Browse content similar to Christmas 2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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As a nation, we spend £42 billion on Christmas. | 0:00:02 | 0:00:06 | |
And it wouldn't be possible without the 2.5 million people working in | 0:00:06 | 0:00:10 | |
hundreds of factories up and down the country. | 0:00:10 | 0:00:13 | |
'We've been given access to Britain's busiest festive factories | 0:00:13 | 0:00:17 | |
'in the run-up to Christmas.' | 0:00:17 | 0:00:19 | |
Big, hot, steaming vats of Christmas. | 0:00:19 | 0:00:23 | |
'I'm Gregg Wallace.' | 0:00:23 | 0:00:25 | |
And I'm in the biggest mince pie factory in the world. | 0:00:25 | 0:00:28 | |
And over the next 24 hours, I'm going to help make 12,000 of them. | 0:00:29 | 0:00:35 | |
'And I'm Cherry Healey...' | 0:00:35 | 0:00:37 | |
I'll be finding out how one Welsh factory | 0:00:37 | 0:00:40 | |
makes enough tinsel to stretch from here to Hawaii. | 0:00:40 | 0:00:44 | |
'And I'll be making one of 30,000 Christmas jumpers, | 0:00:44 | 0:00:48 | |
'15,000 metres of wrapping paper, | 0:00:48 | 0:00:52 | |
'and learning top tips for picking an award-winning Christmas tree.' | 0:00:52 | 0:00:57 | |
I had no idea there was so much to a Christmas tree. | 0:00:57 | 0:01:01 | |
Ruth Goodman will be solving the historic puzzle | 0:01:01 | 0:01:04 | |
of who put the bang in our Christmas cracker, and why. | 0:01:04 | 0:01:07 | |
THEY LAUGH | 0:01:08 | 0:01:10 | |
We've got it all wrapped up. | 0:01:10 | 0:01:12 | |
From stocking fillers to festive feasts. | 0:01:12 | 0:01:15 | |
Welcome to Inside The Christmas Factory. | 0:01:15 | 0:01:17 | |
In this one factory alone, | 0:01:37 | 0:01:38 | |
they can produce 6 million cakes and pies a day. | 0:01:38 | 0:01:43 | |
And I've come to see how they make their festive favourite - | 0:01:43 | 0:01:46 | |
the great, British mince pie. | 0:01:46 | 0:01:48 | |
And, right now, they're making over 2,000 a minute. | 0:01:48 | 0:01:51 | |
The Premier Foods factory in South Yorkshire makes Mr Kipling's cakes, | 0:01:59 | 0:02:03 | |
and it covers 51 acres, the size of Wembley Arena. | 0:02:03 | 0:02:07 | |
I love Christmas baking, | 0:02:09 | 0:02:10 | |
but, here, I'll be doing it on an unimaginable scale. | 0:02:10 | 0:02:14 | |
I'll be making a batch of 12,000 mince pies, | 0:02:14 | 0:02:17 | |
just a fraction of the 3 million they'll produce today. | 0:02:17 | 0:02:21 | |
I'll be using nearly half a tonne of pastry | 0:02:21 | 0:02:23 | |
and enough mincemeat to fill up nine bathtubs. | 0:02:23 | 0:02:27 | |
First, I need a mountain of ingredients. | 0:02:30 | 0:02:33 | |
And head of delivery and mixing, Wayne Tallon, | 0:02:33 | 0:02:35 | |
should be able to help. | 0:02:35 | 0:02:36 | |
-You're Wayne. -Pleased to meet you. | 0:02:38 | 0:02:39 | |
Well, actually, I could tell cos it's written on your jacket. | 0:02:39 | 0:02:42 | |
-So, what's on here? -This has just been delivered this morning. | 0:02:42 | 0:02:44 | |
-Can we have a look? -Yeah, sure, pull the curtain back. | 0:02:44 | 0:02:47 | |
-Me? -Yeah. -Let me do it, then, otherwise I'll look weak and puny. | 0:02:47 | 0:02:50 | |
-Can you give me a hand? -WAYNE CHUCKLES | 0:02:50 | 0:02:53 | |
There you go. | 0:02:53 | 0:02:54 | |
Wow. All right, well, that says what that is. | 0:02:54 | 0:02:57 | |
How many ingredients goes into a mince pie? | 0:02:57 | 0:03:00 | |
-33. -33? | 0:03:00 | 0:03:02 | |
Each mince pie has ingredients from all over the world, | 0:03:03 | 0:03:07 | |
travelling a total of more than 62,000 miles to get here, | 0:03:07 | 0:03:11 | |
including spices from Asia, Africa and Russia, | 0:03:11 | 0:03:15 | |
orange oil from Brazil, | 0:03:15 | 0:03:17 | |
dried fruit from America, Turkey and Greece, | 0:03:17 | 0:03:20 | |
fruit from Italy, | 0:03:20 | 0:03:22 | |
and flour, sugar, treacle, apple and butter from here in the UK. | 0:03:22 | 0:03:26 | |
-How many on one of these? -There's 24 tonne on this trailer. | 0:03:27 | 0:03:31 | |
So, I reckon each one of these is over a tonne. | 0:03:31 | 0:03:32 | |
-They are one tonne. -A tonne of tunnel sultanas? -1,000 kilos. | 0:03:32 | 0:03:36 | |
Mate, you should make 'em the way I do - | 0:03:36 | 0:03:38 | |
what goes inside them just comes out of one jar. | 0:03:38 | 0:03:41 | |
And what have we got coming in at the moment? | 0:03:41 | 0:03:43 | |
We've got flour and sugar. | 0:03:43 | 0:03:45 | |
The factory gets through around two full lorry-loads | 0:03:45 | 0:03:48 | |
of UK flour and sugar every day. | 0:03:48 | 0:03:51 | |
Constantly lorries turning up with stuff from all over the world | 0:03:52 | 0:03:55 | |
-to make mince pies. -Yeah. | 0:03:55 | 0:03:56 | |
So, let's say you didn't get any deliveries in from now... | 0:03:56 | 0:04:00 | |
..how long could you keep making mince pies for? | 0:04:01 | 0:04:03 | |
Probably 24, 36 hours. | 0:04:03 | 0:04:06 | |
-Is that it? -And then we'd be stood. | 0:04:06 | 0:04:08 | |
So, one hold-up, no mince pies at Christmas. | 0:04:08 | 0:04:11 | |
That's right, yeah. | 0:04:11 | 0:04:13 | |
'I've got 12,000 to make today, | 0:04:13 | 0:04:15 | |
'so now the 24-hour countdown from ingredients to mince pies begins. | 0:04:15 | 0:04:20 | |
'I'm starting in the pastry department. | 0:04:27 | 0:04:29 | |
'I'll need almost 700 times more dough | 0:04:29 | 0:04:33 | |
'than I make for my usual 12 mince pies. | 0:04:33 | 0:04:35 | |
'Here, the mixing bowls are so big they're on wheels. | 0:04:36 | 0:04:39 | |
'Pastry supervisor is Andy Minett.' | 0:04:40 | 0:04:43 | |
-Hello, mate. -All right, mate? -This is Andy, | 0:04:43 | 0:04:45 | |
-he'll show you how to do it. -Nice to meet you, Gregg. | 0:04:45 | 0:04:47 | |
-Just put this in here. -Would we make it here the same way as I'd make | 0:04:47 | 0:04:49 | |
it at home? The same sort of... Actually, I suppose you don't make pastry at home, do you? | 0:04:49 | 0:04:53 | |
-Not at all. -Do you? -Not at all. -There's a certain irony here, isn't there? | 0:04:53 | 0:04:56 | |
Right, OK, look, show me how to make it industrial. | 0:04:56 | 0:04:58 | |
'For my pastry, I need fat, sugar, water and flour.' | 0:04:59 | 0:05:03 | |
-Press the middle button. -"Acknowledge"? | 0:05:04 | 0:05:06 | |
Yeah, and that will just start the process. | 0:05:06 | 0:05:08 | |
-Have I done it? -Yeah. -Yeah. | 0:05:08 | 0:05:10 | |
'I've triggered the release of my flour from outside its storage silo | 0:05:10 | 0:05:14 | |
'175 metres away, and it's being blown along a pipe into my bowl.' | 0:05:14 | 0:05:20 | |
Yeah, yeah, I can see it dropping in. | 0:05:20 | 0:05:23 | |
Ah, it's weighing it out. Right, OK. | 0:05:23 | 0:05:25 | |
The scale is just phenomenal. | 0:05:25 | 0:05:27 | |
'They're making an astonishing 500 batches of dough a day - | 0:05:27 | 0:05:31 | |
'that's the weight of 19 elephants in pastry.' | 0:05:31 | 0:05:35 | |
-This is a bit bigger than at home, isn't it? -Slightly! | 0:05:35 | 0:05:38 | |
I mean, my little brother Biffo can get through a few mince pies, | 0:05:38 | 0:05:40 | |
but nothing on this level. | 0:05:40 | 0:05:42 | |
Right, come on, then, is it ready? | 0:05:42 | 0:05:43 | |
-Yeah. -How do I get it out? | 0:05:43 | 0:05:45 | |
-Grab under here. -Oh, I see. | 0:05:45 | 0:05:47 | |
Yep. You have to keep it moving. | 0:05:47 | 0:05:49 | |
-Like a Wurlitzer. -Yeah. | 0:05:50 | 0:05:52 | |
'That dough mixing hook is ten times bigger than mine at home.' | 0:05:53 | 0:05:57 | |
-Look at that! -Perfect. | 0:05:59 | 0:06:01 | |
-Right. -First of all, you need to put in one of the blocks of butter. | 0:06:01 | 0:06:04 | |
It's a bit heavy. | 0:06:04 | 0:06:06 | |
Whoa! What is that, about 20k? | 0:06:06 | 0:06:08 | |
-25. -25k. | 0:06:08 | 0:06:09 | |
Just rest it on here. | 0:06:09 | 0:06:11 | |
Crying out loud. Oh, my word. | 0:06:11 | 0:06:13 | |
I wouldn't want to see the slice of toast you'd have to spread that on. | 0:06:13 | 0:06:16 | |
GREGG CHUCKLES | 0:06:17 | 0:06:19 | |
That is brilliant! | 0:06:20 | 0:06:22 | |
Now, basically, put one finger on here. | 0:06:22 | 0:06:25 | |
-What does this do? -Lift it all the way to the top. | 0:06:25 | 0:06:27 | |
Ah! | 0:06:27 | 0:06:28 | |
It'll take just 44 seconds to turn into dough. | 0:06:29 | 0:06:33 | |
There we are. When you press start, that acts like a whisk. | 0:06:35 | 0:06:39 | |
That's the quickest pastry mix in the world. | 0:06:42 | 0:06:44 | |
That actually looks miraculously like a home mix. | 0:06:49 | 0:06:53 | |
Mate, that's a really good bit of pastry, that. | 0:06:53 | 0:06:56 | |
-Yeah. -Really light, really pliable, not too wet. | 0:06:56 | 0:06:59 | |
'My pie lids are made the same way, but with a slightly softer dough. | 0:07:01 | 0:07:05 | |
'Now the pastry for my 12,000 bases is ready for the next stage.' | 0:07:05 | 0:07:10 | |
Hang on a minute. What's down there? | 0:07:11 | 0:07:14 | |
That's the production line down there. | 0:07:14 | 0:07:15 | |
There are people down there, are there? | 0:07:15 | 0:07:17 | |
There's people down there waiting for this. | 0:07:17 | 0:07:19 | |
Come on, then, let's have it down. | 0:07:19 | 0:07:21 | |
-RHYTHMIC PUMPING -Good noise. | 0:07:21 | 0:07:23 | |
'The dough drops straight into a holder, ready to be shaped.' | 0:07:26 | 0:07:29 | |
There's six of mine gone down there now. | 0:07:29 | 0:07:31 | |
There's me auntie's, there's me brother's, there's me mum's. | 0:07:31 | 0:07:35 | |
In just 15 minutes, we've made a quarter tonne of rich pastry, | 0:07:37 | 0:07:41 | |
and, in less than 90 minutes, | 0:07:41 | 0:07:43 | |
mince pies are going to be heading to your supermarket. | 0:07:43 | 0:07:46 | |
Meanwhile, in South Wales, | 0:07:46 | 0:07:49 | |
Cherry is learning how to make another Christmas favourite - | 0:07:49 | 0:07:52 | |
tinsel. | 0:07:52 | 0:07:53 | |
Inside this factory, they make 2,500 metres of tinsel an hour. | 0:07:55 | 0:08:00 | |
That's 300,000 metres of the sparkly stuff every week. | 0:08:01 | 0:08:08 | |
This is their busiest time of the year | 0:08:08 | 0:08:10 | |
and I want to see just how they do it. | 0:08:10 | 0:08:12 | |
Here at Festive in Cwmbran, | 0:08:14 | 0:08:17 | |
they make more tinsel than anyone else in Britain, | 0:08:17 | 0:08:20 | |
and there are over 400 different styles. | 0:08:20 | 0:08:24 | |
This one has hearts poking out. | 0:08:24 | 0:08:27 | |
This one's kind of iridescent, it's a real disco tinsel. | 0:08:27 | 0:08:30 | |
And this one has little stockings. | 0:08:30 | 0:08:33 | |
'The factory was founded in 1983 | 0:08:35 | 0:08:38 | |
'by the grandfather of designer Cassie Hedlund, | 0:08:38 | 0:08:41 | |
'and she's going to help me make some tinsel.' | 0:08:41 | 0:08:43 | |
Cassie, what are we making today? | 0:08:43 | 0:08:46 | |
We'll be making a three-colour mix. | 0:08:46 | 0:08:48 | |
OK, and how many colours do I have to choose from? | 0:08:48 | 0:08:51 | |
About 123. | 0:08:51 | 0:08:53 | |
I think I have to have red. | 0:08:55 | 0:08:56 | |
-Perfect. -And green for Christmas. | 0:08:56 | 0:08:58 | |
Green. | 0:08:58 | 0:08:59 | |
And then maybe... | 0:08:59 | 0:09:02 | |
-A blue? -A blue, nice, I like that. | 0:09:02 | 0:09:04 | |
-Cool. Perfect. -Yeah, that's stunning. | 0:09:04 | 0:09:06 | |
So, what do you call this? | 0:09:06 | 0:09:08 | |
It's metallised PVC. | 0:09:08 | 0:09:10 | |
Gosh, it's a lot heavier than it looks. | 0:09:10 | 0:09:12 | |
Yeah, about 4kg. | 0:09:12 | 0:09:15 | |
'The PVC has a thin coating of aluminium to give it its shine. | 0:09:15 | 0:09:19 | |
'Jason Polsom oversees the tinsel-making machines.' | 0:09:19 | 0:09:23 | |
-There we go. -Thank you very much. | 0:09:23 | 0:09:25 | |
I'm surprised that something that heavy is going to become | 0:09:25 | 0:09:28 | |
-beautiful, fluffy tinsel. -The magic of Christmas. | 0:09:28 | 0:09:31 | |
Is this the magic machine? | 0:09:31 | 0:09:33 | |
It's one of 35 magic machines. | 0:09:33 | 0:09:36 | |
So, we've got our red, green and blue. | 0:09:36 | 0:09:38 | |
-Yes. -They're all ready to go. | 0:09:38 | 0:09:40 | |
-Yes. -Three, two, one... | 0:09:40 | 0:09:42 | |
..there he goes. | 0:09:43 | 0:09:45 | |
Round and round. | 0:09:45 | 0:09:47 | |
'My rolls of PVC are travelling through cutters, | 0:09:47 | 0:09:51 | |
'which slice the sides into strips, keeping the centre intact. | 0:09:51 | 0:09:56 | |
'At the same time, a wire thread is being fed into the machine. | 0:09:56 | 0:10:00 | |
'As the PVC and the wire reaches the drum - | 0:10:01 | 0:10:04 | |
'which is spinning at 1,000 revolutions a minute - | 0:10:04 | 0:10:08 | |
'the centrifugal force twists the PVC around the wire.' | 0:10:08 | 0:10:12 | |
Wow, it's so fast. | 0:10:12 | 0:10:15 | |
It's like a Catherine wheel on fireworks night. | 0:10:15 | 0:10:18 | |
How many metres will you make on this first run? | 0:10:18 | 0:10:20 | |
On this particular run, there'll be 24 metres. | 0:10:20 | 0:10:23 | |
And we're done. | 0:10:23 | 0:10:24 | |
Oh! | 0:10:25 | 0:10:26 | |
That is a beautiful thing and sparkly and soft. | 0:10:26 | 0:10:32 | |
It's surprising, a bit of metallised PVC | 0:10:32 | 0:10:34 | |
can turn into something so beautiful. | 0:10:34 | 0:10:36 | |
It is extraordinary, isn't it? | 0:10:36 | 0:10:37 | |
-It turns into... -Dreams. -..Christmas. | 0:10:37 | 0:10:40 | |
-Christmas dreams. -It's Christmas! -Yeah. | 0:10:40 | 0:10:43 | |
Over the next 90 minutes, I'll make 400 metres of tinsel. | 0:10:43 | 0:10:48 | |
But, once it's made, it has to be carefully packaged | 0:10:50 | 0:10:54 | |
to make sure it's not squashed in transit. | 0:10:54 | 0:10:56 | |
Hello, I'm stuck! | 0:10:59 | 0:11:00 | |
Can you help me? | 0:11:00 | 0:11:02 | |
'Colette Welch is one of 55 Christmas elves at the factory.' | 0:11:02 | 0:11:06 | |
How do we get this ready to go out into the big, wide world? | 0:11:06 | 0:11:09 | |
Take this in half, just push it through, and into the display unit. | 0:11:09 | 0:11:15 | |
'So, if you want top tinsel at Christmas, | 0:11:15 | 0:11:17 | |
'you could store it hanging up, | 0:11:17 | 0:11:19 | |
'rather than squashing it into a box.' | 0:11:19 | 0:11:21 | |
What do you think Christmas would be without tinsel? | 0:11:21 | 0:11:24 | |
Boring. | 0:11:24 | 0:11:25 | |
Do you consider yourself to be one of Santa's little helpers? | 0:11:25 | 0:11:29 | |
Of course! | 0:11:29 | 0:11:30 | |
Does that make me an honorary elf? | 0:11:30 | 0:11:32 | |
-Yes! -Yes! -Of course. | 0:11:32 | 0:11:34 | |
That is one of life's ambitions achieved right there. | 0:11:34 | 0:11:38 | |
Just today, this factory has made 60,000 metres of tinsel. | 0:11:40 | 0:11:46 | |
'And, this year, they've made over 12 million metres, | 0:11:46 | 0:11:50 | |
'80% of it for the UK.' | 0:11:50 | 0:11:53 | |
It looks so beautiful and ready to hit the shops. | 0:11:53 | 0:11:57 | |
Ready to decorate Britain this Christmas. | 0:11:57 | 0:11:59 | |
Back at the Yorkshire cake factory my pastry's done, | 0:12:10 | 0:12:13 | |
so I'm ready to make my mincemeat filling. | 0:12:13 | 0:12:16 | |
I thought we'd be starting with the dried fruit, but Mark Bailey, | 0:12:16 | 0:12:19 | |
who handles the ingredients, has other ideas. | 0:12:19 | 0:12:23 | |
Mark, what's the next stage? | 0:12:23 | 0:12:24 | |
Press the restart there, Gregg. | 0:12:24 | 0:12:26 | |
-Seems easy. -Yeah. -So, what happens when I press the button? | 0:12:26 | 0:12:29 | |
Yeah, it'll start adding the ingredients, | 0:12:29 | 0:12:31 | |
so if you just press that there. | 0:12:31 | 0:12:33 | |
That's it. | 0:12:33 | 0:12:34 | |
The sugar's going in. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:36 | |
It's a nice, sugary smell, but it makes you cough, doesn't it? | 0:12:40 | 0:12:43 | |
So this is all of the ingredients for my mince being added. | 0:12:43 | 0:12:46 | |
If you look, you can see it actually going in. | 0:12:46 | 0:12:48 | |
You've got your jam, apricot jam, and you've got your apple pulp. | 0:12:48 | 0:12:51 | |
We're making a big, spicy, fruity jam here, really. | 0:12:53 | 0:12:56 | |
Yeah, mincemeat filling. | 0:12:56 | 0:12:58 | |
'We're also adding malt, treacle and a vinegar flavour | 0:12:58 | 0:13:01 | |
'for a touch of sharpness.' | 0:13:01 | 0:13:03 | |
That's proper hubble, bubble, toil and trouble, that is, isn't it? | 0:13:03 | 0:13:06 | |
Look at that. | 0:13:06 | 0:13:08 | |
Fantastic. How many of these do you make in a day? | 0:13:08 | 0:13:11 | |
With a full day, it'll be about 96 mixes. | 0:13:11 | 0:13:13 | |
The size of it is quite staggering, actually. | 0:13:13 | 0:13:16 | |
'Mark's making nearly 15,900 gallons of mixture a day. | 0:13:16 | 0:13:21 | |
'That's like filling nearly 200 bathtubs with the stuff.' | 0:13:21 | 0:13:25 | |
This has done its job | 0:13:25 | 0:13:27 | |
and we add everything else that we need to do by hand. | 0:13:27 | 0:13:29 | |
We've still got all the fruit to add to the mix | 0:13:31 | 0:13:33 | |
and, in the flavour dispensary, | 0:13:33 | 0:13:36 | |
technician Gemma Cox has my concentrated orange oil ready. | 0:13:36 | 0:13:41 | |
We need to put this on. | 0:13:41 | 0:13:42 | |
How dangerous is orange flavour?! | 0:13:42 | 0:13:44 | |
Not that dangerous, but you don't want to get it in your eyes. | 0:13:44 | 0:13:47 | |
-Is it that strong? -Yeah. -It would burn your eyes? | 0:13:47 | 0:13:49 | |
-It could do. -I suppose anyone who's ever put lemon juice in their eye | 0:13:49 | 0:13:52 | |
-would know. -Yeah. -All right. | 0:13:52 | 0:13:53 | |
-We'd never have anything like this at home. -No, no, no. | 0:13:53 | 0:13:56 | |
Right, I'll just... Right, OK, weigh out some orange flavour. | 0:13:56 | 0:14:00 | |
-How much of this? -We'll put in 60g. | 0:14:00 | 0:14:03 | |
A very small amount. | 0:14:03 | 0:14:05 | |
It's a very strong flavour. | 0:14:05 | 0:14:07 | |
Beautiful smell. | 0:14:07 | 0:14:08 | |
Do you know what? Cos I had the visor on I was slightly scared, | 0:14:10 | 0:14:13 | |
but it smells like a basket of oranges. | 0:14:13 | 0:14:15 | |
-Are we done? -Yes, we're done. | 0:14:15 | 0:14:18 | |
That seems like such a small amount, doesn't it, | 0:14:19 | 0:14:22 | |
-for such a big... -For the amount of mix. -Yeah, ridiculous amount. | 0:14:22 | 0:14:26 | |
My spices. | 0:14:26 | 0:14:28 | |
'As well as orange flavour, | 0:14:28 | 0:14:31 | |
'my mincemeat mix has nearly a kilo of exotic spices. | 0:14:31 | 0:14:34 | |
'Exactly what they are is a closely guarded secret. | 0:14:34 | 0:14:38 | |
It's a sizeable chunk, isn't it? | 0:14:38 | 0:14:40 | |
That looks nothing like mine at home. | 0:14:40 | 0:14:43 | |
-Anything else? -Yeah, two boxes of mixed peel. | 0:14:43 | 0:14:46 | |
'That's the sugar-coated rind of 11 kilos of oranges and lemons.' | 0:14:46 | 0:14:51 | |
That's lovely, look - candied peel. | 0:14:51 | 0:14:53 | |
Here we go. | 0:14:56 | 0:14:58 | |
-Are we done? -We're done. | 0:14:58 | 0:15:00 | |
'Our mince pie filling will disappear through a door | 0:15:00 | 0:15:03 | |
'in the bottom of our cauldron, | 0:15:03 | 0:15:06 | |
'but there's something essential we still need to add - | 0:15:06 | 0:15:09 | |
'Turkish sultanas, American raisins and Greek currants.' | 0:15:09 | 0:15:13 | |
-That's the fun part for dried fruit, right? -Yeah. | 0:15:15 | 0:15:18 | |
Wow, all right, this might be the most fun I've had so far. | 0:15:18 | 0:15:21 | |
We have five bags. | 0:15:23 | 0:15:24 | |
Sultanas, five raisins and six currants. | 0:15:24 | 0:15:28 | |
-That a lot. -Yeah. | 0:15:28 | 0:15:30 | |
-12.5 kilo bags, over 60 kilos in there. -Yeah. | 0:15:30 | 0:15:33 | |
We just put it on, squash it up, and down it goes. | 0:15:33 | 0:15:36 | |
'27 minutes in and the fruit is sent down | 0:15:38 | 0:15:41 | |
'to join the rest of my filling in the cooking pot below, | 0:15:41 | 0:15:45 | |
'while Mark starts his next batch.' | 0:15:45 | 0:15:47 | |
-Cheers, mate. -Welcome, no problem. | 0:15:47 | 0:15:49 | |
800 people work here all year round and then they hire in another 350 | 0:15:51 | 0:15:56 | |
just to get them over the Christmas rush. | 0:15:56 | 0:15:58 | |
'As well as stepping up mince pie-making to 24 hours a day, | 0:16:00 | 0:16:04 | |
'the factory switches more than half its production | 0:16:04 | 0:16:07 | |
'over to Yuletide treats like white French fancies and yule logs.' | 0:16:07 | 0:16:11 | |
The scale of production here is incredible, | 0:16:13 | 0:16:16 | |
but, as Ruth Goodman is discovering | 0:16:16 | 0:16:19 | |
it's the same for another festive classic - the Christmas card. | 0:16:19 | 0:16:22 | |
Every year in Britain, we buy around 900 million of them, | 0:16:22 | 0:16:26 | |
more than 14 for every one of us. | 0:16:26 | 0:16:29 | |
So, how did this tradition take off? | 0:16:30 | 0:16:32 | |
I've come to the St Bride Printing Library in London | 0:16:33 | 0:16:36 | |
just off Fleet Street | 0:16:36 | 0:16:38 | |
to see how the very first commercial Christmas card was produced. | 0:16:38 | 0:16:42 | |
There's a big handle there, which you turn anticlockwise. | 0:16:42 | 0:16:45 | |
Slowly, gently. Impression handle, pull it towards you. | 0:16:45 | 0:16:49 | |
-Oh, it's easy, isn't it? -Then you let it go back. | 0:16:49 | 0:16:52 | |
SHE CHUCKLES | 0:16:52 | 0:16:54 | |
We've made a reproduction here | 0:16:54 | 0:16:56 | |
of the world's first printed Christmas card, | 0:16:56 | 0:16:59 | |
designed way back in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole, | 0:16:59 | 0:17:03 | |
and he hired the best-quality painting talent | 0:17:03 | 0:17:07 | |
to hand-colour them, | 0:17:07 | 0:17:09 | |
all of which meant that these first Christmas cards | 0:17:09 | 0:17:12 | |
were very expensive. | 0:17:12 | 0:17:14 | |
'Sir Henry commissioned these luxury cards to promote | 0:17:14 | 0:17:17 | |
'the all-new penny postal service, which he helped establish, | 0:17:17 | 0:17:21 | |
'but he only sold 2,000 of them.' | 0:17:21 | 0:17:24 | |
Oh, my, these look amazing. | 0:17:24 | 0:17:27 | |
'But by the 1870s, steam-powered, colour printing presses | 0:17:28 | 0:17:32 | |
'meant the craze for Christmas cards could really take off.' | 0:17:32 | 0:17:35 | |
This is early Christmas cards, then. What have we got? | 0:17:35 | 0:17:38 | |
Yeah, so Victorian Christmas cards. | 0:17:38 | 0:17:41 | |
'These are just some of collector Malcolm Warrington's 10,000 cards.' | 0:17:41 | 0:17:45 | |
By the late 1870s, publishers and printers were buying | 0:17:45 | 0:17:49 | |
steam-powered presses, which could turn out more of this | 0:17:49 | 0:17:52 | |
colour print at a good price. | 0:17:52 | 0:17:54 | |
You know, it would make it more available to the masses. | 0:17:54 | 0:17:58 | |
'And they were cheaper to send, too.' | 0:17:58 | 0:18:00 | |
There was the introduction of the halfpenny postage. | 0:18:00 | 0:18:03 | |
-So, that's half of what it had been before? -Yes, that's right. | 0:18:03 | 0:18:05 | |
-OK, that makes a difference. -Yep. | 0:18:05 | 0:18:07 | |
'By 1880, the public were exchanging | 0:18:08 | 0:18:11 | |
'an astonishing 11 million cards a year.' | 0:18:11 | 0:18:14 | |
It sort of creates a perfect storm, really, when it just goes kaboom. | 0:18:14 | 0:18:18 | |
'Christmas was also a time when Victorians liked to indulge | 0:18:18 | 0:18:22 | |
'in a rather macabre sense of humour.' | 0:18:22 | 0:18:25 | |
This is what you would call a tasteless Christmas card. | 0:18:25 | 0:18:28 | |
It's got a dead cat being served up for Christmas dinner by mice. | 0:18:28 | 0:18:33 | |
RUTH CHUCKLES | 0:18:33 | 0:18:34 | |
-We've got a dead blue tit. -Yes. | 0:18:34 | 0:18:37 | |
-How Christmassy is that?(!) -Yes! | 0:18:37 | 0:18:39 | |
It's a sort of sense of mortality to bring back at Christmas time. | 0:18:39 | 0:18:43 | |
They can't enjoy it thoroughly without thinking about death. | 0:18:43 | 0:18:47 | |
So, was the novelty and the colour a large part of why they were popular? | 0:18:47 | 0:18:51 | |
Definitely. People were crying out for more colour | 0:18:51 | 0:18:53 | |
and it was able to satisfy their desire. | 0:18:53 | 0:18:55 | |
'And it wasn't just card sales that were booming. | 0:18:57 | 0:18:59 | |
'In this same period, the industrial production | 0:19:01 | 0:19:04 | |
'of affordable crackers, decorations and Christmas stockings | 0:19:04 | 0:19:08 | |
'really took off. | 0:19:08 | 0:19:10 | |
'In fact, if it wasn't for factories, | 0:19:10 | 0:19:12 | |
'we wouldn't have many of the Christmas traditions | 0:19:12 | 0:19:15 | |
'we take for granted today.' | 0:19:15 | 0:19:16 | |
1843, the year that a modern, factory-made Christmas began. | 0:19:19 | 0:19:24 | |
Back in the Barnsley bakery, my pastry's done and my mince filling | 0:19:32 | 0:19:36 | |
is cooking, so I'm checking out another seasonal favourite - | 0:19:36 | 0:19:39 | |
yule logs. | 0:19:39 | 0:19:41 | |
They produce a million a year. | 0:19:41 | 0:19:42 | |
-Linda? -That's correct, yes. -I'm Gregg. -Hi, Gregg, how are you? | 0:19:46 | 0:19:50 | |
I understand you're making chocolate yule logs. | 0:19:50 | 0:19:52 | |
That's correct. We've got a couple of jobs for you to do. | 0:19:52 | 0:19:54 | |
Righto. What's the first one? | 0:19:54 | 0:19:56 | |
I want you to shovel this cream into here, please, and fill it up. | 0:19:56 | 0:19:59 | |
-That's hard work, Linda. -It is very hard work, yes, I agree, | 0:19:59 | 0:20:02 | |
so that's why I would like you to try and have a go. | 0:20:02 | 0:20:05 | |
Linda, what's your full name? | 0:20:05 | 0:20:07 | |
Linda McCrumb. | 0:20:07 | 0:20:09 | |
Your name's Linda McCrumb? | 0:20:09 | 0:20:11 | |
-That's correct. -You make cakes and your name's McCrumb? | 0:20:11 | 0:20:13 | |
McCrumb, that's correct. | 0:20:13 | 0:20:15 | |
Hi, I'm Gregg Icing Sugar. | 0:20:17 | 0:20:18 | |
SHE LAUGHS | 0:20:18 | 0:20:19 | |
Right... Crying out loud, Linda! | 0:20:19 | 0:20:22 | |
Yes, that's it, keep going. | 0:20:22 | 0:20:24 | |
Can't we tip this up with a forklift? | 0:20:25 | 0:20:28 | |
No, I'm sorry, you've got to use the shovel. | 0:20:28 | 0:20:31 | |
Oh! | 0:20:32 | 0:20:33 | |
That is heavy work! Oh! | 0:20:34 | 0:20:36 | |
I may never look at chocolate icing the same way again. | 0:20:38 | 0:20:41 | |
This cake filling is mainly butter, sugar and cocoa powder. | 0:20:42 | 0:20:46 | |
How much of this did you nibble when you first came here? | 0:20:48 | 0:20:51 | |
Quite a bit. But not now. | 0:20:51 | 0:20:53 | |
I'm tempted to just stick my head in there. | 0:20:53 | 0:20:55 | |
I don't think you would. | 0:20:55 | 0:20:57 | |
I bet I would. | 0:20:57 | 0:20:58 | |
The Yule logs are made from a never-ending conveyor of sponge, | 0:21:00 | 0:21:04 | |
baked for five minutes. | 0:21:04 | 0:21:05 | |
A machine covers it with heated-up chocolate cream... | 0:21:08 | 0:21:11 | |
..then it's sliced up, ready for rolling | 0:21:13 | 0:21:15 | |
which, incredibly, is done entirely by hand. | 0:21:15 | 0:21:18 | |
Why don't you get a machine to do it? | 0:21:20 | 0:21:21 | |
We've tried a machine, we've tried it a few times, | 0:21:21 | 0:21:23 | |
but it doesn't give the roll a perfect roll, | 0:21:23 | 0:21:25 | |
so it doesn't come out the same now. | 0:21:25 | 0:21:27 | |
So that's why we carry on hand rolling. | 0:21:27 | 0:21:29 | |
-Can I have a go? -Yes, certainly. | 0:21:29 | 0:21:31 | |
Right, step back. Let me show you how it's done! | 0:21:32 | 0:21:36 | |
So, get it... | 0:21:36 | 0:21:37 | |
-Right, push it back. -Push it back. -And then pull it tight, yeah. | 0:21:37 | 0:21:40 | |
That's better. | 0:21:40 | 0:21:42 | |
Oh, no, you've lost it now. | 0:21:42 | 0:21:43 | |
What you're doing, you're squashing on your roll. | 0:21:46 | 0:21:48 | |
-Don't squash your roll? -No. | 0:21:48 | 0:21:49 | |
Yes! | 0:21:49 | 0:21:51 | |
Yule log maestro! Get in! | 0:21:52 | 0:21:55 | |
Hang on a minute, the fella over there's doing two at once. | 0:21:55 | 0:21:57 | |
Right, we do one a bit, he does one a bit, and then two together. | 0:21:57 | 0:22:02 | |
One a bit, | 0:22:06 | 0:22:07 | |
one a bit, and then two together. | 0:22:07 | 0:22:09 | |
SHE LAUGHS | 0:22:11 | 0:22:14 | |
How many hours do you spend here, rolling the log? | 0:22:14 | 0:22:16 | |
Well, normally, we do change every 15 minutes. | 0:22:16 | 0:22:19 | |
So you don't carry on doing the same job over and over again? | 0:22:19 | 0:22:21 | |
-No, no, because you can't stand here... -In case you go crazy. | 0:22:21 | 0:22:24 | |
Could do. | 0:22:25 | 0:22:26 | |
How many of these are you doing? | 0:22:26 | 0:22:29 | |
We're doing about 4,000 per hour. | 0:22:29 | 0:22:32 | |
-What, between the four of you? -Between us, yes. | 0:22:32 | 0:22:34 | |
Have you learnt it? Do you enjoy doing it? | 0:22:34 | 0:22:36 | |
I like making a Christmas log. I don't know about 1,000 an hour! | 0:22:36 | 0:22:40 | |
Can I just go and do the icing? | 0:22:40 | 0:22:41 | |
Yes, certainly, that's just round this side. | 0:22:41 | 0:22:44 | |
SHE LAUGHS | 0:22:44 | 0:22:46 | |
They use 4,500 pints of chocolate cream a day, just on Yule logs... | 0:22:51 | 0:22:57 | |
..along with a kilo of icing sugar. | 0:22:59 | 0:23:02 | |
# Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow... # | 0:23:02 | 0:23:06 | |
Once these chocolaty rolls are packed up, | 0:23:06 | 0:23:09 | |
they could be on supermarket shelves in just seven hours. | 0:23:09 | 0:23:13 | |
But Cherry is in South Wales, choosing a Christmas essential | 0:23:13 | 0:23:17 | |
that takes ten years to reach the shops. | 0:23:17 | 0:23:19 | |
I've come to Swansea to choose a Christmas tree, | 0:23:22 | 0:23:26 | |
but not just any Christmas tree. | 0:23:26 | 0:23:29 | |
This is the British Christmas Tree of the Year competition. | 0:23:29 | 0:23:33 | |
I've been told that it's the Crufts of the Christmas tree world. | 0:23:34 | 0:23:38 | |
The winner will have the honour | 0:23:40 | 0:23:41 | |
of supplying the tree for Number Ten Downing Street. | 0:23:41 | 0:23:44 | |
There is definitely an air of excitement here. | 0:23:44 | 0:23:47 | |
-Yes. -There is a real buzz. | 0:23:47 | 0:23:49 | |
The competition's friendly but, of course, | 0:23:49 | 0:23:51 | |
obviously everyone's got their eye on the prize. | 0:23:51 | 0:23:53 | |
Stuart Kirkup is one of more than 100 growers. | 0:23:53 | 0:23:56 | |
He's brought his tree up from his farm on Dartmoor | 0:23:56 | 0:23:59 | |
along with his wife and four kids. | 0:23:59 | 0:24:02 | |
Wow, it smells incredible! | 0:24:02 | 0:24:04 | |
-Oh! -It's a lovely smell. | 0:24:04 | 0:24:05 | |
Is it straight? | 0:24:05 | 0:24:06 | |
Are you guys happy with that? | 0:24:06 | 0:24:08 | |
So, why did you choose this one? | 0:24:08 | 0:24:10 | |
This one's a Fraser fir, so this will go in the Fir Other category. | 0:24:10 | 0:24:14 | |
It's got the nice shape there. | 0:24:14 | 0:24:15 | |
It's full all the way up to the top. | 0:24:15 | 0:24:17 | |
How old is this tree? | 0:24:17 | 0:24:19 | |
It's probably 11 or 12 years old. | 0:24:19 | 0:24:21 | |
So, you've nurtured it, pruned it, cared for it? | 0:24:21 | 0:24:25 | |
Everybody here is putting a lot of work into their trees. | 0:24:25 | 0:24:28 | |
The competition is taking place on Rob Morgan's land. | 0:24:28 | 0:24:32 | |
He's one Britain's full-time Christmas tree growers, | 0:24:32 | 0:24:35 | |
with a plantation of over 300,000 trees. | 0:24:35 | 0:24:39 | |
Now he has to choose just one of them to enter the contest | 0:24:39 | 0:24:42 | |
and he's chosen a Korean fir. | 0:24:42 | 0:24:45 | |
Yeah, here we are. | 0:24:45 | 0:24:46 | |
Oh, Rob, it is a thing of beauty! | 0:24:46 | 0:24:49 | |
Now, why this one over, say, that one or that one? | 0:24:49 | 0:24:54 | |
It's probably good tips for buying a tree, really. | 0:24:54 | 0:24:56 | |
As you can see, | 0:24:56 | 0:24:58 | |
it's full from the bottom, more or less, all the way to the top. | 0:24:58 | 0:25:00 | |
It's got a lovely, fresh, green colour. | 0:25:00 | 0:25:02 | |
Don't manhandle it! This has got to compete later. | 0:25:02 | 0:25:04 | |
But if you smell, there's a lovely smell to this. | 0:25:04 | 0:25:07 | |
-Timber! -Woohoo! Grab the end. -That's great. | 0:25:10 | 0:25:15 | |
-This is your hope for the winning prize. -This is it. | 0:25:15 | 0:25:17 | |
I know, exactly, we'll see today now. | 0:25:17 | 0:25:21 | |
Back at the contest, Rob has another tip | 0:25:21 | 0:25:23 | |
for checking your Christmas tree is a good 'un. | 0:25:23 | 0:25:26 | |
If you lift this tree, it's very heavy. | 0:25:26 | 0:25:28 | |
If you lift a tree up at Christmas when you're choosing trees and it's | 0:25:28 | 0:25:30 | |
light, you know, it's dried out already, it's been kept too long, | 0:25:30 | 0:25:33 | |
-basically. -But this has got a lot of water in it. | 0:25:33 | 0:25:35 | |
That'll stay like that until Christmas Day. | 0:25:35 | 0:25:37 | |
I had no idea there was so much to a Christmas tree. | 0:25:37 | 0:25:40 | |
It's like choosing a wine. | 0:25:40 | 0:25:41 | |
Exactly, I think you've slowly turned into a tree nerd today | 0:25:41 | 0:25:43 | |
like all of us who you can see around. | 0:25:43 | 0:25:46 | |
I've been studying the difference between the three main types | 0:25:46 | 0:25:49 | |
of trees - spruce, fir and pine. | 0:25:49 | 0:25:53 | |
So we've got spruces - spiky. | 0:25:53 | 0:25:56 | |
Firs - chunkier needles, low needle drop. | 0:25:56 | 0:26:00 | |
And then a pine which has long needles. | 0:26:00 | 0:26:03 | |
-Long. -I think I understand. | 0:26:03 | 0:26:05 | |
Everyone here can vote, including me. | 0:26:07 | 0:26:10 | |
The main qualities to look out for are a full shape, | 0:26:10 | 0:26:14 | |
fresh, colourful needles, and a sweet smell. | 0:26:14 | 0:26:18 | |
This is a Nordmann fir, | 0:26:20 | 0:26:22 | |
and this is the most popular Christmas tree | 0:26:22 | 0:26:24 | |
in the UK at the moment, and I can see why. It gets my vote. | 0:26:24 | 0:26:28 | |
The votes are carefully counted. | 0:26:31 | 0:26:34 | |
Stuart, Rob and all the other Christmas tree growers nervously | 0:26:34 | 0:26:40 | |
await the award for the champion tree, | 0:26:40 | 0:26:43 | |
which I get the honour of announcing. | 0:26:43 | 0:26:47 | |
The Best in Show is... | 0:26:47 | 0:26:49 | |
..Stuart Kirkup. | 0:26:51 | 0:26:52 | |
What does it mean to you to win this prize? | 0:26:59 | 0:27:01 | |
I'm so pleased. So, so pleased. | 0:27:01 | 0:27:03 | |
Is it all worth it, all of the work? | 0:27:03 | 0:27:05 | |
Yeah, absolutely. | 0:27:05 | 0:27:07 | |
He's got runner-up, I think, three times, | 0:27:07 | 0:27:09 | |
and he's always just never quite got the winner, | 0:27:09 | 0:27:13 | |
so I'm so chuffed for him. | 0:27:13 | 0:27:14 | |
Do you want to get the whole family up? | 0:27:14 | 0:27:16 | |
Come on. | 0:27:16 | 0:27:18 | |
So, it's the Kirkup's tree that'll be taking pride of place | 0:27:18 | 0:27:21 | |
outside Downing Street this Christmas. | 0:27:21 | 0:27:24 | |
Woohoo! | 0:27:24 | 0:27:26 | |
At the factory, the cooking area is below | 0:27:35 | 0:27:38 | |
where my ingredients were mixed. | 0:27:38 | 0:27:40 | |
My mince filling was dropped straight into a big pot | 0:27:40 | 0:27:43 | |
and it's been stewing for nearly 20 minutes. | 0:27:43 | 0:27:46 | |
Keeping an eye on it for me is technician Gemma Cox. | 0:27:46 | 0:27:50 | |
So, is this it, is this my cooking pot? | 0:27:50 | 0:27:52 | |
-Yeah, that's it. -Can I just have a look inside? | 0:27:52 | 0:27:55 | |
Oh! | 0:27:55 | 0:27:56 | |
There it is! | 0:27:56 | 0:27:57 | |
Big, hot, steaming vat of mince pie. | 0:27:57 | 0:28:01 | |
That is huge! | 0:28:01 | 0:28:03 | |
You can smell the sweetness. | 0:28:03 | 0:28:04 | |
You can also smell the spice. | 0:28:04 | 0:28:07 | |
That's lovely. | 0:28:07 | 0:28:08 | |
It smells fantastic. | 0:28:08 | 0:28:09 | |
It's just cooking it up to 80 degrees. | 0:28:09 | 0:28:12 | |
If we boil it, we'll end up burning round the edge of it. | 0:28:12 | 0:28:15 | |
So, what are you doing? Are you just melting the ingredients | 0:28:15 | 0:28:17 | |
-and amalgamating them? -Yeah, bringing everything together, | 0:28:17 | 0:28:19 | |
dissolving some of the sugar. | 0:28:19 | 0:28:21 | |
I'm guessing that's constantly stirring, is it? | 0:28:21 | 0:28:23 | |
Yeah, there's a big stirrer inside. | 0:28:23 | 0:28:25 | |
-We've had 20 minutes. -Yeah. | 0:28:25 | 0:28:26 | |
-Now what happens to it? -Yeah, so we're going across here now. | 0:28:26 | 0:28:30 | |
My steaming mixture needs to be cooled down | 0:28:30 | 0:28:33 | |
so it can go straight on to the next stage. | 0:28:33 | 0:28:35 | |
On the way, it's pumped through a ladder of chilled pipes. | 0:28:35 | 0:28:38 | |
Starting at the bottom, it zig-zags all the way up to the top. | 0:28:38 | 0:28:43 | |
Doesn't it start to go really thick? | 0:28:43 | 0:28:46 | |
Yeah, it can thicken up, yeah, as it sits. | 0:28:46 | 0:28:48 | |
So, you've got to hold it at exactly the right temperature? | 0:28:48 | 0:28:51 | |
-Yeah. -So it travels every tube. -Yeah. | 0:28:51 | 0:28:53 | |
-And then? -And then out through the top, along here, | 0:28:53 | 0:28:57 | |
and then out through the tubes here | 0:28:57 | 0:28:59 | |
into the plastic mincemeat containers. | 0:28:59 | 0:29:01 | |
-Into these? -Yeah. | 0:29:01 | 0:29:02 | |
Is that my batch? | 0:29:02 | 0:29:04 | |
-Yeah. -Can I have a look? -Yeah. -Will I see in there? -Yeah. | 0:29:04 | 0:29:07 | |
Just, I think. | 0:29:08 | 0:29:09 | |
That is a nice, big, thick, sweet mincemeat. | 0:29:09 | 0:29:13 | |
Funnily enough, it smells like Christmas. | 0:29:14 | 0:29:16 | |
Mincemeat wasn't always so sweet. | 0:29:18 | 0:29:21 | |
For 300 years, mince pies were filled with meat | 0:29:21 | 0:29:23 | |
until the Victorians swapped to fruit | 0:29:23 | 0:29:26 | |
but kept the original name. | 0:29:26 | 0:29:27 | |
Can we put it inside some mince pies now? | 0:29:29 | 0:29:32 | |
-Not quite. -Not quite? | 0:29:32 | 0:29:34 | |
-Oh, come on, what now? Seriously. -We've got to mature it now. | 0:29:34 | 0:29:37 | |
52 minutes after I started, | 0:29:39 | 0:29:41 | |
and the mincemeat from my 12,000 pies is joining a whole legion | 0:29:41 | 0:29:46 | |
of identical pots to develop its flavour. | 0:29:46 | 0:29:49 | |
Oh, wow! | 0:29:49 | 0:29:51 | |
Oh, my word! | 0:29:51 | 0:29:53 | |
Vat upon vat upon vat of mince pie mix! | 0:29:53 | 0:29:56 | |
It's like you've got a colony of them. | 0:29:56 | 0:29:58 | |
How many have you got here? | 0:29:58 | 0:29:59 | |
About 260 in total. | 0:29:59 | 0:30:02 | |
260? How long would that last you? | 0:30:02 | 0:30:05 | |
-About two or three days. -Is that it? -Yeah. | 0:30:05 | 0:30:08 | |
All of this, two or three days' worth of mince pies? | 0:30:08 | 0:30:11 | |
Mate, it's a crazy world! | 0:30:11 | 0:30:13 | |
There's going to be a lot of mince pies eaten this Christmas. | 0:30:13 | 0:30:17 | |
I'm leaving my mixture to infuse for 48 hours | 0:30:18 | 0:30:22 | |
and I want to know what difference that will make. | 0:30:22 | 0:30:25 | |
So Gemma's got a couple of samples to show me. | 0:30:25 | 0:30:27 | |
OK. All right. Well, I'm guessing that this is the young one, | 0:30:27 | 0:30:32 | |
-just because this is syrupy and that's much thicker. -Yeah. | 0:30:32 | 0:30:35 | |
-This is the matured one. -Yeah. | 0:30:35 | 0:30:36 | |
-Did you want me to taste the young one? -Yeah. | 0:30:36 | 0:30:38 | |
It's very, very sweet. | 0:30:41 | 0:30:43 | |
And the spice is almost raw on the back of my throat, | 0:30:43 | 0:30:46 | |
as if you made a hot curry without cooking the spices out. | 0:30:46 | 0:30:50 | |
Wow! That's quite extraordinary. | 0:30:50 | 0:30:52 | |
-Right. And this has been matured for two days? -Yes. | 0:30:52 | 0:30:55 | |
All right. Fair enough. | 0:31:01 | 0:31:03 | |
Nowhere near as sweet. | 0:31:03 | 0:31:05 | |
The spices are more mellow. The whole flavour's more rounded. | 0:31:05 | 0:31:08 | |
The spice creeps up bit by bit | 0:31:08 | 0:31:11 | |
rather than attacks you by the back of the throat. | 0:31:11 | 0:31:13 | |
What is happening in those two days? | 0:31:13 | 0:31:15 | |
The raisins and sultanas are soaking up the liquor and the flavours. | 0:31:15 | 0:31:19 | |
Gotcha, gotcha. | 0:31:19 | 0:31:21 | |
The raisins are like sponges? | 0:31:21 | 0:31:22 | |
-Yes. -They're soaking up all the liquid? | 0:31:22 | 0:31:25 | |
Fine. Gotcha. | 0:31:25 | 0:31:28 | |
Clever old raisins! | 0:31:28 | 0:31:29 | |
Who knew? | 0:31:29 | 0:31:31 | |
-You did. -I did, yes. | 0:31:31 | 0:31:33 | |
My mincemeat mixture is busy getting richer. | 0:31:34 | 0:31:38 | |
And down the road in Leicester, Cherry is busy knitting, | 0:31:38 | 0:31:41 | |
finding out exactly how these things are made. | 0:31:41 | 0:31:45 | |
Jack Masters is one of the last jumper factories in the UK. | 0:31:48 | 0:31:52 | |
The Patel family have run it since 1987. | 0:31:54 | 0:31:57 | |
Five years ago, the recession in manufacturing hit them hard. | 0:31:58 | 0:32:03 | |
But they spotted a lifeline - a trend for bad Christmas jumpers. | 0:32:03 | 0:32:09 | |
When directors and brothers Bhavik and Snahal | 0:32:11 | 0:32:14 | |
saw the fashion growing in America, | 0:32:14 | 0:32:17 | |
they jumped in with their own designs. | 0:32:17 | 0:32:19 | |
What's the secret to a good bad Christmas jumper? | 0:32:19 | 0:32:23 | |
I think it's about being loud. | 0:32:23 | 0:32:25 | |
When it comes to Christmas, more is more? | 0:32:25 | 0:32:27 | |
-This is one of our ugliest ones. -Look at that! | 0:32:27 | 0:32:29 | |
An Australian one? | 0:32:29 | 0:32:31 | |
That's so fun. | 0:32:31 | 0:32:32 | |
In 2012, Save The Children launched Christmas Jumper Day, | 0:32:33 | 0:32:38 | |
and the craze took off. | 0:32:38 | 0:32:40 | |
Bad Christmas jumpers now make up a third of the factory's output. | 0:32:40 | 0:32:44 | |
The family firm now has around 30,000 orders a year. | 0:32:46 | 0:32:50 | |
Even companies like Disney choose them for their fast turnaround | 0:32:51 | 0:32:55 | |
and British design. | 0:32:55 | 0:32:57 | |
You'll be trendy one day. | 0:32:57 | 0:32:59 | |
And today, I've got a very special job. | 0:32:59 | 0:33:02 | |
I can't believe I get to make an Inside The Factory Christmas jumper! | 0:33:02 | 0:33:07 | |
I would love mince pies, crackers. | 0:33:10 | 0:33:13 | |
'Designer Cheryl Madley's going to help me conjure up a wacky jumper.' | 0:33:13 | 0:33:18 | |
-You want crackers? -Yes. -So you put crackers there, | 0:33:18 | 0:33:20 | |
and then presents. | 0:33:20 | 0:33:22 | |
I like the black and white present. | 0:33:22 | 0:33:24 | |
Ooh, I love that one. Do we need Santa? | 0:33:24 | 0:33:26 | |
We have to have a Santa. | 0:33:26 | 0:33:28 | |
-Have you got mince pies? -I've got mince pies. -Yay! | 0:33:28 | 0:33:30 | |
Oh, look, they're beautiful! | 0:33:30 | 0:33:32 | |
So, would you like to sign your sweater? | 0:33:32 | 0:33:34 | |
Yes! You have a great job. | 0:33:34 | 0:33:37 | |
-It's a fun job. -It's fun, isn't it? | 0:33:37 | 0:33:40 | |
Now I need to collect the cotton and acrylic yarn | 0:33:42 | 0:33:45 | |
in my Christmassy colours. | 0:33:45 | 0:33:47 | |
Queen's red. | 0:33:47 | 0:33:48 | |
My knitting machine can take up to five reels. | 0:33:48 | 0:33:51 | |
White. | 0:33:51 | 0:33:52 | |
And last but not least, emerald green, | 0:33:52 | 0:33:56 | |
for the tree. | 0:33:56 | 0:33:57 | |
There are 32 hi-tech machines and Snahal's going to help me | 0:33:59 | 0:34:03 | |
thread the one that's going to make my jumper. | 0:34:03 | 0:34:06 | |
-Hi, Snahal. -Hi, how you doing? | 0:34:06 | 0:34:08 | |
So, I've something very special for you. | 0:34:08 | 0:34:11 | |
Here is the box of yarn. | 0:34:11 | 0:34:12 | |
Oh, nice. So if you put the green onto that bobbin | 0:34:12 | 0:34:16 | |
-and just tie this to that top. -Oh! -Oh, you broke it. | 0:34:16 | 0:34:21 | |
-It's so delicate. -It's a soft single ply. | 0:34:21 | 0:34:24 | |
It comes up here, through the hooks, | 0:34:24 | 0:34:27 | |
along here and then into the machine. | 0:34:27 | 0:34:29 | |
These are called feeders and each feeder is a colour. | 0:34:29 | 0:34:32 | |
Knitting needles are these things here. | 0:34:32 | 0:34:35 | |
-How many are there? -In one machine, you have over 1,000 needles. | 0:34:35 | 0:34:38 | |
Is it knitting now? | 0:34:41 | 0:34:42 | |
It's knitting, yeah. You can see it knitting there. | 0:34:42 | 0:34:45 | |
Ooh! | 0:34:46 | 0:34:47 | |
The carriage runs back and forth, | 0:34:50 | 0:34:52 | |
picking up the coloured threads for my pattern | 0:34:52 | 0:34:55 | |
and lifting the needles to make the stitches. | 0:34:55 | 0:34:59 | |
Here it comes! Yay! It's fresh from the oven. | 0:34:59 | 0:35:02 | |
It takes 30 minutes for the machine to knit the front of my jumper. | 0:35:04 | 0:35:09 | |
Just got one more Santa. | 0:35:09 | 0:35:10 | |
He's only got half a face at the moment. | 0:35:10 | 0:35:12 | |
But it would take up to 20 times longer to knit it by hand. | 0:35:12 | 0:35:18 | |
We've got our mince pies. | 0:35:18 | 0:35:19 | |
And you've got your Yule logs. | 0:35:19 | 0:35:21 | |
My Yule logs. | 0:35:21 | 0:35:23 | |
Here we go. Woohoo! | 0:35:23 | 0:35:24 | |
Oh! Look at that. | 0:35:26 | 0:35:28 | |
That's amazing! | 0:35:28 | 0:35:30 | |
One front done. | 0:35:30 | 0:35:31 | |
These are incredible. | 0:35:34 | 0:35:35 | |
Oh, they are. They're very smart machines. | 0:35:35 | 0:35:38 | |
Other machines have knitted my back and my sleeves. | 0:35:38 | 0:35:42 | |
Then a team of experienced sewers stitch my jumper together. | 0:35:42 | 0:35:47 | |
The collar is attached, | 0:35:47 | 0:35:48 | |
it's given a steam, | 0:35:48 | 0:35:50 | |
and it's ready to wear. | 0:35:50 | 0:35:53 | |
Yay! | 0:35:53 | 0:35:54 | |
The official Inside The Factory Christmas jumper! | 0:35:55 | 0:36:00 | |
It's beautiful. | 0:36:04 | 0:36:06 | |
It's just pure Christmas. | 0:36:06 | 0:36:08 | |
Made in England. | 0:36:08 | 0:36:10 | |
I feel properly Christmassy now. | 0:36:10 | 0:36:12 | |
At our mega bakery, | 0:36:23 | 0:36:24 | |
the mince pie assembly line is a 180-metre conveyor belt, | 0:36:24 | 0:36:29 | |
which will take my pies all the way through the ovens, | 0:36:29 | 0:36:32 | |
through cooling and to packaging. | 0:36:32 | 0:36:35 | |
The mincemeat I made is developing its flavour | 0:36:35 | 0:36:38 | |
so, for my pies, I'm using a batch they made earlier. | 0:36:38 | 0:36:42 | |
At the start of pie assembly line is front-line leader Scott Bates. | 0:36:42 | 0:36:47 | |
It all happens straight down this one line here. | 0:36:47 | 0:36:50 | |
Really? So I start up here, and are you saying, | 0:36:50 | 0:36:53 | |
by the time I've finished down the end of this machine, | 0:36:53 | 0:36:55 | |
I will have a mince pie? | 0:36:55 | 0:36:57 | |
You will have a mince pie in your hand, fully ready. | 0:36:57 | 0:36:59 | |
At last! Where do I start? | 0:36:59 | 0:37:01 | |
The first job is actually the only manual job we do on here, | 0:37:01 | 0:37:04 | |
and that is putting the foils into the foiler. | 0:37:04 | 0:37:07 | |
If you want to get up the steps, you can have a quick go at doing this. | 0:37:07 | 0:37:11 | |
So the bags are open at one end. | 0:37:13 | 0:37:15 | |
-That's it. -There we are. There we are. | 0:37:16 | 0:37:18 | |
-Right, OK. -You've got to keep them all flat cos, if they go in wrong, | 0:37:18 | 0:37:22 | |
they won't deposit the foil underneath. | 0:37:22 | 0:37:24 | |
-How about that? -That's bang on. | 0:37:25 | 0:37:28 | |
All right! All right! This is easy. | 0:37:28 | 0:37:30 | |
Mate, oh... | 0:37:30 | 0:37:32 | |
Thought you said it was easy? | 0:37:32 | 0:37:34 | |
Yeah, yeah, yeah. | 0:37:34 | 0:37:35 | |
Easy! | 0:37:36 | 0:37:38 | |
Get that! | 0:37:39 | 0:37:41 | |
Perfect foil. | 0:37:41 | 0:37:42 | |
The foil comes from the land of cherries, tinsel and Christmas trees | 0:37:43 | 0:37:47 | |
- South Wales. | 0:37:47 | 0:37:48 | |
-Right. -Not too bad a job, if I say so myself. | 0:37:50 | 0:37:53 | |
Foil's in. You're missing something. | 0:37:53 | 0:37:56 | |
I want a pie in me foil! | 0:37:56 | 0:37:58 | |
The pie is on its way. | 0:37:58 | 0:38:00 | |
-Come on! -OK. | 0:38:00 | 0:38:02 | |
So this is the dough that you made earlier on, | 0:38:02 | 0:38:04 | |
and now it is being deposited... | 0:38:04 | 0:38:09 | |
into the foil. | 0:38:09 | 0:38:10 | |
So my pastry's coming down | 0:38:10 | 0:38:13 | |
and something in there is cutting them into biscuit shapes? | 0:38:13 | 0:38:16 | |
Correct. And it's two blades that are cutting. | 0:38:16 | 0:38:19 | |
So you've got rollers taking your dough down and the guillotine then | 0:38:19 | 0:38:23 | |
is cutting the pellet to what size you require. | 0:38:23 | 0:38:26 | |
That looks odd to me. | 0:38:26 | 0:38:28 | |
That's not a mince pie. That's a shortbread biscuit. | 0:38:28 | 0:38:32 | |
We have the dies and that makes what is the base of a mince pie. | 0:38:32 | 0:38:37 | |
This, I'm guessing, comes down like this and squashes it? | 0:38:37 | 0:38:41 | |
Correct. That comes down and squashes it. | 0:38:41 | 0:38:43 | |
-Pushes it into a nice shape like that? -Yeah. | 0:38:43 | 0:38:46 | |
So, as you can see here, the dies are going up and down. | 0:38:46 | 0:38:50 | |
Got it. At about 15 a second. | 0:38:50 | 0:38:53 | |
I've now got a mince pie base. | 0:38:53 | 0:38:56 | |
-What happens now? -We deliver the mince. | 0:38:56 | 0:38:58 | |
Oh, great! | 0:38:58 | 0:38:59 | |
My 12,000 pies will be filled in just 17 minutes, | 0:39:02 | 0:39:07 | |
and they're just a teeny portion | 0:39:07 | 0:39:08 | |
of the 180 million mince pies they'll make this year. | 0:39:08 | 0:39:12 | |
There you go. | 0:39:16 | 0:39:17 | |
We have our mincemeat in our pie. | 0:39:17 | 0:39:19 | |
Can we put a lid on now? | 0:39:19 | 0:39:21 | |
Certainly can. That's the next stage. | 0:39:21 | 0:39:23 | |
And we come down here with a flat piece of dough. | 0:39:23 | 0:39:26 | |
All right. That looks more like a mince pie pastry. | 0:39:26 | 0:39:29 | |
As you can see, these lids are then transferred onto the pies. | 0:39:29 | 0:39:33 | |
As the base for the mincemeat comes along, | 0:39:35 | 0:39:38 | |
the lids will go down a slope | 0:39:38 | 0:39:39 | |
and it drops every one on a row of 15 perfectly. | 0:39:39 | 0:39:43 | |
So that is what you've got. | 0:39:44 | 0:39:46 | |
With just over an hour gone, my pies are filled and the lids are on, | 0:39:47 | 0:39:51 | |
but there's a pastry mystery I want to solve with Scott. | 0:39:51 | 0:39:55 | |
The lid, it's a different pastry to the base? | 0:39:55 | 0:39:59 | |
-Correct. -Which is stupid. | 0:39:59 | 0:40:00 | |
-No, no. -Why? | 0:40:00 | 0:40:02 | |
It's how it performs for the motif. | 0:40:02 | 0:40:05 | |
The lid dough has a little more fat so it's soft enough to be moulded. | 0:40:06 | 0:40:11 | |
-Show me, show me. -The dies we use... | 0:40:12 | 0:40:15 | |
This is a lid die. | 0:40:15 | 0:40:18 | |
Ah, that's making the holly leaf motif on the top? | 0:40:18 | 0:40:22 | |
-Yes. -It's all a bit nuts. | 0:40:22 | 0:40:23 | |
Do you think this is what Santa had in mind? | 0:40:23 | 0:40:26 | |
-I hope so. -Well, he's got to eat them. | 0:40:26 | 0:40:28 | |
I leave one out for him every year. | 0:40:28 | 0:40:30 | |
It comes out as such. | 0:40:30 | 0:40:32 | |
That's looking better, isn't it, mate? | 0:40:32 | 0:40:34 | |
Now all my pies need is a sprinkle of water and a dust of sugar. | 0:40:35 | 0:40:41 | |
Basically, this row of machines has done everything? | 0:40:41 | 0:40:45 | |
-Correct. -Do you actually need any people here? | 0:40:45 | 0:40:47 | |
Oh, yes. Cos when it goes wrong, it can go very wrong, | 0:40:47 | 0:40:50 | |
so you've got to keep monitoring it. | 0:40:50 | 0:40:52 | |
And when you transfer them into the oven, | 0:40:52 | 0:40:54 | |
you can get pile-ups and you need people here. | 0:40:54 | 0:40:56 | |
So, right now, over 700 mince pies a minute | 0:40:56 | 0:40:59 | |
-are heading to the oven? -Correct. | 0:40:59 | 0:41:01 | |
This 45 metre oven is the length of three double-decker buses. | 0:41:04 | 0:41:08 | |
This is the oven. | 0:41:12 | 0:41:13 | |
The oven's got seven zones. | 0:41:13 | 0:41:15 | |
Is it all the same temperature just doing the same thing? | 0:41:15 | 0:41:18 | |
No, we have different temperatures in different zones | 0:41:18 | 0:41:20 | |
to bake our mince pies. | 0:41:20 | 0:41:22 | |
The first three zones cook the base of the pie | 0:41:22 | 0:41:25 | |
at a super hot 285 degrees, | 0:41:25 | 0:41:29 | |
whilst the last ones brown the top, like a grill. | 0:41:29 | 0:41:33 | |
The oven is always on and so the conveyor belt must never stop | 0:41:34 | 0:41:39 | |
to avoid any risk of burning. | 0:41:39 | 0:41:41 | |
And how long does it take? | 0:41:41 | 0:41:43 | |
-Nine minutes to bake the mince pies. -Not bad, mate. | 0:41:43 | 0:41:46 | |
Not bad. We're almost there. | 0:41:46 | 0:41:48 | |
My pies were in a hot oven, almost as hot as Ruth, | 0:41:51 | 0:41:54 | |
who's getting toasty by a roaring fire discovering what first made | 0:41:54 | 0:41:58 | |
Christmas go with a bang. | 0:41:58 | 0:42:00 | |
# Snow is falling | 0:42:00 | 0:42:02 | |
# All around me | 0:42:02 | 0:42:04 | |
# Children playing... # | 0:42:04 | 0:42:07 | |
-Woo! -Crackers. | 0:42:07 | 0:42:09 | |
300 million of them will be pulled this Christmas in Britain. | 0:42:09 | 0:42:13 | |
That's five each. | 0:42:13 | 0:42:15 | |
But who came up with the idea of mini explosions | 0:42:15 | 0:42:17 | |
around the Christmas dinner table? | 0:42:17 | 0:42:20 | |
In the 1840s, a young cake maker from East London | 0:42:20 | 0:42:23 | |
took a trip to Paris and | 0:42:23 | 0:42:25 | |
there he fell in love with bonbons - | 0:42:25 | 0:42:28 | |
small, sugary sweets wrapped in tissue paper. | 0:42:28 | 0:42:32 | |
Tom Smith brought this idea back to his bakery, | 0:42:34 | 0:42:37 | |
where his sugared almonds in twisted tissue paper became a surprise | 0:42:37 | 0:42:41 | |
Christmas smash. | 0:42:41 | 0:42:43 | |
To drum up even more trade the following Christmas, | 0:42:43 | 0:42:45 | |
he added a little love note. | 0:42:45 | 0:42:48 | |
The final inspiration is said to have come to Tom | 0:42:50 | 0:42:52 | |
in a flash when he threw a log on the fire. | 0:42:52 | 0:42:55 | |
It spat and went crack. | 0:42:57 | 0:43:00 | |
And he decided to add just such a sound to his crackers. | 0:43:00 | 0:43:05 | |
But how did Tom manage to make his crackers go crack? | 0:43:05 | 0:43:10 | |
To find out, I've come to a lab at the University of Westminster | 0:43:11 | 0:43:15 | |
to meet scientist and cracker snap investigator Wendy Sadler. | 0:43:15 | 0:43:20 | |
-Wendy! -Hiya. | 0:43:20 | 0:43:22 | |
Could you tell me how exactly Tom Smith invented the cracker? | 0:43:22 | 0:43:27 | |
So, we're pretty sure he invented the cracker, | 0:43:27 | 0:43:29 | |
but we're not entirely sure that he invented the bang. | 0:43:29 | 0:43:31 | |
Let me show you this book. | 0:43:31 | 0:43:33 | |
This comes from 1816. | 0:43:33 | 0:43:35 | |
So, quite a long time before the crackers came out. | 0:43:35 | 0:43:38 | |
And, inside this book, this is The Art of Making Fireworks, | 0:43:38 | 0:43:41 | |
we've got the description of how to create something | 0:43:41 | 0:43:44 | |
called a Waterloo Cracker. | 0:43:44 | 0:43:45 | |
The Waterloo Cracker was a type of indoor firework | 0:43:46 | 0:43:50 | |
popular when Tom Smith was just a boy. | 0:43:50 | 0:43:53 | |
And we are going to try and make one. | 0:43:53 | 0:43:55 | |
Ingredients - | 0:43:55 | 0:43:57 | |
"take a slip of cartridge paper | 0:43:57 | 0:43:59 | |
"about three quarters of an inch wide." | 0:43:59 | 0:44:01 | |
-So, cut into two equal lengths. -OK, will that do? | 0:44:01 | 0:44:04 | |
Now "G" in here stands for glass. | 0:44:04 | 0:44:06 | |
So, they used to use powdered glass as the friction. | 0:44:06 | 0:44:09 | |
So we're going to substitute that for some sandpaper. | 0:44:09 | 0:44:12 | |
"Then put about a grain of the silver." | 0:44:12 | 0:44:14 | |
Is that actually the metal silver? | 0:44:14 | 0:44:16 | |
It is kind of, but it's a special mix of silver. | 0:44:16 | 0:44:19 | |
It's a thing called silver fulminate. | 0:44:19 | 0:44:21 | |
Silver, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen, | 0:44:21 | 0:44:23 | |
in a very special mix that's quite unstable | 0:44:23 | 0:44:26 | |
and makes it very explosive. | 0:44:26 | 0:44:28 | |
So, the thing that we normally play with every day is SO explosive? | 0:44:28 | 0:44:32 | |
-I like the sound of that! -It is good, isn't it? | 0:44:32 | 0:44:35 | |
'Even a small amount of silver fulminate can make a large impact. | 0:44:36 | 0:44:40 | |
'So don't try this at home!' | 0:44:40 | 0:44:41 | |
Right, so, we have a little bit of silver fulminate here. | 0:44:43 | 0:44:45 | |
We're going to ignite it using heat, rather than friction. | 0:44:45 | 0:44:48 | |
Just so you can get an idea of the noise. | 0:44:48 | 0:44:50 | |
SHARP SNAP, RUTH LAUGHS | 0:44:53 | 0:44:55 | |
And the sound, of course, comes from the detonation | 0:44:56 | 0:44:59 | |
which happens so fast. It's faster than the speed of sound. | 0:44:59 | 0:45:01 | |
So, you're actually getting a supersonic detonation. | 0:45:03 | 0:45:05 | |
-Whoa! -Yeah. | 0:45:05 | 0:45:07 | |
And that in a cracker that you might have in your home? | 0:45:07 | 0:45:09 | |
-I know. -That we hand to small children! | 0:45:09 | 0:45:12 | |
What a great Christmas! | 0:45:12 | 0:45:13 | |
'Now we can put the volatile chemical | 0:45:14 | 0:45:16 | |
'inside my Waterloo Cracker Snap.' | 0:45:16 | 0:45:17 | |
Tiny little bit. | 0:45:19 | 0:45:20 | |
OK, so we've got our silver fulminate on. | 0:45:21 | 0:45:24 | |
OK, so I'm going to put the second part basically over the top of here. | 0:45:24 | 0:45:27 | |
"Take hold of the two ends and pull them sharply from each other, | 0:45:27 | 0:45:30 | |
"and it will produce a loud report." | 0:45:30 | 0:45:32 | |
Well, if that isn't a cracker! | 0:45:32 | 0:45:34 | |
-Could we try it? -Yeah, let's. | 0:45:35 | 0:45:37 | |
-Here we go. -OK. Do I have to make a wish or something? | 0:45:37 | 0:45:41 | |
SHARP SNAP Yay! | 0:45:41 | 0:45:43 | |
So there's no doubt, then, is there, | 0:45:45 | 0:45:47 | |
that Tom Smith did not invent the bang. | 0:45:47 | 0:45:50 | |
No, I think that's been proven here. | 0:45:50 | 0:45:52 | |
But he did still add something extra, really. | 0:45:52 | 0:45:55 | |
He put it all together into a product that people wanted. | 0:45:55 | 0:45:57 | |
Tom Smith launched his cracker in 1860. | 0:45:59 | 0:46:02 | |
He wrapped up the snap inside a brightly coloured tube | 0:46:02 | 0:46:05 | |
and they became a sensation. | 0:46:05 | 0:46:08 | |
Shall we try it? | 0:46:08 | 0:46:09 | |
Yeah, why not? OK. | 0:46:09 | 0:46:10 | |
-Here we go. -Here we go. -Our very own Tom Smith cracker. | 0:46:10 | 0:46:14 | |
SHARP SNAP | 0:46:14 | 0:46:15 | |
I think I won! I think I won. | 0:46:17 | 0:46:19 | |
I got a hat. | 0:46:19 | 0:46:20 | |
He might not have invented any of the constituent parts, | 0:46:21 | 0:46:24 | |
but Tom Smith was a bit of a genius, wasn't he? | 0:46:24 | 0:46:26 | |
I mean, how can you possibly turn your nose up | 0:46:26 | 0:46:29 | |
at a small explosion at the dinner table? | 0:46:29 | 0:46:32 | |
Back on the assembly line | 0:46:43 | 0:46:45 | |
and my 12,000 mince pies have reached packaging. | 0:46:45 | 0:46:48 | |
They've been cooling at room temperature. | 0:46:50 | 0:46:52 | |
Then through a chiller. | 0:46:52 | 0:46:53 | |
And they're now in their plastic holders. | 0:46:53 | 0:46:56 | |
The unrelenting march of mince pies | 0:46:57 | 0:47:00 | |
means any hold-up can cause major pile-up problems. | 0:47:00 | 0:47:04 | |
Sheila Highman is in charge of coping with any crisis. | 0:47:04 | 0:47:07 | |
How long have you been here? | 0:47:07 | 0:47:09 | |
-28 years. -28 years? | 0:47:09 | 0:47:12 | |
-Yes. -Before I was born. | 0:47:12 | 0:47:13 | |
And how many mince pies do you reckon you look at a week? | 0:47:14 | 0:47:17 | |
Millions. | 0:47:17 | 0:47:18 | |
What are these people behind us doing? | 0:47:19 | 0:47:21 | |
If the machine stops, it won't pack anything. | 0:47:21 | 0:47:24 | |
We can't stop the oven or the cooler, | 0:47:24 | 0:47:26 | |
so these people have to take the pies off. | 0:47:26 | 0:47:29 | |
-So, the oven never stops? -Never stops. | 0:47:29 | 0:47:31 | |
So, if there's a problem up the line, | 0:47:31 | 0:47:32 | |
you can't stop these pies coming through. | 0:47:32 | 0:47:34 | |
No, so, somebody has to take them off. | 0:47:34 | 0:47:36 | |
That's my sort of job, that is. | 0:47:36 | 0:47:38 | |
-Would you like to have a go? -Oh, yeah. | 0:47:38 | 0:47:40 | |
Think pies, think Gregg Wallace. | 0:47:40 | 0:47:41 | |
'We're going to practise | 0:47:42 | 0:47:44 | |
'how Sheila's team prevents a pie pile-up.' | 0:47:44 | 0:47:46 | |
Machine's stopped! | 0:47:47 | 0:47:49 | |
-What do I do? -So we take these pies off. | 0:47:49 | 0:47:51 | |
Argh! | 0:47:51 | 0:47:53 | |
Put them that way. | 0:47:53 | 0:47:55 | |
That way! | 0:47:55 | 0:47:56 | |
Argh! | 0:47:56 | 0:47:57 | |
Argh! | 0:47:59 | 0:48:01 | |
No! The easiest way... | 0:48:01 | 0:48:03 | |
-Hang on, hang on. -..is like that. | 0:48:03 | 0:48:05 | |
-Oh, oh! -Behind you, behind you. | 0:48:06 | 0:48:10 | |
-No, no. -Don't hold them back. | 0:48:10 | 0:48:14 | |
-I can't. -Oh, Gregg! | 0:48:17 | 0:48:19 | |
Like that. | 0:48:19 | 0:48:21 | |
Easy! One, two, three, four. | 0:48:21 | 0:48:23 | |
-How did I do? -You can't do it. | 0:48:23 | 0:48:25 | |
-I can eat them. -You can. | 0:48:28 | 0:48:30 | |
You can probably bake them, but you can't pack them. | 0:48:30 | 0:48:33 | |
The pies I haven't messed up go straight into packing | 0:48:39 | 0:48:42 | |
and are sealed neatly into cardboard cartons of six. | 0:48:42 | 0:48:46 | |
Quality controller Mandy Gibson has got a job | 0:48:46 | 0:48:49 | |
I think might suit me better than the last one. | 0:48:49 | 0:48:51 | |
-Hello, Mandy. -Hello. | 0:48:53 | 0:48:54 | |
-What's your job? -My job is to check the pies every half an hour. | 0:48:54 | 0:48:59 | |
Can you show me the procedure? | 0:48:59 | 0:49:00 | |
Yes. These was taken off at 2:57. | 0:49:00 | 0:49:03 | |
So, I write the time down. | 0:49:03 | 0:49:05 | |
-Nice handwriting. -Thank you. | 0:49:05 | 0:49:07 | |
OK, so, make sure there's no raw spots. | 0:49:07 | 0:49:10 | |
Raw spots, like white bits? | 0:49:10 | 0:49:12 | |
-No, raw. -Uncooked flour? -Yes. | 0:49:12 | 0:49:13 | |
-Uncooked pastry. -No boil outs. | 0:49:13 | 0:49:16 | |
What's a boil out? They start seeping out? | 0:49:16 | 0:49:18 | |
Yeah. Your mince filling coming out. | 0:49:18 | 0:49:20 | |
-Yeah. -Would you like to try that one? | 0:49:20 | 0:49:23 | |
Try it? Do you have to try it? | 0:49:23 | 0:49:25 | |
-Yes, I have to try it. -Every half an hour you eat a mince pie? | 0:49:25 | 0:49:28 | |
Not a whole mince pie. | 0:49:28 | 0:49:29 | |
-A bit of a mince pie? -Yes. | 0:49:29 | 0:49:32 | |
-And you still have your lunch? -Yes. | 0:49:32 | 0:49:33 | |
-Very good? -Yeah. | 0:49:39 | 0:49:42 | |
Unmistakable flavour of Christmas. | 0:49:42 | 0:49:44 | |
Have my mince pies passed the test? | 0:49:44 | 0:49:46 | |
Did they taste good? | 0:49:46 | 0:49:48 | |
Yeah. They can go out now, can't they, to the shops? | 0:49:48 | 0:49:50 | |
-Yes. -Yes! | 0:49:50 | 0:49:52 | |
-Thank you very much. -You're welcome. | 0:49:52 | 0:49:54 | |
After an hour and a half, | 0:49:54 | 0:49:57 | |
my cartons of mince pies are being boxed up | 0:49:57 | 0:49:59 | |
and made ready for dispatch. | 0:49:59 | 0:50:01 | |
But, before my pies hit the road, Cherry has one final mission. | 0:50:03 | 0:50:07 | |
She's yet again in South Wales finding out how one factory | 0:50:11 | 0:50:15 | |
makes enough wrapping paper to wrap around the Earth at least ten times. | 0:50:15 | 0:50:19 | |
The largest producer of gift wrap in Europe is this mega-factory | 0:50:21 | 0:50:26 | |
right here in Wales. | 0:50:26 | 0:50:27 | |
They make over 400 million metres of gift wrap every year, | 0:50:27 | 0:50:32 | |
and, right now, it's Christmas wrapping paper | 0:50:32 | 0:50:35 | |
that's flying off the production line | 0:50:35 | 0:50:37 | |
to make it into the shops. | 0:50:37 | 0:50:38 | |
So, how do they produce wrapping paper | 0:50:40 | 0:50:43 | |
here in Ystrad Mynach on such a gigantic scale? | 0:50:43 | 0:50:47 | |
Well, first they have to design over 6,000 new patterns every year | 0:50:47 | 0:50:52 | |
and that's done right here at the factory. | 0:50:52 | 0:50:56 | |
This is the Christmas wrapping paper | 0:50:56 | 0:50:57 | |
that we're going to see printed later on. | 0:50:57 | 0:51:00 | |
But when there's so many different Christmas themes, | 0:51:00 | 0:51:04 | |
how did this one come about? | 0:51:04 | 0:51:05 | |
Julia Williams is one of the 41 creatives who work here. | 0:51:07 | 0:51:11 | |
-Hi, Julia. -Hi, Cherry. | 0:51:12 | 0:51:14 | |
How did you decide that this is what you're going to make this Christmas? | 0:51:14 | 0:51:18 | |
We've got a bit of help with last year's wrapping paper. | 0:51:18 | 0:51:22 | |
That was a success, so we want to strive | 0:51:22 | 0:51:24 | |
to get that successful line again, but modernise it. | 0:51:24 | 0:51:27 | |
So, we take things like this year's trend. | 0:51:27 | 0:51:30 | |
'Trends on the mood board | 0:51:30 | 0:51:31 | |
'have been sourced from magazines and the latest fashions.' | 0:51:31 | 0:51:34 | |
This year was a lot about artistic brushes and textures. | 0:51:34 | 0:51:38 | |
It's very crafty. | 0:51:38 | 0:51:39 | |
Vibrant and fun. | 0:51:39 | 0:51:40 | |
And very hand drawn and handmade. | 0:51:40 | 0:51:42 | |
So we would start by hand sketching. | 0:51:42 | 0:51:45 | |
So, we started with a hat. | 0:51:48 | 0:51:49 | |
Then we thought, actually, he had a hat last year. | 0:51:49 | 0:51:51 | |
-Shall we do a top hat? Top hat's quite fun. -Oh, you jazzed him. | 0:51:51 | 0:51:54 | |
Jazzed him up, yeah. So we kind of evolve him a little bit. | 0:51:54 | 0:51:58 | |
When did you decide on this particular design? | 0:51:58 | 0:52:01 | |
August 2015. | 0:52:01 | 0:52:04 | |
So, a year and a bit ago. | 0:52:04 | 0:52:05 | |
So, when the sun was out and everyone with eating ice cream... | 0:52:05 | 0:52:08 | |
-Yeah. -..you were deciding on Christmas paper for this year? | 0:52:08 | 0:52:11 | |
We were all designing Christmas, yes. | 0:52:11 | 0:52:13 | |
So, is it Christmas for you 365 days a year? | 0:52:13 | 0:52:16 | |
-Every day. -Really? -Every day. | 0:52:16 | 0:52:17 | |
# Well, I wish it could be Christmas every day... # | 0:52:17 | 0:52:23 | |
Once the design is complete, it's ready for printing. | 0:52:23 | 0:52:26 | |
But on an epic scale. | 0:52:26 | 0:52:29 | |
The minimum print run here is 30,000 metres. | 0:52:29 | 0:52:34 | |
A lot of responsibility for print manager, Adam Welcher. | 0:52:34 | 0:52:37 | |
The first thing we do is select our colour. | 0:52:37 | 0:52:40 | |
So, we're choosing purple rain. | 0:52:40 | 0:52:41 | |
We select our weight, 15kg. | 0:52:41 | 0:52:43 | |
-And load our bucket. -This is mixing the colour? | 0:52:43 | 0:52:46 | |
Yeah, it mixes a combination of the reds and blues required | 0:52:46 | 0:52:49 | |
to make the colour. | 0:52:49 | 0:52:51 | |
It's a bit like when you're in a DIY store and you get your paint | 0:52:51 | 0:52:54 | |
mixed up, but on a gigantic scale. | 0:52:54 | 0:52:56 | |
'Our snowman needs five different coloured inks.' | 0:52:56 | 0:53:00 | |
So, what is this area? | 0:53:00 | 0:53:02 | |
This is the pumps that supply our machine with their colours. | 0:53:02 | 0:53:07 | |
These £10 million printers use some clever engineering | 0:53:07 | 0:53:11 | |
to reproduce the image. | 0:53:11 | 0:53:13 | |
The snowman is engraved onto a printing plate. | 0:53:13 | 0:53:16 | |
It's a hardened rubber. | 0:53:16 | 0:53:18 | |
-Oh, there he is. -Yes. | 0:53:18 | 0:53:20 | |
It's like a huge rubber stamp. | 0:53:20 | 0:53:22 | |
-Exactly. -How many of these are there in this machine? | 0:53:22 | 0:53:26 | |
There's five. | 0:53:26 | 0:53:28 | |
'Each of the five rollers | 0:53:28 | 0:53:29 | |
'adds a different layer of colour to gradually build up the image. | 0:53:29 | 0:53:33 | |
'They print on rolls of high-quality paper, | 0:53:33 | 0:53:36 | |
'coated with an ultra-thin layer of aluminium to add sparkle. | 0:53:36 | 0:53:40 | |
'The ink is primed and the rollers are set. | 0:53:42 | 0:53:45 | |
'So, now we can get this giant printer started.' | 0:53:45 | 0:53:48 | |
Wow, Starship Enterprise. | 0:53:49 | 0:53:51 | |
-Yes. -Oh, look. | 0:53:51 | 0:53:54 | |
This is our design. | 0:53:54 | 0:53:55 | |
'Incredibly, we're not yet running at top speed. | 0:53:56 | 0:54:00 | |
'And I get to crank production up to 600 metres a minute.' | 0:54:00 | 0:54:03 | |
-Is it not going to explode? -No, it'll be fine. | 0:54:08 | 0:54:11 | |
'At this speed, | 0:54:11 | 0:54:12 | |
'we're printing 100,000 snowmen every single minute.' | 0:54:12 | 0:54:16 | |
Wow, look at the snowman! | 0:54:17 | 0:54:19 | |
The snowman's at a rave. | 0:54:19 | 0:54:21 | |
'A strobe light helps Adam check the print quality, | 0:54:22 | 0:54:26 | |
'making the fast-moving paper appear still.' | 0:54:26 | 0:54:29 | |
The snowman's gone completely bonkers. | 0:54:29 | 0:54:33 | |
'This printer runs 24 hours a day. | 0:54:33 | 0:54:35 | |
'And, in the last 25 minutes alone, | 0:54:35 | 0:54:38 | |
'we've made 15,000 metres of wrapping paper.' | 0:54:38 | 0:54:41 | |
Can I go in and touch it? | 0:54:41 | 0:54:42 | |
-Yes, you can. -Wow! | 0:54:42 | 0:54:45 | |
Fresh out of the oven. | 0:54:45 | 0:54:46 | |
It is. Literally. | 0:54:46 | 0:54:47 | |
Absolutely amazing. | 0:54:47 | 0:54:49 | |
Because most people would struggle to get this home from the shops, | 0:54:55 | 0:54:59 | |
this has now got to go and be converted into smaller rolls. | 0:54:59 | 0:55:02 | |
'19 machines chop wrapping paper up into rolls | 0:55:03 | 0:55:07 | |
'of anything from 1.5 to 49 metres... | 0:55:07 | 0:55:10 | |
'..supplying most of the national retailers.' | 0:55:12 | 0:55:14 | |
So, there he is. | 0:55:16 | 0:55:17 | |
Still hot off the press. | 0:55:17 | 0:55:20 | |
'This will be just one of 60 million rolls made here at the factory.' | 0:55:20 | 0:55:25 | |
My 12,000 mince pies have reached distribution. | 0:55:36 | 0:55:39 | |
And they are ready to be wrapped. | 0:55:41 | 0:55:42 | |
I'm with dispatch leader Armando. | 0:55:44 | 0:55:48 | |
Where are you taking these now? | 0:55:48 | 0:55:50 | |
-To be wrapped. -How long do they stay in the warehouse? | 0:55:50 | 0:55:53 | |
These will all be gone by end of production today. | 0:55:53 | 0:55:56 | |
Some of them are wrapped and sent straight away. | 0:55:56 | 0:55:59 | |
All right, mate, let's get it wrapped up. | 0:55:59 | 0:56:00 | |
OK, no problem. Right, Gregg. If you grab this and tuck it under, yeah. | 0:56:00 | 0:56:03 | |
That's it. And just let go. | 0:56:05 | 0:56:06 | |
Yeah! I don't know why I find that so joyous. | 0:56:07 | 0:56:11 | |
And then we put it in line for the loader to load it. | 0:56:14 | 0:56:17 | |
How long will my mince pies stay here? | 0:56:21 | 0:56:23 | |
The mince pies that you have just taken through, Gregg, | 0:56:23 | 0:56:25 | |
are being loaded now directly to the customer, | 0:56:25 | 0:56:27 | |
and a trailer will be leaving in an hour and a half. | 0:56:27 | 0:56:29 | |
We have to keep moving because the floor, here in dispatch, | 0:56:29 | 0:56:33 | |
only holds four hours worth of stock. | 0:56:33 | 0:56:35 | |
Pies and cakes are coming out of there at such a rate that after four | 0:56:37 | 0:56:41 | |
hours this floor will fill up? I love the idea of that. | 0:56:41 | 0:56:43 | |
Where do you send off to? | 0:56:43 | 0:56:44 | |
Where in the world might my mince pies end up? | 0:56:44 | 0:56:47 | |
It might end up for export for Australia and New Zealand. | 0:56:47 | 0:56:50 | |
I've seen them in Dubai. | 0:56:50 | 0:56:51 | |
No matter where people are in the world, if you're British, | 0:56:51 | 0:56:54 | |
-Christmas time, you want a mince pie, right? -Yeah. | 0:56:54 | 0:56:56 | |
As well as Dubai, they send their mince pies all the way to Africa, | 0:56:56 | 0:57:01 | |
Barbados, Bermuda, Canada and the USA, as well as Europe. | 0:57:01 | 0:57:07 | |
But it's the British who eat more pies than anyone. | 0:57:08 | 0:57:12 | |
And Londoners scoff most of all, | 0:57:12 | 0:57:14 | |
with an average of 7.5 each in the run-up to Christmas. | 0:57:14 | 0:57:18 | |
How would the mince pies get to Australia? | 0:57:18 | 0:57:21 | |
They're put on a container ship and shipped all the way to Australia. | 0:57:21 | 0:57:24 | |
-They're not flown? -No. | 0:57:24 | 0:57:25 | |
It would be very, very expensive to fly mince pies to Australia. | 0:57:25 | 0:57:28 | |
Mate, if Santa can do it at Christmas, you can. | 0:57:28 | 0:57:31 | |
You'd need a big sledge. | 0:57:31 | 0:57:33 | |
We send approximately 1,000 pallets over to Australia and New Zealand. | 0:57:33 | 0:57:36 | |
Yeah, the reindeers would probably eat them, wouldn't they? | 0:57:36 | 0:57:38 | |
-They would. -Yeah, I haven't thought this out, really. | 0:57:38 | 0:57:41 | |
-That's it, ready to go. -That's the door closing on my mince pies. | 0:57:43 | 0:57:46 | |
I suppose, actually, the journey's just beginning, | 0:57:47 | 0:57:49 | |
-isn't it? -Sure is, sure is. | 0:57:49 | 0:57:51 | |
Within eight hours of starting my pastry, | 0:57:53 | 0:57:55 | |
my 12,000 mince pies could be on a supermarket shelf near you. | 0:57:55 | 0:58:01 | |
Last year, we bought over 340 million of them. | 0:58:01 | 0:58:05 | |
I knew that everybody liked to nibble mince pies at Christmas. | 0:58:05 | 0:58:09 | |
I just didn't realise how many. | 0:58:09 | 0:58:11 | |
We'll be back next year with more behind the scenes secrets from our | 0:58:11 | 0:58:14 | |
favourite factories. | 0:58:14 | 0:58:16 | |
Until then... | 0:58:16 | 0:58:17 | |
-BOTH: -Merry Christmas, everyone! | 0:58:17 | 0:58:19 | |
# So here it is, Merry Christmas | 0:58:19 | 0:58:23 | |
# Everybody's having fun | 0:58:23 | 0:58:27 | |
It's Christmas! | 0:58:27 | 0:58:28 | |
# Look to the future now | 0:58:28 | 0:58:31 | |
# It's only just begun | 0:58:31 | 0:58:38 | |
# So here it is, Merry Christmas | 0:58:38 | 0:58:42 | |
# Everybody's having fun! # | 0:58:42 | 0:58:46 |