0:00:10 > 0:00:14Hello there from Belfast and a very special place,
0:00:14 > 0:00:18the location where the world's most famous ship was built
0:00:18 > 0:00:21and from where it set sail 100 years ago.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25That ship, the Titanic, still has a hold on our imaginations
0:00:25 > 0:00:28and in a month from now, Belfast will become the focus
0:00:28 > 0:00:32of a worldwide commemoration as we remember the tragic loss of life
0:00:32 > 0:00:37and reflect on the legacy of what was known as the unsinkable ship.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40On this week's Songs Of Praise,
0:00:40 > 0:00:44the woman whose father was Titanic's interior designer,
0:00:44 > 0:00:48a driving force behind the city's Titanic Quarter
0:00:48 > 0:00:51and one of the few people to visit the ship's graveyard.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56And music from special guests, Brian Houston and the Celtic tenors.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11Even before she set sail in April 1912
0:01:11 > 0:01:15on that fateful maiden voyage across the Atlantic,
0:01:15 > 0:01:17Titanic was making headlines.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19She was the world's largest ship
0:01:19 > 0:01:22and had standards of luxury, elegance and, ironically, safety,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25which were unsurpassed at the time.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27As we never forget the disaster
0:01:27 > 0:01:31that resulted in more than 1500 people losing their lives,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34there's a line in a well known hymn that comes to mind.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38"Oh hear us when we cry to Thee, for those in peril on the sea."
0:01:38 > 0:01:42Our congregation from St Thomas' Parish Church
0:01:42 > 0:01:45lead us now in that seafarers' hymn.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Just a short distance from St Thomas' Church
0:04:00 > 0:04:03is the home of Titanic's chief engineer and designer,
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Thomas Andrews, now the home of the Irish Football Association.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09In fact, the staircase here in the front hall
0:04:09 > 0:04:12was said to be the inspiration for the grander one.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14For all too short a time,
0:04:14 > 0:04:17the wealthy passengers revelled in glorious opulence.
0:04:17 > 0:04:22But the story of Titanic is more than just an account of engineering excellence,
0:04:22 > 0:04:26it's a story of human endeavour, ambition and courage.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28When Titanic struck that iceberg
0:04:28 > 0:04:32at 11:40pm on Sunday 14th April 1912,
0:04:32 > 0:04:34the order was given to start filling lifeboats.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38Thomas Andrews ensured the survival of passengers,
0:04:38 > 0:04:40but his own body was never recovered.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44Mike McKimm is BBC Northern Ireland's Environment Correspondent.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48In the course of his work, he was invited to film an expedition
0:04:48 > 0:04:53to the bottom of the sea to view Titanic's final resting place.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56For Mike, that became a pilgrimage.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02It took about two days from the coast of Canada
0:05:02 > 0:05:04to actually get to the Titanic site.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08Then suddenly, one afternoon, the ship's engines stopped and we drifted.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11I realised, "We're there, we're over the Titanic,"
0:05:11 > 0:05:14and I wandered to the side of the ship and I looked down.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17The sea was very calm, but I realised this was where it all took place
0:05:17 > 0:05:21on that fateful night way back in April 1912,
0:05:21 > 0:05:23where all these people died.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26You struggle with that. I struggle with it very hard.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28I can remember almost fighting back the tears.
0:05:28 > 0:05:33Even now, the hair is standing up on my neck because it was such an emotional time.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35We'd been built up for the expedition and suddenly,
0:05:35 > 0:05:40here we were at the grave site, and that was very hard to cope with
0:05:40 > 0:05:43and that stayed with us during the whole trip.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45I saw people actually crying.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47People really believed this was an important site,
0:05:47 > 0:05:49a hallowed site, if you like.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51This was a grave site where hundreds of people died
0:05:51 > 0:05:54and died a horrible death all those years ago.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57That kind of stuck with me all the way through the dive.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00I realised that I had to remember why I was really there,
0:06:00 > 0:06:03that I was marking the fact that this terrible tragedy had taken place.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08As you go very slowly towards the bow of the ship,
0:06:08 > 0:06:11it looms out of the darkness, and you've mixed emotions.
0:06:11 > 0:06:12You're very excited to see the ship -
0:06:12 > 0:06:15you've only ever seen it in pictures and films.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17At the same time, all the way through filming the ship,
0:06:17 > 0:06:19I kept on looking out and thinking,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22"People died, people were in those cabins."
0:06:24 > 0:06:26One of the most stunning images I have
0:06:26 > 0:06:29is looking down into what used to be the grand staircase,
0:06:29 > 0:06:32a big hole that runs down through various decks of the ship.
0:06:32 > 0:06:37It once would have had a wooden staircase with a glass dome over it,
0:06:37 > 0:06:39but all of that is gone and when you look down,
0:06:39 > 0:06:41it was huge, it was deep, it was very eerie.
0:06:41 > 0:06:46You saw right into the Titanic, deck after deck after deck,
0:06:46 > 0:06:48and it was a stunning sight.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56The reason I actually went to Titanic,
0:06:56 > 0:06:59I was asked by Belfast City Council to put this memorial plaque
0:06:59 > 0:07:01on the bridge of the ship with some other plaques.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04It was from Harland and Wolff and the people of Belfast
0:07:04 > 0:07:06in memory those who'd died on the Titanic
0:07:06 > 0:07:08and there it is to this day, this plaque.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10I was very touched and moved by that.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12It was a great honour to be asked
0:07:12 > 0:07:15and I kind of felt myself saying inside, "This is for you."
0:07:15 > 0:07:18I don't know quite who I was talking to,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21but I suspect it was the people the plaque referred to.
0:07:21 > 0:07:22It was a wonderful time.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27As well as diving to the ship,
0:07:27 > 0:07:31I went on to visit the Titanic graveyard in Halifax in Nova Scotia.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34It's where over 100 bodies that were found were buried.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38Of course there's people from the north of Ireland there,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41there's people from all round the world, including children.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43That was particularly poignant
0:07:43 > 0:07:46but somehow, going there helped me close that circle
0:07:46 > 0:07:49and helped me pay my respects.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52Being able to do that in many ways gave me a little bit of settlement
0:07:52 > 0:07:56and comfort that finally, I'd completed a task that I'd set out to do
0:07:56 > 0:07:58and then I didn't feel so bad
0:07:58 > 0:08:01about having gone down to the ship and been in their space.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06These are the Titanic's drawing offices
0:10:06 > 0:10:09in Belfast's Harland and Wolff shipyard.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12Visionaries of another era worked here,
0:10:12 > 0:10:16innovators, men of ideas and this is where the dream began.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20From brain to paper, from drawings to reality.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24The Titanic interior boasted a level of design and luxury
0:10:24 > 0:10:26never before seen on an ocean liner.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29Ambrose Willis was one of the men responsible.
0:10:29 > 0:10:34He worked here and his daughter, Eleanor Thompson, takes up his story.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39My father worked on the Titanic.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42He was chief design draughtsman.
0:10:42 > 0:10:47There were a lot of designers and a lot of draughtsmen
0:10:47 > 0:10:51and they all worked in the drawing office that is there to this day.
0:10:51 > 0:10:57Just the same way as you would have a designer in your home,
0:10:57 > 0:10:59my father did that on the ships.
0:10:59 > 0:11:05The work he did talk about was that beautiful staircase.
0:11:05 > 0:11:11I mean, that was all the designers, it was everybody's work
0:11:11 > 0:11:13and all these things were made.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15There were workshops -
0:11:15 > 0:11:18there was a paint shop and a carpentry shop
0:11:18 > 0:11:21and there was an awful lot of furniture for the boats.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23They were made in Harland's
0:11:23 > 0:11:26and that would have been part of my father's job.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31He loved his job and he was away a lot.
0:11:31 > 0:11:37He started out with his team to go on the Titanic trip
0:11:37 > 0:11:40and he went as far as Southampton.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44And he was told when they got here that he was needed in Belfast
0:11:44 > 0:11:48and he left the ship and went back.
0:11:49 > 0:11:56And of course, all his friends, the people that he worked with,
0:11:56 > 0:12:01all so many people that was lost on the Titanic.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03It must have been awful going back
0:12:03 > 0:12:08and all the seats, just people weren't there.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14He was heartbroken. He lost all his friends.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19And I think he did have a feeling of,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22"I was saved, why?
0:12:23 > 0:12:25"And all my friends were lost."
0:12:25 > 0:12:29He probably avoided a lot of things
0:12:29 > 0:12:31that reminded him of the sad times,
0:12:31 > 0:12:35but he certainly didn't like to refer to people
0:12:35 > 0:12:40or to times of being on the Titanic, never.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43It was never talked about in my home at all.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45But that's the way he treated it,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48by putting it completely out of his mind.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50But it must have been heartbreaking for him.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54There were people that would say,
0:12:54 > 0:12:59why did God allow a thing like that to happen?
0:12:59 > 0:13:02But you never heard my father or mother
0:13:02 > 0:13:04saying anything like that at all.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47There is a Belfast singer-songwriter called Brian Houston
0:15:47 > 0:15:50and as a young man, Brian served his time as a carpenter
0:15:50 > 0:15:54here at the Harland and Wolff shipyard, so, we've brought him back
0:15:54 > 0:15:57to perform, especially for Songs Of Praise.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02# Precious Lord
0:16:02 > 0:16:05# Take my hand
0:16:05 > 0:16:08# Lead me on
0:16:08 > 0:16:11# Help me stand
0:16:11 > 0:16:15# I am tired
0:16:15 > 0:16:18# I am weak
0:16:18 > 0:16:20# And I am worn
0:16:24 > 0:16:28# Through the storm
0:16:28 > 0:16:31# Through the night
0:16:31 > 0:16:34# Lead me on
0:16:34 > 0:16:38# To the light
0:16:38 > 0:16:40# Take my hand
0:16:40 > 0:16:44# Precious Lord
0:16:44 > 0:16:48# Lead me home
0:17:28 > 0:17:35# When the dark disappears
0:17:35 > 0:17:38# And the night
0:17:38 > 0:17:42# Draws near
0:17:42 > 0:17:45# And the day
0:17:45 > 0:17:52# Is past and gone
0:17:55 > 0:18:01# At the river I stand
0:18:01 > 0:18:05# Guide my feet
0:18:05 > 0:18:09# Hold my hand
0:18:09 > 0:18:12# Take my hand
0:18:12 > 0:18:16# Precious Lord
0:18:16 > 0:18:19# Lead me home. #
0:18:29 > 0:18:34100 years on, this is another part of the Titanic story.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37This new building - a towering presence -
0:18:37 > 0:18:40shaped like and in proportion to the real ship,
0:18:40 > 0:18:44it will house the largest Titanic exhibition in the world.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46But building of another kind continues.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50The Reverend Chris Bennett is chaplain to the Titanic Quarter.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57There's a little sense of pride around the city today as we start to
0:18:57 > 0:18:59own the Titanic story again.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03Over the last 100 years, they say Belfast never talked about Titanic
0:19:03 > 0:19:06because the men who built her, when the news came back
0:19:06 > 0:19:08about the iceberg and the sinking,
0:19:08 > 0:19:12they walked the city streets, tears openly pouring down their faces.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15They just never mentioned it again.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18Even though the ship sank, there's a lot to be proud about,
0:19:18 > 0:19:23a lot to celebrate in the fact that we built the largest man-made moving object in the world,
0:19:23 > 0:19:27that 15,000 men put together something absolutely incredible -
0:19:27 > 0:19:29this beautiful ship.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31When I became chaplain, one of my first roles was
0:19:31 > 0:19:34as a tour guide for Titanic walking tours.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38As part of that, you get access to this fabulous old building -
0:19:38 > 0:19:40you bring the tours around the drawing office.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42When you walk in the door of this place,
0:19:42 > 0:19:47you just breathe in the history - you can put yourself back 100 years,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50feel a sense of the men walking into work,
0:19:50 > 0:19:52designing these mighty ships.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56So I have wholeheartedly become a Titanic nut.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59From my point of view, the really interesting thing is to find out
0:19:59 > 0:20:03that there was quite an active faith around the old shipyards as well.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07There are fantastic stories of how the men would gather round the furnace
0:20:07 > 0:20:10at lunch and would bring their peace - their sandwich - with them
0:20:10 > 0:20:13toast their peace at the furnace and as they stood round,
0:20:13 > 0:20:15there were different clubs.
0:20:15 > 0:20:20There'd be the chess club, the football club, the debating club and one of them was the Bible club.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24Some of the men would stand round, someone would read from Scripture and
0:20:24 > 0:20:28they'd stand there, chatting away - what it meant to them, their faith,
0:20:28 > 0:20:32as they ate their lunch. I love that sense of faith being active,
0:20:32 > 0:20:36but a little bit disorganised, out in the open air, mingled with
0:20:36 > 0:20:40everyday life, even 100 years ago, when the ships were being built.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45I think there's a great hope that the Titanic Quarter will recapture
0:20:45 > 0:20:48all that was best about that old picture of Belfast -
0:20:48 > 0:20:52the idea of community, the idea of a big mix, a big melting pot
0:20:52 > 0:20:56of people from all sorts of different backgrounds working together.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00What you see in the quarter already today - people making movies,
0:21:00 > 0:21:02students, people living, working here,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04the Science Park, the tourist attractions -
0:21:04 > 0:21:08it's such an incredible mix that I think it has the potential to be
0:21:08 > 0:21:10the kind of community
0:21:10 > 0:21:13that Belfast has never seen before. It's really exciting for me
0:21:13 > 0:21:17that faith could be at the centre of building that community.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20We're here when it's still a little bit of a building site.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22We're opening a pop-up cafe in a shop unit
0:21:22 > 0:21:25at the base of the apartments and we hope that will be
0:21:25 > 0:21:28the first community hub of the Titanic Quarter and for
0:21:28 > 0:21:32the church to be at the centre of that, that's just so exciting to me.
0:21:33 > 0:21:38The ultimate vision of the dock project is to buy a beautiful old ship.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41It won't just be open for services on a Sunday.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45It'll be a chaplaincy centre, open every day, kettle always on,
0:21:45 > 0:21:48sofa always comfy, somebody always waiting to have a chat
0:21:48 > 0:21:51about any topic - God or any other topic that comes up.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54That idea of being mixed and mingled with everyday life,
0:21:54 > 0:21:59I think that would mean that conversations about faith would bubble to the surface
0:21:59 > 0:22:00in a very natural way,
0:22:00 > 0:22:04just as they did around the furnace in the old shipyards.
0:22:04 > 0:22:05I love the sense that
0:22:05 > 0:22:09we're building on that legacy and walking in those footsteps
0:22:09 > 0:22:12as we start this new journey in 2012 as well.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49Whenever I look at old images
0:24:49 > 0:24:51or contemporary connections to Titanic,
0:24:51 > 0:24:54I suppose I know I'm looking at a really important part
0:24:54 > 0:24:57of history and you ask, "Would I have survived?"
0:24:57 > 0:24:58"What if?"
0:24:58 > 0:25:03I come to reflect and most of all, I come to remember.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16# The moonlight dances
0:25:16 > 0:25:20# Among the trees
0:25:20 > 0:25:23# The campfire glows
0:25:23 > 0:25:27# In the autumn breeze
0:25:27 > 0:25:30# And I am lost
0:25:30 > 0:25:35# In my thoughts of you
0:25:35 > 0:25:39# Remember me
0:25:39 > 0:25:43# Recuerda me
0:25:43 > 0:25:51# A comrade strums on a sad guitar
0:25:51 > 0:25:54# My mind is drifting
0:25:54 > 0:25:58# To where you are
0:25:58 > 0:26:01# I'm holding you
0:26:01 > 0:26:05# As I used to do
0:26:05 > 0:26:09# Remember me
0:26:09 > 0:26:13# Recuerda me
0:26:13 > 0:26:18# Mi amor
0:26:19 > 0:26:22# So long ago
0:26:22 > 0:26:26# So far away
0:26:26 > 0:26:29# Each night I pray
0:26:29 > 0:26:34# Volvera Los Dias Pasados
0:26:34 > 0:26:37# I promise you
0:26:37 > 0:26:41# That come what may
0:26:41 > 0:26:44# Those days will stay
0:26:44 > 0:26:51# Ever in my memory
0:26:51 > 0:26:55ALL: # In all this world
0:26:55 > 0:26:59# I could never find
0:26:59 > 0:27:03# The love that I had
0:27:03 > 0:27:06# To leave behind
0:27:06 > 0:27:10# But duty calls
0:27:10 > 0:27:14# So whatever befalls
0:27:14 > 0:27:18# Remember me
0:27:18 > 0:27:23# Recuerda me
0:27:23 > 0:27:28# Mi amor
0:27:43 > 0:27:46# God only knows
0:27:46 > 0:27:50# What tomorrow brings
0:27:50 > 0:27:54# You're in my heart
0:27:54 > 0:27:57# So my spirit sings
0:27:57 > 0:28:01# And I'll be strong
0:28:01 > 0:28:05# Just as long as you
0:28:05 > 0:28:09# Remember me
0:28:09 > 0:28:13# Recuerda me
0:28:13 > 0:28:19# Mi amor. #
0:28:22 > 0:28:25May God, in His love,
0:28:25 > 0:28:29enable us to record the achievements of the past,
0:28:29 > 0:28:31in His compassion,
0:28:31 > 0:28:35may He lead us from pride to humility.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38In His deep care for us,
0:28:38 > 0:28:42may He help us to triumph over all adversity...
0:28:43 > 0:28:46..and the blessing of God Almighty,
0:28:46 > 0:28:49the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
0:28:49 > 0:28:52rest upon you and upon your families
0:28:52 > 0:28:54and your friends
0:28:54 > 0:28:58and remain with you now and always.
0:28:58 > 0:29:00ALL: Amen.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06There are many reports of unselfish deeds recorded
0:29:06 > 0:29:08on that terrible night of April 1912
0:29:08 > 0:29:11and devotion to duty during the sinking.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14Bandleader Wallace Hartley assembled his orchestra
0:29:14 > 0:29:16close to the grand staircase.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20What went through their minds can only be guessed, their final thoughts - we'll never know.
0:29:20 > 0:29:24But we do know that all eight bandsman lost their lives.
0:29:24 > 0:29:28The survivors recounted that the final tune the band played
0:29:28 > 0:29:31was the hymn, Nearer, My God, To Thee.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34We can never know for sure, but the fact that they did play
0:29:34 > 0:29:36in those terrible circumstances,
0:29:36 > 0:29:39when faced with certain death is enough.
0:32:49 > 0:32:54Although we've been looking back at those dreadful events
0:32:54 > 0:32:56of that spring night in 1912,
0:32:56 > 0:32:59there is a sense of hope in this story.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02There's a pride in the engineering prowess of our forefathers -
0:33:02 > 0:33:06a new feeling of optimism here in Belfast and a sense of faith
0:33:06 > 0:33:11finding its place again at the heart of Titanic's new story.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15Until next time, on Songs Of Praise, bye-bye.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17Next week, it's Mothering Sunday
0:33:17 > 0:33:21and Aled meets some truly inspirational mothers,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24including the foster mum who's cared for 93 children.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26Britain's Got Talent finalist Jean Martyn
0:33:26 > 0:33:29gives thanks for her mother and tinkles the ivories too
0:33:29 > 0:33:32and there are wonderful hymns from across the country.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd