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Episode details

Radio 4,22 Mar 2023,28 mins

Sunderland Point, Morecambe

The Patch

Available for over a year

One random postcode, and a story you probably haven't heard before. Sunderland Point near Morecambe is unique. It's the only mainland place in the UK which gets cut off twice a day by the tide washing over its only access road. The village has been here since the 1700s - it was the original port in the area before Lancaster was built, and it is steeped in history. There are things about living here which are a step back in time, too. There's no gas supply - so there's a culture of competitive drift wood collecting. There are no shops, no pubs, just a public toilet block which the 50 villagers all look after on a rota, and a reading room where they can get together. But what the village does have is a 15-strong shanty crew - "a raucous rowdy bunch who love a drink... and singing at the tops of our lungs". When producer Polly arrives in the village to meet the shanty crew, she stumbles into a moment of change. Trevor, the Sunderland Point Sea Shanty Crew's co-founder, has just moved to the other end of the tidal road, with his wife Margaret. "We almost regard Trevor and Margaret as the mother and father of Sunderland Point" - this is the story of why they decided to leave, and what happens next. Produced and presented by Polly Weston in Bristol Editor: Chris Ledgard A BBC Audio Wales and West Production

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