All language subtitles for Aerial Britain Series 1 2of4 Northern England 1080p

Northern England

Birthplace of
industrial revolution.

Its great cities changed
the history of the world

And helped forge an empire.

A land of contrast...

Where a lightbulb moment
illuminated a whole city...

And an ancient ruin spawned
horror's bloodiest fiend.

From the castle where
harry potter learned to fly,

To the birthplace of a band
that changed pop music forever,

The forest where the legend
of robin hood was born,

And a theater of dreams

Where the world's greatest
team sport plays out.

Ever changing,
always innovating,

Past, present and future
in perfect harmony.

This is northern England.

♪♪

Beadnell bay in northumberland.

A sandy two-mile stretch
of England's northeast coast.

At this northerly latitude,

Winds blowing off the north sea
can be bracing, even in summer.

But for father and son
kite surfers

Kevin and jonny anderson,
it's paradise.

Kevin used to work
in the auto industry,

But left to follow his dream in
the world of adventure sports.

Jonny first took to the water
nine years ago.

Since then,
he's developed a passion

For this exhilarating sport
that's evolved

Into a full-time job
as a kite surfing instructor

With his dad.

The waters of the north sea
are famously cold,

But jonny's not bothered.

Northerners are
famously hardy folk.

Up here, where the tides of
history have turned many times,

There's a real pride of place,

Hard won and
fiercely maintained.

♪♪

This was once the northern
frontier of the roman empire--

Hadrian's wall,
completed around 134 a.D.

A fortified barrier
73 miles long,

Rising 20 feet high,

Dividing britain
from coast to coast.

Built to contain and subdue

The fierce tribes of scotland,

The wall would remain intact,

Manned by legions of soldiers,
for more than three centuries.

The romans abandoned britain
over 1,600 years ago,

But even now, evidence of their
military infrastructure

Can still be seen.

And one of the most
impressive examples

Is right here in northumberland.

Ever since he visited
hadrian's wall at the age of 10,

William cassidy has been
fascinated by archaeology.

Before retirement,
he traveled the world

As a royal air force engineer.

Now, he spends his days
uncovering the secrets

Of this ancient fort
called vindolanda.

Once the front line
of roman britain,

This huge military complex
is the most extensive ruin

Of its kind anywhere in europe.

It contains the remains
of cavalry stables,

Infantry barracks,
administrative offices,

And even a main street

Along which shops and taverns
once stood.

Vindolanda was the largest
of many military bases

South of hadrian's wall.

Romans haven't set foot here
for over 1,600 years.

At least, not ancient romans.

Italian-born site supervisor
marta alberti

Could well be walking
in her ancestors' footsteps.

She's one of the many
archaeologists

Bringing the past to life.

Already, they've unearthed
400 carved wooden pages

Known as the vindolanda tablets;

Remarkable accounts
of daily life at the fort,

From troop movements

To a birthday party invite sent
by the wife of an official,

The earliest known letter
written in latin by a woman.

The romans may have been
the first to conquer britain,

But they weren't the last.

This is alnwick, historic seat
of the dukes of northumberland.

And possibly the most
photographed castle in England.

Founded in 1096, 30 years after
the norman invasion,

It changed hands three times

During the 15th century
war of the roses,

A 32-year struggle
for the english throne

Between the rival factions
of york and lancaster.

For some however, this castle
will always be associated

With the world's
most famous boy wizard.

In "harry potter and
the philosopher's stone,"

Alnwick's battlements became
the walls of hogwarts.

This section was used
as a backdrop

To the scene where harry
is taught to fly

For the first time.

Today, a group of fans,
young and not so young,

Are recreating the memorable
broomstick lesson

Given by madam hooch.

The classes are hugely popular.

A chance for disciples
of the franchise

To indulge their own
flights of fancy,

Without the crash landing.

♪♪

Harry potter's second favorite
mode of transport

Was, of course, steam,

Less fanciful perhaps, but
in some ways just as magical.

Running through the west
yorkshire village of haworth

Is the keighley and worth
valley railway.

A former main line,

Now operated as a self-contained
heritage railway,

It carries over 100,000
tourists every year.

Steam railways like this

Once served the greatest
transport network in the world,

Serving hundreds of
mills and factories

In the industrial
north of England.

The railways would change
England forever,

Opening the way for free
movement of goods and people.

By 1838, manchester and london,

Once separated by
a four-day journey,

Were just four hours apart.

[whistle blows]

For the wealthy industrialists
of the 19th century,

A new age had begun.

♪♪

At one time, this vast
19th century textile mill

At shipley in west yorkshire

Turned vast quantities of raw
fiber into fabrics and clothing.

But it was more than just
a manufacturing plant.

It was a unique
social experiment

Founded by industrialist
sir titus salt.

His statue in nearby
roberts park depicts a man

Who would revolutionize the very
nature of victorian industry.

Sir titus salt
was deeply religious

And considered it his duty
to better the living conditions

Of those who worked for him.

And this was his grand plan,
saltaire,

A model town designed
to fulfill all the needs

Of his workforce
and their families.

And so, in 1853, beside
the leeds and liverpool canal,

Salt built his factory.

Along with it, he built homes,
schools, infirmaries,

Libraries,
and public bath houses,

Insisting that all his employees
bathed at least twice a week.

Saltaire wasn't the first
industrialized model village,

But it was one of the largest
and most successful.

Today it's a unesco
world heritage site.

Salt's experiment
made him famous,

The epitome of a new kind
of enlightened capitalist.

When he died in 1876,

Over 100,000 people, including
thousands of grateful employees,

Lined the route of
his funeral procession.

The same sense of community
that once prevailed here

Resonates elsewhere
in english life.

♪♪

Swimmer jenna chatburn
competed several times

At the english national
championships.

These days, this ornate
mushroom-shaped pool

Is her office.

For the past eight years
she has worked here

As a leisure attendant
and swimming instructor.

To americans,
it's simply an outdoor pool,

But to britons of a certain age,

The lido, a latin word
meaning beach,

Is a place that evokes
unique childhood memories.

This lido at ilkley
near bradford

Was built in the 1930s,

A time when England's
love of outdoor swimming

Was matched by a craze
for art deco design.

Just as these elegant remnants
of 20th century life

Are preserved,

Great swathes of northern
England's natural landscape

Remain untouched by development.

♪♪

The peak district of derbyshire

Was England's first
designated national park

And it still attracts millions
of visitors every year.

Covering over 550 square miles,

Most of it a thousand feet
above sea level.

The landscape of
the peak district

Ranges from high moorlands
and cliffs in the north

To rolling green hills
and dales to the south.

One of the peak district's
most idyllic landscapes

Is the monsal valley...

Its shaded woodlands
and crystal waters

Glorious at the height
of summer.

Friends neil, john, jackie,
and susan live nearby

And walk here together
most days.

It's hard to believe

Anything could spoil
this bucolic splendor.

♪♪

The headstone viaduct
was built in 1863

By the midland railway company,

It spans the river wey and
once completed the rail line

From manchester to london.

But it wasn't to
everybody's taste.

The 19th century writer
john ruskin

Deemed it a monstrosity,

A monument to the greed
of the railway company,

And a blight on the natural
beauty of the peaks.

There hasn't been a train
in the valley

Since the line
was closed in 1968.

But even though
the rails are gone,

This route still sees
a lot of traffic.

Today, it forms part
of an 8.5-mile hiking route

Known as the monsal trail.

Here at this magnificent
stately home in derbyshire,

The sister of a future
american president

Once fell in love
with an english duke.

Chatsworth house,
seat of the dukes of devonshire,

Passed down through
16 generations

Of the cavendish family.

Their vast estate
once covered 35,000 acres

Of the derbyshire countryside.

The house still contains

One of the world's
finest art collections.

In its heyday, chatsworth
employed a staff of 40

To maintain
its day-to-day affairs.

Two full-time window cleaners
worked all year round

To maintain the dukes'
pristine view

Of their magnificent domain.

Chatsworth's 100-acre garden
was created

By England's foremost landscape
designer, capability brown.

At one time, 100 gardeners
tended these grounds.

First set out in 1555,
they were redesigned many times.

1,200 yew trees were planted
to create chatsworth's maze.

It stands on the site

Of what was once England's
largest glass structure:

A greenhouse so vast that
its eight boilers required

An underground railway to keep
them supplied with coal.

For all its good fortune,

Chatsworth has also
known tragedy.

In 1944, kathleen kennedy,

Sister of the future
u.S. President john f. Kennedy,

Married william cavendish.

William, a soldier and
the heir to chatsworth,

Was killed in action
that same year.

Kathleen herself died
in a plane crash in 1948.

♪♪

In derbyshire, at the southeast
of the peak district,

Stands the town of matlock.

Like a swiss alpine village
without the snow,

Matlock seems an unlikely place
to find cable cars,

But they've transformed the
once-faded glory of this town.

In the late 18th century,

Matlock was
a fashionable spa resort

Whose thermal springs
were believed

To have curative properties.

But the real attraction was
located on an escarpment

Above the town, known as
the heights of abraham.

Once, the former workers
of a lead mine

Decommissioned
in the 19th century

Took visitors deep
beneath the earth

And into a labyrinth of
mineshafts and natural caves.

In time, however,

When the thermal springs
lost their appeal

And visitors tired of
the long climb up the hill,

Matlock went into decline.

Until in 1984, a spark of genius
led to the introduction

Of the cable cars and a new era
in the fortunes of the town.

Traveling a third of a mile
in groups of three,

Reaching heights
of more than 500 feet,

The cable cars offer
spectacular views of matlock

And the surrounding landscape
of the peak district.

♪♪

Centuries ago, giant oak forests
covered much of England--

A great sea of green that
would gradually disappear

To make way for
agricultural expansion.

But there are still places

Where vestiges of that
ancient woodland remain.

And here in the northwestern
county of nottinghamshire

Stands the most famous
of them all: Sherwood forest.

These are the woods

Where the legendary
medieval outlaw robin hood

Is said to have lived,

Robbing the rich
to help the poor.

In the middle ages,

Sherwood was the hunting ground
of kings and princes,

And it covered nearly
a quarter of the county.

Today, just 1,000 acres remain,

Protected as
a national nature reserve.

At the heart of sherwood stands
the tree, according to legend,

That sheltered robin and
his merry men as they slept.

The tree measures
33 feet around the base

And weighs around 23 tons,

Its massive limbs have been
supported by scaffolding

Since victorian times.

Thought to be
at least 800 years old,

The major oak would almost
certainly have been alive

During the late medieval period

In which robin hood's
legend is set.

At the nearby village
of edwinstowe

In the heart of sherwood forest,

The 12th century
church of saint mary

Attracts thousands
of visitors every year.

According to legend,

It was here that robin hood
and maid marion were wed.

♪♪

Told and retold
over the centuries,

The legend of robin hood has
adapted to suit a changing world

Without ever losing
its connection to the past.

And the same can be said

Of northern England's
greatest city, manchester.

Once a hub of commerce
and manufacture

Like nowhere else on earth,
in the 19th century,

It would become the world's
first fully industrialized city.

Today, its innovative
architecture and gleaming towers

Reflect a new phase
in manchester's history.

On quays that once jostled
with trade ships,

Stood warehouses crammed full
of the raw material

That gave manchester
its 19th century nickname,

Cottonopolis.

Founded in 79 a.D.,

The roman fort of mamucium

Would grow to become
England's second city.

Built for the modern equivalent
of three billion dollars,

The ship canal that connected it
to the port of liverpool

Was once the longest river
navigation system in the world.

Three fifths of all the cotton
produced in the u.S.

Once passed through
these waters.

During the american civil war,

That same industry
was devastated

When the city's workforce

Refused to handle
slave-picked cotton.

A stance that president lincoln
would later praise

As "sublime christian heroism."

As its heavy industries
declined,

The city would survive,

Renewing its own fortune
through innovation.

And it was at
manchester university

That much of that
innovation took place.

Here in 1917,
the nuclear age began,

When the pioneering work
of physicist ernest rutherford

Resulted in the splitting
of the atom.

Another manchester alumnus

Was the brilliant mathematician
alan turing,

Who deciphered
germany's enigma machine

And changed the course
of the second world war.

At his office in this building,

Turing's work on
artificial intelligence

Would lay the foundations
for modern computing.

Tragically, turing was betrayed
by the prejudice of his time.

Criminally convicted
for homosexuality,

He took his own life in 1954.

Manchester continues to innovate
through architecture and design.

The award-winning
civil justice building

Is known to locals
as the filing cabinet.

Half a mile south,

The 47-story beetham tower
rises high above the city;

One of the thinnest skyscrapers
in the world.

In a city once known
for its smog,

One angel square is
among the cleanest,

Most progressive designs
in europe.

It's heated by
passive solar gain.

It recycles both
rain and wastewater,

And even though
3,000 people work here,

The entire building has a
carbon emissions rating of zero.

Once the heart of cottonopolis,
salford quays epitomize

Manchester's 21st century
regeneration.

Flanking the canal,
the t.V. Studios of media city

And the deconstructed
architecture

Of the imperial war museum.

And completing the cultural
triangle, the lowry,

An arts and theater complex

Named after manchester's most
famous painter, l.S. Lowry.

Close by,
at another great theater,

A different kind of drama
plays out.

This is old trafford, home to
the world's richest soccer club,

Manchester united.

Known as the theater of dreams,

This stadium has seen some
of the greatest players

The game has ever known,

And two of its most
legendary managers,

Sir matt busby and
sir alex ferguson.

The club is currently owned
by the american glazer family,

Who also own the tampa bay
buccaneers nfl franchise.

Recently valued
at $4.12 billion,

Manchester united is little
short of a global phenomenon.

But that's of mere
passing interest

To the people of salford.

With its history deeply rooted
in the community,

United is and always will be
their team.

♪♪

For sam chesters, soccer is
more than just a game.

In 1944, her grandfather
owen chesters

Founded barr hill
ladies football club at salford.

Sam's been playing on this pitch
since the age of 10.

It's all about team spirit
and camaraderie,

Honed with a fierce,
competitive edge.

Sam has played every defensive

And attacking position
in the game,

But the one that appealed
to her most was goalkeeping.

In a way, she's following
an old family tradition.

Sam's grandfather arthur also
kept goal for a local team.

That team just happened to be
manchester united.

Of course, soccer's not the only
way to fill a stadium.

Who needs a ball when
you can have "wonderwall?"

After world war ii,
suburbs like burnage,

Just four miles
south of manchester,

Saw an explosion
in their population.

And as the children of the
baby boomers found their voice,

Creativity surged from these
conservative red-brick homes.

Gallagher brothers
liam and noel

Formed their band oasis
not far from here.

This playing field
was the backdrop

To the video for "shaker maker,"
one of their first hits.

In the lyrics,
noel gallagher wrote,

"mr. Sifter sold me songs
when I was just 16."

And this was what
he was singing about:

Sifters record shop on fog lane,

A favorite haunt
of the gallagher brothers

Long before they were famous.

♪♪

Before cheap air travel opened
up the sunspots of europe,

This is where northerners
came on holiday:

Blackpool, 40 miles northwest
of manchester,

England's most famous resort.

Blackpool was once
a fashionable spa town

For well-to-do victorians.

But when the railways brought it
within reach of factory towns

Across the northwest,
everything changed.

Happy to escape the tedium
of their working lives,

If only for a few days,

Workers flocked to blackpool
in their thousands.

Today, the town's pleasure beach

Is England's most popular
amusement park.

Along with the carousels
and waltzers

Of the central and north pier,

The park is home to
giant roller coasters,

Including britain's highest,
the big one.

♪♪

But it's at night that blackpool
really comes alive.

Every autumn, a million bulbs
create a light show

Known as
the blackpool illuminations.

And its centerpiece is
the 518-foot blackpool tower,

One of northern England's
most iconic landmarks.

Modeled on the eiffel tower,

It has overlooked the promenade
since 1894.

Back then, visitors paid
the princely sum of one shilling

To take the elevator
to the observation deck.

In 1879, the street lights
of blackpool

Became one of the first
in the world

To be powered by electricity,

An innovation that would forever
change the way people lived.

Not that there's anything wrong

With wanting things
to stay the same.

♪♪

The rugged beauty
of the yorkshire moors

Is often shrouded by
the clouds and rain

Of an unforgiving climate;
but not today.

These classic british roadsters,

One of which featured memorably

In mel brooks' 1976 film
silent movie ,

Are morgans.

They're hand-built, with
a distinctive look and feel

That's hardly changed
in decades.

Richard and sandy cole
like them so much,

They spent the best part
of their life savings on one,

And they don't regret that
for a second.

A retired royal air force
combat pilot,

Richard saw active duty
over iraq

During operation desert storm.

These days, though he still
travels in formation,

It's a little closer
to the ground.

♪♪

For all the world,
the village of haworth

On the edge of the moors
looks frozen in time.

It would appear
little has changed

Since clergyman patrick bronte
came here

In the early 19th century.

Three of the parson's daughters,
charlotte, emily and anne,

Would write some of the greatest
novels in english literature.

In her late 20s, emily wrote
"wuthering heights,"

Using the moors as
an unforgettable backdrop

To her masterpiece.

The intense passion of cathy
and heathcliff's doomed romance

Still resonates to this day,

Made even more poignant

By the fate of its author
and her sisters.

Tragically, all three
would die young.

Anne was buried in scarborough.

Her sisters lie here in
the family vault at haworth.

♪♪

In 1890, the irish author
bram stoker paid a visit

To the fishing village of whitby
on the yorkshire coast.

A random book choice
at a local library

Could well have inspired
the creation

Of the greatest fiend
of horror culture,

Count dracula.

[thunder]

During his time here,
stoker visited

The atmospheric 16th century
ruin of whitby abbey.

[thunder]

Its ghostly silhouette
would fire his imagination.

♪♪

Stoker was especially intrigued

By the constantly changing light
on the abbey's walls,

Not to mention
the thousands of bats

He found roosting
in its shadows.

Later, at a library that once
stood on the village quay,

He found a history book

That mentioned a mysterious
transylvanian count.

And so, a blood-soaked
legend was born.

In stoker's tale,
the ship carrying dracula

Is driven ashore at whitby
during a storm.

Coming ashore as a black dog,

The shadow of the count
soon falls

Over the sleepy fishing village.

[thunder]

[bird squawks]

Whitby continues to attract
fans of the legend,

Some of whom have
even been known

To ask for dracula's grave.

Such is the power of the novel.

♪♪

268 miles long,

The pennine mountain range

Stretches from derbyshire
to the scottish border.

Separating northwest England

From yorkshire,

They are known as

The backbone of England.

In the pennine uplands
of yorkshire lie the dales,

An area of outstanding
natural beauty

And a national park since 1954.

800 square miles of stunning
hills and u-shaped valleys

That yorkshire people
have long since dubbed

"god's own country."

Farmed for thousands of years,

The rolling pastures of
its foothills are divided

Into a vast patchwork of fields
by dry stone walls.

From the highest point
at the top of whernside hill,

You can see blackpool
50 miles to the south.

At the foot of whernside,

The settle carlisle railway line

Crosses the spectacular
ribblehead viaduct...

A 19th century bridge
whose 24 stone arches

Took four years to build.

It's said that
an accidental train journey

Gave yorkshire one of
its best-loved institutions.

Every year, England consumes
60 billion cups of tea,

Many of them sipped in tearooms

Like bettys in the yorkshire
town of harrogate.

Bettys was established in 1919,
when, legend has it,

A swiss immigrant called
frederick belmont

Boarded the wrong train
in london

And ended up in harrogate
by chance.

A confectioner by trade,

Belmont fell in love with
the town and set up shop,

Serving tea and
swiss confectionary;

A winning formula,
as it turned out.

Oddly, given the fame
of this tearoom,

Nobody is quite sure

Where the name bettys
actually came from.

The undulating roads
of the yorkshire dales,

Largely free of traffic, are
ideal for serious road cycling.

The sport has become
hugely popular in recent years,

Thanks in part
to the 20 gold medals

Won by british cyclists at
the last two summer olympics.

As of 2018,
britons also dominate

The greatest road race
of them all:

The tour de France, winning six
out of the last seven events.

In typically proud
yorkshire fashion,

Richmond cycle club claims to be
one of the oldest in britain,

If not the world.

Leader of the pack sven wardle
has been cycling the dales

For over 20 years,

Competing on
the toughest circuits

This terrain has to offer.

Sven's dedication to the sport
has seen him take on

The most challenging
mountain roads in europe,

Attempting the same
murderous ascents

Faced by tour de France
cyclists.

Every year, richmond cycle club
organizes a race

Through the dales--

A challenging 118-mile ride

That includes seriously tough
uphill sections.

Not all the byways of the north
are quite so unforgiving.

Take penny lane for example,

Enshrined in song by four
of England's most famous sons.

The early morning sun
seems to bring this statue

Of john, paul, george and ringo
to life.

Even now, almost half a century

Since they became
global superstars,

The fab four are still heroes
in their hometown.

From their early gigs
at the cavern club

To the streets and parks
of their childhood,

Liverpool inspired many of
the beatles' most famous songs.

And fans still come
in search of locations

Immortalized in the lyrics
they wrote.

This is strawberry fields in
the liverpool suburb of woolton

Where john lennon attended
garden parties as a child.

The name would inspire one
of his most personal songs.

The stop where a young
paul mccartney caught the bus

To his friend john's house
would become famous

As penny lane's "shelter in
the middle of the roundabout."

Today, it's part of a magical
mystery tour experience,

Taking fans around
the various locations

Associated with the band.

And yes, there's even
a yellow submarine.

During the summer months,

Dedicated fans can spend
"a hard day's night"

In the psychedelic interior

Of this 1960s-themed
floating hotel.

The peace monument
of king's dock

Commemorates the life
of john lennon

And his long-held dream
of world peace.

Created by american artist
lauren voiers,

It was unveiled on
October the 9th, 2010,

On what would have been
lennon's 70th birthday.

[ship horn blows]

On the estuary

Where the river mersey
flows into the irish sea,

Liverpool was once known as
England's gateway to the world.

From here, goods and people

Flowed to and from
every part of the globe.

This trade made liverpool the
richest city outside of london,

With buildings on a par

With anything the capital
had to offer.

♪♪

By the late 19th century,

Britain's industrial revolution
began losing steam,

And liverpool suffered
a long decline.

But just like manchester,

The city has found ways to forge
a new future from its past.

The warehouses of
the royal albert dock

Were once vast storage sites
for goods and raw materials.

Today, its shops, museums
and galleries

Attract four million visitors
every year.

The river mersey has always been
the soul of liverpool,

But there are places
in northern England

Where water has come
to define the landscape

In even more inspiring ways.

This is kirkstone mountain pass
in cumbria,

Gateway to the lake district
national park,

A magical landscape of hills,
lakes and woodlands

That for centuries has
fired the imagination

Of writers and poets.

The 3,000-foot monolith
of scafell pike

Is England's highest mountain.

Surrounding it are the great
peaks of the southern fells...

An ancient landscape
whose grandeur and majesty

Never fails to impress
those who come here.

Radiating outward on all sides

And covering an area
of 900 square miles

Are the lakelands that give
this region its name.

The dark glacial lake
of wast water

Is the deepest in britain,

258 feet at its lowest point.

Ullswater, nine miles long
and nearly a mile wide,

Is the national park's
second biggest lake,

And to many, the most beautiful
in England.

To the south, the great ribbon
lake of windermere

Is the largest in England.

11 miles long, it's a haven
for pleasure cruisers

And sportspeople alike.

Since 1938, the mv swan has been
a familiar sight on windermere,

Offering tourists a taste

Of what the aptly named poet
william wordsworth

Once described as
"a universe of fairest forms."

And this was his home,
dove cottage.

The romantic poet lived most of
his life in the lake district,

And it would inspire some
of his greatest work.

Long before it was
a national park,

He saw it as a natural resource

That everyone had
the right to enjoy.

In 1889, when the mv raven
was first launched

On ullswater lake,
she was powered by steam.

Now, she runs on diesel,

But otherwise,
little has changed

Since the day germany's last
emperor stood on this very deck.

In 1912, kaiser wilhelm ii
took a trip on the raven

During a visit
to the lake district.

Two years later, his armies
would invade neutral belgium,

Triggering the cataclysm
of world war I.

♪♪

Shepherds have moved their
flocks across the hills

Of the lake district
for over 1,000 years.

And where there are sheep,
there are sheepdogs.

[barking]

[whistling]

Alan bradley has farmed here
for most of his life.

An expert sheepdog trainer,
he communicates with jess,

His faithful border collie
since puppyhood,

Using whistled commands.

[whistling]

Collies are gentle and
intelligent by nature,

Making them ideal working dogs.

[whistling]

What was once a job is now
also a national sport.

Alan and jess compete in events
all over England.

Their success has resulted in
a unique sideline business.

Alan now runs sheep herding
classes on his farm

For stressed-out executives.

[whistling]

Of course, some prefer to unwind
in different ways.

If you really want to leave
the cares of the world behind,

There's nothing
quite like open water

And the roar of
a powerful engine.

For all the leisurely charm
of its waterways,

The lake district has seen more
than its fair share of speed...

And tragedy.

In February 1930,

Legendary racer
sir harry seagrave

Crossed windermere in his boat,
miss England ii .

Hitting 98.76 miles per hour,

He broke the world
water speed record.

Midway through his third run,
the boat capsized,

Killing seagrave's mechanic
victor helliwell,

And ultimately,
seagrave himself.

When it came to
conquering the elements,

Not every pioneer would pay
for it with their life.

In September 1784,

Oxford pastry chef and
amateur aeronaut james saddler

Became the first englishman

To take flight
in a hot air balloon.

He reached an altitude of 3,600
feet and traveled six miles

In a craft whose basic design
hasn't changed much since.

As an aeronautical engineer,

Peter donkin has
applied his skills

To everything from
military jet fighters

To passenger planes.

But his real passion is
for hot air balloons.

And when it comes to locations
for a late evening flight,

The rolling hills and shining
waterways of the lake district

Are hard to beat.

Peter has taken to the skies

Above ullswater and windermere
many times.

There are no onboard computer
systems to check,

No speed to maintain,
no engines to monitor;

Just the pure exhilaration of
flight and a unique perspective

On the stunning tableau
laid out beneath his feet...

A vista that couldn't be
more different

To the industrial heartlands
of the north,

Where engineering would define
a city and conquer the oceans.

♪♪

This is one of the greatest
industrial centers

In all of England,

A city whose name was once
synonymous with the fuel

That fed the forges of its own
engineering powerhouse...

Newcastle upon tyne.

Like liverpool and manchester
on the far side of the country,

This city played a pivotal role
in the industrial revolution.

And it was all powered by coal.

At its height, 2,000 miners

Extracted 600,000 tons
of coal a year

From this northumberland pit.

Woodhorn in ashington
is a museum now,

Lovingly preserved as a monument
to a bygone age

When men toiled in darkness

To mine the coal that
made newcastle famous.

Closed in 1981, woodhorn remains
the most authentic example

Of what the collieries of
this area once looked like.

Taking pride of place is
a statue of a miner with a lamp,

Commemorating the 13 men
who died here

In an underground gas explosion
in 1916.

With giant wind turbines
now rising

From the surrounding landscape,

It's clear that time
has moved on.

But the past will never
be forgotten.

The industry that made newcastle
famous around the world

Was shipbuilding.

Here, along the meandering bends
of the river tyne

Are the last traces

Of what were once the world's
largest shipyards.

At its peak,

The scale of tyneside's
operation was immense,

With over a dozen
shipbuilding companies.

The largest,
called swann hunter ,

Employed thousands of workers.

From 1860, it produced
more than 2,700 vessels,

Including rms mauritania ,
which once held the blue ribbon

For the fastest
atlantic crossing.

These yards, which once rang
with the deafening sound

Of heavy engineering,
have been silent since 2008.

But even now
their legacy lives on.

The tyneside town of wallsend

Once marked the eastern end
of hadrian's wall.

But what really sets it apart,
at least for music fans,

Is the fact

That an international superstar
grew up here.

This red brick terraced house,
now a fast food outlet,

Was once home to gordon sumner,

Better known to the world
as sting.

He spent his childhood close
to the swann hunter shipyard.

Sting's memories of the town

Would have a profound influence
on his work.

The title track of the singer's
1991 album the soul cages

Are filled with references
to newcastle.

It won the first ever
grammy award for best rock song.

Later, newcastle would inspire

Sting's 2011 musical
the last ship ,

Which tells the story of
a community coming to terms

With the decline of
the shipbuilding industry.

The newcastle of sting's
formative years

Was a city sunk deep
in economic depression.

Today, it's a place of hope
and innovation,

A spirit mirrored

In the city's vibrant and
challenging architecture.

♪♪

The unique steel facade
of the sage building

Was designed to enhance
the acoustics

Of this music venue's
vast interior.

But the building also reaches
out to the city around it,

Hosting classes for
musicians of all ages

And operating a schools program

For the performers and composers
of the future.

Another landmark
of the modern city

Is the baltic center
for contemporary art.

The former structure
of an enormous flour mill

Is now one of England's most
progressive performance centers.

Its 6,000 square feet
of gallery space,

Workshops and artist studios
have transformed

An industrial monolith

Into a creative hub
for the 21st century.

Spanning the river tyne
at gateshead,

The millennium bridge
has six hydraulic rams

That rotate the entire structure
through 40 degrees

From closed to open
in just four and a half minutes.

Nicknamed the blinking eye
bridge by locals,

The design is
so energy efficient,

Each full rotation costs
just five dollars.

On the hill of birtley
near gateshead,

Five miles south of newcastle,
stands what is arguably

The most famous statue
in all of England:

The angel of the north.

65 feet tall, the height
of a five-story building,

With a wingspan of 177 feet,

It was made from
150 tons of steel.

To suggest an embrace,
the great figure leans forward

At an angle of
three and a half degrees.

The angel is the work
of artist anthony gormley

Who also chose its location on
the site of a 200-year-old mine.

To gormley, it represents
the area's transition

From heavy industry to
the modern digital age.

But it also speaks of
a people's hope for the future.

When he was asked, "why an
angel?", gormley replied,

"because no one has seen one and
we need to keep imagining them."

Completed in 1998, it has become
one of the most beloved

And iconic landmarks in britain.

A symbol of strength
and resilience,

Honoring the past

Even as it reaches out
to embrace the future.

A fitting tribute to the spirit
of northern England.

♪♪

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