0:00:02 > 0:00:04This programme contains some scenes that some viewers may find upsetting.
0:00:04 > 0:00:08We've now travelled the length and breadth of the UK
0:00:08 > 0:00:11on our voyage of discovery.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15We've visited our southern, western and northern shores
0:00:15 > 0:00:19looking at how the coast has shaped us as a nation.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23Now, for the first time, we're heading down the east coast.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27We're beginning at the north-eastern corner of the British mainland,
0:00:27 > 0:00:32the famous Scottish landmark of John O'Groats.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36Many years ago, I cycled here all the way from Land's End.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39If you're thinking of doing the same thing yourself,
0:00:39 > 0:00:44the last stretch along the north-east coast of Scotland has a sting in the tail.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48It's a killer, yet my bike ride was nothing compared to the extraordinary lengths
0:00:48 > 0:00:51that the people who live on this coast have gone to
0:00:51 > 0:00:53just to make a living.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57It's that industry and ingenuity that I'll be exploring
0:00:57 > 0:01:00in the company of our team of experts.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03Neil Oliver gets a taste of life at sea
0:01:03 > 0:01:07during one of the most troubled times in the fishing industry's history.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11Alice Roberts meets Britain's last whalers.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14Miranda Krestovnikoff has a front-row seat
0:01:14 > 0:01:18as our most northerly dolphins do a spot of salmon fishing.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21Mark Horton uncovers the origins of an invention
0:01:21 > 0:01:24that helped turn the tide of the Second World War.
0:01:24 > 0:01:29And I'll be investigating the future of North Sea oil.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36This is the story of Coast.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03On this leg of the journey,
0:02:03 > 0:02:05we'll be travelling over 500 miles,
0:02:05 > 0:02:10right down to North Queensferry in the Firth of Forth.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17Fishing has been the mainstay of communities on the east coast
0:02:17 > 0:02:20for centuries.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24In the 1800s, there were over 100 fishing ports along here.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27Today, there are still 50 working harbours.
0:02:27 > 0:02:32But because there's little protection from the wilds of the North Sea,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35it's very difficult to land boats.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37But up here in the north-east,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40they've always been an enterprising lot.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49The Whaligoe Steps zigzag their way up the sheer cliff face.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51This gigantic staircase
0:02:51 > 0:02:53was built for carrying fish from the harbour below.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00They're a monumental testament to the people who lived here.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02There were fish out there
0:03:02 > 0:03:06and they were going to land them, whatever it took.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11There were steps here as early as the 1600s,
0:03:11 > 0:03:16but the 365-step sweep that we see today was completed in 1792.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27Whaligoe was mainly used to land herring.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30At its peak in 1855,
0:03:30 > 0:03:35there were 35 boats operating out of this tiny port.
0:03:35 > 0:03:40We look at this place today and it's dramatic, it's scenic,
0:03:40 > 0:03:45but in those days it would have been horribly intimidating.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48It's a very narrow, rocky entrance.
0:03:48 > 0:03:55You're in a boat loaded with fish and you misjudge your approach... You'll be smashed to smithereens.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02Despite the dangers,
0:04:02 > 0:04:06in the 1860s, Whaligoe harbour was thriving.
0:04:06 > 0:04:12The North Sea teemed with the affectionately-known "silver darlings".
0:04:12 > 0:04:17They landed over 2,000 barrels of herring a year at Whaligoe
0:04:17 > 0:04:25and the whole catch had to be laboriously carried, basket-by-basket, up the cliff.
0:04:28 > 0:04:33It wasn't the fishermen who did the carrying, it was the women.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40The women were the backbone of the industry,
0:04:40 > 0:04:44mending the nets and gutting up to 60 fish a minute.
0:04:44 > 0:04:50To stop the men getting wet and catching hypothermia, they'd carry them out to the boats.
0:04:50 > 0:04:55You only have to climb these steps to get a feel
0:04:55 > 0:05:02for how hard life must have been for those women carrying baskets of fish up the cliff...
0:05:02 > 0:05:08..often in the winter, when the steps would have been slippery with rain and the air freezing cold.
0:05:08 > 0:05:15Looked at from the comfort of the 21st century, their lives look unimaginably tough.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19Today's east-coasters aren't scared of hard work either.
0:05:19 > 0:05:25There are salmon fishermen along here who still embrace traditional methods,
0:05:25 > 0:05:28hauling in nets by hand.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31But they've got competition -
0:05:31 > 0:05:38the UK's most northerly population of dolphins, who are also partial to this prized fish.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42Miranda Krestovnikoff is at the Moray Firth with the salmon hunters.
0:05:47 > 0:05:52This great expanse of water is a truly extraordinary place
0:05:52 > 0:05:56that really comes alive during the summer months.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59Bottlenose dolphins and fishermen
0:05:59 > 0:06:02await the salmon returning to breed.
0:06:09 > 0:06:15Seven generations of Sandy Patience's family have fished this area.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23- Come this way a wee bit.- OK. - There you go.- All right.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Is it hanging at the back? No, clear! >
0:06:26 > 0:06:27Right-o!
0:06:27 > 0:06:31Watching you guys work like this,
0:06:31 > 0:06:36- is like watching fishing from a bygone era.- It is indeed.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40This is what they did in Biblical times.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42The net goes around in a semicircle
0:06:42 > 0:06:47and the rope is fed out and comes back to the beach.
0:06:47 > 0:06:54The net is pulled at all times. The whole operation maybe takes about 20 minutes.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57It's really full-on work.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01- It looks very tiring. - It's very hard work.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05You can start off, like myself, weighing 13 stone
0:07:05 > 0:07:09and by the end of the season you're down to 11 stone.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12You don't need any exercise bike!
0:07:14 > 0:07:18Sandy catches an average of only 50 fish a week,
0:07:18 > 0:07:23but a single dolphin can eat up to 10 salmon per day.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28I've caught the odd glimpse or two of dolphins this morning while I've been fishing here with Sandy.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33But this isn't the best place to see them. Just over there is a little spit of land.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37That's the best place to watch dolphins from the shore in the whole of Britain.
0:07:37 > 0:07:44The dolphins congregate here at Channonry Point because it's the perfect place to catch dinner.
0:07:44 > 0:07:49It's one of the most dangerous parts of the salmon's journey back to their spawning rivers.
0:07:49 > 0:07:55As they swim past, the tide pushes them against the shore.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59It offers rich pickings for the dolphins and means we get to see them in action.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08I've met up with dolphin expert Helen Bailey.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11- Look! There's a dolphin!- Fantastic.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16- They're a long way away but you can really see what they're doing.- Yes.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19That's terrific, though.
0:08:19 > 0:08:26All that energy and excitement... Even from this distance you can gauge just how big they are.
0:08:26 > 0:08:31I never get over how huge these bottlenose dolphins are.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33They are really big.
0:08:33 > 0:08:39The dolphins here can be up to four metres long. It makes sense in this area -
0:08:39 > 0:08:43we've got cold water. They need a big body,
0:08:43 > 0:08:45small fins, thick blubber layer...
0:08:45 > 0:08:51- They're designed to generate heat, minimise loss...- Changed direction!
0:08:51 > 0:08:53They're coming towards us!
0:08:55 > 0:08:57That's fantastic.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02I've heard that dolphins can eat 10% of their bodyweight a day.
0:09:02 > 0:09:08- If you've got a 300-kilo dolphin, that's 30 kilos of fish!- Yes.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13- They'll be spending a lot of their time trying to feed.- Superb!
0:09:20 > 0:09:26- I've never seen that before.- The salmon are very large, fast fish.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30It could be that during the pursuit, the dolphins just break the surface.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33- We see the fish being thrown.- Oh!
0:09:33 > 0:09:36- Those two there...- Fantastic!
0:09:38 > 0:09:43Once they've had a good feed, the dolphins just seem to have fun,
0:09:43 > 0:09:48playing with each other and reinforcing their social bonds.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56This really is the ultimate hotspot in the UK
0:09:56 > 0:09:59to see one of nature's great floor shows.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07From Channonry Point, we wind our way along the Moray coast.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28This is the mouth of the Spey,
0:10:28 > 0:10:33one of Scotland's great rivers. It's best known for salmon fishing
0:10:33 > 0:10:36and is the magic ingredient in some fine whiskies.
0:10:36 > 0:10:42But this peaceful river was once a hive of industry.
0:10:42 > 0:10:48The Spey was a logging river, similar to the ones in the Canadian Rockies.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52The trees were felled in forests and mountains way inland
0:10:52 > 0:10:58and then the logs were floated downstream to be used in the shipbuilding industry.
0:10:58 > 0:11:03That bank of the river was once lined with shipyards.
0:11:09 > 0:11:16Between 1785 and 1890, over 500 beautifully-crafted ships were built on the Spey's banks.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20The best known were the tea clippers,
0:11:20 > 0:11:25built along this stretch of coast in ports like Kingston and Aberdeen.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34The pride of the east coast
0:11:34 > 0:11:38was the Thermopylae, once the fastest ship in the world.
0:11:38 > 0:11:43In 1872, she took on the Cutty Sark, raced her from Shanghai to London
0:11:43 > 0:11:47and beat her by an impressive margin of seven days.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52Steam and steel killed off the wooden ship.
0:11:52 > 0:11:57It's a story we've seen all the way round the UK coast -
0:11:57 > 0:12:04historic industries succumbing to modern technology. But there are a couple of pockets of resistance.
0:12:15 > 0:12:20The port of MacDuff is home to the last boatyard in the UK
0:12:20 > 0:12:24that can build commercial wooden ships.
0:12:24 > 0:12:2890% of their work is for the fishing industry.
0:12:28 > 0:12:34Although there's been a big shift over to steel, wooden boats remain popular.
0:12:43 > 0:12:48You've got quite a few wooden boats standing around being worked on.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51- Yes.- That's a wooden one?
0:12:51 > 0:12:54- That's right.- And that one there?
0:12:54 > 0:12:58Everything on the slip is wooden.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02- That's interesting, not a single steel boat here at all?- No.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06John Watt is managing director of the shipyard.
0:13:07 > 0:13:12Why would somebody choose a wooden boat over a steel one?
0:13:12 > 0:13:17It's tradition. Some skippers have always had wooden boats...
0:13:17 > 0:13:23Their family's always had wooden boats. It's a nice material...
0:13:23 > 0:13:25It doesn't rust.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30The wooden boats we build are very strong. They last a long time.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34Can you still get shipbuilders who can work in wood?
0:13:34 > 0:13:36That's a bit difficult,
0:13:36 > 0:13:39getting experienced people.
0:13:39 > 0:13:46There's a serious skill shortage throughout the country. We take on six to eight apprentices each year.
0:13:46 > 0:13:54We've currently got 20 apprentices going through the company. Six are being trained on timber boats.
0:13:54 > 0:14:00- You train young Scots to build boats?- They don't have to be Scots!
0:14:03 > 0:14:08We've now reached the heart of Scotland's biggest fishing region.
0:14:08 > 0:14:14Scotland is still one of the largest fishing nations in Europe.
0:14:14 > 0:14:19The fleet lands two thirds of the total UK volume of fish.
0:14:20 > 0:14:27But quotas imposed by Europe cutting the amount of fish they're allowed to catch
0:14:27 > 0:14:34have made recent years some of the most turbulent the industry has ever faced.
0:14:37 > 0:14:42Neil Oliver has gone to see how one particular community is coping.
0:14:43 > 0:14:49Fishing's been the main way of life in Fraserburgh for over 200 years.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54Today, out of a population of 13,000,
0:14:54 > 0:14:58over half work in fishing-related jobs.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00In recent years,
0:15:00 > 0:15:05the Fraserburgh fleet's been cut in half and the white-fish fleet
0:15:05 > 0:15:11has borne the brunt of it. It's all been done in the name of conserving fish stocks,
0:15:11 > 0:15:16and decommissioning boats has been the Government's solution.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20Sandy West and his two sons used to own a fishing trawler.
0:15:20 > 0:15:26- But the boat was decommissioned - scrapped - 18 months ago. ..Show me what's gone on.- OK.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31In October 2003, the family made their last trip with the boat...
0:15:31 > 0:15:34to a scrap yard in Denmark.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37It's not so much the end of a dream,
0:15:37 > 0:15:40it's the end of a part of my life.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45The end of a big part of my life.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55I'll just have to get over it.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06It was so final at the time, to see the ship go.
0:16:11 > 0:16:17More than so, because that ship was actually built for the future of my two sons.
0:16:24 > 0:16:3249 white-fish boats have been destroyed in Fraserburgh over the last four years.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34Today, there are only 10 left.
0:16:35 > 0:16:42Decommissioning started because cod and haddock stocks were at dangerously low levels.
0:16:42 > 0:16:49The European Union imposed quotas, but they were driving fishermen to the verge of bankruptcy.
0:16:49 > 0:16:55Many skippers felt they had no choice but to take up the Government's offer of compensation
0:16:55 > 0:16:58to scrap their boats.
0:17:00 > 0:17:06What do you think now, nearly two years down the line, about the decommissioning?
0:17:06 > 0:17:09It's been bad for the town.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13The white-fish fleet is gone from this town.
0:17:13 > 0:17:18On the other hand, the sea is starting to replenish itself.
0:17:18 > 0:17:24What's going to happen when they need a fleet to catch these fish?
0:17:24 > 0:17:31The biggest fear here is if foreign fleets come into our waters and catch these fish.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35- There'll be an abundance of stocks. - How does that make you feel?
0:17:37 > 0:17:41It makes you feel gutted, doesn't it? Really.
0:17:43 > 0:17:49Sandy had little compensation money left after he paid off the costs of the boat.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53He now works as a hired skipper in Ireland.
0:17:53 > 0:17:59After the boat was decommissioned, Sandy's son Zander spent a year in the oil industry,
0:17:59 > 0:18:04but now he's back - working as a deck hand on a prawn boat.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08- Is this you back on the boats? - Unfortunately, aye.
0:18:15 > 0:18:20I just wanted to turn my back to fishing, get into something else.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24But the pull was too strong. I think it's in the blood.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27I've got it in my blood, unfortunately.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29I just had to come back.
0:18:33 > 0:18:38I'm joining Zander to try and understand what lured him back.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48HE WHISTLES
0:18:48 > 0:18:50LOUD ENGINE NOISE
0:18:50 > 0:18:52- TANNOY:- 'How are you doing, boys?
0:18:52 > 0:18:54'OK, now!'
0:18:54 > 0:18:56Wakey-wakey, Neil. Time to go!
0:18:59 > 0:19:03That was dreadful! I don't mind telling you!
0:19:03 > 0:19:08This constant noise - it's like being in a tumble dryer!
0:19:08 > 0:19:10And it smells real bad!
0:19:23 > 0:19:26The working routine involves shooting and hauling the nets,
0:19:26 > 0:19:31sorting out the catch and grabbing a couple of hours' sleep before it's time to start again.
0:19:31 > 0:19:36These guys can be working 20 out of every 24 hours.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50So is this just a typical morning, then?
0:19:50 > 0:19:54This is how it starts, this is how it ends...
0:19:56 > 0:20:01I know you've seen all this a thousand times before but it's exciting for somebody like me.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11There are now 70 prawn boats working out of Fraserburgh.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14Quotas on prawns are more generous
0:20:14 > 0:20:17so white-fish boats that could convert moved over.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22It's become the biggest shellfish port in Europe.
0:20:27 > 0:20:32But for Zander, who'd been training to be a skipper on his dad's boat the Steadfast,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35it's not the future he had planned.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39- What are you doing there, exactly? - Just sorting 'em out, really.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42Keeping the bigger ones in one basket
0:20:42 > 0:20:45and the slightly smaller size in another basket.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49Can you imagine standing here, three, four hours a day doing this?
0:20:50 > 0:20:55You couldnae exactly turn round and get a job in here, could you?!
0:20:55 > 0:20:59When I was on the Steadfast I swore I'd never go aboard a prawn boat.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03I left the Steadfast, and the wife said, "What you gonna dae?"
0:21:03 > 0:21:07I said, "I'm nae caring as long as it's nae on a prawn boat.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10"There's no way you'll ever get me on a prawn boat."
0:21:10 > 0:21:13A year later - on a prawn boat.
0:21:13 > 0:21:18What was it about the Steadfast that made the difference?
0:21:19 > 0:21:21I think the simple bit of it is
0:21:21 > 0:21:26there's a big difference between chasing a cod and chasing a prawn.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28Chasing cod and fish,
0:21:28 > 0:21:32er, I think it's just mair exciting.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34Was it more like hunting?
0:21:34 > 0:21:37Yeah, yeah.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42The EU accept they should have tackled over-fishing earlier.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46When they eventually did, the measures they took were extreme.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50But many Scottish fishermen feel they've been hit harder than others.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53While their boats were decommissioned,
0:21:53 > 0:21:57Irish and Spanish fishermen got grants to build new ones.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00For Zander, the loss of the family boat has been devastating.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04It's really hard to explain how you feel when your life's taken off you,
0:22:04 > 0:22:07cos that's what it is.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12The Steadfast was a boat, but it was also something that had been in my family for years,
0:22:12 > 0:22:14put food on the table for years,
0:22:14 > 0:22:17so it wasnae just a job.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20And all of a sudden that's taken off you.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24Where do you go from here? How do I support my family?
0:22:24 > 0:22:29Why take somebody with ambition and knock it oot of them?
0:22:32 > 0:22:35It's clear that both the fishing industry
0:22:35 > 0:22:38and the fish stocks are fragile.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40There's a delicate balance to be struck
0:22:40 > 0:22:43to ensure we don't lose either one.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47As the scientists and politicians fight it out,
0:22:47 > 0:22:50the fishing families of Fraserburgh pay the price.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57From here it's south all the way
0:22:57 > 0:23:01as we turn the corner at Fraserburgh.
0:23:01 > 0:23:06Luckily for all of us, the North Sea has provided more than just fish.
0:23:06 > 0:23:11Beneath the waves lurks another bonanza,
0:23:11 > 0:23:16one that has transformed not just the economic fortunes of this area,
0:23:16 > 0:23:18but the whole UK.
0:23:19 > 0:23:24This beautiful beach at Cruden Bay is concealing a surprise.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26Rushing beneath my feet
0:23:26 > 0:23:31at a rate of 2½ million gallons a day is oil.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36The oil from nearly 50 platforms, sited up to 200 miles offshore,
0:23:36 > 0:23:39is passing through a single umbilical cord right here
0:23:39 > 0:23:42known as the Forties Pipeline.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46The oil industry has had a profound effect on this stretch of coastline,
0:23:46 > 0:23:48and on the UK as a whole.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53But what does the future hold for North Sea oil?
0:23:55 > 0:24:00The Forties Pipeline system took 20,000 people three years to construct.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03Built in the early 1970s,
0:24:03 > 0:24:05it was a massive undertaking
0:24:05 > 0:24:09in the same era and on the same scale as the space race.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17Today, it carries nearly half our entire oil supply
0:24:17 > 0:24:22direct from beneath one of the harshest sea environments in the world.
0:24:24 > 0:24:29But incredibly, the discovery of North Sea oil nearly didn't happen.
0:24:29 > 0:24:34It was a find of natural gas off the coast of The Netherlands
0:24:34 > 0:24:36that triggered a gigantic gamble.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41Companies staked tens of millions of pounds on a hunch
0:24:41 > 0:24:45that the Scottish waters might be hiding the far bigger prize of oil.
0:24:47 > 0:24:52One of those early oil prospectors was Rob Lingard.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56From the late 1960s, he worked as a drilling deck hand
0:24:56 > 0:24:59on board BP's Sea Quest exploration rig.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02Great pleasure to meet you. I like the hat!
0:25:02 > 0:25:04- Shall we go aboard?- Yep.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09- Is that an authentic oilman's hat from your travels?- It is.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12I've had this 30-odd years. A long, long while.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18- Did you see yourselves as explorers? - Very much so,
0:25:18 > 0:25:22because we used to try all this new equipment, and smash no end of gear.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25But it was pioneering days, you know,
0:25:25 > 0:25:29and the things we used to do then you'd never get away with nowadays.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33Was it all just a big adventure or did you think, "We're really making history here!"?
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Well, to me it was a big adventure at the time.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42BP had been searching beneath the sea bed for five years,
0:25:42 > 0:25:44but had found nothing.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49Their exploration licence was about to run out,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51and the company's future was in jeopardy.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58By the 11th October, 1970,
0:25:58 > 0:26:01it was reaching make-or-break time.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05I was working on a rig floor, and lo and behold,
0:26:05 > 0:26:08there was oil floating about on top of the wood.
0:26:08 > 0:26:13First thought - rotary table leaking cos we'd had trouble with it earlier.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16- You thought the oil had come from faulty machinery?- We did, yes.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21We stopped, and thought, "Oh, go down and get a sample."
0:26:21 > 0:26:27Get the geologist out of bed, drill a little bit more, geologist going mental.
0:26:27 > 0:26:33- Everybody's on the telex machine, coded messages.- Why coded messages?
0:26:33 > 0:26:38We don't want the world to know what's happening out there, there's a big investment.
0:26:38 > 0:26:43We knew we'd got oil, but we didn't realise at the time how big it was.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46In actual fact, you were sitting on top of the Forties field
0:26:46 > 0:26:49- and had changed economic history for Britain.- Certainly Aberdeen.
0:26:49 > 0:26:56If I'd known then what I know now, I'd have gone home, remortgaged my house and bought a few shares!
0:26:56 > 0:26:58It didn't just change the economy,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01it changed the whole way the coast behaved.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05- Jobs, the local economy...- You've just got to look at Invergordon
0:27:05 > 0:27:10where we are today. There was nothing here except bird-spotting at one time.
0:27:19 > 0:27:24Forties was the first giant oil field to be discovered in UK waters.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28Soon, other big fields came on stream.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31Piper, Brent, Ninian -
0:27:32 > 0:27:36North Sea oil had truly taken off.
0:27:37 > 0:27:42The provincial fishing port of Aberdeen became the Dallas of the north -
0:27:42 > 0:27:44Europe's oil capital.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57The oil and the revenues - £200 billion to date -
0:27:57 > 0:28:00have flowed ever since.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07But for the first time since the discovery of the big oil fields,
0:28:07 > 0:28:11UK oil production has begun to decline.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14Britain will soon be a net importer of oil.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17The problem is not that there isn't any left,
0:28:17 > 0:28:21but that what remains is becoming increasingly difficult to extract.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24I'm on my way to one of the New Age oil platforms.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27With the end of North Sea gas and oil in sight
0:28:27 > 0:28:32companies are having to find cleverer ways of exploiting what's left.
0:28:33 > 0:28:39The Elgin/Franklin platform, 150 miles out to sea,
0:28:39 > 0:28:42is at the cutting edge of extracting oil
0:28:42 > 0:28:45that would have been inaccessible 30 years ago.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49They're tapping the deepest reserves anywhere in the North Sea.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56'David Atkins is manager of the Elgin/Franklin platform.'
0:28:56 > 0:29:00How does Elgin differ from the fields found in the early days?
0:29:00 > 0:29:04The main difference right now for Elgin
0:29:04 > 0:29:09is that we're drilling a lot deeper than we did, and a lot further.
0:29:09 > 0:29:13Here we've got a rig which has come up against the platform
0:29:13 > 0:29:14to drill a new well for us,
0:29:14 > 0:29:19- and this well is over 5,000 metres deep.- That's about three miles!
0:29:19 > 0:29:24It's over three miles deep. We're drilling down, and then we fan out.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27Techniques have moved on in 30 years.
0:29:27 > 0:29:32It's called directional drilling, and we can drill in practically any direction we want to go.
0:29:32 > 0:29:37We can do loops or spirals. It's amazing what the drillers can do.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41Originally, 20 years ago, we only expected to produce
0:29:41 > 0:29:4520%, 30%, maximum 40% of the oil in the reservoir.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49That means 60% of the oil is still left there in the ground.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52What we're trying to do is work out techniques
0:29:52 > 0:29:54to get that extra oil out.
0:29:54 > 0:29:58Getting 1 or 2% oil from one of the large fields today
0:29:58 > 0:30:02is the equivalent of a new find, a new discovery in the North Sea.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08We're just going to go across to the wellhead platform.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11This is where the wells are drilled from.
0:30:11 > 0:30:15It feels rather as if we're walking through an underground tunnel
0:30:15 > 0:30:17on the London Underground network
0:30:17 > 0:30:20rather than balanced 100 feet above the open sea.
0:30:20 > 0:30:24New techniques mean that they can carry on pumping oil
0:30:24 > 0:30:28out of the North Sea for at least another 30 years.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32But the boom time has passed, and ultimately the reserves will run out.
0:30:32 > 0:30:37Are there elements of this huge oil industry
0:30:37 > 0:30:42out here in the North Sea that can somehow be recycled
0:30:42 > 0:30:44as other forms of energy generation?
0:30:44 > 0:30:48Aberdeen is a centre of excellence in the oil industry worldwide.
0:30:48 > 0:30:54So what we hope at the end of the day is maybe the oil platforms will go, maybe the rigs will go,
0:30:54 > 0:30:58but the technique, the industry, the skills that we've set up
0:30:58 > 0:31:02will actually last for a long time.
0:31:06 > 0:31:11It's not all big business and heavy engineering around here.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19But the same sense of enterprise
0:31:19 > 0:31:23that led to the success of the oil industry,
0:31:23 > 0:31:26the impulse to make the most of whatever nature has to offer
0:31:26 > 0:31:29has seen a more modest harvest of the sea.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38My name is Margaret Horn and I have a restaurant in Auchmithie village.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42And I'm down on the shore picking up seaweed
0:31:42 > 0:31:45like generations of Auchmithie fisherwomen before me.
0:31:45 > 0:31:49I come down here as much as I can to get stuff for the restaurant.
0:31:52 > 0:31:56This is dulse. This is one of my favourites.
0:31:56 > 0:31:58You eat it like this,
0:31:58 > 0:32:02or you can roast it with a red-hot poker from the fire.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05It splutters and sizzles and turns bright green.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08Sprinkle it with vinegar - delicious!
0:32:14 > 0:32:18This is what I've been looking for to show you. This is tangles.
0:32:18 > 0:32:23This end is what my mum would snap off and give me to eat, and say,
0:32:23 > 0:32:29"Enjoy that - it's just like a stick of rock but much better for you."
0:32:31 > 0:32:34OK - this is the pool I've been looking for.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37The tide is going to come in and overwhelm us
0:32:37 > 0:32:41but we'll be able to see this wavy one that we called sloke.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43It's like the Japanese nori
0:32:43 > 0:32:47and people pay a fortune for Japanese seaweeds
0:32:47 > 0:32:51and it's growing just on our own shores.
0:32:51 > 0:32:52Whoo!
0:32:52 > 0:32:55We're going to be swept away!
0:32:55 > 0:32:58Now I'll take this up, give it a good wash,
0:32:58 > 0:33:03and then it'll be on the menu tonight, if I leave any!
0:33:05 > 0:33:09For centuries, intrepid traders from the east coast
0:33:09 > 0:33:11have exported their wares around the world
0:33:11 > 0:33:16from grain to Scandinavia through to granite to New Zealand.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20But just 12 miles offshore,
0:33:20 > 0:33:24there's a treacherous barrier to sea trade -
0:33:24 > 0:33:28Bell Rock - a deadly reef notorious for shipwrecks.
0:33:31 > 0:33:33By the late 1700s,
0:33:33 > 0:33:37Bell Rock was claiming an average of six ships a year.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40When HMS York sank in 1804
0:33:40 > 0:33:42with the loss of 491 men,
0:33:42 > 0:33:46the tragedy finally triggered action.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50This is the result.
0:33:54 > 0:33:59Bell Rock lighthouse defiantly sticking out of the ocean.
0:33:59 > 0:34:05It took over 100 men four years to build it in appalling conditions.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09The challenge of building a lighthouse in the middle of the sea
0:34:09 > 0:34:12fell to the brilliant engineer, Robert Stevenson,
0:34:12 > 0:34:16who went on to construct over 20 Scottish lighthouses.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22I'm going to take a closer look at Bell Rock.
0:34:25 > 0:34:29The 100-foot high lighthouse is precariously perched,
0:34:29 > 0:34:33ingeniously designed so its weight alone holds it on to the rock.
0:34:35 > 0:34:37Now we're up close
0:34:37 > 0:34:42I can see why Stevenson was commissioned to build a lighthouse on top of this ferocious reef.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45It's actually a ridge of serrated sandstone
0:34:45 > 0:34:49that forms the top of a gigantic submerged mountain
0:34:49 > 0:34:55which disappears just below the surface of the water every high tide so you can't see it.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57It's absolutely lethal.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00The lighthouse has been doing its bit
0:35:00 > 0:35:03to keep sailors safe since 1811.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07So precise is its construction
0:35:07 > 0:35:12that the stonework hasn't required any maintenance in nearly 200 years.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18But for one east coast community, overcoming the obstacle of Bell Rock
0:35:18 > 0:35:23was just the start of their epic voyages to some of the most inhospitable parts of the globe.
0:35:32 > 0:35:38Alice Roberts is in Dundee - a place that likes to bill itself as "The City Of Discovery".
0:35:39 > 0:35:42The "Discovery" in the slogan is this ship.
0:35:42 > 0:35:46Built in 1900, she took two of the world's most celebrated explorers,
0:35:46 > 0:35:49Captain Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton,
0:35:49 > 0:35:53on their very first expedition to the Antarctic.
0:35:53 > 0:35:55In Scott and Shackleton's time,
0:35:55 > 0:35:59Dundee led the world in building ships
0:35:59 > 0:36:02that could withstand extreme polar conditions.
0:36:02 > 0:36:06The famous explorers' expeditions relied on the strength of the Dundee-built vessel.
0:36:06 > 0:36:11The Discovery was trapped in the Antarctic ice for nearly two years and survived.
0:36:11 > 0:36:16But Dundee's shipbuilding expertise didn't come from exploration
0:36:16 > 0:36:18but from a less glamorous enterprise.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22The city was once one of the world's major whaling ports.
0:36:24 > 0:36:29Dundee whaling crews had been sailing to the polar regions for over 150 years
0:36:29 > 0:36:33before the Discovery's expedition.
0:36:33 > 0:36:37The hunt for the great beasts of the sea took them further north
0:36:37 > 0:36:39than anyone had been before.
0:36:39 > 0:36:44They ventured through the ice and uncharted waters of the Arctic,
0:36:44 > 0:36:46searching for Greenland right whales.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54Historian David Henderson is an expert on Dundee's whaling past.
0:36:54 > 0:36:59- Hi, Alice.- Hello, David.- Welcome to Discovery.- She's beautiful.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01Lovely ship, magnificent ship.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04Mind your ankles on the portholes.
0:37:04 > 0:37:10- The portholes are on the deck on Discovery, not on the side.- Why?
0:37:10 > 0:37:12To keep the strength of the hull.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15She was built to barge through ice
0:37:15 > 0:37:18and they didn't want any points of weakness.
0:37:18 > 0:37:24It seems really strange to think of Britain as a whaling nation, cos obviously we're not any more.
0:37:24 > 0:37:28It seems odd to think about it being such a key thing here.
0:37:28 > 0:37:33Yes, Dundee was like many of the east coast ports -
0:37:33 > 0:37:36the government offered a subsidy and everybody jumped in
0:37:36 > 0:37:41- and goes whaling. This happened in Dundee in about 1750.- Right.
0:37:42 > 0:37:44It was fraught with difficulty -
0:37:44 > 0:37:49on occasions, Dundee ships were trapped in the ice for months.
0:37:49 > 0:37:54One year, 19 ships were lost, 21 came back without a catch,
0:37:54 > 0:37:56things were that bad.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00What were they actually bringing back? What were the main products?
0:38:00 > 0:38:02The main one, of course, was blubber,
0:38:02 > 0:38:04which contained the oil.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07The other product was a material called whalebone
0:38:07 > 0:38:09which are the baleen plates
0:38:09 > 0:38:14that hang down inside the whale's mouth instead of teeth.
0:38:14 > 0:38:20These plates are very flexible, and they're what made your granny's corsets,
0:38:20 > 0:38:24and that was a very valuable commodity.
0:38:24 > 0:38:30- So it was big business, then? - Very big business in Dundee.
0:38:30 > 0:38:32Simply, it was the best job around.
0:38:32 > 0:38:37It was better than sailing to the Indies and getting standard pay,
0:38:37 > 0:38:41because at the end of a whaling voyage, providing they got a catch,
0:38:41 > 0:38:45they were in the money when they came off the ship.
0:38:48 > 0:38:53It was in the 1860s that Dundee's whaling industry really took off.
0:38:54 > 0:39:01Other whaling ports were struggling as paraffin began to replace whale oil for lighting.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05But the Dundee whalers had a new market right on their doorstep.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08The city's vast jute industry
0:39:08 > 0:39:10needed whale oil for processing the cloth.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13It was an industrial match made in heaven.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17Dundee's whalers were the first to invest in steam ships,
0:39:17 > 0:39:20and became a major force in the whaling industry.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23But they were victims of their own success.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26By the time Dundee was a key whaling port,
0:39:26 > 0:39:31the whales they were hunting were becoming very scarce
0:39:31 > 0:39:35and they were having to sail further and further north
0:39:35 > 0:39:39into uncharted waters to find their prey.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44It became a very, very risky business indeed.
0:39:45 > 0:39:51By 1900, the Arctic whales had been hunted almost to extinction.
0:39:51 > 0:39:53In an effort to save their industry,
0:39:53 > 0:39:56the whalers had to look even further afield.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00Their search took them south to the oceans of the Antarctic.
0:40:04 > 0:40:08Whaling from Scotland continued right up till the 1960s.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12Don Lennie and George Cummings were Antarctic whalers.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15- Hello!- This is George. - Nice to meet you.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19What are we looking at? They look fairly nasty.
0:40:19 > 0:40:23- Very nasty tools, yes, as far as a whale's concerned.- Yeah.
0:40:23 > 0:40:27This looks like a pretty old instrument here.
0:40:27 > 0:40:31Is that a harpoon that would have been used in the 19th century?
0:40:31 > 0:40:32Certainly, yes,
0:40:32 > 0:40:36but this would be a hand-held one with a pole.
0:40:36 > 0:40:40- Right.- And you come up, throw it into the whale,
0:40:40 > 0:40:45withdraw the handle, and of course the line is attached.
0:40:45 > 0:40:49This thing on the end - is that still a harpoon?
0:40:49 > 0:40:52- That is one large harpoon! - It's enormous!
0:40:52 > 0:40:57- That's a more modern harpoon. - Right. Just like a warhead.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01Once it was inside the whale, it exploded,
0:41:01 > 0:41:04and hopefully that killed the whale. In lots of cases it did,
0:41:04 > 0:41:06but in other cases it didn't.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12George, you were there on the factory ship taking in the whales...
0:41:12 > 0:41:14It sounds like a horrendous job.
0:41:14 > 0:41:18It was. Really, it was like a large, open-air abattoir
0:41:18 > 0:41:20in freezing conditions.
0:41:20 > 0:41:24That's basically what modern whaling's about, actually.
0:41:24 > 0:41:30If you were below decks on the factory ship, the temperature could be up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33It was almost Dante's Inferno.
0:41:33 > 0:41:37It was a hot, hostile environment to work in,
0:41:37 > 0:41:41but it was a job you'd take knowing you just had to get on with it.
0:41:41 > 0:41:46Don and George were on the very last whaling mission
0:41:46 > 0:41:48launched from Britain in 1962.
0:41:48 > 0:41:53Over 40 years on, they now have mixed feelings about the industry.
0:41:53 > 0:41:59At that time, even in the early '60s, there was no conservation lobby as such.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01We didn't think an awful lot about it.
0:42:01 > 0:42:06We were sorry that you had to kill the whales, it was not a thing you took pleasure out of,
0:42:06 > 0:42:11but most of the men were there to earn a good living.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15My opinion's changed now. I'm sorry I harpooned, obviously,
0:42:15 > 0:42:21but like anything else, you're clever in hindsight.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23Britain was a major whaling nation,
0:42:23 > 0:42:28and it's something we can't hide, it's part of the history.
0:42:28 > 0:42:34It was a job of work. It was an industry, but it was a job of work like any other job,
0:42:34 > 0:42:37and you tried not to think about the sad part of it
0:42:37 > 0:42:41which was the killing of the whales, and let's face it, it was sad.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45They're such magnificent creatures, they really are, and it's sad
0:42:45 > 0:42:49to see them suffering like that, because they did suffer.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52If whales could've made a noise we wouldn't have been there.
0:42:52 > 0:42:56If a whale could've screamed or shrieked,
0:42:56 > 0:43:00you wouldn't have been able to bear it. You wouldn't.
0:43:05 > 0:43:09International commercial whaling was suspended in 1986,
0:43:09 > 0:43:12but Norway continues to hunt them commercially,
0:43:12 > 0:43:16and Iceland and Japan award themselves whaling quotas
0:43:16 > 0:43:18for scientific research.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21Over a thousand whales are killed each year
0:43:21 > 0:43:25and many species are still endangered.
0:43:28 > 0:43:32The thought of Britain ever being a whaling nation makes me uncomfortable
0:43:32 > 0:43:38but it was the pioneering spirit of the whaling expeditions that set out from ports like Dundee
0:43:38 > 0:43:40that helped drive the exploration of the Antarctic.
0:43:40 > 0:43:44We can still admire the resilience and resourcefulness of those men,
0:43:44 > 0:43:49who made their living in one of the planet's most inhospitable environments.
0:43:57 > 0:44:01We're off to the windswept shores of Fife.
0:44:01 > 0:44:03DOG BARKS
0:44:25 > 0:44:28This is a popular spot for sports of all kinds,
0:44:28 > 0:44:33and it was the grassy dunes of St Andrews that inspired a game
0:44:33 > 0:44:37that's become one of Scotland's most famous exports.
0:44:37 > 0:44:41In 1457, James II of Scotland banned his subjects
0:44:41 > 0:44:44from playing the newly-invented game of golf.
0:44:44 > 0:44:48Obsession with the sport was distracting the Scots
0:44:48 > 0:44:50from their war with the English.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02Now that distraction has become a global industry.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07St Andrews is proud of its title as the "home of golf".
0:45:07 > 0:45:11It has six courses, and despite the Scottish weather,
0:45:11 > 0:45:14golfers from around the world come to play here.
0:45:14 > 0:45:18At £115 a round on the Old Course,
0:45:18 > 0:45:24St Andrews is a big contributor to the £300 million a year that Scotland earns from golf.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30The superintendent of the Old Course is Gordon Moir.
0:45:30 > 0:45:32Do you know how it started?
0:45:32 > 0:45:36Originally, Dutch and Flemish fishermen
0:45:36 > 0:45:38arrived at the port here,
0:45:38 > 0:45:43and played their way along the beach into town as they were coming in,
0:45:43 > 0:45:49then the local shepherds sort of picked up and developed that game.
0:45:49 > 0:45:54Where did they get the idea of hitting little white balls with long, thin sticks?
0:45:54 > 0:45:56Probably pebbles with crooks.
0:45:56 > 0:46:01The shepherds were using the crooks and hitting pebbles along the links.
0:46:01 > 0:46:03And what does links mean?
0:46:03 > 0:46:07Links is really the land between the sea and the arable inland land.
0:46:07 > 0:46:11It's too infertile for farming, possibly a bit of sheep-grazing.
0:46:11 > 0:46:15So golf couldn't have evolved on any other part of the landscape
0:46:15 > 0:46:19other than this link area between the seashore and the farmland?
0:46:19 > 0:46:21It's a coastal sport.
0:46:21 > 0:46:25Initially, it started off as a coastal sport, then it developed
0:46:25 > 0:46:29and everybody wanted to play, so courses were built inland.
0:46:29 > 0:46:34I'm amazed we're allowed to walk around so casually on such hallowed turf, Gordon.
0:46:34 > 0:46:39Well, all the golf courses in St Andrews technically belong to the people of the town
0:46:39 > 0:46:43- so it's common land.- So anybody can come and have a picnic here...
0:46:43 > 0:46:48You can, and the townspeople actually have the right to hang their washing out to dry here,
0:46:48 > 0:46:52which probably started from fishermen having the right
0:46:52 > 0:46:55to lie out their nets and mend them.
0:46:55 > 0:47:00- Do you come across many strings of laundry on the course? - Fortunately not.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07It's strange to think that a coastal wasteland
0:47:07 > 0:47:11became the bunkers and roughs that golfers know all too well.
0:47:11 > 0:47:15This corner of the Scots coast is now replicated the world over.
0:47:17 > 0:47:20The landscape may be ideal for golf,
0:47:20 > 0:47:24but during World War II it was also identified by Hitler
0:47:24 > 0:47:26as a potential spot for attack.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31The huge beaches meant it was perfect for landing troops,
0:47:31 > 0:47:33armoured vehicles and planes.
0:47:37 > 0:47:41An invasion here could have cut the country in half
0:47:41 > 0:47:43and opened up a new Northern Front.
0:47:43 > 0:47:49Winston Churchill's response inadvertently led to one of the greatest unsung inventions
0:47:49 > 0:47:51of the Second World War.
0:47:53 > 0:47:58With British forces fully occupied abroad, this stretch of coast
0:47:58 > 0:48:01was put under the protection of exiled Polish forces.
0:48:01 > 0:48:07The anti-tank blocks strung along these beaches are a visible reminder of the Polish efforts.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12The invasion never materialised,
0:48:12 > 0:48:17but as Mark Horton is investigating, the Poles put their time here to good use.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21One of the Polish officers sent to defend the Fife coast
0:48:21 > 0:48:24designed a machine that was to save countless lives
0:48:24 > 0:48:27in war zones around the world.
0:48:27 > 0:48:31It is one of the most important inventions of the Second World War -
0:48:31 > 0:48:33the mine detector.
0:48:35 > 0:48:40Lech Muszynski was part of the exiled Polish Army based in Fife.
0:48:40 > 0:48:44He trained with the Polish mine-clearing sappers
0:48:44 > 0:48:47using the original mine detector
0:48:47 > 0:48:51developed on this very beach. It must be the famous mine detector!
0:48:51 > 0:48:55- It is, yes. - What a wonderful piece of kit!
0:48:55 > 0:48:58Does this date from the Second World War?
0:48:58 > 0:49:01Yes, that was one of the first units
0:49:01 > 0:49:05produced by the British Army
0:49:05 > 0:49:07for the Allied Armies.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10Before these things were invented
0:49:10 > 0:49:14- how did people look for mines? - Well, they had steel spikes
0:49:14 > 0:49:17and they had to walk along the beach or field
0:49:17 > 0:49:22and spike the ground. And if you felt a hard object,
0:49:22 > 0:49:26you had to feel with your fingers to see if it was a mine or something else.
0:49:26 > 0:49:31Then you had to gently remove it, which was an extremely dangerous job.
0:49:35 > 0:49:41It was in the Second World War that mines became a major weapon.
0:49:41 > 0:49:46Huge numbers were buried around our coasts to prevent enemy landings.
0:49:46 > 0:49:50But they were laid in haste and the poor records of their locations
0:49:50 > 0:49:53made them dangerous to our own troops.
0:49:53 > 0:49:59Polish officer Lieutenant Josef Stanislaw Kosacki
0:49:59 > 0:50:04had already been toying with an idea for detecting mines back in Poland.
0:50:04 > 0:50:08The British War Office asked him to develop his designs
0:50:08 > 0:50:11during his posting in Fife.
0:50:11 > 0:50:14Do you think after all these years it still actually works?
0:50:14 > 0:50:18- Can we have a go?! - Well, I've got a bunch of keys here. I'll go and hide them!
0:50:18 > 0:50:20I shall look away!
0:50:23 > 0:50:26- Have you hidden them, then?! - Yes, I have.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29- So what do I do?- Just walk with it...
0:50:30 > 0:50:32That's right.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35Two or three inches above the sand.
0:50:35 > 0:50:38Slightly slower sweeps.
0:50:38 > 0:50:40Short steps forward. That's it.
0:50:40 > 0:50:45- I can hear this continuous tone the whole time.- Yes, yes.
0:50:45 > 0:50:49If you come across a metal object, it'll change.
0:50:49 > 0:50:54- TONE CHANGES - It's sort of fluctuating like mad!
0:50:54 > 0:50:56- It must be...- That's right.- It IS!
0:51:01 > 0:51:04- Look, keys!- Yes!
0:51:10 > 0:51:14The mine detector came into its own during the North African campaign.
0:51:15 > 0:51:20German troops had protected themselves with extensive minefields.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23500 of Kosacki's mine detectors
0:51:23 > 0:51:26were urgently deployed.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29The Allied Forces punched through the enemy minefields
0:51:29 > 0:51:34and their victory at the Battle of El Alamein in 1942
0:51:34 > 0:51:38was one of the pivotal moments of the Second World War.
0:51:41 > 0:51:44Far more than is generally realised,
0:51:44 > 0:51:48the mine detector has played a great part in bringing the Axis out of Africa.
0:51:48 > 0:51:55Rommel brilliantly employed the landmine and it was necessary to find a quick and safe detector.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57What the anti-mine device achieved
0:51:57 > 0:52:00can be judged by the fact that this is a typical day's haul.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05Now hear what Sgt Miller has to say.
0:52:05 > 0:52:10I've been fighting in the desert with General Wavell and with General Montgomery.
0:52:10 > 0:52:13My job out there was to clear mines
0:52:13 > 0:52:16and make gaps for our tanks to get through.
0:52:16 > 0:52:20And every 40 men I used to take out of my section
0:52:20 > 0:52:24I knew it was certain that I'd lose ten - either blown up or killed.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27Now we have these new detectors,
0:52:27 > 0:52:30we are pretty certain that we won't get many casualties.
0:52:30 > 0:52:35So how do you rank the importance of this as an invention?
0:52:35 > 0:52:38Well, as an invention, I rank it very, very highly.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41This is the detector
0:52:41 > 0:52:46that was used very extensively, everywhere, all over the world
0:52:46 > 0:52:52to...to the last conflict in Iraq.
0:52:52 > 0:52:55But nobody's ever HEARD of Lieutenant Kosacki!
0:52:55 > 0:52:58He has been forgotten about completely.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01He has,
0:53:01 > 0:53:05partly due to the fact that this invention was top-secret
0:53:05 > 0:53:07during the war
0:53:07 > 0:53:10and after the war, people wanted peace.
0:53:10 > 0:53:14They didn't want to talk about war inventions and things like that.
0:53:14 > 0:53:18It was a great invention of the last century,
0:53:18 > 0:53:22not appreciated enough.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26It saved countless thousands and thousands and thousands of lives.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31Josef Kosacki's invention was never patented
0:53:31 > 0:53:34and he received no money for it.
0:53:34 > 0:53:39His only reward for the ingenious mine detector
0:53:39 > 0:53:43that helped clear our beaches and battlefields around the world was a letter
0:53:43 > 0:53:48from King George VI and a Polish Silver Cross medal.
0:53:52 > 0:53:56We're nearing the end of our journey down the industrious
0:53:56 > 0:53:58east coast of Scotland.
0:54:11 > 0:54:15It's fitting that our route south takes us across
0:54:15 > 0:54:18one of the most enduring symbols of engineering achievement
0:54:18 > 0:54:19in the UK.
0:54:24 > 0:54:29No landmark sums up the pioneering spirit of the east coast of Scotland better than this -
0:54:29 > 0:54:31the Forth rail bridge.
0:54:31 > 0:54:35One of the greatest wonders of the industrial world,
0:54:35 > 0:54:40the bridge endures as a symbol of what man can achieve when pushed beyond the normal limits.
0:54:41 > 0:54:46The world's first major steel bridge is 360ft high
0:54:46 > 0:54:48and 1½ miles long.
0:54:52 > 0:54:55It took 5,000 men 7 years to build.
0:54:55 > 0:55:00As many as 80 lives were lost during its construction.
0:55:04 > 0:55:08Workers on the bridge could be as young as ten years old.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11The youngest recorded death was a 13-year-old
0:55:11 > 0:55:15who fell from a great height and died at his father's feet.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18There are calls now for a memorial to be erected
0:55:18 > 0:55:22to those who died, but for the time being, this bridge itself
0:55:22 > 0:55:27is a testament to the engineers and to the workers who risked their lives to build it.
0:55:34 > 0:55:37The bridge opened for business in March 1890.
0:55:37 > 0:55:40115 years on,
0:55:40 > 0:55:43it still carries up to 200 trains a day
0:55:43 > 0:55:47and remains an integral part of the east coast mainline.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56I love this bridge for the elegance of its engineering,
0:55:56 > 0:56:00for the raw strength with which it strides across this enormous gulf.
0:56:00 > 0:56:05It's a stunning memorial for the endeavour that we've seen along the whole of this coast.
0:56:05 > 0:56:09What a way to end our tour of the enterprising east coast of Scotland!
0:56:13 > 0:56:18We're heading for the English border and Berwick-upon-Tweed.
0:56:18 > 0:56:22On the Northumbrian coast, we rebuild Britain's first house
0:56:22 > 0:56:255,000 years older than the Pyramids.
0:56:25 > 0:56:29We explore the spiritual isle of Lindisfarne and meet one of the coast's great survivors.
0:56:29 > 0:56:31Further south,
0:56:31 > 0:56:36where coal was king, I investigate how ship-building has given way to ship-breaking.
0:56:36 > 0:56:39Industry and isolation, a coast of two halves...
0:56:39 > 0:56:42the North-East of England.
0:56:49 > 0:56:52E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk