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 > 0:00:22Stop 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.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59I'm continuing my rail journey into the West Country,
0:00:59 > 0:01:03using this 150-year-old Bradshaw's Guide.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07The arrival of the Great Western Railway made it easy for tourists to visit
0:01:07 > 0:01:14resorts like Weston-super-Mare, and the guide commends the mildness of the climate in these parts.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18But I'm also hoping to discover how the combination of railways
0:01:18 > 0:01:20and good weather enabled Somerset
0:01:20 > 0:01:25to export a little bit of sunshine to the rest of Britain.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31All this week, it's helping me plot my journey along the holiday route,
0:01:31 > 0:01:35the Great Western Railway line reaching down to the South West of England.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42Today, I'll be finding out how the railways created a national delicacy.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46The train was perfect. You could put a strawberry on there and it was so smooth.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50It would go all the way to the north without being damaged.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53I'll be asking what our ancestors got up to in Cheddar.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57The bones of three adults and two children with cut marks,
0:01:57 > 0:02:00to drop the jaw out, is all evidence of cannibalism.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04And I'll be exploring one of Britain's oldest piers.
0:02:04 > 0:02:10The other thing with piers in their early days was that it was somewhere where you could promenade.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12In other words, you could be seen.
0:02:12 > 0:02:17My journey this week takes me from Swindon to find out
0:02:17 > 0:02:21how the railway transformed many small coastal villages
0:02:21 > 0:02:23into bustling seaside resorts.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26After passing through Devon, I'll head for Cornwall
0:02:26 > 0:02:30and end my journey on the rugged headland of Penzance.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37Today, I'm leaving Bristol and travelling 18 miles to Yatton
0:02:37 > 0:02:41and the Cheddar Gorge before reaching Weston-super-Mare.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50The Great Western Railway main line takes me into Somerset,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53which changed forever when the railways arrived.
0:02:56 > 0:02:57This is Yatton.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01A nice enough station, but my Bradshaw's Guide dismisses it
0:03:01 > 0:03:05as a place of no importance except as being a junction.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07What wasn't known when this was written
0:03:07 > 0:03:10was that in 1869, a new line would be added here
0:03:10 > 0:03:14which would make Yatton really rather important after all.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21When the new branch line was opened, Yatton became the centre of a
0:03:21 > 0:03:26booming strawberry industry which continued right up to the 1950s.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31Mike Lyle started working on the trains in his teens.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35- Good morning, Mike. - Good morning, Michael.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37- Thank you for meeting me. - Not at all.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40I think you know Yatton station quite well, don't you?
0:03:40 > 0:03:44Yes, I came here as a boy at the age of
0:03:44 > 0:03:49approximately 15... and it really was a hive of industry.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57The new railway meant that, for the first time,
0:03:57 > 0:04:00huge quantities of fresh local Cheddar Valley strawberries
0:04:00 > 0:04:02could be whisked around the country.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06It was quickly nicknamed the strawberry line.
0:04:06 > 0:04:13I was invited to go down, load fruit onto these massive great wagons - they were called siphons -
0:04:13 > 0:04:20and I suppose, if my memory is correct, they were about the length of two double-decker buses.
0:04:20 > 0:04:25We would load all the trains through the afternoon and evening.
0:04:25 > 0:04:30The smell of the strawberries was absolutely overwhelming.
0:04:30 > 0:04:37I would catch the last strawberry train back to a station which was handy for me to cycle home,
0:04:37 > 0:04:39and then I would throw my bike out
0:04:39 > 0:04:43and I would follow the bicycle out of the guard's van and then cycle home.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46You and your bike were both leaving a moving train?
0:04:46 > 0:04:49Yes. Every minute counted.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51Every single minute counted.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53If it lost its connection,
0:04:53 > 0:04:56then the fruit wouldn't be in any shape or form
0:04:56 > 0:04:59to be eaten at the other end.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03With the industry in decline, the strawberry line and its workers
0:05:03 > 0:05:05became the victims of the massive
0:05:05 > 0:05:08British Railways closures in the 1960s.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11When you heard that branch line was closing, what did you feel?
0:05:11 > 0:05:13I wondered what I was going to do.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15It was quite shocking news.
0:05:15 > 0:05:16It was national news.
0:05:16 > 0:05:23It affected every branch line and I was quite in despair at the time.
0:05:31 > 0:05:3550 years on, many of the disused lines have become footpaths
0:05:35 > 0:05:38crisscrossing Britain's countryside.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42So I'll be continuing the next part of my journey on foot.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46- Good morning. I see you're walking the strawberry line.- I am.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49- Do you think it's a good way to see country, walking along an old railway line?- Definitely.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54You see them dotted around when you're driving around and they're normally banked up,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57nice and flat, easy to walk on, easy to cycle on, so, yeah.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02- And it gets you really in touch with the greenery and the country, doesn't it?- Plenty to see.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04Lots of birds around, wildlife.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06It's good, yeah.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15There's always something sad about a disused railway line,
0:06:15 > 0:06:21and I'm old enough to remember tracks that I used to use being closed in the Beeching cuts.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23It was inevitable, I suppose.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28The railways grew topsy-turvy in a Victorian era when people didn't have cars.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33The cheery thing is that today we don't talk about lines closing but new ones opening,
0:06:33 > 0:06:39and there's a lot of talk that the future of travel is high-speed rail.
0:06:41 > 0:06:47But for today at least I'll be ambling to the other end of the strawberry line.
0:06:47 > 0:06:52In its heyday, there were 250 strawberry growers here.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56Only four remain today, including fruit farmer Andrew Seagers.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58Why are strawberries grown here?
0:06:58 > 0:07:01What's special about the land or the water here?
0:07:01 > 0:07:06I think it's because of the slopes of the Mendip Hills, the climate
0:07:06 > 0:07:11and the minerals in the water - it gives it a good flavour fruit.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14How long in the year are you getting strawberries?
0:07:14 > 0:07:20We start picking about 15th April and we will finish in that greenhouse
0:07:20 > 0:07:24again with another crop of strawberries by 15th November.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27That's a pretty long season you have now.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31I imagine that's much more than would have been 100 years ago.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35Yes, we would be lucky to get probably more than four weeks, five weeks.
0:07:36 > 0:07:41Now, we take it for granted that we can eat strawberries all year round.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44But in Bradshaw's time, strawberries were a special seasonal delicacy.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48For a few weeks of the year, they were picked and transported
0:07:48 > 0:07:52to market each Friday, the day after people were paid.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55As we're moving down here, we're beginning to see
0:07:55 > 0:07:59some strawberries now that are getting towards ripeness.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02- Do you mind if I try that one? - No, course you can.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05Mm...beautiful.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07It's absolutely fabulous.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12- There's just no substitute for taking it straight off the plant, is there?- Mm-hm.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15I suppose the railways made it possible for this
0:08:15 > 0:08:18massive amount of strawberries to be grown in Britain.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21- Yes.- But I suppose it's the airlines now that are killing it off in Britain.
0:08:21 > 0:08:28Yes. What happened was, you could send a strawberry to anywhere in the North of England on a train,
0:08:28 > 0:08:32and the strawberries were much softer than these, so the train was perfect
0:08:32 > 0:08:36because you could put a strawberry on there and it was so smooth
0:08:36 > 0:08:40and it would go all the way to the north without being damaged.
0:08:42 > 0:08:47'The railways were pivotal for the strawberry growers, but they also
0:08:47 > 0:08:49'kick-started another Cheddar Valley industry - tourism.'
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Before the railways, only rich tourists would have been able to
0:09:00 > 0:09:04enjoy the wonderful spectacle of the Cheddar Gorge.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07When the railways arrived, thousands of ordinary day-trippers
0:09:07 > 0:09:11began to enjoy the splendour of this magnificent area.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15Reaching 500 feet in places, the sides of the ravine
0:09:15 > 0:09:18boast the highest inland cliffs in the country.
0:09:22 > 0:09:27My Bradshaw's Guide tells me that the cliffs of Cheddar are well worth visiting,
0:09:27 > 0:09:32and says the area has achieved "some notoriety from the discovery of two caverns in the vicinity,
0:09:32 > 0:09:36"one called the Stalactite and the other the Bone Cave."
0:09:36 > 0:09:40And it comments on the very large number of visitors now coming to the area.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42But no Victorian could have imagined
0:09:42 > 0:09:45the tourist magnet that it's become today.
0:09:49 > 0:09:55'Cheddar Gorge now attracts half a million visitors a year.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59'Many of them, like archaeologist Hugh Cornwell, come to marvel at the caves.
0:09:59 > 0:10:05'They were discovered by eccentric sea captain and showman Richard Gough.'
0:10:05 > 0:10:11Hugh, after my long trek, I find you. What a beautiful cave.
0:10:11 > 0:10:16When Richard Gough discovered this in November 1898,
0:10:16 > 0:10:19he came through the tunnel there and he saw this
0:10:19 > 0:10:22and he called it St Paul's Cathedral
0:10:22 > 0:10:25because of the whispering gallery at the top.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29And this is very pretty. This is almost too good to be true.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31This is a Richard Gough invention.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33It's a mirror pool.
0:10:33 > 0:10:38He's dammed the water, just a little skim of water, and you can see
0:10:38 > 0:10:41the stalactites reflected on the surface of the water.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Do you approve of this manipulation of nature?
0:10:44 > 0:10:51Yes, I do. It's very low-intensity human interaction with it,
0:10:51 > 0:10:54and...Gough's reason was to show
0:10:54 > 0:10:59the amazing complexity and beauty of nature, and I think he's succeeded.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02Ah! I thought you'd be more disapproving.
0:11:02 > 0:11:07'The Victorians poured in to experience this underground labyrinth,
0:11:07 > 0:11:10'the first cave in Britain to be lit with electric light.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14'Before Gough turned them into a tourist attraction,
0:11:14 > 0:11:16'the caves had been home to something else.'
0:11:16 > 0:11:21You can probably guess from the smell that we've now arrived at the cheese cave.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23I'm glad you mentioned that, Hugh. I wondered if we had a problem!
0:11:23 > 0:11:26Now, the cheese is here.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31Is this a necessary part of its maturing process, or is this a kind of touristy thing?
0:11:31 > 0:11:33No, this is really genuine.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35These are truckles of cheese
0:11:35 > 0:11:40and they're the only really genuine Cheddar cheese in the entire world,
0:11:40 > 0:11:45because these cheeses are made from unpasteurised milk from
0:11:45 > 0:11:48cows on the Somerset Levels, very close to Cheddar.
0:11:48 > 0:11:53They're made by hand in the Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company in Cheddar
0:11:53 > 0:11:57and they are stored here in Gough's Cave,
0:11:57 > 0:12:01and this is genuine cave-matured Cheddar cheese.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05Oh, it sounds wonderful. I can't wait to get my hands on some.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09As more and more areas of the cave were opened up to cater
0:12:09 > 0:12:13for the tourists, some important archaeological discoveries were made.
0:12:13 > 0:12:19And this is Cheddar Man, 9,000 years old, the oldest complete skeleton ever found in Britain.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21That is a fantastic sight.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25- This intact skeleton was found here, was it?- Yes.
0:12:25 > 0:12:30'When the skeleton was studied in detail, it revealed an extraordinary life and death.'
0:12:30 > 0:12:36The story behind it, we believe, is that Cheddar Man as a teenager
0:12:36 > 0:12:39was hit in head with an axe,
0:12:39 > 0:12:43which created a major wound in his forehead.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46That probably affected him for the rest of his life,
0:12:46 > 0:12:49but he died, we believe, in his early 20s.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53And we think that, during that period, the effect of the blow
0:12:53 > 0:12:57to the head made him anti-social, dysfunctional,
0:12:57 > 0:13:00that sort of thing, so that when he died,
0:13:00 > 0:13:06the members of his tribe didn't deal with him in the normal way of burial
0:13:06 > 0:13:08but put him in a twilight zone here
0:13:08 > 0:13:10so that his spirit couldn't depart
0:13:10 > 0:13:15to the ancestors and couldn't roam amongst the living either.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18'Recent research has produced more sinister revelations
0:13:18 > 0:13:21'about the people who lived in these caves.'
0:13:21 > 0:13:25I hear there's evidence of cannibalism that's been discovered in these caves.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29Yes, that's true. The bones of three adults and two children with cut
0:13:29 > 0:13:35marks, to drop the jaw out, to get at the tongue and to invert the skull,
0:13:35 > 0:13:41and cut marks on the long bones and the breaking of long bones is all
0:13:41 > 0:13:46evidence of cannibalism and the bones are scattered across the cave floor
0:13:46 > 0:13:48and mixed with horse bones.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52So cannibalism did take place here, but long before Cheddar Man.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55I'm pleased to see people have turned from cannibalism
0:13:55 > 0:13:59- to cheese-eating in this part of the world.- This is only recent. - Only recent!
0:14:04 > 0:14:07'The researchers also took DNA from Cheddar Man
0:14:07 > 0:14:10'to see if they could find any of his descendants in Cheddar today.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13'And guess what? They found a match.'
0:14:13 > 0:14:15- Adrian.- Good evening.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17Let me get a good look at you.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20- Nice to meet you, Michael. - Any resemblance to Cheddar Man?
0:14:20 > 0:14:23- Probably vaguely. - I can't see it exactly.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26- Come on in.- Thank you very much.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29'Local teacher Adrian Target was helping to organise
0:14:29 > 0:14:32'the experiment when he was also roped in to giving a sample.'
0:14:33 > 0:14:38So I was arranging to have my students' DNA tested and some of
0:14:38 > 0:14:39them were a bit apprehensive,
0:14:39 > 0:14:43and so I said, "It'll be OK. I'll show you there's nothing involved.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45"I'll have mine done as well."
0:14:45 > 0:14:49One of the things that they obviously wanted to know
0:14:49 > 0:14:54was how much like Cheddar Man I was, and so they did...
0:14:56 > 0:15:02..a reconstruction of Cheddar Man's head based on what they had from the skeleton.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06Adrian, this is spooky!
0:15:07 > 0:15:09Such a strong resemblance.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12I mean, obviously you don't wear your hair the same way
0:15:12 > 0:15:14they did 9,000 years ago, but otherwise...
0:15:14 > 0:15:18It's always other people who can see the resemblance, isn't it?
0:15:18 > 0:15:22'Almost as bizarre is Adrian's other secret.'
0:15:22 > 0:15:24You know who this is, don't you?
0:15:24 > 0:15:27Yes, it's a Bradshaw Handbook, a Bradshaw Guide.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30And how do you know that?
0:15:30 > 0:15:34Probably because I'm a railway nut, I suppose,
0:15:34 > 0:15:38a bit of an anorak, and I've collected mainly the timetables
0:15:38 > 0:15:40rather than the guides.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42Adrian, that is to be a serious anorak
0:15:42 > 0:15:46to collect the timetables of trains that ran 150 years ago.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49- Yes, I suppose so.- Sherlock Holmes always had a Bradshaw
0:15:49 > 0:15:51to the left of his fireplace.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53Well, I do have some just here.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00'I suppose it was only a matter of time before I met another Bradshaw enthusiast.
0:16:00 > 0:16:05'It wasn't long ago that they were an essential item for every train traveller.'
0:16:05 > 0:16:09Must give you a lot of interesting bedtime reading, that.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11Thank you. That's lovely.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17'It's almost time to leave Cheddar,
0:16:17 > 0:16:22'but there's one thing I need to try before I go.' Good evening.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25Oh, that looks serious!
0:16:25 > 0:16:27Are these all from Cheddar?
0:16:27 > 0:16:29- They are all from Cheddar. - This is the one from the caves?
0:16:29 > 0:16:33- It is indeed. - That's the one I have to try.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36Lovely big taste.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39Mmm, really mature and...
0:16:40 > 0:16:42..fresh and tangy.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45- Thank you so much. - I'm glad you're enjoying it.
0:16:50 > 0:16:51'Early next morning,
0:16:51 > 0:16:55'I'm ready to pop along the coast to Weston-super-Mare.' Morning.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57Morning.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02Morning.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08- Running on time on a Sunday morning. That's very good.- Yeah, we try to.
0:17:10 > 0:17:16The building of the Great Western Railway made it possible for there to be long-distance tourism,
0:17:16 > 0:17:21like railway workers from Swindon spending a week by the seaside in Devon.
0:17:21 > 0:17:26But it also led to growth of day-tripping and weekend visits, so that people from
0:17:26 > 0:17:31Bristol and Exeter could spend time by the sea in the Bristol Channel.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39Weston-super-Mare, perhaps above all other seaside resorts,
0:17:39 > 0:17:41grew rapidly thanks to the railway.
0:17:41 > 0:17:47In 1822, it had a population of just 735.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51By the end of the century, it had shot up to over 20,000.
0:17:54 > 0:17:59'Clearly, they weren't put off by what Bradshaw had to say.'
0:17:59 > 0:18:01Weston-super-Mare.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05My Bradshaw's Guide is not entirely polite about Weston-Super-Mare,
0:18:05 > 0:18:08so I'm intrigued to see what I'm going to find.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Bradshaw writes that, "The receding of the tide leaves
0:18:14 > 0:18:17"a disfiguring bank of mud along the beach,
0:18:17 > 0:18:21"which is a great drawback to the enjoyment of bathing".
0:18:21 > 0:18:25It says about Weston-Super-Mare, at low tide Weston is disfigured by this bank of mud.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28- What do you think of that? - I think it's right.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30Do you think that is a bit disfiguring?
0:18:30 > 0:18:32I think it's the stones and stuff.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34Do you not like that so much?
0:18:34 > 0:18:36It can look very dirty and polluted,
0:18:36 > 0:18:40but today it actually doesn't look that polluted, but sometimes it does.
0:18:40 > 0:18:41- Good afternoon.- Hello.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45- Are you visiting Weston-super-Mare or do you live here?- We live here.
0:18:45 > 0:18:50I'm following a very old guidebook, 150 years old, and he makes what I think is a rather catty comment.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53He says the best reason to stay a long time in Weston-super-Mare
0:18:53 > 0:18:56is because of the attractive places around it.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58What do you think of that? Do you think that's a bit unfair?
0:18:58 > 0:19:02- Well...- Yeah, the Weston-super-Mare central is lovely.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04I thought you'd say that.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07And the other thing he says is that he thinks
0:19:07 > 0:19:11the bank of mud that's left at low tide is disfiguring.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15- Would you use that word? - No, it's a natural thing, surely.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19You can't have lovely Cornwall beaches everywhere, can you?
0:19:19 > 0:19:25- And if it's a natural thing, you shouldn't call it disfiguring? - No, course not. It's part of Weston.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28Everybody knows it's like that down here but everybody still comes down here.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30You really are loyal to your town.
0:19:34 > 0:19:41At least Bradshaw is more positive about one local attraction, Birnbeck Pier.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44He says, "The bay sweeps a flat sandy beach to Worle Hill,
0:19:44 > 0:19:49"having beyond it the Rock, or island of Birnbeck, across which
0:19:49 > 0:19:53"a new pier has been made with a landing stage for steamers."
0:19:55 > 0:19:58The pier was still bustling 50 years ago.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01But severe damage from storms in 1990 made it unsafe
0:20:01 > 0:20:04and it was closed to the public in 1994.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09The only way to appreciate it is by water.
0:20:09 > 0:20:14'So I've tagged along with the RNLI, who used to have a base on the pier.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18'Nigel is one of 24 local volunteers.'
0:20:18 > 0:20:21You've got an RNLI slipway there.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24- You use that sometimes? - We don't any more.
0:20:24 > 0:20:30That got condemned a while back, just falling into disrepair, really.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33So we now operate on the north side, using a new method
0:20:33 > 0:20:37with tractors and trailers launching on a shingle beach.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40Does it make you sad to see it in this dilapidated condition?
0:20:40 > 0:20:43It does, yes. It's quite an old pier.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46I just about remember it from when I was a wee lad.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49And to see it like it is now is devastating, really.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54But my visit to the pier is cut short by a real emergency.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58You have to get the guys back on here. They want number two.
0:21:00 > 0:21:01Thank you.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Swansea Coastguard from Weston...
0:21:04 > 0:21:06There I was...er...
0:21:06 > 0:21:09out in lifeboat number one
0:21:09 > 0:21:13and a call came through.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16Luckily, we had lifeboat number two alongside us,
0:21:16 > 0:21:19but they have been called to an emergency.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21Somebody is drifting in a raft.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25It's quite a long-distance job, so they've got to take the bigger craft
0:21:25 > 0:21:28and luckily we had the smaller boat alongside.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33- Hello.- Hi, Michael. Welcome aboard number two.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35Thank you very much indeed. Thank you, guys.
0:21:35 > 0:21:40'With all that excitement, I'm glad to get my feet back on dry land.'
0:21:40 > 0:21:41That was great. Thank you very much indeed.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44- Take it easy.- Bye. Thank you.
0:21:48 > 0:21:53This old pier may be very down on its luck today, but it was still
0:21:53 > 0:21:56a massive tourist attraction until the late 1950s.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01Pier archivist Stan Terrell remembers how popular it was
0:22:01 > 0:22:04and has traced its history back to Bradshaw's day.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10Stan, why do you think the Victorians were so crazy about piers?
0:22:10 > 0:22:14The very fact that they so enjoyed going on boats, but with a pier
0:22:14 > 0:22:19you could be on a boat as it were, and you felt safe.
0:22:19 > 0:22:20You had the water underneath you.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22I think they loved that.
0:22:22 > 0:22:27The other thing of course with piers, especially in their
0:22:27 > 0:22:29early days, was that it was somewhere where you could promenade.
0:22:29 > 0:22:34In other words, you could be seen and you could see others.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39One of the reasons the pier was such a hit was that it was the
0:22:39 > 0:22:43nearest spot for Welsh people to get a drink on Sundays.
0:22:43 > 0:22:49Cardiff tourists poured in from the steamers into the bars on the first "booze cruises".
0:22:49 > 0:22:53Paint a picture for me. At the height of the Victorian era, people arriving by steamers.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55What would it have been like on the pier?
0:22:55 > 0:22:57Bags of excitement, I guess.
0:22:57 > 0:23:02As many as 13 steamers queuing up to discharge their passengers.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05When they would have eventually got on the island,
0:23:05 > 0:23:09enjoying themselves with all the amusements, the helter-skelter.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13I've heard it said the town business people didn't like it really,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16because all the business was coming into the old pier
0:23:16 > 0:23:19and very little of that came into the town.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23Stan, one history of the pier is about pleasure and steamers.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27Another history of the pier is to do with warfare. Is that right?
0:23:27 > 0:23:35Quite correct. In 1942, the Admiralty took this pier over.
0:23:35 > 0:23:40It became then known as HMS Birnbeck, and they staffed it with scientists.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43They developed the bouncing bomb,
0:23:43 > 0:23:48but it was only the theoretical work that was done in that instance.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50I have to stop you there.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54You're telling me that the bouncing bomb was developed on a pier?
0:23:54 > 0:23:59Yes, it was. The idea apparently for choosing the pier
0:23:59 > 0:24:03to put their scientists on was that, first of all,
0:24:03 > 0:24:07you've probably noticed how secluded we are, away from prying eyes.
0:24:07 > 0:24:12And secondly, we have the third highest rise and fall
0:24:12 > 0:24:13of the tide in the world.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16So one of the objects was to develop weapons
0:24:16 > 0:24:20that they could fire into very deep water and they wanted
0:24:20 > 0:24:24to be able to examine those explosives on low tide.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27So those are the two reasons it was chosen.
0:24:27 > 0:24:33So, actually, Birnbeck Pier has a rather important part in the history of World War II.
0:24:33 > 0:24:34Oh, yes, I'd say so, yes.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53It's a really beautiful day.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55The sun's been out.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58There's a breeze off the sea.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00You can see for miles.
0:25:00 > 0:25:05This is the British beach holiday at its best.
0:25:05 > 0:25:10I think Bradshaw must have seen it on a rainy day, because
0:25:10 > 0:25:13Weston-super-Mare has lots to offer,
0:25:13 > 0:25:17including one very traditional British seaside attraction.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21Kevin Mager's family has run the donkey rides here
0:25:21 > 0:25:23for more than 100 years.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26Tell me about Weston-super-Mare in its heyday.
0:25:26 > 0:25:31It was for touring, donkey rides. People used to come from the station.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33It used to be packed all the way down the road
0:25:33 > 0:25:37and there'd be lines of them coming in the mornings.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39What was the beach like in those days?
0:25:39 > 0:25:42We used to have to keep a track for the donkeys to walk along.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45The people used to be all sat in their deckchairs and they'd
0:25:45 > 0:25:48sit on the track and we used to have to try and move them.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50It's a wonderful beach, isn't it?
0:25:50 > 0:25:54It's a lovely beach, Weston. It's nice and flat. They're safe.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56The tide doesn't come in...
0:25:56 > 0:25:58It comes in twice a day.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00How did your family get into donkeys, do you think?
0:26:00 > 0:26:04Well, years ago, everyone had coal businesses.
0:26:04 > 0:26:09They were coal merchants and then, in the summer, cos there was no coal,
0:26:09 > 0:26:11they went to doing donkey rides.
0:26:11 > 0:26:16That's how I think it happened, cos we did it as well. Many years ago, we had a coal business.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18So the two businesses go together perfectly?
0:26:18 > 0:26:19- Yes.- Winter and summer.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Is this your first time on a donkey?
0:26:22 > 0:26:25- Did you enjoy it?- Yes.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29- Was he nice and gentle and safe? - Nice and gentle and safe.- Yeah.
0:26:43 > 0:26:49'By the 1970s, Weston-super-Mare was in decline, thanks to cheap package holidays abroad.
0:26:49 > 0:26:50'These days,
0:26:50 > 0:26:54'visitor numbers are back up to around six million a year.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58'Perhaps the eco-friendly trend towards holidaying in Britain
0:26:58 > 0:27:01'is again boosting the town's popularity.'
0:27:12 > 0:27:16When I remember childhood summers, I think of strawberries
0:27:16 > 0:27:20and beaches and piers and boat rides
0:27:20 > 0:27:24and, yes, the occasional donkey,
0:27:24 > 0:27:28and these were the things mentioned in Bradshaw,
0:27:28 > 0:27:30largely invented by the Victorians,
0:27:30 > 0:27:33and made possible by the railways,
0:27:33 > 0:27:38and they're at the heart of the British seaside holiday even today.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48Tomorrow, I'll be discovering
0:27:48 > 0:27:51why Torquay became a magnet for Victorian invalids.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54You've got 3,000 miles' worth of the Atlantic Ocean on your doorstep,
0:27:54 > 0:27:58nice clean air for most of the year coming in off the Atlantic, so that's good for your lung disorders.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02I'll be fishing for salmon on the beautiful Dart estuary.
0:28:02 > 0:28:07I tell you, Nick, these city hands have not done work like this in their lifetime.
0:28:08 > 0:28:13And I'll be spending Britain's first local currency.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17When you shop in a supermarket, 80% of that money leaves Totnes the next morning.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20This is a currency that can't leave Totnes.
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