Jennie Bond Holiday of My Lifetime with Len Goodman

Childhood holidays.

Oh-ho, 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.

This is a memory I will treasure.

Every day I will be arranging a few surprises

to transport them back in time.

I feel as though we are about to go over the edge.

Don't say that.

We'll relive the fun...

Oh-ho-ho!

Ah! Whoa!

..the games

and the food of years gone by.

That is a little taste of childhood right there.

To find out how those holidays around the UK

helped shape the people we know so well today.

Ah!

So, buckle up for Holiday Of My Lifetime.

Oh, yes.

We are going to get the water skis out in a moment.

On today's terrific trip,

I'm travelling in this stylish and elegant saloon.

Oh, it's a beauty.

And beauty, elegance and style are three words I could use

to describe the person I'm about to whisk off

to the sun-kissed beaches of yesteryear.

I'll tell you what, today I am really excited.

I'm meeting a lady who's had a right royal time of it.

She was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, in 1950.

Look at that hairdo.

Oo-o-oh!

She began her career on a local paper

before joining the BBC in the late '70s.

And breaking news just in,

she became a regular journalist on that channel

before hanging out with the monarchy.

Oi, curtsy if you will.

She was almost crowned herself when she went on I'm A Celebrity in 2004.

She didn't win, though.

I tell you what, she was robbed.

And since then she's been searching our attics,

stopping us being ripped off

and choosing our favourite foods.

Got any ideas yet?

Course you have.

It's former royal correspondent and all-round good egg

Jennie Bond.

Oh-ho!

Jennie and Lenny.

And I'm on my way to pick her up in this sparkling Humber Hawk.

Very similar to the car her family would have driven

when they came down on their holidays.

Oh, I'll tell you what, she's a classy girl.

Jennie Bond grew up in the leafy garden city of Letchworth

with her two sisters, her mum, Pamela, who was a housewife

and her dad, Ken,

a man rather high up in insurance.

Jennie went to the University Of Warwick

and into print journalism before joining the BBC.

In 1989, she became the royal correspondent,

reporting the great highs and devastating lows of the monarchy.

Then in the 2000s she went Awol, turning up in everything

from an EastEnders special to Rip Off Britain.

Oh, yes.

She's definitely a woman anyone would find difficult to impress.

Even me.

And what's going to make that even trickier,

my Humber's gone and stalled.

What are you doing? Have you forgotten to turn the engine on?

Unfortunately, Jennie...

And, first of all, it's great to see you.

Hello! Hi.

Good to see you again.

Unfortunately, the car will not start.

As gorgeous as it is, though.

It is beautiful, but I am not surprised, Len.

This is exactly what happened 50 years ago when we were here...

Nearly 50 years ago.

My father had a car like this and it broke down.

On holiday. Really?

Yes. Well, deja vu.

Well, there you go.

I wanted to recreate Jennie's holiday as faithfully as possible

and it sounds like I'm off to a brilliant start.

So, where're we going? We are going to North Cornwall.

Oh-ho-ho! So, what's the year?

1966.

I remember that because England won the World Cup.

And that's when we were on holiday.

And of course it was when The Beatles were at their top.

Yeah, and I was a huge fan. And I.

So, listen.

Shall we have a day trip?

I've got a ticket to ride, but we won't go far.

We'll give it one more go at getting the old beauty started.

Yeah, give her a go. Around we go. Lovely, thank you.

Look at it, though. It is beautiful.

I passed my driving test in this car.

Well, not this car, but one just like it. One like it.

Yeah, really hard with this steering...

The gear on the steering wheel.

Oh, it's heavy. Heavy, heavy, heavy.

You're in? Yep.

ENGINE SHUDDERS

'I'm not exactly sure which lay-by we're stuck in at the moment,'

but you'll find North Cornwall on England's westernmost tip

and with place names such as Polzeath and Pendoggett,

the whole region sounds windswept,

brooding, and most importantly, romantic.

Though there's just one problem.

ENGINE SHUDDERS

She's not going to go. No. She doesn't want to do it.

Oh, it's exactly the same problem as all those years ago.

Yeah, well, I'm not very mechanical. We had to get someone out to fix it.

Yeah, well...

Well, we can sit here for a minute anyway.

It's not a problem.

Who was in the car?

OK, it was July, it was 1966

and we were going on holiday after my O-levels,

so I needed a break.

And I was with my sister, my middle sister, Sue.

Her boyfriend, Peter.

And me in the back. And then Mummy, as I called her then.

And Daddy. There you are.

And it took 12 hours on that day.

Never. It did, there was traffic jam after traffic jam.

And 12 hours later we arrived in a place called Pendoggett.

Pendoggett. Mm. Yeah.

So, what time would you have left?

I think we left about 7.30 in the morning.

We got there just about in time for dinner.

Daddy must have been just completely shattered

cos I think he was the only one who drove.

You know, were you quite a posh family? Wealthy...?

You know, middle-class. Middle-class, middle-class.

Middle-class.

I mean, you know, there was only the one salary coming in,

there were three daughters. We went to private school.

So, I don't think there was much cash left over.

You know, he did have to watch the pennies. Yeah.

Now, listen. Let's give it one more go. OK. This is it.

Is going to work. It's going to work. Fingers crossed.

Yep, here we go.

Fingers crossed.

ENGINE SHUDDERS

We'll have to find another way of going.

We will have to hitch a lift. Yeah, we'll have to hitch a ride.

All right, here we go then. Yeah. Right. Oh, what a shame.

Never mind.

Never mind.

It's still very handsome.

Isn't it just.

When I saw the car, I was so happy.

And I thought, "Oh, I'm going to pick up Jennie."

Lenny and Jennie, driving down.

Oh, in the old Humber Hawk. Yeah.

But unfortunately, the old girl, bless her...

She's given up. She's given up. Given up before we have.

Yes. Just about. Just about.

I'll tell you what, I've seen a lot of tractors going by.

Yeah. Maybe we could hitch a lift with a farmer. Plan.

Well, while we wait for a lift, there's a bit of time

to tell you what the world was like

back when Jennie's dad's original Humber

was breaking down in Cornwall in 1966.

The shocking news at the start of England's World Cup year

was that the Jules Rimet World Cup trophy had been stolen.

The trophy itself standing perhaps 10 inches high

was on the pedestal in the middle of the cabinet here.

But thanks to an ordinary member of the public

and a dog called Pickles, it was later found under a hedge.

Meanwhile, Harold Wilson's Labour government won a snap election.

The tabloids had a lot of fun when the seamen went on strike.

And The Beach Boys sailed to chart success with

the tale of the Sloop John B.

After peaking at number two, it gave them a total of three

of the UK's biggest-selling singles of 1966.

Oh, what a year.

MUSIC: Sloop John B By The Beach Boys

'Looks like we'll be spending a lot of this holiday on foot.'

Mind you, what better way to take in the views

from the cliffs of Polzeath?

I think this holiday is officially back on track.

In 1966, this was one of the Bond family's first stops

after a long and arduous journey.

Frankly, they couldn't have picked a better spot.

Well, I must say, Jennie, what a marvellous, marvellous bay.

Isn't it fantastic?

I've not been back here for, well...50 years nearly.

After a 12-hour journey,

you must have just been longing to get out of the car and...

We did. Jump in the sea.

Well, my sister's much better at cold water than I am.

Even then, I wasn't that keen on cold water.

And in my old age, I have now decided that it's cold,

I do not like it and don't tell me it's lovely once you're in

cos it isn't.

Yeah. I know we came here nearly every day on holiday.

My parents and my sister and her boyfriend

and they used to go surfing. I don't think Mummy did. No. But I did.

Well, surfing in those days was not what they do now. No.

It was a body board. Body... Yeah, the body board. Yeah. Body board.

And if you were wearing a bikini it was very dangerous.

Of course it would be.

So, what made the family decide to come here?

We just loved the beach.

I must say, it is stunning. The whole thing.

Back in the '60s, North Cornwall was full of small village communities

like Polzeath, Pendoggett and Port Isaac.

And while you would see a few tourists,

you would definitely bump into the locals.

Like Joan and Yvonne here.

Port Isaac was a living village.

Full of children going to school down the bottom on the cliff.

It was a thriving village, wasn't it, Von?

Yeah, thriving village.

We had two bakers and... Two butchers.

And we had two butchers, yep.

We had everything in the village at that time.

Scores of children living down the bottom,

fathers fishing, but we lived on fish, you see.

Yeah. Because the dads was out fishing,

but if they caught lobsters they'd sell that. Yeah, yeah.

They'd sell the lobsters and crabs to the tourists.

But I tell you what, though.

But nobody went without. No.

Cos everybody looked after everybody else.

That's right. Nobody went hungry. Did they, Yvonne?

No. No.

No.

Part of the magic of any childhood holiday is the excitement

of staying somewhere new.

But back in the '60s, accommodation in these parts was pretty sparse.

But luckily for the Bonds, there was indeed room at the inn.

A pub with seven rooms above.

Wow, lovely.

It's all right, isn't it? Yes.

Jennie, I'll get down here. Thank you very much. Lovely.

It's cosy. Well, there it is.

The Cornish Arms, where you stayed in 1966.

Yeah. I wish I could say I remembered the interior

as well as I remember the outside, but I don't.

But it's a long time ago.

Well, maybe you weren't allowed into the bar.

Oh, I think I was.

And if I wasn't, I'd have found my way in.

Oh, would you? I can find my way into any bar, Len.

Oh, right. Yeah.

You actually slept here and everything?

We stayed here, yeah.

What's more, in 1966,

the Cornish Arms received quite a favourable review.

I've got a book here.

Let's Halt Awhile.

What a lovely title. Yeah.

And if we go here, to this page...

..we will find... The Cornish Arms.

Now, just have a little read of that.

"This really is a gem.

"From humble beginnings, it's come on by leaps and bounds

"since Gwyn and Basil took it over some 12 years ago."

So, what year it? 1966. Yes. My gosh. I see! Yes!

This is your year, so you're here...

So, obviously Gwyn and Basil must have been here. Yeah.

Oh, I wonder where they are now.

"Should you wish to spend the night, as we did,

"perhaps your biggest surprise

"will be the bedrooms and residents' lounge.

"Such luxury and excellent taste is indeed rare in a small country inn."

Well, my father chose very well, didn't he? Yeah.

And, of course it was, you know, England...

The World Cup. Yes. And it was on in the bar.

Yeah, of course. This is right.

I think they played Portugal.

In the semifinal. Yeah. Yeah, I remember that.

Well, Peter and Father watched it all the time

and I remember the excitement.

Well, I suppose there was a few old locals turned up

and this and that. Yeah, well...

Yes, I think I got a little bit bored in the evenings.

You know, I was 15 going on 16

and there might have been a few old locals,

but I wanted a few young locals.

Yeah, you wanted a couple of hot young chaps.

It's great. It's great to be back.

I like it. I think it's great. I could stay here now.

Yeah. Me too. Why wouldn't we?

'I think we should take a look at the rooms

'where Jen and her sister stayed.'

Oh. Oh. Oh, it's very, very palatial.

Wow. Wow. Wow. Yeah. Do you remember this?

Sort of? It's sort of ringing a bell.

These steps are ringing a bell.

They are.

I don't know. Maybe we... It's a very nice room.

It's beautiful, isn't it? It's absolutely gorgeous.

I can't believe we could have afforded this, actually.

But maybe we did. So, were you all in here? No, no, no.

My sister and I shared a room and then, times being such as they were,

Peter, the boyfriend, was put in a separate room. Of course.

And he stayed there. He did stay there.

Except for the occasion when he came into our room...

And maybe this is where Sue and I stayed,

he came in and there was a... It's no longer here, but there was...

Everybody had a kidney shaped dressing table in those days...

Oh, yes. ..with the glass tops. Remember? Yeah.

And usually a bit of lacy material underneath.

Well, he came and sat on it.

And he's a big, strapping farmer, this boy. Yeah.

And "crack"!

It went. Oh, no! Yes.

I'm very impressed.

I'm very impressed that my father found such a lovely place to stay.

Of course. It's beautiful. Yeah.

And there's you and your sister, Sue. She's a bit older.

She's a couple of years older.

Yeah. And we've got another sister, but she was already married.

Right. Erm, so she didn't come.

But did you get up to...

You know? My sister and I? Yeah.

Well, she had her boyfriend, so...

Erm, I was the gooseberry, really.

Yeah. But I...

Well, I kind of remember...

I remember a fisherman, I think, down in Port Isaac.

A young guy, sort of, on the beach.

Oh, yeah. And I think I remember a few goings-on.

Oh, no.

You saucy monkey. Really?

I think a little bit of snogging might have happened, yes.

Oh, well, why not? I was nearly 16, you know.

Yes, of course. No.

'Well, Jennie, what happens on tour, stays on tour.'

The Bond family did love the beach.

Today, Jennie is going to relive her teenage love of surfing,

or body boarding, as I like to call it.

You know, because I'm groovy.

Jennie, there's someone I want you to meet.

Tommy, this is Jennie. Hi. Nice to meet you, Jennie.

You too. Now, he is the top surfing instructor

in Cornwall, Devon and all points east.

Oh, my God, that sounds terrifying.

That sounds as if I might have to surf.

Oh, it's going to be fun. Yes. You will be getting wet.

Yeah. Oh, gosh.

Erm, but to get started we need you guys to do to just get

into position on the boards.

Right. Here we go. Well, come on, then.

We can do this. We can do this.

Shoes off.

OK. Now, here we are.

I'm paddling. Oh, yeah. We've got to paddle.

Keep paddling. A wave hits the tail of your board,

it's going to lift your board up, you're going to drop down the face

and do three more power paddles.

Push-up, look left, look right.

We lift up a bit.

Oh, shut up.

And we look round, anyone coming?

And pop up, staying nice and low.

And then suddenly, suddenly...

Suddenly...

You're in the water. Look at your feet.

..you vault up and I'm on the board.

And I'm on it. Here we go.

And then to speed up, lean forwards, to slow down lean back. Yes.

Come on, I want to speed it up.

Speed it up, lean forwards. And if you want to turn one way,

turn to the right just by pointing both arms to the right.

And to come to the left, both arms to the left.

Ba-ba-ba-ba! Whoa!

There we go.

And then you're probably going to fall off and get wet.

And then off you get.

If you were here, 1966. I was. I know you were. He wasn't, though.

No, but let's imagine.

If Tommy was here, right,

and Tommy was somewhere over there, doing whatever,

and you are in the water,

would you pretend that you were in distress?

A damsel. And you'd call... I think so.

.."Excuse me, Tommy. I'm drowning!"

I'd be there in a flash. He'd be there in a flash.

Oh, you're such a gent. You're such a gent.

There you go.

Don't worry, you're in safe hands.

I would have loved it.

Tommy, it's been great. Yeah, thanks a lot.

Let's do it again. Thanks for your lesson.

Nice to meet you. Lovely. Thanks a lot.

Our next stop is Port Isaac,

a picturesque village renowned for its seafood since the 16th century.

In fact the pier was constructed during the reign of old Henry VIII.

Meanwhile, the residents of the village made their living

either with the export of corn and slate or, of course, seafood.

But while the likes of herring and mackerel traditionally

paid the rent, by the 1960s local tourism was definitely on the up.

Something Geoff Provis not only knows about,

he was also there making money from it.

I ran trips myself.

Erm, the fishing trips in the early '60s, my father's boat.

When I was 13 or 14 taking people on the North Atlantic

in a 16-foot boat with one oar and an outboard engine.

But in respect of the fishing trips generally,

the fishermen were very happy to do it, take hourly trips.

They'd haul their pots in the morning

and then later on they would take visitors out

on mackerel fishing trips to help make the money.

Because there wasn't that much money with the potting then, see.

Today, both tourism and seafood

are still going strong here in Port Isaac.

Though almost 50 years since her first visit,

I wonder what Jennie, a huge fan of seafood,

will make of my next surprise.

Isn't this the most wonderful little village?

It really is.

I don't think it's changed at all actually in 50 years. No.

Because this time I'm going to give Ms Bond a more hands on experience.

Dressed crab. Do you like it?

I love dressed crab. As long as someone else dresses them.

Well, we're going to dress them ourselves, down here. Oh, dear.

Jeremy. Mind the slope there. Hello. Jeremy, this is Jennie. Hi.

Hi, I'm Jeremy. Hi, how do you do? Nice meet you. Hi, Len.

We've got to put on our aprons and gloves. Thank you.

Yeah. You've got to pick some crabs.

Well, Les, I don't know about dressing the crabs.

I don't think I can get the flipping apron on. That's it.

Oh, you look good in a pinny, though. I've got to say, that is...

Look at me. Look at that.

'You know what?

'I get that all the time.

'But will it help me turn a freshly cooked crab into a local delicacy?'

Grab a crab. Oh. One for you, Len.

They look delicious. They really do. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

You've got a male crab there, Len.

Ah. Is that what they call a cock crab?

You've got a cock crab. Cock crab. How do you know?

Because the male has a little flap there.

And the female has the big flap.

See?

Oh. Oh, I never knew that.

You've got a little one, Len. And you've got a big flap.

Now, we try and avoid the innuendo.

Yeah, no innuendo.

Right. Oh, dear. What do you do?

You've just got to open it up.

I haven't got one. There you are. You've got a hen.

All right. I've got a hen. Open... Open it up.

Put the shell down.

It's messy, isn't it?

Oh, hell of a messy. Yeah.

But... Are all these crabs from, you know, around here?

Yeah.

We're on the sixth generation now of fishermen.

Really? Yeah. I've been booted off my boat by my son.

Really?

Which is only fair because that's what I did what to my father. Ah.

Fair enough then. Yeah, so it's got as natural thing to it.

So, now you're in here and he's out there.

He's out there.

So, when did you start? Like, 1800 or something?

Me? No. Well, you could have done.

Six o'clock this morning, I started.

Oh.

That's perfect.

What I'd like to do now is just put that in my mouth and...

Exactly, eat it like a lollipop. I think that would be much easier.

Yeah. Go on. I'd like to. Well...

May I? Yeah.

Yeah, go on.

Oh, wow.

If you just get the meat off that there.

It's gorgeous.

That is gorgeous.

Mm. That's lovely.

It's better than lovely.

Oh, yes.

Who needs to dress them? That's exactly right, yeah.

Can't beat it, can you, really? Can't beat it.

A crab lollipop.

'Come on, Jennie.

'There is work to do.

'So, let's pop our lollipops to one side and focus on the job.'

I'll do one. Yep. Then you do one.

All right. And then... I'm happy eating, actually.

And then we'll see who gets the top marks.

Because I'm going, as much as anything,

for presentation and style.

I think I might have to give you a seven.

Well, no, I couldn't get the ten from Jen. Yeah.

THEY GROAN

See where I went there?

Very good.

Well, that's mine.

I would say... Well, I don't know what you would say.

You are the expert. Yeah, you're the judge.

That's... It looks a bit empty. That's what I thought.

A bit on the mean side. Your go.

Here we go, then.

So, the brown meat, delicately in the middle.

You gone mad, haven't you? Yeah, I think so. I think so.

Now, I wonder if I can use the same spoon.

No, I probably shouldn't, should I?

This goes in the shell and not in my mouth.

There we are.

I can now see why dressed crab is relatively expensive.

Well, it is expensive. Yeah, yeah.

Let me have a look at yours.

Oh, I think there's no contest, Len.

I mean, you've got to admit.

Yeah, but you've gone so heavy...

You wouldn't make much profit.

I think Jen's got to win.

Jen's the better looking crab, but Len's thinking of the bottom line.

The profit. I am.

And I think I'm going to go with Len.

You're getting...

from Len to Jen...

a ten.

I give you a SEVEN!

Seven for Len.

As for our next stop, despite a spot of rain,

we're following in the steps of those early tourists in the 1960s

and hitching a ride in a local boat.

And thankfully, Jeremy's only too happy to oblige.

Well, how are we going to cock our leg up there?

But while we've offered to help catch a few lobsters

and replenish all the crabs we've eaten,

it's a few miles out to the pots.

So, I've got time to find out more about Jennie's big break.

So, what was your first role at the BBC?

Well, when I finally got in on the second or third time of asking,

I was a sub.

A down-table sub, writing the news on radio.

I remember the thrill of the first day of being told

I could do the weather forecast.

And I wrote, "Today in the West Country, it will be raining."

Right. And then I heard Peter Donaldson, the newsreader, say,

"And now, the weather.

"Today in the West Country, it will be..."

Yes! I wrote that!

And was it a gradual working your way up?

Or did you suddenly get whoop! And you're there.

Well, I do think actually... partly because I was a woman

and it was fairly male dominated,

I did feel I was getting promoted pretty quickly.

Maybe because of that, I don't know.

Sue MacGregor and I were the first two women to present

the Today programme on Radio Four.

And it was thought so momentous that two women could do this...

Yeah, yeah.

..that they sent the Daily Express, I think it was,

along to record this for posterity.

Yeah. Well, it was a bit like the two girls that do Strictly.

Tess and Claudia, you know?

Yeah, right. "Oh, two women"?!

I know. We should be past that by now.

Yeah, yeah.

But we're not unfortunately.

'Mind you, it hasn't held Jennie back.

'Not for a second.'

Well, one thing led to another and then suddenly I was invited

to be royal reporter and then royal correspondent.

Which I absolutely didn't want to do. Right.

But I said, "Oh, all right, then. I'll do it for a year,

"but I'll stick at being a general reporter, as well."

Yeah, but you got it during all the juice...

I don't know if that's the best way to...

Yeah. But all the juicy bits, really.

Yeah, it was an absolute crazy,

turbulent period from when I started in '89

right through to 2003.

I mean, it was the monarchy imploding, really.

Yeah. And suddenly we were talking about,

"Is this institution going to survive?"

I mean, the Diana years, they were crazy, crazy years.

And on that note, I think it's about time we earned our keep.

'Though if Jennie thought a crab lollipop was the cat's pyjamas,'

well, she ain't seen nothing yet.

Oh, there's a keeper. Oh, yeah. Nice one, isn't it? Nice one.

In fact, some of this catch might even give steak and chips

a run for its money.

Not all of it, though.

What is that?

Oh, it's a tiny lobster.

Oh, it's a baby. Ah. How old is it? Oh, it's only got one claw.

Yeah, he's been scrapping, hasn't he?

How old would that one be, do you think?

Maybe a year. A year old.

And it's only got one oiker.

Oh. Oh, bless you.

He won't grow another claw? Yeah, they will.

Oh, will they? Will it? Yeah. Oh.

But it never comes back quite as good. Right, OK.

That's got a couple of claws on it, that one.

Yeah. You don't want to get near that. No, you don't want to.

OK, so these are clearly under measure. So, do you feel like

you want to release... Send a lobster back to the wild?

Kind of kind, wouldn't it? What about yourself, Len?

Yeah. Can you turn it round that way? I'm very frightened.

There we are. Er... You just... You just throw it in?

Yeah, just chuck it over the side.

Ah! There. Freedom. OK. Back you go.

Back you go, go and see your mum. My little one. Go and grow.

Little kiss... Oh. Oh, you could have kissed that.

You could have kissed. That would have been nice, wouldn't it? Yeah.

I could have. But I didn't. Wow.

Ah, the perfect end to a perfect day.

It's been an absolute joy

reliving Jennie's childhood holiday of a lifetime,

despite a shaky start.

I'm pleased to see North Cornwall's lost none of its romance.

We've surfed, in her imagination, the pounding waves of the coast.

Come on, I want to speed it up. Speed it up. Lean forward.

And we've experienced a local tradition

that stretches back over the centuries.

And it's only got one oiker.

And if that isn't romance, well, Jennie Bond, I don't know what is.

My main concern is that you never forget our day together.

How could I forget a date with you?

Well, I know you're great with a diary,

but I've got a little scrapbook of our time together.

Oh!

How kind of you.

Yes, even better than potted shrimp and a steak dinner,

this picture book captures our every moment.

And I've got one last surprise for our Jennie.

Her very own 1966 travel guide.

Oh, you managed to get that.

Let's Halt Awhile.

Oh, brilliant. 1966.

And who knows, you might find another little spot

that you could go to. I might. I might.

Thank you very much.

Let's Halt Awhile. Yeah, perfect. Shall we?

Yeah, well, let's cuddle a while as well.

Thank you so much. It's been lovely.

No. It's been great. Thank you so much.

So, that's us.

It's bye-bye from lovely North Cornwall

and time for Jennie and Lenny to hitchhike home.

Hey-hey. Ta-ra.

Welcome to MasterChef Semifinal.

Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on!

The challenges are about to get a lot tougher.

You cannot mess up now.

Our nine best cooks all fighting it out

because one of them is going to be our champion.