Sheffield to Nantwich Great British Railway Journeys

For Edwardian Britons,

a Bradshaw's was an indispensable guide

to a railway network at its peak.

I'm using an early-20th-century edition

to navigate a vibrant and optimistic Britain

at the height of its power and influence in the world.

But a nation wrestling with political, social,

and industrial unrest at home.

My rail journey from Hull to North Wales

reaches its halfway point in South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.

At the beginning of the 20th century,

Britain, which had had the world's largest economy,

based on coal and steel, was being overtaken

by the United States and Germany.

Meanwhile, decades of economic growth in Britain

had created a powerful working class

increasingly led by educated men towards being assertive.

My journey started in East Yorkshire

and continued to the historic city of York.

From there, I proceeded inland

across the industrial heartlands of West and South Yorkshire.

I'll go on to Liverpool,

and then along the North Wales coast,

until I end in Caernarfon.

I begin this section of my trip in the Steel City of Sheffield.

I'll travel to Eastwood and Langley Mill,

on the border between Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire,

and I'll finish in the market town of Nantwich.

On this trip, things are hotting up...

-The heat was intense, glowing red.

-When the next one comes out,

that'll be at 1,250 degrees centigrade.

..I freewheel to new heights...

So... Whoa!

Yeah, power is kicking in. Zooming up the hill.

..and experience a life of brine.

I can smell the salt in the water.

I'm not particularly tempted to taste it.

My first stop is Sheffield.

By the beginning of the 20th century,

it was a busy industrial city,

attracting entrepreneurs from far and wide.

Due to advances made in the production of steel

in the 18th century,

Sheffield became prosperous and large and world-famous.

But it must have taken its toll, in terms of smoke

and dirt and slums, because George Orwell wrote,

"Sheffield, I suppose, can claim to be called

"the ugliest town in the Old World."

Well, with this marvellous plaza outside the station,

it's clearly lost that title.

In 1850, Sheffield produced half the world's steel.

By the beginning of the 20th century,

it had become a powerhouse,

engaged in the manufacture of armaments for the Royal Navy.

I'm headed to the Kelham Island Museum

on the River Don to see an engine

that dates back to the era that shocks us with its scale.

David, I'm Michael. How do you do?

Welcome to the museum and the River Don Engine.

I'm meeting local historian David Boursnell.

David, here we are by a beautiful, shiny,

wonderfully painted and beautifully preserved,

enormous Edwardian steam engine. What was it for?

It was built in 1904 to power an armour plate mill

in the Don Valley, and it's been here since the mid-'70s.

-And does it still run?

-It does.

Weighing 400 tonnes and running at 12,000 horsepower,

this is the most powerful working steam engine in Europe.

Unusually, it can reverse itself in an instant

so that the armour plate can be rolled first this way

and then the other through the mill.

David, that really was impressive.

The size of the pistons,

they're kind of silky but immensely powerful.

-They're actually quite terrifying.

-It is.

It's a lovely, very impressive machine.

This engine produced armour plate for the warship that transformed

the Royal Navy - HMS Dreadnought.

It was launched by King Edward VII in 1906.

Dreadnought means "fear nothing",

for it could outgun and outpace any battleship afloat.

The Dreadnought was known as the all-big-gun battleship.

It had ten 12-inch guns,

as opposed to the previous generation of battleships,

which had four 12-inch guns,

and then an array of secondary armament.

The reason for that is that it was much easier to aim a broadside

if all the guns were the same size

and were thus landing in the same place,

and you could see where they landed more accurately

than if you had a whole variety of different guns

with different ranges.

How did our potential enemies,

the Germans in particular, react to the dreadnoughts?

Slowly, I think, is the answer to that,

and by the First World War, we had roughly twice the number

of dreadnought battleships as the next two countries put together.

Despite its position far from the sea,

Sheffield still manufactures critical components

for modern naval defence.

Sheffield Forgemasters represents a 21st-century iteration

of a long tradition of steel making that goes back to the 18th century.

Graham Honeyman is chief executive.

Graham, here, one begins to get a sense

of the scale of your operation.

I just walked past this menacingly glowing tube of steel.

I was within about 12ft, and the heat was intense.

-This is a colossal operation.

-It is. The temperature of that

is at the lower end of what we forge at,

which is 750 degrees centigrade.

But when the next one comes out,

that'll be at 1,250 degrees centigrade.

1,250 is an almost unimaginable temperature to me.

Yeah, it is a very, very high temperature.

-What is this item?

-This item is an eccentric shaft for India.

It's to do with shipbuilding.

All products here are bespoke,

and can take up to 18 months to complete.

The company is at the forefront of technology

and invests heavily in research to keep it that way.

Graham, sometimes, when I travel around industrial Britain,

it is like a tour of a museum of things that used to be.

-But that is not the case here?

-No.

I'm not a history man, Michael. I look to the future.

We do have pride in our old industry, don't get me wrong,

but unless we start looking forwards,

then we will surely go backwards and die.

So, we need to keep testing ourselves.

That's the most important thing to me.

I'm leaving Sheffield and heading south.

I'll leave this train at Langley Mill,

which is known, in my Bradshaw's, as Eastwood and Langley Mill.

In Edwardian times,

Britain was still a class-riven place,

but it had become a game of snakes and ladders.

Education enabled you to rise,

but, equally, a woman who married below her status

might take an economic tumble.

Good themes for a novel.

In 1830, Eastwood was a settlement of only 28 houses,

but rich seams of coal threaded through the earth below.

By the end of the 19th century,

the pit village sustained a population of around 4,500.

In 1885, David Herbert Lawrence was born.

People called him Bert then,

better known today as DH Lawrence,

the novelist whose works include Women In Love, Sons And Lovers,

and Lady Chatterley's Lover.

I'm meeting associate professor in English literature

at the University of Nottingham, Andrew Harrison.

-Hello, Andrew. I'm Michael.

-Hello.

Andrew, Princes Street is brilliantly preserved.

Tell me what sort of a place it was when DH Lawrence was born.

Well, I mean, it was very much a mining community.

There were ten pits within walking distance of Eastwood,

but there was also glorious countryside round about,

which Lawrence loved to escape to.

Would the village have been dirty?

Absolutely, it would have been dirty.

And Lawrence suffered very much from lung problems throughout his life,

and I think that was very much shaped by the mining conditions

of the town he grew up in.

Unlike the other children at his school,

DH Lawrence never dreamt of becoming a miner.

Instead, he won scholarships, became a teacher,

and started to write.

His childhood in Nottinghamshire

provided material for his work throughout his life.

Tell me about the mother and father.

The father was a miner, and was very well-known,

had family around him in the town.

I think he was very comfortable in Eastwood,

whereas I think Lawrence's mother felt very out of place.

She was middle-class.

In her youth, she'd received an education,

and had developed a love for literature

that she would instil in her son.

The gulf between his parents' origins and aspirations

made a deep impression on Lawrence.

So, this is the house where DH Lawrence was born in 1885.

Andrew, extraordinary.

A little Victorian terrace house preserved in aspic.

What clues does the house offer to you?

Well, here, we're between two worlds in the house.

On the one hand, we have the very working-class heart

of family life - the kitchen. And we're here in the parlour -

the room that was only used, really, for special guests like the vicar.

Sons And Lovers, I suppose, is the most autobiographical novel.

Which bits of Lawrence's life find their way into that?

The novel is centrally concerned with the way that

a mother pushes her sons into the middle class.

So, the novel is about the emotional consequences of that move

out of a world that the boys knew into a world that's very different.

By delving into his personal experience,

Lawrence was able to give an insightful evocation

of working-class life.

It was an eye-opener for Edwardian society.

What's he doing that's innovative in writing?

Well, for a start, I think he's very interested

in expressing a full range of emotions,

including, of course, sexual feelings and sexual emotions.

But he's also somebody who wants to narrate those experiences

through the perspective of the characters,

and in that respect, he's very like other experimental writers of the period,

for instance, Virginia Woolf or James Joyce.

You teach Lawrence in Nottingham.

Maybe some of your pupils are from Eastwood.

How do they relate to it?

Well, very often, children -

schoolchildren - in this area, haven't read DH Lawrence.

But when they do read him, they have a real understanding

for Lawrence's use of dialect, use of language.

And also I think it connects them

to a world of coal mining which is now lost to us,

but which would have been intimately known

by their grandparents' generation.

The industry that shaped these streets?

The industry that shaped these streets

and shaped the very landscape in which they grew up.

Following the First World War,

Lawrence left England to live on the Continent,

but he regularly revisited England until he died aged 44.

In his short life, he had been prolific.

He left a body of work that captured Edwardian society

and turned its back on Victorian morality

with a radical writing style

and an exploration of sexuality that was unabashed.

DH Lawrence's father worked for a colliery company,

Barber and Walker.

This, Eastwood Hall, which is now a hotel where I'll spend the night,

was built by the Barber family and later occupied by the Walkers.

So, for the Lawrence family,

this house would have been associated with the money,

with the people who made the rules,

with the people who called the shots.

Here is my Bradshaw's map of the British railway system at its peak

at the beginning of the 20th century,

and what is so striking about it is the intensity of the network.

There are black lines absolutely everywhere.

Even so, you had to reach the station somehow,

and it might be that your factory, or your pit,

was still distant from the tracks.

The 19th century was the era of public transport.

The 20th ushered in personal transport,

and you were as likely to begin with two wheels as with four.

This morning, I'm travelling to Eastwood's neighbouring town,

Langley Mill.

At the time of my Bradshaw's,

a quiet, two-wheeled revolution was getting into gear,

with bicycle producer Raleigh at its forefront.

I've come to the company's headquarters.

Pippa Wibberley is managing director.

-Hello, Pippa.

-Hello, Michael.

-Good to see you.

-Yeah, good to see you, too.

So, I've always wanted to know,

was this company founded by a Mr, possibly a Mrs, Raleigh?

No, no. It was founded by Sir Frank Bowden.

He went on a restorative holiday in Europe

on his bicycle in the late 1800s.

He found it so beneficial to his health,

he really wanted to bring that to more people.

Came back and bought a company which just so happened

to be based on Raleigh Street in Nottingham.

At this time in the 1880s, it was all about penny-farthings,

so big wheel at the front, little wheel at the bottom.

What happened at around this period is the safety bicycle came out.

The big point about the safety bicycle

was the chain ring which allowed the wheels to be the same size.

Having the same-sized wheels means you can stop more easily,

your feet can touch the ground.

This is from 1899 - a Raleigh Roadster.

The characteristics of the modern bicycle

-are very much here, aren't they?

-Absolutely,

although this bicycle wouldn't freewheel,

so you'd have had to keep pedalling to make the bicycle move.

You couldn't stop pedalling, or you'd fall off.

When do we move towards having gears on bikes?

That was at the beginning of the 1900s.

That's when the hub gears were invented.

In 1903, Frank Bowden bought the rights

to the world's first practical gearing system -

a three-speed gear hub.

For the first time, riders could change up or down

at the flick of a lever.

It's a cliche, I know, but at the beginning of the 20th century,

I think of men in cloth caps,

you know, cycling to the mine, cycling to the factory.

So, the bike becomes more universal at that time.

Absolutely. What you saw was this moving from being

a rich person's leisure pursuit

to being something people would use every day.

At the beginning of the 1900s,

a typical bicycle would cost somewhere between 17 and 40 guineas,

which is probably about £1,500 to £3,500 in today's money.

By the end of the Edwardian period,

they've come right down to somewhere more affordable -

around £500 in today's money.

What had driven the cost down?

Manufacturing techniques, introduction of shift working,

mass production were just some of the factors.

When Frank Bowden bought the Raleigh Street workshop,

12 men produced three bicycles per week.

He transformed it into a company employing 5,000 people

who produced 100,000 cycles per year.

Nowadays, much of its production is sourced outside the United Kingdom,

but all Raleigh wheels are still assembled on site.

Hello, Bob.

Wheel build technician Bob Hastings has worked here for 40 years.

I see you're putting spokes in wheels.

-Can I help you here?

-You can. Put it straight on the end of the spoke,

-then the motor rotates and threads it on.

-Wow!

And in it goes.

-OK. Now, might I have a go at that?

-You may.

-Thank you very much.

The company produces 80,000 wheels a year,

and it's very much a hands-on task.

-So, where do I start?

-You start with round one.

-I've got to take this one here.

-That one. Touch the sensor.

-Touch against the sensor.

-Give it a little push.

-And in it goes.

-That's it.

-This is our next one?

-Yeah, that's the one.

Yay! I'm definitely getting better at it.

-This will be the next one, then?

-Apply pressure to it.

-Great.

-Good.

-I think you've cracked this now.

-OK.

-Onto your second round.

The spokes need to be tightened with equal tension

to ensure that the wheel goes straight

and achieves the best performance.

-That's it. Good, good.

-Last one now?

And the wheel is finished.

Apart from the introduction of the derailleur gearing system,

bicycles have not changed much since Edwardian times.

But today, a new generation of electric bicycles

is making an entrance.

Michael Kerswell is letting me take one for a spin.

-Hello, Mike.

-Hello, Michael.

-Very smart-looking machine.

-What is that?

-Yes, this is our new Raleigh Strada,

-our e-bike.

-E-bike - what does that mean?

So, it's got electric components on it, in terms of the motor,

and then the battery.

You still have to pedal. There's no throttle to it.

-But it gives me a bit of help?

-Gives you help up the hills.

-Help you how much?

-Well, anywhere from about 50%

up to 280 on this particular model.

So, great levels of assist there.

You can go up to high, go down to off.

So, that's entirely manual. OK. And it does have brakes?

-And it does have brakes.

-OK, very good.

Let me put this thing on.

-Well, that hill looks like quite a challenge in itself.

-Yeah.

-So, as I go up the hill, Mike...?

-Just keep on pedalling.

-I'm going to give myself a little bit more power, OK?

-Yeah.

So... Whoa!

I'm going to go up to a higher ratio.

Yeah! Power is kicking in!

Zooming up the hill!

This e-bike gives a real sense of freedom,

going as fast as the legal limit of 15mph.

They say you can tell a man who's been on an electric bike -

he has a smile on his face.

Thank you.

I'm switching away from the test track

and back to the train tracks.

Boarding at Derby, 11 miles from Langley Mill,

I'm heading west for Nantwich.

I'll be changing at the great railway town of Crewe,

whose works were in their heyday at the time of my Bradshaw's guide.

-OVER TANNOY:

-Please retain all tickets and travel documentation

as ticket barriers may be in operation here.

For centuries, British spas have been popular,

and they still were 100 years ago, to judge by my Bradshaw's,

which lists pages of so-called hydropathic establishments.

If the place name ended in "wich", like Droitwich or Nantwich,

where I'm headed now, that could indicate an ancient saline deposit

and the bath would be brine.

Hmm, on the last day of the summer season,

an open-air dip - that will test whether I'm worth my salt.

May I see your ticket, please?

Nantwich for me. Is that request?

No, we're definitely stopping at Nantwich.

-Stopping at Nantwich? Thank you.

-Perfect. Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Nantwich is a market town that lies on the Cheshire Plain,

on the banks of the River Weaver.

I'm here today because the town was once

one of the biggest salt producers in the country.

Bill Pearson knows the local history.

Bill, salt plays a really important part

-in the history of Nantwich, doesn't it?

-That's correct.

The story begins 200 million years ago,

when a large part of Cheshire and Shropshire would be under the sea.

And then the Romans knew there was salt in Nantwich.

"Salary" comes from the Latin word for salt.

People talk about being worth their salt.

Before refrigeration, it was vital for preserving food,

as well as adding flavour.

-And has it been the making of Nantwich?

-Yes.

The heyday for salt in Nantwich would be the 16th century.

By the 1890s, salt production had ceased to be viable in Nantwich,

due to competition.

To restart the economy, a tourist venture based on salt was launched,

and the Brine Baths Hotel opened.

It was claimed that the saltwater could cure a wide range of ailments,

including rheumatism, sciatica, skin disease and indigestion.

There was eight chambers - I think they were wooden -

and the patients would be strapped in and immersed in brine.

Why would they strap them down?

Because, otherwise, they would have floated out of the salt.

And I suspect there was other chemicals added because,

in some of the descriptions, the brine would fizz.

And there was a nurse that looked after the people,

who had a lovely name - Nurse Coffin.

MICHAEL CHUCKLES

Despite the investment in the Nantwich Brine Baths Hotel,

it was never a financial success.

The spa industry declined during the 20th century

when its medicinal benefits were questioned

and spa therapy was excluded from the National Health Service.

But for the visitor to Nantwich who's hoping for a brine bath,

there's still the outdoor swimming pool.

Shrugging off the bad weather, there are hardy swimmers here today.

A number of gentlemen. Some, I would say, approaching my age,

earnestly doing lengths up and down the pool.

Salt of the earth!

Ooh!

The water is allegedly 26 degrees - almost as warm as a bath -

and welcoming even on a rainy day.

I can smell the salt in the water.

I'm not particularly tempted to taste it.

-Hello, sir.

-Hello.

You look like a man who does quite conscientious exercise.

I try to, yes. I eat too much, as well.

THEY LAUGH

-Have you been coming here long?

-About 35 years.

-No! Really?

-Yes, yes.

-How did you find out about the place?

We've always come to Nantwich. My parents came,

been coming for longer than that.

My mother's been coming since the 1930s.

-Isn't that amazing?

-Yes.

-Great chunk of family history.

-Yes.

-Is it very special having a salt pool?

-Yes.

You feel so fresh. And you don't get the smell of chlorine, as well.

How often do you swim here?

Probably between about three, five times a week.

-And how many lengths?

-I've been trying to do 30,

-which is just over half a mile.

-That's amazing.

I'll tell you, though, with the temperature of the water,

on a coldish afternoon like this, it's much better in than out,

-isn't it?

-Yes.

-Let's go.

Whilst the steel mills of Sheffield were turning out the armour plate

that would clad the dreadnoughts

that would fight Germany in the Great War,

Edwardian society was changing fast.

The working classes aspired to better themselves.

The bicycle provided mobility, and education - social mobility.

DH Lawrence was a fine example of self-improvement.

The coal mines of Eastwood

that provided the backdrop to Sons And Lovers are no more,

but in Sheffield, the steelworks are forging ahead.

Next time, I take a rail trip down my own memory lane...

I had this very one when I was a child.

This was my starter set.

..hear of an Edwardian aristocrat

whose roses, by any other name, would smell as sweet...

They turned out to be named after people that the countess knew.

..and I learn to catch the next wave in Snowdonia.

Another wave coming.