The Secret Life of Beaches - 2 Coast


The Secret Life of Beaches - 2

Similar Content

Browse content similar to The Secret Life of Beaches - 2. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

This is Coast.

0:00:080:00:09

We're hunting out the secret life of our beaches.

0:00:370:00:41

It's no great shock that we love to share the sand

0:00:430:00:47

with four-legged friends.

0:00:470:00:49

But while we may crave the comfort of companions,

0:00:520:00:56

some shy characters take flight at the first sight of strangers.

0:00:560:01:03

There's a wild side to our shores where we aren't welcome,

0:01:030:01:08

like here, at Dornoch Firth.

0:01:080:01:11

On golden sands, the seals enjoy a top-secret life

0:01:120:01:16

thanks to some powerful friends.

0:01:160:01:20

Zoologist and ex-soldier Andy Torbet is returning home

0:01:220:01:26

to have an explosive encounter on Scotland's most deadly beach.

0:01:260:01:31

The shore around here was my playground as a boy.

0:01:370:01:39

I loved to explore, but there's one site I never got to see.

0:01:390:01:45

There's a bit of beach that's out of bounds,

0:01:450:01:47

where even the locals are kept at bay.

0:01:470:01:49

It looks more like a battle zone than a beach,

0:01:530:01:56

and that's no accident.

0:01:560:01:57

This is Tain, an RAF firing range, where bomber pilots train for war.

0:02:100:02:14

We used to use vehicles just like this one

0:02:160:02:18

when I was in the Forces, but this one hasn't been abandoned here,

0:02:180:02:23

it's been left here deliberately.

0:02:230:02:25

This is no longer a mode of transport, it's now a target,

0:02:250:02:28

and if I was to wait any longer, I'd probably get a bomb

0:02:280:02:31

dropped on my head.

0:02:310:02:33

For obvious reasons, the public are kept well away,

0:02:340:02:37

but during a pause in the pretend hostilities

0:02:370:02:39

I've been given permission to explore this sandy battleground.

0:02:390:02:44

Very few people get to witness what goes on here,

0:02:450:02:48

but there are eyes watching.

0:02:480:02:50

On a beach over there is a big group of seals.

0:02:500:02:53

Just half a mile away, the seal pod seems relaxed enough.

0:03:000:03:04

They've picked this beach to raise their pups.

0:03:040:03:08

But what's the appeal of such a noisy spot?

0:03:080:03:11

How can seals bear to bask under the bombers?

0:03:110:03:14

To uncover the secret of this odd relationship,

0:03:160:03:19

I'm meeting Sean Twiss, who studies seal psychology.

0:03:190:03:22

Ironically, we're taking cover.

0:03:250:03:28

Seals seem OK with planes, but people spook them.

0:03:280:03:32

PLANE ROARS

0:03:320:03:35

So, Sean, I would not expect to find grey seals happily basking

0:03:350:03:41

in the sun right next to an RAF bombing range

0:03:410:03:44

with all that such stuff going on.

0:03:440:03:45

Why is it they can cope with this sort of disturbance?

0:03:450:03:48

Well, classic example they're...

0:03:480:03:50

Not even a head up in response to that.

0:03:500:03:52

It happens so often it doesn't propose a threat to them.

0:03:520:03:55

Why waste your energy

0:03:550:03:57

responding to something that's not a threat to you?

0:03:570:03:59

Do you think the bombing helps? Cos, I mean, it keeps people

0:03:590:04:02

away from the beach.

0:04:020:04:03

Certainly, I mean, because people

0:04:030:04:06

are effectively excluded from this beach, there's none of that

0:04:060:04:08

real threat to the seals of people walking down here with their dogs,

0:04:080:04:12

so that's one of the reasons why they like to haul out.

0:04:120:04:15

We're more of a threat to them as individual human beings

0:04:150:04:18

walking down this beach than any amount of aeroplanes.

0:04:180:04:21

In fact, I think you can see a few heads coming up now

0:04:210:04:23

because actually the wind is taking our scent down towards them,

0:04:230:04:26

and they have a really good sense of smell

0:04:260:04:29

so that's starting to spook them, even much more than a plane.

0:04:290:04:33

So my manly odour is more offensive to a seal than a bomb blast.

0:04:330:04:37

What can these sensitive souls be thinking of?

0:04:400:04:42

I still want to know but that'll have to wait a while.

0:04:420:04:45

Now they've taken flight, it's a chance for me to do the same.

0:04:450:04:50

Nearby RAF Lossiemouth is the base for the bombers.

0:04:550:04:58

I'm here to meet Flight Commander Brian James.

0:04:590:05:03

So, why target the beach?

0:05:030:05:04

It allows us to train realistically for those operations

0:05:070:05:10

we are on at the moment, so I'll be looking at the scenery

0:05:100:05:13

and the terrain tactically with a view of hiding

0:05:130:05:15

behind any of the hills

0:05:150:05:16

to mask me from radar and it allows us to train in a safe environment.

0:05:160:05:21

We drop small ammunitions which are practice bombs to minimise

0:05:230:05:26

the effect on the environment, so although it has the same

0:05:260:05:29

flight characteristics of our larger weapons it has a very small charge,

0:05:290:05:32

and the charge really is only used to put up a puff of smoke

0:05:320:05:35

so that the range can actually see where the weapon went.

0:05:350:05:38

If we do drop the larger weapons cos we need to practise handling

0:05:380:05:41

the aeroplane with the sort of weight the weapons are,

0:05:410:05:44

then they are concrete with no explosive charge, minimising the effect on the environment.

0:05:440:05:48

And do you think the seals are bothered by what you do?

0:05:480:05:51

I don't think they are, to be honest, they seem to lie there

0:05:510:05:54

yawning and scratching themselves,

0:05:540:05:55

I think they're quite used to us now!

0:05:550:05:57

I'm surprised these guys keep their cool

0:06:020:06:05

as they're being buzzed by bombers.

0:06:050:06:07

Why aren't they frightened?

0:06:070:06:09

Sean Twiss has a way to discover what a seal finds scary.

0:06:090:06:13

One whiff of our scent made these slippery customers scarper,

0:06:140:06:18

so Sean had to devise a cunning plan to get closer to them.

0:06:180:06:22

He's showing me film of those close encounters.

0:06:220:06:26

A remote control robot vehicle was fitted with a camera.

0:06:280:06:33

It captured the response of different seals

0:06:330:06:35

to the same scary sound.

0:06:350:06:38

MACHINE EMITS HIGH-PITCHED WAIL

0:06:380:06:40

We actually play a wolf call as a sort of natural sound,

0:06:420:06:45

to illicit a kind of mild startled response.

0:06:450:06:48

And we monitor the behaviour of the seal afterwards,

0:06:480:06:52

in particular how many times it checks its pup,

0:06:520:06:54

and what we find is that some mothers do a lot of that pup-checking behaviour,

0:06:540:06:58

are really attentive of their pups, and other mothers do very little of it.

0:06:580:07:02

Males, we get some that are very nervous,

0:07:020:07:04

others that are quite relaxed, we get differences in aggressiveness and boldness.

0:07:040:07:08

And with the remote control vehicle, some will actually approach the vehicle...

0:07:080:07:12

GROWLS

0:07:120:07:13

..others will shy away from it.

0:07:130:07:15

Anyone who's got a pet won't find this too surprising,

0:07:150:07:18

we have to quantify it and find ways of actually measuring it,

0:07:180:07:21

particularly if we're talking about animals out in the wild. It's a very difficult thing to do.

0:07:210:07:25

'These peaceful personalities let the nuisance go over their heads.

0:07:280:07:33

'More aggressive characters would probably give this beach a wide berth.'

0:07:330:07:37

'But even this placid bunch wouldn't let me get near on foot,

0:07:390:07:43

'so the only way is up!'

0:07:430:07:46

'The bird's-eye view confirms the colony prefers planes to people.

0:07:500:07:56

'This is a popular spot.'

0:07:560:07:59

There's a good few hundred seals on the beach below us now.

0:07:590:08:02

You can see the patches where they've been basking

0:08:020:08:04

and the trails they've left as they've crawled down to the sea.

0:08:040:08:07

'Maybe these are the most laid-back seals in Britain,

0:08:080:08:12

'or perhaps they'd rather have the noise than share their sands with anyone else.'

0:08:120:08:17

'Our journey continues

0:08:310:08:34

'And I can't resist a bit of detective work

0:08:340:08:38

'around Newport in Pembrokeshire.'

0:08:380:08:41

'Foreboding cliffs conceal isolated little coves.

0:08:480:08:54

'The only way to sneak in and out is by sea.'

0:08:540:08:58

'So, some 30 years ago, a fisherman was surprised to spy a stranger

0:09:000:09:05

'on one of these remote beaches.'

0:09:050:09:08

'The shifty character was standing guard over a stash of marine gear

0:09:100:09:15

'and powerful outboard engines.'

0:09:150:09:19

The stranger told the local fisherman

0:09:200:09:22

that the equipment he was guarding

0:09:220:09:24

was being tested for a top secret expedition to Greenland.

0:09:240:09:28

The waters of Cardigan Bay may be cold, but not that cold!

0:09:280:09:33

Time to call the cops.

0:09:330:09:35

The investigation splashed these quiet beaches

0:09:350:09:39

across the headlines in 1984 -

0:09:390:09:43

Wales at the heart of an international drugs ring.

0:09:430:09:47

I'm heading back to the scene of the crime

0:09:490:09:51

with detectives Derek Davies,

0:09:510:09:54

and Don Evans.

0:09:540:09:57

What did you think of the story

0:09:580:10:00

that these were supplies for an expedition to Greenland?

0:10:000:10:02

Well, to be perfectly honest,

0:10:020:10:04

we thought it might have been a wild herring really.

0:10:040:10:06

It wasn't a story that we were likely to believe for very long.

0:10:060:10:10

No.

0:10:100:10:11

Derek and Don knew something didn't smell right.

0:10:130:10:16

30-odd years ago,

0:10:160:10:19

the police beached their boat where the stranger had been spotted,

0:10:190:10:24

and were surprised to find...

0:10:240:10:26

..nothing.

0:10:270:10:28

It was just a plain piece of beach

0:10:300:10:32

and with lumps of equipment stored on it

0:10:320:10:35

and covered with black tarpaulin.

0:10:350:10:38

When we went to look further into this cleft here,

0:10:380:10:41

one of the boys picked up one of these big pebbles for no good reason

0:10:410:10:45

and dropped it and it made a hollow sound.

0:10:450:10:48

So the boys scrabbled about

0:10:480:10:50

and they found a ship's hatch cover.

0:10:500:10:53

Underneath the stones?

0:10:530:10:55

Underneath the stones.

0:10:550:10:58

Hidden below the pebbles was an entrance to a criminal underworld.

0:10:580:11:03

And under that, there was a seven-foot-deep cavern,

0:11:030:11:06

stretching 17 feet into the cleft of the rocks there.

0:11:060:11:10

They couldn't believe their eyes -

0:11:150:11:17

an Aladdin's cave of contraband,

0:11:170:11:21

carved out beneath the beach.

0:11:210:11:24

The detectives threw all their resources

0:11:240:11:27

behind the investigation.

0:11:270:11:30

Within months,

0:11:300:11:31

Don and Derek had put several big-time drug barons behind bars,

0:11:310:11:36

including Soeren Berg-Arnbak,

0:11:360:11:39

a master of disguise, known as Mr Rubber Face.

0:11:390:11:43

He got eight years.

0:11:430:11:46

It's thought the plan was to smuggle "Lebanese Gold" - cannabis resin -

0:11:460:11:51

into Britain using an inflatable boat,

0:11:510:11:55

stored deflated in the beach hideaway.

0:11:550:11:58

SEAGULLS CAW

0:11:580:12:00

And what happened to all the equipment that was found?

0:12:000:12:02

Oh, well, we sold that.

0:12:020:12:04

There's a brochure of the sale of the equipment that we found.

0:12:040:12:09

Now, what's in here?

0:12:090:12:10

One, two, three, four... Six shovels, jump leads,

0:12:100:12:13

bulbs, batteries, drill bits, signalling mirrors...

0:12:130:12:17

Look at all this!

0:12:170:12:19

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven outboard engines.

0:12:190:12:22

So, this wasn't just an amateur attempt at smuggling?

0:12:220:12:25

-No, no, no.

-Very well planned.

0:12:250:12:27

Very well planned and very well executed,

0:12:270:12:30

very well detected, too!

0:12:300:12:31

A remote cove in Wales

0:12:410:12:43

was the perfect spot to squirrel away contraband,

0:12:430:12:47

but sprinkled all around our shore,

0:12:470:12:51

remarkable objects lie forgotten.

0:12:510:12:53

Britain's beaches are the nation's attic,

0:12:550:12:58

where our secret history lies in storage

0:12:580:13:02

waiting to be re-discovered.

0:13:020:13:05

Those in search of lost treasures from the Second World War,

0:13:070:13:12

head out to Aberlady Bay.

0:13:120:13:14

Naval historian Nick Hewitt

0:13:250:13:28

is about to relive a rarely-told tale of derring-do.

0:13:280:13:33

I'm here to see one of the secret weapons of the Second World War.

0:13:390:13:44

I've been looking forward to this for years.

0:13:440:13:46

Submerged by sea water at high tide,

0:13:480:13:51

this skeleton is the carcass of a top-secret miniature submarine.

0:13:510:13:57

They were dubbed the X-Craft.

0:13:570:14:00

That's absolutely amazing. It's still recognisably an X-Craft.

0:14:000:14:04

Can see that distinctive shape.

0:14:040:14:07

Looks like the bones of a dinosaur.

0:14:070:14:10

Looking down the length, they're just absolutely tiny.

0:14:100:14:14

Who on earth would want to go to sea in one of these?

0:14:140:14:16

It's extraordinary.

0:14:160:14:18

Five men at a time would squeeze into these sardine cans,

0:14:180:14:22

sometimes for days on end.

0:14:220:14:24

And inside here is the diesel engine,

0:14:240:14:27

which you could only use on the surface

0:14:270:14:29

because air needs to come and go and vent exhaust gases.

0:14:290:14:32

There was an electric motor

0:14:320:14:33

which could be used when the boat was travelling submerged.

0:14:330:14:37

Look back in the boat,

0:14:370:14:38

you just get that sense of how terrifyingly small they are.

0:14:380:14:41

Midget subs like this were built to attack mighty battleships.

0:14:410:14:47

The tiny X-Craft humbled the pride of Hitler's Navy -

0:14:470:14:50

the Tirpitz.

0:14:500:14:53

-(ARCHIVE)

-'Heavily coated in steel,

0:14:530:14:55

'she carried eight 16-inch guns,

0:14:550:14:58

'and 28 others of formidable strength.

0:14:580:15:01

'The Nazis bragged she was unsinkable.'

0:15:010:15:04

She was launched by Adolf Hitler himself.

0:15:040:15:07

By 1943, she was positioned in a Norwegian Fjord,

0:15:070:15:11

a potent threat to Allied shipping.

0:15:110:15:14

To take on the Tirpitz,

0:15:170:15:18

the Navy rushed the X-Craft into production.

0:15:180:15:22

The crews took enormous risks in these experimental mini subs,

0:15:220:15:26

but they managed to release explosive charges

0:15:260:15:30

under the hull of the Tirpitz.

0:15:300:15:31

And as a result, the ship is so badly damaged,

0:15:330:15:36

it's effectively the end of her contribution to the Nazi war effort.

0:15:360:15:40

The Tirpitz was crippled by the X-Craft

0:15:400:15:43

and the fjord became her tomb.

0:15:430:15:46

Bombers finished her off.

0:15:460:15:49

'The shadow of Nazi conquest shrinks from the north.'

0:15:490:15:52

These wrecks at Aberlady Bay

0:15:550:15:57

are X-Craft used to train more crews after the success

0:15:570:16:00

against Tirpitz.

0:16:000:16:02

I'm going to meet a veteran submariner

0:16:020:16:05

who tested these next-generation machines.

0:16:050:16:08

Bill Morrison was just 19-years-old

0:16:110:16:15

when he first squeezed into a midget submarine.

0:16:150:16:18

When you got down into it and couldn't stand upright,

0:16:180:16:21

and had to bend-up double and almost crawl about,

0:16:210:16:25

it was rather frightening, but exciting, nevertheless.

0:16:250:16:28

You just felt you were working in a broom cupboard under the stairs,

0:16:280:16:34

everything was very close at hand,

0:16:340:16:36

and you didn't have too much time to think about anything,

0:16:360:16:39

just got on with your job and did it to the best of your ability.

0:16:390:16:42

Bill Morrison is modest about his remarkable heroics,

0:16:420:16:47

but it's a miracle he's here.

0:16:470:16:49

Bill made a terrifying escape from an X-Craft,

0:16:490:16:53

that earned him a place in the record books.

0:16:530:16:56

200 feet underwater, he fought for his life.

0:16:560:16:59

We were doing diving trials,

0:17:010:17:04

and all the time we were doing this,

0:17:040:17:06

there was a boom defence vessel also operating in Loch Striven,

0:17:060:17:10

and about 11 o'clock, we'd come up to a depth

0:17:100:17:13

of about 40 or 30 feet,

0:17:130:17:16

and at the same time, there was a terrible grating noise,

0:17:160:17:19

and this grating noise was us,

0:17:190:17:21

we had come up underneath the keel of the boom defence vessel,

0:17:210:17:24

and then, at this million-to-one chance,

0:17:240:17:28

she had finished her job, decided to start up her engines,

0:17:280:17:32

and she started up her engines,

0:17:320:17:33

and the propeller ripped a huge hole in our pressure hull,

0:17:330:17:37

and a column of water about 12 inches broad

0:17:370:17:40

came pouring into the control room.

0:17:400:17:42

WATER GUSHES

0:17:420:17:44

And ERA Swatten,

0:17:440:17:47

he stuck his head and shoulders into the escape tube chamber with me,

0:17:470:17:50

and was trying to force open the hatch, but couldn't,

0:17:500:17:53

and I was breathing the last of the air

0:17:530:17:55

in the corner of the escape chamber,

0:17:550:17:58

which had, by this time, been compressed to the depth we were at,

0:17:580:18:01

which was about 35 fathoms.

0:18:010:18:03

I was breathing my last.

0:18:030:18:05

Suddenly, the boat righted itself

0:18:070:18:08

and the hatch flew open,

0:18:080:18:12

and we both shot up, we were both jammed in the hatch,

0:18:120:18:15

we were both stuck,

0:18:150:18:17

so I extricated myself and pushed him out,

0:18:170:18:20

and then, the last thing I remember was coming up,

0:18:200:18:23

knowing I was rising,

0:18:230:18:24

trying to hold my breath, but the water was...

0:18:240:18:26

Bubbles were pouring out of my mouth,

0:18:260:18:28

and that's the last I remember.

0:18:280:18:30

Bill was picked up by the boat that hit his X-Craft.

0:18:340:18:38

His unaided escape from a submarine over 200 feet underwater,

0:18:390:18:44

is still the only one on record.

0:18:440:18:47

Three of Bill's crew died that day

0:18:470:18:50

in March 1945.

0:18:500:18:52

After the war, their job done,

0:18:550:18:57

the X-Craft were decommissioned.

0:18:570:18:59

Once so vital, now scrap metal.

0:18:590:19:03

Their final battle was with the RAF,

0:19:030:19:06

in target practice, here at Aberlady Bay...

0:19:060:19:09

..their secrets sinking into the sand

0:19:110:19:13

with every bomb blast.

0:19:130:19:15

So, Bill, how does it make you feel,

0:19:220:19:25

thinking about those two XT craft lying forgotten on that beach in Aberlady?

0:19:250:19:29

Yes, it's a pity that people don't know enough about them

0:19:290:19:32

and why they are there and what they are,

0:19:320:19:35

because they did fulfil a very important part during the war.

0:19:350:19:39

It's nice that there's still something of them to be seen and remembered.

0:19:390:19:44

We all like to leave our mark on the beach.

0:19:510:19:56

Some have left a lasting impression which you can't miss at Dungeness.

0:19:560:20:01

MUSIC: "Dog Days Are Over" by Florence + The Machine

0:20:010:20:05

All sorts of odd structures have sprouted up

0:20:050:20:07

from the pebbles over the years.

0:20:070:20:09

Within a stone's throw of the nuclear power plant

0:20:090:20:13

lie relics from the early railways that found a new lease of life.

0:20:130:20:18

When times were hard in the 1920s,

0:20:200:20:22

old train carriages were converted into compact holiday homes.

0:20:220:20:27

And they're still standing small on the shingle.

0:20:270:20:31

Looks like this one's had a few mod cons attached.

0:20:330:20:36

-Hello, Paddy.

-Hello there.

0:20:380:20:40

This is very Robinson Crusoe.

0:20:400:20:42

-Welcome aboard.

-Thank you.

0:20:420:20:44

Come through, please.

0:20:440:20:46

So here we are in the railway carriage.

0:20:480:20:50

All aboard, the train now leaving platform Dungeness!

0:20:500:20:53

-It's fantastic.

-That's correct. yeah.

0:20:530:20:55

There may be a small delay of 120 years.

0:20:550:20:58

How much do you know about this original railway carriage?

0:20:580:21:02

Well, it's an 1880s non-smoking first-class Pullman from the New Cross line.

0:21:020:21:06

So, once upon a time,

0:21:060:21:07

-this was chuntering through suburban London.

-Absolutely.

0:21:070:21:11

What's it like living in a railway carriage on one of the biggest beaches in Britain?

0:21:110:21:15

Well, it's very freeing because we look out in the widescreen style

0:21:150:21:20

at an ever-evolving landscape of clouds and plants and flora,

0:21:200:21:25

and we have a fantastic lilac time.

0:21:250:21:29

They call it 'the hum' here where there's a pinkish light

0:21:290:21:33

that interferes with the light that's bounced up from the stones.

0:21:330:21:37

You never get used to that. That is beautiful.

0:21:370:21:40

You are very exposed here, aren't you?

0:21:400:21:42

I mean, the next bit of land is France.

0:21:420:21:43

-It is.

-And there's nothing to interrupt the wind, the gales,

0:21:430:21:47

that come charging out of the English Channel?

0:21:470:21:49

That's right. Well, you know, you want to feel that you exist within a landscape,

0:21:490:21:53

not simply glimpsing it on the way by.

0:21:530:21:55

This otherworldly view

0:21:550:21:57

is tailor-made for an artist like Paddy.

0:21:570:22:01

The secret life of the beach inspires his paintings.

0:22:030:22:07

Today, the paintbrushes have been put aside.

0:22:100:22:14

He's about to discover if his latest lino print will make the grade.

0:22:140:22:19

And now, the thing you never get bored of, because anticipation...

0:22:190:22:23

Do you still get a thrill when you lift to see if it works out?

0:22:230:22:27

Every time because you don't want to waste the paper.

0:22:270:22:31

-You love the paper.

-Yeah.

0:22:310:22:32

So here we go.

0:22:320:22:34

Paddy, that's fantastic.

0:22:340:22:36

Not totally perfect, but close.

0:22:360:22:39

This seems to me to be a definitive Dungeness image of the shack,

0:22:390:22:46

-the windblown shack about to collapse.

-Absolutely.

0:22:460:22:49

These sheds are a kind of witness to the passage of time,

0:22:540:22:58

fishing families, the way that the beach takes things back.

0:22:580:23:02

I like to see marks of human endeavour.

0:23:020:23:07

And there are no boundaries,

0:23:070:23:09

or there don't seem to be any boundaries here.

0:23:090:23:11

There are very few fences.

0:23:110:23:13

You can all wander at will across this vast open space.

0:23:130:23:16

It is a beach and a beach is for people,

0:23:160:23:18

so you have a kind of notional boundary of someone's right to privacy,

0:23:180:23:22

but the rest of the beach is yours to wander upon.

0:23:220:23:25

Work, rest and play are all part of Britain's beach life.

0:23:310:23:37

Whether you want to lounge on the sand

0:23:460:23:49

or explore its secrets.

0:23:490:23:53

Beaches are where we come to feel the coast,

0:23:530:23:56

feel the ocean between our toes,

0:23:560:23:58

and listen to stories that go back billions of years -

0:23:580:24:01

our island stories.

0:24:010:24:03

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:24:080:24:16

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS