0:00:04 > 0:00:10In 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 > 0:00:28Now, 170 years later, I'm making four long journeys across the length
0:00:28 > 0:00:34and breadth of the country to see what remains of Bradshaw's Britain.
0:00:58 > 0:01:04Using my 19th-century Bradshaw's Guide I'm continuing my journey from Derbyshire to London,
0:01:04 > 0:01:08passing through the industrial heartland of England, in Warwickshire
0:01:08 > 0:01:11and on into rural Buckinghamshire.
0:01:11 > 0:01:17My Bradshaw's has often been a reliable guide to places and people that still exist.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20But maybe there will be an exception today.
0:01:20 > 0:01:27One city is highly recommended in Bradshaw's but scarcely features in modern guidebooks.
0:01:27 > 0:01:28It's Coventry.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36On today's journey, I'll be reliving the Coventry Blitz.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40You could pick the sound of the German planes up.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44Their engines were - vumm, vumm - a humming, humming noise.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48I'll be ruffling some feathers in Aylesbury.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50Your family has been in the business a while?
0:01:50 > 0:01:55- 1775, that we know of.- No! - Absolutely, continuously.
0:01:55 > 0:02:00I'll hear how the railways saved thousands of lives during World War II.
0:02:00 > 0:02:05This was the largest station where the evacuations took place from.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08How we found our way on to the right train I'll never know.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14All this week, I've been travelling from Buxton in the Peak District,
0:02:14 > 0:02:18through the industrial Midlands, towards Birmingham.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24The line south was built by civil engineer Robert Stephenson in 1837
0:02:24 > 0:02:27and was one of the first intercity lines
0:02:27 > 0:02:30to the great imperial city of Bradshaw's era, London.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38Today, I'm continuing south from Bournville on the edge of Birmingham
0:02:38 > 0:02:44to Coventry, the Vale of Aylesbury and on to Watford.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51The line has seen many changes since Bradshaw's day.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53I'm following a 19th-century guidebook
0:02:53 > 0:03:00and the man who started it, Bradshaw, was really crazy about technology. He loved technology.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04I think he'd really be very, very excited by your information.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07- He was the first person to put together all the timetables. - Right, OK.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11The idea that you've got them in a little box travelling on a train.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14We used to have to carry the old timetable with us
0:03:14 > 0:03:18which was that size, that thick. Obviously very thick and heavy.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22- You've got an electronic Bradshaw. - An electronic Bradshaw, yeah.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25He'd be thrilled.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35It would have taken about 30 minutes to get to Coventry in Bradshaw's day,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38on trains travelling at around 60mph.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42Surprisingly, it takes about the same time today.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44'The next station will be Coventry.'
0:03:44 > 0:03:48If you're leaving the train here, just check to make sure you've everything with you.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53'Do take care as you step from the train onto the platform...'
0:04:00 > 0:04:03- A lot of whistling going on. - That's it. That's me.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07- DOORS BEEP Thank you.- Bye-bye.- Bye.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19All along the railway line, from Birmingham to London,
0:04:19 > 0:04:23you have these stations that were rebuilt in the 1960s.
0:04:23 > 0:04:28Birmingham New Street at one end, Euston at the other end and Coventry in the middle.
0:04:28 > 0:04:33These enormous glass boxes and I remember in the 60s being
0:04:33 > 0:04:37very impressed by this brave new architecture.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41Inevitably, they now look old-fashioned
0:04:41 > 0:04:46but nothing dates faster than yesterday's view of the future.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54These days, Coventry isn't really on the tourist trail,
0:04:54 > 0:04:57probably because so much of the city was destroyed during the blitz of World War II.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06It's a very different Coventry from the one that so impressed Bradshaw.
0:05:06 > 0:05:11He says the fines steeples are the first to strike one in this old city.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17Many old fashioned gable houses are to be found in the backstreets.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24That's the Coventry that Judith Durrant remembers well.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26You were a girl in Coventry.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28What was the city like then?
0:05:28 > 0:05:30The city was beautiful. A lot of old buildings.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33The streets were all cobbled streets.
0:05:33 > 0:05:40I remember all these old beautiful buildings and particularly the churches in the centre.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42The three spires of Coventry...
0:05:42 > 0:05:45and the cathedral itself.
0:05:47 > 0:05:52Coventry was an essentially medieval city built in the 14th century,
0:05:52 > 0:05:54when it was the fourth wealthiest city in England
0:05:54 > 0:05:58but one night in 1940, it was changed forever.
0:06:01 > 0:06:06For you and your family, how did the night of November 14th 1940 begin?
0:06:06 > 0:06:10It began as a normal night. We...
0:06:10 > 0:06:13The sirens did sound early.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16I think it was probably about 7 o'clock
0:06:16 > 0:06:19but we were then being prepared to go to bed.
0:06:19 > 0:06:24We just went straight into the shelter as a normal night
0:06:24 > 0:06:28but as we found out later, it was not to be a normal night.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35Instead it marked the start of a German bombing operation called Moonlight Sonata.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40You could pick up the sound of the German planes up.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42Their engines were - vumm, vumm -
0:06:42 > 0:06:45a humming, humming noise.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48So you knew instantly that they were not English planes.
0:06:48 > 0:06:49You could hear the...
0:06:49 > 0:06:51the bombs whistling down.
0:06:53 > 0:06:58The explosions were horrendous and you could smell the dust, you could chew the dust.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01It was a very horrendous night.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07It was one of the worst bombing raids on Britain of World War II.
0:07:07 > 0:07:14600 planes bombarded Coventry for six hours, by which time most of it had been blown to smithereens.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21What impression did the devastated city make on you?
0:07:21 > 0:07:23Horrendous.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25Of course,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27my mother kept us, sort of, closer
0:07:27 > 0:07:31because of everything that was going on.
0:07:31 > 0:07:36But we had to learn to live and we had to readjust.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39It made us all grow up. We all grew up very quickly.
0:07:39 > 0:07:45500 people died on a night that Judith will remember forever.
0:07:45 > 0:07:50As I say, these memories will be with me for the rest of my life.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54You once picked your way through the rubble of the city
0:07:54 > 0:07:57and now you see it rebuilt.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00How do you feel about what you see now?
0:08:00 > 0:08:02I love it. It's beautiful.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06Those old memories are still there
0:08:06 > 0:08:10but with everything, you have to move forward
0:08:10 > 0:08:13and I think Coventry is beautiful.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25What is indeed beautiful is the new St Michael's Cathedral.
0:08:28 > 0:08:33Built to incorporate the ruins of the 14th and 15th century cathedral that was destroyed in the blitz.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37It's a poignant symbol of Coventry's rebirth.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41On the floor here in gigantic letters,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43"To the glory of God,
0:08:43 > 0:08:50"this cathedral burnt November 14th AD 1940.
0:08:50 > 0:08:55"Now rebuilt 1962."
0:08:57 > 0:08:59I guess it says it all.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05I think it's wonderful.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09I find the new cathedral is full of reference.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13These columns refer to Gothic columns.
0:09:13 > 0:09:18The way the roof is built refers to the Gothic structure.
0:09:18 > 0:09:23Obviously the stained glass refers to Gothic stained glass.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28Full of reference and reverence for what was there before.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38What's come as a great surprise to me though is that despite
0:09:38 > 0:09:41the thousands of bombs dropped over those six hours,
0:09:41 > 0:09:47there's a remarkable amount of the medieval city that survives today.
0:09:47 > 0:09:52Tucked between the new, there are numerous hints of just how impressive Coventry was.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58- Good morning.- Morning.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01- You're opening up, I see.- I am, yes.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03You trade in this lovely medieval building.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08- It somehow survived the bombing of 1940.- It did. It did, yes.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12We've also got St John's Church at the bottom of the street
0:10:12 > 0:10:16which goes back to... the English Civil War.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19The prisoners were kept in there and that's where the term
0:10:19 > 0:10:22sent to Coventry comes from, that church at the bottom of the road.
0:10:22 > 0:10:27Ha! I'm feeling that this is a city that's somehow undersold.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30I've never thought of coming here and lingering in the city before.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33I think that's quite true.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37When people do come to Coventry, they're pleasantly surprised.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39I'm one of them, I'm pleasantly surprised.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42- Thank you. Have a good day. - And yourself. Thank you, bye.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45I'm feeling really guilty.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47I've done a big injustice to Coventry.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49I've always known that it was destroyed in the war
0:10:49 > 0:10:53and therefore I've never come here to pay it any attention.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56And now I find it full of these wonderful medieval buildings,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59really as good as any English city.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03I wish I'd known about all this before. I feel should have done.
0:11:08 > 0:11:13I'm back at Coventry station for the next leg of my journey south.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15- 'Calling at...'- Right.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19For once, arriving with plenty of time, it gives me the chance to get
0:11:19 > 0:11:23the answer to a question I've always wanted to ask.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25Tell me about his paddle thing.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27My bat. My despatch baton.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29Does it have a multiplicity of uses?
0:11:29 > 0:11:32Can you play table tennis with it, maybe?
0:11:32 > 0:11:35I think somebody has. No, not really, no.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37Show me your technique. Show me a good wave.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40- PEEP! - Wow!- A nice, clear blow.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43- Thank you very much. - You're more than welcome.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47- I'll practise that at home, I think. - Bless you.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57After all that, my new friend's already lost interest in me.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00She didn't give me a wave with her baton. Oh, dear. I'm devastated.
0:12:08 > 0:12:15The next part of my journey takes me 60 miles south to Buckinghamshire and for once, I'm being spoilt.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17A cup of tea, please.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19- Yeah.- Thank you very much.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21- With milk?- With milk, please.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26- There we go, sir. - That's very kind of you. Thank you.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32First class travel.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36The Midland Railway originally had first and second class.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39The third class was pretty basic.
0:12:39 > 0:12:44In fact, when railways began, third class travel wasn't even covered.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46It was in goods wagons.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48But then,
0:12:48 > 0:12:50the railways realised that they needed to attract
0:12:50 > 0:12:54the working classes, that they were the new market
0:12:54 > 0:13:01and the Midland Railways created a sensation in 1875 when all its quite comfortable second-class coaches
0:13:01 > 0:13:04were made third class. In other words, there was now to be a decent
0:13:04 > 0:13:09standard of accommodation, even for the poorest members of society.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15In the mid-19th century, whatever class Bradshaw
0:13:15 > 0:13:19was travelling in, he wouldn't have got refreshments on the train.
0:13:19 > 0:13:24Today, I find that eating on a train is inexplicably exciting.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32The next stage of my journey involves two changes of trains...
0:13:32 > 0:13:34- Bye.- Bye-bye.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38..to travel south, to reach the place where I'll spend the night.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00This is Aylesbury.
0:14:00 > 0:14:05My Bradshaw's Guide tells me that during the Napoleonic wars,
0:14:05 > 0:14:12the exiled French king lived at Hartwell House and luckily, that's now a hotel.
0:14:21 > 0:14:26Even arriving after dark, this house oozes regal splendour.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31- Hello.- Good evening. Welcome to Hartwell.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35- If I could just ask for a signature at the bottom there, please? - Thank you very much.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39Is it true that Louis XVIII lived here?
0:14:39 > 0:14:41Yes, and you're in the Queen of France's bedroom.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45- Excellent, thank you very much indeed.- Pleasure, thank you.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50This journey seems to be getting better and better by the moment.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08Next morning, Hartwell House is revealed in all its glory.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12Louis XVIII lived here along with his family and a hundred courtiers
0:15:12 > 0:15:15for six years after the French Revolution.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18I can imagine very many worse places to be exiled.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27This is one of the royal bedchambers at Hartwell House
0:15:28 > 0:15:33and it's full of the fripperies befitting Her Majesty the Queen of France.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37But I'm politically minded
0:15:37 > 0:15:41and I'd like to tell you about important matters of state
0:15:41 > 0:15:43that occurred in this house.
0:15:43 > 0:15:44Come with me.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51In this room, French history was made.
0:15:51 > 0:15:57The exiled King was invited to return to France, to boot aside Napoleon Bonaparte
0:15:57 > 0:16:02and take up his throne again and he signed the papers of acceptance in this very room.
0:16:04 > 0:16:10When I was in the Cabinet, we entertained the President of France at nearby Chequers
0:16:10 > 0:16:14but there wasn't room for all of us to stay there and junior members of
0:16:14 > 0:16:21the Cabinet like me were sent packing, here to Hartwell House.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23But we didn't feel hard done by.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26We were sharing a roof, not with the French President
0:16:26 > 0:16:29but with a French king.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37First class travel, a night at Hartwell House, now I have a taste
0:16:37 > 0:16:41for high living, my guidebook can also point me towards haute cuisine.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48Bradshaw's Guide says, "Another manufacture peculiar to Aylesbury
0:16:48 > 0:16:53"is ducklings which are forced for the Christmas market.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56"They're fed with an abundance of stimulating food.
0:16:56 > 0:17:01"As many as three-quarters of a million ducks are sent to London from this part."
0:17:01 > 0:17:06And here is a farm where they're still bred.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10In the 18th century, Aylesbury ducks were a delicacy for the rich.
0:17:10 > 0:17:15When the railways came along in the 1860s, suddenly many more people could eat them.
0:17:15 > 0:17:21Each year, almost 750,000 were being sent by train to Smithfield Market in London.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30- Hello, Richard.- Hello, Michael.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32That wasn't too easy to do, was it?
0:17:32 > 0:17:34- Very, very nervous they are. - They're very nervous.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37- So that's an Aylesbury duck. - Yes, meet a real Aylesbury duck.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40Now Richard Waller runs the last bona fide
0:17:40 > 0:17:44Aylesbury duck farm in the country, producing around 10,000 a year.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47- They're very distinctive, aren't they?- They are, absolutely.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51It's unfortunate the rest of the breeds which are table ducks are
0:17:51 > 0:17:54all white so it's hard to distinguish unless you know an Aylesbury.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58Pure Aylesbury ducks have flesh-coloured beaks.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02All other flocks are crossed with the Pekin duck giving them yellow ones.
0:18:02 > 0:18:08Aylesburys are also famed for their soft feathers, ideal for quilts, and their especially tender meat.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11Your family has been in the business a while?
0:18:11 > 0:18:13- 1775, that we know of.- No!
0:18:13 > 0:18:19Absolutely, continuously and possibly longer but 1775 we can actually trace it back to.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22That's amazing. How was the trade run by your father?
0:18:22 > 0:18:28I remember in those days of course, it was really, 90% of it was wholesale trade to Smithfield Market
0:18:28 > 0:18:35but the high spot of the day was going to the local station, to put them on the railway.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38I knew that once they had been offloaded and weighed
0:18:38 > 0:18:41and the money was paid to the railway to get them to Marylebone,
0:18:41 > 0:18:43it was down the chip shop for a bag of chips.
0:18:43 > 0:18:48- The chips were your reward.- Looking back now, it doesn't seem very much
0:18:48 > 0:18:53but that was a great outing, going to the station with a bag of chips afterwards.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56In Bradshaw's time, there were duck farmer's all around Aylesbury
0:18:56 > 0:19:00but in the last 100 years, the industry has shrunk,
0:19:00 > 0:19:04partly due to competition from the mass-produced Pekin ducks.
0:19:04 > 0:19:09Now Richard supplies his ducks only to locals.
0:19:11 > 0:19:17So, Richard, what is the future of this very beautiful, very specialised, very tasty duck?
0:19:17 > 0:19:22Well, at this very moment, I'd say quite bleak, to be honest.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26Like all other small producers, particularly in agriculture,
0:19:26 > 0:19:34we've been hit by high costs, low income, so really I'm going to be the last of the line.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36Incredibly soft, Richard.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39Incredibly soft feathers.
0:19:39 > 0:19:40Very, very sweet bird, actually.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43Thank you for your time today.
0:19:47 > 0:19:53Until recently, Richard, like his great grandfather, sent his ducks by train to Smithfields
0:19:53 > 0:19:58but now, once again, the Aylesbury duck has become a speciality exclusive to the area.
0:20:00 > 0:20:06You can find it at the King's Head in Ivinghoe, where Richard's ducks are cooked with ingredients
0:20:06 > 0:20:09gathered from the back garden. I find you amongst your herbs.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12Yes, I am. This is rosemary, as you can see.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15There's lots of rosemary here.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19- Lovely scent. - Beautiful taste and smell
0:20:19 > 0:20:23and of course it's mostly due to the success of the cooking
0:20:23 > 0:20:26we do at the King's Head definitely.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28Georges de Maison co-owns the restaurant
0:20:28 > 0:20:33and has perfected the cooking of the ducks over a period of 50 years.
0:20:33 > 0:20:39We've got four apple trees as well which are being used as much as we can
0:20:39 > 0:20:42- to serve with the duck as well. - Apple sauce.
0:20:42 > 0:20:47Apple sauce, fresh apple sauce which we flavour with Calvados, which
0:20:47 > 0:20:51is Applejack and that gives an extra dimension to the apple sauce.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53I imagine it does!
0:20:53 > 0:20:58Yes, it does. I think I must have handled possibly in the region of
0:20:58 > 0:21:05150-160,000 ducks which is possibly a record for any caterer.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10Georges, you're making me very, very hungry. Could we possibly go to the kitchen, please?
0:21:10 > 0:21:14- Of course, I'd be delighted to show you.- Thank you.
0:21:14 > 0:21:22Georges serves around 3,000 ducks a year and I'm about to join the culinary pilgrims who consume them.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24The famous Aylesbury duck, sir.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26Georges, c'est magnifique.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30- C'est magnifique.- As well as using his own special duck recipe, Georges
0:21:30 > 0:21:34carves the duck in the French way, at the table, in front of the diner.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38I'm going to make an incision here,
0:21:38 > 0:21:41and remove the drumstick and the thigh.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44We do the same operation the other side.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46You speak like a surgeon.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48Yes, I do, yes.
0:21:48 > 0:21:53Now, the aroma of the meat is beginning to reach me as you've taken out the drumstick.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58The duck is, of course, perfectly cooked, Georges.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00And here it is.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04Yes. Absolutely perfect.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07A little bit of surgery.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11And after all that hard work, on Georges's part at least,
0:22:11 > 0:22:13I finally get to the best bit.
0:22:18 > 0:22:19It's heaven.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21Heaven.
0:22:21 > 0:22:26- A votre sante, maitre.- And yours.
0:22:29 > 0:22:37Having enjoyed a hearty lunch, it's time to head south, to my final destination, 25 miles away.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52'We're now approaching Watford Junction. Please mind the gap.'
0:22:52 > 0:22:56According to Bradshaw, there's not much to see in Watford.
0:22:56 > 0:23:02"It's a busy, thriving and populous town and consists of only one street
0:23:02 > 0:23:05"with minor ones diverging from it."
0:23:09 > 0:23:12Having just crossed Watford,
0:23:12 > 0:23:14you wouldn't describe it that way today.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21Watford is now a very much busier place but the town isn't the reason I'm here.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25It's the station itself that has lured me off the train.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28Brian. Michael.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31- Pleased to meet you. - Very good to see you.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34- Does this station have many memories for you?- Very much so.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37I came here in July 1943
0:23:37 > 0:23:41and this was the station I was evacuated from.
0:23:41 > 0:23:47Londoner Brian Russell was a child at the outbreak of war in 1939.
0:23:47 > 0:23:52This was the largest station where the evacuations took place
0:23:52 > 0:23:54from our part of London.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56Did you know what was happening to you?.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58Not really at that time.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02I was with my sister who's seven years older than me.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04She seemed to know what was going on.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07I was only six so...
0:24:07 > 0:24:11it was a bit of a mystery ride really and it was quite exciting.
0:24:11 > 0:24:19Operation Pied Piper was a national evacuation programme begun in September 1939.
0:24:19 > 0:24:26In just one week, almost one and a half million children were relocated on 3,000 special trains.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30Towns like Watford played a critical role, supplementing the overburdened
0:24:30 > 0:24:34stations in London so as to get more children out of the capital.
0:24:34 > 0:24:40By the end of the War, over three and a half million children had been evacuated.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43And how on earth we found our way onto the right train I'll never know.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47Whether it was a random thing I just don't know.
0:24:47 > 0:24:52But it was quite an exciting day, in a way, especially for the younger children.
0:24:52 > 0:24:58- So this whole place would have been panting steam engines and the slamming of doors.- Yes.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00You would have had your suitcases with you, I suppose.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04Yes. Yes, I can remember my Mickey Mouse gas mask. We always had one.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08Everybody had a gas mask, and mine was a Mickey Mouse one.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11What about the about the journey itself? What do you remember of that?
0:25:11 > 0:25:14The journey itself, the trains were very, very crowded.
0:25:14 > 0:25:19We had to mostly stand in the corridor and took turns to lean out of the window.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23We daren't go as far as opening the doors, but we used to put our
0:25:23 > 0:25:27heads out of the windows as much as we could, getting covered in soot from the engine.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30And we would take turns to sit down in the compartments.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33- And did you end up with a family up there, or what?- Yes.
0:25:33 > 0:25:38Yes, we moved into a family. Very large house, which was quite frightening
0:25:38 > 0:25:42for me, because it was like something out of Dickens, almost, you know.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46But the family were very, very kind and helpful to us.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49And when I came back home -
0:25:49 > 0:25:55it was only after a year, because the War ended, or the European war ended and my father came home
0:25:55 > 0:26:00from North Africa, and I won't say I didn't get on with him,
0:26:00 > 0:26:03but we felt very distant, because I couldn't remember him at all.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07I know he had a bad time, I know that because he had some war injuries,
0:26:07 > 0:26:10but he would never, ever talk about it. I was intrigued.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14I remember talking to my mother at the end of the War, when we came back
0:26:14 > 0:26:17and I couldn't understand why the War was over.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19It was just, "We must be fighting somebody!"
0:26:19 > 0:26:22You know, because it gets ingrained.
0:26:22 > 0:26:27That's extraordinary, for people from my generation to think that war was your normality.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30- That's so strange.- It was.- And did you love steam engines as a boy?
0:26:30 > 0:26:37Oh, yes, very much. As many children of my era, when we grew up we all wanted to be an engine driver.
0:26:37 > 0:26:42But it was only when I was 65 years old and retired,
0:26:42 > 0:26:43I actually became one.
0:26:45 > 0:26:50- On a steam railway? - On a steam railway in a museum set up in Shropshire, yes.
0:26:55 > 0:27:01But I think you must be a man with a terrific sense of adventure, to have departed on that evacuation
0:27:01 > 0:27:05only feeling excited and still to be enjoying your railway travel today.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08Oh, I certainly do, yes.
0:27:09 > 0:27:14The railways must have saved thousands of lives by transporting youngsters to safety.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18They were also an invaluable part of the national war effort.
0:27:18 > 0:27:23The Government took over the rail networks, sending men, machinery and supplies to the front lines.
0:27:23 > 0:27:28The railways directly contributed to Britain's success in World War Two.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39So, another leg of my journey ends.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42For most of the 19th century, Britain was at peace, so George
0:27:42 > 0:27:47Bradshaw might have been surprised at the horrors of war in the 20th.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51Now I'm on my way to London, and I shall be interested
0:27:51 > 0:27:55to see what Bradshaw says about the city that I know so well.
0:28:01 > 0:28:08On tomorrow's journey I'll be visiting one of the country's grandest Victorian hotels...
0:28:08 > 0:28:11When I was a child, I believed that the witches lived in here, because
0:28:11 > 0:28:14it was so dark and dingy and very scary, actually, as a child.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17..I'll head to one of the oldest markets in central London...
0:28:17 > 0:28:20Do they behave nicely with you, watch their p's and q's?
0:28:20 > 0:28:23Sometimes. Not always, no!
0:28:23 > 0:28:26If you were single, you'd have a good time.
0:28:30 > 0:28:35..and I'll be discovering how the capital has rung in the changes since Bradshaw's day.
0:28:55 > 0:29:00Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd