I have been listening to "Ramblings" on BBC Sounds -- Clare Balding rambling along the Golden Road, on the west-east Preseli ridge, in the company of Nick Gammage, his wife and a jolly hound. He sounds like a nice enough fellow, but who did the research on this programme? Much of the conversation, as they rambled along, was out with the fairies. For a start, the basic premise, namely that the Golden Road was followed by the drovers in days of yore, was completely faulty. The drovers NEVER ambled along high ridgeways with their animals -- that was far too risky, and it was too difficult to control the animals. They crossed Mynydd Preseli in one place in particular, in the col to the east of Cerrigmarchogion and down past Carn Goedog, towards Carn Alw, and thence off towards Eglwyswrw. That is well documented, and there is evidence on the ground in support of what the experts have deduced. A small amount of research would have established all of that and would have ensured the the programme was telling a story that was more or less correct.
Then we came -- of course -- to the wonderful saga of the bluestones, complete with standing stones, quarries, and the wonderful lost circle as promoted with great enthusiasm by our old friend MPP. And there it was again -- the latest embellishment of the myth, with Nick Gammage telling the nation that the bluestones at Stonehenge all have "footprints" that match exactly with all of the sockets left at Waun Mawn, thus proving that all of the stones were there to start with before being shipped off in those great haulage expeditions to Salisbury Plain. As I have explained before, not even MPP has claimed that, but here it is again, being stated on the radio as if it is established fact.
Shallow radio, aimed straight at the most gullible. Sad, isn't it?
4 comments:
For the sake of stating what Nick Gammage's own reasons for getting Clare Balding to go on this walk with him, these were that he'd walked the full 250 miles in 2021's summer to the Chilterns. He did it all on his own after recovering from a prostate cancer diagnosis. I got this from the Radio Times. No wonder Nick took a rather romanticised and overly revelatory view of what he THOUGHT MPP was claiming about those doggone bluestones!! And clearly the BBC Producer was happy to rely on " Chinese whispers" as received wisdom.
Yes, good for Nick! Obviously a very brave and determined man, and it's nice to see him held up as an example to others. I just wish that he had done a bit more homework on what went in in the area he was walking across.......
Clare Balding seems to be placing greater emphasis on WHY folk get out for a walk in these days of isolation and Covid, i.e. mental and physical benefits.
Yes, that's fair enough. We have just been watching the 4 episodes of Iolo Williams's "Pembrokeshire" on BBC iPlayer -- as he wandered about looking at wildlife and other things. Quite a few mentions of prehistoric features, but always accurate and free of flights of fancy. Good for him. The programmes are great -- quiet, and almost meditative. Packed with fantastic images and well-informed enthusiasm! Long may Iolo thrive.....
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