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 > 0:00:21Stop by stop, he told them where to travel,
0:00:21 > 0:00:24what to see, and where to stay.
0:00:24 > 0:00:31Now, 170 years later, I'm making a series of journeys across the length and breadth of the country
0:00:31 > 0:00:35to see what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55The next train to depart from Platform 8
0:00:55 > 0:01:00will be the 0930 National Express service to Norwich.
0:01:01 > 0:01:06I'm continuing my journey from Brighton to north Norfolk.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10150 years ago, businessmen, commuters, even politicians,
0:01:10 > 0:01:15realised that the railways, with their power and speed, were transforming lives.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18You could bathe in the sea at Brighton in the morning,
0:01:18 > 0:01:23you could have lunch in London, and you could be in Newmarket for a race meeting in the afternoon.
0:01:23 > 0:01:28And, luckily, George Bradshaw was on hand, with his handbooks and his timetables,
0:01:28 > 0:01:33to enable Victorians to maximise their social opportunities.
0:01:35 > 0:01:41All along this route, I'm gliding over the tracks that got the Victorian bourgeoisie on the move,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44whether for business, sport or sightseeing.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48'Each day, I'll depend on my Bradshaw's to be my guide.
0:01:49 > 0:01:54'Today I'll be seeing how trains changed the fortunes of Newmarket's famous races...'
0:01:54 > 0:01:58It's a sign of a very smart town, isn't it, to have one station for people from the North,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02- one for people from the South and one for the horses?- Oh, absolutely.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06'..following my tracks back to my student days...'
0:02:06 > 0:02:10And that's where my all-important cocktail bar was.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13I probably had a desk as well, but I don't remember.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16'..and finding out that Cambridge has
0:02:16 > 0:02:18'a rather surprising claim to fame.'
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Football really started to blossom as clubs could be formed,
0:02:21 > 0:02:25competitions could be organised, and teams could travel some distance.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35So far, I've journeyed 68 miles from Brighton through London.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37Now I'll head north out of the capital,
0:02:37 > 0:02:41following a major commuter line into Cambridgeshire.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44I'll explore the Fens en route to King's Lynn,
0:02:44 > 0:02:48then pass through East Dereham and Norwich,
0:02:48 > 0:02:51on the way to my final stop - Cromer.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55Starting in Enfield today,
0:02:55 > 0:02:59I'll travel via Newmarket to my old university town.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11My first train takes me north out of London through the suburbs of the capital.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18One of the things that fascinates me about suburban railways
0:03:18 > 0:03:22is that you can see into people's windows and into their back gardens.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26The railways didn't just change life for people travelling by train,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29they changed the lives of the people living by railway tracks.
0:03:29 > 0:03:36And how many movie plots and novels have been based on some incident glimpsed from a fast-moving train?
0:03:39 > 0:03:43London's suburbs snaked out along the railway lines.
0:03:43 > 0:03:49Once distant places were, by the mid-19th century, only minutes from the city.
0:03:49 > 0:03:55But I'm surprised to find one that's very familiar to me recommended to tourists -
0:03:55 > 0:03:57Enfield.
0:03:58 > 0:04:05Bradshaw says, "The environs of Enfield are exceedingly pretty, and the scenery quite picturesque."
0:04:05 > 0:04:10Having been an MP in this borough, of course I agree with that,
0:04:10 > 0:04:13and returning stirs cheerful memories.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19It's not principally the scenery
0:04:19 > 0:04:23that makes Enfield score highly in Bradshaw's Guide.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27It says, "A visit should be made to the government arms factory,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30"an order for which must be previously obtained
0:04:30 > 0:04:33"from the Ordnance Office in London."
0:04:33 > 0:04:37Now, you probably wouldn't think of visiting a weapons plant,
0:04:37 > 0:04:41but Victorian tourists sought self-improvement through knowledge,
0:04:41 > 0:04:44and they took pride in Britain's superior technology.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47The machine shop at Enfield was the biggest in Europe,
0:04:47 > 0:04:51and attracted trainloads of admiring visitors.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55- Hello, Ray.- Hello, Michael. - Very good to see you. - Yes, a pleasure to meet you.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58Ray Tuthill worked here in the 1950s.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02This is a magnificent building, Ray. What was it?
0:05:02 > 0:05:05It was the machine shop that was built in 1856
0:05:05 > 0:05:10to house machinery brought from Springfield in America.
0:05:10 > 0:05:15It went in here, and mass production, as we know it today, started in this machine shop.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18At the Great Exhibition, the Americans brought some rifles across
0:05:18 > 0:05:24and amazed everybody with this wonderful process, where you could take a random selection of components
0:05:24 > 0:05:29from a number of rifles, put them together in any order, and get a number of complete rifles.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33Prior to that, all engineering components were made by hand.
0:05:34 > 0:05:40This new American method of constructing guns from machine-made parts was revolutionary,
0:05:40 > 0:05:44and it's often seen as the beginning of modern-day mass production.
0:05:44 > 0:05:50The Enfield factory was the first in this country to adopt the system.
0:05:50 > 0:05:57Since the mid-1800s, every major type of rifle for the British armed services has been made here.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01Now, I imagine the weapon that most people would have heard of is the Lee Enfield.
0:06:01 > 0:06:07It was first produced in this machine shop at the beginning of the 1900s
0:06:07 > 0:06:09as a service weapon.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12The short-magazine Lee Enfield, or the Lee Enfield No. 1,
0:06:12 > 0:06:17that saw Great Britain through the First World War and up into the Second, and indeed through it.
0:06:17 > 0:06:23The factory was so large that, from 1855, it had its own railway station on the main line.
0:06:23 > 0:06:29Later, special trains were ferrying workers to Enfield in time for the 7am shift.
0:06:29 > 0:06:35Now, my Bradshaw's Guide from the 1860s refers to a railway station here called Ordnance Factory.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39- Was that used for bringing materials in and taking them out? - Not at that stage.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43As the factory expanded and the population of workers expanded,
0:06:43 > 0:06:48all the housing around here grew up and also workers started coming in from further afield,
0:06:48 > 0:06:55so it would have been transport for people, but not actually for materials until the 20th century.
0:06:55 > 0:07:00From Bradshaw's day until the factory closed in the 1980s, the Enfield munition workers
0:07:00 > 0:07:05were admired for being amongst the most skilled in the world, and Ray was one of them.
0:07:05 > 0:07:10I first crossed this bridge in September, 1952,
0:07:10 > 0:07:13when I started my apprenticeship, and it was a wonderful apprenticeship.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18It was not just about teaching you engineering, it taught you about life,
0:07:18 > 0:07:22and in many ways it paralleled a modern university education.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27And if you'd done an apprenticeship at Enfield Lock it was recognised worldwide.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30It was often called a ticket to a job anywhere in the world.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40Much though I've enjoyed returning to familiar Enfield,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43it's time to continue on the next leg of my journey.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50It'll take me 58 miles along the tracks.
0:07:52 > 0:07:58After two changes of train, I'm now heading across the open plains of Cambridgeshire towards Newmarket,
0:07:58 > 0:08:05and Bradshaw says, "long celebrated in the annals of horsemanship for its extensive heath,
0:08:05 > 0:08:10"in the immediate vicinity of which has been formed one of the finest racecourses in the kingdom".
0:08:10 > 0:08:18And even someone as ignorant as I am of thoroughbreds knows that that remains true even today.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27Newmarket was the first course to organise official horse races,
0:08:27 > 0:08:30and, since the railways arrived in 1848,
0:08:30 > 0:08:32trainloads of optimistic punters
0:08:32 > 0:08:37have threaded their way to the town for a flutter.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40Tickets, please.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43- Hello.- Hi.- Are you...
0:08:43 > 0:08:45Are you often on the train on race days?
0:08:45 > 0:08:51I am, yes. Last year I remember a lot of race days, it gets very busy.
0:08:51 > 0:08:56I bet it does. And are they celebrating already when they get on?
0:08:56 > 0:08:58Er...yes.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02The majority of the time, yes. But they're normally pretty good.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04Well, I'm off to see the gee-gees myself now.
0:09:04 > 0:09:09- Oh, OK, just at Newmarket? - At Newmarket.- OK, well, good luck. - Thank you very much indeed.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11- Thank you.- Bye-bye.
0:09:12 > 0:09:18In Victorian times, Race Special trains from around the country brought racegoers to Newmarket.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22The meets are as popular as ever, but nowadays fewer people come by rail.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24- Bye-bye.- Thanks a lot.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26Oh!
0:09:26 > 0:09:30Well...I was expecting something rather grand at Newmarket,
0:09:30 > 0:09:36because I know the station plays quite an important part in the town's history, but it's such...
0:09:36 > 0:09:38well, it's just a little halt.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42When the first trains arrived in Newmarket,
0:09:42 > 0:09:44it was a town for the gentry,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47and the races were the preserve of the rich.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51My guide says, "Most of the houses are modern and well built,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54"and have been erected as residences
0:09:54 > 0:09:58"for the nobility and private gentlemen who attend the races."
0:09:58 > 0:10:02Newmarket's pre-eminent position in racing originated with a group of London gentlemen
0:10:02 > 0:10:06whose passion for horses led them to form the Jockey Club.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09I'm looking to historian Sandra Easom to tell me more.
0:10:09 > 0:10:10Sandra.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13- Hello, Michael.- Hello, very good to see you.- Nice to meet you.
0:10:13 > 0:10:19Now, I understand that you can't really comprehend Newmarket unless you know about the Jockey Club.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23- What's the Jockey Club?- Well, racing started with royalty here.
0:10:23 > 0:10:32Then, in 1752, a group of young bucks from London were interested in the racing on the heath.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34They thought it would provide good sport,
0:10:34 > 0:10:39and so the Jockey Club moved up from London to have its headquarters here,
0:10:39 > 0:10:41and they've been here ever since.
0:10:41 > 0:10:46'The Jockey Club appreciated the commercial and sporting potential
0:10:46 > 0:10:49'of racing at Newmarket, and devised the first official rules.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53'Soon, these were adopted by courses across the country,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56'but when the railways reached Newmarket,
0:10:56 > 0:10:58'bringing a new type of race-goer,
0:10:58 > 0:11:02'the elitist Jockey Club was less than thrilled.'
0:11:02 > 0:11:07They were very much against the idea of the lower orders coming here for racing.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11They saw it as a gentleman's sport and a gentleman's preserve, and they didn't want
0:11:11 > 0:11:14the hoi polloi being able to come along and spoil their day's racing.
0:11:14 > 0:11:21Basically, they made sure that racing was held at times that wasn't convenient to the masses.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24They made sure that the railway journeys were quite expensive.
0:11:24 > 0:11:29Most of the trains that came here came at times that were convenient to them rather than to the working man.
0:11:30 > 0:11:35'Eventually, the Jockey Club realised that it was missing out on a money spinner,
0:11:35 > 0:11:40'so ceased its obstructionism and began to work WITH the railways.'
0:11:40 > 0:11:44The Jockey Club actually thought, well, they might give this a go,
0:11:44 > 0:11:49and they negotiated for cheap day excursions from Liverpool Street in London
0:11:49 > 0:11:52for the princely sum of six shillings and sixpence,
0:11:52 > 0:11:56which was still, you know, quite pricey for your average working man.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00So, the trade opened up and it proved very popular indeed.
0:12:01 > 0:12:06'Newmarket became so popular that extra stations had to be built.'
0:12:06 > 0:12:10- Now, evidently we are meeting at a FORMER railway station.- Yes, indeed.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14I was rather disappointed to come into a tiny little station.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17I know, it's very disappointing these days, isn't it?
0:12:17 > 0:12:20You come in and it's just a little halt, a remnant of its former glory.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24It was built in 1902 and it was one of three stations,
0:12:24 > 0:12:26which shows you how important the railway was to Newmarket.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28So, in great contrast to today,
0:12:28 > 0:12:32- Newmarket used to be a bit of a railway hub?- Oh, indeed, yes.
0:12:32 > 0:12:37I mean, it was very popular for excursions from all over the country, not just the South and London,
0:12:37 > 0:12:41which of course was the main place they came from, but from the North.
0:12:41 > 0:12:46All the horses came into the old station, the 1848 station.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49'The railways revolutionised racing.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53'For the first time, horses caught the train to race meetings,
0:12:53 > 0:12:57'instead of walking, and so arrived in better condition to compete.
0:12:57 > 0:13:02'On a good day, 75 special railway horseboxes and 6,000 people
0:13:02 > 0:13:06'passed through Newmarket stations en route to the course.'
0:13:06 > 0:13:11The railway had a tremendous effect on Newmarket's prosperity, because
0:13:11 > 0:13:16the population actually doubled in the 40 years from the time that the railway started.
0:13:16 > 0:13:22The number of trainers, who of course were the primary employers, doubled, and the town prospered.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25It's a sign of a very smart town, isn't it, to have one station
0:13:25 > 0:13:30- for people from the North, one for people from the South, and another one for the horses?- Oh, absolutely.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33Of course, it was the ultimate technology in Victorian times,
0:13:33 > 0:13:37it was a new technology, and every town worth its salt wanted a railway.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39- Or several.- Oh, yes.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46First thing in the morning, I'll be up to see the horses train,
0:13:46 > 0:13:50so I plan to stay in Newmarket and go to bed early.
0:13:52 > 0:13:58Thinking about where to stay the night, my Bradshaw's Guide mentions two hotels, and this is one of them.
0:13:58 > 0:14:04This has been one of the most popular stopovers in Newmarket since the races began.
0:14:04 > 0:14:09- Hello, Michael Portillo checking in. - Checking in. If I could just ask for a signature there, sir.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13Thank you. I love your courtyard, it has a very historic feeling to it.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17Originally the hotel was a coaching inn, so lots of horse-and-carriages used to come through.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19It was built in the 17th century.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22I thought it had the feel of horses about it.
0:14:22 > 0:14:24That's fantastic. Thank you, sir.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28Thank you, I've got a very early morning so I'm going to hit the hay.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31- OK, have a good night, sir. - Thank you, bye-bye.- Enjoy your stay.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46The next morning, I'm out long before breakfast
0:14:46 > 0:14:49to witness a centuries-old routine.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52The horses begin their day by stretching their legs
0:14:52 > 0:14:54on the Newmarket gallops.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58It's a beautiful morning, just before seven o'clock.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01This is the Newmarket Heath, these are the famous gallops.
0:15:01 > 0:15:07I'm meeting one of Newmarket's most experienced trainers, Sir Mark Prescott.
0:15:07 > 0:15:12He's been responsible for over 1,500 winners and is out on the heath every day.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14- Mr Portillo, how are you? - Very nice to see you.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18So, this heath, for how long has it seen this sort of activity?
0:15:18 > 0:15:22The grass you're standing on here was sown in 1660,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25and it's not been ploughed, fertilised, watered since,
0:15:25 > 0:15:28so it's exactly the same grass that they were on then.
0:15:28 > 0:15:34What makes Newmarket famous isn't really the racecourse. There are 57 other towns with a racecourse.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37But the heath here, the training facilities,
0:15:37 > 0:15:42that's what brought, in the end, now, 2,500 horses, 82 trainers,
0:15:42 > 0:15:48and, during the covering season, when the stallions and mares are being bred,
0:15:48 > 0:15:51there are 10,000 horses in a ten-square-mile area.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55The well-drained, chalky terrain
0:15:55 > 0:15:58makes the heath ideal for training horses.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01Mark works with around 50 animals at a time.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04It can take anything from six months to two years
0:16:04 > 0:16:06to prepare a young horse to race.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08What about your relationship with the horses?
0:16:08 > 0:16:15Well, that's the most important, really. I suppose the trainer equates really to the headmaster.
0:16:15 > 0:16:21The horses equate to the children, the owners are the parents, and the racecourse is the exam.
0:16:21 > 0:16:30My job is to get as many of the...pupils through their exams at the best level that I can.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Heath House, where Mark keeps his horses,
0:16:33 > 0:16:37has stood here for hundreds of years,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40but he draws my attention to a relatively recent Victorian relic.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44What do you think that is?
0:16:45 > 0:16:47I think it's a bit of old horse.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51It's a bit of very famous old horse called St Simon.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56He is, according to the millennium poll, the greatest racehorse in history.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59He was owned by the Duke of Portland,
0:16:59 > 0:17:03and he sired a Classic winner every crop he had,
0:17:03 > 0:17:05and he stood at 500 guineas.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09500 guineas in those days, half a million in our money.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13And the next most expensive horse in the world covered at 75 Guineas.
0:17:13 > 0:17:20He earned £296,000 at stud, 296 million in our terms.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22- Are we meant to kneel down before him?- I think we should.
0:17:24 > 0:17:29'In Bradshaw's time, there was less technology involved in training horses.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33'Now a top stable must invest in five-star luxury.'
0:17:33 > 0:17:38- A beautiful blue pool for your horses.- Yes, well, by lunchtime it looks like the River Thames.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40And they're actually going to swim,
0:17:40 > 0:17:44- they're not just going to walk through?- No, it's ten foot six deep.
0:17:44 > 0:17:49The idea is to cool them off, stretch their...stretch them again,
0:17:49 > 0:17:53and so, rather like you, if you went and sat down in the office sweating,
0:17:53 > 0:17:57you stiffen up, whereas, if you'd had a swim and put your dressing gown on,
0:17:57 > 0:17:59you stay a lot looser.
0:17:59 > 0:18:04They look magnificent, don't they, as they emerge with the water streaming off them, refreshed?
0:18:04 > 0:18:09And hopefully contented, and hopefully feeling like eating a major breakfast.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11Funny you should mention that.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13I do, too.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15I have it all planned -
0:18:15 > 0:18:19not far from Heath House I shall sample the town's other speciality.
0:18:19 > 0:18:24If there's one thing that Newmarket is famous for apart from racehorses
0:18:24 > 0:18:26it is Newmarket sausages,
0:18:26 > 0:18:30and, indeed, the sausages still form part of the prize
0:18:30 > 0:18:34that's given to the winner of the annual horseracing town,
0:18:34 > 0:18:39the so-called Town Plate, which was initiated by Charles II.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41So, here goes,
0:18:41 > 0:18:45my first tasting of a Newmarket sausage.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50Hm, wonderful.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54Full of beans, and sausage,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57it's time to leave Newmarket for the final leg of my journey.
0:18:57 > 0:19:04In railway terms, at least, Newmarket's glory days are gone, and it's now just a single track
0:19:04 > 0:19:10which will enable me to shuttle towards the city where I was at university - towards Cambridge.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17It's 15 miles away, and it's a city that in my Bradshaw's
0:19:17 > 0:19:20scores a superlative commendation.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25"The University of Cambridge is second to no other in Europe."
0:19:26 > 0:19:31The last stop on my journey today leads me down memory lane.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38Arriving in Cambridge is always like a bit of a homecoming for me,
0:19:38 > 0:19:40having spent three years here.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43And not just any three years, those formative three years,
0:19:43 > 0:19:47the first three years of being an independent adult.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52In Bradshaw's day, and in mine,
0:19:52 > 0:19:56students were known to get up to all sorts of mischief.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59One legend claims that the station was built out of town
0:19:59 > 0:20:03to make it harder for the all-male students to get to the races
0:20:03 > 0:20:05or to the racy ladies in London.
0:20:05 > 0:20:10True or not, there's one thing that Cambridge gents have come to rely on
0:20:10 > 0:20:11for wooing the women.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15- Hello. - Hi there.- What are you selling?
0:20:15 > 0:20:20It's called punting, a sightseeing tour on the river, just like the gondola ride in Venice.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24Basically, a chauffeur is going to punt the boat with a pole.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28There's a slight difference, do you mind if I tell you, between punting and gondolas.
0:20:28 > 0:20:33- Gondola is with an oar, and punting is with a pole.- No, gondola is with a pole as well.- No.
0:20:33 > 0:20:38No, gondola riding is with a pole as well, in Venice.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41- It's with a pole. - OK, I'm not going to argue with you.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44- Are you from Venice?- No.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46- Are you?- No!
0:20:46 > 0:20:48That's a good point.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53Well, even your average Venetian
0:20:53 > 0:20:56might associate punting with Cambridge.
0:20:56 > 0:21:01But he might be surprised to learn of a more global sport that has its roots here.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05- Hello, John.- Hello, Michael. Nice to see you.- Very good to see you.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10'I've come to meet Dr John Little, president of Cambridge University Football Club.'
0:21:10 > 0:21:13- Now, this is Parker's Piece. - This is Parker's Piece, yes.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16I believe it's very important in the history of football.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20It's extremely important in the history of football.
0:21:20 > 0:21:21What, in fact, this was
0:21:21 > 0:21:24was the site where the undergraduates would congregate
0:21:24 > 0:21:28to play their many, varied forms of football that existed at the time.
0:21:28 > 0:21:33Some could handle the ball, some couldn't. Some could go offside, some couldn't.
0:21:33 > 0:21:38So, when they came to Cambridge, they all continued to play to their own rules.
0:21:38 > 0:21:43This was obviously rather difficult, and when they set up on Parker's Piece,
0:21:43 > 0:21:49each school would pin its own rules into one of the trees that surrounded the pitch,
0:21:49 > 0:21:54and so, if you were a passing undergraduate and wished to join in, you knew which rules to play to.
0:21:57 > 0:22:03These common rules were so widely taken up by other teams that, from 1863 onwards,
0:22:03 > 0:22:08the Football Association adapted them for the national game.
0:22:09 > 0:22:15Twinned with the arrival of the trains, football was entering a new era.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21Finally, teams could travel, play a game and get home,
0:22:21 > 0:22:26and indeed Oxford and Cambridge themselves could finally play Varsity matches, travel on the day,
0:22:26 > 0:22:30and then get back to their respective universities, probably with some supporters.
0:22:30 > 0:22:35And, in the wider game of football, football really started to blossom
0:22:35 > 0:22:40as clubs could be formed, competitions could be organised, and teams could travel some distance.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45'Just as the trains transformed horse racing in Newmarket,
0:22:45 > 0:22:48'so they also revolutionised the Beautiful Game.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52'Leagues grew because teams were able to get to fixtures anywhere in the country.'
0:22:52 > 0:22:57- So would it be fair to say that football was born on Parker's Piece? - I think it would.
0:22:57 > 0:23:03I think those young men playing to different rules and being exasperated at not being able to play together,
0:23:03 > 0:23:07it made them write these new set of rules, they were adopted,
0:23:07 > 0:23:11and so one could say it was the birthplace of the modern game of football.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19Cambridge's connection with football is largely unknown,
0:23:19 > 0:23:23but its university is world-renowned.
0:23:24 > 0:23:29My Bradshaw's devotes pages to extolling its virtues.
0:23:29 > 0:23:34But this time I don't need the guide to find my way around.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37Well, this is the college when I was an undergraduate, Peterhouse.
0:23:37 > 0:23:44It's mentioned in Bradshaw's, of course. He says it's the oldest college of all, founded in 1257.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46Actually, I think it was founded in 1284.
0:23:53 > 0:23:59Now, I must confess that when I was here there was quite a lot of student misbehaviour.
0:23:59 > 0:24:05For example, if a guy was out for the evening maybe with a girlfriend and was hoping to bring her back,
0:24:05 > 0:24:11while he was out, we would go into his room and take away all his furniture and then, with some style,
0:24:11 > 0:24:17we would lay it out on the old Court lawn, the carpet, the bed, the bedside lamps and everything.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21And then the man would come back and find his bedroom in the middle here.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25Now, if HE was really stylish, he would simply clamber into bed
0:24:25 > 0:24:28and go to sleep for the night and be found there next morning.
0:24:30 > 0:24:35While I'm here, I must revisit an old haunt.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41Now, this is a moment of nostalgia, because I'm going back to
0:24:41 > 0:24:44one of the rooms I had here as an undergraduate.
0:24:44 > 0:24:49And I haven't set foot in here for...35 years.
0:24:52 > 0:24:53Mind your head.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03Well...here are lots of memories.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07They've changed the furniture completely, but...
0:25:07 > 0:25:09the room feels the same.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11I think I may have had this table,
0:25:11 > 0:25:15and that's where my all-important cocktail bar was.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17I probably had a desk as well, but I don't remember.
0:25:17 > 0:25:22My room-mate had that bedroom, and this one was mine.
0:25:25 > 0:25:30With...a rather spooky view over the graveyard.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34Indeed, we used to think this room was probably haunted.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39And, famously, there's almost no high ground between Cambridge and the Ural mountains,
0:25:39 > 0:25:44and in winter the cold in this bedroom was intense.
0:25:45 > 0:25:51In Bradshaw's day, students out in public would have worn cap and gown.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54And women weren't admitted to the university.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00There were women's colleges when I was here, but none that was mixed.
0:26:00 > 0:26:05And not until 2009 did Cambridge employ the first female head porter,
0:26:05 > 0:26:07at Selwyn College.
0:26:07 > 0:26:12- Helen, mistress of all you survey, because you are the head porter, aren't you?- Yes, I am.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15So part of what you do is discipline, isn't it?
0:26:15 > 0:26:17Definitely. Security, discipline.
0:26:17 > 0:26:22I'm the bad person of the college. I'm probably the most hated person in the college.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26Oh, no, I don't believe that. I think it's a complex relationship.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31Because you are the authority figure, but you're very friendly with the undergraduates, aren't you?
0:26:31 > 0:26:35It's a very fine line, yes. Firm but fair, that's our mantra.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37Friendly, firm and fair.
0:26:37 > 0:26:42- How many porters are they here? - Including me, there's 10.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44Including two night porters.
0:26:44 > 0:26:49Yes. So they're on the gatehouse at night, letting in latecomers?
0:26:49 > 0:26:53- Most students nowadays have keys... - Oh.- ..so they let themselves in.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56We allow them that privilege.
0:26:56 > 0:27:01But for anybody locked out or, like me, forget my keys, we allow them in.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05'Over the generations - Bradshaw's, mine, and today's, I feel sure -
0:27:05 > 0:27:08'students have always challenged authority.'
0:27:08 > 0:27:11Are the ladies as badly behaved as the men?
0:27:11 > 0:27:13No, of course not.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16I'd never admit to it if they were!
0:27:18 > 0:27:22Following Bradshaw's to locations that I already knew has proved very illuminating.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25We take the familiar for granted.
0:27:25 > 0:27:32My ancient guidebook opens my eyes to how exceptional those familiar haunts really are.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36The places I visited on this leg of my journey have all been shaped
0:27:36 > 0:27:40by a single activity which was established long before Bradshaw's.
0:27:40 > 0:27:46Rifles in Enfield, and horse racing in Newmarket, and the university here in Cambridge.
0:27:46 > 0:27:51And these institutions shape not only the towns, but everyone who passes through them.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55And although I only spent three years in Cambridge, I'm very aware
0:27:55 > 0:28:00that I carry a little bit of the city with me wherever I go.
0:28:01 > 0:28:06On my next journey, I'll be in for a rare rail treat.
0:28:06 > 0:28:11This bit of card means that between Downham Market and King's Lynn
0:28:11 > 0:28:14I get to ride in the cab with the driver.
0:28:14 > 0:28:20I'll be hearing how Victorian technology is still responsible for the safety of two counties.
0:28:20 > 0:28:25The structure we've got here can hold back up to five metres worth of tidal water,
0:28:25 > 0:28:30so if you imagine that's heading up towards Ely and Cambridge, it would cause catastrophic events.
0:28:30 > 0:28:35And I'm covering an ambitious Victorian plan to reclaim the Norfolk Wash.
0:28:35 > 0:28:40The Wash had the largest amount of land claimed from it.
0:28:40 > 0:28:45Now it's a three-mile boat ride up the River Great Ouse before you actually get to the Wash.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:29:10 > 0:29:13E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk