Coast (2005) s03e08 Episode Script
The Channel Islands To Dover
The Channel Islands, cheek by jowl with France, but British at heart.
Over there is Jersey, the starting point for my journey around the islands and along the Channel to Dover.
The English Channel defines Britain, both separating us from mainland Europe and connecting us to it, but it's more difficult to define the islands caught in that cultural cross-current.
I don't really know very much about the Channel Islands.
To me, they're quite mysterious.
I suppose they also seem olde worlde, maybe even quaint, so let's find out.
To help me uncover their story, I'm joined by the usual suspects.
Alice Roberts discovers how Jersey became Honeymoon Island.
Miranda Krestovnikoff encounters the beautiful creatures left high and dry in Sark.
Oh, wow! This is so incredible! Mark Horton explores how these islands became strongholds.
Nick Crane goes back to when the Dover Straits were known as Hellfire Corner.
'And I take the plunge for a Channel swim.
' Oh, sweet mercy! 'A quick one!' This is the story of Coast.
This time, we'll be hopping around the five main Channel Islands before heading back along the English Channel to Dover.
In English, they're the Channel Islands.
In French, they're the Iles Anglo-Normandes - literally the Anglo-Normand islands.
There's always been a tug-of-love over them between the English and the French, so probably just as well to send a Scotsman to make sense of it all.
My first port of call is St Helier, Jersey's capital city.
With France just 14 miles away, it's not hard to find the Gallic connection, from road signs to restaurants to toilets.
Jersey's British flavour is drizzled with French dressing.
It's a recipe that suits both the islanders and their economy.
Maybe it's just me, but I wasn't expecting Jersey to be like this.
I thought it'd be tranquil and staid with the occasional retired millionaire going about, but there's great big cranes everywhere throwing up tall, glass-fronted buildings.
There is an English and French mix, but the mix is dynamic.
This is a place that's changing and growing fast.
Like the rest of the Channel Islands, Jersey sets its own laws and taxes, making it a magnet for foreign investment.
Quite a turnaround of fortunes, considering its recent, painful history of occupation.
Alice Roberts is exploring a remarkable rebirth.
Evidence of the bleakest period in Jersey's history is everywhere, German gun emplacements scarring the landscape.
With liberation in 1945, the islanders had to reinvent themselves.
Within ten years, they'd achieved the unthinkable.
Jersey was associated not with concrete but with confetti.
What I want to discover is how Jersey overcame years of Nazi occupation but, in particular, how it came to be known as Honeymoon Island.
To help me find out, I'm going to meet Alan and Shirley Tucker.
They honeymooned here 50 years ago, and now they're back for the first time.
Hello.
Alan and Shirley? Yes, it is.
Hello! How do you do? Pleased to meet you.
Welcome back.
Thank you.
When they last came to Jersey, Alan and Shirley had been married just two days.
And the Mount View Hotel was their home for one week.
That's our room.
Really? That one.
Number 14.
14! This is it.
Do not disturb.
LAUGHTER Hopefully there's not a honeymooning couple in there! It gives me a funny feeling, this, I tell you.
Hang on! Oh! Crikey! It's so different.
Yeah.
So different.
The window is the same shape.
Is it? Yeah, and there was a hand basin and a mirror there.
Was that the first time you'd been away together? Yes.
As a couple.
We'd gone away with Alan's mum and dad but never on our own.
First time away alone together.
And I was nervous! What an adventure! What an adventure.
It was very special, that was.
Yeah.
Of course, flying here.
She hadn't flown before.
Everything was so exciting.
So it was your first time flying.
Yeah.
Never flown before.
Oh, my goodness! So, in this Now, Shirley, that's where you stood, on that spot.
Yes, there we go, leaning up against that wall.
All those years ago.
Yes.
It's still Shirley, isn't it? Your hairstyle was slightly different.
A lot was different! Alan and Shirley were newlyweds in 1957, just as Britain was emerging, blinking from its post-war austerity.
The national mood was upbeat.
Britain had never had it so good.
Jersey was ahead of the tide, determined to wipe out its wartime memories with a new invasionof newlyweds.
But how did they get the honeymooners to choose Jersey? The man responsible was John Layzell.
50 years ago, he earned himself the nickname of Mr Tourism.
Hello.
Lovely to meet you.
You too.
How did you come up with this concept of the honeymoon island? Well, that originated through a tax law in Britain, when, if you were married before April 5th, then you'd get a tax rebate, which was quite substantial.
So that encouraged people to take that tax break and also go on honeymoon at the same time, so marriages were quite rife in Britain at that time.
Yeah.
So suddenly people had some money to spend as well.
That's right, yeah.
And we had what we think was almost a perfect place for them to come.
To beat the April tax deadline, people were getting married early in the year and, if they weren't to freeze to death on honeymoon, they had to head south to find some sun.
Only the very rich could afford abroad.
For the not-so-rich, Jersey was waiting.
They began to sell the island in mainland Britain - billboards, posters and cinema adverts.
NEWSREEL: Ever since the annual holiday became a national institution, holidaymakers have come to Jersey.
Jersey, the Queen of the Channel, the garden of the sea.
The honeymooners started to arrive in their droves.
How are you? Fine, thanks.
Having a nice morning walking on the beach? We wanted to go abroad.
Right.
But still sort of go where people spoke English, so it wasn't too much of an adventure.
So it was exotic but not difficult.
Yes.
It was probably like people going to the Caribbean now.
It was that exciting to us.
Absolutely.
And we could afford it.
Money wasn't too plentiful in those days.
What else did you get up to on the island, if that's not too rude a question to ask? LAUGHTER Well, we didn't have a car, so we used public transport, buses and so on.
We came here by bus, and so on, and one or two of the other places as well, and did exactly what we're doing now, walking along the beach.
Our hotel had 15 couples and they were all on honeymoon.
Were you all quite nervous? Nervous was not quite the word.
Breakfast-time was fairly electric, a lot of whispering going on, for the first day or so.
Of course you had that of an evening, when you were having a drink - who's gonna go up first? These days, Jersey is still promoting itself heavily as a tourist destination but the number of hotel rooms has halved since the 1950s.
Cheap flights and package deals abroad have eaten into the tourist market that Jersey made its own and, while the island still gets its honeymooners, it's hard to compete with a wedding on a Caribbean beach.
But, for those now celebrating their Golden Weddings, like Alan and Shirley, it's Jersey that will always be Honeymoon Island.
If you really want to know about the tug of love between Britain and France over the Channel Islands, there's one place you've got to go Les Ecrehous.
A spectacular island group just eight miles off the French coast.
There's no regular boat service, so you've got to improvise.
Slide the boat in.
OK.
Local kayaker Derek Hairon is an old hand at this six-mile paddle to Les Ecrehous.
So, is this crossing a sort of sea kayaker's Mecca? It certainly seems to be.
We do see a lot of people from all over the world coming to Jersey to kayak.
Also, all round the Channel Islands.
Shall I be first? Yes, I think you'd better be.
Well, I feel just like Captain Cook making first landfall in Australia, out of a slightly smaller boat, right enough, but I don't think this is really my colour.
So, if you give a minute, I'll change into something more appropriate.
Les Ecrehous is little more than a granite reef but it looks like a toy town by the sea.
These dolls' houses were originally fishermen's huts.
The accommodation might be Spartan, but the setting is idyllic.
The downside? Well, there's no running water, so you have to bring your own.
And there's only one toilet, so you get to know your neighbours rather well! Strange, then, that this wee place was the scene of a diplomatic incident.
In 1994, French fishermen and a small group of militants mounted an invasion of Les Ecrehous.
Their plan - to claim exclusive fishing rights in the surrounding waters and to demand the return of Les Ecrehous to France.
CHANTING Of course it wasn't a real invasion - there were no guns, fighting or genuine unpleasantness.
In reality, it was more of a publicity stunt.
Threats of repeat action never really materialised.
So obviously, it didn't turn into another Falkland Islands or anything.
These islands have been loyal to the Crown for over 800 years.
In 1953, Britain's sovereignty was upheld by the International Court of Justice.
The French did win guaranteed fishing rights, but the dispute was always about more than business.
Pierre Muzzard was one of the fishermen on the "invasion" committee.
Does it cause you pain thinking this belongs to Britain rather than France? As a Frenchman, do you feel a real personal connection to this place? But while everyone seems to love Les Ecrehous no-one actually lives here, not full-time anyway.
Jersey fishermen use a couple of the huts, the rest are kept as holiday homes and weekend retreats.
Suzanne Blackstone owns one of them.
Hello, Neil.
How are you doing? Good to meet you.
It's a wee bit special here.
Oh, it is! A very special place, yes.
How much does this place mean to you? We've been coming ever since I was a baby.
My brothers too and my children also.
It means everything to me.
I dream about it in the winter and Really? Yes.
When the invasion happened did you know in advance that they were coming? Most hut owners came out that weekend if they could to make sure the windows weren't broken.
The State sent policeman.
On the day of the invasion, more policemen were sent over and we had two burley policemen linked around each and every flagpole around the island.
So the flagpoles were really the issue? They were.
They were, yes.
And does it still feel British? Most certainly it feels British.
We feel very strongly about that here.
Even with the French boats coming in - a huge number of Jersey boats come too.
So the French are the visitors and the Brits are the residents? Indeed.
Indeed.
For me, this handfuls of rocks seem to represent what Channel Islanders are all about.
Les Ecrehous may have a French name, they may even be within spitting distance of France, but for Channel Islanders, they're British through and through.
The odd dispute with the neighbours aside, there's plenty of breathtaking shoreline for everyone to enjoy.
I'm Sue Daly, and I'm an underwater photographer.
I've been diving here in the Channel Islands for the past 18 years.
The advantage we've got here, above water and under water, is that we're that little bit further south.
We've got some of marine life that you won't see, or you'll rarely see, around the British mainland.
Even in this really shallow little bay here, there are an amazing variety of things to see.
One of my favourites is a tiny little prawn that lives among the tentacles of a beautiful green and purple snakelocks anemone.
As far as I know, this is one of the southern species we get here that isn't found on the British mainland.
My favourite piece of behaviour that I've seen, and probably the hardest thing to film, are the dragonettes.
In June and July the males do this really wonderful courtship display.
They are like little peacocks.
They parade in front of the females, they flash their fins.
They are absolutely irresistible.
If I was a fish, I would definitely be impressed.
We get another species here that isn't found at all on the British mainland which is a type of mollusc called an ormer.
It is only found here in the islands and around the adjacent coasts of France.
One we get here in the bay is black-face blenny.
The male does this wonderful mating dance around the female before she allows him to mate with her.
And we've got some wonderful corals here.
The fan corals are the big orangey pink ones which reach across the current.
I think my favourite has got to be the sunset corals.
There are a lot of people in Britain who are divers, or who would like to dive, but they never dive in our own seas and it's a shame.
They think its going to be too cold or too murky, there won't be anything to see.
You've just got to give it a little bit more time and know where to look.
You're missing out on so much otherwise.
For such a tranquil place, the Channel Islands have an awful lot of fortifications.
This is Neighbourhood Watch for big boys.
But why so many castles? Mark Horton is in Guernsey searching for answers.
Guernsey's history of building defensive strongholds goes back a long, long way.
The island's archaeologist, Heather Sebire, is the perfect guide to show me the landmarks that reveal why the Channel Islands became so heavily fortified.
Jerbourg, on the south east peninsula, has the largest Bronze Age and Iron Age earthworks.
Hidden now by 3,000 years of history.
So if we walk down and have a look from here, if you look across at the bank, you get a much better view of the banks and ditches running right down to the little bay at the bottom.
You can see that the lines are showing where the ditches have been cut out, running right down.
The soil would have been cast up from the ditch to make part of the bank.
So in the Iron Age it would have looked just like a sort of impregnable wall? Classic sort of Iron Age defence, yes.
Indeed.
These banks and ditches would have needed an awful lot of people to build them.
What were they defending? They were literally growing all their own food and they had to be self-sufficient, so the pressure on the size of the land would have been quite significant.
This little natural inlet was giving access by sea, bringing in supplies or bringing in people to attack, and it was giving them a very large, defended area in this part of the island.
So even 3,000 years ago, the settlers felt under threat.
But it would get much worse.
Fast forward in time, and this fort marks the birth of the Channel Islands we know today, as powerful nation-states were emerging in Europe.
The Islands' connection to England began in 1066, with the Duke of Normandy - better known to us as William the Conqueror.
The Norman Conquest meant the Channel Islands and their neighbours, England and Normandy, were united under joint rule.
But this fort, Castle Cornet, proudly guarding the harbour of St Peter Port, suggests that peace was short-lived.
King John managed, rather carelessly, to lose Normandy back to the French.
The map was rewritten.
From 1204, the Channel Islands now had hostile French neighbours.
The castles in the Channel Islands were built as a response to the events of 1204.
But why should England bother with the Channel Islands? I mean, surely they're just a backwater? It all goes back to the strategic position in the Channel, and St Peter Port having this wonderful natural harbour that had been used right through prehistory.
So even into the medieval period, we know that it was very important as well.
And the Channel Islands' sort of anomalous status must have meant it was a bit of a free port? They retain their independence, but yet still have this loyalty to the English crown.
This fort helped maintain the link between our monarch and the islands that endures to this day.
The Channel Islands still owe allegiance to the Queen, even though they aren't part of the UK.
It gives them a freedom worth fighting for.
But just 200 years ago, it seemed that no defence could withstand their greatest threat yet.
It all came from a little man in a big hat.
The Emperor Napoleon rampaged through Europe.
With Britain in his sights, only the English Channel barred his way.
How could these islands possibly hold out? An invasion was expected here at Pembroke Bay.
Guernsey's north-east coast had to be turned into a defensive line.
This was the British Government's response, to build these fortifications.
And presumably, when Napoleon took charge of the French armies, this was number one ambition? That's right.
Due to the position of the Channel Islands, so close to the French mainland, the threat was always there.
If you're French, you wouldn't want to land here.
No, absolutely.
There's the forts on either side and then a series of towers that acted as watchtowers and then, also, if anybody got closer in they would be fired upon.
But Napoleon never managed to land? No, he didn't.
Too busy elsewhere, I think.
And too many towers! Another century, another dictator, and a tragically different twist in the Channel Islands story.
In May 1940, Hitler's forces had overrun France.
Against modern weaponry there would be no defence.
Invasion of the Channel Islands followed within weeks.
Hitler's first act was to build his own defences on this occupied part of British soil.
We actually have Hitler's original orders for the fortification of these islands.
He wanted to turn it into an impregnable fortress.
Impressive though these remains are, he only managed to achieve 40% of his original plan.
The islanders still live with these haunting towers of tyranny, a stark reminder of their age-old struggle to steer a steady course between warring giants.
Calm waters belie the political storms that have raged around this quiet coast.
The tiny Isle of Sark, just nine miles off the coast of Guernsey, is one of the smaller inhabited islands.
Accessible only by foot passenger ferry, it's a 45 minute crossing to reach the craggy outcrop.
When you get here, there are no cars, no rush.
Just a tractor and trailer to take me up the 295 foot high hill.
Hello, there.
Hello.
Can I have one of these bikes for the day? Yes.
Just try that for size.
We can adjust the saddle as required.
It's been a while.
Oh, yeah.
It's all coming back to me.
It's like riding a bike! Sark has escaped the hustle and bustle of modern-day life.
Its resident population, around 600, enjoys a rather tranquil and peaceful existence which has hardly changed since the first families arrived here 500 years ago.
Joining Sark, the main island, to Little Sark, is a razor-edged isthmus know as La Coupee.
What a spectacular connection! For generations, children from Little Sark had to crawl on their hands and knees to avoid being blown over the edge on their journey to school.
You're not allowed to cycle across here, and you can see why.
One good, strong gust of wind and you'd end up in France.
That's a 300 foot sheer drop.
And in the old days these railings weren't even here.
These ones were added by German prisoners of war in 1945.
Thanks to their labours, the perilous journey across La Coupee is no more.
Today, it's still a breathtaking place.
On the west coast of Sark, Gouliot Caves.
They're a truly amazing geological feature.
Miranda Krestovnikoff is here to discover why these caves are so special.
Gouliot Caves offer access into a unique underwater world that's home to an array of creatures you'd normally only get to see whilst diving.
Despite the huge rise and fall of the tide - the third largest in the world at 30 feet - for most of the year, the cave system is under water.
It's only on days like today when the tides are exceptionally low that the secret underwater world is exposed and you get the rare chance to visit it on foot.
But I don't have long.
The race for the tide is on.
Few people get to venture into the caves.
Dr Ann Allen is one of them.
She's been coming here for decades and times her visits to coincide with the low spring tides which allow access.
Oh, I've been coming here for over 30 years.
She knows them better than most - the perfect guide.
Now Watch your step.
We're getting near.
Yeah.
So where exactly are we going? Well, you see that big lump of rock there and the promontory behind? We're going right through that.
But it's under water! Well By the time we get down there, hopefully 30 feet of water will have moved.
It's gonna be like diving, but with no water there.
That's right.
Fabulous.
Absolutely.
Getting there is going to be an adventure in itself.
We can't take a boat to the caves - the shore is just too rocky.
We have to negotiate this precarious narrow path with the help of the cliff rescue team.
We're not going down this way, are we? That looks really hairy.
No, we're going to go down through here.
OK, that looks pretty hairy as well! It takes two hours before the sea level's dropped enough to let us in.
Once inside the caves, our time will be precious.
We only have an hour or so.
LAUGHTER Wet feet! Ah, now this is the entrance we're coming to.
This is stunning.
So many anemones and sponges everywhere.
Now, what's over here? Ah! Wow! It's like sweets all stuck to the rocks.
These are really only found underwater.
The walls are carpeted with an array of sea anemones, marine animals more at home underwater.
These hangers-on are predators who use their stinging tentacles to catch and kill small fish, prawns and larvae and plankton.
The colours seem to be coming alive more above water.
I mean, you see these underwater, you see the jewel anemones and the beadlet anemones underwater, but somehow the colours don't seem quite as vivid as what we've got now illuminated with the torches.
I think it's possibly, maybe, because some of the light is filtered out.
Underwater, yeah.
Ah! Well, this in front of us is the well, and this is the famous place for the plumose anemones.
And these, you only ever see underwater.
The plumose anemones are so beautiful underwater.
They're just like powder puffs! I don't think I've ever seen when they're shut up like that.
They're bizarre! They're like mini blancmanges.
A bit squashed up but, nevertheless, there we are.
That's their way of protecting themselves for the short time that they're out of the water.
Out of the cave, they just wouldn't survive? No, no.
On the beach, they would be in the sun much of the time and they would just simply die off from overheating.
But here they can survive and wait for the next bit of current to bring them food.
Further into the cave system, you can't help but feel you've got exclusive access to a secret world.
Look at that with the light, Ann.
Look at the colours on that wall.
Wow! Isn't that spectacular? Isn't that something? Those are the jewel anemones.
Got yellow, pink, green, orange and red.
Have you get any idea of how many species survive here? About 40, 45, at least.
The colours The colours are wonderful, aren't they? Almost iridescent.
Somehow, in nature, colours don't clash, do they? No.
There's no doubt about the wonder of this place.
The Gouliot Caves provide the perfect home for these sponges and sea anemones.
They can survive short periods out of the water because of the high humidity and constant temperature in the caves, which stops them from drying out.
Do you get excited every time you come here? Every time.
It's a great, great privilege and I do get excited, wondering what new things and old friends both are going to be here.
Our time is up.
We have to escape before the sea floods back in.
The tide is the key that opens the door to let us into the caves.
It's also the preserver of this underwater world, returning just in time to breathe new life into the creatures before closing the door on this extraordinary environment.
On my way to Alderney, I'm passing Herm.
At one and a half miles long, it's the smallest of the main Channel Islands.
Unlike neighbouring Sark, Herm is a privately-run island resort.
For the 50 people that live here all year round, the ferry is their vital link with the wider world.
I'm heading past Herm towards the gateway of the Channel and my last stop before Dover.
Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands.
With a population of just over 2,000 people, its economy is almost entirely based on tourism and the finance industry.
Thank you.
I'm here to discover more about Alderney's strategic position on the edge of the English Channel.
That means getting to the northern tip of the island but, fortunately, I can let the train take the strain.
Alderney has the only railway line in the Channel Islands.
It's run by volunteers and takes just 12 minutes to cross the island.
This is a most unusual railway.
It uses two London Underground carriages introduced in the late '80s.
I'll tell you what, it's a long way to Kings Cross from here! Originally horse-drawn, the line - which dates back to the 1840s - was first used to transport stone to build the breakwater.
It wasn't until the 1970s that it was agreed to open the railway to the public.
Apparently Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were the first official passengers on this line back in 1854.
But it's not Victoria who's drawn me here, it's Queen Elizabeth.
And not our Queen Elizabeth, but Elizabeth I.
During Elizabeth I's reign, England was under continual threat from France and Spain.
Reaching Elizabeth's expeditionary force in Brittany meant navigating around the Channel Islands.
Alderney, notorious for its fierce currents and hazardous rocks, claimed many a fine vessel.
Archaeologist Jason Monaghan has explored one of the island's finest wrecks.
OK.
This is the closest part of the shore to the wreck.
It is about half-a-mile straight out to sea from here.
We think it was about 100 feet long, probably intermediate in size, between a sort of fat merchant ship and a sleek warship.
Possibly three-masted.
We think it had somewhere between eight and 12 guns on board.
The wreck was first discovered by a local fisherman in 1977.
Archaeological exploration and analysis established the ship as over 400 years old.
Many of the objects found onboard the ship are appropriate for the early 1590s.
Oh, that's great! In particular, this pound weight.
It weighs a pound.
So, it's lead? Yep.
It's got a little sword or a knife and then "EL" and the crown.
So that's Elizabeth.
Yes.
And this was issued after 1587.
So obviously the ship couldn't have sunk before 1587.
We don't think this would have remained in use into the reign of James I.
So that gives us a date range of 1587 through to about 1603.
We think it may have been a military supply ship or it may have been carrying troops.
For example, we got quite a few of these on board which are very special.
It's a copper charge container known as an apostle.
A soldier would traditionally wear a bandolier around the shoulders carrying a dozen of these, hence, apostles.
Each one holds the charge for one musket shot and we found two dozen muskets on board the ship.
How much do we know about how it came to grief? Well, we know it didn't sink in battle because their guns were lashed down and although they were loaded, they had the tampions or stoppers in the end of the barrels.
So, it wasn't firing.
There's no evidence of fire aboard the ship so all we can assume is it has hit one of the reefs around here.
Is there any way of knowing what happened to the people aboard? We haven't had any human remains at all.
It's fairly close to shore, but half a mile is a long way to swim especially in eight knot currents.
It's possible they could have rowed ashore or another shipping convoy could have rescued the crew but until we find some bodies, we don't know.
The Elizabethan sailors lost here were from countless generations of mariners who had to navigate round the coast of Alderney to head out to the open water of the Channel.
Now, each day 400 container ships pass by laden with cargo, making it one of the busiest international seaways in the world.
I'm Alex.
I'm a cadet on a container ship.
As cadets, we have to learn how to paint and prepare for the steel surfaces.
If I'm on day work, it could be anything from the maintenance of the ship to doing the safety rounds, which is checking all the life-saving equipment, greasing, chipping away all of rust.
You've just got to continually maintain the ship.
Each the containers on board are roughly the size of an artic lorry.
You can carry around 2,150 40-foot containers.
The containers could be anything you use at home that may have been manufactured in the Far East.
We could be carrying electrical items to medicines to chemicals.
On board at the moment we have around 28 crew and the ship never sleeps.
There are always things for you to do.
Even when you've got your leisure time, I'll spend it in the gym.
We also have an officer's cabin where we can retire and watch DVDs or play computer games.
The food on board is good.
We've got a good chef and I always look forward to Saturday night which is steak night.
I've always lived by the coast so I just look at the sea and know it's connected to home in some way.
After being at sea for long periods and you come home and see something like the White Cliffs of Dover, which is such a highlight on the British coast, and it's a comforting thought to know you're that much closer to home.
From container ships to ferries, boats of all size criss-cross this narrow waterway day and night.
To us, it's the English Channel.
If you're French, it's "La Manche", meaning the sleeve.
Interesting that they don't call it the French Channel! Managing the 500 ships which navigate this stretch of water each day depends on close co-operation between Dover Coastguard and their French counterparts.
But relations with our coastal neighbours haven't always been so cordial.
Nick Crane is on a journey back to darker times.
Over 60 years ago, at the beginning of the Second World War, the Germans had occupied Northern France.
From their commanding positions on the French coast over there, the enemy was able to strike at passing convoys not just from land but from the air as well.
I've got a recording here from a BBC wartime correspondent reporting live from Dover on 14th July 1940.
REPORTER: Now the Germans are dive-bombing a convoy out at sea.
There are one, two, three, four, five, six, seven German dive bombers, Junkers 87s There's one going down on its target now.
Bomb No, missed the ships.
He hasn't hit a single ship.
There are about ten ships in the convoy but he hasn't hit one.
EXPLOSIONS There you can hear our anti-aircraft going at them.
There are about ten German machines dive-bombing a British convoy which is just out to sea in the Channel That's absolutely incredible.
This was just six weeks after the evacuation of Dunkirk.
For the seamen trapped down there on the Channel, it must have been absolutely terrifying.
This was a suicidal bottleneck! In July 1940, the 21 miles between Dover and northern France was the frontline of our war in Europe.
It became known as Hellfire Corner.
You might think that merchant shipping would have avoided the Channel but it became more vital than ever.
Most people will have heard of the Transatlantic convoys.
But this little book tells another extraordinary story of something that came to be called the indestructible highway.
I'm off to meet Nick Hewitt from the Imperial War Museum.
He's been researching the role of the convoys during this crucial stage in the war.
Hello, Nick.
Hello.
Can you tell me why it was that these ships were running the gauntlet through the English Channel just here.
This is all about strategic resources.
What we've got is things like coal that are vitally required on the south coast of England and the only, not just the easiest, but the only way to move them is by sea.
And to get there in the most efficient way possible means forcing them through this incredibly narrow, dangerous strip of water.
Between here and France.
But why not just put all this coal on lorries and take it through the inner part of Britain overland, out of sight of the German air force and out of range of coastal batteries? The land movement infrastructure, the rail and road network, can't cope with that volume of material.
The south coast ports need 40,000 tons of coal a week.
That would take more trains and more trucks than Britain has and a far better developed road and railway network than the country has at this time.
So you're saying we had the ships already.
We had the sea already.
You can't actually damage the sea unlike you can a canal or a railway line or road.
Absolutely.
So it was actually the least difficult option.
And it's Britain's lifeline.
It's the way we know.
It's how we know how to get things around.
We move things by sea because we're an island.
It's the way we've always done it.
Who were the men on these ships that were running this incredibly dangerous blockade, effectively? These were a wonderful mix of people.
The merchant ships are small, old, colliers and coastal vessels.
These are manned by the men of the merchant navy.
These are experienced sailors.
These are grizzled seafarers who'd spent their careers going around Britain's coastal waters.
Their escorts, the Royal Navy warships, are not your greyhound destroyers and big battleships.
These are things like armed trawlers, motor torpedo boats, ancients warships from the First World War.
These convoys of merchant and naval ships were part of a large supply network which sailed around our coast.
They're a forgotten navy, aren't they? It wasn't just batteries from the French side or bombers that were trying to attack them.
This point here, this narrow strip of water.
They're facing everything the Germans can throw at them.
They're facing coastal batteries of long range guns, based there on the French coast which can not only hit the convoys, but Dover! They're facing fast motor torpedo boats known as e-boats which come out at night.
They're facing, during the summer of 1940, the whole of the German air force.
Pretty much everything as they come through this narrow belt.
It wasn't called Hellfire Corner for nothing.
This was probably the most dangerous strip of water in the world in that summer of 1940.
During the Second World War, over 500 convoys, some in excess of 30 ships, sailed through the Dover Straits.
The command centre for the Straits was beneath Dover Castle, a labyrinth of underground passages and rooms which became the centre for military operations.
What happened down here remained a closely guarded secret for more than 40 years.
The Navy, the RAF and coastal artillery were all co-ordinated from plotting rooms like this, now preserved as a museum.
What's not open to the public are the tunnels below.
Margaret Kennedy was one of the Wrens working on the teleprinters sending and receiving signals vital for the deployment of the wartime convoys 60 years ago.
Oh yes, I remember this.
This are very steep stairs, Margaret.
They are steep.
Of course I was much younger, it was nothing - you could hop down here! Well this is much, much bigger than any other It's massive.
It was a big room and they had lots and lots of teleprinters.
Then we had a teleprinter switchboard which went off this room.
What were you doing down here with your teleprinter machine? We were sending signals all over the country and they would signal us.
We took them inside and gave them to the appropriate officer in charge.
Sometimes would they we in code? Sometimes they were in code.
We didn't worry about what they actually meant.
There was always someone there to do that.
We did used to know if there was a convoy coming through.
We used to try and get to the cliff edge and pray for them.
How did you know a convoy was coming past if you were sitting down? You weren't actually told but when there's a lot of people and a lot going on It gets round.
That there's a convoy out in the Channel.
Yeah, and one or two of the Wrens would maybe have a boyfriend on board one.
You know, it made it a bit Very anxious.
Oh, very, very As long as they got through that was the main thing.
This was just one of a network of command centres around the country controlling the indestructible coastal highway.
The Dover convoys may not be as well known as the Atlantic convoys.
Yet they too bore the brunt of attack.
The Nazis failed to drive them from the Straits.
The merchant seamen and their escorts became a lifeline for our nation during wartime.
The Coastguard say negotiating the England Channel is like walking across the M25.
That's how busy it is.
For the 60 people each year who attempt the challenge of the Channel swim, dodging the odd ship or three is all part of the adventure.
The first successful Channel swim was just over 130 years ago.
In 1875, merchant seaman Captain Matthew Webb toiled for 21 hours and 45 minutes to reach the coast of France.
Completing this seemingly impossible feat turned him into a superstar.
I want to know just what Webb had to go through to become a Victorian celebrity.
Greg Whyte is no stranger to training celebrity swimmers.
He coached David Walliams when he swam the Channel in 2006.
Captain Webb started by swimming in public baths and then in the Thames.
How does his preparations compare with what you did with David? The crucial element is swimming in open water.
There's a huge difference between swimming open water in the sea, even in comparison to a lake, and a lake to the pool is very different as well.
I know that Captain Webb kept himself going with things like cod liver oil and beef tea.
What did David have access to from the boat? Nutrition is everything.
You're burning so many calories when you're going across.
I guess the difference between what Captain Webb did and what we did with David is we now know that carbohydrates are the key source of energy.
So we fed very high concentrations of carbohydrates to David which is different to what Captain Webb would have done back in the late 1800s.
One thing that hasn't changed since Captain Webb first swam the Channel is greasing up.
Bodies plastered in fatty grease in preparation for the challenge ahead.
Contrary to popular belief, it's not for insulation but it might stop chafing and jellyfish stings.
Oh, great! If ferries, extreme cold and exhaustion weren't bad enough Even on a day like today it's not saying, "Join me.
" To be honest with you we can talk about this for some time and I can tell you the problems with it.
There's really only one way to get a real feel for how cold, how salty and how difficult it's gonna be.
That's for me and you to get in.
Fantastic! Let's go.
The rules on swim wear are simple, trunks, hat and goggles.
That's your lot.
There's not a lot of dignity involved in being a Channel swimmer, is there? Not a great deal, but it's the regulations.
The list of reasons not to do this goes on and on.
Tell my wife and kids I love them.
Oh! Sweet mercy! Let's get moving.
Do you know, when you splash your face in the water it feels quite cold.
But when you actually get in it's a nightmare! THEY LAUGH Let's get moving.
To where? Keep close to me.
I'm so cold I've forgotten how to swim.
Straight into shore, let's go.
I've been going 15 minutes and already I appreciate why the success rate is less than 10%.
It's so cold.
It drains every ounce of your energy.
I'm a pretty strong swimmer.
I used to be a lifeguard, but this is hard.
I'm on my back just to try and breathe and I'm only heading for Dover beach from inside the harbour walls.
That's enough for me.
The bottom two rungs are loose.
Come up, you're OK.
Get him wrapped as soon as he gets out there.
OK OK.
Grab hold of the top.
You all right? Yeah.
You've done well.
I tell you what, anyone who's ever done that Captain Webb to David Walliams and everyone in-between, I have the utmost respect for them.
That is hard.
And what of Captain Webb? That original Channel swim was the highlight of his life and the beginning of his ruin.
Despite becoming a national hero, gambling and debts meant having to perform more swimming feats for money to keep him going.
Webb cashed in on his fame, becoming a brand name well over a century before the Beckhams.
His name appeared on all manner of merchandise, everything from postcards to boxes of matches.
But he couldn't keep up with the public's appetite for ever more ambitious stunts.
He drowned trying to swim across the Niagara Falls rapids in a vain attempt to regain fame and fortune.
He was just 35 years old.
As I approach the end of my journey, it's back to what's become a familiar sight for us coasters, the white cliffs of Dover.
Solid, dependable They're just part of our extraordinary and ever-changing coastal story, a tale played out where the land meets the sea and where both meet the people around our shores .
.
the folk at the edge of our Isles.
All I want to do now is see more and hear more stories.
This is a wonderful place and I just feel proud that I'm part of it.
Over there is Jersey, the starting point for my journey around the islands and along the Channel to Dover.
The English Channel defines Britain, both separating us from mainland Europe and connecting us to it, but it's more difficult to define the islands caught in that cultural cross-current.
I don't really know very much about the Channel Islands.
To me, they're quite mysterious.
I suppose they also seem olde worlde, maybe even quaint, so let's find out.
To help me uncover their story, I'm joined by the usual suspects.
Alice Roberts discovers how Jersey became Honeymoon Island.
Miranda Krestovnikoff encounters the beautiful creatures left high and dry in Sark.
Oh, wow! This is so incredible! Mark Horton explores how these islands became strongholds.
Nick Crane goes back to when the Dover Straits were known as Hellfire Corner.
'And I take the plunge for a Channel swim.
' Oh, sweet mercy! 'A quick one!' This is the story of Coast.
This time, we'll be hopping around the five main Channel Islands before heading back along the English Channel to Dover.
In English, they're the Channel Islands.
In French, they're the Iles Anglo-Normandes - literally the Anglo-Normand islands.
There's always been a tug-of-love over them between the English and the French, so probably just as well to send a Scotsman to make sense of it all.
My first port of call is St Helier, Jersey's capital city.
With France just 14 miles away, it's not hard to find the Gallic connection, from road signs to restaurants to toilets.
Jersey's British flavour is drizzled with French dressing.
It's a recipe that suits both the islanders and their economy.
Maybe it's just me, but I wasn't expecting Jersey to be like this.
I thought it'd be tranquil and staid with the occasional retired millionaire going about, but there's great big cranes everywhere throwing up tall, glass-fronted buildings.
There is an English and French mix, but the mix is dynamic.
This is a place that's changing and growing fast.
Like the rest of the Channel Islands, Jersey sets its own laws and taxes, making it a magnet for foreign investment.
Quite a turnaround of fortunes, considering its recent, painful history of occupation.
Alice Roberts is exploring a remarkable rebirth.
Evidence of the bleakest period in Jersey's history is everywhere, German gun emplacements scarring the landscape.
With liberation in 1945, the islanders had to reinvent themselves.
Within ten years, they'd achieved the unthinkable.
Jersey was associated not with concrete but with confetti.
What I want to discover is how Jersey overcame years of Nazi occupation but, in particular, how it came to be known as Honeymoon Island.
To help me find out, I'm going to meet Alan and Shirley Tucker.
They honeymooned here 50 years ago, and now they're back for the first time.
Hello.
Alan and Shirley? Yes, it is.
Hello! How do you do? Pleased to meet you.
Welcome back.
Thank you.
When they last came to Jersey, Alan and Shirley had been married just two days.
And the Mount View Hotel was their home for one week.
That's our room.
Really? That one.
Number 14.
14! This is it.
Do not disturb.
LAUGHTER Hopefully there's not a honeymooning couple in there! It gives me a funny feeling, this, I tell you.
Hang on! Oh! Crikey! It's so different.
Yeah.
So different.
The window is the same shape.
Is it? Yeah, and there was a hand basin and a mirror there.
Was that the first time you'd been away together? Yes.
As a couple.
We'd gone away with Alan's mum and dad but never on our own.
First time away alone together.
And I was nervous! What an adventure! What an adventure.
It was very special, that was.
Yeah.
Of course, flying here.
She hadn't flown before.
Everything was so exciting.
So it was your first time flying.
Yeah.
Never flown before.
Oh, my goodness! So, in this Now, Shirley, that's where you stood, on that spot.
Yes, there we go, leaning up against that wall.
All those years ago.
Yes.
It's still Shirley, isn't it? Your hairstyle was slightly different.
A lot was different! Alan and Shirley were newlyweds in 1957, just as Britain was emerging, blinking from its post-war austerity.
The national mood was upbeat.
Britain had never had it so good.
Jersey was ahead of the tide, determined to wipe out its wartime memories with a new invasionof newlyweds.
But how did they get the honeymooners to choose Jersey? The man responsible was John Layzell.
50 years ago, he earned himself the nickname of Mr Tourism.
Hello.
Lovely to meet you.
You too.
How did you come up with this concept of the honeymoon island? Well, that originated through a tax law in Britain, when, if you were married before April 5th, then you'd get a tax rebate, which was quite substantial.
So that encouraged people to take that tax break and also go on honeymoon at the same time, so marriages were quite rife in Britain at that time.
Yeah.
So suddenly people had some money to spend as well.
That's right, yeah.
And we had what we think was almost a perfect place for them to come.
To beat the April tax deadline, people were getting married early in the year and, if they weren't to freeze to death on honeymoon, they had to head south to find some sun.
Only the very rich could afford abroad.
For the not-so-rich, Jersey was waiting.
They began to sell the island in mainland Britain - billboards, posters and cinema adverts.
NEWSREEL: Ever since the annual holiday became a national institution, holidaymakers have come to Jersey.
Jersey, the Queen of the Channel, the garden of the sea.
The honeymooners started to arrive in their droves.
How are you? Fine, thanks.
Having a nice morning walking on the beach? We wanted to go abroad.
Right.
But still sort of go where people spoke English, so it wasn't too much of an adventure.
So it was exotic but not difficult.
Yes.
It was probably like people going to the Caribbean now.
It was that exciting to us.
Absolutely.
And we could afford it.
Money wasn't too plentiful in those days.
What else did you get up to on the island, if that's not too rude a question to ask? LAUGHTER Well, we didn't have a car, so we used public transport, buses and so on.
We came here by bus, and so on, and one or two of the other places as well, and did exactly what we're doing now, walking along the beach.
Our hotel had 15 couples and they were all on honeymoon.
Were you all quite nervous? Nervous was not quite the word.
Breakfast-time was fairly electric, a lot of whispering going on, for the first day or so.
Of course you had that of an evening, when you were having a drink - who's gonna go up first? These days, Jersey is still promoting itself heavily as a tourist destination but the number of hotel rooms has halved since the 1950s.
Cheap flights and package deals abroad have eaten into the tourist market that Jersey made its own and, while the island still gets its honeymooners, it's hard to compete with a wedding on a Caribbean beach.
But, for those now celebrating their Golden Weddings, like Alan and Shirley, it's Jersey that will always be Honeymoon Island.
If you really want to know about the tug of love between Britain and France over the Channel Islands, there's one place you've got to go Les Ecrehous.
A spectacular island group just eight miles off the French coast.
There's no regular boat service, so you've got to improvise.
Slide the boat in.
OK.
Local kayaker Derek Hairon is an old hand at this six-mile paddle to Les Ecrehous.
So, is this crossing a sort of sea kayaker's Mecca? It certainly seems to be.
We do see a lot of people from all over the world coming to Jersey to kayak.
Also, all round the Channel Islands.
Shall I be first? Yes, I think you'd better be.
Well, I feel just like Captain Cook making first landfall in Australia, out of a slightly smaller boat, right enough, but I don't think this is really my colour.
So, if you give a minute, I'll change into something more appropriate.
Les Ecrehous is little more than a granite reef but it looks like a toy town by the sea.
These dolls' houses were originally fishermen's huts.
The accommodation might be Spartan, but the setting is idyllic.
The downside? Well, there's no running water, so you have to bring your own.
And there's only one toilet, so you get to know your neighbours rather well! Strange, then, that this wee place was the scene of a diplomatic incident.
In 1994, French fishermen and a small group of militants mounted an invasion of Les Ecrehous.
Their plan - to claim exclusive fishing rights in the surrounding waters and to demand the return of Les Ecrehous to France.
CHANTING Of course it wasn't a real invasion - there were no guns, fighting or genuine unpleasantness.
In reality, it was more of a publicity stunt.
Threats of repeat action never really materialised.
So obviously, it didn't turn into another Falkland Islands or anything.
These islands have been loyal to the Crown for over 800 years.
In 1953, Britain's sovereignty was upheld by the International Court of Justice.
The French did win guaranteed fishing rights, but the dispute was always about more than business.
Pierre Muzzard was one of the fishermen on the "invasion" committee.
Does it cause you pain thinking this belongs to Britain rather than France? As a Frenchman, do you feel a real personal connection to this place? But while everyone seems to love Les Ecrehous no-one actually lives here, not full-time anyway.
Jersey fishermen use a couple of the huts, the rest are kept as holiday homes and weekend retreats.
Suzanne Blackstone owns one of them.
Hello, Neil.
How are you doing? Good to meet you.
It's a wee bit special here.
Oh, it is! A very special place, yes.
How much does this place mean to you? We've been coming ever since I was a baby.
My brothers too and my children also.
It means everything to me.
I dream about it in the winter and Really? Yes.
When the invasion happened did you know in advance that they were coming? Most hut owners came out that weekend if they could to make sure the windows weren't broken.
The State sent policeman.
On the day of the invasion, more policemen were sent over and we had two burley policemen linked around each and every flagpole around the island.
So the flagpoles were really the issue? They were.
They were, yes.
And does it still feel British? Most certainly it feels British.
We feel very strongly about that here.
Even with the French boats coming in - a huge number of Jersey boats come too.
So the French are the visitors and the Brits are the residents? Indeed.
Indeed.
For me, this handfuls of rocks seem to represent what Channel Islanders are all about.
Les Ecrehous may have a French name, they may even be within spitting distance of France, but for Channel Islanders, they're British through and through.
The odd dispute with the neighbours aside, there's plenty of breathtaking shoreline for everyone to enjoy.
I'm Sue Daly, and I'm an underwater photographer.
I've been diving here in the Channel Islands for the past 18 years.
The advantage we've got here, above water and under water, is that we're that little bit further south.
We've got some of marine life that you won't see, or you'll rarely see, around the British mainland.
Even in this really shallow little bay here, there are an amazing variety of things to see.
One of my favourites is a tiny little prawn that lives among the tentacles of a beautiful green and purple snakelocks anemone.
As far as I know, this is one of the southern species we get here that isn't found on the British mainland.
My favourite piece of behaviour that I've seen, and probably the hardest thing to film, are the dragonettes.
In June and July the males do this really wonderful courtship display.
They are like little peacocks.
They parade in front of the females, they flash their fins.
They are absolutely irresistible.
If I was a fish, I would definitely be impressed.
We get another species here that isn't found at all on the British mainland which is a type of mollusc called an ormer.
It is only found here in the islands and around the adjacent coasts of France.
One we get here in the bay is black-face blenny.
The male does this wonderful mating dance around the female before she allows him to mate with her.
And we've got some wonderful corals here.
The fan corals are the big orangey pink ones which reach across the current.
I think my favourite has got to be the sunset corals.
There are a lot of people in Britain who are divers, or who would like to dive, but they never dive in our own seas and it's a shame.
They think its going to be too cold or too murky, there won't be anything to see.
You've just got to give it a little bit more time and know where to look.
You're missing out on so much otherwise.
For such a tranquil place, the Channel Islands have an awful lot of fortifications.
This is Neighbourhood Watch for big boys.
But why so many castles? Mark Horton is in Guernsey searching for answers.
Guernsey's history of building defensive strongholds goes back a long, long way.
The island's archaeologist, Heather Sebire, is the perfect guide to show me the landmarks that reveal why the Channel Islands became so heavily fortified.
Jerbourg, on the south east peninsula, has the largest Bronze Age and Iron Age earthworks.
Hidden now by 3,000 years of history.
So if we walk down and have a look from here, if you look across at the bank, you get a much better view of the banks and ditches running right down to the little bay at the bottom.
You can see that the lines are showing where the ditches have been cut out, running right down.
The soil would have been cast up from the ditch to make part of the bank.
So in the Iron Age it would have looked just like a sort of impregnable wall? Classic sort of Iron Age defence, yes.
Indeed.
These banks and ditches would have needed an awful lot of people to build them.
What were they defending? They were literally growing all their own food and they had to be self-sufficient, so the pressure on the size of the land would have been quite significant.
This little natural inlet was giving access by sea, bringing in supplies or bringing in people to attack, and it was giving them a very large, defended area in this part of the island.
So even 3,000 years ago, the settlers felt under threat.
But it would get much worse.
Fast forward in time, and this fort marks the birth of the Channel Islands we know today, as powerful nation-states were emerging in Europe.
The Islands' connection to England began in 1066, with the Duke of Normandy - better known to us as William the Conqueror.
The Norman Conquest meant the Channel Islands and their neighbours, England and Normandy, were united under joint rule.
But this fort, Castle Cornet, proudly guarding the harbour of St Peter Port, suggests that peace was short-lived.
King John managed, rather carelessly, to lose Normandy back to the French.
The map was rewritten.
From 1204, the Channel Islands now had hostile French neighbours.
The castles in the Channel Islands were built as a response to the events of 1204.
But why should England bother with the Channel Islands? I mean, surely they're just a backwater? It all goes back to the strategic position in the Channel, and St Peter Port having this wonderful natural harbour that had been used right through prehistory.
So even into the medieval period, we know that it was very important as well.
And the Channel Islands' sort of anomalous status must have meant it was a bit of a free port? They retain their independence, but yet still have this loyalty to the English crown.
This fort helped maintain the link between our monarch and the islands that endures to this day.
The Channel Islands still owe allegiance to the Queen, even though they aren't part of the UK.
It gives them a freedom worth fighting for.
But just 200 years ago, it seemed that no defence could withstand their greatest threat yet.
It all came from a little man in a big hat.
The Emperor Napoleon rampaged through Europe.
With Britain in his sights, only the English Channel barred his way.
How could these islands possibly hold out? An invasion was expected here at Pembroke Bay.
Guernsey's north-east coast had to be turned into a defensive line.
This was the British Government's response, to build these fortifications.
And presumably, when Napoleon took charge of the French armies, this was number one ambition? That's right.
Due to the position of the Channel Islands, so close to the French mainland, the threat was always there.
If you're French, you wouldn't want to land here.
No, absolutely.
There's the forts on either side and then a series of towers that acted as watchtowers and then, also, if anybody got closer in they would be fired upon.
But Napoleon never managed to land? No, he didn't.
Too busy elsewhere, I think.
And too many towers! Another century, another dictator, and a tragically different twist in the Channel Islands story.
In May 1940, Hitler's forces had overrun France.
Against modern weaponry there would be no defence.
Invasion of the Channel Islands followed within weeks.
Hitler's first act was to build his own defences on this occupied part of British soil.
We actually have Hitler's original orders for the fortification of these islands.
He wanted to turn it into an impregnable fortress.
Impressive though these remains are, he only managed to achieve 40% of his original plan.
The islanders still live with these haunting towers of tyranny, a stark reminder of their age-old struggle to steer a steady course between warring giants.
Calm waters belie the political storms that have raged around this quiet coast.
The tiny Isle of Sark, just nine miles off the coast of Guernsey, is one of the smaller inhabited islands.
Accessible only by foot passenger ferry, it's a 45 minute crossing to reach the craggy outcrop.
When you get here, there are no cars, no rush.
Just a tractor and trailer to take me up the 295 foot high hill.
Hello, there.
Hello.
Can I have one of these bikes for the day? Yes.
Just try that for size.
We can adjust the saddle as required.
It's been a while.
Oh, yeah.
It's all coming back to me.
It's like riding a bike! Sark has escaped the hustle and bustle of modern-day life.
Its resident population, around 600, enjoys a rather tranquil and peaceful existence which has hardly changed since the first families arrived here 500 years ago.
Joining Sark, the main island, to Little Sark, is a razor-edged isthmus know as La Coupee.
What a spectacular connection! For generations, children from Little Sark had to crawl on their hands and knees to avoid being blown over the edge on their journey to school.
You're not allowed to cycle across here, and you can see why.
One good, strong gust of wind and you'd end up in France.
That's a 300 foot sheer drop.
And in the old days these railings weren't even here.
These ones were added by German prisoners of war in 1945.
Thanks to their labours, the perilous journey across La Coupee is no more.
Today, it's still a breathtaking place.
On the west coast of Sark, Gouliot Caves.
They're a truly amazing geological feature.
Miranda Krestovnikoff is here to discover why these caves are so special.
Gouliot Caves offer access into a unique underwater world that's home to an array of creatures you'd normally only get to see whilst diving.
Despite the huge rise and fall of the tide - the third largest in the world at 30 feet - for most of the year, the cave system is under water.
It's only on days like today when the tides are exceptionally low that the secret underwater world is exposed and you get the rare chance to visit it on foot.
But I don't have long.
The race for the tide is on.
Few people get to venture into the caves.
Dr Ann Allen is one of them.
She's been coming here for decades and times her visits to coincide with the low spring tides which allow access.
Oh, I've been coming here for over 30 years.
She knows them better than most - the perfect guide.
Now Watch your step.
We're getting near.
Yeah.
So where exactly are we going? Well, you see that big lump of rock there and the promontory behind? We're going right through that.
But it's under water! Well By the time we get down there, hopefully 30 feet of water will have moved.
It's gonna be like diving, but with no water there.
That's right.
Fabulous.
Absolutely.
Getting there is going to be an adventure in itself.
We can't take a boat to the caves - the shore is just too rocky.
We have to negotiate this precarious narrow path with the help of the cliff rescue team.
We're not going down this way, are we? That looks really hairy.
No, we're going to go down through here.
OK, that looks pretty hairy as well! It takes two hours before the sea level's dropped enough to let us in.
Once inside the caves, our time will be precious.
We only have an hour or so.
LAUGHTER Wet feet! Ah, now this is the entrance we're coming to.
This is stunning.
So many anemones and sponges everywhere.
Now, what's over here? Ah! Wow! It's like sweets all stuck to the rocks.
These are really only found underwater.
The walls are carpeted with an array of sea anemones, marine animals more at home underwater.
These hangers-on are predators who use their stinging tentacles to catch and kill small fish, prawns and larvae and plankton.
The colours seem to be coming alive more above water.
I mean, you see these underwater, you see the jewel anemones and the beadlet anemones underwater, but somehow the colours don't seem quite as vivid as what we've got now illuminated with the torches.
I think it's possibly, maybe, because some of the light is filtered out.
Underwater, yeah.
Ah! Well, this in front of us is the well, and this is the famous place for the plumose anemones.
And these, you only ever see underwater.
The plumose anemones are so beautiful underwater.
They're just like powder puffs! I don't think I've ever seen when they're shut up like that.
They're bizarre! They're like mini blancmanges.
A bit squashed up but, nevertheless, there we are.
That's their way of protecting themselves for the short time that they're out of the water.
Out of the cave, they just wouldn't survive? No, no.
On the beach, they would be in the sun much of the time and they would just simply die off from overheating.
But here they can survive and wait for the next bit of current to bring them food.
Further into the cave system, you can't help but feel you've got exclusive access to a secret world.
Look at that with the light, Ann.
Look at the colours on that wall.
Wow! Isn't that spectacular? Isn't that something? Those are the jewel anemones.
Got yellow, pink, green, orange and red.
Have you get any idea of how many species survive here? About 40, 45, at least.
The colours The colours are wonderful, aren't they? Almost iridescent.
Somehow, in nature, colours don't clash, do they? No.
There's no doubt about the wonder of this place.
The Gouliot Caves provide the perfect home for these sponges and sea anemones.
They can survive short periods out of the water because of the high humidity and constant temperature in the caves, which stops them from drying out.
Do you get excited every time you come here? Every time.
It's a great, great privilege and I do get excited, wondering what new things and old friends both are going to be here.
Our time is up.
We have to escape before the sea floods back in.
The tide is the key that opens the door to let us into the caves.
It's also the preserver of this underwater world, returning just in time to breathe new life into the creatures before closing the door on this extraordinary environment.
On my way to Alderney, I'm passing Herm.
At one and a half miles long, it's the smallest of the main Channel Islands.
Unlike neighbouring Sark, Herm is a privately-run island resort.
For the 50 people that live here all year round, the ferry is their vital link with the wider world.
I'm heading past Herm towards the gateway of the Channel and my last stop before Dover.
Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands.
With a population of just over 2,000 people, its economy is almost entirely based on tourism and the finance industry.
Thank you.
I'm here to discover more about Alderney's strategic position on the edge of the English Channel.
That means getting to the northern tip of the island but, fortunately, I can let the train take the strain.
Alderney has the only railway line in the Channel Islands.
It's run by volunteers and takes just 12 minutes to cross the island.
This is a most unusual railway.
It uses two London Underground carriages introduced in the late '80s.
I'll tell you what, it's a long way to Kings Cross from here! Originally horse-drawn, the line - which dates back to the 1840s - was first used to transport stone to build the breakwater.
It wasn't until the 1970s that it was agreed to open the railway to the public.
Apparently Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were the first official passengers on this line back in 1854.
But it's not Victoria who's drawn me here, it's Queen Elizabeth.
And not our Queen Elizabeth, but Elizabeth I.
During Elizabeth I's reign, England was under continual threat from France and Spain.
Reaching Elizabeth's expeditionary force in Brittany meant navigating around the Channel Islands.
Alderney, notorious for its fierce currents and hazardous rocks, claimed many a fine vessel.
Archaeologist Jason Monaghan has explored one of the island's finest wrecks.
OK.
This is the closest part of the shore to the wreck.
It is about half-a-mile straight out to sea from here.
We think it was about 100 feet long, probably intermediate in size, between a sort of fat merchant ship and a sleek warship.
Possibly three-masted.
We think it had somewhere between eight and 12 guns on board.
The wreck was first discovered by a local fisherman in 1977.
Archaeological exploration and analysis established the ship as over 400 years old.
Many of the objects found onboard the ship are appropriate for the early 1590s.
Oh, that's great! In particular, this pound weight.
It weighs a pound.
So, it's lead? Yep.
It's got a little sword or a knife and then "EL" and the crown.
So that's Elizabeth.
Yes.
And this was issued after 1587.
So obviously the ship couldn't have sunk before 1587.
We don't think this would have remained in use into the reign of James I.
So that gives us a date range of 1587 through to about 1603.
We think it may have been a military supply ship or it may have been carrying troops.
For example, we got quite a few of these on board which are very special.
It's a copper charge container known as an apostle.
A soldier would traditionally wear a bandolier around the shoulders carrying a dozen of these, hence, apostles.
Each one holds the charge for one musket shot and we found two dozen muskets on board the ship.
How much do we know about how it came to grief? Well, we know it didn't sink in battle because their guns were lashed down and although they were loaded, they had the tampions or stoppers in the end of the barrels.
So, it wasn't firing.
There's no evidence of fire aboard the ship so all we can assume is it has hit one of the reefs around here.
Is there any way of knowing what happened to the people aboard? We haven't had any human remains at all.
It's fairly close to shore, but half a mile is a long way to swim especially in eight knot currents.
It's possible they could have rowed ashore or another shipping convoy could have rescued the crew but until we find some bodies, we don't know.
The Elizabethan sailors lost here were from countless generations of mariners who had to navigate round the coast of Alderney to head out to the open water of the Channel.
Now, each day 400 container ships pass by laden with cargo, making it one of the busiest international seaways in the world.
I'm Alex.
I'm a cadet on a container ship.
As cadets, we have to learn how to paint and prepare for the steel surfaces.
If I'm on day work, it could be anything from the maintenance of the ship to doing the safety rounds, which is checking all the life-saving equipment, greasing, chipping away all of rust.
You've just got to continually maintain the ship.
Each the containers on board are roughly the size of an artic lorry.
You can carry around 2,150 40-foot containers.
The containers could be anything you use at home that may have been manufactured in the Far East.
We could be carrying electrical items to medicines to chemicals.
On board at the moment we have around 28 crew and the ship never sleeps.
There are always things for you to do.
Even when you've got your leisure time, I'll spend it in the gym.
We also have an officer's cabin where we can retire and watch DVDs or play computer games.
The food on board is good.
We've got a good chef and I always look forward to Saturday night which is steak night.
I've always lived by the coast so I just look at the sea and know it's connected to home in some way.
After being at sea for long periods and you come home and see something like the White Cliffs of Dover, which is such a highlight on the British coast, and it's a comforting thought to know you're that much closer to home.
From container ships to ferries, boats of all size criss-cross this narrow waterway day and night.
To us, it's the English Channel.
If you're French, it's "La Manche", meaning the sleeve.
Interesting that they don't call it the French Channel! Managing the 500 ships which navigate this stretch of water each day depends on close co-operation between Dover Coastguard and their French counterparts.
But relations with our coastal neighbours haven't always been so cordial.
Nick Crane is on a journey back to darker times.
Over 60 years ago, at the beginning of the Second World War, the Germans had occupied Northern France.
From their commanding positions on the French coast over there, the enemy was able to strike at passing convoys not just from land but from the air as well.
I've got a recording here from a BBC wartime correspondent reporting live from Dover on 14th July 1940.
REPORTER: Now the Germans are dive-bombing a convoy out at sea.
There are one, two, three, four, five, six, seven German dive bombers, Junkers 87s There's one going down on its target now.
Bomb No, missed the ships.
He hasn't hit a single ship.
There are about ten ships in the convoy but he hasn't hit one.
EXPLOSIONS There you can hear our anti-aircraft going at them.
There are about ten German machines dive-bombing a British convoy which is just out to sea in the Channel That's absolutely incredible.
This was just six weeks after the evacuation of Dunkirk.
For the seamen trapped down there on the Channel, it must have been absolutely terrifying.
This was a suicidal bottleneck! In July 1940, the 21 miles between Dover and northern France was the frontline of our war in Europe.
It became known as Hellfire Corner.
You might think that merchant shipping would have avoided the Channel but it became more vital than ever.
Most people will have heard of the Transatlantic convoys.
But this little book tells another extraordinary story of something that came to be called the indestructible highway.
I'm off to meet Nick Hewitt from the Imperial War Museum.
He's been researching the role of the convoys during this crucial stage in the war.
Hello, Nick.
Hello.
Can you tell me why it was that these ships were running the gauntlet through the English Channel just here.
This is all about strategic resources.
What we've got is things like coal that are vitally required on the south coast of England and the only, not just the easiest, but the only way to move them is by sea.
And to get there in the most efficient way possible means forcing them through this incredibly narrow, dangerous strip of water.
Between here and France.
But why not just put all this coal on lorries and take it through the inner part of Britain overland, out of sight of the German air force and out of range of coastal batteries? The land movement infrastructure, the rail and road network, can't cope with that volume of material.
The south coast ports need 40,000 tons of coal a week.
That would take more trains and more trucks than Britain has and a far better developed road and railway network than the country has at this time.
So you're saying we had the ships already.
We had the sea already.
You can't actually damage the sea unlike you can a canal or a railway line or road.
Absolutely.
So it was actually the least difficult option.
And it's Britain's lifeline.
It's the way we know.
It's how we know how to get things around.
We move things by sea because we're an island.
It's the way we've always done it.
Who were the men on these ships that were running this incredibly dangerous blockade, effectively? These were a wonderful mix of people.
The merchant ships are small, old, colliers and coastal vessels.
These are manned by the men of the merchant navy.
These are experienced sailors.
These are grizzled seafarers who'd spent their careers going around Britain's coastal waters.
Their escorts, the Royal Navy warships, are not your greyhound destroyers and big battleships.
These are things like armed trawlers, motor torpedo boats, ancients warships from the First World War.
These convoys of merchant and naval ships were part of a large supply network which sailed around our coast.
They're a forgotten navy, aren't they? It wasn't just batteries from the French side or bombers that were trying to attack them.
This point here, this narrow strip of water.
They're facing everything the Germans can throw at them.
They're facing coastal batteries of long range guns, based there on the French coast which can not only hit the convoys, but Dover! They're facing fast motor torpedo boats known as e-boats which come out at night.
They're facing, during the summer of 1940, the whole of the German air force.
Pretty much everything as they come through this narrow belt.
It wasn't called Hellfire Corner for nothing.
This was probably the most dangerous strip of water in the world in that summer of 1940.
During the Second World War, over 500 convoys, some in excess of 30 ships, sailed through the Dover Straits.
The command centre for the Straits was beneath Dover Castle, a labyrinth of underground passages and rooms which became the centre for military operations.
What happened down here remained a closely guarded secret for more than 40 years.
The Navy, the RAF and coastal artillery were all co-ordinated from plotting rooms like this, now preserved as a museum.
What's not open to the public are the tunnels below.
Margaret Kennedy was one of the Wrens working on the teleprinters sending and receiving signals vital for the deployment of the wartime convoys 60 years ago.
Oh yes, I remember this.
This are very steep stairs, Margaret.
They are steep.
Of course I was much younger, it was nothing - you could hop down here! Well this is much, much bigger than any other It's massive.
It was a big room and they had lots and lots of teleprinters.
Then we had a teleprinter switchboard which went off this room.
What were you doing down here with your teleprinter machine? We were sending signals all over the country and they would signal us.
We took them inside and gave them to the appropriate officer in charge.
Sometimes would they we in code? Sometimes they were in code.
We didn't worry about what they actually meant.
There was always someone there to do that.
We did used to know if there was a convoy coming through.
We used to try and get to the cliff edge and pray for them.
How did you know a convoy was coming past if you were sitting down? You weren't actually told but when there's a lot of people and a lot going on It gets round.
That there's a convoy out in the Channel.
Yeah, and one or two of the Wrens would maybe have a boyfriend on board one.
You know, it made it a bit Very anxious.
Oh, very, very As long as they got through that was the main thing.
This was just one of a network of command centres around the country controlling the indestructible coastal highway.
The Dover convoys may not be as well known as the Atlantic convoys.
Yet they too bore the brunt of attack.
The Nazis failed to drive them from the Straits.
The merchant seamen and their escorts became a lifeline for our nation during wartime.
The Coastguard say negotiating the England Channel is like walking across the M25.
That's how busy it is.
For the 60 people each year who attempt the challenge of the Channel swim, dodging the odd ship or three is all part of the adventure.
The first successful Channel swim was just over 130 years ago.
In 1875, merchant seaman Captain Matthew Webb toiled for 21 hours and 45 minutes to reach the coast of France.
Completing this seemingly impossible feat turned him into a superstar.
I want to know just what Webb had to go through to become a Victorian celebrity.
Greg Whyte is no stranger to training celebrity swimmers.
He coached David Walliams when he swam the Channel in 2006.
Captain Webb started by swimming in public baths and then in the Thames.
How does his preparations compare with what you did with David? The crucial element is swimming in open water.
There's a huge difference between swimming open water in the sea, even in comparison to a lake, and a lake to the pool is very different as well.
I know that Captain Webb kept himself going with things like cod liver oil and beef tea.
What did David have access to from the boat? Nutrition is everything.
You're burning so many calories when you're going across.
I guess the difference between what Captain Webb did and what we did with David is we now know that carbohydrates are the key source of energy.
So we fed very high concentrations of carbohydrates to David which is different to what Captain Webb would have done back in the late 1800s.
One thing that hasn't changed since Captain Webb first swam the Channel is greasing up.
Bodies plastered in fatty grease in preparation for the challenge ahead.
Contrary to popular belief, it's not for insulation but it might stop chafing and jellyfish stings.
Oh, great! If ferries, extreme cold and exhaustion weren't bad enough Even on a day like today it's not saying, "Join me.
" To be honest with you we can talk about this for some time and I can tell you the problems with it.
There's really only one way to get a real feel for how cold, how salty and how difficult it's gonna be.
That's for me and you to get in.
Fantastic! Let's go.
The rules on swim wear are simple, trunks, hat and goggles.
That's your lot.
There's not a lot of dignity involved in being a Channel swimmer, is there? Not a great deal, but it's the regulations.
The list of reasons not to do this goes on and on.
Tell my wife and kids I love them.
Oh! Sweet mercy! Let's get moving.
Do you know, when you splash your face in the water it feels quite cold.
But when you actually get in it's a nightmare! THEY LAUGH Let's get moving.
To where? Keep close to me.
I'm so cold I've forgotten how to swim.
Straight into shore, let's go.
I've been going 15 minutes and already I appreciate why the success rate is less than 10%.
It's so cold.
It drains every ounce of your energy.
I'm a pretty strong swimmer.
I used to be a lifeguard, but this is hard.
I'm on my back just to try and breathe and I'm only heading for Dover beach from inside the harbour walls.
That's enough for me.
The bottom two rungs are loose.
Come up, you're OK.
Get him wrapped as soon as he gets out there.
OK OK.
Grab hold of the top.
You all right? Yeah.
You've done well.
I tell you what, anyone who's ever done that Captain Webb to David Walliams and everyone in-between, I have the utmost respect for them.
That is hard.
And what of Captain Webb? That original Channel swim was the highlight of his life and the beginning of his ruin.
Despite becoming a national hero, gambling and debts meant having to perform more swimming feats for money to keep him going.
Webb cashed in on his fame, becoming a brand name well over a century before the Beckhams.
His name appeared on all manner of merchandise, everything from postcards to boxes of matches.
But he couldn't keep up with the public's appetite for ever more ambitious stunts.
He drowned trying to swim across the Niagara Falls rapids in a vain attempt to regain fame and fortune.
He was just 35 years old.
As I approach the end of my journey, it's back to what's become a familiar sight for us coasters, the white cliffs of Dover.
Solid, dependable They're just part of our extraordinary and ever-changing coastal story, a tale played out where the land meets the sea and where both meet the people around our shores .
.
the folk at the edge of our Isles.
All I want to do now is see more and hear more stories.
This is a wonderful place and I just feel proud that I'm part of it.