0:00:08 > 0:00:10A bridge between two countries.
0:00:12 > 0:00:17On one side is England. On the other, I'm in Wales.
0:00:17 > 0:00:22This is a coast of constant coming and going,
0:00:22 > 0:00:27a to and fro of people and ideas that haven't only changed Britain.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30Events on the Welsh shores have changed the world.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58My destination is the Dee Estuary,
0:00:58 > 0:01:02the northern border between Wales and England,
0:01:02 > 0:01:07but my journey starts at their southern border, on the Severn Estuary.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20This stretch of water has brought great wealth to South Wales.
0:01:20 > 0:01:25Thanks to the sea, great cities have grown up.
0:01:25 > 0:01:31As the people thrived, they've had good reason to be grateful for their coastal connections.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39But 400 years ago, it was a very different story.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46At the start of the 17th century,
0:01:46 > 0:01:49the sea rose up and dashed the people down,
0:01:49 > 0:01:53wiping whole villages from the face of the Earth.
0:01:54 > 0:01:59The year is 1607, it's the 30th of January.
0:01:59 > 0:02:00Unlike today,
0:02:00 > 0:02:03unseasonal sunshine bathes the estuary.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06It's a bright start to a disastrous day.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12Before long, a strong wind whips up.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16Offshore, huge and mighty hills of water are rolling in,
0:02:16 > 0:02:20set on a collision course with this coast and its people.
0:02:23 > 0:02:29In less than five hours, 200 square miles of low-lying land are lost to the sea,
0:02:29 > 0:02:33cattle are washed away, 2,000 people are drowned,
0:02:33 > 0:02:35their lungs filled with salt water.
0:02:39 > 0:02:44This woodcut depicts a tragedy of biblical proportions.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53Buildings are inundated, people are climbing trees,
0:02:53 > 0:02:57others are drowning alongside cattle, sheep and horses.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00The dead were washed from their graves.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03To many, it must have seemed like the end of days.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10It was certainly a day that left its mark in people's memories.
0:03:11 > 0:03:16Here at the church in Redwick, it's commemorated in stone.
0:03:16 > 0:03:22That dreadful event has been researched by the church organist, Mark Lewis.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26What evidence is there that the church was affected by the flood?
0:03:26 > 0:03:30We're very fortunate here at Redwick because the height of the floodwater
0:03:30 > 0:03:33was recorded on the church wall just after the event.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37We've got a copper alloy bolt set in led in this stone on the end of the chancel
0:03:37 > 0:03:42and the word "flood" carved above it. And we believe that this is the height of that 1607 event.
0:03:42 > 0:03:48- So the water would have reached my chest.- It would have here, but we're on a slight hill,
0:03:48 > 0:03:53so anywhere in any direction one or two miles from this would have been under four, five metres of water.
0:03:53 > 0:04:00The best way to take in the scale of the devastation is from the church tower.
0:04:03 > 0:04:08The floodwater covered all the land from the estuary
0:04:08 > 0:04:11as far as the eye can see, up to the new Severn Crossing,
0:04:11 > 0:04:14and as far as the foothills at the fen edge,
0:04:14 > 0:04:17which from here is about two or three miles distance inland.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21Most of the houses in 1607 were timber-framed and wattle and daub,
0:04:21 > 0:04:24and they were swept away or washed away.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27How did people interpret the disaster?
0:04:27 > 0:04:30This was very much seen as a warning from heaven against vice.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40400 years ago, the great flood was blamed on divine judgement.
0:04:42 > 0:04:49Today, the widely accepted theory is that terrible weather whipped up the sea creating a storm-surge of water.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55But this man has a different idea.
0:04:55 > 0:05:01Professor Simon Haslett from the University of Wales believes this coast contains a warning,
0:05:01 > 0:05:04to us and to future generations.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07What do you think caused the great flood of 1607?
0:05:07 > 0:05:10A lot of people think it was caused by a storm-surge,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13but contemporary accounts that I've read indicate the weather was fine,
0:05:13 > 0:05:16the day was fairly and brightly spread,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19so if it wasn't a storm we've got to look for other explanations,
0:05:19 > 0:05:23and one of those is possibly a tsunami, which we're now considering.
0:05:23 > 0:05:30- A tsunami in Britain?- Well, yes. - How do you define a tsunami?
0:05:30 > 0:05:31Well, a tsunami is a long wave,
0:05:31 > 0:05:34which means that from the front of the wave
0:05:34 > 0:05:37to the back of the wave, it can be several kilometres long.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40And if you were stood in that wave at the beach when it arrived
0:05:40 > 0:05:44it would take 15-20 minutes for that single wave to pass over you.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47That's how big a tsunami is.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51Somewhere out there in the Atlantic, according to our tsunami theory,
0:05:51 > 0:05:55there was either an earthquake or an undersea landslide, or maybe both,
0:05:55 > 0:05:58cos earthquakes can trigger undersea landslides as well.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02They're one of the most energetic phenomenon we have in nature,
0:06:02 > 0:06:07and they contain far more energy than a normal storm wave would have, for example.
0:06:07 > 0:06:08According to Simon's theory,
0:06:08 > 0:06:12in 1607 the flood water didn't rise gradually.
0:06:14 > 0:06:20Instead, a single huge wave smashed into this shore with incredible intensity,
0:06:20 > 0:06:27a sudden explosion of energy unleashed by an offshore earthquake or landslide.
0:06:28 > 0:06:35A tsunami's terrifying force can toss huge boulders around with ease.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38They've been stacked up like dominoes.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42The only thing that can really move boulders lie that is a tsunami,
0:06:42 > 0:06:46and that's seen right around the world where tsunami have been encountered.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49So about a five-metre-high wave,
0:06:49 > 0:06:52sloshing against that cliff for about 10-15 minutes
0:06:52 > 0:06:54as the crest of the tsunami passed,
0:06:54 > 0:07:00all that time bringing in boulders and laying them down in the fabric that we see them here today.
0:07:02 > 0:07:07The great flood of 1607 levelled villages and left 2,000 dead.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13Was the cause a tsunami trigged by an Atlantic earthquake?
0:07:13 > 0:07:16Certainly on the other side of the ocean,
0:07:16 > 0:07:21the Americans have sunk millions into an early warning system.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26It's designed to protect their eastern coast from tsunamis set-off by earthquakes.
0:07:26 > 0:07:31The likelihood of such an event in our lifetime is remote,
0:07:31 > 0:07:35but Simon thinks that shouldn't stop us planning for the worst.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39Tsunamis are not a regular hazard here in the Atlantic,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42but they do occur, so we need to be mindful of them,
0:07:42 > 0:07:46and for a very small investment we could put out in the Atlantic,
0:07:46 > 0:07:49as the Americans are doing now on their eastern coastline,
0:07:49 > 0:07:54we could put tsunami warning systems out there, then if we do have one of these freak events,
0:07:54 > 0:07:58we will at least have some warning time to get people out of the way.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05The sea has a terrifying power.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10And beguiling beauty.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16We've reached the majestic Gower Peninsula.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34Beyond Gower is Burry Port.
0:08:35 > 0:08:42When Amelia Earhart landed here in 1928, she became the first woman to fly over the Atlantic.
0:08:48 > 0:08:54But years earlier, could the Welsh cliffs have witnessed the world's very first powered flight?
0:08:56 > 0:09:02We're heading for a town which may deserve a special place on the aviation map.
0:09:02 > 0:09:03Saundersfoot.
0:09:03 > 0:09:08An unlikely aviator has Alice intrigued.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15At the end of the 19th century here in Saundersfoot,
0:09:15 > 0:09:20a local carpenter claimed that he'd built his own flying machine.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25And this is the man. His name was Bill Frost,
0:09:25 > 0:09:29and he said that he'd built his contraption out of canvas
0:09:29 > 0:09:33and it got him airborne and he flew for 500 yards.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37And he said that he made this flight in 1896,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40that's seven years before the Wright brothers.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44So should it be Bill Frost's name in the record books
0:09:44 > 0:09:49as the engineer of the first powered flight, or is that a lot of hot air?
0:09:51 > 0:09:57Supposedly the scene of Bill's great escape from gravity was this hillside,
0:09:57 > 0:09:59high above Saundersfoot harbour.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03Had he been here in September 1896,
0:10:03 > 0:10:11you might have caught sight of Bill Frost in his flying machine, actually flying over this field.
0:10:20 > 0:10:25It was a bizarre thing, part balloon, part glider, part helicopter.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32There were no witnesses, though, to back up Bill's story about his flight.
0:10:34 > 0:10:40He said it came to a crashing end when his craft got tangled in a tree.
0:10:40 > 0:10:46The next morning, the headlines were all about the weather.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49It says here "The Great Storm" and describes
0:10:49 > 0:10:53"a tremendous wind storm sweeping over South Wales,"
0:10:53 > 0:10:59and Bill Frost said that his flying machine trapped in those trees was torn apart.
0:11:01 > 0:11:08There's no proof for Bill Frost's claim that he made this flight seven years before the Wright Brothers,
0:11:08 > 0:11:11but could he have been telling the truth?
0:11:12 > 0:11:16We do know that two years earlier, in 1894,
0:11:16 > 0:11:19Bill registered this patent for a flying machine.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26But even if he had made this aircraft, would it have worked?
0:11:27 > 0:11:33Scientist Mike Bullivant has cast a critical eye over Bill's design.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37The aircraft comprises an upper chamber
0:11:37 > 0:11:40filled with a non-specified gas which is lighter than air.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44Suspended underneath is a gondola which takes the pilot.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46Going up from the gondola through the upper chamber
0:11:46 > 0:11:49is a propeller which is hand-cranked by the pilot,
0:11:49 > 0:11:53and then the upper chamber has wings sticking out of each side.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57It's part airship, it's part helicopter, it's part glider.
0:11:57 > 0:12:04To get his airship airborne, Bill would have needed to fill it with lighter than air gas.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08The obvious choice today would be helium,
0:12:08 > 0:12:13but in 1896 it wasn't available, so what gas might Bill have used?
0:12:13 > 0:12:17I reckon it was hydrogen. I'm going to show you how you can make hydrogen, it's really easy.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24Bill would have needed to know some chemistry.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28You can produce hydrogen gas, H2, by adding iron to sulphuric acid.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33- What's the formula of sulphuric acid? - H2S04.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36Right, so the iron is grabbing the S04 and the H is released.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39H2 is released, yeah.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43- Oooh. Ooooh!- So, Bill Frost could...
0:12:46 > 0:12:49Bill Frost could have used iron and sulphuric acid
0:12:49 > 0:12:52as a source of the hydrogen to fill that upper chamber.
0:12:54 > 0:13:00Even if Bill could have made hydrogen, using it is very risky.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07It's a bomb, flying bomb.
0:13:07 > 0:13:12And Bill Frost's aircraft would have been a very big flying bomb.
0:13:14 > 0:13:19To see just how big, I'm going to try and get airborne myself.
0:13:19 > 0:13:25Thankfully, stunt expert Bob Schofield is filling these balloons with another lighter than air gas,
0:13:25 > 0:13:29helium, which, unlike hydrogen, doesn't explode.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35With each balloon blown up to eight feet in diameter, how much gas is inside it?
0:13:35 > 0:13:37About seven cubic metres.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41That will lift about eight kilograms.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43Well, I'm 64 kilos.
0:13:43 > 0:13:48I'd need eight fully inflated balloons to get me off the ground, just to lift me off the ground.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52And I haven't even got an aircraft around me, it's just me.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54Yeah, yeah, that's...
0:13:54 > 0:13:59Bill Frost would have also had all the actual aircraft, the wood, the canvas.
0:13:59 > 0:14:05The drawing on that patent starts to look a little bit sketchy, doesn't it?
0:14:05 > 0:14:10Surely Bill's airship couldn't have contained enough gas to lift off the ground.
0:14:11 > 0:14:16I've got four big balloons attached, but I'll need four more to get airborne...
0:14:18 > 0:14:21..and the weather's against me.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23I'm slightly concerned because,
0:14:23 > 0:14:27just as Bill Frost had his experiment scuppered by a storm,
0:14:27 > 0:14:31- the wind is whipping up in Saundersfoot. - From the south west, yeah.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39Within minutes, things go from tricky to treacherous.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42- Bill Frost would have had a laugh about this.- Yeah.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48Just lean into that now. You ain't going anywhere.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52- Ooh, it's not comfortable, don't want to really end up with broken ribs. - No.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55And it's not just me that's feeling the strain.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59That one is gone, it's leaking, you can see straight through where the wind's got it.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03- Really... I'm losing gas.- You're losing gas.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10As the wind gets stronger, I get seriously worried.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Right, go back into that.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24Right, I think it's time to call it a day, unfortunately.
0:15:24 > 0:15:29It's your call. I'm safe on the ground, you're the one that's...
0:15:29 > 0:15:35I can't believe a storm has once again put paid to an experiment with flight at Saundersfoot.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38- The curse of Bill Frost. - That is the curse of Bill Frost!
0:15:41 > 0:15:47Bill's claim to have flown before the Wright Brothers does seem like a tall tale.
0:15:49 > 0:15:54Explosive gas...and lots of it.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59A machine at the mercy of the wind.
0:16:00 > 0:16:07It may all have been a flight of fancy, but we'll never know for sure.
0:16:10 > 0:16:15We're here in search of curious comings and goings.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26Aberystwyth University is home to a group of scientists,
0:16:26 > 0:16:30making ready for an epic voyage.
0:16:31 > 0:16:36It's not just far beyond this shore, it's far beyond this world.
0:16:37 > 0:16:44Those researchers are preparing for an extra-terrestrial mission here at Clarach Bay.
0:16:53 > 0:16:58Fancy a trip to Mars, but you're put off by the millions of miles and months of travel?
0:16:58 > 0:17:01Then come here to sample the delights of the red planet.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04That's what the scientists do.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09I'm here to meet Lester Waugh and David Barnes,
0:17:09 > 0:17:14and of course Bridget, the midget Rover.
0:17:14 > 0:17:20She's the prototype of a robot that'll look for life on Mars.
0:17:20 > 0:17:25Which means Bridget needs to be tested on a makeshift Martian landscape.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27So what are we doing on a beach in Wales?
0:17:27 > 0:17:31We don't have all the diversity of rock features you have on Mars,
0:17:31 > 0:17:33but we have some key ones.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35First of all, we've got a nice sort of pebbly beach.
0:17:35 > 0:17:40Moving further over, we have a nice sort of sandy mixed region,
0:17:40 > 0:17:43and finally, as we go sort of over here,
0:17:43 > 0:17:49we actually have some rather nice sort of sedimentary regions.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51And again one can imagine
0:17:51 > 0:17:55we're actually up against the face of a crater on Mars,
0:17:55 > 0:17:58and we can get our Rover up here, we can take some images.
0:17:59 > 0:18:04This is the surface of Clarach Bay, and this is the surface of Mars.
0:18:05 > 0:18:10Mars, Wales... Wales, Mars, I can see the similarity.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13If you're looking for a stand-in for the red planet,
0:18:13 > 0:18:19this bay just outside Aberystwyth is one of the best places in Britain.
0:18:19 > 0:18:25It's an unlikely one-stop shop for a variety of Martian-like landscapes.
0:18:25 > 0:18:30Is Bridget up to the task of manoeuvring around this tricky terrain?
0:18:30 > 0:18:33- And she's off, she's moving.- Indeed.
0:18:33 > 0:18:39OK, now is this full speed or cruising speed?
0:18:39 > 0:18:43This is reasonably representative of what a Mars Rover will do.
0:18:43 > 0:18:48I know it sounds like a silly question, but where's the engine?
0:18:48 > 0:18:51- Right, well, this Rover has six motors for drive.- Right.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54And you're seeing in here, these are the hubs,
0:18:54 > 0:18:58- and there's a motor in each of these hubs.- They're inside here?- Inside there, yes...- Is a motor?
0:18:58 > 0:19:02They're very small and they have a gear box which reduces the gear ratio.
0:19:02 > 0:19:07- There's an engine and a gearbox in each hub?- That's right.- How amazing.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09It pivots here to keep the body stable,
0:19:09 > 0:19:11that's called body posture averaging.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14- And she's really going to handle this lot?- Yes.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20We designed the system so that it would cope with rocks up to 37 metres high.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22Bridget must be agile and tough.
0:19:22 > 0:19:29If she got stuck on Mars, there'd be no-one to give her a push. She'd have to haul herself out of trouble.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34So how powerful is Bridget? How many Martian horses can she pull?
0:19:34 > 0:19:38- I'm pretty sure she could pull you along the beach.- Really?
0:19:38 > 0:19:40It might be an idea if we stop her here, Nick,
0:19:40 > 0:19:42and you could have a tug of war with Bridget.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46No contest, me against a shopping trolley, I know who's going to win.
0:19:46 > 0:19:47Maybe.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51Right, Bridget, now we're going to find out what you've made of.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54I think we're going to find out what Nick Crane is made of!
0:19:54 > 0:19:57Oh, really?! We'll see.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00Well, I hope you don't strangle yourself.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04- I'm digging in.- OK, let's see what happens.- OK. Off we go.
0:20:09 > 0:20:10Come on Nick! Come on!
0:20:12 > 0:20:15For a shopping...gosh. She's got a bit of power, hasn't she?
0:20:17 > 0:20:20Look at those feet, slipping all over the place!
0:20:20 > 0:20:22What's the matter? You've got no traction!
0:20:23 > 0:20:26I think Bridget wins, I think!
0:20:26 > 0:20:29Can you turn it off, Brian, or I'll end up in the sea.
0:20:37 > 0:20:44Clarach Bay is an odd starting point for a voyage that will end far away from the Earth.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48But then this coast is full of surprises.
0:20:51 > 0:20:58As we cross the Dyfi Estuary, it's all a million miles away from the worries of the wider world.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02Or so it seems.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08Then you reach Tonfanau.
0:21:09 > 0:21:17Here, an old military camp marked the end of a journey for thousands of desperate people.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21They were driven here by political turmoil, half a world away.
0:21:22 > 0:21:27Historian Tessa Dunlop is uncovering the story.
0:21:27 > 0:21:32In October 1972, this remote site almost overnight
0:21:32 > 0:21:37became home to some 3,000 refugees. They'd travelled here from Uganda.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40They hadn't planned to come to the Welsh coast, but they had no choice.
0:21:40 > 0:21:47They'd been forced to leave their homes in Africa, homes to which they'd never return.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52I'm meeting two of those refugees.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55Chandrika and Madhu are sisters.
0:21:55 > 0:22:00Some 40 years ago, they were teenagers when they first found themselves on this Welsh beach.
0:22:00 > 0:22:05It must have been quite something arriving here and seeing the coast.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08I didn't really know that Wales existed.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11My first impression was it was very calming,
0:22:11 > 0:22:12very inviting.
0:22:12 > 0:22:17It was in the middle of autumn so I felt it was really cold, gloomy.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21When I first came here, and, you know, saw all the seaweed
0:22:21 > 0:22:24by the coast I was just like, "Oh, what's this?!"
0:22:26 > 0:22:28The sisters had arrived in Tonfanau
0:22:28 > 0:22:33after a gruelling 4,000-mile journey from their homeland.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38Uganda, a country once part of the British Empire.
0:22:38 > 0:22:43By 1972, it was beset by economic and civil strife.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54The army officers and the custom department have removed my wristwatch and ring,
0:22:54 > 0:22:57and so I got my goods back from Entebbe airport and I could not go.
0:23:03 > 0:23:10President Idi Amin had given the Asian minority just 90 days to leave the country,
0:23:10 > 0:23:13accusing them of profiting at the expense of black Ugandans.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19The Asians had lived in Uganda for generations,
0:23:19 > 0:23:25originally encouraged to settle by the British during the days of Empire.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29And that is why I said that the responsibility of Asians
0:23:29 > 0:23:34in Uganda, it is the responsibility of Great Britain.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41Amin's ultimatum to leave Uganda caused panic.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43British passport offices were besieged by applicants.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47I'm still waiting for the British High Commission to decide what...
0:23:47 > 0:23:50what about the security and safety of the lives and the goods.
0:23:50 > 0:23:56Amid increasing desperation, some 30,000 Ugandan Asians fled to Britain.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08The refugees were housed in resettlement centres,
0:24:08 > 0:24:133,000 of them in the former military camp at Tonfanau.
0:24:15 > 0:24:21Chandrika, Madhu and their family arrived at Tonfanau's sleepy seaside station,
0:24:21 > 0:24:27an unlikely contrast to the terror of their expulsion from Africa.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30What do you actually remember of leaving Uganda?
0:24:30 > 0:24:33The worst thing was the airport.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37We were the last family to... to board,
0:24:37 > 0:24:40and I was the last passenger.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47And I happened to...
0:24:48 > 0:24:50Can't do it.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52They were raping women and things like that,
0:24:52 > 0:24:56my mother was really terrified. I remember my mother's face was really terrified.
0:24:56 > 0:25:01Didn't know what to do and they keep pushing my mum away, to say, leave her with us and you just go.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04I got a lot of abuse, a lot of aggression,
0:25:04 > 0:25:08and that is my last memory, and I don't...
0:25:08 > 0:25:11- Last memory, and it's not nice. - Yeah.
0:25:16 > 0:25:22Tonfanau station serviced the military camp that was sighted nearby on the coast.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26It used to be a live firing range.
0:25:26 > 0:25:31The row of gunning placements pointing out to sea still runs along the shore.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39When the Ugandan Asians arrived in 1972, the military were long gone.
0:25:42 > 0:25:47But camp life soon developed new routines in the buildings they'd left behind.
0:25:49 > 0:25:55It was like a dormitory with lots of single beds with these army type of rough blankets
0:25:55 > 0:25:58and little electric heater, which I hogged.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02- Which she hogged. - Only one, right, I was freezing.
0:26:02 > 0:26:09There were worries about how the new arrivals would cope in the Welsh winter.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13'What do you think it's going to be like for these people in the winter?'
0:26:13 > 0:26:17Well, taking into account they've never experienced cold weather,
0:26:17 > 0:26:19I think we would get quite a lot of illness.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25But the cold wasn't the only concern for the refugees.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29Elsewhere in the UK, their arrival was provoking bitter hostility.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34We are now telling the politicians of this country today that we cannot,
0:26:34 > 0:26:40and will not absorb any more Asians...
0:26:41 > 0:26:46The welcome on the Welsh coast for the Ugandan Asians was warmer.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49Many of the locals rallied around to help.
0:26:52 > 0:26:57- They were really hospitable, weren't they, with clothes and things like that.- The locals?
0:26:57 > 0:27:01Even the camp, the WRVS had set out nice, warm clothing for us,
0:27:01 > 0:27:07so then we started getting coats and little bits of things like that.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10But it was very well organised as well, you know,
0:27:10 > 0:27:13overnight, and the place was actually buzzing.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16This is a map of Wales, and we have put the arrow
0:27:16 > 0:27:22because we have been talking about Tonfanau before.
0:27:22 > 0:27:28In 1972, Ann James was one of the teachers drafted in to work at the camp school.
0:27:31 > 0:27:36There weren't many foreign people around in these parts at all.
0:27:36 > 0:27:41And it didn't seem to matter about them being of a different culture.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45In the 38 years since the camp closed,
0:27:45 > 0:27:51Ann hasn't met any of the Ugandan Asians she helped... until today.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54Yes, I remember you! Oh, Madhu!
0:27:54 > 0:27:58Hello... Wonderful.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01- Really lovely seeing you. I remember you. - After all those years, it's lovely.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05I brought a photograph. Shall I show you?
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Goodness me! I remember. That's you?
0:28:08 > 0:28:10That's me in my little short dress.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14Well, that's wonderful.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17What was it like to teach these girls? Where they good students?
0:28:17 > 0:28:21Oh, they were great, very diligent, wanted to learn, they were really good.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25You must have been sad when the camp closed down, really.
0:28:25 > 0:28:32Yes, I was very sad, we all were very sad, because... and it closed very quickly.
0:28:35 > 0:28:39In the six months it was open, this abandoned military base,
0:28:39 > 0:28:42staffed by an army of local volunteers,
0:28:42 > 0:28:48managed to keep 3,000 refugees warm and well-fed during a Welsh seaside winter.
0:28:52 > 0:28:57By the time spring arrived in 1973, the last temporary residents
0:28:57 > 0:29:00were leaving to be resettled around Britain.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05So what happened to the sisters?
0:29:07 > 0:29:11I became a radiographer in Cardiff, and then I did my masters in Manchester,
0:29:11 > 0:29:13and I'm a CT superintendent now.
0:29:13 > 0:29:18Wow, impressive stuff. What about you, Chandrika?
0:29:18 > 0:29:22I became a dentist, and I'm a specialist in special care dentistry,
0:29:22 > 0:29:27and I work around Cardiff and I love it.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41Skirting North Wales, we're on the final leg of our tour
0:29:41 > 0:29:45to discover the curious comings and goings on this coast.
0:29:45 > 0:29:50For thousands of years, copper from the Great Orme
0:29:50 > 0:29:53was sent around Britain and beyond.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58Later, human cargo came in at Llandudno pier.
0:30:01 > 0:30:06Tourist boats bringing visitors on "kiss me quick" adventures.
0:30:06 > 0:30:11All along this porous shore, there's been a constant to-ing and fro-ing.
0:30:13 > 0:30:19But at our final stop on the Dee Estuary, it's another story.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22You find something that's not going anywhere.
0:30:27 > 0:30:31Many people making their way along this shore must have wondered
0:30:31 > 0:30:34what on Earth is going on with this ship?
0:30:38 > 0:30:41But very few get this close.
0:30:45 > 0:30:50She's sat on this site since 1979.
0:30:53 > 0:30:54Remember the '70s?
0:30:57 > 0:30:59Life was somewhat slower paced.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04Especially on Sunday.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13# Every day is like Sunday. #
0:31:13 > 0:31:17Shopping on the Sabbath was seen as something of a sin.
0:31:17 > 0:31:21For retailers, every seventh day was an opportunity going begging.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23But did it have to be?
0:31:25 > 0:31:29I just happen to have here a copy of the Shops Act 1950.
0:31:29 > 0:31:34The provisions of this Act used to forbid most shops from trading on a Sunday.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36But maybe there was a loophole.
0:31:36 > 0:31:40It says here in part 4, Section 56, sub-section 6,
0:31:40 > 0:31:43"the foregoing provisions of this part of this Act
0:31:43 > 0:31:46"shall not apply to any sea-going ship."
0:31:46 > 0:31:52So perhaps if you got yourself a ship and set it up as a shop, you could open on a Sunday.
0:31:56 > 0:32:03So the Duke of Lancaster found herself being towed into place in August 1979,
0:32:03 > 0:32:07to become a visitor attraction and a shopping centre.
0:32:10 > 0:32:16Alan D'arcy didn't just work on board, the ship was his home.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21- Follow me, Nick.- It's quite eerie, isn't it?- It is, yes.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27It feels like a ghost ship. What used to happen in here?
0:32:27 > 0:32:29This was a market deck area.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35All the traders rent so much space to sell their wares,
0:32:35 > 0:32:39and this is where they'd be.
0:32:39 > 0:32:44The traders moved on years ago, but the ship is stuck in the past.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49Following a series of planning disputes,
0:32:49 > 0:32:52this shop on the sea ceased trading.
0:33:02 > 0:33:06But those who love this old girl can't let go.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12- This is the Dolphin restaurant, Nick. - It's gorgeous, isn't it?
0:33:12 > 0:33:15Yeah. It takes you back, doesn't it?
0:33:15 > 0:33:20- I actually had my wedding reception in here.- In here?
0:33:20 > 0:33:23- In here, yeah, in 1982. - What did it look like?
0:33:23 > 0:33:26Like the Titanic, for want of a better word.
0:33:26 > 0:33:31You've got to see her with all the tablecloths on
0:33:31 > 0:33:35and waitresses and food and people jollying,
0:33:35 > 0:33:39beer and champagne, it was just like that.
0:33:39 > 0:33:43- It's just crying out for happy people.- Help...crying out for help.
0:33:43 > 0:33:49- It is crying out for help. - It is sad she's sat here empty.
0:33:53 > 0:33:58I'd've liked to have seen her still open and working,
0:33:58 > 0:34:03instead of just sitting here waiting for something to happen to her.
0:34:03 > 0:34:05It's become part of your life, hasn't it?
0:34:05 > 0:34:09It has, yeah. I do get a little bit emotional, but,
0:34:09 > 0:34:12we just have to wait and see what happens to her.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17But that's because it's tied up in your life, you see,
0:34:17 > 0:34:22- ships aren't just lumps of metal, they have lives tied in with them. - And names, lives and names.
0:34:44 > 0:34:49This is one of the most bizarre sights I've seen anywhere on the British coast.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53A great, white, beached whale.
0:35:11 > 0:35:15The Welsh coast does everything on a grand scale, its scenery,
0:35:15 > 0:35:19its wildlife, its spirit of enterprise and adventure,
0:35:19 > 0:35:23the ideas of ebb and flow with every age.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27These shores have always been a window on a wider world on far horizons.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30Oh, and there's one other thing. They're very welcoming, too.
0:35:30 > 0:35:32I'll be back.