0:00:04 > 0:00:09In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12His name was George Bradshaw
0:00:12 > 0:00:16and his railway guides inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20Stop by stop, he told them where to go,
0:00:20 > 0:00:23what to see and where to stay.
0:00:23 > 0:00:29And now, 170 years later, I'm aboard for a series of rail adventures
0:00:29 > 0:00:33across the United Kingdom to see what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57My journey continues through Suffolk.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01This flat terrain produces a big, beautiful dome of sky
0:01:01 > 0:01:03and beneath it the green land
0:01:03 > 0:01:06and the rivers that run between it are rich in food.
0:01:10 > 0:01:15'On this leg, I discover that 19th century engineering was pretty sharp.'
0:01:15 > 0:01:17And there it goes.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21The extraordinary thing is a Victorian would recognise that
0:01:21 > 0:01:24- because it was made in much the same way.- Absolutely.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28'Shell out for seafood near Mersey Island.'
0:01:28 > 0:01:32Enormous. So this is the sort of oyster that once cleaned up,
0:01:32 > 0:01:34- could appear on my plate. - Certainly is, yeah.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37'And I'm tainted in an Essex orchard.'
0:01:37 > 0:01:40That's where the phrase "caught red-handed" came from.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42Indelible stain of crime.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49My journey, which began in Norwich,
0:01:49 > 0:01:52now continues south-west through Suffolk,
0:01:52 > 0:01:55past Chelmsford in Essex,
0:01:55 > 0:01:57then across the Thames at Tilbury,
0:01:57 > 0:02:01through the Medway towns of Kent and its largest port, Dover,
0:02:01 > 0:02:05before moving west to Tunbridge, down to the Sussex coast
0:02:05 > 0:02:08and ending in the cathedral city of Chichester.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12Today's leg begins in Ipswich,
0:02:12 > 0:02:16moves south-west to crack open the Essex delights of Colchester
0:02:16 > 0:02:20and Witham, and picks up radio waves in Chelmsford.
0:02:29 > 0:02:34Bradshaw's tells me that Suffolk is one of the best cultivated districts in England,
0:02:34 > 0:02:36almost exclusively a farming county,
0:02:36 > 0:02:40being conducted upon the most improved principles.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42There was innovation in agriculture
0:02:42 > 0:02:45long before the industrial revolution
0:02:45 > 0:02:47and East Anglia was in the forefront.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52Set on the bank of the Orwell estuary,
0:02:52 > 0:02:54Ipswich - one of England's oldest towns -
0:02:54 > 0:02:58has been an important trading centre since the Saxons settled here.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03It became one of the richest ports in medieval England
0:03:03 > 0:03:05and thrived on shipbuilding.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10When the railways arrived in Ipswich in 1846,
0:03:10 > 0:03:14they ran to the new docks, from where the town's iron goods
0:03:14 > 0:03:16and farm machinery could be moved easily
0:03:16 > 0:03:18to customers around the country.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27Here I am at Ipswich, which Bradshaw's tells me is a port,
0:03:27 > 0:03:29borough town and capital of Suffolk.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33Then it tells me that Ransomes & Sims
0:03:33 > 0:03:35machine and implement works cover 14 acres.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Could that be instrumental in the agricultural improvement
0:03:41 > 0:03:44that Bradshaw's tells me about?
0:03:45 > 0:03:50Founded in 1785 by Robert Ransome during the agrarian revolution,
0:03:50 > 0:03:54Ransomes of Ipswich has been making agricultural equipment ever since.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59The company was originally situated at the docks,
0:03:59 > 0:04:02where it also built its own railway sidings.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06I'm keen to find out just how important Ransomes was
0:04:06 > 0:04:08to the economy of Ipswich in Bradshaw's day.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14Richard Comely is the company's marketing director.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17- Hello Michael, welcome. - Very good to see you.- Thank you.
0:04:17 > 0:04:23Bradshaw's tells me that Ransomes & Sims covered an area of 14 acres.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26That's in 1864 - it must have been enormous.
0:04:26 > 0:04:31Some 3,500 people were employed here,
0:04:31 > 0:04:35making ploughs, mowing machinery, all kinds of agricultural equipment.
0:04:35 > 0:04:42In 1832, Ransomes won the licence to manufacture a brand new product.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46Engineer Edwin Budding's invention,
0:04:46 > 0:04:48based on the napping of cloth in cotton mills,
0:04:48 > 0:04:53would revolutionise 19th century gardening.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56Until such time as the mower came along,
0:04:56 > 0:04:58people were cutting grass with scythes,
0:04:58 > 0:05:01and obviously, that had limitations, especially with short grass.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04What's the breakthrough about the lawn mower?
0:05:04 > 0:05:09The principle is we have these rotating blades that are in a spiral
0:05:09 > 0:05:13and we have this bed knife, which is the stationary part
0:05:13 > 0:05:15that the rotating blades rotate against.
0:05:15 > 0:05:20The reason they're in a spiral is to feed the power in more evenly
0:05:20 > 0:05:23and to eliminate the kind of chopping motion
0:05:23 > 0:05:27you would get if the blades were all in straight lines.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29This is fundamentally what Budding invented.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Actually, that's a fantastic thought isn't it?
0:05:32 > 0:05:36That a fellow came up with this idea 180 years ago
0:05:36 > 0:05:40- and really, it's recognisable to this day.- Exactly.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45In 1867 the company produced more than 1,000 lawn mowers
0:05:45 > 0:05:49and Royal recognition followed when Queen Victoria acquired one
0:05:49 > 0:05:52to tend the lawns of her beloved Balmoral.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01- Might I have a go at that? - Absolutely.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03Give it a whirl. Thank you very much.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08Let it catch the second roller as you go through,
0:06:08 > 0:06:12- press the button there. - Look at that! Curving away.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19That's basically what you've got.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21- Isn't that beautiful? - It's formed a spiral.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25And there is goes.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29And the extraordinary thing is that a Victorian would recognize that
0:06:29 > 0:06:32- because it was made in much the same way.- Absolutely.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36In the 21st century, Budding's blades are fitted to mowers
0:06:36 > 0:06:40that cut sports fields all over the world.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44The factory is unexpectedly surrounded by top quality grass
0:06:44 > 0:06:48and each model has to meet green keeper Jamie Hughes' standards.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54- This is a golf course attached to a factory.- It is.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56It's unusual to come onto an industrial estate
0:06:56 > 0:06:58and see a golf course.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02Gosh, you've got machinery old and new here. This is what?
0:07:02 > 0:07:04We've got the Budding here, the original.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08- This is the original? Can I have a go at it?- You can.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10Do you mind holding my book for a while?
0:07:13 > 0:07:15Oh, look at that, it actually works.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18- It does. It takes a push. - A Budding patent.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20It really was a budding patent, wasn't it?
0:07:20 > 0:07:22Never was a truer word said.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24Now, this one I guess is a little bit easier is it?
0:07:24 > 0:07:29This one is far easier, yes. And we will have a go on this.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32- Oh, good. Does that mean me? - That means you, exactly.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36ENGINE STARTS There we go. These are your arms.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40You know, this invention is really cutting edge.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54Resuming my journey,
0:07:54 > 0:07:57I'm heading south-west on the Great Eastern mainline
0:07:57 > 0:07:59out of East Anglia and into Essex.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10My next stop will be Colchester, which my Bradshaw's tells me
0:08:10 > 0:08:14is formerly an important town of the Romans on the River Colne.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17"Silk from umbrellas is made here, and velvet.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19"Excellent oysters at Pyefleet.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23"I sense there's important history to be prised open here."
0:08:34 > 0:08:38Replete with its vast Victorian brick water tower
0:08:38 > 0:08:41Colchester, once the Roman capital of Britain,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43is a bustling market town,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46world-famous for the oysters harvested
0:08:46 > 0:08:49from its nearby waters since 48AD.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55To find out why its oysters are so renowned,
0:08:55 > 0:08:59I'm meeting Graham Larkin on nearby Mersey Island at the confluence
0:08:59 > 0:09:02of the Pyefleet Channel and the River Colne.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10Why is it that these waters give us such good oysters?
0:09:10 > 0:09:13It's a very high salinity area, which means water is very salty,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16and we've got all this marvellous agricultural land around us
0:09:16 > 0:09:18that's giving us all the nutrients
0:09:18 > 0:09:20and all the food being washed into the creek by the rain
0:09:20 > 0:09:23and it's being filtered through by the oysters and fattening them up.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27Give me an idea of how many oysters you are dredging up?
0:09:27 > 0:09:31On a weekly basis between 60,000 and 65,000 rock oysters per week.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34That's like a small town's worth of rock oysters every week.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Yeah, it's quite a lot.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42Colchester oysters were sought-after delicacies in Roman times.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45Archaeological excavations have found evidence that they were
0:09:45 > 0:09:50even exported to Rome in nets trailing in the water from the boat.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55But by the 19th century, the coming of the railways
0:09:55 > 0:10:00made oysters a plentiful and cheap food for the urban poor.
0:10:00 > 0:10:05In 1864, more than 700 million oysters were eaten in London alone.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10During the Victorian times, the oysters would have been taken
0:10:10 > 0:10:12from where they were gathered by boat to Brightlingsea
0:10:12 > 0:10:16in barrels and then they would have been transported from Brightlingsea
0:10:16 > 0:10:18by rail into London, where they would have been sold
0:10:18 > 0:10:21on street corners and in restaurants.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25Oysters are in demand again today.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28Although no longer cheap, they are harvested in much the same way
0:10:28 > 0:10:31as in Bradshaw's day - by dredger.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36We're going to tow this dredger just over a walking pace
0:10:36 > 0:10:38for about 100 yards, 150 yards,
0:10:38 > 0:10:42and then you can haul it up and you can see what we've got.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48Here it is.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53Oh, we've got some stuff in there, that's great.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57- We've got some nice oysters here. - Enormous.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59So this is the sort of oyster that once cleaned up,
0:10:59 > 0:11:01- could appear on my plate. - Certainly is, yeah.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04I'd be extremely pleased to find him in a restaurant.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06OK, Michael, shall we head back with your haul?
0:11:06 > 0:11:08Yes, let's get underway.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12'The oyster fishery was granted to the people of Colchester
0:11:12 > 0:11:15'by King Richard I.'
0:11:15 > 0:11:18Now owned by the council, the fishery is leased to Graham,
0:11:18 > 0:11:21which ensures that every one of its rock oysters
0:11:21 > 0:11:27is made fit for human consumption by placing it in fresh sea water
0:11:27 > 0:11:30for at least 42 hours to flush out impurities.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Is it possible to have one of these lovely fellows?
0:11:36 > 0:11:40- Of course it is, yeah. - So, down the hatch.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Mm, talk about the taste of the sea.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51- Wonderful burst of flavour. - Don't get any fresher than that.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55Today you can enjoy one type of oyster or another
0:11:55 > 0:11:58throughout the year, but historically
0:11:58 > 0:12:02it was thought safest to avoid oysters in the heat of summer
0:12:02 > 0:12:06so they were eaten only in months whose name contains the letter "R".
0:12:06 > 0:12:09On this balmy Colchester evening,
0:12:09 > 0:12:12I want to find out whether such caution persists.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14- Good evening.- Evening.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17- Evening.- I see that you're enjoying a lovely glass of champagne.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20- Very, very civilised. - Lovely summer evening isn't it?
0:12:20 > 0:12:23- Are you celebrating? - No, not really.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27- Just a daily occurrence. - No! Just going out for a drink.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Well, I wondered whether you would have oysters to go with it?
0:12:30 > 0:12:34Because Colchester is famous for oysters.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37- Yeah, but no R in the month, is there?- No, no R in the month.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40So you don't like having an oyster when there's no R in the month?
0:12:40 > 0:12:42You don't eat them then.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45- You like to have your oysters? - I love oysters yes, yes.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47So are you longing for there to be an R in the month?
0:12:47 > 0:12:52- November, October, November, December.- Yes, I am.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55- Tell me, are you a chewer or a swallower?- A swallower.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57- Really? No chewing?- No.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00- Oh. I like to give them a good chew. - Oh, no!
0:13:00 > 0:13:04- Anyway, cheers to you both. Bye-bye.- Bye.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13Bradshaw's promised me fragments of the ancient town walls.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16In fact, they seem to be pretty well preserved.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20The pub is called The Hole In The Wall, which a seems a strange way
0:13:20 > 0:13:23to refer to such a beautifully formed Roman gate
0:13:23 > 0:13:25but anyway, I feel thirsty.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29'I'm meeting local historian Patrick Denney
0:13:29 > 0:13:33'to find out how a pub came to sit on an ancient ruin.'
0:13:33 > 0:13:36Welcome to Colchester.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38Thank you very much. The Hole In The Wall pub.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42I assume it's a reference to that rather lovely gate out there, is it?
0:13:42 > 0:13:44Well, not actually, no.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46The name Hole In The Wall dates first
0:13:46 > 0:13:49to when the railways arrived in Colchester in 1843.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52This pub, and it was called the King's Head in those days,
0:13:52 > 0:13:55commanded the best view of the railway in the whole town, really.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58So the landlord in this pub smashed a big hole in the Roman wall,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02which is just behind us here, extended his pub,
0:14:02 > 0:14:05put a window in so his customers could come and have a lovely view of the railway.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07He smashed a hole in the Roman wall!
0:14:07 > 0:14:09Yeah. Today he would probably be thrown in prison
0:14:09 > 0:14:12for picking up a little bit that fell off,
0:14:12 > 0:14:13but he got away with it at the time.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16And the town's cabbies did a roaring trade.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18They'd see a train come in,
0:14:18 > 0:14:21they'd leave their pint and off they'd go down to the station.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23Well, I have found it a wholly appropriate place
0:14:23 > 0:14:26- to end the day, cheers. - Cheers, Michael.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41Looking forward to the day ahead,
0:14:41 > 0:14:45this morning I'm travelling west into the Essex countryside.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53This first train of the day will take me to Witham.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57Bradshaw's draws my attention to Tiptree Heath,
0:14:57 > 0:14:59on which is Alderman Mechi's
0:14:59 > 0:15:03celebrated model farming establishment.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05There is a corner of an English field
0:15:05 > 0:15:08that is forever linked to an Italian name.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18The station at Witham, a fashionable 18th century spa town,
0:15:18 > 0:15:20is close to Tiptree Heath,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23a once infertile, marshy corner of Essex.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28I'm hoping Ian Thurgood,
0:15:28 > 0:15:31joint managing director for the farm's current owners,
0:15:31 > 0:15:33will know how a London alderman
0:15:33 > 0:15:36turned it into a successful 19th century farm.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40- Hello, Ian.- Hello, Michael. Welcome to Tiptree Hall.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44Thank you very much indeed. Who was Alderman Mechi?
0:15:44 > 0:15:48Alderman Mechi was the son of an Italian immigrant
0:15:48 > 0:15:51who made his fortune in London.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53He was a cutler, a silversmith
0:15:53 > 0:15:58and very good in commerce, but turned his attention finally
0:15:58 > 0:16:00to Tiptree Hall and experimental farming,
0:16:00 > 0:16:04trying lots of different things to see if he could make sense
0:16:04 > 0:16:06of farming anywhere in the country.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10He had a couple of particularly revolutionary ideas at the time.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13One was that he would irrigate and drain the soil
0:16:13 > 0:16:18across the whole farm and it's said that he laid some 80 to 90 miles
0:16:18 > 0:16:21of drains just on Tiptree Hall farm.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24The second was he decided that his cattle would stand on grids.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27They wouldn't stand in a courtyard in the mud,
0:16:27 > 0:16:30so the grids were used and then he was able to collect the manure,
0:16:30 > 0:16:34return the manure to the fields and thus improve the soil.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36I'm guessing that he was successful
0:16:36 > 0:16:39because Bradshaw's refers to it as a model farm establishment,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43so people were coming to learn from this, were they?
0:16:43 > 0:16:46Mechi was successful, there's no doubt about that.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48In fact, it's said that at one point, here at Tiptree Hall,
0:16:48 > 0:16:51he was bringing in 600 people from Witham station
0:16:51 > 0:16:54coming in for Mechi's Agricultural Day,
0:16:54 > 0:16:57where they could look at the wonderful things he was trying.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59The first place they'd see steam ploughing, for many of them,
0:16:59 > 0:17:01was here at Tiptree Hall.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05Mechi's annual agricultural shows
0:17:05 > 0:17:10and his modern techniques became so renowned that in 1852
0:17:10 > 0:17:13Charles Dickens reported on Tiptree in his weekly journal.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21Did his ideas spread far and wide?
0:17:21 > 0:17:24Yes they did, through the publication of his book,
0:17:24 > 0:17:26How To Farm Profitably.
0:17:26 > 0:17:31Bradshaw's calls him Alderman Mechi. Alderman of what?
0:17:31 > 0:17:34Mechi was Alderman of the City of London.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37He was actually in line to become Lord Mayor of London.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41Sadly, Alderman Mechi failed to become Lord Mayor
0:17:41 > 0:17:44because he lost his fortune
0:17:44 > 0:17:46in the collapse of the Unity Joint Stock Bank,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48of which he was a governor.
0:17:49 > 0:17:5212 days after being forced to liquidate his affairs,
0:17:52 > 0:17:54Mechi died here at Tiptree -
0:17:54 > 0:17:58some say of diabetes, others, of a broken heart.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06It's a sad story, but not, I think, the end of farming at Tiptree.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09That's not the end of the farming story
0:18:09 > 0:18:12because eventually Tiptree Hall was bought by the Wilkin family.
0:18:12 > 0:18:18Local jam makers Wilkin & Sons bought the Tiptree estate in 1913.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21It now covers a square acreage
0:18:21 > 0:18:24equivalent to around 300 cricket fields.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27We're in the mulberry orchard now.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29This is the oldest orchard in the estate,
0:18:29 > 0:18:34- planted in Victorian times, in fact. - Not planted by Alderman Mechi?
0:18:34 > 0:18:36Not planted by Alderman Mechi, no.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39In fact, just a little while after he'd departed Tiptree.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43- Hello.- Hello. - Is it difficult to pick mulberries?
0:18:43 > 0:18:46A little bit because you need to be on the ladder and a bit high.
0:18:46 > 0:18:51- Could I try one, please? - Sure.- Thank you very much indeed.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54Wow, look at you! You're absolutely covered in juice.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58Look at these red hands, I look like a scene out of Macbeth.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01They say that that's where the phrase "caught red-handed" comes from.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04If you come in the mulberry orchard and scrump some mulberries,
0:19:04 > 0:19:06you're not really going to get away with it
0:19:06 > 0:19:09cos that's going to stay there for three or four days.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11The indelible stain of crime.
0:19:15 > 0:19:21In 1885, fruit grower Arthur Charles Wilkin had become so frustrated
0:19:21 > 0:19:24with the damage his immaculate fruit suffered on the train journey
0:19:24 > 0:19:29to market that he turned his attention instead to making jam.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34Wilkin & Sons factory now supplies conserves
0:19:34 > 0:19:37of many flavours to 60 countries.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40But the mulberry, a fruit which, according to Greek mythology,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43was turned deep red by the blood of Pyramus and Thisbe,
0:19:43 > 0:19:48is the queen of the Tiptree crop and requires special attention.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55What is it that you're doing to the fruit?
0:19:55 > 0:19:58We're taking out the stalk in the mulberry.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00- I guess you don't want that in the jam.- No, no.
0:20:00 > 0:20:05Wow. And this happens to every mulberry that goes into the jam?
0:20:05 > 0:20:08Every single one that's picked, the stalk's taken out.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11- That must make it a really special jam, I think.- Yes.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18From its humble Victorian beginnings,
0:20:18 > 0:20:22the company's 21st century turnover has hit £35 million -
0:20:22 > 0:20:26a thoroughly modern sounding revenue
0:20:26 > 0:20:29married to an age-old production process.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33Like any good kitchen, jam needs a bit of a stir.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36The mulberries are being boiled up here.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39Do you want to have a go at stirring the mulberries?
0:20:39 > 0:20:41- May I take your paddle for a moment? - Mind your hands.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44- Mind my hands.- Keep your hands as high as possible up there.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46- That's a good tip. - Backwards and forwards.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50- What temperature is that boiling at? - 104.- 104?
0:20:50 > 0:20:52So you don't want to get too close to that.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55Think I'll let you take over, I don't want to spoil the broth.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57- Thank you.- Thank you.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11What's happening here, Ian?
0:21:11 > 0:21:13The fruit comes up on the conveyor system,
0:21:13 > 0:21:16just fruit sugar and some pectin,
0:21:16 > 0:21:18if we're going to need to make it set,
0:21:18 > 0:21:21close the lid, 15 minutes later we've got some jam ready.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24How long before that ends up in a jar?
0:21:24 > 0:21:27That will end up in a jar in about 20 or 25 minutes from now.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29Amazing.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42- Come and try some mulberry jam. - Mulberry jam, I'd love to.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44A lovely scone to put it on.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47Lay it on thick.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49- A little clotted cream.- Perfect.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55Ideally, I won't get it all over my nose.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01Mm. It's exquisite.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04You know, I'm so lucky to get to sample things like this
0:22:04 > 0:22:06doing the Railway Journeys.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08Some people think I'm really jammy.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16Fortified by that cream tea, I'll continue my journey south-west
0:22:16 > 0:22:19toward this leg's final destination.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33For many places in the United Kingdom,
0:22:33 > 0:22:36Bradshaw's lists a telegraph station.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38In those days, towns were linked by wires
0:22:38 > 0:22:42down which people could send telegrams or cables.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44The idea of communication without wire
0:22:44 > 0:22:46would have seemed extraordinary.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48But since, as the book says,
0:22:48 > 0:22:52"Essex composes part of the largest connected space of level ground
0:22:52 > 0:22:55"with not one lofty eminence or rocky ridge,
0:22:55 > 0:22:59"this was a good place to test wireless communication."
0:23:06 > 0:23:11Wireless technology has assumed a new importance in the 21st century.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14Chelmsford, the county town of Essex,
0:23:14 > 0:23:16benefited from the first wireless revolution
0:23:16 > 0:23:20when in 1912 an Italian named Guglielmo Marconi
0:23:20 > 0:23:23established the world's first purpose-built
0:23:23 > 0:23:26radio equipment factory in New Street,
0:23:26 > 0:23:29on the site of the town's old cricket ground.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37Much of the old works has been demolished, but to find out more,
0:23:37 > 0:23:41I'm meeting Chelmsford Museum science curator Dr Geoff Bowles
0:23:41 > 0:23:44in one of the surviving factory buildings.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48- Hello, Geoff!- Hello, Michael.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51Did Marconi actually invent wireless technology?
0:23:51 > 0:23:55His fundamental breakthrough really was to erect an aerial
0:23:55 > 0:23:57and an earth connection.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00Whereas others were trying it without those two things
0:24:00 > 0:24:03and they could make wireless waves go across the laboratory.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05With an aerial and earth,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08Marconi was suddenly sending it hundreds of metres.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11And that's what he was after.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14Frustrated by Italy's lacklustre attitude
0:24:14 > 0:24:18to technological innovation, Marconi settled in Chelmsford,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21beyond the area of the General Post Office monopoly
0:24:21 > 0:24:24on telegraphic communication.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26In 1901, the immigrant scientist
0:24:26 > 0:24:30sent the first wireless signal across the Atlantic.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34His high quality Morse code transmitters and receivers
0:24:34 > 0:24:37were sold to maritime fleets, governments
0:24:37 > 0:24:40and radio hams across the world.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46And, in 1920, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist
0:24:46 > 0:24:48achieved another communication milestone -
0:24:48 > 0:24:52a voice broadcast with edifying content by George.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58One of the things they did was actually read Bradshaw's timetable
0:24:58 > 0:25:02very, very slowly and clearly over the air.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06A great deal more interesting than many broadcasts that we get today!
0:25:06 > 0:25:10And when did we actually move to broadcasting in the fullest sense?
0:25:10 > 0:25:14Really as a result of a very famous concert.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17Dame Nelly Melba, the Australian prima donna,
0:25:17 > 0:25:23her voice went out from the enormous 450-foot mast which had been set up
0:25:23 > 0:25:27above the factory and she was heard all over the world.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30And suddenly it became clear that
0:25:30 > 0:25:33you could also broadcast entertainment to people.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35That was a totally new idea.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41The early factory studios no longer exist,
0:25:41 > 0:25:44but three miles east of the city centre
0:25:44 > 0:25:48at Chelmsford's Sandford Mill Museum, I'm meeting Peter Watkins
0:25:48 > 0:25:53who has first-hand experience of using early Marconi equipment.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57- Hello, Peter.- Hello, Michael.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00A bit of personal nostalgia for you.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04- Yes. I was doing this about 55 years ago.- You were on ships?
0:26:04 > 0:26:07Yes, I joined a ship in London docks
0:26:07 > 0:26:10and from there we went out to the Far East.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13- You were employed by whom? - I was employed by Marconi Marine.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17I realised Marconi put equipment for radio signals onto ships,
0:26:17 > 0:26:21- but they put the people on as well, did they?- Yes, it was a package.
0:26:21 > 0:26:26I imagine putting the equipment onto ships improved safety at sea.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29Oh, yes. The Titanic, for instance,
0:26:29 > 0:26:31would have had a range, with its transmitters,
0:26:31 > 0:26:33of at least 1,000 miles.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36So when they collided with the iceberg,
0:26:36 > 0:26:39the radio officer would have sent a distress signal,
0:26:39 > 0:26:44and without that message, many of the people who survived
0:26:44 > 0:26:45just wouldn't have done.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48And that was totally down to Marconi operators.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50Would you like to have a go at sending some Morse?
0:26:50 > 0:26:54- I would love to but I don't know the signals.- Well, we have this here.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56Oh, I see. I just follow that, do I?
0:26:56 > 0:26:59- OK, what would you like me to send? - How about Marconi?
0:27:01 > 0:27:03Dash. Dash, dash is M.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05Dot, dash is A.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08Dot, dash, dot.
0:27:08 > 0:27:09C.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12Dash, dot, dash, dot. O.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16- MACHINE BEEPS - Three dashes. Very simple.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20N...I've lost. N is dash, dot.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22- And I. Dot, dot. - MACHINE BEEPS
0:27:22 > 0:27:26- Well done!- A bit slow, wasn't it? - THEY LAUGH
0:27:32 > 0:27:35Some industries that I've seen on this journey
0:27:35 > 0:27:38are as old as the Romans, like oyster dredging,
0:27:38 > 0:27:41but others, like lawn mowers and wireless,
0:27:41 > 0:27:44required Victorian breakthroughs in technology.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48John Mechi and Guillermo Marconi showed that people
0:27:48 > 0:27:52with foreign-sounding names could make useful British citizens.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56But then Michael Portillo would say that, wouldn't he?
0:27:59 > 0:28:03On the next leg, I'll try my hand at lowering a massive container
0:28:03 > 0:28:06onto a freight train.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08Now, the moment of truth.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13Discover the work of a renowned Victorian philanthropist.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16Each of the images has a before and after photograph.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19'And ask myself who the Dickens are these characters?'
0:28:19 > 0:28:21No doubt about who you are,
0:28:21 > 0:28:24because you've got the iron on your leg and the rag around your head.
0:28:24 > 0:28:29You're the convict, Magwitch, from Great Expectations, aren't you?