0:00:04 > 0:00:06For Victorian Britons,
0:00:06 > 0:00:08George Bradshaw was a household name.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11At a time when railways were new,
0:00:11 > 0:00:15Bradshaw's guidebook inspired them to take to the tracks.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17I'm using a Bradshaw's guide
0:00:17 > 0:00:21to understand how trains transformed Britain -
0:00:21 > 0:00:23its landscape, its industries,
0:00:23 > 0:00:26society and leisure time.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30As I crisscross the country, 150 years later,
0:00:30 > 0:00:33it helps me to discover the Britain of today.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01I've embarked on a new journey that begins in Wales -
0:01:01 > 0:01:04a territory once thought so troublesome
0:01:04 > 0:01:07the English monarchs peppered it with castles.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11Since 1301, they've taken care to name their heir apparent
0:01:11 > 0:01:12Prince of Wales.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15The Industrial Revolution transformed the South,
0:01:15 > 0:01:17so that by Victorian times,
0:01:17 > 0:01:20despite its remoteness from the seat of power,
0:01:20 > 0:01:23it was valued by the national economy
0:01:23 > 0:01:24and by the Royal Family.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32My journey will take me across Bradshaw's Britain
0:01:32 > 0:01:34from west to east.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36From the industrial powerhouse of South Wales,
0:01:36 > 0:01:40I'll see how the railways left no corner of the land unchanged
0:01:40 > 0:01:42through the agricultural heartlands
0:01:42 > 0:01:45of the Welsh borders and the Cotswolds.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49I'll finish by travelling between the twin pillars of English academia
0:01:49 > 0:01:51at Oxford and Cambridge.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56The first leg will cover 65 miles
0:01:56 > 0:01:58from the Welsh west coast,
0:01:58 > 0:02:00via Carmarthenshire, to Swansea.
0:02:02 > 0:02:03I'll visit the dockyard
0:02:03 > 0:02:06that built Queen Victoria's Royal yacht.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08When she was launched,
0:02:08 > 0:02:11she was the biggest yacht of any kind in the world.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Discover a 19th-century rural railway
0:02:14 > 0:02:16being given a new lease of life.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18It is the most beautiful summer's day
0:02:18 > 0:02:21and this lovely restored track threads its way along
0:02:21 > 0:02:24the scenic valley of the Gwili River,
0:02:24 > 0:02:26and I'm on my own private train.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28What bliss!
0:02:28 > 0:02:32And learn how to pose for a photograph Victorian style.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34Try not to smile, because in Victorian times,
0:02:34 > 0:02:37if you're smiling, you seemed a bit of a buffoon.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39I wish someone had told me that long ago.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56My first stop will be Pembroke Dock,
0:02:56 > 0:02:57which Bradshaw's tells me
0:02:57 > 0:03:00"is the seat of a Royal dockyard
0:03:00 > 0:03:04"at the head of that magnificent inlet called Milford Haven".
0:03:04 > 0:03:07"The town takes its name from the Welsh Penfro,
0:03:07 > 0:03:09"meaning head of a peninsula."
0:03:09 > 0:03:12The dockyard is celebrating its bicentenary.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14It was built in 1814,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18when we were still at war with Napoleon Bonaparte.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21By Victorian times, it was still serving country
0:03:21 > 0:03:23and, especially, Queen.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35Before the arrival of the railway in 1864,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38this was an isolated corner of the country,
0:03:38 > 0:03:40but the deep waters of the haven
0:03:40 > 0:03:44made it an ideal site for a shipyard.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46And as Britain battled Napoleonic France
0:03:46 > 0:03:48in the early 19th century,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51the admiralty built naval vessels here.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54I'm surveying the town's history
0:03:54 > 0:03:56from a 19th-century gun tower
0:03:56 > 0:03:58with Martin Cavaney.
0:04:01 > 0:04:02The dockyard only opens
0:04:02 > 0:04:04as the Napoleonic Wars are coming to an end.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07Was that a problem for the dockyard at Pembroke?
0:04:07 > 0:04:10No, far from it. Pembroke Dock became boomtown Wales.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12People came from all over the country here
0:04:12 > 0:04:13to work at the dockyard.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15It employed 3,000 men at its height.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17And, of course, you had to service them
0:04:17 > 0:04:20with shops and pubs and houses.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23So, this place suddenly expanded out
0:04:23 > 0:04:25from a greenfield site into a town.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30The gun tower dates from the town's Victorian heyday,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33by which time Britannia ruled the waves
0:04:33 > 0:04:35with the biggest and best navy in the world.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40Victory over Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815
0:04:40 > 0:04:43had marked the start of a new era of peace.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46But the admiralty remained watchful.
0:04:47 > 0:04:511848-49, the year of revolution in Europe, especially in France,
0:04:51 > 0:04:53it was realised that the British dockyards
0:04:53 > 0:04:56were wide open to attack from the sea.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59So, in 1849, Lord Palmerston ordered a defence-building programme
0:04:59 > 0:05:03and a chain of fortifications was built to protect the dockyard,
0:05:03 > 0:05:07stretching the 12 miles down to the mouth of the Haven waterway.
0:05:07 > 0:05:08Were these guns ever fired?
0:05:08 > 0:05:09Never fired in anger.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12Its defences were three of these canons on the roof
0:05:12 > 0:05:15and then, on the ground floor, there were three 12-pound howitzers,
0:05:15 > 0:05:17which could be moved around the building to fire
0:05:17 > 0:05:20- from any of the windows.- Better safe than sorry, I suppose.- Yes.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26From sailing boats to Industrial Age steamships,
0:05:26 > 0:05:29263 naval vessels were built here
0:05:29 > 0:05:32over the lifetime of the Royal dockyard.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35But not all of them were designed with war in mind.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37The Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre
0:05:37 > 0:05:39commemorates the yachts that added prestige
0:05:39 > 0:05:42to Queen Victoria's travels.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44Ted Goddard is my guide.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47- Ted.- Welcome, Michael. - Great to be here.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51Ted, that is the most handsome vessel. Which one is this?
0:05:51 > 0:05:53This is the third Victoria and Albert.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55There were five Royal yachts built here at Pembroke Dock.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58- That's the first V&A over there, by the wall.- Yeah.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00Much smaller. So, they got bigger and bigger, did they?
0:06:00 > 0:06:04Yeah, the first one was about 1,200 tonnes.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07The second V&A was twice that - 2,400.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10And this one was 5,500 tonnes.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12She was a mighty ship.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14When she was launched, she was the biggest yacht
0:06:14 > 0:06:16of any kind in the world.
0:06:16 > 0:06:17That was in 1899,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20and that record held right until the 1930s.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23I remember from my days in the Ministry of Defence that
0:06:23 > 0:06:26the yachts were traditionally crewed by the Royal Navy.
0:06:26 > 0:06:27Presumably, that was true of this one.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30Yes, there was a crew of just over 360,
0:06:30 > 0:06:33who were accommodated in this section of the ship,
0:06:33 > 0:06:35just forward of the bow.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38The officers were next then,
0:06:38 > 0:06:40their wardroom was underneath the bridge here.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44And then the Royal apartments here and along here were...
0:06:44 > 0:06:46occupied the rest of the ship,
0:06:46 > 0:06:49and the crew were crammed in there like sardines.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55Launched in 1899, the third Victoria and Albert
0:06:55 > 0:06:58wasn't commissioned for service until 1901,
0:06:58 > 0:07:00the year of the Queen's death.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04But the yacht lived on to serve her descendants.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09- TELEVISION ANNOUNCER:- And a salute of 21 guns booms out over the Solent
0:07:09 > 0:07:12and echoes back seconds later to its King.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16In 1939, King George VI, the Queen's father,
0:07:16 > 0:07:20the Queen Mother, the two princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret,
0:07:20 > 0:07:22were taken on a cruise to the West Country,
0:07:22 > 0:07:24and the V&A anchored off Dartmouth.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29And that evening, a young Philip Mountbatten came on board to dine.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Of course, now the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen's husband.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34And it's believed to be the first recorded time
0:07:34 > 0:07:38that...Philip Mountbatten and Princess Elizabeth met.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41So, the yacht has a romantic as well as a Royal connection.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43Indeed...indeed it has.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48The Royal dockyard closed in 1926
0:07:48 > 0:07:50and shipbuilding declined.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Today, just one firm remains.
0:07:52 > 0:07:53And before I leave,
0:07:53 > 0:07:57I'm meeting its operations director, Kevin Lewis.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00- Kevin.- Ah, good morning.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04A 200-year-old dockyard that used to produce
0:08:04 > 0:08:06Royal yachts and frigates and so on.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08Good to see something still happening here.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Yeah, it is good. It's, you know, the history of the place
0:08:11 > 0:08:15and we...we're, I guess, trying to make sure that it continues.
0:08:15 > 0:08:20I've known the place since I was around 14 or 15,
0:08:20 > 0:08:21when I first came down here with my father.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23And I stood on the end of the dock with my father,
0:08:23 > 0:08:26looking down into the dock, watching the welders.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30And I said to him, "I think that's what I want to do when I grow up.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32"That's what I want to do."
0:08:32 > 0:08:34And what are you having to do to this boat?
0:08:34 > 0:08:36This boat's just come in, we slipped it yesterday.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39It's coming in for a refit and refurb.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41We're going to put new accommodation into it,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44going to modify the superstructure, amongst other things.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46- Big job.- Quite a big job, yeah.
0:08:49 > 0:08:50I'm glad to have glimpsed
0:08:50 > 0:08:54a reminder of Pembroke Dock's shipbuilding heritage.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56It's now time to turn my back on the sea
0:08:56 > 0:08:58and join the West Wales railway.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06This branch was extended to serve the dockyard in the 1860s.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08I'm following it inland,
0:09:08 > 0:09:11where local people relied on farming in Bradshaw's day.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21I'll leave this train at Narberth,
0:09:21 > 0:09:25Bradshaw's tells me it "has no particular object of attraction,
0:09:25 > 0:09:27"being a small, neat town".
0:09:27 > 0:09:30A picture of provincial tranquillity, you might think,
0:09:30 > 0:09:32but you'd be wrong.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34Shortly after Victoria came to the throne,
0:09:34 > 0:09:37its placidity was shattered
0:09:37 > 0:09:39by a severe outbreak of public disorder.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46The mid-19th century was a difficult time
0:09:46 > 0:09:49for Britain's agricultural communities,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51due to population growth, poor harvests
0:09:51 > 0:09:53and economic depression.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58Here in South West Wales,
0:09:58 > 0:10:01growing discontent found extraordinary expression,
0:10:01 > 0:10:04as masked men donned women's clothing
0:10:04 > 0:10:07to stage violent protests across the countryside.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12Historian Rhian Jones is filling me in on the story.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19So, you've brought me to this imposing stone building, why?
0:10:19 > 0:10:22Well, this is Narberth Workhouse.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24It was built in 1820.
0:10:24 > 0:10:31And in 1843, it was a target of Rebecca rioters.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35Rebecca rioters were mainly tenant farmers from this area
0:10:35 > 0:10:39who had several grievances in the 1840s,
0:10:39 > 0:10:41and they took out their grievances on various targets,
0:10:41 > 0:10:44including workhouses and tollgates.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46And these workhouses... Now, if I remember,
0:10:46 > 0:10:49- there'd been a new Poor Law in 1834.- That's right.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53So, conditions inside were wretched, weren't they, wretched?
0:10:53 > 0:10:57Yes, conditions in workhouses were meant to be deliberately harsher
0:10:57 > 0:11:00than the worst conditions that you might suffer outside,
0:11:00 > 0:11:04deliberately to deter people from accessing that support.
0:11:04 > 0:11:05Choosing idleness.
0:11:05 > 0:11:06Exactly, exactly.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11As well as demanding better conditions in workhouses,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14the Rebecca rioters destroyed the tollgates,
0:11:14 > 0:11:16used to collect fees from road users
0:11:16 > 0:11:19which had grown in number since the early 19th century.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25Dressed as women, the culprits were hard to identify.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28And surely there was a reason for choosing the name Rebecca.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33There's two conflicting theories about this.
0:11:33 > 0:11:38The first is that the leader of the fist riot, in 1839,
0:11:38 > 0:11:43borrowed a disguise, a dress, from a local lady called Rebecca,
0:11:43 > 0:11:45who was the only woman around sufficiently statuesque
0:11:45 > 0:11:47to have a dress that would fit him.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51The other idea is that they took it from a verse in Genesis
0:11:51 > 0:11:53which begins "and they blessed Rebecca".
0:11:53 > 0:11:56And it goes on to prophesise that
0:11:56 > 0:11:59Rebecca's children will possess the gates of those that hate them.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03Rebecca and her daughters didn't succeed
0:12:03 > 0:12:05in abolishing the tolls completely,
0:12:05 > 0:12:08but in 1844, new legislation was brought in
0:12:08 > 0:12:11to simplify the toll rates.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13And new technology brought some relief.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18Well, the expansion of the railways into Wales in the 19th century
0:12:18 > 0:12:19was hugely beneficial.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22And, of course, it obviously did a lot to make roads less important.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26So there was far less reliance on private transport,
0:12:26 > 0:12:28cos people used trains instead.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31So that was probably quite handy for local farmers, I would've thought.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33- And a general increase in living standards.- Yes, absolutely.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41I'm rejoining those transformative tracks,
0:12:41 > 0:12:42in search of a bed for the night.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49The West Wales line continues to serve the local community.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52Some of the smaller stations are request stops.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04- Hello.- Hi.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07Do I need to request the train to stop at Carmarthen?
0:13:07 > 0:13:09- No, Carmarthen's a main station. - OK, great.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12- There we go.- You don't have too many trains on this line,
0:13:12 > 0:13:14- but they're very full when they run, aren't they?- Oh, they are, yes.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16- Always a busy train.- That's great.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22I'm using the line to reach
0:13:22 > 0:13:26one of South West Wales' most historic towns, Carmarthen,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29where my Victorian guidebook tells me
0:13:29 > 0:13:31that I'll find the Ivy Bush Hotel.
0:13:36 > 0:13:37Before the arrival of the railways,
0:13:37 > 0:13:39it was a thriving coaching inn,
0:13:39 > 0:13:43whose patrons included naval personnel travelling to and from
0:13:43 > 0:13:46the sheltered waters of the haven.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51I'm moved by the true love
0:13:51 > 0:13:54between Admiral Horatio Nelson,
0:13:54 > 0:13:56a national hero and married man,
0:13:56 > 0:13:58and Emma Hamilton,
0:13:58 > 0:14:01a former prostitute and married woman.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05They came here together, to the Ivy Bush Hotel, in 1802,
0:14:05 > 0:14:07accompanied by her husband,
0:14:07 > 0:14:11who often provided cover for their illicit affair.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13I've often thought it was lucky
0:14:13 > 0:14:15that we didn't have a tabloid press in those days,
0:14:15 > 0:14:19otherwise, Nelson would have been hounded out of public life
0:14:19 > 0:14:21and we would have had to find someone else
0:14:21 > 0:14:22to fight the Battle of Trafalgar.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33A fresh day dawns
0:14:33 > 0:14:36and it's time for me to explore the beautiful county
0:14:36 > 0:14:38to which Carmarthen gives its name.
0:14:40 > 0:14:45Bradshaw's says "Carmarthenshire is mountainous and woody,
0:14:45 > 0:14:48"the air is mild and salubrious,
0:14:48 > 0:14:52"and the whole country is remarkably healthy and fertile".
0:14:52 > 0:14:57After all the rain that it must have taken to produce this vivid green,
0:14:57 > 0:15:01today, the colour is outstanding in the summer sun.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08Carmarthenshire is known as the Garden of Wales,
0:15:08 > 0:15:12and its rolling hills appear to have changed little in centuries.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14But in the 1860s, with the arrival of the railways,
0:15:14 > 0:15:18the Industrial Age burst upon this peaceful landscape.
0:15:21 > 0:15:22In Victorian times,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25this service was known as the lazy line,
0:15:25 > 0:15:27because the farmer with his sheep,
0:15:27 > 0:15:28the farmer's wife with her cheese,
0:15:28 > 0:15:30bound for the market in Carmarthen,
0:15:30 > 0:15:33could flag down the train at any point,
0:15:33 > 0:15:36an arrangement that combined convenience
0:15:36 > 0:15:38with total unpredictability.
0:15:43 > 0:15:44Could you take my Bradshaw's, please?
0:15:46 > 0:15:49I'm hearing the history of the Carmarthen to Aberystwyth railway
0:15:49 > 0:15:51from enthusiast Jeremy John.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56Jeremy, this lovely line, what was it first built for?
0:15:56 > 0:15:57Well, initially the directors of
0:15:57 > 0:16:00the Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway Company
0:16:00 > 0:16:02wanted to reach Cardigan and not Aberystwyth.
0:16:02 > 0:16:08I think the idea was to use Cardigan as a deep sea port
0:16:08 > 0:16:10for purposes of trade. And a lot...
0:16:10 > 0:16:11And in the middle of the 19th century,
0:16:11 > 0:16:14a lot of the railway companies were really fed up
0:16:14 > 0:16:16with the stranglehold that Liverpool docks had.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19So that was the initial plan.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23In fact, the railway company ran out of money
0:16:23 > 0:16:25before the tracks reached Cardigan.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28But even so, it changed life in Carmarthenshire.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32- I think the farmers made good use of it, didn't they?- Yes, I mean...
0:16:32 > 0:16:34Of course, the result of it all
0:16:34 > 0:16:37was the economy of the rural areas expanding.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40I mean, it was a tremendous boost for people
0:16:40 > 0:16:42in the middle of the 19th century, you know.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44And a good example, really, is that
0:16:44 > 0:16:46you could milk your cows here
0:16:46 > 0:16:49and get the fresh milk to London within hours.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Because, I mean, I doubt if many cows were kept
0:16:51 > 0:16:53in the middle of Central London
0:16:53 > 0:16:54in the middle of the 19th century.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59By 1867, tracks built by different companies
0:16:59 > 0:17:01connected Carmarthen with Aberystwyth,
0:17:01 > 0:17:0456 and a half miles away, on the West coast.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08It wasn't exactly a high-speed railway, was it?
0:17:08 > 0:17:12No, it took hours to get to Aberystwyth, you know, with 24 stops
0:17:12 > 0:17:15and all these various halts, you know.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19So, in some ways, maybe it didn't make an awful lot of money.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22And especially later on, in the 1960s,
0:17:22 > 0:17:24when, of course, you had the minicar. I mean, if people took about
0:17:24 > 0:17:26three and a half hours to get to Aberystwyth
0:17:26 > 0:17:28and could drive there in an hour,
0:17:28 > 0:17:31then really they would elect to go by car.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37By 1973, both passenger and freight services had ceased
0:17:37 > 0:17:40on the Carmarthen to Aberystwyth railway.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44But five years later, a short stretch reopened
0:17:44 > 0:17:46as the Gwili Heritage Line,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48sustained by passionate volunteers.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53That was a great run, thank you.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55- You're welcome. - Oh, what are you doing there?
0:17:55 > 0:17:56Just cooking up some dinner.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58We've got some bacon and some sausages,
0:17:58 > 0:18:00some egg and a nice lamb chop.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03- Well, you do know how to treat yourselves don't you?- We do.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05That's excellent. Railwayman's lunch.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09There are big plans afoot for the railway's future.
0:18:09 > 0:18:10- Hello!- Hello.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12To hear more, I've donned my boiler suit
0:18:12 > 0:18:15to switch from steam to diesel.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19HORN BLARES
0:18:19 > 0:18:22It is the most beautiful summer's day
0:18:22 > 0:18:24and this lovely restored track
0:18:24 > 0:18:28threads its way along the scenic valley of the Gwili River,
0:18:28 > 0:18:30and I'm on my own private train.
0:18:30 > 0:18:31What bliss!
0:18:37 > 0:18:40Volunteers are extending the railway
0:18:40 > 0:18:42to provide an extra one-and-three-quarter miles of track
0:18:42 > 0:18:43and a new station.
0:18:45 > 0:18:46Hi!
0:18:49 > 0:18:51I've travelled to the end of the line to pitch in.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55Checking the so-called keys that hold the track in place
0:18:55 > 0:18:57with volunteer Matt Bowen.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Now perhaps you'd like to have a go.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02- Where are there any to do? - There's quite a few over here.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04Oh, yeah, all of these are out.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06That's right, just like that.
0:19:06 > 0:19:07And then give it a good whack.
0:19:10 > 0:19:11That's it.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14There we are, that should do.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16How long have you been with the railway, Matt?
0:19:16 > 0:19:19Well, I first started when I was 11, and I'm now 36.
0:19:19 > 0:19:20- That's amazing.- Yes.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22And, today, you're getting kids coming in at that age in?
0:19:22 > 0:19:25Yes, we are. We've got a new generation coming in,
0:19:25 > 0:19:26which is great for the future.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29But, hopefully, you know, we'll have people of all ages here
0:19:29 > 0:19:31and they all find enjoyment.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34- Are you moved by the history of this railway line?- Very much so, yes.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36There's a lot of social history as well as railway history.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38It's a glimpse of the past.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41- And just wonderful to bring it back. - Absolutely, absolutely.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48I'm now rejoining the 21st-century railway network
0:19:48 > 0:19:50to reach my final stop on today's journey.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54And this stretch of the West Wales line is a real treat.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03Snaking along the valley of the River Towy,
0:20:03 > 0:20:06this railway showcases the best of South Wales.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10I had no idea it was going to be such a beautiful ride.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12- Lovely journey.- A lovely journey, isn't it?
0:20:12 > 0:20:15- You've got the best side there. - Oh, yeah? The right ride, OK, great.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21You going far?
0:20:21 > 0:20:22Yeah, I'm going to Cardiff.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25- Do you know this line quite well? - Yeah, I've travelled it...
0:20:25 > 0:20:28Well, up to year ago, I used to come on this line every week,
0:20:28 > 0:20:29down to Cardiff and back.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31I live in Carmarthen.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34- Nice line?- It's a brilliant line, it's beautiful line, actually,
0:20:34 > 0:20:37from Carmarthen down to Llanelli.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39So, you get some fantastic views of castles.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41And, of course, if you're into wildlife,
0:20:41 > 0:20:44then there's fantastic bird variety.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46Well, thank you, enjoy your journey.
0:20:46 > 0:20:47I know I'm going to enjoy mine more
0:20:47 > 0:20:49because you've given me some pointers, thank you.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53The view is spectacular,
0:20:53 > 0:20:56but I'm about to swap the lush green of the countryside
0:20:56 > 0:20:59for the urban landscape of Swansea,
0:20:59 > 0:21:00which was, in Bradshaw's day,
0:21:00 > 0:21:03the "important seat of the copper trade".
0:21:03 > 0:21:05Ore shipped from Cornwall and elsewhere
0:21:05 > 0:21:08was smelted using the abundant local coal.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11And the finished product was in hot demand,
0:21:11 > 0:21:13used by 19th-century engineers in everything
0:21:13 > 0:21:17from locomotive fireboxes to electrical wires.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21In that era of dizzying technological change,
0:21:21 > 0:21:25the railways were just one of the developments revolutionising life.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30From Bradshaw's snapshot of Swansea,
0:21:30 > 0:21:32I want to focus on two things -
0:21:32 > 0:21:34the Royal Institution of South Wales,
0:21:34 > 0:21:36which was established in 1835,
0:21:36 > 0:21:38and Penllergaer,
0:21:38 > 0:21:42which is described as "the seat of John Llewelyn esquire",
0:21:42 > 0:21:45and I'm sure that I'll develop a connection between the two.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50The technology in my sights is photography,
0:21:50 > 0:21:54which reached new heights in Victorian Swansea.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56To find out more, I'm heading for the Swansea Museum,
0:21:56 > 0:22:00set up by members of the Royal Institution of South Wales
0:22:00 > 0:22:02in 1841.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06Here, local industrialists, businessmen and amateur scientists
0:22:06 > 0:22:08came together to discuss the latest breakthroughs
0:22:08 > 0:22:11in science, technology and the arts.
0:22:11 > 0:22:16I'm meeting Michael Pritchard from the Royal Photographic Society.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18- Michael, hello. - Hello, Michael, nice to meet you.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20- Very good to see you.- Take a seat.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24Now, I believe I'm in the former Royal Institution of South Wales,
0:22:24 > 0:22:26and I've come in pursuit of John Llewelyn.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28Can you help me?
0:22:28 > 0:22:29Yes, indeed.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32John Llewelyn - in fact, John Dillwyn Llewelyn
0:22:32 > 0:22:33to give him his full name -
0:22:33 > 0:22:36was one of the pioneers of British photography.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38He got very involved in the process
0:22:38 > 0:22:40as soon as photography was announced.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42Was there a connection with the Royal Institution of South Wales?
0:22:42 > 0:22:45Yeah, Llewelyn's father and Llewelyn himself
0:22:45 > 0:22:47were involved in setting up the institution.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50The son of a Swansea landowner,
0:22:50 > 0:22:54John Dillwyn Llewelyn was a Victorian renaissance man
0:22:54 > 0:22:59with interests including astronomy, horticulture and local politics.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01His passion for photography was sparked
0:23:01 > 0:23:05after he married Emma Talbot in 1833.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Her cousin, William Henry Fox Talbot,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10created the world's first photographic negative.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15The Dillwyn Llewelyns created some of the first family albums,
0:23:15 > 0:23:19including this remarkable one shot from 1853.
0:23:20 > 0:23:21What we have here...
0:23:23 > 0:23:26..is Llewelyn's family on Guy Fawkes Night
0:23:26 > 0:23:28at his estate at Penllergaer.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31How superb! That is superb!
0:23:31 > 0:23:34Now, I mean, was it quite revolutionary
0:23:34 > 0:23:37to do these, kind of, family shots?
0:23:37 > 0:23:39It was unusual, certainly.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41But because there were so many photographers in the family,
0:23:41 > 0:23:43that suspect he had rather more leeway
0:23:43 > 0:23:45in getting people to stand still.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47But also, Llewelyn was important because
0:23:47 > 0:23:49he developed new ways of photographing,
0:23:49 > 0:23:51he developed a new process
0:23:51 > 0:23:55that would allow him to photograph at faster shutter speeds.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57So he was able to capture some of these subjects
0:23:57 > 0:23:59that some of his contemporaries were not able to do.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01It really is amazing.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05And one of the things that is so good is the dynamism.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08I mean, this figure here, who is actually John Llewelyn himself,
0:24:08 > 0:24:11appears to be pitchforking the bonfire.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13But he will have been posed to do that, will he?
0:24:13 > 0:24:15Yes, he would. I mean, I think we have to accept that
0:24:15 > 0:24:18photography wasn't quite as advanced as it is today,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21and so there's an element of posing. But you're right,
0:24:21 > 0:24:23it has that sense of movement,
0:24:23 > 0:24:25the way the smoke... You know,
0:24:25 > 0:24:26it gives it a very ethereal feel
0:24:26 > 0:24:29and a sense of movement and wind.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31I think, you know, it's a fantastic example of what was...
0:24:31 > 0:24:34what photography was capable of at that time.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38Dillwyn Llewelyn soon developed a following,
0:24:38 > 0:24:41with works bought by Queen Victoria herself.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43Some of his most beautiful images were inspired by
0:24:43 > 0:24:47his family estate at Penllergaer.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50And this is the upper waterfall on the estate.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54The water appears to be moving, it's absolutely full of light.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57The tree in the foreground is perfectly in focus.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59All the woods in the background have been thrown out.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02That is a fantastic piece of work.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04His artistic talent leaps from the page.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07Yeah, it does, and this is where I think
0:25:07 > 0:25:09he really does add something to it, that...
0:25:09 > 0:25:10You know, people like Talbot...
0:25:10 > 0:25:13Although he nominally invented photography,
0:25:13 > 0:25:15Talbot approached it as a scientist.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17Llewelyn approached it as an artist.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19And I think that's the real difference between the two.
0:25:21 > 0:25:22Just outside Swansea,
0:25:22 > 0:25:27the waterfall immortalised by Dillwyn Llewelyn is still there.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29And the techniques he used to capture it
0:25:29 > 0:25:33are practised today by photographer, Tony Richards.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35- Tony, hello.- Hello there, Michael.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39Lovely piece of equipment, that.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41Around the vintage of John Dillwyn Llywelyn?
0:25:41 > 0:25:44Yes, yes, the camera is just after, lens is exact.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47I'd like to have a Victorian portrait of myself taken here.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50What would be your pointers for a Victorian portrait?
0:25:50 > 0:25:53For a Victorian portrait, stand very still,
0:25:53 > 0:25:54they're long exposures.
0:25:55 > 0:25:56Try not to smile.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00The tradition for portraiture was unsmiling, a serious face.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03If you're smiling, you seemed a bit of a buffoon.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06I wish someone had told me that long ago.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12Tony's using the so-called wet plate collodion process,
0:26:12 > 0:26:14developed in the 1850s.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17A sheet of chemically-treated glass
0:26:17 > 0:26:20is bathed in light-sensitive silver nitrate
0:26:20 > 0:26:21before being placed in the camera.
0:26:23 > 0:26:2520 seconds...
0:26:25 > 0:26:26From now.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28When the plate is exposed to light,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31the chemical reaction creates a negative image.
0:26:31 > 0:26:32And relax.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34Well done.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36To fix the image, more chemicals are added,
0:26:36 > 0:26:39then the result can be revealed.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41That was quick. You've just done that in the back of the van?
0:26:41 > 0:26:43Yes, a little dark room in the back.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46I can't see very much at the moment. What's going to happen next?
0:26:46 > 0:26:48Now we're going to pour on some photographic fixer,
0:26:48 > 0:26:51which will wash away the un-activated silver
0:26:51 > 0:26:52and we're left with a positive image.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57There I am appearing!
0:26:57 > 0:27:00And, if I say it myself, looking rather good.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02- Well done, Tony. - Thank you very much.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05And there you go.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07That is fantastic.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11From photography to railways to shipbuilding,
0:27:11 > 0:27:13on this part of my journey,
0:27:13 > 0:27:17I've searched for reminders of Victorian Wales.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20But I've also been struck by a forgotten darker side
0:27:20 > 0:27:21of 19th-century history.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26I am moved by the Rebecca rioters,
0:27:26 > 0:27:31those desperate farmers driven to violence by their poverty.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34Their grievances were lifted during Bradshaw's time
0:27:34 > 0:27:39as railways opened new markets for Welsh farm produce.
0:27:39 > 0:27:40They've been partly forgotten
0:27:40 > 0:27:44because they predate the development of photography,
0:27:44 > 0:27:48which has bequeathed to us those unmistakeable formal images
0:27:48 > 0:27:51which define the Victorian age.
0:27:57 > 0:27:58On the next leg of my journey,
0:27:58 > 0:28:02I discover the Welsh talent for tongue twisters.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05There's Llandeilo to Llandovery, Llandovery to Llanwrtyd.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08You never get confused with all your Llans, do you?
0:28:08 > 0:28:09Well, I don't.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14Step into my dancing shoes for a quadrille.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21And put my school boy scrumping days to good use.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25- That is delicious. - Nice and fruity isn't it?- Oh!
0:28:25 > 0:28:26Be even better when it's alcoholic.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28Definitely. Part of your five a day, that.