Around 150 years ago,
Belfast in Northern Ireland
had become a leading player
in the Industrial Revolution.
New wealth and European investment
had come to Belfast
and this bank built in 1857
was a sign of the times.
Today it's a hotel that sells the
most expensive cocktail in the world,
but come inside and you can still see
the grandeur of the past.
It was behind impressively thick
vault doors like these
that wealthy industrialists
and innovators banked their fortunes.
Here they dreamed of building 20th
century ships for a 20th century world.
But Belfast's success in shipbuilding
didn't happen overnight.
More than 15,000 men worked here
in the Harland and Wolff shipyards
creating a highly skilled workforce.
By 1911, Harland and Wolff,
makers of the Titanic,
had become
the largest shipbuilders in the world.
Olympic seen here
was launched in October 1910.
And on May 31st, 1911,
her sister ship, Titanic,
was launched from slipway No.3.
These audaciously designed ships
dwarfed the men who made them.
In the Industrial Revolution
steam took centre stage.
It was here at Titanic's
dry dock and pump house
that one of the marvels
of Edwardian engineering took place.
It was pressurised steam
that powered the opening and closing
of the gates of the dry dock.
And it powered the pumps
to fill and drain this dry dock
with enough water
to support the great ships.
All this is preserved today.
Greater engineering achievements
were yet to come.
Many of the inventions from here
are showcased here at the
Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.
Harry Ferguson manufactured
these ground-breaking iconic tractors.
Its system of design still influences
every tractor made in the world today.
In 1940, Sir James Martin
invented one of the first versions
of the modern ejector seat.
To date it has saved
over 7,000 pilots' lives.
And this is the De Lorean car.
While the original idea
might not have hailed from these shores,
the craftsmanship and determination
to build this car of the future did.
But our jewel in the crown
will always be Titanic.
And this is the actual train that
took the men who built the Titanic
to the shipyard every working day.
Back where it all started
in the Belfast docklands today
is a project of massive regeneration.
Titanic Quarter is transforming again
for the 21st century.
What technological advances
will the next 100 years hold?
I don't know, but I'll celebrate
another century of change
by sampling the most expensive
cocktail in the world.
How much?!