Buxton to Matlock Great British Railway Journeys


Buxton to Matlock

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In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain.

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His name was George Bradshaw,

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and his railway guides inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks.

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Stop by stop, he told them where to travel, what to see, and where to stay.

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Now, 170 years later, I'm making four long journeys across the length

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and breadth of the country to see what remains of Bradshaw's Britain.

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My first journey this week begins

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in the gorgeous open spaces of Derbyshire, the Peak District,

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and the wonderful town of Buxton.

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Before long I'll be penetrating

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the heart of Britain's Industrial Revolution -

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Burton, Derby, Birmingham - and thinking about trains that carried

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coal and minerals as well as passengers,

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before going on to the Home Counties,

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and eventually to the nation's capital - ending up in London.

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'Along the way, I'll be exploring some hidden architectural gems.'

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It is huge.

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-Are we talking St Peter's Cathedral in Rome?

-Larger than!

-No!

-Yes.

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Finding out how the landscape of the Peak District has changed since Bradshaw's time.

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The Industrial Revolution - the coal-fired industries - basically destroyed the bog surface.

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And taking a nostalgic trip back into my childhood.

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From the moment I arrived on this platform, I got that scent of railway engine.

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I'm old enough to remember trains pulled by steam engines

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and it just took me straight back to my childhood.

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All this week, I'm travelling from Buxton along one of the

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earliest railway routes in England, first built to transport freight from north to south.

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Each day, I'll be stopping at towns and cities recommended

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by Bradshaw's guide, until I reach the end of the line in London.

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Today, I'll be covering the first 40 miles, to Holme Moss

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then on through the Peak District via Millers Dale to Matlock Bath.

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My first stop is at England's highest market town, Buxton.

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Buxton sprang to life as an upmarket resort in the 18th century, on the back of its famous spa.

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The well-to-do visitors came for the curative effects of the famous local spring water.

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As Bradshaw tells me, I will find a fountain which gives us the Buxton waters.

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He says the water is clear and tasteless.

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It's also warm.

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And, says Bradshaw, has a stimulating effect.

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I must watch out for that.

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The water was said to be especially good for gout and rheumatism.

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Today, the fountain, known as St Ann's Well, still attracts people looking for a cure.

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I see you're really going for it, you're filling up...

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four litres of water?

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Does it do you good?

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I'll give you a story. We had a dachshund and it went off its legs.

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The vet said we couldn't do anything for it.

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Somebody said that it's good for rheumatism.

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We thought, we'll get some of this for the dog. The dog's legs mended, and he walked,

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and he lived for another five years.

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That's fantastic. I'd better have some more, I think.

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-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

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Many of the Regency buildings from Buxton's 18th-century heyday

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as a spa town are still in place, giving Buxton a stately and graceful feel.

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Bradshaw is enthusiastic about Buxton.

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"Situated in the midst of one of the most picturesque parts of Derbyshire,

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"the Crescent is the principal building at Buxton."

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"It was erected by the late Duke Of Devonshire and has three storeys, and extends for 257 feet."

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Built in the early 1780s, the Crescent was a direct copy of the one in Bath, by architect John Wood.

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It housed a ballroom, assembly rooms,

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shops and fashionable hotels,

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as well as a house for the Duke.

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After Buxton had had a Regency heyday,

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it then had a Victorian revival, with a lovely municipal park,

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botanical gardens and an opera house.

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This is a small town we're talking about, and it has an opera house.

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It's fantastic.

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I've been to the opera house in Buxton twice, once years ago

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for a Mozart opera, and once to make a speech.

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When the railways reached Buxton in 1863,

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this northern spa town boomed for the second time.

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To cater for the trainloads of new visitors, The Duke of Devonshire led the building of new attractions.

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Over the next 40 years, the opera house, the Pavilion Gardens

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and the huge Palace Hotel all sprang up,

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funded by the citizens of Buxton themselves.

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These Victorian attractions look pretty much as they did

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in Bradshaw's time, and still bring tourists to Buxton all year round.

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Another landmark built by the Duke dominates Buxton's skyline - his extraordinary stables.

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This is one of Buxton's most magnificent buildings, and

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Bradshaw says, "These are the large stables of the Duke of Devonshire."

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He loves to give figures. "Built at a cost of £120,000."

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Bradshaw is quite shocked by that.

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£5 million in today's money, for stables, that is quite something.

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And a fantastic dome, which Bradshaw doesn't mention.

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This is really beautiful.

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I hadn't expected this lovely colonnade, all the way around.

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I hadn't expected so much light, because the top of the dome

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is completely glass, and light enters all the way around the dome. Oh!

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And I've got an echo.

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Echo.

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Echo.

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Today, the building is a university campus and Adrian Brown is a former student.

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I can't believe this huge building was a stable, and I can't believe that a stable has a dome.

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In fact, it didn't. The original building, as a stables, was created in 1790.

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People can be a little surprised to learn that it was nearly a century later before the building acquires

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the dome, thanks to the efforts of the 7th Duke and his architect, Robert Rippon Duke.

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Just as he was creating this dome, the Tay Bridge disaster happened.

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76 people died during the storm in later December of 1879.

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The Tay Bridge disaster was to have a huge impact on the building of the dome.

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One night during a violent winter storm, the railway bridge across the Tay to Dundee suddenly collapsed.

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It was less than two years old.

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Engineers discovered that the bridge had failed because the rivets weren't

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lined up properly with the holes and had sheared off in high winds.

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Fearing that the same methods were being used to build the dome,

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Architect Robert Rippon Duke immediately halted work.

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What Robert Rippon Duke was concerned about was the fact

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that the construction of the dome was very similar

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to that of the Tay Bridge, in that it was a cast-iron construction,

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bolted and riveted to a stone base.

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I can see the bolts and rivets.

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The way in which the Victorians would have bolted a structure together like this,

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it was made to tight tolerances, but nevertheless, the bolt holes didn't necessarily coincide.

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In that case, the bolt had to be forced, or as the Victorians called it, drifting in the bolt.

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The bolts in some cases were heated up to almost red heat, so they

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became molten, almost plastic in their nature, before they were then hammered into place.

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Robert Rippon Duke came rushing back to the building and stopped work.

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He had all the bolts taken out, the holes re-drilled where necessary.

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Then the whole thing was put back together again,

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with the effect that 130-odd years on, the building is extremely sound.

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So thank goodness - potentially, a second disaster was averted.

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Correct.

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The lessons learned changed the way the Victorians built,

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and helped them achieve some incredible feats of engineering.

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The dome weighs 560 tonnes,

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and spans 145 feet.

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It is huge. What are we talking, St Paul's Cathedral in London?

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-Larger than.

-Larger than?

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-Yeah.

-St Peter's Cathedral in Rome?

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-Larger than.

-No.

-Yes!

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I still have that sort of sense of wonder, and also great pride,

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that Buxton has got one of the largest domes in the world,

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and architecturally, one of the most attractive domes in the world.

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It is truly, I think, the gem in the middle of the Buxton architectural crown.

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-Well placed pride.

-Thank you.

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Bradshaw didn't just recommend local architectural landmarks in his guides -

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he also suggests visiting some of nature's most attractive sites.

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-Does this go to New Mills New Town?

-Yes.

-Thank you very much.

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I'm now leaving Buxton to travel on into the heart of the Peak District National Park, to Holme Moss.

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Bradshaw is at his most lyrical about the Peak District.

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He says, "We have the peculiar scenery of Derbyshire before us.

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"The tourists will seldom see such glorious landscape from the window of a railway carriage."

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"Whilst at one moment the bold hills

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"rise up before us, behind us and on either side, at the next a winding valley

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"shows us a charming picture stretching away for miles."

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In 1951, this area became Britain's first National Park.

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I'm going to the Dark Peak, named after the peat landscape.

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I've never lived in the country and have never wanted to.

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I love cities, and love London, where I live.

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But you see the Peak District

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on a day like today,

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sunny and bright and open, and beautiful,

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it's fantastic.

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To get out on the moors, I now need to leave the railways and take a taxi.

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Are you for Michael Portillo? ..Thank you.

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-Is this one of the prettiest roads?

-It is, because you've got the reservoirs down here on

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your right-hand side, all the way up to Ladybower, going up to Sheffield.

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You have some absolute beautiful views.

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This area is now the second most visited national park in the world,

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after Mount Fuji in Japan.

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Over 20 million visitors come here each year to enjoy the scenery.

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It's quite a contrast to Bradshaw's day, when the peaks were surrounded

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by some of Britain's busiest industrial towns.

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The views are still stunning, just as Bradshaw describes.

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'But the moors are currently under threat.'

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Hello.

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-Are you Chris?

-Please to meet you, I am, yes.

-Good to see you.

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Park ranger Chris Dean is heading up a group of volunteers trying to save the precious peat bog.

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The problem here is that we're on one of the iconic hills

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of the Peak District, Holme Moss,

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and it is one of the places that is suffering

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from erosion to the peat.

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Where I'm seeing these ridges of dark matter - that's the peat?

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-It is.

-And the stuff in between is where the peat's disappeared?

-The peat has largely disappeared.

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If we drew a line across the top of these peat hags, all the material

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underneath is what we've lost.

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The reason for that is that the soil was quite badly acidified

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by the atmospheric pollution from the textile industry.

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-Going all the way back to the 19th century?

-Yeah, absolutely.

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You are talking about heritage railway journeys, which were all powered by coal-fired trains.

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At that time, there was a massive industry, all powered by coal.

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The Industrial Revolution basically destroyed the bog surface,

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because a lot of those plants are quite delicate.

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While there are plants that grow in an acidic environment,

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if it gets too acidic, as here, it just wipes them out completely.

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So, that is effectively acid rain, and then that stops these grasses growing back on the peat again?

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It is basically down to the pH, the acidity of lemon juice,

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so it is extremely acidic, so we have to do something about that,

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so we can get vegetation back on these areas.

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The soil is so badly damaged that the vegetation can't grow back.

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The peat lies exposed to the elements and is gradually eroded away.

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Once the soil has been treated to reduce acidity,

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Chris and the volunteers are aiming to plant 500,000 plug plants, such as cotton grass.

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The work will continue until 35 square kilometres are covered.

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It should protect the peat from erosion and encourage more of it to be produced.

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-A hive of activity.

-It is, it is.

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You've got quite a lot of volunteers out here today.

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We like to involve young people, because they are

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the ones who are eventually going to benefit from this, in the long term.

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Chris aims is to complete the first phase of work by 2015,

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using hundreds of people, including volunteers.

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-What are you using?

-These are dibbers

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and we have got to push them in the ground and make a hole.

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-Shall I have a go?

-Yeah.

-You've given me a nice dirty one.

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-Should be all right.

-Any tips?

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Sometimes it's quite hard so you've got to push quite hard.

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Oh, you're not kidding.

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And it's hard to get it out, so you might want to wiggle it a bit

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before you take it out.

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A good wiggle...

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Ah. Oh.

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I'm not meant to make a big hole like that, am I?

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Right, should it go in there?

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I can see why the work could take a while, but it's important.

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As the peat erodes, it releases CO2 into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.

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As each plant takes root, it will help to lock the CO2 in the soil again.

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Well done, thank you very much indeed. Oh, here's your...

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-what was it called?

-Dibber.

-Dibber.

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-A dirty dibber!

-Yeah.

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Every generation lives with the legacy of its ancestors.

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We are dealing with pollution caused by the Industrial Revolution

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in previous centuries, living with consequences that were unforeseeable.

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But at least the damage is now being repaired.

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And the Peak District is still hauntingly beautiful, much as it was in Bradshaw's day.

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There is another big change that's affecting my journey.

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In the 19th century, train lines snaked across the moors carrying people and freight.

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Bradshaw could have caught the train from Buxton to Matlock, but the line is now closed.

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It's become a cycle and walking trail used by thousands of people every year.

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Bradshaw described the route, passing through Millers Dale along

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the River Wye, as, "One of the most stupendous valleys in Derbyshire,

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"which contains a succession of some of the most remarkable tors and wild picturesque views imaginable."

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"It is, in fact, a magnificent ride,

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"sublimely grand at all seasons."

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Though that moor was very beautiful,

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it was cold and it was windy,

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and I am hungry and I'm tired. Luckily, Bradshaw always recommends hotels,

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and there's one here today that he recommends, founded in 1802.

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It looks pretty grand, exactly the place for a steak and a comfortable bed.

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Hello.

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Hello, good evening, sir.

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Michael Portillo, checking in.

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Welcome to the New Bath Hotel.

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Thank you very much indeed.

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The hotel was originally for well-to-do visitors coming to Matlock Bath to enjoy the spa waters.

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There is even an old Victorian spa bath in the basement.

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Let's hope the rest of the plumbing's been updated.

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-Beautiful.

-It is.

-Ah, and the room is good.

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Lovely four poster bed. Thank you very much indeed.

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I'm going to kick off my boots and then come down to dinner. Thank you.

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And there, indeed, is the gorge.

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Matlock Bath, like Buxton, originally attracted visitors to its thermal springs.

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But when the railways arrived in 1840, it began to model itself

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on the bigger seaside resorts like Blackpool and Southport.

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It opened funfairs and fish and chip shops, and even developed

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its own annual illuminations.

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Matlock Bath is still a popular destination for day-trippers

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with hundreds of thousands arriving every year, and perhaps Bradshaw can explain why.

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Bradshaw is poetic about Matlock Bath.

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"Unquestionably the sweetest and most charming of the Derbyshire spas, it's at the bottom of Matlock Dale."

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"A narrow defile, the rocky limestone sides of which are piled up in the manner of the Undercliff

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in the Isle of Wight, but covered with a profusion of pine, fir, yew, box and other hardy trees."

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"The scenes through Matlock Bath are exquisitely beautiful

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"and may be compared to Switzerland in a nutshell."

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A little over the top, perhaps?

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Although it may seem odd now, the Victorians were prone to describing

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steeply wooded natural scenery as "Swiss".

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It became a well-used term in travel literature for tourists, something the locals seem to know all about.

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I'm following a 19th-century guidebook which says this is like Switzerland in a nutshell.

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Byron named it that, Little Switzerland.

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Byron named it that as well, did he?

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-Yes, he did, yeah.

-I'm following a 19th-century guidebook, it says it's like Switzerland in a nutshell.

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-Would you agree with that?

-It is.

-It is, is it?

-Don't you think so?

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Well, it's beautiful green slopes, isn't it? And the cable car.

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-What's interesting about this place, it's got a seaside atmosphere, even though we are inland.

-Very much so.

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So, a little taste of Switzerland by the sea, even though we're 90 miles from the coast.

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Matlock Bath does have the feel of a seaside resort,

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and whenever I'm at the seaside, I do like to have an ice cream.

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-Morning.

-Good morning. How are you?

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Very well, could I have an ice cream please?

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-Certainly, which cone would you like?

-A rum and raisin, please.

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Do you like Matlock Bath?

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Yes, I love it. I have lived here nearly 30 years.

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My husband and I have travelled extensively in Italy

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and I still don't think there's anywhere as nice as this area.

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It's funny you should mention Italy, because I'm following

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a 19th-century guidebook and it compares Matlock Bath to Switzerland.

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Yes. I'm not sure if that was Lord Byron that did that.

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Our family, we call it a seaside without sea.

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-Thank you very much indeed.

-OK, thank you.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye.

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Although the railways brought tourism to the area, they had a more important role in the 19th century -

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to transport freight from here to the rest of the country.

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I'm now leaving the very tiny resort of Matlock Bath, which was always about tourism,

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for the much bigger Matlock, which was a city of industry.

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For the last leg of my journey I'm heading just six miles away to Rowsley, changing trains at Matlock.

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From the moment I arrived on this platform,

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I got that scent of railway engine,

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that special stench that goes right up inside your nostrils.

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I am old enough to remember trains pulled by steam engines, and it just took me straight back

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to my childhood.

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The other thing that's really bringing back the memories is this sort of corridor train,

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which was so typical in the '60s, and long before that.

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The line passes through some of the prettiest scenery in the Peak District.

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According to Bradshaw,

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in Derbyshire, "The exquisitely beautiful prevails.

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"The lofty rocks and bold crags, richly wooded, the magnificent uplands and rounded knolls.

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"The sweet valleys intersected with silver streams such as the Derwent, the Wye, the Dove,

0:23:090:23:14

"are comprised in one beautiful picture."

0:23:140:23:17

In the 19th century, this line was part of the busy Midland Railway route from London to Manchester.

0:23:200:23:26

Today, it's the only part of the line still open,

0:23:260:23:30

and carries day-trippers and those who love steam trains, like driver Roger Hallett.

0:23:300:23:36

-Pleased to meet you.

-Roger, Michael Portillo, how do you do?

-Not so bad.

0:23:360:23:39

How long have you been driving the engines?

0:23:390:23:41

-About 15 years, now.

-You're just a volunteer, are you?

0:23:410:23:45

-Yeah, just a volunteer.

-And you really love it, I bet.

0:23:450:23:47

Yeah, absolutely, it's brilliant.

0:23:470:23:49

I often said to my father, if I had been slightly older, I would have gone straight onto the railways.

0:23:490:23:54

-That's what we always wanted to do when we were kids.

-Exactly.

0:23:540:23:57

-Wonderful. Thank you very much for the ride, by the way.

-No problem.

0:23:570:24:00

Thank you, very smooth. Bye-bye.

0:24:000:24:02

Roger's dropped me off at Rowsley, near Stanton Moor, in the heart of the White Peak.

0:24:080:24:13

It takes its name from the local stone.

0:24:130:24:16

In this area which is famous for its stone from quarries,

0:24:160:24:21

in the days of water transport, this stuff had to be manhandled onto carts and then on to barges,

0:24:210:24:27

which is incredibly expensive, so it could only be used locally.

0:24:270:24:30

But with the railways, the stone from the quarries could be taken

0:24:300:24:34

to Liverpool, to London, all over Britain.

0:24:340:24:39

The stone here has been mined and worked for over 2,000 years,

0:24:430:24:48

but the quarries expanded rapidly in the 19th century, when the railway arrived.

0:24:480:24:54

Suddenly, Derbyshire stone could travel anywhere.

0:24:540:24:58

As the Industrial Revolution brought wealth, the towns grew, needing more and more Derbyshire stone.

0:24:580:25:04

It found its way into some of the grandest buildings in London,

0:25:060:25:09

including Nelson's Column and Trafalgar Square.

0:25:090:25:16

Near Rowsley, the 12th-century manor Haddon Hall was built

0:25:160:25:19

with Derbyshire stone, which was also used in its recent restoration.

0:25:190:25:24

Limestone, sandstone and gritstone are all still quarried here.

0:25:270:25:32

As well as being used in new buildings, they're also carved

0:25:320:25:37

into perpetual memorials.

0:25:370:25:38

-Are you Mark?

-Michael, how are you? I am.

-Good to see you.

0:25:410:25:45

'Stonemason Mark Eaton has been working with Derbyshire stone for over 30 years.'

0:25:450:25:50

Tell me, Mark, what do you do here? What is all this about?

0:25:500:25:54

I bring in the raw block

0:25:540:25:56

from local quarries, suited for the particular job I'm working on.

0:25:560:26:01

My main focus is on restoration work.

0:26:010:26:05

What makes Derbyshire stone special?

0:26:050:26:07

It's the durability of it. It's a very good stone for construction, for building purposes.

0:26:070:26:13

It ages well, it wears well, and it does last a good long time.

0:26:130:26:18

Although new technology is used to quarry the stone,

0:26:180:26:21

many of the techniques used to work it are as they were in Bradshaw's day 150 years ago.

0:26:210:26:29

Got a piece of stone over here.

0:26:290:26:32

-What do I do?

-Right, I've set a line around here to work upon.

0:26:320:26:36

Just to form

0:26:360:26:38

the leading edge.

0:26:380:26:40

-Would you like to have a go at that?

-Yeah, let me have a go at that.

0:26:400:26:43

OK. Quite a low angle, try not to take too much off.

0:26:430:26:48

It would take an apprentice at least three years to learn to carve an intricate stone memorial.

0:26:480:26:54

It's highly specialised work, and would certainly take me much longer.

0:26:540:26:59

I'm being quite cautious.

0:26:590:27:01

That's OK. That's it. A little bit steeper again.

0:27:010:27:04

You must need unbelievable powers of concentration on this.

0:27:040:27:07

You're not sending text messages while you are doing this, are you?

0:27:070:27:10

No, not at all.

0:27:100:27:12

Thank you, I really enjoyed that. A real privilege to do it, actually.

0:27:120:27:17

I realise how much has changed here since Bradshaw's day -

0:27:170:27:20

steam engines no longer chug across the countryside, and ravaged landscapes are slowly being repaired.

0:27:200:27:27

But all around me, in industries like Derbyshire stone, the massive changes introduced here

0:27:270:27:32

almost two centuries ago can be traced right up to the present day.

0:27:320:27:36

These smoking railway engines brought the Industrial Revolution

0:27:380:27:42

to even the remotest parts, including the Peak District.

0:27:420:27:46

They brought pollution to the hills but they brought opportunities, too,

0:27:460:27:51

to the stone quarries of Derbyshire.

0:27:510:27:54

Now the steam engines are just nostalgia.

0:27:540:27:57

Next time, I'll be visiting the oldest working factory in the world.

0:28:050:28:10

-Made in England.

-Made in England.

-Does that make you proud?

-Oh, yes, that's what we like to see.

0:28:100:28:15

I'll be finding escape from busy city life.

0:28:150:28:17

We think it's Britain's first public park, laid out in 1840.

0:28:170:28:21

And I'll be discovering why Burton's beer is said to be the best.

0:28:210:28:25

Two weeks conditioning in the cask, a week in the pub.

0:28:250:28:29

-And ten minutes to drink.

-You're a slow drinker.

0:28:290:28:32

Piva Burtonski.

0:28:320:28:34

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