00:00In the bustling tapestry of Britain, where centuries-old traditions blend seamlessly with modern life,
00:05there exists individuals who march to the beat of their own drum.
00:10Meet the inventors, the dreamers and the eccentrics, whose daily lives are anything but conventional,
00:15as we showcase the vibrant eccentricity that colours the landscape of British culture.
00:21Unconventional Brits invites you to step into the worlds of local legends,
00:25celebrating the delightful diversity that makes Britain truly extraordinary.
00:30Young people doing amazing things this week.
00:36A golfer, a racing driver and some seagull impersonators.
00:43This has been his whole thing since he was little.
00:46Like, his first words were car-car.
00:49He wanted every ride on.
00:50He wanted speed, anything to do with danger, anything to do with vehicles.
00:57He used to love messing about with his dad's vehicles and the garage and things like that.
01:00So he's, it's always been a thing for Charlie.
01:05It was inevitable, actually, when you look back on it.
01:07Hi, I'm Charlie Benson.
01:09I'm 15 years old and I'm a go-carter from the north-east of England.
01:14My aim's to be a Formula One driver.
01:17So you have cart-ins where you generally start off and then you go to Formula Four, Three, Two and then hopefully ultimately Formula One.
01:25We got him some electric ride-ons.
01:27He then progressed through those.
01:29They weren't fast enough.
01:31We got him into some petrol buggies.
01:34Went all over the place with them.
01:36I started eight years old but not fully competitive.
01:40And his carting career actually started at Warden Law, so at North East Cart Club.
01:45Charlie was about eight or nine years old.
01:49And going round in a Honda cadet cart.
01:52I've done this for a lot of years now and I actually saw that he had a little bit of a talent there.
01:58And also the enthusiasm to hopefully take him further, which is what he's exactly done.
02:06As a parent, it can be quite worrying at times because motorsport is dangerous.
02:12And everyone does say, oh, how can you watch him?
02:14And my friends are all like, oh my God.
02:16But he takes, you know, measured risk.
02:20He's very, very confident.
02:22He's very, very sensible about things.
02:24I fully trust him when he's on track.
02:26I don't obsessively worry about it, you know.
02:30I think as a parent, that's your main concern, isn't it?
02:33I just want him to do well in everything that he does.
02:36The gold ones are the championship ones, which was, I was in 2022, I was Mini Rock champion in Super 1.
02:44The other gold one is when I got vice champion in 2023 in the max category.
02:50Really, really proud.
02:51He's achieved loads in his carting career.
02:55My mum, my dad, my sister have helped me along the way, funded my racing career so far, alongside the help of my partners.
03:06I think he's now going to go into what is probably the lowest class of the formulas, but Formula 4.
03:13But that is where all the big teams start looking for the drivers.
03:17In fact, there's a lot of drivers who are in Formula 4 who are actually already signed up to the Formula 1 teams.
03:24That's where they scout the drivers.
03:27So he's going to be going into that.
03:29A lot of pressure and, of course, unfortunately, a lot of money.
03:33So hopefully his sponsors do exceptionally well.
03:37But I think he's got a very bright future.
03:39We just need to keep on top of it and just give him time and allow him to just grow his craft.
03:46Still to come, could this 11-year-old lad be the future face of British golf?
04:01Hi, I'm Cooper Wallace.
04:03I'm 10 years old, also known as Seagull Boy.
04:06And this year and last year, I won the European Gold Screeching Championships.
04:10It was about three years ago this year that I got bit by a seagull on a beach and my sister chased it down a beach with a spade trying to get revenge.
04:22So we had to teach her how seagulls are nice now and she's better now with seagulls.
04:28I thought I was nervous last time, but it was a whole, like, new thing this year.
04:35It was so crowded, they didn't even bother leaving the door on.
04:39They had to take the door off.
04:41I was really shocked, like, I mean, even if I don't win this, it's just a load of fun.
04:47Like, everyone's just doing a crazy thing.
04:51And if we don't win, it's just a load of fun.
04:53So it didn't really matter if I won or not.
04:56I just liked the fun.
04:56And then they said, and finally, for the first, from England, and then nobody dare moved because I was just there like that.
05:04Like, I said, from England, come on.
05:10And then they said, Cooper was like, yes, I did it again.
05:16We were at a soft play centre and Shelby had lost Cooper.
05:20And at this point, Cooper always did the noise.
05:23Anywhere we were, he was making seagull calls.
05:26So I told her to stop, listen, can you hear him?
05:31Yeah, look, he's up there.
05:32Look, he's at the top of the, he's at the top of the soft play.
05:35And the gentleman on the next table just could not stop laughing.
05:38You just don't hear seagulls in soft play very often.
05:42He saw on Radio 5 Live that there was this seagull competition.
05:50So we started having a Google while we were sat there and looked at it, decided this was crazy.
05:56Oh, it's in Belgium.
05:58We're not going.
06:00Told my parents about it and then decided that it's only a short drive from Calais.
06:04Let's do this.
06:06Who else can make a seagull like Cooper?
06:09So we got in touch with Claude and off we went.
06:12After you won goals, that your life is never going to be the same again.
06:17And did it change?
06:19It has changed like a whole lot.
06:21It's not been, it's never going to be the same.
06:25That's true.
06:27So it's mine.
06:29I love the representation of this championship.
06:34Okay, Cooper, are you ready to perform?
06:37Okay, please, also outside, quiet please.
06:42Thank you very much.
06:46You have a little routine.
06:48Okay, yeah, seagulls like routines.
06:50Okay, I will give you space.
06:53Three, two, one.
06:54Three, two, one.
07:24Three, two, one.
07:26Good point.
07:27Good point.
07:28We're looking to it.
07:2918, not 18, 16 and 18.
07:34The Goodwill Award.
07:35How do you know?
07:37Yeah, thank you, Nick.
07:39I scored 81 points.
07:43And if I got two more points, then I would have been getting a medal.
07:49Like, I think it was the third that I would have got.
07:52Oh, immensely proud.
07:55It is crazy.
07:56An absolute whirlwind again.
07:58So proud.
08:00Never thought it was possible that you could get a medal in seagull screeching.
08:05I did it twice in a row.
08:06Twice in a row has been amazing.
08:09Apparently we're going every year.
08:10That's it now.
08:11This is now a regular thing, unfortunately.
08:13I say unfortunately, but it's all a bit of fun.
08:16It seems to be an annual thing now.
08:19It's a fun weekend away.
08:20Seagull Boy and Seagull will return.
08:22I'm so proud.
08:29The work that Joseph puts in is either on a golf course five days a week, or he's outside
08:35practising his swing, or he's inside practising putting, and he just works so hard.
08:41My name's Joseph, and I came from Sunderland, and I'm 11 years old, and I'm going to the
08:47Champions of Champions in Ireland.
08:50We head to Ireland on the 20th of July to compete in the Champions of Champions.
08:57There's hundreds of juniors from all around the world who compete in these qualifying events
09:03just to get to Ireland.
09:06Joseph's going there in hope, and we're going to be competitive, and we're going to try and win it.
09:15Joseph's been playing golf now for four years.
09:20How it all started was myself and Joseph used to go up our local course at Bowlding.
09:27I used to buy and sell golf balls to Joseph up, and Joseph found it.
09:33I was just finding golf balls at Bowlding, and then I found a pitching wedge, and I just
09:39started hitting it, and then I just fell in love with it.
09:42Well, I first met Joseph when he was looking for some help with his game, with his coaching.
09:47He came from a previous club, and we've been together ever since.
09:51Well, apart from calling me grandad now, he's pretty impressive.
09:56You know, when you meet a young lad who wants to be a golfer, they all have that potential.
10:01So it all becomes a thing of attitude and application, so he's certainly got that.
10:06Joseph has competed in many year tournaments.
10:11Joseph's won the County Under-12 Selection Day.
10:16Joseph's won.
10:18He was unbeaten the US Kids Midlands Tour all for one year.
10:23When I grow up, I want to be a golfer, and I want to go on to win the Masters, the US Open,
10:33and some other tournaments.
10:35And Joseph has a 12.9 handicap, which is quite outstanding for a young man of his age.
10:39We live in a deprived council estate in Sunderland, where we literally live five minutes from
10:58Boulding Golf Club.
11:00And it's not the best this area come from, but we are a community.
11:05We're experiencing quite a boom here at Whitburn Golf Club, in terms of juniors starting out
11:14and playing the game.
11:16No particular reason why, other than an initiative from the golf club and myself.
11:20We have numerous sponsors who are able to be in London one week, Scotland the next.
11:29We travel all over with them.
11:31Brilliant.
11:31My heroes are Rory McRoy and Bryson DeChambeau, because they're strong and they can hit it
11:38for miles.
11:44Join us next week when we'll meet an incredible Lego artist.
11:48Yeah, I think a lot of people are quite amazed that it's actually something that I earn a living
11:52from.
11:52I think a lot of people are quite a lot of people.
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11:56I think a lot of people are quite a lot of people.
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11:58I think a lot of people are quite a lot of people.
11:59I think a lot of people are quite a lot of people.
12:00I think a lot of people are quite a lot of people.
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12:03I think a lot of people are quite a lot of people.
12:04I think a lot of people are quite a lot of people.
12:05I think a lot of people are quite a lot of people.
