Kate Humble: Off the Beaten Track
Off the Beaten Track with Kate Humble Season 2
Kate Humble and her Welsh sheepdog Teg travel from the tip of North Wales through the remotest parts of Wales to the south coast. Along the way they explore how the landscape shapes the people who live there.
Where to Watch Kate Humble: Off the Beaten Track • Off the Beaten Track with Kate Humble Season 2
4 Episodes
- North Wales
E1North WalesIn the first episode of the series, Kate Humble and her Welsh sheepdog, Teg, explore remote corners of north Wales. Kate reaches for the sky, amidst a storm with 50 mph winds, as she attempts to climb the tallest man-made structure in Wales to fix some loose cables on the Arfon Transmission Tower. Next, avid walkers see rivers as a barrier, having to find a bridge or get wet, but Kate learns how to overcome natural obstacles with the novel activity of packrafting – using an inflatable canoe weighing only 1.5kg. On the north east coast, Kate meets a pack of dogs trained to carry out wildlife conservation by sniffing out endangered species, and on the north west coast, Kate digs and prepares a grave for a new resident, who in death wants to give himself to help nature thrive. Kate experiences a moving funeral at the only woodland natural burial ground in the area. - Mid Wales
E2Mid WalesIn mid Wales, Kate and Teg get a taste of Stone Age life, mucking in with a farmer and an archaeologist who are building a medieval settlement to bring to life the past in order to understand how we used to live, and perhaps serve as a way to move forward. Next, they explore the potential death traps of our historical legacies at an old lead mine, where the South and Mid Wales Cave Rescue Team practice their skills using Teg as the damsel in distress. Kate learns about the plight of Welsh mountain ponies, whose numbers have dropped from the thousands to just a few hundred, by meeting one of the last breeders in Wales, whose family have been doing it since the 1800s. Finally, Kate discovers her legs are built for walking when she tries mountain biking in the Brecon Beacons National Park, powering her way up 2,358 feet towards the top of Fan-Y-Big. - South Wales
E3South WalesIn South-Wales, Kate and Teg set a mountain alight and experience the heat of a controlled burn with the local fire service in an area with the highest incidence of wild fires in the whole of the UK. Kate gets the creative juices flowing by lending a hand to the creation of an epic land art piece - a 30 foot mandala, a stunning geometrically patterned circle made entirely from natural materials. Teg gets a run for her money when meeting film actors at a rural film academy for animals; and Kate fulfils her childhood dream with a master farrier, learning how to shoe a horse. - West Wales
E4West WalesThis week, Kate visits Newport in Pembrokeshire and meets the last master thatcher based in Wales. She helps with the harvesting of water reeds - an invasive, thick grass-like plant now used on 80% of thatched roofs in the UK. She then travels to Merthyr Mawr to learn that protected, historical buildings are thatched with heritage wheat straw, creating the classic ‘poured on custard’ effect. In Pendine Sands, Kate joins a cross-country hunt adapted for modern times and struggles to stay on the horse as they chase hounds who have been specifically trained to only pick up on human scent. Up in the mountains, Kate and Teg discover how gentle Scottish highland cattle are tending land that would otherwise be largely unmanageable. Finally, Kate is moved as she and Teg visit an agricultural college that helps neuro-diverse students thrive through a deep connection with the land.