0:00:05 > 0:00:09In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11His name was George Bradshaw
0:00:11 > 0:00:17and his railway guides inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks.
0:00:17 > 0:00:23Stop by stop, he told them where to go, what to see and where to stay.
0:00:23 > 0:00:30Now, 170 years later, I'm aboard for a series of rail adventures across the United Kingdom
0:00:30 > 0:00:33to see what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.
0:00:53 > 0:00:58I'm continuing my journey through from the fresh, sea-air breezes of England's South Coast
0:00:58 > 0:01:02towards the industrial heartland of the West Midlands.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05I'm travelling now on a line northwards that helped to give life
0:01:05 > 0:01:08to the commuter towns to the west of London.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10And on this leg of my journey,
0:01:10 > 0:01:14I shall move from suburban Surrey into rural Wiltshire.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21'On today's leg, I create headlines in Reading...'
0:01:21 > 0:01:27- You now beat the back of your flong. - Like that?- No, with the hairy side. - Oh, with the hairy side
0:01:29 > 0:01:32'..discover a Tudor entrepreneur in Newbury...'
0:01:32 > 0:01:38Victorian historians used to label this as England's first factory,
0:01:38 > 0:01:41mainly because of the scale of production.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44'..and test a bicycle with Victorian origins.'
0:01:44 > 0:01:49- A lovely smooth ride over the cobbles. Thank you very much. - You're welcome.- Bye!
0:01:54 > 0:01:58Starting on the South Coast, my journey took in Hampshire
0:01:58 > 0:02:01and now heads north-west to Newbury,
0:02:01 > 0:02:02onward to Bristol
0:02:02 > 0:02:05and an engineering feat under the Severn
0:02:05 > 0:02:06and then via the Cotswolds
0:02:06 > 0:02:07to finish in Wolverhampton,
0:02:07 > 0:02:09in the West Midlands.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12Today's leg begins in Wokingham,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15calls at Reading, heads west to Newbury,
0:02:15 > 0:02:19takes a note in Trowbridge and ends in Bradford on Avon.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31My first stop will be Wokingham.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34Bradshaw's reports that, "The railways have given considerable
0:02:34 > 0:02:40"impetus to trade here and house property has become valuable."
0:02:40 > 0:02:43Also, "A new church is being built by J Walter, Esquire,
0:02:43 > 0:02:46"proprietor of the Times."
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Well, whatever the impact that the trains had on house prices,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53they had an even bigger one on newspapers.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00Known in the Middle Ages for its bell foundry,
0:03:00 > 0:03:03Wokingham first received trains in 1849
0:03:03 > 0:03:07and they were used to transport bricks manufactured in the town.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11The station's footbridge was built in 1886,
0:03:11 > 0:03:13using old rails and sleepers,
0:03:13 > 0:03:18and replaced a level-crossing where there had been a number of accidents.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22I've alighted here to learn more about the town's most influential Victorian.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29In 1785, John Walter founded a newspaper,
0:03:29 > 0:03:33which, three years later, he named the Times.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37His grandson was an innovator in print.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40I'm hoping to learn more about John Walter III's philanthropy
0:03:40 > 0:03:43and his impact on the newspaper industry,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46from the senior typography lecturer at Reading University,
0:03:46 > 0:03:49Martin Andrews.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53Bradshaw's mentions a J Walter, Esquire, proprietor of the Times
0:03:53 > 0:03:58and mentions that he built a church here. Would this lovely church be it?
0:03:58 > 0:04:01It is, indeed, and, in fact, he also built a school and a vicarage
0:04:01 > 0:04:05that went with the church and he was a benefactor in many ways.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08He was very good to the local people.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11My Bradshaw's is from the 1860s.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14Was that an important time in development of newspapers?
0:04:14 > 0:04:19It was, particularly in '61, when the stamp duty on paper got repealed,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22which meant, of course, there was much more opportunity
0:04:22 > 0:04:23to increase circulation.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26There was a huge demand for an increase in circulation
0:04:26 > 0:04:29because, with the improvement of literacy, education
0:04:29 > 0:04:32and, also, leisure time.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35If you think, the railways was an opportunity. It was captured time.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38This was all a huge new market for the newspapers
0:04:38 > 0:04:41and that, of course, demanded new technology,
0:04:41 > 0:04:44new machines that could go faster and quicker.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47But to answer some of those questions, I think we need to go
0:04:47 > 0:04:51to Reading to have a look at some of the presses that Walter developed.
0:04:53 > 0:04:54As the railways flourished,
0:04:54 > 0:04:59J Walter III wanted his daily print run to keep pace with a circulation boom,
0:04:59 > 0:05:03which was being fuelled in part by rail travel.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07Before we get to Reading University to find out how the Times was modernised,
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Martin has more on the periodicals of the day.
0:05:11 > 0:05:16In the 1840s, WH Smith's opened the first kiosk on a railway station,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19selling literature for leisure, for recreation, for enjoyment.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23A bit like some of the magazines that we have today with human interest.
0:05:23 > 0:05:28One famous one was Tit-Bits. Here is an amazing strapline,
0:05:28 > 0:05:33which talks about, "£400 insurance money has been paid."
0:05:33 > 0:05:38So such was the fear of the possibility of a railway accident,
0:05:38 > 0:05:41that you could get free insurance with your Tit-Bits?
0:05:41 > 0:05:42Indeed, you could.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46So, clearly, this newspaper was aimed at the commuter.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49Well, if you'll excuse me, between here and Reading,
0:05:49 > 0:05:51I'm going to look for some titbits.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01ANNOUNCER: 'Now arriving at Reading, our final destination.'
0:06:04 > 0:06:08Martin wants to show me how the proprietor of the Times
0:06:08 > 0:06:10stole a march on his competitors.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16What did J Walter III, the one mentioned in Bradshaw,
0:06:16 > 0:06:17what did he achieve?
0:06:17 > 0:06:20The Times was developing so rapidly they needed to get quicker
0:06:20 > 0:06:22and speedier and more efficient.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26So, instead of just having a circular cylinder to print from,
0:06:26 > 0:06:30the idea of having a rotary press, where everything works on cylinders,
0:06:30 > 0:06:33working automatically, was the way they cracked it.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36From the beginning of the 19th century, they had been finding ways
0:06:36 > 0:06:40of duplicating pages of type by a system called stereotyping,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43which was taking a sheet of papier-mache.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46You lay this piece of papier-mache on top of the type
0:06:46 > 0:06:48and then you pick up this amazing brush.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52Now, this is not a giant's toothbrush, or a back scratcher,
0:06:52 > 0:06:54this is a flong brush.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Somebody in the industry had a job of a flong beater.
0:06:58 > 0:06:59And I give you that privilege.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03- So you now beat the back of your flong.- Like that? - No, no with the hairy side.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05Oh, with the hairy side.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09And that is pushing the papier-mache into the type.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13And when you can pull that off, we have a perfect impression
0:07:13 > 0:07:15of every single part of the type, all the detail.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18Then you could cast that page of type
0:07:18 > 0:07:22as a complete cylinder, which looks like this.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26Now, that means we can now have fully rotary systems.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29- And that is the breakthrough? - That's the breakthrough.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32By 1869, they were working in the Times.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35And this is really the way that presses were going to develop.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38This is the beginning of the modern printing press for newspapers.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42Obviously, this is too big for everyday jobbing printing.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44'Before I continue my journey,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47'Martin wants me to experience the rather simpler press
0:07:47 > 0:07:53'that a Victorian jobbing printer would have used...while wearing his printers' hat.'
0:07:55 > 0:07:58And it's made out of a sheet of newspaper, as you can see.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00I am a man of letters.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02Here we have some ink.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04We're now going to roll this up.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07- So here we go, we've got a nice, even set of ink now. - Let me have a go at that.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09You need to take over.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14Hm. I can feel it's sticking there. It's lovely stuff, isn't it?
0:08:14 > 0:08:17Now, I think we're ready to apply that to the type.
0:08:17 > 0:08:18So, if we come over here,
0:08:18 > 0:08:22you can ink up the form that we prepared for you earlier.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Right. That looks perfect, beautifully even and ready to print.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28The press we're going to use today is, in fact, an iron press,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31made in 1860s, the time of Walter III.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35Take the paper, place it with confidence on top of the type.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38Now you can lower the tin-pan - that protects the type.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40Press that handle down, the rotary action,
0:08:40 > 0:08:43it will push the bed underneath the platen, as we call it.
0:08:43 > 0:08:44That's perfect.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47Now, grab the handle and pull it towards you
0:08:47 > 0:08:50and you will have made a print in true traditional style.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52Roll it out again.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55Don't forget, you've got to do this 250 times an hour.
0:08:55 > 0:08:56If you now peel the paper off,
0:08:56 > 0:09:00hopefully, we've got a nice souvenir of your day in the department.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04I have to say, for a beginner, that is perfect.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07- It's a lovely souvenir, thank you very much.- A pleasure.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19Reading Station is being transformed.
0:09:19 > 0:09:24The most enormous extension has been built in striking modern architecture.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27But, in all that's going on here, somehow,
0:09:27 > 0:09:30the old clock tower has been preserved.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41This new bridge, 110 metres long,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43is just part of the rebuilding of Reading Station.
0:09:43 > 0:09:48They've also put in new platforms and new lines to ease congestion.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52There's going to be electrification of the line from London to South Wales.
0:09:52 > 0:09:57And, shortly, they'll be building a flyover, again to ease congestion.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01Reading has been given a station on an international scale.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19I'm on the old Great Western Railway and my next stop is Newbury.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22Bradshaw's tells me that the town was, "Formerly celebrated
0:10:22 > 0:10:26"for its extensive manufactories of woollen cloth,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30"especially when Jack of Newbury led his company of stout tailors,
0:10:30 > 0:10:35"all proper men, to the famous battle of Flodden Field."
0:10:35 > 0:10:37That's an interesting swatch of history
0:10:37 > 0:10:39and, in Newbury, I'll pick up the thread.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47Once an important and thriving textile town,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50Newbury was connected by waterway to Reading in the 18th century.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55I'm meeting local historian David Peacock at a church
0:10:55 > 0:10:59built by the most successful cloth producer of Tudor times -
0:10:59 > 0:11:02John Winchcombe, also known as Jack of Newbury,
0:11:02 > 0:11:06who manufactured textiles in unprecedented volumes.
0:11:09 > 0:11:10Jack of Newbury,
0:11:10 > 0:11:14important enough to make his way into my Bradshaw's. Who was he?
0:11:14 > 0:11:18He was a cloth producer producing a vast amount of cloth.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21Most of the cloth went from here up to London,
0:11:21 > 0:11:24from London exported to the continent and, from there,
0:11:24 > 0:11:26went throughout Europe into Hungary,
0:11:26 > 0:11:30around to Venice and even as far as the Middle East.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33Wow! In those days we knew how to export.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35I'm intrigued by this reference in Bradshaw's.
0:11:35 > 0:11:41"He led his company of stout tailors, all proper men, to the famous battle of Flodden Field."
0:11:41 > 0:11:45This is the wrong battle, basically, that Bradshaw has.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49They went to the Siege of Boulogne in the 1540s.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51Was this usual - that a businessman took
0:11:51 > 0:11:54a troop of his workers off to war?
0:11:54 > 0:11:59It was not unusual for the gentry to provide some of the army.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02It was unusual for a businessman, for a clothier,
0:12:02 > 0:12:06but, particularly for John Winchcombe, the scale of this.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08He wasn't just taking five or ten men to war,
0:12:08 > 0:12:12he was leading 100, or 150, men to war.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17Jack used fulling mills along the River Kennet
0:12:17 > 0:12:21and legend has it his proto-industrial cloth empire
0:12:21 > 0:12:24included 200 looms in his town-centre property,
0:12:24 > 0:12:30producing three quarters of Newbury's considerable textile output in Tudor times.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34It was a massive establishment.
0:12:34 > 0:12:39He was producing cloth on an industrial scale long before the Industrial Revolution.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43I thought factories originated in the late 18th century.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46I mean, would we be right to think this is a factory?
0:12:46 > 0:12:51Victorian historians used to label this as England's first factory,
0:12:51 > 0:12:55mainly because of the scale of production that was going on here.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58He was producing over 6,000 cloths a year.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02- And a cloth was what?- A cloth would be 17 or 18 yards long,
0:13:02 > 0:13:06woven by one man, so the width of a one-man loom.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09It stretched all the way from the other side of the department store,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12right the way along to the gable end at the corner here,
0:13:12 > 0:13:17and back further towards what was then the marsh, Newbury Marsh.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22David has brought me to the town hall,
0:13:22 > 0:13:25where a portrait of this Tudor captain of industry still hangs.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29So how should we remember Jack of Newbury?
0:13:29 > 0:13:35He was tremendously important in England's economic history
0:13:35 > 0:13:40at a time that is usually remembered for the six wives of Henry VIII
0:13:40 > 0:13:42and, really, relatively little else.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45What does he mean to you personally, David?
0:13:45 > 0:13:48I feel that he was a major figure in English history.
0:13:48 > 0:13:53A tremendously important contributor to the development of this country
0:13:53 > 0:13:57and he ought not have been written out of the history of the country.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00Well, at least he's remembered in Bradshaw's.
0:14:03 > 0:14:08After a long day, I'm ready to feel the soft fabric of my pillow.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12This is the busy Bath Road and, long before the railways,
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Newbury had almost innumerable coaching inns -
0:14:15 > 0:14:17the Angel, the Bear, the Cross Keys,
0:14:17 > 0:14:19the George and Pelican -
0:14:19 > 0:14:24all serving the landed gentry on their to fashionable Bath to take the waters.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27But I've decided to stay at the Hare and Hounds.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34- Good evening, landlord.- Good evening, sir.- A splendid coaching inn you've got here.- Thank you.
0:14:34 > 0:14:39Just before I turn in, could I have a pint of your finest West Berkshire ale?
0:14:39 > 0:14:42There we go. You'll enjoy that. Thank you.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46- That has the makings of a sound sleep. Thank you. - Thank you very much.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01Set for the day ahead,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04I'm continuing my journey along the old Great Western railway
0:15:04 > 0:15:08towards Westbury, where I shall change trains and head north.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26My next destination is Trowbridge, which Bradshaw's tells me
0:15:26 > 0:15:31has a population of 9,626 and is situated on the River Ware.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34It's one of the largest clothing towns in the west of England.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38"The church is large and highly decorated,"
0:15:38 > 0:15:42which makes it sound a bit like a stout and gallant military officer.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45Anyway, I will go there and make notes.
0:15:49 > 0:15:54Wiltshire's county town of Trowbridge is mentioned as far back as the Domesday Book.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59And its most celebrated resident was another man of letters.
0:15:59 > 0:16:00His name was Isaac Pitman.
0:16:00 > 0:16:05I'm hoping that Trowbridge Museum curator Clare Lyall knows more.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08- Hello, Clare.- Hello, Michael.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11A large and decorated church, as promised by my Bradshaw's,
0:16:11 > 0:16:13but why have you asked to meet here?
0:16:13 > 0:16:15Well, the inventor of shorthand, Sir Isaac Pitman,
0:16:15 > 0:16:20and Trowbridge's most famous son, was actually educated in the grounds here.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23What led him to devise a system of shorthand?
0:16:23 > 0:16:28He saw there was a need for key events in history and society
0:16:28 > 0:16:32to be disseminated very quickly and effectively.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35Hence he came up with the Pitman stenograph system.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38I think of shorthand now as being a secretarial device,
0:16:38 > 0:16:43but I'm getting the impression that Isaac Pitman had broader uses for it.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47That was the key. He saw it as a crucial communication tool
0:16:47 > 0:16:52and he ensured that it received the wide notoriety that it did
0:16:52 > 0:16:56by publicising and marketing it incredibly effectively.
0:16:56 > 0:16:57He went on lecture tours.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00So he was very good at raising the profile of it
0:17:00 > 0:17:04and ensuring that people saw it as a very useful communication tool.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10Isaac Pitman was the son of a manual worker.
0:17:10 > 0:17:15In 1837, he published Stenographic Sound-Hand -
0:17:15 > 0:17:19a classification of language into basic abbreviations,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22which allowed men to quickly record important events
0:17:22 > 0:17:26and later revolutionised the role of women in the workplace.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32If you had the shorthand qualification it gave you that extra kudos,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35that extra status, and it meant you could justify a higher salary.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38So, in terms of that, I think it's had a real impact
0:17:38 > 0:17:42in enabling women to be independent, financially,
0:17:42 > 0:17:44from a quite a relatively young age.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46What's the legacy?
0:17:46 > 0:17:49I think the fact that Pitman shorthand is still being learnt today,
0:17:49 > 0:17:53176 years after Pitman was born. That's quite an achievement.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01Clare's introducing me to Anne Bishop, a retired council secretary,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04who started learning Pitman's shorthand when she was just 13.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10Hello, Anne. The system worked for you, you found it was effective?
0:18:10 > 0:18:14- Yes, very much so. - How many words do you do a minute?
0:18:14 > 0:18:18At County Hall, to become a senior secretary, you needed 120.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22Was that sufficient for everything you needed to do?
0:18:22 > 0:18:25The news on the television is mainly read at about that speed
0:18:25 > 0:18:28and I used to use that as a guide.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31Did you ever have anyone really unreasonable,
0:18:31 > 0:18:34who spoke, or dictated, much faster?
0:18:34 > 0:18:36Well, you'd ask them to slow down!
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Anne, would you like to demonstrate your skills?
0:18:41 > 0:18:47If I hand Bradshaw over to Clare, she can read something to us.
0:18:47 > 0:18:52You can put it down with pinpoint accuracy in your shorthand
0:18:52 > 0:18:56and I'll struggle along in my longhand.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00"Trowbridge. This town is the largest in the county,
0:19:00 > 0:19:02"with the exception of Salisbury.
0:19:02 > 0:19:09"It has a population of 9,626 and is situated on the River Ware."
0:19:09 > 0:19:17So this is what I got, "Trowbridge. This is the largest..."
0:19:17 > 0:19:22- Ha! But I missed out quite a lot. What have you got? - You did miss quite a lot.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24"Trowbridge. This town is the largest in the county,
0:19:24 > 0:19:26"with the exception of Salisbury.
0:19:26 > 0:19:32"It has a population of 9,626 and is situated on the River Ware."
0:19:32 > 0:19:34That's brilliant!
0:19:34 > 0:19:38- I missed out about 50%, didn't I? - Probably, yes.- Wow.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41- Well done, Anne, and well done, Pitman.- Thank you.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57Bradford on Avon next.
0:19:57 > 0:20:02Bradshaw says, " 'A town that standeth by cloth making,' said Leland three centuries ago,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05"and the same may be said of it now." That's a reference
0:20:05 > 0:20:10to John Leland, who catalogued much of England for Henry VIII.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12"The Avon is crossed by two bridges,
0:20:12 > 0:20:16one very ancient one with a chapel over one of the piers."
0:20:16 > 0:20:20I wonder why there's a place of worship over the river.
0:20:20 > 0:20:21I'm in suspense.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27The company funding Bradford on Avon's original line went bust
0:20:27 > 0:20:32and it was a decade before tracks were laid through the town's Victorian station.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34But it looks well looked after today.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39- Hello, gentlemen.- Hello, Michael.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42- Nice to see you. - Very good to see you. Hello.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45You're doing a beautiful job, keeping the station looking lovely.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47- All volunteers are you? - All volunteers, that's right.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51What's your planting plan here? What do you do around the year?
0:20:51 > 0:20:55We don't have a great plan. It just evolves as we go along week by week.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57We don't profess to be professionals at it.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59We just put it in and it works.
0:20:59 > 0:21:04- Where are you getting your plants from?- Many, many sources. Many donations of plants.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07Ladies will turn up and say, "Can you put this in?"
0:21:07 > 0:21:09"What is it?" "Don't know." In it goes.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11We've even got some strawberries across there.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14That's our treat for the summer, if they grow.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17That'll be for the workers, or will you hand them out to the passengers?
0:21:17 > 0:21:19- Oh, no, workers! - LAUGHTER
0:21:19 > 0:21:21Thanks very much, bye-bye.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25Having seen a station as flowery as a church on a wedding day,
0:21:25 > 0:21:28I'm meeting local historian Margaret Dobson,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31to hear about the chapel on the bridge.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35Margaret, Bradshaw's refers to an ancient bridge across the Avon. How old is it?
0:21:35 > 0:21:37Probably 13th or 14th century.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41Bradshaw's talks about a chapel on one of the piers. That would be the chapel?
0:21:41 > 0:21:44No, this would not be the chapel. There was a mediaeval chapel there,
0:21:44 > 0:21:48but, by Bradshaw's day, it was a blind house,
0:21:48 > 0:21:53a new building that went up - many of them in this area - in the 18th century.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55- What was a blind house? - A blind house was a lock-up.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59You put people in that if they were misbehaving,
0:21:59 > 0:22:03quite probably drunk and disorderly and they couldn't get home,
0:22:03 > 0:22:05so you shoved them in there.
0:22:05 > 0:22:06The whole town is so pretty
0:22:06 > 0:22:09and the weather vane on the lock-up is beautiful.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13We think that's a 16th-century fish. It's been there a very long time,
0:22:13 > 0:22:19because if somebody was put in there for the night, they were "under the fish and over the water".
0:22:19 > 0:22:22- That expression survives to today. - It does, indeed.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25Not that many people are locked up in it these days!
0:22:25 > 0:22:26Though you might be!
0:22:29 > 0:22:33Hopeful that Margaret won't leave me under the fish and over the water,
0:22:33 > 0:22:34I'm keen to have a look inside.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39Oh, this is pretty grim.
0:22:39 > 0:22:44Well, actually, it's a great improvement on what it was up to about 1826,
0:22:44 > 0:22:47when it was simply one large cell.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50And the man who was kept in here in 1757
0:22:50 > 0:22:53wrote an indignant letter afterwards,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56saying that he just had a stone to sit on
0:22:56 > 0:22:58and straw on the floor.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02So what did these great improvements consist of?
0:23:02 > 0:23:05- Making it into two separate cells. - Ah, yes.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09And you do have a bed here and, even more modern,
0:23:09 > 0:23:14you have a lavatory, which discharges, of course, straight into the river.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18Well, let's face it, the bed is not exactly highly sprung
0:23:18 > 0:23:21and the lavatory, of course, lacks a flush.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24For 1827, I should think this was a delight.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34Surprisingly, tranquil Bradford on Avon was the birthplace
0:23:34 > 0:23:37of the Victorian vulcanised rubber industry.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39And by the look of the family pile,
0:23:39 > 0:23:43it brought Shaun Moulton's forebear a great fortune.
0:23:44 > 0:23:49- Shaun, what a marvellous house. - Hello, Michael, how do you do? - Gorgeous.
0:23:49 > 0:23:55So, what's the story of your family and rubber and Bradford on Avon?
0:23:55 > 0:23:57It's a long story,
0:23:57 > 0:24:01but a very quick way of explaining it would be to say,
0:24:01 > 0:24:041848, Stephen Moulton came back from America
0:24:04 > 0:24:10with a licence from Charles Goodyear to vulcanise rubber.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14To stop it from being brittle in the winter, in the cold, and sticky in the summer, in the heat.
0:24:14 > 0:24:19And it was Charles Goodyear, back in 1839, who found a way, by adding sulphur.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22And he gave that licence to Stephen Moulton,
0:24:22 > 0:24:25who sailed back to England with it to try and find a backer.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28These early pioneers, these Victorians -
0:24:28 > 0:24:30what opportunities did they see for rubber?
0:24:30 > 0:24:31First of all, it was the Crimean War.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35Waterproof capes, blankets, groundsheets, tents et cetera.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38But, after that, it was very much the locomotive industry -
0:24:38 > 0:24:43springs, buffers, hoses, you name it. It was a vast business.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49Moulton's vulcanised rubber could be useful beyond the railways.
0:24:49 > 0:24:54Great engineers like Isambard Kingdom Brunel saw wider potential.
0:24:55 > 0:25:00This is a fascinating letter from Brunel to Stephen Moulton, 1859,
0:25:00 > 0:25:04requiring a staff for his mast aboard the Great Eastern.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07You can see from his lovely diagram that what he's trying to do
0:25:07 > 0:25:10is enable the mast to actually move on the deck,
0:25:10 > 0:25:13so they don't get snapped off in heavy weather.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16- It's signed beautifully. - This is a real treasure, isn't it?
0:25:16 > 0:25:18And these are little Brunel sketches!
0:25:18 > 0:25:21Yeah, he's actually seen the possibilities
0:25:21 > 0:25:23for the application of rubber.
0:25:25 > 0:25:30In 1956, Shaun's great uncle, Dr Alex Moulton, sold the rubber company
0:25:30 > 0:25:35and, shortly after, began manufacturing luxury, handmade small-wheeled bicycles,
0:25:35 > 0:25:38which are fitted with rubber suspension systems.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43- Here's Joel, one of our apprentices. - Nice to meet you.- Good to see you.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46He's learnt how to mould here in the factory.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48What component is being made here?
0:25:48 > 0:25:51The four painted parts here are all filled with rubber,
0:25:51 > 0:25:53giving the suspension of the front wheel.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56So, Joel, what is it that you have to do here?
0:25:56 > 0:25:58My task here is to take the vulcanised rubber
0:25:58 > 0:26:03and to press it in the press, under heat and 18 tonnes of pressure,
0:26:03 > 0:26:06and form the end product, which is our Flexitor piece.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09- OK, where do we start? - So, if I give you those.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13- I'm trusting you that these are heatproof!- They are. To an extent, yes.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16- LAUGHTER - I guess we start with that piece, yes?
0:26:16 > 0:26:18- We do.- We pop it in there?- Yep. - There we go.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22And we take the wooden wedge and tap it down
0:26:22 > 0:26:25- into the base of the mould. - This is hi-tech.- It is!
0:26:26 > 0:26:28Shaun, this is a highly manual process.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31I can imagine Victorians doing similar things.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35Our customers love the fact that it is manual and that we're making these by hand.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37Don't apply the pressure while I've got my fingers in there!
0:26:37 > 0:26:41- Now I'm going to put apply pressure and heat? Is that right? - Yes, that's correct.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48And now, I sit back and wait for 15 minutes?
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Yes, 15 minutes' securing time and then it's ready to come out.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53What is so special about this suspension?
0:26:53 > 0:26:55I think you should try it, Michael, and see.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58So what will I notice as I go along?
0:26:58 > 0:27:03When you come down through the archway over those cobbles, you'll feel totally isolated.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05Ha ha! Here I go.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08Whoa!
0:27:15 > 0:27:18Yeah, a lovely smooth ride over the cobbles.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20- Thank you very much.- You're welcome. - Bye!
0:27:26 > 0:27:30The Victorian age witnessed a revolution in communications.
0:27:30 > 0:27:35Men like J Walter developed mass-circulation, mass-production newspapers,
0:27:35 > 0:27:40while Isaac Pitman gave his name to a faster way of recording speech.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43But the most remarkable advance in communications
0:27:43 > 0:27:46was the growth of the railways
0:27:46 > 0:27:51and the shorthand for timetables and guide books was Bradshaw's.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00'Next time, I discover the origins of Victorian photography...'
0:28:00 > 0:28:03Talbot made the first photographic negative.
0:28:03 > 0:28:08- A shot of this window. - Wow, that is a feeling of history.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12'..I visit Britain's longest rail tunnel and its worrying water feature...'
0:28:12 > 0:28:16Torrents of water. That is unbelievable!
0:28:16 > 0:28:19'..and I receive Bristol Zoo's SEAL of approval.'
0:28:19 > 0:28:22OK, Michael, if you just want to raise your right hand.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26And your left hand.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28Hey! Well done!