:00:21. > :00:25.Hello! Welcome to the One Show with Alex Jones. And Chris Evans. It is
:00:25. > :00:29.bank holiday weekend for most of us. Unless you are working or you are
:00:29. > :00:33.in Scotland! The last few days could be the last chance to get to
:00:33. > :00:38.the beach this summer. For those who do not want to get wet, how
:00:38. > :00:43.about we bring a sense of the seaside to your living room? Dom is
:00:43. > :00:47.here with change for the amusement machines, and why their time may be
:00:47. > :00:52.up. And Jay will be showing us how to give our fish and chips a bit of
:00:52. > :00:56.oomph. And Phil Tufnell goes down to Weymouth to check out the most
:00:57. > :01:01.sophisticated sandcastles you have ever seen. And our guest is a man
:01:01. > :01:11.who would work on any peer, time to leave the one-arm bandit alone,
:01:11. > :01:16.
:01:16. > :01:19.Any pier? I love it! How are we doing? Very good. I just came from
:01:19. > :01:27.the seaside yesterday, I was down at Eastbourne with my mother.
:01:27. > :01:34.were going to ask you that later! Are you winning? I have won about
:01:34. > :01:37.20p, which is good for me! B is the only one who has. What about a trip
:01:37. > :01:42.to the seaside without the guilty pleasure of the seaside arcade?
:01:42. > :01:50.Could it ever happen? We may be about to find out, as Carrie Grant
:01:50. > :01:55.Our love affair with the British seaside spans generations. For all
:01:55. > :02:00.of us, the smells, sounds, tastes and feel of the coast conjures up
:02:00. > :02:03.heart-warming memories are innocent family fun. What could be more
:02:03. > :02:08.innocent when you are young than spending a few pennies at a seaside
:02:08. > :02:12.arcade? Imagine your ten-year-old self in an arcade and the shock
:02:12. > :02:17.when you realise that it could be your two Ben Spies that puts this
:02:17. > :02:21.arcade out of business. -- two pence piece. If the government
:02:21. > :02:26.implement new tax laws, it may well happen. William owns this arcade in
:02:26. > :02:31.Weston-super-Mare. This little coin is the lifeblood of the seaside
:02:31. > :02:35.industry. This is the over 18 section. We pay a licence duty here.
:02:35. > :02:39.But on the floor, where the families come and play with these,
:02:39. > :02:44.that is where we are going to start getting hurt by the new taxation.
:02:44. > :02:49.He currently play a licence on these machines. Yes, I pay a
:02:49. > :02:53.licence on this machine and this one, and we pay VAT on the takings
:02:53. > :02:57.from the machine as well. But at the moment we are exempt outside.
:02:57. > :03:01.The new law says we will not have to pay a licence duty, we will have
:03:01. > :03:08.to pay a percentage and the takings are the machines. This will be not
:03:08. > :03:14.just for the adult area, but for at there where the teddy bears are. It
:03:14. > :03:17.is all being bundled together as gaining a. But not only will the
:03:17. > :03:21.centre of family fun of the arcade belonged in with the big players
:03:21. > :03:26.like casinos and bookies, part of the Government's plan will take
:03:26. > :03:32.away arcade business is' ability to reclaim VAT? How will it affect you
:03:32. > :03:38.if you lose that 20% sign that you are used to reclaiming? Well, it is
:03:38. > :03:42.going to mean a big difference. 20% extra on costs. We like to give
:03:42. > :03:48.these away, but it is going to end up with giving way smaller ones.
:03:48. > :03:52.had better stop this whole said here. Better get started! If he
:03:52. > :03:57.were to come to the seaside and the arcades were not here, would it
:03:57. > :04:02.make a difference? Yes, because there would not be as much to do.
:04:02. > :04:08.This is where they want to go, in the arcades. Did he win this? That
:04:08. > :04:15.is so sweet. If we lost the arcades, there would be less revenue, people
:04:15. > :04:20.would not come here, and it would be derelict. And even the bastion
:04:20. > :04:25.of the seasiders of cannot escape the government's plan. -- the
:04:25. > :04:30.seaside resort. Michelle, new owners pier, what would it mean for
:04:30. > :04:34.arcades here? Back in the government needs to exclude that
:04:34. > :04:39.sector of machines from this new tax. -- I think. A lot a seaside
:04:39. > :04:43.towns are already struggling. If you add this new tax, a lot of them
:04:43. > :04:47.will close. What you'll see in seaside towns that have not been
:04:47. > :04:50.regenerate it is a lot of boarded- up arcades. Traditionally they are
:04:50. > :04:55.next to an ice-cream parlours, fish-and-chip shops. They will also
:04:55. > :05:02.suffer. The football will drop, and you'll end unseen ghost towns and
:05:02. > :05:07.the seaside. People will not come. -- you will end up seeing. There
:05:07. > :05:11.are now only 500 arcades like this left in the UK, and in the past
:05:11. > :05:15.three years, 200 seafront arcades have shut down. That means by the
:05:15. > :05:19.end of the decade, we could see the end of the arcade.
:05:19. > :05:23.The Dom is here. What are the government saying about these
:05:23. > :05:28.changes? They gave as a response, and they said, we think the new
:05:28. > :05:31.system will make the taxing more fair and sustainable. We appreciate
:05:31. > :05:38.there will be winners and losers, but the change will help many
:05:38. > :05:42.amusement arcades. So they are still raising the taxes. They
:05:42. > :05:47.certainly are. He is helping with the amount of money he is putting
:05:47. > :05:52.in! How are the seaside towns doing this year? They are having quite a
:05:52. > :05:56.good time. A lot of us are worried about spending, so we are not going
:05:56. > :06:01.abroad. The euro is weak, the dollar is weak, and seaside towns
:06:01. > :06:07.are seeing more money this year compared to last year. And not just
:06:07. > :06:09.talking about arcades, cafes, bars, hotels, everything. 21% more people
:06:10. > :06:19.are going to the seaside and spending a night, not just going
:06:19. > :06:24.for the day. It is very fashionable. How is Eastbourne? The three
:06:24. > :06:29.fastest growing seaside resorts, Eastbourne, Whitstable and Penzance.
:06:29. > :06:35.They are all basically doing better. He is your mother still in business
:06:35. > :06:39.there? She has just retired down there, A F. As she noticed it has
:06:39. > :06:44.been busier? I was talking to the old man, and he said, yes,
:06:44. > :06:48.everybody has noticed, the coaches are really piling in, really busy.
:06:48. > :06:52.There is a great tea shop on Eastbourne promenade with a piano
:06:52. > :06:58.player. There are some fabulous fish-and-chip shops. We are going
:06:58. > :07:02.to get on to fish and chips later, hold that thought! Thank you very
:07:02. > :07:08.much. My pleasure. We have done the arcades, it is time to talk
:07:08. > :07:12.sandcastles. We want to showcase the best sandcastles you have ever
:07:12. > :07:16.been involved in with your family, send them to this address. If you
:07:16. > :07:26.have not made one this summer, for some inspiration, have a look at
:07:26. > :07:27.
:07:27. > :07:34.what this man created in Weymouth Sandcastles, I think all children
:07:34. > :07:38.love them, and an awful lot of mums and dads do, too. That is why sand
:07:39. > :07:41.sculpture has such an instant appeal for most of us. Mark
:07:41. > :07:51.Anderson has been creating sand sculptures here in Weymouth since
:07:51. > :07:52.
:07:52. > :08:02.It all starts with a compacted block of sand and water. And he is
:08:02. > :08:04.
:08:04. > :08:10.Well, how is it getting on, then? What are you doing? I'm just giving
:08:10. > :08:16.you a bit more lip. A bit of leg! And what is it? Just sand and
:08:16. > :08:22.water? This is Weymouth beach sand, which is probably the best beach
:08:22. > :08:25.sand in their world for sandcastles. Why is that? Very fine grains. It
:08:25. > :08:30.is probably the finest sand I have ever walked on, and I have been
:08:30. > :08:33.around the world doing sculptures. It is thought sound sculptures
:08:33. > :08:37.might go back as far as the time of the ancient Egyptians. They might
:08:37. > :08:41.have turned their hands to sculpting models of the pyramids.
:08:41. > :08:46.Sadly, the full story is lost in the sands of time, but the story of
:08:46. > :08:51.how it all started in Weymouth is not. Teller's a little bit about
:08:51. > :08:57.the history of sand sculpting in Weymouth. -- Tell as. It started
:08:57. > :09:04.back in the late Victorian age, my grandfather started in the mid-
:09:04. > :09:10.1920s, San sculpting until 1995. He was aged 85. I started working with
:09:10. > :09:15.him in about 1987. This is my 23rd year. How old were you when you
:09:15. > :09:18.started working with him? Originally, I was 11, it was my
:09:19. > :09:22.school job. I collected water, picked up the pennies, making tea,
:09:22. > :09:29.that kind of thing. It was something that I really took to.
:09:29. > :09:34.One day I turned up, and there was a sign saying, sand sculpture, with
:09:34. > :09:38.grandson Mark, so he finally accepted me as his assistant.
:09:38. > :09:44.you were in the firm. Indeed, yes. What is the biggest sculpture you
:09:44. > :09:49.have done? We did the world's first sand hotel about two years ago.
:09:49. > :09:52.That was about 1,000 tons of sand, massive! Mark has started a new
:09:52. > :09:59.venture this year by inviting a number of internationals and
:09:59. > :10:03.masters to Weymouth. This splendid piece is from an Irish artist. The
:10:03. > :10:08.other sculptors have come from as far afield as Texas and the Czech
:10:08. > :10:12.Republic to make sculptures based on the theme of the town's
:10:12. > :10:16.connection with the sea. The work spans everything from dinosaurs to
:10:16. > :10:22.mermaids to pirate ships, vessels that took part in the D-Day
:10:22. > :10:28.landings in the Second World War. I fancy having a go at this! What
:10:28. > :10:34.should I be doing here? Bringing your shoulder down to match with
:10:34. > :10:40.the jacket, a nice jacket. Nice and smart. Fantastic. Any particular
:10:40. > :10:46.make? I could do with a posh one, I can tell you. Nice to see that you
:10:46. > :10:54.have not given me a bald patch. I had better put it in there. Perhaps
:10:54. > :10:58.we need a few more wrinkles as well. There is a fine one. A few more
:10:58. > :11:05.wrinkles. Do you think it takes a certain type of person to be a
:11:05. > :11:10.sound sculptor? Most of the people that high note played in the sand,
:11:10. > :11:15.they have all got childlike qualities to them. There is a chart
:11:15. > :11:18.like element in getting your hands dirty and building sandcastles. --
:11:18. > :11:28.Child Life. I think people go back to a special place, it takes you
:11:28. > :11:36.
:11:36. > :11:42.back to being a kid and playing in Prop art, so temporary as well.
:11:42. > :11:46.Phil Tufnell has never looked at her. All right, we have Larry Lamb
:11:46. > :11:50.here with us this evening. You are the latest subject of Who Do You
:11:50. > :11:54.Think You Are? It is going to be on next week. It was a battle of wits,
:11:54. > :11:58.you have been telling me. It is fascinating, the way that they do
:11:58. > :12:03.it. They want to make sure you do not have to repeat any real shock
:12:03. > :12:07.or surprise, so everything is real. Everything is kept a secret fund
:12:07. > :12:11.you all the way through, they have planned the whole programme out
:12:11. > :12:14.like an amazing game. They bring you in and take you through,
:12:14. > :12:18.exposing you little by little to what they want you to know next. At
:12:18. > :12:21.the end of each day, you think, we have got that far, then they will
:12:21. > :12:27.let you know where you are going tomorrow. It is a roadshow,
:12:27. > :12:30.travelling on. Is it every day? was on the road for two wigs.
:12:31. > :12:35.he ended up in Los Angeles. They got annoyed about that, because
:12:35. > :12:40.normally you go to the airport with your passport, and then they say,
:12:40. > :12:46.we are going here, but going to America they have to get me a visa.
:12:46. > :12:50.They said, you have got to get an American visa! Oh, so we are going
:12:50. > :12:55.to America? In the middle of winter, they said, yes, but we need to talk
:12:55. > :12:59.to you about clothes. I said, oh, are we going where it is sunny?
:12:59. > :13:09.They did not want me to know. In the end I knew we were going to
:13:09. > :13:16.California. I thought I got a little bit ahead of the game, but
:13:16. > :13:21.what I was exposed to in California, I had no idea. It is all women
:13:21. > :13:25.playing games, you can't do that! The whole show is an emotional
:13:25. > :13:29.roller-coaster in the truest sense of the word. Yes, it is. I found
:13:29. > :13:34.that all the way through it, you just have to accept that bad things
:13:34. > :13:40.happen in other people's lives, it is no control, there is nothing
:13:40. > :13:48.that you can control. Your past his of view, and I think that is what
:13:48. > :13:55.makes the show so poignant and popular. Everybody has got a past
:13:55. > :13:59.as to well, it is the one thing we have all got in common. For me, it
:13:59. > :14:05.was summing up the whole thing, the whole experience, finding out about
:14:05. > :14:10.this whole side of me that was so relevant that I had no idea about.
:14:10. > :14:14.What were the bigger revelations? His revelation that in actual fact,
:14:14. > :14:18.for me, as somebody who has thought himself as being of the war,
:14:18. > :14:24.Johnny-come-lately, gatecrashing the business, I am genetically
:14:24. > :14:32.programmed. All along. And two of my great uncles was serious big-
:14:32. > :14:42.time lion-tamer us. A No way! on, I wouldn't go near them. The no
:14:42. > :14:44.
:14:44. > :14:49.Of course, this was shared, this emotional roller-coaster, between
:14:49. > :14:58.you and your mum. We have a clip with you and your mum, a very
:14:58. > :15:03.poignant piece of the film. I have to show you this. What is that?
:15:03. > :15:10.infant welfare centre. I hereby agreed to give up all claim to
:15:10. > :15:18.Jessie Dorothy Day, and to have her adopted by Mrs White. And it is
:15:18. > :15:24.signed by Mrs Catherine Day. I find it so sad. Someone must have told
:15:24. > :15:30.her what to put. That must have been an incredible moment.
:15:30. > :15:34.sister got very upset. My mum has been around a long time and has
:15:34. > :15:40.dealt with the fact that she was adopted. She is more sanguine about
:15:40. > :15:46.it. But she was moved. But she plays things quietly, my mum.
:15:46. > :15:53.can go online and track your family. That has been the other revelation
:15:53. > :15:57.for me. I was a late, when it comes to computers. I have a young family
:15:57. > :16:01.and they were encouraging me to do it. In the end, I discovered that
:16:01. > :16:05.at the end of the programme you can press the red button and click on
:16:05. > :16:11.to the BBC's system, whereby you can phone, a freephone number, to
:16:11. > :16:14.find out how to get access to different bits of information. And
:16:14. > :16:19.then you can use the system, find out about where to go on a course
:16:19. > :16:24.how to use the computer. But if you watch the film, they have me as a
:16:24. > :16:29.guinea pig, making you understand, by following bits of everybody's
:16:29. > :16:33.stories that are covered in the programme, the different aspects of
:16:33. > :16:39.people's genealogy, but you can find out about readily online and
:16:39. > :16:44.just, really, as I have found out, how simple it is. Watching the show
:16:44. > :16:47.makes you want to do it. It is part of the First Click campaign and you
:16:47. > :16:52.can find out about it on the red button right now.
:16:52. > :16:59.We have had a go in the arcade, played on the beach, and now time
:16:59. > :17:03.for some seaside fish and chips. Pass the salt. Yes, but what salt?
:17:03. > :17:07.These days, there are more kinds then you can shake a cellar at.
:17:07. > :17:11.There was a time when the only choice was whether or not to put
:17:11. > :17:15.salt on your chips. Now, there are an increasing number of gourmet
:17:15. > :17:22.versions coming from as far afield as Hawaii and the Himalayas. In
:17:22. > :17:26.supermarkets, the likes of Oak smoked, Cyprus flake, Atlantic and
:17:26. > :17:32.Cornish salt have seen sales rise this year. But they are not cheap.
:17:32. > :17:39.A small bag of Cyprus C salt costs �1.89, whereas a bag of table salt
:17:39. > :17:46.is just 20 3PV. It could be dismissed as a silly food fad, but
:17:46. > :17:50.could gourmet salt be worth its salt? All of these salts are the
:17:50. > :17:55.same chemical, sodium chloride, so it is hard to imagine how they can
:17:55. > :18:01.taste any different. And when dissolved in water, most salts
:18:01. > :18:05.taste the same. But chef Stephen Harris is so passionate about the
:18:05. > :18:10.importance of salt, he even harvests his own from the senior
:18:10. > :18:17.his restaurant. I thought it would be a romantic notion. I have to
:18:17. > :18:20.make my own salt. There are some people who thinks salt is just salt.
:18:20. > :18:24.There is something about the crystals of certain types of salt
:18:24. > :18:28.where you are eating something that you get a burst of salt which is
:18:28. > :18:32.different from drenching it with a thin running table salt, which also
:18:32. > :18:39.has chemicals to make it free- flowing. What have people said
:18:39. > :18:43.about the way yours tastes? They all say that it is sweet.
:18:43. > :18:49.harvests his salt by taking sea water back to the restaurant for
:18:49. > :18:55.straining and boiling down. It is left to evaporate until the salt
:18:55. > :18:59.crystals form at the top, but will it be worth the effort? Outside the
:18:59. > :19:06.local chip shop, the jury is split on the merits of gourmet salt.
:19:06. > :19:12.Right. It tastes quite salty, obviously. Do you think the crunch
:19:12. > :19:18.is important? Yes, I much prefer that. To be honest, there is not a
:19:18. > :19:23.difference in taste, more the texture. Was that the -- was that
:19:23. > :19:28.the Hawaiian one? That is the closest I am going to get to Hawaii.
:19:28. > :19:36.Back to my own taste test. We have four pieces of fish without
:19:36. > :19:41.seasoning. No surprises with the table salt. It is definitely salt.
:19:41. > :19:48.And this is your salt, which has come from the sea just behind. Much
:19:48. > :19:54.bigger crystals. You get the crunch. Actually, there is less bitterness.
:19:54. > :20:01.I do not know if I would say it is sweet, but it is less bitter. This
:20:01. > :20:05.one is from the Essex coast. I should be able to tell you that I
:20:05. > :20:10.can see a great difference between that and Stephen's but I can't,
:20:10. > :20:17.really. Both have chunky crystals, which give a burst when you bite.
:20:17. > :20:23.The exotic Hawaiian pink salt. Very, very salty. And I think that might
:20:23. > :20:31.partly be down to the way it is finely ground. I think I preferred
:20:31. > :20:36.yours. Yes. I may just be being nice. You are just romantic. With
:20:36. > :20:39.some pots of salt costing �5, what about the price tag? I am not a
:20:39. > :20:42.food snob and will not judge an ingredient on whether it is
:20:42. > :20:47.fashionable or expensive. Whether you decide to spend money on
:20:47. > :20:51.gourmet salt is up to you, but for me the experience is distinct from
:20:51. > :20:55.normal table salt. For those concerned about their salt intake,
:20:55. > :21:00.a little bit of the expensive stuff is perhaps better than lots of the
:21:00. > :21:06.cheap. Your mum and dad owned a fish and chip shop and you work in
:21:06. > :21:13.it. As an expert, can you tell the difference between these two
:21:13. > :21:23.portions of chips? One of these has this on it, one of the world's most
:21:23. > :21:23.
:21:23. > :21:27.expensive salts, may be the most expensive. Taste the chips. You are
:21:27. > :21:31.looking for the most expensive taste. The point is in the crystals
:21:31. > :21:37.and the way that they crunch. The crystals deliver the taste in a
:21:37. > :21:41.different way. It is hard to do it taste test, because one is like the
:21:41. > :21:50.other. It might be that you get a little bit on here and a little bit
:21:50. > :21:56.on there. You are thinking something. Which one? No pressure.
:21:56. > :22:03.Of -- that certainly has a stronger taste, that one. Does it taste more
:22:03. > :22:13.exotic, more expensive? Knowing the way that I am normally, I would say
:22:13. > :22:14.
:22:14. > :22:20.that is the gold one. This man is a God. Follow your instincts!
:22:20. > :22:25.Danish salt, this is about to just over �20 per kilo from a little
:22:25. > :22:29.Danish island. There are lots of others here, all of them available
:22:29. > :22:33.in high and supermarkets. Saffron flavoured, rose flavoured. The
:22:33. > :22:36.important thing is that because it preserves food, it has always been
:22:36. > :22:45.held as very valuable, and that is where the word salary comes from,
:22:45. > :22:51.because people believe that people were paid in salt. The phrase, is
:22:51. > :22:58.he worth his salt, comes from that. Tell us about these. This is a
:22:58. > :23:02.Welsh Sorpe with vanilla. Would you like to try it? -- it is a Welsh
:23:02. > :23:08.salt. We associate salt with savoury food, but if you put it on
:23:08. > :23:18.sweet things, it opens them up. gives a contrast. You can put it in
:23:18. > :23:26.a lot of sweet things. We have some high-end chocolate. And they all
:23:26. > :23:30.have salt in them? They have. The most basic use of salt in a sweet
:23:30. > :23:37.thing is apple crumble. If you make apple crumble, always put a pinch
:23:37. > :23:45.of salt in it. Alongside this, salt caramel ice cream, made by a man
:23:45. > :23:50.who I know in Brixton. I get the salt thing with sweet stuff. It
:23:50. > :23:56.really does work. That is great. Part of the taste coming out is
:23:56. > :24:02.because the salt helps it to. opens it up, builds it up. Thank
:24:02. > :24:07.you. Are you having fun, Larry? It is great here, isn't it? Time for
:24:07. > :24:11.the final journey of our week exploring the history of our canals.
:24:11. > :24:18.Today, the Shannon to Erne canal in Northern Ireland. All of our
:24:18. > :24:24.reporters have had a good time, but Matt got the worst of the weather.
:24:24. > :24:31.Canals, the arteries of the empire. Carrying everything from iron and
:24:31. > :24:35.coal to everything else that they carried. What have canals not done
:24:35. > :24:44.for us? Well, if you are talking about this one, the Shannon to Erne
:24:44. > :24:48.canal, until recently, it had not done anything at all. While Irish
:24:48. > :24:52.canal makers were digging their way into history books with momentous
:24:52. > :24:58.achievements in England, on this side of the water the much vaunted
:24:58. > :25:02.Shannon to Erne was falling in on itself. It was hailed as the final
:25:02. > :25:07.piece in the canal's jigsaw, a 65 kilometres stretch of water way
:25:07. > :25:12.which linked booming Belfast and emerging Newry with Limerick and
:25:12. > :25:18.Dublin, taking the raw material us like flax and cold in, and shipping
:25:18. > :25:25.out the products which were of rope and linen. I mean, it was a
:25:25. > :25:28.brilliant idea, on paper! What the gorgeous Georgians had in fact
:25:28. > :25:34.discovered was a great drain down which they relentlessly poured a
:25:34. > :25:39.torrent of public money. Why, in this time of famine in Ireland, did
:25:39. > :25:43.they not see that this was one great financial folly? The building
:25:43. > :25:50.of canals in Ireland was the English man's solution to an Irish
:25:50. > :25:54.problem. It was built to create employment, to service the farming
:25:54. > :25:58.community, something that would bring wealth back into the
:25:58. > :26:03.countryside. Suddenly, with this canal, you have a chance to get all
:26:03. > :26:08.of those goods from one end of Ireland to the other. From Belfast
:26:08. > :26:14.to Limerick, right through to Dublin, using the grand and Royal
:26:14. > :26:19.canals. A fantastic idea. Amazing achievement. Nearly 7000 men worked
:26:20. > :26:26.on it at one time. But the Shannon to Erne canal was a failure of epic
:26:26. > :26:30.proportions. Here are the figures. It cost �750,000 to build. It took
:26:30. > :26:35.14 years to complete but was abandoned after nine years. Why
:26:35. > :26:43.have I not written anything yet? Because there is only one figure
:26:43. > :26:47.that matters. Eight. That is how many boats travelled on it.
:26:48. > :26:52.Somebody had not done their homework, because it turns out
:26:52. > :26:56.Ireland is an island. It is much easier to get things here by sea
:26:56. > :27:02.than it is by a canal. So the better quality of coal that was
:27:02. > :27:05.coming out of the pits of Wales and Scotland was a much better option.
:27:05. > :27:10.The Shannon to Erne Canal was practically obsolete before a look
:27:11. > :27:17.was opened. Less than a decade later it was closed, we did up,
:27:17. > :27:21.with its locks crumbling. People pretty much forgot about it. To be
:27:21. > :27:24.honest, because there was not that much to remember. All across the UK,
:27:24. > :27:30.other people were working out that canals can actually be fun places
:27:30. > :27:35.to go on holidays. So if those canals were getting ready for their
:27:35. > :27:39.second life, why couldn't the Shannon to Erne habits first? And
:27:39. > :27:44.more than a century later, a success story has emerged from the
:27:44. > :27:47.silt. The decision to open the canal in 1988 was a leap of faith,
:27:47. > :27:55.because it was in the middle of the Troubles and �30 million was
:27:55. > :28:00.invested. It opened in 1994, which was the year of the IRA ceasefire.
:28:00. > :28:04.And the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 set up waterways Ireland as a
:28:05. > :28:09.unifying body to link the waterways in northern and southern Ireland.
:28:09. > :28:12.They fixed the locks, installed electric pumps, scrubbed up the
:28:12. > :28:17.water away, and hey presto, the Shannon to Erne canal is open for
:28:17. > :28:23.visitors. In a way that it never has been before. The other good
:28:23. > :28:28.news, I don't think they're going to run out of water!
:28:28. > :28:38.Lovely to see that back on stream. These are your sandcastles.
:28:38. > :28:40.
:28:40. > :28:43.Brilliant. Well done, girls. This one from Swindon is a mermaid.
:28:43. > :28:48.Thank you to Larry Lamb. If you are going to the seaside tomorrow,