- 4 months ago
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00:00Early morning sea with the sun glistening on it, like a warm bath.
00:21Morning.
00:22This little corner of Kent is my secret, or at least it was, till you popped up.
00:33Everyone knows me round here, even the thunderbugs which are all over me.
00:39They're running out having some fun and looking at the view like me.
00:43I come here quite often to gather me thoughts because of the peace and tranquillity of this place.
00:51There's no turmoil out there.
00:55Starting my walk north of Littleston, I'll be heading south,
00:59passing Greatstone Beach and its sandy dunes.
01:02Then we stop at the mysterious Denge sound mirrors
01:06and onwards to Dungeness via the light railway train.
01:10Finishing my walk with a pint on the beach.
01:17I can't take these flies anymore!
01:21I've gone up my nose now.
01:25It's great to be back here and explore this wonderful, strange place.
01:33But there's always something new.
01:35I love it round here.
01:37It's going to be a lovely walk.
01:43Normally doing this sort of thing, I'd have a film crew around me, following me, bothering me all the time.
01:47But now I've got this fabulous 360 degree camera.
01:52Hello.
01:53Which means I can stroll along, talk to people, ask them questions.
01:59Who knows?
02:00What could possibly go wrong?
02:02The sun on me face, wind in me hair, my long lustrous hair.
02:15Beautiful.
02:16What's going on here?
02:22I think that's got some kind of connection with Hollywood.
02:29I think Hollywood stars used to stay there in its heyday.
02:33In the thirties, this place was probably pretty high end, you know, show busy.
02:48It's got that kind of vibe, a feel of kind of wealth and almost like strange suburbia.
02:57It's suburbia on the sea.
03:01I love walking.
03:02I've been a walker since I was, since I could walk.
03:06And I love walking.
03:08I love walking and looking at things.
03:11I like looking at that bloke in his van.
03:18I like looking at those gulls and those groins.
03:22And why does that house look strange?
03:25I think that's what I like about walking more than anything.
03:28I'm just a nosy parker.
03:31Looking at things is the best thing ever.
03:33They should probably teach looking as a lesson at school.
03:37Because people don't look as much as they should.
03:46There's such an eclectic mix of building styles.
03:50And then you've got that fabulous place.
03:52I was going to walk straight along the coast.
04:06But I think I'm going to have to explore down there.
04:11So it's over the wall for me.
04:13I hope they've got a lift.
04:18If I lived in there, I think the first thing I'd do is put a lift in it.
04:33Good morning.
04:34Morning.
04:35It's a lovely day for a walk.
04:36It is, isn't it?
04:37I was just looking at all the buildings and they're all really different styles, aren't they?
04:41This was, I tried to be the English Riviera back in the day.
04:46I can tell.
04:47It's a weird sort of suburban, like, glory.
04:50My father was at the power station, Dungeness A.
04:53Yeah.
04:54I went to the local schools and then came back here as a junior engineer.
04:58What, at Dungeness?
04:59I was at Dungeness.
05:00What was your job there?
05:01Well, I was the manager on the B station.
05:04Really?
05:05So you ran the whole of the power station?
05:07Yeah.
05:08It was mine.
05:09It was an interesting, challenging job.
05:11I bet it was.
05:12Not that it's going to ever blow up, but what would happen if it did?
05:16You wouldn't get Chernobyl.
05:17It wouldn't be Chernobyl.
05:18Well, Chernobyl is physically impossible in an English reactor.
05:23I'm glad.
05:24Absolutely, yeah.
05:25I mean, the amount of effort we put in to keep these things safe is incredible.
05:30Yeah.
05:31I really do like it around here.
05:33It's got a strange feeling.
05:35Anyway, I've got to get on my way.
05:36Have a good walk.
05:37Thank you very much.
05:38Bye.
05:41Right, I've gone off track.
05:43I can't nose around looking at properties all day.
05:45I've got to stride along the seaside.
05:56It is a beautiful day for walking.
05:59It's warm, I'd say.
06:01For me, hot.
06:02But there's a really nice cool breeze.
06:10There's amazing flowers out here.
06:15I wish I knew about plants.
06:17I know plenty about birds and wildlife.
06:19Plants I'm not that good on.
06:22Let's have a look at these.
06:31I like those.
06:34In amongst this stuff.
06:40So soft, like a tiny young mouse.
06:42Actually, you could tell someone that was a little mouse.
06:45Look, I've got a little mouse in my hand.
06:46Look.
06:47Look at that.
06:49It's moving.
06:51You could frighten a little child.
06:52Or startle a little child.
06:55And mesmerise them.
06:56Let's have a look at this.
06:58Sea kale.
07:03It's pretty much like cabbage.
07:06Not bad.
07:08The last one I had was horrible.
07:12It's probably got dog pee on it.
07:16Now let's get over here and see if we can see some beach.
07:18The sound of children, to me, is the sound of greatness.
07:31To some people it's an irritant, but I think it's a great sound.
07:34Oh my.
07:47Something about walking along hard, flat sand.
07:53Things are small to my face.
07:55Just go whatever pace you want.
08:04You could close your eyes and walk.
08:07And I'm going to.
08:09But not before this contraption comes hurtling past.
08:12Because I walk in front of it.
08:14Clip, clip, clip, clip, clip, clip, clip, clip, clip, clip, clip, clip, clip.
08:25Oh.
08:27It's got quite a lick.
08:29Now I'm going to walk.
08:31Eyes closed.
08:33Knowing full well.
08:35That I'm not going to bump into anything.
08:38And even though I'm doing it.
08:42There's trepidation and nervousness.
08:45It is a weird thing.
08:49And it makes you laugh because...
08:52Even though you know you're perfectly safe.
08:58And I know I'm veering.
09:02And, oh God!
09:04Look at that!
09:05I went right off track.
09:09Even on a flat beach like this, danger can lurk.
09:15He's going for it now, isn't he?
09:18Hello.
09:19Right.
09:21What are you poking about for?
09:23Oh, a lug worm.
09:25Yeah.
09:26Beauties.
09:28They're horrific, aren't they?
09:30Last me about two days on the beach, I suppose.
09:32Oh, you suck them up through the pump?
09:34Yeah, bait pumps, yeah.
09:36You find a worm cast, stick that in the ground.
09:39Like that.
09:40And the worm comes up?
09:41Before the worm knows what's hit it, he's up the tube.
09:43That's a really simple thing, isn't it?
09:44I would guess it was a plumber that invented it.
09:46Because it's just plumbing fishes.
09:47Well, it is, isn't it?
09:48Yeah.
09:49The millionaire plumber.
09:51Well...
09:53There's no rich bait diggers down here.
09:55So what are you going to do with those now?
09:56Put them in the fridge, don't let the wife know, and then...
09:59Yeah, cook them and eat them.
10:00And then go fishing later on at Dungeness.
10:03They're horrible to look at, if you don't want to say.
10:05Oh, yeah. Yeah, they are.
10:07It's quite horrific.
10:09They cover you in a dye as well.
10:11There's a yellow dye that's the reason I'm wearing gloves.
10:13Really?
10:14Yeah.
10:15But when you touch the worm, it's like yellow iodine
10:17and it gets in your skin.
10:20What is iodine?
10:21I don't know, I'm not a chemist.
10:24Bright yellow, vivid yellow, like a bald marker.
10:27Then after an hour, it goes black.
10:29So if you were trying to hide him in the fridge away from your wife,
10:31she'd still know what you were up to?
10:33Yeah, you know what I'm up to, yeah.
10:35Stick with it.
10:36Yeah, I'll try.
10:37I think I've seen him in horror films with teeth,
10:44which I believe they have,
10:46and they eject iodine.
10:49And I've rolled about in those mudflats
10:51in the rotting vegetation
10:54amongst the lugworms in the past,
10:56covering meself in a thick layer of mud.
11:01Little did I know
11:02what hell lurks neath the slime.
11:11Ah, civilisation.
11:14This is what it would have been like
11:16when cavemen came out of the desert
11:20into civilisation.
11:21A great place here to look for birds.
11:42This is an ideal spot.
11:51I love this.
11:52I love this kind of place.
11:59Reed beds just get me going.
12:03Reed warblers.
12:05Reed bunting.
12:07Bearded tits.
12:08Whenever I'm out,
12:09every time I'm out,
12:10I'm birdwatching,
12:11and I always have done,
12:12when I was young.
12:13That's what people did.
12:14People like me,
12:15who lived in the country,
12:16used to look at birds.
12:17Look at wildlife.
12:18It's never really left me.
12:20It's just seeing wildness.
12:23Seeing something happenin' before your very eyes.
12:25And things that are unexpected,
12:28you can't predict them.
12:30You can't say,
12:32I'm going here to see this bird,
12:36because they're more than likely not going to be there.
12:39And things that are unexpected,
12:40you can't predict them.
12:41You can't say,
12:42I'm going here to see this bird,
12:45because they're more than likely not going to be there.
12:47likely not going to be there. It's also like the hunt, isn't it, I think, maybe?
12:56Hunting the look, the look, to see if you can see it.
13:10Look at these things. I'm going to have to start looking more closely
13:17the flora.
13:21I'm going to get a book of flat marsh flowers because I just really don't know enough about
13:28what they are. But I want to know all the flowers as well. What are these up to here?
13:40Oh, hiya. What are you looking for? Bumblebees. Bees? Yeah, bumblebees, the big fluffy furry ones.
13:46Yeah, yeah. Do you want to see some? We've got some in our bag. Yeah.
13:49So, I'm going to show you a magic trick that I always love to show children as well.
13:55Well, you've been good at that.
13:59Ta-da! I don't get stung.
14:02Well, she's not going to sting you because she's going to die.
14:04No, it's because it's a male. It's only actually females that can sting. But I wouldn't recommend
14:10picking them up unless, of course, you know the difference between females and females. But do you
14:13want to give them a stroke? Can you feel that vibration? Oh, yeah.
14:18Yeah. It vibrates. It's like an elastic band.
14:21Yeah, what is that? So, in this part here, which is the thorax,
14:26that is packed full of wing muscles. Bees can beat their wing muscles 200 beats per minute.
14:33So, they vibrate them. So, they're in a constant state of vibration.
14:36They're in a constant state of vibration and they're older to mate and then they die. So,
14:40it's actually quite short and sweet for our males. They live for about two weeks.
14:45But I'll let him go. Well, yeah, if he's going to perish. He's got to find a queen soon.
14:49Yeah. But I've got another, which we call a cuckoo, because this is quite exciting, this one.
14:56Do you want to have a go? Hang on. Have I got him? I've got too many things in me.
15:02Oh, there you are. There he is. Oh, you're the bee whisperer.
15:06So, males can't sting. Yeah. So, only females can sting. But
15:10bumblebees don't die when they sting you either. It's only honeybees that die when they sting you.
15:14Shall I give him a blow? Yeah. Oh, there he goes for his final few hours.
15:20Final few hours. Hopefully, he's found a female or can find one soon. I hope so.
15:25Thanks very much. Cheers. Thank you. Bye. Bye.
15:28This shingle actually makes you walk in a most undignified manner.
15:42Like, I don't know, like a constipated duck.
15:45Oh, and there we are. Look. The first glimpse.
15:58It's quite eerie. Suddenly, the breeze seems a lot colder.
16:18I mean, they're phenomenal. They really, like,
16:20take your breath away with the brutalism of them.
16:31So, up there, there'd be a microphone on that microphone stand.
16:37Someone would sit there listening. Oh, is there an echo then?
16:42Hoi! There is. That's weird, isn't it? Listen. Hoi, hoi!
16:50It sounds like it's coming from over there.
16:53It's an oyster catcher. I think.
16:56And it's getting echoed in the sound mirror.
16:59She's saying, clear off.
17:06Clear off.
17:09And the big daddy is over there.
17:17It's really mysterious and kind of creepy.
17:21Imagine the people who were here, stationed here.
17:24But this was built for war.
17:27By people, by a nation, expecting war after the First World War.
17:31And probably thinking there's another war coming.
17:38Look at that.
17:39The beauty and the horror.
17:43Some people don't like brutalist architecture.
17:48I actually love it.
17:50It's quite breathtaking.
17:52All of a sudden, you come around a corner and then you're
17:55hitting the face with that.
17:58Big brutalist sculpture.
18:00A monolith.
18:02An ode to cement.
18:12It's so strange.
18:17The audio effects.
18:18Even weirder for me, I've only got hearing in one ear.
18:24I went deaf just before Christmas.
18:28In December 2020.
18:31Just went off.
18:32The hearing just went off.
18:34Like that.
18:36And it turns out I've got a vestibular schwannoma,
18:40which is a benign tumour in me head,
18:43which has severed the nerves between hearing in my ear and my brain.
18:49And it'll never come back again.
18:51But you get used to things.
18:53I'm 100% deaf in me left ear.
18:55But I'm still enjoying this hearing experience here.
19:07There goes a reed warbler.
19:08And those little birds are a testament to courage and strength.
19:14Imagine every year those little tiny, tiny, fragile birds fly from Africa to get to here.
19:23Through wind and rain and sleep and snow and heat.
19:27And then just landing here in Kent.
19:32Adventure Lit Their Star by Kenneth Alsop is about
19:35about three Little Ring's plovers which have done that journey.
19:43He says,
19:46As the hordes neared the Kentish coast, a drop in height began.
19:50As each wave reached a point less than a mile from the cliffs,
19:54it slanted down out of the moon-illuminated space
19:58and through the filminess of the stratus.
20:01The swifts dropped through like volleys of black boomerangs,
20:05and flattened out to a fast swooping approach,
20:09through the darkness of rain and sea spray,
20:12towards the indistinct expanse of sea,
20:15heaving against the toe-cap headland in explosions of froth.
20:21Long tattered rhythms of water,
20:24hung momentarily in the air,
20:27before splattering back in a turmoil of creamy lace.
20:32Beautiful poetry.
20:35Here she comes,
20:42the 6-5 special,
20:44thundering down the tracks.
20:46Here she comes,
20:48the 6-5.
20:50Oh!
20:52Hoot hoot!
21:00Oh, what a glorious smell!
21:04What a smell!
21:06That's fantastic!
21:07It's minutely magnificent.
21:21I think we're getting off.
21:22Seagull's going mad waiting for excess sandwich.
21:25So I'm on this one.
21:30I like this.
21:45This is really cool.
21:46It's like being a giant.
21:52All aboard!
21:53Oh, off we go.
21:58Oh, off we go.
21:59Oh, off we go.
22:01Well it's nice to get the old plates up. Plates of meat. What could be nicer? Feet up on
22:29an old steam train. Nice cool breeze and a glance into people's kitchen windows.
22:59Oh hello, oh, oh help us. There's Dungeonhead coming into view. Looks great that in it, in the mist. Like Camelot, nuclear Camelot.
23:18It's a strange place here, but I love it. Look at that, billowing washing. Excellent.
23:29It's kind of a mysterious sea threat. A mist.
23:38How do you do? Very well with yourself. Good. That smells fantastic. Gets in your lungs, doesn't it?
23:56Do you ever tire of that smell? No, never. Never. It's great, isn't it? How long have you been doing this?
24:01About eight years. I've been driving for about three years now. Oh, what did you do before? Postman. And then wife got a cushy job, so.
24:08Is this the best job ever? Can't beat it, can you? It looks great. It looks fantastic. Yeah, brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
24:16You do everything. You stoke the boilers and do the whole lot. You do everything all by yourself, yeah.
24:20Let's just have a look how fantastic this is. It is quite beautiful, isn't it? Do ladies find it as beautiful as men?
24:34No, weirdly not. What is it? Now, why is it that I find that really? I think that's quite a very beautiful thing.
24:44Can't be beat. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. See you. Bye.
24:56Look at the sea fret. Look at that. That's incredible. That is really quite beautiful.
25:03That gets me going. The fog just willowing around. A bit more eeriness. It's the fog on. There's a bit of a timid fog on. I like a really good thruster.
25:20Do you know, I think a good, a good strong walk, you can get it together in your mind.
25:35And looking at things, looking at things every day, is a great razor of the spirits.
25:43It makes you feel good. It's a dopamine. For me, the dopamine for me, is a power stroll through a strange landscape.
26:01To no particular conclusion.
26:13That's the oyster catcher.
26:23Peep. Peep.
26:26Hoot.
26:31Hoot.
26:35Hoot.
26:36Hoot.
26:40And the mist billows and flows across the desert.
26:49This is the stuff.
26:57This is the stuff that makes me very happy.
26:59I've walked a long way and I can feel it, my feet ache, my legs ache, my back aches,
27:16my arms ache. It's the best feeling in the world and it's such a good ache. And I think
27:28if you've been out and you learn something every time you go for a walk, and I have learnt
27:34things, I've been talking to people and I've seen things that I didn't see before, the final
27:43stride across the shingle. This looks like a nice bench. I never need to get reconnected
27:57to nature because I've never been unconnected. Three days a week I'm out in the wild, in
28:08landscape that gives me a kick, gets me going. I'll never be unconnected. And there's nothing
28:19better at the end of a long walk than fish and chips and a pint of beer.
28:26And a pint of beer.
28:33Brits of beer.
28:46Brits of beer.
28:50Brits of beer.
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