Pennod 1 Ar y Lein

-888

-I'm an incredibly lucky girl.

-I'm going on a journey

-around the world.

-It starts here, today - Llandovery.

-Why Llandovery?

-The 52-degree line of latitude

-passes right through it.

-If I follow that line to the east,

-I pass through Holland, Germany...

-..Poland, Siberia, Alaska,

-Canada, Ireland...

-..until I return

-to where I am today.

-I'm in no rush.

-I'll be stopping along the way

-to see who, or what, is on the line.

-# THERE SHE GOES - The LAs #

-The idea of an invisible line

-connecting us to all those places...

-..comes as a bit of a shock.

-Few Welsh people realise

-we're so far north.

-We're further north

-than New York and Vancouver.

-We're on the same latitude

-as Calgary, Lake Baikal and Banff.

-And a load of places

-neither of us have heard of.

-This is the 52-degree

-line of latitude.

-It goes right through Europe...

-..from one end of Russia

-to the other.

-The other thing that connects these

-places is the length of their day...

-..in terms of daylight hours.

-The line scrapes the bottom

-of the Aleutian Islands...

-..crosses Canada, passes Ireland

-until it reaches Wales.

-Every journey has a starting point.

-Where better than Llandovery?

-To be honest, I'd never stopped

-in Llandovery before.

-An interesting town, but not

-as interesting as it was in 1922...

-..when the town had 47 pubs.

-A great place for students!

-Its renowned for its drovers.

-30,000 cattle, sheep and ducks

-were driven from here each year.

-Now it's my turn.

-I'll be travelling 16,000 miles

-over the next four months.

-I'd better make a start.

-Another familiar sight.

-The Brecon Beacons.

-The next mountains I'll see

-will be the Urals in Russia.

-Following the exact latitude line

-would be impossible.

-I'd have to cross fields,

-rivers and bogs.

-I've chosen the roads

-closest to the line.

-This road leads to Hay-on-Wye.

-The border between England and Wales

-runs right through it.

-You could be in Wales and England

-at the same time.

-Hay-on-Wye is famous

-for its bookshops - over 30 of them.

-This is a shop too.

-You can spend hours, even days,

-looking for a bargain in the shops.

-There are thousands of books here...

-..covering every subject

-under the sun.

-There aren't many Welsh books here,

-though.

-Even the birds in Hay-on-Wye...

-..raise their young

-in educational surroundings.

-Birds of a feather.

-There are books for everyone.

-From paperbacks costing 50p

-to rare first editions.

-I found a book

-that suited me to the ground.

-Hay is also famous

-for its literary festival.

-It's held in May, at the same time

-as the Urdd Eisteddfod.

-It's hosted such diverse speakers

-as Bill Clinton and Ken Dodd.

-One of the town's most unusual

-attractions is this little shop...

-..which sells everything

-you'd need for a doll's house.

-Walking through the door

-is like stepping into Lilliput.

-It's the brainchild

-of Georgina Able...

-..or George

-as she likes to be known.

-She didn't have a doll's house as

-a child, so she's spent 20 years...

-..making a huge doll's house

-for herself.

-The attention to detail

-is incredible.

-She's thought of everything -

-even a personalised mug.

-20 years work?

-Yeah.

-Every cupboard contains

-what should be there...

-..such as clothes and towels.

-I'll bring that one out to show you.

-This one has towels and sheets.

-In the drawer, there are

-little dressers, table runners.

-The dressing gowns on the door

-are made out of cleaning cloths.

-You need patience

-and nimble fingers.

-She knitted this jumper

-using cocktail sticks as needles.

-George has even started a club

-for doll's house enthusiasts.

-Tonight, they're making

-a swimming pool for the garden.

-Do you all have doll's houses?

-Do you all have doll's houses?

-

-We have around 20-30 between us.

-I think I've got seven.

-Seven?!

-This club includes men, too!

-They're full of ideas.

-They recycle dish scourers

-and margarine tubs.

-I was slowly

-drawn into their world.

-Time to move on.

-Farewell to Hay,

-and farewell to Wales.

-But not on my bike, thank God.

-Bye-bye, Wales.

-Oh, dear. Remind me

-to brush my hair next time!

-The landscape changes

-as soon as we leave Wales.

-Apple orchards surround me.

-We're in cider country.

-But I never drink and drive!

-I soon reach a posh hotel

-in Moreton-in-Marsh.

-I'm shattered.

-I'll sleep soundly tonight.

-They tell me the ghost of

-Dame Creswicke lives in this room.

-I'm too tired to worry about ghosts.

-Good night!

-According to legend...

-..Dame Creswicke's ghost

-walks the corridors at night...

-..calling in to greet

-some of the guests.

-EERIE MUSIC

-No - I didn't see her.

-It's a good story to attract guests,

-though.

-I'd keep my money in my pocket

-if I were you.

-It's snowing - I can't believe it!

-Sunshine yesterday, snow today.

-They say this weather has come

-from the east. We're going... east!

-Siberia's arrived early!

-On I go through the snow,

-past un-pebbledashed villages.

-I'm so glad this next town

-is on the line.

-Bletchley Park -

-a park near Bletchley!

-This is an interesting place.

-It's where they cracked the Germans'

-secret codes in World War II.

-It was called Station X then.

-The cleverest people in Britain

-were summoned here.

-They couldn't tell anyone

-what they were doing.

-Not even after the War.

-Details about it were only

-made public in the 1970s.

-Good morning.

-My chaperone was a true gentleman -

-Frank Carter.

-There's a museum here now.

-This is how the place looked

-in the days of Station X.

-The Germans knew nothing about

-this place or the code breakers.

-The focus is Enigma, a German device

-which ended up in British hands.

-Enigma translated

-the codes into words...

-..and translated words into codes.

-Station X attempted to decipher

-the codes.

-Did that make sense?

-When you press a key on the

-keyboard, that completes a circuit.

-A current flows and lights a lamp

-on this lamp panel.

-The circuit goes through the rotors

-themselves.

-When you press the key,

-the rotors step on by one position.

-That means that the circuits change.

-If you were to press the same key

-twice in succession...

-..you wouldn't get the same

-lamp light coming up twice.

-The Germans reset the rotors

-on their Enigmas every day.

-The Brits had to start

-from scratch every day...

-..and guess how the Germans

-had reset them.

-Only then could they decipher

-the messages.

-I tried to send a message in code.

-The next letter is a 'T'.

-Where are we? There.

-'T' gives us 'E'

-and now we've got an 'H'.

-That gives us an 'N'.

-OK, your original word

-has been enciphered to OZHEN.

-In order to decipher that OZHEN...

-..they would have

-to try how many times?

-The British or the Germans?

-The British.

-The number of ways

-you could set the machine up...

-..if you did it by trial and error

-is astonishingly large.

-It's about

-158,000,000,000,000,000,000 ways.

-That's impossible.

-Even today it would be impossible.

-These are the original buildings...

-..where the country's mathematical

-brains worked day and night...

-..to crack the German codes.

-One of them, Alan Turing,

-invented one of the first computers.

-It helped reduce

-the possible code combinations...

-..from 158,000,000,000,000,000,000

-to 1,000,000.

-Without the work these people

-did at Bletchley Park...

-..more British servicemen

-would have been killed in the War.

-Millions, without a doubt.

-I knew nothing about it until now.

-888

-888

-

-888

-From Bletchley, I followed

-the 52-degree latitude line...

-..to Letchworth,

-the first garden city.

-The aim was to provide a garden

-for every home...

-..with plenty of greenery

-all around.

-One of the area's characteristics

-is this species of black squirrel.

-They're not dirty grey squirrels!

-This really is their colour.

-The people of Letchworth

-have always been different.

-The original residents

-were very Bohemian.

-Carefree people who roamed

-the streets without gloves or hats!

-People would come from far afield

-to gawp at these gloveless people!

-The town was designed by Quakers...

-..so no pubs were built.

-But we all need a social life...

-..so a non-alcoholic pub

-was opened - the Skittles Inn.

-Originally, it was a temperance inn.

-It was called the Skittles Inn.

-Down here,

-there was a skittles alley.

-They served nothing

-but soft drinks...

-..Cydrax, which was

-a sort of apple juice, and Marmite.

-Marmite?

-Marmite?

-

-Marmite drink.

-And drinking chocolate.

-Cadbury was one

-of the founders of Letchworth.

-There is the connection there.

-They were a very sober lot

-by all accounts.

-The Spirella corset factory

-was situated in Letchworth.

-It was world-renowned

-and its corsets...

-..were worn by famous women...

-..such as Marilyn Monroe,

-Mae West, Rita Hayworth and my gran.

-By the '70s, women wanted

-to let things hang out.

-The company folded.

-The old factory is now home

-to a number of small companies.

-No corsets are sold here now but

-there's an exhibition in the museum.

-In the '30s and '40s,

-most women had small stomachs.

-If you had a big stomach, it

-was squashed flat inside a corset.

-And you could do anything

-wearing a corset!

-A corset wasn't a handicap.

-But I'm not sure

-what this girl was trying to do.

-They stopped making corsets

-in Spirella in 1989.

-Women wanted more freedom.

-If you want to see

-some of the old corsets...

-..you have to visit the museum

-and wear white gloves.

-This is what they used to wear -

-in Mam's time!

-This is the back -

-this is how it would look on you.

-Someone else would pull

-the cords tight and tie it up.

-Sounds very painful!

-They also had one in salmon pink.

-This would be worn like this.

-These would hold up your stockings.

-If you had a stomach, you could

-pull it in with these cords.

-It means nothing to me

-and my baggy jumpers!

-I had a bit of a shock

-when I saw this.

-Will you just look at that!

-It's only a demonstrator -

-not the real thing!

-Phew!

-Farewell Spirella!

-I've seen enough corsets.

-It's time to head back on the road.

-I leave the greenery of Letchworth

-and head for the deep blue sea.

-This is Felixstowe -

-one of Europe's largest ports.

-They load and unload some of the

-world's biggest commercial ships.

-If they're so big and heavy,

-why don't they sink?

-A crowd of ship-watchers

-watch the ships come and go.

-Yes, ship-watchers!

-Peter, Brian, Eddie

-and Sam from the burger stall.

-It was like a scene

-from "Last of the Summer Wine".

-It's like trainspotting.

-But different.

-Better.

-Why is it better?

-Why is it better?

-

-They're bigger for a start.

-That's a point. Like trainspotters,

-do you log everything down?

-Yes, I do.

-The last one I logged

-is the one that just went out.

-Stena Gothica.

-And the time she went out - 1430.

-The other page was this morning.

-All the ships are at sea.

-Are you a proper club?

-Are you a proper club?

-

-No.

-It's purely a pastime.

-There's nothing else to do

-in Felixstowe.

-True enough!

-There isn't much to do in

-Felixstowe.

-It's a very leisurely place.

-A seaside town from the olden days.

-A chips and ice cream town.

-Somewhere to go for a spin

-on a Sunday afternoon.

-You can stay in the car if you want.

-Felixstowe is also famous

-for its seaside chalets.

-Very pretty and colourful.

-People pay an annual rent for them.

-Anything between 500 and 800...

-..similar to a static caravan

-in Wales.

-You can't sleep in them, though.

-If people get caught sleeping

-in them, they get kicked out.

-I like Felixstowe.

-It's the type of place where you eat

-fish and chips and mushy peas...

-..and pickled eggs.

-It's very old-fashioned.

-I like this place, the people,

-the town and the chalets.

-Across the bay is the last place

-on the line in England - Harwich.

-These two lighthouses used to guide

-all the ships on the Channel.

-But the sand moved,

-and today they're good for nothing.

-They're just tourist attractions.

-New lighthouses have been built

-to guide the boats safely ashore.

-Some are used for fishing,

-others to transport tourists.

-Captain Christopher Jones lived

-here.

-He captained the Mayflower aboard

-which the Pilgrims left Plymouth...

-..sailing to Massachusetts in 1620.

-Harwich is full of lighthouses.

-This was once a council house,

-until someone had the bright idea...

-..to open a wireless and television

-museum here.

-It's full of radios and TV sets...

-..from the days of Marconi,

-right up to the '70s.

-There's a different decade

-on each floor.

-Particular tribute is paid

-to Radio Caroline...

-..the first independent

-radio station.

-Their programmes were broadcast

-just off the shores of Harwich...

-..in a boat called Mi Amigo.

-Do you remember any of these?

-Don't say too much -

-you'll show your age!

-Tens of children were raised

-in this old council house.

-I'm so jealous.

-Having a bedroom with this view

-would have been superb.

-This is what you would have seen

-first thing in the morning.

-Fair play to Harwich Town Council

-for supporting the arts.

-There are murals

-all over the place...

-..portraying the sea's influence on

-the town's culture and industries.

-It's time for me to set sail.

-My ferry awaits.

-From Harwich,

-ships sail to Holland daily.

-That's where the line takes me next.

-The sea is very important

-to the people of Harwich.

-I'll soon be boarding that colossus.

-Don't be fooled by the blue skies -

-it's freezing here!

-This monster, which looks

-like a big Thunderbird toy...

-..reaches the Hook of Holland

-in three and a half hours.

-They're not impressed!

-The crossing used

-to take eight hours.

-No wonder it's so popular now.

-The catamaran is empty

-and it's my turn to board.

-Farewell, England.

-The first part of the journey

-is over.

-I hadn't expected to enjoy

-the first part as much as I did.

-Well, you know -

-Powys, central England!

-Shame on me

-for thinking such thoughts!

-You learn something new

-wherever you go.

-And you learn the most

-in the least likely places.

-Next week - Holland,

-and disaster in Gouda.

-S4C subtitles by

-TROSOL Cyf.