Browse content similar to Southampton to Basingstoke. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain. | 0:00:06 | 0:00:11 | |
His name was George Bradshaw, | 0:00:11 | 0:00:12 | |
and his Railway Guides inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks. | 0:00:12 | 0:00:18 | |
Stop by stop, he told them where to go, what to see and where to stay. | 0:00:18 | 0:00:24 | |
And now, 170 years later, I'm aboard for a series of rail adventures | 0:00:24 | 0:00:29 | |
across the United Kingdom, to see what of Bradshaw's Britain remains. | 0:00:29 | 0:00:34 | |
Today, I'm beginning a new journey, | 0:00:56 | 0:00:58 | |
curving my way up the spine of England, using mainly branch lines. | 0:00:58 | 0:01:03 | |
These tracks put local trades in touch with big markets | 0:01:03 | 0:01:06 | |
in the city, led to the invention of the commuter | 0:01:06 | 0:01:09 | |
and, most importantly, enabled the Victorian masses to explore | 0:01:09 | 0:01:14 | |
their own country, an experience which I'm repeating today. | 0:01:14 | 0:01:18 | |
On this stretch, I learn to set table aboard an ocean liner. | 0:01:22 | 0:01:27 | |
Thank you very much. | 0:01:27 | 0:01:29 | |
You're faster than me! | 0:01:29 | 0:01:30 | |
MICHAEL LAUGHS | 0:01:30 | 0:01:32 | |
I visit a suspected Solent smugglers' hideaway. | 0:01:32 | 0:01:35 | |
Whoa! What a view! | 0:01:35 | 0:01:38 | |
Isn't that magnificent? | 0:01:38 | 0:01:40 | |
And I discover the tactics employed | 0:01:41 | 0:01:43 | |
by the Victorian temperance movement. | 0:01:43 | 0:01:46 | |
All of a sudden, a group of uniformed invaders come along, shouting, | 0:01:46 | 0:01:50 | |
"Come out of the devil's house! You're going to hell! | 0:01:50 | 0:01:53 | |
"You will not be saved if you carry on drinking this foul liquid!" | 0:01:53 | 0:01:56 | |
My journey starts on the south coast, | 0:02:01 | 0:02:04 | |
heads to Hampshire's garrison town, | 0:02:04 | 0:02:06 | |
takes in the cloth makers of Newbury, | 0:02:06 | 0:02:09 | |
an engineering triumph in Bristol, | 0:02:09 | 0:02:11 | |
and concludes in the West Midlands at Wolverhampton. | 0:02:11 | 0:02:15 | |
This leg starts amidst the luxury cruise liners of Southampton docks, | 0:02:16 | 0:02:20 | |
heads West to the town of Totton, | 0:02:20 | 0:02:22 | |
south east to Netley and ends in riotous Basingstoke. | 0:02:22 | 0:02:26 | |
My first stop today is Southampton. | 0:02:34 | 0:02:37 | |
Bradshaw's says that, "Owing to the advantageous effects | 0:02:37 | 0:02:40 | |
"of the railways, it's become one of our leading commercial ports, | 0:02:40 | 0:02:44 | |
"formed on a scale of great magnitude." | 0:02:44 | 0:02:47 | |
I first visited the city when I was a schoolchild | 0:02:47 | 0:02:50 | |
on a primary school outing | 0:02:50 | 0:02:52 | |
and I remember being so impressed by the scale of everything. | 0:02:52 | 0:02:56 | |
In particular, in those days, | 0:02:56 | 0:02:57 | |
by the magnificent three-funnelled Queen Mary. | 0:02:57 | 0:03:00 | |
Set upon the River Itchen and adjacent to the Solent, | 0:03:02 | 0:03:06 | |
Saxon Southampton was such an important port that, | 0:03:06 | 0:03:09 | |
in the 9th century, it even had its own Royal Mint. | 0:03:09 | 0:03:13 | |
Famous for its docks, and as the port from which | 0:03:13 | 0:03:16 | |
the doomed ocean liner Titanic sailed in 1912, | 0:03:16 | 0:03:20 | |
Southampton received its railway in 1840. | 0:03:20 | 0:03:23 | |
But in those Victorian times | 0:03:25 | 0:03:26 | |
a train ride ended in a different location. | 0:03:26 | 0:03:29 | |
Bradshaw's refers to Southampton Terminus Station. | 0:03:30 | 0:03:33 | |
This is Southampton Central, not, I think, the same place. | 0:03:33 | 0:03:36 | |
I'm going in search of the old station. | 0:03:36 | 0:03:38 | |
A merchant city for hundreds of years, | 0:03:40 | 0:03:42 | |
Southampton prospered during the 19th century, | 0:03:42 | 0:03:45 | |
importing the timber, coal and slate | 0:03:45 | 0:03:47 | |
that would build the factories and urban housing | 0:03:47 | 0:03:50 | |
of Southern England's Industrial Revolution. | 0:03:50 | 0:03:53 | |
And many of those buildings still remain. | 0:03:53 | 0:03:56 | |
This street, Oxford Street, has the feel and shape of a street | 0:03:56 | 0:04:01 | |
that Bradshaw's might have known | 0:04:01 | 0:04:02 | |
and unless I'm much mistaken, that elegant building ahead | 0:04:02 | 0:04:07 | |
must be the old Terminus Station. | 0:04:07 | 0:04:10 | |
When the new docks opened in 1842 | 0:04:13 | 0:04:16 | |
the London and South Western Railway was here to transport | 0:04:16 | 0:04:19 | |
passengers and freight from Southampton Terminus Station. | 0:04:19 | 0:04:23 | |
Local historian, Dave Marden, knows more. | 0:04:23 | 0:04:27 | |
-Dave, hello. -Hello, Michael. | 0:04:27 | 0:04:29 | |
I feel a tear in my eye because this was clearly once a railway station. | 0:04:29 | 0:04:35 | |
Yes, it was a really marvellous station at one time. | 0:04:35 | 0:04:38 | |
It was the main station from Southampton. | 0:04:38 | 0:04:40 | |
We're under the canopy here. Where were the platforms? | 0:04:40 | 0:04:42 | |
The platforms were dead ahead. | 0:04:42 | 0:04:43 | |
It was built in 1839 and the railway through to London | 0:04:43 | 0:04:47 | |
was opened completely in 1840. | 0:04:47 | 0:04:50 | |
Southampton Terminus initially comprised just two platforms and an engine shed | 0:04:51 | 0:04:56 | |
but by the late 1860s, the opulent Imperial Hotel had been added. | 0:04:56 | 0:05:01 | |
Known as "the Ritz of the South", | 0:05:03 | 0:05:05 | |
this glamorous accommodation catered for a surprising clientele. | 0:05:05 | 0:05:10 | |
Not travellers making connections to far-off destinations | 0:05:10 | 0:05:13 | |
but fun seekers who flocked to bathe in the waters of the Solent | 0:05:13 | 0:05:17 | |
and to enjoy the pleasures of Southampton's Royal Pier, | 0:05:17 | 0:05:21 | |
which they reached by train. | 0:05:21 | 0:05:24 | |
Here we are, Michael. This is what's left of the pier. | 0:05:24 | 0:05:27 | |
What was it like in its heyday? | 0:05:27 | 0:05:28 | |
It was generally referred to as "the fun centre of the south". | 0:05:28 | 0:05:32 | |
In the Victorian period we had the pavilion with its ballroom, | 0:05:32 | 0:05:36 | |
exhibitions, bandstand, | 0:05:36 | 0:05:38 | |
paddle steamers taking people on trips up and down the coast. | 0:05:38 | 0:05:42 | |
And the railway came first to the pier and then ran along the pier? | 0:05:42 | 0:05:46 | |
That's right. Originally, | 0:05:46 | 0:05:47 | |
they had just a bare wooden platform on the pier | 0:05:47 | 0:05:50 | |
but when the pier was rebuilt in 1892 it was expanded into | 0:05:50 | 0:05:53 | |
a double platform with canopies, a rather grand place for stopping off | 0:05:53 | 0:05:58 | |
and seeing the delights of the pier. | 0:05:58 | 0:06:01 | |
-Thanks so much, Dave. -You're welcome. -Bye-bye. | 0:06:01 | 0:06:03 | |
As well as a holiday destination, | 0:06:04 | 0:06:06 | |
Southampton remained an important port. | 0:06:06 | 0:06:09 | |
By 1830, 100,000 people were travelling by steamship | 0:06:09 | 0:06:13 | |
from here each year. | 0:06:13 | 0:06:15 | |
And in the early 20th century, | 0:06:15 | 0:06:17 | |
the numbers taking their leave of Britain increased dramatically | 0:06:17 | 0:06:20 | |
as first White Star and then Cunard made Southampton THE place | 0:06:20 | 0:06:25 | |
from which to embark upon a transatlantic journey | 0:06:25 | 0:06:28 | |
aboard an enormous cruise liner. | 0:06:28 | 0:06:30 | |
And that tradition continues today. | 0:06:31 | 0:06:34 | |
Cunard's Queen Elizabeth has just docked. | 0:06:34 | 0:06:37 | |
-How are you? -Very well, Mr Portillo! | 0:06:37 | 0:06:40 | |
-You've just come off the Queen Elizabeth? -Yes. | 0:06:40 | 0:06:43 | |
-How was it? -Very nice. Excellent. | 0:06:43 | 0:06:45 | |
-Where have you been? -The Canaries and Madeira. | 0:06:45 | 0:06:48 | |
-Now, are you habitual cruisers? -Yes! | 0:06:48 | 0:06:51 | |
-So how long before your next cruise? -Three weeks! -Three weeks?! | 0:06:51 | 0:06:54 | |
-Yeah, it's only a four-day one! -Are you just going on? | 0:06:54 | 0:06:57 | |
I am going on, I'm going to have a little look around. | 0:06:57 | 0:06:59 | |
-Thank you, bye-bye. -Thank you very much. -Bye-bye. | 0:06:59 | 0:07:01 | |
When you're alongside the Queen Elizabeth, | 0:07:06 | 0:07:09 | |
it really does inspire awe, towering above me, as elegant as a cathedral, | 0:07:09 | 0:07:15 | |
as tall as an office block, as long as a train, and I get to go aboard. | 0:07:15 | 0:07:21 | |
In 1839, Nova Scotian, Samuel Cunard, | 0:07:24 | 0:07:28 | |
founded the British and North American | 0:07:28 | 0:07:30 | |
Royal Mail Steam Packet Company | 0:07:30 | 0:07:32 | |
to transport post between Britain and North America. | 0:07:32 | 0:07:36 | |
As the revenue from passenger journeys gradually outstripped | 0:07:36 | 0:07:39 | |
that gleaned from delivering the mail, Cunard's steamers | 0:07:39 | 0:07:42 | |
became renowned as the fastest across the Atlantic | 0:07:42 | 0:07:45 | |
and in order to remain so, in the early 20th century, | 0:07:45 | 0:07:48 | |
the company built the super-liners Mauretania and Lusitania. | 0:07:48 | 0:07:52 | |
The Queen Elizabeth entered Cunard's service in 2010, | 0:07:54 | 0:07:58 | |
a tribute to her luxurious 1938 namesake. | 0:07:58 | 0:08:02 | |
The first thing you come to on this ship is the grand lobby. | 0:08:05 | 0:08:09 | |
It is spectacular. | 0:08:09 | 0:08:10 | |
Suspended balconies, suspended staircases, chandeliers, | 0:08:10 | 0:08:14 | |
marble floor and this wonderful evocation | 0:08:14 | 0:08:18 | |
of the old Queen Elizabeth, the one built in the 1930s. | 0:08:18 | 0:08:21 | |
One of the ships I remember from my childhood. | 0:08:21 | 0:08:24 | |
Famous as brave Second World War troop carriers | 0:08:27 | 0:08:30 | |
globetrotting ships have always been glamorous, too. | 0:08:30 | 0:08:33 | |
Cunard's current president is Peter Shanks. | 0:08:34 | 0:08:38 | |
-Peter, hello. -Welcome on board. | 0:08:38 | 0:08:40 | |
Thank you so much. | 0:08:40 | 0:08:41 | |
You've had a lot of very famous people on board. | 0:08:41 | 0:08:43 | |
All the way back into the 19th century and through the 20th. | 0:08:43 | 0:08:46 | |
Who might you pick out? | 0:08:46 | 0:08:48 | |
Well, in 1840, Charles Dickens himself sailed on the Britannia, | 0:08:48 | 0:08:51 | |
our first ship. Now, we weren't particularly pleased | 0:08:51 | 0:08:54 | |
with what he wrote about the experience. | 0:08:54 | 0:08:55 | |
And then there've been presidents, be it Roosevelt, | 0:08:55 | 0:08:58 | |
Churchill was a regular traveller | 0:08:58 | 0:08:59 | |
and then some of the famous Hollywood and British stars, | 0:08:59 | 0:09:02 | |
be it Liz Taylor, Laurel and Hardy, Frank Sinatra, many, many people. | 0:09:02 | 0:09:05 | |
Walt Disney himself loved to travel on the Queen Elizabeth. | 0:09:05 | 0:09:08 | |
Each voyage of the Queen Elizabeth | 0:09:08 | 0:09:11 | |
sees the consumption of almost 12,000 bottles of wine, | 0:09:11 | 0:09:15 | |
nearly 5,000 toothpicks and more than 50,000 eggs. | 0:09:15 | 0:09:19 | |
Resupplying and making ready for each sailing is a mammoth task. | 0:09:19 | 0:09:23 | |
Now, as I came on the ship, people were leaving. | 0:09:23 | 0:09:27 | |
They'd come off the cruise. | 0:09:27 | 0:09:28 | |
How long is it until you'll get a new set of people | 0:09:28 | 0:09:31 | |
and you'll be off again? | 0:09:31 | 0:09:32 | |
2,000 people have left by about ten o'clock | 0:09:32 | 0:09:34 | |
and we'll sail at half past four, full with a new 2,000 people, | 0:09:34 | 0:09:38 | |
and during that time we're working miracles | 0:09:38 | 0:09:40 | |
with the team on board to get everything ready. | 0:09:40 | 0:09:42 | |
Well, that is astonishing. That's an amazing rate of turnaround. | 0:09:42 | 0:09:45 | |
How on earth do you do it? | 0:09:45 | 0:09:46 | |
Well, I thought we could have some fun by asking you to help do it, | 0:09:46 | 0:09:49 | |
Michael, and what better way than to ask our maitre d' | 0:09:49 | 0:09:52 | |
to help you lay a table and see how we get on? | 0:09:52 | 0:09:54 | |
-Welcome aboard, sir. -Thank you. | 0:09:54 | 0:09:56 | |
It's lovely to see you. What do I do, then? | 0:09:56 | 0:09:58 | |
Well, this is a set of our cutleries here. If you like to help me out, | 0:09:58 | 0:10:01 | |
you start from the other side, I will take a set | 0:10:01 | 0:10:03 | |
and I will start from this side for you, sir. | 0:10:03 | 0:10:05 | |
OK, and I suppose speed is important here. | 0:10:05 | 0:10:08 | |
Speed is important, sir. Very good, sir. | 0:10:08 | 0:10:10 | |
On the left... | 0:10:10 | 0:10:12 | |
Spoon goes on the right. Oh, wait, soup spoon, right. | 0:10:12 | 0:10:15 | |
We can put our dessert cutlery on top. | 0:10:15 | 0:10:17 | |
About the side knives... | 0:10:17 | 0:10:18 | |
Side knife. You haven't given me any side knives... | 0:10:18 | 0:10:21 | |
Oh, yes, you have. There we are, thank you. Thank you very much. | 0:10:21 | 0:10:24 | |
Oh, you're faster than me! | 0:10:24 | 0:10:25 | |
MICHAEL LAUGHS | 0:10:25 | 0:10:26 | |
Bravo! | 0:10:26 | 0:10:28 | |
Thank you very much. | 0:10:28 | 0:10:30 | |
Now. The table isn't complete, because we don't have any napkins. | 0:10:30 | 0:10:34 | |
We'll be doing some napkins. | 0:10:34 | 0:10:36 | |
So we're going to fold the napkin into half. | 0:10:36 | 0:10:40 | |
You can use a chair, if you like, so it will be easy for you. | 0:10:40 | 0:10:43 | |
Now, all about is that you have to be synchronise yourself. | 0:10:43 | 0:10:46 | |
One up, one down, | 0:10:46 | 0:10:48 | |
one up, one down. | 0:10:48 | 0:10:50 | |
And the pleats should be nice, and the same of size. | 0:10:50 | 0:10:53 | |
Leave a little gap. | 0:10:54 | 0:10:56 | |
Mine's going a little bit wild. | 0:10:57 | 0:10:59 | |
Well, that's good. | 0:10:59 | 0:11:01 | |
Turn into half. | 0:11:01 | 0:11:02 | |
Very good. This little quarter of this left napkin, we're going to tuck it in. | 0:11:02 | 0:11:06 | |
Napkin is ready. Oh, yes! | 0:11:11 | 0:11:14 | |
MICHAEL GUFFAWS | 0:11:14 | 0:11:16 | |
Oh, dear. A little more practice, I think! | 0:11:16 | 0:11:18 | |
Sanjay, that's absolutely brilliant. That looks beautiful. | 0:11:18 | 0:11:21 | |
The opulence of the Queen Elizabeth is a reminder that, for those who | 0:11:27 | 0:11:31 | |
could afford it, passage aboard a liner was a luxurious experience. | 0:11:31 | 0:11:36 | |
But they were the lucky few, | 0:11:36 | 0:11:37 | |
because in Bradshaw's day, most travelled steerage. | 0:11:37 | 0:11:41 | |
Your theatre is superb. | 0:11:44 | 0:11:47 | |
But it makes me think, amidst all this elegance, | 0:11:47 | 0:11:49 | |
of people who travelled in less fortunate times. | 0:11:49 | 0:11:51 | |
They were emigrating away from starvation and famine in Europe. | 0:11:51 | 0:11:55 | |
Yes, many to North America. | 0:11:55 | 0:11:57 | |
And we think that, over our history, over the last 170 years, | 0:11:57 | 0:12:01 | |
around ten million people have emigrated to North America | 0:12:01 | 0:12:04 | |
through Cunard Line. | 0:12:04 | 0:12:05 | |
Here we are on the bridge. | 0:12:10 | 0:12:12 | |
It's an amazing space, isn't it? | 0:12:12 | 0:12:14 | |
What a fantastic position from which to control this monster ship. | 0:12:14 | 0:12:18 | |
This is our captain, Alistair Clarke. | 0:12:18 | 0:12:20 | |
Alistair. | 0:12:20 | 0:12:21 | |
I find it quite alarming to park a small BMW. | 0:12:21 | 0:12:24 | |
I mean, what does it feel like to bring one of these things alongside? | 0:12:24 | 0:12:28 | |
It's a very satisfying experience. | 0:12:28 | 0:12:31 | |
And these really rather small levers, | 0:12:31 | 0:12:33 | |
-control the whole ship, do they? -These do. | 0:12:33 | 0:12:35 | |
So although they're small, it's like power steering in your car. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:38 | |
You don't need to move them far. | 0:12:38 | 0:12:40 | |
-Just a little wiggle. -Just a little. | 0:12:40 | 0:12:41 | |
If you've got a choppy sea, what do you do about maintaining stability? | 0:12:41 | 0:12:46 | |
Well, we have stabilisers which counteract any roll, but generally, | 0:12:46 | 0:12:50 | |
this ship is an excellent sea ship and she rides very well. | 0:12:50 | 0:12:53 | |
As the Queen Elizabeth sets off on another voyage, | 0:12:56 | 0:12:59 | |
after a long day in this city, | 0:12:59 | 0:13:01 | |
it's time for me to head to my next destination. | 0:13:01 | 0:13:04 | |
As my evening train runs alongside Southampton's busy port, | 0:13:16 | 0:13:19 | |
I thought I would find somewhere more rural to seek my rest | 0:13:19 | 0:13:24 | |
and Bradshaw's tells me, "There are seats", meaning country houses, | 0:13:24 | 0:13:27 | |
"and pretty spots in the neighbourhood | 0:13:27 | 0:13:29 | |
"such as Eaglehurst, near Calshot Castle." | 0:13:29 | 0:13:32 | |
Eaglehurst. That sounds like a pleasant estate | 0:13:32 | 0:13:35 | |
and there I shall spend the night. | 0:13:35 | 0:13:36 | |
Travelling just three stops on the main line toward Poole, | 0:13:38 | 0:13:42 | |
I've crossed the River Test | 0:13:42 | 0:13:43 | |
and I'm alighting at Totton Station to make my way to Eaglehurst. | 0:13:43 | 0:13:47 | |
But my overnight bolt hole is not the grand bungalow | 0:13:48 | 0:13:51 | |
built here by the 7th Earl of Cavan. | 0:13:51 | 0:13:54 | |
My bed for the night lies within a tower | 0:13:54 | 0:13:57 | |
whose history is known to Caroline Stanford from the Landmark Trust. | 0:13:57 | 0:14:02 | |
-Caroline, hello. -Hello. | 0:14:03 | 0:14:05 | |
Well, what is this? It looks to me like a folly. | 0:14:05 | 0:14:08 | |
Yes well, welcome to Luttrell's Tower. | 0:14:08 | 0:14:10 | |
It is indeed a folly - castellated, 18th-century, | 0:14:10 | 0:14:14 | |
rather picturesque tower, standing on the edge of the Solent. | 0:14:14 | 0:14:18 | |
And named after? | 0:14:18 | 0:14:19 | |
It's named after Temple Simon Luttrell, | 0:14:19 | 0:14:21 | |
who was the gentleman who built it. | 0:14:21 | 0:14:23 | |
He came from an Irish family of slightly disreputable figures. | 0:14:23 | 0:14:28 | |
He was a very, very quarrelsome, cantankerous fellow | 0:14:28 | 0:14:31 | |
so he challenged lots of people to duels, including his own son, even. | 0:14:31 | 0:14:35 | |
Temple Luttrell wasn't just a parliamentarian who liked a duel. | 0:14:37 | 0:14:41 | |
He was also a suspected smuggler, | 0:14:41 | 0:14:44 | |
whose folly comprises a tower reaching high into the sky | 0:14:44 | 0:14:48 | |
for a bird's-eye of view of local shipping, | 0:14:48 | 0:14:51 | |
and a tunnel leading suspiciously to the shore of the Solent. | 0:14:51 | 0:14:55 | |
Do come in. | 0:14:57 | 0:14:58 | |
Surprisingly tall tower when you're going up the steps. | 0:15:00 | 0:15:03 | |
I'm sure the view's going to make it absolutely worth while. | 0:15:03 | 0:15:06 | |
Yeah, it'll all be worthwhile when we get to the very top. | 0:15:06 | 0:15:09 | |
And here we are. | 0:15:09 | 0:15:11 | |
Right on the top. | 0:15:14 | 0:15:15 | |
Oh! It's smaller than I thought. Whoa! But what a view. | 0:15:15 | 0:15:20 | |
Isn't that magnificent? | 0:15:20 | 0:15:22 | |
Yes, it's rather wonderful, isn't it? You can see why he built it here. | 0:15:22 | 0:15:25 | |
Yeah, as follies go, it's really worthwhile. | 0:15:25 | 0:15:27 | |
Such a great place to watch the great liners and ships go by. | 0:15:27 | 0:15:32 | |
Yes, and there've been some very famous ships that have gone past the tower, | 0:15:32 | 0:15:35 | |
including the Titanic. | 0:15:35 | 0:15:37 | |
Radio pioneer Marconi rented Eaglehurst for his radio | 0:15:37 | 0:15:41 | |
experiments and his wife and his daughter stood where we're standing now, | 0:15:41 | 0:15:46 | |
as the Titanic sailed from Southampton on her doomed maiden voyage | 0:15:46 | 0:15:50 | |
and waved together a red silk scarf, with all the passengers | 0:15:50 | 0:15:54 | |
on the ship waving back at them with handkerchiefs and scarves as well. | 0:15:54 | 0:15:58 | |
That's a sad story. | 0:15:58 | 0:16:00 | |
And did the Victorians like this tower? | 0:16:00 | 0:16:02 | |
Yes, even Queen Victoria liked this tower. | 0:16:02 | 0:16:04 | |
As a young princess, she looked at it and seriously considered | 0:16:04 | 0:16:07 | |
buying the estate before she found Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. | 0:16:07 | 0:16:11 | |
I'm really delighted to have found such a beautiful place to spend the night. | 0:16:11 | 0:16:15 | |
Apart from the perfect porridge, this is perfection in every other way. | 0:16:35 | 0:16:39 | |
The sun is streaming through the windows, | 0:16:39 | 0:16:42 | |
the view of the Solent is beautiful and a few hardy souls | 0:16:42 | 0:16:45 | |
are already out in their sailing boats just to decorate the view. | 0:16:45 | 0:16:50 | |
Fully fuelled and ready for the day ahead, I'm heading back to | 0:16:57 | 0:17:00 | |
Southampton Central to catch a connection to my next destination, | 0:17:00 | 0:17:05 | |
located about 20 minutes south east towards Portsmouth, | 0:17:05 | 0:17:08 | |
a line my guide book recommends for its aesthetic charms. | 0:17:08 | 0:17:13 | |
Bradshaw has beautiful descriptions. | 0:17:16 | 0:17:19 | |
"On each side breaks in a view of the Southampton sea, deep blue, | 0:17:19 | 0:17:24 | |
"glistening with silver and vessels." | 0:17:24 | 0:17:26 | |
I'm headed now to Netley. Bradshaw's tells me that, | 0:17:27 | 0:17:30 | |
"Near the ruins of the old abbey, a noble military college has | 0:17:30 | 0:17:35 | |
"recently been erected, and the drum leads me in that direction." | 0:17:35 | 0:17:40 | |
GUARD: Tickets please. | 0:17:43 | 0:17:44 | |
Thank you very much, sir. | 0:17:46 | 0:17:47 | |
-Going as far as Netley. -OK, nice day for it. | 0:17:47 | 0:17:50 | |
Do you remember a hospital there, do you have any memory of that? | 0:17:50 | 0:17:52 | |
Yes, there was a wartime military hospital at Netley, the chapel is still left there. | 0:17:52 | 0:17:56 | |
-Interesting history, eh? -Indeed, certainly. Have a good day. | 0:17:56 | 0:17:59 | |
Thank you very much indeed. | 0:17:59 | 0:18:01 | |
ANNOUNCEMENT: The next station is Netley. Please mind the gap. | 0:18:01 | 0:18:04 | |
Upset by the poor standard of care she saw in Chatham on a visit to soldiers wounded in the Crimean War, | 0:18:10 | 0:18:17 | |
Queen Victoria spearheaded the development of an institution | 0:18:17 | 0:18:21 | |
that would revolutionise the treatment of injured troops. | 0:18:21 | 0:18:24 | |
Commissioned in 1856 and set within 200 acres, | 0:18:24 | 0:18:28 | |
the enormous Royal Victoria Hospital took seven years to build. | 0:18:28 | 0:18:33 | |
Deemed too costly to run, in 1966 the hospital was demolished and only the chapel remains. | 0:18:33 | 0:18:39 | |
But curator, Captain Pete Starling, knows what once stood here. | 0:18:39 | 0:18:44 | |
-Hello, Pete. -Good morning. Nice to meet you. | 0:18:44 | 0:18:47 | |
And this was a military hospital here? | 0:18:47 | 0:18:49 | |
It was, it was our first purpose-built military hospital. | 0:18:49 | 0:18:52 | |
-It was a quarter of a mile long... -Amazing. | 0:18:52 | 0:18:55 | |
..138 wards and 1,000 beds. | 0:18:55 | 0:18:59 | |
If we look down you can see this line of bricks here, | 0:18:59 | 0:19:01 | |
well, this is the extremity of the hospital. | 0:19:01 | 0:19:04 | |
So if we now look at the chapel and look that way, | 0:19:04 | 0:19:06 | |
you'll see that is actually in the centre of where the hospital was. | 0:19:06 | 0:19:10 | |
So you've got the same distance from here to the chapel, the other side | 0:19:10 | 0:19:14 | |
-and that gives you some sense on the size of it. -Awe inspiring. | 0:19:14 | 0:19:17 | |
It's in a somewhat remote spot. How did they bring the wounded men here? | 0:19:17 | 0:19:20 | |
Well, in its heyday they brought them here by train. | 0:19:20 | 0:19:23 | |
At the time of the South African war, 1899 to 1902, | 0:19:23 | 0:19:26 | |
they extended the railway line from Netley into the back of the hospital, | 0:19:26 | 0:19:30 | |
and they had this purpose-built covered platform and these | 0:19:30 | 0:19:33 | |
ambulance wagons would be shunted up to the back of the hospital | 0:19:33 | 0:19:37 | |
and all the patients would be off-loaded and wheeled in to the reception. | 0:19:37 | 0:19:41 | |
At a time when many thought faith as powerful a healer as medicine, | 0:19:42 | 0:19:47 | |
the chapel, big enough to house all 1,000 patients, | 0:19:47 | 0:19:51 | |
was at the heart of the hospital. | 0:19:51 | 0:19:52 | |
Even the tower of the chapel is enormous | 0:19:56 | 0:19:58 | |
and it gives you a spectacular view, doesn't it? | 0:19:58 | 0:20:01 | |
-Magnificent, isn't it? -Particularly over the Solent. -Yes. | 0:20:01 | 0:20:04 | |
You have to admire the scale of what they attempted to do here, | 0:20:04 | 0:20:07 | |
and even if we can't see most of the hospital now, | 0:20:07 | 0:20:10 | |
we could attempt to listen to at least one of its sounds. | 0:20:10 | 0:20:14 | |
BELL TOLLS | 0:20:16 | 0:20:18 | |
But not everyone was impressed. | 0:20:21 | 0:20:23 | |
Florence Nightingale voiced serious concern that Netley's cramped wards, | 0:20:25 | 0:20:29 | |
long corridors and lack of ventilation were a perfect | 0:20:29 | 0:20:33 | |
breeding ground for infection. | 0:20:33 | 0:20:35 | |
But the Lady of the Lamp's warnings went unheeded, | 0:20:36 | 0:20:39 | |
and Queen Victoria herself laid the institution's foundation stone. | 0:20:39 | 0:20:44 | |
As she was about to lay the foundation stone, | 0:20:45 | 0:20:48 | |
she placed beneath it a copper casket, and we've got the copper casket here, | 0:20:48 | 0:20:54 | |
with one or two objects that were placed inside it. | 0:20:54 | 0:20:57 | |
A sort of time capsule? | 0:20:57 | 0:20:58 | |
Yes, because she put plans of the hospital inside it, | 0:20:58 | 0:21:01 | |
she put coins of the realm, a Crimean war medal with | 0:21:01 | 0:21:05 | |
the four bars commemorating the four great battles on land of the war. | 0:21:05 | 0:21:09 | |
But more importantly, the Victoria Cross. | 0:21:09 | 0:21:12 | |
The Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the armed forces. | 0:21:12 | 0:21:17 | |
Absolutely. So, this was one of the first Victoria Crosses ever made, | 0:21:17 | 0:21:20 | |
and she placed it in this copper box with that Crimean medal | 0:21:20 | 0:21:24 | |
and it was put beneath the foundation stone, | 0:21:24 | 0:21:26 | |
-and the foundation stone was lowered onto the top of it. -Amazing. | 0:21:26 | 0:21:30 | |
The wounded of two world wars passed through the wards of this hospital, | 0:21:30 | 0:21:34 | |
and it's become a place of homage. | 0:21:34 | 0:21:36 | |
You've been showing a lot of interest in the chapel today. | 0:21:38 | 0:21:41 | |
Do you have a special reason for being here? | 0:21:41 | 0:21:43 | |
Yes, I have memories of my grandfather. | 0:21:43 | 0:21:46 | |
He was shell-shocked during the First World War | 0:21:46 | 0:21:49 | |
and he was in Netley hospital for quite a long time. | 0:21:49 | 0:21:53 | |
And because we're on holiday here, I wanted to see the Netley hospital. | 0:21:53 | 0:21:58 | |
Where had he been in combat? | 0:21:58 | 0:22:01 | |
In France. I remember hearing him speaking about Mons and the Somme. | 0:22:01 | 0:22:09 | |
And you're clutching some old-looking photographs there. What do they show? | 0:22:09 | 0:22:13 | |
Yes, there is this photograph of my grandfather in hospital. | 0:22:13 | 0:22:18 | |
This X is my grandfather. He was in the Black Watch. | 0:22:18 | 0:22:24 | |
And here in Netley, this? | 0:22:24 | 0:22:26 | |
-Yes, because on the back of the photograph, this writing is very old writing. -Yes. | 0:22:26 | 0:22:32 | |
"Willy in Netley hospital." | 0:22:32 | 0:22:34 | |
"Willy in Netley hospital." Absolutely clear. | 0:22:34 | 0:22:36 | |
How does it feel today being, there's only the chapel left, | 0:22:36 | 0:22:40 | |
but you are in the place where your grandfather was hospitalised. How does that feel? | 0:22:40 | 0:22:43 | |
Well, I feel a bit emotional. I was only 15 when he died. | 0:22:43 | 0:22:47 | |
Ah, well, I've met you on a special day, thank you for talking. | 0:22:47 | 0:22:50 | |
-Thank you, it's a privilege, thank you. -Have a safe journey back to Aberdeen. | 0:22:50 | 0:22:53 | |
Thank you very much. Bye-bye. | 0:22:53 | 0:22:55 | |
Bradshaw's is not entirely complimentary about my next stop. | 0:23:05 | 0:23:09 | |
"Basingstoke is a straggling, ill-built town. | 0:23:09 | 0:23:14 | |
"It is nevertheless a place of great antiquity | 0:23:14 | 0:23:17 | |
"and appears in the Domesday Book. | 0:23:17 | 0:23:19 | |
"The inhabitants now mainly depend on the corn and malt trades." | 0:23:19 | 0:23:24 | |
And at this stage of the day, I fancy a cooling glass of beer. | 0:23:24 | 0:23:28 | |
In the Middle Ages, the small market town of Basingstoke grew prosperous on wool and textiles. | 0:23:30 | 0:23:36 | |
And by the 18th century, | 0:23:36 | 0:23:38 | |
its location made it an important watering hole | 0:23:38 | 0:23:41 | |
for the many stage coaches heading south and west from London. | 0:23:41 | 0:23:45 | |
Breweries sprang up to quench the thirst of travellers. | 0:23:50 | 0:23:53 | |
Although the railway's arrival in 1839 saw the trade decline, | 0:23:53 | 0:23:57 | |
in the 1880s there were still four breweries | 0:23:57 | 0:24:00 | |
and almost 60 pubs in a town of less than 7,000 inhabitants. | 0:24:00 | 0:24:05 | |
It was a boozy place, which soon attracted the attention of the growing temperance movement. | 0:24:05 | 0:24:11 | |
I'm meeting Local historian, Bob Clark, to find out about an incident | 0:24:13 | 0:24:17 | |
that placed Basingstoke firmly on the moral map of Bradshaw's Britain. | 0:24:17 | 0:24:21 | |
Well, Bob, you've chosen a lovely quiet spot for a glass of beer. | 0:24:23 | 0:24:27 | |
But it wouldn't have been like this back in 1881. | 0:24:27 | 0:24:30 | |
Can you imagine? We're just sitting here enjoying our beer quietly, | 0:24:30 | 0:24:35 | |
all of a sudden a group of uniformed invaders come along, | 0:24:35 | 0:24:38 | |
dressed in quasi Army uniforms banging a big bass drum, | 0:24:38 | 0:24:42 | |
shouting, "Come out of the Devil's house! You'll go into Hell! | 0:24:42 | 0:24:46 | |
"You will not be saved if you carry on drinking this foul liquid." | 0:24:46 | 0:24:50 | |
You're referring to the Salvation Army, aren't you? | 0:24:50 | 0:24:53 | |
I am indeed, but the Salvation Army is not as we now know it, | 0:24:53 | 0:24:57 | |
a benign organisation that does a lot of useful social work. | 0:24:57 | 0:25:02 | |
They wanted to ban all drink, and of course, because there were so many | 0:25:02 | 0:25:08 | |
people who were dependent on drink for their livelihood in the town, | 0:25:08 | 0:25:13 | |
they felt under threat, so there was a kind of war between the two sides. | 0:25:13 | 0:25:18 | |
In 1878, William Booth's Christian Mission | 0:25:20 | 0:25:24 | |
changed its name to the Salvation Army and declared war on sin. | 0:25:24 | 0:25:29 | |
In 1880, Christian soldiers marched onward into Basingstoke, | 0:25:29 | 0:25:35 | |
where local brewers had whipped up the so-called Massagainians, | 0:25:35 | 0:25:39 | |
a mob to disrupt Booth's campaign against beer and drinking establishments. | 0:25:39 | 0:25:44 | |
In March 1881, matters came to a head in an incident that | 0:25:44 | 0:25:50 | |
became known nationally as The Battle of Church Square. | 0:25:50 | 0:25:54 | |
In the morning the two armies clashed, | 0:25:57 | 0:26:00 | |
Charles Elms, described in court as a muscular Salvationist, | 0:26:00 | 0:26:04 | |
managed to rest the Massagainians' Union Jack, their flag of honour, from them | 0:26:04 | 0:26:10 | |
and that really started the fighting. | 0:26:10 | 0:26:12 | |
There was fighting in the morning. | 0:26:12 | 0:26:15 | |
Charles Elms, for his pains, got his arm broken. | 0:26:15 | 0:26:18 | |
People tumbling over, one poor soul went through a plate glass window of a shop. | 0:26:18 | 0:26:23 | |
The poor chap who had his arm broken in the morning had his head broken | 0:26:23 | 0:26:26 | |
in the afternoon when somebody hit him over the head with a stick. | 0:26:26 | 0:26:31 | |
Somebody else had his jaw broken. Apparently lots of people lost lots of teeth. | 0:26:31 | 0:26:36 | |
This is the most extraordinary, and to me completely unknown story. What were its consequences? | 0:26:36 | 0:26:42 | |
Well, its consequences were that Basingstoke, which nobody had heard of before, | 0:26:42 | 0:26:47 | |
made headlines in the national press. | 0:26:47 | 0:26:49 | |
One journalist described Basingstoke as a benighted little town that | 0:26:49 | 0:26:54 | |
appears to be populated chiefly by a set of barbarians. Now that's fame! | 0:26:54 | 0:26:59 | |
Thank goodness, Bob, you've shaken off that reputation since. | 0:26:59 | 0:27:03 | |
And was this riot unique to Basingstoke? | 0:27:03 | 0:27:07 | |
Oh, no, there were riots in 60 towns, but Basingstoke was the first. | 0:27:07 | 0:27:12 | |
Where Basingstoke leads, other towns follow. | 0:27:12 | 0:27:15 | |
One of the great ocean liners sailing from Southampton bears the name of Queen Victoria. | 0:27:21 | 0:27:28 | |
She made her home on the Isle of Wight, from which she could contemplate the Solent, | 0:27:28 | 0:27:34 | |
sharing a view with those of her soldiers who'd | 0:27:34 | 0:27:37 | |
been wounded fighting to defend her Empire. | 0:27:37 | 0:27:41 | |
I thought I knew the names of the great battles of her reign - Balaclava, Khartoum and Mafeking. | 0:27:41 | 0:27:47 | |
But now I can add another to the roll call...The Battle of Church Square, Basingstoke. | 0:27:47 | 0:27:53 | |
Next time, I encounter the Duke of Wellington's impressive funeral car. | 0:27:56 | 0:28:00 | |
It is the most colossal thing, isn't it? Absolutely enormous. | 0:28:00 | 0:28:05 | |
I get my marching orders from the Army. | 0:28:05 | 0:28:08 | |
Get those knees up, Portillo, get those knees up nice and high. | 0:28:08 | 0:28:12 | |
Ahh! | 0:28:12 | 0:28:13 | |
And I learn of the surprisingly enlightened 19th-century attitude towards the criminally insane. | 0:28:13 | 0:28:20 | |
The Victorians established that people with mental illness who'd committed crime | 0:28:20 | 0:28:24 | |
needed health care. They needed a hospital, not a prison. | 0:28:24 | 0:28:28 |