0:00:34 > 0:00:37This is the tip of the top of Denmark...
0:00:38 > 0:00:41..where two great bodies of water meet.
0:00:43 > 0:00:44Look at this!
0:00:44 > 0:00:47Denmark is a country that actually comes to a point!
0:00:48 > 0:00:52A few steps this way, I'll be in the North Sea, headed towards home.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55A few steps that way, and I'll be in the Baltic,
0:00:55 > 0:00:57headed towards Russia.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00Now, this is my kind of coast-to-coast walk.
0:01:03 > 0:01:04And I'm not the only one -
0:01:04 > 0:01:08crowds of Danes come here to witness the eternal battle
0:01:08 > 0:01:09between the twin seas.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15It's captivating...
0:01:15 > 0:01:19..to watch opposing currents collide as two waters wrestle for control.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30Heading away from the open sea is the Lim Fjord
0:01:30 > 0:01:33which twists and turns as it carries the coastline
0:01:33 > 0:01:35deep into the heart of Jutland.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42Carved out in the last Ice Age, the landscape around Lim Fjord
0:01:42 > 0:01:46has had a surprisingly large impact on the British breakfast.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52On the banks of the fjord, Nick's making himself at home.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01For generations, Britons have been connected to this country
0:02:01 > 0:02:04by what's written on the back of their bacon -
0:02:04 > 0:02:06Danish.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10Mass marketing has always been a vital ingredient
0:02:10 > 0:02:13in the Danish recipe for success.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17But what got them started on the business of selling us bacon,
0:02:17 > 0:02:19and why did we gobble it up?
0:02:19 > 0:02:23'One name is enjoyed by more homes in this country
0:02:23 > 0:02:30'for its consistent high quality than any other.'
0:02:35 > 0:02:37# Oink! Oink!
0:02:39 > 0:02:40# Oink Oink!
0:02:42 > 0:02:43# Oink Oink!
0:02:43 > 0:02:46It's British consumers who have helped to make the Danes
0:02:46 > 0:02:50one of the biggest exporters of pig meat in the world.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53There are two porkers for every person in Denmark.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55That's over 12 million pigs.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02Surprisingly, this rich bacon business
0:03:02 > 0:03:05was built on very poor coastal terrain,
0:03:05 > 0:03:09a landscape familiar to rural expert Flemming Just.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11# Oink! Oink!
0:03:11 > 0:03:12Is this is beach or a field?
0:03:12 > 0:03:14It's a field.
0:03:14 > 0:03:19And in fact, it is very typical of Jutland - sandy.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21It is just sand, isn't it?
0:03:21 > 0:03:23And there's not a lot of nutrients in sand.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26Until the middle of the 19th century,
0:03:26 > 0:03:28it was totally covered by heather
0:03:29 > 0:03:32and almost no forest.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37Once, this was a windswept wilderness, without a pig in sight.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Its transformation to Bacon Central
0:03:40 > 0:03:45began with a disastrous defeat of the Danes some 200 years ago.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52In the Napoleonic Wars, Britain attacked Denmark
0:03:52 > 0:03:54to capture its fleet.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57In the aftermath, the Danes lost control of Norway
0:03:57 > 0:04:00as the map of Europe was redrawn.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04Later, the Germans grabbed a chunk of Danish territory,
0:04:04 > 0:04:06their rich agricultural land in the south.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10To survive, the Danes had to make the most
0:04:10 > 0:04:15of their fertile coastal plains in North Jutland.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17Denmark's bacon boom was about to begin.
0:04:19 > 0:04:20So from that time on,
0:04:20 > 0:04:25they started to cultivate the heather land here in Jutland.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29So a kind of agricultural revolution at the same time
0:04:29 > 0:04:32as Britain had its Industrial Revolution.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36Those two revolutions, they combined,
0:04:36 > 0:04:43so Britain deliberately decided only to focus on industrialisation
0:04:43 > 0:04:45and not care about farming.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47Britain couldn't feed itself,
0:04:47 > 0:04:52whereas Denmark became the larder for the British industrialisation.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58These sandy fields weren't good for growing crops.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00But pigs aren't that fussy.
0:05:00 > 0:05:05So this coastal region became farmland to feed us bacon.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08As intensive rearing replaced this rural idyll,
0:05:08 > 0:05:10pigs grew into big business.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12And 100 years later,
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Danish was one of the first foods advertised on British TV.
0:05:17 > 0:05:18KNOCKING
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Hello, there! I'm the Danish Bacon Viking!
0:05:27 > 0:05:31The majority of Jutland's pigs end up here in Esbjerg.
0:05:31 > 0:05:36Denmark's largest North Sea port was founded in 1868,
0:05:36 > 0:05:38especially for exports to us.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45140 countries now buy Danish,
0:05:45 > 0:05:48but they claim the best cuts head our way.
0:05:52 > 0:05:57These are backs of bacon - 7,000 of them are going through here today.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00And they're all bound for Britain.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05It's staggering to think how from humble beginnings,
0:06:05 > 0:06:09shipping pig meat from this port really did save Denmark's bacon.
0:06:09 > 0:06:14FOGHORN HOOTS
0:06:22 > 0:06:24Denmark's flat western coast
0:06:24 > 0:06:28takes a constant battering from the North Sea.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31The winter storms throw up 20ft waves,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35so it's no wonder exposed towns like Thyboron are under threat.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42That's why the Danes are busy sucking up sand...
0:06:42 > 0:06:45..only to pump it back onto the beach.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55A wee stroll along the shore suits me fine,
0:06:55 > 0:06:58but some people feel the need for speed.
0:06:58 > 0:06:59The North Sea beach marathon
0:06:59 > 0:07:04is one of the few anywhere in the world run entirely on sand.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07Which makes this marathon especially tough.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09Taking up the challenge is 68-year-old
0:07:09 > 0:07:13retired Methodist minister Malcolm Brookes from Hereford.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16I hear it's pretty tough, but the tougher a marathon is,
0:07:16 > 0:07:18the more attractive I find it.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22I'll be really in touch with human being's basic instincts -
0:07:22 > 0:07:26muscle, body, the air, the sea, the sand, the landscape.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29Basic, primitive, fundamental things.
0:07:29 > 0:07:34Bring it on, bring it on, I'm just up for it. Great.
0:07:34 > 0:07:39I've got my shades to stop the glare from the sea, and the sun.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41I've got my energy gels.
0:07:41 > 0:07:42See you later!
0:07:47 > 0:07:51With 26 and a bit miles of soft sand to negotiate,
0:07:51 > 0:07:54in temperatures touching 30 degrees Celsius,
0:07:54 > 0:07:55Malcolm's got his work cut out.
0:07:57 > 0:07:58It's tough.
0:07:58 > 0:07:59It's hot.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04It's much softer, much sandier.
0:08:04 > 0:08:05Quite slippy and slidy.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17I've done 19.7 miles.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21CHEERING AND CLAPPING
0:08:22 > 0:08:26The race has been on for almost seven hours,
0:08:26 > 0:08:29but you are still having runners struggling
0:08:29 > 0:08:31to get to the finish line.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34And the last runner is Malcolm Brookes.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37Yeah, I'm running on my own. I'm right at the end.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39But I don't mind that.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Malcolm's twice the age of most of the competitors,
0:08:44 > 0:08:47so there's no shame in coming 236th out of 236.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54With Malcolm in, they can all go home.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Very nice...!
0:09:00 > 0:09:02The last bit was really, really tough.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06I came home pretty breathless.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd