0:00:10 > 0:00:12Come with me if you want adventure.
0:00:12 > 0:00:17Back we go to the sea
0:00:17 > 0:00:19for a fresh look at the coast.
0:00:19 > 0:00:27Grab your sou'westers and sign on for a brand new tour, right around the British Isles.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30Stopping off at some spectacular sites close to home,
0:00:30 > 0:00:34we'll also be venturing far out across the water to Denmark,
0:00:34 > 0:00:37for a voyage with the Vikings.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41And making a journey to the end of the Earth in Brittany,
0:00:41 > 0:00:47to discover how shared seas unite us with our neighbours.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51Our voyage around Britain and beyond doesn't start with the edge of our islands, but at their heart.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56On this first leg of our journey, the Isle of Man is the hub,
0:00:56 > 0:01:00as we spin round the United Kingdoms of the Irish Sea.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03In England, Alice gets to grips with quicksand.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05It's got me good and proper.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08It really is quite scary.
0:01:08 > 0:01:14On the Mersey, Mark unearths the ship that broke Brunel's heart.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16There it is, as fresh as it comes.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20In Wales, Nick wants to see how Anglesey was built.
0:01:20 > 0:01:25I've been following this band of quartz all the way up and it's very beautiful.
0:01:25 > 0:01:31In Northern Ireland, Miranda searches for some shy seals.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37Off the shore of Scotland, we wade out with fishermen who wrestle the raging tide.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Me, I explore the Isle of Man
0:01:40 > 0:01:45and discover the birthplace of a right royal institution.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48This is Coast and beyond.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17The Isle of Man isn't part of the United Kingdom,
0:02:17 > 0:02:22but it's got a special place in its heart looking out to all our shores.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28Like the hub of a wheel, it's almost equidistant from Northern Ireland,
0:02:28 > 0:02:30Scotland, England and Wales
0:02:30 > 0:02:33and we'll visit them all on this first journey.
0:02:37 > 0:02:43It might be tiny but the Manx mainland packs in lots of landscapes.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47Rolling green hills in the north,
0:02:47 > 0:02:51a gnarled, rocky coastline in the south,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55and a scattering of sandy beaches.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58The Isle of Man could be the British Isles in miniature.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06For a small island it can boast some big ideas.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09How about the Laxey wheel?
0:03:11 > 0:03:14Now that's what you call a water feature.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19And I've turned up in time to turn it on.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23Keeper of the wheel Roger Clare is showing me how it's done.
0:03:26 > 0:03:31Now all you need to do is turn the wheel clockwise.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35Does it start first time? We'll see.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37MECHANISM CREAKS
0:03:37 > 0:03:39That's a good noise.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42Opening this valve releases a flow of water which is forced
0:03:42 > 0:03:46up the tower to cascade on the wheel, setting it in motion.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48There it goes.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Oh, that's great.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53You might get wet now.
0:03:53 > 0:03:54Oh, yeah!
0:03:56 > 0:04:02When it started to whirl in 1854, it wowed the locals
0:04:02 > 0:04:05and its sheer scale is still staggering.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14So why is the world's largest working waterwheel here,
0:04:14 > 0:04:18spinning around at the centre of the Irish Sea?
0:04:18 > 0:04:20There are clues to its construction nearby,
0:04:20 > 0:04:27the abandoned lead mines and the port at the bottom of the valley.
0:04:27 > 0:04:32It might be hard to believe today but 120 years ago this place hummed with activity
0:04:32 > 0:04:36as countless tonnes of zinc and lead ore were shipped out of the harbour here.
0:04:38 > 0:04:46Sea trade kept business buoyant at Laxey, but underground water was threatening to sink it.
0:04:50 > 0:04:56Mine expert Pete Geddis is going to show me the damp, dingy hell-hole below.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00OK, Neil, well this is the sea entrance, access tunnel to the well shaft.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02This little door? This little door.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07Oh, yes, I hate it already.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11It probably would have been wetter than this in the mining days
0:05:11 > 0:05:14because the discharged water would have run along here.
0:05:14 > 0:05:19Teams of miners toiled around the clock, chasing richer seams of ore.
0:05:19 > 0:05:24As they dug deeper the water problem got worse.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29The miner's nightmare was the water ingressing into the shaft and then getting into the levels below. Yeah.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Where is the water coming from, if that's not a stupid question?
0:05:32 > 0:05:37This is just ground drainage water, it's running off the land, it's running down the bedrock,
0:05:37 > 0:05:41and then it finds its way onto the edge of the shaft, so it's a perpetual sea of rain down here.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45All mines flood.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48Often water was pumped out with steam engines,
0:05:48 > 0:05:52but with no coal on the Isle of Man, steam wasn't an option.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56So what about putting the water to work?
0:05:58 > 0:06:03That's what the Laxey wheel does, Victorian style.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07Streams piped down the valley drove the wheel.
0:06:07 > 0:06:13Its rotation-powered machine is capable of pumping out 250 gallons of water per minute.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21Baling out the mine shafts wasn't the wheel's only job.
0:06:21 > 0:06:26They could have boxed the machinery in, hidden it away.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30Instead it's deliberately sited at the head of the valley,
0:06:30 > 0:06:34and emblazoned with the Three Legs of Man.
0:06:36 > 0:06:42A wheel of fortune inviting investors to buy shares in the mine.
0:06:43 > 0:06:49Now it's an emblem of Manx pride, a reminder that the island can match its powerful neighbours,
0:06:49 > 0:06:55countries my fellow Coasters will explore on their wheel around the Irish Sea.
0:06:57 > 0:07:03Our tour of the UK starts in North Wales, with Nick.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08At the Dee Estuary, an imaginary line in the mud
0:07:08 > 0:07:12marks the boundary between the English and the Welsh.
0:07:15 > 0:07:20You soon hit a high spot of Victorian resort building, Llandudno.
0:07:22 > 0:07:28The town's nestled in the shelter of the Great Orme's imposing cliffs, which point our way westward.
0:07:31 > 0:07:36Out towards my destination, the largest island in Wales, Anglesey.
0:07:39 > 0:07:44Many make their way to these cliffs for the glorious sights looking out
0:07:44 > 0:07:50to sea, but what's brought me here are the rocks beneath my feet.
0:07:50 > 0:07:55On the island's edge you see a slice right through the Earth's geological history,
0:07:55 > 0:08:00an extraordinary collection of rocks are exposed here.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03Just to show you how different Anglesey is,
0:08:03 > 0:08:06look at this geological map of southern Britain.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10Great swathes of it are all the same colour, meaning they're all the same rock type.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13Here's this great band of chalk running up her in green,
0:08:13 > 0:08:16there's another huge band of limestone running down here.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20But up here on Anglesey something different is happening,
0:08:20 > 0:08:27there's an intense mosaic of different colours, meaning there are many different rock types.
0:08:27 > 0:08:32Much of the mystery of Anglesey's formation is buried below the turf,
0:08:32 > 0:08:36but the coast reveals the island's subterranean secrets.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41The most stunning geological feature is the long channel of water
0:08:41 > 0:08:45that separates Anglesey from the mainland, the Menai Strait.
0:08:47 > 0:08:53To understand its significance I'm with David Schofield from the British Geological Survey.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58What part does this gulf play in Anglesey geology?
0:08:58 > 0:09:03Well, this is actually a long fault zone which we call the Menai Strait fault system.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05It separates very much
0:09:05 > 0:09:09older rocks to the north west than those to the south east.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12We're looking at a fundamental geological divide, which we know is still active
0:09:12 > 0:09:16because we're seeing some of Britain's biggest earthquakes just happening along this fault line.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19Right where we're standing? Right where we're standing, yes.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23So the shore we're on here is moving in relation to the shore over there.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25It certainly is yes, at a very slow rate every year,
0:09:25 > 0:09:29and every now and then it takes a bit of a jump and there's an earthquake.
0:09:30 > 0:09:36Around 300 small earthquakes shake Britain each year, often felt most
0:09:36 > 0:09:41strongly here, caused as the mainland grinds against Anglesey.
0:09:41 > 0:09:46It's part of the bigger movement of landmasses around the globe.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50The Earth's crust is made up of separate distinct plates
0:09:50 > 0:09:53which are constantly moving against each other.
0:09:57 > 0:10:04Where the edges of the plate move apart new crust is created, about as fast as your fingernails grow.
0:10:04 > 0:10:11Deep on the ocean floor, as the plates tear apart, lava can ooze out.
0:10:11 > 0:10:16This fiery business of planet building is exposed beautifully
0:10:16 > 0:10:20on a small strip of Anglesey at Llanddwyn Island.
0:10:20 > 0:10:25Local geologist Margaret Wood is my guide.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29These are the world-famous pillow larvas of Llanddwyn.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31All I can see is a grey rock.
0:10:31 > 0:10:32What are we looking at? Oh, it's beautifully bluey grey though,
0:10:32 > 0:10:37we're looking at pillows which are lava which came up on the ocean bed.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40They get into the water and immediately the outside will crack.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42These huge great big rounded lumps here?
0:10:42 > 0:10:44Each one of those is called a pillow.
0:10:44 > 0:10:49It is astonishing the way that raw nature can produce these symmetries and shapes.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52But having looked at those,
0:10:52 > 0:10:56something even more extraordinary, on the other end of the island,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59you've got material that has actually gone down back into the crust,
0:10:59 > 0:11:06and the fantastic thing is Llanddwyn Island is a complete mini-plate.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09But that's amazing, I always thought that these plates on the surface of
0:11:09 > 0:11:12the Earth, really were the size of continents or oceans.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17You're telling me that here on this beach in Anglesey there's an entire plate.
0:11:17 > 0:11:18Absolutely.
0:11:18 > 0:11:24This tiny island tells a big tale of how the Earth's built.
0:11:24 > 0:11:29The plates of crust pull apart at one edge, but collide at the other edge.
0:11:29 > 0:11:34As they crush into each other a jumble of different rocks is left behind,
0:11:34 > 0:11:38which remarkably you can also see on Llanddwyn Island.
0:11:41 > 0:11:46Wow, just look at that! Those colours, Margaret!
0:11:46 > 0:11:49It's fantastic, isn't it? So many shapes too, it looks like a great big blancmange.
0:11:49 > 0:11:55It's wonderful, isn't it? Those are quartz-rich rocks, you've got limestone over there,
0:11:55 > 0:12:01and you've got schists, you've got conglomerate, and the colours are fantastic, aren't they?
0:12:01 > 0:12:05So this is two plates of the Earth crust colliding? Exactly.
0:12:05 > 0:12:10In the hundreds of millions of years Anglesey has been moving around the globe,
0:12:10 > 0:12:16collisions and splits in the Earth's crust have created an astonishing array of rocks.
0:12:16 > 0:12:21It's not just geologists who love this landscape,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24it's a paradise for climbers too.
0:12:24 > 0:12:32The sea's worked away at the weaker rocks to create some of Britain's toughest cliff climbs.
0:12:32 > 0:12:37Now I'm taking up the challenge to see these rocks as only climbers can.
0:12:37 > 0:12:44But before the ascent, I've got an exhilarating 100-foot descent in prospect.
0:12:44 > 0:12:50Fortunately, Libby Peter and Graham Desroy know their ropes.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53I guess, is it the nature of cliff climbing that you're always going
0:12:53 > 0:12:55to start by going down before you can come up?
0:12:55 > 0:12:57Yeah, it's a bit back-to-front. Normally you climb a mountain
0:12:57 > 0:12:59and then abseil down again,
0:12:59 > 0:13:07but sea cliffs it's the reverse, you commit yourself by abseiling in and then you have to climb out again.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11It does look amazing when you just disappear into the...
0:13:11 > 0:13:13Yeah, it's like you're abseiling straight into the sea.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15Yeah, it does. See you down there.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17OK, will do.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21Here goes. It's a very long way down.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31The rock is now very dry and storm battered.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33It's as if it's been scoured clear of vegetation.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40That's pretty exciting.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43Is this where we start traversing round or... That's right.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51You know you're close to the sea when the spray starts whacking you in the face.
0:13:51 > 0:13:52Hello, Libby.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55What do you think?
0:13:55 > 0:13:57Well, it beats sitting on a beach!
0:13:57 > 0:14:01Just awesome, it's architecturally massive.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03Takes your breath away.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06The old heart's going.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12The pros rate this climb as "very severe".
0:14:16 > 0:14:17I can't tell you what I call it.
0:14:21 > 0:14:27I can see all the incredible folds of rock, it's been bent like a piece of paper.
0:14:27 > 0:14:31I mustn't get too distracted, I'm meant to be climbing.
0:14:31 > 0:14:36I've been following this band of quartz all the way up.
0:14:36 > 0:14:37Here it is,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40glistening white in the sunshine, it's very beautiful.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00Thank you so much.
0:15:03 > 0:15:04That was sensational.
0:15:08 > 0:15:13Thank you so much, it's such an honour to be taken up by the two of you.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17I was so impressed with the way you climbed it, it was brilliant, it really was.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26While Nick's hanging off the edge of the Irish Sea,
0:15:26 > 0:15:29I'm right at its heart on the Isle of Man.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33There's no shortage of sea cliffs to clamber up,
0:15:33 > 0:15:37but the Manx can boast a climb you won't find anywhere else,
0:15:37 > 0:15:40and I won't need any ropes.
0:15:46 > 0:15:51The mountain railway started its slow, steady climb in 1895.
0:15:51 > 0:15:56It takes about half an hour to haul its way up to the top of Snaefell,
0:15:56 > 0:16:02the snow mountain, at over 2,000 feet the highest peak on the Isle of Man.
0:16:03 > 0:16:08This is all very well, but when's the buffet coming round? That's what I want to know.
0:16:08 > 0:16:14The big attraction is sightseeing, nice enough on the way up,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16but I'm told on top there's a unique view of the British Isles.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20Now, I know the summit's dead ahead, can't see a thing.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27OK, then, here we are on the summit,
0:16:27 > 0:16:32but I can see nothing, and I might as well be in a car park in Croydon.
0:16:34 > 0:16:39When the mist does lift, the view is spectacular.
0:16:42 > 0:16:47This is the only summit from which you can see every kingdom of the British Isles.
0:16:49 > 0:16:5430 miles north, Scotland's southern shore is on the horizon.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59Spin around and England is out to the east,
0:16:59 > 0:17:06but my coastal companions continue their wheel around the edge of the Irish Sea out to the west.
0:17:06 > 0:17:11Across the water, Dick Strawbridge is picking up the journey in Ireland.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19Dublin, a great trading city on the sea.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26Two mighty walls protect Dublin's port from silting up.
0:17:29 > 0:17:35But shifting sands also produce beautiful beaches along Ireland's eastern shore.
0:17:38 > 0:17:43This is a green coast, the lush landscape put to good use by the farmers.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49Further north, fields give way to peaks.
0:17:51 > 0:17:56The mountains of Mourne welcome us to Northern Ireland.
0:17:56 > 0:18:02I'm here to celebrate a local hero whose fame first took off at Newcastle.
0:18:02 > 0:18:08As an Ulsterman, I'm passionate about Northern Ireland's engineering excellence.
0:18:08 > 0:18:14Look at this! An original 1948 tractor conceived and designed in Northern Ireland,
0:18:14 > 0:18:17the little grey Fergie's a brainchild of local man
0:18:17 > 0:18:23Harry Ferguson, but Ferguson's idea was more than just a tractor.
0:18:23 > 0:18:30Born in County Down in 1884, farmer's son Harry Ferguson grew into a great engineer.
0:18:30 > 0:18:38In the 1920s he was the first to combine a tractor and a plough together into a single unit.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40Ferguson's new mechanism of links and springs
0:18:40 > 0:18:44meant the driver could raise and lower the plough on his own.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47It revolutionised agriculture worldwide.
0:18:55 > 0:19:00But before breaking new ground with his tractors, the young Harry Ferguson's eyes were on the skies.
0:19:02 > 0:19:10In 1910, only seven years after the Wright brothers had mastered powered flight on the sand dunes
0:19:10 > 0:19:18of America's east coast, a dashing 26-year-old Harry Ferguson planned to put Ireland on the aviation map.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22He came here to Newcastle, County Down.
0:19:22 > 0:19:27The town had offered a ?100 prize to the first person to fly three miles across the bay.
0:19:30 > 0:19:36Aviation enthusiast Ernie Cromie has a 3rd scale model of Harry's flying machine.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39So where did he come to the design, how did he come up with this?
0:19:39 > 0:19:44Basically by looking at other aircraft which some of the early pioneers had made,
0:19:44 > 0:19:49people like Bleriot and so on, at air shows in Rheims and Blackpool,
0:19:49 > 0:19:54and then deciding, right, that looks reasonably good, and I'll have a little bit of that.
0:19:54 > 0:20:01The controls were pretty basic, really, a throttle lever, mechanism to control the elevators
0:20:01 > 0:20:05at the rear of the aircraft, and also rudder,
0:20:05 > 0:20:10and then to turn the aircraft in the air, it was basically by a system of wing warping,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13to alter the degree of lift on either wing.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Wing warping, bending the wings. Exactly.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18We're talking about wood and... what was the material he used?
0:20:18 > 0:20:21Well, it would have been Irish linen, what else?
0:20:21 > 0:20:23He left the ground, in something made out of wood and linen.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25That's right.
0:20:27 > 0:20:33On the 8th August 1910, Harry's Ferguson's ambition reached for the skies.
0:20:33 > 0:20:39For three long miles he battled against winds whipping across the Irish Sea.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42Harry held his nerve. The first person to see this stretch
0:20:42 > 0:20:48of Ireland's coast from the air. He pocketed the ?100 prize.
0:20:51 > 0:20:58But a much bigger prize was at stake for Irish aviation 30 years later in 1940.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08During the Second World War, a battle was being fought
0:21:08 > 0:21:12off Ireland's west coast for the control of the Atlantic.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15The convoys supplying Britain were at the mercy of the U-boats.
0:21:15 > 0:21:20The Allies fought back from sea and air.
0:21:23 > 0:21:29The depth charges of the Sunderland flying boats sank many a Nazi sub.
0:21:31 > 0:21:36English plane makers Shorts collaborated with Belfast shipbuilders Harland and Wolff
0:21:36 > 0:21:39to build the Sunderland flying boats.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45Ted Jones is in his 80s now, but as a young pilot
0:21:45 > 0:21:51he learnt to handle sky-going ships at Pensacola on the Florida coast.
0:21:51 > 0:21:57Obviously, it was tough in the RAF, Pensacola Beach, you getting a sun tan, is that what it was then?
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Of course, well we had to relax, of course. And that's where you learnt to fly flying boats.
0:22:01 > 0:22:07So how successful was the Sunderland as a weapons system? Very good. It was a colossal air...
0:22:07 > 0:22:10It weighed about 25 tonne when it was fully loaded.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13It was built like a tank, it kind of wrapped itself around you and...
0:22:13 > 0:22:17I felt at home. When I got in and sat on my seat, I was at home, you know.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21But to fly, they were beautiful to fly.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24No matter how bad the weather may be, they're always on the job,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27bringing in the convoys looking out for U-boats and enemy raiders.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31The operational flights were very long, weren't they? About 12, 13 hours.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34What about eating and sort of surviving?
0:22:34 > 0:22:38Oh, well, we cooked onboard. The Sunderland has two decks, so you had
0:22:38 > 0:22:43the bottom deck with the kitchen, the flush toilet and the wardrobe.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45And then you went back to the bomb room.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49There's a submarine, let's descend and have a closer look.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51It seems British but we'd better make sure.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55It was really important to have the whole of the north Atlantic open, it kept Britain alive.
0:22:55 > 0:23:00Oh, it did, yes, of course it did. We don't see flying boats, why don't we have them any more?
0:23:00 > 0:23:02Well, they're difficult to handle on the water, you see.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04You can't just say,
0:23:04 > 0:23:08"The wind's blowing that way but you want to park it here," you can't do that.
0:23:08 > 0:23:15They don't build flying boats in Belfast any more, but they are still in the aircraft business,
0:23:15 > 0:23:20a tradition of aviation excellence that goes back 100 years to Harry Ferguson,
0:23:20 > 0:23:25and his most excellent adventure here over the sands of County Down.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Soaring north on our wheel around the Irish Sea
0:23:36 > 0:23:38we're heading for an aquatic adventure...
0:23:40 > 0:23:42at Strangford Lough.
0:23:46 > 0:23:53At the Lough's inlet, turbulent tides surge into an inland sea of eye-popping proportions...
0:23:55 > 0:23:58..where Miranda's looking out for some old mates.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08It's July in Strangford Lough, and it's at this time of the year that
0:24:08 > 0:24:14the common seals give birth, and at low tide the shores here are dotted with newborn pups and their parents.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17It's a challenging time of year for the baby seals,
0:24:17 > 0:24:23but also for their mothers who need to be in peak condition to ensure the pups get the best start in life.
0:24:23 > 0:24:29To see how parents and pups are coping, I'm joining David Thompson from the Natural Trust.
0:24:29 > 0:24:35He watches out for the welfare of these timid creatures, today with paddle power.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38We can get closer than you would with a noisy motor boat.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42We still need to follow certain protocols, good practice,
0:24:42 > 0:24:44obviously not point the boats at the seals,
0:24:44 > 0:24:50go nice and calmly and quietly and gently, appear that we're going past them, not towards them.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57What's so special about the Lough, why do the common seals love it here?
0:24:57 > 0:25:00What they favour is this sheltered environment.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03But it's not as turbulent, you know, the weather is not as wild.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07And what they really need are the islands and the pladdies,
0:25:07 > 0:25:11the reefs, to haul out on, and the islands in particular,
0:25:11 > 0:25:14because that's where they give birth to the babies.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17This is a crucial time for the seal pups.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20They're vulnerable, hungry infants
0:25:20 > 0:25:22who rely completely on their mothers for milk.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30And the mums must rely on their skills at hunting.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34To get a sense of their struggle I've got to get wet.
0:25:36 > 0:25:42When you plunge into the waters around the UK, the first thing that hits you is the cold.
0:25:43 > 0:25:48Like us, seals are warm blooded, but they've got a thick layer of blubber
0:25:48 > 0:25:51insulating them from the chilly seas.
0:25:52 > 0:25:57Watching them swim, you see their streamlined bodies glide forward with
0:25:57 > 0:26:01a simple flick of a flipper conserving precious energy.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09My eyes have evolved to focus in air, so to see underwater I actually need to use a mask.
0:26:09 > 0:26:15Seals spend most of their time underwater so their eyes are beautifully adapted for
0:26:15 > 0:26:21the water, and they also work very well at low light conditions, ideal for the murky depths below.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27And if it's too murky to make anything out, they feel
0:26:27 > 0:26:32their way with sensitive whiskers, hoping for a tickle from their prey.
0:26:34 > 0:26:40The cool waters of Strangford Lough are a fridge full of treats, but these are big beasts
0:26:40 > 0:26:45with very big appetites, especially when they've got little ones to feed.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49There wouldn't be enough food in Strangford Lough to sustain
0:26:49 > 0:26:54150, 200 common seals, and then we've nearly as many grey seals in the system.
0:26:54 > 0:26:59There isn't enough food to sustain all those animals right through a 12-month year.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02They go out there, this is seal highway,
0:27:02 > 0:27:08it's a motorway into the Irish Sea, and they go out there because there ain't enough in here for them.
0:27:08 > 0:27:13So they are going through the narrows into the Irish Sea and they're coming back in here.
0:27:13 > 0:27:18A hungry seal's only way out is through this pinch point.
0:27:18 > 0:27:24350 million cubic metres of seawater are forced through this narrow funnel by each tide.
0:27:27 > 0:27:32The fearsome current makes it ideal for this tidal turbine.
0:27:32 > 0:27:40Installed in 2008 to generate electricity, it's like an upside down wind turbine.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44The submerged blades are driven by surging water,
0:27:44 > 0:27:47blades that might also slice through seals
0:27:47 > 0:27:50who navigate through the narrows for a snack.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54To check the turbine won't block their way,
0:27:54 > 0:27:59the animals' movements have been monitored with electronic tags.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04One of those spying on the seals is Bernie McConnall.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07That is a big tag, isn't it?
0:28:07 > 0:28:09Half of it is battery, it's enormous.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12Well, as far as we're concerned energy is everything because
0:28:12 > 0:28:18inside of here is a mobile phone, and it's just the same mobile phone as we would have
0:28:18 > 0:28:23but there is no recharging facilities on these haul-out sites.
0:28:23 > 0:28:28So they can't plug in every night to recharge the batteries, so we have to have a large battery
0:28:28 > 0:28:32that will last the six months that this tag will collect and send information.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38Tagging very shy seals is easier said than done.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42The only way is to ambush them.
0:28:42 > 0:28:48It might look extreme but it causes little stress to these slippery customers.
0:28:48 > 0:28:53The transmitters are glued to the fur, a job that's timed
0:28:53 > 0:28:56so the tags fall off when a seal sheds its winter coat.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01There's a data logger which will record what
0:29:01 > 0:29:06depth the animals are swimming at, and there's a GPS device that will tell us where they are.
0:29:06 > 0:29:12So with a combination of these two bits of information we know, are the animals feeding on the seabed, are
0:29:12 > 0:29:17they feeding in mid water, we also know are they staying in the Lough or are they foraging elsewhere.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20And there's good news.
0:29:20 > 0:29:24The early data from the tags suggests that the seals go safely
0:29:24 > 0:29:27by the turbine as they venture out to feed.
0:29:28 > 0:29:36In fact, the researchers have been surprised at just how far the animals stray from home.
0:29:36 > 0:29:40These adventurous seals make big sea journeys,
0:29:40 > 0:29:46some out as far as the Isle of Man, where Neil is exploring island life.
0:29:53 > 0:29:58The Manx economy depends on its transport links, how well it's connected to the wider world.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03Tourists have been hopping over to the Isle of Man
0:30:03 > 0:30:07since steam ship services started nearly 200 years ago.
0:30:08 > 0:30:16Now this tax haven also thrives thanks to this strip of tarmac with 40,000 flights a year.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21And they're making the runway longer.
0:30:23 > 0:30:29Now the obvious thing to do would be to extend the tarmac in that direction inland.
0:30:29 > 0:30:33But there's a problem. There's a road and houses smack bang in the path,
0:30:33 > 0:30:38so instead what they've had to do is to extend in that direction, straight into the Irish Sea.
0:30:40 > 0:30:44Adding 240 metres to the runway
0:30:44 > 0:30:48means creating a big new patch of coast.
0:30:48 > 0:30:54To shield this virgin shore from the sea they've brought in rugged Norwegian granite.
0:30:54 > 0:30:59At 42 tonnes each, these blocks are the size of a van.
0:30:59 > 0:31:04Anything smaller would be washed away by the waves.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08Building the future can mean unearthing the past.
0:31:10 > 0:31:17Preparing the ground for the new runway they discovered part of a prehistoric village.
0:31:17 > 0:31:22The footings of at least six large roundhouses,
0:31:22 > 0:31:27and close by, a child, with two adults.
0:31:28 > 0:31:35People from the Bronze Age, some 3-4,000 years ago, but new finds go back even further.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40So where are we, what are we sitting in the middle of?
0:31:40 > 0:31:42Well, we're sat in the middle of a Mesolithic house,
0:31:42 > 0:31:45which is 7-8,000 years old, we believe.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48Do you think that this house is on its own?
0:31:48 > 0:31:52No, we've got every reason to believe that there are other houses.
0:31:52 > 0:31:56I think that maybe you could imagine a family or an extended family group
0:31:56 > 0:32:00living in each of the structures, that we're looking at a community of some size at that time.
0:32:02 > 0:32:06Ironically, in the chaos of a 21st century building site
0:32:06 > 0:32:11they've discovered the domestic bliss of our earliest settlers.
0:32:11 > 0:32:164,000 years before Stonehenge people were building houses here.
0:32:16 > 0:32:23This is one of Britain's first grand designs, topped off with a sealskin roof.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27Our hunter-gatherer ancestors were giving up their wandering ways
0:32:27 > 0:32:32to settle down at home, with the coast close by for food.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41This has always been a sought-after location.
0:32:41 > 0:32:46800 years ago, the Vikings controlled these waters.
0:32:51 > 0:32:57But in 1266, the Norse rulers moved on, selling the Isle of Man to the King of Scots,
0:32:57 > 0:33:05and we're heading to Scotland in search of the Vikings' legacy, starting on a long finger of land.
0:33:09 > 0:33:14This rocky shore pokes out into the Irish Sea.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18Venture south and eventually the finger comes to a point.
0:33:21 > 0:33:26The Mull of Galloway, Scotland's most southerly spot.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29To me as a kid this was Land's End.
0:33:33 > 0:33:39Coming to this coast as a wee boy gave me a passion for digging into the past.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47The Vikings didn't leave much building work behind.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50The castles are a later addition.
0:33:53 > 0:33:59But something of the Norsemen's culture does survive at Annan,
0:33:59 > 0:34:04an ancient form of fishing still hanging on.
0:34:04 > 0:34:09My name is George Wilasy, I'm a half net fisherman,
0:34:09 > 0:34:12and this is where
0:34:12 > 0:34:13we do this type of fishing.
0:34:15 > 0:34:23It's a Norse method and it was introduced here more than 1,000 years ago by the Vikings.
0:34:23 > 0:34:27When the half netter goes across the sand to the water's edge
0:34:27 > 0:34:35he's hunting for a place to catch a salmon or a sea trout or a grilse.
0:34:35 > 0:34:40The best place is where the tide is coming hard onto the shore
0:34:40 > 0:34:44that's where the fish will be following the line of the tide.
0:34:47 > 0:34:51I started half netting in 1956.
0:34:51 > 0:34:56My father was a fisherman, my grandfather and his father,
0:34:56 > 0:35:00they were all fishermen, and that knowledge had been passed onto us.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06Sometimes a fish will go in,
0:35:06 > 0:35:11and actually it's his tail that's touching it, and he's backing into
0:35:11 > 0:35:15the net, so he's already pointing out of the net when you lift.
0:35:15 > 0:35:20And they're extremely quick, so you have to be quick to lift the frame clear of the water.
0:35:22 > 0:35:28The younger generation today, they're better educated, they're faster, they're stronger and
0:35:28 > 0:35:32yet they couldn't do what these old people used to do.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35I'm not one of these old people yet, mind!
0:35:39 > 0:35:46It's part of our heritage and heritage is a scarce thing, we should never lose heritage.
0:35:50 > 0:35:55You're never far from a fisherman on the Irish Sea.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58Boats of every shape and size ply these waters.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14Home port for many is on the Isle of Man.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26Whatever their craft, all sailors share a common bond
0:36:26 > 0:36:32and Douglas harbour shelters a tragic reminder of those in peril on the sea.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40Wrecks usually remain on the seabed,
0:36:40 > 0:36:44but cradled by the sea wall at Douglas is a boat that was raised
0:36:44 > 0:36:47because of the awful circumstances of her sinking.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54The wreck of that scallop dredger, the Solway Harvester, is a chilling sight.
0:36:54 > 0:37:00It's a terrible reminder of the price that fishermen sometimes pay for the bounty of the sea.
0:37:00 > 0:37:07Seven men drowned when that ship sank, the entire crew lost.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12On the night of January 11th 2000, as a storm was raging,
0:37:12 > 0:37:16the Solway Harvester sought shelter off the Isle of Man,
0:37:16 > 0:37:19but she vanished without trace.
0:37:21 > 0:37:26There was no mayday call, her disappearance a complete mystery.
0:37:27 > 0:37:34At her home port on Scotland's southern shore, they honour the seven men of the Solway Harvester.
0:37:34 > 0:37:39Robin Mills was one of the crew on the stricken scallop boat.
0:37:39 > 0:37:44Robin's wife, Karen, was with her family, waiting for news of her husband.
0:37:44 > 0:37:48Five o'clock in the morning press were arriving and you were beginning to think
0:37:48 > 0:37:52this is getting scarier, this is maybe real, because you still had a
0:37:52 > 0:37:55hope at five o'clock in the morning that they would be found. There was
0:37:55 > 0:38:00nothing confirmed at that stage, so I think at six o'clock somebody persuaded us to
0:38:00 > 0:38:05try and rest, probably because I was pregnant at the time and they were worried about me.
0:38:05 > 0:38:10And I can remember helicopters, you know that
0:38:10 > 0:38:13sort of vibration of the helicopter noise out...
0:38:13 > 0:38:17We could hear that outside and we realised what they were doing. We prayed and hoped that
0:38:17 > 0:38:20they might just be bobbing about in life rafts somewhere.
0:38:20 > 0:38:25RADIO: "And the weather I think will match the mood of the town as it awakes to the..."
0:38:25 > 0:38:27It was a very, grey, grey dismal day.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30But I remember, it was January so it doesn't get light early,
0:38:30 > 0:38:35and it would be quarter to eight, I think, in the morning we got a phone call to say that
0:38:35 > 0:38:39they'd found both life rafts, so there was no hope then.
0:38:39 > 0:38:44Karen's husband, Robin, had perished along with his six crewmates.
0:38:44 > 0:38:47He wasn't even a regular hand on the boat.
0:38:47 > 0:38:49Robin wasn't a fisherman at all. No, he wasn't.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52He was a painter and decorator but his brother was a fisherman.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55Craig phoned to say he was very short of crew.
0:38:55 > 0:39:01I think some of the crew members were sick or hadn't turned up and he was asked to help.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05I don't think he was particularly keen to go, but it was just one of these things.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07It's just bad luck and bad luck and bad luck.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09Mm-hm.
0:39:13 > 0:39:19When the Solway Harvester was found on the seabed, the Manx Government had the vessel raised
0:39:19 > 0:39:25to recover the bodies, and returned to the Isle of Man to investigate the mysterious sinking.
0:39:29 > 0:39:34After eight years of legal wrangles over the evidence, in 2008
0:39:34 > 0:39:39the coroner ruled the seven deaths had been accidental.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42The scallop boat had flooded in foul weather.
0:39:45 > 0:39:47In the calm after the storm
0:39:47 > 0:39:53she finally sits in a safe haven beyond the reach of the sea that claimed her.
0:40:04 > 0:40:11Out from the Isle of Man we continue our wheel around the Irish Sea, in England with Alice.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19The Solway Firth separates the Scots from the English.
0:40:19 > 0:40:24England begins in the mud with the promise of mountains to come.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27These beautiful beaches don't attract the crowds
0:40:27 > 0:40:32like Blackpool further south, but you can still get a cornet.
0:40:32 > 0:40:37You won't sell many ice creams at that speed!
0:40:37 > 0:40:43Only a short drive away, the peaks of the Lake District are tantalisingly close.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47Wastwater is the deepest lake in England,
0:40:47 > 0:40:52and just behind is Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England,
0:40:52 > 0:40:57but the big story of this shore is sand.
0:40:57 > 0:41:02Morecambe Bay, the largest expanse of inter-tidal mudflats in Britain,
0:41:02 > 0:41:06fun for some,
0:41:06 > 0:41:08an obstacle to others.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12Morecambe Bay covers 120 square miles.
0:41:12 > 0:41:18A long detour unless you brave the perilous path over the sand.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23Before the railway arrived, horse-drawn carriages sometimes
0:41:23 > 0:41:28got stuck, with tragic results, as they tried to race across the mud.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37These sandbanks feel so solid I can see why people might think about
0:41:37 > 0:41:42taking a short cut across them, but they're also incredibly treacherous.
0:41:42 > 0:41:47SIREN WAILS The siren warns the unwary that the tide's turning.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51It rushes in at about nine miles an hour, twice the speed
0:41:51 > 0:41:56of a brisk walk, flooding the bay in up to 30 foot of water.
0:41:56 > 0:42:02And a hidden danger lurks to hold you fast as the sea surges in -
0:42:02 > 0:42:04quicksand.
0:42:07 > 0:42:13What turns soft sand, so nice between the toes, into a sticky sludge
0:42:13 > 0:42:17that can cement you to the spot, unable to escape its grip?
0:42:17 > 0:42:23Shortly I'll shun the safety of the path and get stuck in the mud myself.
0:42:23 > 0:42:31To see exactly what I'll be getting myself into we're making some DIY quicksand.
0:42:31 > 0:42:37Sedimentologist Jeff Peakall and his team from Leeds University are building up layers of sand
0:42:37 > 0:42:41which can be saturated with water, flowing in from underneath.
0:42:41 > 0:42:47Now you've got a tube of experimental quicksand here, but what is it when it occurs naturally?
0:42:47 > 0:42:51Quicksand is really where you change from a solid state
0:42:51 > 0:42:54into a liquid state, really rapidly, almost instantaneously.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58And can it be any type of sand with water flowing through it?
0:42:58 > 0:43:02No, it needs one with lots of holes in so it needs to be nice
0:43:02 > 0:43:05round grains, ideally all grains of the same size.
0:43:05 > 0:43:09What we're going to do here is run a quick experiment
0:43:09 > 0:43:12and I'm going to put a model digger truck in here.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15So the sand seems to be supporting the weight of that very well at the moment.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18We're going to add a little bit of water, from underneath.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21We've got some water flowing in through here, but it remains solid
0:43:21 > 0:43:26for a period of time, and then suddenly it turns into a liquid, and our digger
0:43:26 > 0:43:32is disappearing into the sand, just as the sand has gone from a solid into a liquid.
0:43:32 > 0:43:36Yes, it's not just going underwater, it's actually sinking into the sand.
0:43:36 > 0:43:40If you as you walk on it, you just add that extra shaking
0:43:40 > 0:43:44vibration, that's just enough to break the grains apart.
0:43:44 > 0:43:49So one of the factors producing the sinking effect in quicksand is actually the movement of the person.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52Yes, and then if you begin to sink in and you start to wriggle,
0:43:52 > 0:43:55then you increase the effect and you'll actually sink further.
0:43:55 > 0:43:58So one of the difficult things, I think, for the person falling
0:43:58 > 0:44:02into quicksand must be to try and remain relatively still.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05This will be me in a minute, sinking in.
0:44:05 > 0:44:11The secret for survival is to spread your weight over the surface, so instead of tyres
0:44:11 > 0:44:16the truck that's taking me out is on tracks.
0:44:16 > 0:44:21It's one of the few vehicles you could actually take out onto the sands with confidence and knowing
0:44:21 > 0:44:26that you would get back safely, and that's all because of its huge wide tracks underneath.
0:44:26 > 0:44:28We've actually gone out of this vehicle before and
0:44:28 > 0:44:32stepped onto the sand and sunk and the vehicle's been sat on the top.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36Volunteer Garry Parsons set up Bay Search Rescue
0:44:36 > 0:44:41after witnessing the galloping tide almost kill a man stuck in the mud.
0:44:41 > 0:44:45The sand was so hard you couldn't drive your fingers into it down by the side of his legs.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48We thought we were going to watch this guy drown right in front of us.
0:44:48 > 0:44:53Now these versatile vehicles provide rapid response,
0:44:53 > 0:44:57taking the most direct route to strugglers on the sand.
0:44:57 > 0:44:58Down we go.
0:44:58 > 0:45:00That is incredibly steep.
0:45:09 > 0:45:12Bay Search Rescue and the on-site coastguard are preparing
0:45:12 > 0:45:18for a spot of quicksand training, and I'm going to be the guinea pig.
0:45:20 > 0:45:23Starting to have second thoughts about this.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27Lovely bit of quicksand we stumbled across this morning for you.
0:45:27 > 0:45:28Right. Off you go, jump in.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30OK.
0:45:30 > 0:45:34If I'm going to get myself in here, you better get me out before the tide comes in.
0:45:34 > 0:45:36No worries.
0:45:38 > 0:45:41That feels quite firm... at the moment.
0:45:41 > 0:45:45I'm just moving my ankles, I reckon, and there's some water there.
0:45:45 > 0:45:47The mud is just there, can I get my foot out?
0:45:54 > 0:46:00What's really horrible and produces this rising sense of panic,
0:46:00 > 0:46:05you're trying to move and you're trying to work yourself free, and every time you're moving your foot
0:46:05 > 0:46:10and agitating the silt around you, you can just feel yourself sinking in further.
0:46:10 > 0:46:14It really is solid, I reckon I can lean right back
0:46:14 > 0:46:17and just stay in the silt.
0:46:19 > 0:46:23It's got me good and proper, that really is quite scary.
0:46:24 > 0:46:26It's very scary,
0:46:26 > 0:46:30you can just imagine being here and the tide coming in,
0:46:30 > 0:46:33nobody around for miles, I just can't move.
0:46:38 > 0:46:44'The sand roots you to the spot, and then the sea rises over your head.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52'That's why these guys race against the tide.'
0:46:52 > 0:46:55OK, Alice, we'll soon have you out.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59The only way to release me is to liquefy the sand.
0:46:59 > 0:47:04First they loosen it up and then turn it into a liquid by adding more water.
0:47:04 > 0:47:06I'm a bit worried about sinking further in.
0:47:06 > 0:47:08You won't go any further.
0:47:15 > 0:47:17Is that coming out? It's coming.
0:47:19 > 0:47:21That's one.
0:47:23 > 0:47:25OK? Yeah.
0:47:33 > 0:47:34Thank you very much. You're welcome.
0:47:38 > 0:47:42It's great to be free.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46Despite the dangers, if you stick within safe limits,
0:47:46 > 0:47:50this is a paradise for playing around.
0:47:53 > 0:47:58We love the seaside so much we'll pay for its pleasures.
0:48:01 > 0:48:07Sand and scares can be a winning combination.
0:48:16 > 0:48:21Further south at Sefton Sands, they have their own thrill rides.
0:48:23 > 0:48:29Then big, long beaches give way to a big, bold city...
0:48:31 > 0:48:33Liverpool.
0:48:35 > 0:48:41The Mersey might be muddy, but where there's muck, there's brass, or maybe iron.
0:48:41 > 0:48:46An iron ship, as Mark's about to find out.
0:48:46 > 0:48:53In 1888, the world's largest ship was making her way up the Mersey,
0:48:53 > 0:48:55the SS Great Eastern.
0:48:55 > 0:49:00It was the final engineering triumph of Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
0:49:02 > 0:49:07But this wasn't her maiden voyage, it was her last.
0:49:09 > 0:49:15The Great Eastern had been launched 30 years earlier in 1858.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20Built for nonstop travel to Australia,
0:49:20 > 0:49:24she was nearly twice the length of any other ship,
0:49:24 > 0:49:28the largest moveable thing men had ever made.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33And Brunel was the man that designed her.
0:49:35 > 0:49:39This is the most famous of all the images of Brunel.
0:49:39 > 0:49:46Look, he has his stovepipe hat, his cigar, behind him the drag chains of the Great Eastern.
0:49:46 > 0:49:52But he's actually a real engineer because, look, he's got mud on his trousers.
0:49:52 > 0:49:59His plan for the Great Eastern specified a revolutionary double skin iron hull,
0:49:59 > 0:50:05but her massive size also made her massively over-budget.
0:50:05 > 0:50:10Building his masterpiece took a terrible toll on Brunel.
0:50:10 > 0:50:16A week after the Great Eastern's trial voyage, he died, following a stroke.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21His great liner fared little better.
0:50:21 > 0:50:27Smaller, faster ships captured the passenger trade she was built for.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30Her last journey was down the Mersey
0:50:30 > 0:50:37to become a floating billboard advertising a local department store.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41If Brunel had seen it thus he would have cried.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45Finally, the ship that had broken Brunel's heart
0:50:45 > 0:50:50was herself to be broken up for scrap.
0:50:50 > 0:50:56Too big for the breaker's yard she was beached on the banks of the Mersey.
0:50:58 > 0:51:04Marine archaeologist Mike Stammers is showing me her last resting place.
0:51:04 > 0:51:06So this is a contemporary photograph?
0:51:06 > 0:51:09Yes, of the Great Eastern on New Ferry Beach.
0:51:09 > 0:51:11She's looking at an angle, isn't she?
0:51:11 > 0:51:15Yes, and we're standing right near the bow. What, just there?
0:51:15 > 0:51:20Yeah, two tiny little people looking up at this towering bow.
0:51:20 > 0:51:25It would have been right up there. Yeah, right up into the sky blocking out the skyline behind.
0:51:25 > 0:51:30This mountain of wrought iron was a valuable prize for the scrap metal men,
0:51:30 > 0:51:35but the old girl wasn't going to go down without a struggle.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39What they hadn't bargained for was the workmanship of Brunel.
0:51:39 > 0:51:43She was so well built it took them nearly two years to break it up.
0:51:43 > 0:51:45So rather than making a big profit they made a loss.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48They made a thumping great loss.
0:51:48 > 0:51:53And, of course, the actual process of breaking her up must have been terribly hard work.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56Oh, yes, because they had no oxyacetylene in those days,
0:51:56 > 0:51:59it was a case of sledgehammers and coal chisels,
0:51:59 > 0:52:04and a great big iron wrecking ball that they dropped onto the plates, and hoped to smash them apart.
0:52:04 > 0:52:09200 men, sometimes working day and night,
0:52:09 > 0:52:13needed two years to smash the ship to bits.
0:52:16 > 0:52:21Surely some scrap must have sunk down into the silt.
0:52:22 > 0:52:28Mike is off to try and find pieces of Brunel's liner buried in the mud,
0:52:28 > 0:52:31but I'm going down river
0:52:31 > 0:52:34to where they're still breaking up ships.
0:52:36 > 0:52:41I want to see how things have moved on in the 120 years
0:52:41 > 0:52:45since the Great Eastern was battered to death near here.
0:52:49 > 0:52:57Former Falklands warship HMS Intrepid arrived six months ago to be broken up.
0:52:57 > 0:53:03Where's the ship? Well, HMS Intrepid came in here in January, and this is all you've got left.
0:53:03 > 0:53:07It looks like chaos, but presumably it's all terribly organised.
0:53:07 > 0:53:11Everybody knows what they're doing, we've most probably got about 12 guys down here.
0:53:11 > 0:53:17We've got six machines working, we're processing copper, brass, cable, aluminium.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20Another eight weeks, this will be completely cleared,
0:53:20 > 0:53:26the lock gates will be opened, water will come in here, and hopefully two more vessels.
0:53:26 > 0:53:32Just like for the Victorian ship breakers, time is still money,
0:53:32 > 0:53:35speed is the difference between profit and loss.
0:53:35 > 0:53:43But Brunel couldn't have imagined how his machine age would evolve to eat itself.
0:53:46 > 0:53:51You can't crack up a ship without leaving some traces behind.
0:53:56 > 0:54:01Back out in the mud, Mike thinks he's found a bit of Brunel's Great Eastern.
0:54:01 > 0:54:07This is what I spotted before, I think you'll be rather impressed with this. Isn't that extraordinary?
0:54:07 > 0:54:10It's a great big chunk of iron plate.
0:54:10 > 0:54:12Hang on, there's a trowel for you. Thank you.
0:54:12 > 0:54:14There, look, look. Solid as anything.
0:54:14 > 0:54:19How do you actually know this is the Great Eastern? Well, the Great Eastern was
0:54:19 > 0:54:28built of very thick plate, either three quarters of an inch or an inch thick, so if we get the callipers.
0:54:28 > 0:54:30That looks pretty good.
0:54:30 > 0:54:33Look at that. That's nearly an inch.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36Nearly an inch.
0:54:36 > 0:54:3815/16. So that's a good indicator.
0:54:38 > 0:54:43It looks like it's running through to there, so if I try the other end,
0:54:43 > 0:54:48looks like bits of rivet here as well. Look at those.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53Look, I can just lift it out.
0:54:53 > 0:54:55I've got my own row of rivets here as well.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58Yeah, Great Eastern revealed.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10There we are. Good Lord, bright metal.
0:55:13 > 0:55:19Isn't that wonderful?! There it is, as fresh as it comes.
0:55:19 > 0:55:24Some three million rivets held the Great Eastern together.
0:55:24 > 0:55:31It seems a precious few are still holding fast 150 years later.
0:55:31 > 0:55:35The struggle of building this iron leviathan broke Brunel,
0:55:35 > 0:55:39but she's left him a fitting memorial,
0:55:39 > 0:55:44ironwork of his masterpiece scattered in the mud of the Mersey.
0:55:50 > 0:55:58In 1850, the metal merchants of the Mersey cast iron parts for a mighty machine.
0:56:00 > 0:56:06And at the centre of the Irish Sea, out on the Isle of Man, it's still spinning.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10We've come full circle,
0:56:10 > 0:56:13back to the Laxey Wheel,
0:56:13 > 0:56:17designed to pump floodwater from nearby mineshafts
0:56:17 > 0:56:21and attract investors to pump money into the mining business.
0:56:24 > 0:56:31And one of the investors in this mine is owed a huge debt of thanks by everyone who comes to the coast.
0:56:33 > 0:56:39Sir William Hillary was appalled by the loss of life on the seas around the Isle of Man,
0:56:39 > 0:56:41so he hatched a plan.
0:56:43 > 0:56:47And what he came up with was this, the tower of refuge,
0:56:47 > 0:56:51a sanctuary built for shipwrecked sailors in 1832.
0:56:51 > 0:56:54Hillary ordered that it was to be built of the rudest and strongest
0:56:54 > 0:56:59materials so that it could withstand the raging seas that often pound this reef.
0:56:59 > 0:57:01Looks pretty sturdy to me.
0:57:01 > 0:57:06Sailors wrecked on this reef could sit out a storm safe behind stone walls
0:57:06 > 0:57:13but William Hillary's most towering achievement is something even more enduring than this.
0:57:13 > 0:57:18In 1823, he launched an appeal for a formation of a national institution
0:57:18 > 0:57:22for the preservation of lives and property from shipwreck.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25It took over a year, but eventually that national institution was
0:57:25 > 0:57:31formed, and in 1854 it became the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44Nearly two centuries later, the founder gives his name to the
0:57:44 > 0:57:49boat that patrols Douglas Bay, where it all began.
0:57:49 > 0:57:52Now all the seas around the British Isles are safer
0:57:52 > 0:57:57thanks to over 300 RNLI Lifeboats and their volunteer crews.
0:58:02 > 0:58:06Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:06 > 0:58:08E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk
0:58:33 > 0:58:36My father raised me on tales of the great heroism of the Musketeers.
0:58:36 > 0:58:39He knows the Musketeer motto.
0:58:39 > 0:58:40Every man for himself!
0:58:41 > 0:58:44It's these Musketeers who will ruin France.
0:58:44 > 0:58:45Shoot, damn you!
0:58:45 > 0:58:49Watch the series so far on BBC iPlayer.