0:00:14 > 0:00:19Excuse me, sir. Can you tell me anything at all about London Bridge?
0:00:20 > 0:00:22Not a lot. No, I'm afraid.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25Not a thing. I don't know anything about London Bridge at all.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27- Any of London's other bridges? - Not really.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30I know that Tower Bridge goes up and down and that's it.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32And thus goes the nation, my friends.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34Indifference to British bridges
0:00:34 > 0:00:37suddenly as normal as iPods or Pancake Day.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39When did that happen?
0:00:39 > 0:00:43In a recent official survey that we can probably find somewhere,
0:00:43 > 0:00:45it was shown that six out of ten people today
0:00:45 > 0:00:47would rather walk across an existing bridge
0:00:47 > 0:00:51than spend eight years at college learning how to build one.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55Nice going, human race! Welcome to the apathy age.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57ROCK MUSIC
0:01:08 > 0:01:11It wasn't always like this and it shouldn't be.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14Pound for pound, bridges are more interesting
0:01:14 > 0:01:18than any creature that has appeared on a David Attenborough programme.
0:01:18 > 0:01:23And over the next half an hour, you will be reminded of exactly why that is.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25If we fall short, no matter.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27It's still a terrific thing to claim.
0:01:27 > 0:01:32And reckless, wild longshots are exactly what the history of bridges on television is all about.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37We'll begin with the famous Forth Rail Bridge,
0:01:37 > 0:01:40which means, of course, this show will never end.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42Building on the original Forth Bridge was abandoned
0:01:42 > 0:01:46when its architect's previous structure over the Tay fell down.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49A public enquiry reported that it was poorly designed,
0:01:49 > 0:01:52poorly constructed and poorly maintained.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55It was, however, commended for its cheerful blue colour.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59Which brings us to the current Forth Bridge and its own paint job.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03Two questions. One, exactly how big a job is that?
0:02:03 > 0:02:06And two, is this task inherently entertaining?
0:02:09 > 0:02:11As far as contemporary news media is concerned,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15the public has always wanted Forth Bridge and plenty of it.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18It's only because the bridge is painted all the time
0:02:18 > 0:02:20that it doesn't get rusty.
0:02:20 > 0:02:25The painters work right at the top, nearly 400 feet up.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27Can you see one of them in the corner?
0:02:31 > 0:02:34This little launch is always fussing around
0:02:34 > 0:02:38in case one of the painters falls off the bridge into the river.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41The problem is the Forth Bridge is just too big.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45Look, see how it dwarfs Scotland on its way to America?
0:02:45 > 0:02:47I would say it is quite a superstructure.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49Probably 55,000 tonnes of steel.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52145 acres.
0:02:52 > 0:02:54It needs 17 tonnes of paint a year.
0:02:54 > 0:02:5717 tonnes! You may well gasp, my friends.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02That is more paint than gets applied to the entire cast of TOWIE in a whole series.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06The Forth Bridge behind me is 100 years old on Sunday.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08Marvellous piece of engineering.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12They've told me to come and spruce it up a bit so I've brought my brush.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14Wrong sort of brush, pal, I think you've got there.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16- You mean I didn't need this kind of brush at all?- No.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20- You must be Robert MacLaurin. - I am.- How do I know?
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Robert, one of the painters who regularly comes here,
0:03:23 > 0:03:25not with this kind of brush, I suppose.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29Oh, I've got it! It's a bit about an artist who PAINTS the Forth Bridge!
0:03:29 > 0:03:34Alan's team have told him to pretend to get muddled up! OK, got it.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38Amazingly, at the same time as the Titchmarsh was cutting up
0:03:38 > 0:03:42on the quayside, no fewer than three other TV crews were
0:03:42 > 0:03:44cranking out colour pieces about the bridge.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48Filler froth on the Forth was being ladled out from below it,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51from above it and here's John Noakes attacking it from within.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53There are 20 painters working all the year round
0:03:53 > 0:03:57and it takes them four years to paint the bridge from end to end.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00And it's always the same reddy-brown colour,
0:04:00 > 0:04:04specially mixed to stop the 145 acres of steelwork from rusting.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08Blue Peter mimicked the Forth Bridge in that, once one report on it had ended,
0:04:08 > 0:04:11- it was time to start another.- Hold on, Peter.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14There's a train coming. Better get down. Hold on a minute.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17- HORN SOUNDS - Whoa!
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Perhaps the most well known fact about the Forth Bridge
0:04:20 > 0:04:22is that it's always being painted
0:04:22 > 0:04:25and I could see evidence of a fresh coat, half applied.
0:04:25 > 0:04:30Alistair took me to where a lone painter was defying the elements.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34Nearly 5,000 gallons of paint are needed to give it a good coat
0:04:34 > 0:04:38and 20 men working full-time take four years to complete the job.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40Then it's time for them to start over again.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43I was proud to think I'd done a few square feet.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46We are literally watching paint dry.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48Come and show us how to do it.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51And Blue Peter being Blue Peter, the next thing was to show us all
0:04:51 > 0:04:54how to build the Forth Bridge in our bedrooms.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59I always thought the set designer on Blue Peter
0:04:59 > 0:05:02wildly underestimated the size of the programme's studio.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05- There's the first one.- Yes.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08And here's the second one.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12Those three shelving units don't swell out the frame, do they?
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Is this the actual order that the bridge was built?
0:05:15 > 0:05:17That's a terrible question, Pete.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21They put the cantilevers up first then attach to the riverbank. There were attached here.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24I think the mechanic's unattaching us, there.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28In a second, Lesley Judd will come on when the man asks for a load.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30She has a little joke prepared
0:05:30 > 0:05:32but competitive Peter Purves treads all over it.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35A complete bridge. All we need is a load. Leslie?
0:05:35 > 0:05:38- THEY LAUGH - Get a load of this! How about that?
0:05:38 > 0:05:41- Yeah, thanks, Pete. - I'll hold it steady.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44Sits down very gently, is it? I don't want to hurt you.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47Looking at John Noakes' armpits there,
0:05:47 > 0:05:49I'm surprised Lesley Judd doesn't fall down.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52Then again, it has to be said that the Forth Bridge will always
0:05:52 > 0:05:55be fascinating, just because it will never be finished.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Its never-ending cycle of maintenance and rebirth
0:05:58 > 0:06:02is somehow symbolic of man's restless searching for perfection.
0:06:02 > 0:06:07A TV saga that can never end for no-one can ever say,
0:06:07 > 0:06:10"Yes, we have finally finished it. The Forth Bridge is now painted."
0:06:10 > 0:06:14- The Forth Bridge is now painted. - Oh, well, fair enough.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18Did you notice, though, most of those breezy reports were interchangeable,
0:06:18 > 0:06:21competent but identikit reporting.
0:06:21 > 0:06:26And that's because programmes about bridges are not very interesting.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28No.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30To elevate such base metal,
0:06:30 > 0:06:32you really have to try something different.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35Hundreds of years ago, when people wanted to cross the river,
0:06:35 > 0:06:39they hunted for big, flat stones and piled them up.
0:06:39 > 0:06:45Then they placed even larger stones across the top to make a bridge.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49These children are sitting on one of the very oldest bridges in the world.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54- It's at a place called... - Midwich, the Village of the Damned!
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Have you ever seen such huge stones?
0:06:56 > 0:06:59Such ominous, foreboding stones?
0:06:59 > 0:07:03Stones that seem to ache with sombre, ancient secrets.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05They're called clappers
0:07:05 > 0:07:08and this kind of thing is called a clapper bridge.
0:07:09 > 0:07:15The unsettling tone of this particular 1966 look at bridges didn't end there.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19- In fact... - Joan! Joan! Psst!
0:07:19 > 0:07:21Other way round, Joan. We've changed the shot!
0:07:21 > 0:07:23Joan! Joan! Turn round!
0:07:27 > 0:07:32Hello. Did you notice what a different kind of bridge that was?
0:07:33 > 0:07:35Let's have another look at it.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37UNSETTLING MUSIC
0:07:41 > 0:07:44People used to believe that the river gods would only allow a bridge
0:07:44 > 0:07:47to be built if it was paid for by a life.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50There are stories of the Devil building bridges
0:07:50 > 0:07:53and demanding in payment the life of a human being.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57Sir, you made me jump.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01Holy Father, not a sound of your footsteps did I hear.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04How could you, with the winds reaching and the river foaming?
0:08:06 > 0:08:09- But you seem distressed. - It's my cow. She is all I have.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11She's across the other side of the river
0:08:11 > 0:08:14and the Lord only knows how she got there. What shall I do?
0:08:14 > 0:08:17- All you need is a bridge. - All I need is a bridge!
0:08:17 > 0:08:21Stick with this, bridge lovers. It is relevant, I assure you.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23Trust me, go without looking back.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26Go to your home and close your door.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28- And then? - Then you shall have your bridge.
0:08:28 > 0:08:33Over that roaring torrent, to cross wherever I like? But how?
0:08:33 > 0:08:37Be fair, our two leads here are mumming fit to burst,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40making the best of some pretty threadbare dialogue.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43The price is but one life, the first across it. Say no more.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Close your door and stay inside until I call.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53MUSIC: "London Bridge Is Falling Down"
0:08:58 > 0:09:02No foolin', this really was a school programme about bridge building,
0:09:02 > 0:09:07though I grant you the director seems to be under the impression he's making the Wicker Man.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09Some of it was on message.
0:09:13 > 0:09:18Each of these ones has a French name.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20It's called a voussoir.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23Can you say that word? Voussoir.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29This block, or stone, goes at the very top of the arch.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33I painted it a different colour so that you can see it easily.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36It's called the keystone.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Now we've made an arch.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43I think you've made a secret Masonic Lodge.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45Would you like to learn the secret?
0:09:45 > 0:09:47DRAMATIC MUSIC
0:09:57 > 0:10:01There's the first living thing to cross it!
0:10:01 > 0:10:03You cunning old woman!
0:10:03 > 0:10:07Your scraggy cur is no use to me! It was a human life!
0:10:07 > 0:10:10Your miserable soul I wanted!
0:10:11 > 0:10:14Bold broadcasting for sure, although you can't help wondering
0:10:14 > 0:10:17if a generation of kids left school believing
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Isambard Kingdom Brunel was the Witchfinder General.
0:10:20 > 0:10:26And incredibly, that's not even as terrifying as architectural transmissions get.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29Brunel's bridge is also a suspension bridge.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33If you look, there's the railway part is suspended
0:10:33 > 0:10:35underneath those flat, grey bits there.
0:10:37 > 0:10:42But, and no-one knows why, Brunel didn't tie his towers back.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46Instead, he used those great big tubular metal things
0:10:46 > 0:10:48to push them apart.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52Professor Clarkson there, using the phrases "those flat, grey bits"
0:10:52 > 0:10:54and "great big tubular metal things"
0:10:54 > 0:10:59to describe the work of the greatest engineers this country has ever known.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02And by the way, it is pronounced "Is-ambard".
0:11:02 > 0:11:05I-sambard Kingdom Brunel is the engineer's hero.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08He remained a towering figure, a visionary.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11A man who built for his own time but also for the future.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14For him, nothing was impossible.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16Impressive shot, this,
0:11:16 > 0:11:19though the temptation for the camera team to go off to the pub
0:11:19 > 0:11:22and leave him screeching off the bridge for no reason
0:11:22 > 0:11:23must have been huge.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26- Clifton Suspension Bridge. - Oh, you say "bridge", do you?
0:11:26 > 0:11:29I say brI-dge!
0:11:31 > 0:11:37It is a visual feast of an erection, a steel "eye-span", if you will.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39# All around my hat... #
0:11:39 > 0:11:41And there are many ways to enjoy it.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44Convention dictates one simply travels across it
0:11:44 > 0:11:48but others can see what Brunel really intended.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51There is a fair breeze that blows up the gorge.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53Up the gorge. There is, yes.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55Look at the boat chugging up there.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57HORN SOUNDS
0:11:58 > 0:12:00Then it started raining.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03This tower is different than that one in a few subtle ways.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07- They look identical to me.- Three big differences. I'll give you one.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11- The sides of this one are scooped out by these arches.- Yeah.
0:12:11 > 0:12:16But they're solid in that one. OK? That's just one difference. Two more.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18I don't think there was a second date.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20But there's one really clear difference.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23If I slapped the corner and gave you a clue.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25And what about that one?
0:12:26 > 0:12:28Oh, yeah, I can see...
0:12:28 > 0:12:30Look, she even did her nails as well.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34- That was great. Lucy? - That was awesome.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37I think she's faking that. After all, men do seem to see
0:12:37 > 0:12:41something in bridgework that possibly women don't.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45The weather is something, which enormously improves bridges.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47- Good weather, that is.- Yes.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50I think even an unattractive bridge
0:12:50 > 0:12:52can look quite nice in good lighting.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55In the same way as a not-very-attractive woman
0:12:55 > 0:12:58can look better in candlelight.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00Well, if you say so, Reg.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05And as with women, so with bridges.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08At night-time, bedecked in a glitter of jewellery,
0:13:08 > 0:13:10there's a special allure.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Be aware, we haven't added this music.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15SOFT JAZZ
0:13:20 > 0:13:24A time, too, for sailors to start thinking of bed.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28Provocative stuff, although before all bridges
0:13:28 > 0:13:30start thinking they can get any man they want...
0:13:30 > 0:13:34Surely it's not just the leaden skies that make the popular
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Chelsea Bridge seem rather dull.
0:13:36 > 0:13:41It's painted in a half-hearted Jubilee red, white and blue,
0:13:41 > 0:13:44the colours muted as if to reflect the prevailing mood
0:13:44 > 0:13:49of economic restraint and not to offend any touring gnomes of Zurich.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54After Hammersmith and Albert Bridge, it's a disappointment.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58Wow! Ouch! He ripped that crossing a new pothole!
0:13:58 > 0:14:01We couldn't avoid glancing at Kew Railway Bridge.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04A structure of no artistic and little engineering merit which,
0:14:04 > 0:14:06adding insult to injury,
0:14:06 > 0:14:11perversely carries underground trains over the river.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14I've heard about Crossrail but he's absolutely livid!
0:14:14 > 0:14:19And darlings, this wasp-tongued wielder of the transpontine taunt isn't done yet.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23If Hungerford Bridge, which takes the trains to Charing Cross,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26isn't deeply ashamed of itself, it ought to be.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28It's literally a bastard of a bridge.
0:14:28 > 0:14:33What's worse, it effectively destroys the finest sweep of the Thames.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37POW! The Simon Cowell of the swinging suspension.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39The British Army needed him on the River Kwai.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42The Japanese would've surrendered in five minutes.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45Of course, being aesthetically aloof is all very well
0:14:45 > 0:14:48for documentary makers, but for those whose living is made
0:14:48 > 0:14:51under and around bridges have a very different perspective.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55And while possibly not as erudite, have just as much to say.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58This is Harry Rogers, the coracle man of Ironbridge.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01What he's carrying here,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04while it may look like something that would set the catwalk alight
0:15:04 > 0:15:06during London Fashion Week, is his working coracle.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09She is known all over the world, the bridge is.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11Better than what I am!
0:15:13 > 0:15:19On the Ironbridge, 100 foot across it, 50 foot span, 50 foot high.
0:15:19 > 0:15:24Supposed to be, look, but there's no nuts and bolts in it.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27There are doubters but I say there is.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30200 nuts and bolts in the bridge when it was first erected.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32Now that's something to go in the book.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35Cos don't know much about it, isn't it.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38He ended that outburst with "innit".
0:15:38 > 0:15:41Yup, we all talk like Harry nowadays, up to a point.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45We've been making coracles, me and my ancestors, for 300 year.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50And all the wood we making it with, like,
0:15:50 > 0:15:52we get it from the timber yard.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Ash.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59Local dialect. What they lack in audio, they make up for in heart.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02And this subject needs all the presenting soul it can get.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06Here at Wroxeter, five miles east of Shrewsbury,
0:16:06 > 0:16:10the Romans built the first bridge that ever spanned the River Severn.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13It lay on the original line of the Watling Street
0:16:13 > 0:16:16and they chose this spot because it is one of the few
0:16:16 > 0:16:19parts of the Severn Valley in this area that is free from flooding.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22OK, Hubert. We've got that one in the can.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24For insurance, can we do another take?
0:16:24 > 0:16:27This time have a bit of fun with it. Be a bit silly if you want.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31Here at Wroxeter, five miles east of Shrewsbury,
0:16:31 > 0:16:35the Romans built the first bridge that ever spanned the River Severn.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38It lay on the original line of the Watling Street
0:16:38 > 0:16:40and they chose this spot because it is one of the few
0:16:40 > 0:16:43parts of the Severn Valley in this area that is free from flooding.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46OK, better. That was great.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48Sets us up brilliantly for the next section actually,
0:16:48 > 0:16:51because, you know, bridges are fun, aren't they?
0:16:51 > 0:16:54This is Christopher Robin, alias Christopher Milne,
0:16:54 > 0:16:58whose childhood play inspired his father to create Winnie the Pooh.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02Today he was back on the little wooden bridge
0:17:02 > 0:17:05at Hartfield in East Sussex where he used to throw sticks
0:17:05 > 0:17:08and see which one floated downstream quickest.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11And thus the international juggernaut of Poohsticks was born.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15Christopher himself has earned nothing from the sport but memories.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18I know what Tigger would have been doing! My goodness, yes.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20He would have been pushing you, a lot of you, into the river.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22And Kanga and Roo?
0:17:22 > 0:17:25Kanga and Roo, no.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27I didn't quite know what they would have been doing.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30Pooh, of course, would have been sitting under a tree stump
0:17:30 > 0:17:35and an appropriate hum would have been working its way up to the surface.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39"A little heads-up on that Kanga and Roo question next time, hey?
0:17:39 > 0:17:42"Poohsticks Features requires some pre-production, you know?"
0:17:42 > 0:17:45There we are. I've got one for Shep and one for you.
0:17:45 > 0:17:50Now, who else hasn't got a Poohstick? Anyone still needing one? Right.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52HORN SOUNDS
0:17:52 > 0:17:55Come on, to the finishing post, you lot.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00SHOUTS OF ENCOURAGEMENT
0:18:01 > 0:18:04David Bellamy, whose attack and energy levels
0:18:04 > 0:18:08in any item can make, well, BBC Three look like BBC Four.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14If he was allowed to front Mega Poohsticks Live,
0:18:14 > 0:18:18Sky would've snapped it up for millions years ago.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26Where is it? That's gonna be the one! Catch it!
0:18:26 > 0:18:28What does it say?
0:18:28 > 0:18:30- It's Shep!- It's Shep!
0:18:30 > 0:18:32CHEERING
0:18:36 > 0:18:38Indeed, most bridge-based contests
0:18:38 > 0:18:40remain curiously ignored by the networks.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42This one is typical.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45People are asked to get from one place to another using
0:18:45 > 0:18:48a flimsy framework made entirely of lightweight sticks
0:18:48 > 0:18:50and pieces of string.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54In many ways, it's the sporting parallel of breakfast television.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57It's all just an exercise anyway
0:18:57 > 0:19:00because that river isn't actually very deep.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03Well, it wasn't when they recceed it during the drought.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Then, of course, there's these nuisances,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09people who think they can fly.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12This man may be an exception but there's every chance
0:19:12 > 0:19:15that here is another wilful eccentric hooked on attention.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22What went wrong?
0:19:22 > 0:19:25In his post-flop analysis, even the interviewer,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28Prime Minister David Cameron, has trouble staying focused.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30I'll have another go later on.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32Then there are the students.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40Despite high railings and warnings by the authorities,
0:19:40 > 0:19:44over 100 people jumped into the shallow waters.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47It was fantastic. The water is really shallow but it was great.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49And there's, like, kind of people with diving equipment
0:19:49 > 0:19:52that go and save you if anything happens.
0:19:52 > 0:19:53We thought it was quite shallow
0:19:53 > 0:19:56- but we didn't realise quite how shallow it was.- He did.
0:19:56 > 0:19:5912 people were taken to hospital, mainly with fractures.
0:19:59 > 0:20:00Cheer up, chum.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04All the best thrills should come with a little added peril.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08May we present the astonishing Blokes Building the Tyne Bridge.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12MUSIC: "Ride Of The Valkyries" by Wilhelm Richard Wagner
0:20:17 > 0:20:19This was when Britain really had got talent.
0:20:19 > 0:20:24He's probably on the outside of about eight pints of Newcastle Brown, too. Bravo!
0:20:36 > 0:20:38Oh, I was enjoying that.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40Still, this looks like fun.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43Or at least local TV's hangdog approximation of it.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46The self-styled King of Hay is Richard Booth,
0:20:46 > 0:20:49owner of the world's largest second-hand bookshop.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53Richard Coeur de Livre even has his own Crown Jewels set in copper.
0:20:53 > 0:20:58His sceptre a burnished gas pipe, his orb, an old ballcock.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00I don't know, he doesn't look entirely at ease to me.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03I suspect TV producers have persuaded this poor chap
0:21:03 > 0:21:06to get behind their concept and shove.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08Hay is surrounded by three bridges
0:21:08 > 0:21:10and this is probably our most important bridge.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12Ladies and gentlemen, Ben Elton.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16Bringing horses in and I think as a handsome border post
0:21:16 > 0:21:21where we could issue passports and all that kind of thing,
0:21:21 > 0:21:23I think this is the best of all three bridges.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28Now this bloke's got it right.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30If ever I win the lottery,
0:21:30 > 0:21:32this is exactly how I'll travel everywhere.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38We are celebrating the 200th anniversary
0:21:38 > 0:21:41of the world's first cast-iron bridge.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45As an American, I've come to this English valley
0:21:45 > 0:21:52in a year of celebration to share experiences, present and past.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54BRASS BAND PLAYS
0:21:54 > 0:21:59Ladies and gentlemen, the unique sight of a brass band playing in the middle of a bridge
0:21:59 > 0:22:02and being presented to our American friends
0:22:02 > 0:22:04as a Great British tradition.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Now we seem to have drifted from having fun with bridges
0:22:07 > 0:22:10to having fun with our cousins from across the pond.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13They love our priceless heritage and so do we.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15In fact, we love our priceless heritage so much,
0:22:15 > 0:22:19we are willing to sell it to them if the price is right.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21Remember London Bridge? They bought that.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24They thought they were getting Tower Bridge, didn't they? Didn't they?
0:22:24 > 0:22:26Do you know what happened to London Bridge?
0:22:26 > 0:22:29It wasn't stolen. It was sold, knocked to pieces
0:22:29 > 0:22:32and all the pieces were taken across the Atlantic to America...
0:22:32 > 0:22:35# Where they built it up in Arizona Arizona, Arizona
0:22:35 > 0:22:38# They built it up in Arizona my fair lady... #
0:22:42 > 0:22:45The arrival of London Bridge in Arizona
0:22:45 > 0:22:47certainly had its fair share of fanfare.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51All manner of corny, out-of-work English performers piled in to offer the Yanks
0:22:51 > 0:22:54a ridiculous image of British life
0:22:54 > 0:22:56and thus softened them up for Downton Abbey.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59The bridge itself is now hollow
0:22:59 > 0:23:03so the leftovers make up thousands of souvenir pieces,
0:23:03 > 0:23:06each and every piece authenticated with
0:23:06 > 0:23:11the signature of the city of London engineer, reproduced on all items.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14There is a clock, the most expensive item,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17selling at about £22 with chippings of bridge set in the acrylic.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20Fragments of history for sale and from the way they are selling,
0:23:20 > 0:23:23it appears the Americans are determined to have the whole
0:23:23 > 0:23:27of the bridge because most of these are being bought by Americans.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31See, we like to think of people stateside being a little slow
0:23:31 > 0:23:33with our jokes. No irony, we say.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37This despite them having given us Woody Allen, Steve Martin,
0:23:37 > 0:23:40the Simpsons, WC Fields, Tina Fey and Seinfeld, to name a few.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43So how we laughed when we tricked them
0:23:43 > 0:23:45into buying the wrong London Bridge.
0:23:45 > 0:23:46Here's the news confirming it.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49They bought the wrong bridge, of course.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52They thought they were getting Tower Bridge and were a little
0:23:52 > 0:23:55surprised when the more classical lines of London Bridge took shape.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57Except that's a myth.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01Quite a lot of people seem to think that Tower Bridge is actually London Bridge, don't they?
0:24:01 > 0:24:05That is particularly true in America because when I sold London Bridge
0:24:05 > 0:24:07to America in 1968,
0:24:07 > 0:24:10many people thought that Tower Bridge was London Bridge.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13They thought they were going to get Tower Bridge?
0:24:13 > 0:24:16Yes but the people I sold it to, McCulloch Corporation Los Angeles,
0:24:16 > 0:24:18they knew what they were buying.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20There you go, they didn't even want this one.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22So Russia, what are we bid?
0:24:22 > 0:24:25Now, I grew up near Tower Bridge
0:24:25 > 0:24:28and even I always thought it was hundreds of years old.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31I had no idea it's actually a contemporary of the motorcar.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35In fact, it has always been receptive to modern technology.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38That's the lever, which raises and lowers Tower Bridge
0:24:38 > 0:24:41and immediately behind that there is a box of special equipment
0:24:41 > 0:24:44that we've had imported, if you like, for this occasion
0:24:44 > 0:24:46and above that is the telephone.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49OK. Those tones tell me I've got through.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52What I've got to do now is enter a security code
0:24:52 > 0:24:55so all that equipment out there knows that it's me.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57The Kieran Prendiville.
0:24:59 > 0:25:04And those tones confirm that now I really do have total control
0:25:04 > 0:25:07over the raising of Tower Bridge.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09And all I've got to do now
0:25:09 > 0:25:11is to press the digit one on this telephone.
0:25:11 > 0:25:16That lever will move and Tower Bridge will open. Here goes.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20Whoops! Wrong number!
0:25:20 > 0:25:22CRASH
0:25:22 > 0:25:24Just kidding.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27Wonderful! There goes the lever.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33And there's Tower Bridge!
0:25:33 > 0:25:37Not a perfect system but better than the teams of turtles
0:25:37 > 0:25:40that previously had to haul the thing open.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44In the 1930s, these unreliable reptiles left the bridge ajar
0:25:44 > 0:25:47as a double-decker bus thundered across. True story!
0:25:47 > 0:25:51Congratulations, too, for 46-year-old London bus driver Albert Gunter,
0:25:51 > 0:25:53who, when faced with a widening gap
0:25:53 > 0:25:57while crossing Tower Bridge, jumped his best to safety.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00At London Transport headquarters he received a £10 reward
0:26:00 > 0:26:02for averting a serious disaster and when asked
0:26:02 > 0:26:07- how he'd spend it replied... - Five for me and five for the missus!
0:26:08 > 0:26:13That might seem meagre reward for averting catastrophe but remember,
0:26:13 > 0:26:18£10 in 1937 would be worth, what, £12.75 today.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20And for these hard-working sons of toil,
0:26:20 > 0:26:23just two quid of that would buy you a holiday.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26Albeit a holiday to Tower Bridge.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28It might be any seaside beach...
0:26:28 > 0:26:29Yep, at one time,
0:26:29 > 0:26:32the Thames at low tide was like Baywatch in Bermondsey.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35This kid's made a sand pear.
0:26:35 > 0:26:40I think they imported the sand from Southend or somewhere like that
0:26:40 > 0:26:43and they used to bring truckloads up the river on the barges
0:26:43 > 0:26:45and spread it on the sand, you know.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48And where there's a holiday, there's a holiday romance.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52I had my first date on Tower Bridge. It was a boy from school.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55He said, "Where shall I meet you?"
0:26:55 > 0:26:57I thought, "First date, I'll go on Tower Bridge."
0:26:57 > 0:26:59I love Tower Bridge.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01So I met him up there and he come along,
0:27:01 > 0:27:05strolling along with a trilby hat on what he buyed off his brother
0:27:05 > 0:27:10and come up, "Hello," like Jack the Lad so of course,
0:27:10 > 0:27:13we didn't kiss or anything because if you kiss, they thought you
0:27:13 > 0:27:16was going to have a baby because the parents never told you anything.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19A wonderful story, though she's remembering it slightly wrong.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22It wasn't a trilby, it was a flat cap and I bought it specially.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24Sadly, with the lure of foreign travel,
0:27:24 > 0:27:28the days of Tower Bridge as a romantic holiday retreat
0:27:28 > 0:27:30were soon numbered.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33That said, some package tour operators
0:27:33 > 0:27:35did still fly there up till 1955.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37That's all over now.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40You know, some might argue that the entire golden age of bridges
0:27:40 > 0:27:43is all over, that all our rivers are now crossed,
0:27:43 > 0:27:46all our transpontine needs are now sated.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48It's as if we British have looked the Sound Of Music in the eye
0:27:48 > 0:27:51and said, "OK. We've climbed every mountain,
0:27:51 > 0:27:54"we've forded every stream. Now what?"
0:27:54 > 0:27:56Today we simply take our bridges for granted
0:27:56 > 0:27:59and it's only when we find ourselves absentmindedly
0:27:59 > 0:28:03up to our ears in water that we miss their comforting permanence.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06Tonight, I hope we've reminded you of just how wonderful they are.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10By turns romantic and challenging, impressive and dangerous,
0:28:10 > 0:28:12ancient and modern.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14And if at any point we've also shown them
0:28:14 > 0:28:17to be a little bit frightening, don't have nightmares.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22Actually, on second thoughts, do.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25MUSIC: "London Bridge Is Falling Down"
0:28:27 > 0:28:31You cunning old woman! Your scraggy cur is no use to me!
0:28:31 > 0:28:34It was a human life, your miserable soul I wanted!
0:28:36 > 0:28:39Good night. May the river gods be with you.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd