:00:07. > :00:10.In many ways, the New Forest seems a picture of old England. A vast,
:00:10. > :00:15.untamed landscape of heathland, bogs and trees, where animals are
:00:15. > :00:20.free to roam, as they have done for thousands of years. So you might
:00:20. > :00:30.think this is a place untouched by England's turbulent history. Well,
:00:30. > :00:33.
:00:33. > :00:39.Crews of the ROC were dropped in to position and powered at the bursts
:00:39. > :00:42.and the direction and intensity of the fallout. Firing! This iconic
:00:42. > :00:52.landscape has been shaped, not only by war and the threat of war, but
:00:52. > :00:52.
:00:52. > :00:55.also by the people who have lived here. And now, the forest's own
:00:55. > :01:05.time detectives are stripping back the layers of history to reveal
:01:05. > :01:25.
:01:25. > :01:30.Nearly 1000 years ago, William the Conquerer established the New
:01:30. > :01:39.Forest, as his royal hunting ground. Under his rule, were harsh laws to
:01:39. > :01:43.protect the forest for his royal pleasure. It was essentially the
:01:43. > :01:50.playground of the King, wasn't it? Was that at the expense of local
:01:50. > :01:54.people? They said that large areas were cleared and a claimed that a
:01:54. > :01:59.lot of people were disenfranchised by the creation of the forest. Men
:01:59. > :02:05.were expelled, their houses reduced almost to ruins and churches
:02:05. > :02:08.destroyed and the land was rendered fit only for wild beasts. We can
:02:08. > :02:14.see that this is the nearest Chronicle account of the actual
:02:14. > :02:18.events in the forest. If the claims were correct and settlements had
:02:18. > :02:21.disappeared, had they left any trace and could Richard find one?
:02:21. > :02:28.The first name that caught his eye was Cildeest, mentioned in the
:02:28. > :02:32.Doomsday Book, written shortly after the forest was founded.
:02:32. > :02:39.is the New Forest section and, the reverse, we have got a settlement
:02:39. > :02:45.which up until now had not been identified. It said that it had
:02:45. > :02:48.been sealed from the king. The hunt for Cildeest was on. Richard
:02:48. > :02:51.discovered Cildeest later became known as Childenhurst. By then, it
:02:51. > :02:55.was a woodland. So if he could find the woodland, he'd find his
:02:55. > :03:03.settlement. His next clue? A reference to Childenhurst being
:03:03. > :03:08.near a place called La Mennesse. La Mennesse. How's your Anglo-Norman?
:03:08. > :03:16.I did not know what Hello Mennesse was because I had not a scholar in
:03:16. > :03:21.Anglo-Norman French. Basically, he said that it was a small
:03:21. > :03:24.fortification, and at work, if you like. The trouble is the New Forest
:03:24. > :03:27.is covered in earthworks. La Mennesse could be any one of them.
:03:27. > :03:35.Now, Richard knows the forest well and was pretty sure he knew which
:03:35. > :03:42.woodland contained the right earthwork. It was not necessarily
:03:42. > :03:46.large scale. But he needed to know for sure. I had to do research and
:03:46. > :03:50.identified from other documents. Soon he found his next clue - a
:03:50. > :03:53.reference to La Mennesse being on a headland and close to an old trade
:03:53. > :03:58.route, known as the Saltway. There was only one earthwork that matched
:03:58. > :04:04.that description. Richard had found La Mennesse. So, Childenhurst must
:04:04. > :04:10.be close by. To find out where, Richard had a historical trick up
:04:10. > :04:17.his long leather sleeve. We have got an extra clue from the place
:04:17. > :04:22.name. It is made up of elements. The second element means a wooded
:04:22. > :04:28.hill. And we can see that where we have been coming along, we have got
:04:28. > :04:37.a ridge running from Brockenhurst. Now you have pointed it out, you
:04:37. > :04:42.notice it. It is on a wooded hill. What about the other part?
:04:42. > :04:46.Anglo-Saxon it means a spring. Down the side of this ridge we have got
:04:46. > :04:53.spring lines running down to the dallies on either side. We have got
:04:53. > :05:00.a wooded ridge and springs along and we have got a spring on a
:05:00. > :05:03.And the final piece of the puzzle? Well, in Anglo Saxon times this
:05:03. > :05:09.would have been fields. It's pretty hard to spot on the ground. As we
:05:09. > :05:14.look across on either side we have stood in a rich field. But if you
:05:14. > :05:23.look carefully, you can start to see the undulations. We are going
:05:23. > :05:26.down one of the forest. And up on to the rage again. -- Ridge. High
:05:26. > :05:29.tech confirmation that these were ancient fields came from the sky.
:05:29. > :05:32.Using lasers, it's possible to map the ground beneath the vegetation.
:05:32. > :05:35.This image of the forest showed, once you removed the trees, this
:05:35. > :05:45.was underneath. There are clear lines of ridge and furrow
:05:45. > :05:46.
:05:46. > :05:50.cultivation. Richard now knew he'd found the right place. So this is
:05:50. > :05:55.it, Childenhurst, be lost settlement. Why do you get a buzz
:05:55. > :05:59.out of piecing together local history? It is also part of
:05:59. > :06:07.national history. William the Conqueror's footprint in the local
:06:07. > :06:10.area. It is very much linked with the landscape around us today.
:06:10. > :06:16.History is close to the surface. It might not be obvious but it has had
:06:16. > :06:21.an effect on wildlife and the landscape. I think it adds more
:06:21. > :06:31.debt to my appreciation of the forest. As he has worked so hard,
:06:31. > :06:33.
:06:33. > :06:36.we should make it a bit easier for Over the centuries, the New Forest
:06:36. > :06:41.changed in emphasis from a royal hunting ground to a timber producer.
:06:41. > :06:46.Forest wood was used in many ships during the Napoleonic wars. But
:06:46. > :06:56.clashes between the Crown and the locals weren't over yet... And once
:06:56. > :07:00.again, the issue was land. This wonderful map is the map of 1789.
:07:00. > :07:05.The first really detailed look at the forest. It was commissioned by
:07:05. > :07:10.the Crown because they wanted to find out how they stood forward and
:07:10. > :07:15.how they could produce it but what they found a was that dwellings had
:07:15. > :07:23.popped up and bits of the forest had been illegally enclosed. They
:07:23. > :07:27.marked these areas in pink. Look at these levels of encroachment here.
:07:27. > :07:33.This is East Boldre, close to the industry of shipbuilding. But we
:07:33. > :07:38.are not interested in East Boldre. I am interested in this place in
:07:38. > :07:44.particular just up here, Silver Street. Silver Street in Emery Down
:07:44. > :07:46.has barely changed over time. It's on the border of Crown-owned land
:07:46. > :07:51.and the neighbouring parish of Minstead, which is what attracted
:07:51. > :07:54.poor labourers who were looking to build new homes. Among them was
:07:54. > :08:02.John Veal, an ancestor of Tessa Davis, who's been piecing together
:08:03. > :08:08.his story. We had a population explosion at the end of the 18th
:08:08. > :08:15.century. And we did not have enough houses. Employers could not often
:08:15. > :08:19.provide housing. People had to look for alternatives. Why here? Because
:08:19. > :08:24.it is a very typical area to be encouraged because we are on the
:08:25. > :08:31.boundary between major landowners. -- encroached. It was an area where
:08:31. > :08:33.they could probably get away with it. John Veal's father William had
:08:33. > :08:38.lived in nearby Minstead where he was a charcoal burner, like
:08:38. > :08:41.generations of Veals before him. But he became ill and could no
:08:42. > :08:44.longer work, so turned to his parish for help. Tessa learnt what
:08:44. > :08:54.happened to the penniless William at the Hampshire Records Office in
:08:54. > :09:00.
:09:00. > :09:10.Winchester. These are the books. August, 1779. He had eight
:09:10. > :09:10.
:09:10. > :09:15.shillings for his illness. Next, he had been paid for laying out
:09:15. > :09:25.William, and he had died and his neighbours had been paid a two tend
:09:25. > :09:25.
:09:25. > :09:32.to his body. And the expense of the funeral as well. What happened?
:09:32. > :09:37.the widow have bread and cheese. Four shillings and 7p. They gave
:09:37. > :09:42.him a good send-off with bread and cheese. When he let his children
:09:42. > :09:50.with that particular job, he moved from Binstead to Silver Street?
:09:51. > :09:56.yes. He must have not had much to the family name but he did quite
:09:56. > :10:03.well because in 40 years' time, he ended up with quite a property
:10:03. > :10:07.portfolio. We could call it that. John Veal, the son of a pauper, had
:10:07. > :10:15.done well... As his 1835 will shows. Signed with a cross... He left four
:10:15. > :10:21.cottages. He has left to his son John, the House that he lived in a
:10:21. > :10:31.hand to his son Thomas, a cottage and William gets a village cottage.
:10:31. > :10:32.
:10:33. > :10:40.Three houses. And a cottage here. Four proffered his -- properties.
:10:40. > :10:46.And all of those were in Silver Street. Which is which? We have had
:10:46. > :10:53.a lot of rebuilding but as far as I can tell it is this one, this next
:10:53. > :10:59.one, the one here and that cream- coloured cottage. That has
:10:59. > :11:07.obviously been added later. But we can see it is a descendant. Because
:11:07. > :11:13.he has left his name. He did very well but we must not forget that it
:11:13. > :11:16.was land that was encroached. Did he realise he was up to mischief?
:11:16. > :11:22.He obviously acquired it from somebody that did the original
:11:22. > :11:32.encroaching. He probably thought that he was the original owner.
:11:32. > :11:35.
:11:35. > :11:39.guilty as charged. It was not be! It wasn't just the poor who pinched
:11:39. > :11:43.land in those days. This is the Grand Northerwood House nearby.
:11:43. > :11:48.When Robert Ballard took it over, he decided he would extend the
:11:48. > :11:53.boundaries of his estate, on the sly. Whatever he did, he had
:11:53. > :11:59.friends in high places, because and 1789, he had a royal visit from
:11:59. > :12:05.none other than George III. He came on to this balcony and admired the
:12:05. > :12:15.stunning view. Presumably, the keener had absolutely no idea that
:12:15. > :12:19.his host had net a bit of land from right under his nose! In the 20th
:12:19. > :12:23.century, the forest was to prove an irresistible attraction for yet
:12:23. > :12:32.more invaders. This time, not people looking for new homes, but
:12:32. > :12:36.for a wide open spaces to try out the wonderful new flying machines.
:12:36. > :12:42.This 1939 at Tiger Moth is an incredible aircraft. It has its
:12:42. > :12:47.very own place in British aviation history. Did Geno at the New Forest
:12:47. > :12:54.played a key part in the early years of flight. Down there, in the
:12:54. > :12:58.East Boldre was one of the first ever flying schools in the country.
:12:58. > :13:04.It is hard to imagine this little village was so significant. Today,
:13:04. > :13:10.there is little to show there ever was an airfield. Back in 1910, at
:13:10. > :13:13.this site on Beaulieu Heath was chosen by American J Armstrong
:13:13. > :13:17.Drexel and born of businessmen that we McArdle to set up the New Forest
:13:17. > :13:22.Flying School and a flood of would- be pilots joined-up. However, they
:13:22. > :13:27.had to get the planes here in the first place up, which is why one
:13:27. > :13:32.villager and his horse stepped in. My grandfather Fred Johnson was a
:13:32. > :13:40.Carter and his job was to told the aircraft from Brock Station to East
:13:40. > :13:44.Boldre airfield flying school. These to come in on the train?
:13:44. > :13:50.They would and pack them. The wings were all folded and propellers were
:13:50. > :13:54.all told in. It was like towing a big pram. It is like flying a pram!
:13:55. > :14:00.Sometimes those flying plans came as serious cropper. Remember, this
:14:00. > :14:05.was the very start of aviation. Two local pilots, one a second world
:14:05. > :14:11.war veteran, are full of admiration for those who took the air when the
:14:11. > :14:16.school first Open. Teaching was basic. There is the aeroplane, get
:14:16. > :14:23.in and fly it. It did not always manage it. We know when wrong, it
:14:23. > :14:28.went spectacularly wrong. It did. We have got planes, with noses in
:14:28. > :14:36.the ground. He probably landed on something, the wheeled out in and
:14:36. > :14:41.it up turned. It seems incredible that they did not know what caused
:14:41. > :14:46.us in in those days. You would put the stick forward so that the nose
:14:46. > :14:52.would go down. The natural reaction was to pull the stick back, which
:14:52. > :14:57.makes it even worse. That is a corker. Apparently, the owner of
:14:57. > :15:05.the house was in the bath at the time. That got him out quickly and
:15:05. > :15:11.I expect! Who would get into a plane like that in their right mind
:15:11. > :15:17.and leave at the ground? Why not, you see a bird do it, why can you
:15:17. > :15:27.not do the same? We are not made to do it! That is where the aeroplane
:15:27. > :15:27.
:15:27. > :15:35.comes in! Forgot to say, Doug made his own World War One and biplane.
:15:35. > :15:40.That is it there. At 89 Euro Doug spent four years building his plane,
:15:41. > :15:45.a true labour of love. It is a tribute to those early pilots.
:15:45. > :15:49.men in those days, they were wonderful, absolutely wonderful. To
:15:50. > :15:59.think that they were doing things that no one had ever done before. I
:15:59. > :16:04.am only just following in their footsteps, lightly. The people of
:16:04. > :16:09.East Boldre are rightly proud of their part in aviation history, but
:16:09. > :16:16.there is one mystery that needs to be solved. This it may look like a
:16:17. > :16:20.piece of open heathland, but carved into it is the word bow macro, and
:16:20. > :16:24.it could clearly be seen from the air. For some reason, it was
:16:24. > :16:28.covered up and has remained hidden for years. The name was put here to
:16:29. > :16:33.guide pilots to the airfield, but over time the words faded from view,
:16:33. > :16:37.until now. Today is an important day, because the villagers had
:16:38. > :16:46.decided that once again the world should see the name of Beaulieu.
:16:46. > :16:50.They're going to restore the letters and the work starts now!
:16:50. > :16:53.There is still a faint outline of the original letters left and the
:16:53. > :16:59.villagers are digging out the grass that has grown over them to reveal
:16:59. > :17:08.the Chalker that was prettier 100 years ago to mark them out. We can
:17:08. > :17:12.now see where it turns. We have found a corner which is exciting.
:17:12. > :17:20.We will be back later to find out how they get on. But now from
:17:20. > :17:24.humble beginnings of aviation, I am moving on 30 years. Britain's new
:17:24. > :17:28.tanks at make their debut in mass formation. During the Second World
:17:28. > :17:32.War, the Forest became a huge military base and training ground.
:17:32. > :17:36.Thousands of troops and vehicles moved in and air feels grown-up
:17:36. > :17:42.virtually overnight. Where's the airfield at East Boldre was the
:17:42. > :17:49.first in the forest, by the Second World War, there were no less than
:17:49. > :17:54.12. The forest was ideal terrain, open, flat and close to the Channel,
:17:54. > :18:01.so easy access to the continent. But there was one more thing in the
:18:01. > :18:04.forest had to do for the war effort. In February 1940, of the Verderers
:18:04. > :18:08.of the forest in their -- give their formal consent to the
:18:08. > :18:11.construction of a bombing range here at Ashley Walk. Its purpose
:18:11. > :18:15.was to test all manner of experimental error delivered
:18:15. > :18:20.weapons and Ashley Walk was chosen because it was close the two
:18:20. > :18:26.Boscombe Down were the bombs were based. It was also because of this,
:18:26. > :18:30.its sheer size and isolation. In all, some 5,000 acres of land were
:18:30. > :18:40.fenced off with a 6 ft-high chain- link fence stretching and nine
:18:40. > :18:42.
:18:42. > :18:47.miles. Shattering the peace of this idyllic landscape, a series of
:18:47. > :18:50.explosives and prototype a ball as it were unleashed. Like this, a
:18:51. > :18:55.variation of the famous Dambusters bouncing bomb. This was designed to
:18:55. > :19:01.be used against enemy shipping, but in the end, never entered service.
:19:01. > :19:06.Bombs were getting bigger and more deadly. We thought this 12,000 and
:19:06. > :19:11.bomb was big a month ago, but it is only half the size of Ten Ton Tess,
:19:11. > :19:14.the new bomb. But Ten Ton Tess Auret Grand Slam bomb was designed
:19:14. > :19:20.to create an earthquake affected deep in the ground shattering the
:19:20. > :19:24.target. Guess where it was first tested to? On Ashley range. The
:19:24. > :19:31.crater was 70 ft deep and 100 ft across, the biggest bomb ever
:19:31. > :19:36.dropped on Britain. A very special crater. Yes, this was the 10 ton
:19:36. > :19:43.earthquake bomb. The you can remember it? Or I certainly can.
:19:43. > :19:51.One happened? It blew all the windows and doors in our house.
:19:51. > :19:56.They blew open. You were living, about a one mile away? The about
:19:56. > :20:01.that. It shows how powerful it was. The following day, the bomb was
:20:01. > :20:06.dropped for real in Germany over the huge Bielefeld viaduct, which
:20:06. > :20:09.up until then, the Allies had been unable to destroy it. Even at this
:20:09. > :20:13.height, the air craft shudders under the shock. They will be no
:20:13. > :20:20.more trains than there. The biggest bomb in the world and the aircraft
:20:20. > :20:23.that carried it were both 100% British. Over five years, literally
:20:23. > :20:27.hundreds of bombs and rockets were dropped on the Ashley range. But
:20:27. > :20:33.nowadays, you would be hard pushed to know the craters they left were
:20:33. > :20:38.craters. Many are peaceable pounds reclaimed by the forest. There is
:20:38. > :20:42.one striking reminder of what went on here. There is a massive Arrow,
:20:42. > :20:52.back on duty to the hard work of this man and his lifelong friend
:20:52. > :20:54.
:20:54. > :21:00.Peter Brown. It was all overgrown. We cleaned it all off. A wide as it
:21:00. > :21:04.so important for you to clean this up? We thought it should be kept
:21:05. > :21:11.for posterity. We have been going up and down this road for years and
:21:11. > :21:16.we did not know it was here. So, we have a massive Arrow, what is it
:21:16. > :21:22.pointing at? Towards the practice target down in the valley. That was
:21:22. > :21:25.illuminated at night and so was the arrow. Most of the bombs dropped on
:21:25. > :21:29.the target were practice bombs and designed not to explode, but to
:21:30. > :21:34.test things like delivery mechanisms for on aircraft. In many
:21:34. > :21:39.mist and were forgotten about. Today, they are re-emerging, turned
:21:39. > :21:43.up by teams checking the area is saved before Forest work is done.
:21:43. > :21:47.These are what the team have been finding and this is just three
:21:47. > :21:52.days' worth of looking. I have been told these are safe to handle. It
:21:52. > :21:59.gives you some idea of how much of this stuff is out there. Some of
:21:59. > :22:08.the bombs they find are definitely not safe to handle. Stand by a!
:22:08. > :22:13.Firing! But the threat of war it still hung over the forest. If an
:22:13. > :22:18.attack is imminent, you will hear a sound like this. For four decades
:22:18. > :22:22.of the Cold War brought with it at time of paranoia and fear. When the
:22:22. > :22:26.Soviet Union and America seemed poised for nuclear attack. In the
:22:26. > :22:31.New Forest, the build bunkers to prepare for the worst, like this
:22:31. > :22:38.one on the south coast at Lepe. If the nuclear bomb did every drop,
:22:38. > :22:43.this is why the observers would come, 15 ft below the forest.
:22:43. > :22:45.While! Look at this. Neville Cullingford was a volunteer at the
:22:46. > :22:53.Royal Observer Corps, in charge of several underground monitoring
:22:53. > :22:58.posts. This would have been home to three observers or for anything up
:22:58. > :23:05.to a fortnight in an emergency. There is this monitoring room and a
:23:05. > :23:10.small toy that next door. This is some of the kit that she would use.
:23:10. > :23:18.This is a bomb power indicator. You would be able to prick up the
:23:18. > :23:24.pressure wave and any fall-out or new attack. Using its best, which
:23:24. > :23:28.was our means of communication, you would report this through to the
:23:28. > :23:35.Controller at Winchester. We were the only means of warning the
:23:35. > :23:39.public. As in World War II, we won the PUP - aka the public of
:23:39. > :23:49.aircraft, in the Cold War we were warning the public of the approach
:23:49. > :23:57.
:23:57. > :24:00.of fall-out. Now Neville, the weird thing is even though you were
:24:00. > :24:08.posted here, you had to come up to the surface and it is because of
:24:08. > :24:12.this. Yes. This is the indicator, which has cameras, with
:24:12. > :24:18.photographic plates, which would record details of the explosion and
:24:18. > :24:24.they would have to be changed and a new set pretend and exposed once
:24:24. > :24:34.taken downstairs to be analysed. How long? 45 seconds is what we aim
:24:34. > :24:36.
:24:36. > :24:40.took four. We did not always manage that, but we aimed for that.
:24:40. > :24:45.1992, the threat was over and the bunkers decommission. Many were
:24:45. > :24:50.buried like this one near Lyndhurst. So, is anything left of this Cold
:24:50. > :24:55.War relic? Normally there are Brambles going, as so we are hoping
:24:55. > :25:00.this is where it is. We will Hopley find the broken top shaft and dig
:25:00. > :25:10.it out and get down there and find the room below. Let us get the
:25:10. > :25:18.
:25:18. > :25:22.digger going. It is pretty exciting. We're waiting for a crunch or
:25:22. > :25:29.something. I saw one break come out and I'd do not know if it is part
:25:29. > :25:34.of it. We are starting to reveal what he is recognisable human
:25:34. > :25:39.activity, concrete and bricks. It is starting to look promising that
:25:39. > :25:49.this is where we were hoping for it to be. James is on hand to tell us
:25:49. > :25:54.
:25:54. > :25:58.where to dig. So far we have mainly found soil. Hold on! What is this?
:25:58. > :26:03.We have found our entrance. We have a target. Now and we will see how
:26:03. > :26:08.far we can get down and see if the bunker beneath is intact. We will
:26:08. > :26:16.see what materials are left. leave market to continue the
:26:16. > :26:19.excavation on his own and promised to return in a couple of days. When
:26:19. > :26:25.we last were here we thought we have found the top of the shaft,
:26:25. > :26:30.but it seems we found a whole lot more. This is the bunker itself.
:26:30. > :26:34.Both deer. It seems the bunker was destroyed when it was filled in.
:26:34. > :26:38.Gutted. A lot of this stuff knocking about. This was the
:26:38. > :26:43.polystyrene that lined the walls. We found this. There is a pipe
:26:43. > :26:49.similar to this on the main shaft at Lepe. One more bit of treasure I
:26:49. > :26:53.found his this little boat holder, still in its wooden mounting. Last
:26:53. > :27:00.time we were here, tantalising glimpses of a bit of brick work and
:27:00. > :27:03.now we have a muddy pit. You have got to be disappointed. A bit. We
:27:03. > :27:08.knew the shaft had been filled in but we were not too sure about the
:27:08. > :27:17.rest of the building. It is nice to know it was here on top of this
:27:17. > :27:20.hill. What were you do now? Make all we can do is that it back in.
:27:20. > :27:24.Over at the Forest's first-ever Flying School, things are looking
:27:24. > :27:27.much better. We have come back to East Boldre to see how the
:27:27. > :27:33.villagers have got on reclaiming a piece of their own history and
:27:33. > :27:37.there is no doubt about it. The Old Flying School is firmly back on the
:27:37. > :27:42.map. They really have done something quite special. Just look
:27:42. > :27:47.at this! What do you think your grandfather would make of this?
:27:47. > :27:52.would be chuffed. He was part of it in the first place. I think he
:27:52. > :27:57.would be wholly delighted. Hard to think that this little place here
:27:57. > :28:04.saw the don of aviation in 1910. That is amazing. Somehow, we are
:28:04. > :28:08.reconnecting with that period of time. I was part of the AA, slam
:28:08. > :28:11.part of the 18th. A if I never did anything else, I think this was one
:28:11. > :28:15.of the most worthwhile projects. What is clear about the people we