0:00:05 > 0:00:10My name is Tom Fort and all my life, I've had a passion for rivers.
0:00:12 > 0:00:17I want to tell the story of one in particular, the River Trent.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23From its source above Stoke...
0:00:23 > 0:00:25Can you feel it?
0:00:25 > 0:00:29..to the Humber Estuary, where it finally meets the sea,
0:00:29 > 0:00:34I want to row down as much of it as I can.
0:00:34 > 0:00:39I'm on my very own punt, the Trent Otter. Yay!
0:00:39 > 0:00:44Together, we're visiting some of the places, great and small,
0:00:44 > 0:00:48that make up the history of this unsung river.
0:00:49 > 0:00:54The Trent's story has, for thousands of years, been part of our story.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58He, of course, was a Bronze Age river man.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03The river has entertained us and sustained us.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08- 200 years ago, this would have been absolutely thriving.- Heaving.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11Kings have fought for it and we have fought against it.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16Sooner or later, a larger flood will come along.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18We've used the river to make our fortunes,
0:01:18 > 0:01:20we've built bridges across it...
0:01:20 > 0:01:21Peaches!
0:01:21 > 0:01:24..and used it to help power the nation.
0:01:27 > 0:01:28Oh, I'm incompetent!
0:01:28 > 0:01:30Watch out!
0:01:32 > 0:01:33Any chance of a lift?
0:01:33 > 0:01:36The Trent is not just a river.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40God Almighty, look at how quickly the river is coloured.
0:01:40 > 0:01:41Oh, wow!
0:01:42 > 0:01:47It's a 170-mile journey through history.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49I would not want to hit that.
0:02:07 > 0:02:13From the start, rivers have been central to the human story.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16In the book of Revelation, the Bible tells us
0:02:16 > 0:02:20that their spiritual potency is purist at the point of birth.
0:02:22 > 0:02:27The river, it says, emerges from the very throne of God.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33This is Biddulph Moor,
0:02:33 > 0:02:37almost 1,000 feet above sea level, in the heart of the Staffordshire Hills.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10Every river journey needs to begin at the beginning.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14This is the beginning of the Trent, or officially,
0:03:14 > 0:03:16this is the beginning of the Trent.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20In fact there are several other contenders for the source of the Trent
0:03:20 > 0:03:24in these fields around here, springs of one kind or another,
0:03:24 > 0:03:27but somebody has decided that this is where it begins.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33Water is emerging from a dark little hole
0:03:33 > 0:03:40and setting off in a pathetic little trickle down along this ditch and on.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00A couple of miles downstream, it's already gathering force.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08Not quite ready for one man and a boat.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11So, for now, I'm on foot.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18What a fantastic spot!
0:04:18 > 0:04:22This is the river at its most natural, its most innocent.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28It's like a child - it was an infant up there and now,
0:04:28 > 0:04:34a boisterous toddler, just playing and you can hear the music of it as it goes by.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39Innocence, though, doesn't last.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49Two more miles and the Trent is in for a shock.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57Knypersley Reservoir holds a million cubic metres of water.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59Trent water.
0:05:00 > 0:05:05The Trent flows into the top of the reservoir full of vigour,
0:05:05 > 0:05:11but here at the bottom end, it comes out as little more than a meagre dribble.
0:05:12 > 0:05:17But they didn't trap Trent water here for drinking purposes.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21250 years ago, England's dawning Industrial Revolution
0:05:21 > 0:05:25was being held back by the abysmal condition of the roads.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29One answer was to use rivers
0:05:29 > 0:05:33where they were big enough to move goods and products but up here,
0:05:33 > 0:05:37the Trent was too small, too shallow for that purpose.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39They needed another kind of transport link.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47A few miles from Knypersley, the factories of Stoke-on-Trent
0:05:47 > 0:05:53were producing some of the world's finest pottery and ceramics.
0:05:54 > 0:05:59But moving goods by wagon and packhorse was laborious and costly.
0:06:02 > 0:06:07To solve the problem, Trent water from the reservoirs above Stoke
0:06:07 > 0:06:11was redirected into one of the engineering triumphs of the age.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16A Trent and Mersey canal.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27The genius behind the Trent and Mersey was James Brindley,
0:06:27 > 0:06:31the canal visionary known as The Schemer.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35He planned an epic link between two of our greatest ports,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38Liverpool in the West, and Hull in the East.
0:06:40 > 0:06:46Building it took Brindley 11 years, starting in 1776,
0:06:46 > 0:06:50when the first sod was dug, not by him,
0:06:50 > 0:06:53but this man, Josiah Wedgwood.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56Wedgwood, the most famous potter of them all,
0:06:56 > 0:06:59had persuaded Brindley to dig the canal
0:06:59 > 0:07:03right beside his grand new factory in the heart of Stoke.
0:07:07 > 0:07:12Wedgwood's fine Georgian house was paid for from the profits
0:07:12 > 0:07:14made possible by the new canal.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28But that was all a long time ago.
0:07:29 > 0:07:35As late as the 1970s, there were 200 ceramics factories in Stoke.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38Now, there are fewer than 30.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42The canal is still busy,
0:07:42 > 0:07:47but today it's with holiday boats rather than barges loaded with freight.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54And Wedgwood's factory, like so many others, has long since gone.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00This small outbuilding, the only relic of its glorious past.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06Then, as now, all the attention was on the canal.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08So what about the poor old River Trent?
0:08:14 > 0:08:19Robbed of most of its water, the Trent arrives at Stoke,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22largely left to its own devices.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37In some places though, the city has corralled and enclosed it.
0:08:47 > 0:08:53But the worst is, the life has been taken out of the river.
0:08:55 > 0:09:00No-one is showing it any kind of respect for its well-being.
0:09:00 > 0:09:09It has been brutalised and then just left to fend for itself.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13But it's not all bad news.
0:09:13 > 0:09:19The Trent may be going through a rough patch in Stoke,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22but it hasn't forgotten that it was born out of the throne of God.
0:09:27 > 0:09:33At Trentham Gardens to the south of Stoke, the river finds its feet again.
0:09:33 > 0:09:38Now, for the first time, it is deep enough for my boat.
0:09:38 > 0:09:43I'm making a bit of a mess of your beautiful grass, I'm afraid.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50All right, I'm going in.
0:09:52 > 0:09:53Ah!
0:09:59 > 0:10:02- That's great. That's it. I can do it there.- Yeah?
0:10:02 > 0:10:05This boat is a punt. It's called a Trent Otter.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11I can't imagine a more elegant piece of work, myself.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14Oh, I've forgotten the oars!
0:10:14 > 0:10:17And a rather nifty home-made anchor.
0:10:19 > 0:10:25And there we are, we're ready to start this great adventure.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28Thanks very much indeed, that was a great effort.
0:10:33 > 0:10:34Right...
0:10:55 > 0:10:57I feel that here it's...
0:10:59 > 0:11:01It's beginning to behave like a proper river,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04with a proper idea of itself.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08And also it's irresistible, isn't it,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12when the trees are hanging down like this?
0:11:17 > 0:11:24It's not the easiest thing to steer, this boat, from one end.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44Getting past this old mill will be tricky in a punt.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57Wahey!
0:12:05 > 0:12:07For the next 20 miles,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10the Trent gently meanders south through Staffordshire.
0:12:18 > 0:12:19DOG BARKS
0:12:24 > 0:12:28At Little Heyford, an old packhorse crossing, Essex Bridge,
0:12:28 > 0:12:31has been here for 450 years.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38Its walls were built low
0:12:38 > 0:12:41so as not to interfere with panniers and saddlebags.
0:12:45 > 0:12:50Historically, bridges on the Trent were few and far between
0:12:50 > 0:12:55so they were important symbols of progress and prosperity,
0:12:55 > 0:12:57as I'm about to discover.
0:12:59 > 0:13:04So, I'm coming into Burton-on-Trent
0:13:04 > 0:13:11and I'm approaching Burton's celebrated Ferry Bridge,
0:13:11 > 0:13:14built in 1889.
0:13:14 > 0:13:20240 feet of Victorian engineering
0:13:20 > 0:13:23at its absolute finest.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27It's called the Ferry Bridge
0:13:27 > 0:13:28because it replaced a boat service
0:13:28 > 0:13:32which had for centuries plied its trade here between Burton
0:13:32 > 0:13:35and the village of Stapenhill, to the south.
0:13:39 > 0:13:44Local historian Richard Stone is campaigning to have it restored.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47And what a fine bridge this is!
0:13:47 > 0:13:50You would not believe the amount of people coming over on the ferry.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52I think at its height in the 1880s,
0:13:52 > 0:13:57- there would be something like 2,000 people a day using it.- 2,000 a day?
0:13:57 > 0:13:59And the ferry, it was just two punts.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02So they're bringing maybe 1,000 people over every morning
0:14:02 > 0:14:04coming into work, 1,000 people again at night...
0:14:04 > 0:14:06Starting at the crack of dawn and going at it
0:14:06 > 0:14:08absolutely all day long, back and forth.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12This is busy and the route is still busy today, of course.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17It's not surprising the ferry men were overworked.
0:14:17 > 0:14:22Burton's population had exploded from 10,000 in 1851
0:14:22 > 0:14:25to well over 40,000 in the 1880s.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31The reason was the business that made Burton famous - beer.
0:14:31 > 0:14:37In the late 19th century, the town boasted 30 breweries.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40More than half the adult population worked on making beer.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45Where does the money come from to build this bridge?
0:14:45 > 0:14:49It comes from the Bass family, the great benefactors of the town.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53Bass has been built into the greatest brewery in the world
0:14:53 > 0:14:56and it's the great-grandson of the founder, Michael Arthur Bass,
0:14:56 > 0:15:00he's the guy who puts his hand in his pocket and says to the town council,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04"Look, you buy the ferry rights, I'll pay for the bridge."
0:15:06 > 0:15:09Michael Arthur Bass was chairman of the board
0:15:09 > 0:15:13at a time when Burton supplied a quarter of Britain's beer.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16The brand was also popular abroad.
0:15:17 > 0:15:22Bass's red triangle even found its way into Manet's famous painting,
0:15:22 > 0:15:24A Bar At The Folies-Bergere.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30The Bass family liked to look after their workers.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33Some of the houses they built still stand today,
0:15:33 > 0:15:36long after the company sold out to the Americans.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40The Ferry Bridge was just one more way
0:15:40 > 0:15:43of giving something back to the locals.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45It's a great day for the town, presumably,
0:15:45 > 0:15:47- the opening of the bridge. - A big celebration, the mayor,
0:15:47 > 0:15:51Michael Arthur Bass is here himself, his wife, his daughter...
0:15:51 > 0:15:55- A big crowd?- Big crowds gathered. - Speeches!
0:15:55 > 0:15:59Absolutely, and they made a last ceremonial ferry crossing,
0:15:59 > 0:16:01then the bridge was declared open
0:16:01 > 0:16:04and they all went off to the town hall
0:16:04 > 0:16:06and had a grand lunch with oysters and lamb.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12Burton's beer wasn't just popular at home.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16In the 18th century, a dark, sweet brew
0:16:16 > 0:16:19was shipped down the Trent via Hull to St Petersburg.
0:16:19 > 0:16:24A little later, Burton found an even more lucrative market...
0:16:25 > 0:16:27..The British Empire.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33In India especially, servicemen thirsting for a taste of home
0:16:33 > 0:16:40fell in love with a new lighter beer called IPA or India Pale Ale.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45'At Burton's National Brewery Museum,
0:16:45 > 0:16:49Jo White still makes IPA the old way.'
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Great horses!
0:16:52 > 0:16:54I wonder how much they weigh?
0:16:59 > 0:17:01Being in India, so warm,
0:17:01 > 0:17:05they didn't want a real thick, dark stodgy beer as they used to have,
0:17:05 > 0:17:08so they thought, "Right, we'll come up with a nice pale ale
0:17:08 > 0:17:10"which would be lager colour.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14"So it'd be nice, light and refreshing and lots of carbonation."
0:17:14 > 0:17:17The point was that it had to survive this long journey?
0:17:17 > 0:17:19Yes. It took six months to get there
0:17:19 > 0:17:22from leaving the brewery to getting to India,
0:17:22 > 0:17:26so it had to be a higher alcohol beer and a highly hopped beer, as well.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30Because the more hops you have in a beer, it's the bitter of the beer
0:17:30 > 0:17:32and also it's an antiseptic, so it keeps longer.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35Then those hot, dusty British soldiers
0:17:35 > 0:17:38fell upon it with a shout of joy
0:17:38 > 0:17:42and felt as if they were back at home, almost, pouring their stout.
0:17:42 > 0:17:43A lovely sparkling beer.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49Cheers!
0:17:54 > 0:17:57Very good. Very good.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04Burton IPA may have been sparkling,
0:18:04 > 0:18:06but the same could not be said of the river.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10In the 19th century, it had become so polluted
0:18:10 > 0:18:12with sewage and brewing waste
0:18:12 > 0:18:16that the local newspaper launched an angry campaign.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27In an editorial on August 20th, 1858,
0:18:27 > 0:18:32it referred to the "noxious atmosphere" hanging over Burton.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36"We have been compelled," it said, "to endure a nuisance,
0:18:36 > 0:18:41"the character of which has been most injurious and offensive,
0:18:41 > 0:18:46"not only endangering our health, but also jeopardising our lives."
0:18:47 > 0:18:52The Trent's problem was created by the Industrial Revolution
0:18:52 > 0:18:57and it took engineering ingenuity of a high order to tackle it.
0:19:03 > 0:19:09In 1885, Burton proudly opened its new sewage pumping station.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16It's been restored by Roy Barrett
0:19:16 > 0:19:20and a team of engineers and enthusiasts.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24I'm entirely gobsmacked by it. I'm flabbergasted. I'm struck dumb.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29So, how come such enormous quantities of effluent were
0:19:29 > 0:19:31being produced by the Burton brewery?
0:19:31 > 0:19:33Yes, that's a good question.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36You would think, all you wanted is a pint of beer.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38So, we've got the one pint of beer, we know what happens to that -
0:19:38 > 0:19:41it makes us very happy, we're OK.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45But it takes ten pints of water to make one pint of beer.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48The nine pints, which is used for washing
0:19:48 > 0:19:52all sorts of things in the process, becomes very contaminated.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54- I'd say it's filthy.- Absolutely.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58It's hot, its sulphur rich, it smelt terrible, as well,
0:19:58 > 0:20:00and it goes into the river and it kills all the fish.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03I quite see it.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07Combined with the town's raw sewage,
0:20:07 > 0:20:11Burton's industrial waste was diverted away from the river
0:20:11 > 0:20:14in huge volumes - up to four million gallons a day.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19Each beam engine weighs 80 tonnes.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23Getting them moving is quite an operation.
0:20:26 > 0:20:27Now!
0:20:28 > 0:20:31- That's it!- This one won't go.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33HE GROANS
0:20:33 > 0:20:37Blimey! No-one told me it was going to be this hard work!
0:20:43 > 0:20:47Once delivered from the river, the machines pumped the waste
0:20:47 > 0:20:52two-and-a-quarter miles uphill to a treatment plant outside the town.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56This was steam power at its brilliant best.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59- Do you want to have a go at that? - Yeah, I'll have a go at that.
0:20:59 > 0:21:00Not so good...
0:21:02 > 0:21:05Oh!
0:21:05 > 0:21:06Disaster!
0:21:07 > 0:21:13Sorry. Go on, you do it. I'm incompetent!
0:21:18 > 0:21:23Coal drove the steam power of the Industrial Revolution.
0:21:26 > 0:21:31But in the 20th century, we found new ways to harness its energy.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40One in particular would, with the Trent's assistance,
0:21:40 > 0:21:42transform life in this country.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46- ARCHIVE FILM:- 'In this age of designed economy,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49'it'll surprise no-one to hear that a vast plan
0:21:49 > 0:21:50'for five years and beyond
0:21:50 > 0:21:54'has been laid down by the Central Electricity Board.'
0:22:01 > 0:22:06It began in the 1930s, when the first national grid was turned on.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13By the 1960s, demand, calculated to be doubling every ten years,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16required more plants.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19The Trent's proximity to the Midlands coalfields
0:22:19 > 0:22:23made it the ideal location for the new stations.
0:22:23 > 0:22:2613 were built along its banks.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29They supplied a quarter of England's power.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32The region was known as Megawatt Valley.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41There are the towers looming on the bank ahead.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46The closer you get, the more enormous they seem,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49the more impressive they are.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53The river is quickening as it approaches them.
0:23:02 > 0:23:08This is Willington Power Station. Opened downstream from Burton
0:23:08 > 0:23:12at the end of the 1950s, it once lit up 200,000 homes.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23Today, it's abandoned. The plant was shut down in the '90s.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35Ken Theakston was on the staff here for 23 years.
0:23:36 > 0:23:37I work in the control room.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39I controlled the plant from the control room.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42You were in charge of it? You were the mastermind, were you?
0:23:42 > 0:23:45You were the man with the fingers on the levers
0:23:45 > 0:23:47- and the thumbs on the buttons?- Yeah.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51The plant's turbines were powered by high-pressure steam.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55Heated to 560 degrees,
0:23:55 > 0:24:00the steam was then cooled inside large condensing units -
0:24:00 > 0:24:03a job which required millions of gallons of Trent water.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09It's crucial the water comes from the river
0:24:09 > 0:24:12and then it's pumped through the condensers.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15The condensers are thousands and thousands and thousands of tubes,
0:24:15 > 0:24:17probably about an inch diameter.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21The cooling water goes through there and then it's returned to the river.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23On the other side of these tubes, you've got the steam.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26- The steam is not Trent water, is it? That's another story.- No, no.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30- The steam is very, very pure water. - I see.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33Much purer than you'll get out of the tap.
0:24:33 > 0:24:34The steam had to be pure
0:24:34 > 0:24:37so as not to fur up the turbines like a kettle.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43And to keep it pure, it was sealed in its own separate plumbing
0:24:43 > 0:24:46as mucky old Trent water cooled the pipes.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51Trent water was then sent back to the river,
0:24:51 > 0:24:55but only after it, too, had been cooled down.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58And then the cooling towers, where do they come in?
0:24:58 > 0:25:01If you took it, say, 20 degrees from the Trent,
0:25:01 > 0:25:04we could only put back up to a certain amount.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07The cooling tower dropped it back to that amount.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10You couldn't pump hot water, really hot water, back into the river?
0:25:10 > 0:25:13- You could pump warm water. - Yeah, cos I mean,
0:25:13 > 0:25:15if you heat the river up too much, you're going to do a lot...
0:25:15 > 0:25:18- You're going to kill everything. - Yeah.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24Today, the Trent still plays its part in the power game.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28The latest generating stations are gas-fuelled,
0:25:28 > 0:25:31but they still can't function without river water.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37At Staythorpe, near Newark, Trent pipes are colour-coded green
0:25:37 > 0:25:41as river water flows through a new kind of cooling tower.
0:25:42 > 0:25:47Everything here looks new, but over by the river is a sculpture
0:25:47 > 0:25:52commissioned 50 years ago to honour the pioneers of Megawatt Valley.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57- ARCHIVE SOUND:- '..that a vast plan for five years and beyond...
0:25:57 > 0:26:00'..powerful, obedient and clean...'
0:26:02 > 0:26:07In 1999, Willington faced the ritual execution
0:26:07 > 0:26:11in front of the usual eager crowds.
0:26:28 > 0:26:29Fantastic!
0:26:33 > 0:26:35It got old. It's like a car -
0:26:35 > 0:26:38it comes to a point where you've got to spend too much money on it
0:26:38 > 0:26:43to keep it on the road. It delivers efficiency, they get worn out.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45A time comes when you've got to say, "That's enough,
0:26:45 > 0:26:48- we're not throwing any more money at it."- Sad day for you, though?
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Oh, yeah, yeah. Probably a few tears, you know.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Willington's cooling towers were spared demolition
0:26:56 > 0:26:59when a pair of peregrine falcons nested on the side of one.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06Even the falcons have since deserted the site.
0:27:08 > 0:27:13Whatever happened to Megawatt Valley?
0:27:13 > 0:27:15VOICE ECHOES
0:27:15 > 0:27:16BIRD CRIES
0:27:24 > 0:27:28At Willington, Staffordshire gives way to Derbyshire.
0:27:29 > 0:27:34I'm alone on the river and it's a delightful place to be.
0:27:34 > 0:27:35There should be a special word
0:27:35 > 0:27:40for someone who takes a particular pleasure in rivers -
0:27:40 > 0:27:44fluviaphile seems a little bit pretentious.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48River lover's better, although a bit inelegant.
0:27:48 > 0:27:53The river lover sees more than just water on the move.
0:27:53 > 0:27:58There's an awareness of past, present and future,
0:27:58 > 0:28:01a sense that this water was somewhere else yesterday,
0:28:01 > 0:28:03is here now,
0:28:03 > 0:28:06and will be somewhere different tomorrow.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13The stone bridge at Swarkestone, six miles south of Derby,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17was once the Midlands' main crossing point on the Trent.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19It's witnessed centuries of conflict.
0:28:21 > 0:28:26In 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie's rebel Jacobite army
0:28:26 > 0:28:29reached here before turning back for Scotland.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31100 years earlier,
0:28:31 > 0:28:35Cavaliers and Roundheads fought for control of the bridge.
0:28:35 > 0:28:39And almost 800 years before that, the Vikings swept through,
0:28:39 > 0:28:44upstream to Repton, where they spent the winter in preparation
0:28:44 > 0:28:47for launching a strike into the heart of the Midlands.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52The Viking invaders entered through the Humber estuary,
0:28:52 > 0:28:55penetrating 100 miles up the Trent.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58But they weren't the first to make use of the river here.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03A few miles downstream at Kings Mills, near Castle Donington,
0:29:03 > 0:29:06there was someone here long before them.
0:29:07 > 0:29:12If I'd been here 3,500 years ago,
0:29:12 > 0:29:16I might well have met a man paddling through.
0:29:16 > 0:29:21And he, of course, was a Bronze Age river man.
0:29:21 > 0:29:28His boat was a massive thing hollowed out of a single tree trunk.
0:29:28 > 0:29:33When they found it not far from here,
0:29:33 > 0:29:39it was still half filled with huge slabs of stone which he'd collected,
0:29:39 > 0:29:45apparently to reinforce a causeway across the river.
0:29:47 > 0:29:55Imagine that - piloting these vast bits of stone along this river,
0:29:55 > 0:29:58which is pretty fierce around here.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03And while there are many things about the modern world that he would
0:30:03 > 0:30:08have found strange and incomprehensible, the river
0:30:08 > 0:30:10he would have been familiar with.
0:30:10 > 0:30:12He would have known every bit of it.
0:30:13 > 0:30:19And so there's a sense in which to journey down this river
0:30:19 > 0:30:22is to journey back in time.
0:30:24 > 0:30:29'Back in the 11th century, land at Kings Mills was royal property.
0:30:30 > 0:30:34'Since then, owners have come and gone many times,
0:30:34 > 0:30:37'but none has been quite so colourful
0:30:37 > 0:30:40'as one 19th century incumbent.'
0:30:48 > 0:30:53His name was Henry Weysford Charles Plantagenet Rawdon-Hastings,
0:30:53 > 0:30:54which is a bit of a mouthful.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58He was the Fourth Marquess of Hastings,
0:30:58 > 0:31:02and his chief passion in life was gambling on horses.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06He even built his own racetrack in front of his country seat,
0:31:06 > 0:31:08Donington Hall.
0:31:08 > 0:31:13Occasionally, though, his eye wandered after a filly of a different kind
0:31:13 > 0:31:16and his elopement with the delectable Lady Florence Paget
0:31:16 > 0:31:19caused a sensation.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23Lady Florence was herself the daughter of a Marquess
0:31:23 > 0:31:26and was considered a pearl of the English aristocracy.
0:31:26 > 0:31:28But there was one slight problem.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31She was engaged to someone else.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35Florence's fiance was Henry Chaplin,
0:31:35 > 0:31:38a wealthy Lincolnshire landowner.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42As his wedding day approached, he knew nothing of the affair.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46One day, Lady Florence, without a word to anyone,
0:31:46 > 0:31:49popped into Marshall & Snelgrove's store in Oxford Street
0:31:49 > 0:31:53on the pretext of buying items for her wedding trousseau.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56She sneaked out of the back, into Hastings' carriage
0:31:56 > 0:31:59and off to church, where they got hitched.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02No-one from the bride's family was there.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04It was the scandal of the year.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12Hastings and Chaplin now embarked on a bitter feud.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18The rivalry between the two men came to a sensational head
0:32:18 > 0:32:21on Derby Day, 1867.
0:32:21 > 0:32:27Hastings bet £100,000 that his colt would beat Chaplin's.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30It was an insane gamble.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32Amid scenes of wild excitement,
0:32:32 > 0:32:34Chaplin's horse, Hermit,
0:32:34 > 0:32:36came home by a neck.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39Hastings' colt was nowhere.
0:32:40 > 0:32:43Hastings lost everything -
0:32:43 > 0:32:47his fortune, the estate and, of course, the mill on the Trent.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53Today, Donington has been turned into company offices.
0:32:53 > 0:32:57The old chapel is now a canteen.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02And as for the racecourse...
0:33:02 > 0:33:05ENGINES ROAR
0:33:05 > 0:33:07..it's now the Donington Park motor racing circuit
0:33:07 > 0:33:10and instead of the pounding of horses' hooves,
0:33:10 > 0:33:15the air is split with the snarl of racing car engines.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17ENGINES ROAR
0:33:30 > 0:33:34'More than 70 miles into the journey, I'm bypassing Derby,
0:33:34 > 0:33:36'a few miles northwest of me.'
0:33:42 > 0:33:47At this point, the Trent is beginning to slow down.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50It has lost its sort of youthful
0:33:50 > 0:33:54high spirits and dash and ardour.
0:34:13 > 0:34:17I've stopped here on the edge of this rather uninteresting
0:34:17 > 0:34:20wide expanse of water.
0:34:20 > 0:34:24Nothing very exciting, you might say.
0:34:24 > 0:34:26But actually, you'd be wrong,
0:34:26 > 0:34:31cos this is one of the most important meeting places
0:34:31 > 0:34:35in this country's transport history.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39Behind me is the Trent and Mersey Canal.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45It came down here and it stopped,
0:34:45 > 0:34:48because here it met the Trent
0:34:48 > 0:34:51coming in from under that footbridge.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55And from here on, the Trent could do the business that the canal
0:34:55 > 0:34:57had done hitherto.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59And not only that,
0:34:59 > 0:35:02from the North came the Derwent,
0:35:02 > 0:35:07bringing with it all the riches of Derbyshire.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10So what you have here is,
0:35:10 > 0:35:12if I can call it that,
0:35:12 > 0:35:17a hub of incalculable importance
0:35:17 > 0:35:20to the industrial and commercial life
0:35:20 > 0:35:23of this nation more than 200 years ago.
0:35:25 > 0:35:27'These days, it's quiet enough,
0:35:27 > 0:35:31'but this crossroads once connected an inland waterway,
0:35:31 > 0:35:34'which stretched from one side of England to the other.'
0:35:34 > 0:35:38- Are you heading for Shardlow, by any chance?- I am, yes.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41Any chance of a lift?
0:35:41 > 0:35:44'I'm making a detour up the Trent and Mersey Canal to visit
0:35:44 > 0:35:48'Shardlow, last stop before it connects with the river.'
0:35:48 > 0:35:53- Hi, I'm Tom. And you? Martin! - How are you doing?- I'm all right.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56Now, if you're able to grab the rope...
0:35:56 > 0:36:00'For me and narrow boat owner Martin Wells,
0:36:00 > 0:36:02'it's a short hop back up from the end
0:36:02 > 0:36:06'of James Brindley's 93 mile masterpiece.'
0:36:06 > 0:36:10I'm lost in admiration for the simple vision
0:36:10 > 0:36:13of people like Brindley, that they could see
0:36:13 > 0:36:19clearly a solution to a long-standing problem,
0:36:19 > 0:36:21which was our roads were terrible,
0:36:21 > 0:36:23so what are we going to do about it?
0:36:23 > 0:36:25I think it's the simplicity of all the architecture...
0:36:25 > 0:36:30- I love the bridges. I think the bridges are fantastic.- Absolutely.
0:36:30 > 0:36:35'After digging halfway across England, Brindley had chosen
0:36:35 > 0:36:38'sleepy Shardlow as his meeting place with the Trent.
0:36:38 > 0:36:42'His decision transformed the place.'
0:36:42 > 0:36:46- This was pretty much the heart of operations, was it?- Yeah.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49200 years ago, this would be absolutely thriving.
0:36:49 > 0:36:51- There'd be boats coming in and out...- Heaving.
0:36:51 > 0:36:55People yelling and shouting and cursing and singing.
0:36:55 > 0:37:00- Fighting over the locks... - Getting drunk. But working hard.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02Absolutely. You'd be having narrow boats coming down the
0:37:02 > 0:37:04Trent and Mersey Canal, quite possibly some of them
0:37:04 > 0:37:07would be going on, down onto the River Trent into Nottingham,
0:37:07 > 0:37:09but you would have larger boats, barges,
0:37:09 > 0:37:13coming up and shipping the products from one to the other.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17Because that was the route through to the Humber and the world.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20So big cranes lifting stuff on and off.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26The big trade here was salt from Cheshire,
0:37:26 > 0:37:28but pretty much everything came through.
0:37:28 > 0:37:34Food, coal, iron, cheese and, of course, Wedgwood pottery from Stoke.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37Goods arriving on the river from Hull were transferred to
0:37:37 > 0:37:41canal boats to complete the journey.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45The work was done in buildings like this,
0:37:45 > 0:37:48the Navigation Clock Warehouse.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56One old-timer recalled his apprenticeship there.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59"All day and all night," he said, "could be heard
0:37:59 > 0:38:03"the creaking of cranes, the rattling of chains,
0:38:03 > 0:38:07"the falling of timbers, the shouts of the wharfmen,
0:38:07 > 0:38:09"the sound of axe and anvil,
0:38:09 > 0:38:12"the cries of the boat builders."
0:38:15 > 0:38:19The heyday of this place did not last that long, did it?
0:38:19 > 0:38:22The railways took over, basically, 1830s, '40s.
0:38:22 > 0:38:27Long Eaton then became a very, very busy place and overtook this.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30- Shardlow began to decay.- Slowly.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33- And now a rather quiet and peaceful spot...- Idyllic.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37- ..for blokes like you!- Absolutely.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45MUSIC: "Eton Boating Song" by William Johnson Cory and Captain Algernon Drummond
0:38:47 > 0:38:51# Jolly boating weather
0:38:51 > 0:38:55# And a hay harvest breeze
0:38:55 > 0:38:59# Blade on the feather
0:38:59 > 0:39:03# Shade off the trees
0:39:03 > 0:39:06# Swing, swing together
0:39:06 > 0:39:11# With your backs between your knees
0:39:11 > 0:39:14# Swing, swing together
0:39:14 > 0:39:18# With your backs between your knees... #
0:39:18 > 0:39:23Now we're right underneath the M1,
0:39:23 > 0:39:26hidden from view.
0:39:26 > 0:39:30# Ruffling o'er the weeds
0:39:30 > 0:39:34# Where the lock stream gushes
0:39:34 > 0:39:37# Where the cygnet feeds... #
0:39:37 > 0:39:41# La, da, da, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee
0:39:41 > 0:39:45# Dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee
0:39:45 > 0:39:49# La, da, da, da, ba, ba, ba
0:39:49 > 0:39:53# Ba, ba, ba, bom, bom, ba, bom, bom. #
0:39:57 > 0:39:59'The river's changing again.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03'It's getting bigger and wider.
0:40:03 > 0:40:07'As I row into Nottingham, it feels like the Trent has grown up.'
0:40:08 > 0:40:11Well, we're just coming under
0:40:11 > 0:40:16Nottingham's famous landmark, Trent Bridge.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19There have been other Trent bridges, though they've
0:40:19 > 0:40:22come and gone over the centuries.
0:40:22 > 0:40:28And this, which actually is a very handsome bridge indeed.
0:40:28 > 0:40:30It does the city proud.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38In 1886, they ice skated in front of it.
0:40:38 > 0:40:44But a few decades later, the river wasn't anything like so much fun.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54The winter of 1947 was famously brutal.
0:40:54 > 0:40:5855 consecutive days of snow.
0:40:58 > 0:41:02And when it melted, the Trent turned into a monster.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08On March 17, the river burst its banks.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12Suddenly, 28 miles of streets became canals
0:41:12 > 0:41:16as the river rose 12 feet above normal.
0:41:18 > 0:41:23One of those streets was home to a young Douglas Whitworth.
0:41:24 > 0:41:27- This was your house?- That house.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29- This one, on the right-hand side. - Yes.
0:41:29 > 0:41:33- And the whole ground floor was flooded.- And so what happened?
0:41:33 > 0:41:36You'd seen it coming up and it just came up and up
0:41:36 > 0:41:38and up and up, the flood.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41I can remember my father having to put swimming trunks on
0:41:41 > 0:41:44- the go down into the cellar to get coal.- To get coal?
0:41:44 > 0:41:47And it would be wet through, wouldn't it?
0:41:47 > 0:41:49It was pretty awful at that time.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52So here we are, the street is flooded, the house is flooded
0:41:52 > 0:41:55and here is you, as a young man.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58But you have a particularly passionate hobby,
0:41:58 > 0:42:01which was photography. This is not an opportunity to be missed.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03That's right.
0:42:04 > 0:42:09He didn't know it, but 19-year-old Douglas was about to
0:42:09 > 0:42:12capture some of the most enduring images
0:42:12 > 0:42:15of Nottingham's great flood of 1947.
0:42:17 > 0:42:21I used my bike, I could cycle through the water.
0:42:21 > 0:42:22- Really?- Just about.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25So you hopped on your bike with your camera
0:42:25 > 0:42:28slung over your shoulder and pedalled off.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32- As long as you kept cycling... - You didn't fall over.
0:42:32 > 0:42:34I don't think I ever did, actually.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36TOM LAUGHS
0:42:37 > 0:42:41Douglas' pictures often show people actually enjoying
0:42:41 > 0:42:45themselves in Nottingham's new look streets.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48Still, "Never again," they said.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54'These massive sluice gates at Colwick
0:42:54 > 0:42:58'on the outskirts of the city were completed in the 1950s.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01'Engineer John Hindle is in charge of them
0:43:01 > 0:43:04'and the rest of Nottingham's flood defences.'
0:43:04 > 0:43:07How does this sort of bring the Trent to heel, as it were?
0:43:07 > 0:43:11In a sort of typical, normal summertime flow,
0:43:11 > 0:43:14we've just got one gate which is open, open very slightly,
0:43:14 > 0:43:16just to allow the right amount of water through.
0:43:16 > 0:43:17But if we get a major flood,
0:43:17 > 0:43:20then they start lifting these gates out of the water.
0:43:20 > 0:43:22- How many gates are there altogether? - There's five gates here.
0:43:22 > 0:43:24And in a really major flood,
0:43:24 > 0:43:26all of these gates would be well out of the water.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29- Right up? So this...- Right out of the water.- Right up there?
0:43:29 > 0:43:31Right out of the water.
0:43:31 > 0:43:34What we're designing for here is that really major flood,
0:43:34 > 0:43:37the 1947 and perhaps even slightly more than that.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40Have there been a few narrow squeaks?
0:43:40 > 0:43:44Certainly back in 2000, there was this major flood on the River Trent
0:43:44 > 0:43:49and that got very close to the top of our flood defences at the time.
0:43:49 > 0:43:54- Did it?- Yes.- Was that down here or was the crisis further upstream?
0:43:54 > 0:43:55Various places.
0:43:55 > 0:43:58I mean, I personally went out to Burton at that time,
0:43:58 > 0:44:01where we'd just finished a flood defence scheme there,
0:44:01 > 0:44:04went out there the early evening, in the middle of the night,
0:44:04 > 0:44:06and saw that the floodwaters were really just a few
0:44:06 > 0:44:09bricks from the top of the flood defences.
0:44:09 > 0:44:11Did you have a few bad moments?
0:44:11 > 0:44:14Or did you know then that it was reaching its peak?
0:44:14 > 0:44:16I knew it was reaching its peak,
0:44:16 > 0:44:21but I remember how surprised I was just to see how high it was.
0:44:23 > 0:44:28The 2000 floods triggered the building of still more defences
0:44:28 > 0:44:31and a bill of £45 million to boot.
0:44:31 > 0:44:37Now John's confident he can resist all but a truly cataclysmic flood,
0:44:37 > 0:44:41the kind that strikes only once in a hundred years.
0:44:42 > 0:44:48One in a hundred years or, you know, 1% or whatever, suggests to me
0:44:48 > 0:44:51that one day this is going to happen.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54One day that flood is going to come along.
0:44:54 > 0:44:56Sooner or later, a larger flood will come along.
0:44:56 > 0:44:59You can never design against the ultimate flood, if you like.
0:44:59 > 0:45:01- The ultimate catastrophe. - The ultimate catastrophe.
0:45:01 > 0:45:05But, we can at least give Nottingham a decent standard of flood defence.
0:45:05 > 0:45:07- Do you live near the river yourself?- No.
0:45:07 > 0:45:08You don't?!
0:45:08 > 0:45:10No, I live on high ground.
0:45:10 > 0:45:12TOM LAUGHS
0:45:16 > 0:45:21Leaving Nottingham, the Trent presses on,
0:45:21 > 0:45:26heading north-east towards Newark.
0:45:26 > 0:45:33The river sort of imposes a rhythm of its own on you,
0:45:33 > 0:45:37and, really, all you can do is follow the river's rhythm
0:45:37 > 0:45:38and its moves,
0:45:38 > 0:45:41and fall into line with them.
0:45:44 > 0:45:48The river here is at peace today, but it wasn't always.
0:45:52 > 0:45:56It's 1485, the Battle of Bosworth Field, about 45 miles
0:45:56 > 0:46:01south-west of here - Henry Tudor defeats and kills
0:46:01 > 0:46:03Richard III.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06It's the end of the Wars of the Roses.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09That's what the history books say.
0:46:09 > 0:46:14In fact, the White Rose of York had one final throw of the dice
0:46:14 > 0:46:16and it took place here, beside the Trent.
0:46:19 > 0:46:21Two years after Bosworth,
0:46:21 > 0:46:24the new King's grip on power was still shaky.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28A rebel Yorkist force marched south,
0:46:28 > 0:46:31fording the Trent upstream from Newark.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35The scene was set for the battle of Stoke Field.
0:46:38 > 0:46:44The rebel force took up position on the ridge over there
0:46:44 > 0:46:45with Henry's army below.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52Although outnumbered, the rebels fought with desperate bravery.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55For a time, the outcome hung in the balance.
0:46:57 > 0:46:59Then, King Henry's general, the Earl of Oxford,
0:46:59 > 0:47:04rallied his 15,000 men for one final push.
0:47:05 > 0:47:09The rebel line wavered and then broke.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12The rebels ran for their lives downhill,
0:47:12 > 0:47:16across the fields beside the Trent,
0:47:16 > 0:47:19harried and chased by Henry's men.
0:47:21 > 0:47:27It's thought that 4,000 men, half the rebel force, fell that day.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31Casualties on the King's side as few as 100.
0:47:31 > 0:47:37There is a gully running along the foot of that wood over there,
0:47:37 > 0:47:41known as Red Gutter. It was stained with blood.
0:47:44 > 0:47:46That day in June,
0:47:46 > 0:47:51the Wars of the Roses truly ended along the banks of the Trent.
0:47:51 > 0:47:55Over five centuries later, this place still seems
0:47:55 > 0:48:01haunted by the fighting spirit of those ancient warriors.
0:48:01 > 0:48:05I like to think of the rebel army, the sun glinting on their swords
0:48:05 > 0:48:09and spears and axes, and then into the river,
0:48:09 > 0:48:12the water up to the infantrymen's waists,
0:48:12 > 0:48:17and the horses' knees, and then across towards the ridge,
0:48:17 > 0:48:20hope and fear churning in their breasts.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39On the river, it's deliciously serene.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47It feels as if this could go on for ever,
0:48:47 > 0:48:50but there is a problem ahead.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52I'm sad, I'm very sad.
0:48:52 > 0:48:57It's always sad when you have been
0:48:57 > 0:49:00peaceful and contented and happy.
0:49:06 > 0:49:10I'm sad because the Trent Otter and I are about to part company.
0:49:15 > 0:49:16That's it.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19No more boating weather...for me.
0:49:21 > 0:49:23And all because the locals have warned me
0:49:23 > 0:49:26that my little punt can't cope with the river.
0:49:29 > 0:49:31Here, it's fine, but a few miles north,
0:49:31 > 0:49:35the Trent becomes a very different beast.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45This is Cromwell Weir.
0:49:45 > 0:49:50Not so long ago, a man out fishing died here after his boat,
0:49:50 > 0:49:55about the same size as mine, was dragged under.
0:49:55 > 0:49:58Back in the 1970s, ten soldiers on exercise drowned
0:49:58 > 0:50:01when their boat went over the weir.
0:50:07 > 0:50:12At Cromwell, the Trent is, for the first time, influenced by the sea.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15Now it has become a tidal river,
0:50:15 > 0:50:19prone to fiendish hidden currents and swirling eddies.
0:50:25 > 0:50:30'Downstream at Gainsborough, I spot another good reason to retire
0:50:30 > 0:50:32'gracefully from the river.'
0:50:34 > 0:50:35Oh, wow!
0:50:35 > 0:50:39'A gravel barge, and not messing about, either.'
0:50:39 > 0:50:43These days you don't often come across working boats on this
0:50:43 > 0:50:47part of the river, but scroll back.
0:50:47 > 0:50:49800 years ago, they were bringing
0:50:49 > 0:50:52wool and alabaster down here for shipment onto Hull
0:50:52 > 0:50:55and export to Europe.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58In the 17th century, a coal depot was established here to take
0:50:58 > 0:51:01coal from the Nottingham coalfield.
0:51:02 > 0:51:07By the 1830s, 50,000 tons of goods were being unshipped here
0:51:07 > 0:51:09for distribution locally,
0:51:09 > 0:51:14and a further 30,000 sent downstream to Hull.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17It became such an important river port that the government even gave
0:51:17 > 0:51:19it its own customs house.
0:51:20 > 0:51:25The river made many fortunes at Gainsborough during those years.
0:51:25 > 0:51:27So, where did all the trade go?
0:51:33 > 0:51:36You don't have to look far.
0:51:36 > 0:51:38Today the motorway is king.
0:51:44 > 0:51:48The Trent, meanwhile, is so penned in by flood banks that no-one on the
0:51:48 > 0:51:52river can see the land, and no-one on the land can see the river.
0:51:57 > 0:51:59It seems we have abandoned it.
0:52:10 > 0:52:12But at Flixborough docks, no-one told them
0:52:12 > 0:52:15the age of river transport was over.
0:52:15 > 0:52:18Every week, eight or ten vessels unload here.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21This one is delivering steel from Spain.
0:52:21 > 0:52:26For these ships, navigating the Trent requires special skill.
0:52:27 > 0:52:32Riding the high tide in from the sea, they have only three and a half hours
0:52:32 > 0:52:37to get here, often with only a few feet between them and the riverbed.
0:52:37 > 0:52:43Once moored, the low tide then grounds them flat on the bottom.
0:52:43 > 0:52:4612 hours later, when the next flood tide raises them,
0:52:46 > 0:52:51they again have just three and a half hours to make it back to sea.
0:52:52 > 0:52:56Much of the lower Trent is wide, featureless
0:52:56 > 0:52:59and generally completely empty.
0:52:59 > 0:53:03So, it is very reassuring to come to a place like this,
0:53:03 > 0:53:06where there is noise and activity,
0:53:06 > 0:53:09cranes going and lorries roaring.
0:53:09 > 0:53:13Big ships, waiting to be unloaded and take on loads,
0:53:13 > 0:53:16waiting for the tide to take them in and out.
0:53:16 > 0:53:21Reassuring to find that the river still has its uses.
0:53:34 > 0:53:38My journey down the Trent is almost over.
0:53:38 > 0:53:43Swelling in size, it pushes the landscape ever wider apart.
0:53:43 > 0:53:47Its banks are now tricky to access on foot,
0:53:47 > 0:53:49so I need another mode of transport.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02She is called the Spider T,
0:54:02 > 0:54:06a 1920s Humber super sloop,
0:54:06 > 0:54:09built to carry bricks to Hull.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12Like so many ships which once worked the river,
0:54:12 > 0:54:16the Spider ended up in the knacker's yard.
0:54:16 > 0:54:20Then, enthusiast Mal Nicholson rescued her.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23Now the Spider's back, but she has to be careful.
0:54:26 > 0:54:29I think there are a lot of people that are frightened of this
0:54:29 > 0:54:33end of the Trent. It is one that keeps you sharp, you never,
0:54:33 > 0:54:36ever get complacent with it.
0:54:36 > 0:54:38Because the nature of the river...
0:54:38 > 0:54:42What we see is flat water, but underneath,
0:54:42 > 0:54:46the nature of this river is not a constant thing, is it?
0:54:46 > 0:54:51No, the Trent particularly, there are places that you can
0:54:51 > 0:54:55walk across it, virtually, and for such a big wide river, you
0:54:55 > 0:54:58really are having to watch exactly what you're doing,
0:54:58 > 0:54:59so you don't run her aground.
0:54:59 > 0:55:01And if you do run aground, you're in trouble?
0:55:01 > 0:55:06Yes, absolutely. One of the things with coming in on a flood tide
0:55:06 > 0:55:11is that if you run her aground on the bow you can be turned sideways
0:55:11 > 0:55:14and, in some cases
0:55:14 > 0:55:19heeled over, so you have to be very, very careful.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22I'm absolutely confident in saying that nothing like this
0:55:22 > 0:55:25has ever happened to the Spider T or to you?
0:55:25 > 0:55:27I'm afraid it has.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30It happened on the Trent.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32There had been very heavy rain, lots of fresh on,
0:55:32 > 0:55:34and it had washed the sand
0:55:34 > 0:55:35and gravel into the middle of the river,
0:55:35 > 0:55:40and what was a navigable part of the river suddenly became
0:55:40 > 0:55:44absolutely unnavigable, and ran the Spider aground.
0:55:44 > 0:55:48Every now and then, you will get caught out.
0:55:48 > 0:55:52So she is an unpredictable mistress?
0:55:52 > 0:55:55Absolutely. You look at it and think you can go virtually where you like,
0:55:55 > 0:55:57- but you cannot.- You cannot.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13The water is now so wide it is hard to make out
0:56:13 > 0:56:17where the river ends and estuary begins.
0:56:17 > 0:56:22On the charts, this half-sunken wall marks the dividing line.
0:56:22 > 0:56:27Here, the Trent delivers its water and me to the Humber.
0:56:31 > 0:56:35All my life, I have been fascinated and thrilled
0:56:35 > 0:56:38and moved by moving water, by rivers.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41I have spent a lot of time in rivers and beside rivers
0:56:41 > 0:56:45looking at rivers, thinking about rivers, dreaming about rivers,
0:56:45 > 0:56:49but I have never, until now, followed a river from the very
0:56:49 > 0:56:56beginning to the very end, and while I'm here, with this vast,
0:56:56 > 0:56:59great expanse of water around me,
0:56:59 > 0:57:03I can't help thinking about the top of this river.
0:57:03 > 0:57:07That placed on Biddulph Moor where a little trickle
0:57:07 > 0:57:12appears from the hillside and starts finding its way down here.
0:57:15 > 0:57:19That first trickle emerged in the centre of England,
0:57:19 > 0:57:201,000 feet above the sea.
0:57:22 > 0:57:24Now, it is here, somewhere.
0:57:26 > 0:57:31Soon it will evaporate into cloud and perhaps be blown across some
0:57:31 > 0:57:37distant hill to fall again as rain, and once more seep into the river.
0:57:41 > 0:57:45In one sense, you can say the journey ends here,
0:57:45 > 0:57:47but in another sense the journey never ends.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57Can you feel her?
0:57:57 > 0:57:59- It's like a fish biting.- That's it.
0:57:59 > 0:58:01- Pull on your...- Can you feel it? - Yes.
0:58:01 > 0:58:03Every last movement.
0:58:04 > 0:58:10# Going to see the river man
0:58:10 > 0:58:15# Going to tell him all I can
0:58:15 > 0:58:20# About the plan
0:58:20 > 0:58:23# For lilac time
0:58:26 > 0:58:31# If he tells me all he knows
0:58:31 > 0:58:37# About the way his river flows
0:58:37 > 0:58:41# And all night shows
0:58:41 > 0:58:45# In summertime. #
0:58:49 > 0:58:51It's not easy this, you know.
0:59:03 > 0:59:07Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd