0:00:04 > 0:00:09For Victorian Britons, George 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 > 0:00:20I am using a Bradshaw's Guide to understand how trains transformed
0:00:20 > 0:00:26Britain, its landscape, its industry, society and leisure time.
0:00:26 > 0:00:31As I crisscross the country, 150 years later, it helps me
0:00:31 > 0:00:33to discover the Britain of today.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57Steered by my Bradshaw's guide,
0:00:57 > 0:01:00I am continuing my journey across Southern Scotland.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03With the coming of the Industrial Revolution,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06the famed natural beauty of the River Clyde had to accommodate ship
0:01:06 > 0:01:10building yards that would supply vessels to the world.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14Down came the trees and up went the dockyard cranes
0:01:14 > 0:01:16and factory chimney stacks.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28My route this week has carried me across Scotland from West to East.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31It began at the Firth of Clyde
0:01:31 > 0:01:35and headed through the Scottish Lowlands to Glasgow.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39I'll turn North to Stirling and Perth, skirting the Highlands.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41I'll then moved east to Fife
0:01:41 > 0:01:46and the famous university town of St Andrews from where I'll travel
0:01:46 > 0:01:49to Scotland's capital where my journey ends.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51On today's leg,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54I begin in Motherwell in the heart of the Scottish Lowlands,
0:01:54 > 0:01:58before heading south to the edge of the Clyde coalfields.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02Then it is back to one of Scotland's most populated areas,
0:02:02 > 0:02:08and my journey ends at Linlithgow, birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11I meet the kings of molten metal...
0:02:11 > 0:02:14My goodness, that is an extraordinary sight,
0:02:14 > 0:02:18absolutely vast, isn't it? What a scale this is built on.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21..rediscover the Victorian love affair with Scotland...
0:02:21 > 0:02:25Everybody came to the Falls of Clyde specifically to see Corra Linn,
0:02:25 > 0:02:26the largest waterfall,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29and the largest waterfall in Britain as well.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32..and visit the home of a mighty brew.
0:02:32 > 0:02:37It's still a family secret, I had it passed down to me by my father
0:02:37 > 0:02:40and I have now passed it through to my daughter.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54George Bradshaw believed that tourists should see factories,
0:02:54 > 0:02:58the Dundyvan ironworks are well worth visiting.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02I'm going to get off at Motherwell to understand how the vast
0:03:02 > 0:03:05demands of the ship building industry were met
0:03:05 > 0:03:07during the 19th century.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10Motherwell at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution
0:03:10 > 0:03:15was a small farming community of about 700 people.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19The town's fortunes were transformed by the arrival of the railway
0:03:19 > 0:03:24and by 1901 its population had swelled to 30,000.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28Central to the town's industrial boom was David Colville's iron
0:03:28 > 0:03:32and steel works, founded in 1871.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36I am meeting Colin Timmins, manager at Tata Steel,
0:03:36 > 0:03:37heir to that legacy.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43I really don't need to ask you
0:03:43 > 0:03:46whether railways play a part in your business, they clearly do.
0:03:46 > 0:03:47What do you use them for?
0:03:47 > 0:03:50They are mainly used for the raw materials coming in
0:03:50 > 0:03:54from Scunthorpe of steel. We bring 1,200 tonnes in at one time.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57When was this set up, this plant?
0:03:57 > 0:04:001871, the plant was built.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Basically, an integrated steelworks
0:04:03 > 0:04:07and basically, we've supplied steel to a lot of the
0:04:07 > 0:04:08famous railway bridges.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10If you look at the Tay Bridge disaster
0:04:10 > 0:04:14that we had in the last century, this plant provided modern
0:04:14 > 0:04:18good-quality steel for the rebuilding of that bridge.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22If you look at the Forth Rail Bridge, we provided iron for this
0:04:22 > 0:04:25bridge also, which is quite unbelievable that the structure
0:04:25 > 0:04:27still stands today,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30and to me is one of the wonders of the world.
0:04:30 > 0:04:36The Forth Rail Bridge required a staggering 58,000 tonnes of steel.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39The structure demonstrated the advantage of malleable steel
0:04:39 > 0:04:40over brittle cast iron.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46And so, really, unbelievable quantities of steel
0:04:46 > 0:04:48have gone into these works.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Oh, more than a million tonnes into the North Sea alone.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53And when you start to look at shipping, bridge building,
0:04:53 > 0:04:58trains themselves, you have no idea of the quantities we are producing.
0:04:58 > 0:05:03Over 130, 140 years of history. Quite unbelievable.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06The company's first steel plant was the Dalzell steel
0:05:06 > 0:05:12and iron works with 20 puddling furnaces employing 200 men.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Under the energetic direction of Mr Colville, it soon gained a
0:05:15 > 0:05:17reputation for quality
0:05:17 > 0:05:20and Motherwell gained its nickname of Steel-opolis.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25Today, the Dalzell plate mill is one of only two
0:05:25 > 0:05:27remaining in Motherwell.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31What we have here is we have got 16 small furnaces and one very,
0:05:31 > 0:05:34- very large furnace. - Absolutely vast, isn't it?
0:05:34 > 0:05:36What a scale this was built on.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40The factory's rolling mill turns out up to 10,000 tonnes
0:05:40 > 0:05:42of plate steel in a week.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45Its customers come from construction, shipbuilding
0:05:45 > 0:05:48and offshore engineering.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50What am I going to see here, Colin?
0:05:50 > 0:05:53What you're going to see, Michael, is a slab which has been unloaded,
0:05:53 > 0:05:56treated and it's then going to come out of the socking patch,
0:05:56 > 0:05:58it could be anything from three tonnes.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02In fact we have got the capability to roll slabs up to 30 tons.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06As you can see now, the operator is taking the lid off the furnace,
0:06:06 > 0:06:09and the crane is going to go in and lift the slab.
0:06:09 > 0:06:15The temperature inside the furnace is almost 1,000 Celsius.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17As you can see, Michael, you can see the slab on the crane just now.
0:06:17 > 0:06:22Roughly, the slab weighs 12 to 13 tonnes.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25Those immense pinchers have gone in there.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28It is a set of pinchers, we call them tongs,
0:06:28 > 0:06:32which will lift the slab very carefully out of the furnace.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35Oh, my goodness, that is an extraordinary sight.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39What the crane will do is take the slab down onto the roller table.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43Quite an alarming feeling to have a piece of molten steel rushing
0:06:43 > 0:06:46- towards you like that. - Absolutely, it is very, very warm.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49- Feel the heat of that. - Fantastic.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52The slab is entering the descaling process.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04This is where any impurities in the metal are removed
0:07:04 > 0:07:06before the steel is rolled.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11- As you see, the surface of the slab is now clean.- Yes.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14So you minimise any risk of rolling in some dirt in the mill.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17It is a great feat of German engineering which was
0:07:17 > 0:07:20put in during the '70s and modernised many times.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23As you can see, it will go through here, we will do a number of passes
0:07:23 > 0:07:27through the mill itself and that will go from slab form to plate form.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29Those plates can be how thick?
0:07:29 > 0:07:32The plates can be anything from 12 millimetres thick
0:07:32 > 0:07:35up to about 200 millimetres.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38And so you're putting it in again and again
0:07:38 > 0:07:41and flattening it out bit by bit, down to the right thickness?
0:07:41 > 0:07:47Yes. We will put it through the mill 15, 16, 17 times
0:07:47 > 0:07:51to get to the gauge that we require.
0:07:51 > 0:07:56I can understand why educated tourists in the 19th century
0:07:56 > 0:07:59would gasp in awe visiting a plant like this.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03I feel the continuity of history in a facility that manufactured
0:08:03 > 0:08:06steel for the Titanic and the Lusitania
0:08:06 > 0:08:09and still supply steel plate for British warships today.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12I never saw anything on such a scale.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16The crashes and bangs, the heat, the steam, the whole thing
0:08:16 > 0:08:19is deeply impressive.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40As I make tracks south, I am reminded that Scotland has long been
0:08:40 > 0:08:43a land of contrasts, of heavy industry,
0:08:43 > 0:08:47and picturesque countryside and it was this magnificence
0:08:47 > 0:08:51of nature in the raw that literally made Victorian ladies swoon.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56My next stop will be Lanark.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00Bradshaw's tells me that travellers can visit the Falls of Clyde
0:09:00 > 0:09:02and the romantic scenery in the neighbourhood.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06Independent of the magnificent waterfalls, the beauty of the
0:09:06 > 0:09:12country, and the picturesque views are a source of great attraction.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14As even in rural Lanarkshire,
0:09:14 > 0:09:17cotton mills began to spring up on the river banks.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21Aesthetes yearned for preindustrial simplicity.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24During the 18th century,
0:09:24 > 0:09:28the grand European tour was a normal part of the education of young
0:09:28 > 0:09:32aristocrats, but when the continent was put beyond bounds
0:09:32 > 0:09:37during the Napoleonic Wars, Scotland became the fashionable destination.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39The route between Edinburgh
0:09:39 > 0:09:42and Lanark became popular with landscape lovers.
0:09:45 > 0:09:50I am meeting local guide, Alison Galbraith.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53Alison, Bradshaw's is ecstatic.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56Corra Lin fall, 84 feet, considered by some to be
0:09:56 > 0:09:58the finest of the falls.
0:09:58 > 0:10:03"To describe the beauties of the scene is an almost impossible task,
0:10:03 > 0:10:06"requiring the glowing language of a poet to do justice to them,"
0:10:06 > 0:10:10and I think actually more than one poet came here in 1802.
0:10:10 > 0:10:16Yes, Wordsworth and Coleridge, and Wordsworth's sister Dorothy as well.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18They were doing their petite tour,
0:10:18 > 0:10:20they had come from the Lake District
0:10:20 > 0:10:25and were making their way around the beauty spots, everybody came
0:10:25 > 0:10:27to the Falls of Clyde to see Corra Linn,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30the largest waterfall in Britain.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Would this have been an arduous journey in those days?
0:10:33 > 0:10:35I can't imagine it would have been easy,
0:10:35 > 0:10:39because this was just before the trains that Dorothy and William
0:10:39 > 0:10:43and Coleridge came, so they were definitely with a horse and trap.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Dorothy doesn't complain that it is arduous,
0:10:46 > 0:10:50but they certainly got out and walked alongside their horse quite a lot.
0:10:52 > 0:10:59Their trip in 1802 took six weeks and covered 663 miles.
0:11:00 > 0:11:05It was a kind of literary pilgrimage for romantics.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08I mean, you are in a lovely 19th-century costume here
0:11:08 > 0:11:13and I imagine that actually your long skirt dragging in the mud,
0:11:13 > 0:11:17- this would all have been quite inconvenient.- Definitely.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21I think the Victorian ladies must have had some metal
0:11:21 > 0:11:23and spirit to do what they did.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28Just having to hitch your skirts up to walk up the inclines is
0:11:28 > 0:11:34exciting enough as it is, but a lot of the paths had 30 to 40 steps
0:11:34 > 0:11:37chiselled down the gorge to the falls,
0:11:37 > 0:11:39so they must have been very game.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43Dorothy made notes on some of the journey's more challenging
0:11:43 > 0:11:48aspects, describing the road quality as "most excellent" or "roughish",
0:11:48 > 0:11:50or wretchedly bad.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54But such hardship did not discourage this romantic trio.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58Wordsworth wrote "Lord of the vale, astounding flood,
0:11:58 > 0:12:04"the dullest leaf in this thick wood quakes conscious of thy power.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06"The caves reply with hollow moan."
0:12:06 > 0:12:10Clearly very impressed by the majesty of the place.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14Yes, certainly when Dorothy and William where here, the full
0:12:14 > 0:12:19force of the water would have come over and it really is quite a sight.
0:12:19 > 0:12:24But the falls were tamed in 1926 by Britain's first hydroelectric
0:12:24 > 0:12:26power station.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Situated between Corra Linn and Dundaff Linn,
0:12:29 > 0:12:33this plant can generate up to 11 megawatts of power.
0:12:33 > 0:12:38January and November, the force of the water would resemble what
0:12:38 > 0:12:41Wordsworth and Coleridge were seeing back then.
0:12:41 > 0:12:46J.M.W. Turner painted a classical scene of naked bathing beauties
0:12:46 > 0:12:48here in 1802.
0:12:48 > 0:12:49Just over 50 years later,
0:12:49 > 0:12:53it was the Caledonian Railway that provoked controversy.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58There's an interesting piece in one of the papers of the day that
0:12:58 > 0:13:02describes how the gentleman on the other side of the falls,
0:13:02 > 0:13:09Lord Cranston, complains about the cheap train tickets attracting
0:13:09 > 0:13:13day visitors who are no longer welcome on his estate.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17But Lady Mary Ross was from Bonnington House on this side
0:13:17 > 0:13:20of the river, now the wildlife reserve.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23She was instrumental in maintaining paths
0:13:23 > 0:13:26and she actively encouraged the tourists to come.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30They were also treated in the pavilion, to have cups of tea
0:13:30 > 0:13:35and as they went in there, the mirrors on the ceiling reflected
0:13:35 > 0:13:39the falls, so apparently ladies would swoon
0:13:39 > 0:13:44and faint with the awesome view - it wouldn't be awesome back then,
0:13:44 > 0:13:46though, would it? The majestic,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49sublime view of water cascading down upon their heads.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53In this television age, you don't see tourists swooning,
0:13:53 > 0:13:56but they still travel to marvel at the falls.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00Dorothy Wordsworth's recollections of a tour made in Scotland
0:14:00 > 0:14:03remains a classic of picturesque travel writing.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09The next stop on my journey is just downstream.
0:14:10 > 0:14:15Bradshaw's tells me that no stranger ought to omit visiting
0:14:15 > 0:14:18the far famed village of New Lanark.
0:14:18 > 0:14:23It was established in 1784 by Robert Owen's father-in-law.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26Robert Owen then acquired the village.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30He was a philanthropist on his way to becoming a socialist.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34For example, he would buy goods in bulk which could be sold
0:14:34 > 0:14:39in the village shops to the workers at little more than cost price,
0:14:39 > 0:14:43and that idea was the origin of the co-operative movement.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48Within this beautifully restored 18th-century cotton mill,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51which is part of the New Lanark World Heritage Site,
0:14:51 > 0:14:53I'll find my bed for the night.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05Excited by the prospect of a new day,
0:15:05 > 0:15:10I've headed back to Lanark Station to take the train via Motherwell.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23At my next destination, the railway station opened in 1848
0:15:23 > 0:15:27and closed the following year because the village was too small.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30You wouldn't say that any more about Cumbernauld.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33Since I visited the steelworks at Motherwell, I have been
0:15:33 > 0:15:37wondering what the workers drank to keep up their energy levels.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39What brew was appropriate for those men of iron?
0:15:42 > 0:15:45These days, Cumbernauld Station serves one of the most
0:15:45 > 0:15:47populated areas of Scotland.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52Since 2007, it has been home to one of Scotland's bestselling
0:15:52 > 0:15:57soft drinks, born at the peak of the country's industrial boom.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01I'm hitching a lift to Cumbernauld's Irn-Bru factory with
0:16:01 > 0:16:05delivery driver John Spence, working my passage.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11- Hello, John.- Hello, sir, how are you doing?- Good to see you.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17You've been doing this a while, haven't you?
0:16:17 > 0:16:21- Yeah, I've been doing it for 50 year. - 50 years?!
0:16:21 > 0:16:24So what do you need if you're going to last in a job?
0:16:24 > 0:16:28A sense of fun. Over and above that you need a good hand,
0:16:28 > 0:16:32people that help you, like your van mate. I've been very lucky.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35I've had some quite good van mates over the years.
0:16:35 > 0:16:36Do you think I'll be up to the job?
0:16:36 > 0:16:39Oh, yes, I'm positive you'll be up to the job.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43You'll maybe even last 50 years the same as what I've done!
0:16:43 > 0:16:46'I've always thought that whisky was Scotland's national drink
0:16:46 > 0:16:50'but this concoction also lays claim to carry the saltire.'
0:16:53 > 0:16:55- Here we go, Michael. - Whoa, look at all that!
0:16:59 > 0:17:04'In 1767, Englishman Joseph Priestley suspended a bowl
0:17:04 > 0:17:07'of distilled water above a beer vat
0:17:07 > 0:17:09'and discovered how to make carbonated water.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13'The water had a pleasant taste
0:17:13 > 0:17:16'and spawned an industry in fizzy drinks.'
0:17:18 > 0:17:20Ah, you're doing great.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24So would you like to take some stuff into the shop for us?
0:17:24 > 0:17:25Oh, yes, please.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27Right. Down.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29Bring it in. Hold it.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32- And then tilt it back.- Whoa!
0:17:33 > 0:17:37'This beverage owes its origin to the Barr family,
0:17:37 > 0:17:42'who opened their first soft drink factory in Falkirk in 1875.'
0:17:42 > 0:17:44And if you'd like to put them up on the shelves.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52- Ah, you're doing a grand job, Michael.- Ah, thank you!
0:17:52 > 0:17:54Don't smash any of them!
0:17:54 > 0:17:56THEY LAUGH
0:17:58 > 0:18:00You need real bottle to do this job.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07'And just as in Bradshaw's day, the bottles are recycled.'
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Well, here we go, Michael, we'll get the empties on the lorry.
0:18:17 > 0:18:18Oops!
0:18:18 > 0:18:21- One down.- Health and safety.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24I've had nothing to do at this delivery.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31The destination for our empty bottles is
0:18:31 > 0:18:33the state-of-the-art factory at Cumbernauld which,
0:18:33 > 0:18:39since it opened, has produced almost 200 million litres of soft drinks.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44Despite its scale, this is still a family firm
0:18:44 > 0:18:48and Robin Barr is showing me where my empties will go.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53Well, this is the return of a bottle line here which is, I think,
0:18:53 > 0:18:57the only returnable bottle line left in the UK.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01- The customer gets money back if he brings a bottle back?- Yes, they do.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05This was the only pack in 1875
0:19:05 > 0:19:09and it was the only pack that soft drinks were sold in
0:19:09 > 0:19:11right up to the 1960s.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16'When the Barr family opened its first soft drinks factory
0:19:16 > 0:19:20'it was one of hundreds of Scottish manufacturers, selling to men
0:19:20 > 0:19:24'and women doing tough physical work in the crowded industrial towns.'
0:19:24 > 0:19:28What was the appeal of the product in those days?
0:19:28 > 0:19:31It had a lot of appeals, it was obviously a nice refreshment,
0:19:31 > 0:19:33as it is today.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37Partly, it gave a lot of energy because of the sugar content.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41And the quantity of energy was quite important,
0:19:41 > 0:19:45but also there was a slight safety factor,
0:19:45 > 0:19:50that most soft drinks manufacturers were based on a site where there was
0:19:50 > 0:19:55a well, and the quality of the water was therefore guaranteed to be pure.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58'To make the most of this natural ingredient,
0:19:58 > 0:20:01'the manufacturers took full advantage of everything
0:20:01 > 0:20:03'that 19th-century technology had to offer.'
0:20:05 > 0:20:08- Do you make use of the railways? - We did in 1875.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12But most, if not all, of our main supplies
0:20:12 > 0:20:16came from the south of England, from London.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19It was a firm, Reilly, who made machinery,
0:20:19 > 0:20:22there was a firm, Stephenson and Howe who made essences,
0:20:22 > 0:20:27from whom we still buy essences today and all these supplies
0:20:27 > 0:20:31in 1875 would have come up on the railway line to Falkirk.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35'In the early years, the Barr family produced all sorts of drinks,
0:20:35 > 0:20:38'from lemonade to ginger beer.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41'But one particular brand sealed their fortune.'
0:20:41 > 0:20:45Your most famous product, when was that developed?
0:20:45 > 0:20:51That was in Victorian times, and was introduced to a recipe
0:20:51 > 0:20:54that my great-grandfather
0:20:54 > 0:20:59and my great uncle put together themselves.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03- Do you know that recipe?- Yes, I do, it's still a family secret.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07I had it passed it down to me by my father
0:21:07 > 0:21:10and I've now passed it through to my daughter,
0:21:10 > 0:21:13so that there will be a continuation even when I'm gone.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18The magic formula soon became a hit.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21Thanks in part to innovative marketing featuring
0:21:21 > 0:21:23the nation's most famous athletes.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28The name... Is it connected with the steam industry?
0:21:28 > 0:21:32I suppose it is, in the sense that clearly people made
0:21:32 > 0:21:36an association with the heavy industries in Scotland at that time,
0:21:36 > 0:21:40the iron and steel and shipbuilding industries.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43- Does it have any iron in it? - Oh, yes, it does.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47Ammonium ferric citrate is one of the ingredients.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49And what does that do for you?
0:21:49 > 0:21:53I don't know, if I say it puts hairs on your chest
0:21:53 > 0:21:55I won't sell much Irn-Bru to the ladies!
0:21:55 > 0:21:57MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:22:02 > 0:22:03Back on board,
0:22:03 > 0:22:07I'm eastward bound for West Lothian's county town.
0:22:18 > 0:22:19I'm on my way to Linlithgow.
0:22:19 > 0:22:24Bradshaw says, "This county does not possess that romantic scenery
0:22:24 > 0:22:27"for which the Scottish mountains are celebrated.
0:22:27 > 0:22:32"But the estates are laid out in the very best of taste.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36"In every quarter, the Forth River assumes a singular variety
0:22:36 > 0:22:42"of aspects - hills, promontories, winding bays, lofty shores."
0:22:42 > 0:22:44The Scottish rivers are highly attractive
0:22:44 > 0:22:47but not very suitable for shipping.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50That was a problem until the canals came along.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57'Linlithgow is the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00'And its palace was home to the Stewart kings.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04'I'm interested in its more recent past and I'm meeting Mike Smith,
0:23:04 > 0:23:08'who is chairman of the Linlithgow Union Canal Society.'
0:23:08 > 0:23:10- Permission to board.- Please do.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15'The Union Canal was built to provide a direct inland connection
0:23:15 > 0:23:19'between Glasgow and Edinburgh, as well as between the coasts.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21'It was constructed in 1818
0:23:21 > 0:23:24'at a cost of almost half a million pounds.'
0:23:27 > 0:23:29Mike, what was the impact of the canals on Scotland?
0:23:31 > 0:23:35In its local areas where they were, quite astonishing, this was
0:23:35 > 0:23:40the sudden access of a motorway between the major cities of Scotland,
0:23:40 > 0:23:42this canal. And of course, the Forth and Clyde Canal,
0:23:42 > 0:23:46between the two great estuaries, made a tremendous difference,
0:23:46 > 0:23:47particularly to the fishing fleets,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50because they could follow the fish either side of the country,
0:23:50 > 0:23:52by going through the Forth and Clyde as a ship canal.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57- What were the cargoes? - Mostly coal. Ironstone.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59And what they called freestone, which is a stone
0:23:59 > 0:24:02that's easily made into buildings.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05A huge appetite for that in Edinburgh.
0:24:05 > 0:24:06And the Slamannan Railway,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09which terminated at a basin on this canal, which
0:24:09 > 0:24:13was a joint venture between the canal company and the railway company,
0:24:13 > 0:24:17used to bring these materials up from the North Lanarkshire
0:24:17 > 0:24:21coal fields and put them on the boats and take them into Edinburgh
0:24:21 > 0:24:25lock-free. It was well worth investing in that railway
0:24:25 > 0:24:28because it halved the journey distance
0:24:28 > 0:24:31and knocked 75% off the time involved.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36'The resourcefulness and imagination of the men who designed
0:24:36 > 0:24:38'the canals never fails to amaze me.
0:24:38 > 0:24:43'The engineers Hugh Baird and his mentor Thomas Telford came up with
0:24:43 > 0:24:45'impressive navigation solutions.
0:24:45 > 0:24:50'64 stone bridges and three major aqueducts enable a continuous
0:24:50 > 0:24:52'ribbon of water to run through the land.'
0:24:54 > 0:24:58This canal was lock-free all the way to the end at Falkirk
0:24:58 > 0:25:03and there was a single flight of 11 locks down to join the Forth
0:25:03 > 0:25:06and Clyde, but the whole idea of gathering them there was
0:25:06 > 0:25:09that the rest of the canal should be rapid transport.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13'With a 35 metre difference in height, it required 3,500 tonnes
0:25:13 > 0:25:18'of water per run and took most of the day to pass through the flight.'
0:25:18 > 0:25:22I suppose the locks were the thing that slowed down the freight.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25Absolutely, and that is why this was built as a contour canal.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29- What was the locomotion? - On the canal? This canal? Horses.
0:25:29 > 0:25:30Exclusively horses.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34It didn't survive commercially long enough to get mechanised.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38'With growing competition from the railways, the canal declined
0:25:38 > 0:25:40'and was eventually closed.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43'But thanks to the Millennium Link project,
0:25:43 > 0:25:48'in 2001 the canal was triumphantly reopened
0:25:48 > 0:25:52'and Mike wants me to see a marvel of the 21st century.'
0:25:57 > 0:26:00Well, here we are at the top of the Falkirk Wheel.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03I've never seen a structure like that.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05It looks as though we're just going to go off the end.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08It does, doesn't it? But I hope we're not!
0:26:09 > 0:26:12So, in one go, we are going to do the equivalent of 11 locks.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15Effectively, yes.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17We are an amazing height.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19Any idea how far we go down?
0:26:19 > 0:26:23- It's just short of 100 feet. - Just short of 100 feet. Wow.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26Each case in the big tub that we are sitting in,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29each is identical in size and when they're full of water,
0:26:29 > 0:26:32they are identical in weight. So the thing is perfectly balanced.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35So, in principle, you could just give it a little shove
0:26:35 > 0:26:38and it would slowly rotate under momentum.
0:26:38 > 0:26:43'It works according to the Archimedes' principle of displacement.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46'The boat will displace its own weight of water in the tub
0:26:46 > 0:26:50'so that the weight of boat plus water in the rising tub is
0:26:50 > 0:26:52'balanced by the one descending.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55'Now that's what I call clever.'
0:26:55 > 0:26:59'And it's also, to my mind, extremely beautiful.'
0:26:59 > 0:27:02Mike, I think that is the weirdest feeling.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06We have a very gradually sunk down but actually watching
0:27:06 > 0:27:09the other case rise, that is going past us quite fast, isn't it?
0:27:09 > 0:27:14Yes. It's odd, how points of view differ.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18- A massive piece of machinery. - Huge, isn't it?
0:27:29 > 0:27:32William Wordsworth might lament the railway age, which brought
0:27:32 > 0:27:37hordes of tourists to beauty spots like the Falls of Clyde,
0:27:37 > 0:27:40but in truth, there had been a transport revolution
0:27:40 > 0:27:42before the Victorians,
0:27:42 > 0:27:47when a brilliant generation of engineers built the canals.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51A young cartographer who was in awe of their achievements
0:27:51 > 0:27:54began his career by mapping them.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57His name was George Bradshaw.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04Next time, I visit the scene of a bloody battle...
0:28:04 > 0:28:08And eventually the English are forced back to a position where
0:28:08 > 0:28:10they are in complete chaos.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13'..enjoy a lesson in the skills of an ancient craft...'
0:28:13 > 0:28:17- It doesn't sound like it sounded with you.- You need more porridge.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19More porridge!
0:28:19 > 0:28:22'..and soothe my traveller's taste buds.'
0:28:24 > 0:28:28Mm, I'm slipping into ecstasy.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30Very, very fruity. Lovely.