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Britain was once
a difficult country to cross -

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roads were few and paths obscure.

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And yet, our ancestors travelled -

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for work and for pleasure,

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for faith and for fortune.

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But the routes that they followed
are lost.

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I'm going to rediscover them
and the people who took them,

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what they saw
and why they travelled,

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who they met and where they went.

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I'm following the forgotten routes
that made this country great.

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100 years ago,
there were 300,000 horses

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living and working
in central London.

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All those horses pulled or carried
everything that London needed

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to keep going.

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In fact, all those horses
produced over a million tonnes

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of dung a year.

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They were the engines
of the capital.

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But how were those engines fuelled?

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I'm going to find out.

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And I'm going to do this by
following the amazing journey that

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massive amounts of hay and straw
took through the Thames Estuary.

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I'm off to the secret waters
of the Essex coast -

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to marshes, to creeks

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and to lonely farms.

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These were the haunts of the sailing
barge men who carried

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all the heavy goods
that the capital needed.

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What are they taking?
Swedes, carrots, beets...

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Straw, barley...

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'And bricks!' Pah!

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I want to find out
what these in-shore sailors
left in their wake...

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..how they shaped our
grand maritime traditions,

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how they moulded our defences...
Three, two, one...

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Blast!

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..and I want to experience
their way of life as they worked

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these shallow waters.

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'I'm ready for stirring stuff...'

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I'm getting emotional.
Emotional feeling.

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'..on a journey into the heart
of Britain's capital.'

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This is Landmere Quay
in the Walton backwaters.

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It's an obscure but very,

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very beautiful corner
of north east Essex.

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I'm hoping to take what
is a sort of lost motorway

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into London,

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going on Dawn -

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a sprit-sail barge -
which used to come here often

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to pick up goods and carry them
into the great metropolis.

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And here she comes - Dawn.
She's a stackie.

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She was built in 1897

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specifically to transport huge
haystacks from East Anglian farms.

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In 1900, when we're imagining
our trip, there were over 2,000

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Thames sailing barges
loading at little quays like this.

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Very difficult to imagine these
soggy creeks, miles from anywhere,

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were ever part of a massive
commercial network, but they were.

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We've got a bit of a problem here,

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because we've really got to move
as quickly as we can - here comes

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the dinghy -
because unfortunately,

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we get about ten minutes

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before the water all runs out
into the North Sea.

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Today, Dawn is run
by a very small crew, who,

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like their predecessors, understand
the rules of these shallow waters.

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Can I throw you that? Sure.

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Up you come. I'm Griff. I'm Gerald,
how do you do? Nice to meet you.

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Let's go and meet Gerard. Gerard?
Gerald and Gerard.

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Welcome aboard, Chris. Welcome
aboard Dawn. Nice to be here. Good.

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We really must get going, so do you
want to go and set the topsail,

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cos we're running out of water.

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Anything I can do? Yes, go and give
Gerald a hand. Gerald, I'm coming!

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Righto!

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'Following skipper Gerard's
swift orders,

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'we get the boat under sail,
just as we would have done in 1900,

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'so that we can follow the narrow
creek out towards the sea.'

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So this is a topsail.

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You can set this
without the mainsail.

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'It will catch the wind
blowing above the dykes.'

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And how much goods could you carry?
About 120 tonnes, this one. Right.

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80-foot long, 120... And how many
people looked after it? Two.

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Two? So we're overmanned?
Exactly, yes.

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Overburdened!

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So we're going to set the foresail.
A man and a boy, as they say.

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A few small sails are enough

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to pull Dawn out past
the half-submerged islands

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of the Walton backwaters.

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And I have time to explore
the accommodation.

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This is the cabin.

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You've got a rather capacious double
bunk sort of hidden away over there.

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It's actually quite a lot of space.

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A cabin boy like me would come
aboard with what was known as

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a shirt bag, which had...
Well, a shirt in it,

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which was probably all they needed -
one change of shirt,

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then a few things to eat -
a bit of bacon and some cheese...

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And some bread and just a few tins,
and the tins were there

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because from time to time,
the barge would get wind-bound.

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She couldn't leave.

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If the wind was blowing
in the wrong direction,

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she was completely stuck,
because these boats had no engines.

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They were entirely dependent
on the weather and the tides.

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'As we reached the deeper inlet
of Hamford Water,

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'we can put up the mainsail.

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'Or rather, pull it down.

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'What makes a sprit-sail barge
like Dawn so versatile

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'is in fact her sprit -
it's that big pole,

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'sticking up diagonally
from the foot of the mast.

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'The sail hangs from it
like a giant Roman blind -

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'some 3,000 feet of red cloth
is dropped, or furled up,

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'depending on the strength
of the wind.'

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They were white when they were made,
but they were dressed with

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a mixture of brick dust, fish oil,
red ochre - that sort of stuff.

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Kept the weather out.

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The Thames sprit-sailed barge
seems to have jumped into being

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fully formed
somewhere in the early 1800s.

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These shallow tidal creeks
needed flat-bottomed boats

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which could float in just
five foot of water

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and could ride the tide

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as it sluiced in and out
of the gaping mouth

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of Britain's greatest river -
the Thames.

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This whole estuary is made
by a colossal slew of water...

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Oh yes, sure.
Going out and coming in...

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You've got to work the tides,

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otherwise you make it darn hard work
for yourself and in the days

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when they just were sailing,
they had to be on top of their game

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and use the tides to the best
of their advantage, really.

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And now, we're using that same
falling evening tide

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to sail into overnight shelter
by Harwich.

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We'll start to make our way south
on the next rising tide tomorrow.

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We need to get ballast to allow us
to load our hay.

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After that, we'll hitch a lift
on another tide

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to take us past Southend
and upriver to Gravesend.

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There, we'll wait for our final
tidal lift up the Thames

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to the heart of London -

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just as barges did in 1900.

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We cannot rush this. The pace is
the pace of the phases of the moon.

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And that's good, because it gives me
time to consult with a farmer

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who knows a lot about the old
trading route into London.

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Facing the modern super-port
of Felixstowe

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is the coastal farm
of William Wrinch.

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We've got a view
of the biggest dock...

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Longest continuous dock
in the world. Is it? Yes.

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A mile and three quarters.
And one of the smallest continuous
docks...?!

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Well, it's not continuing much now,
is it?

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This now derelict dock was where
the sailing barges loaded

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from the Wrinchs' farm,
which was one of many

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that grew into considerable
enterprises supplying the capital.

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What fascinates me is that
they still hold the old ledgers

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and farm books.

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What's this? This is one of our
great-grandfather's ledgers.

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My great-grandfather
had been farming 400 acres

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and by the time he died,
he was farming 3,500 acres.

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3,500 acres?

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During the First World War, yes.
And he built this series of quays.

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Feedstuffs were sent up to London.

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When the business really got going,

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he had his own wharf up at Vauxhall
in London. He had his own wharf?

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Up in London, yes. As a farmer? Yes.

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And so what are they taking?

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Well, swedes, carrots, beets...
Straw, barley... Oats, barley.

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Can I have a look at the
photographs, as well? Yes. Right...

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This is the Snowdrop.
And this is hay or straw.

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For either bedding
or for feeding horses. Yes.

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What we're looking at here
is what seems to my eyes

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almost totally unsafe!

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The boat is piled up to such
a degree that you wonder how

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they actually managed to sail it.

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The chap on the tiller couldn't see,

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so they had the chap on the top.
There's a bloke standing on the top.

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He has to be on the top
the whole time.

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And this is in the Port
of London, isn't it? Yeah.

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There's something absolutely
magnificent about these boats.

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That's the main quay

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and that's one of the last freights
going off to London - that was 1938.

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Is that about the last time
that this was done?

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One of the last times, yeah.

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'Clearly, this unwieldy load
will need steadying.

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'We're going to have to get some
ballast before we can put all
that hay and straw on deck.

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'And to find this,
we begin our journey south.

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'Leaving Harwich, I'm going up
the mast to set the topsail -

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'to unwrap it
from its night storage.'

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'We haul out the huge mainsail

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'and quickly, the power of these
great barges becomes apparent.'

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Ready about.

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Lee haul.

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'Empty, this boats wins races.

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'Gerald claims 12 knots -
that's 15 miles an hour -

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'a lot for 100 tonnes on water.

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'As Dawn begins to pick up speed,
we lower one of our leeboards.

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00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:47,040
'These massive wooden fins
are a distinctive feature

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'of sailing barges
and steady them in the water.'

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So if the wind is blowing
on the side of the sail,

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if you don't have something down
to stop the boat, what happens

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is the boat skids sideways...

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That's it, yes.

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00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:05,000
And you need something to
get into the water to transfer

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the power of the sail...
Into forward motion.

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00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:10,080
You can vary the depth of them,
so it depends where you are.

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00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:12,720
If you're in a shallow creek,
you can have a half-board down,

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00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:15,360
and you've only got about five foot
below the bottom.

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00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:17,800
But if you're at sea
and you want full power,

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00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:20,200
you'd get the board right down,
about ten feet.

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00:12:24,680 --> 00:12:28,120
We're charging.
We must be doing about...

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00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:34,080
..five or six knots,
I should think. Probably more.

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00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:38,080
MUSIC: Theme from
"The Onedin Line"

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These Walton cliffs

202
00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:53,800
are about the most mountainous
that Essex ever gets.

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00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:58,200
They're topped by the Naze Tower,
built in 1720.

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It's a beacon for Harwich
and a reminder of how much traffic

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00:13:02,680 --> 00:13:06,720
used to pass through
the sandbanks of this coastal road.

206
00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:13,640
And here are the seaside resorts
of Walton, Frinton and Clacton.

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00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:17,320
Playgrounds for Londoners

208
00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:21,160
once brought here by paddle steamer
to their famous piers.

209
00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:24,600
The resorts were built by boat
as well -

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00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:27,840
their bricks came by Thames barges
very like Dawn.

211
00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:31,720
Some brickies were called 42s,

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00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:35,800
because they could carry
42,000 bricks.

213
00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:39,200
They used to unload their cargo
onto horse-drawn carts,

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00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:41,760
waiting on the shallow sands.

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00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:49,440
The barges built London too and the
bricks were made not far from here.

216
00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:52,440
Peter Minter's business, near
the village of Bulmer in Suffolk

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00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:57,320
still makes them in the traditional
manner - each one by hand.

218
00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:00,680
How long have you and your company
been in these brickfields?

219
00:14:00,680 --> 00:14:03,520
We've been here since 1936,
so 75 years.

220
00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:08,280
But the brickfields were here
long before that, were they?
Yeah, 1450 being the earliest.

221
00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:11,640
Before that, the Romans discovered
the quality of London clay

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00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:13,360
Yes, it's a nice, sandy clay

223
00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:16,680
and loam which allows you to make
a brick with the minimum of problems.

224
00:14:16,680 --> 00:14:19,480
When we look at these levels here,
what does that tell us?

225
00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:22,960
We're looking at the estuary
of the Thames 40 million years ago.

226
00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:25,400
The basic clay was the deposits
in the Thames estuary

227
00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:28,360
and as it dried out,
volcanic material was overlaid

228
00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:31,120
on top of that - that's why
it's so level.

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00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:34,080
OK, so volcanoes - we're talking
a fair time ago?

230
00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:37,320
There haven't been many active
volcanoes around here for a while.

231
00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:41,480
'Today, the 40 million-year-old
clay, dug from this pit,

232
00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:43,840
'is piled up,
sometimes for over a year,

233
00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:47,160
'before being mixed with water
and moulded into bricks.

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00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,960
'John Affendale can produce
up to 1,000 a day,

235
00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:54,600
'so he's the perfect man
to teach me how to do it.'

236
00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:58,960
Hiya. Don't make it look too easy,
cos that'll make me look bad!

237
00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:01,040
Don't worry about that!

238
00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:02,280
I'm hardly likely.

239
00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:05,560
Pah!

240
00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:08,560
Ugh!

241
00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:09,600
That's it.

242
00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:11,400
You've got a bit of hazel twig

243
00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:13,160
bent over and a bit of wire.

244
00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:15,720
So then we scrape over here...

245
00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:19,400
And...we end up with a big lump.
That's it.

246
00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:21,400
You want to put some sand
back down...

247
00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:24,840
Like that. That's it.

248
00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,040
Now put the board behind it...
Let's turn it ups...

249
00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:31,720
I'll be all right! That's it.
Now lift the frame off.

250
00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:33,320
Lift the frame off, carefully,

251
00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:35,200
because you don't want to spoil
your brick.

252
00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:36,960
I want to show you now

253
00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:39,640
just what sort of handmade brick
you'd be buying here.

254
00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:43,360
I think London would never have been
built if it'd been down to me,
because I'd still be here,

255
00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:46,400
trying to manufacture
the next batch of bricks.

256
00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:51,680
The barges that took bricks into
London often brought the capital's

257
00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:55,200
rubbish out, which was then burned
as fuel in the brick furnaces.

258
00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:00,800
It was all efficient recycling.

259
00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:13,000
The bricks that built London
were trundled down the hill,

260
00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:16,360
put into barges and then pulled
by horses about 20 miles

261
00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:20,640
to the mouth of the estuary, where
they were loaded into sailing barges

262
00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:26,200
and extraordinarily, they remained
competitive - that route remained

263
00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:30,760
competitive - for 100 years
after the railways were invented.

264
00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:37,160
I can't do it now, because it's
no longer navigable for barges.

265
00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:46,520
We can't use bricks as ballast,
so what can we use?

266
00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:49,840
Sometimes barges would bulk-load
vegetables or root crops

267
00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:53,000
like swedes to give them
their stability.

268
00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:57,480
But Essex is a source of another
weighty commodity.

269
00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:00,720
We're heading into the River
Colne, up towards Colchester,

270
00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:04,800
to the village of Fingringhoe,
to get hold of some of that.

271
00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:08,680
Fingringhoe is a traditional barge
stop, isn't it? Very much so, yes.

272
00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:11,080
They've been taking sand
out of here for...

273
00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:14,000
For all living memory, really,
to London, for the building trade.

274
00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:16,200
Good sand,
I think it is. Essex sand.

275
00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:18,600
It's nice to know that Essex
produces something

276
00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:20,600
which is valued across the world.

277
00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:30,160
'We're taking on 25 tonnes
of best Essex sand.'

278
00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:34,160
On top? Yeah.

279
00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:44,680
'This may feel like hard work,

280
00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:47,640
'but it's nothing compared to
the way it used to be done.

281
00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:51,120
'Skippers would beach their barge
on a bank at low tide

282
00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:54,480
'and they and their cabin boy
would shovel 100 tonnes of sand

283
00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:58,400
'or shingle directly into the hold
by hand.'

284
00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:00,440
BLEEP! Here comes more.

285
00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,280
I hope you notice we're doing it
with 19th-century

286
00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:05,720
health and safety standards.

287
00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:09,880
Which is... "Look the BLEEP out!"

288
00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:24,560
Our ballast safely loaded,
we slowly sail further south,

289
00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:28,480
closer to our awaiting hay
and straw.

290
00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:33,440
We're used to speed, but these
trips that today would just

291
00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:37,360
take hours by lorry,
could take days,

292
00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:41,880
even a week. It was something
our grandfathers took for granted.

293
00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:45,120
It's said that a barge once took
30 days in high summer

294
00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:47,560
to travel 20 miles.

295
00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:54,280
This is the Hay And Straw Measurer
And Ready Reckoner from 1870 -

296
00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:55,920
tells you how to make a haystack.

297
00:18:55,920 --> 00:19:00,920
Shows the solid feet or cubicle
content of stacks of a square

298
00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:04,000
or oblong form, measuring from one
to 50 feet in length,

299
00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:06,360
from 11 to 25 feet in breadth

300
00:19:06,360 --> 00:19:09,920
and three inches to 18 feet...!

301
00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:12,720
Not much of a haystack, is it?!

302
00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:14,760
Three inches high.

303
00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:16,200
There we are.

304
00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:20,120
Pretty much covers everything,
doesn't it?

305
00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:23,120
And tomorrow...

306
00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:25,720
we intend to make a haystack.

307
00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:35,680
To reach our haystack, we must pass
by the south of Mersea Island

308
00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:38,840
and sail into the River Blackwater.

309
00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:44,040
We're just coming into West Mersea

310
00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:47,080
and this is where my father
had a boat when I was a boy.

311
00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:49,520
Not been here for years.

312
00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:56,240
When my father wasn't steering
the boat,

313
00:19:56,240 --> 00:20:00,680
he was behind his Super 8 camera,
and I was allowed to do it.

314
00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:24,880
The yellow jumper has thankfully
passed into oblivion,

315
00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,520
but the place still looks
much the same.

316
00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:34,040
It's great deal of mixed emotions
about coming in here.

317
00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:37,160
It's absolutely typical that the day
should become like this -

318
00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:39,920
a sort of watery sun,

319
00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:43,360
a putty-coloured sea,
full of sort of yellow mud...

320
00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:47,680
Just the same as when I was a boy.

321
00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:49,400
HE INHALES

322
00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:51,240
Smells like home, as well.

323
00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:58,400
Leaving the Blackwater,
we head up Salcott Creek.

324
00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:00,200
Our next challenge
is to navigate Dawn

325
00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:03,560
up this dangerously shallow channel.

326
00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:05,880
The mud beneath the waters
is not always safe.

327
00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,960
If our barge sits in it at low tide,

328
00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:12,960
the flat bottom could be sucked down
as the water rises.

329
00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:15,680
We need to be here -
at the top of the tide.

330
00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:20,000
Just about enough room to get
between the moored boats

331
00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:25,360
and the withies over here -
these poles - which mark the edge
of the channel.

332
00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:41,240
Here we are, in the middle
of nothing, there's a little jetty.

333
00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:43,040
That's our destination.

334
00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:49,640
'The tiny jetty belongs to Abbotts
Hall Farm at Great Wigborough.

335
00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:53,640
'It's one of the few farms left
in Essex with a working jetty,

336
00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:55,440
'which has been recently restored.'

337
00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:02,200
OK, drop ahead,
then get the sheet down, guys.

338
00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:04,600
'We're coming in at quite a speed,

339
00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:09,880
'a few hours before high tide in
what is still very shallow water.'

340
00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:13,160
Use the leeboards to slow her up,
Griff. We'll drop them in the mud.

341
00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:16,080
She's got the wind up her pants,
so she's got a bit of weight on...

342
00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:19,400
So you need to slow her down.
That one down a bit more, Gerald.

343
00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:22,920
She's slowing up nicely. Yeah.

344
00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:25,720
Coming alongside.

345
00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:27,160
'She's grounded on the mud.

346
00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:30,120
'Now we need to pull ourselves
alongside the jetty.' Lovely.

347
00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:33,120
We get the boat round,
we can get a rope ashore.

348
00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:37,720
'Waiting for me is David Smart,
who runs the farm,

349
00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:40,000
'and has got a load of hay
and straw ready for us...

350
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:42,560
'somewhere.'

351
00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:45,200
David, hello. Welcome, Griff.

352
00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:48,240
Welcome to Essex Wildlife Trust and
Abbotts Hall Farm. Good to see you.

353
00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:50,120
Perhaps we should go and have a look

354
00:22:50,120 --> 00:22:53,160
and see what we're going to load up,
shall we? Yeah.

355
00:22:56,200 --> 00:23:00,320
Hey, look at this - fantastic!
Horses.

356
00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:02,920
What sort of horses
are we looking at here?

357
00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:05,520
We've got Suffolk Punches here,
which is the traditional

358
00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:07,160
East Anglian heavy horse.

359
00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:11,480
We've got 30 bales of straw on here,

360
00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:15,960
sitting quite nicely on top of this
old 1920s harvest wagon.

361
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:19,960
Yeah. Which traditionally have been
used to transport hay and straw.

362
00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:25,480
A working farm in about 1900
would have had a number of wagons.

363
00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:28,440
A number of wagons and of course
a number of people,

364
00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,840
probably 20 or 30 people
working on the farm as labourers.

365
00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:36,640
They'd have needed those, the muscle
power to put that stuff on the boat.

366
00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,640
Have we got any muscle power today?
We got a bit lined up! Have we?

367
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:52,480
I love it - the straw, just wafting
in the breeze around us...

368
00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:55,360
'This will be the first time
almost in living memory

369
00:23:55,360 --> 00:23:58,360
'that straw and hey have been loaded
from this quay

370
00:23:58,360 --> 00:24:00,840
'onto a barge bound for London.'

371
00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:03,360
Whoops!

372
00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:09,120
'They've certainly done us proud,
and we'll need all the help

373
00:24:09,120 --> 00:24:14,400
'we can get at we have just over
1,000 bales to load
before the tide drops.

374
00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:18,880
'To speed things up, we turn to
horsepower of a different kind.

375
00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,720
'But even with all this assistance
and modern machinery,

376
00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:26,640
'we're not going to get the full
load on board in just one day.'

377
00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:29,800
The tide has already gone down
about a foot,

378
00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:32,280
so we're running out of time
already.

379
00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:36,720
We've got...less than an hour
to get as much as we can aboard.

380
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:42,040
'We have to work quickly,
but also very carefully -

381
00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:46,920
'an incorrectly-built stack could
topple over once we're at sea.

382
00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:50,360
'Stackies did lose their loads
fairly often.

383
00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:53,040
'But Dawn, exceptionally,
never did -

384
00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:55,240
'so we don't want to spoil
her record!'

385
00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:57,240
You've never stacked a barge before,
have you?

386
00:24:57,240 --> 00:24:59,360
No, but a haystack is the same.

387
00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:01,360
So it's the same principle?

388
00:25:01,360 --> 00:25:04,840
You're stacking bales. You're
assuming it is, anyway? Well, yes.

389
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:06,360
Yes!

390
00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:14,960
How long have you got now before
the tide goes out? Ten minutes.

391
00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:18,760
Ten minutes? So we're racing
against time now? Yes.

392
00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:23,680
Chop chop, boys.

393
00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:27,720
'Just as we think we've made it,
the wind catches Dawn's bow

394
00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:30,560
'and she wedges against the mud.

395
00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:32,360
That's it, that's it!

396
00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:36,080
'If we don't get her back
into deep water,

397
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:40,520
'she could be left high and dry
by the rapidly falling tide.

398
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:43,400
'And with her two ends
straddling an empty channel,

399
00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:47,000
'the hull would fall into
the gap and break her back.

400
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:49,240
'This is a real emergency.

401
00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:51,880
'We need that rope ashore.'

402
00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:53,920
Pull, pull! Pull, pull!

403
00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:55,760
Go on, pull!

404
00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:59,240
That's it! Tug-of-war. There we go,
that's it. Good, good, good.

405
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:02,040
Keep pulling.

406
00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:12,160
'We get her nose off the mud

407
00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:16,640
'and even the paintwork
escapes unblemished.'

408
00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:18,360
CHEERING

409
00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:28,960
With half our load on board,

410
00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:32,280
we retreat and wait
for the water to come back.

411
00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:35,600
Later that evening,

412
00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:40,440
Gerard tells me the story
of how his father saved Dawn.

413
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:43,800
He just got a bit romantic
and decided he wanted a sailing barge

414
00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:48,000
and bought it knowing nothing about
it and learned the hard way, really.

415
00:26:49,360 --> 00:26:51,480
I was about five then, I think.

416
00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:53,680
I can't hardly remember a time
without Dawn.

417
00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:57,280
Dawn has always been in it,
in some shape or form.

418
00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:01,600
Eventually, I became skipper and
went and skippered other barges,

419
00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:03,760
but kept coming back to Dawn, really.

420
00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:08,080
And here I still am! And Dawn then
went for a massive restoration?

421
00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:11,320
Yes, Dawn ended up in a state
of disrepair in Kent.

422
00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:14,640
Dad had sold her and retired
and the people who owned her decided

423
00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:16,800
they were going to break up.

424
00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:19,960
Father decided he wasn't going to
let her die, basically.

425
00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:23,480
Eventually, he formed a trust with
the help of a lot of other people

426
00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:26,520
and 20 years later, here she is.

427
00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:29,160
Secured her future really, now.

428
00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:40,040
Dawn may be safe, but what about her
world, of marsh and shallow creek?

429
00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:46,240
I want to explore this area and
have time the following morning.

430
00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:49,040
The water's edge
of Abbotts Hall Farm

431
00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:52,760
is the scene of a continuing battle
between land and sea.

432
00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:56,400
In the past, coastal farmers
built dykes to make fields

433
00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:58,840
out of the mudflats.

434
00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:02,120
Some of them may date back
thousands of years,

435
00:28:02,120 --> 00:28:06,040
but now rising sea levels
are threatening to overwhelm them.

436
00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:08,720
It's a huge job to rebuild,

437
00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:12,680
so they've decided here
on extraordinary measures.

438
00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:17,840
Now over here,
we have what are known as saltings -

439
00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:22,320
they're natural saltings created
as it were by nature - half land,

440
00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:26,480
half water, every day,
they're inundated by the sea

441
00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:29,120
and so they're salty
and they're saltings.

442
00:28:29,120 --> 00:28:33,520
But over here,
are some that were made recently.

443
00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:41,920
Here, at Abbotts Hall Farm,
they have cut holes in the dykes

444
00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,680
and deliberately flooded the land

445
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:47,760
and these breaches fulfil
an environmental need.

446
00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:53,200
Rising sea levels have meant that
80% of the East Coast mudflats

447
00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:56,920
on the creek side of the wall
has vanished over the last century.

448
00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:00,880
Since these are vital
wildlife habitats,

449
00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,960
this farm has controversially
re-flooded land

450
00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:08,760
to make more saltings for
the benefit of the wildfowl.

451
00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:12,200
This is their preferred habitat,
obviously.

452
00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:16,320
I mean, if you've got short bird
legs, then you need somewhere

453
00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:22,120
to wade, but the point about the
saltings is it allows them to nest

454
00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:26,040
and keep away from humankind

455
00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,760
in a sort of marshy, muddy paradise.

456
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:33,120
Shelduck I can see,
over there - beautiful.

457
00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:36,560
But it's not just the birds.
Fish like to, um...

458
00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:41,000
They like to breed there.

459
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:43,440
Seabass in particular.

460
00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:47,160
So we all like a seabass - we need
to provide places for them to breed.

461
00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:50,840
It's great for a wading bird,
but not so great

462
00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:54,640
if you're an arable farmer whose
income is reliant on that land.

463
00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:59,560
Now, the question is,
as the sea levels rise,

464
00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:04,960
do we spend a fortune repairing
these ancient buttresses?

465
00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:07,840
Do we take up the Dutch option?

466
00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:11,480
Or do we let the water come in?

467
00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:15,400
It's quite an issue
here on the east coast.

468
00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:22,400
Well, that tide is coming in now and
it's time to continue our loading.

469
00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:27,160
Rather wonderfully, Gerard's
parents, Gordon and Madeline Swift,

470
00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:31,080
have come to witness their old
friend Dawn returning to work.

471
00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:36,280
Took a long while getting it, you
know, from the wreck it had become

472
00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:41,560
to, you know... It was hard
going, wasn't it at times?

473
00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:44,000
It was a little bit. A bit worrying.

474
00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:46,120
And what about this now,
getting the hay aboard?

475
00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:48,680
Well, this is absolutely marvellous,
you know.

476
00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:53,600
I want to really see her under full
sail, you know, going to London.

477
00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:56,400
Such a thrill to be able to see
it again, you know.

478
00:30:56,400 --> 00:30:58,200
It was what she was built for,
wasn't it?

479
00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:11,040
Bye-bye!

480
00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:14,960
Bye! Bye!

481
00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:22,680
Our stack is neatly made.

482
00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:24,840
We're a floating piece
of bygone agriculture.

483
00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:29,920
We're now carrying 1,004 bales
of hay and straw.

484
00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:32,920
You all fine your end? You got the
withies on the port side?

485
00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:37,400
Gerard and his crew have
never sailed this vessel
fully laden like this.

486
00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:39,920
They can't see a thing.

487
00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:41,840
Bit more to port.

488
00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:43,520
'Bit more to port?'
Yeah, that's right.

489
00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:47,040
And it does look as if there
are rather more expensive-looking

490
00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:49,680
leisure boats in Salcott Creek
than I imagine there were

491
00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:51,840
the last time
a stackie sailed down it.

492
00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:55,480
Look how close we're coming
to these boats here.

493
00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:58,120
She's not very, very easy to steer.

494
00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:01,320
This stack creates windage

495
00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:05,040
and tends to blow around

496
00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:07,280
and so holding her steady
is quite a feat.

497
00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:11,120
But further up there,
I can't help noticing,
there are even more yachts.

498
00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:37,360
Finally, we drop anchor
and I head off for a drink

499
00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:39,760
in the small village of Rowhedge
back on the River Colne.

500
00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:47,600
Rowhedge is a community that likes
to boast of its past associations

501
00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:50,560
with smuggling and even piracy,

502
00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:54,640
but what astonishes me is that I
can sit and drink with Jim Lawrence,

503
00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:58,760
who once worked on a barge
that traded by sail alone.

504
00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:01,120
How old were you when you started
on the barge? I was 15.

505
00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:03,920
I'd just left school and
the terms of the contract was

506
00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:06,000
£1 pound a week me grub.

507
00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:09,840
I didn't get much grub and I hardly
ever got the pound. When was this?

508
00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:11,240
1948.

509
00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:13,320
But was it already at that stage,

510
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,520
just after the Second World War,
beginning to decline a bit?

511
00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:18,400
Yup, very much so.

512
00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:22,600
I was ever so much advised by my
parents, who didn't like the idea,

513
00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:25,080
school tried to talk me out of it -

514
00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:27,720
that made me all the more
determined that I should go,

515
00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:32,600
because I wanted to go while I could
and do something under sail.

516
00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:34,080
Why did sail get you going?

517
00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:36,280
I don't know why that was
so attractive to me,

518
00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:38,480
because my old skipper used to say,

519
00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:42,080
"Don't you mind them old motor
barges, boy, they don't last.

520
00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:43,480
"They're all against nature."

521
00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:47,440
I said... What, the motor barge was,
gradually people would realise,
too expensive?

522
00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:48,800
Wouldn't work! Too fiddly?

523
00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:50,200
Yeah. Bound to go wrong,

524
00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:53,280
but a sailing barge would always get
you there in the end. That's right.

525
00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:56,560
We're going to sing some songs.

526
00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:00,440
I used to go around with a couple
of old boys from Faversham way,

527
00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:04,440
and they used to sing, "A is for the
anchor that hangs from the bow."

528
00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:07,000
That was a song.
The Bargeman's Alphabet. Is it? Yeah.

529
00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:24,240
I thought I'd sing you a song,
sir, before I...

530
00:34:24,240 --> 00:34:25,400
CHEERING

531
00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:27,120
Do you know The Bargeman's Alphabet?

532
00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:29,600
CHEERING

533
00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:33,720
I've been through...
Sing it to us, Griff! Thank you!

534
00:34:33,720 --> 00:34:37,760
# A for the anchor
that hangs from the bow

535
00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:42,880
# B is for the bowsprit
that we lower down

536
00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:48,520
# C is for the cat's head
where the anchor is stowed

537
00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:53,040
# D is for the davits
where our boat is holed

538
00:34:53,040 --> 00:35:00,040
# So merrily, so merrily,
so merrily are we

539
00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:05,040
# There's none so blithe
as a bargeman at sea

540
00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:09,720
# Sing high, sing low
As we sail along

541
00:35:09,720 --> 00:35:15,320
# Give an old barge a breeze
and we'll never sail wrong. #

542
00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:17,800
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

543
00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:20,200
Yes!

544
00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:26,480
Encore! Was that what you were
expecting, sir? Er, no.

545
00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:27,880
OK, all right.

546
00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:38,760
It's our fifth day under sail
and ahead of us,

547
00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:42,200
we have one of our greatest
challenges yet.

548
00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:52,560
Well, the next bit of this journey

549
00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:55,400
is going to take us out...

550
00:35:56,800 --> 00:36:00,000
..beyond Bradwell

551
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:03,000
and through the Maplin Sands.

552
00:36:04,720 --> 00:36:09,840
'These perilous flats stretch
some 20 miles out to sea.

553
00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:14,080
'Heavily-laden coastal traffic would
have two sail through tiny channels

554
00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:17,840
'and if the weather deteriorated,
barges faced the danger

555
00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:22,040
'of huge waves building up
in these dangerous shallows.'

556
00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:25,000
They weren't designed to be
seagoing boats, were they?

557
00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:27,440
They were coastal trading boats.

558
00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:29,200
They went low in the water,
didn't they?

559
00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:31,960
Yeah, I mean now, she's loaded
to her marks, about 120 tonnes,

560
00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:34,400
so the water would be aboard
and if it was really rough,

561
00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:36,840
the seas would, you know,
potentially wash...

562
00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:39,440
Straight over the top?
Straight over the top, yeah.

563
00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:46,400
And if a barge did
take on water in bad weather,

564
00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:48,320
it could find itself
running aground.

565
00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:56,120
These yellow marks on our chart...
Drying sand, yeah.

566
00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:59,800
They literally show above water
as land when the tide goes out?

567
00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:03,440
Yep, treacherous really. The worst
thing for a boat was to go aground.

568
00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:06,160
Absolutely. Waves come up...
..swamped them.

569
00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:07,720
They used to scour out a hole

570
00:37:07,720 --> 00:37:10,160
and the ship would sort of get
sucked into the sand

571
00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:13,360
and then get overwhelmed and that was
it, it was curtains, they were gone.

572
00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:23,840
So, many boats foundered in these
difficult approaches to the Thames

573
00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:27,920
that nearby Southend became one
of the earliest outposts

574
00:37:27,920 --> 00:37:29,800
for the Lifeboat Service.

575
00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:35,920
In 1879, the resort's famously
long pier was adapted

576
00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:38,960
so that lifeboats could be
lowered quickly.

577
00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:48,640
Today, the rescue team have a
rather different way of tackling

578
00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:50,520
the shallow water and mud.

579
00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:56,840
Southend is famous for having the
longest pleasure pier in the world.

580
00:37:56,840 --> 00:37:58,840
This one, one and a third miles.

581
00:37:58,840 --> 00:38:00,920
The reason for that is because

582
00:38:00,920 --> 00:38:05,000
it's so shallow at the mouth of the
Thames, it's so flat

583
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:09,040
and the only way to get around,
for the lifeboat anyway,

584
00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:10,640
is by hovercraft.

585
00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:24,320
They're taking me out to look at the
treacherous sands at close quarters.

586
00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:27,160
In Edwardian times,
this place was branded

587
00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:29,800
"the most perilous byway
in England."

588
00:38:52,320 --> 00:38:55,560
This is the hidden East Coast -

589
00:38:55,560 --> 00:38:58,960
hundreds of thousands of acres

590
00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:03,120
of mud and sand and gloop,

591
00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:08,160
stretching four miles off the coast
and then there are runnels,

592
00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:12,400
but then there are another miles
and miles of sand banks.

593
00:39:12,400 --> 00:39:14,040
What the hovercraft does, of course,

594
00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:16,680
is come out to rescue people
who've gone out for a walk

595
00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:19,280
or chased their dog
then got caught by the tide.

596
00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:21,560
Oh...

597
00:39:21,560 --> 00:39:24,720
Yeah, now I've been told what
to do in these circumstances

598
00:39:24,720 --> 00:39:27,520
and instinctively,
I'm doing the wrong thing.

599
00:39:27,520 --> 00:39:29,080
You mustn't lift up your feet

600
00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:31,640
because you put more pressure
on the other foot

601
00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:34,200
and the other foot
starts to sink in.

602
00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:36,920
What you have to do is get down
and lean on your side.

603
00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:41,320
That way, you simply drown instead
of being sucked into the mud!

604
00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:42,680
Hup!

605
00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:51,240
The flat sand does finally
merge into flat land

606
00:39:51,240 --> 00:39:56,080
and though very close to London,
it remains remote and inaccessible.

607
00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:02,200
A bridge to the mainland was
only built in 1922.

608
00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:05,400
Before that,
a difficult semi-submerged causeway

609
00:40:05,400 --> 00:40:10,600
across the Maplin Sands was the only
way to walk to Foulness Island.

610
00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:14,800
So it was our flat-bottomed sailing
barges creeping up the creeks

611
00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:20,160
that provided the means to pursue
its rather specialised work.

612
00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:28,200
There's a sort of eerie
magnificence to this place.

613
00:40:28,200 --> 00:40:33,800
Over there, that tower is a place
where they tested ejector seats.

614
00:40:33,800 --> 00:40:37,720
Over there, the forts that guard
the entrance to the Thames.

615
00:40:37,720 --> 00:40:44,240
Down there, that's not Southend
Pier, that's an antisubmarine boom.

616
00:40:44,240 --> 00:40:48,080
It is forbidden England.

617
00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:53,280
You still need a pass
to visit any part

618
00:40:53,280 --> 00:40:56,800
of what is the fourth largest island
off the coast of England.

619
00:40:58,800 --> 00:41:01,160
The ministry of defence
commandeered this place

620
00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:04,960
as a weapons testing site
almost a century ago.

621
00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:07,680
Thames sailing barges brought shells

622
00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:11,400
and gunpowder from the Woolwich
arsenal further up the Thames.

623
00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:15,720
After all,
sail was a safe form of propulsion

624
00:41:15,720 --> 00:41:21,000
if you happened to be carrying
huge loads of high explosives.

625
00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:25,800
Foulness became a perfect trial
ground. It still is today.

626
00:41:25,800 --> 00:41:28,320
A defence technology company

627
00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:32,440
is currently testing shells
bound for Afghanistan.

628
00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:36,160
So this is the gun we're going to
fire today, is it? Absolutely, yes.

629
00:41:36,160 --> 00:41:38,920
And you shove
the round in from this end?

630
00:41:38,920 --> 00:41:41,280
It doesn't have a sort of
magazine, these things?

631
00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:43,560
No, the round itself will be
loaded manually,

632
00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:46,280
placed in the back end
and rammed by hand

633
00:41:46,280 --> 00:41:49,400
with a wooden rammer as it's always
traditionally been done.

634
00:41:50,680 --> 00:41:54,320
So these shells that you're firing
today, they're going to explode?

635
00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:57,320
These today will explode, yeah.
Absolutely.

636
00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:01,600
Can I fire one? 'Go ahead, load.'

637
00:42:01,600 --> 00:42:03,280
'All in good time, Griff.'

638
00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:09,040
For obvious reasons, health and
safety is a bit of a priority here.

639
00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:14,560
Gun TCO, round warmer one, circuit
resistance, 150 right at the gun.

640
00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:15,800
All personnel under. 'Roger.

641
00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:17,640
'Confirm you're ready.

642
00:42:17,640 --> 00:42:19,960
'10 figure countdown. Nine...

643
00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:23,360
'Eight... Seven... Six...

644
00:42:23,360 --> 00:42:26,760
'Four... Three... Two...
One. Fire.'

645
00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:28,680
BOOM

646
00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:32,920
Like a really big bass woofer
in a hip-hop car.

647
00:42:32,920 --> 00:42:35,720
The whole "boom" like that,
the stomach sort of goes.

648
00:42:36,960 --> 00:42:42,600
The shell travels five miles across
the barren island in 20 seconds,

649
00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:45,240
before the preset fuse
detonates it in mid-air.

650
00:42:49,720 --> 00:42:51,560
And now, it's my turn.

651
00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:56,280
'Nine... Eight... Seven... Six...

652
00:42:56,280 --> 00:43:00,280
'Four... Three...
Two... One. Fire.'

653
00:43:00,280 --> 00:43:01,960
BOOM

654
00:43:01,960 --> 00:43:05,040
'Clear the gun. Who did that
one?' That would be Griff.

655
00:43:05,040 --> 00:43:07,080
'Roger. clear. Break cover.'

656
00:43:07,080 --> 00:43:12,240
Comments? That question was a little
bit pointed, I thought!

657
00:43:12,240 --> 00:43:14,320
"Who did that one?"

658
00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:18,200
Firing the gun is only half
the story.

659
00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:22,040
The trajectory of each round is
monitored in minute detail -

660
00:43:22,040 --> 00:43:24,520
especially mine, by the sound of it.

661
00:43:24,520 --> 00:43:27,320
Were you the ones who asked,
"Who shot that one then?"

662
00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:28,760
There was a little bit of a delay.

663
00:43:28,760 --> 00:43:32,240
Was there? I was just being safe,
I was told... Noticeable delay.

664
00:43:32,240 --> 00:43:34,600
..whatever I do,
I must not fire the thing

665
00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:35,880
until I hear the word "fire!"

666
00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:38,920
What a great day for it as well.

667
00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:41,720
One of the finest picture I should
think you've ever had of anybody

668
00:43:41,720 --> 00:43:44,240
firing one of those things.

669
00:43:44,240 --> 00:43:45,600
You want the sun out, yeah.

670
00:43:45,600 --> 00:43:48,480
Quite often you find yourself
adding your own sound effects.

671
00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:50,760
There's no sound on this one,
but, you know,

672
00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:53,320
you just find yourself
sitting there going "pchoo."

673
00:43:54,520 --> 00:43:56,760
Whoomp! Pchoo!

674
00:43:56,760 --> 00:43:59,000
'It's difficult to believe that

675
00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:00,920
'we're less than 45 miles
from London.

676
00:44:00,920 --> 00:44:05,880
'I could lob a shell from here into
Westminster if I felt so inclined.'

677
00:44:12,240 --> 00:44:15,360
And London is where
we continue to sail.

678
00:44:15,360 --> 00:44:19,920
Now we're at the mouth of the Thames
and the first barge in over 70 years

679
00:44:19,920 --> 00:44:22,760
to be laden with cargo
of hay and straw.

680
00:44:25,240 --> 00:44:27,480
Just making history here again,
you know.

681
00:44:27,480 --> 00:44:30,760
I always dreamt about doing it
but now we're actually doing it,

682
00:44:30,760 --> 00:44:33,320
it's just an amazing feeling,
amazing.

683
00:44:37,680 --> 00:44:41,880
Today's tides will get us
as far as Gravesend,

684
00:44:41,880 --> 00:44:44,720
before we make our final
push up the river itself.

685
00:44:46,120 --> 00:44:47,360
As cabin boy,

686
00:44:47,360 --> 00:44:50,520
I want to cook a traditional
bargeman's meal for the crew -

687
00:44:50,520 --> 00:44:54,280
a pudding, which is supposed to be
a treat. Sailors long for it.

688
00:44:54,280 --> 00:44:56,320
It was apparently also the favourite

689
00:44:56,320 --> 00:44:59,440
of Rear Admiral
Sir John Jack Aubrey,

690
00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:03,240
the fictional character in the
famous novels of Patrick O'Brien.

691
00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:08,520
This is Griff's cooking with lard,
because I'm going to make plum duff.

692
00:45:08,520 --> 00:45:13,400
The origins of plum duff can be
traced back to the mediaeval period.

693
00:45:13,400 --> 00:45:17,560
It's similar to Christmas or plum
pudding, but with rather less fruit.

694
00:45:19,240 --> 00:45:23,120
And to this, I add my melted lard.

695
00:45:23,120 --> 00:45:27,360
Plum duff was butter dream
for a lowly cabin boy.

696
00:45:27,360 --> 00:45:30,880
You often had to rely on
handouts from passing fishing boats.

697
00:45:30,880 --> 00:45:32,080
According to one old skipper,

698
00:45:32,080 --> 00:45:35,240
he got the odd bucket of whelks
if he was lucky.

699
00:45:35,240 --> 00:45:37,960
Now comes the funny bit.
Take your muslin...

700
00:45:37,960 --> 00:45:39,560
There we go.

701
00:45:40,960 --> 00:45:43,920
And then you fix it all together...

702
00:45:45,080 --> 00:45:46,320
There we go.

703
00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:50,480
Plum duff was the traditional
treat of the working man.

704
00:45:50,480 --> 00:45:52,600
So, after six hours of steaming,

705
00:45:52,600 --> 00:45:55,960
what do today's
working men think of it?

706
00:45:55,960 --> 00:45:59,280
What? I haven't said a word!

707
00:45:59,280 --> 00:46:02,760
I don't know! You're sitting here
with the expression of somebody

708
00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:05,000
about to meet their doom
on your face.

709
00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:07,240
That's about it.
Just a minute, OK...

710
00:46:07,240 --> 00:46:10,000
It's like something
out of a Hammer horror film.

711
00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:11,840
The brain... Oh, no!

712
00:46:11,840 --> 00:46:13,880
LAUGHTER

713
00:46:17,080 --> 00:46:18,880
Big slice or small slice?

714
00:46:18,880 --> 00:46:21,120
I'll try a small slice.
A small slice to start.

715
00:46:21,120 --> 00:46:23,000
It smells all right. It's good.

716
00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:26,480
Looks all right, doesn't it?
You want a bit of jam on that, boy!

717
00:46:26,480 --> 00:46:28,560
All right. You do.

718
00:46:28,560 --> 00:46:31,240
I have to tell you,
for seafarers of old,

719
00:46:31,240 --> 00:46:35,440
they sat all week
anticipating their plum duff.

720
00:46:35,440 --> 00:46:38,080
It was the only treat they had
in the entire week, the plum duff.

721
00:46:38,080 --> 00:46:40,280
The old bargemen were
always on about it.

722
00:46:40,280 --> 00:46:42,720
Were they? Yeah, they were, yeah.

723
00:46:42,720 --> 00:46:45,160
Lovely, thank you. There we are.

724
00:46:45,160 --> 00:46:46,880
You can't call yourself
a proper barge man

725
00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:49,880
until you can get on the other
side of a piece of plum duff.

726
00:46:49,880 --> 00:46:52,760
Nick, you're not game?
No thank you, Griff.

727
00:47:00,760 --> 00:47:02,840
SNIGGERING

728
00:47:04,520 --> 00:47:08,520
Well, the jam's good, isn't it?

729
00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:10,800
You haven't swallowed it yet!

730
00:47:10,800 --> 00:47:13,880
A little bit of duff goes a long
way, if you ask me. It should do!

731
00:47:13,880 --> 00:47:15,560
LAUGHTER

732
00:47:17,560 --> 00:47:19,120
It's the last day of out trip,

733
00:47:19,120 --> 00:47:22,160
but we still have to wait
till noon

734
00:47:22,160 --> 00:47:26,080
for five knots of incoming tide
to rush us up to London.

735
00:47:26,080 --> 00:47:28,960
I'm jumping ship in search
of a present,

736
00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:33,760
heading back downriver a few miles,
along the south side of the Thames,

737
00:47:33,760 --> 00:47:35,720
to Chatham dockyard.

738
00:47:35,720 --> 00:47:38,200
This river was not only
a place of barges,

739
00:47:38,200 --> 00:47:41,560
there was another part
of our maritime tradition

740
00:47:41,560 --> 00:47:45,680
that once employed thousands and
yet we seem scarcely aware of it.

741
00:47:47,160 --> 00:47:53,280
You see, I think I associate the
south coast with the Royal Navy -

742
00:47:53,280 --> 00:47:56,520
Portsmouth and Dartmouth
and Plymouth -

743
00:47:56,520 --> 00:47:59,720
but in fact,
even at the very beginning,

744
00:47:59,720 --> 00:48:04,040
it was only 14 ships that came
from Plymouth to defeat the Armada.

745
00:48:04,040 --> 00:48:06,040
The rest came from the Medway

746
00:48:06,040 --> 00:48:12,480
and the Thames Estuary is rife
with the senior service.

747
00:48:12,480 --> 00:48:17,200
Here we made the ships that defended
Britain and built its empire.

748
00:48:17,200 --> 00:48:20,360
In the 18th century,
Chatham built 125 ships

749
00:48:20,360 --> 00:48:23,480
and employed nearly 2,000 men.

750
00:48:25,080 --> 00:48:30,760
In the 1700s, this was the largest
industrial complex in the world.

751
00:48:30,760 --> 00:48:33,840
I've come here to buy a present...

752
00:48:33,840 --> 00:48:36,720
on the rope walk.

753
00:48:40,600 --> 00:48:43,040
When it was constructed in 1790,

754
00:48:43,040 --> 00:48:46,640
the ropewalk,
where lengths of rope were spun,

755
00:48:46,640 --> 00:48:49,640
was the longest brick building
in Europe.

756
00:48:49,640 --> 00:48:51,680
At a quarter of a mile long,

757
00:48:51,680 --> 00:48:55,400
it supplied grand sailing ships
and barges alike.

758
00:48:55,400 --> 00:48:59,360
And today, it's still making
rope in the traditional manner

759
00:48:59,360 --> 00:49:04,560
and at the heart of the process is
master rope maker, Fred Cordier.

760
00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:08,160
And the principle of the technology

761
00:49:08,160 --> 00:49:11,400
is simply to wind the things
together by opposing twists,

762
00:49:11,400 --> 00:49:13,880
effectively holds it all together.

763
00:49:13,880 --> 00:49:18,160
That's right, yeah. And you're
knotting onto another bobbin there.

764
00:49:18,160 --> 00:49:20,800
Does it matter that it's got
a knot in the middle of it?

765
00:49:20,800 --> 00:49:23,840
No, because it goes in the centre
of the strand, so it's gone.

766
00:49:23,840 --> 00:49:26,480
And you don't want them all to come
to an end at the same time,

767
00:49:26,480 --> 00:49:28,800
so you have different
sizes of bobbins.

768
00:49:28,800 --> 00:49:30,760
What's happening?
There's a bell going off.

769
00:49:30,760 --> 00:49:33,160
That's the warning bell telling me
they're nearly there.

770
00:49:33,160 --> 00:49:34,680
Nearly there. What's nearly there?

771
00:49:34,680 --> 00:49:36,240
The machine at the other end.

772
00:49:36,240 --> 00:49:38,520
We'll have to go
and look at that happen.

773
00:49:40,080 --> 00:49:44,120
The rope making machinery here
is the oldest surviving in Britain.

774
00:49:44,120 --> 00:49:46,960
Parts of it date from 1811.

775
00:49:46,960 --> 00:49:48,680
Whoa!

776
00:49:49,840 --> 00:49:52,280
I'm riding the iron horse here.

777
00:49:52,280 --> 00:49:56,080
Fred, what is making us
move that way?

778
00:49:56,080 --> 00:49:59,360
It's the twist of the rope
against the nose at the top.

779
00:50:00,880 --> 00:50:03,440
So it's just the twisting
that's making us go?

780
00:50:03,440 --> 00:50:08,080
'The technique of twisting
and then countertwisting
into ever larger strands

781
00:50:08,080 --> 00:50:10,160
'remains the same as it was then.'

782
00:50:10,160 --> 00:50:15,680
And here it is. Beautiful!
Beautiful rope.

783
00:50:15,680 --> 00:50:18,880
What circumference is this then?
It is a four inch circumference.

784
00:50:18,880 --> 00:50:21,920
Right. And that's how
you measure old ropes? It is.

785
00:50:21,920 --> 00:50:27,120
And you've made ropes for...
some famous boats, famous ships.

786
00:50:27,120 --> 00:50:28,760
Certainly have. Victory?

787
00:50:28,760 --> 00:50:31,520
The Endeavour. The Victory.
Yeah. Cutty Sark.

788
00:50:31,520 --> 00:50:33,480
Yeah. You name it, all of them.

789
00:50:33,480 --> 00:50:36,800
This is where people who need
a traditional-looking rope.

790
00:50:36,800 --> 00:50:40,600
Quite right.
And I can tell you that's
what The Dawn wants as well. OK.

791
00:50:40,600 --> 00:50:43,440
So I'm going to have to take some
away with me, I think.

792
00:50:45,280 --> 00:50:48,160
I've got to get this coiled up.
Coil away.

793
00:50:52,360 --> 00:50:54,200
'And it is heavy stuff.

794
00:50:54,200 --> 00:50:58,000
'Money for new rope.'

795
00:50:58,000 --> 00:51:01,560
Gentleman, I went to Chatham
and I thought of you. Wow.

796
00:51:02,960 --> 00:51:06,600
Blimey, the real thing.
That's what you use, isn't it?
It is, yeah. Lovely.

797
00:51:06,600 --> 00:51:11,880
Have you been there and seen it
done? We have. I have, yes. Great.

798
00:51:11,880 --> 00:51:13,920
You've never ridden
on the machine, have you? No.

799
00:51:13,920 --> 00:51:16,120
As long as I've done something
that you two haven't,

800
00:51:16,120 --> 00:51:18,840
that's all I'm concerned about.
You've done loads that we haven't.

801
00:51:21,600 --> 00:51:24,280
We now have just 30 miles to go.

802
00:51:24,280 --> 00:51:27,560
Up the Thames
to St Katherine's Dock.

803
00:51:27,560 --> 00:51:30,640
Port of London Authority's
told me that in the old days

804
00:51:30,640 --> 00:51:33,600
50 million tonnes used to go up
and down the Thames.

805
00:51:33,600 --> 00:51:35,080
And today?

806
00:51:35,080 --> 00:51:37,880
50 million tonnes goes up
and down the Thames,

807
00:51:37,880 --> 00:51:42,360
but they all go further down
the river, they don't
head up to the Pool of London.

808
00:51:42,360 --> 00:51:47,280
So where we're going now looks
utterly peaceful.

809
00:52:01,400 --> 00:52:04,680
The dockside warehouses fronting
the whole length of the river

810
00:52:04,680 --> 00:52:06,400
have lost their purpose.

811
00:52:06,400 --> 00:52:08,320
Casualties of containerisation.

812
00:52:11,120 --> 00:52:14,440
Nowhere is this more apparent
than at the Royal docks.

813
00:52:16,280 --> 00:52:20,360
Only 50 years ago this area employed
more than 100,000 people,

814
00:52:20,360 --> 00:52:22,600
unloading cargo
from across the world.

815
00:52:22,600 --> 00:52:25,840
But sailing barges were in decline
earlier than that.

816
00:52:25,840 --> 00:52:29,680
After the First World War,
engines began to take over.

817
00:52:31,040 --> 00:52:34,040
In the Great Depression
of the 1930s,

818
00:52:34,040 --> 00:52:39,320
nearby Woolwich Reach became
home to a solid mass of idle boats

819
00:52:39,320 --> 00:52:43,560
which they're hungry crews named
the "starvation buoys".

820
00:52:43,560 --> 00:52:49,000
It was a hastening of
a slow death for the working barge.

821
00:52:49,000 --> 00:52:51,600
So the barges would
hang around waiting for work? Yeah.

822
00:52:52,680 --> 00:52:56,160
It must have been
a misery for our boys.

823
00:52:57,480 --> 00:53:00,000
As we passed through
the Thames Barrier,

824
00:53:00,000 --> 00:53:03,400
the emptiness seems to give way
to overcrowded incident -

825
00:53:03,400 --> 00:53:06,680
Greenwich, the Dome, Canary Wharf

826
00:53:06,680 --> 00:53:10,320
and the glass towers of the city
rise above the river banks.

827
00:53:10,320 --> 00:53:13,960
There she blows. There's the
City of London coming into sight.

828
00:53:13,960 --> 00:53:15,320
I'm getting emotional!

829
00:53:15,320 --> 00:53:17,280
Emotional feeling
as you come up here.

830
00:53:17,280 --> 00:53:20,200
It's a tremendous feeling
to come up into London like this.

831
00:53:24,320 --> 00:53:28,520
There's no doubt that the
modern metropolis of London owes

832
00:53:28,520 --> 00:53:32,040
a part of its greatness
to the humble Thames sailing barge.

833
00:53:32,040 --> 00:53:37,720
These when powered HGVs
made London's great
Victorian expansion possible.

834
00:53:37,720 --> 00:53:40,320
They brought the bricks and sand
for building,

835
00:53:40,320 --> 00:53:41,800
the barley of the beer

836
00:53:41,800 --> 00:53:45,520
and of course the fodder
for all those working horses.

837
00:53:46,680 --> 00:53:49,040
And the time
when this barge was working,

838
00:53:49,040 --> 00:53:51,760
as it made its way further
up the river,

839
00:53:51,760 --> 00:53:54,480
so it would
become busier and busier.

840
00:53:54,480 --> 00:53:57,400
People would come down in the
evening to see what was going on.

841
00:53:57,400 --> 00:54:00,080
Dickens liked to walk down there
and stand on London Bridge,

842
00:54:00,080 --> 00:54:04,360
not Tower Bridge because
Tower Bridge was built towards
the end of the century.

843
00:54:04,360 --> 00:54:06,600
But London Bridge,
to see the Pool of London

844
00:54:06,600 --> 00:54:08,880
and to see all the ships
that arrived,

845
00:54:08,880 --> 00:54:12,240
the packets that had come from
France bringing the news,

846
00:54:12,240 --> 00:54:14,680
and the place
thronged with activity.

847
00:54:19,080 --> 00:54:21,480
And here, just beneath Tower Bridge,

848
00:54:21,480 --> 00:54:26,040
the modern gateway
to the western river,
lies our final destination -

849
00:54:26,040 --> 00:54:30,720
St Katherine's Dock -
and our final challenge.

850
00:54:34,000 --> 00:54:39,040
Now we have to manoeuvre 120 tonnes
of barge out of a rushing river

851
00:54:39,040 --> 00:54:40,120
and into her berth.

852
00:54:46,440 --> 00:54:49,440
The narrow entrance
and the great press of water

853
00:54:49,440 --> 00:54:53,280
make this a matter of careful
leverage and a fine judgement.

854
00:54:53,280 --> 00:54:54,600
A bit of way.

855
00:54:54,600 --> 00:54:56,160
Ooh!

856
00:54:57,800 --> 00:55:01,800
That's the leeboard, isn't it?
Sorry.

857
00:55:04,720 --> 00:55:08,800
But apart from that momentary
bounce on our leeboard,

858
00:55:08,800 --> 00:55:11,960
amazingly we passed through the eye
of St Katherine's Needle.

859
00:55:13,080 --> 00:55:17,480
Ship and her precious cargo
safe in port.

860
00:55:19,320 --> 00:55:24,000
Right, here we come.
If you lift it round you.

861
00:55:24,000 --> 00:55:26,800
There we are.
Thank you very much. Whoa!

862
00:55:30,800 --> 00:55:35,160
We're going to transport it much as
I would have been transported

863
00:55:35,160 --> 00:55:38,200
to some hungry horses
near Hyde Park.

864
00:55:42,120 --> 00:55:44,080
So how many do you take?

865
00:55:44,080 --> 00:55:47,360
Well I think about 20 on there would
be a nice load for a single horse.

866
00:55:47,360 --> 00:55:50,880
OK. Well we've got about 1,000 here.
So plenty to choose from.

867
00:55:50,880 --> 00:55:52,040
We've got a long day then.

868
00:56:05,600 --> 00:56:09,000
That's it. We're all loaded up.
We're off now, Gerard.

869
00:56:09,000 --> 00:56:11,720
Thank you for having me.

870
00:56:11,720 --> 00:56:15,840
I'll just leave you
with the other thousand to unload.
We'll enjoy that(!) Thank you.

871
00:56:15,840 --> 00:56:17,760
Thank you for a great trip.

872
00:56:17,760 --> 00:56:20,000
Thank you, guys. See you again.

873
00:56:28,520 --> 00:56:34,240
Just over 100 years ago,
a sight such as this
would have been commonplace.

874
00:56:34,240 --> 00:56:40,200
Now Londoners stare as the product
of a great working route

875
00:56:40,200 --> 00:56:44,200
that once fed London
and its sources passes by.

876
00:56:47,440 --> 00:56:50,760
But that route created so much more.

877
00:56:50,760 --> 00:56:52,560
It shaped our capital.

878
00:56:52,560 --> 00:56:54,920
It contributed to our defences.

879
00:56:54,920 --> 00:56:58,400
It kick-started our
coastal rescue service.

880
00:57:02,320 --> 00:57:06,240
It even brought the raw material
for the roads that ironically

881
00:57:06,240 --> 00:57:08,880
contributed to its downfall.

882
00:57:08,880 --> 00:57:12,400
OK, I think
what we'll do is we'll stop here.

883
00:57:12,400 --> 00:57:13,680
There we go, great.

884
00:57:15,560 --> 00:57:18,080
What I need to get...
There we are.

885
00:57:21,160 --> 00:57:23,800
All right. OK.
Lovely. Thank you very much.

886
00:57:31,880 --> 00:57:36,840
'But the point about
the Thames barge route was that
it wasn't just one way.

887
00:57:36,840 --> 00:57:39,440
'Barges rarely left London empty.'

888
00:57:41,440 --> 00:57:43,280
Where do you want the hay?

889
00:57:43,280 --> 00:57:46,320
Just stick it on the floor
in the corner. All right, lovely.

890
00:57:54,080 --> 00:57:56,120
It's a bit dispiriting, isn't it?

891
00:57:56,120 --> 00:58:00,360
We have brought all this way
and Sovereign doesn't want it.

892
00:58:00,360 --> 00:58:02,680
Still, it is
not entirely wasted journey,

893
00:58:02,680 --> 00:58:05,360
because in fact this was
a two-way trip.

894
00:58:06,480 --> 00:58:11,160
The hay came in and another cargo
altogether went back out.

895
00:58:13,880 --> 00:58:18,880
It was called "London mixture"
and it made its way

896
00:58:18,880 --> 00:58:23,000
to Essex by the barge load
to fertilise those fields.

897
00:58:25,000 --> 00:58:27,960
In the full circle of life,
at the end of the day,

898
00:58:27,960 --> 00:58:32,640
what goes then must come out.

899
00:58:55,200 --> 00:58:56,640
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