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paul merton driving amazing trains s01e05 skyfire
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00:01Trains. I've always loved them. Big, small, steam, diesel.
00:07Where did that love come from?
00:10When I was six years old, I stood on this very spot,
00:13and what I saw that day I'd never forgotten.
00:16It made me the envy of every boy in school,
00:19because coming across that bridge was a train,
00:22and that train was being driven by my dad.
00:26Ever since then, I've always wanted to get the view he had,
00:30the one that no-one else gets, the driver's view.
00:35So I'm off on a train lover's odyssey,
00:42riding the footplates of Britain and Europe.
00:45Oh, that's great.
00:47When you were growing up, did you always want to be an engine driver?
00:51Yes, it's a dream when I was a child.
00:54Some will be huge.
00:56Oh, some of that went in, others...
00:59..a little more modest.
01:00I'll meet some wonderful people
01:02dedicated to this majestic form of transport.
01:06Oh!
01:09Already I'm beginning to feel like a train driver.
01:12And have fun off the train too,
01:14along some of the world's most beautiful lines.
01:17Well, I wasn't expecting to be doing this.
01:20Join me for a ride with a viewpoint that only an engine driver gets.
01:32This time, I'm in Wales,
01:34making the journey from country to coast.
01:38Oh, we're quite high up there, aren't we?
01:39Oh, I don't love the look at that!
01:41Oh, dear!
01:42I take the controls of the world's first heritage railway...
01:46Down?
01:47Yeah.
01:48..with mixed results.
01:50Bit fierce!
01:52Oh, sorry!
01:52I then hop onto the main line
01:54on what could be a commuter's version of heaven,
01:57a line without signals.
01:59I always like it when you wonder what's round the corner, you know?
02:02Sheep, Norman!
02:03Yes, it!
02:04And enjoy the grandest views
02:06from a scaled-down locomotive by the sea.
02:10We have another one into the tunnel here.
02:12All right.
02:14Oh, I do love tunnels.
02:20My first driver's eye view
02:22will be from the footplate of the Earl.
02:29A two-foot-six-inch gauge locomotive built in 1902
02:32and the pride of the Welsh Pool and Clan Viya line.
02:37Hello.
02:38Hi, Paul. Hello.
02:38Hello.
02:39Do you want to have permission to come on board?
02:41Of course you do.
02:42I'll be sharing the cab with the driver, Simon,
02:44and the fireman, Charles.
02:47Unlike my dad, who always wore his uniform at work,
02:50I'm late and will have to ride in civvies.
02:53What do you like to take your hat off?
02:54Yes, I don't think I'm quite properly dressed.
02:57Put it in there.
02:58You've got a clean hand?
02:59Yes, I have at the moment.
03:00OK, fantastic.
03:02Brilliant.
03:02I'm starting at Clan Viya, Caio Aignon.
03:06Chuffing down to Welsh Pool,
03:08where I will join the main line at Dovey Junction
03:10for a spot of Osprey watching.
03:14Then it's off to Tallachlin
03:15to meet a friend of Thomas the Tank Engine
03:19before heading to Barmouth
03:20to ride a super-small saddle tank
03:22on the Fairbourn line.
03:25Then it's on to Harlick Castle.
03:29Before my final destination,
03:31the magical Port Merion.
03:37OK, so what do I need to know
03:39and what do I need to be aware of?
03:41OK, so everything in front of me here is hot.
03:43Yes.
03:43This is exceptionally hot.
03:45That pipe is hot.
03:47And keep it handy despite the blast.
03:48Right.
03:49We should be about ready to go.
03:52The Earl will be taking me on the eight-mile journey
03:54along the Welsh Pool and Clan Viya Light Railway.
04:09The Earl is a narrow-gauge steam locomotive built over 120 years ago
04:14for use on this very line.
04:18The Earl is a bit of an engine.
04:18Despite it being a small engine,
04:20it's strenuous work for the crew.
04:24I've been a driver for about 15 years now.
04:27I was a fireman for seven years before that.
04:30Right.
04:30Which do you prefer to be the fireman or the driver?
04:32It is far, far more romantic to be the driver,
04:35but it's much more challenging to be the fireman.
04:40It's not difficult to see why.
04:42Even for an engine of this size,
04:44Charles the fireman may be shoveling up to 40 to 80 pounds of coal per mile.
04:51The engines have to respond to what the fireman does.
04:56Right.
04:56And on a railway like ours, which is not flat,
05:00it's a real challenge to know when to put the coal on,
05:03when to put the walk on to maintain steam pressure.
05:06It's one of the main challenges of this railway,
05:08are the gradients.
05:09Right.
05:13And you've got a fence at the right here and a fence at the left,
05:17so that's why we've reduced our speed at this point.
05:19Absolutely.
05:20I suppose that's the key advantage in narrow-gauge
05:23is that the corner is much tighter.
05:26Tighter corners, deeper gradients.
05:28And it's much cheaper.
05:31The narrower the gauge,
05:33the more economic it was to construct a line
05:35to serve rural communities.
05:42And what's the steepest gradient on this line?
05:45The steepest gradient is about 1 in 24.
05:48And you can hear the engine putting the effort in now.
05:51And the engine is really starting to work.
05:53Yeah.
05:54And then we go up and we go down again.
05:57Any normal railway would have had all that levelled out.
06:00Yes.
06:01And it's interesting, even to my sort of untrained ear,
06:04even if I wasn't seeing, I could hear when we were going up the grade,
06:08didn't I?
06:08No way we'd have flattened out.
06:09This line opened in 1903,
06:12serving the busy agricultural industries and local market town.
06:18The railway is filled to carry general goods, coal,
06:26fertiliser, from Wellfall.
06:28Livestock?
06:28And livestock.
06:30From Wellfall up to Lamba.
06:32And it's not hard to guess what type of livestock was mainly transported.
06:38I see the sheep are well used here.
06:40They're not even bothering to...
06:41The sheep don't mind at all.
06:45With lorry transport becoming more popular,
06:48local businesses turned to the roads,
06:50resulting in the line's closure in 1956.
06:54Nearly a decade later,
06:56it was saved and preserved as a heritage railway.
07:01It's a nice place to have a tree out.
07:03Oh, it's a fantastic tree out.
07:12So we're coming into the station now,
07:14and it's beautiful having the smoke coming towards me.
07:18The smell of the coal-fired steam,
07:20the heat coming out of the firebox here.
07:22It's all a sort of hugely sensory experience.
07:25I think I can see the guard walking towards us,
07:27who's now stopped because I've pointed him out.
07:30This means there's a problem
07:31as the guard is very much in charge of this train.
07:35We're no longer able to run steam engines on the railway today,
07:38so we've been asked to run the engine around,
07:41return to Lamba,
07:42and pick up the diesel engine for the rest of the station.
07:45OK, I'll probably remember.
07:49We're in a rather unusual situation here.
07:51We should be carrying further along the line,
07:53but yesterday this engine accidentally set a field on fire.
07:57There was a large lump of coal came out of the top,
08:00still a light,
08:01land in the field,
08:02and luckily it was put out quite quickly.
08:06But the fire brigade have asked the railway
08:08not to go any further down the line with steam
08:11until we get some rain,
08:12which, being Wales, should only be a few minutes away.
08:16So what we would do is go back,
08:17go back the way we came,
08:18put a diesel engine onto this,
08:20and then carry on to Welshpool.
08:25Well, I can't say I was expecting this,
08:27but we are now heading right back to where we began.
08:31But the good news is I get to ride on another train,
08:35and this time with a different loco.
08:47I'm in the beautiful valleys of North Wales
08:50where my first train ride has suffered a setback.
08:54We are no longer able to run steam engines on the railway today.
08:58Due to a field fire caused yesterday by embers from the Earl,
09:02we are now heading back to where we began,
09:05Klanvaia Kairaignon.
09:07But it means I get an extra trip along this amazing railway.
09:11Wonderful, isn't it, just to see this steam engine running since 1903,
09:17not continuously, but it's still in incredible condition.
09:22When you see them up close like this,
09:24you just realise what a magnificent invention they are.
09:33As we head back, the scorched field is visible.
09:37This is one of the perils of running steam-powered engines during a drought,
09:42which is why I'm swapping to a diesel locomotive.
09:46So now we are about to head off in the right direction once again.
10:05Every driver I've spoken to talks about how each steam locomotive has its own character.
10:10Can you say the same about diesel engines?
10:12Are they all weighing much over much?
10:13Within reason, as long as they are behaving, they're the same every day.
10:18Yeah.
10:18The steam engine is different every day.
10:22And at least Charles the fireman is getting a much deserved rest.
10:29Simon, pleasure to meet you, thank you so much indeed.
10:32And Charles, try not to work too hard on the way back.
10:35I'll do that first.
10:35Finally, we've arrived at the end of the line, Welshpool, the market town where livestock transported on this line was
10:43bought and sold.
10:50The market here predates the 13th century and incredibly, it's still running today, but using lorries for transport instead of
10:58trains.
11:02Oh, hi, Sean, how are you?
11:04I'm good, thank you.
11:05Thank you for...
11:06I'm here to meet Sean, the sheep farmer.
11:08I'll let you lead the way.
11:09Her flock from the Welshpool valleys are some of the half a million sheep sold at this market every year.
11:18Well, the first thing I notice as we walk in here is the sound of sheep.
11:21Oh, yes.
11:21There's about 8,000 here today's sheep.
11:248,000?
11:24Yeah.
11:25Are there different categories of sheep that are being sold today?
11:27Yeah, so here we've got spring lambs, so these would have been born this year.
11:31Right.
11:32And then further on, there's some old ewes, so they're ewes that get sold if they've got bad teeth or
11:38they're just old.
11:39The old sheep with bad teeth, what happens to them?
11:41Erm, they'll go for different sorts. They might go for your don of kebabs or...
11:45Right.
11:45Or, yeah, all that different stuff.
11:46So that would be a reason why no don of kebab ever has any teeth?
11:49Yeah.
11:50Probably.
11:56As you may have noticed, these farmers don't hang about when it comes to buying
12:01and selling sheep.
12:04I think you need to have a go.
12:05Well, I...
12:07I don't...
12:07I don't want to sort of muck up the whole system.
12:10It looks quite complicated, doesn't it?
12:12It does.
12:12And I can't...
12:13I can't see anybody bidding, but you tell me that they are.
12:16Yeah, yeah, they are.
12:18You watch them now slowly.
12:19OK.
12:20So he's just lifted a finger.
12:21And then he's just twitched his lip.
12:23So then he'll write down how much it went for and who's it sold to.
12:26Yes.
12:27Right.
12:27I'd love to tell you that I noticed who was successfully bidding,
12:31but the curious mixture of subtlety and speed left me somewhat bemused.
12:37Still, it remains the largest sheep market in Western Europe.
12:43Would farming chickens be easier?
12:45Oh, no, I hate chickens.
12:46Oh, do you?
12:46Oh, my Lord, no.
12:48Absolutely not.
12:49What is it about chickens you don't like?
12:51Oh, it's the feathers and the flapping and all that.
12:52No, thank you.
12:53Oh, my God.
12:58As we're on a timetable, it's time to head to Welshpool Station.
13:05I'm going to be travelling west on the Cambrian Line,
13:07with a slight detour to get to the small station of Dovey Junction.
13:14I'm told it offers breathtaking views,
13:17which is lucky because today I have a driver's eye view.
13:22I'm not travelling with the passengers today.
13:24I'm travelling with the driver, with a bit of luck.
13:30Oh, hello there.
13:31Hi, Paul. How are you?
13:31I'm good.
13:32You're Johnny, are you?
13:33I'm Johnny, yeah.
13:33How are you today?
13:35Hi.
13:35I'm up front with driver Johnny,
13:37who is going to show me the high-tech features
13:39of this Class 158 Express Sprinter.
13:44This is a great view you have here, isn't it?
13:47It's a lovely view.
13:48A beautiful part of the world to be here drawing here.
13:50Despite the nice views,
13:52being a driver wasn't top of Johnny's career choices.
13:55To be honest, I hadn't ridden on a train until I was 18, 19 years old.
14:01Oh, really? Why is that?
14:02My parents drove everywhere.
14:07The Cambrian Line connects Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth
14:10and Puffelli in Wales.
14:13And the trains can seat 113 passengers.
14:23There's rain on the screen there, Paul.
14:25The right-back control is on your right there.
14:28Oh, I see. Turn up.
14:29OK.
14:34Right, so how fast are you going now?
14:36130 kph.
14:37Sorry, yeah.
14:3880 mile an hour.
14:4080?
14:4080, yeah.
14:41Right.
14:42The Class 158 units were built in the early 90s
14:45and are powered by diesel, as this line is not electrified.
14:50And once I worked out how to use the wipers, the visibility is fantastic.
14:57On a clear day, the Cambrian Line is famous for its views of the coast and countryside.
15:03And it's still very beautiful, even on a rainy day.
15:08So you can see with this foliage, the way it's sort of hanging over the train.
15:11Yes.
15:11You think, we're going to hit that.
15:13It's like the train's created its own little tunnel.
15:15Yes, exactly.
15:16Yes.
15:17And I always like the fact when you're turning a corner,
15:19and you just wonder what's around the corner, you know?
15:21I've heard something like that.
15:23Sheep, normally.
15:24Yes.
15:26Although the Cambrian Line is a remote and rural line,
15:29it's actually one of the most sophisticated in the whole of Britain.
15:32And one thing you won't see out of the window are trackside signals,
15:36as they are all in the cab.
15:40So this is Newtown?
15:41This is Newtown, yeah.
15:43So that's my signal.
15:45So I can tell from my screen.
15:48I know I've got authority passed, so I need to tell the guard
15:51if I give him two on the buzzer.
15:53Right.
15:53He now knows that I can proceed.
15:56Right, OK.
15:57OK.
15:58The system, which operates from a hub in Aberystwyth,
16:00acts like air traffic control for trains.
16:04All the information Johnny would have got from the signals
16:07is fed directly to his cab instead.
16:10So I've gone into authority now, Paul.
16:12Yeah.
16:12Just under two kilometres away, so I've dropped my speed down
16:15because we're coming to a passing loop.
16:17Right, yes.
16:18We'll pass another train.
16:20So my red signal now is there's a train there waiting.
16:27It hasn't yet given me an authority to proceed.
16:30There's the other train?
16:31Yeah.
16:32Do the drivers wave at each other?
16:34Yeah, yeah, yeah.
16:35We all get on.
16:36Let's give them a little wave now.
16:50What was that noise telling you?
16:51So that's telling me the maximum speed I can travel at is 80 kilometres an hour.
16:59Right.
17:00And if I was to go over by 3 kph, it would warn me.
17:05Right.
17:07If I was to just let it go and it went to 85 kph, it would put the brake in.
17:12Oh, really?
17:13Yeah.
17:14It would intervene.
17:14So when you're at home and the microwave goes, do you suddenly jump out?
17:17I switch off then.
17:18Do you switch off?
17:18Switch off, yeah.
17:20It's certainly a far better and brighter view than my dad would ever have got on the district line.
17:28As far as driving trains, I couldn't think of a better job.
17:33No, that's good because, you know, they say, don't they, if you love your job, you never do a day's
17:37work in your life.
17:38It's not really work, is it?
17:39Yeah.
17:42This is a lovely old station.
17:44It is, isn't it? It's got all the character.
17:45Yeah.
17:46So is this where we're getting off?
17:47This is McCunclef, yeah.
17:53Fantastic.
17:54Not a problem.
17:55Yeah, thank you so much.
17:56No, it's fine.
17:56Cheers. Lovely.
17:57Thanks for spending the time, innit?
17:59It's good.
18:02Just after McCunclef, the line splits.
18:05Johnny will drive south towards Aberystwyth, while I'm taking the line north, stopping off at Dovey Junction, home to a
18:11very special family.
18:17Not here.
18:19Dovey, don't, sir.
18:22Well, I'm off to meet a couple now who have flown a very long way to meet me, and I'd
18:26better not keep them waiting.
18:38Janine Panett is part of the Dovey Osprey project, a conservation initiative focused on supporting these once endangered birds.
18:48What do you think our chances are of seeing some Osprey today?
18:51Oh, we'll have to wait and see if anybody's at home or if they're all hiding down by the river.
18:56Right. Fingers crossed.
18:57OK.
18:58They are incredibly difficult to spot, due to low numbers and being seasonal migrant birds, but a lot easier to
19:05find if you have one of these.
19:09This is our 360 observatory.
19:12Right.
19:13So, at the moment, we have mum and two of our brood of three. The two on the side are
19:20actually only three months old.
19:22Right, so they grow very quickly.
19:23Very quickly. Fish is a good diet to have.
19:26And so that's their main diet, is it fish?
19:29100% fish, yeah. Extremely rare for them to get anything else.
19:32And at this stage of the season, the youngsters are still completely dependent on the parents at this point.
19:38The nature reserve is nestled by the river Dovey, making it a safe haven for the birds.
19:44But 50 years ago, it was a very different story.
19:47Then, they were facing extinction.
19:50What was the reason for the dwinded numbers?
19:52Sadly, like a lot of things, it was direct human persecution.
19:57Egg collecting was a very big thing in the Victorian era, here in the UK.
20:01So, people would take whole clutches of eggs, and with only one breathing attempt every year, that sort of pressure
20:08on the population just meant the numbers dwindled and dwindled.
20:11Collecting eggs seems to be a particularly banal, boring hobby. Why did people collect eggs?
20:17It was just one of those strange quirks that people did. As much as they collected stamps, it was just
20:23a thing to have a whole collection.
20:25Thanks to nature reserves like this, there are now around 300 breeding pairs of ospreys in the UK.
20:36They only spend the summer months here with us.
20:38Well, we have nice long daylight hours for them to fish in.
20:41But they're already...
20:43They must be disappointed with the weather today.
20:44They come all this way for this.
20:45I think they sometimes regret it, yeah, when they look at it out here.
20:47But don't feel too sorry for them.
20:49Yeah.
20:49Because in another month's time, while we're all freezing and cold and eating our Christmas dinners, they'll be sitting on
20:55a beach somewhere.
20:57Compared to the ospreys' trip to Africa and back, my next journey from Dubby Junction north to Turwin is only
21:0420 miles.
21:07But it will take me to the home of the world's first heritage railway.
21:21My journey through Wales started on the tiny Welsh Pool and Clan Viar Railway, before joining the big boys on
21:28the Cambrian Line.
21:30This is a great view you have here, isn't it?
21:32It's a lovely view. A beautiful part of the world to be adroying in.
21:36But now I'm dropping down a gauge with a visit to the wonderful Talaclyn Railway.
21:42But they're not going to give me a free ride. I'll have to work for it.
21:46Hello there. Are you Bill?
21:47I am. Hello. I'm Paul. Hello. Nice to meet you.
21:50Pleased to meet you.
21:51I hear you're going to help us with prepping the engine.
21:53Yes. Anything I can do to help?
21:55Yeah.
21:55All right. Well, I've got some overalls for you.
21:57Oh, OK. That's good news.
21:58You want to get changed?
21:59Yeah, all right. I will. Thanks very much. OK. Catch up with you.
22:01All right.
22:02This line is a narrow gauge railway originally built for the slate trade in the 1860s.
22:09And once I get changed, I'll be up front with Bill, the driver.
22:14Bill, instant transformation.
22:16Excellent. Right. Let's put you to work then.
22:17Great. The overalls look very clean. Will they still look clean at the end of this journey?
22:20No.
22:21I suppose I could have guessed that.
22:24Dolgoth is the railway's number two locomotive and was built in 1866.
22:31Tell me, what do you want me to do?
22:32Right, Paul. If you take the bung out.
22:34OK.
22:36And I'll...
22:38That's it. Just let it drop.
22:39Yeah.
22:40And then if you put the hose in, I'll turn the tap on.
22:43OK.
22:44Hang on. Let's hang on.
22:44Oh, hang on.
22:45OK.
22:47Right, OK.
22:48That's it. All right.
22:49Yeah.
22:50Oh, this is how you learn, I suppose, isn't it?
22:54OK, yeah.
22:54That's full.
22:55All right.
22:58Surprisingly thirsty, she is one of eight remaining engines left in the world that were built
23:03by the Cumbrian engineering company Fletcher Jennings.
23:09Right, so we've got to put in the coal now.
23:11Right.
23:11So coal goes in the bunker, which is here.
23:14OK, yes.
23:15Oh, hello.
23:22That looks pretty full to me.
23:24Yeah, probably a bit more for luck, I think.
23:26Oh, OK.
23:26Yep.
23:28Whoa!
23:29You make it look lighter when you're holding it.
23:37Right, there we are.
23:38Well, he did warn me it would get messy.
23:41So, Bill, is there anything I can do?
23:43Can I play?
23:43Can I blow the whistle?
23:44Yes, you can when we go.
23:46When we go.
23:46Fantastic.
23:52Remarkably, the line can trace its origins back to the American Civil War in the 1860s.
23:59At that time, the supply of cotton from America has become an erratic, so many British businessmen
24:04started looking for alternative ventures, including Welsh Slate.
24:21Can I whistle in?
24:22Yeah, yeah, yeah.
24:26You may have just seen the sheep on the line.
24:29Er, we wouldn't let it on the train, it doesn't have a ticket.
24:32The train weighs over 10 tonnes and isn't going to break any speed records.
24:36It only travels about 15 miles per hour.
24:39But when you're carrying Slate and puffing through scenery like this, why would you want to go faster?
24:47I just want to point out, every time you hear the trains whistle, that's me pulling the whistle.
24:50I wouldn't want you to think I was just sitting here doing nothing.
24:56Despite the quarry closing in 1946, the railway survived.
25:01It's been run by volunteers like Bill ever since, and is known as the world's first heritage railway.
25:09Volunteers come from everywhere.
25:12They come from England, Wales, Scotland, er, internationally.
25:19Some from America, Japan, er, Denmark, Netherlands.
25:24They come from all over.
25:26Right, so this is an internationally famous railway?
25:28It is, yes.
25:32The railway runs six steam and four diesel engines.
25:37Dolgogh may be one of the oldest, but she's a clear favourite amongst the volunteers.
25:43When you're driving her, she's got a lot of history.
25:46Some drivers love her, some drivers not so much.
25:50Yes.
25:51But, erm, it's...
25:53Would you be, would she be described as 10 million?
25:57Er...
25:57For some drivers, yes.
25:59But no, but no, she's just a joy to drive.
26:03This is a magnificent experience, though, isn't it?
26:05You can't beat a steam railway locomotive.
26:08There aren't many experiences you can have that date from the 1860s.
26:11I suppose you could have a glass of Napoleon brandy that was from there from that era,
26:15but, er, you don't get the same smell and the same sensation, or indeed the whistling.
26:21So, we're coming up to a bridge, so I think I'm going to go back in in case they need
26:24me to whistle again.
26:25See you shortly.
26:29The line is over seven miles long, and at certain points it may not be for those with a nervous
26:35disposition.
26:40Oh, we're quite high up there, aren't we? Oh, I don't like the look of that.
26:46And then this is Dolgogh Falls.
26:55So, this is the old mineral extension.
26:57Originally, all the passengers would finish their journey at Abagnari.
27:00Right.
27:00And this is the bit up to the quarry.
27:03Very nice.
27:04And then another whistle.
27:09When children see this, when young kids see this, they must be rather amazed, because they've been sort of like
27:15well used to trains as we know them today.
27:18But to see a Steve locomotive, are they still as fascinated by it as children of previous generations were?
27:24Yes, I think so.
27:26We still get a lot of children travelling on the railway.
27:31Reverend Audrey, who wrote the Thomas Tank Engine books, he used to volunteer here.
27:36Oh, really?
27:37Yes.
27:37The author of the railway series, which included the much-beloved characters of Thomas, Percy and James, was the Reverend
27:44Wilbert Audrey, who was a regular visitor here in the 1950s, later becoming a volunteer guard.
27:52Some of Audrey's books were inspired by his experiences of working on the railway.
27:57In fact, if you think the character, Wrenhaus, looks familiar, it was based on none other than Dolgogh.
28:07I suppose I would say that one thing is it's quite a jerky journey, isn't it? And would the passengers
28:13be feeling that as well, back in the carriages?
28:15Hopefully not. This engine's got a particular type of motion, and it lends itself to a bit of that kind
28:23of motion.
28:25Right.
28:26One whistle again. One long whistle. One long whistle coming. I'll be getting good at the whistling.
28:31Yeah.
28:36Very good. Very good. What we're doing now is we're slowing down for certain points that are just out of
28:42sight.
28:42Uh-huh.
28:42So that's spot on. Well done.
28:46You have done this before, haven't you?
28:47Yeah, well, you know.
28:50Of course, whistling is one thing, but I couldn't come all this way to the world's oldest heritage railway without
28:57having a go at driving an engine myself.
29:02You see, in between the two tracks, there's two sort of whiteboards.
29:06Yes.
29:06There's a whiteboard descend and a white belong to far end.
29:09Uh-huh.
29:09We've got to get the train to stop in between there.
29:11Right.
29:12Yeah.
29:12Okay.
29:13Down.
29:13Yeah, down.
29:16Oh.
29:18Oh.
29:19Bit fierce.
29:19Oh, sorry.
29:21It's all right.
29:22It's your first attempt.
29:23Yes.
29:24Well, thanks very much.
29:25That was a great experience.
29:25I'm sorry about the rather abrupt stop at the end.
29:27That's all right.
29:28We stopped before we needed to.
29:30Yeah, so that's good.
29:31Yeah, about five seconds before we needed to.
29:33But I'd noticed the timetable.
29:34We were five seconds behind, so we're now spot on.
29:36So, well, Bill, thank you very much indeed.
29:38Lovely to meet you.
29:38Thank you so much indeed.
29:40Great pleasure.
29:41I really enjoyed that.
29:43Narrow gauge railways remain one of Wales' greatest inspirations and exports.
29:49Throughout the Commonwealth, they helped shape both the farming and mining industries.
29:57Having just left Talyklin, I'm now moving 20 minutes down the road to the Fairbourne Railway.
30:05I can't help noticing that this narrow gauge railway is slightly more narrow.
30:11I think I'm here to help you drive.
30:13You are. Would you like to come and join me on the footplate?
30:15Not that you need any help, I'm sure, but...
30:17Mind your head coming in there.
30:18OK, thank you.
30:19Rather low.
30:20Yeah, great.
30:22The Fairbourne Railway was originally a horse-drawn tramway built in 1895 to transport construction materials.
30:31Later, it became a steam railway, carrying passengers along the beach.
30:36I'll be riding up front with Jenny, who is busy multitasking.
30:42You are combining both job as fireman and driver, aren't you?
30:45That's right, yeah. We have to do everything.
30:46Yes.
30:47Do you enjoy it?
30:48Oh, yeah.
30:48It's just something about steam engines, isn't it?
30:51Yeah.
30:51They've got a timeless appeal.
30:53I can't help but noticing that we're facing that way, but we're going to be going that way.
30:58That's right.
30:59Sadly, we don't have any way of turning the engines round at either end.
31:02You don't have a turntable?
31:02We don't have a turntable.
31:03OK, all right.
31:04Well, so, are we due to go?
31:06We are ready to go, yeah.
31:07Control, do you have permission to depart Fairbourne?
31:10Over.
31:13All those are satisfying noises, aren't they?
31:15Indeed.
31:16The steam brake coming off lovely, isn't it?
31:18Yeah.
31:19And away we go.
31:22We'll be making the two-mile journey from the village of Fairbourne to the mouth of the Maldak estuary
31:27to catch a connecting boat to travel on to Barmouth.
31:33This is a very narrow gauge train, but it's more than capable of hauling dozens of passengers.
31:43So, what is the gauge that we're running on now?
31:46This is 12 and a quarter inch.
31:47Right.
31:47In this case.
31:48And the full size version would be?
31:51Two foot gauge.
31:52Two foot.
31:52So, what's the name of this one?
31:53This is Sherpa.
31:54Sherpa.
31:55So, what's her temperament like?
31:56She's very easy going.
31:58Is she?
31:58She's a good girl.
32:02Sherpa began her working life in the French countryside and back then she was called France.
32:10The loco is a half-sized replica of a Darjeeling and Himalaya narrow gauge engine in India that was used
32:17in the tea plantations.
32:19So, if you had a cup of tea in the 1950s, your leaves may well have been transported by a
32:24train like this.
32:27When the French line closed, she sat rusting in the shed for decades until she was brought over to Fairbourn
32:33and began a new life as Sherpa.
32:37Some passengers ahead waiting to get on the train and Jenny's very well aware of those.
32:41So, she's adjusting the regulator now just to slow us down.
32:45The top speed that we're allowed to do on this is eight miles an hour, but it feels like it's
32:49going faster at times.
32:52Are you travelling with us, yeah?
32:53Yes, please.
33:04People are fascinated by steam railways, aren't they?
33:07They're one of those things that's like a living, breathing animal, aren't they?
33:10Yeah, I think that's right.
33:16The railway is now run by a charity with volunteers looking after 22,500 visitors every year.
33:30So, this is what we call the end of a section.
33:32Right, yes.
33:34And then this...
33:35Oh, no, I've seen this system before, yes.
33:37This is the token for the section that we've just been travelling through.
33:40That means that you cannot proceed unless you have that token.
33:43Correct.
33:43Yeah.
33:44So, in order to go into the next section, we need the other token,
33:48which is on the engine with the other train crew at the moment.
33:51Right.
33:51We'll give this one to them so they can come in this bit of track.
33:54Yeah.
33:54And they'll give us the one that they've got so that we can go into their bit of track.
33:57So, essentially, it's a foolproof system, really, isn't it?
34:00Exactly, that's it.
34:01If you haven't got the staff for the line, you're not allowed on it.
34:06Yeah, yeah.
34:11So, this is where you've got to hand the token over.
34:13That's right.
34:13So, I'll give this one to the other train, and they'll give me the one that they've got.
34:17Yeah.
34:22And this is called a passing loop, isn't it?
34:24That's right, yeah.
34:25There's a tunnel here.
34:26All right.
34:28And then there'll be another one as we come out the other end.
34:32Oh, I do love tunnels.
34:43Oh, wonderful.
34:44First place to get this down, isn't it?
34:46Yes.
34:52It's quite amazing that an engine of this size can pull a train carrying so many passengers.
35:12And there we are.
35:13So, this is the end of the line?
35:14This is the end of the line.
35:16Super-to-control.
35:17Train arrived at Barmas Ferry.
35:18Over.
35:19Well, Jenny, thank you very much indeed.
35:21That's been an absolute pleasure.
35:22You're very welcome.
35:23Oh, I have shaken your hand.
35:24Oh, no, it's all right.
35:25I'm OK.
35:26All right.
35:29As I watch the train depart, I need to work out how to get across the water and back onto
35:35the main line.
35:48As I've reached the end of this particular line on my journey around Wells, I'm forced
35:53to take to the water.
35:59I've arrived here at Barmouth Harbour on the Fairbourn Miniature Railway.
36:05The bridge you can see behind me is the main line railway.
36:07If I'd come on that, I would have gone straight into Barmouth Harbour.
36:10But as it is, I'm going to have to catch the ferry.
36:12And just to prove that that's a bridge that trains go over, there's a train going over
36:16the bridge.
36:22Hi there.
36:23Hello.
36:24Can you take me to Barmouth?
36:25Sure we can.
36:38Thanks very much.
36:39You're welcome back.
36:40Cheers.
36:45The Welsh Railways were born because of the riches buried in its earth.
36:50Coal and slate.
36:5430 minutes up the line from Barmouth, set in the valleys, are the Klanvaia slate caverns.
37:04What a beautiful view.
37:07Big open countryside, wonderful fresh air, open sky.
37:12Unfortunately, where I'm going now is the complete opposite.
37:24Yes, absolutely.
37:25I don't often wish I was shorter, but I think this might be one of those rare occasions in
37:30life where I wish I was five foot two.
37:32My guide is the man who owns this cavern, Rob Owen.
37:38Oh, wow.
37:39Wow, look at that.
37:40That's quite a size, isn't it?
37:41That was opened up in 1873 when they started the mine.
37:45Right.
37:46It worked from 1873 to 1906.
37:48Why did it close in 1906?
37:50It's because all the good slate has gone.
37:52It's been worked out.
37:53Right.
37:53It's all been dug out by hand right through to the gates where we came in.
37:57Right.
37:58Okay.
37:58Incredible.
38:00Industrialisation meant to move away from agricultural living to urban city dwelling,
38:05creating an unprecedented building boom.
38:07This resulted in a huge demand for slate.
38:12By 1898, the workforce in the Welsh mines was around 17,000, producing half a million tonnes
38:18of slate a year.
38:22You see, working down here, it wasn't a place for the faint hearted.
38:26No.
38:26And, of course, integral to the slate industry were the railways, both large and small.
38:34See where the old railway track used to run, Paul?
38:36Oh, right, yes.
38:37There'd be four men on the winch at the top, pulling the trucks up, each one weighing about
38:41a tonne.
38:41Wow.
38:42Then it was taken from here, outside, where it was made into roofing slates, and then
38:47taken by horse where it was shipped out.
38:49Yeah.
38:49The Welsh slate has gone all over the world.
38:55Well, as impressive as slate is, I'm making a quick detour to look at something that's
38:59made of sandstone.
39:03Harlech Castle, just up the road, was built in the 13th century by King Edward I, and witnessed
39:09some of the most epic battles in Welsh history.
39:13It took about eight years to build, roughly, and apparently for the princely sum of 8,000
39:20pounds.
39:21Wow.
39:22Yes.
39:23That's when 8,000 pounds was 8,000 pounds.
39:24Indeed, yes.
39:25In World War II, the castle became home to a special military unit, the crack commandos
39:31of X-Troop.
39:33And local historian Charles Risbrook is going to tell me all about it.
39:38An X-Troop comprised mainly, or almost exclusively, of German and Austrian Jews who'd escaped from
39:47Germany.
39:47A lot of them came back to Britain.
39:49They were allowed to join the pioneer corps, which was a labour corps, with digging trenches,
39:56you know, all very valuable work.
39:58But they thought that they should do more than that.
40:01Knowing the German land and the language made these mainly Jewish escapees the perfect
40:07troops to fight behind enemy lines.
40:15One of their training regimes was to run from here to Snowdon and scale it, come back, which
40:24is about 20 miles away, and then climb up the walls of Harlot Castle without the Home
40:30Guard knowing that they were doing it.
40:32Right.
40:32Which they did successfully.
40:35It's said they trained harder than any other unit in the British Army, and were named X-Troop
40:40by Churchill himself.
40:44Their first mission was in 1942, as part of a raid to steal the top secret Enigma machine.
40:52So is X-Troop one of the sort of, was it one of the sort of secret stories of the
40:56war that
40:56we only found out about much later?
40:58Yes.
40:58Yeah, very much so.
41:00And I believe some of their exploits are still hidden by the official secrets.
41:07And they're regarded as the finest commando group of any nation during the Second World War.
41:18There's nothing secret about my final destination.
41:21It attracts visitors from all over the world.
41:27And for this ride, I'm being really spoilt.
41:30Just behind this brick wall, there is the most magnificent view.
41:34Any moment now, you are going to, there we are.
41:36I promise you have a magnificent view.
41:38And there it is.
41:38That's the one.
41:39Look at that.
41:41Distant mountains shrouded in mist.
41:45Magical, mystical, misty mountains.
41:49That's alliteration for you.
41:52As we say a temporary goodbye to the sea, we move inland for the half-hour loop up to Port
41:58Meri.
42:03The view suddenly changed.
42:05Constructed during the 19th century, this line has been a vital route for both passenger and freight,
42:11linking North Wales to the rest of the United Kingdom.
42:19I'm going off at the next station, Minfof, which is the nearest stop to the mysterious village that is Port
42:26Meri.
42:38Port Meri is full of surprising details at every twist and turn.
42:43It's like stepping into a 3D picture book.
42:46Fantastic and colourful.
42:50Are you Myrick?
42:51I am.
42:51Hello, I'm Paul.
42:52Welcome to Port Meri and Paul.
42:53Oh, thank you very much.
42:54What a pleasure to be here.
42:55Well, thank you for coming to see us.
42:57Myrick Jones works in Port Meri and is quite an expert on its history.
43:02So I know he will be the perfect person to give me a tour.
43:07Oh, it's a wonderful place, isn't it?
43:08Oh, it is.
43:09It's a bit unusual.
43:10It was the brainchild of one person.
43:12An architecture, Cliff Williams Ellis, who had a burning ambition to build the village to show off his architecture.
43:17And the two driving forces were it had to be fun and had to work with nature.
43:23Port Meri and Phil's Mediterranean, although many of the buildings are from other locations in the UK and were repurposed
43:31here.
43:41Colonnade here is a lovely one.
43:43That's a 1760 building that was in Bristol.
43:46And it was bomb damaged during the Second World War.
43:48We took it down and rebuilt it here as our natural stage.
43:51And the dome, he said, to have a village without a dome would have a dome deficiency.
43:55But what I love about the dome is the square white front stage, which is an old fireplace that came
43:59from a mansion house.
44:00Then got it here and realised it was much too big to go inside the dome, so we put it
44:04on the outside instead.
44:05He had that freedom because the planning academy thought of at that time.
44:08Yes, no planning permission needed.
44:10No, which was great, yeah.
44:11His love of working with architecture and working with nature, I think you'll see, it goes through the whole place.
44:17And there's some fantastic rooms here, so maybe I should show you one of my favourites.
44:21Oh, yes, by all means, yes, lead the way.
44:22Yes.
44:28The hotel has long been popular with the great and the good, keen to soak up the special atmosphere of
44:34Port Merion.
44:38So, this is where George Harrison stayed.
44:40Right, aha.
44:41His 50th birthday party, yeah.
44:43He was a big fan of the place. Of all the Beatles, he came back often.
44:47Yes.
44:48And, you know, he was quite spiritual and he understood Clough's idea of working with nature, so he loved that
44:53idea.
44:53Well, I can see why he would favour this room.
44:56So, this wasn't his first choice. He wanted to stay in Watch House, which is still the most popular rooms
45:01here.
45:01It's the white one right on the cliff edge.
45:03And they went to look at it and the security weren't keen.
45:06They thought possibly with the festivities of a 50th birthday party, he may drink too much and fall off the
45:10cliff edge.
45:10Which they thought would not be a good idea.
45:13No.
45:14Myrig wants to show me another room with a George Harrison connection and being a huge Beatles fan, I can't
45:20wait to see it.
45:23So, this is our mirror room.
45:25Well, I can see why it's called that.
45:27Yes, indeed, yeah. Do you recognise it at all?
45:30Erm...
45:31Oh, I recognise this view. Erm...
45:34Wasn't this used in the Beatles Anthology series when he interviewed George Harrison?
45:37It was indeed, and this is where he sat.
45:39Oh, right. In one of these chairs with the arms, we don't know which one.
45:42Yes.
45:42But, erm...
45:43But the chair was in that position?
45:44It was indeed, yeah.
45:45Oh, I think I've got to sit in it, haven't I?
45:47I wonder if I can conjure up the spirit of George by sitting here.
45:52I first joined the Beatles in 1958.
45:55If I'd known what it was going to be like, I wouldn't have bothered.
45:58Oof.
46:00What happened then?
46:01Oh.
46:02That was a bit worrying.
46:04But without being too sentimental about it, Port Merion feels like the perfect place to end my trip.
46:12The old buildings being restored and rejuvenated, and still feeling new and exciting, much like many of the railway lines
46:20I've had the pleasure of travelling on.
46:27I've always known Wales to be a proud nation, and that's been true of everyone I've met this week.
46:32But even when the sun isn't shining, there's still a wild, majestic beauty which makes Wales such a distinctive part
46:39of the United Kingdom.
46:40That's beautiful for the island.
46:41To be as beautiful as the memorandum, you can find blue.
47:09Then, it's really sweet.
47:10There's always something new with your world.
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