0:00:16 > 0:00:18Welcome to the Baltic Sea,
0:00:18 > 0:00:21and the sublime shoreline of Sweden.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31For centuries, Britons have charted a course to this glorious coast
0:00:31 > 0:00:34for its treasure trove of riches.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39From bustling capital to sleepy village,
0:00:39 > 0:00:41the sea is in the soul of the Swedes.
0:00:43 > 0:00:48The Baltic weaves its way around the myriad of inviting isles.
0:00:48 > 0:00:54Britain is an island nation, but Sweden is a nation of islands,
0:00:54 > 0:00:56the coast runs deep in their soul.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59They come here to let their hair down, to unleash their inner Viking.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03And now we're here to meet the Swedes.
0:01:05 > 0:01:10To investigate the last days of sail, Dick reaches dizzying new heights.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14It's a very long way up. Now I know why I didn't join the Navy.
0:01:14 > 0:01:21Timber! Alice learns how Sweden keeps Britain's builders beaming.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24So much for a forest being an oasis of calm,
0:01:24 > 0:01:26this one's absolutely deafening.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30Mark's aboard the world's most stunning shipwreck.
0:01:30 > 0:01:35This is the Tutankhamen of maritime archaeology.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39And I toast farewell to summer.
0:01:39 > 0:01:40- ALL:- Skol!
0:01:40 > 0:01:41Swedish style.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47This is Coast and beyond.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22Sweden, a country in love with its coast.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26An elegant capital built on the water dances to the rhythms
0:02:26 > 0:02:28of the sea.
0:02:28 > 0:02:33For centuries Britons have been partners the Swedes in a love-affair with their shore.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36From the island that inspired ABBA,
0:02:36 > 0:02:39to a mysterious connection between Britain's Highlands
0:02:39 > 0:02:44and Sweden's high coast - we're all linked to this majestic landscape.
0:02:45 > 0:02:51Long before the flat-pack furniture boom, we came here for wood to build our houses.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56And Swedish iron was at the cutting edge of our Industrial Revolution.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59Like us, the Swedes treasure island life,
0:02:59 > 0:03:04a land of adventure with a wild spirit.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09We're in search of our bonds with a people who know how to party.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13THEY SING
0:03:13 > 0:03:14- ALL:- Skol!
0:03:19 > 0:03:23We've crossed to the Baltic Sea for an adventure along Sweden's shore.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25Our destination is Stockholm,
0:03:25 > 0:03:29but we begin at Hogbonden in the wild north.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47The Swedes call this their "High Coast".
0:03:47 > 0:03:49I'm on Hogbonden,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52a rocky outpost on the edge of a vast Nordic wilderness.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57Europe doesn't get much more isolated than this.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03And what splendid isolation it is.
0:04:06 > 0:04:11In winter, few venture this far north, but in the long,
0:04:11 > 0:04:14light days of summer, Swedes head to their High Coast.
0:04:18 > 0:04:19Hello there.
0:04:19 > 0:04:20Oh, hi.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22This is absolutely wonderful, isn't it?
0:04:22 > 0:04:25Now I've heard that Sweden can be quite cold in winter but now
0:04:25 > 0:04:28it's warm, it's sunny, is this when you come out of hibernation?
0:04:28 > 0:04:30Yes, it is.
0:04:30 > 0:04:35We love the summer. It's the feeling of freedom, it's lots to do
0:04:35 > 0:04:41by the sea, we go to the beaches, we go out into nature, we take saunas.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49Sauna?! I've only just arrived and we're about to strip off!
0:04:49 > 0:04:52Still, the picturesque steam house is irresistible.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56Not sure I like the look of the plunge pool, though.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04Last year the sea between here and the mainland froze solid.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08Fortunately, it's summer now. Looks deceptively blissful, doesn't it?
0:05:08 > 0:05:10Time to get changed.
0:05:11 > 0:05:12It's hot up here.
0:05:12 > 0:05:13Yes, it is.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15My specs are going to start melting soon.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18It's a matter of humidity. You can put some beer on the stones
0:05:18 > 0:05:24and get a nice smell, and raise the temperature to about 70 degrees.
0:05:26 > 0:05:27And then I guess there's a...
0:05:27 > 0:05:29Now you can smell the hoppy smell.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Well, yes, you can smell it first being on top.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36Aah, it's a kind of beer massage. Wonderful.
0:05:37 > 0:05:42After steaming in alcohol a sobering experience awaits,
0:05:42 > 0:05:45we're 350 miles further north than Aberdeen, this will be chilly.
0:05:47 > 0:05:48Ahhh! Oooh.
0:05:53 > 0:05:54Oooh!
0:06:00 > 0:06:05I'm turning into a human iceberg. I am getting out.
0:06:07 > 0:06:16Well, I have had my ritual sauna and dip in the Baltic,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19and I feel suitably Swedish, ready for an epic journey.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28When the Swedes aren't in the Baltic Sea, they're either on it,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31or they're beside it.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35From north to south, this coast is peppered with islands,
0:06:35 > 0:06:37a paradise of private hideaways.
0:06:38 > 0:06:43The Isle of Viggso was the perfect refuge for a world famous pop group.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45Hi, my name is Ingmarie Halling.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48# Waterloo
0:06:48 > 0:06:49# Couldn't escape if I wanted to... #
0:06:49 > 0:06:52Back in the '70s I used to do make-up
0:06:52 > 0:06:54and hair for a group called ABBA.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57# Promise to love you for evermore... #
0:06:57 > 0:07:04Here comes this band dressed in costumes that no-one had ever seen before, they were really crazy.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11During these hectic tours they did, they really needed a place to be,
0:07:11 > 0:07:16a place to hide out, so they found this place called Viggso,
0:07:16 > 0:07:22a gorgeous place, and this is where they could be, just hanging out, drive around
0:07:22 > 0:07:25with their boat, swimming and fishing and having a good time.
0:07:25 > 0:07:30Not doing anything in particular. We're good at that, just being.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34# Knowing me knowing you, ah-ha... #
0:07:34 > 0:07:37A lot of good inspiration came from this island.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40# Knowing me knowing you, ah-ha... #
0:07:40 > 0:07:45This little writing hut, which belongs to Bjorn,
0:07:45 > 0:07:47was a good place for them to sit and find the songs.
0:07:47 > 0:07:52# Knowing me knowing you it's the best I can do... #
0:07:52 > 0:07:54So welcome to this little famous house out on Viggso,
0:07:54 > 0:07:55the writing hut.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58There used to be a little piano here,
0:07:58 > 0:08:03that's what they needed to be able to write songs like Dancing Queen.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13Well, back in the '70s, the trees weren't this high.
0:08:17 > 0:08:22No matter what this is a very inspirational view, even today I think, it's great.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25# You can dance
0:08:25 > 0:08:27# You can jive
0:08:27 > 0:08:31# Having the time of your life
0:08:31 > 0:08:32# Ooh-ooh
0:08:32 > 0:08:34# See that girl
0:08:34 > 0:08:36# Watch that scene
0:08:36 > 0:08:39# Digging the dancing queen... #
0:08:45 > 0:08:47We're travelling along the edge of the Baltic Sea,
0:08:47 > 0:08:52heading down Sweden's coast making for Stockholm.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55But I can't resist stopping off to explore the "High Coast".
0:09:00 > 0:09:04These highlands don't just resemble Scotland, there's a mystery
0:09:04 > 0:09:09locked in this landscape that links the Swedes to the Scots.
0:09:13 > 0:09:18Cliffs, headlands, islands, pretty villages, the Hugge Kusten -
0:09:18 > 0:09:20the High Coast - is everything I could have hoped for.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24It's wonderfully picturesque, but there's more to it than
0:09:24 > 0:09:29meets the eye - this shoreline is on the move, rising from the sea.
0:09:29 > 0:09:36This coast is lifting upward at a rate of nearly one centimetre a year.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42Within a few generations the coast has risen up,
0:09:42 > 0:09:47cutting off villagers from the sea and turning bays into lakes.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51At the peak of a mountain there's the highest beach in the world.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56286 metres above the water and still rising.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00To unravel this geological puzzle, I'm crossing one of the largest
0:10:00 > 0:10:06boulder fields on Earth, down to sea level to meet park ranger Millie Lundstedt.
0:10:08 > 0:10:13What a wonderful beach, it's got these typical wave-smoothed boulders
0:10:13 > 0:10:16- on it, hasn't it, worn by the action of the water.- Yes, so rounded.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20Here you have a really nice stone.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22That's a classic example, isn't it?
0:10:22 > 0:10:27This is a huge beach, it goes back such a long way.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31I'm taking my smooth, sea-worn rock to compare it
0:10:31 > 0:10:38with the stones further inland, pebbles of an ancient shoreline, left stranded as the ground rose up.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42And you can feel that this is like an older beach, you can see the...
0:10:42 > 0:10:45the likeness between those stones.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47It's smooth, rounded.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49So this one too came off a beach?
0:10:49 > 0:10:54Yeah, they're both beach stones actually, but several thousand years ago.
0:10:56 > 0:11:03Heading away from the coast, we're still striding over the old sea bed. Odd.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07This beach is going on for ever.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10We've been walking for at least
0:11:10 > 0:11:1215 minutes since we left.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17How far up this cliff did the water used to come?
0:11:17 > 0:11:20Well, actually the water, the sea was covered whole of this cliff.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22You're kidding? This was completely underwater?
0:11:22 > 0:11:24Yeah, it was completely underwater.
0:11:24 > 0:11:29To reach the only land that wasn't once at the bottom of the sea,
0:11:29 > 0:11:34we've got to climb a mountain, a ride to the highest beach in the world in style.
0:11:34 > 0:11:39- Great.- This is the strangest trip to the seaside I've ever taken.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41It's really nice to take a ride, no?
0:11:41 > 0:11:47To see why this land's rising, we're taking a trip back to 20,000 years ago.
0:11:47 > 0:11:53Then Scotland and Sweden were covered in ice, the frozen straightjacket
0:11:53 > 0:11:58over Sweden's High Coast was two miles thick, pressing down on the Earth.
0:11:58 > 0:12:06When the ice melted, that weight lifted, and this landscape started to spring back upwards.
0:12:06 > 0:12:13Because the ice was so thick here, northern Sweden's now rising almost six times faster than Scotland.
0:12:13 > 0:12:21These hills grow about a centimetre a year, but once the peaks were at sea level, surrounded by water.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24So we're about to land on top of a former island.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27Exactly, 9,600 years ago actually.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29Strange sensation.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32What an enormous view here.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34Islands, peninsulas,
0:12:34 > 0:12:38forests, little village down there, it's actually beautiful, isn't it,
0:12:38 > 0:12:40but what did this all look like 10,000 years ago?
0:12:40 > 0:12:45If we were standing exactly here for 10,000 years ago, we're actually standing on a beach.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48- Right here?- Yes, on the highest shore line in the world actually, and when
0:12:48 > 0:12:53you look out you see the sea and small islands, a few of them only.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55Which have become the tops of mountains now.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59Yeah, exactly, because of the land uplift.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02And how much does it come up in total, where we are now?
0:13:02 > 0:13:09Well, from the sea level today and what we're standing today is 286 metres, and we're still rising.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16This landscape is still recovering from the Ice Age.
0:13:16 > 0:13:21These hills really are alive, springing upwards from the sea.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29We're standing on the bounciest beach in the world.
0:13:29 > 0:13:30Yes! Correct!
0:13:37 > 0:13:41The Baltic is a curious sea all round.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45It's almost landlocked, more of a lake really.
0:13:45 > 0:13:50Rivers pour fresh water into the Baltic diluting the seawater.
0:13:50 > 0:13:55Because it's not very salty, unlike the seas off Britain, it ices up.
0:13:55 > 0:14:01For months, much of the Baltic is frozen so Sweden employs a fleet of icebreakers.
0:14:08 > 0:14:15They forge on through the almost endless winter nights, keeping the Baltic Sea open for trade.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26For centuries, they've been shipping one of Sweden's greatest
0:14:26 > 0:14:30natural resources to Britain from the port of Sundsvall.
0:14:32 > 0:14:41In a nearby forest, Alice is exploring why there's more to Swedish timber than flat pack furniture.
0:14:41 > 0:14:46In the second half of the 19th century, Britain was Sweden's biggest customer
0:14:46 > 0:14:48so, if you live in a Victorian house,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51there's a very good chance that the beams and floorboards
0:14:51 > 0:14:55are made of Swedish timber, just like this.
0:14:57 > 0:15:04From the forests, logs were floated down rivers to saw mils that used to line the coast.
0:15:04 > 0:15:12Swedish exports provided the planks, the pit props and railway sleepers for Britain's industrial boom.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17And we still want these trees.
0:15:17 > 0:15:22They grow slowly in the cold climate, making the timber strong.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25HARVESTER WHIRS
0:15:28 > 0:15:33So much for a forest being an oasis of calm, this one's absolutely deafening.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38And it's incredible watching the speed and the scale of
0:15:38 > 0:15:40this destruction, but it's sustainable. This forest is being
0:15:40 > 0:15:44cleared this year, and in a couple of years, it'll be re-planted.
0:15:46 > 0:15:53Felling 100 trees an hour, the high-tech harvester cuts the precise lengths ordered by the saw mill.
0:15:53 > 0:15:58Today it's for doorframes and decking, much of it heading our way.
0:16:02 > 0:16:08Back on the coast, the log pile grows to feed the automated production line.
0:16:08 > 0:16:15Only a few people are needed to transform a forest into cut timber.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18It's extraordinary. We're looking out at an ocean of logs.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22Yeah, you know this is a pretty large mill,
0:16:22 > 0:16:26so we will process around 1,000 logs per hour, so
0:16:26 > 0:16:29all the logs you will see here will be consumed in one and a half weeks.
0:16:29 > 0:16:35Half of the output of this mill is for export to the UK.
0:16:37 > 0:16:43So within the space of just a couple of weeks, a tree that was one standing in a Swedish forest
0:16:43 > 0:16:51can be brought here, converted into sawn timber, and loaded onto a ship bound for Britain,
0:16:51 > 0:16:55to end up perhaps in a builder's merchant somewhere near you.
0:17:00 > 0:17:06Sweden's east coast is a wild frontier. People cling on as best they can.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16Rare white-tailed sea eagles hunt along these unspoilt shores.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26Heat stored in the sea during summer keeps the coast
0:17:26 > 0:17:29relatively warm in winter, making it attractive to animals.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31Like the moose.
0:17:39 > 0:17:45In the frozen north, scientists are studying how moose head seawards when the temperature drops.
0:17:48 > 0:17:53My name is Goran Ericsson, I'm a professor in wildlife ecology, and one of my topics is studying moose
0:17:53 > 0:17:56above the Arctic Circle here in Sweden.
0:17:59 > 0:18:06Above the Arctic Circle is very few roads, there's rough country, lot of mountains, lot of creeks,
0:18:06 > 0:18:08and of course we do the field work from ground, but instead of
0:18:08 > 0:18:13walking for a couple of weeks, we use a helicopter for a couple of hours.
0:18:13 > 0:18:14HELICOPTER WHIRS
0:18:14 > 0:18:17When winter comes there will be three or four feet of snow, so then
0:18:17 > 0:18:25it's a real hostile environment, so quite many of the moose will leave this area and start the migration
0:18:25 > 0:18:26towards the coast.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39Look, look at the female trotting to the right.
0:18:39 > 0:18:45She has a calf behind her. They haven't spotted us as yet, so we're safe here.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51There comes the big bull, taking it slowly,
0:18:51 > 0:18:55following in the scent of the female to see what's happening here.
0:19:00 > 0:19:05During winter time we put collars on the animals, and the collar units
0:19:05 > 0:19:12are a combination between a GPS and a cellphone, that's transmitted via link out to our computers.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18This is one of the ones we use in research.
0:19:18 > 0:19:24He is about six years old. He's probably in his prime age.
0:19:24 > 0:19:30I would estimate that he's about 700-800 kilos.
0:19:31 > 0:19:36The reason they load up fat is as an energy resource that they can sustain and survive in winter,
0:19:36 > 0:19:44but it also helps them to conserve the heat, so they're easily handling minus 35, minus 45 Celsius.
0:19:47 > 0:19:52The river valleys and drains are extremely important.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55They will funnel the moose from the mountains towards the coast.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59The environment is hostile, there's not so much food.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02If you move out from the mountainous areas
0:20:02 > 0:20:05to the coast they will be less cold, and there is probably more food for them.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14What a great day. Wow!
0:20:28 > 0:20:30Continuing my Swedish journey,
0:20:30 > 0:20:35I'm heading for the remote Hornslandet Peninsula.
0:20:35 > 0:20:41They've been catching salmon and herring in the waters off Hornslandet since the Iron Age.
0:20:41 > 0:20:48An ancient tradition is preserved behind the fishermen's huts, with a strange spiral of stones.
0:20:53 > 0:20:58For centuries they've practised a mysterious pagan ritual here.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10Fishermen are a superstitious lot, and this labyrinth
0:21:10 > 0:21:12is one of their sacred places.
0:21:12 > 0:21:17It probably dates from the centuries when Hornslandet
0:21:17 > 0:21:19was still an island,
0:21:19 > 0:21:23and fishermen used to walk the stone maze to bring them good luck
0:21:23 > 0:21:29on their fishing expeditions to ensure big catches out at sea.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37But the fishermen didn't just rely on a pagan god for a decent catch.
0:21:47 > 0:21:55This weathered timber chapel has been standing on this stony beach for over 200 years.
0:21:55 > 0:22:03Generations of pious fishing families have passed through this very simple sanctuary.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08Very quiet and calm, bit like a ship in dry dock.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26We're leaving Swedish mainland behind, travelling some 60 miles
0:22:26 > 0:22:31offshore to a group of rocky outcrops, the Aland Islands.
0:22:35 > 0:22:42There's an extraordinary story that links these small isles not only with Britain, but Australia too.
0:22:42 > 0:22:49An unlikely seafaring connection between the British Empire and Aland has brought Dick here to explore.
0:22:54 > 0:23:02In summer Aland's hundreds of tiny islands attract Scandinavian holidaymakers by the boatload.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06Charting a course around these rocky isles is tricky for skippers today,
0:23:06 > 0:23:12but 150 years ago without navigation aids, it was treacherous.
0:23:12 > 0:23:19So this pilot station was built when Aland began to emerge as a rising power in the Baltic Sea trade.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22SHIP HORN BLARES
0:23:22 > 0:23:24There were four pilots stationed here,
0:23:24 > 0:23:26and it was the job of those guys to ensure the safe passage of the ships
0:23:26 > 0:23:31through these rocky outcrops, and there was plenty of traffic to keep them busy.
0:23:32 > 0:23:39The Baltic is notorious for its misty moods, and ships, rocks and fog don't mix.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42No wonder they invested in a warning system.
0:23:42 > 0:23:48Apparently, this is the only operational steam fog horn in the world!
0:23:48 > 0:23:54- How's it working?- Well, we have this engines that is running this air compressor, and now it's pumping
0:23:54 > 0:24:00into the tank, and then we got this pressure metre that we can see.
0:24:00 > 0:24:01How do you know when it's ready?
0:24:01 > 0:24:05When it reach one bar on the red, and then it goes up.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09- It's quite close.- Ten seconds and it will go off.- Ten seconds?- Yes.
0:24:15 > 0:24:16FOG HORN BLARES
0:24:16 > 0:24:19What an amazing noise!
0:24:19 > 0:24:24Imagine if you were a fog-bound scared sailor, that must have been music to your ears.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28FOG HORN BLARES
0:24:29 > 0:24:33The Aland Isles are home to a proud seafaring people.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36Around 90 years ago, one of those merchants hatched
0:24:36 > 0:24:43an ambitious plan to plug Aland into the wealth of the British Empire, using some very big boats.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49In Mariehamn, one of these mighty ships still rests at anchor.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03What a gorgeous vessel.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06This was one of the last commercial sailing ships.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10She may look like a 19th century relic but this 20th century beauty
0:25:10 > 0:25:12held her own against the steamships.
0:25:15 > 0:25:21This is the last word in wind-powered transport - the final hurrah of sail.
0:25:21 > 0:25:27As late as the 1940s, these vessels still managed to give steamships a run for their money.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30The world knew them as windjammers.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36And in the days of Empire they connected Britain to Australia.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39- NEWSREEL:- Australia is ready to cast it's bread upon the waters,
0:25:39 > 0:25:44mountains of wheat from the outback plains stacked high in Port Victoria, South Australia,
0:25:44 > 0:25:49are destined to fill the granaries of the world, under their battened hatches are stacked the wheat cargo,
0:25:49 > 0:25:55with which they will race round the stormy Cape Horn in their annual dash to Europe.
0:25:57 > 0:26:04South Australia was the start of the grain run, the windjammers' epic voyage to Britain.
0:26:04 > 0:26:09It took months to sail the 12,000 miles to Falmouth.
0:26:09 > 0:26:15And yet steamships could do the trip to Australia three times faster,
0:26:15 > 0:26:17so why bother with these sailing ships?
0:26:17 > 0:26:22How did a business built on wind and sail rule the waves for so long?
0:26:22 > 0:26:24Henrik, hello!
0:26:24 > 0:26:26Permission to come aboard, sir?
0:26:26 > 0:26:31- Permission granted, sir.- I'm meeting maritime historian Henrik Karlsson.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35It's the economical principle called "just in time" that we
0:26:35 > 0:26:37use today in logistics because
0:26:37 > 0:26:40these ships were transporting grain from Australia to the UK or
0:26:40 > 0:26:47to Europe, and you could have loaded a steamship very quickly,
0:26:47 > 0:26:54like in less than a month but in order to take the grain to the mill,
0:26:54 > 0:26:55and make flour of it
0:26:55 > 0:27:00it needs to ripen so they used the ship as a storage during the voyage.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02So it was good to be slightly slower?
0:27:02 > 0:27:06Yes, and the voyage would take at least three months.
0:27:06 > 0:27:11They may have been slow, but these boats are more modern than they appear.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16The Pommern was built in 1903. Her hull is made of steel just like
0:27:16 > 0:27:20a steamship, but this windjammer's hung onto the romance of sail.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26It took age-old skills to handle them.
0:27:26 > 0:27:32Those timeless traditions of the sea attracted a crew of youthful admirers.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36People like Jocelyn Palmer, in search of adventure,
0:27:36 > 0:27:39paid for a passage on the last working tall ships.
0:27:39 > 0:27:45Jocelyn lived in Australia, but she took the slow boat back to Britain where she'd been born.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49We left on 11th March, 1948...
0:27:50 > 0:27:52..from Port Victoria
0:27:52 > 0:27:57with a full cargo of wheat.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02It felt very remote being between South America and the Antarctic.
0:28:02 > 0:28:12Huge waves and the ship just sailing through them just like a little yacht in the sea, and we got
0:28:12 > 0:28:18so cold and look out for icebergs, because a meeting with an iceberg would be pretty fatal, of course.
0:28:22 > 0:28:27The sailing ships were considered something very romantic.
0:28:27 > 0:28:34On a moonlight night you could see the sails were snowy white and that creaking of the timbers.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37You felt that the ship was alive, and in those days there was no other
0:28:37 > 0:28:44shipping there, we were absolutely on our own except for the whales.
0:28:44 > 0:28:48Romantic it may have been,
0:28:48 > 0:28:53but it was no pleasure cruise for passengers or crew.
0:28:53 > 0:28:58You went halfway around the world in these things, so we're talking about the elements, the weather.
0:28:58 > 0:29:00It must have been hard to steer.
0:29:00 > 0:29:04Oh, yeah. When a wave is hitting the rudder you can feel it
0:29:04 > 0:29:07in the steering wheel, and that's why they lashed the people to the wheel.
0:29:07 > 0:29:13- Tied on?- Yeah, well they put the lashing around, across your shoulders so you weren't
0:29:13 > 0:29:16swept overboard when a big sea came, you know.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20There were also two men at the wheel in strong weather.
0:29:21 > 0:29:27One night in the South Atlantic, Jocelyn witnessed the power of the high seas at first hand.
0:29:27 > 0:29:32Suddenly heard bang from up on deck and people running around.
0:29:32 > 0:29:37Some of the sailors had just blown out, that was why we heard a crack.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40The sails were torn, the wind was terrific, it was screaming wind
0:29:40 > 0:29:47and cold and it was really very unpleasant.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51I think we were more worried about the crew because we knew they had to
0:29:51 > 0:29:57get up there and go aloft and take down the damaged sails and put up
0:29:57 > 0:30:01fresh sails to get the ship sailing properly again.
0:30:06 > 0:30:11Even on a calm day, going aloft is not for the faint-hearted.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14It's quite wobbly.
0:30:14 > 0:30:21The boat is stationary now, at sea this would be all over the place, and they didn't have harnesses.
0:30:21 > 0:30:22Brave men.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29Very good. So you're almost on the top of the world.
0:30:33 > 0:30:34That is something else.
0:30:37 > 0:30:42It's a very long way up. Now I know why I didn't join the Navy.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44This feels relatively safe.
0:30:44 > 0:30:49If you look at where they were attaching the sail, they've got nothing below them at all.
0:30:49 > 0:30:51How do we get down?
0:30:51 > 0:30:52Well...
0:30:52 > 0:30:53THEY LAUGH
0:30:54 > 0:31:01For the crew it was a tough and dangerous job, but there was no shortage of volunteers.
0:31:01 > 0:31:06I have known many old sailors who started their seafaring life onboard
0:31:06 > 0:31:11ships like this, and they all said it was the best time of their life.
0:31:17 > 0:31:21Just a fortunate few are left who knew the Windjammers in their pomp.
0:31:21 > 0:31:25That great era of sail is passing over the horizon.
0:31:31 > 0:31:36Back on the mainland, our journey continues along Sweden's east coast.
0:31:36 > 0:31:40Fingers of land poke out into the Baltic Sea.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44Islands dot the shoreline.
0:31:44 > 0:31:48It's so peaceful here, you can almost hear your own heartbeat.
0:31:50 > 0:31:56Odd to think this was once the beating heart of our Industrial Revolution.
0:31:59 > 0:32:04Rock from near here helped lay the foundations for modern Britain.
0:32:04 > 0:32:11Get it hot enough and this ore releases a metal - iron.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15300 years ago, this precious metal was shipped
0:32:15 > 0:32:21almost 1,000 miles to the mills of Sheffield and Birmingham.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26But why where we coming all this way for iron?
0:32:29 > 0:32:34The town of Osterbybruk was well known to Britain's early engineers.
0:32:34 > 0:32:39They needed a supply of iron that was pure enough to turn into steel.
0:32:39 > 0:32:44In the mid-18th century, this foundry was producing metal of unrivalled purity.
0:32:47 > 0:32:53This is the only forge of its kind in the world,
0:32:53 > 0:32:58and it's been making a high-quality iron for 350 years.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02Not a moment to trip over.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10At the start of the Industrial Revolution,
0:33:10 > 0:33:17the Swedes had the technology and the premium-grade iron to hammer out a world-beating product.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37That was impressive!
0:33:37 > 0:33:39Good heavens!
0:33:40 > 0:33:45This Swedish iron helped put the "great" in Britain.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00As we head further south, we reach the Stockholm Archipelago.
0:34:04 > 0:34:10We're about to arrive in the grand coastal capital, Stockholm itself.
0:34:17 > 0:34:21A third of this city is water.
0:34:21 > 0:34:27Boats and bridges unite settlements, which originally grew up on separate islands.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41Stockholm is a city of the sea.
0:34:41 > 0:34:46The sea reaches from the heart of the inner city here, all the way out to the wider world.
0:34:46 > 0:34:53The power of the sea is written into the DNA of Stockholm and into the psyche of its people.
0:34:54 > 0:34:59The elegant buildings of the old town bear witness to Sweden's rich history of trade.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04Stockholm's heritage is almost entirely intact
0:35:04 > 0:35:09because the city wasn't bombed during the Second World War.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13But the Swedes did play a pivotal part in the conflict.
0:35:13 > 0:35:18Back in the dark days of the Second World War, the city was alive with intrigue.
0:35:18 > 0:35:23Sweden was neutral and Stockholm was open for business with both sides.
0:35:23 > 0:35:29The Swedes didn't fight, but they did trade with the Allies and the Nazis,
0:35:29 > 0:35:33double-dealing that has Alice intrigued.
0:35:35 > 0:35:41I'm on the trail of a rarely-told tale of industrial espionage,
0:35:41 > 0:35:47a connection to this coast that was crucial to victory in the Second World War.
0:35:47 > 0:35:53The Swedish were the world experts in producing a vital component of
0:35:53 > 0:35:58the machinery of war, without which a country's war efforts would have
0:35:58 > 0:35:59literally ground to a halt.
0:35:59 > 0:36:07Both Germany and Britain desperately needed Swedish ball bearings.
0:36:07 > 0:36:12These tiny balls of specially-hardened steel contained within bearings were
0:36:12 > 0:36:18the key components allowing moving parts in planes and tanks to rotate and not seize up.
0:36:18 > 0:36:23Without ball bearings, weapons production would grind to a halt.
0:36:23 > 0:36:31Churchill knew that Britain's future and the freedom of Europe revolved around these steel spheres.
0:36:32 > 0:36:40The self-aligning ball bearing was invented by Swedish engineer Sven Wingqvist in 1907.
0:36:40 > 0:36:42By the start of the Second World War,
0:36:42 > 0:36:50the British depended on the Swedes for their supply of ball bearings.
0:36:50 > 0:36:57In the 1940s Sweden was a neutral country caught in a vice between two power blocs.
0:36:57 > 0:37:01The Nazis had surrounded Sweden.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04The country could still trade but the German stranglehold meant
0:37:04 > 0:37:08the Swedes were wary of doing business with the Allies.
0:37:08 > 0:37:14Diplomats were sent to Stockholm in a desperate bid to get ball bearings back to Britain.
0:37:16 > 0:37:20I'm with war historian Nick Hewitt.
0:37:20 > 0:37:24- So, Nick, these are the precious objects.- Absolutely these are they.
0:37:24 > 0:37:28This is the ball inside, this is the bearing,
0:37:28 > 0:37:32and that would be used in perhaps a reasonable-sized piece of equipment.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35So what was the range of machinery that these ball bearings might have been used in?
0:37:35 > 0:37:41Absolutely everything, from radar sets to maybe the joystick of a Spitfire,
0:37:41 > 0:37:44and the undercarriage wheels of the same aircraft
0:37:44 > 0:37:47go up and down inside the wings. Again you need bearings to do that.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51And you think about a turret, and the way that turns around,
0:37:51 > 0:37:52you need bearings to do that too,
0:37:52 > 0:37:53so you could possibly argue that
0:37:53 > 0:37:55you couldn't have won the Battle of Britain without ball bearings.
0:37:55 > 0:38:01To keep Britain's weapons production moving, the big guns weighed in to strong-arm
0:38:01 > 0:38:07the Swedes into playing ball, and make more of their ball bearings available to the Allies.
0:38:07 > 0:38:09This is a telegram, and it's a telegram to
0:38:09 > 0:38:15the President of the United States, President Roosevelt, from the Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19These are two of the most powerful men in the world, exchanging communications about ball bearings.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21Such a strange story.
0:38:21 > 0:38:26And what they're saying is, "Firstly we urgently need to get out of Sweden ball bearings in particular."
0:38:26 > 0:38:32And what the British are asking the Americans, what Churchill is asking Roosevelt for, is to apply pressure
0:38:32 > 0:38:38using 30,000 tonnes of oil a quarter that the Swedes are getting from the Americans.
0:38:38 > 0:38:42If the Swedes refuse to supply the ball bearings, cut off the oil taps.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45It's a bargaining tool. It's blackmail and bribery, basically.
0:38:46 > 0:38:51Secret deals were struck to buy more ball bearings for Britain.
0:38:51 > 0:38:58But to get them out of Sweden, Allied air crews had to fly through Nazi airspace.
0:38:58 > 0:39:03As the war progresses, they're being attacked by radar-equipped
0:39:03 > 0:39:06German night fighters, which can find them at night and shoot them down.
0:39:06 > 0:39:09The only defence they've got is the speed and the altitude they fly.
0:39:10 > 0:39:15This rare film shows a top-secret mission to Sweden,
0:39:15 > 0:39:20an RAF Mosquito re-painted with civilian markings.
0:39:20 > 0:39:25These fighter bombers were converted to carry cargo,
0:39:25 > 0:39:31including people strapped in their bomb bay.
0:39:38 > 0:39:42But planes alone couldn't bring back enough ball bearings,
0:39:42 > 0:39:48and Nazi control of the Baltic Sea lanes seemed absolute.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52One man, an unsung hero, thought differently.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54There was a remarkable man
0:39:54 > 0:39:56- called George Binney. - Which one is him?
0:39:56 > 0:39:58And this is George in the middle with the pipe.
0:39:58 > 0:40:00- Right!- He's a civilian.
0:40:00 > 0:40:04He's out here before the war. He's involved in the steel industry,
0:40:04 > 0:40:07so he knows Scandinavia, he has the right contacts.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10He comes up with an alternative plan, which is to use
0:40:10 > 0:40:12fast military patrol boats, known as motor gun boats.
0:40:15 > 0:40:23These fast boats had a shallow draft, so they might just skirt over the German mines.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25Success would demand courage.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28George Binney hand-picked their crews.
0:40:28 > 0:40:34Only the most able made the grade, many came from the merchant fleets of Hull.
0:40:34 > 0:40:39Young men, mostly single, who might never see home again.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45It must have been incredibly dangerous sailing a boat like that through the naval blockades.
0:40:45 > 0:40:47Oh, I mean, these are not built for rough weather for a start,
0:40:47 > 0:40:51they're prone to mechanical failure, their engines break down a lot, and they're also vulnerable to
0:40:51 > 0:40:56the Germans, and two of them are sunk out of five, which is a quite a high attrition rate.
0:40:56 > 0:41:01- So these sailors were running huge risks to get the ball bearings out of Sweden.- Very big risks, yeah.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04It's a dangerous covert operation.
0:41:04 > 0:41:09Right under the nose of the Nazis, hunted by sea and air,
0:41:09 > 0:41:14these brave crews pulled off some of the most vital missions of the war.
0:41:16 > 0:41:24It's a sobering thought that Europe's fate once revolved around these bearings,
0:41:24 > 0:41:28which kept the machinery of war running on both sides, but it was the bravery of the
0:41:28 > 0:41:36Allied airmen and sailors that kept the Swedish supply of ball bearings rolling into Britain.
0:41:41 > 0:41:46The Swedes love their coast and its wonderful isles.
0:41:51 > 0:41:57Stockholm is part of a vast archipelago.
0:41:57 > 0:42:03Thousands of rocky outcrops are scattered far out into the Baltic Sea.
0:42:08 > 0:42:12Stockholm has called this their Skargard.
0:42:12 > 0:42:18Skar is Old Norse for "small island", so Skargard translates roughly
0:42:18 > 0:42:23as "Garden of Islands", and this is some garden.
0:42:36 > 0:42:41Little boats ply the water and traditional wooden houses dot the shore.
0:42:41 > 0:42:48This is Stockholm's de-pressurisation zone, where city folk come to relax.
0:42:48 > 0:42:53I'm here at the end of August, the long winter nights are looming.
0:42:53 > 0:42:59So the Swedes celebrate summer while they can, with a party to mark the passing of the season.
0:42:59 > 0:43:06A brief return to their Viking roots, and a bit of craziness by throwing a crayfish party.
0:43:07 > 0:43:13Every year, they say goodbye to daylight with an outdoor feast.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17I've been invited to one by Jessika Gedin, and she's offered to give me
0:43:17 > 0:43:21a beginner's guide to throwing a crayfish party.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25The upper classes started eating it in the beginning of the 19th century
0:43:25 > 0:43:26and everybody tagged along,
0:43:26 > 0:43:30and now we have all these traditions with it.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33We have the lanterns, the August moon, and you have the singing
0:43:33 > 0:43:36and the beer and the Schnapps, and it's...
0:43:36 > 0:43:40a bit like Christmas in the end of the summer.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43And why do you want to celebrate the end of summer? Why is that such a big deal?
0:43:43 > 0:43:47It's not a celebration really, it's sort of a sad festival in a way,
0:43:47 > 0:43:50because we've been longing for the light for such a long time.
0:43:50 > 0:43:54I mean we spend like six months in complete darkness in Sweden,
0:43:54 > 0:43:59so when the summer comes we go like crazy, and this is the last party.
0:43:59 > 0:44:04- It's sort of melancholic, but it's fun at the same time.- Lead on.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06Sure. Come on.
0:44:06 > 0:44:12It seems drinking and singing matter as much as the crayfish.
0:44:12 > 0:44:14Sounds as if the party's already started, Jessica!
0:44:14 > 0:44:18THEY SING IN SWEDISH
0:44:23 > 0:44:24Wow!
0:44:25 > 0:44:29THEY SING IN SWEDISH
0:44:29 > 0:44:34To get me into the swing, I'm relying on Hans Rosenfeldt.
0:44:34 > 0:44:36You can't have a crayfish party without the singing
0:44:36 > 0:44:38and you can't really have the singing without the Schnapps,
0:44:38 > 0:44:41so that's how it all works together.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44The Schnapps is there
0:44:44 > 0:44:48just because you sing, and you need every song with a drink.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51The song you were singing when we came to sit down, what was that about?
0:44:51 > 0:44:54It was actually about Schnapps.
0:44:54 > 0:44:56- It was a drinking song? - Yeah, it was a pure drinking song.
0:44:56 > 0:45:01Let's say that everybody has it. If you have a crayfish party, you sing Helan Gar.
0:45:01 > 0:45:06THEY SING IN SWEDISH
0:45:10 > 0:45:13- ALL:- Skol! - I recognise that.- You recognise that.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16- It's Twinkle, Twinkle, little star. - Yes, it is.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19So as long as the song has the word crayfish in it, you can have a drink?
0:45:19 > 0:45:23Yeah, basically. Actually you drink even if it hasn't got the word crayfish in it.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26As soon as someone takes up a song, at the end you drink.
0:45:26 > 0:45:30So, Hans, here we are sitting on the most coastal location you can imagine,
0:45:30 > 0:45:36on a grassy promontory with the Baltic wrapped around us. Does the coast mean a lot to Swedes?
0:45:36 > 0:45:42I think it does. We have a lot of it, so I'd say most people have a relationship to the coast.
0:45:42 > 0:45:49You can light a fire, you can drink your coffee, you can eat your lunch, and then you can go back in to
0:45:49 > 0:45:53your more square-formed life in the big city again, so I think it's
0:45:53 > 0:45:57a huge freedom factor in the coast in Sweden.
0:45:57 > 0:45:59THEY SING IN SWEDISH
0:45:59 > 0:46:01- ALL:- Skol!
0:46:01 > 0:46:09We worship summer, I think we do, we're like asleep for six months, then it's dark, and we're working,
0:46:09 > 0:46:14and then suddenly spring comes and everything changes, yeah.
0:46:14 > 0:46:19So I think this is sort of part of it, this is sort of what we consider being Swedish.
0:46:19 > 0:46:24THEY SING IN SWEDISH
0:46:32 > 0:46:35Now how do I go about breaking into one of these delicious looking fish?
0:46:35 > 0:46:38Would you give me a demonstration?
0:46:38 > 0:46:44Yeah, sure, you just pick them up like this, turn them over and then you just basically suck.
0:46:44 > 0:46:45HE SUCKS
0:46:48 > 0:46:49You like that?
0:46:49 > 0:46:50THEY LAUGH
0:46:50 > 0:46:53- Well...- I would say no if I had to guess. - Perhaps with a bit more practice.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55Sounds like I'm just sucking up a mouthful of sea water!
0:46:55 > 0:46:58THEY SING IN SWEDISH
0:47:01 > 0:47:05Blimey, I can barely sing in English, let alone Swedish!
0:47:05 > 0:47:09THEY SING IN SWEDISH
0:47:11 > 0:47:16ROUSING FINALE
0:47:17 > 0:47:20- ALL:- Skol! - Skol!
0:47:20 > 0:47:22Your Swedish is really good!
0:47:22 > 0:47:24I got the last word anyway.
0:47:26 > 0:47:31Stockholm was once the centre of Sweden's global sea trade,
0:47:31 > 0:47:35but today the majority of boats look for local business.
0:47:35 > 0:47:36HORN BLARES
0:47:37 > 0:47:42The sea's a highway here in the Swedish capital. You hop on and off ferries
0:47:42 > 0:47:47as if you're getting on and off buses. The water's a living space.
0:47:47 > 0:47:53No wonder the Swedes take such pride in their coastal heritage and their maritime traditions.
0:47:53 > 0:47:58But there are a few skeletons out there in Davy Jones's locker.
0:47:58 > 0:48:06Mark has come to Stockholm harbour to investigate one of the world's most embarrassing naval accidents.
0:48:10 > 0:48:16There's one remarkable shipwreck I've always wanted to set foot on.
0:48:19 > 0:48:24Now, finally, I'm here.
0:48:24 > 0:48:28It's magnificent. It's the complete ship.
0:48:28 > 0:48:34This mighty warship is nearly 400 years old, yet
0:48:34 > 0:48:39it's as if she was built yesterday, a wreck raised almost intact.
0:48:39 > 0:48:43This isn't a recreation. It's the actual ship.
0:48:46 > 0:48:51The Vasa was meant to spearhead Sweden's navy,
0:48:51 > 0:48:56but she sank in 1628 on her maiden voyage.
0:48:57 > 0:49:04How did the Vasa, the King's grandest warship, keel over and sink on her first outing?
0:49:04 > 0:49:11I'm going to the site of Sweden's great national embarrassment with historian Marika Hedin.
0:49:13 > 0:49:1710th August, 1628, it was meant to be a moment of
0:49:17 > 0:49:22natural pride and grandeur, and it was for about 30 minutes.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24So where exactly did she go down?
0:49:24 > 0:49:27Well, she was found over there...
0:49:28 > 0:49:31..where the water is about 30 metres deep,
0:49:31 > 0:49:34so that meant that, when she went down, you would have
0:49:34 > 0:49:38seen the masts sticking out of the water, flags and all.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41- That was a very public spectacle. - It was. It was a public fiasco.
0:49:43 > 0:49:48This magnificent ship sank in the most humiliating fashion.
0:49:48 > 0:49:52The Vasa never got out of Stockholm harbour.
0:49:52 > 0:49:57Shamed by the disaster, Sweden forgot the Vasa.
0:49:57 > 0:50:03But the Baltic Sea preserved her in its cold embrace for over three centuries.
0:50:03 > 0:50:08The reason she sank was waiting to be discovered.
0:50:08 > 0:50:15Finally, in 1956, amateur archaeologist Anders Franzen went fishing for the wreck.
0:50:17 > 0:50:24He rowed around in his little boat in the harbour looking for blackened oak, which would have
0:50:24 > 0:50:28been a sign that he would have found the Vasa, and eventually he did
0:50:28 > 0:50:34come up and found something in 1956, and that of course was the starting point
0:50:34 > 0:50:40for one of the greatest adventures of maritime archaeology in the world - the salvage.
0:50:42 > 0:50:47It was an extremely complex operation. No-one had done anything
0:50:47 > 0:50:52like this before, so everything that was tried was experimental.
0:50:52 > 0:50:58The divers worked in very harsh conditions, through water, digging tunnels
0:50:58 > 0:51:05under the wreck, so that eventually she could be lifted through steel wires up towards the surface.
0:51:05 > 0:51:10So after over 300 years the Vasa was to break through the surface again.
0:51:10 > 0:51:16That's true. On 24th April 1961, it was a world event.
0:51:18 > 0:51:22Were the divers worried that as she came up, she would break apart?
0:51:22 > 0:51:24Yes. No-one knew how strong she would be, and of course all of
0:51:24 > 0:51:28the iron bolts had rusted away, and attempts had been
0:51:28 > 0:51:33below the surface to strengthen her, but still we didn't know if she would hold together, but she did.
0:51:33 > 0:51:37She was very well built in some respects.
0:51:37 > 0:51:40- And very little used, of course. - That's true.
0:51:44 > 0:51:48So she was able to be, as it were brought back on her own buoyancy.
0:51:48 > 0:51:54That's true, that was the last trip that the Vasa would ever make on her own, and then she was put into
0:51:54 > 0:51:58the conservation process, which took some 17 years.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05To find out why she sank in the first place,
0:52:05 > 0:52:11I'm stepping back in time nearly 400 years.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14She's beautiful, isn't she? This is actually a rare privilege.
0:52:14 > 0:52:21Only heads of state and the occasional maritime archaeologists are allowed aboard these days.
0:52:34 > 0:52:41The Vasa is so well preserved, you can still piece together the evidence of her sinking.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46Be careful here, it's...
0:52:46 > 0:52:48Her beams come down quite low.
0:52:48 > 0:52:52It gives an impression of what it was actually like down here.
0:52:52 > 0:52:57Yes, it must have been very crowded, and quite dark.
0:52:57 > 0:52:58So on that
0:52:58 > 0:53:00fateful day,
0:53:00 > 0:53:03they fired the cannons?
0:53:03 > 0:53:05Yes, they did, because they were sailing out and this was a moment
0:53:05 > 0:53:11of triumph, so they fired a salute and all the cannon ports were open,
0:53:11 > 0:53:17and this was probably an error of judgment because, when the ship keeled over them, the water came in.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20So you can just imagine the water gushing in.
0:53:20 > 0:53:24- Yes, it must have been quite scary. - So she literally just fell over.
0:53:24 > 0:53:26Yes, she did, straight into the mud.
0:53:28 > 0:53:36The open gun ports meant water flooded in after a simple gust of wind made the ship roll over.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39The fatal mistake was in the original design.
0:53:41 > 0:53:46You can see she's very narrow in the stern, and this made her very unstable.
0:53:46 > 0:53:51Surely there were lots of other boats sailing around of this size,
0:53:51 > 0:53:53- and they weren't capsizing all the time.- No, that's right.
0:53:53 > 0:53:58There actually was a sister ship to the Vasa, which had almost the same dimensions,
0:53:58 > 0:54:05the Apple, and she sailed off a year after Vasa sank, but she was a little more broader.
0:54:05 > 0:54:12She was about three and a half feet broader and that made all the difference, but I think the Vasa,
0:54:12 > 0:54:16if she had made it out into the archipelago, and then she would have
0:54:16 > 0:54:23been loaded with materials and more men, she would have been heavier and more stable in the water.
0:54:23 > 0:54:28- So it wasn't just a bad design, but it was also bad luck. - Really bad luck, I would say.
0:54:36 > 0:54:38It's ironic that this Swedish naval disaster
0:54:38 > 0:54:45has left us with the most important shipwreck ever discovered.
0:54:45 > 0:54:49This is the Tutankhamun of maritime archaeology.
0:54:53 > 0:54:59On our journey along the shores of Sweden, we've discovered links between us and our coastal cousins
0:54:59 > 0:55:06in Scandinavia, the age-old trade in timber and iron, and a passion for messing about in boats.
0:55:08 > 0:55:15Once ashore, in the city, the hectic traffic's also strangely familiar, but somehow different.
0:55:18 > 0:55:26There are many things we share with Sweden, but after 3rd September, 1967, there was one less.
0:55:27 > 0:55:32That's when the Swedes switched from driving on our side of the road the left, and changed to the right
0:55:32 > 0:55:35to conform with the rest of mainland Europe.
0:55:37 > 0:55:43I'm used to biking through London, but switching to the right hand side makes things a bit hairy.
0:55:43 > 0:55:51Imagine what it was like back in 1967 when the whole country changed lanes overnight. Potential chaos.
0:55:55 > 0:55:57Well, the radio said I had to stop.
0:55:57 > 0:56:01I have to stop for a while here, I will then be shown onto the other side of the road.
0:56:01 > 0:56:09I then have to stop there, and at five o'clock, we move off, driving on the right hand side of the road.
0:56:09 > 0:56:11Shall I go over that side?
0:56:13 > 0:56:18It was known as H Day after the Swedish word for right - hogar.
0:56:18 > 0:56:25They cleverly combined the capital H with an arrow changing lane to create a logo for switchover day.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31But there was more to H Day than a logo.
0:56:31 > 0:56:35The government embarked on a massive programme of advertising and education, from highway
0:56:35 > 0:56:41code lessons for children, to some rather alarming stunts.
0:56:48 > 0:56:56Finally, on September 3rd, everything was in place - the roads altered, the signs ready, 10,000 police and
0:56:56 > 0:57:01troops deployed onto the streets - but still no-one knew how many people
0:57:01 > 0:57:05might become victims of this right-hand revolution.
0:57:05 > 0:57:13This is the scene at five o'clock in the morning on 3rd September 1967, as everybody switched lanes.
0:57:13 > 0:57:16Amazingly, H Day went without a hitch.
0:57:16 > 0:57:22In fact, surprisingly, the number of accidents slightly decreased.
0:57:22 > 0:57:27So, might we one day find ourselves switching lanes too?
0:57:27 > 0:57:33On the highways worldwide, sticking to the left puts us in the minority,
0:57:33 > 0:57:36but on the seaways it's a different story.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39The rules of navigation that apply around the globe
0:57:39 > 0:57:45owe an awful lot to the pioneering efforts of the British, to impose order on the sea lanes of the world.
0:57:47 > 0:57:54Ironically, when proposing navigation laws for steamships in the 19th century, Britain decided ships should
0:57:54 > 0:57:57pass each other not on the left, but on the right.
0:57:57 > 0:58:05Over the years, this British "keep right" regulation became adopted as the global standard for the seas.
0:58:05 > 0:58:10Britannia's rule does in fact rule the waves.
0:58:17 > 0:58:24Even out here, on the edge of the Baltic Sea, some thousand miles from our own islands, you can sense
0:58:24 > 0:58:28the influence of Britain reaching far beyond our own coast.
0:58:28 > 0:58:33We're a seafaring people and we share our story with distant shores.
0:58:33 > 0:58:36Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:36 > 0:58:40E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk