19/01/2012 The One Show

Hello and welcome to the One Show with Alex Jones and Matt Baker.

Tonight, a man who in a long career in politics and in front of the

camera has always had a winning smile. Each day, Ribena hopes to

build young limbs, straight and true. Strong bones and good teeth.

What a lovely set of strong teeth. Michael Portillo. That was actually

you in that commercial. Es. I was eight years old advertising Ribena.

Which of course builds strong teeth! And do you still have strong

teeth? Those were my baby teeth. were surprised to learn that you

were a child actor. There was the only thing I did. The lady across

the street was a talent agent. She got me a load of interviews. I went

for a movie. I think I did nine different interviews, auditions. I

just got one part, to do that. It was just one shot, and that was all

that there was in the entire commercial. Very good, very

convincing. It used to play in the middle of Coronation Street, when

Coronation Street had 30 million viewers. Later, Michael will be

telling us about his Great British Railway Journeys, and later he will

be taking a surprise Career Move, joining these lads. JLS are in

tonight. Looking forward to that. First, we thought we would send Joe

Crowley on a train journey. Although Michael has travelled the

length and breadth of the country, he will not have travelled on this

With passenger journeys nearly doubling in the last 15 years, many

of us are used to queuing for tickets. Return to Paddington,

please. Jostling for space on the platform. And realising that yet

again there is not a spare seat to be had. However, something strange

seems to be going on. Where are the other passengers? It appears I have

just stepped on to one of Britain's ghost trains. It is not haunted. It

is a service that normally runs with very few passengers. Often,

there are more staff than passengers on board. I am curious.

I want to do ahead count and see who has got on the train with me

this morning. Morning. Two. The reason the train is so empty is

that it is a one-off. Three. This trainer only operates once per day,

and outside of peak commuting hours. Eight. A total of eight people on

board, not including myself or the conductor. These ghost trains are

actually known as parliamentary trains, but it has nothing to do

with transporting MPs around the country. The term comes from the

1844 Railway Act and it refers to services train companies had to

operate by law. Independent travel journalist Simon Calder has made it

on board to give me his opinions on parliamentary trains. Why do these

parliamentary trains operate? Because successive governments have

not got round to changing demand, 19th century laws which basically

say, well, you have to be careful about closing railway lines. That

means running Random trains in strange corners of the country at

odd times when nobody wants to get on. Just so that you do not have to

go through the closure process. Frankly, it is completely mad.

These infrequent trains services can be found all over the nation's

rail network. Stockport to Stalybridge is only on Friday at

9:22am. Walsall to Wolverhampton is only at 7:36pm Monday to Friday.

And Kyle of Lochalsh to Elgin runs just once a day at 5:15pm. But it

is not just the lines, the network is also inhabited by forgotten

stations. With only 116 passengers in a year, this station in West

Lothian is one of the least used in Britain. We set up a camera to see

if we can spot one of the elusive travellers as the train from

Glasgow arrives. Like a failed wildlife film, we have not spotted

a passenger today. It has taken 45 minutes for this train and eight

passengers to get to Paddington. Now there are just four minutes

before it turns round and goes back to Gerrards Cross. And there is not

a single fare-paying passenger on board. Why do you run the service?

This train provides a diversionary route. Most trains run to

Marylebone station, but running this train, drivers know the routes

to Paddington, been of the signals and when we need to we can run it

safely. Passengers will say, we have had affairs put up and the

money would be better spent easing congestion on regular routes.

train costs very little to run. The train would be in any way and the

driver would be paid anyway. Paddington station is completely

full at peak times are we would not be able to run peak-time trains.

Could you close the line if you wanted to? We have no desire to

close it so we would not ask the question. There we go, the Gerrards

Cross ghost train has been laid to rest at the end of its daily trip

to Paddington and back. But with the network under pressure, you

cannot hope thinking that these parliamentary trains take up

resources better used elsewhere. Regarding the Kyle of Lochalsh to

Elgin line, ScotRail says it is useful for turning trains around

and running special services. Department of Transport said they

would take a closer look at this, but do you think it should be

easier for companies to close these lines? I do not. So many lines that

got closed in the past, we wish they had not closed. Many lines it

reopened. Once you have taken up the track and demolished the

bridges and things like that, very difficult to put the line back. If

the cost is to run a train every day, so be it, at least the line is

there. And passenger numbers do change. Patterns of use vary over

the years. You were part of the Government that privatise the

railways. Bearing in mind that we now have the highest ticket price

in Europe, on reflection, do you think it was a good idea?

probably always had the highest ticket price in Europe. I do think

it is a good idea. One reason is that people are using the trains

enormously nowadays. I do not have the figures here, but the usage of

trains has shot up. Despite that film about trains that nobody uses,

private companies have been more responsive to people's demands.

They have run more services at better times, developed new

services. It is going pretty well. You are back of a third series of

the great British train journeys. It is based on journeys according

to Bradshaw's Handbook, the book that we have here. It is like an

old version of Lonely Planet, isn't it? What sort of a man was

Bradshaw? He was a Quaker, which I think means he had a social

conscience, and was a serious man. Some of the entries in the book,

you get comments about social conditions. He is writing about the

industrial revolution. Some people came out of it very badly, some

conditions were very extreme, and those are mentioned. BAFTA he was a

map maker, a cartographer. He started by mapping the canals and

then the railways. Then he saw a gap in the market, nobody had

brought together the railway timetables. In those days, you

could only find out about the train by going to the local station, or

the local pub where they had the timetables. He brought all the time

tables together in a single volume. And giving access to places most

people had never heard about. became a publishing empire,

essentially. This is the next stage, to produce these guidebooks,

handbooks, which are like Lonely Planet. The difference is that they

are set out by railway line, so you proceed along each line with

descriptions of every place. With some areas he was not that

complementary, to be honest. There is a lovely section that you have

picked out. About Cornwall he says, one of the least inviting of the

English counties, which exhibits the appearance of a dreary waste.

Poor old Cornwall. He was lovely about Swansea, and that is what is

important. And Durham got lovely recognition. We have great fun with

this. In Weston-super-Mare, he was not complimentary about Weston-

super-Mare. We asked people if they agreed and of course people tend to

defend their place. You get stuck in on some journeys. Let's have a

look at this. It is time for me to step into the shoes of a Victorian

That was pretty exciting. Did it work? Yes, all three bags.

worked. Of all of the journey should have been on, which was your

favourite? One that has not been shown, the journey across Ireland,

from Dublin to Londonderry. It is my favourite because, firstly the

people are wonderful everywhere. They are also such interesting

stories to tell around the railway. The creation of the border between

Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and the bringing of the

peace process. All of it impacted enormously on the railways. Many of

those places are mentioned in the book. Checking the timetable, we

have run out of time on that chat. Great British Railway Journeys

continues tomorrow at 6:30pm on BBC Two and the book accompanying the

series is also available. The next departure is all stations to

Barrow-in-Furness. Piel Island lies half-a-mile of the

Cumbrian coast. Over the centuries, Celts, Vikings, French monks and

pirates have all waded ashore here. But none of these invaders have a

story as downright incredible as the startled young lad who found

himself here at the end of the 15th century. Brought to the island by a

forcefully intent on making him the King of England. -- by a force

fully intent. For one night, it supported an army and a mysterious

boy king who would later marched into the battle that ended the gory

civil conflict that was the War Of the Roses. In 1485, the war was in

full tilt. The throne of England was at the heart of a bloody

struggle between the white rose to a House of York and the Tudor House

of Lancaster. The Tudors, with their red rose emblem under Henry

the 7th, eventually beat the Yorkist Richard the third in the

epic battle of Bosworth. For the first time in 300 years, the Crown

had been wrenched from the House of York. Dewar looked to be over. But

was it? -- the war. The Yorkists were left seething and desperate to

get their crown back by any means necessary. Of all of the Yorkist

plot to overthrow Henry the 7th, the strangest took a road that

ended here on Piel Island. It all started on the streets of Oxford.

There, a Yorkist priest saw a young boy with a passing resemblance to

the missing Yorkist Prince. The lad's name was Lambert, son of an

Oxford joiner. But the priest reckoned he could pass him off as

the legitimate heir to the throne. Was this not just a ridiculous

plan? How did they think it would work? Unbelievably, it did. Nobody

looked -- nobody knew what the Prince looked like because he was

locked in the Tower of London and those who did know were sponsoring

the plot, so they were in a good position to use him to stir up

trouble against Henry the 7th. The King realised this was going on and

the boy was smuggled to Dublin where he was crowned King Edward

the 6th of England in a solemn ceremony. The crowd that was used

was reputedly taken from the statue of the Virgin Mary in a cathedral.

-- the Crown. A force of 6000 German mercenaries and poorly armed

Irish were hastily assembled. And on 4th June 1487, just two years

after Bosworth, this bedraggled army with its bewildered young

pretender set out across the Irish Sea. They settled at Piel Island

for the night. The young, there was never meant to be king, but for one

night's, here on Piel Island, he and his rag-tag army could but

dream. From here, they would march and raise troops to their David and

Goliath battle against the Tudor throne. 6000 troops overnight on

the island. Next day, the decision was made to march south to lay

claim to the throne of England. At Stoke, 12,000 troops were waiting

and they were slaughtered in a bloody three-hour battle, and that

was the end of the War Of the Roses. What ever happened to the pretend

Prince? Well, you would be surprised. The King knew that he

had been manipulated, but because he had been crowned in a religious

ceremony, Henry the 7th was squeamish about executing him. He

took pity on the boy. He went to work in the Royal kitchens and

eventually became a Falconer, working directly for the King. He

cropped up 40 years later at the funeral of one of Henry the 7th's

servants. Against all the odds, Lambert actually made it to the

Royal Court after all. In truth, it had been a political and military

fantasy from mad start to Surrey finish. And although he did not get

to wear the crown, the lad with his head in the clouds was at least

Michael, have you ever run into Ben Fogle on your travels? Not so far,

but when we go around, they keep saying that Coast was here last

week. So we are falling all over each other.

I feel terrible for saying this, I did see you on a train. I wish I

had come up to say hello. I was taken by the quality of your socks!

He is Matt Baker, honestly! Lots of people are writing in, not about

your socks, unfortunately, but disagreeing and saying that Ribena

is not that gad for your teeth? did say it with a certain amount of

irony! Just in case you are tempted to drink gallons of the stuff! On

that note have you seen The Iron Lady? Well, Meryl Streep was

fantastic in it. I think that the historical parts are brilliantly

recreated. It is controversial about Margaret Thatcher in old age,

although it is a brilliant portrayal of old age and grief and

bereavement. It make as strong point, you are not only alone in

old age, but also as a leader, when you are there, when people turn to

you to ask you what is the decision, you are there on your own.

A film well-deserving of the success of the Golden Globes. Well,

another character, cruelly cut from the The Iron Lady script is John

Sergeant. Because of the high number of people out of work and

employers paying for each apprentice that they hire on a

sliding scale, depending on their age, but as he is finding out, some

are past their flush. People say that young and old have nothing in

common, but Elsie and Jenny have a surprising bond it is not their age.

Is it their love of French cheeses? Or maybe they love tinkering with

technology? Actually it is neither, the surprising bond is that they

are both eager apprentices. Elsie is 61 and on a scheme with a

northern supermarket chain. She's paid the same as a shop

assistant who has completed an apprenticeship, but Elsie has no

qualms about starting on the bottom rung.

It is alright. Thank you very much. Why did you decide to become an

apprentice as your age? Hmm, to give me more knowledge.

Do you think you are better at being an apprentice than a young

person? I don't think better is the word. It is different for me.

What is the hardest thing you have to do? The computer.

Do you think I could learn how to do that? I am sure you could. I

will show you. You hold it like that... Right, now you bring down...

I will have to put on my glasses. We do at our age! We can't see a

thing otherwise! Does it take longer to learn? It does, yes. When

the younger people in the store, we have them over there, they can use

it far, far quicker than me. How long does the apprenticeship

take? It is 12 months. But Elsie is not alone. She is a

growing number of shall we say, more senior apprentices. Last year

almost 4,000 people over the age of 60 were on schemes in various

businesses across the country. Why not? There is no age limit! There

you are. Well, that is something to be proud

of! That is. Do you feel better? Do I when I

produce one like that! If there is a mix of younger people and older

people in a retail scenario, you have an ideal situation to be

honest. The old people are a great influence on the youngsters.

A lot of people would say you don't need a skill to work in the

supermarket, to be an apprentice, it is simple, what do you say to

that? You would be surprised. There is a notion it is all about

stocking shelves, but you have a multipolicity of skills that are

administrative, logistical, presentational, all leading to a

satisfactory retail offer. Jenny does what some people

consider to be a more traditional apprenticeship. She helps to build

these things... The Euro Fighter Typhoon.

I was on a formal placement as part of the apprenticeship here in the

Typhoon Final Assembly, a complex job. I must say. What do you here?

Well me here, and possibly you on the other.

Me? I don't see why not. Is it easier as a young person to

be learning all of the techniques? You are more adaptable as a young

person. You want to learn. This is a job I will pursue.

With youth unemployment at over 1 million, the critics are saying

that the Government is not doing enough to get young adults on to

the apprenticeship schemes. We think we should preserve the

apprenticeships for younger people. For older people it is great for

them to find other forms of training and get them into work,

but perhaps we should develop other schemes for them.

But the Government says that 90% of the money towards apprenticeships

goes towards training those under the age of 25. Thisee they are

offering extra money to small businesses who have not taken on

apprenticeships before. What is coming out of this is that

age is not so important as attitude and ability. If you bet get that

right you can end up almost anywhere.

Well, girls if John Sergeant was not enough to get the blood pumping,

we are about to extend the offer, because, Aston, Marvin and Oritse

are here so join us now, they are from JLS! Well done. The last time

you were on, we saw Marvin winning the go cart race, but this time you

are pulling together, aren't you? lot of team effort! The last

corner! Didn't see it. Did you lose? This time you are pulling

together. You are launching Sport Relief today. You have had a long

day. Promoting, so what can people expect this year? Obviously, people

know by know. Hopefully we have the official single for Sport Relief

this year. So we are very proud. Also Sport Relief are an incredible

charity. It is something that is close to our heart. As you know we

went to South Africa last year in October. We went to Uganda and saw

some of the great things, the money that is raised, what it goes

towards. For us it is an incredible cause, charity it is a great to be

a part of it. To have the song it is really, really important to us.

Was the song inspired by the trip? We wrote the song for Sport Relief.

We knew that it was going to be something we were involved in. The

song is All That I Do is to Make You Proud.

How can people at home get involved this year? Well, they can get

involved by joining us at the Sainsbury's Sport Relief Mile.

They can go to bbc.co.uk/sportrelief. They can

click on there and sign up to do a mile, three miles, six miles,

whatever they can manage! How does that sound, Michael? One mile!

are in London for Sport Relief, I'm sure that they will be busy, but

here is Putin, Russia And The West, talking about the engineering

situation of the O2 Arena. What about the unsung heroes of

this O2 Arena, the eng years that bring this place to life? Putin,

Russia And The West has eped build Arsenal's emrate Stadium and the

latest project, the Olympic Stadium. I was always looking to find

something new, different. Without eng years like Paul, the --

engine years like Paul, the modern buildings we would expect nowadays

may not happen. The bottom line is that it has to

stand up. But Paul does more than simply make

safe buildings. He thrives on innovative and dramatic structures.

Throughout his career, he's been inspired by the work of one of his

Victorian predecessors, Sir Benjamin Baker, the designer of the

iconic Forth Rail Bridge which connecting Edinburgh with the north

of Scotland. What inspired me about Benjamin

Baker, he introduced a new way of doing thing. This guy used to go to

work on a horse. No calculators, no computers. All he can use to design

this thing is a pencil, a piece of paper and his imagination.

Despite this, the concept for the forth road rail bridge was

innovative and daring. It took eight years and 4,000 men to build,

opening in 1890. It spro duced a new method of spanning the mile

wide Firth of Forth with a series of can't levers.

Unlike many bridges, the can't lever bridge flowers out from a

central pier. A basic can't lever is a projected

structure supported at one end. Baker's idea was more ambitious.

That is two can't levers, one looking that way and one looking

that way. Balanced either side on the pier. That was the core

difference between Baker's can't levered bridge solution and a

traditional bridge solution. This was the first time that can't

levers were used on this scale. The Forth Rail Bridge has become an

icon of British engineering. Paul's version of an iconic build happened

when he was asked to design what was originally known as the

Millennium Dome. Now, the O2 Arena. He created the original dome and

the concept build inside, but just like his inspiration, Baker, Paul

had to be vait I about the challenge.

We had to build a building within a building. We got around that by

building a crane in its own right. So around the outside there are

eight concrete tubes that hold the roof up. We built the steel roof on

the floor around the tubes and we jacked the whole thing up in the

air. When all of the work was done, Paul

had the pleasure of seeing his childhood heroes, Led Zeppelin

perform in his building. It was a moment, you are looking

around, there with your mates, watching a band in a one-off gig,

the building was in a building at that you had built, that was a

moment, when you think, there are a number of things here that feel

special. As Paul looks forward to the

unveiling of his latest work, the Olympic Stadium, he credits his

hero, Benjamin Baker, who continues to inspire him.

You challenge yourself, and sometimes you find you have gone

straight over to where you were before, you have pushed through and

not scared yourself out of life in the process.

Incredible. So, I should look at the O2 Arena

differently? Yes! It's a great line up isn't it on that night? Give us

an idea? Yes, it is. Obviously we are performing alongside Olly Murs.

A good friend of accounts. We are announcing other acts in a couple

of weeks. It is on March the 24th on Saturday afternoon, obviously

the proceeds of the concert go to Sport Relief. It is a jam-packed

weekend. It is the big night, the Friday night. Then you are on the

Saturday, and on the Sunday that is the day we are trying to get 1

million people to run the mile. You have T-shirts there, haven't you?

Yes, a little gift for you. There is your one.

Look! The names are on! That is what you have to wear when you run

your mile on Sunday. Thank you very much.