Episodes

EpisodeTitleFirst
Broadcast
RepeatedComments
011. The Fan Dance20140709

For decades the Brecon Beacons in South Wales have played an important part in British Army infantry training. Soldiers have walked, crawled, run, taken cover, got cold and wet, cursed and been shaped by the terrain of the Brecon Beacons.

Writer Horatio Clare, who grew up in the Beacons, meets former infantry soldiers to explore their unique and lasting relationship with this landscape.

In the first of two episodes, Horatio sets out to walk the infantry training route known as The Fan Dance, so called because it takes you over Pen y Fan, the highest peak in southern Britain.

He's joined in the hills by former Parachute Regiment officers Adam Dawson and Evan Fuery and by Ed Butler who commanded British Forces in Afghanistan in 2006. The three soldiers talk about their deep physical and psychological connection with these upland border landscapes and the fact that, wherever they have served, wherever they're from originally, the Brecon Beacons become 'home'.

Horatio also gets first-hand experience of infantry endurance training and skills from Steve Rees, a former Royal Marine physical training and outdoor pursuits instructor. As he shoulders a 55 pound bergen - the military term for a rucksack - and Steve puts him through his paces, Horatio experiences first-hand a soldier's focused, exhausting, exhilarating intimacy with the landscape. He discovers how to turn it to your advantage and use it as cover; and what you see and know as you move invisibly through it, gone to earth.

Producer: Jeremy Grange

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2014.

Horatio Clare discovers how infantry soldiers are shaped by the Brecon Beacons' landscape

Horatio Clare discovers how infantry soldiers are shaped by the Brecon Beacons' landscape.

011. The Fan Dance2014070920150128 (R4)

For decades the Brecon Beacons in South Wales have played an important part in British Army infantry training. Soldiers have walked, crawled, run, taken cover, got cold and wet, cursed and been shaped by the terrain of the Brecon Beacons.

Writer Horatio Clare, who grew up in the Beacons, meets former infantry soldiers to explore their unique and lasting relationship with this landscape.

In the first of two episodes, Horatio sets out to walk the infantry training route known as The Fan Dance, so called because it takes you over Pen y Fan, the highest peak in southern Britain.

He's joined in the hills by former Parachute Regiment officers Adam Dawson and Evan Fuery and by Ed Butler who commanded British Forces in Afghanistan in 2006. The three soldiers talk about their deep physical and psychological connection with these upland border landscapes and the fact that, wherever they have served, wherever they're from originally, the Brecon Beacons become 'home'.

Horatio also gets first-hand experience of infantry endurance training and skills from Steve Rees, a former Royal Marine physical training and outdoor pursuits instructor. As he shoulders a 55 pound bergen - the military term for a rucksack - and Steve puts him through his paces, Horatio experiences first-hand a soldier's focused, exhausting, exhilarating intimacy with the landscape. He discovers how to turn it to your advantage and use it as cover; and what you see and know as you move invisibly through it, gone to earth.

Producer: Jeremy Grange

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2014.

Horatio Clare discovers how infantry soldiers are shaped by the Brecon Beacons' landscape

Horatio Clare discovers how infantry soldiers are shaped by the Brecon Beacons' landscape.

022. Cover from View20140716

Infantry soldiers are trained, challenged and shaped by the Brecon Beacons.

Horatio Clare continues his walk with former soldiers to see the Welsh mountains through their eyes.

In the last of two episodes, Horatio spends a night bivouacking in the hills with former Parachute Regiment reserve officer Nic Shugar and Royal Marine Gary Mapletoft who teach him the skills of remaining unseen in the landscape; of using it strategically; of dead ground, cover from view and cover from fire. And they explore inner landscapes as they consider the hills' importance in the healing process for both military and civilian mental health casualties.

The landscape of the Brecon Beacons played an important part in preparing soldiers for the Falklands War. Horatio talks to Col. John Crosland who fought with the Parachute Regiment at the Battle of Goose Green. John recalls how British infantry soldiers felt on familiar terrain in the Falklands because it reminded them of the Beacons where they had trained.

Horatio also meets Maj. Gen Tony Jeapes, a former Commanding Officer of the SAS who ran selection for the regiment in the Brecon Beacons in the early 1960s.

Producer: Jeremy Grange

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2014.

Horatio Clare explores infantry soldiers' relationship with the Brecon Beacons

Horatio Clare discovers how infantry soldiers are shaped by the Brecon Beacons' landscape.

022. Cover from View2014071620150204 (R4)

Infantry soldiers are trained, challenged and shaped by the Brecon Beacons.

Horatio Clare continues his walk with former soldiers to see the Welsh mountains through their eyes.

In the last of two episodes, Horatio spends a night bivouacking in the hills with former Parachute Regiment reserve officer Nic Shugar and Royal Marine Gary Mapletoft who teach him the skills of remaining unseen in the landscape; of using it strategically; of dead ground, cover from view and cover from fire. And they explore inner landscapes as they consider the hills' importance in the healing process for both military and civilian mental health casualties.

The landscape of the Brecon Beacons played an important part in preparing soldiers for the Falklands War. Horatio talks to Col. John Crosland who fought with the Parachute Regiment at the Battle of Goose Green. John recalls how British infantry soldiers felt on familiar terrain in the Falklands because it reminded them of the Beacons where they had trained.

Horatio also meets Maj. Gen Tony Jeapes, a former Commanding Officer of the SAS who ran selection for the regiment in the Brecon Beacons in the early 1960s.

Producer: Jeremy Grange

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2014.

Horatio Clare explores infantry soldiers' relationship with the Brecon Beacons

Horatio Clare discovers how infantry soldiers are shaped by the Brecon Beacons' landscape.