Liverpool Sea Cities

Around the coast of Britain are cities where lives

are shaped by the sea.

Whoa, turbot. Nice turbot. Lovely job.

Each city is a gateway to the wider world, and around each city,

thousands of people work in jobs that touch all of our lives,

whether it's shipping cars...

We're just short of £29 million worth we're doin' today.

..or importing fruit.

What I love about bananas is they don't answer back.

Jobs that keep the nation afloat.

This is the tricky bit. This is where the skill comes in.

Where every day brings fresh challenges.

Go! Go!

These are cities that welcome the Navy - both serving sailors

and new recruits.

-Let's work hard.

-From clocking on in the morning...

You should see me flying a kite, mate. I'm brilliant.

..to relaxing after work.

It's all part of the warm up.

Around the shores and rivers of people's home towns...

Break, together!

..water is a way of life.

In the northwest of England, Liverpool is cashing in on a

cruise-ship revival.

I love it when a plan comes together.

That was amazing. That was just sending a message to the world.

Look, we're here.

Scousers are swimming against the tide...

-It's definitely one of the toughest.

-The mighty Mersey.

..and the daily commute is a treat, not a chore.

This ten minutes of relaxation, it's just a beautiful experience.

Along the banks of the Mersey, Liverpool is waking up,

but the river is already busy.

Near the Liver Building, a stone's throw away from the city centre,

is the cruise terminal.

This morning, Royal Princess is in town, and terminal manager,

Angie Redhead, is preparing to welcome hundreds of passengers

heading for a day ashore.

Isn't it gorgeous, now, though? It's absolutely lovely.

Anything and everything that happens to those people,

is really our responsibility.

We want to them to have the absolute best experience of Liverpool

that they can.

There's 3,500 passengers on board, predominately American passengers.

Sorry, folks, sorry.

So there's, you know, 25,000 people in a season

just from this one cruise ship coming into the city.

It's just a lot of people that will all come off that gangway,

come up this bridge and go through that building.

It's like climbing Everest.

There's a bridge at low tide and it's very steep.

It's not too bad at the moment.

These are new uniforms that we got this year, as well.

-We love the new uniforms, don't we?

-Yeah.

-I don't.

I'd rather have it in pink.

Will it go round twice? It will go round twice, there you are.

You've gone all Audrey Hepburn, now. I love the uniforms.

I think they look brilliant.

These passengers are on holiday and need to feel like they're

on holiday, so as soon as the ship is tied up safely,

we just take care of them, really.

We take care of everything, from the beginning of the day

right to the very end.

Good morning, folks. Where are we off to today?

We are off to see some museums and a lot of architecture.

-You want a map, then, won't you?

-Oh, please.

-All our museums are free.

-Wonderful, and what time do they open?

-Ten o'clock.

-Excellent.

The only volunteer that I've got a problem with, is that one over

there, Alan. He's terrible.

-Hello.

-Good morning.

-Good morning.

I'm just telling them you're my favourite volunteer.

That's not what you normally say. It's normally, "Oh, it's him again."

Alan and Frank are our volunteer coordinators and for this

extra responsibility, we pay you in extra biscuits.

We get double pay. We have biscuits as well as a sandwich.

Sometimes, even now, eight years on, I still look and I think...

One, how does it float? And two, look. Look at the location.

It's the only city I know that you can step off the ship

and be in the city.

MUSIC PLAYS

Hello, gentlemen.

Angie's on a mission. She's got a special delivery for the captain.

We come on and off the vessels, but normally we go as far

as the gangway, because, you know, we're dealing with the security

officers onboard, predominately, about different bits and bobs,

so it's rare to, kind of, get access to all areas of the ship,

but certainly the bridge.

This is nice, though, isn't it? Garden feature.

INTERVIEWER: Have you ever been on a cruise?

I've been on a couple of cruises.

Only three nights.

Three nights is long enough, I have to say, because it's not

a busman's holiday, of course, but I work in the travel industry.

I've worked in the travel industry 25 years, so when I go on holiday,

I like to be as far away from other people, on holiday, as possible.

Angie's on her way to the bridge, five decks above, through a

ship that's buzzing with activity.

I'm from Napoli area where our coach... Rafael Benitez.

We are connected to Liverpool and, for me, as a Neapolitan

supporter, I went to Anfield Road.

We compare Napoli with Liverpool and we see where we should be.

It's very difficult for us.

Good afternoon. How are things? Is everything all right?

Are you having a good time?

We have almost 2,000 passengers on today.

Everything has to be prepared.

All the lounges have to be ready for receiving passengers.

We always need to be prepared for passengers coming back for lunch.

-Are the kids having fun?

-They are.

The passengers may be relaxing,

but Royal Princess's kitchens are flat out.

Eight tonne of beef and chicken will be consumed in 12 days.

Seven tonne of flour, about 6,000 eggs, six tonne of tomatoes,

one tonne of cucumbers.

3,000lbs of bacon and the list goes on and on and on.

What they're making at the moment is strawberry cream cakes

and that will be served later in the day.

How many will you be making totally from that, today?

-70.

-70 cakes.

We're going to be serving, today, mushroom and spinach quiche

and this has just been coming fresh out of the oven.

We make about 60, because we're not busy today at lunch,

because most of the people are visiting beautiful Liverpool.

200 feet above the quayside, Angie's making that delivery

to Royal Princess' captain, Bob Oliver.

This is the Spirit of Liverpool, which is by a local sculptor

-and we present these to our captains.

-Thank you so much.

Just as a little gift, so that's from us to you.

-Take Liverpool with you on your travels.

-Thank you very much.

Just like to say it's the first time in Liverpool on a ship since 1974.

-Really?

-There has been an enormous change since then

and it's really good to see.

Lovely to meet you, anyway,

Captain Bob, and have a good journey.

Never ceases to amaze me just how close the Liver buildings look,

when you look out there.

I always say it looks like you could, kind of,

just stroke the wings of the Liver building. It's fantastic.

If you were the captain of the ship,

you could never get bored of that view.

This has got to be one of the best views, I think,

of any port in the world.

Pete, I'm on the bridge of the ship. Look up.

He's laughing his head off.

Oh, it's great, that is, isn't it?

Before she heads back ashore, there's one temptation

Angie can't resist.

It doesn't matter who it belongs to, where it's come from.

When a girl sees a hat, she just has to try it on.

It's a perfect fit. Now, which way are we going?

# Love, love me do

# You know I love you

# I'll always be true

# So please... #

The cruise ship passengers know exactly where they're going

and what they want to see.

The most successful and the most famous,

the most influential and the greatest band of all time.

I'm a Beatles fan.

If you look up, there's a little statue on the wall, there,

that says, four lads who shook the world.

Pam Orris and her husband, who run a chocolate shop in New Jersey,

are living a dream.

It captures the moment.

I don't know how you can come to Liverpool without doing

things with the Beatles. I love the Beatles.

# Love, love me do.

# You know I love you... #

Penny Lane!

R and P, for Rick and Pam.

-Many of the tourists know their Beatles history.

-Thank you.

-OK, you're welcome.

-They're a little more rusty on geography.

If you want Abbey Road, you've got to go to London. St John's Wood.

-Lovely.

-Thanks, everybody. Thanks very much. Thank you.

The magical mystery tour's over.

Back at the terminal, Angie's checking on how her team's done.

-SHE READS:

-"A beautiful city, a hidden gem.

"Clean and friendly. Thank you, Liverpool, for the warm welcome.

"A very warm welcome at the volunteer hub

"and we were given lots of useful info by Frank."

-LAUGHTER

-Frank.

Alan, I see Frank's been writing his own comments cards again!

-LAUGHTER

-"Frank was very helpful."

-Oh, he's at it again, is he?

-LAUGHTER

-Yeah.

-Going to have to tell them off, you know.

He's got about five different pens in his pocket.

-We're onto him now.

-Yeah, he normally uses a red pen.

-LAUGHTER

-Yeah.

As the passengers begin to arrive back at the cruise ship,

Angie spots a potential problem heading their way.

I'm just wondering if you've got sight of the ferry yet.

Is she in the river? Over.

'It's 5:20 now.'

At 5:30, the ferry from the Isle of Man comes in to the pontoon

right next door to us and we share the same bridge.

We go through this same lottery every time we have a shipping.

There's never a right answer,

because we'll put a plan in place and then the ferry will be early.

-RADIO BEEPS

-Ange to Pete.

Just to let you know, I'm at the top of Gate Three,

so I've got sight of the ferry. It's not berthed yet.

We've probably got about five minutes. Over.

As soon as you see that ramp coming down, you go,

"That's it now. Forget it".

The ferry is about to tie up.

In a few minutes, her passengers will be pouring up the gangway.

Angie's cruise ship customers will have to take a detour.

Take a wander along, you can go on at the far gangway.

Take a wander.

'I'm trying to explain to American passengers,

"Sorry, you can't go back to the ship",

and you see fear in their eyes.

BIRDS CAW

Royal Princess, like every cruise ship,

operates to a tight timetable.

She must leave at 7:30,

but there are still passengers ashore.

We're missing 30, so...

Here's a few just getting off this minibus here.

-RADIO CHATTER

-Two, four, six, seven.

Thank you.

Oh, here's another minibus.

We've had a couple close to missing the boat,

but not actually done it.

A young American couple,

they got back very, very close.

Just as they were pulling the gangway up.

The husband basically just ran off and left the wife,

so we had to look after his wife and take her along to the gangway,

but they made it, so we haven't lost anybody yet.

Only moments to go before the gangways are closed.

The deadline is five minutes ago.

They do get... Even though they're the passengers,

they will get shouted out for being late. It's, like, really...

It is really strict, what time they need to be back on board.

It takes 45 minutes for us

to let the ropes go.

Ten. One, two, three, four.

Four there. Six.

We're still missing one person.

The ship has to leave on the tide.

If the missing man isn't here in a few seconds,

he'll be looking at an empty berth.

-RADIO:

-That one passenger's on his way now.

Oh, OK.

There'll be no five courses tonight.

LAUGHTER

They'll cut his dinner down to three courses!

'I'm a Liverpool girl.

'I see how proud me dad is of what I've done

'and me grandad was a docker.

'Big passenger ships back on this river here,

'at the pier head,

'is kind of that real symbol of Liverpool's regeneration, really.

'Because that's where our greatness came from

'hundreds of years ago.'

For 700 years, boats have carried passengers across the river.

These days, the train or tunnel may be quicker,

but thousands of commuters still choose to travel

on the Mersey ferry.

Morning.

Morning.

MUSIC: Ferry Cross The Mersey by Gerry and the Pacemakers

# Life goes on day after day... #

I just think this ten minutes just gives you that relaxation,

instead of being sort of crammed into a small tiny space.

It's just a beautiful experience.

It's kind of iconic, isn't it?

One of the sort of most recognisable skylines...

I suppose, in the world.

When you're getting on the train, it's all so rushed

and everyone's rushing to get there. With this, you just get on, relax

and then you can sort of think about whatever you want to think about.

And then start your day when you get into work.

On the bridge is Captain Robbie Quinn.

He's been sailing on the Mersey for nearly 40 years.

# So ferry 'cross the Mersey...#

I came here as a summer hand in 1977.

Worked on deck,

became a mate in 1984.

Acting captain in 1994.

And then made full-time captain in 2008.

I think, what a great job.

Which it is.

I probably wouldn't swap it for anything else now.

-See the seal over there?

-Oh, there's a seal down there.

Definitely don't get seals on the train.

I've never seen that. That was really good.

If you happen to finish work early,

coming back and you jump on the ferry in the middle of the day,

it's absolutely crammed with tourists from all over the world.

And, you know, you think...

this ferry's been around for such long time,

surely someday people will think,

"Ah, that's it. We're forgotten about. We'll move on".

But it's still an institution.

# Here I always will stay... #

The Mersey ferry is as famous as the city it serves.

To be honest, I encourage people to get it.

I think they should get it. It...

You can't beat it.

How many people get to say they get to go to work on a boat?

Now that I've done it, I wish I'd done it sooner.

# And here I'll stay

# Here I'll stay. #

Upstream of the cruise terminals,

Eastern locks are the gateway to the Manchester ship canal.

From here, tugs guide ships up the channel.

Carmet Tug Company is a family business.

Three generations of the Metcalfes -

Ian, his son Brett, and grandson Joshua -

are about to start another working day.

Ian still remembers how it all began.

I had a little work boat called The Teenie.

Maybe bought it for £900.

Every school holiday was spent on that old, leaking...

wooden sailing boat.

And I had a marvellous upbringing all the way around boats.

I had no choice, really. It's the only thing I ever wanted to do.

I was on tug when I was six weeks old,

so I've seen it when we had the old tugs, back in the olden days.

I've seen it grow since then, as well.

But it's really good being involved with family.

Sometimes it can be a bit frustrating.

But, no, we tend to get on pretty well,

which makes it a little bit easier.

I'm know these two are doing a great job. There's no two ways about it.

I just sit at my desk and do the crossword now.

LAUGHTER

Nowadays, Grandad, HAS taken a step back,

but he hasn't quite let go.

I actually left Carmet Tugs after 17 years, when he was 65,

because he wouldn't leave,

so I bought him three retirement presents,

told him the next one's a bullet,

and he still wouldn't go. And he's still there now.

The company has four tugs operating on the ship canal,

which runs east from the Mersey.

We're just on our way up to the ship now.

We're just coming through Ellesmere Port Docks,

where the ships are. Ellesmere Port flats there.

You can just see, in the distance, the Stanlow Oil Refinery.

So, once we get around this corner,

we'll have a good eye from the ship there.

The 36-mile-long canal was built

so oceangoing ships could reach inland Manchester via the Mersey.

Many of the ships using it, over a century on,

are tankers travelling to and from the refinery.

Vessels over a certain size coming into the canal

require tugboats, so we have one tug.

We'll be going on the head of the ship and the Viking,

that's behind us, will be going on the stern of the ship.

Round the bend, there's a problem.

Their way is blocked by another ship.

This is another ship that's on the way out.

She's 23 metres, so she's getting on to be

the biggest ship that we can get in here.

At the moment, we have to wait in this berth while they pass, because,

as you can see there, it's so narrow, where she is coming through.

'The tugs are there mainly to guide them.

'They're an insurance policy, if you like. But they are also there'

when you get up to the berth or down to the lock,

then they'll assist the ship alongside,

where the pilot won't have to use his engines as much as he would do

if he didn't have tugs.

It is a few miles to the terminal,

past the industrial sites, which now crowd the canal banks.

This is a marine highway, where every day is different.

This is just pure joy.

I mean, it's...

As my father has said, it's a hobby.

We play boats, all of us.

All of us Metcalfes have been playing boats

since we were knee-high to grasshoppers.

And we just carry on doing it, but the difference is now,

we get paid for doing it.

At the jetty, the tanker's crew are waiting.

Their ship will have to be pulled backwards into the channel.

This is the tricky bit. But, yeah, this is where the skill comes in.

The skill comes in.

Once we're going in a straight line,

then we are there as insurance.

And, hopefully, we won't be needed.

Once the Viking has eased the tanker clear...

..Joshua uses his tug, the Victory,

to assist with the manoeuvre.

That's the Victory putting weight on you now, pilot.

-RADIO:

-Thank you.

'We're just finalising the swing. I'm just pushing the bar around,'

so she's straight down the canal.

Just keeping an eye on the...

the wall there, to make sure she's clear.

We don't want to swing her too fast.

Some would say I was brainwashed into it,

being on tugs as a youngster.

But it is something I really enjoy.

I tried to delay working for Carmet a little bit

by going to university, but was it was inevitable, really,

I was going to end up working here.

But it is just a fun job.

My hobby is sailing, as well, so...

I've spent all my life around boats.

It may seem very relaxed,

but it's not always plain sailing.

I mean, the greatest danger for a tugboat is the fact that,

if we have an engine breakdown or lack of steering judgement,

then the ship can overtake us.

If it overtakes us, one of two things will happen.

Either he will pull us over sideways...

or we'll flatten out alongside the ship,

which is the lesser of the two dangers.

But the problem is, with the width of the canal,

it's not wide enough for us to be alongside the ship, so...

so it is a danger.

But you've just got to keep ahead of the ship.

It shouldn't happen, but then I have to touch wood...

just in case.

A great way of earning a living.

It's just very frustrating to let...

let the young fellows do it.

And we sit here and watch.

But I do take a lot of pride in it.

They are good at what they do.

The Victory. Thanks a lot, pilot. Talk to you again soon.

The tanker's released at the lock gates.

She can head for sea,

as Carmet move on to their next job.

Well, I reckon, in 100 years,

I'm sure there'll be a Carmet Tug Company.

I'm certainly going to leave it in safe hands,

with Joshua and Patrick.

And it's up to them to...

to bring on the next generation, I would say.

And I hope they brainwash them the same way as I brainwashed my two.

Out in the river, it's a nice day for a dip.

Brave souls are training for the Cross Mersey swim.

It's a mile long in dangerous water.

But they will be raising money for charity.

Take your time. It's all right.

Six-year-old George Johnson will be one of those helped this year.

George has a rare condition, which needs treatment in America.

Oh, no. Careful, there's a jellyfish.

'George's stomach doesn't work,'

so anything that sits into George's stomach causes huge spasms and pain.

I've got...I've got, like...

I've got a stoma bag and...

..a drainage tube, or whatever it's called.

-Mic-Key button.

-Mic-Key button. Erm...

You have a bit of a sore tummy, don't you?

Doesn't really matter.

'At the moment, we haven't even got a diagnosis,'

so, until we've got back, we don't really know what to do to help him.

He's had 86 operations and procedures since he's been born.

-Oh, there is a leg off one of the crabs.

-Where?

'The big goal that we've got is to'

try get George over to Ohio in America

to see a doctor over there, because we think

if we got any chance of getting a diagnosis

or getting more of an understanding of what's going on with George,

it's going to be maybe over in the States that we can get this.

-Get it!

-SHE LAUGHS

'I get stressed out.'

I just want to get a new one.

-INTERVIEWER:

-A new what?

Tummy.

He has something called spasms that really gets him in pain

and it really hurts his tummy.

-INTERVIEWER:

-And what do you feel like when you see him in pain?

Really sad.

Cos he's my brother.

I want to help him get better.

Mersey swimmer Phil Walton is a long-standing friend of the family.

'George's dad is a very, very good friend of mine.'

And so is his uncle.

They are both friends of mine. We go back a long, long time.

And, obviously, when George came along, you know, I could see

firsthand what the family was going through on a daily basis.

Phil has been amazing. He's...

George called him Iron Man,

because some of the challenges that he does are just unbelievable.

And especially his latest one is crazy.

You know, swimming from Liverpool over to Birkenhead.

'Sometimes, I think to myself, "I've had a bit of a bad day",

and I think, "Bloody hell, what I've been through is nothing,

"compared to what they go through". That's every day of their lives.

Yet they just handle it, they get on with it. They show great spirit,

great compassion and just get on with things.

And nothing is too much for them.

I like that!

What do you reckon it's going to be, Ian?

Ooh, hopefully, a balmy 25 degrees,

-but somehow...

-I'm thinking it may not be 25 degrees today.

-LAUGHTER

-I've got a feeling

it's going to be pretty cold.

On the morning of the swim,

team members Ian Reid and Richard Webster

have one final check to carry out.

Think it's going to be around 14 degrees,

which is what we're used to, but we're used to swimming in a wetsuit,

so most of us haven't done much no-wetsuit swimming.

The Mersey ferry boat now is, erm...

fighting back against the tide, which is incoming.

That's the kind of forces that we're going to be working against later,

because the tide is going to be going the other way by that stage.

In an hour or so's time, the water will be up here.

And that will be where we actually finish.

That's the finish of the event.

You've got to come round and touch this.

A couple of years ago, I was the other side of the jetty,

swimming as hard as I possibly could,

and couldn't get here. I had to give up and get in the boat.

If you miss the exit on the swim, you've got no hope.

If you miss this corner. If you don't come round the corner

and just hug the coroner and touch it...

-You're out.

-..it's all over.

Liam Hanlon has organised the swim.

I think it is a bit mad, but to get up in the morning and see

the sun shining and then to look at this stretch of water and think,

I'm going to be swimming that later, it's a fantastic feeling.

Everyone's upbeat,

but the weather is going downhill.

This year's swim could be one of the most dangerous so far.

Over the water to Anglesey. 80 miles west of Liverpool.

This is the best place to join large ships

which need expert help to get them safely into port.

The Mersey River Pilots are based here.

And Chris Brooker is about to meet up with a Greek oil tanker.

Today, the big responsibility is really the cargo.

It's crude oil. It's a very large crude oil carrier.

And I'll be taking over the conduct of the vessel

and getting that ship in, which is not going to be easy today,

because of the depth of the ship and the associated tides.

It's 9:30 now, so, by the time we get on board,

it's going to be ten o'clock.

Three hours across. Perfect.

Being a river pilot means getting to work can be a little tricky.

The Cap Diamant is waiting 12 miles offshore.

And, as usual, Chris arrives at the office

by way of a rope ladder.

'Today, it's calm, you know, it is daylight. It's straightforward.

Sometimes, you come down here,

it's blowing a hoolie, horizontal rain.

It's dark, you know, it's quite dangerous out there.

But today it should be fairly straightforward.

Chris's skill and local knowledge are vital

when it comes to guiding ships around the underwater hazards.

Liverpool is quite a tricky place to be a pilot.

We have strong tides, we've got shifting sandbanks,

we've got a lot of wrecks in the channels.

The space under the ship, when we go into the first shallows,

will be only 1.4 metres,

so somewhere around there.

Have you had a good voyage?

-CAPTAIN:

-Good morning, everybody.

-Good morning, captain.

-ALL:

-Good morning.

-How are you?

-Thanks very much.

-Welcome on board.

-Thank you.

-My colleague, John.

-Hi, Captain. How are you doing?

Once Chris is on the bridge,

he takes over command from the captain, Gregorios Miris.

It is a tradition.

We must hand over, because of local knowledge,

the use of tugboats,

so it's better.

Er, of course, for sure,

a master has always the final responsibility.

But this is the way things are getting done.

-So high water's 14:36.

-Yes.

Now, normally, we would be at the berth at high water.

But, because of your draft today,

we're going to have to be going over the shallows at high water.

Ship navigation still involves paper charts and brainpower.

Chris will need all of his expertise

to bring the Cap Diamant safely into port.

So here we have paper charts here and we're approaching the bar,

which is here, and then we're going to come into the channel

and this area here is Formby Shoal,

and this is where we're going to only have 1.4 metres

underneath the ship and then we get into the deeper water on the bend.

We'll be making sure we don't pass any other big ships on the bend.

This tanker is so big that it needs two pilots.

John Slater has travelled out with Chris as an extra pair of eyes.

When you see the ships out at sea, it's hard to perceive that

the very nearest danger is always underneath the vessel.

You know, we're drawing 13½ metres with only 1½ metres underneath.

If you let yourself, sort of, drop your guard,

the river will bite you on the bum. It really will.

Chris has called in a tug to help steady the ship's speed

and help with the steering.

-Starboard 20.

-Starboard 20.

-Very good.

Guiding large ships like the Cap Diamant

is relatively straightforward in open seas,

but fine course adjustments are much trickier

when approaching the shallower water of the estuary.

MONITORS BEEP

So we're so close to the bottom now that the echo sounder's not working.

At this point in the voyage,

there's so little water underneath the keel that the Cap Diamant

is just feet away from grounding on the mud.

So you've just got to trust your calculations at these moments.

Keep going.

So we're crabbing across the river at the moment.

We're not going in a straight line because the tide is pushing us

this way and there's some wind pushing us that way

but the net effect is the tide is winning, so I'm having to counteract

the tide and angle the ship so we're crabbing into the...

into the channel.

Then when we go round the bend, we'll actually be sliding,

so it'll be like a very slow, er, sliding turn.

Captain Miris and his crew have spent three weeks at sea.

Chris aims to get them safely to the end of their 3,000-mile voyage.

We're on full ahead now.

We're slowly increasing. We're now on 8.9.

It was down to 8.4.

But if we slow down too much, we'll just end up on the shallows

to starboard and aground, so we don't want that.

Captain, everything is good.

We have a little bit more water, as we thought.

The echo's showing more than 1.4.

Once we get in the deep water, she'll pick up speed a bit more.

Chris's ten years as a pilot have got the tanker through

the first set of shallows, but there are more dangers ahead

before the Cap Diamant can tie up at her berth.

It's the day of the Cross Mersey Swim.

15 swimmers raising money for several causes,

including six-year-old George and his family.

But the weather's taken a nosedive.

All swimmers, come on in.

OK, welcome to a bright, sunny day

for the 22nd annual John Hulley Legacy Across Mersey Swim.

As you can see, conditions aren't favourable...

..or for the faint-hearted.

The water temperature today is...

freezing. It's very low.

Cheer, everyone.

The swim will begin on the Liverpool side of the Mersey

and cross back over to Birkenhead -

but as the swimmers head over to the start,

the temperature drops and the heavens open.

Crossing the river just got a great deal harder.

On the start line, organisers are waiting to give the green light.

The swimmers have to travel just over a mile at exactly

the right moment to get the benefit of the tide and avoid passing ships.

Very, very busy traffic on the river today.

We're going to wait for a window now.

It's all part of the warm-up!

The pelvic thrust!

It's chocka! Frightening.

The responsibility's there. On those shoulders.

The tide may take a few,

but the boats are there to guide us, hopefully.

Even though it's one of the shorter ones,

-it's definitely one of the toughest.

-The mighty Mersey.

We can just see the water's gone slack on the corner there.

Get about ten minutes either side of high water.

To be fair, we need to be going soon.

-Good one, son.

-Fella!

But even before the tide has turned...

..the cold weather is causing the swimmers' body temperatures

to fall and the decision is made to start the swim early.

But it's a risk, as the tide is pushing them up the river

and they have further to swim.

For safety, the swimmers move in groups, or pods.

It allows them to help each other through the choppy water.

One swimmer has been caught by the tide and is heading off course.

The boat that has just gone over to him

is making sure he gets back to his pod, which is just over there.

So he's probably about 100 metres away from his pod.

He's starting to veer off again. If you look where he's pointing...

You want to get back more over there. Yeah, more that way.

-More that way?

-Yeah, because your pod,

-you're about 100 yards away from them.

-OK.

-All right?

Liam is worried about his brother Sean,

who's also been separated from his group.

With the tide still against them, they could be in trouble.

-Do you want him bringing over?

-Eh?

-We'll go and find him.

Yeah, tell him we're waiting for him here.

There he is.

Sean has slowed down, but he's OK.

Tell you what, go back over to Liam and we'll just let Liam know

that he's back here, cos he's going to be ages.

He's going to be ten minutes.

In freezing water, exhaustion can set in very quickly.

Swimmer John Thelwell has spent too long waiting for Sean to catch up...

He's coming out.

..and he's had enough.

OK.

That's it, fella.

You all right? Sean is over the other side, OK?

He's at the other side of that ship. We're going to...

We'll get him to the shore.

You need to sit low, mate, cos the wind-chill will get you.

Get the kettle on!

-Tide changed now, yeah?

-Yeah, it's just turned.

-It hasn't yet!

John's body temperature has dropped to dangerous levels,

so the support boat rushes him in.

-Suffering from the effects of cold?

-Yes.

Once ashore, John soon warms up.

I think it's cos we were in the water for so long

and the tide wasn't changing. My legs have, like, seized up.

I just had uncontrollable shivers. I was thinking,

"Oh, I'm in a bad way." I might wear a wet suit next time.

One by one, the exhausted swimmers cross the line.

-You're the first one out.

-Am I?

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-How'd you get on, chief? Did you get stung?

-Yeah, loads.

-I got really badly stung.

-All over my arms and my legs.

You brushed through them like curtains, didn't you?

-I've never had that before.

-17, out.

Just the current, the temperature.

You saw the conditions out there and the rain. And all that just makes...

Makes the swim, doesn't it? But it was brilliant. Brilliant day.

I've just got to warm up now.

Liam's brother Sean is one of the last to be helped onto the slipway.

He's freezing and relieved to be back on dry land.

Everyone's got back safely and they're beginning to warm up.

Tough conditions today with the tide and the water temperature.

One or two issues with guys coming across with jellyfish stings.

A little bit of hypothermia.

Guys having to be pulled out a little bit early.

Two guys off to hospital, just to make sure that they're OK.

But in all, a successful event.

So roll on next year.

They've raised over three grand for charity.

Half of it will go to George Johnson to get the treatment he needs.

Phil Walton swam on his behalf.

He's a real inspiration to me

and he really does lift your spirits every time you meet him.

So just thinking about him going through that, I thought,

"Crikey, there's no chance I can give up now." He's got no chance.

He can't give up on what he's going through,

so why should I give up on an hour-and-a-half swim?

Back on the Cap Diamant, Chris has passed the last of the shallows.

The next job is to navigate safely up a busy river.

Just passing the last shallow, which is New Brighton Shoal,

which is just there, and we're coming to starboard now

to come back into the centre of the river. Starboard 20, please.

-Starboard 20.

-Thank you.

There's a ship just come out of the lock and we're relying on him

executing his turn out of the lock and then clearing that area

completely for us, otherwise we got nowhere to go.

Hi, Gerry. That's the Cap Diamant,

passing east of New Brighton Shoal.

A quick radio call from John Slater

makes sure the two ships pass on the correct side.

There's not a lot of room, but they can just squeeze past.

Steady.

Ahead, it's getting busy, so Chris calls in some extra help.

We need the two tugs that are approaching now.

They're going to make up number two and number three,

in addition to the one we've already got down aft.

And they'll be on the side for us, so that they can help us

get close to the jetty and then when we're in position,

I'll be asking them to push on, or pin the vessel to the jetty,

so we don't move up and down while we get the lines out.

-Dead slow ahead, please.

-Dead slow ahead.

Now we're going to minimum speed.

And we'll just monitor the situation.

However busy, there's always time for a spot of sightseeing.

That's us there. This is 12 Quays with the ferry on.

And down here is the cruise line terminal.

I never tire of going past the city centre,

especially nice and high up like this and you can see

right over everything into the streets. It's great.

This is one of the trickiest parts of the journey.

The ship and its cargo of crude oil must now be slowed down

and edged across the river to her berth.

-Dead slow astern.

-Dead slow astern.

BUTTON CLICKS, BEEPING AND WHINING

VOICES ON RADIO

Millgarth. In with the Millgarth, please. 50%.

Sort of half the tug's now pulling 70% of its power.

-And we're staying on the engine.

-BEEPING

OK, all easy now, thank you. Stop them now.

-Stop the engine now, captain.

-Stop engine.

BEEPING

-Engine stopped.

-Thank you.

Cap Diamant is inching towards the dock.

Chris and the captain go onto the bridge wing

to get a clearer view of the berth.

Yeah, we have to do the last bit really, really gently, because, er,

when we're coming alongside, we're going to be less than 0.2 knots,

cos, if we damaged the jetty,

then it stops the refinery taking any more tankers

and that means they can't produce any fuel,

so the country would be short of 20% of its output.

OK, just easy in, please. Just say 10%, something like that.

-ON RADIO:

-'10%.'

The seas we get alongside, as gentle as it seems,

um, will push the stage gently and then it floats in and out,

so this is where it's critical that,

no matter how much concentration's gone beforehand,

that really peak level of concentration,

just to make sure we finish it off properly and correctly.

Time for the final command to the tugs.

In position, alongside the fenders, just going to move up four metres.

And the Millgrath in, full, as well, please, just on the fenders now.

Another textbook mission.

A bit of practice involved, but, yeah, it went quite well, yeah.

-Everybody's happy.

-RADIO CRACKLES

-The jetty's safe for another day.

-Nice and smooth.

-That's our planning.

-THEY LAUGH

Across Liverpool Bay is New Brighton Beach

and moored just off shore are a dozen wooden sailing boats.

They're called Seabird Half Raters

and the Mersey's been their home for over a century.

OK.

Andrew Reid is among the veteran sailors at Wallasey Yacht Club,

who keep the Seabirds in tiptop condition.

I put this web round the back.

And it can't come off the trailer - that's the main thing.

The boats were originally designed by some members

of the West Lancashire Yacht Club at Southport.

Er, this is one of the original boats. This is number nine,

although it was the eighth boat built.

Because, in those days, they didn't have any threes or 13s, or 33s,

as it was considered to be unlucky.

She was in a pretty bad state when we got her.

Over the years, we've done her up, I've rebuilt her a couple of times,

put all new bits of wood in it and that sort of thing.

Most of the planking's original. Some of the keel is original.

But all the decks are new and, er, she goes very well

and I would say she's pretty successful.

TOOL WHINES

Alan Snowden is renovating another of the boats.

He hopes to get her on the water next season.

If I was paying someone to do this, you're talking about 30,000.

There aren't much of us, but we enjoy it.

By putting in the hours, the boat owners should

keep their Seabirds sailing for another 100 years.

That's been in about three quarters of an hour.

You've gotta be quick before it goes cold.

-Got it.

-Righto.

-CLICK!

-Ooh!

Trying to knock me out!

If you can save a portion of an old boat that's been wrecked,

you can rebuild that boat and carry on with its name and its number.

By rights, I should just set fire to this, but...

I just don't want to do that.

I don't want to be the person that destroyed this boat,

you know, with its character, but it's coming along now.

Next season, it should be... it should be, yeah, in the water.

DRILLING

Just mark it with your pencil for me.

OK, we'll have to take you out to mark it.

HAMMERING

Bit by bit, Alan marks it with a pencil and I'll take a little

bit off here, and a little bit off there, until we get it right, yeah.

We're all in our 70s, so...

We're a good mates and we get on with each other.

-There's the odd argument, Al, isn't there?

-What?

-We have the odd argument...

-Oh, yeah.

-..and a discussion.

It's all sorted out at the tea break, though.

After a winter in the workshop,

the boats are ready to take to the river for the annual regatta.

Seeing the finished boat on the blocks ready to be launched.

The beginning of the season.

Gleaming, spotless, everything that can be done has been done.

How lucky I am to live here.

Smashing place, right in the middle of a river.

Right in the middle of the country.

You can go anywhere from here, can't you? North, south, east.

The Mersey's an old friend to every club member.

It's part of John Clarke's family history.

I've lived here since I was four.

My family's lived here for close on 450 years now.

We're a nation of people that messed around with boats

since the earliest times. The joy of just going out there

and being able to go out and sail is tremendous.

A pleasure.

And also, it gets you away from everyday life.

And you can leave it - when you get on your boat and you go sailing,

you can forget about that.

You go out there and you're with a gang of your mates and you're having

a ball, really enjoying yourselves, but you're using virtually every

muscle in your body - your arms, your stomach, your back, legs -

They still think they're 20.

They may not be, but they still think they are.

It's the excitement and the thrill of it.

It can be fantastic one day

and you can be battling with the weather the next.

Then you come ashore absolutely shattered

-and all you want is a pint!

-HE LAUGHS

A lot of the lads here have spent their lives looking after boats

and just, eventually, they get handed on to someone else

and handed on to someone else and we hope that they'll go on for ever.

It's like a vintage car.

It'll carry on as long as someone looks after it.

Liverpool was the home port

for one of the world's most famous shipping lines - Cunard.

Now the city and its river are to host a huge birthday celebration.

Dancing on water in Liverpool - three Cunard liners will meet on

the River Mersey to mark the 175th anniversary of the shipping line.

More than a million people are expected to line

the banks of the Mersey today to see three Queens dance -

the Queen Mary 2, the Queen Elizabeth

and the Queen Victoria will perform a spectacular river dance here

in salute to the city of Liverpool.

At Liverpool's cruise terminal,

manager Angie Redhead has had a sleepless night.

Right, I need to go and get my radios.

-After four years of planning...

-Oh, look, with the Union Jack!

..Liverpool is staging one of the city's biggest ever maritime events.

'The people of Liverpool turn out to major events.

'They are so supportive. They love them.

'The day of the three Queens -

'that was just sending a message to the world, "Look, we're here." '

Go out, go down and see the Queen Mary 2 off, actually.

'This was the Port of Liverpool.

'We were once the greatest in the world.

'We're showing the world we're still brilliant now.'

-You going down onto the pontoons?

-Yeah.

-See you in a little while.

The celebration has attracted the world's press,

and reporters have asked Angie to explain what's going to happen.

-Are they here?

-Just up there.

My first thoughts, when I got an e-mail that said,

"Can we get three Queens in the river at the same time?"

was just, "We have to say yes!

"This has to happen in Cunard's spiritual home of Liverpool."

The Queen Mary has been alongside overnight.

Now she's casting off to meet her sisters

and Angie's team have planned their own send-off.

Dead exciting, isn't it?

-MUSIC PLAYS

-Ange, get the giant hands!

No expense spared(!)

Arrival hand on!

LAUGHTER

This is no word of a lie - the very reason I bought these hands

is cos I seen the hands out of Queen Mary 2 the last time she came.

The crowds packing the waterfront have a long wait

before the three Queens arrive,

but Angie's masterminded a quayside concert to keep them entertained.

You can't move up there. You can't move.

-It's standing room only already.

-Yes?

-Yeah.

I've never seen anything like it.

We'll get people waving their flags, singing along, feeling proud.

Best of British, all that good stuff!

FANFARE PLAYS

I don't think there's enough of this - flag-waving, civic pride.

BRASS BAND MUSIC: Drunken Sailor

This is what we do, isn't it?

This is, like, what the Brits excel at!

APPLAUSE

-VOICE ON RADIO:

-'Yeah, go ahead.'

'The Cunard will be coming up in the next five minutes.

RADIO COMMS CONTINUE, VOICES FADE

BRASS BAND MUSIC: I Am Sailing

And there's one piece of music that's here by special request.

The first track that was going in this concert was

a military band playing I Am Sailing with nothing else,

-just that...

-SHE IMITATES DRUMMING

It's just a...goose bump moment, goose bump moment.

SONG CONTINUES, SOME PEOPLE SING ALONG

I felt overwhelmed, because that, to me,

when I saw that military band playing, I thought,

"God, now it really is happening! This is really happening!"

When I hear I Am Sailing, those ships are sailing any minute now!

SONG ENDS, APPLAUSE

By now, everyone's trying to get their first glimpse of the Queens -

Mary, Elizabeth and Victoria -

as they make their slow progress up the Mersey.

Commodore Ron Warwick has earned one of the best views in the house.

He served with Cunard for over 30 years,

ending up as Captain of the Queen Mary 2.

A lot of people from Liverpool were brought up in a seafaring community

and they just love ships up here.

You know, I don't think there's anywhere else in the world

where you'll get as many people coming out to look at ships,

as they do here in Liverpool.

This is a sentimental journey for Ron.

His father commanded the Queen Mary's predecessor, the QE2.

Now, that very old building just coming into view now is

where my father was born in 1912. I've got to get a picture of it.

But very sadly, er, he died before he knew I was going to be Captain

of the Queen Mary 2, but I think he would've been very proud

and I'm sure he would've loved to have been here to see

these three magnificent ships.

Oh, my Lord!

Across the river, Angie has rushed down from the concert

just in time to catch the day's big finale.

It's like it's not real!

Oh, my Lord! Jenna, look!

Whoa!

It's like... It's like it's not real.

When you've seen something in your mind so many times,

and you've looked at plans and schematics,

but it's not like seeing this in, er, in real life.

It's just unbelievable! It's so...

-LOUD GUNFIRE

-Ooh! Jesus!

This is the mother of all photo opportunities.

Marine royalty performing a synchronised ballet.

How will I go back to a normal Monday after this?

-It's better than I actually imagined it would be.

-Imagined, yeah.

AIRCRAFT ROAR

Perfect!

Perfect!

I love it when a plan comes together! That was amazing!

-Kate, what do you think? Can you take it in?

-I know.

I can't quite take it in.

It just seems surreal.

I can still get a lump in my throat when I speak about that day.

The river and the people of Liverpool -

they are husband and wife.

And so, really, this was kind of just that perfect combination

of people and the river and ships

and the hundreds and hundreds of years of us being a great port.