All language subtitles for Abandoned.Engineering.S05E04.Top.Secret.Nuclear.Arsenal.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-squalor_track3_[eng]

(Dramatic music)

Tom ward (narrates): A
sprawling European forest

that hides a destructive force.

This is clearly part of
something very, very big

and very, very dangerous...

In the pacific northwest
pioneers and pilgrims

at the forefront of an
industrial revolution.

Less than a year

after this incredible technological
breakthrough, disaster struck.

..A South African ghost town
that was gripped by fever...

Something went wrong
and really rather fast.

..And odd structures resting
in the English countryside.

There's a link between them.

But what is that link?

(Theme music)

Decaying relics and
ruins of lost worlds,

forged through years of toil
they're now haunted by the past.

Their extraordinary secrets
are waiting to be revealed.

(Theme music)

(Rumbling)

In a remote corner
of northwest Poland,

just 100 miles away
from the German border,

dense woodland conceals a
complex of ominous looking structures.

Here we are in Europe in
the middle of rural Poland

surrounded by these
beautiful pine trees.

Suddenly, tucked away
something catches your eye.

Man's been here before

and actually he's
made quite an effort

to disguise what he's done.

You're not just in a wood.

You're inside a very old

and very well protected
facility that's all around you.

In a way it sort of feels
like you've stumbled

on some kind of
dystopian hobbit town.

You've got all these
doorways covered with soil

leading to something
that's hidden in the ground.

Whatever its origins, this
place has been removed

from local maps of the area.

The question is why?

Somebody built
something very, very strong

and then put a lot of
earth over it to protect it

from something
very, very dangerous.

You also have some
kind of ventilation system

'cause you can see these
grates for air intakes or exhaust.

So, who built this
strange place?

And what is concealed inside?

(Suspenseful music)

From its very earliest days
this eerie underground site

has been surrounded by mystery.

Polish archaeologist
grzegorz kiarszys

has spent years trying
to unravel its secrets.

The site was known at least
from the beginning of 1990s

to Polish citizens but
also to some historians

which started to be
interested at this place.

But nobody before me did
here any archaeological survey.

Recent declassified documents
reveal the construction here

began in 1966,

a time when east
and west were locked

in a tense military standoff.

There was the constant
threat of all out war.

The Soviet union
was intensely paranoid

throughout the cold war
and they were very worried

about some kind of
an attack from Europe.

To counter the perceived threat,
the Soviets maintained a presence

in all of their puppet
communists states.

Polish army was obliged
to build those facilities

based on the plans that
were supplied by Soviet union.

Polish soldiers did not have a
clue what they were building.

In fact they were told that

they are building
communication centre

for Soviet troops.

The idea that the Soviets
would have a communications

based in Poland is
very straightforward.

It's a great cover.

And due to security reasons,
every separate construction group

had access only to a
small part of the facility

so, they could not gain an
idea of the whole compound.

This is the podborsko
cold war bunker

part of a vast network of secret
underground military installations.

If it had ever been
called into action

it would have posed a grave
danger to all of mankind.

The code name of
the site was 2001

and we are standing just
beside the monolith bunker.

Those doors had
to be kept closed

because of that very
specific environment

that had to be created
inside the bunker.

When you see
the size of the door

you imagine the space
inside must be pretty large.

It's only by venturing deeper

that the true nature of the
complex is finally revealed.

Looking at the bits left behind
and that's all we've got to go on,

clearly there was something

very, very sensitive
being stored here.

There's barriers.

There's atmospherically sealed
areas so that nothing can get in

but more importantly
nothing can get out.

And this leads you to believe that
there was radioactive material here.

So, I assess it is likely that
these facilities were built

to store rn24 or rn28

tactical nuclear weapons
ready to be dropped

from Soviet fighter bombers onto
NATO forces fighting in Europe.

During the late 1960s

the ussr realised
that if it was attacked

it wouldn't be able to
get its nuclear arsenal

to Poland quickly enough.

So, it hatched a plan to
house atomic warheads

at locations throughout
its satellite states.

(Tense music)

They didn't want the
allies to know where it was

or even the Polish people to
know where it was, it might leak out.

So, they built these carefully
hidden, highly secretive

underground bunkers.

At sites like this 500 kiloton
warheads were stored,

that were 30 times more
powerful than the bombs

that destroyed
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The Soviets didn't say that they
had nuclear weapons in Poland.

They told the outside
world that they didn't.

The Soviets gave a false
answer for operational reasons.

For more than two decades,

the Polish people
were kept in the dark

about what was being
stockpiled on their soil.

Clues inside tell us that
deadly weapons here

had the potential to
blow at any moment.

We are standing now at
the main manoeuvring hall

which was used for
moving of the warheads.

On the right side we have rooms
that were used for the storage

of nuclear warheads.

The equipment here,
the pressure gauges

and the sensors are all signs

that specific
environmental conditions

had to be maintained.

Military grade plutonium
is very prone to corrosion

so, all of the moisture from
the air had to be removed

and therefore we'll
have dehumidifiers

and a hygrometer which
measured the humidity of the air.

State-of-the-art nuclear
weapons are sensitive things

and when things go wrong
they go catastrophically wrong.

So, temperature
control, humidity control,

very, very important, particularly
if you're trying to remain secret.

However, it seems that by
trying to cover their tracks,

the red army made a fatal error.

At the end of 1969,
those bases were finished

and handed over
to Soviet troops.

Soviet troops started to work
on the camouflage of the site.

But they made a few mistakes.

So, the Soviets start
to plant spruce trees

around their installation.

But in Poland the
local forest is birch.

And in the Autumn,
the leaves fall off.

All you're left with is
these thin white stems

and yellow leaves on the ground.

During the cold war

the Americans kept a
very close watch on Soviets

using satellite photography.

So, they're looking
for human activity.

American satellites could see
right past those spruce trees

and they knew there
was something going on.

CIA reports now reveal that
the us intelligence agency

identified 23
similar installations

spread right across
the eastern bloc.

Even with this intelligence,
Western Europe was still powerless

to prevent the Soviet
warheads being fired.

If a full scale war
had broken out,

total annihilation would
have been inevitable.

If the war happened,
trucks from this base

would be loaded with warheads
and then they would move

to those shelters and
wait for the further orders.

For more than two decades
after the bunkers were built,

the world lived with the threat
of a nuclear war hanging over it.

It was only after the Soviet union
began to crumble in the late 1980s

that mankind was able
to breathe a little easier.

In 1991 Soviet troops were
withdrawn from this facility

and it was officially handed
over to the Polish Navy.

And with the red
army at last gone,

the truth about the abandoned
bunkers was finally revealed.

After the cold war
there was a treaty

which required
the Soviets to open

some of their
facilities for inspection.

As part of that process
they had to admit

that some of their
facilities in Poland

had nuclear weapons in them.

Following the departure
of the Soviet army

similar bunkers in the Polish
countryside were vandalised

and one was actually
converted into a prison.

But this site is preserved
as a chilling reminder

of how close the world once
came to nuclear destruction.

To be able to see
all those structures,

to walk through the
corridors of this bunker

is like to have this power
to travel back in time.

Every time I pass the
doors of this building,

I have this feeling
like the Russian troops

have withdrawn just yesterday.

In the heart of america's
pacific northwest,

15 miles south of
Portland, Oregon,

there's a curious set of
structures by a large river.

Look around at this site

and you see industrial
spheres, chimneys.

Clearly there was
a lot going on here.

What this looks
like is an empty shell

of an industrial site.

There are windows broken.

There's rain pouring
through the roof.

It's a ghost site.

The many abandoned buildings
from different ages reveal that

this place has grown
and transformed over time.

At the centre are older
ruins that don't seem to fit

with the rest of the site.

Clearly, this has
been used for centuries

but for a variety of
different purposes.

You get the sense
that at one point

this was just teeming with activity
from machines and activation

and people and
hustle and bustle.

So, how are those
structures connected?

And why did the site change
so much through the years?

The proximity of
the water is clearly

a very important part
of this site's history.

And some of the buildings now
look as if they've even been destroyed

by the power of
that very same water.

Whatever went on here
the river is clearly the key.

(Intense music)

This was once the beating heart

of oregano city's
industrial district.

Over its 150-year history,

this place has had
many different identities.

It has evolved as the
needs of industry changed.

But during that time there's been
one constant spectacular feature.

So, what we're looking at is
the second largest waterfall

by volume in the United States.

There is an enormous
amount of potential power here.

So, how would this
extraordinary place

manage to harness the raw
power of the mighty river?

In clackamas county, Oregon,

a curious set of structures
dominates the area.

But most of the remains
here provide perfect clues

about the most
recent use of the site.

It was for the production of an
item with which we're all very familiar.

In more modern times
with the demand for paper

and given all the trees
in the surrounding area,

this became one of the heartlands
for newspaper production.

In its final guise, this
was a giant paper mill,

supplying newsprint all
across the west coast including

to the 'Los Angeles times'.

Local expert Don Scott has
long been fascinated by its history.

So, we're now inside
paper machine number four.

This is where the actual
paper making took place.

This building would have been
filled with people buzzing with activity.

The mill ran 24 hours a day.

It's known as a paper mill
towards the latter end of its life

but decades before that it had
so many other different uses.

Hidden amongst the
modern rusting ruins

are things that are
not from its recent past.

These stone blocks
form the foundation walls

so what you see is very little
of what was originally here.

It's got a long history dating
all the way back to 1832.

The first people drawn
to the water's formidable

natural strength roamed
these rugged lands for millennia.

The native Americans
realised the benefits of the area

because of the falls.

With the sheer drop
at the end of them,

fish stayed in
one small reservoir

making it effectively
a natural pantry.

So, for many generations,
the native American peoples

were in Harmony with nature,
taking fish from the river.

And then when the white Europeans
arrived, things started to change.

As the last stop
along the Oregon trail

pioneers flocked to the region
during the mid-19th century.

What drew them here

was the establishment
of a settlement by a man

who became known
as the father of Oregon.

When John mcloughlin arrived

he saw an entirely different
opportunity in this area

with the force of the waterfall.

And this realisation
was the true start

of industrialisation in this area,
which expanded rapidly outwards.

So, the most impressive
thing about willamette falls

is the sheer power of the
water coming over the falls.

You can actually feel the
roar as you're standing here.

And you, as you're
just completely covered

with the spray

it is... it is truly an
impressive sight.

This is the location of the
willamette falls saw mill.

The very first commercial site
to harness the power of water

and the reason Oregon city

and this vast industrial
district exist today.

Before long, flour and
woollen mills sprang up

along the river bank
and the whole area

quickly became a thriving
manufacturing centre.

So, this is clearly a site
that's built up over time

and eventually it's
gonna become quite

a sprawling edifice
but it all started

on the west bank of the river

and then eventually will
incorporate the other bank.

But it was another
structure, one yet to be built

that would make an
even bigger contribution

to Oregon's history.

By the end of the 19th
century the site had been used

for all sorts of
industrial applications

but it was on the cusp of being
used for something even more radical

that would affect not only the
area but the wider United States.

It's the crumbling
concrete blocks

and rusting pipes near
the original saw mill

that hint at the pioneering
achievements here.

A power plant was built
to harness the flow of water

and it was used
to spin turbines.

So, this is the location
of the original station a.

What we're seeing here
is the outflow of the water

which would have
passed by the dynamos

which were used to
generate the electricity.

Using water to produce
electrical energy was nothing new.

So, what was so special
about the power produced here?

And how would it
change america forever?

The power potential
here is obviously immense.

You're talking about
hundreds of tonnes of water

flowing over the
falls every minute.

And imagine someone
coming 100 years ago

and wanting to
harness that power

but knowing the danger,
how are they gonna do it?

In 1889 hydroelectric energy

had already been in
use for seven years

but transferring it
over long distances

hadn't yet been possible.

At this time much of america

was still lit by
candles and gas light.

And if that could be achieved
it would be a game changer.

Copper lines were strung from
the power plant about 14 miles

to downtown Portland.

When the switch was
thrown history was made,

the first long distance
power transmission

in the United States.

What they did was
groundbreaking.

This completely
transformed Portland.

It made it a modern city.

But within a few months,

water was to have a
very different effect.

Less than a year

after this incredible
technological breakthrough

disaster struck.

A storm hit and the flood
waters of the rivers tore

through the building
effectively bulldozing it.

(Dramatic music)

So, the buildings
that would have been

originally here were
completely washed away

in the flood of 1890.

This is the danger

when you're trying to harness
the power of mother nature.

When it goes wrong it
goes very, very wrong.

I can't imagine the
level of devastation

after having achieved
this amazing thing

of transmitting energy and
electricity over long distances

to have that completely
wiped out within a few months.

Following the violent storm,

repairs to the power
station quickly got underway.

And soon it was powering
what would be the final phase

in the development of
this industrialised heartland.

A thriving papermaking
industry emerged

that was among
the first in the country

to use machines
operated by electricity.

Over time, older buildings made
way for modern papermaking facilities,

the derelict remains of which
line the water's edge today.

At its height, the
factories provided vital jobs

for around 2,000 workers.

But the manufacture of paper
also came with a heavy price.

The early days of paper
making was very toxic.

Sadly, a lot of that was dumped
into the river in the late '60s

which virtually killed
the fish population.

(Sombre music)

In time, the mills cleaned up
their act and later lead the way

with recycled products.

But the writing was
already on the wall.

In the end the spiralling
costs of keeping up

with the evermore severe
environmental legislation

and the stiff competition coming
from cheaper products abroad

meant that the paper mill
couldn't keep up, and closed.

So, the site represents
really the history of america

tells the entire story
from pre-white settlement

to current times.

And it's... it really is the story of
america told in one single place.

(Dramatic music)

With almost 200 years worth
of industrial development

still visible here,

this has been a place of
almost constant change.

And today with work underway
on plans to redevelop the site,

there's still plenty
of life here yet.

People have always used the area

for what struck them
as important at the time.

And in today's age the falls

are now merely
appreciated for their beauty.

In the mpumalanga
province of South Africa,

nestled at the foot of
a mountainous valley,

is a set of structures with
an incredible story to tell.

When you first sort of look

at this clearly some
sort of abandoned town

but it's not like some
small stage post town

in the middle of the outback.

There's a main street
running through the middle.

There's houses, hotels, bars,
church but it's not just one street.

This place is utterly sprawling.

We're way out in the
remote countryside

so there must have
been a good reason

for all these people
to move here,

some incentive to get
people to settle these hills.

(Intense music)

Lining the Ridge above are
rundown buildings constructed

in a different style.

Perhaps these provide a clue as
to why a community somehow grew

in this unforgiving terrain?

Around this place is some
pretty industrial looking machinery

and that coupled with
all the numerous buildings

this was clearly designed
for processing something.

But what that
was is not so clear.

They even got up in the hills.

You've actually got, looks like
some sort of abandoned tram line.

And so, there was clearly
something very important that

they wanted to move around.

But what exactly
was being transported

and how does it
connect to the eerie

preserved houses and
empty streets below?

It was clearly in its
day a booming town

but something went
wrong and really rather fast.

Was there a really
dramatic thing that happened

that killed off everyone?

Why is there nobody there?

It's a stunningly
beautiful landscape

but when you look at
it and its remote area,

you do wonder aside
from the natural beauty,

why would somebody
wanna live out here

and what would
their livelihood be?

In the late 1800s

this was a place of discovery,

a new frontier which in time
would be gripped by fever,

tainted by greed
and touched by war.

19th century South Africa

was all about opportunity
and exploitation.

So, although this place

was in the middle of a
vast and empty landscape,

people flocked here
in their thousands

from every corner of the globe.

But what valuable prize
first drew people here

and why did they
leave so suddenly?

The answer is to be found
buried deep in the ground

and in the streams
and rivers of the country.

It's not really actually
clues in the landscape

that there's lots and lots
of mineral wealth there.

So, in a sense you have
to be kind of looking for it.

In 1886 fortune seekers began to
descend on the African continent,

kick-starting one of the
biggest land grabs in history.

But a decade earlier, the
region had been the setting

for South Africa's
first gold rush

and the story of
how it was discovered

is the stuff of legend.

Back in 1873 there
was a prospector

who was known as
wheelbarrow Patterson

because he had bought his
gear all the way from the coast

literally in a wheelbarrow
over 1,000 miles.

Patterson did strike it
lucky in one small stream

but he kept this
finding to himself.

He didn't report it.

But he could only keep
it secret for so long.

But pretty soon the word got out

and miners from all over
began flooding into the area.

Almost overnight a
makeshift camp sprang up.

Joseph mashego is an
expert on the history of mining

in this area.

When prospectors arrive here,

there were no proper structures.

So, they used tents
as accommodation.

Within months, 1,500 miners
were working around 4,000 claims

all determined to find the
most precious of metals.

Before long the ramshackle
parade of canvas tents was replaced

by buildings with iron roofs.

In its heyday this
was ground zero

for the great South
African gold rush.

This is the ghost
town of pilgrim's rest

and these are the
rivers of gold that built it.

Very, very quickly,
pilgrim's rest

became a classic
boomtown, a gold rush town.

And the population
exploded, you had saloons

and everything else associated
with young men with too much money.

In less than a decade,

gold worth hundreds of
millions of dollars today,

was drawn from the riverbed.

Now, when the
prospectors arrive here,

they had no machines.

They had no chemicals.

Now how they separated
the gold they only use water.

So, one of the classic
ways of exploring for gold

is looking in rivers because
rivers erode the landscape

and concentrate heavy
things like gold in them.

The kind of gold that
they were finding here

is what you call alluvial gold.

It means gold that's been
washed out of the big ore veins

in the mountains.

The reward was
unimaginable wealth.

But the search for gold also
came with a big downside.

Wherever there's been a gold
rush it has attracted adventurers,

you know, often reckless types.

But they're willing to gamble a lot
and live through a lot of hardship

for this chance to
literally strike it rich.

During such a gold rush,
the environment is electric

but it's also dangerous.

People would fall into despair if
their particular plot was barren.

They may, you know, may
even be driven to suicide.

It was that sort of
crazy environment.

Now, they suffered a lot,
then they were alcoholic.

It's how they
misuse their money.

Only 5% got rich
and 95% were poor.

Yet trouble of a different
kind was brewing.

In time gold from pilgrim's
rest was to become involved

in a bloody conflict,

one that would result in
the deaths of thousands.

At pilgrim's rest, the
advent of the boer war

meant the mining industry
pretty much shut down.

The second boer
war began in 1899

and it was fought

between the British
empire and two boer states,

orange free state and
the South African republic.

The boers were of Dutch
descent and they were fighting

for independence from
British colonial rule.

Outmanned and outgunned
the boers were forced into retreat.

But it was the gold
from pilgrim's rest

that provided them a lifeline.

The boers took over the area

and a lot of the miners
were forced to leave.

The boer army desperately
needed to raise money.

Using gold from the
mines a makeshift mint

was hastily assembled.

530 so called pilgrim's
rest gold coins were struck

but before they could be used,
the boers were forced to surrender.

(Intense music)

But this was just the beginning.

What was in store for pilgrim's
rest was so much bigger

than anyone could
have ever imagined.

Hunger for gold
would eventually drive

technological innovation.

Although the mine's
most productive days

were still ahead of it, the
dreams of many were left in tatters.

Some of the different operations

mining for gold they merged

and they built a much
more industrialised

mining operation that
kind of took the place

of a lot of small groups out
there with their picks and shovels.

That starts to explain
the big machinery.

It starts to explain the sort
of rock crushing equipment.

So, once you begin this
mechanised mining operation,

you need a lot
of power to run it.

The solution to this

was the Belvedere
hydroelectric power plant.

And this became
the largest at its time

hydroelectric power plant
in the southern hemisphere.

We are sitting right at the
bottom of the blyde river canyon

where the Belvedere
power station is established.

We had electricity
before england and France

when they were still using gas.

This impressive feat of
engineering pumped out

over 2,000 kilowatts of energy.

Armed now with a constant
reliable supply of power,

production at the
mine stepped up a gear.

Real wealth of this area
could finally be realised.

This tramline took
the mining of this area

up to a whole new level.

It meant that huge
amounts of iron ore

could be transported at one time

and with it the gold
that's hidden within.

The main boom period
for this mine actually

was 1913, 1914.

They were producing 112,000
ounces of gold leading to a profit

of 550,000 rand which you
might not think is that much money

but in those days
it was an awful lot.

But for pilgrim's rest,
the industrial mining

that brought such prosperity
was also the cause of its demise.

With the land stripped of its worth,
gold production steadily declined

and the people began
to leave the town.

Some amount of mining
limped along until the 1970s

and then they
shut down for good.

But the town didn't
completely disappear

as is so often the case.

(Dramatic music)

In 1986 the settlement,
now largely deserted,

was declared a national
monument, a South African boomtown

built on gold now preserved
for future generations.

People love to see these
dramatic moments in history

and there's nothing more dramatic
than the idea of a boomtown

and gold miners
and all that romance

and you can still
see a little bit of it

when you visit a
place like pilgrim's rest.

In southwest england,
in the county of somerset,

relics of a long gone era are
hidden amongst the rolling hills

and green pastures.

So, here we are in the
beautiful English countryside,

you know, surrounded by
fields, miles from anywhere.

And it looks like nothing
has ever changed.

You see this weird
sort of train of trees.

As you delve further
through the trees

you actually come to
a waterway that leads

to an arch leading
somehow into the hill.

The tunnel's been barred.

You can't get into it.

It's dark so you can't
see what's down it.

What was the purpose of this?

What is it doing here
and where does it lead?

A look at the surrounding terrain
reveals other strange constructions.

So, moving away from
this sort of mysterious tunnel

all of a sudden
you start to come

across some other
quite quirky things.

(Dramatic music)

Tucked in amongst
the undergrowth,

you find these brutal, heavy,
robust concrete structures

very deliberately placed

but completely at odds
with the surrounding.

These appear to be from
a different era entirely.

So, here we have
this tunnel on one hand

but then we have this much
later concrete structures

scattered around
the countryside.

There's a link between
them but what is that link?

What does all this have to
do with the deadliest conflict

in history and the revolution
that changed the world?

Nestled in the English countryside
is a set of mysterious structures

that began life in
the early 1800s.

It was a time when
britain was at the centre

of the industrial revolution.

In the 19th century,
it's a time of opportunity.

We're moving from
this very agricultural

rural base to
manufacturing setup.

And there is
fortunes to be made.

In this period, the demand
for resources was huge

and growing daily.

But it wasn't just about
how much you could get.

It was about how
fast you could get it

to where it needed to be.

The solution was a series
of interconnecting canals

to link the country's
main rivers.

The canal system in the
UK really kicked things off.

Suddenly, there was
a way to transport

these high-bulk low-value
materials around the country,

export them around the world.

And the canals made
that transportation possible.

By the early 1800s more
than 2,000 miles of canals

had been completed.

David viner is an expert on the
UK's pioneering canal network.

Ok.

So, we just arrived at a
place called crimson hill

which is about halfway
along the line of the old canal

that ran from creech just
outside taunton to chard

and this was a
serious bit of geography

they had to contend with.

If you look at the
site from the air

you can see the canal
just follow that line of trees

and it goes pretty
flat for a while.

But then you get to this
base of a significant hill

and that's a real obstacle.

And there's no
easy way round this

so the engineering solution
at a cost is to go through.

(Intense music)

This is the crimson
hill canal tunnel.

I've just come into the
entrance of the tunnel.

The first time I've been
here so it's quite exciting.

It's fenced off
to stop intruders.

Let's unlock the door.

Construction of this 13-mile
long canal began in 1835.

It was the 5,400ft
tunnel that presented

the biggest
engineering challenge.

They dug down
from the top of the hill

and then dug out towards each
side and they did this one first

'cause if they couldn't
overcome this obstacle

then the whole project
will have fallen apart.

(Suspenseful music)

So, we're travelling through
the crimson tunnel now.

I don't know when the last
time somebody came through

because it's normally gated off.

This is really quite exciting.

It is in very good condition.

Water dripping
through in places.

But the clock was ticking.

A brand-new invention came along

to threaten the future
of britain's waterways.

So, in the case of the chard canal
it was always at a disadvantage.

It was built late on
in the canal period,

right at the end
of the canal period.

And by the 1840s the
railways were coming.

And the advantage of the railways
is that they were much faster

and they could carry
a lot more freight.

By the middle of the century,
there were more than 6,000 miles

of railway track in britain

connecting more of the
country than ever before.

Steam powered
locomotives were quicker

and more cost-effective.

For the nation's canals the
death knell had been sounded.

In the end, canals
couldn't really compete.

It became cheaper to lay down
railway lines than to dig canals.

After only two decades in operation,
the chard canal was abandoned.

But that was not
the end of its story.

After the heydays of the canal,
the landscape just fell back

into its rural farming role.

But these brutalist
structures that follow the line

of the canal mean that
something else happened.

70 years after the last
barge transported its goods,

the dangers of the 20th
century's bloodiest conflict

saw the canal reopened
and repurposed.

Following the evacuation at
dunkirk in the second world war,

britain had to gear up to face

one of the greatest
existential threats to it ever,

the possibility of a
German invasion.

Defences had to be prepared.

But this is not the coast
so why build defences here?

Out of nowhere

there's this great
concrete structure here

which is a pillbox part of a
second world war defence line

and it's in an absolutely
commanding position

and it's... there's
another one over there

so they could control the line
of fire in two different directions.

This is the taunton stop line,

a continuous 48-mile
antitank structure that runs

between the Bristol
and English channels.

It was to form a crucial
part of the nation's defences

should Germany have invaded.

When they were designing
this defensive line,

they wanted as far as
possible to take advantage

of the natural obstacles.

So, rivers, waterways like
canals and railway embankments

or anything that
proved an obstacle.

In just a matter of
months, 18,000 pillboxes

and lines of so
called dragon's teeth

were constructed at vital
positions around the UK.

Here, they were intended to
defend the crucial southwest corridor.

Fortunately, the brave
men stationed inside them

were never called into action.

They did the best
they could with the time

they had and the
materials on hand.

But in the end, these
fortifications were not going to stop

a determined
enemy for very long.

If you were stuck in
one of these pillboxes,

it was likely gonna
be your last stand.

By 1945, with the threat
of invasion long gone

and Nazi Germany beaten,
the defences became redundant

and they quickly
fell into disrepair.

This is not state-of-the-art
defensive engineering

but what it is, is a very
quick, a very cheap solution.

It gives heart to the population
that they're being looked after,

that they're being protected.

Today they still survive as
a visible reminder of britain's

and Europe's bitter
struggle against tyranny.

(Dramatic music)

Now, they are
abandoned crumbling ruins.

Many remind us of dark times

but some were once beacons
of hope and progress...

Lasting testimonies
to human imagination,

enterprise and spirit.

(Theme music)

Captioned by
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