Narrator: Wales, a land of myth and majesty,
Of legendary kings and warrior rebels.
With more fortresses per square mile
Than anywhere else in the world.
From the hills that put the stone in stonehenge,
To the secret hideaways
Where led zeppelin and queen changed the history of rock...
A country that forged its own destiny
From the great monuments of its industrial past.
A legacy, celebrated in architecture,
Capturing the heart and the soul.
Soar high above fairy tale castles,
Over rivers,
And as close to the edge as you dare.
Meet a people defined by poetry, song, and sport...
A nation that bears the indelible marks
Of 2,000 years of invasion,
But never once lost its identity.
This is wales, as you've never seen it before.
♪
The size of new jersey,
With a population of just 3 million people,
Wales has always been fiercely proud of its autonomy.
Simon evans is originally from the southeast of England
But moved here with his family when he retired.
This raised bank of earth close to the welsh border
Runs near his home,
And he and his son tom walk here regularly.
A few years ago, simon trekked its entire length,
A distance of around 177 miles.
In fact, this is an ancient boundary
Between England and wales,
Which follows long stretches
Of the current border between the two countries.
It was constructed more than 1,200 years ago
By the anglo-saxon king offa
To divide his territory from wales.
According to ancient tradition,
The english would cut off the ears of any welshman
Found to the east of offa's dyke,
And the welsh would hang every englishman
Found to the west of it.
Thankfully, for these two englishmen,
The old traditions have lapsed.
But the cultural significance of offa's dyke,
Like that of hadrian's wall on the scottish border,
Is clear.
Wales and England were, and always will be,
Separate places.
♪
The first ancestors of the welsh arrived here 29,000 years ago,
Long before rising sea levels
Separated britain from mainland europe.
Today, two-thirds of the population
Live in the valleys and towns of the south,
Including the country's largest city
And its capital, cardiff.
[boat horn blows]
In the 19th century, coal exported from south wales
Fueled the furnaces and boilers of the world.
The booming port of cardiff
Attracted thousands of migrant workers.
Back then, the neighborhood of tiger bay
Was an infamous dockland quarter,
Home to the city's red-light district.
An unlikely location for this lutheran church.
But not to the norwegian seafarers who settled here.
In 1868, they built it
As a place to meet and worship together.
♪
In recent years,
The waterfront has become home
To somewhat more imposing buildings,
Including this glass and steel edifice.
It's the national assembly, or senedd in welsh,
Home of the country's parliament.
Nearby, the millennium center,
With its facade inscribed with the words
Of welsh poet gwyneth lewis,
Is a venue for ballet, theatre,
And the headquarters of the welsh national opera.
♪
Cardiff castle was built by the normans in 1081,
15 years after their king, william the conqueror,
Invaded britain from northern France.
Constructed on the remains of a third-century roman fort,
This legacy of two major conquests
Was the seed from which the modern city grew.
Though expanded and redeveloped many times,
It remains an iconic feature of the welsh capital.
In the 1860s,
This was the family home
Of the fabulously wealthy john crichton-stuart.
He hated growing up at the castle
And later commissioned architect william burges
To transform it in lavish gothic revival style.
Burges added new towers, a roof garden,
A sumptuous banqueting hall,
And this magnificent 150-foot clock tower.
[air raid siren]
During world war ii,
Air raid shelters tunneled into the medieval walls
Protected 1,800 people.
♪
In 1947, after the death of crichton's son,
The family bequeathed the castle to the city of cardiff.
♪
[gulls squawking]
♪
Close to the castle
Is the home ground and high church of welsh rugby,
Cardiff's principality stadium.
The arena,
Built from 56,000 tons of concrete and steel,
Can seat more than 74,000 supporters.
Since 1999, it's hosted three world cup tournaments.
Rugby is wales's national sport
And a cherished part of its cultural identity.
To compete here is the dream of every young welsh player.
♪
Many pursue that dream at rugby clubs like this one,
A few miles north of cardiff in the town of pontypridd.
Rugby actually originated in northern England
In the 1820s,
But no one embraces it quite like the welsh.
There's hardly a town, factory, or community in wales
Without its own team.
Full back lloyd rowlands
Has been playing rugby since he was nine.
Now semi-professional,
The training is a little more intense.
But every try takes him one step closer to the big league.
♪
Of course, rugby isn't the only way to achieve legend status
Here in wales.
Pontypridd is also hometown
To one of the country's most famous sons,
Singer sir tom jones.
Long before he achieved global stardom,
The 100-million-record-selling artist
Worked at a glove factory in town.
At home here in his family's end-of-terrace house
On laura street,
He honed his skills listening to american blues singers
Like big bill broonzy
And mahalia jackson, the queen of gospel.
♪
Like the voice of its most famous singer,
Wales has always been a force to reckon with.
In a.D. 43,
Just ten years after the death of jesus,
The romans invaded britain.
Within five years,
They controlled most of the southwest.
But here in wales,
The empire would struggle to overcome
The fierce native tribes
For another three decades.
Relics of the roman occupation survive to this day.
Near the village of caerleon lie the ruins of a military base
Once manned by 5,000 elite roman troops.
Close by are the remains of a great oval amphitheatre
Built around a.D. 90,
Where as many as 6,000 spectators
Would have witnessed brutal gladiatorial combat.
[crowd cheering]
The romans would occupy wales for over three centuries,
From 78 a.D. To 383 a.D.
This is the first town they founded--
Caerwent, near the southern city of newport.
Sections of the original first-century wall still remain,
Some rising up to 17 feet high.
It's one of the most perfectly preserved roman fortifications
In northern europe.
In the early 5th century,
With the empire under attack
By barbarian armies all over europe,
The emperor honorius withdrew his garrisons from britain.
And so ended roman rule.
♪
Soon, wales would be conquered all over again.
And this time, it would surrender without a fight.
♪
Between the sixth and eighth centuries,
The pagan tribes of wales
Were converted to christianity by missionaries from ireland.
The age of the saints would see monastic settlements
Established all over the country.
First by the irish, then by the converted welsh.
The sixth-century ruin of st. Non's chapel
On the west coast of pembrokeshire
Is said to be the birthplace of st. David,
Wales's patron saint.
♪
In his time, st. David would spread christianity
Throughout wales, England,
And brittany in northern France.
Here, half a mile from his birthplace,
Stands the city named in his honor--
St. David's, population 2,000,
Britain's smallest metropolis.
The city's medieval cathedral was founded on the site
Where st. David established a monastic community.
A stone set into the altar is said to have been brought back
From a pilgrimage st. David took to jerusalem.
Near the cathedral lie the ruins of a medieval palace
Built by 13th and 14th-century bishops.
But in the 16th century,
Bishop william barlow stripped the lead from the roof
To pay for the dowries of his five daughters.
The building fell into disrepair,
Never to recover.
♪
St. David's cathedral has had a tumultuous history.
Extensively damaged by an earthquake in 1247,
It was modified many times over the next three centuries,
And contains the tomb of edmund tudor,
Grandfather of king henry viii of England.
♪
Just outside st. David's,
Entomologist and ecologist dr. Sarah benyon
Runs a farm unlike any other.
In a bid to overcome a childhood phobia of insects,
She immersed herself in all things creepy-crawly.
The result was the bug farm,
Established in 2015
And now literally buzzing with activity.
Here, guests can explore habitats
Swarming with insect life,
Visit the bug museum and zoo,
And learn about the farm's cutting-edge research
Into farmland biodiversity.
They can also dine at the grub kitchen,
Britain's first edible insect café.
Delicacies on offer include bug burgers,
Mealworm hummus,
And their famous cricket cookies.
♪
Local producer gayle twitchen
Tends beehives at six locations on st. David's peninsula,
Including the bug farm.
♪
[bees buzzing]
Just as the honey gayle harvests
Is sweetened of this peninsula's wildflower meadows,
The landscape of wales is imbued
With one of the greatest legends of medieval britain.
♪
The great mountain range of snowdonia national park
Includes some of the highest peaks in wales,
Including the highest of them all,
Mount snowdon.
♪
This 800-square-mile natural reserve
Also preserves the legend
Of an extraordinary mythical figure.
In welsh, the name of mount snowdon
Means "the tomb of rhita gawr,"
A fearsome giant supposedly slain by king arthur.
As legend has it, the giant's body lies buried
Under massive stones at the summit.
This ridge is said to be the place
Where arthur himself died,
Killed in battle by his own son, mordred.
Arthur's magical sword excalibur
Is said to lie beneath glaslyn lake
On the mountain's east flank,
Cast into the icy waters by sir bedivere
After the king's death.
♪
Snowdon's mystical beauty
Attracts half a million visitors every year.
The outlying region is home to over 28,000 people,
Nearly two-thirds of whom
Speak welsh as their first language.
♪
There are many routes to the top of wales's highest peak,
But the most comfortable is the snowdon mountain railway.
In 1896, steam locomotives began taking visitors
From the village of llanberis
On the 4.5-mile journey to the summit.
The locomotives were built specially for the line
In switzerland,
The only country at that time with the required expertise
To transport people safely up and down the mountain.
Three of the original five locomotives
Are still in service today,
Over 120 years later.
♪
Every year,
130,000 passengers brave the vertiginous 2.5-hour climb,
Rewarded with spectacular views of the welsh landscape
All the way up,
Weather permitting.
♪
In 2009, this visitor center opened at the summit.
On a clear day,
Passengers alighting
For a 30-minute stopover at the highest point in wales
Can see all the way to ireland.
♪
The 19th-century english travel writer
George borrow once wrote,
"I never saw water falling so gracefully,
So much like thin, beautiful threads as here."
The object of his affection
Was the great waterfall of pistyll rhaeadr
In the northeast of snowdonia.
This place,
Where the river afon dysgynfa tumbles down a 240-foot cliff,
Is known as one of the seven wonders of wales.
Pistyll rhaeadr is not one, but three separate falls,
Each adding its own complexity to the elegance of the cascade.
♪
Where there are mountains, there are lakes,
And snowdonia has 250 of them.
♪
This one, called llyn padarn,
Is popular with kayakers and paddleboarders.
Lake bala to the east
Is the largest natural lake in wales--
Rich pickings for anglers,
Who come here for perch, pike, trout, and salmon.
♪
Barry evans and his son ilan
Have fished these waters all their lives.
But one fish they won't be landing today
Is the gwyniad.
It's an elusive species native to lake bala,
Stranded here over 10,000 years ago
At the end of the last ice age.
It lurks in the deepest reaches of the lake,
Far beyond the reach of rod and line.
♪
The picturesque village of tremadog
On the outskirts of snowdonia
Is the home to the hostel of snowdon lodge.
In 1888, this was the birthplace
Of archaeologist, soldier and writer
Thomas edward lawrence,
Known to the world as lawrence of arabia.
In his classic book "the seven pillars of wisdom,"
Lawrence recounted his exploits in the middle east
During the first world war.
During that conflict,
He helped lead an arab revolt against the ottoman empire--
A campaign immortalized in the classic 1962 film
"lawrence of arabia."
♪
From wales's most colorful son
To one of its most colorful towns.
Located on a private peninsula off the snowdonia coast,
The brightly colored buildings
And enchanting parks of portmeirion
Were built between 1925 and 1976.
This fanciful landscape,
Created in the style of an italian village,
Was primarily designed as a tourist attraction.
The entire village operates as a hotel,
With guest rooms in each of its buildings.
♪
Portmeirion is perhaps best known
As the filming location for the cult 1960s sci-fi series
"the prisoner,"
About a british former secret agent
Who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal resort
From which he can never seem to escape.
♪
Before his death,
Portmeirion's unconventional architect,
Clough williams ellis,
Asked for his ashes to be launched
Over the estuary in a rocket.
His last request was eventually carried out
On new year's eve, 1998.
♪
This structure in northeast wales
Might look like a bridge.
But it is more than that.
This is the 200-year-old waterway
Of pontcysyllte aqueduct.
Crossing the river dee and rising 126 feet above it,
The stone and cast-iron span
Is an incredible feat of civil engineering
That took ten years to design and build.
Completed in 1805,
Pontcysyllte is the longest and highest navigable aqueduct
In britain.
It's 100 feet long and five feet deep,
Supported by arched iron ribs on 18 hollow masonry piers.
The aqueduct was originally designed
To transport coal, iron, slate, and limestone.
Today, it's mainly sightseers
Who are rewarded with incredible views
Across the dee valley.
♪
Lake vyrnwy in north wales.
130 years ago,
This was a peaceful valley where a village once stood.
Today, it's a watery playground for sportspeople
Like professional adventurer dave proctor,
Who runs an activity center nearby.
He's been sailing these waters for almost 50 years.
The great reservoir was built in 1888,
And was once the main water supply
For the city of liverpool, 80 miles to the north.
Although swimming in vyrnwy is prohibited,
Local diane thomas
Makes the most of the lake on her doorstep.
She recently completed a triathlon here,
Part of which involved kayaking the full length of the lake.
In the distance,
What looks like a gothic-style tower
Is actually an elegant water filtration system.
In its day, the dam was britain's largest
And supplied power to the local area
Right up to the 1960s.
But lake vyrnwy came at a cost.
Flooding the valley
Required the sacrifice of the village of llanwddyn,
Whose dead were respectfully exhumed from the local cemetery
And reburied further down the valley.
♪
In the lower reaches of snowdonia national park,
The market town of machynlleth
Is regarded as the ancient capital of wales,
Once the stronghold of a rebel leader
Just as legendary to the welsh as the mythical king arthur.
His name, owain glyndwr,
The last welshman to hold the title prince of wales.
Glyndwr's 15th-century revolt against english rule
Was effectively a full-scale war
Against the english king henry iv.
♪
This medieval building in the town
Is the original site of a parliament
Where glyndwr declared his vision
Of an independent welsh state.
♪
Here, he was crowned prince of wales
By his followers.
♪
When the rebellion ultimately foundered,
Glyndwr went into hiding.
Despite enormous rewards offered for his capture,
He was never betrayed.
He is said to have died in 1415,
But glyndwr is still revered
As one of wales's most heroic figures.
♪
In 1970, two young musicians came here
To the 18th-century cottage of golden hill,
Or bron yr aur.
They weren't just visiting;
They'd come to work on one of the most famous rock albums
Of all time.
At the time,
This was the holiday home of the plant family.
Robert plant and his bandmate jimmy page
Had just completed a long north american tour.
Here they would write and partly record
"led zeppelin iii."
The cottage, now in the hands of a new owner,
And the landscape around it
Would inspire songs such as "over the hills and far away"
And of course, "bron-yr-aur."
It remains a mecca for dedicated zeppelin fans.
♪
[gulls squawking]
Every year, thousands of golfers make the pilgrimage
To the first course
Specifically designed to host the ryder cup.
The tournament between the u.S. And europe
Is held every two years.
This course was built for the 2010 event,
At a cost of over $20 million.
Near the city of newport in south wales,
It forms part of the celtic manor resort--
A golf, spa, and hotel complex
Set in 2,000 acres of beautiful parkland.
This 395-foot-long suspension bridge
Across the river usk
Was specially built for the ryder cup.
Today, even amateur golfers can pit their skills
Against the challenging fairways and greens
Of the 2010 course.
♪
The otherworldly skyline of port talbot
Could hardly offer a more striking contrast.
It would inspire
An american-born british director
To create one of hollywood's strangest movies.
The town on wales's south coast
Is home to one of the largest steel foundries in the world,
Employing one in ten of its population.
Visiting port talbot at sunset,
Director terry gilliam was overwhelmed
By the sight of fumes and vapor rising from the cooling towers,
Lit by plumes of ignited waste gas.
It would profoundly influence his own vision
For the dystopian sci-fi classic "brazil."
♪
And the movie connections don't end there.
Port talbot is also the hometown
Of two of wales's most iconic actors--
Sir anthony hopkins and sir richard burton.
Born richard jenkins at this modest terraced house
In the nearby village of pontrhydyfen in 1925,
Burton was the twelfth of thirteen children.
He lived here for two years
Before the family moved to port talbot
Following the death of his mother.
Years later, when burton visited the village
With his then-new wife elizabeth taylor,
Locals remember the occasion as something akin to a royal visit.
♪
The sport of lawn bowls,
Dating back to the 13th century,
Has a rich history in wales,
With hundreds of clubs across the country.
Today the inco vale club, 10 miles from port talbot,
Is hosting a mixed pairs competition.
Club chairman wyndham haines
Has played the sport for more than 50 years.
The goal for teams is to position their set of bowls
Closer than those of their opponents
To a small white ball called the jack.
One of the clubs most accomplished players,
Gaynor thomas,
Has won numerous titles over the years,
Including the national mixed pairs champion.
♪
These manicured lawns are the picture of civility--
A far cry from the landscapes
That greeted wales's first settlers.
♪
This evocative terrain of wild moors and grassland
In northern pembrokeshire
Is preseli hills,
A national park crossed by an ancient 8-mile track
Known as the golden road.
Dotted throughout the area
Are burial sites and ancient settlements
Dating back to the stone age.
For many years, it was said
That bluestones quarried here 4,500 years ago
Were used to build stonehenge.
In 2000, to prove the claim,
A local community group
Attempted to move a three-ton rock to stonehenge
By neolithic means.
When the 140-mile attempt failed,
The group blamed modern health and safety obstacles
That would not have stopped the original engineers.
As it turned out, they were right.
In 2015, a team of geologists and archaeologists
Confirmed that the great pillars
Were indeed quarried here at preseli
And transported east to stonehenge.
♪
In 1066,
Around 4,000 years after that monumental achievement,
William the conqueror invaded britain
From what is now northern France.
Within six years, he controlled all of England,
But the fierce welsh tribes would resist
For a further 200 years.
At the end of the 13th century,
William's descendent, edward I,
Launched a full-scale war of conquest.
His goal--
To place wales firmly under english control.
Harlech castle,
On a spur of rock near the irish sea in north wales,
Is one of a ring of fortresses he built
To stamp his authority on the land.
In the centuries that followed,
Harlech gained a reputation as a near impregnable stronghold.
In the 15th century,
When the houses of york and lancaster
Battled for the throne of England,
The castle resisted siege for seven years.
In 1642, the fortress was besieged again
During the english civil war
When the forces of the king and the parliamentary government
Struggled for control of britain.
After holding out for five years,
Harlech was the last royalist castle on the british mainland
To surrender to the parliamentary forces.
♪
Unlike the other castles of edward I's iron ring,
This one, caernarfon,
Was less a defensive fortress
And more an expression of english dominance.
Modeled on the walls of constantinople,
The castle has a series of polygonal towers.
The ten-sided eagle tower was once decorated with stone eagles
That have since weathered away.
Its fearsome gatehouses are peppered with murder-holes,
From where the castle's defenders
Poured boiling oil and water
Down on anyone foolhardy enough to attack.
It was here, in 1284,
That edward's queen eleanor gave birth to their first son,
The very first welsh-born, but english, prince of wales.
And it was here, in 1969,
That the present prince of wales, prince charles,
Was invested by his mother queen elizabeth.
♪
Northeast of caernarfon
On a coastal ridge overlooking the river conwy
Stands what is arguably the most magnificent
Of edward I's welsh fortresses.
Designed by the master architect james of st. George,
Conwy is defended by eight towers
And two fortified gateways...
All of which counted for little in 1401
When, during the last war of independence,
Two welsh rebel brothers surprised the watchmen
And seized control of the castle for three months.
They eventually surrendered
In exchange for a full pardon by the king.
Near the castle, attached to conwy's town walls,
Is britain's smallest house.
It was inhabited from the 16th century
Right up to 1900.
Its last tenant was a 6-foot 3-inch fisherman.
Visitors can view the property, but only at ground level.
The upper floor is taken up
By a single bed and a small cabinet.
Downstairs there's just enough room
For a stove and a seat...For one.
♪
On the north coast of wales,
A narrow 16-mile-long stretch of tidal water
Known as the menai strait
Separates the mainland from its largest island,
Anglesey.
Covering an area of 276 square miles,
The island is home to around 70,000 people,
Most of whom are welsh speakers.
This great span linking to the mainland
Is the 1,400-foot-long menai suspension bridge.
It was designed by master engineer thomas telford
And completed in 1826,
Replacing a hazardous ferry journey
Across the treacherous, fast-flowing waters
Of the strait.
♪
This ghostly collection of industrial buildings
On anglesey's north coast
Is the abandoned ruin of porth wen brickworks.
Once a hive of activity,
Now a monument to a long-dead industry.
This was where the quartzite bricks
That lined the furnaces of the victorian steel industry
Were made.
The quartzite was crushed by workers
Wearing iron-covered gloves
Before being hand-molded and fired in domed kilns.
Finished bricks were dispatched
To the forges of a new industrial age
From this quay...
Now crumbling into ruins like the rest of the site,
Weathered by sea and salt for more than a century.
♪
Anglesey is just one of over 50 islands off the welsh coast.
Many, like the tiny island of caldey in carmarthen bay,
Were the site of early monastic settlements,
Remote havens of contemplation and prayer,
Safe from attack.
Today, a small community of cistercian trappist monks,
Based here since the 1920s,
Continues that tradition.
Although home to only around 40 permanent residents,
The island issues its own stamps,
And has its own currency known as the "dab."
During the spring and summer months,
The monks welcome visitors on spiritual retreat,
As well as those who come
To enjoy the island's rich wildlife.
[birds calling]
Caldey may be a place of the soul,
But the heart of wales lies deep below the ground.
A great treasure is buried
Beneath the valleys of south wales.
Hundreds of feet below the ground
Lies one of britain's most extensive coalfields.
During the industrial revolution,
That same coal was a vital and precious commodity.
By the early 20th century,
Over a quarter of a million men
Were working in wales's coal mines.
This mine, called big pit at blaenavon in monmouthshire,
Was one of the most productive.
Coal mined here fueled the steel industry,
Powered steamships,
And fed the locomotive engines
Of america's great western railway.
Since 1983, big pit has been a world heritage site.
Today, brave souls can descend 300 feet
In the original pit cage
To the dark coalface where miners once toiled.
But there's a much darker side to wales's mining history.
♪
This is the peaceful former mining town of aberfan,
In the taff valley.
Here at 9:15 on the morning of October 21, 1966,
As the children of a local junior school
Gathered for lessons,
The ground suddenly began to shake.
[rumbling]
Over many years, huge piles of mining debris
Had been deposited on the hillside
Above the village.
Loosened by heavy rain,
The great mass of coal, shale, and water
Began to slide downhill,
Consuming everything in its path,
Including the school.
Despite the desperate efforts
Of thousands of volunteers and mine workers,
116 children and 28 adults were killed.
Today the victims are remembered at a memorial garden
At the cemetery where many of them are buried.
♪
With a population of nearly quarter of a million,
Swansea is wales's second city.
A major industrial center in the 19th century,
Its forges smelted so much copper,
The town became known as "copperopolis."
It's hard to believe that less than 80 years ago,
Much of this city lay in ruins.
Over the course of three nights in 1941,
German long-range bombers wiped out entire streets,
Turning the city center into a blazing inferno.
Rebuilt and expanded in the years that followed,
Today the town's centerpiece
Is the residential tower of meridian quay,
Wales's tallest building.
Down on the beach,
The uk's largest beach yoga class is underway,
Led by annapurna helen wilson.
These weekly summer sessions are open to all
And attract dozens of locals,
Calming bodies and minds
As they breathe the sea air flowing in from swansea bay.
♪
Of course, yoga is not for everyone.
♪
Mountain biker simon wilson gets all the fresh air he needs
Speeding along sections of the wales coast path.
Opened in 2012,
It was the first of its kind in the world.
Following the entire welsh coastline,
It extends over 880 miles through breath-taking scenery,
Skirting a series of hair-raising sheer drops.
♪
The fossil-rich limestone cliffs
Of nash point in the vale of glamorgan
Mark a spectacular end to simon's journey...
A chance to catch his breath
And take in the stunning view.
♪
About 60 miles inland,
Hidden in the quiet welsh countryside,
A collection of old farm buildings
Give little hint of their pivotal role
In the history of rock music.
This is rockfield studios,
The world's first residential recording facility.
For years,
Artists from motorhead to the pixies and coldplay
Have come here to live, write, and record.
The facility has two studios--
The coach house,
Where in 1996 oasis recorded their iconic album
"what's the story, morning glory?"
And the quadrangle studio,
Where, in 1975,
Queen recorded one of the greatest rock anthems
Of all time,
"bohemian rhapsody."
If the legendary musicians who came here
Ever tired of rockfield's peaceful charms,
They had only to venture 10 miles west
To find inspiration.
The extraordinary landscape of the brecon beacons
Has inspired many things over the years,
Not least the misty mountains
Of j.R.R. Tolkien's "the lord of the rings."
Extending east to west over 500 square miles,
The region includes several mountain ranges,
But is known by the chain of six peaks at its center,
Dominated by the brooding silhouette of pen-y-fan.
The beacons were named after the ancient practice
Of lighting signal fires on the mountaintops
To warn of invasion,
And their role in defense of the realm
Continues to this day.
For more than a century,
These remote and exposed uplands
Have been a training ground for british special forces.
♪
This is the fishing village of laugharne in carmarthenshire,
West of the brecon beacons.
Once home to wales's greatest poet, dylan thomas,
Author of "do not go gentle into that good night."
Born in swansea,
Thomas first came to fame
With the publication in 1934 of the poem
"light breaks where no sun shines."
He spent most of his life in laugharne
And his last four years at this boathouse
Overlooking the taf estuary,
Struggling with the alcoholism that would destroy his health.
Here he wrote his famous radio play
"under milk wood,"
Whose fictional town of llareggub
Was based on laugharne.
After thomas died at new york's historic chelsea hotel in 1953
At the age of 39,
His remains were brought home to his beloved laugharne.
♪
Another of wales's great literary heroes
Was the renowned children's writer roald dahl.
The author of "james and the giant peach,"
"matilda"
And "charlie and the chocolate factory"
Was born at this house
In the north cardiff suburb of llandaff in 1916.
His parents were among the immigrants from norway
Who settled in cardiff during the 19th century,
And dahl's first language was norwegian.
Growing up in llandaff greatly influenced dahl.
As a student at the town's cathedral school,
He and four classmates were punished
For placing a dead mouse in a jar of gobstoppers
To torment the local sweet shop owner,
Mrs. Pratchett.
With typical literary flair,
Dahl called it "the great mouse plot of 1924."
♪
In 2017, cardiff held a three-day festival
Called "city of the unexpected,"
Celebrating the centenary of the author's birth.
♪
A few miles north of cardiff,
A castle that would grace any children's story
Towers above the village of tongwynlais.
This is red castle,
Or as it's known in welsh,
Castell coch.
It was built for the owner of cardiff castle,
William crichton-stuart,
As a rural retreat,
But he rarely used it.
Although he died before its completion in 1891,
The eccentric architect james burges
Recreated an authentic medieval fortress
With three dramatic stone towers
And a formidable gatehouse complete with drawbridge.
♪
English architectural historian joseph mordaunt crook
Described it as
"the learned dream world of a great patron
And his favorite architect...
A fairy-tale castle
Which seems almost to have materialized
From the margins of a medieval manuscript."
♪
Cardiff may be wales's first city,
But the mainly welsh-speaking town of aberystwyth
Is regarded as its cultural capital.
This isolated town on the country's west coast
Became a popular victorian seaside resort
After it was connected to the rest of the country by rail
In the 19th century.
The tourism boom
Saw the building of fine hotels and guesthouses,
As well as the elegant seafront homes
That remain one of aberystwyth's most distinctive features.
The town's mile-long promenade stretches from the harbor
To the headland of constitution hill,
Where a cable-drawn railway ascends to the summit.
A victorian theme park was built here in 1896,
With arcades,
A restaurant at the foot of the hill,
And a park at the top.
The railway was originally powered by water weights,
Then electrified in 1921.
The tilted carriages
Are designed to keep passengers in an upright position
As they make the 45-degree climb.
Aberystwyth came to even further prominence
When wales's first university was established here.
This building welcomed its first 26 students in 1872,
And soon became known as "the people's university."
♪
On the far side of the country,
Near the southeastern border with England,
Lie the ruins of an earlier center
Of culture and learning.
Tintern abbey was founded in 1131
On the banks of the river wye
By monks of the cistercian order.
Over 400 years later,
When henry viii broke with the roman catholic church
And ordered the dissolution of the monasteries,
Tintern slowly fell into a state of decay.
What remains is still an awe-inspiring sight...
The decorated gothic architecture
Of its great church
Elegantly expressed in its elaborate arched windows.
This abbey was painted
By the great english masters gainsborough and turner,
And would also fire the imagination of poets
From wordsworth to tennyson.
As the 19th-century scottish writer
Catherine sinclair once wrote,
"descriptions of tintern abbey should be written on ivy leaves,
And with a poet's pen,
For no other do justice to the air of solemn grandeur
And religious melancholy
Reigning within its delicate cloisters."
♪
In the far northeast of wales
Stands a very different cathedral of stone,
Attracting climbers keen to pit their skills
Against its angular rock faces.
♪
In 1995, mark reeves came to this area to study,
And never left.
He has since established himself
As a climbing coach and mountaineering instructor.
When he's not scaling
Dinorwic quarry's dramatic slate cliffs,
He writes rock climbing guides to north wales and beyond.
♪
Slate from these quarries
Once roofed the houses of the world.
During the late 19th century,
A workforce of over 3,000 labored here--
Gangs of men blasting the rock,
Before splitting it with hammer and chisel.
It was dangerous work--
Even more deadly than mining.
Those lucky enough not to be killed
Often had their lungs destroyed by slate dust.
The tram lines used to transport the slate
Still run like veins through the rock.
The mine closed in 1969,
Leaving a landscape that bears the legacy
Of its industrial past with pride.
The bedrock of a nation defined by the character of its people.
Timeless, monumental, indomitable.
Wales.
♪