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Great Continental Railway Journeys - Season 9 Episode 8 - Knokke-Heist to Bruges
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00:01I'm embarking on a new series of railway journeys, exploring Europe's most
00:08beautiful and historic regions. Oh, we're about to set off.
00:14From Belgium. Oh, I'm loving this.
00:20To Hungary. Oh, this is amazing. And the islands of Sardinia.
00:29Fantastic. And Corsica.
00:34I'll enjoy nature, history, culture and fun in some of Europe's most enchanting places.
00:44I am looking forward to a tremendous railway adventure.
01:07I'm enjoying the sights and sounds of Belgium. And today I'm touring the Dutch speaking north of the country.
01:14I'll investigate a man who is instrumental in changing music.
01:18I'll check out seasonal migrants before they take flight. And I'll take a long crab ride along the coast.
01:31I took the train from London to the capital, Brussels.
01:35I've been exploring the great medieval cities of the Flanders region.
01:39And will turn south through the rolling farmland and wooded hills of Wallonia.
01:43As I travel on the extensive rail network, I'm discovering the contrast in a country of two traditions.
01:50Dutch speakers and francophones.
01:57This morning, I'm traveling to the Belgian coast in the province of West Flanders.
02:06My first stop is the seaside resort of Kanoka Heist, with seven miles of glorious sand, traditional beach huts and
02:14a classic promenade.
02:21Belgium has quite long land borders, but its access to the sea is quite limited.
02:28Its total coastline is only about 65 kilometres long,
02:31which makes this a strange place to find the world's longest coastal tramway.
02:40The service dates back to the 19th century,
02:43when this North Sea coastline first became a holiday destination.
02:49In this old tram depot, a short walk from the front,
02:52old classic carriages are renovated by heritage organization TTO Nordsee.
02:59Paul Vreelink is one of the volunteers.
03:03Paul, it's such a pleasure to be here in your workshop with so many examples of old trams.
03:09Tell me a little bit about the history of the coastal tram.
03:11Well, this started in 1885.
03:14The idea was to interconnect the villages along the coast to facilitate tourism, actually,
03:20before people had to take horse carriages over bumpy roads.
03:23But it started with a steam tram, which was quite slow and dirty,
03:29because ladies with white dresses cut out of their carriages grey.
03:33Heading to the beach.
03:34Heading to the beach.
03:35And getting covered in smut.
03:37Yeah.
03:38And so they made little electrical sidelines from the main inland line to the coast in 1910.
03:45And gradually, in the 1920s, they interconnected those little branches.
03:49And is that the line, the track, the route you have today?
03:52Exactly.
03:53Here we have a nice example of engineering.
03:57That's 1900, 1910.
03:59This type of carriage is called OB, or Stan Blankenberg,
04:02because this was the first line to be electrified from Ostend Station.
04:06So the better off could go nicely, gently in new carriages to the villas.
04:11You know, it strikes me even now as a fantastic piece of technology
04:15to think that this is much more than a century old and electric.
04:19It's very advanced.
04:20Yeah, but don't forget at that moment,
04:22Belgium was just behind England as an industrial nation
04:25and produced a lot of carriages exported to Argentina, to Egypt, to Russia at that moment.
04:34Step through the gate, and a little bit like those trains you see in the Wild West.
04:41Where you could stand outside.
04:43It must be marvellous, as a tourist, to see all the seascape go by.
04:47And then a very beautiful interior.
04:49Well, this was Porsche at that moment.
04:52Look at the little lanterns, which are the typical 1900s style.
04:56Just to bring extra light, they put this glasswork.
04:59Very pretty. And what about the seating?
05:00Instead of having those wooden seats, this is rattan,
05:04and you can have more comfort in this.
05:06Yeah, no, it's nice.
05:07And this is made for international tourism.
05:09Actually, when you look over the door, it says that it has 32 places.
05:13And even in English, forbidden to spit.
05:18I hope it says it in the other languages as well.
05:21It wasn't just the English you were talking about.
05:22No, no, no. It's the same in Dutch and in French.
05:25Phew.
05:25Because people used to have this tobacco and then spitting on the floor.
05:30Tell me about your association.
05:31It's a volunteers association, preserving and restoring the old trams,
05:37which belong to the land, Flemish Transport Company.
05:39And are you allowed to run these historic vehicles on the coastal tramway?
05:43We are allowed.
05:44We run regularly normally in summer.
05:46We also run when you have a party.
05:49So what gave you a passion for old trams?
05:52It's about the history.
05:53I took them as a little child.
05:55So I want to restrain this and pass it over to the next generation.
06:00There are currently six vintage coastal carriages
06:03being restored to their former beauty.
06:06When they're finished, they're tested on the track.
06:11We have one from the 1930s, actually.
06:14It was called the Pullman because it's so luxurious.
06:18Lovely.
06:19And behind it, you have this open summer carriage,
06:22which was used for transferring people from the railway station,
06:27the city centre, to the horse racing track, the Hippodrome.
06:31We had a lot of English tourists from the 19th century on.
06:34You have a direct shipping line from Dover to Ostend
06:37and the Hippodrome is called Wellington.
06:40After the victor of fairly nearby Waterloo.
06:47The modern tram service, Die Kustram in Dutch,
06:51is the ideal way to enjoy the coastline.
06:54You can travel from here at Kanoka Heist, close to the Dutch border,
06:59all the way to De Panne, just a couple of miles from France.
07:14Now I see what has made this line so famous.
07:17Great sandy beaches stretching down to the North Sea.
07:23Linking 15 popular resorts with an amazing 67 stops,
07:28it carries around 30 million locals and holidaymakers every year.
07:33Joining me for the ride is Julie van Hecke from tram operator Die Line.
07:38Hello.
07:39Julie.
07:40How lovely to see you.
07:41Nice to meet you.
07:42Welcome on board.
07:48Why did you join the tram company?
07:51Because in Flanders is a part of people's everyday life.
07:55I work for the lane nearly 17 years.
07:58Actually, I met my husband at the celebration of 125 years coastal tram.
08:04He drive the historical tram and I was in the organization of the events.
08:08So then we met.
08:10That's very, very nice.
08:11Very romantic.
08:12Do you feel proud to work for the longest coastal tram in the world?
08:15Of course, it really brings people together.
08:18It's a little bit the backbone of the public transportation at the coastline.
08:23On a day-to-day basis to go to work, to go to school.
08:26People use it all the time.
08:31Just three miles west along the tram route is the port at Zeebrugge,
08:36now the second largest in Europe after merging with the port of Antwerp in 2022.
08:42Zeebrugge was opened in 1907 and a new canal to the inland city of Bruges was built,
08:49substituting for the river Swin that had silted up over 400 years before.
08:56It became an important strategic location when Belgium came under German occupation in 1914.
09:04During the First World War, both the Germans and the British used their sea power
09:10to attempt to starve the enemy of imported raw materials and food.
09:15The British had the largest navy in the world and they blockaded continental ports
09:21and the Germans used their submarine fleet to sink about 5,000 merchant vessels,
09:28mainly around the British Isles and in the Atlantic.
09:30And they established a U-boat base here at Zeebrugge.
09:34In 1918, the Allies attacked Zeebrugge with the intention of sinking ships to block the port.
09:41200 Allied servicemen were killed, of whom 30 lie here in the Commonwealth war grave at Zeebrugge churchyard,
09:50and they lie opposite their fallen German foes.
09:55The raid was only moderately successful.
09:58The Germans were able to resume operations pretty quickly.
10:02But it did have a positive effect on the morale of the Royal Navy,
10:07which until then had stood accused of being over-cautious.
10:22One of the highlights of this coastline, at its far eastern end,
10:27is the Swinn Nature Reserve, which stretches over the Dutch border.
10:32Covering over 2,000 acres, the salt marshes, mud flats and brackish pools,
10:37fed by a tidal channel, are a haven for bird life,
10:41attracting over 300 species.
10:45Walter Fawetz is conducting research to learn more about their habits.
10:51Walter, how does it become a nature park?
10:54It was actually established as a nature reserve already in the 1950s,
10:59one of the first in Belgium, as a private initiative by a local count
11:03who was also a bird lover, to protect an area for the birds.
11:07And you have a lot of birds that come to visit you for a brief period?
11:10Yes, our nickname is the International Airport for Birds.
11:15With the naked eye, you can see some largeish white birds.
11:18Those are spoonbills.
11:19Ah.
11:20Here you go.
11:21Ah, thank you.
11:22Oh yes, there are lots of those, standing on one leg.
11:25Mm-hmm.
11:26And then little wading birds with red legs.
11:28Yes, the Swinn is very famous for all sorts of wading birds,
11:31and the ones with the red legs you see are redshanks.
11:37This is one of Belgium's most important bird sanctuaries.
11:41To track the migration patterns of the visiting species,
11:45Walter and his team organise a ringing programme.
11:49Tiny birds are briefly captured and catalogued,
11:53and today I'll be assisting.
11:56Oh, I'm going to be the scribe?
11:57Yes, please. That would be very helpful.
12:01Walter, you've actually trapped these birds?
12:03Yes, we have.
12:04We trap them with special nets, mist nets.
12:08We check the nets very regularly.
12:10We bring the birds here in these bags, which keeps them at ease.
12:15We put a ring around the leg of the bird, which has a unique code.
12:20What are you learning?
12:21We learn a tremendous amount of things about bird migration,
12:24where they go, do they come back.
12:27A lot of what we know about birds has been discovered
12:31in the past decades through bird ringing.
12:34Now, do you know what the little bird is yet?
12:35No.
12:36One of my colleagues took it out of the nets.
12:38It's so tiny.
12:39So I don't know what it is.
12:40The birds that we trap here at this time of the year are tiny songbirds,
12:44and this is a reed warbler.
12:46A reed warbler?
12:48Yes.
12:48This one is in its first year, so you can mark a one there,
12:52barely a few months old, born somewhere in northwestern Europe.
12:56This bird will cross the Mediterranean.
12:58It will cross the Sahara to winter in western Africa.
13:02Amazing.
13:03Now, your chart here demands a wait.
13:06That requires a little upside-down movement for the bird.
13:1212.5 grams.
13:1412.5 grams.
13:16What a tiny bird to be able to travel such distances and to survive.
13:21Yes.
13:21The wing length of this bird is 69 millimeters.
13:26He chose a perfect spot to stop for a little rest,
13:29and now we can let it go so it can continue its incredibly long trip.
13:35Bye-bye, birdie. Good luck.
13:37Why do they migrate?
13:38It has to do with food.
13:40They eat insects.
13:42The food source that is very abundant in Europe during spring and summer,
13:48but a lot less present during the winter.
13:52So these birds have to travel south to find food for the winter.
13:57What have you got there?
13:58Aha.
13:59We have another reed warbler, but this is an older bird.
14:03Hmm.
14:05At least one year old.
14:06The wingspan is 69.
14:10The weight is 13 grams.
14:13When they travel, they gain some weight.
14:15You see that these feathers here under my finger, they look worn.
14:20That is because these feathers have been grown in Africa.
14:24This bird has made the trip to West Africa and back at least one time.
14:30It's a survivor.
14:32Next.
14:33Garden warbler.
14:35Garden warbler.
14:36Yes.
14:37A little more sturdy bird.
14:38Also a first-tier bird.
14:40In their first year, young birds have a very neat, fresh plumage.
14:44Very pretty plumage, isn't it?
14:47What did you measure the wingspan at?
14:4981.
14:50Ooh.
14:51How do these little birds find their way to West Africa?
14:55It's in its genes.
14:56What makes it more extreme is that this bird makes this huge trip alone.
15:02And it travels at night because it's cooler, it's safer, there's less turbulence from wind.
15:08From what we know now, migratory birds navigate probably mostly using Earth's magnetic fields.
15:15They have special cells in their eyes that allow them to see magnetic fields.
15:21This is all the basic software that is in this bird's little head.
15:26That is amazing.
15:27It is amazing.
15:28Bon voyage.
15:33Alongside its rich bird population, the park supports a huge range of flora and fauna.
15:39Some time ago, the Flemish government's Nature and Forests Agency, along with their Dutch colleagues,
15:46completed an ambitious plan to extend and restore the habitat, converting almost 300 acres of farmland back to salt marsh.
15:56Hannah van Nieuwenhezer is one of the reserve's rangers.
16:01Hannah, we've reached a vantage point. Tell me a bit about the landscape and the environment.
16:06The problem was that the Zwin plain was silting up with sand.
16:11And because of this, everything was overgrown by the grass that is very dominant.
16:16So other special species were disappearing.
16:19We widened the Zwin inlets and the Zwin channel.
16:22We took the old dike away, and we created a new dike of about four kilometers.
16:28What difference has that made to species? What have you seen happen in this place?
16:32There is much more seawater in this wind, so four times more.
16:36So the silting up is less, and the species are recovering.
16:41And together with mowing and grazing in the area, we can restore the salt marshes and the mudlands.
16:48The great crested newt is flourishing again, and we could save the tree frog.
16:53Was the tree frog in danger?
16:55Yes, there were only ten male specimens left on our side of the border.
17:01But by clearing out the pumps and by removing tickets, we have nowadays some 5,000 specimens who are living
17:09here.
17:10That's quite a success for conservation.
17:13Yes.
17:16Although the park is protected, nature enthusiasts are invited to explore the mudflats and salt marshes on public trails.
17:25Mud, mud, glorious mud. What is the significance of this habitat?
17:31The mudflats are very important for the feeding of the birds.
17:35So the birds pick up little things to eat here?
17:38Yes, invertebrates, and that's why it's so important to restore mudflats.
17:44They are in the mud, but also in the seawater.
17:47Two times a day, the seawater comes in and out.
17:50We've got some lovely plants here. Tell me about these.
17:53This is samphire.
17:56Samphire is edible, isn't it? Do you mind if I take a little piece?
17:59No, it's good.
18:06Not surprisingly, it's very salty.
18:08Yes, it needs salt.
18:10That's lovely.
18:12Here you can see sea lavender.
18:14And thanks to the Zwin expansion, sea lavender is increasing in numbers because the silting up with sand caused the
18:24disappearance of this typical flower of the Zwin.
18:27You know what I'm struck by?
18:29Is the extraordinary tranquility of this place.
18:31Yes, it's one of the little places in Belgium where nature has the most dominant voice.
18:40And the little place is over.
18:41I can see all this in Canada from the East Highland.
18:41A beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
18:41The beautiful clothes, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
18:49The beautiful clothes, beautiful, beautiful.
19:01Thank you, my darling.
19:03I love the beautiful place.
19:04and make my way 11 miles inland.
19:08My next stop will be the city of Bruges,
19:12which enjoyed a golden age between the 12th and 15th century.
19:16It traded with the Hanseatic League across the Baltic and the North Sea.
19:22Its well-built canals and mansions.
19:25It was a pioneer of capitalism.
19:28Borrowing funds and issuing letters of credit,
19:30it may have been the first city to have a stock exchange.
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19:48With a population of almost 120,000,
19:51Bruges is the capital of West Flanders.
19:53It's known as the Venice of the North
19:56for its winding network of canals.
19:58And the entire historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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20:05In the 13th century, Bruges was the most important trading centre in Europe,
20:11with a network of commercial relationships along the rivers of the continent and across the seas.
20:18Wool was the principal commodity, woven into fine cloths for garments and tapestries.
20:25The principal suppliers were Scotland and England, but the wool market was controlled by Bruges,
20:32and here the great fortunes were made.
20:35And the legacy is the best preserved medieval city of all, with fine collections of art to be explored by
20:45canal and along narrow cobbled streets.
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20:52Over 8 million tourists flock here each year to enjoy the Flemish architecture, museums and galleries.
20:58The city is also known for its music, from classical concerts to a biennial jazz festival.
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21:23The saxophone was invented in Belgium in the 1840s.
21:27It would become a key ingredient in the sounds made by jazz bands the world over.
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21:43Johan, when is the saxophone first introduced to jazz?
21:46In the 20s in America. In the beginning you had like very small combinations with a clarinet, a cornet and
21:53a trombone.
21:54But then these ensembles got a bit bigger and they started writing arrangements.
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22:08But had some dexterity and could get a bit higher, like reaching the trumpet.
22:14So is that what musicians like about the saxophone? Its range and the virtuosity?
22:19Most certainly. But there's something else. There's the vocal quality. If you want to go very soft you can.
22:26And if you want to shout you can do that too.
22:29So what difference has the saxophone made to jazz?
22:32You could improvise and you had all these different sounds.
22:35The saxophone players were the first and the quickest to start getting better and faster and playing quieter and louder.
22:43Then the other instruments followed, like the trombone. In the beginning it was just .
22:49But after a while, when they saw what Coleman Hawkins played, they started .
22:55So they followed.
22:56Did you start with the saxophone yourself?
22:58I started with the drums. Then the trumpet. And then I played in a dance band.
23:03But then I studied flute. And just started the saxophone by accident, really. And I loved it.
23:18Just outside the city centre, I go to discover the origins of this great Belgian invention.
23:24Hi, Michael. Hello, Carl.
23:26Come in.
23:27Thank you so much. Had a lovely to see you.
23:28Welcome, welcome.
23:30Bespoke saxophone maker, Carl Hutterbarra, launched his business Adolf Sax & Company in 2012, paying homage to the instrument's creator.
23:40Oh my.
23:41Welcome.
23:42What a wonderful collection of saxophones.
23:47Tell me about the inventor.
23:49Adolf Sax was born in November 6th, 1814 in Dinant. It's the French-speaking part of Belgium.
23:55He was actually the son of music instrument maker.
23:58At a very young age, he was already making parts for clarinets, making keys for flutes.
24:02And he also became a very good musician.
24:05What led him to invent a new musical instrument?
24:08So in that time, if you wanted to earn money as a music instrument maker, you had to supply the
24:14military bands of the armies. And that was marching music.
24:18Mm-hmm.
24:18He wanted to create an instrument that had the finesse of a violin, but with the volume of a brass
24:25wind. Because if you play violin outside, the sound gets lost.
24:30May I see one of your saxophones?
24:32Yes, of course.
24:33I've never seen one close up.
24:35Oh, really?
24:35But they've always struck me as immensely complicated. There are so many valves and so many levers. How was this
24:43instrument received by the world?
24:45It was met with quite some opposition. Adolf Sax, um, he was a little bit stubborn.
24:52He had quite a big ego. He was also that good in his work that the poor work of the
25:00other music instrument makers was very visible.
25:03And they actually organized boycotts against the saxophone. It took a long time before the first composers started making music
25:11for the saxophone.
25:12Because, of course, when it was invented, no one, no one knew about Jack.
25:16No, no, of course. And that's the sad thing. Adolf Sax never got to see the birth of the music
25:22that made the saxophone really big.
25:25Moving to Paris in 1842, Sax went on to sell his instruments to the French army.
25:32But he spent much of his career defending his patents.
25:35He was declared bankrupt three times and died penniless in 1894.
25:41Today, Carle is the only saxophone maker in Belgium, crafting instruments by hand in his workshop.
25:49First of all, how did you make this shape? What's it made of?
25:53This is made out of brass and actually out of brass sheet. And then we punch the holes out of
25:59the brass tube.
26:00Big holes and spikes?
26:02Yeah, the spikes are to hold the keys.
26:05And what stage have you reached with this?
26:07These tone holes need to be perfectly flat and smooth because these are to be covered with the valves.
26:14Yeah.
26:14It has a pad and it needs to seal the tone hole perfectly.
26:18So how did you get to be a saxophone maker?
26:21When I started playing saxophone, a few years later, I had an accident and I broke my back.
26:26A saxophone is carried on a strap around your neck and the pressure was too much for my vertebra and
26:32I couldn't play anymore.
26:33So I decided to take apart my own saxophone and I was intrigued by the technicality.
26:39This is Adolf Saxon Company?
26:41Yes, right.
26:42But you're not descended from Adolf Saxon.
26:43I'm not a descendant. There are no more relatives alive.
26:47So I decided to buy the rights to the name and revive the Belgian saxophone industry.
26:53And you feel that you make saxophones of the quality and with the passion that you're worthy to bear the
26:59name?
26:59Well, I try to.
27:13For a country with such a short coastline, Belgium certainly makes the most of what it has.
27:19With pretty resorts and great views from the coastal tram.
27:25Migrating birds are as attracted as tourists.
27:29And the Germans saw the advantage of building a submarine base at Zeebrugge.
27:34During two world wars, the U-boats made the Atlantic a formidable barrier for Allied merchant ships to cross.
27:43By contrast, the wind instrument invented by Adolf Saxe traversed the ocean with ease.
27:50And without it, American jazz as we know it simply couldn't be.
27:59Next time...
28:01Tell me about the conduct of the Belgians in Congo.
28:05The violence was excessive even by the standards of the time.
28:09Perhaps five million Congolese lost their lives.
28:13This is absolutely astonishing.
28:15Engineering on the grand scale.
28:18Does this make you very happy?
28:19Yeah, of course.
28:21Now the cannon is ready to be fired.
28:23Industrial calorbs!
28:24Take control!
28:52Attention
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