0:00:16 > 0:00:18This is exciting. I'm off on my hols.
0:00:18 > 0:00:25I'm on a trip to the seaside which brings happy memories rolling back.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33Here comes my time machine,
0:00:33 > 0:00:35and it's on time.
0:00:36 > 0:00:42We've got a ticket to explore England's celebrated South Coast...
0:00:42 > 0:00:44in style.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52I'll be travelling along one of the world's most beautiful shorelines.
0:00:52 > 0:00:57Generations of holiday-makers have adored this coast...
0:00:57 > 0:00:59from Dorset,
0:00:59 > 0:01:02through Devon
0:01:02 > 0:01:04and into Cornwall,
0:01:04 > 0:01:09ending where I can head west no more, at rugged Land's End.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13And my coastal companions are close by.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15Here it comes!
0:01:15 > 0:01:18Nick runs an infamous tidal race.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25Mark is naval gazing.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30Above me is some 3,000 tonnes of modern fighting machine.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37And Alice sniffs out the secrets of the seaside feel-good factor.
0:01:37 > 0:01:38It works!
0:01:38 > 0:01:40I'm so happy.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44This is Coast, off to the seaside.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14I'm heading along England's south- west coast to the tip of Cornwall.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22My journey starts en route for Swanage.
0:02:25 > 0:02:26You've got to love a steam train.
0:02:28 > 0:02:33But the first time locos like these chuffed down the tracks, they caused consternation.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39Now, we might only be travelling at 30 mph,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42but when Queen Victoria took her first trip on a steam train,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45she found the speed distressing.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51I've just got time to see how steam caused such a stir along our shore.
0:02:53 > 0:02:54WHISTLE BLOWS
0:02:54 > 0:02:56Tickets, please.
0:02:56 > 0:03:01Christian Wolmar's an authority on the railway revolution.
0:03:03 > 0:03:09There's undoubtedly something that steam trains add. It feels much more like actually going on holiday.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13Absolutely. It's part of the experience, part of the fun.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Until the advent of the railway, if you lived more than
0:03:19 > 0:03:2420 or 30 miles away from the coast, you probably never saw the sea.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32But here we are - we've arrived,
0:03:32 > 0:03:36following in the tracks of townies taking on a brave new world.
0:03:41 > 0:03:47The arrival of these pioneering visitors had a dramatic effect on Swanage seafront.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54So, Christian, before the railways connected the coast
0:03:54 > 0:03:58to the rest of the country, what was here, what was in a town like this?
0:03:58 > 0:03:59Well, frankly, not a lot.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03Really, it was a place of just a few hundred people
0:04:03 > 0:04:06who were left in peace most of the time.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09So it was just like a working town that happened to be beside the sea.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13Absolutely, just as with dozens of other places like this -
0:04:13 > 0:04:17once the railway arrived, its peace was rather upset.
0:04:17 > 0:04:22So the coast, as we think about it, the beach, the place for holidays
0:04:22 > 0:04:28and weekends, this really was invented by and made by the railways.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32It created a whole industry, you know, couple of hundred resorts in Britain
0:04:32 > 0:04:35were created as a result of the railways.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37And I'm going to see quite a few of them on this trip.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39I'm heading down through Dorset,
0:04:39 > 0:04:46through Devon and then into Cornwall, so it's kind of one of the meccas of beach holidays.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50Absolutely, Torquay, Paignton, all those places, you'll see the same
0:04:50 > 0:04:55pattern of development, the same houses built in the 19th century as a result of that.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59And if it hadn't been for the railways, the steam engines, it would never have happened.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01None of that would have happened at all.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04Cheers!
0:05:04 > 0:05:08Amazing, I've only been here 10 minutes - feel better already.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16These days it's hard to imagine this coast without tourists.
0:05:16 > 0:05:22Some 13 million visit England's south-west shore each year.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33The attractions of Dorset are easy to see.
0:05:35 > 0:05:40At Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door, the landscape frames a picture-perfect sea.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45Calm waters on this coast pull in the crowds.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49Its sheltered bay put Weymouth on the tourist map.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Weymouth's building boom started around 200 years ago,
0:05:58 > 0:06:02when George III decreed that bathing here was "fit for a king"
0:06:02 > 0:06:05and his subjects soon followed.
0:06:10 > 0:06:15Swimmers and sailors can play in peaceful seas, provided they stay close to the shore.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21But Nick isn't one to play it safe.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30The rocky outcrop of Portland shelters the waters of Weymouth Bay.
0:06:32 > 0:06:37But holidaymakers who stray too far from this haven
0:06:37 > 0:06:38court disaster.
0:06:40 > 0:06:46I'm venturing beyond the bay to brave some of the most dangerous waters in Britain.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52Headlands are wild places.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54Both wind and sea whip around them.
0:06:57 > 0:07:02Strong currents in the English Channel accelerate
0:07:02 > 0:07:05as they skirt the headland at Portland Bill.
0:07:05 > 0:07:11It creates a treacherous tidal surge known as the Portland Race.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15Skipper Alan Smith is expert at running the race.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19What is the water doing as it's coming down here towards the tip of Portland Bill?
0:07:19 > 0:07:25Well, what's happening, all the water from this big bay the other side is going down the channel
0:07:25 > 0:07:27and it's being pushed out by Portland and compressed,
0:07:27 > 0:07:33and so it's accelerated due to the fact that the island's sticking out and forcing all the water together.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35How bad can it get, Alan?
0:07:35 > 0:07:38It can get very, very dangerous. If it gets beyond rough
0:07:38 > 0:07:41it can be quite life-threatening here.
0:07:43 > 0:07:50'I may be in a powerful boat with an experienced skipper, but I hope my legs and my stomach are up to this.'
0:07:51 > 0:07:57Alan's in the wheelhouse. He's about to cut the engine and we're going to get sucked into the Portland Race.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59My heart's in my mouth, I don't mind admitting it.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04As we come round the headland, the tide starts to pull us in.
0:08:04 > 0:08:05Here it comes.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11The boat is going all over the place like a cork.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19It's pretty scary. I've never seen anything like it in British waters.
0:08:21 > 0:08:28We're now gripped by the tide race, and are being propelled westwards towards the Atlantic.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32It's exhilarating but it's also a bit frightening.
0:08:34 > 0:08:41'The tidal race is intensified by a submerged rock shelf sticking out for a mile beyond the headland.'
0:08:41 > 0:08:47Here the depth suddenly decreases, and the waters racing around Portland
0:08:47 > 0:08:52accelerate even more as the tide pushes over the shallow shelf.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56Once over the obstruction, the Race hits slow-moving water,
0:08:56 > 0:09:00a clash of currents that creates crunching waves.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Unfortunately, to get home there's little choice -
0:09:07 > 0:09:12a long detour or head straight back through the Portland Race.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15It's like the Cresta Run of the English Channel.
0:09:26 > 0:09:34The irresistible tidal forces of the Channel chiselled this awe-inspiring 18-mile strip of shingle.
0:09:41 > 0:09:47This is Chesil Beach, where you learn to cherish the pebble.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53There's 180 billion of the blighters here, piled 45 feet high.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00To tourists, it's a must-see -
0:10:00 > 0:10:04to school kids, it's the answer to geography exam questions.
0:10:07 > 0:10:12To me these pebbles are stepping-stones to what lies beyond.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22Most people come for the beach, but trapped behind the shingle bank
0:10:22 > 0:10:26is a lagoon that looks more like an inland sea.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34This glistening gem is The Fleet -
0:10:34 > 0:10:39a mixture of salt and fresh water that makes a rare and rich environment.
0:10:45 > 0:10:52Around the 11th century, a monastery on the edge of The Fleet started farming the lake's wild birds.
0:10:56 > 0:11:03Some thousand years later, and that swannery is the oldest survivor of its kind anywhere in the world.
0:11:05 > 0:11:12I'm meeting the latest in a very long line of swan herds.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16How long have the swans been here?
0:11:16 > 0:11:19Well, possibly for a few thousand years,
0:11:19 > 0:11:23but the earliest written record we have at the moment
0:11:23 > 0:11:25dates back to the mid-1300s.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29And what is it about this landscape that attracted them in the first place?
0:11:29 > 0:11:33The habitat is great - although the lagoon is almost eight miles long,
0:11:33 > 0:11:38it's very shallow, so they have no difficulty reaching eel grass,
0:11:38 > 0:11:44their natural plant food in the mid-Fleet, and it can support an awful lot of swans.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49The highest count in recent years is close to 1,400
0:11:49 > 0:11:56and that's a winter...wintering herd. We have quite a number of swans that will come from neighbouring counties,
0:11:56 > 0:12:04particularly the Somerset Levels, and they come to use the food source here when food becomes depleted on rivers.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07I assume that people wanted swans because they could eat them.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12We know that Benedictine monks were really farming swans,
0:12:12 > 0:12:16they were used for food and it was an important thing, yes.
0:12:19 > 0:12:24These days you won't find swan on the menu. They're protected so it's illegal to kill them.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30They're magnificent birds. I have to admire their loyalty.
0:12:30 > 0:12:35The parents do the absolute best for their young - they're beautiful, yes.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40We don't eat them now, but we do feed them.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45These days the swans put on a spectacular show for the tourists.
0:12:49 > 0:12:54This coast is a roller coaster of ups and downs.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Vantage points rise up to bookend the beaches.
0:13:00 > 0:13:05At over 600 feet, Golden Cap is the highest sea cliff on England's southern shore.
0:13:11 > 0:13:16The peak towers over the town of Lyme Regis, giving great views over the harbour.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30Steam was the engine of progress on this coast.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32Brunel's wonderful railway
0:13:32 > 0:13:35introduced tourists to the tranquil Torbay.
0:13:35 > 0:13:41The bay's town of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham
0:13:41 > 0:13:44were branded the English Riviera.
0:13:45 > 0:13:51The resort's reputation for glitz and glamour, British-style, became its selling point.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55NEWSREEL: 'The call of the sea is irresistible to almost everyone.'
0:13:58 > 0:14:02The railway started the rush, but by the late '50s,
0:14:02 > 0:14:06steam was losing its pulling power, replaced by a new driving force.
0:14:11 > 0:14:12On this bracing day,
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Nick's come to see how road eclipsed rail.
0:14:19 > 0:14:25I'm in holiday mode - no backpack, no boots, but I'm glad I brought the brolly.
0:14:27 > 0:14:31'No summer holiday's complete without the joys of the British weather.
0:14:35 > 0:14:42'So I'm very glad to be hitching a lift on a classic crowd pleaser, a welcome sight on a rainy day.'
0:14:48 > 0:14:51- Hello, Nick. - Hi, Dave, what a magnificent coach.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54Oh, thank you very much, a Yelloway coach, 1976.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57It should be in a museum.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59Well, come aboard, have a look around.
0:15:00 > 0:15:01It IS a museum!
0:15:01 > 0:15:03It is a museum, of course it is.
0:15:04 > 0:15:11Dave Haddock's impressive collection harks back to the earliest days of motorised travel.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14You've got stuff everywhere in here.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18The very first coaches were steam-powered goods lorries,
0:15:18 > 0:15:24converted at the weekends for the latest in passenger comfort.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27- What were the seats made from? - Er, church pews.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29You're kidding!
0:15:29 > 0:15:31- No, no. - Hope they asked the vicar first.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34Oh, well, yeah, I think the vicar was amongst them, actually.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36There were no Health and Safety in those days.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38So this is the beginning of mass tourism.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41You have workers from the Pennine mill towns,
0:15:41 > 0:15:43going off to the seaside at the weekend.
0:15:43 > 0:15:48Yeah, competing with the railways. They were trying to take people off the railways.
0:15:48 > 0:15:55Dave's personal collection is his tribute to the rise of one of the coach companies, Yelloway.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59From their first Lancashire charabanc in 1910,
0:15:59 > 0:16:06Yelloway grew into a national network transporting Northerners south to resorts like Torbay.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13Glorious seaside holiday tours 1939.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17This is a half cab. It's called the Yelloway 1940s.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19- That's beautiful, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:16:19 > 0:16:24And the colours of the coach really evoke the seaside, don't they, the yellow sand...?
0:16:24 > 0:16:28- A real holiday livery on it, yes. - This was the passport to paradise.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32Oh, yeah, of course it was, and when I was a young lad, I came on this type of coach, 1947.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34It took 15 hours to get to Torquay from Rochdale,
0:16:34 > 0:16:36and when we arrived at Leamington Road,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39my mum said to me, the first words you said when you got off was,
0:16:39 > 0:16:41"Are we at the other side of the world?"
0:16:41 > 0:16:45- I thought we were, we'd come that far.- Would you take me for a spin?
0:16:45 > 0:16:47Oh, yeah, course, definitely, let's go.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01- It's got a very evocative engine sound.- Oh, yes, lovely, I love it.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04- Reminds me of school trips.- Yeah.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08I used to come every year with my mum and my dad, and my grandparents.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11They used to spend a week every year in Torquay.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15It was just the most beautiful place you could wish to come for when you was a child.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19The thing that surprised me most, Nick, was we played out all day long,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22and when I looked at my hands at the end of the day, they wasn't dirty,
0:17:22 > 0:17:27yet if I'd have played out for an hour at home in the industrial North-west, my hands would be black.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31So your grandparents came down here from the north, your parents,
0:17:31 > 0:17:34you did and your children, so that's four generations.
0:17:34 > 0:17:35That's right, Nick, and then...
0:17:35 > 0:17:37I even spent my honeymoon here.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40So you came on your honeymoon on a coach.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Oh, yeah, and the driver gave us the front seat, special front seat,
0:17:43 > 0:17:47and the passengers had clubbed together and bought a bottle of champagne.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50- Did they give you the back seat on the way home?- No!
0:17:50 > 0:17:52HE LAUGHS
0:18:05 > 0:18:10At the edge of Devon lies the largest population centre on the south-west peninsula.
0:18:17 > 0:18:22The city of Plymouth owes its existence to the Royal Navy.
0:18:23 > 0:18:29They chose its muddy banks to build their dockyards to service the fleet at Devonport.
0:18:34 > 0:18:41Today it's HMS Westminster's turn to call in for some tender loving care.
0:18:41 > 0:18:48Getting the warship into the dry dock demands inch-perfect positioning.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52Get it wrong, and, without the water, the keel could snap.
0:19:07 > 0:19:14Mark's been granted privileged access to a state-of-the-art dockyard with a timeless feel.
0:19:16 > 0:19:22Above me is some 3,000 tonnes of modern fighting machine.
0:19:22 > 0:19:28'Frigates like Westminster are the workhorses of the Royal Navy.
0:19:28 > 0:19:33'Her steel hull is in for a major maintenance and weapons upgrade.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39'Fixing ships here harks back 300 years,
0:19:39 > 0:19:44'and the tradition of woodworking still underpins the fleet.
0:19:47 > 0:19:52'Commander Tim Hayley has to make sure the whole refit goes according to plan.'
0:19:52 > 0:19:57- These wood blocks here - exactly the same as we'd have used 150 years ago.- They're just wooden blocks.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01Hard wooden blocks with a softwood capping piece.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04And why wood? Why not just concrete?
0:20:04 > 0:20:09We need to have something that can absorb the weight without deforming too much.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11Concrete would be too rigid,
0:20:11 > 0:20:17and hardwood is just the best material for the job, because this ship is going to be here
0:20:17 > 0:20:19for about 25 weeks.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22And then how do you stop the ship from falling over?
0:20:22 > 0:20:26To stop it flopping either way, we have these shores which support
0:20:26 > 0:20:30- the ship as it comes down onto the blocks.- Still made of wood?
0:20:30 > 0:20:36Absolutely, and they're large pieces of wood. They have to be specially cut from the centre of the tree.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39So if you were to cut one of those in half, you would see the rings.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42Centre ring would be in the middle, and they'd work their way out.
0:20:42 > 0:20:49I mean, isn't it just an incredible thought to think that, you know, in the same dock, Nelson's navy,
0:20:49 > 0:20:54those great wooden-walled ships were docking in exactly the same way as the modern navy today?
0:20:54 > 0:20:59Yes, more or less, although the ships today are obviously much, much bigger.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03I mean, this is probably about 3,500 tonnes of steel on top of us.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Right, then let's move.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14Devonport's modern expertise is built on historic foundations -
0:21:14 > 0:21:19ones still upheld by wood.
0:21:20 > 0:21:25This is the footprint of the very first dock.
0:21:25 > 0:21:32In the 1690s, they built wooden warships here - why?
0:21:32 > 0:21:38Because the Royal Navy needed to service the expanding British Empire.
0:21:38 > 0:21:45And this is the oldest complete 18th century covered slip in any Royal dockyard.
0:21:49 > 0:21:56With its timbers steeped in history, modern ships have long since bypassed this place.
0:21:57 > 0:22:03Of all the naval remains in Britain, to me, this is my favourite.
0:22:03 > 0:22:11In forgotten cathedrals of wood like this were built the ships of Nelson's navy.
0:22:11 > 0:22:18This wooden roof is the same age as the victorious ships of Trafalgar.
0:22:18 > 0:22:23The docks were covered to stop wooden warships rotting before they could be launched.
0:22:27 > 0:22:32Devonport's heyday came in the '60s at the height of the Cold War.
0:22:32 > 0:22:38Then, 24,000 locals where needed to keep the steel fleet afloat.
0:22:38 > 0:22:43But surprisingly wood was still a key component.
0:22:45 > 0:22:51Eric Wilcox signed up as an apprentice shipwright in 1963.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53I started off with wood up here.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57- Woodworking in a metal navy?- One of the first things we were taught
0:22:57 > 0:23:00as an apprentice was how to put this shaft on this.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03Well...this is... This is an adze.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06I mean, this is straight out of medieval shipbuilding.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08Yes, and still used today.
0:23:08 > 0:23:09And what have we got here?!
0:23:11 > 0:23:12They're not metal.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15No, all wood.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17- Amazing, isn't it?- Extraordinary!
0:23:17 > 0:23:21I mean, here we've got everything that a navy needs.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25And it's all made in wood to be made and cast in bronze, brass, steel...
0:23:25 > 0:23:27And look, there's a spanner!
0:23:27 > 0:23:30HE LAUGHS It's just a wooden spanner.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33- It's amazing. - Pipes.- All out of wood.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35All made out of wood.
0:23:37 > 0:23:42The Navy kept vast stores of these wooden parts ready for when needed.
0:23:42 > 0:23:47These templates were pressed into clay and then cast in metal.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57The adze might be ancient,
0:23:57 > 0:24:02but for some shipbuilding, this tool still has the edge.
0:24:04 > 0:24:09- So this is how an adze works. - Yes, that's it. Watch how it's done.
0:24:09 > 0:24:10What are we up to, how do we do it?
0:24:10 > 0:24:14Well, we're just chopping away, we're making up a stem
0:24:14 > 0:24:16for the bow of a boat,
0:24:16 > 0:24:18and there's one we've made, as well.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20Isn't that incredible? So smooth.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23- You can do very fine work. - You've achieved that with an adze.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25Yes, yes, they're razor-sharp.
0:24:25 > 0:24:31Men were using the adze long before the birth of Henry VIII's Royal Navy.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33Now it's my turn.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38I'm probably going to butcher this bit of wood, so what do I do?
0:24:38 > 0:24:41Be very careful, just keep one hand into your hand, and mind your legs.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44Mind your legs - I don't want to lose one!
0:24:47 > 0:24:51So, I've made a complete... dog's breakfast of this.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59The extraordinary thing is, to think that in the 18th and 19th centuries,
0:24:59 > 0:25:03there were armies of people with these tools, making those ships.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11These days, Devonport ships have hulls of steel,
0:25:11 > 0:25:15but they still rest on the foundations of the Navy - wood.
0:25:15 > 0:25:20It'll take 200,000 man-hours and £40 million
0:25:20 > 0:25:25before Westminster can be re-floated off her wooden blocks.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29But then she'll be fit for the tasks of a modern navy.
0:25:29 > 0:25:34She won't have to visit Devonport Dockyard for another five years.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45The Tamar Estuary marks the Cornish frontier.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51But the railway bridged the gap and rolled on regardless.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58From now on, my journey has a more rugged outlook.
0:26:02 > 0:26:08With its jagged shore and sheltered inlets, Cornwall is England's most coastal county.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21Each step westwards brings subtle changes in the surrounding flora.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28Lichen hate pollution, but they're plentiful here.
0:26:29 > 0:26:34With little heavy industry and prevailing winds fresh from the Atlantic,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37Cornwall has fantastically clean air,
0:26:37 > 0:26:40yet there's always the smell of the seashore.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48At the pretty little anchorage of Gorran Haven,
0:26:48 > 0:26:52Alice is following her nose.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01'There's something special about going down to the sea.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05'There are those telltale signs that you're close,
0:27:05 > 0:27:07'the sense of anticipation builds,
0:27:07 > 0:27:12'and then it hits you and familiar feelings flood back.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18'The beach bombards the senses,
0:27:18 > 0:27:24'but if you just had your sense of smell, you'd still know you were by the sea.'
0:27:24 > 0:27:27The seaside has this wonderful aroma,
0:27:27 > 0:27:31it's the smell of summer holidays and happiness.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35If only we could bottle it! But what is it?
0:27:38 > 0:27:45'Water's odourless, so it must be something else in the sea that gives it that seductive smell.
0:27:45 > 0:27:52'I'm in search of the solution with Professor Andrew Johnston.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54'He thinks he's got the answer in his bag.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00'He's brought bacteria.
0:28:00 > 0:28:06'When these micro-organisms munch plankton, apparently they make a little whiff,
0:28:06 > 0:28:08'a by-product of digestion.
0:28:08 > 0:28:14'The bacteria belch out gas that gives the sea its distinctive smell.
0:28:14 > 0:28:21'To bottle that seaside aroma, we've got to tempt Andy's bugs to start burping gas.'
0:28:23 > 0:28:27- What else do we need? - Well, we need some seaweed.
0:28:27 > 0:28:28Right...
0:28:32 > 0:28:33'At the moment...'
0:28:33 > 0:28:35Yeah, it just smells faintly seaweedy.
0:28:35 > 0:28:39Yeah, a little bit, so if we just put some water in here...
0:28:39 > 0:28:45'This seaweed soup is our version of the microscopic plant life
0:28:45 > 0:28:48'naturally found in sea water.'
0:28:48 > 0:28:50- OK, that's fine.- Another one.
0:28:50 > 0:28:55- And now we need to add the other component, the bacteria.- OK.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58- So can I open this up, is that safe?- Yeah.
0:28:58 > 0:29:00Although it smells of something, it's not the seaside,
0:29:00 > 0:29:03it's got a sort of musty smell.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06- That's not the smell of the sea.- No, we're going to do something magical.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10- Right, so what's the next step? - Well, what I'll do, is scrape some of that off,
0:29:10 > 0:29:14add it to water, then add that back to the seaweed and see what happens.
0:29:14 > 0:29:20So each of these loopfuls, I guess maybe a million, ten million bacteria, amazing numbers.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22- Really?- But they're very, very small.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27'We're hoping that after we've added the bottled bacteria to our seaweed soup
0:29:27 > 0:29:32'and given them a few hours to feast, the solution will start to stink,
0:29:32 > 0:29:35'and we'll have bottled the smell of the seaside.'
0:29:35 > 0:29:38Shall we go and have a pasty and come back?
0:29:39 > 0:29:44'The bacteria need to bask in the warm sun to digest their weedy meal.'
0:29:47 > 0:29:49- The moment of truth.- OK.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53So for the last two hours, the bacteria in this cloudy mixture
0:29:53 > 0:29:55have been chomping away on the substance
0:29:55 > 0:29:59in this seaweed, and producing something which you think I should be able to smell.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02- Yes, I sincerely hope so. - The moment of truth.
0:30:02 > 0:30:04Yes, indeed.
0:30:08 > 0:30:09Yes!
0:30:09 > 0:30:11Absolutely!
0:30:11 > 0:30:14That is really strange.
0:30:14 > 0:30:18But it is undoubtedly the smell of the sea.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21- THEY LAUGH It works!- Yeah, I know.
0:30:21 > 0:30:28'In a tiny test tube, Andy's experiment shows what's happening on a global scale.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32'The scent of the sea comes from a sulphurous gas, dimethyl sulphide,
0:30:32 > 0:30:35'also known as DMS -
0:30:35 > 0:30:40'bacteria burps that are the by-product of digesting plankton.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43'To us, it's the smell of seaside holidays,
0:30:43 > 0:30:47'but to some birds and mammals, DMS is the smell of life.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50'They home in on concentrations of the scent,
0:30:50 > 0:30:53'knowing that where there's life, there's food.'
0:31:06 > 0:31:08The Lizard Peninsula.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11We've reached the most southerly point on the mainland.
0:31:15 > 0:31:19Living on the edge, coastal folk must turn their hands to anything.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23For millennia, the Cornish mined tin.
0:31:23 > 0:31:30That metallic thread stretches along this coast to here at Mount's Bay, dominated by an iconic island.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32This is St Michael's Mount.
0:31:32 > 0:31:36In classical times, traders took tin from here,
0:31:36 > 0:31:41mixed it with copper from Cyprus and fuelled the bronze-age arms race.
0:32:00 > 0:32:06The entrepreneurial spirit lives on in industrious Newlyn, Cornwall's biggest fishing port,
0:32:06 > 0:32:08Here, they start young.
0:32:11 > 0:32:12My name's Phillip Lambourne. I'm 13.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17My name is Tom Pasquer and I'm 12.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20My name's James Lambourne and I'm nine.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26My name's Archie Pasquer and I'm seven years old.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32'It all started, we were down here one day
0:32:32 > 0:32:35'and I rang up Tom to see if he wanted to go fishing with me,
0:32:35 > 0:32:36'and he said no.
0:32:36 > 0:32:41'Five minutes later, he rang and said, "Do you want to haul couple of prawn pots?"
0:32:41 > 0:32:43'We did, and it escalated from there.'
0:32:43 > 0:32:47We started with two pots and now we've got...about a dozen pots now.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52That's it. Let Tom shake it out.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56'Both our parents are fishermen and all our families are involved in fishing.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03'The first pot we had was on the front here, and we just thought,
0:33:03 > 0:33:09'"Well, let's try it here and try it here," and just trial and error and we found the best places now really.'
0:33:10 > 0:33:13Wait. James, wait.
0:33:13 > 0:33:17There's not really a captain or anything, just the four of us.
0:33:17 > 0:33:22'We all get on fine, but there's always a moment where you have
0:33:22 > 0:33:25'a bit of an argument or upset when someone disagrees, but...'
0:33:25 > 0:33:28That's... We're all going to have a few of them.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31No, Archie, sit back where you were.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34Stay where you are, Arch, don't fall over.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37- Right, who's hauling this first one in?- I'll haul the red one.
0:33:44 > 0:33:49'The prawns like sheltered rocky places, not open places, and just the right temperature,
0:33:49 > 0:33:53'not too warm and not too cold, and they like shelter,
0:33:53 > 0:33:57'so under the quay or by the rocks would be perfect.'
0:33:57 > 0:34:01This is the pot and the prawns go in that side.
0:34:01 > 0:34:07And that side, and this is the hatch which we shake the prawns out of, and that's the bait hatch.
0:34:14 > 0:34:19We haul them every two days. We did get, one day, 300 or 400 in one pot.
0:34:23 > 0:34:27The best times to do it are the summer holidays to Christmas.
0:34:28 > 0:34:34Next year, I'm hopefully going to go to sea a lot more, and let the two younger ones take over a bit more.
0:34:36 > 0:34:41Last year, we made about £450, just short of £500, so it's worth quite a lot,
0:34:41 > 0:34:45so when we hand over to these two next year,
0:34:45 > 0:34:47since we started it off and bought all of the pots,
0:34:47 > 0:34:51we'll have to take a share out of their earnings when they continue.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56'The Cornish once relied on fishing.
0:34:56 > 0:35:01'With these young go-getters, that tradition seems pretty safe to me.'
0:35:01 > 0:35:03- Good lads, take care.- Cheers.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22My last stop approaches.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26One of Britain's most remote artistic attractions -
0:35:26 > 0:35:28the Minack Theatre.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35One of the great seaside traditions is taking in a show.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39I'm not going to take in a show. Heaven help us all, I'm going to be in one!
0:35:46 > 0:35:50On this windswept headland, stands the Minack,
0:35:50 > 0:35:53a unique temple to the performing arts.
0:35:54 > 0:35:59Less theatre of dreams, more place of my nightmares.
0:36:04 > 0:36:08Well, would you look at that? You'd expect to find that in ancient Rome.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11Maybe it's the scene of a Greek tragedy.
0:36:12 > 0:36:17'My co-star in this personal drama is local thespian, Sarah Lincoln.'
0:36:17 > 0:36:19- Hi, Sarah. - Hi, welcome to the Minack.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22They tell me I'm going to perform here.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25You are, yes. Tonight, on this very stage.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28Ohh... Show me what I'm going to do.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31The very first performance that was given here on this stage,
0:36:31 > 0:36:35was a production of The Tempest in 1932,
0:36:35 > 0:36:41so we thought it was really apt that YOU would play Prospero, and I will be your Ariel.
0:36:41 > 0:36:44- And here are your lines. - Shakespeare, what a nightmare!
0:36:44 > 0:36:47No, Shakespeare's easy, he tells you exactly what to do,
0:36:47 > 0:36:50and he's great at commanding the elements, just like Prospero.
0:36:50 > 0:36:55You've got the real sea and the real wind, and potentially even the real rain tonight.
0:36:55 > 0:36:59- Right, let's go.- Shall we start rehearsing?- Let's go.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01- Let's go hence to another place. - SHE LAUGHS
0:37:03 > 0:37:08'This extraordinary amphitheatre exists thanks to The Tempest,
0:37:08 > 0:37:10'Shakespeare's play set on a small island.
0:37:12 > 0:37:19'In 1932, Rowena Cade wanted somewhere suitable for her friends to perform it.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23'She chose this spot, at the end of her garden.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29'The play's lead part, Prospero, has starred all the greats -
0:37:29 > 0:37:34'Redgrave, Gielgud, McKellen,
0:37:34 > 0:37:35'and now me!'
0:37:35 > 0:37:41- "Our little life is rounded with a sleep."- Brilliant.
0:37:41 > 0:37:45So what does the venue bring that isn't there in another kind of theatre?
0:37:45 > 0:37:49I think the first thing it brings is scale.
0:37:49 > 0:37:54I think the fact that the theatre is surrounded by nature, surrounded by the sea, the elements, the cliffs,
0:37:54 > 0:37:57and the fact that you've got a real horizon.
0:37:57 > 0:38:02When you stand on stage, as an actor, often you have to create a horizon, and there it is, looking at you,
0:38:02 > 0:38:06and the audience are looking at you with that fantastic backdrop.
0:38:09 > 0:38:15The early performances of The Tempest were such a great success it was repeated down the years.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19Rowena Cade - and her long-suffering gardener -
0:38:19 > 0:38:24spent the next 40-odd years building a unique theatre.
0:38:25 > 0:38:31- Here we are.- OK.- Oh, the gorgeous white shirt...- Nice blouse(!)
0:38:31 > 0:38:34- Pair of britches for you.- I'll look like little Jimmy Krankie!
0:38:34 > 0:38:36I feel sick to my stomach.
0:38:40 > 0:38:42- Slight problem, there! - SHE LAUGHS
0:38:45 > 0:38:47I offer you...Prospero.
0:38:49 > 0:38:53Outside, suitably ominous weather,
0:38:53 > 0:38:57and a frankly certifiable audience are rolling in.
0:38:58 > 0:39:03- We're English, we do this all the time.- It's all part of the fun.
0:39:03 > 0:39:05Absolutely bonkers!
0:39:05 > 0:39:09There must be something strange about the fact that behind you,
0:39:09 > 0:39:12rather than a painted backdrop or a set,
0:39:12 > 0:39:16there is uncontrollable...nature.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19No actor on this planet can compete with a pod of 20 dolphins
0:39:19 > 0:39:23doing a sort of, you know, moon-walking across the top of the water which they seem to...
0:39:23 > 0:39:27It's like they rehearse round the corner and go, "We'll show them!"
0:39:27 > 0:39:29and they come and do this fantastic display.
0:39:29 > 0:39:31And do the audience..?
0:39:31 > 0:39:34- Yeah, you haven't got a hope in hell.- They just turn to the...?
0:39:34 > 0:39:37To the dolphins. You can stand there stark naked, chop your own head off
0:39:37 > 0:39:39and, "Oh, look at the dolphins!"
0:39:39 > 0:39:42This season, I had a performance I was directing
0:39:42 > 0:39:45and we had to stop the show because there was an air-sea rescue.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48This is not the easiest theatre in which to make one's debut, is it?
0:39:48 > 0:39:54If the elements are raging, people really, really remember if you get through it, and they love it.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57Well, the elements are certainly raging.
0:39:57 > 0:40:01We've only a short scene, but I've never been on stage before.
0:40:01 > 0:40:04Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. Welcome to the Minack.
0:40:04 > 0:40:08I've never felt so ill in my entire life, I think I'll break my own leg.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11There's something we want you to share with us this evening.
0:40:11 > 0:40:13CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:40:19 > 0:40:22Our revels now are ended.
0:40:22 > 0:40:29These, our actors, as I foretold you, were all spirits and are melted into air, into thin air.
0:40:29 > 0:40:37We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.
0:40:37 > 0:40:41Come with a thought, I thank thee, Ariel, come.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44Thy thoughts I cleave to. What is thy pleasure?
0:40:44 > 0:40:48Spirit, we must prepare to meet with Caliban.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52Say again, where didst thou leave those varlets?
0:40:52 > 0:40:57I told you, they were red-hot with drinking.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01So full of valour that they smote the air.
0:41:01 > 0:41:07The trumpery in my house, go bring it hither, for stale to catch these thieves.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09I go, I go.
0:41:12 > 0:41:14APPLAUSE
0:41:26 > 0:41:29Land's End and journey's end.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32Hollywood will never find me out here.
0:41:34 > 0:41:39Well, the bard said, "All the world's a stage." It turns out that's even true of the coast.
0:41:42 > 0:41:47Next time, we're off to France to explore our Celtic cousins' coast.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49Bonjour, Brittany!
0:41:55 > 0:41:57Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd