0:00:03 > 0:00:05For Victorian Britons,
0:00:05 > 0:00:08George Bradshaw was a household name.
0:00:08 > 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 > 0:00:17I'm using a Bradshaw's Guide
0:00:17 > 0:00:21to understand how trains transformed Britain -
0:00:21 > 0:00:26its 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.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54I've embarked on a new railway adventure -
0:00:54 > 0:00:56from Blackpool to Harwich.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00From resort to port, from sea to shining sea
0:01:00 > 0:01:05on a gentle slope from north western to eastern England.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08There will be some poetry as I traverse,
0:01:08 > 0:01:11and my Bradshaw's Guide will help me to glorify
0:01:11 > 0:01:14Victorian civil engineering and science.
0:01:14 > 0:01:19But my journey will also reveal some spectacular infrastructure
0:01:19 > 0:01:20being built now
0:01:20 > 0:01:24and transformational discoveries being made
0:01:24 > 0:01:26in Britain's present-day laboratories.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38My route will take me south-east across the country to East Anglia.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43It begins in Lancashire and heads across to
0:01:43 > 0:01:47the mighty northern conurbations of the industrial age.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49In Manchester, I'll join the route of
0:01:49 > 0:01:52the North Country Continental rail service
0:01:52 > 0:01:57and descend through the Fens to arrive in Essex,
0:01:57 > 0:01:59gateway to continental Europe.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05The first leg of my journey starts in Blackpool
0:02:05 > 0:02:08and takes me to neighbouring Fleetwood.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12From there I'll head south-east, stopping off near Bolton, before
0:02:12 > 0:02:16finishing in the manufacturing power house of Manchester.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19'On this trip...' Oh!
0:02:19 > 0:02:21'..there's terror on the tracks.'
0:02:21 > 0:02:24Only a skeleton staff today!
0:02:24 > 0:02:28'I play a small part in a monumental project...'
0:02:28 > 0:02:30Looks like you're a natural at this, Michael.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32Do they do it "weld done".
0:02:34 > 0:02:37'..and pay tribute to the ultimate sacrifice
0:02:37 > 0:02:40'that was made by thousands of rail workers.'
0:02:40 > 0:02:44And so it is perhaps understandable that when the call came in 1914
0:02:44 > 0:02:49that railwaymen were so prominent and so numerous in stepping forward.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00My first stop will be Blackpool,
0:03:00 > 0:03:04which Bradshaw's tells me is, "A pretty bathing place,
0:03:04 > 0:03:08"situated on a range of cliffs, much frequented by visitors,
0:03:08 > 0:03:13"possessing an excellent library and sea-bathing at all times of tide."
0:03:13 > 0:03:15Well, I don't know how many books
0:03:15 > 0:03:17have been borrowed in the last 150 years,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21but vast amounts of rock and candyfloss and fish and chips
0:03:21 > 0:03:24have been devoured - some of it unwisely -
0:03:24 > 0:03:30before taking the scariest of rides at Blackpool's Pleasure Beach.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32FAIRGROUND ORGAN MUSIC
0:03:38 > 0:03:42Like so many others, I'm here to experience the Pleasure Beach,
0:03:42 > 0:03:47a 42-acre cornucopia of edge-of-the-seat excitement
0:03:47 > 0:03:51that has entertained thrill-seekers for over a century.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57Andy Highgate, Assistant Operations Director at the Pleasure Beach,
0:03:57 > 0:04:03has agreed to help me explore the delights on offer by train.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05- Hello, Andy.- Hello.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07What a lovely station, a beautiful little train.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09- Would you like to take a ride? - I would love to.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13HORN SOUNDS
0:04:13 > 0:04:14How long have you had a railway?
0:04:14 > 0:04:19Well, the original Pleasure Beach Express was built in 1933.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22Beginning to hear the screams of people on your rides.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24MICHAEL CHUCKLES
0:04:24 > 0:04:27What makes it great is there's not that many railways
0:04:27 > 0:04:28where you get to see so many roller-coasters,
0:04:28 > 0:04:32ten roller-coasters on your route, and also dinosaurs as well,
0:04:32 > 0:04:34so that makes it a little bit unusual.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38The opening of a rail line to Blackpool in 1846
0:04:38 > 0:04:41gave manual workers in the Lancashire cotton mills
0:04:41 > 0:04:44an opportunity to enjoy seaside leisure.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49By the turn of the century, around two million people visited annually
0:04:49 > 0:04:52to experience the traditional British seaside pleasures
0:04:52 > 0:04:55of piers, donkey rides and fortune tellers.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00How did Blackpool Pleasure Beach start?
0:05:00 > 0:05:01There was a guy called William Bean,
0:05:01 > 0:05:06and in 1896, he ran a small collection of rides on the beach.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08And he had visited America
0:05:08 > 0:05:13and was inspired by a park called Coney Island near New York.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16It was his vision to bring some of the rides and attractions
0:05:16 > 0:05:19and that type of amusement park to the UK,
0:05:19 > 0:05:22which is what he did over the next 30 years.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25The amusement park was officially named
0:05:25 > 0:05:28Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 1905
0:05:28 > 0:05:31and grew quickly to include new rides
0:05:31 > 0:05:34such as the water chute and a wooden roller-coaster.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41Here we are passing some absolutely enormous structures.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43Tell me about these.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46Well, this one is the Big One, which, at one point,
0:05:46 > 0:05:50was actually the tallest and fastest rollercoaster in the world,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53and it's 235 feet tall.
0:05:55 > 0:06:00In 1928, William Bean's daughter, Lillian, married Leonard Thompson,
0:06:00 > 0:06:04and when his father-in-law died in 1929, he took over the park.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07Today, it's still run by the Thompson family.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12What have been the other important firsts
0:06:12 > 0:06:15during the history of Blackpool Pleasure Beach?
0:06:15 > 0:06:18Well, we had the world's first ghost train.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20The ghost train was basically introduced
0:06:20 > 0:06:23as what's called a pretzel ride - named after the layout of the track.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Pretzels don't really mean anything to people in the UK.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29The suggestion of one of the ride operators
0:06:29 > 0:06:32that had seen a play called The Ghost Train,
0:06:32 > 0:06:34they changed the theme to a scary ride,
0:06:34 > 0:06:38and the ride was an instant success, and then copied all over the world.
0:06:38 > 0:06:39So every other ghost train that you see
0:06:39 > 0:06:42has come from our original ghost train here.
0:06:46 > 0:06:52I am about to experience the most incorporeal thing on tracks,
0:06:52 > 0:06:56the most ethereal of all railway journeys,
0:06:56 > 0:07:01the most phantasmagorical of all choo-choos.
0:07:01 > 0:07:02Shudder!
0:07:12 > 0:07:14Only a skeleton staff today.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21Ooh, very nasty things!
0:07:24 > 0:07:27GROWLING Argh! Didn't expect that one.
0:07:33 > 0:07:34Oh!
0:07:37 > 0:07:39SIREN WAILS
0:07:39 > 0:07:41An oncoming train!
0:07:41 > 0:07:43Argh!
0:07:43 > 0:07:45TRAIN HORN BLARES
0:07:51 > 0:07:53Ah!
0:07:54 > 0:07:59Definitely the most scared I ever want to be on a train.
0:07:59 > 0:08:00It was brilliant.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07From Blackpool, my journey takes me nine miles
0:08:07 > 0:08:09up the coast to Fleetwood.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13The railway between the two towns closed in 1970,
0:08:13 > 0:08:15but I can still make tracks
0:08:15 > 0:08:18by boarding the much-loved Blackpool tramway.
0:08:26 > 0:08:32Blackpool had one of the world's first electric tramways from 1885,
0:08:32 > 0:08:35and unlike any other city in mainland Britain,
0:08:35 > 0:08:37it's kept its trams ever since.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42- Hello, Bill. - Good afternoon, Michael.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45You must be a happy man driving this wonderful historic car.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48It's an absolute thrill to be able to
0:08:48 > 0:08:53drive something over 100 years old and making the passers-by smile.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58As a frequent visitor to Blackpool, at least in the old days,
0:08:58 > 0:09:00what surprised me on this visit
0:09:00 > 0:09:03is to see the absolutely modern, brand-new trams.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05How do you feel about them?
0:09:05 > 0:09:08They're fast, clean, efficient, very well-run.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13- I still prefer the old ones, Michael.- I bet you do!
0:09:19 > 0:09:24Fleetwood was the first planned town of the Victorian era.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26Its sheltered river mouth location
0:09:26 > 0:09:28was ideal for a port and holiday resort.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34Work on the town and a rail link to Preston began simultaneously,
0:09:34 > 0:09:37and in 1840, the line opened.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41Fleetwood Harbour became the starting point
0:09:41 > 0:09:44for journeys across the Irish Sea,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47and its port grew to be one of the country's largest.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51"Fleetwood, on the mouth of the River Wyre,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54"built on what was formerly a rabbit warren.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58"A modern town which had no existence before 1836.
0:09:58 > 0:10:04"Now a commodious harbour from which steamers go to Belfast."
0:10:04 > 0:10:06"On my arrival, I'm greeted by a salty breeze."
0:10:06 > 0:10:08HE SNIFSS
0:10:08 > 0:10:11"Wonderful for clearing the sinuses!"
0:10:15 > 0:10:20Today, the town's sea-faring legacy lives on in its most famous export -
0:10:20 > 0:10:22Fisherman's Friend lozenges.
0:10:24 > 0:10:25I'm meeting Tony Lofthouse,
0:10:25 > 0:10:29the great grandson of founder James Lofthouse.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33Tony, how does the story of Fisherman's Friend begin?
0:10:33 > 0:10:34It started 1865
0:10:34 > 0:10:38when my great grandfather moved down from Lancaster to Fleetwood
0:10:38 > 0:10:41and opened an apothecary shop, and he traded from there.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44And as the trawlers went further and further from Fleetwood,
0:10:44 > 0:10:46they went into colder and colder weather,
0:10:46 > 0:10:48and the trawlermen got infections of the chest.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52So he created menthol and eucalyptus lozenges for them.
0:10:52 > 0:10:53No name on it at all,
0:10:53 > 0:10:55but it was given the name by the people of Fleetwood.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57The trawlermen would come in and say,
0:10:57 > 0:10:59"Could I have some of my friends, please?"
0:10:59 > 0:11:00And the public would say,
0:11:00 > 0:11:02"I want some of those lozenges the fishermen have."
0:11:02 > 0:11:05- So, you're making it sound like a very local product...- Yes, it was.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08- ..for trawlermen in Fleetwood.- Yes.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12My grandfather, father, uncle were
0:11:12 > 0:11:15only interested in the chemist shop side of it, really.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17They weren't bothered about marketing at all.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20It was only when we opened the, what we call the summer shops,
0:11:20 > 0:11:22on the promenade in Fleetwood,
0:11:22 > 0:11:25we used to get the holiday workers coming from the cotton towns.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27They'd buy the product, go home and couldn't find it,
0:11:27 > 0:11:29so they'd write to us.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31And my wife collated the letters into towns
0:11:31 > 0:11:35and then set off with a box full of loose packets
0:11:35 > 0:11:39and picked a post office or another chemist shop
0:11:39 > 0:11:41and said, "Look, if you will stock this product,
0:11:41 > 0:11:43"I will go home and write to these people
0:11:43 > 0:11:46"to say they can get them from you," and that's how it started.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49It seems to me that, in the history of your company,
0:11:49 > 0:11:51- you owe quite a lot to your wife, Doreen.- Absolutely.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54She's always full of ideas and bringing something new in.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56And what position does Doreen occupy now?
0:11:56 > 0:11:59She's chairman of the company - and quite rightly so!
0:12:01 > 0:12:06The company has grown to employ 380 people in Fleetwood.
0:12:06 > 0:12:0896% of their lozenges go abroad,
0:12:08 > 0:12:12and they've won three Queen's Awards for export.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17- How many lozenges do you make? - We make about 23 million a day.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:12:20 > 0:12:23- Gosh, that's a lot of sore throats being dealt with.- Yes!
0:12:25 > 0:12:27- Hello, Duncan.- Hello, Michael.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Another member of the family shows me the factory floor
0:12:30 > 0:12:32where the lozenges are made.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36Duncan, a beautiful, pristine environment.
0:12:36 > 0:12:37It's as though there's a mist in the air,
0:12:37 > 0:12:41I feel my eyes watering slightly and the smell penetrating my nose.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Yes, I think that's probably the menthol
0:12:43 > 0:12:46that's causing that sensation for you.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48A rather surprising sight to me, Duncan -
0:12:48 > 0:12:49these lumps of brown product.
0:12:49 > 0:12:50What's happening at this point?
0:12:50 > 0:12:53Well, once the ingredients have been mixed together,
0:12:53 > 0:12:55the product then comes along this conveyer belt
0:12:55 > 0:12:56and goes into a moulder.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59The moulder makes the shape of the lozenge,
0:12:59 > 0:13:01which are then transferred onto trays.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03The trays are then onto palettes
0:13:03 > 0:13:06and they go into a drying oven for anything up to seven days.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09We have two identical lines to this,
0:13:09 > 0:13:11each producing five tonnes of product every day.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13How similar is this to the first product
0:13:13 > 0:13:15that was produced by your ancestors?
0:13:15 > 0:13:17It's very, very similar indeed.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20The only difference is now we do a moulding process,
0:13:20 > 0:13:22where, previously, the product was stamped out.
0:13:22 > 0:13:23That's the only difference.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26I think your ancestors, though, would've been just amazed
0:13:26 > 0:13:29by this degree of production and automation.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31I'm sure they would, yes.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Hello. Have you worked for Fisherman's Friend long?
0:13:36 > 0:13:38Coming up to three years this year.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40Anyone in your family work for the company?
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Yeah, my grandma. She's been here 23 years.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Do you ever get used to the sensation
0:13:45 > 0:13:46in your eyes and your nose?
0:13:46 > 0:13:49You get used to it now, yeah. Now that I've been here for a while.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51- Very nice to talk to you. - Yeah, you too.- Bye-bye.- Bye.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57The smell of menthol and eucalyptus is pervasive.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01But the range of tastes around the world demands additional flavouring.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05- Which one is the original? - That is the original, there.
0:14:05 > 0:14:06Thank you very much.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11Quite a strong smell, but of course,
0:14:11 > 0:14:13nothing by comparison with the factory floor.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21- Quickly it begins to release eucalyptus...- Yes.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23..and menthol.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25Mm. Very effective.
0:14:25 > 0:14:30I'm sure, if I were on a trawler, I would find that very efficacious.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32- And what else should I try? - I'd like you to try this one.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34This is a rather unusual one.
0:14:34 > 0:14:35This is a salmiak variant
0:14:35 > 0:14:38that sells particularly well in Scandinavia.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50It's liquorice!
0:14:50 > 0:14:51I hate liquorice!
0:14:51 > 0:14:53I think you must be in the minority
0:14:53 > 0:14:56because it's one of our bestselling variants, actually.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02With head cleared, I seek out my bed for the night.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09Why have I chosen the North Euston Hotel
0:15:09 > 0:15:11for the first night of my journey?
0:15:11 > 0:15:13I'll give you one guess.
0:15:13 > 0:15:14It's in my Bradshaw's!
0:15:16 > 0:15:20The hotel's grandeur illustrates railway history.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22When it opened in 1841,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25there were trains from London, but not onwards to Scotland.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29Passengers would therefore overnight in Fleetwood
0:15:29 > 0:15:34before taking the ferry to Ardrossan for the train to Glasgow.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38In 1846, a direct line to Scotland opened,
0:15:38 > 0:15:41so the North Euston's heyday was brief.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06I'm ready to resume my journey east to Manchester.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13George Bradshaw often marvelled at
0:16:13 > 0:16:16the triumphs of the civil engineers of his day
0:16:16 > 0:16:19in both canals and railways.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21But they did leave some gaps,
0:16:21 > 0:16:27for example, between Victoria and Piccadilly stations in Manchester.
0:16:27 > 0:16:32I want to see how modern-day engineers cope with those issues
0:16:32 > 0:16:36and how they live up to the standards of their forebears.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42I'm travelling 40 miles south east to Lostock near Bolton,
0:16:42 > 0:16:45where I will see a railway bridge taking shape.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49When complete, it will be part of an £85 million project
0:16:49 > 0:16:52called the Ordsall Chord.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55300 metres of new track will allow trains to run
0:16:55 > 0:16:58between Victoria and Piccadilly stations in Manchester.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04It's part of an investment of more than £1 billion
0:17:04 > 0:17:06in the railways in the north of England.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11Project manager Jarrod Hulme shows me the bridge
0:17:11 > 0:17:14that will form a vital part of the Ordsall Chord.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19For whatever reason, the Victorians did not link
0:17:19 > 0:17:21Piccadilly and Victoria stations in Manchester.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24What advantages do you have over the Victorians?
0:17:24 > 0:17:27I'd say the biggest key factor is the technology
0:17:27 > 0:17:29that has come about over the last 20 years or so.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32We design everything within a 3-D world, and then we transmit
0:17:32 > 0:17:35that onto the shop floor for the guys to actually use.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37They'll measure things with laser-guided technology,
0:17:37 > 0:17:41rather than spirit levels and plumb bob that the Victorians used to use.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43- To extraordinary levels of accuracy. - Yes.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46You're looking at between one and two millimetres.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49- Have you developed any Victorian engineering heroes?- Yes, I have.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52I'd say Brunel's probably one of my favourite heroes.
0:17:52 > 0:17:53Some of the structures he's done,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56in the timescale and the tools that they had,
0:17:56 > 0:17:58I find absolutely unbelievable.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01The Ordsall Chord development
0:18:01 > 0:18:03crosses the world's first modern railway line,
0:18:03 > 0:18:08built by George Stephenson between Liverpool and Manchester in 1830.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15Jarrod, it looks like Meccano on the mega-scale.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17Yeah, this is a full-scale trial erection
0:18:17 > 0:18:21of one of the structures on Ordsall Chord called Trinity Way.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23Basically, what you're looking at here is how we make sure
0:18:23 > 0:18:26that the actual items fit together before they get to site.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29The main span girders that you can see on the left and the right,
0:18:29 > 0:18:32they're fabricated in another area of the bay.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34Then they're brought to this particular area
0:18:34 > 0:18:37where they're assimilated into the final span position.
0:18:38 > 0:18:43The centrepiece of the Ordsall Chord will be the network arch bridge,
0:18:43 > 0:18:46which some have compared to a squashed tennis racket,
0:18:46 > 0:18:49with a distinctive swoosh at one end.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52The ground-breaking design is destined to become
0:18:52 > 0:18:55a Manchester landmark.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57How do you feel, being in your case,
0:18:57 > 0:19:00a very significant part of this extraordinary transformation
0:19:00 > 0:19:01in the middle of Manchester?
0:19:01 > 0:19:04I'm a local boy, so having the fact that you can actually see this
0:19:04 > 0:19:06on a daily basis when you go into the city,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09it's going to be an iconic structure that everybody gets to see,
0:19:09 > 0:19:12so, yeah, really proud to be part of it.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14The Victorians would be amazed to see
0:19:14 > 0:19:16the technology at Jarrod's disposal.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19But they'd be very familiar with the skills involved
0:19:19 > 0:19:20in constructing the bridge.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24Hello.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27- My name's Michael.- This is Steve.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29- How do you do, Steve?- Fantastic.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32- What's going on here, then? - OK, so this is the welding process.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35This is a main span girder for a River Irwell arch.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37Must be operating, obviously, at a very high temperature
0:19:37 > 0:19:39cos, actually I can feel that there's heat
0:19:39 > 0:19:42all the way through this vast piece of metal.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46Steve is using a process called submerged arc welding.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49This produces slag as a waste material.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52I may as well make myself useful.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54Steve, my mother taught me to vacuum clean.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58- Can I have a go at that? - Certainly.- Thank you very much.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01Let me have that dooberry as well. There we go.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07- Sucking up all the bits of flux here.- Perfect.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09Keep the place nice and tidy.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13And then the other thing you do is you chip these bits off...
0:20:16 > 0:20:18Looks like you're a natural at this, Michael.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20My mother taught me well.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22Do you think it's "weld done"?
0:20:24 > 0:20:28When, in decades to come, I travel along the Ordsall Chord,
0:20:28 > 0:20:31I shall think back to Steve and the vacuum cleaner.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35I'm re-joining the train at Lostock
0:20:35 > 0:20:38and travelling 60 miles to Salford station,
0:20:38 > 0:20:40close to where the bridge is to be assembled.
0:20:43 > 0:20:48The plan to build a new link across Manchester has been controversial
0:20:48 > 0:20:51because it interferes with George Stephenson's bridge
0:20:51 > 0:20:56across which Robert Stephenson's rocket locomotive has so often run.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00And certainly we need to preserve our old heritage,
0:21:00 > 0:21:04but what better tribute to those railway pioneers
0:21:04 > 0:21:07than that today, nearly 200 years later,
0:21:07 > 0:21:11their technology of metal wheels on metal rails
0:21:11 > 0:21:14is still being used, refined and developed?
0:21:20 > 0:21:24When finished, the new bridge will be taken to Manchester
0:21:24 > 0:21:25and assembled on-site.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27I've come to meet Alan Parker,
0:21:27 > 0:21:30programme manager for Network Rail, at the construction zone,
0:21:30 > 0:21:32just south of Salford station
0:21:32 > 0:21:35and to the west of Manchester's city centre.
0:21:38 > 0:21:39It's an amazing sight, isn't it?
0:21:39 > 0:21:43Railway line, canal, river, several bridges - complicated!
0:21:43 > 0:21:45Where are you going to put your new railway line?
0:21:45 > 0:21:47Directly over where we're standing now.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50We've already done quite a lot of work to link Piccadilly with Victoria
0:21:50 > 0:21:52in earlier stages of the job.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55This is the final link which takes two existing viaducts,
0:21:55 > 0:21:58which one comes from Victoria to Liverpool,
0:21:58 > 0:22:00the other one links Piccadilly through to Liverpool as well.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03This is a link which joins the two together,
0:22:03 > 0:22:06allowing the railway to run from Victoria to Piccadilly
0:22:06 > 0:22:07for the first time.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09When the Ordsall Chord is completed,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12there will be two new fast trains per hour
0:22:12 > 0:22:15between Manchester Victoria and Liverpool.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17A new direct service will run
0:22:17 > 0:22:20across Manchester city centre to the airport
0:22:20 > 0:22:24and faster journey times to Hull, Newcastle and across the north
0:22:24 > 0:22:25will be possible.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29Where is the famous George Stephenson bridge?
0:22:29 > 0:22:31Stephenson's bridge at the moment is hidden away,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34behind this bridge, behind a further bridge.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37And if you look closely underneath the bottom of the bridge,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40it's two stone arches with a central pier in the river.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43We're going to reveal the whole of Stephenson's bridge
0:22:43 > 0:22:46for the first time since round about the 1830s, 1840s.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49So we're going to fully refurbish the external faces of the bridge
0:22:49 > 0:22:51and bring it back to an original condition.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53A bit of a renaissance going on for the railways in the north?
0:22:53 > 0:22:56I think so. It's a good time for the railway in Manchester.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58- Exciting?- Very exciting, yeah.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04Bradshaw's says that, "The Liverpool and Manchester line
0:23:04 > 0:23:08"is pre-eminently entitled to rank as the pioneer
0:23:08 > 0:23:10"of those stupendous undertakings
0:23:10 > 0:23:12"which have given a new stimulus to
0:23:12 > 0:23:16"the mechanical and architectural genius of the age."
0:23:16 > 0:23:20Mechanical and architectural flair are key today.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29All my rail journeys using my Bradshaw's guide
0:23:29 > 0:23:32are really about historic memories
0:23:32 > 0:23:35but I'm now on my way to Manchester Piccadilly station
0:23:35 > 0:23:38for a very special act of remembrance.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45Railways and their workers played a vital role
0:23:45 > 0:23:50in the Great War of 1914 to 1918.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54Over 19,000 railwaymen lost their lives.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57Manchester Piccadilly used to have a memorial honouring
0:23:57 > 0:24:0287 fallen railwaymen of the London And North Western Railway.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05It was dedicated in 1920
0:24:05 > 0:24:10but mislaid when the station was redeveloped in the 1960s.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14Train managers for Virgin Trains Andy Partington and Wayne McDonald
0:24:14 > 0:24:17decided to rectify the loss with a new monument,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20and after many hours of research,
0:24:20 > 0:24:25they've discovered the biographies of 75 of the 87 men listed.
0:24:25 > 0:24:30What gave you the idea, not only of recreating the memorial,
0:24:30 > 0:24:34but actually investigating the people whose names were on it?
0:24:34 > 0:24:37I think it's important that they're not just a name on a memorial.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39They were somebody's father, son, brother,
0:24:39 > 0:24:41and they were individuals.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45It's interesting, as railwaymen, to learn.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48Although the railway is different today than 100 years ago,
0:24:48 > 0:24:50it's more or less getting to know them personally,
0:24:50 > 0:24:54that's how we've felt as we've progressed through this project.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56How did you set about your researches?
0:24:56 > 0:24:59Mostly through sites like the Commonwealth War Grave site,
0:24:59 > 0:25:01family tree sites.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04And then, obviously, the release of the headstone registers
0:25:04 > 0:25:06by the Commonwealth War Graves last year.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09Answered a lot of questions and let us narrow down
0:25:09 > 0:25:12that that's definitely the person we are looking at.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15I'm deeply honoured to have been asked to give a speech
0:25:15 > 0:25:17at the unveiling ceremony.
0:25:17 > 0:25:22Lord Mayor, Deputy Lord Lieutenant and ladies and gentlemen.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26The men who joined the railways during the 19th century
0:25:26 > 0:25:29and in the first years of the 20th century
0:25:29 > 0:25:32were typically brave and resourceful people
0:25:32 > 0:25:35because the railways were dangerous.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37And they were also people
0:25:37 > 0:25:40who were strongly dedicated to public service.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44And so it is perhaps understandable, that when the call came in 1914,
0:25:44 > 0:25:50that railwaymen were so prominent and so numerous in stepping forward.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53I want to say how very delighted I am that
0:25:53 > 0:25:56the First World War memorial here at Manchester Piccadilly station
0:25:56 > 0:25:58is now to be restored.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04APPLAUSE
0:26:23 > 0:26:25TRUMPETER PLAYS LAST POST
0:26:29 > 0:26:34- Who is in this photograph? - It's our grandad. Joseph Daly.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36- A day you'll remember? - Absolutely, yes.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39- Fantastic.- It's very nice.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42The memorial includes the name of my late husband's uncle.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45A couple of years before my husband fell ill,
0:26:45 > 0:26:49he came in to Manchester to see if he could find the memorial
0:26:49 > 0:26:51and he was really upset to find it had gone.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53So I'm here to represent my husband,
0:26:53 > 0:26:55and I'm so sad that he's not here today.
0:27:10 > 0:27:15George and Robert Stephenson left their mark on Manchester
0:27:15 > 0:27:19when the world's first trains ran to and from the city
0:27:19 > 0:27:21while Queen Victoria was still a child.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27Today, Manchester is being transformed by new lines,
0:27:27 > 0:27:30proving that this 19th-century technology
0:27:30 > 0:27:34can still be exploited in the 21st.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37The railways attracted a particular sort of man -
0:27:37 > 0:27:41tough, resourceful and duty-bound.
0:27:41 > 0:27:42And from amongst their ranks,
0:27:42 > 0:27:46there stepped forward some of the most effective volunteers
0:27:46 > 0:27:48for the First World War.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51Britain owes them a debt.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58'Next time, I discover Victorian grandeur deep underground...'
0:27:59 > 0:28:01This is known as the cathedral,
0:28:01 > 0:28:03which has this vaulted cast-iron arch.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05This is a monumental piece of work.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08'..find my travels lit by starlight...'
0:28:08 > 0:28:11Lift it, please! Let there be light.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14Bravo. MICHAEL APPLAUDS
0:28:14 > 0:28:15'..and take a miniature detour.'