0:00:05 > 0:00:09'In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain.
0:00:11 > 0:00:17'His name was George Bradshaw, and his railway guides inspired the Victorians to take to
0:00:17 > 0:00:22'the tracks. Stop by stop, he told them where to travel, what to see and where to stay.
0:00:22 > 0:00:28'Now, 170 years later, I am making four long journeys across the length
0:00:28 > 0:00:34'and breadth of the country to see what remains of Bradshaw's Britain.'
0:00:52 > 0:00:55Using my ancient Bradshaw's guide,
0:00:55 > 0:00:58my rail journey has at last brought me to Cornwall.
0:00:58 > 0:01:03The arrival of the railways in the 19th century knitted together Britain's towns and cities.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08But even the fastest trains left Cornwall feeling remote.
0:01:09 > 0:01:14I'm here to look at two industries that draw on the county's natural resources.
0:01:14 > 0:01:19They're both mentioned in Bradshaw's, they've survived in the modern times,
0:01:19 > 0:01:22and one is even staging a revival.
0:01:22 > 0:01:28'Today I'll be visiting the largest china-clay mines in the world.'
0:01:28 > 0:01:32What an extraordinary scene! Like a vast moonscape!
0:01:32 > 0:01:38'I'll be seeing how the Victorian spirit of adventure shaped British gardens.'
0:01:38 > 0:01:42We're celebrating the Victorian tradition of how things were gardened,
0:01:42 > 0:01:47the Victorian attitudes to life, and also the people who worked in these gardens.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49That's what we regard as lost.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53'And I'll be discovering what's happened to the humble pilchard.'
0:01:53 > 0:01:58There's a big demand for pilchards, which has been renamed the sardine.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02- Oh! The sardine and pilchard are one and the same, are they? - They are exactly the same.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17'All this week I've been travelling from Swindon
0:02:17 > 0:02:18'along the Holiday Line.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21'After heading south through Somerset and Devon,
0:02:21 > 0:02:23'I'm now moving into Cornwall.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25'Here, the Great Western Railway made
0:02:25 > 0:02:28'the whole peninsula accessible to tourists,
0:02:28 > 0:02:30all the way to Penzance.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36'Today, I'll continue west, along the coast from Totnes
0:02:36 > 0:02:40'to Par and St Austell, and push on to Mevagissey.
0:02:46 > 0:02:51'Bradshaw's commends Cornwall not for its beauty, but its minerals.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55'It says, "The most important objects in the history of this county
0:02:55 > 0:02:57'"are its numerous mines, which
0:02:57 > 0:03:02'"for centuries have furnished employment to thousands of its inhabitants."
0:03:04 > 0:03:07'You don't see that Cornwall from a railway carriage today.
0:03:10 > 0:03:17'It's more famous for second homers and tourists admiring its stupendous landscapes, as I am.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27'Today, I'm in St Germans, and as usual my day begins
0:03:27 > 0:03:33'in a railway carriage - but this one isn't actually going anywhere.'
0:03:36 > 0:03:40Welcome to the Travelling Post Office, where I spent the night.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43As you see, it's fully equipped with a kitchen,
0:03:43 > 0:03:45everything you could possibly want, I think.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47This is where I had my breakfast.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Plenty of room to sit.
0:03:49 > 0:03:54'The Post Office began sending the mail by train in the 1830s, and
0:03:54 > 0:04:00'soon created special rolling stock so that letters could be sorted on the move.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05'By the early 20th century, there were around 77 such carriages.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10'The service ran right up to 2004.'
0:04:11 > 0:04:17The kids are going to love this. Two bunk beds and a sweet little bedroom.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21And this leads through to
0:04:21 > 0:04:24the adults' bedroom, where I spent the night.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28If any of you are old enough to remember this,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31the leather-strap window... You pull on the leather strap...
0:04:33 > 0:04:35I have been practising that all morning!
0:04:35 > 0:04:38You can tell by the change of the design!
0:04:38 > 0:04:41And now, the piece de resistance!
0:04:43 > 0:04:47A-ha! My own private entrance!
0:04:47 > 0:04:51This old Travelling Post Office is owned by Lizzie and David Stroud,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54who also converted the station next door.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57- I'm Michael, I was your guest last night.- Pleased to meet you, Michael.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59How do you do? Good to see you.
0:04:59 > 0:05:04So, I take it that this railway station is actually your home, is that right?
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Yes, that is correct. We've lived here since 1992.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10You aren't worried about the noisy trains passing you all the time?
0:05:10 > 0:05:14No, we've got thick double glazing, so it really doesn't bother us at all.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17The noise is shielded by the platform, so you only get the sound
0:05:17 > 0:05:22of a train as it passes, while in the village you get the sound of a train as it's coming and going away.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25It's actually relatively quiet, living in the station.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28I stayed in the Travelling Post Office, very nice.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Tell me what is left of it as a Travelling Post Office.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35I imagined lots of pigeonholes where you put the letters during the night.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39Unfortunately when we bought the Post Office, that had all been stripped out years ago -
0:05:39 > 0:05:42it had been lived in as a house.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46That is really how long these old carriages survive. They get lived in.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49Of course, what you've got to get used to in a carriage is,
0:05:49 > 0:05:53- you've got plenty of space, but of course it's very, very long.- It is, yes.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57If you forgot something in the bedroom, you've got to prepare for a very long walk!
0:05:57 > 0:06:01It is quite a long trek in that one. It's 48 feet long, that one.
0:06:01 > 0:06:06The people who come and stay with you, in practice are they railway nutters? Let's be frank about this!
0:06:06 > 0:06:09There's such a mix, isn't there, really?
0:06:09 > 0:06:11We get some hardened train spotters.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14But we also get a lot of families as well, actually.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17- Increasingly, families, actually.- Yeah.
0:06:17 > 0:06:23I know some people who will be green with envy that I have stayed in the Travelling Post Office.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25I hardly dare tell them I've come! Bye bye!
0:06:25 > 0:06:27Bye!
0:06:27 > 0:06:30'Today is Sunday, and in Bradshaw's time, no trains ran
0:06:30 > 0:06:36'between 10am and 4pm, during what was called the church interval.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39'Sabbath observance isn't what it was, but at small
0:06:39 > 0:06:44'rural stations like St Germans, Sunday trains are still rare.'
0:06:48 > 0:06:52I usually use my railway journeys to catch up on reading Bradshaw's,
0:06:52 > 0:06:54but this countryside is just so distracting -
0:06:54 > 0:06:56the combination of forests and
0:06:56 > 0:06:59green fields, with cows and sheep...
0:06:59 > 0:07:02It's just breathtaking.
0:07:05 > 0:07:12'My next stop is Par. A small town, but nonetheless a hub for the huge china-clay industry.'
0:07:23 > 0:07:24So, this is Par.
0:07:24 > 0:07:31Bradshaw's guide says, "A large mining town in West Cornwall, near the sea,
0:07:31 > 0:07:35"with several important mines round it in the granite, producing copper,
0:07:35 > 0:07:41"nickel, with clay, and china stone for the Staffordshire Potteries."
0:07:41 > 0:07:46It's difficult to grasp that the china-clay deposits in Cornwall are - wait for it -
0:07:46 > 0:07:48the biggest in the world.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00'The white porcelain clay found here in 1746 was of the finest quality,
0:08:00 > 0:08:04'and was in huge demand in the Staffordshire Potteries.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10'It was originally shipped northwards by sea, but the railways took over
0:08:10 > 0:08:13'in the 1840s, making the process much quicker.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23'Clay miner Ivor Bowditch works at one of the oldest pits,
0:08:23 > 0:08:25'which remains highly productive.'
0:08:27 > 0:08:29Welcome to clay country, Michael.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32- Good to see you.- Thank you. What an extraordinary scene!
0:08:32 > 0:08:35Like a vast moonscape.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39This, in fact, is the largest china-clay pit probably in the world,
0:08:39 > 0:08:41covering some 500 acres.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43It has been operated for almost 180 years.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46I've been following this 19th-century guidebook.
0:08:46 > 0:08:51This mine would have existed when that was written, in the 1860s?
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Indeed it would. It opened up in 1830.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59China clay itself had been operated in Cornwall since 1746.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03In Britain, we're rather used to industries being in decline.
0:09:03 > 0:09:09How would the output from Cornwall of china clay compare now with in Bradshaw's day?
0:09:09 > 0:09:14In Bradshaw's day, production probably would have been around the 60,000-tonnes-per-annum mark.
0:09:14 > 0:09:21Today, together with two small producing clay companies, we are seeing 1.5 million tonnes per annum.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24That's an absolutely vast increase from the 19th century.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28What has been the new demand in that time?
0:09:28 > 0:09:33The main driving factor has been the use of china clay in the manufacturing of paper and board.
0:09:33 > 0:09:38It was in fact in the mid-19th century the paper makers found that, by adding clay,
0:09:38 > 0:09:43they could produce smoother, whiter paper, and still, 50% of our output goes into paper,
0:09:43 > 0:09:4830% into a whole range of ceramic products, and the remaining 20% into markets such as paints,
0:09:48 > 0:09:52rubbers, plastics, sealants, adhesives, pharmaceuticals...
0:09:52 > 0:09:55Every day we're probably handling something containing clay.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57Is it possible to get any closer?
0:09:57 > 0:10:01Well, I've got your hard hat and hi-vis jacket.
0:10:01 > 0:10:02So let's go down and see some action.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04Thank you very much.
0:10:09 > 0:10:15'120 million tonnes of china clay have been extracted in the past 250 years.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19'In Bradshaw's day, it was flushed out of the earth with hoses.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23'The same technique is used today, but the hoses are much more potent.'
0:10:28 > 0:10:31This is the operation, Michael.
0:10:31 > 0:10:37We have what we call a monitor, a water cannon, normally firing up to 2,000 gallons a minute.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41We would normally have 12,000 gallons a minute going through the system.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44- What's it doing?- Literally washing the clay out of the ground.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47We're getting the clay into a solution, as such.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51In its liquid form, we can start to refine it and take out the non-clay bearing minerals.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54- Would you like to have a go? - I'd love to.- Come on over.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03Michael, you have two levers. One on the right, vertical movement,
0:11:03 > 0:11:05one on the left, horizontal movement.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11Let me have a go. This one does left and right...
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Moving to the right...
0:11:14 > 0:11:16And this one is up and down.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22This water cannon is really terrifyingly powerful, isn't it?
0:11:22 > 0:11:27It's powerful enough to knock a Land Rover over, that's how powerful they are.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33'The watery clay solution is pumped to a refinery for processing.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37'Then the pure clay is dried, ready for transportation.'
0:11:37 > 0:11:42Michael, we've seen the power of water here, at 300 psi.
0:11:42 > 0:11:48Let's transfer the power to 3,500 horsepower and see a locomotive at work.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50Good by me!
0:11:54 > 0:12:00'The railways were vital to Cornish mining, and soon a network of lines criss-crossed the county.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06'Today, many of those routes have closed.
0:12:06 > 0:12:11'But the massive clay train to the port of Fowey still runs along a single track,
0:12:11 > 0:12:16'and I have the chance to ride on a line that rarely transports passengers.'
0:12:16 > 0:12:18Thank you!
0:12:19 > 0:12:24'To ensure our safety on the single track, we're using a system that Bradshaw would recognise.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26'We collect a token from the signal box,
0:12:26 > 0:12:32'and since there's only one for the line, we know that no train is running towards us.'
0:12:40 > 0:12:43The train we're on now, how many tonnes are we pulling?
0:12:43 > 0:12:461,140, normally.
0:12:46 > 0:12:4938 wagons, 30 tonnes a wagon.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52Fantastic. How many lorries are we replacing?
0:12:52 > 0:12:56You'd be looking at approaching 50 lorries to move that.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00You'd have 100-lorry movements in both directions.
0:13:00 > 0:13:06- How often are these trains heading out?- They're working daily, Monday to Friday.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11My 19th-century guide talks about the china clay being taken up to the Potteries in Staffordshire.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14- Does that still happen? - Not on the same scale.
0:13:14 > 0:13:19Sadly, the predominance of the Potteries in Stoke-on-Trent has diminished.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22The trains now are all working to
0:13:22 > 0:13:27the port of Fowey, which is the only clay port operational today.
0:13:27 > 0:13:32They're really very much at the heart of our export drive - 85% of our output is exported.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43I very rarely get to ride in the cab, and it has been thrilling to do it.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47What I hadn't expected was the fantastic scenery we've had.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03I really enjoyed that. Thank you!
0:14:07 > 0:14:10'As the clay mines have been exhausted, they've closed.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14'Some have been re-landscaped, others have been recycled.
0:14:16 > 0:14:22'This one houses two of the largest conservatories in the world, which are part of the Eden Project.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25'The founders didn't want the biospheres to
0:14:25 > 0:14:29'dominate the landscape, so they located them in a disused pit.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35'And helped by a good train service, the Project's become
0:14:35 > 0:14:38'one of the country's greenest tourist attractions.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48'Next, I'm travelling just a few miles on from Par to Mevagissey,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51'a famous harbour on the south coast of Cornwall.'
0:15:01 > 0:15:02- Hello!- Morning.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05- Good morning, how are you both? - Very well, thank you.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08- Are you visiting Cornwall? - We are.- Isn't it beautiful?
0:15:08 > 0:15:10Fabulous. The weather is marvellous, as well.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13Aren't we lucky? Where are you headed for now?
0:15:13 > 0:15:17We're going to St Austell, and we're going to the Lost Gardens of Heligan.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20- Ah! I shall be there myself before long.- Will you?
0:15:20 > 0:15:22- Enjoy!- Thank you, bye bye.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34'If clay was an important natural resource in Bradshaw's time, then so too was fish.'
0:15:40 > 0:15:46There are people who do very difficult, dangerous, maybe dirty jobs, on which the rest of us rely.
0:15:46 > 0:15:47Maybe for our food.
0:15:47 > 0:15:54If you live in a city, as I have all my life, you probably don't think about that kind of work.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58So I'm pleased today to have a chance to go out with a fisherman,
0:15:58 > 0:16:01to get a glimpse of the very dangerous job they do.
0:16:09 > 0:16:14'I'm getting off at St Austell, because that's as close as the railway goes to Mevagissey.
0:16:14 > 0:16:20'Bradshaw describes it as "an important fishing town in the pilchard season".
0:16:21 > 0:16:27'In the 19th century, the pilchard industry provided jobs for thousands of fishermen.
0:16:27 > 0:16:32'The catch was salted and packaged in caskets by women
0:16:32 > 0:16:35'in processing plants called pilchard palaces.
0:16:35 > 0:16:41'In 1871, the industry reached its peak.
0:16:41 > 0:16:48'16,000 tonnes of pilchards were caught, cured and transported to Europe by sea and all over Britain
0:16:48 > 0:16:55'by train. Andrew Lakeman's family have netted pilchards here since the 1700s.'
0:16:55 > 0:16:58- Hello.- Hello, Michael.
0:16:58 > 0:16:59- Let me guess, you're Andrew?- I am.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03- And that kit is for me? - Yes, it is. Welcome to Mevagissey.
0:17:03 > 0:17:04Well, thank you.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09'Pilchards are best caught at night, so we're heading out in the evening.'
0:17:09 > 0:17:12- OK?- Thank you.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16'In Bradshaw's day, men called huers would gaze out to sea to spy where
0:17:16 > 0:17:21'seabirds were fishing for pilchards, then send in the boats.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25'It resulted in some large catches.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34'Today, Andrew's boat uses more-sophisticated technology, as the skipper explains.'
0:17:36 > 0:17:38- Skipper, hello. - Hi, pleased to meet you.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Can I interrupt you a minute?
0:17:40 > 0:17:43- Yeah, no problem. - How's the hunt going?
0:17:43 > 0:17:44Quiet at the moment.
0:17:44 > 0:17:49Little bits and pieces of pilchards, but hopefully in
0:17:49 > 0:17:54the next half an hour, as it's coming dusk, they'll gather together.
0:17:54 > 0:17:59So, this is the sonar. What are we looking for on this screen?
0:17:59 > 0:18:01I'm searching at 200 metres at the moment.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05This is the sea floor ahead of the boat and around the boat.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09We're looking for the pilchards in this black area.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11What would they look like?
0:18:11 > 0:18:15We're looking for something around the size of a 20 pence piece, blood red.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19- What quantity of fish would that be? - Probably be about five to six tonnes.
0:18:19 > 0:18:24Later on in the year, we'll have marks 200 metres long, 100 tonnes of fish in.
0:18:24 > 0:18:29Obviously, we just fish to what our orders require.
0:18:29 > 0:18:35'In Britain, most pilchards were sold in tins and were cheap to buy.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38'But because they were associated with wartime rationing,
0:18:38 > 0:18:43'by the 1950s they became one of our least popular foods.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48'Fishermen could earn only one and a half pence per kilo.
0:18:48 > 0:18:53'But in the last 15 years, the humble pilchard has enjoyed a renaissance.'
0:18:57 > 0:18:59So, is there a demand now for pilchards?
0:18:59 > 0:19:03There's a big demand for pilchards, which has been renamed the sardine.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07Oh! The sardine and the pilchard are one and the same, are they?
0:19:07 > 0:19:09They are exactly the same.
0:19:09 > 0:19:10- Really?- Yes, they are.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14But "pilchard" makes me think of rusting cans,
0:19:14 > 0:19:19and "sardines" makes me think of Mediterranean holidays.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24- Well, you're probably right.- The sardine now is a very chic product.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28Yes, it is. It's a very successful species. It's bought and
0:19:28 > 0:19:31sold by all the supermarkets.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35We sell large quantities to wholesalers throughout the country.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39So what's in a name? A pilchard by any other name would smell as sweet!
0:19:42 > 0:19:46'It's a textbook example of what marketing or rebranding can do.
0:19:46 > 0:19:51'Since 1997, pilchards have been renamed "Cornish sardines".
0:19:51 > 0:19:56'The glamorous association with balmy evenings in southern Europe
0:19:56 > 0:19:58'has helped pilchard sales to take off.'
0:20:02 > 0:20:04The sun's just setting. This is the very time.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08That's right. It's nearly 7:00.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12So, we're looking probably to shoot around 7:30, something like that.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15That's what I like, a man who's confident!
0:20:19 > 0:20:22I've got the fish here alongside the boat.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25We'll be looking to shoot the net at any time.
0:20:25 > 0:20:26OK, Matt!
0:20:30 > 0:20:34'The net cast around the mass of fish is designed to cut off their escape.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40'And once in place, the crew hauls in the catch.'
0:20:42 > 0:20:44Here they come.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47I can see some fish down there, skipper. How many?
0:20:47 > 0:20:4950, 60 kilo.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51You haven't bust any quotas yet!
0:20:51 > 0:20:53No, not yet.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57'It's a modest harvest, but it's all pilchards...
0:20:57 > 0:20:59'or, should I say, sardines.'
0:21:01 > 0:21:08Very good quality fish, and they will be in the factory tomorrow morning and be treated in the normal way.
0:21:08 > 0:21:13I'll think of you out here tossing on the wave as I sit down to my fish dinner.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29'In Bradshaw's time, Mevagissey depended on fishing.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32'These days, it's tourists that bring in the money.
0:21:32 > 0:21:39'Indeed, one place just outside Mevagissey now attracts almost 250,000 people a year.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46'This is Heligan House and estate.
0:21:46 > 0:21:51'The house and its owners, the Tremayne family, are mentioned in Bradshaw's guide.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56'But Bradshaw could not have predicted
0:21:56 > 0:22:01'the impact that this estate would have on British gardens.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07'Today, the Lost Gardens of Heligan are one of the top attractions in Cornwall,
0:22:07 > 0:22:11'and they're looked after by horticulturalist Philip McMillan Browse.'
0:22:14 > 0:22:17Why then is this called the Lost Garden of Heligan?
0:22:17 > 0:22:21Everybody thinks it was because the gardens were derelict and overgrown,
0:22:21 > 0:22:27and very much so, and that recovering them was recovering the lost gardens, which indeed is true.
0:22:27 > 0:22:33But in fact, the reason we called it the Lost Gardens so that it could be a perennial title was simply that
0:22:33 > 0:22:41we were trying to recover that great surge of activity at the end of the Victorian era, when gardening
0:22:41 > 0:22:46and industry and engineering and everything was at its peak.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49What we're celebrating is the Victorian tradition of how things
0:22:49 > 0:22:56were gardened, the Victorian attitudes to life, and also the people who worked in these gardens.
0:22:56 > 0:22:57That's what we regard as lost.
0:23:00 > 0:23:06'It was places like Heligan that brought exotic plants from all over the world to our gardens,
0:23:06 > 0:23:14'when the owners began collecting specimens from adventurous plant hunters like William Lobb.'
0:23:14 > 0:23:21He was a Cornishman, and he was the first ever real commercial plant collector, employed by a nurseryman,
0:23:21 > 0:23:28to set out and collect what that nurseryman wanted for his purposes, for his commercial gain.
0:23:28 > 0:23:34His main task was to go to Chile and collect huge quantities of seed, or as much as he could,
0:23:34 > 0:23:39of the monkey-puzzle tree, which was highly sought-after at that time, and they couldn't get enough of it.
0:23:39 > 0:23:45He trekked across the Amazon jungle, up over the Andes, through a snow-filled mountain pass,
0:23:45 > 0:23:49down the other side into Chile, and then down the western side of
0:23:49 > 0:23:51the Andes to southern Chile,
0:23:51 > 0:23:56where he found these huge stands of the monkey-puzzle tree,
0:23:56 > 0:23:58collected vast quantities of seed.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02I think they said 13,000 trees were derived from the seed he sent back.
0:24:03 > 0:24:08'Lobb's monkey-puzzle seeds were propagated in England,
0:24:08 > 0:24:11and the young trees planted at Heligan.'
0:24:11 > 0:24:13That's the plant, up there.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16Even an idiot like me can recognise a monkey-puzzle tree.
0:24:16 > 0:24:21They're wonderful, silhouetted against the sky here. Huge specimen.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Just like you'd find them in nature in the Andes.
0:24:27 > 0:24:32'In the 19th century, the middle classes sought to imitate the fine gardens of estates like Heligan.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36'The railways made it practical for even the owners of humble
0:24:36 > 0:24:39'suburban gardens all over Britain to order from
0:24:39 > 0:24:45'nursery catalogues exotic species like monkey puzzles.'
0:24:45 > 0:24:48Most of these trees that you see around you
0:24:48 > 0:24:53are tree-rhododendron species that are about 150 years old.
0:24:53 > 0:25:00The one just up there in the corner that you can look at his rhododendron niveum, which is mauve in colour.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04It's very unusual because it's the same colour as the first-ever
0:25:04 > 0:25:09artificial dye, which was used by Queen Victoria in the first instance,
0:25:09 > 0:25:11to dye her dresses, and then picked up
0:25:11 > 0:25:14by the higher classes, who also found it fashionable.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18But because it was so common eventually, and mass-produced,
0:25:18 > 0:25:22then the hoi polloi generally had it as their fashionable colour.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25Even nurses' uniforms were made out of it.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27If you belonged to the upper classes, you didn't want
0:25:27 > 0:25:30to be associated with the fashions of the lower classes.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34So, you went round your garden and you eradicated all these plants.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39Mauve became unfashionable, which is probably why you're wearing that colour shirt!
0:25:39 > 0:25:41Are you calling me naff?!
0:25:41 > 0:25:43I didn't say that!
0:25:50 > 0:25:56'Today, Heligan preserves species from around the world, and also sustains an approach
0:25:56 > 0:26:00'to gardening that's little changed since Bradshaw's time.'
0:26:12 > 0:26:15Hello. I'm sorry to scare you. How are you?
0:26:15 > 0:26:17I'm Michael, how are you doing?
0:26:17 > 0:26:20OK, yes. I was just going to tell you off, actually!
0:26:20 > 0:26:25Well, here we are! What are you doing at the moment, may I ask?
0:26:25 > 0:26:30We've just weeded this bed now, so I'm just breaking it down and flattening it.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34You're doing something very traditional here, making sure that everything
0:26:34 > 0:26:37that is consumed in the restaurant is produced on the site.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40Does that give you a lot of satisfaction?
0:26:40 > 0:26:45Definitely. It's nice to have still the old Victorian way, do things the old-fashioned way.
0:26:45 > 0:26:50Everything here gets done by hand.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52And you can taste the difference?
0:26:52 > 0:26:54Definitely. You can smell it as well!
0:26:54 > 0:26:57'Without the Victorian passion for exploration,
0:26:57 > 0:27:03'we wouldn't have the huge range of plants that adorn our gardens today.
0:27:03 > 0:27:10'And without the railways, those delicate specimens couldn't have arrived swiftly and safely.'
0:27:10 > 0:27:16In Cornish china clay, I find an industry producing more today
0:27:16 > 0:27:19than in Bradshaw's time, which is pretty rare.
0:27:19 > 0:27:24And the pilchard business is reviving, thanks to a change of name,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27reborn as sardine fishing.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31What Bradshaw's missed completely is Cornwall's great beauty.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34And thanks to its climate and its garden,
0:27:34 > 0:27:42it now attracts those tourists who look for something more on their holiday than sand and ice cream.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57'Next time, I'll be making a pilgrimage to Perran Sands.'
0:27:57 > 0:28:02I'm looking for the Lost Church of St Piran, but it seems to have got lost again.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06It is, but believe it or not, it's here, right under this granite rock.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10'I'll be exploring Cornwall's last working tin mine.'
0:28:10 > 0:28:13This thing was put in before the days of rock drills.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16This had to be hand-drilled, and then blasted.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20'And I'll be harvesting oysters on the Helford River.'
0:28:20 > 0:28:23That really is exciting! What an amazing sight.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27It's a cage absolutely full of bags of oysters.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29That's right.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd