BBC - Coast Series 8 (2013)

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BBC - Coast Series 8 (2013)

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Coast, continues to explore the edge of our lives, the coastline that marries us to the sea. Through a history of assault from Nazi Germany, freshwater voles and the infamous Guernsey Privateers; the workers’ coast of shipbuilders, fishermen and seaside entertainers; the joys of sunbathing and the history of Thomas Cook; the magnificent estuaries of the Firth of Forth, the Severn and the Thames; this is the history of Britain as told from cliff to sea. Nick Crane is joined by a team of expert presenters including Neil Oliver, Miranda Krestovnikoff, Mark Horton, Tessa Dunlop, Andy Torbet, Ian McMillan, Ruth Goodman, Nick Hewitt and newcomers Sarah Beynon and Cassie Newland as they explore the riches to be found along our Coast.

Part 1: Invaders of the Isles
Nick Crane explores how the remarkable history of Guernsey reveals both the risks and rewards of invasion. What will Nick discover as he opens up a German bunker that has been sealed since the end of the war? Nick also hears very different stories of the occupation from two survivors; a girl evacuated to England who became a pen-pal of Eleanor Roosevelt, and a boy left on Guernsey who played dangerous pranks on the invading German army. Nick also revisits the Napoleonic wars and learns how the islanders turned threat of invasion into a money-making opportunity - the Guernsey privateers. Tessa Dunlop visits Norfolk to relive the forgotten Zeppelin blitz on Britain during the First World War, which began at Great Yarmouth in January 1915 when the first Britons were killed in an air raid. Ruth Goodman joins the friendly invasion of the Isle of Man by thousands of bikers for the annual TT races. How did this small island become home to the most dangerous road race on earth? On a tiny rocky outcrop in seas off western Scotland, Andy Torbet encounters remarkable animal invaders - water voles who are usually confined to mainland Britain

Part 2: The Workers Coast
In the second episode of the new series, Coast is on a journey to celebrate the surprising stories of the workers from around our shores.. Nick Crane tells the chilling tale of an abandoned refrigeration plant whose workers kept Britain's biggest fishing fleet afloat. How did their ingenious production line create the tons of ice needed each day to keep the fish from Grimsby's trawlers fresh for the nation's plates? The extraordinary Grimsby Ice Factory, dating from 1901, was one of the few sites in the country that could freeze water on a truly industrial scale. The Ice Factory closed its doors for the last time in 1990, but the last man to work there returns to bring the whole process back to life. Neil Oliver relives a remarkable tale: when thousands of shipyard workers on the river Clyde fought job losses, not by walking out on strike, but by 'working-in'. In 1971 the famous Clydeside work-in was a revolutionary new tactic; the struggle to keep on working whatever the bosses said attracted world-wide financial support, including red roses and cash from John Lennon and Yoko Ono. It is credited with saving shipbuilding on the upper Clyde, but is the legend of the work-in all that it seems? For the first time, the man the government put in charge of the yards tells the story from his perspective, a version of events which re-writes the accepted history, Tessa Dunlop reveals the astonishing, untold story of the secret of the Royal Navy's sea power, some 200 years ago. In Nelson's navy the British guns were more accurate than our enemies',

Part 3: Joy of the Coast
Nick Crane heads to his beloved Western Isles in Scotland to attempt a daunting, long-coveted, mountaineering challenge on the Isle of Skye. For years, Nick has dreamed of climbing the fearsome Cioch. This singular and impressive spear of rock, the scene for a spectacular sword fight in the film Highlander, was only conquered for the first time in 1906. The men who originally attempted the hazardous route to its summit were an unlikely pair - John Mackenzie, a Scottish mountain guide, and Norman Collie, an English professor of chemistry - but their joint endeavour would bind them into a 30 year friendship. Nick uses Victorian mountaineering gear as he attempts to follow in the footsteps of Mackenzie and Collie and climb the Cioch for himself. Along the way he learns something of the triumph and tragedy of their lives, but Nick's reward at the climax of the hazardous ascent comes with the discovery of a new favourite view, an incredible seascape framed by Britain's most glorious coastal peaks.

Part 4: Rivers and Seas Collide
The new series of Coast continues with a journey around the great estuaries of Britain where 20 million people live, and a dazzling variety of animals thrive. The team visit the most dynamic and dramatic of our waterways to discover surprising stories that emerge where rivers and seas collide. Nick Crane explores the wealth of wildlife and industry that are attracted to the Firth of Forth, the mighty estuary that feeds Edinburgh. To reveal the secrets that made this coastline famous for salt production Nick must answer a deceptively tricky question that intrigues children and baffles adults: Why is the sea salty? Nick also investigates a remarkable natural phenomenon discovered accidentally on this coast in 1834. First seen in the water of a canal near Edinburgh and dubbed the 'Soliton', it's a rare type of wave that appears to travel endlessly, without losing energy and without breaking up, even when it collides with another Soliton wave. Now engineers have created tiny Soliton light waves, which could revolutionise the next generation of fibre-optic communication by transmitting messages effortlessly between continents.

Part 5: The Secret Life of Sea Cliffs
Nick Crane explores some of the most spectacular and scary sea cliffs in Britain. He embarks on an elevated journey to take in the high spots of the Yorkshire coastline. Nick is granted unique access to join secretive sea fishermen who have constructed a remarkable ropeway to make the perilous descent to fishing grounds at the foot of sheer sea cliffs. Why do these plucky Yorkshiremen go to such lengths to seek out this remote shoreline haven for anglers? Nick also explores the ingenious water-powered mechanism that operates the Victorian cliff lift at Saltburn-by-the-Sea. How did this innovative railway, running down sheer slopes to the sands, save the newly-founded resort from ruin? On the magnificent sea cliffs that surround Ramsey Island, biologist Sarah Beynon hunts for the superheroes of the insect world who do the island's dirty work, the dung beetles. Sarah knows these fascinating and beautiful creatures are critical to the success of the island's most famous wildlife residents, the choughs. These rare birds feed off the surprisingly numerous dung beetles. Sarah's researching why the beetles thrive on Ramsey's cliffs and how they help create a precious eco-system that is highly unusual in Britain.

Part 6: All at Sea
The Coast team are all at sea, as they head offshore to explore surprising stories of love and death, cannibalism and communist submarines, seasickness and a seafaring prince. Nick Crane attempts one of the world's most fearsome yachting challenges, the Isle of Wight 'Round the Island Race'. Novice sailor Nick is plunged in at the deep end of the competition and his boat suffers near capsize in a gruelling test of his seamanship. Will Nick even manage to finish, as 1,500 boats battle to avoid wrecks, reefs and rip tides? To complete his circumnavigation of the Isle, Nick must learn how a sailing boat can achieve the seemingly impossible and make progress against the oncoming wind. Naval historian Nick Hewitt searches out the remarkable remains of the submarines that threatened to sink Britain by strangling its sea trade. Why does a First World War German U-boat, its hull astonishingly intact, lie hidden in the mud of the Medway estuary, so close to London? And what is the story behind the Soviet sub which Nick discovers nearby? Its hull reveals what life was like for Russian submariners, preparing for the day when Britain's Cold War would turn hot.

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BBC - Coast Series 8 (2013)

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BBC - Coast Series 8 (2013)

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BBC - Coast Series 8 (2013)

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