0:00:09 > 0:00:14Hello, there, I'm Russell Watson, and I'm in the city that I will always call home -
0:00:14 > 0:00:16Salford.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21Things have changed since I was a lad.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24I remember growing up in Salford in the '70s,
0:00:24 > 0:00:28when the Manchester Ship Canal was an absolute quagmire.
0:00:28 > 0:00:34Not any more. Today, its 30 miles of rivers, quaysides and canals
0:00:34 > 0:00:38are bursting with new life and colour.
0:00:38 > 0:00:44So, come with me on a watery journey around the sights and sounds of Salford 2012.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52Coming up, I'll be trying my hand at fly fishing,
0:00:52 > 0:00:54finding out what it's like to live on the water,
0:00:54 > 0:00:58and meeting those for whom water has a special spiritual significance.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01All against the backdrop of some much-loved hymns.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16Originally just a village on the banks of the River Irwell,
0:01:16 > 0:01:21Salford grew amidst the blood, sweat and tears of the industrial revolution.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25St Peter's Church here in Swinton was built in the 1860s
0:01:25 > 0:01:29on the site of a smaller chapel, so as to accommodate
0:01:29 > 0:01:33a growing population working in the booming cotton mills in coal mines.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39Now, I want to show you a lovely little piece of Victorian history.
0:01:39 > 0:01:44Up there is St Peter holding the keys to the gates of heaven.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48But, on closer inspection, you can actually see
0:01:48 > 0:01:52that it's a Victorian chap with mutton chop whiskers.
0:01:52 > 0:01:58Now, that's Noah Robinson, whose father built a mill right next to the church.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01Now, Noah I did a lot of really good work locally,
0:02:01 > 0:02:07but perhaps his finest achievement was bringing clean water to the people of Swinton.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11Water is, after all, the source of life.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15The Bible is full of water imagery and meaning.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18So, too, are some of our favourite hymns,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21including our first hymn tonight, The King Of Love.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22This is the river Irwell that separates us in Salford
0:04:22 > 0:04:26from our neighbours in Manchester.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30It's nearly 40 miles long, and for local artist Mildred Cooper,
0:04:30 > 0:04:31a source of inspiration.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39I suppose I've known the Irwell all my life because I live not far from it,
0:04:39 > 0:04:44and I can't really remember how I came to have the idea,
0:04:44 > 0:04:47but it started out thinking of it as a sort of sketchbook,
0:04:47 > 0:04:51it would be interesting to go up and find the source of it,
0:04:51 > 0:04:53and sort of following through.
0:04:53 > 0:04:59And I took an old A-Z that I had, and traced it through in red Biro.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05I went out one afternoon and found the source that was above Bacup,
0:05:05 > 0:05:09and it was really fascinating to stand in the reeds,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12and you could hear the water trickling underneath.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17And it was a little bit like being in another world.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21It was quite remote and very, very different.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26It flows down and becomes a proper stream,
0:05:26 > 0:05:29and it runs parallel with the road into Bacup,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32and then comes out as a fully fledged river
0:05:32 > 0:05:36that bends and twists its way through Rawtenstall and Ramsbottom
0:05:36 > 0:05:40and Bury and Radcliffe, and comes down here to Salford.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45It became a sort of documentary of it, I think,
0:05:45 > 0:05:49to trace it through to where it finishes in the Ship Canal.
0:05:51 > 0:05:57My relationship with God is something that's central to pretty well everything.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01Maybe drawing a plant or painting a plant I'm not thinking,
0:06:01 > 0:06:05"Now, God created this, so I must paint it."
0:06:05 > 0:06:08But the texture of petals and leaves,
0:06:08 > 0:06:13they're totally different to anything that man makes, aren't they?
0:06:13 > 0:06:16I mean, you know, you can buy beautifully made imitation flowers,
0:06:16 > 0:06:20but they just lack that something the real ones have, you know.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Some people write poetry and some write music, don't they,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35to express their faith, but I do it visually.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37It comes out in the way I paint.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41It's just something inside you want to express, you know, get out.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35Now, I've always quite fancied myself as a bit of a fisherman
0:08:35 > 0:08:38and this is my chance today to prove that I can do it.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42This very much takes me back to my days as a little boy
0:08:42 > 0:08:44fishing by the side of the old river.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47But I think it's time for the big boys now
0:08:47 > 0:08:49and my first fishing lesson for a long time.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54Lots of people do it to music, I don't know, maybe a waltz rhythm.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58You know, one, two, three. One, two, three.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02One, two, three, one, two, three.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05There's a rhythm somewhere in that.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07What do you love about fishing?
0:09:07 > 0:09:09It's a real wind down
0:09:09 > 0:09:13from my normal daily pressures,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16and it's great. And if you catch a fish while you're doing it,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19I mean, that's just an absolute added bonus.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21You're not by any chance passionate about it?
0:09:21 > 0:09:24What makes you think that, Russell? Not at all, no(!)
0:09:24 > 0:09:27'David Vickery began fishing 30 years ago with his young son,
0:09:27 > 0:09:29'shortly after a life-threatening illness.'
0:09:31 > 0:09:34I had my heart attack when my son was four,
0:09:34 > 0:09:37which was the age that I was when my dad died.
0:09:37 > 0:09:42When you're lying there, as you know, wired up like the bionic man -
0:09:42 > 0:09:46and I was 30 when that happened to me -
0:09:46 > 0:09:50it makes you realise what's important in your life.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52I know that when I had my health problems,
0:09:52 > 0:09:57it affected my faith, I would say in a positive manner.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59Has it affected your faith?
0:09:59 > 0:10:03I think it gave me a chance to examine what I believe in, certainly.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06And I had no doubt to argue with it.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09David, what's the biggest fish you've ever caught?
0:10:09 > 0:10:1111 and a quarter-pound, Russell.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13- Can I ask you another question about that fish?- Go on.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16In the two years since you've caught it,
0:10:16 > 0:10:18has it slightly increased in weight?
0:10:18 > 0:10:20BOTH LAUGH
0:10:20 > 0:10:23It gets bigger every time. It gets bigger every time!
0:10:23 > 0:10:26- I was brought up a Christian...- Yes.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30..and it's never really left me.
0:10:30 > 0:10:31So as a fisherman,
0:10:31 > 0:10:34you're picking up first-hand experience of God with what you see?
0:10:34 > 0:10:37I think it makes me realise the wonder of creation
0:10:37 > 0:10:39and all the things that are in it.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42When you actually get in the water
0:10:42 > 0:10:45and you feel that water on your body,
0:10:45 > 0:10:49it's quite awe-inspiring at times. It really is.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51And the amount of life
0:10:51 > 0:10:53and the variety of life these days is quite staggering.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58I've seen this river, many, many years ago,
0:10:58 > 0:11:02run every conceivable colour of the rainbow
0:11:02 > 0:11:04with stuff that was deposited.
0:11:08 > 0:11:09My mum always used to say to us,
0:11:09 > 0:11:11"You mustn't go anywhere near that river.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15"If you do, straight to hospital, straight for a tetanus injection."
0:11:16 > 0:11:20Oh, look at the size of that, it's a beauty!
0:11:20 > 0:11:23- You're a good actor, aren't you? - That beats your 11-pounder.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26Did you say it was a BAFTA you're up for?
0:11:26 > 0:11:28BOTH LAUGH
0:11:28 > 0:11:30MUSIC: "Peer Gynt Suite No 1 Morning Mood" by Edvard Grieg
0:11:35 > 0:11:38I mean, this river was dead for 200 years nigh on.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42It's only in the last 30 years or so that it's started to recover.
0:11:42 > 0:11:43It looks lovely now.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51'The canals of Salford were once the preserve of industry
0:13:51 > 0:13:56'but nowadays people are choosing to make them their home.'
0:13:56 > 0:13:58What attracted you to living on the water?
0:13:58 > 0:14:01Ultimately, it's about the freedom, I think, and it's about the closeness,
0:14:01 > 0:14:04the closest to the elements, hearing the rain bounce on the roof.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07You get really weird sort of things going on with it.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11It's like, the wind comes rushing up, and I know the river's going that way
0:14:11 > 0:14:14and everybody knows the river's going that way
0:14:14 > 0:14:16but the waves are going that way, and it's just...
0:14:16 > 0:14:19That's Mother Nature going, "Ha-ha, look what I can do."
0:14:19 > 0:14:22It's just fascinating.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25Is this, for you, a form of escapism or do you...?
0:14:25 > 0:14:28- This is definitely a form of escapism.- OK.- Definitely.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30It's definitely a form of slowing down as well.
0:14:30 > 0:14:35I have no choice but to live a simpler life. It's good for the soul.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38Well, it's good for my soul, anyway.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40Do you think that's maybe contributed to
0:14:40 > 0:14:43by the fact that you're kind of getting a little bit older?
0:14:43 > 0:14:46Because I know, as I've entered my 40s,
0:14:46 > 0:14:50the closer I get to the inevitable,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54I think the closer I've actually become to God
0:14:54 > 0:14:57and the more my faith, as a result of that, has expanded.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01- Would you say...?- I think you're probably right, yeah. It's...
0:15:01 > 0:15:03I think we've got youth out of the way
0:15:03 > 0:15:08and we're starting to question where we've come from and what it's all about a lot more.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11That's certainly my case, anyway. I'm looking for some answers now.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13It's not so much all about having a load of fun now,
0:15:13 > 0:15:16I want to know, "Where did it all come from, and why,
0:15:16 > 0:15:18"and what are we doing here?"
0:15:18 > 0:15:22'But Robert doesn't just live on the water,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25'he also works as head chef at a riverside pub in Salford.'
0:15:25 > 0:15:28It was called the Mark Addy after a famous boatman
0:15:28 > 0:15:32who used to dive in the river and rescue people. Completely selfless bloke.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36He must have been completely bonkers, cos back in those days, in the 1850s,
0:15:36 > 0:15:38the river was just a sewer.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42He was awarded the Albert Medal,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45which is like the equivalent of the Victoria Cross.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48He rescued over 60 people.
0:15:48 > 0:15:49It finally killed him.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52There was a Whit Monday parade going through Salford
0:15:52 > 0:15:55and a young lad had fallen the river.
0:15:55 > 0:15:56Addy was 50 at the time.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00He'd gone in, ruined his suit, ruined his watch,
0:16:00 > 0:16:02lost his money, but managed to pull the little kid out.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04A year later he was dead from consumption
0:16:04 > 0:16:08and they reckon that was the day he got the disease that killed him.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10But he always said out of all the rescues he'd done,
0:16:10 > 0:16:12that was the most important one.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16It's the sheer sort of willingness
0:16:16 > 0:16:21to put somebody else first without question from being a very young man.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24He did his first rescue when he was 11 years old.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26It was just, "Somebody's in trouble,
0:16:26 > 0:16:30"nobody else wants to go into that mess, well, I'll do it."
0:16:30 > 0:16:32You know? And that's just selfless, isn't it?
0:16:32 > 0:16:33That's just a wonderful thing.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35There aren't many of those around these days.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40If we were all like that, the world would be a better place, wouldn't it?
0:18:39 > 0:18:45'Journalist Carmel Thomason moved to the regenerated Salford Quays seven years ago.'
0:18:46 > 0:18:49I love it here, I feel really at home and relaxed
0:18:49 > 0:18:51and it's quite nice to think about
0:18:51 > 0:18:53my family connections being here,
0:18:53 > 0:18:57cos my grandad worked here are my great-granddad worked here,
0:18:57 > 0:19:00which I didn't know at the time when I moved.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03What exactly did your great-grandfather do?
0:19:03 > 0:19:06My great-grandfather, he used to carry the timbers
0:19:06 > 0:19:08and work on the docks so my mum would be...
0:19:08 > 0:19:12She told me she'd have to take the big splinters out of his shoulders.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14My grandad used to work on the railways.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17Well, my great-great-grandfather,
0:19:17 > 0:19:22many, many years ago, helped to dig out the Manchester Ship Canal.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26I remember my great-grandmother talking very, very fondly
0:19:26 > 0:19:31about the memories of that and him coming home caked in mud
0:19:31 > 0:19:34and having a nice warm cup of tea when he got in.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37Do you think things like that give us nice connection with history?
0:19:37 > 0:19:40I do. I think it's lovely.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43I think my granddad would be really pleased I'm living here now,
0:19:43 > 0:19:46as it is, but I think at the time he would be completely shocked
0:19:46 > 0:19:48that a woman would even come to the docks.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52Do you think that's one of the things that gave you that connection with water
0:19:52 > 0:19:56and wanting to be surrounded by water?
0:19:56 > 0:19:58Actually, water's got a special significance for me
0:19:58 > 0:20:01and that's why I wanted to live here.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10And that significance was dramatically revealed to Carmel
0:20:10 > 0:20:14on a pilgrimage to the healing waters of Lourdes in France
0:20:14 > 0:20:18at a time when she was questioning her relationship with God.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22I'd never been on a pilgrimage before.
0:20:22 > 0:20:27I queued for about three hours and then when we got in there
0:20:27 > 0:20:30you take your clothes off, so you're completely naked, but it's modest
0:20:30 > 0:20:34because you're covered with a shroud, and then you go in
0:20:34 > 0:20:37and it's like a huge big bath or a hot tub,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40except it's not hot, it's freezing cold,
0:20:40 > 0:20:42and you walk in there and then you're dunked underneath.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50And I just stood there
0:20:50 > 0:20:55and felt the most overwhelming sense of love that I couldn't explain
0:20:55 > 0:20:57and I'd never experienced it before
0:20:57 > 0:21:01and it's...I could only say that it was of God.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09It made a huge difference to my faith after I came back from Lourdes,
0:21:09 > 0:21:13insofar as I want to live my life for God
0:21:13 > 0:21:17rather than trying to tell God how I want my life to be.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23I think there's lots of different kinds of miracles and there's lots of different kinds of healing
0:21:23 > 0:21:25and I think that there's a lot of healing
0:21:25 > 0:21:30that does go on in Lourdes and I feel that I experienced a part of that.
0:23:45 > 0:23:50In March this year, I got baptised with...
0:23:50 > 0:23:52um...
0:23:52 > 0:23:54TEARFULLY: Sorry.
0:23:54 > 0:23:59..with all of my family there coming to watch me,
0:23:59 > 0:24:02and just made a massive, massive commitment,
0:24:02 > 0:24:08knowing that everything that I regretted could be left behind
0:24:08 > 0:24:10and that this was a new beginning.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14Susie Walker's full immersion baptism
0:24:14 > 0:24:16ended an estrangement from the church
0:24:16 > 0:24:21that had its roots in the early death of both her parents by the time she was 16.
0:24:23 > 0:24:28That really hurt, that two people who were really loving and caring
0:24:28 > 0:24:31and were prepared to give so much back to the world
0:24:31 > 0:24:33had been taken away.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37It was at that point that I started to turn away from the church.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39Susie got on with her life.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43She became a swimming instructor and married.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46But when the marriage broke down after 11 years,
0:24:46 > 0:24:48she once again turned to the church.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55I'd had for a while this feeling that I wasn't doing
0:24:55 > 0:24:57what I was supposed to be doing.
0:24:57 > 0:25:02I'd been really busy at work, obviously, busy as a single mum.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04I was like, "Please, help me, God,
0:25:04 > 0:25:09"to find what is that I'm supposed to do in the world."
0:25:11 > 0:25:13As soon as I walked through the doors,
0:25:13 > 0:25:19I was just completely overwhelmed by this feeling that I was home.
0:25:19 > 0:25:24I remember just kind of in my head talking and saying,
0:25:24 > 0:25:26"I'm so sorry I've been away for so long,"
0:25:26 > 0:25:30and the answer just came back, "It's OK, you're here now."
0:25:33 > 0:25:37The actual baptism made a real difference to me.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42Part of the joy of being baptised within the water
0:25:42 > 0:25:44is the buoyancy within it,
0:25:44 > 0:25:47that you feel, as heavy as you are,
0:25:47 > 0:25:51you're as light as a feather in that water
0:25:51 > 0:25:54and there is something else that is holding you up.
0:25:54 > 0:26:00You just get that sense of peace just come over you
0:26:00 > 0:26:02as you go into the water.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07All the weight that you were carrying beforehand,
0:26:07 > 0:26:10you can just leave it behind
0:26:10 > 0:26:14and just become a new person.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19And, yes, there are still challenges to be faced,
0:26:19 > 0:26:22but I know I'm not doing it by myself
0:26:22 > 0:26:26and I don't have to make those decisions by myself any more.
0:26:30 > 0:26:35# Abide with me
0:26:35 > 0:26:42# Fast falls the eventide
0:26:44 > 0:26:50# The darkness deepens
0:26:50 > 0:26:56# Lord, with me abide
0:26:56 > 0:27:03# When other helpers
0:27:03 > 0:27:08# Fail and comforts flee
0:27:10 > 0:27:15# Help of the helpless
0:27:15 > 0:27:22# O abide with me
0:27:23 > 0:27:28# I fear no foe
0:27:28 > 0:27:35# With Thee at hand to bless
0:27:37 > 0:27:42# Ills have no weight
0:27:42 > 0:27:49# And tears no bitterness
0:27:50 > 0:27:55# Where is death's sting?
0:27:55 > 0:28:02# Where, grave, thy victory?
0:28:02 > 0:28:08# I triumph still
0:28:08 > 0:28:14# If Thou abide with
0:28:14 > 0:28:17# Me
0:28:23 > 0:28:27# Hold Thou Thy cross
0:28:27 > 0:28:36# Before my closing eyes
0:28:36 > 0:28:41# Shine through the gloom
0:28:41 > 0:28:49# And point me to the skies
0:28:49 > 0:28:54# Heaven's morning breaks
0:28:54 > 0:29:02# And earth's vain shadows flee
0:29:02 > 0:29:06# In life
0:29:06 > 0:29:09# In death, O Lord
0:29:09 > 0:29:17# Abide
0:29:17 > 0:29:25# With
0:29:25 > 0:29:30# Me. #
0:29:43 > 0:29:47God, our Father, in the sacrament of baptism,
0:29:47 > 0:29:51your gift of water washes away our sins
0:29:51 > 0:29:54and brings us eternal life.
0:29:54 > 0:29:59Renew the living spring of your life within us
0:29:59 > 0:30:03and protect us in spirit and in body
0:30:03 > 0:30:06through Christ our Lord.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08ALL: Amen.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10And the blessing of God Almighty,
0:30:10 > 0:30:14the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be with you
0:30:14 > 0:30:18and remain with you this day and always.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20ALL: Amen.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31Next week, Diane-Louise Jordan joins celebrations in
0:33:31 > 0:33:34the ancient city of St Albans,
0:33:34 > 0:33:38and learns about towns and villages named after saints of old.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40The Reverend Richard Coles will be on hand to help,
0:33:40 > 0:33:44and there are great hymns with a saintly theme from around the UK.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd