0:00:05 > 0:00:10In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain.
0:00:10 > 0:00:14His name was George Bradshaw and his railway guides inspired
0:00:14 > 0:00:17the Victorians to take to the tracks.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21Stop by stop, he told them where to travel,
0:00:21 > 0:00:25what to see and 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.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58Before setting out today,
0:00:58 > 0:01:02I'd already explored half the country, using my Bradshaw's guide.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04I found it so enlightening
0:01:04 > 0:01:07that I can't wait to discover the second half.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11Now I embark on a route that lured Queen Victoria herself
0:01:11 > 0:01:14to risk her royal dignity,
0:01:14 > 0:01:17by climbing aboard a train.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23Today, I'll be visiting a Victorian station fit for a queen.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27- This is where the Queen would sit and wait for her train.- Oh!
0:01:27 > 0:01:29Here is the seat of power!
0:01:29 > 0:01:32Examining an engineering triumph of the railway age.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36It has the most fabulous echo, which is caused by its elliptical shape.
0:01:36 > 0:01:37Brunel!
0:01:37 > 0:01:40- ECHOING - Oh, very good.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43And using a Victorian invention that revolutionised
0:01:43 > 0:01:45the postal service.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54Using my Bradshaw's guide, I'm following in Queen Victoria's
0:01:54 > 0:01:57footsteps, travelling through Berkshire and Hampshire,
0:01:57 > 0:02:00towards her beloved home on the Isle of Wight.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03Then I'll follow the coast, through the seaside resorts of
0:02:03 > 0:02:06Bournemouth and Weymouth, finishing up on the Isle of Portland.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12Today's stretch begins in Royal Windsor, then takes me west,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15through Maidenhead and on to Didcot.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22Writing of Windsor, my first stop, Bradshaw's tells me the chief attractions are
0:02:22 > 0:02:27the Castle and Park, the seat of her Majesty the Queen.
0:02:27 > 0:02:32PA: Our next station is Windsor & Eton Central.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38The advent of the train enabled Queen Victoria,
0:02:38 > 0:02:43much more quickly than any of her predecessors, to visit her realm,
0:02:43 > 0:02:47to view her subjects and to vary her residences.
0:02:47 > 0:02:52This is Windsor, a town of great significance to royals and rails.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56Arriving into Windsor & Eton Central,
0:02:56 > 0:03:00the station makes a rather modest first impression.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04But, in Bradshaw's day, this was one of Britain's grandest.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08I'm meeting local historian Brigitta Mitchell to explore
0:03:08 > 0:03:11the terminus built on Queen Victoria's doorstep.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15- Hello, Brigitta.- Oh, hello, Michael. Welcome to Windsor Royal Station.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18- It's a fantastic station, I absolutely love it. - It is wonderful, yes.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21- We're standing in front of a beautiful locomotive.- Yes.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24Obviously with the Queen's coat of arms.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28Well, this is a replica of the locomotive that pulled the train
0:03:28 > 0:03:32to Windsor at her Diamond Jubilee.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34It was built in 1894.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38The whole station was rebuilt for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41That's why we've got the Jubilee arch outside the station.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43Which explains the size of the station.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47I mean, now, it's just one little platform, one tiny train,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50and it comes into this vast area.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52It had six platforms. It was huge.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56When Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837,
0:03:56 > 0:04:00passenger railways were already spreading fast across the country.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04But it was some years before she braved the trains.
0:04:04 > 0:04:09Initially, she had the same fear that a lot of people had,
0:04:09 > 0:04:12that if you go faster than a horse could carry you,
0:04:12 > 0:04:14your body would disintegrate.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18Eventually, she was persuaded by Albert that she would accept
0:04:18 > 0:04:23train journeys and get round her kingdom a little bit faster.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27The young Queen took the plunge in 1842 and, before long,
0:04:27 > 0:04:29she had fully embraced rail travel.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32This was one of two stations built in Windsor,
0:04:32 > 0:04:36both used extensively by the Queen.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39And over the course of her reign, a number of royal trains,
0:04:39 > 0:04:41complete with luxurious private carriages,
0:04:41 > 0:04:43were built especially for her.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46One of the things that strikes me is that the great period
0:04:46 > 0:04:51of railway-building coincides almost exactly with the Queen's life.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55It does. The Queen, in later life, used trains extensively.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58She went from here every time she came to Windsor,
0:04:58 > 0:05:01or when she left Windsor, she used the trains.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06And, of course, her last journey was by train to Windsor, in her coffin.
0:05:08 > 0:05:13It's remarkable to think that by the time Queen Victoria died,
0:05:13 > 0:05:16the technology she'd initially feared had become
0:05:16 > 0:05:19so respectable that it was employed in her state funeral.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21Nowadays, most of the station
0:05:21 > 0:05:24has been converted into a shopping centre,
0:05:24 > 0:05:28but traces can still be seen of the luxurious facilities
0:05:28 > 0:05:30provided for Bradshaw's Queen.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Brigitta, it's not easy for me
0:05:32 > 0:05:36to orient myself inside this modern bar. Where are we?
0:05:36 > 0:05:39- Well, you're standing on the railway line.- Ha!
0:05:39 > 0:05:40I'm on the platform.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44And, of course, the Queen would just step out of her waiting room
0:05:44 > 0:05:46there, straight onto her train here.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50- And this is the magnificent waiting room.- Over there.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53So this has been quite nicely preserved, hasn't it?
0:05:53 > 0:05:55It's beautiful, yes. It's still almost as it was.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58This is where the Queen would sit and wait for her train.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01I don't think she would be sitting here very long!
0:06:01 > 0:06:06- Roaring fire.- Beautiful fireplace. And the old mirror's there.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08- And a beautiful dome up there. - Beautiful dome.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10It's very, very lovely.
0:06:10 > 0:06:15And in here, you've got the royal loo and the royal handwash basin.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18Oh! And here is the seat of power!
0:06:23 > 0:06:26And this, I suppose, the royal flush!
0:06:34 > 0:06:38This station couldn't be more convenient for the royal castle,
0:06:38 > 0:06:42which has dominated the town for 900 years.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47Bradshaw says of Windsor Castle,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50"Its history is the history of our country.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54"Some of its brightest and blackest pages are inseparably linked
0:06:54 > 0:06:57"with the towers that arrest the eye of the traveller.
0:06:57 > 0:07:04"No Briton can view unmoved the stately towers of Windsor's castle keep."
0:07:04 > 0:07:07This isn't a guidebook, it's literature.
0:07:08 > 0:07:13It was Queen Victoria who first opened the castle to the public in 1845.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16And my Bradshaw's guide also tells Victorian tourists
0:07:16 > 0:07:22where to buy tickets and even provides a suggested tour.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25The castle is still hugely popular today,
0:07:25 > 0:07:29receiving one million visitors a year.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32- Hello.- Hello.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36- So how is the tourist trade? - It's picking up now. Picking up.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39My guidebook, which is from the 19th century,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42says that the history of England is the history of the castle
0:07:42 > 0:07:46and that no Englishman could look at this castle unmoved.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49- Do you agree with that? - I agree with that totally, yeah.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53- How does it move you?- Well, it's, it's so big, you know. It's vast.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56You could spend a week in there and not see everything.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59And, strangely enough, there's people that actually
0:07:59 > 0:08:01live in Windsor that haven't even been in.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04And people all round the world come to see it.
0:08:04 > 0:08:05Do you still go inside?
0:08:05 > 0:08:09- Well, if I get the time. - Have a great day.- Thank you, sir.
0:08:09 > 0:08:10Enjoy the sunshine. Bye-bye.
0:08:10 > 0:08:16The new railways allowed tourists to flock to Windsor in unprecedented numbers.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19But just across the river, there was an institution which
0:08:19 > 0:08:22strongly disapproved of this invasion.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Even after Prince Albert had persuaded Queen Victoria
0:08:25 > 0:08:28to give her royal seal of approval to the railways,
0:08:28 > 0:08:32there remained one part of the British establishment,
0:08:32 > 0:08:34almost as powerful as the monarchy itself,
0:08:34 > 0:08:38that maintained its objection - Eton College.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41Eton's reputation as one of Britain's elite schools
0:08:41 > 0:08:45was already firmly established in Bradshaw's day.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49And its old-boy network was a formidable force in public life.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52My guide directs me to the Quadrangle,
0:08:52 > 0:08:57where I'll find the founder's bronze statue, the chapel and Upper School.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00And it's where I'm meeting the headmaster, Tony Little.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02I'm following a 19th-century guidebook.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06Can you give me any idea of what Eton College was like in the 19th century?
0:09:06 > 0:09:11Well, certainly in the early 19th century, at the time of the development of the railways,
0:09:11 > 0:09:13it was a robust and physical place.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17In the beginning of the century, my predecessor was a man called Dr Keate,
0:09:17 > 0:09:21who was infamous, rather splendid, in a grotesque kind of way.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25He was known as the Great Flogger, and there are a couple of wonderful stories about him.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29My favourite, I think, is that on one afternoon, he became so fed up with the boys
0:09:29 > 0:09:31that he decided to flog the whole lot, and he did.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34At the beginning, boys were howling and jeering.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36By the end, they were cheering him, for the physical effort...
0:09:36 > 0:09:40- Ha-ha!- ..of managing to beat all these characters.
0:09:40 > 0:09:4419th-century Eton was a conservative institution,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46steeped in tradition, but the changes brought by
0:09:46 > 0:09:51the Industrial Revolution threatened the status quo.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53Now, I've heard that the college was very much opposed to
0:09:53 > 0:09:56the railways when they were first mooted back in the 1830s.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59I think that's something of an understatement.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02There seemed to be a vehemence about the way they approached
0:10:02 > 0:10:05the awful prospect of this new technology invading their lives.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07Why? What was so worrying about a railway?
0:10:07 > 0:10:11Well, you know, when I first heard about this, I'd assumed it would be
0:10:11 > 0:10:16the school authorities exercised about the invasion of immorality and vice from the outside world,
0:10:16 > 0:10:19but it doesn't seem to have been that, one jot.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22It appears that the school were terrified about what the boys would get up to.
0:10:22 > 0:10:27In the late 1830s, the headmaster was a Dr Hawtrey.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30He ran a passionate anti-railway campaign,
0:10:30 > 0:10:33highlighting the dangers to pupils and public alike.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37In his deposition to the House of Lords Commission in 1835,
0:10:37 > 0:10:39Dr Hawtrey cites that boys, being boys,
0:10:39 > 0:10:42will inevitably throw stones at railway carriages
0:10:42 > 0:10:45and pick fights with navvies, and all kinds of other things.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50It's the most unflattering picture of the relationship between schoolmasters and boys,
0:10:50 > 0:10:53in the sense that there appears to be no trust in them whatsoever.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58Eton couldn't resist progress forever.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02But even once the railway companies had won the right to build,
0:11:02 > 0:11:06the school maintained its opposition.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09By this time, the Great Western Railway is a fact.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12Slough station is a fact.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17The issue at stake here is the line to link Slough to Windsor.
0:11:17 > 0:11:22These maps reveal how the college had the branch line rerouted.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25And this is the original intention, the original map.
0:11:25 > 0:11:30From Windsor, tracing through Eton, quite close to the High Street,
0:11:30 > 0:11:35then kinking and on its way to Slough.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37- Is this what happened?- No.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41What happened, as you can see on this map here, is altogether different.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44There's a vast loop, taking it as far as possible from Eton,
0:11:44 > 0:11:47before it then joins the original line.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51That is a very remarkable curve, isn't it, the Eton kink?
0:11:51 > 0:11:53It's certainly distinctive.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57The line still follows the same curving path today.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00It's extraordinary to think that the Eton establishment was
0:12:00 > 0:12:04powerful enough to send Queen Victoria herself out of her way
0:12:04 > 0:12:07when she took the train to London.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10I'm back at Windsor station.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13In the 1880s, this was the scene of a desperate act
0:12:13 > 0:12:16by one of her more unfortunate subjects.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20Queen Victoria might never have warmed to the railways
0:12:20 > 0:12:22had she known that, one day,
0:12:22 > 0:12:28a man called Roderick McLean would fire a gun at her at this station.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32McLean would spend the next 50 years in Broadmoor because,
0:12:32 > 0:12:35clearly, to shoot at such a lovely monarch,
0:12:35 > 0:12:39in such a beautiful railway station, was a sign of complete insanity.
0:12:45 > 0:12:50I'm now on my way to Slough, where the Windsor branch meets the Great Western mainline.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57In the early 1800s, Slough was barely more than a village.
0:12:57 > 0:13:02But within 50 years of the arrival of the railways, the population had trebled.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05By the 20th century, though,
0:13:05 > 0:13:09ugly development had given Slough a bad name.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16The poet John Betjeman once wrote,
0:13:16 > 0:13:19"Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22"It isn't fit for humans now."
0:13:22 > 0:13:25There's an irony there, because John Betjeman was a great lover
0:13:25 > 0:13:28of railways and the man who saved St Pancras station.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32If he'd had his way and those bombs had fallen,
0:13:32 > 0:13:36we would have lost this magnificent red-brick version of a French chateau.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43The new railway fuelled a building boom in Slough.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45One of the most ambitious developments
0:13:45 > 0:13:47was a luxury housing estate, Upton Park.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52Local builder and entrepreneur James Bedborough realised that
0:13:52 > 0:13:57Slough's fast rail links made it an ideal spot for wealthy Londoners
0:13:57 > 0:14:01looking to escape the city, and a suburban paradise was created.
0:14:03 > 0:14:08Local historian Elias Kaufman has been researching the story.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12So, people found it convenient and prestigious to live here?
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Very, very convenient, as can be seen from this advert,
0:14:15 > 0:14:20where it says here you could get to London within 35 minutes.
0:14:20 > 0:14:25"Messrs Daniel Smith and Son beg to announce to capitalists, spirited builders
0:14:25 > 0:14:29"and anyone desirous of securing a site for a residence
0:14:29 > 0:14:35"in one of the most treasured spots now within 35 minutes' journey of London."
0:14:35 > 0:14:39- Now within 35 minutes, the railway clearly had just arrived.- Yes.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43Those who lived at Upton Park were a far cry from today's suburban commuters.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46Bedborough's vision was for an exclusive retreat
0:14:46 > 0:14:50for the Victorian A-list, complete with its own pleasure grounds,
0:14:50 > 0:14:53but just half an hour by train from the capital.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56The houses were built by Benjamin Baud,
0:14:56 > 0:14:59who was an architect to Windsor Castle.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02These houses were 11-bedroom houses
0:15:02 > 0:15:04and they had a whole retinue of servants.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08These are not necessarily merchants or city workers,
0:15:08 > 0:15:10these are people able to afford a fine house...
0:15:10 > 0:15:14- Yes.- ..but who would like to be able to attend the metropolis from time to time.
0:15:14 > 0:15:19In the 20th century, most of the grand houses were converted into flats
0:15:19 > 0:15:23and the grounds became a public park, falling into decline.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26But thanks to Elias and other local volunteers,
0:15:26 > 0:15:29it's now been restored to its former elegance.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34What we're trying to do is get the park back to what it was like in the Victorian period.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38We even went as far as bringing in archaeologists to find the
0:15:38 > 0:15:40original pathways which you see today.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44So, really, what I see from my bedroom window now is
0:15:44 > 0:15:48glimpses of the Victorian park.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50- Mm, a Victorian view.- Yes.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02If this beautiful green park wasn't your idea of Slough -
0:16:02 > 0:16:05and, I confess, it wasn't mine -
0:16:05 > 0:16:07then we should be ashamed of ourselves.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11We have done an injustice to this fine Berkshire town.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16At the time my guidebook was written,
0:16:16 > 0:16:20the area around Slough was still predominantly rural.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23And Bradshaw's writes of, "the lofty and luxuriant
0:16:23 > 0:16:28"foliage of Stoke Park, about two miles to the right of Slough."
0:16:28 > 0:16:34As so often, I've turned to Bradshaw's for a recommendation for where to stay.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36"In Stoke Park, the seat of the Penns,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39"descended from the founder of Pennsylvania,
0:16:39 > 0:16:44"are some remains of an old house which belonged to Coke, the great lawyer.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48"Portraits et cetera are in the present mansion."
0:16:48 > 0:16:51Edward Coke famously tried Guy Fawkes
0:16:51 > 0:16:53and the Gunpowder Plotters and, apparently,
0:16:53 > 0:16:58also coined the phrase, 'an Englishman's home is his castle'.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01And that sounds suitably luxurious for me.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04- Good evening, Mr Portillo. - Good evening.- Welcome to Stoke Park.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08- Thank you very much. - You're in the Coke Suite, and that's upstairs on the first floor.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11- Thank you. Named after the great lawyer.- It certainly is.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14- Enjoy your stay. - I'm sure I will, thank you.
0:17:35 > 0:17:41A beautiful morning, and the allure of Slough station has beckoned me back,
0:17:41 > 0:17:46and now it's on to the wonders of Maidenhead and Didcot.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56I'm now heading west, along a line which, in Bradshaw's day,
0:17:56 > 0:17:58was part of the Great Western Railway.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01And I'm excited about the route ahead.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05My Bradshaw's guide mentions that,
0:18:05 > 0:18:09"The railway spans by a bridge of ten arches the River Thames."
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Like much else on the Great Western Railway,
0:18:12 > 0:18:14it's a piece of work by Brunel.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18And you and I have probably been over it countless times
0:18:18 > 0:18:21without realising what a beautiful bridge it is.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27The spectacular red-brick bridge spans the Thames
0:18:27 > 0:18:31just before Maidenhead station, where I'm leaving the train.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37To the river.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40Richard Poad, from the local heritage centre,
0:18:40 > 0:18:44has invited me on to a boat to take a closer look at Brunel's bridge.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Good morning, Michael. Welcome to Riverside, Maidenhead.
0:18:47 > 0:18:52- Thank you very much, Richard. Permission to come aboard? - Certainly, sir.- Thank you very much.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56Isambard Kingdom Brunel was appointed Chief Engineer
0:18:56 > 0:19:01of the Great Western Railway in 1833, when he was just 27 years old.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05One of his greatest achievements was finding a way to cross the Thames.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08Richard, what strikes me, having crossed the bridge,
0:19:08 > 0:19:12is that it's not so much beautiful, but very impressive.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15Huge, huge spans.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19The biggest spans ever made in brick, certainly in Britain
0:19:19 > 0:19:21and probably in the world.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24And a really daring feat of engineering.
0:19:24 > 0:19:25It's fabulous.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29Brunel's bold design was initially inspired by necessity.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33The local authorities imposed strict restrictions
0:19:33 > 0:19:36on the kind of bridge that they would allow.
0:19:36 > 0:19:41We have to remember that the Thames was a trading highway, before the railway came.
0:19:41 > 0:19:48And they said to him, "You cannot block up the navigation channel with traditional little arches."
0:19:48 > 0:19:52So he had to leap across the river in two bounds.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59No-one had ever constructed arches so wide before.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03And while Brunel was confident of his skill, not everyone was so convinced.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10His critics just bashed away, saying, "It will not stand up.
0:20:10 > 0:20:15"It's impossible. You cannot build a structure like this out of tiddly little bricks."
0:20:15 > 0:20:18Even once the bridge was complete, the Great Western Railway
0:20:18 > 0:20:22feared that it might not withstand the weight of a train
0:20:22 > 0:20:25and ordered Brunel to keep the scaffolding in place, just in case.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29Brunel decided to play a little trick on them.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31He left the wooden scaffolding in position,
0:20:31 > 0:20:35but he lowered it ever so slightly so it wasn't doing any work at all,
0:20:35 > 0:20:37and he left it there through a winter.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42That was the intention. But in the middle of the winter, there was a horrendous storm and, one night,
0:20:42 > 0:20:47all this wooden scaffolding blew out from under the bridge and floated down the river to Bray.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49And the bridge has been here for 170 years, perfect!
0:20:49 > 0:20:53The bridge was a vital link on the new Great Western mainline,
0:20:53 > 0:20:56transforming life for the people of Maidenhead.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Like many towns on the Bath Road, it was a coaching town,
0:20:59 > 0:21:02totally dependent on coaches and horses.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05And suddenly, the railway arrived and the town went bust.
0:21:05 > 0:21:06So it had to reinvent itself.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10And it reinvented itself in the second half of the 19th century
0:21:10 > 0:21:14as an elegant and ultimately fashionable riverside resort,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17where all the beautiful people came.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21And all the hoi polloi came to look at the beautiful people.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25And it was such a scene that, in fact, the ordinary people used to
0:21:25 > 0:21:29come on excursion trains on Brunel's railway from London to stand on
0:21:29 > 0:21:32the banks of the river in Maidenhead and look at all the beautiful people.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37So, the effect actually was the making of Maidenhead.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41The population went up five times in the second half of the 19th century,
0:21:41 > 0:21:46on the basis of rapid communication to London.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50The river's still crowded with rowers and pleasure boats today.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54And many stop beneath the bridge to check out a quirk of Brunel's design.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58Brunel's bridge is known locally as The Sounding Arch.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02It has the most fabulous echo which is caused by its elliptical shape.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05And if we sit here in the middle of the river and shout,
0:22:05 > 0:22:07you should get quite a good echo.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09- Go on, have a go. - What shall we shout?
0:22:09 > 0:22:11Brunel!
0:22:11 > 0:22:12ECHOING
0:22:12 > 0:22:14Yeah, very good. Well done.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21With Brunel's name ringing in my ears, it's back to the station to continue my journey.
0:22:21 > 0:22:27I'm travelling west, in pursuit of an invention that changed
0:22:27 > 0:22:30communications in Victorian Britain.
0:22:30 > 0:22:35Of course, the coming of the train didn't just make it easier for the monarch to get about.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38It also made it quicker for freight and her subjects,
0:22:38 > 0:22:41and for newspapers and letters, too.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45It was transformatory. And I understand that a good place
0:22:45 > 0:22:49to learn more about that revolution in data is Didcot.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07Today, Didcot's a busy junction station,
0:23:07 > 0:23:09but that's not what I'm here to see.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15I'm under Didcot Parkway station
0:23:15 > 0:23:19and this is the one way through to one of Britain's largest
0:23:19 > 0:23:25railway heritage sites, a sort of railway preservation paradise.
0:23:25 > 0:23:26In the age of steam,
0:23:26 > 0:23:30Didcot housed engine sheds where locomotives were made ready.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33When they fell into disuse in the 20th century,
0:23:33 > 0:23:36the site was taken over by the Great Western Society.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40And it's now home to their remarkable collection.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44It feels to me like walking into the books that I read
0:23:44 > 0:23:49when I was a child, Thomas The Tank Engine and all that sort of thing.
0:23:49 > 0:23:55Here is all the infrastructure and the paraphernalia of the world of railways,
0:23:55 > 0:23:56as it used to be.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00In Bradshaw's day, all this was cutting-edge technology
0:24:00 > 0:24:03and it was soon to change the postal service radically.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07Before the railways, post was conveyed by horse-drawn mail coach.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09Travelling at just ten miles an hour,
0:24:09 > 0:24:13it could take days for a letter to reach the other end of the country.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16It was obvious that the railways could speed up the post
0:24:16 > 0:24:20and an invention of 1838 revolutionised the mail.
0:24:20 > 0:24:25Centre manager Roger Orchard is going to show me how.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28- Roger.- Michael.- Nice to see you. - Nice to meet you. Thank you.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31Now, I think this is the bit of kit I've come to see, isn't it?
0:24:31 > 0:24:33It very much is, yep.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38This is the travelling post office mail exchange apparatus.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41So that means that, as a train whooshes by,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44- a mailbag is delivered into it? - Yeah, that's right.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47And how does the train grab it, is it a kind of big metal hook?
0:24:47 > 0:24:53Yeah, it's basically a big mesh netting that swings out.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56The postal men inside the carriages will throw the mail apparatus out,
0:24:56 > 0:24:58ready to collect the bags up.
0:24:58 > 0:25:03This ingenious system meant that mail could be dropped off
0:25:03 > 0:25:05and picked up at speeds of up to 70mph.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09It saves, obviously, the trains having to stop at each of the stations
0:25:09 > 0:25:11and the mailbags being exchanged.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14So the trains could travel at high speed throughout their journey,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17collecting the mailbags, and the mail being sorted en route,
0:25:17 > 0:25:22and so the overall journey time and the delivery time of the letters was greatly reduced.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26Soon, travelling Post Office trains were criss-crossing the country,
0:25:26 > 0:25:29carrying postal workers who sorted the mail on the move.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34Harry, send to Tiverton.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36The Victorian apparatus continued to be used
0:25:36 > 0:25:42until 1971 and mail trains survived into the 21st century.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45Sadly, they are now a thing of the past,
0:25:45 > 0:25:48but Didcot volunteer Oliver Collins is going to show me one in action.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50- So this is the apparatus?- Yep.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53You have two types of apparatus on the coach.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55- You have the drop-off and the pick-up.- Very good.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59- So we're going to have a go at this, aren't we?- Yep.- Er, what's my role?
0:25:59 > 0:26:02I'll get you to do the net, a nice and simple job.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04Oh, yeah.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06- Stand here.- Yes.- Like this.- Yes.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09- On there.- Yes.- In one motion...
0:26:09 > 0:26:12- Woah! Oh, my goodness! - And put your foot on the back.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15- The net comes out.- Right, OK. The net is, indeed, out.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17Once the exchange has happened,
0:26:17 > 0:26:20somebody will clear the bags out of the net,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24shout 'net' as in net clear, and then it's on there to release it...
0:26:24 > 0:26:27and up in one movement.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30And if I get this wrong, what are the dangers attached to this?
0:26:30 > 0:26:33If you get this wrong, mailbags might not be collected.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36If you don't bring it in in time, you could rip the side of the coach off.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39- Ah. So there's not much hanging on this(?)- No, not really(!)
0:26:39 > 0:26:46It's time for me to step into the shoes of a Victorian postal worker.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08Net!
0:27:17 > 0:27:20- That was pretty exciting! Did it work?- Yep.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23All three bags in, nice and safe.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26- Fantastic! And all the train is still intact?- Yep.
0:27:29 > 0:27:34Throwing my weight into working the mail train has brought home
0:27:34 > 0:27:40just how exciting and shocking are the speed and power of steam locomotives.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45This is the night mail crossing the border, bringing the cheque and the postal order.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48Ever since I learnt that poem as a kid,
0:27:48 > 0:27:51I've known something about travelling post offices,
0:27:51 > 0:27:55but I didn't know the history of Queen Victoria and the trains.
0:27:55 > 0:28:02The railways changed so much, for both the royals and the mails.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06On the next leg of my journey, I'll be tasting a Victorian superfood.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08We've got a basket of the stuff here.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10Mm, that lovely, tangy, mustardy taste.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13Discovering an industrial process unchanged since Bradshaw's day.
0:28:13 > 0:28:19So all of that is happening by a process that started with the waterwheel?
0:28:19 > 0:28:21- Yes.- Brilliant.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25And experiencing life as a 19th-century train driver.
0:28:25 > 0:28:30- I love that rhythm of the steam engine.- The engine's talking to you!- Absolutely.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:40 > 0:28:43E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk