0:00:05 > 0:00:10- Oh, my God!- Heave! 2-6! Heave!
0:00:12 > 0:00:15We're back, at the very edge of our isles.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18But now we're on a whole new kind of adventure.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22An unique Great Guide to our coast.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29But this is a guide beyond anything you'll find in your average
0:00:29 > 0:00:31tourist brochure.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33A guide crammed with local knowledge,
0:00:33 > 0:00:39amazing discoveries and stunning secret spots.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44Coast and her expert crew have spent over ten years navigating
0:00:44 > 0:00:47this ever-changing natural wonder.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54And now we're bringing it all together, and more,
0:00:54 > 0:00:58to give you the ultimate guide to our coast.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02We've selected eight stretches of British coast.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08North, south, east, west,
0:01:08 > 0:01:11and some of the best bits in-between.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16Each week, we'll be taking to the sea
0:01:16 > 0:01:19in a remarkable array of boats and ships.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23We'll have a completely fresh perspective on the coast.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26We'll seek out charismatic characters.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28Andy, fancy seeing you here!
0:01:28 > 0:01:30Momentous events.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33This is Britain's most deadly shoreline.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37Secret spots and surprising stories.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40There's no denying that there's a charge to be had from
0:01:40 > 0:01:42holding something like this.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46A brand-new view of our coast,
0:01:46 > 0:01:50with all the inside info you need to enjoy these shorelines like a local.
0:01:52 > 0:01:53Ahoy, sailors! Haul away!
0:01:55 > 0:01:58This time, I'm heading for East Anglia.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02This is Coast.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05The Great Guide.
0:02:37 > 0:02:38The East Coast of England.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47Don't be fooled by these sleepy-looking shores.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51Expert eyes reveal a dynamic,
0:02:51 > 0:02:54enigmatic, extraordinary coast.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59One that pits man against nature.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07Shifting sands, collapsing cliffs,
0:03:07 > 0:03:11an ever-changing edge devoured by the sea.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16Revealing some of the most stunning wildlife in the world.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20And jaw-dropping secrets of the past.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25Awash with stories,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28the Coast experts have dug deep into this shoreline.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34It was here that the island of Britain was born.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37Seven, eight, nine thousand years ago,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40we couldn't have done this, could we? We would have been on land.
0:03:40 > 0:03:45And ancient kings were laid to rest with astonishing treasures.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48This is Britain's Tutankhamen's mask.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53A coast with a wartime record of epic proportions.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55It's the sort of place James Bond gets brought, isn't it?
0:03:55 > 0:03:58- That's right, that's right. - When he's been caught!
0:03:58 > 0:04:02Where plucky people live on the brink, battling Mother Nature.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06My God!
0:04:06 > 0:04:08What an incredible sight!
0:04:11 > 0:04:16Now we're back with our Great Guide to this shape-shifting coast.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18And we're going to go further than the tourist books to reveal
0:04:18 > 0:04:21its unique character.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24History, geology, wildlife, momentous events.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28This is Coast's Great Guide to East Anglia.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37Hopping between boats, I'll be making my way down this coast,
0:04:37 > 0:04:41revealing the very best sights and stories the shore has to offer.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45Gathering the inside info from those in the know.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50It's a big lump of Yarmouth history that's got to be preserved.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55I'll be embarking from Norfolk's Blakeney Point.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59Cruising around the coast to Happisburgh and Great Yarmouth,
0:04:59 > 0:05:03and then sailing south to Suffolk and the mysterious Orford Ness.
0:05:05 > 0:05:10Along the way, I'll be compiling our great East Anglian Guide from
0:05:10 > 0:05:13a wider canvas of stories that stretches all the way from
0:05:13 > 0:05:17The Wash in the north, to Canvey Island in the south.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26East Anglia, a natural beauty.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30The stage for stunning wildlife.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35At Blakeney Point, low-lying lands merge seamlessly with the sea.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40Creating a nature reserve of global repute.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44It's where I'm starting my first voyage.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48Here on England's eastern edge,
0:05:48 > 0:05:50we have an intimate relationship with the water.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54Little jetties dot the shores like coastal taxi ranks,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57and I'm going to hitch a ride on one to go and visit some seals.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02Ajay!
0:06:02 > 0:06:04- Hello, Neil.- How are you doing? - Very well, thanks.- Good to see you.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07- And you.- Isn't this perfect? - Perfect day.- Yeah.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14Seal watching is a must-do in this neck of the woods.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19And they live in a unique location.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27Blakeney Point was Britain's first coastal nature reserve,
0:06:27 > 0:06:29established in 1912.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34A trailblazer in the science of ecology.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43The grey seal colony here is England's biggest and one of
0:06:43 > 0:06:47the few places grey and common seals live side by side.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50A sight to behold for our Great Guide.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54National Trust ranger Ajay Tegala
0:06:54 > 0:06:58has a favourite place to spot the seals.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00What kind of seals are those we can see?
0:07:00 > 0:07:02Those are mostly common seals on the tip there.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05For a novice like me, what is the difference between
0:07:05 > 0:07:07a common seal and a grey seal?
0:07:07 > 0:07:09The common seals generally are the cuter ones.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12So these behind us, they've got nice round, smiley faces. Quite cat-like.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Whereas the grey seals are larger and they've got more
0:07:15 > 0:07:18speckling on them and they've got more pointed, long noses.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20So they've got more of a dog-like appearance.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23- Oh, there's a grey.- Oh, yes, yeah.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27- Yeah, I see what you mean. Big Alsatian dog face.- Yeah.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32At Blakeney, greys outnumber the commons by 3:1.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38Why's the colony doing so well? Why are grey seals thriving here?
0:07:38 > 0:07:42They're top of the food chain. So they're filling a niche, really.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45- There's nothing to predate them, there's plenty of food.- A-huh.
0:07:45 > 0:07:46It's a safe place for them.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49Is there anything that we have done as a population
0:07:49 > 0:07:52- that's made life better for these mammals?- It's what we're not doing.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55So in the past, they were shot, they were hunted,
0:07:55 > 0:07:58they were controlled by fishermen and so they saw man as a threat.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00But that's no longer the case.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02And some of the old people that used to shoot them are now taking
0:08:02 > 0:08:06people out on their seal trips to see them and enjoy them.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14It's not just seals that gather here in huge numbers.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21The sand and mudbanks of the East Anglian Coast
0:08:21 > 0:08:24are a mecca for over 100,000 wading birds.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28Why is that?
0:08:30 > 0:08:35Bird-loving Miranda Krestovnikoff searched for answers on The Wash.
0:08:35 > 0:08:40The seasonal home of choice for knot, oyster-catcher,
0:08:40 > 0:08:42redshank and dunlin.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46Out here, the horizon seems to stretch forever in every direction.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50The sky's huge, the mudflats are vast and somewhere out there is
0:08:50 > 0:08:52a point where the land meets the sea.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59The mudflats are oozing with molluscs and crustaceans.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01Just the sort of food that waders love to eat.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07As the birds are making the most of the mud, it's my chance to get mucky
0:09:07 > 0:09:11and see the tasty morsels which bring them here in the first place.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14- Look at those! These are just little clams, are they?- Yeah.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17- What's feeding on these, then, Jim? - Things like knot.
0:09:17 > 0:09:22- Knot particularly like these because you can see they're not too far from the surface.- Brilliant.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25- And the ragworms, they're quite big and fat!- Yeah.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27There must be quite a few calories in one of those.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29Things like redshank will feed on these.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35The Wash is like a giant bed and breakfast for waders.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38Some check in briefly en route to sunnier destinations
0:09:38 > 0:09:41and others make themselves at home for the winter.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45They haven't got long to stock up - the tide is already turning.
0:09:45 > 0:09:50And as the tide races in, the birds just take off.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52SQUAWKING
0:09:59 > 0:10:02The reason the wildlife of East Anglia is so rich and varied
0:10:02 > 0:10:05is down to the wealth of coast it can choose from.
0:10:11 > 0:10:17A stunning mix of wetlands, salt marsh, sand dunes and shingle.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23Here at Blakeney, the sea constantly shifts the stones.
0:10:25 > 0:10:31Restless waves creating a shingle spit, snaking out into the sea.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38Back in 2005, Nick Crane did a hands-on demo
0:10:38 > 0:10:41of how this shingle spit grows.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45Driven by the strong, prevailing north-easterly winds,
0:10:45 > 0:10:48the waves hit the shore obliquely.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52Each wave picks up a handful of shingle and moves it
0:10:52 > 0:10:54a bit further along the coast.
0:10:54 > 0:10:59Over time, all the shingle builds up into long ridges, or spits,
0:10:59 > 0:11:03which run almost parallel to the land, but just offshore.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10More than ten years on,
0:11:10 > 0:11:13I'm here to see if the spit at Blakeney is still on the move.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17How permanent is this landscape?
0:11:17 > 0:11:20At the end of the day, it's just a dump of shingle, isn't it?
0:11:20 > 0:11:22Yes, yeah. It is a very mobile habitat.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25A lot of the shingle does get moved on a daily basis.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27But when you get the plants colonising it,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30their roots help to stabilise it and hold it in place.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33So, the longer the vegetation is in place, the better the chance
0:11:33 > 0:11:37- of this place, or at least part of it, becoming fixed?- Yes, indeed.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39But it's still vulnerable to big storms.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42So in the winter, we quite often get erosion with strong waves
0:11:42 > 0:11:44bashing against the sand dunes and eroding them.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46But, yeah, the more vegetated areas are more able to withstand
0:11:46 > 0:11:48that sort of pressure from the sea.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58The four-mile long sand and shingle spit at Blakeney Point
0:11:58 > 0:12:01is the perfect home for rare, botanical treasures.
0:12:03 > 0:12:08Grey-hair grass, sea-lavender and the yellow-horned poppy.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17This is our Great East Anglian Guide.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21We'll be finding fossilised footprints
0:12:21 > 0:12:23hundreds of thousands of years old.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Revealing clandestine wartime secrets.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32And unearthing an amusement arcade like no other.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39As I continue south for the tiny town of Happisburgh, I'm travelling
0:12:39 > 0:12:43along a coastline that's stood in the eye of storms for centuries.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49The wind and the water have always conspired against
0:12:49 > 0:12:51these low-lying lands.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59Man's efforts to protect the coast litter these shores.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Wooden breakwaters snaking out to sea.
0:13:04 > 0:13:09Rocky barriers, a defiant concrete curtain.
0:13:09 > 0:13:14These are our sea defences, but why are there so many?
0:13:21 > 0:13:26In 1953, the East Coast was hit by the worst storms in living memory.
0:13:30 > 0:13:36A tidal surge met a strong north wind and an extra-high spring tide.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38It created chaos.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43A catastrophic wave of water that barrelled down the coast.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48From north to south, the effects were devastating.
0:13:52 > 0:13:57Over 300 lives lost. Thousands of homes swept away.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02Disaster on an unprecedented scale.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05And countless personal tragedies.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11Ten years ago, Nick visited Canvey Island
0:14:11 > 0:14:15to hear to story of survivor Graham Manser.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17As we sort of got out of bed,
0:14:17 > 0:14:21we were straight into water up to our knees.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27Gradually, my father realised that things were getting worse.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30So he sort of punched holes in the ceiling with his fists
0:14:30 > 0:14:35and pulled the ceiling plaster down to expose the rafters.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41The storm had swept town by town down the entire East Coast.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47With precious few telephones, no warning could be sent ahead.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52When the waves reached Canvey just after midnight, a deluge
0:14:52 > 0:14:56burst through the limited banks of earth that defended the island.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59Residents of many single-storey homes had to cling
0:14:59 > 0:15:01desperately to the roofs outside.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06Huddled in their loft, Graham and his brothers
0:15:06 > 0:15:08sang hymns to raise their spirits,
0:15:08 > 0:15:13while his mother struggled with a pram in the perishing waters below.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15My brother Keith, who was sitting next to me,
0:15:15 > 0:15:17he toppled into the water.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19And so my eldest brother there, Chris,
0:15:19 > 0:15:23he dived in after him and held him up for hours.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25Unfortunately, he'd been dead for quite a long time.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28My brother was just holding up a dead body.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30My mother that was rocking the pram,
0:15:30 > 0:15:34um...she kept sort of saying to my dad, "Are the kids all right?
0:15:34 > 0:15:37"I can't hear any noise. Nothing's happening."
0:15:37 > 0:15:40So he said, "It's all right, Ann. Don't worry, they're asleep."
0:15:40 > 0:15:43But in fact, we thought about it afterwards and what had happened,
0:15:43 > 0:15:46the water had seeped through the underneath of the pram
0:15:46 > 0:15:48and they drowned in their pram.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59Since then, countless miles of coastal defences have been
0:15:59 > 0:16:01repaired or replaced.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05Protecting locals from any similar natural disasters.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11But the bulked-up barricades had unintended consequences,
0:16:11 > 0:16:14creating a problem of their own.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23They pushed an angry sea to places where it could attack the land.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30Previously safe shores were now at risk.
0:16:31 > 0:16:36Beaches vanished, homes were pushed to the edge.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43But one man refused to surrender his land to the sea.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49Peter Boggis launched a mission to fight the waves by rallying
0:16:49 > 0:16:51a private army of local truckers.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56This self-appointed King Canute
0:16:56 > 0:16:59deserves a special mention in our Great Guide.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06At the height of his battle, Nick met the persistent pensioner.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12- So, this is the front line, where it was eating back from?- Yes.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18- Are you working down below here? - Further along.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21- What's going on? - Here we have a truck coming in.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23That will turn, possibly, here.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27My God!
0:17:27 > 0:17:29What an incredible sight!
0:17:29 > 0:17:32- Yes. It's, er...- I can't believe it.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34I thought we were going to be looking down on a beach.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37No, this is us defending Britain.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40What an astonishing sight! There's trucks and mud and...
0:17:40 > 0:17:44I'm absolutely stunned by the scale of it.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46I was expecting something far, far smaller.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51Peter's defences are far more extensive than
0:17:51 > 0:17:54a load of home-made sandbags.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57He's organised up to 50 trucks a day to dump soil and clay
0:17:57 > 0:17:59at the base of the cliff.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02It's a mutually-beneficial alliance with local contractors
0:18:02 > 0:18:05that helps them get rid of their waste.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07The bank has to be constantly topped up
0:18:07 > 0:18:09as a third of it is washed away every year.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13Now, it's 500 metres long.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16And the retreat has been halted for the time being.
0:18:23 > 0:18:2611 years on and now 85,
0:18:26 > 0:18:29Peter's coastal crusade has been halted by the courts.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33They ruled his defences were stopping sand washing
0:18:33 > 0:18:36down shore to replenish the local beach.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41He's reluctantly downed tools, but he's unrepentant.
0:18:43 > 0:18:48If it were feasible for me to start again tomorrow
0:18:48 > 0:18:51without blundering headfirst into the courts,
0:18:51 > 0:18:53I would do it without hesitation.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57Here, as compared with last year,
0:18:57 > 0:19:01nearly five metres of cliff have gone
0:19:01 > 0:19:04in the past winter and this spring.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11I've done what I can to protect it.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26As I continue my journey, I've swapped boats.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30Meet Tempo, former lifeboat and veteran guardian of these waters.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37I'm heading down the north Norfolk Coast for Happisburgh.
0:19:38 > 0:19:43But the next story for our guide is at the very heart of this coast.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45South Wold and Aldeburgh.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54This unpredictable coast is also one of unprecedented beauty.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59Here, the light changes as much as the shoreline.
0:20:01 > 0:20:06From superb sunrises and famous big skies
0:20:06 > 0:20:10to crashing seas and ferocious storms.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13This is our artistic coast.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18Over the centuries, a staggering array of artists
0:20:18 > 0:20:21have fired creative sparks on these shores.
0:20:21 > 0:20:27From Old Master painters to controversial sculptors,
0:20:27 > 0:20:30musicians, writers
0:20:30 > 0:20:34and off-the-wall creatives have made this coast their muse.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41For our Great Guide, we salute three inspired pioneers.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45Composer Benjamin Britten,
0:20:45 > 0:20:48Impressionist painter Philip Steer
0:20:48 > 0:20:53and an unsung eccentric engineer, Tim Hunkin.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Our epic story starts with a great British artist
0:20:58 > 0:21:01who brought Impressionism to these shores.
0:21:03 > 0:21:08Alice Roberts, herself a bit of a painter, followed in his wake.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12Philip Wilson Steer came to Southwold to paint
0:21:12 > 0:21:15for the first time in 1884.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20One of his most famous works depicts children paddling
0:21:20 > 0:21:23at the mouth of Southwold Harbour.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26And to really understand the inspiration behind it,
0:21:26 > 0:21:28I want to see the place itself.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33Here we are, standing by the scene of the painting,
0:21:33 > 0:21:35or as close as we can get.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38And the boat coming in is just in front of the fishing boat we see here.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42- So, this bank here, is that what we can see?- Yeah, it is.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44- It's lost its hut on the end and its capston.- Hm.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46But it is very much that arm of the harbour.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50So, was he actually out here, on the beach, painting away?
0:21:50 > 0:21:52Was he doing it plein air, like the French Impressionists?
0:21:52 > 0:21:54To an extent. What he really did was
0:21:54 > 0:21:59he went around taking lightning sketches in pencil and crayon
0:21:59 > 0:22:03and then he would take them back to Chelsea, where he was living,
0:22:03 > 0:22:06and over the winter, he would then build them up into paintings.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13Southwold has also inspired creativity of
0:22:13 > 0:22:16a less-traditional kind.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19Not everyone comes here to create with paint and brush.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24Going into our guide is a great British eccentric
0:22:24 > 0:22:26with a mechanical mind.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32Inspired by that most seaside of traditions,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35the end-of-the-pier show.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41I'm Tim Hunkin. I'm an engineer and I'm also a cartoonist.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44For the last ten years, I've been making machines
0:22:44 > 0:22:47for my amusement arcade, The Under-The-Pier Show.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49And I love it!
0:22:53 > 0:22:54This is my arcade.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58It's all home-made, mostly by me.
0:22:59 > 0:23:04You can take a dog for a walk, you can enter the mind of a fly.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07Where is that damn fly?!
0:23:07 > 0:23:10This is one of the most popular machines at the moment,
0:23:10 > 0:23:12you have to hit the bankers.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14It's really difficult to make the hammers last
0:23:14 > 0:23:15more than a couple of weeks.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20People just come on a pier to have fun.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22I don't think there's anywhere else that people would be quite
0:23:22 > 0:23:24so eager to do silly things,
0:23:24 > 0:23:28like lie on an exercise bed while everybody's watching them.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30Take a fibreglass dog for a walk
0:23:30 > 0:23:34or to cross a motorway with a Zimmer frame anywhere else.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38The fun of the fair on Southwold Pier
0:23:38 > 0:23:41earns its place in our Great Guide.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47But not every creative force on this coast is something you can see or do.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53Nine years ago, on a classic East Anglian beach,
0:23:53 > 0:23:56I searched for the sound of a genius.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03Hailed as the greatest opera composer of the 20th century,
0:24:03 > 0:24:09Benjamin Britten found inspiration in Aldeburgh for a modern classic,
0:24:09 > 0:24:10Peter Grimes.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14The vivid story of a fisherman pursued by the locals
0:24:14 > 0:24:16after the death of two apprentices.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22Pleas for mercy fall on deaf ears.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29Grimes descends into madness and suicide.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38The powerful, evocative Peter Grimes goes into our Great Guide.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42# Peter Grimes, we are here to investigate the cause of death
0:24:42 > 0:24:46# Of your apprentice, William Spode
0:24:46 > 0:24:49# Whose body you brought ashore from your boat, The Boy Billy
0:24:49 > 0:24:52# On the 26th ultimo. #
0:24:54 > 0:24:56Based on a poem by a local author,
0:24:56 > 0:24:59Peter Grimes is set in a small seaside town called the Borough.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10One man who knows how much this coast influenced the writing
0:25:10 > 0:25:14of the opera is Jonathan Reekie, director of the Aldeburgh Festival.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19You can hear the coast.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23You can hear the sea, the wind, the birds,
0:25:23 > 0:25:26the scrunch of the pebbles, in that piece.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29And the piece is structured with the Four Sea Interludes.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33And it's so vivid. It's very hard, once you've heard Peter Grimes,
0:25:33 > 0:25:36it's very hard to stand on this beach and not hear it.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39OPERA MUSIC
0:25:44 > 0:25:49How much of the world that Britten portrayed still survives today?
0:25:49 > 0:25:51Well, I think very little.
0:25:51 > 0:25:52I mean, literally,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55there are specific things in Peter Grimes,
0:25:55 > 0:25:59like the place where Peter Grimes' hut was, that have gone,
0:25:59 > 0:26:01that have been washed away by the sea.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05And of course, the fishing industry is hanging on by its fingertips now.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07But if you're on this beach, you still hear the sea.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09I mean, the sea hasn't changed.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15WAVES CRASH
0:26:29 > 0:26:33Our guide reveals a coastline bursting with creativity.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37But also one with a deep connection to its past.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42I've arrived at the one place on these shores where that
0:26:42 > 0:26:45connection runs deepest and longest.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50Happisburgh.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56It sits on a small stretch of coast with the biggest of stories.
0:27:00 > 0:27:06Happisburgh's a lovely little place. It has just 1,372 inhabitants.
0:27:06 > 0:27:11But it's been populated off and on for thousands of years.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16If you come down to the beach at the right time here,
0:27:16 > 0:27:18you're in for a big surprise.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24Once upon a time, there was a muddy river estuary here.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28And experts have found evidence of Britain's most ancient
0:27:28 > 0:27:31footprints 800,000 years old.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38They belong to men, women and children
0:27:38 > 0:27:41known as Homo antecessor, or pioneer man.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47The oldest footprints ever discovered outside of Africa.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51In fact, this whole stretch of coast is an archaeological paradise.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55Flint tools, animal bones
0:27:55 > 0:27:59and one of the most complete mammoth skeletons ever discovered.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05And to give you an ideal of the animal's size,
0:28:05 > 0:28:08this is a mammoth tooth.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11Look at the wear on it.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13That's the grinding surface.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17This was found on a beach at West Runton,
0:28:17 > 0:28:19about 18 miles from here.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21And it's a wonder to behold.
0:28:21 > 0:28:27And it's unavoidable to feel a kind of electric charge in holding it.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31Because this is from a time thousands of years ago
0:28:31 > 0:28:35when human beings and mammoths lived side by side.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43Happisburgh's archaeology earns a place in our guide,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46but the story doesn't stop there.
0:28:48 > 0:28:50Many of these fantastic finds
0:28:50 > 0:28:53are from a time before Britain became an island.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59It was right here that Britain as we know it was born.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03Where there's now water was once land.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08This spot once connected us to Europe through
0:29:08 > 0:29:10a lost world known as Doggerland.
0:29:13 > 0:29:17Nick went offshore to explore Britain's very own Atlantis
0:29:17 > 0:29:19for our Great Guide.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25So here we are, bobbing around on a fishing boat in the North Sea,
0:29:25 > 0:29:27but seven, eight, nine thousand years ago,
0:29:27 > 0:29:30- we couldn't have done this, could we? We would've been on land. - That's it.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33We would've been actually sitting on a big plain of Doggerland
0:29:33 > 0:29:36with the rivers, the trees behind us and the little hills.
0:29:36 > 0:29:40It would've been a diverse landscape we'd have been sitting on.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46Just off our coast, there's a lost world.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49Mighty rivers once ran through Doggerland,
0:29:49 > 0:29:52a wetland paradise rich with fish and birdlife
0:29:52 > 0:29:54to feed the early Europeans.
0:29:54 > 0:29:59Around 10,000 years ago, as the ice started to melt, sea-level rose.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03Doggerland was submerged. Its residents moved on.
0:30:03 > 0:30:08Some into Britain, which became an island as Doggerland disappeared.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19The ice sheets that wiped out Doggerland are long gone.
0:30:19 > 0:30:2410,000 years have passed since the Big Freeze gripped this shore.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30But it's left an enduring legacy on this eroding coast.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33It's the last Ice Age that can take credit
0:30:33 > 0:30:36for the crumbling eastern shoreline.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42In Happisburgh, the advancing ice sheet
0:30:42 > 0:30:46pushed up the soft clay that now lines this shore.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49These fragile cliffs are vulnerable to the pounding waves.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57They're no match for severe storms and dilapidated defences.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04This is Britain's fastest-shrinking shore.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10An unwished-for honour that puts Happisburgh into our guide.
0:31:13 > 0:31:1727 homes have been lost to the sea in the past three decades.
0:31:18 > 0:31:24Over two months in 2003, 13 metres just disappeared.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29A challenge for coastal campaigner, Malcolm Kirby.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33Malcolm, this cliff is a pretty stark demonstration
0:31:33 > 0:31:36- of the power of the sea, isn't it? - Oh, absolutely.
0:31:36 > 0:31:41The sea, no-one can argue with the sea. It will do what it wants to do.
0:31:44 > 0:31:48Bad news for the residents of Happisburgh.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51A 1940s law meant if homes vanished,
0:31:51 > 0:31:54people simply had to swallow the loss.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57So basically, you've got people who, for a long time,
0:31:57 > 0:32:00- were living quite far away from the sea.- Absolutely.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04And it's moving so fast that they're going to lose their homes,
0:32:04 > 0:32:07- but they can't get help from the establishment?- Yep.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09- They can't insure.- No.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12And when the worst happens, if and when it does,
0:32:12 > 0:32:14they can't get compensation either?
0:32:14 > 0:32:15Absolutely right.
0:32:17 > 0:32:20The community couldn't make a stand against the waves,
0:32:20 > 0:32:21so, led by Malcolm,
0:32:21 > 0:32:27they settled for a strategic retreat step by step inland.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31And we were able, for the first time in British maritime history,
0:32:31 > 0:32:35or coastal maritime history, to buy nine properties
0:32:35 > 0:32:38- and release those people to get on with their lives.- Right.
0:32:38 > 0:32:42- So, they've been able to sell up and move elsewhere?- Absolutely.
0:32:42 > 0:32:46In simple terms, as they drop off the front,
0:32:46 > 0:32:49build them at the back, carry on doing that,
0:32:49 > 0:32:53pop back in 200 years' time, you still have Happisburgh.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59The sea still gnaws at the cliffs around Happisburgh,
0:32:59 > 0:33:02but government funding has thrown the locals a lifeline
0:33:02 > 0:33:07to build new homes and new lives away from the threat of the waves.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15- What's the atmosphere like in Happisburgh now?- It's brilliant.
0:33:15 > 0:33:20There's a real... There's a kind of a charge in the atmosphere.
0:33:20 > 0:33:22- Optimism?- Yes, absolutely.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25And the whole community is more at one with itself
0:33:25 > 0:33:27and feels better about itself
0:33:27 > 0:33:30and is poised for a much, much better future.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45This is the Coast Great Guide to East Anglia.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51For the past ten years, our team of experts have hunted
0:33:51 > 0:33:54these shores for secret stories and hidden gems.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01But what are the can't-afford-to-miss highlights?
0:34:01 > 0:34:04This is our flying visit to East Anglia.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17Any East Anglian adventure starts here,
0:34:17 > 0:34:22with the tidal mudflats of The Wash scrubbed clean by the tides
0:34:22 > 0:34:24and teeming with wildlife.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29Also home to these mysterious concrete doughnuts.
0:34:32 > 0:34:37These 1970s sci-fi structures were designed to capture freshwater,
0:34:37 > 0:34:40creating reservoirs to ease drought in Britain.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45Now abandoned, they provide the perfect protected habitat
0:34:45 > 0:34:49for over 3,000 pairs of breeding sea birds.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56Hunstanton, with distinctive red and white chalk cliffs.
0:34:59 > 0:35:04And a two-mile beach perfect for kites. But not just any old kites.
0:35:07 > 0:35:11To a lot of onlookers, it's a weird and wonderful thing they're seeing.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15Is it a kite? Is it a paraglide? Is it a parachute?
0:35:15 > 0:35:19And then you end up getting into all sorts of funny conversations
0:35:19 > 0:35:22with little old ladies and men on the beach who just sit and watch for hours on end.
0:35:27 > 0:35:29Travelling down the coast to Sheringham,
0:35:29 > 0:35:34you'll find a real rarity in Norfolk, a hill!
0:35:35 > 0:35:39Measuring a mighty 207 feet above sea-level.
0:35:41 > 0:35:46Head south and seek out seaside treats.
0:35:46 > 0:35:52Cromer, famous for crabs and a pier voted Britain's best.
0:35:52 > 0:35:56- TANNOY:- OK, folks, you've got one minute now
0:35:56 > 0:35:59to get your crabs down to the table.
0:36:00 > 0:36:07The winners of our Net Class are Hannah and Olivia with 102 crabs.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09APPLAUSE
0:36:11 > 0:36:16Past bustling harbours and bright beach huts to reach a border.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21Benacre Ness, where north meets south.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24The start of the Suffolk Heritage Coast.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27And, like its Norfolk neighbour, it's eroding fast.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33Covehithe, inhabited since Roman times,
0:36:33 > 0:36:37was almost three miles inland when first built.
0:36:37 > 0:36:39It's now less than half a mile from the sea.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47Further on, the weirdest village in Britain.
0:36:47 > 0:36:53Thorpeness, a 1930s vision of English eccentricity.
0:36:56 > 0:37:02Further down, picture-perfect gives way to industrial superhub.
0:37:02 > 0:37:06Felixstowe, still the UK's largest container port.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14And still growing, with a £300-million extension.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22Our whistle-stop tour ends in the Essex town of Harwich,
0:37:22 > 0:37:26the largest harbour on the River Stour.
0:37:26 > 0:37:28And one of Britain's busiest ferry ports.
0:37:32 > 0:37:33But if you only do the unmissable,
0:37:33 > 0:37:37you might just miss some hidden gems.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40Coast can complete the bigger picture.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47This is our Great Guide to East Anglia.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53I'm making my way to Orford Ness in Suffolk,
0:37:53 > 0:37:57but my next port of call is the port of Great Yarmouth.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03Where the broads meet the sea.
0:38:03 > 0:38:07Mentioned in the Domesday Book, this port has a long history.
0:38:07 > 0:38:11And, more recently, a dark history.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16A First World War threat from the skies.
0:38:19 > 0:38:23In 1915, Great Yarmouth was the first town in Britain
0:38:23 > 0:38:24to be bombed from the air.
0:38:28 > 0:38:33Tessa Dunlop investigated that fateful night.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36A brilliant flash appeared in the sky.
0:38:36 > 0:38:41A searchlight from a flying machine illuminated the streets,
0:38:41 > 0:38:43followed by a string of bomb blasts.
0:38:44 > 0:38:47A Zeppelin air raid.
0:38:47 > 0:38:49The first on British shores.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52With that attack on Great Yarmouth,
0:38:52 > 0:38:55the Germans unleashed three years of terror.
0:38:55 > 0:38:59Aerial warfare was invented as the invaders outsmarted
0:38:59 > 0:39:02Britain's defenders.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06Suddenly, the nation's streets had become the front line.
0:39:06 > 0:39:10Bombs rained down with fatal consequences.
0:39:10 > 0:39:14Martha Taylor, a 72-year-old spinster, was killed here.
0:39:14 > 0:39:16She died instantly.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19Martha and fellow casualty, Samuel Smith,
0:39:19 > 0:39:22were the first Britons to die in an air raid.
0:39:32 > 0:39:37But it's not for the Zeppelins that Great Yarmouth is in our guide.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40Here, it's all about the herring.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43The herring industry has a history
0:39:43 > 0:39:45stretching back to the Norman conquest.
0:39:47 > 0:39:49At its 20th-century peak,
0:39:49 > 0:39:53this harbour would have been flooded with fishing vessels.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57In just four record-breaking months in 1913,
0:39:57 > 0:40:00380,000 tonnes of herring
0:40:00 > 0:40:03were landed at Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.
0:40:04 > 0:40:06Steamers had replaced sailboats.
0:40:06 > 0:40:10Fleets of boats from all around Scotland's coast
0:40:10 > 0:40:13chased the silver darlings down south.
0:40:13 > 0:40:16Great Yarmouth witnessed the rise and fall of an industry.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24It's nine years since I first came here on the herring trail.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27There were so many boats in Yarmouth that they couldn't lay flat
0:40:27 > 0:40:30to the cane, so they had to put their noses to the cane.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33And Yarmouth boats were more or less company-owned, but the Scotchmen,
0:40:33 > 0:40:37they were family boats, so their boats were precious to the crew.
0:40:37 > 0:40:41And if you damaged them, sort of trying to push yourself in...
0:40:41 > 0:40:43Would there be a frank exchange of views?
0:40:43 > 0:40:46That pub used to be like John Wayne, you know.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48They used to have swinging doors there
0:40:48 > 0:40:50and they used to be flying out of the doors.
0:40:52 > 0:40:55Scotswomen got a warmer reception.
0:40:55 > 0:41:00For a century, a seasonal army of 10,000 herring lasses
0:41:00 > 0:41:03descended on the coastal communities here
0:41:03 > 0:41:06to gut, pickle and pack the herring.
0:41:06 > 0:41:10Paid per cran, or 28st of fish packed in a barrel,
0:41:10 > 0:41:15it was claimed they could gut 60 herring a minute.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19This is where the lorry would have come along, or a horse and cart,
0:41:19 > 0:41:23with the fish on it, straight from the fish wharf to here.
0:41:23 > 0:41:27Tipped in and the girls would be gutting and packing them away
0:41:27 > 0:41:30in barrels all ready for pickling.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34# But ye rise at five with the sleep still in your eye
0:41:34 > 0:41:38# You're awake to find the gutting yards along the Yarmouth quay...#
0:41:38 > 0:41:42The girls were dressed up in the oilies. They were tough old girls.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44But you used to see them on Sundays going to church
0:41:44 > 0:41:46and they'd be dressed in their Sunday clothes
0:41:46 > 0:41:48and they'd be different people again.
0:41:48 > 0:41:50# And you greet like a wean when you put them in the bree
0:41:50 > 0:41:53# And you wish you were a thousand miles away from Yarmouth quay. #
0:41:57 > 0:42:01But one precious relic of the herring industry is still afloat.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06She's called the Lydia Eva and she's an absolute beauty.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09The last steam drifter in the world.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11And a definite must-see on our Great Guide.
0:42:14 > 0:42:19In one outing, this boat could snare a quarter-of-a-million herring.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22Double the catch of your average steam drifter.
0:42:25 > 0:42:29To find out more about this unique boat, I'm meeting Morris Jackman.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33So tell me about the Lydia Eva.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37She was built as a drifter trawler in 1930.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40She was designed to catch herring.
0:42:40 > 0:42:41I know that she's the last steam drifter.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45- The last steam drifter left. - In the world?- Yes.- How come?
0:42:45 > 0:42:46How did she survive?
0:42:46 > 0:42:50She was bought by something called the Maritime Trust.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55How much has it cost to get her back to looking like she was
0:42:55 > 0:42:59- supposed to be?- Um...cost the thick end of a million pounds.- Oh, wow!
0:42:59 > 0:43:03- And can I see the wheelhouse?- Yeah, surely, if you come this way, sir.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08Equipped with wireless and electric light,
0:43:08 > 0:43:12the Lydia Eva was a state-of-the-art ship for her time.
0:43:12 > 0:43:17- There's almost a reassuring absence of modern technology.- Oh, yes.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20- Well, the hi-tech centre is behind you.- Right.
0:43:20 > 0:43:25Basically, all it is is just a barometer and a clock. That's it.
0:43:25 > 0:43:27- So much for sat nav!- Yeah.
0:43:27 > 0:43:31Where else could you come and work on something that's unique
0:43:31 > 0:43:33in every sense, really?
0:43:33 > 0:43:37There'll never be another one anything like it, so...
0:43:37 > 0:43:41It's a big lump of Yarmouth history that's got to be preserved.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52This is a low-lying coastline. Ideal for boats.
0:43:59 > 0:44:03Working craft have long plied their trade, and still are.
0:44:03 > 0:44:07From fenland barges to historic ships.
0:44:09 > 0:44:12But there's one particular workhorse of this coast
0:44:12 > 0:44:15that's sailing into our Great Guide.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20The traditional fishing smack.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29This is Excelsior.
0:44:31 > 0:44:35The only authentically-restored Lowestoft smack in the world
0:44:35 > 0:44:37that can still trawl under sail.
0:44:39 > 0:44:43She dates to 1921. A working piece of history.
0:44:47 > 0:44:52As I sail to Orford Ness, our guide searched out a smack in Essex.
0:44:52 > 0:44:54Mark Horton uncovered a boat
0:44:54 > 0:44:59somewhat battered and bruised, left to languish in the mud.
0:45:03 > 0:45:04This is the remains of the Xanthe,
0:45:04 > 0:45:08an Essex fishing smack around 100 years old.
0:45:16 > 0:45:20Look, you can see the rims perfectly preserved
0:45:20 > 0:45:22under all this seaweed.
0:45:22 > 0:45:23This must be the stem.
0:45:23 > 0:45:25You can see it's all...
0:45:25 > 0:45:28Take the seaweed off, there she is!
0:45:36 > 0:45:39Smacks were titans of the fishing trade,
0:45:39 > 0:45:41used for dredging and trawling.
0:45:45 > 0:45:50At their peak, there were 500 working from this stretch of coast.
0:45:52 > 0:45:56Excelsior, 100 tonnes of oak and hemp,
0:45:56 > 0:45:59designed to withstand the wildest weather.
0:46:00 > 0:46:05Boats like this have plied these waters since time immemorial.
0:46:05 > 0:46:10Carrying warriors, carrying treasure and sometimes,
0:46:10 > 0:46:14still shrouded in mystery centuries after their passing.
0:46:17 > 0:46:20One of the most enigmatic ships in the entire world
0:46:20 > 0:46:24made this coast its final resting place.
0:46:24 > 0:46:26A personal favourite of mine.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35Six years ago, I visited Sutton Hoo.
0:46:35 > 0:46:40A royal Anglo-Saxon burial ground of awe-inspiring proportions.
0:46:41 > 0:46:44Around 1,300 years old,
0:46:44 > 0:46:48it's one of the greatest archaeological finds of all-time.
0:46:51 > 0:46:56This astonishing discovery simply had to go into our Great Guide.
0:46:58 > 0:47:04Inside this mound was buried a huge boat and a great treasure.
0:47:04 > 0:47:09The posts either end mark the position of the stem and then the bow of the boat.
0:47:09 > 0:47:11Now, this roped-off area
0:47:11 > 0:47:14marks the position of the burial chamber itself,
0:47:14 > 0:47:16deep below where I'm standing.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20Now, the king, the body of the king was placed into the hull of the boat
0:47:20 > 0:47:23and then he was surrounded with his treasures.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26The beauty and age of the finds was immediately apparent,
0:47:26 > 0:47:28but what they tell us about the culture
0:47:28 > 0:47:33of the mysterious Anglo-Saxons makes these artefacts priceless.
0:47:33 > 0:47:35Most precious of all of the treasures
0:47:35 > 0:47:38to come out of the king's grave was a helmet.
0:47:38 > 0:47:40This is a brilliant replica of it
0:47:40 > 0:47:44and it's extremely heavy. It's made of silver and gold.
0:47:44 > 0:47:48Every inch of it symbolises power and conquest.
0:47:48 > 0:47:52But obviously, the most stunning element of the whole piece
0:47:52 > 0:47:55is the gold ornamentation of the face.
0:47:55 > 0:47:59This is Britain's Tutankhamen's mask.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04The ancestors of the people who buried their king in this mound
0:48:04 > 0:48:09around 1,300 years ago had come across the sea from foreign shores.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13They called their new home England, Land of the Angles.
0:48:26 > 0:48:30This is Coast's Great Guide to East Anglia.
0:48:35 > 0:48:37I've left Norfolk behind,
0:48:37 > 0:48:42crossed into Suffolk and reached my final destination.
0:48:43 > 0:48:49Orford Ness, an extraordinary spit full of extraordinary stories.
0:48:51 > 0:48:56This spit of shingle, bleak, isolated and 10-miles long,
0:48:56 > 0:49:02is home to 280 species of birds and a rare floral treasure, the sea pea.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10But it's not in our Great Guide for its wild beauty,
0:49:10 > 0:49:14it's in for its mysterious past.
0:49:14 > 0:49:19A sight so top secret, not even the locals knew what went on.
0:49:19 > 0:49:25A covert experiment right here led to a great military invention.
0:49:29 > 0:49:32Alice tracked down the story.
0:49:34 > 0:49:38On 12th February 1935, scientist Robert Watson-Watt
0:49:38 > 0:49:40sent this memo to the Air Ministry.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43It's been called the birth certificate of radar.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46"I enclose herewith a memorandum
0:49:46 > 0:49:49"on the Detection of Aircraft by Radio Methods.
0:49:49 > 0:49:52"It turns out so favourably that I am still nervous as to whether
0:49:52 > 0:49:54"we've not got a power of ten wrong,
0:49:54 > 0:49:57"but I thought it desirable to send you the memorandum immediately
0:49:57 > 0:50:00"rather than to wait for close rechecking."
0:50:00 > 0:50:05It was this memo that started the race for radar.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12Watson-Watt could barely believe his calculations.
0:50:12 > 0:50:17In theory, by measuring radio waves bouncing off a plane,
0:50:17 > 0:50:22they might be able to detect enemy bombers over 100 miles away
0:50:22 > 0:50:24day and night and in any weather.
0:50:30 > 0:50:34Watson-Watt tested his theory on this very spit of land.
0:50:36 > 0:50:40His astonishing invention helped us win the Battle of Britain.
0:50:43 > 0:50:48This is a special place. A sliver of land between the sea and the sky.
0:50:48 > 0:50:52And to add to the dreamlike quality, the strangeness,
0:50:52 > 0:50:57it's where we as a nation have kept certain things out of sight.
0:50:57 > 0:50:59Secret things, forgotten things.
0:51:02 > 0:51:05The Ness, testing ground for military innovations.
0:51:05 > 0:51:09Parachutes, aerial photography
0:51:09 > 0:51:12and something more sinister and secret.
0:51:15 > 0:51:19Nick sniffed for the truth behind the rumours for our Great Guide.
0:51:28 > 0:51:30These massive concrete structures are a relic of the time
0:51:30 > 0:51:34when Orford Ness was used to develop a far more sinister military device,
0:51:34 > 0:51:35Britain's atomic bomb.
0:51:49 > 0:51:53These places are even more bizarre on the inside than they are on the outside.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56Test laboratories like these were built to withstand
0:51:56 > 0:51:59accidental explosions.
0:51:59 > 0:52:01The walls are three-metres thick
0:52:01 > 0:52:04and the roofs are designed to absorb the energy
0:52:04 > 0:52:07and contain the debris of any blasts.
0:52:09 > 0:52:11No-one was aware that the bombs being dropped on Orford were
0:52:11 > 0:52:14the casings and mechanisms of atom bombs.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30By the 1970s, Orford Ness had entered the Cold War.
0:52:34 > 0:52:38On my last visit, I secured special access.
0:52:38 > 0:52:40- MEDIA BROADCAST: - The only official entrance
0:52:40 > 0:52:43is via an RAF ferry from the tiny village of Orford.
0:52:43 > 0:52:47And when you get there, the men in charge aren't giving much away.
0:52:47 > 0:52:51This is a joint Royal Air Force and United States Air Force
0:52:51 > 0:52:56research programme into the problems of long-range HF communications.
0:52:56 > 0:53:01- Has it anything to do with early warning defences systems?- It could.
0:53:02 > 0:53:05And, in fact, it did.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13The masts on the 700-acre site are as high as 180 feet.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16The RAF were happy for them to be filmed.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19The control building was something else, though.
0:53:19 > 0:53:21Everything about it is secret.
0:53:26 > 0:53:27Oh, good grief, what's in there?
0:53:27 > 0:53:30There would have been operators sitting at terminals with displays
0:53:30 > 0:53:33showing them possible positions and sightings of
0:53:33 > 0:53:34signals back from the radar.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37It's the sort of place James Bond gets brought, isn't it,
0:53:37 > 0:53:38- when he's been caught?- That's right.
0:53:52 > 0:53:56But on this journey, I'm bypassing Orford's military secrets.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01I'm heading to the front line of a battle that's still raging.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06This is a coast where the land is constantly at war with the sea,
0:54:06 > 0:54:10and it's about to claim a much-loved victim.
0:54:12 > 0:54:16This majestic lighthouse has stood proud for more than 200 years.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21Since 1792, it's been the fisherman's friend.
0:54:24 > 0:54:27Now it's in need of a saviour.
0:54:28 > 0:54:30Perched here, on this pebbled kingdom,
0:54:30 > 0:54:32it's perilously close to the sea.
0:54:35 > 0:54:39In the past four years, that distance has halved.
0:54:39 > 0:54:44Ironic that a beacon warning ships of danger is now in danger itself.
0:54:44 > 0:54:48# The shingle is shifting Shifting, shifting
0:54:48 > 0:54:52# The shingle is shifting Always shifting
0:54:52 > 0:54:55# The shingle is shifting Always shifting
0:54:55 > 0:55:00# Moving down the coast...#
0:55:00 > 0:55:04For local, Liz Ferretti, it's the end of an era.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07# ..off Orford Ness no-one could see...#
0:55:09 > 0:55:13We've been used to the light coming into our houses at night for years.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15People have grown up with the light.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17And it feels as though they've lost a friend.
0:55:17 > 0:55:19And I think people will miss it.
0:55:19 > 0:55:24We decided we wanted to mark its passing as a community.
0:55:24 > 0:55:27And it might seem a bit strange in a way because it's just a building,
0:55:27 > 0:55:31but actually, because it's such a symbol of hope
0:55:31 > 0:55:33and all that a lighthouse brings with it,
0:55:33 > 0:55:36we've done an exhibition to bring together
0:55:36 > 0:55:37the history of the lighthouse,
0:55:37 > 0:55:42we had a concert. We've had a really good celebration of its service.
0:55:42 > 0:55:49# Moving down the coast. #
0:55:51 > 0:55:54This is the last summer the lighthouse will be open to the public.
0:55:54 > 0:55:56But the good folk of Orford Ness
0:55:56 > 0:55:59are still carrying a torch for the local landmark.
0:55:59 > 0:56:05- Hi.- How are you?- Very good to meet you.- You, too. Looking good today.
0:56:05 > 0:56:09Nick Gold is at the forefront of the campaign.
0:56:09 > 0:56:13So, how long have you been connected to the lighthouse in this way?
0:56:13 > 0:56:16Well, I acquired it three years ago,
0:56:16 > 0:56:19but I was the son of a local parson
0:56:19 > 0:56:22and I've been coming over here since a teenager.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25And I have a place in Orford and looking up at it,
0:56:25 > 0:56:27over at the horizon day after day,
0:56:27 > 0:56:30it's a pretty magnificent creature.
0:56:30 > 0:56:35What does it mean to you and what does it mean to this place?
0:56:35 > 0:56:37Well, two things, really.
0:56:37 > 0:56:41One, I love eccentric buildings and this couldn't get more eccentric.
0:56:41 > 0:56:44But to the community, it means much more.
0:56:44 > 0:56:47It's their Taj Mahal.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50Why was it switched off? I mean, why do you turn out a lighthouse?
0:56:50 > 0:56:54Well, you've only got to see how close the sea is.
0:56:54 > 0:56:55When it was originally built,
0:56:55 > 0:56:58the sea was a kilometre or more further out.
0:56:58 > 0:57:02What have you done to try and, you know, hold back the tide?
0:57:02 > 0:57:04Well, you'll see what we've done.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07We've put in these bags, which are filled with shingle.
0:57:07 > 0:57:10And they've been fantastic in making it now promontory.
0:57:10 > 0:57:12But if you look at the natural line of the beach,
0:57:12 > 0:57:15the lighthouse would have gone last year, last winter...
0:57:15 > 0:57:17- Really?- ..if we hadn't have done this.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20Can't you move it? Can't you just take it apart
0:57:20 > 0:57:22and give it an extra mile of ground?
0:57:22 > 0:57:25Well, that's what we are going to try and do,
0:57:25 > 0:57:28but it's 100-foot high, it's made out of 400,000 bricks,
0:57:28 > 0:57:31which, if we tried to shift it, it would fall apart.
0:57:31 > 0:57:35But what we're trying to do is save all the main artefacts from it.
0:57:35 > 0:57:36The top in particular,
0:57:36 > 0:57:40which absolutely can't be repeated, it would cost a fortune to do so,
0:57:40 > 0:57:44if we can get that off and then further inland
0:57:44 > 0:57:46and then we could replicate the lower half
0:57:46 > 0:57:52and then it can be appreciated on the horizon for another 100 years.
0:58:00 > 0:58:04This is a coast of contradictions.
0:58:04 > 0:58:09It once joined us to Europe, now it's edging away, beaten by the sea.
0:58:12 > 0:58:13A wildlife paradise.
0:58:15 > 0:58:19Shores where our ancestors once walked.
0:58:19 > 0:58:21A beauty.
0:58:21 > 0:58:27Come quickly, before this stretch of coast vanishes forever.
0:58:28 > 0:58:31Our Great Guide has revealed shores where people work
0:58:31 > 0:58:36with and against the sea, adapting, conquering, overcoming.
0:58:36 > 0:58:38Along this ever-changing stretch,
0:58:38 > 0:58:40you're guaranteed a different story every time.