In the first episode, Robson travels to North Devon, a 90-mile stretch of coast that holds fond childhood memories for him. And it's here that Robson starts his adventures by visiting the popular seaside resort of Ilfracombe, a town that stills attracts thousands of visitors every summer to experience the classic British day out by the sea. He discovers that the demand of our Victorian ancestors to be beside the seaside was so great that they would often go to extraordinary lengths to access the best places to soak up the sun, including some of the areas privately-owned tidal pools, with the steep cliffs offering the perfect shelter for bathing. However, back then they could only be accessed by boat, so in the 1820s, hundreds of Welsh miners were given the task of carving a network of tunnels through the cliffs, to open the pools up to the public. There, Robson also discovers something called the ‘bathing machine', a Victorian invention designed to avoid any embarrassing swimwear mishaps whilst changing. Robson also sees how the craggy rocks and high tidal ranges make the perfect habitat for marine life. After a night under canvas, Robson's North Devon adventure continues as he takes a boat ride 10-miles southwest of Bideford, to the port of Clovelly, a village that evokes the character and atmosphere of a bygone age. With its cobbled streets and 13th century harbour, Clovelly has featured in period films like Sense and Sensibility and Treasure Island, but little did Robson know that after his arrival in this quiet seaside village, he was about to be involved in a moment of high drama and a real-life rescue mission… Robson also visits the island of Lundy, lying 12-miles off the North Devon coast, and one of the UK's most wild and unspoiled islands, where nature has been left to flourish. Within its one-and-a-half square miles are dramatic cliffs, acres of farmland and a spectacular array of wildlife, and just getting to Lundy is an adventure in it
In this episode, Robson visits one of the most exciting and dramatic stretches of coastline in Britain as he explores the hidden coves and remote islands of Pembrokeshire in South-West Wales, and meets up with his old friend Jerome Flynn.
Robson travels to the wild and remote coastline of the Outer Hebrides and discovers how an unpredictable climate has given these islands an identity and way of life of their own. At the ancient village of Gearrannan, Robson tries his hand at weaving Harris Tweed in a traditional crofter's blackhouse, with mixed results, and on the Isle of Lewis he goes snorkelling for sugar kelp, used to flavour the local gin. He also camps on the beach at Luskentyre, and on the Isle of Barra helps out at the airport, where the beach doubles as its only runway.
Robson’s tour of the UK's coastal landscape concludes as he visits Essex and Suffolk, beginning with the salt marshes of the Blackwater Estuary, where he tries to run the route of the Maldon Mud Race. At Clacton-on-Sea, Robson reunites a group of Mods and Rockers, who previously made headlines via a dramatic clash on the resort town's beach in 1964. He also takes in Orford Ness, a giant shingle spit that once served as a top-secret military base, and played a vital role in Britain's defence in both World Wars, and in Southwold he meets the owners of some of Britain's most sought-after beach huts.