0:00:05 > 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 > 0:00:24Stop 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 a series of journeys
0:00:28 > 0:00:34across the length and breadth of the country to see what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56I'm nearing the end of an inspiring journey through England to the northwest tip of Wales.
0:00:56 > 0:01:03With each step I have learned ever more about the extraordinary world of Victorian railways.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06I'm exploring Britain with the help of my 19th-century Bradshaw's Guide.
0:01:06 > 0:01:11And every day I'm amazed by how much is packed into this small volume.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15Even tiny Welsh villages are mentioned here.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18And it makes me think about those Victorian railway builders.
0:01:18 > 0:01:24Nothing was off limits to the railway men. They could put railways even to the top of a mountain.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31Today, I'll be following my Bradshaw's Guide to the highest peak in Wales
0:01:31 > 0:01:35rising above stunning scenery in the Snowdonia National Park.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39I'll be getting to the top by train, of course...
0:01:39 > 0:01:44It's magnificent. It's really imposing.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48..before wrapping my tongue around the Welsh language...
0:01:48 > 0:01:51So it's fairly easy, really..
0:01:51 > 0:01:58Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrob wllllantysiliogogogoch!
0:01:58 > 0:02:02..and tasting one of Wales's finest new products - salt.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05It really hits you from the side of the tongue.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08It got a wonderful texture. It's really crunchy, isn't it?
0:02:15 > 0:02:18I'm completing my trek from Ledbury via Chester,
0:02:18 > 0:02:20and all across North Wales.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22Now I'm headed for Snowdon
0:02:22 > 0:02:26before crossing the Menai Straits to Anglesey and the port of Holyhead.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32Today, after ascending Snowdon, I'll travel from Bangor on to Llanfair
0:02:32 > 0:02:35and the final stop on this route, Holyhead.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44Just before I rejoin the main line, there is one tourist attraction
0:02:44 > 0:02:48that I must see, recommended to me by George Bradshaw.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50Mount Snowdon.
0:02:50 > 0:02:55And he suggests that here at Llanberis I should hire ponies and guides.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58He says if you want to dispense with those assistants,
0:02:58 > 0:03:02then a stout pair of legs is the best thing for getting to the top.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06What he couldn't know was that at the very end of the Victorian era,
0:03:06 > 0:03:10a wonderful new facility would be provided to save your pins
0:03:10 > 0:03:14and still deliver you safely to the summit - a railway.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20For the first part of my journey, I start in Llanberis
0:03:20 > 0:03:24to catch the train that will pant its way to Snowdon's summit.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26- Morning.- How are you? OK?- Thank you.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29- You're in Section A here. - Thank you very much indeed.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36Since 1896, travellers have been able to ride to the top
0:03:36 > 0:03:42on what's called a rack railway, a system that was devised by the Swiss.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46Doug Blair, chief engineer of the line, accompanies me.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50The technology we're following dates from the 1890s.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52The railway goes up such steep inclines
0:03:52 > 0:03:57that if it was a normal friction railway it would simply slide back down.
0:03:57 > 0:04:03So you've basically have got a rack like teeth sticking out in between the two tracks,
0:04:03 > 0:04:08and then you have a pinion that meshes in with the rack and drives the locomotive up the mountain.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11So the pinion is rotating under power.
0:04:12 > 0:04:17The train travels at a sedate five miles per hour.
0:04:17 > 0:04:22When the railway opened, it cut the journey time to the summit to just one hour,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25much quicker than the time most of us would take to walk it.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28I imagine that when this opened before Queen Victoria's death,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31it must have immediately been a great hit with visitors and tourists.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33I imagine it must have been.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36The Victorians, to a certain extent, loved Snowdon,
0:04:36 > 0:04:40because prior to the railway, you would have had a pony take you up to the top of Snowdon.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43There is even the ruins of stables close to the top of the mountain,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46and there were actually two small hotels on the summit.
0:04:46 > 0:04:51So when they came to build the railway, they had a pretty good expectation
0:04:51 > 0:04:55that there was going to be a ready supply of tourists or Victorians hungry to get to the top.
0:04:55 > 0:05:00I think they had a captive market, and they were probably onto a good idea at the time.
0:05:01 > 0:05:07Once the line was finished, this popular mountain attracted even more visitors.
0:05:09 > 0:05:15These days, around half a million people a year journey to the summit whether on foot or by rail.
0:05:17 > 0:05:22I am travelling with George Bradshaw's mid-19th-century guide.
0:05:22 > 0:05:27I think he would be really thrilled that this Victorian railway is still running today.
0:05:27 > 0:05:32Still with the same locomotion that it started with in 1896.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36And we are also doing what we did in 1896.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38We're taking tourists to the top of Snowdon.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43Bradshaw's refers to it by its Welsh name,
0:05:43 > 0:05:45which translates as "Eagle Top".
0:05:45 > 0:05:51At that time, getting to the summit of that wild and rugged peak was tough
0:05:51 > 0:05:57and few people in those days had experience of taller mountains overseas.
0:05:59 > 0:06:07If you're used to the Himalayas or the Andes or the Alps, you think that British mountains are tiny.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10Snowdon is just over 1,000 metres - 3,500 feet.
0:06:10 > 0:06:17And yet, it's magnificent, and yet somehow it's really imposing.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32It's quite blowy up here.
0:06:32 > 0:06:37The Snowdonia National Park covers over 800 square miles.
0:06:37 > 0:06:44My Bradshaw's Guide tells me on a good day you can see as far as the Isle of Man and Yorkshire.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48I have come here on one of those days
0:06:48 > 0:06:52when the cloud shifts by the second.
0:06:52 > 0:06:57Every now and again it parts and I get this magnificent view over there towards Anglesey,
0:06:57 > 0:07:02and Bradshaw says, "Snowdon is composed of four great ridges
0:07:02 > 0:07:08"separated by vast precipitous cumulus a thousand foot deep.
0:07:08 > 0:07:16"They unite in a single peak, the conspicuous head 3,570 feet above the sea.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19"The highest point in Wales or England.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22"This is Snowdon proper."
0:07:24 > 0:07:27Magnificent.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30The railway makes the top highly accessible,
0:07:30 > 0:07:35but some feel virtuous only if they arrive the old-fashioned way.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38- Have you walked up?- We have.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41What does it feel like to be nearly at the summit?
0:07:41 > 0:07:42Fantastic. It's a good feeling.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46- How long has it taken you? - How long has it taken us, Richard?
0:07:46 > 0:07:49- Two hours and one minute. - That's not bad. Congratulations.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54- Thank you.- And did you find it today just as you imagined? Worse?
0:07:54 > 0:07:56It's always worse.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00- Did you climb or come by train? - How does it look?
0:08:00 > 0:08:03This is the look of a man who took the train.
0:08:06 > 0:08:13In Bradshaw's era, weary visitors could linger at the summit for as long they liked, even overnight.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16He writes, "For those who wish to see the sunrise,
0:08:16 > 0:08:21"a few huts are built on top, but it is frequently obscured by clouds."
0:08:22 > 0:08:25The weather is as changeable now as then
0:08:25 > 0:08:30and luckily there is still a haven to shelter from the blasts.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32Welcome to Hafod Eryri. My name's Jonathan.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35Oh, hello. Michael Portillo, yes.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39Jonathan Tyler works at Snowdon's new summit cafe, which opened in 2009.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43It's a very impressive facility, isn't it? Fantastic.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46How on earth was it built, cos you're a long way up here?
0:08:46 > 0:08:48Everything had to come up by train.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51- All the building materials? - All the granite, the Welsh oak.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54It took approximately two years to build.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58Now that it's here, where do you get your electricity from and your water?
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Everything comes up by train.
0:09:00 > 0:09:05The generator brings up oil to run those and the water comes up by train as well.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09So nothing comes from the national grid or anything like that?
0:09:09 > 0:09:12Not at all. I suppose you could count the rainwater we use
0:09:12 > 0:09:16for the toilets, that's about it. That's the only thing we don't bring up by train.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23There's another reference in my Bradshaw
0:09:23 > 0:09:29that I want to investigate and I turn to ecologist Dr Barbara Jones to help me.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33- Barbara, it's a great view, isn't it?- It's superb. I mean, what a day!
0:09:33 > 0:09:37I particularly wanted to meet you because my Bradshaw's Guide
0:09:37 > 0:09:41says, very simply, rare mountain plants are found on Snowdon.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44There are some that are very rare, but when we say very rare,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47perhaps very rare in a British sense, not a world sense.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51Snowdonia has been formed, all these ridges, all these mountains
0:09:51 > 0:09:53they're all a product of the Ice Age, really.
0:09:53 > 0:09:59When we had a lot of ice coming over and glaciers that carved out these big valleys and the ridges.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04When when the glacier started to retreat, we had a kind of a tundra landscape,
0:10:04 > 0:10:10very cold, very dry, so we would have had the type of plants now you find up in the Arctic or in the Alps.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14Some of those plants just managed to hang on in these high, cold,
0:10:14 > 0:10:16north-facing, miserable, wet cliffs
0:10:16 > 0:10:19that we don't frequent very often, but they are great for these plants.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23They're right on the edge of the range, but they're just managing to hang on,
0:10:23 > 0:10:26so that's why they're quite rare in Britain.
0:10:26 > 0:10:32It takes a keen eye to spot the plants the Victorian botanists searched out.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36So here we are. Here is your first plant mentioned by Bradshaw.
0:10:36 > 0:10:43Do you see this one? It's called Roseroot, a lovely plant and it's got a very interesting history.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47Apparently some of the shepherds around here used to chew the root of this plant
0:10:47 > 0:10:49and it helped to dull toothache.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53So there must be something in the plant that helps to kill the pain.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58Again, only found on the mountains. Here is one of our mountain lilies.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00This is one of the real rarities. Look at that.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02That's extremely pretty.
0:11:02 > 0:11:07That's called the Snowdon lily, and it's found on about six cliff faces in Snowdonia
0:11:07 > 0:11:10and nowhere else in the whole of the UK.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14This lovely lily, how long does it flower? Am I fortunate to see it?
0:11:14 > 0:11:16You're extremely fortunate.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20One flower will only have a flower open for about two weeks.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24And the flowering at this site here is over three weeks.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27Normally to be able to see this plant you have to hang on a rope.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31It's usually growing in such inaccessible places.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34These days, the lily is even rarer than it was in Bradshaw's day,
0:11:34 > 0:11:39partly because the Victorians didn't just come to observe the plants,
0:11:39 > 0:11:41they came to loot them.
0:11:41 > 0:11:46In Victorian times, this would have been presumably one of the specimens that the tourists were hunting for?
0:11:46 > 0:11:50The botanical tourists, as they used to call them, they'd come up in the droves,
0:11:50 > 0:11:54and they were so keen on collecting rarities, something that little bit different.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58And they'd even come with long sticks with a hook on the end.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02So if they couldn't reach it themselves they'd hook the plant out.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05And I've even heard tales of some of them taking a bunch of the Snowdon lily
0:12:05 > 0:12:12back down to their hotel and putting it in the vase while they had their meal in the evening.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15I'm sure that must look lovely, but it wouldn't last five minutes,
0:12:15 > 0:12:18- and it's so sad to hear of them all going like that.- It's very sad.
0:12:18 > 0:12:25The lily is now protected by law and picking any part of it is an offence.
0:12:25 > 0:12:31Empty-handed, I turn back down the mountain to catch a train to my next destination.
0:12:33 > 0:12:38After my brief mountain excursion and with my lungs full of pure Snowdon air,
0:12:38 > 0:12:43I've now rejoined the mainline at Bangor for that last stretch to Holyhead.
0:12:51 > 0:12:57I'm travelling towards the spectacular Menai Straits which I will cross over to Anglesey
0:12:57 > 0:12:59on Stephenson's famous Britannia Bridge.
0:13:02 > 0:13:07Bradshaw had plenty to say about it, so I'm going to get off at the next station and take a closer look.
0:13:10 > 0:13:16So I have asked the train to stop because it is a request stop at Llanfair,
0:13:16 > 0:13:19but that's the shortened version of where I'm going.
0:13:19 > 0:13:24I am actually going to the station with the longest name of any station in Britain.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30The town's name contains a whopping 58 letters,
0:13:30 > 0:13:35but luckily there's a helpful sign on the station platform.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38So it's fairly easy, really.
0:13:38 > 0:13:46Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrob wllllantysiliogogogoch!
0:13:50 > 0:13:54There are many theories as to how the town got its famous name.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58Some say it was invented to attract more visitors.
0:13:58 > 0:14:05Others say locals wanted to embarrass tourists who flooded to the area in the 19th century.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08Whatever the reason, I'd like to test out the locals.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13- Are you able to pronounce the name of this village?- Yes. Quite easily.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15Go on, then. Off you go.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrob wllllantysiliogogogoch.
0:14:19 > 0:14:20Fantastic!
0:14:20 > 0:14:25Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrob wllllantysiliogogogoch.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrob wllllantysiliogogogoch.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31- Fantastic!- You say it.
0:14:31 > 0:14:36No, I've given it a go on the platform where I had it written out in phonetics.
0:14:36 > 0:14:42- You must be locals? - Yes, I was born and bred here.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44It brings tourists, doesn't it?
0:14:44 > 0:14:49- Yes.- Definitely. Hundreds of coaches here every week.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53Americans and Australians from all over the world.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56- Do you speak Welsh amongst yourselves?- Yes.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00HE SPEAKS WELSH
0:15:00 > 0:15:02You were smiling so it seemed a very nice thing to say.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04What did you actually say?
0:15:04 > 0:15:07A very big welcome to the village of Llanfair.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09Oh, that's really kind of you.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11Thank you so much. I'm really enjoying my visit.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14Thank you so much.
0:15:14 > 0:15:19But the town's tongue-twisting name isn't my main reason for visiting Llanfair.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23It is my vantage point for appreciating Stephenson's Britannia Bridge.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27Bradshaw was completely bowled over by it.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31"This magnificent structure is one of the most ingenious,
0:15:31 > 0:15:38"daring, and stupendous monuments of engineering skill which modern times have seen attempted.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42"As this gigantic and amazing structure now spans the Menai,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45"we may justly express our admiration of it
0:15:45 > 0:15:49"by calling it Mr Stephenson's chef-d'oeuvre."
0:15:51 > 0:15:56Well, here now, I begin to get Bradshaw's point.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00It is colossal, it rises into the sky above us.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02It has this enormous span.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07And, of course, it had originally this breakthrough technology.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10These tubes carrying the railway line.
0:16:10 > 0:16:15Bradshaw said it could best be thought of
0:16:15 > 0:16:19as a double-barrelled gun on an immense scale.
0:16:19 > 0:16:25The bridge was built using the same tubular design as Stephenson's smaller Conwy Bridge.
0:16:25 > 0:16:30Sadly, the tubes were destroyed by fire in the 1970s,
0:16:30 > 0:16:35but this extraordinary Victorian structure still impressively spans the water.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39As the sun begins to set on the Menai Straits,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43my mind turns to where I shall be spending the night.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47Bradshaw's Guide mentions that Anglesey is famous
0:16:47 > 0:16:52for supplying grain, so I've come to stay in a windmill.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56Constructed in 1741, this one is a listed building.
0:16:56 > 0:17:01It was recently converted into accommodation by owner Julian Wood.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03Hello, I'm just admiring your windmill.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05Oh, good. I'm glad you like it.
0:17:05 > 0:17:10- Fantastic. When did the sails disappear?- In the 1920s.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13Apparently, they were sold for scrap.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15- Were there lots of windmills on Anglesey?- There were.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17It's known as the bread basket of Wales.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21Apparently, I suppose a bit like beacons, they could all see each other.
0:17:21 > 0:17:22- Come on in.- Thank you very much.
0:17:22 > 0:17:27In the 19th century, there were around 50 windmills on Anglesey.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30Now Julian's is one of the few that's left.
0:17:30 > 0:17:35- So the grinding shaft would have been here.- Yeah. That's right.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38- And you've built the dining room table around it.- Yeah.
0:17:38 > 0:17:39Fabulous.
0:17:40 > 0:17:47This is known as a piece de resistance. What an amazing room!
0:17:47 > 0:17:48What a view.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51- Looking towards Snowdon. - Yeah. That's it.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54And...looking towards Llandudno.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57- Yeah. Puffin Island there. - Puffin Island first.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01And you can see it's low tide, you can see the causeway.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05Wind power is clearly still important around here.
0:18:05 > 0:18:10I can see three wind farms on the horizon.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12I'm going to enjoy staying here very much.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14Very nice to meet you.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17- I'll just stay here and watch the sun go down.- Yeah.
0:18:29 > 0:18:34I really enjoyed my night at the windmill, and I've woken to this fantastic morning.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38And now, intrigued by a couple of references in my Bradshaw's Guide
0:18:38 > 0:18:42to Salt Island, I've come to discover something about an industry -
0:18:42 > 0:18:45salt - which I believe is in revival.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51David Lea-Wilson runs the Anglesey Sea Salt Company.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55My 19th-century guidebook led me to you,
0:18:55 > 0:18:59because he makes a couple of references, Bradshaw, to Salt Island.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02- So there must have been a traditional industry here. - There was.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06And even before Salt Island was famous for salt, the Romans,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09this was one of their furthest outposts, in Caernarfon, behind me,
0:19:09 > 0:19:14and, of course, they paid people in salt, hence the word salary.
0:19:14 > 0:19:22But Salt Island itself was the last place that I can find round here that was making salt in the 1700s.
0:19:22 > 0:19:28And in 1775, a factory there closed, we understand, and that was the last time salt was made here.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31Until...YOU came along!
0:19:31 > 0:19:35From the late 18th century, it became easier to mine salt from the ground,
0:19:35 > 0:19:39and the sea salt industry fell into decline.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43Since 2000, David has begun extracting salt
0:19:43 > 0:19:47from the Menai waters once again because it is exceptionally pure.
0:19:47 > 0:19:52Just like a chef wants good quality ingredients, we want good quality sea water
0:19:52 > 0:19:57and that comes from the Gulf Stream that comes flooding in here, washes round the island twice a day.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00We're in the right place for producing good quality sea salt.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03- For pure water coming in. - Absolutely. Yes.
0:20:04 > 0:20:09Originally, salt was harvested by flooding large fields with sea water,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12allowing the sun to evaporate the liquid.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17David's factory is a bit more sophisticated, but the idea is the same.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19- This is one of the salt pans. - It's a very hot room.
0:20:19 > 0:20:24That warmth helps us evaporate the moisture,
0:20:24 > 0:20:27and that is the key to the process, removing the water.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31And a bit like... The analogy I use is imagine a cloud can only hold so much water
0:20:31 > 0:20:38before it starts raining, so sea water can only hold so much salt before the salt starts crystallizing.
0:20:38 > 0:20:45So these crystals are forming on the surface, and they're tiny flakes.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47That is our sort of trademark.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52The crystallized salt is delicately lifted out by hand.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54And you're just handling it gently.
0:20:54 > 0:20:59- Um...- And lift. - And then just let the water out.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02And drain out the back.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05It reminds me of pure driven snow.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07It's absolutely perfect.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10- How's that?- Thank you very much.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14Yes. I think a few months' work, and you could have a full-time job here.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21As well as pure salt, it's also possible to make gourmet versions.
0:21:21 > 0:21:27This one is the smoked salt, which is smoked over Welsh oak and has quite an interesting fragrance.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31- It is smoky, isn't it?- And that was picked up by a salt maker in Seattle,
0:21:31 > 0:21:35and it's now on the chocolates that President Obama really likes,
0:21:35 > 0:21:39and it's his standard gift to people when they've visited the White House,
0:21:39 > 0:21:42chocolates with a few flakes of our salt on top.
0:21:42 > 0:21:47Well, if it's good enough for Mr President, it's good enough for me.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49David, instruct me in the art of salt tasting.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53Well, the first thing is you don't taste salt on the tip of your tongue,
0:21:53 > 0:21:56it's at the sides and at the back.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58Here, we've got a small cherry tomato.
0:21:58 > 0:22:03It's got lots of flavour, anyway, but just a flake of salt
0:22:03 > 0:22:06at the most. So do taste one of those.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08Try to get this on the sides of my tongue.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14Mm. You're right, it really hits you from the sides of the tongue.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16It's beautifully salty, of course.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19But it's bringing out the flavour of the tomato brilliantly.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22And it's got a wonderful texture. It's really crunchy.
0:22:22 > 0:22:27We're all told we eat too much salt, but we do actually need a small amount of salt.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31So my message to people is eat less salt, but better salt.
0:22:33 > 0:22:41So now I must retrace my steps to the station for the final leg of my journey across Anglesey.
0:22:44 > 0:22:50Never having travelled this route before, I'm struck by the sheer size of Anglesey.
0:22:50 > 0:22:55It's quite a long journey across, and the mountains of North Wales recede
0:22:55 > 0:23:00as we move across this relatively flat country towards Holyhead.
0:23:00 > 0:23:05And Bradshaw says, "This once small town of Holyhead, situated in a remote corner of Anglesey,
0:23:05 > 0:23:08"will speedily become an important place,
0:23:08 > 0:23:11"lying in the direct route from London to Dublin, which traffic
0:23:11 > 0:23:18"and communication the London and North Western Company is year by year increasing and developing."
0:23:18 > 0:23:25So I'm going to find a Holyhead fully developed, as predicted by George Bradshaw.
0:23:27 > 0:23:33I'm approaching the most western point in Anglesey, on the edge of the Irish Sea.
0:23:33 > 0:23:39In Bradshaw's time, this was a busy route for ships plying to Liverpool, Dublin and beyond.
0:23:40 > 0:23:46They were guided safely past Anglesey's rocky shore by the South Stack Lighthouse, close to Holyhead.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53These days, most people are heading for the Irish ferry.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57I feel like a bit of a novice here, because I've never set foot
0:23:57 > 0:24:02in Holyhead before, and I think everybody else does this as a matter of routine.
0:24:02 > 0:24:07They all know exactly where they're going, presumably to get the boat.
0:24:07 > 0:24:13When the railway arrived here in 1848, it transformed travel to Ireland.
0:24:13 > 0:24:18It offered a quick and easy route to Dublin, which is just 64 miles away.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22Soon the port and the town began to grow.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29Behind me, the pretty painted house fronts of the dark roofs
0:24:29 > 0:24:32of Holyhead, which sits on its own island.
0:24:32 > 0:24:39And in from of me the packet station where, in Bradshaw's day, the packet steamers arrived.
0:24:39 > 0:24:46And this town became important, as Bradshaw had predicted, as a sea port, as the gateway to Ireland.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52Irish immigrants, British soldiers and politicians
0:24:52 > 0:24:56from both sides of the water became regular travellers through Holyhead.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59I'm curious to find out how this railway line
0:24:59 > 0:25:06affected our relationship with Ireland in Bradshaw's time from historian David Gwyn.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08- David, hello.- Hello, Michael.
0:25:08 > 0:25:13Because of my background, I like to think of political implications.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16Do you think the railway from Chester to Holyhead
0:25:16 > 0:25:19helped the British Government in some way to control Ireland?
0:25:19 > 0:25:24I'm sure that was a thought in their minds, that there were the means
0:25:24 > 0:25:28to ship troops over if rebellion broke out, or anything like that.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32And there's certainly a consideration that Irish MPs
0:25:32 > 0:25:35want a fast and comfortable way of travelling to London.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39Yes, because they're represented at Westminster all the way
0:25:39 > 0:25:42into the 20th century, so they're going backwards and forwards.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48As more services used the port, a new harbour was built.
0:25:48 > 0:25:53It included a massive new breakwater to protect shipping.
0:25:53 > 0:25:58Bradshaw writes, "The principal breakwater to the north will be 5,000 feet long,
0:25:58 > 0:26:04"170 broad, and 30 above the bottom of the sea in the deepest part."
0:26:06 > 0:26:11We're on this breakwater here, which is very much referenced in Bradshaw.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13He says he's looking forward to it being completed.
0:26:13 > 0:26:175,000-foot long. It's an amazing structure. How was it done?
0:26:17 > 0:26:19It is a huge thing, as you say.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23It was done over many years, and it's from quarried stone in Holyhead mountain
0:26:23 > 0:26:25standing there behind you.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29They're huge blocks, how was is brought out here?
0:26:29 > 0:26:31It was brought out by railway.
0:26:31 > 0:26:37Steam locomotives carrying the wagons, or pulling the wagons on timber staging,
0:26:37 > 0:26:43so that the stone could be dropped in between the rails, and bit by bit, the whole thing was created.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46It was a marvellous piece of Victorian engineering technology.
0:26:46 > 0:26:52The new breakwater was, and still is, one of the largest constructed in Britain.
0:26:52 > 0:26:57For Victorians departing on board the steamers, it was their last view of Wales.
0:26:57 > 0:27:02I get the impression that Holyhead really is a kind of frontier.
0:27:02 > 0:27:07You could say that. But it's also, you might say, the end of Britain, the end of Britishness,
0:27:07 > 0:27:15and our unquiet relationship with Ireland, I think, is embodied in the changing history of Holyhead.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22The political landscape has changed and changed again,
0:27:22 > 0:27:29but the Victorian infrastructure of railway and port are distinctly recognisable even today.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33This is the furthest point,
0:27:33 > 0:27:36the end of Wales, and since Bradshaw's time,
0:27:36 > 0:27:41with Irish independence, the limit of the United Kingdom.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45Members of Parliament no longer go backwards and forwards through Holyhead.
0:27:45 > 0:27:50But with airline delays and security queues, the train and boat
0:27:50 > 0:27:55remain the preferred option for many to reach the Emerald Isle.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02On my next journey, I'll be following some of the very earliest railway lines in Britain,
0:28:02 > 0:28:08travelling south from Newcastle through Yorkshire, to Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire.
0:28:09 > 0:28:15Along the way, I'll be getting up close and personal with one of the world's first locomotives.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17It's in the most beautiful condition. Am I allowed to?
0:28:17 > 0:28:21- Absolutely. - It's quite thrilling, actually.
0:28:21 > 0:28:26I'll be uncovering some railway treasures with a descendant of George Bradshaw himself.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28Oh, my goodness!
0:28:28 > 0:28:32That is SO beautiful!
0:28:32 > 0:28:38And exploring the seaside town that inspired the Victorian novel Dracula!
0:28:38 > 0:28:41Aaaaaargh!
0:28:42 > 0:28:43How was that?
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:56 > 0:28:59Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk