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

Narrator: Southern England.

Heartland of an empire
forged from empires...

Where 3,000 years of history

Rub shoulders
with a little eccentricity.

Meet defiant rebels
from the 1960s

Who refuse to act their age...

And where a leap of faith
can fulfill your dreams.

Soar above a land
where heroes are born

And classic fiction
becomes real.

From the soaring cliffs
where a mythical king emerged

To a shining city

Where a king's ransom
is a pittance...

Where all the world's a stage.

And every wall a blank canvas...

To a place where
a genius for invention

Spans centuries...

And trains depart from dry land,

Then disappear beneath the sea.

This is southern England
as you've never seen it before.

♪

♪

The idyllic rolling fields

Of the cotswolds
in southern England,

Where the peace of early morning
is interrupted

By the passage
of an unusual convoy.

You may recall the film
"the italian job."

You may know the modern
equivalent of these cars

Are produced
by a german manufacturer.

But for steve priest,

His mum sue,

And best mate neil alcock,

There's nothing more english
than a classic austin mini.

In the 1969 heist movie
starring michael caine,

A band of gold thieves

Make their escape
in three mini coopers,

Each one representing
a color of the union jack--

Red, white, and blue.

The movie would confer
the little racers

With legendary status.

The brainchild of automotive
engineer sir alec issigonis,

The mini would revolutionize
how small cars were made.

Voted the most influential car
of the twentieth century,

Nearly five million
rolled off the assembly lines

Between 1959 and 2000,

Many of which
are still on the road today.

Steve's enduring love
of all things mini

Led to a sideline business
hiring out wedding cars--

An unlikely contrast
to his day job

At the ministry of defense.

There's something
quintessentially english

About that.

Then again,
this is southern England,

Which, some say,

Is about as quintessential
as englishness gets.

♪

For 2,000 years,

The town of dover
on the south coast

Has been the gateway to britain.

Today it's one of the world's
busiest passenger ports.

Back in 43 a.D.,

When the roman emperor claudius

Sent his galleys
to invade britain,

This was their
first sight of land--

The white cliffs of dover.

Here the romans faced

A seemingly impregnable
natural defense--

A great sea wall
rising 350 feet,

Dominating
the southern coast of kent.

Rather than storm it,
they avoided it,

Establishing a beachhead
14 miles to the north.

And so began 400 years
of colonization.

By the end
of the second century,

Roman britain was divided
into two provinces,

North and south.

In the south, on a crossing
point of the river thames,

They built their largest
and most important city,

Londinium...

Known since the middle ages
as london.

London has been
the centerpiece of empire,

And for 100 years until 1925,

The world's largest city.

Spread out
over 600 square miles,

The city is home
to 8.7 million people

Speaking 300 languages.

♪

After 2,000 years,

It remains one of the wealthiest

And most culturally diverse
capitals on the planet.

The river thames has been
central to london's economy

Since the time of the romans.

In the 19th century,

These tidal waters framed
the busiest port in the world.

Lovingly if harshly dubbed
"dirty old river"

By ray davies of the kinks,

The thames has been the muse
of dickens and conrad,

Immortalized in the paintings
of turner, whistler, and monet.

♪

The days of the great river port
may be over,

But the thames is still
a busy thoroughfare...

And a place where london's famed
entrepreneurial spirit lives on.

In 2014, phillip otto,
originally from south africa,

Set up thames limos--

A luxury charter boat service
for clients

With a thousand dollars
an hour to spend

And no time to waste.

Out here on the river,

Phillip provides
many celebrity clients

With a welcome break

From the prying lenses
of the paparazzi.

With its distinctive
union jack livery,

Phillip's boat
is similar in design

To that of the famous
hand-crafted water taxis

Of venice.

With celebrity clients including
taylor swift and justin bieber,

Phillip remains
the limo driver of choice

To the rich and famous.

Some celebrities
consider tower bridge

To be the capital's
most iconic landmark...

But londoners
have their own favorite.

♪

At times
of national celebration,

This is where londoners
come together.

Trafalgar square--

Overshadowed
by a 170-foot memorial

To one of England's
greatest naval heroes,

Admiral horatio nelson.

Named after
the great sea battle of 1805

Where nelson
defeated napoleon's navy,

Trafalgar square could have
lost its centerpiece

If history had taken
a different course.

Documents uncovered in germany
after world war ii

Show that, if hitler
had triumphed over britain,

He planned to take
the statue as a trophy,

Relocating it to berlin.

It's 11 a.M.,

And crowds have gathered
outside buckingham palace

For the famous
changing of the guard,

A handover of security duties

That has taken place
almost every day since 1660.

The queen's household division

Includes soldiers from seven
elite infantry regiments.

Their primary duty
is to protect the royal family.

Since 1838,

There have been
only 12 unauthorized entries

To the palace.

The most famous, in 1982,

Saw londoner michael fagan

Access the bedroom
where the queen was sleeping

Before he was arrested
for trespass.

The law has since been changed,

Making such intrusions
a criminal offense.

♪

Perhaps the most notorious
unwanted intrusion

In english history

Took place
more than 400 years ago

At the palace of westminster,
the seat of british government.

Here, in 1605,

A band of catholic rebels
hatched an elaborate plan

To assassinate
the protestant king james I.

In passageways
running beneath the building,

They hid 36 barrels
of gunpowder--

Enough to level the palace
and kill everyone inside.

The plan
was eventually discovered,

And the king escaped.

But the rebel leader,
guy fawkes,

And his fellow conspirators

Met a grisly fate--

Every one of them
hung, drawn, and quartered.

Every year on guy fawkes night,
November 5th,

England commemorates the foiling
of the gunpowder plot.

Naturally, celebrations include
the setting off of fireworks.

♪

Anyone familiar with westminster

Will notice
that something's amiss.

The 315-foot elizabeth tower

Housing the great iron bell
known as big ben...

One of london's
most iconic landmarks

Currently
wrapped in scaffolding.

Weighing almost 14 tons,

The peals of big ben have marked
the hour for 150 years.

Perhaps the most
identifiable sound in london.

Today, with the tower
in the midst

Of a maintenance program
due for completion in 2021,

Big ben's victorian mechanism

Has been disconnected
from the clock face.

Though londoners
can still see the time,

The familiar chimes
are, for now, silenced.

♪

Behind the houses of parliament

Stand the imposing gothic towers
of westminster abbey.

Since the middle ages,

It has seen the coronation of
nearly every british monarch,

Including william the conqueror.

Arriving from France in 1066,

William's forces
marched on london.

Here at westminster abbey
on christmas day,

He was crowned king of England.

The new king would stamp
his authority on the capital

With a great symbol
of his power,

The tower of london.

Constructed on the original
roman site of londinium,

The tower's fearsome reputation
would endure for centuries.

In its time,
it has been a fortress,

A place of execution,

A royal mint,

And a high-security jail.

Since the 13th century,

It's also been the country's
most prestigious vault,

Guarding the crown jewels,

Estimated to be worth
at least $4 billion.

♪

One of london's
greatest treasures

Is the creativity that continues
to emerge from its streets.

But in a city
of eight million people,

Those streets
can get a little crowded.

Skate parks like this one
in the east of the city

Offer freedom
and the space to express it.

Shajee shazad
has been a skateboarder

Since he was nine years old.

He loves the lifestyle,
the technical challenge,

And the connection it offers.

When he's not skating,

He produces video content
for social media,

Filming his fellow skaters
all over london.

In a sport that's all about

Individuality
and self-expression,

Anything goes.

No formality,

No dress code,

No rules to follow.

Elsewhere, there's an entirely
different kind of energy

Driving this city forward.

♪

London is the world's leading
financial center,

Surpassing both
new york and hong kong.

It generates
$600 billion every year,

Roughly 30% of the entire
british economy.

And most of that business

Takes place
in this famous quarter.

Known as "the city"
or "the square mile,"

It contains london's
historic center

And primary business district.

The square mile trades
more u.S. Dollars every year

Than new york.

The foreign exchange
market alone

Has a daily global turnover
of nearly $3 trillion.

♪

Some of its most
distinctive features

Are the skyscrapers that rise
from its historic streets,

Most of which have been
nicknamed by londoners.

The leadenhall building,

Aka "the cheese grater"...

20 fenchurch street,

Otherwise known
as "the walkie talkie"...

And 30 st mary axe...

"the gherkin."

Designed by the renowned british
architect lord norman foster,

The gherkin was constructed
using 22 miles of steel

And 260,000 square feet
of external glass.

♪

Even at a mere 591 feet,

The tower attracted controversy
during its construction,

With local businesses concerned
at the shadow it would cast.

Completed in 2003,

It was london's
second tallest building.

Today it's the tenth tallest.

But in the hearts
of many londoners,

It will always be number one.

Southwest of central london,

The all England lawn tennis
and croquet club,

Also known as wimbledon,

Venue of the oldest and most
prestigious tennis tournament

In the world.

Every summer it holds one of
the four grand slam tournaments

And the only one still played
entirely on grass.

With the main event
just a week away,

All access, especially to
the famous center court,

Is forbidden,

Except for the groundskeepers
who maintain it.

Watering the courts
is a precise art,

Maintaining a fine balance

Between the greenness
of the ryegrass court

And the firmness
of the soil beneath.

[crowd cheering]

Every day during the tournament,

Ground staff
measure the consistency

Of the playing surface

To minimize wear

And ensure
a consistent ball speed.

Some say tennis is the most
quintessentially english

Of all sports.

Others disagree.

Cricket, as the late comedian
robin williams once said,

"is basically
baseball on valium."

But for fast bowler sam harris,

It's a serious business.

He is cricket's equivalent
to a baseball pitcher.

Opening the attack
for exeter university,

He launches a six-ounce
stitched leather ball

At over 90 miles per hour

Towards the opposing batsman,

Straining every sinew
to bowl him out.

[cheering]

This game has
a genuine connection

To one of america's
favorite sports.

The devon town of exeter
was the birthplace

Of sportswriter
henry chadwick of brooklyn--

A 19th-century immigrant
to america,

Once known
as the father of baseball.

As well as working tirelessly

To promote the sport
in its early days,

Chadwick would create baseball's

All-important
statistical summary--

The box score--

Adapting it
from the cricket scorecard.

Extending like
a two-pronged fork

Into the celtic sea,

The peninsula of cornwall is
as far west as England goes...

Which is why land's end
at cornwall's western tip

Is known as
the first and last of England.

Like the welsh and scottish,

The cornish people
are a distinct celtic nation

With their own language

And an enviable home

In one of britain's most
evocative coastal landscapes.

Cornwall is a place where
many great stories begin,

Including that of England's
most legendary king.

♪

Here, perched on a dramatic
headland in north cornwall,

Is the ancient ruin
of tintagel castle.

This, according to the medieval
historian geoffrey of monmouth,

Was where uther pendragon
and lady igraine

Conceived their son, arthur--

A boy who would one day become
britain's greatest king.

Mythical hero
or historical figure,

His story resonates to this day.

The legends of king arthur,

Camelot,

The chivalrous
knights of the round table,

The magical sword of excalibur,

And the quest for the holy grail

Are still written
into the english landscape.

Perhaps the most famous
of those legends resides here.

St. Michael's tower is all that
remains of a 14th-century church

Built at the summit
of glastonbury tor in somerset.

Known as the isle of avalon,

This was the mythical realm
where king arthur slept,

Ready to return to his people
in their hour of need.

♪

The great cone-shaped hill

Is one of England's
most ancient spiritual sites--

First pagan, then later a place
of christian worship.

It was even said
to contain the holy grail--

The cup used by jesus
at the last supper.

A sacred relic as central
to arthurian legend

As the king himself.

♪

Somerset has another
claim to fame.

This county is the home
of apple cider,

And the english drink more of it
than anyone else in the world.

West bradley orchards
is a family-run business--

70 acres of apple trees

Nestled in the countryside
beneath glastonbury tor.

September is harvest time.

Playwright neil bebber
and his partner emma prentice

Come here every year
to pick their own fruit.

England's love of cider

Dates back to the time
of william the conqueror.

The normans planted thousands
of orchards all over England.

Indirectly,

The fruit of those trees
played an unexpected role

At a pivotal time
in american history.

In 1620, when the mayflower
sailed to the new world,

A beam of the ship was badly
damaged during a storm.

The crew considered
turning back,

But the story goes

That an iron screw
from a cider press

Was used as a brace,

And the ship continued on.

On arriving in the new world,

The pilgrims planted
the precious apple seeds

They had brought with them.

They would grow
into the first apple trees

In the colonies of new England.

♪

Stratford-upon-avon--

The birthplace of England's
greatest playwright,

William shakespeare.

Shakespeare's plays
are so well known

And his genius
so universally accepted

That inevitably
conspiracy theories abound.

One school of thought
even disputes the fact

That shakespeare
was the author of great plays

Like "king lear" and "hamlet."

It questions

How such a humble man
with no formal education

Could have written
the great masterpieces

That bear his name.

♪

Shakespeare was born and raised
in this house on henley street

In the center of stratford.

In 1585, he left to find
his fortune in london.

According to detractors,

His plays were
far too sophisticated

To have been conceived
by someone

From a small provincial town.

They also point to the fact

That there are few accounts
of shakespeare's life in london

Or his funeral in 1616.

Unusual for such a famous
and talented man.

Shakespeare is buried here

In the chancel of stratford's
holy trinity church,

Where he had been baptized
52 years before.

Despite the conspiracy theories,

Few serious historians doubt
shakespeare's claim to fame.

In the back garden
of the house on henley street

Is a small outdoor theatre

Where students regularly perform
the bard's greatest works.

Right now, young actors
jonathan youl and lorenna white

Are rehearsing a production
of "the taming of the shrew."

♪

Since the first play he saw here
in stratford as a child,

Jonathan has always
wanted to be an actor.

Lorenna,

Who asked for the complete works
of shakespeare

On her seventh birthday,

Is also living a dream,

Performing in the very garden

Where the great writer
once played as a child.

Who knows?

One day, both could even
end up on stage

At stratford-upon-avon's

World-famous
royal shakespeare theatre,

Proving ground

Of some of the world's
greatest actors and directors.

♪

Shakespeare's plays
are so eminently quotable,

They have even
transcended the stage.

Politicians, in particular,

Have always been keen
to sprinkle their oratory

With the words of the bard.

One esteemed english statesman,

Sir winston churchill,

Could recite whole tracts
of shakespearean dialogue

From memory.

Once home to the daughter of
america's richest businessman...

This was also
the accidental birthplace

Of England's
most celebrated prime minister.

♪

Blenheim palace in oxfordshire

Is the principal residence
of the dukes of marlborough.

It is one of England's
largest homes--

A masterpiece of the early
18th-century baroque style.

In 1895, as its owners struggled
with vast maintenance costs,

Blenheim was saved from ruin

When the 9th duke married
the american railroad heiress

Consuelo vanderbilt.

A huge dowry given
by the bride's parents,

Alva and william vanderbilt--

The modern equivalent
of $62 million--

Would save blenheim from ruin.

20 years earlier,

The palace had witnessed
another equally welcome

But unexpected arrival.

Accompanying her husband on
a visit to his ancestral home,

The heavily pregnant
lady randolph churchill

Suddenly went into labor.

Their son,

The future prime minister
winston churchill,

Was accidentally born here
on the 30th of November 1874.

♪

Great estates like blenheim
were once open plan.

Without fences,

Fields literally
stretched for miles,

Until a 19th century
act of parliament

Made the building
of boundary walls compulsory.

Now the horses of wealthy
fox hunting landowners

Had obstacles to overcome.

And in time,
a national sport was born.

Showjumping.

And it's alice keen's passion.

♪

Alice developed a love of riding
from the age of five,

Attending small pony events near
her home in southwest England.

In time,
success brought confidence

And ponies became horses.

Weighing in
at almost half a ton,

9-year-old apollo needs a rider

With a sure hand
and steady nerves.

At formal events,

He and alice face obstacles
of up to six feet high.

But not today.

Alice's parents run this
equestrian center near bristol

As a full-time business.

For the last few years,
it's been alice's playground

And a welcome break
from her full-time job

As a small animal vet.

Whether in sport, leisure,
or even art,

The horse looms large
in England's history.

♪

Carved into these upper slopes
of the berkshire downs

Over 3,000 years ago

Is one of the most intriguing
pieces of land art in England.

The uffington white horse.

The significance

Of the 360-foot-long
prehistoric figure

Is unclear.

But its alignment
with the midwinter sun

Suggests a prehistoric
spiritual connection.

It may even represent
an ancient celtic deity.

Over the centuries,

It would inspire the creation
of similar land art

All around britain.

There are many white horses,

But there is only one rude man.

It's dawn
on the first day of summer.

On a hill near the village
of cerne abbas in dorset,

A group of dancers
welcome the rising sun.

The centuries-old ritual

May well have something
to do with this...

The cerne abbas giant,

England's
most controversial land art.

The origins
of the huge chalk figure

Are lost in time.

For one obvious reason,

Many believe it depicts
an ancient fertility god.

At one time,
postcards of the giant

Were the only indecent images
that could be legally sent

Through the english post office.

Morris dancing
dates back over 600 years.

Once banned by english puritans,

It was revived by
17th-century farm laborers

Who would dress up
and perform for money

When work was scarce.

♪

Troupes like
the wessex morris men

Are happy to perform for free.

♪

Retired teacher jeremy wilton
has been dancing for 40 years.

Keen on keeping
the ancient tradition alive,

He travels all over
the south of England,

Performing at festivals
and gatherings.

The dance itself
has traveled even further.

English emigrants brought it
across the atlantic,

And today, there are at least
150 morris dance groups

Active in the united states.

Stretching for 95 miles along
the coast of devon and dorset

Is England's first designated
natural world heritage site.

An extraordinary story
written in stone...

Where 185 million years
of geological time

Can be read
like the pages of a book.

Here at east cliff beach,

The wind and waves have exposed
layers of sedimentary rock

And opened a window
to the ancient past.

Contained within the cliff face

Is an almost complete record

Of the triassic, jurassic,
and cretaceous periods.

The layers show
this area's progression

From desert to shallow
tropical sea and marshland,

Complete with
the fossilized remains

Of creatures
that once lived here.

♪

This is the magnificent natural
limestone arch of durdle door,

Formed by coastal erosion
about 140 million years ago.

The name derives from
the old english word "thirl,"

Meaning "to pierce."

For many years, the arch has
featured in art and literature

From the poetry of thomas hardy

To the backdrop of films
from "nanny mcphee"

To "far from the madding crowd."

♪

10 miles west of durdle door,

Chesil beach on the dorset coast

Is a spectacular
18-mile pebble strand

Linking the mainland
to the isle of portland.

Rising 50 feet high,

The beach has seen
many shipwrecks.

During the age of sail,

Vessels were regularly
driven ashore

By the fierce currents
of the english channel.

The pebbles of the strand
increase gradually

From pea-sized at the northwest

To orange-sized
at the isle of portland.

It is said

That smugglers landing here
in the dead of night

Could judge
exactly where they were

By the size
of the stones underfoot.

During world war ii,

The sparse population
of the surrounding coast

Allowed the beach to be
used as a bomb testing range

By the royal air force.

♪

♪

♪

In the years between
the two world wars,

A whole generation
of british youngsters

Were enthralled
by the daring exploits

Of fictional flying ace biggles.

The creation
of english writer w.E. Johns,

Pilot james bigglesworth
of the royal flying corps

Was a dashing gentleman hero

Whose adventures
regularly featured planes

Just like this one.

Hugely popular in England
to this day,

The books have inspired
many would-be young aviators

To train as pilots.

Annabelle burroughes
has had a passion for planes

Since she was a young girl.

Today, she pilots
this de havilland tiger moth--

A classic biplane
from the 1930s.

As a lifelong fan
of the biggles books,

Flying was the only thing
she ever wanted to do.

After gaining her pilot's wings,

She went on to become
one of the few women

To gain a coveted
d.A. Aerobatic license.

But today, she's flying
just for the fun of it.

♪

At henstridge airfield
in somerset,

Annabelle trains future pilots

At what was once
a world war ii aviation school.

In 2017,
her skills came to the fore

When she saved the lives
of three passengers,

Skillfully landing her plane
after it caught fire mid-flight.

A feat worthy of
james bigglesworth himself.

♪

Many servicemen wounded
during the first world war

Ended up here,
at the seaside town of brighton.

This is the royal pavilion,

A former seaside residence
of king george iv,

Converted in 1914
to a military hospital

Specializing in the treatment
and rehabilitation of amputees.

The pavilion 's
elaborate domes and minarets

Reflected the extravagant tastes
of the king

And his fascination
with the culture of india.

But the architecture had another
unintended positive influence.

Many soldiers
from the indian army

Wounded on the western front

Would find comfort
in the strange familiarity

Of their surroundings.

♪

Since the middle ages,

England has been known
as a wellspring

Of literature, science,
and scholarship--

A reputation forged in part

By two of the world's most
prestigious seats of learning.

Known as
"the city of dreaming spires,"

Oxford is home to one of them--

The oldest university
in the english-speaking world.

Less than a hundred miles away
on the river cam,

Cambridge is the second.

Between them,

The two universities
have produced

42 of britain's
56 prime ministers

And a combined
148 nobel prize winners.

Needless to say, competition
between the two is intense,

And it's not just academic.

♪

It's 6 a.M.,

And as the first weary commuters
make their way into the city,

The cambridge university
women's boat club

Are already halfway through
their morning workout.

Sarah carlotti
sits in the stern of the boat,

Acting as stroke.

During races,

It's her job to set the pace
and timing of the oar blades.

In 2018,

Cambridge won
the women's boat race title

For the second year in a row,

Beating fierce rivals oxford
by seven lengths.

Preparing for
next year's varsity race

On the thames in london

Will involve six grueling months
of daily practice

For sarah and the crew.

Combining all this

With the equally rigorous
demands of academic life

Is no easy challenge.

Then again,

Another win over oxford
will make it all worthwhile.

♪

Some place names offer no clue
about the places they describe.

But not here.

This is bath in somerset,

100 miles west of london,

A popular spa town
for centuries.

This ornate structure
is a bath house.

Fed by natural thermal springs,

It was built by the romans
in the first century a.D.--

One of only two
surviving roman baths

That still have hot water
running through them.

♪

Nearby is the royal crescent,

A terrace of luxurious homes
built by wealthy londoners

1,500 years after
the time of the romans.

Keen to sample
the curative properties

Of bath's natural hot springs,

They came, they saw,

And they brought their
georgian architecture with them.

The town's distinctive
honey-hued palladian buildings

Contribute to bath's
unique air of timelessness

And make it
a favorite filming location

For period dramas.

[gull squawking]

♪

Thanks to the popularity
of shows like "downton abbey,"

The world has developed a taste

For the trappings of a simpler,
more leisurely age.

Here on the country lanes
of somerset,

Pamela pridham
and her daughter kate

Are indulging a passion
for a time in english history

When horses, not cars,
ruled the road.

Driver beverley unsworth
has been traveling these roads

In her classic carriage
for ten years now,

And gray mare star
has been with her from day one.

Beverley's carriage may be
limited to one horse power,

But who needs speed?

16-year-old star provides this
time-honored form of transport

With something better--

Personality.

And a chance for pamela and kate
to live a dream, lost in time.

All that's missing
is a fairytale castle.

A great labyrinth
formed by 2,400 yew trees.

From above, a circle,

Set in a square representing
a queenly crown.

This is the great maze
of leeds castle in kent.

Once a fabulous playground
for the rich and famous,

The 800-year-old castle

Was built on a series
of islands on a lake

Formed by the river len.

In the 1930s,

This was the home
of anglo-american socialite

Lady olive baillie,

Who hosted lavish house parties

Attended by movie stars,
politicians, and royalty.

At that time,

Joseph kennedy senior was
the u.S. Ambassador to britain.

In 1938, his sons--

21-year-old jfk
and his older brother joseph--

Were guests at leeds castle.

Both would later serve
in world war ii,

But tragically,
joseph was killed in 1944

On active duty in England.

He, like thousands
of other americans

Who never made it home,

Is commemorated
on english soil to this day.

♪

Three million
american men and women

Served in britain
during world war ii.

Here, on a 30-acre site
donated by cambridge university,

The american war cemetery
is the final resting place

Of 3,812 servicemen and women

Who lost their lives
in the north atlantic convoys

And the skies over europe.

The wall of the missing
commemorates a further 5,127

Whose bodies
were never recovered.

Flanking the wall,

Three reflecting pools

Echo the design
of a similar monument

At washington's national mall.

Every may, a memorial day
ceremony is held here

To honor those who made
the ultimate sacrifice.

♪

The guards polo club in windsor

Is home to the world's
oldest equestrian sport.

On the manicured turf
of its ten pitches,

Teams of four compete much as
the ancient persians did

2,000 years ago.

Polo was brought to England
by army officers

Who had seen the game
played in india.

That strong military connection
survives to this day.

The son of a soldier,

Jamie greyson fell in love
with the sport aged ten,

Watching his father play.

His number 4 shirt marks him out

As the team's
key defensive player.

Played on a pitch

About nine times the size
of an american football field,

The game is divided
into four periods

Called "chukkas."

Competition is intense,

And because the ponies
tire quickly,

Strict rules dictate
that players change mounts

During breaks in play.

With annual fees of $28,000

And ponies costing
upwards of $150,000,

It's no surprise

That polo is known
as the sport of kings.

Both prince charles

And his father,
the duke of edinburgh,

Are members of the guards club,

Which places jamie
in rather privileged company,

Not to mention
the adrenaline rush

Of the world's
most exclusive sport.

♪

The city of bristol

On the river avon
in southwest England

Has a long maritime history.

From here in 1497,

The explorer john cabot
sailed for the new world,

Becoming the first european
since the vikings

To land on mainland
north america.

During the 18th century,
however,

That same port
had a sinister reputation.

From 1700 to 1807,

The infamous bristol slave trade

Carried around half a million
human captives

From africa to the americas.

This bridge
spanning bristol harbor

Commemorates all of them,

But it is named after one--

Pero jones, an enslaved african
who served the household

Of 18th-century slaver
john pinney.

In the bristol
of pero's lifetime,

The voice of dissent
was rarely heard.

Thankfully,
that is no longer the case.

In this city,

Street art has long since become
a voice to be reckoned with.

Bristol's urban landscape
was the first canvas

Used by the most famous
street artist of all--

Banksy.

His hometown features dozens
of his earliest works,

Including
"girl with a pierced eardrum,"

A pastiche
of the famous vermeer painting,

With an alarm box
taking the place

Of the original earring.

♪

That same spark
of non-conformity

Defines a certain type
of englishness,

An attitude
that was once at the heart

Of the mod movement.

♪

Ok, they're not exactly
the wild bunch,

And their multicolored scooters

Will never be mistaken
for harleys.

But these men and women

Were once at the cutting edge
of english youth culture.

Jim burnham has been a mod
since the 1960s.

Back then, he fell in love with
the clothes and the music,

And he's remained loyal
ever since.

♪

The bristol mod scooter club
was set up over ten years ago.

Many of these riders
have been mods

Since their teenage years.

And retirement hasn't dimmed
their lust for life.

♪

Mods are very particular,

Especially when it comes
to their scooters.

These customized lambrettas
are a classic italian make--

Each one a reflection
of the rider's personal style.

And that, in short,
is what it means to be a mod.

Believe it or not,
back in the '60s,

Jim and his mates were seen

As a symptom
of England's moral decay.

Of course, times have changed.

Today the mod movement

Is regarded
as classic english culture.

Here in bristol, the mods have
withstood the test of time.

And they're not alone in that.

Rising 250 feet
over the river below,

The world-famous
clifton suspension bridge

Has spanned the avon gorge
near bristol since 1864.

Built at the height
of the industrial revolution,

It's a masterpiece
of victorian engineering.

Its designer,

The legendary british engineer
isambard kingdom brunel,

Is regarded as the greatest
engineer of his age.

Much of his work
remains unsurpassed,

Even by modern technology.

Weighing 1,500 tons

And originally designed for
light horse-drawn traffic,

This bridge can still withstand

The four million vehicles
that cross it every year.

Modern computer analysis
reveals the design to be

An almost perfect calculation
of the minimal weight required

To maintain maximum strength.

Hugely over budget, the bridge
took 11 years to build.

Describing it as
"my first love, my darling,"

Brunel sadly never lived to see
his creation completed.

A testament
to brunel's vision and skill,

The bridge is a monument
to a golden age.

But just as engineering
can tame the natural world,

It can also embrace it.

♪

On the site of a disused
china clay quarry

On the south coast of cornwall,

The eden project has been called
the eighth wonder of the world.

Completed in the year 2000,

Two huge domed enclosures
surrounded by botanical gardens

Are filled with thousands
of rare plant species--

Each structure simulating
a different exotic climate.

Its aim is to encourage
a better understanding

Of mankind's relationship
with the natural environment--

Uniting rather than
dividing the two.

Covered with steel-framed
hexagonal thermoplastic panels,

The two domes enclose
5.5 acres of rare plant species.

007 fans may also
recognize the domes

As the diamond mine
of villain gustav graves

In the bond movie
"die another day."

♪

Those interested

In a more robust relationship
with the soil

Could do worse than
try their hand at buggy racing.

♪

Since he left school,

William hopkins
has had a few careers,

Including work as a banker.

But somehow,
even the thrill of high finance

Failed to provide
the adrenaline rush

He was looking for.

And so he turned to buggy racing

And a job
at this custom-built track

Designed to test the nerve
as well as driving skills.

Though fully enhanced
with safety features,

These state-of-the-art buggies
are primarily built for speed.

♪

William is a skillful driver,

And he knows every bump
and corner of this track.

But he never stops trying
to beat his personal best time.

And that's what this sport
is all about.

♪

Speed has driven innovation
in the most unlikely of places.

♪

Here at the eurotunnel terminal
in folkestone,

Passengers drive aboard a train
destined for coquelles,

Near calais in France.

Their 31-mile journey takes them
beneath the english channel

At speeds of up to
99 miles per hour

And depths of up to 250 feet
below the seabed.

♪

The channel tunnel

Is regarded as britain's
greatest engineering project

And one of the seven wonders
of the modern world.

At the time of its completion

By a british and french
consortium in 1994,

It was the most expensive
construction project

Ever conceived.

A train carrying
road traffic at high speed

Through an underground tunnel
beneath the sea.

So bold and unexpected,
it beggars the imagination.

So brilliant,
it takes the breath away.

Now, that's
quintessentially english.

♪

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