0:00:18 > 0:00:19All Aboard!
0:00:21 > 0:00:24Coast is embarking on a new quest...
0:00:24 > 0:00:28connecting the capital to Cornwall,
0:00:28 > 0:00:32linking Scottish Isles to Welsh Valleys
0:00:32 > 0:00:35and taking us far beyond home waters
0:00:35 > 0:00:39to the Baltic Sea and to the shores of Sweden.
0:00:39 > 0:00:46For this, our first adventure, we're bound for Belgium, but setting out from London's commercial heart.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50This is Coast and Beyond.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21We're heading for one of Europe's most prosperous ports,
0:01:21 > 0:01:28crossing the Channel to Antwerp. But our journey starts in our own trading capital - London.
0:01:34 > 0:01:40Tidal rivers bring the coast into the heart of many of our big cities
0:01:40 > 0:01:44and with the water comes wealth.
0:01:44 > 0:01:50For as long as we've been a trading nation, the sea's been our commercial highway
0:01:50 > 0:01:55and the winding Thames links London directly with that global thoroughfare.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08It was sea trade that made the Capital rich.
0:02:08 > 0:02:14The Thames shaped the city and its influence still runs deep.
0:02:14 > 0:02:21Now, in the Docklands of London, ships have been replaced by skyscrapers.
0:02:21 > 0:02:28It's a story of spectacular rise and fall that may yet have a twist in its tale.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34The world once unloaded its goods in London.
0:02:34 > 0:02:40Now, could that trade be re-invented by a new generation?
0:02:40 > 0:02:42The 19th century businessmen
0:02:42 > 0:02:48who carved out these huge enclosures were bold entrepreneurs.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51Sometimes they built before they had customers.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55London's docks helped make Britain a superpower.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01And London's geography also changed.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05Around the docks grew the East End.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11But as fast as the docks grew...
0:03:13 > 0:03:17..the ships would outgrow them.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20Once there were ocean liners berthed at the end of the road.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Now there's London City Airport.
0:03:27 > 0:03:33It was container ships, those great seagoing warehouses that changed everything.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38In the '60s, when containers first appeared on the commercial seaways,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41many of London's docks simply couldn't cope.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46Eventually the cargo ships stopped coming.
0:03:49 > 0:03:56But there's a new bid to bring the big ships back to the Capital, 20 miles downstream.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59MUSIC: "London Calling" by The Clash
0:04:06 > 0:04:09# London calling Through the far away towns... #
0:04:09 > 0:04:17This is Mariake, a dredger laying the foundations for a brand new port.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20The first of its kind for 20 years.
0:04:20 > 0:04:28This ship is sucking up 12,000 cubic metres of sand and gravel from the estuary every day.
0:04:33 > 0:04:39The Mariake is a giant vacuum cleaner, clearing a channel in the bed of the Thames,
0:04:39 > 0:04:43a passage deep enough to accommodate supersized container ships.
0:04:48 > 0:04:54This dredged material is being pumped onto an ever-growing artificial island.
0:04:54 > 0:05:01Eventually it's going to be a wharf some two miles long for loading and unloading ships.
0:05:03 > 0:05:09A colossal project, at least a decade in the making - London Gateway.
0:05:12 > 0:05:17Its builders are taking their cue from those early 19th century entrepreneurs.
0:05:17 > 0:05:22Confident that if they build the dock, the ships will eventually come.
0:05:24 > 0:05:30London's aiming to catch up with huge European ports like Antwerp, where I'm heading on my journey.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37It'll reconnect the capital with the mighty estuary
0:05:37 > 0:05:41that brought wealth and power into the heart of Britain.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Curious things grow up along this coast.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02At the mouth of the Thames Estuary is Canvey Island.
0:06:10 > 0:06:16Once a popular holiday destination, traces of its heyday are treasured now,
0:06:16 > 0:06:20like the recently restored Labworth Cafe.
0:06:22 > 0:06:28It's a real gem, designed by the architect behind Sidney Opera House.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33But Canvey Island couldn't match the glamour of foreign shores.
0:06:33 > 0:06:41And when the holidaymakers stopped coming to Canvey in the 1970s, the oil companies moved in.
0:06:45 > 0:06:52Against this backdrop emerged four local lads who shook up the world of rock.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56Liverpool has The Beatles, Canvey has Dr Feelgood.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59# I saw you out the other night... #
0:06:59 > 0:07:0435 years ago, Dr Feelgood helped kick-start a musical revolution
0:07:04 > 0:07:07that became known as Punk.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12My name's Wilko Johnson.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15I'm a musician, a guitar player.
0:07:15 > 0:07:20I was born on Canvey Island, I grew up on Canvey Island.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24I'm one of the baby-boom generation, yeah, after the war.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28Canvey Island then was a kind of a swamp with some shacks on it, I think.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33And Dr Feelgood, we came from Canvey Island.
0:07:36 > 0:07:41The island is surrounded by oil refineries.
0:07:41 > 0:07:46It gives a kind of ferocity to the landscape. Flames glowing in the night time and so forth,
0:07:46 > 0:07:51and in many ways that kind of music seemed suited to it.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55I think the music in the early '70s was, I don't know, a lot of hippies, really...
0:07:55 > 0:07:56PROG ROCK MUSIC
0:07:56 > 0:08:01- ..People wearing frocks... - # I'll see you burn. #
0:08:01 > 0:08:03..Singing about pixies and goblins.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07Yeah. Nonsense.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13You know who I'm talking about.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17Dr Feelgood were playing a kind of rhythm and blues music.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20What you want is, you know, a bit of rock 'n roll.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22# London's burning!
0:08:24 > 0:08:26# London's burning! #
0:08:28 > 0:08:32I became friends with many of these punk musicians, you know, the Pistols and The Clash and that.
0:08:34 > 0:08:39And most of them had in fact seen Dr Feelgood and been inspired, if you like, by Dr Feelgood.
0:08:41 > 0:08:47When we where kids, we used to go fishing for crabs along this wooden jetty down here.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50You can do it with a piece of string and a lump of bread,
0:08:50 > 0:08:52and you hang it over the side and the crabs catch it
0:08:52 > 0:08:56and you pull them up. They're fairly stupid creatures, crabs.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05I've been all around the world, and I've seen a lot of things,
0:09:05 > 0:09:08but there's just something, some spirit, something beautiful
0:09:08 > 0:09:12about this estuary, and I think it's wonderful.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30The Channel has always been our great natural border.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33A barrier in times of war, but also our link
0:09:33 > 0:09:36to the trading ports of Northern Europe.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40I've crossed the Channel to Dunkirk.
0:09:42 > 0:09:48The most northerly French port, its name evokes British fighting spirit.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51Its beaches still bear the scars of conflict.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58In the aftermath of two World Wars, a new trade alliance
0:09:58 > 0:10:04grew up along these shores, dedicated to breaking down borders.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06It would become the European Union.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12The founding principle of the original union was to make war
0:10:12 > 0:10:16not only unthinkable but materially impossible.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19It's made it rather difficult to find any borders.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24I'm about six miles northeast of Dunkirk,
0:10:24 > 0:10:28and I'm looking for the border that marks the edge of France.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31You'd think they might have put a flag up or something.
0:10:31 > 0:10:36I've got the co-ordinates of where the border should be in this
0:10:36 > 0:10:38little GPS unit, it's telling me to go up here.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43This cannot possibly be a border post.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48I think I'm on a wild border chase here.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52OK, I've seen something but on the wrong side of the fence.
0:10:54 > 0:10:59This is the border marker, there's an F on this side for France...
0:11:01 > 0:11:07A broken N, that must be the Netherlands, and here, a date, 1819.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11Well, that is not the Netherlands any more.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14190 years ago when this marker was put in the sand,
0:11:14 > 0:11:19the country you're about to enter didn't even exist.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23If that seems a bit confusing, the change in the landscape at least
0:11:23 > 0:11:26leaves you in no doubt you've entered a new country,
0:11:26 > 0:11:32as wild open spaces transform into something a little more concrete.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Welcome to Belgium.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40Looks like they've had the builders in.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52One of Europe's most densely populated coastal countries,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55it also has one of its shortest coastlines,
0:11:55 > 0:11:56less than 50 miles.
0:11:56 > 0:12:01But boy, do the Belgians make the most of it!
0:12:01 > 0:12:05# Ca plane pour moi Ca plane pour moi
0:12:06 > 0:12:09# Ca plane pour moi, moi, moi, moi... #
0:12:09 > 0:12:12There are no fewer than 16 major holiday resorts
0:12:12 > 0:12:16packed in along this tiny coast.
0:12:17 > 0:12:24And what links it all is the Kusttram - the coast tram.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Starting near the border town of De Panne,
0:12:29 > 0:12:33the track runs more or less the length of the Belgian coast
0:12:33 > 0:12:36loops around and comes back down again.
0:12:36 > 0:12:4385 miles, all told, making it the longest single-track tram in the world.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48No need for walking boots when you're taking the tram.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50I think a change of outfit is in order.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56I'm curious to know how the tramline helps the Belgians
0:12:56 > 0:12:59cram so much into their coast,
0:12:59 > 0:13:02so at a station in a rare break between high-rises,
0:13:02 > 0:13:05I'm meeting tram man Dirk Schockaert.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07- You must be Nick.- I am Nick.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10This is one of the most extraordinary rail stations
0:13:10 > 0:13:12I've ever been to in the world. It's on a beach!
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Yes, it's a tram stop in the middle of nowhere.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18Yeah. Why was the tramline built, and when?
0:13:18 > 0:13:22The tramline was created in 1885. In the beginning,
0:13:22 > 0:13:27we had three train stations at the coast, so all the rich tourists came
0:13:27 > 0:13:32from the inside of the country to do their holiday here at the coast,
0:13:32 > 0:13:34and they were stuck at their place.
0:13:34 > 0:13:39So, they were thinking, "Well, we will create a tramline,
0:13:39 > 0:13:43"so that we can transport people," mostly rich tourists.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47And for example, I have here an old poster, touristic poster.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50That's wonderful! The image in the picture
0:13:50 > 0:13:54is very much of a seaside paradise waiting to be opened up.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01It was the Kusttram that really shaped the Belgian coast.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05The resorts just grew up along it.
0:14:05 > 0:14:10But the arrival of the tram did squeeze out a simpler way of life.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13For generations a band of horse-riding fishermen
0:14:13 > 0:14:18have hunted shrimps in the sandy shallows off the Belgian coast.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21Today, horseback fishing is a dying art.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25Miranda's off to see how it's done, before it's too late.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29These days, if you want to find the homes of the shrimp fishermen
0:14:29 > 0:14:32and their horses, you have to head inland.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36Coastal construction has forced the shrimp men to live miles from
0:14:36 > 0:14:41the beach, but they still work to the sea's traditional rhythms.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44Catching the tide means an early start.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47- Morning, Dominique. How are you doing?- Very good, thank you. And you?
0:14:47 > 0:14:51'At 21, Dominique Vandendriessche is the youngest
0:14:51 > 0:14:57'of the remaining shrimp fishermen, and part of this local tradition which has gone on for generations.
0:15:08 > 0:15:14'Fishing from horseback was begun by local farmers who used the leftovers as fertiliser.
0:15:17 > 0:15:24'Once there were almost 100 shrimp fishermen - now only a handful cling on in this concrete jungle.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39'This is one of the last places anywhere that they fish like this.'
0:15:39 > 0:15:40How does it work?
0:15:40 > 0:15:47Those two boards, they are used to open the net in the water, seven metres.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49One side floating on the water,
0:15:49 > 0:15:51and the other side stays on the ground
0:15:51 > 0:15:53because of the weight of the chain.
0:15:53 > 0:15:58- Yeah.- But the chain is really used to wake up the shrimps,
0:15:58 > 0:16:01because the shrimps live under the sands,
0:16:01 > 0:16:06and what happens is the chain makes a noise, and all the shrimps they jump up and they get caught
0:16:06 > 0:16:07between the two sides of the net,
0:16:07 > 0:16:12they get pushed there in the end of the net, you see?
0:16:12 > 0:16:17'But working in the shallows with this heavy gear would be impossible without the right horse.
0:16:17 > 0:16:24'It takes the exceptional strength of these huge Brabant draft horses to drag the nets through the wet sand.'
0:16:24 > 0:16:28'I'm used to riding, but these giants are incredibly difficult
0:16:28 > 0:16:32'to control in the water, so I've got to hitch a ride with Dominique.'
0:16:35 > 0:16:36Ha-ha!
0:16:36 > 0:16:37So...
0:16:38 > 0:16:43HE CALLS TO THE HORSE
0:16:45 > 0:16:48Tell me a bit about Jim - how old is he, what's he like?
0:16:48 > 0:16:51He is seven years old, he's a really relaxed horse,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54he never worries about anything and he never complains.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57So what's it like for Jim in the water. Is it really hard work?
0:16:57 > 0:17:01Yes, the faster he goes, the harder it gets, because the water has not
0:17:01 > 0:17:03time enough to escape out of the net.
0:17:03 > 0:17:09But after a couple of times, the horse realises if he goes slower, it's easier.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13And you obviously have an amazing bond with Jim.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17- Yes, we know each other by heart and soul.- Yeah.
0:17:27 > 0:17:28Wow!
0:17:29 > 0:17:33This is what we've been catching, little grey shrimps.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36Dominique, what's this sort of catch worth, then?
0:17:36 > 0:17:40- This, maybe two euros.- Two euros?
0:17:40 > 0:17:43- That's not even enough money to feed your horse for the day.- No, no!
0:17:43 > 0:17:51'Their meagre catch doesn't make for a living, but a profitable sideline is opening up.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55'Their novelty has made the horsemen into a local attraction -
0:17:55 > 0:18:00'while fishing for shrimps, they're also being paid to haul in the tourists.'
0:18:05 > 0:18:07- So I can try one, yeah?- Yeah.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10Those are really good.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14- That's about as fresh a shrimp as I've ever eaten.- Yes.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18'On this coastline, embracing tourism and the changes
0:18:18 > 0:18:23'that come with it helps this traditional way of life to survive.'
0:18:34 > 0:18:39We're on the Belgian coast, riding the tram towards the pretty town of De Haan.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49This small coastal retreat grew up as a quiet alternative
0:18:49 > 0:18:55to Belgium's bustling resorts, the station unchanged since 1902.
0:18:58 > 0:19:05Stepping onto the platform, you get the feeling that time is standing still.
0:19:12 > 0:19:17It certainly did for De Haan's most celebrated visitor,
0:19:17 > 0:19:19who was kicking his heels here some 80 years ago.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24In 1933, this sleepy stretch of coast was
0:19:24 > 0:19:29the unlikely destination for one of the most famous men in the world.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33He was the face of physics, the image of genius.
0:19:33 > 0:19:38Why was Albert Einstein here in De Haan?
0:19:47 > 0:19:53By 1933, at the age of 54, Einstein was world famous.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56His theory of relativity had revolutionised physics.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00It would lead to the concept of the big bang and black holes.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03He'd won the Nobel prize.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09But the world his physics described was undergoing violent change.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17Fascism was on the rise in Europe.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21Hitler had become dictator of Germany.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25Persecution of the country's Jews had begun, sanctioned by the new Nazi government.
0:20:27 > 0:20:33Einstein, both German and Jewish, was in America when Hitler came to power.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35A lifelong peace campaigner, the physicist had spoken out
0:20:35 > 0:20:39against the Nazis, calling for economic sanctions.
0:20:42 > 0:20:47He returned to Europe in 1933, stateless, unable to go home to
0:20:47 > 0:20:54Germany, his life under threat and wondering how, as a man of peace, to respond to the violent times.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04So how did he end up in this small Belgian seaside resort?
0:21:06 > 0:21:10I'm hoping Brigitte Baeten can tell me -
0:21:10 > 0:21:12she's the town's unofficial guardian
0:21:12 > 0:21:17'of all things Einstein, including a statue dedicated to the physicist.'
0:21:17 > 0:21:21- Very nice to meet you. Are you just dusting him down?- Yes, a little bit!
0:21:21 > 0:21:23I like to have his hands clean.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25Ha-ha!
0:21:25 > 0:21:29How did De Haan come to be looking after the great man?
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Well, actually, it was the royal family.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37As he was a good friend of the royal Belgian family,
0:21:37 > 0:21:41which is our King Albert I, and the Queen Elizabeth,
0:21:41 > 0:21:47it is them who said he would better stay for a while in Belgium.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54It was the friendship with the royal family that bought Einstein to Belgium.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57But it was the need for a quiet place to think,
0:21:57 > 0:22:02a refuge from the turmoil in Europe, that brought him to De Haan.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06This is the house of Einstein.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08- This one here?- This one. - There's a plaque on the front.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10- Look, look at the window, there he is.- Oh, yes, how funny!
0:22:10 > 0:22:13- Isn't that wonderful? - And the doors are unchanged.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16Yes, it's all unchanged.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20Excuse me - I'm so sorry to interrupt your supper, but we were
0:22:20 > 0:22:24just looking at the plaque on the front of your home. What's it like living in Einstein's house?
0:22:24 > 0:22:27Do you get fed up with people coming and leaning over the gate?
0:22:27 > 0:22:32Most of them being Belgian, they're pretty polite, so it's not that much of a problem.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36So what about this photograph - could we go inside and try and match
0:22:36 > 0:22:38it up with you? Might be quite interesting.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40- Absolutely, be invited, just follow me.- Thank you.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45Wow.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48Yes! Brigitte's already done it!
0:22:48 > 0:22:50- Yeah, I think you recognise that part of the house!- Yes!
0:22:50 > 0:22:52But the fireplace is the same one, isn't it?
0:22:52 > 0:22:56Yes, must be the same, yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00It seems that sitting in this living room almost 80 years ago,
0:23:00 > 0:23:02Einstein the pacifist became
0:23:02 > 0:23:08an advocate of war - albeit a war against oppression and dictatorship.
0:23:10 > 0:23:17Einstein told an American professor, to prevent the greater evil it is necessary for the lesser evil,
0:23:17 > 0:23:21the hated military, to be accepted for the time being.
0:23:22 > 0:23:27After a six-month stay, Einstein left Belgium in September 1933
0:23:27 > 0:23:34for a new life in America, committed to fighting tyranny in whatever way he could.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39What he couldn't have known is the part his physics would play in the coming struggle.
0:23:39 > 0:23:4730 years earlier, Albert had written an equation, a formula for the conversion of matter into energy.
0:23:48 > 0:23:55E for energy equals M for mass times C for the speed of light squared.
0:23:55 > 0:24:01Now the speed of light squared is a huge number, so you only need
0:24:01 > 0:24:07a tiny amount of mass to equal a lot of energy.
0:24:07 > 0:24:12Cram that mass into a bomb and the results are devastating.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37Ideas change the fate of nations,
0:24:37 > 0:24:41and nature changes the fate of the coast.
0:24:41 > 0:24:47Now the city of Bruges is connected to the port of Zeebrugge by a mighty canal.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52But 700 years ago it was a different story.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55Mark is exploring how mediaeval Bruges
0:24:55 > 0:25:00once had a much closer connection to the coast, and to us.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03For me, this is a very emotional journey.
0:25:03 > 0:25:08I first came here to Bruges aged 13.
0:25:08 > 0:25:13I was obsessed with medieval history.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19Now I'm back to rekindle my old passion for the place,
0:25:19 > 0:25:25but also to explore an intriguing connection to England I discovered all those years ago.
0:25:25 > 0:25:31The city's canals give us a clue to its rich maritime past.
0:25:31 > 0:25:39Sea trade made the burghers of Bruges very rich in the 13th and 14th centuries.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43Believe it or not, this was once the main canal
0:25:43 > 0:25:48into the heart of Bruges, where ships from all round the world
0:25:48 > 0:25:52came and unloaded their cargos in the water hall
0:25:52 > 0:25:54in the middle of the town square.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00700 years ago, a bird's-eye view of Bruges
0:26:00 > 0:26:02would have been radically different.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06A sea inlet reached the outskirts of the city,
0:26:06 > 0:26:09linking is directly to the North Sea
0:26:09 > 0:26:14and historic ports like Ipswich and King's Lynn.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23Bricks were in big demand 700 years ago in England,
0:26:23 > 0:26:27because back then we weren't making any of our own.
0:26:27 > 0:26:33I'm hoping historian David Andrews can tell me why.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36Well, the Romans of course, had made bricks,
0:26:36 > 0:26:40but with the collapse that came after the fall of the Roman Empire
0:26:40 > 0:26:42the technology was lost throughout much of Northern Europe,
0:26:42 > 0:26:44maybe parts of the Mediterranean as well.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47So when is brick-making rediscovered?
0:26:47 > 0:26:50In the 12th century, the Cistercians are making bricks,
0:26:50 > 0:26:52and the Cistercians built this wonderful barn here.
0:26:52 > 0:26:58- It's like a cathedral, isn't it, with a sort of east window in brick?! - With tracery in brick, yes.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02Cistercian monks may have revived the art of brick-making,
0:27:02 > 0:27:06but in England we're a bit slow on the uptake.
0:27:07 > 0:27:13Rather than make our own, we bought them from the Low Countries.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17We had ceramic technologies, we could make pottery, we could make roof tile
0:27:17 > 0:27:19but we don't seem to have bothered with brick.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22And what do these Flemish bricks actually look like?
0:27:22 > 0:27:25Well, I've got one from Essex here.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29So these are really grotty, I mean, you can see how soft they are.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32You could put the powder everywhere.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35Yes, they aren't marvellous bricks, but they work
0:27:35 > 0:27:37and they're quite long-lasting and durable.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41'After 700 years, this Essex brick has come home'
0:27:41 > 0:27:47to where it was made from the polder clay, the layer of mud
0:27:47 > 0:27:51left behind when the sea retreated from the land.
0:27:51 > 0:27:57'Art Vandendorpe is going to show me how to turn clay into bricks.'
0:27:57 > 0:28:01He's restored some of Bruges' most ancient buildings
0:28:01 > 0:28:05using the oldest instruction book there is.
0:28:07 > 0:28:12So this is the original description of how bricks were made in those days.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15They take the clay and they mixed them with sand,
0:28:15 > 0:28:18they put it on the table and they make the brick.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21And then they put them here in the clamp.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25- One million.- In one clamp? So that's from the polders.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28- Yes, from here.- Just from underneath the riverbank.- Yes, yes, yes.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32# Bricks, lay 'em down in a straight line
0:28:32 > 0:28:34# Bricks, build them into a wall
0:28:34 > 0:28:38# Bricks, very useful objects and they're not expensive at all. #
0:28:38 > 0:28:42Perfect! Bits of old brick, the odd shell -
0:28:42 > 0:28:44that's what makes the brick strong.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49'After several hundred years of the Flemish showing the way,
0:28:49 > 0:28:54'English brick-makers had just about got the hang of it.'
0:28:54 > 0:28:56Oh, this is an English brick!
0:28:57 > 0:28:59'Unlike me!'
0:28:59 > 0:29:02But it was the clay, the very stuff the bricks of Bruges
0:29:02 > 0:29:06were made of, that finally cut the city off from the sea.
0:29:06 > 0:29:11When the inlet silted up, gone went that trading route to Europe.
0:29:11 > 0:29:15Leaving Bruges high and dry,
0:29:15 > 0:29:19but preserved in all this medieval splendour!
0:29:33 > 0:29:38The end of Belgium's coastal tramline delivers me to Knokke.
0:29:43 > 0:29:50It looks pretty conventional on the outside, the seafront dominated by this grand 1930s casino.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55I'm told all is not what it seems here -
0:29:55 > 0:29:58apparently there's something surreal to see.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06And it's tucked away in a back room.
0:30:08 > 0:30:09- Hello.- Hello.- I'm Nick.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13- Delphine. Nice to meet you. - Very nice to meet you.
0:30:13 > 0:30:18In the 1950s, Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte came to stay in Knokke.
0:30:18 > 0:30:22And this is what he left behind.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25LAUGHS
0:30:25 > 0:30:30My goodness! My goodness!
0:30:30 > 0:30:34If you don't know Magritte's name, you might well recognise his images.
0:30:34 > 0:30:40This 360-degree mural displays some of his best-known work.
0:30:43 > 0:30:45It's a dreamscape, isn't it?
0:30:45 > 0:30:49Not necessarily a very healthy dream - we've got a woman with
0:30:49 > 0:30:53a fish's head, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa restring on a feather.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55How did the citizens of Knokke react?
0:30:55 > 0:30:57They rather like it, I think.
0:31:00 > 0:31:01In 1953,
0:31:01 > 0:31:06the casino owner here persuaded the surrealist and former wallpaper designer
0:31:06 > 0:31:11to make a rare visit to the coast and decorate the walls of this establishment.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14Magritte called the end result the enchanted domain.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20Enchanting maybe, odd certainly, but look closer.
0:31:28 > 0:31:33Magritte's vision seems strangely in tune with the Belgium we've experienced.
0:31:36 > 0:31:41The surrealist re-imagined the world in the name of art.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44But another local visionary who reimagined the world for
0:31:44 > 0:31:48practical reasons is waiting at the end of my journey.
0:31:50 > 0:31:55Because it was along this coast that a 16th-century map-maker
0:31:55 > 0:31:59of huge significance spent his formative years.
0:31:59 > 0:32:05He also happens to be a hero of mine. His name - Gerard Mercator.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11Ships like this navigate safely today because of a method of
0:32:11 > 0:32:13map-making devised by Mercator.
0:32:13 > 0:32:18Even in here, surrounded by all this hi-tech equipment, this modern map
0:32:18 > 0:32:22carries the name of a man born 500 years ago.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25Mercator cracked a complex puzzle.
0:32:25 > 0:32:29Paper maps are flat, but as you step back from the world,
0:32:29 > 0:32:32it's clear the planet isn't flat at all.
0:32:32 > 0:32:33He worked out the maths
0:32:33 > 0:32:37to project the 3D world onto a two-dimensional sheet.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42Mercator's projection meant seafarers could for the first time
0:32:42 > 0:32:46navigate precisely around the three-dimensional globe.
0:32:46 > 0:32:52In Antwerp, you can see the original chart that changed the world.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56This is it, this is the map that turned Mercator
0:32:56 > 0:33:00into the first modern map-maker, it was completely revolutionary.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03It's really a navigational device.
0:33:03 > 0:33:07What he did was to keep all the lines of longitude parallel.
0:33:07 > 0:33:11Of course, normally on the globe they all converge at the two poles,
0:33:11 > 0:33:15but what he did was prise them apart and straighten them.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18What you end up with is quite a distorted map, but the sheer
0:33:18 > 0:33:23brilliance of this map is in what it does with the use of compasses.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27If you lie a compass on this map for example between Bristol and Cuba,
0:33:27 > 0:33:30and want to get the bearing, you take your bearing off the map,
0:33:30 > 0:33:33and then you can stand on the deck of your ship and the identical
0:33:33 > 0:33:36bearing will take you straight from Bristol to Cuba.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38No other map projection will do that.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40It was a work of sheer brilliance.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43Mercator called it the squaring of the circle.
0:33:49 > 0:33:54Mercator's genius vision, his projection of the earth onto
0:33:54 > 0:33:59accurate navigation charts, opened up the globe to Europeans.
0:33:59 > 0:34:04Trade blossomed and mighty estuaries became gateways to the world.
0:34:16 > 0:34:22People, goods and ideas flow between nations connected by their coastlines.
0:34:22 > 0:34:29It gives us a common bond with our neighbours, stories we continue to explore around our coast and beyond!