0:00:04 > 0:00:08For Victorian Britons, George Bradshaw was a household name.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13At a time when railways were new, Bradshaw's guidebook inspired them
0:00:13 > 0:00:15to take to the tracks.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18I'm using a Bradshaw's Guide to understand
0:00:18 > 0:00:21how trains transformed Britain -
0:00:21 > 0:00:26its landscape, its industries, society 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.
0:00:53 > 0:00:58I'm now completing my railway journey from Dover to Land's End.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01These tracks over the years have brought millions of holiday makers
0:01:01 > 0:01:07to beaches in Devon and Cornwall, but today, my focus is more strategic.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10I want to know how we kept the navy supplied with rum,
0:01:10 > 0:01:15and how Victorians shrank imperial connections from weeks to minutes.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25Following my Bradshaw's, I'm travelling from east to west.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29My journey started at the crossing point closest to France
0:01:29 > 0:01:32and took me through military defences and seaside resorts
0:01:32 > 0:01:35and across glorious countryside.
0:01:35 > 0:01:36I'll end at the first
0:01:36 > 0:01:38and last place in England.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42My final leg starts in Plymouth.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45I make a stop in Saltash and St Austell,
0:01:45 > 0:01:48before travelling on to the last station in England.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55'On this journey, I attempt to learn the difficult art of crimping...'
0:01:55 > 0:01:57Don't think much of yours, Jason.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01'..marvel at one of Brunel's finest feats...'
0:02:01 > 0:02:03It's lovely to see a structure that's still here so long after
0:02:03 > 0:02:07it was built, still in use for its original purpose.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10'..discover how a small bay in Cornwall
0:02:10 > 0:02:12'effectively controlled the British Empire...'
0:02:12 > 0:02:15Cornwall is still the hub of communication.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17They carry messages all over the world.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20'..and pick up the essentials of the Cornish language.'
0:02:20 > 0:02:21Yeghes da!
0:02:28 > 0:02:32As I near the end of my journey, my first stop today will be Plymouth,
0:02:32 > 0:02:34described by Bradshaw's as,
0:02:34 > 0:02:38"a first-class fortress and dockyard in Devonshire.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41"The dockyard and harbour are at Devonport,
0:02:41 > 0:02:43"the victualling office is at Stonehouse,
0:02:43 > 0:02:45and there are other establishments,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48but Plymouth is the common name for all.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51"Victualling" - that's an interesting word, bearing in mind
0:02:51 > 0:02:53that a navy fights on its stomach.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58Built up around the natural harbour of Plymouth Sound,
0:02:58 > 0:03:02the city has forever been defined by its maritime location.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07It's been home to the Royal Navy since the 17th century,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10and today is the largest naval base in western Europe.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15The vast site employs 2,500 personnel
0:03:15 > 0:03:18and generates about 10% of Plymouth's income.
0:03:20 > 0:03:25This railway station opened in 1877, connecting Plymouth to London.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32Intrigued by how the navy kept itself in food and drink,
0:03:32 > 0:03:34I'm at the Royal William Victualling Yard
0:03:34 > 0:03:38to meet Bob Cook, a volunteer from the Naval Heritage Centre.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44Bob, according to Bradshaw's, the victualling office is "a quadrangle
0:03:44 > 0:03:48"which costs £1.5m and includes
0:03:48 > 0:03:52"biscuit-making machinery, cooperage and immense provision stores."
0:03:52 > 0:03:55Why was this built and when?
0:03:55 > 0:04:00It started, the concept, from 1822, to centralise
0:04:00 > 0:04:04much of their storage and their manufacturing processes,
0:04:04 > 0:04:06instead of depending on local contractors
0:04:06 > 0:04:10for their various supplies. In the Napoleonic Wars,
0:04:10 > 0:04:14the Victualling Board was responsible for servicing at least
0:04:14 > 0:04:18250,000 men - the population of Plymouth - all over the world.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23Following the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy
0:04:23 > 0:04:27wanted to improve its logistics, ready for any future conflict.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32Architect Sir John Rennie was commissioned to build
0:04:32 > 0:04:35a fine collection of food-provisioning buildings.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40How did the provisions move from here to the men o' war?
0:04:40 > 0:04:44Basically, by being transported from the harbour here
0:04:44 > 0:04:46on small sailing barges called hoys.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49They could take them either up to the ships or else out towards
0:04:49 > 0:04:53Plymouth Sound if anything was anchored in that direction.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55What was the range of facilities here?
0:04:55 > 0:04:59Range of provisions, basically, very simply, a pound of meat a day,
0:04:59 > 0:05:03a gallon of beer, a pound, usually, of hardtack ship's biscuit,
0:05:03 > 0:05:05things like this.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07Rum was one of the things supplied from here.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10The rum was supplied and, of course, that was one feature
0:05:10 > 0:05:13of the building behind me, the brewhouse -
0:05:13 > 0:05:16massive, very tall, rum vats.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19Rum for the men and gin for the officers?
0:05:19 > 0:05:23Not necessarily. Yes, it was one of the spirits available,
0:05:23 > 0:05:28different strengths for different ranks of the sailors.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Only the officers could stand the hard stuff!
0:05:31 > 0:05:33- Bob, thank you very much, indeed. - Good to meet you.- Bye-bye.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43Spirits formed part of the daily ration up until 1970,
0:05:43 > 0:05:47when the Admiralty Board decided that alcohol might be
0:05:47 > 0:05:51incompatible with the safe operation of machinery and weapons.
0:05:55 > 0:06:01Tots of rum and gin were staples on any outgoing ship.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05I'm meeting master distiller Sean Harrison at Plymouth Gin,
0:06:05 > 0:06:07founded in 1793.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13- Hello, Sean.- Hello, Michael, welcome to Plymouth Gin.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16What an amazing building - what is the history?
0:06:16 > 0:06:18It's very old and very interesting.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20The oldest part is about 600 years old,
0:06:20 > 0:06:22which was built by Blackfriars monks,
0:06:22 > 0:06:24which is why we're called the Black Friars Distillery.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27The bit we're in at the moment is about 400 years old,
0:06:27 > 0:06:28and this is where every single drop
0:06:28 > 0:06:30of Plymouth Gin has ever been made.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33What about its relationship with the navy?
0:06:33 > 0:06:37Because the navy went around the world, and the Empire grew
0:06:37 > 0:06:39during the Victorian era, and everywhere the Royal Navy went,
0:06:39 > 0:06:43- they took gin with them. - What is navy-strength gin?
0:06:43 > 0:06:44Navy-strength gin is gin at 57%.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47A couple of hundred years ago, they couldn't work out how much
0:06:47 > 0:06:50alcohol there was in the product, so they used to prove it,
0:06:50 > 0:06:53mix it with gunpowder and light the gunpowder.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56At 57% and above, the gunpowder would still fizzle and go bang,
0:06:56 > 0:06:59so it proved there was alcohol in the product.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02How did gin begin its happy marriage with tonic?
0:07:02 > 0:07:05It goes all the way back to the Indian Raj.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07The guys wanted to have their gin because they liked it,
0:07:07 > 0:07:09and they wanted to have their tonic,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12which was a quinine-based drink, to protect themselves against malaria.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14So, the two just got brought together.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16What's all this hubble-bubble here?
0:07:16 > 0:07:19What we see here is a spirit safe, and this is gin.
0:07:19 > 0:07:20And this is our first chance to see it,
0:07:20 > 0:07:23and making sure that the still is doing what we hope it will do.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26- It's raining gin. - It's raining gin, yep.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30In the 17th century, gin reached Britain from the Netherlands,
0:07:30 > 0:07:34where it was prized for its medicinal properties.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38It soon became a cheap tipple, taken up by the poor
0:07:38 > 0:07:40and the cause of many social ills.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47In the mid-18th century, laws regulated its manufacture and sale.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51During the Victorian era, the quality of gin was improved
0:07:51 > 0:07:53and it climbed the social ladder.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58OK, Michael, here's a chance to make some gin.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01- Whoopee!- So what we have got in front of us is eight ingredients.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04The one in the middle, which is juniper.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06Right, junipers we've got to have.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08That'll be fine. Slowly, slowly tip.
0:08:11 > 0:08:12You've now made gin,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15so now what we're going to do is massage the flavours a little bit.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18What was newly popular at the time of my Bradshaw's Guide?
0:08:18 > 0:08:21Well, the great thing about gin is, it's linked to the flavours
0:08:21 > 0:08:25we discovered as we go through that 150-year period, from 1750 to 1900.
0:08:25 > 0:08:30- So, liquorice was becoming quite popular at that time.- No.- Not good?
0:08:30 > 0:08:35We've got orange and lemon, coriander seeds, angelica root.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38So there's loads of different flavours you can play around with.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41Being Spanish, a touch of lemon.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44So you just need to rip it up so it goes through the hole. Quite small.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50Think I might just have one more flavour. Coriander.
0:08:53 > 0:08:54And if that's all your ingredients,
0:08:54 > 0:08:57that's the makings of your gin. Now you need to pick it up
0:08:57 > 0:08:59and we need to take it over to the heat source,
0:08:59 > 0:09:02where we're going to boil it and create gin.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05That's it, just put it into there, and then what we're going to do
0:09:05 > 0:09:08is connect it from one side to the other with this piece of glass here.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10And then we put on some water.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12Effectively, what we are going to do is heat this up,
0:09:12 > 0:09:14turn it into a vapour, it's going to come over here
0:09:14 > 0:09:18to this water condenser, where we're going to take the heat
0:09:18 > 0:09:21out of it and collect 100ml. And that will be your gin.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24- That will be Portillo's Ruin.- Yes.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29As Royal Navy ships conveyed Plymouth Gin around the globe,
0:09:29 > 0:09:33it became, by 1900, the world's largest volume brand of gin,
0:09:33 > 0:09:37with 1,000 cases a week going to New York alone.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40I wonder whether I've made an equally-appealing blend.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43So, Michael, here's your gin that you made earlier.
0:09:43 > 0:09:44Fantastic.
0:09:50 > 0:09:51Ooh!
0:09:51 > 0:09:53That is powerful.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56So if we pour a little measure into each of the glasses.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01- Those Spanish lemons are really coming through.- They are.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03Here goes the taste...
0:10:05 > 0:10:07I...am a gin-ius.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17I'm joining the Cornish Main Line, constructed by two railway companies
0:10:17 > 0:10:19during the 1850s.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27As I leave Devon behind, I pass into
0:10:27 > 0:10:31my eighth county of this adventure,
0:10:31 > 0:10:33and a moment I've been anticipating.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38And now, one of the great treats of my journey,
0:10:38 > 0:10:42the Royal Albert Bridge, crossing the River Tamar,
0:10:42 > 0:10:47carrying us into Cornwall. Built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel,
0:10:47 > 0:10:52one of his finest achievements and one of the most
0:10:52 > 0:10:55beautiful pieces of infrastructure on all of the UK rail network.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15'I'm alighting at Saltash, the nearest station,
0:11:15 > 0:11:19'to meet local railway historian Paul Burkhalter.'
0:11:19 > 0:11:23Hello, Paul, it's lovely to be in Cornwall, and what a way to arrive.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27The Admiralty insisted on a bridge with a 100ft clearance.
0:11:27 > 0:11:32Isambard Kingdom Brunel responded with an engineering masterpiece
0:11:32 > 0:11:37which he called "the bowstring suspension bridge"
0:11:37 > 0:11:40Paul, how complicated was it to build this bridge?
0:11:40 > 0:11:42Well, you've got to remember, Michael, that this was
0:11:42 > 0:11:45at the forefront of engineering intelligence of the time.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49There was no big bridge building expertise in that era,
0:11:49 > 0:11:51they had to evolve as they built.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55- How long did the project take? - This took six years to build.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58They started in 1853, finished,
0:11:58 > 0:12:00as the bridge says, 1859.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02Is it really a suspension bridge?
0:12:02 > 0:12:06Yes, suspension chains are holding the bridge deck, and the tubes,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09the huge tubes at the top,
0:12:09 > 0:12:11are forcing the piers outward,
0:12:11 > 0:12:13so, yes, it is a form of suspension bridge.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15What difference did it make having the bridge?
0:12:15 > 0:12:19Oh, tremendous. It opened up Cornwall
0:12:19 > 0:12:21to all sorts of new ventures,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24particularly in the agricultural world.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27So, the railway bridge was not built for the tourists?
0:12:27 > 0:12:29No, it wasn't, but it came very soon after,
0:12:29 > 0:12:32because the Great Western Railway was a great self-publicist
0:12:32 > 0:12:35and promoted the tourist industry.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39You had the posters, the artwork talking about the Cornish Riviera,
0:12:39 > 0:12:41so yes, it came very quickly after that.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45It's looking pristine and handsome at the moment.
0:12:45 > 0:12:46It's just had a big restoration.
0:12:46 > 0:12:51It has, Network Rail, £15m project, took them five years.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54It's only just finished this year and, a few weeks ago,
0:12:54 > 0:12:56they organised a celebration walk
0:12:56 > 0:12:59across the bridge to mark the end of that project.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03You sound quite emotional about this bridge. Would that be right?
0:13:03 > 0:13:05It's lovely to see a structure still here
0:13:05 > 0:13:07so long after it was built,
0:13:07 > 0:13:09still in use for its original purpose.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He's just an amazing man.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Yes. And of course, he died not long after the bridge
0:13:16 > 0:13:19was opened later that year, in 1859.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23- So, it stands as his headstone.- Yes.
0:13:28 > 0:13:33Back on the rails, I head out of Saltash, with a last
0:13:33 > 0:13:35backward glance at Brunel's work.
0:13:36 > 0:13:41I'm travelling to my final destination of the day - St Austell.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44Bradshaw's notes the tin and copper mines
0:13:44 > 0:13:46being worked in his day.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48But as that industry has been largely worked out,
0:13:48 > 0:13:52I'm interested in a Cornish element that's on the rise.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57Bradshaw's quotes what it claims is a well-known rhyme.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00"By Tre, Pol and Pen, you may know Cornish men."
0:14:00 > 0:14:03Then, it gives examples from place names -
0:14:03 > 0:14:05Tregothnan, Polperro, Penryn,
0:14:05 > 0:14:08and it strikes me that, now I'm in Cornwall,
0:14:08 > 0:14:11I should learn a few words of Cornish.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14The Cornish language was in decline for centuries.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17It's undergone a revival in recent decades
0:14:17 > 0:14:20and now, around 2,000 people are said to be fluent.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27Matthew Clark, Jerry Jeffries and Loveday Jenkin
0:14:27 > 0:14:30meet up regularly to keep their language alive.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33SHE SPEAKS CORNISH
0:14:34 > 0:14:36HE RESPONDS IN CORNISH
0:14:36 > 0:14:39I hear you all speaking Cornish.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42How unusual does that make you these days?
0:14:42 > 0:14:43Not as unusual as it used to be.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47- Is that right?- Yeah, the language is expanding quite a lot.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51Would it be an exaggeration to say it was once a dead language?
0:14:51 > 0:14:54Well, it's quite interesting to think about that,
0:14:54 > 0:14:57because actually, although it wasn't used as a means of communication
0:14:57 > 0:15:01for about 70-80 years, it's never really died out,
0:15:01 > 0:15:05the knowledge of Cornish, its just as a spoken language.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08How closely related is it to other Celtic languages?
0:15:08 > 0:15:11Strongest link, I suppose, is between Cornish and Breton.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15And, in fact, up to the 1500s, it was mutually intelligible,
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Cornish and Breton, at that time.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21The three prefixes that people might know who know nothing of Cornish -
0:15:21 > 0:15:25tre, pol and pen - what do they actually mean?
0:15:25 > 0:15:27Tre, which is like a hamlet or a homestead.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Pol, which is a pool.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33Pen, which is a headland or a hill.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37And you find those in Brittany and all across the map in Wales
0:15:37 > 0:15:42as well, that really makes a strong distinction of Celtic territory.
0:15:42 > 0:15:43So, how do I say hello?
0:15:43 > 0:15:47- Dydh da.- Dydh da?- Dydh da.- Dydh da.
0:15:47 > 0:15:48How do I say thank you?
0:15:48 > 0:15:50- Meur ras dhis.- Meur ras dhis.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52How do I say please?
0:15:52 > 0:15:54- Mar pleg.- Mar pleg.
0:15:54 > 0:15:56And how do you say cheers?
0:15:56 > 0:15:58- Yeghes da.- Yeghes da.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01Yeghes da! Indeed, yeghes da.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11It's the morning of my second day and I'm heading out of St Austell,
0:16:11 > 0:16:16to enjoy my final stretches of track towards the end of the rail network.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20My next stop will be Penzance.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24Bradshaw's says, "This flourishing port is at the further end
0:16:24 > 0:16:28"of Cornwall and the terminus of the West Cornwall Railway."
0:16:28 > 0:16:32But surprisingly, in this region's spicy history,
0:16:32 > 0:16:35there's been a strong influence from the east.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44End of the line.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47'Cornwall is the last county coming from London,
0:16:47 > 0:16:49'but the first approaching from the Atlantic.'
0:16:49 > 0:16:52'So its links across the sea have been as important as those
0:16:52 > 0:16:54'with Britain's hinterland.'
0:16:54 > 0:16:59"St Michael's Mount - a conspicuous granite rock. At the top,
0:16:59 > 0:17:04"the remains of a priory founded before the Norman conquest
0:17:04 > 0:17:07"and, for ages, resorted to by pilgrims.
0:17:07 > 0:17:13"In olden times, this was called 'Ictis' and was a tin depot."
0:17:13 > 0:17:17Hundreds of years before St Michael appeared as a vision
0:17:17 > 0:17:22to fishermen, Greeks had been coming here with their ships, to carry
0:17:22 > 0:17:28the tin to their own land, bringing with them saffron and pepper -
0:17:28 > 0:17:32ingredients that have had a lasting effect on Cornish cuisine.
0:17:36 > 0:17:41The pepper and spices came from afar, but the vegetables
0:17:41 > 0:17:45came from the Cornish earth, as did the minerals hewn by the miners.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49The miners' needs helped to shape the famous Cornish pasty.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53I'm calling in on Jason Jobling, a master baker.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58Jason, you, then, have your own very special -
0:17:58 > 0:18:00and, I take it, secret - recipe for Cornish pasty?
0:18:00 > 0:18:02Yeah, we have. We've been making pasties
0:18:02 > 0:18:05since 1860 and we've developed the recipe over a number of years,
0:18:05 > 0:18:08so we're quite proud of it, as well.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10All right, so not everything is secret about it,
0:18:10 > 0:18:14- because I know it's got potato, onion and swede.- That's right.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18And I think you've got some spicy secrets in that mixture there.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21Definitely, we've got a long history of trading
0:18:21 > 0:18:25- with the peppercorn spices. - Aha. How do we begin?
0:18:25 > 0:18:28So, if you can out roughly a quarter of that bowl of
0:18:28 > 0:18:30sliced potatoes into the new bowl...
0:18:30 > 0:18:32- One quarter exactly?- Great.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34Half as much swede in there, please.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36Precisely one half of the quantity of swede.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40And then, half as much of the onion as the swede.
0:18:41 > 0:18:47Ooh! Lovely, fragrant, tear-jerking onion.
0:18:47 > 0:18:53So, we need some salt. And then the special pepper.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55Then, combine that together.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58- Turning it through. - What do we do with this now?
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Just turn it through the same as the vegetables.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03Oh, that chill of the meat.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07Am I right in thinking the tin miners were great devotees
0:19:07 > 0:19:08of the Cornish pasty?
0:19:08 > 0:19:11Yes, the pasty suited the tin miners, they used to take it down
0:19:11 > 0:19:14the mines and they used to eat it by the crimp edge,
0:19:14 > 0:19:15and then, after eating it,
0:19:15 > 0:19:17- throw the crimp edge down the mine.- Why?
0:19:17 > 0:19:20In the mining process, they had arsenic and other minerals on
0:19:20 > 0:19:21their hands, and they didn't have
0:19:21 > 0:19:23that touching the food, didn't eat it.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25So, it's not just there for decoration?
0:19:25 > 0:19:27No, there's a story behind it.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31These pasties are made with skirt beef.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36The miners would have been used to all sorts of fillings,
0:19:36 > 0:19:38from rabbit to mackerel,
0:19:38 > 0:19:40flavoured with wild lemon grass and garlic.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45Put a handful of vegetables on your round.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49- Some skirt beef over the top. - Over the top.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51Little tip, we want to create a nice little bit of gravy,
0:19:51 > 0:19:53so we add a little bit of butter on top.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Such a simple idea, but I bet that is really effective.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59So, the next stage is folding the pastry over to make a D shape.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05- I fear that was the easy bit. - That was the easy bit.
0:20:05 > 0:20:10- So, now we take the corner and make a triangle.- Make a triangle.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13And then, another triangle, making this roping effect.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17- Ooh.- Everyone's got their own unique style. The staff in our bakery
0:20:17 > 0:20:21can tell who's crimped each pasty, each crimp is that different.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25I think they may be able to quite easily tell who crimped
0:20:25 > 0:20:28THIS particular pasty.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31OK, let's hold them up, for the sake of comparison.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33They're similar.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35THEY LAUGH
0:20:36 > 0:20:38Don't think much of yours, Jason.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42After cooking them in the oven for almost an hour,
0:20:42 > 0:20:46I take my version of the Cornish pasty around town
0:20:46 > 0:20:48to try it out on the locals.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50I've been making some Cornish pasties.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53Are you not put off by the fact it's not nicely crimped?
0:20:53 > 0:20:56- You could do better. - Well, with practise, with practise.
0:20:56 > 0:21:01Hello. You're not put off by the way I've done them, are you?
0:21:01 > 0:21:03It's not crimped properly at all, sorry.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07I'm not very good at crimping. What do you think of that?
0:21:07 > 0:21:08That looks better than I could do
0:21:08 > 0:21:11and I've got an A in catering and hospitality, so...
0:21:11 > 0:21:12Have you really?
0:21:12 > 0:21:14- Did you make them? - Yeah.- That's nice.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17- Oh, good, thank you very much. - You've done a good job.
0:21:17 > 0:21:18THEY LAUGH
0:21:18 > 0:21:21The secret of a satisfactory pasty is, don't skimp on your crimp.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33To end my coastal journey, it's fitting that the final destination
0:21:33 > 0:21:36be at the end of Great Britain.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39In Bradshaw's day, this headland protruding into the Atlantic
0:21:39 > 0:21:43pointed to America and sea routes to the British Empire.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48This is Porthcurno, about eight miles from Land's End.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52But Land's End is just another way of saying "ocean's beginning"
0:21:52 > 0:21:55and ,at the time of my Bradshaw's Guide, the challenge was
0:21:55 > 0:21:58how to connect to the world beyond.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04The telegraph system was developed in the early 19th century.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08Railway companies established and expanded the network on land,
0:22:08 > 0:22:11running cables alongside their tracks.
0:22:11 > 0:22:16The next challenge was to take telegraph cables across the seas.
0:22:16 > 0:22:22I'm meeting Gareth Parry, a volunteer at the Porthcurno Telegraph Museum.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25Gareth, when did they first lay ocean cables
0:22:25 > 0:22:28terminating here at Porthcurno?
0:22:28 > 0:22:32That came in in 1870 and that was the first occasion
0:22:32 > 0:22:35when people in this country could communicate
0:22:35 > 0:22:37with any other part of the British Empire.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40Prior to the cable arriving here at Porthcurno, any message
0:22:40 > 0:22:43to Bombay, as it was called then,
0:22:43 > 0:22:46could take six or seven weeks.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49With a cable, that dropped down to nine minutes.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51So, it dramatically changed the way in which this county
0:22:51 > 0:22:54controlled the British Empire.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57So, the cables that arrived from the Empire came later in history
0:22:57 > 0:22:59than the first transatlantic cable - is that right?
0:22:59 > 0:23:02Yes, the first successful transatlantic cable
0:23:02 > 0:23:04would have been 1866.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11These first cables across the Atlantic went from the west coast
0:23:11 > 0:23:14of Ireland to a place called Heart's Content in Newfoundland.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19Wealthy industrialist John Pender was the leading financier.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24The epic undertaking faced major challenges.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28Did they know that it was going to work?
0:23:28 > 0:23:32No, the first attempt involved two ships having two sets of cable
0:23:32 > 0:23:34and trying to connect up. And that failed.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38Second attempt in 1858 did establish communication,
0:23:38 > 0:23:43but the cable failed after a relatively short time - a few weeks.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45A lot of effort went into improving
0:23:45 > 0:23:47the purity of the copper in the cable.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51The cable that had been manufactured was so heavy
0:23:51 > 0:23:53there was only one ship that could carry it,
0:23:53 > 0:23:55and that was Brunel's SS Great Eastern.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00There was an attempt in 1865 and they lost the cable.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04They returned and John Pender raised capital to get another cable made.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08That was successful in 1866. It was primitive communication,
0:24:08 > 0:24:10but it was communication.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14Even after some very expensive failed attempts,
0:24:14 > 0:24:16the backers persisted.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22Once the technical obstacles had been overcome, the cable network
0:24:22 > 0:24:25centred on Porthcurno spread rapidly.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28By 1887, the undersea cable network
0:24:28 > 0:24:31connected Britain, via relay stations,
0:24:31 > 0:24:34to every corner of her Empire.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39Porthcurno was the hub of communications
0:24:39 > 0:24:41and the largest telegraph station in the world
0:24:43 > 0:24:46What did the transatlantic cables look like?
0:24:46 > 0:24:52I've got some samples here. You have a copper core,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55which carries the signal, but you have to insulate it.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58They used a material called gutta-percha,
0:24:58 > 0:25:02which comes from a plant in the Far East, it's like rubber,
0:25:02 > 0:25:06but more tolerant of sea conditions. Well, up to a point.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10Certain sea creatures are rather partial to gutta-percha,
0:25:10 > 0:25:12so you have to cover that.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15The biggest concern for the cable manufacturers was
0:25:15 > 0:25:18they would get damaged by busy shipping lanes.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21If they were near the shore, you would have
0:25:21 > 0:25:24a heavy armoured section, which is what you see on this one here.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27- You can see, they're quite heavy.- Ooph.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30Imagine a couple of thousand miles of that.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34Well, you can see why they needed the SS Great Eastern to carry it.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39In telegraph stations across the globe,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41operators sent and deciphered
0:25:41 > 0:25:45messages that had been framed in Morse code.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48Thousands of operators were trained at Porthcurno,
0:25:48 > 0:25:50up until 1993,
0:25:50 > 0:25:54when the original cables were replaced with modern fibres.
0:25:56 > 0:26:01It's interesting to compare what we see here with...one of
0:26:01 > 0:26:03today's optical fibre samples.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06Now, if you hold that to the light
0:26:06 > 0:26:09you can see very thin strands. They are about the thickness
0:26:09 > 0:26:14of a human hair and this has dramatically changed communication.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17Each one of these would be capable of carrying
0:26:17 > 0:26:19several million telephone calls.
0:26:19 > 0:26:25Interestingly, these are coming up on the beach here at Porthcurno.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28Cornwall is still the hub of communication for fibre optics.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31And these carry messages all over the world.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37With foresight and ambition, this venture laid
0:26:37 > 0:26:40the foundations for today's World Wide Web.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52Since I began my excursion in Dover Harbour,
0:26:52 > 0:26:56celebrating the achievements of the first cross-Channel swimmer,
0:26:56 > 0:26:59I've come across several Victorian heroes.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01From inventors to writers,
0:27:01 > 0:27:05and not forgetting one nurse - Florence Nightingale.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08As I travelled along the south coast of England,
0:27:08 > 0:27:10defence was much on my mind.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13I encountered the 19th-Century fortifications,
0:27:13 > 0:27:18designed to keep the French at bay. And the Royal Navy,
0:27:18 > 0:27:22whose dominance of the high seas guaranteed the citizens
0:27:22 > 0:27:27of our island a century of peace, from John o'Groats to Land's End.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40Next time... I have a blast in Birmingham...
0:27:41 > 0:27:43WHISTLING
0:27:43 > 0:27:46Brilliant. That is the sound of the railways, isn't it?
0:27:47 > 0:27:53..pay homage to a magnificent organ that inspired a great composer...
0:27:53 > 0:27:56The City Fathers were very proud of this instrument, so it was
0:27:56 > 0:28:00a feather in their cap that somebody like Mendelssohn should deign
0:28:00 > 0:28:01to play on it.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07..and get a dose of quack doctors and their bizarre remedies.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11"Mother Siegel's Curative Syrup." There is one here called simply
0:28:11 > 0:28:14"The Ills Of Humanity".
0:28:14 > 0:28:18And "Pink Pills For Pale People".