Browse content similar to 21/09/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello. Welcome to the One Show with Alex Jones and Matt Baker. Ow guest | :00:23. | :00:28. | |
tonight is a man who has watched some extraordinary homes take shape. | :00:28. | :00:33. | |
From an old water tower in Buckinghamshire, to a derelict | :00:33. | :00:37. | |
castle in Yorkshire, but tonight, in his honour, we have constructed | :00:37. | :00:46. | |
a vision on a scale that's never been realised in such a way before. | :00:46. | :00:51. | |
Inside is Grand Designs' Kevin McCloud. | :00:51. | :00:57. | |
APPLAUSE What a sport you are. That is not a | :00:57. | :01:05. | |
house. It's a kennel. Lovely to meet you. It's wrong, the plans. We | :01:05. | :01:12. | |
ran out of time and the budget went heywire. It's clearly finished. | :01:12. | :01:19. | |
are used to that. Let's pass over that. It hasn't got planning | :01:19. | :01:23. | |
consent. Presumably this is something you have come up against, | :01:23. | :01:28. | |
people having not measured properly and budget being not correct. | :01:28. | :01:33. | |
usual. It's all to do with that age-old drive that we have as | :01:33. | :01:37. | |
humans, to get up in the morning and make things and ignore all the | :01:37. | :01:40. | |
best advice from everyone around us, because we are think we are capable | :01:40. | :01:44. | |
- if we weren't all like that, we would all be living in caves still. | :01:44. | :01:53. | |
True. It's the flipside. I'm a big, big fan of the show. We'll find out | :01:53. | :01:57. | |
later about your thoughts on the new proposed planning laws as well. | :01:57. | :02:01. | |
Also, we give you the chance to show Kevin McCloud, your designs. | :02:01. | :02:05. | |
Whatever you have built from a potting shed to a book shelve. Send | :02:05. | :02:08. | |
us a picture of you standing proudly in front of it and we'll | :02:08. | :02:15. | |
see what Kevin makes of it later. E-mail us. Thanks for that! It will | :02:15. | :02:18. | |
be great. People disagree about whether | :02:18. | :02:23. | |
alternive medicine works or not. When it comes to a father and son | :02:23. | :02:29. | |
relationship and the father is a doctor and the son is the patient | :02:29. | :02:35. | |
and the illness is a brain tumour, then it becomes difficult. My | :02:35. | :02:41. | |
daughter Karen was 43 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She | :02:41. | :02:46. | |
went down the conventional medal route and then wanted to add other | :02:46. | :02:48. | |
therapies, complimentary therapies and alternative, anything that | :02:48. | :02:55. | |
might just cleanse her body of this hideous disease. The use of | :02:55. | :02:58. | |
unproven alternative therapies against medical siepbs has always | :02:58. | :03:08. | |
:03:08. | :03:08. | ||
sparked a passionate debate. 24- year-old Sam has a brain tumour. He | :03:08. | :03:13. | |
has turned to alternative therapies. His father is a cancer specialist, | :03:13. | :03:20. | |
where he is working on a cure at Leicester Royal Infirmary. | :03:20. | :03:25. | |
immediate reaction was we'll get this fixed. Sam, you were emphatic | :03:25. | :03:29. | |
and you said, "You're my father, not my doctor." There needs to be a | :03:29. | :03:34. | |
line drawn. Having exhausted conventional treatments, Sam's | :03:34. | :03:39. | |
opted for the alternative route. decided that I'm going to try my | :03:39. | :03:43. | |
stuff out. Some of the lifestyle changes are radical. Sam now | :03:43. | :03:48. | |
follows what he describes as an anti-cancer diet, based on a | :03:48. | :03:54. | |
mixture of flaxseed oil and cottage cheese and contacted spiritual | :03:54. | :03:58. | |
healers. All three of them gave me heat inside the head, actual | :03:58. | :04:03. | |
physical heat. It was real and it did happen as I'm concerned it is | :04:03. | :04:06. | |
valid. Many people would analyse it and it is just clutching at | :04:06. | :04:10. | |
anything just in case. I don't clutch. I look at it very carefully. | :04:10. | :04:14. | |
I'm been conned before. I know how it feels. I'm very, very careful, | :04:14. | :04:18. | |
to the point of paranoia. Sam uses drum ing to help him relax, but | :04:18. | :04:22. | |
believes more potent remedies could help. One of them is the chemical | :04:22. | :04:29. | |
sodium dichloroacetate or DCA. It has had limited clinical trials, | :04:29. | :04:34. | |
but is currently viewed as a potential cancer treatment. His | :04:35. | :04:38. | |
father believes it caused Sam nerve damage when they took too much and | :04:38. | :04:43. | |
then there is the illegal stuff. Cannabis oil has been proven in | :04:43. | :04:46. | |
certain laboratory situations to destroy cancer cells and brain | :04:46. | :04:51. | |
tumours. Your dad is shaking his head. That is in the lab. It's not | :04:51. | :04:55. | |
really a drug. It's a mixture of a whole variety of compounds and | :04:55. | :04:58. | |
that's the problem. People watching would be very uneasy with the fact | :04:58. | :05:03. | |
that it is illegal. That is the other point. Sure. We have to make | :05:03. | :05:07. | |
that point. Absolutely. We have to have the right to cure ourselves. | :05:07. | :05:10. | |
For a trained doctor that approach can be hard to accept. Some of the | :05:10. | :05:16. | |
drugs that he's used are very potent chemicals and he's managed | :05:16. | :05:20. | |
to get those from the internet. That is a huge problem to me. | :05:20. | :05:24. | |
there any evidence at all in Sam's experience and his results, that | :05:24. | :05:28. | |
would encourage you to say to a patient, for example, you might | :05:28. | :05:32. | |
want to try this? Sadly, no. I really can't. The situation with | :05:32. | :05:37. | |
Sam, as you said, is extreme. Young man, terminal diagnosis, have to | :05:37. | :05:42. | |
try everything. For many patients now with the new therapies the | :05:42. | :05:48. | |
prognosis is not so bad. Many of them can be cured or even have | :05:48. | :05:51. | |
retained long-lasting remissions with conventional treatment. Sam is | :05:51. | :05:57. | |
convinced something he's doing is working. His tumour has shrunk and | :05:57. | :06:01. | |
he says it can't all be down to conventional treatment. He believes | :06:01. | :06:04. | |
the evidence is compelling and deserves properly scientific | :06:04. | :06:11. | |
investigation. Are these cures really so impossible to take | :06:11. | :06:14. | |
seriously? I don't think so. I think we should take them seriously | :06:14. | :06:18. | |
and I think there should be clinical trials, absolutely. The | :06:18. | :06:21. | |
sooner the better, because people may be dying needlessly and that's | :06:21. | :06:27. | |
a hoshing thought. What gesture do -- horrible thought. What gesture | :06:27. | :06:31. | |
do you think the medical profession will make to perhaps a new | :06:31. | :06:36. | |
treatment? I hope they find it and continue doing what they are doing. | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
I wan cancer to be gone preferrable -- want cancer to be gone, | :06:41. | :06:44. | |
preferrably within my lifetime. I am planning on going on and it's | :06:44. | :06:49. | |
possible. Much like my daughter, Karen, Sam has refused to let his | :06:49. | :06:54. | |
illness take control of his life. The path he's chosen is not without | :06:54. | :07:02. | |
risk. It has given him fresh hope. Cancer Research UK says there is no | :07:02. | :07:05. | |
evidence that any alternative diets can prevent, treat or control the | :07:05. | :07:10. | |
disease. Although, as Sam says, seeing a spiritual healer has | :07:10. | :07:15. | |
helped him cope, the charity says there is no scientific evidence to | :07:15. | :07:19. | |
support alternative healing as a cure. Kevin you have tried the | :07:19. | :07:24. | |
therapies? For asthma, not for anything more serious than that. | :07:24. | :07:28. | |
Chronic asthma, that is pretty bad? I've had it for 30 years. It's been | :07:28. | :07:32. | |
a lifetime companion really. It got to the point a few years ago when | :07:32. | :07:38. | |
it got seriously bad and I found a consultant, this is after 15 years | :07:38. | :07:42. | |
of not drinking alcohol and not touching wheat and having | :07:43. | :07:46. | |
supplements and other stuff and finally he put me on some | :07:46. | :07:52. | |
conventional drugs. I'm back on the booze now! All I'm saying is I'm | :07:52. | :07:57. | |
very interested by this idea of alternative, because I see it as | :07:57. | :08:00. | |
complimentary and I think if conventional medicine fails, and | :08:00. | :08:05. | |
clearly you are going to want to try and find anything you can to | :08:05. | :08:11. | |
support you, whether that is counselling or whatever. The | :08:11. | :08:15. | |
important thing is one shouldn't necessarily throw away conventional | :08:15. | :08:19. | |
medicine and say no. The two can live together. We think you are | :08:19. | :08:24. | |
going to love our next film. Archeologists in Northern Ireland | :08:24. | :08:28. | |
are excited about this discovery. What they have found has been | :08:28. | :08:32. | |
hidden for centuries, but it's now slowly revealing itself in the | :08:32. | :08:39. | |
shadows of this castle. Joe has been to seen history in the making. | :08:39. | :08:45. | |
Since the 1408's, this castle has stood on North Antrim's coastline. | :08:45. | :08:52. | |
From here, generations of chieftans were able to dominate. The castle | :08:52. | :08:56. | |
is steeped in legend. Everything from tales of love to tales of war, | :08:56. | :08:59. | |
but now archeologists and historians have discovered an | :08:59. | :09:02. | |
untold story. It's hidden for hundreds of years, just outside the | :09:02. | :09:09. | |
castle walls. Photographs reveal scars in the field surrounding the | :09:09. | :09:14. | |
cast. Land surveys backed up what was seen and the pastures were | :09:14. | :09:18. | |
definitely hiding something. The only way for us to find out what | :09:18. | :09:23. | |
was hidden under the fields was to dig. And their discoveries took | :09:23. | :09:28. | |
even the experts by surprise. Buried just a few feet below the | :09:28. | :09:36. | |
surface of that grassland is an entire town. Colin is the | :09:36. | :09:39. | |
archeologist whose hunch led to this discovery. This is an amazing | :09:40. | :09:42. | |
site. Give me a sense of where we are standing nought within this | :09:42. | :09:47. | |
town that you are uncovering? is an amazing site. It's probably | :09:47. | :09:54. | |
the best site I've ever worked on. The town itself was built in 1608 | :09:54. | :09:59. | |
and freestanding by 1611. 400 years ago you would have come down this | :09:59. | :10:01. | |
surface which stretches across to the wall. There would have been | :10:01. | :10:10. | |
another line of buildings on the far side of the cobbled surface. | :10:10. | :10:13. | |
This was a significant settlement. This isn't a village? No, no, this | :10:13. | :10:17. | |
was very much a town. It would have had anything up to 60 to 90 houses | :10:17. | :10:21. | |
across the whole of the town and a population of something between 900 | :10:21. | :10:25. | |
and 1,000 people. Wow. You said we are standing on cobbles that go | :10:25. | :10:30. | |
down to the castle. This seems to be a bit of a feature here? What we | :10:30. | :10:34. | |
actually have is a series of drains running down the surface, but what | :10:34. | :10:39. | |
the drain is telling us is that there's a change in society and | :10:39. | :10:42. | |
people who lived in the town are conscious of hygiene and conscious | :10:42. | :10:46. | |
of their appearance. What we are really seeing here is a movement | :10:47. | :10:53. | |
into the modernity On site there's a museum displaying previous year's | :10:53. | :11:00. | |
finds. Is there one favourite item? I have to say there is. It's this | :11:00. | :11:07. | |
object, a small bronze item. This is actually a late 16th early 17th | :11:07. | :11:12. | |
century tuning peg for a harp. That find was found literally in the | :11:12. | :11:16. | |
gutter, just outside the blacksmith's. We know that | :11:16. | :11:19. | |
travelling musicians were visiting the houses at tight within the | :11:19. | :11:24. | |
settlement. It is tempting to say that this harpist left the house | :11:24. | :11:28. | |
very late at night and made his way back up the surface and bumped | :11:29. | :11:34. | |
against the corner of the blacksmith's and lost this quite | :11:34. | :11:37. | |
valuable item. Not so many documents survived that describe | :11:37. | :11:41. | |
the town or what happened to it, so how or why was this forgotten | :11:41. | :11:44. | |
about? Professor Brian Williams is the man responsible for the | :11:44. | :11:50. | |
castle's heritage. Brian, was was it a town was built outside the | :11:50. | :11:54. | |
castle walls? What is the idea? 1608 was a time of massive | :11:54. | :11:58. | |
political upheavel and change for the whole island of Ireland. The | :11:58. | :12:02. | |
Earl of Antrim was trying to position himself politically and | :12:02. | :12:07. | |
read the ruins how to survive in this time and he decided to set up | :12:07. | :12:12. | |
a series of towns to grow the economy. He went to Scotland and | :12:12. | :12:18. | |
brought in proven business people, entrepreneurs, merchants, who had a | :12:18. | :12:23. | |
track ro record. -- a track record. They could set up business with him | :12:23. | :12:32. | |
over here. Where did it all go wrong? The town thrived for 30-odd | :12:32. | :12:36. | |
years, but then got caught up in the maelstrom of Irish history and | :12:36. | :12:40. | |
in 1641 there was an Irish rebellion and rebels attacked the | :12:40. | :12:44. | |
town and what we have found is they simply folded the houses in on | :12:44. | :12:48. | |
themselves. The walls were pushed in and the whole town of 1,000 | :12:48. | :12:53. | |
people were flattened and it became a grassy field in no time. It's | :12:54. | :12:57. | |
amazing to think that this quiet stretch of coastline was once a | :12:57. | :13:02. | |
thriving commercial centre. The lost town was more than just a busy | :13:02. | :13:05. | |
market town. It was a unique community. Scottish settlers and | :13:06. | :13:09. | |
Irish natives lived side by side here. What is more, as this dig | :13:09. | :13:13. | |
shows, they built this forward- looking and sophisticated society | :13:13. | :13:23. | |
:13:23. | :13:25. | ||
together. Grand Designs back then as well. Your very own home is 500 | :13:25. | :13:30. | |
years old? It's not as beautiful as that. I live in a Tudor eco-home, | :13:30. | :13:35. | |
built out of the field in which it sits. Has it got loads of glass in | :13:35. | :13:40. | |
it? Yes. Is it open-plan? No. It's got small, tiny windows and it's | :13:40. | :13:46. | |
dark and gloomy, but I'm fond of it. The people like their homes to be | :13:46. | :13:56. | |
:13:56. | :14:01. | ||
flooded with light and I'm - I The new series has started. Let's | :14:01. | :14:11. | |
:14:11. | :14:13. | ||
How do you balance, on the one hand, this desire to create the Arts and | :14:13. | :14:17. | |
Crafts spirit of the nineteenth- century, the 21st century, with | :14:17. | :14:23. | |
your instinct as an accountant to save money? Because this sat -- | :14:23. | :14:26. | |
house is never about money. You will be surprised to hear that. | :14:26. | :14:33. | |
It's all about the style and design, beat money is... The money is | :14:33. | :14:37. | |
almost completely irrelevant! will not disclose the amount. Do | :14:37. | :14:43. | |
you think it is money well spent? When you walk away, will you be | :14:43. | :14:48. | |
pleased? I am sure that he believes it is. I'm sure he thinks he has | :14:48. | :14:52. | |
spent his money wisely and well. It isn't foolish to build a very | :14:52. | :14:56. | |
expensive house, in an expensive part of the world. It's the south | :14:56. | :15:02. | |
of London, an expensive area. Real estate costs a lot. I'm sure he did | :15:02. | :15:06. | |
the right thing. I'm being very correct, as you can guess. What I | :15:06. | :15:12. | |
want to say about this is that... I shouldn't be talking too much, it | :15:12. | :15:18. | |
is on in 105 minutes. But he does run out of money at the end. It is | :15:18. | :15:22. | |
a cautionary tale. Many of the project will broadcasting are, | :15:22. | :15:25. | |
because the money is not there. awkward Steve Field, when you are | :15:25. | :15:30. | |
talking about the Budget? It is their life, everything. -- How | :15:30. | :15:36. | |
awkward do you feel? You know, I'm not really interested in money. I'm | :15:36. | :15:40. | |
really interested in the design, the architecture, the experience of | :15:40. | :15:44. | |
the building, what it contributes, what it says about where it is and | :15:44. | :15:51. | |
how the talks about its neighbours. Where did that inquest come from? | :15:51. | :15:55. | |
My dad was an engineer and scientist. We were encouraged to | :15:56. | :16:00. | |
take things apart, like engines. rocket scientist? Well, he built | :16:00. | :16:08. | |
bits of rockets. Systems for missiles. We have to ask, there are | :16:08. | :16:11. | |
lots of things in the news about the proposed changes to planning | :16:11. | :16:20. | |
laws. What is your view on it? nutshell, it is a guide. It is 52 | :16:20. | :16:30. | |
:16:30. | :16:30. | ||
off 58 pages. The last document, in 1957, was 1000 pages long. Whatever | :16:30. | :16:33. | |
this government did, it would get in trouble. They have produced | :16:33. | :16:38. | |
something that says, we want to see sustainable development. We are | :16:38. | :16:41. | |
going to say yes to this sustainable development. Then it | :16:41. | :16:46. | |
defines what that is. The design bench marks are really quite | :16:46. | :16:50. | |
stringent. But because it is a discussion document and a guide, | :16:50. | :16:54. | |
everybody is up in arms. They are saying, this is outrageous, we are | :16:54. | :16:57. | |
going to see green land carpeted over with rubbish housing | :16:57. | :17:02. | |
developments. Well, that may or may not happen. It is at a very early | :17:02. | :17:06. | |
stage. I'm interested to see how it works out in the detail. That will | :17:06. | :17:10. | |
be down to local authorities, not to central government. We do live | :17:10. | :17:14. | |
on an island, there is a certain amount of space and there are more | :17:14. | :17:18. | |
people now. We are the most populous country in Europe, it is | :17:18. | :17:24. | |
going to be a big issue. Now, how do you deal with the green menace | :17:24. | :17:31. | |
of bracken without destroying the countryside? Kate Bevan goes to | :17:31. | :17:34. | |
Herefordshire to find out how horse power is proving an efficient way | :17:34. | :17:38. | |
to tackle the problem. This is a very special, hard | :17:38. | :17:43. | |
working horse. She is part of a pioneering conservation project to | :17:43. | :17:47. | |
protect our countryside from a plant that is taking over. It is | :17:47. | :17:52. | |
bracken. You would not expect such a familiar firm to be a problem. | :17:52. | :17:56. | |
Until recently, it wasn't. In the past, it was cut for livestock | :17:56. | :18:02. | |
bedding. But changes in farming practices means that it now covers | :18:02. | :18:07. | |
nearly 3 million acres of Britain. And it's spreading. The problem | :18:07. | :18:11. | |
with bracken is that it smothers the forest floor with a toxic | :18:11. | :18:14. | |
blanket of dead leaves and blocks out the sunlight, excluding all | :18:14. | :18:21. | |
other plants. In turn, that deprives insects of food. So, the | :18:21. | :18:26. | |
countryside has declared war on bracken. That is where Ella and her | :18:26. | :18:34. | |
owner come in. They specialise in controlling bracken in | :18:34. | :18:38. | |
environmentally sensitive places, like here, amid the ancient oaks in | :18:38. | :18:44. | |
Herefordshire. The blanket of bracken threatens the future of | :18:44. | :18:48. | |
these Oaks, as the acorns cannot germinate in its shadow. But the | :18:48. | :18:53. | |
park is protected by laws, due to its Lydney -- unique flora and | :18:53. | :18:59. | |
fauna. Chemical sprays and heavy vehicles cannot be used. So they | :18:59. | :19:02. | |
are pioneering an alternative technique. She's pretty nimble on | :19:02. | :19:06. | |
her feet? She is, this is the advantage of horses. Wigan Wigan | :19:07. | :19:14. | |
more difficult places. A quad bike or a tractor could not. It's very | :19:14. | :19:18. | |
special, isn't it? These are some of the oldest oak trees in Britain. | :19:19. | :19:24. | |
They are allegedly 1000 years old. The bracken is on the increase. | :19:24. | :19:32. | |
designed this yourself? It's based on a technique from the 1920s. I've | :19:32. | :19:36. | |
produced this designed specifically for horses. Wouldn't it be easier | :19:36. | :19:42. | |
just to chop it down? It would, but then the route, the biggest part of | :19:42. | :19:47. | |
the plant, would throw up new growth. It wouldn't control it. | :19:47. | :19:54. | |
bashing it, what actually happens to it? Well, bashing, these are not | :19:54. | :19:59. | |
sharp. They crush it. You can see the wounds in the bracken. That | :19:59. | :20:04. | |
makes the plant try to carry on living. But the sap leads out. It | :20:04. | :20:10. | |
can't put food back into the Ritz. So it is weakened over winter. | :20:10. | :20:16. | |
bit of a battle of wits? Yes, I hope I'm cleverer than Bracken! | :20:16. | :20:21. | |
Bracken bashing has become popular right across the country. Not only | :20:21. | :20:25. | |
is it good for the environment, as there are no nasty chemicals, it's | :20:25. | :20:29. | |
also cost-effective because there is no need for diesel. So, it has | :20:29. | :20:35. | |
become popular, so he has had to take on apprentices to take on | :20:35. | :20:43. | |
extra work. This area you can see behind me has been brats. When we | :20:43. | :20:50. | |
first came here, the bracken was 8 foot tall. It's now very standard | :20:50. | :20:54. | |
and there are grassy areas. Have you seen differences with wildlife? | :20:54. | :20:58. | |
The benefits are immediate. The bracken is crushed and it doesn't | :20:58. | :21:03. | |
come up again. Things like violets, the grass is, they can grow through. | :21:03. | :21:07. | |
We've seen an increase in all sorts of insects, butterflies. In | :21:07. | :21:11. | |
woodlands we will get natural regeneration of the trees. | :21:11. | :21:14. | |
Otherwise they would be killed by the bracken. Then are enormous | :21:14. | :21:24. | |
By bringing working horses like a lead back into the countryside, he | :21:24. | :21:29. | |
has shown that bracken can be beaten, wherever it grows. It seems | :21:29. | :21:34. | |
that even in 2011 there is still a place for the great British horse | :21:34. | :21:44. | |
:21:44. | :21:45. | ||
We love bringing old friends together on this show. Unbelievably, | :21:45. | :21:52. | |
Kevin knows that horse personally. I've worked with her. I spent a day | :21:52. | :21:56. | |
with her. It was for a Grand Designs programme, coming up in | :21:56. | :22:00. | |
this series. We went with the owner of this extraordinary house that he | :22:00. | :22:04. | |
is building in the forest. We went with her, and her other job, when | :22:04. | :22:09. | |
she is not smashing bracken, is pulling out felled timber from | :22:09. | :22:15. | |
National Trust's Boris's -- forests. Because that doesn't damage the | :22:15. | :22:22. | |
floor. It looks like I'm sitting between two keen loggers! | :22:22. | :22:28. | |
You've been sending in your wonderful Grand Designs. A modern- | :22:28. | :22:32. | |
retro party shack. Have you got a line for that? What would you say | :22:32. | :22:39. | |
at the end of the programme? It's a 50s American diner, with added | :22:39. | :22:45. | |
relish. Then we've got this one. This has been sent in by Peter and | :22:45. | :22:48. | |
Amanda from North Dorset. This is a picture of a barn that they built. | :22:48. | :22:55. | |
They also have a house, to clarify! There are no windows. Yeah, a | :22:55. | :23:03. | |
charming, con textually responsive, timber clad, green route the Koh | :23:03. | :23:13. | |
:23:13. | :23:14. | ||
Phi Phi barn. This is a grand Now, all week we have been bringing | :23:14. | :23:17. | |
you wonderful sights from The One Show hot-air balloon. Today you why | :23:17. | :23:21. | |
in for a real treat, as with Goodman reveals how 18th century | :23:21. | :23:26. | |
discovery not only changed how we drink tea, but also transformed the | :23:26. | :23:36. | |
:23:36. | :23:36. | ||
# Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon? # What could be | :23:36. | :23:40. | |
more British than a cup of tea? These days we take fine china for | :23:40. | :23:44. | |
granted. But there was a time when a porcelain tea cup was reserved | :23:44. | :23:48. | |
only for the richest of the rich. The Far East had a monopoly on the | :23:48. | :23:54. | |
precious resource and charged merchants a small fortune. When it | :23:54. | :23:58. | |
finally arrived back in Europe at the beginning of the 17th century, | :23:58. | :24:08. | |
:24:08. | :24:10. | ||
the Italians named it after the beautiful shell-like translucence. | :24:10. | :24:15. | |
The British aristocracy simply named Trina. It was far superior to | :24:15. | :24:18. | |
anything the West was producing at the time, both in strength and | :24:18. | :24:23. | |
beauty. Understandably, the Chinese were reluctant to reveal the secret | :24:23. | :24:29. | |
recipe and relinquish their monopoly. That was until 1746, when | :24:29. | :24:33. | |
a British chemist named William Cook were the made an observation | :24:33. | :24:37. | |
that would change the china industry forever. He went to visit | :24:37. | :24:42. | |
a Cornish tin mine in Cornwall. He noticed that the miners were | :24:42. | :24:48. | |
repairing the cracks and holes in their furnaces with its local | :24:48. | :24:55. | |
material. This pale white clay was remarkably resistant to extreme | :24:55. | :25:04. | |
heat. On closer inspection, this humble material turned out to be | :25:04. | :25:12. | |
very high in porcelain's secret ingredient. It shattered China's | :25:12. | :25:16. | |
monopoly and made a Cornish quarry the envy of the world. The china | :25:16. | :25:25. | |
clay industry in Britain exploded. With the techniques of extraction | :25:25. | :25:29. | |
moving on since William Cook would be's day, past -- poll Slim was no | :25:29. | :25:33. | |
longer reserved for the rich. Britain was producing fine china | :25:33. | :25:37. | |
for the masses. What began as a small mining in west Cornwall has | :25:37. | :25:42. | |
become the biggest china clay pit in the world. It has changed parts | :25:42. | :25:47. | |
of the Cornish landscape beyond recognition. The St Austell china | :25:47. | :25:50. | |
clay pits covered 25 square miles and are known locally as the | :25:50. | :25:56. | |
Cornish Alps. The only way to appreciate the magnitude of the | :25:56. | :26:01. | |
workings is from the air, in The One Show balloon. Ivor Burdett used | :26:01. | :26:05. | |
to work for the mining operation. Today, he's an expert on the | :26:05. | :26:09. | |
history of the clay pits. We are looking at an area that has been | :26:09. | :26:14. | |
intensively mined over 250 years. The lakes are in fact disused | :26:14. | :26:18. | |
workings, which fill up with water. The largest of the Six minds that | :26:18. | :26:23. | |
we operate is over 200 hectares in size. They are giant holes in the | :26:23. | :26:28. | |
ground. The all of this is to make cups and saucers? Not at all. That | :26:28. | :26:32. | |
is our oldest market, 50% of what we produce goes into the | :26:32. | :26:39. | |
manufacturing of paper. Paper?! have 20% going into things like | :26:39. | :26:45. | |
paints, adhesives, pharmaceuticals. We probably use china clay in some | :26:45. | :26:49. | |
form or another every day. Nevertheless, the impact of William | :26:49. | :26:56. | |
Cook were the's findings has been immense. The Eden Project has been | :26:56. | :27:01. | |
praised for its reclamation of 37 acres of china clay pit. But these | :27:01. | :27:05. | |
works cover 16,000 acres. Mining is likely to go on for another 100 | :27:05. | :27:09. | |
years. Over the last 20 years it has been a fairly intensive | :27:09. | :27:15. | |
programme of reshaping some of the old pits, creating up to 750 acres | :27:15. | :27:19. | |
of heathland, planting over 1 million trees. A lot is going on | :27:19. | :27:24. | |
today. Well over 113 million tonnes of china clay have been extracted | :27:24. | :27:30. | |
from Siddle stroll over the last 200 years. It will take decades to | :27:30. | :27:34. | |
turn this lunar landscape back into something approaching its original | :27:34. | :27:41. | |
state. I think William Cookwere the would be stunned to see this now. | :27:41. | :27:45. | |
He'd never have thought that his experiments would not only break | :27:45. | :27:49. | |
China's monopoly on porcelain production, but also transform a | :27:49. | :27:54. | |
Far Eastern treasure into Britain's most versatile resource. There are | :27:54. | :27:59. | |
few who can claim to have made quite such an impact on the | :27:59. | :28:05. | |
countryside. Now, more grand designs. They have | :28:05. | :28:11. | |
been flooding in. Kevin? I've got a dome of made out of plastic milk | :28:11. | :28:17. | |
containers. I like it. It's lovely. It's a little bit of a love shack. | :28:17. | :28:23. | |
I think you'd need to tie it down. This one is a home-built structure | :28:23. | :28:29. | |
from Kevin. Did the cat build it? That would have been interesting. | :28:29. | :28:35. | |
This one is lovely. A bridge built with two other students at Bath Spa | :28:35. | :28:39. | |
University. It's from Annabel Williams. They knitted it from | :28:39. | :28:43. | |
recycled wool. That is all we got time for. We're going to be | :28:43. | :28:47. | |
returning to the subject of Dock training tomorrow. If you do have a | :28:47. | :28:51. |