What has been the highlight of the new series for you?

Dick Strawbridge

Most days' filming mean lots of waiting around or rushing to and from locations. I never tire of spending time by the sea, so I when I get moments between really interesting conversations, or delivering pieces to camera, when the rest of the team are sorting out problems, I find those moments truly awesome as I get to enjoy the sea air.

Why do you think it’s important that we understand more about our coastline?

As an island nation, the sea has played a huge part in shaping who we are. Our coastline involves so many different people, buildings, structures, animals, environments, that taking the time to understand the variety and diversity helps us reconcile that, as a nation, we have to celebrate our differences as well as our common ground.

What is your favourite area/beach/aspect of the UK coastline?

I have always loved Giants Causeway and the coast of County Antrim as I grew up enjoying them and they really show land and the sea coming together in a fairly violent mix of rocks and waves. However, I have to say that, now, the couple of miles from the China clay works on Par beach to the harbour at Polkerris on the south coast of Cornwall (just over the hill from my smallholding) have to be my favourite beach/coastal path/harbour/rockpools.

The Giant's Causeway.
[image © copyright Photos.com]

Coast has grown into something of a national institution – why do you think people are so interested/passionate about the coast?

I defy anyone to watch Coast and not learn something. Our coastline has such variety and amazing beauty that there is always something for everyone. There is something there for anyone with a pulse.

How did you get involved with presenting Coast?

I was lucky enough to have made several engineering series for the BBC and had made some short films on D-Day and the war in the Far East, so I was invited to take part in a couple of Coast programmes with engineering or military history connections. It's great fun and, anytime I’m asked if I’m interested, I always say "yes" as I know I’ll learn lots and meet some cracking people.

What have you personally gained from your involvement with the series?

Spending time in a coastal resort, or in a specific location by the sea, covering a story for Coast, gives you the time to appreciate an area that you would probably pass through with barely a second thought. More and more patches of our coastline are becoming special for me as I get a chance to really know them.

Where would you like to see Coast go next?

When I was growing up, the map of the world was covered in pink countries – I reckon it would be great to look at all the places we came ashore to conquer and build the empire and commonwealth. There will be lots of examples of hardship, ingenuity, perseverance, and people with stories we have never heard.

Do you have any Open University connections outside Coast?

My daughter is a singer songwriter and recently decided to take some OU language and psychology modules and two of my sisters did OU degrees and masters degrees whilst working.

Find out more

Watch videos, order the new Coast booklet and find out why this series of Coast goes further than any other: Coast on Open2

Afghanistan is not top of the list of tourist destinations. On the other hand, it is certainly interesting. I have been here for about a week now, staying, for the most part, in Kabul although I have taken a couple of day trips outside: one to a beautiful village that specialises in ceramics (rather bad ceramics, to be honest), and the other up the spectacular Panjshir valley.

The valley.
[Photo © copyright Derek Matravers]

This is a beautiful and fertile bit of the country, with a fish-laden river running through. At times, it looks like an illustration from The Watchtower.

Abandoned military equipment.
[Photo © copyright Derek Matravers]

Dotted along the road, sometimes in the river, is abandoned Soviet military equipment: relics of the ten unsuccessful attempts to take the valley during the Soviet occupation. I opened a door of a troop carrier to peer in, and there was everything but the bodies. The bullets were still there, feeding into the machine gun, and a few Soviet papers were lying around, circa 1985.

Kabul itself was mainly destroyed in the civil war of 1992. A few old parts survive, near the old bazaar some of which has not changed since the middle ages. There are other surprising buildings.

Mosque in Kabul.
[Photo © copyright Derek Matravers]

A mosque that looks like something from Versailles (a relic of a 1920s drive for modernisation), and a huge palace in the grand European style from the same period - now, sadly, a bombed-out shell full of UXBs.

Bombed out palace in Kabul.
[Photo © copyright Derek Matravers]

The people are proud and hospitable. One has to be careful; sometimes, when one buys something, the seller refuses to take payment. One has to ask three times before they, with a show of reluctance, pocket your money.

There are a number of sources of tension here. First, there are a lot (and I mean a lot) of armed men on the streets. A friend reported that an Afghan had told her that a Pashtun (the most populous tribe) 'would no more leave his home without a gun than an Englishman would leave his home without an umbrella' (if only we lived up to the high standards expected of us).

If one remembers the bitter factional infighting of the past few years, it is easy to worry that current truces might not hold. Second, the Taliban (a rather loose collection rather than a clear unity) do not only exist in the South. There are Taliban, and Taliban supporters, about. Finally, this is a deeply conservative society. The Burqa is worn. Alcohol is banned. There are a fair number of foreigners here: people working for the UN, for NGOs and a lot of 'security consultants' (body guards). There are half a dozen places which serve drink - but no Afghans allowed.

There is even - I can report - at least one brothel, staffed by Chinese girls. One does not need to try hard to imagine the consequences of this: a high pressure situation, a lot of young men and women a long way from home, and a lot of drink. Nobody would be too surprised if the outrage this causes leads to a grenade or two coming winging over the walls.

What is it like to be here as a Philosopher? I went around the Kabul museum. A group of Taliban, led by the Minister of Culture, turned up in March 2001 and smashed all the images - including some wonderful sculptures dating from the times of Alexander the Great. The museum staff, working with foreign experts, have worked to restore the damage and the result is a fascinating collection in which Greek, Persian, Russian, Indian and Chinese influences can be found. There are also incredible wooden sculptures from a culture, untouched by Islam, that vanished about 100 years ago. They are about the spookiest things I have ever seen. Another reason not to indulge in facile generalisations in my work on the Philosophy of Art.

Off tomorrow. As it is my last night, and being Thursday, the party night, I am heading down town.

About the author

Derek Matravers is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at The Open University. Before that, he was a Research Fellow at Darwin College Cambridge. He is the author of Art and Emotion and numerous articles on aesthetics and ethics.

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