0:00:02 > 0:00:05'We are a watery nation.
0:00:05 > 0:00:09'Rivers shape our landscape and they made our history,
0:00:09 > 0:00:14'but today they seem like forgotten highways into the back garden of Britain.
0:00:14 > 0:00:21'This week, I'm going to explore an ancient love affair between the city and the river.'
0:00:21 > 0:00:25We're going to regulate the flow of water into London
0:00:25 > 0:00:29using this pole, ladies and gentlemen.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32'I'm going to make a pilgrimage to a temple of cleanliness.'
0:00:32 > 0:00:33Why is it so big?
0:00:33 > 0:00:37'And I put my back into it in the East End
0:00:37 > 0:00:41as I take a hidden waterway to the greatest city in the world.'
0:01:03 > 0:01:05'Almost all towns in Britain,
0:01:05 > 0:01:10including London, were originally founded on or by rivers.'
0:01:14 > 0:01:21They played a huge historic part in their growth.
0:01:21 > 0:01:26They provided supplies for people to eat, water for them to drink
0:01:26 > 0:01:30and they carried away a lot of their bodily waste.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34Today, we tend to just try and hurry along,
0:01:34 > 0:01:38to get across them as quickly as possible.
0:01:38 > 0:01:45But I want to explore one waterway that did a lot to help create this great metropolis.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49But it's not the Thames.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57'I'm off in search of a little-known river.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01'An almost forgotten little sister to the Thames,
0:02:01 > 0:02:05'but it was a key source of London's development.
0:02:12 > 0:02:18'The concrete sprawl of Luton, some 37 miles north of London,
0:02:18 > 0:02:23'may seem an unlikely place to begin the hunt for the lifeblood of the capital.
0:02:23 > 0:02:30'But its proximity to the city is one reason why the River Lea was so important.'
0:02:32 > 0:02:37Luton, the name, means "Lea town."
0:02:37 > 0:02:41So if I want to find the source of my river,
0:02:41 > 0:02:43this is the place to come.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49Hello.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52Excuse me, do you know where the source of the Lea is?
0:02:52 > 0:02:55Yeah, it's at the bottom of the hill where those trees are.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57Is it? Thanks very much.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59Supposed to be anyway!
0:02:59 > 0:03:04'I feel like a Victorian explorer, discovering the origins of the Nile,
0:03:04 > 0:03:08'as I meet up with conservationist Trevor Tween.'
0:03:08 > 0:03:10I've been talking to locals
0:03:10 > 0:03:15and they've been implying that this is the source of the River Lea.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18As you can see, there is a bit of water trickling down
0:03:18 > 0:03:21at the moment but that is just run-off from the local roads.
0:03:21 > 0:03:27The real source is a little bit further along, where we call it the five springs.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30'I see - I've discovered the source of a car park!'
0:03:30 > 0:03:33This is the traditional site of the five springs
0:03:33 > 0:03:38that are the original and genuine source of the River Lea.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40And have you actually counted them?
0:03:40 > 0:03:43I've managed to count four of them. I've never found the fifth one.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46We think it might have been filled-in in Victorian times.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52There's not a lot of "ye olde Luton" left around here, is there?
0:03:52 > 0:03:56Not a great deal, no. This is the last section of the River Lea before it disappears.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59Not wanted in the city any more, though.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02No. Not needed and not wanted.
0:04:10 > 0:04:15'The Lea, like so many town rivers, seems to become quickly forgotten and ignored.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32'How does such an unregarded stream
0:04:32 > 0:04:36'affect the great city of London?
0:04:36 > 0:04:43'That's where I am going to go to find out - across Bedfordshire, rural Hertfordshire and Essex
0:04:43 > 0:04:46'before the streets finally close in around us
0:04:46 > 0:04:49'and we find ourselves back on the Thames.'
0:04:51 > 0:04:56I'm starting to get really interested in the idea of when I might be able to get on the river
0:04:56 > 0:05:00and start moving on it instead of just walking alongside it.
0:05:00 > 0:05:08'But not yet. Not here, because the river is either privately owned or cluttered with weirs.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11'Use of the river is key.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15'It led to the creation of the first ever map of the River Lea,
0:05:15 > 0:05:19'which I can get a look at a few miles downstream,
0:05:19 > 0:05:22'here in the library of Hatfield House.'
0:05:28 > 0:05:32'One of the chief advisors to Queen Elizabeth I
0:05:32 > 0:05:35'was a man called Lord Burghley.
0:05:35 > 0:05:41'He had the map made to resolve an argument, as Robin Harcourt Williams explains.'
0:05:41 > 0:05:48The River Lea had had a new cut made in 1571, which meant the introduction of a tow path
0:05:48 > 0:05:51for the men who pull the boats along.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54They had to be able to walk through the fields,
0:05:54 > 0:05:58and the farmers alongside the bank who farmed those fields weren't happy about it,
0:05:58 > 0:06:00so there was a bit of a conflict.
0:06:00 > 0:06:06Lord Burghley, in his own hand, has added this extension here and has drawn in,
0:06:06 > 0:06:10not only the trees, which is very close to his own palace,
0:06:10 > 0:06:15but also this heronry with the birds up in the trees,
0:06:15 > 0:06:19who, I imagine, had no relevance to the quarrel.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23But he just felt we should keep a note of the fact that there were herons.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25They're very pretty. The whole map's very pretty.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27The whole map is utterly delightful!
0:06:35 > 0:06:40'Charming though the drawing is, it actually served a very practical purpose.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42'It's a legal document,
0:06:42 > 0:06:48'showing who had the right to use which parts of the water - mills or boats.
0:06:57 > 0:07:02'As the Lea was the fastest and most direct trade route into London,
0:07:02 > 0:07:07'Lord Burghley knew how important it was to keep it open.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09'That's why he commissioned the map.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17'Two miles downstream, I come to the beginning of the great goods way
0:07:17 > 0:07:21'which Lord Burghley helped to create.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23'Though I have to say it's pretty quiet now.'
0:07:23 > 0:07:26- What are you catching here? - Crayfish.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28Are those the American crayfish or the...
0:07:28 > 0:07:30Yeah.
0:07:30 > 0:07:31The invasive crayfish.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35- The ones that aren't supposed to be here at all.- That's right.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39They're delicious though, aren't they? More delicious than the English ones.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42- And they're cheaper!- And how many crayfish are you going to get out?
0:07:42 > 0:07:44Well, we had 76, when was it?
0:07:44 > 0:07:47- Last week. - We was here four hours, I suppose.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50Oh, look, there he is!
0:07:50 > 0:07:53That is a monster!
0:07:53 > 0:07:55Of course, here he is -
0:07:55 > 0:07:58this is the signal crayfish -
0:07:58 > 0:08:01but the bit you eat, you only eat this tail bit, don't you?
0:08:01 > 0:08:03- And the claws.- And the claws.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06But you can use the rest to make a delicious soup if you were so inclined.
0:08:06 > 0:08:11- Well, yeah, you could do, yeah. - All right, see you again. Good luck.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13Don't eat too many crayfish!
0:08:13 > 0:08:15Can't get enough!
0:08:26 > 0:08:28'I'm now in Hertford.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32'The water is still, like a canal.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36'Frankly it IS a canal - or canalised as they say.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40'This is a river in corsets.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44'Because from here all the way to London it's been engineered
0:08:44 > 0:08:48'to serve a variety of purposes - some of them in direct opposition to each other.
0:08:48 > 0:08:54'On the one hand, you had people who used the Lea to carry cargo to London.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58'They needed to keep the river open and clear all the way to the capital.
0:08:58 > 0:09:03'But this was also milling country and for over 800 years,
0:09:03 > 0:09:08'mill owners used the river as a source of power, which they got by damming the river,
0:09:08 > 0:09:12'building up a huge head of water which was then released to drive machinery.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16'The conflicting demands of those who wanted to transport
0:09:16 > 0:09:22'versus those who wanted to dam turned the river into a battleground.'
0:09:22 > 0:09:27The earliest solution to these dams, these weirs across the river
0:09:27 > 0:09:32for boats, was a thing called a flash lock.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37It was simply a gate and all they did was open the gate,
0:09:37 > 0:09:42let a huge amount of water through and the boat rushed through on the water.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46And that's essentially what I'm going to do now,
0:09:46 > 0:09:49except there isn't a gate - it's just a sort of open weir.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52But it is a rush of water.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56- Isn't that right, Andy?- Good test of your stern rudder going through this.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03'Good, because Andy Morley is a canoe instructor at the Hertford Canoe Club,
0:10:03 > 0:10:06'based here on the banks of the Lea.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09'He's going to show me how to shoot this weir.'
0:10:15 > 0:10:19You put the paddle in the back and you go in a straight line.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24'Yes - simple as that! Andy gets through safely.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26'Now, it's my turn.
0:10:28 > 0:10:33'Flash locks were originally a compromise, allowing both uses of the river.
0:10:33 > 0:10:39'But there are always those who, dissatisfied with compromise, take advantage of the situation.'
0:10:42 > 0:10:47What happened was unscrupulous mill owners, having let the boat through,
0:10:47 > 0:10:53would then close the flash lock, stop the flow of water and the boat would immediately go aground.
0:10:53 > 0:10:54Then they'd say, "Give me more money,
0:10:54 > 0:10:57"I'll open the flash lock and you can float off down the river."
0:10:57 > 0:10:59This caused endless disputes.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04In the end they needed navigation acts.
0:11:04 > 0:11:11They needed interests of London bigwigs to ensure that the Lea stayed open, and boats could use it.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Because in London they wanted to use this river.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19They had some very vital things to bring down.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21'Apart from food,
0:11:21 > 0:11:26'the most important commodity for London in the early days was barley,
0:11:26 > 0:11:29'because barley is an essential ingredient of beer.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33'And London was a beer city.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35'It's an extraordinary fact that, even today,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38'if you are sipping beer somewhere in America
0:11:38 > 0:11:44'the flavour and colour will most likely have come from here.
0:11:44 > 0:11:50'Because it's here, on the banks of the River Lea, that they grow the best barley in the world.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56'Although these days the barley is transported by road,
0:11:56 > 0:12:00'in the past it was taken in and out by river.'
0:12:00 > 0:12:06I can just see over here, coming into sight, a massive malting chimney.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12And over there a whole selection of old malting buildings.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15But the fact that I can smell...
0:12:15 > 0:12:20burnt toast means particularly that this is a working malting,
0:12:20 > 0:12:24still doing its stuff.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29'In the 19th century, there were over 70 maltings around here.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31'Now there is just one.
0:12:31 > 0:12:38'French and Jupp's is a family-run business, based here on the banks of the Lea for over 300 years.
0:12:38 > 0:12:43'Mark North has worked here for 25 of those years.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46'Even in his lifetime, the process has changed.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48What's happening here?
0:12:48 > 0:12:52'The original maltings buildings had many floors with low ceilings
0:12:52 > 0:12:55'where they'd lay out the malt for germination.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59'People worked bent double to avoid banging their head.'
0:12:59 > 0:13:01Where are we going now, Mark?
0:13:01 > 0:13:03- We're going up to the steeps. - All right.
0:13:03 > 0:13:08'The actual process of malting - turning the barley into malt - has not changed.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11'Today, though, it's all done by machine.
0:13:11 > 0:13:17'After the barley is soaked, it's put into huge drums where it germinates.'
0:13:17 > 0:13:20This has just gone in.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24This is the actual green malt you could see up in the germination drum.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Look at that - there it is. It's still damp,
0:13:27 > 0:13:31and you can see there, look, a little sprout.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35'It is then roasted to develop different colours and flavours -
0:13:35 > 0:13:40'short and pale for lagers, long and dark for stouts.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42'Then it needs bagging up.'
0:13:42 > 0:13:46- Release the pedal.- Ah!
0:13:46 > 0:13:48- This is going to Korea. - And they can't make their own?
0:13:48 > 0:13:51Not as good quality. Ours is the best quality malt.
0:13:51 > 0:13:52- Is it?- Yes, it is.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56- At least it saves him undoing it! - Damn!
0:13:56 > 0:13:58My new glasses!
0:14:03 > 0:14:09'As London expanded, its population used the rivers as a dumping ground for all its waste.
0:14:09 > 0:14:16'By the 17th century, it was becoming harder to find fresh water for a growing population.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19'So, through the malt trade and the London brewing industry,
0:14:19 > 0:14:23'the Lea literally helped keep the capital alive.'
0:14:29 > 0:14:35Benjamin Franklin went to a workshop in London and he discovered they had a pint of beer for breakfast,
0:14:35 > 0:14:39a pint of beer between breakfast and dinner, a pint of beer with dinner,
0:14:39 > 0:14:43a pint of beer at tea time and another pint of beer at 6 o'clock before they went home.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45Although how they got home, I have no idea!
0:14:45 > 0:14:49But they drank beer because it was safer than drinking the water.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53'But man cannot live by beer alone.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57'There was a constant search for "sweet, fresh water".
0:14:57 > 0:15:00'They roamed ever further afield to get hold of it.'
0:15:00 > 0:15:03The building I can see up there,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06the New Gauge, is all part of that.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12'The New Gauge takes water from the Lea and directs it
0:15:12 > 0:15:15'into a channel called the New River,
0:15:15 > 0:15:19'which runs all the way to north London by a separate route.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23It looks quite an ingenious sort of Victorian invention.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26- Does it still function? - Oh, yeah, absolutely.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28This is set so it will always
0:15:28 > 0:15:32and only take 22.5 million gallons of water
0:15:32 > 0:15:37- per day from the River Lea. Now, I'm gonna show you how to do that.- Oh, right.
0:15:37 > 0:15:43We're going to regulate the flow of water into London using this pole, ladies and gentlemen. That's great.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46- It's a bendy piece of metal. - It's a sacred pole.
0:15:46 > 0:15:47It is, it is, we mustn't lose it.
0:15:47 > 0:15:52Right, so, first thing we need to do is take out the locking plate, which is this one in the middle here.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54Whoa.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58You're letting in a small amount of water, about half a million gallons there.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00Now, if we go for the big one here...
0:16:00 > 0:16:02- if you want to have a go at this, Griff.- I do.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07I feel like Neptune here, if I really wanted to I could unleash,
0:16:07 > 0:16:09oh, getting on for about...
0:16:09 > 0:16:1312 million gallons into the system, but I'm not gonna do that.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15That's adequate for our needs at the moment, is it?
0:16:15 > 0:16:18- That'll do nicely. - It's not drinking water?
0:16:18 > 0:16:20No, no, no, no, no, no.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23That'll follow the course of the New River.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25It will be treated, put into service
0:16:25 > 0:16:28and you'll all be drinking it by the end of the day.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36'The New River, which the gauge links up to, is not Victorian.
0:16:36 > 0:16:41'It's an astonishing engineering feat created by a Welsh gold miner
0:16:41 > 0:16:45'called Hugh Myddleton in the time of James I.
0:16:45 > 0:16:52'This little island and its memorial are a tribute to him.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56'Myddleton's challenge was to take water from springs near the Lea
0:16:56 > 0:16:58'and by using gravity,
0:16:58 > 0:17:00'and the odd pump house along the way,
0:17:00 > 0:17:07'keep the water flowing 38 miles to London, which explains its meandering route.
0:17:07 > 0:17:13'Construction took four years and was completed by 1613.'
0:17:13 > 0:17:16When they finally finished, they had a bit of a party.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Just by Sadlers Wells, at the new river head, just up there
0:17:19 > 0:17:21where they built a great big pond
0:17:21 > 0:17:26and the King came and this being the age of Shakespeare and Milton,
0:17:26 > 0:17:3040 labourers appeared wearing matching green hats and they recited a poem.
0:17:30 > 0:17:36Long have we laboured long desired and prayed this great works perfection
0:17:36 > 0:17:39Now by the aide of heaven and men's good works
0:17:39 > 0:17:43'tis at length happily conquered
0:17:43 > 0:17:46by art and cost and strength.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50Still works!
0:17:55 > 0:18:01'Meanwhile, 30-odd miles away, dirty old London continued to grow.
0:18:01 > 0:18:06'Eventually it would even kill all the fish in the Thames.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09'What could a gentlemen angler do?
0:18:09 > 0:18:12'Well, he could try this river.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16'One of the earliest to was Isaac Walton.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19'A city ironmonger by trade, he wrote the first
0:18:19 > 0:18:24'and still the most famous book on fishing, The Compleat Angler, in 1653.
0:18:24 > 0:18:30'The opening chapters of that great manual are set on the sylvan banks of the Lea.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35'Today the gentlemen of Amwell Magna Fishery cast into the same waters.
0:18:35 > 0:18:40'They specialise in fly-fishing.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43'Robert Dear is a master fly-maker.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45This is a black cock hackle.
0:18:45 > 0:18:52- Off a chicken?- Yes, a specially bred rooster, bred in America for the extremely long hackles.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56There are enough of you people around to have a special breed of chicken
0:18:56 > 0:18:59- bred for you in order to use bits of feather for this.- Yes.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02Do they make good eating, these cockerels, as well?
0:19:02 > 0:19:06- They're not bred for the food market. - I shouldn't imagine they are! It'd be too much to ask.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09We lay down a bed of silk,
0:19:09 > 0:19:14just come back from the eye, probably a millimetre or so.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16Take three pieces of peacock hurl.
0:19:16 > 0:19:21This fly was invented by a man called Tom Ivans in the late 1950s,
0:19:21 > 0:19:26early '60s, but some flies go back centuries.
0:19:26 > 0:19:31It's a nice one for somebody who hasn't tied a fly before, to start with.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34It's the beginner's fly.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37Basically, this is the body of your fly.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41Effectively, when it's fishing, you're imitating the legs
0:19:41 > 0:19:44or any appendages that the insect might have.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47How many flies have you made, do you think?
0:19:47 > 0:19:50I probably tie 1,000 flies a year.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52We'll swap round and I can come over and sit down...
0:19:52 > 0:19:54'Well, that looked simple enough.'
0:19:59 > 0:20:01How many hours of tape have we got?!
0:20:07 > 0:20:09I'm glad I'm not doing this against the clock, eh, Bob?
0:20:09 > 0:20:12A nice, furry body.
0:20:20 > 0:20:21Oh, no!
0:20:21 > 0:20:23Have you got a comb or anything?
0:20:23 > 0:20:25One of Bob's.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29One of mine.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31# Gone fishin'
0:20:31 > 0:20:35# There's a sign upon your door
0:20:35 > 0:20:38# Gone fishin'...#
0:20:38 > 0:20:45'The gentlemen of Amwell Magna are wading out today to show me the joys and art of fly-fishing.
0:20:49 > 0:20:54'They're not in disguise - the dark glasses help them see the fish.'
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Ah, masterly.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02My fly is sinking.
0:21:02 > 0:21:03Yes, it's a sinking fly.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09Ooh, I can see the fish right by it, actually.
0:21:09 > 0:21:16This is exciting. At least what we've been doing hasn't completely scared the fish away.
0:21:23 > 0:21:24- Oh, oh, oh!- Oh, look at him.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28That's good. Now slow.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30Coming right by my...
0:21:30 > 0:21:32Massive, he is.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35Massive.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37Good gracious me.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45Well, I'm going home empty-handed again.
0:21:45 > 0:21:50I'm afraid my fly didn't prove up to the trout.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58'I'm wonder if I agree with Isaac Walton.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02'He thought fly-fishing would encourage the contemplative life,
0:22:02 > 0:22:06'and I found it completely frustrating.'
0:22:17 > 0:22:20I've just come down now,
0:22:20 > 0:22:28south of Roydon, Hoddeston is somewhere over there and Nazeing is over there.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30On the map
0:22:30 > 0:22:33there are an extraordinary number of cross-hatched oblongs here.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36Map readers will of course know what that means!
0:22:36 > 0:22:40It's the symbol for greenhouses.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43There are hundreds of greenhouses around here.
0:22:43 > 0:22:48'In fact, the symbol on the ordnance survey map was created specifically
0:22:48 > 0:22:52'because of the vast numbers of glasshouses in this region.
0:22:52 > 0:22:57'At its peak in the 1920s, they covered an area ten miles long and eight miles wide.
0:22:57 > 0:23:03'Its nearness to the city made Nazeing one of the prime market gardens for London.'
0:23:06 > 0:23:08I'm in cucumber country.
0:23:17 > 0:23:25'Giuseppe Cappalonga has been growing cucumbers in this area since he arrived from Sicily in 1966.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31'The industry is actually much smaller now, than when he arrived
0:23:31 > 0:23:37'but improved propagating techniques mean the yield is bigger.'
0:23:45 > 0:23:49I can see a big one over there. OK, I'm just going to try and do this.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51I catch it, I've got one hand...
0:23:51 > 0:23:55- Put the knife the other way round, the knife.- That way round.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57Not with the two hands, with one.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59I'm frightened of injuring myself.
0:23:59 > 0:24:00I can't do it.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02That's it, there we are, good.
0:24:02 > 0:24:07So, at the rate of one cucumber every 20 seconds...
0:24:07 > 0:24:11- You won't go far that way! - I won't go far in the cucumber picking business, will I?
0:24:11 > 0:24:14Who are we picking these cucumbers for?
0:24:14 > 0:24:16- A supermarket?- A supermarket, yes.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20- And they want them to be straight, do they? - Otherwise they are second class.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22Oh, look there's quite a bendy one.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26- Because they touch. - But I can cut it?- Yes.- Big enough?
0:24:26 > 0:24:31We're talking about an inferior, second-rate cucumber, which has touched a leaf and taken on a bend.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34Once you've sliced it up, and put it in your sandwiches...
0:24:34 > 0:24:37- It's no different. - How would you know?
0:24:37 > 0:24:42We can't actually keep up with Giuseppe, he's moving down the row so quickly.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46This is productivity now, getting them by the bushel.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48Now, I'm going to do two with one hand.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51I don't think so.
0:24:51 > 0:24:56It's impossible. It's impossible to grasp two of these cucumbers
0:24:56 > 0:24:57with only one hand,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00but Giuseppe does it as a matter of course.
0:25:08 > 0:25:14'Two thirds of the nurseries in this area are run by families of Italian or Sicilian descent.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20'Every Saturday the extended Cappalonga family eat together.
0:25:20 > 0:25:25'And naturally, cucumbers are always on the menu.'
0:25:25 > 0:25:27Mmm, delicious.
0:25:29 > 0:25:35'Not far away, the usefulness of the River Lea to London is reflected in a slightly different way.
0:25:35 > 0:25:40'I'm heading away from the river towards Nazeing Common.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44'A mile or so from the glasshouses, on land reclaimed for agriculture,
0:25:44 > 0:25:47'lies a hidden survivor from the Second World War.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51'Most people around here are unaware of its existence,
0:25:51 > 0:25:56'which is ironic, because during the war its job was to make itself as conspicuous as possible.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00'It was a dummy airfield.
0:26:00 > 0:26:06'The purpose was to attract enemy bombs away from the real airfields
0:26:06 > 0:26:08like North Weald, four miles away.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10'Did it fool the Germans?'
0:26:10 > 0:26:14It attracted quite a number of bombs in the area to this airfield,
0:26:14 > 0:26:16away from North Weald.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18There was a study done after the war said
0:26:18 > 0:26:20that 50% of the bombs aimed at North Weald
0:26:20 > 0:26:22actually fell in the fields round here.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26'The dummy operated 24 hours a day.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30'Shepperton Film Studios supplied the model planes for the daytime.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34'Lights and flares added to the illusion at night.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37'There was actually only one occupied building on the site
0:26:37 > 0:26:41'where the operators had to remain like sitting ducks.'
0:26:41 > 0:26:45This was the control room. From this room the lights were operated.
0:26:45 > 0:26:50They could simulate an aircraft taxiing, so to all intents and purposes, at night,
0:26:50 > 0:26:53to a German bomber crew, this was an operational airfield.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55Is it significant, that it was near the river?
0:26:55 > 0:27:00The River Lea was a good navigational mark for German aircrew.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04Once they'd bombed, a lot of them would exit north from the city.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07They picked the Lea up as a navigational point straight away.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11'And moonlight reflected on the river led them to Nazeing Common.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16'Without these decoys, historians believe we would never have won the Battle of Britain.'
0:27:16 > 0:27:19I think it was a very important part of the defence of London.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23It served its purpose well in the short time it was operational.
0:27:29 > 0:27:36'Just a mile further down the river, paddling into Essex, I'm about to uncover another explosive secret.'
0:27:38 > 0:27:42We're coming up a little canal now where...
0:27:43 > 0:27:49..essentially, no boat has been for about 100 years...
0:27:51 > 0:27:57because it was a secret research establishment...
0:27:57 > 0:28:04based on an area where there had been old gunpowder mills.
0:28:04 > 0:28:10'This is Waltham Abbey and these are the Royal gunpowder mills,
0:28:10 > 0:28:13'for 300 years the centre for research and development of high explosives.
0:28:13 > 0:28:20'After the mills closed in 1991, they were completely abandoned and the whole area was left derelict.'
0:28:23 > 0:28:26It was like coming into the Peruvian jungle,
0:28:26 > 0:28:31and discovering extraordinary buildings.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37'In the 19th century, this was one of the most important centres
0:28:37 > 0:28:40'for gunpowder manufacture in the whole of Europe.
0:28:40 > 0:28:47'This leafy enclave in Epping Forest produced the fire power for Great Britain's battles,
0:28:47 > 0:28:52'thorough the Napoleonic, the Crimean and the First World Wars.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56'The site was ideally situated - close to London
0:28:56 > 0:29:00'and surrounded on three sides by water, so it was easy to defend.
0:29:00 > 0:29:05'But in the Second World War the manufacture of explosives was moved to Scotland,
0:29:05 > 0:29:08'away from risk of invasion and airplane attack.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12'The site is now a museum.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15'Gunpowder is unstable stuff.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18'There were frequent unscheduled explosions.
0:29:18 > 0:29:22'This was one of the most dangerous places to work in Britain.
0:29:22 > 0:29:27'And because it was top secret, who knows how many people died here?
0:29:27 > 0:29:31'Who knows how many people died as a result of its success?'
0:29:31 > 0:29:35The first job is to put powder into this pan. Put the frizzen down.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38Put the powder down.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43Then you put the paper to make sure.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47The paper is now going to wad it down and hold it in place.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51- It needs to be compressed in order to do its work, does it?- Exactly.
0:29:51 > 0:29:56And a rifleman in action, how quickly
0:29:56 > 0:29:58could he put another round in?
0:29:58 > 0:30:02A maximum, two a minute, a musket would be...
0:30:02 > 0:30:04Three to four.
0:30:06 > 0:30:11This rifle could kill at 300 yards, and once you've fired you're covered in smoke.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14After a few rounds you wouldn't even see the enemy any more.
0:30:19 > 0:30:21What a wimp I am.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24I had to close my eyes before I fired it.
0:30:26 > 0:30:31'Particular consideration had to be given to the transportation of gunpowder.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34'It was a deadly cargo.
0:30:34 > 0:30:40'Specially-designed wooden barges were used to carry it away down the Lea,
0:30:40 > 0:30:42'and they were powered by sail.'
0:30:45 > 0:30:47This is the Lady of the Lea.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53She's the last remaining gunpowder barge,
0:30:53 > 0:30:58a Thames sailing barge, she's got her spritsail up at the moment
0:30:58 > 0:31:03and she's just trying to turn around in a very narrow space indeed.
0:31:03 > 0:31:08This is the mother of all three-point turns going on here.
0:31:08 > 0:31:13'I was supposed to just jump on board and set off down the river,
0:31:13 > 0:31:18'but since she last came up here in 2000, the Lea has silted up.'
0:31:18 > 0:31:23Normally, in the old days, they'd have kept a dredger here to keep it clean and free
0:31:23 > 0:31:27so that barges could come up, but notably,
0:31:27 > 0:31:32we notice that there is just about enough room to turn her round.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41They are jammed completely
0:31:41 > 0:31:42across the river.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45Athwart the river, you might say, to use a bargeman's term.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49- Are you taking the rudder off?- Yeah.
0:31:50 > 0:31:55'While the crew took the rudder off to gain us a few more precious inches,
0:31:55 > 0:31:58'members of the public were roped in to lend a hand.'
0:31:58 > 0:31:59Yeah, it's moving!
0:31:59 > 0:32:03'And with another barge bearing down on us keen to access the lock,
0:32:03 > 0:32:06'we finally swung round.'
0:32:06 > 0:32:07It's going, it's going!
0:32:07 > 0:32:12Yes! Fend her off here,
0:32:12 > 0:32:14fend her off, yes!
0:32:23 > 0:32:28'With her sails up, The Lady of the Lea is a magnificent sight.
0:32:28 > 0:32:33'Before the Great Depression, there were hundreds of thousands of sailing barges,
0:32:33 > 0:32:38'all as beautiful as her, serving the rivers around London.
0:32:38 > 0:32:45'Now, one of the last has to take her rigging down to get under the lock bridge.
0:32:45 > 0:32:47'It's like a ship in a bottle.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22'At this point, the River Lea divides.
0:33:22 > 0:33:28'The navigation channel flows west, while the old river goes east
0:33:28 > 0:33:33'to make way for a chain of reservoirs, 13 in total, sitting in what was once marshland.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37'The first of these was built at Walthamstow in 1852.
0:33:37 > 0:33:44'We are now less than six miles from Piccadilly Circus as the London pigeon flies.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47'Such is this city's voracious demand for water,
0:33:47 > 0:33:52'this seven-mile stretch of reservoir still only supplies 10% of its needs.
0:34:05 > 0:34:10'Today, the water is chemically treated, but in the past it used to come straight out of the river
0:34:10 > 0:34:16'and it was cleaned by a primitive method of filtering on this very site,
0:34:16 > 0:34:18'which is now a nature reserve.'
0:34:20 > 0:34:25Tamzin, I haven't got my glasses on, which I should have, there's nothing there at the moment, is there?
0:34:25 > 0:34:26There is.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30There's a fox at the back on the top of the kingfisher bank.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32Have a look.
0:34:33 > 0:34:35Where's the kingfisher bank?
0:34:35 > 0:34:36SHE LAUGHS
0:34:36 > 0:34:40Hidden behind the reeds...
0:34:40 > 0:34:42that are overgrown.
0:34:42 > 0:34:44- What does it look like, a bit? - Start again.
0:34:44 > 0:34:51At the back, at the back of the collection of reeds there, you can see a glimpse of a sand bank.
0:34:51 > 0:34:57On the top of that, just to the left, is a small fox, curled up sleeping.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59So get looking.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01I'll take your word for it.
0:35:01 > 0:35:03I can see something which is sort of ginger.
0:35:03 > 0:35:04Yes, that will be it.
0:35:04 > 0:35:09But are you worried about that fox, then, coming down and eating your ducks?
0:35:09 > 0:35:17No, because we don't let mammals such as foxes, get on to the beds when birds are breeding.
0:35:18 > 0:35:26'I'm not really here to watch the wildlife. I'm here to see how this filter bed system once worked.
0:35:26 > 0:35:32'So we'll get a little of the water which still comes here just as it used to, straight from the Lea.'
0:35:32 > 0:35:35- And then try to scoop up as much of this.- Is that dirty enough for us?
0:35:35 > 0:35:37That looks great.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40OK, so I've got the dirty water.
0:35:40 > 0:35:42- You have the dirty water now. - And what have you got in there?
0:35:42 > 0:35:47This is our mini filter-bed system, if you like, so we've got our sand,
0:35:47 > 0:35:50then we have our gravel or hoggin, which is the mixture of gravel
0:35:50 > 0:35:55and sand, and then we've made a sort of perforated base by putting some holes in the bottom here.
0:35:57 > 0:35:59Look at that!
0:35:59 > 0:36:01Almost instantly.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04There we are, and that's magic, folks. You see?
0:36:04 > 0:36:06River water and crystal clear...
0:36:06 > 0:36:09Well, not quite crystal clear but filtered water.
0:36:09 > 0:36:10Looks absolutely fantastic.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13No, I shouldn't do that, actually.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16And the reason is because
0:36:16 > 0:36:23in 1866 water around here was already being filtered by this method.
0:36:23 > 0:36:28But it didn't stop the last big outbreak of cholera taking place
0:36:28 > 0:36:31quite near here, in Whitechapel.
0:36:44 > 0:36:48- Died the 21st July, 1866. - Aged 10.- Aged 10.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52'The rivers of London did a lot to nurture the metropolis.
0:36:52 > 0:36:55'They supplied it, washed it, and watered it.
0:36:55 > 0:37:00'But as the city grew more populous, they also started to poison it.'
0:37:00 > 0:37:04Whether you were rich or poor, if you drank the wrong water, you died.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08You could be healthy at breakfast time and dead by the time you went to bed.
0:37:08 > 0:37:10What was the cause of it?
0:37:10 > 0:37:15A man called Hedges went to the lavatory about half a mile from here.
0:37:15 > 0:37:17He flushed the loo. He had cholera.
0:37:17 > 0:37:22His cholera germs entered the River Lea.
0:37:22 > 0:37:26From there they passed into the reservoirs of the East London Water Company,
0:37:26 > 0:37:32and 5,500 people died in an area of less than one square mile.
0:37:32 > 0:37:37If the infection had passed throughout London, we could have seen 100,000 deaths,
0:37:37 > 0:37:40which is more people than died in the Blitz.
0:37:40 > 0:37:44Did they know at the time that it was related to water?
0:37:44 > 0:37:49Most people believed it was caused by breathing in germs rather than by drinking them.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51And you can understand why, I think.
0:37:51 > 0:37:55It seems foolish now, but if you're walking around London
0:37:55 > 0:37:59and there's a terrible smell of sewage and people are dying of cholera,
0:37:59 > 0:38:02and then you go home and drink a glass of water,
0:38:02 > 0:38:08which looks clear unless you happen to have a microscope, it's a reasonable conclusion to draw.
0:38:08 > 0:38:14'For over 100 years, the spectre of cholera terrorised the city of London.
0:38:14 > 0:38:18'What put an end to it was the biggest civil engineering project
0:38:18 > 0:38:24'of the 19th century - the separation of sewage from the drinking water supply.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27'The system took seven years to complete
0:38:27 > 0:38:32with the East End the final section, connected in 1866.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35'It cost £6.5 million.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37'That's in old money.
0:38:37 > 0:38:43'And the man responsible for designing and building the thing was engineer, Joseph Bazalgette.
0:38:47 > 0:38:52'And here on the banks of the River Lea is the centrepiece of that miracle of engineering.
0:38:52 > 0:38:56'It's a building that changed the fortune of London's population.'
0:38:56 > 0:39:02I feel like a pilgrim who's made it to the holy shrine
0:39:02 > 0:39:04of London waste water.
0:39:04 > 0:39:10This is Joseph Bazalgette's great temple of sewage.
0:39:10 > 0:39:15'It's a monument to cleanliness built out of Victorian civic pride.
0:39:15 > 0:39:21'There isn't a single utilitarian brick in the entire building.
0:39:21 > 0:39:26'Inside it's been completely modernised and it's still working, doing the same job today,
0:39:26 > 0:39:27'albeit electronically.
0:39:33 > 0:39:39'But just a few miles away on the other side of the Thames is its twin, at Crossness.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44'And this one's had its original interior workings carefully restored.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47'It's a thing of rare magnificence.'
0:39:54 > 0:39:58- Why is it so big? - It has to be this size to give the momentum to the engine,
0:39:58 > 0:40:00give it the energy to keep itself turning.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02This engine would have lifted near on 12 tons
0:40:02 > 0:40:06with every rotation, so there was a lot of force trying to stop the engine.
0:40:06 > 0:40:10A 52-ton flywheel gives you that momentum to keep the whole process turning.
0:40:10 > 0:40:15- And then pumping out the old sewage. - And ultimately just pumping, yes, pumping the South London sewage
0:40:15 > 0:40:17into the culverts and the reservoir behind us.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25'There's a change in the river's personality now.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29'It's starting to feel more urban as I get closer to the centre.
0:40:29 > 0:40:35'This is the East End, the working-class back yard of London town.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38'It's not somewhere you'd associate with the genteel sport of rowing,
0:40:38 > 0:40:42'but there's been rowing here since the early 1800s.
0:40:42 > 0:40:47'At that time, the working life of this part of London revolved around the river not surprisingly,
0:40:47 > 0:40:51'working men were strong and adept on the water.
0:40:51 > 0:40:55'This was much to the annoyance of the rowing clubs,
0:40:55 > 0:40:59'who were of a different class, according to Jimmy O'Neil.'
0:40:59 > 0:41:02I always thought that rowing was a bit of a posh sport.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05It was up until about the early '50s.
0:41:05 > 0:41:11It was separate. We, as working-class people, we were not allowed to row at places like Henley.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14- You weren't allowed to row?! - We weren't allowed.
0:41:14 > 0:41:18because Henley was what they called the Amateur Rowing Association.
0:41:18 > 0:41:20But because we worked with our hands
0:41:20 > 0:41:23and things like that we were classed as professionals.
0:41:23 > 0:41:27Were you unfairly favoured by being tougher and working harder with your hands?
0:41:27 > 0:41:32Well, not all of us, obviously not, but there was, in them days, a lot of watermen,
0:41:32 > 0:41:37a lot of people that earned their living by rowing up and down.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40And of course there was a disadvantage then.
0:41:40 > 0:41:43Because you might have got, say, four professional...
0:41:43 > 0:41:46Tough rowing guys who did it every day of their life!
0:41:46 > 0:41:51Yeah, and they were entering some of the big regattas against some of the bigger clubs,
0:41:51 > 0:41:56like London rowing clubs and so forth, that were all made up of, say like, bankers
0:41:56 > 0:42:01and solicitors and things like that, that only went out about once a week.
0:42:01 > 0:42:07And so consequently they wasn't very pleased when they used to get thrashed.
0:42:07 > 0:42:09HE LAUGHS
0:42:14 > 0:42:17'This little club has been the nursery of many Olympic rowers.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20'Although they welcome all ages and abilities,
0:42:20 > 0:42:24'the serious rowers are here seven days a week, two sessions a day.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26'And not just on the water.'
0:42:34 > 0:42:37They're all doing another five.
0:42:37 > 0:42:39But I'm just a beginner
0:42:39 > 0:42:41so I get to...
0:42:42 > 0:42:44I get to die quietly in the corner.
0:42:46 > 0:42:52Imagine if you had to get 14 sessions a week
0:42:52 > 0:42:56and do your job, that's incredible dedication. Incredible.
0:42:58 > 0:42:59Incredible.
0:42:59 > 0:43:04'Jimmy, 75, is convinced that you're never too old to row.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13'I'm not so sure.'
0:43:56 > 0:43:59I'm utterly exhausted now.
0:43:59 > 0:44:01I think that rate was a little bit too high.
0:44:01 > 0:44:03Was it? None of you are puffing!
0:44:03 > 0:44:06But anyway, what's a good rate?
0:44:06 > 0:44:09For you, about 18.
0:44:09 > 0:44:11What is a good rate for you?
0:44:11 > 0:44:13No, that's a good rate.
0:44:13 > 0:44:15I'd say a good eight out of ten.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18People think you're saying that just because it's the television.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22Well, I'm well known for never telling a lie,
0:44:22 > 0:44:24so if I say it was good...
0:44:24 > 0:44:26All right, I'll believe you.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47The Lea has continued to surprise me all the way down.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50I don't know why, I didn't think it would be green.
0:44:50 > 0:44:54I suppose I expected it to be more mundane.
0:44:54 > 0:44:58And it's around this area where we're...
0:44:58 > 0:45:00right in the heart of London.
0:45:00 > 0:45:04It's here that we've seen almost tame herons,
0:45:04 > 0:45:08and I love this back-garden feel to the river,
0:45:08 > 0:45:13as if you're sneaking into London.
0:45:13 > 0:45:18Not by a well-known route at all, but by a hidden, secret route.
0:45:42 > 0:45:44Bow locks,
0:45:44 > 0:45:46I guess that's Bow Bridge,
0:45:46 > 0:45:49so we're in Bow.
0:45:49 > 0:45:54Where Bow bells are and where cockneys claim their origins,
0:45:54 > 0:45:57as long as they can hear those bells, they're cockneys.
0:45:57 > 0:45:59So we must now be in the centre of London.
0:46:12 > 0:46:17# It's a wonder as the landlord doesn't want to raise the rent
0:46:17 > 0:46:20# Because we've got such nobby distant views
0:46:20 > 0:46:25# Oh it really is a very pretty garden... #
0:46:25 > 0:46:29# And Chingford to the eastward can be seen
0:46:29 > 0:46:32# With a ladder and some glasses
0:46:32 > 0:46:35# I can see to Hackney marshes
0:46:35 > 0:46:39# If it wasn't for the houses in between... #
0:46:39 > 0:46:42This is one of the lowest-lying regions of London,
0:46:42 > 0:46:45which is the reason that Gus Eden, when he wrote that song,
0:46:45 > 0:46:48couldn't see anything out of his back garden.
0:46:48 > 0:46:55'The area is reclaimed marshland, flat and in those days not a very desirable place to live.
0:46:55 > 0:47:01'The River Lea has been split into five channels around here,
0:47:01 > 0:47:04'the water meeting the various demands of numerous businesses.
0:47:04 > 0:47:11'For in the 19th century, this was the centre of London's heavy, dirty industries.
0:47:11 > 0:47:14'It's not really an accident that the East End
0:47:14 > 0:47:20'became the other side of the tracks as far as London was concerned.'
0:47:20 > 0:47:24The prevailing winds blow from west to east, and the carry all the pollution, and the river
0:47:24 > 0:47:30carried all the effluent downstream and this was a sort of marshy bog-like wasted area.
0:47:30 > 0:47:33And in the middle of the 19th century,
0:47:33 > 0:47:38the city fathers decided to move all the noxious industries over here.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41All the tanners and the things that made smells.
0:47:41 > 0:47:48One writer wrote that "the area around the Lea pleases none of the senses" in 1876.
0:47:48 > 0:47:55Although there were some factories for which smoke was positively useful.
0:47:55 > 0:48:00'100 years ago, there were 15 Salmon smokeries in the East End,
0:48:00 > 0:48:03and this is the last remaining.
0:48:03 > 0:48:08'The others died out in the mid 1970s when salmon-farming started in Scotland.'
0:48:08 > 0:48:10It's very much a bespoke operation.
0:48:10 > 0:48:16'Lance Forman is a fourth generation London Smoked Salmon artisan.
0:48:16 > 0:48:20'His family originally came here to escape persecution in Eastern Europe.
0:48:20 > 0:48:26'They developed a smoking process they called the "London Cure".'
0:48:26 > 0:48:27Take the salt.
0:48:27 > 0:48:32'The secret to the quality, according to Lance, lies in the freshness of the fish.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35'These ones were swimming around yesterday.
0:48:35 > 0:48:41'The salt cures the salmon over 24 hours, and then it's put into the smoking kilns.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44'This used to be the filthy bit of the process,
0:48:44 > 0:48:49'generating the unwanted pollution, but not in the 21st century version.'
0:48:49 > 0:48:54What we used to do in our old factory was just burn sawdust, and it was just a little bit inconsistent
0:48:54 > 0:48:59and you had to dampen it down and sometimes it would burn out and sometimes it would burn too quickly.
0:48:59 > 0:49:03But here you have perfect control and the smoke is gorgeous.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07This machine literally makes the sawdust and ignites it in one action?
0:49:07 > 0:49:09Essentially, yeah.
0:49:09 > 0:49:11Sharp knife, absolute key...
0:49:11 > 0:49:13And now for the test - the carving.
0:49:13 > 0:49:15How thin are you going for here, Lance?
0:49:15 > 0:49:19Some people say that you should be able to read a newspaper through it.
0:49:19 > 0:49:23Why you would want to do that, I don't know.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26But I tell you what before we go any further...
0:49:26 > 0:49:29- Yes.- Why don't we just try a little taste of that.
0:49:29 > 0:49:32Are you actually allowed to eat on the factory floor?
0:49:32 > 0:49:35Well, we'll, er... There's no cameras, are there?
0:49:40 > 0:49:43That's delicious. That's fantastic.
0:49:44 > 0:49:49You're tasting the fish, not too much smoke, a little salt, just enough salt to preserve it.
0:49:49 > 0:49:55- But you're tasting the freshness of the salmon. Do you want to have a go? - I do.
0:49:55 > 0:49:58So we'll start with a fresh one.
0:49:58 > 0:50:01What you need is also a little bit of the right equipment,
0:50:01 > 0:50:04you need to have one of these lovely knives,
0:50:04 > 0:50:07nicely sharpened that does the job...
0:50:09 > 0:50:11..for you.
0:50:11 > 0:50:14Look at that. Can you see the knife through it, Lance?
0:50:14 > 0:50:16Beautiful.
0:50:16 > 0:50:20'Two years ago, the factory moved to its present site
0:50:20 > 0:50:24'because of a new arrival on the banks of the Lea - the Olympic Games.'
0:50:24 > 0:50:27That blue fence there is the boundary of the Olympic Park.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30And our old factory was right in the middle of that.
0:50:30 > 0:50:34There were about 250 businesses there,
0:50:34 > 0:50:40a lot of printers and galvanisers and food businesses, employing about ten, eleven thousand people.
0:50:40 > 0:50:43This area was a big employer, really.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46It was a big employer and, you know, after the Olympics, who knows?
0:50:46 > 0:50:49Early days yet, early days yet. We'll have to see what happens.
0:50:49 > 0:50:54But what's interesting, from my point of view, is that here is the navigable Lea, this bit of the Lea.
0:50:54 > 0:50:56We can see a lock up there.
0:50:56 > 0:51:02This was very much a commercial route into London, or a commercial route into the docks of London.
0:51:02 > 0:51:03It's a hidden gem, actually.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07Having all these industrial buildings, you didn't really see the beauty of it
0:51:07 > 0:51:10and the beauty of the space with the rivers.
0:51:10 > 0:51:14But now it's all being opened out and it will be a very beautiful part of London.
0:51:17 > 0:51:21'The brand-new Olympic development is already having an impact on the river.
0:51:21 > 0:51:25'The building work will require millions of tonnes of aggregate,
0:51:25 > 0:51:27'and do you know how they intend to transport it?
0:51:27 > 0:51:29'By old-fashioned water.
0:51:29 > 0:51:33'Which brings us to the newest structure on the Lea.
0:51:33 > 0:51:35'This is Prescott Lock.
0:51:35 > 0:51:43'It will, for the first time in 50 years, enable water transport to navigate this part of the river.'
0:51:43 > 0:51:47This is the gateway to 2,200 miles of rivers
0:51:47 > 0:51:50and canals in the whole of the UK.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56Why is today, then, a significant day for you?
0:51:56 > 0:52:02Well, today is the first time we'll have water coming into this lock and the first boat.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05- So this is the moment you find out...- Whether it works or not.
0:52:08 > 0:52:13I feel like I'm Prince Charles arriving here to be the first through this gate.
0:52:13 > 0:52:15I'm very honoured.
0:52:22 > 0:52:27'The lock chamber is 62 metres long and 8 metres wide.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30'It can take two huge barges at a time.'
0:52:42 > 0:52:45What can I say? Congratulations.
0:52:45 > 0:52:48Are you going to let off whistles? Hooray!
0:52:55 > 0:53:00We are on the old River Lea now.
0:53:00 > 0:53:04Over there, that's the Pudding Mill River,
0:53:04 > 0:53:07these were all mill Leas.
0:53:07 > 0:53:12They ran water off the Lea to run mills in medieval London.
0:53:12 > 0:53:18'This stretch of the Lea is now so secret you won't actually be able
0:53:18 > 0:53:24'to explore it, for reasons of security, until after 2012.'
0:53:24 > 0:53:30I'm not allowed to bring my canoe up here and bring Cadbury paddling around the Olympic site.
0:53:30 > 0:53:34We've got special permission to do this.
0:53:37 > 0:53:42This is clearly the way to arrive at the Olympics - in a sort of state barge,
0:53:42 > 0:53:46coming up the concrete culvert.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00In a way, it's going to be the Lea's finest hour, isn't it?
0:54:00 > 0:54:02'The brand new Olympic development
0:54:02 > 0:54:07'will have as its centrepiece a concrete drain built originally
0:54:07 > 0:54:11'to prevent flooding in Stratford East.
0:54:23 > 0:54:27'As the five channels flow back into one looping waterway,
0:54:27 > 0:54:31'meandering towards the Thames, this is the final part of the Lea's journey.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34'I am struck by the greatness of this river.
0:54:34 > 0:54:40'What started as a torpid bog in Luton has grown to encompass the whole of London.
0:54:40 > 0:54:45'My journey is nearly over. I'm now in tidal waters.'
0:54:45 > 0:54:48The dog has gone a little bit nervous,
0:54:48 > 0:54:52and I think I can see why because I feel a little bit
0:54:52 > 0:54:55like a baby hedgehog approaching a traffic intersection.
0:54:55 > 0:54:59That's right, Cadbury, get your head down. All right, don't, then.
0:54:59 > 0:55:03I was going to say "I don't know where I am"
0:55:03 > 0:55:09and then I pop out and straight ahead of me is the biggest folly of the last 50 years - the Dome.
0:55:28 > 0:55:30'Time to hitch a lift to the end.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33'This water's too dangerous for Cadbury and me.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36'We are going with Chris Livett, a fifth generation waterman.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40'He used to go up and down the Lea and Thames regularly as a boy.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43'And he's seen some enormous changes on this river.'
0:55:44 > 0:55:49I would come up here with my grandfather and my father in their tug,
0:55:49 > 0:55:53and we would physically have to slow down, a bit like a traffic jam.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56You just have to look at all those 19th century artists.
0:55:56 > 0:56:00They were drawn to river, and one of the reasons was because of the incredible activity.
0:56:00 > 0:56:02The theatre of life.
0:56:02 > 0:56:06The colours, the sounds, the type of boats that would come up.
0:56:06 > 0:56:10The type of people that were on those boats were from the four corners of the world.
0:56:10 > 0:56:14I think people now are turning back towards the river because it looks a lot better,
0:56:14 > 0:56:19there isn't a putrid smell any more, it's quite nice. You see some brilliant sunsets.
0:56:19 > 0:56:24This is one of the few places in London that you can come that you see the horizon, for goodness' sake.
0:56:24 > 0:56:26It is.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28'It's the emptiness that strikes me most.
0:56:28 > 0:56:34'The river has become a new beginning, including potentially a place to live.'
0:56:36 > 0:56:42I think I've been in quite a lot of roof gardens in London in my time,
0:56:42 > 0:56:45but not one that sways all the time.
0:56:45 > 0:56:51I'm only crossing this floating community of 26 barges to complete my own circle.
0:56:51 > 0:56:55It would be awful to be capsized by a major tree, wouldn't it?
0:57:05 > 0:57:09'I'm back in the watery heart of London,
0:57:09 > 0:57:16'brought here by a river which still seems to me to be essential to the understanding of this city.
0:57:16 > 0:57:22'It may not be as magnificent or as famous as its big brother,
0:57:22 > 0:57:25'but the river is a little marvel.
0:57:32 > 0:57:35'So much more even than I was expecting.
0:57:35 > 0:57:43'Its gritty character, its stories, its wonders, its secrets are all modestly preserved,
0:57:43 > 0:57:48'and it seems to me to be on the brink of an exciting future, too.
0:57:53 > 0:57:59'These fireworks mark the end of a yearly festival that celebrates the River Thames.
0:57:59 > 0:58:04'Me, I'm going to light a sparkler for the River Lea.
0:58:39 > 0:58:42Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd