0:00:03 > 0:00:09In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12His name was George Bradshaw
0:00:12 > 0:00:17and his railway guides inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19Stop by stop, he told them where to travel,
0:00:19 > 0:00:24what to see and where to stay.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28Now 170 years later, I'm making four long journeys
0:00:28 > 0:00:31across the length and breadth of the country
0:00:31 > 0:00:34to see what remains of Bradshaw's Britain.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01Using Bradshaw's, my 19th century guidebook,
0:01:01 > 0:01:03and armed with an umbrella,
0:01:03 > 0:01:07today I'm on the last leg of my journey from Preston to Kirkcaldy.
0:01:07 > 0:01:09Today will take me to east Scotland -
0:01:09 > 0:01:12a voyage not so much of discovery as rediscovery,
0:01:12 > 0:01:15as I used to go there as a child.
0:01:15 > 0:01:20So this will be a journey of nostalgia, for places as they were,
0:01:20 > 0:01:22for people as they were,
0:01:22 > 0:01:24for people who no longer are.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31Today, I'll be braving the weather in Carluke
0:01:31 > 0:01:34to see an industry being brought back to life.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38Is it apple juice you make or cider?
0:01:38 > 0:01:40Which would you like? We can do both.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43You might have to come back in a year for the cider, though!
0:01:43 > 0:01:46I'll be searching for a famous Scottish basement.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48I'm looking for a cellar
0:01:48 > 0:01:53where the act of union may have been signed, according to my guidebook.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56Right. It's actually our ladies' toilets.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59And I'll be realising a lifelong ambition.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02It gives you an idea of the...
0:02:02 > 0:02:07the scale, the complexity, the height.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10And actually the beauty. It's a beautiful thing, isn't it?
0:02:14 > 0:02:17I'm almost at the end of my journey north from Preston.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20All this week, I've been travelling up the west of Britain,
0:02:20 > 0:02:23stopping at some of the most beautiful spots in the country.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27Having crossed the border into Scotland,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30I'm now heading for my mother's home town of Kirkcaldy.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37Today I'm leaving Glasgow and heading for Carluke.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39Then I'll hit the Scottish capital,
0:02:39 > 0:02:43before crossing the Firth of Forth to my final destination.
0:02:45 > 0:02:50My first stop will be in the Clyde Valley because I am intrigued by something in Bradshaw's.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53"The line now passes through a district of country
0:02:53 > 0:02:56"rich in mineral wealth, beautiful scenery,
0:02:56 > 0:03:00"celebrated far and near as the orchard of Scotland,
0:03:00 > 0:03:02"and famous for its fine fruit."
0:03:05 > 0:03:10In Bradshaw's time, the Clyde Valley was lush with orchards.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15Each season, trains rushed the freshly picked fruit to markets all over the country.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19But today, many of the orchards are neglected and overgrown.
0:03:21 > 0:03:26Here at Carluke, one small group of people is trying to revive this centuries-old industry.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30- Morning, Tom.- Morning, Michael.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33- Lovely weather for it. - Yes, beautiful.
0:03:33 > 0:03:34- How are you?- Another fine day.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37Tom Clelland's family have managed the trees here
0:03:37 > 0:03:41for more than four generations.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44May I ask what your own earliest memory is of fruit-picking?
0:03:44 > 0:03:48Because it must still have been going strong when you were a lad.
0:03:48 > 0:03:49Yeah, this road that I live in,
0:03:49 > 0:03:53everybody made their living out of growing fruit.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56In summer, they grew gooseberries, strawberries, blackcurrants.
0:03:56 > 0:04:01And then in the autumn it was mainly plums but also apples and pears.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04I remember it being put on the back of a cart
0:04:04 > 0:04:09and the tractor driving the strawberries up to a railway station that's now closed at Lesmahagow,
0:04:09 > 0:04:13and we loaded the strawberries on to the railway carriage
0:04:13 > 0:04:15and they were bound for Manchester.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19- So the railways were fundamental to this business?- Oh yes.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25The cooler weather here meant that fruit was still ripening
0:04:25 > 0:04:27after the season had finished further south.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30Picking was organised around the clock
0:04:30 > 0:04:35so that the fruit could be put on the early freight trains to Birmingham, Manchester and London.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39I didn't know much about the orchard of Scotland.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41Does it still justify the name?
0:04:41 > 0:04:44Um... No, not in the same way that it did.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49It kind of reached its heyday round about the start of the 20th century
0:04:49 > 0:04:53when there would be about 1,000 acres of orchards around here.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55And about another 700 acres of soft fruit
0:04:55 > 0:04:59on the other side of the valley and down that way.
0:04:59 > 0:05:00So what are you down to now?
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Less than 100 acres of top fruit.
0:05:03 > 0:05:08I've got about 150 plum trees, some apple and some pear.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11I need to plant up my orchard again.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13I need to look after it, and I'm doing that
0:05:13 > 0:05:16because it's part of my heritage, it's what I grew up with.
0:05:16 > 0:05:22Tom is now caring for the fruit trees along with other local growers like Duncan Arthur.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Morning!
0:05:27 > 0:05:30So, I caught you pressing some apples.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32We're at the start of it anyway.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35- Is it apple juice you make or cider? - Which would you like?
0:05:35 > 0:05:37We can do both.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40You might have to come back in a year for the cider, though.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42All right. I'll have some apple juice.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46So, you're a neighbour of Tom's and you're a grower here as well?
0:05:46 > 0:05:48Yes, I am indeed.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53'Twice a week, Tom, Duncan and the other growers harvest the fruit
0:05:53 > 0:05:56'and produce apple juice that they sell locally.'
0:05:57 > 0:05:59That's not too bad.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02Yeah, it's a very efficient mechanism, isn't it?
0:06:02 > 0:06:04It is. That works nicely.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06I'm not sure I'd want to do it all day!
0:06:06 > 0:06:12No, but one pressing will give us about 15 or 20 litres of apple juice.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15- I'll just let that run through now, I think.- Yes.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18- Now, can I taste it? - Absolutely. Why not?
0:06:19 > 0:06:22At this point, it's a wee bit cloudy,
0:06:22 > 0:06:24but it's as Mother Nature intended.
0:06:30 > 0:06:37It's exquisite. It's quite different from apple juice in the supermarket.
0:06:37 > 0:06:38It's really...
0:06:38 > 0:06:41I don't know, tangy and...fresh...
0:06:43 > 0:06:47- Well done, Duncan. You're on to something there. - Thank you very much.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50It's uplifting to see the orchards being tended once more.
0:06:50 > 0:06:57They perpetuate traditional varieties of apples and pears that Bradshaw might have eaten.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10From Scotland's orchard, now to Scotland's capital.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17I'm now bound for Edinburgh, 35 miles away.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26- Just one thing, is that your umbrella?- No, no.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29Is there a lost property office at Edinburgh, do you know?
0:07:29 > 0:07:33- In the Waverley Centre there is. - Is there? I'll pop it in there.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35Thank you.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42Britain is very long from north to south,
0:07:42 > 0:07:45but tends to be very narrow from east to west.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47So even on the slowest train,
0:07:47 > 0:07:52I have quite quickly crossed virtually from Glasgow all the way to Edinburgh.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55We are just arriving at Edinburgh Haymarket.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59And then between Haymarket and Waverley is one of my favourite stretches of railway line.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04The railway runs through a ravine with the castle looming up above us.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17Now I have a wonderful sheer vertical view
0:08:17 > 0:08:21up towards Edinburgh Castle.
0:08:21 > 0:08:26And we pass along the edge of the bottom of this fantastic rock
0:08:26 > 0:08:28which dominates the city.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34Arriving at Edinburgh Waverley Station,
0:08:34 > 0:08:38my first task is to find the lost property office.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41- Hi. Lost luggage?- Yes, it is. Hi.
0:08:41 > 0:08:47I found this on the train. I was on the 2.15 from Glasgow Central.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51OK, that's lovely. So we'll just note down...
0:08:51 > 0:08:56I imagine you get vast amounts of lost luggage, don't you?
0:08:56 > 0:09:01We do in Edinburgh. We get a very sizeable amount of lost property.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04It comes in, and at this time of year, more so.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Where do you keep it? There doesn't seem much room in here.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11Yeah, we keep most of our items just through there.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14- I'll just show you, if you'd like to have a look?- Yes, I'd love to.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17Have you any idea how many items you get a month?
0:09:17 > 0:09:21Um, it's on average about 600.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23- 600?- Over the year.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27Lovely bits of old station showing through here.
0:09:27 > 0:09:33This is mostly August's lost property for Edinburgh Waverley Station.
0:09:33 > 0:09:38- Quite a lot of umbrellas. Pictures. - Yes, the pictures are interesting.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40It would be nice if somebody claimed them,
0:09:40 > 0:09:42because those are army photographs.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46This is an interesting spot, isn't it?
0:09:46 > 0:09:50Yes. It's always nice to see behind the scenes of anywhere!
0:09:50 > 0:09:52Oh! The bit the public doesn't see.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55Downstairs, there's even more.
0:09:55 > 0:10:01So, now this represents another two months' worth.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04What are the most bizarre things you've had?
0:10:04 > 0:10:08Um... The most bizarre thing probably is an octopus.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12It was for food, it was dead. But it was in a suitcase,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15- in amongst other things, it was a bit...- An octopus in a suitcase?
0:10:15 > 0:10:19Yeah, and another member of staff had live eels in a bag. A bag of live eels.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23- So these are the most... - That is bizarre.
0:10:23 > 0:10:28Whatever people have, there is a potential for them to forget it.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Anyway, it's a very valuable service you provide.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33Thanks very much for showing me.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35- You're welcome. Pleasure.- Thank you.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Waverley Station lies in the heart of Scotland's capital.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47Bradshaw describes Edinburgh as a modern Athens
0:10:47 > 0:10:51and commends its fine views of the River Forth.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55But he also points me to something that requires a little detective work.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57My Bradshaw's guide
0:10:57 > 0:11:01mentions Tron Church in the High Street.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05It says it's marked by a new spire of 140 feet.
0:11:05 > 0:11:11And indeed this tells me that the spire was rebuilt in 1828 after a fire.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15But then my Bradshaw says, "Opposite the church is a cellar
0:11:15 > 0:11:18"where the treaty of union is said to have been signed."
0:11:18 > 0:11:22But that would appear to be now an Italian restaurant.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26'The treaty of 1707 joined England and Scotland
0:11:26 > 0:11:29'together under one parliament for the first time.
0:11:29 > 0:11:34'It's a key event in the history of both countries, so I'm keen to see where it happened.'
0:11:36 > 0:11:38- Hi.- Hello there.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40I'm looking for a cellar
0:11:40 > 0:11:45where the act of union may have been signed, according to my guidebook.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48Right. It's actually our ladies' toilets,
0:11:48 > 0:11:51but if you'd like to come down, I can show you if you want.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55- I can go to your ladies' toilet? - Of course you can. - Thank you very much. Hmm!
0:11:55 > 0:11:57Down and down we go.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07- Wow!- This is it.- So, you haven't put up a plaque or anything?
0:12:07 > 0:12:09No, we don't have a plaque.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12- Do you get many people asking about it?- Yeah, quite a few.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14We just show them down here.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16You just bring them to the ladies' loos.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18Do you know much about it?
0:12:18 > 0:12:20Um... A little bit, yeah.
0:12:20 > 0:12:25But, um, we're not 100% sure that it happened here, but...
0:12:25 > 0:12:27- Oh, really?- That's the story anyway.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31- Oh, you mean my guidebook might be wrong?- Could be.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34So, has my Bradshaw let me down?
0:12:37 > 0:12:40One thing's for certain. At the time of the treaty,
0:12:40 > 0:12:45many Scottish people were strongly opposed to the union, and riots broke out.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48- Hello, John. - Pleased to meet you, Michael.
0:12:48 > 0:12:49- How are you?- Good.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52'I'm hoping historian Dr John Young
0:12:52 > 0:12:55'can tell me what happened in those feverish days.'
0:12:55 > 0:13:00The leading Scottish politicians who wanted a union with England,
0:13:00 > 0:13:02a full union with England,
0:13:02 > 0:13:06were jostled and attacked on these streets on a regular basis.
0:13:06 > 0:13:13And there is a good possibility that Unionist politicians actually escaped
0:13:13 > 0:13:18to this cellar of this Italian restaurant which was a house.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Word began to spread that the treaty had been signed in secret,
0:13:22 > 0:13:26by those politicians hiding in the cellar.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31The ladies' toilet in the Italian restaurant
0:13:31 > 0:13:34down here was known as Union Cellar.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38This was something that was in circulation,
0:13:38 > 0:13:42this rumour, certainly by Bradshaw's tour in the 1850s.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45It's repeated in publications in the 1890s,
0:13:45 > 0:13:50but unfortunately it is not true.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52So, do we know where the act of union WAS signed?
0:13:52 > 0:13:56Just up the road here in the old Scottish Parliament
0:13:56 > 0:14:00was where the Scottish Parliament debated the treaty of union
0:14:00 > 0:14:04and ratified the treaty of union.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06Which is kind of what you would expect.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09You'd expect it to happen in parliament rather than in a cellar.
0:14:09 > 0:14:15Even if that cellar in those days wasn't a ladies' lavatory in an Italian restaurant.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18And I can tell you, as a former British parliamentarian,
0:14:18 > 0:14:22that it wasn't our habit to sign things in ladies' lavatories.
0:14:24 > 0:14:29By the time Bradshaw was writing, England and Scotland had been riveted together.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33Queen Victoria adopted Balmoral as the Royal Family's holiday home
0:14:33 > 0:14:35and began wearing tartan.
0:14:35 > 0:14:41In Edinburgh, too, names began to take on a hint of unionism.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46Tonight I'll be staying at one of my favourite Edinburgh hotels,
0:14:46 > 0:14:50the Balmoral, which until recently was known as the North British.
0:14:50 > 0:14:55Built as the railway hotel, it sits firmly on top of Waverley Station.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02- Mr Portillo, good evening, welcome to the Balmoral.- It's lovely to be back.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05It's really one of the great railway hotels, isn't it?
0:15:05 > 0:15:08It is, yes. It used to be the old North British, dating back to 1902,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11with a few of our other hotels in Scotland,
0:15:11 > 0:15:16and we used to welcome the great and the good from London and further afield,
0:15:16 > 0:15:19all over the world, to the Balmoral, absolutely.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21Am I ready to check in?
0:15:21 > 0:15:22- Absolutely. Please.- Thank you.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28I'm sure you'll agree that I would be failing you if I didn't take
0:15:28 > 0:15:30full advantage of this luxury.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34So I intend to shake off the day's travelling in style.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50Good morning.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53So, this is my suite.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57No Scottish room would be complete without antlers.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00My favourite in this room is this little turret.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03Down to this side of the turret
0:16:03 > 0:16:06is Waverley Station,
0:16:06 > 0:16:10which is where I'm headed with my Bradshaw's now.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14This next part of my journey is something I've been looking forward to.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18- Morning.- Morning. What happened to the weather?
0:16:18 > 0:16:19Isn't it great?
0:16:19 > 0:16:22- Great change, isn't it? - It's absolutely superb.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25I'm going up top on the Forth Bridge today, on the railway bridge.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29- Very nice. - Which part of Scotland are you from?
0:16:29 > 0:16:32That's, erm, nearby Munich. HE LAUGHS
0:16:32 > 0:16:35I know that bit! Thank you. Bye.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41From this station, I will relive the thrill
0:16:41 > 0:16:44that my brothers and I felt as children when my mother
0:16:44 > 0:16:48took us across the mighty Firth of Forth to her hometown.
0:16:50 > 0:16:56We used to come and see my grandparents in Kirkcaldy when I was three, four, five years old.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00We'd travel on the night train, but without sleepers, we'd be in second class.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03But all night long, we wouldn't sleep for the excitement that,
0:17:03 > 0:17:07in the morning, we were going to be crossing the Forth rail bridge.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11No words can describe this iconic structure.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14It is the king of bridges.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18In fact, even now, on the whole rail network in Britain,
0:17:18 > 0:17:24every bridge and every structure is numbered, except for this one,
0:17:24 > 0:17:28except for the Forth rail bridge, which is called simply "The Bridge".
0:17:35 > 0:17:39My grandfather as a youngster would row out in a boat
0:17:39 > 0:17:41to watch the building of this masterpiece,
0:17:41 > 0:17:45Britain's first major structure in steel.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48The bridge took seven years to construct,
0:17:48 > 0:17:51and was completed in 1890.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58It feels as exciting today, I think, as when I was a child.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01It's still the most incredible thing.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04Of course, now I've been able to see it from underneath, from a distance,
0:18:04 > 0:18:10I've seen many photographs of it, I know the history, I know how many people died building it.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15All of these things simply made me more impressed by this amazing structure.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24You cross the bridge by train in a few minutes,
0:18:24 > 0:18:28and that's not the best way to appreciate the scale of this structure.
0:18:30 > 0:18:35But down here, you see its iconic three diamonds.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37This bridge is completely unique.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40Show a photograph of this bridge to anyone on the face of the planet
0:18:40 > 0:18:44and they'd know this was the one and only, the Forth rail bridge.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47George Bradshaw didn't live to see it built.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51Talking about North Queensferry, where I am now, he says,
0:18:51 > 0:18:53"In the neighbourhood of Queensferry,
0:18:53 > 0:18:57"by the sudden approximation of opposite promontories,
0:18:57 > 0:19:00"the Forth river is forced into a narrow strait."
0:19:00 > 0:19:04And then he talks about the winding bays and lofty shores bordering
0:19:04 > 0:19:08"a fine sheet of water, a noble river, a broad sea."
0:19:08 > 0:19:11It must have been difficult for George Bradshaw to imagine
0:19:11 > 0:19:16that this broad sea would soon be traversed by a mighty structure.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Over 100 trains thunder across the bridge every day,
0:19:22 > 0:19:27and although modern trains create less stress on the bridge than Victorian steam locomotives,
0:19:27 > 0:19:30it still requires constant maintenance.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32- Morning, Ian.- Good morning.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34Wow, you have a privileged job.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37You are responsible for The Bridge.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40It's an absolute pleasure to be here, too. It's a wonderful bridge.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44Project manager Ian Heath is in charge of repairing
0:19:44 > 0:19:47and repainting the bridge, and he's taking me aloft.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50- OK, lead on, please.- On we come.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56When we get out of this lift, where will we be?
0:19:56 > 0:20:00We will be 367 feet above water level.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03- We'll be on top of one of the diamond shapes?- Exactly.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07We call it a tower - in the centre of each diamond, there's a tower -
0:20:07 > 0:20:10and we're at the very top of one of those.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13That's very, very thrilling. That's fantastic.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16That is absolutely magnificent.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23It gives you an idea of the scale,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26the complexity, the height,
0:20:26 > 0:20:28and actually, the beauty.
0:20:28 > 0:20:29It's a beautiful thing, isn't it?
0:20:29 > 0:20:32It is, it's a surprisingly lovely thing.
0:20:35 > 0:20:3955,000 tonnes of steel were used to build the bridge.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43It was bolted together in sections, using over eight million rivets.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47And it's massively stronger than it needs to be.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54Just a basic question. Why has it always been rusty red-coloured?
0:20:54 > 0:20:58It probably goes back to the fact that we use red lead paints.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02Principally, red was the colour of red-lead paint back in the day.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05We maintained the colour throughout the history of the bridge.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08And now you're doing some pretty major works.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10- What is it you're doing?- We are.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14For the first time, we're actually blasting all the old paint off.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16It's never been blasted before.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20We're turning it into a bare metal - shiny white metal - finish,
0:21:20 > 0:21:23onto which we apply the new coating system.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26And that new coating system has got a much longer lifespan
0:21:26 > 0:21:30than any of the old simple paints.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32It's going to last 25, 30...
0:21:32 > 0:21:35We think even up to 40 years, this paint system.
0:21:35 > 0:21:40Really? So that means that the old adage about "You never stop painting the Forth rail bridge,"
0:21:40 > 0:21:43that's going to become a thing of the past, is it?
0:21:43 > 0:21:45In essence, it probably is.
0:21:45 > 0:21:50Working on the bridge, has it given you a greater admiration for the Victorians who built it?
0:21:50 > 0:21:51Totally, absolutely.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54The Victorians were a special breed, no question at all.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57The engineers had vision unlike any others,
0:21:57 > 0:22:00and certainly the workforce knew no fear.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03They went and worked very, very well.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05And sadly, quite a lot of them lost their lives.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10They did, some 75 people died during the construction of the bridge.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14Thankfully, today we have none of that. We've got a very good safety record on site.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20It's been so exciting to realise a lifelong ambition
0:22:20 > 0:22:23and look down from the summit of the bridge.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27It ranks as one of the greatest engineering feats of our history.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34Now I'm close to my final destination on this journey,
0:22:34 > 0:22:36a place full of childhood memories.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39When I was a kid, going to Kirkcaldy was not just exciting
0:22:39 > 0:22:41because of the rail journey
0:22:41 > 0:22:44and the fact we were going to another country.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47My parents were not particularly well off, but my grandparents
0:22:47 > 0:22:50were quite rich, and they had a big house.
0:22:50 > 0:22:56My grandad would even send the maroon-coloured 1953 Daimler
0:22:56 > 0:23:01to meet us at the station, with the chauffeur in his double-buttoned tunic
0:23:01 > 0:23:05and his peaked cap and his great big chauffeur's gloves.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10An image from a lost age.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13More like a dream than a memory.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16Bradshaw's guide says of Kirkcaldy very simply,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19"A borough engaged in the linen trade."
0:23:19 > 0:23:23My grandfather had a linen factory.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26I was very fond of him.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28One thing I remember was, he was very proud of Fife,
0:23:28 > 0:23:31which had been a kingdom, he said, and he hated it
0:23:31 > 0:23:35when people called it Fifeshire, as though it were a mere county.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39Although it's 47 years since he died, very often
0:23:39 > 0:23:44when I'm in Scotland I find time still to go back to Kirkcaldy
0:23:44 > 0:23:46and to remember him.
0:23:49 > 0:23:55My grandfather, John Blyth, ran a successful family business in Kirkcaldy, manufacturing linen.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00The town had become famous for its linen and sale cloth in the early 19th century.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03By the 1870s, entrepreneurs used linen
0:24:03 > 0:24:08as a backing for an entirely new product called linoleum.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12Soon, Kirkcaldy became the world's largest lino producer,
0:24:12 > 0:24:15with factories all along the railway tracks.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19Although John Blyth stuck to linen,
0:24:19 > 0:24:23he did well, and bought a large house in Kirkcaldy.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26One of the pleasures for my brothers and me
0:24:26 > 0:24:29was the railway at the end of the street.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36So that's what we used to do as kids.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40We would come here and stand by the wall - there wasn't a fence on it -
0:24:40 > 0:24:45and watch the trains go by. But in those days, they were steam locomotives.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51Ever since, I've never got trains out of my system.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54The house itself was an imposing building,
0:24:54 > 0:24:57with a grandeur that astonished my brothers and me.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04In this porch, my grandfather kept all of his walking sticks.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07This was the hallway.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10Under this tartan carpet is polished wood.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14And this magnificent staircase
0:25:14 > 0:25:18was my way every evening up to bed.
0:25:18 > 0:25:23On these walls hung enormous paintings.
0:25:23 > 0:25:30Seascapes and pictures of children being blown around on sea shores.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35And I remember that lovely window as well.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37And on and on.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39And so to bed.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45Today, my grandfather's pictures, bought with the profits
0:25:45 > 0:25:49from the factory, are displayed in the town's impressive art gallery.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53John Blyth's Victorian upbringing gave him and other businessmen
0:25:53 > 0:25:55an intense sense of civic pride.
0:25:55 > 0:26:00My grandfather was a big paintings collector, and became the first curator of the gallery.
0:26:00 > 0:26:05And at the opening ceremony in 1926, my mother as a little girl
0:26:05 > 0:26:08presented the posy of flowers to the guests of honour.
0:26:18 > 0:26:23In the next two rooms are paintings that used to belong to my grandfather.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26These are by William McTaggart.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29He was born around the time that George Bradshaw died.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32Some could be very, very sentimental,
0:26:32 > 0:26:34but I remember paintings like this,
0:26:34 > 0:26:38scary ones of children being battered by storms.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41They really rather frightened me.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44I remember my grandfather's house being full of still lifes.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49This one I remember well.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53This is obviously inspired by a French Impressionist,
0:26:53 > 0:26:56by Paul Cezanne.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59Even as a kid, I loved these
0:26:59 > 0:27:02brightly-coloured, easy-to-understand pictures.
0:27:04 > 0:27:11I love to see my grandfather's paintings on display for all to enjoy, just as he intended.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14This has been a journey of legacies.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18In the Clyde valley, the fruit growers are planting their orchards again.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22On the Forth rail bridge, the engineers are building anew.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26And here in Kirkcaldy, my grandfather's industry
0:27:26 > 0:27:28is perpetuated through linoleum,
0:27:28 > 0:27:33and his beloved collection of paintings still bears his name.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37Time has eroded, but it has not destroyed.
0:27:47 > 0:27:52On my next journey, I'll be travelling from Swindon down to Penzance.
0:27:55 > 0:27:59Along the way, I'll be sampling the Spa at Bath.
0:27:59 > 0:28:04- These things are great for wallowing! - Yes! I can think of various...
0:28:04 > 0:28:07You could deliver a nasty blow to someone with one of those!
0:28:07 > 0:28:10I'll be travelling like the Victorians.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13Not only did the trains make it possible for them
0:28:13 > 0:28:16to do things they'd never done before,
0:28:16 > 0:28:21they also brought them into the heart of countryside and landscape,
0:28:21 > 0:28:26the like of which city dwellers in particular had never seen.
0:28:26 > 0:28:30And I'll be tasting some of Cornwall's freshest produce.
0:28:30 > 0:28:31- Cheers.- Cheers.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36- I could have another of those! - You can have as many as you like!
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