0:00:27 > 0:00:33Boundless horizons, endless ingenuity - this is Coast!
0:00:37 > 0:00:41We're at our most inventive on our coast.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45A tide of ingenious ideas breaks here.
0:00:47 > 0:00:52Inspired by the challenge of the sea, bold inventions are born.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01To find out why our shores are a spur to creativity,
0:01:01 > 0:01:05I'm on a coastline full of innovation.
0:01:05 > 0:01:10I'm forging a path around a very special island, a place awash
0:01:10 > 0:01:15with fertile minds and original ideas for hundreds of years...
0:01:15 > 0:01:18Anglesey. Croeso i Gymru.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22Welcome to Wales.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30While I'm seeking the ingenious on Anglesey, across the water
0:01:30 > 0:01:35in France, Tess is discovering how a chance stop at a seaside town
0:01:35 > 0:01:38changed British radio for ever.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43Light entertainment was hitting the British airwaves for the first time.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47The radio was awash with sonic delights.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52Engineer Brendan Walker is in Pembrokeshire, investigating
0:01:52 > 0:01:56how a bridge taught the world a vital lesson.
0:01:56 > 0:02:01This striking coastal crossing may look simple, but don't be fooled.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04It's a seriously impressive piece of engineering.
0:02:04 > 0:02:10In Portsmouth, Dick's on target to test an inspired answer
0:02:10 > 0:02:12to a big question.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14How do you disguise something like this?!
0:02:18 > 0:02:22I'm following a path of coastal pioneers,
0:02:22 > 0:02:24exploring our isles of ingenuity.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Anglesey's known as the Mother of Wales.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59But for me, it's the mother of invention.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10This rocky isle has earned its place on the world stage.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14Its ports unite Britain and Ireland.
0:03:16 > 0:03:21Its mineral wealth has long been sought around the world.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25It boasts Britain's longest breakwater.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33Surrounded by savage seas, its maritime history
0:03:33 > 0:03:37is full of big ideas.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39Coast has been here before...
0:03:39 > 0:03:41Wow! Yes!
0:03:41 > 0:03:45..discovering how pilots fly our fastest combat jets...
0:03:47 > 0:03:51..and how the Land Rover, that feat of great British engineering, was
0:03:51 > 0:03:54invented on this ingenious isle.
0:03:59 > 0:04:04I'll be following another inspired idea, this - the Welsh Coastal Path,
0:04:04 > 0:04:09on a route around the island that takes in 700 years of inspiration.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13I want to find out why Anglesey is such a trailblazer.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19I'm starting my search for answers at South Stack.
0:04:21 > 0:04:27The lighthouse here has been protecting mariners since 1809.
0:04:27 > 0:04:32But for one man, getting it built was a real test of ingenuity.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38This rocky promontory has been a catalyst for creativity,
0:04:38 > 0:04:42its very isolation a challenge to be overcome.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49South Stack looks over the busy shipping lanes of the Irish Sea.
0:04:52 > 0:04:57These treacherous waters had a fearsome reputation for luring
0:04:57 > 0:04:58ships to their doom.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06But the sheer inaccessibility of the stack defied attempts to get
0:05:06 > 0:05:09a warning light built.
0:05:09 > 0:05:14What finally persuaded a reluctant government to tackle the challenge?
0:05:14 > 0:05:20This - a map of all the ships lost in just two years,
0:05:20 > 0:05:25drawn by Holyhead harbour master Hugh Evans in 1807.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31There are no pictures of this inspired and tenacious man,
0:05:31 > 0:05:35just his words remain.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39'I have particulars of 30 ships wrecked on shore.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43'20 totally lost, with many lives.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45'I respectfully submitted this as showing
0:05:45 > 0:05:49'the propriety of erecting a distinct light on the South Stack.'
0:05:51 > 0:05:55But Evans' challenges at South Stack had only just begun.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59First, there was the job of getting workmen, equipment,
0:05:59 > 0:06:03food and water from the mainland out to this precipitous
0:06:03 > 0:06:06and frequently stormbound lump of rock.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15His ingenious solution?
0:06:15 > 0:06:20A winch to haul up boats full of supplies for construction.
0:06:20 > 0:06:25And as his own drawing shows, another design, a series of cradles
0:06:25 > 0:06:30and pulleys that transferred goods and people cliff-to-cliff.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37A rope bridge followed.
0:06:37 > 0:06:42And finally, in 1828, another inspired idea.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50Evans crossed the void with a scaled-down version of one
0:06:50 > 0:06:55of Anglesey's most famous landmarks, the Menai Suspension Bridge.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12But nature had more obstacles to challenge our ingenious mariner.
0:07:15 > 0:07:20He knew that in low fog, all too common on this coast,
0:07:20 > 0:07:22his new light would be lost.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29How, then, do you warn the ships away from the coast?
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Local historian Ian Jones is helping me
0:07:36 > 0:07:40uncover Evans' inventive solution.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42Ian, what on earth is this?
0:07:42 > 0:07:46Well, this is the incline that was blasted specifically for what
0:07:46 > 0:07:48they called the low-light,
0:07:48 > 0:07:53which was a movable light on a set of rails
0:07:53 > 0:07:57that the keepers would lower down to below the level of the fog, so there
0:07:57 > 0:08:03was a light visible for the captains of the packet boats to Ireland.
0:08:03 > 0:08:04That's quite remarkable,
0:08:04 > 0:08:08because this is a massive trench cut in the bedrock of the island.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11How exactly did Evans get the light from the top of this
0:08:11 > 0:08:13incline down to the bottom?
0:08:13 > 0:08:16- This is an artist's impression of the low-light.- Oh, right.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18The entire contraption slid down
0:08:18 > 0:08:21on those wheels to the bottom of the incline.
0:08:21 > 0:08:22To the bottom of the incline, yes.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25There were two lights inside with a clockwork mechanism,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28and they were oscillated back and forth by the mechanism
0:08:28 > 0:08:32to have a signature or a flash.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35It was very original and unique to South Stack.
0:08:39 > 0:08:44Day and night, South Stack's warning light remains,
0:08:44 > 0:08:47a beacon to one man's ingenuity.
0:08:48 > 0:08:53Evidence that on our coast, the brightest minds shine
0:08:53 > 0:08:56and rise to the challenge of nature's forces.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10We're exploring why the coast inspired ingenuity.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15New ideas spring from challenge and opportunity.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20And not just on our own shores.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31In France, the waters off Normandy
0:09:31 > 0:09:35at Fecamp created the right conditions for commercial radio
0:09:35 > 0:09:39to challenge the broadcasting establishment in Britain.
0:09:45 > 0:09:50Tess has crossed the Channel to discover why it was here that
0:09:50 > 0:09:56a bright idea opened up a world of entertainment for British audiences.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01MUSIC: La Mer by Charles Trenet
0:10:07 > 0:10:10Fecamp. C'est charmant! C'est chic.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14But there's more to this genteel seaside resort than meets the eye.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22I've come here to investigate why this tiny place,
0:10:22 > 0:10:25famous for cod, herring and Benedictine liqueur, was home
0:10:25 > 0:10:29to Britain's first commercial radio station.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37In the 1920s, broadcasting was tightly regulated.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41The only broadcaster permitted on the airwaves was the BBC.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45This one-station monopoly gave listeners two options -
0:10:45 > 0:10:47tune in to Auntie or switch off.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56The British Broadcasting Corporation
0:10:56 > 0:11:00was set up in the '20s, under Lord Reith.
0:11:00 > 0:11:01It was a staid affair.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07This son of a Presbyterian minister believed programmes should be
0:11:07 > 0:11:09morally uplifting.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13Not everyone agreed, but there was little alternative.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27One man was looking for the chance to challenge all that.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32In the summer of 1931, an Englishman touring the coast
0:11:32 > 0:11:38in an extravagant open-topped car stopped to admire the view.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42His name was Captain Leonard Frank Plugge,
0:11:42 > 0:11:46and his grand plan was to transmit commercial radio to Britain.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52But Captain Plugge couldn't set up a station to rival the BBC
0:11:52 > 0:11:58on British soil without breaking the law. He badly needed a loophole.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03I want to know why he found it in Fecamp.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12First stop, Palais de Benedictine,
0:12:12 > 0:12:15where I'm meeting Professor Sean Street.
0:12:15 > 0:12:20It was here Plugge met the director of the town's Benedictine distillery,
0:12:20 > 0:12:25who also owned the local radio station - Fernand Legrand.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29No doubt they discussed their mutual enthusiasm over
0:12:29 > 0:12:31a glass of the liqueur.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35Plugge discovers Legrand has this radio interest, but how does
0:12:35 > 0:12:40it sort of become a reality to broadcast from France to Britain?
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Well, I think one of the things that Plugge very quickly realises
0:12:44 > 0:12:48is that there is some downtime on a transmitter.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50In other words, when the French aren't using it.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53When the French transmissions close down at midnight, Plugge can
0:12:53 > 0:12:56use the Radio Fecamp, later the Radio Normandy transmitter,
0:12:56 > 0:12:59to broadcast into the prosperous south of England.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02So this literally starts - man with a box of records in the middle
0:13:02 > 0:13:04of the night from a foreign country?
0:13:04 > 0:13:05Absolutely, as simple as that.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08At that stage, then, hardly a threat to the BBC?
0:13:08 > 0:13:11You wouldn't have thought so, and if you look at the memos
0:13:11 > 0:13:12of the BBC at that time,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15it's seen as, "Well, why should "we be concerned about this?"
0:13:15 > 0:13:17You know, I think Reith actually says,
0:13:17 > 0:13:20"Why would we be concerned about this? It's no big deal at all."
0:13:20 > 0:13:21That was to change, of course.
0:13:27 > 0:13:32Legrand broadcast from his family home, and it was here Captain Plugge
0:13:32 > 0:13:36set up the grandly named International Broadcasting Company.
0:13:38 > 0:13:43On the 11th October, 1931, the IBC made its first broadcast
0:13:43 > 0:13:48in English, in direct competition with the BBC.
0:13:54 > 0:13:55'This is Radio Normandy,
0:13:55 > 0:13:59'broadcasting on its new wavelength of 274 metres.'
0:13:59 > 0:14:01MUSIC PLAYS
0:14:06 > 0:14:09Plugge had found the loophole he needed.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12'..Presents personal personalities,
0:14:12 > 0:14:15'intimate broadcasts by the great stars of our time.'
0:14:15 > 0:14:19These early broadcasts were made using a small transmitter.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23So just how did Plugge manage to reach audiences
0:14:23 > 0:14:2670 miles away in England?
0:14:26 > 0:14:29His secret weapon was the English Channel.
0:14:31 > 0:14:36Our ingenious radio buff realised its salt water would allow
0:14:36 > 0:14:40Radio Normandy's signal to travel much further.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44So you can see, locating his radio station here in Fecamp meant
0:14:44 > 0:14:49he vastly increased the range or the reach of his transmission
0:14:49 > 0:14:53and was able to hit listeners in Eastbourne and Hastings.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58But even that wasn't enough for ambitious Plugge.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02Plugge commissioned ever more powerful transmitters.
0:15:02 > 0:15:07In 1935, he built a 20 kilowatt transmitter with a whopping
0:15:07 > 0:15:13170 metre antennae mast which became a local landmark here in Normandy.
0:15:15 > 0:15:20By now, Plugge was reaching audiences as far away as the North of England,
0:15:20 > 0:15:25causing a real stir in the sober world of British broadcasting.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33Thanks to the sea and Plugge's powerful transmitter,
0:15:33 > 0:15:36Radio Normandy flooded into Britain.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38But what was it broadcasting?
0:15:41 > 0:15:45Sean's found some old radio schedules that reveal just
0:15:45 > 0:15:50what was so different about Radio Normandy compared to the BBC.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54- This is a page of the Radio Times from November, 1934.- Right.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59And it shows this very strict Sunday policy that Reith was very keen on.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01Here, for example, 5.15,
0:16:01 > 0:16:04Hints For Daily Living, A Short Religious Service -
0:16:04 > 0:16:06all very strongly religious.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09Not entertainment, it mustn't be entertainment.
0:16:09 > 0:16:14Compare that with the IBC programme schedule from Radio Normandy.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18- You have, for example, tangos here. - Mm, military big band music.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22You have astrology on a Sunday, soccer pools broadcast...
0:16:22 > 0:16:25- This is gambling on a Sunday. - Oh, very dodgy stuff.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28And Wincarnis Concert, now, that's alcohol.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32So you've got astrology, alcohol and gambling on a Sunday.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34Not only is it entertainment,
0:16:34 > 0:16:35but it's breaking all the three rules
0:16:35 > 0:16:38that Reith would have said were the cardinal parts
0:16:38 > 0:16:41of what Sunday broadcasting should be on the BBC.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43The BBC felt they owned the schedule,
0:16:43 > 0:16:46they wanted to set the tone for the nation.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50There's a famous line in one of the BBC handbooks from around this
0:16:50 > 0:16:52time in which Reith himself actually says,
0:16:52 > 0:16:58"The BBC believes in giving its audience something slightly better than it thinks it wants."
0:16:58 > 0:17:01'And now here's a signature tune that will be a prelude to a whole
0:17:01 > 0:17:03'heap of future entertainment.'
0:17:03 > 0:17:06# How we doing? Hey, hey... #
0:17:06 > 0:17:10Plugge was pioneering a new way of making radio.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13'What better start to the day could you have than the infectious
0:17:13 > 0:17:16'cheerfulness of Browning and Star?'
0:17:16 > 0:17:19# We won't be happy But we won't be happy
0:17:19 > 0:17:21# Till we make you happy too! #
0:17:22 > 0:17:27Radio Normandy sizzled with song, sophistication and style.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31Light entertainment was hitting the British airwaves
0:17:31 > 0:17:36for the first time on a Sunday. The radio was awash with sonic delights.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40His exploits influenced a whole new generation of listeners
0:17:40 > 0:17:42AND broadcasters.
0:17:42 > 0:17:47Roy Plomley, known later for the BBC classic Desert Island Discs,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50got his first break on Radio Normandy.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53'Hello, everybody, this is Roy Plomley speaking.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57'I hope you're spending a happy weekend and that the programmes
0:17:57 > 0:18:01'you're hearing from Radio Normandy are contributing to your happiness.'
0:18:01 > 0:18:04But it wasn't all about programmes.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08Plugge gave his name to the art of PLUGGING commercial products.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11For him, radio was a money-maker.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15He wanted to know what his station could sell.
0:18:15 > 0:18:16Face cream.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20To prove to advertisers that listeners were a genuine market,
0:18:20 > 0:18:24Plugge and a friend found a recipe for some face cream,
0:18:24 > 0:18:27mixed it up and advertised it by making some
0:18:27 > 0:18:29grand claims on the radio.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33# Keep young and beautiful It's your duty to be beautiful... #
0:18:33 > 0:18:36'Here is a very interesting announcement for everyone,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39'more especially for our lady listeners.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43'Renus Cream softens, nourishes and beautifies the skin, while
0:18:43 > 0:18:49'during the day it forms a perfect foundation for powder and rouge.'
0:18:49 > 0:18:51# ..if you want to be loved
0:18:51 > 0:18:54# If you're wise Exercise all that fat off... #
0:18:54 > 0:18:57It flew off the shelves.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Plugge had to employ an industrial chemist to meet demand.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06Plugge had proved that not only did Radio Normandy have an audience,
0:19:06 > 0:19:08but it could also sell products.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13With its heady mix of entertainment
0:19:13 > 0:19:17and advertising, Radio Normandy's Sunday broadcasts apparently
0:19:17 > 0:19:21captured 80% of the British audience.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25Leonard Plugge's son, Frank, remembers the uproar.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28Your father caused the BBC a real headache, I gather.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31Yes, questions were being asked in Parliament to close this
0:19:31 > 0:19:33radio station down.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37Oh, yes, so 20th July 1933, "Does the BBC rule the waves?
0:19:37 > 0:19:39"A move to close Fecamp."
0:19:39 > 0:19:41My father told me that some MPs were
0:19:41 > 0:19:43suggesting that he should be arrested and sent to prison for what
0:19:43 > 0:19:46he was doing. Of course, he wasn't doing anything illegal at all.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49What comes of this?
0:19:49 > 0:19:51Well, the BBC had to change, didn't they?
0:19:51 > 0:19:54Rather than Lord Reith continuing with his ban
0:19:54 > 0:19:56on all dance music on a Sunday,
0:19:56 > 0:19:59they jolly well had to start doing it themselves.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01'And now the International Broadcasting Company's
0:20:01 > 0:20:04'transmission is drawing to a close.'
0:20:04 > 0:20:07In 1939, the outbreak of war
0:20:07 > 0:20:12brought Captain Plugge's radio adventures to an end.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16But by using an inspired seaside location and the power of the waves,
0:20:16 > 0:20:20he'd ensured entertainment was here to stay.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23# Radio Normandy Calling you! #
0:20:23 > 0:20:25From an inauspicious coastal town in France,
0:20:25 > 0:20:30an inventive man changed the sound of radio in Britain for ever.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33# You know it stands for Radio Normandy, coming through
0:20:33 > 0:20:38# A lot of enjoyment for all! #
0:20:38 > 0:20:41'Good night and happy dreams.'
0:20:57 > 0:21:02We're discovering why we're at our most inventive on the coast.
0:21:06 > 0:21:11I'm on Anglesey, finding out how the sea inspires us
0:21:11 > 0:21:15with creative solutions to perennial problems.
0:21:23 > 0:21:28We look to our seas to feed our endless appetite for fuel,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31being ever more inventive in our search for energy.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35But this pursuit has taken its toll.
0:21:50 > 0:21:55I'm on my way to find an ingenious alternative to fossil fuels.
0:21:55 > 0:22:00A world-beating idea to get energy from the sea itself,
0:22:00 > 0:22:03at the very edge of the Menai Strait.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11Exposed to the elements, Anglesey is the perfect place
0:22:11 > 0:22:16for renewables like wind, wave and tidal power.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23But at the 300-year-old coastal mansion of Plas Newydd,
0:22:23 > 0:22:25there's something new.
0:22:27 > 0:22:32The first of its kind and size in Britain, an innovation that
0:22:32 > 0:22:35could revolutionise how we generate energy.
0:22:37 > 0:22:42What an enchanting setting, beautiful view, tranquil, clear air.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46Yet until recently, this stately home had the dubious
0:22:46 > 0:22:50honour of being the National Trust's most polluting property.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53I want to find out how it's been transformed into one
0:22:53 > 0:22:57of its most energy efficient, thanks to cold seawater.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05Plas Newydd contains precious art,
0:23:05 > 0:23:09but being so close to the shore, these treasures are daily exposed
0:23:09 > 0:23:13to the cold and damp of the Menai Strait.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18To preserve the art
0:23:18 > 0:23:22and antiques in here, the National Trust battled to keep Plas Newydd
0:23:22 > 0:23:29warm and dry by guzzling up to 128,000 litres of fuel oil
0:23:29 > 0:23:32every year, sometimes as much as 1,500 litres
0:23:32 > 0:23:33in a single winter's day.
0:23:43 > 0:23:49The National Trust needed a radical solution - and they found one,
0:23:49 > 0:23:53a brand-new way of harvesting heat direct from the sea.
0:23:57 > 0:24:03Trust environment advisor Paul Southall helped make it a reality.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06So, how does this wonderful device work?
0:24:06 > 0:24:08It's been a unique challenge, shall we say.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11The easiest way of describing it is, there's two pipes that go into
0:24:11 > 0:24:16the Menai Straits that go out about 50 metres. One takes the seawater
0:24:16 > 0:24:20out of the straits to take it to a pump house building, and then it
0:24:20 > 0:24:23passes through a heat exchanger and goes back into the Menai Straits.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26In the meantime, we've gathered, on average -
0:24:26 > 0:24:31today, for example - about 17 degrees of latent heat energy from the sea.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33- OK.- Shall we go and have a look in the building?- Yeah.
0:24:39 > 0:24:44Wow, on the outside, this looks like a garden shed,
0:24:44 > 0:24:45but in here, it's all so hi-tech.
0:24:45 > 0:24:46Lots going on.
0:24:46 > 0:24:52Once collected, the seawater passes over a heat exchanger.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55The energy extracted is sent up to the house.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03Then it's compressed until there's enough heat to warm
0:25:03 > 0:25:07the radiators and keep the house at a constant temperature.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12For every unit of energy needed to run the system,
0:25:12 > 0:25:15four units are generated.
0:25:16 > 0:25:22It saves around £40,000 a year on fuel oil alone.
0:25:23 > 0:25:28Do you think that harnessing the sea through heat pumps
0:25:28 > 0:25:32might be something that could spread like ripples out from here?
0:25:32 > 0:25:36It already is. I mean, we've had a huge amount of interest,
0:25:36 > 0:25:39we're sharing the design, the technical information now
0:25:39 > 0:25:41so that hopefully, it will filter out.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44But, yes, the appetite is there, people want solutions.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50With thousands of miles of coastline to choose from,
0:25:50 > 0:25:53it's the perfect innovation for islands like ours.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59Plas Newydd has gazed across the Menai Straits to the misty
0:25:59 > 0:26:03mountains of Snowdonia for nearly three centuries.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07What started out as a house in a beautiful setting has been
0:26:07 > 0:26:12transformed by ingenious thinking into an inspired notion
0:26:12 > 0:26:15that warms the heart and fires the imagination.
0:26:39 > 0:26:44We're on the trail of creative thinking around our shores,
0:26:44 > 0:26:46and it comes in many forms.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57Harvesting the sea's riches in the teeth of storms pushes
0:26:57 > 0:27:00men beyond their everyday limits.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09And it was this that inspired one generation of trawlermen
0:27:09 > 0:27:13sailing out of Lowestoft in the swinging '60s.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19In response to the hardship of life at sea,
0:27:19 > 0:27:23they reinvented themselves with a splash of colour -
0:27:23 > 0:27:27a unique flowering of fashion that marked them out on shore.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33MUSIC: All Day And All Of The Night by The Kinks
0:27:35 > 0:27:38They used to call us young fishermen "the millionaire weekend boys"
0:27:38 > 0:27:41because we had that much money to spend.
0:27:41 > 0:27:42The trips used to last 12 days
0:27:42 > 0:27:46and then on the 11th day, all the crew would be getting a bit excited
0:27:46 > 0:27:48cos we knew that then we were going back to Lowestoft
0:27:48 > 0:27:50and we'd have our two days in harbour.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54Well, our two days in harbour, we used to make the most on.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57But most of our money, we used to spend on our suits.
0:27:59 > 0:28:04I'm Jo Neve, and I worked at Laurence Greene the tailor
0:28:04 > 0:28:09and we used to make all the suits, just about, for all the fisher boys.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11How many suits did you have then?
0:28:11 > 0:28:14- Five, six. I had six, yeah. - Oh, you beat me, then.
0:28:14 > 0:28:19One day, this lad came in and he said, "I've had this, I've had that,
0:28:19 > 0:28:20"what's that over there?"
0:28:20 > 0:28:23So I said, "Well, that's the ladies' swatches."
0:28:23 > 0:28:25And he said, "Well, could I have it?"
0:28:25 > 0:28:27I said, "Well, of course you could."
0:28:27 > 0:28:32And from then, of course, everybody wanted to outdo one another.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35MUSIC: My Generation by The Who
0:28:37 > 0:28:40I started with a pale blue, bit conservative.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43- I had blue!- Then I went to purple.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45Someone would get a powder blue, someone said,
0:28:45 > 0:28:48"I'll beat you, I'll get a different colour. I'll have a yellow,"
0:28:48 > 0:28:50And then someone said,
0:28:50 > 0:28:52"If you're going to have a yellow, I'll have a red."
0:28:52 > 0:28:54And that's how it went, all the colours under the rainbow.
0:28:54 > 0:29:00And it just went on and on even to a bright check like this one,
0:29:00 > 0:29:02any colour under the sun, really.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05- What was your first suit, Ray? - Pea green suit.
0:29:05 > 0:29:11Oh, I never had the pea green. I think I had the mustard.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13When we were at sea sometimes, I would do a bit of doodling
0:29:13 > 0:29:16and then I'd think, "I don't know, I think I'll have a nice red colour."
0:29:16 > 0:29:19So, I'd colour this in red.
0:29:19 > 0:29:24It's got the shawl lapels, the half-moon pockets, quite big cuffs.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26What colour lapels, do you want the same colour as the suit?
0:29:26 > 0:29:30Said, "No, if I've got purple or red, I want the white lapels
0:29:30 > 0:29:33"and the white stitching around the pockets."
0:29:33 > 0:29:36After we finished, we'd have a look at it and say,
0:29:36 > 0:29:38"Yeah, that seems all right."
0:29:38 > 0:29:43And then we'd get in from sea, you'd go up to the tailors and you'd say,
0:29:43 > 0:29:47"I want a fishing suit similar to this."
0:29:47 > 0:29:50A half belt at the back, they used to have two pleats,
0:29:50 > 0:29:54one pleat, three pleats and some would even have a contrasting colour
0:29:54 > 0:29:56inserted into that pleat.
0:29:56 > 0:30:01I've also got a press cutting from 1961 about the fishing boys
0:30:01 > 0:30:02and their suits.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05Yeah, we were quite famous, really, cos everyone could see the coloured
0:30:05 > 0:30:09suits and everyone knows, yeah, they're the Lowestoft fishermen.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12This only happened in Lowestoft, didn't it, Ray?
0:30:12 > 0:30:14Oh, yes, nowhere else had it.
0:30:14 > 0:30:18- They thought we were bonkers. - We probably were, yeah.
0:30:18 > 0:30:23I think a lot of it was the fact that they'd been in dirty, filthy,
0:30:23 > 0:30:27fishy clothes for ten days, coming ashore and getting cleaned up and
0:30:27 > 0:30:32completely reinventing themselves with a suit as well as being clean.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39We wanted to say to the people - this is who we are, we're fishermen
0:30:39 > 0:30:42and we're outrageous, we enjoy our time, we've got 48 hours,
0:30:42 > 0:30:45we're going to do what we're going to do. So that's what we done,
0:30:45 > 0:30:47we got the brightly coloured suits
0:30:47 > 0:30:50and we thought the fishermen suits was a badge of honour.
0:31:09 > 0:31:14We're exploring our ingenious isles to see how they inspire innovation.
0:31:16 > 0:31:21Where rivers meet the sea, we need all our inventiveness to connect
0:31:21 > 0:31:22what nature divides.
0:31:28 > 0:31:33Bridges are monuments to ingenuity, standing up to the stresses
0:31:33 > 0:31:37and strains of coastal life where wind
0:31:37 > 0:31:40and weather push technology to its limits.
0:31:45 > 0:31:49The elegant suspension bridges of the Severn Estuary.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52In Scotland, a steel giant -
0:31:52 > 0:31:57the world's largest cantilever bridge, crossing the Firth of Forth.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02But at Pembroke Dock in West Wales,
0:32:02 > 0:32:07engineer Brendan Walker is discovering how a box girder bridge
0:32:07 > 0:32:12held a deadly secret that challenged design worldwide.
0:32:19 > 0:32:24The Cleddau Bridge, a stunning piece of architecture.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28This striking coastal crossing may look simple, but don't be fooled.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31It's a seriously impressive piece of engineering.
0:32:34 > 0:32:38The bridge spans the mighty Cleddau Estuary, a channel for industry.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44More than half a mile, or 800 metres long,
0:32:44 > 0:32:47four and a half million vehicles thunder across
0:32:47 > 0:32:48the bridge every year.
0:33:01 > 0:33:02Before it was built,
0:33:02 > 0:33:05this Pembrokeshire community was divided.
0:33:05 > 0:33:10By the 1960s, though, Britain's economy was on the rise.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13A new motorway system was being built,
0:33:13 > 0:33:17fuelling demand for ever more ambitious crossings.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20But how do you span a busy tidal estuary like this?
0:33:24 > 0:33:26With a box girder bridge.
0:33:26 > 0:33:32A tried and trusted design as far back as Victorian times.
0:33:32 > 0:33:33And with new materials
0:33:33 > 0:33:37and modern engineering, it seemed ideal for this coastal crossing.
0:33:39 > 0:33:41But how did it work?
0:33:42 > 0:33:45First off, I'll put down some pier supports.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48Now, I'll put down the road.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56But as you can see, it's actually quite flimsy.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58I could add extra layers to the bridge,
0:33:58 > 0:34:03but to make it sturdy enough to carry traffic safely
0:34:03 > 0:34:05is going to require a lot of material
0:34:05 > 0:34:06and it's going to get heavy.
0:34:08 > 0:34:11The top and bottom layers do most of the work,
0:34:11 > 0:34:15so in a box girder design, we remove the heavy material in the middle.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21I've actually added a little stiffener to keep
0:34:21 > 0:34:22the shape of the box.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25So if I put that on the piers now, you can see
0:34:25 > 0:34:30I have a structure which is lightweight, uses minimal material,
0:34:30 > 0:34:36but crucially, is strong, strong enough to carry plenty of traffic.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51That, at least, was the theory.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55But at Cleddau, construction was well under way when,
0:34:55 > 0:34:59on 2nd June, 1970, the unthinkable happened.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12At this point where the traffic now crosses the estuary,
0:35:12 > 0:35:14the bridge gave way.
0:35:14 > 0:35:16The box girder beneath me collapsed,
0:35:16 > 0:35:19plummeting almost 40 metres to the ground below.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22That's the equivalent of falling almost ten storeys.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33The disaster took a heavy human toll.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37Four men lost their lives, five more lay injured.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51Among them, 35-year-old Evan Phillips.
0:35:51 > 0:35:54His widow, Anne, still lives near the bridge
0:35:54 > 0:35:56in the town of Pembroke Dock.
0:35:56 > 0:35:58Put the flower on there.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02What are your memories of what happened that day?
0:36:02 > 0:36:06Well, I remember getting up in the morning and my little boy was
0:36:06 > 0:36:09hanging around his dad, he wouldn't leave his dad early
0:36:09 > 0:36:14in the morning, and he went off to work early and then in the afternoon
0:36:14 > 0:36:21I sat out in the garden on a blanket with my son and this friend of mine
0:36:21 > 0:36:28came down and she said, "The bridge has collapsed." And I thought...
0:36:28 > 0:36:35But I didn't know at that stage that Evan was on the bridge itself,
0:36:35 > 0:36:39and of course I didn't know until midnight. The police came with
0:36:39 > 0:36:45half a boot and they said, "Was your husband wearing these today?"
0:36:45 > 0:36:46And I said, "Yes."
0:36:48 > 0:36:52So, it was more or less confirmed then that it was Evan, you know.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57But the rest of it...
0:37:00 > 0:37:01..I'd rather forget.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09He was such a lovely man, you know, and I don't want people to forget.
0:37:16 > 0:37:20Cleddau's collapse changed for ever the lives of the families
0:37:20 > 0:37:22who lost loved ones.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24But worse was to come.
0:37:24 > 0:37:26The disaster here was just
0:37:26 > 0:37:31the first in a series of devastating bridge failures.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34Just a few months after the Cleddau Bridge came down,
0:37:34 > 0:37:38the Westgate Bridge near Melbourne in Australia fell,
0:37:38 > 0:37:41this time killing 35 people.
0:37:41 > 0:37:47Less than a year later, another collapse - Koblenz, Germany.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51The disaster at Cleddau had already sparked worldwide alarm.
0:37:53 > 0:37:57In Britain, the government halted box girder construction and even
0:37:57 > 0:38:01considered closing some of the new bridges built using the same design.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06What was going on?
0:38:07 > 0:38:09I'm going inside the bridge to find out.
0:38:12 > 0:38:17Wow, it's amazing, it's so much bigger inside than it looks,
0:38:17 > 0:38:20and being able to see straight down the centre as well just gives
0:38:20 > 0:38:24that real sense of space. It's like a hidden world in here.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31The box shape is clear,
0:38:31 > 0:38:34and you can see how the bridge is strengthened within.
0:38:36 > 0:38:42So, this is a diaphragm, it acts as a support inside the box girder
0:38:42 > 0:38:45a little bit like a supporting wall inside a house.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48It transfers the weight of the bridge itself
0:38:48 > 0:38:52and the roadway above and all those vehicles down through
0:38:52 > 0:38:56to the piers beneath me and into the ground below.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00But not all these supports are the same.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07Unlike the diaphragm over there,
0:39:07 > 0:39:12this one has been encased in solid concrete to give it extra support.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15But why did this superbly engineered bridge
0:39:15 > 0:39:18need such a substantial modification?
0:39:26 > 0:39:30Investigations into the bridge collapses
0:39:30 > 0:39:32uncovered a catalogue of failures.
0:39:32 > 0:39:34Consultant engineer William Day
0:39:34 > 0:39:37worked on the reconstruction at Cleddau.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44The fundamental problem was that people were pushing the materials
0:39:44 > 0:39:46and the theories to the limit.
0:39:46 > 0:39:50We had concepts and designs in the '50s and the '60s
0:39:50 > 0:39:54reliant on standards which were way out of date.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59The collapse here changed for ever the way in which
0:39:59 > 0:40:03we look at engineering, and we actually completely revisited
0:40:03 > 0:40:06the whole business of designing steel structures as a result.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12Box girder bridges were being expected to take ever greater
0:40:12 > 0:40:16stresses and strains, and at Cleddau,
0:40:16 > 0:40:19one element fundamentally failed.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22The enquiry revealed that a diaphragm,
0:40:22 > 0:40:25one of the supporting walls inside of the structure, simply wasn't
0:40:25 > 0:40:29strong enough to support the loads it was under during construction.
0:40:33 > 0:40:35And the results are pretty clear to see.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42Cleddau was the last major bridge to collapse in Britain.
0:40:42 > 0:40:47Its failure 45 years ago sparked action worldwide.
0:40:54 > 0:40:59Tragedy and innovation are woven into its very fabric.
0:40:59 > 0:41:04Today, the bridge stands proud, a monument to inventive engineering.
0:41:21 > 0:41:27At the wild edges of our islands, nature's ingenuity is clear to see.
0:41:40 > 0:41:46Here on Anglesey, plants and animals thrive by adapting.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50At South Stack, choughs use the cliffs for protection,
0:41:50 > 0:41:54returning to the same rocky niche year after year.
0:41:58 > 0:42:03And at Newborough, behind one of our most important dune systems,
0:42:03 > 0:42:09ravens and rare red squirrels thrive in a man-made pine forest.
0:42:13 > 0:42:18But I've come here to find out how human ingenuity working with
0:42:18 > 0:42:21nature wove a winning combination.
0:42:25 > 0:42:29This is one of the finest coastal dune systems in Britain.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32And it's here thanks to the strong westerly winds
0:42:32 > 0:42:36and a plentiful supply of sand.
0:42:36 > 0:42:41Together, they make a mesmerising, mobile landscape of shifting sands.
0:42:48 > 0:42:54Once, Newborough had been prized as fertile farmland,
0:42:54 > 0:42:59but in late medieval times, our coast was on the move.
0:42:59 > 0:43:04Freak weather all over Europe made wind-blown sand a real threat
0:43:04 > 0:43:09that could and did swallow coastal villages whole.
0:43:11 > 0:43:15Marram grass was the ingenious solution,
0:43:15 > 0:43:19planted to bind the dunes with its vigorous root system.
0:43:22 > 0:43:25Marram thrives in this harsh environment
0:43:25 > 0:43:28thanks to some adaptations.
0:43:28 > 0:43:32It has an in-rolled leaf which helps to prevent it from drying out
0:43:32 > 0:43:35and it keeps pace with dune growth
0:43:35 > 0:43:38by sending out new roots as it gets buried.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43At first, it was forbidden to cut the marram.
0:43:45 > 0:43:47But as the plant spread,
0:43:47 > 0:43:52locals found an inventive way of harnessing nature.
0:43:54 > 0:43:59By the 1700s, they'd created a thriving industry weaving
0:43:59 > 0:44:01goods from the grass.
0:44:03 > 0:44:06Weavers were still plying their trade on Anglesey
0:44:06 > 0:44:08well into the 20th century.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12- Hi, Nick.- Hi, Graham, very good to meet you.
0:44:12 > 0:44:16Graham Williams is Reserve Warden and keeper of the marram grass.
0:44:16 > 0:44:20- I've brought here a marram mat. - This is marram?
0:44:20 > 0:44:22This is marram grass, yes, that's right.
0:44:22 > 0:44:26Wow. It feels very durable, thick, tough. How old is this?
0:44:26 > 0:44:29- Probably 100 years old, something like that.- Terrific.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31And it's still here.
0:44:31 > 0:44:35Yeah, that lasts. That's lasted longer than any of my doormats.
0:44:35 > 0:44:37The marram mats proved so durable,
0:44:37 > 0:44:41they soon caught on with Anglesey's farmers.
0:44:41 > 0:44:46So here we have a "tas wair", a haystack, but on top of it we can
0:44:46 > 0:44:51see here there is grass matting made of marram grass, and this was to
0:44:51 > 0:44:56protect the crop in this inclement climate that we have here in Wales.
0:44:56 > 0:45:01It's a very, very clever adaptation to locally available raw material,
0:45:01 > 0:45:04isn't it? The idea of just going down to the beach and
0:45:04 > 0:45:07cropping marram grass and using it to keep your hay dry, really clever.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09It is clever and it just shows you
0:45:09 > 0:45:11how ingenious the Newborough people were.
0:45:18 > 0:45:21So, how do you harvest marram grass?
0:45:21 > 0:45:24It's a protected plant again now,
0:45:24 > 0:45:27but Graham is taking me to some that can be cut.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35Here we go, that looks OK, yeah.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38Let's see if I can succeed in harvesting a bit of marram.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48The harvested grass was arranged in upright heaps,
0:45:48 > 0:45:50known as stooks or gafrod.
0:45:53 > 0:45:55- Oh, look at that!- There you go.
0:45:55 > 0:45:58Magnificent, this is a work of art on a beautiful day.
0:45:58 > 0:45:59It is, isn't it?
0:46:08 > 0:46:14Today, just one person on Anglesey still weaves marram - Enid Mummery.
0:46:15 > 0:46:20Enid learned the craft from the last two weavers on the island.
0:46:20 > 0:46:24At 73 years old, she's determined to keep the skills alive.
0:46:26 > 0:46:27I'm plaiting some marram.
0:46:27 > 0:46:28It's a very beautiful plait,
0:46:28 > 0:46:31it looks as if it's got more than three strands in it.
0:46:31 > 0:46:36- It's one stalk, but it's got five in it, you see.- Ah, clever.
0:46:36 > 0:46:40You've got five and you bend it, bend it there
0:46:40 > 0:46:44- and then you feed it in from the other side, under.- Yes.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46- And over.- Oh, that's fiendishly difficult.
0:46:46 > 0:46:53Yes, well, that's how they did it, over and then under again
0:46:53 > 0:46:56until it runs out, but there's another one in there all the time.
0:46:56 > 0:46:58That's the principle of it.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01- You've got to be very dexterous, haven't you?- Yes.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07Weavers, all women, learned their trade young
0:47:07 > 0:47:12so their fingers would be nimble enough to overcome its intricacies.
0:47:12 > 0:47:17Once they've got these plaits the right length, then
0:47:17 > 0:47:21they used to sew them together, you see, with the marram again
0:47:21 > 0:47:23until they got the width of the mat.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28Marram was the ultimate adaptable material.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35Planting it had saved Newborough from the encroaching sand,
0:47:35 > 0:47:37and by harvesting the grass,
0:47:37 > 0:47:40this ingenious community worked with nature
0:47:40 > 0:47:45to create a craft that sustained them for hundreds of years.
0:48:00 > 0:48:05Our coast - a magnet for new ideas.
0:48:05 > 0:48:10But why does inspiration so often strike at these outlying edges?
0:48:14 > 0:48:20As an island nation, times of conflict often inspire invention.
0:48:20 > 0:48:25Our shoreline is awash with ingenious defences.
0:48:27 > 0:48:31But in the open seas, war is a cat and mouse game,
0:48:31 > 0:48:35staying unseen as vital as firepower.
0:48:38 > 0:48:42At Portsmouth Naval Base, Dick's finding out how,
0:48:42 > 0:48:45before radar and computer technology,
0:48:45 > 0:48:48a bright idea from the world of art
0:48:48 > 0:48:51helped hide our ships in plain sight.
0:48:53 > 0:48:56I'm an ex-military man, I understand camouflage on the land.
0:48:56 > 0:49:00Soldiers have been hiding themselves for centuries.
0:49:00 > 0:49:02But when it comes to coastal camouflage,
0:49:02 > 0:49:04is there more to that than meets the eye?
0:49:04 > 0:49:06How do you disguise something like this?!
0:49:21 > 0:49:26These days, the Navy relies on hi-tech solutions to stay hidden.
0:49:26 > 0:49:31But in the First World War, once spotted, ships were easy targets.
0:49:37 > 0:49:41By 1917, Germany declared unrestricted war at sea,
0:49:41 > 0:49:43targeting all shipping.
0:49:45 > 0:49:49U-boats, wolves of the sea, prowled the English Channel
0:49:49 > 0:49:51on the lookout for merchant vessels.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59Britain faced starvation.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01What could protect our ships?
0:50:01 > 0:50:06This man, Norman Wilkinson, looked in a really unlikely direction -
0:50:06 > 0:50:08to art.
0:50:08 > 0:50:11I want to see how on earth art could save our fleet.
0:50:14 > 0:50:19Marine artist Norman Wilkinson was on active service when art
0:50:19 > 0:50:24and his experience of the sea inspired a radical idea.
0:50:24 > 0:50:26It would revolutionise naval camouflage.
0:50:31 > 0:50:35At the turn of the century, art was embracing the new.
0:50:35 > 0:50:39Distorted images were all the rage.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46One movement, called vorticism, stunned Norman.
0:50:46 > 0:50:51It exploded on the art world as war began,
0:50:51 > 0:50:54using startling optical tricks to confuse the eye.
0:50:56 > 0:50:58This gave him a brainwave.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03It was pointless trying to hide a huge warship by blending in.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07So why not do the complete opposite? Paint it bright, vivid patterns.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14By painting ships with these dazzling shapes,
0:51:14 > 0:51:18he thought they'd be harder to target.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20He named it dazzle camouflage.
0:51:25 > 0:51:29I'm meeting his granddaughter to find out more.
0:51:29 > 0:51:30What sort of a man was he?
0:51:30 > 0:51:36Oh, brilliant, very amusing, very charismatic, very determined.
0:51:36 > 0:51:38Was it that determination that made him successful
0:51:38 > 0:51:40- where other people weren't?- Oh, yes, yes.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43He drew some sketches which he took to the Admiralty,
0:51:43 > 0:51:45and said, "I think this would work."
0:51:45 > 0:51:49"Oh, no, no, no. Rubbish, won't work." "I think it will work."
0:51:49 > 0:51:52I assume during that period he must have been completely...
0:51:52 > 0:51:54Completely focused, completely focused.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56Just so determined to get this to work
0:51:56 > 0:51:59and to get people to understand what he was trying to say.
0:52:02 > 0:52:08In one month of 1917 alone, U-boats sank almost half a million tonnes
0:52:08 > 0:52:10of shipping.
0:52:10 > 0:52:13The Navy desperately needed a big idea.
0:52:14 > 0:52:17Had Norman Wilkinson found the answer?
0:52:17 > 0:52:21With his team of artists, he set to work.
0:52:21 > 0:52:26In their studio, they used a periscope and turntable to see
0:52:26 > 0:52:29whether dazzle really could baffle the enemy.
0:52:34 > 0:52:36The theory was simple.
0:52:36 > 0:52:41In nature, contrasting stripes distort and confuse.
0:52:41 > 0:52:45On the move, it's hard to tell the outline of one zebra from another.
0:52:45 > 0:52:48With inspiration from the vorticists,
0:52:48 > 0:52:51Norman took this a vital step further,
0:52:51 > 0:52:55painting ships not to just confuse, but mislead the eye.
0:52:57 > 0:52:59Nick, lovely to meet you.
0:52:59 > 0:53:01'Nick Scott-Samuel studied the technique.'
0:53:01 > 0:53:03I suppose my first question's got to be,
0:53:03 > 0:53:05what did the dazzle camouflage actually do?
0:53:05 > 0:53:09Basically, you've got a series of perceptual tricks which
0:53:09 > 0:53:12fool the observer into seeing something that isn't really there.
0:53:12 > 0:53:14So I've got some examples here.
0:53:14 > 0:53:16You can see there's the before and after picture.
0:53:16 > 0:53:20Huge difference there, cos this is really confusing.
0:53:20 > 0:53:22Yeah, the pattern here is made up of thin stripes,
0:53:22 > 0:53:24then over here it gets to thicker stripes,
0:53:24 > 0:53:27and that's a very strong cue to how far away things are.
0:53:27 > 0:53:29If things are small, we think they're far away.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32- If they're big, they're close? - Exactly.
0:53:32 > 0:53:34I don't know which way around that is.
0:53:34 > 0:53:35If that was sailing straight past you,
0:53:35 > 0:53:37you'd think that bit was further away
0:53:37 > 0:53:39than that bit in the middle there, so it changes the angle.
0:53:39 > 0:53:44If you're trying to work out where to take up position to fire a torpedo, you'll be in the wrong place.
0:53:49 > 0:53:53In the heat of battle, submarine commanders had just seconds
0:53:53 > 0:53:55to glimpse and get a fix on their target,
0:53:55 > 0:53:58before they too risked being seen.
0:54:00 > 0:54:04It was no easy task, and dazzle was designed to make it harder.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10Now, with Nick's help, I'm going to see
0:54:10 > 0:54:12if I can torpedo my very own destroyer.
0:54:15 > 0:54:21I've got a scaled-down dazzle boat and a makeshift submarine.
0:54:21 > 0:54:22My assignment?
0:54:22 > 0:54:26To gauge distance and direction accurately and in seconds,
0:54:26 > 0:54:29just like a U-boat commander.
0:54:29 > 0:54:33To start with, the target's stationary.
0:54:33 > 0:54:39- OK, here we go.- You've got three seconds, and up periscope. And down.
0:54:39 > 0:54:43Now I've got to plot on the map which way it's facing.
0:54:43 > 0:54:46- Happy with your choice?- Nope.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49Right, could be like that.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52No, I'm going to stick with the first one, I'd say it was like that.
0:54:52 > 0:54:55You reckon it was like that? It's the wrong orientation.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58I was a jaw-dropping 45 degrees out!
0:54:58 > 0:55:00A waste of a torpedo.
0:55:00 > 0:55:02Right, now the dazzle boat's moving. Again, I want you to tell me
0:55:02 > 0:55:05which direction it's going in, it's going around a course.
0:55:05 > 0:55:07- OK.- Are you ready? - Yeah, I'm ready.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10And up periscope.
0:55:10 > 0:55:12And down.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15I think it's going that way, I need to look again
0:55:15 > 0:55:19but it did seem shorter, so I'm assuming it's coming towards me.
0:55:19 > 0:55:21By now, I could have been spotted.
0:55:24 > 0:55:25It's not that easy!
0:55:29 > 0:55:31Finally, I'm on target,
0:55:31 > 0:55:34but now enemy destroyers have me in their sight.
0:55:38 > 0:55:40Looking at my performance there, I think the dazzle camouflage
0:55:40 > 0:55:43confused me enough that the captain would be quite grumpy with me.
0:55:43 > 0:55:46Yes, it would have been enough for you to have not been
0:55:46 > 0:55:47in the right place to fire a torpedo.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50That is quite impressive, the dazzle camouflage worked.
0:55:56 > 0:55:59Both British and US navies dazzled the Germans
0:55:59 > 0:56:01with their painted ships.
0:56:03 > 0:56:07After the war, a Royal Commission on awards to inventors gave
0:56:07 > 0:56:09Norman £2,000 for his ingenuity.
0:56:11 > 0:56:13Norman Wilkinson came up
0:56:13 > 0:56:17with one of the most ingenious innovations in our coastal history.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20Standing out saved our ships.
0:56:20 > 0:56:21Simply dazzling.
0:56:33 > 0:56:37MUSIC: Calm Sea And Prosperous Voyage by Mendelssohn.
0:56:44 > 0:56:49On my coastal exploration, I've seen how our shores offer
0:56:49 > 0:56:51challenges that nurture ingenuity.
0:57:04 > 0:57:08Sea and shore together inspire creativity.
0:57:09 > 0:57:14Mendelssohn composed this overture in praise of calm seas
0:57:14 > 0:57:16and a prosperous voyage.
0:57:20 > 0:57:25On Anglesey, the music of the waves is never far away.
0:57:25 > 0:57:30But at Cemaes Bay, it's the sea that's composing its own song.
0:57:33 > 0:57:35BELL RINGS
0:57:42 > 0:57:48St Patrick's time and tide bell, one of 12 around our shores,
0:57:48 > 0:57:52designed to remind us of rising sea levels.
0:57:58 > 0:58:01The sea makes the bells sing with each tide.
0:58:01 > 0:58:03It's a constantly changing tune,
0:58:03 > 0:58:07and in the words of the artist who designed it,
0:58:07 > 0:58:09it's a piece of music that never ends.
0:58:16 > 0:58:19But with the song of the sea ringing in my ears,
0:58:19 > 0:58:24my journey on this island's coastal path has come to an end.
0:58:28 > 0:58:33I've discovered my own isle of wonders here on Anglesey.
0:58:33 > 0:58:39The rise and fall of tides echoes the ebb and flow of ingenious ideas
0:58:39 > 0:58:42that we find all around our shores.
0:58:42 > 0:58:47Here on our salty margins, we look out, not in.
0:58:47 > 0:58:49No barriers, no limits,
0:58:49 > 0:58:55it's here on our coasts that the waves of creativity first break.