Original subtitles

Escape with us along a railway

that weaves in and out of England and Wales

aboard the Northern Belle.

We are embarking on a historic adventure that charts

the story of two ancient nations.

From Norman times...

Walking around the castle is like going back through time.

..on to the Industrial Revolution.

But it's really great fun to drive.

It's just great being around trains.

WHISTLE BLOWS

And up to the current day with the most modern way

to take in the sights.

Wow. Whoa! We're looking at

the Malvern Hills and Worcestershire there.

Fabulous scenery today.

We'll experience the grandeur and wealth that

was born of Wales' mines.

All while aboard a luxury heritage train.

Great journey. It's a nice, relaxing journey

and you've got this beautiful scenery to look at.

This is no ordinary railway journey,

this is one of the most scenic railway journeys in the world.

The Welsh borders.

WHISTLE BLOWS

We're about to embark on a weekend jaunt that begins in Lancashire

and weaves its way along the Wales-England border

before arriving in historic Cardiff.

For this special trip, a special train.

The class 57 diesel locomotive the Scarborough Castle.

Coupled with the Northern Belle, with its 11 lovingly restored

Pullman cars.

Morning, madam. Morning. Nice to see you. Come on board.

How we doing, all right?

It's a Friday morning in Preston, Lancashire.

With the train's 93 passengers seated, we're off.

And with our departure comes a sumptuous breakfast.

Madam, this is our famous cheese souffle and smoked salmon.

Thank you. Same for yourself. Thank you very much.

On the first leg of this 200-mile trip,

we will travel south through Cheshire and on into North Wales,

where aqueducts and viaducts loom large over the landscape.

We'll then weave back over the border into the Shropshire Hills

and down through historic Ludlow in the ancient Welsh Marches

before crossing back into Wales and the Brecon Beacons...

..and finally arriving in Cardiff.

We're in Cheshire, heading south-east towards the Wales border.

The urban landscape of Preston now behind us,

passengers are enjoying the more rustic views.

Manager James is on board today.

It might be a busman's holiday but he never

tires of a journey aboard the Belle.

The Northern Belle is very special.

It harks back to a much less hurried

and much more opulent era of travel.

And, yes, it is very much a restaurant on wheels.

You've got good food, and there aren't many restaurants where

you get an ever-changing view out of the window.

Our train has now crossed into North Wales

and we're heading towards Wrexham...

..along the Shrewsbury and Chester line...

..which was inextricably linked with the Industrial Revolution.

This railway came off the mainline

when the big companies realised that there was

money to be made from the coal and steel deposits in North Wales.

It would have been moving coal, steel and iron.

Stuart is an expert on the British railways and knows

the history of pretty much every mile of our route today.

The coal-mining industry in North Wales was a large employer,

and therefore a large source of business for the railways.

The railway is carrying us down through Cefn in the Dee Valley.

Once a sleepy place,

it sprung up thanks to its bountiful coal, iron and stone.

And those materials needed to be transported across the River Dee.

We're now just coming up to the Cefn Mawr Viaduct, which is an amazing

construction in engineering terms, and a sight to behold.

1,500 feet long, this viaduct was built in 1845 by Henry Robertson.

Made from local sandstone, it stands 147 feet high.

And local man Dave grew up in the shadow of its awesome 19 arches.

The viaduct has played a huge part

in my life growing up in this valley.

It's just always been there.

The trains will thunder across it,

back in the days of steam. During the Second World War, my father

used to stand guard on it at night with the other guys

from the local Home Guard,

and he used to regale me

with stories of freezing-cold winter evenings.

So I very often walk past and reminisce, imagine him

standing there with his army greatcoat on, a la Dad's Army!

Not long after the Second World War ended

and the Home Guard was disbanded,

Dave's father joined the newly formed Fron Choir...

..and Dave has followed in his footsteps.

Being in the Fron Choir means everything to me.

The country's love of music comes from its Celtic roots.

Often referred to as the Land of Song, music is in the Welsh blood.

It's my social life.

I love singing, I've sang all my life.

And suddenly you've got 60 to 70 best friends -

it's like being in a brotherhood.

Leigh has been conducting this brotherhood of musical

men for the last 11 years.

Wales and music go hand in hand, it's huge.

And the male voice choir tradition

has been going for hundreds of years.

I think it probably started off just in workplaces,

even in the mines. It was farmers just singing together,

and then it's become a bigger group of singers.

The first time I sang with the acquire was unique.

I suddenly felt as if I had 70 arms around me. I felt safe.

We're back on board

and continuing through the Dee Valley in the Vale of Llangollen.

In pre-railway days, the mines and quarries relied on a different

mode of transport - a sprawling network of canals.

And just one mile from the viaduct,

we swapped wheels for water on board Neal's narrow boat.

The stretch you're on now, this is like a six-mile stretch

from the Horseshoe Falls down to Trevor Basin at the aqueduct.

This stretch drops one inch per mile just to get the engineering

correctly to flow.

And the canal boat is about to take us

across the River Dee a second time in spectacular style.

Right, we're just arriving now at the aqueduct.

In 30 seconds or so we'll be on there.

A 1,000 foot long stream in the sky,

this is the longest aqueduct in Great Britain.

The aqueduct was built by Thomas Telford.

Started in 1795, finished ten years later, in 1805.

It's a huge structure, it's unbelievable.

Absolutely unbelievable structure.

Its 18 arches tower 126ft above the river and, at just 12ft wide,

manoeuvring along it is not for the faint-hearted.

It's just an absolute sheer drop, no railings on the right-hand side.

You get one or two of the boaters that freak out a little bit

and many of them sort of climb off and walk across it.

It's a cracking view, innit?

Once across, the canal widens, but not by much.

It's an interesting canal we're on - it is very narrow and very shallow.

Just going to let him get round this band.

Because this is so low, I can't get round these corners, you know,

when there's boats on them.

Cheers, my friend.

You all right?

With up to 200 boats a week in the summer, and a permitted top speed

of 4mph, not everyone takes steering in their stride the way Neal does.

Historically, this canal has coined the phrase canal range.

There's a lot of irate people at times on here. Extremely busy.

Sorry about this.

There's just so many boats trying to pass each other,

people get so frustrated on it.

It does make me laugh, though, honestly.

But despite the odd fraught moment that comes with sharing such

a narrow stretch of water, there is camaraderie on this canal.

You meet the same people over and over again,

such nice people, friendly people.

You all right? Cor, it's warm, innit?

It's just such a change from the fast pace of life in general.

Ey up. There we are, the train's going.

Back on the train, the guests have almost

finished their meal of caviar, cheese souffle and salmon.

I've never had salmon for breakfast before.

It's lovely. Lovely.

I'll do it again. We'll have salmon again.

This is Caroline's first trip aboard the Northern Belle,

a gift to her and her husband from their daughter.

I've always loved trains.

I used to live near a train track when I was young,

so I've always liked going on the train.

So it was a surprise, yeah.

We're now 80 miles into our journey and heading out of Wales

and back into England,

towards the Shropshire plains.

And there's plenty yet to come as we continue south.

We'll be exploring the Shropshire Hills from land and sky.

All right, we're off.

Wow! Whoa! Perfect day.

We're two hours into our journey aboard the Northern Belle

and travelling through the fertile Shropshire plains.

It's a delightful area to travel through.

Flat land, agricultural, and a lovely pattern of fields.

The agricultural industry of course being an important customer

of the railway.

Now passengers have finished their breakfast Bellinis,

they're drinking in the ambience on board.

I like how luxurious it all is.

And of course the food, and being waited upon -

it's not something that you do every day.

Among the Northern Belle's guests today are Jim and his wife Sue,

who are enjoying the 1930s-inspired decor of their Pullman car.

It evokes memories of the past, you know,

the sort of seating and everything in the old carriages.

Everything today seems to be at 100 miles an hour.

This is far more leisurely and far more luxurious.

With our first leg of Wales behind us, we're back in England.

Our train continues through Shrewsbury

before climbing up into the Shropshire Hills

and on to Ludlow.

Our train is now on Welsh Marches line,

hurtling through the Shropshire hills.

And we're deep in a valley flanked by the Long Mynd.

A 700ft-high ridge running ten miles from north to south.

This is one of the most ancient rock formations in the UK.

And Peter has spent 22 years working up here.

So we're standing on some of the oldest land in Britain.

It's Precambrian rock, and it basically is a collection of mud

washed off a continent,

formed on the seabed and compressed

over 600 million years,

transported from Antarctica to the present day,

turned on its side by geological activity,

and what we can see now is these layers of mud.

The Long Mynd holds a geological secret.

Charles Darwin, a Shropshire man, managed to uncover it,

contributing to our understanding of evolution.

Charles Darwin knew the age of the Long Mynd

and concluded that there should be

signs of life here somewhere hidden in the rocks.

And for many years this hadn't been found,

but 20 years ago it's been discovered

that we have these little tiny marks on the rock

which have been identified as bacterial blobs

landing on the marine seabed when it was soft sediment.

This rock is fossil evidence

of the earliest signs of life on the planet.

Even though this land is now owned by the National Trust,

it's a protected common, meaning local shepherds,

known as commoners, can let their flocks roam free.

We've entered a conservation scheme

whereby the sheep numbers have been reduced

and the farmers have been compensated for that,

and that's allowed the heather to recover

and their wet flushes and the bogs and mires

have all filled up with plants.

But it's not just sheep that roam these ancient hills.

They are increasingly becoming a draw for a more exotic species.

And if you're lucky,

you'll catch a glimpse of the lesser spotted thrill-seeker.

Is there any wind? No.

We'll go anyway and we'll try it, I think. Yeah.

Ready? Here we go.

Keep leaning right.

Beautiful.

OK, stand still if you can.

Ready? Yeah. Run, run, run.

Woohoo!

The west side of the Long Mynd - just three miles from the Welsh

border - is the perfect jumping-off point for paragliders.

Jesus.

Struggling here.

Big time sink. Legs up, legs up, legs up!

HE EXHALES

Crikey O'Reilly.

Don't worry, we're going up. We're going to climb.

Just lean right, darling.

Today, Mark and his wife Sian have launched themselves

high above our railway line down in the valley.

All right, we're off!

This is the Long Mynd.

Wow! Whoa, perfect day.

All right, so we're in a thermal now,

we're going round in a rising bubble of air.

So now you're starting to see the scenery a bit better.

So, looking out this way, we're looking at Malvern Hills

and Worcestershire there.

Fabulous scenery today.

And this is the Long Mynd.

There you go.

Looking down the full length of the hill.

And this is paragliding.

Woohoo! Whoo!

Mark has been paragliding for over 33 years,

and five years ago Sian took a leap of faith

and gave up her cleaning business to join him as an instructor.

You could see about 4km down where we've came from.

This is Craven Arms,

and then just behind it, by the yellow rape fields

in the distance, that's Ludlow.

So I hope you've enjoyed the view of the Long Mynd

and the surrounding countryside.

It's absolutely beautiful.

We've come crashing back down to earth,

and we're back on the train...

..speeding through a territory with a rich history.

The Welsh Marches.

The Welsh Marches were historically the borderlands

set up by the Normans to control the border between Wales and England.

The Marches were frontier land controlled by Norman invaders,

largely independent of English rule.

And to keep Welsh rebels off the fertile Earth,

they built one of the largest concentration of castles in the UK.

We'll be getting off at Ludlow,

where one of the most impressive of those castles can be found.

Dated around 1086,

this fortress was the control centre of the Welsh Marches.

And Leon knows it like the back of his hand.

This is the inner bailey,

and it was a hive of activity when the castle was first built.

To my right, we have the Mary Magdalene Chapel,

a Knights Templar chapel.

But in front of me we have the Great Hall.

This is where feasting would have happened,

deals would have been cut.

It was a very important place.

Come the evening, after the feasting,

visitors generally would have been gathered all around

and they'd be sleeping in the Great Hall by the fire with their servant.

Even though the castle's now a ruin...

..enough remains for Leon to live and breathe its history.

Walking around the castle is like going back through time,

and the more you walk round the monument here,

the more you see the different phases of times of history.

The castle passed from Norman hands to Tudor hands in the 15th century,

and its new owners upgraded it, installing all the mod cons.

So this is a medieval garderobe,

which is a toilet, and it was used by the privileged, the wealthy,

to come and do their natural business.

Rudimentary as it was, it was prone to getting blocked,

so a lackey was stationed at the bottom of the long drop

to clear away the backlog.

It's not the most luxurious part of the castle,

but it's one of my favourites.

It's the nuts and bolts of human living.

And it's not just medieval bathrooms that get Leon excited.

Get rid of that loose... See what there is.

He also loves rummaging through the castle's bins.

Whey! Clay pipe.

That is...

That's an early one, as well.

For about 900 years,

the medieval folk were throwing their rubbish out over the walls

and it tells us a lot about the people that were in the castle.

We've been here for ten minutes

and already we've got a handle here - that's amazing.

You can see the glaze on the inside.

Midlands Purple ware.

We'd date that 15th, 16th century.

We've got clay pipeage - get a lot of these here.

You had a booming tobacco industry, Tudor period.

And it's incredibly exciting because it's stuffed full of finds,

so for me it's like a sweet shop, it's like a gold mine.

I love it.

While Leon continues raking through the dirt,

we're rejoining the railway...

..as it runs down past the castle walls and crosses the River Teme.

Flowing from Mid Wales for 81 miles,

this particular spot of the river

is cherished by Ludlow's anglers...

I'm going to try a little mayfly imitation that Steve give me.

Oh, right. So I'll give that a swim.

..and these ones are obsessed with their tackle.

I could just get a shrimp on, something heavy to

get on the bottom, I'll try and do a bit of trotting.

Right. Yeah, and I think I'll try a mayfly nymph on.

Seeing as they're not taking so much.

We've got all angles covered, then, haven't we?

Confused?

Then...join the club.

My name's Derek Young and I run the local fly-tying club.

These anglers all craft their own artificial flies to catch fish.

A skill that requires not only artistry...

..but an encyclopaedic knowledge of insects.

That one there is a little French mayfly.

This is one I've been tying here.

Now a French partridge mayfly is just a mayfly.

Here's one of my all-time favourites, the old daddy long legs.

And this one is what they call a Czech nymph

and that particular creature is like a little grub beetle

that lives on the floor of the river.

Back on the River Teme.

Even with perfect bait...

..it's a slow day.

No, they're not taking nothing on the top.

But it's nonetheless the perfect way to pass the time.

It's just peace and quiet, tranquillity.

A bad day on the river

is better than a good day in the office, isn't it?

Back on the train, we're over halfway into our journey,

and now we're just 75 miles

from our final destination - Cardiff.

We're 120 miles into one of the world's

most scenic railway journeys,

aboard the Northern Belle as it wends its way south

along the Wales/England border.

We're sort of heading south of Hereford down towards Abergavenny

and we're into the rather rich agricultural soils

in beautiful reds, and at this time of year we've also got

a lot of oilseed rape in the fields with the rich yellow flowers.

Two and a half hours into our journey,

we're heading towards the Brecon Beacons,

where we'll cross Offa's Dyke.

We'll then take a trip on Blaenavon's historic railway...

..before continuing south to our destination - Cardiff.

With England's borderlands now behind us,

we've crossed back into one of the most beautiful parts of Wales.

We're skirting around the edge of the Brecon Beacons,

the high ground in South Wales.

And as the line takes us along the east of the Brecon Beacons...

..we're near an ancient pathway.

Offa's Dyke was built by the King of Mercia around 780

as a defence against rival kingdoms.

Come on, come on.

Come on, come on.

Come on.

The trail passes through the Llanthony Valley...

..where Sarah is made a home with her 60 rare-breed Soay sheep.

SHEEP BLEAT

Be nice if some of the others got some, as well, yeah?

SHE LAUGHS

Sarah used to have a corporate job in the city,

but packed it all in to relocate to this valley...

..where she founded a retreat, and runs guided walks.

There is something about the landscape which is grand enough

to make you stop and slow down and just stare,

but not so grand that it becomes intimidating or scary.

It is just the most peaceful, calming, connecting sort of place.

The Llanthony Valley has always seduced passers-by.

William de Lacy was a Norman knight who, it's said,

was so captivated by its peaceful beauty that he founded

a hermitage here 900 years ago.

This landscape has a really long history of attracting people

of a reflective nature, who want to create something.

It's got almost more monasteries than farms in this local area,

and it very much parallels what's happened to me here -

I came by pure chance for a nice weekend

and, 20 years later, I'm living and working here.

By 1118, that hermitage had become an Augustinian monastery,

and the ruins remain today.

That's Llanthony Priory.

It's a very scenically ruined priory.

The arch is just right so that when you're within the priory grounds

and you're looking through the arches back up to

the Offa's Dyke trail and this huge expanse of hill.

But the breathtaking scenery

isn't the only thing that draws people to this holy refuge.

There's a wonderful bar in the cellar down at Llanthony,

and I have regularly lost parts of the group into that bar.

And they enjoy a few pints down there

whilst I take the rest back to the farm

and then come and retrieve them later!

Taking the decision to settle here was

definitely the boldest decision and the best decision

I've made in my life so far.

Back on board...

..passengers are lapping up all the luxury

that the Northern Belle has to offer.

A great journey. It's a nice relaxing journey.

I like travelling by train,

I think it's a great way to come down to Cardiff.

And you've got this beautiful scenery to look at.

We're fast approaching Abergavenny - a major town in mining days

with a train network that fed goods out of the mountains.

This part of the world was transformed

by the Industrial Revolution.

Her mineral-rich Earth lured workers from all over the British Isles.

By the 1900s, South Wales was the largest producer

of coal and iron in the world.

Ghosts of this bygone era

can be found on the Blaenavon World Heritage site -

and one of them is the Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway...

..a perfectly preserved working mine...

How we looking?

..with perfectly preserved working steam engines.

So we're just firing up the motion,

make sure that the engine's well lubricated.

Alex Hinshelwood is prepping the 3061 Empress,

built by WG Bagnall in 1954 for the National Coal Board.

It's not particularly roomy.

And although this engine is no longer in service,

it still requires a high degree of maintenance.

Empress in particular takes about four hours

to get ready in the morning.

So to begin with, we check the engine over

and then light the fire.

We then prepare the engine, oiling it up,

lubricating all the moving parts.

We clean it from top to bottom, shine all the blasters up

and then go get the train.

WHISTLE TOOTS

Built in 1866 to transport freight from the many mines nearby,

the Pontypool and Blaenavon is the highest standard-gauge railway

in England and Wales.

This line came from Abergavenny, up to Brynmawr

and then down to Blaenavon to tap into the coal reserves.

If you'd come here 150 years ago you would have seen

very glamorous-looking locomotives

all hauling coal trains up to Birmingham.

Today, those mines have gone,

but the railway is alive and kicking and open to tourists.

It snakes along the edge of the Brecon Beacons,

where the remnants of industry lie scattered among the rural beauty.

It's really great fun to drive.

It's just great being around trains!

WHISTLE BLASTS Good old choke.

I control the engine using three primary things.

The regulator, which is in my left hand.

This controls the amount of steam that goes to the cylinder.

The brake, which is up there.

This is the steam brake for the engine.

And the reverse, which is the big red lever here.

This determines how much steam is emitted into the cylinders

during each stroke.

A civil engineer by day, Alex's work on the Pontypool and Blaenavon

is all carried out in his spare time.

It's truly a labour of love.

It's a real thrill to drive these engines.

Something about the adrenaline and the feeling that you get

from, you know, taming the sort of beast that is Empress, really.

Back on OUR train...

..we're now just over 25 miles away from our destination - Cardiff...

..where we'll be visiting its splendid castle...

..an architectural wonder designed by William Burgess.

We're aboard the Northern Belle, on a unique railway journey

following the spine of the Wales/England border

from Lancashire down to Cardiff.

It's just been a delight from beginning to end.

But it's not end... It's not ended yet, but...

LAUGHTER

Everything OK up here, fellas? Yes, thank you.

We're now mere miles from our final destination.

We are coming towards our journey's end,

and the scenery has changed completely

from a rural beautiful scenery of rolling fields

into an urban industrial area between Cardiff and Newport -

developed, of course, because of the industrial hinterland

behind the capital city.

Wales' capital was the beating heart

of the Industrial Revolution in this country.

And one of its grandest relics is Cardiff Castle.

The Marquesses of Bute were a powerful family,

who used their vast fortune made in the coalfields

to transform Cardiff into the vibrant city it is today.

In 1865, the 3rd Marquess

decided to redesign the family's medieval castle.

The result was a dreamlike Gothic extravaganza

with fantasy towers,

elaborate themes...

..and the most opulent finishes money could buy.

And showing us around is Erfyl,

who's starting in a drawing room with a Moorish theme.

So this is The Arab Room -

one of the most exquisite rooms

we have here at Cardiff Castle.

So one of the most impressive features, of course,

is this muqarnas - or stalactite ceiling, if you like.

It's hand-carved onto wood

and then actually we cover everything in 22-carat gold leaf.

This room was designed for the ladies in the family -

and apparently they liked a bit of bling.

In front of the stained-glass windows

you've got these crystal balls.

They were put there to reflect the sunlight around the room,

giving it a kind of magical effect.

Like a disco ball, if you like.

It's a brilliant idea but it doesn't work -

the sun doesn't shine that strong in Cardiff.

They didn't think of that, did they?

When the castle residents weren't lounging,

they were feasting in one of its dining rooms.

So another ornate room - over the top, again.

Believe it or not, this room was just for INFORMAL meeting.

But it still had the very latest accessories.

What's unusual, of course, is the table in front of me here.

We've got a hole right in the middle.

What would happen, the servant would walk into this room

carrying a potted grape vine.

The table actually opens

from the centre so the pot then

could be placed on the pedestal

which is down below at the bottom here.

You have to imagine, then,

the stem of the grapevine coming up to about here, say.

Grapes.

Then they'd sit either the side - the marquess and his wife -

and then they'd pick the grapes and eat them.

Fresh grapes from the vine.

Back then, nothing said you were loaded

like your own portable grapevine.

The 3rd Marquess also made his own wine

and, when he died left a 12,000-bottle stash in the cellar.

They've all gone now. I drink them all.

Back on board, we're returning to Preston...

There we are, sir. Thank you again, sir. Thank you very much. Thank you.

..a chance for passengers to get

stuck into the Northern Belle's own wine stash.

The day is not over.

We're heading back home

but there is dinner to come, there's entertainment.

MUSIC, INDISTINCT SINGING

Champagne for you, madam?

Just a little bit, thank you. Just a little.

I can arrange a taxi for you.

And with a leisurely four hours ahead,

it's turning into a celebration of a most memorable journey.

INDISTINCT SINGING

And the enjoyment of a day like today is,

because it's an out-and-back journey along the same route,

you can enjoy the scenery twice!

On our 200-mile tour of the Wales/England border...

..we've travelled along some of the UK's

most spectacular historical feats of engineering...

..seen the ancient Shropshire Hills from land...and sky...

..and being immersed

in the chequered interwoven history of two nations...

..all aboard the luxurious Northern Belle -

a railway experience that harks back to the halcyon days of travel.