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Steel Ships and Iron Men

Episode 12 of 20

Melvyn Bragg reveals archive footage telling the history of modern Britain. A look back to the 1930s when Britain's shipyards were fighting to survive.

Melvyn Bragg, accompanied by a vintage mobile cinema, travels across the country to show incredible footage preserved by the British Film Institute and other national and regional film archives, and tell the history of modern Britain.

This episode comes from the site of the John Brown's shipyard in Clydebank, Glasgow and looks back to the 1930s when Britain's shipyards, once the wonder of the industrial world, were fighting to survive.

Charlie Grozier, who grew up just a street away from John Brown's, remembers being 12 years old and watching in awe as the ships his father worked on were launched. At the top of the Titan Crane, historian and shipbuilding expert Anthony Burton talks about the decline of shipyards across the country and Tom Graham explains the impact this collapse had on his home community along with thousands of others.

29 minutes

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Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Melvyn Bragg
Series Producer Dympna Jackson
Executive Producer Ruth Pitt

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