0:00:04 > 0:00:06For Victorian Britons,
0:00:06 > 0:00:09George Bradshaw was a household name.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11At a time when railways were new,
0:00:11 > 0:00:15Bradshaw's guide book inspired them to take to the tracks.
0:00:15 > 0:00:21I'm using a Bradshaw's guide to understand how trains transformed Britain,
0:00:21 > 0:00:25its landscape, its industry, 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.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54My rail journey that began in
0:00:54 > 0:00:57Blackpool is now concluding in Suffolk and Essex.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00On this part of the journey I hope to discover how the Government tried
0:01:00 > 0:01:04to stoke up a railway boom that was running out of steam,
0:01:04 > 0:01:08why a Suffolk manufacturer built a cathedral,
0:01:08 > 0:01:13what made Ipswich wet and how an Essex town hooked up with Holland.
0:01:19 > 0:01:25My route has taken me south-east across the country to the southern edge of East Anglia.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28I began in Lancashire and headed east to the mighty
0:01:28 > 0:01:31northern conurbations of the industrial age.
0:01:31 > 0:01:36In Manchester, I joined the route of the North Country Continental Rail Service
0:01:36 > 0:01:40and descended south-east-wards through the Peak District and the Fens.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44I'll finish in Harwich - gateway to the Continent.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47The final leg of my journey begins in Stowmarket.
0:01:47 > 0:01:53I'll head east to the home of the world's first purpose-built assembly line at Leiston.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57I'll visit Ipswich and finish at the terminus of the North Country Continental.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04Along the way, I uncover an industrial pioneer in Suffolk...
0:02:04 > 0:02:06I have never been in a building like this.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08It is absolutely extraordinary.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12'Discover that train companies didn't always win their battles.'
0:02:12 > 0:02:16The plans of the Great Eastern were so huge that the town council objected
0:02:16 > 0:02:19to the idea of having half their town demolished.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22'And witness a railway renaissance.'
0:02:22 > 0:02:27The Middy closed before I was born, and yet the Middy rides again.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42My first stop today will be Stowmarket which Bradshaw's tells me
0:02:42 > 0:02:46has a brick-built station in the Elizabethan style.
0:02:46 > 0:02:51Railway Mania had created many fortunes and many bankruptcies.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56I'm going to visit a line whose trains first tooted when the boom was out of puff.
0:03:02 > 0:03:08Stowmarket is a small town mid-way between Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich.
0:03:08 > 0:03:13It was granted a market charter by Edward III in 1347,
0:03:13 > 0:03:15and a market still takes place there twice a week.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20Seven miles north-east lies Brockford,
0:03:20 > 0:03:24home to the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway Museum.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28I'm meeting volunteer and editor of the railway's magazine John Reeve.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34John, the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway, what makes it light?
0:03:34 > 0:03:37Well, this is going to sound terribly train spotter-ish,
0:03:37 > 0:03:43but the 1896 Light Railway Act meant that certain levels of railway could
0:03:43 > 0:03:46be built without having to have their own
0:03:46 > 0:03:48separate Act of Parliament,
0:03:48 > 0:03:52which obviously used up enormous amounts of money and time.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55So, why would the government want to promote a new sort of railway?
0:03:55 > 0:04:00In the 1880s, this was a fairly depressed area.
0:04:00 > 0:04:06And, as you know, Michael, this is very much a rural and agricultural area,
0:04:06 > 0:04:11and they were hoping, frankly, to bring a bit more economic recovery into the area.
0:04:13 > 0:04:18The Act reduced legal costs and permitted cheaper construction methods in
0:04:18 > 0:04:22return for a speed limit of 25mph.
0:04:22 > 0:04:27This was at a time when trains on the main line could travel at 80mph.
0:04:28 > 0:04:33The plan was to link the Great Eastern Railway stations at Haughley and Halesworth,
0:04:33 > 0:04:38but financial difficulties prevented the line from being completed beyond Laxfield.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41So it extended for only 19 miles.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46The line became affectionately known as the Middy.
0:04:46 > 0:04:52From 1908, two passenger trains ran in each direction every weekday.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54But passenger numbers were low.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59The stations were situated far from the communities that they were intended to serve.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04So, it opens, actually the beginning of the 20th century.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Yes. It opened in receivership.
0:05:06 > 0:05:11When the first locomotives were delivered by Hudswell Clarke of Leeds,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14they actually chained them to the lines, because the cheque hadn't arrived.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16THEY LAUGH
0:05:16 > 0:05:19- How long does it run?- Just under 50 years.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21So it closes in the 1950s?
0:05:21 > 0:05:23'52, yeah.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25- Long before Beeching.- Long before Beeching.
0:05:25 > 0:05:30'The Middy made its last run on 26 July 1952.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35'Passengers crowded on to the platform at Haughley to say farewell.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37'Some in Edwardian costume.'
0:05:41 > 0:05:44What's the recent history, because evidently there are trains running on the tracks.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48Well, there was a gang of four who discovered under a great
0:05:48 > 0:05:53mountain of brambles that there was a bit of this platform left.
0:05:53 > 0:05:58And, with a great deal of effort and getting planning permissions and talking to the landlord,
0:05:58 > 0:06:03they were able to reopen the station as you see it now, and we now have our track
0:06:03 > 0:06:06and our engines and we're up and running again.
0:06:06 > 0:06:11Probably busier than when the railways actually operated first time round.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14What sort of rolling stock, do you have, carriages?
0:06:14 > 0:06:19Well, the carriages are deliberately what would've run on the original railway.
0:06:19 > 0:06:24So Victorian four-wheel coaches, both of which were found in relatively local fields.
0:06:24 > 0:06:29One of which had been lived in for nearly 90 years, and when we took it
0:06:29 > 0:06:33into our works, it'd still got the bedroom wallpaper on it and all that
0:06:33 > 0:06:36sort of stuff, and they were both restored here.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40John, you may be railway train spotters, you may be veering on fanaticism,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43- but you do a huge public service actually.- Yes.
0:06:43 > 0:06:48Well, I'd like to think so, because this is the only standard
0:06:48 > 0:06:51gauge railway museum in Suffolk,
0:06:51 > 0:06:55and we're now going for planning permission to extend our line.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59Absolutely fantastic. I feel the pressure rising in my boiler.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02I want to take to the tracks. JOHN LAUGHS
0:07:05 > 0:07:10- Hello.- Hello, Michael.- I have the privilege of riding with you today.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12Tell me about this lovely locomotive.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16This locomotive was built in 1928 by the North Eastern Railway.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19Would similar locomotives have run on this line?
0:07:19 > 0:07:20Very similar, yeah.
0:07:20 > 0:07:21Does she behave well?
0:07:21 > 0:07:25- She behaves quite well for her age. - THEY LAUGH
0:07:25 > 0:07:27- I know the feeling. Can we give it a go?- Indeed.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32- Thank you. Hello.- Hi.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34First of all, check that we have brake.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38This gauge here.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42- Reading 20.- 20, 21 inches of vacuum which is what we need.
0:07:42 > 0:07:43So we're safe to go.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45Just open the regulator up now.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48If you bring it to about here before anything starts to happen.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51- And then something will start to happen?- Something will start to happen.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53What about a whistle? WHISTLE BLOWS
0:07:55 > 0:07:57Now they know we're coming.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59Regulator.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01Open. That's it.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03And we're off!
0:08:06 > 0:08:07LIGHT CHUGGING
0:08:09 > 0:08:12- What incline is this?- One in 46.
0:08:12 > 0:08:13One in 46.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Which is quite steep by railway standards.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Because of the incline, we can keep
0:08:18 > 0:08:20steam on right till the last minute.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23Excellent. Quite a nice rhythm to this locomotive.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34The Middy closed before I was born, and yet the Middy rides again
0:08:34 > 0:08:37thanks to the enthusiasm of people like this.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43Coming into the station.
0:08:43 > 0:08:44- What do we do now?- Shut the regulator.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48Shutting the regulator.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50- Put your brake on.- And brake...
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Or be ready to brake rather than put it on.
0:08:53 > 0:08:54Brake about now.
0:08:56 > 0:08:57TRAIN BRAKES HISS
0:08:57 > 0:08:59That's it.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01And pulley on.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03- We made it!- We made it.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05- Thank you, Paul.- Pleasure.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07- Thank you, Ed.- Pleasure.
0:09:07 > 0:09:08Excellent.
0:09:09 > 0:09:10- Bye.- Bye.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18I'm picking up my next train at Halesworth, where the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway
0:09:18 > 0:09:20was intended to finish.
0:09:20 > 0:09:25From there, I'll take a 14-mile journey south on the East Suffolk line.
0:09:35 > 0:09:40I'll be leaving this train at Saxmundham headed for Leiston.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44Bradshaw's remarks that Suffolk may be called almost exclusively a farming
0:09:44 > 0:09:50county, agriculture being conducted on the most improved principles.
0:09:50 > 0:09:56Improvements, because the feeding of the masses increasingly required mass production.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07A ten-minute drive east from Saxmundham is Leiston.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11During the 19th century this rural Suffolk town became an unexpected
0:10:11 > 0:10:15trailblazer for the Industrial Revolution.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19Until the age of steam, agriculture relied on human labour and horsepower.
0:10:20 > 0:10:26Richard Garrett & Sons was established in 1778, and the company
0:10:26 > 0:10:28made sickles, scythes and other farm equipment.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34Steam revolutionised the production of the tools.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37I'm hoping to learn more from Anna Mercer,
0:10:37 > 0:10:39curator at the Long Shop Museum.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Anna, I have never been in a building like this.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50It is absolutely extraordinary and beautiful and so well-preserved.
0:10:50 > 0:10:51It's fantastic, isn't it?
0:10:51 > 0:10:53The workers called it a cathedral.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55For reasons that you can see.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58It has these fantastic windows, lots of light.
0:10:58 > 0:10:59It's a magnificent building.
0:10:59 > 0:11:05We believe it was the world's first purpose-built assembly line production building.
0:11:06 > 0:11:11Richard Garrett had built steam engines at Leiston since the 1830s, and the
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Long Shop enabled him greatly to increase his company's productivity.
0:11:16 > 0:11:22Inspiration came to Garrett at the Great Exhibition in 1851, where he
0:11:22 > 0:11:27met American gun-maker Samuel Colt, who'd introduced assembly lines
0:11:27 > 0:11:29to the workshops that produced his revolvers.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34The meeting proved a breakthrough for Garrett, and on his return to
0:11:34 > 0:11:36Leiston he built the Long Shop.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41The engines were actually moving through the building?
0:11:41 > 0:11:44They were, yes. They came in at the door at the end there.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48Obviously with their wheels and with the boiler, and then they had parts
0:11:48 > 0:11:53fitted to them as they moved along this central aisle, and there were
0:11:53 > 0:11:59lathes and machinery all down either side, and parts being made in the upstairs floor as well,
0:11:59 > 0:12:02the smaller parts, and lowered down using the crane.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04And engines like this one were produced?
0:12:04 > 0:12:07- Yes.- "Choo-choo," but not quite?
0:12:07 > 0:12:10No, this is a portable engine, it's not a traction engine,
0:12:10 > 0:12:11it doesn't move itself,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15so you have to hitch it up to horses, and then it's got this big drive
0:12:15 > 0:12:17belt wheel on here, which when the engine is moving,
0:12:17 > 0:12:22it spins the wheel and then the belt can be used to drive all sorts of
0:12:22 > 0:12:24- machinery.- Typically what?
0:12:24 > 0:12:25Typically a threshing machine.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32Steam transformed the productivity of agriculture,
0:12:32 > 0:12:37increasing yields and helping to feed a growing population.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41Around 15,000 portable steam engines were built at the Long Shop,
0:12:41 > 0:12:4495% of them sold abroad.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54With all these lovely steam engines, did they make use of the railways?
0:12:54 > 0:12:58They did, indeed. In fact it was Richard Garrett's works here in Leiston
0:12:58 > 0:13:01that helped bring the railway to this part of the country.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04In the 1850s, when they were increasing production here,
0:13:04 > 0:13:08it was obviously much more convenient to get them out by railway.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10Could you get from the factory to the railway by train?
0:13:10 > 0:13:15Yes, Garrett's had sidings and they had a special little works railway
0:13:15 > 0:13:20which was a sort of tramway which was pulled either by horses or by
0:13:20 > 0:13:25cable-driven trucks, and after that they introduced their own little works locomotive, Sirapite,
0:13:25 > 0:13:29and that drove the trucks to and from the station and the station sidings.
0:13:32 > 0:13:37The 20th century was less successful for Richard Garrett & Sons.
0:13:37 > 0:13:44After the First World War, the company failed to invest in the internal combustion engine and was
0:13:44 > 0:13:49forced to write off bad debt from the sale of steam engines to revolutionary Russia.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51And the company did in fact go into decline?
0:13:51 > 0:13:55It did. It went into liquidation in 1931.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00Richard Garrett & Sons was purchased in 1932.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04Business continued, but the long history of family control was over.
0:14:05 > 0:14:11The Leiston works finally closed in the 1980s, bringing a chapter of
0:14:11 > 0:14:13British industrial history to a close.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30The end of my journey is approaching, and I'm rejoining the railway for my
0:14:30 > 0:14:32final morning's travel.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41My next stop will be Ipswich.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45The guidebook tells me that it's favourably positioned for commerce.
0:14:45 > 0:14:50'Vessels of any burden can navigate the Orwell to the town itself,
0:14:50 > 0:14:55'where a wet dock of considerable magnitude has been constructed.'
0:14:55 > 0:14:57Another 19th-century mega-project,
0:14:57 > 0:15:01and possibly another Victorian engineering hero.
0:15:07 > 0:15:12Ipswich is one of the oldest continually inhabited towns in England.
0:15:12 > 0:15:17Historic buildings such as the Ancient House stand in a network of streets
0:15:17 > 0:15:19which is still recognisably medieval.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26The imposing Orwell Bridge just south of Ipswich carries vital freight traffic
0:15:26 > 0:15:30from the Port of Felixstowe across the River Orwell.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34The river has been the source of the town's prosperity.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39Stuart Grimwade is a director of the Ipswich Maritime Trust.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43Stuart, Bradshaw's tells me that Ipswich is favourably positioned for
0:15:43 > 0:15:45commerce. Has it been going on for a long time?
0:15:45 > 0:15:47Absolutely, yes, since the seventh century.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51There's evidence of wine trade in those days.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54Ships were brought across the North Sea.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59After that, there was a period of Viking raids into Ipswich, so perhaps
0:15:59 > 0:16:01that was not a growth period.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04Although the Vikings settled in this area immediately.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06They are famous for raping and pillaging,
0:16:06 > 0:16:10but in fact they realised the value of this place to trade,
0:16:10 > 0:16:15and so this led to a very successful merchant business in wool to the Continent with
0:16:15 > 0:16:18merchants' houses all along the quays here where we are now.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21The guidebook also mentions one of the virtues of the place,
0:16:21 > 0:16:25that you can get into the middle of the town on the river, but I assume the river is tidal.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29The river's tidal and the dock quay here was tidal.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32That was no problem in the Middle Ages when ships were smaller,
0:16:32 > 0:16:35but in the 18th century ships were getting larger,
0:16:35 > 0:16:39but the river was silting up, and ships got larger and couldn't get up
0:16:39 > 0:16:40to the quays so easily.
0:16:41 > 0:16:46By the 19th century, Ipswich had become a major industrial centre,
0:16:46 > 0:16:51producing farm machinery and railway parts for Britain and abroad.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55But the tidal port limited the town's trading potential.
0:17:01 > 0:17:07The river commissioners raised £25,000 to put towards the development of a wet dock,
0:17:07 > 0:17:11which was to be the largest dock of its kind in Britain.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15In 1837, as Queen Victoria ascended the throne,
0:17:15 > 0:17:20an Act of Parliament authorised the Ipswich dock commissioners to begin work.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24The water level in the wet dock was to be maintained at sufficient
0:17:24 > 0:17:27depth to enable ships to float.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31- Well, the best way to see the dock is from the water.- Mmm. Thank you.
0:17:33 > 0:17:39A 16-year-old, Edward Caley, was commissioned to draw up detailed
0:17:39 > 0:17:41plans and to survey the town.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44His exquisite sketch books survive today.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49When construction began,
0:17:49 > 0:17:54the chief engineer Henry Palmer appointed Caley assistant engineer,
0:17:54 > 0:17:59and this young prodigy took on sole responsibility for the building of the wet dock.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06Edward Caley became the site engineer for the project aged 20.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08A remarkable achievement at that
0:18:08 > 0:18:10age to be responsible for what was the
0:18:10 > 0:18:13largest construction project of its kind in Britain.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17Give me an idea of how big a project it was to build the wet dock.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19Well, it was a massive project.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23There were 33 acres of mudflats to be excavated by hand.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26There were 55 men employed to do the digging.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28It took three years to dredge out
0:18:28 > 0:18:31the mud and create the start for the laying of
0:18:31 > 0:18:33the foundation and the stone of the lock.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37So you make a big hole and then you edge it presumably in stone or rock, do you?
0:18:37 > 0:18:41Well, yes, the engineer Henry Palmer specified the best quality brick,
0:18:41 > 0:18:45the best quality stone and there was a lot of controversy about the cost,
0:18:45 > 0:18:49as always, but his specification was so good that the quay that you see
0:18:49 > 0:18:53now is still there as he instructed, and as he built it.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58The wet dock opened in 1842.
0:18:58 > 0:19:03It cost around £130,000, an expensive project,
0:19:03 > 0:19:05but Ipswich was transformed.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10Immediately it had the effect of attracting industry.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14Prior to that, there'd been small warehouses and merchants' warehouses.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17The industrial age brought factories all around the dock.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19What other trades were here around the dock?
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Lots of trades associated with shipping.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24Mills, warehouses of all kinds,
0:19:24 > 0:19:27importing everything you can think of.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30- And railways?- Railways came as soon as the dock was built.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33A railway all around the edge of the dock.
0:19:33 > 0:19:38Most goods were transported by rail in those days, and so the railway
0:19:38 > 0:19:41system was integral to the success of the dock.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48Rail freight traffic to the Victorian wet dock ceased in 1992.
0:19:50 > 0:19:55Today there's a marina, and its mercantile past has given way to
0:19:55 > 0:19:58modern housing and leisure developments.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08I'm on my way to Harwich, changing at Manningtree.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17I'm approaching my terminus.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21The final leg of my journey on the route of the North Country Continental
0:20:21 > 0:20:26takes me to the end of what is known as the Mayflower line, which links
0:20:26 > 0:20:28Manningtree in Essex with Harwich.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31I'll leave this train at Harwich Town.
0:20:31 > 0:20:37I'm told that it's a sea port and packet station with a number of maritime advantages.
0:20:38 > 0:20:39'Built on a peninsula,
0:20:39 > 0:20:44'close to where the Rivers Star and Orwell join the German Ocean.'
0:20:44 > 0:20:50I want to see how Harwich used those advantages to become a major gateway
0:20:50 > 0:20:51for the Continental explorer.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02Harwich received its charter in 1318,
0:21:02 > 0:21:06and today the entire old town is a conservation area.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11Seafaring is in its blood.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15Sir Francis Drake and his fleet took refuge at Harwich during the battle
0:21:15 > 0:21:19against the Spanish Armada in 1588.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22And one of history's most famous vessels, the Mayflower,
0:21:22 > 0:21:23which transported the pilgrim
0:21:23 > 0:21:25fathers to the new world, was built here.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34Author Stephen Brown has lived in Harwich for much of his life
0:21:34 > 0:21:36and spent 18 years working at the port.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44We're now walking down from Harwich Town station,
0:21:44 > 0:21:47where Victorian passengers would have made their way from the station down
0:21:47 > 0:21:51to the pier front to catch their steamers to the Continent, and you
0:21:51 > 0:21:54can imagine in the old days, with all the hat boxes and luggage and steamer trunks,
0:21:54 > 0:21:58it would have been quite a hike to have dragged all that with them,
0:21:58 > 0:22:00seeing as the journey's about a quarter of a mile.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07As the railway network expanded,
0:22:07 > 0:22:11the companies were keen to seize the opportunities offered by Continental
0:22:11 > 0:22:17travel and ran services to Europe using their own vessels.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19Harwich was one of the most successful examples.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25So, Stephen, when did boat services begin between Harwich and the Continent?
0:22:25 > 0:22:27In 1854.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30The then-operator of the railway, the Eastern Counties Railway,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33first set sail from along this pier here, which is commonly known as
0:22:33 > 0:22:37Halfpenny Pier, when it was one old halfpenny to access the quay if you
0:22:37 > 0:22:40weren't actually travelling by steamer.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43The Great Eastern Railway was created in 1862 and they were then given
0:22:43 > 0:22:47Parliamentary permission in 1863 to actually own and run their own steam
0:22:47 > 0:22:49ships. Prior to that, they had to use chartered vessels.
0:22:50 > 0:22:55The service was daily and they would sail to Rotterdam and obviously to
0:22:55 > 0:22:56Antwerp as well.
0:22:56 > 0:23:01These services were eventually marketed to people in the north of England, weren't they?
0:23:01 > 0:23:05Yes, they were. Originally most of the market was for the people travelling out of London,
0:23:05 > 0:23:09but when they built the north curve at Manningtree Station which links
0:23:09 > 0:23:11on to the main line between London and Norwich,
0:23:11 > 0:23:15they then could get access to the North Country Line and it was possible
0:23:15 > 0:23:18for people in the very north to come by boat train down to Harwich.
0:23:21 > 0:23:27In 1874, an ambitious decision was taken to build a completely new deep water port
0:23:27 > 0:23:29two miles upriver.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34It was named Harwich Parkeston Quay after Charles Parkes,
0:23:34 > 0:23:39chairman of the Great Eastern Railway, and it opened in 1883.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43Why was it necessary to build a new port upstream?
0:23:43 > 0:23:46Well, basically the operations of the Great Eastern Railway had totally
0:23:46 > 0:23:49outgrown facilities and the availability of land
0:23:49 > 0:23:50in Harwich Town.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54The plans of the Great Eastern were so huge that the town council objected
0:23:54 > 0:23:58to the idea of having half their town demolished, and so the railway then
0:23:58 > 0:24:02looked around for some other land, and they found an area of pretty much
0:24:02 > 0:24:07marshland, tidal saltings and just rough grazing, and they set about
0:24:07 > 0:24:11reclaiming about 600 acres of land, building a whole brand-new terminal,
0:24:11 > 0:24:15a huge place which was likened to the Liverpool of the east in its day.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27I'm retracing my steps along the Mayflower Line to the terminus of the old
0:24:27 > 0:24:29North Country Continental.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45Harwich became Britain's most important passenger port.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49It endured heavy bombing in the Second World War and survives today
0:24:49 > 0:24:52despite the competition from other ports,
0:24:52 > 0:24:54the Channel Tunnel and air travel.
0:24:56 > 0:25:01It plays host to cruise liners departing for Scandinavia and has
0:25:01 > 0:25:04morning and evening ferry sailings each day
0:25:04 > 0:25:06to Rotterdam and the Hook of Holland.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13You could easily mistake this for a cruise liner.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16I've entered the ship at deck number nine, and below me
0:25:16 > 0:25:21there are many decks of cars and lorries, and all the public spaces
0:25:21 > 0:25:23here are simply vast.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29Those decks conceal close to 5km of roadway
0:25:29 > 0:25:32and there's room for 1,200 passengers.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36It's like a very long, thin hotel and, indeed,
0:25:36 > 0:25:39with corridors about 200 metres long,
0:25:39 > 0:25:40you don't want to forget where your room is.
0:25:42 > 0:25:43- Hi.- Hello.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46What an amazing cabin.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50With just over three hours to prepare the ship for its next voyage,
0:25:50 > 0:25:53I've offered cabin attendant Marvin a helping hand.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55Tuck that in nice and firmly at the top.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57First you need to do this here, sir.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01Do the other side.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04- You take such care over it. - Thank you.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08Lovely sheets. How is that looking?
0:26:08 > 0:26:09It is good.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11Lovely soft pillows. MARVIN LAUGHS
0:26:23 > 0:26:24MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:26:25 > 0:26:26Not quite.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34Captain Neil Rice is preparing for the morning crossing to Holland.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38Good to see you. I'm just amazed by how high we are here.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41A huge vessel. These ships actually fill up, do they?
0:26:41 > 0:26:43Yes, about four times a week we get
0:26:43 > 0:26:47full up on the night crossing from the Hoek van Holland.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50Do you get big seas between here and Holland?
0:26:50 > 0:26:52If the wind's from the south, which is mainly is,
0:26:52 > 0:26:54it's quite a comfortable crossing.
0:26:54 > 0:26:55If the wind's from the north,
0:26:55 > 0:26:59then the swell can pick up and it can be a little bit more uncomfortable,
0:26:59 > 0:27:03but we have stabilisers and it's not a bad crossing.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05I want to wish you a calm and prosperous voyage.
0:27:05 > 0:27:06- Thank you.- Thank you.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20Travelling through Manchester and Sheffield to Harwich by train,
0:27:20 > 0:27:25I've retraced the so-called North Country Continental route.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29The Victorian boarding his steamer could be confident
0:27:29 > 0:27:31of Britain's superiority.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35The Royal Navy was easily the largest in the world.
0:27:35 > 0:27:40Britain was the first to industrialise and to build railways.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45Men like the Stephensons and Charles Darwin had kept Britain at the
0:27:45 > 0:27:48forefront of engineering and science.
0:27:48 > 0:27:54The Britons on this ferry today must venture forth with rather more humility.
0:27:59 > 0:28:04'Next time, I take to the seas in a 100-year-old lifeboat...'
0:28:05 > 0:28:08It's wonderful to feel the sense of teamwork
0:28:08 > 0:28:12as I pull the oars with this wonderful crew.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18He deserves to be remembered as
0:28:18 > 0:28:20someone who spoke up for Irish culture and
0:28:20 > 0:28:24Irish political rights at a very, very dark time.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28'..and abandon the trains for a taste of the travelling life.'
0:28:28 > 0:28:30Reigns in hand, and we're all ready.