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In Ireland, a place of refuge
turns into a house of horrors.
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All hell broke loose.
There were bodies everywhere.
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00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:18,480
It was appalling.
And it was totally unnecessary.
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00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:25,120
A weird and wonderful fantasyland
in the heart of Alabama.
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00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:28,320
Everybody loves it so much,
they don't even wear shoes,
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00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:30,920
as a symbol that
they never want to leave.
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00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:38,240
In South Korea, the fate of a nation
is determined behind these walls.
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They were trapped,
cut off from the outside world,
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00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:45,960
but would fight to the death
for democracy.
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00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:53,960
And on the Namibian coast,
the chilling evidence of a trade
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00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,800
the world could not
have lived without.
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00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:00,800
Today, we see it as
a cruel and brutal industry,
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00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:02,680
but it was lucrative enough
to bring people
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00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:06,160
to even the most desolate
and inhospitable places.
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Decaying relics.
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00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,000
Ruins of lost worlds.
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00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:21,760
Sites haunted by the past.
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00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:27,560
Their secrets waiting
to be revealed.
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00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:41,400
In County Cork,
on Ireland's southern coast,
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are haunting remnants
of a tragic era.
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The area's covered in
lush green hills
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and pristine beaches.
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There's a reason this country
is called the Emerald Isle.
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Yet the land's natural beauty
hides a painful history.
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00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:07,600
On the outskirts of a small town
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00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:12,480
are the sprawling remains
of a stone complex.
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You can still see
these imposing walls,
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but the overgrowth has almost
entirely reclaimed these buildings.
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The crumbling relic reveals little
about its original purpose.
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When this was built,
the country was in the grips
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of a horrible catastrophe -
partly natural, partly manmade.
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I still imagine
those poor people coming up
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knowing what their fate
was going to be behind these walls -
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that they'd never come out again.
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00:02:40,920 --> 00:02:43,640
Additional ruins expose
a different chapter
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00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:45,920
of this heartbreaking story.
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The structure of a wall
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and a tall, dark building
with the windows boarded up.
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00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:54,000
How are
all these structures connected
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00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:55,640
and what happened here?
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00:02:55,640 --> 00:02:57,440
This became the epicentre
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of one of the worst crises
in Ireland's history.
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00:03:06,920 --> 00:03:11,120
The first time I came here,
I wasn't ready for it.
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I could actually feel the sorrow
seeping out through the walls,
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00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,520
and it really did have
a profound impact on me.
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00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:22,160
Terri Kearney grew up
in the nearby town of Skibbereen.
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She's dedicated her life
to preserving the memory
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of a tragedy many in Ireland
wanted to forget.
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00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:32,600
For 150 years,
Ireland really did forget.
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00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,680
You know, it wasn't spoken about.
It's called the Great Silence.
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00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:38,280
So, these places are really,
really important
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00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:42,320
as a physical manifestation
of over a million dead.
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00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,720
I always describe it
as a prison environment.
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But this was no prison.
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During the 19th century,
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thousands of desperate people
came here by choice
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00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:57,680
because their only other option
was an agonising death.
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They were surrounded by
high stone walls.
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00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:02,520
When you went in,
you had to go in as a family.
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00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:05,960
You were segregated -
men, women, boys, girls.
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You weren't allowed to see
the other members of your family.
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00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:12,080
And they put them doing degrading,
demeaning work -
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breaking stones or pushing a wheel.
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00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:20,960
This is the Schull workhouse,
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the government's answer
for a population in dire straits.
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00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:29,480
The workhouse was an institution
in Ireland.
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00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:33,080
At their peak,
there were over 160 of them.
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It was really a last resort
for the poorest families.
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00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:38,120
If you couldn't support yourself,
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00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:39,720
you could come to a workhouse
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00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:42,880
and receive food and shelter
for your labour.
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00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:46,120
The workhouse system,
funded by local taxes,
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00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:48,720
was first put in place
by the British government
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00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,080
in the late 1830s.
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00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:53,800
When they opened,
the conditions were so bad,
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the workhouses were rarely full.
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But, by the 1840s,
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buildings like this
all across Ireland
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were filled to capacity.
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00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,200
The reason for the increased demand
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00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:09,800
dates back to when
the English invaded these shores.
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The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
in the 17th century,
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00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:19,040
and the system of landlords
and tenants that was put in place,
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created a precarious situation
amongst Irish farmers.
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00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:29,160
The Penal Law of 1704 dictated that,
when an Irish tenant farmer died,
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his land should be equally divided
among his sons.
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00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:36,400
As the population continued to grow,
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00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:42,080
this farmland got subdivided
into smaller and smaller plots.
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As a consequence, these farmers
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turned to the one crop that,
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00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:49,040
even in that limited space,
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could feed a whole family -
the potato.
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Ireland's reliance
on a single food source
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would prove to be fatal.
95
00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:01,800
In 1845,
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00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:04,960
a blight that had been travelling
around North America and Europe
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00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:09,920
landed on Irish shores,
and the potato crop was decimated.
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00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:13,000
Somewhere between a quarter
and a third of the crop failed.
99
00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,840
And we'd had multiple failures
of the crops here before -
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00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:18,120
one in 1817 and one in 1822 -
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00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:20,640
so people around here
were well used to failures,
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00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:24,240
and they thought, "One year.
We just need to get over one year."
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But the next year,
the situation only got worse.
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00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:33,760
In 1846, there was a 90% failure
of the crop.
105
00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:40,400
The poor farming region of West Cork
was one of the hardest-hit areas,
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00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:44,080
and the town of Skibbereen
became ground zero
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in the Great Potato Famine.
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By 1846,
people were dying in this town
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and society was breaking down.
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Death by starvation is a long,
slow, painful disease,
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and it robbed their humanity.
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A local doctor named Daniel Donovan
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witnessed the tragedy
that was unfolding,
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00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:06,560
and he stepped in
to be a champion for the people.
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Oh, Dr Dan was an extraordinary man.
He was qualified as a surgeon.
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00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:16,240
He could have gone off to Dublin
and had a very illustrious career.
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Instead, he stayed here
in Skibbereen
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00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:20,960
during this worst catastrophe.
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He did so much to help people.
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00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:28,360
He wrote and looked for help,
screamed for help.
121
00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:30,960
His efforts brought
Skibbereen's plight
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00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:32,560
to the world's attention
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00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:35,000
when horror stories
describing the suffering
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00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:40,240
were published in British newspapers
just before Christmas 1846.
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00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:42,920
So, people were sitting down
to their big meal
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00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:44,920
and they read about people
in their own country,
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00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:46,920
as it was, starving to death.
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00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,200
The British Relief Association
was set up shortly afterwards,
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00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:53,280
and that brought £400,000 worth
of aid into Ireland.
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00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,480
Everyone from the Sultan of Turkey
to the Indian Relief Fund
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started to send money to Ireland.
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00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:00,720
The old mill building in town
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00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:04,080
was hastily converted into
a makeshift soup kitchen
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00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:05,920
to feed the hungry.
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00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:09,360
The relief effort embarrassed
British politicians.
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00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:11,720
Here was the world's greatest empire
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00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:15,240
becoming reliant on external aid
to help its people.
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00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:17,800
Now in the spotlight,
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00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:21,240
the government was forced
to offer support.
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00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:25,480
In 1847,
the Soup Kitchen Act was passed
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00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:29,960
and, within months, 3 million
Irish people were being fed.
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00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:33,080
They served a concoction
of barley, water,
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00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:35,960
beef, and onions,
known as Soyer's soup.
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00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:37,280
It was nothing fancy,
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00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:40,360
but it gave people
just enough calories to survive.
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00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:45,120
Charles Trevelyan,
Assistant Secretary to the Treasury,
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00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:48,560
was the man in charge
of Britain's relief efforts.
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00:08:48,560 --> 00:08:51,160
His political and personal views
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00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:54,280
dictated the government's
initial reluctance to help.
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00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:59,960
Charles Trevelyan was a subscriber
of the laissez-faire policy,
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00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:04,360
which is government noninterference
in economic matters.
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00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:07,600
That meant that,
in the middle of the famine,
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00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:10,800
food was being exported
out of Ireland,
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00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,200
even as millions
continued to starve.
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00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:16,360
Trevelyan infamously wrote that
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00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:19,400
the famine
had been brought about by God
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as a judgement on Ireland's
excessive population growth
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and dependency on the potato
for food.
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Even today,
he's a hated figure across Ireland.
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It's not hard to see why.
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Only three months after crucial,
life-saving aid was given,
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it was swiftly taken away.
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In 1847,
a financial crisis hit Britain
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and they withdrew entirely
their support
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for the Soup Kitchen Act.
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The consequences were devastating.
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00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,600
From the autumn,
the only relief thereon
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was through the workhouse system.
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All hell broke loose. It really did.
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00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:01,920
It was the worst year
of the Great Famine.
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00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:04,080
And it was totally unnecessary.
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In Skibbereen,
the existing workhouse,
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all but demolished today
apart from its outer wall,
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00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:16,520
was unable to cope with the
sheer number of destitute people.
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00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:18,720
When the Skibbereen workhouse
was full,
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a new one was opened
in the neighbouring town of Schull
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to take the pressure off.
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So, this Schull workhouse
was one of the later workhouses,
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00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:30,120
built in the late 1840s,
early 1850s.
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Horrible, horrible places.
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During the Great Famine, they were
so overcrowded and underfunded.
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They kept running out of food.
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00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:39,240
They were breeding grounds
for disease.
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The awful truth was that families
often didn't come here to live,
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they came to die.
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00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:50,400
Catholic families came to workhouses
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because they knew they would get
a properly consecrated burial.
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And so many accounts of that -
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people clamouring
at the workhouse walls,
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just wanting to get in,
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so they knew they wouldn't be left
to rot at the side of the road.
192
00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:08,920
At Skibbereen's
Abbeystrowry Cemetery
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00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:13,320
are the unmarked graves
of over 10,000 people -
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00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:16,120
a small fraction
of the total death toll.
195
00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:19,920
These mass graves
are all over Ireland.
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00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:24,040
Overall, it's estimated
we lost about a million people
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and about another
million and a quarter emigrated.
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00:11:27,560 --> 00:11:30,480
It was the biggest mass migration
in world history.
199
00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:37,320
By the mid-1850s, the potato crop
had almost fully recovered
200
00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:41,200
and the dependence on workhouses
steadily declined.
201
00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:46,040
The famine may have ended,
but its legacy had only just begun.
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00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:55,160
I suppose you could say
the events of this era
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would eventually lead to
Irish independence, too,
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00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:05,320
because some of those who survived
were violently changed by it
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00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:08,480
and became revolutionaries
with arms.
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00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:11,560
Their fight for freedom
would eventually bring about
207
00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:13,520
this building's demise.
208
00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:15,120
During the War of Independence,
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00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,600
the Irish Republican Army
burned the workhouse to the ground
210
00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:21,800
to prevent it being used as barracks
by the British forces.
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00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:26,680
Since then, it's become
dilapidated and overgrown,
212
00:12:26,680 --> 00:12:30,680
a ghostly reminder
of the country's most dire period.
213
00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:40,680
In Central Alabama
is a curious collection of buildings
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00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:43,480
where reality collides with fantasy.
215
00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:52,840
A short distance north
of the capital, Montgomery,
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00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:55,440
is a place called
Jackson Lake Island.
217
00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:59,440
And it's small - I mean,
less than a half a mile across.
218
00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:03,560
It's really beautiful,
but also kind of spooky.
219
00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:07,080
At the end of the island
is what looks like
220
00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:10,360
this abandoned, desolate town.
221
00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:13,000
There's something old about it,
222
00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,360
but something
kind of otherworldly, too.
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00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:17,920
As you get closer
to these buildings,
224
00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:20,760
you realise there's something
really odd about them.
225
00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:23,760
There's nothing inside. In fact,
some of them aren't even finished.
226
00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:28,800
At the town's entrance,
the plot thickens.
227
00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:33,960
There's these two trees
that frame the street,
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00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:35,640
but if you look closer,
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00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:37,840
you can actually tell
that they're fake,
230
00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:41,160
like where the bark is wearing away,
there's Styrofoam.
231
00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:43,480
So, this is not actually
a real place.
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00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:46,240
It's a place of
complete make-believe.
233
00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:48,240
Everything seen here
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00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:52,040
is the creation of a visionary
with a wild imagination.
235
00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:56,280
For the man behind it,
it was a big gamble.
236
00:13:56,280 --> 00:13:57,840
I mean, he needed a win,
237
00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:00,800
and there was no guarantee
that this was going to be it.
238
00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:03,520
It's a magical story.
239
00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:05,920
Sometimes it's funny,
sometimes it's sad,
240
00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:09,640
and sometimes
it is just downright weird.
241
00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:12,960
And there are goats -
lots and lots of goats!
242
00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:23,600
For many years,
this was just a place where
243
00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,800
people loved to come and fish,
and maybe picnic or camp.
244
00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:32,800
Bobby and Lynn Bright are the owners
of Jackson Lake Island.
245
00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:36,000
In 2003,
an out-of-the-blue phone call
246
00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:38,880
changed their world forever.
247
00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:42,360
We were contacted by
the Alabama Film Commission,
248
00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:45,640
and they said that
they had a production company
249
00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:49,640
that was interested in
maybe doing a movie on our island.
250
00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:52,480
It was exciting because
once we learned it was Tim Burton,
251
00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:55,000
we knew that it wasn't going to be
a small-time deal,
252
00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:57,240
it was going to be
a major production.
253
00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:00,960
When a big Hollywood picture
comes to town,
254
00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:02,480
it's like an occupying army.
255
00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:04,960
They bring
almost everything they need -
256
00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:08,080
trailers, trucks, catering.
257
00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:10,360
Well, at the beginning,
there was nothing here.
258
00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:12,480
It was just grass and trees.
259
00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:15,560
And they came in
and just kind of cleared the site
260
00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:17,920
and then started the construction.
261
00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:19,440
It was a big operation.
262
00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,600
This is the fictional town
of Spectre,
263
00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:31,360
one of the many whimsical locations
in the 2003 cult film Big Fish.
264
00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:33,200
If you haven't seen
the movie Big Fish,
265
00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:36,240
it's this really lovely
magical-realism film.
266
00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:39,160
At its core, it's a story
of a father and a son's
267
00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:40,560
troubled relationship.
268
00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:45,480
So, Ewan McGregor stars as the dad
when he's younger,
269
00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:48,320
and Albert Finney plays
the older version of him.
270
00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:52,600
And he loves to tell tall tales
about his life.
271
00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:56,240
I mean tall tales - like, really.
272
00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:58,520
The son is played by Billy Crudup,
273
00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:00,800
and he plays a character
named Will Bloom,
274
00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:02,960
and Will is absolutely fed up
275
00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:07,000
with what he sees as
his father's lifetime of lies.
276
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,800
But when Will discovers
his father is dying,
277
00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:13,040
he decides to find out the truth
about his life.
278
00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:15,920
That's where
the town of Spectre comes in.
279
00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:21,240
In the film, a young Edward Bloom
wants to leave home.
280
00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:25,120
You know, it's too small for him.
He's a big fish in a small pond.
281
00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:29,880
So, he goes on kind of a journey,
and that journey brings him here.
282
00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:34,040
The town of Spectre is kind of like
a Brigadoon place
283
00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:36,920
where you feel like
you've stepped out of time
284
00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:40,680
into a different world
where things just work differently,
285
00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:42,680
like nobody wears any shoes.
286
00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:47,240
Shortly after Edward arrives,
287
00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:50,320
he's invited to the mayor's house
for apple pie,
288
00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:53,120
and the townspeople try
to convince him to stay.
289
00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:56,560
Under the table comes little Jenny,
290
00:16:56,560 --> 00:17:00,080
unties his boots,
runs out the front door with them.
291
00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:02,440
She runs down the street,
throws them over the line
292
00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:04,600
where all the residents' shoes are,
293
00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:08,320
and he quickly learned
why she took his boots.
294
00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:12,800
And the reason for that is
they love the town so much,
295
00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:14,680
they don't ever want to leave.
296
00:17:16,600 --> 00:17:19,760
The movie is full of all these weird
and wonderful scenes,
297
00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:23,760
in a way that makes you think
it could only be a Tim Burton film,
298
00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:26,120
but it almost didn't turn out
that way.
299
00:17:26,120 --> 00:17:29,640
The movie was originally conceived
from a novel,
300
00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:34,400
and it came to Steven Spielberg,
who was interested in directing it.
301
00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:36,480
But then, mid-project,
302
00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:39,520
he got called off
on a different film,
303
00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:43,320
and director Tim Burton
got involved.
304
00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:46,400
Although it was a departure
from his normal style,
305
00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:50,560
Burton was drawn to the story
for deeply personal reasons.
306
00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:53,240
Burton's father died in 2000,
307
00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:55,720
and his mother,
about two years after that.
308
00:17:55,720 --> 00:17:58,600
And he wasn't really close
to either of them.
309
00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:00,880
I mean, he left home
when he was really young.
310
00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:03,800
When Burton's father
began to get ill,
311
00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:06,120
Burton tried to reconnect with him
312
00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:08,480
and re-establish a relationship
with him.
313
00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:10,440
So, in many ways,
what he went through
314
00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,800
is actually much like
what the character Will Bloom
315
00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:14,600
went through in Big Fish.
316
00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,240
It offered him a form of catharsis.
317
00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:21,880
It's said he was also anxious
to score a box-office triumph.
318
00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:23,720
When Tim Burton came on board,
319
00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:26,400
some say it was because
he needed a win.
320
00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:29,280
If you remember, he had just put out
that movie Planet Of The Apes.
321
00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:31,280
It was kind of rushed
into production,
322
00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:35,720
and it was nowhere near the hit
that he really needed it to be.
323
00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:39,000
The pressure was on
to make this film a success.
324
00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:43,840
Landowner Bobby Bright's
first encounter
325
00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:47,560
with the future Oscar-winner
didn't help matters.
326
00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:51,320
I would always come over after work
and kind of ride through the set
327
00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:53,560
to see what progress they had made.
328
00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:54,880
And as I got behind
329
00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:57,560
the mayor's house,
this stranger came walking out,
330
00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:00,080
and I thought maybe
he was up to no good.
331
00:19:01,360 --> 00:19:04,840
But I had no idea who Tim Burton was
before the movie came here.
332
00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:07,520
I almost started to do
a citizen's arrest on him!
333
00:19:10,120 --> 00:19:14,960
Despite Bobby's best efforts,
Burton did continue filming,
334
00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:19,000
but Spectre was about
to hit hard times, Hollywood-style.
335
00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:22,960
Spectre wasn't big enough
for Edward Bloom.
336
00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:27,040
I mean, he's a big fish
and so he leaves.
337
00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:30,240
Later in the movie,
Edward comes back
338
00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:34,160
to the town of Spectre,
and something has happened -
339
00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:36,120
the town is now in ruins.
340
00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:37,520
So, in order to shoot that,
341
00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:41,640
the filmmakers first had
to build these nice new buildings
342
00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:45,680
and then make everything look like
it had aged 50 years.
343
00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:51,520
They tore up the fences -
the picket fences.
344
00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:54,480
They used sandblasters,
they used heating torches
345
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,920
to burn the paint off, to make the
paint peel like that right there.
346
00:19:57,920 --> 00:19:59,840
They took up the sod,
347
00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:01,840
and they did everything
they possibly could
348
00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:04,760
to make it look like
it was in really, really bad shape.
349
00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:09,680
So, really, what you're seeing here
is not actual decay.
350
00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:11,920
It's Hollywood magic.
351
00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:15,840
Yet that Hollywood magic
didn't translate into
352
00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:19,480
the runaway box-office success
Burton had hoped for.
353
00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:26,200
It did about 60 million domestically
and 120 million worldwide
354
00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:28,280
with a $70 million budget.
355
00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:31,840
So, a solid success,
but not a great blockbuster.
356
00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:37,120
For the Bright family, though,
357
00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:41,760
the old movie set seemed like
an opportunity too good to miss.
358
00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:43,920
So, towards the end of the filming,
359
00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:46,680
we, as a family, decided that,
you know,
360
00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:49,600
"What if we let it stay?"
We had an expectation that
361
00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:52,000
people would be really interested
in seeing it.
362
00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:53,760
Then nobody wanted to come see it!
363
00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:55,440
People just didn't realise
it was here.
364
00:20:57,200 --> 00:20:59,600
In the years after the film,
365
00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:02,720
the elements slowly
took over the set.
366
00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:07,200
Floods came in and destroyed
one of the main character's homes.
367
00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,960
Things really went to rack and ruin.
368
00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:13,440
Spectre was in danger of
complete destruction,
369
00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:15,600
this time, for real.
370
00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:20,160
If it was going to survive,
it needed a lifeline fast.
371
00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:27,160
It was not until around 2011 or so,
when social media picked it up,
372
00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:30,200
and the next thing we knew,
people knew we were here.
373
00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:32,280
And once people started
to come visit,
374
00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:35,840
then we really realised that
we needed to do whatever we could
375
00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:37,560
to keep the structure standing.
376
00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:41,200
They also come to see the goats.
377
00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:44,200
And the goats take a toll
not only on the island,
378
00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:46,360
but they take a toll
on the town of Spectre.
379
00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:52,080
Today, there's not as much
of the town left as there once was,
380
00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:54,280
but thousands of fans still come
381
00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:58,000
to walk the fictional street
of a film they adore.
382
00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:01,360
Big Fish has gained quite
a cult following over the years.
383
00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:05,600
It's really the message and
the heartwarming nature of the movie
384
00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:08,440
that people really love because,
in the end,
385
00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:11,720
Edward and Will do get
their relationship back on track
386
00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:13,400
and it's really beautiful.
387
00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:16,840
We had a man that came
from South Florida,
388
00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:21,520
and he told us the story of how he
had watched the movie with his son
389
00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:26,560
while his son was on his deathbed,
and they healed their relationship.
390
00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:30,320
He was so emotional about it,
I was crying listening to him
391
00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:34,800
because I could tell that
it really mattered that he get here,
392
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:36,840
you know, for the memory of his son.
393
00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:43,360
Although the movie will live on
394
00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:45,760
and likely get new fans
over the years,
395
00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:49,080
the future for the town of Spectre
is not so certain.
396
00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:52,760
I'm not sure
how much longer it'll last.
397
00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:54,960
At some point,
it's just going to all give.
398
00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:57,120
They're not built on
real foundations,
399
00:22:57,120 --> 00:22:59,520
so you can't expect it
to last forever.
400
00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:09,880
In the city of Gwangju, South Korea,
401
00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:14,400
are the forsaken reminders
of a sacrifice that forged a nation.
402
00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,920
From the outside, it could be
a rundown apartment block
403
00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:24,160
or an office.
404
00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:27,880
Peering through the dirty windows,
it's really hard
405
00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:30,200
to get a sense of what's inside.
406
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:34,000
As soon as you walk in,
you can really feel the decay.
407
00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:39,480
There are CT scanners,
X-ray machines,
408
00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:45,040
and cabinets still filled with
vials of medicine, and syringes.
409
00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:47,960
So, clearly, this was
some kind of medical facility.
410
00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:53,760
It's kind of post-apocalyptic,
like everyone just vanished.
411
00:23:56,120 --> 00:23:59,040
Nearby are the remains
of another facility
412
00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:02,560
that, at first, appears
to have no obvious connection.
413
00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:07,640
Set back from the square,
behind heavy, metal gates,
414
00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:11,160
lies this imposing white building.
415
00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,360
A grand staircase greets you
as you first walk in.
416
00:24:14,360 --> 00:24:16,880
Inside, it has clearly been gutted.
417
00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:19,640
These holes,
surrounded by yellow tape,
418
00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:24,400
suggest that something has been dug
out of the walls for evidence.
419
00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:29,360
Together, these structures
tell a story of heroism
420
00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:31,680
in the face of mortal danger.
421
00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:36,560
When the government goes rogue,
it's up to the citizens to rebel.
422
00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:57,680
Jun-Bong Kim was an employee
of a local cement company in 1980.
423
00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:02,440
Events that played out in that year
had a lasting impact on his life.
424
00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:23,920
The catalyst for the cruelty
Jun-Bong endured,
425
00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:27,400
and which connected him
to these buildings forever,
426
00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:29,880
began in 1979.
427
00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:34,360
Park Chung Hee had ruled South Korea
428
00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:37,040
as an authoritarian dictator
since the 1960s.
429
00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:41,480
At a dinner party
in the presidential complex,
430
00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:44,240
the head of intelligence
pulled out a gun
431
00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:46,920
and shot him in the head
and in the chest.
432
00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:51,200
The assassination
was just the first act
433
00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:54,120
of a military coup
to take over the country.
434
00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:59,280
In South Korea's major cities,
like here in Gwangju,
435
00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:02,400
student protests erupted.
436
00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:04,640
7,000 protesters
437
00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:07,880
broke through the police barrier
surrounding their school
438
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:12,240
and went to the square in front of
the Provincial Government Building.
439
00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:14,640
They demanded an end
to the martial law
440
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:16,760
declared across the country.
441
00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:18,960
At 1am on May 18th,
442
00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:22,520
the government announced a stoppage
to all such activity.
443
00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:24,200
They closed universities,
444
00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:26,800
they banned protests
and demonstrations,
445
00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:30,000
and they announced new restrictions
on the press.
446
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,480
The military government
deployed troops all over the city
447
00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:37,600
to enforce the new laws
by whatever means necessary.
448
00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:40,200
These were soldiers trained against
449
00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:42,600
the looming threat of invasion
from North Korea,
450
00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:44,920
not the policing
of peaceful protests.
451
00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:57,560
A 24-year-old deaf man
was beaten so badly by soldiers
452
00:26:57,560 --> 00:26:59,800
that he died of his wounds
the following day.
453
00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:04,040
But the people refused
to be silenced
454
00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:08,080
and the protests continued
for the next three days.
455
00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:11,840
On the 21st of May,
an alarming decision was made.
456
00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:16,600
The stage was set for a clash
457
00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:20,640
that would reverberate through
South Korea's history.
458
00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:24,880
At 1pm, the national anthem
was played out over the PA system.
459
00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:29,280
As soon as the last note
of the anthem played, the soldiers,
460
00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:33,040
armed with American-provided
M16 assault rifles,
461
00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:35,880
opened fire on the crowd.
GUNFIRE
462
00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:39,640
Tens of thousands of people
were running for their lives,
463
00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:42,560
diving for cover
in nearby alleyways.
464
00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:44,680
Jun-Bong was working in an office
465
00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:47,080
across from
the Provincial Government Building
466
00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:50,360
when he was unexpectedly drawn
into the turmoil.
467
00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:22,600
He rushed the wounded
to the city's Red Cross Hospital,
468
00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:24,640
located less than half a mile away.
469
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:29,320
When he arrived,
the scene was one of utter chaos.
470
00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:43,520
It soon became clear that
471
00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:47,080
the hospital was going to run out
of blood supply for transfusion,
472
00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:50,040
and when that happened,
people suffering from gunshot wounds
473
00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:51,920
were going to die very,
very quickly.
474
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:23,520
Jun-Bong was desperate to help
in any way he could,
475
00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:26,560
even if it meant
risking his own life.
476
00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:29,520
He and a team of doctors
drove into the city
477
00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:32,480
as the crackle of gunfire
echoed all around.
478
00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:57,600
Those with serious gunshot wounds
were stabilised,
479
00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:00,600
had the bullets and shrapnel
removed from their bodies,
480
00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:04,120
and then taken to larger hospitals
for longer-term care.
481
00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:09,400
But the real fight
had only just begun.
482
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:12,040
The citizens of Gwangju mobilised,
483
00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:15,200
raiding police stations
and military depots
484
00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:17,600
to take up arms
against the aggressors.
485
00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:22,600
The military forces
facing this mass armed resistance
486
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:25,120
retreated to the outskirts
of the city.
487
00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,560
They cut off
all outside communications
488
00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:29,080
and closed the roads.
489
00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:32,560
What had become a demonstration
and a response
490
00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:34,360
had now become a siege.
491
00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:38,320
For a few days, there was peace,
492
00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:41,000
but this was just the calm
before the storm.
493
00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:44,440
On May 26th, it became clear
494
00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:48,480
the military was moving
to retake the city.
495
00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:51,320
As news of the imminent attack
began to spread,
496
00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:53,520
armed protesters took up station
497
00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:55,440
inside
the Provincial Government Building.
498
00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:58,240
They were determined
to make a last desperate stand.
499
00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:02,160
Jun-Bong was one of
the city's defenders
500
00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:03,640
holed up inside.
501
00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:20,920
As church bells pealed at 4am,
the first shots were fired.
502
00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:24,120
Then the chaos of war erupted.
503
00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:26,320
GUNFIRE
504
00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:08,760
By 5.10am, with the sun just
beginning to rise over the city,
505
00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:10,080
it was all over.
506
00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:15,800
17 people were killed inside
the Provincial Government Building,
507
00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:17,880
and over 200 were arrested.
508
00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:22,280
Yet the event
was swept under the rug.
509
00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:24,160
In the years that followed,
510
00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:27,320
any mention of the uprising
by the city's residents
511
00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:30,200
was met with severe punishment.
512
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:33,200
The Provincial Government Building
was once again used
513
00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:35,680
as an administrative headquarters.
514
00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:39,480
All traces of the brutal attack
were covered over.
515
00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:43,640
But the events of May 1980
516
00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:47,640
laid the foundations for democracy
to eventually flourish.
517
00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:54,200
In 1987, the country held
its first free elections.
518
00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:57,520
Under the new regime,
the city's Red Cross Hospital
519
00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:00,760
remained operational
for another 27 years.
520
00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:06,040
By 2014, however,
its doors were locked,
521
00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:08,120
with everything left inside,
522
00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:10,520
and the whole facility
was just left to decay.
523
00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:21,840
Today, Jun-Bong works with
the May 18 Foundation,
524
00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:24,240
founded to protect these structures
525
00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:26,960
and the memory of
the Gwangju Uprising.
526
00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:48,880
In western Namibia,
where the desert meets the ocean,
527
00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:52,480
traces of weather-beaten structures
line the shore.
528
00:33:56,840 --> 00:33:59,720
We're on the South Atlantic coast
of Africa.
529
00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:04,160
This is a place where, to this day,
almost no-one lives.
530
00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:09,920
Then, here and there,
we see some signs of human activity.
531
00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:13,480
There are these huge
metal structures,
532
00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:16,560
almost like barrels,
lined up in rows.
533
00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:19,280
And, from above,
you can see the outline
534
00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:22,840
of a large concrete slipway
on the water's edge.
535
00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:28,320
Chains set into the ground
suggest that something massive
536
00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:31,920
was either lashed down
or dragged across the beach.
537
00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:35,760
What would require
such heavy-duty infrastructure
538
00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:38,080
out here in the middle of nowhere?
539
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:45,400
These are the last remains
of a booming industry
540
00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:47,800
that powered the industrial age.
541
00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:52,000
I believe it was a necessary evil
542
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:56,680
at a time when
we had no other source of fuel.
543
00:34:56,680 --> 00:35:00,880
If you walk on this beach,
you see something kind of chilling.
544
00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:04,920
There are bones everywhere -
enormous bones.
545
00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:07,560
It's easy to see
how this place got its name -
546
00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:09,040
the Skeleton Coast.
547
00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:19,440
I am a born Namibian.
At a young age,
548
00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:21,360
my father brought me out
into this area
549
00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:23,840
and it really grew my passion
for the desert.
550
00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:27,320
Paul Lombard is
a local expedition leader.
551
00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:28,920
It took years of experience
552
00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:32,040
to learn how to live
in this unforgiving environment.
553
00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:35,280
As an early sailor,
554
00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:39,560
if you were stranded on this coast
and had no knowledge of the desert,
555
00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:42,000
the chance of survival
was next to nothing.
556
00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:47,360
Yet hundreds of people
did venture here,
557
00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:51,880
willing to risk their lives
in search of fortune.
558
00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:55,400
The prize they sought
wasn't buried in the desert.
559
00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:58,320
It was in the ocean facing it.
560
00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:01,320
There are giant seal colonies,
561
00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:03,960
sharks come in close to the shore,
562
00:36:03,960 --> 00:36:05,640
and there are whales.
563
00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:10,400
In the winter, they migrated north
to the warmer waters,
564
00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:13,880
like those along the South African
and Namibian coasts.
565
00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:16,360
They sought out shallow bays
like these
566
00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:18,000
to give birth.
567
00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:19,920
In the early 1700s,
568
00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:23,520
the Dutch West India Company
sent whalers to this region,
569
00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:26,680
and American, French,
and Norwegian hunters soon followed.
570
00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:30,520
Whaling stations
were quickly established
571
00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:34,520
along Namibia's coast
to exploit the abundant population.
572
00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:38,320
This one became known as Meob Bay.
573
00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:43,200
Everyone thinks of Moby-Dick
and the 19th-century ships
574
00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:46,440
that sailed around the world
chasing a variety of whales,
575
00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:48,440
especially sperm whales.
576
00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:50,960
But here in Africa,
577
00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:55,560
it was possible to hunt whales
right off the beach.
578
00:36:55,560 --> 00:36:57,560
The unique design
of these surf boats
579
00:36:57,560 --> 00:37:00,800
was specific for
breaking through the waves,
580
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:03,960
with the bow and the stern
the same shape.
581
00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:09,120
If the small crew of men
got twisted or turned in the waves,
582
00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:11,080
they could just turn
their paddles around
583
00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:12,560
and row their way through.
584
00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:14,320
They would then have the open ocean
585
00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:17,800
to chase across
and hunt down their prey.
586
00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:22,000
The hunters' catch of choice
was the southern right whale.
587
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:25,560
Legend has it the right whale
got its name because,
588
00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:28,760
for the early whalers,
it was the easiest whale,
589
00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:30,760
the right whale, to catch.
590
00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:34,080
They often swam up
close to the shore
591
00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:35,800
and stayed near the surface,
592
00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:37,800
making it easy
to spot and follow them.
593
00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:41,120
They also floated
when they were dead,
594
00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:44,320
which made it much easier
to lash them to the side of ships
595
00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:45,680
or drag them back to shore.
596
00:37:46,720 --> 00:37:49,240
The whale was a gold mine,
597
00:37:49,240 --> 00:37:52,680
{\an8}and a use was found for every part.
598
00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:55,040
{\an8}The most important product
from whaling
599
00:37:55,040 --> 00:37:58,280
{\an8}was the oil produced from
the animal's blubber.
600
00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:00,240
{\an8}A fully-grown male
would harvest
601
00:38:00,240 --> 00:38:02,680
{\an8}about 40 to 50 barrels of oil,
602
00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:06,800
{\an8}where a fully-grown female would be
about 60 to 70 barrels of oil.
603
00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:08,960
{\an8}Before the dawn
of the electric light,
604
00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:12,280
{\an8}whale oil was considered
the best kind of oil
605
00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:14,840
{\an8}to burn in a lamp for illumination,
606
00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:19,600
{\an8}and that made the oil
extremely valuable.
607
00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:24,440
{\an8}Over the course of a century,
around 3,700 right whales
608
00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:27,640
{\an8}were killed by the industry
in Namibia.
609
00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:29,520
{\an8}Their downfall was inevitable.
610
00:38:32,640 --> 00:38:34,360
By the 1800s,
611
00:38:34,360 --> 00:38:37,440
right whales had been hunted
almost to the verge of extinction,
612
00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,120
but whalers didn't have
the technology
613
00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:43,600
to catch and harvest whales
which didn't float when they died.
614
00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:48,040
As a result,
near-shore whaling declined,
615
00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:51,880
and stations like this
were left abandoned.
616
00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:56,400
But in the decades to come,
the Industrial Revolution's advances
617
00:38:56,400 --> 00:39:00,560
would see the trade
return to Namibia with a vengeance.
618
00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:03,680
Steam power was coming in,
619
00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:07,360
so ships could travel faster
and farther.
620
00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:10,320
And they began to develop
mechanised harpoons
621
00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:13,160
that could shoot farther
with much more force.
622
00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:15,880
And most kind of chilling of all,
623
00:39:15,880 --> 00:39:20,640
they developed harpoons
with a kind of grenade tip.
624
00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:25,560
Jean-Paul Roux is
a local marine scientist
625
00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:28,480
who studies the ecosystem
of these waters.
626
00:39:29,600 --> 00:39:35,360
Faster whales could be taken
because of new technology,
627
00:39:35,360 --> 00:39:40,240
which allowed the whalers
to target the humpback whale,
628
00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:42,640
blue whales, fin whales.
629
00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:47,400
They were more abundant because they
had never been exploited before.
630
00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:53,200
150 miles south of Meob Bay,
just outside the town of Luderitz,
631
00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:55,400
a collection of rusted remains
632
00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:58,200
hint at the scale
of this deadly new era.
633
00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:03,560
This is the Sturmvogelbucht
whaling station.
634
00:40:03,560 --> 00:40:07,240
When the German-run operation
opened in 1913,
635
00:40:07,240 --> 00:40:11,680
it was equipped with the latest
hunting and processing technology.
636
00:40:14,200 --> 00:40:16,360
So, that's where it all started.
637
00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:20,720
After the killing of the whale,
it was towed here,
638
00:40:20,720 --> 00:40:25,440
fastened to cables,
and dragged tail-first.
639
00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:32,440
You can see how the cables have made
grooves in the concrete here.
640
00:40:33,720 --> 00:40:36,280
Once the whale
had been brought to the factory,
641
00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:38,640
a process known as flensing began.
642
00:40:39,920 --> 00:40:42,240
Using long-hooked knives,
643
00:40:42,240 --> 00:40:44,960
workers would cut off
sections of blubber,
644
00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:46,840
which were then dragged
to the boilers
645
00:40:46,840 --> 00:40:48,680
and cooked down into oil.
646
00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:51,080
This method required fresh water,
647
00:40:51,080 --> 00:40:53,320
which was hard to come by
in the desert.
648
00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:57,600
They had to set up
a big powered system
649
00:40:57,600 --> 00:41:00,400
to boil seawater and condense it.
650
00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:02,160
But it wasn't an easy start.
651
00:41:02,160 --> 00:41:05,240
There were constant problems
with the water supply,
652
00:41:05,240 --> 00:41:08,240
and they only produced
2,000 barrels of oil,
653
00:41:08,240 --> 00:41:09,960
which was way below
what they'd hoped.
654
00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:13,920
The situation was about
to get far worse
655
00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:16,560
for the whaling station's
German owners.
656
00:41:16,560 --> 00:41:18,840
A conflict loomed that would bring
657
00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:21,600
the entire industry here
crashing down.
658
00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:27,160
Since 1884,
Namibia had been a German colony,
659
00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:30,720
then part of what was known as
German South West Africa.
660
00:41:30,720 --> 00:41:33,760
Soon, however,
World War I would intervene.
661
00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:38,160
On the request of
the British government,
662
00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:43,800
South Africa invaded Namibia
and occupied the town of Luderitz.
663
00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:48,240
The station's ships were seized
and operations ground to a halt.
664
00:41:48,240 --> 00:41:52,000
JEAN-PAUL ROUX:
All the machinery was taken away.
665
00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:55,680
The sheds themselves
were left abandoned.
666
00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:58,480
But even had the station survived
the First World War,
667
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:01,240
it probably would have
gone out of business anyway.
668
00:42:01,240 --> 00:42:02,920
At the end of the war,
669
00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:06,720
Norwegian whalers
mostly had discovered that
670
00:42:06,720 --> 00:42:11,280
it was far better
to look for whales in Antarctica
671
00:42:11,280 --> 00:42:14,520
instead of having
these shore stations,
672
00:42:14,520 --> 00:42:18,760
and, later on, developed
the concept of a factory vessel.
673
00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:22,920
This is what brought
most whale stocks to decline.
674
00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:31,040
For centuries, whaling was a vital
675
00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:34,440
yet unpleasant part
of human development.
676
00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:37,800
Whaling in Namibia
or South West Africa,
677
00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:39,920
at that stage, put us on the map.
678
00:42:39,920 --> 00:42:42,720
And my town, Walvis Bay,
where I was born and bred,
679
00:42:42,720 --> 00:42:45,520
was founded on the backbone
of the whaling industry.
680
00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:50,560
In 1986,
the International Whaling Commission
681
00:42:50,560 --> 00:42:54,040
outlawed all commercial whaling.
682
00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:57,080
Though some countries
ignore the ban,
683
00:42:57,080 --> 00:43:01,800
the majestic creatures are slowly
returning to Namibia's waters.
684
00:43:03,040 --> 00:43:05,040
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