0:00:04 > 0:00:08For 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'm 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 > 0:00:59I'm now over halfway through a London railway odyssey,
0:00:59 > 0:01:02discovering how, with industrialisation,
0:01:02 > 0:01:05the capital became the world's first megalopolis.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08Today, I'm bound for its very heart.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17Sandwiched between the capital's political and financial centres,
0:01:17 > 0:01:20at Westminster and the old City of London, is the West End,
0:01:20 > 0:01:25whose theatres, emporia, eating houses, coffee shops
0:01:25 > 0:01:27and public houses were a magnet
0:01:27 > 0:01:31for Victorian pleasure seekers and players.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34And they've lost none of their pulling power today.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40I'm using my usual guidebook
0:01:40 > 0:01:45and extracts from Bradshaw's 1862 Illustrated Handbook to London
0:01:45 > 0:01:49to make a series of journeys in and around the capital.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54This time, I'm exploring the West End, from Covent Garden, via
0:01:54 > 0:01:58Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly, to the bustling streets of Soho.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03'On today's journey, I'll discover how 19th century engineering
0:02:03 > 0:02:06'made for spectacular theatricals...'
0:02:06 > 0:02:09Ben Hur was produced there twice.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12They staged the chariot race and the horses ran across the stage.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15To make it more exciting, they actually turned the treadmills around
0:02:15 > 0:02:18so that the horses were running towards the audience.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21'..discover a Victorian luxury fit for a queen...'
0:02:21 > 0:02:24The other area that Queen Victoria liked was rose.
0:02:24 > 0:02:30And so if I dab this behind my ears, I can smell like Queen Victoria.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33'..and come face to face with my guiding spirit...'
0:02:33 > 0:02:38George Bradshaw, 1801 to 1853.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52First stop is Covent Garden.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Once, it was home to London's fruit, vegetable and flower markets.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59Now tourists flock here to visit the shops,
0:02:59 > 0:03:01soak up the atmosphere, or take in a show.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07The first playhouses appeared here in the 17th century,
0:03:07 > 0:03:09but the West End's modern reputation
0:03:09 > 0:03:14as the home of British theatre dates back to Victorian times.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19"The Strand is a fine street running parallel with the river,
0:03:19 > 0:03:23"formerly the favourite abode of our ancient nobility.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26"Between their mansions and the river
0:03:26 > 0:03:29"were gardens, terraces and steps."
0:03:29 > 0:03:33But by the time of my Bradshaw's guide, this was theatreland,
0:03:33 > 0:03:37and here at the Adelphi Theatre, for more than 200 years, there's
0:03:37 > 0:03:41been the smell of the greasepaint and the roar of the crowd.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50The first theatre on this site opened in 1806,
0:03:50 > 0:03:54marking the beginning of a 19th century theatre boom,
0:03:54 > 0:03:58fuelled by industrial London's pell-mell economic growth.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02I'm treading the boards with theatre historian Mark Fox.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Well, Mark, here we are in the spotlight. Why was it that
0:04:07 > 0:04:12from Shakespearean times to the beginning of the 19th century
0:04:12 > 0:04:17the centre of theatre moved from the south bank to the West End?
0:04:17 > 0:04:20The whole of London was developing, particularly along the riverside,
0:04:20 > 0:04:24roads being built, tenement blocks being swept away.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27Sites became available, and if an impresario could actually find
0:04:27 > 0:04:31a site that they could actually build a theatre very quickly with enough
0:04:31 > 0:04:34seats and get the entertainment that people wanted to come and see,
0:04:34 > 0:04:36then they could make money very quickly.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40By the time of my guidebook,
0:04:40 > 0:04:44this area was in turmoil, thanks to the creation of the Embankment.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Extraordinary feats of Victorian engineering reclaimed
0:04:47 > 0:04:51land from the Thames and provided new sewers
0:04:51 > 0:04:54and underground railways to serve the city's mushrooming population.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00The advent of the railways transformed the landscape
0:05:00 > 0:05:02and the reach of theatreland.
0:05:04 > 0:05:09Before the railways, so before about 1830, how were the theatres
0:05:09 > 0:05:11here getting their audiences?
0:05:11 > 0:05:14The theatres were built to attract the people in the locality,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17you didn't have any such thing as a long run.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20They would do a play for perhaps just one day or two days,
0:05:20 > 0:05:22and then they would change the bill completely.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25The railways, then, must have had quite a big impact,
0:05:25 > 0:05:27when people were able to travel greater distances.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30It did, it changed the profile of the audience completely,
0:05:30 > 0:05:32because suddenly tourists were coming in as well.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35Somewhere here like the Strand... Charing Cross, when that opened,
0:05:35 > 0:05:38that was the boat train, so people could come even from abroad,
0:05:38 > 0:05:40and that changed the nature of the whole business.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43It wasn't the same rough audiences that had actually been there all the
0:05:43 > 0:05:47time. It became a bit more expensive, it actually became special.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53Thanks to the railways, there was now a market for long-running shows,
0:05:53 > 0:05:57but to keep the crowds coming, the producers had to give them thrills.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01Tell me about stagecraft - during the 19th century, how good was it?
0:06:01 > 0:06:05They didn't have the technology that we have today, obviously,
0:06:05 > 0:06:08but they did manage some huge technological feats.
0:06:08 > 0:06:13So, Drury Lane in 1894, Augustus Harris bought in from Vienna
0:06:13 > 0:06:17enormous hydraulic lifts, but that meant that he could actually
0:06:17 > 0:06:20rock the stage from side to side so he could sink ships!
0:06:20 > 0:06:23He could do things that people hadn't ever seen before.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Just to give you an idea of the real scale, Ben Hur was
0:06:26 > 0:06:29produced there twice. They staged the chariot race both times.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33The first time, they had treadmills and the horses ran across the stage
0:06:33 > 0:06:36with a scene that moved behind them, so you could actually see the
0:06:36 > 0:06:39progression of the race, but the second time they revived it,
0:06:39 > 0:06:41they actually turned the treadmills round
0:06:41 > 0:06:44so that the horses were running towards the audience.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46Ah, people must have been absolutely mesmerised.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50By the turn of the 20th century,
0:06:50 > 0:06:53there were 46 theatres in the West End.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56And still today, the railways deliver to the capital
0:06:56 > 0:07:00out-of-towners lured by the bright lights.
0:07:00 > 0:07:01- Hello, ladies.- Nice to meet you.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04Nice to see you, are you on your way to the theatre?
0:07:04 > 0:07:07- We are, yes.- So, why do you choose the theatre in London?
0:07:07 > 0:07:09It's my home town originally.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12She's from London but she's lived in Liverpool for 50 years.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14Where have you come from?
0:07:14 > 0:07:16- Peterborough.- That's not so far!
0:07:16 > 0:07:19No, it isn't, it's just down the road on the train.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22Is there something special about the theatre scene in London,
0:07:22 > 0:07:23- do you think? - Oh, yeah, I think so.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25It's the excitement, it's different,
0:07:25 > 0:07:28you know, it's not only going to the theatre,
0:07:28 > 0:07:31it's walking around, people watching.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34We used to go to the Wood Green Empire, Finsbury Park Empire,
0:07:34 > 0:07:36you know, they were our haunts.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39And what sort of things were you seeing? Musicals?
0:07:39 > 0:07:40All the top stars, mostly.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42Are you here for the theatre today?
0:07:42 > 0:07:45No, I'm up here to buy railway books.
0:07:45 > 0:07:46HE LAUGHS
0:07:49 > 0:07:50My guidebooks can now help me
0:07:50 > 0:07:54to discover how teeming Victorian London fed its hungry masses.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01Bradshaw's Guide to London 1862 describes the capital as a modern
0:08:01 > 0:08:06Babylon, in which there's a choice of 330 dining rooms,
0:08:06 > 0:08:10833 coffee shops, 4,343 publicans,
0:08:10 > 0:08:13802 beer shop keepers.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17The capital apparently consumes 776,000 sheep,
0:08:17 > 0:08:22270,000 pigs, and 120,000 tonnes of fish.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26I hope I haven't BATTERED you with statistics.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32Victorian industrialisation and urbanisation
0:08:32 > 0:08:36helped to spread the quintessential British takeaway.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40Ahmet Ziyaeddin's family have been serving fish and chips
0:08:40 > 0:08:42for over 30 years.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44- Hello, Ahmet. - Michael, hello, good to see you.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47Here I am dressed in my finery, all ready for you.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49Fantastic, you look ready for the job.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51How long has there been a shop on these premises?
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Since 1871, so that's just over 140 years.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00Although fried fish has been sold in Britain since the 17th century,
0:09:00 > 0:09:04it was first served to urban workers with chips in the 1860s.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08Why do you think fish and chips became so popular
0:09:08 > 0:09:10in the Victorian time when this shop opened?
0:09:10 > 0:09:14It was a massive influx of the hard work the Victorians had done.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18We had modern transport trains...
0:09:18 > 0:09:20With the expansion of the fishing fleet
0:09:20 > 0:09:24and mechanisation on the trawlers they were able to catch more.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27'Thanks to steam trawlers and steam trains,
0:09:27 > 0:09:29'cheap fish flooded into Britain's cities,
0:09:29 > 0:09:33'and by the 1920s there were 35,000 fish and chip shops.'
0:09:33 > 0:09:35What recipe do you work to?
0:09:35 > 0:09:39We were very fortunate in that there were two elderly ladies that
0:09:39 > 0:09:42lived above the shop when my father arrived.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46They were the daughters of the grandson of the original owner.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49They put forward to my father that his fish and chips
0:09:49 > 0:09:51wasn't good enough for this shop,
0:09:51 > 0:09:53and he said, "Well, if you think you can do better, show me,"
0:09:53 > 0:09:57and they did! We adopted their methods, which date back
0:09:57 > 0:10:01to the origins of this shop, and we've carried it on ever since.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05And you break it open and you see that white, flaky, fresh fish.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09Simple enough to cook, but when it's done well, it's unparalleled.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13- It's good, honest food.- Makes you proud to be British.- Absolutely.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21At the time of my guidebook,
0:10:21 > 0:10:25rapidly-expanding London was battling against congestion
0:10:25 > 0:10:29in its streets by experimenting with underground railways.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31In the first years of the 20th century,
0:10:31 > 0:10:33the first deep-level Tubes opened.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39I'm taking the Northern line to Charing Cross,
0:10:39 > 0:10:43to visit a cultural beacon that had its roots in Bradshaw's day.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45TANNOY: 'This is Charing Cross...'
0:11:02 > 0:11:04The National Gallery -
0:11:04 > 0:11:07"that singularly dull, heavy-looking building
0:11:07 > 0:11:11"that extends the whole north side of Trafalgar Square.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15"Although this gallery is inferior to the great continental galleries,
0:11:15 > 0:11:19"still it is a highly valuable collection."
0:11:19 > 0:11:22Bradshaw's understood the art of faint praise.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30In the mid-19th century,
0:11:30 > 0:11:34the gallery's neoclassical look had fallen out of fashion.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38Today up to six million visitors a year pass through its portals.
0:11:38 > 0:11:44The 46,000 square metre building houses a world-class collection
0:11:44 > 0:11:47of over 2,000 paintings,
0:11:47 > 0:11:52but archivist Alan Crookham takes me back to its modest beginnings.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01Before the foundation of the National Gallery in 1824,
0:12:01 > 0:12:03what was the opportunity for the city clerk
0:12:03 > 0:12:07or the steam-engine operative to see art?
0:12:07 > 0:12:10Well, there weren't a great many opportunities.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13The Dulwich Picture Gallery had been founded a few years earlier,
0:12:13 > 0:12:15but there were problems in getting out there,
0:12:15 > 0:12:17cos at that time there weren't any railways,
0:12:17 > 0:12:20so the opening of the gallery really gave people an opportunity
0:12:20 > 0:12:24to see great works of art right in the centre of London.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27And how, then, did the collection actually begin?
0:12:27 > 0:12:29Well, it was purchased by the government
0:12:29 > 0:12:33from the estate of John Julius Angerstein, a financier, in 1824
0:12:33 > 0:12:36for the princely sum of £60,000.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40Initially there were just 38 paintings
0:12:40 > 0:12:43displayed in Angerstein's house in Pall Mall.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47Then, in the 1830s, work began on this gallery -
0:12:47 > 0:12:50part of an ambitious building programme
0:12:50 > 0:12:55in which Trafalgar Square replaced streets of slums.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58There was a whole area of Trafalgar Square that was known
0:12:58 > 0:13:01as Porridge Island, and it was called that
0:13:01 > 0:13:05because the inhabitants of this area used to make a kind of gruel,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08and the gruel stank. But that was all cleared for Trafalgar Square.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13How did the public react at first to the opportunity
0:13:13 > 0:13:15of spending the day in a gallery?
0:13:15 > 0:13:18Some people, for example, came in and would actually have a picnic
0:13:18 > 0:13:21here in the gallery, and would sit around having their food
0:13:21 > 0:13:23and drinking glasses of gin,
0:13:23 > 0:13:25and when they were told off for doing this,
0:13:25 > 0:13:27they would simply offer the gallery assistant
0:13:27 > 0:13:29a glass of gin to join them.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33By 1853, there were over 400 paintings in the collection,
0:13:33 > 0:13:37which was boosted further when JMW Turner left hundreds of works
0:13:37 > 0:13:41to the nation in his will - including this one,
0:13:41 > 0:13:44inspired by the wonder of locomotion.
0:13:44 > 0:13:45What's the name of the picture?
0:13:45 > 0:13:47It's Rain, Steam And Speed.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50And, in fact, when this was first put on display,
0:13:50 > 0:13:53William Thackeray, the author and critic, came in to see it,
0:13:53 > 0:13:56and he wrote an article about it, where he said it was almost so vivid,
0:13:56 > 0:13:59it's almost as if the train could leap off the canvas
0:13:59 > 0:14:03and then go through the wall and out, down Charing Cross,
0:14:03 > 0:14:06- and disappear into the distance. - Marvellous image.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15Many of those responsible for the transformation
0:14:15 > 0:14:18of 19th century Britain are commemorated next door,
0:14:18 > 0:14:21in the National Portrait Gallery,
0:14:21 > 0:14:25founded in the 1850s so the public could admire the likenesses
0:14:25 > 0:14:29of those who'd risen by their efforts and intellect,
0:14:29 > 0:14:31and those born to greatness.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37I've come to the National Portrait Gallery
0:14:37 > 0:14:40to see one portrait in particular.
0:14:40 > 0:14:46George Bradshaw, 1801 to 1853,
0:14:46 > 0:14:49shown here with his famous railway map of Britain.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52This was painted in 1841.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56He was probably best known then as a cartographer.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00And his portrait hangs beside that of Robert Stephenson...
0:15:02 > 0:15:04..who was responsible for the railway line
0:15:04 > 0:15:07from London to Birmingham.
0:15:07 > 0:15:12And above, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who built the railway line
0:15:12 > 0:15:16from London out to the west - the Great Western Railway.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18And I think
0:15:18 > 0:15:22something in George Bradshaw's Quaker humility would baulk
0:15:22 > 0:15:29against being shown alongside two, surely, of his greatest heroes.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39And having paid homage to three heavyweights of the railway age,
0:15:39 > 0:15:42I'm breaking my journey for the night.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04I'm continuing my exploration of London on the Bakerloo line,
0:16:04 > 0:16:08which opened in 1906 as the Baker Street And Waterloo Railway.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14In Victorian times, every aspect of the world's greatest city
0:16:14 > 0:16:17magnetised the visitor. Having attended the theatres
0:16:17 > 0:16:19and galleries, they could also take advantage
0:16:19 > 0:16:24of the metropolis's enormous range of high-quality merchandise.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26Bradshaw's urges that,
0:16:26 > 0:16:30"proceeding up Piccadilly, the visitor should not omit Bond Street,
0:16:30 > 0:16:33"to view this most fashionable promenade.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35"The shops here are extremely elegant
0:16:35 > 0:16:38"and their articles most recherche.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42"And here the ladies of aristocracy and wealth may be seen alighting
0:16:42 > 0:16:47"from their carriages and splendid equipages to make some purchases."
0:16:47 > 0:16:52I'm at Piccadilly for the sweet smells of wealth and success.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01A favourite purchase for the rich in Victorian London was perfume,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04and to sniff out its history I've come to Piccadilly Circus,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07one of the busiest stops on the network.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14Passengers make more than 40 million journeys
0:17:14 > 0:17:16through the station each year.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20The attraction of the nearby shops hasn't changed since Bradshaw's day.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29Hi, guys! What are you hoping to do in the West End?
0:17:29 > 0:17:31Hopefully see The Lion King tonight.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34- Saw the Queen today in the Opening of Parliament.- You've seen the Queen?!
0:17:34 > 0:17:37- We did!- Very exciting! - It was a massive moment!
0:17:37 > 0:17:38Are you shopping today?
0:17:38 > 0:17:42No, we've just come from Canterbury to have a wander round.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45- Now, will you do any shopping while you're here?- A little.- A little.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48What do you like to do when you get here?
0:17:48 > 0:17:51Well, usually we go for food or sometimes come out and...
0:17:51 > 0:17:55- Watch people and things. - Watch people?- Yeah!
0:17:55 > 0:17:58I'm looking at perfume in the West End.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00Do you like to buy perfume at all?
0:18:00 > 0:18:02LOVE perfume! We just bought some perfume.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05- Are you into perfume yet?- Yes! - What do you like to wear?
0:18:05 > 0:18:08- One Direction perfume! - One Direction perfume?!
0:18:10 > 0:18:13What sort of perfume do you think One Direction wear?
0:18:13 > 0:18:15Um...
0:18:15 > 0:18:17- probably just cologne or aftershave. - Yeah.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28While many of the shops familiar to Victorian customers
0:18:28 > 0:18:32have long since gone, this Jermyn Street perfumery
0:18:32 > 0:18:35has survived almost unchanged.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38Today it's run by Edward Bodenham.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42- Edward, hello!- Hello, Michael. Welcome to the shop,
0:18:42 > 0:18:46- welcome to Floris.- Thank you very much, it's such an elegant shop.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49I imagine it was flourishing in the mid-19th century.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53But on the other hand, I suppose the origins must go back much further.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55Yes, they do, actually, back to 1730,
0:18:55 > 0:19:01when my great-great-great-great-great-great- grandfather set up the business.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04He actually came over from Minorca, which was part of the British Empire
0:19:04 > 0:19:06- at the time.- So this was another Spanish immigrant
0:19:06 > 0:19:09- who made his fortune in Britain. - Absolutely.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11- And you have Spanish blood, like me, then.- Certainly do.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15Your shop has a 19th century look, would that be right?
0:19:15 > 0:19:17Yes, all the cabinets in here were actually acquired
0:19:17 > 0:19:20from the Great Exhibition in 1851, which was obviously
0:19:20 > 0:19:24the largest trade fair of its day. So, originally jewellery cabinets,
0:19:24 > 0:19:29but a deal was done and we were able to acquire the cabinets for our shop.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31The Great Exhibition showcased
0:19:31 > 0:19:35the best of British and international invention,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38from silverwork to the latest steam engines.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40Was there a connection between perfume and the railways
0:19:40 > 0:19:42once they came?
0:19:42 > 0:19:46Yes, there was. We used to source a lot of our essences
0:19:46 > 0:19:49from the south of France. Before trains were introduced,
0:19:49 > 0:19:51the family, or whoever was sourcing the oils,
0:19:51 > 0:19:53would have to travel by horse and cart,
0:19:53 > 0:19:55so it really did make things a lot easier.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00Perfume was worn partly to mask the unpleasant smells
0:20:00 > 0:20:04of 19th century London, but it also conferred status.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06Members of Britain's elite
0:20:06 > 0:20:09have been buying their scent here for centuries.
0:20:09 > 0:20:15- Another beautiful room.- This is where we keep our account ledgers.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19These ones actually date back to the 1930s and '40s.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22This is the roll call of the royal family - the King,
0:20:22 > 0:20:26the Princess Mary Louise, Queen Mary...
0:20:26 > 0:20:30And various other well-known names - Sir John Gielgud,
0:20:30 > 0:20:33Laurence Olivier, Winston Churchill.
0:20:33 > 0:20:39So "28 Hyde Park Gate" crossed out, "10 Downing Street" inserted.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41"10 Downing Street" crossed out!
0:20:43 > 0:20:45- Absolutely!- It's the history
0:20:45 > 0:20:49of the 19th and 20th century just there, isn't it?
0:20:49 > 0:20:53The shop received its first Royal Warrant in 1800,
0:20:53 > 0:20:55and when Queen Victoria ascended the throne,
0:20:55 > 0:20:58she continued the tradition of royal patronage.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02Perfumier Sheila Foyle is talking me through the regal fragrance.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07We know that there were two particular areas of fragrance
0:21:07 > 0:21:09that she enjoyed to wear -
0:21:09 > 0:21:12one was the cologne notes.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14And what are the highlights of the recipe?
0:21:14 > 0:21:17Bergamot oil, we have neroli...
0:21:17 > 0:21:22- What's that?- A steam distillation of the flowers of the orange tree.
0:21:22 > 0:21:27- We also have myrtle. - Yes, I find that quite strong
0:21:27 > 0:21:29and quite heady, I would say. What would you say of that?
0:21:29 > 0:21:33For me, it's light, it's fresh, quite crisp...
0:21:33 > 0:21:36The other area that Queen Victoria liked was rose,
0:21:36 > 0:21:39so I've also created a rose bouquet.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42Mmm, very distinctive rose, isn't it?
0:21:42 > 0:21:45And so, if I dab this behind my ears,
0:21:45 > 0:21:48- I can smell like Queen Victoria! - You certainly can.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04I'm now swapping the heady scent of royalty
0:22:04 > 0:22:07for the earthy smells of the Underground,
0:22:07 > 0:22:10as I rejoin the Bakerloo line towards Oxford Circus
0:22:10 > 0:22:14and consider a grimmer side of Victorian London life.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18As the city's population had swelled,
0:22:18 > 0:22:21little thought had been given to sanitation for the masses,
0:22:21 > 0:22:23and in overcrowded poorer neighbourhoods,
0:22:23 > 0:22:26the consequences could be disastrous.
0:22:28 > 0:22:33Today, London's Soho quarter buzzes with restaurants, cafes and shops.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35In Victorian times, people lived here cheek-by-jowl -
0:22:35 > 0:22:39an average of 18 to a house.
0:22:39 > 0:22:44The 1862 Bradshaw's Guide To London contains this comment -
0:22:44 > 0:22:48"upwards of 100 drinking fountains now exist, from which flows
0:22:48 > 0:22:52"a continual stream of water, where three years since
0:22:52 > 0:22:54"not a single one was known.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59"And although little artistic taste has been displayed in their erection
0:22:59 > 0:23:03"they must be highly useful in a sanitary point of view."
0:23:03 > 0:23:08Well, yes, if the water supply was clean, but if it was contaminated,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10it could be lethal.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15In Bradshaw's day, infectious disease was rife,
0:23:15 > 0:23:19and perhaps the most feared was cholera.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21Four deadly outbreaks swept through the capital
0:23:21 > 0:23:26between 1832 and 1866, killing thousands.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30The authorities' response was hampered by ignorance
0:23:30 > 0:23:33of how the fatal illness was spread.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Peter Daniel from the Westminster Archives can tell me how the answer
0:23:36 > 0:23:41came from a diligent Victorian who analysed the evidence.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45Why is Britain blighted by successive outbreaks of cholera
0:23:45 > 0:23:47during the middle of the 19th century?
0:23:47 > 0:23:50Well, the origins of cholera were in the Ganges in India,
0:23:50 > 0:23:52but with the opening up of the British Empire
0:23:52 > 0:23:56and different trade routes, it can spread more easily and quickly
0:23:56 > 0:23:58through shipping, railways -
0:23:58 > 0:24:01the things that had brought lots of benefits
0:24:01 > 0:24:03but were now going to bring this deadly disease to the country.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06And at the time of my Bradshaw's Guide,
0:24:06 > 0:24:10what was the theory as to what lay behind cholera?
0:24:10 > 0:24:13Well, the prevailing theory was miasmatism -
0:24:13 > 0:24:15the idea that bad smells cause diseases.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19Many influential people, those in government
0:24:19 > 0:24:22who could make the decisions strongly believed in that.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25Who makes the breakthrough towards understanding that cholera
0:24:25 > 0:24:27is a waterborne disease?
0:24:27 > 0:24:30It's a man called Dr John Snow.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33Dr Snow was something of a Victorian celebrity,
0:24:33 > 0:24:37having assisted at the birth of Queen Victoria's son.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42He had long suspected that contaminated water caused cholera,
0:24:42 > 0:24:46and when, in August 1854, the disease tore through
0:24:46 > 0:24:50his local neighbourhood in Soho, he set out to prove it.
0:24:50 > 0:24:55It was a matter of doing a lot of walking and talking to people,
0:24:55 > 0:24:59and he mapped out where all the cases were occurring.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01There were 13 water pumps in the Soho area
0:25:01 > 0:25:03and he found a cluster of the cases
0:25:03 > 0:25:06around one pump that was in Broadwick Street.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11But just as revealing as who had succumbed to the disease
0:25:11 > 0:25:12was who had not.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16What other proofs were there for Snow?
0:25:16 > 0:25:22Well, literally just a few yards along there was the Lion Brewery,
0:25:22 > 0:25:26and when Snow was doing his investigations here for his mapping,
0:25:26 > 0:25:30he found that none of the workers in the brewery had died -
0:25:30 > 0:25:33that's because they only drunk beer!
0:25:33 > 0:25:36What, and beer can't carry cholera?
0:25:36 > 0:25:39Well, it's because the fermentation killed off the bacteria,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41so it was safe to drink.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45Snow's methodical research has earned him a place
0:25:45 > 0:25:49in medical history as one of the founders of modern epidemiology -
0:25:49 > 0:25:51the study of the spread of disease.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54With the help of the parish vicar Henry Whitehead,
0:25:54 > 0:25:58he found the evidence needed to prove the miasmatists wrong,
0:25:58 > 0:26:01including the curious case of Susannah Eley.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04She owned a cartridge company,
0:26:04 > 0:26:08and made so much money she'd been able to move out to Hampstead.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11The one thing is, she couldn't leave her working-class roots behind.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14She loved the taste of Broad Street pump water,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17and she had it shipped to her every day,
0:26:17 > 0:26:19to her new residence out in Hampstead,
0:26:19 > 0:26:21and she was the only person in Hampstead to die of cholera.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23And it was easy for Snow then to say,
0:26:23 > 0:26:27"Bad smells just can't reach from Soho out to Hampstead.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31Snow convinced the local parish authorities to remove
0:26:31 > 0:26:35the handle of the offending pump, but it wasn't until after his death
0:26:35 > 0:26:38in 1858 that his ideas became widely accepted,
0:26:38 > 0:26:42and proper sewers were built in the capital,
0:26:42 > 0:26:44eradicating cholera in London.
0:26:44 > 0:26:50So Snow makes his breakthroughs in 1854, 1855,
0:26:50 > 0:26:56and it comes, I'm afraid, just too late for one man, who dies in 1853 -
0:26:56 > 0:26:58George Bradshaw - of cholera.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06John Snow is a shining example
0:27:06 > 0:27:10of the Victorian spirit of enquiry that transformed Britain.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13Scientific advance and technological progress
0:27:13 > 0:27:18would eventually bring relief even to the capital's seething masses,
0:27:18 > 0:27:20living in their poverty and squalor.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25Seeing the portraits of Isambard Kingdom Brunel
0:27:25 > 0:27:29and Robert Stephenson reminds me yet again how much we owe
0:27:29 > 0:27:33the great railway builders, but even when their work was done
0:27:33 > 0:27:35here in the West End of London,
0:27:35 > 0:27:39amongst the finery of the shops and the theatres, cholera raged.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43The capital is indebted to the diligent Dr John Snow,
0:27:43 > 0:27:46and a new generation of civil engineers who undertook
0:27:46 > 0:27:50the unglamorous work of building clean water pipes
0:27:50 > 0:27:52and leak-proof sewers.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59'Next time, I'll be getting a fresh perspective
0:27:59 > 0:28:01'on a Victorian landmark...'
0:28:01 > 0:28:03Oh!
0:28:03 > 0:28:05I mustn't look down, I mustn't look down!
0:28:05 > 0:28:07'..learning how London's most-famous flower market
0:28:07 > 0:28:10'had a darker side in Bradshaw's day...'
0:28:10 > 0:28:15Flower sellers would use it almost as a cover for prostitution.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19'..and discovering how the capital's 19th century railway
0:28:19 > 0:28:21'is being equipped for the 21st.'
0:28:21 > 0:28:24The scale of this enterprise, the scale of this vision,
0:28:24 > 0:28:26it is positively Victorian.