Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S09E07.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BTN_track3_[und] Subtitles

00:00:06,500 --> 00:00:09,[narrator]
Rusting relics
that helped build America.

00:00:11,267 --> 00:00:14,The structure was home
to revolutionary technologies,

00:00:14,467 --> 00:00:17,ones that would go on to help
save countless lives.

00:00:21,433 --> 00:00:24,[narrator]
Ancient technology
in a lost world.

00:00:24,900 --> 00:00:27,[Lynette]
It's like being in a sundial.

00:00:27,333 --> 00:00:30,These guys
are mathematical geniuses.

00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:30,These guys
are mathematical geniuses.

00:00:35,333 --> 00:00:38,[narrator]
And the training ground
for elite communists.

00:00:40,167 --> 00:00:42,The men who passed
through here

00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:44,went on
to prominent positions.

00:00:52,267 --> 00:00:53,[narrator] Decaying relics,

00:00:55,033 --> 00:00:57,ruins of lost worlds,

00:00:58,333 --> 00:01:00,sites haunted by the past,

00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:01,sites haunted by the past,

00:01:01,567 --> 00:01:05,their secrets waiting
to be revealed.

00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:19,[narrator]
In Wales, at the end
of a blustery beach,

00:01:19,233 --> 00:01:23,an imposing ruin sits atop
a jagged, rocky outcrop.

00:01:25,567 --> 00:01:27,[Dougal]
You're sort of at this
idyllic British beach.

00:01:29,067 --> 00:01:30,And you look over
and you've g***t
this rocky island.

00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:31,And you look over
and you've g***t
this rocky island.

00:01:32,667 --> 00:01:35,[Rob] During high tide,
this place is entirely
cut off,

00:01:35,567 --> 00:01:38,trapping anyone on the island.

00:01:38,300 --> 00:01:43,As the tide drains away,
slowly the bottom steps
of the staircase are revealed.

00:01:45,333 --> 00:01:47,[narrator]
Battered by the elements,

00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:48,it's a daunting place.

00:01:51,233 --> 00:01:53,[Rob]
When you've made it
all the way to the top,

00:01:53,367 --> 00:01:58,you arrive at this huge,
solid steel door
secured by a big bolt.

00:01:58,900 --> 00:02:00,And it makes you wonder
what's inside.

00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:01,And it makes you wonder
what's inside.

00:02:02,500 --> 00:02:04,[Dougal] It's a sort of place
as a kid you'd think

00:02:04,267 --> 00:02:05,it'd be really fun
to get on to,

00:02:05,967 --> 00:02:07,but also you'd be
quite worried about it

00:02:07,700 --> 00:02:10,being some kind
of strange lair in there.

00:02:12,567 --> 00:02:15,[narrator]
The locals remember
less permanent structures

00:02:15,533 --> 00:02:18,added to the roof of the fort.

00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:24,These are very basic
wooden structures
covered with wire netting.

00:02:24,067 --> 00:02:26,[Rob] They also had some
open-air cages up on the top.

00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:30,Who or what was living here
that had to be kept
on the island

00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:31,Who or what was living here
that had to be kept
on the island

00:02:32,833 --> 00:02:34,with the help
of this high tide?

00:02:41,500 --> 00:02:42,[narrator]
Local conservationist

00:02:42,967 --> 00:02:46,Ginny Batt knows more
about this island than most.

00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,[Ginny speaking]

00:03:00,267 --> 00:03:01,[narrator]
This windswept outpost

00:03:02,133 --> 00:03:07,sits at the junction
of the Celtic
and the Irish seas.

00:03:07,133 --> 00:03:10,[Ginny speaking]

00:03:13,433 --> 00:03:16,The little promontory itself
is about 600-odd feet

00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:19,in one direction,
200 in the other.

00:03:19,233 --> 00:03:24,And it's a limestone
bit of rock, very easily
weathered away with water,

00:03:24,767 --> 00:03:26,so you get
all of these sea caves.

00:03:28,833 --> 00:03:30,[narrator] Humans have
inhabited this island
for 1,000 years,

00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:31,[narrator] Humans have
inhabited this island
for 1,000 years,

00:03:33,100 --> 00:03:36,when religious hermits
started to use the caves here.

00:03:38,367 --> 00:03:42,The island g***t its name
after a chapel was built there

00:03:42,667 --> 00:03:45,dedicated to St. Catherine.

00:03:45,500 --> 00:03:49,[narrator]
But traces of the chapel
are long gone.

00:03:49,433 --> 00:03:52,No one's lived here
since Ginny Batt
and her parents left.

00:03:55,633 --> 00:03:58,[Ginny speaking]

00:04:02,833 --> 00:04:07,[narrator] The Batt family
once lived in the cavernous
concrete structure

00:04:07,067 --> 00:04:09,that dominates
St. Catherine's Island.

00:04:11,167 --> 00:04:13,When you look
at the structure,
the purpose is clear.

00:04:13,700 --> 00:04:18,This is a fortification
that has fallen
into disrepair.

00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,There's more here
than meets the eye.

00:04:22,467 --> 00:04:24,[narrator]
In the mid-19th century,

00:04:24,733 --> 00:04:27,the British feared
naval attack from France,

00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:30,and built a series
of fortifications
along the coast.

00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:31,and built a series
of fortifications
along the coast.

00:04:32,167 --> 00:04:35,It was built here
because of its prominence

00:04:35,067 --> 00:04:38,and its proximity
to other ports in the region.

00:04:40,933 --> 00:04:43,[narrator]
But even before
the fort was finished,

00:04:43,900 --> 00:04:47,international relations
had improved.

00:04:47,133 --> 00:04:51,And by 1901,
it had been mothballed.

00:04:51,667 --> 00:04:55,But the story
of this windswept place
didn't end there.

00:04:56,533 --> 00:04:59,[Ginny speaking]

00:05:09,500 --> 00:05:13,[narrator] The Batt family
were the last of a series
of private occupants

00:05:13,500 --> 00:05:14,to take over the fort.

00:05:17,267 --> 00:05:21,The first owner had
decorated the interior
with no expense spared.

00:05:23,567 --> 00:05:25,But by the time
Ginny's family arrived,

00:05:26,833 --> 00:05:29,the strange fortress home
was already a wreck.

00:05:31,067 --> 00:05:34,[Ginny speaking]

00:05:38,567 --> 00:05:40,[narrator]
But back in the 1960s,

00:05:40,633 --> 00:05:44,it was perfect
for what her parents
had in mind.

00:05:46,467 --> 00:05:49,[Ginny speaking]

00:05:51,967 --> 00:05:56,They needed somewhere to live,
but not just for themselves.

00:05:56,100 --> 00:05:59,In tow, they had
something quite unusual,

00:05:59,367 --> 00:06:00,which meant
that the only place suitable
for them to live

00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:01,which meant
that the only place suitable
for them to live

00:06:02,133 --> 00:06:07,was the fort out
on those craggy rocks
down by the beach.

00:06:07,333 --> 00:06:11,[narrator] Ginny's parents
had long dreamed
of opening a zoo

00:06:11,700 --> 00:06:14,and had already started
collecting animals.

00:06:16,100 --> 00:06:21,[Sascha] They bring in
a lot of exotic animals,
and they open a zoo

00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:23,in this abandoned
coastal fortress.

00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:29,[Ginny speaking]

00:06:29,233 --> 00:06:30,[narrator] There was nothing
conventional about
the Batt family life here.

00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:31,[narrator] There was nothing
conventional about
the Batt family life here.

00:06:33,767 --> 00:06:36,[Ginny speaking]

00:06:47,900 --> 00:06:50,[narrator] In March 1968,

00:06:50,433 --> 00:06:52,St. Catherine's Zoo opened.

00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:57,[Ginny speaking]

00:07:23,300 --> 00:07:25,The zoo was filled
with all sorts of animals,

00:07:25,933 --> 00:07:29,from badgers and foxes
to bats and birds,

00:07:29,333 --> 00:07:30,even exotic monkeys
and alligators.

00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:31,even exotic monkeys
and alligators.

00:07:36,833 --> 00:07:39,[narrator]
Ginny Batt and her family

00:07:39,467 --> 00:07:42,shared this place
with more than 100 animals.

00:07:42,967 --> 00:07:46,So all parts of the fort
had to be put to use.

00:07:48,433 --> 00:07:50,They've had some open-air, um,

00:07:50,367 --> 00:07:53,sort of cages up on the top
where the gun turrets
used to be.

00:07:56,667 --> 00:07:59,[Ginny speaking]

00:08:21,500 --> 00:08:23,One can only imagine

00:08:23,133 --> 00:08:24,being...
being one of the children

00:08:24,700 --> 00:08:27,living in this,
in this family.

00:08:27,167 --> 00:08:30,You've g***t this wonderland,
that's your house,

00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:30,You've g***t this wonderland,
that's your house,

00:08:30,467 --> 00:08:31,which is a little zoo
and you've g***t
all these animals.

00:08:32,700 --> 00:08:35,It must have been a crazy
and wild time for them.

00:08:36,500 -->...