Coast -- The Netherlands

[Weyland]

BBC2 at 21:00, Coast of The Netherlands.

A unique and awesome coast is the Dutch coast.

There's a saying they have over there — God made the world, but the Dutch made Holland.

I hope they show this — the floodgates which protect Rotterdam in the event of conditions such as happened in 1953, when a large part of Holland (and eastern England) was flooded and thousands died. They won't let it happen again. (We haven't done much though. No bonuses or share options in that kind of investment. Very unBritish.)





I was there last Wednesday. The Stormvloedkering. One gate on each bank, just upstream of Hoek van Holland. Vast structures, they are.

[aubrey]

The Dutch are mad
Their fingers stuck in dikes

They use the wrong side of the road

And ride around on bikes


They don't have any manners,
don't have any brains.

There's only one race worse than them
and that's... THE DANES!

[aubrey]

Actually, they're great. Did you see that J Meades programme about N Europe that was on 2-3 years ago? He's got that saying about the Dutch making their land in it; but it's also got a lot of other wonderful stuff.

1st part here:

[everso]

When Mr. E. and I were first married we lived on Canvey Island in Essex (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canvey_Island) In 1953, 58 people died when Canvey was flooded. We lived there for 7 years but moved after the IRA planted a bomb on an oil terminal on the island (hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1979/jan/18/bomb-incidents). Eff me. We heard it go off and I thought it was someone slamming their garage door shut!

It's slowly gone downhill since we left (obviously).