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Narrator: A Kentucky ghost
town caught in the crossfire.
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00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:12,000
In some cases people were
literally killed in these fights.
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00:00:12,040 --> 00:00:13,480
There was always conflict.
4
00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:19,560
In Japan, a once opulent
retreat reclaimed by nature.
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00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:23,840
The decoration
here is fantastic,
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00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:26,960
this place must have
been absolutely amazing.
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00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:32,560
A mountain top ruin in
Italy with a harmful legacy.
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00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:35,800
What they left behind
wasn't just documents,
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00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:40,240
machinery and equipment, it
was an ecological nightmare.
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00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:44,880
And in Scotland, fragments
of a bridge foundation,
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00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:48,160
all that remains of
a terrifying disaster.
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00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,960
This just shook up
the whole of the UK.
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00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:57,760
Decaying relics...
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00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:03,400
..Ruins of lost worlds...
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00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:08,800
..Sights haunted by the past...
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..Their secrets
waiting to be revealed.
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The remote backwards of
Harlem county, Kentucky,
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hide the remnants of
a grand looking town.
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This was a confident
town, a proud town,
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00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,680
there's buildings here
made of beautiful stone,
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00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:50,520
these are buildings made
nicer than they needed to be.
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People wanted to get here,
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there was something
there that was drawing them.
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Scattered ruins point
to an industrial purpose.
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00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:06,280
One of the more
impressive derelict sites
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00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:09,720
is this big house
with a huge chimney.
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00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:14,720
It's hard to know
what it is exactly.
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00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:18,640
Just looming over these
abandoned railroad tracks.
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00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:27,040
The operation is even more
extensive below the surface.
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00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:33,400
You can see these
tunnel entrances,
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00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:37,440
they look like New York's
Lincoln tunnel or Harlem tunnel.
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Among these relics
lie signs of catastrophe.
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So what spelt the end for
this once imposing town?
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00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:59,600
This deserted settlement of a
1,000 homes is lynch Kentucky.
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00:02:59,640 --> 00:03:02,680
It dates back to the
early 20th century.
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00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:07,440
With it's wide streets and
fine municipal buildings,
37
00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:11,160
lynch was once one of the
richest towns in the state.
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00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:15,720
Michael o'bradovich worked here.
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00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:19,960
This town was so
big and so impressive
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00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:24,440
that people were coming from
Chicago and New York, it was impressive.
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00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:31,480
Constructed in 1917, this was
the town's department store.
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00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,240
We who live here
call this, the big store.
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All of this here in the front
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was women's apparel
or men's apparel,
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00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:51,080
over on this side
there was a diner,
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00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:53,720
in my time, soda shop.
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00:03:55,760 --> 00:04:00,880
On the far end over there was
sporting goods and home goods.
48
00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:07,720
Within eight years a large
town had been built around it,
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00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:11,160
powered by an enormous
state of the art generating station.
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00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:18,200
Its owners spared no expense
building this grand place
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in the middle of nowhere.
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Us steel bought up
hundreds of acres
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under black mountain
in this part of Kentucky.
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In 1917,
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the demand for steel
was skyrocketing,
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00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:36,560
you had all the armaments
that were being used in the war,
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00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:38,200
everything was made of steel,
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00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:41,760
ships were being built, you
know, rail carts were being built.
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00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:46,200
Even though there's
no iron ore nearby,
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00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:50,840
us steel invested millions of dollars
in to these Kentucky back woods.
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00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:55,840
The real thing that made lynch
was actually underneath the town
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00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:58,040
and that was black gold, coal.
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00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:02,400
Lynch was created for one reason
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00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:07,280
and that was to
provide a reliable
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00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:10,280
and massive supply of coal
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00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:14,080
to the country's leading
steel producer us steel.
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00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:17,040
This part of the
appalachian mountains
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00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:19,720
is very, very rich in
carboniferous coal,
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00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:22,840
this is a famous coal
deposit that stretches
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00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:24,520
all along North America
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00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:26,176
and it's been mined
for many, many years.
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00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:28,176
The thing that makes
the coal at lynch so special
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00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:31,080
is it's low in sulphur so it's
very good for making steel.
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00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:35,120
These turned out to be some
of the wealthiest coal mines
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00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:36,360
in the country.
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00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:41,760
As the son of a
miner, Nick sturgill
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knows the hazards that
lie below ground here.
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This is portal 31.
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Once part of the largest
coal complex in the world.
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Portal 31 even by today's
standards is enormous.
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The north heading of portal 31
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00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:07,440
goes approximately 13 miles,
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00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:11,800
the east heading actually goes
in to Virginia just a little way.
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00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:15,440
Back in the 1930s,
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00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:19,520
extraction continued to
pace despite the risks.
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00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:24,960
No matter how
well a mine is run,
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00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:29,040
it's still very dangerous
and difficult work.
88
00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:32,160
The coal company also
wanted to showcase,
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00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:37,240
to show off their high standards,
they also stressed safety a lot.
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00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:43,280
They even named this place
after the father of mine safety,
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00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:44,600
Thomas lynch.
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00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:50,240
They wanted to
counteract this image
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00:06:50,280 --> 00:06:54,920
that mining was this
terrible dangerous occupation
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00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:56,760
where people were exploited.
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It worked.
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00:06:59,880 --> 00:07:03,280
Lynch attracted workers
from all over the world.
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00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,640
With a German mother
and Montenegrin father,
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00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:11,200
former mine manager Michael
o'bradovich's own family
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00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:13,120
is typical of those
who flocked here.
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00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:20,120
In it's heyday, lynch had
around 10,000 people...
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00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:23,800
..With all those
different nationalities,
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00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:27,600
most of the families here
had five, six, seven, eight kids.
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00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:33,960
The schools, churches and hotels
of lynch accommodated them well
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00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,000
but the relentless objective
here was to dig coal.
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00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:45,360
They engineered the town to move
the coal as efficiently as possible.
106
00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:49,080
They built a structure
called the tipple.
107
00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:52,760
This is like a giant
bin that holds coal
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00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:55,440
and then loads
it onto rail cars.
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00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:57,920
They built the biggest
tipple in the world.
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00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:04,120
This tipple could handle
15,000 tonnes of coal a day.
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00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:10,000
Lynch was actually world
famous, it held the record
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00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:13,720
when miners produced
nearly 13,000 tonnes of coal
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00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:15,920
in one single nine hour shift
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00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:18,080
and that's pretty
impressive statistics.
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00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:24,760
But the miners were dissatisfied
with the low wages and the risks.
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00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:30,560
Coal dust is so
fine and so volatile,
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00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:35,080
that it can combust
with any little spark,
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00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:37,560
it can catch on fire,
cause an explosion.
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00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,440
And at one point, in the
history of this building,
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00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,000
they actually stopped using it
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00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:48,240
because there was so
much dust being created
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00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,560
and some spontaneous
combustion with that dust
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00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:53,240
that created some issues.
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00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:59,320
Working inside the mine
was even more dangerous.
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00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:04,360
The leading cause of
death here at portal 31
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00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:06,040
was by rough falls
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00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:10,520
and believe it or not, a
lot of coal car accidents...
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00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:13,640
..Of men being run over
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00:09:13,680 --> 00:09:16,240
or pinned against
the rib by a coal cart.
130
00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:22,320
The air will kill you, miners
could contract black lung.
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00:09:23,680 --> 00:09:26,040
There's a lot of different ways
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00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:29,640
that a man or woman
can perish in a mine.
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00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:33,800
The owners of lynch
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00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:37,000
refused to compromise the
efficiency of their production.
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00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:42,520
No amount of grandiose town
planning could make up for the dangers
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00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:44,200
and low wages of mining.
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00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:48,560
The miners were
gearing up for a fight.
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00:09:49,560 --> 00:09:53,680
There was always conflict
between miners and owners
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00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,000
and the owners often
responded to that conflict
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00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:57,800
with overwhelming force.
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00:09:59,880 --> 00:10:03,440
Skirmishes broke out
across Harlan county.
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00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:08,000
This is where battles
between the coal companies
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00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:11,680
and the miners came to a head.
144
00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:15,280
We had these clashes between
miners fighting for more rights
145
00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:19,880
and owners trying to keep up
production and keep wages low.
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00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:27,280
In lynch rumour has it that
the violence didn't end there.
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00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:30,840
One eye witness
told Nick sturgill
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00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:34,000
what she believes she
saw back in the 1930s.
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00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:38,520
She would be sitting
out on the porch
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00:10:38,560 --> 00:10:43,120
and company officials would
walk or ride up black mountain
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00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:47,120
with known union members
or union sympathisers,
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00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:48,480
what have you,
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00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:51,680
and after a few minutes
she would hear gunshots
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00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:55,200
and a few minutes later
the company officials
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00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:58,880
would come down the mountain
and they would come alone.
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00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:03,120
No one knows for sure what
happened in those troubled times
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00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:06,160
but the mine owners
eventually quashed the discord.
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00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:10,960
And the enormous
underground complex at lynch
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00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:14,000
continued to produce
coal for many more years.
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00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:18,080
Total mileage of
tunnels in this mine,
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00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:19,560
if I had to guess,
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00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:23,680
would be upwards
or exceed 1,000 miles.
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00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:28,680
During the height of
us steel's operations
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00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:31,560
here at portal 31
on any given day,
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00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:35,960
you would have approximately
1,500 men on one shift.
166
00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:39,960
But this boom time
couldn't last forever.
167
00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:46,280
The last piece of coal left
the colossal portal 31 in 1963.
168
00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:50,320
And the other mines in lynch
closed during the following decades.
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00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:53,280
Us steel pulled out of here
170
00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:56,720
simply because they
pretty much mined out
171
00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:59,920
what they could mine
easily and economically
172
00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:05,120
but also because, you know,
this coal was needed for steel.
173
00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:08,760
Well, you know, in
the last few decades
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00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:12,120
steel is really not in
demand like it used to be
175
00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:16,640
during world wars or during
the industrial revolution
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00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:20,280
or the building of skyscrapers
or anything like that,
177
00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:23,640
so this grade of coal
is just not sought after
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00:12:23,680 --> 00:12:25,440
as it once was.
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00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:28,480
By the late '80s,
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00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:33,120
the economics were changing
and the mines eventually shut down.
181
00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:37,560
In those 46.5 years,
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00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:42,120
us steel they mined approximately
120 million tonnes of coal here.
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00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:50,720
Today, this ghost town echoes
184
00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:53,360
with the memories of
the industrious residents
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00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:54,720
who mined this land.
186
00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:01,400
A lot of people tend to forget
the blood sweat and tears,
187
00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:05,360
the struggle that these men
put up with every single day
188
00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:07,360
to bring this rock
out of the ground.
189
00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:20,480
In the city of cobi in Japan,
190
00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:23,160
buildings stand
tightly packed together
191
00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:26,480
but one empty structure
looms above the rest.
192
00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:34,800
Right at the edge of the city,
suddenly the buildings stop
193
00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:37,840
and this hill just climbs
up away from you.
194
00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:41,800
It's heavily wooded with
very, very dense foliage
195
00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:43,520
and so it's really extraordinary
196
00:13:43,560 --> 00:13:47,680
to find in the middle of it,
this striking decrepit building.
197
00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:51,840
It's like something
out of a Sci-Fi movie,
198
00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:56,800
where its half man made and
half just taken over by nature.
199
00:13:57,560 --> 00:13:59,200
The only way to reach it
200
00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:02,120
is to step on board
the old funicular railway.
201
00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:09,200
Translator: "Above here there's a
structure that's about 90 years old.
202
00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:12,240
"The building sits on top
of a very high precipice.
203
00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:18,560
"With an incredible view
over the whole of cobi city."
204
00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:26,680
The unrivalled
position the site holds
205
00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:29,720
was matched only by
its elaborate interiors.
206
00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:34,320
The decoration
here is fantastic,
207
00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:37,240
it's so many brilliant details
208
00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:40,280
and you can tell in it's time
this place must have been
209
00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:44,240
absolutely amazing but
now it is falling to pieces.
210
00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:50,136
Translator: "The
building has suffered
211
00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:52,360
"with all sorts of
events over the years."
212
00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:57,120
It really looks like it's
been through wars or hell,
213
00:14:57,160 --> 00:14:59,960
but the question is,
what ended this place?
214
00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:13,880
From the top of the
railway on Mayan mountain,
215
00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:17,760
a solitary path leads towards
the old abandoned structure.
216
00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:25,960
Utsumi kenichi works
for the heritage group
217
00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:27,480
now in charge of the building.
218
00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:37,880
Translator: "Originally, Mayan
mountain was a religious site.
219
00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:42,600
"Then a large temple called
tennoji temple was built here
220
00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:46,080
"and it needed a funicular
to bring all the materials up.
221
00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:49,960
"After that many
visitors used the funicular
222
00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,760
"to come up to worship,
223
00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:55,880
"so this structure was built to
welcome them when they arrived."
224
00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:04,520
The original art deco features
point to the early ambition
225
00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:07,360
of this place which
opened in 1929.
226
00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:14,080
Translator: "In Japan at that
time, art deco was seen as futuristic,
227
00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,200
"it was the latest cultural
import from the west
228
00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:19,880
"and this building reflects
that fashionable trend."
229
00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:25,520
There's a lot of
enthusiasm about the future
230
00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:27,120
and a lot of the
design aesthetic
231
00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:31,240
really reflects that
machine age perspective.
232
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,720
You see it in New
York, in Paris, in London
233
00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:37,000
with these beautiful lines
234
00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:39,840
trying to imitate
the same clean lines
235
00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:42,920
of a locomotive or an aeroplane.
236
00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:46,320
That style, you
see it all over Japan
237
00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:49,600
and that enthusiasm is
expressed in this building as well.
238
00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:56,816
Translator: "Over
there around the stage,
239
00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:59,880
"it's designed with
curves, that's the style.
240
00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:02,760
"If I had been
alive at the time,
241
00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,560
"I would have loved to
have seen it in all it's glory."
242
00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:10,360
This vision of modernity
was the Maya club.
243
00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:14,760
Boasting public baths, a
restaurant and a theatre.
244
00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:18,040
This was a destination
in its own right.
245
00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:26,360
Translator: "This is
the screening room,
246
00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:30,040
"it used to be a cinema where
they showed films every day.
247
00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:33,240
"Chandeliers hung
from the ceiling.
248
00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:37,480
"And there was a
red carpet on the floor,
249
00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:40,920
"this was a place where people
in Kobe came to enjoy themselves.
250
00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:48,320
"Those people who visited
weren't rich or anything,
251
00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:49,800
"this place was for everyone."
252
00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:02,800
It was built on the promise
of a prosperous future
253
00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:05,920
but the rumble of war which
could be heard in the distance
254
00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:08,320
began to threaten
the hilltop haven.
255
00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:12,760
Those rooms that
had been packed,
256
00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:14,360
the grand dining hall,
257
00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:18,560
the entertainment room,
once filled with people,
258
00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:22,000
slowly began to
quieten and empty out.
259
00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:29,880
During the early decades
of the 20th century,
260
00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:33,280
Japan had been pursuing a
policy of imperial expansion.
261
00:18:34,120 --> 00:18:35,720
They entered world war ii
262
00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:39,760
after attacking the
us in December 1941,
263
00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:41,680
Japan's mainland cities
264
00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:43,440
were in direct line of fire
265
00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:45,200
when the us fought back
266
00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:47,760
most infamously in 1945.
267
00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:53,640
The skies above Kobe
were filled with us bombers.
268
00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:58,000
Tonnes of explosives
were dropped on the city.
269
00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:03,640
So in the last few
months of the war,
270
00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:05,960
the city is devastated.
271
00:19:07,360 --> 00:19:09,280
Almost 9,000 people
272
00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:12,840
and three square miles
of Kobe were obliterated.
273
00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:17,000
The destruction went right
to the foot of Mayan mountain.
274
00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:21,520
The club itself escaped
the worst of the carnage
275
00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:24,600
and amid the devastating
aftermath of war,
276
00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:26,600
it would soon prove invaluable.
277
00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:34,680
Translator: "So this
was the guest room floor
278
00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:36,520
"for the original facility.
279
00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:42,200
"After the war, soldiers who
came back from overseas
280
00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:45,080
"and those people who
lost their homes in Kobe
281
00:19:45,120 --> 00:19:47,160
"began living here
in these rooms."
282
00:19:54,360 --> 00:19:58,320
So the site is turned
into a kind of barracks
283
00:19:58,360 --> 00:20:00,720
and they can use this as a base
284
00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:04,000
from which they search
for their lost family members
285
00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,200
amidst the devastation
of what used to be Kobe.
286
00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:10,160
Their task, their terrible task
287
00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:14,120
was to try to find in all
of the rubble their families
288
00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:16,960
and their lives and to try
and put those back together.
289
00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:26,760
After somehow, making it through
to the other side of the war years,
290
00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:30,160
for this building there was
hope for a brighter future.
291
00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:34,120
Yes, it was damaged and derelict
292
00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:36,560
but actually throwing
a little bit of money at it,
293
00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:38,840
it could be bought
back to it's glory days
294
00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:41,720
but with a slight
twist as a hotel.
295
00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:46,080
The whole site's been
restored to it's former glory,
296
00:20:46,120 --> 00:20:48,720
it's vibrant, it's luxurious
297
00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:53,000
and people can once again enjoy
these magnificent views of the city.
298
00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,040
But as the damaged writ
large across the building
299
00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:02,720
shows this story had
no fairy-tale ending.
300
00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:07,400
Just when it looked as
it's future was assured,
301
00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:09,120
disaster struck again.
302
00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:16,320
The year was 1967, the
storm was typhoon Billy.
303
00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:24,680
A typhoon hits
Kobe, killing hundreds
304
00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:27,400
and causing
catastrophic mudslides,
305
00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:30,640
those mudslides damage
the building beyond repair,
306
00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:31,976
it probably could
have been fixed
307
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,280
but the new owners, the
cost was just too much,
308
00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:35,840
so it's abandoned again.
309
00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:39,440
It had a second life
but it was painfully brief.
310
00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:45,480
Translator: "Those mud
slides came inside here,
311
00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:49,200
"it was such a mess that they
couldn't run it as a hotel anymore."
312
00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:54,480
While the site has seen
313
00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:57,880
a few other short lived
uses through the years,
314
00:21:57,920 --> 00:21:59,680
it would never fully recover
315
00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,320
from this devastating
natural catastrophe.
316
00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:11,720
Now, being watched over by
317
00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:15,160
the Mayan mountain
revitalisation association,
318
00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:18,280
the building is about
to enter a new phase.
319
00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:26,000
Translator: "I was born
and bred in this city.
320
00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:32,280
"And this building
has always been here,
321
00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:36,680
"I believe tangible things
will eventually return to nature.
322
00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:40,440
"So I want to protect them."
323
00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:54,560
In a blustery, Scottish estuary,
324
00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:58,080
a world famous structure
spans the deep waters.
325
00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:06,160
The first thing you notice
326
00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:09,720
is this big red
giant of engineering.
327
00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:14,360
This is a very dangerous
place to build a bridge.
328
00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:17,120
It towers over a craggy outcrop.
329
00:23:18,120 --> 00:23:22,480
In the middle of this
enormous estuarial river,
330
00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:25,400
you find this tiny rocky island.
331
00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:29,800
There's all sorts of things
tucked away around the edges,
332
00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:31,800
there's quite a lot going on.
333
00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:36,760
An insignificant structure
at the base of the bridge
334
00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:39,960
could hold a clue to this
small island's importance.
335
00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:45,000
And its link to a fatal
disaster that rocked a nation.
336
00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:54,640
This waterway is
known as the firth of forth.
337
00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:59,800
The size and
depth of this estuary
338
00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:03,760
made it Scotland's most
important trade artery for centuries.
339
00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:08,560
Sitting below the forth bridge,
340
00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:11,000
is the abandoned
island of inchgarvie.
341
00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:12,760
Historian, Ron Morris,
342
00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:15,200
has been studying
the site for decades.
343
00:24:16,360 --> 00:24:21,200
We are approaching inchgarvie
and it's about 500 yards long
344
00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:24,840
and just maybe 30 yards
wide at it's widest point.
345
00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:30,480
It looks a very small island
346
00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:33,440
but has a wealth of
history attached to it.
347
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,440
Inchgarvie translates
as rough island
348
00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:41,120
and this place really
lives up to the name.
349
00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:44,840
The currents are terrible,
the waves crash into it,
350
00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:48,520
it's cold, terrifying
and claustrophobic.
351
00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:55,400
Evidence suggests inchgarvie had
been inhabited since the late 1400s.
352
00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:01,440
That's, you know,
the early mortar
353
00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:05,200
from 500 years ago
354
00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:08,240
and it's still
holding good today.
355
00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,560
People have been building here,
356
00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:18,080
clearly with an eye to
defending this bare rocky island.
357
00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:24,080
In the days when the only way
to cross this estuary was by boat,
358
00:25:24,120 --> 00:25:26,960
inchgarvie was an
important staging post.
359
00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:33,520
In 1491, king James of Scotland
360
00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:36,600
granted a local laird the
right to build a fort here.
361
00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:41,840
So a castle here
fortified with Cannon
362
00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:45,960
could offer a safe Anchorage
upriver for mercantile traffic.
363
00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:49,800
But inchgarvie's ruins,
364
00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:53,760
show that someone has defended
the estuary much more recently.
365
00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:58,840
Newer fortifications
date back to world war I.
366
00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:02,480
The first thing you notice
is a gun emplacement
367
00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:08,200
which is obviously 20th century
and the gun battery faces east
368
00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:09,840
which would be
towards the north sea,
369
00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:12,720
towards the entryway
to this estuarial river.
370
00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:16,160
Now see, this is the easternmost
371
00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:18,040
four inch gun position.
372
00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:20,080
There should be a
ring of bolts in here
373
00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:22,920
but really covered
with the vegetation
374
00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:25,000
which was the holdfast
375
00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:28,240
for the actual four
inch quick firing gun.
376
00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:32,160
This was the
original living quarters
377
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:33,680
for the original Garrison,
378
00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:35,720
which was a very
small number of men.
379
00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:38,080
There was only
about six or seven men
380
00:26:38,120 --> 00:26:40,960
actually stationed on the
island to look after the battery.
381
00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:44,800
Yet the disaster
linked to this place
382
00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:47,640
came not through
war but in peacetime.
383
00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:52,480
40 years earlier,
384
00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:54,600
the advancing age of invention,
385
00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:58,720
meant that Scotland's firth
of forth had to be conquered.
386
00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:06,000
The UK was exploding in
trade and transportation.
387
00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:08,800
The railway boom
had kicked off, big style
388
00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:12,200
and goods and people
were moving all over the UK.
389
00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:18,040
But the firth of forth is
huge deep water channel,
390
00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:21,360
was an unsurmountable
obstruction.
391
00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:24,600
To get from one side to the
other, would be a 40 mile detour
392
00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:27,600
or a tricky trip on the ferry.
393
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:31,320
So they commissioned a
bridge but there was a problem.
394
00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:38,120
The depth of the estuary
made it very difficult to build.
395
00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:42,960
The estuary's about
a mile wide here.
396
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:45,280
It's where the
estuary really narrows
397
00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:49,440
that we have about 30
fathoms of water depth
398
00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:51,320
on either side of inchgarvie.
399
00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:54,760
In the 19th century,
400
00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:58,000
inchgarvie was bought by the
forth bridge railway company
401
00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:00,200
to provide a
foundation for a bridge.
402
00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:05,920
What you see on the
surface is just a tenth of it
403
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:11,080
but the geology underneath the
water means that rocks extend out.
404
00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:18,360
Over millennia, glacial ice
scoured away soft layers of rock,
405
00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:21,880
leaving behind hard rocky
outcrops like inchgarvie.
406
00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:26,680
And that provided
a solid foundation
407
00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:31,760
in order to get the cantilever
for the centre of the firth bridge.
408
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:35,520
There was a natural column,
409
00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:40,320
a stone foundation right there
in the middle of the firth of forth,
410
00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:44,120
inchgarvie, it was like
a gift from the gods.
411
00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:51,040
But an abandoned pier
points to a complication.
412
00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:54,440
To be quite honest,
413
00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:56,400
people are so taken
up with the wonder
414
00:28:56,440 --> 00:29:00,240
of the forth bridge itself that
they tend to overlook this.
415
00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:03,840
If you look at the
bottom of the bridge,
416
00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:07,400
there's like a stump
as if an extra caisson
417
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:09,720
had been built
and then discarded.
418
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:14,960
A caisson, is the first
step in building a bridge,
419
00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:18,920
this watertight structure
allows the foundations to be laid.
420
00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:22,280
The geology of the region here
421
00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:27,240
makes it very hard to
successfully build a bridge.
422
00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:30,960
You've got to build caissons,
423
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,400
float them to
just the right spot
424
00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:38,800
and then sink them
deeply on to the sea floor
425
00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:41,600
in order to build the
footings for the bridge.
426
00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:43,760
Here on the island,
427
00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:48,240
we can see that somebody
has started to put caissons down.
428
00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:54,120
The explanation for
the abandoned caisson
429
00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:56,040
lies 30 miles north.
430
00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:00,560
On another windy
Scottish estuary, the tay.
431
00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:05,120
Here the celebrated
engineer Thomas bouch
432
00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:06,840
had built the tay bridge.
433
00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:11,880
Sir Thomas bouch,
he designs caissons,
434
00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:17,280
the ability to sink a
ring into a water body
435
00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:18,600
and then put concrete inside it,
436
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:20,800
so you can build
up these supports.
437
00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:24,960
His next commission was
to design another bridge
438
00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:26,920
to span the firth of forth.
439
00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:31,840
This brick pier
was the first pier
440
00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:35,720
that was constructed
to hold the first design
441
00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:38,640
of the rail bridge.
442
00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:41,400
And there was to be
eight of these piers
443
00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:44,280
in which the centre of the
bridge would be supported,
444
00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:46,080
there would be two great spans.
445
00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:51,640
Bouch's new design was
hailed as the wonder of the age.
446
00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:56,320
Until the howling
winds of Scotland
447
00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:59,920
sent dozens of helpless
souls in to the waters.
448
00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:04,840
One night, the wind
got up really quite strong,
449
00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:08,720
so a big, big load from
sort of horizontal direction
450
00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:10,520
pushing against the tay bridge
451
00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:13,040
that sir Thomas bouch
hadn't accounted for.
452
00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:20,240
The central section of
the tay bridge collapsed.
453
00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:23,720
The train continued to carry on
454
00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:26,080
and plunged back into the water.
455
00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:30,920
More than 70 people died
in the tay estuary that night.
456
00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:37,400
This was bad news
for the forth bridge.
457
00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:43,320
The future of that new rail
bridge was now in doubt.
458
00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:46,480
Could they continue
building the bridge
459
00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:50,560
using the design of this
now disgraced architect
460
00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:53,760
or should they
abandon the project?
461
00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:55,360
Well, they decided to scrap it.
462
00:31:56,960 --> 00:31:59,560
All you can see now
and what's left behind
463
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:02,280
is one pillar sticking
up out of the sea.
464
00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:06,760
Thomas bouch was devastated,
465
00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:09,000
his reputation was ruined
466
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:12,280
and he never recovered
and he died a disgrace.
467
00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:17,680
A few years later, a new
bridge was commissioned
468
00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:20,400
and it still stands to this day.
469
00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:28,840
The forth bridge is now one
of three to span the estuary.
470
00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:35,400
If any structure was described
as the eighth wonder of the world.
471
00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:40,640
And if it wasn't for the
presence of inchgarvie,
472
00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:43,840
we could never have
had the forth bridge built.
473
00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:52,040
In the north of the
mediterranean island
474
00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:53,400
of sardinia
475
00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:57,520
is the imperious granite
massive of monte limbara.
476
00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:08,520
You ascend up this
winding steep mountain road
477
00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:10,160
until you reach the peak
478
00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:11,880
and then in a clearing,
479
00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:15,600
these six massive structure
appear out of nowhere.
480
00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:21,720
All of a sudden, you
see this compound
481
00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:25,000
of massive antennas
pointing off in all directions.
482
00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:30,960
Some very large and ambitious
communications centre was built here
483
00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:32,720
but what was it for?
484
00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:37,240
At almost 4,500
feet above sea level,
485
00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:40,000
this mountain creates
its own micro climate.
486
00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:44,840
This place is at high altitude.
487
00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:49,040
The weather can
turn on a knife edge,
488
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:51,160
one minute it's
brilliant sunshine
489
00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:53,720
and the next, you're
enveloped by cloud.
490
00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:57,120
They must have had
an excellent reason
491
00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:02,600
to want to build this kind of
very ambitious high tech facility
492
00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:04,080
in exactly this spot.
493
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:09,480
Inside you have row upon
row of electronics equipment,
494
00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:12,480
massive generators,
living quarters
495
00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:15,680
and of course, these
six huge dishes.
496
00:34:15,720 --> 00:34:17,080
Whoever built this
497
00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:19,800
had access to some
serious resources.
498
00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:25,960
Kept top secret for decades,
499
00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:29,600
speculation over the type of
operations that took place here
500
00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:31,280
has always been rife.
501
00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:33,080
And rumours still abound.
502
00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:38,920
The locals have no details,
503
00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:41,560
so the locals make
up their own stories
504
00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:45,480
to explain this mysterious
hulking presence
505
00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:46,880
on top of the mountain.
506
00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:03,240
Marcello moretto remembers well
what this site looked like years ago.
507
00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:09,656
Translator: "It is rather
weird to see it today
508
00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:10,976
"but at the time it
was abandoned,
509
00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,200
"it was left in perfect
working condition
510
00:35:13,240 --> 00:35:16,680
"even though, of course,
it was no longer in use."
511
00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:20,240
He works for an
environmental agency
512
00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:22,840
now trying to clean
up the noxious mess
513
00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:25,040
left by this decaying
infrastructure.
514
00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:30,840
Translator: "From an
environmental standpoint,
515
00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:33,120
"especially from a
forestry standpoint,
516
00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:36,760
"this is a dump of
basically iron materials."
517
00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:42,360
This is built at the
top of a mountain,
518
00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:45,520
everything that happens
up here flows downstream.
519
00:35:46,680 --> 00:35:49,640
And as this place
starts to disintegrate,
520
00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:53,080
it becomes a toxic threat
to people living down below.
521
00:35:56,040 --> 00:35:58,200
The long term
environmental impact
522
00:35:58,240 --> 00:36:01,560
was the last thing on the minds
of those constructing this complex
523
00:36:01,600 --> 00:36:03,200
back in 1966.
524
00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:09,520
When the world was split by
two bitterly opposed ideologies.
525
00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:15,200
It is no exaggeration to say
526
00:36:15,240 --> 00:36:21,080
that this is a moment
when the NATO countries,
527
00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:23,440
the United States
and its European allies
528
00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:27,920
are convinced that at any moment,
the Soviets are going to attack.
529
00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:35,280
This place is born out of
a very real expectation...
530
00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:41,520
..That the cold war is going to
turn in to world war III, any day.
531
00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:48,760
Both sides knew they needed
excellent communications,
532
00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:50,560
both to know what was happening
533
00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:54,320
but also potentially to
prevent a misfire, you know,
534
00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:56,160
to prevent a false alarm.
535
00:36:56,880 --> 00:37:00,840
These six vast dishes
date back to that time.
536
00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:07,000
Inside, rusting machinery
reveals the identity of their owners.
537
00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:10,200
Built by the us air force,
538
00:37:10,240 --> 00:37:14,840
this was one of NATO's most
secret radio communication centres,
539
00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:17,200
the monte limbara station
540
00:37:17,240 --> 00:37:20,360
was designed to plug a
weak spot in NATO defences.
541
00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:26,000
NATO's southern flank,
542
00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:29,320
that is the NATO
countries facing south
543
00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:31,360
towards north Africa
544
00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:34,960
was always the soft
underbelly of NATO,
545
00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:38,360
it was always a place
where the Soviets,
546
00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:41,240
where their allies
might be able to strike.
547
00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:48,160
The location of this facility reveals
NATO's clandestine intention.
548
00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:55,120
The island of sardinia
is beautifully placed
549
00:37:55,160 --> 00:37:56,760
for this kind of communication.
550
00:37:56,800 --> 00:37:59,360
For one thing, you're
sitting in the mediterranean
551
00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:01,000
between Italy and Spain.
552
00:38:01,040 --> 00:38:05,360
To the east, it points to a
similar station in Naples,
553
00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:07,520
to the west, to the
island of menorca
554
00:38:07,560 --> 00:38:09,040
off the coast of Spain
555
00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:12,560
and via those ultimately
around the world.
556
00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:19,760
This station was
part of a vast network,
557
00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:23,080
capable of transmitting
crucial classified messages
558
00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:24,800
over thousands of miles.
559
00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:27,720
Until the 1950s,
560
00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:30,960
radio communication beyond
the curvature of the earth
561
00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:33,840
which blocked the
signal was impossible.
562
00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:36,200
The ultra high frequency devices
563
00:38:36,240 --> 00:38:40,480
and abandoned technology found
here show how this was overcome.
564
00:38:41,520 --> 00:38:45,480
This was a microwave
communications base
565
00:38:45,520 --> 00:38:48,000
that used microwaves
to communicate
566
00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:52,040
by using the troposphere
part of the atmosphere
567
00:38:52,080 --> 00:38:55,280
to send microwaves
over the horizon
568
00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:59,600
and the best way to
communicate long distances
569
00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:04,800
at this time was called
troposcatter or tropospheric scatter.
570
00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:07,800
With the invention
of troposcatter,
571
00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:10,240
stations like monte limbara
572
00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:12,400
could transmit to
a receiver station
573
00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:13,920
out of the line of sight
574
00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:17,600
by using particles six miles up
in the earth's lower atmosphere
575
00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:20,120
to reflect microwave signals.
576
00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:23,040
That system can
amplify the signal,
577
00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:25,640
send it up again and
repeat the process.
578
00:39:25,680 --> 00:39:28,760
So instead of sending
your radio signal, you know,
579
00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:34,080
30, 40, 50 miles, now
you can send it 250 miles.
580
00:39:35,800 --> 00:39:39,000
That meant fewer
costly relay stations
581
00:39:39,040 --> 00:39:41,680
and much faster long
distance communication.
582
00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:48,240
We were ready to
coordinate the nuclear forces
583
00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:52,240
that were going to have
to smash a Soviet advance
584
00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:53,440
into Western Europe.
585
00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:59,840
The amount of
communication and coordination
586
00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:03,640
that was required by the
supreme headquarters,
587
00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:06,920
allied powers in Europe by NATO,
588
00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:11,400
by the vast American
commitment to defending Europe,
589
00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:15,560
all of that required an
immense amount of coordination.
590
00:40:18,400 --> 00:40:23,720
Thankfully, they never had to
but the fact that we were ready
591
00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:26,720
maybe is part of the
reason on both sides
592
00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:29,160
why the cold war
never turned hot.
593
00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:32,400
Yet legend has it,
594
00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:35,480
this base did play
an active role in war.
595
00:40:36,120 --> 00:40:38,800
A us fighter bomber
was supposedly guided
596
00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:42,120
by monte limbara antennae
on a controversial mission.
597
00:40:43,680 --> 00:40:48,200
In 1986, a disco
in Berlin is bombed
598
00:40:48,240 --> 00:40:50,120
by Libyan sponsored terrorists
599
00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:52,240
and American
servicemen are involved.
600
00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:56,920
President Reagan
orders muammar gaddafi,
601
00:40:56,960 --> 00:41:01,000
the Libyan dictator
that his family compound
602
00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:03,360
be bombed by American aircraft.
603
00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:08,920
Gaddafi's private
residence was struck
604
00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:11,600
and dozens of
civilians were also killed.
605
00:41:13,040 --> 00:41:16,520
The claim that the station
facilitated the strike, however,
606
00:41:16,560 --> 00:41:18,000
remains unproven.
607
00:41:23,720 --> 00:41:27,200
Even as the iron curtain
was lifting across Europe,
608
00:41:27,240 --> 00:41:29,960
it hadn't yet outlived
its usefulness.
609
00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:37,760
As late as the first
Gulf war in 1991,
610
00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:39,840
this system was
still very much in use
611
00:41:39,880 --> 00:41:43,640
and useful during that period
when all kinds of secure traffic
612
00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:46,680
had to travel around the
mediterranean and Europe.
613
00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:53,520
The monte limbara station
was finally retired in 1993.
614
00:41:55,160 --> 00:41:57,840
It had been made obsolete
by satellite communications
615
00:41:57,880 --> 00:42:00,280
which communicate with
any point on the planet.
616
00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:04,080
When the us forces left,
617
00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:06,640
it was like they just
vanished into thin air,
618
00:42:06,680 --> 00:42:09,480
but what they left behind
wasn't just documents,
619
00:42:09,520 --> 00:42:13,760
machinery and equipment, it
was an ecological nightmare.
620
00:42:16,640 --> 00:42:19,840
For the locals, there
was one final insult.
621
00:42:22,240 --> 00:42:26,080
There's this revelation of
exactly how much the us paid
622
00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:27,800
the Italian government
623
00:42:27,840 --> 00:42:31,880
for the use of this mountain
top site for 27 years.
624
00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:34,840
Just five lira a year.
625
00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:39,360
That's less than $1.
626
00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:50,040
Environmentalists
like marcello moretto
627
00:42:50,080 --> 00:42:53,080
are attempting to
clean up monte limbara
628
00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:56,800
and transform into a place
of historical significance.
629
00:43:00,720 --> 00:43:02,856
Translator: "We would like
this place to become a museum
630
00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:04,360
"about the cold war,
631
00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:07,480
"a museum of industrial
and military archaeology,
632
00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:09,560
"it would have its
own importance."
633
00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:12,960
In a more recent turn of events,
634
00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:16,680
tropospheric scattering is
experiencing a resurgence.
635
00:43:16,720 --> 00:43:19,480
And military experts
see renewed potential
636
00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:21,120
for sites like this.
637
00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:26,160
As NATO weakens
638
00:43:26,200 --> 00:43:30,720
in the face of
American disinterest,
639
00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:34,440
as Russia becomes more powerful,
640
00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:36,760
it is not difficult
to see a scenario
641
00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:42,160
in which someone desiring
to dominate the mediterranean
642
00:43:42,200 --> 00:43:45,520
could deploy
anti-satellite weapons.
643
00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:49,160
And could create a situation
644
00:43:49,200 --> 00:43:52,320
in which this mountain
top might again be useful
645
00:43:52,360 --> 00:43:54,000
as a communication station.
646
00:43:54,040 --> 00:43:57,040
Captioned by
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53334
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