0:00:13 > 0:00:15This is Coast.
0:00:49 > 0:00:56All around us, every day, bustling and bursting with activity, our shoreline never sleeps.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03The coast is in a state of constant commotion,
0:01:03 > 0:01:07kept moving by an army of unsung heroes.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15This is their story - not only workers of today,
0:01:15 > 0:01:19but also the hard grafters of yesteryear.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23A journey to celebrate those who helped build Britain.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27We'll discover the secrets of our sea power.
0:01:30 > 0:01:35Can Tessa cast perfectly round cannonballs like the workers of old?
0:01:35 > 0:01:38So the moment of truth, no pressure.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44In great shipyards on the Clyde,
0:01:44 > 0:01:51when workers fought to save their community, their leader became a legend.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55He stood up to proclaim a manifesto for the workers' resistance.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57- There will be no bevvying. - Hear, hear!
0:01:59 > 0:02:03In the grand tradition of our life-saving services,
0:02:03 > 0:02:06Miranda volunteers for an animal rescue squad.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10We're constantly learning more about how to protect our valuable sea life.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15And to reveal how resorts were built on hard work,
0:02:15 > 0:02:22Ian stages a remarkable show, booking superstar performers from 100 years ago.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26For one night only, Edwardian Britain has got seaside talent!
0:02:31 > 0:02:34Welcome, to the Workers' Coast.
0:02:40 > 0:02:46Our east coast is ideal to explore working endeavour, past and present.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52I'm heading for the Humber but beginning on the Tyne.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58Newcastle-upon-Tyne prospered thanks to its coastal connections.
0:03:03 > 0:03:09The early workers who built the wealth of Newcastle shifted countless tonnes of coal,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12but coal's no longer king.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15These days, the traffic is different.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23For most of us, parking up at the coast is the end of a journey.
0:03:24 > 0:03:29But for these brand new cars, it's the beginning of a global adventure.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37Every two weeks on the Tyne a massive car conveyor arrives.
0:03:39 > 0:03:44Then, time is money. The port's workers go into overdrive.
0:04:01 > 0:04:06The challenge is to park a couple of thousand of these cars
0:04:06 > 0:04:10on that ship as fast as the drivers can get them on.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16To get a steer on the challenge, I'm cadging a lift with Derek Lay.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22It's like an aircraft hanger, isn't it? It's absolutely massive.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31I've been on cross-Channel car ferries but this is in a league of its own.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34Vast!
0:04:34 > 0:04:39With 14 decks, there's room for almost 8,000 cars.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41It's packed very tightly.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46Parking must be swift and exact.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51I've got to ask you, have you ever dinked a car, Derek?
0:04:51 > 0:04:53In the past!
0:04:55 > 0:04:59Mysterious hand signals appear to be more important than mirrors.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03And it's my turn next.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12With some 700,000 cars a year on the move, I can't stop the traffic.
0:05:12 > 0:05:17So before I'm let loose, they've got a lesson lined up for me.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Even though I'm more of a walker than a driver,
0:05:21 > 0:05:23I reckon I'm pretty handy behind the wheel,
0:05:23 > 0:05:27but this is going to test my parallel parking to the limits.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33My instructor's Jonathan Small.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38- That's really accurate, isn't it? - Yeah, yeah.- So what are the main hand signals?
0:05:38 > 0:05:43The hand signals are, straight ahead, full lock left hand down, full lock right hand down.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46And when it's only small movements we'll just use a finger.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49We'll turn half a turn left or right.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54He's coming in and as soon as he gets close in, I take over control, bring the car in tight,
0:05:56 > 0:06:01- which is 10 centimetres between the cars, each time you're stopping dead.- It is close.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05- That's close, isn't it?- It is close.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07A little bit nerve-wracking getting used to it at the time,
0:06:07 > 0:06:12but as long as you put your faith and trust in me, we'll have no problem.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14- I tell you what, Derek... - Take it nice and easy.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18I feel more nervous now than I did when I took my driving test.
0:06:20 > 0:06:25Just follow his signals all the time. Don't look at anything else. Just watch his hand signals.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28Straight back. Straight back. Stop.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33- I've got to turn. - And just keep going straight back.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36That car next door's like a hair's breadth away.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38It's OK. You've got plenty of space.
0:06:40 > 0:06:41That's it.
0:06:42 > 0:06:47Well, I think I've got the hang of precision parking in a car park,
0:06:47 > 0:06:51but now I've got to do it on deck seven of a gigantic car-carrying ship.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00Up the ramp.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08Now, where's my leadsman?
0:07:14 > 0:07:17- You just went a bit too far there. - I did, didn't I?
0:07:17 > 0:07:20He's pointing left now, can you see his hand?
0:07:20 > 0:07:22Keep going left.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26Watch his hand, don't watch what's on the left. He can see that.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29I've stalled. What about that?
0:07:29 > 0:07:32I've got a queue forming up because I've stalled.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34Straight back. Concentrate.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36That's it.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39Phew! The eagle has landed.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49This is pretty stressful.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53Those flashing lights mean the taxi's waiting to take me back to pick up another car.
0:08:08 > 0:08:13When I'm not holding it up, a stream of steel flows from our shore.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18Four out of five cars we make, we ship overseas.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22That's well over one million motors a year.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32These precision parkers have helped put the North East
0:08:32 > 0:08:35into pole position for vehicle exports.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46But the Tyne isn't our only carport.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49There's queuing traffic all around the British coast.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57In an age of instant communication at our fingertips,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01bulk cargo is still very much a hands-on business.
0:09:01 > 0:09:07Driven by the tides, the wealth of Britain washes through our ports.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11We'd all be poorer if it wasn't for our coastal workers
0:09:11 > 0:09:14keeping us connected to the wider world.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22The sea brings great benefits, opening up new markets.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26But business can also seep away overseas.
0:09:27 > 0:09:32Mighty coastal enterprises have suffered spectacular falls.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35But one gang of shipbuilders threatened with the scrapheap
0:09:35 > 0:09:37vowed to carry on regardless.
0:09:39 > 0:09:45In 1971, a proud industry was brought back from the brink on the River Clyde.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51Neil's exploring how ordinary folk become legends.
0:09:53 > 0:09:5640 years ago, it seemed ship-building here
0:09:56 > 0:09:59was sleepwalking into oblivion.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02But the workers thought otherwise.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10The Clyde once gave birth to the world's greatest ships.
0:10:10 > 0:10:15# There's big Tam O'Hara With his burning gear
0:10:15 > 0:10:18# The plumber and the plater And the engineer
0:10:18 > 0:10:22# There's young Willie Wylie With his welding rod
0:10:22 > 0:10:26# They're waiting at the ready For the backroom nod. #
0:10:26 > 0:10:29But by the early 1970s,
0:10:29 > 0:10:32ship-building on the upper Clyde was in crisis.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36There was competition from the Far East,
0:10:36 > 0:10:39poor labour relations and bad management.
0:10:41 > 0:10:46So Clydeside had to go cap-in-hand to successive governments for cash.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51Until, in 1971, a shock announcement.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55Public funding was to be axed.
0:10:56 > 0:10:596,000 shipbuilders stood to lose their jobs.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Then, one worker made a speech that shook the world.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07The man was shop steward Jimmy Reid.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11He stood up in front of a mass meeting of shipbuilders
0:11:11 > 0:11:15to proclaim a manifesto for the workers' resistance.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18There will be no hooliganism.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22There will be no vandalism. There will be no bevvying.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24Hear, hear!
0:11:24 > 0:11:27Because the world is watching us.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30Jimmy Reid wasn't calling for a strike.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33The big idea was exactly the opposite.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35Not a walk-out, but a work-in!
0:11:35 > 0:11:38Keep working whatever the bosses said.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41Shame the Government into saving the shipyards.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46We are taking over the yards because we refuse to accept
0:11:46 > 0:11:51that faceless men, or any group of men in Whitehall or anywhere else,
0:11:51 > 0:11:54can take decisions that devastate our livelihood with impunity.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56They're not on!
0:11:56 > 0:12:00So, was the work-in that Jimmy Reid announced
0:12:00 > 0:12:04the saviour of ship-building here on the Clyde?
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Is the legend of that heroic struggle all that it seems?
0:12:07 > 0:12:12# There is power in our union. #
0:12:12 > 0:12:15When Jimmy Reid passed away in 2010,
0:12:15 > 0:12:19shipbuilders stood to pay their respects
0:12:19 > 0:12:22and so did famous sons of the Clyde.
0:12:23 > 0:12:28I loved Jimmy Reid, and he loved me back and he told me.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32And I am going to miss him terribly.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37Reid's reputation on Clydebank was immortalised
0:12:37 > 0:12:41by his 'No bevvying, work-in' speech in 1971.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45By his side was fellow shop steward, Bobbie Dickie.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49Whose idea was the work-in?
0:12:49 > 0:12:52I would credit Jimmy Reid for introducing the work-in.
0:12:52 > 0:12:57The joint shop stewards are absolutely unanimous.
0:12:57 > 0:12:58We're going to fight this.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01Jimmy didn't feel there was any alternative.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03If we went on strike there was a possibility of them
0:13:03 > 0:13:06just shutting the gates and putting a padlock on it.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09If we'd had a sit-in, they would just leave us sitting in.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12So it was important that the work continued in the yard
0:13:12 > 0:13:15and that was the reason why we decided on a work-in.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20Their revolutionary plan?
0:13:20 > 0:13:24Start a fighting fund and pay those made redundant
0:13:24 > 0:13:27to carry on building the ships already ordered.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32The workers claimed they were in charge of the shipyards.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35Nobody and nothing will come in
0:13:35 > 0:13:39and nothing will go out without our permission.
0:13:40 > 0:13:45Redundancies began, but most were still being paid by the yards
0:13:45 > 0:13:49to work normally building ships, even in receivership.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55So what did the man who was actually running the shipyards
0:13:55 > 0:13:57make of power to the people?
0:13:58 > 0:13:59Hello, Sir Robert.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01They were all my employees,
0:14:01 > 0:14:05including of course the senior shop stewards.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10Jimmy Reid, of course, was the visionary and a gifted orator obviously
0:14:10 > 0:14:15who commanded the huge public support for the whole exercise.
0:14:15 > 0:14:21Acting as the liquidator, Robert Smith plotted a rescue plan, working with the union.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27Isabel Dickie was one of those made redundant
0:14:27 > 0:14:29but paid to work on by the fighting fund.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34When I saw all the letters coming in and the support we were getting,
0:14:34 > 0:14:37I mean it was fabulous, it really was.
0:14:37 > 0:14:42£450,000 and that was 40 years ago. It was wonderful.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54With the work-in in full swing, ships were still taking shape,
0:14:54 > 0:14:57while Jimmy Reid spoke up for the workers.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02There's a terrible philosophy flying about the now,
0:15:02 > 0:15:07that men and families and communities should follow work
0:15:07 > 0:15:11and the work shouldn't be brought to communities.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Did you think you would win?
0:15:17 > 0:15:22Yes. Yes, we thought we would win because we were getting support from all over the country,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25and even support from countries abroad.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28Oh, the red roses and the cheque for £500.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30That came from John Lennon and Yoko.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34One of the shop stewards said, "That's £500 from Lennon."
0:15:34 > 0:15:36He said, "I thought he was dead."
0:15:36 > 0:15:39"No, he's not dead, this is John Lennon. You know, the singer."
0:15:39 > 0:15:42"Oh! I thought it was Lenin. You know, the Russian."
0:15:42 > 0:15:44- That Lenin!- That Lenin!
0:15:50 > 0:15:54After some eight months of struggle, the publicity paid off.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59In February 1972, there was a startling announcement.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02More money would be made available to keep the yards going.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07# There is power in our union. #
0:16:08 > 0:16:11It was seen by some as a Government climb-down
0:16:11 > 0:16:13that the work-in had been a success.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16It was the making of a Clydeside legend.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23John Brown's, the yard that built The Queen Mary and the QEII,
0:16:23 > 0:16:26was reprieved after the work-in,
0:16:26 > 0:16:28sold to an American oil rig company.
0:16:30 > 0:16:35Does the man who helped broker that deal, liquidator Robert Smith,
0:16:35 > 0:16:38think the work-in won the day?
0:16:38 > 0:16:40I don't think so.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42Erm...
0:16:42 > 0:16:45I believe that the solution that was eventually achieved
0:16:45 > 0:16:48would actually have been achieved...
0:16:50 > 0:16:54..six months earlier, without the work-in.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01The solution Robert and the unions arranged
0:17:01 > 0:17:05to sell John Brown's shipyard lasted for nearly 30 years.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07It closed in 2001.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16Even so, there are still around 4,000 people
0:17:16 > 0:17:19busy making warships on the Clyde
0:17:19 > 0:17:24and it's become received wisdom they owe their jobs to the work-in.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29The first of a new tactic on behalf of workers.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35But there's a problem with the popular account
0:17:35 > 0:17:38that the work-in saved ship-building on Clydeside.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45The two surviving large yards weren't under threat of closure in the 1971 announcement.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51Job losses, yes. But closure? No.
0:17:52 > 0:17:57How do you account for the legend, the way that it has been perceived?
0:17:57 > 0:18:02There was a huge popular appeal in the work-in movement.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06A lot of people agree that it was a myth,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09but it was a marvellously successful myth.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11I don't dispute that.
0:18:11 > 0:18:16# Thank you, Dad, for all your skill
0:18:17 > 0:18:21# But the Clyde is a river That'll no stand still. #
0:18:24 > 0:18:27How are we to untangle the twists and turns of the work-in?
0:18:30 > 0:18:35To me, it's a story about ordinary people finding a voice,
0:18:35 > 0:18:40to argue that communities should count for something on the balance sheet.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43And that's why this story will always matter
0:18:43 > 0:18:45to the folk who live beside this river.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59Traditional jobs have ebbed away from our coast.
0:19:02 > 0:19:07Generations dreamt of the isolated life of the lighthouse keeper,
0:19:07 > 0:19:09a profession lost to history.
0:19:10 > 0:19:15But the automated lights and their houses still need the human touch.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19As they know on the Isle of Wight.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28It's not just the light beam that sailors spy out.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32The house itself is a navigation aid.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37So they need a splash of colour to stand out.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42To take on the towering task,
0:19:42 > 0:19:47a specialist team of daredevil decorators is led by Alan Brooks.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50I've been painting lighthouses now for about ten years.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55What we usually do is load the stuff on to the boat.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58The water jet, the paint, brushes, rollers,
0:19:58 > 0:19:59the ropes, blocks, grinders.
0:19:59 > 0:20:04Brings it over, then getting it off the boat is a bit of a problem sometimes.
0:20:06 > 0:20:12Humping it up the steps then and we've got the same problem then when we finish, getting it all back.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15A bit of a nightmare sometimes unless you've got the weather.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19Norfolk was the first one.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23I'd done a little bit of work at Strumble Head, Bardsey, that's an island one,
0:20:23 > 0:20:27Trwyn Du, Point Lynas, Nash.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30There's a few more dotted here and there but only little ones.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32I can't even remember them all, like.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39What we've got to do is apply two coats of paint to a job.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43Where it's blistered, we've got to water jet it off and apply four coats of paint to it.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47When it's rusty we've got to put a primer on and another four coats,
0:20:47 > 0:20:49just to bring it all up to scratch really.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54A special formula this paint. You couldn't buy this off the shelf.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58No, it's got to be especially made for this. You see?
0:20:58 > 0:21:00I can't even rip it.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04It doesn't go on that thick, but it is real strong stuff.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08You've got to sweep the brush on, then another dip.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12The thicker the better to allow for protection really,
0:21:12 > 0:21:15with the elements getting at it all the time
0:21:15 > 0:21:18and it's like a landmark for ships as well.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21And tourists come here to look at the thing all the time, like.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34We decided to use abseilers for all the outside
0:21:34 > 0:21:37and all the inaccessible areas where we can't get at.
0:21:45 > 0:21:50Got a width of eight or nine feet to swing you see. So it's OK.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54They're all right. Funny some of them, especially the Scousers, like.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56Am I allowed to say that?!
0:21:56 > 0:22:00I'm on one of your windows. Good job I done there.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02What? Paint the glass, missed the frame!
0:22:02 > 0:22:05Yeah, they're funny. Good bunch of boys they are.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08Alan? He's Welsh, grumpy,
0:22:08 > 0:22:11and he doesn't know what he's doing really.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13No, he's all right, Alan.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16The biggest problem we've got with lighthouses is weather.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20It's been cancelled a few times because the sea conditions haven't been right.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23We wouldn't have been able to land. Waves are too high and all that.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33It's nice to do a good job on there, get on the boat and look back
0:22:33 > 0:22:36and see you've done a nice job, like, you know,
0:22:36 > 0:22:39and it does give you a bit of satisfaction when you finish it.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56Coastal workers turn their hands to many trades.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58That's the way to do it.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04Sometimes, it's a struggle to scratch a living on the margin.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11Even so, a generous spirit thrives.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15A noble tradition of life-saving volunteers.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22And the rescue services don't only save people around our shore.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27As day breaks at Exmouth, a strange sight.
0:23:40 > 0:23:46An emergency is unfolding. These bags are pretend dolphins and whales.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50They aren't being laid out for fun. This is planning for the worst.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54A specialist marine SWAT team is summoned to the beach.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58Can you put a text out, please, to all Devon and Cornwall medics?
0:23:58 > 0:24:00Thanks a lot. Cheers. Bye.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04Miranda is responding to the distress call.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08By day I'm a trained zoologist,
0:24:08 > 0:24:10but I've also volunteered for another part-time job.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15For the last five or so years, I've been signed up to help save sea mammals in distress,
0:24:15 > 0:24:18and as you can see, there's a small army of us
0:24:18 > 0:24:21marine mammal medics dotted around the coast.
0:24:21 > 0:24:26In fact, there's around 2,500 of us constantly on call for a stranding emergency.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28And we're a varied bunch!
0:24:28 > 0:24:32- I'm a chartered surveyor.- I work in care, I've got a care home.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36- Self-employed carpenter. - Veterinary nurse. - I work as a production assistant.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40British Divers Marine Life Rescue train some 400 volunteers a year.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45This is a mass stranding exercise, keeping the creatures alive
0:24:45 > 0:24:50until the tide comes in to get them back to sea.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54These pretend dolphins are the exact weight and size of the real thing.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58Now, they may just look like a bag filled with water,
0:24:58 > 0:25:02but for the purposes of the exercise we have to treat them like real animals.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05And you can immediately see how heavy they are
0:25:05 > 0:25:07and how difficult they are to handle.
0:25:09 > 0:25:15Getting to grips with dolphin and whale strandings is a big issue.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Around 600 of these mammals a year need help.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21Some make headline news.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26Like the whale discovered in the Thames in 2006.
0:25:27 > 0:25:32And in 2011, a pod of around 60 pilot whales was floundering
0:25:32 > 0:25:37on the Scottish coast. Rescuers managed to save over 40 animals.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44One of the team leaders is organising our exercise - Stephen Marsh.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47Whales and dolphins have always stranded,
0:25:47 > 0:25:51but are we just more aware of it now or are numbers on the increase?
0:25:51 > 0:25:53We think that some strandings may well be increasing
0:25:53 > 0:25:55but animals will strand naturally as well.
0:25:55 > 0:26:00You can have one animal that is ill and because they're all very, very gregarious,
0:26:00 > 0:26:04they may well bring the whole of the pod in, so we work from the bottom up if you like,
0:26:04 > 0:26:07sort of saying, what's wrong with this animal?
0:26:07 > 0:26:08Is it in a fit state to go back?
0:26:08 > 0:26:12Let's give it first aid until a vet can come along and make that decision.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15Time is of the essence.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19The longer a dolphin's out of the water, the less likely it'll survive.
0:26:20 > 0:26:25It might seem a bit comical, but training for a marine mammal rescue is a serious business.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28The animals' plight begs a simple question.
0:26:28 > 0:26:34Why are dolphins so utterly helpless on land, when being out of the water
0:26:34 > 0:26:37doesn't pose a problem for other marine mammals like seals?
0:26:37 > 0:26:42To find out, we need to strip the animals to their bare bones.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57This is the skeleton of a seal.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59We've got the skull, quite a long neck,
0:26:59 > 0:27:04and then these front limbs which are very powerful, strong front flippers,
0:27:04 > 0:27:07and these are what it uses to manoeuvre itself on land.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10And when it's lumbering up and down the beach,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14the seal's internal organs are protected by quite a strong rib cage
0:27:14 > 0:27:18and the breast bone is quite strong and thick as well.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25This is the skeleton of a common dolphin.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28The ribs are much more fragile
0:27:28 > 0:27:32and the breastbone here is much thinner than that of a seal's.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36If a dolphin and whale finds itself stranded on the beach,
0:27:36 > 0:27:40often it can't bear its own weight and it can suffocate.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42And the front limbs have been modified
0:27:42 > 0:27:46to make these pectoral fins, which are great when the dolphin's moving
0:27:46 > 0:27:50through the water but absolutely useless if it's stranded on a beach.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56The differences between dolphins and seals evolved millions of years ago.
0:28:00 > 0:28:05The fins and tails of whales and dolphins have become so perfectly adapted to the sea,
0:28:05 > 0:28:10that they need a hand from volunteers like us when stranded.
0:28:10 > 0:28:15We've got two dolphins that we're ready to re-float, but because of the sun and the wind
0:28:15 > 0:28:19we've got tarpaulins to protect them from the sun, a windbreak to protect them from the wind.
0:28:19 > 0:28:24Just trying to keep them as cool and as calm as possible before we can get them down to the sea.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27Now the tide's turned, we can try to master
0:28:27 > 0:28:32the delicate operation of returning a distressed animal to its home.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39Wow. There we go. It's that easy.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42Now discard. One person hold on to that. Form a line.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44Form a line straight across here now.
0:28:44 > 0:28:48Try and discourage them. Go on, off you go. Go away. We don't want to see you again.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57Strandings are obviously really sad events,
0:28:57 > 0:29:01but thanks to the great work of teams of volunteers
0:29:01 > 0:29:04and professionals, we're constantly learning more
0:29:04 > 0:29:06about how to protect our valuable sea life.
0:29:08 > 0:29:09And off they go.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19We're celebrating the workers of our shores.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27The east coast of Britain is dotted with industrious communities.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33They strike out across the sea to earn a crust.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38Men who know the price to be paid for landing fish.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45But this harsh life on rolling seas
0:29:45 > 0:29:48relies on the support of those back on land.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53I'm in search of forgotten workers
0:29:53 > 0:29:56who kept our biggest fishing fleet afloat.
0:29:57 > 0:29:59We've arrived in Grimsby.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06This harbour used to be crammed with trawlers.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09At the high watermark of the North Sea Fleet,
0:30:09 > 0:30:13some 300 fishing vessels worked out of Grimsby.
0:30:14 > 0:30:18Magnificent vessels like this were a floating workplace,
0:30:18 > 0:30:22doing business in the wild North Sea.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27The crew scoured the seas for cod and haddock,
0:30:27 > 0:30:31fish that had to be kept fresh for weeks.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33They needed ice, lots of it.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36A challenge the early trawler men had to crack.
0:30:38 > 0:30:42We take ice for granted these days, but go back 150 years
0:30:42 > 0:30:46and refrigeration as we know it didn't exist.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50To preserve fish in the mid 19th century,
0:30:50 > 0:30:55Grimsby had to rely on ice collected in winter from frozen ponds.
0:30:58 > 0:31:00For the trawling fleet to expand,
0:31:00 > 0:31:04they had to look further afield to chill their catch.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13Boats were dispatched to Norway's frozen north.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20But man-made ice on demand would be even better.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27This grand building houses a freezing machine
0:31:27 > 0:31:31constructed on a massive scale.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33This is an ice factory!
0:31:36 > 0:31:39Built in 1901, the Grimsby Ice Factory
0:31:39 > 0:31:42supplied the port's trawlers for nearly a century.
0:31:42 > 0:31:44My guide is Mike Sonley,
0:31:44 > 0:31:50who was the last man out when the factory closed its doors in 1990.
0:31:51 > 0:31:56This precious film was shot just two weeks before production ceased.
0:31:59 > 0:32:01Today, it looks very different.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07This is Mike's first visit back to his old workplace.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14Heartbreaking. I just can't believe it.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18A lump comes in your throat, definitely.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21A real shame. How did that finish up there?
0:32:21 > 0:32:25It was immaculate. You could just eat your dinner off the floor.
0:32:25 > 0:32:26It was spotless.
0:32:26 > 0:32:31I suppose the ice factory was totally essential for the port, for the trawlers.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35We'd come out here at 4:00am and there'd be 20 wagons out there
0:32:35 > 0:32:37waiting for 20 tonnes of ice each.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40It was a fantastic company to work for.
0:32:45 > 0:32:49When this machinery sprang into action, the ice palace came alive.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55These massive engines were used to compress ammonia gas.
0:32:55 > 0:33:01How did that compressed gas produce up to a thousand tonnes of ice a day?
0:33:04 > 0:33:06Chemist Mark Lorch has the answer.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12The first step is really just to get a gas and compress it.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15Now, you can feel that's cold.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19As it comes out it expands and in the process cools down because all the molecules
0:33:19 > 0:33:23are much further apart now. They're not able to bash into each other quite so much.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28That chilling effect is the principle behind all sorts of refrigeration,
0:33:28 > 0:33:31including your domestic fridge and freezer.
0:33:31 > 0:33:35The next step then is to show you how we can make ice with this simple set-up.
0:33:35 > 0:33:41Pour this briny water into here, and what we need to do is to squirt some of this pressurised liquid,
0:33:41 > 0:33:44which will be very cold when it releases, through this coil here
0:33:44 > 0:33:49and in so doing, this whole coil will cool down,
0:33:49 > 0:33:52the salty water will cool down.
0:33:52 > 0:33:57But salty water will go below zero degrees centigrade before it freezes.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00So, if we then take our tube of fresh water,
0:34:00 > 0:34:03put that in there, this tube will freeze.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06Because the brine has a lower freezing point than fresh water,
0:34:06 > 0:34:10it will cool this fresh water in here pretty quickly and that will turn to ice.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12Yeah, that's the hope, yeah.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14So we just need to wait for that to freeze.
0:34:14 > 0:34:19We're minus two, heading for minus three degrees in there now.
0:34:21 > 0:34:25- There you go.- It's solid.- There you go, ice on the dockside.
0:34:27 > 0:34:33This cooling method, scaled up to an industrial process, powered the ice factory.
0:34:33 > 0:34:38It started with piping in the fresh water to be frozen.
0:34:38 > 0:34:42- That there came down. - All these nozzles...
0:34:42 > 0:34:45Came down all in one go, so they filled every pan with water.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49- So the fresh water came out of these pipes, filled those pans... - That's correct.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53So these metal boxes was where the ice actually formed.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56That's it. Just the same as when you put your ice cubes in a fridge.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59But where was the brine that chilled this fresh water?
0:34:59 > 0:35:03Below the pans. If you took all the pans out, it would be just one gigantic swimming pool.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07So you've got hundreds of these metal pans full of fresh water,
0:35:07 > 0:35:10they get filled up here and they get pushed by gigantic rams
0:35:10 > 0:35:14through the brine from one end of this hall to the other.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18And by the time the pans had got to the far end, the water's turned to ice.
0:35:18 > 0:35:22It took 27 hours for the pans to reach the far side of the building,
0:35:22 > 0:35:25gradually being chilled on their journey
0:35:25 > 0:35:28through the super-cooled brine beneath the floorboards.
0:35:29 > 0:35:35So the pans have travelled the full length of the hall, and they've emerged this end and turned into ice.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38That's correct. Then the crane comes along with the hooks, picks it up,
0:35:38 > 0:35:41drops it in the thaw tank, which is warm water.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45As soon as your ice pops up out here in moulds, it's into the cradle then.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48The cradle's balanced with seven and a half tonnes of ice.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51It tips over, slides down, all on to the floor, like. You know.
0:35:54 > 0:35:59Then you fed the ice on to the conveyor into this crusher in the far end here.
0:35:59 > 0:36:02So for the ice factory this is the very end of the process,
0:36:02 > 0:36:06because what's falling out the bottom of the crusher is crushed ice ready for the trawlers.
0:36:06 > 0:36:12That's it, and it takes it up there and on to that conveyor out there and into the ships.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17The empty trays travelled back to the start of the cycle
0:36:17 > 0:36:19to be filled again with fresh water.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23But as Grimsby's fishing fleet dwindled,
0:36:23 > 0:36:26fewer workers were waiting at the end of the line for ice.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30The factory doors closed in 1990.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34And what was it like that day that you left here,
0:36:34 > 0:36:38the last man to be in here and lock the door for the last time?
0:36:39 > 0:36:41Well, I can't explain it.
0:36:41 > 0:36:44It was like if you'd lost somebody you know in your family really.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48And it was heartbreaking.
0:36:50 > 0:36:52And now to see it like this.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07There's not much market for ice these days in Grimsby harbour,
0:37:07 > 0:37:09but it's still doing brisk business.
0:37:13 > 0:37:19The busiest boats now are those coming and going to service offshore wind farms in the North Sea.
0:37:21 > 0:37:23Workers adapting to our changing coast.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29New technology driving new opportunities.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33It's an old, old story around our shores.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38The Royal Navy has often been at the vanguard of innovation.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43Fine ships have always needed skilled workers.
0:37:44 > 0:37:48Those backroom boffins have given our sailors the edge in battle
0:37:48 > 0:37:51since the days of wooden warships.
0:37:52 > 0:37:58Back then, the Navy's cannonballs flew truer than those of our enemies.
0:38:04 > 0:38:09Their deadly accuracy was largely due to a secret ingredient
0:38:09 > 0:38:12we used to make our shot perfectly round.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19A rare mineral used to manufacture precision cannonballs
0:38:19 > 0:38:21was mined near Whitehaven.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31Tessa is on the mineworkers' trail.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36I'm going back over 200 years to the time of Nelson's Navy.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42At the Battle of Trafalgar, HMS Victory alone
0:38:42 > 0:38:47fired over 2,500 rounds of heavy iron shot.
0:38:52 > 0:38:56At war with Napoleon, the Navy needed lots of ammunition.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01Maritime historian Gareth Cole knows the numbers.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05I have here a couple of receipts which show just how many cannonballs
0:39:05 > 0:39:07were sent to the ordnance by various companies.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10- We've got one here for 100,000 cannonballs.- 100,000?
0:39:10 > 0:39:15100,000 in one delivery, which cost about £8,500.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18Considerable amounts of cash are being parted.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20It was. Over the course of about a 30-year period,
0:39:20 > 0:39:25over the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars, the ordnance spent about £10 million on the Navy,
0:39:25 > 0:39:28which is about £1 billion in today's money.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34Foundries could make a mint from Government contracts.
0:39:34 > 0:39:37But they had their work cut out.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39The Navy wasn't easy to please.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43There's more to cannonballs than meets the eye.
0:39:43 > 0:39:45To fly true and hit the intended target,
0:39:45 > 0:39:50they have to be as round and as smooth and as perfect as possible.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55Making cannonballs in large quantities and of high quality
0:39:55 > 0:39:59pushed the limits of early engineers.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02But Britain had a secret ingredient for success.
0:40:02 > 0:40:06In the lofty hinterland beyond Whitehaven harbour
0:40:06 > 0:40:11lay a precious mineral with a purity unmatched anywhere else on Earth.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15Miners working in the hills near here
0:40:15 > 0:40:19discovered a very, very rare substance called plumbago.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22The plumbago mines were so valuable to the military,
0:40:22 > 0:40:27they had them protected by an act of Parliament in 1752.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30This is the act and it says,
0:40:30 > 0:40:35"Plumbago has been necessary for diverse useful purposes
0:40:35 > 0:40:37"and more particularly in the casting of bombshells,
0:40:37 > 0:40:40"round shot and cannonballs."
0:40:46 > 0:40:50To appreciate why the plumbago miners were so important,
0:40:50 > 0:40:52we need to find out what plumbago actually is
0:40:52 > 0:40:54and how it helped cast cannonballs.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57So we're going to make our own. Old-style!
0:40:59 > 0:41:04The trade secrets of cannonball casting were lost as the industry dwindled.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08But foundry man Andrew Laing is trying to turn back time.
0:41:12 > 0:41:14The plumbago was a secret process.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17You coat the mould with the plumbago to make it nice and smooth
0:41:17 > 0:41:21when the casting is removed, and this is what we call casting strip
0:41:21 > 0:41:24and so there's no sand sticking to the actual casting.
0:41:24 > 0:41:27The effect it has in the mould is a bit like buttering a baking tray.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29It slips out at the end.
0:41:29 > 0:41:36Plumbago powder stopped the cast iron cannonballs sticking, even when red-hot.
0:41:36 > 0:41:41Nothing else was such a good lubricant, and only we had the best.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44You're smoothing it in with your finger there.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48- Yeah, we're just sleeking it up. - And that's to help it ease out.
0:41:48 > 0:41:50And again to make the ball as smooth as possible.
0:41:50 > 0:41:55When it's being fired. So will I have a go at doing that? Fill in the gouge.
0:41:55 > 0:41:59Plumbago is common today. We know it as graphite or pencil lead.
0:42:00 > 0:42:05But some 200 years ago, high-grade plumbago was rare.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09Whitehaven was close to the only mine for the precious element.
0:42:12 > 0:42:14Hidden in the surrounding hills.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22A treasure map of Borrowdale points the way
0:42:22 > 0:42:27to what was, for centuries, the world's purest source of plumbago.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32This land conceals that secret of our sea power.
0:42:32 > 0:42:34A silver-grey substance,
0:42:34 > 0:42:38workers clawed their way underground to extract.
0:42:38 > 0:42:42I've got permission to explore their labyrinth of tunnels
0:42:42 > 0:42:46in search of an abandoned plumbago seam.
0:42:46 > 0:42:48My guide's Paul Witheridge.
0:42:49 > 0:42:51Let's go and explore!
0:42:51 > 0:42:55# And every day you're in this place You're two days nearer death
0:42:55 > 0:42:58# But you go. #
0:42:58 > 0:43:03# Well a process man am I And I'm telling you no lie
0:43:03 > 0:43:06# I work and breathe Among the fumes. #
0:43:06 > 0:43:09I'm glad I've got Paul with me because I wouldn't have a clue how to get back.
0:43:09 > 0:43:12# And there's poison in the air
0:43:12 > 0:43:16# There's a lousy smell that smacks of hell and dust all in me hair. #
0:43:17 > 0:43:21- OK, we're here, this is it. - You can see how it's been cut away.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24You imagine, this is a big place that we're stood in here.
0:43:24 > 0:43:27This would have been a real bonanza find for them.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30So if I touch that, it's going to be like the surface of a pencil, is it?
0:43:30 > 0:43:35- Feels like pencil lead. Give it a good rub and you're going to find... There you go.- Oh, yeah, look at that!
0:43:39 > 0:43:43There you have it. Plumbago. A pretty ordinary-looking grey mineral.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46But once a precious commodity of the British Empire,
0:43:46 > 0:43:53key to the success of our navy, and vital for the men who made cannonballs.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57# And every day you're in this place You're two days nearer death
0:43:57 > 0:44:00# But you go. #
0:44:01 > 0:44:06Plumbago was hard to get, and working with it was a closely guarded commercial secret.
0:44:06 > 0:44:11We haven't a manual for casting cannonballs and we're nowhere near a foundry.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13Can we manage it on the quayside?
0:44:15 > 0:44:18- Which one have we got?- Any one. - Go on. Go on.
0:44:19 > 0:44:21That's it.
0:44:23 > 0:44:24So, the moment of truth.
0:44:24 > 0:44:28Will our graphite lining, in other words the plumbago,
0:44:28 > 0:44:32have delivered a perfectly formed smooth cannonball? No pressure.
0:44:37 > 0:44:41Oh, it's a disaster! There isn't one.
0:44:41 > 0:44:44It's not run. The metal's chilled.
0:44:44 > 0:44:51The sea breeze cooled my molten iron so quickly, it didn't flow into the mould.
0:44:51 > 0:44:53Of course, you did cast it!
0:44:56 > 0:44:59But these wily lads have left nothing to chance.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02They've brought cannonballs cast in their foundry.
0:45:02 > 0:45:05Half the mould with plumbago, half without.
0:45:07 > 0:45:11You can see the surface finish on that one, the effects of the plumbago.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14Yeah, you can immediately. I mean, this is smooth,
0:45:14 > 0:45:18and on this side it's a very sandy feeling.
0:45:18 > 0:45:20A real magic ingredient,
0:45:20 > 0:45:24and quite sobering to think we didn't even get off step one today.
0:45:26 > 0:45:29Clearly, I wouldn't make a living from cannonballs.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32But then, the bottom fell out of the market a while ago.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37Early in the 19th century, plumbago from near here
0:45:37 > 0:45:42started to fall in value as other sources were discovered overseas.
0:45:42 > 0:45:47Local miners had to find new uses for their graphite, in other words plumbago,
0:45:47 > 0:45:49and turned it into pencil leads.
0:45:49 > 0:45:51Swords into plough shares.
0:45:51 > 0:45:53Cannonballs into pencils.
0:46:00 > 0:46:05Heading south from the Cumbrian mountains, rock rolls into sand.
0:46:12 > 0:46:16We've reached the pleasure palace of Blackpool.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23Fun for some means jobs for others.
0:46:25 > 0:46:31This is the shoreline with the largest concentration of workers dedicated to leisure.
0:46:32 > 0:46:35The resort owes its existence to entertainers.
0:46:36 > 0:46:40From the earliest days, stars of stage and screen,
0:46:40 > 0:46:45treading the boards brought in the crowds, and their cash.
0:46:46 > 0:46:50Those performers with mighty pulling power have Ian intrigued.
0:46:51 > 0:46:56"Garlic bread, it's the future. I've tasted it."
0:46:56 > 0:46:59That's Peter Kay. He's as northern as Blackpool rock.
0:46:59 > 0:47:04"I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order."
0:47:04 > 0:47:07Eric Morcambe, of course.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10Blackpool honours the stellar names of the stage
0:47:10 > 0:47:14with this comedy carpet, but they're not just being nice, it's good business.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17Booking the best talent meant that Blackpool was booming 100 years ago
0:47:17 > 0:47:20and those hard-working entertainers from a century back
0:47:20 > 0:47:23were true superstars of the Edwardian era.
0:47:23 > 0:47:25But how would they get on today?
0:47:25 > 0:47:27When Ma said, "Percy, fie for shame."
0:47:27 > 0:47:32To put their material to the test, we've engaged our own troupe of top talent.
0:47:34 > 0:47:38Tribute acts to performers who once packed in the punters
0:47:38 > 0:47:41and commanded a king's ransom to perform.
0:47:41 > 0:47:43Now appearing 100 years on,
0:47:43 > 0:47:47Coast presents, at great expense, the vivacious Vesta Tilley.
0:47:50 > 0:47:51The lovable 'Little Tich'.
0:47:53 > 0:47:57For one time only, Edwardian Britain's Got Seaside Talent.
0:48:01 > 0:48:03To draw tourists into the growing resort,
0:48:03 > 0:48:07Blackpool needed to attract the best talent working in Britain.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11That meant building lavish theatres
0:48:11 > 0:48:13to lure the stars away from the London stage.
0:48:17 > 0:48:22Nothing exemplifies the ambition and glamour of Blackpool's theatre land better than The Grand.
0:48:26 > 0:48:29This is the venue where we'll stage our century-old talent show
0:48:29 > 0:48:33to see if those performers can still work a crowd today.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39And to tell me more about our Edwardian acts,
0:48:39 > 0:48:41we've booked a Blackpool legend.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47By Jove, folks, what a beautiful day.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50What a beautiful day for jumping off the top of Blackpool tower,
0:48:50 > 0:48:55holding your grannies' corsets over your head and saying, "How's this for skydiving?".
0:48:55 > 0:48:59What a beautiful theatre. What a plumbtious place. What a grand theatre.
0:48:59 > 0:49:04- Get to Barnsley!- I've been heckled, I'll sort him out.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07- Who are you, sir, and where are you from? - I'm Ian McMillan from Barnsley.
0:49:07 > 0:49:09- Not Barnsley.- Aye.- Oh, Barnsley.
0:49:09 > 0:49:13Remember the Good Companions? "Never again to Barnsley." Are you really from Barnsley?
0:49:13 > 0:49:16- I am.- It's nice of you to take the blame.
0:49:18 > 0:49:22This is probably the most beautiful theatre in Britain.
0:49:22 > 0:49:26This was a Frank Matcham theatre. He was the great theatre architect.
0:49:26 > 0:49:28He did about 120 theatres all over Britain,
0:49:28 > 0:49:34but this is the most beautiful and it has been absolutely lovingly restored to its magnificence.
0:49:34 > 0:49:39And what do you think it is about Blackpool? Why is Blackpool such a great place?
0:49:39 > 0:49:43Blackpool is the greatest show town in the world.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46It was in Edwardian times and it is today.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51I was always very lucky. I lived up the road here in Mrs Diggen's.
0:49:51 > 0:49:56Mrs Diggen's dignified digs. No dogs, 30 shillings a week, all in, one bed, use of cruets.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59She used to change the sheets every spring.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04Some of those old stars like Vesta Tilley and Little Tich.
0:50:04 > 0:50:08What was it about them that made them so attractive to audiences?
0:50:08 > 0:50:11There were no films, no television, no radio.
0:50:11 > 0:50:16Entertainment was really in the music hall and in the theatre and they were the superstars.
0:50:16 > 0:50:19They all had great, wonderful personalities.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21That's what really makes an artist.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23It's not what they do, it's how they do it.
0:50:23 > 0:50:26So, let's see how they DO do it.
0:50:33 > 0:50:38Let's begin with the diva of drag. I'm talking about Vesta Tilley.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41APPLAUSE
0:50:44 > 0:50:47# The ladies have blessed them
0:50:47 > 0:50:50# Now we love them, every one
0:50:50 > 0:50:53# We praise them and we toast them. #
0:50:53 > 0:50:55Vesta Tilley dressed up as a masher
0:50:55 > 0:50:58and a masher was a dandy or a man about town.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01That was sort of probably her most famous act.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04# Angels
0:51:04 > 0:51:07# Angels
0:51:07 > 0:51:10# Angels without wings. #
0:51:10 > 0:51:12She was a woman wearing trousers.
0:51:12 > 0:51:17Now, you didn't very often get the opportunity to see a woman wearing trousers,
0:51:17 > 0:51:22so I'm sure there was an element of excitement at her silhouette.
0:51:25 > 0:51:29I would say her act was very much directed towards the men in the audience,
0:51:29 > 0:51:33but she got a lot of love letters from women,
0:51:33 > 0:51:38married women who really did convince themselves that she was a young man.
0:51:40 > 0:51:42APPLAUSE
0:51:44 > 0:51:47I want to find out more about this cross-dressing star
0:51:47 > 0:51:51of the Edwardian era, and more about her Blackpool audience.
0:51:51 > 0:51:54I'm meeting historian Fern Riddell.
0:51:54 > 0:51:58- Hello, Fern.- Hi, Ian.- Now, she portrayed toffs and swells,
0:51:58 > 0:52:01so why would this have appealed to this working class audience?
0:52:01 > 0:52:05Well, it was this whole idea of seeing how the other-half lived.
0:52:05 > 0:52:07That was why they went to the music halls.
0:52:07 > 0:52:09For the glitz and the glamour.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12They didn't have access to the gossip magazines that we have today.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15That's why they got so excited by it, and especially by Vesta.
0:52:15 > 0:52:18- She really was paid a vast amount of money, wasn't she?- She really was.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21You can see here in the admissions book from 1912
0:52:21 > 0:52:25that she's paid £300 for her weekly performance,
0:52:25 > 0:52:29which in comparison to the male comedian underneath her, he only got £45.
0:52:29 > 0:52:34If we think of this in terms of modern day, it was around £20,000.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41The equivalent of 20 grand a week elevated Vesta Tilley
0:52:41 > 0:52:43to the premier league of performers.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49Our other hard-working Edwardian entertainer was a little guy
0:52:49 > 0:52:54whose remarkably big boots take some filling and polishing.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58Will his novelty act still shine today?
0:53:00 > 0:53:03Let's imagine we're in The Grand Theatre Blackpool 100 years ago.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06Please welcome a man small in stature but with a big heart.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09Let's have a big round of applause for Little Tich.
0:53:09 > 0:53:11APPLAUSE
0:53:16 > 0:53:18Little Tich was a 4' 6" music hall performer
0:53:18 > 0:53:20who became one of the biggest live stars.
0:53:22 > 0:53:27He had a number of acts but was best known for the big boot dance,
0:53:27 > 0:53:29where he'd wear 28-inch long boots.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32# I've always had the mania Since the day that I was born
0:53:32 > 0:53:36# To study in the act of Terpsichore
0:53:36 > 0:53:40# I was always dancing mad And I would practice night and morn
0:53:40 > 0:53:45# To gently shuffle On our kitchen floor. #
0:53:45 > 0:53:48Little Tich appealed to the working classes
0:53:48 > 0:53:51because it was a little guy taking the mick out of the upper classes.
0:53:51 > 0:53:55He'd dress up as gas inspectors, politicians and even royalty.
0:54:00 > 0:54:02APPLAUSE
0:54:13 > 0:54:19Putting bums on seats by booking the biggest stars to perform in palatial surroundings.
0:54:19 > 0:54:23It was a business model that proved just the ticket for Blackpool.
0:54:23 > 0:54:27Year in, year out, workers wanting a break from the mill towns nearby
0:54:27 > 0:54:32would flood in with holiday cash burning a hole in their pockets.
0:54:36 > 0:54:40They would get onto an early train. They'd arrive at 7:00am,
0:54:40 > 0:54:43and they'd go straight on to the beachfront and start dancing.
0:54:43 > 0:54:46- So was anything allowed then? - Drunkenness, yes, was accepted.
0:54:46 > 0:54:50It was kind of taken that when you had large groups of working class people
0:54:50 > 0:54:55they would want to spend their money on beer and have a good time and be able to be free.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59Once they'd done the seafront and downed a few ales,
0:54:59 > 0:55:03generations of workers loved to end the day with a sing-song.
0:55:05 > 0:55:10So let's finish with a great seaside anthem, written almost 100 years ago.
0:55:10 > 0:55:12"I do like to be beside the seaside."
0:55:12 > 0:55:16# I do like to be beside the seaside
0:55:16 > 0:55:20# Oh, I do like to be beside the sea
0:55:20 > 0:55:24# I do like to stroll Along the prom, prom, prom
0:55:24 > 0:55:28# Where the brass bands play Tiddly-om-pom-pom
0:55:28 > 0:55:32# Just let me be beside the seaside
0:55:32 > 0:55:35# I'll be beside myself with glee
0:55:35 > 0:55:39# And there's lots of girls beside I should like to be beside
0:55:39 > 0:55:44# Beside the seaside Beside the sea. #
0:55:44 > 0:55:46APPLAUSE
0:56:17 > 0:56:22Being beside the seaside wasn't a get-away for many hard-pressed coastal folk.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27It was a harsh life for manual workers in the docks.
0:56:29 > 0:56:33But there was dignity in labour with splendid surroundings.
0:56:36 > 0:56:41The port of Grimsby marked its workers' achievements with a mighty tower.
0:56:44 > 0:56:47Close up, it's quite a sight.
0:56:47 > 0:56:49It was completed in 1852
0:56:49 > 0:56:54and it's a copy of a beautiful tower in the Italian town of Sienna.
0:56:54 > 0:56:56But like everything else in this port,
0:56:56 > 0:56:58their tower had to work for a living.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04The pretty brick facade conceals the building's true function.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07It's a giant water tower.
0:57:11 > 0:57:14Wow! This is even more monumental on the inside.
0:57:14 > 0:57:19This pipe here used to pump water way up the tower to a huge holding tank.
0:57:19 > 0:57:22The water was then released down this pipe here
0:57:22 > 0:57:26which fed hydraulic pumps that worked the lock gates
0:57:26 > 0:57:28and the cranes in the harbour.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34One thing that's missing from the tower though is a lift.
0:57:34 > 0:57:38That means walking up the biggest spiral staircase I've ever seen!
0:57:43 > 0:57:46The workers' coast is hard work.
0:57:46 > 0:57:52A million bricks built the tower and it takes 450 steps to climb it.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54I hope the view's worth it.
0:57:57 > 0:58:02The mammoth efforts of labourers to remodel our shore unfolds below.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08The Grimsby Tower doesn't disappoint.
0:58:10 > 0:58:15This monument in brick may have been paid for by the great and the good,
0:58:15 > 0:58:18but it was built by ordinary folk.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21The skills, the endeavours of such unsung heroes,
0:58:21 > 0:58:24are written all around our shores.
0:58:24 > 0:58:29This is the workers' coast. It's our coast. Let's celebrate it.
0:58:55 > 0:58:57Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd