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Tom Scott England S01E06
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00:00My next stop on the road trip is a little bit personal.
00:03I've parked up in Scarborough, on the coast of the north riding of Yorkshire.
00:06It's one of the great British seaside resorts,
00:09which I'll give you more context on when we head to Bridlington soon.
00:12Set back slightly from the north bay of Scarborough is Peaseholm Park.
00:16Each summer there's the sort of things you'd expect from a park in a seaside town,
00:19a bandstand for concerts, pedaloes and rowing boats for rent, a little putting green.
00:25And then there's the naval warfare.
00:317am, all quiet in Scarborough, and welcome to Peaseholm Park.
00:36When I was on holiday as a kid, I used to come here sometimes,
00:40and the naval warfare at Peaseholm Park was always this slightly mythical thing.
00:45The posters advertise a sea battle in miniature, including fireworks,
00:49and while I didn't have a camcorder back in 1996, someone else did,
00:53and they let me use their footage, thank you John,
00:54so this is roughly what I would have seen as a kid.
00:57Scale model ships sailing around the lake, pyrotechnics going off.
01:01She's well and truly outnumbered.
01:03Even model planes flying overhead on wires, apparently dropping bombs.
01:11Oh dear.
01:14As you can see, she's taken two direct hits there, and she is ablaze.
01:19And a big fireworks finale.
01:29And the most astonishing part of it all, those ships are not remote controlled.
01:34To explain how that's worked for nearly a century,
01:36I met up with Noah, one of the park staff, and I got to go behind the scenes into the
01:41boatyard.
01:41I'm properly excited about this, I saw the naval warfare as a kid, like, this is lovely.
01:46Three of those boats are on a winch system, pulled on cables from the boatyard.
01:50All the others...
01:51They're all manned, even in ones.
01:53Yeah.
01:54Which I think we'll be able to get you in one.
01:58Ooh, okay.
02:01To try.
02:02Yeah, that is definitely something I'd like to try, thank you very much.
02:06But I also, I don't want to get in the way.
02:08Like, he says carefully setting up the camera shot and trying to angle it.
02:12Like, I don't want to get in the way, you've got a show to put on.
02:14Five of the boats have a crew member on board, one person per boat hidden,
02:19lying down inside, piloting the ship and setting off the pyrotechnics that are right next to them.
02:24And while I wasn't going to be part of the show, obviously, I was going to get to try piloting
02:29one.
02:301927 it started, so...
02:32Oh, you're coming out with the centenary then?
02:33Yes. I mean, when it first died, all the boats were pedal powered.
02:38Right.
02:39And then, the only time it stopped was for the Second World War and for Covid.
02:44Yeah.
02:45When they came back to the boats after the Second World War,
02:48they'd not been, they weren't damaged from the war, they just weren't maintained.
02:51Yeah.
02:52So they decided to replace the fleet and that's when the motors came in that we decided to use.
02:58And now they're all run by at least four car batteries.
03:02So those two ships are pulled out on cables.
03:04Yeah.
03:05Those are the ones with people in them.
03:08People in them, yeah.
03:09And there's a rowing boat to take stuff out there.
03:11And there's a rowing boat.
03:12Which looks very odd at that scale.
03:15That's just a really big rowing boat all of a sudden.
03:17Hi, I'm Tom.
03:18I'm Brandon.
03:19Brandon and Richard.
03:20Richard.
03:21Nice to meet you.
03:22Hello, hello.
03:22The first job for the day is to set out the winch cables.
03:25They're pulled all the way in after each show.
03:27So the first thing to do is get them out onto a reel.
03:32We're starting to get like the nice silvery cable visible.
03:37Mm-hmm.
03:38Which is an indicator, that bit's never been in the water,
03:40so we're getting to the end of the reel.
03:44Those motors are probably 70 years old.
03:48When an electrician looks at them, they just think,
03:51this is such old technology that we've got down here.
03:54But it works.
03:55But it works, yeah.
03:57And you can fix it with regular parts and nothing special.
04:01Pretty much so.
04:02Just a bit of maintenance and just hope and pray.
04:05Yeah, prayers.
04:06That's what we're fixing with.
04:08They take the cable reel out onto a rowing boat
04:10and pull it across the water.
04:11So every show we set this up,
04:14so the first thing we'll do is we've got three pegs to pull out.
04:17Okay, sorry, with apologies to Richard,
04:19because he's doing manual work over water,
04:22I couldn't risk putting a microphone on him,
04:23it might get knocked off.
04:24So between the oars, the water, and the ducks...
04:34I'm going to have to explain this one here.
04:36They have three cables to lay out in a specific order.
04:39Out from the boat shed, round the pivot point on the shoreline,
04:42and then to each boat's starting point.
04:44We have a specific order that the cables belong.
04:48The British Pride is the one they're bringing out now.
04:51That will go to this pole that's directly behind me,
04:54and then it will pull over towards the bridge.
04:57This one's the lowest one in the water,
04:58so you have to put this out first.
05:01You don't want this to sit over the top of the other two.
05:03Right, so the cables are at specific heights in the water?
05:07They have to put depths in the water to prevent them from...
05:09You know, you don't want them rubbing on each other the whole time,
05:11because over the course of, you know, let's say 30 shows a year,
05:15that was a lot of damage to them.
05:17The reason they pivot the wires is so they can have three boats
05:20moving in different directions, all powered by the winches of the boat shed,
05:24without any remote control needed.
05:26Those boats actually only travel in a straight line,
05:28forward and backward between the starting point of the pivot,
05:30but with all the chaos going on in all the other boats,
05:33the audience doesn't spot that.
05:35Noah here, who will be doing the special behind-the-scenes effects,
05:39he has to operate the pulleys and do all the switchboard
05:42for all the front effects and set the bombs off on the three boats.
05:46We'll talk about that switchboard in a moment.
05:48First, at the other side of the lake,
05:50they'll just tie on the cable to the shore for now
05:52and only put it under tension just before the show
05:54when they move the boats out.
05:56There's going to be tourists out there on pedaloes until then.
05:58Now, about that switchboard.
06:00The switchboard, so, got the submarine at the top,
06:05as you see everything's labelled, and we'll put the effects on.
06:09I mean, the amount of effects is pretty ridiculous.
06:12And made in Yorkshire as well, which is nice.
06:14Made in Yorkshire.
06:14This is probably 1930s, maybe.
06:17Yeah.
06:18Everything here really is at all.
06:20I don't know how well you can see it down there,
06:21but they are the old engines that we've taken out of the boats.
06:24Oh!
06:26Since being replaced by mobility scooter engines.
06:29That makes sense.
06:31Mobility scooters and wheelchairs.
06:32I remember working with Colin Furze, if you know Mad Lincolnshire Inventor,
06:37years ago.
06:37Anything where he was putting high-powered stuff and mobility scooter motors,
06:41wheelchair motors, depending on whether you needed more torque or more speed.
06:45So we've got switchboard here.
06:47Yeah, so harbour and washer model are both out front.
06:51All the stuff on the ground.
06:52And there's still no radio control for that,
06:54so as those boats move out,
06:56they're dragging a long waterproof firing cable behind them.
07:00The tanker, that's the British Pride,
07:04which I feel a bit sorry for the British Pride, as we've seen the show.
07:06That one really doesn't do anything and then get blown up.
07:10And then the submarine as well, which is fairly straightforward.
07:14So let's have a look at the other end of those firing cables on the British Pride.
07:18Across the deck you can see effects, wipers.
07:21Oh! Those are...
07:22So these are all spent, they're all gone, don't worry about them.
07:25It's not hooked up to any power.
07:27Oh yeah, I'm still not going to get close to a used firework though.
07:30But these, yeah, these in the show, all fire at different points,
07:33and you can see the... on these, the arms, fold down.
07:37Yeah.
07:37They'll fold in the water and sit just underneath,
07:40so the big splash looks like near misses and...
07:43Right!
07:44It's on a tilt, as I mentioned earlier with the cockpit barrel.
07:47Oh yeah!
07:47Remember that boat from the camcorder footage that got hit and suddenly listed to the side?
07:52This is how it's done, and it also involves pyrotechnics.
07:59This here.
08:00Oh, there's a...
08:01Massive concrete barrel.
08:02Big lump of concrete, right.
08:05So now the ship's upright.
08:09It's literally like that until they blow, that flies out.
08:15Hopefully it rolls.
08:16Yep, and all of a sudden the ship is listing in the water.
08:20Listing in the water, yeah.
08:21You might assume that something like this is going to be run by enthusiastic volunteers,
08:25perhaps older retired folks, but no, these are park staff, council employees.
08:29It's part of the job of running P-Zone Park,
08:32and they have to train up new people all the time.
08:34The start of the season we'll do a run-through, we'll get everyone in boats,
08:38just get used to being in them, because it's...
08:40There's drive in them and there's being in it as well, you know,
08:42if you stick someone in it and then they have a panic attack,
08:45because it's like being in a coffin on water, essentially.
08:50You know, obviously we're not going to force them in a boat.
08:52No, if you can't do it, you can't do it.
08:54Yeah, and it's not something everyone here is comfortable with doing.
08:58You know, no one's ever forced to go in.
09:00No.
09:02It's not something you can really say to someone, you know.
09:06All the boats you can sit up in, apart from the aircraft carrier Arcoil,
09:10the one in the far corner.
09:12Yeah, one.
09:13You can sit up, you're not lying completely prone?
09:16I'm not lying completely flat, apart from in Arcoil, which that is...
09:21Whoever has that boat, you know...
09:25I mean, in the show, it's probably the boat with the least amount of things to do,
09:30but it is not an easy one to get to grips with.
09:33Meanwhile, Brandon and Richard are getting the last cable out.
09:36We've got all three of us, in the event of one of us not being able to do a particular
09:40job,
09:41we can all do each of those jobs.
09:43So you'll see, we can look after this, this, all the bits that go off in the show.
09:49Every time I think that, you know, someone's been introduced as well,
09:52they bring new ideas, fresh, you know, thoughts and questions get asked.
09:57You know, there were certain things that were happening,
09:59but why do we do it this way?
10:02There's a well-known phrase down here, which is,
10:05that's just the way it's always been.
10:08Which, you know, a show that's nearly a hundred years old.
10:11Yeah, so we've changed a few things, hopefully for the better.
10:14Job number two, get the rest of the boats out of the shed.
10:17Which involves me putting on some waders.
10:20It is still weird to be getting into water in clothing.
10:24Yeah, you feel real wet sometimes when you're like,
10:26I'm a leaking, but sure, it's just the cold.
10:30This is, it's uneven, isn't it?
10:32Untie the boat, whoever did this knows they're not,
10:34and then bring it over to the side.
10:36Let's be honest, everyone watching this is going,
10:39is he going to fall in the water?
10:41I did not fall in the water, but while Noah and Richard rode out
10:45to pull the final cable across, I got to try driving the boats.
10:49There you go.
10:50Yeah.
10:53Well, that was, I made that more difficult than I needed to.
10:57All right, okay.
10:59Sit down.
11:04Legs out.
11:06Okay.
11:07That is your throttle.
11:09That's my throttle.
11:09Yeah, it's not.
11:10So if you let go, it'll stop.
11:12You're going to ease it on.
11:14So I'm going to be pulling?
11:15No, no, no.
11:15Not a motorbike.
11:16Oh, like a motorbike.
11:17Okay, yeah.
11:18Just twist it now, you'll get a feel for it.
11:19Oh, okay, yeah.
11:20Gently.
11:21You've got a forward and reverse selection there.
11:23Yeah.
11:23Some of them are orientated incorrectly.
11:26Okay, I'll figure that out.
11:28So the motors go the same way, but because of the way that the prop is,
11:32depends which way it cuts the water.
11:35Oh, of course.
11:36Yeah, all right.
11:36Do you understand that?
11:36Yeah, that makes sense.
11:37Yeah, if the prop's on the other way, it'll push the other way.
11:39Yeah, don't worry.
11:40You'll soon figure it out.
11:41You just switch that key.
11:43Ignition on.
11:43Now, if you twist that throttle, you should feel...
11:48Yep.
11:49Yeah.
11:49Now which...
11:50Okay, so I'm going forwards with that.
11:52I can feel like pushing that one.
11:53You're steering with your feet.
11:54You're steering with my feet?
11:56Where?
11:57Oh, okay.
11:57Yeah, I see it.
11:58Yeah.
11:59Okay, so are we keeping the top up for now, or...?
12:01They're very responsive, so they don't worry about having to
12:04start turning, you know, a mile before.
12:07You want to make a corner.
12:08The lid, you can pull down yourself.
12:11You should be able to just grab the side and bring it down.
12:13Okay.
12:13Just put your head on these bits.
12:16Right.
12:16Push out into the centre.
12:17If you can go out.
12:19Yep.
12:19Bear left and just go very slowly.
12:21Very slowly.
12:22And out comes...
12:23Yeah, I'm not going to go...
12:24And we'll go from there.
12:25Okay.
12:28So yeah, slow and steady.
12:29Slow and steady.
12:30I'll show up in just a moment.
12:31Okay.
12:32I think the best way of explaining quite how big a deal this was for me,
12:35and I think quite how big a deal it would be for many people from this part of Yorkshire,
12:39is that I sent a text to my friend Gary,
12:41Yorkshireman born and bred, telling him that I'd done this.
12:44And the reply included enough swearing that I'm not going to repeat it on camera.
12:50Muggins here is having a joyride, and they're still hard at work getting the cables out.
12:55I'm just getting in their way.
12:56Oh, hello.
12:56Don't be afraid to open it up.
12:57Really?
12:59He says don't be afraid to open it up.
13:01All right.
13:04That is...
13:05Oh my word.
13:07That is full steam ahead.
13:09I cannot believe they'll let me do this.
13:12Left hand down a bit.
13:15And right hand down a bit.
13:17And left hand down a bit.
13:25Don't hit the seagull.
13:26Don't hit the bandstand.
13:27Don't hit the seagull.
13:28Don't hit the bandstand.
13:29Move out of the way, seagull.
13:31Move out.
13:39I've just got full throttle on this boat.
13:42I've got full throttle on a B-Zone Park Naval Warfare boat.
13:46If you didn't grow up round here, I know this might not mean much to you, but to me,
13:51this is incredible.
13:54I turned the power down there because I thought the ship was going to coast.
13:57I've driven a canal boat and some other little boats before, and there's always so much more
14:01inertia than you think.
14:02You have to plan so far in advance, but here, no, these were easy.
14:06Went off the throttle far earlier than I needed to.
14:09This is the sort of thing where you can just...
14:12Yeah, I did have to, at least briefly, bring the lid down.
14:21You know what?
14:23The visibility's not bad, is it?
14:27In that one, he says. All right.
14:29Next, the HMS Ark Royal.
14:32I should mention, while I'm getting towed in, that for many years,
14:34the B-Zone Park show was based on an actual Second World War naval battle,
14:37the Battle of the River Plate.
14:39But these days, it's just British forces versus an unnamed enemy,
14:44which is why the British ships have names.
14:46They're based on actual ships, like the Ark Royal, the aircraft carrier.
14:50Here we go.
14:53There we go.
14:54Ah, that was certainly a noise, I made it right.
14:58So sit right.
14:59Okay, don't put your weight anywhere other than the centre, Tom.
15:04Okay.
15:05Lovely.
15:08Oh, okay.
15:09Yeah.
15:09You're certainly in.
15:10Yeah, I'm definitely in.
15:11You are limited for space in this one.
15:13I am.
15:14You've got a handle that wants to poke you in the chest.
15:17Yes.
15:18You're currently sat very proud.
15:20Oh.
15:21Right.
15:22For right now, do you want to go out where you can see over the top?
15:27No, let's do it properly.
15:28Let's do it properly.
15:29With the lid on.
15:29Let's do it.
15:30Yeah.
15:31Yeah.
15:31Because I've had the joy ride, haven't I?
15:34I've had the bit where…
15:35You've had the pleasant.
15:35Yeah.
15:36Right.
15:37Okay.
15:38So my head has to be…
15:39You're scooting right down.
15:40Yep.
15:41I'm going to slide this lid towards you.
15:42Yep.
15:44Oh, good grief.
15:45You mind your head.
15:47Yep.
15:49Well, that's…
15:50That's an experience.
15:52Quite different.
15:53You said it was like a coffin earlier.
15:55I can see why.
15:57I don't know if we can see you in there from this end.
16:00Right.
16:02Ignition.
16:04A little bit of power.
16:11Can I give it a bit more?
16:16That's a noise.
16:17Go this way to go forwards.
16:21Okay, look, it could be worse, is all I'm saying.
16:25Turning to the bandstand.
16:27I couldn't really see.
16:29When you're piloting the Ark Royal, one hand on the throttle,
16:31one hand on the steering lever that wants to hit you in the face,
16:34all you have are tiny portholes.
16:37Most of which you can't see anything through from that angle.
16:39So you have to remember what you have seen and build up a model of the environment in your head.
16:47Presumably the drivers pick up this skill and know the lake like the back of their hand,
16:50but when you're piloting an icon of Scarborough for the first time,
16:54it's a bit nerve-wracking.
16:55Also, you may spot that I had some company in the boat, a few moths.
17:00I'd not noticed the moths.
17:01I was too busy trying not to crash, but I will notice one of them very soon.
17:06Oh, there are a lot of tourists watching me.
17:09I mean, let's be honest, all the people watching are hoping at some level
17:12that I'm going to suddenly yell everybody down and round the bandstand,
17:16but I think I'm round safely.
17:20Now open her up a bit, take her in.
17:22Open it up and take her in.
17:24Got it.
17:25I steadily took the Ark Royal up to full throttle,
17:28and look, I know it might not look like much from outside,
17:32but when you're lying with your head by the waterline for the first time,
17:36it does feel unsafe at that speed.
17:39Blimey, that's fast.
17:41This feels like joyriding.
17:42This feels like I'm going far too fast.
17:45Oh, blimey, there's a pedalo coming in at speed.
17:48That's fine. That's fine.
17:50Hello.
17:51Hello, tourists, as if I'm not a tourist.
17:54I didn't spot that pedalo.
17:56A few seconds difference, and, well, they'd have stopped.
17:59Or they'd have taken evasive manoeuvres.
18:01I guess it's not exactly dangerous.
18:03Of course, when the battle's happening, that wouldn't be a problem.
18:05There's no public on the lake then.
18:06But it did alarm me a little.
18:08I still have not noticed the moths.
18:11I wasn't looking inside the boat at all.
18:13And then one of them decided to wake me up.
18:16God, I cannot see the critical areas here, but no one's shouting at me.
18:22I feel like that was very close on the left.
18:25Oh my god, there's a moth in here!
18:26Ah!
18:30I don't know if that was a moth or a butterfly!
18:34Didn't explain to have that problem.
18:36My voice went up two octaves.
18:39That reaction would have been far more appropriate for the firework
18:42I'd be helping set up soon.
18:43Not for a moth.
18:44But never mind.
18:45I parked up, was let out of the Ark Royal,
18:47and then told that the moth incident could have been so much worse.
18:51What do you mean they do that?
18:52Yeah, they do that.
18:55The worst thing I've had was a frog.
18:56A frog?
18:57Frog in the boat with them, yeah.
18:58I don't mind a butterfly.
19:00Frogs moths and butterflies, that's the, uh...
19:03It's when you set one of the effects off and they all just,
19:06obviously you hear the effect and then you have five or six of them,
19:08just smash them to the side of your face and you're in different directions.
19:12The last job, then, was the final setup for the show.
19:15The team rigged all the explosions and effects on the boats,
19:18towed three of them out, attached them to the winch cables,
19:20and plugged in the wires for the detonators.
19:22And under very strict supervision, I was allowed to prep one firework.
19:27The big boom that signals there's half an hour until the show.
19:31So, next job is this beauty.
19:35Oh, right.
19:36Take that.
19:36Yes.
19:37Okay.
19:38Okay.
19:39Um, this is going to be our 230.
19:42The axe isn't a bird scarer or so.
19:45It's a cue for our narrator, Jim.
19:48Right, yep.
19:48To start his lock.
19:50So I'll go and show you where it goes.
19:51Okay.
19:52That's fine.
19:52I'm just, you know, casually holding an explosive.
19:5775 millimetre white crackling.
20:00Right, so, in the tube first.
20:04Whichever, however you're comfortable.
20:05I would pop it in the tube first.
20:06All right, in the tube first.
20:08Make sure your head's not looking straight down when you connect it.
20:12That's it.
20:13I wasn't worried about this until you said that.
20:16Now, the thing is, while I'm aware that everything is switched off.
20:21Oh, it's always in the back of your mind.
20:23It's always in the back of your mind.
20:24Just this moment.
20:25You can always move.
20:26Just, yeah, just come over here, just in case.
20:29And we're fine.
20:30Because of course we're fine, but it's just, you know.
20:33Yeah, don't worry, we're professional.
20:35Yes.
20:35Yeah, you are.
20:36They let me flip the switch to fire the explosion, too.
20:40Now, they did mention that the firework was used as two things.
20:43First, a cue for the show's narrator to start his warm-up.
20:47And second, a bird scarer.
20:50My apologies to the seagull that was tucked away under the dock.
20:53Three, two, one.
21:00Then more of the park staff arrived to drive the boats.
21:03Jim, the narrator, warmed up the crowd.
21:05I said my thank yous and goodbyes.
21:06It was very quickly back over the bridge to see if the show itself
21:09was like I remembered from the 90s.
21:12Can you see the warship, P-Zone?
21:15Well, let's give that warship a big boo, P-Zone.
21:18Come on, one, two, three.
21:21The warship.
21:36The enemy guns have fallen silent.
21:49The enemy HQ has been hit.
21:54Next time, a lot of sugar and a completely unnecessary joke
21:58involving 1990s Dutch happy hardcore music.
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