0:00:09 > 0:00:13I'm back on home territory, on Edinburgh's mighty seaway,
0:00:13 > 0:00:14the Firth of Forth.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19My journey will take me south along the majestic beauty of a coast where
0:00:19 > 0:00:26Scotland gives way to Northumberland and on to the industrial powerhouse of England's North East.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30All the way down to the Humber Estuary.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33And I can promise you some extraordinary encounters.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38Miranda Krestovnikoff gets dive-bombed by gannets.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41This is what gannets are really famous for -
0:00:41 > 0:00:44this plummet right into the water to catch the fish.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48Dick Strawbridge has a riveting experience.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52Imagine doing half a million of these.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56- Mark Horton...- Hai, hai, hai!
0:00:56 > 0:00:59..is fighting with Vikings.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02- Do you still believe you can move it?- Yes!
0:01:04 > 0:01:05Go!
0:01:05 > 0:01:09And some tough ladies pit themselves against a two-tonne lifeboat
0:01:09 > 0:01:13to test the legend of a famous rescue.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16This is Coast.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44From Norway, I've crossed the North Sea.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48Now we're on our way to the Humber Estuary and the port of Hull,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51a journey connecting England and Scotland,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54which starts at another port - Rosyth.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00There's a certain romance to a port - in among all the machinery,
0:02:00 > 0:02:04there's a tangible sense of connections to the wider world.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16And ports like this are connected to every one of us.
0:02:16 > 0:02:23This wood has travelled all the way from Latvia, and this in turn is used to make pallets like these.
0:02:23 > 0:02:28And pallets are used to carry all the things that people want -
0:02:28 > 0:02:33televisions, washing machines, fridges - you name it, all goods that are themselves imported.
0:02:33 > 0:02:40A staggering amount of stuff arrives by sea - food, medicine, clothes.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44The coast is where we do business with the world.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49Rosyth, though, wasn't built for trade. It started life as a naval
0:02:49 > 0:02:55dockyard, serving in two World Wars and one Cold War.
0:02:55 > 0:03:02But our hunger for goods meant that in 1999, part of the port was opened up to commerce.
0:03:02 > 0:03:08I'm meeting Alf Baird to find out the scale of our sea trading today.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10He's got some eye-opening numbers for me.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15Just how much stuff do we import?
0:03:15 > 0:03:18The UK ports handle 600 million tonnes of trade every year,
0:03:18 > 0:03:21with a value of £340 billion -
0:03:21 > 0:03:24two thirds of that's imports, one third is exports.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27On a global scale, how big a chunk of the market is that?
0:03:27 > 0:03:34Well, the UK has Europe's largest port system and largest port trade of all European countries.
0:03:34 > 0:03:39- 95% of UK trade is carried by ship. - 95%?
0:03:39 > 0:03:4495% by tonnage. As an island nation, sea ports are absolutely essential.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47Why do we import so much stuff?
0:03:47 > 0:03:51I think it's just part of a global trend...increased demand from consumers
0:03:51 > 0:03:54for a range of different products.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57We've seen a phenomenal increase in the size of container ships,
0:03:57 > 0:04:01which means the unit cost of transporting goods around the world is much cheaper.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05We now see jeans moving from Asia to Europe at 30p a pair of jeans,
0:04:05 > 0:04:07television for...
0:04:07 > 0:04:10a couple of pounds. You can source goods globally,
0:04:10 > 0:04:11and that's what's happening.
0:04:14 > 0:04:19We've engineered the coast to reach out to our neighbours, as well as keep them at bay.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23Heading south, we'll explore how we built great ships,
0:04:23 > 0:04:26a remarkable gateway to a new world
0:04:26 > 0:04:29and the coastal battles that built a nation.
0:04:29 > 0:04:35One of Scotland's defining landmarks is the Forth Rail Bridge.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40Painting the steel frame has long been held to be a never-ending task.
0:04:40 > 0:04:46They've been brushing continually since its completion in 1890, but new paint technology means
0:04:46 > 0:04:52when they finish this coat, they can finally put their brushes down - for the next 20 years, anyway.
0:04:56 > 0:05:0120 miles down the Firth, you find a landscape of dunes and beaches.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05Now, I love spending time in places like this, but I always come prepared.
0:05:06 > 0:05:11People quite often ask me what I keep in my bag - seriously, they do!
0:05:11 > 0:05:12Look, I can show you...
0:05:12 > 0:05:17Amongst other things... sandwiches, obviously,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20and also research.
0:05:20 > 0:05:25Look at that little beauty - a copy of Shoot! magazine from December 1970.
0:05:25 > 0:05:32Now, what caught my eye was a little photo-feature on page five -
0:05:32 > 0:05:36very 1970s footballers from Glasgow Rangers, as it happens,
0:05:36 > 0:05:39and they're taking part in a gruelling training regime
0:05:39 > 0:05:43that involved running up and down that very sand dune.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46It became known as Murder Hill.
0:05:46 > 0:05:51In the years since the Rangers players made it famous,
0:05:51 > 0:05:55the dune has taken its place in Scottish football folklore.
0:05:55 > 0:06:00These days, amateur teams come to Gullane, to pit themselves against Murder Hill.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06I'm Mick McArdle, manager of Chryston Amateurs.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09We play football for the Central Scottish Amateur League of Scotland.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13Murder Hill is tough. Football teams, from amateurs
0:06:13 > 0:06:17like ourselves to professional teams, use it every summer.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19Murder, man! Murder!
0:06:19 > 0:06:24Really, it's very, very tough, and you'll see it in the expressions alone on the guy's face.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27Oh, it's hard. I didn't expect that at all.
0:06:27 > 0:06:33The training itself is more for the lower body, generally the legs, the thighs and calf muscles et cetera,
0:06:33 > 0:06:37you'll get a lot of work in because the sand moves away from your feet,
0:06:37 > 0:06:39so it really works the muscles very well.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43The biggest advantage, though, is for the lung capacity.
0:06:45 > 0:06:46Can't speak.
0:06:46 > 0:06:52Our pre-season sessions the last three years, the date they look for is when
0:06:52 > 0:06:56we're going to Murder Hill, because they know that's going to be a hard session.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07Five miles down the coast from Murder Hill, out at sea
0:07:07 > 0:07:10is a challenge that's in a different league.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15Where the Firth of Forth meets the North Sea,
0:07:15 > 0:07:17standing sentinel is Bass Rock.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20Sir David Attenborough calls this huge rock
0:07:20 > 0:07:23and its 150,000-strong gannet colony
0:07:23 > 0:07:26one of the wildlife wonders of the world.
0:07:34 > 0:07:39Somewhere out there in amongst all that invigorating weather is the Bass Rock.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43Now, I've tried on three separate occasions to land there for Coast,
0:07:43 > 0:07:45and every time the weather has defeated me,
0:07:45 > 0:07:47but Coast doesn't give up easily.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Maybe Miranda will have more luck.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57Bass Rock looks almost welcoming in the early morning sun.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01I really want to get out there to see the gannets close up.
0:08:01 > 0:08:07And I'm not alone - Ben and Kirsty Burville are amateur wildlife photographers and keen divers.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11In their day jobs, Ben is a doctor, and Kirsty is a teacher.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15They've come to Scotland to attempt something really ambitious.
0:08:17 > 0:08:22They're going to try and film the Bass Rock gannets diving underwater,
0:08:22 > 0:08:24something I have always wanted to do,
0:08:24 > 0:08:27and it's anything but straightforward.
0:08:27 > 0:08:32Even though they're amateur film-makers, their track record is pretty good.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36This footage of Ben diving with seals was taken by Kirsty
0:08:36 > 0:08:39just off the Farne Islands in Northumberland.
0:08:39 > 0:08:40So why gannets?
0:08:40 > 0:08:44What's the big attraction of filming gannets underwater?
0:08:44 > 0:08:47Over the Farnes you get gannets diving, but only ones and twos.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49It would be interesting
0:08:49 > 0:08:53to see if I can could catch them as they go into the water from above the water and below,
0:08:53 > 0:08:55so where better to come but Bass Rock?
0:08:55 > 0:08:59- Kirsty, what are you up to? - I'm going to be doing the filming topside,
0:08:59 > 0:09:03getting the gannets diving down, so it should be pretty spectacular.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06It's going to be a real adventure for the day for both of us.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10While our amateur film-makers head off to find gannets diving underwater,
0:09:10 > 0:09:13I'm taking the more direct route.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17To get a sense of the challenge Ben and Kirsty face, I need to see
0:09:17 > 0:09:22the birds up close, and you can only do that on their home base.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26It's not easy to set foot onto Bass Rock.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28Strong currents swirl around the cliffs,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31and the mooring site can be treacherous.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35Today I'm lucky and I can venture onto the rock,
0:09:35 > 0:09:39with Maggie Sheddon of the Scottish Seabird Centre as my guide.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44This is absolutely splendid. You know this is a real first for Coast -
0:09:44 > 0:09:48no Coaster has ever been on Bass Rock, I'm the first.
0:09:48 > 0:09:53- Welcome.- This is amazing! I've never seen so many gannets in all my life.
0:09:53 > 0:09:58And it's the best time to be here, because the birds are rearing their young -
0:09:58 > 0:10:01that means the rock is full to capacity.
0:10:01 > 0:10:07150,000 birds and their demanding chicks, all hungry for fish.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10Out on the water, some of the gannets are starting to dive
0:10:10 > 0:10:13for their dinner within range of Kirsty's camera.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18Up here, it's a rare chance for me to get close to the gannets.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22Normally you only see them in flight, or as they're plunging into the sea.
0:10:22 > 0:10:27When they're diving, they hit the water at an incredible speed -
0:10:27 > 0:10:29how does their body actually cope with that?
0:10:29 > 0:10:34They can hit up to 60 mph. Basically they have air sacks that inflate.
0:10:34 > 0:10:40It tends to be around the neck, the upper chest area, they have a membrane that flips over the eye
0:10:40 > 0:10:44to protect the eye, and they have a moveable plate just at the back of the bill,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47so when they hit the water, everything is sealed,
0:10:47 > 0:10:53and literally, just before they dive in, the wings fold back like an arrow.
0:10:53 > 0:10:5860 miles per hour. With gannets hitting the water beak first at such high speed,
0:10:58 > 0:11:01getting hit by one would be serious for Ben.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06OK?
0:11:06 > 0:11:11His plan is to shelter beneath the boat and try and film the dives from there,
0:11:11 > 0:11:17so we'll have to encourage the birds to come as close as possible if Ben's going to have any chance.
0:11:17 > 0:11:23To bring the birds in, we've got some really disgusting-smelling haddock heads here
0:11:23 > 0:11:28and some herring as well. The herring gulls have moved in, and now the gannets are coming in as well.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31We're getting some plunging. Look at that.
0:11:31 > 0:11:36The gannets are diving closer to the boat, but still not close enough.
0:11:36 > 0:11:42Sheltering under the boat, Ben will need to be within a few feet to get that crucial close-up.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46To make things worse, he's battling strong tidal currents down there.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50I'm using a pole camera to try and see how he's getting on.
0:11:50 > 0:11:51I've found Ben.
0:11:51 > 0:11:58Ben is surrounded by jellyfish, which makes getting close to the diving gannets even harder.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03It's very, very difficult to get near to them.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06It's very hard to stay underneath the boat.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09With Ben's dive time rapidly ticking away,
0:12:09 > 0:12:13we finally manage to lure some gannets within range of his underwater camera.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17Look at that!
0:12:17 > 0:12:21All of a sudden, they've just come right in.
0:12:21 > 0:12:28We're seeing some great dives from up here, but underwater it's been a struggle.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33Ben's only had one chance. It's time to see whether
0:12:33 > 0:12:38this amateur cameraman managed to get a shot a professional would be proud of.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44So do you think you got anything good?
0:12:44 > 0:12:47I think there could be a couple of good shots...
0:12:47 > 0:12:50As you can see, the visibility down there is not very good.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52- Bit green. - A lot of green stuff there.
0:12:52 > 0:12:57- There you are! - Oh, well done! That was great!
0:12:57 > 0:13:02- So quick, isn't it?- Really quick, really quick. That's so brilliant, you did really well.
0:13:05 > 0:13:12Ben and Kirsty have managed to capture the spectacle of gannets diving underwater.
0:13:12 > 0:13:19What I'm coming away with is a sense of wonder at this extraordinary bird city just off our coast.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32Hidden away across the water from Bass Rock is a little secret.
0:13:32 > 0:13:38It's not easy to find, but Seacliff Harbour is reputedly Britain's smallest,
0:13:38 > 0:13:42and with an opening just 10 feet wide, I'm not going to argue.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46The harbour was constructed in 1890 by the local landowner,
0:13:46 > 0:13:50using a steam engine and compressed air to cut the stone.
0:13:50 > 0:13:56Once busy with small salmon fishing boats, now it's used by a solitary lobster fisherman.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07There's room at Dunbar Harbour for plenty of boats.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13They've also found room for a four-tonne monument
0:14:13 > 0:14:17to the invisible force that moves our ships.
0:14:17 > 0:14:23It commemorates Robert Wilson, a son of Dunbar who's remembered hereabouts
0:14:23 > 0:14:25as the inventor of the screw propeller,
0:14:25 > 0:14:29but the thing is, as well as Robert, the French, the English,
0:14:29 > 0:14:34the Swedes and the Americans, they all claim the invention of the screw propeller as well.
0:14:38 > 0:14:43Many countries might dispute Dunbar's claim to fame, but not far away was another
0:14:43 > 0:14:48invention, a tradition this time that's unique to fishing communities on the east coast.
0:14:50 > 0:14:5320 miles south of Dunbar is Eyemouth.
0:15:01 > 0:15:06When I woke up, I sort of forgot it was the big day,
0:15:06 > 0:15:11and then, when it dawned on me, all of a sudden the butterflies started up and..
0:15:11 > 0:15:15Oh...really nervous.
0:15:15 > 0:15:21Tamsin MacKechnie is about to be crowned the Eyemouth Herring Queen.
0:15:21 > 0:15:28It's a title created in 1939 to celebrate the life of the town's fishing industry.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32A new teenage queen is chosen each year.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36I had an interview with about five people, including the town provost,
0:15:36 > 0:15:38and later on that night,
0:15:38 > 0:15:41they came in and gathered us together and told us who'd won.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43I think they were looking really
0:15:43 > 0:15:47for someone who could be a role model to the younger children.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51A lot of past herring queens said to me it's like getting married,
0:15:51 > 0:15:52it's really a big day.
0:15:52 > 0:15:57I remember the pipers playing, I remember the parade
0:15:57 > 0:16:00and the great feeling for the day, it was fantastic.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06Before all that, there's the traditional three-mile sea voyage,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09while ahead, the town of Eyemouth awaits its queen.
0:16:12 > 0:16:17It was quite a privilege to be herring queen, I think - you felt you were representing Eyemouth.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21BAGPIPES PLAY
0:16:21 > 0:16:28During her year as herring queen, Tamsin will carry out civic duties. Today is her day.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31I'm really nervous, I'm shaking.
0:16:31 > 0:16:32There's all those people.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36I remember the last sentence of my speech was,
0:16:36 > 0:16:42"To fishermen all round our coast, I extend greetings and good sailing from this old fishing town."
0:17:02 > 0:17:06Leaving Scotland, we cross the border into Northumberland.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Here in the Middle Ages,
0:17:09 > 0:17:14the monks of Holy Island laid the foundations for a new era of worship and learning.
0:17:14 > 0:17:20But a terrifying threat from across the sea was about to shatter the Saxon world.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26Mark Horton has travelled 1200 years back in time
0:17:26 > 0:17:29to meet our most infamous invaders.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37It's June 793. For over a century,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40Northumbria has been the most powerful kingdom
0:17:40 > 0:17:43in Anglo-Saxon England.
0:17:45 > 0:17:52Over there, on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, something shocking is about to happen.
0:17:52 > 0:17:57The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes it in gory detail.
0:17:57 > 0:18:02"In this year, terrible portents appeared and miserably frightened
0:18:02 > 0:18:08"the inhabitants, flashes of lighting, fiery dragons in the sky,
0:18:08 > 0:18:12"a great famine." And a little after in the same year...
0:18:12 > 0:18:17"The harrying of the heathen miserably destroyed God's church in Lindisfarne
0:18:17 > 0:18:20"by rapine and slaughter."
0:18:23 > 0:18:29Vikings - plundering, pillaging and raping on our shores
0:18:29 > 0:18:31for the very first time.
0:18:32 > 0:18:38The attack on Holy Island in 793 sent shockwaves across the land
0:18:38 > 0:18:43and created a powerful new mythology - the marauding Norseman.
0:18:43 > 0:18:48From an early age, I've been fascinated with the Vikings.
0:18:53 > 0:18:58Today I get to realise an ambition and to meet a Viking...
0:18:58 > 0:18:59well, a part-time one.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04Kim Siddorn is secretary of a re-enactment society.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08So, Kim, you're the most magnificent Viking warrior.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10- Thank you!- This is a leather jerkin.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13Yes, leather jerkin and linen tunic below it.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17- And this is what?- That's seal skin, and this is horse hide, lined on the inside with silk.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20It's worth a king's ransom, this thing.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24- And what else have you got? This must be a scramaseax. - This is a scramaseax.
0:19:24 > 0:19:30- You can see the pattern welding here in the blade.- Extraordinary. - All the fittings on that are silver.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34- That's to sort of finish people off in battle, isn't it? - I'd eat my tea with it, actually.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37SHOUTING
0:19:41 > 0:19:44The principal defence of a Dark Age warrior...
0:19:44 > 0:19:47- Oh, the home of the warrior is his shield.- His shield.
0:19:47 > 0:19:53The shield itself is the first line of defence for the warrior.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56It also makes a convenient thing to bang - hai, hai, hai!
0:19:56 > 0:19:58MARK LAUGHS
0:19:59 > 0:20:02The sword is very much a slashing weapon -
0:20:02 > 0:20:06none of this fine point work. It's intended purely for butchering.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11It's a weapon which you'd use on a figure of eight system.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14You'd have come down across the body from your initial...
0:20:14 > 0:20:17and then across this way and then, bringing your shield up,
0:20:17 > 0:20:23lead with the sword down across the body, perhaps cleaving you in two, if a man's unclad in armour.
0:20:26 > 0:20:32And of course, the monks at Lindisfarne would have had no escape.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35It must have been a nasty shock. They weren't expecting it.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38You can hear it in what they said. "500 years we've lived in this island,
0:20:38 > 0:20:44"and nothing ever like this happened before! They came into God's house and killed us all!" Silence.
0:20:48 > 0:20:53Up at Bamburgh Castle, Kim's fellow re-enactors have set up a camp
0:20:53 > 0:20:56at a festival celebrating Saxon life.
0:20:56 > 0:21:01It was this Saxon world that was rocked by the first Viking raid
0:21:01 > 0:21:06here on the Northumbrian coast, and the assaults that followed.
0:21:06 > 0:21:13Before those Viking raids, wars between the different kingdoms of England were common,
0:21:13 > 0:21:20but the appearance of a common enemy here 1,200 years ago was to alter the country's destiny.
0:21:20 > 0:21:25That early raid really changed England, Britain, for ever.
0:21:25 > 0:21:31Yes, it did, it gave us the beginnings of a national identity. It was...the warring Anglo-Saxon
0:21:31 > 0:21:34kingdoms began to come together for the first time,
0:21:34 > 0:21:37and it was the Viking raids that did it.
0:21:41 > 0:21:47After the cataclysm that happened here in 793, wars with the Vikings
0:21:47 > 0:21:53continued for another 200 years, but one beneficial consequence
0:21:53 > 0:21:57was that in those wars, the nation of England was formed.
0:22:09 > 0:22:15We've clocked up 150 miles, and I'm approaching the halfway mark on my journey down the east coast.
0:22:15 > 0:22:16And there's much more.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22I'm just getting into my stride.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28Next stop on our adventure south - Cullercoats.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38In the 19th century, Cullercoats was a thriving fishing village.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41It was the men who braved the North Sea,
0:22:41 > 0:22:46but what makes this place special is that it's the women of Cullercoats who are celebrated.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54I've got a copy of a painting here. What it shows
0:22:54 > 0:22:58is a group of villagers hauling a lifeboat along a beach,
0:22:58 > 0:22:59but when you look at it,
0:22:59 > 0:23:06almost the first thing you notice is that it's mostly women. In fact, the painting is called The Women,
0:23:06 > 0:23:13and there's an inscription on the frame that reads "On New Year's Day 1861, the fisherwomen of Cullercoats
0:23:13 > 0:23:18"dragged the village lifeboat three miles along the coast in a blinding storm of snow and sleet,
0:23:18 > 0:23:22"to the rescue of the crew of a wrecked ship, The Lovely Nellie,
0:23:22 > 0:23:24"and saved all the crew but one boy."
0:23:24 > 0:23:27Now, these must have been some tough women,
0:23:27 > 0:23:30but who were they?
0:23:31 > 0:23:35The women of Cullercoats were renowned for their strength and stamina.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38They carried fish to sell around neighbouring villages,
0:23:38 > 0:23:45ran the household and, according to some tales, even lifted their husbands out to the boats.
0:23:45 > 0:23:50And to cap it all, my painting has them dragging a heavy lifeboat
0:23:50 > 0:23:53overland to rescue a stricken ship.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55To get an insight into these hardy women,
0:23:55 > 0:24:00I'm calling on the grand-daughter of one of Cullercoats' fisherwives.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02- Come in.- Thank you!
0:24:04 > 0:24:08Were women like your grandmother famous locally?
0:24:08 > 0:24:10It was only years after
0:24:10 > 0:24:13that people realised what a unique
0:24:13 > 0:24:15elite group they were.
0:24:15 > 0:24:20I just loved her. She was a lovely round little woman, you know,
0:24:20 > 0:24:22very kind and worked hard.
0:24:22 > 0:24:29You know, she had to walk miles and miles every day to sell the fish. She did that for 50 years.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31I've heard so much about how hard they worked.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33Well, the women did work hard.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38It was just their lives, and that's what they'd been dished out.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41And we shall not see their like again.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43I don't think so, I don't think so.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45They were tough!
0:24:45 > 0:24:51This painting intrigues me more and more. It has the Cullercoats women
0:24:51 > 0:24:55pulling a lifeboat along a headland through a blinding storm,
0:24:55 > 0:25:01and Joan tells me those fisherwives of yesteryear really were that tough.
0:25:01 > 0:25:02What I want to know is,
0:25:02 > 0:25:07are the modern women of Cullercoats as hardy as their great-grannies?
0:25:07 > 0:25:12There's only one way to find out - we're going to re-create the painting.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15The first volunteers have turned up...
0:25:15 > 0:25:17Women of Cullercoats...
0:25:17 > 0:25:18- ALL:- Yay!
0:25:18 > 0:25:23..legend has it that about 140 years ago, the women of Cullercoats pulled a lifeboat
0:25:23 > 0:25:28through the teeth of a howling gale for three miles along the coast. That was then, this is now.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30Can you achieve the same feat?
0:25:30 > 0:25:33Yes!
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Well, the women seem to be game. All we need now is a lifeboat.
0:25:36 > 0:25:44Luckily, Whitby Historic Lifeboat Trust have brought along a beautifully preserved specimen.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47Is this more or less the kind of lifeboat that would have been used
0:25:47 > 0:25:49in that mid 19th-century rescue?
0:25:49 > 0:25:51It's the same type of boat.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55You'd find actually, if anything, she's one of the smaller ones,
0:25:55 > 0:25:58and she's only 2¼ tonnes.
0:25:58 > 0:26:04You're saying this is one of the smaller ones. When I'm thinking of men hauling - or women - hauling it,
0:26:04 > 0:26:06it looks pretty big and heavy to me.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10Do you think that women alone could have moved a lifeboat like that?
0:26:10 > 0:26:14- They did.- Oh, yes.- You would say that!- I would say that, but it is possible.
0:26:14 > 0:26:20- The question is, do they still make women like they used to? - That's going to be some effort.
0:26:20 > 0:26:25While the Cullercoats ladies are limbering up for the challenge, I'm intrigued
0:26:25 > 0:26:27to know why the women of old
0:26:27 > 0:26:31had to drag a boat weighing tonnes along this windswept headland.
0:26:35 > 0:26:41Robert Oliver is a sixth-generation Cullercoats lifeboat man - perhaps he'll know.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44In the painting, the boat's been dragged -
0:26:44 > 0:26:47where is it being dragged to?
0:26:47 > 0:26:50From Cullercoats here along the cliff top along to Brierdene,
0:26:50 > 0:26:54which is about two, two and a half mile north of our station.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58But it's a boat - why didn't they just put it in the water and go by sea?
0:26:58 > 0:27:03- On the day, it was very, very severe weather, too bad to launch here.- So what did they do next?
0:27:03 > 0:27:07Some of the villagers would have got the horses and connected the horses
0:27:07 > 0:27:14- up to the boat to pull the lifeboat along the cliff top.- Horses?- Yes. - But it's women in the picture.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17The RNLI statement says there were horses.
0:27:17 > 0:27:18- They shouldn't be there!- Yeah.
0:27:18 > 0:27:23Horses? That's really thrown me.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27So was it horses or women who did the pulling that night
0:27:27 > 0:27:33over 140 years ago, when a lifeboat was dragged along this coast?
0:27:33 > 0:27:36I've got to dig deeper to discover the truth.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38Robert was right.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42The Times of January 3rd 1861 says of the lifeboat,
0:27:42 > 0:27:44"It was dragged along the coast
0:27:44 > 0:27:49"by six horses and launched from the sands amid great excitement."
0:27:49 > 0:27:54So The Times says there were horses - the painting shows women.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58To make sure OUR lifeboat gets dragged along the headland,
0:27:58 > 0:28:02maybe the women of Cullercoats will need some help on standby.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05- Hi, Charlie, how are you doing? - Nice to meet you.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08So what are these fellas called?
0:28:08 > 0:28:11The lad you're stroking now, he's called Classic,
0:28:11 > 0:28:14and he's our elder statesman, he's 18 years of age.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16And this lad behind me, this is Royal.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19- He's even bigger. - Yes, he is, he's 18.3 hands.
0:28:19 > 0:28:24How do you think they'll cope with pulling a lifeboat?
0:28:24 > 0:28:27Well, I'll be honest with you, it's a first for us.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30These dray horses are powerful beasts and they're at the ready -
0:28:30 > 0:28:35if needed - for our recreation of the Cullercoats lifeboat drag.
0:28:35 > 0:28:39But what's nagging me is, if horses were used to pull the boat,
0:28:39 > 0:28:42then why aren't there any horses in my painting?
0:28:42 > 0:28:48If the artist wasn't recording a historical event, what WAS he trying to do?
0:28:48 > 0:28:52I'm meeting local art historian Steve Ratcliffe.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00Steve, what can you tell me about this painting?
0:29:00 > 0:29:04Well, this painting was painted by John Charlton in 1904,
0:29:04 > 0:29:08when Cullercoats was a well-established artist colony.
0:29:08 > 0:29:13I don't think I expected to find great artists in this little corner of England.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15A lot of people are surprised by it,
0:29:15 > 0:29:19and they're quite stunned to find that a famous American artist,
0:29:19 > 0:29:22Winslow Homer, was resident here for nearly two years.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27Over 20 years before Charlton painted the lifeboat drag,
0:29:27 > 0:29:31these pictures by the distinguished American artist Winslow Homer
0:29:31 > 0:29:34had already made the Cullercoats women famous.
0:29:34 > 0:29:39Homer captured the strength and dignity of the fisherwives. His work elevated them
0:29:39 > 0:29:43to near-mythological status, and these images of the Cullercoats
0:29:43 > 0:29:49women helped establish Winslow Homer as the greatest American painter of the 19th century.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52He painted the women time and time again,
0:29:52 > 0:29:56always engaged in the harsh day-to-day realities of coastal life.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59Homer painted day-to-day life.
0:29:59 > 0:30:06Is this, by Charlton, a painting of plain fact?
0:30:06 > 0:30:12No, it's not, it's a symbolic painting - it's trying to express his feeling, his admiration for
0:30:12 > 0:30:16the women of Cullercoats through art, so he's used the historic background,
0:30:16 > 0:30:19the 1861 rescue of The Lovely Nellie,
0:30:19 > 0:30:25to let people know that he has a message to tell them of his respect and admiration for those women.
0:30:25 > 0:30:30So, if my painting is a romantic image of the women of Cullercoats,
0:30:30 > 0:30:31perhaps it was created
0:30:31 > 0:30:36because a great artist had already immortalised them over 20 years earlier.
0:30:36 > 0:30:41But the legend of the lifeboat drag persists. It's an heroic story
0:30:41 > 0:30:47I still want to believe. Could the women really have done it? Time to find out.
0:30:47 > 0:30:52Right then, you said you could do this, do you still believe you can move it?
0:30:52 > 0:30:54Yes!
0:30:54 > 0:30:56Three, two, one...
0:30:56 > 0:30:57Go!
0:31:17 > 0:31:19Didn't expect this for a minute!
0:31:24 > 0:31:29Now, the thing is, this is quite good fun in a way, but you have to remember
0:31:29 > 0:31:31that on New Year's Day 1861,
0:31:31 > 0:31:35the crew of a stricken ship, The Lovely Nellie, was somewhere
0:31:35 > 0:31:41out there in a dreadful storm, so this wasn't about fun that day, it was life and death.
0:31:43 > 0:31:47On the flat, the women are getting a real momentum going,
0:31:47 > 0:31:50but on the upward slopes it gets tougher and tougher,
0:31:50 > 0:31:57and don't forget - on the night of the rescue, the boat was being pulled on a heavy wooden carriage.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00Right, that's it, enough's enough,
0:32:00 > 0:32:03you've done far more than I expected, honestly,
0:32:03 > 0:32:07but I'm going to bring in the horses, so down ropes.
0:32:07 > 0:32:10Fantastic! Well done!
0:32:10 > 0:32:13CHEERING
0:32:13 > 0:32:19Just as on the night of the rescue, what was needed to cope with the terrain
0:32:19 > 0:32:23was the addition of some genuine horsepower.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33Oh, no bother!
0:32:33 > 0:32:38I've spent a long time piecing together the facts of the night of the wreck of The Lovely Nellie
0:32:38 > 0:32:43over 140 years ago. What I've discovered is that
0:32:43 > 0:32:47the whole community AND their horses came to the rescue of the crew,
0:32:47 > 0:32:49saving all their lives bar one.
0:32:57 > 0:33:02And whether it was horsepower or woman-power that hauled the boat down to the water,
0:33:02 > 0:33:03it's the power of legend
0:33:03 > 0:33:07that's given life to the story of the Cullercoats women.
0:33:13 > 0:33:18A few miles south of Cullercoats, you come to the mouth of the Tyne and the city of Newcastle.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22For centuries, coal was exported down this river,
0:33:22 > 0:33:27but in March 1998 the last of the export vessels left the Tyne.
0:33:29 > 0:33:34These days, the river is handling coal again, but now it's imported.
0:33:34 > 0:33:38Coal comes in here all the way from Russia.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42Looks like sending coals to Newcastle is no longer a fool's errand.
0:33:46 > 0:33:51Continuing south, we hit another famous north-eastern river, the Wear.
0:33:51 > 0:33:57Sunderland could once boast it was the largest shipbuilding town in the world.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59During the Second World War,
0:33:59 > 0:34:05over a quarter of our merchant and navy ships were built here,
0:34:05 > 0:34:10but as wartime production boomed, the seeds of a devastating decline were being sown.
0:34:13 > 0:34:18Engineer Dick Strawbridge wants to know what silenced the shipyards.
0:34:23 > 0:34:25Boats were built here for over 600 years.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28Busy shipyards jostled for space along this river.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30Now you'd hardly know it.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36In their heyday, the Wearside Yards were world famous.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40Sheets of steel came in, and finished ships rolled out.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43What I find amazing is that this massive enterprise,
0:34:43 > 0:34:47like the ships it produced, was held together by one little component.
0:34:47 > 0:34:51It was the dependence on this metal fastener
0:34:51 > 0:34:55that was both the strength and the weakness of the industry.
0:34:55 > 0:35:00Most of the historical metal frameworks that we marvel at
0:35:00 > 0:35:03are held together by rivets.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06And this is a rivet. It does the same job as a nut and bolt, holding
0:35:06 > 0:35:09two sheets of metal together, but it doesn't come undone.
0:35:09 > 0:35:14You heat it up until it's cherry red, then you put it through a hole, and then you bash both ends of it.
0:35:14 > 0:35:20It then holds the sheets of metal together, and when it cools down it contracts and holds it even tighter.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23It's an awful lot of effort, but it works.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27Riveters worked in teams, or squads.
0:35:27 > 0:35:34A heater heated up the rivets in a stove, then passed them, or often threw them, to a catcher.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37The catcher's job was to take the red-hot rivet to a holder-up,
0:35:37 > 0:35:41who put the rivet in a hole connecting the two ship's panels.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44The riveter then pounded the rivet home.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48It was a labour-intensive job,
0:35:48 > 0:35:54and when the men left to fight in two world wars, women were trained up to keep the yards busy.
0:35:56 > 0:36:00Shipbuilding towns reverberated to the sound of riveting.
0:36:02 > 0:36:08Phil Peek and Brian Hopkins worked as riveters in the shipyards of neighbouring Hartlepool.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12- Brian. Good to see you, Phil. - And you.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16This is where the shipyard was that you actually built ships.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20Where this one was built was over the other side there, a hundred yards away, if that.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23And how many rivets a day do you reckon a good team would put in?
0:36:23 > 0:36:26At least 800, 900 a day.
0:36:26 > 0:36:30We're really proud of the fact, the steel plate would come in there,
0:36:30 > 0:36:33when it left here, a finished job, it could go straight to sea and work.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36How much did they get paid for riveting?
0:36:36 > 0:36:38Eight and ninepence a hundred.
0:36:38 > 0:36:42Yes, all that was shared out amongst the squad.
0:36:42 > 0:36:47But if it rained, we got sent home, and signed the book for four shilling.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50Mary Power was a catcher on Phil's team.
0:36:50 > 0:36:52Mary, come and join us.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56You used to work with Phil.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00- Yes.- It's a very physical job, Mary, so what was it like as a woman
0:37:00 > 0:37:03being amongst all these men that were doing all this riveting?
0:37:03 > 0:37:07Well, you didn't think anything about it... < We won't answer that!
0:37:07 > 0:37:13You just, you wore the overalls and the boots and you just go on with the job.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17- What was the environment like? Noisy?- Very noisy. - You couldn't hear yourself speak.
0:37:17 > 0:37:22- I didn't know what they were on about, cos they used to speak with the sign language.- Yes, definitely.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25- Two, two and a quarter. - Two and a quarter rivets.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28- Two, two and three quarters. - Two, two and three quarter rivets.
0:37:28 > 0:37:29- That's the size?- Yes.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33- So calling for the size of the rivets.- And a short one.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37As a riveter, did you take pride in every single rivet you did?
0:37:37 > 0:37:40Certainly. Yeah. I was a good riveter.
0:37:40 > 0:37:43You knew that, when you were working for Grey's, you were
0:37:43 > 0:37:47one of the best shipbuilders going, and there was no two ways about it.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53So if our shipbuilding was so good, where did it all go wrong?
0:37:53 > 0:37:58In the dark days of 1940, we desperately needed more merchant ships
0:37:58 > 0:38:02to keep the vital transatlantic supply lines open.
0:38:02 > 0:38:04Churchill placed an urgent order for 60 cargo ships,
0:38:04 > 0:38:10but he didn't give the contract to British shipyards. Instead he gave it to the Americans.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14I'm meeting with David Aris to find out more.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18OK, David, why go to America?
0:38:18 > 0:38:21Because at that time, in 1940,
0:38:21 > 0:38:25the U-Boats were massacring our merchant fleet,
0:38:25 > 0:38:30particularly in the North Atlantic, and Churchill realised that the ships were being sunk
0:38:30 > 0:38:34at a greater rate than we could replace them from our own shipyards,
0:38:34 > 0:38:36so we had to get the ships from somewhere else.
0:38:36 > 0:38:41And talking about the scale of building, how long would it take to build one of these ships here?
0:38:41 > 0:38:44Probably about six months to build the ship here in Thompson's,
0:38:44 > 0:38:47and the ship was designed as a fully riveted ship,
0:38:47 > 0:38:51that was the practice here on the River Wear, and in other parts of this country,
0:38:51 > 0:38:55something like 480,000 rivets on one ship...per ship.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58- Half a million rivets.- Yes. - Per ship.- Of that order.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03With a war on, the Americans didn't have time
0:39:03 > 0:39:06or enough trained workers to put in half a million rivets per ship.
0:39:06 > 0:39:10A faster method of joining panels was welding,
0:39:10 > 0:39:14so now welding was adopted on an unprecedented scale.
0:39:14 > 0:39:18What the Americans did have was lots of space.
0:39:18 > 0:39:23In massive new shipyards, complete sections of the ship were constructed as separate units,
0:39:23 > 0:39:27before being craned into place and welded together.
0:39:27 > 0:39:33The American genius for mass production meant that ships were soon being built in under 50 days.
0:39:33 > 0:39:40This new merchant fleet helped win the war, by keeping Britain supplied with food, munitions and machinery.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43The techniques of welding and pre-fabrication
0:39:43 > 0:39:47that built these ships would spell the end for riveting.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55The problem for us was that mass production needs lots of space.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58The old British shipyards didn't have room to expand,
0:39:58 > 0:40:02and they struggled to cope with the new welding age.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05The industry fell into slow but terminal decline.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10These days, riveting has all but disappeared
0:40:10 > 0:40:13but, even though we don't build many ships now,
0:40:13 > 0:40:19we still need riveters if we're going to preserve some of our historic maritime treasures.
0:40:19 > 0:40:23I've come all the way to Suffolk to see riveting at first hand.
0:40:24 > 0:40:29Everybody's welding nowadays. I couldn't find any rivets being struck anywhere in the North East,
0:40:29 > 0:40:32so I had to bring Brian and Phil down to Lowestoft
0:40:32 > 0:40:34to the restoration of SS Robin,
0:40:34 > 0:40:39the oldest complete steam ship in the world, so they can give me their opinion on 21st-century riveting.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44The SS Robin was launched in 1890.
0:40:44 > 0:40:49She's a steel ship with a fully riveted hull, but she needs attention.
0:40:52 > 0:40:57The team here are riveting some test plates in preparation for restoring the ship.
0:40:59 > 0:41:05They've done riveting work on bridges and machinery, but never a ship.
0:41:05 > 0:41:10It's a great chance for old hands Brian and Phil to pass on their wisdom.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13- How's his riveting?- OK.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17- What do you reckon? - He's getting the hang of it!
0:41:27 > 0:41:31- OK, what's your opinion? Come on, then, Phil.- The top row's the best.
0:41:31 > 0:41:34The top row's the best. That's too short, that.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37- Would you employ the team? - Certainly, yes.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40- You've done all right, son. - I've done all right, have I?
0:41:42 > 0:41:49We may not make them like this any more, but the SS Robin will be back afloat, rivets and all, in 2012,
0:41:49 > 0:41:53a monument to the glory days of British shipbuilding and riveting.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58Thank goodness there are some people, not many,
0:41:58 > 0:42:03but still some people keeping alive the skills of our riveters.
0:42:05 > 0:42:10Leaving the heavy industry of the North East behind, the mood changes.
0:42:10 > 0:42:15Shipyards are replaced by rolling hills and sandy beaches.
0:42:15 > 0:42:20We're in Yorkshire now, with well-known holiday destinations like Whitby,
0:42:20 > 0:42:21and Scarborough,
0:42:21 > 0:42:25which has been attracting visitors for over 350 years.
0:42:29 > 0:42:33Nestled between these two holiday hotspots is Ravenscar.
0:42:33 > 0:42:38Ravenscar is a resort like no other.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42It's known as the town that never was.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46The question is, where is it?
0:42:49 > 0:42:54I've programmed my sat nav for the main street of Ravenscar,
0:42:54 > 0:42:58the wonderfully named Marine Esplanade.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01'Turn left, then take the second right.'
0:43:01 > 0:43:05Whoopsy, we're going straight into a rutted road.
0:43:05 > 0:43:09There's some sort of kerb running up the middle of the road here.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13'After 200 yards, turn right.
0:43:17 > 0:43:19'You have reached your destination.'
0:43:19 > 0:43:22That's it. Marine Esplanade.
0:43:26 > 0:43:31That's the strangest Marine Esplanade I've ever seen.
0:43:31 > 0:43:35According to sat nav, there should be roads here,
0:43:35 > 0:43:41and Marine Esplanade IS here, it's just covered in years of vegetation.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45But if you look hard enough, there are clues left.
0:43:45 > 0:43:49Look, drains, for no apparent reason.
0:43:51 > 0:43:57Look, it's some kind of base, a sort of octagonal concrete thing.
0:43:57 > 0:44:01The further afield you look, the more of Ravenscar you find.
0:44:01 > 0:44:05There's even an old railway platform.
0:44:07 > 0:44:12These are all that remain of a grand scheme hatched by Victorian entrepreneurs.
0:44:12 > 0:44:17They drew up detailed plans for a new resort on the Yorkshire coast, Ravenscar.
0:44:17 > 0:44:23Hundreds of workmen laid road and sank drains.
0:44:23 > 0:44:27They even constructed a brickworks ready to build the new town.
0:44:27 > 0:44:35Ravenscar was to be an elegant seaside resort to rival its neighbours Whitby and Scarborough.
0:44:36 > 0:44:43A hundred years ago, champagne-fuelled auctions were held at the Ravenhall Hotel.
0:44:43 > 0:44:48The estate company sold Ravenscar, plot by plot.
0:44:48 > 0:44:53The plan was for the new owners to build their own houses,
0:44:53 > 0:44:56so a new seaside town would be born.
0:44:56 > 0:45:01But, in spite of roads being laid out, Ravenscar was never built.
0:45:01 > 0:45:03Why?
0:45:03 > 0:45:09On the platform of the old station, I'm meeting the grand-daughter of one of the original investors.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15So, Monica, your grandmother bought a plot here in this town, but WHAT town?
0:45:15 > 0:45:19My grandmother bought a building plot here.
0:45:19 > 0:45:23- And this is the proof. - Indeed, this is the conveyance.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26- Does it give us the address? Because I've got a map here.- It does.
0:45:26 > 0:45:30It's in Loring Road, and Loring Road is just over there.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33Can we find your grandmother's plot?
0:45:33 > 0:45:35Let's have a try.
0:45:37 > 0:45:41- Presumably, these gates must represent the old roads.- Indeed, yes.
0:45:41 > 0:45:46- So this gate must be St Hilda's Road. - Yes, it is.- There we go.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49- So where are we on your plot? - Right, we're on Loring Road,
0:45:49 > 0:45:54and the plot was the second one along, and it was 25 feet from here.
0:45:54 > 0:45:59Which is what? That's going to be about six metres, so off we go.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03One, two, three, four, five, six.
0:46:03 > 0:46:09- So that is your plot, just a field. - Just a field.
0:46:09 > 0:46:13'Monica's grandparents paid £18 for their plot,
0:46:13 > 0:46:17'and then waited for the town to grow around it.
0:46:17 > 0:46:19'And waited.'
0:46:19 > 0:46:22In fact I have a letter here dated in 1937,
0:46:22 > 0:46:27after his wife's death, when he tried to sell it.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30"Unfortunately, sites on this estate
0:46:30 > 0:46:34"have not turned out as happily as was first anticipated."
0:46:34 > 0:46:38- That's a wonderful lawyer's understatement, isn't it? - Indeed, yes.
0:46:38 > 0:46:44So just why didn't Ravenscar turn out quite as "happily as anticipated"?
0:46:44 > 0:46:48Well, one thing every resort needs is a beach,
0:46:48 > 0:46:51but the beach here looks a long way down.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54I've enlisted Mel Cunningham as my guide.
0:46:54 > 0:46:57So how high are we above sea level here?
0:46:57 > 0:47:00We're nearly 500 feet above sea level here.
0:47:00 > 0:47:02A completely mad place to build a resort.
0:47:02 > 0:47:06Yeah, on a day like today it would be super, but this is quite unusual.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09Normally, the weather is much more inclement.
0:47:11 > 0:47:18The going gets tougher from here, but I'm hoping after the scramble, the beach will be worth it.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26The last leg.
0:47:28 > 0:47:33Mel, now we've got all the way down, where's the sandy beach?
0:47:33 > 0:47:37I'm afraid there isn't any sand as such, it's all rock and shale.
0:47:37 > 0:47:41The most inhospitable place ever, and we've come from all the way up there.
0:47:41 > 0:47:46But how did all those Victorian and Edwardian ladies expect to come down to the beach?
0:47:46 > 0:47:49There were some stone steps constructed which did take them
0:47:49 > 0:47:52right down to the beach, but they've since slipped away.
0:47:54 > 0:47:58The steps never did draw crowds down to the beach.
0:47:58 > 0:48:04Many prospective buyers were put off by Ravenscar's windswept location,
0:48:04 > 0:48:07and those who did buy were reluctant to build.
0:48:07 > 0:48:15Today this villa on Marine Esplanade stands alone, but could Ravenscar ever have worked?
0:48:15 > 0:48:17Well, the same entrepreneurs
0:48:17 > 0:48:22successfully established Lee-on-Solent on the South coast,
0:48:22 > 0:48:26and on a day like this you wonder whether a little bit more commitment
0:48:26 > 0:48:29was all it would have taken here in Yorkshire.
0:48:29 > 0:48:31But the chance has gone.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34The National Trust bought the land in 1977,
0:48:34 > 0:48:39so now Ravenscar, the town that never was, will never be.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47A few miles down the coast is Scarborough,
0:48:47 > 0:48:51and Scarborough's a town that has no trouble attracting people.
0:48:51 > 0:48:55Even on a wet, windy day, the surf kayakers are out.
0:48:55 > 0:49:00I'm Jason Roper, and today I'm with Scarborough Canoe Club,
0:49:00 > 0:49:05and we're going in the sea surfing, it should be really good fun.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09When I was younger I was in Scotland on an activity week,
0:49:09 > 0:49:15and I went kayaking and I just took to it straightaway, and thought "This is what I want to do."
0:49:21 > 0:49:27You don't really have time to think when you see a wave coming. There might be two or three seconds,
0:49:27 > 0:49:31so you have to just quickly think, "Am I going to try and catch it?"
0:49:34 > 0:49:39When you're coming from the top of the wave down into the bottom of the wave, the speed,
0:49:39 > 0:49:46you pick it up so quickly, it's like really fast acceleration. That's just a great feeling.
0:49:46 > 0:49:50I just find it really natural when I'm kayaking.
0:49:52 > 0:49:58The weather doesn't really make that much difference. If it's raining, it doesn't matter cos you're wet anyway.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06It's about time for a bacon sandwich or summat.
0:50:12 > 0:50:18Spurn Point reaches out into the North Sea and marks our entrance to the Humber Estuary.
0:50:22 > 0:50:27We've arrived at our final destination, the port of Hull.
0:50:30 > 0:50:34Because this seafaring city faces east, Hull has been a vital link
0:50:34 > 0:50:37in a chain connecting Europe with the rest of the world.
0:50:39 > 0:50:43In the 19th century, millions of people were desperate to escape
0:50:43 > 0:50:46Eastern Europe and make a fresh start.
0:50:46 > 0:50:50This great port of Hull became the unlikely gateway
0:50:50 > 0:50:54to a new life of freedom and opportunity in America.
0:50:54 > 0:50:58Howard Wolinsky's grandfather Henry was one of those migrants,
0:50:58 > 0:51:00en route from Lithuania to Boston.
0:51:00 > 0:51:07Though he never met his grandfather, Howard has arrived in Hull to retrace his footsteps.
0:51:08 > 0:51:11- So is that a photograph of your grandfather?- That's right.
0:51:11 > 0:51:13And what age is he there?
0:51:13 > 0:51:16He's almost 70 years old, in Boston.
0:51:16 > 0:51:19What do you hope to find here in Hull?
0:51:19 > 0:51:24More answers. I'd like to know more about what his life was like
0:51:24 > 0:51:26the brief time he was in Hull.
0:51:26 > 0:51:33My sister and one of my sons and my wife are here now, and the four of us went to Lithuania last year
0:51:33 > 0:51:37and actually went to the town he was from, and walked where he walked,
0:51:37 > 0:51:40and now we're sailing where he sailed.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45Like many people migrating to the New World, Howard's grandfather
0:51:45 > 0:51:49was an Eastern European Jew, escaping Tsarist Russia.
0:51:49 > 0:51:53The Jews were confined to a region alongside Russia's Western border,
0:51:53 > 0:51:55which included much of present-day Lithuania.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57Conditions were poor,
0:51:57 > 0:52:01and brutal repression set in motion a mass exodus.
0:52:01 > 0:52:08Between 1870 and 1914, for over two million European refugees, Hull was a lifeline.
0:52:10 > 0:52:15To get to America, Howard's grandfather brought a one-way ticket.
0:52:15 > 0:52:19The first stage was a train to Hamburg, and then on to Hull,
0:52:19 > 0:52:21a 32-hour voyage across the North Sea.
0:52:25 > 0:52:31We're meeting local historian Nick Evans to retrace the next stage of Howard's grandfather's journey.
0:52:33 > 0:52:35Having navigated a series of locks and docks,
0:52:35 > 0:52:40this is where on 1st August 1892, your ancestor would have landed.
0:52:40 > 0:52:43The vessel would have moored alongside this dockside here,
0:52:43 > 0:52:47and your ancestor would have disembarked here and then gone...
0:52:47 > 0:52:49- Right here?- This very spot.
0:52:49 > 0:52:55So this is where your grandfather would have taken his first steps on British soil.
0:52:55 > 0:52:56So I am walking the walk.
0:52:56 > 0:53:01You are walking the walk, and we know from documentation in the local archives
0:53:01 > 0:53:04that he arrived on Monday 1st August.
0:53:04 > 0:53:08You can see here the Sprite, a steamship from Hamburg,
0:53:08 > 0:53:11which actually arrived on 1st August at Prince's Dock.
0:53:11 > 0:53:15Alongside the passengers, there were all different commodities,
0:53:15 > 0:53:18including fruit, a piano and a variety of other commodities.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21These are some of the images he would have seen on arrival.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24- So this is 19th-century Hull? - This is from 1890.
0:53:24 > 0:53:27- This is the sights he would have seen.- Is that that building?
0:53:27 > 0:53:29Yes, this is the docks office at the time.
0:53:29 > 0:53:33Was the port of Hull the equivalent then of an airport transit lounge,
0:53:33 > 0:53:35just for people passing through?
0:53:35 > 0:53:37It was a major transport artery,
0:53:37 > 0:53:41just like Heathrow or Schiphol or JFK Airport are now.
0:53:41 > 0:53:46That was the real hub of this transport movement, on which millions of migrants would come along.
0:53:46 > 0:53:50It must have been exciting to know you were on this journey to America.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53Even though you put up with the seasickness and everything,
0:53:53 > 0:53:56I think you have to keep your eye on the prize.
0:53:57 > 0:54:0021-year-old Henry Wolinsky wasn't alone.
0:54:00 > 0:54:02Along with oranges and pianos,
0:54:02 > 0:54:06millions of names record the people who, for a few brief hours,
0:54:06 > 0:54:09passed through the port of Hull en route west.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14And immediately after disembarkation, they would have walked along streets
0:54:14 > 0:54:18such as this, where they would have gone to nearby lodging houses...
0:54:18 > 0:54:21Just like being in transit in an airport today,
0:54:21 > 0:54:26people passing through Hull over 100 years ago on their way to the New World
0:54:26 > 0:54:29had time on their hands, and needs to be met.
0:54:32 > 0:54:36This was where most of the migrants would have enjoyed a much-needed meal.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39Howard's grandfather would certainly have come here,
0:54:39 > 0:54:42because it was the only one which was run by a Jewish housekeeper
0:54:42 > 0:54:43and provided kosher food.
0:54:43 > 0:54:47Are there any records of what they ate, what was on the menu?
0:54:47 > 0:54:51Dry bread, herring, familiar foods for these migrants.
0:54:51 > 0:54:53- No bagels? - No bagels, unfortunately, no.
0:54:55 > 0:54:59Once fed, Howard's grandfather was moved to the railway station
0:54:59 > 0:55:01to start his onward journey to America.
0:55:01 > 0:55:07The migrants were moved through Hull under escort, and kept increasingly apart from the locals.
0:55:07 > 0:55:08Cholera was the big fear.
0:55:08 > 0:55:14There had been outbreaks of the disease in ports across Europe, and cholera was a killer.
0:55:15 > 0:55:20Public concern over disease resulted in a purpose-built platform being added to the train station,
0:55:20 > 0:55:23along with a special waiting room for migrants.
0:55:25 > 0:55:28These days, it's a pub.
0:55:30 > 0:55:35I wonder what your grandfather would have thought if he'd known that in 120 years' time,
0:55:35 > 0:55:37one of his grandsons would be in
0:55:37 > 0:55:40the same building that he waited in before he went to the New World.
0:55:40 > 0:55:45Well, I would hope he would find it ironic and satisfying,
0:55:45 > 0:55:48that the generations continued.
0:55:48 > 0:55:51Many of his other descendants...
0:55:51 > 0:55:56of his brothers were killed in the Holocaust, so we're survivors.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04After a rest, Howard's grandfather made his way to the platform.
0:56:06 > 0:56:10Here, he joined a long roll call of names who continued their journey westward.
0:56:16 > 0:56:18The train took them to Liverpool,
0:56:18 > 0:56:22where they boarded a steam ship bound for America.
0:56:22 > 0:56:29Howard's family are joining him where his ancestor stood on the brink of this new beginning.
0:56:29 > 0:56:31A successful American family,
0:56:31 > 0:56:36here today thanks to one young man's journey from the Old World to the New.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41This platform is completely overgrown,
0:56:41 > 0:56:43and this story is overlooked by history,
0:56:43 > 0:56:48but it's no surprise, because for the millions of people who passed through here
0:56:48 > 0:56:50this was just a stepping stone.
0:56:50 > 0:56:56The real story was going to happen somewhere else, somewhere far away.
0:57:12 > 0:57:17And on this latest journey, we've also been far beyond our coast.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20But home's never been far away.
0:57:21 > 0:57:26The same ice that cut the fjords of Norway sculpted the landscape of Britain.
0:57:29 > 0:57:33The Vikings who came to trade and Normans who came to invade.
0:57:34 > 0:57:38D-Day beaches where Allies fought for French soil
0:57:38 > 0:57:43and places of pilgrimage linked across the English Channel.
0:57:49 > 0:57:52The edge of Britain can feel like the end of our story,
0:57:52 > 0:57:56but the coastline doesn't cut us off from the world, it's where we reach out.
0:57:56 > 0:57:59And this isn't the end of our journey.
0:57:59 > 0:58:04We'll come down to the sea again, to our coast and beyond.
0:58:29 > 0:58:32Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:32 > 0:58:35E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk