Smoke & Steel - Secrets of the Modern World – Season 1
Episodes
A Leisure Time Game Changer
Examining a cliff in North Yorkshire that offered the public a new ride experience. Plus, the world's oldest operating roller-coaster, an astronomical observatory in California and a mining hoist in Germany.
War on the Waves
Examining 'The Warrior', an ironclad warship on the south coast of England. Plus, a grand public works facility in Prague and the mint building in San Francisco.
A Subterranean Revolution
The industrial legacy of a tunnel under the Thames, how steam engines reshaped the Netherlands, and a surprising link to our digital world.
The Birth of the Factory
A mill on the outskirts of Manchester was part of a dawning revolution in the way we work - the factory. A bridge in St. Louis, USA pioneered the use of steel - a construction material that would reshape our world. And a vast hangar in Brazil built to house the airships transformed passenger travel in the 20th century, but those giants of the sky owed a debt to an earlier age.
Global Communications Breakthrough
Examining the legacy of a cable hut in Cornwall, how a mountain railway in New Hampshire inspired its passengers and a lighthouse in France.
Scaling New Heights
Examining the legacy of the first iron framed building (a mill in Shrewsbury), how paper production changed the world, and the impact of the Trans-Siberian Railway.