Episode 5 Coastal Path

The South West Coast Path is one of the world's best loved walks.

At 630 miles,

it's also England's longest National Trail.

It's not for the faint-hearted.

This can be challenging walking.

'But, boy, is it worth it!'

'I'm Paul Rose and I have explored the world.

'But although I love the south-west coast,

'I've never actually walked its path.

'Until now.'

Run, run, run, run...

'In this series, I'll be discovering adventure at every turn.'

Wow! We're flying, buddy.

How big of a cliff is it?

High enough to make your knees wobble.

HE LAUGHS

'I'll be discovering wildlife...

'and wild traditions.'

Now, that's what you call an entrance!

'This is where land and sea collide.

'It really is the walk of a lifetime.'

In this episode I'll be exploring the coastline

of East Devon and Dorset

on a walk through time, as the coast path cuts through

some 185 million years of the earth's history.

I'm starting at Beer Head in Devon,

with its distinctive white cliffs.

These are the most westerly chalk cliffs in England,

and to understand more about them,

I'm going to have to tear myself away from the coastal path

and head underground.

The limestone in the cliffs at Beer Head has been one

of our most highly prized building materials since the Roman times.

For almost 2,000 years, it was quarried here at Beer Quarry Caves.

Today, John Scott runs the caves as a museum.

This whole thing is so unexpected. Especially that thing,

-that's the last thing I'd have expected to see.

-Well, it must be quite unique, mustn't it?

This church window was actually carved down here in 58 pieces

by candlelight in the spring of 1492.

And that is a great example of how

fine this Beer stone can be carved, isn't it?

Oh, yes. Because it has no fossil remains in it,

it's ideal for very fine-detailed carving.

But when you take it outside, it dries a creamy white

and becomes five times harder.

Whereabouts is Beer stone now?

You can find it in Westminster Abbey, Tower of London,

Hampton Court, Windsor Castle.

In 24 cathedrals.

So Beer Village is the home of cathedrals.

Well, they often say that it's the birthplace of cathedrals.

I would love to see how the stone is extracted, John.

Let's take you down one of the old working faces

-and see exactly how it would be done.

-Thank you very much.

-Yeah.

Over the centuries, 75 acres of space

was carved out from Beer caves...

entirely by hand.

It feels like a vast underground cathedral.

But for the quarry men who created it, working conditions were hell.

I'm glad we were together cos it's a long walk, round here,

and I absolutely, definitely would have been lost!

There's nowhere you can stand in this place

and appreciate the sheer physical size.

-And every single bit of it by hand.

-Cut out by hand.

There was never any machinery was used here at all.

It's like a monument to plain hard graft, isn't it?

It is, yeah.

But how did they do it? How did they actually cut the stuff?

It was an evil job.

I mean, not only was it dangerous, but you were single-handedly

expected to cut a four-ton block of Beer stone

out of the blank rock face every day to earn your living.

-A four-ton block every single day?

-Yeah.

Now, you've got to imagine, you've been working like this 14 solid hours,

soaked in sweat, you're totally exhausted. You can stop

but you can't go home.

Now you stand here shivering.

You're waiting for a man called the tapstone to come.

And he carries a hammer,

and after all the work you have done, you know when he hits the block,

the Beer stone you've quarried, if it doesn't ring like a bell,

doesn't ring true, but gives a dull thud,

you will know the stone is cracked, useless for a mason to carve.

-So, they won't pay you a penny wages for what you've done.

-Oh, no.

-Bears some thinking about, the true cost of this stone, doesn't it?

-That's right.

The caves and the stories they tell are humbling.

And they would have been lost forever if it wasn't for John.

How did you become so involved with this quarry?

I first got fascinated when I was a kid.

I used to come down here with some of the last of the old boys who worked here.

And some while later I heard the quarry company that owned the lease at the time

were going to blast the whole place flat.

So, we managed to stop that happening

in an effort to try and preserve it and keep it open

so future generations can see what our ancestors did.

Oh, fantastic. So, you actually saved this place?

Well, basically, yes. I mean, it came within a few hours of them

about to blast the whole place flat.

-Wow.

-Otherwise, it would all be gone by now.

It's unthinkable that these caves were nearly destroyed.

But thanks to John, they're a haunting reminder

of the extraordinary efforts that went into quarrying this highly-prized stone.

I'm back in the fresh air and heading towards

the shingle beach of Charmouth.

This stretch of coast suffers from constant landslips

and, as a result, the coast path has been diverted inland.

It's frustrating for walkers,

but for fossil hunters like Phil Davidson,

the erosion here is a reason to jump for joy.

-Up here?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just round a bit further.

What we like is a big storm because that washes the fossils

out of the mud slide,

cos the fossils are a lot harder than the mud

that they have become fossilised in, so they just wash loose

-onto the beach.

-Why is this a perfect place for fossils?

Well, it's because of the geology here. You can see the cliffs behind us are made up of layers.

Now, these layers were at the bottom of the sea floor

200 million years ago.

So, that's one of the best chances in the country that people will have

-of finding their own fossils?

-Yeah, it's world famous, here, for finding fossils.

One of the best places in the country, if not the world.

-But you have to know where to look for them.

-OK!

-So, that is where we're going to go.

-Let's go.

It seems to me there is a fossil hunter in all of us.

I mean it's entirely natural...

-Can you see one there?

-No.

-Oh, yes!

-This great big ammonite here. It's looking very...

No wonder I didn't see him, he's so big(!)

THEY LAUGH

It's quite hard to see. Sometimes when they're wet,

you can see them a little bit better.

-Is that right?

-So...

-Oh, yeah, look at this.

-And what is this?

-So, this is a really big ammonite.

So, it's one of the spiral-shaped fossils here.

These creatures were swimming around underneath the sea

and died out when the dinosaurs did, 65 million years ago.

This bit here is where the creature lived inside, like a big squid

with its head and tentacles sticking out of the end.

So, when you are walking along the beach, you need to know

a little bit about basic geology as to where to look, I suppose.

Definitely, yeah. So, it's just on that tide line that you want to look,

-cos it's the sea that churns everything up.

-Right.

So, you only want to look as far as the tide's been.

-So, it's a good place to stop and have a good old rummage.

-Right.

True to his word, Phil's found us the perfect spot.

It's not long before I find my first fossil.

-Look at that one!

-That's perfect.

-So, that's one of the fool's gold ammonites. That's brilliant.

-Wow.

I'm not joking, this is a great thing to do.

Some people think that we make them and scatter them on the beaches

for people to find, just cos they are so perfect!

THEY LAUGH

-I'm not moving.

-Yeah!

THEY LAUGH

We've got a little gold mine going on down here.

What better way to spend a sunny day?

-Just one hour we have been on this beach...

-Yeah.

-..and look at these treasures.

-Not a bad haul, is it?

You just need an expert, maybe.

But, if you think, we're the first people to see these.

They've been hiding on this beach for 200 million years.

So, you've got 200 million years of history in your hands there.

Absolutely great. Thank you very much.

-That's all right. My pleasure.

-Yeah.

With my pockets full of fossils, I'm back on the path,

and heading through the long grasses of West Hay Farm.

This is one of the oldest wildflower meadows in the country.

The land here at West Hay Farm has been farmed

without modern machinery or fertilisers for over 100 years,

and as a result, it's just bursting with rare plants and flowers.

Of all the species here, the green-winged orchids

are the most prolific.

They carpet the hillside in purple.

It's a beautiful spot to slow the pace and enjoy the scenery.

And it's well needed,

as I'm about to tackle one of the steepest climbs on the whole path,

the mighty Golden Cap.

The top of Golden Cap is the highest point on the south coast.

But if I have learned one thing walking the South West Coastal Path so far,

it's wherever there's a hill, there's a killer view in store.

There you go. What did I tell you?

I'm leaving the heights of Golden Cap

and heading across the vast shingle ridge of Chesil Beach.

The coast path here runs right beside Abbotsbury Swannery,

the only managed colony of mute swans in the world.

You can come straight on in if you like.

-I'd love to.

-Come and have a close encounter.

Swanherd David Wheeler looks after them.

Well, I've never been quite so close to so many swans.

-It's impressive, isn't it?

-It's an incredibly unique experience.

-An amazing place.

-How many birds are here?

-There's probably close to 600 altogether.

So, all these birds are wild?

Absolutely. They're free to go at any time.

They only here because they want to be here.

Swans are protected by the Queen, aren't they?

Yes, the Crown have very special rights over swans.

But the truth is that the ones that hatch here

belong to the owners of the swannery,

and they've been responsible for this

all the way back to King Henry VIII.

The swans here are fed three times a day.

I've arrived at lunchtime,

so I'm going to join the waiter service.

A little at a time. We can woosh it around.

As we're feeding the birds, Dave gets wind

that a clutch of eggs are hatching,

So, we hightail it over to the nesting pair.

So, we could actually see some young ones popping out of the eggs.

It is possible, if we... We need a little bit of luck.

She's actually in the process of hatching now.

-Is that right?

-It is, yes.

How can you tell?

Well, she's holding her wings like an umbrella.

She's trying to shelter the young underneath.

She got eight eggs under her, and there's a lot of action there.

So, it must be quite uncomfortable for her.

-I can see one little one.

-Yes.

-Little grey one. Look, there he is!

-Yes, indeed.

That's a beautiful looking chick.

It's the most exciting of times, really.

She's been incubating for 35 days and she was due to hatch today,

and she is bang on time.

This is such a unique experience, Dave. I mean, not everybody gets to see this.

No, indeed. I don't think it's anywhere else

that people can be this close to swans' eggs to watch them hatch.

When the chicks are a couple of days old, Dave and his team tag them.

Upsetting the parent birds can be a risky business,

so Dave works quickly.

-You made that look pretty easy, Dave.

-Went reasonably well, yes.

-Look, there's a whole bucket full of cygnets.

-Absolutely. Yes.

-Very cute, aren't they?

-Right. What do we do now?

-We take them a safe distance away and we'll do the work.

-All right, deal. Hello!

We'll pass one to Steve,

-and he'll try to find out if it's a male or a female.

-All right.

-It's a female.

-That's a female, right.

-Yeah, OK.

You hold it, and Dave will take it.

-I need you to present it to me.

-Right.

I need to see...

As it's a female, we use the right web.

-Right. Hang on.

-And... That's good.

-Get it the other way round.

And just show me the web and you might even be able to hold it.

-That's the left one.

-That's the left, you're right. Thank you, thank you.

-There's the right one.

-Can you hold that? That's perfect, perfect.

If you could twist this way a little.

That's good.

-How's that?

-That's perfect.

That's good.

Oh, yeah? Beautiful.

There you go, number 308.

-That goes into there.

-There you go.

All done.

All right, Dave.

Good stuff.

So now I'm going to run these back and I'm going

to get her to follow them.

All right, come see.

OK...

Now, if the cygnets get lost on the lake, Dave will be

able to return them to the safety of their parents.

-So, now newly tagged, they're going in the water?

-Indeed, yes.

They're a bit unsteady on their feet.

They'll probably be a little bit unsteady in

the water.

They're a little bit wobbly the first time in.

But they soon get the hang of it and start to explore

their beautiful home for the first time.

The swannery is perched on the edge of the Fleet Lagoon,

a 13-mile stretch of water that separates the mainland

from Chesil Beach.

I'm following the coast path as it traces the lagoon's

inner edge and rounds the headland towards Portland and Weymouth.

There's one spot here that dominates the horizon.

The sheltered waters here at Weymouth and Portland offer some of the finest

sailing conditions in the world.

And that's why, in 2012, they were selected to host

the sailing events for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It was then that Helena Lucas made history when she became Britain's

first-ever Paralympic sailing gold medallist.

Right, so this is she.

-This is it. The mighty ship.

-It actually looks all right.

This isn't what I sail in the Paralympics,

but it's a good boat for us for today.

-It must be heavier than what you'd normally sail, Helena.

-Well, actually...

'She's going to give me a few sailing tips.'

Well, I must say, I'm really looking forward to this.

How often does someone like me get to sail with an Olympic gold medallist?

I'm pleased to be able to give you that opportunity and, you know,

we could do with a little more wind today,

but I think it should be a nice, pleasant sail out there.

I'm very, very keen to get on the water with you.

What do we do next?

-I think we'll get this boat in the water, shall we?

-All right.

'I've done a fair bit of sailing, but I'm always keen to improve,

'so Helena's going to teach me a few racing manoeuvres.'

-OK, so here we go, so your helm going down.

-OK.

OK. Stay, stay, stay.

OK, and move.

THEY LAUGH

Oh, caught.

Caught on the camera. OK.

Cool.

Should we try it again?

Yeah, let's try again.

-OK, right, are you ready?

-Yeah.

-Here we go.

That's it. Change the sheet.

-And then we move.

-Got it.

-Yeah, because it helps us round.

-Yeah.

Basically, what we're doing is we're using the sails to steer the

boat so I don't have to use that so much.

-Which would slow us down.

-Which slows us down. It's like a break.

-Hey, that's great.

Hey, I got a racing tip from Helena.

-HE LAUGHS

-Exactly.

-Well, you can't come sailing with a gold medallist and not learn something.

-You're telling me!

HE LAUGHS

-Cool, should we have a go at another one?

-Yeah, dead right.

-OK, ready?

-Yeah.

-OK, so turn in the boat.

-Yeah.

OK, that's it. Do the gybe.

-And now we move.

-That's clever.

It is just great to see them having so much fun.

'Helena was born without thumbs, but that hasn't held her back.

'She's been beating Weymouth's champion sailors ever since she was a kid.'

It sounds a bit crazy, but in some ways I, kind of, feel almost,

sort of, fortunate to actually have been born without thumbs,

because I don't know any different.

As a kid, my mum was told that I wouldn't be able to use scissors

and I'd struggle writing and I don't think

there is anything that I can't do.

You'd describe this as an able-bodied boat, probably.

But, you know, I can sail anything.

-Sailing works for you but, with your spirit, it could have been anything.

-Yeah.

Who knows, who knows?

Well, it's not the fastest sail in the world, but it is fun.

Yeah, I think that's the beauty about sailing - it's never boring.

These waters always hold a special place in my heart as this is where I

won my gold medal, so it's always a pleasure for me to be out here.

-Well, thanks for sharing it, Helena. It's absolutely brilliant.

-No, my pleasure.

I'm leaving the sporting waters of Weymouth behind me

and getting back to the path.

At White Nothe, the geology changes again as the path rollercoasters

along sheer white cliffs.

Around this part of the coast, most of the limestone has been eroded by

the sea, but what remains has formed one of the most famous geological

formations in the world.

Durdle Door.

A popular spot and one of the most photographed sites on the South West Coast Path.

Well, when in Rome...

Durdle Door isn't the only big hitter on this stretch.

The perfect horseshoe-shaped bay of Lulworth Cove draws the crowds too.

Derry Billings is the ranger here.

Well, I can see why it's so popular down here.

It's absolutely beautiful, isn't it?

It certainly is, yeah, but, I mean, for me the best way to explore it

is by getting outside of the busy area, getting out there

to see what the unique bit of the Jurassic Coast is all about.

-Shall we go and have a bit of an explore?

-I'll follow you, yes!

-Follow me. Let's go.

-Look at that, Derry, look.

-Yeah. Here we go.

Just the way that's opening up.

Now we come out, and we can see the whole Jurassic Coast.

So, what's going on here geologically, then?

It's what I'd call a soft rock sandwich.

So, what's in the sandwich?

So we've got hard layers, so Portland limestone, which is out the front there,

famous for building all over the world, really.

Then we've got quite resistant chalk at the back

and then three softer rocks sandwiched in the middle.

-It's the way to remember geology.

-Yeah, that's right.

-Is as a rock sandwich.

-Yeah.

DERRY LAUGHS

So, the cove formation has been what I call a coincidence of events.

First, we had our different rock layers, our sandwich,

then we had some uplift, tectonic activity pushing them around,

and the final, kind of, icing on the cake, really, was when a glacial meltwater river

came down through the soft layers

and it punched a hole in the hard layers.

So, it's the glaciers that opened up the cove?

That's right. Then, once this was breached, the sea could come in and scoop out the soft layers.

-This is a great place.

-Yeah.

-Thank you.

-Shall we keep going, then?

-Yes, please.

Right, Paul.

So, we're coming up to another little spot along the Jurassic Coast here that's called Stair Hole.

To be honest, if you thought the geology back in Lulworth Cove was good,

this place is going to absolutely blow your socks off. It's my favourite place

along the coast line here.

-Let's have a look.

-Pop in there. Yes, please.

-Yeah, let's go.

Now, when we go in, Paul, what I want you to do is look up to your right.

-That is what we call the Lulworth Crumple.

-Oh, yes.

-That is beautiful.

-Yeah, absolutely stunning.

Different layers of rocks.

Some hard, some soft, that have been uplifted

through the same processes that made the Alps and the Pyrenees.

That is our answer to the Alps.

'The Lulworth crumple might not be quite as big as

'the Alps, but the detailed patterns in the rock are stunning.'

If you're studying geography and geology, this

is the place to be.

All of those things you learn at school happening right here.

-Shall we head off?

-Yeah.

-That way?

-That way.

PAUL LAUGHS

I've learned so much about this World Heritage

coastline, but my next stop marks the end of the Jurassic Coast.

These striking formations are known as the Old Harry Rocks.

They were once part of a vast chalk ridge that, just a

few thousand years ago, connected this mainland to the Isle of Wight.

The pounding waves that hit the shore after the last Ice Age have

polished the cliffs here to a dazzling white.

And worked away at the soft rock to create arches and sea stacks.

They are a final reminder of the dynamic and ever-changing nature of our coastline.

I'm now on the home straight of my epic walk on the

South West Coast Path.

All that remains is the two and a half miles of sandy beach here at Studland.

I've explored so many incredible places along Britain's longest and finest footpath.

From the heights of Exmoor...

..to the golden sands of Porthcurno.

Firing the gun!

'From getting hands-on with history...'

GUN FIRES

Oh! Fantastic!

STEAM TRAIN WHISTLES

'..to letting off steam.'

I'm driving a steam train!

'It's been every bit as beautiful...'

Fly, fly, fly. Come on.

Wow!

'..satisfying...'

Hmm. Perfect.

Good effort, Paul.

'..and fun...'

Slide here!

'..as I could have hoped for.'

Well, here I am.

South Haven Point, the official end of the

South West Coast Path, or start, depending which way you're going.

But, you know, it's true what they say -

a good walk isn't really about the destination, but the journey.

And, boy, what a journey it's been.