0:00:02 > 0:00:05Meet the Ellis family.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09Lesley, John,
0:00:09 > 0:00:12Caitlin, Freya
0:00:12 > 0:00:14and Harvey.
0:00:14 > 0:00:20For one summer, this Bradford family of five went on a time-travelling adventure...
0:00:20 > 0:00:22It's 1925!
0:00:23 > 0:00:28..discovering how changing food eaten in the north of England...
0:00:28 > 0:00:29That is Scouse.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31..revealed what life was like...
0:00:32 > 0:00:36I think perhaps I do need to work on my frying technique!
0:00:36 > 0:00:40..for working-class families over the last century.
0:00:40 > 0:00:41I think it's just potato pie.
0:00:41 > 0:00:42I think so.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44Chicken feet!
0:00:44 > 0:00:45Urgh!
0:00:45 > 0:00:47From regional classics...
0:00:47 > 0:00:49Pan haggerty for tea.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52We'll have two chip naans.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54..to dishes which expanded our horizons.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58I'm so happy. Honestly, this is, like, amazing.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01The Ellises' own home was their time machine,
0:01:01 > 0:01:04transporting them to a different era each week.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07It's 1985!
0:01:07 > 0:01:10The family experienced the ups and downs...
0:01:10 > 0:01:12What the heck is tripe?
0:01:14 > 0:01:16..of work...
0:01:16 > 0:01:18This is so hard!
0:01:18 > 0:01:21..rest...
0:01:21 > 0:01:23and play...
0:01:25 > 0:01:30..as they fast-forwarded through 100 years of northern history...
0:01:34 > 0:01:37..and still got Back In Time For Tea.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57The Ellises and their home have returned to the present-day.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02I'm back with social historian Polly Russell to see their house for the
0:02:02 > 0:02:05first time in the 21st century.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09Whoa! Gosh, it looks big, doesn't it?
0:02:09 > 0:02:11It's doubled in size, hasn't it?
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Yeah. We left them in 1999,
0:02:14 > 0:02:17with quite a few clashing man-made fibres going on,
0:02:17 > 0:02:21clothing and furniture, so it will be nice to see what the Ellises...
0:02:21 > 0:02:23- how they really live in modern day. - Yeah.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26- Shall we go and see? - Yeah, I'm excited.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36Oh, Polly, look, it's lovely.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38Ooh! It's plush, isn't it?
0:02:38 > 0:02:39It's really plush.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41Sumptuous.
0:02:41 > 0:02:46Over the course of the experiment, the Ellises' home saw many changes,
0:02:46 > 0:02:50beginning with the sparse furnishing of 1918...
0:02:50 > 0:02:52It's not very cosy, is it?
0:02:54 > 0:02:57..to all mod cons.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01Wow! There's a subtle pattern, if you look closely at the wallpaper.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04But whichever decade they were in,
0:03:04 > 0:03:08one room was always the hub of family life.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10It looks like somewhere you might actually want to spend some time.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15Oh, Polly, it's beautiful.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18I didn't know you could get so many shades of beige.
0:03:24 > 0:03:25In the 21st century,
0:03:25 > 0:03:29the Ellises' extended kitchen is still the heart of the home.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33- Oh.- Oh, it's nice, isn't it? Oh!
0:03:33 > 0:03:39I mean, I know and totally understand how Lesley longed for her kitchen so much,
0:03:39 > 0:03:41when she was just in here with, like, the meat safe.
0:03:41 > 0:03:42She had her meat safe.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44And something that's remained constant,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47although the kitchen has changed so dramatically, in terms of, kind of,
0:03:47 > 0:03:51space and decor and technology, is the kitchen table, you know,
0:03:51 > 0:03:53still at the heart of family life.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56- Yeah.- And there's always this kind of anxiety that, you know,
0:03:56 > 0:03:59families aren't eating together any more, and, you know,
0:03:59 > 0:04:00this is kind of the crisis of the family.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Actually, there isn't really statistical evidence to prove that.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Every evening, we eat our tea together, the kids, around the table.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09- Yeah.- It is lovely, because it feels like you can just all connect
0:04:09 > 0:04:13and chat, and I can shout at my children, and nag at them to eat properly.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16I mean, one significant change is that they've got their television
0:04:16 > 0:04:19in the kitchen. You wouldn't have seen that 30 years ago,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22and so this kind of eating with screens, whether it's, you know,
0:04:22 > 0:04:26your phone, or the television, you know, that's becoming a sort of norm,
0:04:26 > 0:04:28about two thirds of us do that routinely.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31I must admit, though, the kids aren't too bad with that,
0:04:31 > 0:04:34it's my husband I tell off, if I'm really honest, more than the kids.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38Today, Lesley has a whole plethora of gadgets,
0:04:38 > 0:04:41flavours and foods at her fingertips.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45Look at Lesley's spice rack, it's like around the world in 80 spices.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50I mean, it feels like food has shifted from being just fuel to, like, almost being a hobby.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52Yeah, I think you're absolutely right,
0:04:52 > 0:04:56because the struggle for working families has been about,
0:04:56 > 0:05:00how do we get enough food on the table to feed the family?
0:05:00 > 0:05:03How do we, you know, sustain the working body?
0:05:03 > 0:05:05We haven't got enough food to go around.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08For the rich, for the middle-class, for people with servants,
0:05:08 > 0:05:12food's always been about pleasure and leisure and entertaining,
0:05:12 > 0:05:16but it's really relatively recently that there's been enough
0:05:16 > 0:05:21surplus income that food has been inexpensive enough that working people have been
0:05:21 > 0:05:26able to also engage in food as a hobby, and as a pleasure,
0:05:26 > 0:05:28and as entertainment.
0:05:30 > 0:05:36Food's not the only way the Ellises' life today is different from the families of previous generations.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41The son of a painter and decorator, John is now a company director,
0:05:41 > 0:05:45and was the first person in his family to go to university.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47Daughter Caitlin is the second.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55- Lovely family!- Hello!- Come in, the Ellises. You look amazing!
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Wow! You look almost futuristic
0:05:57 > 0:06:01cos I've not seen you in modern day, it's so strange.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04- Is it nice to be back? - It's definitely nice to be back.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08I keep finding myself just sat here, like, looking at the kitchen or the living room,
0:06:08 > 0:06:11like, just in awe because it's normal!
0:06:11 > 0:06:12LAUGHTER
0:06:12 > 0:06:14Lesley, how do you feel about getting your kitchen back?
0:06:14 > 0:06:17I'm glad to have the kitchen back,
0:06:17 > 0:06:19- I have to say.- You're back in control, aren't you?
0:06:19 > 0:06:23Yeah, it's my space, I know what I'm doing, I know where everything is,
0:06:23 > 0:06:25I do find it's a lot easier.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29Well, I can see you all having a little glance at these cloches in front of you.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32We thought it could be nice as a bit of a surprise,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35even though you're loving being back in the present day,
0:06:35 > 0:06:39to take you on a magical culinary journey. Isn't that right, Polly?
0:06:39 > 0:06:43Are you ready? So grab a cloche each.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47- OK.- Three, two, one, voila!
0:06:47 > 0:06:49- Ooh!- Oh!- Oh!
0:06:49 > 0:06:55This is your 100 years of time travel encapsulated in five plates.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59It basically looks like the world's worst dinner party right now, doesn't it?
0:06:59 > 0:07:03If you walked into someone's house and saw this, you'd be, like, "OK, let's get a takeaway."
0:07:03 > 0:07:05So, shall we start here?
0:07:05 > 0:07:06What is this, and when is it from?
0:07:06 > 0:07:08- Do you guys remember?- Is this lard?
0:07:08 > 0:07:10I thought I saw the end of this.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16It was a really emotional day, that particular day in 1931,
0:07:16 > 0:07:19when I fed the children stale bread and lard,
0:07:19 > 0:07:21because it's literally all that we had in the house.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25Things are looking up, because here we have pilchards on toast.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30Ugh, fish in tomato sauce?!
0:07:30 > 0:07:32I really did not enjoy them.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34Ugh, disgusting.
0:07:36 > 0:07:41But what an amazing jump to go from bread and lard to pilchards to then,
0:07:41 > 0:07:46a decade later into the '60s, steak, chips and peas.
0:07:46 > 0:07:51I mean, you can see in that plate that things must be getting better
0:07:51 > 0:07:53for working families by the 1960s.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55We've got a fridge, I told you!
0:07:55 > 0:07:58Yay! We can have ice!
0:08:00 > 0:08:02Weetabix, Coco Pops, spaghetti!
0:08:03 > 0:08:06This honestly looks amazing.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08This is like some next level gourmet stuff.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10You need to open your own restaurant, woman.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13Things felt good in the '60s and '70s.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16What is it?
0:08:16 > 0:08:20We felt like things were changing for us as a working class family.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23But the good times weren't set to last.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29One of the things about being a working-class northerner was you never know
0:08:29 > 0:08:32which way their scales are going to tip.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35As the Ellises discovered...
0:08:35 > 0:08:36No!
0:08:36 > 0:08:38Oh! That's grim.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42..nothing reflects your family's fortunes more than what's in your larder.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45I can't believe how empty it is.
0:08:45 > 0:08:50We were just so dependent on what was going on economically
0:08:50 > 0:08:56and politically at the time that we had no real control over our lives,
0:08:56 > 0:08:58that's how it felt.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01There are real fluctuations for working families throughout this
0:09:01 > 0:09:05whole period of time that you've experienced, real ups and downs.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09Things are precarious, things can be difficult, and you, sort of,
0:09:09 > 0:09:10lived that, through the diet.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17It wasn't just what was affordable that affected what the Ellises ate -
0:09:17 > 0:09:21the people and places around them had an impact, too.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24It's 1921.
0:09:24 > 0:09:29We are going to be having onion and bacon roly-poly.
0:09:30 > 0:09:36Food was very simple, very plain, very beige.
0:09:36 > 0:09:41I think it clearly reflected the status that we had.
0:09:41 > 0:09:46Um... There was very little vibrancy and colour,
0:09:46 > 0:09:49and it was almost like a black and white existence,
0:09:49 > 0:09:53and I think that probably reflected our lives at the time.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55100 years ago,
0:09:55 > 0:10:00our exposure to flavour didn't reach far beyond our doorstep.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04So we've got thyme and rosemary and sage, so it will all be, kind of,
0:10:04 > 0:10:06the local ingredients.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10When you look back, I missed having foods from other places,
0:10:10 > 0:10:12I missed the spices.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16To begin with, it did get boring, and we did get hungry,
0:10:16 > 0:10:19because we didn't like it, so we didn't really eat that much of it.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22Freya, you want a bit more, don't you?
0:10:22 > 0:10:24- Do I?- Yeah.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28The food was really bland, and, like, just grim.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31It could genuinely be dog food.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38But new flavours were on the horizon.
0:10:38 > 0:10:44In the '60s, services like Dial-a-Recipe encouraged housewives to expand their repertoire.
0:10:44 > 0:10:45It's reading out a menu.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48Go on. Quick, quick, quick!
0:10:48 > 0:10:49It's already listed everything!
0:10:49 > 0:10:52- Well, what did it list? - I can't remember!
0:10:52 > 0:10:53LAUGHTER
0:10:55 > 0:10:59While the arrival of Chinese communities brought new dishes to try.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01- Enjoy your meal.- Thank you! - Thank you, we will.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05The outside world was arriving on our plates.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09Going to the Chinese restaurant, I was so, so, so excited.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11Me and Freya were giddy.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13That's really nice.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16The flavours really came through,
0:11:16 > 0:11:19especially after we were eating such plain food.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22We really noticed how flavoursome it was.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24In a way, we've still got English food, like,
0:11:24 > 0:11:25we've got the bread and butter,
0:11:25 > 0:11:30but this is definitely different to what we've been eating, prior to this.
0:11:30 > 0:11:35Factory workers arriving from the Indian subcontinent were also
0:11:35 > 0:11:38spicing up our tea times, and by the late '70s,
0:11:38 > 0:11:42going out for a curry or the Chinese had become the norm.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46I think it took a while for us northerners
0:11:46 > 0:11:50to really embrace new foods.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52- Are you feeling the heat?- Yep.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55I am.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57And the tank top as well...
0:11:58 > 0:12:03- Hiya, you all right?- Hi, I think you we'll two chip naans.
0:12:03 > 0:12:04By the '90s,
0:12:04 > 0:12:08our familiarity with new foods and flavours inspired unique forms
0:12:08 > 0:12:11of fusion cuisine to tickle our taste buds.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15I loved to see this diversity emerge.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18There's times when them foods haven't been there,
0:12:18 > 0:12:21and they're such a massive part of life today,
0:12:21 > 0:12:26because we live in such a multicultural country, I guess.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29- Thank you!- Thank you very much.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33This is really nice.
0:12:33 > 0:12:34Mm.
0:12:34 > 0:12:40After doing this experiment, after living through these eras,
0:12:40 > 0:12:44you kind of felt like the world of food was opening up.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49And our tastes are still shifting.
0:12:49 > 0:12:54Manchester's famous curry mile was once home to 70 Indian restaurants.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58Today, it's down to only eight, with Lebanese,
0:12:58 > 0:13:04Turkish and East African outlets reflecting the change in local population.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08I've sent Polly and the girls there to discover what this shift tells us
0:13:08 > 0:13:12about our increasingly adventurous appetites.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Shall we go and find some delicious food?
0:13:15 > 0:13:18- Definitely.- Yes.- You don't have to ask me twice!
0:13:21 > 0:13:24- Hello, there.- Hi!- I'm Haz, lovely to meet you.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26Shall we go find ourselves a table?
0:13:26 > 0:13:27- Yes, please.- Yes.- Thank you.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29Great place.
0:13:29 > 0:13:35Haz Arshad's family have been serving Indian and Pakistani food here since the '90s.
0:13:35 > 0:13:40Haz, why is it that there are so few Indian restaurants now on Curry Mile?
0:13:40 > 0:13:42So, I think there's a number of different factors.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44I think everything has its golden age,
0:13:44 > 0:13:48and I think the 1990s certainly was for a certain era the Curry Mile.
0:13:48 > 0:13:54It was a time when the older generation, basically, knew that curry, in its anglicised form,
0:13:54 > 0:13:57would make a great source of revenue for the families, so, you know,
0:13:57 > 0:14:01you had all these restaurants who were catering to a very Western market.
0:14:01 > 0:14:06And then I think more recently there's been a kind of...
0:14:06 > 0:14:08People have been travelling a lot more,
0:14:08 > 0:14:12there's a lot more of a focus and interest in food,
0:14:12 > 0:14:14provenance and diversity, you know,
0:14:14 > 0:14:16different cultures bringing in different ideas,
0:14:16 > 0:14:19and I think that the older generation just didn't want to innovate.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22They felt that they had a good recipe that worked,
0:14:22 > 0:14:23they didn't want to change it,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26and they didn't really think that people had much of an appetite
0:14:26 > 0:14:29for truly authentic Pakistani and Indian cuisine.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34I mean, even me and Freya find that you've got to be careful where you go for curry.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36Like, it's got to be well thought-out,
0:14:36 > 0:14:40because there's some places that do, like, really, really creamy, creamy kormas,
0:14:40 > 0:14:44like, which seem to be from, like, back in the '90s.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48So, we look for, like, good restaurants, because we're from Bradford.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50Even the students are discerning now.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52- Yeah.- So, you know...
0:14:52 > 0:14:54If we have fussy customers like this,
0:14:54 > 0:14:56that's why we have to take it a step further.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58It's my favourite food.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00Bradford's got a great selection of restaurants,
0:15:00 > 0:15:03for a similar reason, they had all of the textile mills there, as well.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06And, to be fair, it started off in Bradford before it came to Manchester.
0:15:06 > 0:15:11The popularity of flavour-packed meals like this reflect quite
0:15:11 > 0:15:15how much the towns and cities of the north have transformed over the last 100 years.
0:15:15 > 0:15:16Thank you.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18It looks so amazing.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23Mm.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25- That is just...- It's like with every bite,
0:15:25 > 0:15:27you get a different flavour coming through.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30- And texture.- Great, that's good to hear.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34I mean, for me, it was very much a case of, if you don't change,
0:15:34 > 0:15:36you won't survive in this industry,
0:15:36 > 0:15:38because there are so many restaurants now opening in Manchester,
0:15:38 > 0:15:40it's always great to do something a little bit different,
0:15:40 > 0:15:43to kind of spark a little bit of interest, you know,
0:15:43 > 0:15:45and get more people coming through the door.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49Tastes might have moved on dramatically in the 21st century,
0:15:49 > 0:15:54but there's one dish that's been a firm favourite for working families
0:15:54 > 0:15:55throughout the ages.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01And as if by magic! Hello!
0:16:01 > 0:16:03So what we got, guys?
0:16:03 > 0:16:04Do you think it's pie?
0:16:04 > 0:16:08One of the weird things for me was the evolution of the pie.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10This is really nice.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12I think it's just potato pie.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16- I think so.- We started off with a plain potato pie,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19meant to fill you up and provide you with energy.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24You wouldn't be demanding with food, you'd just eat what you're given,
0:16:24 > 0:16:28and you wouldn't really care, you'd just eat it to survive.
0:16:28 > 0:16:33In the '40s, the worker's favourite became a ration-friendly tea
0:16:33 > 0:16:37for the Ellises, made with potato pastry and a frugal filling.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39What is it?
0:16:39 > 0:16:41Cow heel pie.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44It's got cow heel in it?
0:16:44 > 0:16:50Cow heel pie, at first you're, like, you didn't want it to taste nice,
0:16:50 > 0:16:54but then it did, and it kind of give you a warm feeling.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56It tasted pretty good.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00I love pie, I love pastry, I love that gravy,
0:17:00 > 0:17:02so I like it.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06Steak and kidney pie, I'm all for that.
0:17:06 > 0:17:11Next, the pie got a space age makeover, coming ready-made in a tin.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14I think in the '60s, we saw quite a change.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18There was quite a bit of innovation in food in the '60s, we found,
0:17:18 > 0:17:21and some of it worked, some of it didn't!
0:17:21 > 0:17:22Oh, that one's burnt.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29And after a spot of Northern Soul shape-shifting in the '70s,
0:17:29 > 0:17:34I introduced the girls to my favourite way of enjoying the pie as a grab-and-go snack.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40Come on, girls. Oh, my gosh, it smells amazing!
0:17:40 > 0:17:41It's a Wigan Kebab.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44So it's a pie, only one way to improve a pie, though,
0:17:44 > 0:17:46how can you improve a pie?
0:17:46 > 0:17:47You put it in a barm cake.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50I have never seen anything like this before.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55It's just so bizarre, like, you've got all these different pies.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59I guess it's still to fill you up,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02but then it's more about taste and enjoying it.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04Bon appetit.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07Savoury, sweet, hot or cold,
0:18:07 > 0:18:11we Brits now spend around £1 billion on pies every year...
0:18:14 > 0:18:17..yet with the number of takeaway options growing,
0:18:17 > 0:18:21the northern favourite has had to fight to hold on to its popularity.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26The girls are in Blackburn, to meet mother of five Zainab Bilal,
0:18:26 > 0:18:30who is putting a fast-food twist on the traditional classic.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33- Hi!- Hello!
0:18:33 > 0:18:34Come on in, welcome!
0:18:38 > 0:18:42So, this machine is a simple blocking machine,
0:18:42 > 0:18:45and anybody who makes pies would use this,
0:18:45 > 0:18:48so, if they wanted a little bit of help to make it faster...
0:18:48 > 0:18:50I mean, traditionally, you can make them by hand,
0:18:50 > 0:18:54but this one makes it a lot easier, and it makes them all standard, they're all the same.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56So we're going to get started on making our burger pies today.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58Whoa, it's got a burger in it?
0:18:58 > 0:19:00It's going to have a burger in it!
0:19:02 > 0:19:06Having launched her cottage industry only a year ago,
0:19:06 > 0:19:10today Zainab shifts between 1,000 and 2,000 pies every week,
0:19:10 > 0:19:15selling to local punters, businesses and pie connoisseurs across the country.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20As a pie enthusiast, which I believe myself to be,
0:19:20 > 0:19:22because I love eating pie...
0:19:22 > 0:19:24That's fabulous, Caitlin!
0:19:24 > 0:19:30A burger pie is, sort of, a unique sort of flavour.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33It's a modern twist on a British classic dish.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35We have some really quirky ones.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39We even do pizza pie, and lasagne pie, and we want to get quirkier,
0:19:39 > 0:19:41because I think the people that order it,
0:19:41 > 0:19:43our customers that are ordering them,
0:19:43 > 0:19:45are going for these unusual flavours.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49Oh, these are going to be so nice.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53Well, I don't know, we did make 'em!
0:19:53 > 0:19:54By the end of the decade,
0:19:54 > 0:19:58it's predicted time-poor Brits will spend around £8 billion a year
0:19:58 > 0:20:00on takeaways.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02It makes it look so neat.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10All right, OK, so we're just going to set the timer going.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14And now all you have to do is wait.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21It's just nice to know that the pie has gone through this journey with us.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23- I know.- Like, we've had pie the whole way through,
0:20:23 > 0:20:27and I feel like pie's never going to go out of fashion any time soon, is it?
0:20:27 > 0:20:31The flavours have definitely all changed, and they've all evolved,
0:20:31 > 0:20:33but everybody still likes a good pie.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35TIMER PINGS
0:20:38 > 0:20:41Oh, wow, they look really good!
0:20:45 > 0:20:47What do you think of it?
0:20:47 > 0:20:49Oh, it tastes really good.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51And when you have a burger, it falls out of the bread,
0:20:51 > 0:20:54whereas when you've got a pie, it contains it, like.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56- Yeah!- Mm.
0:20:56 > 0:21:02Pies aren't the only tradition the Ellises have found worth holding on to during their time travels.
0:21:04 > 0:21:061931.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10One of the real things that came out of the whole experience,
0:21:10 > 0:21:15particularly in the early eras, was the sense of community.
0:21:15 > 0:21:20Forced to clear out their house and cupboards after a government means test,
0:21:20 > 0:21:23it was the family's neighbours who helped sweeten the pill.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27Heard you had a visit from Old Nosy.
0:21:27 > 0:21:32Rotten. Hope this slice of means test pudding heartens you a bit.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34That's friendship for you.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36Yeah, you'll never keep a northerner down.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46And as the Ellises discovered,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49good neighbours weren't just there for the bad times.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51In 1953,
0:21:51 > 0:21:55the Coronation saw communities across the nation pool resources
0:21:55 > 0:21:58to put on a spread fit for a Queen.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06Where shall I put them?
0:22:06 > 0:22:08Anywhere where there's space.
0:22:08 > 0:22:14That was the first time I think I associated food with fun and friends,
0:22:14 > 0:22:17and a social setting.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20Oh, it's been lovely, I've loved it.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24I think the Queen should get crowned every day!
0:22:28 > 0:22:33The day-to-day grind of working lives was often lifted by those sharing the same street,
0:22:33 > 0:22:36the same jobs, and even the same food.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44Our neighbours would have been our friends, our colleagues,
0:22:44 > 0:22:46our support network.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52They came together in the good times, and the bad.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56During the strikes of the 1980s,
0:22:56 > 0:22:59it was food parcels sent by Russian and French miners
0:22:59 > 0:23:02that helped put food on the Ellises' plates.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04- Hello, Mrs Ellis.- Hello!
0:23:04 > 0:23:07We know you're going through hard times at the moment,
0:23:07 > 0:23:09so we thought this might help you out.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11Thank you so much!
0:23:11 > 0:23:12Wow!
0:23:16 > 0:23:21It's got to a time now where the sense of community doesn't feel as strong
0:23:21 > 0:23:24in the modern day as it did so early on,
0:23:24 > 0:23:26and I guess that's something I've missed.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30These days, around half of us don't know our neighbours' names.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38But the power of the community is coming back.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41Lesley and I are off to a small bakery in Liverpool,
0:23:41 > 0:23:46which is using food to try and reinject a sense of belonging into their local neighbourhood.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52- Morning.- Oh, good morning.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54Hi, you must be Sue and Luca, I'm Sara, this is Lesley,
0:23:54 > 0:23:55we're here for our first shift.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59OK, and your first job is, apron, gloves.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01- OK.- Please.- Good.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04Chef Luca and volunteer Sue are part of today's team,
0:24:04 > 0:24:07making bread before the customers arrive.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11OK, so we are ready now to knead the dough, the bread, OK,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14so we have to do this for ten, 20 minutes.
0:24:14 > 0:24:16This is the fun bit, though, isn't it?
0:24:16 > 0:24:18Yeah, exactly, that's the proper way, you know.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22Any anger or frustrations with John or with the kids...
0:24:22 > 0:24:26So, Sue, do you remember this bakery when you were a little girl?
0:24:26 > 0:24:29- Do you remember coming here? - Yeah, I do remember coming here.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31It was a big part of the community.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35I think this is where you went every single day,
0:24:35 > 0:24:37and this is where you met your neighbours.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39This is where you talked.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42This is where you made a community, basically.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47But, sadly, six years ago, it closed.
0:24:49 > 0:24:55For the residents, the heart of their community was gone, and for a year, the bakery's ovens were cold.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59So, we're stood here today, while I make hard work of this bread,
0:24:59 > 0:25:01so this bakery obviously reopened.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03How did that happen, what happened?
0:25:03 > 0:25:07Well, it started off as an arts project, so we had lots of meetings here,
0:25:07 > 0:25:11and while we were having the meetings, people would come in and say,
0:25:11 > 0:25:13"Are you opening this as a bakery again?"
0:25:13 > 0:25:18- Really?- And we said, "No, no, we're not, we're not," and then, eventually, we thought, "Why not?"
0:25:18 > 0:25:21So, this is a community bakery, it's not-for-profit.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24And also gives a bit of power back to the people, to the local people.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27Very much so.
0:25:27 > 0:25:32Since reopening in October 2013, the bakery has expanded into a cafe,
0:25:32 > 0:25:36a pie shop, and a training hub for the locals.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39So, what are the plans, what happens next?
0:25:39 > 0:25:44We want to be an integral part of what is happening in this high street.
0:25:44 > 0:25:50So, the council have got the plans of what they want to do to build businesses back into the area,
0:25:50 > 0:25:53and we believe that we have set a precedent, really.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55I can see it's starting to come up.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58There's hope, optimism, and I thought, "I want to be part of that.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01"I want to be there when it becomes a community again."
0:26:01 > 0:26:05It seems the community spirit the Ellis family enjoyed in the past is
0:26:05 > 0:26:09still alive and kicking, and just as desirable today.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11Oh, it's gorgeous.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13I like the hot butter.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18At the heart of the bakery is a staple that the Ellises became only
0:26:18 > 0:26:21too familiar with over their 100 years of time travel.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27They're going to be eating bread all the time.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29I've got some bread.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31I'll check if there's any jam.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33- I doubt it.- There's no jam.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37No jam. I've no jam, I'm guessing, from that reaction, Harvey.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41This is a bad, bad day.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44I think what made up our diet was bread.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47I feel like I'm going to break a tooth eating this bread.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49Every era we had bread.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51You can smell it burning, Leslie.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53Johnny! It is not burning.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59It's just bread and bread and bread.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02You start off with it just because it's a really easy thing to consume
0:27:02 > 0:27:04and a really easy thing to keep.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08But then you get to the '70s, even '80s and '90s,
0:27:08 > 0:27:11where you're just having bread on the side,
0:27:11 > 0:27:14just cos you feel like having bread and butter with your tea.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18It were weird to see that bread has gone from being a meal
0:27:18 > 0:27:21to bread being a side of a meal.
0:27:24 > 0:27:29While bread wasn't always popular on the Ellises' tea table,
0:27:29 > 0:27:33another staple of working class diets
0:27:33 > 0:27:36never failed to hit the sweet spot.
0:27:36 > 0:27:37# Sugar
0:27:38 > 0:27:41# Oh, honey honey... #
0:27:41 > 0:27:47And there was no-one more receptive to its charms than the younger members of the family.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52Whether you earnt your pennies down t'mill or you were starting to get
0:27:52 > 0:27:58a bit of pocket money, kids like Harvey would really try to tantalise and tickle their taste buds.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01Look what we've got, kids!
0:28:01 > 0:28:04Hey, guys, look what we've got.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06When the Ellises started the experiment
0:28:06 > 0:28:10treats like candyfloss were very much for special occasions.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12In our normal lives,
0:28:12 > 0:28:18my mum's a very big health freak and we don't tend to have sugary stuff in the house.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20I'm not going to lie, I did enjoy it,
0:28:20 > 0:28:22cos we don't get it in modern day.
0:28:22 > 0:28:28Higher wages and mass-produced sweets meant much more choice for kids like Harvey in the 1960s.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31- Harvey!- Yeah, I know.
0:28:31 > 0:28:38Words can't describe how happy I were when them sweets came in the little box. I went crazy.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40Even before I ate the sugar.
0:28:40 > 0:28:45And by the '70s, manufacturers were cottoning on to kids as influential customers...
0:28:45 > 0:28:48Please can I have dandelion and burdock?
0:28:48 > 0:28:53- Yup.- ..delivering Harvey's sugar hit right to his doorstep.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57Kids in the '70s, they had a powerful voice.
0:28:57 > 0:28:59- Bye, now.- See you.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03By the '80s, food producers were developing the weird and the wonderful,
0:29:03 > 0:29:06to keep attracting kids to their brands.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08Look! It's rock solid!
0:29:08 > 0:29:12I do not want to know what's in this to make it do that.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15Me doing chores in modern day,
0:29:15 > 0:29:19I get a bit of money at the end of the month and I feel like kids still
0:29:19 > 0:29:21have power over sweets.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23Over the last 40 years,
0:29:23 > 0:29:28pocket money has outpaced wage growth in the UK by 255%,
0:29:28 > 0:29:31making children a very lucrative market.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38I've come to show Harvey the lengths modern manufacturers will go to
0:29:38 > 0:29:40to convince them to part with their cash.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42But will he be won over?
0:29:43 > 0:29:45- Ah, hey, Mr Harvey.- Hello!
0:29:45 > 0:29:46- How are you?- I'm all good.
0:29:46 > 0:29:48- You?- Yeah, are you good?- Yeah.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50Thought you might want to play a game.
0:29:50 > 0:29:51It involves eating, which is good.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53- Are you ready?- Yeah.- OK.
0:29:55 > 0:29:57Ta-da!
0:29:57 > 0:29:58So, you spin,
0:29:58 > 0:30:01and whichever one you land on, you've got to get that colour of bean,
0:30:01 > 0:30:03yeah, the little jellybean?
0:30:03 > 0:30:06And it could taste of buttered popcorn...
0:30:06 > 0:30:09or rotten egg.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12I remember, when I was little, like, you must have had popping candy?
0:30:12 > 0:30:14- Yeah.- That's a similarish thing, isn't it?
0:30:14 > 0:30:18- I guess.- Yeah.- Trying to make something a bit of an experience as well as just the flavour.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20- Yeah.- And, like, gobstoppers...
0:30:20 > 0:30:23- Yeah.- There used to be ones called Little Devils, I think,
0:30:23 > 0:30:25which were red ones, and they were really spicy.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29- See if you...- Yeah, we have them now. We have them, called jawbreakers.
0:30:29 > 0:30:31- This will be good.- OK, so I'm going to spin.
0:30:37 > 0:30:39Oh, my worst!
0:30:40 > 0:30:42- Bogies?- Or juicy pear.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46No spitting out, no spitting out.
0:30:50 > 0:30:52Oh... Oh, bogey...
0:30:52 > 0:30:54No, don't spit it out, don't spit it out.
0:30:54 > 0:30:55You have to keep it in.
0:30:58 > 0:31:02There are now almost 400 sweet manufacturers in Britain.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05Go on, chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, chew.
0:31:05 > 0:31:07Keep going.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10They can't just rely on the old favourites to grab their share
0:31:10 > 0:31:13of a lucrative £6 billion market.
0:31:13 > 0:31:15Oh, it stinks!
0:31:15 > 0:31:17Oh, my gosh, it...
0:31:17 > 0:31:20It really... I really like you, Harvey, but you stink right now.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26People who are making the sweets, the manufacturers, they know...
0:31:26 > 0:31:28- They...- They're after your pocket money.
0:31:28 > 0:31:34They have to... And then they keep bringing out new sweets and new inventions like this.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37They're trying to find new ways to make kids excited about sweets.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41Because, when you think back to simple, like, some fruit gums or whatever,
0:31:41 > 0:31:43or wine gums, and then to this...
0:31:43 > 0:31:48- I mean, this is, this is Charlie And The Chocolate Factory sort of stuff, this, isn't it?- It is.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50This is candy-tainment.
0:31:50 > 0:31:52Have you been candy-tained?
0:31:52 > 0:31:53No.
0:31:55 > 0:31:59Attracting kids' attention wasn't always so complicated.
0:32:00 > 0:32:03Harvey Ellis, promising young lad.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05Put a pig's bladder in front of him.
0:32:05 > 0:32:07Is he going to score? Oh, no, he didn't!
0:32:07 > 0:32:11- I saved it!- No! There's only one Sara Cox!
0:32:11 > 0:32:14And while a pig's bladder football might come for free,
0:32:14 > 0:32:18with a few spare pennies, girls like Caitlin and Freya could enjoy an
0:32:18 > 0:32:20escape from their working lives.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23- Here, look at that.- Rolos!
0:32:23 > 0:32:26We haven't seen any, like, chocolate up until now, have we?
0:32:26 > 0:32:30Yeah. Aero! Can I have two Rolos, please?
0:32:30 > 0:32:31Yes, Miss.
0:32:31 > 0:32:38- Thank you.- There was loads of things opening up, like cinemas and cafes,
0:32:38 > 0:32:42and I think that influenced, like, the change of food as well,
0:32:42 > 0:32:47because people were more prosperous and could afford to go out and do things.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52As families became more affluent,
0:32:52 > 0:32:56they found new and exciting ways to entertain themselves.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01Welcome to Mr Bradford 1968.
0:33:07 > 0:33:12I think we've all made memories that will last a lifetime doing this experiment.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14Dad's getting scared.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20We've had some cracking times.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24From caravans to canal boats,
0:33:24 > 0:33:27the options for days out and holidays got ever wider.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31- KLAXON - Oh, my God!
0:33:31 > 0:33:33Everybody knows we're coming now.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36- Pressing that horn. - That was so scary!
0:33:36 > 0:33:38I nearly jumped in there!
0:33:40 > 0:33:41Whatever the decade,
0:33:41 > 0:33:47the chance to kick back provided a much-needed antidote to the grind of working life.
0:33:50 > 0:33:52# We're the kids in America
0:33:52 > 0:33:53# Whoa oh!
0:33:53 > 0:33:55# We're the kids in America
0:33:55 > 0:33:57# Whoa oh! #
0:33:57 > 0:34:00Dining out together for the first time in the '80s,
0:34:00 > 0:34:03the Ellises were reminded of just how far they'd come.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07We've got the traditional 83 combo. Shall we put that one in front of you to start off with?
0:34:08 > 0:34:09How are the ribs, Harvey?
0:34:10 > 0:34:14I think it's been good. As a family, we've had a really good afternoon,
0:34:14 > 0:34:17- haven't we?- It's the first thing we've done together without arguing.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19That's an achievement in itself.
0:34:20 > 0:34:25It was a far cry from their experience at the start of the experiment,
0:34:25 > 0:34:27when life was dominated by work.
0:34:32 > 0:34:34At the beginning of the 20th century,
0:34:34 > 0:34:38the north of England was at the centre of industrial Britain.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42Whole regions were characterised by single industries.
0:34:43 > 0:34:49There was steel in Sheffield, shipbuilding in Liverpool,
0:34:49 > 0:34:54while many people in Yorkshire earnt the crust at the local mill.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57The more that I do, the more that I get paid,
0:34:57 > 0:34:59so I'm just going to keep going.
0:35:00 > 0:35:01I'm getting better at this.
0:35:03 > 0:35:04I'm cottoning on.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08With the school leaving age as young as 13,
0:35:08 > 0:35:14Caitlin and Freya would have had to work alongside their parents in the 1920s and '30s.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18I think it would be a very hard life. I don't know how they did it.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22What this experiment has done for the children is allowed them to see
0:35:22 > 0:35:24how lucky they are now.
0:35:24 > 0:35:30If they'd been born in 1918, they would have had no options.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33They would have just followed us into the mill.
0:35:34 > 0:35:36This is so hard!
0:35:40 > 0:35:43To me, I'm still like a child and I'm still in my childhood,
0:35:43 > 0:35:47whereas then I wasn't. I was working.
0:35:48 > 0:35:54I think a girl in 1919 didn't really get to have a lot of prospects,
0:35:54 > 0:35:56cos they had hardly any career options.
0:35:56 > 0:36:01Pretty much this or being, like, a housewife.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03So, there weren't really any room for, like,
0:36:03 > 0:36:05promotion or to go up anywhere.
0:36:05 > 0:36:07You're sort of just stuck.
0:36:07 > 0:36:14And it's really hard cos I think so many girls and women at that time probably felt trapped.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24Even with the whole family earning a wage,
0:36:24 > 0:36:28it was usually the men who felt the burden of bringing home the bacon.
0:36:29 > 0:36:34I felt throughout every year really that, being the main breadwinner,
0:36:34 > 0:36:36all the responsibility was on me.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40And you never knew what was going to happen the next day, really.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45You've got to hand it... How do you do this all day long?
0:36:46 > 0:36:49It's really tough going but it does get easier.
0:36:49 > 0:36:50Once you've done about ten years.
0:36:50 > 0:36:52As the decades moved on,
0:36:52 > 0:36:57changes in the work available saw the balance between men and women shift.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02While heavy industries like coal,
0:37:02 > 0:37:06steel and manufacturing faltered in the face of global competition...
0:37:08 > 0:37:12..a growing public sector brought new opportunities for women like Lesley.
0:37:14 > 0:37:19I feel like the '70s, it holds more promise for women like me.
0:37:20 > 0:37:24I think I would have been really happy to have been a dinner lady.
0:37:27 > 0:37:29And for teenage girls,
0:37:29 > 0:37:33a typing course offered options beyond the gates of the mill or factory.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40There must be an easier way to go down the page without doing this.
0:37:40 > 0:37:43For me, as a woman, I've seen change.
0:37:43 > 0:37:47I just thought I'd be doing the same thing all the way through and I haven't.
0:37:47 > 0:37:53And you just see this build and build of opportunities and more things available to you.
0:37:54 > 0:37:58The North isn't just an industrial place,
0:37:58 > 0:38:00there's a lot more to it than that.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02Ooh!
0:38:02 > 0:38:05But while opportunities for women were opening up,
0:38:05 > 0:38:09one of the biggest male employers in the area was under threat.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12The miners' strike is two weeks old tonight,
0:38:12 > 0:38:15and only 37 pits were open today.
0:38:19 > 0:38:24In 1984 the longest strike in the nation's history
0:38:24 > 0:38:28saw 137,000 miners on the picket line.
0:38:33 > 0:38:38Industrial action by men like John directly affected life at home.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43You may have noticed your car, sofa,
0:38:43 > 0:38:46freezer and washing machine have disappeared.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49No! Oh!
0:38:49 > 0:38:51Why don't you just get a job somewhere else?
0:38:51 > 0:38:54It's not as easy as that, is it?
0:38:54 > 0:38:56This stand has cost us a sofa!
0:38:58 > 0:39:02Whilst the heavy industries rooted in the North struggled,
0:39:02 > 0:39:04the service sector boomed.
0:39:04 > 0:39:06There you go, Freya.
0:39:06 > 0:39:11The jobs the Ellises were doing began to lose their regional identity.
0:39:12 > 0:39:14Come and get your spuds!
0:39:14 > 0:39:15Best in the North! Come on!
0:39:15 > 0:39:17Spuds! Spuds!
0:39:17 > 0:39:18By the '90s,
0:39:18 > 0:39:24men and women alike were making a living in very different ways to their grandparents.
0:39:24 > 0:39:25Now, reflecting back,
0:39:25 > 0:39:29I think the northerners have always had to constantly adapt,
0:39:29 > 0:39:32and I think that is the same today.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35Get your spuds! Best in the North! Come on!
0:39:37 > 0:39:41But there are still some places in the North where the region's
0:39:41 > 0:39:44traditional industries have weathered the storm.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52I've sent John and Harvey to see how Hainsworth's woollen mill near Leeds
0:39:52 > 0:39:56has survived in an era of global competition.
0:39:57 > 0:39:59- Hiya, it's John.- Hi, Rob, nice to meet you.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02- Thank you. And Harvey.- Harvey, hi, nice to meet you.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05- Do you want to come and I'll show you the machines?- OK.
0:40:05 > 0:40:10Over 200 years old, the mill now specialises in high-end textiles,
0:40:10 > 0:40:14even making the material worn by the guards at Buckingham Palace.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19What's kept us going as much as anything else is we're not the biggest
0:40:19 > 0:40:22bulk manufacturer and we don't want to compete on the low-margin,
0:40:22 > 0:40:26low-end stuff where you're churning out tens of thousands of metres.
0:40:26 > 0:40:28What we specialise in is much more technical.
0:40:30 > 0:40:35And whilst mills like Hainsworth's may no longer dominate this region as they once did...
0:40:37 > 0:40:43..upstairs, there's a local business taking their rich heritage one step further.
0:40:43 > 0:40:45- Hello.- Hi.- Hiya. Rhian.
0:40:45 > 0:40:47Nice to meet you.
0:40:47 > 0:40:48- John. Hello. Hi, Harvey.- Hi.
0:40:49 > 0:40:54Since 2013, Rhian Kempadoo Millar has been redefining the traditional
0:40:54 > 0:40:58Yorkshire flat cap, bringing it bang up-to-date.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01This is a design that you can plug into your iPhone.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04You look like Little Bo Peep, like a cool Little Bo Peep.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12What, jamming down the street to your...
0:41:13 > 0:41:15At the start of the 20th century,
0:41:15 > 0:41:19hat making in the North was big business.
0:41:19 > 0:41:25Towns like Denton near Manchester were producing over 100,000 hats a week in the 1930s,
0:41:25 > 0:41:29and no self-respecting northern man would leave home without one.
0:41:30 > 0:41:35But once manufacturers started to be able to make them for less overseas,
0:41:35 > 0:41:38northern hat making all but disappeared.
0:41:38 > 0:41:42Today, Rhian's modern designs are tapping into this legacy,
0:41:42 > 0:41:44to reach a new global audience.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47I think they've got a bit of a bad rap in Yorkshire,
0:41:47 > 0:41:49so, people in Yorkshire don't wear them cos they don't want to be
0:41:49 > 0:41:52- stereotyped, you know, flat cap and whippet...- Yeah.- ..as much.
0:41:52 > 0:41:57But you go to London or New York or LA or, you know, China, Japan,
0:41:57 > 0:41:58loads of people wear them.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01They wear them more like a baseball cap. I wore a lot of flat caps.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05I used to wear a lot of my dad's hats, and when I started checking all the labels of, like,
0:42:05 > 0:42:08my hats and my friends' hats, everything was made in China.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11But Yorkshire used to be the home of flat cap making.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15- Yeah.- And then a lot of them shut down, sort of, ten, 20 years ago.
0:42:15 > 0:42:19It mustn't be cost-effective to make them in Yorkshire versus China,
0:42:19 > 0:42:22so, how come we are still making...?
0:42:22 > 0:42:26Cos, I think, again, like I am saying about tradition and heritage coming back round again,
0:42:26 > 0:42:28I think it's the same with provenance.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31People want to know where things are made, and the quickest way,
0:42:31 > 0:42:34the easiest way for me to know how something's made is to drive 15 minutes
0:42:34 > 0:42:36to the manufacturer and go and have a cup of tea...
0:42:36 > 0:42:39- Yeah.- ..and see it being made, you know?
0:42:39 > 0:42:41And you can't do that if it's on the other side of the world.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43Is it quite helpful, you being based here?
0:42:43 > 0:42:45Yeah, it's been invaluable, I would say.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48Just being in a mill, you know, of this calibre,
0:42:48 > 0:42:51you get access to things like their...
0:42:51 > 0:42:54what you would call offcuts or something, you know.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58A piece like this which might be a colour sample that they did that they don't use.
0:42:58 > 0:43:02But for me that's potentially 24 peaks underneath,
0:43:02 > 0:43:03and so that's a whole range.
0:43:03 > 0:43:04So, for them it's a product,
0:43:04 > 0:43:08and they can say it's Hainsworth's fabrics and it's quite contemporary.
0:43:08 > 0:43:10So, I think it's been a great partnership.
0:43:10 > 0:43:12So, do we put a label on this saying "Made in Yorkshire", then?
0:43:12 > 0:43:15- It does say "Made in Yorkshire". Look.- Does it?- It says it there.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18Brilliant. So, which one are you choosing, Harvey?
0:43:18 > 0:43:20- I choose this one.- The blue.
0:43:20 > 0:43:21- Yeah.- Go for the blue.
0:43:21 > 0:43:23- Huddersfield Town.- Yeah.
0:43:23 > 0:43:25I'm going to go for this one, I think.
0:43:25 > 0:43:30The heritage of the North has left a reputation that businesses like Rhian's can exploit.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33- Very nice.- Good, that, isn't it?
0:43:37 > 0:43:39At the start of the experiment,
0:43:39 > 0:43:44food as much as fashion was often defined by where you lived.
0:43:44 > 0:43:48- What's that?- Yorkshire pudding.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51Looks like a pancake to me.
0:43:51 > 0:43:57I feel that in the early eras there was definitely more regionality to our diets.
0:43:57 > 0:44:01We're from Yorkshire, but we were eating food we'd never heard of.
0:44:01 > 0:44:05This is Whitby polony.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10What's that? Never seen anything like this before.
0:44:10 > 0:44:12I don't like the look of it.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16Pan haggerty for tea.
0:44:17 > 0:44:21It's good to be home, and to have a hot meal like this.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23It's delicious.
0:44:23 > 0:44:24That was really interesting -
0:44:24 > 0:44:28picking out these regional dishes that were alien to us.
0:44:28 > 0:44:32I think the food and the way that I've lived through all this experience
0:44:32 > 0:44:35has brought me closer to where my roots are.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38Doorstep sandwich, that's exactly we want.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40- Oh, God, dripping. - Better than dripping.
0:44:40 > 0:44:42Well, I'm going to break it in half, then.
0:44:42 > 0:44:43Aye, break it in half, right.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46Seeing as you're gaffer, you can have t'big bit.
0:44:46 > 0:44:48You're a star.
0:44:48 > 0:44:49By the later decades,
0:44:49 > 0:44:54the Ellises saw convenience food take over from the more regional tea-time classics.
0:44:54 > 0:44:55Right, OK.
0:44:55 > 0:44:58So, since you're such an expert, then, I'll leave you to do this bit.
0:44:58 > 0:45:02I think the convenience food helped Mum quite a lot,
0:45:02 > 0:45:06because she had to do a lot less work and it was a lot less hours in the kitchen.
0:45:06 > 0:45:10The convenience food revolution is well and truly in swing.
0:45:10 > 0:45:16I think she liked it because of that, but she didn't like the food itself.
0:45:16 > 0:45:17In the '90s,
0:45:17 > 0:45:23big national supermarkets were selling the same quick and easy tea-time meals.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26That's the chips done.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28I do think as the eras went on
0:45:28 > 0:45:31and I guess the whole country was eating the generic foods
0:45:31 > 0:45:36that came in the tins and the packs and the freezer,
0:45:36 > 0:45:39I felt a little bit sad about that.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42We lost some of that regionality, definitely.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47But there was one regional dish the Ellises were very glad to see the back of.
0:45:47 > 0:45:49Ta-da!
0:45:49 > 0:45:51What is that?
0:45:51 > 0:45:54- That is...- Fish pie?
0:45:54 > 0:45:56Kind of. Without the fish.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58- But with tripe?- Yeah.
0:46:00 > 0:46:02Oh, the tripe!
0:46:02 > 0:46:04This used to be a weekly dish?
0:46:05 > 0:46:09Whoever decided to eat the lining of a cow's stomach...
0:46:13 > 0:46:15Is it that bad?
0:46:15 > 0:46:17If Mum doesn't like it, you know it's bad.
0:46:19 > 0:46:22I'm going to have nightmares about this tripe.
0:46:22 > 0:46:26The smell was off-putting enough, even without the taste.
0:46:26 > 0:46:28I'm going to be sick.
0:46:28 > 0:46:30You all right?
0:46:30 > 0:46:32This is bad.
0:46:32 > 0:46:34Tripe was awful.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37The texture of it, the taste of it.
0:46:37 > 0:46:38Who would want to eat that?
0:46:38 > 0:46:41- Some more?- I'm still chewing!
0:46:43 > 0:46:46Let's be realistic, there's no way to make tripe taste good.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48Like, at all.
0:46:49 > 0:46:51For better or worse,
0:46:51 > 0:46:55the Ellis family threw themselves wholeheartedly into 100 years of
0:46:55 > 0:46:57northern working-class food.
0:46:58 > 0:47:02So, to help create a final celebratory meal for them,
0:47:02 > 0:47:06I've come to Hebden Bridge to meet Chef Rob Owen Brown.
0:47:06 > 0:47:08Originally from Manchester,
0:47:08 > 0:47:13Rob's built his reputation on reinventing regional northern classics for the 21st century.
0:47:13 > 0:47:17First thing on the menu today - yup, you guessed it...
0:47:17 > 0:47:18Don't know if I should shake your hand...
0:47:18 > 0:47:20- No, don't, I'm all tripey. - That is tripe, then?
0:47:20 > 0:47:23That is tripe. That's honeycomb tripe, that, Sara.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26Do you use a lot of tripe in your cooking normally, at your restaurant?
0:47:26 > 0:47:29Yeah, I think we... You know, it's one of those northern classics, isn't it?
0:47:29 > 0:47:32And it's about bringing it back and showing people different ways of eating it.
0:47:32 > 0:47:37Rob, the family tried tripe in 1919 and they hated it.
0:47:37 > 0:47:39We're not going to tell them it's tripe, are we?
0:47:39 > 0:47:40No, we're going to call it Yorkshire coral.
0:47:40 > 0:47:43Oh, OK. So, yeah, it does look corally, doesn't it?
0:47:43 > 0:47:44I've done a little menu. So...
0:47:44 > 0:47:46- Yeah.- I love the menu.
0:47:46 > 0:47:48OK, so we've got... So, Yorkshire coral...
0:47:48 > 0:47:51- Yeah.- Is there much flowing oceans and coral and...?
0:47:51 > 0:47:53No, but there's a stream out there - we could pretend.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55- That'll do.- Classic mutton with capers.
0:47:55 > 0:47:58- Mm.- And a not-so-classic Vimto trifle.
0:47:58 > 0:48:01Tripe, as the Ellises discovered,
0:48:01 > 0:48:05used to be a cheap everyday ingredient for working families across the North.
0:48:05 > 0:48:12Nowadays, the rising price of meat means affordable ingredients like this are ripe for revival.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15Today, Rob's deep-frying the tripe in breadcrumbs,
0:48:15 > 0:48:17to see if we can smuggle it past the Ellis family.
0:48:19 > 0:48:20Shall I make you taste this?
0:48:20 > 0:48:22- Yeah, I want a bit.- Do you?
0:48:22 > 0:48:23Yeah, I want to have a go at this.
0:48:25 > 0:48:28I think it's psychological, isn't it, with offal and things?
0:48:28 > 0:48:30- It's all part of the animal, isn't it?- It's all meat.- Yeah.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33You know? I think it's down to tastes, I think it's down to textures.
0:48:33 > 0:48:38I think if we were talking to your grandparents they wouldn't have a problem eating it.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41It's only because people became a little bit more affluent...
0:48:41 > 0:48:44- Yeah.- You know, and started being able to have a chicken every single day...- Yeah.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47..that they sort of turned their back on those things.
0:48:47 > 0:48:49That actually looks gorgeous.
0:48:49 > 0:48:51You're right, aren't you? Deep fry something...
0:48:51 > 0:48:54If you put some breadcrumbs on something, you know,
0:48:54 > 0:48:57it's not the most chef-y thing in the world,
0:48:57 > 0:49:00and it's not the most amazingly technical things in the world...
0:49:00 > 0:49:02Now, you didn't cook that for long, did you?
0:49:02 > 0:49:04What's that? About a minute?
0:49:07 > 0:49:09Little bit of pepper.
0:49:09 > 0:49:11I don't feel as gung ho as I did 30 seconds ago.
0:49:11 > 0:49:13- Has your bottle gone? - No, I'm going to have a go.
0:49:21 > 0:49:22Ooh...
0:49:22 > 0:49:24- Oh, it's gorgeous.- It's good, that.
0:49:24 > 0:49:28Second course is another of the restaurant's specialities,
0:49:28 > 0:49:32using a meat the family sampled in the early part of their time travelling.
0:49:32 > 0:49:34- Right, Rob, so...- Mutton, next. - Mutton.
0:49:34 > 0:49:37All we're going to do is we're going to take the meat off the bone and
0:49:37 > 0:49:40we're going to dice it into decent sized chunks - none of those mean,
0:49:40 > 0:49:44little, horrible chunks, you know? We're making something quite robust.
0:49:44 > 0:49:46OK, so you're going to make it into a stew?
0:49:46 > 0:49:48It's a posh stew.
0:49:48 > 0:49:49That's what we're doing.
0:49:51 > 0:49:52While the mutton cooks,
0:49:52 > 0:49:58we're moving on to a pud whose magic ingredient is from Rob's hometown of Manchester.
0:50:00 > 0:50:02- Oh...- Yeah, it's great, isn't it?
0:50:02 > 0:50:04Oh, it smells amazing.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07Yeah. A little trip down memory lane for you.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10I think sense of smell is the most evocative sense, isn't it?
0:50:10 > 0:50:13For just bringing back memories, just that rush of memories,
0:50:13 > 0:50:16whether it's a bit of perfume or your favourite dish?
0:50:16 > 0:50:18Although it does look like it's a fine wine!
0:50:18 > 0:50:21- Yeah.- Oh, it doesn't swirl very well.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23I'm getting essence of Manchester...
0:50:25 > 0:50:28- Might be a bit of canal.- A faint whiff of Salford docks?
0:50:28 > 0:50:30I'm sitting by a gas fire, wrapped in a blanket...
0:50:30 > 0:50:32- Yeah?- Yeah.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34My socks are soggy... It's Vimto.
0:50:34 > 0:50:35It's delicious.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39Custard. Do I have to, like, do it really neat?
0:50:39 > 0:50:42I'd prefer it if you did it really neat, but it's entirely up to you.
0:50:42 > 0:50:43Or you could just pour it in.
0:50:43 > 0:50:47It's all right, don't worry - we'll clean it up.
0:50:47 > 0:50:49That's about right, isn't it?
0:50:50 > 0:50:52Yeah, they're level-ish.
0:50:52 > 0:50:54I'm just saying that one's mine, though.
0:51:00 > 0:51:04An hour with a fire... Glass of wine...
0:51:07 > 0:51:13I'm joining Polly and the family to celebrate the end of their century of northern tea-times.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17Before we have some lovely food, I mean,
0:51:17 > 0:51:20memories of your favourite food over the decades...
0:51:20 > 0:51:22My favourite food were the Scotch beans.
0:51:22 > 0:51:23- They were good.- Oh!
0:51:23 > 0:51:25Mine was the tripe. Oh, sorry, no!
0:51:25 > 0:51:27LAUGHTER
0:51:27 > 0:51:30Oh, starters are here. Right, this is delicious.
0:51:30 > 0:51:32This is Yorkshire coral.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38And it is fried in breadcrumbs.
0:51:42 > 0:51:44It smells delicious, doesn't it?
0:51:44 > 0:51:45It does, actually.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57- Is it tripe?- It is tripe.
0:51:57 > 0:51:59- Is it actually?- Look.
0:51:59 > 0:52:01- Is it?- It's really tender, isn't it?
0:52:01 > 0:52:03It's really tender.
0:52:03 > 0:52:04If it's tripe, it tastes different.
0:52:04 > 0:52:10So, Yorkshire coral, it's sometimes called Yorkshire calamari, which is...
0:52:10 > 0:52:13tripe. What do you think, Leslie?
0:52:13 > 0:52:16- I think it's all right.- I think, now I know that it's tripe,
0:52:16 > 0:52:18that tripe taste is really...
0:52:18 > 0:52:21Do you know, before you said it I thought it was like some calamari or
0:52:21 > 0:52:24something, or, like, chicken goujons.
0:52:24 > 0:52:26It's much more appealing this way,
0:52:26 > 0:52:28and you're more likely to eat it than...
0:52:28 > 0:52:31Well, much more likely to eat it than when we had it.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34If this had have been your very first experience of tripe,
0:52:34 > 0:52:36do you think you'd have really liked it?
0:52:36 > 0:52:39I really believe that I would have liked it.
0:52:39 > 0:52:44What I find amazing is tastes have changed so much that we just think of offal as something
0:52:44 > 0:52:48that we don't eat, but actually we've been eating it for generations, it was a big part of
0:52:48 > 0:52:52the diet - it was so important to sustaining people.
0:52:52 > 0:52:55But I wonder, like, can our tastes be, sort of,
0:52:55 > 0:52:58re-educated about eating this?
0:52:58 > 0:53:01Looking at you, I'm not feeling confident.
0:53:01 > 0:53:02LAUGHTER
0:53:05 > 0:53:07Next up is the mutton stew.
0:53:07 > 0:53:09Oh, here you go.
0:53:09 > 0:53:15Far removed in time and texture from the mutton chops the Ellises sampled in the '60s.
0:53:15 > 0:53:17How do you cut this?
0:53:17 > 0:53:18I'm going to break this plate.
0:53:20 > 0:53:24It's like eating octopus.
0:53:26 > 0:53:29Oh, look, it just falls apart as you start to cut it.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32- This is nice. Very nice. - That is delicious.
0:53:32 > 0:53:34Just falls apart, doesn't it?
0:53:34 > 0:53:36That is absolutely delicious.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39It's so nice to be eating something that generations have been eating.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43Has this whole experience made you think differently about how the
0:53:43 > 0:53:46food we eat connects to the lives that we live?
0:53:46 > 0:53:50Does it make you think about the people who've eaten this sort of food?
0:53:50 > 0:53:52I loved that. Somebody could have been sat here,
0:53:52 > 0:53:55eating this same food 100 years ago, from food that came not far away.
0:53:55 > 0:53:56Yeah. Probably, like,
0:53:56 > 0:54:00the ancestor of that sheep was up on that hill 100 years ago...
0:54:00 > 0:54:03The great, great, great, great, great grandfather.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06- Yeah.- No, the grandmaaaaa! Sorry.
0:54:10 > 0:54:14Finally, adding some vim to the occasion, Rob's pud,
0:54:14 > 0:54:18using a traditional ingredient the Ellises are all too familiar with.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23It wouldn't be my pop of choice.
0:54:24 > 0:54:27You like it then, Freya? Five sips later.
0:54:28 > 0:54:30Yeah.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34There's nothing like a good trifle.
0:54:34 > 0:54:36- Oh, it's gorgeous. - Well, a Vimto trifle.
0:54:38 > 0:54:41Today's meal is a fitting celebration,
0:54:41 > 0:54:47not only of the Ellises' monumental journey, but also of the North's unique heritage.
0:54:49 > 0:54:53Has it made you feel proud about being northern, Freya?
0:54:53 > 0:54:58I think it has, because before I didn't really take it into consideration that I was northern.
0:54:58 > 0:55:03I think, when you're northern and you're in the North it's hard to be that aware that you're northern.
0:55:03 > 0:55:05As soon as you leave the North...
0:55:05 > 0:55:07you're fully northern.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10I've definitely felt like a foreigner for this whole experiment.
0:55:10 > 0:55:12- It's been very...- Oh, Polly!
0:55:12 > 0:55:13Have we not made you feel welcome?
0:55:13 > 0:55:17- Very welcome, but I'm not from the North.- Honorary northerner!
0:55:17 > 0:55:18I'm not from the North.
0:55:18 > 0:55:20- We've adopted you now. - Yeah, we've adopted you now.
0:55:20 > 0:55:24- You're now a northerner.- So, now this whole experience is coming to an end,
0:55:24 > 0:55:27and me and Polly are going to leave you in peace,
0:55:27 > 0:55:29what have you enjoyed the most, do you think?
0:55:29 > 0:55:32I think one of the things that I've really liked about it all is the
0:55:32 > 0:55:34industry that we've been involved in - in the mines...
0:55:34 > 0:55:37It jerks a bit. Just beware. It jerks a bit at the start.
0:55:37 > 0:55:38Making me feel nervous now!
0:55:38 > 0:55:40- Yeah, that's it.- In the mills...
0:55:40 > 0:55:43It's pretty tough. It's hot.
0:55:43 > 0:55:46And it was obviously prominent in the North,
0:55:46 > 0:55:48so, the history side of it has been really interesting,
0:55:48 > 0:55:51- all the way through. - It's a story we don't often hear.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55I think that's the thing - we do, we hear about history,
0:55:55 > 0:55:58we read about history and we watch history on TV,
0:55:58 > 0:56:02but we don't often hear OUR history, our northern heritage,
0:56:02 > 0:56:04and that's been really interesting.
0:56:04 > 0:56:08I think we should raise a toast to the Ellis family, shouldn't we, Polly?
0:56:08 > 0:56:12- Yeah.- For being such amazing sports and throwing yourself into this
0:56:12 > 0:56:15experience. And so I think we should do a toast to...
0:56:15 > 0:56:18What shall we toast to, to the last 100 years, to the last century?
0:56:18 > 0:56:21- Yeah.- OK, then. Cheers.- Cheers. - Cheers.- To the last century.
0:56:21 > 0:56:23Well done.
0:56:23 > 0:56:24Cheers.
0:56:24 > 0:56:26- Cheers.- Clink, clink.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28Cheers.
0:56:32 > 0:56:34Doing this experiment,
0:56:34 > 0:56:38looking at it now I feel like I take a lot of stuff for granted.
0:56:39 > 0:56:44In modern day, it's changed the way I have looked upon food that I love.
0:56:50 > 0:56:54I definitely think the food we've eaten reflects how far we've come.
0:56:54 > 0:56:58It makes me feel warm and happy inside.
0:56:58 > 0:57:01It's like eating a rainbow full of sparkles.
0:57:01 > 0:57:05You don't realise how much it's changed until it's all there
0:57:05 > 0:57:08in front of you and you're actively thinking about it.
0:57:12 > 0:57:15It's been kind of empowering.
0:57:15 > 0:57:20You're given that push to step out of your comfort zone and be in your ancestors' shoes.
0:57:23 > 0:57:25- KLAXON - Oh, my God!
0:57:25 > 0:57:28I'm definitely optimistic for the future of the North.
0:57:29 > 0:57:33It's gone through change and it's still going through change
0:57:33 > 0:57:35and it will for many years to come, I suppose.
0:57:35 > 0:57:40And I just hope, going forward, that it continues to develop and thrive,
0:57:40 > 0:57:42because I'd like to see that for my children.
0:57:45 > 0:57:49What I do know is that people of the North have always been adaptable.
0:57:49 > 0:57:55They've always managed to overcome difficulties and come out on top,
0:57:55 > 0:57:57and that's what I hope will continue.
0:58:00 > 0:58:04It's really easy to think that the changes that have happened to the North
0:58:04 > 0:58:09over the past century are now just part of history and not related at all to our modern day lives.
0:58:09 > 0:58:15But what the Ellises' journey has shown us is that our roots and our past
0:58:15 > 0:58:19leave a big imprint on us now, on the food we eat, on the work we do,
0:58:19 > 0:58:21even on our leisure time.
0:58:21 > 0:58:26And what's really exciting is that the North is still reinventing itself today.