0:00:04 > 0:00:05Where are we?
0:00:05 > 0:00:10- That's west. That's southwest. - That's west. That's north. So we've got to just...
0:00:10 > 0:00:11Well, we're lost.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14- We're getting nowhere.- Yep.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18'We've taken on the unusual challenge of finding our way
0:00:18 > 0:00:21'around the country with just nature as our guide.'
0:00:21 > 0:00:24- I've never been more lost. - Where's an oak tree? Please!
0:00:24 > 0:00:26'We have no maps....'
0:00:26 > 0:00:28I suggest we head that way.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31'No sat navs...'
0:00:31 > 0:00:35- Oh, no. - We're going east, southwest. - Just doing this isn't helping.
0:00:35 > 0:00:36'And no compass.'
0:00:36 > 0:00:38You will not look at that compass.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42'Instead, actor Stephen Mangan...'
0:00:42 > 0:00:43We're all going to die.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46'..actress Alison Steadman...'
0:00:46 > 0:00:48Stand by, all right. PARP Oh, my goodness.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51..and me, Sue Perkins,
0:00:51 > 0:00:55'will have to rely on the trees...' I've lost you, Stephen.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58'..the sun...' Here, this is it. Because that, that...
0:00:58 > 0:01:00That's east, you're right, that's west.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02'..and even dung....'
0:01:02 > 0:01:04That's a remarkable piece of pooh.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07'..to complete our journeys.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10'It's called natural navigation.'
0:01:10 > 0:01:13Is it time to collapse on the floor and cry?
0:01:14 > 0:01:16'And we've got a long way to go.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19'Because Steven Mangan will be taking us
0:01:19 > 0:01:21'to his ancestral homeland, Ireland...'
0:01:21 > 0:01:24Wow, just incredible.
0:01:24 > 0:01:29'..Alison Steadman goes back to her roots in Liverpool and Wales...'
0:01:29 > 0:01:30You have arrived.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33'..but in this programme I'll be leading us through Cornwall,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36'the place I call home.'
0:01:50 > 0:01:54The British Isles are stuffed with natural beauty.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56But it's not just pretty to look at.
0:01:56 > 0:02:01Apparently, nature can help tell you where to go, if you know what you're looking for.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04Our challenge is to navigate around the country
0:02:04 > 0:02:08using just what we can find in the fields and forests.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15But first, we're all heading back to school.
0:02:15 > 0:02:21And our teacher is natural navigator extraordinaire, Tristan Gooley.
0:02:21 > 0:02:22Good morning.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26What he doesn't know about the subject isn't worth knowing.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28He's a real-life action man.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32The only living person to have sailed and flown solo across the Atlantic.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36So whilst we were lucky to find this place, he drove here blindfolded.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38While eating a cheese sandwich.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41It's simple. It's the art of finding your way using only nature.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45It includes using the sun, the moon, the stars, the wind and weather,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48plants and animals, buildings, even puddles.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51These are the techniques that our ancestors used.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56The best place for us to begin is with a really simple question -
0:02:56 > 0:02:57Which way am I looking?
0:03:00 > 0:03:03- This way!- At us!- It's a trick question.- Yes!- Do we pass?
0:03:03 > 0:03:05- Yep, that's it. Off you go. - Brilliant.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08One thing I can guarantee is after this course you'll never get lost again,
0:03:08 > 0:03:12and the reason is because after this course you'll be a navigator.
0:03:12 > 0:03:17Navigators never get lost, they merely become temporarily unaware of their position.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20- So you're sorted.- Isn't that just a posh way of saying lost?
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Indeed, yes, but navigators don't tell people that.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27If I do my job, natural navigation will change the way you look at the world forever.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29Wow!
0:03:31 > 0:03:34'We start with the basics. Like how to read the sun.
0:03:34 > 0:03:35'I mean, how hard can it be?
0:03:35 > 0:03:40'Everybody knows it rises in the east and sets in the west.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43'But apparently it's not that simple.'
0:03:43 > 0:03:45You're going to be travelling in the middle of the summer.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48It's actually one of the toughest times to use the sun
0:03:48 > 0:03:53because, as we know, we've got the longest days of the year in the summer
0:03:53 > 0:03:57and the reason is because the sun rises very early, of course,
0:03:57 > 0:03:58about five in the morning.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01in the northeast.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05It starts to climb, passing through east at about 9am.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09It keeps on climbing until the middle of the day,
0:04:09 > 0:04:14again about lunch time, it's as high as it will get, due south again.
0:04:14 > 0:04:15It starts to sink.
0:04:15 > 0:04:20By about 5pm, it's passing through west.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24It keeps on sinking and sets northwest, late in the evening.
0:04:24 > 0:04:29The next basic lesson is about the prevailing wind in the UK.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31I didn't even know we had one.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34In the British Isles, the wind blows from the southwest
0:04:34 > 0:04:37more frequently than from any other direction.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41If we understand what the wind is doing, it can help remind us
0:04:41 > 0:04:45which way is which, if we're then stuck for other clues.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48For the next couple of days, we cover everything Tristan thinks
0:04:48 > 0:04:50we might need for our journeys.
0:04:50 > 0:04:55There's no way I'm going to remember all this stuff and then use it.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05Two weeks later and we're on our way to Cornwall to be put to the first test.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Brings back hot flushes like I had during A levels,
0:05:08 > 0:05:10but I can't keep these answers down my pants.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14Our challenge is to travel from Bodmin Moor in the north
0:05:14 > 0:05:19to Cape Cornwall on the southwestern tip, but we're only allowed to use
0:05:19 > 0:05:23nature to navigate and our teacher, Tristan, won't be around to help.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26Instead, he's given us guide books with just a few clues.
0:05:27 > 0:05:32I like the opening sentence, "This is an easy walk." I like that.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36- We're going to make it. - ..confident with the techniques to be begin with.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39I've seen sheep pooh - this is an alternative map.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41Use sheep pooh to confirm your direction.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45'To succeed, we have to remember all that training
0:05:45 > 0:05:50'and at the moment, I'm struggling. Stephen and Sue seem to have got it, though.'
0:05:50 > 0:05:54Sheep pooh will dry on the south but the north face of the dung will remain moist.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57You're scaring me now, you're scaring me.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02- We might be on Bodmin Moor for months!- I'll bring my beast outfit.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05- Are we crossing into Cornwall right now?- We are.
0:06:05 > 0:06:11This is the transitionary point. Life gets better from this point.
0:06:12 > 0:06:17- What is it about Cornwall? What's Cornwall got?- I don't know.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20I just love it. It makes me feel happy, just being in the county.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24Cornwall holds a special place in my heart.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26And it's been a whirlwind romance.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28I came here on holiday five years ago
0:06:28 > 0:06:31and six months later, I moved down permanently.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33I'm hoping this trip will show me
0:06:33 > 0:06:38a side to my new home I haven't seen before and help explain Cornwall's irresistible pull.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42I just sort of can feel all the stress melting away as I cross the Tamar
0:06:42 > 0:06:45and I'm properly myself, I think.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47You know, there's not so much of that,
0:06:47 > 0:06:49which I'm sure will be a real relief for them.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54- Because Cornwall is like that, isn't it?- It's like a claw, yeah.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58- An open mouth.- That's all I know about it.- That's very good!
0:06:58 > 0:07:01So if we get lost, you can use my arm as a guide.
0:07:01 > 0:07:02One of his special skills.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06He can shape his limbs to the contour of any county. Do Sussex.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09- Yeah, very good. He's brilliant.- Brilliant.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Apart from knowing its shape, I am a total stranger to Cornwall,
0:07:12 > 0:07:15but I'm really looking forward to getting out of the city
0:07:15 > 0:07:17'and putting what I've learned to the test
0:07:17 > 0:07:21'in what I'm told is one of the UK's most beautiful areas.'
0:07:21 > 0:07:25It's one thing standing with our hunky natural navigator
0:07:25 > 0:07:29telling us, you know, what to do, but when we're unleashed, alone into Cornwall...
0:07:29 > 0:07:32It's a different story.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36We've never actually put it into practice.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39I'm apprehensive, certainly about the navigation!
0:07:39 > 0:07:43I love nature and I love being outdoors.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45'I've been on stage in London for months, so for me
0:07:45 > 0:07:48'this is a real treat.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52'I've actually been to Cornwall before, when I was 17
0:07:52 > 0:07:54'and I can't wait to get back there.'
0:07:54 > 0:07:58I'm the only one that's been given a stick,
0:07:58 > 0:08:00cos I'm a pensioner.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03I know why you got the stick, that stick is to beat us
0:08:03 > 0:08:06when we get out of line. You specifically requested that.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10If Sue is going to come on the trip, can I have a stick just to give her some boundaries?
0:08:10 > 0:08:14- Here we go.- This is it.- Let's rock. - The first bit's done, getting off the train.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21That is heavy - what have you got in there?
0:08:21 > 0:08:24She's got a sundial - she's taking it very literally.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26She's got a stone sundial.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30Our first leg has been designed for beginners.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32That's definitely us.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35It starts on the edge of Bodmin Moor and we've got to find our way
0:08:35 > 0:08:39to the Cheesewring two miles towards the centre.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41Two miles might not sound much,
0:08:41 > 0:08:46but Bodmin is a massive piece of moorland with hardly any features.
0:08:46 > 0:08:51The beast of Bodmin has lived here for years without anyone clearly seeing it.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55There's open country for nine miles ahead of us.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57If we get this wrong, we'll be here for days.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02Tristan has chosen the moor since it has plenty of windswept trees and animals,
0:09:02 > 0:09:05both of which will be helping us find our way.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07I can't wait to ask that sheep which way is north
0:09:07 > 0:09:11and why its lamb looks like Stephen.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14- OK. Here we are.- OK. - What's the first...
0:09:14 > 0:09:17The first thing is to look for a solitary hawthorn tree.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21Although all I can see now is a collection of horses' backsides,
0:09:21 > 0:09:23which may or may not be significant.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28- What's this one?- That is hawthorn, I think, but is it solitary?
0:09:28 > 0:09:31- I think that is hawthorn. - That's solitary.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33Which direction are we supposed to be going in?
0:09:33 > 0:09:36God, already we haven't even walked five paces and we're lost!
0:09:36 > 0:09:39- A hawthorn. - North, we've got to head north.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41That's a solitary hawthorn.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45That's very solitary, that is sort of almost in partnership.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48It is about 11.30am, sun south-eastish,
0:09:48 > 0:09:52I mean, north should be kind of that way, shouldn't it?
0:09:52 > 0:09:56- Yes.- So, so is there a solitary hawthorn in that direction?
0:09:56 > 0:10:00- What's this?- Every time she turns, it's like a Laurel and Hardy routine.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03- I get a whack.- It's this stick.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08- It's the stick, every time you turn around.- Why have I got this stick? - Did you ask for it?- No!
0:10:08 > 0:10:11That's a solitary hawthorn, but...
0:10:11 > 0:10:17- Not strictly north from here, but... It is northish. - I think you go north. Hold on.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19Look for the solitary hawthorn tree
0:10:19 > 0:10:23- and use it to head north. - The tree to head north?
0:10:23 > 0:10:25- Yeah.- OK.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27When you're looking for wind clues in trees,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30you're looking at the most exposed parts, the extremities,
0:10:30 > 0:10:33in particular, the very tops.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36And can you see how nearly all of these trees we can see here,
0:10:36 > 0:10:39the tops have been just ever so slightly combed over
0:10:39 > 0:10:41from right to left.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45If you see this wind effect all you need to do is turn
0:10:45 > 0:10:50so you're facing in the direction it looks like the wind has come from
0:10:50 > 0:10:53and you will be facing close to southwest.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59'Now we have to apply that principle to the trees on Bodmin.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03'Problem is, not all trees show the effect.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07'I'm quietly confident that we'll be OK for this beginner's walk
0:11:07 > 0:11:10'whilst the girls clearly expect to spend the night.'
0:11:10 > 0:11:15- What have you guys got in your...? You've got?- Mainly chocolate.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18- All right, good.- And vodka. - That's handy.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21- What have you got in yours? - I haven't brought one.
0:11:21 > 0:11:26- You are so rugged. - It looks like you guys are carrying all my stuff for me!
0:11:26 > 0:11:28You see, this tree is not very helpful.
0:11:28 > 0:11:29So that's south...
0:11:29 > 0:11:33But it can't be south because the sun is there.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36It's too early to see, yes.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39- The sun is there, south has got to be that way.- Has it?
0:11:40 > 0:11:43- Yeah.- Well, it's quarter past 11.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45The sun will be roughly southeast.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48I'm just sort of spinning like this.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52- God, do you think there's a hotel near here?- I don't know.- I'm tired already! Can we eat something?!
0:11:52 > 0:11:56Surely it's time to have a sit down and a rest?
0:11:56 > 0:12:02But the problem is, is it says, "then the next thing is pass through the first stone circle."
0:12:02 > 0:12:04Yes, that is north. The sun is telling us that is north.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06But I don't know how this tree is telling us.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10'What we're looking for are exposed trees.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13'Because that's what's Tristan has taught us to read.'
0:12:13 > 0:12:17'But this tree doesn't seem to have a clear comb over,
0:12:17 > 0:12:19'none of us can see anything. Oh, dear.'
0:12:19 > 0:12:22I was stuck on which way south, east, north and west are,
0:12:22 > 0:12:24don't leave me behind whatever you do.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27- I'll have to eat wild pony. - Just follow the rooks.
0:12:29 > 0:12:34'Luckily we have the sun, so we use it to vaguely head in the right direction, we hope.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38'Then over the next ridge we see some trees that look a little more helpful.'
0:12:38 > 0:12:40That's pretty compelling, isn't it?
0:12:40 > 0:12:43'Other than the sun, this is the first natural signpost
0:12:43 > 0:12:45'we've been able to read.'
0:12:45 > 0:12:48- Yeah.- Like Donald Trump's hair?
0:12:49 > 0:12:52- So, they're all looking that way?- Yep.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55- So it's a southwesterly wind. - Southwesterly wind.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58In fact the one at the top, which probably gets the most wind,
0:12:58 > 0:13:02- is the most...- Yeah.- ..severe.
0:13:02 > 0:13:07'At last, something works. We're not so stupid after all.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10'We can now figure out how to head north.'
0:13:10 > 0:13:11Wait for granny.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15You two are like mountain goats.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17- Wait for granny! - Do you want a piggy back?
0:13:17 > 0:13:20SHE LAUGHS This is where I need my stick. It's the weight.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24- Right, get the stick out.- I need my stick.- Do you want the stick out?
0:13:24 > 0:13:26Do you want me to carry the bag?
0:13:26 > 0:13:29The stick is just for getting her to go faster.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31THEY LAUGH
0:13:34 > 0:13:35That is incredible.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38The trees just get better and better.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41Trumpier and Trumpier. Real comb overs.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45The force of the wind has bent that hawthorn into that shape permanently.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48It is very beautiful. Well it would take an idiot like me
0:13:48 > 0:13:51to say that north is over there, so come on, let's go.
0:13:52 > 0:13:57I'm still not sure we've got it right, but this is the stone circle mentioned in the guide.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59And we think we're on the right track.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03There are no marked paths on Bodmin and no clear way
0:14:03 > 0:14:06to get to this Cheesewring thing we're meant to find.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09The guide tells us to head northwest.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11We need something that shows us that direction.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13'Bodmin is communal grazing.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16'There's all sorts of animals everywhere.
0:14:16 > 0:14:21'Suddenly, I spot the beast of Bodmin. Well, sort of.'
0:14:21 > 0:14:24Oh, my God, have you seen that bull over there? The horns on it?
0:14:24 > 0:14:27'Perhaps he can give us a clue.' I hope it doesn't... No.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30Stay away from the massive bull and horns.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33- Hornage.- A cocktail skewer.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41Anything that gives us a clue to what the sun's been doing during the day, where it's been,
0:14:41 > 0:14:46its arc, it can help us find direction. I do mean anything.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51There is a clue down here which gives the game away.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56- OK, we're dung-watching now. - Yeah, you've spotted it.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58There is here, a little bit of dung.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00Like everything,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04if you see a difference between two sides, look for...
0:15:04 > 0:15:07There's a north side and south side of dung?!
0:15:07 > 0:15:08There so is! Look!
0:15:08 > 0:15:10You've got a lovely dry side here,
0:15:10 > 0:15:14but on the north side where the sun hasn't reached yet,
0:15:14 > 0:15:18it is glistening and moist!
0:15:18 > 0:15:20And so there's our dung compass.
0:15:20 > 0:15:21Do you need a lie down?
0:15:21 > 0:15:26I need a lie down. I certainly need to get downwind. Is there any way we could have done this
0:15:26 > 0:15:29with the wind, basically, behind us?
0:15:29 > 0:15:32So, pooh it is, then. We've just got to find one.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36I quite feel like wrestling a sheep to the ground and making it...
0:15:36 > 0:15:39- I think the act of you wrestling it ground will make it pooh.- Yeah.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43The sheer fear of being attacked by one even hairier than itself.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45I'd probably pooh, so we would have twice as much.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49- Then I would have to sit around waiting for your pooh to dry.- Thank you.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53Can we change the conversation, now, please? How about this? Any good?
0:15:53 > 0:15:55It's got a mixture of new and old.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59- Something borrowed, something new. - This bit here is dry on that side
0:15:59 > 0:16:01with moisture on that side,
0:16:01 > 0:16:04but it is not conclusive, is it?
0:16:04 > 0:16:07Yeah. How about this lot?
0:16:07 > 0:16:12'Finding quality pooh is harder than you think.'
0:16:12 > 0:16:15Oh, there's an excellent pooh! I haven't said that for at least five minutes.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18Yes, that is very good, look at the dry bits there.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20- Nice and moist up north.- Yeah.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25That's a really good, that's a remarkable piece of pooh
0:16:25 > 0:16:27and there's more here. Look at this one.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30- That is precision pooh. - That is textbook pooh.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33That is saying that north, that is finessing
0:16:33 > 0:16:38- what we feel to be north.- That's a pooh you could, a man could live by.
0:16:38 > 0:16:39Yeah. I might keep that
0:16:39 > 0:16:41as a sort of pocket pooh compass.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43I feel we ought to thank the pooh.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47I don't even want to know the way in which you wish to thank the pooh.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51'We use the dung to head northwest.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55'I'll gladly leave that kind of clue to the others.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57'Ahead there are a few more wind-blown trees
0:16:57 > 0:17:00'to point us northeast and to our destination.'
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Oh, look at that. That is quite something.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12'At the top of the hill we've made it.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16'Our first successful navigation using nature alone.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20'It only took us three hours more than it should have done.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22'The Cheesewring.
0:17:22 > 0:17:28'A natural formation of rocks caused by the weathering of granite, and a symbol of Cornwall.'
0:17:30 > 0:17:32- That is good.- Amazing!
0:17:33 > 0:17:34That's a view.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38That's Cornwall. You can see for miles.
0:17:42 > 0:17:47There aren't many places where you can just stand and see...
0:17:47 > 0:17:50- 360 degrees right round. Amazing.- Great.- Yeah.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53The Cornish would see that back there as England.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55I was once on a train from Penzance and they said
0:17:55 > 0:17:58"We're running late because there is a problem up in England."
0:18:02 > 0:18:06Honestly, I was a bit panicked. I didn't sleep very well last night
0:18:06 > 0:18:13because I was actually thinking, Oh, my God, you know, now we're going to really be put to the test.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15And I'm pleasantly surprised by...
0:18:15 > 0:18:20I did sort of remember the stuff about the trees, the pooh
0:18:20 > 0:18:22and so I'm quite chuffed with myself.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25I'm up for cloudy days, now. The sun's gone in.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29I'm up for cloudy days and a harder challenge.
0:18:30 > 0:18:37'So, we've cracked the first leg of the journey without too much trauma, but then again, Tristan's told us
0:18:37 > 0:18:38'we'll be eased in gently.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41'I'm nervous things are going to get tougher.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44'Those wind-blown trees were easy to read in the end,
0:18:44 > 0:18:47'but not everything is that simple.'
0:18:49 > 0:18:55After a night in a hotel in nearby Falmouth, the second leg begins at St Michael Penkevil.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57We have an appointment at midday
0:18:57 > 0:19:00with Lord Falmouth's son, Mr Boscawen
0:19:00 > 0:19:02in the middle of the Tregothnan estate
0:19:02 > 0:19:04where he's promising a sample the local brew.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08So Stephen is keen to get going.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11He's a busy man and so we must not be late.
0:19:11 > 0:19:18The private gardens are spectacular, but the whole place is a maze of paths, walkways, hedges and mazes.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21Visitors get lost even when they HAVE a map.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24We just have nature and my appalling sense of direction.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28Stephen hasn't even remembered his guide book or his backpack.
0:19:28 > 0:19:33'In this section Tristan promises that God will be guiding us. It's a first for me.'
0:19:33 > 0:19:35What's the brief? I haven't got my book.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39So, the book, "Using the alignment of the church, get your bearings."
0:19:41 > 0:19:45Nearly all religious buildings have some relationship with direction.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49Churches, Christian churches will typically be aligned west to east
0:19:49 > 0:19:53with the alter at the eastern end, pointing towards the Holy Land.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Almost all religious buildings have this tendency
0:19:56 > 0:19:59towards the Middle East, for obvious reasons.
0:19:59 > 0:20:04Unless this is a spooky sort of church of the anti-Christ, it is going to be east-west.
0:20:04 > 0:20:12- East-west.- That's east, that's west. So that's, we're looking north. Right?
0:20:12 > 0:20:14OK, sure. Right so, what are we doing next?
0:20:14 > 0:20:16Right, through the gate south.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19So, following south from the church, we have to find
0:20:19 > 0:20:22the entrance of the estate.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24It does say "Private - no public access".
0:20:24 > 0:20:28We're about to indulge in some natural trespassing.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32Yes, but here it says that we have special permission for us to cross the estate.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35- I made a deal.- The gate must be shut.- What's happened to you?
0:20:35 > 0:20:39I'm being a bit bossy today! Come on!
0:20:39 > 0:20:45- You're The Country Code in action! - I am! Let's go.
0:20:45 > 0:20:50- You're all going to be bouncy.- I've never walked like this in my life. I'm doing a Steadman.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54I don't like to keep people waiting.
0:20:54 > 0:20:55So these two need to get a move on.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59This is a good-looking estate.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03- Don't you think?- You've got your eye on it?- I could live here.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06I feel I'd be like Toad of Toad Hall. I'd have to get the car.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10- You've got the cravats, though. I've seen them. - I've got the cravats.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14Our guide books tell us to head south until we reach a field
0:21:14 > 0:21:17and can go no further, then turn to the southwest,
0:21:17 > 0:21:21but with no shadows from the sun, we immediately get confused.
0:21:21 > 0:21:26- So then we go southwest. - We were heading east.- So east is...
0:21:26 > 0:21:30- So west is there.- So south is west. - Southwest.- 'Pathetic, isn't it?'
0:21:30 > 0:21:34Oh, no. I'm just doing this, isn't helping.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36I mean, we have slightly curved,
0:21:36 > 0:21:39so we're probably heading more southeast.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43- Yeah. It's got to be down here. - It's that way.- Although...
0:21:43 > 0:21:45I like the look of the yellow fields.
0:21:45 > 0:21:50- Do we have anything to verify this manoeuvre?- What about the wind?
0:21:50 > 0:21:51I can feel the wind.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55I think this must be the southwesterly path.
0:21:55 > 0:22:01- Because of the wind.- We were heading easterly. So that's east.
0:22:01 > 0:22:02Ish.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05Ish. We did curve a bit. So maybe east is over there.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10'Without the sun, we all lose confidence in which way to go.'
0:22:10 > 0:22:14Keep going until you can't go further. We have reached... I can't go further.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18- Keep going east until you can't go further. - Then take the southwesterly path.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22- There's a clue in the distance that will help. - There's a clue in the distance?
0:22:22 > 0:22:24Distance that will help?
0:22:28 > 0:22:31One of the biggest challenges you'll face is that of scale.
0:22:31 > 0:22:36The clues you need to find your way might be six inches from you.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38They might be under your nose.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42There might be a lichen, trying to shout direction but you don't spot it.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46Or they might be miles and miles away, as in a coastline.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50There is a clue that I would like to show you that is between the near and the far.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53If we look in the middle distance, can you see, there is
0:22:53 > 0:22:58an edge of woodland and then a green field just to the left of it.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02If we look at the colours in the field, can you see it's not an even colour all the way across?
0:23:02 > 0:23:07And closest to the wood, the green richens, doesn't it?
0:23:07 > 0:23:10It becomes a slightly deeper, richer green.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13What's happening there is the southern sun
0:23:13 > 0:23:17is struggling to get over the woodland, so there's a part of that field that's not
0:23:17 > 0:23:19getting as much sunlight.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22What can you see? I can see fields.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24I can see a house, just the top of the house.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27This is basically like a semi-advanced version of "I Spy".
0:23:27 > 0:23:29Careful.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31Oh! No. I can see a tree.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36I can see a... I don't know. Oh, ...
0:23:36 > 0:23:42- Oh, look. There is a ring. There is a ring of...- It's by the tree.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44- The fallow bit where they don't grow stuff.- So that's south.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47So that's on the southerly side. Yeah.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50- Ah!- So that is south.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52That is south.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55- So that's southwesterly. - So that's west.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59- Did it.- We did it.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03- So I was completely and utterly wrong. Basically... - I'm the man with the ladder.
0:24:03 > 0:24:09You're now infertile from the way you basically straddled that gate post.
0:24:09 > 0:24:10Hey, we did it!
0:24:12 > 0:24:13'This is really tough.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16'I got that direction completely wrong.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20'I thought I was getting all of this and now I seem to be back to square one.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22'Thank God for Stephen and Sue.'
0:24:22 > 0:24:28- They've raised the pensionable age. You're not a pensioner yet. - I'm 65 next month.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30That's next month, you're not a pensioner.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32'I think I got that last clue right,
0:24:32 > 0:24:35'but we're meant to be looking for black gates, and there are none.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38'It looks like Mr Boscawen will be kept waiting and do we fail this walk,
0:24:38 > 0:24:43'if he gives up and goes home, and do I still get a sample of the local brew?'
0:24:43 > 0:24:44Turn west - OK.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49At the black gates, take the route to the southwest.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52Black gates. Surely these the black gates.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55'We eventually reach the black gates
0:24:55 > 0:24:58'and can enter into the central gardens.'
0:24:58 > 0:25:02- I have now dislocated my arm. - Are you all right?- No.
0:25:02 > 0:25:07The good thing is we know this is westerly, this break is westerly.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10'But from here, it is about to get trickier.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13'Our guide warns us we are about to enter the maze of paths
0:25:13 > 0:25:15'and avenues in the garden.'
0:25:15 > 0:25:20- Hang on, so turn east. We are going the wrong way, we need to go this way.- Oh, turn east.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24- We need to turn right.- See, I'm just following you.- I'm following you.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27- Don't make me lead. We're lost. - You are supposed to be leading. It's Cornwall.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29Why hasn't Stephen got a rucksack?
0:25:29 > 0:25:31Look, there's a car here.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33Now, hang on.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36'Mr Boscawen must be around here somewhere.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39'He can't be hard to spot, can he?'
0:25:39 > 0:25:43- I guess we just head down here. - Yeah.
0:25:43 > 0:25:49- I think we just keep going. Keep going? Look at that...- Mr Boscawen!
0:25:49 > 0:25:54- Are you serious about this? - Maybe if we go through. - Ah-ha. Mr Boscawen.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57- We've found you, I'm Stephen. - Welcome here this morning. Morning.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59Nice to see you. Like what you have done the place.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02- Very nice to see you, can we get you a cup of tea?- Lovely.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05You've come to the home of English tea.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08Hooray, I would love a cup of tea.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11'Not quite the brew I was hoping for,
0:26:11 > 0:26:15'but after a lovely cup of tea, we split up to explore.'
0:26:15 > 0:26:21'Being keen on nature, I'm meeting head gardener Neil Bennett to see plants that can show direction.'
0:26:21 > 0:26:24So I just want to show you this, really.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28This is a banana plant, a Musa basjoo, they call it in Latin.
0:26:28 > 0:26:33What I wanted to show you about this is that the leaves grow east to west.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37- Fantastic.- This is called a Leptospermum myrtifolium 'Silver Sheen'
0:26:37 > 0:26:42Now the interesting thing about this plant, is it always flowers on the west side.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46So as you can see, we are on the west side now and it's in flower nicely.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50Gosh. It just gets more interesting. By the minute.
0:26:50 > 0:26:55Because you know, in life we just go around saying, "Isn't that pretty?" "Look at that tree."
0:26:55 > 0:27:00Suddenly, it is making me think about every single thing that I see.
0:27:00 > 0:27:05- Exactly.- Thinking it is all so complicated and worked out. - Yes.- So brilliantly.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11'You just start to take in the environment you're in,
0:27:11 > 0:27:13'in a different way.'
0:27:13 > 0:27:17And I've also learned that as a city boy, I've nothing to fear from the country.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21Yet.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25Don't speak too soon, because there are strange goings-on
0:27:25 > 0:27:28down the road at the village of St Buryan.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31I want to show the others another side of Cornwall.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34So we are visiting some white witches, as you do.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37I tell you what, they are quite jolly witches.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40- A little bit of morris... Gothic morris dancing!- Oh, my God!
0:27:40 > 0:27:45- They look a little bit like... - Oh, dear. A whole gaggle there.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48'Paganism is alive and well across this part of Cornwall.'
0:27:48 > 0:27:51The horse mounting block, is that here?
0:27:54 > 0:27:57Right in the middle of the dance now.
0:28:08 > 0:28:13- It's quite Alice Cooper, isn't it? - It is. Kiss thrown in there as well.
0:28:13 > 0:28:14Oh, that was intense.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19It's like morris dancing, isn't it?
0:28:19 > 0:28:22It is, it's satanic morris dancing.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25- Lovely.- Are we supposed to clap?
0:28:25 > 0:28:28The Pan's People of the Dark Arts, everyone.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30- That's intense. - That was very, very intense.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34Please, don't hurt me. Look at those teeth!
0:28:36 > 0:28:39'Nowadays these witches call themselves wise women.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42'It's that wise side I'm hoping to tap into.
0:28:42 > 0:28:47'Two of them, Cassandra and Letitia, take me to the nearby stone circle of Boscawen.
0:28:47 > 0:28:51'They claim they can tell me why I love Cornwall.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54'And I tell them my story.'
0:28:54 > 0:28:57I was born in London, a very busy part of London.
0:28:57 > 0:28:59I moved to north London. A lot of work.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02Stress and hustle and bustle, all of that sort of thing.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04Then I was quite ill and hospitalised.
0:29:04 > 0:29:10The night I was hospitalised, some smackheads broke into my flat
0:29:10 > 0:29:15and terrorised my partner - it was just a conflation of really terrible, awful, miserable things.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17I decided to take us on holiday.
0:29:17 > 0:29:22We hadn't been on holiday for quite a while because of work and I came to Zennor.
0:29:22 > 0:29:24Oh, right.
0:29:24 > 0:29:25I was there for four days
0:29:25 > 0:29:28and I wept like a baby when I had to leave, and this is not my style.
0:29:28 > 0:29:32It wasn't upset tears, it was sentimental. I didn't want to go, I felt a real connection.
0:29:32 > 0:29:34I felt very moved by it
0:29:34 > 0:29:37and about six months later, I came to live here.
0:29:37 > 0:29:39And I don't know why.
0:29:39 > 0:29:43I can't... Because, I mean, I'm a spontaneous, slightly irrational person,
0:29:43 > 0:29:47but that notwithstanding, there was something very special about what drew me here.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51You may have noticed when you're down here,
0:29:51 > 0:29:53- that things are much, much slower. - Yes.
0:29:53 > 0:29:58In fact, there's a lot of obstacles down here that force you to go slower.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01I spent four hours in a Post Office once. I know what you mean.
0:30:01 > 0:30:08Time shifts things. And we live life at such a rapidy pace upcountry.
0:30:08 > 0:30:13- Up in England? - Yeah, in foreign parts.- Yeah!
0:30:13 > 0:30:15Let's not speak of that!
0:30:17 > 0:30:22You miss the plot so many times going from A to B to C to...
0:30:22 > 0:30:26And you don't find time to smell the roses
0:30:26 > 0:30:29or even know what the journey is about.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32It make as lot of sense. Slowing down to take things in.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35Perhaps that's why I'm enjoying the natural navigation.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39If you try and rush it, you miss the clues.
0:30:39 > 0:30:43Take your time and look around. And the right direction to head in becomes clear
0:30:43 > 0:30:46on a walk or in life in general, I guess.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49God, there is only one thing can make me more mellow,
0:30:49 > 0:30:51that's right, a flute melody.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53FLUTE PLAYS
0:31:05 > 0:31:08Next morning we head to Paul on the Penwith peninsula.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10We're starting our next leg from here,
0:31:10 > 0:31:14but first I want to show the others a Cornish icon.
0:31:15 > 0:31:20"Here lieth interred, Dorothy Pentreath who died in 1777.
0:31:20 > 0:31:24"Said to have been the last person who conversed in the ancient Cornish
0:31:24 > 0:31:27"- the peculiar language of this county from the earliest records
0:31:27 > 0:31:31"till it expired in the 18th century in this parish of Saint Paul."
0:31:31 > 0:31:34We would have recorded her last words, but we didn't have a clue what she meant.
0:31:34 > 0:31:39SPEAKS CORNISH
0:31:39 > 0:31:41But in the pub next door, is Dick Kendal.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44He's trying to revive the language.
0:31:44 > 0:31:48I think learning the lingo could Possibly make me feel more Cornish
0:31:48 > 0:31:51and help us find our way.
0:31:51 > 0:31:56That sounds like me when I'm drunk! That's the sort of conversation I'll have after five or, ten pints!
0:31:56 > 0:31:58I'll teach it to you.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01Are there any words that would be useful for us to know as navigators?
0:32:01 > 0:32:04I'm presuming that some words mean tree, hill, river?
0:32:04 > 0:32:07OK. You've got the Cornish mountains here.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11So you've got great piles of rock sticking up. That's a carn. C-A-R-N.
0:32:13 > 0:32:18- Pasty happens to be coffin. - Coffin? That's ominous.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22- But, you see, it's is same thing as a coffin.- Lots of dead things in it.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26- What is a coffin? It's a box. - It's sealed with the meat in it.
0:32:26 > 0:32:32Wow, it's hungry work. It is making me long for a vegetarian coffin, I have to say.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35Having learned a small amount of Cornish,
0:32:35 > 0:32:38we're ready to start the third leg of our journey.
0:32:38 > 0:32:42We have to find our way to Mousehole, my favourite fishing village.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45It is because of places like Mousehole, I decided to give up
0:32:45 > 0:32:48British citizenship and become Cornish.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52Tristan is sending us down a hidden route probably used by smugglers.
0:32:52 > 0:32:55We have to follow the clues really accurately,
0:32:55 > 0:32:57except it's very difficult to find.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01Well, it is a smugglers' route. They don't make 'em obvious, you know!
0:33:02 > 0:33:04On this leg we're using another tree technique.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07Even Tristan describes this one as tricky,
0:33:07 > 0:33:10so we, frankly, have no chance.
0:33:10 > 0:33:15To start, an easy first clue, use the church to head southwest.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18- Is this path here? - I think it has to be.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22- Right.- Yeah?- Yeah, that's a path.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26I'm starting to, you know, second-guess what a path was there.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29We know from before that churches are west to east and so are
0:33:29 > 0:33:32confident we've gone in the right direction, down the back of the pub.
0:33:32 > 0:33:34Got to love those churches.
0:33:34 > 0:33:36- Take this path.- Take it.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39"When you reach the field..."
0:33:39 > 0:33:43- "Look for signs to help you continue on a southwest track."- OK.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46- After you. - I told you churches were easy.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50Through a field and we arrive at a farm.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54"Use the shape of the branches of the leylandii tree to head east."
0:33:54 > 0:33:59And we've learned how to use branches to give direction.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02Green plants, they need the sun, of course.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05It's their breakfast, lunch and dinner. Here's a gingko
0:34:05 > 0:34:09grown in a greenhouse, because the greenhouse gets rid of all the wind,
0:34:09 > 0:34:11and all we are looking at is the sun's effect.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13So on the southern side,
0:34:13 > 0:34:16the side that's getting most of the light we've got nice, bigger leaves.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19It's a heavier side of the plant.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22On the side that doesn't get as much light, fewer leaves,
0:34:22 > 0:34:26it appears lighter and the leaves are growing more vertically.
0:34:26 > 0:34:28This leads to what I call the tick effect,
0:34:28 > 0:34:31because if you get down and have a good look at it,
0:34:31 > 0:34:33you might be able to see a tick.
0:34:33 > 0:34:35It is more vertical on the northern side
0:34:35 > 0:34:38and slightly more horizontal on the southern side.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40It is very subtle.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45The leylandii tree we found, seems to offer some clue to direction.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47Much more heavy on this side, isn't it?
0:34:47 > 0:34:52- Yes. Is that right? - The growth is much, much heavier.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54- Yes, on this and the south side. - South.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57- So if that's south then that is east.- East.- That's south.
0:34:57 > 0:35:03- Looks like you're lost. - We're trying to work out east.
0:35:03 > 0:35:05You can't tell us!
0:35:05 > 0:35:07- Don't tell us!- Don't tell us! - Right, I think it's this way?
0:35:07 > 0:35:09South?
0:35:09 > 0:35:13- Southeast.- North's over there.
0:35:15 > 0:35:19- Hang on.- No! Keep calm. Don't panic. - We are doing it by a hive mentality.
0:35:19 > 0:35:24Unfortunately, even our three minds aren't equivalent to one normal one.
0:35:24 > 0:35:29- That's the leylandii tree.- So, it's heavier this side.- Heavier growth should be on the south.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32We need to look around the tree. We haven't walked around the tree.
0:35:32 > 0:35:34True. We've jumped to a quick conclusion.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38Do you think that these people would mind if we went into their driveway.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41Tristan did say this was tricky, but a closer look around
0:35:41 > 0:35:45the leylandii does reveal a hint of a tick effect on the bottom.
0:35:46 > 0:35:50With some branches more vertical and therefore, pointing north.
0:35:53 > 0:35:55Is this the most trespassing you've ever experienced?
0:35:55 > 0:35:59- Yes. Definitely. - Is that why you are caring a knife?
0:35:59 > 0:36:02Please don't hurt us. You've got a compass!
0:36:02 > 0:36:06- No. No, no, no!- You've become like a God in our community now immediately.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09- We cannot use it. Team!- Don't look at him.- Listen to me, team.
0:36:09 > 0:36:14- You will not look at that compass. - I will not look at it, Alison!
0:36:14 > 0:36:19- You will leave this place! Follow the sun and the trees. Now go.- Yes.
0:36:19 > 0:36:21There it is. There is south, which means...
0:36:21 > 0:36:24I can't help but feel we missed a trick there.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27We should have taken the knife off her
0:36:27 > 0:36:31and used it to get the compass off him.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34You have now lost all ability to understand the basic...
0:36:34 > 0:36:37- It's nearly lunch and I'm starting to feel...- A coffin.- A coffin.
0:36:38 > 0:36:42- I think it's here.- Here we go, this is swinging right round.- This way.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45- This is swinging right round. - We didn't need your compass.
0:36:45 > 0:36:47We have no need of it.
0:36:47 > 0:36:49'We use the tree to head what we hope is south,
0:36:49 > 0:36:53'and then follow the path around to the east.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56'The path is blocked, so I wonder if this is actually the right way.'
0:36:56 > 0:36:59- I can't get through that. - I'll move it.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02It's like Miss Tiggy-Winkle causing brambles when I get through there.
0:37:02 > 0:37:04I've seen The Six Million Dollar Man.
0:37:05 > 0:37:07- I can't move it.- I'll have a go.
0:37:07 > 0:37:11- How embarrassing will this be if I can't get through?- You can.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14- It's your backpack.- Oh, I can.- Easy.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17- We could do a play here. - Slender Brenda, come on.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22OK. "Hug the northern perimeter." This.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28"Continue east." So we're continuing east.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31Now the style.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35- God this is just getting so beautiful.- Wow! Oh, my goodness.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39It's amazing. I think there might be a path that goes around there.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42- There is a gap in the hedge. - Shall I go and have a look?
0:37:42 > 0:37:46Beautiful, it may be, but suddenly there's no path and no way forward.
0:37:46 > 0:37:48I wonder if Sue packed the tent?
0:37:48 > 0:37:51It's this one, maybe? That is more easterly, isn't it?
0:37:52 > 0:37:56Never has a man looked more alone or confused.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59Shall we leave him here? I think we should.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06Do you know what, I think it might be too early to call this,
0:38:06 > 0:38:08but I think we're lost.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13- God, there is supposed to be a cattle trough.- South is that way.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19- We are lost.- Big time.- We need to be over there.- Let's retrace.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25Continue to follow this path that we haven't found - "Careful, it is slippery.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28- "At the next T junction..." - It's all right.
0:38:28 > 0:38:30- I'm going to sit here and wait for death.- "Head south."
0:38:30 > 0:38:33Do you mind if we eat you? I'm starving.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37I'm definitely having some water now.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40If I light a fire and start cooking you from the back end up.
0:38:40 > 0:38:42Just a slice of buttock, and if we get rescued
0:38:42 > 0:38:45then at least I'll have lost weight off the ass.
0:38:45 > 0:38:47- Do you have good marbling in your meat?- It is very good,
0:38:47 > 0:38:51but don't stress me, because it will adrenalise the meat.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54Right, this calls for the Harriet Jones and the cowpat field of doom hat.
0:38:54 > 0:38:58That's what you are carrying in those bags. Hats.
0:38:58 > 0:39:03- Millinery.- Hats!- Do you have any...? I need one.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07All I have is a Viking helmet, a pith helmet and a turban. That's all I've got left.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11- Have you got a Fez?- No, I've not got, I didn't bring the Fez, to be honest.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13I'm going to try opening up another gate,
0:39:13 > 0:39:16seeing as brute force and idiocy seems to be my forte.
0:39:16 > 0:39:20Is this a bit of a path? Is that a path?
0:39:20 > 0:39:22Why am I asking myself, is it a path?
0:39:22 > 0:39:24It is either a path or it is not a path.
0:39:27 > 0:39:29Right.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32- This is an act of trespass or genius.- Well, OK.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35- I'll either be applauded or shot.- What's the plan?
0:39:35 > 0:39:37The plan, I think this is east.
0:39:40 > 0:39:42It didn't say open the gate, though, did it?
0:39:42 > 0:39:46We can see our goal of Mousehole down below, but no clear way to it.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49- And that's west? - "At the next T junction head south."
0:39:49 > 0:39:52We haven't hit a T junction, but that is south.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58So should we head south? OK, we're going to head south, shall we?
0:39:58 > 0:40:00- What's this? What's this?- Oh!
0:40:00 > 0:40:03- It's a path! - We spoke too soon. We're idiots.
0:40:03 > 0:40:05'Ha-ha, the hidden path!'
0:40:05 > 0:40:07The ups and downs of natural navigating.
0:40:07 > 0:40:12A minute ago, I was going to tuck into your backside. Now we're in clover. Wow!
0:40:13 > 0:40:16That's fantastic. You'll like this.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19- It's like a little tunnel. - Is it?- Yeah.- Oh, my goodness.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22- So beautiful. - A little smuggler's tunnel.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26- I think coming down backwards is your best bet.- Yeah.
0:40:26 > 0:40:28'Like many Cornish ports,
0:40:28 > 0:40:32'smuggling was rife in Mousehole over the last couple of centuries.
0:40:32 > 0:40:34'Tea, tobacco and brandy all came in
0:40:34 > 0:40:36'and today, the vodka in my backpack.'
0:40:36 > 0:40:39- This is definitely a T junction. - Definitely.
0:40:39 > 0:40:43- 'There's some chocolate in Alison's.'- Is that a T junction?
0:40:43 > 0:40:46- Look at that.- You need to verify that that is a T junction.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50- Head south. That's Mousehole. - Hey!- Oh!
0:40:50 > 0:40:52- That is Mousehole.- How cool.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01Cornwall is remote. It seems like a totally different country to England,
0:41:01 > 0:41:03and with a rebellious free spirit -
0:41:03 > 0:41:06sounds like a polite version of one of my school reports,
0:41:06 > 0:41:09and maybe that's why I'm so drawn to this place.
0:41:18 > 0:41:19Wow! Nice.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23- "Gone to the pub!" - I know how they feel!
0:41:23 > 0:41:27- South. - 'In the middle of the village, the place where, supposedly,
0:41:27 > 0:41:31'the last Cornish speaker, Dorothy Pentreath, once lived
0:41:31 > 0:41:33'and it's the end of this leg of the journey.'
0:41:33 > 0:41:36- It's a dead end. - I think that's all right.
0:41:36 > 0:41:42- What are we looking for? - At the next east turn is the end of the walk at Dolly Pentreath's house.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46- Is she called Dolly? - Well, they called... Yeah.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49- I don't know the woman, but to be honest...- Here it is!
0:41:49 > 0:41:51"Here lived Dolly Pentreath.
0:41:51 > 0:41:55"One of the last speakers of the Cornish language as her native tongue. Died December, 1777."
0:41:56 > 0:42:01We're here, we've done it, but I think it would be a shame not to carry on and see the sea.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05- That was our toughest one so far. - Coffins all round. Yeah!
0:42:05 > 0:42:06All right.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13What a beautiful setting this is.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15- Isn't it? It's perfect.- Lovely.
0:42:15 > 0:42:17Little...diddy town.
0:42:17 > 0:42:22'I once came here on holiday with three friends when I was 17.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26'It was our first trip away from home without our parents
0:42:26 > 0:42:28'and a complete thrill.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31'I remember a lovely little pub on the harbour.'
0:42:31 > 0:42:36Alison, see the Ship Inn over there? I think that's the pub you went into when you were 17.
0:42:36 > 0:42:40That's really the only pub on the front here at Mousehole.
0:42:40 > 0:42:43I remember we just loved it so much because it was opposite the harbour,
0:42:43 > 0:42:45and we were fresh from Liverpool
0:42:45 > 0:42:49and here we were in this fantastic place.
0:42:49 > 0:42:51In fact, I'm sure at home somewhere I've got a photo
0:42:51 > 0:42:56of the four of us standing outside the door of the pub.
0:42:56 > 0:42:57A little 17... God!
0:42:57 > 0:43:02- So, do you fancy a stroll around town?- I'm going to have a look in the Ship.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06- Are you?- To see if any memories come flooding back.- It will for them.
0:43:06 > 0:43:07It will for them!
0:43:07 > 0:43:11They'll go, "Oh, no she's back, she's back. Brace yourself, lads.
0:43:11 > 0:43:15- "She's going to trash the place again."- "This time she's got a stick."
0:43:15 > 0:43:18- "Don't give her the cider." - "She's a man-eater."
0:43:18 > 0:43:22- SUE LAUGHS - "Here she comes, she's a man-eater."
0:43:22 > 0:43:25- "The other two haven't aged as well, mind you."- Yeah.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28- "That tall girl with the curly hair..."- "Terrible!"
0:43:28 > 0:43:30- Yeah!- "She's yours."
0:43:39 > 0:43:41Here's to happy memories.
0:43:47 > 0:43:51Whilst Stephen and Alison enjoy the charms - and beers - of Mousehole,
0:43:51 > 0:43:54I'm going to go on a special flight.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57Special because I'm at the wheel...stick.
0:43:57 > 0:43:59Handle bar?
0:43:59 > 0:44:02Yes, I've never flown a plane before.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06- And we're flying! - Top Gun. Top Gun alert.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12'But I'm taking to the air to see if I can naturally navigate at 200 feet.'
0:44:12 > 0:44:16OK, so just now roll your hands to the right.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18That will just put us into an angle bank.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22- About there?- Yes. And you feel it just banking over to the...
0:44:24 > 0:44:27Once you've made the adjustment you then leave it to do its work?
0:44:27 > 0:44:31It now stays there and it will stay like that all day, basically.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34Now you need to be able to take us east...
0:44:34 > 0:44:38'Instructor Glen Corcoran covers the compass and tells me to find east.'
0:44:38 > 0:44:42If we go west by southwest, we then bank right, which would take us north, I think.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46So we will have to move...
0:44:46 > 0:44:49Pretty much have to go back on ourselves in that direction.
0:44:49 > 0:44:54- Right, OK. Give it a go. - I've got to turn?!- Yep. So just...
0:44:54 > 0:44:58'It's mid-afternoon and the sun is southwest... I guess.'
0:44:59 > 0:45:02Not too much. Just enough.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07- Shall I tell you when I think that east is coming?- Yes.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09Straighten up when you think east is there.
0:45:09 > 0:45:14- I think that's about right. - You're not going to believe this... - Oh, it's north?
0:45:15 > 0:45:18- Oh!- You are 10 degrees, which is fantastic.
0:45:18 > 0:45:21I've seen professional pilots not able to do that.
0:45:21 > 0:45:23That's really good.
0:45:23 > 0:45:25'Believe me, I'm as shocked as you are.' There you go.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28'Then we fly over a house I recognise.'
0:45:28 > 0:45:32There's my niece! There's my niece!
0:45:32 > 0:45:36There's my little niece in her pink dress!
0:45:36 > 0:45:40The flight has shown me that I'm really getting to grips with natural navigation.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43And now I've seen Cornwall from the air, I love it even more.
0:45:43 > 0:45:45It is SO beautiful.
0:45:55 > 0:45:58The next day after a successful handbrake turn in the plane,
0:45:58 > 0:46:01I'm really gee'd up for our last leg of our journey across Cornwall.
0:46:01 > 0:46:05We're starting in the village of St Just, the farthest west we've been
0:46:05 > 0:46:10and we've got to get to our final destination, Cape Cornwall.
0:46:10 > 0:46:14On this leg, we have to master the most difficult clue yet - lichens.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18Tricky little fellas. They are the dark art of natural navigation.
0:46:18 > 0:46:20They change wherever you go
0:46:20 > 0:46:23and you have to learn their local likes and dislikes.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27- We've got to take up the most westerly route.- I see.- OK.
0:46:32 > 0:46:34- The sun is...?- East.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37- Northeast.- Yes.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40If it rises in the northeast, by now...
0:46:40 > 0:46:42- So this is almost an east-west road, isn't it?- It is.
0:46:42 > 0:46:47- That's northeast as the sun is there.- It rises in the northeast, but now it's due east.
0:46:47 > 0:46:48It's coming round.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51I'd say it rises in the north, it's going east.
0:46:51 > 0:46:55- If that's east, then that's north. - You're right. I'm such a doofus.
0:46:55 > 0:47:00- Rises in the northeast in the middle of the summer. - You know what? It's... You could...
0:47:00 > 0:47:05Why is it I get the really complex stuff like, that leaf seems to be photosynthesising, but why...?
0:47:05 > 0:47:09- The talking goat has thrown you. - So does that mean west is over there?- West is that way.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12I need to start again cos I'm an idiot.
0:47:12 > 0:47:16'There are two paths and both look like they could be west.
0:47:16 > 0:47:18'We've got to be really accurate with our direction.'
0:47:18 > 0:47:21So it'll be just south of east.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24- So this is east-west, but I got north-south wrong. - The road is east west.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27'Or our or first step will be a wrong one
0:47:27 > 0:47:29'and we'd be lost straightaway.'
0:47:29 > 0:47:31- That's north.- South.
0:47:32 > 0:47:35Is that the tree that has been wind blown?
0:47:35 > 0:47:39It looks like it has been south-westerly'd to the max.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42There is a lot of comb over at the top. So, yes.
0:47:44 > 0:47:46So, west...
0:47:46 > 0:47:48'The sun and the wind are inconclusive,
0:47:48 > 0:47:50'but behind us is the cricket pavilion.
0:47:50 > 0:47:54'We've been taught that buildings can sometimes offer us obvious clues.
0:47:54 > 0:47:56'In this case, the clubhouse is giving us
0:47:56 > 0:47:59'an unmissable sign for our direction.'
0:47:59 > 0:48:02Once we're comfortable with the sun's arc, once we understand
0:48:02 > 0:48:05it's spending so much time in the southern part of the sky,
0:48:05 > 0:48:09everything we see that has a relationship with the sun,
0:48:09 > 0:48:11everything that needs its light or heat
0:48:11 > 0:48:14will give us a clue to direction.
0:48:14 > 0:48:18Up here we have a sundial. Sundials of course work by casting a shadow.
0:48:18 > 0:48:22You'll notice it's got something pointing out to cast that shadow.
0:48:22 > 0:48:25So anything that has a relationship with the sun, anything that needs
0:48:25 > 0:48:29its light or heat, more often or not it will point the way south for you.
0:48:30 > 0:48:34- There are some solar panels facing south!- Ah!
0:48:34 > 0:48:36- Yeah!- Well spotted.- Very good.
0:48:38 > 0:48:40We've got to head west.
0:48:41 > 0:48:43I think we should go along this path here.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47Is it the most westerly point?
0:48:47 > 0:48:49Yeah, this is west. This is it. Cos that...
0:48:49 > 0:48:53Yes, that's east, you're right. That is west. Good.
0:48:53 > 0:48:56I'm fine on east and west, just don't ask me to do north and south.
0:48:56 > 0:49:00- That road swings around, anyway. - Let's give it a go.- OK.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04'Having chosen a path, we confidently set off
0:49:04 > 0:49:06'and immediately think it's wrong.'
0:49:06 > 0:49:08The road is west.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12The road is kind of west, but the road does suddenly veer north.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15'We're meant to find a farm, but there are lots
0:49:15 > 0:49:17'and we're totally confused.'
0:49:17 > 0:49:20Southwest is over there. Is it?
0:49:22 > 0:49:24Southwest is here.
0:49:25 > 0:49:29That's what I got confused by. Southwest is here, due west is there.
0:49:31 > 0:49:35- That looks suspiciously like we've taken the wrong path. - I don't know, actually.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39- West by southwest.- Yeah.
0:49:39 > 0:49:42- I think it is right. - I'm totally muddled now.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45Completely and totally...muddled.
0:49:45 > 0:49:50- I want to sit here and have a couple of coffins...- We've only come 100 yards and we're lost!
0:49:50 > 0:49:52ALISON LAUGHS
0:49:52 > 0:49:55One foot in front of the other and I don't even know where the sun is.
0:49:55 > 0:49:58We've come 100 yards, it's taken us half an hour and we're lost.
0:49:58 > 0:50:01And even then, we've needed a book to do it.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05Now, come on, team! Let's keep calm. Keep calm.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08- I think it's this way. - Let's go. Shall we do it?- Yeah.
0:50:08 > 0:50:11- What's the worst that can happen? - We all die a horrible death!
0:50:11 > 0:50:14Yeah, I fall down a mine and shatter my pelvis.
0:50:16 > 0:50:19'We see a farm ahead of us and we go for it.'
0:50:24 > 0:50:27- We should see the chimney somewhere. - There we go, there's a path.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35"Look around and study the lichens."
0:50:38 > 0:50:41Lichen is a symbiotic organism.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44It's actually two organisms living together
0:50:44 > 0:50:47in a partnership. It's a fungi and an algae that have teamed up.
0:50:47 > 0:50:53They're sensitive to the surface that they grow on, the minerals that are in that surface.
0:50:53 > 0:50:57They are also sensitive to their environment, to the amount of sun light they get,
0:50:57 > 0:51:02the amount of water. So we can use to navigate naturally by looking for differences.
0:51:02 > 0:51:06Because as we know, you get more sun on the southern side
0:51:06 > 0:51:11so we can start to looking for patterns. Here on the northern side of this wall,
0:51:11 > 0:51:15we've got the greys and the greens, but if we move around to the southern side,
0:51:15 > 0:51:18what you'll notice is suddenly,
0:51:18 > 0:51:20everything changes.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23It bursts into this bright orange.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26It won't always give you a perfect south,
0:51:26 > 0:51:30but if you see a bright orange lichen, start to suspect
0:51:30 > 0:51:35that this is a wall or the bark of a tree that's getting a lot of sunlight.
0:51:37 > 0:51:42The real challenge with lichens is that there are 15,000
0:51:42 > 0:51:45- different known lichens. - Right.- OK.
0:51:45 > 0:51:47All you need to do is spot patterns
0:51:47 > 0:51:50so you need to get to know the lichens in each area.
0:51:50 > 0:51:53As you travel to a new place,
0:51:53 > 0:51:55start to notice the lichens on the stone
0:51:55 > 0:51:58and on the trees, and very quickly,
0:51:58 > 0:51:59you'll start to spot the patterns.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02Mmm. I'm liking...lichens.
0:52:04 > 0:52:06"Look around and study the lichens,
0:52:06 > 0:52:08"particularly the concrete-like lichen...
0:52:08 > 0:52:11- "and the pale hairy one." - They could be talking about me!
0:52:11 > 0:52:14They might be talking about Steve or the lichen!
0:52:14 > 0:52:16There's the pale hairy one.
0:52:18 > 0:52:22- Pale hairy one here.- Oh, yeah. - Loads of it.- West-facing?
0:52:22 > 0:52:24- Is that right?- North-facing.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27- If that's west...- Of course, yes.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30- There's loads of white on the other side.- Is there?
0:52:30 > 0:52:33- I think possibly more. - There are more on the other side?
0:52:33 > 0:52:37- It prefers south-facing.- Yeah, this is almost completely white.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42- Have you got any green action over there?- Much more.
0:52:42 > 0:52:45- Let me look for something green and hairy. Hang on.- Much more white
0:52:45 > 0:52:50- on this side. You can see right along.- 'So, the white lichen definitely likes facing the sun,
0:52:50 > 0:52:53'but the green and hairy likes the shade so it's on the northerly wall.
0:52:53 > 0:52:55'And we need to go north.'
0:52:55 > 0:52:59- That's green and hairy. - And this way.- So we go this way.
0:53:05 > 0:53:09'We follow the path until we reach the road by the entrance of a golf club.'
0:53:10 > 0:53:12"Use the gates of the golf club...
0:53:12 > 0:53:14"for directional clues."
0:53:14 > 0:53:18- 'The gate posts are covered in lichens.'- Oh, look here.
0:53:19 > 0:53:22- Got green and hairy? - Green and hairy!
0:53:23 > 0:53:27Sorry! 'Yes, that became our mantra - green and hairy -
0:53:27 > 0:53:30and we followed it all the way north.' It's very exciting.
0:53:30 > 0:53:34OK, I forgive the lichens now. They're starting to work.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37- I like it.- Yeah. - So which way do we have to go?
0:53:37 > 0:53:40We know that that's north. This side.
0:53:40 > 0:53:42"And continue on a northerly path."
0:53:44 > 0:53:47- So we continue there. - So down there.- Yeah.
0:53:47 > 0:53:49- Nice!- Nice lichen.- All right.
0:53:49 > 0:53:53- I'm liking lichen now. - There's 20 seconds instead of...
0:53:53 > 0:53:55- ten minutes.- Three days!
0:53:56 > 0:54:00'We've come the right way since we can see our final destination -
0:54:00 > 0:54:02the peninsula of Cape Cornwall.
0:54:02 > 0:54:04And it's breathtaking.
0:54:04 > 0:54:08- What a spot to live in.- Yeah.
0:54:10 > 0:54:11Now that's a view.
0:54:28 > 0:54:30It really is absolutely...
0:54:30 > 0:54:32stunning.
0:54:35 > 0:54:39Just.. Sorry, I've just got really emotional cos...
0:54:42 > 0:54:45It's because there's no people here and it's...
0:54:45 > 0:54:48Not that that's a good thing, but it's just...
0:54:48 > 0:54:50the whole...
0:54:50 > 0:54:52sea, the rocks...
0:54:53 > 0:54:55It's just incredible.
0:55:01 > 0:55:04It's just to be with nature quietly and just to...
0:55:06 > 0:55:08..see everything just happening
0:55:08 > 0:55:11in a completely natural way.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13It's just...
0:55:13 > 0:55:16so uplifting and moving.
0:55:16 > 0:55:19And it's so beautiful. Just wonderful.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22The witch yesterday said to me,
0:55:22 > 0:55:25"Cornwall either sucks you in or spits you out."
0:55:25 > 0:55:28And it's obvious clear which one it's done.
0:55:28 > 0:55:31But that's exactly the same, that's why I came because I was so...
0:55:32 > 0:55:33..coiled.
0:55:33 > 0:55:37I was so coiled, and the moment you allow yourself to release a bit
0:55:37 > 0:55:40and just take a bit of it in, it's so deeply profound
0:55:40 > 0:55:43I won't even bother putting words to it.
0:56:04 > 0:56:05It's really beautiful.
0:56:06 > 0:56:08- It's almost too much.- Yeah.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13I feel quite privileged to be here, actually.
0:56:19 > 0:56:23Our journey from Bodmin to Cape Cornwall using the sun, wind,
0:56:23 > 0:56:27lichen and sheep's pooh to guide us, has left me feeling privileged too,
0:56:27 > 0:56:32privileged that I can call this wonderful county my home.
0:56:34 > 0:56:36I know how everything's worked
0:56:36 > 0:56:38geographically,
0:56:38 > 0:56:42geologically, environmentally, on the way here and I never would've done that before,
0:56:42 > 0:56:45never would've stopped to notice anything.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49This has been about experiencing the journey, it's not about the end goal...
0:56:50 > 0:56:53..although the end goal is quite a shock.
0:57:01 > 0:57:03On a day like today, in a place like this,
0:57:03 > 0:57:08it's really nice not to be listening to an automated voice from a GPS,
0:57:08 > 0:57:11or trying to fold up a map
0:57:11 > 0:57:13and work out where you are.
0:57:13 > 0:57:15It's quite nice just to be out here.
0:57:16 > 0:57:21Everything's so convenient now with cars and planes and sat nav
0:57:21 > 0:57:25and all the rest of it. It's just been a wonderful experience
0:57:25 > 0:57:28to realise that every single thing in nature means something
0:57:28 > 0:57:32and is a sign for us, and if we can only appreciate that,
0:57:32 > 0:57:34it makes life all the richer.
0:57:37 > 0:57:41It's important that everyone on Earth should have somewhere where they feel safe...
0:57:42 > 0:57:45..and expansive and free,
0:57:45 > 0:57:48and most fully capable of realising who they are,
0:57:48 > 0:57:50and this place is for me here.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03'Coming up next week, I'll be taking Sue and Alison'
0:58:03 > 0:58:08'to a place I hold dear...' This is the spot that I asked my wife Louise to marry me.
0:58:08 > 0:58:10'..County Mayo on the west coast of Ireland.'
0:58:12 > 0:58:16I imagine my grandmother trying to bring up a young family in this tiny room.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20'It's spectacular, beautiful...'
0:58:20 > 0:58:22It's pretty epic, isn't it?
0:58:22 > 0:58:24'..and unfortunately, extremely challenging
0:58:24 > 0:58:26'for your novice natural navigator.'
0:58:26 > 0:58:30I think that's a T-Wreck. It's well embedded.
0:58:47 > 0:58:51Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:51 > 0:58:55E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk