All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S05E07.The.Devils.Prison.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-DoGSO_track3_[eng]

*

Narrator: a strange
Ruined landscape filled

With clues
Of a deadly past life.

It feels like someone
Was kept down here --

Not by choice,
But against their will.

*

Narrator: a den of brutality

That still carries
The echoes of past horrors.

Things are just getting worse
And worse and worse.

It had to reach
A breaking point eventually.

Narrator:
And a unique construction
That flew the flag for cuba

Narrator:
And a unique construction
That flew the flag for cuba

Following the revolution.

Barratt:
This was fidel's bright idea.

This is the future.

And he wanted it done
Very quickly.

But, outside, the political
Climate is definitely changing.

*

Decaying relics.

Ruins of lost worlds.

Forged through years of toil.

Forged through years of toil.

Now haunted by the past,

Their secrets
Waiting to be revealed.

-- captions by vitac --
Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

*

Sitting on the edge
Of west virginia

Stands a vast fortress-like
Building cloaked in mist.

Stands a vast fortress-like
Building cloaked in mist.

*

Approaching the building
And gazing

Upon these 24-foot-high walls,

It's an immensely
Imposing experience.

There's a distinct feeling

That you are going
To be unwelcome here.

Meigs:
This building looks kind of

Like
A european castle or palace,

But with a very gloomy
And highly fortified aspect.

But with a very gloomy
And highly fortified aspect.

Narrator: upon entering,
Any faint hope

Of finding a fairy-tale home
Rapidly disappears.

Selwood: inside, it's really not
Clear what this place is.

There's a canteen
With paintings,

And, upstairs, there's even
Medical and dental equipment.

There's something rather dark
And sinister about it all.

Narrator: in fact,
This building has ties

To one of america's
Most notorious criminals.

And some believe
That still stalking the halls

Are the spirits of those
Who suffered here.

Are the spirits of those
Who suffered here.

You get deeper inside,
You notice the graffiti,

The rusting iron bars,
The peeling paint,

And the feeling that
Terrible things happened here.

Meigs: clearly this was never
Designed to be a happy place.

And since it's all now
Falling apart

And decaying, it just adds
To the overall air of despair.

Narrator: how would this place
Attain infamy,

And what horrors remain
Lurking inside?

And what horrors remain
Lurking inside?

*

Local historian ryan zacherl

Knows
This vast building's dark past.

Zacherl:
This was one of the most
Horrific places in the world,

And still to this day, it's
Notorious for the atrocities

That occurred here.

Narrator: in the 1860s,
A series of escapes

From county jails
Meant the new state

Of west virginia
Needed to find a solution.

Of west virginia
Needed to find a solution.

Zacherl:
The inmates completely up
And left and were never found.

And it was at that point
That they realized

They needed
Something higher security.

They needed something
More permanent

To contain the criminals.

Narrator:
The solution was this --

The west virginia penitentiary.

But this was no ordinary prison.

From the very beginning,
It was designed

To hold the worst of the worst.

This place was supposed to be

A fortress from which
Escape was impossible.

A fortress from which
Escape was impossible.

Narrator:
But in the 20th century,

A frightening turn of events

Began putting pressure
On these walls.

In wider society, ever more
People were being convicted,

And of increasingly
Violent crimes.

The prison was designed to house
Only a few hundred people.

Yet it ended up
With over 2,000.

The result was
Uncontrollable violence.

Narrator: to try and limit
The danger, areas of the prison

Were sectioned off.

The premeditated slaughtering
Of their fellow inmates

Made this the most
Dangerous cellblock

In the west virginia
Penitentiary.

They called this cellblock
The alamo

Because they genuinely believed

That they wouldn't make it
Out of here alive.

They had to spend
At least 22 hours

Out of every day locked inside
These 5x7 cells,

And they are absolutely tiny.

*

*

Narrator:
But locking them up

Didn't stop
Their violent tendencies.

Zacherl: it was all about
Survival inside this cellblock,

And survival
Meant arming themselves.

They would cut pieces of metal
Off the doors or the bunks,

And then once they had
That piece of metal off,

On the inside of their cell,
They could bend down

And actually sharpen
That knife on the concrete,

Which you can see scratch marks
Right here where an inmate

Turned that from a dull piece
Of steel into a deadly knife.

Turned that from a dull piece
Of steel into a deadly knife.

Narrator:
And the inmates

Weren't just trying to kill
Each other.

Chuck gent was a guard at the
Facility for nine brutal years.

What happened was,
They was doing a survey

To find out
How hot it got in here,

And they stuck
Thermometers up everywhere.

The inmates stole them,
Broke it open,

And stole all the mercury.

Then they tried to poison me
With it in a cup of coffee.

I got fortunate
When I happened to glance

I got fortunate
When I happened to glance

Down into the cup and found it.

There wasn't a day
You didn't come in here

You wasn't in fear of your life.

Narrator:
The horrors of this place

Have stayed with chuck
Ever since.

Gent: you have flashbacks.

When you see a guy with
A 25-pound weight plate

Buried in his forehead
Or a 12-inch piece of steel

That runs up to his eye
And up into his brain

And out the back of his head.

A guy set on fire,

And he burned, and his skin's
Boiling and stuff like this.

You end up having a hard side
To you to survive this.

You end up having a hard side
To you to survive this.

Narrator: but surprisingly,
Despite the horrors

That went on inside these walls,

Somehow this place
Became a public attraction.

94 men convicted of
Some of the most violent crimes

Were executed in a building
Called the death house

That once stood out here
On the north yard.

They used to perform these
Executions by hanging publicly.

People would literally
Travel miles to come

People would literally
Travel miles to come

And watch these executions.

They would sell tickets
To these, and people

Would bring their whole family.

The kids would come. They'd have
A picnic during the execution.

Narrator: while the brutality
Of this place

Could certainly draw a crowd,

It wasn't only the paying public
Wishing to come here.

Meigs: there's this room called
The sugar shack

Where prisoners could go.

There was no supervision. The
Guards never went down there.

They were afraid
To go down there.

And all kinds
Of terrible things happened.

Some prisoners liked this setup.

Some prisoners liked this setup.

Some of them actually asked
To be transferred to this prison

Because they knew they'd have
More freedom to engage

In drugs, violence, gangs.

*

Narrator:
Counted amongst those wishing

To find themselves
In this prison

Was one of the most infamous
Killers in american history,

Who also had a personal link
To this site.

*

*

Narrator: in west virginia
Stands the derelict remains

Of one of the country's
Most brutal institutions.

It's a place that hides a link
To a notorious criminal.

In the late 1930s,
A woman named kathleen maddox

Was sentenced
To serve time here.

She had a young son
Named charlie maddox.

This little boy came to visit
His mother

Inside this penitentiary.

This little boy
Eventually went on

This little boy
Eventually went on

To become the infamous
Charles manson.

Narrator: in march of 1983,
The warden was handed a letter.

Now incarcerated
For his involvement

In a series of brutal murders,

Charles manson was requesting
A transfer here.

There was no way the authorities
Were gonna allow that.

And the warden at the prison
At the time wrote back.

He said it would,
"Be a cold day in hell

Before charles manson
Moved to west virginia."

Narrator: even without that
Killer being added into the mix,

Narrator: even without that
Killer being added into the mix,

This place
Was already struggling

To do the very thing
It was designed for.

West virginia state prison
Was supposed to be a fortress

From the very beginning.

Just 'cause they built it
As an inescapable fortress

Didn't mean
It was actually inescapable.

Zacherl: in november of 1979,

We had the largest mass escape
From this penitentiary.

15 inmates created a plan
To smuggle in a firearm,

Take an officer hostage,
Get to the control panel,

And eventually
Let themselves out

And eventually
Let themselves out

The front door of this prison.

The city of moundsville
Was absolutely terrified.

Narrator:
Outside, an exchange of gunfire

Killed a trooper and an inmate.

The other 14 escapees
Were eventually recaptured.

This was just one
Of over 200 escapes

That took place
From the penitentiary.

Selwood:
Prisoners even joked openly
About how easy it was to escape.

The idea of
An impregnable fortress

The idea of
An impregnable fortress

Had failed spectacularly.

Narrator:
Eventually, all the inmates
Would flee the appalling prison.

The supreme court deemed
The site unfit for purpose.

And in 1995, its doors slammed
Closed for the final time.

*

Today, decades after
It was abandoned,

Today, decades after
It was abandoned,

The macabre site has become
A mecca for intrepid visitors.

Zacherl: this penitentiary is
Thought to be one

Of the most haunted places
In the united states of america,

And one of the most common forms
Of supernatural phenomena

Is a shadow figure
Called the shadow man.

In 2004,
A lady named polly gear

Actually captured it
In a photograph.

She saw the figure
Walking towards her.

So she took one picture.

Down this hallway

And right in front of this door,

And right in front of this door,

The figure was standing,
Looking at her.

Narrator: even with the site's
Worst days long gone,

Perhaps the horrors of this
Place are still not quite over.

On the outskirts of
The cuban capital of havana

Are the eerie remains

Of the caribbean island's
Turbulent past.

Barratt: in amongst this lush,
Green, tropical landscape,

Suddenly there are pops of
Orange and red terra-cotta

Coming through the palm trees.

Auerbach: these buildings are
So fantastical.

Something really ignited
Someone's imagination

And let it run free in
These shapes and these designs.

Narrator: nothing about
The crumbling structures'

Distinctive appearance
Seems left to chance.

Whoever built this put a lot
Of thought

Whoever built this put a lot
Of thought

Into how people walking
Through it would experience it.

So, within the landscape,
One thing that you really notice

Is that there's hardly a right
Angle in the entire place.

It's all about exploring
'round corners.

It's all about wondering
What lies around the bend.

Narrator:
Yet few clues as to the
Site's original purpose appear

To have survived
The ravages of time.

There's a sense
Of whatever stopped

There's a sense
Of whatever stopped

That process
Happening very abruptly.

Barratt:
You have to wonder, "Why did,

Suddenly, construction
Just stop?"

It looked like
It was going so well.

*

Narrator:
The origins of this striking
Site date to the early 1960s,

A time
When cuba was undergoing

A period
Of extraordinary upheaval.

Intended as a place of calm
And tranquility

To inspire young minds,

The grand structures
Were born out of terror

The grand structures
Were born out of terror

And conflict.

Corum: in the 1950s, cuba

Had been under the dictatorship
Of fulgencio batista.

It was an incredibly
Corrupt country.

And a small group
Of revolutionaries

Started a war
Against the government.

Narrator: those revolutionaries
Were the infamous fidel castro

And loyal lieutenant
Ernesto "Che" guevara.

Together, their actions would
Transform the destiny of cuba

Together, their actions would
Transform the destiny of cuba

And these buildings forever.

Corum: in late 1959,
They defeated the army,

And cubans initially saw castro

As a revolutionary,
As a romantic figure,

And they didn't realize
His true nature.

Narrator:
In time, that true nature

Would heap misery
On the cuban people

And threaten to tear
The world apart.

Yet in the immediate aftermath
Of the bloody revolution,

Yet in the immediate aftermath
Of the bloody revolution,

It was a wave of optimism that
Swept over the war-torn country.

Barratt: in 1961, fidel castro
And che guevara,

They decide to go and play golf
One day in the elite club,

A place that they'd previously

Never been allowed
Anywhere near.

They say, "What a shame it is
That this has been shut off

From most of the cuban people.

And shouldn't they
Experience it, as well?"

And they hatch a plan --
A very ambitious plan --

To change this golf course
Into something else entirely.

To change this golf course
Into something else entirely.

Narrator: so, what did
These two revolutionaries

Have in mind for this place?

And why would one
Of the site's architects

Ultimately end up
Fleeing for his life?

*

*

Narrator: in havana, cuba,
Is a sweeping structure

That carried the dreams
Of the revolution.

It was a bold project, but
The remains suggest dark days

Would ultimately descend
Upon the site.

Castro asked a young cuban
Architect, ricardo porro,

To design the site,

And he was going to produce
Five separate buildings,

And he was going to produce
Five separate buildings,

Each with a separate purpose.

Narrator: this is cuba's
National school of art --

A series of ambitious structures
Designed to nurture excellence

In ballet, modern dance,
Visual arts, music, and drama.

This is the birth of an idea,

And, remember,
For your real communists,

Real revolutionaries,

Art is very important.

Art is there to serve
The revolution.

Art is there to serve
The revolution.

Narrator:
Local josé villa soberón

Came here to study sculpture.

[ speaking spanish ]

Interpreter: I started studying
In the year 1966

When I was 16 years old.

To a young boy
Who wanted to study art,

It was like discovering
A brand-new world.

Narrator:
Given just two months to
Come up with the initial plans,

Porro recruited two friends
To help him --

Vittorio garatti
And roberto gottardi.

Vittorio garatti
And roberto gottardi.

The young architects
Poured their heart and soul

Into the idealistic project,
Taking inspiration

From the changing times
They were living in.

Auerbach: you walk along the
Corridors, and you lose sense

Of where you're coming from
And where you're going,

And that was intentional.

The message that he was trying
To communicate

Is that cuba had moved on
From its history

And was forging a new future.

Narrator: each school was
Unique, but they all shared

One clever piece of engineering

One clever piece of engineering

That helped speed up
Construction and encouraged

Those flowing shapes --

The catalan arch.

For the catalan arch, or dome,

You start off with a brick,
A very thin brick,

And then you use
Very quick-drying cement,

And you butt up one against it,

And then another one,
And then another one.

And because it's all held
Into place quite quickly,

You don't need a falsework
To support it.

Narrator: after only one year
Of construction

And before all the buildings

Were complete, the school's
Doors were opened.

Were complete, the school's
Doors were opened.

Barratt: the students arrived

While the whole place
Was a building site

And had lessons
In the clubhouse

And around in the grounds.

There was a real family feel.

There was a real buzz
About the place.

Students would play music to
Help the workers in their task,

And there was a real atmosphere
Of hope and excitement

About the future.

Villa soberón:
[ speaking spanish ]

Interpreter: it's like a huge
Stimulus for imagination.

It creates a magical environment
For work.

It creates a magical environment
For work.

Narrator: but the idealistic
Campus built on the dream

Of the revolution would soon
Turn into a nightmare.

Soviet influence
In the country was growing,

And a deadly storm was brewing.

The americans see in castro's
Friendliness to the soviet union

A direct threat
To the united states.

In 1962, the world will come
Close to nuclear war

With the cuban missile crisis.

After the cuban missile
Crisis, the country was forced

After the cuban missile
Crisis, the country was forced

To start prioritizing defense
Over other considerations.

And suddenly this grand project
Faced a cash-flow problem.

Narrator:
And as the cuban leadership

Moved closer to the u.S.S.R.,

The country began to favor

Utilitarian
Soviet-style architecture.

What was earlier seen
As this grand experiment

In creativity
And artistic freedom

Now starts to look like
It's a bit bourgeois,

Now starts to look like
It's a bit bourgeois,

It's a bit indulgent.

Narrator: before long,
Construction was stopped,

And the school closed down.

The builders
Are pulled off-site,

The architects are let go,
And the schools

Are just left as they stand
On that day.

The ballet school still hasn't
Even got its flooring in.

Narrator:
But for the people

That designed
The school of arts,

A graver fate lay in store.

Cast as bourgeois enemies
Of the state,

Cast as bourgeois enemies
Of the state,

The ministry of construction
Led a campaign

To destroy their reputations.

Barratt: so, the lead architect,
Porro, he lived

And breathed these projects
For a couple of years,

And he was
Absolutely devastated.

And he left cuba
And ended up working in europe

And the rest of the world.

Auerbach: vittorio garatti
Is accused of espionage.

He's jailed, and eventually
He's expelled from cuba.

Narrator: for students like
José, the closure of the school

Narrator: for students like
José, the closure of the school

Had a lasting impact.

[ speaking spanish ]

Interpreter: I really regret
Not having been able

To continue that moment in cuban
Culture during the 1960s.

It was an era
Full of romance, dreams,

And with such high hopes.

*

Narrator: today, the school
Is experiencing

An unexpected renaissance,

An unexpected renaissance,

With the ambitious architecture
Finally

Being given the credit
It deserved.

In the 1990s,
Architects from outside cuba

Started to take a closer look
At these buildings

And recognized the creativity
That had gone into them.

Barratt:
The future does look optimistic,

And although never finished,
It looks finally like funding

Might be available from europe
To complete the job.

*

*

Narrator:
50 miles north of paris,

Lost in the quiet countryside,

Are strange houses
Carved into rock.

*

Some parts of this place
Seem almost fantastical.

But this is only one element
In a truly intriguing site.

Narrator: these homes hide
A surprising secret.

Corum: you're out in the bright
Sunlight in the summer.

Corum: you're out in the bright
Sunlight in the summer.

And then you go through
An entrance,

And you're down
In the underground world.

Scott: it just draws you in
Into this maze of rock

And paths and tunnels,

And occasionally
You've got trees growing up,

Escaping out of this tunnel.

Narrator:
But in the bowels of this site

Are cold, hollowed-out
Depths lying hauntingly silent.

You have a feeling of wonder
When you go underground

You have a feeling of wonder
When you go underground

And you see these large
Stone columns and chambers

And then tunnels and dark places
Going off in every direction.

Narrator: lining the walls are
Signs of a former life.

There are clues scattered
All over this place.

There are markings of names
And dates, drawings of figures.

It feels like it could have been
Some kind of prison,

Keeping people hidden
Out of sight underground.

Keeping people hidden
Out of sight underground.

Narrator: but one carving
Near the entrance

Seems to reveal
The site's true colors.

Corum: here, you have a carving
Of the goddess athena

In military gear.

You have an inscription --
"Never pass,"

And this is a clue
To what this place really is.

Narrator: so, what was this site
Designed to stop?

And would it achieve that aim?

*

*

Narrator:
In the northeast of france

Is a site that has lain silent
For decades.

But its dark innards
Were not always so quiet.

During the 19th century,

The true importance
Of this place was first felt...

When a decision was made
To rebuild the capital.

Selwood: paris in
The 19th century was a mess.

It was dirty, diseased,
And crime-ridden

It was dirty, diseased,
And crime-ridden

And had effectively sunk
Into a den of sin and vice.

They wanted to build paris
Into a city

That was fit
To be france's capital.

The plan was to build these
New wide boulevards and avenues,

But to redesign a city
In this way,

You need building materials.

And that is where
This place came in.

Narrator: already an established
Limestone quarry,

Suddenly this place
Gained a new importance.

Suddenly this place
Gained a new importance.

For local resident
Eric bouchenez,

It's clear to see
How the large heavy blocks

Were carved out one by one.

[ speaking french ]

Interpreter:
From the stone cutting,

You can distinguish
The tool that was used.

Here, you can see the efforts

Of those men, identified
By the rounded marks

Left by their picks.

Scott:
This was not easy work.

It was all done by hand.

And you start at the top.
You chisel away.

You keep going, you keep going,

You keep going, you keep going,

And your hole just gets
Bigger and bigger and bigger.

[ bouchenez speaking french ]

Interpreter: no mechanical
Equipment was used.

Everything was down
To hard physical labor.

Narrator: but these are not
The only marks of interest

Hidden down here
In the darkness.

Other walls show clues
To a very different use

During one of the most brutal
Periods of the 20th century.

With all the evidence
Of quarrying here, you now see

All kinds of marks from 1914
To 1918 all over the walls.

All kinds of marks from 1914
To 1918 all over the walls.

This is clearly
A world war I site.

Narrator:
By september 1914, german forces

Had advanced
Into northern france.

The devastating
Battle of the marne

Drove them back
Towards this location,

Where the next stage
Of this brutal war then began.

The germans were heading
Straight for paris,

But the british and french
Managed to intercept them

And halt their progress.

What followed was the defining
Experience of 1914 to '18 --

What followed was the defining
Experience of 1914 to '18 --

Trench warfare.

Narrator: for those soldiers
Stuck on the front lines,

Eyes would be trained
On the enemy in the distance

Lying across no man's land.

But hidden underground,

How would this site
Be called into action?

Corum: artillery is
The big killer of the war.

If you want to avoid
The artillery shells,

The only solution
Is deep underground.

The only solution
Is deep underground.

And by happenstance, the front
Came to a stop

In 1914 very close to here.

What makes this place special
Is, obviously you're protected.

You've got that stone above you.

Narrator: this underground lair
That once helped rebuild paris

Then became a place
That was vital to the defense

Of that very same city.

*

[ speak french ]

[ speak french ]

Interpreter: so, these
Huge bases were occupied

By the french army.

They took over the whole quarry.

You need to imagine
How gigantic it is.

At its peak, you had between
200 and 500 soldiers

Living here in the quarry
And in the surrounding area.

*

Underground facilities became
A very, very important part

Of world war I.

And you would have, in some
Cases, headquarters, hospitals,

And depots, and rear areas.

It's a safe place
For the soldiers.

It's a safe place
For the soldiers.

It was the last place
The men would have gone

Before going on
To the front line,

And it was the first place
They would have gone to

After coming off the front line.

There would have just been
Such a mixed bag of emotions

Going on there.

Narrator: the carvings
And etchings are a reflection

Of the unsettling environment
The men were lost in.

[ bouchenez speaking french ]

Interpreter: so, those men
Stationed here for days

And weeks on end,
They had to keep busy.

The front was not far off,

The front was not far off,

And death was all around.

So to kill time,
They began sculpting.

*

Narrator: but one area appears
As something more

Than just idle work
For whiling away the time.

[ speaking french ]

Interpreter: so, here, you find
The old chapel,

Built by a soldier
Named leopold marchelle.

He built this in december 1914.

This chapel was built to provide
Hope to the men stationed here.

This chapel was built to provide
Hope to the men stationed here.

*

Don't forget that during the
War, there were a lot of deaths,

And many were not sure
That they would come back

The next day.

So they needed a place to pray
And to lift their spirits.

*

Narrator:
For the men living here,
Danger was never far away.

The trenches were right
On their doorstep,

The trenches were right
On their doorstep,

And they'd have known
That, sooner or later,

An attack would come.

*

*

Narrator: 50 miles north of
Paris is an underground base

From the first world war.

Filled with french troops
In 1918,

It was only a matter of time
Until the enemy attacked.

Corum:
The germans on the other side

Had their quarries and
Their underground facilities.

And they brought in engineers,
And they would try to tunnel

Under the enemy lines
And plant explosives.

Under the enemy lines
And plant explosives.

Selwood: they had to be alert
To the germans

Appearing out of the woods

Or through a secret tunnel
That they'd dug.

These were fears from which
They could never escape.

[ explosion ]

Narrator: after four years of
French military use, in 1918,

Suddenly a breakthrough emerged.

Both sides developed
New strategies

That would end
The static war of the trenches.

But it was the germans
That struck first

To shatter the silence
Of these deep caverns.

To shatter the silence
Of these deep caverns.

It's all about the technology
Coming together with new tactics

And applications
That can break the trench lines.

You initiate a massive
Opening bombardment

Just a few hours
Before the infantry attack.

Selwood: the germans were
Looking for a point of entry.

And when they found one, they
Would funnel down into the base,

Bringing the fight
To the heart of the complex.

Narrator: the clues to what
Events unfolded are found

Narrator: the clues to what
Events unfolded are found

Within the darkness.

Here, you can see that there's
Obviously been some type of hit,

But that hit didn't come
From externally.

That actually came
From internally.

Interpreter: here, you can see
Large blocks that fell.

There isn't another place
That looks like this

In the entire quarry.

So there was probably
A large explosion

Detonated to stop the enemy.

Narrator: but despite their best
Efforts, in this case,

The german attack
Was too powerful.

The soldiers had little choice
But to fall back.

The soldiers had little choice
But to fall back.

Corum: essentially an
Underground facility like this

Is not built to be defended.

It's a refuge.

And if the enemy breaks through,
Then you evacuate.

[ bouchenez speaking french ]

Interpreter: so, there was
A surge of men here.

We had to retreat
Because they used gas,

And lots of heavy artillery
Fell onto our quarry.

Narrator: while it may have
Seemed like a drastic turn

For the worse,

In fact, the allied forces
Had their own plans for attack,

In fact, the allied forces
Had their own plans for attack,

And within months,
The war would be over.

The germans
Are becoming exhausted.

It's a limited breakthrough.

It's a limited advance
Before it stops and peters out.

Narrator: when the allied forces
Retook the quarry site

And the surrounding land,

The role of this area
Changed dramatically --

From a place of war
To a place of peace.

Selwood: just over 6 miles
From this base

Is where the armistice
Was signed.

The blood, loss, and horror

The blood, loss, and horror

That have been witnessed
Along this line

Was finally brought to an end.

*

Narrator: with its fighting days
Over, the site soon transitioned

Back to its original use,

But on a far smaller scale.

Scott: after the war,
The quarrying returned,

And so people returned.

And this place
Became homes again.

The houses you see here
Speak of a long tradition

Going back to the start
Of quarrying 300 years ago.

Going back to the start
Of quarrying 300 years ago.

The last people to leave
Only left in the 1970s,

And that's their home that
You can still see here today.

*

Narrator:
Deep in the british countryside,

A foreboding giant sleeps.

*

Bell: this complex completely
Dominates the landscape.

Bell: this complex completely
Dominates the landscape.

You've got
Beautiful brick buildings.

You can spot the ruins
Of old pipelines.

You've got
Massive towers and pumps

And these piles of broken-up
Rock and concrete everywhere.

*

Selwood:
The site is highly impressive.

There's a vast array
Of buildings,

And it's clear
A great deal of money

Was clearly spent on them.

It was once a booming site,

But something must have gone
Wrong here --

And quite fast.

And quite fast.

Narrator: inside these
Monumental buildings

Lurk other hidden features that
Hint at what this site once was.

This was clearly
A quasi-industrial setup

Of some sort,

A large-scale operation
At one point

Employing hundreds,
Maybe thousands, of people,

All bent
Towards one crucial task.

But now it's a sad, odd place.

It's abandoned.

It's slowly
Succumbing to nature.

It's slowly
Succumbing to nature.

Bell: there are railway
Carriages just left abandoned,

And then this huge chimney.

This must be a clue
As to what this site was.

Narrator: clearly there was
Something valuable here

That made building
All this worthwhile.

But what was it?

And where is it now?

Found in an area
Called north staffordshire,

This sprawling worksite

This sprawling worksite

Was first set
To transform the region.

But this was no easy task.

Selwood:
When this site was built,

The resources of the land
Around here were ready

And waiting to be
Tapped into and exploited.

Auerbach: so, there's
Great wealth to be had.

It's there for the taking,
But it's not going to come easy.

People are gonna have to put
Their lives on the line

To get to it.

Narrator:
The source of that wealth

Even today remains
Hidden from view.

Nigel smith is a local
Historian at the site.

Nigel smith is a local
Historian at the site.

Smith:
This is chatterley whitfield,

A site that used to produce
Material

That powered a nation.

Coal powered everything --

People's homes,
Businesses, industry.

With coal, you have an economy.

And with an economy,
You had wealth.

Auerbach: the coal seams
Of north staffordshire

Are some of the richest
In the world.

Are some of the richest
In the world.

Narrator:
Of the coal mines in the region,

This was the jewel in the crown.

It had the most manpower and the
Highest production of any site.

Selwood: at one time, it was
Employing 5,000 people,

And 4,000
Of those worked underground.

*

Narrator: but working here often
Came at a deadly price.

And before long, the 20th
Century's bloodiest conflict

And before long, the 20th
Century's bloodiest conflict

Would pose
An even greater threat.

*

*

Narrator: in north staffordshire
Was one of britain's

Most productive coal mines.

Over the years, it would
Generate great wealth for some

And bring misery to others.

But in 1937, one area

Of this site
Went down in history.

Smith: there are several shafts
On-site.

Well, this is the hesketh.

The hesketh is the first shaft
Anywhere in the u.K.

The hesketh is the first shaft
Anywhere in the u.K.

To be responsible

For producing 1 million
Tons of saleable coal.

Narrator: in today's money,

That would be worth
Over $50 million.

It was a hugely
Profitable business,

But to tear coal
Out of the seams

And bring it above ground

Has always required
Some huge bits of kit

And some brave workers.

Roy neate was only 17 when
He was first sent down the pit.

Roy neate was only 17 when
He was first sent down the pit.

*

*

Narrator: throughout much of
The 19th and 20th centuries,

The miners face
Some deadly situations.

*

*

*

*

Despite the risks,
The wheels of the machine

Had to keep on turning.

Coal was absolutely vital
To the running of the country.

Coal was absolutely vital
To the running of the country.

It needed to be mined
At all costs.

The biggest accident
Happened in 1881.

From records,
The accident itself

Seems to have stemmed
From an underground fire

That got out of hand,

And obviously
That ignited the methane gas

That was below ground.

There was a huge explosion.

24 men and boys
Lost their lives,

And to this day,
There are still bodies

Actually underground.

Narrator: over two centuries,

Narrator: over two centuries,

The north staffordshire
Coal seam

Saw more than
4,500 fatalities.

But the long list
Of the dangers faced here

Would soon be extended

As a new terrifying threat
Arrived in the 20th century.

When world war ii broke out,

The demand for coal
In britain skyrocketed.

It was needed to fuel
The armaments industry,

The munitions industry,
To fuel soldiers' homes

And their families' homes.

They were going to need
To produce more coal faster

They were going to need
To produce more coal faster

Than they had ever done before.

This place had to become
An even more productive

Mining machine,

A constant inferno of activity.

They had to put in place
A whole new infrastructure,

Which included crushing plants,
Underground railway lines,

Networks of pipes on land,
And deep tunnels.

Narrator:
The whole british economy

Was dependent on this resource.

And one man knew it.

And one man knew it.

Auerbach: hitler knew how vital
The coal industry was

To the entire british economy
And particularly its ability

To produce munitions,
To keep fighting.

He wanted to stop the british
Coal industry at any price.

Selwood: stoke-on-trent
Was a strategic,

High-priority target
For the nazis.

The germans knew
What a productive town it was,

And they wanted to destroy
The industry of the city.

And they wanted to destroy
The industry of the city.

Bell: german bombing raids
On stoke-on-trent

Had a devastating impact,

Bringing some of the industry
Here to a near standstill.

Narrator: fortunately.
Hitler's plan never succeeded,

And the shafts kept
On working for years.

But eventually the advent
Of a cheaper rival fuel

Threatened the supremacy
Of king coal.

For the men that worked here,
The writing was on the wall.

For the men that worked here,
The writing was on the wall.

Oil became a highly
Strategic product,

And the united kingdom
Depended on its colonial empire

And its dominance of
The middle east for its supply.

Bell: in 1946, 90%
Of the u.K.'s electricity

Was produced from coal.

Narrator:
But by the mid-1970s,

That figure had dropped
By nearly 30%.

Coal, it seemed, was out.

Narrator:
This site couldn't keep up,

Narrator:
This site couldn't keep up,

And its doors closed in 1977.

But the industry wasn't
Prepared to leave

Without a fight.

And what happened next changed

The landscape
Of british politics forever.

[ indistinct shouting ]

Bell: it was without doubt the
Most bitter industrial dispute

In british history,

And its long-term impact
Is still being felt today.

*

*

*

Auerbach: violent confrontations
Between the picketers

And police were common.

And the strike ended
With a decisive victory

For the conservative government.

The collieries were closed.

And that was largely the end
Of coal mining in britain.

*

*

Narrator: today, the colliery's
Huge, winding engines

Lie still and abandoned.

But for the men that worked
Here, the world that once was

Will not be forgotten.

*