Browse content similar to 14/11/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
South West. Tonight, we report into the ongoing | :00:02. | :00:10. | |
investigation into the M5 crash. We have remarkable new testimony from | :00:10. | :00:17. | |
those involved in one of Britain's worst ever motorway pile-ups. | :00:17. | :00:24. | |
was like stepping on to a movie set. It wasn't real. 10 days on, the | :00:24. | :00:29. | |
questions are still being asked. can't believe you can have a | :00:29. | :00:32. | |
firework display so close to a motorway. | :00:32. | :00:34. | |
Also tonight, Jonathan Foyle uncovers the strange story behind | :00:34. | :00:44. | |
:00:44. | :00:44. | ||
the monument that towers above St. Ives. That is dramatic. This is | :00:44. | :00:54. | |
:00:54. | :01:01. | ||
As the police continue their investigation into the M5 crash, | :01:01. | :01:11. | |
:01:11. | :01:16. | ||
we've been hearing remarkable testimony from those involved. | :01:17. | :01:21. | |
was getting up to speed and a head, I noticed a white wall. I said, | :01:21. | :01:26. | |
that is the thickest fog I have ever seen. The lorries hit cars in | :01:26. | :01:36. | |
front of us and we could here bang, bang, bang from behind as well. It | :01:36. | :01:41. | |
was hell. It was the worst noise running through your head, just | :01:41. | :01:47. | |
screams of people, not knowing what to do first. The next thing was as | :01:47. | :01:51. | |
if somebody had thrown a black blanket over the windscreen. It | :01:51. | :01:56. | |
went jet-black. And Inside Out can reveal that no | :01:56. | :01:59. | |
fog warnings were displayed on the M5's electronic signs at the time | :01:59. | :02:02. | |
of the accident, despite forecasts and reports of poor visibility that | :02:02. | :02:08. | |
night. BBC viewers had been warned of fog and so had the Highways | :02:08. | :02:18. | |
:02:18. | :02:25. | ||
Agency. At 4 o'clock, its website was sent a forecast of fog and mist | :02:25. | :02:30. | |
at the Met Office. These conditions were experienced by eyewitness, Rob | :02:30. | :02:34. | |
Weaving. There were small patches of foregone water on the ground, it | :02:34. | :02:44. | |
:02:44. | :02:48. | ||
was not raining heavily. Despite this, no warnings were displayed on | :02:48. | :02:50. | |
the M5. We asked the Highways Agency, which controls the | :02:50. | :02:53. | |
electronic boards, why? It said it had received no reports of adverse | :02:53. | :02:57. | |
weather on any of its roads. And it said its control centre had been | :02:57. | :03:00. | |
given advice by the Met Office that "did not highlight fog as a | :03:00. | :03:03. | |
potential hazard" at the time of the crash. At around 8.15 that | :03:03. | :03:08. | |
evening, a fireworks display at Taunton Rugby Club ended. A police | :03:08. | :03:10. | |
investigation is ongoing into whether smoke from that played any | :03:10. | :03:17. | |
part in the accident. Whatever the cause, for Ciara and Roger Neno | :03:17. | :03:20. | |
there was no warning of what was to come as they joined the motorway at | :03:20. | :03:30. | |
:03:30. | :03:33. | ||
junction 25. We pulled on to the M five and we were getting up to | :03:33. | :03:40. | |
speed behind an Icelander truck in the middle lane, when we rolled | :03:40. | :03:46. | |
into a wall of a very sudden, very, very thick, what appeared to be fog. | :03:46. | :03:50. | |
It was like somebody had thrown a hood over the windscreen of a car. | :03:50. | :03:55. | |
You could not see a thing. Almost as soon as that had happened, I | :03:55. | :04:01. | |
could see the truck, but it was stationery. I was closing fast from | :04:01. | :04:07. | |
about 80 metres, closing quite quickly, and having to break very | :04:07. | :04:14. | |
sharply. I literally stood on the brakes. I was thinking, we are not | :04:15. | :04:20. | |
going to stop. But we did. We stopped about two, from my memory, | :04:20. | :04:28. | |
about 10 feet to spare. The lorries had cars in front of us and we | :04:28. | :04:37. | |
could hear bang, bang, buying from behind as well. It was rhythmical. | :04:37. | :04:44. | |
It was just like a beach. -- beta. I turned to cure and said, we are | :04:44. | :04:51. | |
going to get hit. -- cure. Based on post crash pictures, we've tried to | :04:51. | :04:54. | |
indicate what happened in the aftermath of the accident. The | :04:54. | :04:56. | |
vehicles represented may not be exactly where they ended up | :04:56. | :04:59. | |
immediately after the crash. The Nenos were in the very first phase | :04:59. | :05:03. | |
of the collision, and Ciara was one of the first to dial 999. I said, | :05:03. | :05:07. | |
we need ambulance, fire brigade and police. I said this is not just a | :05:08. | :05:12. | |
small crash, there are many, many crashes and I can see fire. Then | :05:12. | :05:15. | |
came the second phase of the crash. A lorry jack-knifed behind them, | :05:15. | :05:25. | |
protecting the couple from impact. After probably 90 seconds, they | :05:25. | :05:28. | |
said, I'm not sitting here any longer, I have got to see what I | :05:28. | :05:33. | |
can do. That is when I stepped out of the car. It was like stepping on | :05:33. | :05:41. | |
to a movie set. You just don't figure is real for a minute. Just | :05:41. | :05:48. | |
mangled bits of metal everywhere and I can hear the music from the | :05:48. | :05:50. | |
rugby club, and I just keep thinking, God, they have no idea | :05:50. | :05:56. | |
what is going on appear. Roger saw two men trapped in the car directly | :05:56. | :06:03. | |
in front of him, he borrowed a tyre lever from a truck driver. I ran | :06:03. | :06:08. | |
back and told the guy in the seat to turn away, and I smashed the | :06:08. | :06:15. | |
window. It smashed first time. I pulled him out. The chapel on the | :06:16. | :06:25. | |
other side was very dazed. He was in a worse way. We said, move over, | :06:25. | :06:29. | |
we will get you out. We couldn't open his door because he was at the | :06:29. | :06:36. | |
barrier. He said, why, I'm OK? I said look, you engine is gone and a | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
car is smoking, it might go up in flames, you need to get out. We | :06:40. | :06:45. | |
pulled him out. Tom Hamill, his girlfriend Catherine and Dad, had | :06:45. | :06:49. | |
pulled up behind the jack-knifed lorry. They too were remarkably | :06:49. | :06:59. | |
lucky not to have been hit. I just remember sat there and Thomas was | :06:59. | :07:04. | |
like, we are going to get hit, brace yourselves. We heard and saw | :07:04. | :07:11. | |
to the left, cars just crashing in. Someone shouted, please, take my | :07:11. | :07:17. | |
baby, take my baby, my husband is trapped in a car, take my baby. | :07:17. | :07:20. | |
dialled 999, standing at the central reservation, as more cars | :07:20. | :07:25. | |
were crashing into the back of us. I remember they call handler saying, | :07:25. | :07:30. | |
how many cars? I kept saying, there's more! In this third phase | :07:30. | :07:33. | |
of the crash, Matt and Michelle Craker, their son Fred and three | :07:33. | :07:36. | |
dogs, ended up wedged on the hard shoulder between a lorry and the | :07:36. | :07:44. | |
crash barrier. We got out and the van and straight away in front, I | :07:44. | :07:49. | |
could see flames. Not coming from us, not the car in front, but it | :07:49. | :07:55. | |
seemed about 10 feet away, big flames. There was fire. I remember | :07:55. | :08:02. | |
before I actually descended the bank, the lorry was well alight, | :08:02. | :08:06. | |
looking to the right, the Roads Service was on fire. There had | :08:06. | :08:12. | |
obviously been a fuel spill. The last image of looking at the van | :08:12. | :08:17. | |
was from the bottom of the embankments, looking up. The cab of | :08:17. | :08:23. | |
the vans had flames in it so the fire had spread through the lorry, | :08:23. | :08:28. | |
into the van. That is really within a matter of minutes a bus coming to | :08:28. | :08:35. | |
a halt. A dash of us. The other side of the blazing lorry, Roger | :08:35. | :08:41. | |
Neno followed a young woman's cries for help. Her car was pinned under | :08:41. | :08:45. | |
the jack-knifed lorry. I thought the car -- the fire would spread | :08:45. | :08:52. | |
underneath and it would not take long. I jumped over. The front door | :08:52. | :08:59. | |
or was slightly ajar or at the top. They were not move. I told her to | :08:59. | :09:03. | |
move back and Swanley Aaron at the window and on the 4th attempt it | :09:03. | :09:12. | |
broke. -- I swung the Arran. I pulled right. I was trying to keep | :09:12. | :09:22. | |
:09:22. | :09:23. | ||
her calm and not panic so as not to panic her. I was thinking, it is | :09:23. | :09:28. | |
raining, drizzle is all we need, but there is this strong smell of | :09:28. | :09:34. | |
fuel and the residual all over the floor. As I was doing this I saw | :09:34. | :09:44. | |
:09:44. | :09:44. | ||
the lady... The Lou DiBella was pained by her legs under the back | :09:44. | :09:49. | |
wheel. -- the lady that was pained. She was pinned under the lorry. She | :09:49. | :09:54. | |
was screaming, help, get me out. I was fearful that she would lie | :09:55. | :09:59. | |
there and burn as well. With no chance of releasing her, Roger ran | :09:59. | :10:02. | |
for help, returning with an off- duty doctor and one of the fire | :10:02. | :10:05. | |
crews which were now arriving Despite the fireball, the woman was | :10:05. | :10:13. | |
saved. I could see Roger going towards the car. There was a huge | :10:13. | :10:17. | |
fireball behind. It just exploded and I screamed at him, get out! | :10:18. | :10:23. | |
I've got everything was could go up. Despite a fireball, the woman was | :10:23. | :10:27. | |
saved. Roger and Ciara spent hours at the scene helping with the | :10:27. | :10:30. | |
relief effort. The time between the Nenos stopping, and the first | :10:30. | :10:33. | |
emergency services arriving took about the time it's taken you to | :10:33. | :10:43. | |
:10:43. | :10:44. | ||
watch this film. 51 people were injured in the crash, seven died. | :10:44. | :10:49. | |
The investigation may one day provide some answers. But for the | :10:49. | :10:52. | |
people involved, the sights and sounds of that night will live with | :10:52. | :11:02. | |
:11:02. | :11:02. | ||
them for the rest of their lives. am talking about us and there are | :11:02. | :11:05. | |
people who have lost family members and been permanently injured and | :11:05. | :11:12. | |
their lives are changed for ever and... You know, I don't even have | :11:12. | :11:22. | |
:11:22. | :11:25. | ||
a scratch. It just doesn't make any sense. None at all. The police | :11:25. | :11:29. | |
investigation continues. One line of inquiry is whether smoke from a | :11:29. | :11:33. | |
fireworks display which was being held at Taunton Rugby Club may have | :11:33. | :11:39. | |
been a contributing factor. It was billed as a dazzling night | :11:39. | :11:44. | |
of family fun. But within 48 hours, this event was at the centre of a | :11:44. | :11:54. | |
:11:54. | :11:55. | ||
police criminal investigation. believe that whilst there was fog | :11:55. | :11:58. | |
and there were difficult conditions that from witness evidence, there | :11:58. | :12:05. | |
was significant smoke across the carriageway which cost a bank, so | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
much to a far bank, which was very distracting it difficult to drive | :12:09. | :12:13. | |
through. 10 days on, the question remains unanswered. Did a fireworks | :12:13. | :12:15. | |
display at Taunton Rugby Club cause or contribute to Britain's worst | :12:15. | :12:20. | |
motorway crash for 20 years? We wanted to talk to experts from the | :12:20. | :12:26. | |
fireworks industry and those caught up in the tragedy. We found | :12:26. | :12:34. | |
conflicting eyewitness accounts. cannot believe you can have a | :12:34. | :12:40. | |
fireworks display so close to a motorway. It was foggy, so you | :12:40. | :12:46. | |
would not be able to tell if there was smoke. The fireworks display | :12:46. | :12:50. | |
with some were over there and I was over there. The accident happened | :12:50. | :12:59. | |
just parallel, almost behind for ever read the posters. The -- where | :12:59. | :13:04. | |
the rugby post is. Bev Davis heard the fireworks go off. It took her | :13:04. | :13:09. | |
and her horses by surprise. couldn't believe it. I ran down to | :13:09. | :13:13. | |
the entrance of the rugby club to ask them to stop so I could get my | :13:13. | :13:17. | |
horses in. She went straight to talk to the organisers. While she | :13:17. | :13:20. | |
was there, she raised the question of safety. A said I can't believe | :13:20. | :13:25. | |
you can have a fireworks display so close to the motorway. The fact bet | :13:26. | :13:30. | |
it was so bright and blaring, I just don't see how it could have | :13:30. | :13:34. | |
been anything other than a distraction. A distraction and | :13:34. | :13:36. | |
worries about smoke. Issues which have worried the public since the | :13:36. | :13:41. | |
crash and ones the police are now examining. Tom Smith also takes an | :13:41. | :13:50. | |
active interest. He's a pyrotechnics consultant. This is | :13:51. | :13:55. | |
the rugby club, for the fireworks were fired from. This is the M5 and | :13:55. | :14:02. | |
this is where the accident fight -- side was. He estimates the club is | :14:02. | :14:06. | |
200 metres from the character way. These are low-level fireworks, and | :14:06. | :14:14. | |
then hire of, Shiels bursting over the top. -- higher up. A Aurigny | :14:14. | :14:17. | |
producing what looks like a lot of smoke? The amount of smoke I would | :14:17. | :14:22. | |
expect from a display that size. We can see the fireworks clearly. | :14:22. | :14:25. | |
There is obviously some smoke but it is not excessive. It will drift | :14:25. | :14:35. | |
downwind but we do not know where the wind was. The forecast was for | :14:35. | :14:41. | |
a south-westerly wind. If it is south-westerly the smoke would | :14:41. | :14:45. | |
travel in this direction. That is parallel to the motorway ballad | :14:45. | :14:51. | |
than towards it. Regardless of direction, what would happen to the | :14:51. | :14:59. | |
smoke? It is finite. You cannot have a very thick and very deep. If | :14:59. | :15:03. | |
it is over an extensive portion of the motorway Ben by necessity it | :15:03. | :15:11. | |
must have been delayed and then. -- dilate and Fein. We decided to take | :15:11. | :15:14. | |
a much closer look at the smoke generated by fireworks. Alan | :15:14. | :15:17. | |
Christie's helping us. He detonates 16 tons of fireworks every year and | :15:17. | :15:25. | |
is the man who puts the bang into the Bristol Balloon Fiesta. I have | :15:25. | :15:30. | |
brought along a selection of the most ever got things you would find. | :15:30. | :15:40. | |
:15:40. | :15:43. | ||
There is a comical fountain, a 25 mm calibre, a Roman candle. Close | :15:43. | :15:51. | |
up, this appeared to be very fine, almost like an aerosol spray. The | :15:51. | :15:55. | |
Met Office has told us smoke can cause mist or fog to form in damp | :15:55. | :15:58. | |
air. It can also thicken them up. But that's not what Alan's found | :15:58. | :16:05. | |
from his experience with fireworks. Do you pick it would generate for | :16:05. | :16:13. | |
almost? The not a chance. That is natural. The weather conditions, | :16:13. | :16:18. | |
low pressure can help hold the smoke on the floor, but if the wind | :16:18. | :16:24. | |
is not blowing, you see it dissipate over four or five minutes. | :16:24. | :16:31. | |
We are going to try and have a look at one large firework going off, | :16:31. | :16:35. | |
producing the smoke and heading across the road, to see how thick | :16:35. | :16:43. | |
the smoke can be. As you can see, we have got the firework going and | :16:43. | :16:49. | |
the smoke is being blown across the road. It is thick smoke and | :16:49. | :16:52. | |
certainly it does not help having headlamps on. It is hard to see | :16:52. | :16:57. | |
ahead. This experiment on a farmer's track is far from | :16:57. | :17:00. | |
scientific and in no way does it replicate the display on 4th | :17:00. | :17:05. | |
November. Of course, close up, firework smoke reduces visibility. | :17:05. | :17:10. | |
But, is that what happened on the night? Those at the display on 4th | :17:10. | :17:13. | |
November offer differing opinions about smoke and wind direction. | :17:13. | :17:16. | |
There was no smoke. Literally, I walked away after the fireworks and | :17:16. | :17:23. | |
there was no smoke. It was just fog, thick fog. The display was a very | :17:23. | :17:26. | |
big, supposedly the biggest in Somerset and there was a lot of | :17:26. | :17:32. | |
smoke created. The display ran for 15 minutes and afterwards of the | :17:32. | :17:36. | |
smoke stayed around for a long time. You cannot see some of the pitch. | :17:36. | :17:41. | |
The wind was blowing towards me. From where I was did, by the | :17:41. | :17:46. | |
grandstand, that is away from the motorway. It was not drifting. It | :17:46. | :17:50. | |
was holding fast, from what I understand, so I do not think it | :17:50. | :17:54. | |
too quickly at all. Two opposing accounts. The police no doubt have | :17:54. | :17:57. | |
many more points of view. Alan doubts smoke was an issue, but | :17:57. | :18:05. | |
thinks the display itself had the potential to distract drivers. | :18:05. | :18:10. | |
Would you have done it 200 metres from the M5? There is perhaps too | :18:10. | :18:14. | |
close. 600 metres away and not have said was a problem but within 100 | :18:14. | :18:21. | |
metres, Sibly not. And within 200? A bit too close. The chances are | :18:21. | :18:25. | |
you would not have run a show? It's a bold admission from Alan. He | :18:25. | :18:28. | |
would not have run a fireworks display at Taunton Rugby Club. | :18:28. | :18:31. | |
Reports suggest the fireworks had finished 10 minutes before the | :18:31. | :18:34. | |
crash. The police will have the final word. They have 30 staff | :18:34. | :18:39. | |
following up 200 lines of inquiry. A camera near junction 25 may hold | :18:39. | :18:45. | |
vital clues. Smoke and fireworks remain a significant part of the | :18:45. | :18:50. | |
investigation. The rugby club says it's working closely with Avon and | :18:50. | :19:00. | |
Somerset Police. I was going to an event in told the... We joined the | :19:00. | :19:03. | |
Wells MP Tessa Munt back at the scene of the crash. She too is an | :19:03. | :19:11. | |
eyewitness. She was driving south on the M5 as the fireball raged. | :19:11. | :19:17. | |
The heat was intense. It was burning hot. We were all of those | :19:17. | :19:21. | |
lanes away. She wasn't aware of smoke or fireworks and on | :19:21. | :19:26. | |
reflection, feels sympathy for the event organisers. If I was part of | :19:26. | :19:32. | |
the rugby club I would feel awful. It must be so stressful for the | :19:32. | :19:36. | |
people involved in organising this. So often they are for charity and | :19:36. | :19:43. | |
they are events to raise money for good causes. I guess, mammals just | :19:43. | :19:51. | |
feel terrible. -- that must adjust. It will take many weeks for the | :19:51. | :19:54. | |
police to reach their conclusions but already, the issue of firework | :19:54. | :19:58. | |
safety is under scrutiny once again. If the investigations show smoke | :19:58. | :20:01. | |
from the despair with energy it is something we will now get very | :20:01. | :20:05. | |
seriously and we would certainly incorporate information about that | :20:05. | :20:11. | |
in training corporation -- causes. We do not want to react quickly to | :20:11. | :20:16. | |
something we do not know about yet. All of these investigations will no | :20:16. | :20:22. | |
doubt add to the picture. Some memorials need no explanation | :20:22. | :20:26. | |
- like Sir Francis Drake's statue on Plymouth Hoe. But Historian | :20:26. | :20:29. | |
Jonathan Foyle has been on the trail of a lesser known South West | :20:29. | :20:33. | |
curious monuments of the lot Have you bought an antique and | :20:33. | :20:43. | |
:20:43. | :20:55. | ||
wondered what secrets it might hold? I love rummaging. On a recent | :20:55. | :21:05. | |
:21:05. | :21:06. | ||
trip, I came across a beautiful old trunk. It's a fine object in itself, | :21:06. | :21:09. | |
but I probably wouldn't have taken it home if it hadn't been for the | :21:09. | :21:13. | |
brass plate on the front that said: John Knill Esq. I didn't have a | :21:13. | :21:16. | |
clue who John Knill was, so I did what any architectural historian | :21:16. | :21:26. | |
:21:26. | :21:26. | ||
would do in similar circumstances - I Googled him. He must have been | :21:26. | :21:33. | |
some body! Instructions about the ceremony around his final resting | :21:33. | :21:38. | |
place... 25th July, a few days' time. It turns out John Knill was | :21:38. | :21:41. | |
an 18th century lawyer who made his name in Cornwall. And that's where | :21:42. | :21:51. | |
:21:52. | :21:56. | ||
I'm headed to find out more about the original owner of my trunk. | :21:56. | :22:01. | |
That his dramatic! Knill's monument sits on a hilltop overlooking St | :22:01. | :22:04. | |
Ives. Every five years, 10 young girls lead a procession of | :22:04. | :22:14. | |
:22:14. | :22:17. | ||
townsfolk up here and dance around the steeple, as its known. It is | :22:17. | :22:22. | |
such a local thing, with local girls taking part. Use the John | :22:22. | :22:26. | |
Knill wanting to remain in the memory of people of St Ives longer | :22:26. | :22:30. | |
than is usual. He has done very well, 200 years. We are still | :22:30. | :22:33. | |
dancing around. Harding has been Master of Ceremonies at the event | :22:34. | :22:36. | |
for nearly half a century. I'm desperate to learn more about John | :22:37. | :22:40. | |
Knill and why he deserved a monument, but I'm not about to find | :22:40. | :22:47. | |
out from him. You need to go to the archive and do some investigation, | :22:47. | :22:52. | |
frankly. There's an awful lot on him and it does mean digging. If | :22:52. | :22:58. | |
you really want, have a look, because they have a lot of | :22:58. | :23:08. | |
:23:08. | :23:09. | ||
information. This is turning into a bit of a mystery tour! John Knill, | :23:09. | :23:12. | |
biographical sketch. Just what I'm looking for. 60 years after Knill's | :23:12. | :23:16. | |
death, his nephew, John Jope Rogers, wrote an account of his life and | :23:16. | :23:23. | |
achievements. It's a mine of information. John Knill was born in | :23:23. | :23:27. | |
East Cornwall in 1733. He trained as a lawyer in Penzance and at the | :23:27. | :23:33. | |
age of just 29, became Collector of Customs and then mayor in St Ives. | :23:33. | :23:37. | |
I'm now off to meet someone who can tell me about the St Ives that | :23:37. | :23:46. | |
Knill knew and his impact upon the town. It was very poor fishing | :23:46. | :23:52. | |
village. It had a very limited harbour. At that time it was only a | :23:52. | :24:00. | |
fraction of the size we have now. It was through him that we have the | :24:00. | :24:05. | |
street we are standing on now. When the time he was here, there was a | :24:05. | :24:11. | |
boom in mining and there was always something to export. There was | :24:11. | :24:17. | |
metal or and produce of the town, which was also a pilchard station. | :24:17. | :24:20. | |
Brian's account helps us picture St Ives at the dawn of the industrial | :24:20. | :24:27. | |
revolution. Boats would arrive from South Wales laden with coal to | :24:27. | :24:30. | |
power with a steam engines driving their minds are deeper and deeper | :24:30. | :24:39. | |
Underground. -- driving the coalmines. Pilcher's were being | :24:39. | :24:43. | |
exported to Italy. So this was John Knill's world for the best part of | :24:43. | :24:46. | |
20 years. It certainly sounds like he was a mover and shaker, but how | :24:46. | :24:49. | |
many officials get a 50 foot monument for two decades of public | :24:49. | :24:52. | |
service? This is where the story gets interesting. His nephew's | :24:52. | :24:55. | |
account tells us that Knill left St Ives to continue his legal career | :24:55. | :25:01. | |
in London in 1782. But before he went, he made plans for his own | :25:01. | :25:11. | |
:25:11. | :25:11. | ||
demise. Now, Knill wasn't keen on churchyard burials... Apparently he | :25:11. | :25:16. | |
did not like the idea of bodies being piled up on top of each other, | :25:16. | :25:19. | |
much as what was happening in the graveyard of St Ives Church, even | :25:19. | :25:26. | |
in his dead. The ground is two metres above the surrounding lanes. | :25:26. | :25:30. | |
So he chose his own final resting place up on top of Worvas Hill. His | :25:30. | :25:34. | |
body was to be housed in a tomb at the foot of a steeple, which he | :25:34. | :25:38. | |
commissioned himself. So there's a monument to John Knill because he | :25:38. | :25:47. | |
paid for it. Some vanity project! Knill's vanity didn't end there. He | :25:47. | :25:50. | |
even designed his own memorial ceremony, to be repeated every five | :25:50. | :25:58. | |
years and paid for out of his will. He stipulated that 10 young girls | :25:58. | :26:02. | |
should be selected and paid �5 each - a lot of money back then - and a | :26:02. | :26:06. | |
surefire way to get their parents involved. After kicking off at the | :26:06. | :26:09. | |
Guildhall, the procession makes its way up through the streets of the | :26:09. | :26:19. | |
:26:19. | :26:28. | ||
town, on its way to the monument. Knill said the girls should be the | :26:28. | :26:31. | |
daughters of fishermen, tinners or seamen. That went by the board a | :26:31. | :26:41. | |
:26:41. | :26:46. | ||
while ago. All the more amazing when you realise that in the end, | :26:46. | :26:51. | |
Knill wasn't actually buried here. The tomb is empty. From St Ives to | :26:51. | :26:53. | |
St Paul's. To find out about Knill's later life and his body's | :26:54. | :26:58. | |
final resting place, I've come back to London. Knill was very much a | :26:58. | :27:08. | |
:27:08. | :27:10. | ||
man about town, living at the heart of the city. According to his | :27:10. | :27:15. | |
nephew, Knill spent much of his time hanging out with writers in | :27:15. | :27:21. | |
Paternoster Row. Sadly it was destroyed in the Blitz but it was | :27:21. | :27:26. | |
frequented by the likes of Boswell and Dr Johnson. It must have been | :27:26. | :27:34. | |
extraordinary. I discovered a poignant ending to John Knill's | :27:34. | :27:38. | |
story. He died in 1811 and was buried at the church of St Andrew, | :27:38. | :27:42. | |
in Holborn. But the redevelopment of that site meant his final | :27:42. | :27:45. | |
resting place lay elsewhere, beneath another monument, but this | :27:45. | :27:55. | |
:27:55. | :28:02. | ||
one doesn't bear his name. Over the years the bodies were brought here, | :28:02. | :28:06. | |
to London Metropolitan Cemetery. It strikes me as an irony that Knill | :28:07. | :28:13. | |
was not buried in the monument he built. He is under this monument in | :28:13. | :28:17. | |
a place he never knew, in a mass grave. But it's in Cornwall he'll | :28:17. | :28:20. | |
be remembered. His body might not be here, but John Knill certainly | :28:20. | :28:30. |