0:00:06 > 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 almost halfway through my journey from the North East of England to the Midlands.
0:00:56 > 0:01:03My Victorian railway guidebook is now well thumbed and I'm enjoying its quirks.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07The more I use my Bradshaw guide, the more I enjoy it.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11He wasn't afraid of saying what he liked and what he didn't.
0:01:11 > 0:01:16He loved progress, but also the established order of rural families.
0:01:16 > 0:01:23He praises natural scenery, but also the massive new structures of engineering.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27He vividly describes a country being transformed by the railways
0:01:27 > 0:01:31from Bradshaw's Britain to the Britain that we know today.
0:01:31 > 0:01:36Reading this very individual guide, I will use Bradshaw's perspective
0:01:36 > 0:01:41to understand both history and who the British are now.
0:01:41 > 0:01:46On this leg of the journey, I'll be hearing how Victorian women reacted to the railways...
0:01:46 > 0:01:52Women reputedly used to hide pins in their lips, so if a man actually a stole kiss from them
0:01:52 > 0:01:57as they went through a railway tunnel in the dark, obviously, their lips were lacerated.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02..sampling the benefits of Harrogate's famous spa waters...
0:02:02 > 0:02:08The whole point about the waters were, they're a strong purge, this explosive power internally.
0:02:08 > 0:02:09Explosive.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13..and meeting some alpacas, whose fleeces made a Victorian fortune.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16This is Holly. She likes smelling hair.
0:02:23 > 0:02:29Since starting this journey in Newcastle, I've moved south along some of the first railway lines.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34Next, I'll be exploring the industrial belt around Leeds
0:02:34 > 0:02:38and Sheffield, before crossing into rural Leicestershire,
0:02:38 > 0:02:40ending up at picturesque
0:02:40 > 0:02:41Melton Mowbray.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43On this stretch,
0:02:43 > 0:02:47I'll be passing through York on my way to the spa town of Harrogate,
0:02:47 > 0:02:48then travelling to Leeds,
0:02:48 > 0:02:54before reaching Saltaire, a Victorian paternalist's model town.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00The first part of my route takes me through North Yorkshire,
0:03:00 > 0:03:03and I need to change trains in the cathedral city of York.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07In the 19th century, the ancient Minster was joined by a magnificent
0:03:07 > 0:03:13Victorian station, the biggest in the Britain when it opened in 1877.
0:03:13 > 0:03:20Ever since, it's been an important railway hub, with thousands of people passing through every day.
0:03:23 > 0:03:28When I was about five or six years old, I remember coming on an overnight train to Scotland
0:03:28 > 0:03:33with my mother to visit her parents, and the train stopped in the middle of the night in York.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36And in those days, "York" was written around these pillars,
0:03:36 > 0:03:41and sitting in the compartment, my mother caught me trying to peer round the side of the pillar.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43The reason was, I'd never heard of York,
0:03:43 > 0:03:47I'd only heard of New York, and I was looking for the word "New".
0:03:47 > 0:03:49My mother thought I was impossibly stupid
0:03:49 > 0:03:54to think that New York lay between King's Cross and Edinburgh.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59Today, we think nothing of taking the train.
0:03:59 > 0:04:07But in Bradshaw's era, the advent of railway travel raised tricky social and even moral issues.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11Trains were both exciting and risky.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13The new technology aroused fears about safety.
0:04:13 > 0:04:18But the railways also brought new opportunities, especially for women.
0:04:18 > 0:04:24While I wait for my connection, historian Di Drummond is going to tell me more.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28At the time of the early railways, how did women react to the possibility to travel by train,
0:04:28 > 0:04:32- and how did the railways react to the women?- There's a lot of evidence to say women
0:04:32 > 0:04:36really took to it, particularly the middle-class woman. Railway companies sometimes
0:04:36 > 0:04:39were not so confident about women travelling.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41Particularly travelling alone.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45Husbands and fathers were not so keen either.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50Duke of Wellington told his son off very soundly for allowing his wife
0:04:50 > 0:04:53to travel alone on a train, which was awful.
0:04:53 > 0:04:58In the early 19th century, women travellers were usually chaperoned.
0:04:58 > 0:05:04But soon, some women began using the trains unaccompanied, raising fears about their safety.
0:05:04 > 0:05:11One of the early railway guides actually says that there is no worse place that a woman could be...
0:05:11 > 0:05:15insulted, as they put it, than in a railway carriage.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19And it's a problem, because obviously in those days, it was a closed carriage,
0:05:19 > 0:05:24you opened the door, you got in, you couldn't move along the corridor to get out of the way,
0:05:24 > 0:05:29so if you got on board with somebody who was threatening, you couldn't get out of the way.
0:05:29 > 0:05:34And there were no communication cords until 1864.
0:05:34 > 0:05:39So in those days, the carriages were divided into thin compartments. There was no corridor either
0:05:39 > 0:05:43along the side or down the middle. So once you're in the compartment, that was it?
0:05:43 > 0:05:47Yes, until you get to the next station. For women, obviously,
0:05:47 > 0:05:53it was the fear of being attacked on the train, to be molested, even possibly raped or murdered,
0:05:53 > 0:05:59and I've not heard about it in this country, but in 19th century Austria and France,
0:05:59 > 0:06:04women reputedly used to hide pins in their lips
0:06:04 > 0:06:10so if a man actually stole a kiss from them as they went through a railway tunnel in the dark,
0:06:10 > 0:06:13obviously their lips were lacerated. Pretty nasty.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16Femme fatale, or nearly fatale anyway!
0:06:16 > 0:06:20But for most women, train travel was a revelation.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24I can see that for women, I mean, new opportunity of travel.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27This is by definition liberating, isn't it?
0:06:27 > 0:06:31Yes, I think it's mostly the middle-class women to start off with.
0:06:31 > 0:06:37Working class women, obviously it takes more time, but by the time you get to the 1860s,
0:06:37 > 0:06:45you've got features like special trains being chartered from Edinburgh to take the herring girls
0:06:45 > 0:06:51down the coast right through to Yarmouth by the end of the season, as they follow the shoals of herring.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55Of course, the most famous Victorian lady, Queen Victoria,
0:06:55 > 0:06:57- travelled by train.- Yes, indeed.
0:06:57 > 0:07:02And that made train travel very popular, because if it was good enough for the Royals,
0:07:02 > 0:07:05it was good enough for those who could afford it.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Trains were equalisers that shook social conventions.
0:07:12 > 0:07:17With that in mind, I take the opportunity of my journey west to Harrogate
0:07:17 > 0:07:20to talk to some 21st-century women travellers.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24As a woman, do you sometimes travel alone on the railways?
0:07:24 > 0:07:28- I have done, yes. - No incidences of strange men coming and talking to you?
0:07:28 > 0:07:32- Not before today, no. - Really, is that the first time that's happened?- It is.
0:07:32 > 0:07:38- You're away for a few days? - Yes, I'm away for two nights. I've left my husband with my two boys,
0:07:38 > 0:07:42- and he's in charge for the next two days.- So there we are. The railways are very liberating.
0:07:42 > 0:07:48Very liberating for me, yes. It gives me a chance to get away, and also a chance for my husband
0:07:48 > 0:07:52to experience what it's like to have two boys all the time.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57My next stop is the genteel spa town of Harrogate.
0:07:57 > 0:08:03But as I enter its familiar station, it reminds me of more uncouth events.
0:08:03 > 0:08:12So this is Harrogate, and I've been here any number of times for Conservative party conventions.
0:08:12 > 0:08:17So Harrogate, which was historically a town of natural baths and a spa,
0:08:17 > 0:08:21for me has been the place of political battles and sparring.
0:08:27 > 0:08:33When trains first puffed into Harrogate in 1848, they transformed the town.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35Within 50 years, this exclusive spa
0:08:35 > 0:08:38had become hugely popular with the middle classes.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42Bradshaw remarks of Harrogate, "Amusements are not wanting.
0:08:42 > 0:08:47"There is a race course and libraries, and collections in natural history.
0:08:47 > 0:08:53"In 1835, the original little pump room was superseded by the present splendid building,
0:08:53 > 0:08:59"which affords a pleasant promenade and a library for the literary lounger.
0:08:59 > 0:09:04"Balls and concerts are frequently given here throughout the season."
0:09:04 > 0:09:10Harrogate has always stood for refinement and, in my view, it still does.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14The biggest draw though was the spa waters.
0:09:14 > 0:09:19In Bradshaw's age, most people came for medical reasons.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22My guidebook says, "To delicate constitutions,
0:09:22 > 0:09:26"it has often afforded relief when stronger remedies have failed."
0:09:28 > 0:09:33It avoids mentioning that Harrogate was also known as the "stinking spa".
0:09:33 > 0:09:38Even before I switch on the tap, I can smell...
0:09:38 > 0:09:40very strong sulphur.
0:09:43 > 0:09:44Eurgh...
0:09:46 > 0:09:50It's just like drinking pure sulphur. It's incredibly strong.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53It better do you good. I hope it does.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55Morning, sir, I won't shake hands,
0:09:55 > 0:09:59- they're wet. Have you tasted the waters?- Not before, but I've heard about it.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03- Are you going to taste them? - Go on.- Have a go. Tell me what you think of this.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10- What does that taste like?- Eurgh...
0:10:10 > 0:10:12Hard-boiled eggs.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14- Rotten eggs, I would say.- Yeah.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17- Have you ever tasted this water?- No.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Nice big gulp.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26- What do you think of that? - Well, it's, er...
0:10:26 > 0:10:31- What?- Do you want the truth?- Yeah. - It doesn't taste very nice.- No.
0:10:31 > 0:10:32Then it probably does you good.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37Luckily, drinking the waters wasn't the only way to enjoy their benefits.
0:10:37 > 0:10:42My Bradshaw's guide says, "Numerous bathing establishments for those who are advised
0:10:42 > 0:10:47"to try their remedial effects can be found here."
0:10:47 > 0:10:51Bradshaw's devotes paragraphs recommending us to bathe in the waters of Harrogate,
0:10:51 > 0:10:59so I feel I should take a dip before I leave town in a former bath that became popular in the Victorian era.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03As the railway brought ever more people to Harrogate,
0:11:03 > 0:11:06the business of treating invalids boomed.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09The Royal Baths that opened in 1897
0:11:09 > 0:11:13were thought to be the most advanced spa complex in the world.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17All sorts of treatments were available,
0:11:17 > 0:11:21including a new facility called a Turkish bath.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26Hello. Kit for one, please.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28There you go.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32All this? All for me. Thank you.
0:11:34 > 0:11:39In Bradshaw's Britain, Turkish baths had become all the rage.
0:11:39 > 0:11:45Historian Dr William Gould is an expert on this Victorian fad.
0:11:45 > 0:11:51For the uninitiated, explain the difference between a Turkish bath and a regular public bath.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55The Turkish bath is based on the principle of different rooms
0:11:55 > 0:11:59which you move through, from the cool room into progressively hotter rooms.
0:11:59 > 0:12:06- And the idea is, you go through a process of sweating.- How was it that we got Turkish baths in Britain?
0:12:06 > 0:12:12The great promoter of the Turkish bath in the mid-19th century was the Scottish diplomat David Urquhart,
0:12:12 > 0:12:16who had spent quite a bit of time in the Ottoman empire on diplomatic missions.
0:12:16 > 0:12:21The Turkish bath had a kind of political and social agenda attached to it,
0:12:21 > 0:12:25particularly from the point of view of David Urquhart, who was a strong Turkophile,
0:12:25 > 0:12:28and wanted to promote aspects of Ottoman culture.
0:12:28 > 0:12:34Urquhart hoped that the baths would encourage support for all things Turkish
0:12:34 > 0:12:37and introduce a new style of public bathing
0:12:37 > 0:12:41based on ambient heat, rather than immersion in water.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45We have to remember, in these days, most people didn't have baths in their homes,
0:12:45 > 0:12:50so in any case, public baths were a common institution.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54Yes, and also, there was this notion that actually, air is much cheaper than water,
0:12:54 > 0:12:58therefore sending someone to a Turkish bath to sweat out their filth
0:12:58 > 0:13:01was cheaper than just immersing themselves in water.
0:13:01 > 0:13:06There was quite a lot of medical literature discussing the benefits of sweating as a form of...
0:13:06 > 0:13:10cleansing oneself and using the methods of the Turkish bath,
0:13:10 > 0:13:17as opposed to what was seen as the slightly grubby ways in which the English used to wash themselves.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20Do you think the railways helped people to enjoy baths?
0:13:20 > 0:13:24If they didn't have a Turkish bath where they lived, they could
0:13:24 > 0:13:27presumably travel to these exotic places.
0:13:27 > 0:13:32Yes. What we see is a massive increase in the number of tourists as a result of the railways.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36Not so many people were diverted away from Harrogate to the seaside resorts
0:13:36 > 0:13:40as they were from the other spa towns, such as Bath and Leamington.
0:13:40 > 0:13:45So Harrogate really flourished as a result of the coming of the railway in 1848.
0:13:45 > 0:13:50- It's a very nice place to relax, so I'll let you take your ease. - Thank you.- Thank you so much.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54At their peak, there were around 600 Turkish baths in Britain.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57Few remain today.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02This one has been restored recently and is now doing a roaring trade.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06Hello, ladies, What brings you to the baths at Harrogate?
0:14:06 > 0:14:09- We're here for a hen weekend. - A hen party?
0:14:09 > 0:14:13- Yeah.- Have any of you ever been to one of these baths abroad?
0:14:13 > 0:14:15In Turkey?
0:14:15 > 0:14:18Yes, I went to one in Turkey, but it wasn't actually like this.
0:14:18 > 0:14:23It was a little bit different. There was stone slabs and you had to lay there for a long time
0:14:23 > 0:14:28- and got loofah'd by a big man! - Are you missing the big man with the loofah?
0:14:28 > 0:14:32No, not particularly! I'm happy here!
0:14:35 > 0:14:41Today, most visitors to the spa are weekend trippers.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45But in Bradshaw's time, Victorian invalids often stayed in Harrogate
0:14:45 > 0:14:49for many weeks, and grand hotels offered them luxury.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52My Bradshaw's Guide recommends one for the night.
0:14:52 > 0:14:53But before entering its portals,
0:14:53 > 0:14:59Malcolm Neesam, who's been researching the "Harrogate Cure".
0:14:59 > 0:15:04What was it alleged that these waters were going to treat?
0:15:04 > 0:15:11Say you'd got worms, I mean, in the 17th century, about 90% of the population had worms.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14These waters would cause you to evacuate the offspring of the worms.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17They'd kill the eggs inside you.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19So it's a very effective way of regaining health.
0:15:19 > 0:15:24By Bradshaw's time, Harrogate's hotels offered a glamorous package
0:15:24 > 0:15:27to make taking a cure feel like a holiday.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31So supposing I'd arrived here in the middle of the 19th century
0:15:31 > 0:15:35on the train, and I had come down to stay at the Crown Hotel,
0:15:35 > 0:15:37what scene would have greeted me?
0:15:37 > 0:15:40Well, on the train, that would have been 1848 and after,
0:15:40 > 0:15:44and had you arrived then, you'd have had a pretty raw frontage facing you.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47This stone was completely new, 1847.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51There were also a band stand, the musicians used to play
0:15:51 > 0:15:54quite early in the morning, about six or seven o'clock.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58- They were there all day, as a matter of fact. - Why did they play so early?
0:15:58 > 0:16:00It was to do with drinking the Harrogate waters.
0:16:00 > 0:16:08The whole point about the waters were, they were a strong purge, so you would not have breakfast,
0:16:08 > 0:16:15then come out and drink the waters and parade about the town, for obvious reasons.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19I once tried it with a group of American visitors, we had to stop the walk in half an hour -
0:16:19 > 0:16:22it's explosive power, the waters, internally. Explosive.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26- So you drank the waters... - Before breakfast.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29..and then it was safe to go and have your egg and bacon.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34Hello... Michael Portillo, checking in, please.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38Had Bradshaw's mentioned the potential for internal explosion, I wouldn't have gulped so much!
0:16:38 > 0:16:40Thank you for this.
0:16:48 > 0:16:56Still, the health-giving waters enable me to awake reinvigorated, in good condition for my journey south.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58So, farewell, Harrogate.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02It was refreshing to see it through the eyes of a Victorian, rather than coming here
0:17:02 > 0:17:09as a 20th-century politician, and I found the town a wonderfully well-conserved Victorian place.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11Very charming to visit.
0:17:19 > 0:17:26I'm now travelling 18 miles from this elegant town to Yorkshire's industrial heartland, Leeds.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30- Tickets, please. Thank you. - Thank you very much.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33- Are you from Leeds? - No, from Harrogate.- Oh, Harrogate.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37- I really enjoyed my visit to Harrogate. It's really nice. - It is beautiful.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41- Do you enjoy living there? - I live in Knaresborough, which I think is even nicer.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45- Well, I loved it. Thank you. Bye.- Bye now.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53The route through the Yorkshire countryside is dotted with impressive feats of engineering,
0:17:53 > 0:17:59like the stunning Crimple Valley viaduct, built around 1848.
0:18:01 > 0:18:08Now I'm looking forward to Leeds, which Bradshaw's describes as, "The great seat of the cloth trade.
0:18:08 > 0:18:13"Several large factories and partnership mills are established in the borough. However,
0:18:13 > 0:18:18"most of the cloth is made at home, by the hand-loom weavers.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22"About 16,000 looms may be thus employed."
0:18:27 > 0:18:33Leeds received its first modern railway in 1846. Soon, the trains helped the local wool trade
0:18:33 > 0:18:39to graduate from cottage industry to manufacture on a vast scale.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44They brought coal and raw materials to feed the hungry mills
0:18:44 > 0:18:49that sprung up all around, spinning flax and wool.
0:18:50 > 0:18:55One of these new factories, Marshall's Mill, was highly distinctive
0:18:55 > 0:19:00and scores a mention in my Bradshaw's guide. Local historian Ken Goor knows it well.
0:19:00 > 0:19:05Well, I think I know what this building is from the description in Bradshaw.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08It's Marshall's Mill, isn't it? He talks about the peculiar construction
0:19:08 > 0:19:12in the Egyptian style, which it certainly is. Why would they build a factory like that?
0:19:12 > 0:19:15Because the industrialists were all trying to outdo each other.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19Someone built a mill chimney, someone would build a bigger mill chimney, someone built
0:19:19 > 0:19:23an ornate mill chimney, a more ornate mill chimney, as with the factories.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26Whenever you built a mill, if you'd got the wealth to do it, you'd to build one
0:19:26 > 0:19:30- and show your neighbours up, sort of thing. One-upmanship. - The new industries
0:19:30 > 0:19:35brought huge wealth to the town, but not everyone shared in the benefits.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38The mill owners put a huge amount of investment into building their mills.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41What were the conditions like for workers inside?
0:19:41 > 0:19:44Absolutely horrible, for the children especially,
0:19:44 > 0:19:46because the raw flax had to be sorted.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50It was a very dusty occupation, and that was done by the children.
0:19:50 > 0:19:55Then the heckling was the next process,
0:19:55 > 0:20:01where it had to be shredded, and shredded and shredded until it was suitable to be spun.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05- A lot of the children lost fingers in the shredding machine.- Horrible.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09One of the main diseases in the factory was rickets,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12because the lack of sunlight and the lack of protein,
0:20:12 > 0:20:17the average diet of the person working in a factory would have been coffee and biscuits.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20A lot of the children were deformed, bow-legged, etc.
0:20:20 > 0:20:27- Here at Marshall's Mill, the story was no different.- The gentleman who built the mill was John Marshall.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30One of the workers wrote about the conditions in the factory.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33It's a parody of The House That Jack Built.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37"This is the lord, so very high born, who treated his long-woolled friends with scorn...
0:20:37 > 0:20:40"Yet is joined with the man all shaven and shorn...
0:20:40 > 0:20:44"To lead John Bull by the nose by talking of corn...
0:20:44 > 0:20:47"But if they don't mind, they'll be tossed and torn...
0:20:47 > 0:20:51"Or be sent with the children all forlorn...
0:20:51 > 0:20:54"To twist from the flax, all heckled and torn...
0:20:54 > 0:20:58"A rope for to hang themselves in the morn...
0:20:58 > 0:21:01"In front of the house that Jack built."
0:21:01 > 0:21:06- Very bitter stuff.- It is, yes. That's what the workers actually thought about him.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15I'm now moving on from Leeds, heading west.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22My route follows the River Aire, through the heartland of Britain's textile industry.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27Conditions in factories were horrible for most of
0:21:27 > 0:21:32the 19th century and children were often used in dangerous occupations.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37But I'm on way now to a place where a paternalistic mill owner with a social conscience
0:21:37 > 0:21:40tried to make things better for his employees.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47I'm bound for Saltaire, three miles west of Bradford.
0:21:47 > 0:21:53In the 19th century, a vast factory was built here to take advantage of the railway line.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58It was followed by neat rows of houses just across the tracks.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00Today, this town is a World Heritage site,
0:22:00 > 0:22:05but in the 1860s, Saltaire was a startling innovation.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12According to Bradshaw, "This place owes its origin to the erection of an immense mill
0:22:12 > 0:22:18"on the banks of the River Aire by Titus Salt Esq."
0:22:18 > 0:22:24And Titus wanted the entire neighbouring area to be a model town for his workers.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32Titus Salt was a rich entrepreneur who'd made his fortune in Bradford,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35where he saw the terrible conditions of workers at first hand.
0:22:35 > 0:22:42In the 1850s, the railways made it possible for him to set up his business on a new site.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46The move gave him the opportunity to give his workers a better life.
0:22:48 > 0:22:53He built them a brand new town, with 824 solid stone homes,
0:22:53 > 0:22:57as well as public buildings like a school and a hospital.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01In return for living in very decent housing like this, Titus Salt
0:23:01 > 0:23:07expected his workers to live by very strict rules, and you can buy a copy of them in the village shop.
0:23:07 > 0:23:13He expected people to be good, obedient, honest, hard working, cheerful,
0:23:13 > 0:23:17they weren't to hang out their washing in front of their houses,
0:23:17 > 0:23:22and anyone who was inebriated would be evicted.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26So he was trying not only to provide good housing for his workers,
0:23:26 > 0:23:29he was also trying to make them better people.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34Hello, ladies.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36- Good afternoon.- What a lovely bakery.
0:23:36 > 0:23:41I just wondering, do you stick to the rules of Saltaire village?
0:23:41 > 0:23:43The first rule is to be cheerful.
0:23:43 > 0:23:48- Are you always cheerful?- Definitely. - Oh, we stick to that one. Definitely.- Right.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51Do you ever hang out your washing in front of your properties?
0:23:51 > 0:23:55- No, you're not allowed. - No. And you never do, do you?- No.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00- Are you always clean and hard working?- Definitely.- Oh, yes.
0:24:00 > 0:24:05- And never inebriated?- Never. - No.- Oh, never.
0:24:05 > 0:24:11- And do you ever tell fibs?- No. - No. I've never told a lie in my life!- No, no.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15- It's been a great pleasure to meet you. Thank you so much. - You too.- Bye.- Bye.
0:24:16 > 0:24:22Titus Salt spent nearly half a million pounds building Saltaire mill and village, then a huge sum.
0:24:22 > 0:24:29He could afford it only because in 1836, he'd had a stroke of genius.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33In this wonderfully preserved museum of a village,
0:24:33 > 0:24:38the school building gives us a clue as to how Titus Salt made his money.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40Two alpacas.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45He went down to the Liverpool docks one day, and they used to use alpaca fleeces as ballast
0:24:45 > 0:24:50in ships coming from South America, and then they were just tossed away.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54And Titus Salt thought this was ridiculous to waste the alpaca fleeces in this way,
0:24:54 > 0:25:02and he devised a way of using it, a way of spinning alpaca into a beautiful fine soft cloth.
0:25:03 > 0:25:08He began transporting alpaca fleeces by rail from the docks, and was soon
0:25:08 > 0:25:14producing 30,000 yards of cloth a week. The new fabric quickly became popular as a cheaper alternative
0:25:14 > 0:25:21to silk and, as its inventor, Titus Salt became one of the richest men in Yorkshire.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25The Peruvians stopped exporting alpaca fleeces in the 1980s,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28when they set up their own manufacturing business.
0:25:28 > 0:25:34But the story carries on on a farm just outside Saltaire.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39- Hello.- Hello. I'm Michael. - Hello, I'm Shiona.- Lovely to see you. I've come to see some alpaca.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42Ah, well, it's feeding time. The alpacas are out in the rain.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45We'll see if we can persuade them to come down.
0:25:48 > 0:25:49Come on!
0:25:50 > 0:25:53Shiona Whitecross has been raising alpacas since 1998.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56Come on. Come on then.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59She runs a small-scale business selling animals
0:25:59 > 0:26:03and sending fleeces off to be spun just like Titus Salt's.
0:26:03 > 0:26:08They're very sweet and pretty shy. What else can you tell me about them?
0:26:08 > 0:26:13Well, the fleece is equivalent to cashmere, really.
0:26:13 > 0:26:18They have something called lustre which means they shine as well. You can see this black one.
0:26:18 > 0:26:24- Yes, lovely.- Partly because she's wet, but she does have a beautiful shiny fleece, and that was something
0:26:24 > 0:26:27Queen Victoria was really impressed by, as it was
0:26:27 > 0:26:31really fine, really lightweight and it had a natural sheen to it.
0:26:31 > 0:26:36- I suppose alpaca are quite rare in Britain?- They would have been at one stage, but they aren't now.
0:26:36 > 0:26:43I think the numbers are increasing, there's about 20,000 in the UK that are registered.
0:26:43 > 0:26:49These days, alpacas are also popular with farmers because they're said to keep foxes at bay.
0:26:49 > 0:26:55So with every increasing number of alpaca in Britain, could we look forward to large-scale production
0:26:55 > 0:26:59- of alpaca cloth?- I would hope that's the way it's going to go...
0:26:59 > 0:27:04- and, yes, I would look forward to that.- They're getting a bit used to me now.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06They are, they're naturally curious.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09This is Holly, she likes smelling hair.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12SHIONA LAUGHS
0:27:14 > 0:27:18Once again, I feel lucky to be travelling with a Bradshaw's Guide.
0:27:18 > 0:27:23It consistently leads me to hidden corners of our national history,
0:27:23 > 0:27:28and even to extraordinary examples of how we live our lives today.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32I really enjoyed going to Harrogate without anyone asking me to make a political speech,
0:27:32 > 0:27:38and I thought Saltaire was a fantastic example of Victorian idealism.
0:27:38 > 0:27:43And as for the alpaca, well, I really fell for them, and I never
0:27:43 > 0:27:48expected to meet them for the first time in Yorkshire of all places.
0:27:51 > 0:27:58On the next leg of my journey, I'll be hearing how textile recycling started in 19th-century Yorkshire...
0:27:58 > 0:28:02When the rags came here, thousands of tonnes from all over the world,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05they were auctioned on a regular basis here at the station.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09..seeing how Victorians made rhubarb grow in the dark...
0:28:09 > 0:28:11Are there any secrets left in your process?
0:28:11 > 0:28:13I can't tell you, unless...
0:28:13 > 0:28:15we'll have to bury you under the rhubarb roots.
0:28:15 > 0:28:20..and uncovering railway treasures with a descendant of George Bradshaw himself.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23Oh, my goodness!
0:28:23 > 0:28:27That is SO beautiful!
0:28:44 > 0:28:48Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd.
0:28:48 > 0:28:51E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk