Underground Marvels (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Switzerland - full transcript

Narrator: Why does the
world's most peaceful nation

Have an obsession with nuclear bunkers?

Ruef: This is the swiss concept.

We have chocolate, the
alps, and we have our bunkers.

Narrator: Excavating
underneath a british city.

What keeps these volunteers
searching for answers?

He was so secretive,
burrowing away for 35 years.

Narrator: And how did
slovenia's thrill seekers strike gold

In an old lead mine?

Beneath our feet lie
extraordinary chambers,

Caves, vaults, and tunnels...



The span and the size is just crazy.

Narrator: ...Some designed
and built by humans.

Others formed over thousands of years.

But how were they created and adapted?

By who? And why?

You've got to face your fears.

Narrator: Throughout
history subterranean life

Has captured our imagination.

We're going further and deeper

To unearth their mysteries, Stories,

And secrets.

Slovenia... a central european country

Known for its soaring peaks

Descending into thousands of natural cave.



Beneath its beautiful landscape

On its northern border with austria,

A network of tunnels created
by man unveils a rich history.

But out of the darkness...

...Comes a new world of
exploration and adventure...

...To navigate one of the largest

Manmade underground worlds.

♪

Deep beneath the karawanks
mountain range in slovenia

Are more than 500 miles of tunnels.

Originally excavated
for its precious metals,

The mezica lead and zinc
mine dates back to the 1600s.

For decades, geologists like
uros herlec have continued

To explore the mine's
network to better understand

The makeup of the bedrock.

They've discovered just how
stable these limestone tunnels

And shafts are.

In over three centuries of
mining, 19 million tons of lead

And zinc ore were
excavated from the tunnels.

Digging slowed down at
the end of the 19th century,

With the eventual closure of the mine

Finally taking place in 2004.

Lead and zinc and their derivatives

Appear in many everyday objects.

Lead can be found in
roofing materials, car batteries,

And ammunition, while zinc is often used

In alloys, paints, cosmetics, and plastics.

Massive effort was required
to extract these minerals

From the rock walls.

By the early 1960s, the
mezica mine employed

More than 2,000 people.

While he was still at school,

Miran prost worked here two days a week.

Rising mining costs
combined with fluctuations

In world prices for metal

Led to the full closure
of the mine in 2004.

Today, miran proudly shares

The extensive tunnel system with visitors.

Now around 25 miles of the
mine can be visited by tourists.

Exploring by miners' train or on foot,

They can see the great
caverns excavated by hand.

Following the closure of
the mine, the local community

Began developing a
new one-of-a-kind industry

Giving the area a whole new lease on life.

Today, the tranquility of the
karawanks mountain range

In slovenia is broken by the constant whir

Of spinning wheels.

Mountain biking has become
a high-octane sport here.

And it's gone underground.

Inside the pece mountain,
the vast mining network

Once used to extract precious metals,

Is now a breathtaking racetrack

For adrenaline junkies like anej.

Strucl: It's not for beginners.

This is for advanced and
expert mountain bikers.

This is not the place
to try out your skills.

Super technical, super steep sections,

Going down with some small drops.

Narrator: Anej has direct
links to the mezica mine.

His grandparents used
to toil in these tunnels.

When the mine closed, his family
started tourism developments

With other former miners.

When the facility was
modernized, they incorporated

Underground biking from one
side of the mountain to the other.

Now anej has created the only extreme

Subterranean bike route in the world.

The black hole trail.

Strucl: It was all
handmade... no machinery.

We asked for help...

The cave rescue team of slovenia,

And they came and helped us.

Also with some explosives on some areas

To actually build the whole trail.

Narrator: The black hole
trail was built in the abandoned

Tunnels of the mezica lead and zinc mine.

The track runs for a staggering six miles.

Strucl: When we started work,

We actually knew nothing
about working in the mine.

So we always had the
supervision and help of ex-miners

Because without them, we
couldn't do anything like this.

This is all limestone.

If there would be an earthquake here

We would be safer here in the mine

Than outside in the buildings.

Narrator: These chambers lay
untouched for nearly 25 years

And there are still many tunnels
that are too dangerous to ride.

You have chamber by
chamber, tunnel by tunnel.

I think after that switch
you have quite a free fall.

[ rock clanking in distance ]

And it keeps on falling.

So if you don't know where to go,

It's pretty easy to get lost.

Narrator: The trail drops
underground from one valley

To another through five
levels to a depth of 500 feet.

When the bikers leave and the
sounds of racing tires subside.

The last vestiges of the mining equipment

Sit in silence and darkness.

Yet in the very deepest
depths of the old tunnels

And even more extreme
sport has found a home.

Narrator: After the mezica
mine in slovenia was closed,

Water was no longer pumped out,

Allowing the lower chambers to flood,

Creating magical underground lakes.

For those who want to delve deeper,

Lara piko takes people on
these unique kayaking routes.

Piko: It's pretty special
to come here every day

And just to see it because
it's something really unique,

And not a lot of people
get to experience that.

Every time it's different.
Every day it's different.

The water level is not the same every day

So you never know what to expect.

Narrator: Water from rain and
snowmelt naturally flow into the tunnels,

But when the mine was active,

Pumps channeled the water elsewhere.

Once the mine closed and
the pumps were turned off,

The tunnels flooded
in less than half a year.

In these caverns where miners once toiled,

Now a network of rivers flow,

Carrying 212 million cubic
feet of fresh mountain water.

Piko: The water is really clean,

And I'm gonna prove
it to you by drinking it.

But cold.

We are around 750 meters below the surface,

So we are really, really
deep down in the mine.

You can see the railroads,

Because there used to be a
train going through the tunnels.

Narrator: There are more than
two miles of underground waterways

For visitors to navigate.

Piko: You can go explore it on your own.

You can go through the low tunnels,

Through the big, empty
spaces, the galleries,

And we also have a small rapids in here.

And for the braver ones,
you can also jump in.

I never follow.

The water is too cold.

So I am always very careful.

Narrator: Since 2013, over
a quarter of a million tourists

Have visited the mine,

And more than 20,000 have
descended on their bikes.

Piko: Conditions that are in here
are extreme... the cold, the water.

I really admire the miners, what they did.

Narrator: Once sought
after for its precious metals.

The mezica mine has
undergone a unique renovation

To become a world-class destination

For extreme-sports fans.

♪

Switzerland... a peace-loving
nation in the heart of europe

But it's surrounded by countries

That have displayed hostile
tendencies over the centuries.

While switzerland always stayed neutral,

Never engaging in war,

The country has just as vigorously defended

Its independence.

Its government first went
underground to thwart the nazis

And now has a master
plan to protect every citizen

In the event of a nuclear war.

And it all exists beneath their feet.

Schelbert: These buildings just demonstrate

How massive the threat
perception must have been.

There are now 300,000 of
these shelters in switzerland,

Enough room for the entire population.

In 1937, the threat of a german invasion

Was all too real when
the nazis made it clear

They planned to invade central europe.

Switzerland had to act quickly to protect

Their border and their people.

The first step was
strengthening their security

Along the river rhine.

So the swiss built the
mighty festung fortress.

This vast fortified military bunker

Was their first line of defense

And is sunk 65 feet into the hillside.

Photographer didier ruef
has spent more than 30 years

Documenting switzerland's
underground worlds.

As part of his research,

Didier has come to the fortress
to meet historian walter leu.

Is germany. Okay.

Walter has been caretaker
of the festung fortress

For the last 20 years

And is an expert on its military history.

The main tunnel is 230 yards long

And provides access to
the four observation towers,

Two of them armed

With three-inch
long-range rapid-firing guns.

So it closes automatically here.

So the empty shell out,
next one goes in, and so on.

These semiautomatic guns
had a range of seven miles

And were capable of firing
up to 20 shots a minute.

Soldiers would train them on their targets

Using numeric charts that
were advanced for the era.

You look through there,
and you'll see points.

Each one has a number,
and he turns the wheel

Till he has it, and then he's ready.

That's, for the time,

One of the most modern guns which exist.

So would this brainchild
of swiss engineering

Be enough to stand up to the nazis?

Narrator: Festung fortress in switzerland

Was in use by 1939 and built
to monitor the german border.

Throughout the second world war.

While countries all
around them fell to the nazis

Or joined forces with the axis powers,

The swiss were determined to remain neutral

And keep the nazis out.

At the height of the
war, up to 100 soldiers

Would be stationed underground here

For up to one month in
a state of constant alert.

Their living quarters included
basic wooden bunk beds,

A large kitchen,

And a hospital with an operating room.

At the center of the fortress
were the vital amenities

Needed to keep the men alive
during each month-long vigil.

There are two diesel generators, a primary

And a backup, along with
water tanks and air purifiers.

The air supply had to be
heated to 86 degrees fahrenheit

To prevent the gunners' glasses
and gas masks from steaming up.

The deepest tunnel ran
65 feet into the mountain

And offered soldiers an
escape route, if needed.

Leu: So that leads us to a bunker.

It's all used as emergency exit.

And off we go.

Ruef: There's a lot of noise.

Leu: That is the engine.

This deepest tunnel is 320 yards long.

Ruef: To me, this base is like a submarine.

It's a place where you lose contact

With reality, with time,

And you're totally closed in a cellar.

I'm a bit lost in this
underground alley now.

I don't know exactly where we are anymore.

It's confusing.

You can get easily... you can get lost.

I see this space as a sign of the past,

Which has always been fighting
to protect the small territory

And the bunker would be the
way to protect the population.

Narrator: Thanks to military
defenses like the festung fortress,

Switzerland was not
invaded during world war ii.

While the nazis wrote off switzerland

As a medieval remnant,
the festung installation

Proves how modern and
efficient the swiss capabilities were.

In fact, the concept has been
relied upon again and again

And continues to this day.

When the war was over,
the threat of nazi invasion

Was replaced by fear of nuclear attack.

During the cold war arms race.

Again, the swiss looked
beneath them for answers

To protect tens of thousands of citizens.

Ruef: In switzerland, the
bunkers are everywhere.

In the private house, in the schools,

In factories, in hospitals... everywhere.

Narrator: Throughout the 20th century,

Switzerland feared military aggression.

During the cold war,

The world lived in the
shadow of escalating tensions

Between the united
states and the soviet union.

Ruef: A child of the '60s,
the threat was atom attack.

And, in that case, it was
needed to have a shelter.

Narrator: How did these
underground bunkers play a crucial role

In protecting the world's
most fiercely neutral country

During the cold war?

Narrator: At the height of the cold war,

Switzerland was
determined to remain neutral

And protect its people from nuclear war.

When clever designers
in the city of lucerne

Were planning to improve
the roadway network,

They also paved the way for
an incredible engineering project

Just below a normal-looking road tunnel.

♪

♪

Schelbert: They were
planning to build two tunnels.

A clever politician came up with the idea

That they could design
the tunnels in such a way

So that they could take a
secondary-bunker function.

Narrator: Photographer
didier is meeting zora schelbert,

The project assistant for what would become

The world's largest civilian
nuclear-fallout shelter.

Zora has gotten to know

Every inch of this underground labyrinth.

The sonnenberg bunker.

The project took six years
to build, from 1970 to 1976,

At a cost of $40 million in today's money.

Swiss citizens would be
alerted to head to the bunker

When announcements were made
over the national radio channel.

Zora's going to show didier

How this massive public
bunker, sonnenberg, is laid out.

In here, you get a good idea

Of the whole height of the building,

Which is 20 meters.

20 meters, yes.

In the lead up to an attack.
The tunnel doors would close.

700 civil protection staff

Would transform this underground facility

Into a supersized bunker for 20,000 people.

It's the continuation of
switzerland's commitment

To protecting its citizens
taken to the extreme.

As with the world war ii
fortress, air supply is vital,

But while festung still
had just 2 filtration units,

The newer sonnenberg bunker has 120.

All of these filters
were designed to filter

Any then-known nuclear,
biological, and chemical agent

So that the 20,000 people in the 2 tunnels

Could have been provided with fresh air

If everything had been
contaminated outside.

This reminds me a lot
about the filtration system

That that we have in the private bunker

So it's just that the
scale is just massive.

Yes, because it was designed

For a third of our city's inhabitants.

Those 20,000 citizens would
have been divided up into groups

Of around 750 people
occupying different zones

Underneath the roadway tunnel

And inside the central seven-story facility

That's hidden underground.

People without their own
private basement shelters

Would be directed to the
closest public bunkers nearby.

450 tons of flat-packed furniture

Still lies in wait for them.

So this room, you would have been sharing

With another 63 people.

Imagine 30, 40 people tossing, turning,

Snoring, coughing, crying.

The sanitation facilities
are basic with no showers

And would have been
shared by hundreds of people.

Water would have been taken
from the communal water supply,

From purified groundwater,
and the city river.

And if these three options had failed

Because of contamination,

They would have had water tanks in place.

Water tanks. Okay.

But it would have been rationed
to 4 liters per person a day.

They thought half of it for hydration

And the other half for hygienic purposes.

The logistics center is in
the heart of the structure.

It contains everything needed

To run this enormous underground bunker.

This is the top level,

Which used to be the security station

With prison cells for
potential tunnel troublemakers.

Provision was made in the prison wing

To keep only 16 people locked
up out of 20,000 inhabitants.

You'll see a lot of yellow and green...

A little bit of color psychology.

Yellow for sunlight, green for nature.

The command post was on level three.

The civil defense team would
have run the facility from here.

They had telecommunications
facilities and a radio studio

To broadcast to other
bunkers around the country.

This would have been their
sole means of communication

With the outside world.

Yeah, every now and then

They would have played some music, as well,

Probably something
soothing to not upset people.

From the logistics center,
there was only one way

Of accessing the tunnels themselves.

Yes.

Yes.

The a2 motorway that
runs through the tunnels

Carries 55,000 vehicles a day.

The concrete blast doors at both ends,

They're 1.5-meter thick and 350 tons each

And, apparently, able to withstand

The blast of a one-megaton nuclear bomb

As close as one kilometer away.

When the cold war came
to an end in the early 1990s,

It was determined the costs of maintaining

An underground nuclear
shelter were too high.

The bunker's role as a
shelter for 20,000 people

Was finally abandoned,

But the ever-cautious swiss
have maintained the central areas

With a capacity for
2,000 people just in case.

It's part of the zeitgeist of the era.

These buildings just demonstrate

How massive the threat
perception must have been

In the '60s.

Even though switzerland is no
longer building mega bunkers,

The safety of its
citizens is still a priority,

And it's come up with an ingenious plan

For protecting its
population in the 21st century.

♪

Narrator: Switzerland's authorities
are committed to protecting

Every citizen in the
event of a national crisis.

Instead of excavating vast
communal subterranean cities

That could house tens
of thousands of people,

Since the cold war, the focus has been

On providing mini bunkers

For all 8.5 million people in the country.

♪

There are now more than 300,000 of them

Under residential developments

And public buildings like hospitals.

Didier has come to
andelfingen, north of zurich,

To see just such a
shared residential shelter.

Ruef: Growing up in switzerland,

In every building, we have
these personal shelters.

Narrator: He's meeting an
engineer who's tasked with building

These private bunkers.

Caspar: Yeah.

The room is just 20 by 30 feet,

And entry is via a concrete blast door

Weighing 2,000 pounds.

That's basically the
shelter, how it looks like.

A dry toilet. No water in sight,

Because this will be a
weakness for the shelter itself.

So it's not a lot of intimacy here.

Once you're inside, you are mixed

With all your neighbors and family friends,

And you have to share this tiny space.

Yeah, that's true.

There's even a second exit.

It's just for the worst case.

You cannot reopen the blast door.

And that's always built in every shelter.

No other country provides this level

Of underground protection
for their entire population.

These is the swiss
concept in the modern age.

It's part of the tradition.

We have chocolate, we have banks,

We have the alps, and we have our bunkers.

Narrator: For more than 80
years, switzerland has either built

Or adapted subterranean spaces

To protect the safety of its population.

The threats may have changed over time

But the demand for protection
and the country's commitment

To remaining neutral
during the warfare continues.

Now with access to more underground bunkers

Than ever before,

The swiss are ready for every eventuality.

♪

Liverpool...

The powerful trading
port in northwest England.

Iconic buildings line
the waterfront of a city

Steeped in maritime history.

In the east of the city,

Beneath the streets of edge
hill lies an underground world

That's shrouded in mystery.

Like, the span and the size is just crazy.

How did it get here?

Stapledon: It's the fact that
we have so little information.

Is what drives us on to
keep looking for answers

Narrator: And who built it?

He was so secretive,
burrowing away for 35 years.

What secrets are a group
of determined volunteers

Still unearthing from deep

Within this extraordinary
subterranean creation?

We've come a long way
to uncover the mystery.

Mad, aren't we?

♪

Narrator: In northwest
England, in liverpool,

Lies an underground world

Built by 19th century tobacco
tycoon joseph williamson.

For 20 years, its enduring mystery

Has intrigued volunteer
coordinator chris iles.

Iles: Well, I've always been interested

In underground space, manmade especially,

And I've always been
aware of the local legend

Of joseph williamson and
these tunnels at edge hill.

Narrator: Few personal
details are well-documented

About joseph williamson

Beyond his business and personal wealth.

We do know he was a tobacco
merchant and landowner

During the georgian era.

He moved to liverpool in 1805

And lived in a house up
on edge hill, east of the city.

In williamson's day, the
neighborhood was growing.

Lined by elegant houses

With scenic views of the town and river.

Iles: People called
him the king of edge hill

Or even the mole of edge hill.

And I remember being intrigued
by it and wanting to know more.

Joseph wellington was
in the tobacco industry.

He married the boss'
daughter, made a lot of money.

He basically inherited the company

And became a very rich man.

Narrator: David bridson of the
williamson tunnels heritage centre

Has researched the full extent
of joseph williamson's wealth.

So he was able to retire at the age of 49

With something like £400,000 in the bank.

We've seen various estimates

Of how much that would be worth today,

But anything from £25 million
up to £50 million pounds.

Narrator: What williamson spent
his life savings on during retirement

Is the most intriguing part of his legacy.

In 1805, joseph williamson
bought up an area of land

That was uninhabitable,
an abandoned quarry.

The land around here had been quarried out

For sandstone as liverpool
grew and expanded.

We'll never know what
gave williamson the idea,

But he hit upon this seemingly
crazy idea of roofing them over

Narrator: In the first of his rather
unorthodox business decisions,

Williamson reclaimed the quarry land

And made it profitable again.

He had pillars built into the
quarry, lined them with bricks,

And built streets and houses over the top.

Although what he built below ground

Would mystify the world to this day,

And no map was ever left to
show what was now sealed beneath,

Archaeologists and volunteers

Are exploring this world he left behind.

So we have these beautiful
brick-and-sandstone vaults

All sorts of sizes from a few inches across

Up to this one at 25
feet all purely to reclaim

The quarry workings and create usable land.

Narrator: Nothing remains
of the aboveground properties

Williamson built apart from
the facade of his great house.

He was notorious for redesigning his homes

And making the windows larger and larger

And infused similar
quirks in the tunnels below.

After he died in 1840,
the caverns grew derelict

And were filled in with
earth and building waste,

But rumors of the subterranean
spaces remained local legend.

We knew of the existence
of the chambers beneath

The buildings that were above.

Narrator: 1995, the
tunnels were rediscovered

By a group of amateurs,
one of whom was chris iles.

We dug down, and we
found this arch from above

And smashed through there.

There were screams of joy.

"we're in. We found it. We found it."

Narrator: It was the start
of an amazing project.

The enthusiasts had no idea
how deep the tunnels were

And with no surviving map

And no idea of how far they
ran, it took them 10 long years

To win permission from local authorities

To excavate the mysterious
underground space.

But the enthusiasts were about to face

Their biggest challenge yet.

Narrator: In 19th
century liverpool England,

The tunnels of eccentric
tobacco tycoon john williamson

Were filled in with
hundreds of tons of junk

Dumped by the victorians.

Iles: Glass bottles, jars...
You name it, it's down here.

It'd been used as a victorian...

Narrator: Tom stapledon
remembers clearly the day

He and a group of modern-day enthusiasts

Started to excavate the site.

18th of November 2012.

We spent four solid years
emptying this place out...

...Until we finally reached the bottom

And found ourselves 60 feet below ground.

There was spoil piled
right up to the roof virtually

To the end of that chamber

And you couldn't have
climbed over the top of it,

And we had no idea what was beyond.

Narrator: Though the
excavation is still underway,

So far the team has discovered
around two miles of tunnels

With three access points.

What is still left to discover

Is why williamson built
this labyrinth to begin with.

This is the arch to nowhere.

We call it the arch to nowhere

Because, essentially,
as you come in, you think,

"oh, it's a tunnel entrance
going off to the left,"

But in reality it's not.

Narrator: In his lifetime,

Joseph williamson was highly
secretive about the tunnels.

So why would these underground spaces

Created with so much meticulous brickwork.

As the excavation continued deeper,

The brick vaulting gave
way to the raw rock face

Of the original quarry,

Which revealed sandstone
laboriously cut by hand.

Iles: And you can see in certain places

Where the men have been hacking
out with a hammer and chisel,

And you can see it goes
in different directions.

That could be somebody
who was left- or right-handed

Doing the different angle.

Narrator: It took volunteers
four years to clear out

The northern section of the
tunnels beneath an area of town

Known as paddington, named
after the famous section of london.

In 2016, they reached the bottom
and found something unexpected.

I'm standing at about 60
feet below ground level here.

By the time we finished, it
felt like a brilliant achievement

To have emptied this place out.

At the same time, for all of us,

There was a serious disappointment

That we didn't find any
tunnels leading off this.

Which we hoped would have connected up

With the rest of the
williamson tunnel system.

Narrator: Why would williamson
have his workers build a tunnel

With a dead end?

This curiosity is still up for speculation.

But their disappointment was short-lived.

Above ground, just around the corner,

Stand the remains of the house

Where williamson lived
with his wife elizabeth.

The volunteers have made
some surprising discoveries

Beneath it.

Stapledon: We've been
uncovering what's below ground

Because there's nothing
left above ground to be seen.

Iles: This is williamson's house,

Or what's left of williamson's house

It's the last remaining
above-ground structure

That was built by
williamson, that we know of.

Shows that you are inside his house.

Four fireplaces complete with their ranges.

And, of course, finding stone-carved

Skirting board, as well.

Narrator: Beneath the cellar,
they discovered a great void.

While the purpose of
the space is still debated,

Its location right below
williamson's house is curious.

Stapledon: This is the banqueting hall.

Williamson's his men quarry out
on the stone from this chamber.

He's used the stone for building,

And then he's vaulted
over it with this brick arch,

And he's built his own three-story house

Right on top of it.

Narrator: To this day
there's, no hard evidence

As to how this space
was used by williamson.

Yet it's the mystery that surrounds

These subterranean tunnels

That keeps luring people
to discover what lies below.

Each week, around 20 volunteers
work here across the site.

One of them is a
recent arrival to liverpool,

American kaitlyn mcgann.

Mcgann: It started because I was like

"oh, it's just archaeology I can go do."

But now it's just, like,
this is my favorite place.

The first time I went
down there, it was just dirt.

The walls are starting to show up,

And then we were
like, "we found the floor,"

And then we were like, "there isn't a floor

Because now we have
this new tunnel coming out."

And so every time, it's just, like...

Like, the span and the size is just crazy.

Narrator: The newest area
of the tunnels to be discovered

Was found behind a brick wall.

We've just come a long
way to try and uncover

The mystery of what he did.

There's always something new to find

Because he's left no
plans. There's no designs.

This is the only part of his
house that's still standing.

Mad, aren't we?

♪

Holding: Well, I think we're in
the start of a much bigger tunnel.

But, at the moment, we're
right up in the roof of it.

If this is the big tunnel,

There may be another
35 foot to go down here.

Narrator: To this day,
williamson's subterranean legacy

Confounds the tunnel enthusiasts.

He seemed to be a reclusive
man who loved his privacy,

But his motivations remain unclear.

His tunnels were so secret that
when williamson directed his men

To dig towards the railway tunnel,

The railway workers they encountered

Were so shocked, they'd feared
they'd broken through into hell

And encountered the devil.

There is a lot of mystery to williamson

Because williamson, as far as we know,

Never left any paperwork

To say why exactly he did what he did.

He was so secretive yeah.

Didn't boast about what he was doing.

He didn't talk to many people
about what he was up to.

It was just him and the
men who worked for him

Burrowing away for 35 years.

The most popular theory for why williamson

Commissioned these tunnels
is that he had a charitable side.

In the early 19th century, the
u.K. Was rife with unemployment.

Perhaps williamson acted
out of a spirit of philanthropy

Offering work to men in need of a job.

Bridson: Through
williamson and his tunnels,

They were able to gain
meaningful employment.

They were able to take away each home.

They kept their pride.

They were able to feed
and clothe their families.

Narrator: Unearthing
these phenomenal tunnels,

The volunteers have opened
a door to another world.

Stapledon: We sometimes
joke that somewhere buried,

There is a big trunk full of
all of williamson's papers.

But at the same time it's the fact

That we have so little information

That's so intriguing,

And I think, for most of us,

It's what drives us on to
keep looking for answers.

Narrator: The enthusiasts
working hard underground

To discover the truth
and the citizens of liverpool

Above them may never
really understand the enigma

Of joseph williamson and his tunnels,

But that won't deter them from trying.