Newcastle to Chester-le-Street

Download Subtitles

Transcript

0:00:05 > 0:00:10'In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain.

0:00:10 > 0:00:17'His name was George Bradshaw, and his railway guides inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks.

0:00:17 > 0:00:24'Stop by stop, he told them where to travel, what to see and where to stay.

0:00:24 > 0:00:30'Now, 170 years later, I'm making a series of journeys across the length

0:00:30 > 0:00:35'and breadth of the country to see what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.

0:00:56 > 0:00:59'Using my 19th-century Bradshaw's guide,

0:00:59 > 0:01:02'I'm now headed for the North East, the cradle of the railways,

0:01:02 > 0:01:05'where much of their early technology was developed.

0:01:05 > 0:01:09'Some of the first lines were built here by George Stephenson,

0:01:09 > 0:01:15'and I'll be following them south, to see how they spread throughout the country, transforming Britain.

0:01:17 > 0:01:22'Each step of the way, I'll be consulting my Bradshaw's guide on what to look out for.

0:01:22 > 0:01:26'With its remarkable descriptions of Victorian towns and cities,

0:01:26 > 0:01:33'it's helping me to grasp the ideas and inventions that shaped what we enjoy today.

0:01:33 > 0:01:36'On this journey, I'll be visiting the birthplace of the railways...'

0:01:36 > 0:01:40Is this really the shrine of British railway engineering?

0:01:40 > 0:01:45I suppose it is, really. This is the first purpose-built locomotive factory in the world.

0:01:45 > 0:01:48'..finding out about the first lifeboat...'

0:01:48 > 0:01:53This isn't just about technology, this is really a way of thinking about human life.

0:01:53 > 0:01:58'..and witnessing some traditional miners' sword dancing.'

0:02:00 > 0:02:02Who's lost a hand?!

0:02:02 > 0:02:04HE LAUGHS

0:02:09 > 0:02:13Starting in Newcastle, this route takes me south along some

0:02:13 > 0:02:17of the very first railway lines, through Darlington and Whitby

0:02:17 > 0:02:19to York.

0:02:21 > 0:02:25Then I'll cross the Pennines and pass through Sheffield and

0:02:25 > 0:02:28rural Leicestershire, before ending up at the town of Melton Mowbray.

0:02:30 > 0:02:34Today, I'll cover the first 37 miles as I follow the Tyne

0:02:34 > 0:02:39to South Shields, then travel south as far as Chester-le-Street.

0:02:39 > 0:02:46Arriving into Newcastle, there are reminders everywhere of the city's pioneering role in railway history.

0:02:46 > 0:02:49As we cross the River Tyne,

0:02:49 > 0:02:56Bradshaw refers to the high level bridge over there, which was built by the late R Stephenson.

0:02:56 > 0:03:01A 1,400 foot span, 112 feet above the river.

0:03:04 > 0:03:09When it opened in 1849, the high level bridge was one of the earliest

0:03:09 > 0:03:15wrought iron railway bridges, and the first to carry three tracks along its length.

0:03:15 > 0:03:19Its engineer, Robert Stephenson, worked with the architect

0:03:19 > 0:03:24John Dobson to build Newcastle Central Station in 1850.'

0:03:30 > 0:03:37Newcastle Station is itself a wonder of railway archaeology and architecture.

0:03:37 > 0:03:42Stephenson used three beautiful arched iron and glass canopies

0:03:42 > 0:03:46to create the station, and they curve along the platform.

0:03:46 > 0:03:51And this became the model for places all along the North East railway.

0:03:54 > 0:03:58This impressive station provided a fitting gateway to a city

0:03:58 > 0:04:03which in Bradshaw's day had recently been substantially improved.

0:04:03 > 0:04:07He writes "The new town is handsome and well laid out.

0:04:07 > 0:04:12"The exchange and other buildings are built of solid, durable granite at a cost of nearly £2m."

0:04:14 > 0:04:19Designed by architect Richard Grainger and completed around 1841,

0:04:19 > 0:04:25these streets are at the heart of one of England's first conservation areas.

0:04:25 > 0:04:29We're on the corner of Grainger Street and Grey Street. What do you think of these streets?

0:04:29 > 0:04:32Grey Street's a really, really lovely street.

0:04:32 > 0:04:35I mean, the buildings down there are just wonderful.

0:04:35 > 0:04:38If you walk down and just look up - a lot of people never ever look up

0:04:38 > 0:04:43when they walk around, they just look straight ahead, but if you look up, it's a wonderful place. It really is.

0:04:43 > 0:04:46You're awfully young, but do you have any memories of Newcastle?

0:04:46 > 0:04:49Thank you, I'm actually a grandma!

0:04:49 > 0:04:51But that's really nice of you to say so!

0:04:51 > 0:04:54Do you have any memories of Newcastle Gateshead in the old days?

0:04:54 > 0:04:59Before the regeneration, it was quite depressing, but now, it's beautiful down here.

0:04:59 > 0:05:01It's really nice.

0:05:02 > 0:05:08These days, Newcastle's classical buildings are offset by some striking modern architecture,

0:05:08 > 0:05:11including the award-winning Millennium Bridge.

0:05:11 > 0:05:17George Bradshaw, as a tremendous admirer of technology, would love

0:05:17 > 0:05:23the Millennium Bridge, which tips up, like a winking eye, to allow shipping to pass underneath it.

0:05:25 > 0:05:31It takes just four-and-a-half minutes to open, and is the world's first and only tilting bridge.

0:05:33 > 0:05:35The quays of the Tyne are now home

0:05:35 > 0:05:38to a thriving arts and culture scene.

0:05:38 > 0:05:44But in Bradshaw's time, one industry above all others helped the city to grow.

0:05:44 > 0:05:51Bradshaw's says: "Newcastle's situation on the banks of a navigable river, and in the greatest

0:05:51 > 0:05:57"coal district in the world, are the chief causes which have tended to raise it to wealth and importance."

0:05:59 > 0:06:03In the 1860s, Tyneside dominated Britain's coal mining industry,

0:06:03 > 0:06:07supplying almost a third of London's fuel.

0:06:07 > 0:06:12The wealth generated by the collieries financed pioneering engineers working

0:06:12 > 0:06:18on what became the century's most important technology - the railways.

0:06:18 > 0:06:23In 1824, Robert Stephenson and his father George

0:06:23 > 0:06:27set up their locomotive works in central Newcastle.

0:06:27 > 0:06:32'I'm meeting Dr Michael Bailey to see what's left of their empire.'

0:06:32 > 0:06:34- It's good to meet you. - Wonderful to see you.

0:06:34 > 0:06:36I can't believe this place.

0:06:36 > 0:06:41Is this really the shrine of British railway engineering?

0:06:41 > 0:06:43Well, I suppose it is, really.

0:06:43 > 0:06:47This is the first purpose-built locomotive factory in the world.

0:06:47 > 0:06:52The railways were developed in this country, and we then exported our locomotives

0:06:52 > 0:06:58to Europe, to North America, and the whole railway revolution developed from that moment on.

0:06:58 > 0:07:02It must have become a very big works indeed. Give me an idea of its size.

0:07:02 > 0:07:05When it was completely developed,

0:07:05 > 0:07:10later on in the 19th century, it occupied something like six acres,

0:07:10 > 0:07:12two-and-a-half hectares in modern speak.

0:07:12 > 0:07:17There were about 1,200 employees.

0:07:17 > 0:07:19So that was a very large site.

0:07:19 > 0:07:23Looking at this building, there's very little trace of what it must've been like.

0:07:23 > 0:07:25And yet, it's very moving, actually.

0:07:25 > 0:07:27For anyone interested in railways,

0:07:27 > 0:07:30this is the cradle of it all, the place where it all begins.

0:07:30 > 0:07:33Yes, it is. And I think the people of Newcastle are extremely proud

0:07:33 > 0:07:37of the fact that they have here, right on their doorstep,

0:07:37 > 0:07:39the very beginnings of the railway era.

0:07:40 > 0:07:46At this site, the Stephensons designed some of the first successful locomotives.

0:07:46 > 0:07:50They developed all the elements of a modern railway,

0:07:50 > 0:07:57including setting the distance between the parallel rails, which became the world standard gauge.

0:07:57 > 0:08:03Why does this birth of railway technology happen in Newcastle of all places?

0:08:03 > 0:08:05It comes back to the coal, of course.

0:08:05 > 0:08:11The coal industry was so dominant in the 18th and then early 19th century,

0:08:11 > 0:08:15that the competition between the different coal owners

0:08:15 > 0:08:19demanded better and better ways of moving the coal

0:08:19 > 0:08:23from the colliery sites to the shipping points for shipment

0:08:23 > 0:08:26to Southern England or export to Europe.

0:08:26 > 0:08:30And therefore, to allow you to be competitive,

0:08:30 > 0:08:34you needed better railway technology to move the coal.

0:08:35 > 0:08:41Father and son George and Robert Stephenson both started out as engineers in the coal industry,

0:08:41 > 0:08:46and by Bradshaw's day, they'd become household names.

0:08:46 > 0:08:51One striking thing about George Stephenson is he is a man of very humble origins, little education.

0:08:51 > 0:08:53Was he a man with rough edges?

0:08:53 > 0:08:55Yes, he did have rough edges.

0:08:55 > 0:09:00He always had a bit of a chip on his shoulder, or some would say a forest on his shoulder,

0:09:00 > 0:09:02because he didn't have education.

0:09:02 > 0:09:07But he was self-taught. He taught himself to read and write, and that's obviously very commendable.

0:09:07 > 0:09:09But Robert did have an education.

0:09:09 > 0:09:16George Stephenson ensured his son Robert would have all the education that he did not have.

0:09:16 > 0:09:19When he left school, he could really have taken

0:09:19 > 0:09:24a position in any profession, but he chose to perpetuate his interest in engineering.

0:09:24 > 0:09:32By 1850, he had been responsible for something like a third of all the railways built in this country.

0:09:32 > 0:09:36These two men, hopping between mechanical engineering and civil engineering,

0:09:36 > 0:09:41building bridges, planning railway lines, this is the stuff of genius, isn't it?

0:09:41 > 0:09:42Well, I think it is, isn't it?

0:09:42 > 0:09:49To be the engineers right at the beginning of the railway revolution, yes, it is, it's the stuff of genius.

0:09:51 > 0:09:58In 1859, when Robert Stephenson died, the railway works were one of the largest employers on Tyneside.

0:09:58 > 0:10:05But they owed their development to the region's mineral wealth, its so-called black gold.

0:10:06 > 0:10:14Bradshaw's notes that "Coal, the true riches of Newcastle, was first worked here in the year 1260,

0:10:14 > 0:10:20"but the produce was scanty till steam power was used in 1714."

0:10:20 > 0:10:25He notes "the vastness of the coal fields and their enormous depth."

0:10:25 > 0:10:28And then he says, "All geologists agree that it will take some

0:10:28 > 0:10:33hundreds, if not thousands of years to exhaust the coal."

0:10:33 > 0:10:37Well, I'm going to see now how that prediction stacks up today.

0:10:39 > 0:10:45I'm heading out to the old coalfields around South Shields on the Metro, Tyneside's underground.

0:10:45 > 0:10:49It's one of four in Britain, alongside those in London, Glasgow and Liverpool.

0:10:51 > 0:10:53Of course, I'm used to the London underground.

0:10:53 > 0:10:56Coming down the escalators it felt like London,

0:10:56 > 0:10:59except the escalators are shorter than at most London stations.

0:10:59 > 0:11:02And I think the trains are shorter, too.

0:11:02 > 0:11:09But still, this railway has 60 stations, so it may not be London, but it's a very substantial size.

0:11:18 > 0:11:24The Metro was Britain's first modern light rail system when it opened in 1980.

0:11:24 > 0:11:30Designed to move people quickly around the region, its vehicles are lighter than mainline trains.

0:11:30 > 0:11:36Its 47-and-a-half miles of track carry passengers far into the suburbs, unless, that is,

0:11:36 > 0:11:41you happen to pick a day when they're doing engineering works.

0:11:42 > 0:11:45Unfortunately, that's the end of my journey by train, because

0:11:45 > 0:11:49this being a Sunday, from here, it's a replacement bus service.

0:11:52 > 0:11:57The rail replacement bus service can be regarded as a modern curse, and I don't suppose it would have

0:11:57 > 0:12:04happened much in Bradshaw's day, but the origin is mid-19th century, because by act of Parliament,

0:12:04 > 0:12:07rail services were made statutory, compulsory, and if there isn't

0:12:07 > 0:12:10a train, the rail company still has to provide a service.

0:12:10 > 0:12:18It demonstrates how quickly people came to rely on the railways as the main form of transport.

0:12:18 > 0:12:22I don't have anything against buses, but let's face it, they're not the same as trains.

0:12:25 > 0:12:28I'm on my way to one of the many coal mines that were sunk into the

0:12:28 > 0:12:35earth around Newcastle in Bradshaw's day, linked by a growing network of railway tracks.

0:12:35 > 0:12:39My guidebook writes, "Within a circle of 8-10 miles,

0:12:39 > 0:12:46"more than 50 important collieries are open, employing 10 to 15,000 hands."

0:12:48 > 0:12:54One of these productive pits was Whitburn Colliery, which opened in 1879.

0:12:54 > 0:12:57Its workers had their own village, built alongside the pit.

0:12:57 > 0:13:01But although my Bradshaw's guide predicted a long future for

0:13:01 > 0:13:07Northumbrian coal, arriving today, there's no sign of life.

0:13:07 > 0:13:13It's difficult to believe that this green expanse at the cliff's edge

0:13:13 > 0:13:17was once a village of 700 people, Marsden.

0:13:17 > 0:13:21And now of its 9 streets, its school,

0:13:21 > 0:13:26its miners' institute, hardly a trace remains.

0:13:26 > 0:13:30It's all been swept away.

0:13:30 > 0:13:34To find out what became of this once-thriving community, I'm meeting

0:13:34 > 0:13:38lifelong resident Larry Robertson, who worked here in the 1960s.

0:13:38 > 0:13:41So these gates were once the entrance to the colliery?

0:13:41 > 0:13:44Yes, it's hard to believe, we had a full colliery here.

0:13:44 > 0:13:51Full steam engines for the winders, and the office block just behind us, workshops, everything.

0:13:51 > 0:13:55Full industrial, huge complex.

0:13:55 > 0:13:59Even more surprising to me is it's not just the colliery that's gone but the whole village.

0:13:59 > 0:14:01Yeah, there was a full community.

0:14:01 > 0:14:07Most of the workers for the colliery lived just along the road, about 400 metres.

0:14:07 > 0:14:08All disappeared.

0:14:08 > 0:14:14Larry grew up in Marsden, and remembers what once stood here.

0:14:14 > 0:14:16Describe the village you knew as a kid.

0:14:16 > 0:14:18Oh, a very, very friendly little village.

0:14:18 > 0:14:21We had North Street here, the dairy was just here.

0:14:21 > 0:14:24We used to get the school bus there.

0:14:24 > 0:14:27We could walk it, but we used to get the bus.

0:14:28 > 0:14:33About 150, 170 houses and families.

0:14:33 > 0:14:35Everybody worked at the colliery, knew each other.

0:14:35 > 0:14:40In its heyday, Whitburn Colliery produced 1,500 tons of coal a day,

0:14:40 > 0:14:42which travelled by train to Newcastle.

0:14:42 > 0:14:45That would be the railway line running there.

0:14:45 > 0:14:46That's it, the embankment there.

0:14:46 > 0:14:49It used to run all the way to South Shields, parallel to the road.

0:14:49 > 0:14:53We used to nickname it the Marsden rattler.

0:14:53 > 0:14:59It used to bring the miners in from South Shields, because, obviously then, transport wasn't that good.

0:14:59 > 0:15:02So each shift, four times a day, would go

0:15:02 > 0:15:05backwards and forwards, well, eight times, taking people home.

0:15:05 > 0:15:10'The miners worked on seams that extended for miles under the sea.

0:15:10 > 0:15:14'But by Larry's day, it was becoming too costly to extract the coal.

0:15:14 > 0:15:20'In 1968, the mine closed, and shortly after, Marsden village was pulled down.'

0:15:20 > 0:15:24I don't really understand why the village was demolished.

0:15:24 > 0:15:27I think it was going to cost too much to upgrade it.

0:15:27 > 0:15:29It was...

0:15:29 > 0:15:33Basically, we still had the outside toilets, little backyards.

0:15:33 > 0:15:38It was the same when they knocked it down as it was when they built it.

0:15:38 > 0:15:43I suppose, at the end, it was expense. Which was a shame.

0:15:43 > 0:15:45A shame.

0:15:45 > 0:15:50It was just incredible that this area supported so much life.

0:15:50 > 0:15:52For me, as a kid, it was a wonderful life.

0:15:52 > 0:15:56- I really enjoyed it. - You paint a fantastic picture.

0:15:57 > 0:16:00The second half of the 20th century saw the closure

0:16:00 > 0:16:07of the region's mines, and by the 1990s, all the collieries were gone.

0:16:07 > 0:16:12But now it could be time to revisit Bradshaw's optimistic forecast for the coal industry.

0:16:12 > 0:16:18I'm staying on the Whitburn Colliery site to meet mining expert Professor Paul Younger.

0:16:18 > 0:16:26My Bradshaw's guide says that many geologists have considered how long the coal supply may last and they've

0:16:26 > 0:16:29agreed that it's hundreds, if not thousands of years.

0:16:29 > 0:16:30Were those geologists right?

0:16:30 > 0:16:32Well, basically they were.

0:16:32 > 0:16:36If you look at this part of the world, we've been mining coal

0:16:36 > 0:16:40at industrial scale longer here than on any other part of the planet.

0:16:40 > 0:16:43So more than 400 years of large-scale coal mining,

0:16:43 > 0:16:49and yet still 75% of the coal is in the sub-surface waiting for us.

0:16:49 > 0:16:51- Three-quarters left underground? - Yeah, yeah.

0:16:51 > 0:16:55'With so much coal under the north sea, Paul's hoping to employ a new

0:16:55 > 0:17:00'technique for extracting its energy called gasification.'

0:17:00 > 0:17:03Instead of sending human beings underground to go through tunnels

0:17:03 > 0:17:09and so on, it's all done with modern steered drilling technologies from surface, so you have a drilling rig,

0:17:09 > 0:17:15you send the drilling bit down, you steer it to move through the coal seam, you inject steam and oxygen

0:17:15 > 0:17:21and then out of another borehole, out pops gas, which has got 80% of the energy of the original solid coal.

0:17:21 > 0:17:24'Miners wouldn't need to go underground,

0:17:24 > 0:17:27'and it's hoped this could provide a greener source of energy.'

0:17:27 > 0:17:32We see the coal here as our way of bridging our way to a renewable energy future.

0:17:32 > 0:17:35Because, you know, everybody's going to immediately say, "Are you crazy,

0:17:35 > 0:17:39"burning more coal when we've got the problems with climate change?"

0:17:39 > 0:17:43But the beauty of the technology we're talking about is that the

0:17:43 > 0:17:45voids we're creating in the deep sub-surface, if they're

0:17:45 > 0:17:53below depths of 650, 700 metres, we can inject the carbon dioxide straight back into them,

0:17:53 > 0:17:56and so we have a way of getting the energy out of the coal without

0:17:56 > 0:17:59further damaging the atmosphere with carbon dioxide emissions.

0:17:59 > 0:18:06'Although some fear the environmental benefits are unproven, Paul's upbeat about the future.'

0:18:06 > 0:18:09- And so far, promising? - Very promising, yeah.

0:18:09 > 0:18:14All of the studies we've done show that this can be done economically, it can be done safely, and with the

0:18:14 > 0:18:19huge dividend, of course, we then get the energy out of the coal without further damaging the climate.

0:18:19 > 0:18:25'Who knows? Perhaps this coast will support a new community of energy workers.'

0:18:27 > 0:18:30One building survived the demolition of Marsden village,

0:18:30 > 0:18:34the spectacular Souter Lighthouse, built in the 19th century.

0:18:36 > 0:18:40Before I continue my journey, I want to take a look.

0:18:40 > 0:18:4476 steps...

0:18:44 > 0:18:46to the top...

0:18:46 > 0:18:49of the Souter Lighthouse, I'm told,

0:18:49 > 0:18:53but the view is magnificent. This was built in 1871,

0:18:53 > 0:18:57and George Bradshaw would have been thrilled by the technology.

0:18:57 > 0:19:04The first lighthouse built for an electric light with the power of 800,000 candles.

0:19:04 > 0:19:08And the reason was clear - these were very treacherous rocks.

0:19:08 > 0:19:15In 1860 alone, about the time that my guide book was published, 20 ships were wrecked here.

0:19:15 > 0:19:17And this lighthouse

0:19:17 > 0:19:21brought greater safety for seamen.

0:19:21 > 0:19:24The profusion of lighthouses along this shore

0:19:24 > 0:19:30underlines just how treacherous it's always been.

0:19:30 > 0:19:34A tiny reference in my guidebook hints at the perils of these waters.

0:19:34 > 0:19:39And my next train's taking me to South Shields to follow it up.

0:19:41 > 0:19:47I'm taking the Metro because my Bradshaw's tells me that "at South Shields may be seen in the church

0:19:47 > 0:19:53"a model of Greathead's first lifeboat, invented and used in 1790."

0:19:53 > 0:19:56Now, presumably, Victorians understood that reference,

0:19:56 > 0:20:02but it means nothing to me, and I'm intrigued to know what could have been so special about that lifeboat.

0:20:15 > 0:20:19'I'm heading straight from the station to the church mentioned in my Bradshaw's guide.

0:20:21 > 0:20:26'I'm hoping historian Ian Whitehead can help me find the model that it describes.'

0:20:26 > 0:20:29- Pleased to meet you, Michael. - Very nice to see you.

0:20:29 > 0:20:32I am looking for

0:20:32 > 0:20:38Greathead's lifeboat, cos it's mentioned in my Bradshaw's guide.

0:20:38 > 0:20:40Is it...is it readily visible?

0:20:40 > 0:20:42It is readily visible.

0:20:42 > 0:20:44Oh. Wow!

0:20:44 > 0:20:47I didn't expect it to be there. That's absolutely fantastic.

0:20:47 > 0:20:50We can get the boat down if you like. Tom?

0:20:50 > 0:20:52I thought you just pressed a button or something!

0:20:52 > 0:20:55No, unfortunately not!

0:20:55 > 0:21:00The model that hangs from the ceiling represents what's claimed to be the first ever lifeboat, designed

0:21:00 > 0:21:05in response to the hazardous conditions of the North Sea.

0:21:05 > 0:21:08The original boat was made because of loss of life, really,

0:21:08 > 0:21:15in a particular incident in 1789, where a ship ran aground,

0:21:15 > 0:21:17and over a period of 24 hours,

0:21:17 > 0:21:23everyone watched from the shore as the boat failed to get off the

0:21:23 > 0:21:28Herd Sand, and then finally broke up and half the crew died.

0:21:28 > 0:21:31The disaster was so shocking that a group of locals launched

0:21:31 > 0:21:35a competition to design a rescue craft.

0:21:35 > 0:21:39So who was Greathead, the man that Bradshaw attributes this boat to?

0:21:39 > 0:21:44Well, Greathead was the man who claimed to be the inventor of the lifeboat.

0:21:44 > 0:21:48In the competition, there were two people who put in entries.

0:21:48 > 0:21:50One was from Greathead.

0:21:50 > 0:21:57The other entry was from William Wouldhave, who was in fact the parish clerk of this church.

0:21:57 > 0:22:00The committee didn't actually like either of the designs.

0:22:02 > 0:22:04With no clear winner, Greathead was asked to build

0:22:04 > 0:22:08a lifeboat that combined the best ideas from both men.

0:22:08 > 0:22:14It was double ended so that it could be rowed in either direction, with a cork lining for buoyancy.

0:22:14 > 0:22:21This isn't just about technology, this is really also about a way of thinking about human life, isn't it?

0:22:21 > 0:22:24I mean, this is a commitment to save life which was perhaps

0:22:24 > 0:22:27a little bit of a novelty at the end of the 18th century.

0:22:27 > 0:22:31It is. I think if you've got no way of saving life,

0:22:31 > 0:22:36then you have to be fatalistic and you have to say, "Well, we couldn't have saved them anyway."

0:22:36 > 0:22:39But the development of the coal-mining industry meant that

0:22:39 > 0:22:45people had money from the coal trade to think about building a boat like this,

0:22:45 > 0:22:52and so it was a world first for the North East of England to have a lifeboat.

0:22:52 > 0:22:57- So the North East can claim firsts in locomotives and in lifeboats. - Indeed.

0:23:02 > 0:23:06To reach my final destination on this leg of the journey,

0:23:06 > 0:23:09I need to pick up the mainline, so I'm travelling back to Newcastle

0:23:09 > 0:23:12on the Metro along the banks of the Tyne.

0:23:14 > 0:23:19Bradshaw's tells me that this stretch is home to some remarkable Roman ruins.

0:23:21 > 0:23:24Arbeia Fort, built nearly 2,000 years ago

0:23:24 > 0:23:29to guard the entrance to the Tyne, is now a major tourist attraction.

0:23:29 > 0:23:33But ancient sites like these were often plundered.

0:23:33 > 0:23:38Bradshaw's says, "It's probable that much of the priory at Tynemouth was

0:23:38 > 0:23:42"built with stone from the Roman station at South Shields."

0:23:44 > 0:23:48Thankfully, parts of Hadrian's Wall have survived, and its vestiges are

0:23:48 > 0:23:51apparent amongst the housing estates of Newcastle.

0:23:53 > 0:23:56Now back on the main line,

0:23:56 > 0:23:59I'm leaving Tyne and Wear to head south into County Durham.

0:24:01 > 0:24:06My next stop is the ex-mining town of Chester-le-Street.

0:24:10 > 0:24:13- That's a nice tight one, isn't it? - Very tight.

0:24:16 > 0:24:19I'm here because it's an unusual station.

0:24:19 > 0:24:22- Welcome to Chester-le-Street. - Thank you so much.

0:24:22 > 0:24:24- You're Alex, aren't you? - I am. Alex Nelson, yes.

0:24:24 > 0:24:27I gather there's something special about Chester-le-Street station.

0:24:27 > 0:24:32This is one of the few independent stations in the country and the only one on a major main line.

0:24:32 > 0:24:34This is the East Coast main line to London, as you know.

0:24:34 > 0:24:39I took over this station 11 years ago as a private venture to reinvigorate it.

0:24:39 > 0:24:42So how on earth did it occur to you to buy a railway station?

0:24:42 > 0:24:45Well, I don't strictly buy it, I rent it.

0:24:45 > 0:24:51But I was travelling on a train one afternoon from Durham to Newcastle, and the train pulled up here about

0:24:51 > 0:24:562:50 in the afternoon, boarded-up, derelict, with a "to let" sign.

0:24:56 > 0:24:59Alex renovated the station and turned it into a successful

0:24:59 > 0:25:03private business, selling train tickets to anywhere in the country.

0:25:03 > 0:25:06It was a completely unstaffed station when I took it on, unloved.

0:25:06 > 0:25:08And we have five staff who work here.

0:25:08 > 0:25:11We provide information on all trains all over the country by phone.

0:25:19 > 0:25:22That's about 100mph. You have about six seconds to get off the track

0:25:22 > 0:25:26if you're there, so it's just as well we're behind the yellow line.

0:25:26 > 0:25:31Today, Chester-le-Street has just one main line passing through Alex's station.

0:25:31 > 0:25:35In Bradshaw's day, it was at the centre of a spider's web of colliery

0:25:35 > 0:25:40railways bringing coal to the town for export along the River Wear.

0:25:40 > 0:25:45Coal mining has always been dangerous work, and 19th-century miners had to trust

0:25:45 > 0:25:47each other with their lives.

0:25:47 > 0:25:50Close-knit mining communities developed their own traditions,

0:25:50 > 0:25:56and one, the rapper sword dance, is sustained by local resident Ricky Forster and his family.

0:25:56 > 0:26:00Now, you're beautifully turned out for what? For rapper?

0:26:00 > 0:26:03- Rapper sword dance, yes. - A rapper sword dance?

0:26:03 > 0:26:05- North East tradition. - And it goes back how long?

0:26:05 > 0:26:071800s.

0:26:07 > 0:26:11Well, I've got family doing it in the 1800s, carrying the dance through to the present day.

0:26:11 > 0:26:16- Your family's been doing it all that time?- Yeah.- And what is it you're carrying here?

0:26:16 > 0:26:18A rapper sword.

0:26:18 > 0:26:20A rapper sword. Is that sharp?

0:26:20 > 0:26:22No. It's blunt.

0:26:22 > 0:26:23It does cut like a scissor.

0:26:23 > 0:26:25HE LAUGHS

0:26:25 > 0:26:27So what was this used for?

0:26:27 > 0:26:29For cleaning pit ponies' backs.

0:26:29 > 0:26:32So, will you give us a dance, please?

0:26:32 > 0:26:33I think we can manage that.

0:26:33 > 0:26:38JAUNTY FOLK MUSIC PLAYS

0:26:40 > 0:26:44During the 19th century, groups of dancers travelled

0:26:44 > 0:26:50all over the North East by train, performing at competitions in pubs, clubs and miners' galas.

0:26:50 > 0:26:55As well as dancers, comic characters provided light relief.

0:26:55 > 0:26:58- Tell him what to do here.- Can I? - Tell him what to do.

0:26:58 > 0:27:01- Can I tell him what to do? - Aye, you do what she says, you do it.

0:27:01 > 0:27:04Come on here. All right, round here.

0:27:04 > 0:27:06You gan that...

0:27:06 > 0:27:08You gan that way.

0:27:08 > 0:27:11Oh, no! No...

0:27:11 > 0:27:14Who's lost a hand? I'll put it in the handbag!

0:27:18 > 0:27:21- All right, me bonny lads. - All right, me bonny lads.

0:27:21 > 0:27:23That was absolutely fantastic.

0:27:23 > 0:27:27'As I say goodbye to the rapper dancers,

0:27:27 > 0:27:32'it's been brought home to me how this region of Britain was shaped by two staple Victorian industries.

0:27:32 > 0:27:35'Coal and railways.

0:27:35 > 0:27:39'History never ends. Railways have revived, and coal,

0:27:39 > 0:27:44'so recently written off, may return, its energy harvested in a new way.'

0:27:44 > 0:27:47In Bradshaw's day, the North East became rich

0:27:47 > 0:27:53on the back of the railways, and they, in turn, depended on the superabundance of coal.

0:27:53 > 0:27:59If we could master the technology and turn coal that remains underground into gas,

0:27:59 > 0:28:04then maybe coal could supply our energy future as well.

0:28:04 > 0:28:10'On the next leg of my journey, I'll be experiencing how tough the work was on a steam train...'

0:28:10 > 0:28:13The heat from the boiler is intense!

0:28:15 > 0:28:18And the coal is heavy...

0:28:18 > 0:28:21and the locomotive...

0:28:21 > 0:28:22is very hungry!

0:28:22 > 0:28:26'..meeting one of the first locomotives...'

0:28:26 > 0:28:29- It's in the most beautiful condition. Am I allowed to? - Absolutely.

0:28:29 > 0:28:32It's quite thrilling, actually.

0:28:32 > 0:28:36'..and sounding out the seaside town that inspired the Victorian horror story Dracula.'

0:28:36 > 0:28:39MICHAEL SCREAMS VIOLENTLY

0:28:39 > 0:28:41How was that?

0:28:55 > 0:28:58Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:28:58 > 0:29:01E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk