0:02:43 > 0:02:47Across stormy seas, halfway between Orkney and Shetland, is Fair Isle.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51But this is an island with a difference.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55This is a bachelor's island, a man's world.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59An island where there are nearly twice as many men as women.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03And nearly all the children are boys.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10Which should make a girl's place something rather special.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12But it's not surprising she's a tomboy.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20By a strange twist of nature,
0:03:20 > 0:03:22there have always been more boy babies than girls.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25And in the school today, there are only two girls.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31Mark you, there are certain disadvantages in not having
0:03:31 > 0:03:35women around. Oh, yes, women certainly have their uses.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38Then, there's breakfast to make.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46And if you're not washing clothes and hanging them out,
0:03:46 > 0:03:48you're doing what comes naturally in these parts.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50You're dipping sheep.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53This is a busy time, and they're all hard at it.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57Farmer Stout, Farmer Stout and Farmer Stout.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Yes, nearly everyone is called, Stout, on this island.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02There are 12 Stout families.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05Many of the first name Jerome, Jerry for short.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08That makes them almost as hard to tell apart as their sheep.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10But they've found a clever way round.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13Each man is called by the name of his farm.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17Busta Jerry, Midway Jerry, Houll Jerry and Leogh Jerry.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22If you happened to have a wife, you would get her knitting.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24The faster, the better!
0:04:24 > 0:04:27Fair Isle's famous for its Gaelic pattern knitting,
0:04:27 > 0:04:31but there are only a dozen women left to carry on the tradition.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Strange to think that this knitting, produced by a few
0:04:33 > 0:04:37women in Fair Isle in the Shetlands, has become known all over the world.
0:04:47 > 0:04:52This may be a man's world, but it's hard to get on without women.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58Only 50 islanders live here now - once there were 300.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02And there's only been one marriage in the last 20 years at the little church.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08But there is new hope for Fair Isle. The National Trust for Scotland
0:05:08 > 0:05:10is doing what it can to encourage settlers
0:05:10 > 0:05:13and is introducing a new industry - hand weaving,
0:05:13 > 0:05:17a craft that will earn the islanders money during the long winter.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22Adam Johnson and his family have come to live in Fair Isle,
0:05:22 > 0:05:24to teach the islanders how to use the loo.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27They like it so much, they decided to settle here.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30The days of decline may be passing.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34It's not hard work all the time, there's often a party or a dance.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41All the island lacks is young people of both sexes, but especially women.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44For Fair Isle wants to become much more of a woman's world.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19If the ordinary housewife forgets something,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22she can usually slip round to the shop on the corner.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24But where Shirley Saunders lives, there's no shop on the corner.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26In fact, there's no shop.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31She has to plan her groceries for a fortnight ahead.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34When she gets back by bus and bike to the coast,
0:06:34 > 0:06:37there's her husband coming to fetch her.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45And he's brought the children too.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57For David and Shirley Saunders and their children, this is their life.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Shared with thousands of sea-birds.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02Skomer has been inhabited for over 2,000 years.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05But today the Saunders are the only humans who live on this rocky
0:07:05 > 0:07:07table-land, 200ft above the sea,
0:07:07 > 0:07:10looking straight out across the Atlantic Ocean.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14Skomer is one of scores of nature reserves around Britain, which have
0:07:14 > 0:07:18been created to preserve the wildlife that's in danger of disappearing.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20But for sanctuaries such as this,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24we might one day face the prospect of a land without bird song.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28Or, at any rate, without the song of many of the birds we know today.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32The Saunders home is on the cliff edge over the landing cove.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35There's a built-in milk supply.
0:07:37 > 0:07:42Time goes slowly enough to allow Shirley Saunders to enjoy her children.
0:07:43 > 0:07:48And there's perhaps the best view in Britain from the kitchen sink.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51David Saunders starts his day early.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54His job is not only to preserve the wildlife on Skomer,
0:07:54 > 0:07:56but to help in the study of birds and animals.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11This Shearwater chick is being ringed,
0:08:11 > 0:08:15so that when it's picked up again, some new knowledge will be gained.
0:08:15 > 0:08:16Shearwaters are great travellers.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20One recently ringed in Britain was later found in Australia.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23Each year, bird lovers, serious students
0:08:23 > 0:08:27and visitors in search of unusual spectacles come to the island.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39They wander along the carefully defined paths to see
0:08:39 > 0:08:41the kind of sight which was once common around the coast,
0:08:41 > 0:08:45but today can be found only in such protected havens as this.
0:08:50 > 0:08:51To the Saunders children,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54the birds have become much more exciting than their own toys.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57In fact, they really do seem to be members of the family.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00And the Puffins are undoubtedly the favourites!
0:09:00 > 0:09:03There are few more fascinating and beautiful parts of Britain
0:09:03 > 0:09:05than Skomer in the summer.
0:09:05 > 0:09:10But with the end of the season, the last of the visitors depart.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13When the days draw in, and the mists come down, life gets lonelier,
0:09:13 > 0:09:15but is still rewarding.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17For the Saunders family
0:09:17 > 0:09:20and all those other wardens of Britain's wildlife sanctuaries,
0:09:20 > 0:09:23there's the knowledge that they're helping to preserve
0:09:23 > 0:09:25a precious part of our national heritage.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48Apart from the Channel Isles,
0:09:48 > 0:09:51only one of the scores of islands around the mainland of Britain
0:09:51 > 0:09:54has its own parliament, its own paper money, its own stamps
0:09:54 > 0:09:57and its own passport. It is the Isle of Man.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02Manxmen with a romantic feeling for their ancient Gaelic tongue
0:10:02 > 0:10:06are giving up their spare time to revive the Manx language.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09Starting with the young.
0:10:09 > 0:10:17SPEAKING MANX GAELIC
0:10:23 > 0:10:27In ways like this, we are teaching the Manx Gaelic language.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29We are bringing it into the classroom.
0:10:29 > 0:10:34We believe that the Manx Gaelic, along with the Manx customs
0:10:34 > 0:10:39and all the Manx heritage, should be taught in the schools of the island.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42Until that day comes, we, in the language movement,
0:10:42 > 0:10:45are doing our best to do it ourselves.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56The first bearded Vikings came here to burn and pillage,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59to carry off loot and Celtic maidens.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02And still they come, but with a difference.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04The age-old invasion is re-enacted every summer
0:11:04 > 0:11:06and a good time seems to be had by all.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22Superstition and mysticism are deep in the island's background.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24Few Manxmen will cross the Fairy Bridge without
0:11:24 > 0:11:27passing the time of day with the little people.
0:11:30 > 0:11:35Many a Manx house keeps the mystical Cuirn Cross, made of mountain ash,
0:11:35 > 0:11:37bound with lamb's wool - traditional protection for the family.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44The Crosh Bollan is made from a bone taken from a local fish.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47It is still carried by many a Manx fisherman.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49According to legend it's a natural compass,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52guiding a boat back to the island if it's lost in fog.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06Nearly everybody who visits the Isle of Man
0:12:06 > 0:12:11makes the Sunday pilgrimage to Kirk Braddan. Here, for 106 years,
0:12:11 > 0:12:17an open-air service has been held every Sunday from Whitsun to mid-September.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20And the Bishop makes his way up the hill to preach to
0:12:20 > 0:12:23one of the biggest open-air congregations in the world.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27As many as 30,000 people pack the green slope
0:12:27 > 0:12:29on a sunny day to listen to him.
0:12:53 > 0:12:54At the Jersey Battle of Flowers,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57thousands of people make prodigious efforts with millions of flowers.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00I don't know how many millions, because nobody's counted them.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03But anyway, millions and millions.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05The flowers have been growing all the year.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07Hundreds of people have worked all night
0:13:07 > 0:13:09and now the floats are ready for the procession.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20No procession is complete without its drum majors -
0:13:20 > 0:13:23only these are majorettes and they've got no drums.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27Frankie Vaughan is spending the day with this year's
0:13:27 > 0:13:31Miss Jersey Battle of Flowers. No great effort in that!
0:13:40 > 0:13:44Very attractive, huh? Isn't it?
0:13:44 > 0:13:46More effort.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49Mm, no effort at all.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52The parish of St Brelade copied in flowers the famous painting
0:13:52 > 0:13:55The Birth Of Venus, and won the Prix d'Exellence.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59The main difference, in the painting, Venus hasn't so many clothes on.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05Another parish, St Clement, named its float, appropriately enough,
0:14:05 > 0:14:07The Bells Of St Clement.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11The Swiss are here too - and making an effort!
0:14:15 > 0:14:18Why do you think they call it The Jersey BATTLE Of Flowers?
0:14:25 > 0:14:27That's it, what everyone's been waiting for.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29Oh, lovely, rip it up to bits, tear it up!
0:14:29 > 0:14:31All those millions of flowers, rub 'em in the mud.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35Go on, trample on them. Thousands of hours of work - a year of planning!
0:14:47 > 0:14:49We tended them all year. We stayed up all night.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52We made a supreme effort to get them ready in time.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54So now we'll pull them all to bits, throw them away,
0:14:54 > 0:14:55hurl them on the ground,
0:14:55 > 0:14:58trample them in and do it all over again next year.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18To trainloads of holidaymakers who've come
0:15:18 > 0:15:22over on the boats from Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight starts at Ryde.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24These new arrivals are some of the 'overners',
0:15:24 > 0:15:28as the Isle of Wight native calls all people from the mainland.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34They come over as day-trippers, they come on a holiday,
0:15:34 > 0:15:36or they come even to retire.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38After 50 years, they'll still be overners
0:15:38 > 0:15:41and they'll still be welcome.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44And after 50 years, they'll still be in love with the island.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46With its holiday carnival weeks,
0:15:46 > 0:15:48that are much the same as they've been for ages.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55It's all a mixture of the very modern and of Victoriana,
0:15:55 > 0:15:59and in the processions it's mostly the slogans that change.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05But behind the carnivals, life moves on.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08The island today is a centre for important light industry.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12Take the hovercraft. In some things, the Isle of Wight moves
0:16:12 > 0:16:14not so much with the times as in front of them.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17The first regular hovercraft passenger run has been
0:16:17 > 0:16:21opened between the mainland and Ryde. One day, it may also carry cars.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23Right now, it carries overners,
0:16:23 > 0:16:26pleased to be pioneer travellers on a new form of transport.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36Oldest and least changed of all the island's industries is farming.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40Albert Flux farms 400 acres, only a few miles from where he was born.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44Flux, Meaux, Squib, Yelf, Buckett, Chiverton -
0:16:44 > 0:16:47these are but some of the old island surnames.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50The names not of the overners who've come over to settle down,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53but of the old farming families who've been there for generations.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Even today, there are nearly 1,000 registered
0:16:56 > 0:16:58holdings on the island.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03The oldest islander of all is Fred Yelf.
0:17:03 > 0:17:08He's 105, born when Queen Victoria was almost young.
0:17:08 > 0:17:09When he was a boy,
0:17:09 > 0:17:12Osborne House was one of the favourite Royal residences.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15The widowed queen spent most of her lonely years there,
0:17:15 > 0:17:18surrounded by mementoes of her prince consort.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20And here she died, leaving history behind her.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23The most distinguished overner of them all.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50In Britain each year, nearly 30 million of us
0:17:50 > 0:17:53take the plunge and rush away from home for our holidays.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57To make a splash at the seaside is what most of us seem to want.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Holiday scenes like these, dreamt or recalled, help to keep us
0:18:04 > 0:18:08going during the 50 long weeks of the year we have to spend at work.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13But come July and August,
0:18:13 > 0:18:15the months that two thirds of holidaymakers prefer,
0:18:15 > 0:18:17we decide that we've had enough,
0:18:17 > 0:18:20pack our bags, leave a note for the milkman and off we go.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33It's a pity that a few other people seem to have had the same
0:18:33 > 0:18:37idea on the same day. But then, we just hate to break with tradition.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43So, we all go down to the sea together.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46We do love to be beside the seaside, especially at the end of July
0:18:46 > 0:18:48and beginning of August.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51Except of course for the one in nine who goes abroad.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54Most of us still try to stroll along the prom with an independent
0:18:54 > 0:18:58air in our own country and pretend the other chap isn't there.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Once installed, you fight your way onto the beach
0:19:01 > 0:19:03for the sight of the sea, or if you're feeling lonely,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06you join the others having a whirl in the funfair.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08Thanks to holidays with pay,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11we've £550 million of spending money.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14And it's spent mainly in two weeks.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23It's a little difficult to find somewhere to park an extra
0:19:23 > 0:19:26deckchair and a bit of elbow room along the front isn't easy to get.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32Late arrivals are unlucky.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35At boarding houses and hotels, the House Full notices go up
0:19:35 > 0:19:37and so do the prices.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41And suddenly, the tide of holidaymakers turns.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43The crowds are gone, the resorts deserted
0:19:43 > 0:19:47and, as quickly as it began, the season's finished.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51To encourage you to come earlier or later in the year, some resorts
0:19:51 > 0:19:54are spreading their attractions over five months instead of two.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57For the short season results in hotels standing half-empty
0:19:57 > 0:19:59for the rest of the year.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04And after the high-tide of employment during the summer peak,
0:20:04 > 0:20:08when everything comes to the boil, work gradually ebbs away.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11During the long winter months there's a shortage of jobs
0:20:11 > 0:20:13for the thousands catering for tourist tastes.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Specialised workers, like these rock makers, squeezing their bundle
0:20:16 > 0:20:19of coloured layers of heated confectionery
0:20:19 > 0:20:23and drawing it out into an endless rope of candy-striped, lettered rock.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26If, like the length of rock, the holiday period could be drawn out and
0:20:26 > 0:20:30extended, seasonal unemployment would be cut, or at any rate shortened.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42But just as the lettering always remains in the core of the rock,
0:20:42 > 0:20:47so August bank holiday remains the date around which most people build their holidays.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50If holidays could be staggered, trains and hotels would be
0:20:50 > 0:20:55in more regular use, and so be less crowded, and they'd be cheaper too.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58For in the rush weeks, you have to pay for the idle months.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03There'd be room to enjoy bathing and the beach.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11All the holiday interests and organisations representing industry,
0:21:11 > 0:21:14commerce and trade unions are in favour of changing
0:21:14 > 0:21:17Britain's holiday pattern, but we still cling to old habits.
0:21:18 > 0:21:19All of us, young and old,
0:21:19 > 0:21:24could once again recapture the sense of space of sands, sea and sky,
0:21:24 > 0:21:28if we were to spread our holidays across the summer months.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31There's obviously room for change. If we really want it.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48Out of the 1,000 swimmers bitten by the Channel bug over
0:21:48 > 0:21:50the last 40 years,
0:21:50 > 0:21:54only one in eight has successfully completed the 21-mile stretch of tidal water.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59The latest craze in Channel swims is by relay teams.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03These ten London schoolgirls, aged from 13 to 17,
0:22:03 > 0:22:06set off by boat to France to swim back to England.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14Swimming in 40-minute stages,
0:22:14 > 0:22:17they completed the crossing in just over 16 hours.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20A party of fruit porters from London's Spitalfields Market
0:22:20 > 0:22:23proved that they could do it too.
0:22:23 > 0:22:24Having finished the swim,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27the porters gave their boat skipper the traditional ducking,
0:22:27 > 0:22:29and then set off for a meal at the Dover Boarding House
0:22:29 > 0:22:32that has become a centre for Channel swimmers.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35It's run by Welsh-born Mrs Garnett-Martin.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39Many swimmers not only stay here but arrange for their boats,
0:22:39 > 0:22:42hold press conferences, get special diets and, most important of all
0:22:42 > 0:22:47during the long waiting period, get encouragement from their landlady.
0:22:48 > 0:22:5115-and-a-half-stone Gregory Schofield, a 20-year-old
0:22:51 > 0:22:54quantity surveyor from Weymouth, has been swimming since he was five,
0:22:54 > 0:22:58but only took up distance swimming a year before this attempt.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04Every two hours, food was passed out to him from his coach,
0:23:04 > 0:23:09a Channel swimmer of 1951. The menu, breast of chicken and coffee.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12And then back to swimming again.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17The crossing took 15 and a half hours with seven hours against the tide.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19This is the toughest time for the swimmer.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22He knows he's making no progress, but he's got to keep going.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25For the last six hours it was too rough to eat.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33And then, there was the shore.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35Only 50 yards to go now.
0:23:35 > 0:23:36The boats had left him,
0:23:36 > 0:23:40so that their crews could be on the beach when he landed.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43When Gregory Schofield started swimming from England,
0:23:43 > 0:23:45he weighed 15 and a half stone.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48When he landed in France, he weighed 14 stone.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51But he had done what he set out to do, to swim the Channel.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53Was he satisfied? No!
0:23:53 > 0:23:56Within a month, he was ready to start on a two-way attempt.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58For that's the fascination of the Channel,
0:23:58 > 0:24:02to swim it faster or more often than it's been done before.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07Helicopters Manston.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11Coastguard Deal here. There's a man trapped by the tide,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14Kingsgate Bay at the foot of the cliff by the Captain Digby.
0:24:14 > 0:24:16- Can you assist us?- We're on our way.
0:24:27 > 0:24:32Every year in Britain, about 640 people lose their lives by drowning.
0:24:32 > 0:24:37And not just at holiday time. These tragedies happen all the year round.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39And most of them need never happen at all.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47Patrols are on duty at 30 or more resorts,
0:24:47 > 0:24:52in Cornwall, Devon, Wales and other areas.
0:24:52 > 0:24:58They've made 416 rescues since 1960 and saved 176 lives last year.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01Voluntary lifeguards of the Royal Life Saving Society,
0:25:01 > 0:25:03of which the Queen is patron,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06also patrol 30 other beaches around Britain's coasts.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09But most resorts are still without them.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12Some local councils seem to think that lifeguards detract
0:25:12 > 0:25:13people from their resorts.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17They overlook the fact lifeguards are there to prevent accidents.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19Even on safe beaches, and the safety record of beaches
0:25:19 > 0:25:22patrolled by lifeguards is impressive,
0:25:22 > 0:25:25there are plenty of volunteers willing to give their services free.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28The rescue equipment costs £60.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31But it's still not provided at many resorts.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49Parents are often as much to blame as the authorities.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51The astonishing thing is that parents should
0:25:51 > 0:25:55leave their children unattended on beaches at all - but they do.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59And 122 of them were drowned on unpatrolled beaches last year.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21Robin Hood's Bay near Whitby, in Yorkshire,
0:26:21 > 0:26:23is famous as a beauty spot and a haunt for painters.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25But the cliffs are crumbling
0:26:25 > 0:26:28and it seems that nothing can be done to save these houses.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32The stones and bricks on the beach below were once homes,
0:26:32 > 0:26:35and soon those that are still standing will join them on the sand.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40It's said that over the coastline as a whole we are gaining as much
0:26:40 > 0:26:43land from the sea as we are losing to it.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47But that isn't much comfort if you live in Robin Hood's Bay!
0:26:47 > 0:26:51If only beaches would stay put, but they are constantly on the move.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53At Rye, they use a very effective method
0:26:53 > 0:26:55of keeping their beach where it's wanted.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58They pick up the shingle from the end of the beach where it's drifted,
0:26:58 > 0:27:02load it into lorries, cart it back to where it started from and dump it.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10The sea soon gets to work on this great pile of shingle
0:27:10 > 0:27:13and starts moving it back along the beach.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16Then the lorries will pick it up and bring it back again,
0:27:16 > 0:27:18and so on and so on, forever.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20This may seem a discouraging job,
0:27:20 > 0:27:24but sometimes it's cheaper and more effective than any other method.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34Precaution should now be taken to prevent damage to your property.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36Please warn your neighbours.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41The sea that surrounds us is constantly attacking our defences
0:27:41 > 0:27:46and even when it appears to sleep, it is just resting, ready to strike!
0:27:46 > 0:27:49But, say the experts, it won't catch us napping again.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd