@@Jaqen-HGhar Nothing quite as sinister as you are implying. Little Dot Studios (the media company that runs Absolute History) bought the rights from Channel 5 a few years back. In truth, this is a better format than television broadcast, since this is on demand.
As a small girl of about four my maternal grandmother was allowed to attend the opening of Tower Bridge by the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII. An uncle of hers was an engineer in the bridge's construction.
Thank you Michael Buerk for these great series! The Victorian Era had its negatives but it was also a time for truly great minds and abilities! I am so grateful for that! Cheers, everyone!
I've just happened to have watched more historical documentaries than I usually do over the past month or so, with the result of having 1837 permanently burned into my brain.
Bouch was such a fool. How do you dream of standing among the greats while cutting corners and putting out shoddy work? Some people want to reap the glory but just can't be arsed to sew the seeds. Tale as old as time, I suppose.
Im from the UK - I dont live there any longer, but I do miss the history. It is EVERYWHERE - we played in a ruined castle as kids, my sister's house was built in 1730, our local pub had Roman ruins in the basement, there are stately homes everywhere and they are all open to the public, thousands of museums, the entire place is just dripping wiht history on display and mostly for free... I swapped it for 300 days of sunshine a year - but I do miss it. You should go.
Same reasons as today. Wealth distribution/capitalism is a pyramid scam that just gets taller/narrower with time until it collapses due to running out of ways and resources to continue to grow.
@@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718 I kind of have feeling you are saying communism is so good. Sorry from exsoviet country, it is not. The top is created by different people but pyramid is still there, but it is pretty much standing on the shaggy legs of people who dont want to be there and every second if can take some bricks with them until those who have been brainwashed and scared to believe its the best thing ever it will collapse. Why is china so succesful and nort korea is not? it discarded communism, kept only totalitirism.
@@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718 You need to learn about how many millions have been dragged out of poverty thanks to capitalism, and how we all have better lives overall thanks to capitalism. The easiest and shortest way for the lazy, uneducated, and incompetent to "happiness" is blaming capitalism for everything.
@@RUclipsCensorsYou That's just a temporary effect. The vast majority dragged out of it eventually fall back into it 10x worse than they were before when they come to rely on it, it's just a matter of when. It's a fucking long-game pyramid scam not much different than a scaled-up Ponzi version and only doesn't collapse leaving the bottom 99.9% holding the bag as long as it keeps growing. Nothing can grow forever with limited resources to grow with, it's just a matter of when. 1929 and 2008 were only small previews.
a bit of an gennerall point about this series, and British TV in general. i am german, and it keeps shocking me how positively british television seems to see the emperial age. Over here, showing our (or any) empire so positively (or mearly not negatively), would create a public outcry. still a great show tho.
@@edith8349 I mean, we have the stronger economy, no monarchy, we are not running out of food rn, there are no major movements of major provinces to break away, and we have relatively low pandemic- numbers. But yea, waaay behind.
I remember being quite surprised when I saw Tower Bridge all nice and clean during my 1978 visit to London. Up until then, photos depicted it as being black and grimy from all the soot that had coated it for decades.
21:31 Mona Arndt has such a unique and pretty accent, its like Scottish and Swedish or something. It always tickles me to hear what British Immigrant English sounds like. It can be so bizarre sounding to an American and probably vice-verso. But I love this whole channel. It reminds me of the quality programming TV used to have in the late 90s and early aughts. You know before history channel had ancient aliens and the learning channel had honey boo boo. Mona you are beautiful, and as smart as this channel. Hopefully I will need a bridge built one day.
@@christianpatriot7439 These foundations probably never freeze. Like an old, big cathedral. In the summer it is pleasingly chilly inside and in winter it is colder than in summer but still significantly warmer inside than outside. Even if you try to heat such an cathedral during winter you won't make much difference. The sheer amount of stone is to big of an "heat/cold storage" to overcome with heating. Turn the heating off and after a few hours it will not be noticable that the heat was on; you only heated the air inside the cathedral. You have to imagine these foundations have the average temperature of the whole year all year round. The 30-90 days with freezing temperatures won't do much to the temperature inside the foundations.
Right at the intro the narrator claims the Romans made timber arches but the medieval British invented the stone arch. The romans used the stone arch extensively. Hadn't the writers ever seen one of the surviving above ground aqueducts? This program sounds interesting but also dripping in jingoism or chauvinism. Actually the principal of the arch is older than the romans.
One thing I don't get about people. When someone is in their early 20's and they do something great. They're considered children and it's unbelievable that they came up with it. Yet when someone does something dumb at that same age. Be it a petty theft or speeding or whatever. Suddenly they're adults and should know better and nobody can believe that they didn't... Smh. Make up your damn minds people... Stop praising one and calling them genius children and condemning the other while calling them stupid adults...
Wait what? Of course, if everyone were unbelievable underperforming you should praise those who are not. If you had anything smart to say you would say that eventhough in that time actually 23 yo would have worked quite a while and had lot more knowledge than 23 yo today (so the presenter understanding of 23 yo is off in the context of the time he is talking) they still had little experience compared to older colleagues so it is amazing they come up with that.
But I feel extremely sorry for all those mining boys, chimney sweepers, maidens, workers, etc who worked so hard in the Victorian era and lost their lives coz of many deadly disease. No offense but many poor children were sacrificed in making the tower bridge because they believe in some evil rituals. RIP to all the Victorians and Queen Victoria ❤️💖
I have a weird fear of driving over bridges... i swear an ancestor died in a car wreck into water or that's how i died in a past life... something lol and then my dumbass ex husband gets stationed in Bangor Washington when we first got married resulting in me having to drive over Tacoma Narrows on a daily basis... its notorious because it fell and killed a lot of ppl due to it being designed and constructed wrong... absolutely terrifying to drive over. Theres a video of it falling. Its just too bad the British Victorians hadnt build it. They obviously knew wtf they were doing. Thankfully we are all backed in dry ass West Texas and bridge free 🤣
This is a lovely documentary, but I am so disgusted by these two suckling at the success of the rich over the poor who died for that. This shouldn't be honored, it should be shamed. I am also disgusted by the other documentaries romanticizing Rome etc. Did people learn jack shit all from Sparticus who helped freed the prisoners?
Learn to look history in the context of history. It was common in that time EVERYWHERE. It is actually common in the world in many parts still, that shows how sheltered you yourself are.
@@Whatever-mx3bt I hate to break it to you. But today we in the Western world are the top 10% supressing the other 90% of the world population with power and, foremost, economic power. At least when you live in England, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the US, Canada and many other countries with an similiar standard of living. We are the rich profiting from the poor. We are the people who build an very expensive bridge just so that we can stroll in the woods on the other side of the river instead of donating it to an good cause; for example trying to end starvation and malnutrition on this planet. We used the vaccines against COVID and only gave alms to other countries until we had to much of them. If we were honest we would have needed to wait and give the vaccines to people who will starve if they don't work, wo live in slums somewhere and can't keep distance. We just outsourced the supression and poverty to other countries. Nothing really has changed.
Only made it through 4 minutes of this due to the constant scene changes, intentionally wobbly camera and weird zooming/special effects. Literally every 6 seconds or so the scene changes and is one of the reasons I stopped watched TV decades ago. It's tiresome and annoying.
Currently making a report about Victorian Era engineering in college, this video truly is a blessing.
These are some of the highest quality free documentaries on RUclips.
That's cause they're stolen and not made by them, this is a Channel 5 documentary
@@Jaqen-HGhar The whole empire was stolen. Colonialism rules!
@@Jaqen-HGhar Nothing quite as sinister as you are implying. Little Dot Studios (the media company that runs Absolute History) bought the rights from Channel 5 a few years back. In truth, this is a better format than television broadcast, since this is on demand.
Those ones with Peter and Ruth are more fun :)
My late father was a Yeoman Warder in the Tower of London, so I've seen a lot of Tower Bridge. Marvellous construction
Isambard Kingdom Brunel is one of those classic British geniuses that veered wildly between brilliance and madness at random
And he has the most pheomenal Name
True genius always does
As a small girl of about four my maternal grandmother was allowed to attend the opening of Tower Bridge by the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII. An uncle of hers was an engineer in the bridge's construction.
Thank you Michael Buerk for these great series! The Victorian Era had its negatives but it was also a time for truly great minds and abilities! I am so grateful for that! Cheers, everyone!
I've just happened to have watched more historical documentaries than I usually do over the past month or so, with the result of having 1837 permanently burned into my brain.
I really enjoy this series. Michael is a great host!
Very Interesting and Informative!I I once walked across Tower Bridge and had no idea how significant this bridge was!!
It’s like all these engineers were cursed to die before their bridge was to be completed.
They were always puffing cancer sticks.
@@stanthology that is true
If you're an American learning British accents, Michael's is a a good place to start. Then Michael Caine.
Now I want to see the next episode in the series!
Bouch was such a fool. How do you dream of standing among the greats while cutting corners and putting out shoddy work? Some people want to reap the glory but just can't be arsed to sew the seeds. Tale as old as time, I suppose.
I would love to go to the uk and see all the sights.
Im from the UK - I dont live there any longer, but I do miss the history. It is EVERYWHERE - we played in a ruined castle as kids, my sister's house was built in 1730, our local pub had Roman ruins in the basement, there are stately homes everywhere and they are all open to the public, thousands of museums, the entire place is just dripping wiht history on display and mostly for free...
I swapped it for 300 days of sunshine a year - but I do miss it. You should go.
If you’ve never been to the United Kingdom you’re missing out. It’s absolutely amazing.
Unless you've been to every spot on the planet i imagine you're missing out on something.
@@Badger1776 You're missing out on the colonies Britain plundered.
Or living in one….
the country is beautiful shame the people ruin the country
Did anyone else fall in love with the Civil Engineer guiding them on the boat!
Clifton Bridge is fascinating in its elegance, but The Red-Beast is a really impressive badass. :-)
Tower bridge is absolutely gorgeous.
Could you do an episode on a hard hat diving from Victorian times. Thank you
one of the most exciting documentary
While in America...our bridges are collapsing...
You seem like a glass half full kinda guy
@@Badger1776 Haha..i c what u did there! :)
With all those huge construction projects it’s a wonder how there was so much poverty
Same reasons as today. Wealth distribution/capitalism is a pyramid scam that just gets taller/narrower with time until it collapses due to running out of ways and resources to continue to grow.
@@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718 There were of course lazy layabouts who think the world owes them a favour, just like today in fact.
@@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718 I kind of have feeling you are saying communism is so good. Sorry from exsoviet country, it is not. The top is created by different people but pyramid is still there, but it is pretty much standing on the shaggy legs of people who dont want to be there and every second if can take some bricks with them until those who have been brainwashed and scared to believe its the best thing ever it will collapse. Why is china so succesful and nort korea is not? it discarded communism, kept only totalitirism.
@@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718 You need to learn about how many millions have been dragged out of poverty thanks to capitalism, and how we all have better lives overall thanks to capitalism. The easiest and shortest way for the lazy, uneducated, and incompetent to "happiness" is blaming capitalism for everything.
@@RUclipsCensorsYou That's just a temporary effect. The vast majority dragged out of it eventually fall back into it 10x worse than they were before when they come to rely on it, it's just a matter of when. It's a fucking long-game pyramid scam not much different than a scaled-up Ponzi version and only doesn't collapse leaving the bottom 99.9% holding the bag as long as it keeps growing. Nothing can grow forever with limited resources to grow with, it's just a matter of when. 1929 and 2008 were only small previews.
a bit of an gennerall point about this series, and British TV in general.
i am german, and it keeps shocking me how positively british television seems to see the emperial age.
Over here, showing our (or any) empire so positively (or mearly not negatively), would create a public outcry.
still a great show tho.
And that is why you are wayyy behind Britain in every sense if the way.
The good old british empire days
Well, they still had to tip their woke hat to slavery in the first few minutes.
@@edith8349 I mean, we have the stronger economy, no monarchy, we are not running out of food rn, there are no major movements of major provinces to break away, and we have relatively low pandemic- numbers.
But yea, waaay behind.
rather have a monarchy then no im related to nazis
Fascinating!
I remember being quite surprised when I saw Tower Bridge all nice and clean during my 1978 visit to London. Up until then, photos depicted it as being black and grimy from all the soot that had coated it for decades.
Not only did Victoria's Engineering bring on the Modern World, but made the World Modern.
She never built or worked a day in her life...typical welfare queen like all royalty.
21:11 what a moustache
Top quality
Love this presenter (host). I thought at first it was Ian McKellen on Xanax.
10:30. Only the designers and workers knew. And didn't pass on the knowledge.
Who's the host? Apparently his first name is Michael. He looks familiar.
Host is Michael Buerk, retired, respected BBC news presenter.
@@joannevincent2035 lol I thought it was Gandalf. I see it now tho.
I want to see a cage match between this presenter and Tony Robinson.
Love them both so much lol
I want to see their lovechild.
21:31 Mona Arndt has such a unique and pretty accent, its like Scottish and Swedish or something. It always tickles me to hear what British Immigrant English sounds like. It can be so bizarre sounding to an American and probably vice-verso. But I love this whole channel. It reminds me of the quality programming TV used to have in the late 90s and early aughts. You know before history channel had ancient aliens and the learning channel had honey boo boo. Mona you are beautiful, and as smart as this channel. Hopefully I will need a bridge built one day.
Nobody is worried about the water dripping through the foundations of Brunel's bridge?
Every good construction needs to leak.
@@Bob.martensDoes this part of England eve have freezing temperatures? Cold and water don't mix when the resulting ice can pry bricks apart.
@@christianpatriot7439 These foundations probably never freeze. Like an old, big cathedral. In the summer it is pleasingly chilly inside and in winter it is colder than in summer but still significantly warmer inside than outside. Even if you try to heat such an cathedral during winter you won't make much difference. The sheer amount of stone is to big of an "heat/cold storage" to overcome with heating. Turn the heating off and after a few hours it will not be noticable that the heat was on; you only heated the air inside the cathedral. You have to imagine these foundations have the average temperature of the whole year all year round. The 30-90 days with freezing temperatures won't do much to the temperature inside the foundations.
Right at the intro the narrator claims the Romans made timber arches but the medieval British invented the stone arch. The romans used the stone arch extensively. Hadn't the writers ever seen one of the surviving above ground aqueducts? This program sounds interesting but also dripping in jingoism or chauvinism.
Actually the principal of the arch is older than the romans.
You did not mention greed and poverty....
Still alive and kicking 😉
One thing I don't get about people. When someone is in their early 20's and they do something great. They're considered children and it's unbelievable that they came up with it. Yet when someone does something dumb at that same age. Be it a petty theft or speeding or whatever. Suddenly they're adults and should know better and nobody can believe that they didn't... Smh. Make up your damn minds people... Stop praising one and calling them genius children and condemning the other while calling them stupid adults...
Wait what? Of course, if everyone were unbelievable underperforming you should praise those who are not. If you had anything smart to say you would say that eventhough in that time actually 23 yo would have worked quite a while and had lot more knowledge than 23 yo today (so the presenter understanding of 23 yo is off in the context of the time he is talking) they still had little experience compared to older colleagues so it is amazing they come up with that.
"Steel is Ion thats been mixed with carbon and other metals" what an abstract description lool 17:41
Good doc. Otherwise
So the slave owners were compensated, but not those they enslaved ? That's pretty absurd. It also seems like something worth pointing out.
But I feel extremely sorry for all those mining boys, chimney sweepers, maidens, workers, etc who worked so hard in the Victorian era and lost their lives coz of many deadly disease. No offense but many poor children were sacrificed in making the tower bridge because they believe in some evil rituals. RIP to all the Victorians and Queen Victoria ❤️💖
Oh well, gonna die sooner or later anyway. Might as well make use of them before they expire.
@@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718 is that how your boss at the gas station feels about you?
@@vampcaff Dunno, never worked at a gas station. But pretty sure the factory where I did work they sure did.
well if everyone would be equal in mind or might we still would be living in the cave probably. Every great invention will come with cost of lives.
Alec Baldwin is a time traveler.
Imagine giving such a project to 23 year old .
Then along came Maggie.
I have a weird fear of driving over bridges... i swear an ancestor died in a car wreck into water or that's how i died in a past life... something lol and then my dumbass ex husband gets stationed in Bangor Washington when we first got married resulting in me having to drive over Tacoma Narrows on a daily basis... its notorious because it fell and killed a lot of ppl due to it being designed and constructed wrong... absolutely terrifying to drive over. Theres a video of it falling. Its just too bad the British Victorians hadnt build it. They obviously knew wtf they were doing. Thankfully we are all backed in dry ass West Texas and bridge free 🤣
I'd like to make 10 pounds a minute today, wow.
Please don't say "shipping slaves" -- shipping enslaved people
That's a good point, people shouldn't be referred to the same as cargo
We have Queen Victoria to thank for our modern world in short.
She wouldn't have known which end of a hammer too hold.
Lol what did queen Vic and Lincoln have in common they both came off a bender and said I set who Free
9:53
Stalactites grow 10 cm every thousand years. This chamber is much much older than what they are saying.
#tartaria #MudFloof #PopulaionReset
I guess it makes the Britts feel better to say they shaped the modern world.
💙💚
This is a lovely documentary, but I am so disgusted by these two suckling at the success of the rich over the poor who died for that. This shouldn't be honored, it should be shamed. I am also disgusted by the other documentaries romanticizing Rome etc.
Did people learn jack shit all from Sparticus who helped freed the prisoners?
Learn to look history in the context of history. It was common in that time EVERYWHERE. It is actually common in the world in many parts still, that shows how sheltered you yourself are.
@@mrsmerily just because it was common never made it okay... Never was.
Watch Life of Brian to get some perspective on what Rome was able to provide the world.
@@Whatever-mx3bt I hate to break it to you. But today we in the Western world are the top 10% supressing the other 90% of the world population with power and, foremost, economic power. At least when you live in England, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the US, Canada and many other countries with an similiar standard of living. We are the rich profiting from the poor. We are the people who build an very expensive bridge just so that we can stroll in the woods on the other side of the river instead of donating it to an good cause; for example trying to end starvation and malnutrition on this planet. We used the vaccines against COVID and only gave alms to other countries until we had to much of them. If we were honest we would have needed to wait and give the vaccines to people who will starve if they don't work, wo live in slums somewhere and can't keep distance. We just outsourced the supression and poverty to other countries. Nothing really has changed.
First! Love these videos
Last! Because I don't give a shit.
@@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718 then why are you here? You don’t have to be so rude.
Half a million pounds each? I doubt it. I hate how he tried to sugar coat it.
You know how backward this documentary sound, you have to pull out such old bridges for a documentary.
Only made it through 4 minutes of this due to the constant scene changes, intentionally wobbly camera and weird zooming/special effects. Literally every 6 seconds or so the scene changes and is one of the reasons I stopped watched TV decades ago. It's tiresome and annoying.