Coastal Stories

The shipping forecast turned 97 on January 1st 2021. In this final episode of the second series of Coastal Stories Charlie Connelly sums up what makes this iron horse of the broadcasting schedule so special.  Treat Coastal Stories here: https://ko-fi.com/coastalstories

In 1849 American author Herman Melville was in London looking for a publisher. He'd just turned thirty and was wearing a strange green coat. By Christmas he was ready to go home to the US, his literary career on its uppers, but an idea forming for a novel about a vengeful whale.

In 1931 the bigwigs of Morecambe decided to cheer up the town by making a giant Christmas pudding, a monster twenty feet in circumference weighing in at half a ton. This wasn't just any giant Christmas pudding, however. This was a giant Empire Christmas pudding, designed to showcase Britain's global influence. On puddings. In Morecambe.  Buy Coastal Stories a Christmas pint - or even a first birth...

There's a truncated pier at Skegness these days and no hint of the theatre that used to stand out there above the waves, or the 75 foot tower from which Frank 'Peggy' Gadsby, the one-legged pier diver, would perform dives that thrilled holiday crowds. An elegy for a theatre, a pier and one of its favourite sons.  https://ko-fi.com/coastalstories

It's tiny, you can barely stand up on it, it's smack bang in the middle of nowhere and the seabirds of the North Atlantic use it as a toilet. Nevertheless Rockall, stalwart of the shipping forecast, was still conquered in 1811 by the British Royal Navy and by the extraordinary man who lent his name to its only tangible feature.  Buy Charlie's book of his adventures around the shipping forecast her...

On the coast of Northern Ireland stands a curious building, apparently on the point of toppling into the North Atlantic at any moment. It's the last relic of an 18th Century scandal involving a remarkable bishop. A really remarkable bishop. You can support Coastal Stories here: https://ko-fi.com/coastalstories Charlie's book 'The Channel', meeting all your Christmas gift needs: https://uk.bookshop...

The coast has always had an attraction for hermits. The wide horizon, the sense of being at the end of somewhere, it's no surprise those seeking solitude away from the world have turned their backs on land to face the sea. Is it the romantic existence it seems? Listen to the stories of three coastal hermits and judge for yourself.  Buy Coastal Stories a pint here: https://ko-fi.com/coastalstories...

The St Kilda archipelago, far out in the north Atlantic way beyond the Western Isles of Scotland, was cut off entirely from the world for nine long, lonely months every year. During that time the islanders would trust letters and messages to the waves on the 'St Kilda mail boat'.  Support Coastal Stories here: https://ko-fi.com/coastalstories Some of Charlie's favourite maritime books: https://uk....

15 year old Ethel Langton lived in a sea fort off the Isle of Wight where her father was the keeper of its lighthouse. When a fearsome storm hit while her parents were ashore, stranding her alone for three days at the mercy of the gales, the welfare of the Solent's mariners lay entirely in her hands.  Support Coastal Stories here: https://ko-fi.com/coastalstories Check out Charlie's books here: ht...

Ghostal Story #3: In the summer of 1918 an American submarine cruising off the southern coast of Ireland witnessed the mysterious demise of a German U-Boat. In fact its ending was probably the least mysterious thing about a vessel that many said was cursed from the start.  https://ko-fi.com/coastalstories

Ghostal Story #2: Arctic expeditions, transatlantic trade runs: the Lady of Avenel had already had a wealth of adventures before a furniture magnate turned her into his luxury yacht. Then things got... weird. https://ko-fi.com/coastalstories

Ghostal Story #1: After a stormy Atlantic crossing in 1874 a sailor roamed Greenock desperate to find a new ship. There was no way he was going back on the Harewood .  https://ko-fi.com/coastalstories

When 'John Bardoe' was cornered by police on a chandlery roof at St Katherine's Dock in the summer of 1859 it led to a court case that revealed a heartbreaking story of slavery and human degradation. This episode of Coastal Stories, in Black History Month, revives the tale of a forgotten life and restores the dignity, if nothing else, of a man's name.  https://ko-fi.com/coastalstories

One day during the 1860s an old man walked into a Norfolk photographer's studio and sat down warily in front of the camera. Behind the defiant eyes staring down the lens lay quite a story, encompassing some of the greatest moments in history and literature.  https://ko-fi.com/coastalstories

When two men ran naked into the women's bathing room on Margate sands in September 1801 people feared it was either the start of a French invasion or, worse, swimmers from Ramsgate. A hilarious dive into the pomposity of Georgian morals and a hint of the very real fear at the time that Napoleon was about to show up armed to the teeth.  https://ko-fi.com/coastalstories

In 1841 a man sailed into a harbour in the remote northwest of Scotland and never left, living happily as part of the community. When he died many years later locals realised they knew nothing about his life before he arrived. But a deathbed confession had revealed the secret of John MacLeod.  https://ko-fi.com/coastalstories

When William Miller, ship owner and timber merchant of Saltcoats, Ayrshire, died with his business affairs in disarray people predicted the workhouse for his daughters. They reckoned without the remarkable Betsy Miller, Britain's first woman sea captain.  https://ko-fi.com/coastalstories

Of the millions of oysters consumed in London every year during the early 19th century a considerable number were swallowed by the notorious Dando, the Oyster Eater. Class warrior or glutton? You decide.  https://ko-fi.com/coastalstories

In the 1970s kids at the Blackrock sea baths in Dublin would be awestruck by an old man executing dives of exquisite grace and elegance from the highest board. He was the remarkable Eddie Heron, the greatest Irish sportsman you've never heard of.  https://ko-fi.com/coastalstories

Love is great name for a king, and King Love Pritchard of Bardsey Island was a monarch like no other. 

For the last episode in the current series, the story of an English Channel tragedy and a pilgrimage to visit one of its victims. 

When Eric Smith set out to save mankind it was via an epic voyage in a small boat. With three young women. None of whom were his wife. 

A childhood encounter with a Chicago tramcar made Charles 'Zimmy' Zibelman one of the most extraordinary people ever to attempt an English Channel swim. 

In 1876 a man arrived in Dover announcing a Channel crossing that would change the world. Some people scoffed. Then Bismarck got involved.