0:00:04 > 0:00:09In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain.
0:00:10 > 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.
0:00:24 > 0:00:30Now, 170 years later, I'm making four long journeys across the length and breadth of the country
0:00:30 > 0:00:34to see what remains of Bradshaw's Britain.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56Today I'm leaving the green peaks of Derbyshire
0:00:56 > 0:01:00for the county's industrial heartland,
0:01:00 > 0:01:04travelling to the very origins of the industrial revolution,
0:01:04 > 0:01:08to towns and cities that were transformed by manufacturing,
0:01:08 > 0:01:12many of them created by the railways.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21Along the way I'll be visiting the oldest working factory in the world...
0:01:21 > 0:01:22Made in England.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26- Does that make you proud?- Yes. That's what we like to see.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29I'll be escaping from busy city life...
0:01:29 > 0:01:32We think it's Britain's first public park, laid out in 1840.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37And I'll be discovering why Burton's beer is said to be the best.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41Two weeks conditioning in the cask, a week in the pub...
0:01:41 > 0:01:44- And ten minutes to drink. - You're a slow drinker!
0:01:44 > 0:01:48- Pivo Burtonski. - Pivo Burtonski.- Pivo Burtonski.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53All this week I'm travelling from Buxton,
0:01:53 > 0:01:57along one of the earliest railway routes in England.
0:01:57 > 0:02:03Each day I'll be stopping at towns and cities recommended in my Bradshaw's guide...
0:02:05 > 0:02:09..until I reach the end of the line in London.
0:02:12 > 0:02:18Having started from Matlock Bath, today I'll be covering the next 30 miles along the track via Derby
0:02:18 > 0:02:22and onwards to Burton-on-Trent.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30But my first stop is Cromford.
0:02:32 > 0:02:38Nowadays, the beautiful Grade II listed station is set in a rural idyll.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40- Good morning.- Hi.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43Can you tell me anything about that beautiful house on the platform?
0:02:43 > 0:02:46It's the old station house that used to be the waiting room
0:02:46 > 0:02:48- for the railway station. - And what is it now?
0:02:48 > 0:02:50It's a guest house now.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52It's a beautiful station.
0:02:52 > 0:02:54There are just two trains an hour.
0:02:54 > 0:03:00But in Bradshaw's day this was one of the Industrial Revolution's most important towns.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04This beautifully restored railway station at Cromford
0:03:04 > 0:03:07has a very important part in history.
0:03:09 > 0:03:15As Bradshaw says, "Here, Arkwright set up his first mill in 1771."
0:03:15 > 0:03:22Really never was so much important history crammed into such a small half sentence as that.
0:03:24 > 0:03:29Richard Arkwright built several mills at Cromford, in which he developed the modern factory system.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33It was a new way of working, that was soon copied all over Britain.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37The first was a water-powered cotton-spinning mill.
0:03:37 > 0:03:38And this is it,
0:03:38 > 0:03:42the first factory in the world.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45Because before this, people in the cotton industry
0:03:45 > 0:03:51had done their spinning and weaving in their own houses - the cottage industries.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Now Arkwright brings it all together under one roof,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58powered by water,
0:03:58 > 0:03:59in a factory.
0:04:02 > 0:04:07Quite incredible to think that, 240 years ago, there were no factories.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11This is beginning of industrialisation, right here.
0:04:15 > 0:04:20In his new factories, Arkwright could process huge quantities of cloth very quickly.
0:04:20 > 0:04:26And the River Derwent provided a cheap power supply.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29The village of Cromford is not what I expected.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32It's much prettier.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36It doesn't seem like the place that would be the heart of the Industrial Revolution.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40But now I think about it, Arkwright established his mill here
0:04:40 > 0:04:47partly because he needed the water and partly because his family lived at the local castle, Willesley.
0:04:47 > 0:04:53I can see an example of water power still operating, a water mill at the far end of this stretch of water.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58Arkwright's factory is a now a museum.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02But nearby is the world's oldest factory still in use.
0:05:02 > 0:05:08It was set up in 1784 by Arkwright's finance director, Peter Nightingale,
0:05:08 > 0:05:10a relative of Florence Nightingale.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14His business partner was a Mr John Smedley.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17Good morning.
0:05:17 > 0:05:18Very historic room. Hello.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23- I'm Michael Portillo.- Hello. Nice to meet you. Thanks for joining us. - Great to see you.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25'Ian McClean is one of his descendants.
0:05:25 > 0:05:30'The Smedley family has been producing knitwear here for over two centuries.'
0:05:30 > 0:05:33This is incredibly historic.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37- What's the date outside?- 1784.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40- So, just 13 years after Arkwright. - That's right.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45So Arkwright was the first mill to be built, then there were two others, and we were the fourth.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48Now the others are long since out of business,
0:05:48 > 0:05:53and that makes us the oldest manufacturing business in the world.
0:06:00 > 0:06:06Of course the factory's been added to so many times over the years that it makes it almost like a rabbit warren.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10- It's quite difficult to find your way around sometimes. - Parliament is just the same.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14I was there 20 years and I think by the end of it I only knew about a tenth of it.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19This looks pretty ancient through here.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23I'll show you the original 1784 mill building,
0:06:23 > 0:06:28- which is a little bit hidden within the structure of the factory. - 1784, that is incredible, isn't it?
0:06:28 > 0:06:32- Yes. That's right back at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.- Yeah.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38- The railways weren't here in 1784. - No, that's right.
0:06:38 > 0:06:46- So the railways weren't fundamental to the development of this business. - The canals came first, in 1776.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49And then the first railway came in 1831.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51To where?
0:06:51 > 0:06:55High Peak Junction at Cromford. I think it was integral to the growth of the business.
0:06:55 > 0:07:01The arrival of the railway in the 1830s transformed industry here.
0:07:01 > 0:07:07The High Peak line allowed local factories to transport goods all over the country.
0:07:09 > 0:07:14So this is history and this is modernity here, so if we look in the historic part...
0:07:14 > 0:07:18- Do you mean literally, you keep this as a museum?- No, not at all.
0:07:18 > 0:07:23These are very much working machines which make the garments that we sell.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28What they do is they make individual pieces of the garments, so one machine will make the collar,
0:07:28 > 0:07:31another will make the front and another will make the back,
0:07:31 > 0:07:35and then another machine will make the rib that goes around the arm.
0:07:35 > 0:07:41And then very skilled hand workers will then link, by hand, those pieces of the garment together.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53It really does look as though we are looking from...
0:07:53 > 0:07:56Well, we are looking from one century to another.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58That's right. Absolutely.
0:07:58 > 0:08:03These machines through here are the very latest technology.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10When the newest machines were introduced in 2006,
0:08:10 > 0:08:13it became possible to make garments in one whole piece.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17These seamless clothes are meant to be exceptionally comfortable.
0:08:17 > 0:08:22I think what's important is that whenever a new technology comes along,
0:08:22 > 0:08:24we're one of the first people to use it.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27And you're not tempted to go off and do it all in China?
0:08:27 > 0:08:31Absolutely not. No, no. We see the value of manufacturing in England.
0:08:31 > 0:08:36The quality of the clothing is, in part, thanks to being washed in local spring water.
0:08:36 > 0:08:42It's unusually soft in this area and gives the cotton a silky feel.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45So here these are sweaters and tops and so on.
0:08:45 > 0:08:50- Yep.- But you're also famous for long johns.- That's right, yes.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53It's said that this is where long johns were invented...
0:08:53 > 0:08:55- Morning.- Morning.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57How are you? Good morning.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00..named after Ian's ancestor, John Smedley.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07Is there a special feel to being in a family business?
0:09:07 > 0:09:13Yes, of course. It is not just my family, being the owners, but there are many generations of people
0:09:13 > 0:09:14who have worked in the factory for us.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16- Good morning.- Hello there.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18Good morning. How are you all? Which one is Julie?
0:09:18 > 0:09:20- I am.- Julie, hello. I'm Michael.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22- How do you do?- Fine, thank you. - Have you been long in the business?
0:09:22 > 0:09:29'Julie is one such employee whose family has made its living around this factory for four generations.'
0:09:29 > 0:09:30My grandma worked here.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33My sister worked here for a while.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37My daughter. My son, who does still actually work here, as well.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41- Are there any other ladies who also have family going back like yours? - Yeah.
0:09:41 > 0:09:48I don't know about the grandparents but actually in this room alone, we have got a mother and a daughter.
0:09:48 > 0:09:54We've got three sisters. Then we've got another set of two sisters. That's just in this room, so...
0:09:54 > 0:09:57It is quite a family orientated business, definitely.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59And what is it that you're actually doing?
0:09:59 > 0:10:02My job is I actually put the back knit labels in,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05which is the "John Smedley - Made in England."
0:10:05 > 0:10:08- Made in England.- Made in England.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10- Does that make you proud?- Oh, yes. That's what we like to see.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19- Thank you.- Bye.- Bye.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23It's incredibly rare to find a business like this.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26Not only has the same family run the company for over 200 years,
0:10:26 > 0:10:31but the employees stay generation after generation.
0:10:31 > 0:10:39A family supported by one industry, decade after decade, is a way of life which has all but died out.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42Hi, gentlemen.
0:10:47 > 0:10:53I'm now leaving Cromford, and travelling another 15 miles down the railway line to Derby.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59Good afternoon. Tickets, please.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01Thank you very much.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03What time into Derby?
0:11:03 > 0:11:0614:22.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08- Thank you very much indeed. - Thank you.- Bye-bye.
0:11:17 > 0:11:22I don't know Derby very well, but I associate it with heavy industry,
0:11:22 > 0:11:28with aero engines and the manufacturer of rolling railway stock.
0:11:28 > 0:11:33But I am looking forward to it, because Bradshaw raves about the hotel where I'm going to stay.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35He normally only gives a hotel one line but here he says,
0:11:35 > 0:11:39"It is gratifying to be able to refer to an establishment like this,
0:11:39 > 0:11:42"which deservedly enjoys the highest reputation.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45"It possesses all the comforts of a home and there is no lack of the spirit necessary
0:11:45 > 0:11:50"to provide, to the fullest extent, everything which can recommend it to its patrons."
0:11:50 > 0:11:54Then you have to kind of wonder what was going on here, because it goes on to say,
0:11:54 > 0:11:57"It is conducted in the most able manner by Mrs Chatfield.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01"And it may claim to rank amongst the first hotels of England."
0:12:01 > 0:12:06Well I am afraid, Mrs Chatfield won't be there any more but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless.
0:12:06 > 0:12:12..Derby, please note our departure time is scheduled for 14:24.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Bye. Thanks.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30There's Mrs Chatfield's hotel right there, which is
0:12:30 > 0:12:32not surprising, really, because it is a railway hotel.
0:12:32 > 0:12:37It is actually the second one ever built in Britain.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40It was so convenient for the passengers that they built a tunnel underneath
0:12:40 > 0:12:44so that the baggage could be taken directly to the hotel from the station.
0:12:44 > 0:12:49And I am in very distinguished company because Queen Victoria once stayed here.
0:12:52 > 0:12:59Opened in 1841, the Midland Hotel was one of the first railway hotels outside London
0:12:59 > 0:13:03and was reserved exclusively for first-class passengers.
0:13:03 > 0:13:09Thankfully today, you don't need an expensive ticket or blue blood to stay here.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11Hello.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14- Hello.- I'm checking in, please. Michael Portillo.
0:13:14 > 0:13:19- Yes. Would you just like to sign there for me?- Thank you very much.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22I am going to go off and see some of the sights
0:13:22 > 0:13:26so I'm not just going up to the room at the moment but you know that I'm here anyway.
0:13:26 > 0:13:31Only the railway companies could afford to build luxury hotels.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35As well as catering for exhausted travellers,
0:13:35 > 0:13:39they generated a lot of extra income,
0:13:39 > 0:13:42so railway hotels were soon springing up at the ends of lines.
0:13:42 > 0:13:48The railways brought wealth and investment to small rural towns like Derby,
0:13:48 > 0:13:50transforming them into industrial centres.
0:13:50 > 0:13:57In Derby, Bradshaw mentions the railway sheds but he also mentions an older industry,
0:13:57 > 0:14:02the silk mill, the first in England, built here in 1718.
0:14:03 > 0:14:08And it has the look of an Italian bell-tower.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10And there could be a reason for that.
0:14:10 > 0:14:17The English weren't very good at making silk until John Lombe stole the secret from northern Italy.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22And then an Italian worker, in revenge, murdered him in 1722.
0:14:24 > 0:14:29Lombe's newly-acquired spinning technology was soon copied throughout the region.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34By the 1860s, the Derby silk industry was booming.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39Bradshaw's guide says "There are about 25 silk mills at present."
0:14:39 > 0:14:43That was one mill for just over every 1,000 residents.
0:14:45 > 0:14:46The wealth they generated
0:14:46 > 0:14:50led to some extraordinary acts of civic generosity,
0:14:50 > 0:14:53including a new park for the city of Derby.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57And Bradshaw notes that in Derby, not far from the station,
0:14:57 > 0:15:02"is the new arboretum of 16 acres laid out in 1840 by Loudon
0:15:02 > 0:15:09"and given to the town by Joseph Strutt Esquire, a noble gift, estimated at £10,000,
0:15:09 > 0:15:15"with a couple of Elizabethan lodges and entry gratis on Wednesdays and Saturdays."
0:15:15 > 0:15:17A noble gift, indeed.
0:15:20 > 0:15:27Having made their fortune in textiles, the Strutt family wanted to give something back.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29At first, entry was free two days a week
0:15:29 > 0:15:33but, from 1882, there were no charges on any day.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35For the first time,
0:15:35 > 0:15:39the working classes could enjoy landscaped open spaces
0:15:39 > 0:15:41previously the realm of the nobility.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43It is a lovely park.
0:15:43 > 0:15:48It's got beautiful topography. He's shaped the land.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51He's put in terrific trees.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53He's decorated with urns,
0:15:53 > 0:15:56fountains, follies.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00Very Victorian and very, very lovely.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08- Is that a black walnut? - It is a black walnut.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12- You must be Jonathan.- You must be Michael.- Hello. Very good to see you.
0:16:12 > 0:16:18Jonathan Oakes, a tree specialist, plays a key role in the continued restoration of the arboretum.
0:16:18 > 0:16:19This park is pretty historic.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21How important is it in history?
0:16:21 > 0:16:29Well, we think it is Britain's first public park, laid out in 1840 and given to the people of Derby in 1840.
0:16:29 > 0:16:30Laid out by Loudon. Who was he?
0:16:30 > 0:16:35Loudon was a prolific author and a gardener, a landscape architect.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40He wrote a book, Arboretum Botanicum, which explained all the trees and shrubs
0:16:40 > 0:16:42that were available in the world at that time.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46By way, why is it landscaped in the way that it is? That's unusual.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50The mounds are there to give a sense of privacy,
0:16:50 > 0:16:54so people on the other side of the mound don't necessarily know you're there.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57It makes the place look bigger and feel bigger.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00It really is strikingly unusual, isn't it?
0:17:00 > 0:17:07Today we're used to landscaped gardens but Loudon's design was revolutionary at the time.
0:17:07 > 0:17:12The winding paths, ornamental flower beds and isolated trees
0:17:12 > 0:17:15were designed to educate people about plant specimens.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19He even labelled them, an idea later copied by Kew.
0:17:19 > 0:17:24Was this meant to be a place of leisure or a place of education?
0:17:24 > 0:17:26Well, this is the interesting thing.
0:17:26 > 0:17:31The benefactor, Strutt, wanted a place where people could relax and enjoy themselves.
0:17:31 > 0:17:36But Loudon, the scientist, wanted a garden, a collection,
0:17:36 > 0:17:38somewhere that was scientific and educational,
0:17:38 > 0:17:42so, inevitably, there was some kind of a compromise between the two.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44Thank you so much and bye-bye.
0:17:46 > 0:17:51In an age when religion and a sense of duty were powerful influences,
0:17:51 > 0:17:58many entrepreneurs like the Strutts spent part of their massive new fortunes for the public good.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00During the second half of the 19th century,
0:18:00 > 0:18:06trusts, charities, foundations and volunteering programmes all sprang up.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09It was a golden age of philanthropy.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22Having shared a roof with Queen Victoria,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25I'm leaving Derby now and going to Burton,
0:18:25 > 0:18:27the home of brewing.
0:18:27 > 0:18:33And Bradshaw says, "The great seat of Sir John Barleycorn is on the Staffordshire side of the Trent.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37"Bass, Allsopp and Worthington are the chief ale kings here
0:18:37 > 0:18:41"and acres covered with barrels and casks may be seen.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45"Vast quantities of pale ale are exported to tropical climates
0:18:45 > 0:18:48"and drunk by thirsty souls at home as a tonic."
0:18:48 > 0:18:52So there is something to look forward to.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07Platform 1b.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09On time.
0:19:12 > 0:19:18The last leg of my journey today takes me, from Derby, another 11 miles south to Burton.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28Tickets and passes from Derby station to your destination.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31I'm in town, come right on down.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34You're in good form today!
0:19:34 > 0:19:41- Tous les jours, monsieur, tous les jours! - Merci, monsieur.- Merci bien.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45The railway lines were critical to the growth of industry
0:19:45 > 0:19:49but water was also instrumental in the birth of the Industrial Revolution.
0:19:49 > 0:19:55Used to power mills and factories, it also helped put Burton on the industrial map.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58The full name for Burton, of course, is Burton-on-Trent.
0:19:58 > 0:20:03And the water of the Trent was very important also to Bradshaw.
0:20:03 > 0:20:09And he notes that the brewers, contrary to common usage, used hard water, not soft water.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12So I shall be intrigued to find out about that.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26"Burton on Trent. A Gateway to The National Forest."
0:20:36 > 0:20:40As soon as you come out of Burton station you can tell that this town
0:20:40 > 0:20:42is dedicated to a single industry, to beer.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46In place of the cask and barrels that was referred to in Bradshaw,
0:20:46 > 0:20:51these enormous steel vats of beer, stretching to the horizon.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58Here, the brewing industry is still big business.
0:20:58 > 0:21:03I'm meeting Jeff Mumford here, who apparently knows everything about beer in Burton.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07I don't know what he looks like but he says I'll know him when I see him.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14HE LAUGHS
0:21:20 > 0:21:22Mr Mumford, I assume.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24Mr Portillo, I presume.
0:21:24 > 0:21:29Jeff co-owns Burton Bridge Breweries, the largest independent brewer in town.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32- Can we go and see your brewery? - You certainly can.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34- In this thing?- Yep.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37Before the railways, there were only ten breweries in Burton.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41But the number tripled after the station was built.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43- No seatbelts!- No.
0:21:48 > 0:21:5325 ale trains left Burton every day, with breweries even building
0:21:53 > 0:21:56their own tracks to connect with the railway companies.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59Has this always been a brewery?
0:21:59 > 0:22:02It was part of a brewery, not totally a brewery.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05Part of Joseph Nunnelly's brewery.
0:22:05 > 0:22:12- This was actually a small maltings, built in 1823.- There we are, 1823.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14- Yes.- And the MH stands for...?
0:22:14 > 0:22:16- Malt house.- Good morning.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20Michael. This is Bruce, the brewer of the partnership.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22Michael Portillo. Lovely stench.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26No, I think aroma sounds so much better than stench, if you don't mind.
0:22:26 > 0:22:32So what you're actually smelling is the aroma from the hops, which makes the beer bitter.
0:22:32 > 0:22:39The aroma will go up and improve the general aroma of Burton-on-Trent, and we put some hops in later,
0:22:39 > 0:22:43at the end of the process, to get the aroma of the hop in the beer.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46How much beer will this thing make?
0:22:46 > 0:22:54This thing will make 3,500 pints, which, in terms of Burton's production, is pretty small, because
0:22:54 > 0:22:59of every gallon of beer drunk in Britain, one pint of that is brewed in Burton.
0:22:59 > 0:23:04- One eighth of all the beer drunk in Britain is brewed in Burton? - That is correct, yes.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08And ours is a small proportion of that at the moment but it's growing all the time.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16How long does all that process take?
0:23:16 > 0:23:22It takes a day to convert the malt and hops into beer for the fermenting vessel,
0:23:22 > 0:23:28a week in the fermenting vessel, two weeks conditioning in the cask, a week in the pub...
0:23:28 > 0:23:30- And ten minutes to drink. - You're a slow drinker!
0:23:32 > 0:23:36Today Burton produces less of the country's beer
0:23:36 > 0:23:42than it did in Victorian times, when it brewed a quarter of the pints sold in Britain.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45For once, the English climate was helpful - for beer at least -
0:23:45 > 0:23:52being neither too hot nor too cold, but just right to allow fermentation throughout the winter.
0:23:52 > 0:23:58By 1890, there were over 30 breweries here, all exploiting a special local ingredient.
0:23:58 > 0:24:05Now, in my Bradshaw's Guide, he says that, contrary to what is normal,
0:24:05 > 0:24:09here in Burton you use hard water in the beer. Is that true?
0:24:09 > 0:24:13Oh, yeah. That is the unique characteristic of Burton water.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16It gives better hop utilisation,
0:24:16 > 0:24:22crisper, clearer flavours, and lighter-coloured beers.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24But only suitable for brewing ales.
0:24:24 > 0:24:29Down the road where they produce lagers, they take all the salts out of the water
0:24:29 > 0:24:32and brew lagers with very soft, Pilsen-style water.
0:24:34 > 0:24:40Burton beer was so popular during the 19th century that it was in demand all over the world.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45And this was the stuff that, according to Bradshaw, was shipped out to India? This sort of beer?
0:24:45 > 0:24:48- Yes, very much so.- And why? Why was Burton able to do that?
0:24:48 > 0:24:55The purity of the water made the beer very sterile and just ideal for travelling a long distance.
0:24:55 > 0:25:00- It must have taken a long time in those days to get to India. - It took about six months.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05And you're still making a kind of India Pale Ale, even though it's not going to India.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08Yeah, the closest we get is it sits there for six months.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10Oh, I see, so...
0:25:10 > 0:25:15- like a voyage?- Yes, short of putting it on a pontoon in the Trent, that is the closest we can get to it.
0:25:15 > 0:25:21Of course, it was the railways that enabled Burton brewers to send their beer around the globe,
0:25:21 > 0:25:24and Burton had plenty of them.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28Oh, it was the biggest private rail network in the country.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32It was said that no one could rob a bank in Burton because they would
0:25:32 > 0:25:36never get through all the crossing gates, the level crossings, in time.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39- Traffic jams everywhere? - Well, there were.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44I came in '64 and said I'd never come back to this place but I've lived here for 28 years now!
0:25:44 > 0:25:46I think that is enough talking about it.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50- Can we actually sample some, please? - I think that's a good idea. Come this way.- All right. Thank you.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59- The finished article. Cheers! - Cheers.
0:25:59 > 0:26:04But there is a more appropriate toast, that was used in the courts of Russia, with Burton beer.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07A lot of the beer went out to the Baltic and to Russia and it was
0:26:07 > 0:26:13very popular in the Russian courts, and that toast was "Pivo Burtonski."
0:26:13 > 0:26:16- Pivo Burtonski!- Pivo Burtonski.
0:26:21 > 0:26:26Although the beer industry is still going strong, there's been a cost.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31The natural resources around Burton were squeezed like a sponge.
0:26:31 > 0:26:37Coal to heat the brewing liquor, wood for the millions of barrels in which it was stored.
0:26:37 > 0:26:43Centuries of intense brewing have scarred the surrounding landscape.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45But that's being remedied.
0:26:45 > 0:26:51Burton is in the middle of an area being planted with millions of trees as part of the new National Forest.
0:26:51 > 0:26:57Set up in 1990, eventually it will cover 200 square miles.
0:27:02 > 0:27:08As I've travelled through the Midlands, I've noticed how much the landscape bears the signs
0:27:08 > 0:27:11of the massive changes between Bradshaw's time and today.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16But I've been struck by how many people and businesses
0:27:16 > 0:27:20can trace their roots directly back to Victorian times.
0:27:20 > 0:27:26When Bradshaw was writing, the East Midlands was at the height of the Industrial Revolution.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28And now, as you pass through the region,
0:27:28 > 0:27:32you're aware of the decline of mining and some de-industrialisation.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36But here in Burton, at least, brewing is an example
0:27:36 > 0:27:39of one British industry that's still very much in business.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54Next time I'll be heading to the centre of the leather-making world.
0:27:54 > 0:27:59Walsall had a very distinctive stink, did it?
0:27:59 > 0:28:00You can say it had a tinge.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03It had its own aroma!
0:28:03 > 0:28:08I'll be travelling to Birmingham's Balti Triangle.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11Pakistan is like my motherland and I call England my adopted mother.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13I'll try and make this quite elegant.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Very good, sir. Very good for the first try.
0:28:18 > 0:28:23And I'll be visiting Bourneville, which some say is the happiest place in Britain.
0:28:23 > 0:28:24Very pleasant.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26Very nice.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd