0:00:05 > 0:00:10In 1840, one man transformed travel in the British Isles.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13His name was George Bradshaw and his railway guides inspired
0:00:13 > 0:00:16the Victorians to take to the tracks.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20stop by stop he told them where to travel,
0:00:20 > 0:00:22what to see and where to stay.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27Now 170 years later, I'm making a series of journeys
0:00:27 > 0:00:30across the length and breadth of these isles
0:00:30 > 0:00:33to see what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55I'm embarking on a new journey tracking the master engineer
0:00:55 > 0:00:59of the Great Western Railway, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06I'll begin at the line's London gateway, Paddington Station.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10Travel west through Berkshire, Wiltshire and Somerset.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13Before finishing up in Newton Abbot, Devon,
0:01:13 > 0:01:16the scene of one of Brunel's heroic failures.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21This leg covers 99 miles.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24Starting in London it's a short hop to Hanwell.
0:01:24 > 0:01:29Then onto Hungerford in Berkshire, before crossing counties into Wiltshire.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34On this stretch I'll apply my mind to a Victorian asylum.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37And come to grips with the old grey matter.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40You know when I got on the underground this morning,
0:01:40 > 0:01:43I never dreamt that I was going to end up today handling a human brain.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47I'll scale great heights to give an historic horse a facelift...
0:01:47 > 0:01:50The horse is about 800 square metres.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55I think I'll just do this little postage stamp worth here, if you don't mind!
0:01:56 > 0:02:00..and make malt 19th century style.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02I must say these feel like Victorian conditions to me.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07I'm starting my journey in the capital.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14I'm travelling along the London Underground
0:02:14 > 0:02:18on a line that was opened for steam trains in 1863.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Roughly the year my Bradshaw's Guide was published.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23It ran from Kings Cross to Paddington,
0:02:23 > 0:02:27the terminus built by Brunel for the Great Western Railway,
0:02:27 > 0:02:32and the scene of railway engineering triumphs past, present and to come.
0:02:42 > 0:02:49Even to 21st century commuters, Paddington's grandiose roof spans are awe-inspiring.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54But when the station was built in the 19th Century, recent advances in technology
0:02:54 > 0:03:00made it possible to construct from iron and glass, buildings whose like had never been seen before.
0:03:02 > 0:03:08I was rather surprised to find that Bradshaw says that the exterior of Paddington is not very remarkable.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11But, of course, most people arrive here by train and they see,
0:03:11 > 0:03:18"A station spacious enough to accommodate the largest number off excursionists ever accumulated."
0:03:18 > 0:03:20And Bradshaw's talks about,
0:03:20 > 0:03:24"The immense roofs which impart to the traveller the impression
0:03:24 > 0:03:29that he is about to start by the railway of a first-rate company."
0:03:29 > 0:03:35And impressions were everything for the competing Victorian railway companies.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39The London terminus reassuringly indicated to first class passengers
0:03:39 > 0:03:42the railway's wealth and stature.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47And inspired wonder amongst the hordes who could now go on holiday by train.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51For the Great Western, Brunel built the grandest yet,
0:03:51 > 0:03:53a veritable palace of steam.
0:03:53 > 0:03:58But its inauguration came 16 long years after the railway had opened.
0:03:59 > 0:04:06I'm meeting Brunel expert and railway historian, John Christopher in front of Isambard himself.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08Paddington Station, when was it built?
0:04:08 > 0:04:13It was opened in 1854 but key to understanding this Paddington is in it's full name.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15This is Paddington New Station.
0:04:15 > 0:04:20So the original station was built beyond the Bishops Road Bridge
0:04:20 > 0:04:23at the far end as a temporary structure.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25Initially, they didn't have the land they needed or the money
0:04:25 > 0:04:30he'd spent so much building the railway to Bristol that they built a wooden station.
0:04:30 > 0:04:35And only when the land and money became available by 1850 did they start work on this station.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39So this is a rare example of late Brunel.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43Thanks to advances in engineering
0:04:43 > 0:04:46and inspired by the Palm House at Kew Gardens
0:04:46 > 0:04:50and Paxton's Crystal Palace, Brunel was able to build
0:04:50 > 0:04:55a far more ambitious station than he'd originally planned in 1835.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59The most spectacular aspect being the roof
0:04:59 > 0:05:02three 700 foot long spans of glass and iron.
0:05:02 > 0:05:07Making it, at the time of building, the largest in existence.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12So here we are, the important bit, Brunel's wonderful roof.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16So this uses the techniques that have been developed between the time that the railways were built
0:05:16 > 0:05:18and the time that the station was built?
0:05:18 > 0:05:22Yes, specifically the use of wrought iron and glass in structures.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26There are many aspects to this, partly it's an upturned ship, which Brunel was familiar with,
0:05:26 > 0:05:29he'd already built the Great Britain, the large iron ship at that stage.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33But it's also an early example of modular architecture.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38So you've got the same components repeated again and again and again, until you've got a whole building.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40It's something we're very used to now.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42Perhaps the Victorians were only just discovering.
0:05:42 > 0:05:48The station took three years to build and cost around £620,000,
0:05:48 > 0:05:53which is equivalent to £62 million in today's money.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55Worth every penny I think.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59That is a magnificent bird. What is it?
0:05:59 > 0:06:01Thank you very much, she's a Harris Hawk.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05- And why are you here, the two of you? - We're doing pigeon control.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09So the pigeons are obviously pretty frightened of this fellow?
0:06:09 > 0:06:12Yes, she's a predator to pigeons
0:06:12 > 0:06:15And so is it enough for the pigeons just to see the bird and they keep away?
0:06:15 > 0:06:19Pretty much, yes, the shape and size of her is enough of a deterrent.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22Well, I must say if I'm were a pigeon, I'd be quaking right now.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24- Lovely to see you. - You too, take care.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32Today, Paddington is one site in a new multi-billion pound railway project,
0:06:32 > 0:06:36which will include additional platforms beneath ground and represents
0:06:36 > 0:06:40one of the most significant changes to the station since Brunel completed it.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48If there's one thing that excites me as much as railway history
0:06:48 > 0:06:50it's the thought that new railways are being built.
0:06:50 > 0:06:56And I can't wait to travel on Crossrail which will go from Paddington to East London
0:06:56 > 0:07:00and it really thrills me that today we're using a technology
0:07:00 > 0:07:04that's largely unchanged since the beginning of the 19th Century.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Near Paddington Station, work has commenced.
0:07:13 > 0:07:20Crossrail is currently Europe's largest civil engineering project, costing nearly £15 billion.
0:07:20 > 0:07:2513 miles of new twin-bored tunnels are being built under the heart of London.
0:07:25 > 0:07:30And a total of 37 stations will link Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west,
0:07:30 > 0:07:33with Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38Andy Alder is the Project Manager.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40- Andy, good morning. - Good morning, Michael.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43- So where we're standing now, we're just a mile from Paddington Station?- Yeah.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45And what are you going to do from here?
0:07:45 > 0:07:50So we got two tunnel boring machines here, we've got Ada which is our double second machine behind us here,
0:07:50 > 0:07:54and Phyllis is our first machine, Phyllis is down in the ground at the moment
0:07:54 > 0:07:56starting to dig tunnels from here to Paddington.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00So our tunnelling machines will dig from here all the way to Farringdon.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03and when we've done that we'll start excavating the station tunnels
0:08:03 > 0:08:05at Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09And at the same time we've got six more machines almost identical to this working their way
0:08:09 > 0:08:13from east of London, coming into Farringdon and going up to Stratford.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17It's quite a big moment here for me, because in the 1980's I was the Minister of Transport
0:08:17 > 0:08:20and we were already talking about Crossrail then.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25But we had another project on the books which was the Jubilee line extension out to Canary Wharf
0:08:25 > 0:08:28but we only had money for one so we did the other one.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31But if I see this machine turn in a moment, I'll really feel that I'm...
0:08:31 > 0:08:34well I don't know, that it's an ambition achieved.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36Yeah, absolutely.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39Each custom-made boring machine is 148 metres long.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43That's the equivalent of 14 buses end to end.
0:08:43 > 0:08:48These giant machines will work nearly 24 hours a day excavating soil.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52And as they move forward, they set in place pre-cast concrete segments
0:08:52 > 0:08:55creating the tunnel as they burrow.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58Could you please turn the machine for us?
0:08:58 > 0:09:01Everybody is clear, everyone is standing clear.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03There she goes.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07So I've got to imagine now this will be going through the rock and the clay
0:09:07 > 0:09:12and all of that then will be prised out and then fed back through the machine?
0:09:12 > 0:09:13That's correct, yeah.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Fed back through the machine, onto the conveyers
0:09:16 > 0:09:18and then to here so we can take the material away by train.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21About 190 years ago,
0:09:21 > 0:09:27Isambard Brunel and his father Marc were constructing the Thames Tunnel.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30How does the way that you tunnel now compare with the days
0:09:30 > 0:09:33of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his father, Marc?
0:09:33 > 0:09:36The basic technology is the same, having a shield that supports the ground,
0:09:36 > 0:09:39doing the excavation and building the tunnel behind us.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43The differences are that where we have mechanical cutter head,
0:09:43 > 0:09:45he had 36 partitions in the front
0:09:45 > 0:09:47with miners working by hand excavating the ground away.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50And while we're building concrete segments,
0:09:50 > 0:09:52he had bricklayers building brickwork behind.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55They were achieving 350 feet in whole year in the 1820s.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58We'll achieve 350 feet in a week.
0:09:58 > 0:09:59That's amazing.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05I want to get closer to the action, so we're making our way to the tunnel head
0:10:05 > 0:10:08passing the rear sections of the boring machine.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13As well as containing toilets and a kitchen,
0:10:13 > 0:10:16it hosts a narrow gauge railway running its full length
0:10:16 > 0:10:21so that pre-cast concrete segments can be delivered to the cutting head.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25A railway helping to build a railway.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27So this is where it really happens.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31It occurs to me as you're tunnelling here you must be dodging quite a lot of Victorian infrastructure.
0:10:31 > 0:10:36Yes, so this machine will pass close, in ten locations, the London Underground tube tunnels and tracks.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39We're also tunnelling underneath the Bazalgette sewerage system
0:10:39 > 0:10:43that was the first Victorian sewer system for London.
0:10:43 > 0:10:48So there is a lot of very historic and very important infrastructure to London
0:10:48 > 0:10:50that we need to protect as we go through.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52Not much pressure on you there then!
0:10:56 > 0:10:59Crossrail is due to open in central London in 2018
0:10:59 > 0:11:05and I feel honoured to have had a glimpse into the future of rail travel in the capital.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09But it's now time to return to Brunel's Paddington
0:11:09 > 0:11:13where my journey on his historic Great Western Railway begins.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17My Bradshaw, written in the 1860s, comments,
0:11:17 > 0:11:21"A metamorphosis has taken place in the environs of the line.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23"Walls have become green embankments,
0:11:23 > 0:11:25"embankments diminished into hedges,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28"and hedges grown into avenues of trees
0:11:28 > 0:11:32"waving a leafy adieu as we are carried past."
0:11:33 > 0:11:40The leafy goodbye and verdant outlook had been incorporated into London as the capital has expanded.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44And so also Hanwell, now part of the London Borough of Ealing,
0:11:44 > 0:11:47in Bradshaw's day it was a village in Middlesex
0:11:47 > 0:11:52and the first stop out of the metropolis on the Great Western to win a mention in the guidebook.
0:11:56 > 0:12:02No devotee of Brunel can come to Hanwell without wanting to visit one of his masterpieces.
0:12:04 > 0:12:11It's not just the grand stations and powerful locomotives that have so captured our imaginations,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15because spectacular viaducts and bridges made it possible
0:12:15 > 0:12:18for the railways to traverse rivers and valleys.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22This imposing viaduct across the Brent Valley
0:12:22 > 0:12:29was the first contract to be let on Brunel's Great Western Railway and it was completed in 1837.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32And I can do no better than to quote Bradshaw's.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35"A massive and elegant structure."
0:12:37 > 0:12:42Over 900 feet long, the viaduct was Brunel's first major structure.
0:12:44 > 0:12:49In Bradshaw's day, it was said locally, that Queen Victoria so much enjoyed the view
0:12:49 > 0:12:53over the River Brent, that she would have her train halt there a while.
0:12:56 > 0:13:01On such a journey, she and her subjects travelling on the Great Western Railway,
0:13:01 > 0:13:08could not possibly fail to notice a huge neoclassical building just a stone's throw from the viaduct.
0:13:11 > 0:13:17My Bradshaw's Guide says, "The most interesting object in the landscape is Hanwell Asylum,
0:13:17 > 0:13:21"generously devoted to the reception of the indigent insane."
0:13:21 > 0:13:26Now, the Victorians were pretty blunt in their language, but actually they made as much progress
0:13:26 > 0:13:28in mental health as in railway engineering.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35Opened in 1831, it was the United Kingdom's first purpose-built asylum
0:13:35 > 0:13:39and represented a massive shift in attitudes towards mental health.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42Previously, the so-called "pauper insane"
0:13:42 > 0:13:45were locked up in workhouses and jails.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48Even at Hanwell, treatment was from far from sympathetic.
0:13:48 > 0:13:54Inmates spent much of their time in restraints, with no attempt at treatment.
0:13:54 > 0:14:00But this was set to change when Superintendent John Connolly took charge in 1839.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04Current librarian, Paul Lang, is going to tell me more.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08This was founded before the Victorian era.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11I think of the Victorians as being quite progressive in mental health.
0:14:11 > 0:14:12Was there a change?
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Oh, yes, definitely, particularly under John Connolly.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18He did away with restraints within the first few months of him being there.
0:14:18 > 0:14:24He encouraged them in music, dancing, outings - as long as they were supervised, of course.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28There was basket weaving and coir mat making
0:14:28 > 0:14:33and like a proto-industrial therapy, they got them to do various things.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37He took a far more humane approach to the patients.
0:14:37 > 0:14:42Connolly's methods were to become general practice throughout the United Kingdom
0:14:42 > 0:14:44and Hanwell a model for future asylums.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49That pioneering Victorian legacy is sensed to this day,
0:14:49 > 0:14:53as it's now the headquarters for the West London Mental Health Trust
0:14:53 > 0:14:57and home to a very rare and intriguing archive.
0:14:57 > 0:15:02I'm meeting Curator and Consultant Psychiatrist, Michael Maier.
0:15:02 > 0:15:03Hello, I'm Michael.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07This looks like some sort of collection, what is it?
0:15:07 > 0:15:10Well, it's a collection of brains across the age range -
0:15:10 > 0:15:13from birth right through to 100-plus.
0:15:14 > 0:15:20The collection was started in the 1950s by a consultant pathologist, Professor Corsellis.
0:15:20 > 0:15:25Determined to develop a better understanding of neurological and mental disease,
0:15:25 > 0:15:29he kept his patients' brains post-mortem for research.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33Today, the collection amounts to 6,000 specimens.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38So this collection has been really significant in understanding what we used to consider
0:15:38 > 0:15:43functional illnesses, illnesses that didn't seem to have a biological reason,
0:15:43 > 0:15:45that they were somehow to do with the person.
0:15:45 > 0:15:51So we used to believe that schizophrenia perhaps wasn't based on any biological cause.
0:15:51 > 0:15:56In this collection with the work that Professor Corsellis did,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59he showed that the brains of people with schizophrenia did have
0:15:59 > 0:16:02abnormalities that could explain some of the symptoms.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07Today, the collection is linked to the research network Brain UK
0:16:07 > 0:16:11and is accessible to medical researchers throughout the world.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13This is a typical brain.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17Do you have a sense of awe that we're all wandering around with something up here
0:16:17 > 0:16:19That we only understand to a limited extent?
0:16:19 > 0:16:23Well, this is what makes you what you are, it's my brain talking to your brain.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27It's not my liver or my kidneys. What we are is a product of this organ which is quite astonishing.
0:16:29 > 0:16:30Do you want to take this?
0:16:30 > 0:16:33I can tell you this is definitely going to be a first for me,
0:16:33 > 0:16:37I have never held a brain in my hands. Now that is extraordinary.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41I tell you what really surprise me, considering what it does, it doesn't weigh much at all.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45Do you know Michael, when I got on the underground this morning, I never dreamt
0:16:45 > 0:16:48that I was going to end up today handling a human brain.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50Well, your life is full of surprises.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56It's time to continue westwards and I'm picking up a train
0:16:56 > 0:16:59from Southall, the next station along the line.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03This is going to be crowded.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06I've hit rush hour,
0:17:06 > 0:17:09and the trains coming from London are packed with commuters.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15It's slow going as we leave the suburbs, stop by stop,
0:17:15 > 0:17:17and finally make our way into Berkshire.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25A long journey on the stopping train has bought me at last to Hungerford
0:17:25 > 0:17:27and it's time for me to turn in.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31And my Bradshaw's mentions a hotel, The Black Bear.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40- Good evening.- Good evening, sir.- So it's an old coaching in, is it?
0:17:40 > 0:17:45Yes, we're one of the oldest in the country. We're on the main Bath to London coaching route.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47Once upon a time owned by Henry VIII.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50He used to come here when they cleared the palaces in London of plague.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53- So it's full of history. - So we're full of history.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55- Do you have a room for me? - I do indeed, sir.
0:17:55 > 0:17:56There we are, number 11.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59You're in the main house, which is the main part of the building.
0:17:59 > 0:18:00Thank you very much. Good night.
0:18:08 > 0:18:14It's a new day and I'm continuing my journey westwards on Brunel's famous railway.
0:18:14 > 0:18:19I'm re-joining the train at Hungerford and crossing the county border into rural Wiltshire.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34As I approach Westbury, there's a tantalising reference in my Bradshaw's guide,
0:18:34 > 0:18:38"An ancient encampment on the edge of the chalk downs near Bratton.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42"On the escarpment below is the figure of a white horse
0:18:42 > 0:18:45"the origin of which is doubtful and obscure."
0:18:45 > 0:18:47Very intriguing.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53Clearly visible from passing trains this chalk horse must have been
0:18:53 > 0:18:57an unmissable attraction for those early Victorian tourists,
0:18:57 > 0:19:00fascinated as they were by all things mystical.
0:19:03 > 0:19:08I'm going to take a closer look and see whether any Westbury locals are in the know.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18You're visiting the white horse. Do you know what its origins are?
0:19:18 > 0:19:24Well, I know what its origins are linked to rather than are.
0:19:24 > 0:19:29It was the Battle of Ethandun between King Alfred and the Danes.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33And Ethandun is thought to be the Edington area.
0:19:33 > 0:19:39And this was put up much later to commemorate the Battle of Ethandun.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44Indeed, this particular horse isn't so long in the tooth,
0:19:44 > 0:19:47and dates not from the time of the battle in the 9th century,
0:19:47 > 0:19:48but from the early 18th.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52Ever since, the Westbury community has gathered on a regular basis on the hillside
0:19:52 > 0:19:56to weed the site and keep the horse white.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02In the 1950s, Westbury's snowy steed was concreted over
0:20:02 > 0:20:05in a controversial bid to reduce maintenance.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08The horse still needs regular grooming,
0:20:08 > 0:20:11but today instead of trowels and hoes,
0:20:11 > 0:20:15the community comes armed with paint pots and rollers.
0:20:15 > 0:20:20Hello. I'm admiring the white horse, maybe you are as well.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22Are you part of the community?
0:20:22 > 0:20:26Yeah, I live out in one of the villages and I came up myself last weekend to have a go.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29So weren't you scared when you went down and painted it?
0:20:29 > 0:20:33It was a bit hairy at first getting the hang of the abseiling.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36But once you get down and you start painting,
0:20:36 > 0:20:39it's just like painting your living room, but while being on a rope.
0:20:39 > 0:20:45Now, a chance to put my DIY skills to the test with team leader, Steve Carrington.
0:20:45 > 0:20:50- I may be fool to suggest this, but may I have a go?- Absolutely, let's get you on a rope, painting.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53Thank you. Excellent.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56Now, luckily I do have a reasonable head for heights,
0:20:56 > 0:21:00even so the angle is pretty daunting.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03- Yep, you know what you're doing? - Hope so.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Good. Mind the lump to your left foot.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14Wow, home decorating has nothing on this, does it really?
0:21:14 > 0:21:16The horse is about 800 square metres.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21I think I'll just do this little postage stamp worth here, if you don't mind.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25Have you any idea how in the 18th or the 19th century, they would have done this?
0:21:25 > 0:21:26Did they have ropes?
0:21:26 > 0:21:30Well, they would have had ropes, but certainly all the accounts
0:21:30 > 0:21:32that we have seen of them doing the Uffington white horse,
0:21:32 > 0:21:35people are just shown just walking around on it working.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37Rather they than me.
0:21:39 > 0:21:44"Former politician involved in whitewash and hung out to dry."
0:21:55 > 0:22:01I'll hand back the reins to Steve, as I'm returning to Westbury Station to re-join the Great Western.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06I'm not travelling far along the line, just one stop.
0:22:06 > 0:22:11Bradshaw's refers to this borough as being well populated with maltings.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15In fact, in the early 1800s there were 25 malt houses in Wiltshire.
0:22:17 > 0:22:18Today there's just one,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22but it's the oldest working malt house in the United Kingdom
0:22:22 > 0:22:26and they're making malt exactly as they did 150 years ago.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29I'm meeting the owner Robin Appel.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32- Robin, Hello!- Hello Michael, welcome to Warminster Maltings.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35It's great to be here, thank you so much.
0:22:40 > 0:22:46- A beautiful garden, but actually beautiful architecture altogether. Is it Victorian?- Yes, it is.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50It was built in 1855 by a man called William Morgan,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53who was an established maltster and brewer in the town.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57The town at that stage had 30-plus malt houses, all very small.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01And I suppose William Morgan had the vision of realising,
0:23:01 > 0:23:05"If I build a really big one, I'll get the economics that allow me
0:23:05 > 0:23:08"to be basically be the dominant maltster in the town."
0:23:08 > 0:23:12And by the end of the 19th century, he had basically but all the other ones out of business.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14I'm going to ask you are really stupid and basic question.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16What is malt?
0:23:16 > 0:23:18Yes, malt is principally barley.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21Barley is a grain that's packed full of starch,
0:23:21 > 0:23:23and we convert that starch to sugar,
0:23:23 > 0:23:26which is the product that the brewers brew with.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29From the 17th Century malt was heavily taxed.
0:23:29 > 0:23:36For nearly 300 years, the Crown drew in excess of 10% of its income from malt tax
0:23:36 > 0:23:39and could raise the levy at will, and often did so.
0:23:39 > 0:23:46By the 19th century, the maltsters had had enough of what they perceived to be unfair harassment
0:23:46 > 0:23:50and came together to petition customs and excise.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52And this is your archive.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56Yes, I think what I've got here Michael is the blotted copy
0:23:56 > 0:24:00which was drawn up in 1845 by the maltsters of Wessex.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03It included William Morgan from Warminster.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07I like this line here. It accuses the commissioners of,
0:24:07 > 0:24:13"Harassing the industry with a vigour beyond the law which, excited by dangerous stimulants,
0:24:13 > 0:24:16"is calculated to create an apparent delinquency
0:24:16 > 0:24:20"where none by fair procedure would be found to exist."
0:24:20 > 0:24:22My Bradshaw's is written in very similar flowery language.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24- I love it.- Yes.
0:24:24 > 0:24:29It took nearly 40 years, but in the 1880's malt tax was abolished
0:24:29 > 0:24:31and this maltings flourished.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35Its success was greatly aided by the railway,
0:24:35 > 0:24:38which enabled the malt to be sold far and wide.
0:24:38 > 0:24:44By the time we got to the end of the 19th century and William Frank Morgan took over from his father,
0:24:44 > 0:24:46here we have his cashbook from 1903
0:24:46 > 0:24:50and lo and behold, February 2nd, only the second entry.
0:24:50 > 0:24:55"The Great Western Railway, £135 nine shillings and nine pence."
0:24:55 > 0:24:57- A very considerable sum.- Absolutely.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00And he was paying the Great Western Railway for what?
0:25:00 > 0:25:03For malt freighted out of Warminster Station.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06And if we go through the book we find an entry of that sort of level
0:25:06 > 0:25:09at the beginning of every month.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11It's a wonderful archive.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14I'm interested to see the traditional way of making malt.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20The first part of the process is to steep the grain
0:25:20 > 0:25:23which kick-starts germination.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26So we put it under water for about four to six hours
0:25:26 > 0:25:30and then we drain it for the remainder of that 24 hours.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34Then in the next 24 hours, we put it under water for 12 hours,
0:25:34 > 0:25:36and then we drain it for 12 hours.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38And then the third 24-hour period
0:25:38 > 0:25:41we put it under water for another 12 hours,
0:25:41 > 0:25:43and then drain it for 12 hours.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46It's amazing anyone discovered how to do this.
0:25:46 > 0:25:47Exactly!
0:25:47 > 0:25:51So when the process is complete we transfer it out of here
0:25:51 > 0:25:53onto the floors behind us.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57Next, it needs to be dried and aerated by ploughing.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02Well, this really is a Victorian-looking process, or maybe much older.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06What we want to end up achieving is the maximum amount of starch
0:26:06 > 0:26:10still encased in that grain converted into sugar.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14You have to react to exactly how that barley behaves.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18And if that means you have to come back at 10 o'clock at night to plough it,
0:26:18 > 0:26:20you come back at 10 o'clock at night.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22There is no blueprint for doing this.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26And this is where the maltster's skill really comes into its own.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31In modern day maltings, this is done on an industrial scale
0:26:31 > 0:26:33and of course it's all fully automated.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36But here in Warminster tradition is kept alive.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41Time to see whether I would make a good plough horse.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47- It's quite heavy.- Yeah, it's the actual jerk that makes it easier.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53- And so we are putting the air into this, are we?- Yes, that's it.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Also, by the way, the ceiling is getting lower and lower.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02I must say these feel like Victorian conditions to me.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09Exhausted by my day at the plough, I'm heading back to the station.
0:27:18 > 0:27:23Engineers building railways today still draw inspiration from role models like Brunel.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27The Victorians brought passion to everything they did -
0:27:27 > 0:27:30from viaducts, to novel treatments for the mentally ill.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34And of course to the making of their beer.
0:27:35 > 0:27:36Cheers.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48'On the next leg of my journey, I'll be visiting a tourist hotspot
0:27:48 > 0:27:52'that's been captivating visitors since Victorian times...'
0:27:52 > 0:27:57This is the granddaddy of all castles and cathedrals and skyscrapers.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59This is the beginning of architecture.
0:27:59 > 0:28:00Thank you very much.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02'..I'll take to the air...'
0:28:02 > 0:28:05I think George Bradshaw would have loved this machine,
0:28:05 > 0:28:08but he would have been even more amazed to find out
0:28:08 > 0:28:11there would be trains that went faster than this thing does.
0:28:11 > 0:28:16'..and I'll try my hand at cloth-making the 19th century way.'
0:28:18 > 0:28:20Oh! This is more difficult than it looks.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23You're horsing around with me, aren't you?
0:28:44 > 0:28:49Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd