:00:02. > :00:10.South West. Tonight, we report into the ongoing
:00:10. > :00:17.investigation into the M5 crash. We have remarkable new testimony from
:00:17. > :00:24.those involved in one of Britain's worst ever motorway pile-ups.
:00:24. > :00:29.was like stepping on to a movie set. It wasn't real. 10 days on, the
:00:29. > :00:32.questions are still being asked. can't believe you can have a
:00:32. > :00:34.firework display so close to a motorway.
:00:34. > :00:44.Also tonight, Jonathan Foyle uncovers the strange story behind
:00:44. > :00:44.
:00:44. > :00:54.the monument that towers above St. Ives. That is dramatic. This is
:00:54. > :01:01.
:01:01. > :01:11.As the police continue their investigation into the M5 crash,
:01:11. > :01:16.
:01:17. > :01:21.we've been hearing remarkable testimony from those involved.
:01:21. > :01:26.was getting up to speed and a head, I noticed a white wall. I said,
:01:26. > :01:36.that is the thickest fog I have ever seen. The lorries hit cars in
:01:36. > :01:41.front of us and we could here bang, bang, bang from behind as well. It
:01:41. > :01:47.was hell. It was the worst noise running through your head, just
:01:47. > :01:51.screams of people, not knowing what to do first. The next thing was as
:01:51. > :01:56.if somebody had thrown a black blanket over the windscreen. It
:01:56. > :01:59.went jet-black. And Inside Out can reveal that no
:01:59. > :02:02.fog warnings were displayed on the M5's electronic signs at the time
:02:02. > :02:08.of the accident, despite forecasts and reports of poor visibility that
:02:08. > :02:18.night. BBC viewers had been warned of fog and so had the Highways
:02:18. > :02:25.
:02:25. > :02:30.Agency. At 4 o'clock, its website was sent a forecast of fog and mist
:02:30. > :02:34.at the Met Office. These conditions were experienced by eyewitness, Rob
:02:34. > :02:44.Weaving. There were small patches of foregone water on the ground, it
:02:44. > :02:48.
:02:48. > :02:50.was not raining heavily. Despite this, no warnings were displayed on
:02:50. > :02:53.the M5. We asked the Highways Agency, which controls the
:02:53. > :02:57.electronic boards, why? It said it had received no reports of adverse
:02:57. > :03:00.weather on any of its roads. And it said its control centre had been
:03:00. > :03:03.given advice by the Met Office that "did not highlight fog as a
:03:03. > :03:08.potential hazard" at the time of the crash. At around 8.15 that
:03:08. > :03:10.evening, a fireworks display at Taunton Rugby Club ended. A police
:03:10. > :03:17.investigation is ongoing into whether smoke from that played any
:03:17. > :03:20.part in the accident. Whatever the cause, for Ciara and Roger Neno
:03:20. > :03:30.there was no warning of what was to come as they joined the motorway at
:03:30. > :03:33.
:03:33. > :03:40.junction 25. We pulled on to the M five and we were getting up to
:03:40. > :03:46.speed behind an Icelander truck in the middle lane, when we rolled
:03:46. > :03:50.into a wall of a very sudden, very, very thick, what appeared to be fog.
:03:50. > :03:55.It was like somebody had thrown a hood over the windscreen of a car.
:03:55. > :04:01.You could not see a thing. Almost as soon as that had happened, I
:04:01. > :04:07.could see the truck, but it was stationery. I was closing fast from
:04:07. > :04:14.about 80 metres, closing quite quickly, and having to break very
:04:15. > :04:20.sharply. I literally stood on the brakes. I was thinking, we are not
:04:20. > :04:28.going to stop. But we did. We stopped about two, from my memory,
:04:28. > :04:37.about 10 feet to spare. The lorries had cars in front of us and we
:04:37. > :04:44.could hear bang, bang, buying from behind as well. It was rhythmical.
:04:44. > :04:51.It was just like a beach. -- beta. I turned to cure and said, we are
:04:51. > :04:54.going to get hit. -- cure. Based on post crash pictures, we've tried to
:04:54. > :04:56.indicate what happened in the aftermath of the accident. The
:04:56. > :04:59.vehicles represented may not be exactly where they ended up
:04:59. > :05:03.immediately after the crash. The Nenos were in the very first phase
:05:03. > :05:07.of the collision, and Ciara was one of the first to dial 999. I said,
:05:08. > :05:12.we need ambulance, fire brigade and police. I said this is not just a
:05:12. > :05:15.small crash, there are many, many crashes and I can see fire. Then
:05:15. > :05:25.came the second phase of the crash. A lorry jack-knifed behind them,
:05:25. > :05:28.protecting the couple from impact. After probably 90 seconds, they
:05:28. > :05:33.said, I'm not sitting here any longer, I have got to see what I
:05:33. > :05:41.can do. That is when I stepped out of the car. It was like stepping on
:05:41. > :05:48.to a movie set. You just don't figure is real for a minute. Just
:05:48. > :05:50.mangled bits of metal everywhere and I can hear the music from the
:05:50. > :05:56.rugby club, and I just keep thinking, God, they have no idea
:05:56. > :06:03.what is going on appear. Roger saw two men trapped in the car directly
:06:03. > :06:08.in front of him, he borrowed a tyre lever from a truck driver. I ran
:06:08. > :06:15.back and told the guy in the seat to turn away, and I smashed the
:06:16. > :06:25.window. It smashed first time. I pulled him out. The chapel on the
:06:25. > :06:29.other side was very dazed. He was in a worse way. We said, move over,
:06:29. > :06:36.we will get you out. We couldn't open his door because he was at the
:06:36. > :06:40.barrier. He said, why, I'm OK? I said look, you engine is gone and a
:06:40. > :06:45.car is smoking, it might go up in flames, you need to get out. We
:06:45. > :06:49.pulled him out. Tom Hamill, his girlfriend Catherine and Dad, had
:06:49. > :06:59.pulled up behind the jack-knifed lorry. They too were remarkably
:06:59. > :07:04.lucky not to have been hit. I just remember sat there and Thomas was
:07:04. > :07:11.like, we are going to get hit, brace yourselves. We heard and saw
:07:11. > :07:17.to the left, cars just crashing in. Someone shouted, please, take my
:07:17. > :07:20.baby, take my baby, my husband is trapped in a car, take my baby.
:07:20. > :07:25.dialled 999, standing at the central reservation, as more cars
:07:25. > :07:30.were crashing into the back of us. I remember they call handler saying,
:07:30. > :07:33.how many cars? I kept saying, there's more! In this third phase
:07:33. > :07:36.of the crash, Matt and Michelle Craker, their son Fred and three
:07:36. > :07:44.dogs, ended up wedged on the hard shoulder between a lorry and the
:07:44. > :07:49.crash barrier. We got out and the van and straight away in front, I
:07:49. > :07:55.could see flames. Not coming from us, not the car in front, but it
:07:55. > :08:02.seemed about 10 feet away, big flames. There was fire. I remember
:08:02. > :08:06.before I actually descended the bank, the lorry was well alight,
:08:06. > :08:12.looking to the right, the Roads Service was on fire. There had
:08:12. > :08:17.obviously been a fuel spill. The last image of looking at the van
:08:17. > :08:23.was from the bottom of the embankments, looking up. The cab of
:08:23. > :08:28.the vans had flames in it so the fire had spread through the lorry,
:08:28. > :08:35.into the van. That is really within a matter of minutes a bus coming to
:08:35. > :08:41.a halt. A dash of us. The other side of the blazing lorry, Roger
:08:41. > :08:45.Neno followed a young woman's cries for help. Her car was pinned under
:08:45. > :08:52.the jack-knifed lorry. I thought the car -- the fire would spread
:08:52. > :08:59.underneath and it would not take long. I jumped over. The front door
:08:59. > :09:03.or was slightly ajar or at the top. They were not move. I told her to
:09:03. > :09:12.move back and Swanley Aaron at the window and on the 4th attempt it
:09:12. > :09:22.broke. -- I swung the Arran. I pulled right. I was trying to keep
:09:22. > :09:23.
:09:23. > :09:28.her calm and not panic so as not to panic her. I was thinking, it is
:09:28. > :09:34.raining, drizzle is all we need, but there is this strong smell of
:09:34. > :09:44.fuel and the residual all over the floor. As I was doing this I saw
:09:44. > :09:44.
:09:44. > :09:49.the lady... The Lou DiBella was pained by her legs under the back
:09:49. > :09:54.wheel. -- the lady that was pained. She was pinned under the lorry. She
:09:55. > :09:59.was screaming, help, get me out. I was fearful that she would lie
:09:59. > :10:02.there and burn as well. With no chance of releasing her, Roger ran
:10:02. > :10:05.for help, returning with an off- duty doctor and one of the fire
:10:05. > :10:13.crews which were now arriving Despite the fireball, the woman was
:10:13. > :10:17.saved. I could see Roger going towards the car. There was a huge
:10:18. > :10:23.fireball behind. It just exploded and I screamed at him, get out!
:10:23. > :10:27.I've got everything was could go up. Despite a fireball, the woman was
:10:27. > :10:30.saved. Roger and Ciara spent hours at the scene helping with the
:10:30. > :10:33.relief effort. The time between the Nenos stopping, and the first
:10:33. > :10:43.emergency services arriving took about the time it's taken you to
:10:43. > :10:44.
:10:44. > :10:49.watch this film. 51 people were injured in the crash, seven died.
:10:49. > :10:52.The investigation may one day provide some answers. But for the
:10:52. > :11:02.people involved, the sights and sounds of that night will live with
:11:02. > :11:02.
:11:02. > :11:05.them for the rest of their lives. am talking about us and there are
:11:05. > :11:12.people who have lost family members and been permanently injured and
:11:12. > :11:22.their lives are changed for ever and... You know, I don't even have
:11:22. > :11:25.
:11:25. > :11:29.a scratch. It just doesn't make any sense. None at all. The police
:11:29. > :11:33.investigation continues. One line of inquiry is whether smoke from a
:11:33. > :11:39.fireworks display which was being held at Taunton Rugby Club may have
:11:39. > :11:44.been a contributing factor. It was billed as a dazzling night
:11:44. > :11:54.of family fun. But within 48 hours, this event was at the centre of a
:11:54. > :11:55.
:11:55. > :11:58.police criminal investigation. believe that whilst there was fog
:11:58. > :12:05.and there were difficult conditions that from witness evidence, there
:12:05. > :12:09.was significant smoke across the carriageway which cost a bank, so
:12:09. > :12:13.much to a far bank, which was very distracting it difficult to drive
:12:13. > :12:15.through. 10 days on, the question remains unanswered. Did a fireworks
:12:15. > :12:20.display at Taunton Rugby Club cause or contribute to Britain's worst
:12:20. > :12:26.motorway crash for 20 years? We wanted to talk to experts from the
:12:26. > :12:34.fireworks industry and those caught up in the tragedy. We found
:12:34. > :12:40.conflicting eyewitness accounts. cannot believe you can have a
:12:40. > :12:46.fireworks display so close to a motorway. It was foggy, so you
:12:46. > :12:50.would not be able to tell if there was smoke. The fireworks display
:12:50. > :12:59.with some were over there and I was over there. The accident happened
:12:59. > :13:04.just parallel, almost behind for ever read the posters. The -- where
:13:04. > :13:09.the rugby post is. Bev Davis heard the fireworks go off. It took her
:13:09. > :13:13.and her horses by surprise. couldn't believe it. I ran down to
:13:13. > :13:17.the entrance of the rugby club to ask them to stop so I could get my
:13:17. > :13:20.horses in. She went straight to talk to the organisers. While she
:13:20. > :13:25.was there, she raised the question of safety. A said I can't believe
:13:26. > :13:30.you can have a fireworks display so close to the motorway. The fact bet
:13:30. > :13:34.it was so bright and blaring, I just don't see how it could have
:13:34. > :13:36.been anything other than a distraction. A distraction and
:13:36. > :13:41.worries about smoke. Issues which have worried the public since the
:13:41. > :13:50.crash and ones the police are now examining. Tom Smith also takes an
:13:51. > :13:55.active interest. He's a pyrotechnics consultant. This is
:13:55. > :14:02.the rugby club, for the fireworks were fired from. This is the M5 and
:14:02. > :14:06.this is where the accident fight -- side was. He estimates the club is
:14:06. > :14:14.200 metres from the character way. These are low-level fireworks, and
:14:14. > :14:17.then hire of, Shiels bursting over the top. -- higher up. A Aurigny
:14:17. > :14:22.producing what looks like a lot of smoke? The amount of smoke I would
:14:22. > :14:25.expect from a display that size. We can see the fireworks clearly.
:14:25. > :14:35.There is obviously some smoke but it is not excessive. It will drift
:14:35. > :14:41.downwind but we do not know where the wind was. The forecast was for
:14:41. > :14:45.a south-westerly wind. If it is south-westerly the smoke would
:14:45. > :14:51.travel in this direction. That is parallel to the motorway ballad
:14:51. > :14:59.than towards it. Regardless of direction, what would happen to the
:14:59. > :15:03.smoke? It is finite. You cannot have a very thick and very deep. If
:15:03. > :15:11.it is over an extensive portion of the motorway Ben by necessity it
:15:11. > :15:14.must have been delayed and then. -- dilate and Fein. We decided to take
:15:14. > :15:17.a much closer look at the smoke generated by fireworks. Alan
:15:17. > :15:25.Christie's helping us. He detonates 16 tons of fireworks every year and
:15:25. > :15:30.is the man who puts the bang into the Bristol Balloon Fiesta. I have
:15:30. > :15:40.brought along a selection of the most ever got things you would find.
:15:40. > :15:43.
:15:43. > :15:51.There is a comical fountain, a 25 mm calibre, a Roman candle. Close
:15:51. > :15:55.up, this appeared to be very fine, almost like an aerosol spray. The
:15:55. > :15:58.Met Office has told us smoke can cause mist or fog to form in damp
:15:58. > :16:05.air. It can also thicken them up. But that's not what Alan's found
:16:05. > :16:13.from his experience with fireworks. Do you pick it would generate for
:16:13. > :16:18.almost? The not a chance. That is natural. The weather conditions,
:16:18. > :16:24.low pressure can help hold the smoke on the floor, but if the wind
:16:24. > :16:31.is not blowing, you see it dissipate over four or five minutes.
:16:31. > :16:35.We are going to try and have a look at one large firework going off,
:16:35. > :16:43.producing the smoke and heading across the road, to see how thick
:16:43. > :16:49.the smoke can be. As you can see, we have got the firework going and
:16:49. > :16:52.the smoke is being blown across the road. It is thick smoke and
:16:52. > :16:57.certainly it does not help having headlamps on. It is hard to see
:16:57. > :17:00.ahead. This experiment on a farmer's track is far from
:17:00. > :17:05.scientific and in no way does it replicate the display on 4th
:17:05. > :17:10.November. Of course, close up, firework smoke reduces visibility.
:17:10. > :17:13.But, is that what happened on the night? Those at the display on 4th
:17:13. > :17:16.November offer differing opinions about smoke and wind direction.
:17:16. > :17:23.There was no smoke. Literally, I walked away after the fireworks and
:17:23. > :17:26.there was no smoke. It was just fog, thick fog. The display was a very
:17:26. > :17:32.big, supposedly the biggest in Somerset and there was a lot of
:17:32. > :17:36.smoke created. The display ran for 15 minutes and afterwards of the
:17:36. > :17:41.smoke stayed around for a long time. You cannot see some of the pitch.
:17:41. > :17:46.The wind was blowing towards me. From where I was did, by the
:17:46. > :17:50.grandstand, that is away from the motorway. It was not drifting. It
:17:50. > :17:54.was holding fast, from what I understand, so I do not think it
:17:54. > :17:57.too quickly at all. Two opposing accounts. The police no doubt have
:17:57. > :18:05.many more points of view. Alan doubts smoke was an issue, but
:18:05. > :18:10.thinks the display itself had the potential to distract drivers.
:18:10. > :18:14.Would you have done it 200 metres from the M5? There is perhaps too
:18:14. > :18:21.close. 600 metres away and not have said was a problem but within 100
:18:21. > :18:25.metres, Sibly not. And within 200? A bit too close. The chances are
:18:25. > :18:28.you would not have run a show? It's a bold admission from Alan. He
:18:28. > :18:31.would not have run a fireworks display at Taunton Rugby Club.
:18:31. > :18:34.Reports suggest the fireworks had finished 10 minutes before the
:18:34. > :18:39.crash. The police will have the final word. They have 30 staff
:18:39. > :18:45.following up 200 lines of inquiry. A camera near junction 25 may hold
:18:45. > :18:50.vital clues. Smoke and fireworks remain a significant part of the
:18:50. > :19:00.investigation. The rugby club says it's working closely with Avon and
:19:00. > :19:03.Somerset Police. I was going to an event in told the... We joined the
:19:03. > :19:11.Wells MP Tessa Munt back at the scene of the crash. She too is an
:19:11. > :19:17.eyewitness. She was driving south on the M5 as the fireball raged.
:19:17. > :19:21.The heat was intense. It was burning hot. We were all of those
:19:21. > :19:26.lanes away. She wasn't aware of smoke or fireworks and on
:19:26. > :19:32.reflection, feels sympathy for the event organisers. If I was part of
:19:32. > :19:36.the rugby club I would feel awful. It must be so stressful for the
:19:36. > :19:43.people involved in organising this. So often they are for charity and
:19:43. > :19:51.they are events to raise money for good causes. I guess, mammals just
:19:51. > :19:54.feel terrible. -- that must adjust. It will take many weeks for the
:19:54. > :19:58.police to reach their conclusions but already, the issue of firework
:19:58. > :20:01.safety is under scrutiny once again. If the investigations show smoke
:20:01. > :20:05.from the despair with energy it is something we will now get very
:20:05. > :20:11.seriously and we would certainly incorporate information about that
:20:11. > :20:16.in training corporation -- causes. We do not want to react quickly to
:20:16. > :20:22.something we do not know about yet. All of these investigations will no
:20:22. > :20:26.doubt add to the picture. Some memorials need no explanation
:20:26. > :20:29.- like Sir Francis Drake's statue on Plymouth Hoe. But Historian
:20:29. > :20:33.Jonathan Foyle has been on the trail of a lesser known South West
:20:33. > :20:43.curious monuments of the lot Have you bought an antique and
:20:43. > :20:55.
:20:55. > :21:05.wondered what secrets it might hold? I love rummaging. On a recent
:21:05. > :21:06.
:21:06. > :21:09.trip, I came across a beautiful old trunk. It's a fine object in itself,
:21:09. > :21:13.but I probably wouldn't have taken it home if it hadn't been for the
:21:13. > :21:16.brass plate on the front that said: John Knill Esq. I didn't have a
:21:16. > :21:26.clue who John Knill was, so I did what any architectural historian
:21:26. > :21:26.
:21:26. > :21:33.would do in similar circumstances - I Googled him. He must have been
:21:33. > :21:38.some body! Instructions about the ceremony around his final resting
:21:38. > :21:41.place... 25th July, a few days' time. It turns out John Knill was
:21:42. > :21:51.an 18th century lawyer who made his name in Cornwall. And that's where
:21:52. > :21:56.
:21:56. > :22:01.I'm headed to find out more about the original owner of my trunk.
:22:01. > :22:04.That his dramatic! Knill's monument sits on a hilltop overlooking St
:22:04. > :22:14.Ives. Every five years, 10 young girls lead a procession of
:22:14. > :22:17.
:22:17. > :22:22.townsfolk up here and dance around the steeple, as its known. It is
:22:22. > :22:26.such a local thing, with local girls taking part. Use the John
:22:26. > :22:30.Knill wanting to remain in the memory of people of St Ives longer
:22:30. > :22:33.than is usual. He has done very well, 200 years. We are still
:22:34. > :22:36.dancing around. Harding has been Master of Ceremonies at the event
:22:37. > :22:40.for nearly half a century. I'm desperate to learn more about John
:22:40. > :22:47.Knill and why he deserved a monument, but I'm not about to find
:22:47. > :22:52.out from him. You need to go to the archive and do some investigation,
:22:52. > :22:58.frankly. There's an awful lot on him and it does mean digging. If
:22:58. > :23:08.you really want, have a look, because they have a lot of
:23:08. > :23:09.
:23:09. > :23:12.information. This is turning into a bit of a mystery tour! John Knill,
:23:12. > :23:16.biographical sketch. Just what I'm looking for. 60 years after Knill's
:23:16. > :23:23.death, his nephew, John Jope Rogers, wrote an account of his life and
:23:23. > :23:27.achievements. It's a mine of information. John Knill was born in
:23:27. > :23:33.East Cornwall in 1733. He trained as a lawyer in Penzance and at the
:23:33. > :23:37.age of just 29, became Collector of Customs and then mayor in St Ives.
:23:37. > :23:46.I'm now off to meet someone who can tell me about the St Ives that
:23:46. > :23:52.Knill knew and his impact upon the town. It was very poor fishing
:23:52. > :24:00.village. It had a very limited harbour. At that time it was only a
:24:00. > :24:05.fraction of the size we have now. It was through him that we have the
:24:05. > :24:11.street we are standing on now. When the time he was here, there was a
:24:11. > :24:17.boom in mining and there was always something to export. There was
:24:17. > :24:20.metal or and produce of the town, which was also a pilchard station.
:24:20. > :24:27.Brian's account helps us picture St Ives at the dawn of the industrial
:24:27. > :24:30.revolution. Boats would arrive from South Wales laden with coal to
:24:30. > :24:39.power with a steam engines driving their minds are deeper and deeper
:24:39. > :24:43.Underground. -- driving the coalmines. Pilcher's were being
:24:43. > :24:46.exported to Italy. So this was John Knill's world for the best part of
:24:46. > :24:49.20 years. It certainly sounds like he was a mover and shaker, but how
:24:49. > :24:52.many officials get a 50 foot monument for two decades of public
:24:52. > :24:55.service? This is where the story gets interesting. His nephew's
:24:55. > :25:01.account tells us that Knill left St Ives to continue his legal career
:25:01. > :25:11.in London in 1782. But before he went, he made plans for his own
:25:11. > :25:11.
:25:11. > :25:16.demise. Now, Knill wasn't keen on churchyard burials... Apparently he
:25:16. > :25:19.did not like the idea of bodies being piled up on top of each other,
:25:19. > :25:26.much as what was happening in the graveyard of St Ives Church, even
:25:26. > :25:30.in his dead. The ground is two metres above the surrounding lanes.
:25:30. > :25:34.So he chose his own final resting place up on top of Worvas Hill. His
:25:34. > :25:38.body was to be housed in a tomb at the foot of a steeple, which he
:25:38. > :25:47.commissioned himself. So there's a monument to John Knill because he
:25:47. > :25:50.paid for it. Some vanity project! Knill's vanity didn't end there. He
:25:50. > :25:58.even designed his own memorial ceremony, to be repeated every five
:25:58. > :26:02.years and paid for out of his will. He stipulated that 10 young girls
:26:02. > :26:06.should be selected and paid �5 each - a lot of money back then - and a
:26:06. > :26:09.surefire way to get their parents involved. After kicking off at the
:26:09. > :26:19.Guildhall, the procession makes its way up through the streets of the
:26:19. > :26:28.
:26:28. > :26:31.town, on its way to the monument. Knill said the girls should be the
:26:31. > :26:41.daughters of fishermen, tinners or seamen. That went by the board a
:26:41. > :26:46.
:26:46. > :26:51.while ago. All the more amazing when you realise that in the end,
:26:51. > :26:53.Knill wasn't actually buried here. The tomb is empty. From St Ives to
:26:54. > :26:58.St Paul's. To find out about Knill's later life and his body's
:26:58. > :27:08.final resting place, I've come back to London. Knill was very much a
:27:08. > :27:10.
:27:10. > :27:15.man about town, living at the heart of the city. According to his
:27:15. > :27:21.nephew, Knill spent much of his time hanging out with writers in
:27:21. > :27:26.Paternoster Row. Sadly it was destroyed in the Blitz but it was
:27:26. > :27:34.frequented by the likes of Boswell and Dr Johnson. It must have been
:27:34. > :27:38.extraordinary. I discovered a poignant ending to John Knill's
:27:38. > :27:42.story. He died in 1811 and was buried at the church of St Andrew,
:27:42. > :27:45.in Holborn. But the redevelopment of that site meant his final
:27:45. > :27:55.resting place lay elsewhere, beneath another monument, but this
:27:55. > :28:02.
:28:02. > :28:06.one doesn't bear his name. Over the years the bodies were brought here,
:28:07. > :28:13.to London Metropolitan Cemetery. It strikes me as an irony that Knill
:28:13. > :28:17.was not buried in the monument he built. He is under this monument in
:28:17. > :28:20.a place he never knew, in a mass grave. But it's in Cornwall he'll
:28:20. > :28:30.be remembered. His body might not be here, but John Knill certainly