The BBC is reawakening the nation's love affair with its coastal heritage
in an entertaining and ambitious exploration of the entire UK coastline,
as part of the Trafalgar 200 commemorations and SeaBritain 2005.
In 13 programmes on BBC TWO, starting in July, Coast
celebrates the unique character of the UK's coastal communities - exploring
a wealth of fascinating human stories through a mixture of expert comment,
contemporary storytelling and computer-generated images.
This is the coast as it has never been seen before. A team of history
and geography experts will investigate everything from life on a nuclear
submarine; rebuilding the Titanic using computer images; the story behind
the first Butlins holiday camp; and the birth of the Severn Bore.
The experts presenting the series are: Nicholas Crane,
a geographer, writer and presenter of BBC TWO's Map Man series; Neil
Oliver, a journalist and historian who co-presented Two Men in
a Trench; Dr Alice Roberts, a qualified medical doctor
and an expert in anatomy and human bones; Miranda Krestovnikoff,
a zoologist and presenter on BBC, Channel 4 and UKTV history series covering
subjects as diverse as metal detecting, local history and marine conservation;
and Mark Horton, an archaeologist and presenter of Time
Flyers.
Coast is a co-production with the Open University (OU), who are providing
expert knowledge and advice on the various subjects covered in the series.
To tie in with Coast, 39 Discover Your Coast walks are being made available
for the public to take part in. These equate to one walk per coastal BBC Where I live site.
Of the
39 walks, 12 - Portsmouth, Plymouth, Falmouth, Cardiff, Caernarfon, Liverpool,
Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Whitby, Hull, Great Yarmouth - are mobile
phone interactive walks, enabling people to receive information on what
they are seeing via their mobile phones.
At six of these locations, there are guided walk events taking place
across the summer, led by the Coast presenters and Open University academics.
Coast Series Editor, Gill Tierney, says: "We hope that as a result of
this TV programme, the coastal walks, and the events taking place across
the country, families will
re-discover the coast of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
"Coast is the opportunity for people to discover a wealth of fascinating
stories and see the coastline in a completely new way."
OU academic Joe Smith adds: "The Open University has chosen to be involved
with Coast as it's a treasure trove of learning opportunities.
"Many people's interest will be triggered by this programme, and
the OU can provide a way forward for those people to learn more on the
issues that have captured their interest and imagination."
There is also a book, to accompany the series, which is an illustrated
celebration of the UK's coastal areas.
Coast - the book - is both a tour of the UK's coastline and also a practical
guide to all that the coast has to offer. It is published by BBC Books
on 14 July.
Coast: programme by programme
Programme one: The South Coast - Dover to Exmouth
Programme two: South West England - Exmouth to Bristol
Programme three: South Wales - Bristol to Cardigan Bay
Programme four: North Wales - Aberystwyth to the Dee
Programme five: North West England - Liverpool to the Solway
Firth
Programme six: Northern Ireland - The Northern Ireland
Coast
Programme seven: Western Scotland - The Coast and Western
Isles
Programme eight: Northern Scotland - Cape Wrath to Orkney
Programme nine: Eastern Scotland - John O'Groats to Berwick-upon-Tweed
Programme ten: North East England - Berwick-upon-Tweed
to Robin Hood's Bay
Programme 11: Eastern England - Robin Hood's Bay to The
Wash
Programme 12: South East England - The Wash to Dover
Programme 13: Coast - the Summary
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