Episode 14 Holiday of My Lifetime with Len Goodman

'Childhood holidays? Oh, the anticipation seemed endless.

'The holiday itself... Well, it was over too quickly.

'So, in this series, I'm going

'to be reliving those wonderful times

'with some much-loved famous faces.'

BOTH: Argh!

'Every day, I'll be arranging a few surprises to transport them

'back in time.'

Oh, look! It's just as I remember! Ha-ha!

'We'll relive the fun...

-LAUGHTER

-'..the games...'

Yes!

We got 'em!

'..and the food of years gone by...'

Yummy!

-Welcome to 1959!

-Ha-ha! Total happiness!

-Yes, perfect!

'..to find out how those holidays around the UK helped shape

'the people we know so well today.'

Bruce Forsyth.

AS BRUCE: Yes, marvellous, Len. You're still my favourite.

'So, buckle up for Holiday Of My Lifetime.'

You know, Len, I'm quite enjoying being on my holidays with you!

'On today's reminiscing mission, I'm heading north to pick

'up our mystery holiday-maker in a classic Austin A35 Saloon.'

You could say the guest I'm on my way to meet today is a true blue.

And I'm not talking about football!

She was born in Bath in 1947 and if there was a cutest baby

competition, she'd get my vote!

She went from the toy box to the ballot box.

And in 1987, she was elected to the House of Commons.

But there's nothing common about this lady.

Order! Order!

In 2002, she was on Celebrity Fit Club, losing weight.

But some say she really lost it

when she got flung around the floor on Strictly like a vacuum cleaner!

And dangled on wires! Aw!

Our Anton really put her through her paces. I didn't know where to look.

And those floral dresses still haunt me. Have you got it? You must have!

The ayes have it. It's outspoken former MP Ann Widdecombe. Ho-ho!

Ann!

We'll be hitting the road in this beautiful Austin A35,

the very car that Ann and her mother used to take on their holidays.

Oh-ho-ho! Ann!

Here I come!

'Ann was born in Somerset in 1947 to mum Rita and dad James,

'who worked for the Ministry of Defence.

'The family lived in Singapore for three years when Ann was young.

'On their return to England, she boarded at a convent school,

'before ending up at Oxford University.

'She's one of the country's most recognisable politicians,

'having been a Conservative MP for more than ten years.

'And she's known for her strong views on a range of subjects.'

It's a Baby Austin! It's a Baby Austin!

-Ha-ha! Ooh! Hello!

-Hello.

Isn't this gorgeous? Oh! I just can't believe this.

This is just like ours and it's got the red interior as well.

-Yes.

-It's fantastic.

I used to sit on that back seat when we went on holiday.

-My parents were in the front. Hello, Len.

-Lovely to see you.

-So, you recognise the car?

-I recognise that Baby Austin.

-Fantastic!

-Brilliant!

-Now, where were we off to?

Well, I hope we're going to see some of the holiday

-I once had in the Lake District.

-So, what year is it?

-It's 1963.

That was the year of the Profumo Affair, the assassination

of President Kennedy, and it was the year I went to the Lakes.

And it was also the year that the Beatles had three number ones,

-including I Want To Hold Your Hand.

-I'll take your word for it, Len.

-Let me escort you to your chariot.

-Thank you.

Oh-ho! Yes.

Oh! Baby Austin!

-Ha-ha! Baby Austin!

-Yeah-up!

'In the North West of England, in the county of Cumbria,

'the Lake District is the largest national park in England

'and Wales, spanning nearly 900 square miles and incorporating

'the historic towns of Keswick, Windermere and Ambleside.

'Its spectacular collection of lakes, forests

'and fells have inspired writers and artists for centuries.

'And it's why millions of tourists come to visit year after year.

'Today, I'm taking Ann back to retrace her steps

'when she first visited this famous setting as a wide-eyed 15-year-old.'

My mother used to stand on hills and say, "Now, breathe in and out

"to get the fresh air in your lungs." We used to stand there going...

Ah!

'We'll find out just how much the Lake District inspired

'Ann to become the woman we know today.'

My parents took the view that it was my choice

and at various times I wanted to be a missionary and an astronaut...

'And we'll embrace the magnificent landscape that's barely

'changed in all these years.'

-It's absolutely wonderful.

-It is.

'Before any holiday truly begins, first, you must set out on a

'journey, whether by plane, train or by automobile,

'we've all experienced those hours of anticipation, just waiting to

'get to the promised destination we've been dreaming of all year.

'As head of naval supplies and transport for the MoD,

'Ann's father had business across the country

'and in the summer of '63, Ann and her mother set off from their

'home in Guildford to accompany him and have a holiday of their own.

'They left behind brother Malcolm, who, at 26,

'was preparing to become a Church of England minister.

'It was a long drive and Ann remembers it well.' So, here we are.

We're heading for the Lake District. May I ask how old you were?

Yes, I would have been...coming up for 16. I wouldn't have been 16.

-Right.

-I would have been 15 and a big bit.

-Oh, right.

We'd been in Scotland because my father had some business there.

He was in the armaments department of the Admiralty.

And then we came over the border down here and my mother and I were in the

Lakes, my father was on the holiday, but he was doing business all day.

-Right.

-He wasn't actually taking part during the day.

So we would see him at night for supper.

As a 15-year-old, were you an impatient sort of child?

By then, I was past the "are we nearly there" stage.

But I was terribly excited. I can remember that.

I'd never been to the Lakes.

I hadn't been anywhere that much north of Bath.

So, this was a big deal, this holiday.

'At 15 years old, Ann was in the midst of a seven-year

'spell at La Sainte Union Convent School in Bath,

'so the trip to the Lakes proved to be a bit of an adventure.'

So, on this journey, did you play any games like I Spy or anything?

When I was younger, we always did that.

And sometimes, my mother and I would do it when I was much older,

just for fun.

-Yeah.

-But we also played a game called Mrs Johnson's Cat.

-Oh.

-Mrs Johnson's Cat, you went through all the alphabet.

-Let's give it a go.

-You begin.

-Mrs Johnson's cat's an ambivalent cat.

Mrs Johnson's cat is a bothersome cat.

Mrs Johnson's cat's a cantankerous cat.

Mrs Johnson's cat is a disastrous cat.

Mrs Johnson's cat is an elegant cat, unlike my performance on Strictly!

Ha-ha!

Well, talking of Strictly, as you've brought it up,

and I'm sure you would have beaten me at Mrs Johnson's Cat,

how did you find the experience of being on Strictly?

I absolutely loved Strictly.

I had no idea what I was letting myself in for.

I'd built my life around the fact that

I would last three weeks on Strictly, while,

as you know, we were ten weeks into the 12 when I finally went.

I thought you gave us such wonderful entertainment.

It's the same when John Sergeant was on. I remember Russell Grant.

It's those ones, the really entertaining

and fun ones that stick in your mind.

'In 1963, the world was a very different place.

'In one of the most iconic moments of the 20th century, the then

'President of the US, John F Kennedy, was shot and killed in

'Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald was found to have fired the shot,

'but conspiracy theories abound to this day about the real

'reason behind the assassination.

'It was the year of the Great Train Robbery,

'arguably the most famous British crime of the 20th century.

'A 15-strong gang, including the notorious Ronnie Biggs,

'held up a Royal Mail train and made off with over £2.5 million -

'that's nearly £50 million in today's money.

'And the '60s were alive and kicking.

'We were swinging to the sounds of rock 'n' roll.

'Brian Poole and the Tremeloes got me dancing with Do You Love Me.

'It was number one for three fabulous weeks.

'To commence Ann's holiday of her lifetime,

'I've brought her to a magical place, filled with memories.'

Well, Ann, here we are. Lake Windermere. Is it how you remember?

Oh, yes. When I first saw this lake, I thought I'd never seen anything

so wonderful because it was just a huge lake.

Yeah. I must say, it looks fabulous.

And I guess it's not changed that much from when you came here in '63.

It's a bit busier. It's certainly a bit busier.

I remember a much wilder Windermere.

Over there, you've got the hills, trees. That's Lakeland.

-That is Lakeland.

-Yeah. Well, I know you live down in Devon,

so you get this lovely fresh air, but for me, this is so lovely.

It's bracing and you feel ready for a holiday.

My mother used to stand on hills and say, "Breathe in and out to

"get the fresh air in your lungs." We used to stand there going...

-Ah!

-Course you would! Fantastic!

-Was your mum just as big a fan of it as yourself?

-Oh, yes.

And we used to like the more dramatic times of day.

We loved the sunset over scenes like this.

There wouldn't be any boats, we'd be on a wilder bit of the lake,

you'd have your mountains and trees, and the sunset over them,

and it was fantastic.

'It's wonderful to see that Ann's memories of her time

'here are already flooding back.

'The land favoured by poets Wordsworth

'and Coleridge is a firm favourite among British holiday-makers.

'But it hasn't always been so popular,

'as Lake District intellectual Vicky Slowe explains.'

In the early days, in the 17th century and earlier,

the Lake District was regarded as a barren wilderness.

The Normans ignored it, the Romans ignored it.

The first tourists were very adventurous.

The earliest to arrive, like Daniel Defoe, found it terrifying.

Their favourite adjective for it all was "horrid"

and that meant like a horror film, a shiver in the spine.

Defoe says he had to pull the blinds down on his carriage windows

because the precipices were too terrifying.

'Part of the magic of any childhood holiday is

'the excitement of staying somewhere new.

'The sights, sounds and smells of those hotels, motels and campsites.

'In 1963, Ann Widdecombe and her mum

'and dad spent four nights at a three-star hotel in Grasmere.

'Not exactly the Ritz, but a step up from a B&B.

'And I'm taking Ann to the type of hotel she might have stayed in.'

This would have been the type of place you would have stayed in.

The sort of place it used to be, yeah.

In 1912, the AA started grading hotels

and they used a system that was used for grading brandies.

So you'd get three-star brandy and so on.

So, the three-star hotel was thought of as being very decent,

average, middle class type of hotel.

This was certainly the sort of hotel that we used to stay at.

We wouldn't have stayed in anything very grand.

We wouldn't have stayed at a bed & breakfast.

This was the sort of thing that

if we were coming to hotels we would come to.

Were you excited as a young lady, coming to a place like this?

Ooh, yes. I mean, it was very nice.

In those days, of course, you didn't have teasmades in the bedroom

and kettle facilities. You were brought your tea in the morning.

-And it was all served to you.

-Yeah.

-There was no washing-up.

There was no cooking. So it was great.

We would come down in the morning,

-we'd go out, we'd be in the Baby Austin, we'd be off.

-Perfect.

What's lovely about this hotel,

it's sort of somehow kept that same feeling

that you would have had back then.

Yeah. It would have been just like this. And people were sociable.

We were all in the Lakes because we were walking and we were on holiday.

We were going on the boats and things.

So when we came down in the evening, people would talk to each other.

-They weren't sort of sitting preoccupied in a corner.

-Perfect.

'Happy memories indeed.

'In 1963, Ann's father - who was busy with work -

'was only able to join Ann and her mother from time to time,

'leaving them to enjoy the luxury of their hotel together.'

-Well, here we are, Ann. Ho-ho!

-Oh.

-Oh, yes.

-Eh?

-Yes.

What do you think?

-Well, it's much posher than it would have been in my time.

-Really?

Oh, yes. Undeniably. I mean, it's more modern.

-We wouldn't have had a television.

-Of course not.

-Would you have had an en-suite?

-Absolutely not.

In those days, whenever you went away to stay,

you always took a dressing gown. And this was for two reasons.

First of all, there wasn't central heating.

But secondly, it was for modesty

because you had to leave your room to go to the bathroom.

And you'd sometimes walk down an entire corridor

to get to the bathroom.

Did you share the room with your mum?

Oh, no. No, I was 15 by then. I had my own room.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Well, I wish I'd have had that.

Whenever we went away,

-I was always tucked up somewhere in the corner or something.

-No, no.

Did you ever get tempted once your mum was asleep

to sneak out or shimmy down a drainpipe?

-No, wasn't my style. That really wasn't my style.

-No?

No. I'd have gone to bed. At 15, my reading would have

advanced a bit beyond Biggles and Enid Blyton,

so I'd probably be reading a bit of Jane Austen.

'Ann stayed at boarding school in Bath,

'100 miles from her family home.

'She shared a room with eight other girls,

'but here she had the freedom of having a room to herself.'

Being at a boarding school, did you feel lonely at all?

No, I loved boarding school.

But, of course, one of the joys of having a room to oneself

is that - yes, you had that at home -

but at school you were in a dormitory.

And people often say to me, when I left Oxford,

why didn't I do a flat-share like so many people did?

And the answer is I shared a dormitory.

Then I shared a room in a hall of residence. Then in an Oxford college.

Oh, did I want my own space.

You went to Oxford. What did you study there?

There I did Politics and Economics. I did Latin at Birmingham.

I did the love of my life, Latin, at Birmingham.

Then, because I decided on a political career,

I decided I was going to go and do a second degree. So I did.

And, of course, that was perfect education

to go into politics, I would imagine.

Do you know, I reckon the Latin was far more useful

than the politics and economics! THEY LAUGH

Incorporating its biggest lake and highest mountain,

the Lake District is England's largest national park,

and it's the spectacular scenery that it was set up to protect

that keeps visitors flocking back.

So here are my Ten From Len.

Built in the 17th century, this former inn

that was to become William Wordsworth's first family home

was discovered by the poet by accident

when out walking with his friend, Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Dove Cottage is where he wrote many famous works

and is also where he and wife, Mary, had three children.

And his sister, Dorothy, wrote her famous Grasmere Journals.

It might be difficult to imagine Wordsworth

as anything other than a writer.

But 30 years before he was named Poet Laureate,

he was employed in a building known as The Old Stamp House.

It's now a restaurant,

but in 1813 it was where Wordsworth was employed as

the distributor of stamps for Westmorland.

A grand title for which he was paid £400 a year.

An exhilarating attraction can be found in the woods

surrounding England's largest natural lake.

With 35 tree top challenges,

you can swing your way through the ancient woodland canopy,

culminating in a 250-metre zip-wire

with a thrilling view of the water around Windermere.

'No holiday experience is complete without sampling the local food.

'Those new tastes and textures, so different to home,

'transform our palate for ever.

'When Ann holidayed in the Lake District,

'the meal of choice was enjoyed al fresco.

'So we're going to relive those memories today.'

I know you used to have a lovely picnic with your mother.

-Oh, I certainly did.

-Here we go.

-I certainly did.

Now, get yourself comfortable.

-Picnics were a big thing in those days.

-Well, of course they were.

-We were always having picnics.

-Absolutely.

-Well, I tell you what we used to have.

-Yes.

-I think these may be...

We used to have pastes.

We used to have anchovy paste which we used to put on.

We also used to have, and I don't know if you remember it,

-something called sandwich spread.

-Of course.

And that was a filling in its own right.

I mean, these days they tend to put it on other things.

What do you fancy to drink?

We've got some cola, we've got some ginger beer...

-I'm going to go for the ginger beer.

-Ginger beer it is.

-And I hope it comes out of a bottle, yes, it does.

-Yes, it does.

Whereabouts would you have had your picnic? Down by one of the lakes?

Might have been anywhere. We would've been going along in the Baby Austin

and my mother would have said, "That looks a place for a picnic."

Might have been high up on a hill, might have been by a lake,

might have just been in a field. Might have been anywhere.

Well, we're getting cracking. We've got our picnic basket.

We've got some ginger beer, we've got our coffee.

You've got your sandwich.

Now, we're going to get down to the nitty-gritty now.

-Right.

-Cake.

-SHE GASPS

Now, there were two sorts of cakes I adored.

One was just Madeira, but one used to eat it with cream.

-You put the cream on top. Oh, it was lovely.

-Ann, Ann.

-Yeah?

You were posh. No, you were, Ann. No, I can't have this.

-Madeira cake and then you... No!

-We did!

We put cream on our Madeira cake.

And there was me going down the baker's and having a Sticky Willy,

and there's you with the Madeira... No.

So what other cake would you have had?

Well, apart from the Madeira, which would have always had the cream,

we went for a cake that was called Mother's Cake.

Now, when Mother first put this on the table

and said, "This is Mother's Cake," we all said, "Oh, have you made a cake?"

Because she hated baking, she never did that sort of thing.

And she said, "No, it's just called Mother's Cake."

And it was a rather heavy, crumbly cake with a few bits

and pieces in it and I haven't had it since.

'Like Ann, I've got a bit of a sweet tooth,

'so I've brought along a selection of traditional local cakes.

'I wonder if any of them are like the Mother's Cake

'she remembers so well.'

-So here's the first one.

-OK.

-And this is Grasmere gingerbread.

-Have a sample of that and give me your...

-Thank you.

Have a go at it. Can't beat cake.

No. No. No, that doesn't pass.

-To be honest...

-No. That doesn't pass.

-OK. Not to worry.

Borrowdale teabread.

Now, this is more cake-ified.

-Does it look anything like it?

-No, it doesn't look like Mother's Cake.

Look, it's the taste.

I'm giving you a very generous portion here.

No, the inside is slightly more...

-There would have been far less fruit in Mother's Cake.

-Right.

Just little bits of fruit but that is much more... That is very similar.

Mmm. Too fruity but very similar.

-I like a bit of fruity. OK.

-Mm.

-Well, Ann, we've only got one more left.

-Oh, dear. Oh, dear.

-Well, let's see.

-Lakeland plum bread.

Well, the shape is right.

What we are getting there, we've got the shape...

-It was more cake shaped like that.

-Here it comes.

-Oh, thank you.

-Mmm. Well, say something.

-It's closer.

I think you've devised this testing programme just so

-that you can eat an awful lot of cake.

-Do you know what, Ann?

-You are perfectly correct.

-Ten out of ten.

-Ten out of ten! I love it.

Cake is my favourite.

'In order to work off all that lovely cake we've just sampled,

'I think we best take a little hike before we go for the main event -

'the picnic itself!

'The Lake District is where Ann discovered her passion

'for hill walking, and she's not alone.

'Alfred Wainwright's famous picture guides were compiled in the '50s

'and '60s, inspiring walkers with his musings and sketches.

'Let's hope the scenery inspires me today.

'Walking? No!'

-Ann, surely you don't go on these walks all the time.

-I certainly do.

-On Dartmoor I walk sometimes all day, I don't see a soul.

-Really?

Not once I get right out onto the moor, I don't see a soul.

How far do you walk?

Well, I don't do great treks but I can do ten miles in a day.

And did your love for walking maybe stem from coming to the

Lake District with your mum?

This was the first time I ever did a proper hill.

I walked on Dartmoor with my father from about the age of ten or so,

but this was the first time, this particular holiday in 1963,

was the first time I walked up any sort of extensive hill.

And I did it with my mother and I've got an admittedly very

bad photograph of us both sitting on top of that hill,

but that, I think that was the beginning of my love of hill walking.

What sort of walker are you,

are you just one of those who rambles along or are you

one of those that just goes out with a blanket and a compass

and camps out all night?

I don't even think I'm a rambler, I think I'm an ambler.

And I amble, and I will walk miles and miles in a day

but it will be at a very gentle pace.

And no, I don't carry anything except what I can fit into a belt around me,

so I will have a compass and I will have a mobile for safety.

-And enough money for an ice cream if I end up in civilisation.

-Right.

And have you ever, you know, got caught in a mist or a fog

-and got yourself lost?

-Yes.

Not very long ago I was in a bit of a moor that

I know like the back of my hand.

And the mist came down very, very thick and I did get disorientated.

-Right.

-And I stood there and I thought, well,

I know I'm near the road so what I've got to do is listen

and if I can hear cars, that's the direction of the road.

And actually, in a mist, even the sound is deadened and but, yes,

I did hear a car.

Right. Well, look, Ann...

I've walked quite a way now, it must be a good 150 yards.

I wouldn't mind having a sit down on this lovely old bench.

Why don't we sit and look at that?

Because that is fantastic.

Oh! Oh, yes, Thank you!

-You look at a view like this, it is absolutely wonderful.

-It is.

Isn't it?

'And with such a spectacular view,

'what better place to settle down on a blanket and tuck into our picnic?'

Let's have a look what we've got here. Hold on.

Oh, do you think that is going to be the paste sandwiches?

Have a go and see. Well, you tuck into that nicely.

And I'll just put that there.

I think I'll steam into a little bit of cake.

It seems a shame to waste it.

-What I want to know is, have we got a ginger beer?

-We have a ginger beer.

Mm-hm.

-I have one for you.

-Marvellous.

-I've got to...

-Mm!

Not quite a wine glass, but it will taste just as nice, I'm sure.

-Thank you. Proper pop, as we used to say.

-Yeah, pop.

-Mm!

-I used to love cream soda.

-I loved cream soda.

-Do you remember cream soda?

-Yes.

-Is this how you remember picnics with your mum?

-Yes.

-Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore, that's all we need.

-Mm.

And then we can find a little stream and play Pooh sticks.

We could play Pooh sticks. There is a stream there.

Certain foods really do take you back to your childhood.

That's why I talk about Winnie the Pooh, this takes me right back.

And Rupert Bear.

-I still follow Rupert Bear in The Express.

-Do you?

-Yes.

Because I write for The Express. I always just see what he is doing.

Coming back here, you know, to the Lake District, does it

-sort of put you into a reflective mood about growing up?

-Yes.

This takes me back to the holidays that I spent

in the Lakes and, as I say, the most memorable was when I was about 15.

So yes, and I recall my mother very, very well on that holiday

and indeed of course we were only on it because of my father's business.

-So, yes.

-If you had some advantages, I guess, your father

having his occupation, I'm guessing it took you all over the place.

-Yes, it did. We went to Singapore.

-Oh, really?

-Oh, yes.

We moved around every two to three years and I think that is why,

when I was leaving Parliament and I said, "I'm going to do Strictly"

and everybody said, "You're absolutely mad,"

it was because I knew from childhood that one day I'd be

living in a particular house, going to a certain school, having friends

I'd known for two or three years, belonging to the Brownie Pack.

But the very next day, no transition, no preparation,

none of this sort of stuff, and the very next day

I'd be in a different part of the country or a different

-part of the globe, different school, making friends from scratch.

-Yeah.

And so I knew how to contain the past to the past,

and so when I decided to retire,

I knew that the moment Parliament was dissolved, I had retired.

And I could do something different

and I'm sure it goes back to that roving childhood.

From rowing and fishing,

to biking and hiking, the Lake District is an outdoor paradise.

Forget the Lake poets. To fell walkers,

Alfred Wainwright is the area's most significant author.

His seven walking guides have sold in excess of

two-and-a-half million copies.

Each of the 217 peaks listed in his guides are known as a Wainwright

and bagging them all has become a challenge for hill walkers.

Kendal Mint Cake may have been good enough to help Edmund Hillary

to the summit of Everest, but for a different kind

of sweet treat, Grasmere gingerbread might hit the spot.

It's been sold from a single shop for the last 160 years.

Made to a secret recipe that has been passed down through

the generations of the same family, it is baked in the former

schoolhouse where William Wordsworth occasionally taught.

And if you tire of walking, you can still enjoy the scenery

from a rather Georgian point of view.

Ponies were a common sight around the Lakes and by the 18th century

they transported metal ores from mines in the fells

to coastal smelters.

Weaving its way through the countryside,

the Ravenglass to Eskdale railway was used to transport materials

to and from local quarries.

But it's also been carrying passengers for nearly a century.

Ann's stand-out memory from her holiday was a trip on this

'very railway, and do you know what? I'm gonna take her back on it.'

-Morning.

-Thank you.

-Ha-ha.

What do you remember about this journey and being on this train?

I remember the train very, very vividly indeed.

And I remember the prettiness of the journey.

And being terribly excited and just wanting it to go on and on.

-There's something special about a steam train.

-Ah!

Now, as I understand it, in the '50s it was losing money

and there was a chance that the whole thing could have closed down.

Well, not only in the '50s.

After I became a Member of Parliament,

when I got elected late 1980s, 1987,

suddenly the future of this very, very railway line was in doubt.

-Really?

-Yes. And, er, I was one of those who campaigned to keep it open.

I had no grounds for doing so, just other than happy memories.

-And what a day we've got for this as well.

-Isn't it great?

-What a day.

-Look at that mountain over there.

-Look at that.

-Look. Really.

-Oh, look.

-I have a yen to get out and walk up that.

Yeah, I've got a yen to walk up there, but I know I couldn't.

What was it that inspired you to want to become a politician?

Em, well, one of the reasons was to fight socialism.

When I was growing up, it was the height of the Cold War.

Socialism was real socialism.

It wasn't like it is today, everybody on the centre ground.

Wasn't at all like that. It was a real division.

The other motivation for going in was that I wanted to try and solve

seemingly insoluble problems.

When I say that, you'll immediately think the Health Service,

Northern Ireland, these days, the Ukraine.

Of course, I do mean those,

but I also mean insoluble problems at a very individual level,

constituent level, where sometimes you'd get something sorted

that you didn't think you'd have a chance of getting sorted.

It's a wonderful feeling.

-What was your constituency, where were you?

-Maidstone in Kent.

Oh, near me.

Near where I live now. Oh, you were nearly my local MP, Ann.

Yeah, that would have been something.

I would have been...

I'd have represented you, though, very well.

Yes, I'm sure you would.

LEN LAUGHS

So during your time as an MP,

were there any particular policies that you really helped to

change and shape that you were passionate about?

Well, certainly I made changes to the state pension age

and to disability benefits.

Those are very proud memories.

-TRAIN WHISTLES

-Oh, I love that.

-Oh, yes.

I love a hooter.

Oh, isn't that marvellous?!

'The Lake District now attracts over 15 million visitors a year,'

but the tourist industry has seen a lot of changes,

as ice cream entrepreneur Mark explains.

1963 is a lot different to what it is now.

That was the start of when people were coming in in their masses.

People were getting their own cars.

It was a time, 1963, when things were picking up after the war.

There was plenty of work.

Well, my grandfather started the business in 1902.

He started off with a horse and cart.

Then graduated to a motorbike and side car, then on to the van.

Then it graduated to my father and his brother.

After the war, the rationing went on till 1953,

and it was hard getting the sugar and the stuff to make the ice cream.

But they survived. I took over from my father.

So how it'll all end, I don't know.

But we'll have to wait and see.

The rugged landscape of the Lake District has inspired writers

from John Ruskin to Beatrix Potter.

It's in the shadow of such wordsmiths that Ann walked

when she became a novelist in her own right.

Well, I think one of the places you would have come in '63

would have been here to St Oswald's Church here in Grasmere -

the burial place of William Wordsworth.

William Wordsworth, yes indeed.

-Were you aware of William Wordsworth when you came here?

-Oh, yes, I was.

I hadn't yet started to study him as I was to do only a few months later

when we began the A-Level syllabus,

and we did Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats. We were doing that era.

But nevertheless, every schoolchild learns

the Daffodils at the age of about ten or so.

-I was no exception to that.

-Yeah.

I can still do a lot of it to this day.

So, yes, I was interested in Wordsworth, yes.

What was your favourite of all the Wordsworth poems, did you have one?

I think I have to go with the Daffodils,

simply because it's the one I remember.

I mean, yes, you know,

for that course we were doing things like the Prelude,

we were doing much more complicated work,

but I love the Daffodils because I think it speaks to you.

That wonderful bit at the end where he says,

often when on his couch he lies,

"In vacant or in pensive mood

"They flash upon that inward eye

"Which is the bliss of solitude

"And then my heart with pleasure fills

"And dances with the daffodils."

I think that's the function of memory, that's wonderful.

-Speaking of daffodils, look, we have...

-Oh!

-..a little posy here,

which I think would be fitting to leave...

Shall we leave it on the grave?

Maybe we should leave them for Dorothy,

because it was her diary that was the inspiration.

Let's put it on Dorothy's grave.

-Beautiful.

-Look at that.

-Beautiful, yeah.

Dorothy. Marvellous.

'Dorothy's grave lies next to her brother William's,

'which has been a major attraction for visitors for almost 200 years.'

At the archive of the Wordsworth Trust,

curator Jeff Cowton has some records that suggest not all visitors

in 1963 were welcome with open arms.

Well, I want you to meet Jeff,

who's going to show you something that's really interesting.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-Very pleased to meet you.

-Very good to meet you.

-Pleased to meet you.

-And you.

So we've got an album here of press cuttings

from the time when you visited.

-ANN GASPS

-It's quite remarkable.

It's a wonder what we have in this library, but this is one of them.

If we just open it to one of these many interesting pages,

you can see...

I mean, these are wonderful press cuttings, as you can see.

-Yes.

-There's one here, you wouldn't believe it about the Lake District,

but there were anxieties round about the time that you came

about hooliganism in the Lake District.

-I didn't see any.

-I'm sure you didn't.

-No.

But it's interesting that they were putting on extra police

patrols even at that time. I guess this is perhaps the time of...

Maybe a little earlier than mods and rockers,

but that kind of thing.

Easter weekend didn't always bring well-behaved tourists.

But what's also interesting about this one

is that the youth hostels were full.

They were expecting 5,000 people at youth hostels that Easter weekend.

Nowadays they're closing down. They can hardly survive.

I hope you weren't one of those hooligans that came

here on the Bank Holiday Weekend, Ann.

I was a nice, quiet convent girl.

Tourists descend upon the Lakes in huge numbers,

and it was William Wordsworth who sparked the start of mass tourism

when his guide through the district of the lakes was published in 1820.

It's just lovely to feel you're in the steps of Wordsworth.

When you're wandering about you think,

"I wonder if he wandered here,"

cos he used to walk round talking to himself as he was composing.

-He did.

-The natives used to comment on that, he was always

walking around muttering.

Talking out loud, absolutely.

-Then he would come home...

-Presumably testing out the sounds.

He was.

He used to talk about mechanical walking,

so that the rhythms of the poems would be in keeping with his step.

That must have looked odd, mustn't it?

-It would look odd nowadays, never mind...

-Very, very odd indeed.

-It's fascinating, I must say.

-Absolutely, yeah.

Long providing inspiration for poets, writers and painters,

it's the spectacular lakeside views

that stay in the memory of its visitors.

Some of the most easily accessible walks

take in one of the smaller lakes, Grasmere.

It covers less than a quarter of a square mile

and is just 75 feet deep.

Only one body of water in the district

is actually officially called a lake.

The rest are given the title of water or include the term "mere."

Now, that's something I didn't know.

Founded by the Archbishop of York in 1585

in the medieval market town of Hawkshead is the Grammar School,

which was attended by, yes, you've guessed it - William Wordsworth,

who just like any other school boy,

made mischief by carving his name into the desk.

His etching can still be seen in the museum. Oh! Naughty boy, Willy.

Devoted to preserving the cultural heritage of the Lake District,

the Armitt Museum was founded over 100 years ago,

and one of its earliest supporters was Beatrix Potter.

Alongside its collection of artefacts, books and paintings,

the museum devotes an exhibition to the Peter Rabbit creator

and includes the desk she used to paint from.

Top of the pile - the lakes themselves.

No trip here would be complete without a jaunt on a boat.

As Coniston Water and its islands provided the inspiration

for Arthur Ransome's Swallows And Amazons,

this seems a perfect place to go exploring.

It's the straightest of all the lakes,

making it the perfect location for Sir Malcolm Campbell to set

a new water speed record in 1939,

when he reached 141 miles an hour.

Ann Widdecombe is one of the most formidable faces

of British politics. From her years in Westminster

to her new life as an author and TV personality,

she's never been far from the public eye.

So after spending the day hearing about her holiday,

'I want to know how Ann's family felt about her career.

'But first, there is one thing I need to ask.'

-We've done a lot of things, but we haven't had a dance.

-Oh, come on.

-One, two, three.

-Two, two, three. Three, two, three.

-Little turn?

I think so, I think so. Oh, on we get.

So did you come on the Lake in a boat like this

with your mum back then?

Oh, yes, I certainly did.

This is how I remember it.

I know that my mother was always telling me to look at the light,

look at the sunset, look at the moon, look at the light on the scenery.

Well, Ann, we've had a bit of a heat wave today,

but just before you came here in '63,

Lake Windermere froze completely over.

It's amazing.

Well, I can believe it, because '63 was the long winter.

The winter of '62, '63, that is.

My father went off to Singapore in that winter.

He teased us.

He said, "Well, I'm missing the English winter,

"when I come back, it'll all be over."

So we built a snowman to welcome him home.

Oh, did you? Oh, lovely.

Did your mum and dad always have a hankering for you

to go into politics?

No.

No, my mother absolutely hated the idea. She loved my brother's choice.

He became a vicar. She loved that.

She absolutely hated the idea of politics.

My father cheered me on.

My parents took the view that it was my choice.

At various time I wanted to be a missionary, an astronaut,

all these things that one goes through.

Then I began to settle down into, well, I'd quite like to teach Latin.

So when I said I'd like to go into politics, my mother said,

"Oh, dear, must you really?"

But their attitude was it was my life and my choice.

Yeah. So in what way do you think your holidays

coming down to the Lake District shaped you as a person?

Oh, I think the appreciation of beauty, of creation.

I think my favourite hymn is O, Lord, My God, When I In Awesome Wonder.

Then it goes on. Looking at all the worlds His hands have made.

You get the mighty thunder,

but you also get the sunshine dancing in the glade.

I think this taught me to appreciate creation.

It's been wonderful to bring Ann back

to the scene of her memorable 1963 holiday...

It's a Baby Austin! It's a Baby Austin!

..to see just how much this landscape means to her.

-Look at that mountain over there.

-Look at that!

'How much cake means to me.'

I love it. Cake is my favourite.

'And to witness just how important it was to Ann to spend time

'with her mother in the Lakes.'

We have here a scrapbook and a little memory,

Holiday Of My Lifetime.

Beautiful. Thank you so much.

-Oh, it's lovely.

-There you are.

Oh, oh, that will bring back so many memories. Thank you so much.

You're welcome. My pleasure.

A photograph album from a wonderful day here in the Lake District -

a place so special for Ann.

Her time here in 1963 formed passions that would never

leave her, so I've got one more surprise.

Be honest with me.

Of all the things we've done today,

what would you say was the highlight?

'That wonderful, marvellous train trip from Ravenglass.'

-This is an original poster from the '60s...

-Oh, look at that!

..from the Cumbrian coast, Ravenglass railway.

Oh, isn't that fantastic?!

Is that mine?

-That is yours to keep.

-Fantastic.

So farewell to the waters, meres and fells of the Lake.

Your poets, boats and trains will always hold

such fantastic memories for Ann Widdecombe.