0:00:02 > 0:00:06Britain was once a difficult country to cross -
0:00:06 > 0:00:09roads were few and paths obscure.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14And yet, our ancestors travelled -
0:00:14 > 0:00:16for work and for pleasure,
0:00:16 > 0:00:19for faith and for fortune.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24But the routes that they followed are lost.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30I'm going to rediscover them and the people who took them,
0:00:30 > 0:00:33what they saw and why they travelled,
0:00:33 > 0:00:35who they met and where they went.
0:00:35 > 0:00:42I'm following the forgotten routes that made this country great.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52100 years ago, there were 300,000 horses
0:00:52 > 0:00:55living and working in central London.
0:00:57 > 0:01:02All those horses pulled or carried everything that London needed
0:01:02 > 0:01:04to keep going.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07In fact, all those horses produced over a million tonnes
0:01:07 > 0:01:08of dung a year.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12They were the engines of the capital.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15But how were those engines fuelled?
0:01:15 > 0:01:17I'm going to find out.
0:01:17 > 0:01:22And I'm going to do this by following the amazing journey that
0:01:22 > 0:01:28massive amounts of hay and straw took through the Thames Estuary.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30I'm off to the secret waters of the Essex coast -
0:01:30 > 0:01:33to marshes, to creeks
0:01:33 > 0:01:35and to lonely farms.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38These were the haunts of the sailing barge men who carried
0:01:38 > 0:01:42all the heavy goods that the capital needed.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44- What are they taking? - Swedes, carrots, beets...
0:01:44 > 0:01:46Straw, barley...
0:01:46 > 0:01:48'And bricks!' Pah!
0:01:48 > 0:01:52I want to find out what these in-shore sailors left in their wake...
0:01:54 > 0:01:58..how they shaped our grand maritime traditions,
0:01:58 > 0:02:00- how they moulded our defences... - Three, two, one...
0:02:00 > 0:02:02Blast!
0:02:02 > 0:02:06..and I want to experience their way of life as they worked
0:02:06 > 0:02:09these shallow waters.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13'I'm ready for stirring stuff...'
0:02:14 > 0:02:17I'm getting emotional. Emotional feeling.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21'..on a journey into the heart of Britain's capital.'
0:02:24 > 0:02:28This is Landmere Quay in the Walton backwaters.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32It's an obscure but very,
0:02:32 > 0:02:36very beautiful corner of north-east Essex.
0:02:37 > 0:02:43I'm hoping to take what is a sort of lost motorway
0:02:43 > 0:02:45into London,
0:02:45 > 0:02:47going on Dawn -
0:02:47 > 0:02:52a sprit-sail barge - which used to come here often
0:02:52 > 0:02:57to pick up goods and carry them into the great metropolis.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03And here she comes - Dawn. She's a stackie.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05She was built in 1897
0:03:05 > 0:03:10specifically to transport huge haystacks from East Anglian farms.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14In 1900, when we're imagining our trip, there were over 2,000
0:03:14 > 0:03:19Thames sailing barges loading at little quays like this.
0:03:23 > 0:03:28Very difficult to imagine these soggy creeks, miles from anywhere,
0:03:28 > 0:03:33were ever part of a massive commercial network, but they were.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35We've got a bit of a problem here,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38because we've really got to move as quickly as we can -
0:03:38 > 0:03:42here comes the dinghy - because unfortunately,
0:03:42 > 0:03:44we get about ten minutes
0:03:44 > 0:03:48before the water all runs out into the North Sea.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59Today, Dawn is run by a very small crew, who,
0:03:59 > 0:04:04like their predecessors, understand the rules of these shallow waters.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07- Can I throw you that?- Sure.
0:04:08 > 0:04:13- Up you come.- I'm Griff.- I'm Gerald, how do you do?- Nice to meet you.
0:04:13 > 0:04:18- Let's go and meet Gerard.- Gerard? Gerald and Gerard.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21- Welcome aboard, Chris. Welcome aboard Dawn.- Nice to be here.- Good.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24We really must get going, so do you want to go and set the topsail,
0:04:24 > 0:04:25cos we're running out of water.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28- Anything I can do?- Yes, go and give Gerald a hand.- Gerald, I'm coming!
0:04:28 > 0:04:30Righto!
0:04:30 > 0:04:33'Following skipper Gerard's swift orders,
0:04:33 > 0:04:37'we get the boat under sail, just as we would have done in 1900,
0:04:37 > 0:04:41'so that we can follow the narrow creek out towards the sea.'
0:04:42 > 0:04:44So this is a topsail.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48You can set this without the mainsail.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51'It will catch the wind blowing above the dykes.'
0:04:51 > 0:04:55- And how much goods could you carry? - About 120 tonnes, this one.- Right.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58- 80-foot long, 120... And how many people looked after it?- Two.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04- Two? So we're overmanned? - Exactly, yes.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Overburdened!
0:05:06 > 0:05:09- So we're going to set the foresail. - A man and a boy, as they say.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13A few small sails are enough
0:05:13 > 0:05:17to pull Dawn out past the half-submerged islands
0:05:17 > 0:05:19of the Walton backwaters.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23And I have time to explore the accommodation.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26This is the cabin.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30You've got a rather capacious double bunk sort of hidden away over there.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33It's actually quite a lot of space.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37A cabin boy like me would come aboard with what was known as
0:05:37 > 0:05:42a shirt bag, which had... Well, a shirt in it,
0:05:42 > 0:05:45which was probably all they needed - one change of shirt,
0:05:45 > 0:05:50then a few things to eat - a bit of bacon and some cheese...
0:05:52 > 0:05:58And some bread and just a few tins, and the tins were there
0:05:58 > 0:06:01because from time to time, the barge would get wind-bound.
0:06:02 > 0:06:03She couldn't leave.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06If the wind was blowing in the wrong direction,
0:06:06 > 0:06:11she was completely stuck, because these boats had no engines.
0:06:11 > 0:06:16They were entirely dependent on the weather and the tides.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21'As we reached the deeper inlet of Hamford Water,
0:06:21 > 0:06:23'we can put up the mainsail.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25'Or rather, pull it down.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30'What makes a sprit-sail barge like Dawn so versatile
0:06:30 > 0:06:34'is in fact her sprit - it's that big pole,
0:06:34 > 0:06:38'sticking up diagonally from the foot of the mast.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41'The sail hangs from it like a giant Roman blind -
0:06:41 > 0:06:45'some 3,000 feet of red cloth is dropped, or furled up,
0:06:45 > 0:06:47'depending on the strength of the wind.'
0:06:47 > 0:06:50They were white when they were made, but they were dressed with
0:06:50 > 0:06:54a mixture of brick dust, fish oil, red ochre - that sort of stuff.
0:06:54 > 0:06:55Kept the weather out.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00The Thames sprit-sailed barge seems to have jumped into being
0:07:00 > 0:07:04fully formed somewhere in the early 1800s.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07These shallow tidal creeks needed flat-bottomed boats
0:07:07 > 0:07:10which could float in just five foot of water
0:07:10 > 0:07:11and could ride the tide
0:07:11 > 0:07:14as it sluiced in and out of the gaping mouth
0:07:14 > 0:07:17of Britain's greatest river - the Thames.
0:07:20 > 0:07:26This whole estuary is made by a colossal slew of water...
0:07:26 > 0:07:29- Oh, yes, sure. - Going out and coming in...
0:07:29 > 0:07:31You've got to work the tides,
0:07:31 > 0:07:34otherwise you make it darn hard work for yourself and in the days
0:07:34 > 0:07:37when they just were sailing, they had to be on top of their game
0:07:37 > 0:07:40and use the tides to the best of their advantage, really.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45And now, we're using that same falling evening tide
0:07:45 > 0:07:48to sail into overnight shelter by Harwich.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52We'll start to make our way south on the next rising tide tomorrow.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56We need to get ballast to allow us to load our hay.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59After that, we'll hitch a lift on another tide
0:07:59 > 0:08:03to take us past Southend and upriver to Gravesend.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07There, we'll wait for our final tidal lift up the Thames
0:08:07 > 0:08:08to the heart of London -
0:08:08 > 0:08:11just as barges did in 1900.
0:08:12 > 0:08:18We cannot rush this. The pace is the pace of the phases of the moon.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21And that's good, because it gives me time to consult with a farmer
0:08:21 > 0:08:25who knows a lot about the old trading route into London.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28Facing the modern super-port of Felixstowe
0:08:28 > 0:08:31is the coastal farm of William Wrinch.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36We've got a view of the biggest dock...
0:08:36 > 0:08:39- Longest continuous dock in the world.- Is it?- Yes.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43- A mile and three quarters. - And one of the smallest continuous docks...?!
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Well, it's not continuing much now, is it?
0:08:47 > 0:08:50This now derelict dock was where the sailing barges loaded
0:08:50 > 0:08:53from the Wrinchs' farm, which was one of many
0:08:53 > 0:08:58that grew into considerable enterprises supplying the capital.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02What fascinates me is that they still hold the old ledgers
0:09:02 > 0:09:03and farm books.
0:09:03 > 0:09:08- What's this?- This is one of our great-grandfather's ledgers.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12My great-grandfather had been farming 400 acres
0:09:12 > 0:09:14and by the time he died, he was farming 3,500 acres.
0:09:14 > 0:09:173,500 acres?
0:09:17 > 0:09:20During the First World War, yes. And he built this series of quays.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22Feedstuffs were sent up to London.
0:09:22 > 0:09:23When the business really got going,
0:09:23 > 0:09:27- he had his own wharf up at Vauxhall in London.- He had his own wharf?
0:09:27 > 0:09:30- Up in London, yes.- As a farmer?- Yes.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32And so what are they taking?
0:09:32 > 0:09:37- Well, swedes, carrots, beets... - Straw, barley...- Oats, barley.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40- Can I have a look at the photographs, as well?- Yes. Right...
0:09:40 > 0:09:45- This is the Snowdrop. - And this is hay or straw.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48- For either bedding or for feeding horses.- Yes.
0:09:48 > 0:09:53What we're looking at here is what seems to my eyes
0:09:53 > 0:09:56almost totally unsafe!
0:09:56 > 0:10:01The boat is piled up to such a degree that you wonder how
0:10:01 > 0:10:03they actually managed to sail it.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05The chap on the tiller couldn't see,
0:10:05 > 0:10:09- so they had the chap on the top. - There's a bloke standing on the top.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11He has to be on the top the whole time.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13- And this is in the Port of London, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16There's something absolutely magnificent about these boats.
0:10:16 > 0:10:17That's the main quay
0:10:17 > 0:10:21and that's one of the last freights going off to London - that was 1938.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24Is that about the last time that this was done?
0:10:24 > 0:10:26One of the last times, yeah.
0:10:28 > 0:10:33'Clearly, this unwieldy load will need steadying.
0:10:33 > 0:10:38'We're going to have to get some ballast before we can put all that hay and straw on deck.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42'And to find this, we begin our journey south.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50'Leaving Harwich, I'm going up the mast to set the topsail -
0:10:50 > 0:10:53'to unwrap it from its night storage.'
0:11:01 > 0:11:03'We haul out the huge mainsail
0:11:03 > 0:11:08'and quickly, the power of these great barges becomes apparent.'
0:11:10 > 0:11:11Ready about.
0:11:12 > 0:11:13Lee haul.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20'Empty, this boat wins races.
0:11:20 > 0:11:25'Gerald claims 12 knots - that's 15 miles an hour -
0:11:25 > 0:11:28'a lot for 100 tonnes on water.
0:11:37 > 0:11:43'As Dawn begins to pick up speed, we lower one of our leeboards.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47'These massive wooden fins are a distinctive feature
0:11:47 > 0:11:50'of sailing barges and steady them in the water.'
0:11:50 > 0:11:53So if the wind is blowing on the side of the sail,
0:11:53 > 0:11:57if you don't have something down to stop the boat, what happens
0:11:57 > 0:12:00is the boat skids sideways...
0:12:00 > 0:12:02That's it, yes.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05And you need something to get into the water to transfer
0:12:05 > 0:12:07- the power of the sail... - Into forward motion.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10You can vary the depth of them, so it depends where you are.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13If you're in a shallow creek, you can have a half-board down,
0:12:13 > 0:12:15and you've only got about five foot below the bottom.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18But if you're at sea and you want full power,
0:12:18 > 0:12:20you'd get the board right down, about ten feet.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28We're charging. We must be doing about...
0:12:30 > 0:12:34..five or six knots, I should think. Probably more.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38MUSIC: Theme from "The Onedin Line"
0:12:49 > 0:12:50These Walton cliffs
0:12:50 > 0:12:54are about the most mountainous that Essex ever gets.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58They're topped by the Naze Tower, built in 1720.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02It's a beacon for Harwich and a reminder of how much traffic
0:13:02 > 0:13:07used to pass through the sandbanks of this coastal road.
0:13:09 > 0:13:14And here are the seaside resorts of Walton, Frinton and Clacton.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17Playgrounds for Londoners
0:13:17 > 0:13:21once brought here by paddle steamer to their famous piers.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24The resorts were built by boat as well -
0:13:24 > 0:13:28their bricks came by Thames barges very like Dawn.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32Some brickies were called 42s,
0:13:32 > 0:13:36because they could carry 42,000 bricks.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39They used to unload their cargo onto horse-drawn carts,
0:13:39 > 0:13:42waiting on the shallow sands.
0:13:44 > 0:13:49The barges built London too and the bricks were made not far from here.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52Peter Minter's business, near the village of Bulmer in Suffolk
0:13:52 > 0:13:57still makes them in the traditional manner - each one by hand.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00How long have you and your company been in these brickfields?
0:14:00 > 0:14:03We've been here since 1936, so 75 years.
0:14:03 > 0:14:08- But the brickfields were here long before that, were they? - Yeah, 1450 being the earliest.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11Before that, the Romans discovered the quality of London clay.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13Yes, it's a nice, sandy clay
0:14:13 > 0:14:16and loam which allows you to make a brick with the minimum of problems.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19When we look at these levels here, what does that tell us?
0:14:19 > 0:14:23We're looking at the estuary of the Thames 40 million years ago.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25The basic clay was the deposits in the Thames estuary
0:14:25 > 0:14:28and as it dried out, volcanic material was overlaid
0:14:28 > 0:14:31on top of that - that's why it's so level.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34OK, so volcanoes - we're talking a fair time ago?
0:14:34 > 0:14:37There haven't been many active volcanoes around here for a while.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41'Today, the 40 million-year-old clay, dug from this pit,
0:14:41 > 0:14:44'is piled up, sometimes for over a year,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47'before being mixed with water and moulded into bricks.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52'John Affendale can produce up to 1,000 a day,
0:14:52 > 0:14:54'so he's the perfect man to teach me how to do it.'
0:14:54 > 0:14:59Hiya. Don't make it look too easy, cos that'll make me look bad!
0:14:59 > 0:15:01Don't worry about that!
0:15:01 > 0:15:02I'm hardly likely.
0:15:04 > 0:15:05Pah!
0:15:07 > 0:15:08Ugh!
0:15:08 > 0:15:10That's it.
0:15:10 > 0:15:11You've got a bit of hazel twig
0:15:11 > 0:15:13bent over and a bit of wire.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16So then we scrape over here...
0:15:16 > 0:15:19- And...we end up with a big lump. - That's it.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21You want to put some sand back down...
0:15:23 > 0:15:25- Like that.- That's it.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28- Now put the board behind it... - Let's turn it ups...
0:15:28 > 0:15:32- I'll be all right!- That's it. Now lift the frame off.
0:15:32 > 0:15:33Lift the frame off, carefully,
0:15:33 > 0:15:35because you don't want to spoil your brick.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37I want to show you now
0:15:37 > 0:15:39just what sort of handmade brick you'd be buying here.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43I think London would never have been built if it'd been down to me, because I'd still be here,
0:15:43 > 0:15:46trying to manufacture the next batch of bricks.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51The barges that took bricks into London often brought the capital's
0:15:51 > 0:15:55rubbish out, which was then burned as fuel in the brick furnaces.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01It was all efficient recycling.
0:16:08 > 0:16:13The bricks that built London were trundled down the hill,
0:16:13 > 0:16:16put into barges and then pulled by horses about 20 miles
0:16:16 > 0:16:20to the mouth of the estuary, where they were loaded into sailing barges
0:16:20 > 0:16:26and extraordinarily, they remained competitive - that route remained
0:16:26 > 0:16:31competitive - for 100 years after the railways were invented.
0:16:32 > 0:16:37I can't do it now, because it's no longer navigable for barges.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46We can't use bricks as ballast, so what can we use?
0:16:46 > 0:16:50Sometimes barges would bulk-load vegetables or root crops
0:16:50 > 0:16:53like swedes to give them their stability.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57But Essex is a source of another weighty commodity.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00We're heading into the River Colne, up towards Colchester,
0:17:00 > 0:17:04to the village of Fingringhoe, to get hold of some of that.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08- Fingringhoe is a traditional barge stop, isn't it?- Very much so, yes.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11They've been taking sand out of here for...
0:17:11 > 0:17:14For all living memory, really, to London, for the building trade.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16Good sand, I think it is. Essex sand.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18It's nice to know that Essex produces something
0:17:18 > 0:17:20which is valued across the world.
0:17:25 > 0:17:30'We're taking on 25 tonnes of best Essex sand.'
0:17:33 > 0:17:34- On top?- Yeah.
0:17:43 > 0:17:44'This may feel like hard work,
0:17:44 > 0:17:47'but it's nothing compared to the way it used to be done.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51'Skippers would beach their barge on a bank at low tide
0:17:51 > 0:17:54'and they and their cabin boy would shovel 100 tonnes of sand
0:17:54 > 0:17:58'or shingle directly into the hold by hand.'
0:17:58 > 0:18:00Here comes more.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03I hope you notice we're doing it with 19th-century
0:18:03 > 0:18:06health and safety standards.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10- Which is... "Look the- BLEEP- out!"
0:18:21 > 0:18:24Our ballast safely loaded, we slowly sail further south,
0:18:24 > 0:18:28closer to our awaiting hay and straw.
0:18:28 > 0:18:33We're used to speed, but these trips that today would just
0:18:33 > 0:18:37take hours by lorry, could take days,
0:18:37 > 0:18:42even a week. It was something our grandfathers took for granted.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45It's said that a barge once took 30 days in high summer
0:18:45 > 0:18:47to travel 20 miles.
0:18:47 > 0:18:54This is the Hay And Straw Measurer And Ready Reckoner from 1870 -
0:18:54 > 0:18:56tells you how to make a haystack.
0:18:56 > 0:19:01Shows the solid feet or cubicle content of stacks of a square
0:19:01 > 0:19:04or oblong form, measuring from one to 50 feet in length,
0:19:04 > 0:19:06from 11 to 25 feet in breadth
0:19:06 > 0:19:10and three inches to 18 feet...!
0:19:11 > 0:19:13Not much of a haystack, is it?!
0:19:13 > 0:19:15Three inches high.
0:19:15 > 0:19:16There we are.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Pretty much covers everything, doesn't it?
0:19:20 > 0:19:23And tomorrow...
0:19:23 > 0:19:26we intend to make a haystack.
0:19:31 > 0:19:36To reach our haystack, we must pass by the south of Mersea Island
0:19:36 > 0:19:39and sail into the River Blackwater.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44We're just coming into West Mersea
0:19:44 > 0:19:47and this is where my father had a boat when I was a boy.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49Not been here for years.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56When my father wasn't steering the boat,
0:19:56 > 0:20:01he was behind his Super 8 camera, and I was allowed to do it.
0:20:20 > 0:20:25The yellow jumper has thankfully passed into oblivion,
0:20:25 > 0:20:28but the place still looks much the same.
0:20:28 > 0:20:34It's great deal of mixed emotions about coming in here.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37It's absolutely typical that the day should become like this -
0:20:37 > 0:20:40a sort of watery sun,
0:20:40 > 0:20:43a putty-coloured sea, full of sort of yellow mud...
0:20:45 > 0:20:48Just the same as when I was a boy.
0:20:48 > 0:20:49HE INHALES
0:20:49 > 0:20:51Smells like home, as well.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58Leaving the Blackwater, we head up Salcott Creek.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00Our next challenge is to navigate Dawn
0:21:00 > 0:21:03up this dangerously shallow channel.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06The mud beneath the waters is not always safe.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09If our barge sits in it at low tide,
0:21:09 > 0:21:13the flat bottom could be sucked down as the water rises.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15We need to be here - at the top of the tide.
0:21:15 > 0:21:20Just about enough room to get between the moored boats
0:21:20 > 0:21:25and the withies over here - these poles - which mark the edge of the channel.
0:21:36 > 0:21:41Here we are, in the middle of nothing, there's a little jetty.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43That's our destination.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49'The tiny jetty belongs to Abbotts Hall Farm at Great Wigborough.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53'It's one of the few farms left in Essex with a working jetty,
0:21:53 > 0:21:55'which has been recently restored.'
0:21:59 > 0:22:02OK, drop ahead, then get the sheet down, guys.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04'We're coming in at quite a speed,
0:22:04 > 0:22:10'a few hours before high tide in what is still very shallow water.'
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Use the leeboards to slow her up, Griff. We'll drop them in the mud.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16She's got the wind up her pants, so she's got a bit of weight on...
0:22:16 > 0:22:19- So you need to slow her down. - That one down a bit more, Gerald.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23- She's slowing up nicely.- Yeah.
0:22:24 > 0:22:25Coming alongside.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27'She's grounded on the mud.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30- 'Now we need to pull ourselves alongside the jetty.'- Lovely.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33We get the boat round, we can get a rope ashore.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37'Waiting for me is David Smart, who runs the farm,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40'and has got a load of hay and straw ready for us...
0:22:40 > 0:22:42'somewhere.'
0:22:44 > 0:22:45- David, hello.- Welcome, Griff.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48Welcome to Essex Wildlife Trust and Abbotts Hall Farm. Good to see you.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50Perhaps we should go and have a look
0:22:50 > 0:22:53- and see what we're going to load up, shall we?- Yeah.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00Hey, look at this - fantastic! Horses.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03What sort of horses are we looking at here?
0:23:03 > 0:23:05We've got Suffolk Punches here, which is the traditional
0:23:05 > 0:23:07East Anglian heavy horse.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11We've got 30 bales of straw on here,
0:23:11 > 0:23:16sitting quite nicely on top of this old 1920s harvest wagon.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20- Yeah.- Which traditionally have been used to transport hay and straw.
0:23:20 > 0:23:25A working farm in about 1900 would have had a number of wagons.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28A number of wagons and of course a number of people,
0:23:28 > 0:23:32probably 20 or 30 people working on the farm as labourers.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36They'd have needed those, the muscle power to put that stuff on the boat.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40- Have we got any muscle power today? - We've got a bit lined up!- Have we?
0:23:47 > 0:23:52I love it - the straw, just wafting in the breeze around us...
0:23:52 > 0:23:55'This will be the first time almost in living memory
0:23:55 > 0:23:58'that straw and hay have been loaded from this quay
0:23:58 > 0:24:01'onto a barge bound for London.'
0:24:02 > 0:24:03Whoops!
0:24:06 > 0:24:09'They've certainly done us proud, and we'll need all the help
0:24:09 > 0:24:14'we can get at we have just over 1,000 bales to load before the tide drops.
0:24:14 > 0:24:19'To speed things up, we turn to horsepower of a different kind.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21'But even with all this assistance and modern machinery,
0:24:21 > 0:24:26'we're not going to get the full load on board in just one day.'
0:24:26 > 0:24:30The tide has already gone down about a foot,
0:24:30 > 0:24:32so we're running out of time already.
0:24:32 > 0:24:37We've got...less than an hour to get as much as we can aboard.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42'We have to work quickly, but also very carefully -
0:24:42 > 0:24:47'an incorrectly-built stack could topple over once we're at sea.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50'Stackies did lose their loads fairly often.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53'But Dawn, exceptionally, never did -
0:24:53 > 0:24:55'so we don't want to spoil her record!'
0:24:55 > 0:24:57You've never stacked a barge before, have you?
0:24:57 > 0:24:59No, but a haystack is the same.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01So it's the same principle?
0:25:01 > 0:25:05- You're stacking bales.- You're assuming it is, anyway?- Well, yes.
0:25:05 > 0:25:06Yes!
0:25:11 > 0:25:15- How long have you got now before the tide goes out?- Ten minutes.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19- Ten minutes? So we're racing against time now?- Yes.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23Chop chop, boys.
0:25:23 > 0:25:28'Just as we think we've made it, the wind catches Dawn's bow
0:25:28 > 0:25:30'and she wedges against the mud.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32That's it, that's it!
0:25:34 > 0:25:36'If we don't get her back into deep water,
0:25:36 > 0:25:40'she could be left high and dry by the rapidly falling tide.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43'And with her two ends straddling an empty channel,
0:25:43 > 0:25:47'the hull would fall into the gap and break her back.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49'This is a real emergency.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52'We need that rope ashore.'
0:25:52 > 0:25:54Pull, pull! Pull, pull!
0:25:54 > 0:25:56Go on, pull!
0:25:56 > 0:25:59That's it! Tug-of-war. There we go, that's it. Good, good, good.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02Keep pulling.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12'We get her nose off the mud
0:26:12 > 0:26:16'and even the paintwork escapes unblemished.'
0:26:16 > 0:26:18CHEERING
0:26:26 > 0:26:29With half our load on board,
0:26:29 > 0:26:32we retreat and wait for the water to come back.
0:26:34 > 0:26:35Later that evening,
0:26:35 > 0:26:40Gerard tells me the story of how his father saved Dawn.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44He just got a bit romantic and decided he wanted a sailing barge
0:26:44 > 0:26:48and bought it knowing nothing about it and learned the hard way, really.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51I was about five then, I think.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53I can't hardly remember a time without Dawn.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57Dawn has always been in it, in some shape or form.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Eventually, I became skipper and went and skippered other barges,
0:27:01 > 0:27:04but kept coming back to Dawn, really.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08- And here I still am!- And Dawn then went for a massive restoration?
0:27:08 > 0:27:11Yes, Dawn ended up in a state of disrepair in Kent.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14Dad had sold her and retired and the people who owned her decided
0:27:14 > 0:27:17they were going to break her up.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20Father decided he wasn't going to let her die, basically.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23Eventually, he formed a trust with the help of a lot of other people
0:27:23 > 0:27:26and 20 years later, here she is.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29Secured her future really, now.
0:27:35 > 0:27:40Dawn may be safe, but what about her world, of marsh and shallow creek?
0:27:41 > 0:27:46I want to explore this area and have time the following morning.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49The water's edge of Abbotts Hall Farm
0:27:49 > 0:27:53is the scene of a continuing battle between land and sea.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56In the past, coastal farmers built dykes to make fields
0:27:56 > 0:27:59out of the mudflats.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02Some of them may date back thousands of years,
0:28:02 > 0:28:06but now rising sea levels are threatening to overwhelm them.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08It's a huge job to rebuild,
0:28:08 > 0:28:12so they've decided here on extraordinary measures.
0:28:12 > 0:28:18Now over here, we have what are known as saltings -
0:28:18 > 0:28:22they're natural saltings created as it were by nature - half land,
0:28:22 > 0:28:26half water, every day, they're inundated by the sea
0:28:26 > 0:28:29and so they're salty and they're saltings.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33But over here, are some that were made recently.
0:28:37 > 0:28:42Here, at Abbotts Hall Farm, they have cut holes in the dykes
0:28:42 > 0:28:44and deliberately flooded the land
0:28:44 > 0:28:48and these breaches fulfil an environmental need.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53Rising sea levels have meant that 80% of the East Coast mudflats
0:28:53 > 0:28:57on the creek side of the wall has vanished over the last century.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01Since these are vital wildlife habitats,
0:29:01 > 0:29:04this farm has controversially re-flooded land
0:29:04 > 0:29:09to make more saltings for the benefit of the wildfowl.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12This is their preferred habitat, obviously.
0:29:12 > 0:29:16I mean, if you've got short bird legs, then you need somewhere
0:29:16 > 0:29:22to wade, but the point about the saltings is it allows them to nest
0:29:22 > 0:29:26and keep away from humankind
0:29:26 > 0:29:28in a sort of marshy, muddy paradise.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33Shelduck I can see, over there - beautiful.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36But it's not just the birds. Fish like to, um...
0:29:38 > 0:29:41They like to breed there.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43Seabass in particular.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47So we all like a seabass - we need to provide places for them to breed.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51It's great for a wading bird, but not so great
0:29:51 > 0:29:55if you're an arable farmer whose income is reliant on that land.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59Now, the question is, as the sea levels rise,
0:29:59 > 0:30:05do we spend a fortune repairing these ancient buttresses?
0:30:05 > 0:30:08Do we take up the Dutch option?
0:30:08 > 0:30:11Or do we let the water come in?
0:30:12 > 0:30:15It's quite an issue here on the east coast.
0:30:17 > 0:30:22Well, that tide is coming in now and it's time to continue our loading.
0:30:22 > 0:30:27Rather wonderfully, Gerard's parents, Gordon and Madeline Swift,
0:30:27 > 0:30:31have come to witness their old friend Dawn returning to work.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36Took a long while getting it, you know, from the wreck it had become
0:30:36 > 0:30:41to, you know... It was hard going, wasn't it at times?
0:30:41 > 0:30:44It was a little bit. A bit worrying.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46And what about this now, getting the hay aboard?
0:30:46 > 0:30:48Well, this is absolutely marvellous, you know.
0:30:48 > 0:30:53I want to really see her under full sail, you know, going to London.
0:30:53 > 0:30:56Such a thrill to be able to see it again, you know.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58It was what she was built for, wasn't it?
0:31:09 > 0:31:11Bye-bye!
0:31:11 > 0:31:15- Bye!- Bye!
0:31:20 > 0:31:22Our stack is neatly made.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25We're a floating piece of bygone agriculture.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41Finally, we drop anchor and I head off for a drink
0:31:41 > 0:31:44in the small village of Rowhedge back on the River Colne.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51Rowhedge is a community that likes to boast of its past associations
0:31:51 > 0:31:54with smuggling and even piracy,
0:31:54 > 0:31:58but what astonishes me is that I can sit and drink with Jim Lawrence,
0:31:58 > 0:32:02who once worked on a barge that traded by sail alone.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05- How old were you when you started on the barge?- I was 15.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08I'd just left school and the terms of the contract was
0:32:08 > 0:32:10£1 pound a week and me grub.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13- I didn't get much grub and I hardly ever got the pound.- When was this?
0:32:13 > 0:32:151948.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17But was it already at that stage,
0:32:17 > 0:32:20just after the Second World War, beginning to decline a bit?
0:32:20 > 0:32:22Yup, very much so.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26I was ever so much advised by my parents, who didn't like the idea,
0:32:26 > 0:32:29school tried to talk me out of it -
0:32:29 > 0:32:31that made me all the more determined that I should go,
0:32:31 > 0:32:36because I wanted to go while I could and do something under sail.
0:32:36 > 0:32:38Why did sail get you going?
0:32:38 > 0:32:40I don't know why that was so attractive to me,
0:32:40 > 0:32:42because my old skipper used to say,
0:32:42 > 0:32:46"Don't you mind them old motor barges, boy, they don't last.
0:32:46 > 0:32:47"They're all against nature."
0:32:47 > 0:32:51- I said...- What, the motor barge was, gradually people would realise, too expensive?
0:32:51 > 0:32:52- Wouldn't work!- Too fiddly?
0:32:52 > 0:32:54- Yeah.- Bound to go wrong,
0:32:54 > 0:32:57- but a sailing barge would always get you there in the end.- That's right.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00We're going to sing some songs.
0:33:00 > 0:33:04I used to go around with a couple of old boys from Faversham way,
0:33:04 > 0:33:08and they used to sing, "A is for the anchor that hangs from the bow."
0:33:08 > 0:33:11- That was a song. - The Bargeman's Alphabet.- Is it?- Yeah.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28I thought I'd sing you a song, sir, before I...
0:33:28 > 0:33:29CHEERING
0:33:29 > 0:33:31Do you know The Bargeman's Alphabet?
0:33:31 > 0:33:33CHEERING
0:33:33 > 0:33:37- I've been through... - Sing it to us, Griff!- Thank you!
0:33:37 > 0:33:41# A is for the anchor that hangs from the bow
0:33:41 > 0:33:46# B is for the bowsprit that we lower down
0:33:46 > 0:33:52# C is for the cat's head where the anchor is stowed
0:33:52 > 0:33:57# D is for the davits where our boat is holed
0:33:57 > 0:34:04# So merrily, so merrily, so merrily are we
0:34:04 > 0:34:09# There's none so blithe as a bargeman at sea
0:34:09 > 0:34:13# Sing high, sing low As we sail along
0:34:13 > 0:34:19# Give an old barge a breeze and we'll never sail wrong. #
0:34:19 > 0:34:21CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:34:23 > 0:34:24Yes!
0:34:25 > 0:34:30- Encore!- Was that what you were expecting, sir?- Er, no.
0:34:30 > 0:34:31OK, all right.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42It's our fifth day under sail and ahead of us,
0:34:42 > 0:34:46we have one of our greatest challenges yet.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56Well, the next bit of this journey
0:34:56 > 0:34:59is going to take us out...
0:35:00 > 0:35:04..beyond Bradwell
0:35:04 > 0:35:07and through the Maplin Sands.
0:35:08 > 0:35:13'These perilous flats stretch some 20 miles out to sea.
0:35:13 > 0:35:17'Heavily-laden coastal traffic would have to sail through tiny channels
0:35:17 > 0:35:21'and if the weather deteriorated, barges faced the danger
0:35:21 > 0:35:26'of huge waves building up in these dangerous shallows.'
0:35:26 > 0:35:29They weren't designed to be seagoing boats, were they?
0:35:29 > 0:35:31They were coastal trading boats.
0:35:31 > 0:35:33They went low in the water, didn't they?
0:35:33 > 0:35:35Yeah, I mean now, she's loaded to her marks, about 120 tonnes,
0:35:35 > 0:35:38so the water would be aboard and if it was really rough,
0:35:38 > 0:35:40the seas would, you know, potentially wash...
0:35:40 > 0:35:43- Straight over the top? - Straight over the top, yeah.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50And if a barge did take on water in bad weather,
0:35:50 > 0:35:52it could find itself running aground.
0:35:55 > 0:36:00- These yellow marks on our chart... - Drying sand, yeah.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03They literally show above water as land when the tide goes out?
0:36:03 > 0:36:07- Yep, treacherous really.- The worst thing for a boat was to go aground.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10- Absolutely.- Waves come up... - ..swamped them.
0:36:10 > 0:36:11They used to scour out a hole
0:36:11 > 0:36:14and the ship would sort of get sucked into the sand
0:36:14 > 0:36:17and then get overwhelmed and that was it, it was curtains, they were gone.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27So, many boats foundered in these difficult approaches to the Thames
0:36:27 > 0:36:31that nearby Southend became one of the earliest outposts
0:36:31 > 0:36:33for the Lifeboat Service.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39In 1879, the resort's famously long pier was adapted
0:36:39 > 0:36:43so that lifeboats could be lowered quickly.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52Today, the rescue team have a rather different way of tackling
0:36:52 > 0:36:54the shallow water and mud.
0:36:55 > 0:37:00Southend is famous for having the longest pleasure pier in the world.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02This one, one and a third miles.
0:37:02 > 0:37:04The reason for that is because
0:37:04 > 0:37:09it's so shallow at the mouth of the Thames, it's so flat
0:37:09 > 0:37:13and the only way to get around, for the lifeboat anyway,
0:37:13 > 0:37:14is by hovercraft.
0:37:22 > 0:37:28They're taking me out to look at the treacherous sands at close quarters.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31In Edwardian times, this place was branded
0:37:31 > 0:37:33"the most perilous byway in England."
0:37:56 > 0:37:59This is the hidden East Coast -
0:37:59 > 0:38:02hundreds of thousands of acres
0:38:02 > 0:38:07of mud and sand and gloop,
0:38:07 > 0:38:12stretching four miles off the coast and then there are runnels,
0:38:12 > 0:38:16but then there are another miles and miles of sand banks.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18What the hovercraft does, of course,
0:38:18 > 0:38:20is come out to rescue people who've gone out for a walk
0:38:20 > 0:38:23or chased their dog then got caught by the tide.
0:38:24 > 0:38:25Oh...
0:38:25 > 0:38:28Yeah, now I've been told what to do in these circumstances
0:38:28 > 0:38:31and instinctively, I'm doing the wrong thing.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33You mustn't lift up your feet
0:38:33 > 0:38:35because you put more pressure on the other foot
0:38:35 > 0:38:38and the other foot starts to sink in.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40What you have to do is get down and lean on your side.
0:38:40 > 0:38:45That way, you simply drown instead of being sucked into the mud!
0:38:45 > 0:38:46Hup!
0:38:50 > 0:38:55The flat sand does finally merge into flat land
0:38:55 > 0:39:00and though very close to London, it remains remote and inaccessible.
0:39:01 > 0:39:06A bridge to the mainland was only built in 1922.
0:39:06 > 0:39:09Before that, a difficult semi-submerged causeway
0:39:09 > 0:39:14across the Maplin Sands was the only way to walk to Foulness Island.
0:39:14 > 0:39:18So it was our flat-bottomed sailing barges creeping up the creeks
0:39:18 > 0:39:24that provided the means to pursue its rather specialised work.
0:39:27 > 0:39:32There's a sort of eerie magnificence to this place.
0:39:32 > 0:39:37Over there, that tower is a place where they tested ejector seats.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41Over there, the forts that guard the entrance to the Thames.
0:39:41 > 0:39:48Down there, that's not Southend Pier, that's an anti-submarine boom.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52It is forbidden England.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57You still need a pass to visit any part
0:39:57 > 0:40:00of what is the fourth largest island off the coast of England.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05The Ministry of Defence commandeered this place
0:40:05 > 0:40:09as a weapons testing site almost a century ago.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11Thames sailing barges brought shells
0:40:11 > 0:40:15and gunpowder from the Woolwich arsenal further up the Thames.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19After all, sail was a safe form of propulsion
0:40:19 > 0:40:25if you happened to be carrying huge loads of high explosives.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29Foulness became a perfect trial ground. It still is today.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32A defence technology company
0:40:32 > 0:40:36is currently testing shells bound for Afghanistan.
0:40:36 > 0:40:40- So this is the gun we're going to fire today, is it?- Absolutely, yes.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42And you shove the round in from this end?
0:40:42 > 0:40:45It doesn't have a sort of magazine, these things?
0:40:45 > 0:40:47No, the round itself will be loaded manually,
0:40:47 > 0:40:50placed in the back end and rammed by hand
0:40:50 > 0:40:53with a wooden rammer as it's always traditionally been done.
0:40:54 > 0:40:58So these shells that you're firing today, they're going to explode?
0:40:58 > 0:41:01These today will explode, yeah. Absolutely.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05- Can I fire one?- 'Go ahead, load.'
0:41:05 > 0:41:07'All in good time, Griff.'
0:41:07 > 0:41:13For obvious reasons, health and safety is a bit of a priority here.
0:41:13 > 0:41:18Gun TCO, round warmer one, circuit resistance, 150 right at the gun.
0:41:18 > 0:41:19- All personnel under.- 'Roger.
0:41:19 > 0:41:21'Confirm you're ready.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24'10 figure countdown. Nine...
0:41:24 > 0:41:27'Eight... Seven... Six...
0:41:27 > 0:41:30'Four... Three... Two... One. Fire.'
0:41:30 > 0:41:32BOOM
0:41:32 > 0:41:36Like a really big bass woofer in a hip-hop car.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39The whole "boom" like that, the stomach sort of goes.
0:41:40 > 0:41:46The shell travels five miles across the barren island in 20 seconds,
0:41:46 > 0:41:49before the preset fuse detonates it in mid-air.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55And now, it's my turn.
0:41:55 > 0:42:00'Nine... Eight... Seven... Six...
0:42:00 > 0:42:04'Four... Three... Two... One. Fire.'
0:42:04 > 0:42:05BOOM
0:42:05 > 0:42:09- 'Clear the gun. Who did that one?'- That would be Griff.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11'Roger. clear. Break cover.'
0:42:11 > 0:42:16Comments? That question was a little bit pointed, I thought!
0:42:16 > 0:42:18"Who did that one?"
0:42:19 > 0:42:22Firing the gun is only half the story.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26The trajectory of each round is monitored in minute detail -
0:42:26 > 0:42:28especially mine, by the sound of it.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31Were you the ones who asked, "Who shot that one then?"
0:42:31 > 0:42:32There was a little bit of a delay.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36- Was there? I was just being safe, I was told...- Noticeable delay.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38..whatever I do, I must not fire the thing
0:42:38 > 0:42:40until I hear the word "fire!"
0:42:41 > 0:42:42What a great day for it as well.
0:42:42 > 0:42:46One of the finest pictures I should think you've ever had of anybody
0:42:46 > 0:42:48firing one of those things.
0:42:48 > 0:42:49You want the sun out, yeah.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52Quite often you find yourself adding your own sound effects.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54There's no sound on this one, but, you know,
0:42:54 > 0:42:57you just find yourself sitting there going "pchoo."
0:42:58 > 0:43:00Whoomp! Pchoo!
0:43:00 > 0:43:02'It's difficult to believe that
0:43:02 > 0:43:04'we're less than 45 miles from London.
0:43:04 > 0:43:09'I could lob a shell from here into Westminster if I felt so inclined.'
0:43:16 > 0:43:19And London is where we continue to sail.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23Now we're at the mouth of the Thames and the first barge in over 70 years
0:43:23 > 0:43:26to be laden with cargo of hay and straw.
0:43:29 > 0:43:31Just making history here again, you know.
0:43:31 > 0:43:34I always dreamt about doing it but now we're actually doing it,
0:43:34 > 0:43:37it's just an amazing feeling, amazing.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45Today's tides will get us as far as Gravesend,
0:43:45 > 0:43:48before we make our final push up the river itself.
0:43:50 > 0:43:51As cabin boy,
0:43:51 > 0:43:54I want to cook a traditional bargeman's meal for the crew -
0:43:54 > 0:43:58a pudding, which is supposed to be a treat. Sailors long for it.
0:43:58 > 0:44:00It was apparently also the favourite
0:44:00 > 0:44:03of Rear Admiral Sir John Jack Aubrey,
0:44:03 > 0:44:07the fictional character in the famous novels of Patrick O'Brien.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12This is Griff's cooking with lard, because I'm going to make plum duff.
0:44:12 > 0:44:17The origins of plum duff can be traced back to the medieval period.
0:44:17 > 0:44:21It's similar to Christmas or plum pudding, but with rather less fruit.
0:44:23 > 0:44:27And to this, I add my melted lard.
0:44:27 > 0:44:31Plum duff was but a dream for a lowly cabin boy.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34You often had to rely on handouts from passing fishing boats.
0:44:34 > 0:44:36According to one old skipper,
0:44:36 > 0:44:39he got the odd bucket of whelks if he was lucky.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42Now comes the funny bit. Take your muslin...
0:44:42 > 0:44:43There we go.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48And then you fix it all together...
0:44:49 > 0:44:50There we go.
0:44:50 > 0:44:54Plum duff was the traditional treat of the working man.
0:44:54 > 0:44:56So, after six hours of steaming,
0:44:56 > 0:45:00what do today's working men think of it?
0:45:00 > 0:45:03- What?- I haven't said a word!
0:45:03 > 0:45:06I don't know! You're sitting here with the expression of somebody
0:45:06 > 0:45:09about to meet their doom on your face.
0:45:09 > 0:45:11- That's about it. - Just a minute, OK...
0:45:11 > 0:45:14It's like something out of a Hammer horror film.
0:45:14 > 0:45:15- The brain...- Oh, no!
0:45:15 > 0:45:18LAUGHTER
0:45:21 > 0:45:22Big slice or small slice?
0:45:22 > 0:45:25- I'll try a small slice. - A small slice to start.
0:45:25 > 0:45:26- It smells all right.- It's good.
0:45:26 > 0:45:30- Looks all right, doesn't it? - You want a bit of jam on that, boy!
0:45:30 > 0:45:32- All right.- You do.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35I have to tell you, for seafarers of old,
0:45:35 > 0:45:39they sat all week anticipating their plum duff.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42It was the only treat they had in the entire week, the plum duff.
0:45:42 > 0:45:44The old bargemen were always on about it.
0:45:44 > 0:45:46- Were they?- Yeah, they were, yeah.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49- Lovely, thank you.- There we are.
0:45:49 > 0:45:50You can't call yourself a proper barge man
0:45:50 > 0:45:53until you can get on the other side of a piece of plum duff.
0:45:53 > 0:45:56- Nick, you're not game? - No, thank you, Griff.
0:46:04 > 0:46:06SNIGGERING
0:46:08 > 0:46:12Well, the jam's good, isn't it?
0:46:12 > 0:46:14You haven't swallowed it yet!
0:46:14 > 0:46:17- A little bit of duff goes a long way, if you ask me.- It should do!
0:46:17 > 0:46:19LAUGHTER
0:46:21 > 0:46:22It's the last day of our trip,
0:46:22 > 0:46:26but we still have to wait till noon
0:46:26 > 0:46:30for five knots of incoming tide to rush us up to London.
0:46:30 > 0:46:32I'm jumping ship in search of a present,
0:46:32 > 0:46:37heading back downriver a few miles, along the south side of the Thames,
0:46:37 > 0:46:39to Chatham dockyard.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42This river was not only a place of barges.
0:46:42 > 0:46:45There was another part of our maritime tradition
0:46:45 > 0:46:49that once employed thousands and yet we seem scarcely aware of it.
0:46:51 > 0:46:57You see, I think I associate the south coast with the Royal Navy -
0:46:57 > 0:47:00Portsmouth and Dartmouth and Plymouth -
0:47:00 > 0:47:03but in fact, even at the very beginning,
0:47:03 > 0:47:08it was only 14 ships that came from Plymouth to defeat the Armada.
0:47:08 > 0:47:10The rest came from the Medway
0:47:10 > 0:47:16and the Thames Estuary is rife with the senior service.
0:47:16 > 0:47:21Here we made the ships that defended Britain and built its empire.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24In the 18th century, Chatham built 125 ships
0:47:24 > 0:47:27and employed nearly 2,000 men.
0:47:29 > 0:47:34In the 1700s, this was the largest industrial complex in the world.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37I've come here to buy a present...
0:47:37 > 0:47:40on the rope walk.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47When it was constructed in 1790,
0:47:47 > 0:47:50the ropewalk, where lengths of rope were spun,
0:47:50 > 0:47:53was the longest brick building in Europe.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55At a quarter of a mile long,
0:47:55 > 0:47:59it supplied grand sailing ships and barges alike.
0:47:59 > 0:48:03And today, it's still making rope in the traditional manner
0:48:03 > 0:48:08and at the heart of the process is master rope maker, Fred Cordier.
0:48:08 > 0:48:12And the principle of the technology
0:48:12 > 0:48:15is simply to wind the things together by opposing twists,
0:48:15 > 0:48:17effectively holds it all together.
0:48:17 > 0:48:22- That's right, yeah.- And you're knotting onto another bobbin there.
0:48:22 > 0:48:24Does it matter that it's got a knot in the middle of it?
0:48:24 > 0:48:27No, because it goes in the centre of the strand, so it's gone.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30And you don't want them all to come to an end at the same time,
0:48:30 > 0:48:32so you have different sizes of bobbins.
0:48:32 > 0:48:34What's happening? There's a bell going off.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37That's the warning bell telling me they're nearly there.
0:48:37 > 0:48:38Nearly there. What's nearly there?
0:48:38 > 0:48:40The machine at the other end.
0:48:40 > 0:48:42We'll have to go and look at that happen.
0:48:44 > 0:48:48The rope making machinery here is the oldest surviving in Britain.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50Parts of it date from 1811.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52Whoa!
0:48:53 > 0:48:56I'm riding the iron horse here.
0:48:56 > 0:49:00Fred, what is making us move that way?
0:49:00 > 0:49:03It's the twist of the rope against the nose at the top.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07So it's just the twisting that's making us go?
0:49:07 > 0:49:12'The technique of twisting and then countertwisting into ever larger strands
0:49:12 > 0:49:14'remains the same as it was then.'
0:49:14 > 0:49:19And here it is. Beautiful! Beautiful rope.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22- What circumference is this then? - It is a four inch circumference.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25- Right. And that's how you measure old ropes?- It is.
0:49:25 > 0:49:31And you've made ropes for... some famous boats, famous ships.
0:49:31 > 0:49:32- Certainly have.- Victory?
0:49:32 > 0:49:35- The Endeavour. The Victory. - Yeah.- Cutty Sark.
0:49:35 > 0:49:37- Yeah.- You name it, all of them.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40This is where people who need a traditional-looking rope.
0:49:40 > 0:49:44- Quite right. - And I can tell you that's what The Dawn wants as well.- OK.
0:49:44 > 0:49:47So I'm going to have to take some away with me, I think.
0:49:49 > 0:49:52I've got to get this coiled up. Coil away.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58'And it is heavy stuff.
0:49:58 > 0:50:02'Money for new rope.'
0:50:02 > 0:50:05- Gentleman, I went to Chatham and I thought of you.- Wow.
0:50:06 > 0:50:10- Blimey, the real thing. - That's what you use, isn't it? - It is, yeah. Lovely.
0:50:10 > 0:50:15- Have you been there and seen it done?- We have. I have, yes.- Great.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17- You've never ridden on the machine, have you?- No.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20As long as I've done something that you two haven't,
0:50:20 > 0:50:22- that's all I'm concerned about. - You've done loads that we haven't.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28We now have just 30 miles to go.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31Up the Thames to St Katherine's Dock.
0:50:31 > 0:50:34Port of London Authority's told me that in the old days
0:50:34 > 0:50:3750 million tonnes used to go up and down the Thames.
0:50:37 > 0:50:39And today?
0:50:39 > 0:50:4150 million tonnes goes up and down the Thames,
0:50:41 > 0:50:46but they all go further down the river, they don't head up to the Pool of London.
0:50:46 > 0:50:51So where we're going now looks utterly peaceful.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08The dockside warehouses fronting the whole length of the river
0:51:08 > 0:51:10have lost their purpose.
0:51:10 > 0:51:12Casualties of containerisation.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18Nowhere is this more apparent than at the Royal docks.
0:51:20 > 0:51:24Only 50 years ago this area employed more than 100,000 people,
0:51:24 > 0:51:26unloading cargo from across the world.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29But sailing barges were in decline earlier than that.
0:51:29 > 0:51:33After the First World War, engines began to take over.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38In the Great Depression of the 1930s,
0:51:38 > 0:51:43nearby Woolwich Reach became home to a solid mass of idle boats
0:51:43 > 0:51:47which their hungry crews named the "starvation buoys".
0:51:47 > 0:51:52It was a hastening of a slow death for the working barge.
0:51:52 > 0:51:55- So the barges would hang around waiting for work?- Yeah.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00It must have been a misery for our boys.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04As we passed through the Thames Barrier,
0:52:04 > 0:52:07the emptiness seems to give way to overcrowded incident -
0:52:07 > 0:52:10Greenwich, the Dome, Canary Wharf
0:52:10 > 0:52:14and the glass towers of the city rise above the river banks.
0:52:14 > 0:52:18There she blows. There's the City of London coming into sight.
0:52:18 > 0:52:19I'm getting emotional!
0:52:19 > 0:52:21Emotional feeling as you come up here.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24It's a tremendous feeling to come up into London like this.
0:52:28 > 0:52:32There's no doubt that the modern metropolis of London owes
0:52:32 > 0:52:36a part of its greatness to the humble Thames sailing barge.
0:52:36 > 0:52:41These wind-powered HGVs made London's great Victorian expansion possible.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44They brought the bricks and sand for building,
0:52:44 > 0:52:45the barley for the beer,
0:52:45 > 0:52:49and of course the fodder for all those working horses.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53At the time when this barge was working,
0:52:53 > 0:52:55as it made its way further up the river,
0:52:55 > 0:52:58so it would become busier and busier.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01People would come down in the evening to see what was going on.
0:53:01 > 0:53:04Dickens liked to walk down there and stand on London Bridge,
0:53:04 > 0:53:08not Tower Bridge because Tower Bridge was built towards the end of the century.
0:53:08 > 0:53:10But London Bridge, to see the Pool of London
0:53:10 > 0:53:12and to see all the ships that arrived,
0:53:12 > 0:53:16the packets that had come from France bringing the news,
0:53:16 > 0:53:18and the place thronged with activity.
0:53:23 > 0:53:25And here, just beneath Tower Bridge,
0:53:25 > 0:53:28the modern gateway to the western river,
0:53:28 > 0:53:30lies our final destination -
0:53:30 > 0:53:34St Katherine's Dock - and our final challenge.
0:53:38 > 0:53:43Now we have to manoeuvre 120 tonnes of barge out of a rushing river
0:53:43 > 0:53:44and into her berth.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53The narrow entrance and the great press of water
0:53:53 > 0:53:57make this a matter of careful leverage and a fine judgment.
0:53:57 > 0:53:58A bit of way.
0:53:58 > 0:54:00Ooh!
0:54:01 > 0:54:05That's the leeboard, isn't it? Sorry.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12But apart from that momentary bounce on our leeboard,
0:54:12 > 0:54:16amazingly, we passed through the eye of St Katherine's Needle.
0:54:17 > 0:54:21Ship and her precious cargo safe in port.
0:54:23 > 0:54:28Right, here we come. If you lift it round you.
0:54:28 > 0:54:30There we are. Thank you very much. Whoa!
0:54:34 > 0:54:39We're going to transport it much as it would have been transported,
0:54:39 > 0:54:42to some hungry horses near Hyde Park.
0:54:46 > 0:54:48So how many do you take?
0:54:48 > 0:54:51Well I think about 20 on there would be a nice load for a single horse.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54OK. Well, we've got about 1,000 here. So plenty to choose from.
0:54:54 > 0:54:56We've got a long day then.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12That's it. We're all loaded up. We're off now, Gerard.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15Thank you for having me.
0:55:15 > 0:55:19- I'll just leave you with the other thousand to unload. - We'll enjoy that(!)- Thank you.
0:55:19 > 0:55:21Thank you for a great trip.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24Thank you, guys. See you again.
0:55:32 > 0:55:38Just over 100 years ago, a sight such as this would have been commonplace.
0:55:38 > 0:55:44Now Londoners stare as the product of a great working route
0:55:44 > 0:55:48that once fed London and its sources passes by.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54But that route created so much more.
0:55:54 > 0:55:56It shaped our capital.
0:55:56 > 0:55:58It contributed to our defences.
0:55:58 > 0:56:02It kick-started our coastal rescue service.
0:56:06 > 0:56:10It even brought the raw material for the roads that ironically
0:56:10 > 0:56:12contributed to its downfall.
0:56:12 > 0:56:16OK, I think what we'll do is we'll stop here.
0:56:16 > 0:56:17There we go, great.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22What I need to get... There we are.
0:56:25 > 0:56:27All right. OK. Lovely. Thank you very much.
0:56:35 > 0:56:40'But the point about the Thames barge route was that it wasn't just one way.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43'Barges rarely left London empty.'
0:56:45 > 0:56:47Where do you want the hay?
0:56:47 > 0:56:50- Just stick it on the floor in the corner.- All right, lovely.
0:56:58 > 0:57:00It's a bit dispiriting, isn't it?
0:57:00 > 0:57:04We have brought it all this way and Sovereign doesn't want it.
0:57:04 > 0:57:06Still, it's not an entirely wasted journey,
0:57:06 > 0:57:09because in fact this was a two-way trip.
0:57:10 > 0:57:15The hay came in and another cargo altogether went back out.
0:57:17 > 0:57:22It was called "London mixture" and it made its way
0:57:22 > 0:57:27to Essex by the barge load to fertilise those fields.
0:57:29 > 0:57:32In the full circle of life, at the end of the day,
0:57:32 > 0:57:36what goes in must come out.
0:57:57 > 0:58:00Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd