Chester to Conwy Great British Railway Journeys


Chester to Conwy

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In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain.

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His name was George Bradshaw and his railway guides inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks.

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Stop by stop, he told them where to travel, what to see, and where to stay.

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Now, 170 years later, I'm making a series of journeys

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across the length and breadth of the country to see what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.

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I'm now well into my railway journey from the heart of rural England

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to Anglesey, using George Bradshaw's 19th-century guidebook.

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Today's route will enable me to look at some British history from well before his time and to recall that

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British inventiveness can be used to wage war as well as build bridges.

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I'm well used to using Bradshaw as my travel guide.

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But more than that, it's a Victorian encyclopaedia in my pocket.

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Every day, it provides me with fresh insights into how

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the people and places of Britain were shaped in history.

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On this stretch of the journey, I'll be exploring one of the country's oldest streets...

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Oh, this is stunning, Paul.

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Basically what we've got here is a mediaeval shopping mall.

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..uncovering a hidden chemical weapons factory...

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We are probably looking at the Second World War's most secret building in Britain.

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-Would that be right?

-In 1942-43, there was nowhere more secret in the world than this.

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Out it goes.

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..and raking for mussels, Victorian-style.

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I think I've got nothing at all, absolute empty set.

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So far, I've already covered 118 miles through the Welsh Marches.

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Now I'm chugging north before following the coast of Wales towards the National Park of Snowdonia.

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Then, I'll cross to Anglesey, aiming for the port of Holyhead.

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Today, I'll be calling at Chester and Flint before travelling on to Llandudno and Conwy.

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Shortly, I'll be arriving at Chester, the last English city that I'll visit before going into Wales.

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And the railway line from Chester to Holyhead was built in order to speed up communications.

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And as Bradshaw says, "The line is a very important one, in shortening the distance between

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"the chief city in the British Isles and the important capital of Ireland,

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"and adds another noble power to government in the facilities of communication."

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Now Ireland was a troublesome place for the English in the 19th century.

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In fact, when the line was opened in 1848, that was the year of the famine in Ireland,

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and being a Catholic country, the English were nervous about revolution.

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So anything that strengthened communication,

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strengthened the power of the government in London, was important politically.

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And even Bradshaw noted that.

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England was officially united with Ireland in 1801 in an attempt to keep the Irish under English rule.

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Once they shared the same parliament, a fast route for

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documents and mail between London and Dublin was key.

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The journey took about 33 hours by road.

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When the new railway opened in 1848, it was reduced to just 12,

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via Chester, which became a strategically important city.

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As I arrive just now into Chester, they're announcing connections to London and Manchester and Liverpool,

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and it's a reminder that Chester is a hub.

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George Bradshaw was very impressed by this because several of the different railway companies

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had their own terminus here at Chester.

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And he claimed that it had the longest platform in England,

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so I'm looking forward to exploring Chester station.

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Bradshaw was right that the station was busy and he also comments on the architecture.

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"That very noble pile of buildings, in the Italian style,

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"the Chester station, is the longest of all the railway termini in England."

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Magnificent though the station is, Bradshaw writes about his chief reason for visiting.

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"Chester is a genuine Roman city, built four square, within walls, which remain to this day."

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The walls are now a scheduled ancient monument.

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They've been repaired and restored over the years but still follow the original Roman layout.

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Using my guide, I'm going to explore this 2,000-year-old settlement.

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Do you know much about the history of Chester?

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-Only the Romans, that's all, but I don't know a lot about it.

-What did the Romans ever do for Chester?

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Oh, don't ask me.

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-Chester, you're proud of your city?

-Very much so.

-Tell me a bit about the Roman history.

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Tell me about what one should think about the Roman history.

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There's the old port over by the racecourse.

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And every time anybody excavates for a building, there's another piece of Roman history comes to light.

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So, it's just down there.

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Chester was once the site of the biggest Roman fort in Britain.

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Tour guide Paul Hyde has asked me to meet him at the city's famous racecourse to discover more.

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-Paul. Michael.

-Good morning, Michael, welcome to Chester.

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Lovely to see you. What a fantastic vista.

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Obviously over the race course.

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It's fantastic, isn't it?

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The race course was where the Roman port was.

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Of course, Chester really began as a Roman fortress.

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It was one of the three legionary fortresses in Britain, but also it was larger than the other two.

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There is thought that one of the reasons for that is it may have been seen as potential base

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for the invasion of Ireland, what is now Ireland, but that never happened.

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Like the Romans, the Victorians recognised Chester

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as the gateway to Ireland and the west.

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By the 1850s, four railway companies ran lines through Chester,

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and the city was transformed.

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Reading Bradshaw, you get the impression that Chester becomes a really important railway hub.

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I suppose the railways must have contributed to a substantial revival in Chester's fortunes.

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Certainly in the mid-19th century, the railways helped

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make Chester fairly prosperous, and also in 1861,

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the Great Western and the London and North Western railway

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were the two biggest employers in the city, so the railway did make Chester quite an important place.

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Chester became a major shopping destination,

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attracting visitors with its historic architecture.

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Bradshaw writes, "On both sides are lines of shops

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"and covered ways called the Rows, to which you ascend by a few steps."

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By the 1860s, American tourists were already arriving by boat into Liverpool.

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They boarded the train to visit Chester's quaint Rows,

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constructed along the original Roman street plan.

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Oh, this is stunning, Paul.

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We've come off what is the Roman Street, yes?

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Yes, Watergate Street, Via Principalis in Roman times,

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following the line of the Roman street, but we're now on the Rows,

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Chester's famous Rows, which have been here since the 13th century.

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Basically what we've got here is a mediaeval shopping mall, which is unique to Chester.

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So you would not be in the rain if you were doing your shopping,

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and of course away from the filth of the street as well.

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Greatly changed over the ages, this is actually a 13th-century stone arch,

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but the outer building here, Booth Mansion, is actually 1700s.

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So actually, the street as we see it now is a remarkable collection of different architectural styles.

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-Certainly.

-It's very cosy, isn't it?

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Out of the mud, out of the rain.

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-Chester must have been an early shopping destination.

-Absolutely.

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As Victorian Chester's reputation grew, the town centre was given an extensive makeover.

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Shops were rebuilt in the black and white Tudor style,

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adding to the picturesque appeal of the town to tourists.

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It's time for me to bid farewell to historic Chester and continue on the next leg of my journey.

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I'm now leaving England, bound 12 miles across the Welsh border to Flint.

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My Bradshaw's Guide tells me to keep my eyes open along the way.

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I'm just coming up to the Dee Bridge.

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Bradshaw says, "We cross the river Dee on the largest cast-iron girder bridge in the kingdom,"

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which is slightly puzzling, because the bridge was built in cast iron by Robert Stephenson,

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but it collapsed in 1847.

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The accident on the Dee was the first railway bridge disaster in Britain.

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A cast-iron girder cracked, plunging a train into the river and killing five people.

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Afterwards, bridge builders abandoned brittle cast iron

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in favour of more flexible wrought iron.

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In Bradshaw's day, the Dee estuary was an area of heavy industry.

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My guide says, "There are extensive collieries,

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"the coals from which are shipped to Liverpool, Ireland and various parts of Wales."

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Today, the collieries are gone but another landmark mentioned by Bradshaw remains.

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My guide describes the haunting Flint Castle, saying, "At no very great distance from the railway,

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"the castle is but a mere shell, there being left only the grey ruined walls."

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It's another of those fortresses built to subdue the Welsh.

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RAILWAY ANNOUNCER: We are now at Flint.

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I'm heading just outside Flint to Rhydymwyn to meet local historian Colin Barber.

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In the 1940s, the railway tracks that once served the coal industry

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were put to work in a very different cause.

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Hi, Colin. This place we're standing now. What was it?

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This was a chemical weapons factory, a war-time chemical weapons factory, and this was goods in.

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So these were the tracks coming in and what, the ingredients for chemical weapons arrived here?

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Yes, all of the components for them.

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What were they making here?

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They were making mustard gas and smoke grenades.

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This branch line ran to a secret chemical weapons factory making mustard gas shells.

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That gas was first used by Germany in World War I.

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The effects were so horrific that its use was banned after the war's end by the Geneva Convention,

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so it's strange to find that it was being manufactured here in 1942.

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This is a bit shocking really.

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-What were we doing making chemical weapons?

-Everybody made them in case the other side used them first.

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But we intended to use them in Great Britain if the Germans invaded our beaches.

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In 1939, the Government asked ICI to set up this factory at Rhydymwyn

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because it was remote, but close enough to the ICI chemical works at Runcorn.

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It also had good rail links to transport the shells and mustard gas.

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The first use of the gas in war was illegal, but manufacturing it as a precaution was not.

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These are the tunnels where the chemical weapons and the bulk of mustard gas were stored,

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roughly 3,000 tonnes of it.

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Good Lord. Colin, I can't see any great distance because of the dark,

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but it appears to be an enormous tunnel,

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burrowed into the hillside, is it?

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It's about 860-odd feet long, about 300 metres.

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Once the shells were filled, they were stored for 24 hours to make sure they didn't leak.

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One drop of gas could cause severe burns and blistering.

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Then they were sent by rail to depots around the country,

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accompanied by special staff trained to deal with any contamination.

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And the people doing the work, men? Women?

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Mostly men to start with, but from '42 onwards, mostly ladies.

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The most hazardous part of the job

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was adding the explosives and detonators to the shells holding the mustard gas.

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It was done in the so-called Danger Area.

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This building was the first place where the workers came into contact

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with the charged shells and the explosives.

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They got the shells and they strapped them to the bench with a strap

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like the one you put on the back of a golf buggy to hold the bag on there.

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And they would have a doughnut-shaped charge of explosives.

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Into the middle of that, you put the fuse.

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When it actually fired, the fuse would hit, the explosives would go off and it would blow the tail

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of the shell off, and it would disperse the mustard gas.

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So that's where they put it all together here.

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And to make sure they got the mixtures correct and so on,

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they weighed them here, and occasionally as all sorts of different shells

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were coming through here, they did all of the calculations on the wall.

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-This is calculating to make sure they got the right amount of gas inside the shell, is it?

-Yes.

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Wow.

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Towards the end of the war, workers at Rhydymwyn began research that was even more hush-hush.

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We're probably looking at the Second World War's most secret building in Britain. Would that be right?

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In 1942-43, there was nowhere more secret in the world than this.

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Here scientists worked on extracting uranium-235,

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a key stage in the development of the atomic bomb.

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The research was to be completed in the United States

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but the foundations of nuclear weaponry were laid here.

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Every time I come into this building, it does have a presence.

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It is eerie and sombre.

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-Yeah.

-And it not only echoes, but it has an ambience.

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Because the world's most gruesome weapons were developed here.

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For the next leg of my journey, I'm leaving Flint to follow my Bradshaw's Guide to Llandudno.

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This line hugs the coast and you get memorable views across the water.

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This train was jolly busy when I got on. Is it always like that?

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This is from Manchester, it's a commuter train.

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And the summer season's starting up now, so there's a lot of visitors coming down.

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What are the most popular destinations?

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-Llandudno.

-A lot of people taking their holidays there?

-Yes.

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Why do you think they go there?

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-It's the Queen of the Welsh resorts.

-Is it?

-It is indeed.

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Since the railways came to this part of Wales in the mid-19th century,

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this stretch of coast has been a popular tourist destination.

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Bradshaw writes, "This delightful place has become one of great import as a summer resort.

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"The air is peculiarly salubrious."

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RAILWAY ANNOUNCER: We are now at Llandudno, our final station.

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I've arrived at the seaside.

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Those lovely stations that are like a full stop,

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you've come to the end of the line, beyond only beaches, sand and surf.

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And of course, Bradshaw is absolutely right,

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the air is peculiarly salubrious.

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As it's late, I'm heading straight to my hotel, which is perched on

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the edge of Llandudno's most famous landmark, the Great Orme,

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a promontory which looms above the town.

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In Bradshaw's day, Victorian visitors took bracing walks on this stunning rock

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to catch the fine views, a custom continued to this day.

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Now this is where I'm staying,

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and I was told I was coming to a lighthouse,

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but actually it looks more like a castle.

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Anyway, fantastic spot.

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It will have a pretty good view.

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This lighthouse was built 400ft up on the promontory

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and so didn't require a tower to be clearly visible to shipping.

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-Hello, are you Fiona?

-Yes, I am.

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-Oh, what a fantastic place!

-I know. Nice to meet you.

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Gosh, isn't that beautiful!

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Not at all what I expected.

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Fiona Kilpatrick owns this 19th-century curiosity which is now a B&B.

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Oh! There can't be any other room like this in the world

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We're absolutely hung out over the sea, aren't we?

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It's certainly one of the most remarkable vistas that I've enjoyed on my travels.

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I've slept like a log.

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The weather is different today, maybe I should have done more sightseeing yesterday.

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But I don't know - this billowing wildness today helps me to appreciate this wild landscape.

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And Bradshaw was certainly right about the views.

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As I look down on Llandudno, laid out like a map,

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it makes me anxious to learn more about this fascinating place.

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As with all British journeys,

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you have to be prepared for whatever the weather throws at you.

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I'm going to go down to Llandudno now on the Great Orme tramway,

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which looks a wonderful piece of historic railway architecture.

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Opened in 1902, this tramway has been delighting tourists ever since.

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It's the only one of its kind still running on a British public road.

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-You've got a job that many people would envy.

-Yes, yes.

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What system are you running on here?

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I see there's a cable. Are we gripping that cable?

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It's fixed on to the tram underneath.

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So we're permanently fixed to this cable.

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We're permanently fixed. And as we're going down, is the other one coming up?

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-Yes.

-So we're kind of balanced in some way, are we?

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This one helps that other one coming up, but we're synchronised so that

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when we get to this loop here now we'll pass perfectly safely.

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You get fantastic views, particularly YOU do, don't you, being out here at the front?

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It's the best view in town this, yes.

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-Thank you, I really enjoyed that.

-You're welcome. Cheers.

-Great fun.

-Thank you.

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You go to many British coastal resorts and they are faded and the paint is flaking, but not Llandudno.

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It's in perfect condition. Notice the lovely pastel colours, notice that everything is freshly painted.

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There are no modern buildings, there are no skyscrapers, there are no horrible signs.

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And why would this be? I think it's because one family has controlled this place for 500 years.

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Bradshaw refers to Sir Pyers Mostyn, Baronet, but he was just one of the generations of the Mostyn family

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that have been associated with Llandudno for half a millennium.

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When the railways arrived in the 19th century, the Mostyns saw an opportunity

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to take advantage of the new connection running through their land.

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They designed a purpose-built Victorian seaside resort

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laid out on a curving grid that followed the sweep of the bay.

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It's maintained its distinction ever since.

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-Hello, are you from Llandudno?

-Yes, that's right.

-Lovely to see you.

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-I see you're wearing a Llandudno life boat... Oh, you're a crew member?

-That's right.

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What's it like to live in Llandudno?

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It's a nice town. A lot of good places to eat, drink, friendly people.

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-It's very well kept, isn't it?

-Very well kept, yeah.

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Lovely front that you'll have seen to the bay.

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The local landowners ensure it's kept in good condition.

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-The Mostyn family?

-That's right.

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Strikingly, much of Llandudno is still owned by the Mostyn estate,

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which may be why it's so finely preserved.

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I'm now leaving Llandudno for the last leg of my journey to Conwy in search of my supper.

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On this stretch of the line, Bradshaw urges me to be alert for an engineering marvel.

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So in a few moments we are going to pass through what Bradshaw described

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as that "wonder of modern, engineering skill," referring to Stephenson's tubular bridge.

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Now, being a tube as you pass through it, there is no daylight.

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It's going to be dark, so we're definitely not going to miss it.

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Stephenson's bridge design was radical.

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A series of wrought-iron plates was riveted together to make a tube.

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Prefabricated on the shore, it was then lifted into place in only nine days.

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The tube's inherent strength allowed Stephenson to create a 400- feet bridge without supports.

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"After a few seconds of darkness we emerge into daylight

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"beneath the lofty shattered walls of Conwy castle.

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"Sweeping around the base of the castle on a circle,

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"the railway glides on and enters the town of Conwy

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"under a pointed arch constructed in the old town walls."

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Conwy, with its 13th-century castle, was a distinctive place.

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When the bridge was built in 1848,

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it was the first time that an engineer and an architect worked together

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to create a design that respected the historic town.

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Stephenson and his architect devised ramparts in mediaeval style to book-end the modern structure.

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But I'm not just here to see the bridge.

0:24:270:24:30

Do not adjust your set, this change of colour into these fetching oilskins

0:24:320:24:38

is because I'm going to go raking mussels.

0:24:380:24:42

I'm here to meet Jamie Hughes.

0:24:440:24:46

His family has fished mussels across ten generations.

0:24:460:24:50

-Hello, Jamie.

-Hello.

0:24:500:24:53

When the railways arrived, Conwy's famous mussel industry boomed.

0:24:530:24:57

Jamie still sets his watch by the trains.

0:24:570:25:01

I see the railway runs very close by here.

0:25:010:25:03

Presumably in the 19th century, they used the railways

0:25:030:25:06

-to transport the mussels around the place?

-Yes, from Conwy,

0:25:060:25:09

from the sidings in Conwy to the markets within a day.

0:25:090:25:13

And I actually use the train as a guide for the times

0:25:130:25:17

-so I know what time the tide is turning.

-You time yourself by the trains?

0:25:170:25:20

In the morning, I know it's 7.15 when the train goes past.

0:25:200:25:23

That's a very good advertisement for the train service.

0:25:230:25:26

-Are there many mussel rakers today?

-Full time on the job probably six, seven.

-Really?

0:25:260:25:33

Yeah, it's changed a lot over the years.

0:25:330:25:35

In the 19th century, Conwy had about 60 licensed mussel men.

0:25:370:25:42

Saltwater mussels were raked from the bay for food

0:25:420:25:45

and put on the train to Manchester, Birmingham and Sheffield.

0:25:450:25:48

Freshwater mussels were also collected from the river for their pearls.

0:25:480:25:52

These days, there are about 12 musselmen left, catching only the saltwater variety.

0:25:540:26:00

-Tell me about this bit of equipment then.

-It's pitch pine.

0:26:000:26:03

Very heavy for a start, isn't it? It's quite a vicious-looking thing.

0:26:030:26:07

-And that's been used for a long time?

-Hundreds of years.

0:26:070:26:10

-Really? Technique is just the same?

-Just the same, exactly the same.

0:26:100:26:14

Raking doesn't produce a huge catch.

0:26:140:26:16

Jamie sells what he can locally, the rest goes to markets across the UK.

0:26:160:26:22

Tell me, why would enjoy a Conwy mussel more than any other?

0:26:220:26:25

It's a better flavour.

0:26:250:26:26

It's a better taste. I would say that but...

0:26:260:26:29

feeding from the fresh water and the sea water.

0:26:290:26:32

I think it's time I had a go.

0:26:320:26:34

Out it goes. As you say, the technique is not to let go.

0:26:340:26:39

And lose a bit of tide.

0:26:390:26:40

Not sure I'm feeling any mussels.

0:26:400:26:43

Not on the river bed anyway.

0:26:430:26:45

-Oh, it's tough work, that.

-It is.

0:26:470:26:48

Let's have a look.

0:26:480:26:50

I think I've got nothing at all.

0:26:500:26:52

Absolute empty set.

0:26:520:26:55

Elsewhere, mussel men have started to use mechanical dredgers

0:26:560:27:00

but in Conwy, they still do it the hard way.

0:27:000:27:03

Put that on your shoulder.

0:27:030:27:05

On my shoulder like this?

0:27:050:27:07

Wey!

0:27:120:27:14

Wow! What a sense of achievement.

0:27:140:27:18

I've actually got some mussels on board. Look at that.

0:27:180:27:21

Good ones, too.

0:27:210:27:23

Oh boy, that feels good.

0:27:230:27:25

Travelling along the North Wales coast, I am pleased that so much still recalls the Victorian era.

0:27:250:27:32

Places like Chester, Llandudno and Conwy would be recognisable

0:27:320:27:36

to Bradshaw and they maintain strong connections with the past.

0:27:360:27:41

Bradshaw describes the railway as gliding past the walls of Conwy Castle.

0:27:420:27:49

The Chester to Holyhead line has transported me from Roman times to World War II.

0:27:490:27:55

It has enabled me to glide through British history.

0:27:550:27:58

On my next journey, I'll be discovering how trains helped an early mail-order business...

0:28:020:28:07

-What is it that they contain?

-Iron.

0:28:070:28:10

-And what does it give you? Energy?

-Of course it does.

0:28:100:28:13

..staying in Britain's first artists' colony...

0:28:130:28:16

One of the descriptions in the 1840s/1850s is that is looks like the encampment of an invading army,

0:28:160:28:22

because there are easels and white tents - every blooming rock has got an artist sitting on it.

0:28:220:28:27

..and exploring the Victorian slate capital of the world.

0:28:270:28:32

We've popped out into a different universe.

0:28:320:28:34

Where are the trees now? Where is the green?

0:28:340:28:37

Just piles and piles and piles of grey slate.

0:28:370:28:42

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:29:050:29:08

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0:29:080:29:11

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