Bay Walk and Buggies Weatherman Walking

It's good to get away from it all, but that's not always easy,

mind you, that's no excuse for staying indoors

because wherever you are in Wales,

there's a cracking walk just around the corner or even around the bay.

Are you ready?

In today's programme, we'll see that having young ones in the family

is no hindrance to happy hiking and neither is living in a big city.

We'll be showing you that you don't have to head up a remote hill

for an invigorating walk and a fitness workout.

'So, later in the programme, I'll be joining a group of mums and toddlers

'for a walk around a little-known and now peaceful valley near Corris,

'once a busy centre for slate-mining...'

BICYCLE BELL RINGS

HE WHIMPERS

I think he's enjoying the ride.

'..but first, I'll be striding out the whole way around Cardiff Bay

'passing well-known landmarks.

'The circular route is now possible

'since the opening of the Pont-y-Werin footbridge,

'the last piece of the jigsaw in a safe walk around the bay.'

An accessible walk in familiar surroundings,

a bit of stroll in the park, you might think?

But oh, no, it's not that easy,

because today I'm going for a stroll around the bay the Nordic way.

'And to show me the Nordic way around the bay is a familiar face.'

Welcome to Wales Today.

'This is my mate Frances Donovan, a TV and radio presenter

'here in Wales and further afield.

'Like me, Fran is a fan of the great outdoors

'and it really was just a matter of time before she persuaded me

'to have a go at what's known as Nordic walking.'

-Hello, Fran.

-Hello, how are you?

-Nice to see you.

-And you.

-So are you going to show me Nordic walking?

-I certainly am, absolutely.

-You need your poles. I've got a pair for you.

-Thank you.

What you need to do first, you've got these grips, so easy for anybody.

That's right, that's left, so you need to swap them over.

Got to get it right first time.

All going swimmingly so far, isn't it(?)

So basically, you slide your hand, like that, into the grip.

That's right. Then just tighten up like that.

So, the basics of Nordic walking -

it was developed for cross-country skiers during the summer season

so that they could keep fit, so you basically got, like, ski poles,

but you'll see when people go out walking and rambling,

a lot of them, they'll use sticks and poles ahead of them like that.

This Nordic walking - you're using the poles basically to propel

yourself along, so you keep them behind you, more or less.

Your arms are around about waist height,

the movements from your shoulder, so you're literally striding out with

your arms like that, but these are pushed on the ground behind you,

-so that they give you a...

-Shall I give it a go?

Yes, I'm going to regret saying this, but why don't you?

-OK.

-Is that right?

15-million-odd people do this around the world

and nobody does it quite like you, Derek.

'Perhaps I should take it a bit more seriously -

'if there really are 15 million Nordic walkers worldwide,

'then there must be some real benefits to walking with these poles.

'It's a technique that gives you a brisk workout for legs and upper body,

'it's far less strenuous on your knees than jogging, and the lightweight bendy poles

'don't jar the joints in your arms.

And the best bit is you don't need to join a gym.

'So, having warmed up along the prom at Penarth,

'we head over to Cardiff Bay to begin our circular walk.

'Crossing over the barrage our route takes us

'past well-known landmarks

'and on through an unexpected, peaceful wetland reserve.

'Then over the bay road bridge to the whitewater rafting centre

'and across the Pont-y-Werin footbridge to Penarth marina,

'and back to the start -

'an energetic Nordic five-mile walk,

'starting at one of Penarth's most distinctive buildings.'

-Nice building, Fran.

-It is. It's lovely, isn't it?

-It's the custom house.

-Well preserved.

It is and like next-door, of course,

although I think there are plans ultimately to turn that into a hotel.

Of course, this was a major centre of activity for all the customs officers

because with Cardiff docks and Penarth docks, there was

so much coming in and out of there, they were kept busy.

Anyway, press on regardless, we've got a long way to go yet,

up and over the barrage.

-Are you finding it OK?

-Enjoying it.

Yes, it's good, isn't it?

'Back in the '90s, it looked like this - one of the largest civil

'engineering projects in Europe, and was seen as an important

part of the regeneration of Cardiff's largely disused docklands.

'Though not everyone agreed, particularly environmentalists

'who wanted to keep the mudflats -

'an important feeding ground for wading birds.

'The mud appeared every time the bay emptied of water as the tide

'went out and, like Marmite, divided opinion - you either loved it,

'or hated it.'

-I want you to find a bit of art, here on the barrage.

-Art?

-Art.

I'll give you a clue, it's yellow.

Is that it over there? That's yellow.

That's a little bit of council artwork,

I'm looking for something a bit more spectacular. It's yellow, it's yellow.

Is that it there?

It's like somebody's got a huge paintbrush

and painted this yellow stripe. It's like the Yellow Brick Road.

You're getting ever so slightly colder now, I have to say.

In fact, you're getting very chilly indeed

and it's nothing to do with your cold fronts.

Just keep an eye out for it, keep an eye out for any bits of yellow

-that you see.

-There's loads of bits of yellow.

There are loads of bits of yellow, but just try to get them

to come together in your mind, just sort of focus on them,

so at some point they all become one.

-Can you see?

-It's all circles.

-Yeah! You see? It's clever, isn't it?

-It is.

-It really is clever.

-Looks good.

Just at this point of view, this is where you can see it.

It makes no sense anywhere else, but here you can see it.

'Costing a cool 25 grand,

'the yellow artwork is the creation of Swiss artist Felice Varini.

'But I still can't work out how he did it!'

I just want to show you this, this is really interesting.

Just coming up to this part of the barrage here

and there's actually...

There's actually a salmon pass down here, a fish pass.

It basically allows the salmon to come from out in the sea

and they'll come up here into the bay and they can swim up then

to the River Taff where they come from originally just to lay their eggs.

It's a wonderful way for them to get through and when you think

that there's this incredible engineering

and they don't have to queue up outside like the boats.

They've got their own little right of access through.

'The barrage provides a traffic-free foot-and-cycle path,

'but it is exposed and often windy.'

It never ceases to amaze me,

you see all the building and development there

and you look out there and see how wild it is and they're what, 200 yards apart?

-It's looking pretty stormy out there as well, Fran.

-It's pretty choppy.

You wouldn't want to be on the boat today, would you?

Just coming into the bay now and it's great to be able to do this now,

because up until about 2008, this part wasn't accessible,

you couldn't get through it because it was private land,

but it's been opened up now for a few years and it means you can do

the whole circular route of the bay, which is brilliant.

Knock, knock.

-Who's there?

-Doctor.

-Doctor Who?

-Doctor Who Experience.

The old ones are the best, aren't they? Or not, as the case may be.

-I thought you'd like that one.

-Yeah, I did.

Did you know it was made over here as well?

It's the new BBC studios and Dr Who's made in there.

-Along with Casualty, Upstairs, Downstairs...

-And Pobol Y Cwm.

'So instead of the coal that was exported from here a century ago,

'this new industry is supplying millions of homes with

'popular TV drama. How times have changed.

'We now cross the bridge over an the old lock where Captain Scott's

'ship, the Terra Nova, left Britain for the fateful expedition to

'reach the South Pole in 1912.

'They were beaten to the Pole by the Norwegians,

'and died on the way back.

'Here is a distinctive memorial to Scott and his crew.'

What do you think of it? I think it's lovely.

It's very different and unique, isn't it?

I think it was inspired by Antoni Gaudi, the Spanish artist,

because he used to do a lot of this mosaic-type stuff,

and all very organic and fluid lines.

But if you look closely, you can see faces in it

and I think this is some of Scott's crew.

I'm pretty certain that that's Captain Oates and then here, I think,

is Petty Officer Evans.

Now he was a Welshman, he was part of Scott's crew.

-You've got Captain Scott at the front.

-Leading the expedition.

Yeah, and pointing south towards Antarctica and the South Pole.

It's a very icy sculpture, with its white and blue colours.

It really is, isn't it? Anyway, press on regardless.

We've got our own South Pole to get to.

'And right next door is the Norwegian church where children's author

'Roald Dahl was baptised.

'The church was, in fact, salvaged just before the bay redevelopment,

'and moved a few hundred yards to be rebuilt here.

'But what's a Norwegian church doing here in Wales?'

The Norwegian merchant fleet at the time was, I think,

it was the second or third largest in the world

and they used to come in and out of the docks here because they were very

involved in the export of coal and, of course, this is a big coal centre.

The Norwegian sailors, they wanted somewhere where they could worship

and I think it was a bit of a seaman's mission as well where they could come

and get a bit of a taste of home,

read some Norwegian newspapers and speak to each other.

-It's a lovely building.

-It's beautiful, isn't it?

It's a real little beacon, I think. I love it.

Of course, it's not that long ago.

I mean, I know you remember and I do too when this is all tidal.

-You used to have all the mudflats there. Remember that?

-Just about.

'Of course, going back a bit, this was a busy dock,

'one of the biggest and busiest ports in the world.

'But by the early '80s, Cardiff Bay had become a neglected wasteland

'of derelict docks and mudflats.

'Tiger Bay, as it was known,

'was a truly multicultural community with sailors from across

'the world, as many as 45 different countries, having settled here.'

So here we are outside the Senedd

and I'm often down here broadcasting the weather live for Wales Today.

You know, that's what it was most renowned for,

only secondary is it renowned for being the seat of Welsh government(!)

It was designed by Lord Richard Rogers,

the guy who designed the Pompidou Centre in Paris

and they've sort of employed all sorts of environmentally-friendly designs,

including the fact that rainwater is used to flush the loos.

And there's plenty of that today!

I wonder if Caerwyn is at home, we could have a cup of tea.

Yeah, see if he'll put the kettle on for us.

This is one of my favourite buildings on this route,

it really is absolutely gorgeous.

I love it, the Pierhead Building because it's so majestic.

It's really elegant in the centre of the bay.

-The colour, as well, is distinct.

-Yes, it draws your eye, doesn't it?

At one stage, this was the headquarters of the Bute Docks Company

and the whole area around here was owned by the Marquis of Bute,

the area that the Cardiff docks was built on.

The Bute Docks Company was formed

and this was basically the control centre, the headquarters.

Do you know when it was built?

I think it's late Victorian,

so I think it would be towards the end of the 19th century.

Of course, they've gone for this Gothic look, which was

based on a medieval influence.

You've got all the lovely carvings and there's a gargoyle up there

-I'm absolutely convinced was modelled on you.

-Don't be cheeky!

It's payback time.

And here we are at Roald Dahl Plass.

It used to be called the Oval Basin and not long ago it was full

of water, of course, crammed full of ships waiting to go into dock.

It's incredible to think it now and all that water

and right underneath it, the headquarters of Torchwood.

-Isn't it extraordinary?

-Good old Captain Jack. He could come and rescue me.

-Do you need rescuing, do you?

-I'm worn out.

Well, this is a nice surprise, Fran, all this greenery.

It's lovely, isn't it?

Right next to a five-star hotel, a little haven here.

It's a little gem, I think.

-They get dragonflies down here and sedge warblers...

-Mosquitoes.

A few mosquitoes but they keep the bats happy, apparently. They can snack on those.

But it really is a little haven, a little oasis, isn't it,

in the middle of the bay?

-Great place to escape the hustle and bustle of the city.

-Quite.

Well, let's go down and see the ducks.

I think there's a family of them down here.

It always amuses me how funny they look

when they stick their heads under the water and their bums in the air.

They probably say exactly the same thing about us,

give it a little wiggle, like they do.

So where to next?

-I think we'll head over the bridge to the sports village. Come on.

-Sounds good.

There's definitely some blue skies up there, look.

Next stop is the International White Water Rafting Centre.

This is absolutely brilliant. I'd love to have a go at this.

-I've done it twice.

-Have you? What was that like?

Great fun, and they always make sure that you capsize at the end.

It does look brilliant and right in the centre of Cardiff as well.

It's only been open a couple of years.

Before that, you had to go to other parts of Wales to whitewater raft,

like the River Tavy, River Wye, or head up north

to Snowdonia and now it's here, right in the centre of the city.

It looks brilliant. I'm going to come down another day and do it.

-Definitely.

-Do that together, anyway it's Nordic walking now.

We've still got miles to go. Come on.

'The artificial river is about 250m long,

'pumped up from the nearby River Ely.

'It's an adjustable course and a conveyor belt brings you back up,

'with a bit of luck still sitting in your boat, ready for another go.'

Well, this is the final link in the chain as far as our walk

and the circular route between the bay and Penarth, Derek.

-And it's called the People's Bridge.

-That's right.

Basically because there was money available from Sustrans,

the people who do all the bike routes,

and the big lottery fund, and it was put out to a public vote -

what do people want the money spent on?

And they decided they wanted a bridge to make it a full circle.

-Recognise either of those figures?

-Tanni Grey-Thompson.

-And Nicole Cooke, our Olympic cyclist.

-Nice, isn't it?

And now Olympic Nordic walker, you're on the home stretch.

Lengthen that stride, come on, let's push it out.

'Well, pushing these bendy poles really does give a bit of oomph

'to your stride, and I can feel the workout in my shoulders as well.'

So there you go, that's the end of the walk. What did you think?

-I've really enjoyed it, Fran.

-Good stuff, isn't it?

-You know what?

-I want these for Christmas.

-And the other 20 things!

-Listen, it's great to have your company. See you soon.

-And you.

-Enjoy the walk back up the hill to Penarth.

-Yes, thank you, lightweight.

Taxi for Brockway, is it(?)

'And if you do fancy trying this,

'or another one of the walks from the series, go to...

'..and take a look at our interactive website.

'It has everything you need - from detailed route information

'for each walk as well as photographs we took

'along the way and walking maps for you to print off and follow.

'For the next walk in this programme, we head to a secluded old

'slate-producing valley near Corris.'

Everywhere you look here in Corris, top to bottom,

everything is made of slate - walls, roofs, chimneys, fences and steps,

you name it, it's made of this versatile building material,

but the signs of the industry that produced all this slate,

they're a bit more difficult to spot.

'That's because here in Gwynedd's most southerly quarries,

'the slate was mined underground, and with the help of some

'young detectives on this walk, we'll uncover a bit more of the story

'of slate in this lesser-known slate-mining area of southern Snowdonia.'

And here is where my group of walking -

or should I say buggy-walking companions? -

meet every week before they set off on one of their walks.

'Local mums with youngsters of all ages, some only a few weeks old,

'meet here every Tuesday morning, and today they've agreed to take me along with them.'

HE GREETS THEM IN WELSH

THEY RESPOND

I've got my lunch.

'But I must admit, I do feel a little out of my comfort zone.'

Come on, then, let's go.

'Roughly halfway between Machynlleth and Dolgellau,

'we travel two miles up the road from Corris to the start of our walk.

'Leaving the cars in a lay-by, our walk takes us along tracks

'and paths on a child-friendly circuit of Cwm Ralltgoed,

'a beautiful, secluded valley surrounded by steep, forested hillsides -

'two-and-a-half miles and fairly flat all the way.

'Of course, when you've got youngsters in tow,

'it takes a little more time to get going,

'and to be prepared for just about anything.'

-So, after all that, you're all packed and ready?

-ALL: Yes.

-Are you sure?

-ALL: Yes!

-Shall we go...

-Yes.

-..and start the walk?

So, Jo, you've got two children, have you?

Yes, I've got two, I've got Martha here who's two

and Thomas who is on one of those red bikes down now.

Were you interested in walking before joining the group?

Yes, I've always done things which are outside, yeah, outdoors.

Is it a big effort for you to sort of get them ready,

packing all the clothes?

Yes, it can be sometimes, it seems you need a whole boot full of stuff,

you know, to get ready.

It makes it easier if you make sure that you bring spare clothes

and waterproofs and things that that, but once you're outside,

there's so much easier that it is worth the effort.

The biggest thing is having the right attitude

and wanting to get out is and go for a walk.

I think it's quite easy to think,

"Oh, I can't be bothered to go for a walk.

"It's too much hassle, there's too much fuss.

"There's too much involved in getting ready."

But once you're out, the children are much happier,

they enjoy being outdoors, they enjoy the change of scenery,

they enjoy the fresh air

and they usually sleep better when they've had loads of fresh air.

-So, Jan, this is the youngest member of the crew.

-Yes, I think so, yes.

-What's his name?

-Ceian.

-Hello, Ceian.

-Not taking much attention.

-Fast asleep at the moment.

-Yeah.

-Mum!

-Yeah, come on.

And that's Dewi, that's my other little boy.

-So when was Ceian born?

-He's nearly ten weeks old.

-Ten weeks!

Yeah, he was a month early, so he's just catching up.

So what's so special about this walk for you?

I think it's that it's just so quiet, it's a hidden valley, isn't it?

It's great for wildlife as well, some goldfinches flew over before.

The river is really nice to play in a bit further along the track.

-Great place to come and get away from it all.

-Yes, it's great.

HE WHIMPERS

-I think he's enjoying the ride(!)

-He needs a feed, though.

Hello. So, Ellen, you're from this area, Corris?

-I am, yes, born and bred.

-So you know a lot about this area, then?

I do, but I'm lucky enough to have parents

that are interested in history and things and my grandmother

used to take me for walks round here when I was a youngster.

You know, when you're growing up in somewhere like this,

you hear stories from people, the older generations and...

-yeah, you get to learn quite a bit.

-You pass them on to your children?

I'm trying to, yes, not that they listen.

'You wouldn't think it today,

'but this track we're walking along is a bit of the former Ralltgoed Tramway,

'a horse-drawn railway, built in the 1860s to link the small

'slate mines in this valley to the Corris Railway at Abergavenny.'

And this was the main thoroughfare up to Ralltgoed.

They didn't have a track,

they didn't have a farm track - everything had to come

up on the tramway, basically, and it was easy on the way down,

it was gravity-fed, it runs down all the way by itself.

-Not so easy on the way up.

-No, which is where the horses came in.

They used to bring everything up - supplies for the shops, flour,

coal, everything used to come up on the tramway.

'The track now brings us to a ruined hamlet,

'almost completely hidden in the trees.

'This chapel, beautifully built of slate,

'was just big enough for those living here at the top end of the valley.

'After 50 years of hymns and sermons, it closed in 1932.'

We've stopped here next to the former quarryman's cottages.

There were four originally, two of which have fallen down now.

The end one here,

which would have butted onto the tramway would have been a shop

and it had little bay window on the gable end

where everybody could see what they had for sale.

I actually have a photograph of it here.

-This is what it used to look like?

-That's right, yeah.

So anybody who was passing by the shop would be able to see what was in there

for sale - jam, marmalade, supplies for the quarrymen, paraffin and candles.

The houses are quite large,

surprisingly large for quarrymen's houses,

that's because they used to put up lodgers here

and the men who worked in the mine used to walk over

the mountains and lodge here over the working week.

It's a shame the shop's not open today.

We could buy some sweets for the kids.

That's true, keep them entertained.

Now for the best bit on a walk.

It's time for some nosh and I'm as hungry as anyone.

-Is there room for one more?

-ALL: Yeah!

Hello, Idris. Are you enjoying your strawberry?

'Now the plan from here is that we leave the rest of them

'to finish their picnic and have a bit of a play, whilst Ellen

'and I continue a loop around the top of the valley.'

See you later.

'Ellen's local knowledge comes in useful

'straightaway as she points out a ruined old stable block,

'camouflaged in the trees below the track.'

The stables actually have quite an interesting story.

Back in 1936, the reservoir that served Ralltgoed Quarry,

the dam burst on that.

All the water came down and the family who at the time

lived at Ralltgoed Hall were just down at the stables.

They just managed to get out of the way before the deluge came down

and hit the stables and luckily got out of the way in time.

It sounds as if they were very lucky.

They were extremely lucky, yeah.

They could have done with your services back then.

Well, it's nice to walk with somebody that knows a little bit

about the area because you could walk past things

and not even know that they're there.

So much of this has grown over now

and you can't make out what anything is

and it's nice to know what was here, so it brings the whole place to life.

-And what's this building here?

-This is Ralltgoed Hall.

It was originally built for the owner of the quarry and after him,

from about the late 1930s until the '60s, it was used as a youth hostel.

People used to walk from all over the mountains to stay here,

which was quite a sight for the locals.

They had never seen people walking for leisure before

and to see them coming here, of all places, somewhere quite remote

to stay in Ralltgoed Hall was quite something, I should think.

Well, it's not that grand,

but it is well preserved and the biggest building we've seen so far.

It is, yeah.

-Shall we carry on?

-Yes.

'Leaving Ralltgoed Hall and the story of slate,

'we now step further back in time and head towards Dolgoed,

'a very old farm at the head of the valley.

'The public footpath veers left just before this gate,

'but we've been given special permission to take a closer

'look at this fascinating old place.'

The house itself was built in the 1600s

and was lived in by Quakers at that time.

The Quakers used to walk over the mountain

to go and worship, which is a good five, six mile walk.

Legend has it that there is a Quaker burial ground around here,

but we don't know how true that is. However, there is a yew tree

just behind us, which was traditionally planted in cemeteries

and graveyards, which does add a little bit of weight to the legend.

I love that archway there. That's very unusual.

It is and it's unique to this valley, actually.

There's three houses in the valley which have that feature.

-They've done a good job in restoring it.

-Oh, they definitely have, yes.

Do we know who lives there now?

It's owned by the same family that used to own it in the 1600s,

so it's remained in the same family for all that time.

That's good going, isn't it?

That's very good going, 450 years, yeah, not bad, not bad.

'As we head off down the valley and the end of our walk,

'it strikes me how utterly peaceful this secluded hidden valley

'really is, with the silence broken only by the sound of birds,

'the river, and an occasional sheep -

'a big contrast to a century ago when the valley would have

'echoed to the blasting and working of slate from mines across the way.'

So here we are, Derek, almost back at the start

and at the end of our walk.

Well, thanks, Ellen, for showing me this wonderful hidden valley

and for also showing me that walking is for everyone,

-including the youngest members of the family.

-That's quite all right.

So there we are. All you need is the right gear and some get up and go.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd