0:00:06 > 0:00:09In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12His name was George Bradshaw,
0:00:12 > 0:00:17and his railway guides inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks.
0:00:17 > 0:00:24Stop by stop he told them where to go, what to see, and where to stay.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26And now, 170 years later,
0:00:26 > 0:00:29I am aboard for a series of rail adventures
0:00:29 > 0:00:30across the United Kingdom
0:00:30 > 0:00:34to see what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56I'm embarked on a new railway journey
0:00:56 > 0:01:01from one cathedral city to another, from Norwich to Chichester.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04But even using my high Victorian guidebook, this journey
0:01:04 > 0:01:07will be more secular than ecclesiastical,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10not so much heavenly as earthy.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16On this leg, I'll hang out with a notorious Victorian criminal.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20This is a replica of James Rush's death mask.
0:01:20 > 0:01:21It does show very clearly
0:01:21 > 0:01:24where the rope has cut directly into his neck.
0:01:24 > 0:01:25Isn't that grim?!
0:01:25 > 0:01:28'Meet a polecat who is just a nipper.'
0:01:28 > 0:01:31Ooh!
0:01:31 > 0:01:34'And chip away at an age-old craft.'
0:01:34 > 0:01:36Could you make a flint out of that?
0:01:36 > 0:01:37Yeah, it's perfect.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46My journey begins in Norwich and continues southwest into Suffolk.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50From Ipswich, I'll head south to Chelmsford,
0:01:50 > 0:01:54and travel across the Thames through the Medway towns to Dover.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57After making my way back through Kent,
0:01:57 > 0:02:00my journey will take me along the Sussex coast
0:02:00 > 0:02:02and end in the cathedral town of Chichester.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08This East Anglian leg begins in the ancient city of Norwich,
0:02:08 > 0:02:12burrows southwest deep into Thetford's rabbit warrens,
0:02:12 > 0:02:13before turning northwest
0:02:13 > 0:02:16to finish in the flinty countryside of Brandon.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25My first stop will be Norwich,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28which, Bradshaw's tells me, "is an old cathedral town
0:02:28 > 0:02:30"and the capital of Norfolk,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33"agreeably situated on the banks of the Wensum.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37"The prospect of the city is imposing and beautiful."
0:02:37 > 0:02:40Until the arrival of the railways in the 1840s
0:02:40 > 0:02:41the city depended on its river
0:02:41 > 0:02:43for communication with the outside world,
0:02:43 > 0:02:48and even now it has that feeling of being the end of the line,
0:02:48 > 0:02:50for worse and better.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59Today I am greeted by this grand terminus, built in 1886,
0:02:59 > 0:03:03but when the railways first arrived in the city, in 1844,
0:03:03 > 0:03:05the station was far more modest,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08providing only a single-track line to the coast.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13The rest of the country remained inaccessible by train until the completion
0:03:13 > 0:03:17of this impressive swing bridge over the River Wensum in 1845.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21The line was extended down to London
0:03:21 > 0:03:22opening the door to trade,
0:03:22 > 0:03:25and to fashionable tourists from the capital.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29The first stop recommended in my Bradshaw's guide
0:03:29 > 0:03:31is a marvel of medieval architecture.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34Bradshaw's comments that "the lofty spire
0:03:34 > 0:03:39"of Norwich Cathedral gives it the air of great magnificence."
0:03:39 > 0:03:45Lofty, yes, at 315 feet. Begun shortly after the Norman conquest,
0:03:45 > 0:03:47completed within a century.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50Imagine how important Norwich must have been in those days
0:03:50 > 0:03:51that they built here
0:03:51 > 0:03:56a structure the like of which most people had never seen.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00Built on the lucrative wool trade
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Norwich was so important in medieval times
0:04:03 > 0:04:06that it ranked as England's second city.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09It remains East Anglia's largest city.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12I'll start my visit by testing locals
0:04:12 > 0:04:15on one of the city's most famous daughters.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18She is immortalised in every purse and wallet.
0:04:18 > 0:04:19Excuse me!
0:04:19 > 0:04:21I'm not trying to bribe you.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23I've got a £5 note here.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25I wonder if you know who that is?
0:04:25 > 0:04:28- Erm...- She is Elizabeth Fry.
0:04:28 > 0:04:29Well done!
0:04:29 > 0:04:33- Hello there!- Hello.- So now, who's this on the back of the £5 note?
0:04:33 > 0:04:35It's Elizabeth Fry.
0:04:35 > 0:04:36And what's she doing here?
0:04:36 > 0:04:39Well, I imagine she's in...
0:04:39 > 0:04:42What was the name of that prison in London where she went to?
0:04:42 > 0:04:45- New...- Newgate! That's it!
0:04:45 > 0:04:46Well, I had to help you a bit
0:04:46 > 0:04:48so I'll give you 9.5 out of 10!
0:04:48 > 0:04:50- Thank you very much.- Bye-bye now!
0:04:50 > 0:04:52- Pleasure to meet you. - Thank you. Bye.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57Born in Norwich in 1780 to a wealthy Quaker family,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00Elizabeth Fry moved to London aged 20.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04There she visited the notorious Newgate prison
0:05:04 > 0:05:07and encountered cruel, squalid conditions,
0:05:07 > 0:05:10particularly among women prisoners and their newborn babies.
0:05:10 > 0:05:15Elizabeth Fry became formidable in the movement for prison reform,
0:05:15 > 0:05:18and extraordinarily influential for a woman of her day.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22Indeed, it's a former prison I'm going to visit next.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25Originally a royal palace built for William the Conqueror,
0:05:25 > 0:05:29it was used as a gaol from the 14th until the 19th century.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32"The great Norman keep
0:05:32 > 0:05:34"and the barbican bridge are incorporated
0:05:34 > 0:05:40"with the county jail built in 1818 for 200 prisoners."
0:05:40 > 0:05:43So elegant, I'm guessing that only the cream
0:05:43 > 0:05:46of the criminal fraternity did their porridge here.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50Nowadays, the castle is run as a museum.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54I'm meeting Annie Perry, who knows more about its dark past.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57- Annie.- Hello, Michael.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59Bradshaw's talks about parts of the castle
0:05:59 > 0:06:02being incorporated in the county jail in 1818
0:06:02 > 0:06:05but I suspect there have been dungeons here long before that.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07There are parts of the castle,
0:06:07 > 0:06:09the original castle keep, that were used as prison cells
0:06:09 > 0:06:12and dungeons many hundreds of years before that.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16What sort of conditions in Victorian times were the prisoners living in?
0:06:16 > 0:06:18Well, you have John Howard,
0:06:18 > 0:06:22who's considered one of the very early, if not the first prison reformer,
0:06:22 > 0:06:27visiting all of the gaols and prisons in England in the 1770s.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30He comes to Norwich castle on a number of occasions
0:06:30 > 0:06:33and reports that there are really quite bad conditions here.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37Campaigners like John Howard and Elizabeth Fry
0:06:37 > 0:06:40championed the redesign of prisons.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44Their work achieved a gradual change in attitude towards prisoners
0:06:44 > 0:06:46in the late 18th and early 19th centuries,
0:06:46 > 0:06:49balancing punishment with rehabilitation.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54And what kind of a prison does that give us?
0:06:54 > 0:06:57The prison is based on a design called a radial gaol,
0:06:57 > 0:07:00there's a central area, which would be the governor's house,
0:07:00 > 0:07:04which would also include the chapel and the school room,
0:07:04 > 0:07:06and then different cells radiating out
0:07:06 > 0:07:10around the edges as well, with exercise yards in between.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14They're looking to have individual cells for prisoners
0:07:14 > 0:07:17to be able to separate categories of prisoners
0:07:17 > 0:07:20and to be able to separate male and female prisoners.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22Interestingly,
0:07:22 > 0:07:24people would commit petty offences
0:07:24 > 0:07:26to actually get put into prison
0:07:26 > 0:07:29because the conditions in the workhouses were actually worse.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32As part of the restructuring of the gaol,
0:07:32 > 0:07:35a new courthouse was built at the base of the castle mound
0:07:35 > 0:07:39linked directly to the prison by an internal tunnel.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43So, Michael, I've brought you here to our restored court room.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48Judge behind us, dock just there, I imagine?
0:07:48 > 0:07:50Yes, the dock is just up here. The judge's seat,
0:07:50 > 0:07:54which is being restored at the moment, will be here behind us.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57One of the most notorious trials
0:07:57 > 0:08:00brought a local tenant farmer, James Blomfield Rush,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03into the dock in April 1849.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06It was a Victorian melodrama.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09A sensation reported widely in the newspapers at the time.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13The public gallery up here was absolutely packed. The judge,
0:08:13 > 0:08:15Justice Baron Rolfe, actually sold tickets
0:08:15 > 0:08:18so people could get a front row seat.
0:08:18 > 0:08:19Accused of?
0:08:19 > 0:08:20A double murder.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22He was supposed to have
0:08:22 > 0:08:25sneaked into a building called Stanfield Hall
0:08:25 > 0:08:28and shot and killed a father and son whom he owed money to.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33After conducting his own protracted defence
0:08:33 > 0:08:36Rush was eventually found guilty and sentenced to hang.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40Until 1868, hangings were conducted in public.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43And they were popular.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Was the hanging a notorious event?
0:08:46 > 0:08:47Extra trains were put on
0:08:47 > 0:08:50to bring people from Great Yarmouth and London.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Possibly as many as 20,000 people
0:08:53 > 0:08:55actually witnessed the execution,
0:08:55 > 0:08:58which would take place publicly at the bottom of the bridge.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00What a lovely day out, bring a picnic(!)
0:09:00 > 0:09:03Well, if you wanted to pay for a picnic
0:09:03 > 0:09:04you could go to the Bell Hotel
0:09:04 > 0:09:06and if you rented the very top rooms
0:09:06 > 0:09:10you've got an excellent view across the crowds of the execution
0:09:10 > 0:09:12and you could pay for a room and supper.
0:09:13 > 0:09:14The hotels were not alone
0:09:14 > 0:09:18in capitalising on the public's gory fascination.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21Staffordshire potteries produced collectable figurines
0:09:21 > 0:09:24of the main characters in the Rush murders
0:09:24 > 0:09:26to take home and display on your mantelpiece.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28It's quite puzzling this, isn't it,
0:09:28 > 0:09:32that the Victorians who have this interest in the connection
0:09:32 > 0:09:34between mental health and criminality,
0:09:34 > 0:09:37who are prison reformers, are nonetheless so ghoulish!
0:09:37 > 0:09:40It is that real sense of macabre.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45This fascination with the sinister
0:09:45 > 0:09:49is borne out by a collection hidden in the castle's dungeon.
0:09:49 > 0:09:54Well, it's horribly damp and dank and thoroughly creepy down here.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Well, we are in the castle's dungeons, Michael.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58And this is what I wanted you to see.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00This is a replica
0:10:00 > 0:10:03- of James Rush's death mask.- Wow.
0:10:05 > 0:10:06Prisoners' death masks
0:10:06 > 0:10:09were used to study the contours of the criminal cranium.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11Known as phrenology,
0:10:11 > 0:10:14this practice examined the lumps and bumps on the surface of the head
0:10:14 > 0:10:18in the belief that they could reveal distinctive criminal shapes.
0:10:18 > 0:10:23Sometimes a phrenologist could be summoned before a wedding
0:10:23 > 0:10:27to check the head of a fiance for signs of bad character.
0:10:29 > 0:10:30In James Rush's case
0:10:30 > 0:10:33they would be very interested in this area behind here,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36this is your destructiveness area.
0:10:36 > 0:10:37Your aggressive nature.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41And his is said in his report to be most pronounced.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44I don't want to be political but he seems to be somewhat left leaning.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46That would be from after the execution.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49You are left suspended for one hour
0:10:49 > 0:10:52to make sure there's no chance of you being revived or resuscitated.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54And this mask, as well, does show very clearly
0:10:54 > 0:10:57where the rope has cut directly into neck.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59Isn't that grim?!
0:11:00 > 0:11:04Phrenology has long since been discredited and is now obsolete.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08The legacy of prison reformers like Elizabeth Fry
0:11:08 > 0:11:10has been longer lasting.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13While Norwich prison was improved,
0:11:13 > 0:11:16in an area at the foot of the old Norman castle
0:11:16 > 0:11:18another group was penned in.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22"The Cattle Market, one of the largest out of London,
0:11:22 > 0:11:26"is held on a piece of ground to the south of the castle," says Bradshaw.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31It's not there any more, it's been moved. I'd better hoof it!
0:11:33 > 0:11:37Norfolk has always been rich farming country.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40Indeed, the considerable wealth of medieval Norwich
0:11:40 > 0:11:41came from the wool trade,
0:11:41 > 0:11:43and the livestock market
0:11:43 > 0:11:46has always been important to the city's economy.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48Originally situated in the city centre,
0:11:48 > 0:11:53it moved to a more spacious plot two miles away in the 1960s.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55It's one of the few livestock markets in Britain today.
0:11:57 > 0:11:58David Ball knows more.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00Welcome to Norwich livestock market!
0:12:00 > 0:12:01Thank you!
0:12:01 > 0:12:04My Bradshaw's tells me that Norfolk
0:12:04 > 0:12:06is the biggest agricultural area, and talks about Norwich
0:12:06 > 0:12:09as being one of the largest markets outside London.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12I assume there's been a market here since, really, time immemorial.
0:12:12 > 0:12:13Is that right?
0:12:13 > 0:12:15This one's been here for 50 years.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19The previous site of the market made extensive use of the trains, did it?
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Without a doubt, especially to take stock away from market.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25It was a collection centre for a big area of Norfolk
0:12:25 > 0:12:28but then people came from all over the country.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31A lot of people came from London and places like that,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34and into that part of the world, to take the meat away
0:12:34 > 0:12:36because it was still commutable
0:12:36 > 0:12:40where they could do the journey and slaughter them the next day.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Do you think Victorian animal husbandry was quite good, actually?
0:12:44 > 0:12:47Oh, I think it was, cos it was on a much smaller scale,
0:12:47 > 0:12:51much more personal, that's what I think makes a huge difference.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53Things have changed so much
0:12:53 > 0:12:55that a townie like me might ask, why do you still need a market,
0:12:55 > 0:12:59why do you need people to come to a single place to buy their sheep and their cattle?
0:12:59 > 0:13:02Because it gives them an opportunity to know where they've come from,
0:13:02 > 0:13:05how they're bred, what they're fed on,
0:13:05 > 0:13:07and everything that goes with it.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10The present market's fortnightly cattle auctions
0:13:10 > 0:13:14draw scores of famers and traders from all over the region.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18Hundreds of cattle and calves change hands,
0:13:18 > 0:13:21with prime beasts selling for thousands of pounds.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24I'm taking up my position
0:13:24 > 0:13:27next to local calf and cattle salesman Roger Long.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31You're buying the tiny calves, are you?
0:13:31 > 0:13:32Yes, the smaller calves.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35Something we can take home and produce into beef.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39As the auction gets under way,
0:13:39 > 0:13:40I've got little time to watch
0:13:40 > 0:13:43and learn the minute bidding gestures of the experts
0:13:43 > 0:13:46before Roger lets me loose to buy on his behalf.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48Selling 126, Hamish.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50I'm hoping that a subtle twitch of the Bradshaw's
0:13:50 > 0:13:53will be enough to seal the deal!
0:13:54 > 0:13:575, 10, 15.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00Come on, Michael, one more. 25.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02Going at 25.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04Selling on my left.
0:14:04 > 0:14:05325.
0:14:05 > 0:14:06Michael Portillo!
0:14:06 > 0:14:08325.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10That was absolutely thrilling,
0:14:10 > 0:14:14my little gestures managed to get me a beautiful calf.
0:14:14 > 0:14:1710, 12, 14.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22I'd love to stay and perfect my bidding technique
0:14:22 > 0:14:23but I've a train to catch.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26I've retraced my steps to Norwich Station
0:14:26 > 0:14:30and am heading 30 miles west on the mainline across East Anglia.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33Next stop Thetford.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35My guidebook tells me
0:14:35 > 0:14:37that it was the ancient capital of East Anglia,
0:14:37 > 0:14:41situated on the junction of the rivers Ouse and Thet.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44After a long day I'm going to rest my head there
0:14:44 > 0:14:47in a house that was once thought fit for a monarch.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00Situated a few miles from Thetford Station,
0:15:00 > 0:15:03local landmark Lynford Hall was commissioned in 1857
0:15:03 > 0:15:05by Stephen Lyne Stephens,
0:15:05 > 0:15:07a millionaire banker
0:15:07 > 0:15:10considered the richest commoner in England at the time.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14Not long after his death in 1860, it was put up for sale
0:15:14 > 0:15:18and its lavish splendour came to the attention of Queen Victoria.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22James Parry of the Breckland Society will tell me more.
0:15:22 > 0:15:23James.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26Michael, hello.
0:15:26 > 0:15:27I find you in semi-regal splendour!
0:15:27 > 0:15:31What exactly is the connection between Lynford Hall and the royal family?
0:15:31 > 0:15:34Queen Victoria was becoming increasingly concerned
0:15:34 > 0:15:36by the behaviour of her son, the Prince of Wales.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38There had already been several scandals.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41He was turning into a serial philanderer
0:15:41 > 0:15:43and she and Prince Albert decided
0:15:43 > 0:15:46that they had to get some stability into his life.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49And they thought that by buying a country estate
0:15:49 > 0:15:51they could perhaps have a little bit more control over him,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54keep him there a little bit, spend more family time together.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59Located on one of the best shooting estates in East Anglia
0:15:59 > 0:16:03Lynford Hall was a serious contender for royal ownership.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05A state-of-the-art, newly-built country estate,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08it had 50 bedrooms with plumbed water,
0:16:08 > 0:16:12and modern lighting, thanks to a pipe from a private gasworks.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15It offered a mere 8,000 acres.
0:16:15 > 0:16:20Nearby Sandringham had 20,000 and was bought instead.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23It has remained a royal retreat ever since.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25If things had turned out differently,
0:16:25 > 0:16:27this could have been the place that the royal family
0:16:27 > 0:16:30were sitting down for Christmas lunch, rather than Sandringham.
0:16:30 > 0:16:35But instead you and I can celebrate midsummer at Lynford Hall.
0:16:35 > 0:16:36- Cheers.- Cheers.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46After a restful night,
0:16:46 > 0:16:50I'm striking out further into Thetford's surrounding countryside.
0:16:50 > 0:16:51My Bradshaw's notes that
0:16:51 > 0:16:54"the country consists of a sandy soil
0:16:54 > 0:16:58"and is peculiarly salubrious and pleasant in nature".
0:16:58 > 0:17:00Such terrain isn't ideal for farming
0:17:00 > 0:17:04but is favoured by a particular breed of burrowing creature.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07Anne Mason of the Breckland Society
0:17:07 > 0:17:09will tell me how the landscape of "the Brecks"
0:17:09 > 0:17:13was ideal for a form of animal husbandry.
0:17:13 > 0:17:14- Hello.- Hello.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17So, what exactly is this building?
0:17:17 > 0:17:20Well, it's known as Thetford Warren Lodge
0:17:20 > 0:17:22and it was inhabited by a rabbit warrener.
0:17:22 > 0:17:27And it's the symbol of a 600-year-old industry of warrening
0:17:27 > 0:17:29which once dominated this area of East Anglia.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32And why is it built to look like a castle?
0:17:32 > 0:17:36It was built primarily as a defence against poachers,
0:17:36 > 0:17:39because rabbits were highly prized luxury items in the Middle Ages.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43It was the job of a medieval warrener
0:17:43 > 0:17:46to nurture, protect and trap rabbits.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48He was in effect a rabbit farmer.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51Why were rabbits so valuable then?
0:17:51 > 0:17:54Because they were a source of fresh meat in the winter
0:17:54 > 0:18:00and also because their fur was used for robes and cloaks.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02We know that Henry VII actually had a nightshirt
0:18:02 > 0:18:05that was lined with black rabbit fur.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08When did the rabbit business reach its peak, do you think?
0:18:08 > 0:18:11Oh, it was actually linked to the railways.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Once the railway came to Thetford in 1846
0:18:14 > 0:18:19it provided very quick and easy transport up to London.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23And, of course, the meat could be then transported very freshly.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25It was actually sold at Leadenhall market
0:18:25 > 0:18:30and it was really in response to growing demand from centres of population,
0:18:30 > 0:18:33such as London, which had expanded so much in the 19th century.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35On this warren of Thetford,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38from the 1850s onwards
0:18:38 > 0:18:43the average annual cull was 28,800 rabbits.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48Rabbit meat became so popular that Mrs Beeton's famous Victorian book
0:18:48 > 0:18:50of household management
0:18:50 > 0:18:53provided more than 20 recipes for its preparation.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56And the demand for rabbit fur in Victorian England
0:18:56 > 0:18:58was met by two large factories
0:18:58 > 0:19:01employing 200 people in nearby Brandon.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03It was a significant source of employment,
0:19:03 > 0:19:05with much of the community
0:19:05 > 0:19:08involved in processing thousands of rabbit skins
0:19:08 > 0:19:11for the fur and felt-making industries.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14So extensive and regular was that rabbit trade
0:19:14 > 0:19:17that the early morning trains going up to London
0:19:17 > 0:19:20carrying the rabbits were known locally as bunny trains.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24In the trade's heyday in the mid-19th century,
0:19:24 > 0:19:27bunny trains transported 30,000 carcases a year
0:19:27 > 0:19:29to the London markets,
0:19:29 > 0:19:31where they were sold by the hundredweight.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34If you had your warren near a train station,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37farming rabbits was a lucrative business.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40With the passing of the Ground Game Act in the 1880s,
0:19:40 > 0:19:42anyone was allowed to hunt wild rabbits
0:19:42 > 0:19:45and the industry went into steady decline.
0:19:46 > 0:19:47Has it died out completely?
0:19:47 > 0:19:49Not entirely, no.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52And, in fact, I think it's seen a revival.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54With so much emphasis on using local produce
0:19:54 > 0:19:56and naturally-produced produce,
0:19:56 > 0:19:59I think we are seeing more people eating rabbit meat.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05The bunny trains and the rabbit fur trade have long since gone,
0:20:05 > 0:20:08but a few warreners survive.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11With lean, healthy and sustainable rabbit meat back on the menu,
0:20:11 > 0:20:14there's a business in bunnies again.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17Andy Simpson continues the tradition of the warrener.
0:20:17 > 0:20:18He learned his trade from his father
0:20:18 > 0:20:21and is passing it on to his son Tim.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25This ancient form of animal husbandry is important for another reason,
0:20:25 > 0:20:30conservation of the natural environment and pest control.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33What would happen if you were not controlling the rabbit population?
0:20:33 > 0:20:37They'd destroy the countryside for cattle farmers, sheep farmers.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39The rabbits are undermining the ground,
0:20:39 > 0:20:41they're tunnelling underneath all the time.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43The hole that you see, it's a bit like an iceberg.
0:20:43 > 0:20:44The hole is the tip of it,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47the warren is expansive underneath.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Many years ago this park would have been full of cattle and sheep
0:20:50 > 0:20:52and the estate ponies.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55There's none of them here. They daren't put them in here now
0:20:55 > 0:20:58because the cattle and ponies break their legs walking over the rabbit warrens.
0:20:58 > 0:21:03Now, I've been ignoring up until now your box of tricks.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05We've got a few little noses coming out of there.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07Yep, I've got a selection of these.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09Molly's my main working bitch.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12This is a cross between a ferret and pole cat.
0:21:12 > 0:21:13This won't bite.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15- Are you sure?- Yep.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18You are a sweet creature.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21Where this one was a domesticated ferret,
0:21:21 > 0:21:24these are captured wild polecats.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28That's a little boy one.
0:21:28 > 0:21:29Do they go rabbiting yet?
0:21:29 > 0:21:30Not yet, no.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32Ooh!
0:21:34 > 0:21:35Got me!
0:21:38 > 0:21:40You've got a claim to fame, you bit a politician!
0:21:44 > 0:21:46With the two pesky polecats back in their cage,
0:21:46 > 0:21:48it's time for me to hop back to Thetford Station
0:21:48 > 0:21:52where I'm going to board my next train northwest to Brandon.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02This train is going to take me out of Norfolk
0:22:02 > 0:22:06over the border into Suffolk and the town of Brandon.
0:22:06 > 0:22:07Bradhaw's tells me that,
0:22:07 > 0:22:10"this place formerly supplied the government with gun flints."
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Enough to spark anybody's interest.
0:22:18 > 0:22:23Immediately I can see how important flint is to this area.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26Even the buildings here are faced with the stone.
0:22:26 > 0:22:27This place is blessed
0:22:27 > 0:22:29with some of the best quality flint in Britain
0:22:29 > 0:22:33and flint was key to the local economy for a very long time.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38I've come to Grime's Graves,
0:22:38 > 0:22:41an ancient flint mine just outside Brandon.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44I'd like to find out how old the area's flint business is,
0:22:44 > 0:22:46from archaeologist Dave Field.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49- Hello, Dave! - Hello, Michael, pleased to meet you.
0:22:49 > 0:22:50My Bradshaw's tells me
0:22:50 > 0:22:53that Brandon supplied gunflints to the government. Tell me about that.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55Yes, that's very true.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58In particular during the Napoleonic wars,
0:22:58 > 0:23:01an enormous quantity of gunflints were shipped out.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04There are stories of something like a million per month at one time.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07There was a particularly good seam of flint here.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09Jet black, very few imperfections.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13Exceedingly good sparkability, and sparking properties
0:23:13 > 0:23:16were of primary importance for musketry.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18Particularly for military purposes.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21You can imagine at the battle of Waterloo,
0:23:21 > 0:23:23you wouldn't want your musket to misfire too many times!
0:23:23 > 0:23:26Was it ever possible to mass-produce gunflints?
0:23:26 > 0:23:28No, this was a cottage industry.
0:23:28 > 0:23:29The Brandon knappers
0:23:29 > 0:23:31had something like a five or six year apprenticeship
0:23:31 > 0:23:34before they could be set loose and set up their own business.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39We're in an area which bears the scars of human activity,
0:23:39 > 0:23:42but I assume this is nothing to do with the Napoleonic era, is it?
0:23:42 > 0:23:44No, no, no, this is all prehistoric.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48The Neolithic miners got here long before the gunflint miners.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53It seems that flint knapping is a skill that's as old as the hills.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56This site has now been dated to over 4,000 years ago.
0:23:56 > 0:24:01Grime's Graves contains traces of 400 Neolithic mineshafts
0:24:01 > 0:24:05and is one of the most important prehistoric sites in Britain.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07What was Neolithic man using it for?
0:24:07 > 0:24:10They were using it for a variety of things.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14It's reckoned that enough flint was extracted from here
0:24:14 > 0:24:15in the Neolithic period
0:24:15 > 0:24:18to make something like eight million stone axes.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20Enormous quantities were shipped out.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22Much more so in the Neolithic period than in the gunflint era.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25I'm going to take a closer look.
0:24:29 > 0:24:30You get a real sense
0:24:30 > 0:24:33of descending into the bowels of the earth, don't you?
0:24:33 > 0:24:36The greenery peters out, the rock begins, temperature falls.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39It does indeed. It's pretty constant down here.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43And it's a real labyrinth. All these little galleries interconnect.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47Theoretically you could work your way right across the site underground.
0:24:47 > 0:24:52You can see the hollows here where a large nodule has been extracted.
0:24:52 > 0:24:53The idea, of course,
0:24:53 > 0:24:57was to extract every available piece of good black flint
0:24:57 > 0:25:00that you could do without the roof falling in.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03So, how did these Neolithic mines come to light,
0:25:03 > 0:25:04if that's the right expression?
0:25:04 > 0:25:07Well, it was following
0:25:07 > 0:25:10the period of publication of Darwin's Origin Of Species.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12There was a new feeling of inquiry about.
0:25:12 > 0:25:13And it was during that period
0:25:13 > 0:25:16that Canon William Greenwell came to the site
0:25:16 > 0:25:18and he dug one of the shafts
0:25:18 > 0:25:21and found that it went down something like 12 metres.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23And he found the seam of black flint
0:25:23 > 0:25:27and it was quite clear then what was going on.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30That they were actually mining this material in prehistory.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33And he used some of the gunflint miners from Brandon
0:25:33 > 0:25:35to help him in that excavation.
0:25:35 > 0:25:41So the gunflint miners had a big hand in the discovery of the prehistoric mining.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44Well, I'd like to find out more about flint knapping
0:25:44 > 0:25:47- but for that I must return to the surface.- Yes, let's do.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52The flint knapping workshops
0:25:52 > 0:25:57that were so busy in Brandon in the early 19th century are no more,
0:25:57 > 0:26:01but today, some enthusiasts have revived the craft.
0:26:02 > 0:26:07Will Lord provides traditional flints for flintlock guns
0:26:07 > 0:26:11used by historical re-enactment groups across the globe.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13Hello, Will!
0:26:13 > 0:26:15Hello, Michael. Nice to meet you.
0:26:15 > 0:26:16Good to see you.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21I had no idea that flint would be such a big rock!
0:26:21 > 0:26:22Yeah, we're really lucky,
0:26:22 > 0:26:26we've got some of the best geology of flint in Britain around here.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29What is it you are trying to make? What's the end product?
0:26:29 > 0:26:31This is the final product.
0:26:31 > 0:26:32And it has to be very precise, does it?
0:26:32 > 0:26:35I notice not only that it's very square
0:26:35 > 0:26:36but you've shaved off one side of it here.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39Yeah, that chamfer there is really important.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42It doesn't want to be too weak at the end of its journey.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45First a suitable stone has to be selected
0:26:45 > 0:26:48and quartered into a workable size.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55Look at that, we have made an excellent choice in stone.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58Look at this, pure black silica.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00Isn't that absolutely glorious?!
0:27:00 > 0:27:03Then a workable-sized flake has to be created
0:27:03 > 0:27:06and Will is letting me have a bash.
0:27:08 > 0:27:09Just lean it in a little bit.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13It's all good. Just touch it on the flint.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15Perfect.
0:27:15 > 0:27:16Could you make a flint out of that?
0:27:16 > 0:27:18Yeah, that's great!
0:27:18 > 0:27:20Only now can the flake be honed
0:27:20 > 0:27:23to the correct shape and size for a gunflint.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25Got a bit of a shape there.
0:27:25 > 0:27:26You have.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29But it doesn't really, let's face it...
0:27:29 > 0:27:32No, look at that, you've got a really good serviceable gunflint there!
0:27:32 > 0:27:33- Well done.- Thank you.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36I'm no expert yet,
0:27:36 > 0:27:40but I am glad that I've had a go at man's oldest profession.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44When Norwich acquired its cathedral and castle
0:27:44 > 0:27:47it was one of this country's most important cities,
0:27:47 > 0:27:51using the river and the sea to export wool to the continent.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55When railways became the main mode of transport,
0:27:55 > 0:27:59Norfolk was left somewhat isolated from the capital, London.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03In such tranquillity, rabbit warrening and flint knapping could survive,
0:28:03 > 0:28:05unaffected by the Industrial Revolution
0:28:05 > 0:28:07transforming the rest of Britain.
0:28:12 > 0:28:13On the next leg
0:28:13 > 0:28:17I experience 19th-century cutting edge technology.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19And there it goes.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22And the extraordinary thing is that a Victorian would recognise
0:28:22 > 0:28:24that because it was made in much the same way.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29I shell out for seafood near Mersea Island.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32This is the sort of oyster that once cleaned up could appear on my plate?
0:28:32 > 0:28:33It certainly is, yes.
0:28:33 > 0:28:37And I'm tainted in an Essex orchard.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40That's where the phrase caught red-handed comes from.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42Indelible stain of crime.