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Britain is crisscrossed
by an amazing network

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of ancient trackways.

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These remarkable routes are our
oldest roads and have been travelled

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for more than 5,000 years.

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He's quite small, isn't he?

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He is small, but he's mighty.

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Small but mighty. I like that.

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Walked by pilgrims and traders,
hunters and invaders,

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Celts and Romans,

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Saxons and Vikings,
each track is bound up in myth,

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mystery and legend.

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Of all the archaeological finds I've
come across, when I heard about it,

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my jaw actually dropped.

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I'm on a quest to connect the clues
and rediscover the stories hidden

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among Britain's ancient pathways.

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I want to find out what it is that
tempts today's travellers to go back

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in time and rediscover
these mystic tracks.

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Do you reckon that's the North Star?
It's not the brightest star

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in the sky, but it's probably
one of the most useful.

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It's a bit like me!

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Smell the leather.
You can still smell it.

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1,900-year-old leather.

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Isn't that absolutely amazing?

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This week, I've come to Dartmoor in
Devon to walk the ancient routes

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that connect Christianity and
paganism through centuries-old

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stories of sacred sites,
extraordinary stones

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and literature's
most notorious hound.

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HOWLING

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These are the paths our
ancestors once followed,

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the ancient tracks that we
in Britain can still walk today.

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Dartmoor has been described as
England's last great wilderness.

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It covers an area of some
370 square miles.

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Mankind has lived on Dartmoor since
the Stone Age and, over time,

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has left an indelible mark
on this exposed landscape.

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I've been to Dartmoor loads
of times and, whenever I come,

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I hear some new weird and wonderful
story about the place that really

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raises the hairs on the back of my
neck but I've never walked across

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the whole moor - I don't really know
how the whole thing fits together.

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I do know that this is going
to be a journey through time.

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I'm going to hear lots of tales from
different periods and I've brought

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my own timepiece with me as my
companion, although exactly why,

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you won't know till
the end of the programme.

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Across Dartmoor is a network
of ancient trackways,

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shrouded in history and mystery.

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I'll be following a procession of
medieval stone crosses along the

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Abbot's Way, before heading in
search of consecrated ground along

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the old Lych Way or Way of the Dead.

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Along my journey, I'll retrace the
footsteps of Britain's greatest
detective,

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plunge the depths of a bottomless
lake and come face-to-face

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with a fantastical array
of four-legged beasts.

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And with a little detective
work of my own,

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I hope to unravel the timeworn
secrets that remain deep-rooted in

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this vast, untamed terrain.

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CHORAL CHANTING

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My journey begins at Buckfast Abbey
on the edge of Dartmoor.

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For many centuries,

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people have been drawn to this
sacred site in search of the divine.

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Buckfast Abbey was mentioned in
the 11th-century Domesday Book

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and in 2018, will be
1,000 years old.

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It's fortunes have ebbed and flowed
through the years,

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from wielding great power
over medieval pagan societies

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to its devastating
16th century demise,

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after Henry VIII's
dissolution of the monasteries.

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Then, in 1852,

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French monks who had been exiled
from their own monastery came here

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to what was then a deserted, ruined
and flattened ancient monastic site

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and after a lot of hard work
and inspiration,

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they created this
moorland sanctuary.

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For these 19th-century monks,

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re-cultivating this abandoned land
was essential and today's monks

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are equally self-sustaining.

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Religion, it seems,
has prospered here

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by harnessing the natural world.

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The monks' very survival
has depended on it.

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Spiritually replenished,

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the abbot has offered to show me the
first of the crosses that will guide

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me across the wilderness ahead.

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Is this the original
position of this cross?

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No, no, no, no.

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It was brought from South Brent.

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So what was the significance
of putting it right here?

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Well, because traditionally,

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the Abbot's Way starts at Buckfast
and goes on to cross the moor to

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Tavistock and so this is
really a starting point.

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So this has become
the first marker stone?

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It's become the first
marker stone, yes.

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Yes. Oh, well. If you don't
hear from me in a week...

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We'll send the Dartmoor
rescue after you.

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It's all right, Tony!

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Bye. God bless, bye-bye.

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And as well as the
abbot's good wishes,

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I have another guide
to enlighten my journey.

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There's a little book
from about 1935,

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which gives a really nice picture
of what it would have been like

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travelling along this road.

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It's called The Abbot's Way.

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It was priced at sixpence
and it says...

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"For several hundred years,
this thoroughfare witnessed

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"colourful pageantry
of medieval life."

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It goes on to lament that,
"Fragments alone remain today."

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It's a funny word, that,
fragments, isn't it?

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But it's true - nowadays, all you
get are these tiny little hints

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of what life would have been
like here and it's up to us

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to use our detective work
to pull them back together.

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MAN SINGS ANCIENT FOLK SONG

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It is really rather bizarre,

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walking down a trackway in the
21st-century and coming across a

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bloke singing a medieval song.

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Yeah. No, this is something
I do a lot.

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I think it's a great way of
connecting with the land.

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I mean, we're in a land where, well,
this is called the Abbot's Way now,

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and monks and Abbots would have
walked here in the past and we know

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that it existed 1,000 years ago and
this song I'm singing is the oldest

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song we know of, written
with the music and the words.

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So we can be pretty sure that some
monks would have sung this song,

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maybe even on this path. Shall we
walk a way together? Yeah.

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Do we know much about the actual
bloke who wrote that song you're
singing?

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He was called Godric of Finchale.
Finchale? Finchale, yeah.

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It's a part of Northumberland...

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With my pilgrim for company,

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I followed the Abbot's Way
to where it splits into two -

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one going to Buckland Abbey and the
other to Tavistock and it's at this

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junction where I find
the largest and oldest

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of Dartmoor's stone crosses.

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Do we know what this cross is?

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Well, it's called Nun's Cross,

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or Seward's Cross and we definitely
know that it was here in 1240,

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because King Henry III sent 12 of
his knights to perambulate

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the Dartmoor boundaries and we
know they visited this cross.

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This is real history, isn't it?

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It is, as is the song I sung
earlier, which is...

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We know will have been definitely
sung at the time this cross was

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around, because that was written
in 1160, just before this...

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We have a record of this cross.

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So it's a great joy to be able to
sing it here and connect the two.

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Yeah, you serenade it
and I'll head off up the hill.

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Thanks, Tony. Lovely to meet you.
And you. Bye.

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HE SINGS ANCIENT SONG

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My singing pilgrim makes me think
of the first of Dartmoor's many

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cautionary folktales.

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As the moor rises gently
to a high ridge,

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I'm climbing one of
three hills here -

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this one known as Piper's Hill.

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Way over there, can you see
that mound of stones?

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That's on top of the second one and
a third one is that little one there

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with the tree there and these

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mounds are supposed to be pipers who
are frozen for all eternity as a

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punishment - and what
did they do wrong?

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They played their musical
instruments on the Sabbath.

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And that is a typical
Dartmoor story,

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that conjunction of the pagan
and Christianity.

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I wonder what the very first
version of that story was.

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If only these stones could talk!

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Or pipe, I should probably say,
shouldn't I?

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Every step I make now across this
magnificently bleak and stony

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expanse takes me back in time,

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back way beyond the struggle between
church and paganism and back into

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another glorious Dartmoor mystery.

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I've got something
for you here, look -

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slap bang in the middle of a
deserted moor, you've got this.

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Great name, the Drizzlecombe Bone.

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It's four metres tall, it's about
six tonnes in weight and really,

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kind of asks you more questions than
it gives answers, doesn't it?

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What period is it?

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Well, it's surrounded
by prehistoric stuff,

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so presumably it's late Neolithic,
early Bronze Age.

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It's got this big knobbly thing
at the top of it,

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which presumably gives it its name,
but most importantly, what's it for?

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Is it some kind of way-marker?

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Is it a place where people met,
like at a fayre or something,

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or is it like Stonehenge, part of
some enormous prehistoric clock?

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Which reminds me, time to move on!

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These ancient places
are a wonderful spark

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for the traveller's imagination,
each one a piece in Dartmoor's

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grand, complex jigsaw puzzle.

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Bidding the Bone goodbye, and with
barely another soul in sight,

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the mind tends to drift off to
stories of the supernatural and of,

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dare I say it, apparitions!

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And there's one particular
apparition that crops up all over

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the high moorland of Devon
and Cornwall - the Pixie.

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In the old days, if a traveller lost
their way and got really confused,

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they were sometimes referred to as
being pixie-led but I'm a seasoned

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traveller, I know how
to handle pixies

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by using a very ancient trick.

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If I put my coat on inside out,

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it'll so confuse them that it'll
keep them off my back and I'll be

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able to stick to the right track.

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Every year, the nearby town of
Ottery St Mary is invaded by hordes

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of local children dressed as impish
elves, to mark Pixie Day.

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CHURCH BELLS CHIME

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SCREAMING

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Legend has it these pixies were
caught trying to silence

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the town's church bells
and banished to a nearby cave.

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I think these pixies are a force
to be reckoned with.

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I'd better find their cave
and pay my respects.

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Oh, yeah, there it is.

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Look, you see?

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In there.

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Now, I'm told that if I want to
ensure that I get down safe,

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then I have to leave some silver.

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00:14:05,780 --> 00:14:08,580
Here's two half crowns.

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Two and six.

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00:14:13,380 --> 00:14:14,460
Five bob.

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That should keep me safe on my
journey back down again, shouldn't
it?

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00:14:24,100 --> 00:14:28,340
Pixies and the paranormal held a
particular fascination for the

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creator of Sherlock Holmes,
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

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00:14:32,340 --> 00:14:36,900
The legendary writer was taken in
by phoney photographs of fairies,

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believing these celestial
creatures to be real.

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00:14:43,500 --> 00:14:45,100
But lurking on the moor,

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ready to inspire Conan Doyle's most
famous novel, was the legend

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of a very different apparition.

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00:14:52,460 --> 00:14:55,180
Not as charming as those pixies,
though,

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00:14:55,180 --> 00:14:57,700
because here on Dartmoor, this...

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00:14:57,700 --> 00:14:59,780
HOWLING

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00:14:59,780 --> 00:15:03,780
..became the inspiration for
the most spine-tingling tale

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00:15:03,780 --> 00:15:06,300
in the whole of detective fiction -

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00:15:06,300 --> 00:15:10,100
Sherlock Holmes and
The Hound Of The Baskervilles.

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The ancient Abbot's Way across
Dartmoor

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is a landscape steeped in
centuries-old myths and legends,

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and a location that inspired

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one of our most iconic literary
masterpieces.

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00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:40,240
The Hound Of The Baskervilles,

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00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:45,240
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's love letter
to Dartmoor and all its mysteries.

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00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:49,400
They reckon that when he came here
in 1901 to recce the place,

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he used to walk up to 18 miles a day

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in order to find suitable locations

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00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:56,200
for his terrible tale.

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The plot of this complex murder
mystery

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00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:05,560
attributes the sudden death of the
wealthy Sir Charles Baskerville

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00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:10,120
to a family curse involving a
supernatural hound.

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00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:12,880
Dartmoor had provided the
inspiration,

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00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:15,840
cast and backdrop for this beastly
apparition.

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00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:20,400
And The Hound Of the Baskervilles
also marks the resurrection

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00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:24,040
of the legendary detective
Sherlock Holmes.

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00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:27,360
Conan Doyle had killed off Holmes
eight years earlier,

236
00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:29,040
but the celebrated sleuth

237
00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:32,840
simply couldn't be left out of such
a ripping yarn.

238
00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:36,920
The inspiration for
The Hound Of the Baskervilles's

239
00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:38,840
most bloodcurdling scene

240
00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:41,800
is just a short walk off the
Abbot's Way,

241
00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:44,560
in Dartmoor's most dangerous bog.

242
00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:50,960
Sherlock Holmes himself

243
00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:53,880
said that Dartmoor would be the
perfect setting

244
00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:58,200
if the devil ever did really want to
get his hands on the affairs of men,

245
00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,120
and there's this wonderful bit at
the end of the book

246
00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:03,640
where the arch villain,
John Stapleton,

247
00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:08,320
is actually killed by the bog in the
centre of Dartmoor.

248
00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:12,960
It says, "Somewhere in the heart of
the great Grimpen Mire..."

249
00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:14,600
that's actually here,

250
00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:20,280
"..down in the foul slime of the
huge morass which had sucked him in,

251
00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:25,080
"this cold and cruel-hearted man is
forever buried."

252
00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:26,120
Right down there.

253
00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:36,640
For pilgrim travellers,

254
00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:38,800
straying from the safety of the path

255
00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:43,360
and onto this wild, untamed bog was
fraught with danger,

256
00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:46,960
just as deviating from the Christian
to the cult

257
00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:50,000
was seen by many as a step too far.

258
00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:52,720
But remarkably, it was this very
path

259
00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:54,720
that Conan Doyle himself chose
to travel.

260
00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:58,360
I'm intrigued to find why the writer

261
00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:01,440
was so fascinated with Victorian
spiritualism.

262
00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:05,760
It's so bizarre, isn't it?

263
00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:08,240
On one hand, you've got this kind of
man

264
00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:10,760
who invents fictional CSI,

265
00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:12,920
and yet, on the other hand,

266
00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:16,120
he was prepared to countenance stuff
which, nowadays,

267
00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:18,520
we would think of as weird and a bit
daft.

268
00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:20,720
It does seem like a contradiction to
us now,

269
00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:22,840
and I think we very much parcel
these apart,

270
00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:24,360
but in the 19th century,

271
00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:27,200
believers thought that they had
discovered a scientific religion.

272
00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:29,960
And he said, "I believe it, because
I've seen it.

273
00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:33,240
"If I have to go back to believing
in things that I haven't seen,

274
00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:36,160
"I might as well go back to the old
religions."

275
00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:39,480
When I talk on this subject, I'm not
talking about what I believe...

276
00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:43,640
..I'm not talking about what I
think.

277
00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:45,240
I'm talking about what I know.

278
00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:49,280
I'm talking about things that I've
handled, I've seen,

279
00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:52,000
that I've heard with my own ears.

280
00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:54,400
It's kind of crude empiricism,
right?

281
00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:56,600
They thought that they were
rejecting the old ideas,

282
00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:58,600
that you had to
believe on the basis of faith,

283
00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:00,600
and now, you could sit at your
kitchen table

284
00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:01,960
and you could experiment.

285
00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:03,880
You could rap, you could be with a
medium,

286
00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:05,960
and you knew that there was an
afterlife

287
00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:09,080
because you could see and touch and
talk to the dead.

288
00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:11,600
Is there anything in
Hound Of The Baskervilles

289
00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:14,360
that reflects his belief in
spiritualism?

290
00:19:14,360 --> 00:19:17,280
Well, that's quite a spiritualist
story in many ways.

291
00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:20,680
The Hound Of The Baskerville is very
clearly an attack

292
00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:22,640
on this old-fashioned idea of hell.

293
00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:24,840
Sherlock Holmes jokes about, in this
investigation,

294
00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:26,720
he might be up against the devil.

295
00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:31,200
What this story does is disprove the
existence of this supernatural,

296
00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:33,760
hellish beast, but it opens the
door for other,

297
00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:37,120
more modern understandings of
supernatural phenomena.

298
00:19:37,120 --> 00:19:40,840
It is odd, isn't it, that he should
set this story

299
00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:44,480
in the theatre of Dartmoor, which,
on one hand,

300
00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:49,160
seems to me, almost to epitomise the
very early Christian religion,

301
00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:50,760
and yet, on the other hand,

302
00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:53,760
it keeps spinning off into weird and
pagan beliefs

303
00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:55,800
almost everywhere you look.

304
00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:58,800
Yeah. Yeah, this place, where
the primitive is always with us.

305
00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:00,240
It's important, I think,

306
00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:01,520
that you get a sense

307
00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:04,160
that the ancient beliefs of the
Neolithic people

308
00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:06,200
maybe are not too dissimilar from
the spirit beliefs

309
00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:08,520
that he's arguing for elsewhere.

310
00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:13,400
Whatever Conan Doyle's obsessions,

311
00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:17,240
The Hound Of the Baskervilles is a
wonderfully potent story.

312
00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:18,960
So potent, in fact,

313
00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:22,200
I feel the creature's brooding
presence everywhere I look.

314
00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:27,800
Wait a minute.

315
00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:30,280
And here he comes. Thundering
towards me.

316
00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:33,760
It's The Hound Of The Baskervilles.

317
00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:36,120
Aren't you gorgeous? No, not
gorgeous.

318
00:20:36,120 --> 00:20:38,160
Absolutely terrifying.

319
00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:39,840
Have one of these. That's it.

320
00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:43,760
The lovely
Hound Of The Baskervilles.

321
00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:45,520
Come on, come and show yourself.

322
00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:48,560
Let's have a look at you. Look at
that.

323
00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:50,480
Isn't he lovely? Oh!

324
00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:52,320
And very slobbery, too.

325
00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:55,760
The
Slobbery Hound Of The Baskervilles.

326
00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:04,680
I promised you four-legged creatures
on my wander through

327
00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:06,040
this formidable terrain...

328
00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:10,640
..but none say Dartmoor more

329
00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:13,600
than these iconic ponies.

330
00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:15,720
Running untethered across the moors,

331
00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:19,040
I truly feel I'm intruding on their
turf,

332
00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:20,400
a visitor on their land.

333
00:21:22,360 --> 00:21:26,040
But what I want to know is how far
back these beautiful creatures

334
00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:28,680
have adorned the wild Dartmoor
landscape.

335
00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:37,320
Well, not all the animals on
Dartmoor

336
00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:38,800
are quite as threatening

337
00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:40,720
as The Hound Of the Baskervilles,
are they?

338
00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:43,840
Well, not all, except George when
he's hungry.

339
00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:45,920
These are Dartmoor ponies.

340
00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:48,000
They are renowned for their
fantastic temperament,

341
00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:50,080
being children's riding ponies.

342
00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:53,080
But, of course, they have a long
history connected to Dartmoor.

343
00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:54,320
I suppose, in the old days,

344
00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:56,440
they would have been working horses,
wouldn't they?

345
00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:58,880
Yeah, I mean, if you go right the
way back through history,

346
00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:00,840
they were used in tin mining...

347
00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:03,840
You know, this is the old-fashioned
quad bike, isn't it?

348
00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:06,280
This is the proper quad bike.

349
00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:07,840
She so wants to walk on,

350
00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:10,160
but there is one question that I
want to ask...

351
00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,920
Don't be impatient. ..before we go,

352
00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:17,560
which is, do we know that there were
little ponies on Dartmoor

353
00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:19,680
a long time ago, like, in
the Bronze Age?

354
00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:21,360
Well, we do. Isn't that amazing?

355
00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:24,760
Prehistory, we have proof, because,
in the 1970s,

356
00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:28,720
there was an archaeological dig
carried out on Shaugh Moor,

357
00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:33,600
on the other side of Dartmoor, and
from seed samples that were taken,

358
00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:36,120
they actually found some hoof
prints,

359
00:22:36,120 --> 00:22:38,680
and they were similar-sized to a
Dartmoor pony's feet.

360
00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:43,080
So, yes, we had cattle, sheep and
ponies on Dartmoor 3,500 years ago.

361
00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:45,000
We've got the answer to the question
now.

362
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:47,160
Do you want to walk on? Come on,
then.

363
00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:56,720
Back on the Abbot's Way to
Sheepstor Church,

364
00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:59,800
and I'm keeping my ears peeled for a
group of bell-ringers

365
00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:01,920
who can help me figure out

366
00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:05,120
the baffling tale of nearby
Crazywell Pool.

367
00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:10,280
You see, Dartmoor has no natural
lakes,

368
00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,440
so I think getting to the bottom of
this aquatic conundrum

369
00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:15,560
might not be as easy as it seems.

370
00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:22,600
BELLS RING

371
00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:43,080
Hello, Peter. Good morning.
Good morning.

372
00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:47,880
How long have you been associated
with the bells in this church?

373
00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:49,560
70 years.

374
00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:51,960
And were you the first of your
family?

375
00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:57,600
No. Father and grandfather both rung
in this church.

376
00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:01,000
So, what's the link between the
bells and the pool?

377
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,720
There's a lot of history,

378
00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:08,720
and maybe some legend attached to
Crazywell Pool.

379
00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:13,720
Parishioners wanted to know what
depth it was.

380
00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:16,960
Grandfather said they had six bell
ropes

381
00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:22,160
from the shore to try and
measure the depth,

382
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:25,160
but it ended in failure.

383
00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:29,360
So, it was even deeper than six
ropes tied together?

384
00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:32,040
Yes. It is mysterious, isn't it?

385
00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:34,880
There's a lot of mystery
attached to it.

386
00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:42,080
The site of this bottomless,
dark-water lagoon

387
00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:44,600
is marked by its namesake,
Crazywell Cross.

388
00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:51,960
This lake is so well hidden,

389
00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:54,400
that when it's approached from the
open heath,

390
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:56,560
it only reveals itself at the last
moment.

391
00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:01,800
There it is.

392
00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:06,240
Imagine a long bell rope dropping
into that.

393
00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:07,720
BELL CHIMES

394
00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:11,760
At 100 feet, 200 feet, 300 feet,

395
00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:13,640
they still haven't got to the
bottom.

396
00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:18,480
360. They've run out of rope, and
still it goes down and down.

397
00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:19,600
Infinitely deep.

398
00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:35,560
The Water Board say it's
a Tudor tin mine,

399
00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:37,800
and it's actually 16 feet deep.

400
00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:41,240
The locals say that's rubbish, the
Water Board never measured it,

401
00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:43,840
or if they did, they didn't do their
job properly.

402
00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:49,640
But what it proves, indisputably, is
that in a landscape like this,

403
00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:55,320
you can believe anything you like,
even things which aren't possible.

404
00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:57,840
At least, not in the material world.

405
00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:11,440
The hound, the pixies, the occult
leanings of Conan Doyle.

406
00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:12,680
I've certainly encountered

407
00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:16,200
more than my fair share of
Dartmoor's superstitions,

408
00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,320
but even greater mysteries lie along
the Abbot's Way.

409
00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:27,040
Up ahead, I'll become spellbound by
an ancient witch,

410
00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:32,160
and find out who won the battle
between a vicar and a savage beast.

411
00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:33,920
ANIMAL GRUNTS

412
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:55,280
Dartmoor, a land of sweeping views
and enduring legends, and as I

413
00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:58,520
follow the primitive tracks
across this epic landscape,

414
00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:03,160
I'm continually drawn back in time
by exhilarating vistas

415
00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:04,640
that fuel the imagination.

416
00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:10,840
Then suddenly,
appearing like a mirage,

417
00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:15,240
I'm halted by the sight of
something actually very real.

418
00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:19,920
Somewhere where serving time
comes with the territory.

419
00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:22,600
Surrounded by unrelenting
wilderness,

420
00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:25,600
you could call it
Britain's Alcatraz.

421
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:28,800
And I for one am more than happy
to keep my distance.

422
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,280
There's not much doubt
what that is, is there?

423
00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:45,200
Dartmoor - the most infamous prison
in the whole of Britain.

424
00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:50,000
Imagine, even if you managed to get
over those perimeter fences,

425
00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:52,600
what would you see in front of you?
Freedom?

426
00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:56,600
No, just mile after mile
of bog-land - wherever you went,

427
00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:58,920
you would be able to be seen.

428
00:28:00,120 --> 00:28:02,720
Not much chance of escape.

429
00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:06,320
No wonder today,
that single word, Dartmoor,

430
00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:10,000
is still the epitome
of gloom and terror.

431
00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:20,720
For Dartmoor's prisoners,
time must have moved very slowly.

432
00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:24,760
But not for me, as the constant
tick-tick-ticking tells me it's time

433
00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:28,960
I travelled on - or travelled back,
I should say,

434
00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:34,440
back in time beyond recorded
history, back thousands of years, in
fact.

435
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:36,080
This is Merrivale,

436
00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:39,560
one of Dartmoor's most significant
Bronze Age settlements.

437
00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:48,760
Maybe I'm a bit weird,

438
00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:53,800
but this kind of thing in the
landscape gets me really excited.

439
00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:59,520
Can you see that there's a long row
of stones and it goes, look,

440
00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:04,760
it's got to be 200 metres in that
direction but it's not just one row.

441
00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:09,040
Look, there's a row here
and there is a row behind it.

442
00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:10,480
Incredibly impressive.

443
00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:11,680
Huge amount of work.

444
00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:12,960
And if that wasn't enough...

445
00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:16,680
Look, you've got exactly
the same here.

446
00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:21,880
The twin rows of stones, absolutely
parallel to the first row.

447
00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:24,360
And thirdly,

448
00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:29,320
we've got some bloke who appears to
be committing what looks like the

449
00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:32,160
worst archaeological
crime imaginable.

450
00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:35,560
Is that a sander? It's not a sander.
It's a scanner. A scanner?

451
00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:38,720
Yeah. What it's looking for
is a microchip

452
00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:40,880
we've hidden on this stone.

453
00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:43,680
Oh, thank goodness. Yeah. I thought
there might be sandpaper on it.

454
00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:46,400
I couldn't think of the word for the
machine. Polishing it up. Yeah.

455
00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:48,760
No, unfortunately, these stones
are under threat from...

456
00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:51,960
A lot of our granite artefacts,
especially ones in accessible

457
00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:55,040
locations, from theft.
So to try and combat that,

458
00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:58,360
we put microchips within the stones,
so if they do get stolen,

459
00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:00,440
will be able to hopefully
track them down.

460
00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:03,480
So you put in a little chip like you
would in case your dog got nicked?

461
00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:06,160
Exactly the same technology.
It's the same type of microchip.

462
00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:08,720
That is ridiculous.
Why would people nick these?

463
00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:10,200
They are thousands of years old.

464
00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:13,360
They are irreplaceable. It's just
so brutally stupid, isn't it?

465
00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:16,320
Yeah. What do you think
they originally were?

466
00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:18,360
I think these monuments
are very complex.

467
00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:20,240
They're associated with
the landscape views.

468
00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:23,720
They're setting in the landscape as
well and the burial mounds just
behind us.

469
00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:26,680
We've got the stone circle
and other cairns in this area.

470
00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:30,240
I think we've got a kind of
approach, like a medieval church.

471
00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,040
It could have been a processional
way up to venerate the ancestors in

472
00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:35,680
the cairn, or it could have been
venerating the landscape.

473
00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:37,560
It could have been
a territorial marker.

474
00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:40,280
So many different uses probably
occurred at these monuments.

475
00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:42,120
So in an odd way,

476
00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:46,560
not that far removed from all the
Christian crosses that I've seen

477
00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:48,840
throughout here. I'm not
going to say anything else.

478
00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:52,280
I just think this place is so
wonderful, I'm just going to wander
around,

479
00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:55,320
have a look at it. OK. Nice to meet
you. Nice to see you. Bye. Cheers.

480
00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:01,960
Whatever the reasons
behind these stone rows,

481
00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:06,320
archaeologists believe a prehistoric
community thrived in Merrivale,

482
00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:09,240
in what would have been
a much warmer climate.

483
00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:11,280
It's difficult to imagine now,

484
00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:14,960
but this moorland was once abundant
with luscious forests

485
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:16,120
and animal prey.

486
00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:26,040
Today's terrain is relentless,
and I have to pick my way carefully

487
00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:29,080
through the stones
to keep my feet dry.

488
00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:30,200
Almost!

489
00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:34,480
Dartmoor's endless capacity
to surprise, though,

490
00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:37,400
is about to offer up
another arresting spectacle.

491
00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:42,560
I've just come off my path a bit.

492
00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:49,080
There's Abbott's Way, going all
along the top of those hills there.

493
00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:53,800
And suddenly, it's boggy morass
and I'm soaking wet,

494
00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:57,880
almost up to my knees now but the
reason that I came here was, I can't

495
00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:02,320
go any further than this,
but I wanted to show you that.

496
00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:05,320
That little tor thing
is called the Sphinx.

497
00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:09,920
And just like its
statuesque namesake,

498
00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:14,680
this remarkable rocky formation
attracted Victorian travellers,

499
00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:18,080
keen to see and - as this
Victorian picture shows -

500
00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:20,760
photograph the Sphinx
for themselves.

501
00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:26,280
But, Liz, you don't call it
the Sphinx, do you?

502
00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:28,160
I certainly don't, no.

503
00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:30,200
That's known as Vixen Tor.

504
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:32,720
I think the Sphinx is a
relatively modern name.

505
00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:36,200
It's been known as Vixen Tor
for hundreds, thousands of years.

506
00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:37,960
Who was the vixen?

507
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:44,400
Well, the vixen, that is the
notorious witch of Vixen Tor.

508
00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:46,000
Called? Vixana.

509
00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:48,120
Vixana! Vixana the Witch.

510
00:32:48,120 --> 00:32:53,560
What did she do? She had a liking
for travellers who were walking

511
00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:56,040
across the path that you're on,
on the Abbott's Way.

512
00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:57,640
You mean the bog
I've just been through?

513
00:32:57,640 --> 00:32:59,800
Yeah, that one, the very same.

514
00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:05,240
So she had a method of conjuring up
a mist and luring unwary travellers

515
00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:07,240
into her bog.

516
00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:08,600
When she caught sight of them,

517
00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:15,360
she would clap her hands and cackle
with delight and pull down the mist

518
00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:18,120
so the traveller was suddenly
enveloped in this swirling,

519
00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:22,160
mysterious mist, became scared,
and, before they knew it,

520
00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:26,560
they were sinking deeper and deeper
and deeper into Vixen Tor mire.

521
00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:34,680
And she'd leap off the tor,
fly over on her broomstick,

522
00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:39,880
where the fingers of the traveller
would just be seen sinking into the

523
00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:43,960
bog and before they disappeared,
she'd snap them off

524
00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:49,200
one by one - snap, snap, snap,
snap - and suck out the inside...

525
00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:53,720
..before running back up to the tor.

526
00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:55,160
It's a great story.

527
00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:58,440
I could listen to that all day but
there's another thing about this

528
00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:01,400
environment that really impresses me
and that's the sense of time here.

529
00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:04,040
You go off, you've been walking for
a couple of hours but actually,

530
00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:06,000
you've got no idea how long
you've been walking.

531
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:07,680
Do you find that? Oh, absolutely.

532
00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:11,480
Time disappears. I think it's one of
the other magics of the moor.

533
00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:13,760
Time stands still.
It has no meaning.

534
00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:16,720
Well, unfortunately, time does
still have meaning for me.

535
00:34:16,720 --> 00:34:18,160
I've got to get on.

536
00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:20,640
Anyway, very nice to talk to you.

537
00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:23,040
If you hear a scream in
the next quarter of an hour,

538
00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:26,720
you'll know what happened.
Thanks a lot. Bye. Bye.

539
00:34:26,720 --> 00:34:29,640
Vixana sounds like a
right horror story.

540
00:34:32,680 --> 00:34:36,240
Almost on the outskirts
of Tavistock now,

541
00:34:36,240 --> 00:34:38,800
if I were a medieval pilgrim,

542
00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:41,800
I think I'd be ready for another
sign that I'm on the right path.

543
00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:49,880
Standing steadfast
among the golfers,

544
00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:54,920
the seven-foot-high Pixies Cross
may well provide spiritual guidance

545
00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:58,080
for players praying for a good shot.

546
00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:01,880
It certainly is a miracle that the
cross has withstood the march of

547
00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:03,960
time to stay on course!

548
00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:12,080
Pilgrims and monks used the cross to
point the way to Tavistock Abbey

549
00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:14,440
and escaped prisoners
from Princetown

550
00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:17,080
were whipped at the cross
as punishment.

551
00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:20,320
In some ways, though, it's
incredible that these crosses

552
00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:23,280
still exist at all, with
dramatic tales of total upheaval

553
00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:24,640
during the Reformation.

554
00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:30,040
The one that intrigues me most
took place in the 16th century,

555
00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:34,600
when Henry VIII got rid of all the
monks and dissolved all the
monasteries

556
00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:39,560
and imposed a set of much more
puritan vicars in their place and

557
00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:43,680
the village of Walkhampton got this
particularly zealous vicar,

558
00:35:43,680 --> 00:35:48,360
who was absolutely determined to get
rid of every last religious icon,

559
00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:51,120
every crucifix,
every statue of a saint,

560
00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:53,840
every cross in his entire parish.

561
00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:04,680
When he found out about the Pixies
Cross, he instructed his

562
00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:08,640
parishioners to destroy the
offending granite emblem.

563
00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:11,360
However, with no
volunteers forthcoming,

564
00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:15,200
he took the tools and the task
into his own hands.

565
00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:21,920
So he's all on his own attempting
to hack away the old cross when

566
00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:27,320
suddenly, he hears this roaring
noise and he looks down and there is

567
00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:29,600
a big black bull,

568
00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:34,600
staring him right in the eyes with
dribble coming out of its mouth

569
00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:39,360
and pawing the ground with its hoof
and he clearly wants the vicar to

570
00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:42,960
get out of the way but the vicar
isn't backing down and the vicar

571
00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:46,320
stares at the bull and the bull
stares at the vicar and the vicar

572
00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:50,440
stares at the bull and the bull
stares at the vicar and eventually

573
00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:55,520
it's night and neither of them are
going to back down and eventually,

574
00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:59,200
next morning, all the villagers are
gathered round and there's still

575
00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:01,760
this stand-off until finally,

576
00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:06,160
they manage to extract a promise
from the vicar that he won't

577
00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:07,680
destroy the cross...

578
00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:09,480
..and they lead the bull away.

579
00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:20,920
While the story of the bull and the
parson may be just another of

580
00:37:20,920 --> 00:37:24,880
Dartmoor's many legends,
it does hint at a deeper meaning -

581
00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:28,040
something about nature
versus religious obsession

582
00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:29,440
though in this case,

583
00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:33,680
it was bullish persistence that
ultimately saved this ancient cross!

584
00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:43,280
My walk across Dartmoor
may not yet be complete,

585
00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:46,600
but the final ticking
of the clock is looming

586
00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:51,960
as I follow the old Lych Way,
or the Way of the Dead.

587
00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:56,680
# The old Lych Way... #

588
00:38:07,900 --> 00:38:10,420
Having laid the Abbot's Way to rest,

589
00:38:10,420 --> 00:38:12,540
I'm now in the wake of the dead

590
00:38:12,540 --> 00:38:15,820
on the all-together
more macabre old Lych Way.

591
00:38:18,220 --> 00:38:20,820
This Way of the Dead
was the final journey

592
00:38:20,820 --> 00:38:23,340
for Christians
who died on this moor.

593
00:38:23,340 --> 00:38:26,900
Their religion meant that,
no matter where they passed away,

594
00:38:26,900 --> 00:38:31,700
their body had to be laid to rest
in consecrated or sacred ground.

595
00:38:34,980 --> 00:38:38,500
Lych is an old English
word for corpse

596
00:38:38,500 --> 00:38:42,380
and a lichway was a path that
they used to carry the corpses

597
00:38:42,380 --> 00:38:44,700
along on their way to get buried.

598
00:38:44,700 --> 00:38:48,300
A lich gate was the little gate
in the side of a church

599
00:38:48,300 --> 00:38:50,420
that the corpse came through,

600
00:38:50,420 --> 00:38:54,460
and a lich-owl was another
word for a screech owl,

601
00:38:54,460 --> 00:38:59,220
cos people used to think that the
noise it made was an omen of death.

602
00:39:06,620 --> 00:39:08,860
# They'll lift me up

603
00:39:08,860 --> 00:39:11,860
# And lay me down

604
00:39:11,860 --> 00:39:14,380
# Lay me down

605
00:39:14,380 --> 00:39:16,820
# Gently down

606
00:39:16,820 --> 00:39:20,580
# Till I reach consecrated ground

607
00:39:21,660 --> 00:39:25,620
# Along the old Lych Way. #

608
00:39:27,180 --> 00:39:31,060
Enroute, I encounter folk
singer Steve Knightley,

609
00:39:31,060 --> 00:39:34,260
who weaves this path's
rather mournful undertaking

610
00:39:34,260 --> 00:39:36,180
into beautifully evocative verse.

611
00:39:38,460 --> 00:39:41,300
Song called The Old Lych Way,
which sounds great

612
00:39:41,300 --> 00:39:43,820
when you sing it
in a church or cathedral.

613
00:39:43,820 --> 00:39:46,340
But it's sort of like old English,
and there's a piece of almost

614
00:39:46,340 --> 00:39:47,900
Latin plainsong in it. Yeah.

615
00:39:47,900 --> 00:39:50,300
And it mentions the
places along the route

616
00:39:50,300 --> 00:39:52,460
where people would
stop just to rest.

617
00:39:52,460 --> 00:39:55,300
You can imagine carrying
a corpse 12 miles

618
00:39:55,300 --> 00:39:57,380
is a pretty exhausting task.

619
00:39:57,380 --> 00:40:00,140
But it isn't actually
an ancient song?

620
00:40:00,140 --> 00:40:01,260
No, it's not an ancient song,

621
00:40:01,260 --> 00:40:03,100
but it's very much in
that style, you know.

622
00:40:03,100 --> 00:40:06,660
It's very much in that sort
of timeless folk style, if you like.

623
00:40:08,060 --> 00:40:09,900
You know, this area
really confuses me

624
00:40:09,900 --> 00:40:12,820
because on one hand,
looking out here,

625
00:40:12,820 --> 00:40:15,740
it's just burgeoning
with life, isn't it?

626
00:40:15,740 --> 00:40:18,020
All the flowers coming out,

627
00:40:18,020 --> 00:40:20,940
the leaves looking
so intensely green,

628
00:40:20,940 --> 00:40:23,500
and yet this is actually
a way of death.

629
00:40:23,500 --> 00:40:25,420
You imagine what it's
like in midwinter here,

630
00:40:25,420 --> 00:40:28,620
when you're carrying your nearest
and dearest 12 miles, Lydford is,

631
00:40:28,620 --> 00:40:30,500
that way to the west.

632
00:40:30,500 --> 00:40:32,380
It would have been
the most extraordinary,

633
00:40:32,380 --> 00:40:36,860
I mean, a tragic way of taking
your loved ones to be buried.

634
00:40:36,860 --> 00:40:38,700
So, Lydford...

635
00:40:38,700 --> 00:40:40,540
Uphill? Is that where
you're heading? Yeah.

636
00:40:40,540 --> 00:40:42,500
Uphill all the way. See you.

637
00:40:42,500 --> 00:40:44,500
All uphill. Good luck.

638
00:40:44,500 --> 00:40:46,820
Cheers. I'll see you.

639
00:40:46,820 --> 00:40:48,820
# They'll lift me up

640
00:40:48,820 --> 00:40:50,700
# And lay me down

641
00:40:51,980 --> 00:40:54,380
# Lay me down

642
00:40:54,380 --> 00:40:56,660
# Gently down

643
00:40:56,660 --> 00:41:01,660
# Till I reach consecrated ground

644
00:41:01,660 --> 00:41:05,660
# Along the old Lych Way. #

645
00:41:06,820 --> 00:41:10,820
And, like Steve, these local
actors have also been inspired

646
00:41:10,820 --> 00:41:12,900
by the old Lych Way,

647
00:41:12,900 --> 00:41:16,460
as they recreate the dramatic
procession of the deceased

648
00:41:16,460 --> 00:41:19,060
to a Christian burial
and the next life.

649
00:41:20,020 --> 00:41:22,540
They, too, are reconnecting
with the past

650
00:41:22,540 --> 00:41:26,020
as they negotiate the same
primitive clapper bridges

651
00:41:26,020 --> 00:41:28,260
that once conveyed
Dartmoor's dead.

652
00:41:28,260 --> 00:41:31,140
# Cross the Dart again

653
00:41:32,300 --> 00:41:37,260
# Along the old Lych Way

654
00:41:37,260 --> 00:41:42,260
# Along the old Lych Way. #

655
00:41:50,380 --> 00:41:53,060
It's compelling to think
of the urban flow

656
00:41:53,060 --> 00:41:55,580
of generations of human settlement

657
00:41:55,580 --> 00:41:58,580
in a place so enduring as Dartmoor,

658
00:41:58,580 --> 00:42:02,220
the moors and woods bearing
witness down the millennia,

659
00:42:02,220 --> 00:42:07,140
and none more so than the magical
and primeval Wistman's Wood.

660
00:42:15,140 --> 00:42:17,820
The name Dart, as in Dartmoor,

661
00:42:17,820 --> 00:42:20,220
is said to derive from Derwent,

662
00:42:20,220 --> 00:42:22,420
the ancient name for oak trees.

663
00:42:22,420 --> 00:42:24,660
LYRE PLAYS

664
00:42:25,740 --> 00:42:28,100
It's here I have my first meeting

665
00:42:28,100 --> 00:42:31,940
with a member of the Order
of Bards, Ovates, and Druids.

666
00:42:31,940 --> 00:42:35,860
And, by the sound of it, a man in
perfect harmony with nature.

667
00:42:39,980 --> 00:42:42,740
Andy, that music so appropriate
for this wood, isn't it?

668
00:42:42,740 --> 00:42:44,500
Yeah, it's perfect, isn't it?

669
00:42:44,500 --> 00:42:48,060
Just the kind of soundtrack
to a landscape like this.

670
00:42:48,060 --> 00:42:51,340
And this is what Dartmoor would have
looked like before it was a moor?

671
00:42:51,340 --> 00:42:53,620
Absolutely. This is
one of the, um...

672
00:42:53,620 --> 00:42:57,300
the last remaining pockets of
ancient woodland on Dartmoor.

673
00:42:57,300 --> 00:42:59,260
Um, and, yeah, once
the whole of Dartmoor

674
00:42:59,260 --> 00:43:01,020
would've been forest like this.

675
00:43:01,020 --> 00:43:04,660
So, really, when we look out over
the wild expanse of Dartmoor,

676
00:43:04,660 --> 00:43:06,380
we're looking at, um...

677
00:43:06,380 --> 00:43:08,460
..the ruins of an ancient wild wood.

678
00:43:09,660 --> 00:43:13,540
Are there any particular
stories or folk tales

679
00:43:13,540 --> 00:43:17,580
that tie in this area
with Druids or Druidism?

680
00:43:17,580 --> 00:43:21,900
We know from Roman sources that the
Druids worshipped in sacred groves,

681
00:43:21,900 --> 00:43:23,780
and here we are in a sacred grove,

682
00:43:23,780 --> 00:43:25,980
and this would've been a bit
of woodland in the Iron Age.

683
00:43:25,980 --> 00:43:28,220
So, who knows? Maybe...

684
00:43:28,220 --> 00:43:29,980
Maybe there would've been Druids

685
00:43:29,980 --> 00:43:32,060
performing their rights
here on a full moon.

686
00:43:32,060 --> 00:43:33,780
Well, certainly on
an evening like this,

687
00:43:33,780 --> 00:43:35,860
it feels as though
they're still here, doesn't it?

688
00:43:35,860 --> 00:43:37,780
Yeah, yeah. Well...
And indeed one is! I am!

689
00:43:37,780 --> 00:43:39,340
BOTH LAUGH

690
00:43:39,340 --> 00:43:41,620
Good to meet you. Yeah, you too.
Safe travels. Bye.

691
00:43:41,620 --> 00:43:43,660
Enjoy your pilgrimage.
Thank you.

692
00:43:44,860 --> 00:43:47,340
Time is almost at an end

693
00:43:47,340 --> 00:43:51,460
as my path along the old Lych Way
reaches the Church of St Petroc's.

694
00:43:58,140 --> 00:44:00,900
I've been a time traveller
in Dartmoor,

695
00:44:00,900 --> 00:44:05,740
discovering an ancient story where
pixies and prisoners share its pages

696
00:44:05,740 --> 00:44:08,060
with standing stones
and Sherlock Holmes.

697
00:44:09,460 --> 00:44:10,860
And here we are,

698
00:44:10,860 --> 00:44:13,620
the final resting place
on this historic path

699
00:44:13,620 --> 00:44:15,900
along my journey through time

700
00:44:15,900 --> 00:44:19,140
to a place where time itself
is written in stone.

701
00:44:26,420 --> 00:44:28,620
I've come into this church,

702
00:44:28,620 --> 00:44:31,460
which is pretty beautiful
anyways, isn't it?

703
00:44:31,460 --> 00:44:33,740
Because I'm looking for
a particular gravestone.

704
00:44:33,740 --> 00:44:36,060
It was a guy called George Routley.

705
00:44:36,060 --> 00:44:37,420
I think it's...

706
00:44:37,420 --> 00:44:39,100
..just...here.

707
00:44:39,100 --> 00:44:44,100
He died around about
the beginning of the 19th century

708
00:44:44,100 --> 00:44:47,420
and I don't think you'll
be very surprised

709
00:44:47,420 --> 00:44:51,060
to hear from his epitaph
that he was...

710
00:44:51,060 --> 00:44:52,260
..a watchmaker.

711
00:44:55,700 --> 00:45:00,500
"He departed this life
November 14th, 1802.

712
00:45:00,500 --> 00:45:05,740
"Wound up in hopes of being
taken in hand by his maker

713
00:45:05,740 --> 00:45:09,340
"and of being thoroughly
cleaned, repaired,

714
00:45:09,340 --> 00:45:12,100
"and set going in
the world to come."

715
00:45:14,420 --> 00:45:16,940
What a creative way
to end your days,

716
00:45:16,940 --> 00:45:21,420
from someone who's craft marked
the very essence of life.

717
00:45:21,420 --> 00:45:23,580
And, on that timely note,

718
00:45:23,580 --> 00:45:25,340
my pilgrimage has come to an end.

719
00:45:26,780 --> 00:45:28,660
Well, I finally achieved
my ambition,

720
00:45:28,660 --> 00:45:30,780
I've walked all the
way across Dartmoor,

721
00:45:30,780 --> 00:45:34,300
and I think it's quite appropriate
that I should've finished

722
00:45:34,300 --> 00:45:37,860
talking about a watchmaker
because in many ways

723
00:45:37,860 --> 00:45:41,140
Dartmoor is frozen
in time, isn't it,

724
00:45:41,140 --> 00:45:45,580
with little flashbacks
in stone and in words?

725
00:45:45,580 --> 00:45:47,780
We've had literary stories,

726
00:45:47,780 --> 00:45:49,820
old wives' tales,

727
00:45:49,820 --> 00:45:51,580
tales in song,

728
00:45:51,580 --> 00:45:54,020
tales about the moor itself.

729
00:45:54,020 --> 00:45:55,980
It is an extraordinary landscape.

730
00:45:57,420 --> 00:46:00,260
And, personally, what
I like most about it

731
00:46:00,260 --> 00:46:05,500
is the fact that, even in the second
decade of the 21st century,

732
00:46:05,500 --> 00:46:07,900
it's still pretty much untamed.

733
00:46:45,620 --> 00:46:49,140
Subtitles by Ericsson