0:00:04 > 0:00:09In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain.
0:00:11 > 0:00:17His name was George Bradshaw and his railway guides inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks.
0:00:17 > 0:00:24Stop by stop, he told them where to travel, what to see and where to stay.
0:00:24 > 0:00:30Now 170 years later, I'm making four long journeys across the length and breadth of the country
0:00:30 > 0:00:34to see what remains of Bradshaw's Britain.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59Ever since I was a kid, I've found it exciting
0:00:59 > 0:01:02to travel by train, whether rattling along high-speed lines
0:01:02 > 0:01:06or pottering along single tracks,
0:01:06 > 0:01:10there's something very special about a railway journey.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14Now I'm following Bradshaw's 19th-century guide to the railways
0:01:14 > 0:01:17to find out how much the railways changed Britain
0:01:17 > 0:01:20and how much Britain has changed since.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26Today I'll be finding out about free rail trips.
0:01:26 > 0:01:32- The whole town was going on holiday at the same time.- Virtually, yes.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36- Virtually, yes.- Virtually the whole town was coming to a standstill.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38'I'll be sampling the spa in Bath.'
0:01:38 > 0:01:40What is the etiquette?
0:01:40 > 0:01:42A sort of wallowing etiquette.
0:01:42 > 0:01:47- Wallowing.- These are great for wallowing.- Yeah? I could think of various...
0:01:47 > 0:01:50You could deliver a nasty blow to someone with one of those.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54And I'll be trying my hand at glass blowing.
0:01:54 > 0:01:59Very, very impressed. I've got to be honest, I really am truly impressed.
0:02:01 > 0:02:09All this week, I'm following my Bradshaw's Guide to the West Country along the Great Western Railway.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11Stretching over 300 miles,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15this was one of the earliest passenger routes in England,
0:02:15 > 0:02:20created by the great Victorian engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23It will take me through Devon and Cornwall
0:02:23 > 0:02:25to the end of the line at Penzance.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29Starting in Swindon,
0:02:29 > 0:02:33today I'll cover the first 40 miles through Bath to Bristol.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41This route was nicknamed the holiday line
0:02:41 > 0:02:46because, for the first time, large numbers of people could afford to travel by train.
0:02:48 > 0:02:53Most people today take it for granted that they will get a holiday away from home at some time,
0:02:53 > 0:02:57but, before the railways, most people couldn't have dreamt of that.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01The change that occurred in Britain
0:03:01 > 0:03:04when suddenly people could take a seaside holiday
0:03:04 > 0:03:10must have been quite similar to the package holiday revolution in our own time.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14Nowadays, people can go to Spain or they can go to Thailand.
0:03:14 > 0:03:19But in those days, to be able to go to Devon and Cornwall...
0:03:19 > 0:03:21It really changed people's lives.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33This is Swindon.
0:03:35 > 0:03:40In Bradshaw's day, Swindon was the headquarters of the Great Western Railway,
0:03:40 > 0:03:44which built all its locomotives in the town's colossal workshops.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46Bradshaw described it as,
0:03:46 > 0:03:50"One of the extraordinary products of railway enterprise of the present age.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54"It's a colony of engineers and handicraft men."
0:03:56 > 0:03:59These clearly are the old railway works.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02Bradshaw was awestruck by them, they were so vast.
0:04:02 > 0:04:07I think they're probably a bit smaller than they were, but even so, they are pretty impressive.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10This was the hub of the Great Western Railway
0:04:10 > 0:04:13and they attracted skilled people from all over Britain
0:04:13 > 0:04:19to build and maintain the engines for the Great Western Railway.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21No wonder Bradshaw was bowled over.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30Everyone in Swindon seems to know about the works.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32How are you?
0:04:32 > 0:04:35- Nice to see you.- Nice to see you. - I watch you on the TV.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39Thank you very much. Here we are doing something about the railways.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41- Oh, right.- Is Swindon a railway town?
0:04:41 > 0:04:44- It certainly is. This used to be the works.- Yes, I know.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Quite a lot of it has gone, is that right?
0:04:47 > 0:04:49Yes.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52Your government, Margaret Thatcher, closed most of it.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55- You don't live in one of these, do you?- I don't.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59This is the modern village that was built for the railway workers.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03'The Great Western Railway Company was a pioneering employer
0:05:03 > 0:05:08'and it needed thousands of workers, so it built them houses.'
0:05:08 > 0:05:10The village does still look very good.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14This side looks pretty derelict but that side still looks pretty good.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18There used to be various workshops but I think most of them have shut.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23- I don't know who rents it out any more.- I'm going to potter about and have a look at it all.
0:05:23 > 0:05:27- I look forward to seeing you on the telly. Nice to meet you. - Very nice to see you. Goodbye.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38'As well as decent houses, there were other perks for the workers.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43'In 1848, the Great Western Railway began to run free trains every July
0:05:43 > 0:05:45'for their employees to go on holiday.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47'It became known as Trip.'
0:05:47 > 0:05:50- Who are Ron and Mary? - Hello.- Hi, Mary.
0:05:50 > 0:05:56'Friends Ron and Mary travelled on those trains to Paignton almost every summer for 50 years.'
0:05:56 > 0:05:58What was Trip?
0:05:58 > 0:06:01A glorious holiday at the seaside.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04The railway works' annual holidays.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06They'd close...
0:06:06 > 0:06:11and it was all the build-up for going away on holiday to the seaside.
0:06:11 > 0:06:16- A whole town was going on holiday at the same time?- Virtually, yes.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20- Virtually, yes.- Virtually the whole town was coming to a standstill.
0:06:20 > 0:06:27- What did the railway workers pay to go on these trains? - Nothing. We had free travel.
0:06:27 > 0:06:33'Ron and Mary and most of their families worked for the railways.
0:06:33 > 0:06:38'By 1900, the Swindon works employed three quarters of the town's population.
0:06:38 > 0:06:44'Soon, almost 30,000 people were taking Trip trains every year
0:06:44 > 0:06:47'to resorts all over the South West.'
0:06:47 > 0:06:53- Were you dressed up in smart clothing for the Trip?- Oh, yes.
0:06:53 > 0:06:54You had to look your best.
0:06:54 > 0:07:01Even though you were going down to the beach, the beach hut, you still had to be dressed Sunday best.
0:07:01 > 0:07:06Just tell me what it's like to travel in a train in those days
0:07:06 > 0:07:09with a steam engine up the front - what was that like?
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Oh, lovely. Lovely. They are so friendly, steam engines.
0:07:12 > 0:07:17- Ch-ch-ch-ch, ch-ch-ch-ch. - Rattling away, because now... - There was always a tune.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19Smoke coming in the windows?
0:07:19 > 0:07:22- Oh, yes.- Grit, dirt and smoke.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26Within a few decades,
0:07:26 > 0:07:33the railways had turned quiet coastal villages into bustling holiday destinations.
0:07:33 > 0:07:39- What was the resort like?- Wonderful. - We had the same beach huts.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41Beach huts next to one another.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45We'd decorate it when it was her father's birthday and when it was my mother's.
0:07:45 > 0:07:53- Always a week?- Sometimes a fortnight later on but previously we didn't get paid for any holidays,
0:07:53 > 0:07:55not until after the war.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00When they came back from Trip they used to call it the dry week,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03because they had no pay, they couldn't drink.
0:08:03 > 0:08:08- The fact that you'd been away for a week meant the following week wasn't paid.- That's right, no money.
0:08:08 > 0:08:14- Overall, working for the railway was a good thing, do you think? - Oh, yes.- Oh, yes.
0:08:14 > 0:08:21- If you died, they'd take you away for your funeral.- A full service.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25They always used to say from the cradle to the grave, didn't they, Ron?
0:08:25 > 0:08:27- Births, deaths and marriages. - Everything.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29It's been great talking to you.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31- Thank you very much.- Thank you.
0:08:32 > 0:08:37The railways enabled the workers to go on holiday to the coast.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41They also helped ordinary Victorians to become tourists
0:08:41 > 0:08:44in places previously accessible only to the rich.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50One of those attractions is 35 miles away.
0:08:50 > 0:08:51Next stop, Bath.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59For the next leg of my journey, I'm following Bradshaw's Guide from Swindon to Bath Spa.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03One section of the Great Western Railway, Box Hill,
0:09:03 > 0:09:08posed a particular challenge for the line's engineer, Brunel.
0:09:08 > 0:09:14The hill was too steep to run the railway over it so he decided to go straight through it.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18This is the Box Tunnel -
0:09:18 > 0:09:22a feat of engineering by Brunel that Bradshaw was very impressed by.
0:09:22 > 0:09:27He writes, "It's upwards of one mile and three quarters in length
0:09:27 > 0:09:31"through the solid heart and immense mass of Box Hill."
0:09:31 > 0:09:36It took 4,000 men almost four years to dig through the limestone rock
0:09:36 > 0:09:41but when it was finished it was the longest railway tunnel in the world.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44It caused some controversy.
0:09:44 > 0:09:50Brunel had acquired an adversary, a Dr Dionysius Lardner.
0:09:50 > 0:09:56He said that if you travel through this tunnel at the speeds they were going at - nearly 60 mph -
0:09:56 > 0:10:00the air would be sucked out of your body and people would die.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03Fear spread, as it does with health scares today,
0:10:03 > 0:10:07so lots of people decided they would get off the train before it entered the tunnel,
0:10:07 > 0:10:11make the journey by road and rejoin the train at the other side.
0:10:11 > 0:10:12- But... - HE INHALES
0:10:12 > 0:10:14I seem to be doing fine!
0:10:24 > 0:10:32This has to be one of the prettiest approaches to any railway station in England.
0:10:33 > 0:10:39I can see spires and terraces and church towers
0:10:39 > 0:10:41and lovely open spaces.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43A magnificent city.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48And I'm not alone.
0:10:48 > 0:10:54Bradshaw says, "The view from the station is one calculated to impress a stranger very favourably
0:10:54 > 0:11:00"with the importance of the city, so renowned in the world of fashionable invalids."
0:11:00 > 0:11:04So, Bath. Straightaway, you are struck by the very beautiful colour of stone.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07But right here by the station, this is not the finest bit.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11I want to find those crescents and terraces that I remember
0:11:11 > 0:11:16and that Bradshaw waxes lyrical about.
0:11:18 > 0:11:24It was the Georgian architecture of Bath that so impressed Bradshaw.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28He wrote of Bath, "Spacious streets, groves and crescents
0:11:28 > 0:11:32"lined with stately stone edifices and intersected by squares and gardens
0:11:32 > 0:11:38"complete a view of city grandeur scarcely surpassed by any other in the kingdom.
0:11:38 > 0:11:43"The gaieties of Bath are celebrated all over Europe."
0:11:43 > 0:11:49Bath's elegant streets were designed by the architect John Wood in the 18th century.
0:11:51 > 0:11:59His classic uniform facades gave simple terraced houses the grandeur of stately homes.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03In Bradshaw's day, Bath was the playground of high society,
0:12:03 > 0:12:05but the railways changed all that.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09For the first time, the middle and lower classes could afford to travel here
0:12:09 > 0:12:13and sample what the wealthy had been enjoying for centuries -
0:12:13 > 0:12:14the spas.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19This is one of what were three medieval baths -
0:12:19 > 0:12:22there was the Hot Bath, the King's Bath and the Cross Bath.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24We'll go in and have a look at it.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28'Dr Roger Rolls is a GP and medical historian
0:12:28 > 0:12:31'who has been studying the medicinal properties of the waters.'
0:12:32 > 0:12:36It's a wonderful combination of the old and the new.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39Absolutely. It's been restored very beautifully.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42This is where the spring comes out.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46That is a hot spring coming out at that temperature from the ground.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50It is quite warm, it's kind of blood temperature.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54- More than blood temperature. - More than body temperature. - About 44 degrees.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58- Did many famous people come to this bath? - Samuel Pepys used to come here.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01He liked to get here very early in the morning at 4 o'clock
0:13:01 > 0:13:04because he didn't like the crowds later on.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08The most famous person who came here was Mary of Modena,
0:13:08 > 0:13:12who came in order to avail herself of the property of the water,
0:13:12 > 0:13:17which was supposed to improve fertility and fecundity.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22Mary of Modena was married to King James II of England.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26They'd been trying to produce an heir to the throne for 14 years.
0:13:26 > 0:13:31She was successful in the following year - she gave birth to a son.
0:13:31 > 0:13:36No-one quite knows whether it was the effect of the waters that did it
0:13:36 > 0:13:39or the fact that there was mixed bathing
0:13:39 > 0:13:45and quite a licentious attitude to bathing at that time.
0:13:45 > 0:13:50What about the whole business of the magical waters of Bath?
0:13:50 > 0:13:54Are there properties in this water that make them curative?
0:13:54 > 0:13:57A lot of people thought there were.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01The main reason for that was that they thought the water could go through the skin,
0:14:01 > 0:14:05- through pores in the skin. That's been disproved.- Has it?
0:14:05 > 0:14:12One theory is that certainly many of those with paralysis that came to Bath were due to lead poisoning.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15In the 18th century, nobody realised it was lead poisoning,
0:14:15 > 0:14:19but by the time the railways came here it was well-known.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21What difference did the water make?
0:14:21 > 0:14:27Some recent research that was done into immersing people up to their necks -
0:14:27 > 0:14:31they would have shown that if you have raised levels of lead in your body,
0:14:31 > 0:14:35it's excreted more rapidly if you immerse yourself regularly...
0:14:35 > 0:14:40- It's just pressing? - It's literally pressing and it makes your kidneys work harder.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44Whatever the reason was, people came here and were happy because they felt better?
0:14:44 > 0:14:49They were very happy. They came here in droves, as they still do.
0:14:51 > 0:14:58During the last century, the baths' popularity declined until they were closed in 1978.
0:14:58 > 0:15:03But a few years ago, contemporary architects gave the baths a multi-million-pound renovation.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06Fashionable invalids, as Bradshaw called them,
0:15:06 > 0:15:10and many others, are flocking back to the baths from all over the country.
0:15:13 > 0:15:14Brilliant.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18Fantastic.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20Lift goes straight out into an open air pool.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24This is obviously very new.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27This was by the architect Nicholas Grimshaw.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31But I suppose it's kind of the modern interpretation
0:15:31 > 0:15:37of what it's been like to take the waters in Bath over many centuries.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42'People are drawn here by the warm waters all year round,
0:15:42 > 0:15:46'just as they were in Bradshaw's day, over 150 years ago.'
0:15:46 > 0:15:49It's fantastic to be in such a warm bath, isn't it?
0:15:49 > 0:15:53- Yes.- And I think somehow to know that it's natural...
0:15:53 > 0:15:58- It's hard to get your head around that bit.- That it's come from the earth at this temperature?- Yeah.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00But talk about a pool with a view!
0:16:00 > 0:16:03- Look at this!- That's half the attraction.- It's fantastic.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06You've been when it's been raining, haven't you?
0:16:06 > 0:16:08Yes. And it's still open, still warm.
0:16:08 > 0:16:13What is the etiquette? Nobody's swimming up and down, doing lengths. What's the etiquette?
0:16:13 > 0:16:16- It's a sort of wallowing etiquette. - A wallowing etiquette.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19- These things are great for wallowing.- Yes.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21I could think of various...
0:16:21 > 0:16:25- You could deliver a nasty blow to someone with one of those. - I guess so!
0:16:25 > 0:16:30I do feel rejuvenated by that bath.
0:16:30 > 0:16:35But I think it was...not just the warm water but also the sun
0:16:35 > 0:16:40and that wonderful, unforgettable view of Bath.
0:16:43 > 0:16:48When the wealthy came to take the waters here in the 18th and 19th centuries,
0:16:48 > 0:16:50they also needed a place to stay.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54The Royal Crescent, Bath.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56Magnificent.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00Don't you love its grandeur, its elegance, its open spaces?
0:17:00 > 0:17:02This amazing view.
0:17:05 > 0:17:10The Royal Crescent never changes. It was like this when I was last here, I think.
0:17:10 > 0:17:17But I was quite a bit smaller and, of course, your memories are never exactly right.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21I don't remember it being so open. I don't remember the greenery.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24It's magnificent. You don't tire of it.
0:17:28 > 0:17:33The Duke of York lived here in the middle of the Royal Crescent in the 18th century,
0:17:33 > 0:17:36and, luckily for me, his house has been turned into a hotel.
0:17:36 > 0:17:42- Welcome to the hotel.- Thank you very much. I have come to stay. Only one night, I'm afraid.
0:17:42 > 0:17:43I'm sure we can talk you into more!
0:17:43 > 0:17:48'Head concierge, Mark Hanks, has worked at the hotel for the last 22 years.'
0:17:48 > 0:17:51- And is this really the Grand Old Duke of York's?- Yes.
0:17:51 > 0:17:56The Grand Old Duke of York frequented Bath and actually stayed in this house for some time.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01- The one who marched his men to the top of the hill?- Yes, the hill that we can see from your room.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04- Oh! It's really lovely, thank you.- Absolute pleasure.
0:18:04 > 0:18:05I'll just place the case for you.
0:18:05 > 0:18:10- Thank you.- Do enjoy your stay and if there's anything else you need, please give us a call, sir.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12- Thank you very much.- Pleasure.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15I've hit the jackpot.
0:18:20 > 0:18:25After a night's sleep in a bed fit for a king, or a duke at least,
0:18:25 > 0:18:27I'm off on the third leg of my journey.
0:18:27 > 0:18:33Today I'm following my Bradshaw's Railway Guide from Bath to Bristol, just 12 miles away.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41These days, it's easy to plan your route by train,
0:18:41 > 0:18:45but when Bradshaw was first writing, there was a real difficulty.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51If this were before 1840, I would now be resetting my watch,
0:18:51 > 0:18:57because the time in Bristol is 10 minutes different from London, being that much further west.
0:18:57 > 0:19:02For Brunel, with his fast-moving steam trains, this was a real problem.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05How do you create a timetable when every city is on a different time?
0:19:05 > 0:19:09And so he introduced a standardised time, railway time,
0:19:09 > 0:19:13so that notionally the time in Bristol and London would be the same.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17The origins of the time zones that we have today.
0:19:19 > 0:19:26Bradshaw used railway time, also known as London time, when compiling his timetables in the 1840s.
0:19:26 > 0:19:33He convinced all the other railway companies to follow suit.
0:19:33 > 0:19:38Within 10 years, the whole country was in a single time zone.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41Bristol Temple Meads is a fantastic station.
0:19:41 > 0:19:46It's got this enormous span. It's classic Victorian railway architecture.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50You see it all over Britain. You see it all over the world, really.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52But this isn't the original station at Bristol.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56Brunel's terminus, the one Bradshaw would have arrived at
0:19:56 > 0:19:59and the model for many future designs, is just next door.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01I can't believe this.
0:20:01 > 0:20:08One of the great wonders of railway architecture, of historic railway architecture,
0:20:08 > 0:20:12is behind this really unimpressive door.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21And just look at this.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Built in the 1830s. This enormous span.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29This was technology beyond belief, to build a span like this.
0:20:29 > 0:20:37The first time that passengers and trains had been put together under a single roof, under a single shed.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42'The design, known as hammer beam, is supported by beams on each side rather than pillars.
0:20:42 > 0:20:50'That leaves the floor space clear to allow for the free flow of crowds and, in this case, trains.'
0:20:50 > 0:20:56It's quite funny for me, because apparently this is the widest hammer-beamed roof in the world.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59But I'd always been told the widest one was in Parliament,
0:20:59 > 0:21:04and actually it does look like the roof in the Westminster Hall in Parliament.
0:21:04 > 0:21:05It's built in the same manner.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10You can see where the trains would come in and where people would stand on the platform.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14They had to climb down from the platform and wander across to the other lines.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17You didn't get a platform for every train.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20It's an absolutely fantastic piece of architecture.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22But nobody gets to see it.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27Brunel's passenger shed is the oldest surviving
0:21:27 > 0:21:31railway terminus in the world, but now it's sadly neglected.
0:21:31 > 0:21:36I'm looking at the front of Brunel's engine shed
0:21:36 > 0:21:40and it was clearly once a terrific facade.
0:21:40 > 0:21:41It's, of course, fake Gothic.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45But the building has completely gone to pot.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49It's like seeing an old relative in an old people's home or something.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53It's really sad, abandoned, neglected.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56I don't suppose anybody ever gives it a second look.
0:21:56 > 0:22:01And yet it's a really important piece of national heritage.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03Very upsetting.
0:22:06 > 0:22:14The Bristol of my 1860s guidebook was a global city with trade links throughout the Empire.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17Goods made here were exported from the man-made inland docks
0:22:17 > 0:22:21as far afield as North America and the West Indies.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25So, Bristol was clearly a very important port
0:22:25 > 0:22:30but Bradshaw also lists, as he always does for cities,
0:22:30 > 0:22:31what was made here.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35And Bristol, obviously, was quite important in manufacturing.
0:22:35 > 0:22:43"The chief manufacturers..." it says, "..are engines, glass, hats, pottery, soap and brushes."
0:22:43 > 0:22:47Well, most of those industries have gone by now. Long since gone.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51One trade, though, has been revived.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55Bristol blue glass.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58- James?- Hello.- I'm Michael.
0:22:58 > 0:23:03'James Adlington and his family started their blue glass company 20 years ago
0:23:03 > 0:23:05'in a bid to bring back the lost art.'
0:23:05 > 0:23:09Why is Bristol associated with blue glass?
0:23:09 > 0:23:13William Cookworthy discovered cobalt in Germany,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16and the Bristol Merchant Venturers bought the monopoly on the cobalt.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21- And one of the class makers grabbed some cobalt and threw it into the lead glass.- With a great result.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24With a great result - a really vibrant blue.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28- And these are what?- These are rolling pins. They're friggers.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32They'd sell them to the sailors who were going off in the ships
0:23:32 > 0:23:36They would give them to their wives who would hang them in the window.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40- A lucky charm?- A lucky charm to make sure they'd come back safely.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43- And this stuff is still blown, is it?- Yes.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45- Do you mind if I have a look? - Of course.
0:23:46 > 0:23:51'It can take up to seven years to learn how to make glass as the Victorians did,
0:23:51 > 0:23:54'so James is showing me how to make a simple tumbler.'
0:23:56 > 0:24:00You go and sit down and I'll bring that back to you. Pick up your tools again.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04- Which one? This one?- Yes. That's it.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07'The furnaces reach volcanic temperatures.
0:24:07 > 0:24:12'They're used to make the molten glass, which can then be gathered onto the blowpipe.'
0:24:12 > 0:24:13A good, hard blow.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17That's it. Sorry about that.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19Don't put it all in there.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21Just let it...get it on to the pick.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25And let it fall on centre again.
0:24:26 > 0:24:27Voila.
0:24:28 > 0:24:35So I put it into an oven until about 5 o'clock tonight when it gets turned off
0:24:35 > 0:24:37and it's allowed to cool down overnight.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40What would happen if the glass cooled immediately?
0:24:40 > 0:24:44- If you just left it on the side, it would just crack.- Would it?- Yeah.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48- The cooling process would be too brutal for it.- I really enjoyed that.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51Thank you very much. I'm very, very impressed.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53I've got to be honest, I really am.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55Truly impressed.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03In Bradshaw's time, it wasn't just glass passing through the docks.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05Working with the Great Western Railway,
0:25:05 > 0:25:09Brunel developed an integrated international travel service.
0:25:10 > 0:25:16Passengers could take the train from London to Bristol, then continue to New York on the company's steamship,
0:25:16 > 0:25:20the SS Great Britain, also designed by him.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26- Hi, you're Tom?- Yes.- Good to see you. How are you?- Very good, thanks.
0:25:26 > 0:25:31'Ferry operator Tom Axon is taking me to see it.'
0:25:31 > 0:25:34How far is it from Temple Meads station to the dock
0:25:34 > 0:25:37from which the transatlantic steamers would have left?
0:25:37 > 0:25:42Well, there's just over a mile to where the SS Great Britain was built.
0:25:44 > 0:25:51In 1843, the SS Great Britain was constructed in the dockyards of the Great Western Railway.
0:25:51 > 0:25:56Brunel's design was the first steam-powered ship in the world.
0:25:56 > 0:26:04He persuaded the bosses to invest in a super ship made out of wrought iron to cross the ocean.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06That was unheard of.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09- Are we going to see the SS Great Britain in a moment? - That's it there.
0:26:11 > 0:26:16'The SS Great Britain was built for the transatlantic luxury passenger trade,
0:26:16 > 0:26:21'carrying just 252 travellers in first and second class.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23'But the service didn't make money.
0:26:23 > 0:26:30'She was eventually converted to carry three times that number on emigrant runs to Australia.'
0:26:30 > 0:26:34So the SS Great Britain, it's an iron-built ship, it's got propellers,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37- but it's also got six masts. Why?- For efficiency.
0:26:37 > 0:26:42If there's a high wind blowing, you need to harness that as well.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45Because it wouldn't be able to get to Australia from Britain...
0:26:45 > 0:26:47- With the fuel.- ..with its own power.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50So it's a hybrid. It's what we'd call a hybrid today.
0:26:50 > 0:26:56- It uses carbon fuels and it uses natural resources as well.- Yes.
0:26:56 > 0:27:01- Thank you very much indeed. - It's been a pleasure.- A real pleasure for me, thank you.- Bye.
0:27:04 > 0:27:11Seeing the scale of industry here is a reminder of what an important port Bristol was.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16Up until the late 19th century, the city had routes to India, the Americas and Australia.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19I'm really impressed by the Victorians' ambition,
0:27:19 > 0:27:23with their vast stations and steamships and exports to the world.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25But when Bradshaw was writing,
0:27:25 > 0:27:27the British Empire was near its peak.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Much of the world map was coloured pink.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33No wonder the Victorians thought globally.
0:27:37 > 0:27:43Bradshaw's handbooks documented a new era in British travel.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47The infrastructure built by the Victorians we still use massively today,
0:27:47 > 0:27:54but the position that they gave Britain in the world has slipped away gradually in the decades since.
0:27:56 > 0:28:01Tomorrow, I'll be finding out how the railways created a national delicacy.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05The train was perfect. You put a strawberry on there and it was so smooth,
0:28:05 > 0:28:09it would go all the way to the North without being damaged.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12I'll be asking what our ancestors got up to in Cheddar.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15The bones of three adults and two children
0:28:15 > 0:28:19with cut marks to drop the jaw out is all evidence of cannibalism.
0:28:19 > 0:28:24And I'll be exploring one of Britain's oldest piers.
0:28:24 > 0:28:29The other thing, of course, with piers in their early days was it was somewhere you could promenade.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31In other words, you could be seen.
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