More (!!) boaty TV...

[Dyflin]

... well, kinda;

Timewatch

Sat 12 Jan, 8:10 pm - 9:00 pm 50mins

Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/timewatch/index.shtml

In January 2007, the MSC Napoli ran aground, spilling its cargo on Branscombe beach in Devon. The public response was mixed: delight from the opportunists who plundered the ship's booty; disgust from the authorities who struggled to police the looting.

But the looters of the Napoli were reviving a tradition that stretched back centuries, connecting coastal communities all around Britain to a sinister profession: wrecking.

Author Bella Bathurst goes in search of the wreckers. Its an epic journey that takes her from the Isles of Scilly to the Orkney Islands; from the middle ages to the 21st century; and from dramatic mythology, to the remarkable social history of a national crime.

 

[exfinnsailor]

Thanks .. Will set the Video .. We sailing down on the Orwell .. You never know one may drift up river from the Container Port .. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Flossdog]

Many, many years ago, I was a member of the SNR - Society for Nautical Research - and I seem to remember that they published a research paper into wrecking. The amazing thing was, that there was not any reliably documented evidence of any deliberate wrecking of a vessel (eg false harbour lights) in order for land based looters to loot a vessel they had caused to be wrecked. Doesn't make for good tv fodder though so I guess that the good old BBC must have other proof or will just promulgate the ledgend further.