0:00:04 > 0:00:09In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12His name was George Bradshaw,
0:00:12 > 0:00:17and his railway guides inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21Stop by stop, he told them where to travel, what to see
0:00:21 > 0:00:24and where to stay.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27Now, 170 years later, I'm making four long journeys
0:00:27 > 0:00:30across the length and breadth of the country
0:00:30 > 0:00:34to see what remains of Bradshaw's Britain.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56Steered by Bradshaw's, my 150-year-old guide
0:00:56 > 0:00:57to railway travel in Britain,
0:00:57 > 0:01:01I'm headed north again to the Borders.
0:01:06 > 0:01:11Today I'll be finding out about the wild Border clans of Carlisle.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14The stone is the Archbishop of Glasgow's
0:01:14 > 0:01:16curse on all these families,
0:01:16 > 0:01:17because we got up to wicked deeds.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20I'll be crashing a wedding.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23- Does Gretna Green have a special feeling for you?- It does now.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25It definitely does. After today it will, yes.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28And I'll be visiting a top-secret munitions factory.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31What was this thing called devil's porridge?
0:01:31 > 0:01:35Devil's porridge was a mixture of cordite and explosive,
0:01:35 > 0:01:37mainly mixed by hand by women at the time.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48All this week, I've been heading north from Preston,
0:01:48 > 0:01:50up the west of England.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54I'm now travelling into the once-lawless frontier country
0:01:54 > 0:01:55around Carlisle,
0:01:55 > 0:02:01before crossing into Scotland and moving on to Kirkcaldy.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04Today I'll stop in Carlisle,
0:02:04 > 0:02:06then carry on to Gretna Green,
0:02:06 > 0:02:08before ending my journey in Glasgow.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16I often visit Scotland, frequently by air,
0:02:16 > 0:02:21but even when I go by rail, I rush through the Borders.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23I never think of stopping there.
0:02:23 > 0:02:28Today I'll be intrigued just to linger and see what's there.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34When the first trains arrived in 1847,
0:02:34 > 0:02:37passengers had to change at Carlisle,
0:02:37 > 0:02:41making it one of the busiest stations in the country.
0:02:43 > 0:02:48This magnificent station, with its Gothic arches
0:02:48 > 0:02:51and with the plaques from locomotives
0:02:51 > 0:02:53and different railway lines,
0:02:53 > 0:02:58it's a Victorian wonder and a railway museum
0:02:58 > 0:03:00and gateway to Scotland.
0:03:06 > 0:03:13In Carlisle, even the public buildings are built like castles,
0:03:13 > 0:03:17suggesting that this has long been a warlike place
0:03:17 > 0:03:19with fearsome peoples.
0:03:22 > 0:03:27For over 700 years, the English and the Scots
0:03:27 > 0:03:30battled for control of Carlisle and its castle.
0:03:31 > 0:03:37It wasn't until 1745 that the last Scottish uprising was put down.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Do you know why the buildings in Carlisle are like castles?
0:03:40 > 0:03:44Because it was needed to be a defence from the Picts and the Scots,
0:03:44 > 0:03:45wouldn't they?
0:03:45 > 0:03:47The Picts and the Scots.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50- There were vicious people in those days.- Vicious?- Very vicious.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54- Battling it out.- Yeah, battling it out, really, oooh, terrible.
0:03:56 > 0:04:01I've come to Carlisle to find out more about its troubled history
0:04:01 > 0:04:03from artist Gordon Young.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05- Morning, Gordon!- Good morning.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08Do you know, I'm delighted to be in Carlisle.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11I had no idea it was such a beautiful city.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13I think it's a really bonny city.
0:04:13 > 0:04:14It's been fought over.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17It's been fought over time and time again.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Both countries have laid good claim to it.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22Scottish kings crowned in Carlisle.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25An English parliament's been in Carlisle.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28Strategically, it had importance and significance.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30Loyal to the English crown, was it?
0:04:30 > 0:04:33No, loyal to whatever army's in it that particular time.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39But there was another group that was neither English nor Scots.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43I hadn't heard of the Reivers living along the border
0:04:43 > 0:04:46until I read about them in my Bradshaw's guide.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48Gordon is one of their descendants.
0:04:51 > 0:04:57In 2001, Gordon was commissioned to make this stone sculpture
0:04:57 > 0:05:00as a tribute to his ancestors, a forgotten people.
0:05:03 > 0:05:04Who were the Border Reivers?
0:05:04 > 0:05:06They were the families that lived
0:05:06 > 0:05:09either side of what we now acknowledge as the border.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13The border, centuries ago, wasn't a single strip.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17It was within 70 miles of what we currently know.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19400 years ago,
0:05:19 > 0:05:24the frontier between the English and the Scots shifted constantly,
0:05:24 > 0:05:26as they vied for territory.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30The Reivers operated within that no-man's-land
0:05:30 > 0:05:33and took full advantage of its lawless state.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36What kind of people were they?
0:05:36 > 0:05:38Well, it's not good agricultural land.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41It was hard land with hard people,
0:05:41 > 0:05:45and they were pillaging, raping, robbing, thieving,
0:05:45 > 0:05:47the Reivers were bereaving
0:05:47 > 0:05:52and blackmailing and stealing and, of course,
0:05:52 > 0:05:56to enforce English law would be a war.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58To enforce Scottish law would be a war,
0:05:58 > 0:06:01because where's the border?
0:06:01 > 0:06:03Therefore this banditry was in the area.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07This was our Border heritage, which was rough, tumble and bloody.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09Neither Scottish nor English,
0:06:09 > 0:06:13each Reiver swore allegiance only to his clan.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17So these were the families and the family names
0:06:17 > 0:06:19from specific valleys, towns, villages,
0:06:19 > 0:06:23whether it's Irvine, Carmichael, Johnston, Nixon, Dixon,
0:06:23 > 0:06:25Trotter, Blackadder.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27Here's your name, Young.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30Yeah. There's about 90-odd names
0:06:30 > 0:06:35that are recognised as the families of the Borders, the Reivers.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37There are also some very famous descendants,
0:06:37 > 0:06:41like Richard Nixon and Neil Armstrong.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44And then this stone. What's that about?
0:06:44 > 0:06:47The stone is the Archbishop of Glasgow's
0:06:47 > 0:06:48curse on all these families,
0:06:48 > 0:06:51because we got up to wicked deeds.
0:06:52 > 0:06:57The Archbishop wrote his 1,000-word curse in 1525,
0:06:57 > 0:07:02hoping that disease and misfortune could avenge the Reivers' crimes.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04As somebody with a good dialect would say,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07it curses them standand and gangand and sittand and rydand.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09It curses cabbages, it curses their heads.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12This is really a pretty comprehensive curse.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Oh, there's pages of it. This is a fragment.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17That's a fragment.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20It goes on and on and on. He was very thorough.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24There wasn't many things where he wasn't giving this great curse,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27and it is an incredible piece of, I think, European literature,
0:07:27 > 0:07:30let alone Scottish or northern British.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39Bradshaw refers to the Reiver clans by their ancient name,
0:07:39 > 0:07:41the Moss-troopers,
0:07:41 > 0:07:45who lived in a wild landscape of rugged, rocky mountains
0:07:45 > 0:07:49thrown together with beautiful valleys.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53Many Reiver families still live here,
0:07:53 > 0:07:55and through Gordon's Reiver grapevine,
0:07:55 > 0:07:58I've found out about a party taking place
0:07:58 > 0:08:01in the village of Hallbankgate.
0:08:02 > 0:08:03A few centuries ago,
0:08:03 > 0:08:07this would have been the very heart of Reiver territory.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10I've come to sample Borders hospitality,
0:08:10 > 0:08:14and to find out how the fearsome Moss-troopers sounded
0:08:14 > 0:08:16when they were in party mood.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22FOLK MUSIC
0:08:23 > 0:08:26Good Lord, an amazing display of giant vegetables.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29- Hello! Hi. How are you doing? - OK, thank you.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32So what - obviously a competition?
0:08:32 > 0:08:36Bizarrely, the locals are engaged in a gentle vegetable contest.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39Not the behaviour I associate with bandits and robbers.
0:08:39 > 0:08:44But these are amazing! Do you weigh them or do you measure them or...
0:08:44 > 0:08:45No, we measure them.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48What they do, they measure them from this point here.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50It has to be no longer than six inches,
0:08:50 > 0:08:54and it has got to be as thick as you can get them.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58- These are the winners.- Mr Starkey is the winner.- Mr Starkey.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00- Mr Forster.- That's Mr Forster there.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03- He was second. - Congratulations to you.- Thank you.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06What an amazing effort! Have you been growing them for a long time?
0:09:06 > 0:09:08- Trying to, yeah.- Ah, right!
0:09:08 > 0:09:1020 or 30 years.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13- I'm here for a Reiver song. - The Reivers' song?
0:09:13 > 0:09:15Do you know anything about that?
0:09:15 > 0:09:17They're going to be singing very shortly.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21The Reivers' songs were first made popular by Sir Walter Scott,
0:09:21 > 0:09:24himself from Reiver stock.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26Thank you very much. Cheers.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30He travelled the Borders collecting battle songs and ballads.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33- Good evening!- Hello. - Hi, how are you all?
0:09:33 > 0:09:36So you're going to do us some Reiver music this evening?
0:09:36 > 0:09:38We're going to play a ballad about the Reivers.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42Are you in the group, are you fearsome Border Reivers?
0:09:42 > 0:09:44- I'm married to a Reiver. - You're married to a Reiver?- I am.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47In fact, he's out reiving at this very minute.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50- What's the song called?- The song's called Lock the Door, Lariston.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55and it's about a feud between two of the reiving families.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57I look forward to it. Thank you.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26For such a fearsome people, they had very, very jolly music.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29I think the Reivers have got an unfair reputation.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31They were clearly fun lovers.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35Although some of the Reiver traditions
0:10:35 > 0:10:37still seem pretty scary to me.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39I've been asked to ask you to dance.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42- No, I'm not going to dance. - He won't dance with me.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47I heard you were a very good dancer.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49No, you're wrong, you're wrong.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58Bravo!
0:11:05 > 0:11:08After a very good party, it's time for a new day,
0:11:08 > 0:11:13and a new country. Crossing the border into Scotland.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19Despite the slightly bleary head,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22I'm glad I took time to stop in Carlisle.
0:11:22 > 0:11:28So farewell, Carlisle. The Borders are interesting, beautiful and fun.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31But now it's time to move on.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Next stop Gretna Green,
0:11:36 > 0:11:38and Bradshaw's guide puts it finger on
0:11:38 > 0:11:41why most of us have heard of that Scottish town.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43"It's been for more than 80 years
0:11:43 > 0:11:46"a place of the celebration of marriages
0:11:46 > 0:11:49"of fugitive lovers from England."
0:11:49 > 0:11:53Well, Gretna Green has gone on being celebrated for its weddings
0:11:53 > 0:11:56for another 150 years too.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01The marriage laws in Scotland
0:12:01 > 0:12:04have always been more liberal than those in England.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08When the railways arrived in Gretna in 1848,
0:12:08 > 0:12:12the steady stream of young lovers crossing the border to wed
0:12:12 > 0:12:13turned into a flood.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15Today marriage is big business here.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19This is really an extraordinary sight.
0:12:19 > 0:12:26This is a tourist haven. This is the Las Vegas of Scotland.
0:12:26 > 0:12:32This is a reminder that Gretna Green is a town built on love.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38- Alasdair?- How do you do? - Hello, I'm Michael.
0:12:38 > 0:12:39Alasdair Houston's family
0:12:39 > 0:12:43have been farmers and blacksmiths in the area for generations.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46What's it got to do with blacksmiths?
0:12:46 > 0:12:48Well, it's not so much blacksmith per se.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52The blacksmith, the fisherman, the weaver - a number of trades
0:12:52 > 0:12:55could have conducted a quickie wedding in Gretna Green,
0:12:55 > 0:12:57but it's location, location, location,
0:12:57 > 0:13:01and the blacksmith's workshop was on this important crossroads,
0:13:01 > 0:13:03so this rush of eloping couples
0:13:03 > 0:13:07who would be trying to escape from the English law,
0:13:07 > 0:13:09they would get here and this was the first building.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12It quickly developed into the anvil becoming such
0:13:12 > 0:13:14a strong symbol of weddings,
0:13:14 > 0:13:16- because...- Forging on the anvil.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19Just so. I mean, as the blacksmith would use the anvil
0:13:19 > 0:13:21and heat the joint to join metals together,
0:13:21 > 0:13:24so it was said that he would join lives together in marriage.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28But just as the train loads of lovers
0:13:28 > 0:13:30began to arrive here 160 years ago,
0:13:30 > 0:13:32the law changed.
0:13:32 > 0:13:37My Bradshaw's Guide, which was probably written in the 1860s,
0:13:37 > 0:13:41says that Parliament has recently passed a law
0:13:41 > 0:13:45which requires residency in Scotland before you can get married,
0:13:45 > 0:13:51and he says, "The blacksmith will now find his occupation gone."
0:13:51 > 0:13:55That would be referring to an 1856 act
0:13:55 > 0:13:57by the then Lord Chancellor, Lord Brougham,
0:13:57 > 0:13:59and it was called the "cooling off" act,
0:13:59 > 0:14:02because what it said is that one of the parties to the marriage
0:14:02 > 0:14:05had to spend 21 days in Scotland
0:14:05 > 0:14:08before they could have a legal ceremony.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10Still the same ceremony, simple declaration.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13So that cooling off act was expected
0:14:13 > 0:14:16to completely stop this flow of newlyweds.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19Now, what, in fact, happened, is it sprung up all sort of guesthouses,
0:14:19 > 0:14:21an early form of B&Bs, if you like.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24My grandparents remember the farm workers
0:14:24 > 0:14:26pitchforking hay and straw out of sheds,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29and, "Ow! Ow!" There'd be somebody lying out rough in the area,
0:14:29 > 0:14:31being woken up in the morning.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34In Scotland, unlike in England,
0:14:34 > 0:14:36you can marry at 16 without parental permission,
0:14:36 > 0:14:40and these days you don't even have to be resident for three weeks.
0:14:40 > 0:14:46So Gretna is still the most popular place for quickie weddings.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48Bradshaw's predicted, 150 years ago,
0:14:48 > 0:14:52that the blacksmith was going to be extinct,
0:14:52 > 0:14:55but you're still banging out the marriages.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59Yeah, I mean Gretna Green is still an important wedding destination,
0:14:59 > 0:15:02happily for the area and for the whole region
0:15:02 > 0:15:04because of this ripple effect,
0:15:04 > 0:15:06so Bradshaw, I'm happy to say, was wrong.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09- # Love is in the air. # - Are you going to sing? Yes.
0:15:09 > 0:15:14Today over 5,000 couples a year get married in Gretna Green.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18That's one in six of all weddings in Scotland.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21I guess you're here to play for a wedding, are you?
0:15:21 > 0:15:23Er, I've got three weddings on today, yes. Aye.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27And is that fairly typical? Do you do three weddings a day often?
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Three weddings very often. Aye, sometimes four, five, six.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33- Sometimes seven. Very busy.- It's a kind of industry here, isn't it?
0:15:33 > 0:15:34Oh, yes, very much so.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36Why do they go to Gretna Green?
0:15:36 > 0:15:39Oh, this is the romantic capital of the world.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41Without a doubt.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44BAGPIPES PLAY: "Scotland The Brave"
0:15:44 > 0:15:46Lots of excitement, now
0:15:46 > 0:15:49and people in their wedding best are pouring out.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53It's very, very exciting and it's very, very British.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55I see the bridesmaids in their lovely dresses.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57Shivering.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11- You're a very lucky man indeed. - Thank you very much.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13May I ask you, why did you choose Gretna Green?
0:16:13 > 0:16:15Um, well, we wanted to elope,
0:16:15 > 0:16:19but my family found out about it and they ended up coming with us.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21- You're English?- Yes.- Yes.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23And so it was originally going to be an elopement?
0:16:23 > 0:16:25- Yes, yes.- How very romantic!
0:16:25 > 0:16:27I didn't know that stuff happened any more!
0:16:27 > 0:16:31Does Gretna Green have a special feeling for you?
0:16:31 > 0:16:34It does now. It definitely does. After today it will, yes. Yes.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37- Have the most fantastic marriage. - Thank you.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39It started beautifully. Thank you. Bye-bye.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48Gretna Green is nationally famous, internationally famous,
0:16:48 > 0:16:50for its weddings.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52But there's another part of this town
0:16:52 > 0:16:54which played a really significant role
0:16:54 > 0:16:56in Britain's military history,
0:16:56 > 0:16:59and which, even today, is so secret
0:16:59 > 0:17:05that very few people have had the peep inside that I'm about to get.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10This strange landscape of bunkers and hills
0:17:10 > 0:17:15was built to handle the explosives made and stored here.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21The site was once key to Britain's survival,
0:17:21 > 0:17:25although these days it's mainly a Ministry of Defence depot
0:17:25 > 0:17:27managed by David Watt.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31Why was this enormous site brought into existence?
0:17:31 > 0:17:34During the Battle of Loos in 1915,
0:17:34 > 0:17:36during the First World War,
0:17:36 > 0:17:39the British army found itself very short of shells.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42In fact, we almost lost the war due to the lack of shells,
0:17:42 > 0:17:47so this huge ammunition manufacturing facility was built in 1916
0:17:47 > 0:17:50and in fact, at one time there was 30,000 people worked here,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53almost all of them women, making and packing shells,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56in order to support the British Army offensive.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01The factory was built at Gretna because it was remote.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04But also, it had a fast rail link
0:18:04 > 0:18:07to deliver shells and bombs to the Western Front.
0:18:07 > 0:18:13Another internal railway carried the munitions around the vast site.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17- How much track do you have through the site?- About 20 miles.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19It's quite an extensive facility
0:18:19 > 0:18:22and this site here is mainly served by narrow-gauge rail.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27At that time, there wasn't any motorways
0:18:27 > 0:18:30and one of the main methods of moving heavy objects was by rail,
0:18:30 > 0:18:32and ammunition is very heavy.
0:18:32 > 0:18:37The women toiled around the clock, mixing devil's porridge,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40a lethal paste of nitroglycerine and cotton.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43At its peak, the factory produced 800 tonnes
0:18:43 > 0:18:45of the deadly stuff every week.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48What was this thing called devil's porridge?
0:18:48 > 0:18:51It was a mixture of cordite and explosive,
0:18:51 > 0:18:54mainly mixed by hand by women at the time.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57Very dangerous mixture. Some of the chemicals in it are such
0:18:57 > 0:19:02that their teeth were discoloured, their hair turned orange.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04It was not a nice substance at all.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06And they were literally mixing it by hand?
0:19:06 > 0:19:09They were literally mixing it by hand, yes.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11And this devil's porridge was used in what?
0:19:11 > 0:19:13The filling of shells.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17More explosives were produced here than anywhere else in Britain.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21It involved extremely dangerous work.
0:19:23 > 0:19:24So what was that tunnel?
0:19:24 > 0:19:27The tunnel there was the escape tunnel between the traverses.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32The whole idea of this area here is to protect the people who work here
0:19:32 > 0:19:33and to protect the explosives.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37If you can imagine a town full of explosives, the idea being,
0:19:37 > 0:19:40if that blew, the blast goes up the way and not across the way.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43And then if anything goes wrong, you escape through the tunnel.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46Through the tunnel and hopefully you'll be safe through there.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52After leaving the MOD site,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55I'm catching my next train from Lockerbie,
0:19:55 > 0:19:58a name remembered for tragedy.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04Lockerbie is sadly known to all of us
0:20:04 > 0:20:09because of the terrorist outrage against Pan Am 103 in 1988,
0:20:09 > 0:20:11but a few miles down the track,
0:20:11 > 0:20:16in 1915 there occurred Britain's worst ever rail disaster.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20A troop train carrying soldiers bound for Gallipoli
0:20:20 > 0:20:24collided with a local train that in turn was hit by the night sleeper
0:20:24 > 0:20:26coming in the other direction,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29and an enormous ball of fire engulfed the trains
0:20:29 > 0:20:32and freight trains on either side of the line.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35227 people were killed,
0:20:35 > 0:20:39a figure never matched in railway history since.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42The ball of fire engulfed three trains
0:20:42 > 0:20:45and took 23 hours to extinguish.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47Because of wartime censorship,
0:20:47 > 0:20:50the terrible disaster went unreported at the time.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55From then on, gas lighting on trains was banned.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01So one important reform resulted from the dreadful death toll.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08I'm now catching my last train of the day
0:21:08 > 0:21:12to Scotland's largest city, Glasgow.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15Hello, there. Can I have a cup of coffee, please?
0:21:15 > 0:21:17Is it milk and sugar for you?
0:21:17 > 0:21:20Er, just milk, please.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22So what's better, Glasgow or Edinburgh?
0:21:22 > 0:21:25Ah, well, I've got to say Glasgow, haven't I?
0:21:25 > 0:21:29You ask anybody else on the train, and they'll say Edinburgh.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31And what shall I eat in Glasgow?
0:21:32 > 0:21:34- Fish and chips.- Fish and chips!
0:21:37 > 0:21:40'Ladies and gentlemen, now arriving at Central Station.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44'Make sure you have all your belongings and luggage with you.'
0:21:44 > 0:21:46Bradshaw talks about the famous rivalry
0:21:46 > 0:21:48between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50He says,
0:21:50 > 0:21:54"The ancient city of Glasgow is one of the most splendid in Europe
0:21:54 > 0:21:56"and is not surpassed for beauty of architecture
0:21:56 > 0:21:58"in its public and private buildings,
0:21:58 > 0:22:03"the length, breadth and elegance of its streets, squares and crescents,
0:22:03 > 0:22:05even by Edinburgh itself."
0:22:05 > 0:22:08BAGPIPE MUSIC
0:22:11 > 0:22:13Feel the buzz of the city.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17After all those lakes and hills and sheep and cows,
0:22:17 > 0:22:20it's good to feel the throb of urban life again.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22A city boy like me is never happy
0:22:22 > 0:22:25unless I've got the whiff of carbon monoxide in my nostrils.
0:22:27 > 0:22:32Today Scotland's two great cities still jostle for pole position.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35How are you enjoying Glasgow?
0:22:35 > 0:22:39It's a beautiful city with beautiful buildings.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42- Have you been to Edinburgh yet? - Yes, yes.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44And which is better, Edinburgh or Glasgow?
0:22:47 > 0:22:50- Glasgow.- Ah!
0:22:50 > 0:22:52He's intimidated you, I know.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54He's got you under his thumb.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56Glasgow is wonderful.
0:22:56 > 0:22:57Edinburgh is wonderful too.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03The centre of Glasgow still pleases the tourists.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07But I'm intrigued by another part of the city described by Bradshaw.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10In a Victorian version of poverty tourism,
0:23:10 > 0:23:13he sends visitors to the Calton,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16which was and is one of its most deprived areas.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19Hello. Hi, Michael.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22- So this is the Calton. - This is the Calton.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26Janey Godley ran a pub in the Calton for over 15 years.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29- Let me read you this from my Bradshaw Guide.- Good.
0:23:29 > 0:23:34"Glasgow is supposed to offer few attractions, but this is a mistake.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36"Old Glasgow, with all its dirt and discomfort,
0:23:36 > 0:23:40"the swarming wretchedness and filth of the celebrated Saltmarket,
0:23:40 > 0:23:44"the Goosedubs, the Gallowgate and the Cowcaddens
0:23:44 > 0:23:47"is well worthy of a visit, if it were only to see how quaint
0:23:47 > 0:23:49"and even picturesque in misery
0:23:49 > 0:23:52"are the haunts of the poor population
0:23:52 > 0:23:54"of one of the richest cities of the world."
0:23:54 > 0:23:57Would it do as a description of the Calton today?
0:23:57 > 0:24:00Partly it is still a description of the Calton today.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02There is still some resonance with the poverty
0:24:02 > 0:24:04and how people manage their lives,
0:24:04 > 0:24:07although whether it would make a tourist attraction,
0:24:07 > 0:24:08I'm not very sure.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11In the 19th and early 20th centuries,
0:24:11 > 0:24:13the Calton was a wretched place.
0:24:13 > 0:24:19Several families would be crammed into each small house.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21Cholera was a permanent threat
0:24:21 > 0:24:24and killed thousands every year.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28It's shocking to find that now, as in Bradshaw's day,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31the area is notorious for its social problems.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35The age expectancy is still incredibly hard to swallow.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38I mean, the age expectancy round here is 55.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40In Fallujah, Iraq, it's 65.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45- Now, that statistic you've given is not a very happy one, is it?- No.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48I expected to find an area of narrow little streets and tenements
0:24:48 > 0:24:50and I don't know what...
0:24:50 > 0:24:53No, that's clearly not been here a long time.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55I mean, the oldest buildings in the Calton
0:24:55 > 0:24:59are just a couple that are dotted on the outskirts of the streets,
0:24:59 > 0:25:01but by and large, it is all very new.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04You wouldn't know that you were in an ancient area, you're right.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06It doesn't really lend to itself.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12In an attempt to deal with these difficulties,
0:25:12 > 0:25:15the Calton was rebuilt in the 1980s.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24But I'm glad to see that some of the great Victorian buildings
0:25:24 > 0:25:27from Bradshaw's time have survived.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32Janey, we've only come 100 yards from your old pub
0:25:32 > 0:25:34and we're in a different world.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37Yeah. Well, this is the People's Palace,
0:25:37 > 0:25:39dedicated to the people of Glasgow,
0:25:39 > 0:25:42and over there, of course, we've got the Doulton Fountain.
0:25:42 > 0:25:47This is, um... the empire of Glasgow is right here,
0:25:47 > 0:25:49personified in brick.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52The one place where there is so much death and destruction
0:25:52 > 0:25:54and yet, there's all this beauty,
0:25:54 > 0:25:57and that kind of represents what the Calton is to me.
0:25:57 > 0:26:03There is a backdrop of pain and difficult lives,
0:26:03 > 0:26:08yet there is still the will to go on and a sense of regeneration.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10I came out of the Calton
0:26:10 > 0:26:13and a part of me makes me who I am that I lived here,
0:26:13 > 0:26:16and I think I'll live forever because of it.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21Glasgow has been through some dark times
0:26:21 > 0:26:23and the Calton struggles still.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28Elsewhere in the city, a renaissance has been apparent in recent years.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32Sleek, contemporary museums now line the old docks.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38The grand Victorian buildings of the West End have been restored.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42George Square, Glasgow,
0:26:42 > 0:26:48set out on the grand scale with its columns and towers and statues,
0:26:48 > 0:26:51feels like a continental city,
0:26:51 > 0:26:52as though Glasgow is saying,
0:26:52 > 0:26:55"Well, we may not be the capital,
0:26:55 > 0:26:59"but we will remind you that we are the biggest city in Scotland."
0:26:59 > 0:27:05Glasgow is a top tourist destination with four million visitors a year.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08A city that became truly great in Victorian times
0:27:08 > 0:27:12retains its civic pride, spurred on by the competition from the capital.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17A handbook 150 years old
0:27:17 > 0:27:21is turning out to be a pretty good guide to Britain today.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24It showed me how to crash a wedding
0:27:24 > 0:27:26and led me to a good night out at the pub,
0:27:26 > 0:27:28and here in Glasgow,
0:27:28 > 0:27:31it's been a guide not only to the fine buildings of the city,
0:27:31 > 0:27:34but even an insight on some of its social problems,
0:27:34 > 0:27:40but for the sake of balance, I must now go towards the Scottish capital.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52Next time I'll be braving the weather in Carluke
0:27:52 > 0:27:55to see an industry being brought back to life.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57Is it apple juice you make or cider?
0:27:57 > 0:28:01Both. You might have to come back in a year for the cider, though.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04I'll be searching for a famous Scottish basement.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07I'm looking for a cellar
0:28:07 > 0:28:11where the Act of Union may have been signed, according to my guidebook.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14Right. Um, it's actually our ladies' toilets.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17And I'll be realising a lifelong ambition.
0:28:17 > 0:28:21It gives you an idea of the scale,
0:28:21 > 0:28:23the complexity,
0:28:23 > 0:28:26the height. It's a beautiful thing, isn't it?
0:28:45 > 0:28:48Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:48 > 0:28:51E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk