0:00:20 > 0:00:24This morning I'm starting a journey through the unique landscape
0:00:24 > 0:00:26of the Norfolk coast.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29It was the birth place of one of our greatest national heroes,
0:00:29 > 0:00:31Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36Throughout the programme, I'm going to be visiting some of the important places from his life
0:00:36 > 0:00:39as well as exploring the area's beautiful water ways.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44I start just off the coast of King's Lynn
0:00:44 > 0:00:47before moving on to Nelson's birth place at Burnham Thorpe.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50I'll stop at the coastal town of Sheringham,
0:00:50 > 0:00:52visit the ancient city of Norwich.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54Take a boat ride through the Norfolk Broads
0:00:54 > 0:00:56and end my journey at Great Yarmouth.
0:00:58 > 0:01:03Along the way I'll be looking back at the very best of the BBC's rural programmes
0:01:03 > 0:01:04from this part of the world.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07This is Country Tracks.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17Things get under way in the early light on board a cockle and mussel fishing trawler
0:01:17 > 0:01:19with local fisherman Bob Garnett.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23What's the history of fishing in your family?
0:01:23 > 0:01:24It goes back quite a long way.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28As far as I know or remember,
0:01:28 > 0:01:31really, especially on my mother's side.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34And your sons as well?
0:01:34 > 0:01:38- Yeah. I have one son doing it now. - He followed you into fishing?- Yeah.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40Have you always fished out of King's Lynn?
0:01:40 > 0:01:44Yeah. We have, but we've gone round the coast a little bit
0:01:44 > 0:01:47but mainly out of King's Lynn, most of the time, yeah.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51There's quite a long-standing tradition of fishing from King's Lynn, isn't there?
0:01:51 > 0:01:58Yeah. It goes back years really, to 12th and 13th century, you know.
0:01:58 > 0:02:03Cockle and mussel fishing has been an important industry for this area for hundreds of years
0:02:03 > 0:02:11but back in 1997, a dramatic fall in numbers threatened to jeopardise the livelihoods of local fishermen.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15This is the riverside restaurant in King's Lynn of the Wash,
0:02:15 > 0:02:18the shellfish capital of the country,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21so what could be better than a plate of freshly-cooked mussels.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25But the irony is that these molluscs are not from round here.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28All the mussels in the Wash have disappeared.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32It's a mystery. No-one knows why,
0:02:32 > 0:02:34but everyone is blaming everyone else.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39The Wash, once a sea of plenty, mussels and cockles galore.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43Giant suction dredges could each hoover up eight tonnes of shellfish
0:02:43 > 0:02:44in couple of hours.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48Before this new technology, half a tonne a day would be good going.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52A fleet of dredges regularly plied the Wash.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55Were the fishermen just too plain greedy,
0:02:55 > 0:03:00for today the only mussels being processed at King's Lynn come from elsewhere, the Kent coast,
0:03:00 > 0:03:04- Wales, or even Ireland. - Are the stocks being overfished?
0:03:04 > 0:03:07The change from traditional hand raking methods
0:03:07 > 0:03:09to mechanical suction dredging
0:03:09 > 0:03:11which is considerably more effective
0:03:11 > 0:03:14and possibly over exploiting the stocks.
0:03:14 > 0:03:19Now, to be fair, the Environment Agency doesn't put all the blame on overfishing,
0:03:19 > 0:03:23maybe that's just as well, for many point the finger at the Agency itself
0:03:23 > 0:03:26and its sand dredging operation.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29On the east coast thousands of homes are at risk from flooding,
0:03:29 > 0:03:32so the Environment Agency is building up the beaches, using
0:03:32 > 0:03:35millions of tonnes of sand taken from the Wash,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38causing the waters to become cloudy.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41I think one of the major causes is the dredging itself.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45People don't really understand that. They seem to think,
0:03:45 > 0:03:48"Well, they're just taking the sand from the the seabed,
0:03:48 > 0:03:50"there's plenty of sand," but it's not.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53There are others two blame the weather.
0:03:53 > 0:03:58Over the past few years the Wash has suffered a series of severe winter gales.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01The winds are going to be strong from a cold direction as well...
0:04:01 > 0:04:03But as many people again say it can't be the weather.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Last winter was fine and normally stocks would have recovered.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10I would have said we had an ideal year this year
0:04:10 > 0:04:16to see an abundance of everything. We've had a cold winter,
0:04:16 > 0:04:21we had snow. We had a nice spring, sunshine.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25Then it turned to rain in May. Then we had a brilliant summer.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29I would have said there would be an abundance of everything now, but that hasn't worked out.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33Only one thing is for certain, if the mussels don't come back,
0:04:33 > 0:04:37the shellfish industry on the Wash will go broke.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40The irony is that King's Lynn was built on the back of fishing.
0:04:40 > 0:04:45At the turn of the century the Wash was the best place for mussels in the country.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48The fishermen would sail out with the tide till they grounded.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52Hand raking mussels was a tough, backbreaking job,
0:04:52 > 0:04:54but there were rich pickings.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59Although stocks would sometimes drop, they usually recovered - until now.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04It's hard to convey the scale of the natural disaster that's occurred here.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06It's all below the water.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09Let me give you a few facts and figures. In the 1970s and '80s,
0:05:09 > 0:05:16two thirds of all the mussels, half of all the shrimp, a quarter of all the cockles landed in Britain
0:05:16 > 0:05:18came from here, the Wash.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22But now the cockle beds and the mussel beds have been closed
0:05:22 > 0:05:24and an industry has been left high and dry.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28It used to be worth £2 million a year
0:05:28 > 0:05:31and that's dropped to just a couple of hundred thousand.
0:05:31 > 0:05:37For the 70 or so fishermen sailing out of King's Lynn, the outlook is grim.
0:05:37 > 0:05:43They used to divide their year fishing for cockles, mussels and shrimp, moving from one to the next.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45But with two out of the three gone,
0:05:45 > 0:05:48all that's left are memories of better days.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50The good times were, well, very good.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54We all used to make a decent living out of it.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56But because there's no cockles and mussels any more,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59we spend about three or four months of the year
0:05:59 > 0:06:01with absolutely nothing to do, or we come out here
0:06:01 > 0:06:05on the shrimps and take a chance on whether you earn anything at all.
0:06:05 > 0:06:10Nine times out of ten, maybe not nine times out of ten, but quite often,
0:06:10 > 0:06:14you'll go home barely covering the cost of the diesel in the boat.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18Already half the fleet is tied up, possibly permanently.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20Their skippers and crews forced to take jobs on land.
0:06:20 > 0:06:25A sad end for some fishing families who have been sailing the Wash for more than 1,000 years.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29The Eastern Sea Fisheries who regulate fishing here
0:06:29 > 0:06:33say they had to close the beds because stocks were fast disappearing.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36It's probably a combination of a great many factors,
0:06:36 > 0:06:40climatic changes, decreased nutrient run-off from the land.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42We've had low river flows,
0:06:42 > 0:06:46we've had factories closing, the canning factories closing down,
0:06:46 > 0:06:50they were obviously putting a certain amount of nutrient into the water
0:06:50 > 0:06:51which flows into the Wash.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54You see, the clean-up is everything that everybody wants,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57but it's not what the mussels and cockles want,
0:06:57 > 0:06:59because that's what they feed on.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03Dirty water is actually quite good for them, but obviously not for the esoteric reasons.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06Lack of nutrients, overfishing, sand dredging -
0:07:06 > 0:07:09no-one knows for sure what's gone wrong in the waters of the Wash.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13Spawning mussels produce billions of spats every year.
0:07:13 > 0:07:14What's happening to them?
0:07:14 > 0:07:19Fortunately on all sides there's a realisation that there's no one single cause
0:07:19 > 0:07:22for the decline and the bickering is beginning to stop.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26Instead, people are working together to find a solution.
0:07:26 > 0:07:32The first step is to commission an independent scientific study of all the research work
0:07:32 > 0:07:34that's been carried out on the Wash.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38There's data on the fisheries going back 100-200 years.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42There have been a large number of studies of various aspects
0:07:42 > 0:07:43in the last few years.
0:07:43 > 0:07:49No-one is entirely sure to the extent to which these have overlapped or left critical gaps.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53We're hoping, at least in our own modest way, to start pulling this together.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57But the tide is running out fast for the fishermen on the Wash.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01They can't afford to wait years for a scientific solution to be found.
0:08:01 > 0:08:07They can only hope the mussels and cockles return as mysteriously as they disappeared.
0:08:08 > 0:08:13After years of research, official studies have pointed to overfishing
0:08:13 > 0:08:16as the primary reason for the sudden drop in cockle and mussel numbers.
0:08:16 > 0:08:21Meanwhile, working closely with the Government's advisory body, Natural England,
0:08:21 > 0:08:25the fishermen are reinvigorating the stock numbers, by cultivating new mussel beds
0:08:25 > 0:08:29and turning back to more traditional methods of fishing.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33Great news for the local fishermen,
0:08:33 > 0:08:36but after the work replenishing stocks, there is now concern
0:08:36 > 0:08:39that they may be under threat again.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41Some people fear a new off-shore wind farm,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43the first phase of which is completed,
0:08:43 > 0:08:47could disrupt fishing grounds in the Wash again.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49How are things at the moment? Stocks wise?
0:08:49 > 0:08:55Stock's fairly good. The boats have been relaying a lot of mussels
0:08:55 > 0:08:58into the the fishery in the last few years.
0:08:58 > 0:09:03Cockle stocks have been up to the highest they've been for as far as the records go back.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06What kind of worries have you got about the wind farms?
0:09:06 > 0:09:09They're coming down building the wind farms on sites.
0:09:09 > 0:09:15They had all these plans to build the wind farms
0:09:15 > 0:09:19and then see what impact the wind farms would have on the fishery.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22They done a short study beforehand.
0:09:22 > 0:09:28They decided they're going to build some more and they haven't waited three, four, five years
0:09:28 > 0:09:31to see the effect of the wind farms on the environment.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35Once they do get built, would you not be able to fish around them,
0:09:35 > 0:09:37once they are all in place?
0:09:37 > 0:09:39They have to have cables connecting them.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43A 30-mile run of cable and it's not single cable.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46They're planning on, as we understand it, about 12 of them.
0:09:46 > 0:09:51The routes they've planned, they go through cockle beds, mussel beds,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54they go through shrimp-trawling ground.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58We won't be able to do any of those things where the cables are.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02If the new plans go ahead, and the new turbines get built,
0:10:02 > 0:10:06is there a way, is there a third way where you can accept
0:10:06 > 0:10:10that they'll be built and they can keep fishermen happy? Is there a way they can do that?
0:10:10 > 0:10:16Our concern is that as soon as there's a single accident somewhere,
0:10:16 > 0:10:20which is going to happen because there are so many of these things,
0:10:20 > 0:10:23we're going to have the Marine Coastguard Agency saying
0:10:23 > 0:10:25"This is too dangerous,
0:10:25 > 0:10:28"you can't be fishing commercially inside this area."
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Then that whole piece will be closed off to us.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35Wind farms are increasingly becoming a feature of our coastline.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37But they're rarely far from controversy.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41The representative for the farm here in the Wash is Alan Thompson.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44We've been out with some of the local fishermen this morning.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47They've expressed a few concerns.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50The first one is about the environmental impact study.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53Their feeling was that it wasn't accurate enough,
0:10:53 > 0:10:57it didn't go into enough depth, and it wasn't carried out for a long enough period of time.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02Basically, in order to gain consent
0:11:02 > 0:11:05you have to satisfy the consenting authorities
0:11:05 > 0:11:08that there will be no detrimental impact of the wind farm.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11You do that through an environmental impact assessment.
0:11:11 > 0:11:16We also did some commercial fishing assessment, using the local fishing fleet.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18We did take their views into account during the process.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20- During the survey process?- Yeah.
0:11:20 > 0:11:26Another concern they expressed was about the piping and the cabling
0:11:26 > 0:11:28that goes into the construction process.
0:11:28 > 0:11:33They were worried they would be exposed by this really strong tide we get here,
0:11:33 > 0:11:37that their nets might snag and they might go through active mussel beds.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40We survey the routes for cables very, very accurately.
0:11:40 > 0:11:46We we have to establish where the commercial fishing beds are and avoid those.
0:11:46 > 0:11:52So the mitigation for both commercial fisheries and for certain environmentally-sensitive species
0:11:52 > 0:11:56is to avoid the area. So, we route the cable around those things.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00In relation to cables being exposed, well, we would be concerned about that as well.
0:12:00 > 0:12:05We don't want the cables snagged, so we lay these cables to a sufficient depth
0:12:05 > 0:12:09to where they're protected, sometimes of the order of two metres below the seabed.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13What I thought was interesting, was that once the construction is finished,
0:12:13 > 0:12:17they are allowed back into fish among and around the turbines,
0:12:17 > 0:12:23but they were concerned that they thought it likely that an accident would happen
0:12:23 > 0:12:27with all those obstacles, then the coastguards would not want them fishing there
0:12:27 > 0:12:29because it was a higher risk for health and safety,
0:12:29 > 0:12:34and they were worried that that area of fishing would be taken away from them completely.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36Fishing vessels will be able to go into the wind farm.
0:12:36 > 0:12:42Of course they have to do their own risk assessment, and their own assessment of risk
0:12:42 > 0:12:44as to where they're fishing.
0:12:44 > 0:12:50But we have, you know, or we will be giving them all the information necessary
0:12:50 > 0:12:53to make sure they can do that safely.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57I think we shouldn't lose sight of the fact, or the reason we're building these things,
0:12:57 > 0:13:02which is, you know, part of a Government's objective, to generate power from renewable sources,
0:13:02 > 0:13:05up to about 30% to 35% of electricity generated in the UK
0:13:05 > 0:13:09which should be by renewable sources by 2020,
0:13:09 > 0:13:13and that's because of the whole issue of climate change, which is real.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17It's ironic we're standing on this beach today, in a low-lying part of Norfolk,
0:13:17 > 0:13:21which, if you look at the studies in terms of sea-level rises,
0:13:21 > 0:13:23this area is under threat.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26If we do nothing about climate change,
0:13:26 > 0:13:28then certainly that will have a bigger impact
0:13:28 > 0:13:31than the construction of a wind farm.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35Cockles and mussels are not the only wildlife to be threatened
0:13:35 > 0:13:37in this area.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40Adam Henson came here to report on the plight of pink-footed geese.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Today we're in north-west Norfolk.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45It's first light and it's pretty chilly.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48We're close to the coastal village of Snettisham
0:13:48 > 0:13:54and Ciaran from the RSPB has brought me here to see one of nature's most impressive sights -
0:13:54 > 0:13:56the flight of the pink-footed geese.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03It's remarkable. How many geese do you think are out there?
0:14:03 > 0:14:06A conservative estimate would be between 20 and 30,000.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21Wow! I've never seen anything like it.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33They form these incredible Vs.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37Yeah. It's an amorphous mass, then somebody must take charge.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40They come together in skeins as they head inland.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44Where are they going?
0:14:44 > 0:14:49They're heading inland to feed on the remains of the sugar-beet harvest.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53Sugar beet is a fairly widely-grown crop in north Norfolk
0:14:53 > 0:14:57and it's a really great food source for these geese.
0:14:57 > 0:15:02A lot of farmers, when they harvest the sugar beet, leave the tops and the tails on the fields
0:15:02 > 0:15:06and the geese graze on the remainder of that crop.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09Because it's such an energy-rich food source for them,
0:15:09 > 0:15:11it helps them keep in tip-top condition
0:15:11 > 0:15:15so when they leave here in spring to head back to Iceland and Greenland,
0:15:15 > 0:15:19they're in good shape to breed and to raise a family.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23- They're big open spaces out there. - Some of the fields are really large.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26That's quite an advantage for the geese,
0:15:26 > 0:15:29because they're pretty wary, they get spooked quite easily
0:15:29 > 0:15:34and they like big, expansive open areas where they can feed and graze during the day.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37It makes them feel safe, just like being on the Wash does overnight.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40'Edward Cross is a wildlife-friendly farmer
0:15:40 > 0:15:43'who encourages the geese onto his fields.'
0:15:43 > 0:15:47There's a huge amount of geese. But you love them.
0:15:47 > 0:15:52I do. They are part of being a farmer in north-west Norfolk.
0:15:52 > 0:15:57We harvest sugar beet from September through to December, January.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00Once we've harvested it, the geese come onto the farm.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04I see pink-footed geese as part of being a farmer here.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08A couple of winters ago, Norfolk had half the world population.
0:16:08 > 0:16:13So we have a responsibility. There are huge numbers looking for food
0:16:13 > 0:16:18and we can provide them with the leftovers after a crop has been harvested.
0:16:18 > 0:16:23This helps us support the geese while keeping them off barley and wheat crops where they cause damage.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27So we can hold them here - it keeps them off neighbours' crops.
0:16:27 > 0:16:33And they're spectacular. They've been coming to this farm for 15-20 years,
0:16:33 > 0:16:37and I can't imagine a winter without them. They're just fantastic.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41The relationship between farmers and geese here in Norfolk is symbiotic.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45But it's one that could change in years to come.
0:16:45 > 0:16:50A reduction in EU subsidies presently granted to British sugar-beet farmers
0:16:50 > 0:16:55means that potentially the crop could become economically unviable for them to grow.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58Edward, how important is the beet to you on the farm?
0:16:58 > 0:17:02This is a harvested root of sugar beet and this crop is very important.
0:17:02 > 0:17:07- It's a financial mainstay of the farm and it's important for employment. - Where do you see its future?
0:17:07 > 0:17:12If the price falls to such an extent that we can't grow it viably,
0:17:12 > 0:17:15we would have to stop growing it as a crop.
0:17:15 > 0:17:21Then when the geese arrive, the only crops they'll have to eat will be things like winter barley and wheat.
0:17:21 > 0:17:27Farmers will have to frighten them off those crops. We can't afford to let them eat growing crops.
0:17:27 > 0:17:33That will create the conflict with geese and Norfolk would become a less hospitable place for them.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36How would you feel if they didn't come here for the winter?
0:17:36 > 0:17:40I'd be... Like a lot of people in Norfolk, we'd really miss them.
0:17:40 > 0:17:47Many people are used to them flying over at dawn and dusk, and come out to see them in the fields.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49It would be an empty place without them.
0:17:49 > 0:17:55It feels to me that if we don't provide a food source for them, we're letting them down as a species.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59And it's not just the pink-footed geese that could suffer.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03Sugar beet's incredibly important, not just for the geese that come here in the winter,
0:18:03 > 0:18:06but also for the birds that nest here.
0:18:06 > 0:18:13Because it's a spring-sown crop it provides a good habitat for lapwings and stone curlews to nest in.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16They're both birds that are suffering quite a lot in the UK at the moment.
0:18:16 > 0:18:21That's why it's an all-round important crop for farmers to carry on growing.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25And the risk is if the growth of sugar beet diminishes over the coming years,
0:18:25 > 0:18:28the geese will still come back in the same numbers,
0:18:28 > 0:18:32but there will be less places for them to feed, less food sources,
0:18:32 > 0:18:35they could switch to other crops, increasing conflict with farmers,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38which we don't want to see happen.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41The latest news from the RSPB is very good.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45They say pink-footed geese numbers are now on the increase in England,
0:18:45 > 0:18:46particularly in Norfolk.
0:18:46 > 0:18:51Leaving King's Lynn behind, I'm travelling 13 miles north-east
0:18:51 > 0:18:53to Burnham Thorpe.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57The reason I've come to this sleepy village
0:18:57 > 0:18:59on the banks of the River Burn
0:18:59 > 0:19:03is because it's the birthplace of one of Britain's greatest heroes,
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17'This is the church where Nelson's father preached.
0:19:17 > 0:19:22'Visitors looking for the house where Nelson was born, though, will be disappointed.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25'It was demolished soon after his father's death.'
0:19:28 > 0:19:31But one building that IS still standing is his local pub.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37Built in 1637, it was the first pub in the UK
0:19:37 > 0:19:39to change its name to the Lord Nelson,
0:19:39 > 0:19:42following the victorious Battle of the Nile.
0:19:42 > 0:19:43Landlord Simon Alper
0:19:43 > 0:19:46has done research into the pub's famous namesake.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50- Can you describe the relationship he had with this pub?- Yeah.
0:19:50 > 0:19:56Most of the relationship was between the ages of 30 and 35,
0:19:56 > 0:20:00when there was no war with France, he didn't have a ship,
0:20:00 > 0:20:03because there were too many captains and not enough boats
0:20:03 > 0:20:06and he'd fallen out with the people who were in the admiralty.
0:20:06 > 0:20:11So, he was living with father and wife in the village, using the pub,
0:20:11 > 0:20:17writing letters from here and generally living a quiet life,
0:20:17 > 0:20:19waiting for orders.
0:20:19 > 0:20:24- And how has the pub changed in the time...- Well... - ..since his death?
0:20:24 > 0:20:28The core of the pub hasn't changed very much at all.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32This room is...pretty recognisable
0:20:32 > 0:20:36as to how it would have been when he was using it.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40Is there anything still here that would have been here in his day?
0:20:40 > 0:20:45- Yes, the bench along the wall over there.- Wow!
0:20:45 > 0:20:50And the front entrance floor is also original to the building of the pub.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53- Hence the wear and why it's all uneven...- I was going to say,
0:20:53 > 0:20:57it's quite uneven - obviously had quite a bit of footfall.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59- Yes, it has.- Fantastic.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01The name of the pub is a giveaway,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04but you also have other reminders here of Nelson.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06We have - we have Nelson's Blood!
0:21:06 > 0:21:09Eugh! How is that possible?
0:21:09 > 0:21:12Um, Nelson's Blood is a spiced rum
0:21:12 > 0:21:15that's been made in the pub for a long time.
0:21:15 > 0:21:21It commemorates the fact that his body was put in a barrel of rum
0:21:21 > 0:21:25to transport it from Trafalgar to Gibraltar,
0:21:25 > 0:21:28before it was then put in a barrel of brandy,
0:21:28 > 0:21:32because the sailors had allegedly drunk all the rum from around the body,
0:21:32 > 0:21:34in order to get some of his spirit.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38In the brandy, it was then transported from Gibraltar to London.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41So what have you got in your mix that gives that sense of Nelson?
0:21:41 > 0:21:44Well, I could tell you, but I'd have to shoot you!
0:21:44 > 0:21:45Fair enough!
0:21:45 > 0:21:48- It will warm you on a cold day. - Indeed.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51Also, for toasting the immortal memory, which is a silent toast.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53So when we have dinners here,
0:21:53 > 0:21:56people don't stand up and say, "The immortal memory."
0:21:56 > 0:21:59We say, "We're going to toast the immortal memory,"
0:21:59 > 0:22:02and everybody stands and has a moment of contemplation.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04Let's do it properly, then.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14- That will warm all the way down. - It certainly is!
0:22:14 > 0:22:15Oh-ho!
0:22:16 > 0:22:21I'm moving east from Nelson's home town, heading for Sheringham.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25Between the two lies Blakeney Point, famous for its seals.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29I started doing trips when I was 11
0:22:29 > 0:22:34and they just stuck you in the boat in those days and you was away.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36But things weren't so good then.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39We didn't take so many people in those days.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42We was only running boats carrying 12.
0:22:42 > 0:22:43And now?
0:22:43 > 0:22:46Now the family runs four boats,
0:22:46 > 0:22:51ranging between one carrying 25 and the biggest one carries 40.
0:22:51 > 0:22:57We run every day from the beginning of April until the end of October,
0:22:57 > 0:22:59then once or twice a day during winter.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02Can you make ends meet doing this during the winter
0:23:02 > 0:23:06or are you having to do other things, the family?
0:23:06 > 0:23:11During the winter, all we ever do is just get our housekeeping money if we can.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14My son does most of the trips during the winter time.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17I only go when I feel like it, really, on a nice day.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21This time of year, grey seals have been having their pups
0:23:21 > 0:23:23for the last fortnight.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25There's one over there now,
0:23:25 > 0:23:29suckling a young one - that's probably about a week old, that one.
0:23:29 > 0:23:30You've got a mixture here.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33The one just here,
0:23:33 > 0:23:36that's a common seal, a young common seal.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38That'll be about three or four months.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42Of course, the common seals, they have their pups July and August.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44Do they mind you getting so close?
0:23:44 > 0:23:49Well, as you can see now, they're lying here, not worried at all.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52There's one or two just coming ashore, even with us here.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55Of course, we're here every day.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57They're used to us and they aren't worried at all.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59- You're just part of the scenery? - Yeah.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03The seals of Blakeney Point.
0:24:03 > 0:24:08Seal numbers in the UK have doubled since the 1960s
0:24:08 > 0:24:11and over half the world's population of grey seals
0:24:11 > 0:24:13can now be found on our shores.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15Travelling from Burnham Thorpe,
0:24:15 > 0:24:19I've arrived in the traditional seaside town of Sheringham.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22Sheringham has a relaxing ambience.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25It's not a place you'd expect to find showbiz glamour.
0:24:25 > 0:24:33# I had a girl, a very nice girl Down in Wroxham Way... #
0:24:33 > 0:24:38But in 1966, local postman Allan Smethurst burst into the charts
0:24:38 > 0:24:41with the classic tune Have You Got A Light, Boy?,
0:24:41 > 0:24:45winning him an Ivor Novello Award for best novelty song of the year.
0:24:45 > 0:24:50The song even knocked the Beatles from the top of the East Anglia hit parade.
0:24:50 > 0:24:55Smethurst was a real postman who used to deliver the mail on these streets,
0:24:55 > 0:24:58whilst humming songs as he made his way on his rounds.
0:24:58 > 0:25:03But his hit brought the region's distinctive accent to the attention of the nation.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07'Colin Burleigh is passionate about keeping that accent alive.'
0:25:07 > 0:25:10That sounds like a Norfolk accent to me.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12It certainly is - bred and born in Norfolk.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15What's the difference between an accent and a dialect?
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Accent is the sound your voice makes,
0:25:18 > 0:25:21whereas dialect are words that...
0:25:21 > 0:25:27perhaps my great-grandfather and great-grandmother used to use way back,
0:25:27 > 0:25:30which sadly is now disappearing, unfortunately.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33It's not just Norfolk that has dialect, obviously.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37They're all over the place. Devon has a lovely dialect as well.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41Was it the Singing Postman that made the accent so famous?
0:25:41 > 0:25:43A lot of the people outside the area picked up on it
0:25:43 > 0:25:47when his song Have You Got A Light, Boy? actually made the charts
0:25:47 > 0:25:49and outsold the Beatles' record at the time.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53People started taking note of the Norfolk accent,
0:25:53 > 0:25:58and it certainly made Norfolk come to life, as it were.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01And certainly the singing postman helped,
0:26:01 > 0:26:04a great deal to do that because...
0:26:04 > 0:26:07You notice we've stopped outside this pub?
0:26:07 > 0:26:13- Yes. The Windham Arms. - One of the songs, my favourite, is Have The Bottom Dropped Out?
0:26:13 > 0:26:16About a fella that had an old boat that was 30 years old
0:26:16 > 0:26:20and people kept asking him, "Have the bottom dropped out?"
0:26:20 > 0:26:23In the very last verse, this pub gets a mention because on a Saturday night
0:26:23 > 0:26:28Tommy Long used to sit here with his pint mug with nothing in it
0:26:28 > 0:26:31and hold it up and say, "Have the bottom dropped out?"
0:26:31 > 0:26:35Which was a cagey way of asking, "Is somebody going to buy me a drink?"
0:26:35 > 0:26:40- Very sneaky, I like it. Let's explore more of the town.- Certainly.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48- Now, say "Bootiful!"- Bootiful. - You've got it!
0:26:48 > 0:26:52Not quite, I need a few more lessons from you yet.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54# Ha' the bottom dropped out?
0:26:57 > 0:27:00# Ha' the bottom dropped out? #
0:27:00 > 0:27:05So, Colin, can you teach me some of the phrases the Singing Postman might have used?
0:27:05 > 0:27:09Yes, I can. I'd like you to repeat them and see.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13- OK.- He went to Swaffham to do a day's trar-shing for na-thing.
0:27:13 > 0:27:19- He went to Swaffham to do a day's... - Trar-shing.- ..trar-shing for...
0:27:19 > 0:27:21- Na-thing.- Na-thing.
0:27:21 > 0:27:26- It sounds awful when I do that.- You did very well.- Give me an easier one.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30- That's wholly black over Will's mother's.- That's not easy!- It is.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32- Go on.- That's wholly black over Will's mother's.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36- Go on, let's hear it.- That's wholly black over Will's mother's.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40- Do you know what that means?- No.- It means it's going to rain over there.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44That's where Will's mother lives. She lives wherever it's black.
0:27:44 > 0:27:49I can barely understand you. What happens when two people from Norfolk get together?
0:27:49 > 0:27:54Well, you usually say to them, "Do your father keep a dickey, bor?"
0:27:54 > 0:27:58- What does that mean?- That means, "Does your father own a donkey, boy?"
0:27:58 > 0:28:03If he's a true Norfolk man, he'll come back with the reply,
0:28:03 > 0:28:06"Yes, and he's looking for a fool to ride him, can you come?"
0:28:06 > 0:28:11- Then you know you have found a local?- A Norfolk man. Yeah.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14That's brilliant. I love it. It's like another language.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28So far my journey has taken me from the waters of the Wash,
0:28:28 > 0:28:30to Nelson's birth place at Burnham Thorpe
0:28:30 > 0:28:34and on to Sheringham. Now I'm heading into Norwich.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38The ancient city of Norwich is steeped in history.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42It claims the largest number of medieval churches
0:28:42 > 0:28:44of any city in Western Europe.
0:28:44 > 0:28:49They say there's a church for every Sunday of the year, and a pub for every day.
0:28:52 > 0:28:57At the heart of the city, the Norman cathedral has dominated the skyline
0:28:57 > 0:28:59for nearly 1,000 years.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02Next door, in similar medieval splendour,
0:29:02 > 0:29:06are the hallowed halls of Norwich School.
0:29:06 > 0:29:11The school has a fascinating history, dating back to the foundation of the cathedral.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14Its alumni is long and distinguished,
0:29:14 > 0:29:17but for me, its most famous pupil is Horatio Nelson.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21I've already drunk in the pub where Nelson drank.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25Now I'm going to meet the head master of the school where he studied.
0:29:25 > 0:29:30- Goodness! It's a very light chapel, isn't it?- It's wonderful.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33It's a wonderful space at the heart of the school.
0:29:33 > 0:29:38- How old is it?- 1316, but since about the 1550s,
0:29:38 > 0:29:40or from the 1550s
0:29:40 > 0:29:44until the 1800s, this was the main school room.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47When was Nelson here at the school?
0:29:47 > 0:29:50We think 1766 to 1768,
0:29:50 > 0:29:52so a couple of years between the age of eight and ten.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56He then went for a further two years to another school in Norfolk
0:29:56 > 0:29:59- and then off to sea from the age of 12.- That's young, isn't it!
0:29:59 > 0:30:02He would have had his lessons in this chapel?
0:30:02 > 0:30:06Every single one, we think. Imagine about 50 to 60 boys crammed in here,
0:30:06 > 0:30:09having all their lessons and being taught by two masters,
0:30:09 > 0:30:11- the high master and the usher.- Wow!
0:30:11 > 0:30:15What was school life like, apart from all being here in the chapel?
0:30:15 > 0:30:17What was it like then, compared to now?
0:30:17 > 0:30:21It was the traditional diet of the day. Most of the day in lessons,
0:30:21 > 0:30:26learning arithmetic, geometry, Latin and Greek and divinity and very little else.
0:30:26 > 0:30:31- Do you have anything of Nelson's at the school?- We do.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35We have three documents that are particularly interesting.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38We have some orders sent to a clergyman,
0:30:38 > 0:30:44and he was then written to in Nelson's own hand.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47What's fascinating about this letter is that Lady Hamilton herself
0:30:47 > 0:30:52writes a footnote, pleading with this friend to come over and be in their area.
0:30:52 > 0:30:57- That's a particularly valuable one. - Her handwriting is neater than his.
0:30:57 > 0:31:02- Possibly.- Beautiful. - This one, we're very excited about.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06This one has been donated to the school. It's the rendezvous signals,
0:31:06 > 0:31:10the codes that Nelson used when signalling to the fleet.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14Instead of saying, "See you in Cadiz," he'd put a flag saying, "67"
0:31:14 > 0:31:16and they'd know what he meant.
0:31:16 > 0:31:18This may even have been used in Trafalgar.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22- So this is a really important document?- Yes.- You must be really proud to have this.
0:31:22 > 0:31:24It's very exciting.
0:31:25 > 0:31:31It feels quite impressive to be walking in the same footsteps of a man who went on to such greatness,
0:31:31 > 0:31:35- such an extraordinary man. Do you get that sense as well?- I really do.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39Every day. There's a tremendous sense of history. To think of young Nelson
0:31:39 > 0:31:42strolling around here, going into chapel, into cathedral,
0:31:42 > 0:31:44- it's quite a thought.- Incredible.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47Are there any stories of what he was like as a pupil?
0:31:47 > 0:31:51There are some, we think they're apocryphal, but they're interesting.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55There's certainly one story about him keeping geese while he was here.
0:31:55 > 0:31:57And getting into trouble for it.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01Also, there's a story about stealing pears from the head master's garden
0:32:01 > 0:32:06and when challenged about it apparently he said he felt no fear
0:32:06 > 0:32:09and perhaps this was a sign that here was a man of courage.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12- A future sign of greatness perhaps? - Perhaps, maybe stretching it.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19Travelling again, I'm heading towards Barton Broad,
0:32:19 > 0:32:22deep in the heart of Norfolk Broads.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24It's the perfect place for messing about on the water.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27I wouldn't exactly say messing around.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31Boating on the Norfolk Broads is a British institution,
0:32:31 > 0:32:34up there on the with Brighton rock, beach huts
0:32:34 > 0:32:36and caravans clogging up our motorways.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39Every year thousands of people descend on these waters.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44Most of those visitors think the Norfolk Broads are a natural habitat.
0:32:44 > 0:32:48In fact, they're man-made and it's all because of this stuff.
0:32:48 > 0:32:53Peat marsh, not water, used to cover the Broads. In the ninth century,
0:32:53 > 0:32:57local people started digging it up for fuel, a practice that continued
0:32:57 > 0:33:01for centuries, leaving behind massive trenches. A rise in sea-level
0:33:01 > 0:33:03in the 14th century flooded it and the Broads were born.
0:33:03 > 0:33:08But with lots of big flooded holes and carts unable to get around,
0:33:08 > 0:33:12how did people transport goods from A to B? The answer is a wherry.
0:33:12 > 0:33:16These magnificent boats carried thousands of tonnes of goods
0:33:16 > 0:33:20to and from ports of the east coast. But their dominance was short-lived.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24The Industrial Revolution brought steam trains, which killed off
0:33:24 > 0:33:28the wherry, but whose passengers started something completely new.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31The very trains that drove the business away from the canals
0:33:31 > 0:33:35now brought tourists. And the Edwardians came in droves.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39These hedonistic visitors were to transform wherries
0:33:39 > 0:33:43from industrial cart-horse to palatial pleasure cruiser.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46It started with the trading wherries
0:33:46 > 0:33:51which would be stripped out and cleaned up for holidaymakers,
0:33:51 > 0:33:56proving very popular. They gave way to the pleasure wherries
0:33:56 > 0:34:01and they gave way to these wherry yachts, like Olive we're on now.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04The pleasure wherries were specifically designed
0:34:04 > 0:34:09to provide comfort and pleasure for their hirers.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12- Can you show me about the boat? - Yeah, of course. Delighted.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19- Right, so what room is this? - This is a saloon.
0:34:19 > 0:34:20What was this used for?
0:34:20 > 0:34:24This is where the crew would serve the meals.
0:34:24 > 0:34:29There's a bell there. In days gone by, I think what would happen
0:34:29 > 0:34:32is that when the crew had served the meal
0:34:32 > 0:34:34and it was ready for the passengers,
0:34:34 > 0:34:38- the passengers would come in here and sit down.- Very decadent.
0:34:38 > 0:34:44- Absolutely.- It even has a piano. - It's amazing. There it is, quite well-tuned.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48Hopefully, one of the members of the passengers,
0:34:48 > 0:34:51or possibly a member of the crew would be able to play tunes.
0:34:51 > 0:34:56- Just going through here.- What do we have here?- This is the galley.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59- Right.- This is where the crew would do all the cooking.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01This is gas now, but in days gone by,
0:35:01 > 0:35:05- it would have been a paraffin cooker, I should imagine.- Brilliant.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09- The sleeping accommodation is here. - Bunk beds?
0:35:09 > 0:35:11A couple of bunk beds here.
0:35:11 > 0:35:15- How many people would have been able to sleep on this boat?- About 11.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18A lot of the hires were for blokes.
0:35:18 > 0:35:25One is not at all certain how easily females fitted into the set-up,
0:35:25 > 0:35:29because obviously it's not exactly conducive to...
0:35:29 > 0:35:33- To great big skirts and all that?- Absolutely.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36Edwardian ladies would have their bustles and rest of it.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39It's rather amazing to think of.
0:35:39 > 0:35:44But I think it was very much the part of the Edwardian holiday experience.
0:35:44 > 0:35:49But of course, not everyone could afford the luxuries of Olive
0:35:49 > 0:35:50and in the '30s,
0:35:50 > 0:35:53there was a demand for smaller, cheaper, more economical boats.
0:35:53 > 0:35:58Now, 70 years on, they're still made at Hunter's Yard on Womack Water.
0:35:58 > 0:36:04'But there's not many people left making lullaby class boats. Maybe they could do with a willing helper?'
0:36:06 > 0:36:08Graham, what are you doing now?
0:36:08 > 0:36:11We need to put another plank on above this one.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14I've put a spoil board on here. I've got a block
0:36:14 > 0:36:19which I am a now going to mark the shape of this other plank onto there.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22- Can I have a go?- Course you can. - Brilliant.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25I know there aren't that many places that make these traditional boats.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28Is there a danger of this craft dying out?
0:36:28 > 0:36:34There is a danger, although at the yard here, we took on an apprentice five years ago.
0:36:34 > 0:36:39Hopefully, we'll continue the tradition at this yard if nowhere else, really.
0:36:39 > 0:36:44The next thing we have to do is remove this and then put it back on to our planking stock.
0:36:44 > 0:36:48Then we mark this edge onto there and we'll cut the new plank out.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50Right, so I just undo that...
0:36:51 > 0:36:53Perfect!
0:36:57 > 0:37:00And this is the finished product.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02I've come down to meet some holidaymakers
0:37:02 > 0:37:05who are part of a group that have been sailing here for over years.
0:37:05 > 0:37:10- Hi, guys.- Hello.- Hi.- Nice to meet you.- Come aboard.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14- Brilliant.- Welcome aboard.- What's the first thing we have to do today?
0:37:14 > 0:37:17The first thing we have to do is take the mast down on this boat
0:37:17 > 0:37:19in order to get the bridge there.
0:37:26 > 0:37:28How long have you been coming along on the Broads?
0:37:28 > 0:37:35I've been coming here 14 years. As a group, this is year 51.
0:37:35 > 0:37:3751 years!
0:37:37 > 0:37:39For a week in every September.
0:37:39 > 0:37:41What are the advantages of a holiday like this?
0:37:41 > 0:37:48The advantages... The fact that this boat is without an engine,
0:37:48 > 0:37:51there are no creature comforts at all.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54We get away from absolutely everything.
0:37:54 > 0:37:56- It's very low, isn't it?- It is!
0:37:56 > 0:38:00- You can see all the scrapes where other people have...- Absolutely.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02- The water is particularly high. - Yeah.
0:38:02 > 0:38:04Wow! We're through.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06Are we able to put up the mast now?
0:38:06 > 0:38:10That's right, we have to go across to the bank, moor up and put the mast up.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14- It doesn't have an engine. It's like a giant punt.- Absolutely.
0:38:14 > 0:38:17It's quite a manual holiday here, isn't it?
0:38:17 > 0:38:19Yes, when the wind doesn't blow, it's hard work sometimes.
0:38:20 > 0:38:22Is this quite heavy?
0:38:22 > 0:38:24Oh! We're all there.
0:38:24 > 0:38:30'Luckily the winds are picking up, so I help the crew put up the mast so they can get under sail.
0:38:30 > 0:38:35'As I cast them off, it's easy to see the lasting appeal of a traditional
0:38:35 > 0:38:38'Broads holiday and its truly beautiful boats.'
0:38:43 > 0:38:49The wherry boats are a peaceful and environmentally-friendly ways to get around the Broads,
0:38:49 > 0:38:53but I'm about to take a trip in a modern and hi-tech equivalent.
0:38:54 > 0:39:01Named after the Egyptian sun god Ra, this is the world's first solar-powered passenger boat.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05Ra has been ferrying sun worshippers on the Norfolk Broads since 2000.
0:39:05 > 0:39:10She traverses the waterways of the nature reserve, silently storing
0:39:10 > 0:39:13power captured in the seven rows of panels overhead and providing
0:39:13 > 0:39:19passengers with the opportunity to view the restoration taking place on the Barton Broads.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23I'm here with Dan Hoare, the Waterways conservation officer.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27What made you commission this ground-breaking, fantastic boat?
0:39:27 > 0:39:31The design of this solar boat enables passengers to come out on Barton Broads
0:39:31 > 0:39:35experience the waterways without the need to own a boat.
0:39:35 > 0:39:37Why not go for a regular boat?
0:39:37 > 0:39:40The design of this one is ground breaking and it does showcase
0:39:40 > 0:39:45the kind of innovation available for boat design and carbon-neutral,
0:39:45 > 0:39:48carbon-free ways of powering craft on the Broads.
0:39:48 > 0:39:50And it stays as quiet as this?
0:39:50 > 0:39:51Indeed, yes.
0:39:51 > 0:39:56It enables people to get right up close to the wildlife on the Broads,
0:39:56 > 0:39:59otters, all the wildlife you see on the Broads here.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02You can really get up close in this boat.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04It hasn't always been this way.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07The Broads have needed restoration in recent years, why?
0:40:07 > 0:40:10The shallow lakes were very susceptible to nutrients, so
0:40:10 > 0:40:15nitrates, phosphates, generally rare in the natural environment
0:40:15 > 0:40:19but increased human use of the landscape, agriculture and sewage being
0:40:19 > 0:40:24discharged into the rivers has meant in the bottom of the Broads,
0:40:24 > 0:40:29the sediment has trapped a lot of this nutrient and that has stimulated
0:40:29 > 0:40:31algae to grow within the water column.
0:40:31 > 0:40:36This algae, these microscopic plants mop up the excess nutrients.
0:40:36 > 0:40:41Once they get established, they turn the water cloudy green,
0:40:41 > 0:40:43which limits then other life in the lake,
0:40:43 > 0:40:47especially the water plants that grow from the bottom of these lakes.
0:40:47 > 0:40:52The water plants really provide the habitat that you need to support
0:40:52 > 0:40:55the fish and the birds that it's famous for.
0:40:55 > 0:40:58What's this structure we're coming up against?
0:40:58 > 0:41:01This is part of the restoration work.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05The water fleas that naturally live in these lakes are
0:41:05 > 0:41:07the main consumers of the algae.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10These little chaps eat the green algae
0:41:10 > 0:41:13which were fuelled by the excess nutrients.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16So, to give them a bit of a break and reduce the amount of
0:41:16 > 0:41:20predation by fish on the water fleas,
0:41:20 > 0:41:23these barriers were installed in little calm bays
0:41:23 > 0:41:27and the fish were removed from this side and put back into the main Broad
0:41:27 > 0:41:31and this gives the ecosystem a chance to correct itself
0:41:31 > 0:41:33and get the water clear again.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36Because this boat is so quiet we've managed to get very close
0:41:36 > 0:41:39to some of the birds, the birdwatching is fantastic.
0:41:39 > 0:41:41I think this should be the future of water travel.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44It's certainly a classy way to glide through the water.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52Traditionally these Broadlands were managed by the people who farmed and fished them.
0:41:52 > 0:41:57The reeds that grew in these wetlands supplied a thriving thatching industry,
0:41:57 > 0:41:59but as that declined so did the art of re-cutting.
0:41:59 > 0:42:04Eric's been cutting reeds for nearly 40 years, but the man-made
0:42:04 > 0:42:06reed beds have been here for centuries.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09The cut reed is sold to thatchers.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12It's a prized traditional roofing material.
0:42:12 > 0:42:16Even though it has to compete with imported reed, it's much in demand.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19Today Eric cuts reed with a modern machine,
0:42:19 > 0:42:23but has fond memories of the old traditions.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26So, when you first started doing this job,
0:42:26 > 0:42:27were there a lot of reed cutters?
0:42:27 > 0:42:31Yes, three full-time marsh man on the estate when I first come.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33The old man, the old general,
0:42:33 > 0:42:36he was the main man and he taught me how to reed cut.
0:42:36 > 0:42:40But you have to put up with the cold, wet, snow, ice.
0:42:40 > 0:42:45You have to be a bit hard, you know, to do this job.
0:42:45 > 0:42:50I'm a farmer back at home, do you think I could put up with it?
0:42:50 > 0:42:54Well, it took me about a couple of years to learn it, from the old man.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57Things are a bit easier now regarding machinery,
0:42:57 > 0:43:00but I still think the old ways are still good ways.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04You always mow with the wind.
0:43:04 > 0:43:06Never fight the wind.
0:43:06 > 0:43:08'There's reed as far as the eye can see.
0:43:08 > 0:43:12'Surely we haven't got to cut all this lot just that old scythe?'
0:43:14 > 0:43:16A little spit in the hand.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18Always keep it low.
0:43:18 > 0:43:22If you go like that, you'll break it every five minutes,
0:43:22 > 0:43:24you always keep the heel down.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30- There, Adam, have a little go. See how you get on with it.- OK.
0:43:30 > 0:43:35- As I say, keep your heel down, boy. - Right-oh.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44- Keep you fit this, Eric!- Yeah.
0:43:44 > 0:43:47Look, you're leaving about a foot,
0:43:47 > 0:43:50the very bit you need, the hard bit.
0:43:50 > 0:43:55As you go along in life, you would learn you need that bit right down tight.
0:43:55 > 0:43:57Yeah, it's where the money is, I suppose.
0:43:57 > 0:43:59You've done fairly well for a first time.
0:43:59 > 0:44:03You have to remember, you have to do eight hours.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07- You gotta do eight hours!- Yeah!
0:44:13 > 0:44:17The Broads authority which manages around 4,000 acres of fen,
0:44:17 > 0:44:19commissioned research which showed
0:44:19 > 0:44:24about a quarter of that area has potential for commercial development.
0:44:24 > 0:44:28Is the reed cutting important for the sustainability of the reed and the wildlife?
0:44:28 > 0:44:31Apart from commercial reeding and sage cutting everything else we have
0:44:31 > 0:44:36to manage by just putting money in and doing it either by hand or
0:44:36 > 0:44:40by machinery, we have to develop machinery and we don't have any use for the products.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43The reed and sage industry is the only truly
0:44:43 > 0:44:47sustainable form of management that we've got in the Broad Fens at the moment.
0:44:47 > 0:44:49What would happen if you didn't do it?
0:44:49 > 0:44:54If you don't do it gradually you get a lot of build-up of dead vegetation
0:44:54 > 0:44:57and the sites dry out gradually. Eventually you get trees coming.
0:44:57 > 0:45:02You lose the actual species which have developed through man's cutting
0:45:02 > 0:45:07them, things like the swallow tail butterfly, the classic species.
0:45:07 > 0:45:08But there's a huge host of others.
0:45:09 > 0:45:12The biten, the bearded tit...
0:45:12 > 0:45:17and the marsh harrier all depend on the reed beds for their habitat.
0:45:17 > 0:45:22Now, Adam, this is the technical bit, this is the bit where the skill is needed.
0:45:22 > 0:45:23You've cut the reed.
0:45:23 > 0:45:25The next bit is dressing the reed.
0:45:25 > 0:45:29Very important to dress the reed well so you get all the rubbish out,
0:45:29 > 0:45:32so the when the thatcher get the bunch of reed, there's no bits in it.
0:45:32 > 0:45:34You get a bit of the tarn, look.
0:45:34 > 0:45:38You always work with the wind so you don't fight the wind.
0:45:38 > 0:45:41Down on the board, let your reed flow down.
0:45:44 > 0:45:46You make it look very easy.
0:45:46 > 0:45:52- Well, if I had a pound for every brush, I'd be a rich man. - THEY CHUCKLE
0:45:52 > 0:45:55Tuck it under your arm. That's right.
0:45:57 > 0:46:01- Is that about a bundle? - No, you want a shade more.
0:46:01 > 0:46:07- My muscles aren't as big as yours, Eric, so...- Oh, dear!
0:46:10 > 0:46:15Yeah, tie it like that. You'd need a bunch like that.
0:46:15 > 0:46:18- You can see the comparison, look. - What a model!
0:46:18 > 0:46:24- I'll give you a mark out of ten! - LAUGHING
0:46:24 > 0:46:30Eric reckons to cut and tie up 100 bunches a day would be good going,
0:46:30 > 0:46:32so I'm just a bit short of the target.
0:46:33 > 0:46:37- OK.- I'll carry mine and that will be it.
0:46:37 > 0:46:41- LAUGHING - That will do, then.
0:46:41 > 0:46:48The traditional ways have nearly all gone, but is there really a living to be made today by cutting reeds?
0:46:48 > 0:46:53There's about 16 cutters currently in the Broads working.
0:46:53 > 0:46:58Over half of them are at or beyond retirement age, but still working.
0:46:58 > 0:47:03Obviously, over the next ten years or so there's a replacement element,
0:47:03 > 0:47:07but there's also the potential to double the amount that is currently cut.
0:47:07 > 0:47:11Billy Burgess is a reed cutter fresh to the trade.
0:47:11 > 0:47:16He uses modern equipment owned by a newly formed cooperative of reed and seg cutters.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20He's left a well-paid job to cut reed, even in weather like this.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23- What was being a welder like? - That was OK.
0:47:23 > 0:47:28Long hours, expected to do a lot of overtime. I used to get burnt,
0:47:28 > 0:47:32your face'd be black every time you came home with the dirt and grime,
0:47:32 > 0:47:36and wearing ear plugs throughout the day, 10, 12 hours a day some days.
0:47:36 > 0:47:40So this is very different, but how is the money?
0:47:40 > 0:47:45It's about half of what I'm used to, but I'm sure I can adapt and I am.
0:47:45 > 0:47:51Is there enough room on the Norfolk Broads for more reed cutters to join in?
0:47:51 > 0:47:55There's a good future. There's so much demand for our reed,
0:47:55 > 0:47:57they can't get enough Norfolk reed in the county.
0:48:03 > 0:48:08It's certainly a hard life out in all weathers, at the same time quite romantic,
0:48:08 > 0:48:11amongst the wide open scenery and the wildlife.
0:48:11 > 0:48:17But a reed cutter's wage only comes from the amount of reed they can cut and sell.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21If the tradition of reed cutting is safe in the hands of people like Billy,
0:48:21 > 0:48:26I think I'll let them keep the reed to themselves and head for home.
0:48:27 > 0:48:32Since 2005, Norfolk reed cutters have received a government grant
0:48:32 > 0:48:35enabling the purchase of new equipment
0:48:35 > 0:48:41with a scheme now in place to train a new generation of reed cutters.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45Leaving Barton Broad behind, I'm heading to my final destination,
0:48:45 > 0:48:47Great Yarmouth.
0:49:01 > 0:49:07I've arrived at the final spot of my journey, Great Yarmouth, the most easterly town on the Norfolk coast.
0:49:07 > 0:49:12It was the place to which Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson returned victorious
0:49:12 > 0:49:15after the Battle of Copenhagen and the Battle of the Nile.
0:49:15 > 0:49:17Great Yarmouth is also home to a vibrant tourist economy,
0:49:17 > 0:49:20but beyond the buzz of the kiss me quick hats and the candy floss
0:49:20 > 0:49:26came a new excitement in the 1960s at the discovery of the North Sea gas fields.
0:49:26 > 0:49:32I'll be finding out more about that after the Country Tracks weather for the week ahead.
0:51:50 > 0:51:57.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08My journey along the Norfolk coast has taken me
0:52:08 > 0:52:14from King's Lynn through Nelson's birthplace at Burnham Thorpe and the small town of Sheringham.
0:52:14 > 0:52:20I visited the ancient city of Norwich, then took a boat ride through the Norfolk Broads.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23I've now reached my last stop, Great Yarmouth.
0:52:24 > 0:52:26ORGAN MUSIC PLAYS
0:52:30 > 0:52:35Great Yarmouth is well established as a traditional British seaside destination.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39Its bright lights and golden sands make it ever popular with families.
0:52:39 > 0:52:45In the 1960s, Yarmouth also became the unlikely location for a latter-day gold rush
0:52:45 > 0:52:49when natural gas was discovered in the southern North Sea.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53I'm meeting a local man who experienced first hand
0:52:53 > 0:52:57the impact this new industry had on this traditional coastal resort.
0:52:57 > 0:53:02I'd just left school. I intended to be a butcher. I ended up in the merchant navy.
0:53:02 > 0:53:07- How did you get from butcher to Navy?- An argument with the boss in the shop.
0:53:07 > 0:53:13- Sounds reasonable.- And ended up, as I say, in the merchant navy.
0:53:13 > 0:53:18In about '67, I'd had enough of going away for a long period of time
0:53:18 > 0:53:21and they were working ships out of here for the gas.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24They were doing two weeks on and a week off. I thought, "I'll have some of that."
0:53:24 > 0:53:30Working from the port here in Great Yarmouth, leaving here and going out to platforms
0:53:30 > 0:53:34and dropping the supplies off or pipes or drill bits or whatever,
0:53:34 > 0:53:38- then returning to Yarmouth. - You were glad you made the change from the navy to the rigs?
0:53:38 > 0:53:43- Yeah.- How did Great Yarmouth change at the start of that gas rush?
0:53:43 > 0:53:45Well, I mean, that was...
0:53:45 > 0:53:51There we were fishing one minute and the next minute there was lots of Americans about.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54The whole town really did change.
0:53:54 > 0:53:59Large numbers of skilled workers were required to operate the many rigs appearing in the North Sea.
0:53:59 > 0:54:05Experienced oil prospectors came from Texas to commence the drilling and train the British workers.
0:54:05 > 0:54:11One American who was drawn to Great Yarmouth during the boom years still lives here today.
0:54:11 > 0:54:13You've travelled around the world and you come from America.
0:54:13 > 0:54:16What did you think of the place when you got here?
0:54:16 > 0:54:19It was totally different, a complete culture shock.
0:54:19 > 0:54:22The English people had never worked in the oil industry.
0:54:22 > 0:54:26They didn't know anything about drilling, the technology, the tools, the equipment,
0:54:26 > 0:54:28how to put the programmes together.
0:54:28 > 0:54:32The Americans brought that expertise from the Gulf of Mexico
0:54:32 > 0:54:34and other places around the world.
0:54:34 > 0:54:38What was amazing though, in a short period of time, five to ten years,
0:54:38 > 0:54:44we had many British people who had trained up and were probably better than the Americans they replaced.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47We worked hard, we played hard.
0:54:47 > 0:54:50- We were on seven days a week, 24 hours a day.- Wow.
0:54:50 > 0:54:57When you had a break, there were a lot of social activities, a bowling league, a softball league,
0:54:57 > 0:55:00different companies put on barbecues at different times.
0:55:00 > 0:55:05When I say a barbecue, they invited everyone in the oil industry from this area,
0:55:05 > 0:55:09so you'd have 50 to 200 people at a company barbecue.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12They were fantastic events. It was a real social network.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15What about the future of the power industry here?
0:55:15 > 0:55:20It's diversifying. The gas in the southern North Sea is not quite depleted,
0:55:20 > 0:55:23but it's certainly not anywhere near the scale it used to be.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26As you can see, behind us, windfarms have been installed.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30There's a lot of future for windfarm installation.
0:55:30 > 0:55:34There's also a lot of wave energy being developed now.
0:55:34 > 0:55:40Yarmouth will play a part in that. It has the infrastructure and technology to support those type of things.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43It's a matter of people getting together to do it.
0:55:43 > 0:55:47After the oil rush, a lot of Americans went back to America, but you stayed.
0:55:47 > 0:55:53- Why did you stay here?- Mainly because my wife was English and by that time we had set up a home here.
0:55:53 > 0:55:57We had lots of commitments - family, friends and social life.
0:55:57 > 0:56:01Plus I'd been gone so long I don't fit into the American way of life.
0:56:01 > 0:56:07- I'm not quite British and not quite American any more. I'm in between the two.- An honorary Brit?
0:56:07 > 0:56:11I suppose so. I get to pay all the taxes.
0:56:16 > 0:56:22With the strange story of the Great Yarmouth gas rush, I've reached the end of my journey.
0:56:22 > 0:56:26It's been a journey full of surprises and beautiful seascapes,
0:56:26 > 0:56:31and it's shown me what makes the Norfolk coast a special place.
0:56:44 > 0:56:47Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd