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Hello and welcome to the One Show with Matt. And Alex. Now tonight's | :00:17. | :00:21. | |
guest is a British female singer who has taken the US by storm. | :00:21. | :00:24. | |
She's sung at the Oscars, she's had American number one records and | :00:24. | :00:27. | |
she's triumphed at the Grammy's. And she was doing it 40 years | :00:27. | :00:37. | |
:00:37. | :00:44. | ||
before Adele - it's Petula Clark! Petula, welcome back to The One | :00:44. | :00:53. | |
Show. We mentioned Adele but you sang at the Academy Awards in 1971? | :00:53. | :00:57. | |
I did. Some time ago! It was great. An | :00:57. | :01:01. | |
amazing evening. Back stage is the most amazing place. There are stars | :01:01. | :01:05. | |
everywhere. You are part of it. I remember Quincy Jones was directing | :01:05. | :01:10. | |
the Orchestra. He is lovely. He has been with us | :01:10. | :01:18. | |
here. He is such a nice man. It was great. For Adele it must have been | :01:18. | :01:21. | |
fantastic. Have you seen the performance? We | :01:21. | :01:28. | |
have it here. She is so good. But when you walk out in front of a | :01:28. | :01:33. | |
crowd, it must be so overwhelming? Yes, of course. Autumn of the stars | :01:33. | :01:38. | |
in the audience too, but you are concentrating on your own thing, | :01:38. | :01:44. | |
fortunately! And with the music behind you, it makes it itser. | :01:44. | :01:51. | |
did you wear? I wore my own dress but there was a lovely lady, the | :01:51. | :01:55. | |
wardrobe person who had a look at it to see if it was OK. | :01:55. | :02:01. | |
It is pretty tight, the whole thing. We have to say, welcome back to the | :02:01. | :02:05. | |
BBC. We know you have had a long standing relationship with the | :02:05. | :02:09. | |
Corporation. We have a lovely picture of you from 1942. Here it | :02:09. | :02:15. | |
Oh, my goodness. Can you tell us the story behind | :02:15. | :02:21. | |
that picture? Is that a really big microphone? A bit of both. I had to | :02:21. | :02:24. | |
stand on a box. I don't know how old I was. | :02:24. | :02:29. | |
I think about nine. No, that was earlier. The first radio show I did, | :02:29. | :02:35. | |
I was about eight, but, I was a very little girl. It was for a show | :02:35. | :02:41. | |
called It's All Yours. It was a show efor the Forces. Children | :02:41. | :02:47. | |
could send a message to their Dad or uncle. In this case it was my | :02:47. | :02:56. | |
uncle that was serving abroad. The BBC took over the Criterion in | :02:56. | :03:00. | |
Piccadilly. It is still there. It was full of sandbags, so like an | :03:00. | :03:05. | |
air raid shelter. In the middle of the rehearsal, there was a huge air | :03:05. | :03:09. | |
raid. The place was shaking. A lot of kids were scared. So the | :03:09. | :03:14. | |
producer asked if somebody would like to sing a song. To say a piece | :03:14. | :03:20. | |
of poetry to calm things down. So nobody else volunteered. So I said | :03:20. | :03:26. | |
I would sing a song. What did you sing? Mighty Like A | :03:26. | :03:30. | |
Rose it was sweet. Well, later on, Petula, we are | :03:30. | :03:36. | |
going back to where it started for you as a singer, the Welsh valleys. | :03:36. | :03:41. | |
Great. First, these days more and more people are going online to get | :03:41. | :03:47. | |
car insurance. But be aware of a group of people known as the ghost | :03:47. | :03:50. | |
brokers. Getting your car on the road can be a costly business. | :03:50. | :03:55. | |
There is road tax, petrol, parking, maintenance, of course, there is | :03:55. | :03:59. | |
also insurance. So if a friendly broker offers to save you a few | :03:59. | :04:04. | |
pounds, you may leap at the chance it works like this: You tell them | :04:04. | :04:08. | |
you are struggling to afford car insurance. They offer you a cheap | :04:08. | :04:14. | |
policy with a High Street firm. Now, happy days you may thing but... To | :04:14. | :04:20. | |
get the price of the policy down, they tell the insurance company a | :04:20. | :04:29. | |
few porky -- porkies about your background. Some provide fake | :04:29. | :04:34. | |
policy documents it is ghost broking. In is -- it is illegal. | :04:34. | :04:40. | |
They advertise with genuine companies along classified websites. | :04:40. | :04:43. | |
They will all have one thing in common, they will promise to get | :04:43. | :04:47. | |
your insurance cheaper than anywhere else. | :04:47. | :04:51. | |
I have made up a fake professional for myself with a string of | :04:51. | :04:58. | |
speeding convictions and a couple of big claims. The lowest genuine | :04:58. | :05:03. | |
quote is through price comparison websites at �4,300. So a gave a few | :05:03. | :05:09. | |
of the less official looking brokers a call to see if they | :05:09. | :05:13. | |
called take some of the money off my premium. | :05:13. | :05:21. | |
I have seen the add for cheap car insurance. I could maybe get a | :05:21. | :05:26. | |
quote? I have convictions is that going to work? Have you got more | :05:26. | :05:32. | |
than six points. I have six points. I can get you a cheap quote. That | :05:32. | :05:37. | |
is not a problem. This would be music to my ears if I | :05:37. | :05:42. | |
were struggling to get insurance. It is not long before he give as | :05:42. | :05:49. | |
quote. It comes to � 1970. | :05:49. | :05:54. | |
That is with quick fit. That is �2,000 less than the cheapest quote. | :05:54. | :06:00. | |
I decided not to go with the policy, and took my call to the industry | :06:00. | :06:06. | |
Schneider, Ben Fletcher to see what he made of it. | :06:06. | :06:11. | |
What is your overall impression of this guy? This is not how a genuine | :06:11. | :06:17. | |
broker would carry on doing business. They did not give you the | :06:17. | :06:20. | |
regulated information that you expect them to give you. They gave | :06:20. | :06:23. | |
the quote based on little information and did not give | :06:23. | :06:29. | |
options as to how the policy would be structured or what the benefits | :06:29. | :06:33. | |
were. Then there were concerns about how you would pay for it. | :06:33. | :06:36. | |
That looks like a highly suspect individual. I would not buy my | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
policy for him. The ghost brokers often disappear | :06:40. | :06:45. | |
after you have handed over the cash. Here at the First Central Fraud | :06:45. | :06:50. | |
team. They have in contact with victims. | :06:50. | :06:55. | |
The money you gave this to may not have been authorised as an | :06:55. | :06:59. | |
insurance broke are. It is known that these men know | :06:59. | :07:04. | |
what they are getting into. I have seized on the word bargain. | :07:04. | :07:10. | |
Of course, they want to put on to motorinsurance database but | :07:10. | :07:15. | |
sometimes that short-sighted view is painful and then they have an | :07:15. | :07:20. | |
accident. What people are behind the scams? It ranges from amateur, | :07:20. | :07:25. | |
clunky, brazen attempts at fraud to more sophistication with a number | :07:25. | :07:30. | |
of people involved. So what about the ghost broker who said he would | :07:30. | :07:35. | |
give me a 43% discount with two High Street names? I decided to | :07:35. | :07:40. | |
call him back to see what he said. I'm a reporter from the BBC One | :07:40. | :07:46. | |
Show. I have spoken to Swintons's and skhp quick Fit, both companies | :07:46. | :07:50. | |
say they will not offer insurance discounts at the price you say you | :07:50. | :07:55. | |
will do. They have also never heard of you. How can you over quotes | :07:55. | :08:00. | |
from an insurance company that do not work with you? I'm just asking | :08:00. | :08:05. | |
for the opportunity to get some answers? You will find someone else | :08:05. | :08:09. | |
there. There are a lot of number there is. | :08:09. | :08:13. | |
No. No. I would love to hear it from you. You offered a fantastic | :08:13. | :08:15. | |
quote. He is less inclined to speak now | :08:15. | :08:21. | |
than he was before. I wonder why? So, is it ever worth parting with | :08:21. | :08:27. | |
your cash to try to beat the system to get cheap insurance? It t there | :08:27. | :08:33. | |
are serious ramifications, ranging from difficulty in ten to the cover, | :08:33. | :08:37. | |
to the premium costing more money and then the long-term | :08:37. | :08:40. | |
ramifications are not worth the savings. | :08:40. | :08:43. | |
If you have queries or concerns about the car insurance, visit the | :08:43. | :08:46. | |
website. There are links there to help you out. | :08:46. | :08:53. | |
Now, Petula, you have had a career that spanned over seven decades, | :08:53. | :08:57. | |
selling over 70 million albums. Were you tempted to get into the | :08:58. | :09:03. | |
studio for the new album or were you dying to get in there? I was | :09:03. | :09:10. | |
tempted a by, I suppose. Only a bit? John Williams, not the | :09:10. | :09:15. | |
American, the English John Williams. I worked with him. I liked him very | :09:15. | :09:20. | |
much. He asked me to go into p the studio and it was really like that. | :09:20. | :09:25. | |
He did not say, "Let's do an album." He has a studio at the | :09:25. | :09:30. | |
bottom of his garden here in West London it is like a little Wendy | :09:30. | :09:36. | |
House. We have a little picture. Have you? | :09:36. | :09:42. | |
No, you haven't! It has you singing. It is not a moving picture with | :09:42. | :09:47. | |
sound! Well you walk into the Wendy House and you are in a state-of- | :09:47. | :09:50. | |
the-art studio it is small, perfectly formed. We had the most | :09:51. | :09:54. | |
wonderful time. The first thing we did was a song called Cut Copy Me. | :09:54. | :09:58. | |
I loved it. So we said let's go on with this. | :09:58. | :10:06. | |
That starts the album. I absolutely love it. Let's have a listen. | :10:06. | :10:15. | |
# Cut, cutting me # I'm yours | :10:15. | :10:23. | |
# You're the shoreline, the sea # When I'm off course. # | :10:23. | :10:30. | |
# Does that make me crazy. # # I hope some day | :10:31. | :10:40. | |
:10:41. | :10:41. | ||
# You will join us # And the world will be as one. # | :10:41. | :10:44. | |
APPLAUSE There are new tracks on it. Covers | :10:44. | :10:48. | |
on it. They are carefully selected, no doubt, but lots of critics have | :10:48. | :10:53. | |
said it sounds a little like contemporary artist like Lana Del | :10:53. | :11:00. | |
Ray. Do you like being come paired to new artists? I think that is | :11:00. | :11:04. | |
great. Or do you think that they should be compared to you? Well, | :11:04. | :11:10. | |
whatever. The thing is not to try to copy anybody. The great thing | :11:10. | :11:14. | |
about Adele, she does not sound like anyone else. You have to be | :11:14. | :11:18. | |
yourself. I was not trying to be like anyone but me, but it is | :11:18. | :11:22. | |
contemporary as the songs are, most of them and the covers that we have | :11:22. | :11:29. | |
done. We have don Downtown again. How did that feel? Were you | :11:29. | :11:35. | |
hesitant? Totally, I said "no"! Then I came back from Paris. I was | :11:35. | :11:39. | |
doing things there. I came back into the studio and John said to | :11:39. | :11:44. | |
have a listen to this... He pressed a button, I said, that is nice, | :11:44. | :11:49. | |
what is it? He said it was Downtown. Singing it was an adventure for me | :11:49. | :11:54. | |
it is really like singing a new song. I absolutely love it. | :11:54. | :11:59. | |
It is a great song. Well, we did ask Anita to go | :11:59. | :12:04. | |
Downtown to a place close to your family's heart. Here we go. | :12:04. | :12:09. | |
Petula Clark has had a long and illustrious career, but as a little | :12:09. | :12:16. | |
girl, to escape the Blitz, she moved here, the village in the | :12:16. | :12:22. | |
Welsh valleys. At the tender airb of seven she gave her first public | :12:22. | :12:27. | |
performance in that pub, the Collier's Arms. From the Welsh | :12:27. | :12:32. | |
valleys, she want on to appear in more than 30 films and sold more | :12:32. | :12:36. | |
than 68 million records worldwide. How do you celebrate the career of | :12:36. | :12:39. | |
one of the most successful British exports? You get together as many | :12:39. | :12:45. | |
locals as you can to sing one of her most popular songs, Where the | :12:45. | :12:53. | |
journey began. All I need now are Welsh people who can sing! Hello? | :12:53. | :13:00. | |
Don't be scared. I just want you to sing! I have heard you have a good | :13:00. | :13:03. | |
voice? I used to be the church choir. | :13:03. | :13:08. | |
Will you join us? Yes. Do you fancy coming to join us? You | :13:09. | :13:14. | |
should get him to come. She is fabulous! Come and join us. | :13:14. | :13:22. | |
Can you sing? No! I bet you can. Anybody? Petula would often come to | :13:22. | :13:27. | |
visit her aunt and uncle who ran the greengrocer's here and lived | :13:28. | :13:31. | |
upstairs. This is the school that Petula attended during her stay in | :13:31. | :13:36. | |
Wales. My name is Anita. I would like to | :13:36. | :13:41. | |
know if any of you have heard of Petula Clark? You all have? I want | :13:41. | :13:49. | |
to test your voices! Give me a me, me, me, me! Me, me, me, me. That is | :13:49. | :13:55. | |
good. I will see you all later on. Goodbye! Goodbye! I think I have | :13:55. | :14:01. | |
enough people now, but what about the venue? Petula Clark, performing | :14:01. | :14:07. | |
here at the age of seven, her first public performance. She ea is a | :14:07. | :14:15. | |
real local hero, isn't she? Well if you think of someone glamorous, | :14:15. | :14:20. | |
adding a touch of glamour to the pub, she does go on. | :14:20. | :14:28. | |
Well we need to give you something permanent for your wall... That | :14:28. | :14:33. | |
will go with the Welsh Rugby Union Grand Slam picture. | :14:33. | :14:37. | |
Perfect. # You can always go downtown | :14:37. | :14:42. | |
# The lights are brighter there # You can forget your troubles | :14:42. | :14:46. | |
# Forget your cares # So go downtown | :14:46. | :14:50. | |
# No finer place to go # Downtown | :14:50. | :14:58. | |
# Everything's waiting for you... # APPLAUSE | :14:58. | :15:03. | |
Lovely! And Petula even joined in with the singing there. Lovely. | :15:03. | :15:07. | |
When was the last time you went back to Merthyr? I went back to do | :15:07. | :15:14. | |
that show, but it is hard going back. Everything changes. You know | :15:14. | :15:18. | |
my grandparent's house, which we loved, my senior and I, it was torn | :15:18. | :15:22. | |
down as a slum, would you believe. It just is not there anymore it is | :15:22. | :15:27. | |
hard going back, but that was a wonderful time. Well done, kids! | :15:27. | :15:32. | |
And Petula, the places you have been, the things you have seen. We | :15:32. | :15:35. | |
were talking about the Hollywood career you had with Finnian's | :15:35. | :15:38. | |
Rainbow. We have this wonderful moment with you and Fred Astaire. | :15:38. | :15:41. | |
Let's have a look at your dance. Here we go. | :15:41. | :15:51. | |
:15:51. | :16:06. | ||
That was incredibly significant, wasn't it? That was Fred Astaire's | :16:06. | :16:13. | |
last on screen dance? I was his last big screen partner. I was not | :16:13. | :16:17. | |
exactly Ginger Rogers, but it was a great, peerns making that film. | :16:17. | :16:21. | |
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. We had a great time making the film. | :16:21. | :16:25. | |
That film was nominated for a Golden Globe, wasn't it? I think it | :16:25. | :16:30. | |
was. It was a difficult film to make. There were two different | :16:30. | :16:35. | |
subjects. The racial side of it and the fairytale. It was weird. | :16:35. | :16:41. | |
Speaking of films, weren't you at some point due to make a film with | :16:41. | :16:47. | |
Elvis? Yes! What happened? Why didn't it come off? Apparently he | :16:47. | :16:51. | |
wanted me to anybody a film it was turned down for me. | :16:51. | :17:01. | |
By who? Who do you think? Oh, the husband?! Yes, me husband! Did you | :17:01. | :17:05. | |
enjoy acting more or singing more at that time in your life? I have | :17:05. | :17:11. | |
always liked all of it. When I first started I wanted to be an | :17:11. | :17:15. | |
actress. I wanted to be Ingrid Bergman. | :17:15. | :17:21. | |
But I sang too. I had parallel careers. Singing, variety, making | :17:21. | :17:26. | |
films. I made about 20 films as a child, as an actress. So they were | :17:27. | :17:30. | |
separated, but I kind of liked all of it, really. | :17:30. | :17:34. | |
It is incredible. We could chat to you all night. | :17:34. | :17:40. | |
Well, Petula's album, Lost In Me is out today. She is playing ten live | :17:40. | :17:44. | |
dates all around the country, starting in Manchester on October | :17:44. | :17:46. | |
the 2nd. That's right. Can't wait. | :17:46. | :17:51. | |
You knew that bit. You are going to like this next bit. | :17:51. | :17:55. | |
There can be few women more French than Coco Chanel. | :17:55. | :18:01. | |
Back in the 1920s, she became part of the British, hunting, shooting | :18:01. | :18:06. | |
and fishing set. Thanks to a love affair with a British arristow | :18:06. | :18:11. | |
accurate. Love, the most powerful force on | :18:11. | :18:18. | |
Earth. The Taj Mahal. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. All created in | :18:18. | :18:24. | |
the name of love, but what about that? Could one of the most | :18:24. | :18:28. | |
intriguing romances of the 20th century have left its mark on this | :18:28. | :18:36. | |
unassuming London lamppost? And the era for this romance? The roaring | :18:36. | :18:44. | |
'20s. The Great War had ended, the world was ready to party. Emboiled | :18:44. | :18:49. | |
-- embodying the spirit was the French designer, Coco Chanel. | :18:49. | :18:57. | |
With her interlocking CCs renowned. On our side of the Channel, the | :18:57. | :19:01. | |
second Duke of Westminster was doing his bit to celebrate this new | :19:01. | :19:07. | |
age of thrill-seeking. He lived like a king in an extraordinary | :19:07. | :19:13. | |
portfolio of properties. His life was about the pursuit of happiness. | :19:13. | :19:17. | |
He normally always got what he wanted, but in 1923, he discovered | :19:17. | :19:21. | |
that there are some things that money cannot buy. That came in the | :19:21. | :19:27. | |
shape of the indom knittable, Coco Chanel. What did the Duke first | :19:27. | :19:33. | |
meet Coco Chanel? Certainly on the enormous yacht called the Flying | :19:33. | :19:39. | |
Cloud. Anchored off the coast of Monaco. | :19:39. | :19:44. | |
I met someone who knows more than most what kind of impression Coco | :19:44. | :19:51. | |
Chanel had on the Duke. He was fascinated by her | :19:51. | :20:01. | |
intelligence, wit, ununusual charm and fem anyone sensuality. | :20:01. | :20:11. | |
:20:11. | :20:12. | ||
This is BBC News 24don Street where the Duke lived. He pulled out all | :20:12. | :20:20. | |
of the romancing stocks, with emeralds hid no-one boxes of veg. | :20:20. | :20:25. | |
Scottish salmon, flown in boxs to Paris. A very traditional box of | :20:25. | :20:31. | |
flowers but the delivery boy was no other than the Duke himself. By the | :20:31. | :20:37. | |
spring, they were an item. Some say that Coco Chanel's independence, | :20:37. | :20:41. | |
that attracted the Duke was also instrumental in the relationship's | :20:41. | :20:48. | |
demise. They never married but went their separate ways but the romance | :20:48. | :20:51. | |
left its lipstick on the collar of the world. | :20:51. | :20:55. | |
With the Duke, who gave her a property not far from here. Which | :20:55. | :21:02. | |
was her shop in Britain, she perfected the idea of using British | :21:02. | :21:05. | |
materials in clothes that were traditionally thought of as the | :21:05. | :21:10. | |
clothes you wore for hunting, shooting and fishing. For the first | :21:10. | :21:14. | |
time ever she made the materials, the tweeds, the wools and the cut | :21:14. | :21:20. | |
of the clothes into clothes that were emulated all around the | :21:20. | :21:25. | |
Western world as high fashion. she have a lasting effect on the | :21:25. | :21:34. | |
Duke? I think she did when they were to separate, as he said, "How | :21:34. | :21:39. | |
will I live without you?" He did marry again but I think there is no | :21:39. | :21:43. | |
question that she kept a place in his heart. | :21:43. | :21:47. | |
That brings us rather neatly back to the lampposts. Coco Chanel and | :21:47. | :21:52. | |
the Duke remained friends until his death in 1953. Two years before he | :21:52. | :21:58. | |
died and 20 years after they were row monthically linked. These | :21:58. | :22:04. | |
lampposts began to appear in Mayfair. Here on Davis Street, | :22:04. | :22:13. | |
where Coco Chanel once had her shop and right by Bourdon House. Legend | :22:13. | :22:19. | |
has it that these are a symbol of the Duke's love for Coco Chanel. | :22:19. | :22:24. | |
Many have asked Westminster council if this is true but they are less | :22:24. | :22:28. | |
romantic. That the W stands for Westminster and the interlocking Cs, | :22:28. | :22:33. | |
standing for the Council. But maybe this is a message from a | :22:33. | :22:36. | |
hopeless romantic, telling someone, somewhere, that she was always the | :22:37. | :22:44. | |
woman for him. I know what I believe... Gyles! | :22:44. | :22:48. | |
Tell us it is true? I want to believe it | :22:49. | :22:53. | |
It must be. You know what the woman for me eis? | :22:54. | :22:59. | |
Who? It could be you. Look what I have for you. Original Chanel | :22:59. | :23:04. | |
jackets. These are vint agenda. You can choose... They must be worth a | :23:04. | :23:10. | |
fortune? They are. They are worth up to about �1,000 each. I got them | :23:10. | :23:16. | |
at Oxfam for �40 a pair. My wife may not be happy that I brought | :23:17. | :23:20. | |
them out. Let's put them away. It is not just | :23:20. | :23:28. | |
fashion she designed? No, she designed interiors as well. They | :23:28. | :23:32. | |
had, the Duke of Westminster had a house called Rosehall House. She | :23:32. | :23:38. | |
went there, she did not like the decor, she redecorated it beige and | :23:38. | :23:44. | |
browns and even introduced the bidet to Scotland. Giving it a | :23:44. | :23:50. | |
French feel. The house has fall noon to disrepair, but in its | :23:50. | :23:54. | |
heyday, when the Duke was there with Coco Chanel, others were there, | :23:55. | :23:59. | |
Winston Churchill. He came. That is him with his son, Randolf, but | :23:59. | :24:04. | |
Winston Churchill found her a feisty woman. He said she could run | :24:04. | :24:09. | |
a man or an empire. Churchill was summiten, but he was summit within | :24:09. | :24:15. | |
you, too, don't you know? I don't know. | :24:16. | :24:25. | |
You know! I never got to meet Coco Chanel. I met lots of people, Edith | :24:25. | :24:29. | |
Piaf but not her. I loved the designs. They were these wonderful | :24:29. | :24:34. | |
suits, with the braid, the rest of it but a flower here and there. | :24:34. | :24:39. | |
They are timelessment Karl Lagerfeld has kept it going. That | :24:39. | :24:46. | |
is wonderful. Sorry I cannot give you the other | :24:46. | :24:50. | |
one. Well, while Petula was singing for | :24:50. | :24:54. | |
the forces, another creature was doing their bit for the war effort | :24:54. | :25:00. | |
on the Channel Islands. Alderney. 17.5 miles wide and 3.5 | :25:00. | :25:05. | |
miles long. It is home to nearly 2,500 people. It has lots of | :25:05. | :25:09. | |
wildlife in a variety of habitats. But more than 70 years ago, the | :25:09. | :25:15. | |
people and animals were faced with the ult mate threat. | :25:15. | :25:19. | |
-- ultimate. The Isle of Wight is about 60 miles | :25:19. | :25:24. | |
in that direction, but the coast of France is eight miles there. So | :25:24. | :25:34. | |
:25:34. | :25:35. | ||
when war came, Alderney and its residents were in the firing line. | :25:35. | :25:39. | |
Beta Thompson pr was 12 when the people of Alderney were given 24 | :25:39. | :25:43. | |
hours to leave the island. We did not know what was happening. | :25:43. | :25:47. | |
We were taken to the jety. I remember that. Then we boarded a | :25:47. | :25:51. | |
boat. I remember being on the boat. As she set sail, my uncle stood on | :25:51. | :26:01. | |
:26:01. | :26:02. | ||
the top. Singing as we left. On June 23rd, 1940, the residents | :26:02. | :26:05. | |
of Alderney were evacuated. Nine day it is before the Germans landed | :26:05. | :26:10. | |
on the island. They turned it into a vast concrete fortress with | :26:10. | :26:18. | |
hundreds of bunkers, 31,000 mines and miles and miles of barbed wire. | :26:18. | :26:21. | |
Trevor Davenport is a military historian. | :26:21. | :26:28. | |
N-the peak, there were probably 3,500 Germans here. Adding on to | :26:28. | :26:31. | |
that, anything between 4,000 slaves here. | :26:31. | :26:35. | |
And the food that was needed to support that, where did it come | :26:35. | :26:43. | |
from? From Cherbourg. The Germans, up until the Normandy invasion, | :26:43. | :26:49. | |
were OK, but then from June and on wards, they were starving. | :26:49. | :26:54. | |
It is thought that having eaten the livestock, starvation left the | :26:54. | :26:57. | |
occupying forces to look elsewhere for food. When the islanders | :26:57. | :27:01. | |
returned in December, 1945, not only were buildings destroyed but | :27:01. | :27:06. | |
much of the island's countryside had been devastated. | :27:06. | :27:10. | |
Much of Alderney's wildlife had gone. The island's bird life had | :27:10. | :27:16. | |
disappeared. Piles of shells were found around the houses it was seen | :27:16. | :27:22. | |
that the Germans had to find food where it could, but one mammal | :27:22. | :27:28. | |
escaped the cooking pot, the white toothed shrew. It has a defence | :27:28. | :27:32. | |
mechanism to prevent it from being eaten. | :27:32. | :27:37. | |
They eis a grand that secretes an chemical that is unpalatable. | :27:37. | :27:43. | |
So the Germans would not have gone for the white toothed shrew? | :27:43. | :27:48. | |
But the white toothed shrew was not the only wildlife that thrived. The | :27:48. | :27:52. | |
soil disturbance helped to expand the island's Heathlands, supporting | :27:52. | :27:57. | |
a wide range of bees and butterflies. Offshore, well out of | :27:57. | :28:02. | |
harm's way, some gannets had moved in looking for sanctuary. The | :28:02. | :28:06. | |
gannetry here is stunning. Has it always been here? The first birds | :28:06. | :28:10. | |
were recorded coming in the same year that the islands were | :28:10. | :28:20. | |
:28:20. | :28:20. | ||
evacuated. So after the war they went from a few pairs to 3 to up to | :28:20. | :28:26. | |
400 pairs. Now we have 2% of the world's population. | :28:26. | :28:29. | |
With Alderney's troubled history and the destruction to the island | :28:29. | :28:33. | |
it is a real testament to the power of nature and the resilience of its | :28:33. | :28:37. | |
people in how the island has recovered. The wildlife here today | :28:37. | :28:42. | |
is truly flourishing. I could watch gannets diving all | :28:42. | :28:47. | |
day long. Any way, Petula, we know what animals you were looking at | :28:47. | :28:51. | |
during the war, we found lots of footage of it. Here is more. I | :28:51. | :28:55. | |
think you were in a zoo here with your sister. Do you remember that? | :28:55. | :29:01. | |
Of course I do. I went out horse riding. A friend of mine went back | :29:01. | :29:10. | |
to my dad and said that they had seen me horse riding. He said, "No | :29:10. | :29:13. | |
elephant riding."! Thank you so much for being here. | :29:13. | :29:17. |