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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:05,136 Toma ward (narrates): In the United States 2 00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:08,640 an eerie relic festers in the back woods of Arkansas. 3 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:12,560 There's colourful cartoons that are slowly fading. 4 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:14,616 It's almost like you can hear the children laughing 5 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:16,120 from like 20 years ago. 6 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:18,640 In the middle east 7 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:22,400 an ancient bastion shrouded in myth. 8 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:23,520 It's only very recently 9 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:24,920 that we've been able to unveil 10 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:26,520 some of the mystery behind this place. 11 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:30,240 The closer you look in to those inscriptions 12 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:32,200 the more detailed knowledge we gain. 13 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,160 A sinister collection of buildings 14 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:38,320 in the Albanian mountains. 15 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:40,920 But something's not quite right here, 16 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:44,080 this doesn't look like a cared for space. 17 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:48,360 There are iron bars on the window, the, the paint is all drab. 18 00:00:49,480 --> 00:00:51,240 And in the heart of england 19 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:55,000 a subterranean labyrinth hiding a dark purpose. 20 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:58,000 Part of it's been painted white, 21 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:01,040 part of it's been left bare brown rock. 22 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:03,840 There has to be some significance to this. 23 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:05,640 There's even an area that 24 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:09,440 it was designed for people to sleep like a dormitory, 25 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:12,560 it's like they were preparing for the end of the world. 26 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:18,440 Decaying relics. 27 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:23,360 Ruins of lost worlds. 28 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:28,480 Sites haunted by the past. 29 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,120 Their secrets waiting to be revealed. 30 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:52,160 In Arkansas densely forested hills 31 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:54,600 hide an unexpected rural haven. 32 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:01,600 The ozarks 33 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:04,040 are america's forgotten mountain range. 34 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,600 It's a beautiful idyllic area 35 00:02:08,640 --> 00:02:11,120 that most people are barely aware exists. 36 00:02:12,920 --> 00:02:13,960 In the middle of that 37 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:18,520 we come across this strange little outpost. 38 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:21,560 This place is gorgeous. 39 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:23,440 You've got creeks and streams, 40 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:25,080 there's a forest, woodlands. 41 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,160 So, it's hard to get a handle on what this place really was. 42 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:35,720 At first it appears to be some kind of ghost town 43 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:38,920 but amid the tranquil beauty 44 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:42,640 more dilapidated structures hint at this site's true nature. 45 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:48,160 You've got broken scaffolds, metal frames, 46 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:52,080 offices with papers strewn all about the place. 47 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:54,160 Buildings over grown with weeds. 48 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:59,720 You can just tell how busy this place would have been. 49 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:01,400 This place is vast, 50 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:04,280 there are space for a lot of people here, 51 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:06,960 there's even a little train line. 52 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:08,520 The railroad track weaves 53 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,120 a course around this 400 acre complex. 54 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:14,280 There's definitely a certain amount 55 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:17,200 of make believe to this whole site. 56 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:20,120 Why is this place abandoned? 57 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:22,320 Because outside of it it looks like paradise. 58 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,400 A parched slide and forlorn water mill 59 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,120 are some of the reminders of the sites lively past. 60 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:37,240 But it seems any success was short lived. 61 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:41,960 This is dog patch usa, 62 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,000 once one of the nation's most unusual theme parks. 63 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:49,360 You know that back in it's day 64 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:52,280 it would have been a noisy place to be, 65 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:54,880 kids full of excitement queueing up 66 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:57,400 desperate to get inside. 67 00:03:57,440 --> 00:03:58,960 But now that's all gone. 68 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:02,800 Eddy sisson helps to look after 69 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:05,520 what's left of this once bustling amusement park. 70 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:08,640 Ever since he first came to dog patch 71 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:10,600 he's been fascinated by it's history. 72 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,560 This part of the site is where you would buy tickets 73 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,000 and purchase memorabilia, 74 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:21,360 it would be your first place you would go to. 75 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:26,720 For the people who came here at its peak, 76 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:28,160 the next stage in their journey 77 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:30,800 was a magical descent in to an imaginary world. 78 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:35,880 So, after you buy your ticket 79 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:38,240 you would hop on this tram 80 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:41,080 and you could see everything that awaited you. 81 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:46,320 But what was so entertaining about this far away funfair. 82 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,080 This site has a theme 83 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:52,800 and that's the key to understanding 84 00:04:52,840 --> 00:04:55,520 what this place was about and why it was here. 85 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:00,720 Dog patch is an amusement park 86 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:03,840 like no other in america before or since. 87 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:13,320 It's a theme park so in one sense it's like Disneyland 88 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:16,280 but there were a few major differences, 89 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:17,680 instead of mice, 90 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:20,680 fantasy castles and big rides, 91 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:22,480 you had hillbillies, 92 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:25,760 a few arcades and a lake full of trout. 93 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:31,320 It's doors first opened to the public 94 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:33,600 on 18th of may 1968. 95 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:37,120 In the heyday of the park 96 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,160 there would be just tonnes of people, 97 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:42,760 kids going back and forth 98 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:45,120 and people eating, 99 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:46,480 people buying tickets, 100 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:50,080 people browsing at the dog patch memorabilia. 101 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:52,680 There were just you know, 102 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,520 maybe 800 people in this building at one time. 103 00:05:57,400 --> 00:05:58,440 But why were people 104 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:01,320 so keen to come visit these log cabins in the woods? 105 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:06,600 The story of how it came to be dates back 3 decades 106 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:08,520 before the first visitors came. 107 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:11,520 It's sort of a landmark 108 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,400 to a massive cultural shift in america. 109 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:18,000 This park was culturally related to one specific time period. 110 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:19,320 It reflected an america 111 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:21,840 in which people were moving from the agricultural 112 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:23,640 and the countryside's in to the cities. 113 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:31,960 The park took inspiration from an unexpected source. 114 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,960 A cartoon strip known as lil abner 115 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:36,560 which made fun of that change. 116 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:42,280 Today it's hard to remember 117 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:43,680 or to even imagine 118 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:46,520 how influential newspaper comic strips were 119 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:48,080 in the mid 20th century. 120 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:51,360 Lil abner was one of the most popular comic strips 121 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:55,400 and it's creator al capp was a huge celebrity. 122 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:56,656 He used to go on the tonight show, 123 00:06:56,680 --> 00:06:58,560 he was friends with presidents. 124 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:00,840 Lil abner was set 125 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:03,400 in the fictional appalachian village of dog patch. 126 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:08,040 It was an over the top portrayal of rural folk living in the region. 127 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:14,320 Of course al capp's vision of life in the appalachians 128 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:16,800 was a very demeaning hillbilly stereotype 129 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:17,880 but it was also one that 130 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:20,440 people kind of loved and embraced. 131 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:21,520 So, when they heard that 132 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:25,120 there was a theme park based on dog patch 133 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:27,160 that was very appealing to a lot of people. 134 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:30,400 At its height, 135 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:32,640 the cultural phenomenon attracted a readership 136 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:34,480 of over 60 million people. 137 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:38,800 It wasn't so much about the rides, 138 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:42,760 it was more about the setting and the atmosphere it provided. 139 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:46,560 This is a slightly different take on your average theme park. 140 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:51,720 For many visitors this was a chance to be 141 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:54,240 a part of a world they had grown up consuming. 142 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:57,560 From catching a fish in the trout pond 143 00:07:57,600 --> 00:07:59,520 and having it cooked in the parks restaurant. 144 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:02,240 To watching artisans 145 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:04,520 producing traditional crafts in the cabins. 146 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:09,280 Guests were transported in to al capp's imagination. 147 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:14,080 It looked just like the dog patch in the comic, 148 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:15,760 there was a waterfall, 149 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:17,160 some scruffy hills, 150 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:18,680 there were even a few caves 151 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:20,416 where you could imagine maybe somebody was off 152 00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:22,040 brewing up some moonshine. 153 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:27,000 There was a waterfall, 154 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:29,080 a trout farm, there was camp grounds. 155 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:32,160 One of the largest structures 156 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:36,000 that remains here is the old tower standing tall 157 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:38,360 with the long slide flowing down. 158 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:42,720 We've all been to fairgrounds as a kid you know, 159 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:45,560 this is exactly what you want, fun and games. 160 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:50,120 In its first year, 300,000 people 161 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:52,440 came to enjoy the hillbilly theme park. 162 00:08:55,560 --> 00:08:57,840 When it opened it opened to great success. 163 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:00,880 It made a lot of money, it was a very popular theme park. 164 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:06,120 Lil abner the brand was going really well, 165 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:09,440 there was plans to open a chain of themed restaurants 166 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:11,840 and there was a TV show in the pipeline too. 167 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:19,240 What may seem a strange premise for an amusement park today 168 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:20,480 somehow worked... 169 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:24,160 But dog patch was about to go on 170 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:26,680 an economic rollercoaster all of its own. 171 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:32,040 By the 70s things were changing, 172 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:33,360 there was the energy crisis, 173 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:35,520 the price of gas went sky high, 174 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:37,440 the economy was really struggling, 175 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:40,240 unemployment was high, inflation was high, 176 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:43,760 people weren't as inclined to take long road trips. 177 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:49,080 As profits plummeted the park was put up for sale. 178 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:52,880 The new proprietors believed they could turn it's fortunes around 179 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:54,960 but the odds were stacked against them. 180 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:57,560 In the '80s the park was sold 181 00:09:57,600 --> 00:09:59,880 and purchased by a company that specialises 182 00:09:59,920 --> 00:10:01,560 in building and branding theme parks. 183 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:04,560 The new owners really thought big, 184 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:08,240 they put in bigger rides, they put in a music venue. 185 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:11,640 At first it seemed that 186 00:10:11,680 --> 00:10:13,840 dog patch's prospects had been revived. 187 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,600 So, it's pretty insane that 3 dog knight, Tina Turner, 188 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:20,600 Dolly Parton, all performed on this stage. 189 00:10:21,680 --> 00:10:25,120 The Dukes of hazard people they got them to come 190 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:27,360 and sign autographs and 191 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:29,000 you know that wasn't a normal thing 192 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:31,680 in Arkansas to have people come you know, 193 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:33,200 huge Hollywood stars. 194 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:40,720 The parks owners even attempted to install a ski resort 195 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:43,240 to make this a year round destination 196 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:47,040 but as the 1980s wore on, 197 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:50,160 no matter how hard they tried to attract new visitors 198 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:52,400 there was one overriding problem. 199 00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:56,640 Al capp retired from making the comic character 200 00:10:56,680 --> 00:10:58,720 lil abner in 1977. 201 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,520 So, within a few years you don't have children 202 00:11:02,560 --> 00:11:04,440 growing up on lil abner anymore, 203 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:07,480 they're not clambering to their parents to go to dog patch 204 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:09,800 because they've never heard of dog patch. 205 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:13,080 A brand like Disney spends millions of dollars a year 206 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:16,200 reminding everybody about those iconic characters. 207 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:20,680 You know originally dog patch was over 800 acres 208 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:24,480 which was larger than Disney world when it started. 209 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:28,080 Disney land has become huge, trumping everything. 210 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:33,080 Unable to adapt and keep pace with the changing times 211 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:35,440 the park fell in to bankruptcy. 212 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:39,160 And in 1993 it's gates finally slammed shut. 213 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:44,480 It's sort of sad to walk this ground today 214 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:47,680 because the basic idea wasn't a bad one, 215 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:49,560 a lot of people love the idea 216 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:51,520 of being in the heartland of america, 217 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:53,240 being in a rustic setting, 218 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:56,760 celebrating some of the traditions of rural life or country life. 219 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:05,000 Dog patch maybe gone forever 220 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:08,880 but the area's natural beauty could one day bring back the crowds. 221 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:15,920 Recently the derelict site has been bought by new owners. 222 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:19,080 With the hope of making use of its fish filled lakes. 223 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:23,840 This feature is the key to all of it, 224 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:25,840 if you can attract people here to fish then 225 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:30,240 that's the starting point, the idea can grow from there. 226 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:32,760 Maybe there is life left in this place yet. 227 00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:39,920 Near the city of Birmingham 228 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:43,240 a quiet wilderness is hidden away from prying eyes. 229 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:49,080 This place is rural, it's remote, 230 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:52,280 it seems as if there's not a lot happening here. 231 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:54,160 That's exactly what you're supposed to think. 232 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:57,880 There's this mysterious door in the middle of the woods, 233 00:12:57,920 --> 00:12:58,960 you start to wonder 234 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:01,400 if there's another world behind that door. 235 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:03,680 And in a way there is. 236 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:08,560 This complex has endless tunnels, 237 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:10,240 some of them interconnect, 238 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:11,720 some of them dead end, 239 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:15,240 they also vary considerably in size. 240 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:17,800 It's like a massive underground labyrinth, 241 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:19,640 dropping a trail of breadcrumbs 242 00:13:19,680 --> 00:13:22,720 is not going to help you find your way out of this place. 243 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,960 But distinctive features soon emerge from the darkness. 244 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:30,800 There seems to be two halves to this tunnel network, 245 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:32,840 part of it's been painted white, 246 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:35,840 part of it's been left bare brown rock. 247 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:37,960 There has to be some significance to this. 248 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:41,720 In the lighter tunnels it gets a little more civilised. 249 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:42,880 There are office cubicles 250 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:45,160 that have machinery stashed away in them. 251 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:47,120 There's a kitchen area, 252 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:50,040 there's even an area that it was designed for people 253 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:52,000 to sleep like a dormitory. 254 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:55,920 It's like they were preparing for the end of the world. 255 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:00,560 With enough space to house hundreds 256 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:02,320 if not thousands of people 257 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:04,800 what was this place built for 258 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:07,320 and why plan to live down here in the dark? 259 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:17,240 For any lone visitor 260 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:19,040 these cold empty halls 261 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:22,520 make for an unwelcoming scene even the owner, 262 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:26,080 sid Robinson still finds the experience disconcerting. 263 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:31,600 I find the place it's very eerie, 264 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:34,120 such a vast space of darkness 265 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:36,840 especially if you just, you're there with the torch 266 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:38,880 and it has this presence 267 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:40,160 I can't put my finger on it 268 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:43,120 but yeah it's not comfortable. 269 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:45,400 But the sense of unease is nothing new. 270 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:47,680 Working down here 271 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:50,080 especially during the excavation stages 272 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:51,880 I know from having interviewed people, 273 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:53,520 spoke to men who worked here 274 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:54,960 they said it was horrific 275 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:57,040 and it was the most scariest time, 276 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:00,440 they would take a week or two to get used to the, 277 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:02,640 the pitch black and the noises. 278 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:07,720 Originally built and paid for by the British government 279 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:10,360 it was then turned over to a private company, 280 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:12,680 rover for use as factory space. 281 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:18,320 In the early 20th century rover employed thousands of people 282 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:20,640 and they built some pretty famous vehicles 283 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:22,240 like the rover 10, 284 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:25,400 the meteor and the light 6. 285 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:28,440 Rover made most of the cars they manufactured in house, 286 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:31,240 they made the chassis, the engine, even the wheels 287 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:33,016 and in doing so they established themselves 288 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:35,640 as a trusted British automobile manufacturer. 289 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:40,640 But why would they put a factory underground. 290 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:43,760 Rover may have been a car manufacturer 291 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:46,840 but they weren't making automobiles down here. 292 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:49,320 This was a shadow factory. 293 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:53,760 Known as Drake low tunnels, 294 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:57,440 this was once a secret facility designed to keep britain 295 00:15:57,480 --> 00:15:59,400 in the fight against the Nazi's. 296 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:04,520 Now, Germany didn't really have the capacity 297 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:06,016 at least at the beginning of world war two 298 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:09,320 to mount a sea borne invasion of britain 299 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:13,400 but a necessary precursor was control of the skies. 300 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:17,920 After the first world war 301 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:20,400 the government had seized the initiative 302 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:22,720 and began preparing for this looming threat. 303 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:29,280 Outsourcing is a big part of their answer. 304 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:30,920 The air ministry decided to start 305 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:33,400 co-opting car manufacturers 306 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:35,640 in what they called a shadow factory scheme. 307 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:38,216 The government approached car companies, 308 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:41,000 companies like rover and they made a deal, 309 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:43,200 they would build the new factories 310 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:44,880 and they could build cars in them 311 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:46,360 but if war ever came 312 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:48,960 those factories would get converted to air craft making. 313 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:52,560 In theory it was a good plan, 314 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:54,640 but sites like this were only built 315 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:57,080 after a major flaw in it was realised. 316 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:00,960 The first shadow factories were built 317 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,280 right in the shadow of existing car factories. 318 00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:08,080 And this made them vulnerable to bombing attacks, 319 00:17:08,120 --> 00:17:10,640 Germany just bombed the hell out of them. 320 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:13,680 The fate of the country was hanging in the balance, 321 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:16,840 to find a solution they had to start digging. 322 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:21,720 So, in 1942 about halfway through the war, 323 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:23,360 rover and it's employees 324 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:26,640 were moved to a new locale, Drake low. 325 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:32,320 There was no caves as such to start 326 00:17:32,360 --> 00:17:34,040 with this is all totally man made. 327 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:35,600 They had at the time 2,000 people 328 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:37,400 working down here, 329 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:38,880 doing the excavation for them 330 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:41,760 and creating this like fabulous underground factory. 331 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:43,216 We don't actually go down any steps, 332 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:45,640 it's built straight in the side of a hill 333 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:47,800 so it's all on one level, made a lot easier 334 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:51,000 for the trucks carrying the materials in and out. 335 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:55,560 Designed in a repetitive grid system, 336 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:57,880 four quarter of a mile long tunnels 337 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:00,280 formed the core of the underground network. 338 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:03,400 With rows of perpendicular routes cutting through them 339 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:06,480 in total it offered up 340 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:08,840 the equivalent of around 4 football pitches 341 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:11,040 worth of bomb proof factory space. 342 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:14,040 Rover were producing parts 343 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:15,800 for the rolls Royce Merlin engines 344 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,200 which was the engines they used in all of the aircraft 345 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:19,800 during the war period 346 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:21,400 so it was a very very critical 347 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:25,280 and crucial part of the operations of the war effort at the time. 348 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:30,960 With men being sent out to fight on the front, 349 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:33,520 new opportunities opened up at the factory. 350 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:36,576 But where was all the man power 351 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:38,520 going to come from to build these engines? 352 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:41,480 Where else but the kitchen. 353 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:45,160 Women literally went from cutting cloth to make dresses 354 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:47,080 to cutting steel to make bombers. 355 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:52,360 Across britain numerous shadow factories 356 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:55,560 many of which were built underground made the difference. 357 00:18:57,160 --> 00:18:58,680 The battle of Great Britain was won 358 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:01,200 because they had the aeroplanes to fight off the Germans. 359 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:04,880 Without the products of Drake low 360 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:06,840 the outcome of world war two for britain 361 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:08,600 might have been very very different. 362 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:12,600 But there were corners of Drake low's underground maze 363 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:14,760 that seemed to tell a different story. 364 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:17,720 There are these dormitories 365 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:19,320 and what looks like 366 00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:20,400 broadcasting equipment 367 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:21,560 which makes no sense 368 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:23,760 for a factory producing aircraft engines. 369 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:26,720 Clearly something else happened here as well. 370 00:19:30,120 --> 00:19:32,480 The use of atomic bombs on Japan 371 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:35,800 did more than just end the second world war, 372 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:38,920 it set in motion a new threat to britain's security. 373 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:43,920 Just 4 years later in 1949 374 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:47,000 the Soviets detonated their first atomic bomb, 375 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:50,160 the cold war was underway. 376 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:53,520 By the 1950s britain is not only 377 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:55,200 testing out it's own h bomb, 378 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:56,680 it's making extensive plans 379 00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:57,920 for how to carry on 380 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:00,120 with government in the event of an attack. 381 00:20:01,360 --> 00:20:05,600 As the nuclear age developed through the 1960s and 70s, 382 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:08,920 Drake low was called back in to action, 383 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:11,680 the bomb proof tunnels were critical once again. 384 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:17,280 Britain created a new initiative. 385 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:19,800 Initially called regional seats of government 386 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:22,760 and the idea was you would divide the country 387 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:25,080 in to 12 districts. 388 00:20:25,120 --> 00:20:26,560 The rsgs were designed 389 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:28,200 as a way for the British government 390 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:31,200 to continue to operate in the event of a nuclear attack. 391 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:33,440 Parliamentary members 392 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:36,040 would take shelter at the headquarters 393 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:37,400 of these different regions 394 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:39,760 and would be able to govern there 395 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:42,080 assuming anyone actually survived the attack. 396 00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:45,560 Drake low was going to house the headquarters for district 9. 397 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:49,600 We have the BBC broadcasting suite 398 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:51,760 so that a regional government headquarters 399 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:52,920 like this could communicate 400 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:55,240 with all the other regional government headquarters 401 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:56,720 around the country. 402 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:00,280 But computers and communication equipment 403 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:02,360 were just the final step. 404 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:06,240 More importantly the site itself would need a major overhaul. 405 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:10,200 When they updated the site 406 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:13,040 they sealed off part of the tunnel system 407 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:15,560 and then they installed new ventilation, 408 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:17,920 air conditioning, heating system, 409 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:20,680 they updated the wiring, alarms, 410 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:23,080 put blast proof doors on for the entrances... 411 00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:24,480 The way there. 412 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:30,280 Focusing on a smaller section of the tunnels, 413 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:34,120 the plan was to make this area safe from nuclear fallout. 414 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:37,920 The sand stone rock might have protected 415 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:41,040 those inside from a nearby detonation. 416 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:42,400 But questions remain 417 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:44,840 over the likelihood of survival beyond that. 418 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:47,776 You know, you'd think alright it'll be sealed 419 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:49,440 in every little nook and cranny 420 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:54,440 well although they bricked off the old factory area, 421 00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:58,240 at the end of the main corridor was the original factory doors 422 00:21:58,280 --> 00:21:59,480 which were wooden 423 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:01,520 and then they had two little wooden doors 424 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:04,640 separating this bunker from the factory. 425 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:06,960 So, should the fall out be 426 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:09,880 sort of making it's way round through the countryside, 427 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:11,456 it would quite easily come through you know, 428 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:12,840 round the edge of the door frame 429 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:16,880 or around through the ventilation system someway 430 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:18,456 even though they got these special filters 431 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:19,920 to recirculate the air, 432 00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:21,760 by no means was this place air tight. 433 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:27,040 While Drake low was a vital part of britain's defence 434 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:28,720 in the second world war, 435 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:31,200 the rush to put something in place quickly 436 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:33,760 ahead of the next threat, may not have paid off. 437 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:37,920 With Drake low you're trying to do it on the cheap, 438 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:40,520 it's just obviously not going to work. 439 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:42,800 But you know, at least the tunnels got a new paint job. 440 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:46,520 Fortunately the site never faced 441 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:49,720 the ultimate test and was finally shut down 442 00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:52,040 and sold off in 1994. 443 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:58,760 Today parts of Drake low tunnels 444 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:01,160 have been opened up to the public. 445 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:04,000 Offering a glimpse in to britain's underground efforts 446 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:06,880 to protect the country throughout the 20th century. 447 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:14,560 Among the craggy peaks 448 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:17,640 of the Israeli occupied golan heights, 449 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:21,000 an ancient structure keeps watch over the landscape. 450 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:29,040 It's formidable, it sits high above 451 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:31,280 one of the most fiercely contested areas 452 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:32,440 on the face of the earth. 453 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:36,200 It's an exceptionally dramatic setting. 454 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:40,800 And wherever you look there seems to be more tunnels, 455 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:44,040 more corridors and walls that are extraordinarily thick. 456 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:50,560 The imposing ruins spread along the Ridge line 457 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:52,160 for almost a third of a mile. 458 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:56,040 Walls have crumbled 459 00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:58,240 but it's just marvellously intact. 460 00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:03,200 Below ground the curious maze continues. 461 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:06,736 There's a tunnel that leads in and out 462 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:08,040 through a hidden entrance 463 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:09,960 and then there's this subterranean area 464 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:11,360 that looks like it's been flooded. 465 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:16,480 Guarding this geopolitical flash point 466 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:19,760 the deserted structure is clearly defensive. 467 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:21,960 But who built this fortress and why? 468 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:27,680 Stories are told about this place, 469 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,200 of links to the Bible, of the tower of babel. 470 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:35,080 This is even today a place of myth and mystery. 471 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:39,520 It's only very recently 472 00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:41,640 that we've been able to unveil some of the mystery 473 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:43,560 and get to the real story behind this place. 474 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:52,640 This commanding stronghold 475 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,160 dates back to the end of the 11th century. 476 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:00,520 Lior shelef has long been exploring 477 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:02,600 this mythical clifftop bastion 478 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:03,960 for many years. 479 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:09,840 When I first came here as a boy 480 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:12,840 I was fascinated by the fortress. 481 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:16,200 The size of it and all the mystery around it. 482 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:17,320 Who built it? 483 00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:19,360 Why did they want to build it here? 484 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:20,680 Especially here? 485 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:25,480 This is nimrod fortress. 486 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:29,960 It's named after the biblical character nimrod, 487 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:31,920 who was believed to have been the king 488 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:35,080 who ordered the construction of the tower of babel, 489 00:25:35,120 --> 00:25:38,120 that extraordinary structure that stretched from earth 490 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:39,560 right up in to the heavens. 491 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:44,320 There was a legend circulating that nimrod 492 00:25:44,360 --> 00:25:47,000 had been bothered by a mosquito in his ear 493 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:49,000 so in an act of regal arrogance 494 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:50,440 he cut off his own head 495 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:52,360 and replaced it with one of gold 496 00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:54,920 and that er, as sort of divine punishment 497 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:56,080 for this act of arrogance 498 00:25:56,120 --> 00:25:58,640 he'd been buried in the valley beneath this fortress. 499 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:05,760 Those who built nimrod 500 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:08,400 did not take the defence of this place lightly. 501 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:13,200 It's huge, you can see it from everywhere. 502 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:15,240 The rocks are big, they're curved big, 503 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:16,640 everything here is big. 504 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:19,400 It's big because this is the business card 505 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:20,640 of the people that built it. 506 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:25,600 They want people from all around it to see it 507 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:27,960 and then they wouldn't dare to come near it. 508 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:36,520 What's amazing to see, and interesting, 509 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:41,080 is the amount of effort that was done in creating 510 00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:43,760 such an accurate spot 511 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:46,720 for the Archer to stand, 512 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:49,480 overlooking the exact angle 513 00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:51,280 he needs to watch. 514 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:54,760 And if you stand here with your bow, 515 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:57,080 and you're aiming to the exact point 516 00:26:57,120 --> 00:27:00,240 you need to see in the valley, 517 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:01,920 it's just breath-taking. 518 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:05,640 Wow. 519 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:12,360 This castle was built for military effectiveness, 520 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:14,440 many of the details of the military architecture 521 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:16,680 are incredibly well preserved, 522 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:20,480 there are the multiple layers within the castle of fortifications 523 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:22,680 within fortifications to withstand 524 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:24,440 repeated waves of attacks. 525 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:30,560 The forts layout betrays it's specific purpose. 526 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:35,040 The fortress is built as an army base. 527 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:38,320 You won't find here beds, you won't find rooms here. 528 00:27:38,360 --> 00:27:40,640 You won't find quarters, there's nothing. 529 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:42,240 This is an army base 530 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:44,440 and it's built only for this purpose. 531 00:27:46,360 --> 00:27:48,280 But who or what 532 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:50,480 was this army protecting? 533 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:52,040 The strategic significance 534 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:54,000 of this nimrod castle is that 535 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:57,800 it lies on this high ground, locking access 536 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:00,760 from the mediterranean coast inland to Damascus. 537 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:05,680 Any invading force would land at tyre 538 00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:07,880 and make their way through the golan heights 539 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:09,400 before taking Damascus. 540 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:16,920 They chose to build a fortress specifically here... 541 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:19,880 Because it makes sure, 542 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,360 it prevent from anyone to attack the people 543 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:24,440 that will go from Damascus 544 00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:28,040 which is about that way, and the port of tyre. 545 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:32,000 Damascus was a key seat 546 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:33,640 in power at the time 547 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:35,440 and the main road to Damascus 548 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,640 was a fundamentally important military highway. 549 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:45,160 Late in the 11th century crusading Christian armies 550 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:46,680 came from the west 551 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:48,080 intent on recovering 552 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:50,840 the so called holy land from islamic rule. 553 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:54,840 The crusades were a defining 554 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:58,360 part of the medieval world and of the medieval mind. 555 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:01,640 Western Christian knights rode east 556 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:03,840 partly to contain islamic forces 557 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:05,440 which were expanding in the region 558 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:08,360 but also to retake and conquer as Christian 559 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:10,480 all those holy sites from the Bible. 560 00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:13,640 This whole area was a battlefield 561 00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:16,360 and you see crusader castles 562 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:18,120 speckling this region 563 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:19,520 where the crusaders would create 564 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:22,480 these strongholds to defend and to advance their cause. 565 00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:28,280 So, at the turn of the 20th century 566 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:31,400 when western archaeologists first arrived, 567 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:33,680 they were quick to assume that the beautiful fortress 568 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:35,800 had been built by their own crusaders. 569 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:43,560 They assume and they want to believe 570 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:46,240 that this is a crusader's fortress. 571 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:49,760 Actually, until 1987, 572 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:51,360 history books that were written 573 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:53,200 about this fortress describe it 574 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:54,600 as a crusader's fortress. 575 00:29:56,560 --> 00:29:59,160 Nearby castles around the golan heights 576 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:00,960 seem to confirm their assumption. 577 00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:05,600 If we look to the east, 578 00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:07,560 we can see first of all beaufort, 579 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:11,760 a crusader's fortress that sits in Lebanon. 580 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:14,440 Not that far from us, and hunin, 581 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:15,840 another crusader's fortress... 582 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:19,520 And this helps us to understand 583 00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:21,200 why people thought for so many years 584 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:24,320 that this fortress is actually a crusader's fortress. 585 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:28,960 But details scattered around 586 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:32,320 the fortress suggest an altogether different story. 587 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:34,920 The first clue that 588 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:37,120 we have here in the north west tower 589 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:40,480 is this inscription in arabic that gave us an idea 590 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:43,800 why this fortress wasn't built by crusaders. 591 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:48,000 This was built by the islamic forces. 592 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:51,000 In 1187, 593 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:54,200 saladin a brilliant military strategist 594 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:57,320 from modern day Iraq swept across the region 595 00:30:57,360 --> 00:30:59,880 and conquered many crusader strongholds. 596 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:02,600 Saladin and his heirs 597 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:04,040 begin building fortifications 598 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:06,600 to hold back this Christian tide 599 00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:10,680 and nimrod is an islamic designed castle. 600 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:13,600 This castle was built by one of saladin's nephews 601 00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:15,960 in anticipation of yet another battle. 602 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:23,160 They knew what it took to succeed in this hostile terrain. 603 00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:25,520 As hidden features at this site confirm. 604 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:30,120 An elaborate water system 605 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:33,000 kept the fortress well stocked even under siege... 606 00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:35,960 And that wasn't the only contingency 607 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:37,520 if the castle was surrounded. 608 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:42,120 So, this is the secret passage, 609 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:45,040 an interesting way to run away from the fortress 610 00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:47,520 if you need and to smuggle some things 611 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:49,400 if you are under attack. 612 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:52,720 And they build a secret passage 613 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:53,880 in a very interesting way. 614 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:56,200 It was hidden by a huge bush 615 00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:57,760 and basically no-one can see it 616 00:31:57,800 --> 00:31:58,920 if you didn't want to. 617 00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:03,360 Nimrod fortress was built to stand up 618 00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:05,400 to the waves of waring crusaders 619 00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:06,680 coming from the west. 620 00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:14,240 But saladin and his dynasty were looking in the wrong direction. 621 00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:20,280 In the mid 13th century their defences essentially reversed 622 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:23,080 to deal with an influx of mongol invaders 623 00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:24,440 from the east. 624 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:28,680 But after years of conflict with the crusaders, 625 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:30,600 nimrod was eventually taken 626 00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:32,880 without a single stone being thrown, 627 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:34,920 the mongols were so feared 628 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:37,400 that the occupants surrendered 629 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:39,360 and were happy to simply be spared their lives. 630 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:44,440 The mongols were soon driven out of the fortress 631 00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:46,160 and it returned to islamic rule. 632 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:50,920 When ottoman forces finally took over in 1517... 633 00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:54,960 Nimrod was no longer in a strategic location. 634 00:32:57,520 --> 00:32:59,080 During the ottoman period, 635 00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:01,800 one of the towers, a four storey structure 636 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:03,080 that was quite luxurious enough 637 00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:05,320 for anybody to have lived in normally 638 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:07,080 was converted and used as a prison. 639 00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:13,120 But the shattered remains that 640 00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:15,160 litter this rocky outcrop 641 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:17,600 were not the work of any marauding army. 642 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:21,560 A huge earthquake that happened here 643 00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:23,080 broke a little bit of the fortress, 644 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:25,520 but not too much, as we can see the rocks around us, 645 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:27,160 there's a little bit of ruins. 646 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:30,440 As if prophetic, 647 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:33,360 nimrod's fortress was shaken by an earthquake 648 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:37,680 just as nimrod's tower was toppled by the forces of god. 649 00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:41,240 Following the earthquake, 650 00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:43,840 nimrod fortress was finally abandoned 651 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:45,200 to the elements. 652 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:54,840 Nimrod fortress has stood for nearly 1,000 years 653 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:58,160 overlooking a region that continues to be contested. 654 00:33:59,560 --> 00:34:02,000 And the legacy of its ancient origins 655 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:04,080 can still be felt to this day. 656 00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:07,520 For centuries the crusades were seen 657 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:09,120 as a dusty old subject 658 00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:10,960 but now you can open a newspaper 659 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:13,160 and read that very same language, 660 00:34:13,200 --> 00:34:15,240 crusade, holy war, 661 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:17,360 jihad, martyrdom, 662 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:20,280 those ideas that were current at the time, 663 00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:23,760 this castle was built are still relevant today 664 00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:24,880 in our modern world. 665 00:34:31,240 --> 00:34:33,720 On a mountain in northern Albania, 666 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:35,440 a complex of buildings 667 00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:38,080 balances precariously close to the peak. 668 00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:43,920 This place is definitely out of the way, 669 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:45,880 it's miles and miles from the nearest town. 670 00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:49,760 The buildings here are established, 671 00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:52,360 but the road is anything but. 672 00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:56,000 It's basically a dirt road cut through the mountains. 673 00:34:57,160 --> 00:35:00,400 There's little to suggest what this location was used for. 674 00:35:01,720 --> 00:35:04,440 But at its centre an austere building 675 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:06,200 appears to offer up some clues. 676 00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:10,480 It's a very unusual place 677 00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:13,480 to find a building quite like this. 678 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:17,040 It looks like your stereotypical baddies headquarters. 679 00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:21,720 There's a definite structure to this place. 680 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:26,240 This set up isn't incidental it had a purpose, 681 00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:29,200 there was investment here and many people 682 00:35:29,240 --> 00:35:31,320 several thousand feet above sea level. 683 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:35,520 So, what was this sinister collection of buildings 684 00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:37,800 teetering on an Albanian mountainside? 685 00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:47,320 Zenel drangu was 24 when he first arrived here. 686 00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:52,416 Zenel (translation): "I came here and I saw people 687 00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:54,520 "gathered in the terrace 688 00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:56,040 "and I sincerely thought 689 00:35:56,080 --> 00:35:57,720 "this looks like a zoo." 690 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:02,960 That was back in 1972 691 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:05,360 when this place had been in operation for 4 years. 692 00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:08,200 But what was it built for? 693 00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:14,440 When you look a little closer 694 00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:17,240 it's clear that it was actually a mining operation. 695 00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:21,640 If you've got a massive mining operation here 696 00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:24,360 it makes sense that your work force live here. 697 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:26,440 We often think of mines 698 00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:28,800 as pits sunk deep into the ground. 699 00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:31,520 But here thousands of feet up in the air 700 00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:33,800 there were resources so rich 701 00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:35,880 that it was worth climbing up the mountain 702 00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:38,520 to get to them. 703 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:40,400 They were digging for iron, 704 00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:42,640 copper, zinc, 705 00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:45,600 and if they were lucky a bit of gold too. 706 00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:50,600 Zenel worked here as a miner, 707 00:36:50,640 --> 00:36:53,000 he remembers the mines vast scale. 708 00:36:57,080 --> 00:36:58,880 Translation: "About 900 of us worked here... 709 00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:02,640 "So 3 shifts... 710 00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:05,840 "All divided in groups 711 00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:07,200 "that would take the ore out." 712 00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:15,560 This was a huge operation, 713 00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:18,000 it would have needed a lot of manpower to run this place. 714 00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:23,040 But there are signs that this was no ordinary mine. 715 00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:29,120 Something isn't quite right here. 716 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:32,160 It's almost like they didn't care 717 00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:34,800 for the welfare of the people who lived here, 718 00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:38,040 there's lots of barbed wire and iron bars. 719 00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:44,720 Workers like zenel were not here by choice. 720 00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:49,400 This is spac prison, 721 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:52,560 one of the most notorious labour camps in Albania. 722 00:37:57,480 --> 00:38:00,120 Translation: "Here at the camp inside its core 723 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:03,360 "where we are now we had 5 rows of fences 724 00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:05,920 "and every 10 metres there were the sentry boxes 725 00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:07,680 "and guard posts of the soldiers." 726 00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:12,760 This horrifying gulag 727 00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:15,160 dates back to 1968 728 00:38:15,200 --> 00:38:19,040 and the notorious reign of communist leader enver hoxha. 729 00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:21,856 Albania had been a communist country 730 00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:23,480 since the 1940s 731 00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:26,760 but after the death of Stalin, Albania's leader decided 732 00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:29,720 that the Soviet union was straying too far 733 00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:31,280 from the core values of communism 734 00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:34,120 so severed all ties with the Soviet union 735 00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:36,720 and with China and decided to go it alone. 736 00:38:38,720 --> 00:38:39,760 The aim seemed to be 737 00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:43,160 for Albania to become a shining example of communism 738 00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:45,280 whether it's citizens like it or not. 739 00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:49,240 All criticism of the state 740 00:38:49,280 --> 00:38:51,240 was forbidden and perhaps 741 00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:53,280 the very worst example of criticism 742 00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:56,320 was trying to leave which was strictly illegal. 743 00:38:58,800 --> 00:39:00,600 In 1972, 744 00:39:00,640 --> 00:39:03,120 zenel fell foul of the brutal regime. 745 00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:08,360 He fled from Albania to neighbouring yugoslavia 746 00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:11,120 but was soon extradited back to his homeland. 747 00:39:14,720 --> 00:39:18,160 Translation: "I was sentenced to 20 years at the age of 24, 748 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:20,120 "a sentence that I served here." 749 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:24,720 The regime relied on it 750 00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:27,400 not being questioned or criticised 751 00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:29,920 and if you did you ended up 752 00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:34,280 being put away in places like spac for re-education 753 00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:36,920 where you were shut away from public view. 754 00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:45,120 Zenel suffered alongside the rest of those incarcerated here. 755 00:39:48,240 --> 00:39:50,280 Translation: "The situation was difficult, 756 00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:52,440 "conditions were inhumane, 757 00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:54,440 "it's that hard in the mines gallery 758 00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:56,760 "cause you have all sorts of gases, 759 00:39:56,800 --> 00:39:58,680 "smoke and smells, 760 00:39:58,720 --> 00:40:00,960 "almost like that of rotten bodies. 761 00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:02,320 "It smelled acidic." 762 00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:08,120 The facility was effectively a slave labour camp, 763 00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:10,320 the inmates were forced to work 764 00:40:10,360 --> 00:40:12,200 inhumanely long hours 765 00:40:12,240 --> 00:40:14,840 with unrealistically high productivity quotas 766 00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:16,600 for the mining. 767 00:40:16,640 --> 00:40:18,280 And the prisoners spartan 768 00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:21,080 living quarters offered no respite 769 00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:24,880 with up to 54 men sleeping in each room. 770 00:40:24,920 --> 00:40:29,400 The rooms are very small, almost like cages. 771 00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:33,520 I mean there's basic living but this is something else. 772 00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:37,440 Another terrifying aspect of life 773 00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:40,280 there was that the authorities offered time off sentences 774 00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:42,960 for those who agreed to spy on their fellow prisoners, 775 00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:44,840 so you didn't only have to watch out 776 00:40:44,880 --> 00:40:46,440 for the guards and the warders. 777 00:40:49,120 --> 00:40:50,960 Translation: "I said nothing to my co-workers 778 00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:52,080 "because you never know 779 00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:54,240 "what kind of people you'd run in to, 780 00:40:54,280 --> 00:40:56,400 "somebody could be a good person 781 00:40:56,440 --> 00:40:58,920 "but somebody else could easily be someone 782 00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:00,520 "who would report you to the command." 783 00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:05,560 But these draconian measures 784 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:07,520 could not break the prisoners spirit. 785 00:41:09,960 --> 00:41:12,880 On the 21st of may 1973 786 00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:15,960 the inmates of spac prison stage a revolt. 787 00:41:18,760 --> 00:41:20,120 The prisoners had just had enough, 788 00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:22,040 they'd had enough of being incarcerated 789 00:41:22,080 --> 00:41:24,600 in dreadful conditions for trivial offences 790 00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:25,880 and they fought back. 791 00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:29,040 They seized the wardens guns, 792 00:41:29,080 --> 00:41:31,640 they fortified the prison and they took control. 793 00:41:33,200 --> 00:41:36,280 The rebellion was bold and brave, 794 00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:38,800 but it had a fatal flaw. 795 00:41:38,840 --> 00:41:43,320 They were stuck up the mountain with only one road down. 796 00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:46,520 Waiting at the bottom was the state police 797 00:41:46,560 --> 00:41:48,800 but they didn't need to storm the prison 798 00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:50,840 and risk their own lives, 799 00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:52,560 all they needed to do 800 00:41:52,600 --> 00:41:55,200 was cut off the prisons water supply. 801 00:41:57,480 --> 00:41:59,560 The police cut off the water supply 802 00:41:59,600 --> 00:42:00,920 from the bottom of the valley. 803 00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:03,560 And it was only a matter of time 804 00:42:03,600 --> 00:42:05,240 before the rebellion was quashed. 805 00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:09,000 Zenel had just arrived at the prison 806 00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:10,960 and did not play an active role. 807 00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:12,640 But he witnessed the surrender. 808 00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:18,480 Translation: "So, after 3 days they cut the water supply 809 00:42:18,520 --> 00:42:21,800 "and the food and they had nowhere to go 810 00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:23,280 "and the prisoners surrendered. 811 00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:26,560 "They handcuffed all the prisoners, 812 00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:28,560 "in fact 80 of them 813 00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:31,760 "were given additional 25 year prison terms. 814 00:42:31,800 --> 00:42:34,960 "4 of them were then executed by firing squad. 815 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:37,960 "And they showed us their pictures to stoke more terror." 816 00:42:42,800 --> 00:42:44,680 Zenel had to make a decision 817 00:42:44,720 --> 00:42:46,360 about how to survive in this place. 818 00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:51,736 Translation: "I thought about my family, 819 00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:54,080 "that I would not want to bring any harm to them 820 00:42:54,120 --> 00:42:56,600 "because if I had tried to escape 821 00:42:56,640 --> 00:42:58,400 "the way many others had escaped 822 00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:00,120 "they would exile my family. 823 00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:02,600 "In fact they would take revenge on my family." 824 00:43:04,720 --> 00:43:06,400 Spac continued to operate 825 00:43:06,440 --> 00:43:07,600 as a labour camp 826 00:43:07,640 --> 00:43:09,920 until the fall of the Albanian communist party 827 00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:12,640 in the early 1990s. 828 00:43:12,680 --> 00:43:15,640 Almost 20 years later a private company 829 00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:17,560 started to mine here once more. 830 00:43:23,800 --> 00:43:25,840 Having suffered the brutal conditions 831 00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:28,840 of spac prison for 14 years, 832 00:43:28,880 --> 00:43:29,920 zenel now hopes 833 00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:33,080 that it will one day become a national monument. 834 00:43:37,680 --> 00:43:40,280 Translation: "Let's hope we will one day fix it 835 00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:42,240 "so that visitors who might come, 836 00:43:42,280 --> 00:43:44,000 "especially young ones 837 00:43:44,040 --> 00:43:46,160 "would know what this nation went through." 838 00:43:54,160 --> 00:43:57,160 Captioned by ai-media ai-media. TV 64846

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