0:00:04 > 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.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58Using my 19th century guidebook, I am continuing my journey from
0:00:58 > 0:01:00Brighton to North Norfolk,
0:01:00 > 0:01:04crossing the flat planes of Cambridgeshire.
0:01:04 > 0:01:09These broad lands would have been remote before the arrival of the railways.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13Possibly the best access would have been by boat.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18On this stretch of the route, I'm following railway tracks
0:01:18 > 0:01:21which opened up previously inaccessible parts of England.
0:01:23 > 0:01:28Each day, I'll explore the places recommended to me by my Bradshaw's guide.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33On this journey, I'll be in for a rare rail treat.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35Today is very special for me
0:01:35 > 0:01:36because of this bit of card.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38This his called a driving cab pass,
0:01:38 > 0:01:41and this means between Downham Market and King's Lynn,
0:01:41 > 0:01:47I get to ride in the cab with the driver.
0:01:47 > 0:01:52I'll be hearing how Victorian technology is still responsible for the safety of two counties.
0:01:52 > 0:01:58The structure we've got here can hold back up to five metres-worth of tidal water.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02If you imagine that five metres heading up towards Ely, Cambridge,
0:02:02 > 0:02:06it would cause catastrophic events in that populated area.
0:02:06 > 0:02:12And I'll be uncovering an ambitious Victorian plan to drain the Norfolk Wash.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16The Wash is the estuary in the UK which had the largest amount of land claimed from it.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19Now it's a three-mile boat ride
0:02:19 > 0:02:21up the river Great Ouse before you get to the Wash.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30So far, I've travelled over 140 miles from Brighton,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34through London and Suffolk to Cambridge.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38Now I'm heading north, tracing a major commuter line through the Fens
0:02:38 > 0:02:40en route to the Wash.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42Then, I'll pass through East Dereham and Norwich
0:02:42 > 0:02:45on the way to my final stop, Cromer.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49Today, I'm starting in Ely
0:02:49 > 0:02:54before continuing to Downham Market and the port of King's Lynn.
0:02:56 > 0:03:01This length of track slices across some of Britain's most fertile landscape
0:03:01 > 0:03:03and it's a route I've reason to remember.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05Many years ago,
0:03:05 > 0:03:09I tried to become the MP for the Isle of Ely.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13And the name was a little puzzling because no island is evident.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15But as my Bradshaw's guide points out -
0:03:15 > 0:03:17and this was written in the 1860s -
0:03:17 > 0:03:23"this fertile district, less than a century ago was covered with water".
0:03:26 > 0:03:30The fens were a waterlogged marsh until they were drained by
0:03:30 > 0:03:35a complex system of ditches, locks and pumps in the 17th century.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39My guide says, "The whole of this extensive county
0:03:39 > 0:03:47"is penetrated by artificial drains to redeem as much ground as possible from its former swampy conditions".
0:03:49 > 0:03:54Long before the waters were held at bay, a magnificent city arose at Ely.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58But prior to enjoying its magnificence,
0:03:58 > 0:04:03I'd like to chat to the area's station manager, Allen Neville.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05Morning, Allen.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07- Good morning.- Good to see you. - Thank you very much.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09It's quite an interesting station.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12I've noticed it's a kind of backwater, but you're jolly busy?
0:04:12 > 0:04:17It's a very, very busy station, it's nicknamed the Crewe of the Fens.
0:04:17 > 0:04:22We've got, throughout the year, 1.5 million customers.
0:04:22 > 0:04:29You might assume it would be a backwater, but over 170 trains pass through Ely each day.
0:04:29 > 0:04:35And being provincial and particular, it maintains an important tradition.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37What's going on here?
0:04:37 > 0:04:38This is the announcing equipment,
0:04:38 > 0:04:43we pride ourselves on the announcing at Ely station.
0:04:43 > 0:04:49It's all done verbally and we get a lot of praise for the human voice element.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53- Would you like a go?- I'd love a go, I'd love a go.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57"The train now arrived at platform one".
0:04:57 > 0:05:00- LOUD SPEAKER:- The train now standing at platform one
0:05:00 > 0:05:04is the 0915 Cross Country service to Birmingham New Street...
0:05:04 > 0:05:11calling at March, Peterborough, Stamford, Oakham, Melton Mowbray, Leicester, Nuneaton,
0:05:11 > 0:05:15Coleshill Parkway and Birmingham New Street.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19Due to arrive at Birmingham New Street at 11:38am.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21- Was that more or less right? - Absolutely fine.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23Great, haven't misled too many people.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25THEY LAUGH
0:05:25 > 0:05:30My announcements might lure people away from Ely to the exotic towns
0:05:30 > 0:05:35of England, but there's good reason to stay here and explore.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40Here's a curiosity, a little pipe
0:05:40 > 0:05:42shaped like an eel.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46Ely, eels, this place is very famous for eels anyway.
0:05:46 > 0:05:53For centuries the prosperity of this wetland has been founded on the eel trade.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57Some say eels were even exchanged for the stone employed to build
0:05:57 > 0:06:01the glorious cathedral, which is extolled in my Bradshaw's guide.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05From Ely station you have a wonderful view
0:06:05 > 0:06:10of what Bradshaw described as the principal object of interest,
0:06:10 > 0:06:14the venerable cathedral founded in 1070.
0:06:14 > 0:06:19And typically Bradshaw gives statistics - 500 ft long,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21it's Norman nave, 270 ft high.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25It is for me, one of my very favourite cathedrals in England.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31In Bradshaw's time, fast rail transport
0:06:31 > 0:06:37allowed eels to be packed on ice and sent all over the country.
0:06:37 > 0:06:43But in truth, with the land drained, the Fenland's aquatic trades were in decline.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45- Peter.- Hello.- Michael.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49I really believe this is the most fascinating shop I've ever been in.
0:06:49 > 0:06:50Thank you very much.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53'Eel trapper Peter Carter and his family
0:06:53 > 0:06:57'have made their living on the Fens for hundreds of years.'
0:06:57 > 0:06:59What does an eel trap look like?
0:06:59 > 0:07:01This is a fenland trap,
0:07:01 > 0:07:06and inside you've got spikes pointing inwards. The idea is, the eel can push his way in,
0:07:06 > 0:07:09- but can't turn to come back again. - It's like a valve?- Yeah.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12And that's known as a chair, an old Fen word meaning narrow gap.
0:07:12 > 0:07:18The advantage of these traps is, the eels like them cos they chew the willow - aspirin comes from willow.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21Your traditional way of life, how common is that today?
0:07:21 > 0:07:26I'm the last one known doing it on the Fen. The old-fashioned ways, anyway.
0:07:26 > 0:07:34Peter hand-makes his traps using local willow, which can withstand long submersion in water.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38To help me understand the Fens and a lost way of life,
0:07:38 > 0:07:40'he's taking me out on his boat.'
0:07:40 > 0:07:43It's a very beautiful country Peter, what was this like
0:07:43 > 0:07:45a few hundred years ago?
0:07:45 > 0:07:47It was mainly water then, was it?
0:07:47 > 0:07:53Yeah, it was very shallow water, more like mud and silt than anything.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56The landscape's changed massively since it's been drained.
0:07:56 > 0:08:02Imagine it was all reeds before - reeds, rushes, willows,
0:08:02 > 0:08:04must have been an impressive site.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06A man could make a living in that environment?
0:08:06 > 0:08:10Yeah, you couldn't go hungry, the amount of food you could eat - pike,
0:08:10 > 0:08:15eel, duck, goose, swan, whatever you got your hands on, they'd eat them.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19And the people lived on some islands, there were some islands?
0:08:19 > 0:08:20Yeah, they were all islands.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26That existence was ended when in the 17th century, Dutch engineer
0:08:26 > 0:08:32Cornelius Vermuyden was employed by rich landowners to construct a network of enormous drains.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36They aspired to turn the watery Fens into productive farmland.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41But they met resistance from local families who formed a guerrilla group called the Fen Tigers.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45These Fen Tigers, what did they do?
0:08:45 > 0:08:48They were the ones who protested and started fighting.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52They used to damage the banks - as quick as they were digging them out,
0:08:52 > 0:08:56they were blowing them up and re-flooding the areas, they didn't want it drained.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00They knew once the land was drained...that was it,
0:09:00 > 0:09:04wild fouling would go, eel fishing would go, the big landowners would
0:09:04 > 0:09:08come in and start farming it and people would earn less wages.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11But in the end the landowners had their way?
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Yeah, the landowners won in the end.
0:09:14 > 0:09:19Agriculture flourished on this sediment-rich earth, especially when
0:09:19 > 0:09:23the railways opened its produce to the markets of the Kingdom.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28But Peter's ancestors' way of life was all but lost.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32I recognise that technique from university days?
0:09:32 > 0:09:34What? The old punting? Yeah.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Was the only way of getting round on the Fen at one time.
0:09:36 > 0:09:42Most of the land was so shallow, it was the easiest way to move.
0:09:42 > 0:09:43Most of the work you do is stood up.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45Got first trap just here.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47This is a Victorian-style trap.
0:09:47 > 0:09:48This is a wire one.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51It's been a quiet day.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55They're all going to be like... That's disappointing.
0:09:55 > 0:09:56So, have you caught any today?
0:09:56 > 0:09:58Yeah, you're actually sat on them at the moment.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:10:00 > 0:10:02- What? Under here?- Yeah.
0:10:02 > 0:10:03Whoa! Look at those beauties.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08Just a few small ones in there, they grow a lot bigger than that -
0:10:08 > 0:10:09four foot in length sometimes.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13These are better for cooking, though, this sort of size.
0:10:13 > 0:10:14Slimy!
0:10:14 > 0:10:17The slime is what helps them survive out of water, they can come out of water
0:10:17 > 0:10:22and travel from one dyke to another by using the slime to keep themselves wet.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24They draw the water through the wet grass.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28- I think they're a beautiful-looking creature.- Lovely.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40It's time to leave Ely and continue on the next leg of my journey
0:10:40 > 0:10:44and discover more about how the Fens were transformed in Bradshaw's day.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54I'm now on the line that runs from Ely to King's Lynn.
0:10:54 > 0:10:59Bradshaw says of this, "It's the most important section of the East Anglian line as it
0:10:59 > 0:11:03"brings a very valuable district of the eastern part of the country
0:11:03 > 0:11:04"in to railway communication.
0:11:04 > 0:11:09"Not only with the Metropolis, but with the northern and western parts of the Kingdom".
0:11:09 > 0:11:13As I run along here, I can see the line is built up on banks
0:11:13 > 0:11:16and I'm thinking about what a major achievement it was
0:11:16 > 0:11:20to build this heavy railway across such boggy country.
0:11:22 > 0:11:27Once the Fens were drained, rural towns could be connected by railway.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31But given the lie of the land, it's still prone to flooding
0:11:31 > 0:11:36and each generation has improved the engineering that keeps the sea at bay.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40- TRAIN ANNOUNCEMENT: - The next station is Downham Market.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43I'm on my way to the Denver Sluice,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46first built in the 17th century strengthened in 1834.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54It's a strategic point in the defence of the Fens.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56- Hello, are you Dan?- Hi...
0:11:56 > 0:11:58'Dan Pollard is the lock keeper here.'
0:11:58 > 0:12:03What we've got here is a lock and then three sluices.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06- What is a sluice?- Well, a sluice is a way of controlling the river
0:12:06 > 0:12:09upstream of the gates,
0:12:09 > 0:12:17so we can either open up the gates to discharge water or keep them closed to maintain levels upstream.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19So, river that way, sea that way.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21Yes, down towards King's Lynn.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27The 18th century drainage schemes were brilliant, but they lacked machinery.
0:12:27 > 0:12:34By the 1800s, steam technology was beginning revolutionise the water management of the Fens.
0:12:34 > 0:12:40Bradshaw makes an interesting reference to the country
0:12:40 > 0:12:43really being saved or designed by steam.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47I imagine what he's talking about are huge pumping engines, would that be right?
0:12:47 > 0:12:50Yes, what happened when Vermuyden started the Fen drainage,
0:12:50 > 0:12:54they put wind pumps on to drain the water off the land
0:12:54 > 0:12:59to transfer water into the drains and rivers.
0:12:59 > 0:13:04Eventually they went over to steam power. There was a large engine at Stretham
0:13:04 > 0:13:08and that was the steam power to pump water off the land.
0:13:08 > 0:13:15I would guess the arrival of the steam engine with all that power, must have been a turning point?
0:13:15 > 0:13:18It was a turning point in the watershed,
0:13:18 > 0:13:22in the fact they could drain the water off a lot quicker
0:13:22 > 0:13:25and more efficiently than the wind pumps could.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28- Yeah, not so much a turning point as a watershed?- Yes.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35With the introduction of steam pumps, the sluice was redesigned by Sir John Rennie.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39He added three new gates and widened the lock,
0:13:39 > 0:13:45creating a system that to this day safely controls the water levels.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49Supposing all this paraphernalia weren't here?
0:13:49 > 0:13:51What would the consequence be?
0:13:51 > 0:13:56The Fens would be the Fens as they were before Vermuyden was here,
0:13:56 > 0:14:01the land would be saturated, flooded for good portions of the year.
0:14:01 > 0:14:07The structure we've got here can hold back up to five metres of tidal water.
0:14:07 > 0:14:12So if you imagine that five metres heading up towards Ely and Cambridge,
0:14:12 > 0:14:15it would cause catastrophic events in populated areas.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19So in your hands lies the survival of
0:14:19 > 0:14:24Ely Cathedral and Cambridge University - not much pressure?!
0:14:24 > 0:14:30Obviously, there's a fair amount of pressure if huge amounts of rainfall fall in that area.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32If...
0:14:32 > 0:14:37What we do is keep people's feet dry in Ely and Cambridge.
0:14:39 > 0:14:45Once the danger of flooding was removed, the value of land shot up and Norfolk grandees became rich.
0:14:45 > 0:14:50My Bradshaw's says, "The productive and remunerative farming of the Fens
0:14:50 > 0:14:54"of Norfolk is one of the greatest triumphs of steam.
0:14:54 > 0:15:00"Lands have been enhanced in value, not only 100% but even 100 fold".
0:15:00 > 0:15:05As wheat spread across its acres, Norfolk became known as
0:15:05 > 0:15:09the breadbasket of England and over 400 windmills were in use.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15I'm spending the night in the county's only commercial, working mill.
0:15:15 > 0:15:20In its day, its proximity to the railway made it very profitable.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22- Hello.- Hello, Michael.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25- Lovely to see you.- And you. - You're Mark, aren't you?- Yes indeed.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28Congratulations on having a working windmill, it's amazing.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32It's the last one in Norfolk and we are very proud of it.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36Mark Abel has leased The Denver Windmill for two years.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40- Fantastic!- I get a thrill every time I come here, still.
0:15:40 > 0:15:46Formidable power to think the wind is driving that wheel
0:15:46 > 0:15:48and driving this and that's all connected to stones beneath.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52Basically, that is a sailing ship,
0:15:52 > 0:15:55it's the technology, trapping the energy of the wind
0:15:55 > 0:15:58with canvas, transferring it through the structure.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01Built like a ship.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04My Bradshaw's guide is very keen on steam,
0:16:04 > 0:16:05was this ever converted to steam?
0:16:05 > 0:16:08This wasn't, it's quite interesting in that
0:16:08 > 0:16:12within 25 years of this being built in 1835, a separate mill was added, steam powered.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16It had three sets of horizontal stones, the same as the windmill did,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19but it was completely independent, just powered by steam.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23Beautiful, I'm staying close by in the miller's cottage?
0:16:23 > 0:16:26In the miller's cottage, just down the yard, yeah.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29- I expect there will be bread for breakfast?- There will indeed!
0:16:48 > 0:16:52The next morning I head straight to Downham Market station.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54I've left myself time to enjoy
0:16:54 > 0:16:58this very special stop on the Norfolk line.
0:16:58 > 0:16:59- Good morning.- Good morning.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02I was hoping for a coffee, please.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05I'm sure we can get one sorted for you.
0:17:05 > 0:17:06What a charming station.
0:17:06 > 0:17:14Downham Market station is Grade Two Listed but the service to passengers is definitely Grade One.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18- I've never seen anything like that. - This is the station waiting room.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22Is it a lending library?!
0:17:22 > 0:17:26No, we sell the books in here, they're all second hand books,
0:17:26 > 0:17:29we've got a 50p corner, and slightly dearer ones.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34But if you come in here with a coffee
0:17:34 > 0:17:37- are you entitled to settle down with a book?- Absolutely,
0:17:37 > 0:17:41we have people stay in here for several hours sometimes.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45May I just feel if it seems comfortable to...
0:17:45 > 0:17:49read my Bradshaw in, what's really the perfect setting?
0:17:49 > 0:17:53An armchair in a railway station in deepest Norfolk.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00The hospitality to be enjoyed here is clearly well known to local people.
0:18:00 > 0:18:05- Good morning.- Good morning. - I've just been enjoying the waiting room, isn't it fantastic?
0:18:05 > 0:18:09It's wonderful. We think it's the best station there is.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12- You know it well, do you? - Yes, we live just down the road.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15Sometimes we use it to come on the train,
0:18:15 > 0:18:19sometimes we just come and have a coffee or toast.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23People get off and have a beer.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26What about the books? Do you ever make use of the book shop?
0:18:26 > 0:18:28Oh yes, bought quite a few books.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32- I daren't buy any more, I've got too many!- Filling up your house?
0:18:32 > 0:18:34Yes, definitely, yes, I like books.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38- Where are you off to today?- Well, we're not going anywhere today.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Just coming to look at the train and be at the station.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43How marvellous!
0:18:46 > 0:18:49I'll now be covering the last 11 miles of the line to the terminus
0:18:49 > 0:18:55at King's Lynn, and there's a thrill in store for me.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58Today is a very special day for me, because of this bit of card.
0:18:58 > 0:19:03This is called a driving cab pass, and this means that between
0:19:03 > 0:19:09Downham Market and King's Lynn, I get to ride in the cab with the driver.
0:19:09 > 0:19:10Which way to the cab?!
0:19:10 > 0:19:13- This way, sir.- I guessed that.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17'I'm looking forward to seeing the line stretch out ahead,
0:19:17 > 0:19:20'so much better than the view from the passenger seat.'
0:19:20 > 0:19:24- Hello, there.- Hello, there. - Are you expecting visitors?- Yes.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36Allen Walner has worked on the railways for over 30 years.
0:19:36 > 0:19:41- What speed can we go in this train? - This will do 100 mile an hour.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44But obviously the line speed is 75 here.
0:19:44 > 0:19:49One of the reason you get good speeds through Fenland I guess, is it is so flat
0:19:49 > 0:19:52and they built the railways dead straight?
0:19:52 > 0:19:56Dead straight, yeah, it is pretty straight.
0:19:59 > 0:20:04Since trains began operating with a single driver, passenger safety
0:20:04 > 0:20:09has been heavily dependent on one ingenious piece of equipment.
0:20:09 > 0:20:14I don't want to raise a morbid subject, but what's the dead man's handle or peddle...?
0:20:14 > 0:20:16- BLEEPING - Oh, that thing there?
0:20:16 > 0:20:19When that bleeps I have to lift it...
0:20:21 > 0:20:24..acknowledge it, you get five seconds to acknowledge it,
0:20:24 > 0:20:27otherwise the brakes go on.
0:20:27 > 0:20:33So periodically, that little noise comes on and you have to lift and depress the peddle again?
0:20:33 > 0:20:38- Yes.- Shows you're in good health? - Shows I'm still alive.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47- End of the line, Allen? - Yeah, end of the line.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51Pretty station. If you went any further, we'd get wet!
0:20:51 > 0:20:52Yes, we definitely would.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55And thank you so much for letting me ride with you today.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58- It's OK.- Bye-bye, Allen.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07I feel really good about that, that was such fun.
0:21:07 > 0:21:08I rode in the cab!
0:21:10 > 0:21:11Bye-bye.
0:21:15 > 0:21:21Still buzzing after my journey, I'm heading into King's Lynn, a town I've recently discovered.
0:21:21 > 0:21:26In the centuries before the railways, it was a major international port.
0:21:34 > 0:21:40Recently, I took part in festival to celebrate King's Lynn's membership of the Hanseatic League.
0:21:40 > 0:21:45This was a group of towns round the Baltic and North Sea that joined
0:21:45 > 0:21:49together in a trading association, a sort of common market.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52And this was the warehouse of the Hanseatic Traders.
0:21:52 > 0:21:58Now, because King's Lynn was an important port with these continental links,
0:21:58 > 0:22:03it probably had stronger connections with Hamburg than it did with London.
0:22:03 > 0:22:10And even today, going around King's Lynn you get the feeling of a continental town.
0:22:10 > 0:22:15The Hanseatic League, formed in the 13th century,
0:22:15 > 0:22:19was an alliance which dominated trade for centuries.
0:22:19 > 0:22:25Members were known as Hansa towns and had guaranteed protection for their trade.
0:22:25 > 0:22:30At any one time there were up to 80 members of the alliance, which survived until 1669.
0:22:30 > 0:22:36The League was revived in the 1980s to enable original Hansa towns
0:22:36 > 0:22:40to exchange ideas on business, culture and tourism.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43- You've got some lovely buildings? - Yes, we have.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46How important was King's Lynn as a port?
0:22:46 > 0:22:50Very important. It was the third most important port in the country.
0:22:50 > 0:22:55Norfolk was the wealthiest county in the country,
0:22:55 > 0:22:58so we had something in those days.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00Was King's Lynn was influenced by...
0:23:00 > 0:23:03It had this connection with other North Sea towns.
0:23:03 > 0:23:08Yes, it was a Hansa town so we had connections with entire...Europe,
0:23:08 > 0:23:13right up to Russia and Denmark and everywhere like that.
0:23:13 > 0:23:18So yes, we were always a trading port, until fairly recently.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22King's Lynn had flourished because of its access to the Wash,
0:23:22 > 0:23:28a great tidal estuary through which four rivers flow into the sea.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32But in Bradshaw's time, the town felt threatened.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35It worried that the railways would take the port's trade.
0:23:35 > 0:23:41And then engineers devised a plan to reclaim 32,000 acres of land.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45My guide says, "Here since 1850,
0:23:45 > 0:23:50"works on a large scale have been carried out for reclaiming parts of the Wash".
0:23:50 > 0:23:55King's Lynn feared losing its access to the sea.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59- Good morning. Fantastic view today, isn't it?- It is, yes.
0:23:59 > 0:24:04'I'm meeting RSPB area manager, Rob Lucking.'
0:24:04 > 0:24:09The Wash is the estuary in the UK which had largest amount of land claimed from it.
0:24:09 > 0:24:14Now it's a three-mile boat ride up the River Great Ouse before you get to the Wash.
0:24:14 > 0:24:21All of this land we can see in front of us here, has been claimed since the mid-1800s.
0:24:21 > 0:24:26Now, has a stop been put to that process? Are they still claiming it?
0:24:26 > 0:24:30No, the last land claims were completed in the early 1980s.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33Since then, there has been no further land claim in the Wash
0:24:33 > 0:24:36because the Wash is so important for wildlife.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40So they've left us a bit of water to go out on?
0:24:40 > 0:24:45Exactly, there's still 250 square miles of the Wash for us to go and explore today.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47Oh, that'll do. Great.
0:24:47 > 0:24:52Fortunately, the plans to reclaim land were never fully realised
0:24:52 > 0:24:56and a narrow channel still connects King's Lynn to this vast basin of water.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59You have to put yourself in a different mind-set
0:24:59 > 0:25:03to understand the importance of King's Lynn historically, don't you?
0:25:03 > 0:25:08Before the railways, the ports were the places that had the good communications.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11Yes, and King's Lynn was a massively important port,
0:25:11 > 0:25:15part of Hanseatic League, and King's Lynn was where it all happened.
0:25:15 > 0:25:21A lot of the wealth of King's Lynn was built on the back of maritime trade and the wool industry,
0:25:21 > 0:25:26and it's grown from there.
0:25:26 > 0:25:31The people of King's Lynn discovered advantages in the railway
0:25:31 > 0:25:37since fish and shellfish harvested from the Wash could be sent to market quickly by train.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41The town's fear of the future receded.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45Although the port's not quite as important now as it was then,
0:25:45 > 0:25:49you still get a lot of timber coming in through King's Lynn, a lot of cereals.
0:25:49 > 0:25:54It's still a real busy hub just on the outskirts of King's Lynn now.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58The port's not the only survivor.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00The Wash is the most important estuary for wildlife
0:26:00 > 0:26:07in the United Kingdom and is home to the largest single colony of common seals in England.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11It's getting a bit choppier now. We're out in the Wash, are we, now?
0:26:11 > 0:26:15That's right, we've left King's Lynn behind, three miles behind us,
0:26:15 > 0:26:20and we're now just out of the mouth of the River Ouse and into the Wash proper.
0:26:20 > 0:26:26I'm getting the impression this is a very important place for wildlife.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30Yes, without a doubt, it's the most important estuary in the UK for wildlife.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34We reckon over two million individual birds use the Wash every year.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38We've got very important breeding populations of birds here.
0:26:38 > 0:26:45But probably most importantly is, the Wash is like a motorway feeding station for birds.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49From a conservationist point of view, I would love to travel back 500 years
0:26:49 > 0:26:56and see the Wash and the Fens, how they used to be, as one massive delta full of wildlife.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00But on the other hand, I think the Wash and the Fens does represent
0:27:00 > 0:27:08man's ingenuity and his capacity to solve problems like land drainage and land claim.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11In fact, it is pretty well protected now, isn't it?
0:27:11 > 0:27:17It is, the Wash has got just about every conservation designation going.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19It's a Site of Special Scientific Interest,
0:27:19 > 0:27:24a Special Protection Area, a Special Area of Conservation, and it's a Ramsar site.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27So it should be protected for the generations to come.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34Travelling around this country with my Bradshaw's guide,
0:27:34 > 0:27:37I'm awestruck by the self-confidence of our engineers
0:27:37 > 0:27:42as they attempted the impossible and re-arranged the British landscape -
0:27:42 > 0:27:46an ambition that reached its peak in the Victorian epoch.
0:27:46 > 0:27:51My journey through the Fens has made me think that development and growth
0:27:51 > 0:27:53can be seen as both good things and bad things.
0:27:53 > 0:27:58The draining of the Fens has created some of the most fertile land in England,
0:27:58 > 0:28:02and the arrival of the railways brought many extra changes.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06But it also destroyed an old way of life,
0:28:06 > 0:28:08and while I've been here in the Fens,
0:28:08 > 0:28:14I've been aware of a certain nostalgia for old times, for old days
0:28:14 > 0:28:16when the waters held sway.
0:28:18 > 0:28:24On the next leg of my journey, I'll be finding out why a rare breed of turkey is making a comeback...
0:28:24 > 0:28:27We start hatching here in April.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31That's a long time to Christmas, and it takes a long time to finish them,
0:28:31 > 0:28:34so therefore, you're getting more of a moist meat.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37Roll on Christmas!
0:28:37 > 0:28:40..sitting shakily in the driving seat...
0:28:40 > 0:28:44I think I do need further lessons, Peter.
0:28:44 > 0:28:48I don't think that was a complete success, but it was very exciting indeed.
0:28:48 > 0:28:53..and tasting one Victorian delicacy which still draws crowds.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57It saves the person doing the eating a lot of work.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00Of course. Not everybody knows how to dress a crab.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:29:29 > 0:29:32E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk