0:00:05 > 0:00:09'For Victorian Britons, George Bradshaw was a household name.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12'At a time when railways were new,
0:00:12 > 0:00:16'Bradshaw's guidebook inspired them to take to the tracks.'
0:00:16 > 0:00:20I'm using a Bradshaw's Guide to understand how trains
0:00:20 > 0:00:23transformed Britain, its landscape,
0:00:23 > 0:00:27its industry, society and leisure time.
0:00:27 > 0:00:33As I crisscross the country 150 years later, it helps me to discover
0:00:33 > 0:00:37the Britain of today.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57On my semi-circular route, through the home counties south of London,
0:00:57 > 0:01:01I'm continuing with the theme of Victorian innovation,
0:01:01 > 0:01:04some of which was positively explosive.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06And at the same time,
0:01:06 > 0:01:11musicians and painters were also exploring new frontiers.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23Following my Bradshaw's Guide, I've travelled through Kent
0:01:23 > 0:01:25and am continuing through Surrey,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28where I'll be encountering Victorians of talent,
0:01:28 > 0:01:30fearlessness and pedigree.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35My final destination is in Oxfordshire, riverside,
0:01:35 > 0:01:38at Henley-On-Thames.
0:01:40 > 0:01:45Today's journey begins back in time, at East Grinstead.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49There are explosions in Merstham, sweet music in Dorking
0:01:49 > 0:01:51and art near Guildford.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57TRAIN WHISTLE SOUNDS
0:01:57 > 0:02:02'Today, I volunteer at a heritage railway...'
0:02:02 > 0:02:03Argh!
0:02:03 > 0:02:05'..and feel the pressure.'
0:02:05 > 0:02:06Whoa!
0:02:06 > 0:02:10'I discover a 19th-century painter who, 100 years later,
0:02:10 > 0:02:13'was to change the course of history.'
0:02:13 > 0:02:16President Obama talks about being converted to
0:02:16 > 0:02:18a life of political activity,
0:02:18 > 0:02:20through a sermon on Watt's painting of Hope.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26'And I have a blast with a formidable Victorian invention.'
0:02:26 > 0:02:28Three! Two! One!
0:02:28 > 0:02:31LOUD EXPLOSION Whoa!
0:02:31 > 0:02:34That was a much bigger bang.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41My first stop will be East Grinstead.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44Bradshaw's tells me this was one of the places
0:02:44 > 0:02:47disfranchised by the Reform Act of 1832.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49It must've been very small then,
0:02:49 > 0:02:52no longer to qualify for a parliamentary seat.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55And even in Bradshaw's time, the population was just 4,000.
0:02:55 > 0:03:00But, for railway buffs, it is enfranchised by a line
0:03:00 > 0:03:03that is as beautiful as it is historic.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12Today, East Grinstead is a railway terminus
0:03:12 > 0:03:14for one of the radial lines out of London.
0:03:17 > 0:03:22When my guidebook was published, and for about 70 years in total,
0:03:22 > 0:03:28the line continued on to Lewis, via a few small, rural stations.
0:03:28 > 0:03:33After being closed in the 1950s, it was raised from the dead
0:03:33 > 0:03:35as one of Britain's first heritage railways,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38with the beguiling name of the Bluebell.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41NEWSREEL: 'Today the Bluebell line is run entirely by amateurs,
0:03:41 > 0:03:45'who give up their weekends to pursue this so English hobby.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48'Where else in the world would anyone spend every day off working?
0:03:48 > 0:03:50'But then, it's said, men never grow up
0:03:50 > 0:03:53'and we suppose this is merely an extension
0:03:53 > 0:03:55'of every boy's love of trains.'
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Hello. Hello, there. Lovely day, isn't it?
0:03:58 > 0:04:03'I've donned my overalls to join today's army of 800 volunteers.'
0:04:05 > 0:04:09But first, I'm going to enjoy the Bluebell as a passenger
0:04:09 > 0:04:13and my travelling companion is chairman Roy Watts.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15Hello, Roy! Hello, Michael.
0:04:35 > 0:04:36It is a rather curious line
0:04:36 > 0:04:39because it doesn't really serve any populations,
0:04:39 > 0:04:40apart from East Grinstead.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43So why was it built in the first place?
0:04:43 > 0:04:46It was built during that classic heyday of railway mania,
0:04:46 > 0:04:49where everybody built a railway line, north to south, east to west,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52simply, possibly, to stop another railway company building a line.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55You've got a few stately homes on the line,
0:04:55 > 0:04:57so was it built, really, by aristocratic influence?
0:04:57 > 0:05:00Very much so. The good lords of the day had their own station,
0:05:00 > 0:05:02because it was a great symbol.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07And for the passenger, what's the joy of the line?
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Well, for a lot of them, it's a real step back in time.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12It has rolling stock from the mid-1800s,
0:05:12 > 0:05:15right the way through to the late '50s.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17So you've got people who come along and say,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20"I've travelled as great-grandfather travelled,"
0:05:20 > 0:05:21or, "As dad used to travel to work."
0:05:21 > 0:05:24And you can see the expression on their faces,
0:05:24 > 0:05:26when they stand in front of the door,
0:05:26 > 0:05:28expecting it to open automatically.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30Whereas, they realise, they actually have to turn the handle.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Well, I'm old enough to say,
0:05:32 > 0:05:36in this carriage, that I'm travelling as I used to travel.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49The railways carries around 200,000 visitors a year.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55I'm alighting at Horsted Keynes,
0:05:55 > 0:05:58as I can't resist a ride on the footplate.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00Hello, may I join you? Hello.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03I'm Michael. Hi, I'm Liz.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06Hello, Michael. How do, how do.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09Who's driving the train today? I'm driving today, yeah.
0:06:09 > 0:06:10Are you? Now, that's...
0:06:10 > 0:06:13I've been on a lot of heritage railways,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16I don't believe I've met a woman driver before.
0:06:16 > 0:06:17Are you quite rare, still?
0:06:17 > 0:06:20A little bit rare, yeah. There are a few women at other railways,
0:06:20 > 0:06:22probably more than there are here.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25I'm the only woman here that's driving at the moment.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27How long have you been driving trains? Two years.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31Just two years here, but I've been working here for about 16.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35We're off.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46TRAIN WHISTLE TOOTS
0:07:03 > 0:07:04On a day like today,
0:07:04 > 0:07:09there's no reason to feel blue on a belle of heritage railways.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS
0:07:19 > 0:07:21Sheffield Park.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23We're here. End of the line. Yeah.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26Smoothly done, thank you very much. Thank you.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29Bye!
0:07:29 > 0:07:32The railway operates around 35 steam locomotives,
0:07:32 > 0:07:36which need to be kept in tiptop condition.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38I'm not wearing overalls for nothing,
0:07:38 > 0:07:42I'm meeting Andrew Sabin, known to all as Horace,
0:07:42 > 0:07:44to help to wash out a boiler.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47Hello, Horace. Hello. I'm Michael. Hello, Michael.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49And I believe you've got a little job for me?
0:07:49 > 0:07:52Yes, every 25 to 35 days, we have to wash out a boiler,
0:07:52 > 0:07:54because of all the sediment.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57All the impurities in the water, like your kettle at home,
0:07:57 > 0:07:59get scaling.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01Now, is that fairly strong, that hose?
0:08:01 > 0:08:04Yeah, you're just about to find out.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07Right, if you pick it up. Yeah.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11You put it towards your body. Into my body? Yeah.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14Right. Stand with your legs far apart. I'm braced.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16And Jim, behind... Ah, hello, Jim.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18..he will turn it on and off for you, OK?
0:08:18 > 0:08:21I'm ready, Jim.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23On!
0:08:24 > 0:08:26Argh!
0:08:26 > 0:08:29I'm really struggling just to hold the hose down.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32That is very, very fierce.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35OK, Jim, off!
0:08:35 > 0:08:38Think you can handle it? That's a relief.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40I think so. Good.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45My hose skills honed, I'm let loose on the train's boiler.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49So, I stick this into... ..into the hole.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51Into the hole.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Jim, water on, please. On? On!
0:08:57 > 0:09:01Whoa! The pressure is pushing me back.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04I'm having to hold the nozzle in position.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07The pressure hose flushes out the sediment,
0:09:07 > 0:09:09which cascades from the engine.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11How long do I have to do this for, Horace?
0:09:11 > 0:09:13Until I say so.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17OK, that'll do, yeah.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21Horace, how many of these plugholes do you have to wash out? 25 of them.
0:09:21 > 0:09:2425? Well, I think I've got you off to a very good start.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26I think you might've done, thank you very much.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32I'm going back up the line to East Grinstead station
0:09:32 > 0:09:35and to the comfort of being a passenger, once again.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41The next part of my journey leads me out of West Sussex...
0:09:43 > 0:09:46..to a change of train at East Croydon...
0:09:47 > 0:09:50..with the next service taking me on to Surrey.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56My next stop will be Merstham.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58Bradshaw's tells me that it was
0:09:58 > 0:10:00formerly famous for its apple orchards.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03There are valuable stone quarries in the vicinity.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07And, just a few years after the publication of my guidebook,
0:10:07 > 0:10:11those quarries witnessed a remarkable demonstration
0:10:11 > 0:10:14of the potency of modern technology.
0:10:15 > 0:10:20I arrive via the Merstham Tunnel, a feat of Victorian engineering,
0:10:20 > 0:10:22which cuts through the North Downs.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26And blasting through the landscape,
0:10:26 > 0:10:29is what brings me to my next destination.
0:10:29 > 0:10:35In 1868, a newspaper of the day described, "Some curious experiments,
0:10:35 > 0:10:39"at the Merstham Grey-Lime Stone Works, with dynamite,
0:10:39 > 0:10:41"a new blasting powder."
0:10:43 > 0:10:45I'm heading to what was once a quarry
0:10:45 > 0:10:48to meet explosives expert Mark Wynne-Pedder,
0:10:48 > 0:10:51who's going to give me a demonstration.
0:10:51 > 0:10:56Hello, Mark. Ah, Michael, very good timing.
0:10:56 > 0:10:57Literally just put the fuse in.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00It looks like you're ready for some pyrotechnics. Indeed.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03Who actually invented gunpowder?
0:11:03 > 0:11:05That was the Chinese, back in the 9th century.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07What were the limitations of gunpowder?
0:11:07 > 0:11:09I mean, it was obviously pretty effective, you know,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12they thought of blowing up parliament with it and so on.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Absolutely, 1605, the Gunpowder Plot. Yes, very much so.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18Its limitations is how it's confined.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20So, within The Gunpowder Plot,
0:11:20 > 0:11:23it was a large quantity, but in oak barrels,
0:11:23 > 0:11:25because it needs to be confined to work.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29If it's not, then you just get a flash and a big puff of smoke.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31It's not particularly dangerous.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35And what've you got in here? Here is just pure gunpowder at the bottom
0:11:35 > 0:11:37and a delayed fuse in the top, just to make it safe for us to light.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40Right, what you need to do is light the fuse right at the end,
0:11:40 > 0:11:42then we retire four paces.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45OK. Light and retreat.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53Whoa!
0:11:53 > 0:11:56Not much of a bang, but a lovely plume of smoke and a flash.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00So that's not good enough, when does dynamite come along?
0:12:00 > 0:12:05Well, dynamite, that was invented by Alfred Nobel, back in 1866.
0:12:05 > 0:12:10Swedish chemist and engineer Nobel came up with a revolutionary,
0:12:10 > 0:12:13new product that made the powerful explosive,
0:12:13 > 0:12:16nitroglycerin, safe to use.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18Nitroglycerin on its own is incredibly unstable.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22It's very susceptible to shock, so, if you drop it, it can explode.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25Or compress it, it'll explode, it's very unstable.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28So how did Nobel improve on nitro-glycerine?
0:12:28 > 0:12:31Well, he found that mixing it with diatomaceous earth,
0:12:31 > 0:12:32effectively a clay,
0:12:32 > 0:12:36absorbs the nitro-glycerine. That was his formula for dynamite.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39At the time, it was Nobel's Blasting Powder, which is strange,
0:12:39 > 0:12:41cos it wasn't actually a powder.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44And what was it, then, that forced him to come to Merstham Quarry?
0:12:44 > 0:12:47Money, basically. He wanted to sell it.
0:12:47 > 0:12:48It was very difficult to get in,
0:12:48 > 0:12:50there was a lot of bureaucracy at the time,
0:12:50 > 0:12:53so he had to convince the authorities that it was safe to use.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56He threw it off of a cliff here, down into the quarry,
0:12:56 > 0:12:59to demonstrate both its capabilities and its safety features.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03Nobel's invention was quickly taken up for use in construction.
0:13:03 > 0:13:09In particular, blasting the landscape to make way for the new railways.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12Munitions manufacturers adopted it next,
0:13:12 > 0:13:17developing dynamite into lethal weapons of war.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21The establishment of the Nobel Peace Prize, by Alfred himself,
0:13:21 > 0:13:25was a reaction to the harmful consequences of his invention.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29You wouldn't happen to have any about your person now, would you,
0:13:29 > 0:13:31that we could have a go with?
0:13:31 > 0:13:33I thought you might ask that question... Wow.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35..so that is a stick of dynamite.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37Dynamite has a shelf life of about a year.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40You have to keep turning it, even in storage.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42You have a regular cycle of turning it round,
0:13:42 > 0:13:44otherwise it becomes unstable,
0:13:44 > 0:13:46again, then likely to combust and explode.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49Well, I'm sure I'm in very safe hands with you.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52May we have a bigger bang, please? By all means.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54So, explosive all ready to go.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57And, judging by the amount of cable we've got here,
0:13:57 > 0:13:59we're going more than four paces.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02Oh, yes, yes. We're going 40 metres on this one.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09So, site is clear.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12Standing by.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Firing in... Three! Two! One!
0:14:15 > 0:14:18LOUD EXPLOSION Whoa!
0:14:18 > 0:14:21That was a much bigger bang.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30We have recreated history, a blast from the past! Absolutely.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39As I leave behind a trail of destruction,
0:14:39 > 0:14:41I'm heading back to Merstham Station
0:14:41 > 0:14:44to complete the final leg of today's travels.
0:14:47 > 0:14:52Winding my way west across the home counties, I change at Redhill...
0:14:55 > 0:14:58..from the Southern to the First Great Western service.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03I'm going to end my day in Dorking where Bradshaw's
0:15:03 > 0:15:07mentions The White Horse which seems worth a flutter.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16'I'm saving my exploration of Dorking until tomorrow...'
0:15:16 > 0:15:17Goodnight.
0:15:19 > 0:15:25'..and make my way to The White Horse which has been a hostelry since 1750
0:15:25 > 0:15:27'and provides my bed for tonight.'
0:15:34 > 0:15:37I'm starting my second day in historic and beautiful Dorking.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44This old market town is situated between
0:15:44 > 0:15:48the hill range of the North Downs and the Greensand Ridge
0:15:48 > 0:15:50up whose steep gradients I'm heading.
0:15:55 > 0:16:00Leith Hill rises 294 metres above sea level.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04And once you take into account the 18th-century folly at its summit,
0:16:04 > 0:16:07it becomes the highest point in south-east England.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12"Dorking is situated in a valley commanding some of the finest views
0:16:12 > 0:16:18"in the kingdom. It's a favourite resort of lovers of rural scenery.
0:16:18 > 0:16:23"There are several very beautiful villas and mansions around the town."
0:16:23 > 0:16:27It brings out the poetry in my Bradshaw's and it inspired
0:16:27 > 0:16:32a resident of one of those mansions to burst forth in song.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36Set in this glorious landscape is Leith Hill Place -
0:16:36 > 0:16:41a 17th-century Palladian mansion which was the childhood home
0:16:41 > 0:16:45of one of England's great composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47Hello, Gabrielle. Hello, Michael.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50It's a wonderful house and such a view. It is, isn't it? Fantastic.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53I'm meeting Gabrielle Gale of the National Trust.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Leith Hill Place is clearly a substantial house.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00I take it then that Ralph Vaughan Williams came from
0:17:00 > 0:17:01quite a well-to-do family.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04Yes, he was part of the Wedgwood family and, by extension,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07the Darwin family as well, because his grandparents,
0:17:07 > 0:17:09Josiah Wedgwood III and his wife Caroline -
0:17:09 > 0:17:13who was sister of Charles Darwin - came to this house in 1847.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16Did he begin his musical life in this house?
0:17:16 > 0:17:20He did. His first teacher was his Aunt Sophie and she taught him
0:17:20 > 0:17:23the piano and the violin and also musical theory.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26And was he one of these prodigies, like Mozart?
0:17:26 > 0:17:28Was he composing early? He certainly was.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31In fact, the very first piece of music that he wrote was
0:17:31 > 0:17:32when he was six years old.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35It was called The Robin's Nest and it was six bars long.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37It would be hard to live in this house for any period
0:17:37 > 0:17:40and not be inspired by the view.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42Was the landscape an important influence?
0:17:42 > 0:17:45Absolutely. That peace and tranquillity, I'm sure,
0:17:45 > 0:17:47filtered into his music.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51Perhaps Vaughan Williams is best known for his composition,
0:17:51 > 0:17:53The Lark Ascending.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57MUSIC: The Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughan Williams
0:17:57 > 0:18:01It typifies the Englishness of his work which was influenced by
0:18:01 > 0:18:05his studies at the Royal College of Music under Sir Hubert Parry -
0:18:05 > 0:18:09the composer of the great English anthem Jerusalem.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12'You are watching members of the BBC Symphony Orchestra recording
0:18:12 > 0:18:16'R Vaughan Williams' interpretation of Serenade To Music.'
0:18:16 > 0:18:20Vaughan Williams wrote prolifically for opera, ballet and film,
0:18:20 > 0:18:23as well as creating great choral works
0:18:23 > 0:18:25and numerous orchestral symphonies.
0:18:27 > 0:18:32He worked right up to his death in 1958 at the age of 85.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35And if the landscape left an impression on him,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38did he then leave a mark on Dorking?
0:18:38 > 0:18:40He did in the form of the Leith Hill Musical Festival,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43and he was the first conductor of that festival
0:18:43 > 0:18:45and he conducted it for 50 years.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50In later life, Vaughan Williams collected English folk songs
0:18:50 > 0:18:52which he incorporated into his works.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54MUSIC: Bushes and Briars by Ralph Vaughan Williams
0:18:54 > 0:18:58# Through bushes and through briars
0:18:58 > 0:19:04# I lately took my way
0:19:04 > 0:19:09# All for to hear
0:19:10 > 0:19:14# The small birds sing
0:19:15 > 0:19:19# And the lambs to skip
0:19:20 > 0:19:23# And play
0:19:25 > 0:19:30# If I show to him
0:19:30 > 0:19:35# My boldness
0:19:36 > 0:19:44# He'll never love me again. #
0:19:59 > 0:20:03Steph... Hi. ..that was lovely. Quite sad, quite moving. Vaughan Williams?
0:20:03 > 0:20:05Yes, absolutely.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07This was a very important song for Vaughan Williams.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11It was the first folk song that he ever collected
0:20:11 > 0:20:16and it was the beginning of a great big snowball of folk song collecting
0:20:16 > 0:20:19that was going to be a really important part of his life.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23As a young musician yourself, are you inspired by Vaughan Williams?
0:20:23 > 0:20:25Yes, absolutely.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28I grew up here in Leith Hill the same as Vaughan Williams
0:20:28 > 0:20:30and, like him,
0:20:30 > 0:20:34ended up being a classical composer that is also a folk musician
0:20:34 > 0:20:37and so I kind of exist in the same borderlands
0:20:37 > 0:20:40between the traditional and the classical world.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43And he's a major source of inspiration for me.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46Well, I hope that you, like he, may go on innovating
0:20:46 > 0:20:50inspired by the surroundings of Leith Hill. Thank you.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52Yes, I hope so too.
0:20:55 > 0:21:00Back at Dorking Deepdene Station, I've hopped onto my next train
0:21:00 > 0:21:01heading for Guildford.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07This line is a little unusual for England's south-east.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10It's a diesel, not electric and, instead of being a radius pointing
0:21:10 > 0:21:13towards one of London's terminus stations,
0:21:13 > 0:21:18it's an arc - a little bit like a quarter of a railway M25.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22And at this point, it hugs the North Downs
0:21:22 > 0:21:25which, today, are showing the first tints of autumn.
0:21:27 > 0:21:28Afternoon. Tickets, please.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32Thank you very much indeed, sir.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34Beautiful section of line this, isn't it?
0:21:34 > 0:21:36It certainly is, it's a great office to work in.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39It never looks the same twice. Thank you.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44I'm often struck by references in Bradshaw's to things that were
0:21:44 > 0:21:49clearly famous at the time, but which to me now are obscure.
0:21:49 > 0:21:54I'm now going in pursuit of a painter whose Victorian celebrity status
0:21:54 > 0:21:58has failed to pass down to the present day.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01And I hope to make that discovery in Guildford which, suitably,
0:22:01 > 0:22:05my Bradshaw's describes as "picturesque".
0:22:09 > 0:22:12Guildford, surrounded by lovely countryside,
0:22:12 > 0:22:15is an important railway junction,
0:22:15 > 0:22:18serving as an interchange between four busy lines.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22Hello!
0:22:22 > 0:22:24Beyond the large station's modern facade,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27the town's historic centre retains its charm.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41I'm heading to the village of Compton, just south of Guildford,
0:22:41 > 0:22:43to visit a gallery
0:22:43 > 0:22:47dedicated to the works of Victorian artist George Frederic Watts.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50The curator is Nicholas Tromans.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53Hello, Nick. Michael, hello. Welcome to Watts Gallery.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57Thank you very much. I don't know much about GF Watts.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59Would you describe him as a typical Victorian artist?
0:22:59 > 0:23:01Really, the opposite.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04He really stood aside from the mainstream of Victorian art.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07Not very interested in the Royal Academy, not very interested
0:23:07 > 0:23:09in the art market. Always ploughing his own furrow
0:23:09 > 0:23:12and a furrow that really lasts consistently for the career
0:23:12 > 0:23:15of some 70 or even 80 years.
0:23:15 > 0:23:20So, he really spans from what artist to what artist?
0:23:20 > 0:23:23Early in his life, he was exhibiting alongside Turner,
0:23:23 > 0:23:26as early as the 1830s, and at the end of his life, he's influencing
0:23:26 > 0:23:29the young Picasso at the beginning of the 20th century.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32So, you're looking at an artist whose career spans, literally,
0:23:32 > 0:23:34the whole of the reign of Queen Victoria and further.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38Extraordinary. I'd love to see some stuff. Please, come through.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48Born in 1817, Watts produced sculpture and portraiture
0:23:48 > 0:23:51and works of symbolism and social commentary.
0:23:59 > 0:24:04Give me some idea of GF Watts' popularity during his lifetime.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07In the 1880s onwards, he was, without exaggeration,
0:24:07 > 0:24:09the most famous artist in the world.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12A lot of people don't believe that today, but it's true.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16In the 1880s, he had the first ever one person retrospective exhibition
0:24:16 > 0:24:19at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22And hundreds of thousands of people went to see it.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25Just looking at these walls, there is obviously a variety of genre.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29This picture here, for example, is very, very dark.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32Very dark, very traumatic, very tragic.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35This is called The Irish Famine and it is, as far as I know,
0:24:35 > 0:24:41the only major British painting about the Irish famine of the 1840s.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45Watts shows himself as a furious defender of the impoverished,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47the downtrodden, the forgotten.
0:24:47 > 0:24:49Absolutely not what you expect in a Victorian painting.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52And so has GF Watts been taken up by politicians?
0:24:52 > 0:24:53Absolutely.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56There's a strong tradition in Labour politics of people
0:24:56 > 0:24:59saving up their pennies to buy a cheap reproduction of Watts.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03At a very different level, President Obama talks about,
0:25:03 > 0:25:08in his memoirs, being converted from a life of law to a life of
0:25:08 > 0:25:12political activism through a sermon on Watts' painting of Hope.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19Regarded as one of the finest portrait painters
0:25:19 > 0:25:23of the Victorian era, he was much in demand.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26Recording likenesses of the great and the good of the day.
0:25:31 > 0:25:37His larger more symbolic paintings, such as Time, Death and Judgment,
0:25:37 > 0:25:39were also prestigiously displayed.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44The picture is on loan to us from St Paul's Cathedral
0:25:44 > 0:25:47where it hung in the nave for most of the 20th century
0:25:47 > 0:25:50and, there, it became one of the best known paintings in London.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54It actually occurs in a scene in EM Forster's novel Howards End.
0:25:57 > 0:26:02The gallery was built after his death in 1904 in the grounds of his home
0:26:02 > 0:26:07which he shared with his second wife, Scottish artist Mary Fraser Tytler.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10She was responsible for commissioning
0:26:10 > 0:26:13the now Grade 1 listed chapel,
0:26:13 > 0:26:17which is a fine example of Arts and Crafts architecture.
0:26:17 > 0:26:22Today, the whole estate is an artist village, where Jenny Dewitt Harris
0:26:22 > 0:26:24is the artist in residence.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27Do you share things in common with GF Watts? Definitely.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31He was very interested in the subjects of mortality and time
0:26:31 > 0:26:36and those are the things that really interest me and come out in my work.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39Are these here on the subject of time?
0:26:39 > 0:26:44Yes, they are. They all start their life as pieces of driftwood.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48So, over time, driftwood gets its history beaten into it
0:26:48 > 0:26:51and I feel that we're a bit like that really.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54So, they're metaphors for the passage of time.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56For the majority of people who don't know very much about GF Watts,
0:26:56 > 0:26:58what are they missing?
0:26:58 > 0:27:00I think they're missing someone who was a deep thinker.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03He wrote a lot about how he worried about the world
0:27:03 > 0:27:04and that comes out in his work.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06I don't think he should be neglected
0:27:06 > 0:27:09and I don't think you should be either. Thank you.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21Ralph Vaughan Williams' interest in traditional folk songs
0:27:21 > 0:27:26might seem like a reaction against change, but in fact his own music
0:27:26 > 0:27:30represented progress towards something completely new.
0:27:30 > 0:27:35The invention of dynamite was innovation at its most raw.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39It carried the potential for enormous construction benefits,
0:27:39 > 0:27:42such as the building of railways.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46But its destructive power made this an anxious age,
0:27:46 > 0:27:52perhaps reflected in GF Watts' painting Time, Death And Judgment.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00'Next time, I'll get my hands dirty at Wisley...'
0:28:00 > 0:28:02In the long term, this will do the plant no end of good.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05A bit of rough love. Absolutely.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07'..and pitch up to see some early camping kit.'
0:28:07 > 0:28:10Probably not when it's full, Michael.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12That is actually a washing-up bowl.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16'..and get a fright at the wheel of a vintage racing car.'
0:28:16 > 0:28:19The throttle's got stuck.
0:28:19 > 0:28:20No, the throttle's got stuck.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24Thank you very much. That was a nasty moment.