0:00:05 > 0:00:09In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11His name was George Bradshaw
0:00:11 > 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, what to see,
0:00:21 > 0:00:22and where to stay.
0:00:25 > 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.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58My Bradshaw's guide has brought me through rural Norfolk
0:00:58 > 0:01:03and Suffolk to what it describes as "the gentle hills and Dales of Essex."
0:01:04 > 0:01:09Using my guide, I'll discover how the tentacles of the railways,
0:01:09 > 0:01:13reaching out from London, changed the lives of those they touched.
0:01:16 > 0:01:21On my journey today, I'll be finding out how dairy herds travelled
0:01:21 > 0:01:24the length and breadth of Britain, first class.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26The cow also decided to urinate on me,
0:01:26 > 0:01:27but that's all right.
0:01:27 > 0:01:32Discovering how gunpowder fuelled Britain's empire building.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35That is the sound of blackpowder in the 19th century.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38- Brilliant noise.- From the Crimea to Zululand to the Indian Mutiny.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40And hearing of a heinous crime
0:01:40 > 0:01:44that shook the Victorians' faith in railways.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48What they discovered on Hackney Station
0:01:48 > 0:01:52was an empty first-class carriage absolutely besmeared with blood.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57This journey commenced on the east coast of Norfolk,
0:01:57 > 0:02:01and the great Eastern Railway, has brought me through country
0:02:01 > 0:02:03that before Bradshaw's day
0:02:03 > 0:02:05had been remote and inaccessible.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08The coming of the railways changed all that,
0:02:08 > 0:02:12and opened the region to industry, tourism and business.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16I'm beginning today's leg in the heart of rural Essex,
0:02:16 > 0:02:20and then travelling through the teeming London boroughs
0:02:20 > 0:02:22of Stratford and Hackney.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26Now I'm headed for Harold Wood,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29a place that I think of as suburban London,
0:02:29 > 0:02:30but to my surprise,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33it hosts an agricultural community of rolling acres.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41In the 19th century, Essex was considered perfect arable land
0:02:41 > 0:02:43because, as my Bradshaw's describes it,
0:02:43 > 0:02:46the county was "the largest connected space of level
0:02:46 > 0:02:52"ground in the whole island, with not one lofty eminence or rocky ridge."
0:02:52 > 0:02:55But, as the rail network spread through Britain,
0:02:55 > 0:03:00the type of agriculture changed, and Essex was no exception.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03I've come to a farm just a stone's throw from the M25
0:03:03 > 0:03:06and the outskirts of London.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10I want to discover more about the impact of the railways
0:03:10 > 0:03:12on the rural economy.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16Dairy farmer Duncan Padfield has kindly agreed to be my guide.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19- Morning, Duncan. - Good morning, Michael.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22- Welcome to our farm at Little Tawney Hall.- Lovely to see you.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25Now, my Bradshaw's Guide gives an idea of, kind of, rural idyll,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28here in Essex, but just after this book was written in the 1860s,
0:03:28 > 0:03:32there was actually a lot of change in agriculture here, wasn't there?
0:03:32 > 0:03:35There was, yes. That was the time when there was a lot
0:03:35 > 0:03:38of arable farming going on in Essex around this area,
0:03:38 > 0:03:39and the farmers went broke,
0:03:39 > 0:03:42so the landlords were advertising for farmers
0:03:42 > 0:03:44to come and take the farms from areas
0:03:44 > 0:03:46like the West Country and Scotland,
0:03:46 > 0:03:48and, in particular, to bring their dairy cows into the area
0:03:48 > 0:03:50because we had the London market
0:03:50 > 0:03:51and this was where all the people were.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53And that was what happened to your family?
0:03:53 > 0:03:55Your family came in from outside?
0:03:55 > 0:03:58It was. Our family were from Somerset,
0:03:58 > 0:04:00and they came up in about the 1880s.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04My grandfather actually came to this farm in about 1915.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08Now, your wife also comes from a family of incomers, doesn't she?
0:04:08 > 0:04:10Yes, they came from Scotland, from Ayrshire,
0:04:10 > 0:04:12and there were more of those,
0:04:12 > 0:04:14that came from Scotland than there were of us,
0:04:14 > 0:04:17families that came from the West Country.
0:04:17 > 0:04:18So, do you still find, in this area,
0:04:18 > 0:04:21a lot of people with Scottish names, West Country names?
0:04:21 > 0:04:23Yes, if you look in the phone book,
0:04:23 > 0:04:25there's a whole list of McCaigs, McGowans, and McTurks.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27There's pages and pages.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32From 1870 onwards, Essex suffered an agricultural depression.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35Poor harvests, bad weather,
0:04:35 > 0:04:38and cheap grain imports forced farms out of business.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42Farmers from outside who seized the opportunity to repopulate
0:04:42 > 0:04:46these bankrupt farms had to relocate lock, barrel,
0:04:46 > 0:04:51and stock, having to transport their dairy herds huge distances.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54So they came down and actually rented trains,
0:04:54 > 0:04:56and would bring down their cows from Scotland, their horses,
0:04:56 > 0:04:58and the family, all their belongings,
0:04:58 > 0:05:02and everything. They would move house and come down to Essex.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04This is an extraordinary thought for me,
0:05:04 > 0:05:07that they would put all these cows onto the train.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09To me, it's a whole new use for the railways.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13Enabling entire herds to move wasn't the only benefit
0:05:13 > 0:05:16that the railways offered to these pioneering farmers.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20They joined them to the edge of the world's largest city.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24During the 19th century, London had grown enormously,
0:05:24 > 0:05:28from just one million inhabitants in 1800
0:05:28 > 0:05:32to an astounding 6.7 million a century later.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34This milk-thirsty population could be supplied
0:05:34 > 0:05:36by railway with fresh product,
0:05:36 > 0:05:40offering a great business opportunity for ambitious farmers.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44Indeed, the first Sainsbury's opened in Covent Garden, London,
0:05:44 > 0:05:51in 1869, selling fresh railway milk from churns on a marble counter.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54London market was down the road, there,
0:05:54 > 0:05:58and with the railways there, they could put the milk onto
0:05:58 > 0:06:00the train from Ongar, and this line here,
0:06:00 > 0:06:01and it was into London,
0:06:01 > 0:06:05and the milk was fresh, and there was a better price, also.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08Cattle played an important part in Victorian life,
0:06:08 > 0:06:12and products such as milk, cheese and butter could be highly profitable.
0:06:13 > 0:06:19Duncan and his family currently milk a dairy herd of 150,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22with somewhat higher productivity than his Victorian forefathers.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25Well, I can see it's all highly mechanised,
0:06:25 > 0:06:26wires and pipes everywhere.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29Must be a big contrast to the Victorian scene.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32Oh, it was. My dad used to milk 14 cows a day,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35and he used to come in from ploughing in the fields exhausted,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38and it was a time of rest for him to sit down under a cow
0:06:38 > 0:06:40and milk them by hand.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44And I think each man used to milk 14 cows a day, twice a day.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47And my man in here, he milks 140 on his own,
0:06:47 > 0:06:49and that's how things have progressed.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52Cows are no longer milked by hand,
0:06:52 > 0:06:56but Duncan's offered to let me entice out their product the modern way.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00- Why do I feel so squeamish about this?- This is an automatic cluster.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04There is a button on the bottom, which you will have to press,
0:07:04 > 0:07:09which lets the vacuum get into the cluster unit, here.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12You guide it to the bottom of the teat and it should pop on.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17In Bradshaw's time, a cow would produce 11 litres a day,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20but now, with good breeding and husbandry,
0:07:20 > 0:07:23that's improved to an extraordinary 30 litres.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26- And the milk is flowing. - The milk is flowing.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28She's got her food, she's happy standing here,
0:07:28 > 0:07:31and she's releasing the milk, and it's all coming into the jars.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34And there we are, fresh milk for the supermarkets of London.
0:07:34 > 0:07:35Absolutely, Michael.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39I'm not sure whether I have cold hands,
0:07:39 > 0:07:41but this lady passes her bovine judgement on my skills.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44One of the hazards of the job.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47It's not usually this...
0:07:47 > 0:07:50The cow also decided to urinate on me. But that's all right.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56As dairy herds spread across Britain,
0:07:56 > 0:08:01railway lines and stations were built in the most rural locations
0:08:01 > 0:08:03to serve the agricultural trade.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07And my next stop, Blake Hall Station,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10was used by local families, right up until the 1960s,
0:08:10 > 0:08:15to transport milk to London on what was known as The Milk Line.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19I'm meeting Simon Hanney,
0:08:19 > 0:08:21manager of Epping and Ongar Railway,
0:08:21 > 0:08:24at the now disused station.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27- Simon, hello. What a fantastic station!- Good morning.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30- Isn't it beautifully preserved? - Very much so, yes.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33So, this station was originally part of the Great Eastern line?
0:08:33 > 0:08:37Yes, it was. It was built as part of the Great Eastern Railway branch
0:08:37 > 0:08:40to Ongar, which was opened in 1865.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42So that's about the time of my Bradshaw's guidebook.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45And immediately after that was when there was the big boom
0:08:45 > 0:08:47in which the amount of milk travelling by train really took off.
0:08:47 > 0:08:52Well, yes. The milk traffic doubled between 1894 and 1899.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54And that led to the Great Eastern Railway company building
0:08:54 > 0:08:57a special milk dock at Ongar to handle the trains.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59But how far are we from London, actually?
0:08:59 > 0:09:02We're 21 miles, at Blake Hall, here, from Liverpool Street,
0:09:02 > 0:09:04which is where the trains used to operate into.
0:09:05 > 0:09:10By 1949, steam locomotives ferried agricultural products,
0:09:10 > 0:09:13and also commuters, from the last stop at Ongar
0:09:13 > 0:09:16to Central London via Blake Hall as, amazingly,
0:09:16 > 0:09:21this tiny rural stop became part of the London Underground network.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25With electrification in 1957,
0:09:25 > 0:09:29the Central Line's Tube trains ran between hedges and fields
0:09:29 > 0:09:32direct to the capital's Liverpool Street station
0:09:32 > 0:09:34and the West End, beyond.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37It can't have a very busy London Underground station.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40No, it's famed to be the least used underground station
0:09:40 > 0:09:43on the whole network, which led to its closure in 1981,
0:09:43 > 0:09:47with apparently only six passengers using it a day.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49And it had a stationmaster,
0:09:49 > 0:09:52indeed, I assume he lived in that part of the station.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54Yes, he would, and he'd have been on the same pay
0:09:54 > 0:09:55and conditions as stationmasters
0:09:55 > 0:09:58down through the rest of the London Underground network,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00which is quite amazing when you look at the station here.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05Poet Laureate John Betjeman, an avid railway enthusiast,
0:10:05 > 0:10:09is quoted as saying that the stationmaster's job at Blake Hall
0:10:09 > 0:10:12was the ideal job.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15Sadly, The Tube doesn't come to Blake Hall any more,
0:10:15 > 0:10:18but the railway is now operating as a heritage line.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21So, to continue my journey to Epping,
0:10:21 > 0:10:24Simon has offered to let me ride up front.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30I remember these magnificent diesels. They used to do all sorts of things.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33They used to haul freight and passenger trains, didn't they?
0:10:33 > 0:10:37Well, yes. This locomotive BR Class 37 was built in 1959
0:10:37 > 0:10:41and was a direct replacement for a steam engine.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43But, we have to imagine now, we're in the Victorian era,
0:10:43 > 0:10:47and this is a steam engine, powering along, hauling milk for Londoners.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51And, indeed, the branch would have provided 200 churns of milk
0:10:51 > 0:10:54a day at its height.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58This journey has given me a strong historical sense
0:10:58 > 0:11:01of the lifeline that the railways provided,
0:11:01 > 0:11:05bringing much better health and nourishment to Victorian Londoners.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08- Thank you.- Bye-bye.- Bye-bye.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12The Heritage Line has brought me to Epping,
0:11:12 > 0:11:16where I'm catching the Central Line Tube to London.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27I'm a big user of the London Underground,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30mainly passing through the tunnels under Central London,
0:11:30 > 0:11:33but I was brought up on the outskirts of London,
0:11:33 > 0:11:36and people tend to forget that at the extremities
0:11:36 > 0:11:40of the Underground line, it passes through leafy green suburbs.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48I'm headed for Stratford, and Bradshaw's says,
0:11:48 > 0:11:52"This station forms an important junction of the lines
0:11:52 > 0:11:58"to Cambridge, Ipswich, Tilbury, and places on the North London railway.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02"Here, a collier dock of 600 acres is being constructed."
0:12:02 > 0:12:03Well, Stratford is, today,
0:12:03 > 0:12:07an even more important railway junction, and hundreds of acres
0:12:07 > 0:12:12are again being constructed, but this time, it's nothing to do with docks.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20Stratford was clearly a major junction in Bradshaw's day,
0:12:20 > 0:12:24but it's now at the centre of a remarkable rail infrastructure
0:12:24 > 0:12:28that's been built and updated for the Olympics.
0:12:29 > 0:12:30This is Stratford.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33Please mind the gap between the train and the platform.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40Stratford is now the most fantastic hub.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43You've got the Underground, the Docklands Light Railway,
0:12:43 > 0:12:45you've got suburban railway, national railway.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48There's even an international railway station,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51and shortly, people are going to be coming from all over
0:12:51 > 0:12:55the world for the greatest sporting event on Earth.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00The coming of the railway in 1839
0:13:00 > 0:13:06began an explosion of industrial growth in the area.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08It was close to London, with river and rail links.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11Land and rates were cheap,
0:13:11 > 0:13:14and there was a huge untapped workforce.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17One of the biggest employers, Great Eastern Railways,
0:13:17 > 0:13:20opened a massive locomotive and carriage works,
0:13:20 > 0:13:24known as Rail Lands, employing 6,000 people.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28Today, the rail links began in Bradshaw's time
0:13:28 > 0:13:31are vital to the success of the Olympic Games.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33I'm meeting John Armitt,
0:13:33 > 0:13:35the Chair of the Olympic Delivery Authority.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39John, it's the most fantastic site. My Bradshaw's guide refers
0:13:39 > 0:13:42to 600 acres being under construction in the 1860s.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46How many acres do you have under construction?
0:13:46 > 0:13:48Well, believe it or not, 600 acres.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50Do you think that's a coincidence?
0:13:50 > 0:13:52Is it basically the same site, do you think?
0:13:52 > 0:13:5520 years ago, this was known as the Railway Lands,
0:13:55 > 0:13:58and so I would imagine that, yes, largely the same site.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02So, what went on on these Railway Lands?
0:14:02 > 0:14:04Everything from through railway lines,
0:14:04 > 0:14:06and we've still got the North London line
0:14:06 > 0:14:07running right through the site today,
0:14:07 > 0:14:09and the East London line running round the periphery.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12You had major maintenance facilities here,
0:14:12 > 0:14:14and you also had the overnight stabling of trains
0:14:14 > 0:14:17which weren't being used,
0:14:17 > 0:14:19and we also had freight terminals here.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22People like me from the West End wondered what you were doing
0:14:22 > 0:14:24sending the Olympics to the East, but you did actually have
0:14:24 > 0:14:27a fantastic infrastructure of railways here, didn't you?
0:14:27 > 0:14:31Yes, I mean, Stratford, one of the best connected parts of London.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33Three railway stations, ten railway lines,
0:14:33 > 0:14:35Channel Tunnel high-speed rail link
0:14:35 > 0:14:38running right through the middle of it,
0:14:38 > 0:14:41now with the high-speed Kent services, so, yes, well connected.
0:14:41 > 0:14:46Despite its great connections, the immense challenge facing John
0:14:46 > 0:14:50and his team is how to get millions of visitors to the Olympic Park,
0:14:50 > 0:14:52in and out of Stratford.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Come the Olympics, how many people do you expect to come here,
0:14:56 > 0:14:58and how many of those will come by train?
0:14:58 > 0:15:01We expect about two thirds of the people to come by rail,
0:15:01 > 0:15:05maximum number here, on any day, at least 300,000,
0:15:05 > 0:15:08so 200,000 people on the railway lines.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11This visit is really pleasing to me because following Bradshaw's,
0:15:11 > 0:15:13time and again, you're dealing with history,
0:15:13 > 0:15:15- what the railways did in the past. - Yes.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17But this is about what the railways have done today
0:15:17 > 0:15:19and for the future, isn't it?
0:15:19 > 0:15:23It is, absolutely, and the railways are central to society,
0:15:23 > 0:15:24and to society's development,
0:15:24 > 0:15:28and here we are seeing regeneration of part of London,
0:15:28 > 0:15:30in part driven by the railway.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36I'm struck that Stratford's emergence in Victorian times,
0:15:36 > 0:15:39and its renaissance today, depend on railways.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45I'm now heading off in search of my night's hotel,
0:15:45 > 0:15:47and for this, I've left the crowds of London
0:15:47 > 0:15:51and doglegged north to a large country estate in Hertfordshire.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54To be handily placed for the morning, I've come to Waltham Cross,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57which Bradshaw's tells me was one of the 15 crosses
0:15:57 > 0:16:01erected by Edward I to Queen Eleanor's memory.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03And Bradshaw's mentions "Theobalds Park,
0:16:03 > 0:16:06"which belonged to Sir Henry Meux Baronet."
0:16:06 > 0:16:09And now it's a hotel, and my bed for the night.
0:16:11 > 0:16:16I've been told there's a fascinating rags-to-riches tale associated
0:16:16 > 0:16:17with the house.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21And manager Lisa Avril is my guide.
0:16:21 > 0:16:25- Hello, Lisa.- Hello, how are you? - What a fabulous house, isn't it?- Yes.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28It's beautiful. I would quite like to own it myself, actually.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32Well, according to my Bradshaw's, it was owned by the Meux family.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34- That's correct. - Tell me something about them.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38Well, there were several Meuxs, actually, that lived here.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41But, really, there was one that stood out amongst all of them,
0:16:41 > 0:16:45and that was Valerie Susan Meux who married Henry Meux,
0:16:45 > 0:16:47and she was the third Lady of the House.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49What was special about her?
0:16:49 > 0:16:53When he married her, she was actually just a bar lady,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56and so the rest of the society shunned her.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58She was also shunned from society
0:16:58 > 0:17:03because she was one of the first women to be photographed in bed.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07Really, all you could see was her face, and her beautiful hair,
0:17:07 > 0:17:09but that was really not done in those times.
0:17:09 > 0:17:10She just didn't care.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14Although ostracised by polite society,
0:17:14 > 0:17:19Lady Meux was such a beauty that the renowned artist Whistler
0:17:19 > 0:17:22chose to paint her no fewer than three times.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25She died in 1910 in her sixties.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28But that wasn't the end of her story.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31- But she comes back. - She comes back?- She does.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33One lady, she checked out
0:17:33 > 0:17:36because the bedclothes were flung off of her.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39We've had another one that's heard whispering,
0:17:39 > 0:17:41and she's also been seen coming down the central staircase
0:17:41 > 0:17:43in a beautiful grey dress.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46Ooh! Well, that would be all right. I don't want things flung around,
0:17:46 > 0:17:49but I don't mind seeing her on the staircase, that's all right.
0:17:49 > 0:17:50Well, I'd better be brave, hadn't I?
0:17:50 > 0:17:51I think so, I think it's time.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54- Up to Lady Meux's dressing room. - I think so.- Which way?
0:17:54 > 0:17:55Up here.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12If the spirit of the beauteous Lady Meux
0:18:12 > 0:18:15wafted through my dressing room in the night,
0:18:15 > 0:18:17or if her ghost trod these stairs,
0:18:17 > 0:18:19I was blissfully unaware.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21I slept soundly.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24This morning, I have moved just
0:18:24 > 0:18:29a couple of miles from Waltham Cross to Waltham Abbey.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31George Bradshaw highly recommends visiting
0:18:31 > 0:18:35the remains of the Abbey, which he describes as having
0:18:35 > 0:18:39"a magnificence of design, and elaborate finish."
0:18:39 > 0:18:44But I want to visit somewhere that was shrouded in mystery in Bradshaw's
0:18:44 > 0:18:47day, despite being fundamentally important to the Victorians,
0:18:47 > 0:18:52both in the construction of railways and the growth of the Empire.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57I've come to this place of trees and birdsong,
0:18:57 > 0:19:00and picturesque canals, because my Bradshaw's says
0:19:00 > 0:19:05that in the vicinity is the Government Gunpowder Mills.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08I'm intrigued by that single cryptic reference.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13The Royal Gunpowder Mills have been situated on this huge site
0:19:13 > 0:19:17at Waltham Abbey since the beginning of the 18th century.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21Scientific advances made here ensured that British gunpowder
0:19:21 > 0:19:25and explosives were the envy of the world.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27From supplying gunpowder for the muskets
0:19:27 > 0:19:28at the Battle of Waterloo
0:19:28 > 0:19:31to explosives for the bouncing bomb
0:19:31 > 0:19:34in the Second World War, and even dynamite for railway companies
0:19:34 > 0:19:39to blast tunnels and cuttings through the British landscape,
0:19:39 > 0:19:41it's played an immensely important role
0:19:41 > 0:19:44in Britain's emergence as an international power.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47However, it's always been dangerous work.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52The people of London heard two deep, reverberating booms.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54They were caused by serious explosions
0:19:54 > 0:19:55at a gunpowder factory in Waltham Abbey.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00Thousands of panes of glass in the neighbourhood were shattered.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03It was reported that five men lost their lives and 30 were injured.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07I'm meeting the mill's curator, Dr David Kenyon,
0:20:07 > 0:20:12to be shown the secrets of this intriguing place.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15My Bradshaw's makes just the tiniest reference to this place,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18but, in fact, it seems to be vast.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21It's about 170 acres in total.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23And you'd have had little industrial processes taking place
0:20:23 > 0:20:25throughout the wood.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29Across the site are the remains of buildings used to make
0:20:29 > 0:20:32explosives and gunpowder over the centuries.
0:20:32 > 0:20:37Gunpowder was manufactured wet, but had to be dried for use.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41This was one of the most dangerous phases of the process.
0:20:41 > 0:20:42The building you're looking at,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45the idea is you have this enormous blast wall in the middle,
0:20:45 > 0:20:48and the presses on one side doing the dangerous part of the job,
0:20:48 > 0:20:51and all the other people and equipment, and the waterwheel, and everything,
0:20:51 > 0:20:54is on the other side of the blast wall, safe if that side explodes.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57Railways played a vital role within the huge site.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00Materials and components were moved between,
0:21:00 > 0:21:06and even into the buildings, on wooden tracks, with an 18-inch gauge.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09Initially, they used a canal system,
0:21:09 > 0:21:11but latterly, they went on to railways, mostly, initially,
0:21:11 > 0:21:15with wooden rails, because sparks are a major problem here.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17Later, they went for mechanical power,
0:21:17 > 0:21:18but it was one of the first places where
0:21:18 > 0:21:21they used diesel electric locomotives,
0:21:21 > 0:21:24because steam engines belch lots of sparks out,
0:21:24 > 0:21:25and again, that would've been a risk.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28The 19th century was pretty peaceful, on the whole, but Britain,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31nonetheless, was in arms production throughout that period, was it?
0:21:31 > 0:21:33The Crimean War takes place in the mid-1850s,
0:21:33 > 0:21:35and that's followed by the Indian Mutiny as well,
0:21:35 > 0:21:37so the Army is suddenly very busy,
0:21:37 > 0:21:39and the demand for powder is very high.
0:21:40 > 0:21:45The site finally closed as a research establishment in 1991,
0:21:45 > 0:21:49bringing to an end 300 years of explosives production.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53Today, it's reopened as a tourist attraction,
0:21:53 > 0:21:58and in this fascinating place, David has one other surprise up his sleeve.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00Well, Michael, this is our armoury collection.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04Good Lord! What an extraordinary collection!
0:22:04 > 0:22:06We have over 200 separate weapons in here.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08And anything from the period of Bradshaw?
0:22:08 > 0:22:10Very much so, yes.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13What we have here is the complete blackpowder period, really,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16starting from the English Civil War at the bottom there,
0:22:16 > 0:22:19coming through Waterloo, right up to the Zulu War,
0:22:19 > 0:22:21right up to about 1900 when gunpowder stops being used.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24So, even in the 1860s, in the Bradshaw period,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27they're using gunpowder still.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30Very much so, and the key weapon of the 1860s is this one here,
0:22:30 > 0:22:34which is the 1853 Enfield rifle musket.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38Beautiful piece of work. Now, it doesn't fire any more, does it?
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Most of the guns we have here don't, but this one can be made to shoot.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43Pour the powder.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47I'm intrigued to see just what a 19th-century weapon can do.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50So, all I do now is put it to full cock.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58- Hmm, good noise.- Good noise. - Very good noise.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02That is the sound that Bradshaw would have heard of gunfire.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06Yes, that is the sound of blackpowder in the 19th century.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09- Brilliant.- From the Crimea to Zululand to the Indian Mutiny.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12And that's just one. Imagine a battalion of 800 of those.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20What a fascinating piece of our heritage!
0:23:20 > 0:23:23It was said that in the 300 years of its operation,
0:23:23 > 0:23:25there was never a challenge
0:23:25 > 0:23:29that the Royal Gunpowder Mills could not rise to.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34For the last leg of today's journey, I'm back on the train into London,
0:23:34 > 0:23:37to investigate a story in Hackney
0:23:37 > 0:23:41that greatly unnerved the Victorian public's trust in railways.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47From the earliest days, trains were popular with commuters,
0:23:47 > 0:23:51but the railways struggled to convince nervous passengers
0:23:51 > 0:23:52that they were really safe.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57Then, in 1864, about the time that my Bradshaw's guide was published,
0:23:57 > 0:24:01a heinous event occurred in a railway carriage
0:24:01 > 0:24:04that shook the confidence of the nation.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09In Victorian times, crimes on trains - pickpocketing,
0:24:09 > 0:24:13con merchants, and robbery - were recognised hazards.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18Theft from goods sheds was also rife, and as early as 1825,
0:24:18 > 0:24:23constables were employed by railway companies to deal with disorder.
0:24:23 > 0:24:28But what happened in a train compartment in Hackney
0:24:28 > 0:24:29one summer's evening
0:24:29 > 0:24:32gripped and alarmed Victorian society.
0:24:34 > 0:24:40I'm arriving at Hackney Wick Station to meet historian Kate Cahoon.
0:24:40 > 0:24:41Hello, Kate.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43- How nice to meet you. - How lovely to see you.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47So, what was the gruesome incident that was uncovered,
0:24:47 > 0:24:48in Hackney in 1864?
0:24:48 > 0:24:51It was the first murder on a British railway train,
0:24:51 > 0:24:53although at the time, they didn't know it was a murder.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55What they discovered on Hackney Station
0:24:55 > 0:25:00was an empty first-class carriage, absolutely besmeared with blood.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04Bloody fingerprints on the door handles, bits of brain matter
0:25:04 > 0:25:06sliding down the paned windows,
0:25:06 > 0:25:08and blood all over the floor.
0:25:08 > 0:25:09But the carriage, as I said, was empty.
0:25:09 > 0:25:14Victorian train compartments were, in effect, closed boxes,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17with no corridor linking one to another.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19Doors opened only onto platforms.
0:25:19 > 0:25:24And in between stations, there was no means to summon help.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26And so, what had happened to the body?
0:25:26 > 0:25:28The body was found about 20 minutes
0:25:28 > 0:25:31after the empty bloody carriage was found at Hackney,
0:25:31 > 0:25:34further down the tracks between Hackney Wick and Bow.
0:25:35 > 0:25:36Was the body alive or dead?
0:25:36 > 0:25:38Well, alive, but only just.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42Insensible and groaning, but he never fully regained consciousness.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45He was never able to tell anybody what had happened to him,
0:25:45 > 0:25:47and he died 24 hours later.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49The murder of Thomas Bricks,
0:25:49 > 0:25:52a 69-year-old defenceless banker,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55near his elegant suburban home in Hackney,
0:25:55 > 0:25:59caused panic and uproar amongst terrified Victorian rail users.
0:26:01 > 0:26:02Where was the body found?
0:26:02 > 0:26:05The body was found just up on the embankment, up here.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07So, just before the train was crossing
0:26:07 > 0:26:09the canal coming in this direction.
0:26:09 > 0:26:10This is where the old line went.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12This is the old embankment right up here.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14When they heard the bellows,
0:26:14 > 0:26:15they ran out of the back of the pub,
0:26:15 > 0:26:18scrambled up the grassy rise up onto the embankment,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21to find the stoker and the engine driver hefting
0:26:21 > 0:26:26a large black-suited body over the embankment and down.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29They took him into the back of the back room of the pub, here,
0:26:29 > 0:26:31and called the local doctors.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33A German Taylor by the name of Franz Muller
0:26:33 > 0:26:36was arrested, tried, and subsequently hanged
0:26:36 > 0:26:39in front of a crowd of 50,000 people
0:26:39 > 0:26:42on 14th November 1864.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46The case was a watershed in railway history,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49forcing the introduction of communication cords,
0:26:49 > 0:26:50and eventually,
0:26:50 > 0:26:53trains were built with corridors linking the compartments.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57But the biggest effect was on the psyche
0:26:57 > 0:27:01of the Victorian travelling public.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04The fear that the murder had caused to ripple down railway trains
0:27:04 > 0:27:07continued to ripple well into the 1860s.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10So, people did become nervous about travelling by train.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13Extremely nervous. Now because somebody had actually been murdered
0:27:13 > 0:27:15on a train for the first time.
0:27:15 > 0:27:16They were talking about personal safety,
0:27:16 > 0:27:18one's own ordinary day could be plunged into hell.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21I must say, you know, reading my Bradshaw's,
0:27:21 > 0:27:23which is such an optimistic book,
0:27:23 > 0:27:26you never get the idea that fear stalked our railway lines
0:27:26 > 0:27:27in those days.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38I love to think of railway history,
0:27:38 > 0:27:41of those churns of milk heading into London,
0:27:41 > 0:27:44and even the first railway murder,
0:27:44 > 0:27:45here at Hackney.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48But in the East of London, with the Olympic Park,
0:27:48 > 0:27:51and with these shiny new modern trains,
0:27:51 > 0:27:54I think not so much of railway's yesterdays,
0:27:54 > 0:27:56but of railway's tomorrow.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02On the final leg of this journey,
0:28:02 > 0:28:04I'll be taking a ride on a secret miniature railway.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08Wow! I'll never complain about The Tube again.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10This is quite small, isn't it?
0:28:10 > 0:28:12Tolling alongside the good burghers of Bow.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16Try not to look up. You'll get dust in your eyes.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20And confusing hapless commuters at Fenchurch Street.
0:28:20 > 0:28:25Chalkwell, Westcliff, Southend Central, and Shoeburyness.
0:28:25 > 0:28:27Ooh! I left out the time, at the beginning, didn't I?
0:28:27 > 0:28:28I left out the time.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:46 > 0:28:50E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk