0:00:04 > 0:00:05For Edwardian Britons,
0:00:05 > 0:00:09a Bradshaw's was an indispensable guide
0:00:09 > 0:00:11to a railway network at its peak.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16I'm using an early-20th-century edition
0:00:16 > 0:00:19to navigate a vibrant and optimistic Britain
0:00:19 > 0:00:22at the height of its power and influence in the world.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28But a nation wrestling with political, social,
0:00:28 > 0:00:31and industrial unrest at home.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58My rail journey from Hull to North Wales
0:00:58 > 0:01:03reaches its halfway point in South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05At the beginning of the 20th century,
0:01:05 > 0:01:08Britain, which had had the world's largest economy,
0:01:08 > 0:01:11based on coal and steel, was being overtaken
0:01:11 > 0:01:14by the United States and Germany.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17Meanwhile, decades of economic growth in Britain
0:01:17 > 0:01:20had created a powerful working class
0:01:20 > 0:01:25increasingly led by educated men towards being assertive.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46My journey started in East Yorkshire
0:01:46 > 0:01:50and continued to the historic city of York.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52From there, I proceeded inland
0:01:52 > 0:01:57across the industrial heartlands of West and South Yorkshire.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59I'll go on to Liverpool,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02and then along the North Wales coast,
0:02:02 > 0:02:05until I end in Caernarfon.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09I begin this section of my trip in the Steel City of Sheffield.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13I'll travel to Eastwood and Langley Mill,
0:02:13 > 0:02:17on the border between Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire,
0:02:17 > 0:02:20and I'll finish in the market town of Nantwich.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25On this trip, things are hotting up...
0:02:25 > 0:02:28- The heat was intense, glowing red. - When the next one comes out,
0:02:28 > 0:02:32that'll be at 1,250 degrees centigrade.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34..I freewheel to new heights...
0:02:34 > 0:02:37So... Whoa!
0:02:37 > 0:02:40Yeah, power is kicking in. Zooming up the hill.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44..and experience a life of brine.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47I can smell the salt in the water.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50I'm not particularly tempted to taste it.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07My first stop is Sheffield.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09By the beginning of the 20th century,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12it was a busy industrial city,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15attracting entrepreneurs from far and wide.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Due to advances made in the production of steel
0:03:21 > 0:03:23in the 18th century,
0:03:23 > 0:03:28Sheffield became prosperous and large and world-famous.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32But it must have taken its toll, in terms of smoke
0:03:32 > 0:03:36and dirt and slums, because George Orwell wrote,
0:03:36 > 0:03:39"Sheffield, I suppose, can claim to be called
0:03:39 > 0:03:42"the ugliest town in the Old World."
0:03:42 > 0:03:46Well, with this marvellous plaza outside the station,
0:03:46 > 0:03:48it's clearly lost that title.
0:03:49 > 0:03:54In 1850, Sheffield produced half the world's steel.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56By the beginning of the 20th century,
0:03:56 > 0:03:58it had become a powerhouse,
0:03:58 > 0:04:02engaged in the manufacture of armaments for the Royal Navy.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05I'm headed to the Kelham Island Museum
0:04:05 > 0:04:08on the River Don to see an engine
0:04:08 > 0:04:12that dates back to the era that shocks us with its scale.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14David, I'm Michael. How do you do?
0:04:14 > 0:04:18Welcome to the museum and the River Don Engine.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22I'm meeting local historian David Boursnell.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26David, here we are by a beautiful, shiny,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29wonderfully painted and beautifully preserved,
0:04:29 > 0:04:32enormous Edwardian steam engine. What was it for?
0:04:32 > 0:04:36It was built in 1904 to power an armour plate mill
0:04:36 > 0:04:39in the Don Valley, and it's been here since the mid-'70s.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42- And does it still run?- It does.
0:04:55 > 0:05:01Weighing 400 tonnes and running at 12,000 horsepower,
0:05:01 > 0:05:05this is the most powerful working steam engine in Europe.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09Unusually, it can reverse itself in an instant
0:05:09 > 0:05:13so that the armour plate can be rolled first this way
0:05:13 > 0:05:15and then the other through the mill.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25David, that really was impressive.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27The size of the pistons,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30they're kind of silky but immensely powerful.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32- They're actually quite terrifying. - It is.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34It's a lovely, very impressive machine.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41This engine produced armour plate for the warship that transformed
0:05:41 > 0:05:45the Royal Navy - HMS Dreadnought.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48It was launched by King Edward VII in 1906.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52Dreadnought means "fear nothing",
0:05:52 > 0:05:58for it could outgun and outpace any battleship afloat.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01The Dreadnought was known as the all-big-gun battleship.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04It had ten 12-inch guns,
0:06:04 > 0:06:07as opposed to the previous generation of battleships,
0:06:07 > 0:06:09which had four 12-inch guns,
0:06:09 > 0:06:11and then an array of secondary armament.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15The reason for that is that it was much easier to aim a broadside
0:06:15 > 0:06:17if all the guns were the same size
0:06:17 > 0:06:20and were thus landing in the same place,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23and you could see where they landed more accurately
0:06:23 > 0:06:25than if you had a whole variety of different guns
0:06:25 > 0:06:27with different ranges.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29How did our potential enemies,
0:06:29 > 0:06:32the Germans in particular, react to the dreadnoughts?
0:06:32 > 0:06:34Slowly, I think, is the answer to that,
0:06:34 > 0:06:37and by the First World War, we had roughly twice the number
0:06:37 > 0:06:42of dreadnought battleships as the next two countries put together.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45Despite its position far from the sea,
0:06:45 > 0:06:49Sheffield still manufactures critical components
0:06:49 > 0:06:50for modern naval defence.
0:06:52 > 0:06:57Sheffield Forgemasters represents a 21st-century iteration
0:06:57 > 0:07:03of a long tradition of steel making that goes back to the 18th century.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05Graham Honeyman is chief executive.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09Graham, here, one begins to get a sense
0:07:09 > 0:07:11of the scale of your operation.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15I just walked past this menacingly glowing tube of steel.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19I was within about 12ft, and the heat was intense.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22- This is a colossal operation. - It is. The temperature of that
0:07:22 > 0:07:24is at the lower end of what we forge at,
0:07:24 > 0:07:26which is 750 degrees centigrade.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28But when the next one comes out,
0:07:28 > 0:07:31that'll be at 1,250 degrees centigrade.
0:07:31 > 0:07:351,250 is an almost unimaginable temperature to me.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37Yeah, it is a very, very high temperature.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41- What is this item?- This item is an eccentric shaft for India.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43It's to do with shipbuilding.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45All products here are bespoke,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48and can take up to 18 months to complete.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51The company is at the forefront of technology
0:07:51 > 0:07:55and invests heavily in research to keep it that way.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58Graham, sometimes, when I travel around industrial Britain,
0:07:58 > 0:08:03it is like a tour of a museum of things that used to be.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05- But that is not the case here?- No.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08I'm not a history man, Michael. I look to the future.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11We do have pride in our old industry, don't get me wrong,
0:08:11 > 0:08:13but unless we start looking forwards,
0:08:13 > 0:08:16then we will surely go backwards and die.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18So, we need to keep testing ourselves.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20That's the most important thing to me.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30I'm leaving Sheffield and heading south.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39I'll leave this train at Langley Mill,
0:08:39 > 0:08:43which is known, in my Bradshaw's, as Eastwood and Langley Mill.
0:08:43 > 0:08:44In Edwardian times,
0:08:44 > 0:08:48Britain was still a class-riven place,
0:08:48 > 0:08:52but it had become a game of snakes and ladders.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54Education enabled you to rise,
0:08:54 > 0:08:58but, equally, a woman who married below her status
0:08:58 > 0:09:01might take an economic tumble.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03Good themes for a novel.
0:09:21 > 0:09:26In 1830, Eastwood was a settlement of only 28 houses,
0:09:26 > 0:09:30but rich seams of coal threaded through the earth below.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32By the end of the 19th century,
0:09:32 > 0:09:37the pit village sustained a population of around 4,500.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41In 1885, David Herbert Lawrence was born.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44People called him Bert then,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47better known today as DH Lawrence,
0:09:47 > 0:09:51the novelist whose works include Women In Love, Sons And Lovers,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54and Lady Chatterley's Lover.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58I'm meeting associate professor in English literature
0:09:58 > 0:10:01at the University of Nottingham, Andrew Harrison.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04- Hello, Andrew. I'm Michael.- Hello.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07Andrew, Princes Street is brilliantly preserved.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10Tell me what sort of a place it was when DH Lawrence was born.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Well, I mean, it was very much a mining community.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16There were ten pits within walking distance of Eastwood,
0:10:16 > 0:10:20but there was also glorious countryside round about,
0:10:20 > 0:10:21which Lawrence loved to escape to.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23Would the village have been dirty?
0:10:23 > 0:10:25Absolutely, it would have been dirty.
0:10:25 > 0:10:30And Lawrence suffered very much from lung problems throughout his life,
0:10:30 > 0:10:33and I think that was very much shaped by the mining conditions
0:10:33 > 0:10:35of the town he grew up in.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38Unlike the other children at his school,
0:10:38 > 0:10:41DH Lawrence never dreamt of becoming a miner.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Instead, he won scholarships, became a teacher,
0:10:44 > 0:10:46and started to write.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48His childhood in Nottinghamshire
0:10:48 > 0:10:53provided material for his work throughout his life.
0:10:53 > 0:10:54Tell me about the mother and father.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58The father was a miner, and was very well-known,
0:10:58 > 0:11:00had family around him in the town.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02I think he was very comfortable in Eastwood,
0:11:02 > 0:11:06whereas I think Lawrence's mother felt very out of place.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08She was middle-class.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11In her youth, she'd received an education,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14and had developed a love for literature
0:11:14 > 0:11:16that she would instil in her son.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21The gulf between his parents' origins and aspirations
0:11:21 > 0:11:23made a deep impression on Lawrence.
0:11:25 > 0:11:30So, this is the house where DH Lawrence was born in 1885.
0:11:34 > 0:11:35Andrew, extraordinary.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39A little Victorian terrace house preserved in aspic.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41What clues does the house offer to you?
0:11:41 > 0:11:43Well, here, we're between two worlds in the house.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46On the one hand, we have the very working-class heart
0:11:46 > 0:11:50of family life - the kitchen. And we're here in the parlour -
0:11:50 > 0:11:53the room that was only used, really, for special guests like the vicar.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56Sons And Lovers, I suppose, is the most autobiographical novel.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00Which bits of Lawrence's life find their way into that?
0:12:00 > 0:12:04The novel is centrally concerned with the way that
0:12:04 > 0:12:07a mother pushes her sons into the middle class.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12So, the novel is about the emotional consequences of that move
0:12:12 > 0:12:17out of a world that the boys knew into a world that's very different.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20By delving into his personal experience,
0:12:20 > 0:12:24Lawrence was able to give an insightful evocation
0:12:24 > 0:12:26of working-class life.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29It was an eye-opener for Edwardian society.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32What's he doing that's innovative in writing?
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Well, for a start, I think he's very interested
0:12:35 > 0:12:37in expressing a full range of emotions,
0:12:37 > 0:12:41including, of course, sexual feelings and sexual emotions.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45But he's also somebody who wants to narrate those experiences
0:12:45 > 0:12:47through the perspective of the characters,
0:12:47 > 0:12:51and in that respect, he's very like other experimental writers of the period,
0:12:51 > 0:12:53for instance, Virginia Woolf or James Joyce.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55You teach Lawrence in Nottingham.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57Maybe some of your pupils are from Eastwood.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59How do they relate to it?
0:12:59 > 0:13:01Well, very often, children -
0:13:01 > 0:13:04schoolchildren - in this area, haven't read DH Lawrence.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06But when they do read him, they have a real understanding
0:13:06 > 0:13:09for Lawrence's use of dialect, use of language.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11And also I think it connects them
0:13:11 > 0:13:14to a world of coal mining which is now lost to us,
0:13:14 > 0:13:17but which would have been intimately known
0:13:17 > 0:13:21by their grandparents' generation.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23The industry that shaped these streets?
0:13:23 > 0:13:24The industry that shaped these streets
0:13:24 > 0:13:27and shaped the very landscape in which they grew up.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32Following the First World War,
0:13:32 > 0:13:35Lawrence left England to live on the Continent,
0:13:35 > 0:13:40but he regularly revisited England until he died aged 44.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45In his short life, he had been prolific.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49He left a body of work that captured Edwardian society
0:13:49 > 0:13:52and turned its back on Victorian morality
0:13:52 > 0:13:54with a radical writing style
0:13:54 > 0:13:59and an exploration of sexuality that was unabashed.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05DH Lawrence's father worked for a colliery company,
0:14:05 > 0:14:07Barber and Walker.
0:14:07 > 0:14:12This, Eastwood Hall, which is now a hotel where I'll spend the night,
0:14:12 > 0:14:16was built by the Barber family and later occupied by the Walkers.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18So, for the Lawrence family,
0:14:18 > 0:14:21this house would have been associated with the money,
0:14:21 > 0:14:23with the people who made the rules,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26with the people who called the shots.
0:14:44 > 0:14:50Here is my Bradshaw's map of the British railway system at its peak
0:14:50 > 0:14:52at the beginning of the 20th century,
0:14:52 > 0:14:56and what is so striking about it is the intensity of the network.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00There are black lines absolutely everywhere.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04Even so, you had to reach the station somehow,
0:15:04 > 0:15:08and it might be that your factory, or your pit,
0:15:08 > 0:15:10was still distant from the tracks.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14The 19th century was the era of public transport.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18The 20th ushered in personal transport,
0:15:18 > 0:15:22and you were as likely to begin with two wheels as with four.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31This morning, I'm travelling to Eastwood's neighbouring town,
0:15:31 > 0:15:33Langley Mill.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37At the time of my Bradshaw's,
0:15:37 > 0:15:41a quiet, two-wheeled revolution was getting into gear,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44with bicycle producer Raleigh at its forefront.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52I've come to the company's headquarters.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Pippa Wibberley is managing director.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58- Hello, Pippa.- Hello, Michael.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00- Good to see you. - Yeah, good to see you, too.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02So, I've always wanted to know,
0:16:02 > 0:16:05was this company founded by a Mr, possibly a Mrs, Raleigh?
0:16:05 > 0:16:08No, no. It was founded by Sir Frank Bowden.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12He went on a restorative holiday in Europe
0:16:12 > 0:16:15on his bicycle in the late 1800s.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17He found it so beneficial to his health,
0:16:17 > 0:16:20he really wanted to bring that to more people.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23Came back and bought a company which just so happened
0:16:23 > 0:16:26to be based on Raleigh Street in Nottingham.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30At this time in the 1880s, it was all about penny-farthings,
0:16:30 > 0:16:33so big wheel at the front, little wheel at the bottom.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36What happened at around this period is the safety bicycle came out.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38The big point about the safety bicycle
0:16:38 > 0:16:42was the chain ring which allowed the wheels to be the same size.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45Having the same-sized wheels means you can stop more easily,
0:16:45 > 0:16:47your feet can touch the ground.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49This is from 1899 - a Raleigh Roadster.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52The characteristics of the modern bicycle
0:16:52 > 0:16:54- are very much here, aren't they? - Absolutely,
0:16:54 > 0:16:56although this bicycle wouldn't freewheel,
0:16:56 > 0:16:59so you'd have had to keep pedalling to make the bicycle move.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02You couldn't stop pedalling, or you'd fall off.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04When do we move towards having gears on bikes?
0:17:04 > 0:17:07That was at the beginning of the 1900s.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10That's when the hub gears were invented.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13In 1903, Frank Bowden bought the rights
0:17:13 > 0:17:16to the world's first practical gearing system -
0:17:16 > 0:17:18a three-speed gear hub.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22For the first time, riders could change up or down
0:17:22 > 0:17:24at the flick of a lever.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27It's a cliche, I know, but at the beginning of the 20th century,
0:17:27 > 0:17:29I think of men in cloth caps,
0:17:29 > 0:17:32you know, cycling to the mine, cycling to the factory.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35So, the bike becomes more universal at that time.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39Absolutely. What you saw was this moving from being
0:17:39 > 0:17:40a rich person's leisure pursuit
0:17:40 > 0:17:43to being something people would use every day.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45At the beginning of the 1900s,
0:17:45 > 0:17:49a typical bicycle would cost somewhere between 17 and 40 guineas,
0:17:49 > 0:17:54which is probably about £1,500 to £3,500 in today's money.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57By the end of the Edwardian period,
0:17:57 > 0:18:00they've come right down to somewhere more affordable -
0:18:00 > 0:18:02around £500 in today's money.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04What had driven the cost down?
0:18:04 > 0:18:08Manufacturing techniques, introduction of shift working,
0:18:08 > 0:18:12mass production were just some of the factors.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15When Frank Bowden bought the Raleigh Street workshop,
0:18:15 > 0:18:1912 men produced three bicycles per week.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23He transformed it into a company employing 5,000 people
0:18:23 > 0:18:27who produced 100,000 cycles per year.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31Nowadays, much of its production is sourced outside the United Kingdom,
0:18:31 > 0:18:35but all Raleigh wheels are still assembled on site.
0:18:35 > 0:18:36Hello, Bob.
0:18:36 > 0:18:42Wheel build technician Bob Hastings has worked here for 40 years.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44I see you're putting spokes in wheels.
0:18:44 > 0:18:49- Can I help you here?- You can. Put it straight on the end of the spoke,
0:18:49 > 0:18:53- then the motor rotates and threads it on.- Wow!
0:18:53 > 0:18:55And in it goes.
0:18:56 > 0:19:02- OK. Now, might I have a go at that? - You may.- Thank you very much.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08The company produces 80,000 wheels a year,
0:19:08 > 0:19:12and it's very much a hands-on task.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14- So, where do I start? - You start with round one.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18- I've got to take this one here. - That one. Touch the sensor.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20- Touch against the sensor. - Give it a little push.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24- And in it goes.- That's it.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27- This is our next one? - Yeah, that's the one.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29Yay! I'm definitely getting better at it.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31- This will be the next one, then? - Apply pressure to it.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35- Great.- Good. - I think you've cracked this now.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37- OK.- Onto your second round.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40The spokes need to be tightened with equal tension
0:19:40 > 0:19:42to ensure that the wheel goes straight
0:19:42 > 0:19:44and achieves the best performance.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47- That's it. Good, good.- Last one now?
0:19:51 > 0:19:54And the wheel is finished.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04Apart from the introduction of the derailleur gearing system,
0:20:04 > 0:20:09bicycles have not changed much since Edwardian times.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13But today, a new generation of electric bicycles
0:20:13 > 0:20:15is making an entrance.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19Michael Kerswell is letting me take one for a spin.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22- Hello, Mike.- Hello, Michael. - Very smart-looking machine.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25- What is that?- Yes, this is our new Raleigh Strada,
0:20:25 > 0:20:27- our e-bike. - E-bike - what does that mean?
0:20:27 > 0:20:30So, it's got electric components on it, in terms of the motor,
0:20:30 > 0:20:31and then the battery.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33You still have to pedal. There's no throttle to it.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36- But it gives me a bit of help? - Gives you help up the hills.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39- Help you how much? - Well, anywhere from about 50%
0:20:39 > 0:20:41up to 280 on this particular model.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43So, great levels of assist there.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45You can go up to high, go down to off.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48So, that's entirely manual. OK. And it does have brakes?
0:20:48 > 0:20:50- And it does have brakes. - OK, very good.
0:20:50 > 0:20:51Let me put this thing on.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57- Well, that hill looks like quite a challenge in itself.- Yeah.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00- So, as I go up the hill, Mike...? - Just keep on pedalling.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03- I'm going to give myself a little bit more power, OK?- Yeah.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05So... Whoa!
0:21:05 > 0:21:07I'm going to go up to a higher ratio.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10Yeah! Power is kicking in!
0:21:10 > 0:21:12Zooming up the hill!
0:21:12 > 0:21:16This e-bike gives a real sense of freedom,
0:21:16 > 0:21:20going as fast as the legal limit of 15mph.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24They say you can tell a man who's been on an electric bike -
0:21:24 > 0:21:26he has a smile on his face.
0:21:42 > 0:21:43Thank you.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46I'm switching away from the test track
0:21:46 > 0:21:48and back to the train tracks.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52Boarding at Derby, 11 miles from Langley Mill,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54I'm heading west for Nantwich.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58I'll be changing at the great railway town of Crewe,
0:21:58 > 0:22:02whose works were in their heyday at the time of my Bradshaw's guide.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06- OVER TANNOY:- Please retain all tickets and travel documentation
0:22:06 > 0:22:08as ticket barriers may be in operation here.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28For centuries, British spas have been popular,
0:22:28 > 0:22:31and they still were 100 years ago, to judge by my Bradshaw's,
0:22:31 > 0:22:36which lists pages of so-called hydropathic establishments.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41If the place name ended in "wich", like Droitwich or Nantwich,
0:22:41 > 0:22:46where I'm headed now, that could indicate an ancient saline deposit
0:22:46 > 0:22:48and the bath would be brine.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51Hmm, on the last day of the summer season,
0:22:51 > 0:22:56an open-air dip - that will test whether I'm worth my salt.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01May I see your ticket, please?
0:23:02 > 0:23:04Nantwich for me. Is that request?
0:23:04 > 0:23:06No, we're definitely stopping at Nantwich.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09- Stopping at Nantwich? Thank you. - Perfect. Thank you very much. - Thank you.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27Nantwich is a market town that lies on the Cheshire Plain,
0:23:27 > 0:23:30on the banks of the River Weaver.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33I'm here today because the town was once
0:23:33 > 0:23:36one of the biggest salt producers in the country.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40Bill Pearson knows the local history.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45Bill, salt plays a really important part
0:23:45 > 0:23:47- in the history of Nantwich, doesn't it?- That's correct.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50The story begins 200 million years ago,
0:23:50 > 0:23:54when a large part of Cheshire and Shropshire would be under the sea.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58And then the Romans knew there was salt in Nantwich.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00"Salary" comes from the Latin word for salt.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03People talk about being worth their salt.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06Before refrigeration, it was vital for preserving food,
0:24:06 > 0:24:07as well as adding flavour.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10- And has it been the making of Nantwich?- Yes.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15The heyday for salt in Nantwich would be the 16th century.
0:24:17 > 0:24:22By the 1890s, salt production had ceased to be viable in Nantwich,
0:24:22 > 0:24:23due to competition.
0:24:23 > 0:24:28To restart the economy, a tourist venture based on salt was launched,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31and the Brine Baths Hotel opened.
0:24:31 > 0:24:37It was claimed that the saltwater could cure a wide range of ailments,
0:24:37 > 0:24:42including rheumatism, sciatica, skin disease and indigestion.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45There was eight chambers - I think they were wooden -
0:24:45 > 0:24:51and the patients would be strapped in and immersed in brine.
0:24:51 > 0:24:52Why would they strap them down?
0:24:52 > 0:24:55Because, otherwise, they would have floated out of the salt.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57And I suspect there was other chemicals added because,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00in some of the descriptions, the brine would fizz.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03And there was a nurse that looked after the people,
0:25:03 > 0:25:05who had a lovely name - Nurse Coffin.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07MICHAEL CHUCKLES
0:25:07 > 0:25:11Despite the investment in the Nantwich Brine Baths Hotel,
0:25:11 > 0:25:13it was never a financial success.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17The spa industry declined during the 20th century
0:25:17 > 0:25:19when its medicinal benefits were questioned
0:25:19 > 0:25:24and spa therapy was excluded from the National Health Service.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28But for the visitor to Nantwich who's hoping for a brine bath,
0:25:28 > 0:25:31there's still the outdoor swimming pool.
0:25:31 > 0:25:36Shrugging off the bad weather, there are hardy swimmers here today.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40A number of gentlemen. Some, I would say, approaching my age,
0:25:40 > 0:25:43earnestly doing lengths up and down the pool.
0:25:43 > 0:25:44Salt of the earth!
0:25:48 > 0:25:49Ooh!
0:25:49 > 0:25:53The water is allegedly 26 degrees - almost as warm as a bath -
0:25:53 > 0:25:56and welcoming even on a rainy day.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08I can smell the salt in the water.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12I'm not particularly tempted to taste it.
0:26:19 > 0:26:20- Hello, sir.- Hello.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23You look like a man who does quite conscientious exercise.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25I try to, yes. I eat too much, as well.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27THEY LAUGH
0:26:27 > 0:26:30- Have you been coming here long? - About 35 years.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33- No! Really?- Yes, yes.- How did you find out about the place?
0:26:33 > 0:26:36We've always come to Nantwich. My parents came,
0:26:36 > 0:26:38been coming for longer than that.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40My mother's been coming since the 1930s.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44- Isn't that amazing?- Yes. - Great chunk of family history.- Yes.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46- Is it very special having a salt pool?- Yes.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49You feel so fresh. And you don't get the smell of chlorine, as well.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51How often do you swim here?
0:26:51 > 0:26:54Probably between about three, five times a week.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57- And how many lengths? - I've been trying to do 30,
0:26:57 > 0:26:59- which is just over half a mile. - That's amazing.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02I'll tell you, though, with the temperature of the water,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05on a coldish afternoon like this, it's much better in than out,
0:27:05 > 0:27:07- isn't it?- Yes.- Let's go.
0:27:20 > 0:27:25Whilst the steel mills of Sheffield were turning out the armour plate
0:27:25 > 0:27:27that would clad the dreadnoughts
0:27:27 > 0:27:29that would fight Germany in the Great War,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32Edwardian society was changing fast.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36The working classes aspired to better themselves.
0:27:36 > 0:27:43The bicycle provided mobility, and education - social mobility.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47DH Lawrence was a fine example of self-improvement.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49The coal mines of Eastwood
0:27:49 > 0:27:54that provided the backdrop to Sons And Lovers are no more,
0:27:54 > 0:27:59but in Sheffield, the steelworks are forging ahead.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03Next time, I take a rail trip down my own memory lane...
0:28:03 > 0:28:06I had this very one when I was a child.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08This was my starter set.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10..hear of an Edwardian aristocrat
0:28:10 > 0:28:14whose roses, by any other name, would smell as sweet...
0:28:14 > 0:28:19They turned out to be named after people that the countess knew.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22..and I learn to catch the next wave in Snowdonia.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24Another wave coming.