:10:52 > 0:10:55HE LAUGHS
0:10:55 > 0:10:59Pilgrims' staffs were more than just walking sticks.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02They were weapons of self-defence.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06And they helped identify pilgrims from other travellers.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08Bit nervous about this axe, Nathan.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11'They came to symbolise the very act of pilgrimage.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16'The staff of Jesus was held in such high regard
0:11:16 > 0:11:18'that St Patrick was reputed to have brought it
0:11:18 > 0:11:20'all the way back to Ireland
0:11:20 > 0:11:23'from his travels in the Mediterranean.'
0:11:23 > 0:11:26Do you want to make a go of chopping it yourself?
0:11:26 > 0:11:28- No, no.- Are you sure?
0:11:28 > 0:11:31I love to see a man working.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35Since I don't do a job myself, you know.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37THEY LAUGH
0:11:41 > 0:11:44In medieval times,
0:11:44 > 0:11:46few people were encouraged, or even permitted,
0:11:46 > 0:11:50to travel freely through the country, like this.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52Ordinary citizens were expected to live, work
0:11:52 > 0:11:55and die in the parish they were born into.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59Anybody who strayed was labelled a vagrant
0:11:59 > 0:12:03and shipped straight back to where they had come from.
0:12:03 > 0:12:04But pilgrims were different.
0:12:04 > 0:12:05They could go freely,
0:12:05 > 0:12:08on condition they kept to their agreed route,
0:12:08 > 0:12:10and returned home the same way.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14Pilgrimage offered the common man and woman
0:12:14 > 0:12:16the one moment of true freedom
0:12:16 > 0:12:20they could expect to enjoy in their entire lives.
0:12:30 > 0:12:35A series of hills called the Clwydian Range
0:12:35 > 0:12:36run due south from Holywell
0:12:36 > 0:12:41and even today act as a barrier to the Welsh heartland beyond.
0:12:41 > 0:12:42With their ancient forts
0:12:42 > 0:12:45and modern telecommunications aerials,
0:12:45 > 0:12:46pointing towards heaven,
0:12:46 > 0:12:49these hills bear testimony to the hundreds of generations
0:12:49 > 0:12:51of human traffic that have crossed them.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59'Ogilby's 17th-century map
0:12:59 > 0:13:04'has helped Dave uncover a pathway across an open field.'
0:13:04 > 0:13:05After a big slog uphill,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08you've got a new view of where you're going.
0:13:08 > 0:13:13What is interesting is that it's not marked, as it were.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15We don't have little markers saying,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18"You are now on the pilgrim route,"
0:13:18 > 0:13:19like the Pennine Way.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22We're actually finding our own way.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27These ancient tracks,
0:13:27 > 0:13:29moulded into the earth over the centuries,
0:13:29 > 0:13:33were precisely the kind of paths that medieval pilgrims followed.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37Back in 1450,
0:13:37 > 0:13:40we would have had neither maps, nor the ability to read them.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43We would have had to ask locals for direction.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51A return journey of more than 300 miles through difficult terrain,
0:13:51 > 0:13:53as we are doing,
0:13:53 > 0:13:56would have taken the average pilgrim many weeks to complete.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00Assuming he was lucky enough to return home alive.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08Once over the Clwydian Range,
0:14:08 > 0:14:11the pilgrimage route runs along the Vale of Clwyd
0:14:11 > 0:14:15and right through the middle of the village of Llanynys.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19Pilgrim routes prompted the building of churches,
0:14:19 > 0:14:21and churches encouraged
0:14:21 > 0:14:25the development of villages like Llanynys.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28A church has certainly stood here since the 13th century.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32I am told that inside, there is some compelling evidence
0:14:32 > 0:14:34that pilgrims visited here.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40Discovered 50 years ago,
0:14:40 > 0:14:42this painting of St Christopher
0:14:42 > 0:14:45must have been created 600 years ago
0:14:45 > 0:14:48at the height of the age of religious pilgrimage.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51He is the patron saint of travellers.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56It's a monumental picture
0:14:56 > 0:14:57of the saint.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01Crossing a river, and the river itself
0:15:01 > 0:15:03is thronging with fish.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07And he was a giant.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10But he found that the child
0:15:10 > 0:15:13that he was carrying on his shoulders
0:15:13 > 0:15:15grew heavier and heavier,
0:15:15 > 0:15:17because the child was Christ,
0:15:17 > 0:15:22and Christ carried the weight of the sins of the world.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24And Offa,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27because his name was Offa,
0:15:27 > 0:15:29until he carried Christ,
0:15:29 > 0:15:32and then became "Christ-Offa", Christopher.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35And he is carrying
0:15:35 > 0:15:37a beautiful staff.
0:15:38 > 0:15:43And you sense that this was a message to pilgrims who came here.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48Looking at the south side of the church,
0:15:48 > 0:15:52I can see it is much larger than would normally be expected
0:15:52 > 0:15:54in a village of this size.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57It is thought it was made that way
0:15:57 > 0:16:00to allow pilgrims to sleep here.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05Suitably refreshed by St Christopher,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08we continue on our way.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12Late spring saw the first rush of pilgrims
0:16:12 > 0:16:14through the Welsh countryside.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16The timing was no accident,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19as this was the earliest the local flora and fauna
0:16:19 > 0:16:22could usefully be harvested to sustain the pilgrim on his way.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24A real range of flowers.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27These are Welsh poppies. So, truly, we are in Wales.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30It's gorgeous!
0:16:30 > 0:16:33'Lara Bernays is a qualified herbalist.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36'So I'm hoping she's going to prevent us
0:16:36 > 0:16:37'from eating anything poisonous.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40'I'm afraid there are countless stories
0:16:40 > 0:16:43'of medieval pilgrims falling ill en route,
0:16:43 > 0:16:46'and expiring in a lonely wood.'
0:16:47 > 0:16:50Lara, I've always been told
0:16:50 > 0:16:52that you have to be careful with watercress,
0:16:52 > 0:16:54in case of liver fluke.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56This is true.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58- This is why we are going to cook it. - OK.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02- If you cook it, it kills off the liver fluke.- OK.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07The river bank has yielded a successful haul.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10We have watercress, wild garlic and stinging nettles.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12The medieval pilgrim in Wales could eat well
0:17:12 > 0:17:15between the months of May and September.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21The steady flow of pilgrims up and down the countryside
0:17:21 > 0:17:25brought news and contact with the outside world to the towns
0:17:25 > 0:17:28and villages they passed through.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32The first place of any size that we come to
0:17:32 > 0:17:34is the 13th-century market town of Ruthin.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37It must have been exciting
0:17:37 > 0:17:40to come to what was then a bustling new town.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49We've come to the one house in Ruthin that was undoubtedly
0:17:49 > 0:17:52standing at the time of our pilgrimage.
0:17:52 > 0:17:57The merchants who owned it would have probably let in pilgrims
0:17:57 > 0:18:01as an act of piety, possibly good business sense as well.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07Nantclwyd House was built in 1420,
0:18:07 > 0:18:11which makes it the oldest surviving town house in Wales.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16Nathan, our carpenter, is also a building surveyor
0:18:16 > 0:18:18for the National Trust.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20He can't resist sharing his knowledge
0:18:20 > 0:18:22of how it was built 600 years ago.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26Basically, what we've got here is a five-bay,
0:18:26 > 0:18:31crucked, scarf-crucked house, medieval house.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35What's interesting is just, judging from this picture,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38is effectively, it was a hall house.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40Yeah, definitely.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44So you had the fire in the middle of there, where that carpet is
0:18:44 > 0:18:47down there, and that went up through a hole in the roof.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50- There wouldn't have been a hole in the roof.- Wouldn't there?- No.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54- They just had a fire.- Yeah.- And it filled up with smoke?- Yep.- OK.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58- So they didn't have, they didn't have a chimney?- No chimney. No, no.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03They don't really want us to have our own fire inside tonight
0:19:03 > 0:19:06and so we've moved out to the garden to do our cooking.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09Dave has put his charts and maps down for a moment
0:19:09 > 0:19:12in order to skin a couple of rabbits.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15As a pilgrim, you had to be careful.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17The church forbad the eating of meat on Fridays
0:19:17 > 0:19:19and, until late medieval times,
0:19:19 > 0:19:21it was banned on Wednesdays and Saturdays too.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26- I am bringing the rabbit over to you.- Lovely.- There we are.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28You're making a sort of stew, are you?
0:19:28 > 0:19:32A kind of pottage, I'd say. Medieval rabbit pottage.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34A pottage. Which means it will have various
0:19:34 > 0:19:36root vegetables and things like that in?
0:19:36 > 0:19:38Barley, we've got, we're going to add.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42We've got wild garlic, which will be really important to sterilise rabbit
0:19:42 > 0:19:47and keep us all healthy and free of colds and coughs on our pilgrimage.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51- So is this sort of medicinal as well as flavouring?- Oh, very much. Yes.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53OK, good.
0:19:53 > 0:19:59In my medical kit here, I have got rather a special little herb.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02Saffron.
0:20:02 > 0:20:09Welsh medieval physicians, they said to produce joy, eat saffron.
0:20:09 > 0:20:14But beware of overeating, in case you die of excessive joy.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16Well, we don't want that.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21'What does seem to be giving us excessive joy is our staves.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25'We've all become obsessed with whittling their shafts
0:20:25 > 0:20:28'and personalising them with fancy designs,
0:20:28 > 0:20:32'which, when you think about it, is an activity as old as man himself.'
0:20:35 > 0:20:38As the sun dips below the timber-framed houses,
0:20:38 > 0:20:40our pottage thickens and matures.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43Nettles, barley, rabbit.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45We're not going to turn up our noses.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49The medieval era was beset with endless famines.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54I want to try the nettles, just to be sure they are cooked.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00It's not as bad as I thought.
0:21:00 > 0:21:01- No.- They're not a strong flavour.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04'And the food is actually delicious.'
0:21:04 > 0:21:06That is fantastic.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10'No-one finds it more so than Nathan,
0:21:10 > 0:21:13'who reveals a passion for offal.'
0:21:13 > 0:21:17- Contentment.- Just give me the kidneys, the liver, the heart.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24That is unbelievable!
0:21:29 > 0:21:31We've all survived the rustic pottage
0:21:31 > 0:21:33and we didn't die of excessive joy.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46The word pilgrim derives from the Latin, peregrinator,
0:21:46 > 0:21:48meaning a traveller.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50But not all pilgrims walked.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54There were quite a lot of rich people who went as well,
0:21:54 > 0:21:58and often, they went by horse or mule or some other transport,
0:21:58 > 0:22:01so I've got ourselves a sort of mule
0:22:01 > 0:22:06and we're going to travel like merchants.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14Keep following now and go left at the top here.
0:22:14 > 0:22:20'Now, I've driven one of these before, but they've all got their quirks.'
0:22:20 > 0:22:24Isn't it funny how there doesn't seem to be a universal
0:22:24 > 0:22:27having your indicator on the same side?
0:22:27 > 0:22:30- ENGINE CUTS OUT - Yeah.- Oh, gosh.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33Unlucky, now. Have we got the choke in or something like that?
0:22:33 > 0:22:35There's no choke on a diesel.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37HE LAUGHS
0:22:37 > 0:22:41- Is it a diesel? I always want to blame the choke, you see.- Yeah.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47Whole sections of the ancient pilgrimage route, like this
0:22:47 > 0:22:50stretch of the A494 to Bala, were so well chosen,
0:22:50 > 0:22:54they now form part of the modern transport network.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56To tell stories, you know, he goes like this.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00'Even with me behind the wheel, we're safer to drive than walk.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02'But we'll not be on it for long.'
0:23:02 > 0:23:06We're due to catch the 11:50 train and we're late.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08TRAIN TOOTS
0:23:11 > 0:23:13This is Bala Lake.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17It's the largest lake in Wales and the pilgrim route
0:23:17 > 0:23:21once hugged the two and-a-half mile length of its eastern shore.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26'Today, that same stretch of the pilgrim route has been given over to
0:23:26 > 0:23:31'the Bala Light Railway and we've just got seconds to get on board.'
0:23:36 > 0:23:39TRAIN TOOTS
0:23:49 > 0:23:54Well, ladies and gentlemen, the train now leaving platform...
0:23:54 > 0:23:59the platform... is going to Llanuwchllyn.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05Llanuwchllyn? Llanuwchllyn. Is that right?
0:24:05 > 0:24:07- Llanuwchllyn. Yes. Yes. - Llan-UWCH-llun.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09- Uwch.- Uwch.- Uwch.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15Up until 1965, this was the main line to Barmouth,
0:24:15 > 0:24:19a seaside resort on the west coast.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22Though it no longer goes further than the length of the lake,
0:24:22 > 0:24:25its purpose is still to serve the holiday-maker.
0:24:27 > 0:24:32What was a pathway to God has become the railway line to leisure
0:24:32 > 0:24:34and a modern form of spiritual refreshment.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42Now, here we are in Llanuwchllyn. The end of the line.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45From here, we must forge our way up into the Cambrian Mountains,
0:24:45 > 0:24:48to the pass of Bwlch y Groes.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55This very real physical barrier was one of the biggest challenges
0:24:55 > 0:24:57the medieval pilgrim faced.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03Whereabouts are we, Dave?
0:25:03 > 0:25:06Halfway up to the pass of Bwlch y Groes
0:25:06 > 0:25:09and we just passed Aran, the mountain on our right.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14- So how close are we to the... to the Pilgrims' Trail?- This is it.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17- This is on it. We are on it.- We are actually on it?- This road was it.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21We can see by the number of peaks drawn on Ogilby's map
0:25:21 > 0:25:25that we have left the soft, rolling hills behind
0:25:25 > 0:25:28and we are now into serious mountain country.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34For many medieval pilgrims caught in bad weather
0:25:34 > 0:25:38or lost in the hills, this would have been the end of the road.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41The lucky ones that survived could relish the prospect
0:25:41 > 0:25:44of only another 109 miles to go.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51This is the highest part of the highest mountain pass in Wales.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54All 545 metres of it.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58Pilgrims and travellers would have assembled here before filing through
0:25:58 > 0:26:01the narrow gap in the mountain range,
0:26:01 > 0:26:03and now, we're going to do the same.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07I'm a mountain girl by nature.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09- Yes.- But currently...
0:26:09 > 0:26:11So you know what Ruskin said about weather,
0:26:11 > 0:26:14that there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16- Yep.- Something like that, anyway.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20I think he put it in a more poetical way than that.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26Waterproof trousers surely fall into the category of bad clothes!
0:26:29 > 0:26:34But unfortunately, like Robert, I think we're going to need them.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38The cloud and the weather is coming in over there pretty badly.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42Quite atmospheric though. I do like weather and mountains and clouds.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54'So strong is its connection with the pilgrim route that this
0:26:54 > 0:26:58'is still known as the Pass Of The Cross, or Bwlch y Groes in Welsh.
0:26:58 > 0:27:03'And its spiritual past does not go unmarked.'
0:27:03 > 0:27:08Ah! Look at that down in front of us.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14And here is the cross that indisputably tells us
0:27:14 > 0:27:17we are on the pilgrim route.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20- Good.- Yeah.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23And we're also coming towards bandit country.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26- What are they called?- They are called the Gwylliaid Cochion.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29Gwylliaid Cochion. And what does that mean, Robert?
0:27:29 > 0:27:34It means wild bandits, red wild bandits, something like that.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37Red wild bandits. And they were in this area?
0:27:37 > 0:27:42Well, I'm not 100% sure I want to go this way, to be honest with you.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45I think I'd rather that pass.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48The bandits of Mawddwy were a gang of red-headed highwaymen
0:27:48 > 0:27:51who operated in and around this pass during the 16th century.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57Back in the 1930s, a local film-maker brought the legend
0:27:57 > 0:28:01to the silver screen, casting the film with local people.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03Sheep stealing was endemic,
0:28:03 > 0:28:06as was robbing from passing travellers and pilgrims.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13But on 12th October 1555,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17our red-haired robbers went one step too far and murdered the Sheriff.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24The bandits were caught, tried for their crimes
0:28:24 > 0:28:28and made to pay the ultimate price.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38'We've set up camp.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42'Dave's bushman skills should keep us warm and fed, and these tents,
0:28:42 > 0:28:45'based on medieval designs, will keep us dry.
0:28:48 > 0:28:51'But we're still in what would have been bandit territory
0:28:51 > 0:28:54'during the medieval era, so we're going to try
0:28:54 > 0:28:56'to do what the pilgrims did to ward off danger.'
0:28:56 > 0:29:01HE SINGS
0:29:01 > 0:29:06'Musician Robert Evans is an expert in early Welsh music.
0:29:06 > 0:29:11'He sourced a 14th-century hymn in honour of St David that would
0:29:11 > 0:29:14'have been sung by pilgrims as they traversed the countryside.'
0:29:14 > 0:29:16THEY SING
0:29:16 > 0:29:19'Now he's got the unenviable task of teaching us
0:29:19 > 0:29:21'all to sing this ancient work.'
0:29:21 > 0:29:23THEY CONTINUE TO SING
0:29:28 > 0:29:31LIGHTNING ROARS
0:29:31 > 0:29:34500 years ago, these dark valleys
0:29:34 > 0:29:37and stark mountain sides would have seemed terrifying to people
0:29:37 > 0:29:40who had never left their farms and villages before.
0:29:44 > 0:29:46THEY SING IN LATIN
0:29:49 > 0:29:52To those prospective bandits lurking in the hedges,
0:29:52 > 0:29:56the sound of our sacred singing would have acted as a warning,
0:29:56 > 0:29:59and that's because by 12th-century law,
0:29:59 > 0:30:02the punishment for attacking or robbing a pilgrim
0:30:02 > 0:30:07was excommunication, expulsion from the church.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10It's pretty hard to imagine the horror of that now,
0:30:10 > 0:30:15but back then, it meant a passage straight to hell.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17THEY SING IN LATIN
0:30:31 > 0:30:33'The hardship of the pilgrim way
0:30:33 > 0:30:36'is stirring the imagination of my companions.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39'None more so than Nathan.'
0:30:40 > 0:30:43Tell me about your shoes, Nathan.
0:30:43 > 0:30:45Ah, my shoes. Now, then.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48These are beautiful little numbers.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51We've got a bit of cow's leather, here.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53- And they are medieval shoes? - Oh, yes.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55These are medieval shoes all right.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58- And what are the things at the bottom?- These are called patterns.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01They are made traditionally out of beech.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06They were made, basically, to keep your boot out of the cachu,
0:31:06 > 0:31:08out of the muck.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11Because you know what the streets of London
0:31:11 > 0:31:13were like back in the medieval period.
0:31:13 > 0:31:17It was throw everything out of the window, basically, onto the floor.
0:31:17 > 0:31:22- And are they comfortable? - I won't lie to you, no.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25- They are absolutely killing my feet. - THEY LAUGH
0:31:32 > 0:31:35This is the Dovey.
0:31:35 > 0:31:38The source of this great meandering river
0:31:38 > 0:31:39lies less than 40 miles upstream,
0:31:39 > 0:31:45back in the Cambrian Mountains, where we've just come from.
0:31:45 > 0:31:49The river has always presented a challenge to the traveller in Wales
0:31:49 > 0:31:53and back in 1450, there was no bridge.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56So we're going to have to find another way to get across.
0:31:58 > 0:32:04Well, we've reached a major obstacle for a 15th-century pilgrim,
0:32:04 > 0:32:06the River Dovey.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09Essentially, it is the border between North Wales
0:32:09 > 0:32:12and South Wales, where we now want to go.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15Not an easy thing to cross.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22On the other side, over in South Wales where we want to be,
0:32:22 > 0:32:26we spot some of the last tidal fishermen to work this estuary.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31Wading across the deep river is not a possibility
0:32:31 > 0:32:34and we are now on extremely boggy ground,
0:32:34 > 0:32:37riddled with deep ditches.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41The tide is coming in fast, filling the ditches even deeper.
0:32:45 > 0:32:47We're in trouble.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50Don't just try and wade across.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53We've got to find a place to jump.
0:32:53 > 0:32:55SCREAMING
0:32:55 > 0:32:57'Lara's gone in.'
0:32:57 > 0:32:59- Lara! - THEY LAUGH
0:33:00 > 0:33:04- Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no!- Oh, no!
0:33:05 > 0:33:07SHE GROANS
0:33:07 > 0:33:10- Are you OK?- Don't worry.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14Fortunately for poor soaking Lara,
0:33:14 > 0:33:18the fisherman is there to offer his services as ferry man.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22- Morning.- 'We can cross, but only two at a time.
0:33:22 > 0:33:27'We send Lara over first so she can dry off in the fisherman's hut.'
0:33:35 > 0:33:37- There used to be a ferry. - Did there? Right.- Yes.
0:33:37 > 0:33:42There was a ferry going across here, and the hut
0:33:42 > 0:33:44is the old ferry man's hut.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48'This isn't the first time Geraint has rowed people across,
0:33:48 > 0:33:50'but Bob remains unconvinced.'
0:33:50 > 0:33:53- You look worried, mate. - No, I'm not worried.
0:33:53 > 0:33:55HE LAUGHS
0:33:56 > 0:34:00Wow! Yes!
0:34:00 > 0:34:04Look at this beauty! How much would that fish be, then?
0:34:04 > 0:34:06- What, are you buying it?- Maybe.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09- HE LAUGHS - Six pound.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12No, it's seven pound. Eight pounds a pound. Seven eights.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16- 56.- 56 quid for the entire fish.
0:34:16 > 0:34:20- We could fry it up here, if you want?- That would be nice.
0:34:20 > 0:34:24- Got a gas stove there. - Have you?- Yeah.
0:34:29 > 0:34:30Does that smell good, or what?
0:34:35 > 0:34:38'Our encounter with ferry man and salmon is one
0:34:38 > 0:34:42'medieval pilgrims might have experienced 500 years ago and now,
0:34:42 > 0:34:46'just as then, the locals have made a bit on the side into the bargain.'
0:34:52 > 0:34:54Mmm!
0:35:00 > 0:35:03'We are now officially in South Wales.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06'The lakes and the mountains of the high ground are behind us
0:35:06 > 0:35:10'and the coast and flatlands of the south and west lie ahead.'
0:35:14 > 0:35:19The town of Aberystwyth marks our first sight of the sea.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22All the medieval pilgrim would have encountered would have been
0:35:22 > 0:35:25this 12th-century castle and a lot of breaking waves.
0:35:26 > 0:35:31It was the Victorians who developed this place into a seaside town.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34With its colourful hotels and bracing sea air,
0:35:34 > 0:35:37Aberystwyth came to be billed as the Biarritz of Wales
0:35:37 > 0:35:39for a short time.
0:35:42 > 0:35:46We've had enough of wet clothes and draughty medieval houses,
0:35:46 > 0:35:50so we've booked ourselves into a classic seaside hotel.
0:35:52 > 0:35:54Enough of holy days.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56We're going to treat ourselves
0:35:56 > 0:36:00to the modern secular equivalent, a holiday.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03Look at this! I've found somewhere to put our staffs.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06Are we all right to leave our staffs in the umbrella stand?
0:36:06 > 0:36:08Thank you very much.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13- Are we all on this floor?- Yes.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17- Some of you are on the second floor as well.- Come on through, then.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20There we go. The rest of you, are you on the second?
0:36:20 > 0:36:21Are you on the first as well, Nathan?
0:36:21 > 0:36:24No, no. I'm on the second.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28'En-suite bathrooms, four-poster beds...'
0:36:28 > 0:36:31Nerys, this is very glamorous, yeah.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33'..and perfect sea views.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36'The stock in trade of the promenade.'
0:36:38 > 0:36:40I love coming to seaside towns.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43I love it because for me, it is a sort of nostalgia.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47I suppose I'm the last of the generation who actually took
0:36:47 > 0:36:49seaside holidays as a boy.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52British, proper British seaside holidays,
0:36:52 > 0:36:56with piers and ice creams and roller-coasters,
0:36:56 > 0:36:57things like that.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01I think they should be preserved in all their glory,
0:37:01 > 0:37:05sort of monuments to a happy British past.
0:37:07 > 0:37:11And we should all make pilgrimages to places like Aberystwyth.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19One, please.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23Aberystwyth's Constitution Hill was a great Victorian treat
0:37:23 > 0:37:27and I can't resist following my own ascension
0:37:27 > 0:37:30to nostalgic enlightenment.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37After days of rigorous religious observance,
0:37:37 > 0:37:40we're all planning a spot of shopping,
0:37:40 > 0:37:42but these amusements and diversions
0:37:42 > 0:37:47remind me that it was the seductions of holiday
0:37:47 > 0:37:50that spelt the end of strict religious pilgrimage,
0:37:50 > 0:37:53so we must be careful.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01When pilgrimage began in the early church,
0:38:01 > 0:38:04pilgrims willingly subjected themselves to pain
0:38:04 > 0:38:09and suffering in exchange for the eradication of their sins,
0:38:09 > 0:38:14but as the centuries passed, the church decided to cash in.
0:38:14 > 0:38:17They allowed pilgrims to pay money to have their sins absolved,
0:38:17 > 0:38:22and these short cuts to absolution were called indulgences.
0:38:22 > 0:38:27They led to a corruption of the whole idea.
0:38:27 > 0:38:28No, not real.
0:38:28 > 0:38:34By removing the penitential aspect, pilgrimage became pleasurable
0:38:34 > 0:38:36and began to resemble the modern holiday,
0:38:36 > 0:38:40travelling to distant places, meeting new people,
0:38:40 > 0:38:43seeing amazing things and buying loads of souvenirs
0:38:43 > 0:38:46as mementoes of your visit.
0:38:46 > 0:38:50They all have their roots in the fashion for religious pilgrimage.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53Did pilgrims buy things like this on windy days?
0:38:55 > 0:39:01The first souvenirs for pilgrims
0:39:01 > 0:39:03were manufactured in Spain
0:39:03 > 0:39:05just under 1,000 years ago.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10And by the end of the 12th century,
0:39:10 > 0:39:14virtually every shrine was manufacturing little badges
0:39:14 > 0:39:19which people wore to prove that they'd been there.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23It's all so tacky. I'm going to go to the beach.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26Whistles and bells they liked because when they reached
0:39:26 > 0:39:30the shrine, also, pilgrims liked to make a bit of a racket.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32A bit like football fans.
0:39:35 > 0:39:37WHISTLE BLOWS
0:39:37 > 0:39:38My chosen souvenirs at least
0:39:38 > 0:39:41have a connection to their religious origins.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44I'm keen to see what my companions have dug up.
0:39:44 > 0:39:46- I thought I'd buy myself a pillow. - Aw!
0:39:46 > 0:39:49THEY LAUGH
0:39:51 > 0:39:54That's very good, I'm impressed.
0:39:54 > 0:39:59I find this rather distasteful, all this plastic from China.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02So I've taken the sea air
0:40:02 > 0:40:05and I've filled one of my bottles with sea air.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07This is total pilgrim tradition.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09Go like that to get plenty of ozone in the bottle.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13Indeed, and with my affinity with water, I thought... Don't!
0:40:13 > 0:40:15- Don't release the air! - THEY SHOUT
0:40:15 > 0:40:18- I'm just going to sniff it! - THEY LAUGH
0:40:21 > 0:40:23Did Nathan dig this up?
0:40:23 > 0:40:26This is the sacred manhole cover of Aberystwyth.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37Ironically, the best connection ever made between the decline
0:40:37 > 0:40:40of religious pilgrimage and the rise of the secular holiday
0:40:40 > 0:40:45is to be found minutes from Aberystwyth's seafront,
0:40:45 > 0:40:49because this town is also home to the National Library of Wales,
0:40:49 > 0:40:53a powerhouse of knowledge, with over four million books,
0:40:53 > 0:40:56and I'm just interested in one of them.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01There are only two original copies of Geoffrey Chaucer's
0:41:01 > 0:41:06Canterbury Tales in existence and this is the earliest one,
0:41:06 > 0:41:07the Hengwrt Chaucer.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09It is the oldest manuscript...
0:41:09 > 0:41:14Transcribed in 1400, the year of Geoffrey Chaucer's death,
0:41:14 > 0:41:18which makes this book more than six centuries old.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25Chaucer documented the aspects of religious pilgrimage that
0:41:25 > 0:41:28would ultimately bring about its downfall.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31So we'd learn about the cook's debauched love of drinking
0:41:31 > 0:41:36and dancing, the Wife of Bath's insatiable sexual appetite...
0:41:38 > 0:41:43..and the venality of selling indulgences and souvenirs.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46There's very little God in here,
0:41:46 > 0:41:49but the clergy certainly make an appearance.
0:41:49 > 0:41:50Here's the abbot.
0:41:50 > 0:41:55"His boots supple, his horse in great estate.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58"Most certainly he was a fair prelate."
0:41:58 > 0:42:00In other words,
0:42:00 > 0:42:03Chaucer is noticing that the abbot makes a bit on the side.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06He's fat, well accoutred and has very, very little to do
0:42:06 > 0:42:11with the business of being very holy, or involving himself,
0:42:11 > 0:42:15seemingly, in the business of following the laws of St Benedict.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18What's great about the whole story is it sort of,
0:42:18 > 0:42:21it sort of shows that the pilgrimage was a social event.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24All these people come together and bicker and argue,
0:42:24 > 0:42:26but they laugh at each other's jokes
0:42:26 > 0:42:31and expect entertainment and jollity along the way.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38Chaucer's self-serving abbot provides a sharp contrast
0:42:38 > 0:42:41to the man who inspired our pilgrimage.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46St David was a devout ascetic monk
0:42:46 > 0:42:50who founded the Christian church in Wales long before there was
0:42:50 > 0:42:54one in pagan England, and every mile is now bringing us closer to him.
0:42:59 > 0:43:041,500 years ago, there was a miracle here in Llanddewi Brefi.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08A priest caused a mound to burst up from under him
0:43:08 > 0:43:12so that he could speak to a vast assembly of people.
0:43:12 > 0:43:16The priest was St David and 500 years later,
0:43:16 > 0:43:21they built this church in his memory, on top of his miracle mound.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29- Well, it's quite a mound over here, isn't it?- It is.
0:43:29 > 0:43:36- And it's of a pretty circular shape as well.- Yes.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39You see, I have my own theory that actually...
0:43:39 > 0:43:42I like to have theories about miracles because when a miracle
0:43:42 > 0:43:45gets as well attested as this, either they were all hallucinating,
0:43:45 > 0:43:49or perhaps you can see land has a tendency to sort of fall away.
0:43:49 > 0:43:51- Yes.- Drop down.
0:43:51 > 0:43:55The river will undermine the bank, so there's a sense that possibly,
0:43:55 > 0:43:57they're all standing here and suddenly a big bit of land went
0:43:57 > 0:44:02whoomph, fell down and suddenly it looked as if St David had come up.
0:44:02 > 0:44:03Yes. Quite possible.
0:44:06 > 0:44:08But just when I think I've come up with
0:44:08 > 0:44:11a rational explanation for the miracle,
0:44:11 > 0:44:14Nathan pursues his own theory.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18St David was a big fan of water.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21He'd often stand up to his neck in it.
0:44:21 > 0:44:27He'd drink nothing else and he'd use water for his miracle cures.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30Nathan believes that if he can find an underground spring,
0:44:30 > 0:44:34this might add credence to the story.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37But what are those rods he's using?
0:44:37 > 0:44:41They're just... It's just plastic-coated metal.
0:44:41 > 0:44:44Metal rods.
0:44:44 > 0:44:49- But you use this in your work? - Yes, yeah.
0:44:49 > 0:44:54I occasionally get called upon by the National Trust
0:44:54 > 0:44:58to try and find water pipes for the mains,
0:44:58 > 0:44:59all these types of things.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02What were you looking for, then?
0:45:02 > 0:45:04I was thinking water, thinking spring,
0:45:04 > 0:45:08thinking Holywell, thinking about that beautiful well, and it comes.
0:45:08 > 0:45:10They just move.
0:45:10 > 0:45:15I haven't the faintest idea how it works, but it does.
0:45:15 > 0:45:16So you think that in this,
0:45:16 > 0:45:20this might have indicated there are springs in this mound?
0:45:20 > 0:45:23Oh, yeah, definitely. Definitely springs in the mound.
0:45:27 > 0:45:32Llanddewi Brefi has retained its magnetic qualities over the centuries.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35It provided the setting for the television series Little Britain.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38He's not the only gay in the village.
0:45:38 > 0:45:42'Something the corner shop likes to remind its customers of.'
0:45:42 > 0:45:46But it was also a focus for '60s counterculture,
0:45:46 > 0:45:51with reports of legendary figures like Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Mick Jagger
0:45:51 > 0:45:57coming to hang out here in country cottages and enjoy the country air.
0:45:57 > 0:45:59Amongst other things!
0:45:59 > 0:46:02As long as they weren't hassled by the fuzz.
0:46:09 > 0:46:14Bob was a local. In those days, Bob, were you stoppable?
0:46:14 > 0:46:17- I mean, you were young. - I was young.
0:46:17 > 0:46:19Did you have an afro?
0:46:19 > 0:46:24- No, I never had an afro.- I did. - Did you?- Mm. The best I could manage.
0:46:24 > 0:46:29- LAUGHTER - Anyway, quite a lot of hair.
0:46:29 > 0:46:32Bob, did you have a bit of long hair in those days?
0:46:32 > 0:46:35- I did. I looked a bit like Jesus in those days.- Jesus?- Yes.
0:46:35 > 0:46:38LAUGHTER
0:46:38 > 0:46:40Well, no wonder they stopped you!
0:46:43 > 0:46:47We're in Pembrokeshire, on the home straight.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49And from now on, we follow the coastline
0:46:49 > 0:46:51pretty much all the way to St David's.
0:46:56 > 0:47:00Well, this bit feels the most medieval, but it's not at all, really.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03Medieval people were far too sensible to walk along here
0:47:03 > 0:47:04by the side of the sea.
0:47:04 > 0:47:06They went on the inland route,
0:47:06 > 0:47:09following what is now a fast trunk road.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12Instead, we are taking what is essentially
0:47:12 > 0:47:16the new pilgrimage route, which is the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path.
0:47:19 > 0:47:21And if you ask me,
0:47:21 > 0:47:24the modern desire for mortification of the flesh gained by trudging
0:47:24 > 0:47:28this tricky route echoes an original pilgrim desire for suffering.
0:47:32 > 0:47:35After our excesses in Aberystwyth, we're back on course.
0:47:43 > 0:47:45We've got just 24 miles to go.
0:47:47 > 0:47:51Nevern churchyard was the junction of pilgrim routes.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54'Pilgrims would assemble here from all parts of the country
0:47:54 > 0:47:57'before proceeding en-masse to their final destination.'
0:47:57 > 0:47:59It's the perfect churchyard...
0:47:59 > 0:48:03'As we get closer to St David's Cathedral, the evidence that we're nearing
0:48:03 > 0:48:07'what was once an important shrine begins to increase.'
0:48:07 > 0:48:10Nathan, look at this.
0:48:10 > 0:48:12- Oh, what?- What's this, Bob?
0:48:12 > 0:48:14This looks like, um, footprints.
0:48:14 > 0:48:19So many people walked down this route following the pilgrim,
0:48:19 > 0:48:23they wore, or perhaps they cut... Do you think?
0:48:23 > 0:48:26- I'd say it was cut. - ..the descent down.
0:48:31 > 0:48:33- Quite handy to have them cut.- It is.
0:48:33 > 0:48:37It's quite easy to go arseius over titus.
0:48:46 > 0:48:48Further down the road is Newport.
0:48:48 > 0:48:52Today, the people of this ancient borough are hosting a game
0:48:52 > 0:48:54of the medieval sport of Cnapan.
0:48:58 > 0:49:00Cnapan was played on Shrove Tuesday,
0:49:00 > 0:49:02one of the original religious holidays.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06Townsfolk, farmers and medieval pilgrims got swept up
0:49:06 > 0:49:11in a violent frenzy of an early form of beach rugby with menaces.
0:49:11 > 0:49:13Go, Nathan!
0:49:13 > 0:49:16Dave and Nathan have volunteered to join opposing sides.
0:49:19 > 0:49:21Come on, Nathan!
0:49:24 > 0:49:27Anything up to 1,000 people a side would have played.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30Unlike today, they'd have used a heavy wooden ball
0:49:30 > 0:49:32that could crack your head open.
0:49:33 > 0:49:35SHOUTING
0:49:35 > 0:49:38Yes!
0:49:39 > 0:49:40- 'It's half-time.' - HE RETCHES
0:49:40 > 0:49:43Come and give it a try for ten minutes?
0:49:43 > 0:49:46- Well...- We need your support.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49What? Look at the state of you two!
0:49:49 > 0:49:53You two are young, fit men. What would I do?
0:49:53 > 0:49:56I'd just embarrass myself and humiliate myself.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59- But I guess that's my role in life, isn't it?- Yes, yes.- Hang on.
0:50:06 > 0:50:07Go, Griff, go!
0:50:10 > 0:50:15'As a would-be medieval pilgrim, I can regard any maiming or injuries
0:50:15 > 0:50:18'I incur while playing Cnapan as something I can offset
0:50:18 > 0:50:20'against all the sins I've committed.
0:50:20 > 0:50:24'Assuming I'm not crushed to death before the final whistle.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27'It's absolutely terrifying.'
0:50:38 > 0:50:40FINAL WHISTLE
0:50:48 > 0:50:52It's the final day of our pilgrimage and we have a lot of work to do.
0:50:54 > 0:50:57Some of us really haven't suffered enough for our sins
0:50:57 > 0:51:02to be absolved, so I've ordered a batch of hair shirts.
0:51:02 > 0:51:04These haven't been made specially by a prop maker,
0:51:04 > 0:51:08these have been made for people who like to wear hair shirts.
0:51:09 > 0:51:13'medieval pilgrims often wore hair shirts like these
0:51:13 > 0:51:15'as an act of penitence.
0:51:15 > 0:51:19'Made of sackcloth, riddled with ticks and lice,
0:51:19 > 0:51:22'they are superbly uncomfortable.
0:51:22 > 0:51:24'They're bad enough for a few minutes,
0:51:24 > 0:51:29'let alone for weeks on end, as the original pilgrims would have worn them.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32'Their flesh would have been chafed to bits.
0:51:34 > 0:51:39'In the heat of the midday sun, they become absolute torture.
0:51:39 > 0:51:41'Which, of course, was the point.
0:51:43 > 0:51:47'Ogilby's map tells us we've got just one more mile to go
0:51:47 > 0:51:49'before we reach St David's.
0:51:49 > 0:51:53'But we have a few more rituals to perform.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56'The first is to go barefoot.
0:51:56 > 0:51:57'This wasn't uncommon.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01'Henry II walked barefooted all the way from London to Canterbury
0:52:01 > 0:52:04'in an attempt to beg forgiveness from the Pope
0:52:04 > 0:52:06'for the death of Thomas A Becket.
0:52:06 > 0:52:11'And as if this wasn't enough, monks whipped him while he prayed aloud.'
0:52:15 > 0:52:19'Penitence Bridge was the last-chance cafe for repentance.
0:52:19 > 0:52:23'A bit of humble foot washing might improve my chances
0:52:23 > 0:52:24'in the afterlife.'
0:52:24 > 0:52:28As your leader, a little bit of water.
0:52:28 > 0:52:32Splippy, splibby, sblobby, splib.
0:52:32 > 0:52:36- Oh! God alive!- Manly stuff!
0:52:36 > 0:52:38I'm just saying, the business of washing feet,
0:52:38 > 0:52:41I believe the Pope does it quite a lot, doesn't he?
0:52:41 > 0:52:44With clean feet, but rather itchy bodies,
0:52:44 > 0:52:48we blow our whistles noisily just as medieval pilgrims would have done
0:52:48 > 0:52:51600 years ago to announce our arrival.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01Here we are. Glorious.
0:53:04 > 0:53:07- Welcome to all of you. - Thank you for having us here.
0:53:07 > 0:53:09Welcome to journey's end.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13'Once inside the cathedral,
0:53:13 > 0:53:16'the pilgrims must have stared in awe and wonder
0:53:16 > 0:53:18'at its Norman beauty.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21'Nothing they would have seen or heard would have prepared them
0:53:21 > 0:53:25'for the scale and grandeur of this workmanship.'
0:53:34 > 0:53:36This is what the pilgrims came to see.
0:53:36 > 0:53:38This is where they would have knelt.
0:53:38 > 0:53:43The bishop, Wyn Evans, leads us to the shrine of St David.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46All the jewels and bodily relics of the saint
0:53:46 > 0:53:51that were once lodged inside were confiscated during the Reformation.
0:53:51 > 0:53:55The idolatry of saints had become a crime.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01Catholics were threatened with persecution.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04The Catholic religion was hounded out of the country.
0:54:06 > 0:54:11St David's was no longer a Catholic cathedral.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14In time, it became a Protestant one.
0:54:14 > 0:54:17And a lot of Welsh went further
0:54:17 > 0:54:19and became predominantly Nonconformist.
0:54:20 > 0:54:22Without the Catholic religion,
0:54:22 > 0:54:25pilgrimage would never be the same again.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32We've completed our journey.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35All 156 miles of it.
0:54:35 > 0:54:40We've uncovered this ancient route and got to grips with the lives
0:54:40 > 0:54:42and the times of the people that used it.
0:54:43 > 0:54:48We can appreciate the logic and elegance of the course it takes.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51Connecting north with south.
0:54:51 > 0:54:53Sacred with secular.
0:54:53 > 0:54:56Past with present.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59Aah!
0:54:59 > 0:55:02Ooh, tremendous. Ooh!
0:55:04 > 0:55:07- THEY GROAN - Fantastic.
0:55:07 > 0:55:08Mmm!
0:55:10 > 0:55:12HE LAUGHS
0:55:12 > 0:55:15You see why the people wear these hair shirts,
0:55:15 > 0:55:18just to enjoy the moment of taking them off.
0:55:18 > 0:55:21It's nothing to do with pain, it's got everything to do with
0:55:21 > 0:55:25a masochistic impulse to stop doing it.
0:55:25 > 0:55:26Ooh!
0:55:27 > 0:55:31In its time, the Bishop's Palace was the finest,
0:55:31 > 0:55:34most lavish ecclesiastical building in Europe.
0:55:34 > 0:55:36Proof, if any was needed,
0:55:36 > 0:55:40of the importance of pilgrimage to St David's.
0:55:40 > 0:55:42But the attempt to destroy it during the Reformation
0:55:42 > 0:55:46is as evident today as it was 500 years ago.
0:55:49 > 0:55:52During the height of pilgrimage in the medieval era,
0:55:52 > 0:55:56when we imagined our journey to have taken place,
0:55:56 > 0:55:59the bishop would have invited distinguished pilgrims
0:55:59 > 0:56:02to dine here in the Great Hall.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05And the current bishop has invited us to do the same
0:56:05 > 0:56:08and to reflect on our journey together.
0:56:08 > 0:56:12I wouldn't have thought that going on a pilgrimage
0:56:12 > 0:56:15would have been such a sociable adventure.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18The company's been absolutely fantastic.
0:56:18 > 0:56:20I really enjoyed getting to know everybody.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23- The other thing was the rabbit stew. - Right.
0:56:23 > 0:56:25Kidneys. Ah, I loved the kidneys.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28And the liver! Oh, the liver was just heaven.
0:56:28 > 0:56:30I think the thing we've failed to mention is the whittling.
0:56:30 > 0:56:31Definitely.
0:56:31 > 0:56:37Everybody spent hours and hours sitting down
0:56:37 > 0:56:40just whittling away at their staves.
0:56:40 > 0:56:44- Cheers.- Cheers.- Cheers. - Bob, can you give us a Welsh toast?
0:56:44 > 0:56:47- Iechyd da. - ALL: Iechyd da.
0:56:50 > 0:56:54And now it's time to celebrate our own pilgrim tales.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00# Davey was a hairy chap
0:57:00 > 0:57:03# But he got stuck with an antique map
0:57:03 > 0:57:06# Nathan was a lusty man
0:57:06 > 0:57:10# Until he played Cnapan
0:57:10 > 0:57:13# Lara did what her daddy taught her
0:57:13 > 0:57:16# And then she fell in the muddy water
0:57:16 > 0:57:19# A man named Griff had a tale to tell
0:57:19 > 0:57:22# He froze to death in St Winefride's Well
0:57:22 > 0:57:25# Walk with me across the rover
0:57:25 > 0:57:28# Until we get to all that clover
0:57:28 > 0:57:31# We can walk the pilgrim route
0:57:31 > 0:57:33# As long as our luggage
0:57:33 > 0:57:38# Goes in the boot! #