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Britain was once
a difficult country to cross.

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Roads were few and paths obscure.

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And yet, our ancestors travelled.

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For work, and for pleasure.

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For faith, and for fortune.

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But the routes that they followed
are lost.

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I'm going to rediscover them,

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and the people who took them.

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What they saw,
and why they travelled.

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Who they met,
and where they went.

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I'm following the forgotten routes

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that made this country great.

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'This week, we are starting
on the northwest coast of Wales.'

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We're in the Dee Estuary,
and we are on our way to a small

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but very ancient port

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called Greenfield.

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My job is to get these good people

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safely ashore, and embarked on

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an arduous trek across
the entirety of Wales.

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Because we are going to follow

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a medieval pilgrimage route

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to St David's.

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It's a 160-mile journey.

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From the shores of the Dee estuary

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to Britain's smallest city,

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hidden away on the tip of
the Pembrokeshire coast.

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St David's Cathedral
was one of the most important

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religious sites in the country

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during medieval times,

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and the destination of choice

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for Britain's first mass travellers.

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Between the months
of May and October,

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thousands of pilgrims,
from Ireland and the North country,

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could be seen travelling across
the Welsh countryside.

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That wind is blowing
like the clappers.

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And the tide is coming in.

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In retracing this perilous route,

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my compatriots and I

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will imagine ourselves
back in 1450,

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when the popularity of medieval
pilgrimage was at its height.

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I want to find out what it was like

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to travel through this country

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as a religious pilgrim,
over 500 years ago.

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I want to discover the legacy
of the pilgrimage route today.

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Monumental picture.

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The mountain passes,

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the forgotten tracks.

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This looks like footprints.

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The towns and villages
that grew up along the way.

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But most of all,
I want to try to understand why,

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over a period of
three centuries or more,

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thousands of people
embarked on a journey

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which many would never survive.

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Greenfield Dock has been here

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for more than 2,000 years.

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It would have been used
by medieval pilgrims

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from the north.

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Like the characters
in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales,

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I've chosen not to travel alone,

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but to tag along

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with people that might be
of help to me along the way.

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Maddy Polonceaux, for example,

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is a member of
the St John's Ambulance.

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Given possible danger ahead,

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she is top on my list
to make friends with.

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What have you got there, Maddy?

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Just a standard first aid kit.

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The rest is in the bag here.

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Is there more in your bag?
Yeah, just in case.

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It's a matter of prevention,
more than anything.

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And St John,

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they were originally serving
pilgrims, weren't they?

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Yes, they did, in Jerusalem.

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Joining Maddy are Nathan,

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Bob, Lara and Dave.

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Each, I hope,
will make their own contribution

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to our pilgrimage, as we go on.

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In 1450, when we are setting off,

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this trip would have been difficult,

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but it was meant to be.

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A medieval pilgrimage was undertaken

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as a penance

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for sins that had been committed.

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It was no good if it was too easy.

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In fact, as early as 1250,

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everything had been codified

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to such an extent
that it had been decided

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that two trips to St David's

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were worth one to Rome,

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which is why so many people

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from Ireland and Lancashire
and the North of England went on it.

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But pilgrimage wasn't confined to
those who wanted to save their souls

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from hell and damnation.

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Sickness and disease were rife

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during the medieval era.

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Many pilgrims were either
ill or dying.

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What they were looking for

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was a miracle, here on Earth.

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After a short walk from the dock,

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the pilgrims would have
arrived here,

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at Holywell.

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This holy Catholic shrine

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survived the destruction
of the Reformation,

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and - to my astonishment -
is still thriving

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in non-conformist Wales

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where Catholics are now
a tiny minority.

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The miraculous healing powers
of St Winefride's Well -

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the Lourdes of Wales -

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have drawn the sick, the lame,
and the downright curious

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since the Eighth Century.

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Ah!

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Oh!

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Ah!

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Oof!

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HE LAUGHS

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I'm stuck!

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SHE LAUGHS

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There was a duke, apparently,

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who felt that the healing waters

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would be so efficacious...

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..that the longer he stayed in,

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the better off he would be.

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But of course, he stayed in
so long, he died

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of hypothermia.

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Ah! Oh!

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All I can say is,

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any ailments I have

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have to be...

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lower than my chest,

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cos I'm not going any further down.

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HE LAUGHS

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So, very welcome to St Winefride.

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To this oldest shrine
of unbroken pilgrimage

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in Britain.

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The holy well of St Winefride's

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reminds me that Wales
was once amongst

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the most devoutly Catholic
countries in the world.

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It is a place of faith,
a place of devotion.

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It is a place of healing.

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Italian priest
Father Salvatore Musella

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has been appointed by the Vatican

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to provide daily services

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for the 30,000 visitors that still
come to this shrine every year.

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Although few of them would walk on
to St David's.

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Glorious Virgin and Martyr.
ALL: Pray for us.

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Mounted inside this elaborate case

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is a fragment of St Winefride's
1,400-year-old

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finger bone.

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Kissing a holy relic

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is also reputed
to have healing powers.

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But what made the owner
of this bit of finger a saint?

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The story goes that Winefride,

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the daughter of a Welsh nobleman,

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rebuffed the passionate advances

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of an amorous prince.

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The prince took it badly
and beheaded her.

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From the very place that
her severed head hit the ground,

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a spring burst forth.

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It was the spring water
that rejoined

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her head to her body.

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This was the miracle that brought
Winefride back from the dead

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and led to her becoming a saint.

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Imagine the impact
this extraordinary story

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must have had on a medieval mind.

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I feel as if we've been...

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transported back

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to the Middle Ages.

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So many of the things
in this service

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are actually the concerns

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that an ordinary Welshman
in the Middle Ages

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would have had about his life,

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and about his health,

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and about his beliefs,

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that would have prompted him
to go on his grand tour.

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There were miraculous wonders
to be found

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in this world.

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That's why the pilgrim went,

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and the longer the journey - the
more effort made to get to them -

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the more powerful
those miracles might be.

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With our visit
to the holy shrine of Holywell

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under our belts,

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we are ready to negotiate
the long and difficult journey

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to our ultimate destination,

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now just 156 miles away.

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Dave Kelly-Parkinson spends his life

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guiding people up the most dangerous
mountains in the world.

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He is here as our chief navigator.

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We need to have a little think here.

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This looks the more obvious road,
though.

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The one to the right. The direction
we need to go is southeast.

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It is actually going this way,
on the left fork.

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OK, great.

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Dave has based his route

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on the strip maps of John Ogilby.

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It's called the Pilgrim Way,

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even though it was drawn 100 years
after the last pilgrims walked it.

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And it takes the form of a strip,

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showing the route and the major
landmarks along the way.

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A sort of 17th-century version
of a satnav.

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What's astonishing is how much
of this ancient route

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lies just under the surface,

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waiting to be discovered amongst
the tracks, paths

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and roadways of today.

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At the moment, we look like
a bunch of Sunday walkers.

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It is time for us to acquire
the true badge of pilgrimage.

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Seen one in there.

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Let's have a look.

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What we are doing now
is looking for staves,

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an essential part
of the pilgrim kit.

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Here's a nice strong one.

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Can you give me a quite knobbly one?

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I like a little bit of character.

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A little bit
of a Gandalf staff for me...

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"Gandalf staff"?
You know what I mean?

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Nathan Goss is a carpenter by trade,

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hence his collection of tools,

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and the know-how in using them.

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About there, you are.

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Nathan's never happier than when
he's got an axe in his hand.

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Oh! Speared myself
right in the nadgers!

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HE LAUGHS

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Pilgrims' staffs were more than
just walking sticks.

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They were weapons of self-defence.

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And they helped identify pilgrims
from other travellers.

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Bit nervous about this axe, Nathan.

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'They came to symbolise
the very act of pilgrimage.

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'The staff of Jesus was held
in such high regard

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'that St Patrick was reputed
to have brought it

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'all the way back to Ireland

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'from his travels
in the Mediterranean.'

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00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:24,920
Do you want to make a go
of chopping it yourself?

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00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:27,240
No, no. Are you sure?

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I love to see a man working.

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Since I don't do a job myself,
you know.

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THEY LAUGH

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In medieval times,

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few people were encouraged,
or even permitted,

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to travel freely through
the country, like this.

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Ordinary citizens were expected
to live, work

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and die in the parish
they were born into.

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Anybody who strayed
was labelled a vagrant

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and shipped straight back
to where they had come from.

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But pilgrims were different.

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They could go freely,

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on condition they kept
to their agreed route,

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and returned home the same way.

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Pilgrimage offered
the common man and woman

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the one moment of true freedom

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they could expect to enjoy
in their entire lives.

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A series of hills
called the Clwydian Range

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run due south from Holywell

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and even today act as a barrier
to the Welsh heartland beyond.

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With their ancient forts

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and modern telecommunications
aerials,

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pointing towards heaven,

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these hills bear testimony
to the hundreds of generations

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of human traffic
that have crossed them.

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'Ogilby's 17th-century map

259
00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:02,600
'has helped Dave uncover
a pathway across an open field.'

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After a big slog uphill,

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you've got a new view
of where you're going.

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What is interesting is that
it's not marked, as it were.

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00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:14,320
We don't have little markers saying,

264
00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:16,760
"You are now on the pilgrim route,"

265
00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:18,120
like the Pennine Way.

266
00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:20,640
We're actually finding our own way.

267
00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:25,880
These ancient tracks,

268
00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:28,200
moulded into the earth
over the centuries,

269
00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:32,240
were precisely the kind of paths
that medieval pilgrims followed.

270
00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:35,680
Back in 1450,

271
00:13:35,680 --> 00:13:38,280
we would have had neither maps,
nor the ability to read them.

272
00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:42,760
We would have had to
ask locals for direction.

273
00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:50,040
A return journey of more than 300
miles through difficult terrain,

274
00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:51,720
as we are doing,

275
00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:54,840
would have taken the average
pilgrim many weeks to complete.

276
00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:59,080
Assuming he was lucky enough
to return home alive.

277
00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:07,200
Once over the Clwydian Range,

278
00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:10,280
the pilgrimage route runs
along the Vale of Clwyd

279
00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:13,960
and right through the middle
of the village of Llanynys.

280
00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:18,480
Pilgrim routes prompted
the building of churches,

281
00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:19,920
and churches encouraged

282
00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:23,880
the development of villages
like Llanynys.

283
00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:27,320
A church has certainly stood here
since the 13th century.

284
00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:30,600
I am told that inside,
there is some compelling evidence

285
00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:32,560
that pilgrims visited here.

286
00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:39,040
Discovered 50 years ago,

287
00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:41,360
this painting of St Christopher

288
00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,360
must have been created 600 years ago

289
00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:47,120
at the height of the age
of religious pilgrimage.

290
00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:50,000
He is the patron saint
of travellers.

291
00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:54,560
It's a monumental picture

292
00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:56,200
of the saint.

293
00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:59,640
Crossing a river,
and the river itself

294
00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:02,280
is thronging with fish.

295
00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:05,680
And he was a giant.

296
00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:09,000
But he found that the child

297
00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:11,960
that he was carrying
on his shoulders

298
00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:14,320
grew heavier and heavier,

299
00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:16,320
because the child was Christ,

300
00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:20,800
and Christ carried the weight
of the sins of the world.

301
00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:23,000
And Offa,

302
00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:26,160
because his name was Offa,

303
00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:28,240
until he carried Christ,

304
00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:31,480
and then became "Christ-Offa",
Christopher.

305
00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:33,960
And he is carrying

306
00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:35,800
a beautiful staff.

307
00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:41,600
And you sense that this was
a message to pilgrims who came here.

308
00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:47,440
Looking at the south side
of the church,

309
00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:50,920
I can see it is much larger
than would normally be expected

310
00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:52,960
in a village of this size.

311
00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:55,720
It is thought it was made that way

312
00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:58,880
to allow pilgrims to sleep here.

313
00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:04,080
Suitably refreshed by
St Christopher,

314
00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:07,040
we continue on our way.

315
00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,400
Late spring saw
the first rush of pilgrims

316
00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:12,800
through the Welsh countryside.

317
00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,080
The timing was no accident,

318
00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:17,840
as this was the earliest the local
flora and fauna

319
00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:21,080
could usefully be harvested
to sustain the pilgrim on his way.

320
00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:23,400
I've rearranged the flowers.

321
00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:27,200
These are Welsh poppies.
So, truly, we are in Wales.

322
00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:28,720
It's gorgeous!

323
00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,880
'Lara Bernays is
a qualified herbalist.

324
00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,560
'So I'm hoping she's
going to prevent us

325
00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:36,360
'from eating anything poisonous.

326
00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:39,360
'I'm afraid there are
countless stories

327
00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:41,520
'of medieval pilgrims
falling ill en route,

328
00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:44,840
'and expiring in a lonely wood.'

329
00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:48,760
Lara, I've always been told

330
00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:51,480
that you have to be careful
with watercress,

331
00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:52,800
in case of liver fluke.

332
00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:54,680
This is true.

333
00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:56,680
This is why we are going to cook it.
OK.

334
00:16:56,680 --> 00:17:00,680
If you cook it, it kills off
the liver fluke. OK.

335
00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:05,520
The riverbank has yielded
a successful haul.

336
00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:09,040
We have watercress,
wild garlic and stinging nettles.

337
00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:11,480
The mediaeval pilgrim
in Wales could eat well

338
00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:13,920
between the months of May
and September.

339
00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:20,280
The steady flow of pilgrims
up and down the countryside

340
00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:23,640
brought news and contact with
the outside world to the towns

341
00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:26,600
and villages they passed through.

342
00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:30,880
The first place of any size
that we come to

343
00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:33,280
is the 13th-century market town
of Ruthin.

344
00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:35,560
It must have been exciting

345
00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:39,080
to come to what was then
a bustling new town.

346
00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:48,200
We've come to the one house
in Ruthin that was undoubtedly

347
00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:51,320
standing at the time
of our pilgrimage.

348
00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:56,000
The merchants who owned it would
have probably let in pilgrims

349
00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:00,080
as an act of piety, possibly good
business sense as well.

350
00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:06,280
Nantclwyd House was built in 1420,

351
00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:10,360
which makes it the oldest
surviving townhouse in Wales.

352
00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:14,480
Nathan, our carpenter,
is also a building surveyor

353
00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:16,520
for the National Trust.

354
00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:18,800
He can't resist
sharing his knowledge

355
00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:21,160
of how it was built 600 years ago.

356
00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:25,120
Basically, what we've got here is
a five-bay,

357
00:18:25,120 --> 00:18:30,360
crucked, scarf-crucked house,
mediaeval house.

358
00:18:30,360 --> 00:18:33,760
What's interesting is just,
judging from this picture,

359
00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:36,960
is effectively,
it was a hall house.

360
00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:39,120
Yeah, definitely.

361
00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:42,800
So you had the fire in the middle of
there, where that carpet is

362
00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:46,360
down there, and that went up
through a hole in the roof.

363
00:18:46,360 --> 00:18:49,480
There wouldn't have been a hole
in the roof. Wouldn't there? No.

364
00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:53,040
They just had a fire. Yeah. And it
filled up with smoke? Yep. OK.

365
00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:56,920
So they didn't have, they didn't
have a chimney? No chimney. No, no.

366
00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:02,240
They don't really want us
to have our own fire inside tonight

367
00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:05,280
and so we've moved out to
the garden to do our cooking.

368
00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:07,800
Dave has put his charts and maps
down for a moment

369
00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:10,840
in order to skin a couple of
rabbits.

370
00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:13,520
As a pilgrim, you had to be
careful.

371
00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:15,920
The church forbad the eating
of meat on Fridays

372
00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:17,920
and, until late mediaeval times,

373
00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:20,440
it was banned on Wednesdays
and Saturdays too.

374
00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:25,040
I am bringing the rabbit over
to you. Lovely. There we are.

375
00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:27,120
You're making a sort of stew,
are you?

376
00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:30,800
A kind of pottage, I'd say.
Mediaeval rabbit pottage.

377
00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:33,280
A pottage. Which means
it will have various

378
00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:35,280
root vegetables
and things like that in?

379
00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:37,160
Barley, we've got,
we're going to add.

380
00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,800
We've got wild garlic, which will be
really important to sterilise rabbit

381
00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:45,240
and keep us all healthy and free of
colds and coughs on our pilgrimage.

382
00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:50,200
So is this sort of medicinal as well
as flavouring? Oh, very much. Yes.

383
00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:51,880
OK, good.

384
00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:57,640
In my medical kit here, I have
got rather a special little herb.

385
00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:00,840
Saffron.

386
00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:06,840
Welsh mediaeval physicians, they said
to produce joy, eat saffron.

387
00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:12,640
But beware of overeating,
in case you die of excessive joy.

388
00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:14,680
Well, we don't want that.

389
00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:19,480
'What does seem to be giving us
excessive joy is our staves.

390
00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:23,640
'We've all become obsessed
with whittling their shafts

391
00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:26,920
'and personalising them
with fancy designs,

392
00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:30,520
'which, when you think about it, is
an activity as old as man himself.'

393
00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:37,240
As the sun dips below
the timber-framed houses,

394
00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:39,280
our pottage thickens and matures.

395
00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:42,080
Nettles, barley, rabbit.

396
00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:43,960
We're not going to turn up
our noses.

397
00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:47,800
The mediaeval era was beset
with endless famines.

398
00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:53,360
I want to try the nettles,
just to be sure they are cooked.

399
00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:58,640
It's not as bad as I thought.

400
00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:00,440
No. They're not a strong flavour.

401
00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:03,320
'And the food is
actually delicious.'

402
00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:05,360
That is fantastic.

403
00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:09,480
'No-one finds it more so
than Nathan,

404
00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:11,720
'who reveals a passion for offal.'

405
00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:15,440
Contentment. Just give me
the kidneys, the liver, the heart.

406
00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:22,600
That is unbelievable!

407
00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:30,040
We've all survived
the rustic pottage

408
00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:32,240
and we didn't
die of excessive joy.

409
00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:44,680
The word pilgrim derives
from the Latin, peregrinator,

410
00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:47,440
meaning a traveller.

411
00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:49,480
But not all pilgrims walked.

412
00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:53,200
There were quite a lot of
rich people who went as well,

413
00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:56,640
and often, they went by horse
or mule or some other transport,

414
00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,680
so I've got ourselves a sort of mule

415
00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:05,200
and we're going to travel like
merchants.

416
00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:13,280
Keep following now
and go left at the top here.

417
00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:18,920
'Now, I've driven one of these
before, but they've all got
their quirks.'

418
00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:22,640
Isn't it funny how there doesn't
seem to be a universal

419
00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:25,880
having your indicator
on the same side?

420
00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:28,640
ENGINE CUTS OUT
Yeah. Oh, gosh.

421
00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:31,520
Unlucky, now. Have we got the choke
in or something like that?

422
00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:34,080
There's no choke on a diesel.

423
00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:35,920
HE LAUGHS

424
00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:39,640
Is it a diesel? I always want to
blame the choke, you see. Yeah.

425
00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:46,160
Whole sections of the ancient
pilgrimage route, like this

426
00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:49,360
stretch of the A494 to Bala,
were so well chosen,

427
00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:53,160
they now form part of the modern
transport network.

428
00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:59,160
'Even with me behind the wheel,
we're safer to drive than walk.

429
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:01,280
'But we'll not be on it for long.'

430
00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:04,120
We're due to catch
the 11:50 train and we're late.

431
00:23:05,120 --> 00:23:07,040
TRAIN TOOTS

432
00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:12,360
This is Bala Lake.

433
00:23:12,360 --> 00:23:15,520
It's the largest lake in Wales
and the pilgrim route

434
00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:19,840
once hugged the two and-a-half mile
length of its eastern shore.

435
00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:25,440
'Today, that same stretch of the
pilgrim route has been given over to

436
00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:29,760
'the Bala Light Railway and we've
just got seconds to get on board.'

437
00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:37,600
TRAIN TOOTS

438
00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:53,200
Well, ladies and gentlemen,
the train now leaving platform...

439
00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:57,800
the platform...
is going to Llanuwchllyn.

440
00:24:01,360 --> 00:24:04,040
Llanuwchllyn? Llanuwchllyn.
Is that right?

441
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:06,200
Llanuwchllyn. Yes. Yes.
Llan-UWCH-llun.

442
00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:07,880
Uwch. Uwch. Uwch.

443
00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:14,240
Up until 1965,
this was the main line to Barmouth,

444
00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:17,560
a seaside resort on the west coast.

445
00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:20,960
Though it no longer goes further
than the length of the lake,

446
00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:24,080
its purpose is still to serve
the holidaymaker.

447
00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:30,760
What was a pathway to God has become
the railway line to leisure

448
00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:33,320
and a modern form of
spiritual refreshment.

449
00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:40,560
Now, here we are in Llanuwchllyn.
The end of the line.

450
00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:43,640
From here, we must forge our way
up into the Cambrian Mountains,

451
00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:45,840
to the pass of Bwlch y Groes.

452
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:53,960
This very real physical barrier was
one of the biggest challenges

453
00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:56,160
the mediaeval pilgrim faced.

454
00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:02,000
Whereabouts are we, Dave?

455
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,520
Halfway up to the pass
of Bwlch y Groes

456
00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:08,000
and we just passed Aran,
the mountain on our right.

457
00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:13,320
So how close are we to the...
to the Pilgrims' Trail? This is it.

458
00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:16,400
This is on it. We are on it. We are
actually on it? This road was it.

459
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:20,320
We can see by the number of peaks
drawn on Ogilby's map

460
00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,720
that we have left the soft,
rolling hills behind

461
00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:27,320
and we are now into serious
mountain country.

462
00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:33,480
For many mediaeval pilgrims
caught in bad weather

463
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:37,280
or lost in the hills, this would
have been the end of the road.

464
00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:40,080
The lucky ones that survived could
relish the prospect

465
00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,560
of only another 109 miles to go.

466
00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:49,960
This is the highest part of the
highest mountain pass in Wales.

467
00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:52,680
All 545 metres of it.

468
00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:56,880
Pilgrims and travellers would have
assembled here before filing through

469
00:25:56,880 --> 00:25:59,560
the narrow gap
in the mountain range,

470
00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:02,000
and now, we're going to do the same.

471
00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:05,360
I'm a mountain girl by nature.

472
00:26:05,360 --> 00:26:07,480
Yes. But currently...

473
00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:10,360
So you know what Ruskin said about
weather,

474
00:26:10,360 --> 00:26:13,240
that there is no such thing as
bad weather, only bad clothes.

475
00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:15,400
Yep. Something like that, anyway.

476
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:19,040
I think he put it in a more
poetical way than that.

477
00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:24,640
Waterproof trousers surely fall
into the category of bad clothes!

478
00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:32,800
But unfortunately, like Robert,
I think we're going to need them.

479
00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:37,400
The cloud and the weather is
coming in over there pretty badly.

480
00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:41,760
Quite atmospheric though. I do like
weather and mountains and clouds.

481
00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:52,800
'So strong is its connection with
the pilgrim route that this

482
00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:57,240
'is still known as the Pass Of The
Cross, or Bwlch y Groes in Welsh.

483
00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:02,120
'And its spiritual past
does not go unmarked.'

484
00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:06,520
Ah! Look at that
down in front of us.

485
00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:12,960
And here is the cross that
indisputably tells us

486
00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:15,720
we are on the pilgrim route.

487
00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:18,760
Good. Yeah.

488
00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:21,640
And we're also coming
towards bandit country.

489
00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:25,360
What are they called? They are
called the Gwylliaid Cochion.

490
00:27:25,360 --> 00:27:28,320
Gwylliaid Cochion.
And what does that mean, Robert?

491
00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:33,000
It means wild bandits, red wild
bandits, something like that.

492
00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:36,200
Red wild bandits.
And they were in this area?

493
00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:40,520
Well, I'm not 100% sure I want to go
this way, to be honest with you.

494
00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:43,600
I think I'd rather that pass.

495
00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:46,560
The bandits of Mawddwy were
a gang of red-headed highwaymen

496
00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:50,480
who operated in and around this pass
during the 16th century.

497
00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:55,880
Back in the 1930s, a local filmmaker
brought the legend

498
00:27:55,880 --> 00:28:00,000
to the silver screen,
casting the film with local people.

499
00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:02,080
Sheep stealing was endemic,

500
00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:05,160
as was robbing from passing
travellers and pilgrims.

501
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,840
But on 12th October 1555,

502
00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:16,080
our red-haired robbers went one step
too far and murdered the Sheriff.

503
00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:23,360
The bandits were caught,
tried for their crimes

504
00:28:23,360 --> 00:28:26,560
and made to pay the ultimate price.

505
00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:36,840
'We've set up camp.

506
00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:40,560
'Dave's bushman skills should keep
us warm and fed, and these tents,

507
00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:44,360
'based on mediaeval designs,
will keep us dry.

508
00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:49,720
'But we're still in what would have
been bandit territory

509
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:52,520
'during the mediaeval era,
so we're going to try

510
00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,120
'to do what the pilgrims did
to ward off danger.'

511
00:28:55,120 --> 00:29:00,440
HE SINGS

512
00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:04,280
'Musician Robert Evans is
an expert in early Welsh music.

513
00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:10,040
'He sourced a 14th-century hymn
in honour of St David that would

514
00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:13,160
'have been sung by pilgrims as
they traversed the countryside.'

515
00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:15,200
THEY SING

516
00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:17,960
'Now he's got the unenviable task
of teaching us

517
00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:20,080
'all to sing this ancient work.'

518
00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:22,120
THEY CONTINUE TO SING

519
00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:29,640
LIGHTNING ROARS

520
00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:32,680
500 years ago, these dark valleys

521
00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:36,400
and stark mountain sides would have
seemed terrifying to people

522
00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:39,360
who had never left their farms
and villages before.

523
00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:45,440
THEY SING IN LATIN

524
00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:51,040
To those prospective bandits
lurking in the hedges,

525
00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:54,880
the sound of our sacred singing
would have acted as a warning,

526
00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:57,560
and that's because by
12th-century law,

527
00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:00,600
the punishment for attacking
or robbing a pilgrim

528
00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:04,760
was excommunication,
expulsion from the church.

529
00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:09,440
It's pretty hard to imagine
the horror of that now,

530
00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:13,680
but back then, it meant a passage
straight to hell.

531
00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:16,040
THEY SING IN LATIN

532
00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:32,000
'The hardship of the pilgrim way

533
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:35,080
'is stirring the imagination
of my companions.

534
00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:37,800
'None more so than Nathan.'

535
00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:41,560
Tell me about your shoes, Nathan.

536
00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:44,080
Ah, my shoes. Now, then.

537
00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:47,120
These are beautiful little numbers.

538
00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:49,640
We've got a bit of
cow's leather, here.

539
00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:51,680
And they are mediaeval shoes?
Oh, yes.

540
00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:53,600
These are mediaeval shoes all right.

541
00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:57,040
And what are the things at the
bottom? These are called patterns.

542
00:30:57,040 --> 00:30:59,680
They are made traditionally
out of beech.

543
00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:05,080
They were made, basically,
to keep your boot out of the cachu,

544
00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:07,080
out of the muck.

545
00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:09,880
Because you know what
the streets of London

546
00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:12,280
were like back
in the mediaeval period.

547
00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:15,640
It was throw everything out of the
window, basically, onto the floor.

548
00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:21,120
And are they comfortable?
I won't lie to you, no.

549
00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:24,440
They are absolutely killing my feet.
THEY LAUGH

550
00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:34,160
This is the Dovey.

551
00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:36,520
The source of this great
meandering river

552
00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:38,480
lies less than 40 miles upstream,

553
00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:43,560
back in the Cambrian Mountains,
where we've just come from.

554
00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:47,760
The river has always presented a
challenge to the traveller in Wales

555
00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:52,040
and back in 1450,
there was no bridge.

556
00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:55,280
So we're going to have to find
another way to get across.

557
00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:02,320
Well, we've reached a major obstacle
for a 15th-century pilgrim,

558
00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:04,520
the River Dovey.

559
00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:07,800
Essentially, it is
the border between North Wales

560
00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:11,400
and South Wales,
where we now want to go.

561
00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:14,080
Not an easy thing to cross.

562
00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:21,320
On the other side, over
in South Wales where we want to be,

563
00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:24,800
we spot some of the last tidal
fishermen to work this estuary.

564
00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:29,880
Wading across the deep river is
not a possibility

565
00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:32,760
and we are now on extremely
boggy ground,

566
00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:36,400
riddled with deep ditches.

567
00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:40,320
The tide is coming in fast,
filling the ditches even deeper.

568
00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:46,240
We're in trouble.

569
00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:49,080
Don't just try and wade across.

570
00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:52,160
We've got to find a place to jump.

571
00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:54,120
SCREAMING

572
00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:55,920
'Lara's gone in.'

573
00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:58,200
Lara!
THEY LAUGH

574
00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:03,040
Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no!

575
00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:06,440
SHE GROANS

576
00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:08,960
Are you OK? Don't worry.

577
00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:13,240
Fortunately for poor soaking Lara,

578
00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:16,760
the fisherman is there
to offer his services as ferryman.

579
00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:20,680
Morning. 'We can cross,
but only two at a time.

580
00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:26,160
'We send Lara over first so she can
dry off in the fisherman's hut.'

581
00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:36,960
There used to be a ferry.
Did there? Right. Yes.

582
00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:40,640
There was a ferry going
across here, and the hut

583
00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:42,680
is the old ferryman's hut.

584
00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:45,320
'This isn't the first time Geraint
has rowed people across,

585
00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:49,200
'but Bob remains unconvinced.'

586
00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:52,240
You look worried, mate.
No, I'm not worried.

587
00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:54,280
HE LAUGHS

588
00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:58,200
Wow! Yes!

589
00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:03,080
Look at this beauty!
How much would that fish be, then?

590
00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:05,320
What, are you buying it? Maybe.

591
00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:08,040
HE LAUGHS
Six pound.

592
00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:11,160
No, it's seven pound.
Eight pounds a pound. Seven eights.

593
00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:14,400
56. 56 quid for the entire fish.

594
00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:18,720
We could fry it up here,
if you want? That would be nice.

595
00:34:18,720 --> 00:34:22,680
Got a gas stove there.
Have you? Yeah.

596
00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:30,240
Does that smell good, or what?

597
00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:36,680
'Our encounter with ferryman
and salmon is one

598
00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:41,200
'mediaeval pilgrims might have
experienced 500 years ago and now,

599
00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:45,400
'just as then, the locals have made
a bit on the side into the bargain.'

600
00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:54,120
Mmm!

601
00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:02,200
'We are now officially
in South Wales.

602
00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:05,240
'The lakes and the mountains
of the high ground are behind us

603
00:35:05,240 --> 00:35:08,600
'and the coast and flatlands
of the south and west lie ahead.'

604
00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:17,560
The town of Aberystwyth
marks our first sight of the sea.

605
00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:20,520
All the mediaeval pilgrim would have
encountered would have been

606
00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:24,160
this 12th-century castle
and a lot of breaking waves.

607
00:35:25,240 --> 00:35:29,920
It was the Victorians who developed
this place into a seaside town.

608
00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:32,720
With its colourful hotels
and bracing sea air,

609
00:35:32,720 --> 00:35:36,240
Aberystwyth came to be billed
as the Biarritz of Wales

610
00:35:36,240 --> 00:35:38,440
for a short time.

611
00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:45,440
We've had enough of wet clothes
and draughty mediaeval houses,

612
00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:48,760
so we've booked ourselves into
a classic seaside hotel.

613
00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:53,640
Enough of holy days.

614
00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:55,880
We're going to treat ourselves

615
00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:58,120
to the modern secular equivalent,
a holiday.

616
00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:01,520
Look at this! I've found
somewhere to put our staffs.

617
00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:04,600
Are we all right to leave
our staffs in the umbrella stand?

618
00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:06,520
Thank you very much.

619
00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:11,560
Are we all on this floor? Yes.

620
00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:15,280
Some of you are on the second floor
as well. Come on through, then.

621
00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:17,960
There we go. The rest of you,
are you on the second?

622
00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:20,160
Are you on the first as well,
Nathan?

623
00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:22,560
No, no. I'm on the second.

624
00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:25,720
'En-suite bathrooms,
four-poster beds...'

625
00:36:25,720 --> 00:36:28,680
Nerys, this is very glamorous, yeah.

626
00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:30,920
'..and perfect sea views.

627
00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:34,600
'The stock in trade
of the promenade.'

628
00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:39,440
I love coming to seaside towns.

629
00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:41,800
I love it because for me,
it is a sort of nostalgia.

630
00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:45,560
I suppose I'm the last
of the generation who actually took

631
00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:48,240
seaside holidays as a boy.

632
00:36:48,240 --> 00:36:50,840
British, proper British
seaside holidays,

633
00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:53,360
with piers and ice creams
and roller coasters,

634
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:55,680
things like that.

635
00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:00,280
I think they should be preserved
in all their glory,

636
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:04,400
sort of monuments to
a happy British past.

637
00:37:05,720 --> 00:37:10,280
And we should all make pilgrimages
to places like Aberystwyth.

638
00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:17,640
One, please.

639
00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:22,480
Aberystwyth's Constitution Hill was
a great Victorian treat

640
00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:26,080
and I can't resist following my own
ascension

641
00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:28,520
to nostalgic enlightenment.

642
00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:36,040
After days of rigorous
religious observance,

643
00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:38,960
we're all planning
a spot of shopping,

644
00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:40,960
but these amusements and diversions

645
00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:45,760
remind me that
it was the seductions of holiday

646
00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:49,040
that spelt the end of
strict religious pilgrimage,

647
00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:51,600
so we must be careful.

648
00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:00,200
When pilgrimage
began in the early church,

649
00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:03,360
pilgrims willingly
subjected themselves to pain

650
00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:07,840
and suffering in exchange for
the eradication of their sins,

651
00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:12,840
but as the centuries passed,
the church decided to cash in.

652
00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:16,440
They allowed pilgrims to pay money
to have their sins absolved,

653
00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:19,760
and these shortcuts to absolution
were called indulgences.

654
00:38:21,520 --> 00:38:24,960
They led to a corruption of
the whole idea.

655
00:38:24,960 --> 00:38:27,000
No, not real.

656
00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:32,800
By removing the penitential aspect,
pilgrimage became pleasurable

657
00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:35,080
and began to resemble
the modern holiday,

658
00:38:35,080 --> 00:38:38,960
travelling to distant places,
meeting new people,

659
00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:42,400
seeing amazing things
and buying loads of souvenirs

660
00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:45,080
as mementoes of your visit.

661
00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:48,960
They all have their roots in the
fashion for religious pilgrimage.

662
00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:52,240
Did pilgrims buy
things like this on windy days?

663
00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:03,600
The first souvenirs for pilgrims
were manufactured in Spain

664
00:39:03,600 --> 00:39:05,440
just under 1,000 years ago.

665
00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:09,360
And by the end of the 12th century,

666
00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:12,760
virtually every shrine was
manufacturing little badges

667
00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:15,320
which people wore to prove that
they'd been there.

668
00:39:17,680 --> 00:39:21,120
It's all so tacky.
I'm going to go to the beach.

669
00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:25,080
Whistles and bells they liked
because when they reached

670
00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:29,360
the shrine, also, pilgrims
liked to make a bit of a racket.

671
00:39:29,360 --> 00:39:32,680
A bit like football fans.

672
00:39:32,680 --> 00:39:34,680
WHISTLE BLOWS

673
00:39:34,680 --> 00:39:36,920
My chosen souvenirs at least

674
00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:40,160
have a connection to
their religious origins.

675
00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:43,840
I'm keen to see
what my companions have dug up.

676
00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:46,400
I thought I'd buy myself a pillow.
Aw!

677
00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:49,240
THEY LAUGH

678
00:39:50,240 --> 00:39:52,800
That's very good, I'm impressed.

679
00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:57,840
I find this rather distasteful,
all this plastic from China.

680
00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:00,720
So I've taken the sea air

681
00:40:00,720 --> 00:40:03,600
and I've filled one of my bottles
with sea air.

682
00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:06,960
This is total pilgrim tradition.

683
00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:09,120
Go like that to get
plenty of ozone in the bottle.

684
00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:12,600
Indeed, and with my affinity
with water, I thought... Don't!

685
00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:15,120
Don't release the air!
THEY SHOUT

686
00:40:15,120 --> 00:40:18,320
I'm just going to sniff it!
THEY LAUGH

687
00:40:19,680 --> 00:40:21,320
Did Nathan dig this up?

688
00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:25,920
This is the sacred manhole cover
of Aberystwyth.

689
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:36,600
Ironically, the best connection
ever made between the decline

690
00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:39,520
of religious pilgrimage and
the rise of the secular holiday

691
00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:44,000
is to be found minutes from
Aberystwyth's seafront,

692
00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:47,640
because this town is also home to
the National Library of Wales,

693
00:40:47,640 --> 00:40:51,880
a powerhouse of knowledge,
with over four million books,

694
00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:55,720
and I'm just interested
in one of them.

695
00:40:57,280 --> 00:41:00,000
There are only two original copies
of Geoffrey Chaucer's

696
00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:03,800
Canterbury Tales in existence
and this is the earliest one,

697
00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:06,280
the Hengwrt Chaucer.

698
00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:13,920
Transcribed in 1400, the year of
Geoffrey Chaucer's death,

699
00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:16,920
which makes this book
more than six centuries old.

700
00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:24,480
Chaucer documented the aspects
of religious pilgrimage that

701
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:27,120
would ultimately
bring about its downfall.

702
00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:30,520
So we'd learn about the cook's
debauched love of drinking

703
00:41:30,520 --> 00:41:35,280
and dancing, the Wife of Bath's
insatiable sexual appetite...

704
00:41:37,240 --> 00:41:42,520
..and the venality of selling
indulgences and souvenirs.

705
00:41:42,520 --> 00:41:45,080
There's very little God in here,

706
00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:47,960
but the clergy certainly make
an appearance.

707
00:41:47,960 --> 00:41:49,800
Here's the abbot.

708
00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:54,520
"His boots supple,
his horse in great estate.

709
00:41:54,520 --> 00:41:57,280
"Most certainly
he was a fair prelate."

710
00:41:57,280 --> 00:41:59,280
In other words,

711
00:41:59,280 --> 00:42:02,040
Chaucer is noticing that the abbot
makes a bit on the side.

712
00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:06,080
He's fat, well accoutred and has
very, very little to do

713
00:42:06,080 --> 00:42:09,640
with the business of being
very holy, or involving himself,

714
00:42:09,640 --> 00:42:14,080
seemingly, in the business of
following the laws of St Benedict.

715
00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:17,000
What's great about
the whole story is it sort of,

716
00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:19,720
it sort of shows that the
pilgrimage was a social event.

717
00:42:19,720 --> 00:42:24,040
All these people come together
and bicker and argue,

718
00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:26,040
but they laugh at
each other's jokes

719
00:42:26,040 --> 00:42:29,800
and expect entertainment and jollity
along the way.

720
00:42:33,800 --> 00:42:37,520
Chaucer's self-serving abbot
provides a sharp contrast

721
00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:41,840
to the man who inspired
our pilgrimage.

722
00:42:41,840 --> 00:42:45,360
St David was a devout ascetic monk

723
00:42:45,360 --> 00:42:48,920
who founded the Christian church
in Wales long before there was

724
00:42:48,920 --> 00:42:53,240
one in pagan England, and every mile
is now bringing us closer to him.

725
00:42:58,200 --> 00:43:03,080
1,500 years ago, there was a miracle
here in Llanddewi Brefi.

726
00:43:03,080 --> 00:43:06,360
A priest caused a mound
to burst up from under him

727
00:43:06,360 --> 00:43:09,960
so that he could speak to
a vast assembly of people.

728
00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:15,440
The priest was St David
and 500 years later,

729
00:43:15,440 --> 00:43:20,120
they built this church in his
memory, on top of his miracle mound.

730
00:43:24,520 --> 00:43:28,440
Well, it's quite a mound over here,
isn't it? It is.

731
00:43:28,440 --> 00:43:35,360
And it's of a pretty circular
shape as well. Yes.

732
00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:38,640
You see, I have my own theory
that actually...

733
00:43:38,640 --> 00:43:41,600
I like to have theories about
miracles because when a miracle

734
00:43:41,600 --> 00:43:44,760
gets as well attested as this,
either they were all hallucinating,

735
00:43:44,760 --> 00:43:48,400
or perhaps you can see land has
a tendency to sort of fall away.

736
00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:50,120
Yes. Drop down.

737
00:43:50,120 --> 00:43:53,680
The river will undermine the bank,
so there's a sense that possibly,

738
00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:57,200
they're all standing here and
suddenly a big bit of land went

739
00:43:57,200 --> 00:44:00,760
whoomph, fell down and suddenly it
looked as if St David had come up.

740
00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:02,600
Yes. Quite possible.

741
00:44:04,920 --> 00:44:07,600
But just when I think
I've come up with

742
00:44:07,600 --> 00:44:09,920
a rational explanation for
the miracle,

743
00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:12,600
Nathan pursues his own theory.

744
00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:16,800
St David was a big fan of water.

745
00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:20,320
He'd often stand
up to his neck in it.

746
00:44:20,320 --> 00:44:25,680
He'd drink nothing else and he'd use
water for his miracle cures.

747
00:44:25,680 --> 00:44:29,520
Nathan believes that if he can find
an underground spring,

748
00:44:29,520 --> 00:44:32,800
this might add credence
to the story.

749
00:44:32,800 --> 00:44:36,200
But what are those rods he's using?

750
00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:40,160
They're just...
It's just plastic-coated metal.

751
00:44:40,160 --> 00:44:42,200
Metal rods.

752
00:44:43,400 --> 00:44:46,720
But you use this in your work?
Yes, yeah.

753
00:44:48,000 --> 00:44:51,600
I occasionally get called upon
by the National Trust

754
00:44:51,600 --> 00:44:56,360
to try and find water pipes
for the mains,

755
00:44:56,360 --> 00:44:58,840
all these types of things.

756
00:44:58,840 --> 00:45:00,880
What were you looking for, then?

757
00:45:00,880 --> 00:45:03,200
I was thinking water,
thinking spring,

758
00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:06,800
thinking Holywell, thinking about
that beautiful well, and it comes.

759
00:45:06,800 --> 00:45:08,720
They just move.

760
00:45:09,840 --> 00:45:13,800
I haven't the faintest idea
how it works, but it does.

761
00:45:13,800 --> 00:45:15,920
So you think that in this,

762
00:45:15,920 --> 00:45:19,080
this might have indicated
there are springs in this mound?

763
00:45:19,080 --> 00:45:22,400
Oh, yeah, definitely.
Definitely springs in the mound.

764
00:45:26,520 --> 00:45:30,360
Llanddewi Brefi has retained
its magnetic qualities
over the centuries.

765
00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:34,600
It provided the setting for the
television series Little Britain.

766
00:45:34,600 --> 00:45:37,160
He's not the only
gay in the village.

767
00:45:37,160 --> 00:45:40,200
'Something the corner shop likes
to remind its customers of.'

768
00:45:41,320 --> 00:45:45,120
But it was also a focus for
'60s counterculture,

769
00:45:45,120 --> 00:45:49,920
with reports of legendary figures
like Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix
and Mick Jagger

770
00:45:49,920 --> 00:45:55,320
coming to hang out here in country
cottages and enjoy the country air.

771
00:45:55,320 --> 00:45:57,160
Amongst other things!

772
00:45:57,160 --> 00:46:00,600
As long as they weren't
hassled by the fuzz.

773
00:46:00,600 --> 00:46:05,080
MUSIC: ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER

774
00:46:08,560 --> 00:46:13,000
Bob was a local. In those days,
Bob, were you stoppable?

775
00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:16,360
I mean, you were young.
I was young.

776
00:46:16,360 --> 00:46:18,320
Did you have an afro?

777
00:46:18,320 --> 00:46:24,400
No, I never had an afro. I did.
Did you? Mm. The best I could manage.

778
00:46:24,400 --> 00:46:28,200
LAUGHTER
Anyway, quite a lot of hair.

779
00:46:28,200 --> 00:46:30,480
Bob, did you have a bit of
long hair in those days?

780
00:46:30,480 --> 00:46:35,120
I did. I looked a bit like Jesus
in those days. Jesus? Yes.

781
00:46:36,280 --> 00:46:38,240
Well, no wonder they stopped you!

782
00:46:42,680 --> 00:46:45,680
We're in Pembrokeshire,
on the home straight.

783
00:46:45,680 --> 00:46:48,080
And from now on,
we follow the coastline

784
00:46:48,080 --> 00:46:50,240
pretty much all the way
to St David's.

785
00:46:55,040 --> 00:46:58,680
Well, this bit feels
the most medieval,
but it's not at all, really.

786
00:46:58,680 --> 00:47:01,720
Medieval people were far too
sensible to walk along here

787
00:47:01,720 --> 00:47:03,800
by the side of the sea.

788
00:47:03,800 --> 00:47:06,080
They went on the inland route,

789
00:47:06,080 --> 00:47:09,240
following what is now
a fast trunk road.

790
00:47:09,240 --> 00:47:11,680
Instead, we are taking
what is essentially

791
00:47:11,680 --> 00:47:15,240
the new pilgrimage route, which is
the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path.

792
00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:19,640
And if you ask me,

793
00:47:19,640 --> 00:47:23,640
the modern desire for mortification
of the flesh gained by trudging

794
00:47:23,640 --> 00:47:27,800
this tricky route echoes an original
pilgrim desire for suffering.

795
00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:35,120
After our excesses in Aberystwyth,
we're back on course.

796
00:47:42,480 --> 00:47:44,800
We've got just 24 miles to go.

797
00:47:46,320 --> 00:47:50,240
Nevern churchyard was
the junction of pilgrim routes.

798
00:47:50,240 --> 00:47:53,080
'Pilgrims would assemble here
from all parts of the country

799
00:47:53,080 --> 00:47:56,080
'before proceeding en-masse
to their final destination.'

800
00:47:56,080 --> 00:47:58,600
It's the perfect churchyard...

801
00:47:58,600 --> 00:48:02,280
'As we get closer
to St David's Cathedral,
the evidence that we're nearing

802
00:48:02,280 --> 00:48:06,600
'what was once an important shrine
begins to increase.'

803
00:48:06,600 --> 00:48:08,320
Nathan, look at this.

804
00:48:08,320 --> 00:48:10,960
Oh, what? What's this, Bob?

805
00:48:10,960 --> 00:48:13,320
This looks like, um, footprints.

806
00:48:14,440 --> 00:48:18,560
So many people walked down this
route following the pilgrim,

807
00:48:18,560 --> 00:48:22,560
they wore, or perhaps they cut...
Do you think?

808
00:48:22,560 --> 00:48:25,960
I'd say it was cut.
..the descent down.

809
00:48:30,120 --> 00:48:32,760
Quite handy to have them cut. It is.

810
00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:35,800
It's quite easy to go
arseius over titus.

811
00:48:45,240 --> 00:48:47,800
Further down the road is Newport.

812
00:48:47,800 --> 00:48:51,400
Today, the people of this ancient
borough are hosting a game

813
00:48:51,400 --> 00:48:54,720
of the medieval sport of Cnapan.

814
00:48:57,200 --> 00:48:59,480
Cnapan was played on Shrove Tuesday,

815
00:48:59,480 --> 00:49:02,000
one of the original
religious holidays.

816
00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:05,560
Townsfolk, farmers
and medieval pilgrims got swept up

817
00:49:05,560 --> 00:49:10,280
in a violent frenzy of an early
form of beach rugby with menaces.

818
00:49:10,280 --> 00:49:12,040
Go, Nathan!

819
00:49:12,040 --> 00:49:15,480
Dave and Nathan have volunteered
to join opposing sides.

820
00:49:18,880 --> 00:49:20,640
Come on, Nathan!

821
00:49:22,880 --> 00:49:26,760
Anything up to 1,000 people
a side would have played.

822
00:49:26,760 --> 00:49:29,480
Unlike today, they'd have used
a heavy wooden ball

823
00:49:29,480 --> 00:49:31,320
that could crack your head open.

824
00:49:31,320 --> 00:49:33,440
SHOUTING

825
00:49:33,440 --> 00:49:34,880
Yes!

826
00:49:37,520 --> 00:49:39,560
'It's half time.'
HE RETCHES

827
00:49:39,560 --> 00:49:43,360
Come and give it a try
for ten minutes?

828
00:49:43,360 --> 00:49:45,400
Well... We need your support.

829
00:49:45,400 --> 00:49:48,520
What? Look at the state of you two!

830
00:49:48,520 --> 00:49:52,520
You two are young, fit men.
What would I do?

831
00:49:52,520 --> 00:49:55,040
I'd just embarrass myself
and humiliate myself.

832
00:49:55,040 --> 00:49:58,400
But I guess that's my role in life,
isn't it? Yes, yes. Hang on.

833
00:50:05,160 --> 00:50:07,320
Go, Griff, go!

834
00:50:09,280 --> 00:50:13,960
'As a would-be medieval pilgrim,
I can regard any maiming or injuries

835
00:50:13,960 --> 00:50:16,640
'I incur while playing Cnapan
as something I can offset

836
00:50:16,640 --> 00:50:18,920
'against all the sins
I've committed.

837
00:50:18,920 --> 00:50:22,200
'Assuming I'm not crushed to
death before the final whistle.

838
00:50:24,920 --> 00:50:27,240
'It's absolutely terrifying.'

839
00:50:37,320 --> 00:50:39,680
FINAL WHISTLE

840
00:50:46,960 --> 00:50:50,640
It's the final day of our pilgrimage
and we have a lot of work to do.

841
00:50:53,080 --> 00:50:55,960
Some of us really haven't
suffered enough for our sins

842
00:50:55,960 --> 00:51:00,800
to be absolved, so I've ordered
a batch of hair shirts.

843
00:51:00,800 --> 00:51:03,200
These haven't been made
specially by a prop maker,

844
00:51:03,200 --> 00:51:06,640
these have been made for people
who like to wear hair shirts.

845
00:51:08,680 --> 00:51:11,360
'Medieval pilgrims often wore
hair shirts like these

846
00:51:11,360 --> 00:51:13,360
'as an act of penitence.

847
00:51:14,440 --> 00:51:18,120
'Made of sackcloth,
riddled with ticks and lice,

848
00:51:18,120 --> 00:51:20,160
'they are superbly uncomfortable.

849
00:51:21,160 --> 00:51:23,160
'They're bad enough
for a few minutes,

850
00:51:23,160 --> 00:51:28,200
'let alone for weeks on end,
as the original pilgrims
would have worn them.

851
00:51:28,200 --> 00:51:31,000
'Their flesh would have been
chafed to bits.

852
00:51:33,160 --> 00:51:38,480
'In the heat of the midday sun,
they become absolute torture.

853
00:51:38,480 --> 00:51:40,320
'Which, of course, was the point.

854
00:51:42,640 --> 00:51:45,720
'Ogilby's map tells us we've got
just one more mile to go

855
00:51:45,720 --> 00:51:47,360
'before we reach St David's.

856
00:51:47,360 --> 00:51:50,240
'But we have a few more
rituals to perform.

857
00:51:51,880 --> 00:51:54,240
'The first is to go barefoot.

858
00:51:54,240 --> 00:51:55,960
'This wasn't uncommon.

859
00:51:55,960 --> 00:52:00,440
'Henry II walked barefooted all the
way from London to Canterbury

860
00:52:00,440 --> 00:52:03,080
'in an attempt to beg
forgiveness from the Pope

861
00:52:03,080 --> 00:52:05,080
'for the death of Thomas A Becket.

862
00:52:05,080 --> 00:52:10,320
'And as if this wasn't enough, monks
whipped him while he prayed aloud.'

863
00:52:14,200 --> 00:52:18,640
'Penitence Bridge was the
last-chance cafe for repentance.

864
00:52:18,640 --> 00:52:21,200
'A bit of humble foot washing
might improve my chances

865
00:52:21,200 --> 00:52:23,120
'in the afterlife.'

866
00:52:24,120 --> 00:52:26,560
As your leader,
a little bit of water.

867
00:52:26,560 --> 00:52:28,640
Splippy, splibby, sblobby, splib.

868
00:52:30,080 --> 00:52:34,080
Oh! God alive! Manly stuff!

869
00:52:34,080 --> 00:52:36,760
I'm just saying,
the business of washing feet,

870
00:52:36,760 --> 00:52:39,000
I believe the Pope does it
quite a lot, doesn't he?

871
00:52:40,600 --> 00:52:44,520
What's the matter?
No, don't. I hate feet.

872
00:52:44,520 --> 00:52:47,720
You hate feet? Absolutely.
I hate people touching my feet.

873
00:52:50,520 --> 00:52:53,160
OK. I won't touch them.
I tell you what I'll do.

874
00:52:53,160 --> 00:52:56,080
I'll do it from a distance. Just
hold a foot out. All right, then.

875
00:52:56,080 --> 00:52:59,400
OK. Hold a foot out and I'll
sort of dribble water all over them.

876
00:52:59,400 --> 00:53:02,600
Here's the other one coming.
Oh, dear!

877
00:53:03,920 --> 00:53:07,920
OK, now, I'm not going to touch
your feet, I'm going to sort of...

878
00:53:07,920 --> 00:53:11,800
I'll close my eyes. It tickles!
Bless my soul. There we are.

879
00:53:11,800 --> 00:53:13,280
Dry now, all done.

880
00:53:15,400 --> 00:53:17,120
# This is the end

881
00:53:18,360 --> 00:53:21,200
# Beautiful friend... #

882
00:53:21,200 --> 00:53:25,960
This has been a sacred site since
St David lived and ministered here

883
00:53:25,960 --> 00:53:29,280
almost 1,500 years ago.

884
00:53:29,280 --> 00:53:31,480
# ..My only friend, the end... #

885
00:53:31,480 --> 00:53:34,400
There's been a cathedral here
for 1,000 years.

886
00:53:35,520 --> 00:53:38,800
Today, less than 2,000 people
live in this,

887
00:53:38,800 --> 00:53:41,280
the smallest city
in the United Kingdom.

888
00:53:41,280 --> 00:53:46,600
Yet in its heyday, St David's was
outranked only by Jerusalem and Rome

889
00:53:46,600 --> 00:53:48,680
in religious importance.

890
00:53:51,000 --> 00:53:53,680
With clean feet,
but rather itchy bodies,

891
00:53:53,680 --> 00:53:57,600
we blow our whistles noisily just as
medieval pilgrims would have done

892
00:53:57,600 --> 00:54:00,800
600 years ago
to announce our arrival.

893
00:54:08,160 --> 00:54:10,240
Here we are. Glorious.

894
00:54:13,600 --> 00:54:16,760
Welcome to all of you.
Thank you for having us here.

895
00:54:16,760 --> 00:54:18,640
Welcome to journey's end.

896
00:54:20,480 --> 00:54:21,800
'Once inside the cathedral,

897
00:54:21,800 --> 00:54:25,200
'the pilgrims must have stared
in awe and wonder

898
00:54:25,200 --> 00:54:27,680
'at its Norman beauty.

899
00:54:27,680 --> 00:54:31,280
'Nothing they would have seen
or heard would have prepared them

900
00:54:31,280 --> 00:54:34,800
'for the scale and grandeur
of this workmanship.'

901
00:54:42,760 --> 00:54:45,080
This is what the pilgrims
came to see.

902
00:54:45,080 --> 00:54:47,600
This is where they would have knelt.

903
00:54:47,600 --> 00:54:52,560
The bishop, Wyn Evans,
leads us to the shrine of St David.

904
00:54:52,560 --> 00:54:55,920
All the jewels and bodily relics
of the saint

905
00:54:55,920 --> 00:55:01,320
that were once lodged inside were
confiscated during the Reformation.

906
00:55:01,320 --> 00:55:04,000
The idolatry of saints
had become a crime.

907
00:55:07,520 --> 00:55:10,680
Catholics were threatened
with persecution.

908
00:55:10,680 --> 00:55:13,520
The Catholic religion
was hounded out of the country.

909
00:55:15,760 --> 00:55:20,680
St David's was no longer
a Catholic cathedral.

910
00:55:20,680 --> 00:55:24,200
In time,
it became a Protestant one.

911
00:55:24,200 --> 00:55:26,520
And a lot of Welsh went further

912
00:55:26,520 --> 00:55:28,920
and became
predominantly Nonconformist.

913
00:55:30,240 --> 00:55:32,120
Without the Catholic religion,

914
00:55:32,120 --> 00:55:34,400
pilgrimage would never be
the same again.

915
00:55:39,160 --> 00:55:41,680
We've completed our journey.

916
00:55:41,680 --> 00:55:44,120
All 156 miles of it.

917
00:55:45,200 --> 00:55:49,600
We've uncovered this ancient route
and got to grips with the lives

918
00:55:49,600 --> 00:55:51,960
and the times of the people
that used it.

919
00:55:53,160 --> 00:55:57,080
We can appreciate the logic and
elegance of the course it takes.

920
00:55:57,080 --> 00:55:59,200
Connecting north with south.

921
00:55:59,200 --> 00:56:02,440
Sacred with secular.

922
00:56:03,480 --> 00:56:05,520
Past with present.

923
00:56:05,520 --> 00:56:08,160
Aah!

924
00:56:08,160 --> 00:56:11,160
Ooh, tremendous. Ooh!

925
00:56:13,920 --> 00:56:16,000
THEY GROAN
Fantastic.

926
00:56:16,000 --> 00:56:18,320
Mmm!

927
00:56:20,280 --> 00:56:22,360
HE LAUGHS

928
00:56:22,360 --> 00:56:25,160
You see why the people
wear these hair shirts,

929
00:56:25,160 --> 00:56:27,480
just to enjoy the moment
of taking them off.

930
00:56:27,480 --> 00:56:30,600
It's nothing to do with pain,
it's got everything to do with

931
00:56:30,600 --> 00:56:33,760
a masochistic impulse
to stop doing it.

932
00:56:33,760 --> 00:56:35,080
Ooh!

933
00:56:37,280 --> 00:56:40,480
In its time,
the Bishop's Palace was the finest,

934
00:56:40,480 --> 00:56:43,760
most lavish ecclesiastical
building in Europe.

935
00:56:43,760 --> 00:56:46,040
Proof, if any was needed,

936
00:56:46,040 --> 00:56:49,200
of the importance
of pilgrimage to St David's.

937
00:56:49,200 --> 00:56:51,960
But the attempt to destroy it
during the Reformation

938
00:56:51,960 --> 00:56:55,160
is as evident today
as it was 500 years ago.

939
00:56:59,240 --> 00:57:02,240
During the height of pilgrimage
in the medieval era,

940
00:57:02,240 --> 00:57:05,520
when we imagined our journey
to have taken place,

941
00:57:05,520 --> 00:57:08,440
the bishop would have invited
distinguished pilgrims

942
00:57:08,440 --> 00:57:10,560
to dine here in the Great Hall.

943
00:57:11,800 --> 00:57:14,680
And the current bishop
has invited us to do the same

944
00:57:14,680 --> 00:57:17,360
and to reflect on
our journey together.

945
00:57:17,360 --> 00:57:20,920
I wouldn't have thought that
going on a pilgrimage

946
00:57:20,920 --> 00:57:24,040
would have been such
a sociable adventure.

947
00:57:24,040 --> 00:57:26,720
The company's been
absolutely fantastic.

948
00:57:26,720 --> 00:57:28,880
I really enjoyed getting to know
everybody.

949
00:57:28,880 --> 00:57:31,960
The other thing was the rabbit stew.
Right.

950
00:57:31,960 --> 00:57:34,400
Kidneys. Ah, I loved the kidneys.

951
00:57:34,400 --> 00:57:37,360
And the liver!
Oh, the liver was just heaven.

952
00:57:37,360 --> 00:57:40,240
I think the thing we've failed
to mention is the whittling.

953
00:57:40,240 --> 00:57:41,360
Definitely.

954
00:57:41,360 --> 00:57:45,880
Everybody spent hours and hours
sitting down

955
00:57:45,880 --> 00:57:49,840
just whittling away at their staves.

956
00:57:49,840 --> 00:57:53,640
Cheers. Cheers. Cheers.
Bob, can you give us a Welsh toast?

957
00:57:53,640 --> 00:57:57,040
Iechyd da.
ALL: Iechyd da.

958
00:58:00,120 --> 00:58:03,240
And now it's time to celebrate
our own pilgrim tales.

959
00:58:06,560 --> 00:58:08,680
# Davey was a hairy chap

960
00:58:08,680 --> 00:58:12,640
# But he got stuck with
an antique map

961
00:58:12,640 --> 00:58:15,320
# Nathan was a lusty man

962
00:58:15,320 --> 00:58:19,360
# Until he played Cnapan

963
00:58:19,360 --> 00:58:22,280
# Lara did what her daddy taught her

964
00:58:22,280 --> 00:58:26,040
# And then she fell
in the muddy water

965
00:58:26,040 --> 00:58:28,440
# A man named Griff
had a tale to tell

966
00:58:28,440 --> 00:58:31,520
# He froze to death in
St Winefride's Well

967
00:58:31,520 --> 00:58:34,320
# Walk with me across the rover

968
00:58:34,320 --> 00:58:38,040
# Until we get to all that clover

969
00:58:38,040 --> 00:58:40,560
# We can walk the pilgrim route

970
00:58:40,560 --> 00:58:43,000
# As long as our luggage

971
00:58:43,000 --> 00:58:47,960
# Goes in the boot! #

972
00:58:53,400 --> 00:58:56,520
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