0:00:05 > 0:00:10'In 1840, one man transformed travel in the British Isles.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12'His name was George Bradshaw,
0:00:12 > 0:00:16'and his railway guides inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks.'
0:00:18 > 0:00:21'Stop by stop, he told them where to travel,
0:00:21 > 0:00:23'what to see and where to stay.'
0:00:25 > 0:00:29'Now, 170 years later, I'm making a series of journeys
0:00:29 > 0:00:31'across the length and breadth of these isles
0:00:31 > 0:00:34'to see what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.'
0:00:57 > 0:01:01'I'm now more than half way through a journey that began in Portsmouth
0:01:01 > 0:01:05'and which has given me time to explore my home city of London.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09'On this leg, I'll be continuing that exploration.'
0:01:12 > 0:01:16'Today, I'll discover how derelict Victorian London
0:01:16 > 0:01:18'is being rejuvenated.'
0:01:18 > 0:01:20This used to be called Granary Square,
0:01:20 > 0:01:23- and will be bigger than Trafalgar Square.- Amazing.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26'I'll put in a shift at a Cambridgeshire brick factory.'
0:01:26 > 0:01:29Oh, dear boy, would you like to come and have a go?
0:01:29 > 0:01:31Always one for a challenge.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34'And I'll meet a brick-built immigrant community.'
0:01:34 > 0:01:36THEY SING
0:01:43 > 0:01:45'Using my Bradshaw's Guide,
0:01:45 > 0:01:47'I began on the Hampshire coast in Portsmouth,
0:01:47 > 0:01:50'travelled up through Surrey and on to London,
0:01:50 > 0:01:53'and I'll soon push north east to Cambridgeshire,
0:01:53 > 0:01:57'completing my journey at Grimsby in Lincolnshire.'
0:02:00 > 0:02:03'The fourth leg of my journey starts in Kings Cross,
0:02:03 > 0:02:05'heads north to Alexandra Palace,
0:02:05 > 0:02:09'on to Knebworth, into Bedfordshire and ends in Peterborough.'
0:02:12 > 0:02:15The Victorian railways made their biggest architectural impact
0:02:15 > 0:02:19in our city centres, with the erection of vast termini,
0:02:19 > 0:02:21cathedrals of steam.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24Today, thanks to an enormous rebuilding programme,
0:02:24 > 0:02:27they are returning to their Victorian exuberance,
0:02:27 > 0:02:31revealing again architectural details
0:02:31 > 0:02:33pointed out in my Bradshaw's Guide.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41'Built by the Great Northern Railway
0:02:41 > 0:02:44'and named in homage to King George IV,
0:02:44 > 0:02:48'central London's King's Cross opened in 1852.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50'Today, it's a busy London terminus
0:02:50 > 0:02:54'with over 40 million passengers passing through it each year.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57'And after decades of neglect,
0:02:57 > 0:03:01'the station is finally being restored to its beautiful grandeur.'
0:03:03 > 0:03:05This station is, to me, a wonder
0:03:05 > 0:03:08and it was to George Bradshaw, too.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11"King's Cross presents a most imposing appearance.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14"In the facade, the two main arches mark the end of the arrival
0:03:14 > 0:03:20"and departures platforms and each has a span of no less than 72 feet.
0:03:20 > 0:03:21"On reaching the platform,
0:03:21 > 0:03:24"the traveller cannot fail to admire
0:03:24 > 0:03:27"the size and character of the station, the semi-spherical roof
0:03:27 > 0:03:29"the immense area covered in."
0:03:29 > 0:03:32And thanks to the recent refurbishment of King's Cross,
0:03:32 > 0:03:36we are seeing it today as no-one has seen it
0:03:36 > 0:03:39since Queen Victoria went to her grave.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45'Affectionately dubbed The Great Station,
0:03:45 > 0:03:48'King's Cross was designed in an Italianate style
0:03:48 > 0:03:50'by architect Lewis Cubitt.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53'Now the station and the 67 acres
0:03:53 > 0:03:57'of previously derelict land and buildings behind it
0:03:57 > 0:04:00'are undergoing one of the largest urban regenerations in Europe.'
0:04:03 > 0:04:06'I'm meeting Roger Mann of the redevelopment team
0:04:06 > 0:04:10'at the Grade II listed Granary Complex.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12'At the height of the Victorian industrial boom,
0:04:12 > 0:04:16'it was part of a goods interchange, and now forms a new campus
0:04:16 > 0:04:20'for the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.'
0:04:23 > 0:04:25This is a fantastic space.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28And the railway history is written on the wall,
0:04:28 > 0:04:30- so it's been left intact, hasn't it?- It has.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34There was a great debate about sandblasting this building,
0:04:34 > 0:04:36but I think the right decision was made.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39Originally, this was built purely for goods
0:04:39 > 0:04:43and a passenger was something not necessarily thought of.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45So it was always a bit of a by-product.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47- Because the money was in freight? - Exactly so.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51What were the sorts of goods being moved through this part of King's Cross?
0:04:51 > 0:04:55Potatoes and coal, together with fish and then lots of other goods.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57Fantastic.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02'The redevelopment of King's Cross isn't confined to its interior.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05'The exterior is being transformed, too.'
0:05:08 > 0:05:12I had no idea that this vast space existed. What was it?
0:05:12 > 0:05:15This was a canal basin. The canal itself, just over there,
0:05:15 > 0:05:18came into the site all the way to the granary building
0:05:18 > 0:05:21and underneath and, in fact, there were two openings
0:05:21 > 0:05:25under the main building and one on either end of the shed.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27The barges could pass under the building?
0:05:27 > 0:05:31Under the building and disgorged of their product or, in fact, took a load on.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33And what will this space be now?
0:05:33 > 0:05:35This is to be called Granary Square,
0:05:35 > 0:05:38we'll have a number of fountains playing,
0:05:38 > 0:05:41probably with music from time to time
0:05:41 > 0:05:44- and will be bigger than Trafalgar Square.- Amazing.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47'The station's original roof,
0:05:47 > 0:05:50'modelled on the Russian Tsar's riding school,
0:05:50 > 0:05:55'was the largest in the world, spanning 105 by 800 feet.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58'And the new 1,700-ton steel-and-glass dome
0:05:58 > 0:06:03'covering the refurbished concourse is the centrepiece of architect
0:06:03 > 0:06:05John McAslan's vision for King's Cross.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09John...
0:06:09 > 0:06:11- If you seek his monument, look about you.- Exactly.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13Congratulations, it's magnificent.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16You've chosen to make this sweeping roof.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Are you making reference here to Victorian architecture?
0:06:19 > 0:06:23We are. We are inspired by the original architecture,
0:06:23 > 0:06:26the original train shed roof and we've tried to interpret that
0:06:26 > 0:06:30and I think people genuinely enjoy the quality of the space
0:06:30 > 0:06:32and understand the references we've made.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36I've noticed, for example, that the passenger sheds,
0:06:36 > 0:06:38the glazing has all been redone,
0:06:38 > 0:06:40light is now pouring on to the platforms.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42That didn't happen for many years.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44That's right, all of the old polychromatic
0:06:44 > 0:06:47coverings have been removed, we've reinstated glass.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50We've put photovoltaics on top so energy is produced now, so yes,
0:06:50 > 0:06:53they're represented. and I think as you'll agree,
0:06:53 > 0:06:55fantastic light is streaming in to the shed
0:06:55 > 0:06:57for the first time in about 50 years.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00If George Bradshaw were writing today and he came here,
0:07:00 > 0:07:05would he write with such admiration about your spans and arches?
0:07:05 > 0:07:07I think he'd see the connection we've made between
0:07:07 > 0:07:10Victorian engineering and 21st century architecture
0:07:10 > 0:07:12and engineering and I'd hope he would respond well to it.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28WHISTLE
0:07:35 > 0:07:37'My next stop, like King's Cross,'
0:07:37 > 0:07:42is another piece of iconic Victorian architecture,
0:07:42 > 0:07:46built with its own railway station, looming over the railway tracks.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50A palace named after the Princess of Wales.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52But it wasn't built for the Princess's pleasure,
0:07:52 > 0:07:55but for the pleasure of the public.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57Alexandra Palace.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00'Five miles north of King's Cross, in 1873,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03'The People's Palace opened
0:08:03 > 0:08:07'as a centre of recreation for Victorian Londoners.
0:08:07 > 0:08:12'But after just 16 days, Alexandra Palace was destroyed by fire.
0:08:13 > 0:08:18'Two years later, a new palace, covering seven acres, opened.
0:08:18 > 0:08:19'In 1936,
0:08:19 > 0:08:24'the first public television pictures were transmitted from here
0:08:24 > 0:08:29'and then in 1980, the palace was severely fire damaged again.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32'I'm hoping that current Chief Executive, Duncan Wilson,
0:08:32 > 0:08:34'will tell me how it's recovered.'
0:08:34 > 0:08:36- Duncan, hello.- Hello.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40So I take it from the architecture that this was a railway station.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42Indeed. This was the booking hall of the railway station,
0:08:42 > 0:08:46which lay between the hall and Alexandra Palace itself.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48So when Alexandra Palace was built in 1873,
0:08:48 > 0:08:50it already had its railway station?
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Indeed, it was part of the whole concept to get people up here
0:08:53 > 0:08:58in massive numbers to enjoy this enormous palace of entertainment.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00And did the railway succeed in sucking people in?
0:09:00 > 0:09:03It did, there were 94,000 people arrived on the Whit Monday
0:09:03 > 0:09:06after it opened, although they did arrive rather late,
0:09:06 > 0:09:10because there was a derailment just outside King's Cross.
0:09:10 > 0:09:15'Alexandra Palace's entertainment spaces include its Palm Court,
0:09:15 > 0:09:19'ice rink and - the largest of all - its Great Hall.'
0:09:19 > 0:09:22This is absolutely extraordinary, isn't it?
0:09:22 > 0:09:24So what did they build this vast space for?
0:09:24 > 0:09:27It was built for, amongst other things, organ concerts
0:09:27 > 0:09:31for audiences of ten to 15,000, choral concerts,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33orchestral concerts, massive events.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36It could accommodate nearly 2,000 performers.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38From your knowledge of Alexandra Palace,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41what impression do you get of what entertained the Victorians?
0:09:41 > 0:09:45An amazing range of things by modern standards. I think, in a way,
0:09:45 > 0:09:47it was the combination of the wildlife documentary
0:09:47 > 0:09:50and the art history programme on television
0:09:50 > 0:09:53all presented as an exhibition to the public, or a series of them,
0:09:53 > 0:09:57so we had exhibitions of goat and rabbit breeding,
0:09:57 > 0:10:02a Moorish bazaar and 1,000 monkeys exhibited in the Palm Court,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05and they even brought elephants here by train,
0:10:05 > 0:10:08led out through the front of the building to the circus.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11- On the trunk line? - On the trunk line, yes.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18What plans do you have for all this in the future?
0:10:18 > 0:10:21Currently, we operate the Great and West halls as a successful
0:10:21 > 0:10:25concert venue, but there's a lot we can do more with Alexander Palace,
0:10:25 > 0:10:27if we can get the money to invest in it.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34It's heartening that, like King's Cross,
0:10:34 > 0:10:37another great Victorian edifice is highly valued today.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49From the current Alexandra Palace station,
0:10:49 > 0:10:53I am catching my next train north, out of the capital.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01I've left London well behind me now,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04and my train is swishing through Hertfordshire.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08For my last stop of the day, I have taken a tip from Bradshaw's,
0:11:08 > 0:11:11which says that in the vicinity is Knebworth Hall,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14"the fine seat of Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton."
0:11:15 > 0:11:18Bulwer-Lytton? That rings a bell. An author, I think,
0:11:18 > 0:11:21but I don't think I have ever read anything by him.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28The name Knebworth might be synonymous with its rock festival,
0:11:28 > 0:11:33but it's been home to the Lytton family since 1490,
0:11:33 > 0:11:36and in the 19th century, to Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton,
0:11:36 > 0:11:38author and member of Parliament.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41I'm meeting descendant Henry Lytton-Cobbold.
0:11:41 > 0:11:42Hi, Michael.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45- Henry, lovely to see you. - Very pleased you popped by.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48- A fine seat, as my Bradshaw's says. - Thank you very much.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52- But Bulwer-Lytton, I don't know much about him.- There's lots to tell you about Bulwer.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Let me show you round. Let me show you his influence.
0:11:56 > 0:12:01So we have the most hideous and scary preachers here.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05Yes, warding off evil spirits, which they still do to this day, I trust.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08Does that tells us something about his mind?
0:12:08 > 0:12:11It tells us a lot about his mind.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14I mean, look at these. Everywhere you'll see bats on barrels.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17Bats on barrels is a play on the word "Lytton",
0:12:17 > 0:12:22the old English word for a bat being "lit", and for a barrel being "ton".
0:12:22 > 0:12:25So everywhere you'll see different bats on barrels.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27Some of these gargoyles seem to have a thirst on them.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Their very long tongues are hanging out.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33In fact, English Heritage, which insisted everything go back
0:12:33 > 0:12:35exactly the way it was,
0:12:35 > 0:12:37when we were able to restore these a few years ago,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40did allow us to shorten the tongues just a little bit,
0:12:40 > 0:12:43just for decency's sake.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47But great fun to restore them back up to their original position,
0:12:47 > 0:12:49up above the library bay window here.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52Having found out about Bulwer-Lytton's taste
0:12:52 > 0:12:57in exterior decor, I want to discover more of the man himself.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00He was perhaps best known for his historical novels.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03This is his collection of medieval armour,
0:13:03 > 0:13:07which is armour that still has dents in it
0:13:07 > 0:13:09where spears and musket shell has hit it.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12Here we are in Bulwer-Lytton's study,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15where he wrote his enormous volume of work.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17What was his reputation at the time?
0:13:17 > 0:13:20He was the best-selling novelist in Britain in the 1830s,
0:13:20 > 0:13:23until the young whippersnapper journalist Charles Dickens
0:13:23 > 0:13:24came along and usurped him.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Of course, they were great friends, and they went on to work together.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31Poor Lytton became very much a grand old man of literature
0:13:31 > 0:13:35for the mid-19th-century authors and poets.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37And would those other authors come down?
0:13:37 > 0:13:39Yes, Dickens would bring his chums down, his actor friends down
0:13:39 > 0:13:44for great weekend parties, and perform in the hall downstairs.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47- So, this is his rather splendid library.- Wonderful.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50Literally built from scratch, a Victorian gentleman's library.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54- Wonderful.- It's funny to think, even right from the start of his career,
0:13:54 > 0:13:57but even quite late into his career, he was writing for money.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59I mean, he spent a lot of money on this towards the end of the 1840s,
0:13:59 > 0:14:02when the railway was being built.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05I think he relied rather too heavily on making money out of that,
0:14:05 > 0:14:07and he ended up having to write the novel Harold
0:14:07 > 0:14:10to help pay the solicitors' bills that he'd run up,
0:14:10 > 0:14:12trying to fight for his fair share
0:14:12 > 0:14:16for having the railway go right through his estate.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21In the 1840s, like so many other landowners across these islands,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24Edward Bulwer-Lytton had to decide whether he would
0:14:24 > 0:14:27allow the railways to traverse his land,
0:14:27 > 0:14:31and if he did, how much he would accept from them for the privilege.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34So, here we have his estate at that time.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38You can see how the railway literally seared it in two.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41It really brings home to you what landowners
0:14:41 > 0:14:44had to sacrifice in those days, if the railway passed through.
0:14:44 > 0:14:45Yes.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58Edward Bulwer-Lytton was the first writer to begin a novel
0:14:58 > 0:15:02with the words, "It was a dark and stormy night."
0:15:02 > 0:15:06He also gave us the phrase, "The pen is mightier than the sword,"
0:15:06 > 0:15:09and the expression, "The great unwashed."
0:15:09 > 0:15:11Which after the long day that I've had,
0:15:11 > 0:15:13is rather the way I'm feeling now.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18It's off to a local hostelry, and early to bed.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28Rejuvenated, and set for the next leg of my journey,
0:15:28 > 0:15:30it's less than a half-hour trip
0:15:30 > 0:15:32on the King's Cross-to-Peterborough main line.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52I'm now in Bedfordshire, and my Bradshaw's tells me
0:15:52 > 0:15:56some of the finest vegetables are produced here for the London market.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58They must benefit from all this rain.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00My next stop is Biggleswade,
0:16:00 > 0:16:02and Bradshaw's tells me it was formerly
0:16:02 > 0:16:04one of the most extensive corn markets in England,
0:16:04 > 0:16:06and that's the clue I'm going to pursue,
0:16:06 > 0:16:11because in my view, you don't get a corn market without corn.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18In Bradshaw's day, mills in this area were abundant.
0:16:18 > 0:16:23In the 1850s, Biggleswade was the first town in Bedfordshire
0:16:23 > 0:16:24to have a main line station.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31I've come to one of the last working mills in the county
0:16:31 > 0:16:34to meet Bill Jordan, whose family has for generations
0:16:34 > 0:16:37pushed forward the technology of milling.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43- Hello.- Hello, Bill.- Welcome.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45Thank you so much.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48This is a gorgeous mill. How old is it?
0:16:48 > 0:16:52This was built in 1896, so it was a model mill in its day.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54Had there been mills here before?
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Yes, there's been a mill here since the Domesday Book, 1086,
0:16:57 > 0:17:00because this was a great grain-growing area.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04Yes, my Bradshaw's Guide refers to the corn markets
0:17:04 > 0:17:07of Biggleswade being amongst the most important in the country.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11It was a real bread basket area. 400 mills alone in Bedfordshire,
0:17:11 > 0:17:14and the great thing here, the River Ivel is a tributary of the Ouse,
0:17:14 > 0:17:17so there was always reasonably good water here.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20We're wearing our hard hats in here. What are you doing with this mill?
0:17:20 > 0:17:23It's all about showing people how milling is done,
0:17:23 > 0:17:28how we use water power to drive the mill, so sustainable power.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32So this is a great example of an old Victorian roller mill
0:17:32 > 0:17:33driven by water.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35When this mill opened, what were its features?
0:17:35 > 0:17:37Was it advanced for its time?
0:17:37 > 0:17:39Oh, this was the last word.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42The whole thing about flour milling was survival.
0:17:42 > 0:17:47Those 400 mills came crashing down to just one, which was this one,
0:17:47 > 0:17:48only a few years ago,
0:17:48 > 0:17:52and the whole thing about milling was to try and use technology
0:17:52 > 0:17:55to just get a step ahead of your competition.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58Looking at this machinery, what should I notice about it?
0:17:58 > 0:18:00Well, you weren't paying much for your power,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03because we're working on a four-foot drop in the River Ivel
0:18:03 > 0:18:05to actually drive this turbine,
0:18:05 > 0:18:08which develops something like 28 horsepower.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11- So it was a clever piece of kit. - Have you got it in working order?
0:18:11 > 0:18:13This is absolutely in working order.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15This will be one of the finest examples, really,
0:18:15 > 0:18:18of a Victorian roller mill still in use.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27You have to take your hat off to these Victorian engineers.
0:18:27 > 0:18:28You really do.
0:18:28 > 0:18:33This has been working for over 110 years, very little maintenance.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37A few separate teeth occasionally, when there was a breakdown.
0:18:37 > 0:18:38But absolutely.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42All that power, 28 horsepower, just run off the river.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44Very clever.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48Bill's not merely an enthusiast for old mills.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53In the 1970s, he and his brother saw a new future in breakfast cereals.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55They swapped granary for granola,
0:18:55 > 0:18:57traded in wheat for oats,
0:18:57 > 0:18:59left flour milling behind,
0:18:59 > 0:19:03and created their multi-million pound brand, Jordan's Cereal.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07Paul Bell is a shift manager at their factory.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12Paul, this is breakfast cereals on a industrial scale.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14This whole thing we walked along is an oven.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16It is indeed, 62 metres of it, yes.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18This oven can do any cereal you like, can it?
0:19:19 > 0:19:24Yes, essentially. We can do 13, 14 different types of base product.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26Give me some idea of your output from this plant.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30We produce, on average, 1,500 pallets of finished goods a week,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33which is about 135,000 cases.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36How many boxes of cereal is that? You multiply by what?
0:19:36 > 0:19:40By six, as a rule. So that's quite some undertaking.
0:19:40 > 0:19:45The technology that gets over 800,000 boxes of cereal per week
0:19:45 > 0:19:49cooked, bagged, boxed, packed and distributed is a long step
0:19:49 > 0:19:54forward from the water-powered mills of the company's Victorian history.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56What we have here, flat-pack cartons,
0:19:56 > 0:19:59and every time the sensor sees a bag on the belt,
0:19:59 > 0:20:02it'll pull the carton down, push it into shape.
0:20:02 > 0:20:03As we walk along the process,
0:20:03 > 0:20:07we can watch the pushers push the bags into the boxes.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10They're then folded and glued and sealed,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13and fed down to the next process.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15After going through a check weigher, which is obviously
0:20:15 > 0:20:18a legal requirement for our 500g declarations.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28From the bread basket of Bedfordshire,
0:20:28 > 0:20:30I'm destined now for Cambridgeshire,
0:20:30 > 0:20:33the county of my old university and for which,
0:20:33 > 0:20:35unlike Bradshaw's, I have an affinity.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41My Bradshaw's can be pretty opinionated.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45Under the entry for Peterborough, where I'll be changing trains,
0:20:45 > 0:20:49it writes "the country is flat and uninteresting in winter
0:20:49 > 0:20:53"and when the floods are up, the roads are almost impassable."
0:20:53 > 0:20:56It sounds as if some unfortunate personal experience
0:20:56 > 0:20:59lies behind that. I find the Eastern Plain
0:20:59 > 0:21:01rather more charming than Bradshaw's did.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08Peterborough station serves all four points of the compass,
0:21:08 > 0:21:10and four million passengers a year.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12'Train just arriving at platform 5.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16'Whittlesey is an additional stop today for this service.'
0:21:16 > 0:21:20I'm taking the branch line east to Whittlesey.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26Relying on the constituents of what Bradshaw's dismissed
0:21:26 > 0:21:30as its boggy ground, since the 1880s
0:21:30 > 0:21:32Peterborough and its surrounds
0:21:32 > 0:21:35have built a prosperity based on the manufacture
0:21:35 > 0:21:38of a construction product that most of us take for granted.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41Bricks.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46In the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49so much of our capital city was built with these,
0:21:49 > 0:21:53that the product became known simply as London Brick.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55I'm in Whittlesey to meet David Weeks,
0:21:55 > 0:21:59whose company bought the original London Brick Company in the 1980s.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03So this wonderful stuff is clay, is it?
0:22:03 > 0:22:06Yeah, this is really the heart of the whole process.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09It's called Lower Oxford clay, and interestingly,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12when the brick works first started in Peterborough,
0:22:12 > 0:22:14they used the very soft clay on the top,
0:22:14 > 0:22:17and a guy called James Craig who set up the first brickworks
0:22:17 > 0:22:22discovered this much harder clay underneath and purely by chance
0:22:22 > 0:22:24as they dug further and further.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27And there's a rich seam that goes from Oxford all the way
0:22:27 > 0:22:30up to Yorkshire and all these brick works
0:22:30 > 0:22:33were sited along the seam of clay.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37With its high carbon content,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40Lower Oxford Clay had a unique property -
0:22:40 > 0:22:43it was combustible, so less fuel was needed
0:22:43 > 0:22:46to fire the bricks in the production process.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48In the late 19th century,
0:22:48 > 0:22:50this industry was able to save energy,
0:22:50 > 0:22:55and to make use of a raw material that was both natural and plentiful.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59There's been quarrying around this part of Peterborough
0:22:59 > 0:23:01for over 100 years now.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03This is the last working clay quarry,
0:23:03 > 0:23:06and when this is finished it will be the end of an era,
0:23:06 > 0:23:10because the market for these bricks is gradually tailing off,
0:23:10 > 0:23:12because although they're very hard-wearing and durable,
0:23:12 > 0:23:15they don't have the insulation properties of a modern brick.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21By the 1930s, the market for London bricks was huge...
0:23:23 > 0:23:26..and most of the Peterborough brickyards
0:23:26 > 0:23:30had their own railway sidings to transport their finished products.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36David wants to show me how the very finest London bricks are produced.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39So, tell me about this process here.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43Well, at the back you can see what we call the green bricks,
0:23:43 > 0:23:46which are just the natural clay as it's just come out
0:23:46 > 0:23:50after the bricks have been pressed. This is one of the kiln chambers.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52You put it into the kiln chamber ready to be fired
0:23:52 > 0:23:56and these guys are now bricking it up with old reject bricks
0:23:56 > 0:23:58and they will then seal it with a render
0:23:58 > 0:24:01and then gradually the fire will then work its way round
0:24:01 > 0:24:03into this chamber and fire these bricks
0:24:03 > 0:24:05and move on to the next chamber.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08How long will your green bricks stay there until they're proper bricks?
0:24:08 > 0:24:10They'll be in the kiln for about five days.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15To ensure that the enormous kiln is working to maximum capacity,
0:24:15 > 0:24:19it's been given handy portholes to add fuel.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21Oh, wow, that is a brilliant sight, isn't it?
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Those are glowing, glowing bricks, are they?
0:24:24 > 0:24:26Yep, a thousand degrees.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29Oh, yes, so that's quite nice on a cold day!
0:24:29 > 0:24:31The process starts with them, as they approach the fire,
0:24:31 > 0:24:34they gradually dry out and then the temperature rises
0:24:34 > 0:24:37up to 1,000 degrees when they're fired properly
0:24:37 > 0:24:39and then there's a process when they cool down
0:24:39 > 0:24:42and the whole cycle takes about 12 days
0:24:42 > 0:24:45and the fire moves around the kiln. The bricks are static all the time,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47the fire tracks its way around
0:24:47 > 0:24:50and we load the green bricks in ahead of the fire
0:24:50 > 0:24:53and then take out the fired bricks behind the fire.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55And it's a continuous process.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59Once fired and cooled, even in today's mechanised world,
0:24:59 > 0:25:03London bricks are packed the old-fashioned way, by hand.
0:25:03 > 0:25:08Oh, dear boy, would you like to come and have a go?
0:25:08 > 0:25:10Always one for a challenge!
0:25:10 > 0:25:12What do I have to do?
0:25:12 > 0:25:16Just pick two bricks up like that and put them on there.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18Just make sure they're...
0:25:20 > 0:25:24That's it. Mind your fingers, because they bite.
0:25:24 > 0:25:25They bite, do they?
0:25:27 > 0:25:28The other thing is to go at speed, isn't it?
0:25:28 > 0:25:31- Do you do this all day, do you, Reg? - All day, yes.- Goodness.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34Do you do any of the other jobs around the brickworks?
0:25:34 > 0:25:35No, not really, no.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39We have done 'em, but, like, this is our main job, this is.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41So, makes you pretty tough?
0:25:41 > 0:25:45Yeah, exactly. It hurts at the end of the day,
0:25:45 > 0:25:48and plus we just come back off holidays, so...
0:25:48 > 0:25:51So you're a little bit out of practice?
0:25:51 > 0:25:53Stiff, yeah, at the minute, yeah.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59Many thousands have put in shifts at London Brick,
0:25:59 > 0:26:02some of them from surprising backgrounds.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05After the Second World War,
0:26:05 > 0:26:10Britain's cities had to be rebuilt, and the demand for bricks soared.
0:26:10 > 0:26:15The London Brick Company employed more than 3,000 prisoners of war.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18But after they went home in the early 1950s,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21London Brick began a recruitment drive in Southern Italy.
0:26:21 > 0:26:28As a result, Peterborough has a thriving Italian ex-pat community.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31- Anyone here connected with the brickworks?- These two.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34In 1955. We come from the same place in Italy.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37Did you know each other in those days?
0:26:37 > 0:26:39- Yes, I go to school with him. - No!- Yeah.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43- Signora, when did you come to England?- 1952.
0:26:43 > 0:26:44Now, what did you come to do?
0:26:44 > 0:26:46You didn't come to work in a brick factory?
0:26:46 > 0:26:49No, darling, I just came for my love. My husband.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51And what did he do?
0:26:51 > 0:26:52Work in the London Brick Company.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54In the London Brick Company.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56THEY SING IN ITALIAN
0:26:56 > 0:26:58What better way to end a journey
0:26:58 > 0:27:02than to be immersed in a vibrant community built brick by brick?
0:27:02 > 0:27:06THEY SING: "Nessun Dorma"
0:27:25 > 0:27:28The story of the Italian brick makers
0:27:28 > 0:27:31reminds me that despite the industrialisation of Bradshaw's era,
0:27:31 > 0:27:34most people continued to be manual labourers.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36These tracks were laid by beef and brawn
0:27:36 > 0:27:39and in the fields, the wheat was gathered
0:27:39 > 0:27:43largely without the use of machines. In this era of mechanisation,
0:27:43 > 0:27:48it's as well to remember those who lived by the sweat of their brow.
0:27:50 > 0:27:51On the next leg of my journey,
0:27:51 > 0:27:55I see how Lincolnshire farmers utilised rails
0:27:55 > 0:27:58to improve their harvests.
0:27:58 > 0:27:59That was fun!
0:27:59 > 0:28:04I visit one of Britain's most ancient and impressive cathedrals.
0:28:04 > 0:28:10The tower is like fingers of honey-coloured stone
0:28:10 > 0:28:13against the blue sky. Absolutely breathtaking.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16And I look to the future of rail freight.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19It gives me the most enormous pleasure to be able
0:28:19 > 0:28:25to name this locomotive Immingham 100.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29APPLAUSE
0:28:44 > 0:28:47Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd