Ayr to Stewarton Great British Railway Journeys

For Victorian Britons,

George Bradshaw was a household name.

At a time when railways were new,

Bradshaw's guidebook inspired them to take the tracks.

I'm using a Bradshaw's guide to understand how trains

transformed Britain -

its landscape, its industry, society and leisure time.

As I crisscross the country 150 years later, it helps me

to discover the Britain of today.

I'm beginning a journey across southern Scotland,

exploring the people and pastimes that make this country distinctive.

Long before my Bradshaw's guide,

this region had produced key creators of the modern world -

the philosopher David Hume, from Berwickshire,

the economist Adam Smith, from Kirkcaldy,

the developer of the steam engine - James Watt, from Greenock.

No wonder that the Industrial Revolution took root here.

My journey this week will take me across Scotland from west to east.

Beginning at the Firth of Clyde,

I head through the Scottish Lowlands to Glasgow.

Then north to Stirling and Perth,

close to where the kings of Scotland were crowned.

I'll travel on east to Fife

and the famous university town of St Andrews,

finally heading south to Scotland's capital, where my journey ends.

On today's leg, I'll hug the coast up to the North Ayrshire town

of Kilwinning, before heading to the historic harbour at Troon.

I'll then make tracks northeast to Kilmarnock,

before ending my journey in rural Stewarton.

'On this first part, I get to grips with an ancient sport...'

Good, and let go.

HE GIGGLES

'..learn how being overweight could bring a heavy penalty...'

The way they worked out the passengers was

exactly the same way as the goods on it - they were done by weight.

So you wanted quite a small breakfast

-before you went down to the train?

-Well...

'..and cap it all off with a touch of tartan.'

Maybe try that one on for size?

You'll ne'er look so bonny as in a Bonnet Toun bonnet.

Bradshaw's tells me that about ten miles out in the sea

is Ailsa Craig,

a huge basalt rock 1,100ft high and two miles around.

I'm getting off the train at Ayr to discover what use is made

of the craig in this land of ice and granite.

The wild character of the Scottish coastline shows much evidence

of a landscape shaped by glaciers and volcanoes.

And dominating the seascape, this famous rock, which is

also the source of Scotland's prized curling stones.

'I'm lucky enough to be visiting the family-owned factory that

'still makes them. Bill Hunter is the manager.' Hello, Bill.

-Good to see you.

-Good to see you, sir.

Bill, I've come in search of Ailsa Craig granite. Have I found it?

You have found it, and this is the one piece of it.

Ailsa Craig is...

It's been used now for well over 100 years,

and it is now proved to be the best granite for making curling stones.

It's part of the volcano from Arran.

When the offshoot came out, it cooled down so fast there's

no chance of quartz to grow, so it's now classified as a microgranite.

'That means it's a rock that is much more densely packed,

'containing crystals smaller than grains of rice,

'and it makes a difference to the stones' resilience.'

When the two stones hit off each other, they don't shatter.

If you're working with other granites, they are quartz-rich,

so when the two stones hit, they will shatter.

This is the only company in the world

that actually uses Ailsa Craig granite.

'Kays of Scotland was founded back in 1851, and every 12 years,

'it harvests around 2,000 tonnes of granite.

'The company supplies stones to 55 countries around the world.'

It doesn't look much like a curling stone at the moment.

-What do you do to it next?

-Come into the factory and we'll show you.

Thank you.

'The process begins with a stone-cutting machine,

'which carves from the granite a shape like a cheese wheel.

'Then it's on to the grinder,

'to bring the stone closer to its finished weight of 44 pounds.

'Finally, it's off to the experienced hands

'of the polisher, who removes a further ten pounds.

'This expertise has been carefully passed down the generations

'of the family.

'The current owner is Jimmy Wyllie.'

Hello, Jimmy.

Hello, Michael.

That's a little bit smaller than the curling stone I expected to see.

-What is that?

-Yes, this is the miniature gift wheel that we do.

This is exactly the same material from Ailsa Craig

-as the large stones.

-Beautiful.

And you're actually part of the family.

Yes, born and bred, as they say.

Third generation of my family in the business.

My grandfather got into the business well over 100 years ago,

and I think that probably about...

More than 12 or 13 of the family at the last count

-are involved, over more than 100 years.

-Extraordinary.

Do you ever do any curling yourself?

Yes, now that I'm an old man, I decided I'd better take it up

again, so yes, I've been curling again in recent years.

-And how's it going?

-Er...

Not as good as I would like.

Does it take its toll on the joints?

-Because I'm thinking of having a go myself.

-Yes.

The modern way of delivering the stone involves really quite a bit

of physical manoeuvring, you might say,

and maybe you should have a little lubrication before you try.

MICHAEL LAUGHS

'Well, ever the willing guinea pig, now's my chance to curl.

'I feel very lucky to have a Scottish world champion,

'Sheila Swan, to teach me.'

-Hello.

-Hi, Michael. Nice to see you.

-Very good to see you.

When were the rules of curling established?

The Royal Caledonian Curling Club,

the governing body for curling in Scotland,

was constituted in 1838 and they're generally known as the mother club

of curling and contributed to the major rules of the game.

It's fundamentally a Scottish sport, then.

Yes, the sport originated in Scotland back in the 15th century.

It's remarkable that this sport was born when the Scots discovered

the fun that could be had throwing stones onto a frozen river.

What's been your role in the sport?

Development manager for the Royal Caledonian Curling Club

and I'm responsible for adults, disability

and competitions within the Royal Caledonian Curling Club.

Her coaching has brought huge success to the Scottish junior team,

but teaching me is one of her tougher assignments.

So this is the hack. It's a bit like a starting block in athletics.

Your gripper foot will go on top of the hack, your toes up on the slope.

Your slider foot will be parallel to

but slightly in front of your gripper foot.

From there you bend at the knees, hips and waist.

So you hold on to the stabiliser and the stone.

And you keep your back nice and flat. That is the ready position.

Steady, you will pull back your stone and your sliding foot

and then go, your stone moves forward, sliding foot behind.

Curling resembles bowls, but players slide a stone down a 45-metre

stretch of ice known as a curling sheet.

Points go to teams that get more of the stones closer

to the centre of a target, called the house.

Bend at the knees, hips and waist.

Lift your bottom up a little bit. Excellent, that's ready, steady...

pull back and...go.

Good. And let go.

SHE LAUGHS

That was very good for a first attempt.

So where does all the brushing come into it?

OK, sweeping does three things. It keeps the ice clean.

If a little bit of dirt gets under the stone it will deviate

from its line quite sharply.

It makes it go further, not faster, and it also keeps it straighter,

because curling stones always go in a curve rather than a straight line.

Sweep, Michael!

Hard, Michael! Hard! Hard!

Hard, hard, hard!

-We're in!

-Well swept!

-House!

-Brilliant!

-Well done.

-Well done.

I've headed back to Ayr station to take the mainline north.

I love to see Scottish stations so beautifully kept.

Louis Wall and his team of green-fingered volunteers

look after 21 of them.

Louis, I must say this station looks absolutely splendid.

-Do people appreciate what you are doing?

-Absolutely.

It cheers them up.

Stations used to always look glorious,

but I think we've improved on days past.

-Have you won any awards in the past?

-Oh, yes.

Last year we came up with the national award,

the award for the United Kingdom.

And we came top in that category of best floral display.

-Well done to you.

-Thank you very much.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

My next stop is Kilwinning, which lies 25 miles southwest of Glasgow.

From one traditional activity to another.

I shall be getting off at Kilwinning

because Bradshaw's tells me that an archery club is held here

which was established in 1488 and at which the popinjay is held.

What is "popinjay"? I'm all a-quiver.

Kilwinning is a historic Ayrshire town.

The settlement and its 12th century abbey are thought to be named

after St Winin.

Today the abbey is just a ruin,

but Bradshaw's is generally reliable on places of interest.

It may look like a festival of umbrellas,

but it is in fact an archery competition with a long history.

I'm meeting Stuart Wilson

from the Ancient Society Of Kilwinning Archers.

-Hello!

-Hello, Michael. How are you?

-How are you doing, Stuart?

Excellent, apart from the rain.

Bradshaw's tells me that you've had an archery club here since 1488.

1483, in actual fact, is the date we go for.

Its history has been a bit indistinct in that time.

Bradshaw's talks about a popinjay. What's that?

Popinjay is an English word, in actual fact, for parrot.

An old English word.

The Scots word for it is papingo,

and that's what we'll be doing today, shooting at the papingo.

What is this handsome object here?

This is the Ancient Society Of Kilwinning Archers silver arrow.

The first medal on it is 1697, which is before the Act Of Union.

And the earliest part of the trophy is this part along here.

This was donated by an archer called David Muir.

A medal goes on for the archer who hits the pigeon or,

as we would say, "dings doun the doo".

-Dings doun the doo.

-Indeed.

There are a few interesting medals on here.

-We've even had a politician on here.

-No!

Mr Stanford was a professor of Greek

and he stood for Parliament in Glasgow, but he didn't get elected.

I know the feeling!

But he did stand the following year for Paisley

and he got elected for that.

But he decided he didn't like it and within the year he resigned.

I know that feeling, too!

Back in the 15th century,

every district in Scotland had a review of its troops

called a wappenshaw,

where they would show their weapons and their skill.

And the challenge for the archers was a target on top of this tower.

Right, Michael, this is what we are going to be shooting at.

This is the papingo. MICHAEL LAUGHS

What's it made of?

This is wood and it's supposed to represent a pigeon.

This will go on the end of the pole.

We are going to push it out to our mark.

So it just fits like so and it's loose at the moment,

and we very carefully slide this out.

-So, lift from here...

-Lift from there, gently, and slide out.

In days of old a live pigeon was used. We're more humane these days.

Keep it going. Keep it going... Right, now, hold it there.

You can let go now.

Well, Stuart, I have done some weird things in my time,

but pushing a papingo out on a pole

from an abbey tower rates right up there!

Despite my evident sporting handicaps,

I'd be so happy to score a birdie.

-Whoa!

-Oh, that was close.

That's what you've got to do.

And I expect you to get a bit closer than that after I've taught you.

But that is absolutely impossible, Stuart,

how does anybody hit the papingo?

Well, it's been done.

If you look at my bonnet, you will see there are three rosettes,

and the rosettes were given for hitting the wings.

Returning from my training session,

it's time to focus on how the oldest archery competition in the world is going.

CHEERING

He's done it, he's dinged doun the doo.

Well done.

That was fantastic, you hit the papingo.

Yes, it's absolutely spectacular.

How many years have you tried?

This is actually my first year.

-No!

-Absolutely first year.

They're really nice because they tell you up a bit, down a bit,

right, right.

I just let go and as it was going up,

it was as if it just went into slow motion,

and I saw it hit. It was fantastic.

My go.

Good luck!

So I have just one arrow to hit a target 103 feet up

but looks the size of my thumb.

Here we go. Right.

Let me stand one foot on the step, one foot on the gravel.

Bring the bow up into the vertical.

I'll give you some guidance with my arrow again.

Out more to the vertical. Out to there.

That's better.

-It's not the easiest of angles.

-When ready.

That's a good shot.

That wasn't as bad as I thought.

That was close.

I feel good for that, thank you so much.

APPLAUSE

The first award today for dinging doun the doo

goes to Johan Kangasniemi.

APPLAUSE

-Congratulations, Johan.

-Thank you.

-How does it feel to hold that?

-Impressive.

I did not plan on this when I showed up this morning.

-I'm really, really grateful.

-Well done.

APPLAUSE

I've so thoroughly enjoyed being a medieval archer

that it's a pity not to celebrate the doo with a dram,

but my bed for the night is still three stops away.

At my next destination, Bradshaw promises me salmon and rabbits.

As the goon who failed to ding doun the doo,

I'm on my way to Troon.

Troon is famous today for its royal golf course,

but in the 19th century it was the town's railway which caused waves.

I'll find out why in the morning.

I'm up early on a stunning morning to meet local historian

Bill Fitzpatrick at the site of the Kilmarnock and Troon Railway

which began here at the coast.

Hello.

Excellent to see you, what an astonishing view.

Beautiful view.

Bill, I believe that the first railway line in Scotland was hereabouts.

Yes, the Duke of Portland had many coal mines in Kilmarnock,

and he decided to build a port down here

to shift his coal, mainly to Ireland.

His original idea was a canal but he then replaced it with a plateway,

which would run wagons pulled by horses on it.

These early rails were specifically engineered to take a flat wheel.

The plateway rail is L-shaped to keep the wagon wheel on track.

And there were frequent places where one vehicle could pull across

to the other track to allow a faster horse to pass.

A horse could pull about five tonnes in two hours

from Kilmarnock down to here, which is about 10 miles.

And what date was all this?

The act was passed about 1808 and the railway was opened by 1812.

It's easy to forget how dependent the world was

on horsepower before the coming of steam.

Horses were the universal mode of land transport from personal steed

to omnibuses.

This was strictly for coal, was it?

It was strictly for coal

but almost from the beginning, they seem to have carried passengers.

The railway company couldn't carry passengers

but it could license people and it could toll people for carrying passengers.

The way they worked out the passengers

was exactly the same way as goods on it.

-They were done by weight.

-My goodness!

So you wanted to have quite a small breakfast before you went down for the train.

Well, I've no doubt they had all that thought out before they did.

The railway also went on to become the earliest line in Scotland

to use a steam locomotive, and the towns of Troon and Kilmarnock

benefited significantly because of its development.

Is there any vestige of the line left?

This end has gone and the Kilmarnock end has gone,

but the bit between Barassie and Kilmarnock is pretty well still there,

re-laid and worked as a proper railway line.

So if I were to take a train over those tracks,

-I'd have a distinctly historic feeling.

-Yes.

And that's exactly what I intend to do.

Because this is the 21st century's big, bold answer to hauling coal.

I'm embarking on this freight train at Barassie Station

to travel along this historic route.

These days, moving coal from the port at Hunterston

to West Burton power station in north Nottinghamshire

is a relatively stress-free business.

In order for the train to change direction from the mainline

north to the branchline east, this 3,300 horsepower locomotive

has to swap ends.

So we brought the locomotive all the way down the train

so we can change ends.

Small impact coming up.

Boom! Very neat.

Then it's all about pulling this huge weight back up to cruising speed

because it's important not to hold up passenger traffic.

I notice the locomotive, powerful as it is,

was quite slow to pick up. What kind of weight are we hauling?

The train that we're hauling today is upwards of 2,200 tonnes,

so she's very heavy

and obviously very difficult to initially get moving.

It's a very powerful machine but because of the weight of the train,

it lets you know where the gradients are,

so part of our route knowledge is knowing where the gradients are

and knowing how to use them to our advantage.

Scott, were you aware this is the oldest railway line in Scotland?

I was aware of the history involved in this particular part of the line

we are travelling on,

Having initially been built to transport coal from the coal fields round about Kilmarnock up to Troon.

-You imagine they were using horses in those days.

-Absolutely, yes, yes.

-It was about 1812, was it?

-It was 1812. And I suppose you can understand it,

because this is very much on the level, isn't it?

Yes, it is pretty much, yeah.

Although we have got quite a gradient as we go into Kilmarnock station.

Pretty much not noticeable with a passenger train

but with the weight we are pulling today it is very noticeable.

I am now returning to the comfort of a passenger service as I head north towards Glasgow.

A short journey north will bring me to Stewarton.

Bradshaw's tells me that,

"Considerable manufactures of woollen tartans, caps and Scotch bonnets are carried on here."

It might have added Balmorals, Glengarrys and Tam O'Shanters,

because it is a town of hats to which I am headed.

Stewarton, in rural northern Ayrshire,

doesn't seem an obvious place for a Victorian manufacturing hub,

but in the 1840s it was.

I am meeting Keith Mackie, the owner of Robert Mackie,

a company that manufactures traditional Scottish bonnets.

So I believe I am not only in Stewarton but in Bonnet Toun. What's the history here?

Well, bonnet making in Stewarton can be traced back 400 years.

I can trace it back in my family 11 generations.

What sort of products were you producing, traditionally?

By today's standards you would call them berets, if you like.

Rather course, hand-knitted berets.

-And the customers for these hats were who?

-Everybody.

This is way before the days of central heating.

If you went outside you wore a hat and that hat would have been a very simple bonnet.

And tell me about the industry in Victorian times.

This company was started by Robert Mackie in 1845,

and with the advent of very soon after that the railways coming to Stewarton

and finer rolls were available from Australia,

he invented the first knitting machine for bonnets.

The steam powered machines speeded up the manufacturing process and improved the overall quality,

allowing the company to make bonnets for Scottish regiments.

Different regiments had different hats. Some had Glengarrys, some had Balmorals.

And they had different dicing and different pom-poms, touries, different plumes to signify the hat.

They certainly confer on the wearer a sense of pride.

The fabric comes off the machine in a spiral and is cut into that shape.

-OK.

-I don't want to be rude, but that doesn't look like anything at all, really.

-It is then, what we call linked, with an invisible seam, it is very hard to see.

-Beautiful.

-If you smell that you'll smell the wool oil.

-Yeah.

-And it feels quite rough.

So the next stage is washing.

And then it has been what we call "milled" or "felted."

And that is feeling a bit softer now.

It is getting nearer all the time, I had no idea it was so elaborate.

And then the next stage is dyeing.

So it is dyed either black or indigo.

-I have a feeling, though, that it is still not quite finished.

-It's got a long way to go

I never knew there was so much to it. But just as with the curling stones,

the tradition of passing down the skills is very much alive.

Keith wants me to meet bonnet supervisor Paula Wilson.

-Hello!

-Hello!

-Good to see you, I'm Michael.

-Pleased to meet you, Michael.

Have you been making hats for very long?

-Yes, I've been making hats for 30 years.

-That's a long time.

-That is a long time.

-And your family as well?

-My mum worked here as well, she was here for 25 years, and my dad worked here.

And at the moment my sister and my niece work here.

-It is a big business in Stewarton, even today.

-Yes, it is.

Even when the body of this Glengarry is complete,

there are still those all-important embellishments to be added.

Theresa is making pom-poms.

Hello, Theresa. What shall I do?

-Just put your finger in there, Michael.

-Put my finger in there, are you kidding?!

Yeah, it's all right, everything will be fine.

Whoa! Now what do I do?

And now, pull it really tight.

-Oh, it's shaping up quite nicely, isn't it?

-That's it.

Would you like to give it a wee bit of a trim?

Give it a trim, right. So, any little bit of surface stuff?

Just take those off.

-How's that looking?

-It's looking lovely, Michael.

-Thank you.

For me, one of the bonnet's most iconic appearances is in this famous railway film.

They won't see us! It's all no good!

Jenny Agutter, sporting one of the factory's finest.

Now, I wonder whether I can carry it off?

Want to try that one on?

-Fits perfectly, how's that?

-Very nice. You suit that, Michael.

You'll ne'er look so bonny as in a Bonnet Toun bonnet!

A Martian visiting Scotland might be surprised to see archers shooting arrows at a wooden bird.

Or curling players sweeping the ice before a slithering piece of granite.

With the advent of the railways, trains have brought competitors and tourists

to help to sustain these splendid traditions.

You might think them peculiar, but if so,

I'll ask you to keep your opinion under your Tam O'Shanter.

Next time, I meet a seagoing beauty...

She was the last of the Clyde-built excursion paddle-steamers to work on the Clyde.

..discover how a Victorian icon nearly met his end...

ROARING

..and rise to a bake-off challenge.

There is always a point where a dough says to you that it's had enough.

-Oh.

-And I believe that was about two minutes go.