0:00:07 > 0:00:09Coast is home.
0:00:11 > 0:00:12And we're exploring
0:00:12 > 0:00:17the most endlessly fascinating shoreline in the world...
0:00:17 > 0:00:18our own!
0:00:21 > 0:00:24The journey to discover surprising,
0:00:24 > 0:00:28secret stories from around the British Isles continues.
0:00:34 > 0:00:35This is Coast.
0:01:05 > 0:01:10The sea is a great global highway.
0:01:10 > 0:01:15As an island people, it's in our nature to reach out and explore,
0:01:15 > 0:01:20the thrill of embarking on voyages big and small
0:01:20 > 0:01:24makes our harbours hum with excitement.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29In an age before air travel, these were our departure lounges.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33Harbours have always been gateways to adventure.
0:01:36 > 0:01:41With an insatiable appetite for those adventures,
0:01:41 > 0:01:45we've constructed around 1,000 of these global gateways.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49For centuries, people, goods and ideas
0:01:49 > 0:01:53have flowed in between harbour walls.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56If only these walls could talk.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58Well, now they can.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06We're here to reveal The Hidden History of Harbours.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13Down on the south coast,
0:02:13 > 0:02:18Tessa is exploring how, in the harbours of the Royal Navy,
0:02:18 > 0:02:24a fashion began that made a permanent mark on Britain.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26There's one naval tradition that remains largely hidden
0:02:26 > 0:02:30from public view, beneath sailors' uniforms.
0:02:30 > 0:02:31The tattoo.
0:02:33 > 0:02:38On the coast of Northern Ireland, we're heading to Portrush,
0:02:38 > 0:02:42where Mark Horton's disembarking to take a trip
0:02:42 > 0:02:44four centuries back in time.
0:02:47 > 0:02:52How did the lack of a harbour lead to the ruin of a remarkable town?
0:02:54 > 0:02:58Lost under the soil, like an Irish Pompeii.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02The decision to settle here at the castle,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05rather than the port over there,
0:03:05 > 0:03:07was a matter of life and death for the new town.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15The harbour I'm heading for is Newlyn in Cornwall.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20Soaring high above the Cornish coast,
0:03:20 > 0:03:23it's striking how perfectly
0:03:23 > 0:03:26people have moulded themselves into the landscape.
0:03:26 > 0:03:31Manmade walls extend natural headlands
0:03:31 > 0:03:34to create safe havens,
0:03:34 > 0:03:39harbours, our own perfectly-formed contributions to the coast.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44# In Newlyn Town
0:03:44 > 0:03:47# I was bread and born... #
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Last few barbecued pilchards!
0:03:49 > 0:03:54At Newlyn, the locals come to plug into the wider world,
0:03:54 > 0:03:58but the harbour also hides a hidden history.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02150 years ago, as tin mines were closing,
0:04:02 > 0:04:06fishing struggled to keep the community going.
0:04:06 > 0:04:11Down in the harbour, a new call was luring the men seawards.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15On the other side of the world, a gold rush has begun.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18# To South Australia we are born
0:04:18 > 0:04:21# Heave away, haul away
0:04:21 > 0:04:23# To South Australia round Cape Horn
0:04:23 > 0:04:25# We're bound for South Australia... #
0:04:25 > 0:04:31The fishermen of Newlyn knew that 12,000 miles of wild sea
0:04:31 > 0:04:34stood between them and the promised land.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37Who would risk all for riches?
0:04:37 > 0:04:42150 years ago, one little fishing boat made a remarkable voyage
0:04:42 > 0:04:44from here to the other side of the world.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46Have a look at this picture,
0:04:46 > 0:04:48it shows Melbourne harbour in Australia,
0:04:48 > 0:04:52absolutely crammed with shipping in the mid-1800s,
0:04:52 > 0:04:56but look at this little boat here, it's got a sail on it
0:04:56 > 0:05:01and on the sale is says Penzance, it's a boat called Mystery.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06The Mystery, with seven men onboard, left this quayside in 1854.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09Over 100 days later, they reached Oz.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13No fishing boat had ever made such a trip.
0:05:13 > 0:05:19Their incredible achievement was a triumph of hope over experience.
0:05:19 > 0:05:25They rode their luck in the roughest seas, gambling on a golden future.
0:05:25 > 0:05:31# We're bound for South Australia. #
0:05:36 > 0:05:39Two of the men who made that momentous decision
0:05:39 > 0:05:44were Philip Curnow Matthews and William Badcock.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47No photos of their five crew-mates survive.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51For years, their story has lain hidden.
0:05:51 > 0:05:56Now I want to discover why the men risked everything
0:05:56 > 0:05:59on that incredible voyage to Australia
0:05:59 > 0:06:01in the small fishing boat, Mystery.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05I'm meeting the Captain's great-great-great nephew,
0:06:05 > 0:06:07Douglas Williams.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09Hi, Douglas.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12As I understand it, back in the 1850s,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15you could buy for £20
0:06:15 > 0:06:17a steerage-class ticket all the way to Australia, one-way.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20Why didn't they do that and travel out there on an immigrant ship?
0:06:20 > 0:06:24The whole thing was based on an adventure which took off
0:06:24 > 0:06:25and came out of their control.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29They certainly saved a fair bit of money by going that way,
0:06:29 > 0:06:32the fact that they had a means of earning their livelihood
0:06:32 > 0:06:34with The Mystery when they arrived there,
0:06:34 > 0:06:35those were the two big factors.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38This was a new life and a new deal
0:06:38 > 0:06:40and they thought they'd have part of it.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42Do you think they understood the risk?
0:06:42 > 0:06:44I don't think they understood the risk,
0:06:44 > 0:06:48I don't suppose any of them had been further than the North Sea
0:06:48 > 0:06:50and around the Cornish south-west coast,
0:06:50 > 0:06:54but they had a first-class navigator in Captain Richard Nicholls,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57who was experienced around the world in cargo ships,
0:06:57 > 0:07:01and they recognised that and they had an absolute trust in him.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07Captain Nicholls' log details a great unsung feat
0:07:07 > 0:07:09of British seamanship,
0:07:09 > 0:07:15beginning on November 18th, 1854, leaving Newlyn.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19Phillips Matthews, William Badcock and their crewmates
0:07:19 > 0:07:23had barely sailed beyond the sight of land before.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25Now, off the tip of Africa,
0:07:25 > 0:07:29they braved gales as they pressed on to Melbourne.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37Of all the British vessels to make it to Australia, The Mystery -
0:07:37 > 0:07:43the smallest and pluckiest of all - would never see home shores again.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50The Mystery didn't come back to Newlyn,
0:07:50 > 0:07:53but I've come along the coast to Plymouth.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57Here, the spirit of Mystery lives on.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06This is an exact replica of the boat
0:08:06 > 0:08:11in which Captain Nicholls and his six crew set sail.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13Bringing her back to life
0:08:13 > 0:08:17was the dream of Cornishman and legendary sailor Pete Goss.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22I can't believe that I'm going out to sea in this boat.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24It's an amazing story.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27We started with a chainsaw, looking for fallen oak trees to...
0:08:27 > 0:08:29to make the frames to build the boat.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35Fashioning the Cornish oak into a seagoing craft
0:08:35 > 0:08:38was a ten-month labour of love,
0:08:38 > 0:08:43to honour the achievement of the original crew.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45Really what this is about is celebrating, you know,
0:08:45 > 0:08:501854, those seven amazing men who, really, through hardship
0:08:50 > 0:08:54and I think a bit of romance - they wanted an adventure themselves -
0:08:54 > 0:08:57sailed her to Australia, which is staggering, really.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02For Pete, there was only one way to appreciate fully
0:09:02 > 0:09:07Mystery's epic voyage down under, to try it himself.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13Later, I'll be discovering how they battled raging seas,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16just like the original crew.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21And what became of those Cornishmen who reached Australia 150 years ago.
0:09:31 > 0:09:37Newlyn is just one of many harbours that have waved off bold explorers.
0:09:37 > 0:09:42But these safe havens are home to two-way traffic -
0:09:42 > 0:09:46for every boat that leaves, one is returning, richer for the journey.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52Like down on the South Coast, at Portsmouth.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02The harbour here is familiar
0:10:02 > 0:10:05with the comings and goings of large ships,
0:10:05 > 0:10:08but they aren't only built for pleasure.
0:10:10 > 0:10:15This is the historic home of the Royal Navy,
0:10:15 > 0:10:20where warships set off to make their mark on the world.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23What's less well known is how the Navy's harbours
0:10:23 > 0:10:25were gateways for the wider world
0:10:25 > 0:10:30to make an indelible mark on the British people.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33As Tessa Dunlop's here to explore.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40The Royal Navy's known as the Senior Service,
0:10:40 > 0:10:44proud to display its centuries-old seafaring history.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48But these days, there's one naval tradition
0:10:48 > 0:10:51that remains largely hidden from public view,
0:10:51 > 0:10:53beneath sailors' uniforms.
0:10:54 > 0:10:55The tattoo.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00Today, some five million Britons
0:11:00 > 0:11:04see ink on their skin as a fashion statement,
0:11:04 > 0:11:09but how did the Navy's sailors start this trend for tattooing?
0:11:09 > 0:11:12It all began in far-flung harbours.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17When Captain Cook returned to England from southern seas,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20his sailors showed off the skin designs
0:11:20 > 0:11:22they'd first seen on Polynesians.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28Tattoo historian Paul Sayce is showing me how it was done.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33Now this looks pretty scary, where's this one from?
0:11:33 > 0:11:36That's a Samoan handsaw, it's tapped into the skin,
0:11:36 > 0:11:40and that's why the name of tattooing in Polynesia is called tattao...
0:11:40 > 0:11:41Oh, really?
0:11:41 > 0:11:44..cos the Polynesian word for tapping is tattao.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47So they're actually cutting and hitting the skin at the same time?
0:11:47 > 0:11:50Dip it in the ink, put it on the skin
0:11:50 > 0:11:54and they'd tap it with a little piece of wood like a mallet,
0:11:54 > 0:11:57and it goes along like that as they're tapping.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59That must really hurt. I mean, it must bruise as well as cut.
0:11:59 > 0:12:00The bruising's terrible,
0:12:00 > 0:12:03you get about bruising about six to eight inches either side.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05This is a Japanese hand tool,
0:12:05 > 0:12:07but it's very similar to what we would have used,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10and it would have been about four or five inches long,
0:12:10 > 0:12:14with the needles tied on, and you really just poked it in.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16What, and the ink then pours down into the holes, does it?
0:12:16 > 0:12:19Yeah, well, you dip it in the ink and then you poke it in.
0:12:19 > 0:12:24Painful, certainly, but while tattoos were rare outside the Navy,
0:12:24 > 0:12:29in the mid 19th century they also became a sought-after status symbol.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Surprisingly, tattooing even got the royal seal of approval.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38During his madcap youth, Edward Prince of Wales -
0:12:38 > 0:12:41later King Edward VII - visited the Holy Land,
0:12:41 > 0:12:44where he had a Jerusalem cross tattooed on his arm.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52Tattoo parlours started to spring up outside our harbours,
0:12:52 > 0:12:56as high society followed the future monarch's lead.
0:12:58 > 0:13:03In 1879, the New York Times observed,
0:13:03 > 0:13:06"In England, it is regarded as customary and proper
0:13:06 > 0:13:09"to tattoo the youthful feminine leg."
0:13:12 > 0:13:15By the early 20th century,
0:13:15 > 0:13:19mechanisation was making inky skin a mass-market commodity.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24And this is one of the first mechanised tattooing machines, is it?
0:13:24 > 0:13:26Yeah, it is, it's one of the first machines
0:13:26 > 0:13:28and it's still the same as we know it today.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32Inside there, there's two coils and a hammer and it goes up and down,
0:13:32 > 0:13:34when the power goes on and off, the needles go through here,
0:13:34 > 0:13:39you dip it in the ink and you go around the skin like that.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42And of course when the more commoner sort of people, in inverted commas,
0:13:42 > 0:13:46started to get it done, your higher society stopped getting it done,
0:13:46 > 0:13:48cos as is anything else, if anything gets popular the...
0:13:48 > 0:13:50the rich don't want it.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57Body art swings in and out of fashion,
0:13:57 > 0:14:01but is always at home in the Navy's harbours.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08Serving sailors can be a secretive bunch.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12So I'm here to meet veterans on a Second World War vintage destroyer.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Old salts who can talk tattoos.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28There used to be an old song which said you're not a sailor
0:14:28 > 0:14:30till the sailor's tattooed,
0:14:30 > 0:14:33and, of course, silly boys like me had a tattoo.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35Wouldn't do it again but, er...
0:14:35 > 0:14:38It's interesting, none of you would do it again.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40We've grown wiser as we get older.
0:14:40 > 0:14:45I like your tattoos. In fact, who does have the biggest tattoo?
0:14:45 > 0:14:47Don't know. Nobby, I think, on his chest.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49Oh, it's enormous!
0:14:49 > 0:14:51THEY LAUGH
0:14:51 > 0:14:52It's a sailing ship.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57- With a cloud, I see it now and birds, yes?- Yes.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59And where was that from, India?
0:14:59 > 0:15:01- No, Singapore.- Singapore.
0:15:01 > 0:15:02Yeah, I think a postcard home
0:15:02 > 0:15:05would have probably been a better investment.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07THEY LAUGH
0:15:14 > 0:15:18It isn't just tattoos that the Navy keeps covered up.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21Once it strikes out from harbour,
0:15:21 > 0:15:25the Senior Service fights its battles in secret.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36They show off their ships in exercises,
0:15:36 > 0:15:42but the grim business of war takes place in far-flung foreign waters.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46That is, of course, unless you go to Scarborough.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55Those in the know go beyond the sea walls of the quayside
0:15:55 > 0:15:59to a hidden little harbour that sees explosive action
0:15:59 > 0:16:01in the holiday months.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06Every summer, we wage war here in Scarborough.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14In the crazy days of summer, the crowds wait for war to break out.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20Meanwhile, the corner of the council boating pond
0:16:20 > 0:16:24is transformed into an impromptu naval base.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28In top secret, warships are made ready for battle.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33It looks like miniature boats.
0:16:34 > 0:16:40The lid comes off and a council employee...
0:16:40 > 0:16:42SHE LAUGHS
0:16:42 > 0:16:45..climbs inside and the lid is put back on,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48and there you have your dreadnaught.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51- There you go, good luck.- Thank you.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56For 80 years, Scarborough has staged the summer war
0:16:56 > 0:16:59from a little harbour in Peasholm Park,
0:16:59 > 0:17:04a grand tradition familiar to Friend of the Park, Christine Mark.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08The naval battle started in the 1920s
0:17:08 > 0:17:13and they started to celebrate World War I sea battles and that was fine
0:17:13 > 0:17:15but then World War II came along
0:17:15 > 0:17:20and, after that, they decided that it would be a really good idea
0:17:20 > 0:17:23to celebrate the first battle, the first major sea battle
0:17:23 > 0:17:26of World War II, which was The Battle of the River Plate.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32At the Battle of the River Plate off the coast of South America,
0:17:32 > 0:17:37the German heavy cruiser Graf Spee suffered a humiliating defeat
0:17:37 > 0:17:39to the Royal Navy.
0:17:39 > 0:17:44A propaganda victory that Scarborough has re-fought for years.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50It was pretty jingoistic
0:17:50 > 0:17:52and that was fine for the time.
0:17:53 > 0:17:58Nowadays, the conflict is more politically correct.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01Don't mention the war, or the Germans.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05So now we have the Allies and the Enemy.
0:18:05 > 0:18:06I'm the enemy.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09I've been doing this now about 14 years, on and off,
0:18:09 > 0:18:12never won a battle yet - do 30 a year and lose every one.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20Scarborough Council's naval commanders
0:18:20 > 0:18:22batten down the hatches.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26Welcome to Scarborough's unique holiday attraction,
0:18:26 > 0:18:30the naval warfare, our sea battle in miniature.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33I'm just waiting to see if the submarines appear.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37Lurking in the lake, an enemy sub launches a sneak attack...
0:18:39 > 0:18:42..aimed at HMS British Pride.
0:18:44 > 0:18:45The magazine could go any...
0:18:45 > 0:18:46EXPLOSION
0:18:46 > 0:18:50Oh, it has. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear,
0:18:50 > 0:18:55but she's spotted an attack by bombers from the Arc Royal.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59The dive bombers are a hit with the crowd...
0:19:01 > 0:19:02..when they work.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11Oh, we've got one!
0:19:13 > 0:19:17Inside the Jervis Bay, her skipper presses home the attack.
0:19:21 > 0:19:22Oh! What a mess she's in.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24HE COUGHS
0:19:26 > 0:19:29Don't forget, she's not really a fighting ship,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32but isn't she doing wonderfully well there?
0:19:32 > 0:19:34That's a direct hit on the conning tower.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37With the submarine neutralised,
0:19:37 > 0:19:41the Allies can finally attack the enemy harbour.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07Oh, look - the top's coming out now.
0:20:07 > 0:20:08Ahh.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14So that was it then, half an hour and the Allies won again...
0:20:14 > 0:20:16- Yes, as usual.- Quelle surprise!
0:20:23 > 0:20:28Here on the Yorkshire coast, they re-live battles from distant seas
0:20:28 > 0:20:32that forged the fighting spirit of naval seamen.
0:20:32 > 0:20:37But our shores also shape the character of sailors closer to home,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40like here in Cornwall.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49This craggy coastline is sculpted by a sea
0:20:49 > 0:20:51that crashes against granite,
0:20:51 > 0:20:55and builds boatmen of steely resolve.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59Historically, each little harbour was connected to its neighbour
0:20:59 > 0:21:02by the sea, not the land.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04The boats that used to chase the mackerel
0:21:04 > 0:21:06rarely strayed far from the coast.
0:21:06 > 0:21:11Except for one remarkable mackerel boat, The Mystery.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15Her seven crew sailed in 1854 from Newlyn.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23It was a voyage that took them out through the Bay of Biscay,
0:21:23 > 0:21:29down the coast of West Africa, past Cape Town and on to Melbourne.
0:21:33 > 0:21:38A 12,000-mile gamble on riches in gold rush Australia.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45When those Cornishmen set sail in 1854,
0:21:45 > 0:21:49some of them had never been out of sight of land before.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53I'm on an exact replica of their ship, Spirit Of Mystery,
0:21:53 > 0:21:57to relive a great unsung feat of British seamanship.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02To appreciate their astonishing achievement,
0:22:02 > 0:22:04Cornish sailor Pete Goss
0:22:04 > 0:22:09faced again every crashing wave from the original crew's trip.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14Pete built his boat from the plans of an 1850s lugger,
0:22:14 > 0:22:18correct in every detail.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21I can't help noticing, Pete, that you haven't got any winches
0:22:21 > 0:22:24or mechanical aids to help you get these huge spars up the mast.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28No, no, this was as they would have sailed, so it's a handful of blocks,
0:22:28 > 0:22:32a bucket and rope, needle and thread, go anywhere in the world.
0:22:32 > 0:22:37Battling the wind, I get a feeling of just how tough it was
0:22:37 > 0:22:40for the crew aboard The Mystery in 1854.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45- There must be a knack to this. - You're right, it'll come.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48You'll be running around by the end of the day.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52That's it. Ready.
0:22:52 > 0:22:53That'll do. Yep.
0:22:57 > 0:23:03Sails hoisted, the Cornishmen faced over 100 days in open seas,
0:23:03 > 0:23:06with the same fearsome horizons.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08Up here on the bow, Pete, looking back,
0:23:08 > 0:23:12I'm actually a little bit shocked at how small this boat is.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17- It is a tiny, tiny boat to sail to Australia in.- It is, yeah.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20The further away you get from land, the smaller it becomes,
0:23:20 > 0:23:22and you do, you know, down in the southern ocean,
0:23:22 > 0:23:25there is a sense of vulnerability, you're just out there
0:23:25 > 0:23:27and you hope for the best and deal with what comes along.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Pete's crew did have a few home comforts
0:23:32 > 0:23:36their intrepid counterparts couldn't have dreamt of.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39Pete, this is incredibly cosy down here,
0:23:39 > 0:23:42but, in the original Mystery, this was a fish hold, right?
0:23:42 > 0:23:45Yes, it was. This area here, our sort of cabin top,
0:23:45 > 0:23:48would have been a fish hold, but we know that they decked that over
0:23:48 > 0:23:52and we know that they put bunks and accommodation down below.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55Are these working oil lamps, is this how you lit the cabin down here?
0:23:55 > 0:23:59Yeah, we had oil lamps, we used a sextant to navigate.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02The objective was to shine a spotlight on their voyage,
0:24:02 > 0:24:06and get to Melbourne with a real sense of their achievement.
0:24:06 > 0:24:11Phillip Curnow Matthews was one of those who made it to Australia,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14and, now, one of his precious possessions
0:24:14 > 0:24:16has come home to Cornwall
0:24:17 > 0:24:21This is his little personal compass.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23How extraordinary.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28Do you think that was sort of like a lucky charm
0:24:28 > 0:24:32that he had with him on the voyage? It's very beautiful, isn't it?
0:24:32 > 0:24:36I like to think it was, I kind of see that tucked in his waistcoat.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40Matthews and his five crewmates put their life
0:24:40 > 0:24:44in the hands of the skipper, Richard Nicholls,
0:24:44 > 0:24:48who survives in the writings of his log.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51And I love this bit, "Our gallant little vessel riding beautifully
0:24:51 > 0:24:54"and not shipping any water whatever."
0:24:54 > 0:24:59And your life is contained on this little Cornish walnut.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03Captain Richard Nicholls was a man of few words,
0:25:03 > 0:25:07but they sum up the extraordinary nature of the voyage.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11"December 6th, 1854.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15"Several flying fish came on board during the night.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18"Crew overhauling rigging and cleaning mast,
0:25:18 > 0:25:21"airing nets and restoring hold."
0:25:23 > 0:25:27Captain Nicholls refers to his crew simply as "the people",
0:25:27 > 0:25:30when the boat was becalmed, he'd exercise them
0:25:30 > 0:25:35with the fisherman's walk, six paces up and down the deck, endlessly.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41After 50 days at sea, The Mystery stopped over
0:25:41 > 0:25:43at the tip of South Africa.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Nicholls noted the excitement.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49"There were a great many visitors on board.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53"The Mystery being the smallest vessel ever from England."
0:25:55 > 0:25:59But, departing Africa, excitement soon turned to terror
0:25:59 > 0:26:01in turbulent southern seas.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04The southern ocean is the big focus, that's the big one, you...
0:26:04 > 0:26:07you step into that and we had probably...
0:26:07 > 0:26:11Every five days, on average, we'd have a big gale come through.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16Walls of water pounded their tiny boat.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19Pete's crew were fighting for their lives,
0:26:19 > 0:26:24just like the original men of the Mystery, 150 years before,
0:26:24 > 0:26:26as the Captain's log records.
0:26:27 > 0:26:34"5th March 1855, a complete hurricane, mountains of sea."
0:26:36 > 0:26:40Pete only captured the start of this storm on his little camera.
0:26:40 > 0:26:45Hailstones rattled down, then their world turned upside-down.
0:26:47 > 0:26:52Just saw this great big sheer wall of water and shouted,
0:26:52 > 0:26:54and then it's like a car crash, you only remember bits,
0:26:54 > 0:26:57and I remember it went all dark,
0:26:57 > 0:26:58getting knocked around in the hatchway
0:26:58 > 0:27:01and then it felt like standing in a storm drain
0:27:01 > 0:27:03with water pouring in and pushing up against it.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07Andy was in the starboard bunk, he woke up and grabbed the boat
0:27:07 > 0:27:10and swung over and realised he was sat on the ceiling,
0:27:10 > 0:27:12so we'd got knocked upside-down.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16Miraculously, the boat righted itself,
0:27:16 > 0:27:20but deckhand Mark suffered a badly broken leg.
0:27:21 > 0:27:26I'm sure I heard it, it was like a rifle crack.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28I mean, my foot was tucked underneath the bench
0:27:28 > 0:27:32and my foot caught on the post and that's what caused it to break.
0:27:34 > 0:27:35In Melbourne harbour,
0:27:35 > 0:27:38a hero's welcome greeted The Spirit of Mystery.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41THE CROWD CHEER
0:27:43 > 0:27:47When the original Mystery reached Melbourne in 1855,
0:27:47 > 0:27:52she was the smallest craft ever to complete the journey,
0:27:52 > 0:27:56but her seven-man crew sold Mystery to start new lives.
0:27:59 > 0:28:04Phillip Curnow Matthew married and became a land surveyor.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06He is buried in Melbourne.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12Captain Nicholls eventually returned to Cornwall,
0:28:12 > 0:28:17only to be killed by a horse-drawn carriage in 1868.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20Who says worse things happen at sea?
0:28:24 > 0:28:28After a spell in Australia, William Badcock and three shipmates
0:28:28 > 0:28:31also came home to Newlyn harbour.
0:28:33 > 0:28:38Perhaps the lure of Cornwall was just too strong,
0:28:38 > 0:28:41but maybe what had really driven them on
0:28:41 > 0:28:44wasn't the desire for a new life in Australia
0:28:44 > 0:28:47but the spirit of adventure.
0:28:53 > 0:28:58Sailors love striking out towards new harbours.
0:28:58 > 0:29:03Many head for the stunning inland sea at Strangford Lough
0:29:03 > 0:29:06on the shore of Northern Ireland.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10The Irish coast is studded with safe havens for shipping,
0:29:10 > 0:29:14around which great cities have sprung up.
0:29:17 > 0:29:22Creating a new settlement by a harbour seems an obvious choice,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25but then you had towards Portrush.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36In the Middle Ages, this was a violent coastline.
0:29:36 > 0:29:41Castle strongholds brooded on inaccessible cliffs
0:29:41 > 0:29:45because harbours were open to attack from the sea.
0:29:47 > 0:29:52So 400 years ago, when a Scottish lord came to settle the land here,
0:29:52 > 0:29:57he turned his back on the natural harbour at Portrush.
0:29:57 > 0:30:01A decision that would prove disastrous,
0:30:01 > 0:30:03as Mark is about to discover.
0:30:06 > 0:30:11In 1608, this harbour was completely undeveloped.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15But the Scottish clan who claimed this land
0:30:15 > 0:30:21chose to build their settlement not here at Portrush,
0:30:21 > 0:30:23but here at Dunluce Castle.
0:30:32 > 0:30:37The castle is just three miles up the coast from Portrush.
0:30:37 > 0:30:43Back in 1608, with its walls intact, it seemed to offer security.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49But times were changing.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53The decision to settle here at the castle
0:30:53 > 0:30:55rather than at the port, over there,
0:30:55 > 0:30:59was a matter of life and death for the new town.
0:30:59 > 0:31:03Those green fields are a clue as to what eventually happened.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14Just beneath the grass, archaeologists have unearthed
0:31:14 > 0:31:20the foundations of homes lost for over 350 years,
0:31:20 > 0:31:22an Irish Pompeii.
0:31:24 > 0:31:28I'm meeting Colin Breen from the University of Ulster.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32His team are excavating a village built for Scots,
0:31:32 > 0:31:35brought here from over the sea.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37This is a plantation,
0:31:37 > 0:31:41so this is an attempt to bring foreigners to settle Ulster.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44Yeah, it's a very complex period in Ulster's history.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47What we're essentially doing is coming out of a period
0:31:47 > 0:31:49of nine years of war and conflict,
0:31:49 > 0:31:53where the rebellious Irish rose up against the English administration.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56And, at the end of that period, the English crown decides
0:31:56 > 0:31:59that the only way to pacify the Ulster landscape
0:31:59 > 0:32:02is to bring settlers in from England and from Scotland
0:32:02 > 0:32:04to civilise Ireland, to civilise Ulster.
0:32:04 > 0:32:06The wild Irish.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08The wild Irish, as they're often referred to.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12And this particular town is established by Randal McDonnell
0:32:12 > 0:32:15from 1608 through to about 1611.
0:32:17 > 0:32:19Founded by Randal MacDonnell,
0:32:19 > 0:32:25the new town was taken over by his son in 1636.
0:32:25 > 0:32:29But, by then, things were going disastrously wrong
0:32:29 > 0:32:32for their new settlement, sited next to Dunluce Castle.
0:32:33 > 0:32:37Now, only mysterious mounds remain.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45Why was the town lost to history
0:32:45 > 0:32:50when the Scottish clan MacDonnell built it to last?
0:32:52 > 0:32:56It's an amazing thing, the town itself is really quite elaborate.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00What we're looking at is a central space within that town,
0:33:00 > 0:33:04this paving surface here extends up as far as that farm building,
0:33:04 > 0:33:06which was a 1623 courthouse,
0:33:06 > 0:33:09it would have run right down to the castle itself,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12and then there would have been rows of houses
0:33:12 > 0:33:15lining either side of this central place, within the town.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19So this isn't just a small town, this is a MAJOR investment.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21Very much so.
0:33:23 > 0:33:28With no proper harbour, the new town relied on trading vessels,
0:33:28 > 0:33:31barely changed since Viking times.
0:33:31 > 0:33:35The ships' shallow bottoms meant they could be pulled up
0:33:35 > 0:33:37easily onto the beach.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40You could drag them up here on West Strand
0:33:40 > 0:33:42and East Strand, just outside Portrush.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45But, by the time they hit the 17th century,
0:33:45 > 0:33:46they literally weren't equipped
0:33:46 > 0:33:48to deal with the new globalised economy,
0:33:48 > 0:33:50which was developing at this time.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54What you see is a fundamental shift from local trading,
0:33:54 > 0:33:57local production into the trading in bulk commodities,
0:33:57 > 0:33:59with much larger vessels.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05These new larger cargo ships needed something
0:34:05 > 0:34:09that Randal MacDonnell's Ulster new town didn't have,
0:34:09 > 0:34:11a harbour.
0:34:11 > 0:34:15By the time he realised he needed one,
0:34:15 > 0:34:17Randal MacDonnell had given away
0:34:17 > 0:34:21the only natural harbour on this coast.
0:34:23 > 0:34:28Those living by the castle watched the big ships sail past.
0:34:28 > 0:34:36Bypassed by traders, the new town, just 30 years old, was already dying.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40The dig reveals how the money ran out.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46Few coins are found from the 1630s onwards.
0:34:46 > 0:34:50Around that time, this merchant's house was sub-divided -
0:34:50 > 0:34:54a small room created on the left to house pigs,
0:34:54 > 0:34:57alongside a once-prosperous family.
0:34:59 > 0:35:05In the new era of commercial sea trade, they just couldn't compete.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09When Randal MacDonnell builds this town in the early 17th century,
0:35:09 > 0:35:10he makes a fundamental mistake.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13He builds it on the edge of a very steep cliff,
0:35:13 > 0:35:16in excess of 80 metres high, looking out over the north Atlantic,
0:35:16 > 0:35:20and there's simply no room to be able to build a harbour
0:35:20 > 0:35:22in this particular location.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26Randal himself was not prepared to let go of his ancestral castle,
0:35:26 > 0:35:27his ancestral home,
0:35:27 > 0:35:32and he wasn't in that mind to move away from the medieval period
0:35:32 > 0:35:34into the new globalised world.
0:35:34 > 0:35:36They just got left behind?
0:35:36 > 0:35:37Very much so.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45The town's Scottish settlers turned their back on the sea
0:35:45 > 0:35:49because the castle seemed more secure,
0:35:49 > 0:35:51but they were wrong.
0:35:51 > 0:35:56Longstanding resentment towards settlers from Scotland and England
0:35:56 > 0:36:02reached a head when the native Irish rose up against the incomers.
0:36:02 > 0:36:06The attack wasn't from the sea, but from within.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12In 1641, during the Irish rebellion, the town was attacked
0:36:12 > 0:36:16and it was essentially burned to the ground overnight and abandoned.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20So we've just got these cobbles, we're standing where they stood.
0:36:20 > 0:36:24Yeah, if we removed all of the grass from beneath this whole landscape,
0:36:24 > 0:36:29the perfectly intact foundations of a 17th century town survive.
0:36:29 > 0:36:31What a tantalising thought
0:36:31 > 0:36:34of what might lie under all these fields.
0:36:37 > 0:36:42After the uprising, this site was left to go to seed.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45Castles were the past.
0:36:45 > 0:36:49The future depended on gateways to the sea.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00Harbours were the beating heart of a modern Britain,
0:37:00 > 0:37:02built on global trade.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06The sea is still our lifeblood.
0:37:08 > 0:37:15It carries 95% by volume of everything we import,
0:37:15 > 0:37:20and around one third of our food arrives by ship.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24But while sea trade sustains our bodies,
0:37:24 > 0:37:26it can also change our minds.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32The fortunes of a coastal town ebb and flow
0:37:32 > 0:37:34with the traffic through its harbour,
0:37:34 > 0:37:37but it's not just goods that come and go,
0:37:37 > 0:37:42sometimes the export isn't a commodity, it's an idea.
0:37:42 > 0:37:48An idea that changed the world took life here in Birkenhead harbour.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59Birkenhead sits in the shade of its bigger neighbour, Liverpool,
0:37:59 > 0:38:00across the Mersey.
0:38:03 > 0:38:08Around 200 years ago, Liverpool docks were booming,
0:38:08 > 0:38:12so hard-headed businessmen with plans for a new harbour
0:38:12 > 0:38:15looked to Birkenhead.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19Little did they know they were laying the foundations
0:38:19 > 0:38:23for a revolution in the world of leisure.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26Ruth Goodman is digging deeper.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32In the 1800s, Birkenhead was taking shape,
0:38:32 > 0:38:36as merchants in these parts showed off their wealth in stone.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41The grand homes of 19th century Birkenhead
0:38:41 > 0:38:44rivalled their counterparts in London,
0:38:44 > 0:38:48thanks to the wealth that was pouring to this Merseyside port.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52Birkenhead was booming because it was on the coast.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57It's fair to say that the harbour's seen better days,
0:38:57 > 0:39:00but Glynn Parry knows its hidden history.
0:39:00 > 0:39:01There's not much here now,
0:39:01 > 0:39:04but it would have been extremely busy, wouldn't it?
0:39:04 > 0:39:07It would have been with ships coming in, going out all the time.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09And it was a huge number of people.
0:39:09 > 0:39:10Oh, tremendous number of people.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13In the period of about 20 years, the population had gone
0:39:13 > 0:39:16from somewhere in the region of 120 to about 12,000,
0:39:16 > 0:39:18they were coming in from all over the north west.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20People were still looking for work
0:39:20 > 0:39:22but they were coming in off the farms
0:39:22 > 0:39:24because the rates of pay were greater.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29The new harbour pulled in an army of new workers,
0:39:29 > 0:39:31fresh from green fields.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35Now, though, they were cramped together in regimented rows.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38You're talking about back-to-back houses,
0:39:38 > 0:39:40where there was no sanitation, no ventilation.
0:39:40 > 0:39:42If you're living in that condition,
0:39:42 > 0:39:44home is hardly sweet home that you want to come home to.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47It's not somewhere to go to for peace and quiet.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51The bosses were living in style,
0:39:51 > 0:39:54but the merchants had good reasons to worry
0:39:54 > 0:39:58about the living conditions of their employees and their children.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05Within living memory, the workers of Manchester
0:40:05 > 0:40:08had demonstrated for social reform.
0:40:08 > 0:40:1118 died in the Peterloo massacre,
0:40:11 > 0:40:14when cavalry charged them with drawn sabres.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20Could similar social unrest be brewing
0:40:20 > 0:40:22in the drinking dens of Birkenhead?
0:40:25 > 0:40:30Was there a genuine possibility of everything exploding in revolution?
0:40:30 > 0:40:33People would resent those who seemed to be better off,
0:40:33 > 0:40:35those who were in control -
0:40:35 > 0:40:37there could well have been a major revolution.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40They'd had one in France, why not one in Britain?
0:40:40 > 0:40:43To prise workers out of the alehouses,
0:40:43 > 0:40:48the great and good of Birkenhead Council came up with a novel idea.
0:40:48 > 0:40:53Use public money to create a grand green space.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58Parklife was born.
0:41:03 > 0:41:08In 1847, the first public-funded municipal park
0:41:08 > 0:41:10opened its imposing gates.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20There was nowhere like this on earth.
0:41:20 > 0:41:24It was laid out by designer Joseph Paxton,
0:41:24 > 0:41:28who'd go on to create the Crystal Palace in London.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32This space was social networking, 19th-century style.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35That's what's so special about this park,
0:41:35 > 0:41:38it's a time machine that takes us back
0:41:38 > 0:41:40to the birth of modern urban Britain.
0:41:40 > 0:41:44If only we can learn to see it with old eyes.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48Back then, everything ran to a plan.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51The park taught people to play nicely together,
0:41:51 > 0:41:54and conform to polite society.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03I've got a copy of the bylaws here, for the park.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06It's a rather formidable document.
0:42:06 > 0:42:07They're quite interesting.
0:42:07 > 0:42:11No carpet beating, no fires, no pitching tents,
0:42:11 > 0:42:15no leaving piles of building materials all over the place,
0:42:15 > 0:42:17no preaching.
0:42:17 > 0:42:18SHE LAUGHS
0:42:18 > 0:42:21But visitors did spread the word -
0:42:21 > 0:42:26public parks popped up all over Britain and beyond.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32Where Birkenhead led, the world followed.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36The designer of New York's Central Park, Frederick Olmstead,
0:42:36 > 0:42:40was inspired by his own visit to Merseyside in 1850.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47And Birkenhead's haven of tranquillity
0:42:47 > 0:42:51remains Britain's only Grade I listed municipal park.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00It's funny to think that when these docks were built,
0:43:00 > 0:43:03it was all about importing wealth into the local area,
0:43:03 > 0:43:05but the public parks movement -
0:43:05 > 0:43:08born here in Birkenhead because of the new docks -
0:43:08 > 0:43:11was exported to the rest of the world.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29A wealth of hidden history lies in store
0:43:29 > 0:43:33for those who explore our harbours.
0:43:33 > 0:43:40Tales of enterprise, triumph and trade tell how Britain was born.
0:43:42 > 0:43:46For me, the coast is most alive when you can see it at work,
0:43:46 > 0:43:49and harbours are where you can see that happening,
0:43:49 > 0:43:53where land and sea and people all come together
0:43:53 > 0:43:55and where adventures are born.