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Welcome to another walk with the world at your feet.
Tonight a six-day trek takes us across the Snowdonia National Park
from Carnarvon Castle to Conway Castle in the British Isles.
The British like to believe they invented the idea that tramping through untamed
landscape is good for body and spirit. True or not, romantic painters and poets
started coming to Snowdonia more than 200 years ago in search of inspiration.
In our century the popularity of this small corner of North Wales has grown, yet
strangely there's no recognized long-distance footpath that goes right
across these mountains. So the walkers in this film have planned their own route
which will take them from the fortress town of Carnarvon to the summit of
Snowdon and then eastwards to the valley of the River Conway and finally north to
descend to the castle town of Conway. A total of 50 miles, 80 kilometers in six
days. The starting point is Carnarvon whose castle was built in 1283 by an
English King Edward I to subdue the rebellious Welsh. Still today it is the
place where eldest sons of English monarchs are installed as Prince of
Wales. Reminiscent of medieval torture instruments, modern climbing gear can
often frighten the uninitiated but most of it is unnecessary for the simple
enjoyment of mountain walking. The two men and two women in this film, all
previously unknown to each other, prepare to embark on a journey which is likely
to prove a very different experience for each of them. Barbara Owen is a painter.
She came originally from Liverpool but has lived in Snowdonia for 17 years. She
walks a great deal finding continual fascination in the mountain landscape and
the often wild and unpredictable weather.
The most experienced walker in the group is Rob Collister, a mountain guide who
lives in the Snowdonia National Park. With a strong personal attachment to the
place he is nevertheless aware that as an Englishman not a Welshman he's still
in a certain sense an outsider.
Dai Thomas was born and brought up in Snowdonia as a native Welsh speaker.
He lives here still in the Lee of Snowdon itself and is a reporter for the
Welsh language service of the BBC. Angela Neustatter is a journalist from
London. In contrast to the others she's never been to Snowdonia before nor
indeed ever been up a mountain. For her to set out on such an adventure with
three strangers is literally a step into the unknown. A fine early July evening
from the ramparts of the castle the four survey the landscape they are to cross.
That's where we're going tomorrow. All that way. That's called Munid Mallor yes the big
mountain. It's the same as Elephant Mountain. Yes it is because if you look at the outline it looks as if it's a big
elephant sort of laying down that's the backside and the head and while you're
losing the trunk behind the other edge but it's quite impressive from here. And
isn't it a very tough walk? It's fairly long perhaps for the first day but not very hard.
It's very flat. And good news all day hopefully for the weather
halt like this.
Music
Legend has it that this is the old Roman road leading from Carnarvon. When I was a boy I
traveled this road daily to school four miles each way. In winter when the snow
stopped the buses on the hills we walked but with the summer traffic it's
definitely not healthy for walking. Looks like our turn off. It'll be good to get off this road.
All right for you lot. Used to this kind of thing. I think you're my London leg. A mile
outside Carnarvon the trail leaves the road and crosses into farmland.
Spirits are high and perhaps the weather will be kind.
This looks very nice. Watch your feet here. It'll get your yellow boots dirty.
Really messy. That's it. Teach on it now Angela. Couldn't have been a more idyllic day to kick off our
expedition. Barmy sun and a straight flat path. But I wasn't so easily seduced. I
knew from a bit of map gazing I'd done that this Idle would very soon change
into rigorous climbing. And I had severe doubts about how my urban legs were going
to cope. Not to mention the reservations about spending six days solid with a
bunch of folk I'd never met before. And they all regarded North Wales as the
high spot of the British Isles.
Rob there's that flower. This is it. Oh right yes I see what you mean now.
That's meadow sweet. If you smell it you'll find it has got a really sweet almost sickly.
Yeah it's a plant which only grows in damp places. In fact this area we're in now is a
lovely little wetland. And what makes it different to plants we're going to be
seeing later on in the walk up in the mountains is that the rainfall here is
relatively low. At Carnarvon there's 40 inches or so rain a year. On top of Snowdon
it's more like 200 inches. And what happens is that that very heavy rainfall
washes the minerals out of the soil up in the mountains. It leaches them out. Down
here with a lower rainfall the soil has retained the minerals and it remains a
fairly rich habitat for wild plants.
And the other side is the track of the old Welsh Highland Railway. And we used
to come down on our bikes over the bridge and then back up to the village
on the track. The first meal break. They're already starting to shed a
little of their artificial politeness. And this encourages Angela to launch into a
defense of life in London.
I like London. I feel very strongly. I think London has lots of valuable and other wonderful things to offer.
Although it's lovely to get out here as well. I do feel very very strongly about it.
And as a place where there's a lot of things that go on that are exciting
both in human terms and also in visual terms. But it's each one to his own isn't it?
Yes, certainly. Yes, but what my point was...
You mean certain people will enjoy living in London.
Certain people shouldn't enjoy living in London.
Sure, but my point was that there is a value to it. When you come out to a place like this and I mean it's not just here now but I've had it before when I go out to the country.
Which I really enjoy doing and I can see the point of it.
It's a sort of sense of superiority about people living in the country that somehow...
Well, what about the attitude of people living in cities towards the country bumpkins?
Maybe. I mean I don't feel that about the country.
That's exactly the way we feel isn't it?
Yes, well obviously it is. It's like the North South Divide.
I'm sure you look at me a little bit condescendingly.
I'm pretty sure you do. You go back to London and you talk to your London friends about these strange people.
No, you're wrong.
You're thinking of your country.
Not with you. With somebody like that.
No, you are wrong.
He's eccentric, he doesn't watch television.
No, no.
You see he's my best friend.
You are quite wrong.
He gets excited when he goes to Caernarvon.
That's right, I miss my day's shopping.
You're really correct.
You miss the shopping trip.
I get it wrong when it's it's been alright.
Oh, I'm sure the sun will shine before the evening.
Maybe, but do you know that the meteorological office is 50% wrong when it's predictions, I was told.
Ah, but have you ever thought that it might be also 50% right?
Think positive.
You've got to, you see, with all these staves and pentos.
Slate quarrying was the most important of all the industrial activities in Snedonia.
North Wales slate was shipped from small coastal ports to roof the world.
That was in the past.
Today there are only a few remaining quarries.
The rest are empty holes.
Some say scarce on the landscape.
But not so.
For they are the vivid, forceful reminders of the industry's hardworking men, like my forefathers, who created them.
But the disused quarry provides Barbara, the painter, with another sort of inspiration.
It's so exciting.
See, turn back there.
You've got that skyline, you know, which is broken.
Usually you've got this sort of really heavy sky, very dramatic, and then you've got these great big slabs of colour.
And it's like a stage, in a sense.
You know, you sort of get actors coming into the limelight, and this bit comes forward, that bit comes forward, that bit recedes.
And you see bits of the quarry you've never seen before in different lights.
So it changes every day, and it's always exciting.
That's for me anyway.
Yes, that's the different aspect for you, because my forefathers, my father, my grandfather, my great grandfather, all worked in different quarries in this area.
And for me it's just that course, if you like, of the past, because of all the people.
I mean, I wouldn't be here, and the people who I was brought up with wouldn't be here, if it wasn't for these quarries.
It was their determination and their pennies that built the local university college,
so that sons did not have to follow fathers to spend their working lives blasting rock and dressing slate in all weathers.
As we left the quarry to climb Minnith Moor, I knew that now the serious action was beginning.
This was a test of stamina, and I didn't want to fail.
I had no illusions as to what my companions would say about town softies, if that were to happen.
I made it, and it really did feel good to get to that summit,
and to realize that these legs, which don't usually do more than cantor around the local grue, have succeeded.
It really was a view to bring forth the cliches.
It was a wonderful vista over the Snowdonian mountains.
There's a sense of a terrain which is too wild and rugged for crude civilization to beat into shape.
Whoa! Phew!
Now that isn't bad, is it?
Wow, look at that.
Glad to be here, too.
What about the ridge there? Look at that.
Oh, and the light, sir, Barbara.
It's one trusted, it's really dramatic.
Yeah.
It's a bit of a
Oh, that's...
Anybody got another ginger biscuit?
Oh, amazing how good a ginger biscuit tastes in your...
The end of the first day.
Rising above them as they descend into the valley for the night is the great massif of Snowdon itself,
highest mountain in England and Wales, an object of great pride.
It's a place where the most important people in the world are gathered together.
The Snowdonians are the first to cross the Snowdonian mountain path,
highest mountain in England and Wales, an object of the next day's journey.
The route has taken them some 10 miles, 16 kilometres southeast from Carnarvon,
to a height of 700 metres, over 2,000 feet on Minneth Mower,
and down again to the Snowdon Ranger Hostel.
One of the oldest inns in the area,
it's at the foot of one of the earliest walkers' routes up Snowdon,
and it's a very popular route.
That's nasty.
Is it safe to walk up in this?
Oh, yes, it's OK. As long as we keep a check on the map where we are, it'll be no problem.
Really? And I've got a feeling it could clear up higher up.
If it does, it'll be absolutely magic up there. Really? Is it possible?
It's very likely to me.
They're quite unique, you only see them in this slate area.
On a day like this, with the mist down to the foot of the bed, as we say in these parts,
you might think, why bother?
But for Angela, it will be a great contrast,
and we will have the mountain to ourselves.
Nice. Yeah.
Strange, isn't it, those little misty nights?
You're sitting on it, aren't you?
It's quite fascinating to look at in a funny way.
I like the kind of shadowy effect of it.
We could have something quickly to eat.
Shall we have a cup of coffee?
Nice idea. What about this, then?
Aha, you've a good boy.
It's something called a trail pack. Oh, I know trail.
In London we know trail packs.
Glad to get rid of some of this coffee,
right on my back a bit. Great.
This misty landscape is always interesting for me,
the drama it creates with its own eerie, soft light.
Here I was just trying to make a pictorial note of the diagonal of the steep slope
and the two bent trees in the mist.
I find this fog quite sinister, there's something
that's not so clear, and I'm not sure what it is.
I find this fog quite sinister, there's something kind of unnerving
about being buried in the middle of it.
Yes, I know what you mean. It's like being in another world, isn't it?
It is very easy to get lost if you don't keep a close track on your map.
I can remember dropping out of the mist once with a group of 16-year-old lads
from Birmingham, and one of them saying, as we came out of it,
and could see the valley below us,
it's like being born again!
I realised that to him being up there must have been stifling,
just enclosed in the mist, it must have been very frightening.
Time to make a decision, folks.
We're going to make a decision here whether to go under Cloggy
or carry straight on up. Let's have a look at the map.
We don't have any feelings about it.
It's a bit wild, isn't it?
I think it's going to be a bit crazy to go under there.
It's a bit of a cliff, Angela, but we won't see a thing.
It's very, very impressive if you go down there into the cun.
Right, a very dramatic place, but we're going to see nothing at all today.
So I think we'd better carry on up here, up to the summers of Snowdon,
just stay on the ranger path.
Carry on up the shoulder, it'll be windy, but...
Let's do that, just keep clodding. Heads down.
Heads down, I can't see much on this.
Should be another hour and a half, I should think.
Let's go. A stream of hot chocolate on the...
Sniff, sniff.
Though one of the easiest routes up Snowdon,
in weather like this, battered by wind and rain,
every hour climb can seem an age.
We'd just about got to the top,
and I can remember thinking how strange it was that in the Cambrian Age,
it was a mere 600 million years ago,
Snowdon was just a patch on the bottom of the ocean.
Still, if it had stayed that way,
none of us would have had the satisfaction of clambering up its 3,000 feet,
and it's the utter exhaustion I felt.
We were sodden and done for, and I spotted the railway tracks,
so there is an easier way up.
Still, I wouldn't have missed the experience of doing it with my own legs.
And C.S. Lewis is wrong, fatigue doesn't make women talk more.
Dreaming of a large whiskey tod was the most energetic thing I could do just then.
hahahaha
Ironic it was,
we climbed all this way with the promise of a stunning view,
and we could see nothing.
I reckon that 18th century pioneer Thomas Pennant did better.
He walked from the west side after midnight and reached the summit as dawn broke.
But at least I can say I touched the peak of Snowdon, and there weren't the usual crowds.
The summit is even better known for its crowds than its views.
This isn't normally a place for the seeker of mountain solitude.
The culprit, of course, is the railway, which for nearly a hundred years has forced hardy but resentful walkers
to share their hard-won prize with day-tripping holiday crowds.
But as the four walkers figured, if it's there, make the best of it.
Forced by bad weather to return to the valley for the night,
they decided to take the train to the top next morning to pick up the thread of the route.
We had one clip too.
Now we're in the picture.
Any room at the top?
We'd better get out of the picture now.
It's tough to die, you might see.
It's pretty spectacular.
And it's impossible to think clearly, isn't it?
Yesterday you could hardly see the hunt in front of your face, and today it's all there.
No, it's lovely actually, amazing.
Apart from the view, the main point of starting from the summit is to descend over Crib Goch,
the Red Ridge, the most challenging part of the whole route.
We're telling you about Crib Goch now, then you can see the ridge straight in front of us now.
Good God.
And it's over those pinnacles and along that narrow serrated edge.
Well.
It's not what you're suggesting that we do, die.
Well, Rob, what do you think?
Yeah?
Yes, I think it'll be OK.
Crib Goch?
Yeah.
The last time I did that I was 16.
And now you're 26.
Yeah, I said I wouldn't do it ever again.
Did you?
Was it frightening, isn't it?
I was quite scared, yeah.
Are you sure?
You appreciate the depths on each side.
No, I think it's OK.
OK.
It's a little steeper this here.
I can't come across there, die.
I can't.
Ready?
I can't.
No, hang on.
OK.
All right, hang on.
No, hang on.
Same.
I can't walk across.
You can't walk across.
No.
Hang on, let's just come back here, and sit down.
Come back here and sit down.
We've got to talk about this.
Are you all right?
Yeah.
But I'm all right if I can sit down.
Yeah.
I mean, you know, I'm all right if I can hold something.
You two turn across the top, there.
There was a drop other side.
Is there much of that?
Because I can't do that.
Yeah, there's a lot of stuff there.
That's it.
OK.
Yeah.
椅
the sides is not much of that because I can't do that.
Yeah there's a lot of it. I think there's no question about it.
You know I don't might look if the path goes around the side
and I can sort of hold something as I go around it then I'll be all right
you know but if I've actually got to go along the top
and just drop by the side I just I couldn't do it.
As far as I'm concerned there's no question that you ordered it.
I feel much happier with that there.
Angela you know don't let my nervousness put you off.
You're not. I was quite nervous before Barbara and to be honest I'm
I'm I mean I'm slightly unnerved by you because I can see myself doing the same
thing and in some ways I feel like you I don't come to take
on these enormous challenges and things.
Angela if you want to do it you can go on with Rob and I'll take
Barbara down. I don't want to do it.
No no but we won't split. I mean if it's a split it's a two-way split. It's two
and two. It's not going to be a three one split.
I think we should keep people together. I mean look the clouds are coming
coming down now. I think there's some bad weather coming in again
in the next couple of hours. Okay there's one question to be asked then.
Can you do it Angela? Do you think you can do it?
I don't know. How do I know that? That's what's worrying me.
I think so. Do you? Yeah. Okay then that's it.
You go with Rob. I'll go with Barbara. But Rob you know you'll be bloody furious
with me if I don't won't you? No why should I be furious?
I mean life's much more about a million other more important things. The world
one goes over a bit of rock. Yes okay. We'll wait for you at um
Penna Pass. Right. Okay. I'm not looking forward to it one little bit.
Okay so we'll see you at Penna Pass and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
Good. You will. Okay then cheers.
Over to you baby.
Just come along the um the ridge. Yeah. How was it? Horrible. Was it horrible? Yes.
It looks terrifying to me from here from the beginning.
Didn't think you were going to fall off at any time. Oh no. No?
Doesn't feel like that. It's quite secure. Is it? Can you look down from those heights?
Oh yeah no problem. Can you? You don't get wobbly. No no. Well I'm wobbly now but that's
that's exhaustion. Is it spectacular views? Oh fantastic.
Within minutes swirling cloud envelops the whole mountain.
Even on the safer route down Di and Barbara
must watch their footing on the slippery wet rock.
What say for instance um Angela freaked out halfway along what would Rob do?
Well he's carrying a rope just as I am. Yeah. So if there was a problem I think he'd
probably tie her on and uh very very carefully lead her off.
Would that be very dangerous then? No not really not for somebody of Rob's
experience. Yeah. But Rob and Angela have also been
forced to turn back. It's perverse isn't it to feel
disappointed not to have had the chance to try crossing Cribgo.
But the clouds came down and we just couldn't risk doing it.
I've been so scared and so unnerved by the endless tales of what a feat it is
walking along this backbone of the mountain with its sheer drop on either
side. But I'd geared myself up and I really did
want to have a go.
The size of these slabs down here is incredible isn't it Di? Yes they are.
They don't have any machinery at all to do this do they? No it's all been moved by
hand or just a very simple winch and they've
had to haul them across the slope obviously. I know. It's a great service to
have a path like this unfortunately up Snowdon. But with so many millions of
feet traveling up and down every year and people wondering all over the slope
you know creating new paths. What's the choice?
What's the...
The Penigrade Hotel is situated right underneath Snowdon
and for over 150 years people who've been staying there
who've come to walk up Snowdon. When people started
climbing it became a natural base for their activities.
The 1953 Everest expedition for instance used it
as their base when they were testing equipment and they've used it ever since
to hold a reunion every five years I think it is.
In summer conditions Snowdon is a very straightforward mountain to walk to the
summit of. In winter the appearance of it
becomes quite awe-inspiring. It looks much bigger than it really is.
I'm going across the proper crib lot. I mean it is totally exposed and there's
not a path and you get the impression that there's going to be a nice
little path across the top of the ridge and it is just rock meeting like that.
So obviously you're climbing to some extent but confident climbers I mean
several times you're passed by mountain rangers who are just walking across and
somebody came across with a spaniel and I had this panting behind me and
thought my god they're obviously more tired than I was.
The next day's route is over a very different terrain from that scene so far.
Gliddawach and Gliddawawa are the high points of an elevated plateau
unlike anywhere else in Britain. One of the things that first drew romantic
painters to these hills was the perpetual drama of changing light and
weather. On the fourth day unusually clear light
gave Barbara a rare opportunity to paint the classic view of the Snowdon
Horseshoe, a respite from risking her neck on it.
There's sort of atmosphere of sun shining and clouds rolling over the landscape and
light and shadow and us just walking through it and sitting here enjoying it
under no sort of pressures of time or I mean that's largely what walking is it's
a sort of freedom from routine and from everyday cares and worries and from
worrying about what you've got to wear and being anywhere at a certain
time. I'm sure that's what people come to the mountains for.
A sense of proportion I think is is the most important thing you sort of leave
the house and you know oh I've left it in a mess
maybe I should have tidied up before I left have I brought that paintbrush maybe
I should have brought those crayons with me maybe I won't do any
drawing should I draw I don't know you know and leave leave the house with all
these things buzzing in your head. One actually does feel completely removed
from all the things that you think about normally and I'm not very good at
getting away from those things they tend to batter away at the head very often so
yes I mean I think I agree with that it's really very liberating in a funny way.
From here now quite a steep climb Angela up to the top of
Glouderbach then along a plateau that's quite distinct there's nothing exactly
like it anywhere in the mountains of the UK huge big stones
lying
piled on top of one another all over the place yes
and I think gildy pigledy I think would be probably the best translation
and making sure it always looked good not only when people arrived but when they
left as well and trying to instill some respect for
the countryside into the kids by getting them to keep their own
environment clean.
So we jump up and down eh? No.
Perhaps we'll actually tip it. Can you come a little bit closer?
Right then. Okay there. Because it's for posterity. Great.
The Cantilever stone one of Snowdonia's famous landmarks.
It is like being on top of the world yes.
Isn't it absolutely you do feel as though you couldn't get any higher it's
extraordinary.
Between the twin summits of Glouderbach and Gloudervour
stands the castle of the winds. The names given to these rock formations
and other features of the landscape appeal to the romantics who made
Snowdonia popular almost as much as the wildness of the
mountains or the violence of the weather.
The crown in this splendid and most rugged of all Snowdonia's mountain ranges
is Twldy, the black hole of the Devil's Kitchen as it was
christened by the early travelers. Thomas Pennant wrote 200 years ago
I ventured to look down to this dreadful aperture
and found its horrors far from being lessened in my
exalted situation and in this century Ali Climbers said that Twldy stands in a
class by itself not of severity but of character
and what a splendid unique place it is.
The only frightening bit here is I think the actual drop it's what's
well over a thousand feet onto the bottom there. It is really.
But once you start moving and start concentrating
yeah you forget the drop and uh sure no no it's
has its own appeal.
It's been fun.
That's very up the staircase.
There's a climb here called the Devil's Staircase.
Is that bad? The devils had a lot of influence on these places.
As we come off the cliffs we come to Cwm Mydwell
which was the first national nature reserve in Wales
and the man who knows the valley better than anybody is Iori Alice Williams.
Iori started life as a farmer but his great love of nature and the
outdoors led him to work here as a warden.
His love of Cwm Mydwell is infectious.
The edge of this rather interesting rock with a lot of calcium in it must be
because you think of all the flowers that are growing within this patch here
there's this white one yeah Miniwattia verna and that club moss
they've been here since the ice age some of them you see that's basically that
purple saxifrace for example it was inherited here from the vegetation
during the ice age and the club moss especially interesting is that it lived
during the carboniferous period which gave rise to our coal measures.
It's a very primitive form of plant as well.
And up here on this rock you've got quite a vast amount of dynamic
situation you've got this golden rod can you see it up there?
And right up at the top there you've got a young tree growing that's the Sorbus
mountain ash. It won't survive very long but it's still growing on these
pockets.
I thought in the beginning you see that I'd probably get used to the place after
about four or five years but that didn't happen and I still
come up now although I retired and I still find things of interest
I knew things that I realized new feelings and things like this about the
place. Well you see the strange thing was when
I first came here I thought this place belongs to me.
Did you? Now I think I belong to it.
The names of these places like Cwmcneivion over there
you see those bits of quartz over there they denote those fleece like bits of
wool so there's a relation between place names
and the actual living that people did. Yes it does have a logic.
And if you go down into the peat hags down here going back a thousand years
go back down a foot approximately in peat and you will find the remains of
the vegetation that grew in this Cwmcneivion at that time and you'll find
there's an awful lot of trees there and you will find nuts and things like
this preserved in the peat which indicates that this habit that was
very different at the time let's say roughly a thousand years ago.
So in fact there were forests here? There were forests there were trees here
you know yes and a lot more wildlife and the path we came down from up here
is called Suiboracaru. That's the path of the deer.
These are the Idle Slabs Barbera. It's a really popular climbing ground for beginners.
If you fancy I'll take you up a reef.
They are very popular for nearly 100 years people have been
been climbing on here. It's not a hard cliff is it?
Lovely climbing when it's dry but damn bollock if it gets really wet.
So you're feeling nervous about this are you? I'm terrified I think the truth be
known. Yes. Do you like heights? No. You're brave indeed.
There's a rock under your hands and it's just lovely being out in the open and
um as I say when you walk under your feet.
And do you get a buzzer thrill when you've done it?
I certainly think I will yes.
Day five.
Day five. From the village of Kapilkurig
the route turns north towards the valley of the river Conway.
The rugged mountains are now behind them as they set off from Kapilkurig.
The landscape they're entering although more human in scale
is less well known to walkers and tourists.
This looks like a very nice mixed woodland guy. This isn't it? It's like the old
wild wood. There is a campaign now called uh Coed Cymru
the Welsh wild wood campaign and the idea is to try and
save some of these old woods especially on these
slopes yeah and give grants to farmers to fence part of them off so that they
can regenerate naturally themselves. Right they pay them a fee do they?
To yes for for pension.
Wild natural woods like these once covered every hillside
but one by one they were cut down for ships or buildings
or cleared for farming. Their character is quite unlike the dark blankets of
conifers with which commercial foresters have sought
to replace them in our century.
It's a shame it's raining isn't it really? Right that view always reminds me of a
couple of lines of verse which go the forest like a great dark moth
settling its wings over the hill and I think of that when I see this
this view rather.
You've planted a lot of the trees here yes yes
how long ago was that? This was planted around 1949 1950.
Must have been fantastic labor planting these pines right up on that outcrop.
Which meant carrying all your trees up there you see on your back
and taking enough plants with you for the whole day.
What do you you feel about the felling that's going on here?
Well this is the policy of the commission now you see we do such a lot
of you know clear felling but in the olden you know the old
you know times that have gone by we used to you know do the selective
thing. Is that because most of this is going to
just be used for pulp rather than timber? A lot of these will go as
timber and the rest is chipboard.
It certainly looks a mess at the moment.
It is yes no not at all. Now next year when they're finished we'll be
planting all this. Is all that going to come down I mean is
the whole forest yes all this section is going to come down yes.
That's going to make a huge difference to the yes the view of this valley that
we had coming down. That's right yes.
A lost land flooded under a sea of trees
a lost community and a lost way of life.
That's the remains of the old Klondike lead mine down there.
People have been mining lead up in these mountains ever since
Roman times but in fact that particular one was the site of a
notorious contric in the 1930s and a bloke from London came down
bought the old workings and lined the inside of a couple of the
tunnels with lead dust which gave it a sort of
silver sheen and encouraged people to come down from
London and invest in it and it was it was very successful and the
only thing wrong was his timing he just went on a bit too long
and eventually scotland yard caught up with him and he went to jail but
it was a quite a successful fraud while it lasted.
I wonder who lived here they must have left a long long time ago
the roof's gone places now are ruined.
People have always lived on these uh uplands above the Conwy valley.
I always feel sad when I see places like this.
The people came here because there was work here.
The mines and the quarries and farming and left when when the work stopped.
These older houses stand empty only visited now by the odd walker and
the wind and rain.
The last leg of the walk is from Peneguia to the
castle town of Conwy on the north coast.
Peneguia, its concentric rings of defensive earthworks still visible,
was built on a hilltop commanding the Conwy valley by Celtic inhabitants of
this region hundreds of years before the first wave of
empire building romans penetrated these mountains.
After a night in a welsh tavern a walk to the top
clears the head and offers a rather special view of the history of the
valley. I think this is one of my favorite
places in the whole of Scandinavia it's not only a very interesting hillfort
some really elaborate defensive systems but it's a fantastic viewpoint
looking out over the Conwy valley.
We can imagine that being far more thickly wooded than it is now
none of these little fields. It's interesting too to look down on
the the roman fort which is right on the bend in the river down there because
the romans clearly didn't feel that they needed such a strong defensive position
as this.
And you can see not only the prehistoric remains but those long
lines of the walls running up the hill over there are the 19th century
enclosures and when you walk across those fields over there you'll find
traces of prehistoric banks medieval wall systems farms that were
built in the 16th century other farms that were built in the 19th
century all of them now ruined and i'm always
reminded of the lines by R.S. Thomas where he says you cannot live in the
present at least not in wales.
Here there is proof of a changing pattern of life
this church at Llangillinin is used now just
once a month in summer there are far less people living on these uplands
and not all of them are conscientious church or chapelgoers
yet this very old church a fine example of a small welsh
rural place of worship has been renovated to its former
simple glory
but although there has been a movement of people to the lowlands
there is still a vibrant viable farming community here
21
40
there are fewer farmers and more sheep but at the moment it's the
sheep industry and the production of lambs and breeding ewes
that keep the farming community alive this decade has been a good one for the
welsh sheep farmer
after six days and some 50 miles 80 kilometers
their destination is finally in sight i am starving
it's an ice cream yeah so this was the finale
conway it's a ravishing spot with vivid patches of heather and the castle in the
distance
for all my early reservations the four of us had really become good companions
we were friendly enough to talk intimacies make jokes share philosophies
and even promise to get together again i felt somehow i'd be going back to london
with more than just well-developed calf muscles
i feel quite sad it's all over do you oh yes i do
yes it's been nice sort of time out of time interesting to
trot around the countryside with people you don't know at all in the beginning
journey's end is always sad isn't it it's still been as enjoyable a
journey through the mountains as any i've made anywhere i think
going on the walk has meant i've gone i've been to places i wouldn't have gone
to particularly the conway valley i mean
i've often been to the conway valley i've walked bits of it but not this
length of it i didn't realize it was so so very
beautiful it's a very very special place for me
but it was quite something special in a way
walking across it too in in a few days not sort of going back home every night
you know having a continuous journey right across these mountains that i
like so much thank you for a walk in hide park oh gee
that'll be great do i have to bring my boots as well
oh yes yes nothing tame about my part well by that time i'll have forgotten
all the english you've taught me on all these big
words that i've learned during the last few days well i'm going to make a big
effort at my welsh just to make dia feel a bit more
comfortable i think i probably will come back again
because it has been yes it's been lovely and i feel i know enough about it now to
be excited by coming back and kind of remembering some of it again and
and feeling perhaps i do know a bit more than
would you walk if you came back again oh yeah yeah no the walking has been
lovely i've really liked it yeah it's been very good i'm into my surprise
because although i walk a bit at home it's not on this scale
and it's been fabulous
so
next in horizons come on a nine-day trek from manila to padum
16 000 feet up in the remote himalayan region of ladakh
actress virginia mckenna will travel with us next saturday at 6 30
peter russell clark will be along shortly with come and get it
followed by upstairs downstairs and remember there'll be more of the
adventures of vet james harriet in all creatures great and small
tomorrow at 6 30
hello i'm not made for this flow and look out for me on celebrity oscar
mall with vick at six o'clock and ever see tv and guess who i am
come and get it while it's still hot but they're not
but they're not married she won't do it no thanks
right oh come on we've got to get married why are you pregnant
uh he keeps trying her dad doesn't approve don't like me do
no but they're going into business together robin
vicki and dad so she has to keep his mouth shut
in robin's nest 6 30 monday to friday on abc
jim's cranking them up for duty on home james
this is sergeant love southeast london's answer to richard gear
he can play an officer but he's still no gentleman
i had a paper boy got her through the letter box i've no idea
there's no mercy for the governors with home james
that saturation comedy it is followed by john cleese
the master of comedy with an open and shut case of promiscuity
in faulty tiles they're going he's out of control again i suppose you think this
is funny doing timeless comedy with faulty towers at 8 30
after home james at eight monday night on abc
come and get it come and get it with peter russell park
in the city or the outback these australia's brightest spark
come and get it come and get it good food you love to eat
come and get