OVER the past few years, Adrian Edmondson has become arguably ITV’s most likeable travel presenter, whether pottering around the UK cooking assorted dishes for Ade in Britain, or revelling in the best bits of Yorkshire for his series The Dales.

In the second episode of Ade at Sea, in which he explores our island nation’s harbours and ports, he sets sail for the Thames Estuary, once the most important trading route in the world.

His journey begins at one of Britain’s most historically-important sites, Chatham Dockyards. For more than four centuries, the Royal Navy’s ships were built there and provided work for thousands of men and women, including carpenters and flag and rope-makers.

He meets master rope-maker Fred Cordier, and discovers how rope-makers played a key part supporting the Navy’s fleet of warships, including Nelson’s HMS Victory. He also gets a demonstration of how rope is made.

Long ropes need long buildings, so little wonder our host is amazed by the quarter-of-a-mile long double rope house.

It’s designed to make a 720ft British standard naval rope.

Much of the machinery is 150 to 200 years old. And in an age when computers and robots remove the human touch from a lot of other manufacturing, it’s endearing to see such an old-school method still being used. Leaving Chatham, Edmondson heads down the estuary on his small craft Elvin. This 1937 vessel is worthy of its own show, as it was involved in rescuing the British Army at Dunkirk.

He discovers how this waterway will become a route to London Gateway, Britain’s largest deep-sea super port.

Enormous new cranes will cope with the supersized boats of the future.

After a few minutes on the simulator (which looks like the best video game ever), he takes hold of a super crane’s controls. Finally, he boards the Cabby, the last wooden traditional Thames sailing barge built in Britain. Charlie McLaren, Cabby’s competitive owner, and his crew partake in a sailing match that goes back more than 140 years.

However, disaster strikes when a sail rope snaps. Edmondson narrowly avoids injury, but one of the crew is hurt.