0:00:02 > 0:00:05Families can be driven apart for all manner of reasons.
0:00:05 > 0:00:07My mum went away and didn't come back.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10And when you do lose touch with your loved ones...
0:00:10 > 0:00:12I never saw Kathleen again.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14..finding them can take a lifetime...
0:00:14 > 0:00:17I wonder where he is. I wonder what he's doing.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19You don't even know where to begin.
0:00:19 > 0:00:24..especially when they could be anywhere - at home or abroad.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28That's where the family finders come in.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Hi, it's the Salvation Army Family Tracing Service.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34From international organisations...
0:00:34 > 0:00:37There's never been a day when we have never had new enquiries.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40..to genealogy detective agencies...
0:00:40 > 0:00:42When was it you last had contact with him?
0:00:42 > 0:00:44..and dedicated one-man bands.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47I like to do the searches that other people can't get,
0:00:47 > 0:00:48because it makes me feel good.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51They hunt through history...
0:00:51 > 0:00:54to bring families back together again.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56You are my biological dad.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59In this series, we follow the work of the family finders...
0:00:59 > 0:01:02This case came from our Australian colleagues.
0:01:02 > 0:01:03..learning the tricks they use
0:01:03 > 0:01:06to track missing relatives through time...
0:01:06 > 0:01:10I'm 68 years of age, she is 75 years of age and we're just starting off.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14..and meeting the people whose lives they change along the way.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16I said, well, this is your younger sister.
0:01:16 > 0:01:17It's a miracle.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21I was struck speechless. And I couldn't stop crying.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23Proud moment. For Dad.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26That was the start of finding my family.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35Our identity is what makes us unique.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39And knowing where we came from is an important part of knowing
0:01:39 > 0:01:41who we are.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45For many people, this knowledge is hard to come by
0:01:45 > 0:01:48and can mean a lifetime of searching for answers.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53But chance, timing and a bit of luck can play
0:01:53 > 0:01:56a big part in connecting a person with their past.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03When Eric Morgan arrived at the recruiting office in 1952,
0:02:03 > 0:02:05to sign up for his National Service,
0:02:05 > 0:02:09little did he know his life was about to be turned upside down.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12I went down to the recruiting office.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14And you had to take your birth certificate.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17And me mother gave me me birth certificate...
0:02:19 > 0:02:24I put it in me pocket and went to the recruiting office. I give them it.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27He took some details. Gave me it back.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31I folded it up, put it in me pocket and I went back to see me mum.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35And I said, "Oh, here you are," and she started crying.
0:02:36 > 0:02:37And I said...
0:02:44 > 0:02:46I said, "What's the matter?"
0:02:46 > 0:02:47She said, "Have you read it?"
0:02:49 > 0:02:51I said, "No."
0:02:51 > 0:02:54She said, "Well, if you look, it's an adoption paper."
0:02:56 > 0:02:58And I said, "Well, it don't matter, that."
0:02:58 > 0:03:02I said, "You'll always be my mother, no matter what.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05"You'll always be my mother. So forget it."
0:03:05 > 0:03:09The news that he was adopted came as a massive shock for Eric,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12and he yearned to know more about his true origins.
0:03:13 > 0:03:20I wanted to know, to fill a vacant part in my life.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23But there was an even bigger bombshell to come.
0:03:23 > 0:03:29Took me adoption paper and I went down to the registrar in Bradford.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33I said, "From this, can I have a birth certificate?"
0:03:33 > 0:03:39They said, "No problem." So he went round t'back, and he came back then,
0:03:39 > 0:03:45and said to me, he said, "Oh, I'm sorry, lad, I can't find anything."
0:03:45 > 0:03:49I said, "Why?" He said, "Well, there's nothing there about you."
0:03:51 > 0:03:52I said, "Well, how many boys were
0:03:52 > 0:03:59"born in St Luke's on the 17th of the sixth, 1934?"
0:03:59 > 0:04:02He said, "Four. But you weren't one of them."
0:04:04 > 0:04:07On top of everything else, Eric was now being told that,
0:04:07 > 0:04:10as far as the records were concerned, he didn't exist.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15With this monumental blow, he had no choice
0:04:15 > 0:04:18but to leave the past where it was and get on with his life.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23After completing National Service, he met his wife, Valerie,
0:04:23 > 0:04:25and they went on to have a family of their own.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31Eric Morgan never stopped wondering about his true identity
0:04:31 > 0:04:33but he'd have to wait a lifetime before the secret
0:04:33 > 0:04:35of his origins would become clear.
0:04:37 > 0:04:4160 years later, in the Yorkshire town of Halifax,
0:04:41 > 0:04:44another man was carrying out his own family search,
0:04:44 > 0:04:48a search that would hold the key to the mystery.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52I'd love to know who my real father was.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55Brian Frith was born in a little village
0:04:55 > 0:04:58near Bradford, to a single mother in 1935.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03She later married and Brian was brought up by her
0:05:03 > 0:05:05and his stepfather.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08I knew he were my stepdad.
0:05:08 > 0:05:15To me... In them days, he was my dad, but in name only.
0:05:15 > 0:05:20It was things what people used to say. Why is your name different?
0:05:20 > 0:05:26This, that and the other and called you a basket, all things like that.
0:05:26 > 0:05:31Them things come out then. It didn't...
0:05:31 > 0:05:34I wasn't worried about it because, like I say,
0:05:34 > 0:05:38I had other brothers and sisters and a mother.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43That was the main thing in them days. The mother was most important.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47Brian grew up with his half-sister, May, and her brothers and sisters
0:05:47 > 0:05:52around the textile mills of Bradford where their parents both worked.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54I knew they weren't my full brothers and sisters,
0:05:54 > 0:05:56but as far as I was concerned, they was.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59It was a happy house, put it that way.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03We were no different to any other kids in that time, were we?
0:06:03 > 0:06:05No, no.
0:06:06 > 0:06:11Our mother was really hard-working and she loved all her kids.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15- She did.- She did everything she could for us and it were happy.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17In an evening when she'd finished her work,
0:06:17 > 0:06:21she'd sit in an armchair near the fire
0:06:21 > 0:06:26and we'd all sit on the arms round my mum and joke and talk.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28Singing and that.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32Since retirement, May has been trying to help Brian
0:06:32 > 0:06:34find out the identity of his biological father.
0:06:34 > 0:06:41Brian never knew who his father was and he was always wanting to know.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44Every time I went to see him, he'd say,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47"Have you found my dad yet?"
0:06:47 > 0:06:51Brian's birth certificate stated no named father,
0:06:51 > 0:06:55so all May had to go on was Brian's surname, Frith.
0:06:56 > 0:07:01I thought, what about if I just put the surname and put Bradford
0:07:01 > 0:07:04and put what year I wanted.
0:07:04 > 0:07:05Would I find anything else?
0:07:05 > 0:07:09May's search failed to come up with any Friths who were
0:07:09 > 0:07:11the right age to be Brian's father,
0:07:11 > 0:07:16but she did find a younger man listed with the same name.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20I found E Frith, next to my brother who was B Frith.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24E stood for Eric, and this Eric Frith's mother
0:07:24 > 0:07:26had the same name as theirs, Elizabeth.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30Had May stumbled across a family secret?
0:07:30 > 0:07:37I haven't found another Elizabeth in Bradford at that age.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39It suddenly seemed that Brian and May's mum could have had
0:07:39 > 0:07:44another child, a half-brother they never knew existed.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49I thought, could he really be our brother?
0:07:49 > 0:07:52I went to the Bradford register office and I told them
0:07:52 > 0:07:56Elizabeth Frith was my mum and they supplied me
0:07:56 > 0:08:00with a birth certificate for Eric.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03And there it was in black and white.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06May nearly decided not to make contact with Eric,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09but speaking to her son made her think again.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14He said, "Do you want to find out if he's your brother?"
0:08:14 > 0:08:20I said, "Yes, I'd like to." And he says, "Well, go for it." So I did.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23She got in contact with the adoption agency
0:08:23 > 0:08:27to get the ball rolling and they revealed their new-found brother
0:08:27 > 0:08:31was now going by the name of Eric Morgan,
0:08:31 > 0:08:35the same Eric Morgan, who, 60 years ago, had given up
0:08:35 > 0:08:38all hope of ever finding his birth mother.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42I got a letter from the adoption society and they said,
0:08:42 > 0:08:47"We've had a lady who's claiming to be your stepsister."
0:08:47 > 0:08:49I thought, "Oh, right."
0:08:49 > 0:08:53After a lifetime of waiting, 81-year-old Eric had finally
0:08:53 > 0:08:57found some birth relatives, or at least they had found him,
0:08:57 > 0:08:59but there were still a few more bumps to come
0:08:59 > 0:09:01on the road to reunion.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05I said to our May, "He's a con merchant."
0:09:05 > 0:09:09He could be any Tom, Dick or Harry, couldn't he?
0:09:14 > 0:09:16There are many professional agencies you can use to help you
0:09:16 > 0:09:19at different stages of the family finding process.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23One of them is FinderMonkey in Leeds.
0:09:23 > 0:09:24A lot of people that come to us
0:09:24 > 0:09:26tell us that they've been really frustrated,
0:09:26 > 0:09:27sometimes for years on end,
0:09:27 > 0:09:29trying to find the person that they're looking for.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33What we're able to do is find an exact match
0:09:33 > 0:09:36because we have access to systems that are far more detailed than
0:09:36 > 0:09:38they can access themselves.
0:09:41 > 0:09:4430-year-old Stephen Hills was only a baby
0:09:44 > 0:09:48when his dad lived at home and he has no memories of him.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51I have always had questions in my mind. What does he look like?
0:09:51 > 0:09:53What does he do? Where does he live?
0:09:54 > 0:09:57Why it all broke down between him and my mum.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02Stephen grew up with his mum and stepdad in Balby, Doncaster.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05He was good to me.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07When I was growing up, I had a brother and a sister,
0:10:07 > 0:10:09both younger than me.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11His family was always open
0:10:11 > 0:10:15and honest with Stephen about his background.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19When I was about ten, my mum and stepdad sat me down
0:10:19 > 0:10:22in the back garden and told me that
0:10:22 > 0:10:27he wasn't my real dad and asked me how I felt about it and whatnot.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30If I'm honest, it was on my mind all the time
0:10:30 > 0:10:37but I sort of put it to the back of my mind and got on with things.
0:10:37 > 0:10:43As soon as I turned 16, 17, I joined the army and left.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Stephen was hoping to join the Coldstream Guards,
0:10:46 > 0:10:50but, sadly, was unable to complete his training.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53I had an accident in the army which made me medically discharged,
0:10:53 > 0:10:57so I moved out and started a family of my own.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00But now, having children of his own,
0:11:00 > 0:11:03made Stephen think again about finding his dad.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05Because me and Stephen are now getting married
0:11:05 > 0:11:09and obviously he's got children, we've got a child together, I think
0:11:09 > 0:11:13he wants his dad to be there for the children growing up.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16He wants him to be there on his wedding day and things like that.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19It really means a lot to him, so...
0:11:19 > 0:11:23All Stephen had to start his search was his birth certificate.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27On the birth certificate, I've got his full name, where he was born,
0:11:27 > 0:11:29what job he actually did.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31His occupation was a coalface worker,
0:11:31 > 0:11:33so he would've been a miner at the time.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37With me being born, they were actually on strike,
0:11:37 > 0:11:44so that might have been a big key to why him and my mum split up.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47When I typed his name up on the social media site,
0:11:47 > 0:11:49quite a few names came up -
0:11:49 > 0:11:5270 different people with the same name.
0:11:54 > 0:12:00So I did think about messaging people but I didn't know what to write,
0:12:00 > 0:12:02if I'm honest.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06Frustrated, Stephen turned to the professionals.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09I got in touch with the company FinderMonkey.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12I didn't think I were going to get anywhere.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14Basically, I thought,
0:12:14 > 0:12:17"It's been 30 years, he's probably moved on with his life."
0:12:21 > 0:12:24Stephen had been looking for his dad for 15 years, that's the
0:12:24 > 0:12:29information that he gave us, but he'd been unable to locate a match.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33Stephen gave the researchers what information he had.
0:12:33 > 0:12:38His name, his age, where he was born. I gave them all that.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41From that information, we went away
0:12:41 > 0:12:45and looked for his marriage to Stephen's mum,
0:12:45 > 0:12:49which we found, in 1982, and then we also, from then,
0:12:49 > 0:12:52went back and looked for a birth record.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54And we found somebody that we believed was the right one,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57who was born in Kent in 1956.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00We'd then wanted to try and trace him to a current address
0:13:00 > 0:13:02so that we could contact him to find out
0:13:02 > 0:13:04and confirm it was the right person.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09They told Stephen they'd write to the man they believed to be
0:13:09 > 0:13:13his father on his behalf, saying he would like to get in touch.
0:13:15 > 0:13:21"Dear Mr Woodcock, we are people that find lost families.
0:13:21 > 0:13:27"We are trying to contact a Mr Alan John Woodcock, born in Kent,
0:13:27 > 0:13:30"lived in Doncaster in the '80s."
0:13:31 > 0:13:38Rang the phone number on the letter and...
0:13:41 > 0:13:47..they told me that my son has been trying to contact me,
0:13:47 > 0:13:49and I went silent.
0:13:50 > 0:13:56Alan was born into a mining family in Kent in the 1950s.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00I was born in 1956, in Dover.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02Went to a boarding school...
0:14:04 > 0:14:05And then...
0:14:05 > 0:14:11When I left school at 15, I went down the pit.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16Alan lived with Stephen's mother in the village next to the colliery.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19We were courting and got married.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24Bought my own... we'd bought our own house,
0:14:24 > 0:14:26and then the strike came...
0:14:28 > 0:14:32..and it just fell apart from then onwards,
0:14:32 > 0:14:34cos of... basically because of the strike.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40The last time I saw Stephen, he was a bit more than a babe in arms.
0:14:40 > 0:14:45I think he was walking, but every time I went up,
0:14:45 > 0:14:50there was an argument, and I didn't want to go up and argue.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52I was going up to see Stephen.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56So I just said, in the end, "I'll stay away..."
0:14:58 > 0:15:01..and lost touch.
0:15:04 > 0:15:0830 years later, and Alan now had Stephen's phone number,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11but making contact was never going to be easy,
0:15:11 > 0:15:15and meeting face-to-face even harder.
0:15:15 > 0:15:20What will happen when this father meets the son he's never known?
0:15:31 > 0:15:35As a young man, Eric Morgan discovered he was adopted but was
0:15:35 > 0:15:39told that as far as the records were concerned, he didn't actually exist.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44His identity remained a mystery until 60 years later
0:15:44 > 0:15:47when May and Brian Frith tracked him down.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49It appeared from May's research
0:15:49 > 0:15:52that all three of them shared the same mother.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55May believed Eric was born Eric Frith,
0:15:55 > 0:15:58and he'd been searching under the wrong name all along.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02The adoption agency told him the ball was now in his court.
0:16:02 > 0:16:08They said, "You don't have to see this lady.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12"If you say forget it, we'll forget it now."
0:16:13 > 0:16:17After all this time, did he want to revisit his past?
0:16:18 > 0:16:23They said, "Would you mind if I gave May your address?"
0:16:24 > 0:16:28I said, "Well, yeah, go on, then."
0:16:28 > 0:16:31With nothing to lose and everything to gain,
0:16:31 > 0:16:33Eric waited for May to write him a letter.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36When I wrote the letter, I just said,
0:16:36 > 0:16:41"Hello, Eric, I think you might be my brother, half-brother."
0:16:42 > 0:16:47"Erm, your mother has the same name as my mother,
0:16:47 > 0:16:51"and would you be interested in meeting?"
0:16:51 > 0:16:57She said, "Eric, you don't have to answer this, if you don't want.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59"But if you do, ring this number."
0:16:59 > 0:17:03So I rang the number and it was May.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05I said, "How have you done all this?"
0:17:05 > 0:17:07And she said, "I've done it on t'computer."
0:17:07 > 0:17:11It turned out the family were practically neighbours.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13When we found Eric,
0:17:13 > 0:17:17he lived five minutes away from my sister Margaret.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20They probably walked past one another on the street.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23She said, "Do you think we could meet up?"
0:17:23 > 0:17:25And I said, "Yeah, we can do."
0:17:25 > 0:17:29For May, there was an instant connection.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32It wasn't as if we were meeting strangers.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34We just walked in and says, "Hello"
0:17:34 > 0:17:39and talked about different things from the past.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42But when Brian met Eric, he was suspicious.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45Was this man REALLY related to them?
0:17:46 > 0:17:49I said to our May, "He's a con merchant."
0:17:50 > 0:17:53Because he evaded saying when I asked him things.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56So, I thought, well...
0:17:56 > 0:17:58is he really
0:17:58 > 0:17:59my brother?
0:17:59 > 0:18:03Even now, Brian remained unconvinced.
0:18:03 > 0:18:08At the moment, he could be any Tom, Dick or Harry, couldn't he?
0:18:09 > 0:18:13May suggested they do a DNA test to find out once and for all
0:18:13 > 0:18:15if Eric really was their half-brother.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21The three of them sent their swab samples to a testing company,
0:18:21 > 0:18:25who carried out a test much like the one DNA scientist Chris Jones
0:18:25 > 0:18:26is carrying out here.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31The results usually take around two days to come through.
0:18:31 > 0:18:36Will science rewrite history for Brian, May and Eric?
0:18:43 > 0:18:45Tomorrow Alan and Stephen are going
0:18:45 > 0:18:49to meet face-to-face for the first time in 30 years.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52And not only that,
0:18:52 > 0:18:55Alan will also meet his granddaughter, Lily Grace,
0:18:55 > 0:18:58and Stephen's fiancee, Steph.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00I think he's really nervous to meet him,
0:19:00 > 0:19:02but at the same time he's really excited.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05Obviously, he wants to meet his dad, he wants to see what he's like,
0:19:05 > 0:19:06if they like each other...
0:19:06 > 0:19:09Because I've said he does look like him, so, yeah.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13I am a bit nervous...
0:19:13 > 0:19:15but I don't know what to expect.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19I think he will just... go with the flow.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22I'm more nervous, I would say.
0:19:25 > 0:19:30As Alan makes the 100-mile journey from his home in Stoke,
0:19:30 > 0:19:32Stephen drives to the arranged meeting place,
0:19:32 > 0:19:34close to his home in Pontefract.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37I didn't get a good night's sleep. A bit of...
0:19:37 > 0:19:39Kept waking up.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41I think it's to do with nerves for today.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43So...
0:19:45 > 0:19:47It's been 30 years since I've seen him.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52I'm very anx...apprehensious.
0:19:52 > 0:19:53Can't even pronounce it!
0:20:06 > 0:20:10Stephen is the first to arrive, but steps outside
0:20:10 > 0:20:14in nervous anticipation of his father's arrival.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32- Hiya. You all right?- I am now.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34- Are you?- Aye.- Come on then.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38Stepping into the role of dad after 30 years
0:20:38 > 0:20:42isn't necessarily going to be easy for Alan.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44I can see you properly, now.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46- Hiya. You all right?- I am now.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48Good, good.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51It all starts off well, with Alan having made the effort
0:20:51 > 0:20:54to get a present for his young granddaughter.
0:20:54 > 0:20:55Who's that?
0:20:55 > 0:20:58- Peppa Pig!- Peppa Pig, yeah!
0:20:58 > 0:21:00- What do you say?- Thank you.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03- How's it going?- Spot-on.- Good.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06I brought some photos and that.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10There's a lot of ground to be covered after 30 years apart,
0:21:10 > 0:21:12so to get things started,
0:21:12 > 0:21:15Stephen's brought along some photos of him as a boy.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20- That you?- It doesn't look like him, I say.- It doesn't.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24And Alan's also brought photos, including one of him as a child.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26Me and my sister Maureen.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28So when was this?
0:21:28 > 0:21:30I was about ten.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33And that's your grandad.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37He died... He's been dead...
0:21:37 > 0:21:39eight years this coming February.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43Then it's time for a photo for the new family album.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46- Are you going to cheese? ALL:- Cheese.
0:21:51 > 0:21:52- Who's that?- Erm...
0:21:52 > 0:21:54- STEPH WHISPERS:- Grandad Alan.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56- Ga...- Grandad Alan.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59- Grandad Alan! - STEPH CHUCKLES
0:21:59 > 0:22:01Off to a good, if tentative start,
0:22:01 > 0:22:04Alan is keen for Stephen to know more about his life.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11The last time Alan saw Stephen, 30 years ago,
0:22:11 > 0:22:13he was still working as a miner.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18And today he wants to show him the site of the coalmine
0:22:18 > 0:22:20where he used to work.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22When was the last time you was here?
0:22:22 > 0:22:23Um...
0:22:25 > 0:22:27'87, I think it was. '88.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32By 1985 the strikers were defeated,
0:22:32 > 0:22:36and by the '90s, most pits in the country had closed.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39Bentley colliery was demolished in 1984
0:22:39 > 0:22:41and is now woodland.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48Parts of the old rock-cutting works now mark the site
0:22:48 > 0:22:50where the mine once stood.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54What was it like around here, then?
0:22:54 > 0:22:58Before the strike, it was a completely different place.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02And then the strike...
0:23:03 > 0:23:04And, erm...
0:23:06 > 0:23:09..the men didn't have so much say
0:23:09 > 0:23:12in the matter...
0:23:12 > 0:23:13how the job was done.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19It was, "We're the managers, and you will do as we say."
0:23:19 > 0:23:21That's what killed it.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25They wanted the average working man
0:23:25 > 0:23:27under the thumb.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30And the miners, we weren't going to stand for it.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36So, that's what basically killed it.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39Not a question of closing it, it ruined people's lives, didn't it?
0:23:41 > 0:23:43And they had no work.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45Area's died off.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49The nerves and the tension leading up to their meeting
0:23:49 > 0:23:51have now subsided.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54- It's a lot more calmer, less nervous now.- Yeah.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59I want to get to know you better.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04If that all goes well, I'd like you to probably come to my wedding
0:24:04 > 0:24:06and be a part of that day.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10Well, as I said about coming down here,
0:24:10 > 0:24:11wild horses wouldn't keep me away.
0:24:13 > 0:24:14Shown him a bit about my life...
0:24:16 > 0:24:20..and he's told me what I've missed out on.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22And I've been invited to the wedding
0:24:22 > 0:24:24and we are going to go and have a few beers.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27Today's gone well,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30and obviously today is the first step of many.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36He seems proud of me, so...
0:24:36 > 0:24:38see how the future comes.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49In Warrington, the DNA results are in.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53Do Brian, May and Eric share the same mother?
0:24:53 > 0:24:56The result of the analysis shows,
0:24:56 > 0:25:00with a probability of 99.9067%
0:25:00 > 0:25:02that Eric is the half-sibling of May Gray,
0:25:02 > 0:25:05sharing the same biological mother.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08So Eric and May are definitely related.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10But there was more.
0:25:10 > 0:25:15Brian's hunch had been right - Eric isn't his half-brother, at all.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Eric is the full sibling of Brian Frith,
0:25:18 > 0:25:22sharing both the biological mother and a biological father.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26Instead, remarkably, it turned out Brian and Eric
0:25:26 > 0:25:28are actually full brothers.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32When we got the results, we were all over the moon.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36It came through that he was full brother.
0:25:36 > 0:25:43And I would've give you 1,000-to-1, that I wasn't their stepbrother...
0:25:43 > 0:25:45but when I found out I were Brian's proper brother...
0:25:45 > 0:25:49- That were a shock, wasn't it? - That were a real shock.- Yeah, yeah.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51As you're getting older,
0:25:51 > 0:25:53something like that that comes out of the blue...
0:25:53 > 0:25:57- Yeah, yeah.- It's so good, isn't it? - Yeah.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00And now the three siblings are wasting no time,
0:26:00 > 0:26:03making up for the years they've missed out on.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05Hiya, love! How you going on?
0:26:05 > 0:26:07Fine, thank you. How are you?
0:26:07 > 0:26:09I'm very well. And how are you, Brian?
0:26:09 > 0:26:12- Are you all right, our kid? - I am, lad, aye. Up!
0:26:12 > 0:26:14- Can you manage?- Glad to see you.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19But there's one mystery that remains unsolved.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23Brian's always wondered who his father was.
0:26:23 > 0:26:24- If you're brothers...- Yeah.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27So if he were my father, he's got to be yours.
0:26:27 > 0:26:28As full brothers,
0:26:28 > 0:26:30Brian and Eric have the same dad,
0:26:30 > 0:26:32but as neither of them have details
0:26:32 > 0:26:35of a father listed on their birth certificates,
0:26:35 > 0:26:38neither can be sure who that man was.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41What they do know is all three of them -
0:26:41 > 0:26:44Brian, Eric and May - share the same mother.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47- You'd have loved mother.- Yeah. - You would.- Yeah, yeah.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51- It's like putting your last piece of jigsaw in.- Yeah.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53And it's...
0:26:53 > 0:26:59But, in the other hand, it's made me a bit sorrowful...
0:26:59 > 0:27:03because I think I've missed out on a family.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05Well, we've missed out on having...
0:27:05 > 0:27:08I have, in one sense, having another brother.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12And you can't blame your brothers and sisters...
0:27:12 > 0:27:14- No.- No.- No. - ..for what's happened.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17And you can't blame anybody, right?
0:27:17 > 0:27:19- It's just circumstances. - That's right.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21In those days, women went through
0:27:21 > 0:27:24what they shouldn't have gone through.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26They'd no choice.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29They had to work, they had to bring the kids up.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35Today, Brian, May and Eric are visiting the final resting place
0:27:35 > 0:27:36of the mother they all share
0:27:36 > 0:27:39and it's made them wish they'd all met sooner.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44May's brought something to me
0:27:44 > 0:27:45that I never would've had
0:27:45 > 0:27:47and I'd have probably died
0:27:47 > 0:27:50wondering who my mother was.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53Well, it's been a revelation for me.
0:27:53 > 0:28:00At last I've got some reference to my younger days, you know.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04I've come with both of my brothers
0:28:04 > 0:28:08who have just found one another.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12Both my mother's sons.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15And it's been a brilliant day.