0:00:29 > 0:00:31Our stunning sea cliffs.
0:00:31 > 0:00:37An imperious borderline, stitched with a rainbow tapestry of stone.
0:00:40 > 0:00:46Deceptive and dramatic, yielding and treacherous.
0:00:46 > 0:00:51Over millennia, we've learnt to negotiate this tricky terrain...
0:00:53 > 0:00:57..and carve surprising uses from its rocky skeleton.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02My quest has brought me to the Isle of Wight.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08I'm on a mission to delve into the hidden world of our sea cliffs,
0:01:08 > 0:01:12and I'm going to start with this key.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16MUSIC: Mission Impossible Theme
0:01:21 > 0:01:26Over a century ago, the locals unlocked a secret.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30This solid sea cliff had a helpfully soft core.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38Behind this grill is a disused lift shaft.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41A man-made hole bored straight into the cliff.
0:01:48 > 0:01:53I'm going to extreme lengths, investigating mysteries
0:01:53 > 0:01:55at the heart of our sea cliffs.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59Our island's edge, as you've never seen it before.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03This is The Secret Life of Sea Cliffs.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15My journey will take me on a 70-mile adventure
0:02:15 > 0:02:19across the vast and varied cliffs of Yorkshire.
0:02:19 > 0:02:24But first, I need to free myself from the depths of the Isle of Wight.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30Here, the sea has bitten chunks out of the headland.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38If nature could carve through the chalk, why not man?
0:02:45 > 0:02:47I've walked across cliffs, I've climbed up cliffs,
0:02:47 > 0:02:50but I've never abseiled through a cliff.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53And it's completely other-worldly.
0:02:56 > 0:03:01In the late 19th century, the Government had the cliff's centre scooped out.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Part of a secret defence plan.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08This looks like a spur tunnel, this.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11It's got a very high roof and it's full of debris.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13This one looks like the main one.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19These tunnels have lain untouched for decades,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22but clues to their use still remain.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28Old electrical cables carried in this rusty steel pipe.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33There's a gigantic rusting engine.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36This must have been used to power the lift.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43A window ahead sheds some light.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51Look at this! Unbelievable!
0:03:54 > 0:03:59What could be more secure than a fortress built into a cliff face?
0:04:03 > 0:04:08Beginning in 1860, the military chiselled out the chalk
0:04:08 > 0:04:10to create a rock-solid defence,
0:04:10 > 0:04:14a fort dug into the cliff top,
0:04:14 > 0:04:18and, near sea level, camouflaged gun positions,
0:04:18 > 0:04:22ideal for troops facing hostile warships in the channel.
0:04:27 > 0:04:32They had worked a way to make the most of their cliff edge.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36And this rocky border can lead me to further surprises.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41Imagine following this seam of chalk back inland.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44It would be an underground journey
0:04:44 > 0:04:47through the soft underbelly of England,
0:04:47 > 0:04:50emerging on the east coast in God's own country.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54The chalk rears its head again here.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57These are the White Cliffs of Yorkshire.
0:05:05 > 0:05:10This is the ideal location to celebrate our sea cliffs
0:05:10 > 0:05:14at their most splendid, and their most scary.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21While I explore the Yorkshire shore,
0:05:21 > 0:05:24the team will discover their own highlights.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29Every cliff has its own secret and surprising story to tell.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36With thousands of miles of cliffs circling the UK,
0:05:36 > 0:05:40there's an adventure waiting around every corner.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47But it's impossible to see the whole extraordinary mosaic at once.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49Or is it?
0:05:52 > 0:05:55I've brought together rocks from around our coast
0:05:55 > 0:05:58to create a unique map of the UK.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03These pieces of a puzzle build up a picture of the birth of our isles.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07An epic saga I want to unpick.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14Under my feet are the White Cliffs of Yorkshire made up of chalk,
0:06:14 > 0:06:20the remains of microscopic plants about a 100 million years old.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23# I'm building an empire
0:06:23 > 0:06:27# Starting from scratch It began with stone. #
0:06:29 > 0:06:33Now layers of long-gone sea life provide a perch for bird life.
0:06:40 > 0:06:46And where there's chalk, you find an even softer, scarier specimen.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49In East Yorkshire, the cliffs are smothered in boulder clay.
0:06:51 > 0:06:52It's all very soft material, this.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56This is a coast that's been eaten away at a ferocious rate.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01# Empire
0:07:01 > 0:07:02# Oh-oh-oh
0:07:02 > 0:07:04# Oh-oh-oh. #
0:07:04 > 0:07:09Travel to Cornwall and the granite rock is much harder.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13But locals make the most of chinks in their rugged border.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24In Wales, some cliffs are chewed away.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29Evidence of a slate industry which quarried cash from the cliff face.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31# I'm building an empire
0:07:31 > 0:07:35# I'm building With the stones in mind. #
0:07:35 > 0:07:39The oldest rocks on our coast can be found here in the Outer Hebrides.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43This is the great-great-great-great-grandfather
0:07:43 > 0:07:45of our coastal geology.
0:07:45 > 0:07:50This beautiful stripy rock is three billion years old.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53That's more than half the age of planet earth.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59Mother Nature carved these rocks,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02making a maze out of the Isle of Mingulay.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09In Orkney, people sculpted the softer sandstone
0:08:09 > 0:08:12to build our oldest village - Skara Brae.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19Cliffs tell us where our isles were once a desert landscape.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21The dinosaurs roamed here.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25And volcanoes bubbled lava.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31Those stories make sea cliffs so exciting.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34In all, over 100 rock types.
0:08:38 > 0:08:43There you go, the bare bones that make up the skeleton of our islands.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52Nature is perpetually busy, remodelling our coast.
0:08:55 > 0:08:56Grand pillars.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Majestic archways.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04Vast halls.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18Wild splendour that's home to our wildlife.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27Where we keep clear, others congregate.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37And there's no better residence than Ramsey Island.
0:09:43 > 0:09:48Here on the knife edge of West Wales the rock face is daunting,
0:09:48 > 0:09:54but look closely and you'll discover a secret community of cliff dwellers.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00Insect expert Sarah Beynon is onboard to bring us a bug's-eye view.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07Ramsey Island is about a mile from where I grew up.
0:10:08 > 0:10:13I've been out here countless times but I never tire of the sea cliffs.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22At 120 metres tall, they're not very people-friendly.
0:10:22 > 0:10:27There are only two permanent residents, but a wealth of wildlife.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30And a few surprise day-trippers.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41Normally, it's the sea birds that entertain the tourists.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43Ramsey Island is a bird watcher's paradise.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46But I know a secret.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50Some species only thrive thanks to remarkable insects
0:10:50 > 0:10:52that stalk these cliffs.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59The dung beetles.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04I've studied these fascinating insects for years.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06Fortunately, they're not hard to find.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09There's always an "X" to mark the spot.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12Unfortunately, that "X" is a cow pat.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16Let's see what we find. It's a bit squishy.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18Ah! Here we go.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22So here is a dung beetle.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26Now, this is one of the dung beetles that Ramsey Island is renowned for.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30This one is called Anoplotrupes Stercorosus.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32Not an easy name to remember.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34This is a flightless dung beetle
0:11:34 > 0:11:37that will potter along from dung pat to dung pat.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40It will just hide itself underneath the dung
0:11:40 > 0:11:44and then bury the dung in a tunnel it digs under the pat.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51Observe them closely, and you'll discover these humble creatures
0:11:51 > 0:11:55play an illustrious role in Ramsey's rich ecosystem.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59They are the biggest draw for the island's more famous feathered residents.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05Dung beetles attract other cliff dwellers
0:12:05 > 0:12:08that bird watchers flock here to spot - the chough.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16On the cliff tops, these rare red-billed birds have a field day.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20They feast on the plentiful, protein-rich dung beetles.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26RSPB warden Greg Morgan keeps a close eye on the precious chough.
0:12:28 > 0:12:33They're a special breed on Ramsey for the fact they are scarce nationally
0:12:33 > 0:12:35and this is one of the strongholds for them.
0:12:35 > 0:12:40They're very charismatic birds. When you watch them as long as I do you start noticing all these nuances.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45They nest in sea caves and it doesn't matter what the weather throws at them, they'll put up with that.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47You just start to love these birds.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51Where we're standing now, it's absolutely rife with insect life,
0:12:51 > 0:12:53so is this the kind of place the chough would be feeding?
0:12:53 > 0:12:55Absolutely. This is ideal for them.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58This is what they need. They need the grass to be short.
0:12:58 > 0:13:05If it gets too long they can't forage properly and as a result of livestock out on the island,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08that helps to provide that environment and provide dung.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12So the dung beetles, their only predator is really the chough
0:13:12 > 0:13:15and other birds that are foraging in dung.
0:13:15 > 0:13:16Exactly. It all starts at the bottom.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20You get your insects right and then you get your birds right.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33It's heartening to see Ramsey's cliff top food chain flourish.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35Birds eat beetles.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38Beetles eat dung.
0:13:38 > 0:13:43Dung that comes from cattle and sheep, that feed on the flora
0:13:43 > 0:13:48that thrives in the soil tilled and nourished by burrowing dung beetles.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59To ensure this food cycle remains unbroken,
0:13:59 > 0:14:01I monitor the beetle population.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05A harmless trap, baited with a cow pat, lures them in.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07So here's one of the dung pats we laid a few days ago,
0:14:07 > 0:14:11and hopefully, there'll be something inside.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19Oh, look at this! What have we got?
0:14:21 > 0:14:24This one here is called Trypocopris Vernalis.
0:14:24 > 0:14:29You can see its front legs that he's waving around here have got lots and lots of spines on them.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31They're so strong these legs.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35They use them for digging and pulling the dung down into the burrows.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39They can push the equivalent to me pushing three-and-a-half double-decker buses!
0:14:42 > 0:14:46Ramsey's miniature world is going from strength to strength,
0:14:46 > 0:14:48thanks to the giant sea cliffs.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52For us, this margin is inhospitable.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56But where we fear to tread, nature can roam free.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04The ribbon of sea cliffs around Ramsey is a precious place.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07I wish we could manage more of our land like this,
0:15:07 > 0:15:11so the beetles are left alone to do their bit for the environment.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44We've learnt to keep a safe distance from our cliff edge.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48But what happens when cliffs edge closer to us?
0:15:50 > 0:15:53Our shore shrinks by the day here in Yorkshire.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02Rising some 200 metres,
0:16:02 > 0:16:07these white precipices are among the loftiest in England.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11But they have a secret.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14They stretch much further than it seems on the surface.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19In many places, the white cliffs are actually brown.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21The gleaming face of the chalk
0:16:21 > 0:16:24is covered in a thick layer of sand and clay.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29This false facade extends for miles.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31The clay of an ancient seabed
0:16:31 > 0:16:35that was smeared up over the chalk during the ice age.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38Now, the sea's reclaiming her lost property.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43Seen from a distance, this cliff might look fairly solid,
0:16:43 > 0:16:46but up close it reveals its alarming secret.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52This stuff is so soft, it falls apart in your hand.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56As sea levels rise,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00this boulder clay along our east coast is crumbling.
0:17:09 > 0:17:14This massive structure from the Second World War
0:17:14 > 0:17:18is just lying on its back on the beach.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22It's made of brick, concrete, steel.
0:17:22 > 0:17:27Once upon a time, it stood up there on top of a cliff,
0:17:27 > 0:17:32and it was constructed to defend Britain from enemy forces.
0:17:32 > 0:17:38But it's been brought to its knees not by war, but by the attacking sea.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44In 2006, our cameras captured the same tower
0:17:44 > 0:17:47sitting a few metres from the cliff edge.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51Just three years later, the ground disappeared beneath it.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55Here's the present cliff.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58It's been receding over the last century-and-a-half
0:17:58 > 0:18:03at an astonishing average of 1.27 metres for every year,
0:18:03 > 0:18:08which means that since 1941 when that military emplacement was built,
0:18:08 > 0:18:13this cliff has receded about 76 metres.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16So I'm going to take a walk back through time,
0:18:16 > 0:18:19one pace for every year.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22One, two, three, four...
0:18:26 > 0:18:30Thirty paces in, I'm back in the 1980s.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33# Holiday... #
0:18:33 > 0:18:37Ten paces more, I hit the glam rock days of the 1970s.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39# Ch-Ch-Changes. #
0:18:39 > 0:18:42Through to the swinging '60s.
0:18:42 > 0:18:43# Talking about my generation
0:18:43 > 0:18:45# I'm not trying to cause... #
0:18:45 > 0:18:48And after 72 paces...
0:18:48 > 0:18:52# As time goes by... #
0:18:52 > 0:18:53This...
0:18:53 > 0:18:59was the line of the cliff in the 1940s. Look at it now!
0:18:59 > 0:19:01Extraordinary.
0:19:01 > 0:19:09# As time goes by. #
0:19:13 > 0:19:15Knowing how quickly this cliff is eroding
0:19:15 > 0:19:18makes you feel uneasy standing on the edge.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20So imagine living here!
0:19:24 > 0:19:28Since Roman times, over 30 villages on the east Yorkshire coast
0:19:28 > 0:19:30have been lost to erosion.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34Now the community of Aldbrough is under threat.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38While I'm at the seaside end of the village, it all looks pretty normal.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41Pretty little houses, village pub.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45What's not normal...
0:19:48 > 0:19:50..is this!
0:19:51 > 0:19:52A road to nowhere.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58Our edge is a precarious place to be.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02But some refuse to see this as the end of the line.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05I'm meeting Nigel Fairclough.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09Less than 20 years ago, he bought a seafront house here.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13But as the cliff started to nibble at his garden,
0:20:13 > 0:20:15it was condemned as unsafe.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18Now only a ghost house remains.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22We'd be walking up the front footpath here to the house?
0:20:22 > 0:20:23That's correct, yeah.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25So if we go in here and we turn left...
0:20:25 > 0:20:28You're in the living room.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31Lovely and cosy when the storms were from the sea.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34You walk straight through the living room.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38We had like a galley kitchen running along the back of the bungalow.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41So this is where we'd be standing here to make a pot of tea.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44Yeah. And you could stand here and look out.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46Beautiful view. You can see Bridlington.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48Could you hear the sea at night?
0:20:48 > 0:20:52Yeah. Odd stormy nights, the house would shake.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55Literally, we had a lot of ornaments up
0:20:55 > 0:20:59and when the sea were banging in on the cliff, the whole house shook.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01- You're kidding?- No, no.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03- The ornaments would tremble? - Yeah, yeah.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06We've had to move them back, if they were on a shelf,
0:21:06 > 0:21:07sometimes we had to push them back
0:21:07 > 0:21:09because they were working their way forward.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13Didn't that tell you that you were living somewhere quite precarious?
0:21:13 > 0:21:14Yeah, but...
0:21:14 > 0:21:19comparing where you live, living in a town to living somewhere like this,
0:21:19 > 0:21:21it were well worth putting up with it.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25Do you remember the day your house was knocked down?
0:21:25 > 0:21:29Yeah. We had to watch while they came in with their digger
0:21:29 > 0:21:32and virtually crushed it, turned it into matchwood
0:21:32 > 0:21:35and loaded it in a skip and took it away.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42Today, the street is slowly being bulldozed house by house
0:21:42 > 0:21:45as the cliff edge inches closer.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48It just seemed so solid.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52And you never expected this to happen to it.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56But Nigel is undeterred.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00He's just bought a new house 100 metres down the road.
0:22:04 > 0:22:09They reckon that's got 50 years, so it won't worry me one little bit.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12That one is going to be to see me out now, you know.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14It's a lovely area, it is great.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17It's just sad it's going.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28All our cliffs are shifting structures
0:22:28 > 0:22:31slowly being reclaimed by the sea.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33As they know in Scarborough.
0:22:37 > 0:22:42In 1993, the Holbeck Hall Hotel was demolished
0:22:42 > 0:22:45after its east wing was lost to coastal erosion.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54When cracks started to show in Cornwall,
0:22:54 > 0:22:56a local geologist was lucky enough
0:22:56 > 0:23:00to capture a Rocky Horror Show on his phone.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02SHRIEKING
0:23:10 > 0:23:14Stretches of our coast do tumble into the sea.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18A story they recognise at Lyme Regis.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26These gentle slopes are evidence of the cliff's downfall.
0:23:27 > 0:23:32And as the land slips, it spills the beans on its past life.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39Cassie Newland is an archaeologist with a difference.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43She's raking up history the town thought it had buried long ago.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48Some archaeologists love Roman villas or Saxon hoards.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51I like more unusual things.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53And today, I'm trawling for trash.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01The 1950s is the birth of our modern throwaway society.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03But what we chuck away as rubbish,
0:24:03 > 0:24:06we're not expecting to get confronted by again.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08Here at Lyme Regis, we can do just that,
0:24:08 > 0:24:10and get into all the details
0:24:10 > 0:24:12of people's everyday lives in the past,
0:24:12 > 0:24:14when the sea cliffs give up their secrets.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27Remarkably, these cliffs were once used as a rubbish dump.
0:24:30 > 0:24:35Right on the edge of town, the locals can re-live past lives,
0:24:35 > 0:24:37revealed from the old dump.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45As the cliff crumbles, its curious contents litter the beach below.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48We've got an actual kitchen sink!
0:24:51 > 0:24:54And it's enamel. How '50s is that!
0:24:55 > 0:24:58It's fascinating to think that these domestic relics
0:24:58 > 0:25:01have lain hidden in the cliffs for decades.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04I'm meeting local geologists Paddy and Chris
0:25:04 > 0:25:05to make sense of the jumble.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08They've sifted out some prize pieces.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11- Chris, Paddy.- Hi.- Hello.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14This looks interesting. Is there anything you know dates of?
0:25:14 > 0:25:18That's 1937, that's a beer bottle top from Bridport.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20- Fantastic.- So that's got a date.
0:25:20 > 0:25:21Oh, I like that.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24That was actually found the day before yesterday...
0:25:24 > 0:25:25So that's George V.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27..by my youngest son, Leon.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31These ones you see give you a bit of a telltale.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33They're... They're machine-made.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36You can see that because they've got a seam going all the way down.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39And the reason you can tell is it also goes all the way over the top,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41so we know that these have to be after 1909,
0:25:41 > 0:25:43when the machine that did that was invented.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46We've got all of this interesting stuff
0:25:46 > 0:25:49that's just falling out of the cliff. Is that normal?
0:25:49 > 0:25:52When it gets wet, particularly in the winter,
0:25:52 > 0:25:54the rocks over on that side, they fail and they slide down.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58And it so happens the rubbish dump was up at the top of the cliff
0:25:58 > 0:25:59and all of that came with it.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01And all of this material fell down in May 2008
0:26:01 > 0:26:03when there was a very big fall,
0:26:03 > 0:26:06- about three-quarters-of-a-million tonnes.- Gosh!
0:26:06 > 0:26:08So we've got archaeology and geology.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11Archaeology and geology literally all muddled up and all mixed up.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16Out of sight and out of mind.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19No-one gave a thought to the cliff top dump.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21But oddly, the bin men who collected
0:26:21 > 0:26:24the town's trash became local treasures.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27No-one knew them better than Ken Gollop.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31So, Ken, your dad was a dustman?
0:26:31 > 0:26:33Yes. My old man was a dustman.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35# He wears a dustman's hat
0:26:35 > 0:26:37# He wears cor blimey trousers
0:26:37 > 0:26:39# And he lives in a council flat. #
0:26:39 > 0:26:42- Which one's your dad? - There you are. The big one.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45- Actually, it does look like you. - The big one.
0:26:45 > 0:26:46- They're amazing!- Yeah.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50They were on their rounds one day and a gentleman was moving house.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53And he had loads of bowler hats, top hats,
0:26:53 > 0:26:55dress coats, morning coats and things.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57He said to the dustmen,
0:26:57 > 0:27:00"Look, I got all these, do what you like with them."
0:27:00 > 0:27:03So, of course, Father being Father,
0:27:03 > 0:27:05he put a set straight on
0:27:05 > 0:27:08and they went around the town emptying dustcarts in top hats.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12- Fantastic! - They were so popular and that,
0:27:12 > 0:27:14that people used to stop and take photographs of them.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21The sartorial binmen were tourist favourites.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24But Lyme Regis was no holiday for them.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26So, this is very steep, isn't it?
0:27:26 > 0:27:28- This is a dustman's nightmare. - It is, isn't it?
0:27:30 > 0:27:34The cliff edge is a top spot to share some lost treasure.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36Hidden in the BBC archives,
0:27:36 > 0:27:39I've dug up a recording Ken's never heard.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44Now, Ken, tell me if you recognise this at all.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49"You sound as though you enjoy your job. You're very happy."
0:27:49 > 0:27:52"Oh, we four are the happiest men in Lyme.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54- "Yes, happiest men in Lyme, sir." - That's my father.
0:27:54 > 0:27:59"Oh, yes! We've had so many as 20 or 30 around us taking our photos.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02"We've had our photos took over a thousand times this summer."
0:28:02 > 0:28:04"You're very interested in hats."
0:28:04 > 0:28:07"Hats? Yes, sir. I expect I've got more hats than anybody in the land."
0:28:07 > 0:28:11He was taking the mickey out of the interviewer, wasn't he?
0:28:11 > 0:28:15He was, he was just... He was a clown all the time.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18And he made the best of everything.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21He really enjoyed his life.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23And he made a lot of people happy,
0:28:23 > 0:28:26and I think he realised he did that.
0:28:26 > 0:28:30- I loved that!- Oh, that was really wonderful, that was.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36The top-hatted dustmen of Lyme Regis are now long gone,
0:28:36 > 0:28:41but this cliff top time capsule continues to reveal its secrets.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43Oh, my goodness!
0:28:43 > 0:28:46These are crittal windows, these metal-framed windows.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48If these were still in your house,
0:28:48 > 0:28:50you wouldn't be allowed to take them out.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56These may not be the jewels and relics some archaeologists crave,
0:28:56 > 0:28:59but to me, they are priceless.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01They tell the story of everyday people.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03It's the archaeology of us.