0:00:05 > 0:00:10In 1840, one man transformed travel in the British Isles.
0:00:10 > 0:00:16His name was George Bradshaw, and his railway guides inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21Stop by stop, he told them where to travel,
0:00:21 > 0:00:23what to see and where to stay.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29Now, 170 years later, I'm making a series of journeys
0:00:29 > 0:00:32across the length and breadth of these isles
0:00:32 > 0:00:34to see what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01Armed with my Bradshaw's guide, I'm now on the second instalment
0:01:01 > 0:01:04of my journey from the Solent to the Humber,
0:01:04 > 0:01:09with Portsmouth behind me and the ports of London and Grimsby ahead.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13On today's journey, I'll get close to some precious Victorian botany.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17So, here you can see a lovely specimen of a maidenhair fern
0:01:17 > 0:01:20collected by Charles Darwin on the famous voyage of The Beagle.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23- It's quite moving to see this stuff. - Yeah.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26I'll play croquet. You cannot be serious!
0:01:26 > 0:01:29This is where I get a hammering.
0:01:29 > 0:01:30Ha!
0:01:30 > 0:01:35And in Surrey, I'll visit a surprising 19th century place of worship.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38But it's not only the first UK mosque,
0:01:38 > 0:01:41it's the first mosque to be built in the whole of Northern Europe.
0:01:44 > 0:01:45Using my Bradshaw's Guide,
0:01:45 > 0:01:48I began on the Hampshire coast in Portsmouth,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51and travelled up through Surrey.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55I'll push on to London, and northeast to Cambridgeshire,
0:01:55 > 0:01:58alighting finally in Grimsby on the Humber.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03This second leg of my journey starts in Woking,
0:02:03 > 0:02:06heads northeast to Kew and Richmond upon Thames,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09then Wimbledon and finally Clapham Junction.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17As I approach Woking, my Bradshaw's continues to dwell on
0:02:17 > 0:02:22the rural charms of Surrey - "On both sides of the line, Woking Common is seen to extend for miles,
0:02:22 > 0:02:27"only broken by the windings of the Basingstoke Canal."
0:02:27 > 0:02:30And then it notes that the station is a mile away.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33For old Woking was just a small village.
0:02:33 > 0:02:38The big Woking that we know today is only there because of the railway.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44The line into Waterloo from Southampton via Woking
0:02:44 > 0:02:51opened in 1840, and 19 years later the line via Guildford to Portsmouth followed.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55Victorian missionaries must have travelled these lines to the south coast ports
0:02:55 > 0:03:01on the first leg of their journeys to spread the Christian word to the far reaches of the empire,
0:03:01 > 0:03:07but in Woking, religion from the far reaches of the empire came to the mother country.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14I'm meeting Asad Jamil and Khalil Martin
0:03:14 > 0:03:18who both worship at the town's Shah Jahan Mosque,
0:03:18 > 0:03:23an important landmark, not only in Woking but for all British Muslims.
0:03:24 > 0:03:29- Hi, Asad.- Hi, Michael. Welcome to the Shah Jahan Mosque.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32It's a wonderful building. What's its history? When was it built?
0:03:32 > 0:03:36It was built in 1889 by someone called William Gottleib Lietner,
0:03:36 > 0:03:38of Hungarian origin.
0:03:38 > 0:03:43Actually, his family were Jewish, they converted to Anglicanism.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45What was his interest in Islam, then?
0:03:45 > 0:03:49He was an Orientalist, and he spent most of his life out in India.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53He built institutions out there - universities, schools,
0:03:53 > 0:03:54he published magazines,
0:03:54 > 0:03:59and then he returned to England and he wanted to establish an Oriental institute,
0:03:59 > 0:04:05and it just happened that there was a building available in Woking that suited his purposes.
0:04:05 > 0:04:11In 1884, Arabic scholar William Lietner bought the disused Royal Dramatic College
0:04:11 > 0:04:15and turned it into an Oriental institute.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18He intended to satisfy the spiritual needs of all his students,
0:04:18 > 0:04:24and anyone who lived within reach, by building a synagogue, a church, a Hindu temple and a mosque,
0:04:24 > 0:04:28but managed to complete only the Shah Jahan.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31With Windsor Castle just 20 miles away,
0:04:31 > 0:04:36its most frequent early worshippers were Queen Victoria's Muslim staff.
0:04:37 > 0:04:42So, I imagine this Victorian building must be the first purpose-built mosque in the UK?
0:04:42 > 0:04:46Yes, that is our claim to fame. But it's not only the first UK mosque,
0:04:46 > 0:04:50it's the first mosque to be built in the whole of Northern Europe.
0:04:50 > 0:04:55With such a beautiful and historic mosque, is it quite well known in the Islamic world?
0:04:55 > 0:04:58It's world famous, because part of its history was
0:04:58 > 0:05:00there was a Muslim mission established here,
0:05:00 > 0:05:05and they published a journal called The Islamic Review, which was sent throughout the world.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07So, yes, it was very famous.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12You're very close here to Woking station. Do people actually come to this mosque from far and wide?
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Absolutely. We get people from London coming all the time,
0:05:15 > 0:05:20and they quite often say, "We've just come off the train and we saw this building
0:05:20 > 0:05:23"and we've come in and come to have a look."
0:05:23 > 0:05:26I find the interesting thing is so many people that come here
0:05:26 > 0:05:30say it's so peaceful here, and yet as we stand here there are planes going overhead and trains.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34It's actually very noisy, but despite that it has a real sense of peace. Do you feel that?
0:05:34 > 0:05:39I absolutely do. But, of course, I have very special feelings about train noise,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42- to me it's not a pollution. - THEY LAUGH
0:05:42 > 0:05:45So, Michael, it's time for prayers. Would you like to come and join us?
0:05:45 > 0:05:48It would be a great privilege, thank you very much.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50IMAM LEADS PRAYER
0:06:05 > 0:06:10ALL PRAY
0:06:15 > 0:06:17Thank you very much for letting us be here.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21Thanks. Thank you for coming. It is so...
0:06:21 > 0:06:24A great thing whenever somebody comes, especially our guest.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27- You're always welcome. - Thank you very much indeed.
0:06:30 > 0:06:31During the First World War,
0:06:31 > 0:06:36over 800,000 Indian troops fought in The British Army.
0:06:36 > 0:06:43They were posted to most theatres of war including Flanders, Gallipoli and North and East Africa.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47Over 50,000 were classed as killed or missing in action.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50A large number were Muslim.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54This is another very tranquil spot, what's the history of this?
0:06:54 > 0:06:58This was built during the First World War, in 1915, actually,
0:06:58 > 0:07:01And the reason it was built is that the Germans were putting out
0:07:01 > 0:07:06propaganda that the Muslim soldiers weren't being given proper burial rights,
0:07:06 > 0:07:09they were actually being burned as Hindus,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12and that would have been very alarming to a Muslim soldier,
0:07:12 > 0:07:15and the idea was to try and encourage desertion.
0:07:15 > 0:07:22And the war office took it so seriously that they wanted to put out the message
0:07:22 > 0:07:25that this wasn't true, so they created this Muslim burial ground.
0:07:25 > 0:07:30And it's, of course, because it was adjacent to the mosque that this site was chosen.
0:07:30 > 0:07:37We have to remind ourselves that if the Indian army had been led to mutiny or desertion,
0:07:37 > 0:07:40this would have been incredibly serious for the British Empire.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43- Oh, absolutely.- And where were these bodies coming from?
0:07:43 > 0:07:47Injured soldiers coming back from the war were being treated in Brighton Pavilion.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50It's interesting - part of the counter-propaganda
0:07:50 > 0:07:54was that they turned the Brighton Pavilion into an infirmary
0:07:54 > 0:07:58because they thought the Indian soldiers would feel more at home
0:07:58 > 0:08:03in a pastiche Indian architectural building, and also what they did,
0:08:03 > 0:08:06they put out the message that the King had actually given up
0:08:06 > 0:08:12his personal residence as an infirmary for these Indian soldiers,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16and this went down a treat in India. As a counter-propaganda, it was hugely successful.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20Leaving Woking and the first mosque in Britain behind,
0:08:20 > 0:08:22my journey takes me towards the capital,
0:08:22 > 0:08:26and to what was in Bradshaw's time a Thames-side village.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30My Bradshaw's can sometimes be delightfully half-hearted.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33About my next destination it writes,
0:08:33 > 0:08:36"The gardens are the principal objects of attraction.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40"They're not very large nor is their situation advantageous
0:08:40 > 0:08:44"as it is low and commands no prospects,
0:08:44 > 0:08:49"but they contain the finest collection of plants in this country
0:08:49 > 0:08:52"and various ornamental buildings."
0:08:52 > 0:08:54Yes, I am on my way to Kew.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11On this journey I have to change, and if you've got to change train, where better than Clapham Junction,
0:09:11 > 0:09:16cos it gives you more choice than probably any other station I can think of.
0:09:17 > 0:09:23The Royal Botanic Gardens transferred from the Crown to public ownership in 1840.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28Nine years later the railways arrived, and people visited in droves.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40- Bill!- Welcome.- Smart set of wheels.- Yeah, very nice.- Off you go.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43'Dr Bill Baker is going to show me around.'
0:09:43 > 0:09:47As I came in the gates just now, I noticed "VR" over the gates, "Victoria Regina",
0:09:47 > 0:09:49does that mean these are Victorian gardens?
0:09:49 > 0:09:53The landscape is full of Victorian buildings and Victorian heritage,
0:09:53 > 0:09:57but actually the gardens' history goes back a lot further than that.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01Fundamentally, it's really a Georgian history the gardens has.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03Originally it was two gardens.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08The first of the gardens was Richmond Garden on that side,
0:10:08 > 0:10:13it's a Capability Brown landscape that was part of the work that George III commissioned
0:10:13 > 0:10:16when he was living occasionally at Richmond Lodge.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20And then on the other side, you have the garden of the Prince And Princess Of Wales.
0:10:20 > 0:10:25Frederick Prince Of Wales died young, but his wife, Princess Augusta,
0:10:25 > 0:10:28she was very interested in plants.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31She appointed the first official gardener to Kew,
0:10:31 > 0:10:35and that's kind of where we date our official start.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39My Bradshaw's guide is quite interested in the buildings here.
0:10:39 > 0:10:44It mentions the orangery, the pagoda, and the palm house.
0:10:44 > 0:10:49- Are they all still here? - They are, absolutely. We're just coming up onto the orangery shortly.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52You can see the palm house behind us.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56The pagoda is the building in the long vista beyond the palm house,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59Yeah, they are the really iconic features of our landscape.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02On my railway journeys, I come across again and again
0:11:02 > 0:11:05this mania that there was in Victorian times
0:11:05 > 0:11:08- for the collecting of plants from all around the world.- Yes.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11Presumably Kew was a beneficiary, played a big part in this, as well.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Well, yes, I mean, much more than a beneficiary.
0:11:15 > 0:11:21Yes, I mean, not to put too fine a point on it, it was headquarters for that kind of thing.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24Since its Georgian inception, The Royal Botanic Gardens
0:11:24 > 0:11:28has collected specimens of flora from all over the world,
0:11:28 > 0:11:34and Dr Baker has promised to show me some of his Victorian favourites.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37You're probably wondering what's in these cupboards.
0:11:37 > 0:11:44Well, here you can see just a small sample of our eight million specimens of plants and fungi
0:11:44 > 0:11:48- that we hold here at Kew. - May I see them?
0:11:48 > 0:11:54Of course. In the cupboards here we have specimens of pressed dried plant material.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56The methods are not rocket science.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59So, here you can see just one example -
0:11:59 > 0:12:03a specimen of a plant that was collected in the wild in Bolivia.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06It's got flowers on it, it's got notes here all about exactly
0:12:06 > 0:12:11where the plant was collected, who collected it. It's got information about the features of the plant.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14These are important bits of information for a botanist.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17And what did the Victorians ever do for Kew?
0:12:17 > 0:12:21Well, the quick answer to that is that they did everything for Kew.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24They laid the foundations for modern Kew,
0:12:24 > 0:12:28and for the way that we botanists work today,
0:12:28 > 0:12:34- and I've got a whole set of material out to try and illustrate that for you.- Thank you.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36Some of Kew's most precious specimens
0:12:36 > 0:12:42were donated by the most celebrated botanists and explorers of Victorian Britain.
0:12:42 > 0:12:47So, just to give you an idea as to the kind of riches that we have here,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50I've pulled out some particularly special things.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54So, here you can see a lovely specimen of a maidenhair fern
0:12:54 > 0:12:57collected by Charles Darwin on the famous voyage of The Beagle.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00- It's quite moving to see this stuff. - Yeah, totally, absolutely.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04And then underneath, one also rather romantic specimen
0:13:04 > 0:13:07collected on one of the Livingstone expeditions.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10And this is apparently potentially the first plant collection.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14It's a collection of a mangrove made by the plant collector Kirk,
0:13:14 > 0:13:16who was quite a talented artist, as well.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18A lot of our material is accompanied by these lovely little
0:13:18 > 0:13:22illustrations by the botanists themselves.
0:13:23 > 0:13:29Considered by many to be the most important surviving Victorian iron and glass structure in the world,
0:13:29 > 0:13:33Kew's Palm House was completed in 1848.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40I'm used to being in awe of Victorian architecture,
0:13:40 > 0:13:44but this building with its great heights, this must have been an iconic building in its day.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46Absolutely. It was a complete sensation.
0:13:46 > 0:13:51The building was designed to show palms off to their best possible extent,
0:13:51 > 0:13:56and it needed a collaboration between an architect and an engineer
0:13:56 > 0:13:59of the sort that had never happened before to achieve this.
0:13:59 > 0:14:05by using technology from ship building, we have these fantastic spans brought about
0:14:05 > 0:14:11by the use of wrought-iron deck beams, and it just gives this wonderful clarity
0:14:11 > 0:14:16as well as the completely perfect arcs in the ironwork.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19I mean, it's spine-tingling stuff, really, the Palm House.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21And how did the Victorians heat it?
0:14:21 > 0:14:25Well, there were boilers in the basement here,
0:14:25 > 0:14:28and they were fuelled by coke which was ferried over
0:14:28 > 0:14:34from a yard just across the pond, there, by our own underground railway.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36A railway. I love it.
0:14:40 > 0:14:46As I leave the lush palms of Kew, I'm reminded of the huge mark left by so many Victorian Britons,
0:14:46 > 0:14:50just as I'm confronted by a miniscule one of my own.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53This plaque commemorates
0:14:53 > 0:14:56that when I was a member of the government
0:14:56 > 0:14:58I reopened the rebuilt Kew Gardens Station,
0:14:58 > 0:15:02and that was on 7th of October 1989.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05You understand I was a child minister.
0:15:06 > 0:15:11Originally opened in 1869, the station is now
0:15:11 > 0:15:16part of the London Underground and the new London Overground network.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24I'm bound for Richmond, which my Bradshaw's says "is a delightful town in Surrey,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27"on the South Western Railway and the River Thames,
0:15:27 > 0:15:35"in the midst of scenery which, though often praised and admired, never grows old or wearisome."
0:15:35 > 0:15:39And I never grow tired of messing about in boats.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45Richmond was originally the site of royal palaces,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48but the train brought ordinary people.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50Their favourite pursuits?
0:15:50 > 0:15:54To promenade along the riverside and then to row on the waters.
0:15:54 > 0:16:00An important local industry grew up to facilitate that Victorian pleasure.
0:16:00 > 0:16:05Bill Collie is one of the last remaining boat builders in Richmond.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10- Bill.- Good afternoon, sir. - May I come in?- Welcome, please do. - Thank you very much.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13- Bill, how long have you been building boats?- About 60 years.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17And when you started, was there a lot of boat building going on here?
0:16:17 > 0:16:22- Oh, yes.- This boat here, what is it and did you make it?
0:16:22 > 0:16:24It's called a sculling boat, but I didn't make it.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28- Boats are built, not made. - I stand corrected.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31Is this typical of boats that were built here?
0:16:31 > 0:16:36Yes, yes. I think only I, blowing my own trumpet here,
0:16:36 > 0:16:38I'm the only one who built sculling boats in Richmond.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42I get the impression that at the time of my Bradshaw's guide in Victorian times,
0:16:42 > 0:16:46- coming down to go out on the river was very popular.- Oh, yes, yes.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50The trains made it easier to get to Richmond, and they all went and hired a boat.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53Some of the old fellas, who are all dead unfortunately,
0:16:53 > 0:16:55I'm the only one left, but they would tell me
0:16:55 > 0:16:5810 o'clock in the morning, everything was out.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02Every boat they had and then they had a queue waiting for them to come back.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06It's not so very hot today, but I do feel like going on the river, any chance of that?
0:17:06 > 0:17:10- There'll be a man waiting for you down there.- Thank you.
0:17:11 > 0:17:17I've had a fascinating but long day, and it's time to get my head down.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22My hotel for the night is on the river.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25What better way to arrive than being sculled?
0:17:25 > 0:17:26Thank you very much.
0:17:38 > 0:17:44After a good night's rest, I'm up early for the next leg of my journey.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47Back on the mainline, I'm heading to a South London suburb.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53My next destination has long been associated with physical prowess.
0:17:53 > 0:17:58As my Bradshaw's says, "Wimbledon was formally celebrated in the annals of duelling,
0:17:58 > 0:18:04"a practice which has now become synonymous with our notions of such killing being murder
0:18:04 > 0:18:11"and therefore like many other customs and habits of uncivilised beings."
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Well, as we all know, Wimbledon subsequently became associated
0:18:14 > 0:18:18with a sport of the utmost refinement.
0:18:18 > 0:18:23By the 18th century, Wimbledon was fast becoming a highly fashionable,
0:18:23 > 0:18:28albeit isolated village, where wealthy Londoners sought country retreats.
0:18:28 > 0:18:34The railway arrived in 1838, but it wasn't until improvements in the service in the 1850s
0:18:34 > 0:18:37that Wimbledon became a significant suburb.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41I'm here to visit the spiritual home of British tennis,
0:18:41 > 0:18:45and to meet Mike Hann, who wants to put right the common misconception
0:18:45 > 0:18:49of the origins of Wimbledon's place as a centre of sporting excellence.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55These are the great tennis trophies, are they?
0:18:55 > 0:18:57Yes, here's the men's singles trophy,
0:18:57 > 0:19:00and here is the roll of the ladies' singles,
0:19:00 > 0:19:04here are the winners going back, from 1884 and Miss Kvitova
0:19:04 > 0:19:07who won the title in 2011.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10Interestingly, they had the transfer up just when she was coming off the court.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14- So they'd prepared two names? - Exactly.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18You may be surprised that I won't be watching tennis today.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22But then, this is the All England Lawn Tennis And CROQUET Club.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26Mike, there's no mention of your illustrious club in my Bradshaw's.
0:19:26 > 0:19:27When was it founded?
0:19:27 > 0:19:30Well, the club was founded in about 1869.
0:19:30 > 0:19:35It was founded as the All England Croquet Club, then it became
0:19:35 > 0:19:37the All England Croquet And Lawn Tennis Club,
0:19:37 > 0:19:39and then the All England Lawn Tennis Club,
0:19:39 > 0:19:43and finally in 1899 it was settled on the All England Lawn Tennis And Croquet Club.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46And it's stayed the same ever since, thank goodness.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49The precise origin of croquet is unknown,
0:19:49 > 0:19:53but some historians believe that the game evolved as a high society recreation
0:19:53 > 0:19:57in Ireland during the first half of the 19th century,
0:19:57 > 0:20:03taking England by storm in the 1860s since it provided men and women, young and old
0:20:03 > 0:20:08with an opportunity to compete outdoors on equal terms.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13The mechanical lawn mower, invented by Edwin Beard Budding in 1830
0:20:13 > 0:20:17allowed the maintenance of fine turf, and the growing railway network
0:20:17 > 0:20:20enabled players to travel easily to tournaments.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22So, Michael, choose your weapon.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29- OK?- Very good.- Well, you haven't chosen mine. I'm pleased about that.
0:20:29 > 0:20:34- Do you think my life in politics equips me for this vicious game? - Spot on.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41This is where I get a hammering.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44THEY CHEER
0:20:44 > 0:20:46OK.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48Ha!
0:20:48 > 0:20:50You've got tremendous potential.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53You've got a good eye, natural eye, which is...
0:20:53 > 0:20:57and you kept your head down, and that's very, very important.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00I have not. That was 100% a fluke.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03THEY LAUGH
0:21:03 > 0:21:07Until today, I associated croquet with Alice In Wonderland,
0:21:07 > 0:21:10but now I see it as a game of tactics and skill.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14Leaving behind the lush lawns of Wimbledon,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17I'm heading to my final destination - Clapham Junction.
0:21:21 > 0:21:27Opened in 1863 and situated, perversely, in the heart of Battersea.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33I'm keen to find out how the coming of the railways affected the area.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37Ruth MacLeod is a heritage officer at Battersea Library.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43This is the 1838 tithe map which shows the whole of Battersea.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45It's got the railway line, there.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50It starts up at Nine Elms, and runs all the way to here,
0:21:50 > 0:21:54and Clapham Junction station, as we know it today, is round here.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58- But at this point in 1838, Clapham Junction doesn't exist at all?- No.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01And the railway line running down to Southampton,
0:22:01 > 0:22:05- actually, it just ends. This is, what, Nine Elms?- Yes, that's right, Nine Elms.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10- And all of this is, what, just fields? Just agriculture? - Just fields.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12There are a few houses there.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16I had no idea that it was so rural as late as 1838.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19And can you show me, then, how the railways changed south London?
0:22:19 > 0:22:24Yes, we've got Ordnance Survey maps from the 1860s and the 1890s which show a real difference.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31So, this is the 1865 Ordinance Survey map. As you can see it's still
0:22:31 > 0:22:35not terribly built up. The area around here is actually market gardens.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38I find this map particularly interesting, because 1865
0:22:38 > 0:22:41is the same date as my Bradshaw's guide,
0:22:41 > 0:22:45and talking about the line coming down from Vauxhall,
0:22:45 > 0:22:48he says that it enters upon an embankment
0:22:48 > 0:22:50which indeed I can see here,
0:22:50 > 0:22:52and travels through spacious market gardens.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56So, this is an exact transcription of what I am seeing on the map, isn't it?
0:22:56 > 0:22:58Yes, that is absolutely right.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01And then if we move to the 1890s map, you can see there's quite a change.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04- Another transformation. - It's a lot more built up.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08- The area round here is actually the Shaftsbury Park Estate. - And what is that?
0:23:08 > 0:23:14An estate built in the 1870s by what is called the Artisans And General Labourers Society
0:23:14 > 0:23:18specifically for working people to move into.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21Skilled working class to come and live here,
0:23:21 > 0:23:28maybe out of central London and into somewhere slightly more rural, as it maybe then was.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32Ruth has not only maps of Battersea's Shaftesbury Park Estate.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36She also has personal information about its residents.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38This is the 1881 census.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41It's from one of the streets in the Shaftesbury Park estate.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44On the right-hand column here it says where people are born,
0:23:44 > 0:23:46so we've got somebody who was born in Derbyshire,
0:23:46 > 0:23:51a whole family from Kent, Berkshire, somebody from Ireland, Oxfordshire.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54And then here we've got their rank, profession or occupation.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58There's a cloth damper, there's a milliner apprentice,
0:23:58 > 0:24:01school master, engine driver at a factory
0:24:01 > 0:24:03and telegraph clerk.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07So, we're talking here about artisans, we're talking about people of some quality.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10- The upper working class, as it were. - Yes, the skilled workers.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15People who have gone out and learnt a trade, or in the case of the apprentice are learning one.
0:24:16 > 0:24:22Built in the 1870s, the Shaftesbury Park Estate is laid out in wide tree-lined streets,
0:24:22 > 0:24:27and each of the 1,200 two-storey homes has a front and back garden.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30They were the antithesis of the squalor and deprivation
0:24:30 > 0:24:34to which many of the skilled workers who lived here were accustomed.
0:24:34 > 0:24:40With just £170, you could buy one. And Joan Rawson's grandfather did just that.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44Joan and her friend Doreen still live on the estate.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47Doreen, how long have you lived on the Shaftesbury Park Estate?
0:24:47 > 0:24:50- 30 years now.- And you, Joan?
0:24:50 > 0:24:55I've lived here 83 years. I was born in the bedroom upstairs.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57You were born in this house?
0:24:57 > 0:25:00- I certainly was, yes.- Well, how have you found living here?
0:25:00 > 0:25:06- You must have liked it. - Well, lots of things have changed, obviously, over the years.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10You know, as a child we had great fun.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14Constructed with the philanthropic assistance of Lord Shaftesbury,
0:25:14 > 0:25:18and later managed by the Peabody Trust, Battersea's Shaftesbury Park Estate
0:25:18 > 0:25:24was a model of affordable social housing, offering security to workers who'd been forced out
0:25:24 > 0:25:28of their central London homes to make way for the railways.
0:25:28 > 0:25:29Was it a neighbourly place?
0:25:29 > 0:25:35Yes, very. Everybody knew everybody else, you could go out and leave your door open.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39We were all contented as children.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43Although we didn't have a lot in those days, as you can imagine.
0:25:43 > 0:25:49Like so many outer London suburbs, Battersea underwent a 19th century metamorphosis,
0:25:49 > 0:25:53much of it driven by the coming of the railways.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57To carry on my journey, I'm heading back to Clapham Junction station.
0:25:57 > 0:26:03Opened in 1863, with its spaghetti of lines emanating from Victoria and Waterloo,
0:26:03 > 0:26:10and 20 million passengers changing trains here annually, it's Britain's busiest station.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14But local activist Philip Beddows wants to see a big change.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19Now, I understand you think that Clapham Junction is misnamed?
0:26:19 > 0:26:23It is. Back in the 1860s when they built this station,
0:26:23 > 0:26:27Battersea was expanding from its river location out here,
0:26:27 > 0:26:32and they thought, "How could we get people to come and use this station
0:26:32 > 0:26:36"and make this place seem a rather nice place to come and live?"
0:26:36 > 0:26:43So they gave it the name Clapham Junction in order to attract people to this higher-branded area.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46- Clapham was a better name?- Yes, in those days it was very, very smart,
0:26:46 > 0:26:50and Battersea was looked down on as industrial, poor,
0:26:50 > 0:26:57full of radical politics and not really such a great place to be living.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59So, if this is Battersea, where is Clapham?
0:26:59 > 0:27:01Well, Clapham's about one and a half to two miles away.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Back in the 19th century,
0:27:04 > 0:27:06when Bradshaw did his railway timetable,
0:27:06 > 0:27:11he actually recorded a note to warn travellers that when they arrived in Clapham Junction,
0:27:11 > 0:27:14they were right in the middle of Battersea, not in Clapham.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17And what do you want to rename this station?
0:27:17 > 0:27:20We'd like Clapham Junction to be "Clapham Junction (Battersea)".
0:27:20 > 0:27:23I can see in the future there are going to be shoals of confused
0:27:23 > 0:27:27foreign tourists scratching their heads as they try and work out where they are.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29Maybe, but they are going to be less confused than they are today.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38Victorian Britain is evoked by the croquet lawns of Wimbledon
0:27:38 > 0:27:44and the conservatories of Kew, but for the working class life was no bed of roses,
0:27:44 > 0:27:49and the philanthropy of Shaftesbury and Peabody also typify the age.
0:27:49 > 0:27:55Bradshaw's Britain was as grimy as it was green.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57On the next leg of my journey,
0:27:57 > 0:28:02I'll learn that volunteer Victorian firefighters liked a tipple.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05To encourage people to come and help pump the fire engine,
0:28:05 > 0:28:08insurance brigades would either take kegs of beer with them to a fire,
0:28:08 > 0:28:10or they would take beer tokens with them.
0:28:10 > 0:28:16I'll discover how even 19th century sewage pumps were a celebration of design.
0:28:16 > 0:28:17Open this valve, here.
0:28:22 > 0:28:27And I'll put in a shift at the oldest fish market in Britain.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29Thank you, Michael. Let's get them boxed up.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32- The man wants his fish today, not the weekend. - MICHAEL CHUCKLES
0:28:35 > 0:28:39Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd