0:00:04 > 0:00:10In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain.
0:00:10 > 0:00:17His name was George Bradshaw, and his railway guides inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks.
0:00:17 > 0:00:22Stop by stop, he told them where to travel, what to see and where to stay.
0:00:22 > 0:00:28Now, 170 years later, I'm making four long journeys across the length
0:00:28 > 0:00:34and breadth of the country to see what remains of Bradshaw's Britain.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55Until the 1840s, travelling by rail in Britain was really complicated.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58There were already 20,000 miles of track
0:00:58 > 0:01:00and more railway companies than we have today.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04The only way you could find out the timetable was by going to your local station.
0:01:04 > 0:01:11Then, in 1841, along came George Bradshaw, a map engraver from Manchester, who put the timetables
0:01:11 > 0:01:16together and produced the first handbook of Britain's railways.
0:01:18 > 0:01:24I want to find out the extent to which the industries and the places and the types of people
0:01:24 > 0:01:29that Bradshaw wrote about still exist and whether a Victorian handbook
0:01:29 > 0:01:34can help us to understand the way that the railways made us the people that we are today.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42First up, I'll be learning the lingo in Liverpool...
0:01:42 > 0:01:47You have the Beatles - Paul McCartney, very soft, sort of, "How you doing, Michael? How's things?"
0:01:47 > 0:01:51And then you've got Lennon, with his nasal sort of twang, the adenoids.
0:01:51 > 0:01:57..then visiting the birthplace of the first steam locomotive, George Stephenson's Rocket...
0:01:57 > 0:02:03It was an absolutely astonishing event in railway and, indeed, world history.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06..and having a go at folding an Eccles cake.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08Surgeon's hands!
0:02:08 > 0:02:10Aaah!
0:02:10 > 0:02:12That's one of mine. You may have guessed.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23All this week, I'll be travelling west to east,
0:02:23 > 0:02:25starting from Liverpool, along the oldest
0:02:25 > 0:02:27passenger railway in the world,
0:02:27 > 0:02:29on the line that was built to take cotton
0:02:29 > 0:02:33from Liverpool's docks to Manchester's mills.
0:02:33 > 0:02:34After stopping at Skipton,
0:02:34 > 0:02:37I'll carry on across Yorkshire
0:02:37 > 0:02:41and eventually end up at the east-coast resort of Scarborough.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48Today, I'll be covering the first 30 miles
0:02:48 > 0:02:50via Rainhill to Eccles.
0:02:52 > 0:02:57And my first stop is Lime Street station, in Liverpool.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59I'm now in the tunnel
0:02:59 > 0:03:02that runs from Edge Hill into Liverpool Lime Street.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04It's a mile and a quarter long.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09It goes all the way under the city, and Bradshaw was incredibly impressed.
0:03:09 > 0:03:16And he said when people see this, they'll want to pay just tribute to the engineering skill
0:03:16 > 0:03:20of those people who delivered the railway to the very heart of the city of Liverpool.
0:03:24 > 0:03:30Bradshaw marvelled at the new railway line. But he was even more impressed
0:03:30 > 0:03:35by Lime Street, one of the first stations ever built.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39Morning.
0:03:41 > 0:03:48Bradshaw talks about Lime Street as having an Italian design, with many columns, and I suppose
0:03:48 > 0:03:54he must be referring to this part of the station, which is now rather run-down and tucked in a corner.
0:03:54 > 0:03:59Because when you come to Lime Street, what you're really impressed by is this enormous
0:03:59 > 0:04:06Victorian canopy of glass and iron. Magnificent.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13Liverpool has always been a vibrant city.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18In Bradshaw's day, it was a great port, second only to London.
0:04:22 > 0:04:27Today, its rich Victorian heritage sits alongside
0:04:27 > 0:04:31a shiny new Liverpool that's sprung up in the last few years.
0:04:36 > 0:04:41I love the way this brand-new glass building reflects the old Liverpool,
0:04:41 > 0:04:45the Liver Building, one of the most famous buildings on Merseyside.
0:04:48 > 0:04:54Throughout its history, the docks, more than anything else, have shaped Liverpool's character.
0:04:58 > 0:05:04Bradshaw's guide was struck by the huge numbers of people moving through the city.
0:05:04 > 0:05:11"Liverpool, as might be expected, is also a great emigrant port. As many as 206,000 people,
0:05:11 > 0:05:17"for whose use half a million tons of shipping were required in 1851."
0:05:21 > 0:05:24In the 19th century, millions of immigrants
0:05:24 > 0:05:32passed through Liverpool, leaving a mark on the city that's instantly recognisable - the Liverpool accent.
0:05:34 > 0:05:39I must admit, as a Southerner, I've sometimes struggled to understand it,
0:05:39 > 0:05:44so I've come for a lesson in Scouse with local author Peter Grant.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49- How very nice.- Hiya, la'.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51- What did you say?- Hiya, la'.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54- La' - lad. - Ah. That's a good start, isn't it?
0:05:54 > 0:05:57That's a very good start. Where does this Liverpool accent come from?
0:05:57 > 0:06:03It comes from this almost allegorical big melting pot, a big pan of accents
0:06:03 > 0:06:06thrown in - Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Lancashire, Cheshire.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09Put a spoon in it, stir it all up and you've got
0:06:09 > 0:06:14little sparkles here and there, our little idiosyncratic little accent.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16I'm following a nineteenth-century guide.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Would there have been a Scouse accent in those days?
0:06:19 > 0:06:24- They would have spoken it, but it wouldn't have been recognised till about 1890.- Is it a single accent?
0:06:24 > 0:06:29You can actually discover different types of Scouse accent - the north and the south.
0:06:29 > 0:06:34In Maghull, you can hear a certain type of accent that is different from the one in Allerton,
0:06:34 > 0:06:38and this is reflected especially in people like some of the comedians.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40You know, Stan Boardman, "the Germans".
0:06:40 > 0:06:43He's from the north side. You have the Beatles - Paul McCartney,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46very soft, sort of, "How you doing, Michael? How's things?"
0:06:46 > 0:06:50And then you've got Lennon, with his nasal sort of twang, the adenoids.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52George talking out of the side of his mouth, "Scrotty,"
0:06:52 > 0:06:54and Ringo's "Thomas the Tank Engine".
0:06:54 > 0:06:57So all four, all from different parts of the city.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01- You're a sort of Professor Higgins of Scouse.- I like that. I like that.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05I think I'll bring out My "Faaa-ir" Lady, the sequel.
0:07:05 > 0:07:12So, why don't you test me out on some Scouse words or phrases, and I'll see if I can follow you.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14That fella over there, he's brickin' it.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16That fella over there's brickin' it.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18- That's great. That sounded like George, yeah.- Erm...
0:07:18 > 0:07:21That means, "That man over there is scared".
0:07:21 > 0:07:24Scared, yeah, petrified. And it could have other connotations,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27but, you know. 'Ey, la', you're doin' me 'ead in.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29'Ey, la', you're doin' me 'ead in.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33- Er, that means, "Hey, boy..." - PETER LAUGHS
0:07:33 > 0:07:35"..you're driving me crazy".
0:07:35 > 0:07:38That's good. It's like an American pop song, that.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42- Have you heard the phrase "getting off a' Edge Hill"? - Getting off the train at Edge Hill?
0:07:42 > 0:07:47Yeah. In Liverpool, if you're getting off at Edge Hill, it's the last stop before Lime Street,
0:07:47 > 0:07:52but Scousers tend to use it as a sort of analogy to the... let's say the sexual act
0:07:52 > 0:07:57and that you went out with a girl, or a girl went out with a bloke, and you nearly got there, you know?
0:07:57 > 0:08:03In the art of copping off, which is short for "copulation". So, "Did you cop off last night?"
0:08:03 > 0:08:05- This is going out at 6:30! - THEY LAUGH
0:08:06 > 0:08:10'But it seems Scouse isn't only an accent in Liverpool.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12'It's also a dish.'
0:08:12 > 0:08:17- Thank you very much.- If you like it that much, we do it in a tin as well.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19OK, great. Thank you.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22I feel really ignorant asking this, but what is scouse?
0:08:22 > 0:08:26It's very much a peasant, working-class-type dish. It comes from Norway.
0:08:26 > 0:08:33We adopted this Norwegian dish, which was a lovely big stew with beef, meat, fat, you name it.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36Throw all the vegetables in, stir it round. Very nutritious.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38And it stopped you getting scurvy.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41What do you say for "bon appetit" in Liverpool?
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Er, "'ave a good scran, la'".
0:08:44 > 0:08:46'Ave a good scran, la'.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52- What do you think? - I think it's very good.
0:08:52 > 0:08:57The beef has been shredded so that it just gives it a kind of real...
0:08:57 > 0:08:59- kind of lovely stringy texture, doesn't it?- Yeah.
0:08:59 > 0:09:06Yeah. But you can't beat a good, solid bowl of scouse.
0:09:06 > 0:09:07And as I say, it's got everything in it.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11So, it's a very, very good metaphor for the accent.
0:09:11 > 0:09:12Yes. Absolutely.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18So, Liverpool's signature dish comes from Norway.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22It seems everything in Liverpool originates somewhere else.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Hello, guys. Nice to see you all.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27- Are you all from Liverpool?- Yeah.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29- Do you like the city?- Love the city.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32- What do you love about it? - The way it's so diverse.- Yes.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35- I like that.- Everyone who's born in Liverpool is either
0:09:35 > 0:09:39of Irish, Scottish or Welsh descent, and they say that it's a combination.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43- Like, our nan's Irish.- It's lovely to see you so enthusiastic about your city. Thank you so much.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45All right. Thank you. Bye, now!
0:09:51 > 0:09:54- What do you think of the city? - The city's great.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56- Great? You like the city?- Oh, yeah.
0:09:56 > 0:09:57- Is it getting better?- Yeah, yeah.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00Lots of money coming in.
0:10:00 > 0:10:01Can't beat it.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12There was a lot of money coming in in Bradshaw's time too.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16Liverpool grew into the most important port for the cotton trade,
0:10:16 > 0:10:20with two million bales passing through the docks every year.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26Across the Mersey, on the Wirral, there's another place Bradshaw
0:10:26 > 0:10:28talks about that I'm keen to see...
0:10:31 > 0:10:32..Birkenhead Park.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41Bradshaw's a little bit iffy about Birkenhead Park.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44He says it's not one of the largest.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47But then he goes on and says but as a model,
0:10:47 > 0:10:51it's "owned to be one of the finest in England".
0:10:51 > 0:10:54And it did turn out to be a model, because it was designed by
0:10:54 > 0:11:00Sir Joseph Paxton and then an American, called FL Olmsted, came over.
0:11:00 > 0:11:06And he was inspired by this and designed Central Park in New York City.
0:11:06 > 0:11:11And with these beautiful lakes and with these rocks piled high and the trees raised up,
0:11:11 > 0:11:15it does have the feel of Central Park.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18And so you like to think of all those people leaving Liverpool,
0:11:18 > 0:11:24Birkenhead, going across to New York City and finding something very familiar at the other side.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33- Morning.- Morning. How are you?
0:11:36 > 0:11:40In the 1850s, up to a thousand ships a year were leaving Liverpool
0:11:40 > 0:11:47for America, many carrying Irish refugees fleeing the potato famine.
0:11:47 > 0:11:52The trains brought people from all over Britain to Liverpool to board the emigrant ships.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56In the late nineteenth century, one of the largest groups of refugees
0:11:56 > 0:12:00passing through Liverpool were Jews, like Mervyn Kingston's grandfather.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04- How lovely to see you. Good morning. - And you.- Michael.- How nice to see you, Michael.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Great to see you.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10When did your family come to the United Kingdom?
0:12:10 > 0:12:12In the 1890s.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16They came sent from Riga, in Latvia.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19Now, why were they leaving Latvia?
0:12:19 > 0:12:21Probably because of the pogroms.
0:12:21 > 0:12:28They were chased all the time in Latvia and Lithuania, which was then part of Russia.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31- They were being persecuted?- Yes.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35As anti-Jewish riots took hold across Russia,
0:12:35 > 0:12:40over two million Jews fled Eastern Europe for America.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45Between the 1880s and 1920s, many of them travelled by boat to Hull,
0:12:45 > 0:12:49then caught the train to Liverpool on their way to New York.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52They came to Liverpool, the whole family.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55There were five of them, five children.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59And when they got to Liverpool, they settled in town,
0:12:59 > 0:13:05in what was called Little Moreton Street. It's been demolished since.
0:13:05 > 0:13:10And my grandfather got a job with Cunard.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12As they passed through Liverpool,
0:13:12 > 0:13:17many decided to stay, forming one tenth of the city's population.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22These days, the Jewish community has shrunk to less than one per cent.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25What would you say the Jewish community's influence on Liverpool has been?
0:13:25 > 0:13:30We've had seven Jewish lord mayors, many councillors.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33I was a Conservative councillor once.
0:13:33 > 0:13:39And we believe we give back as much as we take, if not more.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42- A great tradition of philanthropy. - We do our best.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44Mervyn, thank you so much. That's been really interesting.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47- Thank you for sharing those memories.- Very nice seeing you.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50- Very nice to meet you.- Bye-bye. Take care.- Goodbye, now.- Bye-bye.
0:13:54 > 0:13:59I'm now leaving Liverpool to continue my journey east to Manchester.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11My train will take me to Rainhill, along what is perhaps
0:14:11 > 0:14:15the most historic stretch of railway in the world.
0:14:17 > 0:14:22Not surprisingly, the Bradshaw guides were really keen on railway history.
0:14:22 > 0:14:27"The Liverpool and Manchester line was really the first on which was attempted the practical application
0:14:27 > 0:14:32"of locomotive power for the transit of goods and passengers.
0:14:32 > 0:14:37"And it is therefore prominently entitled to rank as the pioneer of those stupendous undertakings
0:14:37 > 0:14:43"which have not only given a new stimulus to the mechanical and architectural genius of the age,
0:14:43 > 0:14:49"but have enabled this country to take the lead of all others in these respects."
0:14:49 > 0:14:55The Victorians were immensely proud of their railways and immensely proud of their country.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59They had good reason to be.
0:14:59 > 0:15:05Before the railway, it took some 36 hours to cover the 30 miles by canal.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09This line cut journey times down to just two hours,
0:15:09 > 0:15:13a revolution for inter-city travel.
0:15:13 > 0:15:18As the line was being built, a highly innovative competition that would change the world
0:15:18 > 0:15:21took place about nine miles outside Liverpool.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26This is Rainhill, and I've come to this little place because railway history was made here.
0:15:29 > 0:15:35Christian Wolmar is an expert on the Rainhill Trials, the world's first steam-locomotive race.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38- Are you Christian?- How do you do? Hi.- How lovely to see you.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41Thank you very much. Why were there Rainhill Trials?
0:15:41 > 0:15:45Well, essentially, it was a very clever public-relations exercise,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48because they were building the Liverpool and Manchester railway,
0:15:48 > 0:15:51they had just about decided that they wanted locomotives,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54rather than horses or stationary engines,
0:15:54 > 0:15:59so they decided to have a big launch
0:15:59 > 0:16:05of a PR exercise, announcing several months in advance that there were going to be these trials
0:16:05 > 0:16:09for a locomotive in October of 1829.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13Set the scene for me. Were there bands? Were there balloons?
0:16:13 > 0:16:15And was there hullabaloo?
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Oh, it was an absolutely huge event.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21There were people from Europe, from the United States.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23There was maybe 10,000,15,000...
0:16:23 > 0:16:29onlookers, but also all these foreign visitors who had come to see,
0:16:29 > 0:16:34you know, was this the invention that, er,
0:16:34 > 0:16:38was going to change the face of the world?
0:16:38 > 0:16:40And they were proved right.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44It was an absolutely astonishing...
0:16:44 > 0:16:47event in railway and, indeed, world history.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53George Stephenson, chief engineer for the Liverpool to Manchester line,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56entered his steam locomotive, the Rocket.
0:16:56 > 0:17:03It won hands down, achieving a top speed of 29 miles per hour.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06The Rocket became the prototype for all future locomotives.
0:17:06 > 0:17:11It was a one-iron-horse race, because the others blew up one by one.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15He got the £500 prize, probably worth around £20,000
0:17:15 > 0:17:21these days, and, crucially, the contract to build more locomotives for the Liverpool to Manchester line.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24You paint a really vivid scene.
0:17:24 > 0:17:25I wish I'd been there!
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Christian, my train is here.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30- I'd better scoot. - All right.- Thank you so much.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32- Cheers.- Bye-bye.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37Phew! Just made it.
0:17:42 > 0:17:49Well, the party atmosphere of the opening of the Manchester to Liverpool railway line
0:17:49 > 0:17:54was pretty much spoilt when, at the opening ceremony, there was what Bradshaw called...
0:17:54 > 0:17:58"a lamentable accident to the Right Honourable William Huskisson".
0:17:58 > 0:18:02Huskisson was President of the Board of Trade. He was a member of the Cabinet.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04And at the opening ceremony, he was hit
0:18:04 > 0:18:09by Stephenson's Rocket and he was injured.
0:18:09 > 0:18:10They loaded him onto the train.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13They took him to Eccles, where I'm headed now.
0:18:13 > 0:18:19But he died, and so a cabinet minister became the first...
0:18:19 > 0:18:22railway fatality anywhere in the world.
0:18:24 > 0:18:30My last stop is Eccles, towards the other end of the Liverpool to Manchester line.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36This stretch of railway is full of engineering firsts,
0:18:36 > 0:18:41like the Sankey Viaduct, built by one George Stephenson.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58Well, I'm looking forward to Eccles, because Bradshaw says...
0:18:58 > 0:19:00"this little village is prettily situated
0:19:00 > 0:19:02"on the northern banks of the Irwell
0:19:02 > 0:19:06"and environed by some of the most picturesque rambles".
0:19:06 > 0:19:07It sounds charming.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13Which way for the picturesque rambles?
0:19:16 > 0:19:20Whoops! The 21st century caught up with Eccles.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26Up to the 1860s, Eccles was barely more than a few cottages.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29But when the world's first passenger railway was routed through it,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32the village's fate was sealed.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37It was soon swallowed up into the suburbs of Manchester.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40There are still some patches of greenery left,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43like the vast estate of Worsley Hall.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47The hall dates back to the 16th century, but was re-modelled
0:19:47 > 0:19:51in Victorian times and eventually turned into a pub.
0:19:51 > 0:19:57My Bradshaw's guide says it belonged to "the celebrated Duke of Bridgewater".
0:19:57 > 0:20:03So, the notice in the pub tells me that the old hall burnt down
0:20:03 > 0:20:06and its historic owner had a great interest in engineering.
0:20:06 > 0:20:11So, tomorrow, I shall explore what was for Bradshaw
0:20:11 > 0:20:15a passion almost as great as railways, that is to say canals.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26Bradshaw started his life mapping Britain's canals,
0:20:26 > 0:20:34before he moved on to railways, and so Worsley was of great interest to him as the birthplace of the canal.
0:20:36 > 0:20:41Bradshaw's guide is interested in all great feats of construction.
0:20:41 > 0:20:46It says of this spot, "The late Earl of Ellesmere inherited the vast estates of the celebrated
0:20:46 > 0:20:53"Duke of Bridgewater, for whom Brindley, the engineer, first made the subterranean canals here.
0:20:53 > 0:20:58"They supply the coal mines below, at a depth of 180 feet,
0:20:58 > 0:21:01"and wind in and out for about 18 miles."
0:21:02 > 0:21:09That prodigious feat of engineering must have inspired the railway builders of later years, and,
0:21:09 > 0:21:14ironically, the railways were then to put the canals out of business.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20These underground waterways were part of
0:21:20 > 0:21:23the Bridgewater canal system, arguably the first in Britain.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26They were built to carry coal directly from the Duke's mines
0:21:26 > 0:21:29at Worsley without going to the expense of
0:21:29 > 0:21:30bringing it to the surface.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35This pool is browny-orange,
0:21:35 > 0:21:40telling us that this water still comes up from the mine.
0:21:40 > 0:21:47You can't see much now, but from 1761, barges laden with coal
0:21:47 > 0:21:48would have emerged from there
0:21:48 > 0:21:53and this pool would have been a hive of early industrial activity.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08Clearly, what was the village of Eccles has changed a lot since Bradshaw's guide.
0:22:08 > 0:22:14But the guide also notes that Eccles is celebrated for its cakes, and that hasn't changed at all.
0:22:16 > 0:22:22Ian Edmondson is the production director of Lancashire Eccles Cakes.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24How long has your family been involved in making Eccles cakes?
0:22:24 > 0:22:29I suppose it started in the 1920s, when my grandad went round the local
0:22:29 > 0:22:34bakers' shops buying cakes and then he'd put them on his horse-drawn cart
0:22:34 > 0:22:37and he'd sell them at the local shops on the corners of the streets of Manchester.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41And then the family decided it would be better if they actually made the cakes,
0:22:41 > 0:22:44- so they set a bakery up making the cakes.- Can we see how they're made?
0:22:44 > 0:22:48Of course, yes. First, I'll show you the ingredients.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51As you see here, this is the most important ingredient in an Eccles cake -
0:22:51 > 0:22:53a really, really good-quality currant.
0:22:53 > 0:22:58These are Vostizza and they're from a place in Aeghion, in Greece.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02You'll see it says "Protected designation of origin."
0:23:02 > 0:23:07Now, this is just like Champagne, where they don't allow another grape to come out of that area.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09- Yes.- This is the same with here.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11- A guarantee of quality.- Yes, it is.
0:23:11 > 0:23:12And then we've got sugar...
0:23:12 > 0:23:15Yeah, just simple ingredients. That's all that's in the product.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19It's sugar, more currants, brown sugar...
0:23:19 > 0:23:20- Brown sugar.- ..a bit of salt...
0:23:20 > 0:23:23- Salt.- ..and lots of butter.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30Wow! It's a whole different world, isn't it?
0:23:30 > 0:23:32I know, it's absolutely fantastic, isn't it?
0:23:32 > 0:23:36What would it have been like here, I don't know, 50, 60 years ago?
0:23:36 > 0:23:39The way they'd have made the cakes 60-odd years ago would have been
0:23:39 > 0:23:43on a big, round table, a big pile of currants in the middle.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45Everyone gets a little bit of pastry,
0:23:45 > 0:23:47puts it in and then starts folding it into a little dolly bag
0:23:47 > 0:23:50and then knocking it in rings and then putting them on trays.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53So, quite inefficient, compared to how we make them now.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56Yeah, because now, it's all coming down the process line.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00- Hi!- Hi.- That looks quite complicated.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02No, it's easy, really.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05Just put all the four corners to the middle...
0:24:05 > 0:24:06- Yeah.- ..and then the sides.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10- OK.- If you'd like to have a go, put these gloves on.- Yeah, sure.
0:24:13 > 0:24:19- I wish you luck, anyway.- Yeah! Surgeon's hands! So, four corners...
0:24:21 > 0:24:26- Aaah! ..into the middle.- Yeah. - And then fold the side bits in as...
0:24:26 > 0:24:30- Oh, Lord. Oh, that's a bit of a mess, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32And once they come off the line there,
0:24:32 > 0:24:38they get baked in these ovens, taken out and taken into the packing room for cooling, then packing.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42This is really where you get the strong smell of the Eccles cake, isn't it?
0:24:42 > 0:24:48Yeah, you get that fantastic smell. It's all the flavours coming together of the ingredients.
0:24:48 > 0:24:49How many Eccles cakes are you producing?
0:24:49 > 0:24:53We're producing about 150,000 Eccles cakes a day.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57In fact, it's probably in the top six most popular cakes.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01That's about, er, 40 million a year, or something.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04Yes! I'll take your word for that.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07- Would you like to try a real Lancashire Eccles cake?- I thought you'd never ask. Yes, please.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13Lovely aroma.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15Beautifully folded, by the way.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17Is it one of yours?
0:25:17 > 0:25:18No!
0:25:23 > 0:25:25Mmm, it's...
0:25:25 > 0:25:28It's wonderful.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30It's wicked. It's, erm...
0:25:30 > 0:25:34Look at the lovely row of currants inside.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37Can you taste the butter and the sugar?
0:25:37 > 0:25:40Are you kidding? Of course I can! Absolutely buttery and sugary.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43I'm really pleased to have looked into this very historic cake.
0:25:43 > 0:25:44Centuries of history in this cake.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47Yeah, and the fantastic thing about it is that it's the only Eccles cake
0:25:47 > 0:25:50you'll get in a supermarket that's made within five miles of Eccles.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53- The genuine article.- Of course, yes.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58The delicious pastries became so popular, they were transported to
0:25:58 > 0:26:03markets up and down the country by train and sold on station platforms.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07They were even exported to America and the West Indies
0:26:07 > 0:26:11and were laced with brandy to help them last the journey.
0:26:11 > 0:26:16But that method of preservation got the cakes into trouble.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23The apparently innocuous Eccles cake has been
0:26:23 > 0:26:30associated with merrymaking, so much so that at one time, Cromwell banned the Eccles cake.
0:26:30 > 0:26:35And it got into trouble again in the 19th century, because they used to put brandy in the cakes,
0:26:35 > 0:26:37and it's thought that one railway driver
0:26:37 > 0:26:41got so drunk on eating Eccles cakes that he fell off his footplate.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45And thereafter, the sale of liquor and the sale of Eccles cakes
0:26:45 > 0:26:50was banned at all the stations around Eccles.
0:26:54 > 0:26:59It wasn't only goods like the Eccles cake that the railways transported around the world.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07Before Britain had railways, the average Briton was born, lived
0:27:07 > 0:27:11and died within a 15-mile radius of the same spot.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16The railways changed people's lives, and George Bradshaw saw it happening.
0:27:16 > 0:27:22In a single lifetime, he saw how the railways changed industrialisation,
0:27:22 > 0:27:24and how they changed people's lives,
0:27:24 > 0:27:29and how they brought about the exponential growth of cities like Manchester and Liverpool.
0:27:29 > 0:27:36And Bradshaw was proud of the technology and proud that it was British.
0:27:39 > 0:27:45Next time, I'll be discovering how Manchester came to be known as Cottonopolis.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49By the end of the century, the Indians were getting Indian designs
0:27:49 > 0:27:54sent back from Manchester to India that maybe came from cotton that they'd grown originally.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58- It was crazy.- I'll be finding out about Bradshaw the man
0:27:58 > 0:28:02and how he helped to unify time...
0:28:02 > 0:28:07Each provincial city, like Birmingham, Manchester and so on, had their own time.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11And of course, this was liable to create great confusion with railway timetables.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15..and how the railways brought fish and chips to British plates.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Oh, thank you very much! Lovely.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21It was the onset of the railways that allowed all this population,
0:28:21 > 0:28:25this inland population, to, for the first time, experience sea fish.
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