Smoke and Steel

In Saltburn, England is a cliff lift that offered the public a ride like they'd never experienced before. Atop a mountain in California, stands an astronomical observatory where ambition combined with new technology to fundamentally alter human understanding of the universe. And in Germany, lies a mining hoist that used a new invention called wire rope - this material would soon spread far and wide and be utilised in everything from bridges to ski lifts.

On the south coast of England, The Warrior is an ironclad warship whose design sparked an arms race between nations.

In Prague, a grand public works facility cleaned up the polluted water supply and helped set a template for others to follow. While in San Francisco, the mint building was designed to be both fireproof and earthquake proof and helped rebuild the west coast after facing down the ultimate test.

The industrial legacy of a tunnel under the Thames, how steam engines reshaped the Netherlands, and a surprising link to our digital world.

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.

Examining the legacy of a cable hut in Cornwall, how a mountain railway in New Hampshire inspired its passengers and a lighthouse in France.

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.