0:00:05 > 0:00:10In 1840, one man transformed travel in the British Isles.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12His name was George Bradshaw
0:00:12 > 0:00:16and 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 > 0:00:31across the length and breadth of these isles
0:00:31 > 0:00:35to see what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57I'm at the halfway point of my journey from Portsmouth to Grimsby
0:00:57 > 0:01:00and today, I'm going to linger in one of Britain's greatest ports -
0:01:00 > 0:01:01London.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04Our capital, my home city.
0:01:04 > 0:01:05On today's journey,
0:01:05 > 0:01:09I'll learn how volunteer Victorian firefighters liked a tipple.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12To encourage people to come and help pump the fire engine,
0:01:12 > 0:01:15insurance brigades would either take kegs of beer with them to a fire
0:01:15 > 0:01:18or they would take beer tokens with them.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21I'll discover how even 19th-century sewage pumps
0:01:21 > 0:01:23were a celebration of design.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25Open this valve here...
0:01:29 > 0:01:34And I'll put in a shift at the oldest fish market in Britain.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38It's getting boxed up. The man wants his fish today, not the weekend.
0:01:38 > 0:01:39HE CHUCKLES
0:01:40 > 0:01:42Using my Bradshaw's guide,
0:01:42 > 0:01:44I began this journey on the Hampshire coast,
0:01:44 > 0:01:48and have travelled up through Surrey to London.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50I will then push north east to Cambridgeshire,
0:01:50 > 0:01:54alighting finally in Grimsby, on the Humber Estuary.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58The third leg of my journey starts in Victoria,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02heads east to Southwark, on to Canary Wharf,
0:02:02 > 0:02:04and finally, downstream to Abbey Wood.
0:02:19 > 0:02:24On previous railway journeys to London, I've noted Bradshaw's view,
0:02:24 > 0:02:27which reflected the Victorian outlook on our capital.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31"London is the capital of the civilised world,
0:02:31 > 0:02:36"the largest mass of human life, of arts, science, wealth, power,
0:02:36 > 0:02:38"and architecture that exists.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41"Our gigantic metropolis is enabled by the Thames
0:02:41 > 0:02:46"to carry on a water communication with every part of the globe."
0:02:46 > 0:02:50And, on this trip, I intend to focus on Old Father Thames.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57Today's leg of my journey starts at Victoria Station,
0:02:57 > 0:03:01which began in 1862 as two distinct sites -
0:03:01 > 0:03:04one serving Kent and the other, Sussex.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06In the early 1900s,
0:03:06 > 0:03:09the brick and stone structures were beautifully rebuilt,
0:03:09 > 0:03:14'and, in the 1920s, it became the single station that we know today.'
0:03:18 > 0:03:20Victoria is my local station,
0:03:20 > 0:03:23but I shed a tear every time I come here,
0:03:23 > 0:03:26because the Victorian architecture has become so cluttered
0:03:26 > 0:03:29with illuminated advertising hoardings and shopping centres
0:03:29 > 0:03:33and what they need to do is sweep the lot away
0:03:33 > 0:03:36and reveal the beauty of the original brick and stone.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44Leaving the station behind, I'm taking a short stroll to the Thames
0:03:44 > 0:03:47to visit one of the most imposing Victorian buildings
0:03:47 > 0:03:50on the riverbank - Tate Britain,
0:03:50 > 0:03:54a gallery containing the world's greatest collection of British art,
0:03:54 > 0:04:00including works by Blake, Constable, Gainsborough, Stubbs and Turner.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03But, according to my Bradshaw's, this site at Millbank
0:04:03 > 0:04:07was once for those who'd had brushes with the law.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10Archivist Krzysztof Cieszkowski should know more.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13- Hello, Krzysztof.- Hello, Michael. Very pleased to meet you.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15- It's lovely to be back.- Yes.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19My Bradshaw's guide refers to a penitentiary being on this site.
0:04:19 > 0:04:20Do you know anything about that?
0:04:20 > 0:04:25Yes, it was variously called Millbank Prison and Millbank Penitentiary.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29It was a prison for convicts who were being sent to Australia.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31And what brought about a gallery on this site?
0:04:31 > 0:04:35Well, there was no gallery of British art
0:04:35 > 0:04:38in the way that there was, for example, in Paris.
0:04:38 > 0:04:43It was only when Henry Tate, in 1889, offered his collection
0:04:43 > 0:04:47of contemporary British art to the nation
0:04:47 > 0:04:50that the idea started to become a reality.
0:04:50 > 0:04:51Who was Henry Tate?
0:04:51 > 0:04:53He was born in Lancashire,
0:04:53 > 0:04:57he made his fortune, first of all, in the grocery business
0:04:57 > 0:04:59then, in sugar refining.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01This is the Tate that later became Tate and Lyle?
0:05:01 > 0:05:05Yes, he was the most important sugar refiner
0:05:05 > 0:05:09and he introduced the sugar cube to this country.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11This is a volume of correspondence
0:05:11 > 0:05:14relating to the opening of the gallery.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17Here is a letter from the Queen's Secretary, Arthur Bigge,
0:05:17 > 0:05:22thanking Henry Tate for the invitation and for an album
0:05:22 > 0:05:26in which all the works in the Tate collection were reproduced.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28They're wonderful documents.
0:05:28 > 0:05:33Henry Tate offered his £75,000 collection to the nation,
0:05:33 > 0:05:35but the press snobbishly complained
0:05:35 > 0:05:39that "a mere sugar boiler should impose his taste."
0:05:39 > 0:05:42So Tate spent £80,000 on building his own gallery,
0:05:42 > 0:05:45which contained many works by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood,
0:05:45 > 0:05:51an art movement founded in 1848 by Dante Gabriel Rossetti,
0:05:51 > 0:05:52William Holman Hunt
0:05:52 > 0:05:54and John Everett Millais.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00To create work that explored social, moral and political issues
0:06:00 > 0:06:03in a way that was new and often shocking,
0:06:03 > 0:06:07the Brotherhood took characters from literature and history
0:06:07 > 0:06:11and paid homage to the perfect realism of their hero Raphael
0:06:11 > 0:06:15by painting in the open air, directly from nature
0:06:15 > 0:06:17and not in a studio from sketches.
0:06:17 > 0:06:23Curator Alison Smith believes that their art relied on train travel.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Well, now you're bringing me towards a very famous picture -
0:06:26 > 0:06:27Millais' Ophelia,
0:06:27 > 0:06:31and you tell me this has something to do with the railways.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34That's right, this is because the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
0:06:34 > 0:06:36was formed exactly at the time
0:06:36 > 0:06:39when the railway network was developing in and around London.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43He worked on this for about five, six months,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46from about July to November 1851.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49This was a place called Cuddington, near Malden,
0:06:49 > 0:06:51it's near Ewell, in Surrey.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53And so, he would have travelled to Ewell
0:06:53 > 0:06:55from either London Bridge or Waterloo.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58It's slightly disillusioning telling me now that it was painted
0:06:58 > 0:07:01near the suburban railway stations, of course, of the mid 19th century.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05It wasn't exactly near the suburban railway stations.
0:07:05 > 0:07:10He opted to stay in a rambling farmhouse called Worcester Park Farm
0:07:10 > 0:07:13and from that, each day, he would walk about four miles to the site
0:07:13 > 0:07:17and he, in fact, encountered lots of problems when he painted this.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20He was once arrested for trespassing,
0:07:20 > 0:07:22he was attacked by sheep and a bull...
0:07:22 > 0:07:24But it was fundamentally important to him
0:07:24 > 0:07:28to paint nature in nature, not to do it from sketches back in the studio.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33Yes, the key point is that this was painted en plein air, in nature.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37Are there other examples here of Pre-Raphaelites
0:07:37 > 0:07:39who were using the train to get to nature?
0:07:39 > 0:07:43We could look at Hunt, who worked in this area, in Ewell, with Millais.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46We've got another painting by him produced the following year
0:07:46 > 0:07:48which was Strayed Sheep, Our English Coasts,
0:07:48 > 0:07:51which he painted near Hastings.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53What's the importance of the Pre-Raphaelites?
0:07:53 > 0:07:56The Pre-Raphaelites are probably the first modern art movement in Britain
0:07:56 > 0:07:59in that they really wanted to break with the past
0:07:59 > 0:08:03and the fact that British artists had been indebted to European old masters.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06And they wanted to sort of paint in a new radical way
0:08:06 > 0:08:08which really reflected modernity.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10In Bradshaw's day,
0:08:10 > 0:08:14one of the most efficient ways of navigating London was by river.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17'He might have taken an elegant paddle steamer.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21'I'm impressed by this state-of-the-art catamaran.'
0:08:23 > 0:08:26I'm now using a Bradshaw's guide to London, dated 1862.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29I'm on the boat that takes us from the Tate Britain
0:08:29 > 0:08:31to the Tate Modern Galleries.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34My Bradshaw's says, "For the sake of variety,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37"we shall proceed to the journey by water,
0:08:37 > 0:08:41"which, of a fine day, is not only the most agreeable,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43"but furnishing an excellent opportunity
0:08:43 > 0:08:46"of seeing the scenery of the Thames."
0:08:46 > 0:08:50And to me, of course, the finest piece of scenery on the Thames
0:08:50 > 0:08:52is the Houses of Parliament.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57The river's popularity as a transport route
0:08:57 > 0:09:00may have dwindled in modern times,
0:09:00 > 0:09:02but, even on its choppiest days,
0:09:02 > 0:09:04there are some who remain loyal.
0:09:05 > 0:09:06Oh, hello.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08HE CHUCKLES
0:09:08 > 0:09:11- Are you enjoying your trip on the river?- Certainly am.
0:09:11 > 0:09:12Would you say, as my Bradshaw's guide says,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15that seeing London from the river is really the best way?
0:09:15 > 0:09:18Lovely way, it really is, there's so much to see,
0:09:18 > 0:09:19the history is there,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22the way the town, city has developed over the years. It's all there.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Nowadays, we use the river so little.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28Yeah, it's underused. I'm sure, yes.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30We've also arrived at our destination,
0:09:30 > 0:09:32so we better make sure we don't get left on.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34You better get off.
0:09:34 > 0:09:35THEY LAUGH
0:09:45 > 0:09:46Thank you. Bye!
0:09:46 > 0:09:48From Bankside Pier,
0:09:48 > 0:09:51home of the magnificent Shakespeare's Globe Theatre,
0:09:51 > 0:09:53I'm heading inland to Southwark
0:09:53 > 0:09:56to visit a place that was highly significant
0:09:56 > 0:09:59for the safety of Victorian Londoners.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04My Bradshaw's guide is very concerned about fire in London.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07"Sometimes, as many as five or six occur in one night.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09"To guard against the loss of life,
0:10:09 > 0:10:13"the Royal Society For The Preservation Of Life From Fire
0:10:13 > 0:10:16"have been most active in establishing stations,
0:10:16 > 0:10:19"where fire escapes, with conductors,
0:10:19 > 0:10:23"are ready to be called upon the first alarm.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27"No society more rigidly deserves encouragement."
0:10:27 > 0:10:29It's extraordinary to think
0:10:29 > 0:10:33that our capital city had no publicly funded fire brigade.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37With its origins dating back to 1828,
0:10:37 > 0:10:42The Royal Society For The Preservation Of Life From Fire
0:10:42 > 0:10:45placed mobile fire escape ladders on street corners at night.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50'I'm hoping Jane Rugg, Curator of The London Fire Brigade Museum,
0:10:50 > 0:10:53'can tell me who was actually fighting fires
0:10:53 > 0:10:55'in London at the time.'
0:10:55 > 0:10:59- Hello!- Hello, there.- I'm Michael. - I'm Jane, nice to meet you. - Very good to see you.- Come on in.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01So when my Bradshaw's guides were written,
0:11:01 > 0:11:03at the beginning of the 1860s,
0:11:03 > 0:11:06what sort of fire provision was there in London?
0:11:06 > 0:11:09We didn't have a public service until 1866,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12so, before that time, you would have had insurance brigades
0:11:12 > 0:11:14that made up the London Fire Engine Establishment,
0:11:14 > 0:11:16so just like house insurance today,
0:11:16 > 0:11:20you insured your property and then, if your house was on fire,
0:11:20 > 0:11:23the insurance would send their fire brigade
0:11:23 > 0:11:25and they would come along to put the fire out for you.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27And obviously, it wasn't a fair system,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30not everybody could afford to have the fire brigades,
0:11:30 > 0:11:32it was not as a public service is now.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36The 1666 Great Fire Of London,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39which started in a baker's shop in the aptly named Pudding Lane,
0:11:39 > 0:11:45destroying over 13,000 homes, is well remembered in history.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48Less well known is that, almost two centuries later,
0:11:48 > 0:11:51the 1861 Tooley Street Fire was a catalyst
0:11:51 > 0:11:55to the formation of a publicly funded brigade.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59Firefighters from all over the country attended the blaze,
0:11:59 > 0:12:02but couldn't cope with an inferno that started in a warehouse,
0:12:02 > 0:12:05and burnt for two weeks.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14Five years later, The Metropolitan Fire Brigade was formed.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17Chief Officer, Captain Sir Eyre Massey Shaw,
0:12:17 > 0:12:20inherited the insurance brigade's equipment.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23You have wonderful machines here, what is this one?
0:12:23 > 0:12:26This is an example of a manual pump inherited by the public service.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30The arms open out, all the way out,
0:12:30 > 0:12:32and then, the other one comes out the other way,
0:12:32 > 0:12:34and you'd have ten people on this side, ten on the other
0:12:34 > 0:12:36and you would pump up and down
0:12:36 > 0:12:39working the pistons inside to push the water out.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42But you can only pump for five minutes before you're too exhausted
0:12:42 > 0:12:44and you need to swap with somebody else.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47I'm not surprised, I felt exhausted just standing there.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50To encourage people walking past to come and help pump the fire engine,
0:12:50 > 0:12:54the insurance brigades would either take kegs of beer with them to a fire
0:12:54 > 0:12:57or they would take beer tokens with them,
0:12:57 > 0:12:59so you can see an example of a beer token.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01You would be given it once you'd helped pump,
0:13:01 > 0:13:03and then, you could go to your local public house
0:13:03 > 0:13:05and exchange it for a drink.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07And they did that because, as you can imagine,
0:13:07 > 0:13:08with kegs of beer at a fire,
0:13:08 > 0:13:10people were more interested in drinking the beer
0:13:10 > 0:13:12than they were in pumping the fire engine.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14So did they have lots of drunken volunteers?
0:13:14 > 0:13:17They could have done, yes, there was the potential, so that's why...
0:13:17 > 0:13:20Sometimes, they would take cash with them to a fire,
0:13:20 > 0:13:23but, in the end, the pumping tokens seemed to work the best.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25So what else can you show me?
0:13:25 > 0:13:27This is an example of a steam fire engine,
0:13:27 > 0:13:29so we moved from the manual pumps to using steam,
0:13:29 > 0:13:32mainly when we had a public service.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34And that would be under Captain Shaw then, would it?
0:13:34 > 0:13:36It would indeed. Yes, he was the chief officer
0:13:36 > 0:13:38that really wanted the new technology.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40He also introduced a new uniform into the fire brigade,
0:13:40 > 0:13:43so he introduced a woollen tunic,
0:13:43 > 0:13:45and this is a replica of a tunic worn at the time,
0:13:45 > 0:13:48so you can get an idea of how heavy it would have been
0:13:48 > 0:13:51and what the fire fighters had to wear when they went into an incident.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53It is very heavy. I imagine if this was soaked with water,
0:13:53 > 0:13:55it would be quite an impractical garment.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58Yeah, the water helped to protect them when it was wet,
0:13:58 > 0:14:00but they also made sure that it didn't have hems
0:14:00 > 0:14:02so that the water could run off the jacket
0:14:02 > 0:14:04to try and keep it a bit lighter.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07In addition, they also introduced new helmets into the brigade.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09So again, this is a replica, but it gives you an idea
0:14:09 > 0:14:13of the brass helmets that would have been worn at the time.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15Take me to my hose.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21I'm keen to find out how things have changed since Massey Shaw's day.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25Southwark is also where the brigade trains new recruits.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28Assistant Commissioner Dany Cotton assures me
0:14:28 > 0:14:32that beer tokens no longer feature in the curriculum.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36At what stage of their development are these trainee firefighters now?
0:14:36 > 0:14:38They've been here about eight weeks now,
0:14:38 > 0:14:42so they're about half way through their initial basic training, which lasts 17 weeks.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44And what's the exercise we're watching now?
0:14:44 > 0:14:45What do they have to do?
0:14:45 > 0:14:47This is demonstrating that they are able to use hoses
0:14:47 > 0:14:49in combination with ladders,
0:14:49 > 0:14:52so it's a simulation of a fire in a three-storey building.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55- Do you remember your training? - Oh, vividly.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58It was... It took place here in 1988.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00It was quite different.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03It involved a lot of marching, a lot of saluting,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06a lot more shiny shoes and shouting and running,
0:15:06 > 0:15:07but it was a lot more basic.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10But now, the fire-fighting role is so much more complicated.
0:15:10 > 0:15:11Why?
0:15:11 > 0:15:13Well, technology advances, mainly.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16Cars, for instance, were very basic. If you went to cut a car up,
0:15:16 > 0:15:18you could cut it anywhere, it didn't matter.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21Now, cars have got so many different systems in them to protect us,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24air bags and things, that you need the training for that.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27Then, you've got things like terrorist risk, chemicals...
0:15:27 > 0:15:30You're no longer squirting hoses yourself?
0:15:30 > 0:15:32No, sadly not, I did that for a number of years.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34I now point at people and tell them to squirt hoses.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37What's the proportion of women now in the London Fire Brigade?
0:15:37 > 0:15:39Still it seems a relatively low number,
0:15:39 > 0:15:43we've got nearly 350 women out of nearly 6,000 firefighters.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47And there's no reason why a woman couldn't fight a fire as well as a man these days?
0:15:47 > 0:15:50Absolutely not. Best job in the world. I would recommend it to anyone.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53I've loved every minute of my 24 years.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55In an area where old London meets new,
0:15:55 > 0:15:58I'm heading back towards the river through Borough Market,
0:15:58 > 0:16:03whose traders have sold food and supplies since the 11th century,
0:16:03 > 0:16:06to my final destination of the day.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08The George Inn also has a long past,
0:16:08 > 0:16:11which historian Pete Brown has investigated.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14- Pete, hello.- Hello. - Great to see you.- And you.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17My Bradshaw's guide to London says,
0:16:17 > 0:16:21"The old inns in The Borough, with their wide rambling staircases
0:16:21 > 0:16:24"and wooden galleries round the inn yards,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27"are pleasant reminiscences of ancient days
0:16:27 > 0:16:29"of coach and wagon traffic."
0:16:29 > 0:16:32- Absolutely, yeah.- I'm amazed to find it so brilliantly preserved, here at The George.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35This really is an amazing survivor from a previous age.
0:16:35 > 0:16:36We're on Borough High Street,
0:16:36 > 0:16:38which used to be the main thoroughfare into London
0:16:38 > 0:16:40from the south east and from the continent.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44London Bridge, just up the road, was the only bridge across the Thames until 1750.
0:16:44 > 0:16:45And it was this huge bottle neck.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47Everything came here and had to stay here
0:16:47 > 0:16:49and so, these inns cropped up all down the street,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52there were 20 at one time and this is the last survivor.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55Strangely, it's actually the railways that killed off places like this.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59Anything in the way of that railway line just disappeared, it was obliterated.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02When you look at maps of Southwark from before and after that happened,
0:17:02 > 0:17:06it's like a child with a felt-tip pen just kind of came in and just scribbled these lines across it,
0:17:06 > 0:17:09completely transforming the geography of the place.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12How do you account for the unique survival of The George?
0:17:12 > 0:17:15Partly, it's because the Great North Railway Company bought it, demolished a lot of it
0:17:15 > 0:17:20and kept some of it for office space and partly, it's because, at that time, the landlady was this lady,
0:17:20 > 0:17:22Agnes Murray, who was this formidable woman.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26She basically appropriated the mythology of all of Southwark's coaching inns
0:17:26 > 0:17:28and sort of centred it here.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30So, on this side, for example, stood The White Hart
0:17:30 > 0:17:33and The White Hart played a pivotal role in Dickens' first novel,
0:17:33 > 0:17:36Pickwick Papers, this is where Mr Pickwick meets Sam Weller.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40And Agnes Murray basically said, "Well, no, that happened here,
0:17:40 > 0:17:42"Dickens might have said The White Hart, but he meant The George."
0:17:42 > 0:17:46And she would show people the bedroom where this meeting supposedly took place
0:17:46 > 0:17:49and she'd show the table where Dickens supposedly sat
0:17:49 > 0:17:51and kind of built up this mythology around the place.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54And does the pub still have a warm hearth and warm beer?
0:17:54 > 0:17:57- It's got a warm hearth and pleasantly cool beer.- Let's go in.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01'With an early start tomorrow, it's just one for the road.'
0:18:02 > 0:18:04- Well, Pete, cheers.- Cheers.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07- A delightful way to end the day. - Absolutely.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18I'm up too early to catch the Jubilee tube line
0:18:18 > 0:18:21or the Docklands Light Railway to Canary Wharf,
0:18:21 > 0:18:23because to get the full flavour of my next destination,
0:18:23 > 0:18:27Billingsgate Fish Market, requires a pre-dawn start.
0:18:30 > 0:18:31My Bradshaw's guide says
0:18:31 > 0:18:34"Billingsgate, situated chiefly at the back
0:18:34 > 0:18:36"of that cluster of buildings by the Custom House
0:18:36 > 0:18:39"has been, since the days of William III,
0:18:39 > 0:18:42"the most famous fish market in Europe."
0:18:42 > 0:18:45In Bradshaw's day, the fish used to arrive by train.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48Now, they come mainly by lorry
0:18:48 > 0:18:51and the market has been relocated to Canary Wharf.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55But here, at five in the morning, it has lost none of its bustle
0:18:55 > 0:19:00and the change of location has made Billingsgate no less famous.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03Billingsgate became synonymous with fish
0:19:03 > 0:19:07when a 1699 Act of Parliament made it "a free and open market
0:19:07 > 0:19:09"for all sorts of fish whatsoever."
0:19:09 > 0:19:13Originally situated on the river adjacent to London Bridge,
0:19:13 > 0:19:15the market was supplied by boat,
0:19:15 > 0:19:19but the coming of the railways revolutionised the fishing industry
0:19:19 > 0:19:22and, as it satisfied the new demand for affordable fresh product,
0:19:22 > 0:19:26ports like Grimsby boomed.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29Billingsgate customers are still buying the freshest fish possible
0:19:29 > 0:19:31at a price that suits them.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36Excuse me, I see you are buying fish this early in the morning,
0:19:36 > 0:19:38are you in the business or are you buying it for yourself?
0:19:38 > 0:19:40No, it's for my personal use.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42- Do you do that a lot? - Yes, very often, it's good value.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45You come down here at five in the morning and buy your fish?
0:19:45 > 0:19:49- Absolutely, great value for money. - Are you looking for anything special in the fish line?
0:19:49 > 0:19:52- Well, I tend to look for sea bream...- Sea bream.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54..which is extremely good value, and salmon as well.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56How do you cook your sea bream?
0:19:56 > 0:19:57First of all, I prepare the sauce,
0:19:57 > 0:19:59and then, put the sea bream on top,
0:19:59 > 0:20:02and then cook it for about five, ten minutes to steam it.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06- It sounds absolutely fantastic. - Beautiful, Caribbean style.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09You enjoy that, mouthwatering. Thank you.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12Most orders placed here are wholesale.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14At busy times, the larger firms
0:20:14 > 0:20:17can sell up to two tonnes of fish each morning.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21Mark Morris works for the market's longest-established family business
0:20:21 > 0:20:24and he's offered to show me the basics.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27Has your family been in the business a while?
0:20:27 > 0:20:30We're the fourth generation, we go back to the early 1900s.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32My great-grandfather founded the business.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36We bring our fish in from all over the UK, all over Europe.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39We've got pollock and coley there, mackerel.
0:20:39 > 0:20:40Beautiful mackerel there.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43If you'll have a feel on that and a pinch on that.
0:20:43 > 0:20:44Oh, beautiful fish.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47And if you turn it upside down, open up its gills,
0:20:47 > 0:20:50you see the lovely, thick, rich red rug colour in there.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53That's what we're looking for - bright-eyed, nice and firm.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55Lovely hake here. We pick it up by the eye,
0:20:55 > 0:20:58because if you can see the teeth, they're absolutely razor sharp,
0:20:58 > 0:21:00we don't want to be getting our fingers caught in there.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02Thumb and forefinger...
0:21:02 > 0:21:05So thumb in one eye, forefinger in the other.
0:21:05 > 0:21:06And lift it straight up.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10Oh, there we go! That's a nice, safe way of picking up a hake.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12So I'm avoiding these sharp teeth,
0:21:12 > 0:21:15I'm avoiding the sharpness round the gills.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17And it's a rather yucky feeling
0:21:17 > 0:21:19sticking your fingers in the eyes of a hake.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27Having got a handle on his fish, I'm set to work.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31Michael, I need two hake, please.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34It's getting boxed up. The man wants his fish today, not the weekend.
0:21:34 > 0:21:35HE CHUCKLES
0:21:35 > 0:21:38- Michael, we need a headless cod there now please.- Headless cod.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40One of those large headless cod, please.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44- 3.88 of headless cod.- Thank you.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46And two salmon fillets, as well, please.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49No, no, fillets, Michael. Michael, the fillets, please.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51Thank you. Yes, of course, fillets.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54Yeah, I do apologise. New boy on the firm today.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Oh, it's got to go on the weighing machine first.
0:21:57 > 0:21:593.46 of salmon fillet!
0:21:59 > 0:22:02Thank you, Michael. We'll make a salesman out of you yet, sir.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05OK, lovely. Thank you very much.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07Yeah, sorry about the delay. Thank you. Bye-bye.
0:22:07 > 0:22:08HE LAUGHS
0:22:08 > 0:22:12Lovely, Michael, great job. Well done, sir, thank you very much.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17Oh, dear. I don't think I could get used to this.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23What I could get used to is travelling on Old Father Thames.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25I'm heading east to Abbey Wood,
0:22:25 > 0:22:27and my route takes me past
0:22:27 > 0:22:30one of the most famous of all London landmarks.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33My Bradshaw's London guide says,
0:22:33 > 0:22:36"Greenwich presents a striking appearance from the river,
0:22:36 > 0:22:39"it's hospital forming one of the most prominent attractions of the place."
0:22:39 > 0:22:43I've always loved Greenwich, its wonderful architecture,
0:22:43 > 0:22:45its spacious buildings,
0:22:45 > 0:22:49its association with one of my heroes, Horatio Nelson.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53And now that the Cutty Sark has been restored, it is complete again.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56'I marvel at the river's wonderful views of London landmarks,
0:22:56 > 0:22:58'old and new,'
0:22:58 > 0:23:00but one should always remember
0:23:00 > 0:23:04that the river is a potent force to be reckoned with.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07In Bradshaw's day, and indeed until quite recently,
0:23:07 > 0:23:11the Thames posed a mighty danger of flooding
0:23:11 > 0:23:16and the erection of the Thames Barrier has much reduced that risk.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19In Bradshaw's day, there was another peril from the Thames as well -
0:23:19 > 0:23:21the water was filthy.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26The final destination of this leg of my journey
0:23:26 > 0:23:29lies six miles further downstream at Abbey Wood.
0:23:29 > 0:23:34The Crossness Pumping Station was opened in 1865
0:23:34 > 0:23:38as an essential element of one of the largest engineering projects
0:23:38 > 0:23:41ever undertaken anywhere in the world.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44Author Stephen Halliday should be able to tell me more.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46- Stephen, hello.- Hello.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49I've just travelled here on the river and it was very nice,
0:23:49 > 0:23:52but I believe it was not always that pleasant on the Thames.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57Indeed. The sewage of 2.5 million people was flowing into the River Thames
0:23:57 > 0:24:01and, of course, the Thames is a tidal river, so it never went away.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03Why hadn't that happened before?
0:24:03 > 0:24:07Because, until about 1800, if you wanted to spend a penny,
0:24:07 > 0:24:10you would go into the basement of your home,
0:24:10 > 0:24:14you would do what you have to do in a cesspit,
0:24:14 > 0:24:17which would be emptied at intervals by a night soil man,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20who carted it away and sold it to farmers.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23And what happened AFTER 1800?
0:24:23 > 0:24:26The importation of guano from South America,
0:24:26 > 0:24:28solidified bird droppings,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30gave a better form of fertiliser.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34But the real killer was the introduction of the water closet.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37When you flushed, what you sent round the S-bend
0:24:37 > 0:24:39was a very small quantity of potential fertilizer
0:24:39 > 0:24:42and a huge volume of water,
0:24:42 > 0:24:46so the cesspit filled up ten or 20 times as quickly
0:24:46 > 0:24:50with liquid which people didn't want to buy and which leaked.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53And they leaked into surrounding water courses,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56wells, sources of drinking water,
0:24:56 > 0:25:02and dysentery, cholera and typhoid started to spread throughout London.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04That's the so-called Great Stink.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06Indeed, in the summer of 1858,
0:25:06 > 0:25:09you would not have wanted to be on the river at all.
0:25:09 > 0:25:15After the 1853 cholera outbreak had claimed over 10,000 lives
0:25:15 > 0:25:19and the hot summer of 1858 created the Great Stink,
0:25:19 > 0:25:21action was finally taken.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24As chief engineer to London's Metropolitan Board Of Works,
0:25:24 > 0:25:29Joseph Bazalgette oversaw the building of 82 miles of mains sewers
0:25:29 > 0:25:31under the streets of London,
0:25:31 > 0:25:33which intercepted existing sewers
0:25:33 > 0:25:36and despatched the capital's human waste out to sea
0:25:36 > 0:25:41via two steam-powered pumping stations like Crossness.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43It's currently undergoing restoration.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46It's absolutely glorious,
0:25:46 > 0:25:49it's as highly decorated as the House of Commons.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52Yes, for a sewage-pumping station, they didn't stint, did they?
0:25:54 > 0:25:57What a fantastic restoration. Hello, I'm Michael.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01- I'm Mike Jones.- So when was the pumping station restored?
0:26:01 > 0:26:03Well, we're still restoring it,
0:26:03 > 0:26:07but I suppose the trust really started around 1988.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11It was, in fact, scheduled for demolition for quite a while
0:26:11 > 0:26:14and wasn't demolished because the engines are so large,
0:26:14 > 0:26:16so it's very fortunate that it's still here.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20And I think people would be amazed, overwhelmed
0:26:20 > 0:26:24that the Victorians decorated a pumping station like this.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26I think it's a reflection of the Victorian pride
0:26:26 > 0:26:28in what they were doing.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30And I believe one of the engines actually works.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34That's true, Prince Consort has been in steam since 2003.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36And if you'd like to, you can start it.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39I would love to, it'd be a privilege.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43Crossness has four gigantic steam engines,
0:26:43 > 0:26:47each boasting 47-ton beams
0:26:47 > 0:26:49and 52-ton flywheels.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54We normally blow the whistle before we start the engine,
0:26:54 > 0:26:55give it a long blast.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57WHISTLE
0:26:57 > 0:26:59Open this valve here...
0:27:25 > 0:27:28My Bradshaw's guide is right -
0:27:28 > 0:27:30the best way to see London is by boat.
0:27:30 > 0:27:31From the Tate Gallery,
0:27:31 > 0:27:34past the Houses of Parliament to Billingsgate Fish Market,
0:27:34 > 0:27:37the Thames was London's highway to the world.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39But when, during the Great Stink,
0:27:39 > 0:27:42it began to carry more sewage than exports,
0:27:42 > 0:27:45those magnificent Victorians engineered a solution
0:27:45 > 0:27:47on a grand scale, as usual.
0:27:51 > 0:27:52On the next leg of my journey,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55I'll discover how derelict Victorian London
0:27:55 > 0:27:59is being rejuvenated to its former glory.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01This is to be called Granary Square
0:28:01 > 0:28:04- and will be bigger than Trafalgar Square.- Amazing.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08I'll put in a shift at a Cambridgeshire brick factory
0:28:08 > 0:28:11that helped to rebuild post-war London.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13Hey, new boy! Come and have a go!
0:28:13 > 0:28:15Always one for a challenge.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18And I'll meet a brick-built immigrant community.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22THEY SING
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd