[old time jazz music] PETER (VOICEOVER): My name is Peter Davison.

I've always loved classic cars and getting stuck in under the bonnet.

Well, I think I fixed that now.

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): I'm Christopher Timothy.

I have a passion for the past and exploring bygone eras.

I love nostalgia.

Yeah.

CHRIS: I love it.

PETER (VOICEOVER): Chris and I first met 40 years ago.

Just take it easy, will you?

Relax, Jim.

Enjoy yourself.

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): We've been friends ever since our All Creatures Great and Small days.

You are a bit of a speedster.

I enjoy driving a car with a certain velocity, I suppose.

[laughs] PETER (VOICEOVER): Now we're motoring 1930s style again-- PETER: Whoa!

Look at that.

PETER (VOICEOVER): --and going on a series of classic road trips.

[tires screeching] PETER: Whey!

I like that squeal.

[laughter] That was me.

You should try it.

PETER (VOICEOVER): It was an era long before motorways-- - Is this a motorway?

- Yeah.

- We're on a bloody motorway?

- Yeah.

PETER (VOICEOVER): --or satnavs.

Look.

Look!

PETER (VOICEOVER): And we're sticking two fingers up to both.

Chris, this is the big adventure.

♪ ♪ PETER (VOICEOVER): Today we're traveling the length of Wales, from south to north.

Starting in Cardiff, we'll journey through dream driving country, following roads used by adventurous motorists of the 1930s, into the stunning mountain landscape of Snowdonia.

♪ ♪ CHRIS (VOICEOVER): Along the way, we'll set up a vintage speed trap-- Excuse me, sir, have you any idea what speed you were doing?

[laughter] CHRIS (VOICEOVER): --hitch a lift to the top of a slate mine-- This is steep.

Makes you feel that the engine is gonna stall, but-- It does.

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): --and have a special reunion with a very old friend of mine.

Ted!

Bloody hell.

I mean, good heavens.

My man!

How are you?

♪ ♪ CHRIS (VOICEOVER): But before our 180-mile journey can begin, I'm going to meet Peter at Cardiff Docks.

DRIVER: How are you today, sir?

CHRIS: I'm good, thank you.

How are you?

DRIVER: I'm all right.

What you got planned for today?

It's a beautiful day.

Well, I'm actually-- I'm going on a road trip with a mate of mine.

We're gonna go from here right up to Snowdonia.

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): For me, this is going to be a very special journey.

I am actually Welsh, and I was born in Bala, in North Wales.

I count myself as 101% Welsh.

So I'm very proud of that.

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): I was born in 1940, and I've got fond memories of my childhood here.

But all my adult life, I've lived in the South of England and have never fully explored the country of my birth.

Now, for the first time, I'm gonna do just that.

Peter hasn't ventured much into Wales either, and I'm really hoping to inspire him.

This, of course, will be quite a poignant return to his homeland for Chris, who tells me he's originally Welsh.

For me, I'm just hoping it will be informative.

But having said that, I did send him a text the other day saying I was looking forward to hearing a lot about Wales, and he sent me a text back saying, so am I. PETER (VOICEOVER): It sounds like this is going to be a journey of discovery for both of us.

Very nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

DRIVER: Bye-bye.

- Christopher, welcome.

- Thank you, mate.

Bye-bye.

Thank you.

Hey.

- How you doing?

- I'm good.

I'm good.

I'm good.

This is your chance to thrill me with your encyclopedic knowledge of your homeland.

OK, Pete.

PETER (VOICEOVER): We're traveling in our trusty 1930s-designed Morgan 4/4-- ♪ ♪ --stylish but a little cramped.

Oh!

One of the-- Oh, god.

Ah!

The cleverest thing about this car is the way it automatically takes off your hat for you-- - I know.

- --when you get in.

♪ ♪ PETER (VOICEOVER): Following a series of interconnecting old roads, through the valleys, over the Brecon Beacons, and up the West Coast, our mission is to get Chris home to his place of birth before finishing our trip atop the mighty Mount Snowdon.

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): The dramatic character of the roads ahead of us have made Wales a must-drive destination since the golden age of motoring, as an old driver's guide so poetically describes.

Now, this is from Car and County, published in 1929, I think.

- Yeah.

Yep.

'29.

And it says-- By the way, is this your homework you've done?

As opposed to something I know in instinct?

Yeah.

Well, it's just that, obviously, you're from Wales, and as I said to you, I was rather looking forward to hearing all about Wales from you.

And indeed-- well, some of it you'll hear.

Other-- an awful lot of Wales, I need to discover as much as you do.

All right.

Just read the thing, and then I want to ask a question.

- OK.

- [laughs] OK.

"Wales can certainly claim to be one of the richest fields for the motor explorer who does not mind wide detours and buildings and turnings.

Like all hill countries, it is never the same, and you may drive again and again over the same 50-mile stretch and see it totally different every time."

Ooh, I love twisty-turny roads.

Exactly.

"And that is one of the main reasons why Wales always keeps its lovers."

Do you like that?

What does that mean?

Always keeps its lovers?

Do you mean, people always love Wales, or-- Yes.

PETER (VOICEOVER): Glad we cleared that up.

Leaving Cardiff Docks behind, we encounter something that would not have been familiar to the 1930s motorist.

PETER: Oh, the Magic Roundabout.

Here we are.

- This must be it.

Yeah.

PETER (VOICEOVER): Cardiff's affectionately nicknamed Magic Roundabout is a piece of modern roadside art celebrating the UK's iconic traffic signs.

Before 1965, road signs varied dramatically from county to county.

But as motorists started traveling faster and further, this national uniform sign system was introduced.

I remember them-- vaguely remember them coming in, mostly because we used to make fun of them.

There's the roadworks sign, which looks like a man trying to put up a broken umbrella.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

That's for wind, isn't it or something?

Gales or-- No, no it's not-- it's man repairing roads.

No, no.

It's not actually a man with an umbrella.

Oh, no, no, of course.

Yes!

- It's a-- - Yes, yes, yes.

A man putting up your umbrella in high winds.

That's good.

I like that.

So what was the-- how was the one-- the one with the two elderly couple walking with sticks?

Oh, that's conga line.

Conga line nearby.

And then there was, of course, the one I liked the best, which was-- which is a car with a motorcycle on top.

CHRIS: Oh, yes.

PETER: So beware of low-flying motorcycles.

[upbeat music] CHRIS (VOICEOVER): Keeping our eyes peeled for low-flying motorcycles, we motor Northwest out of Cardiff and into some of the most celebrated of all the Welsh valleys, the Rhondda.

Visiting it has always been on my bucket list.

You know, all my years as a Welshman, I've never been to the Rhondda before.

PETER: I mean, I kind of knew-- I remember you saying you were born in Wales.

But you don't seem that Welsh, except I did notice you write Welsh for nationality in the hotel the other day.

- Well, only-- - [laughs] - --only 'cause-- I'm Welsh!

Yes, yes.

Just-- just in case you were in any doubt.

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): The iconic villages of the Rhondda valleys were built around the vast coalmining industry of South Wales.

In 1926, the price of coal crashed, but jobless miners found work building new roads in and out of these valleys.

And since the 1920s, what they constructed has been a motorist's dream drive.

CHRIS: That is beautiful.

It's very beautiful.

I don't care what anybody says.

It's bloody lovely.

♪ ♪ CHRIS (VOICEOVER): From the day they opened, cars came roaring in, and one local businessman saw an opportunity.

Nearly 100 years on, his descendant still makes a living from petrolheads eager to enjoy these fantastic highways.

CHRIS: We bloody deserve ice cream.

At least I was out before you.

I may be more crumpled, but.

Hello!

MARIO: Hello, there.

CHRIS: Can we have some ice creams, please?

Just a proper ice cream in a cone.

I'm gonna have a small vanilla cornet with chocolate sauce, did I see?

- Yeah.

Right.

- Please.

Yeah, thank you.

And what would you like, Peter?

I'd like a medium 99, please.

CHRIS: Thank you.

Thank you very much indeed.

CHRIS: Thank you, sir.

So who is Alessandro Canale?

Canale-- that is my grandfather.

He started with a handcart, like the picture.

After that, he had a horse and cart.

PETER: So was your grandfather a bit of an entrepreneur?

I mean, he was there the day they opened it.

The mayor was opening the road in 1926, and he was there.

PETER: Oh, really?

My father started here in the early '60s, and I took over in 1977.

And is there much more traffic on the roads than there was then?

It is, yeah, and faster traffic as well.

Yeah, that's a problem.

Tell them to slow down.

They don't slow.

They slow down for an ice cream, but that's it.

[laughs] PETER (VOICEOVER): Refreshed by ice cream, we hit the highway again.

We're heading North to take in the Black Mountain Pass that crosses the spectacular Brecon Beacons.

♪ ♪ This road has been a favorite with motoring enthusiasts since the 1930s, and we soon spot some fellow vintage petrolheads.

Oh, well, pull in.

Pull in.

- Really?

Seriously.

Well, it's obviously a club, isn't it, of some sort.

It's something.

It's a gathering.

Well, you're a car man.

Look at them.

Look at them.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Here we go.

Let's have a look.

CHRIS: Perhaps they're having a coffee break, and we can get a free coffee.

Fantastic.

Fantastic.

Are you gonna chat, Chris?

OK.

Well, no, you can ask them the salient questions, can't you?

'Cause you know what you're talking about.

[groans] CHRIS (VOICEOVER): This bunch are touring Wales in a set of fine old British classics.

To still be motoring after 50-odd years, these fantastic old roadsters must get a great deal of love and attention.

PETER (VOICEOVER): That's the cars we're talking about, right, Chris?

Part of the thing about owning one of these cars is the tinkering with them and the maintenance.

Well, when you retire, you've got to have an interest.

If you haven't got an interest, you die.

[laughs] You know, my father-in-law was 69 when he retired.

Sat in the chair, watched the television from start till the white dot disappeared, in those days, and he lasted four years.

And your cleaning carburettors and polishing just-- Well, yeah.

Just going out and tinkering with it.

PETER: That's good fun.

PETER (VOICEOVER): I love the elegance of cars from this era, and my favorite here is a pristine-looking 1965 Daimler.

How long have you had this car?

I've had this 17 years.

I bought it off the original owner.

I was interviewed to buy it.

Yeah.

Can we have a look under the-- Under the bonnet?

There, you'll get the lovely Daimler V8.

PETER: Oh, look at that!

- Yeah.

PETER: That's like it's polished every day.

Extraordinary.

Looks brand new.

Yeah.

They do need TLC, but that's part of the joy of-- of driving.

You see, that was the thing.

In those days, you could actually get at the-- you could get at the engine, couldn't you?

Nowadays, you open the bonnet of a car, and it just is one mass of-- Plastic.

PETER: Yeah.

MAN: Yeah.

I did have a little bit of a breakdown earlier this year, which my wife hasn't let me forget.

But generally speaking, it's pretty reliable?

Very reliable.

The only reason it failed is 'cause of my lack of attention.

Yeah.

Can I just sit in it for a moment?

Be my guest.

PETER: Is that all right?

Yeah.

[grunts] [sighs] I just need a proper hat.

I could be a chauffeur, actually.

This is fantastic.

PETER (VOICEOVER): As we've not been offered coffee, we decide we best get going.

It's Chris's turn to take the wheel.

But any hopes we had of roaring off impressively into the distance don't go quite as planned.

[engine sputtering] [bleep] [laughs] [engine revving, sputtering] [engine dies] Can you put the brake on again?

- Sorry.

- Please.

OK.

I'll hold it on until you start to pull away.

How about that?

- OK.

Go.

Yep.

[old time jazz music] ♪ ♪ PETER (VOICEOVER): We descend down the Black Mountain Pass, and the road shows off its celebrated switchbacks.

Nice, windy roads here, Chris.

I know.

Lovely windy roads.

♪ ♪ CHRIS (VOICEOVER): We've 120 miles ahead of us between here and Mount Snowdon, so best put the foot down.

♪ ♪ PETER: It's a good job you don't need to go to the loo.

I didn't till you mentioned it.

Anyway-- Well-- --I'm certainly not gonna pull along along here.

Sorry I put that thought in your mind, Chris.

I do go more often than I used, but that's 'cause I'm, you know-- - Ah, well.

- --I'm knocking on a bit know.

You know what I mean?

PETER: Yeah, well, aren't we all?

♪ ♪ PETER (VOICEOVER): We're doing this trip 1930s style.

And to keep it authentic, we're avoiding those modern dual carriageways.

Our route North follows a network of interconnecting old roads that have changed little since the so-called golden age of motoring, an era when the car gave us the freedom to explore like never before.

Seeing that Great Britain was what was-- but that was the big adventure.

Yeah.

And now we have overseas travel at our fingertips.

If people want to go away for a holiday, they tend to go abroad.

Maybe we're missing lots of parts of our own country.

Who was it said-- was it-- the more you know of your own country, the more you will appreciate other countries?

I don't know.

I think it was Christopher Timothy in 2017, wasn't it?

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): I was born in Bala in North Wales, but have lived in the South of England most of my life.

Are you surprised, or even, dare I say, disappointed that as somebody who professes to be a very proud Welshman, I know almost nothing about my country?

Do you know-- do you think that's odd?

Oh, I think it's very charming.

♪ ♪ CHRIS (VOICEOVER): Since leaving Cardiff and crossing the Brecon Beacons, we've covered around 60 miles and are barreling on North towards my birthplace.

Our route now veers around the South of the Cambrian mountain range, towards the coast road that leads to Aberystwyth.

PETER (VOICEOVER): As Chris is at the wheel, it's my turn to delve into our collection of old motoring guides.

One reveals an attitude that car owners of the '30s were encouraged to take towards their vehicle that's quite at odds with today's.

This is from The Motorist's Companion, 1936.

"The leading characteristic of the English car is that it is built to last."

Go on.

"Treat your new engine as if she was eggs, and you will not bring to her much harm."

As if she was eggs.

This is interesting because what it's implying, really, is that the maintenance of a car is really up to you.

Now, that's not something that you do nowadays.

People don't really go anywhere near under the bonnet.

Do you remember fan belts, replacing them with ladies tights?

You could get away with that for a short while-- Yeah.

--if you could find a lady who was prepared to give up her tights.

[laughter] 'Cause in the old days, most people belonged to a motoring organization-- Absolutely.

--the AA, which I think had the majority of members.

But my father was a member of the RAC.

Which, I always just liked their kit a bit more.

They were a sort of royal blue and just a bit fancy, and it had the word "Royal" in the title.

Yeah, yeah.

Did they salute?

Much the same.

Yes, they saluted you, yes.

Absolutely.

Of course-- and when you joined the AA or the RAC, you got a set of keys, you know, because-- Oh, yeah, for the boxes.

Yeah, for the boxes.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

♪ ♪ CHRIS (VOICEOVER): These boxes were the so-called lighthouses of the road, first introduced by the AA in 1912.

Each box was equipped with a phone for members to summon breakdown assistance.

By 1938, there were over 600 boxes across the UK, and they were decommissioned at the start of the 21st century with the advent of mobile phones.

PETER (VOICEOVER): There's now only 19 of these AA boxes left standing, and before we reach Aberystwyth, we're taking a detour in search of one at a spot called Devil's Bridge.

♪ ♪ CHRIS: It's on a fork.

PETER: OK.

CHRIS: So do we-- which fork do we take?

PETER: I would just keep going.

There it is.

Isn't that it?

No, that's a rubbish bin.

No.

[laughter] It is a rubbish bin!

CHRIS: Well, I mean, that wasn't-- that wasn't a fork, was it?

There's a fork?

No, that's somebody's house.

PETER: That's just a bend.

OK.

Well-- Maybe-- that wasn't-- Well, let's look for-- That wasn't really a fork, was it?

No, it was a turning, but the first-- Might this be a fork?

PETER: If there was anything, it would be the first turning we should've have taken.

- Do you reckon?

I think, yeah.

But-- - Oh, poo.

- That's all right.

Don't worry.

It's-- oh, AA Hotel.

Well, maybe that doesn't mean anything.

Ah.

There it is!

I know.

PETER: That's a hill.

What we'll do is we'll go up here.

Let's go up here, and we'll turn around.

All right.

Good idea.

PETER: So this is it.

This is the AA box, now upgraded to listed AA box, but sadly, decommissioned.

Not in use.

It's got a number somewhere, doesn't it?

CHRIS: Yep, 289.

PETER: Number 289.

As I said, you used to get keys for it and everything.

And inside, there would be a phone.

Although, originally, I think they were just designed for the AA patrolman to just shelter in if he got a bit bored with riding around-- On his sidecar stuff.

Yeah.

So-- but then, you've got a key-- And separated?

Sometimes, yeah.

So up here was the phone, and down there was petrol if you needed it.

Yeah, but it's a few extra-- CHRIS: Cleaning stuff and water and fire extinguisher and all that?

PETER: I mean, it's just going to be a monument to a bygone age, really, because it's not-- it's not functional.

It'll be a landmark, too, won't it?

It'll be a landmark.

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): Although known today for offering breakdown assistance, the AA were initially formed in 1905 to help motorists avoid speeding fines.

Until 1930, the UK speed limit was 20 miles an hour.

Police set up speed traps to catch drivers going faster than that.

What's the matter?

I haven't run over anyone.

PETER (VOICEOVER): AA patrolmen first appeared on our roads to warn motorists about the traps.

Automobile Association, sir.

I say, thanks awfully.

[upbeat swing music] PETER (VOICEOVER): So how, without the aid of cameras, would an early 1900s speed trap work?

I'm going to set one up using the method of hundred years ago.

First, I'm measuring out a furlong, a distance of 220 yards or an 1/8 of a mile.

Three members of the constabulary would have been involved, and I'm recruiting two members of our film crew.

One will spot the suspected speeding car.

The second, me, will time it, and a third will stand at the end of the furlong.

And here comes our suspected speeding driver.

♪ ♪ [sighs] What do you think?

♪ ♪ Now.

[laughs] I think it looks bad for Chris.

Give me one second.

PETER (VOICEOVER): To establish if Chris has exceeded the pre-1930 20-miles-per-hour speed limit, it's a case of dividing the distance by the time.

I need a phone to work this out because I'm not that bright.

Divided by 1,760 equals 28 miles an hour.

He's broken the speed limit.

Right.

We'll nab him.

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): Ironically, the speedometer didn't come as standard in a car until 1910, so motorists could only guess how fast they were going.

Excuse me, sir, have you any idea what speed you were doing?

I was doing about 30 miles an hour.

No, you were doing 28.1 miles an hour, sir.

I have to inform you that that is in excess of the speed limit.

I was exceeding no speed limit.

I was at the registered speed limit now, on this road.

This is not now, sir.

This is in the early part of the 20th century, I'm afraid.

If we are here now, sir, there wouldn't be any speedometer.

PETER: Speedometer?

- Speedometer.

Well, now, sir, if you haven't been bothered to invent a speedometer, I'm afraid that's your problem.

It's not ours.

You're nicked.

[laughter] Out you get!

[quirky music] PETER (VOICEOVER): After our speed trap success, we're now heading back West to Aberystwyth on the Welsh Coast.

♪ ♪ Following his brush with the law, Chris is wondering what rules might apply to his not-infrequent need for comfort stops.

CHRIS: You know, it's this thing about you can- if you need to, you can pee against the rear passenger wheel, although some of these people tell me it's the front passenger wheel.

I don't think either is true.

I don't think you can do that.

- No.

So-- really?

It's a fallacy?

I think it's a fallacy, yeah.

I'm surprised I haven't been arrested.

We could wait until a policeman comes along, and then you could try it just to see if it is.

Well, it'd be wiser to ask him, wouldn't it?

[laughs] And then you'd be arrested 'cause he'd think you were extracting the urine.

[upbeat jazz music] ♪ ♪ CHRIS (VOICEOVER): Aberystwyth has been a popular tourist town ever since the railway arrived in the Victorian era.

With the advent of the car, its narrow streets soon became jammed with holidaymaking motorists.

I have a vague recollection of visiting as a child, so I guess I was last here around 70 years ago?

CHRIS: This is called the Royal Pier.

The Royal Pier, I see.

PETER: The Royal Pier.

CHRIS: Lovely.

We can have a look at things on this, can't we?

Yeah.

20 quid.

He said, ooh, I think I've got 20p to get it to work.

I have too.

Let's try it.

Go.

I don't think it's gone in.

Well, you have to turn that.

Oh, no.

Chris, I think you've lost 20-- well, no.

CHRIS: Here we go.

That's it.

Yeah?

No, it's bugger all.

Oh, no.

[laughter] I can see a very misty-- it's a very misty version of the pier.

I can't see anything at all.

[laughs] Hang on.

Let me just check.

Let me just check here.

Hold on a sec.

That's it.

You're right.

It just goes that much nearer as well.

[laughter] [playful music] PETER (VOICEOVER): As we make to motor out of Aberystwyth, Chris's childhood memories come flooding back, and he demands in-car treats.

Sweetshop, 9 o'clock.

We need a sweetshop.

- No, no.

Too late.

Double yellow lines, Chris.

- Oh, come on.

We'll find somewhere to park.

We'll go around, all right?

We'll go around.

So we can have some sweet-- sweets for the journey.

Ah, like the old days.

Very, very important.

This town is not built for traffic, really, is it?

Well, what town was?

No, exactly.

All I can see, wherever I look, there's double yellow lines.

PETER (VOICEOVER): Aberystwyth reacted to car congestion as early as 1911, when the local counsel banned cars from a section of the town center Nope.

No parking spaces.

If I go-- if I go left down here-- PETER (VOICEOVER): Today, we fear the dreaded traffic warden, first introduced in the UK, along with yellow lines in 1960.

[energetic music] NARRATOR: From now on, the traffic wardens will see that parking meter rules are observed, and coming down on those who do so in forbidden spots.

And it's all gonna be done courteously.

No slanging matches.

Just say, what awful weather we're having, sir.

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): We finally spot a space and can safely go sweet shopping.

Oh, sweeties.

[door shuts] PETER: Hi, there.

SHOPKEEPER: Hiya.

PETER: How are you?

Good, thank you.

Hi.

Please, may I have eight flying saucers?

SHOPKEEPER: Eight flying saucers.

To start with.

You all right?

PETER: It's not easy to park around here, is it?

SHOPKEEPER: No.

No, it's a bit of a nightmare at the moment.

Yeah.

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): If we'd been visiting Aberystwyth a few years ago, we could've parked with no fear of a fine.

We heard this rumor that there was one point when they got rid of all the traffic wardens.

Is that right?

- Yes.

Yeah.

2011?

- So what happened?

The council just-- Well, what it was-- the police were in charge of the traffic at the time, and they gave the council two years notice to say, right, we can't afford to keep funding this.

So then we had about a year where it was just a free-for-all in town.

PETER: Chaos.

- Chaos.

It was.

I mean, it was good 'cause we had more people in town.

People could nip into town quickly.

And Aberystwyth needs people to be in town to make it busy and keep it going, keep us little independents, you know, trading.

I was brought up in a sweetshop, you know?

Oh, what's your favorite then?

Ooh.

I'm a sucker for chocolate.

SHOPKEEPER: Chocolate.

Chocolate and a bit of fudge, but-- Oh, would you like to try a bit of our fudge?

--I am trying to cut down.

Yeah.

Toxic Waste.

[laughs] It's not like it was in my day.

[upbeat jazz music] PETER (VOICEOVER): Suitably stocked up, we tootle on, but Chris is already tucking into our supply of flying saucers.

Would you like one?

Would you like-- Oh, oh, oh.

I've got-- Is that one of those sherbet whatsits?

Yeah, excuse fingers.

Can I give you-- So what you're saying is I should put a big-- Would you like your flying saucer?

No, I don't want my flying saucer.

Maybe we could have it after the next meal-- Yeah, save it.

- --as a sort of extra pudding.

- Good idea.

All right.

PETER (VOICEOVER): There's 80 miles to go before we reach Snowdon, and we've still got to get Chris back to his home town.

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): But this 1930s-style navigating by map isn't as easy as it looks.

Can I make-- can I suggest that, when we get nearer, that we could make this a shared experience, the actual map-- Do you mean shared responsibility?

I do.

OK.

I do, if that's OK.

Now, hang on a minute.

You do understand that I'm driving the car-- I do, and a-- --and you are reading the map.

--wonderful job you're making of it.

But I'm doing something quite exciting, which I want you to share, which is reading the map.

♪ ♪ PETER (VOICEOVER): We're more than halfway into our 180-mile Welsh road trip.

Retracing the route of 1930s petrolheads, we pass the mighty coastal castle of Harlech, through historic towns and along the ancient roadways that have hardly changed in nearly a century.

Now, the nearer we get to Mount Snowdon, the closer we come to Chris's childhood stomping ground in North Wales.

♪ ♪ I have noticed, actually, your excitement level rises as we go further north.

Yeah, well-- I heard you say, ooh, now we're going towards North Wales!

Yes!

Well, that's absolutely genuine.

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): This is my homecoming journey, a chance for me to explore parts of Wales I've never seen.

But I'm taking great pleasure in introducing my old mate of 40 years to the delights of the Welsh driving experience.

What's your take, A, on Wales, and B-- first of all, expectations, because you said you very rarely came to Wales-- - Yes.

--when you were younger-- and B, what you are now getting now you're here.

I was surprised that so much of it is so beautiful to drive through and that I'd just taken it for granted that it was there, and therefore, I didn't really feel I needed to drive through it.

But now I have driven through it.

It's been a fantastic experience.

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): We've covered 120 miles so far on this trip, and we've now reached slatemining country.

Many of the roads in North Wales were first built in the 1800s to transport slate to the coast.

♪ ♪ We're only about an hour's drive from my hometown of Bala, but there's something I want to see first.

We're approaching what was once the largest slate mine in the world, at Blaenau Ffestiniog.

I've got vivid memories of it.

CHRIS: Around my early teens, I mean, 12, 13, that sort of age, I used to get on the train and go to Blaenau.

And there were the slate mines, which were very exciting.

And I haven't been there for years.

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): Although I'm excited about seeing it again, one of our old guidebooks, published back in the '20s, isn't all that complimentary about Blaenau Ffestiniog.

It says, "The valley is extremely picturesque, which is only displaced when the hideous slag heaps appear of Blaenau Ffestiniog."

Oh, wow.

Fascinating.

I don't remember them being hideous.

I thought they were very dramatic and quite romantic.

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): We're going to experience the slate mines in a way that, as a boy, I never could.

We're hitching a lift with former slate miner Brian, who's going to take us up 1,400 feet to the very top of the mine.

Good height.

[laughter] - You're Brian, right?

- I am, yes.

I'm Chris.

Welcome, welcome.

Welcome-- - This is Pete.

Welcome.

Whoa, right.

[engine rumbling] OK.

Off we go.

This is a Leyland DAF, ex-army vehicle, all-wheel drive.

OK.

It's got a 5.9 turbo diesel engine.

PETER (VOICEOVER): Although this is a modern vehicle, all-wheel drive technology dates from 1903.

Four-wheel drive has been around since the age of steam, but all-wheel drive uses a differential that distributes varying power to the wheels as they need it.

Daimler developed the first all-wheel vehicle.

It's a system that's especially effective on slippery surfaces.

And here, on the fantastically steep roads leading up the mine, we're going to need it.

You've got to have your wits about you because this slate that's under the wheels of the motor is very slippery, especially now.

The wheels will start spinning in no time.

That's why it's so handy it's an all-wheel drive vehicle.

Right, yes.

So I guess we couldn't drive the Morgan up here, then.

No.

You wouldn't recommend it?

No, you'd rip the floors off it.

[laughs] This is steep.

He's just trying to torment.

This is the-- This is steep.

And you stay in first, do you?

I stay in first gear, low ratio, and we bring the revs right down.

If you rev-- if you rev it now, she'll start spinning.

Spinning, yeah.

And just keep an eye on the back wheels.

But the back wheels will just keep on turning.

They don't start spinning.

It makes you feel that the engine is gonna stall, but-- It does.

--just keep an eye on the rev counter.

Yeah.

BRIAN: As long as the arrow is in the green, we're OK.

Yes.

PETER: And what's your advance warning system?

It's when you see the driver's door opening.

[laughter] CHRIS (VOICEOVER): All-wheel drive vehicles were introduced here to transport slate down these slopes over 50 years ago.

Before then, horses, and electric trams were used.

Tell us about the actual-- the road that we're on here.

Was this built to bring the slate down the hill?

It was.

But this isn't the original road.

They had to keep on moving the road up and higher up and higher up because of the rockfall here.

Right, OK.

As are we going up, you can see pieces of roads, that I remember in the 1970s, that are not used anymore because of the rockfall.

- OK.

- So this is-- PETER: That rather looks like one there.

And so that might still happen to one of these roads, I suppose, if there's a landslide-- Oh, yes.

--as you said.

Yeah.

Yes, it will.

See, there's another road there that isn't used anymore.

PETER: Yeah.

BRIAN: That's it.

We made it.

PETER: Excellent.

CHRIS: Fantastic.

[engine stops] CHRIS (VOICEOVER): We're 1,400 feet up.

Locals will tell you the roofing slate dug out of these mountains is the finest in the world.

It was exported as a building material to the four corners of the Earth.

We really are on the roof of the world.

It looks beautiful.

And even where it's rough and sort of, ugh, it's still beautiful.

It's a very rare experience.

Very, very rare.

[upbeat jazz music] PETER (VOICEOVER): Back down at a less dizzying level, it's now time to get Chris home to the town of his birth.

We have to double back a little ways, but for Chris, I know it's more than worth it.

♪ ♪ Bottom line, the nearer I get to Bala, pathetic it may seem, I feel safer.

- OK.

- I don't know.

Does that make sense?

Perfectly understandable.

Perfectly understandable, yeah.

Yeah, and-- and I get very excited, and I get very nostalgic, and I get very emotional.

So-- Yeah.

You know, and I'm-- Has this increased-- I feel like a psychiatrist now.

Has this increased as you got older-- Without doubt.

--your sense of nostalgia?

Oh, absolutely.

But I did have a sense right from the word, go, I think.

Yes, of course.

I've noticed the Welsh accent becoming stronger as the days have gone by.

Well, I hope that's simply natural and not me showing off.

No, no, no, no.

It's very good.

But I love the Welsh accent.

No, it's a lovely accent.

Yes.

[soft jazz music] CHRIS (VOICEOVER): After 150 miles, we've made it, the town I was born in 77 years ago.

So now, this is Bala.

I'm not quite sure how you'd be able to see it, but if you slow right down-- no, no, no.

Go as far as that hedge.

As far as the hedge.

That's the house there.

Stop.

PETER: This one?

CHRIS: Yeah.

That's the house where I was born.

Can you see it?

Yeah.

CHRIS: Nice, isn't it?

Now, on the left is a-- is the village school.

- This one here?

- Yeah.

And this is the school that you didn't go to.

CHRIS: Yeah.

PETER: That's the one-- CHRIS: Because I had a private tutor.

But I used to, sometimes walking-- I used to walk down here.

But I would have been four years old, to walk down here, across the high street ahead, and some-- to the house where I was tutored.

And sometimes I used to so want to be in school.

And I used to go in, and they used to let me stay.

PETER: Really?

- Yeah.

Till about lunchtime.

Then somebody would-- Kick you out.

--got in touch with Mom and said, will you come pick your child up?

So has it changed very much?

No, hardly at all.

If you go right down that road-- - So-- - Is it no entry?

Oh, it's just no entry.

Oh, heavens, OK.

You have to go right, then.

That's not no problem.

Not a problem.

[soft piano music] Take it very gently for a minute.

All right, OK.

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): Bala is an ancient market town.

This is extraordinary.

It's a very nice street.

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): I vividly remember the sound of the Welsh language spoken here, and of me sneaking off to smoke woodbines under the bridge.

I left when I was 13.

That used to be a police station, which is now a takeaway pizzeria.

[laughs] But I have to say, Bala is exactly the same.

Exactly the same.

Nothing has been built out or taken away.

It's a lovely, lovely place.

PETER: Nice town.

♪ ♪ CHRIS (VOICEOVER): One of the main reasons that Bala is so special to me is because of the friends I made.

This is me, age 12.

I'm on the right.

In the middle is my mate Geoff.

And on the left, my old pal Ted.

I've called both of them.

Geoff's away, but Ted's going to meet me at an old haunt of ours, the local cinema.

Is the cinema down to our right?

Yeah, Victoria Hall, it's called.

PETER: OK.

CHRIS: Slow right down.

Slow right down.

Ted!

PETER: [laughs] CHRIS: Ted!

Are you sure he's not some stranger you're just picking on?

No, that's Ted!

Bloody hell!

I mean, good heavens.

Sorry.

Sorry.

Oh.

what have you got?

My man!

How you doing?

CHRIS: How are you?

I don't believe it.

What are you doing?

How are you, darling?

[chuckles] Oh.

- This is Peter Davison.

- I'm gonna-- I'm gonna to get out of the car.

One sec.

- Yeah, get out of the car.

[laughs] You can leave this car here anytime you like.

CHRIS: Ted and Buddug.

How are you?

Very nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

I'm very pleased to meet you at last because this is the final proof that he is, in fact, Welsh.

'Cause I wasn't believing it all week.

Have you got lost with him around here, or-- Yeah, he gets me lost all the time.

He's meant to be my navigator.

CHRIS: Well, Ted and I-- how long have we known each other?

Well, it must be 70 years?

Yes, it must.

You're right.

Yeah.

I was born in 1939.

And I was born in 1940.

You're older than me.

What a delight.

TED: But I know more than you as well, though.

That's true.

That's very true.

Do you consider him Welsh?

Oh, yes.

Even though he went away to London.

- Oh, alas.

- That's all right.

That's all-- He was born and bred, innit, Chris?

Yeah, absolutely.

Yes, yes, yes.

- All right.

- Yes.

That's good enough for me.

Is it?

♪ ♪ CHRIS (VOICEOVER): Shame I missed Geoff, but great to have caught Ted.

Now it's onward.

CHRIS: Ta-da.

PETER: Bye.

- Bye-bye.

God bless.

- That was nice, wasn't it?

- Yeah.

Did you enjoy that?

- Yeah, it's very nice.

- Yeah, good.

Goodbye, Bala.

Thank you.

[upbeat jazz music] CHRIS (VOICEOVER): Three days ago, Peter and I set out from Cardiff.

Since then, we've traveled 170 miles, nearly the length of Wales, through glorious valleys and along breathtaking roads.

It's been fantastic.

But over the course of the journey, our map has taken a bit of a battering.

PETER: Can I just say?

Look at the state of this map.

This is-- this is the only map we've got.

This is the way we're finding our way around Wales.

Look at this.

Aren't you meant to fold it along the creases?

Of course you are.

But I'm-- I haven't been in charge of map folding, have I?

- I don't know.

- It's been a shared-- Aren't you the navigator?

It's been a shared experience.

OK.

I'll take a small amount of responsibility for it, then.

Thank you.

Not a lot.

CHRIS (VOICEOVER): We're now entering the 18-mile-long pass of Llanberis, the stunning gateway to our final destination, the awesome Mount Snowdon.

I'm getting quite excited now.

PETER (VOICEOVER): One of our 1930s motoring guides insists that we are now driving through some of the finest hill country in the kingdom, and that not the Alps themselves demand more reverence.

It really is spectacular.

PETER: So have you been to Snowdonia before?

No, no.

I don't even remember going close.

Well, you see-- I mean-- Why didn't I?

Well, because people in those days-- and by "those days," I mean my old days as well-- didn't travel that much.

We just didn't travel that much.

You know-- But for me, it was just down the road, wasn't it?

I know, but it's down the road-- it's down the road now.

Down the road then was a fairly hefty trek.

When I was young in Bala, we were not in possession of a car.

You were not?

Oh, well, then-- No, no.

--that would've made motoring difficult.

And the same applies-- [laughter] [dramatic music] PETER (VOICEOVER): For as long as petrolheads have had cars, they've driven them to extremes.

So it was with summiting Snowdon.

It's a stunt that's long since been banned, but numerous attempts in the early era of the car were made to drive to the top of the tallest mountain in Wales.

This footage from 1917 shows a car using the Snowdon Mountain railway tracks to get there.

♪ ♪ CHRIS (VOICEOVER): And we, too, are going to use the railway track, but not in our car.

We'll be boarding the steam train that's been carrying visitors to Snowdon summit since 1896.

Before we set off, we're saying, hello, to Liz in the driver's cab.

- Yes.

- This is Peter.

I'm Chris.

- Hi, how are you?

Hello.

I'm fine, thank you.

So you are a fireman?

I am, yes.

Right, and are you the first female fireman?

I am, yes.

Yeah, yeah.

- That's amazing.

- It is.

I'm so jealous of you.

Oh.

[laughs] It's an amazing job.

It's such a pride to work here.

It's a marvelous place.

And it's in this fantastic scenery that you see on the way up and everything.

Is this something you've always wanted to do?

Absolutely.

Ever since I was little, I've always had a fascination in steam engines and diesels-- PETER: Yeah.

LIZ: --the noises that they made.

It was all-- wow.

CHRIS: What was your first trip up the mountain like?

It was very nerve-wracking.

I was like, oh, my word.

Look at that gradient.

We've got to shovel the coal up that.

But it's a piece of cake now.

[stirring music] PETER (VOICEOVER): The train ascends from Llanberis Station to a height of over 3,500 feet over just 4 and 1/2 miles of track.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ CHRIS (VOICEOVER): It's been a long-held ambition of mine to do this, and extra special to do it with Peter.

♪ ♪ The people you care about, you want them to experience what you experience, don't you?

You want them to know-- if there are people in your life whom you love very much and whose company is great, you want all your other friends to experience the same, don't they?

And obviously, of course, it can't always work, but.

I think he's at a good time.

I mean, I'm not nervous to ask him, but I'm not gonna ask him now, OK?

♪ ♪ How has your experience been of Wales?

Is it as been-- is it as excited or-- yeah--- and satisfying as it has been for me?

You've been the perfect guide to Wales for me.

No, it's been fantastic.

It's been fantastic.

- That is the right answer.

It is-- You're a good man.

[wheels screeching] PETER (VOICEOVER): The view from the top of Snowdon was recently voted the finest in all of the UK.

But as Chris and I reached the summit-- [sighs] I know what you're gonna say.

[laughs] This is the finest view I've seen so far in Wales.

It really is, except we can't actually see it.

But if we could see it, if the wind would just blow this cloud away or it would just lift a bit, we would see the most fantastic view.

I'm-- I refuse to be rised.

I'm not gonna rise to this.

We are 1,085 meters on the top of Mount Snowdon, which is 3,560 feet to old people like you and me.

[laughs] Have you had a good time?

CHRIS: Fantastic.

PETER: Good.

- Really good, yeah.

- It's been great.

I'd like to do it again.

[laughs] [upbeat jazz music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪