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Every year, countless thousands of ordinary buildings are demolished, | 0:00:03 | 0:00:07 | |
smashed down to make way for the new. | 0:00:07 | 0:00:10 | |
For many, this fate is unavoidable. | 0:00:10 | 0:00:14 | |
But some are so special they are saved, carefully taken down | 0:00:14 | 0:00:19 | |
piece by piece, stored away until a new home for them can be found. | 0:00:19 | 0:00:25 | |
They can be lovingly and painstakingly rebuilt. | 0:00:25 | 0:00:28 | |
These are not grand buildings | 0:00:30 | 0:00:32 | |
but always exceptional pieces of architecture. | 0:00:32 | 0:00:36 | |
But preserved within the fabric are extraordinary stories. | 0:00:36 | 0:00:40 | |
Stories about who we are as a nation and what we have achieved. | 0:00:40 | 0:00:44 | |
About the materials and techniques that we use. | 0:00:44 | 0:00:47 | |
It's not as easy as it looks. | 0:00:47 | 0:00:48 | |
And why we build the way we do. | 0:00:48 | 0:00:51 | |
It feels like you're making it the way it should be made. | 0:00:51 | 0:00:54 | |
In this series, I'm going to uncover the hidden history | 0:00:54 | 0:00:58 | |
behind these seemingly humble buildings | 0:00:58 | 0:01:00 | |
to reveal that it's not just the houses of the great and rich | 0:01:00 | 0:01:04 | |
that have remarkable stories to tell. | 0:01:04 | 0:01:06 | |
My grandfather was probably | 0:01:06 | 0:01:09 | |
-the first airman to die in the First World War. -Goodness me. | 0:01:09 | 0:01:12 | |
I'll be seeing how these huge, incredibly complex jigsaw puzzles | 0:01:12 | 0:01:16 | |
that were once buildings are actually put back together again. | 0:01:16 | 0:01:20 | |
I'm here at Beamish, the living museum of the north-east of England, | 0:01:33 | 0:01:36 | |
at the beginning of an exciting and intriguing build. | 0:01:36 | 0:01:40 | |
One that promises to tell the story of our national dish. | 0:01:40 | 0:01:44 | |
Down below me in the reconstructed old colliery town, | 0:01:46 | 0:01:49 | |
they've begun work on an Edwardian coal-fired fish and chip shop | 0:01:49 | 0:01:53 | |
where it's hoped they'll soon be serving our nation's favourite, | 0:01:53 | 0:01:57 | |
cooked exactly the same way as it was 100 years ago. | 0:01:57 | 0:02:00 | |
And I'm going to explore the surprising origins | 0:02:02 | 0:02:06 | |
of this seemingly thoroughly British dish and I hope in the process | 0:02:06 | 0:02:11 | |
to discover where and when the momentous marriage | 0:02:11 | 0:02:15 | |
of chips and fried and battered fish actually took place. | 0:02:15 | 0:02:21 | |
The museum covers a vast 300 acre site and is dedicated to preserving | 0:02:21 | 0:02:27 | |
examples of everyday life in north-east England. | 0:02:27 | 0:02:31 | |
Normally, here at Beamish, it's the building like this schoolhouse | 0:02:31 | 0:02:34 | |
that is saved and preserved in the museum | 0:02:34 | 0:02:37 | |
and the interiors are pieced together to fit the building. | 0:02:37 | 0:02:40 | |
But in this case, | 0:02:40 | 0:02:41 | |
it's the interior they are desperate to save | 0:02:41 | 0:02:44 | |
and they need to create a building around it to house it. | 0:02:44 | 0:02:49 | |
The challenge for Jim Reece, the project's mastermind, | 0:02:49 | 0:02:52 | |
is to create a building that feels genuinely old. | 0:02:52 | 0:02:57 | |
What's the thinking that's gone on in the design process? | 0:02:57 | 0:03:01 | |
I think there are two Victorian...Edwardian | 0:03:01 | 0:03:03 | |
chip ranges left in the world and we've got one of them. | 0:03:03 | 0:03:07 | |
So that's one of the key points to start with. | 0:03:07 | 0:03:10 | |
The other is that 30 years ago, we collected all these wonderful tiles | 0:03:10 | 0:03:14 | |
and so we've got to get a building | 0:03:14 | 0:03:16 | |
where we can put them in and make it make sense historically. | 0:03:16 | 0:03:21 | |
So here we've got, if you like, | 0:03:21 | 0:03:23 | |
the typical late-Victorian industrial unit. | 0:03:23 | 0:03:27 | |
There's an office and a stables | 0:03:27 | 0:03:28 | |
and here our guy has invested all his savings in this chip range | 0:03:28 | 0:03:33 | |
and he takes this building and puts his chip range in | 0:03:33 | 0:03:37 | |
and it starts to make money and in 1910, he achieves his ambition, | 0:03:37 | 0:03:41 | |
which is a sit-in restaurant, and then they called them saloons. | 0:03:41 | 0:03:45 | |
Even our nearby town had two fish and chip saloons by about 1905. | 0:03:45 | 0:03:50 | |
Where does the kind of authenticity come from? | 0:03:50 | 0:03:53 | |
You could happily beam this down in any pit village around County Durham | 0:03:53 | 0:03:57 | |
and it wouldn't even notice. | 0:03:57 | 0:03:59 | |
We've got colliery bricks, chimney pots from the local fire clay works. | 0:03:59 | 0:04:04 | |
It's got to be the real stuff of history. | 0:04:04 | 0:04:07 | |
Jim's plans are certainly ambitious and he seems very, very confident | 0:04:09 | 0:04:13 | |
but I have a couple of concerns. | 0:04:13 | 0:04:15 | |
The first is that he's trying to create this hybrid building, | 0:04:15 | 0:04:18 | |
a jigsaw puzzle of pieces taken from here, there and everywhere. | 0:04:18 | 0:04:23 | |
Bringing those together and making it feel right, | 0:04:23 | 0:04:25 | |
to fit in with all these authentic buildings, is going to be tough. | 0:04:25 | 0:04:30 | |
The second is he's trying to work with Edwardian coal-fired ranges, | 0:04:30 | 0:04:34 | |
100-year-old technology, | 0:04:34 | 0:04:37 | |
and make that into a modern restaurant | 0:04:37 | 0:04:39 | |
with all the health and hygiene standards that go with that, | 0:04:39 | 0:04:43 | |
producing hundreds of meals a day. | 0:04:43 | 0:04:46 | |
I think that's going to be very, very hard | 0:04:46 | 0:04:48 | |
and I just hope that he hasn't underestimated | 0:04:48 | 0:04:52 | |
the scale of the challenge. | 0:04:52 | 0:04:54 | |
And the first challenge | 0:04:55 | 0:04:56 | |
is to build walls that look authentically Victorian | 0:04:56 | 0:04:59 | |
using a combination of reclaimed and modern materials. | 0:04:59 | 0:05:03 | |
While work gets under way, I've headed to the museum's archives, | 0:05:05 | 0:05:08 | |
hoping to discover something | 0:05:08 | 0:05:10 | |
about the origins of the fish and chip shop. | 0:05:10 | 0:05:12 | |
Goodness me! | 0:05:14 | 0:05:15 | |
Early fish fryers had a terrible evil reputation. | 0:05:15 | 0:05:18 | |
The great Henry Mayhew, social observer, social reformer, | 0:05:18 | 0:05:23 | |
had this to say in 1861, | 0:05:23 | 0:05:25 | |
"The fried fish sellers live in some out-of-the-way alleys. | 0:05:25 | 0:05:30 | |
"For even amongst the poorest class, there are great objections | 0:05:30 | 0:05:34 | |
"to their being fellow lodgers on account of the odour of the frying. | 0:05:34 | 0:05:40 | |
"A gin-drinking neighbourhood, one coster said, suits best, | 0:05:40 | 0:05:44 | |
"for people haven't their smell so correct there." | 0:05:44 | 0:05:47 | |
HE LAUGHS | 0:05:47 | 0:05:49 | |
Of course, if you remember, a few years earlier, | 0:05:49 | 0:05:51 | |
Charles Dickens writing Oliver Twist had the frightful Fagin | 0:05:51 | 0:05:55 | |
living in an area of fried fish warehouses. | 0:05:55 | 0:05:58 | |
There's a good reason Dickens had Fagin, a Jewish character, | 0:05:59 | 0:06:02 | |
living amongst the fish fryers. | 0:06:02 | 0:06:05 | |
Because the earliest reference to fried, battered fish I can uncover | 0:06:05 | 0:06:09 | |
comes from the 1830s, where it is called "fried fish Jewish style". | 0:06:09 | 0:06:14 | |
In the Jewish communities of Victorian east London, | 0:06:15 | 0:06:19 | |
off cuts of any available fish were battered, fried | 0:06:19 | 0:06:22 | |
and then hawked on the streets as a cheap, cold snack. | 0:06:22 | 0:06:26 | |
Baked potatoes were also sold, but no chips. | 0:06:26 | 0:06:29 | |
The earliest chip shops sprang up | 0:06:31 | 0:06:34 | |
around the cotton mills of Lancashire in the 1860s, | 0:06:34 | 0:06:37 | |
using the readily available cotton seed oil | 0:06:37 | 0:06:40 | |
to fry potatoes in what was called the French method. | 0:06:40 | 0:06:44 | |
It's not known for certain when Jewish fish first joined French | 0:06:45 | 0:06:49 | |
chips but by the 1870s, thoroughly British fish and chips | 0:06:49 | 0:06:53 | |
were spreading like wildfire | 0:06:53 | 0:06:55 | |
through the country's working-class communities. | 0:06:55 | 0:06:58 | |
The museum's director, Richard Evans, | 0:07:03 | 0:07:05 | |
has been researching these first fish and chip shops. | 0:07:05 | 0:07:08 | |
It was actually a really important source of income | 0:07:09 | 0:07:12 | |
for people and often people who were down on their luck, | 0:07:12 | 0:07:15 | |
they needed a second source of income. | 0:07:15 | 0:07:17 | |
Perhaps the main breadwinner had been hurt in an industrial accident | 0:07:17 | 0:07:20 | |
so they might have been serving fish and chips | 0:07:20 | 0:07:23 | |
from a house like this, frying in the back, | 0:07:23 | 0:07:25 | |
serving from the front, in the heart of the community. | 0:07:25 | 0:07:27 | |
So you could plant a load of spuds in your front garden, | 0:07:27 | 0:07:30 | |
-get yourself a fryer and start your own fish and chip shop. -Yeah. | 0:07:30 | 0:07:34 | |
There was very little legislation in the early years | 0:07:34 | 0:07:37 | |
and quite a lot of fires and accidents, | 0:07:37 | 0:07:39 | |
I should think, around it. But it was a real centre for the community. | 0:07:39 | 0:07:42 | |
A family or a pitman might eat from a fish and chip shop | 0:07:42 | 0:07:45 | |
three or four times a week. | 0:07:45 | 0:07:48 | |
These thousands of front room enterprises in the backstreets | 0:07:51 | 0:07:54 | |
could be revoltingly squalid establishments, | 0:07:54 | 0:07:57 | |
as another book in the archives reveals. | 0:07:57 | 0:08:00 | |
Here we see an account written by a chap called Sir Shirley Murphy. | 0:08:02 | 0:08:05 | |
Obviously a bit of a stickler for health. | 0:08:05 | 0:08:08 | |
He says, "The conditions under which fish are cleansed and stored are, | 0:08:08 | 0:08:13 | |
"as a rule, most unsatisfactory. | 0:08:13 | 0:08:16 | |
"Numerous instances have been found where floors and walls were fouled | 0:08:16 | 0:08:21 | |
"with decomposing fish, slime and excremental matter." | 0:08:21 | 0:08:25 | |
Going out to the chippie in the 1900s was obviously, | 0:08:27 | 0:08:30 | |
you were really rather taking your life in your hands! | 0:08:30 | 0:08:35 | |
I just hope they're not planning to replicate those hygiene standards | 0:08:35 | 0:08:39 | |
in our backstreet fish and chip shop. | 0:08:39 | 0:08:41 | |
Work on the walls is already well underway, | 0:08:45 | 0:08:47 | |
so I head over to offer a helping hand to Kenny, the bricklayer. | 0:08:47 | 0:08:53 | |
-Where do you want them? -Drop them on top of them, Charlie. | 0:08:53 | 0:08:56 | |
I'm glad to see you working | 0:08:56 | 0:08:58 | |
with these nice modern, lightweight bricks! | 0:08:58 | 0:09:00 | |
No, there's nothing light about these bricks! | 0:09:00 | 0:09:03 | |
There's no holes in these, like the modern day bricks. | 0:09:03 | 0:09:05 | |
A little bit longer, a little bit wider, little bit deeper. | 0:09:05 | 0:09:08 | |
You seem to be doing a very nice job here. | 0:09:08 | 0:09:11 | |
-Shall I muck it up a bit and have a go? -You can have a go, Charlie. Yes. | 0:09:11 | 0:09:15 | |
I can't say I'm a great bricklayer but... | 0:09:15 | 0:09:18 | |
-I am not sure I'm very good at this, Kenny. -That's all right. | 0:09:21 | 0:09:25 | |
-Is that all right? -Yeah. Just tap it out. That's it. | 0:09:25 | 0:09:28 | |
-You're happy for me to put some of these bricks up? -Yes. | 0:09:28 | 0:09:31 | |
Everyone's going to think you built this. | 0:09:31 | 0:09:33 | |
It doesn't matter. You carry on. | 0:09:33 | 0:09:35 | |
When I get this back filled, nobody will ever know. | 0:09:35 | 0:09:38 | |
-This is going underground? That's why you're letting me do it? -Yes. | 0:09:38 | 0:09:42 | |
THEY LAUGH | 0:09:42 | 0:09:44 | |
-So these are colliery bricks, are they? -Yeah. | 0:09:44 | 0:09:47 | |
They were made at the old collieries | 0:09:47 | 0:09:49 | |
and all the local mines used to put in, | 0:09:49 | 0:09:52 | |
like you can see there, Howden. That would come from the Howden mine. | 0:09:52 | 0:09:56 | |
Amazing. I had no idea collieries made bricks. | 0:09:56 | 0:09:59 | |
This is one of my favourite ones. It's not that I love them bricks, | 0:09:59 | 0:10:02 | |
but that's the only one I've seen with love in it. | 0:10:02 | 0:10:05 | |
That's a very well made brick, though, isn't it? | 0:10:05 | 0:10:07 | |
-It's a much better made brick than this? Decorative, with moulding. -Yes. | 0:10:07 | 0:10:11 | |
That's fantastic. | 0:10:11 | 0:10:13 | |
Within the Durham area alone, more than 50 colliery brickworks | 0:10:15 | 0:10:20 | |
produced the millions of bricks that were required to feed | 0:10:20 | 0:10:23 | |
the building boom of the Industrial Revolution. | 0:10:23 | 0:10:26 | |
Colliery towns of the north-east, such as Tantobie, | 0:10:26 | 0:10:31 | |
possess a distinct architectural charm and quality | 0:10:31 | 0:10:35 | |
that's due largely to geology. | 0:10:35 | 0:10:39 | |
When coal was sourced in an area like this, | 0:10:39 | 0:10:42 | |
workers' housing was needed rapidly and in large quantities. | 0:10:42 | 0:10:46 | |
The solution was rather brilliant. | 0:10:46 | 0:10:49 | |
The shafts were sunk, searching for the coal seam. | 0:10:49 | 0:10:53 | |
In the process, the overburden of clay that had to be removed | 0:10:53 | 0:10:58 | |
to reach the coal was brought to the surface | 0:10:58 | 0:11:00 | |
and used to provide cheap and readily available building material. | 0:11:00 | 0:11:05 | |
Colliery towns can possess a great visual uniformity | 0:11:12 | 0:11:16 | |
because the houses tend to be built at the same time | 0:11:16 | 0:11:20 | |
to more or less standard designs and all using the same colliery bricks. | 0:11:20 | 0:11:27 | |
But the bricks can possess | 0:11:27 | 0:11:29 | |
beautiful, subtle variations of colour and tone, | 0:11:29 | 0:11:32 | |
depending on the mineral content of local clay. | 0:11:32 | 0:11:35 | |
The incredible variety of colliery bricks are on display | 0:11:43 | 0:11:46 | |
in one of the tram stops at Beamish. | 0:11:46 | 0:11:49 | |
That is absolutely magnificent! | 0:11:51 | 0:11:53 | |
-It's wonderful, isn't it? -It is. It's beautiful. -It is beautiful. | 0:11:53 | 0:11:58 | |
Incredible colour scheme, isn't it? Just like subtle variations. | 0:11:58 | 0:12:01 | |
All the different clays. | 0:12:01 | 0:12:03 | |
From this one here that's incredibly white, | 0:12:03 | 0:12:06 | |
to these dark, dark bricks down here. | 0:12:06 | 0:12:08 | |
You can see the different names, the different ages, | 0:12:08 | 0:12:10 | |
sometimes the same name going from a crude impression | 0:12:10 | 0:12:14 | |
like the F&L up there, | 0:12:14 | 0:12:17 | |
F&L even cruder. | 0:12:17 | 0:12:20 | |
Ferens & Love in that lovely accurate brick. | 0:12:20 | 0:12:23 | |
It was sort of an ego thing, "Not only are you working in my pit, | 0:12:23 | 0:12:27 | |
"I'm building your houses, | 0:12:27 | 0:12:29 | |
"but my name is inside all of the bricks that built it. | 0:12:29 | 0:12:33 | |
-Nebuchadnezzar did it, I think. -It has a history, doesn't it? -Yeah. | 0:12:33 | 0:12:37 | |
I think he did it in Babylon. | 0:12:37 | 0:12:40 | |
That's exactly the kind of vernacular detail and character | 0:12:40 | 0:12:43 | |
that everyone thought industrialisation was killing off | 0:12:43 | 0:12:46 | |
but here it was, so local! | 0:12:46 | 0:12:48 | |
Here we've got a fantastic fish brick. | 0:12:48 | 0:12:51 | |
When we were building this wall, | 0:12:51 | 0:12:53 | |
an old lady came up to Kenny the bricklayer, and said, | 0:12:53 | 0:12:57 | |
"When we were little, we used to have these bricks with fish in." | 0:12:57 | 0:13:00 | |
So he rummaged about and sure enough, there's the fish brick. | 0:13:00 | 0:13:03 | |
And he said, "Do you remember these?" She said, "Yes, pet. | 0:13:03 | 0:13:06 | |
"We used to get lead, heat it up, | 0:13:06 | 0:13:08 | |
"pour this into the brick using it as a mould and make these little | 0:13:08 | 0:13:12 | |
"silver fish that they would wear as necklaces and so on." | 0:13:12 | 0:13:16 | |
And that really made that old lady's day. | 0:13:16 | 0:13:18 | |
She hadn't seen that fish brick for years. And there it is. | 0:13:18 | 0:13:22 | |
Wonderful. Such an amazing collection. | 0:13:22 | 0:13:26 | |
After three months' hard work, | 0:13:30 | 0:13:32 | |
Kenny's brickwork is high enough for the windows to be fitted. | 0:13:32 | 0:13:35 | |
This main section of the building will house the shop and kitchens. | 0:13:35 | 0:13:39 | |
A wing for the restaurant will be built later using corrugated iron. | 0:13:39 | 0:13:44 | |
Like the other Victorian materials, the windows have been reclaimed | 0:13:44 | 0:13:48 | |
from various demolitions and now all these elements must somehow | 0:13:48 | 0:13:53 | |
be pieced together seamlessly. | 0:13:53 | 0:13:56 | |
Inside the authentic colliery brickwork, | 0:13:56 | 0:13:59 | |
Kenny's building a second skin of breeze blocks, | 0:13:59 | 0:14:02 | |
allowing modern cavity insulation to be added. | 0:14:02 | 0:14:05 | |
I've headed across the road from the build | 0:14:08 | 0:14:10 | |
to one of the reconstructed miners' cottages | 0:14:10 | 0:14:13 | |
to partake in some traditional chip chopping | 0:14:13 | 0:14:16 | |
with Professor John Walton, who has written a history of fish and chips. | 0:14:16 | 0:14:20 | |
When do you think was the first time that fish and chips, | 0:14:22 | 0:14:25 | |
fish battered or fried, came together as a dish | 0:14:25 | 0:14:28 | |
and sold in a fish and chip shop? | 0:14:28 | 0:14:31 | |
There is no hard evidence for this | 0:14:31 | 0:14:32 | |
because nobody knew at the time it was going to be important. | 0:14:32 | 0:14:36 | |
There are various claimants from the 1860s in Lancashire, | 0:14:36 | 0:14:39 | |
the West Riding of Yorkshire, Mossley and Oldham. | 0:14:39 | 0:14:41 | |
What's now Greater Manchester, mainly. | 0:14:41 | 0:14:44 | |
There was a boom in the Edwardian era around about 1900. | 0:14:44 | 0:14:48 | |
Tell me about that. | 0:14:48 | 0:14:50 | |
-Really, fish and chips takes off from the 1870s onwards. -1870s. | 0:14:50 | 0:14:54 | |
It's a mixture, I think, | 0:14:54 | 0:14:56 | |
of rising working-class living standards creating the demand, | 0:14:56 | 0:15:00 | |
partly because of falling food prices and the supply... | 0:15:00 | 0:15:03 | |
-Yes. -..expanding rapidly because of the development of steam trawlers | 0:15:03 | 0:15:07 | |
and refrigeration techniques and of course railways, | 0:15:07 | 0:15:11 | |
to bring the fish quickly to inland consumers. | 0:15:11 | 0:15:14 | |
So it's an almost perfect storm of supply meeting demand | 0:15:14 | 0:15:17 | |
and churning things up. | 0:15:17 | 0:15:18 | |
The astonishing proliferation of fish and chip shops in the 1870s | 0:15:20 | 0:15:24 | |
generated a whole new industry supplying them with cooking ranges. | 0:15:24 | 0:15:29 | |
The early fryers simply used clothes washing cauldrons, | 0:15:30 | 0:15:35 | |
but soon companies were producing purpose-built ranges. | 0:15:35 | 0:15:38 | |
They became evermore elaborate and ornate | 0:15:38 | 0:15:41 | |
and by the turn of the century, | 0:15:41 | 0:15:43 | |
they were mechanical marvels of true beauty. | 0:15:43 | 0:15:46 | |
Only three Edwardian ranges survive. Beamish has one of them. | 0:15:48 | 0:15:53 | |
John Walton has gone to admire it with Richard Evans, | 0:15:53 | 0:15:56 | |
the museum director. | 0:15:56 | 0:15:58 | |
Yes. Not necessarily from Newcastle, of course. | 0:15:58 | 0:16:01 | |
It could have been from almost anywhere | 0:16:01 | 0:16:03 | |
where there was a range-making firm. | 0:16:03 | 0:16:05 | |
Every industrial town by the early 20th century | 0:16:05 | 0:16:08 | |
had its range-making firm. | 0:16:08 | 0:16:10 | |
It's one step up from the late-19th century basic ranges. | 0:16:10 | 0:16:15 | |
You've got the tiles, you've got this wonderful decoration. | 0:16:15 | 0:16:18 | |
In fact, in a lot of cases, I think these would be custom made | 0:16:18 | 0:16:21 | |
to the designs the individual fryers wanted. | 0:16:21 | 0:16:24 | |
-Oh, right. -That is wonderful, isn't it? -It's fantastic. | 0:16:24 | 0:16:26 | |
These were the tubs in which the fish and the chips would be fried. | 0:16:26 | 0:16:30 | |
That's the thing, is it? | 0:16:30 | 0:16:32 | |
-There are tubs in here. -Yes. You'd get a fire under each tub. -I see. | 0:16:32 | 0:16:35 | |
You've got to this equipment whereby you can regulate the air that comes through. | 0:16:35 | 0:16:39 | |
And of course getting the right temperature and sustaining it, | 0:16:39 | 0:16:42 | |
that was the art, wasn't it? That affected the flavour. | 0:16:42 | 0:16:46 | |
You had to do that by eye and by experience. | 0:16:46 | 0:16:49 | |
I think in these days of high technology, coming back to life, | 0:16:49 | 0:16:52 | |
it's really exciting, isn't it? It is splendid, isn't it? | 0:16:52 | 0:16:56 | |
'The question now is can we actually get it working?' | 0:16:56 | 0:17:01 | |
The boom in trade at the turn of the 20th century | 0:17:03 | 0:17:06 | |
produced another great leap forward in fish and chip technology. | 0:17:06 | 0:17:10 | |
The mobile takeaway. | 0:17:10 | 0:17:12 | |
Thousands of these horse-drawn coal-fired carts | 0:17:12 | 0:17:15 | |
once plied their trade across Britain but now, only one remains. | 0:17:15 | 0:17:20 | |
It worked the streets of Spennymoor for 50 years | 0:17:22 | 0:17:24 | |
right up until 1972, | 0:17:24 | 0:17:27 | |
when it was saved from a scrap heap by Beamish Museum. | 0:17:27 | 0:17:30 | |
They are now going to fully restore it, | 0:17:30 | 0:17:32 | |
to live next door to the Edwardian chip shop. | 0:17:32 | 0:17:35 | |
-Is this it, here? -That's it. That was it. | 0:17:37 | 0:17:41 | |
So you're seriously telling me that this was a fish and chip van? | 0:17:41 | 0:17:46 | |
Because to me it looks like something you would find gently rotting | 0:17:46 | 0:17:49 | |
by the side of a field somewhere. | 0:17:49 | 0:17:51 | |
I suspect that's where they had it from in the first place. | 0:17:51 | 0:17:54 | |
-It looks like an old farm cart they've acquired. -Look. | 0:17:54 | 0:17:58 | |
-This is completely charred. -Yes. | 0:17:58 | 0:18:00 | |
The actual oven itself was so heavy that over the years, | 0:18:00 | 0:18:04 | |
it's physically twisted these two pieces of timber holding it. | 0:18:04 | 0:18:08 | |
-What did that look like? -Would you like to see the original? That's it. | 0:18:08 | 0:18:12 | |
-That's it? -These were not in this condition when we found them. | 0:18:12 | 0:18:16 | |
-These are the originals? -They're the originals. | 0:18:16 | 0:18:20 | |
They've come up beautifully, haven't they? | 0:18:20 | 0:18:22 | |
-How does this thing work? -You have four separate coke fires. | 0:18:22 | 0:18:26 | |
They're all vented up through the same central chimney. | 0:18:26 | 0:18:29 | |
-So that would have gone up... -Yes. | 0:18:29 | 0:18:31 | |
..through the top of the van and the smoke... | 0:18:31 | 0:18:34 | |
Well, most of it would go up the chimney. | 0:18:34 | 0:18:37 | |
-Because I mean, you've only got that. -Yes. They don't fit. | 0:18:37 | 0:18:40 | |
There is a huge gap there so surely, | 0:18:40 | 0:18:42 | |
most of the smoke is just going to come straight up into your face. | 0:18:42 | 0:18:46 | |
-It's very basic, isn't it? -It's frightening. | 0:18:46 | 0:18:49 | |
What's your vision for this restoration? | 0:18:49 | 0:18:51 | |
It my personal dream to take this back to Spennymoor | 0:18:51 | 0:18:56 | |
with a horse on the front, smoke coming up through the chimney | 0:18:56 | 0:18:59 | |
and actually being able to serve fish cake and chips again. | 0:18:59 | 0:19:02 | |
Well, there's a lot of work to do. HE LAUGHS | 0:19:02 | 0:19:05 | |
And with so much to do, I lend a hand. | 0:19:07 | 0:19:10 | |
There we go. Beautiful. | 0:19:12 | 0:19:15 | |
You really see the shape, don't you? | 0:19:15 | 0:19:17 | |
The cart's frame was so badly deteriorated, it's being replaced. | 0:19:17 | 0:19:21 | |
But much of the cart is remaining, | 0:19:21 | 0:19:24 | |
including the kitchen cupboards, made from old floorboards. | 0:19:24 | 0:19:29 | |
Bingo! Like a glove. Perfect. | 0:19:29 | 0:19:31 | |
So how did this bit of the operation work? | 0:19:33 | 0:19:35 | |
Well, standing either side of me were two coke scuttles, | 0:19:35 | 0:19:40 | |
quite a bit of coke actually survived, | 0:19:40 | 0:19:43 | |
so did the original shovel. | 0:19:43 | 0:19:45 | |
You would get the coke in there. | 0:19:45 | 0:19:47 | |
You would lift your very, very heavy cast iron pan | 0:19:47 | 0:19:51 | |
with boiling dripping in it. | 0:19:51 | 0:19:53 | |
That's actually a bit of a struggle for you, isn't it, | 0:19:53 | 0:19:55 | |
-without any dripping in it? -It is. | 0:19:55 | 0:19:57 | |
And I'm only reaching the near one. How did you get that one? | 0:19:57 | 0:20:00 | |
And then without spilling any, you put it back down again. | 0:20:00 | 0:20:04 | |
And how did you not sort of cook your arm reaching to this one | 0:20:04 | 0:20:09 | |
and then even more so, what did that one do? | 0:20:09 | 0:20:13 | |
Yes, indeed. Certainly at some point they didn't get it right | 0:20:13 | 0:20:17 | |
because there's evidence there's been at least one serious fire here. | 0:20:17 | 0:20:21 | |
That piece of wood down there really clearly shows | 0:20:21 | 0:20:24 | |
what happens when you get it wrong. | 0:20:24 | 0:20:26 | |
That's been really charred. | 0:20:26 | 0:20:28 | |
-It's just carbon. -Properly burnt, isn't it? | 0:20:28 | 0:20:32 | |
It's kind of mental, isn't it? | 0:20:32 | 0:20:34 | |
And you're serious that you want to get it up and running for one cook? | 0:20:34 | 0:20:38 | |
We do, yes. Yes. You've got to do, haven't you? | 0:20:38 | 0:20:41 | |
It's November, six months into the build. | 0:20:45 | 0:20:48 | |
The walls of the Edwardian fish and chip shop are almost complete | 0:20:48 | 0:20:53 | |
and work is about to begin on the roof. | 0:20:53 | 0:20:55 | |
The size of the building is now becoming apparent | 0:20:56 | 0:20:59 | |
and this is certainly no Victorian front room enterprise. | 0:20:59 | 0:21:04 | |
That's because the early 1900s he saw a concerted effort | 0:21:07 | 0:21:10 | |
by the fish fryers to escape their reputation | 0:21:10 | 0:21:13 | |
as a scourge of the backstreets, | 0:21:13 | 0:21:15 | |
producing food fit only for the lowest classes. | 0:21:15 | 0:21:18 | |
This is a fascinating book. | 0:21:19 | 0:21:22 | |
It says here, "Why on earth should a fish shop be a dark, dismal place, | 0:21:22 | 0:21:27 | |
"enough to give one a fit of the blues on entry? | 0:21:27 | 0:21:31 | |
"The walls," the author says, | 0:21:31 | 0:21:34 | |
"Should be painted from floor to ceiling an electric green." | 0:21:34 | 0:21:38 | |
"All surfaces must be tiled | 0:21:38 | 0:21:41 | |
"in accordance with the strictest standards of hygiene." | 0:21:41 | 0:21:45 | |
This passage is from a book called The Fish Fryer And His Trade | 0:21:45 | 0:21:50 | |
and the author is a fellow who calls himself Chat Chip. Fascinating. | 0:21:50 | 0:21:55 | |
We know Chat Chip was in fact a man called William Loftus from Sheffield | 0:21:55 | 0:22:00 | |
who was a union man | 0:22:00 | 0:22:01 | |
but, branded as an agitator, he couldn't get work | 0:22:01 | 0:22:04 | |
so he became a fish fryer | 0:22:04 | 0:22:06 | |
and made it his life's campaign to elevate the fish and chip shop | 0:22:06 | 0:22:12 | |
and to elevate the status of the humble fish fryer. | 0:22:12 | 0:22:17 | |
It's intended that our establishment | 0:22:19 | 0:22:21 | |
should be one to make Chat Chip proud, | 0:22:21 | 0:22:23 | |
so colourful, hygienic tiling is crucial. | 0:22:23 | 0:22:27 | |
And fortunately, we have just the thing for the job. | 0:22:27 | 0:22:32 | |
Well, this is a fantastic hoard that the museum collected | 0:22:32 | 0:22:35 | |
from a fish and chip shop in Berwick. | 0:22:35 | 0:22:37 | |
It's a really rare find, actually. These tiles, which are from Glasgow, | 0:22:37 | 0:22:40 | |
from J Duncan, it's that period of history | 0:22:40 | 0:22:43 | |
when Glasgow was producing tremendous decorative art. | 0:22:43 | 0:22:47 | |
Mackintosh and others. | 0:22:47 | 0:22:48 | |
So Charlie here is putting it all back together. | 0:22:48 | 0:22:52 | |
This is the one we're working on. This lighthouse. | 0:22:52 | 0:22:55 | |
-I see. So you've got a bit here. -That's right. | 0:22:55 | 0:22:58 | |
-It's like a big jigsaw puzzle. -And a bit here. -That's right. The beacon. | 0:22:58 | 0:23:02 | |
It's lovely, isn't it? It's beautiful. | 0:23:02 | 0:23:05 | |
Before the precious tiles can be re-used, | 0:23:07 | 0:23:10 | |
the old concrete adhesive needs to be removed | 0:23:10 | 0:23:13 | |
and they allow me to work on one. | 0:23:13 | 0:23:15 | |
First I have to slice the concrete into little columns, | 0:23:17 | 0:23:21 | |
which then need to be very cautiously chipped away. | 0:23:21 | 0:23:24 | |
Be very careful with these, Charlie. | 0:23:24 | 0:23:26 | |
The body of the tile is very low fired, it's very fragile. | 0:23:26 | 0:23:30 | |
Right, so the cement's really hard... | 0:23:30 | 0:23:32 | |
The cement's hard and the tile's soft. Yeah. | 0:23:32 | 0:23:35 | |
A task like this really brings home to me the staggering effort | 0:23:36 | 0:23:40 | |
and attention to detail that goes into preserving | 0:23:40 | 0:23:42 | |
and restoring our building heritage. | 0:23:42 | 0:23:46 | |
It takes me over an hour to finish just one tile, | 0:23:46 | 0:23:49 | |
and there are over 1,000 tiles to clean. | 0:23:49 | 0:23:52 | |
-You've done well. -There she is. -Very nice. | 0:23:52 | 0:23:57 | |
I've got these tiles here which are totally smashed up. | 0:23:57 | 0:24:00 | |
I want you to remake that tile completely. | 0:24:02 | 0:24:05 | |
But to complete this whole panel, | 0:24:05 | 0:24:07 | |
we'll actually need three decent tiles. | 0:24:07 | 0:24:11 | |
I want this corner piece replaced and this one here, look, | 0:24:11 | 0:24:15 | |
has been smashed and stuck together in the past. | 0:24:15 | 0:24:19 | |
That would complete that panel cos it's a lovely panel. | 0:24:19 | 0:24:22 | |
-Do you think you can do that? -HE LAUGHS | 0:24:22 | 0:24:25 | |
It certainly isn't something I can do on my own | 0:24:25 | 0:24:28 | |
so I head to Craven Dunhill in Ironbridge, | 0:24:28 | 0:24:31 | |
the last tile factory in the country still making tube lined tiles. | 0:24:31 | 0:24:35 | |
Walking through the factory | 0:24:38 | 0:24:40 | |
is like being in an Edwardian industrial backstreet, | 0:24:40 | 0:24:43 | |
just the sort of area that would have been home to our fish and chip shop. | 0:24:43 | 0:24:48 | |
Chief designer Robin Brindley is going to help me make | 0:24:48 | 0:24:51 | |
the replacement tiles that we need. | 0:24:51 | 0:24:54 | |
We can take the tube lining bag | 0:24:55 | 0:24:57 | |
and that's filled with a liquid clay slip. | 0:24:57 | 0:25:00 | |
-It's literally just brown clay? -Yes. -Very heavily watered down? | 0:25:00 | 0:25:04 | |
It is called slip trailing basically because you are just trailing slip. | 0:25:04 | 0:25:09 | |
-It's like cake icing? -That's correct, yes. | 0:25:09 | 0:25:12 | |
-I'm sure that you will pick it up very quickly. -Great. | 0:25:12 | 0:25:15 | |
You are filling me with confidence. OK. | 0:25:15 | 0:25:18 | |
Ta-da! The big moment. | 0:25:18 | 0:25:21 | |
The design has been traced onto a tile | 0:25:22 | 0:25:24 | |
and all I have to do is follow the lines. | 0:25:24 | 0:25:28 | |
I'm not looking forward to this. OK. | 0:25:29 | 0:25:31 | |
-You really, you have to give it a bit of a squeeze. -Yes. | 0:25:38 | 0:25:41 | |
-That's right. -Woah! -Yeah. Now it's flowing too much. | 0:25:41 | 0:25:44 | |
You're squeezing too hard. | 0:25:44 | 0:25:46 | |
Tube lined tiles were the creme de la creme of shop fittings | 0:25:46 | 0:25:51 | |
and were 30 times more expensive than standard glazed tiles. | 0:25:51 | 0:25:56 | |
The technique produces a raised design which more effectively | 0:25:56 | 0:26:00 | |
caught the light in poorly-gas-lit shops. | 0:26:00 | 0:26:04 | |
I think rather than fish dinner, it's more like a dog's dinner. | 0:26:04 | 0:26:08 | |
What's next? | 0:26:08 | 0:26:09 | |
-What we need to do is introduce some colours. -OK. | 0:26:10 | 0:26:15 | |
If you apply it around the edge first. That's correct. | 0:26:15 | 0:26:18 | |
That makes it easier to fill in. | 0:26:18 | 0:26:21 | |
-OK? You covered it over, that's the main thing. -That's the main thing. | 0:26:21 | 0:26:26 | |
Let's think positive. | 0:26:26 | 0:26:28 | |
The tube lining allows deep pools of glaze to be applied, | 0:26:29 | 0:26:33 | |
producing the most vibrant colours possible in ceramics. | 0:26:33 | 0:26:37 | |
-Yay! Done. -Well done. | 0:26:41 | 0:26:43 | |
That to me looks pretty poor. | 0:26:43 | 0:26:45 | |
I mean, how does that turn into these beautiful tiles? | 0:26:45 | 0:26:48 | |
-What's the next thing that happens? -Once it's been fired, | 0:26:48 | 0:26:51 | |
all those gorgeous colours will actually come through in the firing. | 0:26:51 | 0:26:55 | |
-OK. -So at the end, it will look completely different. | 0:26:55 | 0:26:58 | |
One down, two to go. | 0:26:58 | 0:26:59 | |
The Victorian obsession for walls of tiles in their shops | 0:27:01 | 0:27:04 | |
reflected new scientific discoveries about the nature of hygiene. | 0:27:04 | 0:27:10 | |
The concept there was a connection between cleanliness and health | 0:27:10 | 0:27:14 | |
was well established by the 1860s. | 0:27:14 | 0:27:16 | |
So the shop-going public wanted, | 0:27:16 | 0:27:19 | |
when they went to food shops, to see the shops looking sparklingly clean, | 0:27:19 | 0:27:23 | |
walls of tiles had to be scrubbed, washed down. | 0:27:23 | 0:27:26 | |
No places for germs to lurk. | 0:27:26 | 0:27:29 | |
This became particularly important for fish fryers. | 0:27:29 | 0:27:33 | |
Their business was still under a cloud so, by 1900, | 0:27:33 | 0:27:37 | |
when they were still regarded really as a smelly backstreet enterprise, | 0:27:37 | 0:27:41 | |
they embraced fully the technology of tile-clad interiors | 0:27:41 | 0:27:45 | |
to make their emporiums sparkle with health and cleanliness. | 0:27:45 | 0:27:49 | |
The obsession for tiles extended rather predictably | 0:27:52 | 0:27:55 | |
to public conveniences. | 0:27:55 | 0:27:57 | |
Here we see a wonderful practical and handsome example | 0:27:57 | 0:28:02 | |
of a wash-down tiled wall. | 0:28:02 | 0:28:04 | |
It's January, eight months into the build and, despite a bitter winter, | 0:28:11 | 0:28:16 | |
the traditionally made roof of the main chip shop is almost finished. | 0:28:16 | 0:28:21 | |
The corrugated ironclad extension has also shot up. | 0:28:21 | 0:28:27 | |
Designed by Jim to look like a later addition, | 0:28:27 | 0:28:30 | |
it will house the restaurant | 0:28:30 | 0:28:31 | |
and give the impression the building has evolved over years. | 0:28:31 | 0:28:35 | |
Fish and chip restaurants, known as saloons, | 0:28:37 | 0:28:40 | |
began to appear in Edwardian times. | 0:28:40 | 0:28:42 | |
They were the first restaurants within reach of the working classes. | 0:28:43 | 0:28:46 | |
Soon, fish and chip palaces followed. | 0:28:48 | 0:28:50 | |
Most famously, Harry Ramsden's in West Yorkshire. | 0:28:50 | 0:28:54 | |
With their oak panelling and wall-to-wall carpets, | 0:28:54 | 0:28:57 | |
they allowed workers to escape the harsh realities | 0:28:57 | 0:29:00 | |
of their normal lives, if only for a few hours. | 0:29:00 | 0:29:04 | |
Our saloon is far humbler. | 0:29:05 | 0:29:08 | |
In the story Jim's invented for the building, | 0:29:08 | 0:29:11 | |
it's a low-cost later addition, | 0:29:11 | 0:29:13 | |
thrown up using cheap corrugated iron cladding. | 0:29:13 | 0:29:17 | |
I'm not sure many people would say this, | 0:29:17 | 0:29:20 | |
but I absolutely love corrugated iron. | 0:29:20 | 0:29:24 | |
It is the most incredible building material. | 0:29:24 | 0:29:27 | |
While today, it is very everyday and very commonplace, | 0:29:27 | 0:29:31 | |
when it was patented in 1829, | 0:29:31 | 0:29:34 | |
it must have seemed like it was from a very bright future indeed. | 0:29:34 | 0:29:39 | |
It is the most perfectly functional material. | 0:29:39 | 0:29:42 | |
It's very light, very easy to transform. | 0:29:42 | 0:29:45 | |
It can be bent, rolled, formed. | 0:29:45 | 0:29:48 | |
It's incredibly versatile, | 0:29:48 | 0:29:50 | |
so you can sling it over any simple, lightweight timber or steel frame. | 0:29:50 | 0:29:54 | |
Anything, in fact - make it waterproof. | 0:29:54 | 0:29:57 | |
Because of these characteristics of lightness and ease of transportation, | 0:29:57 | 0:30:01 | |
millions of kit houses were manufactured | 0:30:01 | 0:30:04 | |
and sent right across the world, | 0:30:04 | 0:30:07 | |
from gold prospectors in California, | 0:30:07 | 0:30:09 | |
all over Australia, Africa. | 0:30:09 | 0:30:12 | |
In fact, there's almost nowhere in the world | 0:30:12 | 0:30:14 | |
that hasn't been revolutionised by crinkly tin. | 0:30:14 | 0:30:19 | |
The building may be nearing completion, | 0:30:21 | 0:30:24 | |
but Richard has some bad news about the interior restoration. | 0:30:24 | 0:30:28 | |
I'm afraid we've had a bit of a problem with the early range. | 0:30:28 | 0:30:31 | |
What? It's broken? | 0:30:31 | 0:30:33 | |
It's broken, it was adapted later in its life for gas, | 0:30:33 | 0:30:36 | |
and because it's such a rare surviving example from the turn of the 20th century, | 0:30:36 | 0:30:40 | |
we can't really bring ourselves to damage it. | 0:30:40 | 0:30:42 | |
I see. To make it functional would mean damaging the artefact. | 0:30:42 | 0:30:47 | |
So what are you going to do? Abandon the fish and chip shop? | 0:30:47 | 0:30:50 | |
Well, ideally, we'd like to use an Edwardian range. | 0:30:50 | 0:30:53 | |
We do have one from a slightly later period, | 0:30:53 | 0:30:55 | |
a '20s range, that we've collected. | 0:30:55 | 0:30:57 | |
-Would you like me to show you that? -Yes. | 0:30:57 | 0:31:00 | |
Oh dear! It's in a bit of a sorry state, isn't it? The top's missing. | 0:31:00 | 0:31:04 | |
You're happy to restore this one? This is not that historic. | 0:31:04 | 0:31:08 | |
It is much less rare. This 1920s' range here, we can adapt. | 0:31:08 | 0:31:12 | |
We can get it up in working order. | 0:31:12 | 0:31:14 | |
-You're looking slightly doubtful. -It looks like a lot of work. | 0:31:14 | 0:31:19 | |
Is it really a viable option, getting this thing up and running? | 0:31:19 | 0:31:22 | |
I certainly hope so. Although it's looking a bit sorry, | 0:31:22 | 0:31:24 | |
the fire bricks will be renewed, | 0:31:24 | 0:31:27 | |
the tiling will be restored and, where possible, re-used. | 0:31:27 | 0:31:32 | |
So it won't be entirely replaced. | 0:31:32 | 0:31:34 | |
Fortunately, the fish and chip cart restoration | 0:31:36 | 0:31:40 | |
hasn't suffered any major issues and the bodywork is now complete. | 0:31:40 | 0:31:44 | |
Before the stove is finally fitted, | 0:31:45 | 0:31:48 | |
the team decides a test firing would be prudent. | 0:31:48 | 0:31:52 | |
But a few tweaks may be needed | 0:31:54 | 0:31:57 | |
before the stove is lit inside the cart. | 0:31:57 | 0:32:01 | |
Nine months into the build, | 0:32:05 | 0:32:06 | |
the exterior of both the fish and chip shop | 0:32:06 | 0:32:09 | |
and saloon extension are complete. | 0:32:09 | 0:32:11 | |
We're now weatherproof. The weather can throw anything at us. | 0:32:13 | 0:32:17 | |
Now, we've to do ranges, tiles, counters, get it going. | 0:32:17 | 0:32:20 | |
But we're just running now. | 0:32:20 | 0:32:22 | |
But there are some really nice little features. | 0:32:22 | 0:32:24 | |
Obviously, all the windows are different. | 0:32:24 | 0:32:26 | |
-That's on purpose. -Deliberately. | 0:32:26 | 0:32:28 | |
To show that evolution, you've got the sash window | 0:32:28 | 0:32:31 | |
with its thought-out, quasi-scientific airflow - | 0:32:31 | 0:32:35 | |
open the top, open the bottom - of the Victorians. | 0:32:35 | 0:32:38 | |
And you are heading towards... | 0:32:38 | 0:32:40 | |
It's the first glimpse of the hideous 1970s' picture window | 0:32:40 | 0:32:42 | |
with a top light opening bit. | 0:32:42 | 0:32:45 | |
It's cheap, it's quick, you just whack it together. | 0:32:45 | 0:32:48 | |
Tell me about the windows on the corrugated tin shed. What are they? | 0:32:48 | 0:32:52 | |
The corrugated iron extension, it fascinates me, | 0:32:52 | 0:32:55 | |
because those buildings are disappearing so fast. | 0:32:55 | 0:32:58 | |
These tin sheds have been village halls, they've been chapels, | 0:32:58 | 0:33:01 | |
they've been labour halls, they've been British kitchens. | 0:33:01 | 0:33:04 | |
They've been all those things and in a way, | 0:33:04 | 0:33:08 | |
they're an ominous precursor to the massive building | 0:33:08 | 0:33:12 | |
of soldiers' huts in the First War. | 0:33:12 | 0:33:15 | |
The army hut came out of this sort of instant building. | 0:33:15 | 0:33:19 | |
By the start of the First World War, | 0:33:23 | 0:33:26 | |
fish and chips had become a vital source of nutrition | 0:33:26 | 0:33:29 | |
for the working people of Britain. | 0:33:29 | 0:33:31 | |
Take Bradford, for example. | 0:33:31 | 0:33:33 | |
In 1917, it had 303 fish and chip shops, | 0:33:33 | 0:33:38 | |
selling 900,000 meals per week. | 0:33:38 | 0:33:42 | |
That's two and a half portions per week | 0:33:42 | 0:33:45 | |
for every man, woman and child living in the city. | 0:33:45 | 0:33:48 | |
Fish and chips were deemed to be | 0:33:48 | 0:33:51 | |
such a crucial source of nutrition for the war workers, | 0:33:51 | 0:33:54 | |
that government never rationed fish or potatoes. | 0:33:54 | 0:33:58 | |
There was even a move to exempt fish fryers from the call-up. | 0:33:58 | 0:34:01 | |
So after years of shame and infamy, | 0:34:03 | 0:34:06 | |
the fish fryers had come to be celebrated as national saviours. | 0:34:06 | 0:34:11 | |
Work has now begun on the interior | 0:34:15 | 0:34:18 | |
and the painstakingly restored tiles are being fitted. | 0:34:18 | 0:34:22 | |
But they're still missing the three broken ones. | 0:34:22 | 0:34:25 | |
I have brought some of the tiles. | 0:34:25 | 0:34:28 | |
This is what we were... | 0:34:28 | 0:34:30 | |
That's the one that was very badly damaged. The sort of seascape one. | 0:34:30 | 0:34:36 | |
This was our totally had it, end of the boat. | 0:34:36 | 0:34:40 | |
Obviously, there is a complete missing one. | 0:34:40 | 0:34:44 | |
-It's a moment of revelation. -It is! | 0:34:44 | 0:34:48 | |
I went and tried to make a replacement one for this. | 0:34:48 | 0:34:53 | |
I have to say, it wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be. | 0:34:53 | 0:34:57 | |
Are you breaking us in gently? | 0:34:57 | 0:34:59 | |
You've got the shape! | 0:35:03 | 0:35:05 | |
Look at it. It's dreadful! | 0:35:05 | 0:35:07 | |
The guy helping me realised it was so rubbish that, bless him, | 0:35:07 | 0:35:12 | |
he had to go and do it properly. | 0:35:12 | 0:35:18 | |
That's a bit more like it! | 0:35:18 | 0:35:19 | |
So you can all relax. That's that one. The colour is perfect. | 0:35:19 | 0:35:25 | |
-Then this is the missing tile. -Oh, right. The bottom of the boat. | 0:35:25 | 0:35:32 | |
Look at that. That's fantastic! | 0:35:32 | 0:35:35 | |
Charlie is a skilful guy. He couldn't do it. | 0:35:35 | 0:35:39 | |
These people were brilliant, absolutely brilliant. | 0:35:39 | 0:35:42 | |
They were at the top of their game. They were famous across the country. | 0:35:42 | 0:35:45 | |
Duncan's tiles. | 0:35:45 | 0:35:47 | |
So...a good try, | 0:35:47 | 0:35:49 | |
but we'll use this one! | 0:35:49 | 0:35:51 | |
-Is this the hard bit? -This is the messy bit. | 0:35:54 | 0:35:58 | |
-So what? Just stick it on? -Stick it on. | 0:35:58 | 0:36:01 | |
Just twist and make sure it beds. | 0:36:01 | 0:36:04 | |
That's not going to fall off, is it? | 0:36:04 | 0:36:07 | |
I'll keep a hold while you get the other ones. | 0:36:07 | 0:36:09 | |
-We don't want to break any. -I really don't want to break any! | 0:36:11 | 0:36:14 | |
That's fine. | 0:36:16 | 0:36:18 | |
So in the space there. | 0:36:20 | 0:36:22 | |
This is the missing one. This is the panel... | 0:36:22 | 0:36:24 | |
The one we've never seen. | 0:36:24 | 0:36:27 | |
The one we've never seen. | 0:36:27 | 0:36:29 | |
That...is your panel. | 0:36:31 | 0:36:34 | |
It's absolutely fantastic. It is a perfect match. | 0:36:34 | 0:36:36 | |
It's really, really good. | 0:36:36 | 0:36:38 | |
It's only when you see these tiles restored and back on the wall, | 0:36:44 | 0:36:49 | |
that you actually get a real sense of how powerful and evocative they are. | 0:36:49 | 0:36:53 | |
And how bright and fresh those colours must have seemed | 0:36:53 | 0:36:58 | |
to someone who's spent a day in the darkness of the mine. | 0:36:58 | 0:37:02 | |
Imagine coming out of there, being filthy, washing yourself off, | 0:37:02 | 0:37:06 | |
coming up and getting a lovely, hot fish supper, | 0:37:06 | 0:37:09 | |
sitting down, looking at these evocative scenes, | 0:37:09 | 0:37:13 | |
and for just a while, sort of being transported to a distant place. | 0:37:13 | 0:37:18 | |
The 1920s' range has now been restored to full working order | 0:37:21 | 0:37:28 | |
and it's being installed. | 0:37:28 | 0:37:31 | |
OK, Charlie. This is our latest discovery. What do you think? | 0:37:31 | 0:37:34 | |
That's beautiful. It's in amazing condition, isn't it? | 0:37:34 | 0:37:37 | |
-That would have been where the fire was. -There's the fire down there. | 0:37:37 | 0:37:40 | |
We haven't currently got the pans in but we've got the pans. | 0:37:40 | 0:37:43 | |
-So you've got the original pans? -The original pans. | 0:37:43 | 0:37:46 | |
They were preserved because they were soaked in fat, funnily enough! | 0:37:46 | 0:37:51 | |
It is very beautiful. It is really quite small though, isn't it? | 0:37:51 | 0:37:55 | |
I think of a fish shop today, you'll have like a whole counter thing. | 0:37:55 | 0:37:59 | |
-Yes. -This is not going to have that big a capacity, is it? | 0:37:59 | 0:38:03 | |
It is a problem. | 0:38:03 | 0:38:05 | |
It's sweet, it's beautiful, but there's two little pans, | 0:38:05 | 0:38:07 | |
two little fires and the capacity is not huge. | 0:38:07 | 0:38:10 | |
The good thing is, we've found something else | 0:38:10 | 0:38:13 | |
that will at least speed up our chip production. | 0:38:13 | 0:38:16 | |
-Right. -Come and have a look. | 0:38:16 | 0:38:17 | |
-Jim. -Yes? -What's that? | 0:38:22 | 0:38:25 | |
That's a state-of-the-art chip chipper. | 0:38:25 | 0:38:28 | |
-From when? -This engine is a 1909 gas engine. | 0:38:28 | 0:38:32 | |
If you look in the books and catalogues | 0:38:32 | 0:38:35 | |
how to do a chip shop in the Edwardian period, | 0:38:35 | 0:38:38 | |
this is the exact model that was being recommended | 0:38:38 | 0:38:41 | |
to the up-and-coming chip shop owner just before the First War. | 0:38:41 | 0:38:44 | |
How does it work? | 0:38:44 | 0:38:45 | |
The gas comes in into the cylinder, | 0:38:45 | 0:38:50 | |
it's driving a little belt. | 0:38:50 | 0:38:51 | |
The belt's driving a little chain. | 0:38:51 | 0:38:54 | |
Inside here, the little teeth are going round | 0:38:54 | 0:38:57 | |
and if you want to pop a potato down there... | 0:38:57 | 0:39:00 | |
-Two holes. -The big hole. It's a big potato. | 0:39:00 | 0:39:04 | |
And then push it down with your hygienic pusher | 0:39:04 | 0:39:08 | |
and out should come your chips. | 0:39:08 | 0:39:11 | |
Look at that! | 0:39:14 | 0:39:16 | |
-French fries! -Yes. | 0:39:16 | 0:39:18 | |
-Not bad, eh? -So you're going to use this, are you, in the shop? | 0:39:18 | 0:39:22 | |
This is a test. | 0:39:22 | 0:39:25 | |
It'll be clean and spotless and we'll have a hygienic plunger. | 0:39:25 | 0:39:30 | |
It is fantastic! Absolutely fantastic! | 0:39:30 | 0:39:33 | |
Although marvellous, the gas chipper alone | 0:39:35 | 0:39:38 | |
isn't going to solve the chip shop's capacity problem. | 0:39:38 | 0:39:41 | |
But I've discovered that in nearby Winlaton Mill, | 0:39:41 | 0:39:45 | |
there's another old, traditionally coal-fired range | 0:39:45 | 0:39:48 | |
that may offer a solution. | 0:39:48 | 0:39:50 | |
-Evening, gentlemen. -Nice to see you. -Very nice to meet you. | 0:39:50 | 0:39:53 | |
Gosh! What a wonderful range. | 0:39:53 | 0:39:57 | |
Yes. It is well preserved, really. | 0:39:57 | 0:40:01 | |
-But the obvious point is, you aren't frying tonight. Why is that? -No. | 0:40:01 | 0:40:06 | |
The reason is because in 2007, our mother died, | 0:40:06 | 0:40:11 | |
and she left instructions that | 0:40:11 | 0:40:14 | |
that had to be the end of the business | 0:40:14 | 0:40:16 | |
but she really just thought that it was time | 0:40:16 | 0:40:20 | |
for us to have early retirement and enjoy life. | 0:40:20 | 0:40:24 | |
It's incredible to meet someone | 0:40:24 | 0:40:26 | |
who has actually toiled with, for years, a coal-fired range. | 0:40:26 | 0:40:30 | |
Can you show me how it works? | 0:40:30 | 0:40:32 | |
-What we used to do, was put some newspaper in first. -In the morning? | 0:40:32 | 0:40:38 | |
Put some newspaper in | 0:40:38 | 0:40:40 | |
and then you'd put some sticks on and set it alight. | 0:40:40 | 0:40:44 | |
Once the sticks got alight, you started putting your coal on. | 0:40:44 | 0:40:48 | |
So you've got fish there, chips in that. And that's a backup? | 0:40:48 | 0:40:52 | |
Yes. That's just a backup, that one. | 0:40:52 | 0:40:55 | |
It's amazing to think that for over 70 years, | 0:40:55 | 0:40:58 | |
this room was at the heart of the local community. | 0:40:58 | 0:41:00 | |
People coming here to meet, to feed, to chat. | 0:41:00 | 0:41:03 | |
It is very haunting, really. | 0:41:03 | 0:41:05 | |
Grandchildren of people that used to come to the shop years ago | 0:41:05 | 0:41:09 | |
were coming in near the end of the business. | 0:41:09 | 0:41:12 | |
So there's been generations served at this counter. | 0:41:12 | 0:41:15 | |
It is really thrilling to be here and to meet you | 0:41:15 | 0:41:18 | |
and to see this wonderful, wonderful machine. | 0:41:18 | 0:41:21 | |
-Yes, it's survived. -Thank you very much. | 0:41:21 | 0:41:23 | |
Since you're not frying, I think I'll pop down to the local pub. | 0:41:23 | 0:41:26 | |
-Good idea. -Maybe I'll see you down there! | 0:41:26 | 0:41:29 | |
Although the Davy brothers' range is 1930s rather than Edwardian, | 0:41:34 | 0:41:38 | |
it has the capacity Beamish desperately needs. | 0:41:38 | 0:41:42 | |
So it decided to add it to the fish and chip shop, | 0:41:42 | 0:41:45 | |
meaning that one of the few remaining coal-fired ranges | 0:41:45 | 0:41:48 | |
left in the country will not only be saved from the scrapheap, | 0:41:48 | 0:41:52 | |
but will be fully restored and soon frying once again. | 0:41:52 | 0:41:55 | |
It is an emotional day already. | 0:41:59 | 0:42:01 | |
It's one of those days we'll never forget. | 0:42:01 | 0:42:03 | |
It's been amazing that we were found, so to speak, | 0:42:03 | 0:42:08 | |
and it's been able to find a good home and will be well cared for. | 0:42:08 | 0:42:15 | |
It's there for posterity. | 0:42:16 | 0:42:19 | |
It's taken nine months | 0:42:24 | 0:42:26 | |
of painstaking work to restore the fish and chip cart | 0:42:26 | 0:42:28 | |
and after 40 years collecting dust at Beamish, | 0:42:28 | 0:42:31 | |
it is finally ready for its triumphal homecoming | 0:42:31 | 0:42:34 | |
here to the streets of Spennymoor. | 0:42:34 | 0:42:37 | |
What's going to be fascinating to see | 0:42:37 | 0:42:40 | |
is if anyone can remember the once famous Berriman fish and chip cart. | 0:42:40 | 0:42:45 | |
I think this is your fault because you were the one who suggested | 0:43:09 | 0:43:12 | |
bringing it back here and cooking some chips. | 0:43:12 | 0:43:15 | |
-How does it feel? -It's brilliant. I've waited a long time for this. | 0:43:15 | 0:43:19 | |
The pleasure of restoration for me | 0:43:19 | 0:43:21 | |
is to make something live again and breathe again. | 0:43:21 | 0:43:24 | |
I think we better get out of the way! | 0:43:27 | 0:43:30 | |
That's it. | 0:43:30 | 0:43:31 | |
It's funny because I thought that people might not remember, | 0:43:37 | 0:43:41 | |
but everyone seems to remember. | 0:43:41 | 0:43:43 | |
-It was the main thing in Spennymoor. -Was it? -Yes. | 0:43:43 | 0:43:46 | |
Everybody was to come out of the pub | 0:43:46 | 0:43:49 | |
to get themselves a bag of chips or a fishcake. | 0:43:49 | 0:43:51 | |
-And good chips? -They were beautiful. -Absolutely beautiful. | 0:43:51 | 0:43:56 | |
-So are you ready to go? -I think so. -Go on then. Let's see how it works. | 0:43:57 | 0:44:01 | |
Let's be brave. | 0:44:01 | 0:44:03 | |
Brave or foolhardy! | 0:44:04 | 0:44:06 | |
-Is it going? -Yes, it's going. | 0:44:07 | 0:44:09 | |
-There's a bit of a breeze on, isn't there? -Yes. | 0:44:11 | 0:44:14 | |
It's drawing really strong. | 0:44:14 | 0:44:16 | |
While we wait for the beef dripping to heat up, | 0:44:17 | 0:44:20 | |
the son of one of the brothers who owned the cart | 0:44:20 | 0:44:23 | |
comes to pay us a visit. | 0:44:23 | 0:44:26 | |
-You must be Mr Berriman? -I am. -Hello. Pleased to meet you. Charlie. | 0:44:26 | 0:44:30 | |
I've brought these Tilley lamps | 0:44:30 | 0:44:32 | |
that have been in the garage for 35 years or more. | 0:44:32 | 0:44:35 | |
So these lit the van, did they? | 0:44:35 | 0:44:37 | |
They lit the van when it got dark on a night. | 0:44:37 | 0:44:40 | |
-It's a proper Tilley lamp as well, isn't it? -Yes. | 0:44:42 | 0:44:45 | |
-So where do they go? -Actually up on those hooks on the back. | 0:44:45 | 0:44:50 | |
Do you want to stick that up there? | 0:44:50 | 0:44:52 | |
One of the hooks has gone missing, so we'll just put that there. | 0:44:52 | 0:44:56 | |
-They're back home. -They're back home, where they belong. -Yes. -Yes. | 0:44:56 | 0:45:01 | |
After half an hour, the first batch of chips for 40 years | 0:45:03 | 0:45:08 | |
can be fried up for the people of Spennymoor. | 0:45:08 | 0:45:11 | |
There we go. | 0:45:15 | 0:45:17 | |
Right, kids. | 0:45:22 | 0:45:23 | |
No. Don't grab them! | 0:45:23 | 0:45:27 | |
How good are they? | 0:45:28 | 0:45:31 | |
-Yeah, they're lovely. 1 out of 10! -Very nice. -11 out of 10? | 0:45:31 | 0:45:34 | |
11 out of 10 for the chips. | 0:45:34 | 0:45:37 | |
Even the mayor turns up for a bag of chips. | 0:45:38 | 0:45:41 | |
-No salt. -No salt, just vinegar. | 0:45:41 | 0:45:43 | |
-There you go. I hope you like them. -Thank you. They look nice. | 0:45:45 | 0:45:48 | |
Go on, have a try and see what you think. | 0:45:48 | 0:45:51 | |
Was the Berriman van an iconic part of the community? | 0:45:54 | 0:45:57 | |
There's no doubt about that whatsoever. | 0:45:57 | 0:45:59 | |
Anybody that came into the town, | 0:45:59 | 0:46:01 | |
whether it be from Spennymoor or the surrounding area, | 0:46:01 | 0:46:04 | |
they always made, on a night, for the chips at that van. | 0:46:04 | 0:46:08 | |
And what's this here? | 0:46:08 | 0:46:10 | |
That's the Berriman's chip van done by Mr George Teasdale. | 0:46:10 | 0:46:15 | |
-So you took this photo? -In the '60s. -Did you? -Yes. | 0:46:15 | 0:46:18 | |
-Do you remember taking it? -Not really. | 0:46:18 | 0:46:21 | |
I suppose it was a while ago. | 0:46:21 | 0:46:23 | |
It was a while ago. | 0:46:23 | 0:46:24 | |
-But you remember the van? -Yes. It was in the High Street | 0:46:24 | 0:46:27 | |
opposite the Waterloo pub, which isn't there any more. | 0:46:27 | 0:46:31 | |
In the 1900s, there were about five chip vans in Spennymoor. | 0:46:31 | 0:46:34 | |
-Happy days. -That's an amazing document. | 0:46:34 | 0:46:36 | |
So obviously a really important part of the local community. | 0:46:36 | 0:46:39 | |
It's the final push to put the finishing touches on the fish and chip shop | 0:46:47 | 0:46:52 | |
before it's handed over to the team who will run it. | 0:46:52 | 0:46:55 | |
Moment of truth. | 0:46:55 | 0:46:57 | |
The Davy brothers' 1930s' range has been rejuvenated | 0:47:00 | 0:47:05 | |
and is being installed. | 0:47:05 | 0:47:07 | |
Jim has also managed to source another authentic Edwardian gem. | 0:47:07 | 0:47:12 | |
I never thought I'd need to explain but that's a toilet cistern. | 0:47:12 | 0:47:15 | |
Cisterns have gone lower down the wall. | 0:47:15 | 0:47:18 | |
In the old days, when people had hearty and thick diets, | 0:47:18 | 0:47:20 | |
the water needed a bit of acceleration from on high. | 0:47:20 | 0:47:23 | |
So you pulled the chain and it came roaring down with a wonderful noise. | 0:47:23 | 0:47:27 | |
This cistern is rather good | 0:47:27 | 0:47:28 | |
because it's a typical working-class housing cistern. | 0:47:28 | 0:47:32 | |
It's wood, lined with lead. | 0:47:32 | 0:47:35 | |
The toilet itself might look well worn but it's actually | 0:47:35 | 0:47:38 | |
what they euphemistically call 'new old stock'. | 0:47:38 | 0:47:42 | |
It is extremely old but it's never been used. It's never seen action. | 0:47:42 | 0:47:47 | |
It is a race species of toilet | 0:47:47 | 0:47:49 | |
known from workhouses and poor people's outside toilets, | 0:47:49 | 0:47:53 | |
that was entirely made of salt glaze, | 0:47:53 | 0:47:56 | |
rather than white, expensive glaze. | 0:47:56 | 0:47:59 | |
I don't think I've ever seen one in use, | 0:47:59 | 0:48:02 | |
but we're going to see one in use. | 0:48:02 | 0:48:04 | |
The ranges can now be connected to the flue | 0:48:05 | 0:48:08 | |
and the team has assembled for the crucial smoke test. | 0:48:08 | 0:48:12 | |
If it doesn't go right, everybody's going to be looking at me. | 0:48:12 | 0:48:16 | |
But there are some bushes behind. | 0:48:16 | 0:48:19 | |
I will just disappear quietly into the bushes! | 0:48:19 | 0:48:22 | |
It'll be fine. | 0:48:22 | 0:48:24 | |
It should fire up. | 0:48:31 | 0:48:33 | |
-No. -No. I am staring at that... | 0:48:35 | 0:48:38 | |
He'll come running out the door! | 0:48:38 | 0:48:39 | |
There she blows. | 0:48:39 | 0:48:41 | |
-Well done! -There we go. -Look at that. | 0:48:43 | 0:48:47 | |
-Goodness me, that's a lot of smoke. -Watch him come out, coughing! | 0:48:47 | 0:48:50 | |
It's a highly accelerated Kenny flue system! | 0:48:52 | 0:48:56 | |
It's more or less turbo charged! | 0:48:56 | 0:48:59 | |
Three days later, the building work is complete. | 0:49:02 | 0:49:06 | |
and the fish and chip shop can be furnished and spruced up | 0:49:06 | 0:49:09 | |
in preparation for the grand opening, giving Dan and me | 0:49:09 | 0:49:13 | |
our first opportunity to see it in all its glory. | 0:49:13 | 0:49:16 | |
There's the bunting, all getting ready for the opening day. | 0:49:16 | 0:49:21 | |
-Absolutely. Shall we go in and have a look? -Absolutely. -In you go. | 0:49:21 | 0:49:24 | |
-Check this out! Look at it! -This is the 1910 range over there. | 0:49:26 | 0:49:32 | |
-Yes. Edwardian range. -It looks sensational now. | 0:49:32 | 0:49:36 | |
Look at the way the tiles have come up. It's stunning. | 0:49:36 | 0:49:39 | |
That is too precious an historic object to function. | 0:49:39 | 0:49:42 | |
That really is a museum display. | 0:49:42 | 0:49:45 | |
-Exactly. -And this wonderful thing here. -A manual chipper. | 0:49:45 | 0:49:48 | |
-You put a potato here and I see, yes, indeed. -Whack! | 0:49:48 | 0:49:51 | |
Complete with comedy spring noise! | 0:49:53 | 0:49:56 | |
Next on the tour, the palatial main kitchen. | 0:49:59 | 0:50:03 | |
-Good Lord! This is absolutely staggering. -Amazing. -It's wonderful. | 0:50:04 | 0:50:09 | |
Look at the tiles. They're absolutely beautiful. | 0:50:09 | 0:50:12 | |
The idea that everything is tiled, helps reflect the light, | 0:50:12 | 0:50:15 | |
because you'd have had gas lights and very dim levels of light. | 0:50:15 | 0:50:18 | |
The highly reflective surfaces would have just punched the light levels up. | 0:50:18 | 0:50:22 | |
And with the tube lining, the raised delineation of it catches the light | 0:50:22 | 0:50:26 | |
and reinforces the vibrant, vivid, very clear defined colour fields. | 0:50:26 | 0:50:32 | |
And you imagine a slightly flickering gas flame, | 0:50:32 | 0:50:35 | |
how it would almost be like a living thing. | 0:50:35 | 0:50:37 | |
-And the escapism. -It's like gin palaces, isn't it, | 0:50:37 | 0:50:40 | |
sparkling with gasoliers and cut glass. | 0:50:40 | 0:50:43 | |
This was an escape from your humble home or down the pit | 0:50:43 | 0:50:46 | |
and you see this escapist fantasy world, don't you? | 0:50:46 | 0:50:48 | |
The 1920s' range may look similar to the Edwardian range, | 0:50:50 | 0:50:54 | |
but as it's less rare, it's been possible to restore it | 0:50:54 | 0:50:57 | |
to full working order. | 0:50:57 | 0:50:59 | |
Very practical, yet also ornamental. | 0:50:59 | 0:51:01 | |
A wonderful marriage of art and industry and utilitarian. | 0:51:01 | 0:51:06 | |
I love the little scene here. This view of a Highland loch, I suppose. | 0:51:06 | 0:51:10 | |
Really for the benefit of the fish fryer, standing here. | 0:51:10 | 0:51:13 | |
Just to give him a little bit of escape. | 0:51:13 | 0:51:16 | |
And the Davy brothers' range | 0:51:18 | 0:51:20 | |
will supply the capacity needed on busy days. | 0:51:20 | 0:51:22 | |
Beautiful. | 0:51:23 | 0:51:25 | |
I last saw this when it was utterly abandoned in its old home. | 0:51:25 | 0:51:29 | |
Doesn't that take you back to childhood? Do you know what I mean? | 0:51:29 | 0:51:33 | |
It's just all of that sort of scooping, and salt flying around | 0:51:33 | 0:51:37 | |
and vinegar everywhere. It's fantastic! | 0:51:37 | 0:51:40 | |
The dining saloon is far more modestly furnished | 0:51:41 | 0:51:44 | |
with reclaimed timber and exposed brickwork. | 0:51:44 | 0:51:46 | |
Less is more. | 0:51:46 | 0:51:48 | |
Keeping it simple makes it so much more authentic | 0:51:48 | 0:51:52 | |
and evocative, doesn't it? | 0:51:52 | 0:51:54 | |
And Jim's obsessive attention to detail is exemplified | 0:51:55 | 0:51:58 | |
by the authentically woebegone toilet. | 0:51:58 | 0:52:02 | |
-And of course, it works. -It does, absolutely. | 0:52:04 | 0:52:07 | |
-There we go. -Lovely! | 0:52:10 | 0:52:11 | |
So now, finally, the time has arrived for the first fry up. | 0:52:15 | 0:52:20 | |
And who better to show us the ropes than the Davy brothers? | 0:52:20 | 0:52:24 | |
-Well... -Wow! | 0:52:24 | 0:52:26 | |
-There's the range. -Dear! -What do you think? -Fantastic! | 0:52:26 | 0:52:31 | |
What do you think of that? | 0:52:31 | 0:52:33 | |
-Does that take you back a few years? -Goodness me! | 0:52:35 | 0:52:37 | |
Are you all right, Ramsay? | 0:52:37 | 0:52:39 | |
-And this is our counter and the chipper. -Who used to light it? -Me. | 0:52:41 | 0:52:47 | |
Right, Ramsay, you and I are going to light it. | 0:52:47 | 0:52:49 | |
Ramsay's technique is watched closely by Denise, | 0:52:52 | 0:52:55 | |
who will be running the chip shop. | 0:52:55 | 0:52:58 | |
Ceremonial lighting. | 0:52:58 | 0:53:00 | |
That's it. | 0:53:04 | 0:53:05 | |
I seize the opportunity to get my hands on that chipper. | 0:53:06 | 0:53:09 | |
So do you want to be the first to use it? | 0:53:09 | 0:53:13 | |
You've to keep the potato that way up. That's it. | 0:53:13 | 0:53:16 | |
I'm going to keep my hands reasonably well away. | 0:53:16 | 0:53:19 | |
Then straight down. | 0:53:19 | 0:53:21 | |
-Then, remember to move my fingers. -That should be OK now. | 0:53:21 | 0:53:24 | |
-Do you wish to do another? -That's not a bad potato. -It's a great potato. | 0:53:27 | 0:53:31 | |
Doing them that way means you get a nice, long potato. | 0:53:31 | 0:53:33 | |
The other way, short and fat, no good. | 0:53:33 | 0:53:35 | |
I'm going to experiment the other way. Of course, I'm being very slow. | 0:53:35 | 0:53:39 | |
Dan, where are the chips? We need the chips pretty soon. | 0:53:39 | 0:53:45 | |
Good heavens! Patience! | 0:53:45 | 0:53:46 | |
But I shall take the challenge. Let's speed up the operation. | 0:53:46 | 0:53:49 | |
I might get a finger in with the chips! | 0:53:49 | 0:53:52 | |
-Good Lord, Charlie! A pinafore! -It's the only apron we've got. | 0:53:56 | 0:54:00 | |
Here are the chips anyway. I will stand back. | 0:54:00 | 0:54:04 | |
-So I'm allowed to put these in, am I? -Yes, put them in. Just be gentle. | 0:54:04 | 0:54:08 | |
-Don't throw them in. -From here? -Yes. -I will just tip it. | 0:54:08 | 0:54:14 | |
-Whoa! -There we go. | 0:54:15 | 0:54:18 | |
-Oh my God! -Go on. -There we are. | 0:54:18 | 0:54:20 | |
-Give them a stir. -They are definitely cooking, aren't they? | 0:54:26 | 0:54:30 | |
-They definitely are. -Well, we've done it. | 0:54:30 | 0:54:33 | |
-We have a coal-fired fish and chip shop. Well done, everyone! -Well done. | 0:54:33 | 0:54:38 | |
Well done, Ramsay. | 0:54:38 | 0:54:40 | |
-It's a wonderful noise, isn't it? -There it is. | 0:54:40 | 0:54:44 | |
SIZZLING | 0:54:44 | 0:54:45 | |
With the fish and chip shop fully operational, | 0:54:51 | 0:54:55 | |
it can now be officially opened to the public. | 0:54:55 | 0:54:58 | |
Thank you for coming and welcome to a very exciting event today, | 0:55:00 | 0:55:04 | |
the opening of Beamish's very own fried fish shop. | 0:55:04 | 0:55:07 | |
Special thanks to this very finely dressed man to my left here, Jim, | 0:55:07 | 0:55:12 | |
whose brainchild this is, | 0:55:12 | 0:55:14 | |
whose head this building literally popped out of | 0:55:14 | 0:55:17 | |
and is in front of you here today, so special thanks to Jim. | 0:55:17 | 0:55:20 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:55:20 | 0:55:23 | |
I would also like to make a special mention to the Davy brothers, | 0:55:23 | 0:55:28 | |
who had a coal-fired range working in Tyneside until very recently | 0:55:28 | 0:55:31 | |
and were kind enough to let us have it here for the fried fish shop at Beamish. | 0:55:31 | 0:55:37 | |
To mark the event, I would like to ask the Davy brothers to cut the ribbon. | 0:55:37 | 0:55:41 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:55:42 | 0:55:44 | |
-Come on in. In you go. In you go. After you, Charlie. -Thank you very much. | 0:55:50 | 0:55:54 | |
The honour of being served the very first portion | 0:55:59 | 0:56:02 | |
goes to Kenny the bricklayer. | 0:56:02 | 0:56:05 | |
Congratulations. Well done, Kenny. | 0:56:05 | 0:56:07 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:56:07 | 0:56:08 | |
-Wonderful! -Would you like some salt? | 0:56:12 | 0:56:15 | |
Next time, we'll have to open a brewery! | 0:56:15 | 0:56:18 | |
The public are next in line. | 0:56:19 | 0:56:21 | |
They're cooked in proper dripping. | 0:56:21 | 0:56:24 | |
-It's far better. -Better than oil and all these newfangled concoctions. | 0:56:24 | 0:56:29 | |
They're just as good as what we used to have 40 or 50 years ago, when we were kids. | 0:56:29 | 0:56:34 | |
It feels very good to see that finally open. Very good indeed. | 0:56:36 | 0:56:40 | |
It's the smell, the taste, the sight. | 0:56:40 | 0:56:42 | |
It isn't walking around, | 0:56:42 | 0:56:44 | |
looking at the world's oldest chip range in a glass case. | 0:56:44 | 0:56:47 | |
All of us are used to fish ranges smelling of fish and chips, | 0:56:47 | 0:56:50 | |
which is not odd until you see one that doesn't. | 0:56:50 | 0:56:53 | |
But to go in there and it's hot and it smells right | 0:56:53 | 0:56:56 | |
and people are laughing and joking, that's great. | 0:56:56 | 0:57:00 | |
I think everyone associated with this build ended up very proud indeed. | 0:57:00 | 0:57:04 | |
Because they started from scratch, it's been an enormous challenge | 0:57:05 | 0:57:09 | |
to bring together the ranges, the colliery bricks, | 0:57:09 | 0:57:12 | |
the windows and to create a coherent building that feels right. | 0:57:12 | 0:57:17 | |
I think Jim and his team have more than achieved that | 0:57:17 | 0:57:21 | |
because they've created a building that clearly | 0:57:21 | 0:57:23 | |
and quietly tells the story of the incredible rise of fish and chips. | 0:57:23 | 0:57:28 | |
That's an important story because of the fundamental role | 0:57:28 | 0:57:32 | |
that fish and chips played in working communities across Britain. | 0:57:32 | 0:57:36 | |
I think, at last, I understand how this humble food | 0:57:38 | 0:57:42 | |
has become of such national importance. | 0:57:42 | 0:57:45 | |
Fish and chips is of course very nourishing, tasty | 0:57:45 | 0:57:48 | |
and has always been relatively cheap. | 0:57:48 | 0:57:51 | |
But more important, it represents a fusion of cultures. | 0:57:51 | 0:57:55 | |
A fusion of the Jewish emigre culture of East London | 0:57:55 | 0:57:59 | |
with the working class communities of the North. | 0:57:59 | 0:58:02 | |
It represents, in a particular way, a portrait of Britain. | 0:58:02 | 0:58:06 | |
And isn't it wonderful the way fish and chips started | 0:58:06 | 0:58:11 | |
as a rather dubious, backstreet industry | 0:58:11 | 0:58:14 | |
and then blossomed to occupy splendid, | 0:58:14 | 0:58:17 | |
palatial emporia like this. | 0:58:17 | 0:58:21 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:58:52 | 0:58:55 |