0:00:05 > 0:00:10In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12His name was George Bradshaw,
0:00:12 > 0:00:17and his Railway Guides inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks.
0:00:18 > 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 > 0:00:28Now, 170 years later, I'm making a series of journeys
0:00:28 > 0:00:31across the length and breadth of the country
0:00:31 > 0:00:34to see what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53I'm continuing my journey from Great Yarmouth to the City of London
0:00:53 > 0:00:56on one of the great pioneering lines of the Victorian age.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00My Bradshaw's guide has now brought me to Suffolk.
0:01:00 > 0:01:01And it says,
0:01:01 > 0:01:04"This is one of the best cultivated districts in England.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07"Indeed, it may be called, almost exclusively, a farming county."
0:01:07 > 0:01:10Before industrialisation,
0:01:10 > 0:01:14this area was largely dependent on people travelling by boat.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17And the railways opened up new routes for industry.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19And they also allowed tourists in,
0:01:19 > 0:01:22some of them with a very particular quest.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27On today's leg of the journey, I'll be following Victorian
0:01:27 > 0:01:31tourists to an English city that was lost like Atlantis.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33It's not just the church ruins that go onto the beach,
0:01:33 > 0:01:37it's also the bodies of the dead from the graveyard.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Meeting some gentle giants who were crucial
0:01:40 > 0:01:42to the smooth running of the railways.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45Face of an angel, middle like a beer barrel,
0:01:45 > 0:01:47and a backside on it like a farmer's daughter.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49That sums up the Suffolk horse.
0:01:49 > 0:01:54And discovering how a 19th-century railway entrepreneur started
0:01:54 > 0:01:58something that would grow beyond his wildest dreams.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01Ian, I've never been as close to one of these container ships as this.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03It's absolutely enormous.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08I started this journey in Great Yarmouth, on the East coast.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10And now, I'm heading south through Suffolk.
0:02:10 > 0:02:11I'll be following a route through
0:02:11 > 0:02:15what, in Bradshaw's day, was forbidding and difficult territory.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18But the railways opened up the region to commerce
0:02:18 > 0:02:20and allowed its riches to be tapped.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26On this stretch, my first stop will be Darsham.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29And then, I'll travel south, through the scenic East Anglian flatlands,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32visiting the great ports of the East Coast.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40Morning. Tickets, please.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45- There we go. Weather not too bright this morning.- Horrible, isn't it?
0:02:45 > 0:02:48- Will it cheer up?- We're supposed to have had a heatwave, aren't we?
0:02:48 > 0:02:51Yeah, we're meant to. I'm going out on a boat this morning. What do you think?
0:02:51 > 0:02:53How will I get on there, do you think?
0:02:53 > 0:02:56Well, if the rain keeps up like this, it will be a bit wet.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02With the coming of the railways in the mid-1800s,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05this sparsely populated area was opened up,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08not just for business, but for tourism too.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Journey times were dramatically reduced.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16And, for the first time, the unexplored treasures of Suffolk's
0:03:16 > 0:03:22beautiful countryside and coast became a sought-after destination.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30This is Darsham, and Victorian tourists would come here
0:03:30 > 0:03:32in their droves, headed for Dunwich.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36Attracted not so much by the sunshine or the country air,
0:03:36 > 0:03:39but by an interest somewhat more ghoulish.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44They came to visit the crumbling, yet captivating ruins
0:03:44 > 0:03:48of what was once the claimed capital of East Anglia.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51One of the country's biggest medieval towns,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Dunwich's prosperity once rivalled London's.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57I'm meeting Professor David Sear to find out more about
0:03:57 > 0:04:02Britain's rival to the lost city of Atlantis.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04- Good to see you.- You too.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07So, I've just arrived on the train, like a Victorian tourist.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09And I believe they used to come in their hoards.
0:04:09 > 0:04:10What've they come to see?
0:04:10 > 0:04:14OK, they've come to see the medieval town of Dunwich.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Where we're standing is the last fragment of the lost town.
0:04:17 > 0:04:22The rest is out beyond the cliffs. This town has gone into the sea.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26And why so? What happened to the cliff?
0:04:26 > 0:04:29Well, we're standing on, basically, sands and gravels.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32And the town itself was absolutely decimated
0:04:32 > 0:04:36by a series of storms in the 13th century and then subsequently.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38And these big storms just ripped the cliff away
0:04:38 > 0:04:41and the buildings collapsed down with it.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43And you can see, here,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46there's remains of a priory here that we're standing in.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48And they would've come to see this and to see the, sort of,
0:04:48 > 0:04:50not only just the romance of the ruins,
0:04:50 > 0:04:56but also the ghoulishness associated with, sort of, the lost town itself.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59How much more of this town could a Victorian tourist have seen
0:04:59 > 0:05:01than I can see today?
0:05:01 > 0:05:05Beyond here, now underwater, was a great big church,
0:05:05 > 0:05:07All Saints' Church.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10And you would've seen this tower teetering on the edge of the cliffs.
0:05:10 > 0:05:11That's the great thing,
0:05:11 > 0:05:13when the Victorians came here, it really was on the edge.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16And with the tower, of course, came all the, sort of, romance
0:05:16 > 0:05:19and the legend of the bells and the lost bells of Dunwich.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22Which, they said, and still do say,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25that, on a stormy night, you can hear.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27Romance seems all well and good,
0:05:27 > 0:05:31but the Victorians had a much more morbid reason for visiting.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33Although we think of them as prudish and repressed,
0:05:33 > 0:05:36they had a macabre fascination with death.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38Dunwich allowed them
0:05:38 > 0:05:42to indulge their dark side with a spot of human relic hunting.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46Well, of course, if you've got a church on the cliffs,
0:05:46 > 0:05:47you've got a graveyard.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50And when the storms come and the cliff collapses,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53it's not just the church ruins that go onto the beach,
0:05:53 > 0:05:56it's also the bodies of the dead from the graveyard.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58And, in fact, you still can come, to this day, after a storm,
0:05:58 > 0:06:02cos there's a fragment of All Saints' churchyard left,
0:06:02 > 0:06:04and you find bones and skulls on the beach.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06And, of course, that attracted them.
0:06:08 > 0:06:13I don't fancy searching for the bones of my forebears on the beach.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16But David's taking me on a boat for a unique view
0:06:16 > 0:06:19of the submerged city, beyond the Victorian's imagination.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21He's conducting research beneath the murky depths,
0:06:21 > 0:06:26using sonar technology to map what's on the seabed.
0:06:26 > 0:06:27Very scientific.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30But I'll still keep open a superstitious ear
0:06:30 > 0:06:33for the watery bells of All Saints' Church.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37Where did the medieval city of Dunwich stand, then?
0:06:37 > 0:06:40What we can see, here, is that the last fragments of the medieval city,
0:06:40 > 0:06:42quite literally, are on the cliff line.
0:06:42 > 0:06:47And then it stretched for about a mile to the north.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52- And it came out about a mile this way.- Big city.- Yeah, really big.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55I mean, the same size as the City of London.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59The port's riches were based on exports of East Anglian wool
0:06:59 > 0:07:02and grain and imports of fish, cloth from the Netherlands
0:07:02 > 0:07:04and wine from France.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10The harbour and port activity was to the north.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13And then, you sort of came up this low hill
0:07:13 > 0:07:16and you entered the hub of the town.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19The marketplace, the main churches clustered round the marketplace
0:07:19 > 0:07:22and, of course, those are now underneath us.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25- Literally underneath us. - Literally underneath us.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27But tell me what it really looks like.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30Are you telling me there are walls under there, or is this, kind of,
0:07:30 > 0:07:32the vague outline of where a church was?
0:07:32 > 0:07:34What is there, actually, underneath?
0:07:34 > 0:07:37We've been able to map the whole of the seafloor, here.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39And, incredibly exciting,
0:07:39 > 0:07:44we've found the ruins of four churches from the former medieval city.
0:07:44 > 0:07:49But, of course, these buildings have fallen down a 20-metre-high cliff.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52So, they've broken up as they go down.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55So, it's the ruins of ruins, if you like.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57Modern technology is bringing
0:07:57 > 0:08:00the submerged antiquity of Dunwich to life.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04I like to imagine how fascinated the Victorians would have been
0:08:04 > 0:08:08had they had this view of a medieval metropolis.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12I suppose what is really exciting about that is that...although this
0:08:12 > 0:08:17place has disappeared, in a sense, it's never been tampered with.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20It never got modernised. It didn't have any skyscrapers.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23- So, I mean, this really is a whole medieval city.- Absolutely, yes.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25Certainly, we're beginning to get the geography
0:08:25 > 0:08:27of an untouched medieval town.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Loving history as I do,
0:08:31 > 0:08:37I'd be delighted to walk the streets of Dunwich, unsullied by modernity.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39A pure medieval city.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53Back on the train at Darsham, I'm heading south
0:08:53 > 0:08:56to the town of Woodbridge.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01My Bradshaw's guide talks about agriculture in Suffolk
0:09:01 > 0:09:04being conducted "on the most improved principles."
0:09:04 > 0:09:07A wonderful Victorian phrase.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10And now, I'm on my way to see an innovation in agriculture
0:09:10 > 0:09:12that was unique to East Anglia.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17The new railways allowed tourists to flock
0:09:17 > 0:09:21to Suffolk in unprecedented numbers.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23Many of those visitors might have glimpsed,
0:09:23 > 0:09:26toiling in the fields, a Suffolk icon,
0:09:26 > 0:09:30without realising that that noble beast was also vital to
0:09:30 > 0:09:34the smooth-running of the railways on which they were speeding by.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36This is Woodbridge
0:09:36 > 0:09:39and I'm looking forward, here, to meeting an animal that I really
0:09:39 > 0:09:46admire for its strength, its quiet dignity and its strong work ethic.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54The Suffolk Punch is one of the oldest breeds
0:09:54 > 0:09:55of working horse in the world.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58And Roger Clark is going to introduce me
0:09:58 > 0:10:01to these unassuming creatures.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04Roger.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08- Good afternoon.- What an amazing horse. Absolutely huge, aren't they?
0:10:08 > 0:10:12- Yeah, they are. Two tremendous geldings.- What makes them so strong?
0:10:12 > 0:10:14And what makes them so useful?
0:10:14 > 0:10:18Well, with the Suffolk horse, his main characteristic,
0:10:18 > 0:10:20why he can pull so well, is his angle of draught.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23- And...- His what? - His angle of draught.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27If you see, sorry, where the collar sits on his neck.
0:10:27 > 0:10:28When he leans into the collar,
0:10:28 > 0:10:35he can exert all his power on the long forearm, short cannons.
0:10:35 > 0:10:36So, that's where the strength is.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38So, when he, he's like Suffolk people.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41When he leans into the collar, something has to give.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45- And it's a fine head as well. - Well, face of an angel.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48Middle like a beer barrel,
0:10:48 > 0:10:50and a backside on it like a farmer's daughter.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52That sums up the Suffolk horse.
0:10:54 > 0:10:55Before the railways,
0:10:55 > 0:10:59East Anglia was isolated from the rest of the country,
0:10:59 > 0:11:03and consequently, developed its own horses and agricultural methods.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07The Suffolk Punch was bred for its immense stamina,
0:11:07 > 0:11:09specifically to plough the heavy clay.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12It's reputed to be able to pull up to two times
0:11:12 > 0:11:15its own one-tonne body weight.
0:11:16 > 0:11:21In Bradshaw's day, this power was invaluable, as they were deployed
0:11:21 > 0:11:25to railway goods yards across the eastern counties.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27Now, they have a history with the railways, don't they?
0:11:27 > 0:11:30Yes, the bigger ones would be either for heavy draught
0:11:30 > 0:11:32or for shunting in the goods yards.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35They used the horses for shunting?
0:11:35 > 0:11:36Yeah, shunting trucks and so forth,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39which possibly was the most economical way.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41When you think that they'd save them
0:11:41 > 0:11:44actually having to use a steam engine for that job.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47A cart horse has a tremendous surge of power,
0:11:47 > 0:11:50and that's what was needed to get a truck started.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53Once it started, then it rolled along.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57The railways used all types of heavy draught horses to shunt wagons,
0:11:57 > 0:12:00including Suffolk Punches and Shires.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04Trained not to catch their hooves in the tracks
0:12:04 > 0:12:07and to step deftly out of the way once a wagon was rolling,
0:12:07 > 0:12:09they'd save large costs for the railway companies.
0:12:09 > 0:12:15As little as 100 years ago, Suffolk Punch horses were a common sight.
0:12:15 > 0:12:20But mechanisation has left the species' survival in doubt.
0:12:21 > 0:12:22How rare is this breed?
0:12:22 > 0:12:26Well, it's on the Rare Breeds Category One
0:12:26 > 0:12:28and Rare Breeds Survival Trust list.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32That is to say that it is, in fact, an endangered species.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36In fact, people talk about the panda and the tiger and so forth.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39These are far more in danger of extinction than they are.
0:12:39 > 0:12:45Although, thankfully, we have enthusiasts like the Trust, here,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48that are maintaining the breed and, hopefully, carrying it forward.
0:12:48 > 0:12:53The Trust works these surviving animals regularly,
0:12:53 > 0:12:55pulling carts of tourists through the countryside.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58So, we're all harnessed up. Perhaps you'd like to take one,
0:12:58 > 0:13:01Michael, if you take the one that Bruce has got.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04- Bit of a responsibility.- It certainly is. Just watch your toes.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07- Watch my toes! Oh, my goodness. - You've got a tonne of horse, there.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10All right, a tonne of horse. Right.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12You are a big fellow, aren't you?
0:13:15 > 0:13:18Not quite sure who's in control, here.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23Travelling on a wagon drawn by a Suffolk Punch gives me
0:13:23 > 0:13:27a warm appreciation for the strength of these good-natured animals.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31So, Roger, I suppose most people would think that with the coming
0:13:31 > 0:13:34of the railways and with the coming of motor vehicles on the roads,
0:13:34 > 0:13:37that that would be the last time that you'd be using big horses.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39Is that really what happened?
0:13:39 > 0:13:41Well, I don't think it did, really.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43When you think that although the railways came
0:13:43 > 0:13:46and, obviously, took the road coaches off the road,
0:13:46 > 0:13:48the produce and goods that they took to the stations
0:13:48 > 0:13:51obviously needed horse power to deliver them.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54And I think the Great Western Railway in London
0:13:54 > 0:13:57boasted something like 800 horses,
0:13:57 > 0:13:59of various sizes and that.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02You know, parcel vans, heavy goods, and so forth,
0:14:02 > 0:14:03that they could boast that they could,
0:14:03 > 0:14:06they only had one parcel in 10,000 mislaid.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08I wonder if they could claim that today?
0:14:10 > 0:14:16I had no idea that horses were used on the railways until the 1960s,
0:14:16 > 0:14:18when, as part of the Beeching reforms,
0:14:18 > 0:14:22tractors replaced these gentle giants.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26The Suffolk Punch's story has won my regard and affection
0:14:26 > 0:14:28and I salute these working horses,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31who were so familiar in Victorian Britain.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38From the Suffolk Punches, it's back to the iron horse for me.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42Slow train to Ipswich and the intercity to Manningtree.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49I'm following in the footsteps of Bradshaw's tourists, who,
0:14:49 > 0:14:53keen to escape the grimy reality of the Industrial Revolution,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56took the train in order to rediscover
0:14:56 > 0:14:59the gentler myth of a rustic age.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03Rural life in 19th-century Britain was pretty tough.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05But painters of the period liked to depict
0:15:05 > 0:15:08the countryside in idealistic terms.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12One of the Victorians' favourite landscape painters was born
0:15:12 > 0:15:15in Suffolk and worked here much of his life.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18And we still love his work today.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25I'm alighting at Manningtree, on the Essex-Suffolk border,
0:15:25 > 0:15:28one of England's smallest market towns.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31This is the gateway to Dedham Vale,
0:15:31 > 0:15:35an area immortalised by a famous 19th-century painter,
0:15:35 > 0:15:39whose warm-hearted scenes attracted Victorians with magnetic force.
0:15:39 > 0:15:44- Hello.- Good afternoon, sir. - Fantastic view from your station.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47- Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. - Is that actually Dedham Vale?
0:15:47 > 0:15:50That way, between the pylons,
0:15:50 > 0:15:52straight across that way to Dedham Vale, that's right.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54Through the pylons, that's a pity, really.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57- But even from here, the countryside is fabulous.- Lovely.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00Hasn't changed, I shouldn't think, for the last 100 and whatever years.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03- And your station actually says "for Dedham Vale."- Yes, that's right.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07- You get people coming here...- We get lots of walkers, a lot of walkers.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10- And Constable fans.- Yes, oh, dear, a lot of Japanese turn up as well.
0:16:10 > 0:16:11- Oh, really?- Yeah.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14Constable is still doing his bit for Suffolk tourism?
0:16:14 > 0:16:17- He did, all these years after his death.- Very nice to see you.
0:16:17 > 0:16:18- Thank you.- Bye.- Bye.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25The charming hamlet of Flatford,
0:16:25 > 0:16:27in the heart of beautiful Dedham Vale,
0:16:27 > 0:16:29is the setting for some of
0:16:29 > 0:16:32John Constable's most celebrated paintings.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36Including The Hay Wain, which he finished in 1821.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39So, here is a site that I know so well
0:16:39 > 0:16:44from having seen the painting The Hay Wain so often.
0:16:44 > 0:16:50And yet it's so unbelievably unchanged. It's so perfect.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52The wagon is stuck in the middle of the river, there.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55The buildings look much the same.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57It takes your breath away.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01My guide here is Mark Cable, from the National Trust.
0:17:03 > 0:17:04Michael, nice to meet you.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06I thought I was prepared for all this, having seen
0:17:06 > 0:17:09the paintings before, but this is unbelievably beautiful.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12- It's very nice, isn't it? - Wonderfully unspoiled, isn't it?
0:17:12 > 0:17:14Unchanged for nearly 200 years, yeah.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18So, this is where The Hay Wain was inspired.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20This is the scene of The Hay Wain painting, indeed.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22So, it wasn't actually painted on site.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24It was actually painted in London, in Keppel Street.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27- It must have been sketched here? - It was sketched, yeah.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29Constable made many sketches of Willy Lott's house
0:17:29 > 0:17:31and the surrounding area.
0:17:31 > 0:17:32And then put together
0:17:32 > 0:17:33in his studio in London.
0:17:33 > 0:17:38So, this building is largely captured by the artist as it is,
0:17:38 > 0:17:39as it was.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42The only slight change he's done is, if you notice on the roof,
0:17:42 > 0:17:46he's slightly shrunk it, just to get this side of the house in.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52It moves me to know that I'm seeing Willy Lott's house
0:17:52 > 0:17:54much as Bradshaw's tourists did.
0:17:54 > 0:18:00Constable died in 1837, three months before Victoria came to the throne.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04But his popularity reached new heights in Victorian Britain,
0:18:04 > 0:18:10as people craved pastoral relief from urban squalor.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12Here we are, today, the place is still full of tourists.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15- There are amateur artists here. I gather many Japanese people come. - Yes.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17So, we're still captivated with it.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19- We are, indeed.- Why?
0:18:19 > 0:18:22It's interesting, because the reason that it's a tourist attraction now
0:18:22 > 0:18:26is that trade has actually shifted from the river.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29So, this river would have been very, very busy in Constable's time,
0:18:29 > 0:18:32with barges, or lighters, as they were known in those days,
0:18:32 > 0:18:34were going backwards and forwards with trade and goods.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36That has now moved to the railways.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40So, that's actually freed up this area to become what it is today,
0:18:40 > 0:18:42which is a picturesque tourist attraction.
0:18:42 > 0:18:47I mean, actually, the countryside was a very grindingly poor place.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50- So, this is romanticised. - Absolutely.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52Did the early 19th-century people and the Victorians,
0:18:52 > 0:18:54did they like it because it was romanticised?
0:18:54 > 0:18:59They were starting to crave the sort of pictures of England as it was.
0:18:59 > 0:19:00So, absolutely. As we do now.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03And it looks inviting, it's an English summer's day.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06And then, in the Victorian period, I mean,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09England is covered in dark, satanic mills.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12- So, there's a real, kind of, escapism.- Exactly, exactly.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15People would start to go back to Constable and realise,
0:19:15 > 0:19:17think of these times in fonder,
0:19:17 > 0:19:21of fonder memories, you know, of the countryside, and we idealise it.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25The new industrial conurbations set Victorians yearning
0:19:25 > 0:19:28to escape to the country.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30As in so many things, we feel the same today
0:19:30 > 0:19:33and imitate their excursions.
0:19:33 > 0:19:34But whilst I've got Mark here,
0:19:34 > 0:19:38there's one more thing I've always wanted to know about The Hay Wain.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41By the way, what is actually going on in this painting?
0:19:41 > 0:19:43Why is the wagon in the middle of the river?
0:19:43 > 0:19:45Well, there's a number of theories.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48Some people think it's cooling down the wheels here,
0:19:48 > 0:19:50the rims of the cart.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52Other people have suggested that it's stuck in the mill pond.
0:19:52 > 0:19:53I don't think it's either.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56I think what's happening is we've got some distant hay carts,
0:19:56 > 0:19:58over here, so it's travelling across here to relieve
0:19:58 > 0:20:02this hay cart and come back with a load of hay.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05But interestingly, even that theory has its issues.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08Because this is actually a log cart.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10The cart was actually sketched by a chap in the village
0:20:10 > 0:20:12called Johnny Dunthorne,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15who Constable requested that he sketch the cart
0:20:15 > 0:20:16and send it back to him in London.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18He didn't have enough detail
0:20:18 > 0:20:20in his memory to recreate the cart.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22So, again, it's possible that
0:20:22 > 0:20:23Johnny Dunthorne sent him
0:20:23 > 0:20:26a picture of the wrong cart that Constable had in mind.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36It's been a wonderful afternoon in Constable country.
0:20:36 > 0:20:41As the sun sets over this curiously familiar landscape,
0:20:41 > 0:20:45I make for the village of Dedham, where Constable went to school,
0:20:45 > 0:20:46and where I'll stay the night.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55The next day, my journey continues,
0:20:55 > 0:20:59and I'm travelling on the Mayflower Line.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02So-called because the master of the ship the Mayflower,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04which in 1620 took the Pilgrims to America,
0:21:04 > 0:21:08lived in the town which is my next destination.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12I'm on my way to Harwich, which my Bradshaw's guide tells me,
0:21:12 > 0:21:15"is built on a peninsular point of land,
0:21:15 > 0:21:19"close to where the River Stour joins the German Ocean,
0:21:19 > 0:21:22"and has a number of maritime advantages.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25"It derives considerable profit from its shipping trade,
0:21:25 > 0:21:28"fisheries and annual visitors."
0:21:28 > 0:21:29Which is interesting, because
0:21:29 > 0:21:32today, I don't think of Harwich as a major port.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37TANNOY: We have now arrived at Harwich Town.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43In Bradshaw's day, the coming of the railways had, indeed,
0:21:43 > 0:21:48made Harwich a booming port, just an hour's journey from London by train.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52But today, it handles mainly passenger ferries,
0:21:52 > 0:21:56having been eclipsed by Felixstowe, just across the River Stour.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03Felixstowe's better railway connections
0:22:03 > 0:22:07and the invention of the container in the 1960s
0:22:07 > 0:22:10made it the economical choice for shipping lines.
0:22:14 > 0:22:19Felixstowe Docks have grown rapidly, doubling in size every ten years.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22It's now the largest container port in the UK,
0:22:22 > 0:22:25and one of the biggest in Europe.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29I'm setting out from Harwich on a pilot boat with
0:22:29 > 0:22:32Captain Ian Mace, Deputy Harbour Master,
0:22:32 > 0:22:36to gain an idea of Felixstowe's vast scale.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42Ian, I've never been as close to one of these container ships as this.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46I'm looking down the length of it, it's absolutely enormous.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48Any idea what lengths these things get to?
0:22:48 > 0:22:55The biggest ones that we have coming into the Haven are 397 metres long.
0:22:55 > 0:22:56So, it's a fairly substantial size.
0:22:56 > 0:23:01And over 10,000 20-foot containers onboard.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04- 10,000 containers on board?- Yes.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07So, the thing that I see on the back of a lorry,
0:23:07 > 0:23:0910,000 of those on a single ship?
0:23:09 > 0:23:10Yes, exactly.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15The advent of the freight container, the box that changed Britain,
0:23:15 > 0:23:18means that everything you can buy on the high street,
0:23:18 > 0:23:21from food and clothes to electronics and furniture,
0:23:21 > 0:23:24arrives on container ships for sale throughout the United Kingdom.
0:23:24 > 0:23:29Astoundingly, it's estimated that our shops would start
0:23:29 > 0:23:34to run out of food in three days if Felixstowe Docks were closed.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39So, give me an idea of how many of these vessels come to Felixstowe.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43In a year, there's about 10,000 movements within the Haven.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47At busy times, we can have half a dozen to ten vessels
0:23:47 > 0:23:51of this similar size at anchor, waiting to come into the port.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54A bit like aeroplanes stacking to go into an airport.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00These staggering consignments of containers,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03over three million in a year, come in by sea
0:24:03 > 0:24:05and are then directed around the UK.
0:24:05 > 0:24:10Port Manager Paul Davey can give me an idea of how the importance
0:24:10 > 0:24:14of railways today compares with Bradshaw's time.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17What I see here is that you're putting containers
0:24:17 > 0:24:20onto vehicles, but please tell me that you still use railways.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22We do. We use rail extensively.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25We have more freight trains going from this port
0:24:25 > 0:24:28to more destinations in the UK than any other port.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31We have two rail terminals at the moment.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33We're building a third one
0:24:33 > 0:24:35to increase further the capacity for rail.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38Is this as big as Felixstowe will get?
0:24:38 > 0:24:40This is the first phase of a development which will,
0:24:40 > 0:24:42eventually, see the quay lengthen still further.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45We've also got the potential to expand in Harwich,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47just on the other side of the river.
0:24:47 > 0:24:49Oh, you're going to expand in Harwich?
0:24:49 > 0:24:51There's quite a nice symmetry here because Harwich,
0:24:51 > 0:24:53over the years, lost out to Felixstowe.
0:24:53 > 0:24:54Now, Felixstowe's getting so big
0:24:54 > 0:24:59that it may have to transfer part of the business back to Harwich.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02In Victorian Britain, the railways were part of an extensive
0:25:02 > 0:25:06and efficient network that sped up delivery times from dockside
0:25:06 > 0:25:07to marketplace.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13Thousands of dockworkers worked long hours in all weathers
0:25:13 > 0:25:15to unload vessels onto rail wagons.
0:25:15 > 0:25:20With small cranes, winches and sheer brute force.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23Things today are rather different,
0:25:23 > 0:25:26as Andy Lambert is about to teach me in a modern dock crane.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30What I'll do, Michael, I'll just line up over this box
0:25:30 > 0:25:32and then I'll let you have a go, if you like.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37The cranes, the largest of their type in the world,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40are the workhorses of the dock.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43Loading and unloading ships, trains and lorries.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47- So, you've lined us up over the container.- That's right, yeah.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49What next?
0:25:49 > 0:25:51With your right-hand side, just bring it up nice and gently.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55Pull it up nice and gently. Here we go. Box coming up.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02Beads of sweat coming on my brow here, as I concentrate on this.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06- Down it goes. Don't go away, Andy. - I'm here.- Don't go away.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10That's it. Little bit more. Little bit more. Little bit more.
0:26:10 > 0:26:11That's lovely, there.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14- And then, just lift your frame up. - By pulling back on this one.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17- That's right, yeah.- I'm getting the hang of this, Andy.- Absolutely.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19And off goes the vehicle.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25Now, we've just got another 25 to do. So...
0:26:25 > 0:26:26MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:26:26 > 0:26:30- Thank you, Andy. A fantastic lesson. Really enjoyed that.- Thanks a lot.
0:26:30 > 0:26:31Bye-bye.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38After Andy and his colleagues have unloaded a few thousand containers
0:26:38 > 0:26:41from each ship, more than a quarter go
0:26:41 > 0:26:44onto freight trains leaving Felixstowe 28 times a day.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47So, I don't have to wait long to be able to depart
0:26:47 > 0:26:48on one of the freight trains.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55And now for something really exciting.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59A ride in a brand-new, highly powerful, class-70 locomotive,
0:26:59 > 0:27:01pulling 30 wagons behind.
0:27:03 > 0:27:09The engine is pulling 1,335 tonnes, substituting for a very large
0:27:09 > 0:27:13number of lorries that would otherwise throng our roads.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15Much though I love passenger trains,
0:27:15 > 0:27:19nothing gives you the feeling of power like a freight locomotive.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22And we're heading down the single track line
0:27:22 > 0:27:26that George Tomline pioneered more than a century ago.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30Nowadays, for international travel, most of us think of planes
0:27:30 > 0:27:34rather than boats. But as far as freight is concerned,
0:27:34 > 0:27:38the vast majority of our imports, like the ones that we're towing
0:27:38 > 0:27:41on the back of this train, still come by sea.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44And, in that respect, our world is not so very different
0:27:44 > 0:27:46from George Bradshaw's.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54On the next step of my journey,
0:27:54 > 0:27:58I'll be coming face-to-face with a medieval politician.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00Goodness, that is grotesque.
0:28:00 > 0:28:05Sharing the Victorians' fascination with the freakishly stout.
0:28:05 > 0:28:06Bags you're on our team.
0:28:08 > 0:28:09How many have we got?
0:28:09 > 0:28:10And journeying overseas
0:28:10 > 0:28:13on one of the world's first electric railways.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16This is a great thrill for me, cos I used to come here as a child.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18I've never been in the cab before.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:25 > 0:28:29E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk