0:00:04 > 0:00:06For Edwardian Britons,
0:00:06 > 0:00:09a Bradshaw's was an indispensable guide to a railway network
0:00:09 > 0:00:11at its peak.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16I'm using an early 20th century edition to navigate a vibrant and
0:00:16 > 0:00:19optimistic Britain at the height of its power
0:00:19 > 0:00:22and influence in the world.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27But a nation wrestling with political,
0:00:27 > 0:00:30social and industrial unrest at home.
0:00:56 > 0:01:01In 1901, shortly before the publication of my Bradshaw's,
0:01:01 > 0:01:06Queen Victoria died after nearly 64 years on the throne.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10Her successor Edward VII was hardly a young man,
0:01:10 > 0:01:14and yet his accession clearly represented a big change.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18He was enormous where she had been petite.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22He was wayward where she had been discreet.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26Starting in one of his favourite counties, Norfolk,
0:01:26 > 0:01:31on this rail journey I will embrace Edward and the Edwardians.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39My rail journey will take me from
0:01:39 > 0:01:42aristocratic estates in Norfolk through
0:01:42 > 0:01:47the university city of Cambridge, onto the high life of the capital.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49I'll make my way along the south coast,
0:01:49 > 0:01:52crossing the Solent to explore the King's childhood
0:01:52 > 0:01:53on the Isle of Wight.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55Returning to the mainland,
0:01:55 > 0:02:00I'll experience turn-of-the-century past times in the seaside resorts of
0:02:00 > 0:02:01Bournemouth and Poole.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05The first leg starts at Cromer.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08My route heads south to the Norfolk Broads at Wroxham,
0:02:08 > 0:02:11where I'll shoot across to Attleborough
0:02:11 > 0:02:15and the Quidenham Estate before ending in my alma mater.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20On the way, I learn the ropes on an Edwardian pleasure boat...
0:02:20 > 0:02:22Are they up there yet, skipper?
0:02:22 > 0:02:25- Nearly there.- Heave! Ho!
0:02:25 > 0:02:28..take a pot shot at the sport of kings...
0:02:28 > 0:02:31Is this the sort of place His Majesty would have shot?
0:02:31 > 0:02:33The King would have been probably
0:02:33 > 0:02:35standing not far from where we are now.
0:02:35 > 0:02:36Pull!
0:02:36 > 0:02:38..and, Fred Astaire, watch out,
0:02:38 > 0:02:42as I'm persuaded to put on my dancing shoes to strut my stuff.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58The railways came relatively late to parts of Norfolk.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01As a result, it offered unspoiled resorts,
0:03:01 > 0:03:03and as these timetables make clear,
0:03:03 > 0:03:07there were good connections to London and other places.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11Bradshaw's says Cromer is one of the few English health resorts that
0:03:11 > 0:03:15combine country and sea in close proximity,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18which is very restful to the eye.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22More than one Royal personage has been ordered here.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24Cromer was in the same county as Sandringham,
0:03:24 > 0:03:27which in 1862 had become Edward's country house
0:03:27 > 0:03:31when he was still Prince of Wales, with the landscape
0:03:31 > 0:03:36reminding his bride, Alexandra, of her native Denmark.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53Lying at the foot of a cliff, Cromer beach has been awarded a blue flag,
0:03:53 > 0:03:56meaning it's top quality.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00At the time of my guidebook,
0:04:00 > 0:04:04the town aimed to attract a high class of visitor.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07Indeed, Bradshaw's supplement to the spas and health resorts of
0:04:07 > 0:04:12Great Britain tells me that, "Cromer has a fine promenade of pier,
0:04:12 > 0:04:16"with an enclosure for 1,000 persons, safe bathing,
0:04:16 > 0:04:18"firm, level sands, boating,
0:04:18 > 0:04:21"fishing, first-class band and theatre,
0:04:21 > 0:04:23"Royal Cromer golf links, tennis, bowls."
0:04:23 > 0:04:27Every kind of amusement for the fun-loving Edwardian!
0:04:31 > 0:04:35I'm meeting Alistair Murphy, curator of Cromer Museum,
0:04:35 > 0:04:39to find out what made this into a holiday spot fit for a king.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42- Alistair, hello.- Hi.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44So, Cromer is a beautiful place today,
0:04:44 > 0:04:47but what was its making as an Edwardian resort?
0:04:47 > 0:04:50Well, the railways didn't get here until 1877,
0:04:50 > 0:04:56and as a result it was a relatively undiscovered part of the coast at a
0:04:56 > 0:04:59time when holidays were already pretty well established.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02It meant that Cromer was unspoiled.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05According to my Bradshaw's, there's sailing,
0:05:05 > 0:05:09there's the royal golf links - it's catering for the upper classes,
0:05:09 > 0:05:11- is that right?- Absolutely.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13In the 1880s, 1890s, even the
0:05:13 > 0:05:16crowned heads of Europe came to Cromer.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20But with people bathing here, was there any risque element?
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Cromer may be a trendsetter in that respect.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25If you went to the seaside in the 1880s, 1890s,
0:05:25 > 0:05:28the fathers and the sons would have
0:05:28 > 0:05:30to go to one end of the beach to bathe,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33and women and daughters would have to go the other end,
0:05:33 > 0:05:35but we think that Cromer was the first place
0:05:35 > 0:05:38to allow the indecent behaviour
0:05:38 > 0:05:41of women and men bathing together.
0:05:41 > 0:05:42We've got records of a local town
0:05:42 > 0:05:44council meeting where an elderly member
0:05:44 > 0:05:46of the council is apoplectic about
0:05:46 > 0:05:48the idea that mixed bathing should be
0:05:48 > 0:05:51happening in his seaside resort.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55As the 20th century got into its stride,
0:05:55 > 0:05:59Cromer acquired something that had become an essential part of the
0:05:59 > 0:06:01British holiday.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06Alistair, the pier is lovely and very, very well preserved.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08- Is it Edwardian?- It is.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11It was officially opened in 1901.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13I think Cromer, as all the resorts did,
0:06:13 > 0:06:18looked to see what their competitors were doing and try and better them.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22Officiating at the opening ceremony was Lord Claud Hamilton,
0:06:22 > 0:06:24chairman of the Great Eastern Railway -
0:06:24 > 0:06:27a sure sign of how important trains
0:06:27 > 0:06:30had become to the town's tourist business.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Bradshaw's tells me, of course, it has a large theatre.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36It does, although in 1901 there was
0:06:36 > 0:06:38just a small bandstand to start with.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42This pavilion was built the winter of 1905-06.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44And what sort of entertainment do you think
0:06:44 > 0:06:46they might have got in those days?
0:06:46 > 0:06:50Well, when the pavilion opened you would have had variety and
0:06:50 > 0:06:52musical and comedy.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55Around that time,
0:06:55 > 0:06:57bawdy music hall was being
0:06:57 > 0:07:01rebranded as the more respectable-sounding variety.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08Tables and chairs were replaced with theatre-style seating,
0:07:08 > 0:07:12and variety included acrobats, animal acts,
0:07:12 > 0:07:15jugglers and dancers on the same bill.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21It's a tradition that continues on Cromer Pier today.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28Director of this year's show is Diane Cook.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30Five, six, seven, eight.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34And going into the next dancing section, next tapping section.
0:07:34 > 0:07:35Hello, Di. I'm Michael.
0:07:35 > 0:07:36Hi, Michael. Good to see you.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39- Hello, Company.- Hello!- So, would you call this variety after all these
0:07:39 > 0:07:42- years?- It's absolutely still traditional variety,
0:07:42 > 0:07:45but it does have 21st-century content now.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47And is tap still a very big and popular thing?
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Absolutely, yes. I think it's the rhythms of tap that people like,
0:07:50 > 0:07:52and it's been around for a long time,
0:07:52 > 0:07:53but of course now we're doing it in
0:07:53 > 0:07:56a street style, so it's really given it a modern feel.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58How do you start someone on tap?
0:07:58 > 0:08:03Mostly dancers start at a very early age, but the first...
0:08:03 > 0:08:05Slightly younger than you, Michael.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08- Oh, right, OK. Yeah.- But you would start with stamps and rhythms and
0:08:08 > 0:08:10getting the rhythms together by
0:08:10 > 0:08:12teaching them how to clap the rhythms,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15and then they'll start with a stamp, that's the way.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18And then they'll go onto a brush back and stamp.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21That's it now. Brush, back and stamp.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23Brush, back and stamp.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26And then they'll add a hop, shuffle, hop, step, shuffle.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29I feel naked. That's better.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Here we go.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36Fabulous.
0:08:36 > 0:08:37Here we go.
0:08:38 > 0:08:39Take it away, Michael.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49I think that deserves a bow, doesn't it?
0:08:49 > 0:08:51- Well done.- Thank you.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15- Tickets. Hello, there.- Hello.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21From Cromer, I'm taking the train inland, leaving the sea behind,
0:09:21 > 0:09:24but not the water.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26I'm heading for the complex of waterways and lakes
0:09:26 > 0:09:29known as the Norfolk Broads.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32After the naughty titillations of the seaside and the pier,
0:09:32 > 0:09:35I'm feeling broad-minded.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47The capital of the Norfolk Broads,
0:09:47 > 0:09:51Wroxham, is a magnet for visitors planning a day out.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55Modern tourists explore the waterways on motor cruisers,
0:09:55 > 0:09:58but for most Edwardian travellers boating was under sail.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02I'm meeting yacht owner Andrew Scull.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05Hello, are you Andrew?
0:10:05 > 0:10:07- Hello. I am.- Hello, Michael.
0:10:07 > 0:10:08And this is a wherry?
0:10:08 > 0:10:12This is Olive - the first of the wherry yachts to be built in 1909.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14Absolutely spectacular.
0:10:14 > 0:10:15- May we go on board?- Of course.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21Olive was named after the daughter of boat builder Ernest Collins,
0:10:21 > 0:10:23who was based in Wroxham.
0:10:25 > 0:10:26Andrew, what are the Norfolk Broads?
0:10:26 > 0:10:29They are a couple of principal rivers, the Bure,
0:10:29 > 0:10:32on which we are sailing today, and the Yare.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34Yare being "Yaremouth," Yarmouth.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37But the rest were peat diggings from medieval times,
0:10:37 > 0:10:39which essentially filled with water.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41And they were very useful for navigation?
0:10:41 > 0:10:46Indeed, in those days lots of the villages were in need of various
0:10:46 > 0:10:49products, so the things that the trading wherries would carry,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52it would be coal, grain, cloth,
0:10:52 > 0:10:56and they were designed to be able to be sailed by just one person.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00When the railways arrived in the late 19th century,
0:11:00 > 0:11:03they could move cargo more quickly and cheaply,
0:11:03 > 0:11:08but the resourceful wherrymen just moved sideways into leisure.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12And the railways that had ruined the cargo trade now began to bring
0:11:12 > 0:11:14holiday-makers to the Norfolk Broads.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19In Edwardian times, were tourists coming and they
0:11:19 > 0:11:22were able to ride for pleasure on the wherries?
0:11:22 > 0:11:25They were, and as more and more came, the wherry yacht came into
0:11:25 > 0:11:28existence, which was essentially designed
0:11:28 > 0:11:30for carrying holiday-makers.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33So, we've got the use of a skipper and also crew,
0:11:33 > 0:11:36who when they weren't attending to the duties of sailing the boat,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39would be providing meals and serving the visitors who came.
0:11:39 > 0:11:40So the visitors had a choice of
0:11:40 > 0:11:43doing as much or as little as they wanted to do onboard.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Now, we are drifting around very nicely but we have a sail?
0:11:47 > 0:11:48- Indeed.- Should we put it up?
0:11:48 > 0:11:50Let's do that.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55Michael, can I introduce you to Jerry?
0:11:55 > 0:11:58- Jerry, Michael.- I'm Michael, indeed.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00So, what do we have to do here?
0:12:00 > 0:12:02Basically, we need to pick up a winch handle each.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04You have yours pointed downwards,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07I'll have mine pointing upwards, and then we need to wind roughly the
0:12:07 > 0:12:09same speed, exerting a little bit of
0:12:09 > 0:12:11inward pressure so the winch handle doesn't come off.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14- OK.- Basically, We keep going until the skipper tells us to stop.
0:12:14 > 0:12:15OK.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22The sail is going up.
0:12:25 > 0:12:30- A bit harder.- When you can do it with two hands.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32Right. Let me know when.
0:12:32 > 0:12:33OK.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36Two hands.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Is it not up there yet, skipper?
0:12:43 > 0:12:44Nearly there.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46- Nearly there.- It's getting hard.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49Heave! Ho!
0:12:52 > 0:12:53That'll do, thank you.
0:12:54 > 0:12:55That was good exercise.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59Look at that. What a beautiful craft.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02Exquisite.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09You can see the Edwardian attraction in it, can't you?
0:13:09 > 0:13:13Far from the madding crowd, far from the old smoke of London.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Absolutely delightful, especially on a day like this.
0:13:16 > 0:13:17Really lovely.
0:13:23 > 0:13:24- Bye, Andrew.- Bye-bye, Michael.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26Thank you. Skipper, bye.
0:13:26 > 0:13:27Goodbye.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31- Bye-bye now.- Bye-bye.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35BRASS BAND PLAYS
0:13:45 > 0:13:49Brass bands became popular in the mid-19th century.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52And by the early 20th century, there were thousands,
0:13:52 > 0:13:54all over the country.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58It was truly a golden age of brass.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04HE APPLAUDS
0:14:04 > 0:14:07Bravo! The Norfolk Wherry Brass.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10And why are you called the Norfolk Wherry Brass?
0:14:10 > 0:14:13Wherry ties everything together in Norfolk.
0:14:13 > 0:14:14A form of transport,
0:14:14 > 0:14:17because many of these people come from different parts of Norfolk.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20And the wherry connects you all.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22And what was that piece you are playing?
0:14:22 > 0:14:24That was a march called Viscount Nelson.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26- And what's the connection?- Nelson,
0:14:26 > 0:14:28of course, was born in Norfolk and learnt to sail
0:14:28 > 0:14:30on Barton Broad very close to here.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33Are you telling me that the Battle of Trafalgar
0:14:33 > 0:14:34was won on the sailing broads of
0:14:34 > 0:14:36- Norfolk?- Absolutely.
0:14:45 > 0:14:50I rejoin the train at Hoveton and Wroxham station,
0:14:50 > 0:14:52bidding farewell to the Broads.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55I'm on the Bittern line,
0:14:55 > 0:14:57which takes its name from a species
0:14:57 > 0:14:59of heron found in the reedy wetlands.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08A golden evening caps a beautiful summer's day,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11and I'm going to spend the night in Norwich.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19At the time of my Bradshaw's, Norwich had not one,
0:15:19 > 0:15:24but three railway stations, drawing lines from all corners of Norfolk.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27It was, until the Industrial Revolution,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30the largest city in England after London,
0:15:30 > 0:15:33with the Norman Cathedral at its heart.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37An advertisement in my Bradshaw's has drawn me to the
0:15:37 > 0:15:39Maids' Head Hotel.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41"County hotel of Norfolk,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44"for 500 years," and this was written 100 years ago.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48"Sanitary certificate in every room."
0:15:48 > 0:15:49Irresistible.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23I'll be leaving this train at Attleborough, headed for Quidenham.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25The standard newspaper in October
0:16:25 > 0:16:281909 tells me that the little village,
0:16:28 > 0:16:30one of the prettiest in Norfolk,
0:16:30 > 0:16:35was all agog because of the visit of His Majesty the King.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39He travelled from London by special train and when he descended from the
0:16:39 > 0:16:42royal saloon he was a picture of good health.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45There was very good shooting at Quidenham,
0:16:45 > 0:16:47but now that I look at the guest list,
0:16:47 > 0:16:50present were the honourable George and Mrs Keppel.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53Now, she was the king's devoted mistress,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56so at Quidenham there was a target
0:16:56 > 0:16:59even more important than the partridge
0:16:59 > 0:17:02that fell victim to his majestic marksmanship.
0:17:14 > 0:17:19King Edward VII already owned a Norfolk estate at Sandringham,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22bought for him by Queen Victoria when he turned 21.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34He became a regular visitor at Quidenham,
0:17:34 > 0:17:37home of the eighth Earl of Albermarle,
0:17:37 > 0:17:38Arnold Keppel.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41Today, you don't have to be royalty to shoot here -
0:17:41 > 0:17:44the grounds are open to the paying public.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47I'm meeting gamekeeper Robert Brown.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51Robert, Quidenham Hall presents a fine facade, impressive building.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53What would this scene have been like, do you think,
0:17:53 > 0:17:55when King Edward VII visited?
0:17:55 > 0:17:59Well, the Hall itself pretty much has not changed, but in front of us,
0:17:59 > 0:18:01people lined the roadside with flags, torches,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04bunting in the hedges.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07It would have been a very impressive site, I would have thought.
0:18:07 > 0:18:08And if it was a royal weekend, how
0:18:08 > 0:18:11much shooting would there be, do you think?
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Well, they normally shot for two-three days, consecutive days.
0:18:14 > 0:18:15And that takes a lot of organisation?
0:18:15 > 0:18:18Yes. You can imagine the amount of staff that they would have had.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21Two teams of beaters, 25 on each,
0:18:21 > 0:18:24head keeper on the horse directing everything.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28It must have been like a military operation.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31A regular presence at the shooting parties
0:18:31 > 0:18:34was Lord Albermarle's sister-in-law.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38On the guest list was Alice Keppel.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40Yes. She would have come up here with her husband
0:18:40 > 0:18:42and she was the king's
0:18:42 > 0:18:44- mistress.- And what do you know of her?
0:18:44 > 0:18:46She was a very beautiful woman, very popular.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48Pretty convenient for the king,
0:18:48 > 0:18:50to combine two of his great interests in life.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54Probably. Yeah, I think they had to be given time, shall we say.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00I'm going to try my luck with some clay pigeons.
0:19:00 > 0:19:05It's my opportunity to walk in the footsteps of King Edward VII.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10Is this the sort of place His Majesty would have shot?
0:19:10 > 0:19:14Yeah, this would have been one of the pheasant drives.
0:19:14 > 0:19:15The king would have been probably
0:19:15 > 0:19:17standing not far from where we are now.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21Well, although I carried this gun, I thought, rather skilfully,
0:19:21 > 0:19:23I don't actually know how to use it.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25But would you...? Shall we have a little go?
0:19:25 > 0:19:26Yeah, certainly.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34Cartridges in.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36- What's that thing there?- Safety catch.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38Push forward when you're ready and it's live.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40It's all loaded. Ready?
0:19:40 > 0:19:41Safety catch on.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45How do I pull the trigger? Do you squeeze it or...?
0:19:45 > 0:19:46You want to give it a good snatch.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50- A good snatch.- Yes.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52Pull.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01No luck on that one.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03You've actually hit it but it didn't smash.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06- I hit it?- The second one, yes.
0:20:08 > 0:20:09I hit it!
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Let's have another go. Safety catch on.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18Again, slide it forward when you're ready.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20OK.
0:20:20 > 0:20:21Pull.
0:20:25 > 0:20:26Yes.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31I'm so pleased. I can't tell you how pleased I am.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34How did I hit that? That's amazing.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39Maybe I was to the manor born. What do you think?
0:20:39 > 0:20:40Well done.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45And just like the king, who loved his food and drink,
0:20:45 > 0:20:49after my sporting triumph, I'm ready for a pick-me-up.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52A sloe gin with some fizz for you.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54- Good health.- Thank you very much.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56- Why sloe gin?- Very traditional.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58It's what the king would have had on a shoot.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01And we serve it at elevenses on all our shoots.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03Elevenses. Here we go.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05Good health. Cheers.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07- Thank you, Robert.- Cheers.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12Sloe gin, but it gets through you quickly, doesn't it?
0:21:12 > 0:21:14- Marvellous.- Hits the spot. It's what you need.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16And we have a selection of savoury treats here,
0:21:16 > 0:21:19some home-made sausage rolls, some tartlets.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25Home cooking, absolutely delicious.
0:21:25 > 0:21:26Wonderful.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28Well, Robert, to our...
0:21:30 > 0:21:33..success. Very surprising in my case.
0:21:33 > 0:21:34Well shot. Well shot.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55On the final leg of my journey, I'm travelling from rural East Anglia to
0:21:55 > 0:21:58a world-famous centre of academia.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02The career of King Edward VII now leads me to Cambridge because he was
0:22:02 > 0:22:04an undergraduate there.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06But I'm also in pursuit of a novelist
0:22:06 > 0:22:09who links the Edwardian era with my own,
0:22:09 > 0:22:13because just shortly before I went to the university,
0:22:13 > 0:22:15there died an old man
0:22:15 > 0:22:19who had been a resident of King's College, Cambridge, for decades.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21The extraordinary EM Forster.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Cambridge is dominated by its university,
0:22:41 > 0:22:46made up of 31 separate colleges scattered around the city centre.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51The Prince of Wales - then known as Bertie,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54and already something of a ladies' man -
0:22:54 > 0:22:56arrived here to study in 1861.
0:22:57 > 0:23:03The future King Edward VII studied here at Trinity College, Cambridge.
0:23:03 > 0:23:08Rumours circulated of an affair with an actress in Ireland.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11His father, Prince Albert, though ill,
0:23:11 > 0:23:13travelled to Cambridge to remonstrate
0:23:13 > 0:23:15with the heir to the throne.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18On his return to London, Albert's health deteriorated,
0:23:18 > 0:23:21and within three weeks he was dead.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23A distraught Queen Victoria would always feel
0:23:23 > 0:23:26that her promiscuous son was
0:23:26 > 0:23:31partly responsible for the death of her beloved husband.
0:23:33 > 0:23:3736 years later at nearby King's College,
0:23:37 > 0:23:40the future best-selling author of
0:23:40 > 0:23:44A Room With A View and Howards End, Edward Morgan Forster,
0:23:44 > 0:23:46arrived to study classics.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50- Hello, Peter.- Very nice to meet you.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52I'm Michael. Good to see you.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57I've come to meet fellow of King's and Forster expert Peter Jones
0:23:57 > 0:24:01in the shadow of the hallowed King's College Chapel.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05When a very young EM Forster first comes to Cambridge, to King's,
0:24:05 > 0:24:07what sort of a person is he?
0:24:07 > 0:24:09He would have been very shy.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12His mother brought him up and she kept him very sheltered,
0:24:12 > 0:24:15and he went to a public school but he wasn't really comfortable there,
0:24:15 > 0:24:17he didn't make many friends,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20so King's was for him a big opening up of his life
0:24:20 > 0:24:22and a chance to make friends.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24What sort of a place was King's when he came here?
0:24:24 > 0:24:26In the middle of the 19th century,
0:24:26 > 0:24:28it would still have been a college for old Etonians.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32In 1861, the college said they were going to take everybody,
0:24:32 > 0:24:34so King's expanded hugely.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37This opened the place up to all kinds of influences
0:24:37 > 0:24:39that had not been there before.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41How did Forster feel about religion?
0:24:41 > 0:24:43I don't think he had any faith.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47It was something of a relief to him to find his tutor was an atheist and
0:24:47 > 0:24:50immediately that led Forster to feel relaxed.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52He didn't have to show that he was Christian.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54And for much of his life he was a humanist, wasn't he?
0:24:54 > 0:24:59Yes, that's right, the sort of faith he professed later as a liberal
0:24:59 > 0:25:01individualist was very much what he
0:25:01 > 0:25:05imbibed at King's, because that was the ethos here.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10Steeped in this radical atmosphere,
0:25:10 > 0:25:12the young Forster began to explore
0:25:12 > 0:25:15the big themes that would run through his writing.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20We have two of his student diaries.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22You can see the crest of King's College
0:25:22 > 0:25:24and then underneath EMF on each of them.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28And the year - 1898 and 1899.
0:25:28 > 0:25:33And if we look inside, we are in November 1899.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36"Ainsworth came in and ate bacon.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39"Then he and Meredith argued about beauty."
0:25:39 > 0:25:40It shows that he's beginning to
0:25:40 > 0:25:42relax enough to talk with his friends
0:25:42 > 0:25:44about serious matters.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46Love, beauty, friendship.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48And here we see some of the novels,
0:25:48 > 0:25:50with which we're so familiar.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54That's right. The Edwardian period of Forster's novel writing,
0:25:54 > 0:25:57he's building on his experiences in Cambridge and you get a sequence of
0:25:57 > 0:26:00novels - The Longest Journey,
0:26:00 > 0:26:05and then A Room With A View, and finally Howards End in 1910.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09He became somebody who was willing to express
0:26:09 > 0:26:11a very liberal and humanist view.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14In Forster's novels,
0:26:14 > 0:26:19liberal idealists come up against the rigid conventions of class-bound
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Edwardian society.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25With human relationships at their core,
0:26:25 > 0:26:28they continue to appeal to modern readers.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32Why do you think so many of the novels have been filmed?
0:26:32 > 0:26:36Film-makers find the romance plots
0:26:36 > 0:26:40and the swishier Edwardian dresses and cars
0:26:40 > 0:26:44and so on very attractive, so they can make a kind of heritage movie
0:26:44 > 0:26:47and all of those things - they're not really what he felt
0:26:47 > 0:26:48- he was about as a novelist.- Yes.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52Although they have had the effect of making his novels popular again.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15The Norfolk Broads wherry was a
0:27:15 > 0:27:18large boat designed for one-man operation,
0:27:18 > 0:27:23but I find a Cambridge punt enough of a challenge for me.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25Whilst Edwardians enjoyed the
0:27:25 > 0:27:28sauciness of the theatre and of the beach,
0:27:28 > 0:27:33their monarch was enjoying shooting and Alice Keppel.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36EM Forster, in one of his novels, describes undergraduate life with
0:27:36 > 0:27:39the college providing a servant to
0:27:39 > 0:27:43make your bed, but goes on to argue that the
0:27:43 > 0:27:45real privilege of Cambridge was, for
0:27:45 > 0:27:47a few years, to be surrounded by the
0:27:47 > 0:27:50greatest minds of your time.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02Next time, I discover a new era of
0:28:02 > 0:28:04tunnelling deep beneath the capital...
0:28:04 > 0:28:10Every 45 minutes we can get another 1.5 metres completed.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12..I tip the scales at a historic wine merchant...
0:28:12 > 0:28:15I've obviously misjudged you, Michael,
0:28:15 > 0:28:17because I can see that actually you're a lot
0:28:17 > 0:28:19lighter than I thought you were and I apologise.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22..and get on my bike in Lycra.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27- That was great.- Whoa!