0:00:05 > 0:00:08In the 150 years from the beginning of the 18th Century,
0:00:08 > 0:00:12a revolution transformed the way we think...
0:00:14 > 0:00:15..work...
0:00:17 > 0:00:18..and play, forever.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26This was the Industrial Revolution.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29And it started here, in Britain.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35Until then, most people lived as they had done for generations,
0:00:35 > 0:00:39an agricultural existence - defined by the harvests
0:00:39 > 0:00:44and the seasons, and ruled by a small political and social elite.
0:00:49 > 0:00:54But as the 18th Century progressed, an unprecedented explosion
0:00:54 > 0:00:59of new ideas and new technological inventions transformed our use
0:00:59 > 0:01:04of energy, creating an increasingly industrial and urbanised country.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11Hundreds of thousands of miles of roads,
0:01:11 > 0:01:14railways and canals were built.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19The tunnel is four times longer than the longest tunnel
0:01:19 > 0:01:21built anywhere in the world.
0:01:22 > 0:01:28Great cities appeared, and scores of factories and mills sprang up.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31Our landscape would never be the same again.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35Soho was one of the very, very first factories in the world.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38It certainly was the making of the modern world.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45Together, they made Britain the wealthiest and most powerful
0:01:45 > 0:01:50nation on Earth, ruler of the largest empire in history.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55The 18th Century was absolutely crucial to the history
0:01:55 > 0:01:59of Britain and the history of the entire world.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01The transformation set in motion there
0:02:01 > 0:02:05helped to make the world in which we all live today.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08And I want to ask two fascinating questions.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11Why did the Industrial Revolution happen?
0:02:11 > 0:02:15And why did it happen in 18th-Century Britain?
0:02:35 > 0:02:38I've spent 30 years studying the Industrial Revolution
0:02:38 > 0:02:40and its impact on the world around us,
0:02:40 > 0:02:44and I think, remarkably, that the key that helps explain
0:02:44 > 0:02:50this extraordinary period is to be found on these windswept shores.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56Look at this, this is a really impressive piece,
0:02:56 > 0:02:58massive piece of sea coal
0:02:58 > 0:03:01from the beach at Seaton Carew, in the North East of England.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04And that comes from the North Sea out there,
0:03:04 > 0:03:07from the seams at the bottom.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11Britain is very, very fortunate - much of it is on top of this stuff,
0:03:11 > 0:03:12and the seams of it are very close
0:03:12 > 0:03:15to the surface and easily worked.
0:03:15 > 0:03:20Thanks to that, coal kick-started a revolution in 18th-Century Britain,
0:03:20 > 0:03:24a revolution that transformed not only the country,
0:03:24 > 0:03:26but the world itself.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Until then, wood had been the main source of energy in Britain.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40It supplied the fuel for homes and small industries.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47But as the population grew, so did the demand for timber.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52As forests were cut down,
0:03:52 > 0:03:55wood had to be carried further to reach the towns.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00It was bulky, difficult to transport, and therefore expensive.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06Britain needed a new source of fuel - coal.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14It increasingly became clear that coal was a much more potent
0:04:14 > 0:04:18form of power, providing up to three times more energy than wood.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23For the first time in human history, we began to harness
0:04:23 > 0:04:28the planet's mineral wealth for fuel and power on a massive scale.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38In Britain, coal was abundant and easily mined.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40It was expensive for other European countries
0:04:40 > 0:04:44to transport their supplies of coal to market -
0:04:44 > 0:04:48carrying it ten miles overland from the pithead doubled the cost.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57Whereas here, the mines were near the sea, so ships could carry
0:04:57 > 0:05:01coal cheaply to the most important market - London.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12The demand for coal led to deeper and deeper mines being dug,
0:05:12 > 0:05:15but the problem was that the deeper you went,
0:05:15 > 0:05:18the more likely it was that the mines would flood.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22As a result, in order to exploit this wonder fuel, it was necessary
0:05:22 > 0:05:26to find a way to pump water out of the mines.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30Now, initially, people used horse-driven pumps, like this one,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33and it's pretty good for getting water out
0:05:33 > 0:05:36to a depth of about 90 feet.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39But that still left a lot of coal lower down.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43Whoever could produce an effective way to extract this coal
0:05:43 > 0:05:46was going to make a lot of money.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53The profit motive drove the Industrial Revolution.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00It motivated practical men, like Devon ironmonger Thomas Newcomen,
0:06:00 > 0:06:03to try to solve the problem of flooding mines.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10In 1712, he designed an engine which could harness
0:06:10 > 0:06:13the power of coal, to make steam and drive a water pump.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15And this is it -
0:06:15 > 0:06:19the world's first commercially successful steam engine.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21It did the work of 20 horses
0:06:21 > 0:06:24and pumped water from hundreds of feet below the ground,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27making it both possible and economically viable
0:06:27 > 0:06:30to mine from greater depths.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34But his machine burnt tonnes of coal,
0:06:34 > 0:06:38so its location was limited to pitheads, where coal was virtually free.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43The machine itself was highly inefficient.
0:06:43 > 0:06:48But it made it possible to unlock the great potential of coal.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51The consequences of this were extraordinary.
0:06:51 > 0:06:56Britain now had seemly inexhaustible quantities of cheap energy.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04But Britain's industrial growth didn't just depend on its geology.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07Coal, after all, had been around for millions of years
0:07:07 > 0:07:09without sparking the Industrial Revolution.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15What else accounts for Britain's great transformation?
0:07:19 > 0:07:23Part of the reason that Newcomen was able to develop his invention
0:07:23 > 0:07:27was because of the intellectual climate in Britain in this period.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31There was a prolific exchange of scientific and technological ideas
0:07:31 > 0:07:36that contrasted markedly with the situation across most of Europe.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44In Britain, scientific ideas didn't suffer censorship
0:07:44 > 0:07:49by Church or State, as happened in many European countries.
0:07:52 > 0:07:57Over the previous 100 years, a cascade of scientific breakthroughs
0:07:57 > 0:07:58had swept across the country.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04Sir Isaac Newton was able to explain the force of gravity
0:08:04 > 0:08:06for the first time.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13While Robert Boyle showed that air and gas had physical properties.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19The established Christian view of a world ordained by God
0:08:19 > 0:08:21was now challenged by one which conformed
0:08:21 > 0:08:24to scientifically proven principles of nature.
0:08:26 > 0:08:31An explanation of the world which prized evidence above dogma.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33This was known as the Age of Reason.
0:08:37 > 0:08:38Travelling lecturers fed
0:08:38 > 0:08:41a thirst for scientific knowledge.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43You can see that in this painting,
0:08:43 > 0:08:45one of my favourites. It's by Joseph Wright,
0:08:45 > 0:08:47of Derby, it's 1766,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50and what it shows is a small group,
0:08:50 > 0:08:51including these children,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54with this wonderful lighting of these wrapt faces,
0:08:54 > 0:08:56looking at an orrery - this device,
0:08:56 > 0:08:59which shows you how the solar system works,
0:08:59 > 0:09:01and it's really quite wonderful.
0:09:01 > 0:09:02You've got innocence,
0:09:02 > 0:09:04you've got enthusiasm,
0:09:04 > 0:09:06and you've got
0:09:06 > 0:09:07a society that is confident
0:09:07 > 0:09:10in its understanding of the world.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12And indeed, 15 years later,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15William Herschel, a British-based astronomer,
0:09:15 > 0:09:17discovered Uranus,
0:09:17 > 0:09:19the first planet to be discovered
0:09:19 > 0:09:21since classical antiquity.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24And this helped to make the British feel that they
0:09:24 > 0:09:26were at the cutting edge of knowledge.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Now there emerged a growing movement of people trying to find
0:09:33 > 0:09:36a practical application for these new discoveries.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42Running in parallel with this extraordinary increase
0:09:42 > 0:09:44in the understanding of the world around us
0:09:44 > 0:09:48came a new development - the idea of practical knowledge.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51In this, men of action and men of ideas came together
0:09:51 > 0:09:54in what was to be called the Industrial Enlightenment.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02Across the country, from the prestigious
0:10:02 > 0:10:06Royal Society in London, and in countless provincial coffee houses,
0:10:06 > 0:10:11industrialists and scientists, often from very different backgrounds,
0:10:11 > 0:10:14met to share their ideas and observations.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20They unleashed a wave of free thinking and creativity.
0:10:24 > 0:10:25In the West Midlands,
0:10:25 > 0:10:27the Lunar Society was set up in the 1760s,
0:10:27 > 0:10:32so named because its members met at full moon,
0:10:32 > 0:10:36which lit their way home, in an era before street lamps.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40One member, Erasmus Darwin,
0:10:40 > 0:10:42a doctor from Lichfield,
0:10:42 > 0:10:45and the grandfather of Charles Darwin,
0:10:45 > 0:10:49was amazingly prolific in his intellectual explorations.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54In this letter, he suggests a way to measure the volume of air
0:10:54 > 0:10:57a person could breathe, using an animal's bladder.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03He also drew up plans for an advanced multi-mirrored telescope,
0:11:03 > 0:11:05and even a flushing lavatory.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12Most importantly, Erasmus Darwin was aware of the Newcomen steam engine.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16And he was fascinated with the transformative potential
0:11:16 > 0:11:18of steam power. Here in his sketch book,
0:11:18 > 0:11:22he outlined machinery that could be created with steam.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26And the one that really fascinates me is this one,
0:11:26 > 0:11:29the steam chariot, which was the precursor of
0:11:29 > 0:11:33the steam-powered road vehicles of the 19th Century.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37And on the other page, we have a steam-powered rotary wheel,
0:11:37 > 0:11:40designed to drive pieces of machinery.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47Groups such as the Lunar Society allowed these creative men
0:11:47 > 0:11:50the intellectual freedom to think the unthinkable
0:11:50 > 0:11:53and to come up with astonishing new ideas and inventions.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59A leading member was Matthew Boulton,
0:11:59 > 0:12:01the son of a small-time buckle maker.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04Marriage into the local gentry brought money
0:12:04 > 0:12:08and that enabled him to invest in building up his industrial holding,
0:12:08 > 0:12:12and also into ownership of a fine house, Soho House.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16It was here that he met James Watt, a self-taught scientist
0:12:16 > 0:12:19from the west of Scotland. And the exchange of finance
0:12:19 > 0:12:22and ideas between the two men was to help transform
0:12:22 > 0:12:24the Industrial Revolution.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Behind the house in Birmingham, Boulton had set up a workshop,
0:12:29 > 0:12:33called the Soho Manufactury, to make small metal goods.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38Initially, he powered it with water from nearby Hockley Brook.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42But in 1766, a drought stopped the water wheel
0:12:42 > 0:12:44and production ground to a halt.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48Boulton realised that if a source of cheap,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51reliable energy could be harnessed, it would free production
0:12:51 > 0:12:56from the vagaries of the climate, and his profits would increase.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59So he decided to investigate switching to steam.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03As a result, his friendship with James Watt became crucial.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07Watt wasn't just interested in the science,
0:13:07 > 0:13:11he was also concerned with the practical application of knowledge.
0:13:11 > 0:13:16And you can see this in his drawing here of his so-called kettle tests.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18In these, he set out to try and understand
0:13:18 > 0:13:21the mechanics of steam power.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24And the reason for his interest is that Watt was determined
0:13:24 > 0:13:29to make the most efficient steam engine yet produced.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34Five years before he met Boulton, Watt had been given
0:13:34 > 0:13:37a model of the Newcomen steam engine to repair.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41He soon realised that if the engine could be made more efficient,
0:13:41 > 0:13:45then its use would no longer be restricted to the coal mines,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47with their huge reserves of cheap fuel.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53After much experimentation, Watt came up with a new design
0:13:53 > 0:13:58which he thought would revolutionise the supply of power to industry.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02But he had neither the money nor the engineering expertise to build it.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10However, in 1767, he visited Birmingham, home to several
0:14:10 > 0:14:13small metal workshops like Boulton's, and therefore,
0:14:13 > 0:14:18with a highly-skilled workforce capable of realising his designs.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26'Jim Andrew has spent his career studying
0:14:26 > 0:14:28'the engineering genius of James Watt.'
0:14:28 > 0:14:32Was Birmingham good for him, good for the steam engine?
0:14:32 > 0:14:35Very good. Because they got a lot of oomph, they got up
0:14:35 > 0:14:37and got on with things. That was the first point.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41Secondly, they had skilled men, who were used to being
0:14:41 > 0:14:43fairly flexible in what they would tackle,
0:14:43 > 0:14:46So in this case, right from the start, they were producing
0:14:46 > 0:14:48small, accurate components
0:14:48 > 0:14:51and that had to be made accurately, otherwise,
0:14:51 > 0:14:55the great advantage that James Watt was looking for wouldn't happen.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58And he felt that if he came to Birmingham, Mr Boulton
0:14:58 > 0:15:02would push him on with the engine to get it into production.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12As a result, within a few years, the Soho Manufactory
0:15:12 > 0:15:15built Watt's expansive steam engine.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19It produced the same amount of power as the Newcomen engine,
0:15:19 > 0:15:21but on a quarter of the fuel.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29The Watt-Boulton team didn't stop there,
0:15:29 > 0:15:32they continued to make incremental improvements to their engine.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39Within three years, they had designed the Smethwick canal pump.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43The great improvement with this engine was the steam emission valve.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45They introduced that to reduce the waste of steam
0:15:45 > 0:15:49by running steam into the engine for too long in the stroke.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53You only wanted enough steam to make the complete stroke
0:15:53 > 0:15:55and not to have steam left over at the end.
0:15:55 > 0:16:00Initially, it produced an 18% improvement in efficiency
0:16:00 > 0:16:03and proved what could be achieved.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07From then on, manufacturing was released from the constraints
0:16:07 > 0:16:09of natural power.
0:16:09 > 0:16:14Soho became the first steam-powered manufacturing plant in the world.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17It was a new kind of work place.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19No longer were men, women and children
0:16:19 > 0:16:22producing goods piecemeal in their homes.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25From now on, they toiled on production lines
0:16:25 > 0:16:27in great cathedrals of labour.
0:16:27 > 0:16:32The lives of workers were transformed for generations to come.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37'Sally Hoban is a historian of the City of Birmingham.'
0:16:38 > 0:16:40I've got here a painting
0:16:40 > 0:16:43of the manufactory works at Soho. Would you describe this
0:16:43 > 0:16:47- as one of the first factories? - Absolutely. It's a large building,
0:16:47 > 0:16:50it would have been a hive of enterprise,
0:16:50 > 0:16:54thousands of workers, men, women and children, working in all those
0:16:54 > 0:16:57different rooms in the factory. And if you can imagine
0:16:57 > 0:16:59the noise and the industry, very much like you can hear
0:16:59 > 0:17:02in the background here, it must have been a fantastic place.
0:17:02 > 0:17:07This was world famous, and when visiting dignitaries in the late-18th Century
0:17:07 > 0:17:09came to England, they would stop off in Birmingham
0:17:09 > 0:17:13to see Mathew Boulton's marvellous manufactory. It was that famous.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15I would definitely say that Soho was
0:17:15 > 0:17:18one of the very, very first factories in the world.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21We take the factory for granted, but it actually starts
0:17:21 > 0:17:24- in a specific place and a specific period.- It does.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27- Making of the modern world. - The making of the modern world.
0:17:32 > 0:17:36Now the great and the good made enlightenment tours.
0:17:37 > 0:17:42Not just to London, Paris and Rome,
0:17:42 > 0:17:44but also to Birmingham.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53They came to see and learn how the town's entrepreneurs
0:17:53 > 0:17:55were producing a wider range of goods,
0:17:55 > 0:17:58more cheaply than ever before.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Mr Harvey sold the finest swords.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12Mr Harris boasted of telescopal, or portable toasting forks.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21And Mr Betts offered saws of every description.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28Also on offer were coach harnesses.
0:18:34 > 0:18:35And weighing machines.
0:18:37 > 0:18:42"Manufactured in the first style, in the best materials,
0:18:42 > 0:18:44"on the most approved principle."
0:18:48 > 0:18:49The famous Mr Taylor
0:18:49 > 0:18:54was using the latest steam-powered machinery to manufacture
0:18:54 > 0:18:58tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl buttons for the leaders of society.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05The production of countless thousands of these small items,
0:19:05 > 0:19:07hammered out in the workshops of the Midlands,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16Of all the treasures manufactured here, it's these delicate
0:19:16 > 0:19:19little objects which really capture my imagination.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23In the late-18th Century,
0:19:23 > 0:19:26Birmingham was most noted for objects such as this,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29that we call Birmingham toys. By that, we don't mean
0:19:29 > 0:19:32the cuddly variety, we mean articles, usually made of metal,
0:19:32 > 0:19:36used for personal adornment, so to be carried about the person.
0:19:36 > 0:19:41So here, we have a snuff box, a Birmingham snuff box.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43And how it works - you would open it up
0:19:43 > 0:19:48and then you would offer the snuff to somebody to take.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51However, this is a clever one,
0:19:51 > 0:19:54because it also has a secret compartment.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57So if you really liked the person you were talking to,
0:19:57 > 0:20:01you could give them a lot more of your snuff.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03So these are called misers' snuff boxes.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06I'll show you this next, this is very exciting.
0:20:06 > 0:20:11This is absolutely exquisite, this little fish here.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15See his reticulated tail? It's really rather wonderful.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18So what this is, it's called a vinaigrette.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21And how it works, if you were an 18th-Century gentleman
0:20:21 > 0:20:24like Matthew Boulton, and you were at a business dinner,
0:20:24 > 0:20:28or doing some business outside the home, and you were sitting next to
0:20:28 > 0:20:31somebody that perhaps didn't smell very nice...
0:20:31 > 0:20:33Oh, right, didn't clean their teeth.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35Didn't really clean in the 18th Century.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39..you'd pull this out of your pocket and, when they weren't looking,
0:20:39 > 0:20:42open up the top. Can you see there's a perforated
0:20:42 > 0:20:45- layer in there?- Oh, yes. - Inside there would have been
0:20:45 > 0:20:48some sponge soaked in orange oil, so you could very carefully...
0:20:48 > 0:20:51have a little sniff and then quickly put the top back on
0:20:51 > 0:20:55and back in your pocket before they noticed.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58And literally, thousands and thousands of those were made.
0:21:03 > 0:21:04In the century from 1700,
0:21:04 > 0:21:10Birmingham went from being a small metal-working town of 7,000 people
0:21:10 > 0:21:13to a city nine times the size,
0:21:13 > 0:21:17the third largest in the kingdom, after London and Bristol.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23And all this was down to the exchange of ideas,
0:21:23 > 0:21:27revolutionary new technology, and the successful harnessing
0:21:27 > 0:21:32of energy epitomised by the story of James Watt and Matthew Boulton.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37Watt and his team in the West Midlands didn't just
0:21:37 > 0:21:41improve the efficiency of the steam engine and pat themselves on the back.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45Instead, they continued to search for design improvements.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47This quest for improvement was
0:21:47 > 0:21:51a characteristic of the British Industrial Revolution, leading,
0:21:51 > 0:21:56in the 19th Century, to railways, steam ships and the world of factories.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00The Industrial Revolution was well under way in Britain.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13It's remarkable to consider that just over 100 years
0:22:13 > 0:22:17before Watt's great invention, Britain was devastated
0:22:17 > 0:22:21by civil wars, as men fought to free themselves from an absolute monarch.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27The execution of Charles I, and the later regime change
0:22:27 > 0:22:31known as the Glorious Revolution, created a liberal economic
0:22:31 > 0:22:33and political climate.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43By the 18th Century, the British Parliament had won much greater
0:22:43 > 0:22:48independence from its monarch than in any other European great power.
0:22:48 > 0:22:53And this political liberty paved the way for the Industrial Revolution.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58Britain was a parliamentary monarchy.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01That meant that it was Parliament that passed the laws
0:23:01 > 0:23:04and Parliament that controlled expenditure.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06This helped to ensure political stability,
0:23:06 > 0:23:10political stability in which the rule of law was fundamental.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13And that encouraged the pursuit of scientific breakthroughs,
0:23:13 > 0:23:17as people set up businesses and sought profit.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26To appreciate the significance of Britain's political system,
0:23:26 > 0:23:27you only have to look at
0:23:27 > 0:23:30the situation in its great rival France,
0:23:30 > 0:23:33a country twice the size of Britain, with mineral wealth,
0:23:33 > 0:23:36and home to some of the finest scientist minds.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43But it had an absolute monarchy, founded by Louis XIV,
0:23:43 > 0:23:47which wielded great control over economic and political life.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53The story of how the French attempted to develop steam power
0:23:53 > 0:23:57reveals the fundamental weakness of their political system.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02The authorities in Paris wanted to use steam to help solve
0:24:02 > 0:24:04one of its most pressing problems,
0:24:04 > 0:24:08how to pump water to the rapidly expanding city.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13Many French engineers responded to the challenge, amongst them
0:24:13 > 0:24:15the Perier brothers.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19Initially, they tried and failed to steal Watt's latest designs.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23As a result, in 1779, they ordered two of the very latest
0:24:23 > 0:24:27Watt and Boulton steam engines from Birmingham to be built
0:24:27 > 0:24:31here on the banks of the River Seine at Chaillot.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34And next door, they had constructed an engineering works
0:24:34 > 0:24:39in order to build the large steel components that were required for steam engines.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46The Perier brothers didn't just want to copy the design
0:24:46 > 0:24:50of the Watt-Boulton steam engine, they wanted to improve on it.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55But despite a decade of trying, they failed, because in France,
0:24:55 > 0:24:58there wasn't the free exchange of ideas
0:24:58 > 0:25:01needed for innovation to flourish.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07The absolute monarchy had centralised scientific innovation
0:25:07 > 0:25:09on the Academie des Sciences.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17Here, the leading scientists were assembled to investigate
0:25:17 > 0:25:22thoroughly, and finally, to grant approval to the latest ideas.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26Sounds a good idea, but in practice, is was a bureaucratic nightmare.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32Professor Eric Brian is an historian of French science.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37In the French system, you are not only an inventor,
0:25:37 > 0:25:39but you are working for the kingdom.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44And the monarchy had organised an academy of science,
0:25:44 > 0:25:47the mission of it was collecting scientific
0:25:47 > 0:25:49and technological innovation.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53Checking everything, and then publishing
0:25:53 > 0:25:56a description of it, in order to make this information public.
0:25:58 > 0:25:59But this process was very long,
0:25:59 > 0:26:03it took more than one century for some of those publications.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09The French state's attempt to regulate scientific progress
0:26:09 > 0:26:13slowed innovation and stifled the advance of industrial progress.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18In contrast to Britain, individuals were not free to come up with
0:26:18 > 0:26:22an idea, find a financial backer, and build a machine.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26Would James Watt have found it harder to have taken
0:26:26 > 0:26:30forward his innovations with the steam engine, had he been French?
0:26:30 > 0:26:33Certainly, he would have spent time to have approval,
0:26:33 > 0:26:38to show that the machinery was OK in all details
0:26:38 > 0:26:42and fitting, to get the official recognition.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44As a result, French businessmen
0:26:44 > 0:26:48found it hard to exploit the latest inventions
0:26:48 > 0:26:50and to harness them for profit.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54Furthermore, they had little incentive to do so.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58Behind this industrial inertia was a French court
0:26:58 > 0:27:01stuck in an increasingly obsolete world view.
0:27:01 > 0:27:06Put it like this. Imagine that all the wealth in the world
0:27:06 > 0:27:08is represented by this pie.
0:27:08 > 0:27:14The French government in the 18th Century believed that this pie was finite.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18They had a share, but if they wanted a larger share,
0:27:18 > 0:27:21then what they had to do through conquest
0:27:21 > 0:27:25is grab it from other countries.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28But what if you believed that the amount of wealth in the world
0:27:28 > 0:27:34is not finite, that in fact, you can create all sorts of numbers of pies?
0:27:34 > 0:27:36Thank you.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38Gosh, thank you again!
0:27:40 > 0:27:44In Britain, this idea developed in the late-18th Century.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47People believed that through new industrial production,
0:27:47 > 0:27:49they could create untold wealth,
0:27:49 > 0:27:51that there would be more pies.
0:27:51 > 0:27:56And the British government believed it was its responsibility
0:27:56 > 0:27:57to ensure that this occurred.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03Mmm, that is excellent.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14London, the capital city and greatest port of the age,
0:28:14 > 0:28:16was at the heart of this radical idea
0:28:16 > 0:28:20that new wealth could actually be created.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26The new businesses of the Industrial Revolution needed money,
0:28:26 > 0:28:30and lots of it, if they were to expand successfully.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35And the British government saw its role as being to encourage
0:28:35 > 0:28:38the accumulation of the required capital.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45Here on the Thames, the centre of trade, of politics, and of government,
0:28:45 > 0:28:50British political and commercial elites were closely entwined.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Whereas in France, the aristocracy gave very little support
0:28:53 > 0:28:57to mercantile interests, in Britain, in contrast,
0:28:57 > 0:29:01the more pragmatic aristocracy was willing to adapt to the often
0:29:01 > 0:29:05self-made men who made up the mercantile leadership.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09And, in particular, they supported the control of the oceans
0:29:09 > 0:29:12and the protection of Britain's lucrative trade routes.
0:29:13 > 0:29:18Britain's foreign and defence policy was different from that of France and Spain.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25Whereas our continental rivals concentrated on building huge armies
0:29:25 > 0:29:28to fight and seize land on mainland Europe,
0:29:28 > 0:29:32Britain spent much of its government revenue on building up
0:29:32 > 0:29:36the Royal Navy, to protect and encourage private traders.
0:29:36 > 0:29:40As a result, from the start of the 18th Century, Britain was
0:29:40 > 0:29:43the naval superpower, with the largest fleet in the world.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46A situation that lasted until the Second World War.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56This maritime power enabled the British trading empire
0:29:56 > 0:30:00to expand and flourish throughout the 18th Century.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15There was one place, above all others,
0:30:15 > 0:30:19able to generate the wealth needed for the huge capital investment
0:30:19 > 0:30:21required for the Industrial Revolution.
0:30:26 > 0:30:28This was the West Indies.
0:30:30 > 0:30:34And central to their defence was the island of Antigua.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40Strong forts, bristling with cannon,
0:30:40 > 0:30:43protected the coastline of this strategic outpost.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47The most important position was over here - English Harbour -
0:30:47 > 0:30:50the Royal Naval base.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53This impregnable position guarded the unimaginable wealth
0:30:53 > 0:30:57that Britain got through trade with the eastern Caribbean,
0:30:57 > 0:31:00and denied it to anyone else.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09Dr Reg Murphy is the head of
0:31:09 > 0:31:12Antigua's Royal Dockyards National Park.
0:31:13 > 0:31:17English Harbour is a natural, beautifully protected harbour.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20Deep water, very narrow entrance, high land all around,
0:31:20 > 0:31:24easy to protect a fleet in here. So you can bring the fleet in here
0:31:24 > 0:31:27during the hurricane season and they are totally safe.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31Very few islands have a harbour like this. At any given time,
0:31:31 > 0:31:34you had between eight to 15 ships in here and while they were here,
0:31:34 > 0:31:37they could take the opportunity to do repairs.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40When you think about it, a wooden ship in tropical waters,
0:31:40 > 0:31:43you get sea worms, you get rot, you get dry rot,
0:31:43 > 0:31:48you hit coral reefs, you're in battle half the time with privateers and pirates and enemy people.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50You need to repair your ships, especially if
0:31:50 > 0:31:52you're going to make it back across the Atlantic with no support.
0:31:52 > 0:31:56Once the British had a naval base at English Harbour,
0:31:56 > 0:31:59how effective was it at keeping the French at bay?
0:31:59 > 0:32:01In the big picture, I think it was very effective
0:32:01 > 0:32:03because you have a standing fleet all the time.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06There is no harbour like this in any of the French islands,
0:32:06 > 0:32:10so the French fleet mostly went back to France every year, which gave an advantage to the British.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17The Royal Navy played a vital role in expanding
0:32:17 > 0:32:18the trade of the Empire -
0:32:18 > 0:32:22the source of the funding for the British Industrial Revolution.
0:32:26 > 0:32:30In the mid-18th Century, old colonial rivals France and Spain
0:32:30 > 0:32:34were vanquished in the great naval victories of the Seven Years' War.
0:32:34 > 0:32:38Britain now benefited from the greatest trading empire
0:32:38 > 0:32:43the world had ever seen, bringing goods not only from the West Indies,
0:32:43 > 0:32:47but tobacco from North America,
0:32:47 > 0:32:49spices from India...
0:32:51 > 0:32:53..and tea from China.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59A commitment to free trade had been a principle of
0:32:59 > 0:33:02British government policy since 1688.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12In Britain, the Glorious Revolution led to an economic liberalisation
0:33:12 > 0:33:15in which most commercial monopolies were abolished.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18As a result, merchants could invest money
0:33:18 > 0:33:22and take profit as they wanted, with very little government intervention.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24Now, in France, in contrast,
0:33:24 > 0:33:27the government fiercely held onto its monopolies.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30As a result, entrepreneurship was suffocated.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40And entrepreneurship was at the heart of
0:33:40 > 0:33:43the British economic success in its colonies.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48In the West Indies, business was centred on plantations.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55Today, the empty mills remain.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03As do some of the great houses in which their owners lived.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10This is Herbert's plantation,
0:34:10 > 0:34:13once home to Admiral Lord Nelson's wife, Kitty.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21Here, in its elegant first-floor drawing room,
0:34:21 > 0:34:23the rich British owners
0:34:23 > 0:34:26were cooled by the breezes from the Atlantic.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30Testament to the life of luxury and elegance enjoyed by
0:34:30 > 0:34:31a small white elite.
0:34:39 > 0:34:43But all this wealth was created at terrible human cost,
0:34:43 > 0:34:47with the exploitation and suffering of millions of slaves.
0:34:51 > 0:34:56The British government's support for free trade enabled slave traders
0:34:56 > 0:35:00to buy huge numbers of slaves, from some African rulers who were
0:35:00 > 0:35:05all too willing to sell them, for transportation across the Atlantic.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14Once in the Caribbean, the slaves were treated as a natural resource
0:35:14 > 0:35:18to be used and exhausted in the quest for maximum profit.
0:35:22 > 0:35:27The Tranquil Vale plantation is home to a grim reminder of those days.
0:35:37 > 0:35:41Conditions for the slaves were absolutely unbearable.
0:35:41 > 0:35:46Indeed, many of them lasted no more than three years.
0:35:46 > 0:35:51This is a dungeon, carved out of the rock for recalcitrant slaves,
0:35:51 > 0:35:57and there were tiny slits for light and ventilation.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01Even today, when the door is off and we have more light coming in,
0:36:01 > 0:36:04it seems absolutely vile.
0:36:04 > 0:36:08What it must have been like at the time, a kind of living tomb.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12Well, I have to say,
0:36:12 > 0:36:15as a historian, I have written on the slave trade,
0:36:15 > 0:36:18and this quite takes my breath away.
0:36:18 > 0:36:23There are things that documents cannot really prepare you for.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33During the 18th Century,
0:36:33 > 0:36:37it's estimated that just under 2.5 million slaves
0:36:37 > 0:36:41were transported by the British across the Atlantic.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47And this is where many of them ended up.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51Sugar cane - this was the crop that slaves were forced to work
0:36:51 > 0:36:54and it was a very difficult crop to work.
0:36:54 > 0:36:55But it was also crucial to
0:36:55 > 0:36:58the prosperity of Britain's West Indies colonies
0:36:58 > 0:37:02and played a major role in the economy of the Empire as a whole.
0:37:02 > 0:37:07Indeed, by the 1790s, sugar was Britain's leading import.
0:37:13 > 0:37:15From the West Indies, and across the Empire,
0:37:15 > 0:37:19valuable commodities - including tobacco from Virginia,
0:37:19 > 0:37:21and rice from Georgia - poured into London.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25Some was destined for British consumption,
0:37:25 > 0:37:29but the rest was bound for the markets of Europe.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32This huge trade generated
0:37:32 > 0:37:35billions of pounds for the country, at today's rates.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50So what happened to the wealth that went into Britain's coffers?
0:37:50 > 0:37:52Well, much of the profit from sugar
0:37:52 > 0:37:55and the other fruits of empire became capital that was
0:37:55 > 0:37:59invested in the development of Britain's industries.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01And the products of these industries, some of them
0:38:01 > 0:38:05came back to the plantations of the West Indies.
0:38:05 > 0:38:07Here, we have the remains of a sugar mill
0:38:07 > 0:38:10and the steam engine from Glasgow that powered it.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18By the end of the 18th Century, British industry
0:38:18 > 0:38:24was exporting manufactured goods worth over £2.5 billion today
0:38:24 > 0:38:25across the world.
0:38:30 > 0:38:35This was a small cog in the great circle of growth that made up
0:38:35 > 0:38:37the British Industrial Revolution.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45This explosion of wealth flooding into London created
0:38:45 > 0:38:47its own financial revolution.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50New institutions, like banks and the Stock Exchange,
0:38:50 > 0:38:54were established, which allowed people to invest in and profit from
0:38:54 > 0:38:57newly emerging businesses.
0:39:04 > 0:39:07All this new wealth dramatically improved
0:39:07 > 0:39:10the lifestyles of much of the population.
0:39:17 > 0:39:22Gross domestic product more than doubled during the 18th Century,
0:39:22 > 0:39:27and for the first time, many people had extra money to spend.
0:39:31 > 0:39:33As the wealth of the country increased,
0:39:33 > 0:39:36so did that of the rapidly expanding middle class.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39And the middle class needed something to spend its money on.
0:39:39 > 0:39:43This provided entrepreneurs up and down the country with
0:39:43 > 0:39:46opportunities to make money by selling them things.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55The appetites of this growing section of the population
0:39:55 > 0:39:58were whetted by the arrival of a completely new range
0:39:58 > 0:40:01of luxuries from across the great trading empire.
0:40:06 > 0:40:08Tea came from China,
0:40:08 > 0:40:11and it was sweetened by sugar from the West Indies.
0:40:11 > 0:40:13Thank you.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17And their consumption introduced a new and more opulent
0:40:17 > 0:40:19lifestyle into polite society.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25It required a whole new range of household equipment.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32I've got here a painting of 1567
0:40:32 > 0:40:34of the Brooke family having dinner,
0:40:34 > 0:40:36and we can see here that there are
0:40:36 > 0:40:40very few implements on their table.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44In fact, it's largely a case of pewter plates.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48Now, the contrast is very clear with this painting
0:40:48 > 0:40:51by Richard Collins two centuries later
0:40:51 > 0:40:53of a family having tea.
0:40:53 > 0:40:55You can notice there is an absolute
0:40:55 > 0:40:57cornucopia of tea-making equipment.
0:40:58 > 0:41:02There's a tea pot with its burner,
0:41:02 > 0:41:04there's a tea caddy,
0:41:04 > 0:41:07there's a sugar bowl open to show the sugar.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11There's a plate with teaspoons on,
0:41:11 > 0:41:14there's a hot water jug,
0:41:14 > 0:41:17and we have a slop bowl,
0:41:17 > 0:41:19in order to put tea leaves in.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23All of these goods had to be designed and produced,
0:41:23 > 0:41:25and they were designed and produced in Britain.
0:41:25 > 0:41:31And this consumer revolution helps to drive industrialisation.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37For me, there's one entrepreneur, above all others,
0:41:37 > 0:41:41who understood the opportunities presented by this growing
0:41:41 > 0:41:45consumer market - Josiah Wedgwood.
0:41:50 > 0:41:54He was brought up in a family of potters in North Staffordshire,
0:41:54 > 0:41:57and inherited only £20 from his father.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01But his genius for creating - and then satisfying -
0:42:01 > 0:42:06consumer demand made him one of the richest men in the country.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09Wedgwood appreciated that the middle classes could not be
0:42:09 > 0:42:13relied upon to understand that they actually necessarily wanted
0:42:13 > 0:42:17these new-fangled goods being manufactured across Britain.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20Therefore, he had to persuade them to buy them,
0:42:20 > 0:42:22indeed, to desire them, in their households.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25And to that end, he became one of the fathers of
0:42:25 > 0:42:28what we today call advertising and marketing.
0:42:32 > 0:42:34For centuries, most families' household goods
0:42:34 > 0:42:39were made by local artisans and bought at local markets.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43By the start of the 18th Century,
0:42:43 > 0:42:45shops were beginning to be opened
0:42:45 > 0:42:47in London and other large cities.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51But Wedgwood, working with his marketing guru, Thomas Bentley,
0:42:51 > 0:42:53unveiled a new concept.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00They opened the first purpose-built showroom in London's
0:43:00 > 0:43:02fashionable West End in 1774.
0:43:02 > 0:43:07Wedgwood and Bentley understood that women would be the prime purchasers
0:43:07 > 0:43:09for their ceramic wares.
0:43:09 > 0:43:12To that end, in their showroom in Greek Street in London,
0:43:12 > 0:43:16they had a grand parlour in which the customers would be greeted
0:43:16 > 0:43:19and would meet and chat. And then they would be taken
0:43:19 > 0:43:22round the showroom, to see the great new products
0:43:22 > 0:43:25that were coming through from the factories.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29Wedgwood led the way in the shopping revolution.
0:43:29 > 0:43:35Within a decade, Oxford Street alone boasted 153 shops.
0:43:35 > 0:43:37Foreigners who came to London
0:43:37 > 0:43:40marvelled at the range of goods on offer.
0:43:42 > 0:43:47But for true success, Wedgwood realised his pottery needed to be of
0:43:47 > 0:43:51a consistently high standard, and to be known beyond his London showroom.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04His break occurred in 1765,
0:44:04 > 0:44:07when Deborah Chetwynd, lady in waiting to Queen Charlotte,
0:44:07 > 0:44:11and a member of the Staffordshire aristocracy, asked among
0:44:11 > 0:44:14the local potters who could make a tea service for the Queen.
0:44:14 > 0:44:19It involved a new technique, re-binding gold gilt to glaze.
0:44:21 > 0:44:26Wedgwood's genius was to understand the power of marketing.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29Many of the practices we see around us today
0:44:29 > 0:44:31were introduced by this remarkable man.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36He believed if he could win the Queen's patronage for his wares,
0:44:36 > 0:44:39then all society would follow.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42So he spent months experimenting with different
0:44:42 > 0:44:45methods of gilding until he was satisfied.
0:44:45 > 0:44:49The Queen ordered a set and it became known as Queen's Ware,
0:44:49 > 0:44:52one of Wedgwood's most successful products.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55I've got a cup of it here, it's absolutely exquisite.
0:44:55 > 0:44:58But the gilt was applied with honey,
0:44:58 > 0:45:00in order to make the gold more pliable.
0:45:00 > 0:45:02And when the honey came off, so did the gilt,
0:45:02 > 0:45:05but it's still a lovely cup.
0:45:14 > 0:45:18Wedgwood understood how to appeal to the social aspirations
0:45:18 > 0:45:20of the middle classes.
0:45:20 > 0:45:24Now they too could drink tea from the same china as the Queen.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34Wedgwood knew that status sells pots.
0:45:34 > 0:45:38So on all his invoices, he put, "Potter to Her Majesty".
0:45:38 > 0:45:44And as more Royals bought his pots, so he added them to his invoices.
0:45:44 > 0:45:45In this one, we also learn that
0:45:45 > 0:45:49he's potter to their Royal Highnesses the Duke of York -
0:45:49 > 0:45:53the Grand Old Duke of York, who marched his men up and down the hill -
0:45:53 > 0:45:57and also to the Duke of Clarence - that's the future William IV.
0:45:57 > 0:46:01With such patronage, there was no problem about selling his pots.
0:46:05 > 0:46:09The consumer revolution created both a huge opportunity
0:46:09 > 0:46:12and a problem for manufacturers.
0:46:12 > 0:46:16The potential to increase trade was there, but at the beginning of
0:46:16 > 0:46:19the 18th Century, the difficulty of getting raw materials
0:46:19 > 0:46:24to their workshops and the finished products to the market was obvious.
0:46:24 > 0:46:29In the 16th and 17th Century, the road system was very bad.
0:46:29 > 0:46:33Parishes were responsible for maintaining the highway within their boundaries.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36But the problem was that if you lived in one parish,
0:46:36 > 0:46:40say the parish of Stoke over here, and you knew that your neighbours
0:46:40 > 0:46:43in the next-door parish, the parish of Leek over here, just weren't
0:46:43 > 0:46:47maintaining their roads, in fact, that they were a potholed nightmare,
0:46:47 > 0:46:51why should you maintain your road on your side of the boundary?
0:46:51 > 0:46:54All it was going to do was lead to the terrible road on the other side.
0:46:54 > 0:46:58The result was an absolute nightmare for travellers.
0:47:00 > 0:47:04Once again, Parliament was willing to legislate to support trade.
0:47:04 > 0:47:09In 1706, it passed an act which allowed local businessmen
0:47:09 > 0:47:13to build and run permanent turnpike roads.
0:47:14 > 0:47:18In return, they could charge travellers a toll for using
0:47:18 > 0:47:22their road, and some of the money would then be spent on maintaining it.
0:47:22 > 0:47:24Other Turnpike Acts soon followed.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33Nowhere was the need more pressing than in North Staffordshire.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36Here, the Potteries would become one of Britain's
0:47:36 > 0:47:38greatest industrial centres.
0:47:38 > 0:47:40But when Wedgwood and his fellow businessmen
0:47:40 > 0:47:42first set up their factories,
0:47:42 > 0:47:45there were no reliable roads to bring in raw materials.
0:47:48 > 0:47:53And mules had to carry fragile ceramics to market in panniers.
0:47:53 > 0:47:57Unsurprisingly, a third of the wares were broken along the way,
0:47:57 > 0:48:00pushing up the price of the surviving pieces.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05In 1763, Josiah Wedgwood brought
0:48:05 > 0:48:09a transport revolution to Staffordshire.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12Thwarted by the problems of getting his goods
0:48:12 > 0:48:17to market, he petitioned Parliament to build a turnpike road from
0:48:17 > 0:48:21his potteries at Burslem over there to the Red Bull on the London Road.
0:48:21 > 0:48:26This map shows the route that was proposed, a route that was
0:48:26 > 0:48:29to join the Potteries to the national road network.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35From 1706, the length of turnpike roads
0:48:35 > 0:48:41increased from a mere 300 miles to an incredible 15,000 miles
0:48:41 > 0:48:42just 70 years later.
0:48:44 > 0:48:46And they didn't only connect big cities.
0:48:46 > 0:48:51They also created an extraordinarily comprehensive trading network
0:48:51 > 0:48:55between small towns, like Stoke and nearby Uttoxeter,
0:48:55 > 0:48:58increasing the movement of goods and ideas around the country.
0:49:02 > 0:49:03In France, in contrast,
0:49:03 > 0:49:06the government, and not local businessmen,
0:49:06 > 0:49:09decided where to build the roads.
0:49:09 > 0:49:11As a result, they connected military,
0:49:11 > 0:49:13rather than industrial centres.
0:49:16 > 0:49:21As the roads improved in Britain, so journey times decreased,
0:49:21 > 0:49:23further stimulating the economy.
0:49:24 > 0:49:28But it was the next great advance in transport technology that
0:49:28 > 0:49:32truly enabled Wedgwood and his ilk to expand.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35The impact is still in the landscape to this day.
0:49:35 > 0:49:39These were the canals, the motorways of the 18th Century.
0:49:41 > 0:49:44Once again, private entrepreneurs led the way.
0:49:44 > 0:49:47Wedgwood had noted that the canal,
0:49:47 > 0:49:50built by James Brindley to bring coal from the Manchester coalfields
0:49:50 > 0:49:54to the River Mersey, reduced its cost by half.
0:50:00 > 0:50:04He thought a canal connecting his potteries in Stoke-on-Trent could
0:50:04 > 0:50:09bring clay from the Mersey and flint for glazes from the River Trent.
0:50:14 > 0:50:16Andrew Watts is a canal historian.
0:50:20 > 0:50:24To bring in the sort of materials that one canal barge
0:50:24 > 0:50:26would bring in with one horse and one man
0:50:26 > 0:50:29would have taken at least 100 pack horses and mules,
0:50:29 > 0:50:33in the 18th Century. If you can imagine the train of thousands,
0:50:33 > 0:50:37literally thousands of mules trudging into Stoke-on-Trent
0:50:37 > 0:50:42every day of every year, and also on crates on the backs of people,
0:50:42 > 0:50:43being carried like a rucksack.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46It was all about improvement of trade,
0:50:46 > 0:50:49that was what the country wanted, and that's what Parliament wanted.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56Wedgwood used his great powers of persuasion
0:50:56 > 0:51:00to garner the support of the North Staffordshire MPs and peers
0:51:00 > 0:51:05and sent a petition to Parliament to set up a company to build
0:51:05 > 0:51:07the Trent and Mersey Canal.
0:51:10 > 0:51:13So enticing was the prospect of this new
0:51:13 > 0:51:18and efficient mode of transport that Wedgwood moved his main factory
0:51:18 > 0:51:22to land alongside the proposed route of the canal.
0:51:28 > 0:51:30But there was a problem.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33The route of the waterway took it through the rolling hills
0:51:33 > 0:51:35of Staffordshire.
0:51:36 > 0:51:39This difficult terrain demanded that Brindley undertake
0:51:39 > 0:51:43one of the greatest engineering feats of the time.
0:51:44 > 0:51:48The digging of the Harecastle Tunnel, north of Stoke-on-Trent.
0:51:51 > 0:51:53ENGINE CHUGS
0:51:56 > 0:52:00The tunnel is 2,880 yards, from one end to the other,
0:52:00 > 0:52:04that's well over a mile-and-a-half, getting on for two miles.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07Four times longer than the longest tunnel built
0:52:07 > 0:52:09anywhere in the world up to that point.
0:52:09 > 0:52:10And how did they build it?
0:52:10 > 0:52:13They built it by hand, picks, shovels, and blasting powder.
0:52:13 > 0:52:18Using very basic surveying equipment, they built it straight.
0:52:18 > 0:52:20- That's very impressive, isn't it? - Really impressive.
0:52:20 > 0:52:24I can see down here, it's absolutely straight, these tunnels.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27It took them seven years. When they built the tunnel,
0:52:27 > 0:52:30they mined the hill, they mined coal
0:52:30 > 0:52:33and iron stone from the hill, to help pay for the tunnel.
0:52:33 > 0:52:37- How did they get through it?- They didn't have an engine, of course,
0:52:37 > 0:52:41they had to leg through the tunnel. Two men would lie on their backs
0:52:41 > 0:52:43on boards on the boats with their feet
0:52:43 > 0:52:47on the tunnel wall, and they would walk the boat through.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50- Roughly how long would that have taken?- About two hours.
0:52:50 > 0:52:52- Very hard work.- Yeah.
0:52:59 > 0:53:04The Trent and Mersey Canal opened in 1777, five years late.
0:53:05 > 0:53:09But within a few decades, narrow boats were carrying
0:53:09 > 0:53:13over a quarter of a million tonnes of goods annually through the tunnel.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19By greatly reducing the cost of transporting goods
0:53:19 > 0:53:24to and from Stoke-on-Trent, the canal helped the Potteries become
0:53:24 > 0:53:29one of the great ceramic centres of the world, and in the process,
0:53:29 > 0:53:33made its shareholders, including Josiah Wedgwood, very rich.
0:53:33 > 0:53:37Look at that orange water. I can't help wondering if I went into
0:53:37 > 0:53:41there, whether I'd have any more hair left or any more hair growing!
0:53:41 > 0:53:42You'd get a free tan!
0:53:42 > 0:53:45- That was absolutely tremendous. - How about that?
0:53:45 > 0:53:47Thank you, that was tremendous.
0:53:47 > 0:53:51- Right.- Oh, look at that.- Yes...
0:53:54 > 0:53:57These canals were built across Britain,
0:53:57 > 0:53:59linking coasts and navigable rivers
0:53:59 > 0:54:03and transforming the profitability of British industry.
0:54:07 > 0:54:11If I had to pick a symbol for the early Industrial Revolution,
0:54:11 > 0:54:15it would be the canal, which dramatically cut the cost of taking
0:54:15 > 0:54:20raw materials to factories and the finished goods on to market.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23The very existence of canals reflected the way in which
0:54:23 > 0:54:28the industrial enlightenment brought a whole range of technical skills
0:54:28 > 0:54:30to fruition, and also, the capacity of Parliament
0:54:30 > 0:54:34to legislate for their very existence.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39By the time of the Great Exhibition,
0:54:39 > 0:54:41in 1851, the seismic impact
0:54:41 > 0:54:45of the previous 150 years was clear.
0:54:48 > 0:54:54In the great halls of the Crystal Palace, 100,000 exhibits glorified
0:54:54 > 0:54:58the might of British industry and the ingenuity of British technology.
0:54:58 > 0:55:04In six months, over six million people came to see
0:55:04 > 0:55:08the great turbines which powered factories,
0:55:08 > 0:55:11looms which mass produced textiles...
0:55:12 > 0:55:13..and locomotive engines
0:55:13 > 0:55:17which sped across the expanding railway network.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22Even a lighthouse, whose powerful lens could direct
0:55:22 > 0:55:25beams of light further than ever before.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30The exhibition was conclusive proof that Britain was now
0:55:30 > 0:55:34the mightiest industrial power in the world.
0:55:34 > 0:55:36It produced two thirds of the world's coal
0:55:36 > 0:55:38and half its iron.
0:55:42 > 0:55:46For me, the Industrial Revolution encapsulates the reasons why
0:55:46 > 0:55:48Britain counts in world history.
0:55:50 > 0:55:52In the 18th Century, there was a commitment to,
0:55:52 > 0:55:56and engagement with, the potential of the new.
0:55:56 > 0:55:59New ideas, new devices, new machines, new processes,
0:55:59 > 0:56:03which unlocked the resources of society, unlocked the resources
0:56:03 > 0:56:05of the country, and took Britain
0:56:05 > 0:56:08into a new world of activity and energy.
0:56:12 > 0:56:16The special combination of geological good fortune,
0:56:16 > 0:56:20the ascendancy of political liberalism and enlightened thinking,
0:56:20 > 0:56:24plus imperial power, meant change
0:56:24 > 0:56:27was more likely to begin in Britain than elsewhere.
0:56:27 > 0:56:32The Industrial Revolution happened because the economic conditions
0:56:32 > 0:56:35were right to ensure its sustained success.
0:56:36 > 0:56:41And finally, there was one important change that's still with us today -
0:56:41 > 0:56:47the conviction that the future will never again be the same as the past.
0:56:47 > 0:56:49For most of the past,
0:56:49 > 0:56:52people were essentially defined by their history,
0:56:52 > 0:56:54they looked back for their values.
0:56:54 > 0:56:57Most people did what their parents had done.
0:56:57 > 0:57:01This situation changed radically from the 18th Century.
0:57:01 > 0:57:05New ideas and new machines made it possible to create the wealth,
0:57:05 > 0:57:08thanks to which, people could conceive of
0:57:08 > 0:57:12a new environment, a world in which people lived in cities.
0:57:12 > 0:57:15It's no wonder that we call this transformation
0:57:15 > 0:57:17the Industrial Revolution.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20It set the world in which we now live.
0:57:20 > 0:57:24We are in the shadow of the achievements of those people.
0:57:49 > 0:57:52Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd