Safe from harm
The sea has spared us from invasion for a thousand years, but everywhere is evidence of awareness that you can't take the sea's protection for granted. The coast has been altered in the line of defence.
Piers and other delights
Neil joins the crew of the trident submarine HMS Vanguard as they embark upon a series of gruelling sea trials; Miranda goes hunting for Minke whales; Mark and Neil recreate the rocket mail service, proposed 70 years ago as an inter-island communication service; and Nick sails the beautiful Western Isles armed only with a 500 year old guide book.
Programme 8: Northern Scotland – Cape Wrath to Orkney
Nick takes part in a NATO exercise at the Cape Wrath bombing range. Neil meets the descendents of people forcibly removed during The Highland Clearances as they march to the coast in memory of their ancestors, and meets the survivors of the worst loss of British Naval life in British Waters in Scapa Flow. Alice investigates claims of pollution coming from the Dounreay fastbreeder reactor.
Programme 9: Eastern Scotland - John O'Groats to Berwick Upon Tweed
Miranda heads to the Moray Firth, home to bottle-nosed dolphins facing the threat of too many tourist boats. Nick Crane investigates how the oil industry has affected life on the North Sea Coast and how new technology is enabling us to extract oil from hitherto untapped sources. He also looks at the audacious feat of engineering behind the Bell Rock lighthouse. Neil meets three generations of a fishing family in Fraserburgh who face a bleak future due to falling fish stocks.
Programme 10: North East England - Berwick on Tweed to Robin Hoods Bay
Nick explores the holy island of Lindisfarne, the cradle of Christianity and the home of the priceless Lindisfarne gospels. Alice heads to Howick to help rebuild Britain's first house on the exact site of the 10,000 year old original. Neil examines the tensions in the South Shields of the 1930's that lead to the UK's first race riots and Nick investigates how shipbuilders on this coast have had to turn their hand to dismantling ships to keep their industry alive. Meanwhile Miranda gets up close and personal with grey seals, our first protected species.
Programme 11: Eastern England - Robin Hoods Bay to The Wash
Nick retraces the steps of 18th century smugglers in Robin Hoods Bay. Neil goes to the first Butlins Holiday camp, built in Skegness in 1936, to see why it continues to be such a successful formula. With the decline in fish stocks in British waters, the fishing port of Grimsby now makes a large part of its income from fish-processing and has become 'home of the fish finger'. Alice indulges in a touch of alchemy to recreate precious alum crystals on the 15th century site of the UK's first chemical industry.
Programme 12: South East England - Wash to Dover
Nick investigates the freak floods of 1953 which inundated 24,000 homes and killed 307 people. Alice finds evidence of early human migration across an inter-ice age landbridge to the continent. Nick meets Peter Boggis, a modern King Canute, as he fights to hold back the sea and save his home from erosion. And Neil celebrates Trafalgar 200 and unearths a little-known eye-witness account of the battle. At the end of this programme, Nick finds himself back on the white cliffs where he began, 12 episodes ago.
Programme 13: Coast - the Summary
The final programme of the Coast series takes a more detailed look at some of the issues that have been highlighted in the earlier episodes and addresses how these issues will impact on our future. Sea level rise and erosion; the health of our seas and the wildlife around our shores; power generation - do you want a windfarm in your back yard or should we opt for nuclear generation? Each of the five presenters travels to a part of the Coast to further explore the themes and issues close to their hearts. The team looks at how the British people are engaging with the future of their coastline, and the implications for tomorrow of decisions being made now.
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