Hilltops and Island Hops Weatherman Walking

Well, what could be better than this?

A gorgeous sandy cove next to old, rustic fishermen's cottages

a stone's throw away from a stunning walk over hills and mountains

across the bay.

Would you believe it? There's a pub right on the beach

but best of all, there's no public road here.

You can only get here by walking.

Are you ready?

'Yes, I've another two superb walks for you

'at opposite ends of the country.

'One here on the Llyn Peninsula overlooking the Irish Sea

'and the other on Flat Holm island in the Bristol Channel.'

In the first walk I hope to end up way down there,

in what used to be known as the Lost Village.

But it's not downhill all the way.

Oh no, because first of all we're heading way up there.

'If the Llyn Peninsula is an arm stretching out into the Irish Sea

'then we are kind of on its shoulder.

'This is a circular walk and although it doesn't look far

'be warned, there's a bit of up and down involved.

'We'll be going up to the top of a mountain

'where there's something marked on the map as Tre'r Ceiri,

'Town of Giants.

'Then on to a higher summit before dropping down to Nant Gwrtheyrn,

'an old granite quarry village.'

I've been to Nant Gwrtheyrn before.

I came here a few years ago to learn Welsh.

It's now the National Language Centre.

Mind you, I was so busy in the classroom

I didn't get a chance to go walking.

Today I'm going to put that right

and I need a guide to help show me around.

'Based up the coast on Anglesey,

'Glyn Davies is a professional photographer

'or landscape photo artist.

'It probably means his snapshots are a lot better than mine.

'Whilst producing a photography book on Nant Gwrtheyrn

'he spent many months here capturing the mood and spirit of the place

'in all its changing weather and varied light.

'He came to know this enchanting valley intimately.'

-Hello, Glyn.

-Hi, Derek.

-Croeso i Nant Gwrtheyrn.

-Diolch yn fawr.

I brought some dramatic weather for you today to take some photos.

I can see that. It's looking interesting, Derek.

I'm hope you'll give me some tips, I've got my camera.

Professional gear, I'm glad to say.

-Shall we go?

-Yeah, definitely. Let's go for it.

Well, here we go. The start of the hill.

This is the path towards Yr Eifl.

Well, one of the peaks of Yr Eifl anyway.

This is Garn Ganol. This is the highest of the three peaks.

'Garn Ganol, here in the mist, and Tre'r Ceiri

'together with a third peak, Garn For, are known as Yr Eifl.

'The Rivals in English.

'Three distinct summits, each quite separate from the others.

'But even if the weather wasn't good enough to go any further

'it was worth coming this far.

'Just a few hundred yards from the road there's a viewing point

'with great views down the Llyn Peninsula and beyond.'

I'm going to take a picture of this, Derek.

You can actually see now that the Llyn is clearing.

You can actually see from one side of the peninsula to the other.

What's great about this viewpoint is we're two minutes from the car

-and we can see so much already.

-Exactly, exactly.

On the peninsula you've got views either side of the hills.

Absolutely brilliant.

The sun's beginning to break through as well lighting up the land.

A couple of showers there. You can see curtains of raindrops...

-It's brilliant.

-..dropping down.

Whoa! Fantastic!

-You're loving it, aren't you?

-Certainly am, Derek.

This is where I come to life.

You can turn this weather to your advantage.

To be honest, this is the sort of weather I prefer.

Not necessarily the rain but I prefer moody weather.

Actually at this point we've joined the official Llyn Coastal Path.

How long is that?

It's 84 miles and it runs from Caernarfon on the north coast

right around past Aberdaron and back up to Porthmadog.

-We're not doing 84 miles today, are we?

-No, 73!

Hopefully when we just go round over this shoulder

we should get the first view of Tre'r Ceiri.

I'm not kissing you there by the way.

-Not before lunch.

-Too early for that, mate.

It's like another world up here, isn't it.

I love it. There's nobody else around, just the two of us.

It's that solitude I was talking about.

Dyma ni, Derek, Tre'r Ceiri.

Absolutely amazing.

You're walking along this path and all of a sudden it just appears.

-Wonderful.

-And no cloud, just like you forecast.

We can see it clearly.

Let's go.

'Tre'r Ceiri is the name of both the Iron Age hill fort

'and of the lowest of the summits of yr Eifl.

'Some say the name means 'home of the giants'

'as the Welsh for giants is 'cewri'.

'What looks from the distance as a massive pile of shattered rocks

'is one of the best examples of a prehistoric hill fort in Europe.'

It's a bit of a scramble up here.

It is. You have to take long lunges to get over the big boulders.

How did they get all the rocks up here, then?

Just using the existing scree, really, isn't it.

This is one of the outer gateways. There are five gateways in all.

What's this here then, Glyn?

Is this one of the old stone houses the Iron Age people used to live in?

That's right. There's 150 of these huts in the settlement.

This is one of the best preserved and one of the largest

of the Iron Age settlements in the UK.

Spectacular in its own right and spectacular for its location

which is one reason why this is a stunning walk.

This is over 2,000 years old?

Yes. Built 100BC.

There was actually people living in this settlement

right up to the end of the 4th Century.

The Romans left Britain in 409

and they reckon it was used almost up to that point.

-And a cracking view as well.

-Absolutely.

Oh, a nice breeze.

Wow! Look at that cloud!

-It's like steam boiling upwards.

-That's stunning.

-Wow, it's got to be worth a photy!

-It's a bit of stratus cloud rising.

It might just be a bit of stratus cloud to you

but that's a stunning piece of composition to me.

I might even take a photograph myself.

'OK, that's not mine, it's one of Glyn's.'

Well, here we are, Derek, at the summit of Tre'r Ceiri.

So, how does it look compared to how you imagined?

It's absolutely amazing.

I've been to other hill forts around Wales

but I've never seen anything quite like this.

It's huge. Just trying to imagine what it would have been like

for those people living here over 2,000 years ago.

None of the mod cons. No central heating, no electric light.

Just you and the mountain.

Yeah. Very, very impressive.

'As the mist closes in on this dramatic and atmospheric location

'our thoughts return to the present and more pressing matters

'like a spot of lunch and finding our way on from here.'

I'm glad to see you've brought your map and compass.

The thing is, to be honest, with the weather doing what it's doing,

we're going to need to know where the path is

and which direction we're going.

It's not a bad idea to have this with us.

-I'll follow you.

-Nice one, let's go.

Just look to your right here you can see one of the original doorways

where they used to go out to collect spring water for the village.

Well, this is our exit.

-This is the way out?

-Yeah.

You've got to imagine as we go out here we're Iron Age settlers

walking out of our village into the great wild west of the Llyn.

-The great unknown.

-Yes.

'Even in good conditions, the path between the two summits

'can be indistinct in places.

'That's hill walking speak for non-existent so take care.

'But with a local expert to lead the way

'there's not much chance of me being allowed to wimp out

'due to a spot of low cloud.'

Nearly there.

You've been saying that for the last quarter of an hour.

-Derek!

-What?

-Trig point.

-Thank God for that!

-We're there, you've done it.

-Sorted.

-About time too.

-One minute.

-It's a hard slog up here.

-It was a bit, wasn't it.

Here we go.

The top of Yr Eifl.

Yes!

-Good man.

-Well done.

That was ace. What a view.

Wow, look at that.

Tre'r Ceiri just emerging from the fog there.

-That's where we were just now.

-Yes.

The view is just changing by the second.

Look at that awesome drop now to the back of Nant Gwrtheyrn.

You can see out over the Irish Sea.

So this is the top of the Llyn Peninsula.

564 metres or 1,850 feet.

Have you just worked that out?

No, just looked at the map!

It's amazing though, isn't it, up here away from it all.

It's perfect timing this. Well done.

-It's all my doing.

-Yeah.

-Time to go, is it?

-Yes.

Down towards Bwlch yr Eifl and back down into Nant Gwrtheyrn.

We'll see the sea.

-OK, let's go.

-Right.

'With the weather still changeable this is another bit of the route

'where we need to tread carefully.

'Thankfully, it's all downhill from here.'

This is a bit easier than on the way up.

'Even though I say so myself, my forecast was correct.

'It's now a cracking afternoon.'

Right, we've done Yr Eifl. Where are we going next?

Just over the brow of this hill now we're going to see a fantastic view

right down over Nant Gwrtheyrn into the valley

where you can see the old quarry workings and old farms.

I know 'nant' means stream but what or who is Gwrtheyrn?

Gwrtheyrn was a Celtic king.

Gwrtheyrn is Welsh for Vortigern, a British ruler in the 5th Century.

Over a period of time he made some silly mistakes and got exiled.

But what an amazing place to be exiled.

So, we've nearly completed the walk now, Derek.

We're going to follow this path here

and make our way back down to the village.

It's going to be worth doing that extra section.

'In Wales, it seems you're never far from a quarry or mine.

'This last bit down the road to the village

'gives us a better view of the old granite quarry workings

'on the hillside behind Nant Gwrtheyrn.'

In the 19th Century, a Liverpool based company came in

to actually extract granite for road building

in the northern cities like Liverpool and Manchester.

It was shipped out and, although you can't see them today

because they've all been demolished,

there were three large jetties where the coasters picked up the granite

to take it back to Liverpool Port.

In fact you can see a lot of the remnants of the old inclines

across the valley.

This was very much a busy, noisy, grimy, gritty working environment

but now it's become almost a tranquil paradise.

'By the 1960s, with the quarry workers and their families gone

'the houses became derelict

'with just a few hippies squatting in the buildings.

'So what happened?

'Well, one man had the vision that its very isolation

'would make it the perfect place for a language centre.

'That man was Carl Clowes.

'Whilst Glyn nips off for a cuppa, Carl shows me around

'and explains how they transformed the village

'into the thriving language and heritage centre here today.'

So, Carl, what makes this place so special for you?

Of course it is the peace and quiet.

It feels away from the rest of the world.

When you think, that was one of the reasons

why people warned me this wasn't the right place

to develop a centre to support the language.

But in a sense, the very essence of the place,

that it is quiet, it is detached, people come here motivated

believing they are cutting themselves off from the very things

that undermine their confidence in using Welsh day to day.

Even on a day in mid-summer you'll still find the opportunity here

to feel you've escaped from the world.

'Since 1982, over 25,000 learners, including me and Janet Street Porter

'have been here having a go at learning Welsh.

'They may not have been to the top of Tre'r Ceiri

'but I'm sure that many of those Welsh learners

'walked this piece of path towards the sea

'talking to themselves and practicing their mutations.

'But I'm certain they were captivated by the charm

'of Nant Gwrtheyrn.'

'Now we've just got to climb that steep hill to the car park

'and head off for a cwrw, a beer, in the pub on the beach.

'If you fancy trying one of the walks in the series

'go to bbc.co.uk/wales

'Take a look at our interactive Weatherman Walking website.

'It has everything you need.

'Detailed route information for each walk,

'photos that we took along the way

'and walking maps for you to print off and follow.

'Hopefully you won't get lost.

'For the next walk in this programme we head south,

'in fact, as far south as we can go without leaving Wales.'

Just over there is the city of Cardiff

with a population of 325,000 people.

But I doubt many of them have ever been to the island of Flat Holm

which is a real shame because it's really easy to get to

just over there in the Bristol Channel.

The council run a regular boat trip in the summer.

But a word of warning. Check the timetable and book ahead.

It doesn't sail every day.

That's the case today, but luckily I have an alternative.

'At 60 knots an hour, we'll be there in eight minutes flat

'which is just as well because we have to reach the island's jetty

'before the tide goes out.

'Landing here can be impossible in stormy weather

'but it looks like we're OK today.

'Waiting for me on the jetty is Matthew Lipton,

'one of Flat Holm's two full-time residents

'and my man Friday for the day.'

-Hello, Matt.

-Welcome, Derek, welcome to Flat Holm island.

Pleased to meet you. You're the warden on Flat Holm.

-I'm going to be your guide for the day.

-You'll show me around?

-I hope you've brought your sleeping bag.

-Am I going to need it?

-This wind might pick up.

-It's not going to pick up, don't worry.

'Normally, visitors have about three hours to explore the island,

'which is just about enough time to get a good taste

'of what there is to see here.

'Packed on to one small island, a local nature reserve,

'bags of wildlife, history, geology and even modern technology

'to investigate.

'Flat Holm is small, flat and round

'so you can take a leisurely stroll around the island

'in just about any direction.

'We've chosen to head from the jetty through the gull colony

'to the lighthouse, then past wartime buildings,

'an old cholera hospital and farmhouse

'and back to the jetty for a speedy return to the mainland

'weather permitting.

'Island life seems to suit Matt very well.

'Flat Holm is now his permanent home

'having been full-time Head Warden for the past 18 months.'

There's no cinema, no pub. What makes the island special for you?

Erm... It's one of those places you either fall in love with or hate

as soon as you get on the island.

I fell in love with it straight away.

There's a magical atmosphere over here.

There's so much history on this island.

This is my office.

What a fantastic view I have out of my window. Great.

-It is.

-There are a variety of jobs that keeps me going.

It's always different, every single day. Never the same.

And you've got to like seagulls as well.

Oh, yes. You've got to love our feathered friends.

'There are thousands of Matt's feathered friends here

'at this time of year - a large protected colony of gulls.

'June and July is their nesting season

'so there's chicks galore running around

'and overprotective parents ready to dive bomb unwelcome visitors.'

I might want to hand you one of these.

To keep the sun off my head?

It's not the sun we're keeping off our heads.

All our feathered friends here might try and leave a few presents

if we're not too careful.

All these gulls are lesser black-backed gulls.

At the height of season you'll probably have

-15,000-20,000 of these critters flying around.

-That's a lot.

And a lot of noise? Lots of noise and mess.

It adds to the fun of Flat Holm island.

A lot of people would think of a seagull as being a nuisance.

You actually protect them here.

We do, yes. The species is declining in a lot of places around the UK.

We class them as nature's cleaners.

They are a scavenger species and they will feed on dead corpses

and rotting waste.

They feed on our waste.

This colony's source of food is on a landfill site on the mainland.

It's food we haven't eaten. They're helping us to eat it.

'Flat Holm is a lump of rock in the middle of a busy shipping area

'and has one of the highest tidal ranges in the world

'with strong and dangerous currents.

'Over the years, the treacherous conditions

'have led to many shipwrecks around the island.'

One that jumps to mind was the William and Mary

a sloop that ran aground off the rocky area just off the west side.

Unfortunately, fifty souls were lost

and those fifty were buried on this island.

We are yet to find that mass grave. It might appear.

This building behind us is important for local shipping.

-It's vital.

-Can we look inside?

We might. I think I've spotted Trinity Housekeepers.

They might let us go up. Shall we see if they'll let us go?

'Being shown around a lighthouse means just that.

'There's been a lighthouse on Flat Holm for about 280 years

'but since 1988 it's been fully automated.

'The light from the lamp can be seen 30 miles away

'but amazingly, comes from just three tiny 100 watt bulbs

'powered by solar energy.

'Luckily, Jim is here to do some maintenance.

'From thirty metres up, there's a brilliant panoramic view.

'I can see my Mum's house from here, she's cooking my tea!

'At the foot of the lighthouse, there's a mysterious hole.'

What we have here is a Moncrieff disappearing cannon.

I don't want to spoil a good story, you say a disappearing cannon,

-but I can see one!

-Yes, it's still here, thankfully!

-Shall we take a look inside?

-Yes, let's go.

'Moncrieff disappearing guns were part of a line of military defences

'built in the 1860s against a possible invasion from France.'

They attached the cannon here?

Yes, it would have sat here on a huge carriage

with a large counterweight.

When they activated the counterweight,

that would have brought the cannon out, fire away,

and the strength of the explosion would force it back into the hole.

The enemy ships had these cannon balls coming at them

from goodness knows where.

It was top secret.

It was the pinnacle of Victorian engineering.

It was the cruise missile of the Victorian era.

'Despite costing millions to design and build,

'the French never showed up.

'The guns were only ever fired in tests,

'so we'll never know how effective they might have been.

'Next on our tour is something that's the size of a tennis court

'but the balls would quickly end up in one corner.'

Derek, can you hazard a guess as to what this might be?

I haven't got a clue but you're going to tell me.

This is a Victorian water catchment system.

It's simple in design. It collects all the rainwater

forces it into the bottom corner and into a huge underground tank.

-It holds about 60,000 gallons.

-Is it working?

No. It's a bit too high maintenance for me and my small team.

We use these roofs behind us.

We use the original tank with modern technology

to make the water safe.

How do you cope with water during a drought?

It's a case of not having a shower for a few days!

-You get a bit smelly!

-We do. Don't stand too close!

'Just around the corner are the stone barracks.

'They were built to house fifty soldiers.

'But mostly, there were just half a dozen here.

'However, during World War II, they came in handy.

'They managed to squash in 350 soldiers, very cosy!

'Today, they have found a new use as a museum and education centre.

'But there's more to this place than gulls and relics.

'Flat Holm is home to a very rare plant.'

-One of my favourite plants on the island.

-What's this called?

The wild leek. It's a rare plant in the UK.

It only grows in about five places.

It's a member of the onion family. You might get a smell of that.

-It smells like garlic.

-Yes, same family.

They are protected by law.

-If I pick it, I'll get into trouble?

-Yes. A thousand pound fine.

Who's going to fine me our here?

I'm not only the warden, I'm the island's policeman as well!

-So you'd arrest me?

-I would.

-Lovely flower though.

-They're fantastic.

'Another fact about Flat Holm, it's the most southerly point in Wales

'which means that neighbouring Steep Holm

'is officially across the border in England.

'Next on our stroll around the island is a spot of geology

'and a feature of world importance.'

We've got a huge wave cut platform. It's a fossilised seabed.

It's one of the finest examples of a fossilised seabed in the world.

'Having someone to point things out, helps.

'If you look closely, you can see the ripples

'of an ancient sandy seabed, frozen in time.'

It's been there for millions of years.

Hopefully, it will be here for millions of years to come.

'Flat Holm hasn't always been a welcome destination.

'These derelict buildings are the remains of an isolation hospital

'for cholera victims, and many died here.

'It's unique in being the only Victorian isolation hospital

'sited on a British offshore island.'

This is the farmhouse. One of the main buildings on the island.

This is where I live at the moment.

It used to be home to the Harris family

who farmed this island for several generations.

It also doubled up as a hotel.

-A hotel on Flat Holm?

-Yes, five star!

Not much passing traffic!

No, but now it's home to the Flat Holm Project and it's our base

for all our residentials and all the people who come here.

Just in the distance, we have Lavernock Point.

Back in 1897, Flat Holm was the very first place

Marconi made a wireless transmission across water to Lavernock Point.

Do you know what his first message was?

-Are you ready?

-Is that it?

Not the most original message for something so important.

I guess Marconi put Flat Holm on the world map.

He certainly did. This is where it all started.

We've got Marconi and Flat Holm to thank for those annoying ringtones.

RING TONE

'Even though the grass here could have done with a drop of rain

'the weather's held, the boat's on the way

'and it's time to say ta-ra to Matt, my man Friday,

'and leave him and his feathered friends to their island.'

I didn't need my sleeping bag after all.

The boat's here and it's flat calm.

Flat Holm is worth a visit if you want to get away from it all.

It's just a stone's throw from Cardiff and Barry.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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