0:00:06 > 0:00:09It is the sea that defines Britain.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13Throughout our history, it's been our line of defence
0:00:13 > 0:00:16against invasion by enemies abroad.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21In Shakespeare's words, we are "a fortress built by nature",
0:00:21 > 0:00:24and the sea is our defensive moat.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30There's no better way to explore these defences
0:00:30 > 0:00:32than from the sea itself.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36I'm sailing along our southern shore
0:00:36 > 0:00:41to discover how we kept our frontier safe for 1,000 years.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49How we improved on the gift that nature gave us
0:00:49 > 0:00:52to make our country invincible.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57How we built the most powerful warships.
0:01:00 > 0:01:01Let me down about a foot.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07How we designed bastions against our enemy.
0:01:09 > 0:01:14How are artists inspired us and confused our foes.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18And how throughout history
0:01:18 > 0:01:21writers and painters have used stories of the sea
0:01:21 > 0:01:25to strengthen our sense of independence.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31Get back, you bloody fool!
0:01:59 > 0:02:05I'm sailing from Lymington, past the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth
0:02:05 > 0:02:08and then along the Sussex coast past Brighton,
0:02:08 > 0:02:11past Beachy Head, to Kent
0:02:11 > 0:02:15and on to my final destination, the gateway to Britain
0:02:15 > 0:02:17at the white cliffs of Dover.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35We're setting off from the harbour town of Lymington,
0:02:35 > 0:02:37on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42My sailing boat Rocket, my private passion,
0:02:42 > 0:02:44and the crew to sail her.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50John Holden, who looks after the boat and keeps us out of danger
0:02:51 > 0:02:55and his dog Stanley, who goes everywhere with him.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59- What time have we got to be off? - About five minutes ago.- Ach!
0:03:01 > 0:03:05'And for this voyage, we're joined by Emily Caruso.'
0:03:05 > 0:03:08- Hi, Emily.- Hello.- Welcome aboard.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12Emily's a professional sailor who knows these waters well.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18I'm keen to catch the tide, have it running with us, not against us,
0:03:18 > 0:03:22which can halve the time our journey takes.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24- 9:15 we said we'd get away, didn't we?- We ought to, yeah.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26It's 9:30.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34Sadly, there's not a breath of wind this morning,
0:03:34 > 0:03:36so we have to use our engine.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41- Can I get you guys some cake? - That would be good.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44Stanley looks as if he's rather interested in it.
0:03:44 > 0:03:45Stanley...
0:03:54 > 0:03:59Our first port of call is the site of some of Britain's greatest ever shipbuilding,
0:03:59 > 0:04:01the village of Buckler's Hard.
0:04:06 > 0:04:11- So, Emily, I'll come very gently up and you can just leap off.- OK.
0:04:16 > 0:04:17The slipways have long gone
0:04:17 > 0:04:21but the shipbuilders' 18th-century cottages survive.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25Come on, then. Come on. Here.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30This is an idyllic summer scene.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33People picnicking on the lawns,
0:04:33 > 0:04:36this row of cottages, pastoral, quiet.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40250 years ago, this would have been a very different scene
0:04:40 > 0:04:44because Buckler's Hard was one of the great shipyards of England,
0:04:44 > 0:04:47one of the places that built the warships for the Royal Navy.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52Here they built 55 warships.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55There might have been three being built at the same time,
0:04:55 > 0:04:58stretching from where I'm standing right down to the water.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03Great ribs sticking into the sky.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05Carpenters at work.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08The noise would have been fantastic - the sawing of wood,
0:05:08 > 0:05:13ironmongers hammering out nails and metal fittings that were required.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16The whole place a great hive of activity.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23Some of the Navy's best ships were made here
0:05:23 > 0:05:26and many that played a part in the Battle of Trafalgar.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35HMS Agamemnon was described by Nelson as the finest in the service.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49What made Buckler's Hard perfect for shipbuilding
0:05:49 > 0:05:53is that it's right on the edge of the huge expanse of the New Forest
0:05:53 > 0:05:59and thousands of acres of perfect raw material.
0:06:03 > 0:06:09This is the home of the king of trees, the mighty oak,
0:06:09 > 0:06:14a tree whose qualities make it ideal for ships.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Instead of being a straight tree like a pine,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22an oak grows all twisted and gnarled.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24And that's good for a ship
0:06:24 > 0:06:28because what you need is not straight lines of wood,
0:06:28 > 0:06:30you need curved bits of wood.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33For instance, when you're fitting the deck to the side there,
0:06:33 > 0:06:36you need a thing called a knee, which goes down like that.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38Now, in these oaks, you can find knees ready-made.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41You don't have to steam them or bend them or force them.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43You just cut them and put them into the ship.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53The amount of oak needed to build ships like the Agamemnon
0:06:53 > 0:06:56was prodigious -
0:06:56 > 0:07:02up to 2,000 trees, about 40 acres of woodland, for a single ship.
0:07:04 > 0:07:09The oak tree is still celebrated by the Royal Navy even today
0:07:09 > 0:07:13because the oak was, after all, at the very heart of our naval success,
0:07:13 > 0:07:17pieces of oak like this, which used to lie literally at the heart of the ships.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19And the Royal Naval anthem,
0:07:19 > 0:07:22which used to be sung before they went into battle,
0:07:22 > 0:07:26goes, "Heart of oak are our ships, jolly tars are our men.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30"We always are ready, Steady boys, steady.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34"We'll fight and we'll conquer Again and again."
0:07:34 > 0:07:37CHOIR: # Heart of oak are our ships
0:07:37 > 0:07:39# Jolly tars are our men
0:07:39 > 0:07:43# We always are ready
0:07:43 > 0:07:47# Steady, boys, steady
0:07:47 > 0:07:51# We fight and we conquer Again and again! #
0:08:05 > 0:08:07'Part of the romance of sailing is
0:08:07 > 0:08:10'that you feel a bond with the sailors of the past,
0:08:10 > 0:08:15'facing the same problems that seafarers have always faced.'
0:08:15 > 0:08:16Are you all right?
0:08:16 > 0:08:18'Today, it's full moon
0:08:18 > 0:08:22'and that means the highest and fastest tides of the month.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27'The wind is blustery, the ebb tide's against us
0:08:27 > 0:08:30'and so we have to furl our sails, which can be tricky in a seaway.'
0:08:30 > 0:08:33Watch out. Watch that dog!
0:08:34 > 0:08:36OK.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41The entrance to Portsmouth is narrow and always busy.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46Stop filming. I want to get this boat through here.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48Don't fiddle-faddle, please.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51I want to sail the boat. The filming can take second place.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55INDISTINCT VOICE OVER RADIO
0:08:55 > 0:08:58We're just coming into Portsmouth harbour,
0:08:58 > 0:09:00which is an absolute nightmare,
0:09:00 > 0:09:04because we've got a spring tide against us, very strong tide at about three knots or so.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06We've been creeping through this channel.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08Big ships coming in, another big ship coming in there,
0:09:08 > 0:09:12all these boats behind us. We have to keep on this side.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14We have to ask permission to cross over.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16It's quite a tricky little entrance, this,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19and there are moments when the tide is so strong,
0:09:19 > 0:09:21you almost feel you're going backwards,
0:09:21 > 0:09:23just creeping, creeping ahead.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31I want to put in at Portsmouth
0:09:31 > 0:09:35because it's our finest monument to our sailing past,
0:09:35 > 0:09:40the retirement home of many of our greatest men of war.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45QHM, Rocket. We're approaching ballast.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48Request permission to tie up. Over.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50- 'Yes, confirmed.'- Thanks so much. - Thank you.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58The most famous ship here is HMS Victory,
0:09:58 > 0:10:01lovingly preserved in dry dock.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07Victory was Nelson's flagship off Cape Trafalgar
0:10:07 > 0:10:10when we trounced the French in 1805.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14The fame of that battle soon reached Britain
0:10:14 > 0:10:18and painters were keen to record it at the first opportunity.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27After the Battle of Trafalgar, Victory was brought back, badly damaged, to England
0:10:27 > 0:10:30and the first thing that happened was artists came down,
0:10:30 > 0:10:33demanding to be allowed to draw the ship
0:10:33 > 0:10:37so they could be first out with a picture of the battle as they saw it.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40And among those artists was William Turner.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43He came down 1805, 1806
0:10:43 > 0:10:46and did a whole series of sketches of the ship.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56There are little sketchbooks that show detailed drawings he'd done.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02And it emerged in the end as a great picture, a famous picture,
0:11:02 > 0:11:04of the Battle of Trafalgar.
0:11:18 > 0:11:23The painting was commissioned to be a heroic record of Britain's victory.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28But it was controversial because it showed the price of that victory.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34The ship herself is battle-torn,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37the rigging and the sails are in disarray.
0:11:40 > 0:11:46Her crew, dashed by the waves, are clinging to wooden spars
0:11:46 > 0:11:49and even the Union Flag has been brought low.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05One of the surprises of Victory to the modern eye
0:12:05 > 0:12:08is her lavish interior decoration
0:12:08 > 0:12:11and the luxury in which her officers lived.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18The Admiral's Cabin on Victory, Nelson's cabin -
0:12:18 > 0:12:22elegant, painted pale green, which was an admiral's colour.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25But it all comes apart when you're going into battle.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28The panelling comes off here, for instance -
0:12:28 > 0:12:32just taken away and revealing the timbers of the ship,
0:12:32 > 0:12:35partly to lighten the weight of the stern
0:12:35 > 0:12:38but also here's a gun port with a bolt and a ring
0:12:38 > 0:12:41and this all pushes back and a gun can be wheeled in.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46This is a strange thing. This is a sort of megaphone,
0:12:46 > 0:12:49which I think Nelson wouldn't have used onboard
0:12:49 > 0:12:52but it's said he did used to bellow out at ships behind
0:12:52 > 0:12:53to get back.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56Get back, you bloody fool!
0:12:58 > 0:13:01Because he led the line into battle, which wasn't usual.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03The Admiral's ship was usually in the centre.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06And this is authentic.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Nelson's table, with a few instruments out.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12But this is the table at which he used to write.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Nelson's night cabin wasn't exactly a place of luxury.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18There was a wash stand
0:13:18 > 0:13:21and this is a replica of one he had specially made
0:13:21 > 0:13:24from another ship of the line, HMS Foudroyant.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28Cannon, because, of course, this was still a fighting ship.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31So he had to sleep between two cannons.
0:13:32 > 0:13:37Then his bed. There are two beds, one quite a nice solid wooden bed
0:13:37 > 0:13:40that he'd have used when conditions were calm.
0:13:40 > 0:13:41But this is the cot,
0:13:41 > 0:13:46famously embroidered by his long-time lover,
0:13:46 > 0:13:48the notorious Emma Hamilton.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52The idea of this being that when the ship is leaning
0:13:52 > 0:13:55one way or the other, like that,
0:13:55 > 0:13:59you can still stay asleep because the bed, like a hammock, moves.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06That's one deck and then another one.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15That's better. Then this one.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23So this is the lower gun deck.
0:14:23 > 0:14:28This is where the heaviest guns are, ranged all the way up.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32Fire buckets beside them. Horns for the gunpowder.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37These huge tools to clean the barrels.
0:14:37 > 0:14:43On this side, great pumps to take the water out of the bilges.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49Vast arrays of cannon balls.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52- HE STRAINS - No, I think they're stuck in.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58You lived here, too. This would all be hung with hammocks.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00450 people in this space.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03So it's quite low, quite dark,
0:15:03 > 0:15:07but the interesting thing is, at the Battle of Trafalgar, for instance,
0:15:07 > 0:15:11of the 150 people who were killed, only two were killed on this deck.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14It was actually the safest place to be on the ship.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18Because low down on the waterline was not where the main battle took place.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21The main battle took place higher up,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24trying to capture the ship, rather than sink it.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32By contrast, Nelson, as Admiral of the Fleet,
0:15:32 > 0:15:34was on the upper deck,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37an easy target for a French sniper.
0:15:47 > 0:15:53It's difficult to exaggerate the impact of his death on the country.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56Here was a man who was a brilliant sailor,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59who'd delivered the freedom of the seas to Britain
0:15:59 > 0:16:01and died at the moment of his victory.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09That people mourned him is to understate it.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12Thousands lined the streets of London when he went to his burial.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16They spoke of Nelson as though he was almost immortal,
0:16:16 > 0:16:18almost a saint.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43The bows of Victory, the front of the ship,
0:16:43 > 0:16:48are missing one of the key symbols of dominance and aggression
0:16:48 > 0:16:52that was carried by all warships at the time - the figurehead.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59Victory's original figurehead has rotted away
0:16:59 > 0:17:03but a unique record of what it was like survives...
0:17:05 > 0:17:07in miniature.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13This is a model of Victory's figurehead.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18The real thing was 24-foot high. This is under a foot high.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23This is a really intricate work of art,
0:17:23 > 0:17:27full of very fine, delicate carving
0:17:27 > 0:17:31and each part sending a different message.
0:17:33 > 0:17:38At the head, the jowly figure of George III, the king,
0:17:38 > 0:17:41triumphant in majesty,
0:17:41 > 0:17:46Britain demonstrating that it is victorious over all the countries of the world.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49Beneath him, there's a shield with the Union Flag,
0:17:49 > 0:17:54the four winds, all smiling and blowing in Britain's favour.
0:17:55 > 0:18:01Just on the edge here, the British lion, standing on the defeated enemies -
0:18:01 > 0:18:07the figure of Europe and here, of America, borne by Native Americans.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12So the whole figurehead designed to give
0:18:12 > 0:18:17the feeling of power, of conquest, of success,
0:18:17 > 0:18:19of victory,
0:18:19 > 0:18:23and meant to inspire the people who sailed on this ship.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41Today, figurehead carving is almost a lost art,
0:18:41 > 0:18:43but one man keeps the tradition alive.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49Andy Peters makes figureheads from scratch
0:18:49 > 0:18:51and he restores them.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55This one dates back more than a century and a half.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01It's supposed to be a representation of Pocahontas,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04- American Indian...- Princess. - ..Princess, yeah.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06It's stupendous, this figure.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08- Can I touch it?- Yes, yes.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11Is this...? Is this...? This looks like plaster. Is it?
0:19:11 > 0:19:13- No, that's wood.- It's all wood?- Yeah.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17Extraordinary how smooth this is.
0:19:17 > 0:19:22And the paint is not sort of plaster and paint together? It's just ordinary paint?
0:19:22 > 0:19:23It's just paint onto the wood
0:19:23 > 0:19:27and the smoothness is achieved purely by hand tools.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30Can we have a look at this? This is one in construction?
0:19:30 > 0:19:33- Yeah, this is made in the same way. - And who is it of?
0:19:33 > 0:19:37It's going to be a figure of Neptune
0:19:37 > 0:19:40based on a figure that's in a museum in Toulon.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42So this is a scaled-down version.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45- Now, this isn't one piece of wood, is it?- No.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48It's made up from planks of wood. You can see the joins in them here.
0:19:48 > 0:19:53And how do you get a smooth finish, as if it were, almost, plaster?
0:19:53 > 0:19:58Well, once you get it to a certain stage
0:19:58 > 0:20:04like that, you can then turn to just using finishing hand tools.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07You'd need to be very patient to do this.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10Yeah, a figure like this will probably take about a month,
0:20:10 > 0:20:12from start to finish.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17So at its peak, what proportion of the cost of a ship
0:20:17 > 0:20:21went on decoration and figureheads?
0:20:21 > 0:20:27Erm, the painting, gilding, carving could be sort 20% of the cost of the ship.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29- Really?- Yes, yes.- 20%!- Yes, yeah.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33- That's extraordinary.- Yeah.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37Why did the tradition of figureheads suddenly stop?
0:20:37 > 0:20:42Well, coming to the sort of mid-1700s, late 1700s,
0:20:42 > 0:20:46science was coming into the design of ships
0:20:46 > 0:20:49and they wanted to be faster, to carry bigger guns
0:20:49 > 0:20:53and the practicality of large carvings was
0:20:53 > 0:20:55just not the important thing any more.
0:21:02 > 0:21:07By the 1830s, a new industrial age of steam power was taking over.
0:21:09 > 0:21:14The age that had belonged to Victory now belonged to Warrior.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22Built in 1860, it was Britain's new terror of the seas.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26OK, if I can get you to just slip this harness on.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34- This is loose. Very loose. - Yeah, yeah. There we go.
0:21:34 > 0:21:35Ow!
0:21:35 > 0:21:37I've never had much of a head for heights
0:21:37 > 0:21:40but I wanted to see Warrior close up
0:21:40 > 0:21:42to see the work her welders had done.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44- Whoo! - LAUGHTER
0:21:46 > 0:21:48If you... If we just ease you out...
0:21:48 > 0:21:52- Lower away a little bit, Bob. - Right, down we go.- Whoops...
0:21:52 > 0:21:54From a distance, the hull may look the same
0:21:54 > 0:21:56as every wooden ship before it.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58Lower away, Bob.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04Close up, there's no mistaking a whole new world of engineering.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08Let me down a foot so I can put a foot here and I'll stop swinging.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11- Down about a foot. - There are kind of steps here.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15- I think this'll do. - Yeah? Are you happy with that?- OK.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18Well, this is the way to see this ship.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20Over 400 feet long,
0:22:20 > 0:22:25the first all-iron battleship delivered to the Royal Navy.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27She was launched in 1860.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30It's lovely seeing this from close to
0:22:30 > 0:22:32because you get the feel of this.
0:22:32 > 0:22:38It's not smooth - rather rumpled, dimpled cast iron.
0:22:38 > 0:22:43It was all done at the Thames ironworks on the north bank of the River Thames
0:22:43 > 0:22:45by West Ham.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49West Ham the football team is known as the Hammers
0:22:49 > 0:22:52because of the noise from these great steam hammers
0:22:52 > 0:22:55pounding the side, night after night.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58Three masts, all with sails,
0:22:58 > 0:23:04as well as 1,250 horse power steam engines to drive her.
0:23:04 > 0:23:0840 guns in all, just on one deck.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12Dickens said that these gun ports were as terrible a row of incisor teeth
0:23:12 > 0:23:15as ever bit a French frigate.
0:23:15 > 0:23:20It was because Britain was so far ahead in the industrial revolution
0:23:20 > 0:23:22that building a ship like this was possible.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26We had the technology, we had the know-how to do it,
0:23:26 > 0:23:28which nobody else really did.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32And that's why she was, for a time, the supreme ship of the seas
0:23:32 > 0:23:38and a supreme demonstration of Britain's industrial might.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02Warrior was meant to be the ultimate deterrent,
0:24:02 > 0:24:04but no sooner was she launched than the government embarked
0:24:04 > 0:24:06on another plan to defend Britain.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08They didn't think the Navy was enough.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11There'd been a great row between the government and the Navy.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13The Navy said, "We can handle it."
0:24:13 > 0:24:15The government said, "What if you're defeated at sea?
0:24:15 > 0:24:19"What if there's a storm? We must do better if we're to be absolutely certain."
0:24:19 > 0:24:24And so they set about building a chain of forts around every harbour in Britain
0:24:24 > 0:24:27at huge cost - in modern money, £1 billion.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31And we're heading for one of these forts - Spitbank, just off Portsmouth.
0:24:40 > 0:24:46This gloomy grey stump is a giant circular gun platform.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52Building it was a supreme test of 19th century engineering.
0:24:52 > 0:24:57It was constructed to withstand attack and invasion.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59Oi!
0:24:59 > 0:25:02But also the relentless battering of the seas.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04There's a lot of movement here.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08- Good afternoon.- Ow!
0:25:14 > 0:25:17Today, Spitbank serves a new purpose.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20It's the ultimate island retreat,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23a luxury hotel set in the middle of the sea.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31There were gun emplacements right round the fort.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33This is one of them.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Hooks in the ceiling to hold all the equipment,
0:25:36 > 0:25:40to lift the gun, shell-loaded.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44A track round here so the gun could get its arc of fire,
0:25:44 > 0:25:46moving this way and that.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50And there were guns right the way round the fort,
0:25:50 > 0:25:53these ones facing towards Portsmouth in case the French broke through
0:25:53 > 0:25:57and they still had a chance to fire on them.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00The main guns, out that way, the big guns, looking out to sea.
0:26:01 > 0:26:06It's a typical Victorian building. Beautiful brickwork.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10Look at these bricks. Each one cut slightly differently
0:26:10 > 0:26:14to make the curve of the arch.
0:26:14 > 0:26:15Very fastidious.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36Spitbank remained an active part of Britain's coastal defences
0:26:36 > 0:26:39until the end of the Second World War.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52Next morning, a short distance across the bay,
0:26:52 > 0:26:56but 500 years back in history,
0:26:56 > 0:27:00to see a much earlier but even more impressive example
0:27:00 > 0:27:03of coastal defence.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13Southsea Castle squats here on the coast,
0:27:13 > 0:27:18protecting the eastern entrance to Portsmouth Harbour.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22Built by Henry VIII, it looks like a modern nuclear bunker.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29It's constructed in a complex geometrical form
0:27:29 > 0:27:31to give its gun emplacements protection
0:27:31 > 0:27:35while allowing them to fire from every angle.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44The design is radical.
0:27:44 > 0:27:49They were called Henrician castles after the King.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55Britain's obsession with having a strong navy
0:27:55 > 0:27:57goes back hundreds of years
0:27:57 > 0:28:03to an event which created more enemies for us than we'd ever had before in our history.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07It was Henry VIII's decision to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon,
0:28:07 > 0:28:11and then to split from the Roman Catholic church.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15And as a result, the whole of continental Europe, led by the Pope,
0:28:15 > 0:28:16was against us.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20Henry VIII had to build castles like this at Southsea
0:28:20 > 0:28:22and all the way along the coast, east and west,
0:28:22 > 0:28:26to protect us from a possible threat of invasion.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34In 1545, just a few months after completion,
0:28:34 > 0:28:39Southsea found itself on the front line.
0:28:39 > 0:28:44These tranquil waters of the Solent were the scene
0:28:44 > 0:28:46of an attempted invasion by the French.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55This picture, a copy - the original was lost in a fire -
0:28:55 > 0:29:01shows what happened 450 years ago, right here in front of me.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08So here is the English coastline...
0:29:09 > 0:29:12with Southsea Castle, armed with cannons.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15And there is Henry VIII on his horse,
0:29:15 > 0:29:20two years before his death, already a great, fat figure.
0:29:20 > 0:29:24And the town of Portsmouth, which is right round the corner there.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26This is where the French were trying to get,
0:29:26 > 0:29:29to unload their troops.
0:29:29 > 0:29:31Now, this is the French fleet.
0:29:31 > 0:29:36230 ships, 30,000 troops.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39The French decide the best thing to do to start with
0:29:39 > 0:29:42is to send their galleys in towards the English fleet
0:29:42 > 0:29:46and open fire - poof, poof, poof, poof.
0:29:46 > 0:29:48And the British respond. Boom!
0:29:48 > 0:29:50And it's pretty inconclusive.
0:29:50 > 0:29:55We only had 60 ships and 12,000 men here to defend.
0:29:55 > 0:29:57There were two great ships in the fleet.
0:29:57 > 0:30:03One, Henry VIII's flagship, the Great Harry - Henry Grace a Dieu.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06And the other, the Mary Rose.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08There is the Great Harry, there.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11Where is the Mary Rose?
0:30:11 > 0:30:16She came round here, fired a broadside at the French,
0:30:16 > 0:30:19capsized and sank.
0:30:20 > 0:30:25And all that's left in this picture is the tip of two masts,
0:30:25 > 0:30:26with a man on top of one
0:30:26 > 0:30:30and one or two people swimming and being rescued by boats.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35The Mary Rose sank just out there.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38Only 35 of her 500 crew survived.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42One of the quirks of this painting is
0:30:42 > 0:30:45that Henry VIII seems completely impassive.
0:30:45 > 0:30:47He's even got his back turned to the Mary Rose
0:30:47 > 0:30:50and I think that's just the way the painter did it.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54I'm sure in reality there was serious shock and horror
0:30:54 > 0:30:56because they could see it all happening.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58The Mary Rose was out there
0:30:58 > 0:31:00and they could see this great ship that he loved so much
0:31:00 > 0:31:04disappearing from sight before his very eyes.
0:31:14 > 0:31:1730 years ago in a breath-taking display of skill,
0:31:17 > 0:31:21the Mary Rose was raised from the mud of the Solent.
0:31:23 > 0:31:2620,000 objects were retrieved,
0:31:26 > 0:31:30a unique insight into Tudor life at sea.
0:31:33 > 0:31:35So this is a cast-iron shot.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39Archaeologist Alex Hildred was part of the salvage operation.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42So we had about 200, 250 of those.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45- It weighs how many pounds? - This weighs just under 5lbs.
0:31:45 > 0:31:51- And with this monogram or letter on it.- Yeah. That's H for Henry.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54Some of the other objects we've got have got an HI,
0:31:54 > 0:31:56which is Henricus Invictissimus in Latin
0:31:56 > 0:31:59and translated, that's, "Henry the most invincible".
0:31:59 > 0:32:01So every time you loaded a gun,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04- you knew on whose behalf you were firing it?- Absolutely.
0:32:04 > 0:32:06Because I think a lot of it is power and glory
0:32:06 > 0:32:10and that's why some of guns are so beautifully embellished with his name
0:32:10 > 0:32:13and King of Ireland and all the various attributes
0:32:13 > 0:32:16that he bestowed upon himself or had bestowed by other people.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18What kind of damage could it do?
0:32:18 > 0:32:22I mean... What would it do? Go through the side of ship?
0:32:22 > 0:32:24When we've done trials of ones slightly bigger,
0:32:24 > 0:32:28we actually punched a hole straight through the side of a ship
0:32:28 > 0:32:30that was built on the same size as the Mary Rose
0:32:30 > 0:32:33and it went straight through at a fair distance, so they pack a punch.
0:32:33 > 0:32:35And if you have a lot of small guns -
0:32:35 > 0:32:39you can pepper the side of a ship more quickly than you can if you have bigger balls -
0:32:39 > 0:32:42you're actually making more small holes, if you like.
0:32:48 > 0:32:53I want to get some idea of the size and effect of Henry's fire power.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58We're hauling an exact replica of one of his cannon
0:32:58 > 0:32:59onto the battlements.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01OK. Forward together.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06Watch your toes.
0:33:09 > 0:33:10It's filled with gunpowder,
0:33:10 > 0:33:14though not, of course, with one of his monogrammed cannon balls,
0:33:14 > 0:33:15and set ready to fire.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17- There's a lot going in.- Yes.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22I'm expecting a few seconds delay when I light the powder.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24I think that's OK.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28But not at all. One touch with the linstock is enough.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31Fire!
0:33:33 > 0:33:35It's quite a good bang!
0:33:38 > 0:33:40Sorry. It's all right. It's just a gun.
0:33:42 > 0:33:47Guns and coastal defences kept us safe for 1,000 years
0:33:47 > 0:33:51but before that, with no navy to protect us,
0:33:51 > 0:33:55we could be easy prey.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01We're sailing to the oldest port in Sussex,
0:34:01 > 0:34:04a landing place which has been attacked
0:34:04 > 0:34:06since the dawn of our recorded history.
0:34:06 > 0:34:11With the wind behind us, I'm holding out the foresail to catch the breeze.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13How far do you think we'll get on today, David?
0:34:13 > 0:34:16The way you're sailing her, no distance at all.
0:34:16 > 0:34:17LAUGHTER
0:34:18 > 0:34:21Our destination is a few miles into Chichester Harbour,
0:34:21 > 0:34:26one of the most beautiful expanses of water along the south coast.
0:34:34 > 0:34:38This is a fine place to sail but the channel is shallow.
0:34:38 > 0:34:43We've gone about as far as we can without going aground.
0:34:43 > 0:34:46- Are you OK, there?- Yeah. - It's time to drop anchor.
0:34:49 > 0:34:51OK. Let me go.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01I'm rowing into this very pretty little village of Bosham
0:35:01 > 0:35:03on the edge of Chichester Harbour,
0:35:03 > 0:35:06rowing because Rocket can't get up here - it's too shallow.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09We're going to see it because it's been at the heart
0:35:09 > 0:35:12of all the big invasions of England, one way or another.
0:35:12 > 0:35:16The Vikings came here, the Romans were here, of course.
0:35:17 > 0:35:21And Harold, the man who lost the Battle of Hastings,
0:35:21 > 0:35:25that led to the invasion of England by William of Normandy,
0:35:25 > 0:35:28he actually lived here at Bosham.
0:35:33 > 0:35:35The Romans were the first invaders to spot
0:35:35 > 0:35:38the strategic importance of Bosham.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41They turned it into a busy port.
0:35:42 > 0:35:47But after the Romans had gone, Bosham was again vulnerable.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53We know for certain that the Vikings came here,
0:35:53 > 0:35:59marauding hordes, because this sea and the open arms of this coast
0:35:59 > 0:36:01almost would have welcomed the invader.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04It's said that once they attacked the old church here
0:36:04 > 0:36:06and stole the two church bells
0:36:06 > 0:36:08and then they were seen off
0:36:08 > 0:36:11and set off down the harbour in a boat with the bells,
0:36:11 > 0:36:15the boat capsized, the bells fell to the bottom of the sea
0:36:15 > 0:36:17and according to the people of Bosham,
0:36:17 > 0:36:19if you listen very carefully at certain states of tide
0:36:19 > 0:36:21you can still hear the bells ringing,
0:36:21 > 0:36:23which I rather doubt.
0:36:26 > 0:36:30Today, the church prefers to celebrate the local link with King Harold,
0:36:30 > 0:36:36and through him, one of the greatest works of art of the 11th century.
0:36:51 > 0:36:55King Harold had a manor here and he came to Bosham
0:36:55 > 0:36:58and this is a scene taken from the Bayeux Tapestry,
0:36:58 > 0:37:00just an excerpt of it.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03His courtiers on their way, coming to the church.
0:37:03 > 0:37:07The tapestry explains the story not just in pictures but in words.
0:37:07 > 0:37:14At the top here, Harold and his soldiers ride "ad Bosham", to Bosham,
0:37:14 > 0:37:15to the church.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22The prayers of Harold were to no avail.
0:37:22 > 0:37:26When he and William of Normandy met on the battlefield at Hastings
0:37:26 > 0:37:29on 14th October 1066,
0:37:29 > 0:37:32the French forces were victorious.
0:37:37 > 0:37:41Harold was defeated and William crowned King of England.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49It's said that Harold, after he'd been killed at Hastings,
0:37:49 > 0:37:53the arrow through the eye, was brought here to Bosham church
0:37:53 > 0:37:56to be buried by his wife because this was his manor.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00So that's Bosham at the heart of three great invasions -
0:38:00 > 0:38:03the Romans, the Vikings and the Norman Conquest.
0:38:16 > 0:38:20From Bosham we're sailing east towards the fortress of Dover
0:38:20 > 0:38:25but not before pausing at the seaside town of Brighton.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38I've never seen Brighton from the sea before.
0:38:38 > 0:38:43It's quite spectacular. Just long rows of very expensive flats
0:38:43 > 0:38:45looking out over the sea.
0:38:45 > 0:38:47And Brighton Pier.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55Despite its image as a fashionable seaside resort,
0:38:55 > 0:38:58Brighton remembers a darker time
0:38:58 > 0:39:02when this coast lived in fear of a French invasion
0:39:02 > 0:39:04at the beginning of the 19th century.
0:39:10 > 0:39:14A collection of pottery here celebrates our defender -
0:39:14 > 0:39:17the British sailor.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32At the time these pots were made,
0:39:32 > 0:39:35the sea was really important to Britain. Everything depended on it.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38The food came that way and it defended us and the Channel was important.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41So the sailor was a kind of hero.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45Dressed in his dark blue, navy blue, which is where the word came from,
0:39:45 > 0:39:47cheap blue dye.
0:39:47 > 0:39:49And this is a particularly lovely couple.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52Here is the sailor saying goodbye.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55He's got his little bag with his possessions in.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59And here he is, with her looking a good deal happier,
0:39:59 > 0:40:03with his arm around her, back from sea
0:40:03 > 0:40:05with a box of dollars at the bottom.
0:40:05 > 0:40:10Of course, there's always the old assumption that a sailor has a wife in every port
0:40:10 > 0:40:12and that's illustrated on this one.
0:40:12 > 0:40:14It's a rather dapper sailor
0:40:14 > 0:40:17in striped trousers and a waistcoat on shore leave
0:40:17 > 0:40:20and a girl with a bonnet on
0:40:20 > 0:40:23and they're setting off, having a high old time,
0:40:23 > 0:40:26and at the bottom it says, "A sailor's life's a pleasant life
0:40:26 > 0:40:28"He freely roams from shore to shore.
0:40:28 > 0:40:30"In every port he finds a wife -
0:40:30 > 0:40:33"What can a sailor wish for more?"
0:40:33 > 0:40:36But the pottery was also used for political purposes
0:40:36 > 0:40:41and round about 1803, when we made war against Napoleon,
0:40:41 > 0:40:47there were a number of pots made that are serious propaganda,
0:40:47 > 0:40:49angry propaganda.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52This is a lovely one. A Cock And Bull Story.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56And on the left it has the cockerel, the symbol of France,
0:40:56 > 0:40:58with Napoleon's head on it,
0:40:58 > 0:41:03and on the right, John Bull representing Britain.
0:41:03 > 0:41:07And the French cockerel is saying, "Cock-a-doodle-do, I'll soon come over to you.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10"I'll fight true game and crow my fame
0:41:10 > 0:41:13"And make you all look blue."
0:41:13 > 0:41:16And the bull is replying,
0:41:16 > 0:41:18"You impertinent cock, I'll have you to know
0:41:18 > 0:41:21"on this side the brook you never shall crow."
0:41:23 > 0:41:28This monumental object displays a special contempt for Napoleon.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31It is a giant chamber pot
0:41:31 > 0:41:36and inside, a bust of Napoleon
0:41:36 > 0:41:39with the words "Pereat" - "May he perish".
0:41:39 > 0:41:43And its purpose is obvious.
0:41:43 > 0:41:45I won't demonstrate it.
0:41:50 > 0:41:55So there was a lot of propaganda because there was a terrific fervour at the time.
0:41:55 > 0:41:57People were really scared there would be an invasion
0:41:57 > 0:41:59and this pottery was very popular
0:41:59 > 0:42:01because it just said what people felt.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03"Napoleon, bugger off."
0:42:13 > 0:42:17The threat of a Napoleonic invasion frightened people
0:42:17 > 0:42:20all along this south coast in the early 1800s.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25And it was a terror that returned in 1914.
0:42:30 > 0:42:34Early in the First World War, German submarines mounted
0:42:34 > 0:42:39a campaign against merchant shipping bringing vital supplies to Britain.
0:42:42 > 0:42:46There was a real danger Germany would starve Britain into submission.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51No boat was spared.
0:42:53 > 0:42:58Then the strangest of plans was hatched to defeat the U-boat.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05This is an extraordinary painting
0:43:05 > 0:43:07by an artist called Edward Wadsworth.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10It shows a ship in dry dock
0:43:10 > 0:43:14apparently being painted by a gang of men
0:43:14 > 0:43:18in the most astonishing abstract, almost surreal shapes.
0:43:18 > 0:43:23Stripes, black, white, grey.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26All haphazard, higgledy-piggledy.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30It looks like some sort of crazy Cubist invention but it's not.
0:43:30 > 0:43:35It's reality. This is how merchant ships were being painted
0:43:35 > 0:43:36during the First World War.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39And the pictures of the ships are just astonishing,
0:43:39 > 0:43:42this one with great black stripes at the stern
0:43:42 > 0:43:44and a zigzag at the bow.
0:43:44 > 0:43:51Here's another one with diagonal stripes down and up on each side.
0:43:51 > 0:43:54They're all black and white all over.
0:43:54 > 0:43:55The idea was this.
0:43:55 > 0:43:58If you could break up the silhouette of a ship
0:43:58 > 0:44:00by having it black, white, black, white, black, white,
0:44:00 > 0:44:03so you couldn't actually tell what you were looking at,
0:44:03 > 0:44:06then you wouldn't be able to focus on that ship from the submarine
0:44:06 > 0:44:09and fire a torpedo accurately.
0:44:09 > 0:44:11Edward Wadsworth was one of a group of artists
0:44:11 > 0:44:15who worked to create shapes and patterns for ships
0:44:15 > 0:44:18that would deceive submarines.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21And this one, looking as though it's got teeth -
0:44:21 > 0:44:24great flares.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26It became known as dazzle painting, this.
0:44:27 > 0:44:31By the time the Second World War came, of course, it was all over
0:44:31 > 0:44:33because radar had been invented
0:44:33 > 0:44:36and with radar you could see where the ship was,
0:44:36 > 0:44:37which way it was going
0:44:37 > 0:44:40and you could aim your torpedo accurately.
0:44:46 > 0:44:51During the Second World War, this length of coast came under sustained attack.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55and nowhere was more at risk than our next port of call.
0:45:02 > 0:45:05- Looks nice and sheltered in there. - Yeah, it is.
0:45:05 > 0:45:07Yeah, it looks good, doesn't it?
0:45:10 > 0:45:13I'm going to come down towards the right-hand breakwater.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16When we're past the lighthouse, I'll turn up into the wind.
0:45:21 > 0:45:26Newhaven is the only deep-water port between Portsmouth and Dover.
0:45:27 > 0:45:31You can get in here at any state of the tide.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34It would have been a valuable prize for invading Germans.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38- John?- That's fine. - Can you tie her up?- Yeah.
0:45:38 > 0:45:40I'm going to go and say hello.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43- How are you?- Hello.- Nice to see you. Thanks very much.
0:45:43 > 0:45:45Thank you very much indeed. That's very kind of you.
0:45:45 > 0:45:47Thanks. Hello.
0:45:47 > 0:45:52Newhaven is a very special place, with an atmosphere all of its own.
0:45:52 > 0:45:57In the 1930s, two young English painters, later to become famous,
0:45:57 > 0:45:59visited here -
0:45:59 > 0:46:01Eric Ravilious and Edward Bawden.
0:46:01 > 0:46:04And this is the pub where they stayed.
0:46:09 > 0:46:14- Hi, there.- Hi.- Sussex Best. That would be great.- Certainly.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23Edward Bawden was captivated by Newhaven.
0:46:23 > 0:46:25His pictures show him excited by the ships
0:46:25 > 0:46:28down the jetty in the harbour, there.
0:46:30 > 0:46:34This harbour and then the downs behind on either side.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43The day that Ravilious arrived there was a storm blowing.
0:46:43 > 0:46:47He went out to the end of the jetty and said it was like being in a painting by Turner,
0:46:47 > 0:46:51all just shapeless - shapelessness and great waves.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54Anyway, his paintings are rather different.
0:46:54 > 0:46:56They're sort of settled, quiet, calm.
0:46:56 > 0:47:03Newhaven in the pre-war years - peaceful, quiet.
0:47:05 > 0:47:11Interestingly, Ravilious, with no people, not even an animal.
0:47:30 > 0:47:35When war came, Ravilious and Bawden were appointed official war artists
0:47:35 > 0:47:37to paint the war, the battle scenes.
0:47:37 > 0:47:40Bawden was sent to France and ended up in Dunkirk.
0:47:40 > 0:47:43Ravilious came back here to Newhaven.
0:47:43 > 0:47:46"Newhaven as good as ever," he said, "but much changed."
0:47:46 > 0:47:48And his painting was much changed.
0:47:48 > 0:47:53What he was painting was the defence of this part of the coast of England.
0:47:57 > 0:48:01Gone are the tranquil scenes of summer.
0:48:01 > 0:48:05Now the seaside is all barbed wire and gun emplacements.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13This is the English coast as the front line of defence,
0:48:13 > 0:48:17caught up in all the paraphernalia of modern warfare.
0:48:23 > 0:48:28And across the Channel, Bawden was observing the retreat to Dunkirk
0:48:28 > 0:48:31in the face of the advancing German army.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34It's where boats like Rocket would have gone in 1940,
0:48:34 > 0:48:40small ships to help rescue trapped Allied soldiers from the beaches.
0:48:42 > 0:48:45Bawden's pictures capture the reality
0:48:45 > 0:48:48of what it was like to be at Dunkirk.
0:48:51 > 0:48:55His pictures have a sort of menace -
0:48:55 > 0:48:58dark clouds and flashes of light
0:48:58 > 0:49:05where people are milling about waiting to be taken off the beach.
0:49:05 > 0:49:07People going down into air-raid shelters
0:49:07 > 0:49:10to escape from the bombs.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14People having a cup of tea or a cup of coffee while they waited.
0:49:14 > 0:49:18Very quick sketches, quite unlike his normal way of painting
0:49:18 > 0:49:22but giving a rather vivid picture of what is was like to be on those beaches,
0:49:22 > 0:49:25something that the grand scene, the big photographs,
0:49:25 > 0:49:30indeed, the movies that are made, don't really quite get across.
0:49:35 > 0:49:39Everyone who sails these seas now in peacetime
0:49:39 > 0:49:42is in debt to that earlier generation,
0:49:42 > 0:49:45who volunteered their ships to the Dunkirk rescue.
0:49:55 > 0:50:00Along the coast, one of those famous little ships is being restored.
0:50:00 > 0:50:02The tug Challenge,
0:50:02 > 0:50:07saved from the scrap yard as a reminder of the heroism of 1940.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10How long is it all going to take? When will you be finished?
0:50:10 > 0:50:13Well, I hope to be finished by the summer.
0:50:13 > 0:50:15- Really?- Yes - next summer.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18Mick Wenban's father, also called Mick,
0:50:18 > 0:50:22was one of the volunteers who answered the urgent call
0:50:22 > 0:50:24to sail to Dunkirk.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31This is the day they returned from Dunkirk.
0:50:31 > 0:50:36And the gentleman at the front is Taff Weekes, the fireman,
0:50:36 > 0:50:39and he was the one that told me about Dad saving those people.
0:50:39 > 0:50:43- Which is your dad?- That's the one - the man with the trilby.- Yeah?
0:50:43 > 0:50:44MICK LAUGHS
0:50:44 > 0:50:47Do you have any memories of what your father did?
0:50:47 > 0:50:49Did he leave any record of all this?
0:50:49 > 0:50:54Well, Dad didn't tell me everything but when I came afloat on the tugs,
0:50:54 > 0:50:56I sailed with people that were with my father
0:50:56 > 0:51:00and, dare I say it, I think he was quite brave, actually.
0:51:00 > 0:51:07Because at one stage while they were assisting a ship, it got blown up.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10And obviously there were lots of people in the water.
0:51:10 > 0:51:13And apparently without thinking, Dad just dived over the side
0:51:13 > 0:51:17and saved about a dozen soldiers and brought them back onto the ship.
0:51:17 > 0:51:21The unfortunate part was it was through thick oil,
0:51:21 > 0:51:23so consequently he lost all his hair
0:51:23 > 0:51:25and it affected his eyesight somewhat.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28But apart from that, they came through unscathed
0:51:28 > 0:51:33and just thought it was part of their... You know, doing their bit for King and country.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36Did he have time to tell the family he was off and what he was doing?
0:51:36 > 0:51:38Well, he couldn't get a message to my mother
0:51:38 > 0:51:41because she was a staff nurse at Gravesend Hospital
0:51:41 > 0:51:43and she was on duty.
0:51:43 > 0:51:47So he shot off but when he got to Dover the next day,
0:51:47 > 0:51:50he managed to write a little letter
0:51:50 > 0:51:54and got someone to post it to my mum, which I've still got.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56- What, you've got the letter? - I have the letter here.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59- What does it say? Read it. - It says, "To my darling wife.
0:51:59 > 0:52:04"We are soon putting out for a little job.
0:52:04 > 0:52:09"which, to put it mildly, could be rather dangerous."
0:52:09 > 0:52:12And the bit that I thought was quite sweet at the back, it said,
0:52:12 > 0:52:14"If things go wrong, don't worry about the boat
0:52:14 > 0:52:18"because I have asked Dad to sell it to give you some money
0:52:18 > 0:52:20"if I don't come back."
0:52:20 > 0:52:23And it's signed, "With lots of love, Mick," and lots of crosses.
0:52:33 > 0:52:35- Is our Stanley all right? - He's good, yeah.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38- Is he asleep? - He's having a little dream.
0:52:46 > 0:52:51On our way east, we pass one of the south coast's most dramatic sights,
0:52:51 > 0:52:54the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head,
0:52:54 > 0:52:58where the gleaming white chalk of the Sussex Downs swoops
0:52:58 > 0:53:00seven times towards the sea.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13It's not that easy, drawing at sea with a bit of a swell
0:53:13 > 0:53:16but until 70 years ago or so,
0:53:16 > 0:53:20all naval officers were taught to draw
0:53:20 > 0:53:23and there was a very practical reason for it.
0:53:23 > 0:53:26The Admiralty realised way back, 200 years ago,
0:53:26 > 0:53:29the danger of being at sea is not being out there
0:53:29 > 0:53:31but being here, by the shore.
0:53:31 > 0:53:33That's where you get into trouble
0:53:33 > 0:53:36and so these very meticulous drawings were done
0:53:36 > 0:53:38and the one I'm drawing, Beachy Head -
0:53:38 > 0:53:42I'm doing a very rough sketch of, like that -
0:53:42 > 0:53:46is actually in this book as a drawing.
0:53:46 > 0:53:48The Channel Pilot, Volume 1.
0:53:48 > 0:53:54And it's showing Beachy Head and it's dated 1896.
0:53:54 > 0:53:58That's a drawing from 1896.
0:53:58 > 0:54:00And some of these drawings are very beautiful.
0:54:00 > 0:54:04They've been coloured in and they're works of art in their own right.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10They were all part of a great collection
0:54:10 > 0:54:13of the seas not just around Britain but all over the world,
0:54:13 > 0:54:17so that gradually, a record was built up.
0:54:26 > 0:54:27There's my drawing.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30I wouldn't recommend you try and navigate by it.
0:54:40 > 0:54:46The last stage of our journey is along the rather bleak coast towards Dover,
0:54:46 > 0:54:50bleak because there are no natural harbours along the way to seek shelter.
0:54:50 > 0:54:56Our destination is the so-called key to England.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00Capture that key and England is yours.
0:55:05 > 0:55:07I'll get tied on now, Emily.
0:55:10 > 0:55:14- I'll check it.- Are you all right, there, John?- Good, yeah.
0:55:15 > 0:55:19- Thank you, Emily. - It's been a fantastic trip. - And a history lesson.- Yeah!
0:55:19 > 0:55:21Come on!
0:55:29 > 0:55:33The austere outline of Dover Castle stands guard
0:55:33 > 0:55:36over the narrowest point of the English Channel,
0:55:36 > 0:55:40where Britain is closest to mainland Europe.
0:55:43 > 0:55:46The castle carries the marks of our history
0:55:46 > 0:55:50over all the centuries we've travelled on this journey.
0:55:54 > 0:55:57There were fortifications here when the Romans invaded
0:55:57 > 0:56:02and they built a lighthouse which could be seen from France.
0:56:02 > 0:56:06It was a favourite fortification of William the Conqueror.
0:56:06 > 0:56:09It's huge - the biggest castle in Britain
0:56:09 > 0:56:11and much of it hidden from view.
0:56:18 > 0:56:20There are nearly four miles of tunnels here -
0:56:20 > 0:56:23extraordinary enterprise - under the cliffs, under the castle.
0:56:23 > 0:56:27We're about 25 metres under the chalk here
0:56:27 > 0:56:31and these tunnels were built at the time of the Napoleonic wars
0:56:31 > 0:56:33to house soldiers,
0:56:33 > 0:56:37so the garrison could be safe and protected under here.
0:56:44 > 0:56:48Dover Castle saw active service in World War Two.
0:56:48 > 0:56:54It was in these underground rooms that the emergency evacuation from Dunkirk was conceived
0:56:54 > 0:56:56and executed.
0:57:11 > 0:57:15This journey's taken us along Britain's southern shore,
0:57:15 > 0:57:18this frontier between us and the outside world.
0:57:18 > 0:57:25The seas of the English Channel which have created this island
0:57:25 > 0:57:27and in a sense defined it.
0:57:27 > 0:57:29We've always had these fixed frontiers,
0:57:29 > 0:57:31whereas on continental Europe,
0:57:31 > 0:57:34distinctions have always been blurred.
0:57:34 > 0:57:41Here, provided by nature, we've had a clear-cut space
0:57:41 > 0:57:43that belongs to us
0:57:43 > 0:57:45and it is perhaps that that's given us
0:57:45 > 0:57:48some of our defining national characteristics,
0:57:48 > 0:57:52in particular, a sort of truculent defence
0:57:52 > 0:57:54of our independence.
0:58:18 > 0:58:20On our next journey,
0:58:20 > 0:58:24Rocket heads for the wild and romantic west coast of Scotland,
0:58:24 > 0:58:28to some of the most beautiful scenery
0:58:28 > 0:58:31our island nation has to offer.
0:58:33 > 0:58:38But this has been a working part of Britain's coast for centuries.
0:58:39 > 0:58:43Trade, which brought prosperity.
0:58:43 > 0:58:45Fishing, which still thrives today.
0:58:46 > 0:58:49And shipbuilding, where it all began.
0:58:53 > 0:58:55Goodbye!
0:58:55 > 0:58:57Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd