Great Canal Journeys (2014) s04e01 Episode Script
Series 4, Episode 1
'I'm Prunella Scales.
' 'And I'm Timothy West.
' Beautiful.
'We've been husband and wife for over five decades.
' Amazing.
Cheers.
'We've been wedded to stage and screen for even longer.
' Great hair, Pru.
SHE LAUGHS 'But we share another passion - 'canals'.
ENGINE STARTS Cast off, please.
Aye-aye, sir.
'Canals wind through our lives, 'carrying our treasured memories.
' 'Of families growing up' '.
.
of moments of wonder' '.
.
and hidden beauty.
' Is this the most remote canal we've ever been on? It probably is, yes.
'Of love' '.
.
and laughter.
' SHE LAUGHS Sorry about that.
'Things are a bit harder for me, these days.
' I'm not strong enough! But we get by.
We're on the summit! Hooray! Pru has a slight condition.
It does mean she has difficulty remembering things.
THUDDING AND SHATTERING Oh, my, darling.
I'm so sorry.
I didn't cast you off! 'One has to recognise that Pru's' domestic life is getting .
.
a little narrower by the day.
'Well, it can be a nuisance,' but it doesn't stop me remembering how to open a lock gate, or make the skipper a cup of tea.
OK.
Cast off! OK.
'We'll be exploring new countries' It's amazing, isn't it? '.
.
and following new routes.
' I'm lost now.
'But one thing stays the same' '.
.
we're always together.
' Let's stay right here.
So peaceful.
'We're off to Sweden, 'a land of vast forests and island-strewn coasts.
' So beautiful here, isn't it? Yeah.
'And linking it all together is a ribbon of blue'.
'A series of canals, lakes and rivers 'that runs across the country from sea to sea.
' But they built a tow path in the middle of the lake.
Yeah.
Gosh! That is marvellous.
'It's one of my life's ambitions 'to take on one of the longest and most beautiful 'canal journeys in the world.
'And I've decided to put it off no longer.
' It's rather magical.
'Tim is thrilled, finally, to be making this trip.
'And his excitement is infectious.
'Like everything we do, we'll do it together.
' Hard work, but it keeps you fit.
THEY SING IN OWN LANGUAGE 'We'll embrace a new language.
' THEY SING IN OWN LANGUAGE Skol.
Skol.
Skol.
'And a new culture.
' So are you feeling Swedish? Terribly Swedish.
'We may not be as young and fit as we were, 'but it's never too late for a new adventure.
' In a two-part voyage, we will travel from Gothenburg on the West Coast on a 350-mile journey, across the breath of Sweden, to the capital city and on to the outer islands of Stockholm's archipelago.
We've arrived in the port of Gothenburg.
It's here that we start the first leg of our voyage, joining the historical Gota Canal, which will take us into the heart of Sweden and on to the Baltic Sea.
TRAM BELL RINGS 'The Gota Canal was the brainchild 'of the Swedish admiral Count Balthazar von Platen.
'An inland waterway that would allow Swedish vessels 'to avoid the feared Danish Navy, 'which, in the late 18th century, 'controlled the seas around Sweden.
'It took 60,000 men 22 years to dig.
'When the Gota finally opened in 1822, 'it was the greatest feat of engineering 'that the country had ever seen.
' 'Before we join our first vessel, 'we're meeting a local journalist, Erika Svenske, 'for an insider's guide to the journey ahead.
' Erika.
'It also gives Tim an excuse to try the traditional Swedish pastries.
' Darling, you shouldn't even look at that cinnamon bun.
Well, I will look at it.
THEY LAUGH There's an interesting thing about the Gota Canal.
Your Thomas Telford, the great canal engineer Yeah.
.
.
has actually had something to do with the Gota Canal, here in Sweden.
Sweden got a lot of help from the British and not just from Telford.
We had British foremen coming.
Mm.
Oh, right.
Giving advice to the people who were actually digging the canal.
Yes.
So it's partly British built and, of course, we know Telford's work.
We've followed the gentle contours of his Llangollen Canal many times.
But Sweden's Gota Canal is on a far larger scale.
Sometimes the Gota Canal is referred to as "the divorce ditch".
Oh! Oh, darling.
Why? Because of all the 58 locks that you will have to work on your way.
And Yes.
One of us will have to work on them.
58, eh? Yeah.
Right.
Timmy! What have you got us into? HE CHUCKLES We start our journey along the so-called "divorce ditch" in some style.
Tim loves his classic ships, so, for the first 100 miles, he couldn't resist booking us onto the Juno.
'Well, she is the oldest registered passenger vessel in the world.
' Isn't it beautiful? 'And she's been making this voyage since 1874.
' Permission to come aboard? 'It's a gentle start, 'before we later cross the hardest part of the waterway 'under our own steam.
' FUNNEL HOOTS Here we are.
It's a bit different, isn't it? Well Yeah.
It will be a great adventure.
There's nothing like being on a proper ship, is there? 'We begin this first leg aboard the Juno.
'She will transport us overnight, 'across Sweden's largest lake, 'to our motorboat, at Sjotorp.
'From there, we are on our own, 'travelling east on the Gota Canal, 'through a series of vast lakes and intimidating locks, 'to the Baltic Sea.
' FUNNEL HOOTS A square rigger.
Square rigger, yes.
Four-master.
Very handsome.
When I was a little girl, I used to dream about sailing round the world in a square rigger.
Well, you're doing something almost as good.
You're crossing Sweden in a historic boat.
It's fulfilled all my childhood dreams for me.
Thank you.
'It's a wonderful treat.
'And, as the Juno leaves the city behind, 'like two excited teenagers,, 'we head below to find our cabin.
' A12.
A12, right.
Which is Oh.
Well Yes.
Is that it? It is, indeed, yes.
Oh.
Two bunks.
Good.
Do you want to be up or down? Well, ideally, down, I think.
I'm a bit scared of being up.
Yes, I thought you'd say that.
Oh, dear, sorry.
Will you fall out? No, no.
It's rather nice.
It's lovely, yes.
Champagne Oh! Strawberries.
Champagne and strawberries.
It's comfortable.
Right.
Home.
Yes.
Hello.
Hello.
Welcome.
FUNNEL HOOTS 'Back in the 19th-century, the Juno carried cargoes, 'like wrought iron and timber, 'along with a few passengers.
'Today, her cargo is all human.
'To find out more about this historic ship, 'I'm heading up to the bridge.
' Hello, Captain.
Hello! Hello! Shall I shut the door? Yeah, please do.
Come in.
Come in.
There.
So .
.
what's she like to steer? Oh, it's easy.
I just use this little thing.
Oh! Wow, you've got one of those, yes.
This is just to lean on, these days.
Right.
And has Juno's use changed very much over the years? Yes, she's been rebuilt since she was I mean, she was built in 1874 and she was a freighter from the beginning, because it was a big trade on the canal.
The ship looked different, because the bridge was, like, eight metres behind.
Yeah.
And we had cargo on deck.
Yes.
And just a few cabins for passengers.
And we took deck passengers, who had to sit on deck all the time and they were allowed to sleep on the floor in the dining room, during the night.
So they had to bear their own sleeping bags and stuff like that.
So it's been going through a lot of changes.
Yes.
Actually, this is the only thing that is left in the Gota Canal from the old time.
Yeah.
Everything else in the canal is modernised, so we are the Just you? We Right, right.
We are the thing that is from the old time.
Well, this is the place to sit, isn't it? Yes, lovely.
Lovely.
'We are 30 miles out of Gothenburg.
' FUNNEL HOOTS 'And we've reached our first set of locks.
'The flight at Trollhattan will take us up over 100 feet 'into the Swedish interior'.
FUNNEL HOOTS 'They are certainly the deepest flight of locks 'we've ever been through.
' Well, these locks make English locks look rather quaint, don't they? I mean, the engineering of them is Yeah, really serious.
Yeah.
Well, it's usually me who will key.
Windlass.
But, er, I wouldn't fancy opening these gates LOCK CLICKS .
.
on my own.
Might get a bit tired, by hand, yes.
All sorts of people travelled on this ship, on this voyage.
Henrik Ibsen No, really? Yeah.
.
.
and Hans Christian Andersen.
Gosh! 'He may be famed for his fairytales, 'but Hans Christian Andersen also wrote of a real experience 'that he has on this very same voyage, 'when he met authoress Fredrika Bremer.
' "She asked after my name, "was acquainted with it, but confessed that she had read "none of my works.
"She then enquired whether I had not some of them with me "and I lent her a copy.
"She vanished immediately, with the volumes "and was not again visible all morning.
"When I again saw her, "her countenance was beaming and she was full of cordiality.
"She pressed my hand and said that "she had read the greater part of the first volume "and that she now 'knew me'.
" Ah, isn't that nice? Ah! See what voyages do to people? Yes.
Yeah.
He was smitten with her.
He loved her all his life.
Oh! And all because of this trip.
Do you think any romance of that nature is likely to happen on board tonight? In those bunk beds? SHE LAUGHS 'It's our second day in Sweden 'on our epic voyage across the breadth of the country, 'from west to east.
'For this first stretch of our journey, 'we've been aboard a passenger ship.
'It should all have been plain sailing.
' Stormy night last night, a lot of rain, didn't get a lot of sleep.
'We had a very rough crossing of Sweden's largest lake 'and Pru's lost her sea legs.
' Just feeling a bit sick, but the sun's out now, it's all looking better, wonderful country.
And we're just tootling along at something like two knots, I think.
'We're now approaching Sjotorp, where we're due to leave the Juno.
'Now we'll have to strike out on our own.
'And fortunately, Pru's recovered.
' 'I may be over 80, but I shan't let a little seasickness hold me back.
' Thank you so much.
You're welcome.
OK.
Very nice to meet you, yes? Thanks, goodbye.
See you again.
Well, that's the pleasure cruise over.
Oh! Now it's down to us.
Yes.
The work begins.
Well, we'll cope.
Yes.
'From here, the majority of our voyage 'will be aboard this motor cruiser.
'She's completely different from a British canal boat, 'but then this is a very different sort of canal journey.
' They look so flat after you're used to narrow boats, don't they? Yeah.
In you come.
Right.
OK.
Oh, it's nice.
It's a nice double bed.
Oh, yes.
Wow! Oh, a loo! A bath.
An actual bath.
Yes, a loo and a bath.
Yep.
A wheel.
Yes, nice wheel.
Hundreds of switches, don't know what they all mean.
I expect I'll get the hang of it.
Leave them alone, that's best.
Good! Off we go, then, I think, don't you? Aye, sir.
Baltics, here we come.
Right, cast off, will you? Right.
'I'm a bit too eager to be off, and I'm not taking into account 'that Pru can be rather forgetful these days.
' Have you cast off aft? Yes, I have now.
Right, OK.
Pru! What? The stern line! We're still tied on.
'Pru's only untied us at the bow.
' I'm sorry, I thought I had.
I beg your pardon.
Oh, my God.
It's all right.
'We both have the odd senior moment, 'but we'll keep boating as long as we can.
' All right, skipper, we're off.
OK.
'And let's hope Happy Times is true to her word.
' Excellent.
More like driving a car, isn't it? Just like like any other boat, actually.
The canal turns south here and we'll soon reach the highest point of the Gota at Lanthojden.
Passing through Lake Viken, we'll reach the historic town of Forsvik and moor up for the night.
Can I come up and sit beside you? Yeah.
Thank you.
One of the guidebooks I was looking at just now says that Sweden is just a clearing in the middle of a forest.
And I see what they mean, you are surrounded on every side by conifers, beech trees, oak trees.
Wonderful.
We're in the rural heart of Sweden now.
Countless trees punctuated by the odd farm, wooden houses and barns painted in the traditional coppery red.
How are you feeling, love? Erm, a little bit better.
Yes, not too bad.
You look a lot better.
Good.
So, we want to turn left here, because this is the way which actually leads to the very highest point of the canal.
Quite a tricky turn.
They like their sharp corners on turns here.
Very good.
'I want us to get off and visit the highest point ourselves.
' Well, we can land here, I think.
Do you want me to? Take a rope, whichever, the bow rope, I would think.
Slightly easier said than done.
I don't know this boat.
Here I am.
Yeah, just pass it through the loop.
What? Pass it through there, will you? Well, yes Pass it through there! Well, I can't reach you.
Just do I can't reach you.
OK.
Thank you.
'Sorry, Pru.
Sometimes I forget that neither of us 'are quite as spritely as we once were.
' I could do with a stick.
Yeah, A walking stick.
Oh, oh! Or indeed a hand.
Thank you.
Oh! OK? Yep.
Well, it's a It's an obelisk.
It doesn't say anything, but I happen to know Yes? .
.
that it celebrates having risen 300 feet from sea-level.
So we've climbed 300 feet from Gothenburg.
Thank you.
Super.
And very high.
And some of the trees are even higher.
Yes.
Well done, trees.
Oh, I don't know! Doesn't say so.
No, it doesn't.
Trust me.
All right, I do, I do.
OK? I'm going to need some help here, Tim.
At the age of 84, I suppose, it's You're only 83.
Oh.
Bloody hell.
'That's still rather aged.
' 'Ahead lies Lake Viken, 'small by Swedish standards' OK.
There we are.
Thank you.
'But large enough and deep enough to warrant lifejackets.
' Now, lock.
'There's just one lock to get through before we go onto the lake, 'Lock Tatorp.
'It's the only manually-operated one 'along this section of the canal.
' Yeah, this is a traditional lock, probably all we need to do is just take a couple of lines and pass them through a couple of rings.
Right.
'This lock seems to be manned, 'which is a bonus for this slightly weary deckhand.
' Hello.
Hello.
Thank you so much.
I usually do that.
Amazing windlass you've got.
'It all works just like at home, except it's all much more giant, 'giant windlass and giant wheel.
I rather like it.
' BANGING 'Sorry! Not quite used to this boat yet.
' Pru's having a bit of a lie down, just means that she's lost a bit of energy on this trip.
She's very game and she enjoys it, but just a little bit nervous now about certain things that she wasn't before.
We just have to recognise that and be careful about it.
It's fair enough.
I find a little nap always does me a power of good.
At my age, one gets the odd sort of dizzy spell, but I'm fine.
I feel very fit.
Some people say that elderly people, I suppose I am elderly, erm shouldn't travel.
But I don't ever want to be left at home.
Tim's a travel freak.
I don't actually like opening the front door to put the milk bottles out, but we've been married for 50-something years now and I think he's very good for me because he's helped me to enjoy travel.
Tim has opened up the world for me, I've seen things I would never have seen and experienced a wonderful life I would never have lived without him.
This is a magic trip for him because not only is he travelling, but he's driving the boat at the moment.
What's this in the middle of the channel? Almost like a walkway, isn't it? Yes.
Oh, they built a towpath in the middle of the lake.
Yeah.
Gosh.
That is marvellous.
'Built in the early 19th century, it enabled crews of sailing boats 'and steamers to drag their vessels along the narrow, navigable channel 'through this shallow lake.
' Yes, so you could go on towing your boat even though it was across water.
I can't think of anything in the British canal network like this, can you? No, no.
Beautiful network, isn't it? It's a fairytale land, isn't it? Extraordinary.
'Well, yes, but fairytales can have their dark side.
' On 4th June, 1856, a paddle steamer, the Eric Nordevall, was sailing these waters laden with passengers and vodka when she ran aground and eventually sank.
She lay forgotten at the bottom of the lake for 124 years.
But in 1980, she was rediscovered by two scuba divers and a project was started to build a working replica.
'We've arrived at Forsvik, 'just in time for the evening sailing of Eric Nordevall II.
' Permission to come aboard, captain? You're welcome.
'She may look the part, but this vessel is only four years old.
' Hello.
Hello.
This is wonderful.
Welcome aboard the Eric Nordevall.
'As usual, Tim can't wait to get all technical with the skipper.
' What sort of engines, is it triple expansion or? It's a one cylinder one.
One cylinder.
This is actually foreground for all the machinery, this is a Scottish/English machine from 1836.
Wonderful.
So this is your machine.
Oh! We're just borrowing it.
'Call me old-fashioned, 'but I've always loved all things steam-related.
'The smell, the noise, the heat, the soft hiss of a well-oiled piston.
'It makes me proud of our steam-powered past.
' We're now going to fire up properly and take a trip on the lake.
Wonderful.
OK? Wonderful.
Thank you.
Now we're going to fire the cannons, you might have to hold your ears.
Sure.
Surrender, you gobs! Very good.
Very good, yes.
That was the communications in 1836.
Yes, works really well.
Now, do you want to handle her yourself? 170 ton of the side-wheeler? I can try, yes.
'I thought you'd never ask!' Oh, he's a steam freak and always has been, I think since he was a little boy.
This is like a day of bliss for him.
Feel her, she is very immediate.
Yes, yes.
You can feel what you're doing.
It answers very well.
It's like taking the tiller of a boat that hasn't been used very much.
Darling, how are you enjoying steering through Sweden? I could steer through Scandinavia like this.
'One day, we'll settle down and maybe take holidays in Eastbourne.
' 'No chance! 'Just give us adventure and each other.
' 'Yes, that's all we need.
' 'We're on a voyage across Sweden from Gothenburg on the West to the 'Baltic Sea in the East.
'We've been travelling on the Gota Canal 'and have now reached the shores of Lake Vattern.
' Ah, beautiful, isn't it? Yes.
'To invigorate us, before we tackle Sweden's second 'largest lake, I've persuaded Pru to take a constitutional sauna.
'The Swedes swear by the power of a good sweat.
' So will you be a smaller person after it all? Oh, very much smaller.
Very much smaller.
I doubt you'll even recognise me.
Ah It's lovely, isn't it? What exactly happens to you in there? Ooh Have you never been to a sauna? Never been in a sauna? No.
It gets rid of your impurities.
I think you're pure enough.
Do you? Yes.
Ooh That makes it even hotter.
So are you feeling Swedish? Am I what? Feeling Swedish? Oh, terribly Swedish.
Yes, it's hard not to feel Swedish in here.
How long do we have to be in here for? Oh, well, as long as you can stand it, really.
Ooh Sauna in Veritas.
The Romans, of course, the ancient Romans, the Senate and other important people used to meet regularly in the sauna and strip off and being stripped off cut through an awful lot of political conversations, which if they'd been fully clothed, would have gone on for a very long time.
So when you were naked, you could speak your innermost thoughts Bare body, bare soul.
Yes, that's right.
Yeah.
'I'm 83 and this is my first ever sauna.
'And so far, I rather like it.
' So is it time for the plunge pool? Oh, I think so.
Do you? Yes.
'The plunge pool in this sauna is just a hole in the floor, 'and opening down to the waters of Lake Vattern.
' Oh, yes.
Splendidly cold.
You are supposed to just drop into the lake and swim.
I'm not quite ready for that.
Oh, I'm not going in.
It's too cold.
'We love our lakeside sauna, but not its freezing plunge pool.
' So do you feel invigorated? Yeah.
A new woman? Why, do you want one? Are we off? Yes, we're off.
Grand.
Thank you.
'Ahead, a 30-mile voyage across the vast Lake Vattern.
'Then we'll head for the original workshops 'of the Gota Canal at Motala.
'Crossing our fifth lake of the journey, 'we'll moor up at Borensberg.
'Lake Vattern is full of history, stories and characters.
'Legend has it that the lake is bottomless.
'There are 100 islands in this lake.
'And halfway across, we arrive at the most intriguing one.
' It's a lovely spot, isn't it? Yes.
It's so beautiful here, isn't it? It's a lovely island, this.
Yes.
It's called Fjuk.
Fjuk.
In 1914, a man called Erik Zetterblad moved here because he had been jilted by his mistress.
Anyway, he lived here until 1966, all on his own Gosh.
.
.
for 50 years.
50? Yes.
Eating fish and potatoes, and then he died.
And no next girlfriend? Well, no.
He was on his own.
He was a hermit.
I just can't bear to think of someone living alone on an island for all that time.
Did it never appeal to you as a child, to live on your own lovely island? When I was very little, yes.
Yes.
But not once I got to know a few people.
I wouldn't like living anywhere without you, for example.
Oh, thank you.
I'm glad about that.
That's nice.
Right, we're coming out of the lake now.
'With the expanse of Lake Vattern behind us, 'it's back to the narrow waters of the canal.
' Beautiful house over there.
It's a lovely Strindbergian-looking house, isn't it? Mm.
Yes.
Have you seen the water, Pru? How brilliantly clear it is? You can see everything that's at the foot of it.
Yes.
'We're now nearing the town of Motala - 'once the centre of the Gota Canal's construction 'and the headquarters of its great architect, Von Platen.
' This, we're coming up to, is the memorial to Baltzar von Platen, who built the canal.
'But the count never lived to see his masterpiece completed.
'He died just three years before the canal was open.
' As a mark of respect, every boat that passes has to give a signal.
AIRHORN BLASTS This is the great, uh, technical workshop Oh, right.
.
.
at Motala.
It was known as the cradle of Swedish industry.
Quite a lot of it's driven by British expertise and initially by British labour.
'In 1800, at the start of the canal's construction, 'Sweden was largely a rural country.
'And initially, Von Platen had to rely on Britain to supply him 'with everything from craftsmen and engineers to even pickaxes, 'spades, and wheelbarrows.
'But the Swedes were quick learners, 'soon building their own lock gates and ships.
' The engines were lifted by that grab there Good Lord.
.
.
and dropped into the ship, which was moored here.
Feels a bit like Swindon, doesn't it? Yes.
That makes it look more like Swindon.
Yes, darling.
'Tim needs to stop dreaming about steam engines and Swindon because 'ahead lies perhaps our greatest challenge of the voyage so far.
'Yes, the tricky Borenshult, 'a steep lock staircase that will take us 'down 50 feet via five descending sluices to Lake Boren.
'I'm suddenly reminded of why the 'Swedes call the Gota Canal the divorce ditch.
' What do I do? Well, you'll see a ring and you put the thing through.
So I tie up? No, don't tie up.
Don't tie up.
Right.
All right.
Stay there.
I'll come.
Now come back on board.
Oh, my God.
Pru? Yes! Come back on board now.
Well, I'm going to try.
Holding the rope.
I've got to get the rope first.
'Only one lock in.
Oh, dear.
It might be time to call the lawyers.
' OK So what do I do now? 'Luckily, these days lockkeepers are on hand to help.
' Thank you.
'And the sluices are all automated.
' Thank you so much.
'Which makes the crew's job a lot easier.
'Perhaps it's to help keep the lid on Sweden's rising divorce rate.
' Thank you.
Let go, Pru.
Thank you very much.
You're welcome.
Have a nice trip.
Thank you so much.
'Well, our marriage has survived so far, 'as we sail triumphantly into the sunset.
' I'm beginning to get a feel about Sweden.
About its landscape and about its people and the scenery of the lakes.
It's rather magical.
'Yes, this voyage through Sweden is like sailing into a dream.
' Right.
OK.
'We're on an epic voyage of the Gota Canal 'from west to east across Sweden.
' So, cast off, please.
Forward and aft.
Oh, all right.
'Today we tackle the final stretch, to the Baltic Sea.
' Starting at Borensberg, we'll travel through rich farmland to Brunneby.
We then face a seven-lock staircase at Berg.
Crossing our final lake, we'll reach the spa town of Soderkoping.
And then Mem and the Baltic Sea.
Here I am.
Oh, hello.
It's very pretty.
Yeah.
'Look at those Swedes pedalling away.
'They all look so healthy!' So, how have you enjoyed this canal? I think I love it.
I think it's lovely.
I think it's remarkable.
Yes.
That's right.
It's a great way to see the country, from east to west, isn't it, or west to east? It's not the way to get there if you're in a hurry but it's a wonderful way of seeing the country.
Yes.
Appreciating the country, which you never would from an aeroplane.
'We're travelling through one of the country's most fertile regions.
'Estates once owned by the kings of Sweden.
'Ahead lies the farm of Brunneby.
'Its church dates back to the 13th century, 'and the 17th-century manor house was once owned 'by a Baron Gustaf Maclean, of Scottish ancestry.
'But we have an appointment to meet its current owner.
' We're coming to a very handsome house that looks as if it's from Gone With The Wind.
It's actually owned by a man called Gunnar Kjellin, who has made a business out of bottling fruit and making it into delicious fruit drinks.
Well, it's a big thing in Sweden.
'Gunnar kindly comes to help us our moor up.
' Hello, Tim.
Welcome.
Hello.
So the house was built when? 1751.
Yes.
It's 250 years old.
Yes.
So how did your great-grandfather come to see this house, come to buy it? Yeah.
He was travelling along the channel here.
Oh, yes? And then he saw this wonderful house here Yeah? And thought, "I want to live here.
" Really.
And it's great luck for me because I was born here You were born here.
.
.
in 1956.
What a wonderful place to be born.
I've been living here all my life.
Yes.
Gunnar's family fruit business has its origins in the darkest days of the Second World War, when a Jewish refugee, Friedrich Mortner, found sanctuary from Nazi persecution in neutral Sweden.
Working as a farm hand here at Brunneby, he couldn't bear the sight of fruit left rotting on the ground whilst in occupied Europe, people were starving.
So he joined forces with Gunnar's father to put the excess fruit to good use.
They started by making syrups to flavour medicine for British and Swedish pharmacies.
Today, its juices are used in jam and Swedish soft drinks.
And the Brunneby apples are never left to rot in the ground.
The orchard.
Yeah, it's a very small orchard.
They're not quite ripe yet but They look good.
.
.
this is a real lovely apple.
They look good.
Yeah.
They have a red flesh with a fantastic aroma.
It's incredibly beautiful.
But now they're quite sour.
So what sort of fruits do you grow here? What do you press? We press most kinds of fruits and berries, in fact.
We press about 400 tonnes of apples every year and all kinds of berries from the forest - the blueberries, the cloudberries.
You name it, in fact.
For Gunnar, fruit and fruit juice is in the blood.
But I'd say my blood is somewhat more wine orientated.
Any alcohol? Not very much.
We don't make any wines from the berries.
We prepare some ciders, low-alcohol ciders.
Would you like to have some tasting? Oh, yes, please.
Oh, yes.
Very much.
All right, good.
Please sit down.
Thank you.
And here, it's a special variety.
It's called elder blossom cider.
Oh! We been preparing it for about 20 years.
What do you say in Swedish? We say, "Skol!" Please taste.
Skol! Skol! Delicious.
It's difficult to describe, isn't it? It's wonderfully refreshing.
A wonderful clean taste.
But it Sort of Almost like grass.
OK, yeah.
I'm happy to hear that, Tim.
I suppose we ought to get on, oughtn't we? I suppose we should, yes.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for your hospitality.
Drink to a happy journey on the Gota Canal.
Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
Skol! Skol! Refreshed but not fortified, it's onward towards the Baltic Sea.
HORN BLOWS Ahead, the toughest challenge of the Divorce Ditch - the 11 locks descending 85 feet to Lake Roxen.
'It may be the longest lock flight on the canal 'but with those young and fit Swedish lockkeepers 'to give me a hand, our marriage might just survive.
' Oh, thank you, sir.
Thank you.
All right? It takes me back to old days on the Kennet and Avon.
This has been a very unusual voyage because you've got enormous space surrounding you on the lake and then you're back on the old traditional canal with locks and bridges and .
.
all our old familiar landmarks.
It's nice.
Tim! Yep? Which side? This side.
This side? Hard work.
But it keeps you fit.
I can I can do it.
If I weren't fit, you know, if something happened or I lost a leg or something, I wouldn't do it.
Look up.
Hello? What? OK.
Last one.
So that's the trickiest bit of the Divorce Ditch done.
Not too demanding for two old canal hands like us, was it? CORK POPS Ooh! There we go.
Well done.
Oh! I think we deserve some kind of celebration for having got through that staircase of locks.
Yes.
So, there we are.
Do you want to stay married after that? Yes, on the whole, I think, yes.
I-I'll think about it but, er Righto.
OK.
Well Well, we'll give it a try.
Yeah.
Skol! Cheers! Just give it to this lady, very kindly.
What? Oh, right.
Oh, it's a bloke.
Hello, how are you? 'Just four miles from the coast now 'and we've reached the spa town of Soderkoping.
'And quite a crowd has gathered at the lock.
' A full house of gongoozlers.
It's a spectator sport here in Sweden, apparently.
I wonder what it is in Swedish.
"Gon-gooz-ler.
" I don't know.
I don't know.
Everybody should know it, anyway.
They all do it.
OK, Pru? Hello.
Cast off.
'Next up, the Baltic Sea.
'In the world of canals, navigating the Gota 'is equivalent to crossing the Atlantic.
' HORN BLOWS 'And for me, it's a dream come true.
' Well, it's always been one of Tim's great ambitions to travel on this canal and .
.
I I'm I find myself thrilled to be To be part of it, really.
It's another of the things we share, like acting, a love of the canals, and, from our point of view, it's a wonderful way of seeing Sweden .
.
from underneath.
The Gota Canal was an enormously important step in the history of Sweden and it's good to remember that we were, the British - the Scots particularly - so much a part of this, because so many of the workers came from the UK.
So there is a nice link that we still feel conscious about.
I'll throw it to you.
Ugh! Well done.
Last lock.
Out there, the Baltic Sea.
'We've travelled 240 miles from Goteborg to the Baltic.
'And in our epic voyage across Sweden, 'we've made it to the halfway stage.
'We've certainly had our fair share of challenges 'over the past few years 'but I'm proud to say that even in our 53rd year of marriage, 'life is still an adventure.
' So we come to the end of the longest canal we've attempted, the Gota Canal.
It was wonderful.
It's wonderful.
It feels more like an ocean.
Well, it's going to be an ocean in a moment.
But there's still quite a lot of Sweden left.
Are you up for another adventure? Yeah.
Swedish archipelago, here I come.
Good.
Let's go for it.
Ahead, another journey of a lifetime as our Scandinavian odyssey continues.
'Next time 'We follow the trail of the Vikings through ocean, canal and lake 'to Sweden's capital city and beyond.
' Are we going on a secret raid? 'I fight off Swedish actors' SHE CHUCKLES '.
.
and long-haired Norsemen' You're very polite for a Viking.
'As we head into the unknown.
' We're on the edge of Sweden.
Out there, the ocean, vast and unvisited.
' 'And I'm Timothy West.
' Beautiful.
'We've been husband and wife for over five decades.
' Amazing.
Cheers.
'We've been wedded to stage and screen for even longer.
' Great hair, Pru.
SHE LAUGHS 'But we share another passion - 'canals'.
ENGINE STARTS Cast off, please.
Aye-aye, sir.
'Canals wind through our lives, 'carrying our treasured memories.
' 'Of families growing up' '.
.
of moments of wonder' '.
.
and hidden beauty.
' Is this the most remote canal we've ever been on? It probably is, yes.
'Of love' '.
.
and laughter.
' SHE LAUGHS Sorry about that.
'Things are a bit harder for me, these days.
' I'm not strong enough! But we get by.
We're on the summit! Hooray! Pru has a slight condition.
It does mean she has difficulty remembering things.
THUDDING AND SHATTERING Oh, my, darling.
I'm so sorry.
I didn't cast you off! 'One has to recognise that Pru's' domestic life is getting .
.
a little narrower by the day.
'Well, it can be a nuisance,' but it doesn't stop me remembering how to open a lock gate, or make the skipper a cup of tea.
OK.
Cast off! OK.
'We'll be exploring new countries' It's amazing, isn't it? '.
.
and following new routes.
' I'm lost now.
'But one thing stays the same' '.
.
we're always together.
' Let's stay right here.
So peaceful.
'We're off to Sweden, 'a land of vast forests and island-strewn coasts.
' So beautiful here, isn't it? Yeah.
'And linking it all together is a ribbon of blue'.
'A series of canals, lakes and rivers 'that runs across the country from sea to sea.
' But they built a tow path in the middle of the lake.
Yeah.
Gosh! That is marvellous.
'It's one of my life's ambitions 'to take on one of the longest and most beautiful 'canal journeys in the world.
'And I've decided to put it off no longer.
' It's rather magical.
'Tim is thrilled, finally, to be making this trip.
'And his excitement is infectious.
'Like everything we do, we'll do it together.
' Hard work, but it keeps you fit.
THEY SING IN OWN LANGUAGE 'We'll embrace a new language.
' THEY SING IN OWN LANGUAGE Skol.
Skol.
Skol.
'And a new culture.
' So are you feeling Swedish? Terribly Swedish.
'We may not be as young and fit as we were, 'but it's never too late for a new adventure.
' In a two-part voyage, we will travel from Gothenburg on the West Coast on a 350-mile journey, across the breath of Sweden, to the capital city and on to the outer islands of Stockholm's archipelago.
We've arrived in the port of Gothenburg.
It's here that we start the first leg of our voyage, joining the historical Gota Canal, which will take us into the heart of Sweden and on to the Baltic Sea.
TRAM BELL RINGS 'The Gota Canal was the brainchild 'of the Swedish admiral Count Balthazar von Platen.
'An inland waterway that would allow Swedish vessels 'to avoid the feared Danish Navy, 'which, in the late 18th century, 'controlled the seas around Sweden.
'It took 60,000 men 22 years to dig.
'When the Gota finally opened in 1822, 'it was the greatest feat of engineering 'that the country had ever seen.
' 'Before we join our first vessel, 'we're meeting a local journalist, Erika Svenske, 'for an insider's guide to the journey ahead.
' Erika.
'It also gives Tim an excuse to try the traditional Swedish pastries.
' Darling, you shouldn't even look at that cinnamon bun.
Well, I will look at it.
THEY LAUGH There's an interesting thing about the Gota Canal.
Your Thomas Telford, the great canal engineer Yeah.
.
.
has actually had something to do with the Gota Canal, here in Sweden.
Sweden got a lot of help from the British and not just from Telford.
We had British foremen coming.
Mm.
Oh, right.
Giving advice to the people who were actually digging the canal.
Yes.
So it's partly British built and, of course, we know Telford's work.
We've followed the gentle contours of his Llangollen Canal many times.
But Sweden's Gota Canal is on a far larger scale.
Sometimes the Gota Canal is referred to as "the divorce ditch".
Oh! Oh, darling.
Why? Because of all the 58 locks that you will have to work on your way.
And Yes.
One of us will have to work on them.
58, eh? Yeah.
Right.
Timmy! What have you got us into? HE CHUCKLES We start our journey along the so-called "divorce ditch" in some style.
Tim loves his classic ships, so, for the first 100 miles, he couldn't resist booking us onto the Juno.
'Well, she is the oldest registered passenger vessel in the world.
' Isn't it beautiful? 'And she's been making this voyage since 1874.
' Permission to come aboard? 'It's a gentle start, 'before we later cross the hardest part of the waterway 'under our own steam.
' FUNNEL HOOTS Here we are.
It's a bit different, isn't it? Well Yeah.
It will be a great adventure.
There's nothing like being on a proper ship, is there? 'We begin this first leg aboard the Juno.
'She will transport us overnight, 'across Sweden's largest lake, 'to our motorboat, at Sjotorp.
'From there, we are on our own, 'travelling east on the Gota Canal, 'through a series of vast lakes and intimidating locks, 'to the Baltic Sea.
' FUNNEL HOOTS A square rigger.
Square rigger, yes.
Four-master.
Very handsome.
When I was a little girl, I used to dream about sailing round the world in a square rigger.
Well, you're doing something almost as good.
You're crossing Sweden in a historic boat.
It's fulfilled all my childhood dreams for me.
Thank you.
'It's a wonderful treat.
'And, as the Juno leaves the city behind, 'like two excited teenagers,, 'we head below to find our cabin.
' A12.
A12, right.
Which is Oh.
Well Yes.
Is that it? It is, indeed, yes.
Oh.
Two bunks.
Good.
Do you want to be up or down? Well, ideally, down, I think.
I'm a bit scared of being up.
Yes, I thought you'd say that.
Oh, dear, sorry.
Will you fall out? No, no.
It's rather nice.
It's lovely, yes.
Champagne Oh! Strawberries.
Champagne and strawberries.
It's comfortable.
Right.
Home.
Yes.
Hello.
Hello.
Welcome.
FUNNEL HOOTS 'Back in the 19th-century, the Juno carried cargoes, 'like wrought iron and timber, 'along with a few passengers.
'Today, her cargo is all human.
'To find out more about this historic ship, 'I'm heading up to the bridge.
' Hello, Captain.
Hello! Hello! Shall I shut the door? Yeah, please do.
Come in.
Come in.
There.
So .
.
what's she like to steer? Oh, it's easy.
I just use this little thing.
Oh! Wow, you've got one of those, yes.
This is just to lean on, these days.
Right.
And has Juno's use changed very much over the years? Yes, she's been rebuilt since she was I mean, she was built in 1874 and she was a freighter from the beginning, because it was a big trade on the canal.
The ship looked different, because the bridge was, like, eight metres behind.
Yeah.
And we had cargo on deck.
Yes.
And just a few cabins for passengers.
And we took deck passengers, who had to sit on deck all the time and they were allowed to sleep on the floor in the dining room, during the night.
So they had to bear their own sleeping bags and stuff like that.
So it's been going through a lot of changes.
Yes.
Actually, this is the only thing that is left in the Gota Canal from the old time.
Yeah.
Everything else in the canal is modernised, so we are the Just you? We Right, right.
We are the thing that is from the old time.
Well, this is the place to sit, isn't it? Yes, lovely.
Lovely.
'We are 30 miles out of Gothenburg.
' FUNNEL HOOTS 'And we've reached our first set of locks.
'The flight at Trollhattan will take us up over 100 feet 'into the Swedish interior'.
FUNNEL HOOTS 'They are certainly the deepest flight of locks 'we've ever been through.
' Well, these locks make English locks look rather quaint, don't they? I mean, the engineering of them is Yeah, really serious.
Yeah.
Well, it's usually me who will key.
Windlass.
But, er, I wouldn't fancy opening these gates LOCK CLICKS .
.
on my own.
Might get a bit tired, by hand, yes.
All sorts of people travelled on this ship, on this voyage.
Henrik Ibsen No, really? Yeah.
.
.
and Hans Christian Andersen.
Gosh! 'He may be famed for his fairytales, 'but Hans Christian Andersen also wrote of a real experience 'that he has on this very same voyage, 'when he met authoress Fredrika Bremer.
' "She asked after my name, "was acquainted with it, but confessed that she had read "none of my works.
"She then enquired whether I had not some of them with me "and I lent her a copy.
"She vanished immediately, with the volumes "and was not again visible all morning.
"When I again saw her, "her countenance was beaming and she was full of cordiality.
"She pressed my hand and said that "she had read the greater part of the first volume "and that she now 'knew me'.
" Ah, isn't that nice? Ah! See what voyages do to people? Yes.
Yeah.
He was smitten with her.
He loved her all his life.
Oh! And all because of this trip.
Do you think any romance of that nature is likely to happen on board tonight? In those bunk beds? SHE LAUGHS 'It's our second day in Sweden 'on our epic voyage across the breadth of the country, 'from west to east.
'For this first stretch of our journey, 'we've been aboard a passenger ship.
'It should all have been plain sailing.
' Stormy night last night, a lot of rain, didn't get a lot of sleep.
'We had a very rough crossing of Sweden's largest lake 'and Pru's lost her sea legs.
' Just feeling a bit sick, but the sun's out now, it's all looking better, wonderful country.
And we're just tootling along at something like two knots, I think.
'We're now approaching Sjotorp, where we're due to leave the Juno.
'Now we'll have to strike out on our own.
'And fortunately, Pru's recovered.
' 'I may be over 80, but I shan't let a little seasickness hold me back.
' Thank you so much.
You're welcome.
OK.
Very nice to meet you, yes? Thanks, goodbye.
See you again.
Well, that's the pleasure cruise over.
Oh! Now it's down to us.
Yes.
The work begins.
Well, we'll cope.
Yes.
'From here, the majority of our voyage 'will be aboard this motor cruiser.
'She's completely different from a British canal boat, 'but then this is a very different sort of canal journey.
' They look so flat after you're used to narrow boats, don't they? Yeah.
In you come.
Right.
OK.
Oh, it's nice.
It's a nice double bed.
Oh, yes.
Wow! Oh, a loo! A bath.
An actual bath.
Yes, a loo and a bath.
Yep.
A wheel.
Yes, nice wheel.
Hundreds of switches, don't know what they all mean.
I expect I'll get the hang of it.
Leave them alone, that's best.
Good! Off we go, then, I think, don't you? Aye, sir.
Baltics, here we come.
Right, cast off, will you? Right.
'I'm a bit too eager to be off, and I'm not taking into account 'that Pru can be rather forgetful these days.
' Have you cast off aft? Yes, I have now.
Right, OK.
Pru! What? The stern line! We're still tied on.
'Pru's only untied us at the bow.
' I'm sorry, I thought I had.
I beg your pardon.
Oh, my God.
It's all right.
'We both have the odd senior moment, 'but we'll keep boating as long as we can.
' All right, skipper, we're off.
OK.
'And let's hope Happy Times is true to her word.
' Excellent.
More like driving a car, isn't it? Just like like any other boat, actually.
The canal turns south here and we'll soon reach the highest point of the Gota at Lanthojden.
Passing through Lake Viken, we'll reach the historic town of Forsvik and moor up for the night.
Can I come up and sit beside you? Yeah.
Thank you.
One of the guidebooks I was looking at just now says that Sweden is just a clearing in the middle of a forest.
And I see what they mean, you are surrounded on every side by conifers, beech trees, oak trees.
Wonderful.
We're in the rural heart of Sweden now.
Countless trees punctuated by the odd farm, wooden houses and barns painted in the traditional coppery red.
How are you feeling, love? Erm, a little bit better.
Yes, not too bad.
You look a lot better.
Good.
So, we want to turn left here, because this is the way which actually leads to the very highest point of the canal.
Quite a tricky turn.
They like their sharp corners on turns here.
Very good.
'I want us to get off and visit the highest point ourselves.
' Well, we can land here, I think.
Do you want me to? Take a rope, whichever, the bow rope, I would think.
Slightly easier said than done.
I don't know this boat.
Here I am.
Yeah, just pass it through the loop.
What? Pass it through there, will you? Well, yes Pass it through there! Well, I can't reach you.
Just do I can't reach you.
OK.
Thank you.
'Sorry, Pru.
Sometimes I forget that neither of us 'are quite as spritely as we once were.
' I could do with a stick.
Yeah, A walking stick.
Oh, oh! Or indeed a hand.
Thank you.
Oh! OK? Yep.
Well, it's a It's an obelisk.
It doesn't say anything, but I happen to know Yes? .
.
that it celebrates having risen 300 feet from sea-level.
So we've climbed 300 feet from Gothenburg.
Thank you.
Super.
And very high.
And some of the trees are even higher.
Yes.
Well done, trees.
Oh, I don't know! Doesn't say so.
No, it doesn't.
Trust me.
All right, I do, I do.
OK? I'm going to need some help here, Tim.
At the age of 84, I suppose, it's You're only 83.
Oh.
Bloody hell.
'That's still rather aged.
' 'Ahead lies Lake Viken, 'small by Swedish standards' OK.
There we are.
Thank you.
'But large enough and deep enough to warrant lifejackets.
' Now, lock.
'There's just one lock to get through before we go onto the lake, 'Lock Tatorp.
'It's the only manually-operated one 'along this section of the canal.
' Yeah, this is a traditional lock, probably all we need to do is just take a couple of lines and pass them through a couple of rings.
Right.
'This lock seems to be manned, 'which is a bonus for this slightly weary deckhand.
' Hello.
Hello.
Thank you so much.
I usually do that.
Amazing windlass you've got.
'It all works just like at home, except it's all much more giant, 'giant windlass and giant wheel.
I rather like it.
' BANGING 'Sorry! Not quite used to this boat yet.
' Pru's having a bit of a lie down, just means that she's lost a bit of energy on this trip.
She's very game and she enjoys it, but just a little bit nervous now about certain things that she wasn't before.
We just have to recognise that and be careful about it.
It's fair enough.
I find a little nap always does me a power of good.
At my age, one gets the odd sort of dizzy spell, but I'm fine.
I feel very fit.
Some people say that elderly people, I suppose I am elderly, erm shouldn't travel.
But I don't ever want to be left at home.
Tim's a travel freak.
I don't actually like opening the front door to put the milk bottles out, but we've been married for 50-something years now and I think he's very good for me because he's helped me to enjoy travel.
Tim has opened up the world for me, I've seen things I would never have seen and experienced a wonderful life I would never have lived without him.
This is a magic trip for him because not only is he travelling, but he's driving the boat at the moment.
What's this in the middle of the channel? Almost like a walkway, isn't it? Yes.
Oh, they built a towpath in the middle of the lake.
Yeah.
Gosh.
That is marvellous.
'Built in the early 19th century, it enabled crews of sailing boats 'and steamers to drag their vessels along the narrow, navigable channel 'through this shallow lake.
' Yes, so you could go on towing your boat even though it was across water.
I can't think of anything in the British canal network like this, can you? No, no.
Beautiful network, isn't it? It's a fairytale land, isn't it? Extraordinary.
'Well, yes, but fairytales can have their dark side.
' On 4th June, 1856, a paddle steamer, the Eric Nordevall, was sailing these waters laden with passengers and vodka when she ran aground and eventually sank.
She lay forgotten at the bottom of the lake for 124 years.
But in 1980, she was rediscovered by two scuba divers and a project was started to build a working replica.
'We've arrived at Forsvik, 'just in time for the evening sailing of Eric Nordevall II.
' Permission to come aboard, captain? You're welcome.
'She may look the part, but this vessel is only four years old.
' Hello.
Hello.
This is wonderful.
Welcome aboard the Eric Nordevall.
'As usual, Tim can't wait to get all technical with the skipper.
' What sort of engines, is it triple expansion or? It's a one cylinder one.
One cylinder.
This is actually foreground for all the machinery, this is a Scottish/English machine from 1836.
Wonderful.
So this is your machine.
Oh! We're just borrowing it.
'Call me old-fashioned, 'but I've always loved all things steam-related.
'The smell, the noise, the heat, the soft hiss of a well-oiled piston.
'It makes me proud of our steam-powered past.
' We're now going to fire up properly and take a trip on the lake.
Wonderful.
OK? Wonderful.
Thank you.
Now we're going to fire the cannons, you might have to hold your ears.
Sure.
Surrender, you gobs! Very good.
Very good, yes.
That was the communications in 1836.
Yes, works really well.
Now, do you want to handle her yourself? 170 ton of the side-wheeler? I can try, yes.
'I thought you'd never ask!' Oh, he's a steam freak and always has been, I think since he was a little boy.
This is like a day of bliss for him.
Feel her, she is very immediate.
Yes, yes.
You can feel what you're doing.
It answers very well.
It's like taking the tiller of a boat that hasn't been used very much.
Darling, how are you enjoying steering through Sweden? I could steer through Scandinavia like this.
'One day, we'll settle down and maybe take holidays in Eastbourne.
' 'No chance! 'Just give us adventure and each other.
' 'Yes, that's all we need.
' 'We're on a voyage across Sweden from Gothenburg on the West to the 'Baltic Sea in the East.
'We've been travelling on the Gota Canal 'and have now reached the shores of Lake Vattern.
' Ah, beautiful, isn't it? Yes.
'To invigorate us, before we tackle Sweden's second 'largest lake, I've persuaded Pru to take a constitutional sauna.
'The Swedes swear by the power of a good sweat.
' So will you be a smaller person after it all? Oh, very much smaller.
Very much smaller.
I doubt you'll even recognise me.
Ah It's lovely, isn't it? What exactly happens to you in there? Ooh Have you never been to a sauna? Never been in a sauna? No.
It gets rid of your impurities.
I think you're pure enough.
Do you? Yes.
Ooh That makes it even hotter.
So are you feeling Swedish? Am I what? Feeling Swedish? Oh, terribly Swedish.
Yes, it's hard not to feel Swedish in here.
How long do we have to be in here for? Oh, well, as long as you can stand it, really.
Ooh Sauna in Veritas.
The Romans, of course, the ancient Romans, the Senate and other important people used to meet regularly in the sauna and strip off and being stripped off cut through an awful lot of political conversations, which if they'd been fully clothed, would have gone on for a very long time.
So when you were naked, you could speak your innermost thoughts Bare body, bare soul.
Yes, that's right.
Yeah.
'I'm 83 and this is my first ever sauna.
'And so far, I rather like it.
' So is it time for the plunge pool? Oh, I think so.
Do you? Yes.
'The plunge pool in this sauna is just a hole in the floor, 'and opening down to the waters of Lake Vattern.
' Oh, yes.
Splendidly cold.
You are supposed to just drop into the lake and swim.
I'm not quite ready for that.
Oh, I'm not going in.
It's too cold.
'We love our lakeside sauna, but not its freezing plunge pool.
' So do you feel invigorated? Yeah.
A new woman? Why, do you want one? Are we off? Yes, we're off.
Grand.
Thank you.
'Ahead, a 30-mile voyage across the vast Lake Vattern.
'Then we'll head for the original workshops 'of the Gota Canal at Motala.
'Crossing our fifth lake of the journey, 'we'll moor up at Borensberg.
'Lake Vattern is full of history, stories and characters.
'Legend has it that the lake is bottomless.
'There are 100 islands in this lake.
'And halfway across, we arrive at the most intriguing one.
' It's a lovely spot, isn't it? Yes.
It's so beautiful here, isn't it? It's a lovely island, this.
Yes.
It's called Fjuk.
Fjuk.
In 1914, a man called Erik Zetterblad moved here because he had been jilted by his mistress.
Anyway, he lived here until 1966, all on his own Gosh.
.
.
for 50 years.
50? Yes.
Eating fish and potatoes, and then he died.
And no next girlfriend? Well, no.
He was on his own.
He was a hermit.
I just can't bear to think of someone living alone on an island for all that time.
Did it never appeal to you as a child, to live on your own lovely island? When I was very little, yes.
Yes.
But not once I got to know a few people.
I wouldn't like living anywhere without you, for example.
Oh, thank you.
I'm glad about that.
That's nice.
Right, we're coming out of the lake now.
'With the expanse of Lake Vattern behind us, 'it's back to the narrow waters of the canal.
' Beautiful house over there.
It's a lovely Strindbergian-looking house, isn't it? Mm.
Yes.
Have you seen the water, Pru? How brilliantly clear it is? You can see everything that's at the foot of it.
Yes.
'We're now nearing the town of Motala - 'once the centre of the Gota Canal's construction 'and the headquarters of its great architect, Von Platen.
' This, we're coming up to, is the memorial to Baltzar von Platen, who built the canal.
'But the count never lived to see his masterpiece completed.
'He died just three years before the canal was open.
' As a mark of respect, every boat that passes has to give a signal.
AIRHORN BLASTS This is the great, uh, technical workshop Oh, right.
.
.
at Motala.
It was known as the cradle of Swedish industry.
Quite a lot of it's driven by British expertise and initially by British labour.
'In 1800, at the start of the canal's construction, 'Sweden was largely a rural country.
'And initially, Von Platen had to rely on Britain to supply him 'with everything from craftsmen and engineers to even pickaxes, 'spades, and wheelbarrows.
'But the Swedes were quick learners, 'soon building their own lock gates and ships.
' The engines were lifted by that grab there Good Lord.
.
.
and dropped into the ship, which was moored here.
Feels a bit like Swindon, doesn't it? Yes.
That makes it look more like Swindon.
Yes, darling.
'Tim needs to stop dreaming about steam engines and Swindon because 'ahead lies perhaps our greatest challenge of the voyage so far.
'Yes, the tricky Borenshult, 'a steep lock staircase that will take us 'down 50 feet via five descending sluices to Lake Boren.
'I'm suddenly reminded of why the 'Swedes call the Gota Canal the divorce ditch.
' What do I do? Well, you'll see a ring and you put the thing through.
So I tie up? No, don't tie up.
Don't tie up.
Right.
All right.
Stay there.
I'll come.
Now come back on board.
Oh, my God.
Pru? Yes! Come back on board now.
Well, I'm going to try.
Holding the rope.
I've got to get the rope first.
'Only one lock in.
Oh, dear.
It might be time to call the lawyers.
' OK So what do I do now? 'Luckily, these days lockkeepers are on hand to help.
' Thank you.
'And the sluices are all automated.
' Thank you so much.
'Which makes the crew's job a lot easier.
'Perhaps it's to help keep the lid on Sweden's rising divorce rate.
' Thank you.
Let go, Pru.
Thank you very much.
You're welcome.
Have a nice trip.
Thank you so much.
'Well, our marriage has survived so far, 'as we sail triumphantly into the sunset.
' I'm beginning to get a feel about Sweden.
About its landscape and about its people and the scenery of the lakes.
It's rather magical.
'Yes, this voyage through Sweden is like sailing into a dream.
' Right.
OK.
'We're on an epic voyage of the Gota Canal 'from west to east across Sweden.
' So, cast off, please.
Forward and aft.
Oh, all right.
'Today we tackle the final stretch, to the Baltic Sea.
' Starting at Borensberg, we'll travel through rich farmland to Brunneby.
We then face a seven-lock staircase at Berg.
Crossing our final lake, we'll reach the spa town of Soderkoping.
And then Mem and the Baltic Sea.
Here I am.
Oh, hello.
It's very pretty.
Yeah.
'Look at those Swedes pedalling away.
'They all look so healthy!' So, how have you enjoyed this canal? I think I love it.
I think it's lovely.
I think it's remarkable.
Yes.
That's right.
It's a great way to see the country, from east to west, isn't it, or west to east? It's not the way to get there if you're in a hurry but it's a wonderful way of seeing the country.
Yes.
Appreciating the country, which you never would from an aeroplane.
'We're travelling through one of the country's most fertile regions.
'Estates once owned by the kings of Sweden.
'Ahead lies the farm of Brunneby.
'Its church dates back to the 13th century, 'and the 17th-century manor house was once owned 'by a Baron Gustaf Maclean, of Scottish ancestry.
'But we have an appointment to meet its current owner.
' We're coming to a very handsome house that looks as if it's from Gone With The Wind.
It's actually owned by a man called Gunnar Kjellin, who has made a business out of bottling fruit and making it into delicious fruit drinks.
Well, it's a big thing in Sweden.
'Gunnar kindly comes to help us our moor up.
' Hello, Tim.
Welcome.
Hello.
So the house was built when? 1751.
Yes.
It's 250 years old.
Yes.
So how did your great-grandfather come to see this house, come to buy it? Yeah.
He was travelling along the channel here.
Oh, yes? And then he saw this wonderful house here Yeah? And thought, "I want to live here.
" Really.
And it's great luck for me because I was born here You were born here.
.
.
in 1956.
What a wonderful place to be born.
I've been living here all my life.
Yes.
Gunnar's family fruit business has its origins in the darkest days of the Second World War, when a Jewish refugee, Friedrich Mortner, found sanctuary from Nazi persecution in neutral Sweden.
Working as a farm hand here at Brunneby, he couldn't bear the sight of fruit left rotting on the ground whilst in occupied Europe, people were starving.
So he joined forces with Gunnar's father to put the excess fruit to good use.
They started by making syrups to flavour medicine for British and Swedish pharmacies.
Today, its juices are used in jam and Swedish soft drinks.
And the Brunneby apples are never left to rot in the ground.
The orchard.
Yeah, it's a very small orchard.
They're not quite ripe yet but They look good.
.
.
this is a real lovely apple.
They look good.
Yeah.
They have a red flesh with a fantastic aroma.
It's incredibly beautiful.
But now they're quite sour.
So what sort of fruits do you grow here? What do you press? We press most kinds of fruits and berries, in fact.
We press about 400 tonnes of apples every year and all kinds of berries from the forest - the blueberries, the cloudberries.
You name it, in fact.
For Gunnar, fruit and fruit juice is in the blood.
But I'd say my blood is somewhat more wine orientated.
Any alcohol? Not very much.
We don't make any wines from the berries.
We prepare some ciders, low-alcohol ciders.
Would you like to have some tasting? Oh, yes, please.
Oh, yes.
Very much.
All right, good.
Please sit down.
Thank you.
And here, it's a special variety.
It's called elder blossom cider.
Oh! We been preparing it for about 20 years.
What do you say in Swedish? We say, "Skol!" Please taste.
Skol! Skol! Delicious.
It's difficult to describe, isn't it? It's wonderfully refreshing.
A wonderful clean taste.
But it Sort of Almost like grass.
OK, yeah.
I'm happy to hear that, Tim.
I suppose we ought to get on, oughtn't we? I suppose we should, yes.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for your hospitality.
Drink to a happy journey on the Gota Canal.
Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
Skol! Skol! Refreshed but not fortified, it's onward towards the Baltic Sea.
HORN BLOWS Ahead, the toughest challenge of the Divorce Ditch - the 11 locks descending 85 feet to Lake Roxen.
'It may be the longest lock flight on the canal 'but with those young and fit Swedish lockkeepers 'to give me a hand, our marriage might just survive.
' Oh, thank you, sir.
Thank you.
All right? It takes me back to old days on the Kennet and Avon.
This has been a very unusual voyage because you've got enormous space surrounding you on the lake and then you're back on the old traditional canal with locks and bridges and .
.
all our old familiar landmarks.
It's nice.
Tim! Yep? Which side? This side.
This side? Hard work.
But it keeps you fit.
I can I can do it.
If I weren't fit, you know, if something happened or I lost a leg or something, I wouldn't do it.
Look up.
Hello? What? OK.
Last one.
So that's the trickiest bit of the Divorce Ditch done.
Not too demanding for two old canal hands like us, was it? CORK POPS Ooh! There we go.
Well done.
Oh! I think we deserve some kind of celebration for having got through that staircase of locks.
Yes.
So, there we are.
Do you want to stay married after that? Yes, on the whole, I think, yes.
I-I'll think about it but, er Righto.
OK.
Well Well, we'll give it a try.
Yeah.
Skol! Cheers! Just give it to this lady, very kindly.
What? Oh, right.
Oh, it's a bloke.
Hello, how are you? 'Just four miles from the coast now 'and we've reached the spa town of Soderkoping.
'And quite a crowd has gathered at the lock.
' A full house of gongoozlers.
It's a spectator sport here in Sweden, apparently.
I wonder what it is in Swedish.
"Gon-gooz-ler.
" I don't know.
I don't know.
Everybody should know it, anyway.
They all do it.
OK, Pru? Hello.
Cast off.
'Next up, the Baltic Sea.
'In the world of canals, navigating the Gota 'is equivalent to crossing the Atlantic.
' HORN BLOWS 'And for me, it's a dream come true.
' Well, it's always been one of Tim's great ambitions to travel on this canal and .
.
I I'm I find myself thrilled to be To be part of it, really.
It's another of the things we share, like acting, a love of the canals, and, from our point of view, it's a wonderful way of seeing Sweden .
.
from underneath.
The Gota Canal was an enormously important step in the history of Sweden and it's good to remember that we were, the British - the Scots particularly - so much a part of this, because so many of the workers came from the UK.
So there is a nice link that we still feel conscious about.
I'll throw it to you.
Ugh! Well done.
Last lock.
Out there, the Baltic Sea.
'We've travelled 240 miles from Goteborg to the Baltic.
'And in our epic voyage across Sweden, 'we've made it to the halfway stage.
'We've certainly had our fair share of challenges 'over the past few years 'but I'm proud to say that even in our 53rd year of marriage, 'life is still an adventure.
' So we come to the end of the longest canal we've attempted, the Gota Canal.
It was wonderful.
It's wonderful.
It feels more like an ocean.
Well, it's going to be an ocean in a moment.
But there's still quite a lot of Sweden left.
Are you up for another adventure? Yeah.
Swedish archipelago, here I come.
Good.
Let's go for it.
Ahead, another journey of a lifetime as our Scandinavian odyssey continues.
'Next time 'We follow the trail of the Vikings through ocean, canal and lake 'to Sweden's capital city and beyond.
' Are we going on a secret raid? 'I fight off Swedish actors' SHE CHUCKLES '.
.
and long-haired Norsemen' You're very polite for a Viking.
'As we head into the unknown.
' We're on the edge of Sweden.
Out there, the ocean, vast and unvisited.