0:00:17 > 0:00:21Down there is the mouth of the Ouse,
0:00:21 > 0:00:24and spread out all around me are the dramatic sandy beaches,
0:00:24 > 0:00:29mudflats and salt marshes of East Anglia, the most eastern edge of the country.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34It's a coast where land and sea merge.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38This is a mysterious landscape that doesn't easily yield its secrets.
0:00:38 > 0:00:44Helping me to unearth them is our usual team of experts.
0:00:44 > 0:00:51Nick Crane is coming back to his home county to explore the biggest threat to this part of the coast.
0:00:52 > 0:00:57Hermione Cockburn uncovers the forgotten history of the people
0:00:57 > 0:01:02who intercepted enemy radio messages during the Second World War.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06Mark Horton's going to the most easterly point of Britain
0:01:06 > 0:01:12to discover the history, and the future, of the great British pier.
0:01:12 > 0:01:18And me? I'm investigating a top secret site of Cold War espionage.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21Welcome to Coast.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51On this journey, I'm tracing the coast of East Anglia.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54The 130-mile journey will take me from King's Lynn
0:01:54 > 0:01:58along the most easterly edge of Britain, to Felixstowe.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05Norfolk and Suffolk are often regarded as remote, even isolated.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09On this journey I'm going to explore how being away from prying eyes
0:02:09 > 0:02:14has affected every single aspect of life on this coast.
0:02:19 > 0:02:24My adventure starts here, in the ancient port of King's Lynn.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29Today, King's Lynn may not seem like a vibrant metropolis.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32It may not even seem that coastal.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35But for over 600 years it was both.
0:02:35 > 0:02:40In the time before we, as a nation, were in thrall to the New World in America, in the west,
0:02:40 > 0:02:44the fascination lay with Europe in the east,
0:02:44 > 0:02:49and King's Lynn became the port connecting Britain to the known world,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53and bringing the best of Europe to us.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58Unlike today, 800 years ago King's Lynn sat on a wide estuary,
0:02:58 > 0:03:04with easy access to the bustling trade routes out in the North Sea.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07It's hard to imagine, but from the 12th century,
0:03:07 > 0:03:11Lynn was one of the most important international ports in the country.
0:03:11 > 0:03:16These figures give an indication of the kind of money we're talking about.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Between July 1322 and October 1323,
0:03:19 > 0:03:24over £6,000 worth of goods passed through the port.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29That may not sound like much, but 800 years ago
0:03:29 > 0:03:34those figures meant that King's Lynn ranked as Britain's third port.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38And such was its status that, along with only seven other ports in the country,
0:03:38 > 0:03:42the most significant international trade organisation of the day,
0:03:42 > 0:03:45the Hanseatic League, began operating from here.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Like a medieval precursor to the EU, the Hanseatic League
0:03:51 > 0:03:54linked traders in the major Baltic cities of Europe,
0:03:54 > 0:03:59and stretched as far east as Novgorod in Russia.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04Offering protection from piracy and negotiations on trade agreements,
0:04:04 > 0:04:06being part of the league was big-time.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13In the 15th century, this lane would have been thronging
0:04:13 > 0:04:16with traders selling everything from timber to fish.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23For over 800 years, King's Lynn played host to traders from all over Europe,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27and today there are still echoes of that illustrious past.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33It's just that sometimes you have to look pretty hard to find them.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40But it's not only King's Lynn where things aren't quite what they seem.
0:04:43 > 0:04:49The intricate patterns of salt marsh and the stretches of sandy beach look peaceful today,
0:04:49 > 0:04:51yet they hide a history of flooding.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59One terrible night in 1953, a catastrophic flood
0:04:59 > 0:05:02devastated communities all along the east coast,
0:05:02 > 0:05:08from as far north as the Humber Estuary all the way to Deal in Kent.
0:05:08 > 0:05:13More than 300 people lost their lives.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20In Old Hunstanton, Nick Crane is investigating
0:05:20 > 0:05:24what causes this benign-looking coast to turn nasty.
0:05:27 > 0:05:32In September 2006, television news reported that catastrophic floods
0:05:32 > 0:05:38like those in 1953 were threatening to hit north Norfolk again.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44- NEWSREADER: - Parts of the Norfolk coast are at particularly high risk of flooding,
0:05:44 > 0:05:46according to the Environment Agency.
0:05:46 > 0:05:5050 flood sirens across Norfolk were tested this morning.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Volunteer flood wardens, like Dave Bocking,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57were mobilised on the days between the 6th and the 13th of September.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00Residents waited anxiously.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04With the same high tides predicted as those in 1953,
0:06:04 > 0:06:07disaster seemed a very real possibility.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11This is a first trial of the high tide warnings.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15It looks as though we're going to get away with it.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19But, as everybody knows, the seas can change very quickly.
0:06:20 > 0:06:27This is Monday, and the tide is now full in again.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30And it is completely unbelievable
0:06:30 > 0:06:34that we've got a tide of this size, and it's so calm.
0:06:35 > 0:06:40To investigate why this coast didn't suffer the catastrophic floods that many had predicted,
0:06:40 > 0:06:46tidal expert Philip Woodworth has brought some high-tech equipment from his lab.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48- Nice to meet you.- Nice to meet you.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51Why was coastal Norfolk on high alert?
0:06:51 > 0:06:54It was on a high alert because there was a predicted high tide
0:06:54 > 0:06:56from the moon and the sun.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59But what people were really worried about
0:06:59 > 0:07:02was the bit that comes on top.
0:07:02 > 0:07:07That's due to the weather, and that's the bit which cannot be predicted a long time in advance.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11Philip's promised me that a bucket, a hosepipe and some water
0:07:11 > 0:07:15are enough to show the dramatic effect of weather on sea level.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20- That's probably enough.- Right.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23- So if you can put your foot on the tube there, Nick.- OK.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27And we'll invent the manometer, or water barometer.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30- So you're tipping in North Sea.- I'm tipping in part of the North Sea.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34- It's rising up the other side. - That's probably enough.- OK, there it is.- Excellent.
0:07:34 > 0:07:39- So the water's at the same height in both sides of the tube.- That's right.
0:07:39 > 0:07:44- Suck at this end of the tube. - What will that be representing, by sucking into that?
0:07:44 > 0:07:48That will reduce the pressure in this part of the tube.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52And if you can put your thumb over the end when you feel ready.
0:07:52 > 0:07:57OK, excellent. We have here a difference in the water level here,
0:07:57 > 0:08:01in this part of the tube down to here, of a good 50 centimetres.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04Now this corresponds almost exactly to 50 millibars.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06A millibar is the unit of air pressure.
0:08:06 > 0:08:11- So it's one centimetre per millibar. - It's an accident of units, almost. An easy thing to remember.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15Now the same effect will happen in the ocean.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19And as the air pressure drops, as it does during storms in the winter,
0:08:19 > 0:08:24the air pressure alone will cause the sea level to rise.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27Or conversely, as the air pressure gets higher,
0:08:27 > 0:08:30that will lower the sea level because it pushes it somewhere else.
0:08:30 > 0:08:36And that's exactly what happened to prevent the predicted floods of 2006.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40The weather was good, atmospheric pressure was comparatively high,
0:08:40 > 0:08:41pushing the sea level down,
0:08:41 > 0:08:46counteracting the effects of the very high tide.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50In January 1953, the opposite was true.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54A higher than usual tide coincided with low air pressure
0:08:54 > 0:08:56due to a deep depression out in the North Sea.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58It was the resulting sea level rise,
0:08:58 > 0:09:05combined with storm-force onshore winds, which caused the flooding disaster.
0:09:09 > 0:09:15Dave Bocking was 18 years old when the flood hit his village, Snettisham.
0:09:15 > 0:09:20It's an awesome feeling, to be involved in it.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22Not a good feeling, don't get me wrong.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26It's terrifying, very very terrifying.
0:09:26 > 0:09:31And I think that's one of the terrifyingest things
0:09:31 > 0:09:36you could ever come across, because the sea has no friends.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40You know, it will take whatever's in its path.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43A lot of my best friends all got drowned.
0:09:43 > 0:09:4629 people got drowned down here.
0:09:46 > 0:09:51This was why I became a flood warden, because I had seen it before.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53I come down sometimes,
0:09:53 > 0:09:56and sit and cry.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59I've done that many a time.
0:10:02 > 0:10:07For the time being, the flood warning sirens stay silent.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11But meteorologists predict that a high tide and a low-pressure weather system
0:10:11 > 0:10:15coincide at least once every 250 years.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20It's clear that this land is borrowed from the sea.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24One day soon, she may be back to claim it.
0:10:37 > 0:10:43Along most of the coastline of Britain, the break between the land and the sea is really stark.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45Steep cliffs and crashing waves, that kind of thing.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48But here in Norfolk, it's completely different.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51The line between the land and sea is changing all the time.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55Every time you turn around here, it's moved and crept up behind you.
0:10:55 > 0:11:00Sometimes it feels hard to say where the one ends and the other begins.
0:11:00 > 0:11:05And that's what lends this part of Norfolk its unique character.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10The villages, like here at Wells-next-the-Sea,
0:11:10 > 0:11:16are often set a long way back, with inlet harbours their only link to the coast.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23Because of the fast-moving tide,
0:11:23 > 0:11:27much of this stretch is dangerous to investigate on foot.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31But, from the next harbour along,
0:11:31 > 0:11:36countless boat trips take visitors out to explore the landscape and wildlife round here.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46Amongst the tourists is Tim Collins from English Nature.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51This is one of the most fantastic places in the whole country
0:11:51 > 0:11:55for wildlife. It's got a rich mosaic of habitats.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59Although there's a lot of yachts and boats, the coast here is actually
0:11:59 > 0:12:02not tamed by man in the same way we see in a lot of other places.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05This is what's called a barrier coast.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09There's a long line of sandy islands with salt marshes behind them,
0:12:09 > 0:12:11and it's that juxtaposition,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15the different types of habitat, that have brought the wildlife in.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19- So far the wildlife and the visitors are co-existing?- Absolutely.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Seals are naturally curious. They like seeing people.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24They stick their heads up and have a look!
0:12:24 > 0:12:29And it's the promise of seeing seals that draws many of the visitors here.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Wow, look! There's hundreds of them.
0:12:35 > 0:12:40I thought they'd all just go in the water as soon as we turned up. But they're not bothered.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Not bothered in the slightest.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47The colony that lives and breeds here numbers around 500.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52Unusually, it's made up of both common and the larger grey seals.
0:12:52 > 0:12:57It's rare to find them living in the same place, so seeing them together is a treat.
0:13:03 > 0:13:07From the nature reserve here, my journey continues east.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14The sandbanks give way to shingle and miles more salt marsh...
0:13:17 > 0:13:20..and at Sherringham, even some small cliffs.
0:13:22 > 0:13:28The elevated position of Beeston Hump makes it a dominant feature of the landscape.
0:13:28 > 0:13:34But during the Second World War this vantage point had a very practical purpose.
0:13:35 > 0:13:41Hermione Cockburn is uncovering the story of a group of forgotten war heroes.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47It is hard to imagine today that on this hill overlooking the sea
0:13:47 > 0:13:51there was a top-secret military listening post
0:13:51 > 0:13:53that was vital to our success in the Second World War.
0:13:55 > 0:14:00During the war, the waters off this coast were patrolled by Nazi ships
0:14:00 > 0:14:06and the position of Sheringham made it an ideal spot to spy on them.
0:14:08 > 0:14:13That spying was done using radio listening posts known as Y stations.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19Today, there's almost no physical evidence of what was here,
0:14:19 > 0:14:22but with the help of experts from the Open University,
0:14:22 > 0:14:25and military communication specialist Malcolm Howard,
0:14:25 > 0:14:29I'm going to discover what it must have been like up here during the war.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34It would have looked like that.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38A wooden tower, 12 feet across at the base and about 30 feet high.
0:14:38 > 0:14:43The concrete base it was fixed to was exactly the same as over there.
0:14:43 > 0:14:44That octagonal shape?
0:14:44 > 0:14:46Yes, exactly the same.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49This is an ideal place for it to be,
0:14:49 > 0:14:54because these listening towers needed height to get the distance.
0:14:54 > 0:15:00Knowing what it looked like is one thing, but I want to understand how it worked too.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04While Fraser Robertson and Peter Seabrook from the Open University
0:15:04 > 0:15:07set up their modern day Y station antenna,
0:15:07 > 0:15:13I want to talk to someone who actually worked at Beeston Hump during the war.
0:15:13 > 0:15:18Not far from Sherringham lives former Y station operator, Joy Hale.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22So Joy, tell me what did you do in the war?
0:15:22 > 0:15:24Oh, that's a long story.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29You all know, of course, about Bletchley Park
0:15:29 > 0:15:31and how they broke the Enigma code
0:15:31 > 0:15:35so that they could read all the German secret signals,
0:15:35 > 0:15:39but they never said where they got the secret signals from, did they?
0:15:39 > 0:15:41That was what we did.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45It was our job to intercept the Germans' radio signals,
0:15:45 > 0:15:50write these signals down and get them to the right place for action.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54So you were literally listening in to what the Germans were doing?
0:15:54 > 0:15:56- Day and night. - What were you listening for?
0:15:56 > 0:15:58What did you actually hear?
0:15:58 > 0:16:03- Morse.- Right, so it wasn't language? - Oh yes, language as well.
0:16:03 > 0:16:09With the E-boats, the fast motor boats that the Germans sent over, didn't use the codes,
0:16:09 > 0:16:14so when they operated, they used as a call sign
0:16:14 > 0:16:17the Christian name of the commanding officer.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21So you'd get "Friedrich, this is Gunther."
0:16:21 > 0:16:24"Gunther, this is Wolfgang," you see.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28From that you knew who they were and how many there were.
0:16:28 > 0:16:33You also had to listen to what they were saying and find out what they were doing, you see.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36If they talked about torpedoes and things,
0:16:36 > 0:16:40you knew they were waiting for the convoy to come and set about them.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43If they talked about mines then there was obviously no convoy around
0:16:43 > 0:16:47and they were gonna plant the mines down on the convoy route
0:16:47 > 0:16:50so they bumped into them next time round.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53So it was very important that we should get it right.
0:16:53 > 0:16:59Joy and others like her supplied vital information to military command
0:16:59 > 0:17:02and the code breakers at Bletchley Park.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06But Y stations were about more than just intercepting messages.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10They could also pinpoint the location from where they were sent.
0:17:12 > 0:17:17Back on Beeston Hump, Open University scientists Fraser and Peter
0:17:17 > 0:17:21have finished constructing their modern day H aerial.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25They're going to show me how, in addition to listening in to an enemy broadcast,
0:17:25 > 0:17:28you can find out where it's coming from.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32What the H aerial does is combine two aerials,
0:17:32 > 0:17:36and the signals from the two aerials are phased together
0:17:36 > 0:17:39such they add in one direction and subtract in the other direction.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42In fact I've got a plot of the aerial here.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44The plot of the aerial's performance
0:17:44 > 0:17:48shows that there are two definite points, known as nulls,
0:17:48 > 0:17:50where its reception is weakest.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53These are the best points to use for direction-finding,
0:17:53 > 0:17:57because you adjust the aerial for the minimum signal rather than the maximum signal.
0:17:57 > 0:18:03To demonstrate the operation of the direction-finding aerial, Fraser and Peter
0:18:03 > 0:18:08are going to listen for the signal from a radio transmitter.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10Right, we're all set up here.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15Our transmitter is broadcasting a simple tone.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18Turn the aerial, please, and I'll look for the null on the receiver.
0:18:18 > 0:18:24By turning the H aerial away from the direction of the transmitter,
0:18:24 > 0:18:26the reception gets weaker.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29OK, just come back a bit.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35The received signal is weakest at the null point, where the aerial is
0:18:35 > 0:18:39pointing at right angles to where the transmission is coming from.
0:18:39 > 0:18:40Right, that's about there.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45I make that bearing one-zero-five.
0:18:45 > 0:18:53One-zero-five, OK. So, if I get that on the compass, then line up the grid. There we are.
0:18:53 > 0:18:59- Some we know that the signal is coming from somewhere along this line in that direction.- That's right.
0:18:59 > 0:19:00But how do you know where?
0:19:00 > 0:19:07To triangulate, what in fact we do, we have another DF station.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10- So that's another Y station? - Another one, that gives us another
0:19:10 > 0:19:17bearing on the same transmission and where they cross, that indicates the position of the transmitter.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21So, to get an exact fix, you need at least two direction-finding stations.
0:19:21 > 0:19:28On this stretch of coast alone, there were nine Y stations
0:19:28 > 0:19:31relaying bearings to a team in regional headquarters.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35- This is the Triangulation Table. - So that's the equivalent of our map, essentially?
0:19:35 > 0:19:40Yes, we have five plotters. Each one has a string connecting
0:19:40 > 0:19:45to the various directional finding stations, all pulling the strings out on the bearings given,
0:19:45 > 0:19:47and where they all cross,
0:19:47 > 0:19:52it fixes the position of the hostile aircraft or boat out at sea.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55During the Second World War,
0:19:55 > 0:20:00nearly 8,000 men and women worked in Y stations,
0:20:00 > 0:20:02both in the UK and around the world.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07Their work provided vital information about the location of the enemy
0:20:07 > 0:20:12and the raw material for the code breakers at Bletchley Park.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17After the war, in the interests of national security, the Y stations
0:20:17 > 0:20:22were deliberately dismantled, leaving little evidence that they'd ever existed.
0:20:25 > 0:20:31Today, Bletchley Park keeps a list of where former Y stations were,
0:20:31 > 0:20:34but they're not sure it's complete.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38So what's needed is for more people to come forward and tell their stories
0:20:38 > 0:20:42so these forgotten bits of history can be remembered.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55Cromer is believed to have had the first pier in the country, built in 1391.
0:20:58 > 0:21:04This one, dating from 1901, is home to another great coastal tradition,
0:21:04 > 0:21:06the crabbing competition.
0:21:06 > 0:21:11My name's Tony Shipp and I'm chairman of the Cromer Carnival Committee.
0:21:11 > 0:21:16I've been running the crab competition now for 35 years.
0:21:16 > 0:21:22OVER MEGAPHONE: It's carnival week, we've got cash prizes this morning. So, well worth going for.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25First prize will be £10 and the second £5.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29So we'll make a start with the competition.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31HOOTER SOUNDS
0:21:32 > 0:21:36The first two groups are for handlines only.
0:21:36 > 0:21:43Class 3 is for anyone fishing with a net.
0:21:43 > 0:21:48The exciting bit is seeing children who come down for the first time actually pull a crab out of the sea,
0:21:48 > 0:21:53something that's living that they've probably never seen before.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55Where's the fish bait?
0:21:55 > 0:21:57They're put in a bucket of sea water.
0:21:57 > 0:22:02When the bucket starts to get a bit too full we put them back in the sea
0:22:02 > 0:22:06I expect some of them are caught several times over this morning.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09You do have to watch out for cheating, I'm afraid.
0:22:09 > 0:22:14Not only from the children but also from the adults.
0:22:14 > 0:22:20OK, folks, you've got one minute now to get your crabs down to the table.
0:22:22 > 0:22:28The winners of our net class are Hannah and Olivia with 102 crabs.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30APPLAUSE
0:22:30 > 0:22:34Catching crabs off Cromer Pier, I can't ever see stopping because, I think, it's one of
0:22:34 > 0:22:39those things that is part of the seaside and coming down to Cromer.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43It's the hunter instinct in the human race which will go on forever, I'm sure.
0:22:49 > 0:22:54Leaving north Norfolk behind, the nature of this coast really begins to change.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00Beyond Cromer, the traditional ribbon of tourist-friendly beaches
0:23:00 > 0:23:05is very different from the wide open expanse of north Norfolk sand.
0:23:08 > 0:23:15Of all the holiday resorts along this coast, without doubt, Great Yarmouth must be the most famous.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19Pleasant though this is, all the fun of the fair wouldn't
0:23:19 > 0:23:26normally be enough to entice me down from Scotland, but 60 years ago, Scotsmen and women were drawn to
0:23:26 > 0:23:31Yarmouth in droves and they weren't coming for the Kiss Me Quick hats or a walk along the pier either.
0:23:32 > 0:23:38Squeezed along the mouth of the river Yar, Yarmouth wasn't always for the tourists.
0:23:38 > 0:23:43By the early 1900s, it was part of the largest herring fishery in the world.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49Sam Smith remembers how the lives of local people, and my fellow Scots,
0:23:49 > 0:23:53were inextricably linked to those of the herring.
0:23:53 > 0:23:58The boats would probably go away and fish up as far as the Shetlands and
0:23:58 > 0:24:02then come south, as the shoals used to come south,
0:24:02 > 0:24:05so by the end of the summer the herring are
0:24:05 > 0:24:07starting to come into the North Sea.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11The whole Scottish fleet would come down to Yarmouth
0:24:11 > 0:24:17and Yarmouth would be chock-a-block with Scotsmen, Englishmen, a good mix, you know.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20This part here would be full of fishing boats - drifters.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22Probably 1,000 boats, you know.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26Ten men in a crew, can you imagine? All ships both sides of the river.
0:24:26 > 0:24:31There were so many boats that they couldn't lay flat to the quay so they put their noses to the quay.
0:24:31 > 0:24:36Yarmouth boats were more or less company owned, but the Scotsmen, they were family boats, you know.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39Their boats were precious to the crew.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42If you damaged them trying to push yourself in...
0:24:42 > 0:24:45Would there be a frank exchange of views?
0:24:45 > 0:24:48That pub used to be like John Wayne, you know.
0:24:48 > 0:24:53They used to have swinging doors there and they used to be flying out the doors.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55Big wellie boots on, you know.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58On a Saturday morning this was the best place to be, you know.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02Talking to Sam, it's clear that when his dad was fishing here,
0:25:02 > 0:25:06every aspect of life in Yarmouth revolved around the herring.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12But the fishermen's growing skill in catching fish
0:25:12 > 0:25:15hid the fact that herring stocks couldn't last forever.
0:25:15 > 0:25:20# And he cried, "Drifting's finished so who'll pay the rent?"
0:25:20 > 0:25:23# In this windy old weather
0:25:23 > 0:25:25# Stormy old weather... #
0:25:25 > 0:25:29The end of a whole way of life comes down to this.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32A story told by numbers on a balance sheet.
0:25:32 > 0:25:37In 1913, the total number of herring landing in Yarmouth
0:25:37 > 0:25:40was 820,000 crans, or baskets.
0:25:40 > 0:25:46In 1957, that figure had fallen by almost 750,000 baskets.
0:25:47 > 0:25:54With the fish gone, the herring industry collapsed and this once-thriving quayside fell silent.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57But not for long...
0:25:57 > 0:26:00AMERICAN ACCENT: This port was a dead pigeon six months ago.
0:26:00 > 0:26:05Where we're standing now was a derelict herring reduction plant
0:26:05 > 0:26:09that had been beyond operation some ten years.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13To understand how American accents came to replace the Scottish ones in Yarmouth
0:26:13 > 0:26:16I met up with local engineer, Chris Nolan.
0:26:16 > 0:26:201965 was the first find of gas off Great Yarmouth.
0:26:20 > 0:26:25There was a massive influx of Americans, of equipment,
0:26:25 > 0:26:27over the next few years and money.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31It was the new frontier. We're out there exploring.
0:26:31 > 0:26:37It's in the North Sea. It's a hostile environment and here we are to bring home the gas and it was exciting.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39It was exciting at the time.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42If we had a really big strike off the east coast here,
0:26:42 > 0:26:45it would look very similar to the Gulf of Mexico.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49It could look like a continuous city from Great Yarmouth
0:26:49 > 0:26:51to the Hook of Holland and the Norwegian coast.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54That massive find never came.
0:26:54 > 0:27:01But today there are still more than 100 platforms scattered across the southern North Sea.
0:27:02 > 0:27:07You've got this place located in the middle of a sea. It's isolated.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11So everything that it needs in terms to run it, from toilet paper,
0:27:11 > 0:27:15to the drill pipe that they put down, food...
0:27:15 > 0:27:19everything that goes to an offshore platform comes from onshore. Including the newspapers.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22So the local newsagents would benefit.
0:27:22 > 0:27:27There is in excess of 100 sailings a month out to the platforms in the southern North Sea.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30So Great Yarmouth is the hub for what is happening out there?
0:27:30 > 0:27:31It is. Very much so.
0:27:34 > 0:27:39Today, the harbour that once teemed with myriad small fishing boats
0:27:39 > 0:27:42is dominated by the big supply ships.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48But a few fishermen like Paul Lines still fight on.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58I'm almost surprised to find myself on a fishing boat out of Yarmouth.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01Well, there is an active fishing fleet left in Yarmouth.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04But if we can get other work, we take it.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07We know we're going to get a wage from that.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09Fishing is still a precarious business.
0:28:09 > 0:28:16Instead of herring, much of Paul's earnings now come from servicing North Sea gas rigs.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18And these.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20I've only ever seen these things from a distance.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24And to be right up close and underneath that turbine blade when
0:28:24 > 0:28:28it's coming round, it is breathtaking.
0:28:28 > 0:28:33We really opposed that wind farm because we thought it was going to disrupt our fishing.
0:28:33 > 0:28:37But we naturally found that we lent ourself to doing that sort of work,
0:28:37 > 0:28:40and my boat was taking people out there and doing survey work
0:28:40 > 0:28:43and there was a whole new ball game for us.
0:28:43 > 0:28:48Given the various ways of making a living from the sea, what would you rather be doing?
0:28:48 > 0:28:53I'd rather be fishing every day. I love fishing. I always have loved it.
0:28:53 > 0:28:54And I think I always will.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58But to put bread on the table, you have to do other things.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02Time and again, I've heard that story of pragmatism.
0:29:02 > 0:29:07People finding different ways of making their living from the sea.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11It seems that the key to Yarmouth's survival is adaptability.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14And even if the locals are a little unwilling at first,
0:29:14 > 0:29:19their ability to make the best of new arrivals and their new ideas.
0:29:30 > 0:29:35Beyond Great Yarmouth, we leave Norfolk behind and arrive in Suffolk.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37"The land of the south folk".
0:29:37 > 0:29:40And the other half of this great East Anglian journey.
0:29:42 > 0:29:46In Lowestoft, Mark Horton is up with the larks
0:29:46 > 0:29:53to investigate the perilous state of one of the British seaside's most beloved institutions - the pier.
0:29:56 > 0:30:01Lowestoft is the most easterly point of our islands.
0:30:01 > 0:30:05Every morning the sun hits this bit of the country first.
0:30:06 > 0:30:11And when you actually get out here, you want to go out and greet the sun!
0:30:13 > 0:30:20Being at the seaside, the easiest way of getting that little bit closer is by going to the end of a pier.
0:30:22 > 0:30:28For the last 150 years, they have been a vital part of our seaside architecture.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33But we're losing them fast.
0:30:33 > 0:30:37Since the 1970s, 11 piers have been lost completely.
0:30:37 > 0:30:43While others, like Lowestoft's Claremont pier, still struggle on.
0:30:43 > 0:30:50To find out exactly what state it's in, the owner, David Scott, offered to give me a guided tour.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53Hello, David! Can we go inside your pier?
0:30:53 > 0:30:55Come on in!
0:30:55 > 0:30:58How many generations has it been in your family?
0:30:58 > 0:31:01Three generations, Mark, actually.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04- A real responsibility! - Huge responsibility!
0:31:04 > 0:31:08- Surely these machines make sackloads of money?- Not bags of money, Mark.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10It used to be bags of money!
0:31:10 > 0:31:11Was it?!
0:31:11 > 0:31:14It's coming to life!
0:31:14 > 0:31:18While David's arcade is still open for business,
0:31:18 > 0:31:22the pier itself has been closed to the public since 1982.
0:31:25 > 0:31:29- It's so wonderful to be out here! - It's an unusual experience, isn't it?
0:31:29 > 0:31:32Having the sea below you like this. It's just fantastic.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35- But so sad!- Very, very sad, actually.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37Very sad indeed. It's a shame.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39It's not always been like this.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42What was this pier like in its Edwardian heyday?
0:31:42 > 0:31:43Absolutely wonderful.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46I mean, obviously a sense of occasion coming on to a pier.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49Everyone dressed smartly. There were theatres.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52- Punters promenading up and down? - Yes, absolutely packed!
0:31:52 > 0:31:57- Coming down to take the steamer off the end there.- Hang on - how could a steamer dock up there?
0:31:57 > 0:32:00Obviously it used to be a lot longer than it is now.
0:32:00 > 0:32:03With a T-piece on the end as well to moor up against.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06I can show you some old archive photographs.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08Oh look, there it is!
0:32:08 > 0:32:11The steamer would stop off on the way to London and ferry people back.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15It wasn't just a pleasure Pier? It had a commercial function?
0:32:15 > 0:32:17- Absolutely. - So what happened to the T-piece?
0:32:17 > 0:32:19Time and tide have taken it away.
0:32:20 > 0:32:28Seeing Claremont like this, it's easy to forget that it, like many of our piers, had a real working past.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32Like the Victorian equivalent of an airport.
0:32:32 > 0:32:36They were arrival points for passengers visiting the seaside.
0:32:36 > 0:32:41But unlike an airport, piers combined function with fun!
0:32:44 > 0:32:49The saucy shows and funfairs meant that they soon became leisure destinations in themselves.
0:32:50 > 0:32:55No self-respecting seaside resort could be without one.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00In the 50 years between 1860 and 1910,
0:33:00 > 0:33:0478 piers were built around the country.
0:33:04 > 0:33:11But today, many of the 54 that still stand are in as bad or worse condition than Claremont.
0:33:13 > 0:33:17The end of David's pier is now just too dangerous to walk on.
0:33:17 > 0:33:22So architect and National Pier Society member Tim Phillips has offered to give me
0:33:22 > 0:33:26a different perspective on the state of Britain's piers.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29Well, a pier like this, for example,
0:33:29 > 0:33:32where all the amusements are at the landward end,
0:33:32 > 0:33:36there's not much incentive for the owner perhaps to spend money.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38If it's a dangerous structure,
0:33:38 > 0:33:42you can't get even the fishermen on there paying you money.
0:33:42 > 0:33:47- Are they not protected, or listed or anything?- Not in this case. - No statutory protection?- No, no.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51If you were a private owner, why would you want to spend money
0:33:51 > 0:33:53on a structure that doesn't earn you anything?
0:33:53 > 0:33:57They all need maintenance and if there's no revenue, no maintenance.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03From this angle, it's obvious to see the problems
0:34:03 > 0:34:05that pier owners like David Scott face.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09Without the revenue from paddle steamers and their passengers,
0:34:09 > 0:34:15many piers ended up as endangered buildings housing arcade games and little else.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19But there are glimmers of hope.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22Just down the coast in Southwold,
0:34:22 > 0:34:27over a million pounds has been spent renovating their pier -
0:34:27 > 0:34:29and the visitors are coming back.
0:34:29 > 0:34:34With the cost of air travel likely to increase over time,
0:34:34 > 0:34:37more of us may choose to holiday at home.
0:34:37 > 0:34:45So let's just hope that some of that new tourist cash gets spent on Britain's piers.
0:34:56 > 0:35:0210 miles beyond Southwold sits the idyllic resort of Thorpeness.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08The village was built by a Scottish railway entrepreneur
0:35:08 > 0:35:12who wanted to create the ideal place for a healthy and peaceful holiday.
0:35:14 > 0:35:19Completed in 1932, it was designed to look like a typical English village...
0:35:19 > 0:35:22..albeit a rather eccentric one.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29Not long after Thorpeness was complete, just down the coast
0:35:29 > 0:35:34at Aldeburgh another great vision of Englishness was being created.
0:35:37 > 0:35:41Finished in 1945 by local boy Benjamin Britten, Peter Grimes
0:35:41 > 0:35:46is now widely regarded as the most important British Opera ever written.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50# Peter Grimes We are here to investigate
0:35:50 > 0:35:54# The cause of death of your apprentice William Spode
0:35:54 > 0:35:57# Whose body you put ashore from your boat... #
0:36:02 > 0:36:09Based on a poem by a local author Peter Grimes is set in a small seaside town called the Borough.
0:36:15 > 0:36:21One man who knows how much this coast influenced the writing of the opera
0:36:21 > 0:36:26is Jonathan Reekie, director of the Aldeburgh festival.
0:36:26 > 0:36:30You can hear the coast, you can hear the sea,
0:36:30 > 0:36:34the wind, the birds, the scrunch of the pebbles in that piece.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38So it's actually got an active role in the music?
0:36:38 > 0:36:43Absolutely and the piece is structured with these four sea interludes
0:36:43 > 0:36:47and it's so vivid. It's very hard once you've heard Peter Grimes
0:36:47 > 0:36:50to stand on this beach and not hear it.
0:36:57 > 0:37:03How much of the world that Britain portrayed still survives today?
0:37:03 > 0:37:08Well, I think very little. Literally there are specific things
0:37:08 > 0:37:13in Peter Grimes, like the place where Peter Grimes' hut was that have gone -
0:37:13 > 0:37:14been washed away by the sea.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18And, of course, the fishing industry is hanging on by its fingertips.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21If you're on this beach you still hear the sea.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24The sea hasn't changed. It's wonderful to think that
0:37:24 > 0:37:28Peter Grimes is performed in opera houses all over the world
0:37:28 > 0:37:32in places like Buenos Aires and Santiago and Australia.
0:37:32 > 0:37:38There are audiences sitting in the opera house listening to the North Sea. It's amazing.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50At the south end of Aldeburgh is the river that gave the village its name.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56And five miles down the Alde, is Orford Harbour.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59Today the area is very peaceful...
0:38:00 > 0:38:07..but across the river the shingle spit of Orford Ness has had quite a past.
0:38:09 > 0:38:17Ian Tickle's promised to show me round what was once one of Britain's most secret military installations.
0:38:17 > 0:38:21'The only official entrance is via an RAF ferry from the tiny village of Orford.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25'When you get there the men in charge aren't giving much away.'
0:38:25 > 0:38:30This is a joint Royal Air Force, United States Air Force research
0:38:30 > 0:38:35programme into the problems of long-range HF communications.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38Has it anything to do with early warning defence systems?
0:38:38 > 0:38:41It could.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43And, in fact, it did.
0:38:45 > 0:38:53In the Cold War year of 1967, the ever-present threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union loomed large
0:38:53 > 0:38:57and Orford Ness became home to Cobra Mist, an ambitious scheme
0:38:57 > 0:39:02to spy deep into the eastern bloc, using an experimental form of radar.
0:39:06 > 0:39:11'The masts on the 700-acre site are as high as 180 feet.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13'The RAF were happy for them to be filmed.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16'The control building was something else though.
0:39:16 > 0:39:20'Everything about it is secret.'
0:39:20 > 0:39:21Where does this lead?
0:39:21 > 0:39:23Ah, right, I'll show you.
0:39:23 > 0:39:25It's a massive, heavy door.
0:39:25 > 0:39:30It's actually going down to the nerve centre of the operation.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32Who was allowed in and who was kept out?
0:39:32 > 0:39:34It would have been US personnel only.
0:39:34 > 0:39:39There would have been an armed guard at a doorway here. It doesn't exist anymore.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44- An American armed guard on British soil?- Yeah, very much so.
0:39:45 > 0:39:50- Good grief, what's in there?- There would have been operators sitting at terminals with displays
0:39:50 > 0:39:55showing them possible positions and sightings of signals back from the radar.
0:39:55 > 0:40:00A board at the back and then a viewing gallery where the top brass watched everything going on.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03It's a sort of place James Bond gets brought.
0:40:03 > 0:40:05- That's right.- When he's been caught!
0:40:06 > 0:40:09Another serious door here.
0:40:09 > 0:40:10Quite a stiff door.
0:40:14 > 0:40:19The Cold War is easily to imagine in dark, windowless rooms, isn't it?
0:40:19 > 0:40:20Than outside in the sunshine.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24- This is a picture taken in its heyday.- It's fantastic.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27There's our building. This is where we are here.
0:40:27 > 0:40:31This whole are that you see in front of you would have been the aerial system of the radar.
0:40:31 > 0:40:34It would've looked awesome from here, surely.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36The whole structure would have had towers
0:40:36 > 0:40:39getting bigger and bigger as they came out
0:40:39 > 0:40:44towards the back end of the fan and all suspended with fibreglass poles.
0:40:44 > 0:40:46There was red-coloured insulators.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50The fibreglass was white so it must have lit up when the sun was on it.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54It must have been quite spectacular, especially from this viewpoint as well.
0:40:54 > 0:40:56What was it supposed to do?
0:40:56 > 0:40:59It was supposed to be like a normal radar
0:40:59 > 0:41:02but it could see over the horizon.
0:41:02 > 0:41:10It would have bounced its signal off the atmosphere and any signal scattered back from a missile
0:41:10 > 0:41:17or an aeroplane would have been reflected back and picked up by the aerial that sent the first signal.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20- What do you gain?- You gain more time.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23You are almost able to see round the corner.
0:41:23 > 0:41:29And during the Cold War, getting advance warning of a nuclear strike seemed like a good idea.
0:41:31 > 0:41:37The only problem was, despite impeccable science, Cobra Mist never actually worked.
0:41:37 > 0:41:42After nearly six years and around 150 million
0:41:42 > 0:41:47the signal received was just too full of interference to be useful.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51There were all sorts of rumours, of course, as to where this noise was coming from.
0:41:51 > 0:41:56Possibly the interfering signal - the noise, so to speak,
0:41:56 > 0:41:58was manufactured perhaps by
0:41:58 > 0:42:01a Russian trawler off the coast.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05Just enough to be out of sight, but near enough to cause enough
0:42:05 > 0:42:08interference to wipe this whole set-up out.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12Today, a small bit of the building is still in use,
0:42:12 > 0:42:16but they're not spying into Eastern Europe anymore,
0:42:16 > 0:42:19they're broadcasting BBC World Service to it instead.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30The final miles of my journey take me to the very end of Suffolk.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47My journey through East Anglia began at King's Lynn,
0:42:47 > 0:42:50a port that was internationally important in the past
0:42:50 > 0:42:56and it ends here at Felixstowe, a port that's still important today.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00The industry of Felixstowe dock comes as a bit of a shock
0:43:00 > 0:43:04after the peace and quiet splendour of this stretch of coast.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09From the fragility of the wide open spaces
0:43:09 > 0:43:12to our changing relationship with the sea
0:43:12 > 0:43:15this journey has been a revelation.
0:43:17 > 0:43:21It's a coast whose stories are told through history,
0:43:21 > 0:43:26through dreams and imagination and through the drama of the shoreline.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31When I started, I expected isolation
0:43:31 > 0:43:35but instead I discovered a surprising and gentle beauty.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:43:49 > 0:43:52E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk