0:00:07 > 0:00:10The Great British countryside. Beautiful. Glorious.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13And very, very old.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18For three billion years, these British Isles
0:00:18 > 0:00:21have been growing and changing.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23They've never stood still.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25If you love the British landscape, the way we both do,
0:00:25 > 0:00:27then you might be very familiar with it,
0:00:27 > 0:00:30but there is another story to be told.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32The story that's always fascinated me,
0:00:32 > 0:00:34of what happened here millions of years ago.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37And how that still affects our lives every day.
0:00:37 > 0:00:38Whoa!
0:00:38 > 0:00:41Hey! Look out!
0:00:41 > 0:00:43Look at that!
0:00:43 > 0:00:48For a country of our size, we have a greater variety of landscapes
0:00:48 > 0:00:49than anywhere else on earth.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53It's all down to our dramatic history.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55Over millions of years, we've been flooded,
0:00:55 > 0:01:00frozen, and ravaged by mighty earth movements.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04What's even more astonishing
0:01:04 > 0:01:09is how that distant past still shapes the countryside today.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14SHE LAUGHS
0:01:14 > 0:01:15I'm alive!
0:01:15 > 0:01:17We're going to all four corners of the country,
0:01:17 > 0:01:22to discover how Britain's epic past lives on
0:01:22 > 0:01:25in the most surprising ways.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28I'm ready for adventure, but you're the geology buff.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31- Where d'you want to go? - I want to go everywhere.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34- Of course you do.- I'm a boy! - Can I come with you?- Yeah.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36- Where are you going? - It's a footpath.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02Yorkshire, historically is Britain's biggest county.
0:02:03 > 0:02:08And Hugh and I are about to cross the length and breadth of it.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11Our grand tour starts here, because Yorkshire's home
0:02:11 > 0:02:16to some of the most unusual rock formations in Britain.
0:02:16 > 0:02:21This is a land created by water and ice.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23The history hidden beneath our feet
0:02:23 > 0:02:25has given the locals much to be proud of.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27CHEERING
0:02:27 > 0:02:30It helped drive the Industrial Revolution,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34created a natural adventure playground.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36It has extraordinary features.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38and a host of classic landscapes.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44We've got fresh air, we've got rain, and good company.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46It's good, it's Yorkshire.
0:02:46 > 0:02:47WHISTLE BLOWS
0:02:58 > 0:03:00Hugh and I have chosen a bit of a damp day
0:03:00 > 0:03:03to start our adventures in Yorkshire.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06But, it has to be said, Hugh is in his element.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12Perfect weather for you today, isn't it? Wet.
0:03:12 > 0:03:13You like all this.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16I love a bit of weather.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Anorak sticking to your face. You told me that before.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22- I couldn't be happier. - You look it.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25I think, also, it's the weather
0:03:25 > 0:03:26that's made the landscape.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29That river is actually doing something, isn't it?
0:03:29 > 0:03:32It's carving out a channel, making the landscape.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34I like how Britain. changes all the time.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37You can be inappropriately dressed at any time of day.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39THEY LAUGH
0:03:46 > 0:03:51'It's great to be back somewhere I spent many of my childhood holidays.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55'We always came to Yorkshire, even brought the cat...
0:03:55 > 0:03:56'on a lead.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59'You'd have to ask my mother.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02'Yorkshire's a fine place to enjoy the great outdoors.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05'It has three national parks, for a start.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08'I'm in one of them.'
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Whoa, look at that.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22I'm on the edge of the North York Moors.
0:04:22 > 0:04:27A national park, an area of high ground that stretches for miles
0:04:27 > 0:04:31in that direction, towards Whitby and Scarborough.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Marking its edge,
0:04:33 > 0:04:35don't look too closely,
0:04:35 > 0:04:39is this MASSIVE inland cliff.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41And that's Sutton Bank.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47'Sutton Bank is an impressive feature
0:04:47 > 0:04:49'of Yorkshire's landscape.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52'Thousands of years old, it seems to reach for the sky.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54'Which, funnily enough, is what I'll be doing.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57'From the top.'
0:05:01 > 0:05:06Albert Newbery has kindly offered to hurtle me off the cliff edge.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08Without an engine.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10- We're on a promontory, aren't we? - Absolutely.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13So, the wind hits the base of the cliff...
0:05:13 > 0:05:16And goes up, and keeps on going.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19So, you're confident that when we get shot
0:05:19 > 0:05:24by this winch over the edge of that cliff,
0:05:24 > 0:05:26- which is 400 feet? - Absolutely.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30That we will meet a body of air, coming back at us,
0:05:30 > 0:05:32shooting upwards?
0:05:32 > 0:05:34I've no doubt, at all.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36I guarantee it.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40RADIO CHATTER Closed!
0:05:40 > 0:05:43Oh! So, what happens now, Albert?
0:05:43 > 0:05:45- It accelerates. - Does it go very fast?
0:05:45 > 0:05:49- It's quite startling. - Ah, look at this!
0:05:57 > 0:05:59How fantastic is that?!
0:05:59 > 0:06:02You can feel a bit of a stomach-affecting thing,
0:06:02 > 0:06:04as we go over the top.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08That's it. The cable is off. We'll press the nose down.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12We both look out for traffic.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15If you see another glider, tell me
0:06:15 > 0:06:16If I see another glider,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19you can be certain I WILL let you know!
0:06:19 > 0:06:21Absolutely. Two sets of eyes are better than one.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23They're a bit like vultures, I think.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25Yeah, the way they circle.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27I'll do a right hand turn now.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29And hopefully, we'll be able to see the White Horse.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31Not wishing to be rude,
0:06:31 > 0:06:34- but it's not a very good picture of a horse.- Right.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42'The white horse was painted onto the cliff in the 1850s,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45'but it's the spectacle of Sutton Bank that I really like.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49'From up here, from down there, from anywhere.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52'And it's all down to a vast expanse of ice
0:06:52 > 0:06:55'that once covered this terrain.'
0:06:55 > 0:06:57You get a fantastic view
0:06:57 > 0:06:59- of this escarpment.- That's right
0:06:59 > 0:07:0220,000 years ago,
0:07:02 > 0:07:04there was a massive sheet of ice,
0:07:04 > 0:07:09that came down, and it scraped this edge
0:07:09 > 0:07:14- off the North Yorkshire Moors. It left this inland cliff.- Got you.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17Which is why you can glide.
0:07:17 > 0:07:18Absolutely. It's amazing.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20It gives us hill lift up
0:07:20 > 0:07:22to 1,500, 1,600 feet.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24So, nature has given you
0:07:24 > 0:07:26a perfect place to glide, hasn't it?
0:07:26 > 0:07:28Absolutely. That's right.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33I think it's just beautiful.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40'The terrain makes Yorkshire a prime spot for gliding.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43'The world's first working gliders were pioneered here
0:07:43 > 0:07:47'in the 1800s by a Yorkshireman called George Cayley.'
0:07:51 > 0:07:53In a moment, I'll ask you to take over.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55Are you sure that's wise?
0:07:55 > 0:07:57I have every confidence in you.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00You have control now. Look ahead.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03Can I try and turn her?
0:08:03 > 0:08:05You stick to the right, the right wing goes down.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08- Press a bit of right rudder in. - What do I do now?
0:08:08 > 0:08:12This'll keep turning till it hits the ground,
0:08:12 > 0:08:13if we don't do something.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17- I have control again. - That's a great relief.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22- That's quite bumpy. - A bit bumpy. More level.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29'So, it's thank you to a sheet of ice for this beautiful,
0:08:29 > 0:08:33'if a little bumpy, ride over Sutton Bank.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36'The edge of the high ground bulldozed off
0:08:36 > 0:08:37by an immense glacier.'
0:08:44 > 0:08:48Glaciers swept right across Yorkshire during the last ice age.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52I'm in the Yorkshire Dales,
0:08:52 > 0:08:55where the ice scoured away the surface
0:08:55 > 0:08:58leaving huge, flat areas of rock.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02This is limestone.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06A vast patio of it forming the classic, craggy Yorkshire landscape.
0:09:14 > 0:09:19Set foot on it, and it's one weird place.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21Almost otherworldly.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Ooh! Did you hear that?
0:09:33 > 0:09:36I feel as if I'm walking along the spine of a dinosaur.
0:09:41 > 0:09:46'This spot is so weird, they filmed a scene from Harry Potter here.
0:09:46 > 0:09:51'So, how has such a mysterious place come to be?'
0:09:51 > 0:09:55This concoction of weirdly-shaped slabs and cracks
0:09:55 > 0:09:58would once have been a flat expanse of rock.
0:09:58 > 0:09:59But, over the years,
0:09:59 > 0:10:02surface was nibbled away at the limestone,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05leaving this incredible pattern.
0:10:05 > 0:10:10'The pieces of this "Limestone Pavement", as it's called,
0:10:10 > 0:10:12'have old Yorkshire names.'
0:10:12 > 0:10:15The blocks are called "clints".
0:10:17 > 0:10:21And the gaps are known as "grykes".
0:10:24 > 0:10:29'But the most curious thing is what's hidden down in the grykes.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33'Meet Professor Cynthia Burek, a geo-conservationist,
0:10:33 > 0:10:39'who's fascinated by this unusual rocky habitat.'
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Limestone pavements are mysterious places, aren't they?
0:10:44 > 0:10:48They are full of surprises and mysteries.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54'Remarkably, these cracks are teeming with plant life
0:10:54 > 0:10:58'that's extremely rare in Britain.'
0:10:58 > 0:11:02Down in the grykes, we have a very shady,
0:11:02 > 0:11:04a very humid
0:11:04 > 0:11:06sort of environment.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09Microclimate, if you will.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12We have shade-tolerant plants down there.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14You're making it sound quite nice!
0:11:14 > 0:11:17It's a bit narrow to get down there!
0:11:17 > 0:11:18THEY LAUGH
0:11:18 > 0:11:21It's a real surprise for people,
0:11:21 > 0:11:23when visitors come up here.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25They say, "Look at all these ferns!
0:11:25 > 0:11:28"These hart's-tongue fern. And the maidenhead. Spleenwort."
0:11:28 > 0:11:32- Just lovely, lovely names.- Yes.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39But, there's a puzzle.
0:11:39 > 0:11:44These are plants you'd expect to see in shady woodland,
0:11:44 > 0:11:45not here.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50How did they get here, then?
0:11:50 > 0:11:53Well, they're a clue that not so long ago,
0:11:53 > 0:11:56this all would've looked completely different.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58It WAS a thick forest.
0:11:58 > 0:12:04This would originally have been ancient woodland, the whole thing.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07But the only place we find the woodland now,
0:12:07 > 0:12:09is down the grykes.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15This relic woodland flora, which used to be everywhere.
0:12:15 > 0:12:21That's what makes this landscape, this feature, so special.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25'The woodland that once covered the uplands of Yorkshire
0:12:25 > 0:12:29'was stripped back to the bare limestone by our ancient ancestors,
0:12:29 > 0:12:31'and their grazing animals.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34'It took thousands of years.'
0:12:37 > 0:12:41That's nothing compared to the story of the limestone itself.
0:12:41 > 0:12:46330 million years ago, before these rocks were even rocks,
0:12:46 > 0:12:51a tropical sea covered this whole area.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58The limestone is the remains of tiny creatures and plants
0:12:58 > 0:13:03that died in that sea, and sank to the bottom.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06Over millions of years, vast amounts of sea-life
0:13:06 > 0:13:09got compressed into stone,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12creating a staggeringly thick bed of rock.
0:13:16 > 0:13:17Below the limestone pavement,
0:13:17 > 0:13:20lies a place with its own dramatic story,
0:13:20 > 0:13:23a place Hugh's always been drawn to...
0:13:24 > 0:13:26..Malham Cove.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37It's a fantastic cliff. About 200 feet. Absolutely sheer.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41I think I must be feeling what a spider feels like,
0:13:41 > 0:13:43trapped at the bottom of a bath.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47They haven't looked after it well.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49It could use some lime scale remover.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51Look at the staining on that.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54'Essentially, you're looking at one massive pile
0:13:54 > 0:13:58'of dead coral and shellfish.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01'And there's the same amount again, below ground.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04'But wait and see what else happened here.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08'We're about to go a bit Hollywood with this.'
0:14:12 > 0:14:15The seabed that would turn into limestone
0:14:15 > 0:14:20began experiencing earthquakes.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23Over millions of years,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26a fault ,deep under the sea floor, made part of it drop.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33Eventually, the sea dried up, and there was desert.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35But the place was under constant change.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39In fact, three hundred million years of drama later,
0:14:39 > 0:14:41it was even covered in ice...
0:14:42 > 0:14:46..which melted, sending trillions of tons of water
0:14:46 > 0:14:50cascading over the drop in the ground.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55It would've been like Yorkshire's own Niagara Falls,
0:14:55 > 0:15:00sculpting and eroding Malham Cove into the place I love today.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08Over 300 million years in the making,
0:15:08 > 0:15:13this plunging precipice offers some of the world's hardest rock climbs.
0:15:15 > 0:15:20Getting to the top is incredibly difficult.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23To conquer my fear,
0:15:23 > 0:15:26I've asked world-class climber, Tim Emmett,
0:15:26 > 0:15:30to scale it all on his own, without me being there in any way.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33I've never climbed to the top of Malham before.
0:15:33 > 0:15:34I'd really like to.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36So you choose the wettest day of the year?
0:15:36 > 0:15:38That's the only day you could come, Hugh!
0:15:38 > 0:15:43There's not anywhere else in Britain that's like it.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49Wow! I see why the climbs here
0:15:49 > 0:15:52have names like "Carnage" and "Crash Dive".
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Looks terrifying to me.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59To get right to the top,
0:15:59 > 0:16:02Tim must go round the overhang, which he's not done before.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06It'll be even harder in this rain.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09His climb starts on a narrow ledge, part way up.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11Wow!
0:16:11 > 0:16:13Not climbed on holes that small for a long time.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16How wet is it up there?
0:16:16 > 0:16:17Well, right now,
0:16:17 > 0:16:21the water's pouring off the roof above me.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24It's like climbing behind a waterfall.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29'Limestone can be a nightmare to climb.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33'The fossilised sea creatures it's made of were squashed
0:16:33 > 0:16:37'into tiny fragments, resulting in smooth rock that's hard to grip.'
0:16:37 > 0:16:42The next bit gets really wet, so I might fall off.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49It's really slippery!
0:16:49 > 0:16:51HE GROANS
0:16:51 > 0:16:53Oh, man. It's SO wet.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57This looks a lot more scary than the first bit.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04'It's so slippery, Tim can only heave himself round the overhang
0:17:04 > 0:17:08'aided by anchor bolts set in the rock,
0:17:08 > 0:17:10'and little wedges he slots in himself.'
0:17:14 > 0:17:17Ooh! That doesn't look good, at all. But it'll have to do.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22Please don't break.
0:17:32 > 0:17:36'By contrast, I've had no bother at all making it to the top,
0:17:36 > 0:17:38'via the footpath.'
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Where is he, then?
0:17:42 > 0:17:44At last, Tom makes it, too.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50Well, well. Hey, Hugh, how's it going?
0:17:50 > 0:17:51Cheers.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55Well done. It was great. D'you have a fantastic sense of achievement?
0:17:58 > 0:18:01Malham Cove has been through a lot.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04It's been a seabed, it's suffered earthquakes,
0:18:04 > 0:18:08it's had waterfalls pouring all over it,
0:18:08 > 0:18:11but it's come through it all, and ended up as a national treasure,
0:18:11 > 0:18:15that's looking better and better with age.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19For me, too, Yorkshire's landscape is awe-inspiring.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22And, with 6000 square miles all in,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25it's a patchwork of geology.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27As Hugh's determined to show me.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32Yorkshire is massive, isn't it?
0:18:32 > 0:18:34Historically, it's the largest county,
0:18:34 > 0:18:36if you include all the Ridings.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38If you split it down the middle,
0:18:38 > 0:18:42this side is different, geologically, to that side.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45The Vale of York does split in half, pretty much.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47The Dales, which is this bit,
0:18:47 > 0:18:51it has lots of rocks, but it's famous for limestone.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54- So, use that scone. That's limestone.- OK.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58The North Yorkshire Moors is the other classic Yorkshire landscape
0:18:58 > 0:19:00which is...
0:19:00 > 0:19:03"Heartbeat" country.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07So, that's got limestone, but it's got other rock, as well.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09Do you need more biscuits?
0:19:09 > 0:19:13Yeah. Sandstone, siltstone, they're most prominent.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17And there's iron and coal, all in this bit.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20And in terms of the age, geologically,
0:19:20 > 0:19:24150 million years between the two halves?
0:19:24 > 0:19:28That was about 330 million years ago that was formed.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30And this is 150 million years younger.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33So that scone is 150 million years older than that scone.
0:19:33 > 0:19:38When you used to go walking with the family, with the cat on a lead...
0:19:38 > 0:19:41It wasn't really a lead, it was a 30 foot washing line.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45It wasn't short.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48It walked most of the peaks here, certainly.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50Right.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Yorkshire's landscapes have been part of our lives
0:19:56 > 0:19:58since we were nippers They're irresistible.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02But it's not all about great vistas.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05Yorkshire was at the heart of the industrial revolution.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10It's geology provided masses of coal.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16And the great iron and steel works were also once fed
0:20:16 > 0:20:18by local raw materials.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25I have fond memories of my family working in steel.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29My dad worked in the steel industry.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33When he was a trainee for British Steel, he was loading up a furnace
0:20:33 > 0:20:36and he accidentally threw the shovel into the furnace
0:20:36 > 0:20:38and that's when he got an office job.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41At least he didn't get the shovel. That's the sensible thing.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44Knowing my dad it's a surprise he DIDN'T go and get the shovel!
0:20:46 > 0:20:50There aren't quite so many shovels and furnaces around these days.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54But within this now tranquil landscape,
0:20:54 > 0:20:58there are still reminders of Yorkshire's great industrial past.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01And I want to track some of it down,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04so I'm off to the Moors, hitching a ride
0:21:04 > 0:21:07on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10The high speed rail link, calling at all stations
0:21:10 > 0:21:12to 19th century Yorkshire.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28- I like the fact you've got a sunroof. That seems very modern. - That's our air conditioning.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43It's a brilliant way to travel even if the engine is on back to front.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50What I'm searching for is in the hills halfway up the line.
0:21:59 > 0:22:04Here we are - Grosmont. Deep in the North York moors.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06You'd think it had never changed.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09Actually, you'd be wrong.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13In that group of trees over there, there was a massive works
0:22:13 > 0:22:15with three blast furnaces.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20The traces are all gone now. Well, almost.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28It's hard to imagine the scale now,
0:22:28 > 0:22:33but in the 1830s, the geology here triggered a bonanza.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36Like the gold rush, there was something valuable to be had
0:22:36 > 0:22:38in the local rock.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40Not gold though. Iron.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50This is what they were after. Ironstone.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53It's basically silt and sea shells
0:22:53 > 0:22:57laid down about 180 million years ago,
0:22:57 > 0:23:01but the sea water in which it was laid down was very shallow,
0:23:01 > 0:23:03would also have contained iron minerals.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12Huge amounts of ironstone were dug out here
0:23:12 > 0:23:16and used to engineer the bridges, the ships and the trains
0:23:16 > 0:23:17of Victorian Britain.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20This area once accounted for about a third
0:23:20 > 0:23:25of Britain's iron, some of it even ended up in Sydney Harbour Bridge.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28But the big industry round here now is the tourists.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32As valuable as ironstone, but much easier to load.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43WHISTLE
0:23:48 > 0:23:53The railway connects Yorkshire's industrial past and present.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55And the landscape's not bad, either.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06This gorge is maybe about 100 metres deep
0:24:06 > 0:24:08and about seven miles long,
0:24:08 > 0:24:12and it's much to big to be explained by the little stream
0:24:12 > 0:24:14that now flows along the bottom of it.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17That's because 15,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age,
0:24:17 > 0:24:22this valley contained something akin to a raging river.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26In fact, it may have been the fastest flowing and biggest torrent
0:24:26 > 0:24:28that Britain has ever seen.
0:24:35 > 0:24:40It's thought that the torrent was a short lived, but immense flood.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46It was created when a lake brimming with meltwater from glaciers
0:24:46 > 0:24:48suddenly overflowed.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52The water had collected behind ice dams,
0:24:52 > 0:24:54blocking valleys in the high ground to the north.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00But when the tipping point came, the vast outflow heading southwards
0:25:00 > 0:25:05ripped away millions of tonnes of rock and carved out a gorge.
0:25:34 > 0:25:35What's that?
0:25:36 > 0:25:40Hugh and I still have lots more to discover in Yorkshire.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42This vast region is full of surprises.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48Underneath you, it's like you're standing on a beach.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51From the depths of the Dales...
0:25:51 > 0:25:53to the very edges of the county.
0:25:53 > 0:25:59That wind bouncing in off the North Sea nearly knocks you off your feet.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10Now I'm heading for a taste of the town
0:26:10 > 0:26:14and a rather unique flavour of Yorkshire's past.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19Sitting between the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales
0:26:19 > 0:26:20is a place where water
0:26:20 > 0:26:24bubbling up from the ground once created an entire industry.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29I've come to the majestic spa town of Harrogate.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34At a tap in the town centre,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37you can take a free sample of what made this place prosper.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41I've come prepared. Now, apparently, you press this button
0:26:41 > 0:26:45and some rather unusual water comes out.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50Something's supposed to happen. Come on. Ooh!
0:26:51 > 0:26:53Ooh!
0:26:53 > 0:26:54Well, a bit spasmodic.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01Eugh. A bit smelly. A little taste.
0:27:04 > 0:27:05Aargh.
0:27:05 > 0:27:10That is like really salty, smelly eggs with a bit of sock thrown in.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12Revolting.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20This spring water, rising through cracks in the rock below,
0:27:20 > 0:27:23becomes enriched with eggy smelling sulphur...
0:27:23 > 0:27:25That is so bad, it's not true.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29..From iron sulphide, deposited deep underground.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32You'd never drink that in a million years.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35Unless they said to me it was going to make me grow hair.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38If it grew me hair, and did wonderful things for me.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42Well, despite the stink, people did once believe Harrogate's waters
0:27:42 > 0:27:47brought no end of health benefits and they flocked here to partake.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50- Hi, Malcolm.- Julia, welcome. Do come through.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54Local historian Malcolm Neesam is taking me down to the 17th century
0:27:54 > 0:27:59street level to see the original source of the sulphur spring.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02Right, OK.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05..which certainly would have had some effect.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Especially on that delightful affliction - worms.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13Probably 90% of the population,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17in the 17th century had worms, internal worms.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20Now this stuff, if you drink it, because it's a purge,
0:28:20 > 0:28:22you evacuate the worms. People used to bathe in it.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25And it was very effective for skin conditions.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29I almost want to jump in there now. Almost.
0:28:29 > 0:28:34I had a little taste outside and I have to say, I'm not a big fan.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37The secret is to hold it at arms length, in a glass,
0:28:37 > 0:28:40then bring it quickly to your lips,
0:28:40 > 0:28:43down it without smelling it, that's the best way to do it.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46So you've actually tasted it, en masse?
0:28:46 > 0:28:48I had the small thimble full,
0:28:48 > 0:28:51that the staff here recommend you take.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53I said, "Take it away, I can't be bothered with that.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56"Bring me a proper glass."
0:28:56 > 0:28:59I downed half a pint, and within 20 minutes,
0:28:59 > 0:29:02I had to stop the walk I was doing, simply because the power
0:29:02 > 0:29:06of the sulphur water on the gut is literally explosive!
0:29:16 > 0:29:19Harrogate has nearly 100 springs and wells.
0:29:19 > 0:29:21They emerge from a complex system
0:29:21 > 0:29:25of folds and cracks in the assortment of rocks under the town.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31In the 1970s, many of the water sources were capped off
0:29:31 > 0:29:34rather unceremoniously.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41Then in the 1990's we consumers rediscovered a taste for water
0:29:41 > 0:29:43or rather a thirst for mineral water.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48Harrogate's water industry was born again.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54James Cain sells over 50 million bottles of water a year,
0:29:54 > 0:29:57every drop from this hole.
0:29:57 > 0:29:58Oh.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01I thought it might be a well.
0:30:01 > 0:30:05What we have here is a pipe which goes 45 metres below,
0:30:05 > 0:30:09and we're actually taking the water after it's passed through rocks like this,
0:30:09 > 0:30:12so this is sandstone. And as the water passes through the sandstone,
0:30:12 > 0:30:16- it's collecting all the different minerals.- So, it's rainwater?
0:30:16 > 0:30:19Yes. We believe the water to be 50-500 years old.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23It depends on the route that it takes to travel through the 45 metres of rock.
0:30:24 > 0:30:26Let's definitely taste it.
0:30:26 > 0:30:29So, this is the first time this water's seen daylight,
0:30:29 > 0:30:34for between 50 and 500 years, so let's see what it tastes like.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42- It's very minerally. - Very minerally. Yes.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44A slightly metallic taste.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48So we actually take out a little bit of iron to give it what we think the optimum taste.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51- And then it gets bottled? - It's straight to bottle.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54- I was tasting water earlier on today in Harrogate...- OK.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57- (It was horrible.) - Oh, I can imagine.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00It was stinky, sulphur, very smelly.
0:31:00 > 0:31:01Why doesn't this taste like that?
0:31:01 > 0:31:03A completely different source.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06Albeit we're a mile apart, a different mineral balance
0:31:06 > 0:31:08and therefore the water will taste different.
0:31:08 > 0:31:12The flavour is affected by the type of rocks around a well.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15And generally, the higher
0:31:15 > 0:31:17the mineral content the stronger the taste.
0:31:21 > 0:31:25You can get an idea of how strong by adding up the individual
0:31:25 > 0:31:27minerals listed on the label.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33Around 300 milligrams, like this one - is low.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36Over 1000 is high.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53Back in the Dales, pouring water means something rather different.
0:31:53 > 0:31:54Here, it's the power of it
0:31:54 > 0:31:57that has created something special, by its sheer force.
0:32:04 > 0:32:05That is worth the walk.
0:32:07 > 0:32:08I love that sound.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13Sorry, I LOVE THAT SOUND!
0:32:20 > 0:32:22Hardraw Force this is called.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26A big slab of limestone sits at the top.
0:32:31 > 0:32:32I'm going in.
0:32:33 > 0:32:35May the force be with me.
0:32:38 > 0:32:43They filmed Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves here,
0:32:43 > 0:32:48Kevin Costner got his kit off and Maid Marian spied on him,
0:32:48 > 0:32:52but don't worry because these waders will take me about half an hour to get off.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59Whoo!
0:32:59 > 0:33:03There's an enormous weight of water coming over the top.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06And it hits the bottom here with tremendous force,
0:33:06 > 0:33:10which is what's created this plunge pool.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14But because the resistance of the rock to water at the top
0:33:14 > 0:33:17is much higher than it is down at the bottom,
0:33:17 > 0:33:19you've got this undercutting.
0:33:24 > 0:33:29In other words, the rocks below the limestone slab are softer
0:33:29 > 0:33:32and more vulnerable to the force of the waterfall.
0:33:32 > 0:33:36It means that this limestone is like an enormous overhang,
0:33:36 > 0:33:39and at some point that's going to collapse.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55The boulders around me are what's already collapsed.
0:33:55 > 0:33:57Woooh!
0:33:57 > 0:34:00Which makes me wonder if this is a wise place to paddle.
0:34:06 > 0:34:11It's great. The landscape is constantly changing.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13Just very, very slowly.
0:34:13 > 0:34:17And here, well, this is my favourite bit.
0:34:18 > 0:34:23Each time the overhang collapses the waterfall moves in that direction.
0:34:23 > 0:34:25It's hard to believe,
0:34:25 > 0:34:28but at one point it was 300 metres down there!
0:34:35 > 0:34:38In fact, the waterfall has gouged out an entire gorge.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44A gorge that echoes not only to the waterfall...
0:34:44 > 0:34:45BRASS BAND PLAYS
0:34:45 > 0:34:50..but also to a sound that simply says - Yorkshire!
0:34:50 > 0:34:54BAND PLAYS
0:34:57 > 0:35:01Over thousands of years the waterfall has created
0:35:01 > 0:35:02a perfect concert arena
0:35:02 > 0:35:08for the Hardraw annual brass band contest.
0:35:08 > 0:35:1314 bands from all over Northern England, here to pucker up
0:35:13 > 0:35:15and blow for the championship.
0:35:15 > 0:35:20Hardraw's very special. It's a long way out in the Dales.
0:35:20 > 0:35:24We've got a pub. We've got fresh air. We've got rain.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28Good company. It's good. It's Yorkshire.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32Good man! He likes the rain too!
0:35:34 > 0:35:38But what really makes Hardraw special
0:35:38 > 0:35:40is the wonderful sound of the place.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43It has the sound of the stream going behind
0:35:43 > 0:35:47and the wind rustling over the top. It encloses it, and it's special,
0:35:47 > 0:35:51and it's quiet different from whenever you sit.
0:35:52 > 0:35:56It's just wherever you seem to sit or stand, or watch the band,
0:35:56 > 0:35:58it's like they're playing right next to you.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01That's the magic of it. That's the magic of Hardraw
0:36:01 > 0:36:05that you don't have in any other environment.
0:36:09 > 0:36:11The first battle of the bands here was in the 1880s,
0:36:11 > 0:36:15many of the competitors from the old coal mining communities.
0:36:15 > 0:36:19So, there's real tradition to uphold.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22Being British, we're lucky in this country.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26We're lucky in Yorkshire because we live here.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38Well, we played well. We enjoyed it. Glad to be hear.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40Proud, really proud.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58Yorkshire owes a lot to how
0:36:58 > 0:37:01ice and water has shaped it over millions of years.
0:37:05 > 0:37:11And not only here on the surface, also deep underground.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13Beneath the Yorkshire Dales,
0:37:13 > 0:37:17water has carved out more tunnels and chambers
0:37:17 > 0:37:20than anywhere else in the country.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25This is Britain's capital of caves.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29And some of them are vast.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32That is a very, very, big hole.
0:37:32 > 0:37:37That is Gaping Gill. So called, obviously, because it is gaping.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39Look at the size of that!
0:37:39 > 0:37:44And it goes down to one of the largest natural limestone caverns
0:37:44 > 0:37:47in Britain. Just over 100 meters, down there.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51Usain Bolt could do that in 9.6, 9.7 seconds.
0:37:51 > 0:37:55If I take a couple of steps forward I can do it quite a lot faster!
0:38:03 > 0:38:06This imposing portal to the underworld
0:38:06 > 0:38:10is the venue of summer camping meets for the Craven Pothole Club.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14Every summer, they set up the apparatus
0:38:14 > 0:38:19to plunge the unsuspecting into the yawning abyss.
0:38:19 > 0:38:25Hi. So, you the man who's going to be winching me down?
0:38:25 > 0:38:27- And back up again, I hope. - And back up again. Hmm.
0:38:28 > 0:38:34We haven't lost anybody today. Crossed over your chest, preferably.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37I feel like I am going to be some form of human sacrifice
0:38:37 > 0:38:40for the gods of the underworld at the moment.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44Does the floor just disappear now?
0:38:50 > 0:38:51Just have a quick look.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57Help.
0:39:04 > 0:39:05Help.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28This waterfall beats the one I visited at Hardraw.
0:39:28 > 0:39:32It's Britain's highest unbroken cascade.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41Over thousands of years, hidden from view,
0:39:41 > 0:39:44the water's created something on a scale
0:39:44 > 0:39:46you just wouldn't expect.
0:40:04 > 0:40:08Hello. What a fantastic place this is, isn't it?
0:40:14 > 0:40:15Woo!
0:40:18 > 0:40:21This is an absolutely astonishing place.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26It's like a sort of limestone cathedral.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30Up there, there is light just at the top there.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32There's water absolutely everywhere.
0:40:32 > 0:40:34It's got that sort of fresh...
0:40:34 > 0:40:39It's not really dank, like you would expect a cave to be, I suppose,
0:40:39 > 0:40:42because the hole is so big.
0:40:42 > 0:40:47You feel like, if anything, you're in an enormous vase.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50And you're sort of being sprayed with water.
0:40:52 > 0:40:57And underneath you, down here, I'm going to show you this.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01It's like you are on a beach, because this is all the stuff
0:41:01 > 0:41:05that has washed down over the years. It really is. It's like shingle.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09And if you cleared all of this out, there's between
0:41:09 > 0:41:1430 and 60 meters more of limestone cavern underneath.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17This is a massive pothole.
0:41:28 > 0:41:33It's amazing really to think that water could do this.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35But it is not just the physical power of the water,
0:41:35 > 0:41:39it's also a chemical reaction which has dissolved some of the limestone
0:41:39 > 0:41:42over hundreds and thousands of years,
0:41:42 > 0:41:45and it's created this massive chamber.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48And the thing is, it's still doing it.
0:41:49 > 0:41:51The water is weakly acidic.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56It picks up its acidity from carbon dioxide in the air,
0:41:56 > 0:42:00and from decaying vegetation, making it slightly corrosive to limestone.
0:42:03 > 0:42:07Imperceptibly slowly, acidic water has dissolved away
0:42:07 > 0:42:10hundreds of miles of passages under the Yorkshire Dales.
0:42:10 > 0:42:151500 known caves, and who knows how many unknown ones.
0:42:15 > 0:42:20Paradise, if you like dark, damp, muddy, tight spaces.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26Hi, I'm clear.
0:42:26 > 0:42:27WHISTLES
0:42:30 > 0:42:34Potholers, Jude and Johnny Latimer, and their dog,
0:42:34 > 0:42:36sell it rather better.
0:42:36 > 0:42:40When you're a child and you see fresh snow, and no-one's put footprints in,
0:42:40 > 0:42:43a little bit of caving is when you find something new,
0:42:43 > 0:42:46and you've actually gone through quite a lot of blood, sweat and tears
0:42:46 > 0:42:48to get there, and to actually find those passages
0:42:48 > 0:42:51where there's not a single footprint, and nobody's been there.
0:42:51 > 0:42:53It feels a real honour.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57- So, how did you two meet?- In a cave a few miles away from here.
0:42:57 > 0:43:01It was my first caving trip, so I was wearing white wellies,
0:43:01 > 0:43:03with pink hearts on them, and pig-tails,
0:43:03 > 0:43:05and I heard Johnny mutter to his brother as I passed,
0:43:05 > 0:43:08"she's not going to last five minutes!"
0:43:08 > 0:43:10And you had your hen night down here. Is that right?
0:43:10 > 0:43:14Yes. So, I took my 25 friends down Gaping Gill.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17I had a helmet with a veil on it, and we had champagne.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20I wanted to show my friends that caving wasn't just
0:43:20 > 0:43:21squalid and horrible,
0:43:21 > 0:43:24and that, actually, it can be glamorous, too.
0:43:30 > 0:43:36For deeper, for colder, in darkness, and in, well, wellies.
0:43:36 > 0:43:41The thing I like is that there are still caves still being created.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44The water continually eroding away the limestone.
0:44:00 > 0:44:01Blimey.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13Back above ground, the water keeps on flowing.
0:44:13 > 0:44:17It makes gorges and caves, it rises up as mineral water,
0:44:17 > 0:44:21and here it is again, doing something very bizarre.
0:44:25 > 0:44:29It might look like an exhibit from the Turner art prize,
0:44:29 > 0:44:32but this is good old fashioned British quirkiness.
0:44:32 > 0:44:34It's a little bit weird, isn't it?
0:44:38 > 0:44:42The world's furriest kettle.
0:44:44 > 0:44:45What's that?
0:44:46 > 0:44:48Is that a monkey, or a..?
0:44:48 > 0:44:50Very eccentric, isn't it?
0:44:52 > 0:44:55I'm at Knaresborough, between the Moors and the Dales.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59Here, the water turns things to stone.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04For centuries, people have left personal mementos
0:45:04 > 0:45:09to become encrusted in the transformational trickle.
0:45:09 > 0:45:13These are some of the rather more special objects.
0:45:13 > 0:45:17That is John Wayne's hat, apparently.
0:45:17 > 0:45:24This, apparently, is - was - Agatha Christie's handbag.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28Ward off attackers with that no problem, huh?
0:45:32 > 0:45:35It's traditional to leave something behind,
0:45:35 > 0:45:38so I'm leaving my earmuffs to be petrified.
0:45:40 > 0:45:44'It takes about three months to create a crusty coating
0:45:44 > 0:45:46'on the unsuspecting objects.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49'It's like the limescale in your kettle -
0:45:49 > 0:45:52'when the water contained enough dissolved minerals
0:45:52 > 0:45:56'from the rocks it seeped through, it can build up, layer on layer.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01'The water here has almost 10 times more dissolved minerals
0:46:01 > 0:46:07'than tap water, so the build-up can get really thick.'
0:46:07 > 0:46:09Apparently, soft, furry things work best.
0:46:09 > 0:46:12I'm going to smash this little teddy's foot open
0:46:12 > 0:46:15and see how thick the coating actually is.
0:46:15 > 0:46:16Sorry, Terry.
0:46:18 > 0:46:21Ooh. That's a surprise.
0:46:24 > 0:46:26Ah.
0:46:28 > 0:46:30Let's see if I can get that foot off.
0:46:35 > 0:46:40More of a crust than a coating, a few millimetres thick...
0:46:40 > 0:46:44'Teddy's crust is, in fact, proper rock,
0:46:44 > 0:46:47'a brittle type of limestone known as tufa.'
0:46:48 > 0:46:53'It's the very rock that dissolves away underground.'
0:46:53 > 0:46:55You've been a naughty Teddy.
0:47:03 > 0:47:08That is one of the most bizarre things I've ever done on telly, I think
0:47:10 > 0:47:15'Poor old Teddy - he gave his right arm for science.
0:47:15 > 0:47:20'But it shows his rocky coating is seriously solid.'
0:47:29 > 0:47:33As night falls, the middle of the North York moors
0:47:33 > 0:47:36may not seem the most inviting place to be,
0:47:36 > 0:47:39but the geology here offers a haven
0:47:39 > 0:47:42for one of the most secretive creatures in Britain.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46A remarkable cave dweller that loves holes in Yorkshire's limestone
0:47:46 > 0:47:48as much as I do.
0:47:59 > 0:48:04'It's three hours after sunset, and I've located Prof John Altrincham
0:48:04 > 0:48:09'from Leeds University, who spends many nights in these woods
0:48:09 > 0:48:13'dedicated to studying bats.'
0:48:13 > 0:48:16Wow, they're all over the place, aren't they?
0:48:16 > 0:48:18They're kind of buzzing past my ears.
0:48:18 > 0:48:20You can almost feel the air.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23You can feel the air, they're coming that close, you can.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25I just wish I could see them more clearly, really.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29What we can do is switch from normal light to infrared light
0:48:29 > 0:48:31so you can watch them in the dark.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35- What do I do, I just point it? - Put it up to your eye and point.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38Oh, wow.
0:48:42 > 0:48:46'This is fantastic. There's dozens of them.'
0:48:46 > 0:48:49It's amazing they don't hit anything, isn't it?
0:48:49 > 0:48:52There are great strings of them just going across the sky.
0:48:52 > 0:48:56It's like watching the Red Arrows or something, isn't it?
0:48:56 > 0:48:59'The bats are all buzzing around this cave entrance.'
0:48:59 > 0:49:04And they've just gone straight down the hole.
0:49:04 > 0:49:06'25 metres under our feet is a huge chamber
0:49:06 > 0:49:11'in the limestone hillside, secluded, humid and an even temperature.
0:49:11 > 0:49:13'It's a perfect batcave.'
0:49:16 > 0:49:19'The bats have come from far and wide,
0:49:19 > 0:49:21'but for now they're just visiting.'
0:49:23 > 0:49:25If they don't live here, where do they come from?
0:49:25 > 0:49:27Would you believe me if I said Hull?
0:49:27 > 0:49:31- Hull.- And lots of places all over Yorkshire and beyond.
0:49:31 > 0:49:33- And that's about 60 km, isn't it?- Over 60 km away.
0:49:33 > 0:49:35And they go back at the end of the night?
0:49:35 > 0:49:38In some cases they're going back at the end of the night.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41- Wow, it's a commitment, isn't it?- It is, yes.
0:49:41 > 0:49:43'The bats, many from Hull,
0:49:43 > 0:49:47'have come to check out the perfect place to hibernate.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51'But they're also after something else.'
0:49:51 > 0:49:53They come here to mate.
0:49:53 > 0:49:57I think a lot of this is competition between males,
0:49:57 > 0:49:59and it's females assessing males.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01- See who can fly the best.- Yeah.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05You know, if you're fast and manoeuvrable and fit,
0:50:05 > 0:50:07then you're carrying good genes.
0:50:07 > 0:50:09That's always worked for me.
0:50:14 > 0:50:16- So these are the traps, are they? - Yeah.
0:50:16 > 0:50:18'By gently trapping bats,
0:50:18 > 0:50:24'John's found that six of the 17 British bat species visit this cave.'
0:50:24 > 0:50:25They're great.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27They look really rather sweet, actually.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29They're cute, yes.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32Even a hard-nosed scientist like me might think they're cute.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36- You want to see one close up? - Yeah, I'd love to.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38Hello.
0:50:38 > 0:50:40So, there you go.
0:50:40 > 0:50:43They're quite big, actually, aren't they?
0:50:43 > 0:50:45They're big, but they're very likely built.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48They're the size of a mouse but half the weight,
0:50:48 > 0:50:50these are only about 10 grams.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54They looked like a tiny little dog, really, don't they?
0:50:55 > 0:50:59- So, are these males or females? - Most of these will be males.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02So, these male bats are really on the pull, ardently?
0:51:02 > 0:51:05That's it, this is clubbing for bats, only on a grand scale.
0:51:05 > 0:51:09- We're going to let this one go. - There he goes.
0:51:09 > 0:51:11Superb takeoff ability.
0:51:11 > 0:51:13I know, it's great, straight off into the darkness.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18'This is the closest to nightclubbing I've been for a while,
0:51:18 > 0:51:21'and great to see what a hidden limestone cave
0:51:21 > 0:51:23'can do for these guys -
0:51:23 > 0:51:26'bats, and bat professors.'
0:51:34 > 0:51:38Our story has brought us right to the coast, and what a coast it is.
0:51:38 > 0:51:42Yorkshire has 100 miles of it.
0:51:42 > 0:51:47Some of it is around 200 million years old.
0:51:47 > 0:51:51But the stretch I'm walking is a baby in comparison.
0:51:51 > 0:51:54In fact, at less than 20,000 years old,
0:51:54 > 0:51:57this is one of Britain's youngest landscapes.
0:52:00 > 0:52:06It's an immense pile of sand, clay, pebbles and boulders.
0:52:06 > 0:52:08Geological junk.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14This is bits and pieces of old Yorkshire landscapes
0:52:14 > 0:52:18that were torn away and ground up by the last ice age.
0:52:21 > 0:52:27Glaciers and torrents of meltwater carried the debris from inland...
0:52:27 > 0:52:31and dumped it, forming this brand-new stretch
0:52:31 > 0:52:34of the East Yorkshire coast -
0:52:34 > 0:52:35Holderness.
0:52:36 > 0:52:42For the people who live here, geology has a sting in its tail.
0:52:44 > 0:52:48The cliffs, and everything we've built on them,
0:52:48 > 0:52:51are being devoured by the North Sea.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57Scientists from the British geological survey
0:52:57 > 0:53:00are keeping tabs on the disappearing land.
0:53:00 > 0:53:03Peter Balsam is one of them.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05The whole landscape here is very weak
0:53:05 > 0:53:08and is easily worn away by the waves hitting the cliffs.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12You can see here that I can smash it up in my hands,
0:53:12 > 0:53:17it just tears apart, so it's very easy for it to be eroded, very soft.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20There's been massive change in this location.
0:53:20 > 0:53:2310 years ago, the cliff would have extended
0:53:23 > 0:53:26all the way across here another 30 metres out to sea,
0:53:26 > 0:53:30so everything here has gone in the last 10 years.
0:53:31 > 0:53:36With as much as three metres of this coastline disappearing a year,
0:53:36 > 0:53:39people's properties are under threat.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43A life by the sea doesn't seem so appealing.
0:53:43 > 0:53:47It's one of the fastest eroding coastlines in Europe.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57But something else extraordinary is happening here,
0:53:57 > 0:54:01something that actually benefits everyone of us in Britain.
0:54:01 > 0:54:05As the vulnerable coastline gives way,
0:54:05 > 0:54:08a lot of what's eroded washes down the coast.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14It's heading here - Spurn Point,
0:54:14 > 0:54:17a peculiar strip of sand and pebbles
0:54:17 > 0:54:21that stretches across the mouth of the River Humber.
0:54:22 > 0:54:25Some of the eroded material from up the coast
0:54:25 > 0:54:27reinforces this exposed spot.
0:54:30 > 0:54:35That wind bouncing in of the North Sea nearly knocks you off your feet.
0:54:35 > 0:54:38This wild and remote spit of land has become
0:54:38 > 0:54:42a haven for migrating birds coming in from the Arctic
0:54:42 > 0:54:47and from northern Europe, but it also, very importantly,
0:54:47 > 0:54:52protects the Humber estuary from the ravages of the North Sea.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59'The Humber estuary is vital to Britain.
0:54:59 > 0:55:03'It's a huge port, handling more of our cargo than anywhere else,
0:55:03 > 0:55:07'and serious amounts of coal, oil and gas.
0:55:08 > 0:55:12'Captain Phil Cowing is the harbourmaster.'
0:55:13 > 0:55:15- Thank you very much, yes.- Follow me.
0:55:25 > 0:55:29How important is this stretch of water in shipping terms?
0:55:29 > 0:55:30Very important.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33We're handling about 95 million tonnes of cargo,
0:55:33 > 0:55:35a million passengers each year.
0:55:35 > 0:55:41From 500 ton coasters through to 300,000 tonne supertankers laden with crude oil.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44How important is Spurn Point to all this activity?
0:55:44 > 0:55:47It is vital, I mean, it's a great, natural,
0:55:47 > 0:55:52three-mile long breakwater that protects us from the North Sea.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56The Spurn is a natural asset to us, and if it wasn't there
0:55:56 > 0:56:00the lights would go out in the UK and the heating would go off.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04If it wasn't there, we'd probably have to build some sort of breakwater.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11'Take away this strip of land and the coal,
0:56:11 > 0:56:16'oil and gas that Britain relies on for its energy could be hit hard.
0:56:16 > 0:56:21'Without this strip of land, we'd be in trouble.'
0:56:21 > 0:56:25I like to think of it as a protective arm,
0:56:25 > 0:56:28lovingly sheltering the estuary.
0:56:33 > 0:56:34Help.
0:56:36 > 0:56:38Well, that was Yorkshire, from the bottom to the top.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41And we've seen some of the best of it.
0:56:41 > 0:56:44It's a landscape born out of water
0:56:44 > 0:56:48and shaped and carved by the force of water, too,
0:56:48 > 0:56:50through water falls...
0:56:50 > 0:56:52ice...
0:56:52 > 0:56:55and the pounding power of the sea.
0:56:58 > 0:57:04What happened millions of years ago stays with us today.
0:57:04 > 0:57:08Perhaps even in the way people feel.
0:57:08 > 0:57:13Yorkshire folk are officially the happiest in Britain.
0:57:15 > 0:57:18'Well, it's certainly a landscape that makes me very happy.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21'This is somewhere I'm very fond of.'
0:57:24 > 0:57:27I think Yorkshire as a whole is great,
0:57:27 > 0:57:29because it's the biggest county,
0:57:29 > 0:57:32but then there's another county exactly the same underneath.
0:57:32 > 0:57:34Lot of stuff down there.
0:57:34 > 0:57:37- It's provided power for us... - Puddings...
0:57:37 > 0:57:39It's got the lot, Yorkshire.
0:57:39 > 0:57:43Then on top it's this tremendous playground for walkers and climbers.
0:57:43 > 0:57:45Or you can just do what we're doing -
0:57:45 > 0:57:48- have a little natter and look at it.- Yeah.
0:57:48 > 0:57:52And, actually, it has been overall just the right side of wet for me, Yorkshire.
0:57:52 > 0:57:57- Does that mean dry?- No. - Drizzle?- Yeah?- Perfect.
0:57:57 > 0:58:00- Consistent drizzle.- Yeah.
0:58:00 > 0:58:02LAUGHTER
0:58:02 > 0:58:05Next time, Hugh and I discover
0:58:05 > 0:58:09that the South Downs are not as sleepy as they seem.
0:58:09 > 0:58:12We get to grips with its most dramatic landscapes,
0:58:12 > 0:58:16and discover there are some surprises in these hills.
0:58:16 > 0:58:17Wahey!
0:58:17 > 0:58:19HE LAUGHS
0:58:36 > 0:58:40Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:40 > 0:58:43E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk