Border Television

In October 1957, one of the Windscale nuclear reactors caught fire. It was the world's first nuclear accident, attributed to the rush to build atomic weapons. This programme highlights the mistakes leading to a nuclear event which, 40 years on, still takes second place only to Chernobyl.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Jill Lawrence and Gill Price, members of the women's climbing club Pinnacle Club, made the first female ascents of difficult routes, laying the foundations for what would develop in the 1980s. In 1984, in the Lake District, Gill Price and Jill Lawrence were filmed climbing Empire E3 6a at Raven Crag, Thirlmere, for a Channel 4 program, Lakeland Rock, with Chris Bonington, broadcast on Channel 4 on 25 May 1985. This event marked a turning point in British women's climbing, as few, if any, women appeared on television climbing difficult sport routes.

First broadcast on Channel 4 in 1985, Lakeland Rock is a classic of climbing. Presented by Sir Chris Bonington, this 1990 documentary comprises four films that retrace five iconic routes, each representing a major milestone in a sport that reflects the social transformations of Great Britain. From the 1940s, when working-class people began climbing mountains, to the 1980s, marked by technological advancements, the rise of female climbers, and the soaring difficulty of sport climbing with its near-Olympic levels of physical preparation. In three of the films, the climbers recreate their first ascents, with a tribute to their deceased climbing partners, Don Whillans and Bill Peascod. Also included is the first filmed ascent of "Incantations" on Gable Crag by Pete Whillance and Dave Armstrong, which, rated E6 6b, was considered at the time to be the most difficult route in the Lake District.

"Incantations," narrated by Chris Bonington, is a documentary about the first ascent of "Incantations" (E6-6b) on the Tophet wall in Wasdale, UK, by British climbers Pete Whillance and Dave Armstrong in August 1984. Directed by Paul Berriff in 1985 and produced by Border Television, it is part of the Lakeland Rock documentary series (5/6), which today constitute important documents of the history of modern free climbing and its evolution.