0:00:03 > 0:00:05For Edwardian Britons,
0:00:05 > 0:00:08a Bradshaw's was an indispensable guide
0:00:08 > 0:00:11to a railway network at its peak.
0:00:11 > 0:00:17I'm using an early 20th-century edition to navigate
0:00:17 > 0:00:19a vibrant and optimistic Britain
0:00:19 > 0:00:22at the height of its power and influence in the world...
0:00:24 > 0:00:28..but a nation wrestling with political, social and industrial
0:00:28 > 0:00:30unrest at home.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57My journey through south-west England will continue
0:00:57 > 0:01:01the length of the peninsula that links Bristol with Land's End.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03On this part of the journey,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06I'll rake over the art and craft of gardening,
0:01:06 > 0:01:10find out how folk danced and sang
0:01:10 > 0:01:13while barons of commerce built castles,
0:01:13 > 0:01:17and discover for whom the bells tolled in Exeter
0:01:17 > 0:01:20after Queen Victoria had died.
0:01:32 > 0:01:33I began in Wales,
0:01:33 > 0:01:37where I took in the cities of Swansea and Cardiff,
0:01:37 > 0:01:41en route to the Severn Estuary and the English border.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44I admired Edwardian ingenuity in Bristol.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47And now, as I head deeper into the West Country,
0:01:47 > 0:01:50I shall cross pastures and gardens
0:01:50 > 0:01:53on my way to England's south-westerly tip.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57Today's journey starts in the Somerset town of Taunton,
0:01:57 > 0:01:59and heads to Exeter in Devon.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04From there, I'll skirt the coast, before finishing in Newton Abbot,
0:02:04 > 0:02:05destined for Dartmoor,
0:02:05 > 0:02:09where my journey's end is rewarded with a regal feast.
0:02:10 > 0:02:15On this trip, I discover how Edwardian gardens came into bloom.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17They're old-fashioned roses.
0:02:17 > 0:02:18Their scent is really powerful.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20Yes, wonderful fragrance.
0:02:21 > 0:02:26Learn how new bells pealed to herald the incoming monarch.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28Isn't that lovely?
0:02:28 > 0:02:31And I'm led a merry dance in the name of fertility.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35BELLS JINGLE
0:02:44 > 0:02:46From about 1880,
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Britain and North America were gripped by an aesthetic movement.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53Reacting against urbanisation and industrialisation,
0:02:53 > 0:02:57Arts and Crafts architects and designers
0:02:57 > 0:03:02were inspired by nature and by traditional craftsmanship
0:03:02 > 0:03:05and by the simplicities of yesteryear.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Their impact was felt not only within buildings,
0:03:08 > 0:03:10but extended to their gardens too.
0:03:15 > 0:03:20My first stop is Taunton Station, which opened in July 1842
0:03:20 > 0:03:23as the terminus of the Bristol and Exeter Railway.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29I ventured three miles north,
0:03:29 > 0:03:33destined for the Grade I listed estate of Hestercombe.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39From this balcony, beyond this balustrade,
0:03:39 > 0:03:43is the Edwardian garden, which has been done with a touch of genius.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48This much celebrated early 20th-century garden
0:03:48 > 0:03:51is managed by head gardener Claire Greenslade.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55- Hi, there.- Claire, hello.
0:03:55 > 0:03:56This is heavenly.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Who created this Edwardian garden?
0:03:58 > 0:04:02So, Gertrude Jekyll is responsible for the planting plan.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06All the hard landscaping is by architect Edwin Lutyens.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08Were they exact contemporaries, Lutyens and Jekyll?
0:04:08 > 0:04:11No. She's quite a lot older than him.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14He was young and new into the scene, if you like.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17She was quite established, so it was quite an unusual partnership.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Now, she in particular, I think, was supposedly much influenced
0:04:20 > 0:04:22by the Arts and Craft movement.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24How do we see it in her work?
0:04:24 > 0:04:26She was primarily an artist.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29As she got older, her eyesight began to degenerate.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31She basically needed a bigger canvas.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33And that's where the gardening comes into it.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38When you look at her planting, it's almost in painterly brush strokes.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41It's almost like watercolour, the colours bleed into one another.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46It was the Portman family who called on the expertise
0:04:46 > 0:04:49of the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52and horticulturalist Gertrude Jekyll,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55to create new gardens here in 1904.
0:04:57 > 0:04:58The family had made its fortune
0:04:58 > 0:05:01through land and estates in central London.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04Planted over four years,
0:05:04 > 0:05:08the gardens that they commissioned created horticultural fashion.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13Pre all of this, Victorian bedding schemes were the thing,
0:05:13 > 0:05:17so it's all exotics and annuals and very geometric and very laid out.
0:05:17 > 0:05:22This was very loose and informal, and much softer.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24It would have been radical.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26We all garden like this now,
0:05:26 > 0:05:29but it would have been really strange to put shrubs, roses,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32grasses, annuals, herbaceous all together.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35What did the young Edwin Lutyens bring to the party?
0:05:35 > 0:05:39I think his sense of geometry and placing and space
0:05:39 > 0:05:43so, whereas his part of this garden is very formal,
0:05:43 > 0:05:45hers softens it and flows over it.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48I always describe it like she's thrown a blanket of flowers
0:05:48 > 0:05:49over his landscaping.
0:05:51 > 0:05:56The influential double-act collaborated on over 300 gardens,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59and first met when Jekyll employed Lutyens
0:05:59 > 0:06:01to design her own Surrey home.
0:06:01 > 0:06:07Their 26-year age difference was no barrier to the long and successful
0:06:07 > 0:06:09working relationship that developed.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13Featuring a sunken parterre, a water garden,
0:06:13 > 0:06:15and a large pergola,
0:06:15 > 0:06:19Hestercombe is considered to be one of their finest projects,
0:06:19 > 0:06:23embodying a style that has come to define the English country garden.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30Claire, apart from the swishes of colour,
0:06:30 > 0:06:33it's also the fragrances, and the sounds of birdsong,
0:06:33 > 0:06:36and the many fountains, all part of the design, I suppose?
0:06:36 > 0:06:37Yeah, I think so.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40I think having a sunken garden, as well, helps trap scent,
0:06:40 > 0:06:44helps trap sound as well, so it's quite an overall...
0:06:44 > 0:06:46All your senses are evoked.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49And were the gardens always in this lovely state of preservation?
0:06:49 > 0:06:52No, they have been restored over time.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55We were lucky enough to find Jekyll's original planting plans
0:06:55 > 0:06:56in a potting shed.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58So, as far as possible,
0:06:58 > 0:07:02everything that you see here is what was on her planting plan.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04Set within 50 acres,
0:07:04 > 0:07:09the grounds at Hestercombe contain gardens from three different eras,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12including Georgian and Victorian designs,
0:07:12 > 0:07:16sitting alongside the masterpiece by Jekyll and Lutyens.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18They all need care and attention.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21I've got some roses to deadhead.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23The idea is, the more you deadhead,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26the more the rose will keep re-flowering.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28What you don't want with a plant is for it to go to seed.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30So, when you're looking to deadhead,
0:07:30 > 0:07:33you need to be following the stem down,
0:07:33 > 0:07:36and looking for the next leaf, or to the next bud.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39So with this one, there's nothing much going on until here.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43And then that goes in the bucket.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47These roses, are they special? Are they a Jekyll signature as well?
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Yes. All the roses that we use in here are ones that she's suggested,
0:07:50 > 0:07:52thank you, and has in her plans.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54So this one is called Caroline Testout.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56And they're old-fashioned roses,
0:07:56 > 0:07:59so they don't have the modern disease resistance
0:07:59 > 0:08:01in their rootstock, so they're prone to lots of blackspot.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03We have to look after them quite a lot.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05But on the other hand, they have the scent.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08- The scent's really powerful in the old roses.- Yes, wonderful fragrance.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12Claire, what is it that's special about Hestercombe, do you think?
0:08:12 > 0:08:17I think having three eras of garden design in one place,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20and the fact that this Edwardian garden,
0:08:20 > 0:08:23we have planted it as it was planted, as the plans said.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26So it is really like stepping back in time.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29And an extraordinary example of Lutyens and Jekyll together?
0:08:29 > 0:08:33- Yeah, definitely. - Claire, thank you so much.- Pleasure.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40Leaving behind the fragrant landscaping,
0:08:40 > 0:08:42I'm making my way seven miles east
0:08:42 > 0:08:45to rejoin the railway at Bishops Lydeard.
0:08:47 > 0:08:52This station lies on the longest heritage line in England,
0:08:52 > 0:08:54the West Somerset Railway.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00I'm headed for the magnificently named Stogumber,
0:09:00 > 0:09:03which, at the time of my Bradshaw's guide,
0:09:03 > 0:09:04was part of the national network.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07In fact, it represented the last piece of work
0:09:07 > 0:09:12by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in the Great Western region before he died.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20Is that cup of tea a necessary part of your preparation
0:09:20 > 0:09:23- for driving the loco? - We wouldn't go without it.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26- Or I wouldn't!- What is it about you people that draws you so much
0:09:26 > 0:09:29- to steam?- It's entertaining.
0:09:29 > 0:09:30I mean, yesterday she wouldn't go.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33I had her yesterday. I don't know why.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35Today she went like a rocket.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37Yeah. And you can't tell.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40- Enjoy your cuppa.- I will. - Thank you for that. Bye-bye.- Cheers.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02This is the longest heritage line in England.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05- Is it attractive too? - Oh, yes, very.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08- What are the highlights? - The scenery. Really beautiful.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12Are you fans of steam trains?
0:10:12 > 0:10:14- Oh, yeah.- Absolutely.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17And have you been to heritage lines all over the country?
0:10:17 > 0:10:19We go as many as we can.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22- And how do you rate this one? - Oh, it's very good.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24- It's a nice long line, it's good. - It is long, isn't it?
0:10:26 > 0:10:28I'm travelling just two stops,
0:10:28 > 0:10:33revelling in around eight miles of scenic Somerset landscape.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39As part of the Edwardian rejection of the modern world,
0:10:39 > 0:10:42some sought to conserve the past.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44A music teacher called Cecil Sharp
0:10:44 > 0:10:49collected and preserved the lyrics and melodies of folk music,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52meaning that, today, I'll be able to hear singing.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02Sharp began his mission here in Somerset,
0:11:02 > 0:11:06travelling the countryside by steam train and bicycle.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08The picturesque station of Stogumber
0:11:08 > 0:11:11seems barely to have changed since his day.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14- Afternoon.- Good afternoon!
0:11:18 > 0:11:22Nearby in the Quantock Hills is Halsway Manor,
0:11:22 > 0:11:25home to the National Centre for the Folk Arts.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29Michael, welcome to Halsway Manor.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31It's such a beautiful place.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33- Come through.- Thank you.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37Singer and folk historian Yvette Staelens
0:11:37 > 0:11:41is passionate about keeping Cecil Sharp's legacy alive.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45- The hall is lovely, isn't it? - It is. It's beautiful.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49How important is the achievement of Cecil Sharp, do you think?
0:11:49 > 0:11:54I think it's fundamental to folk in England.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57And the material he collected is still used today.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01Schools still sing it. It was very much part of the folk revival.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04These are songs that we still find interesting today.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Were these songs in danger of being lost?
0:12:07 > 0:12:11Very much so, actually. It's not about composed, written songs.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13It's about songs passed from person to person
0:12:13 > 0:12:15through what we call the oral tradition.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19And Sharp came to Somerset, and on the 22nd of August, 1903,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22there was an iconic moment in folk history
0:12:22 > 0:12:25where he heard the gardener at the vicarage, John England,
0:12:25 > 0:12:27singing The Seeds of Love.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31# I sowed the seeds of love
0:12:31 > 0:12:35# And I sowed them in the spring... #
0:12:35 > 0:12:39So, a really gorgeous song, and apposite for a gardener to sing.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41That was the first song Cecil Sharp collected.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45- Wait a minute, you're not telling me the gardener was called John England?!- Isn't it terrific?
0:12:45 > 0:12:49Yes, absolutely! You couldn't write it any better, could you?
0:12:50 > 0:12:57Cecil Sharp collected nearly 5,000 tunes in England and North America
0:12:57 > 0:13:01and took photographs of the many singers and dancers that he met
0:13:01 > 0:13:02on his travels.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06These portraits provide a valuable record of the rural working classes
0:13:06 > 0:13:08of the time.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11I think it says a lot about Sharp
0:13:11 > 0:13:13that he was able to get the confidence of people
0:13:13 > 0:13:14so they would give him these songs.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18But he could not publish what he heard,
0:13:18 > 0:13:21because, clearly, Edwardian sensibilities would not allow this.
0:13:21 > 0:13:26Some of this material was, frankly, edgy, let's say.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28So they had to soften the words.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31What's the song we're going to hear from the choir this afternoon?
0:13:31 > 0:13:34We're going to sing a version of Blow Away The Morning Dew,
0:13:34 > 0:13:37which was collected across the South of England.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39It's really about a battle of the sexes.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41- Wow, I can't wait! And the choir's ready?- They are.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46CHOIR HUMS
0:13:48 > 0:13:50# There was a shepherd's boy
0:13:50 > 0:13:53# Keeping sheep upon the hill
0:13:53 > 0:13:57# He laid his bow and arrow down
0:13:57 > 0:14:01# For war to take its fill
0:14:01 > 0:14:05# And sing blow away the morning dew
0:14:05 > 0:14:07# The dew and the view
0:14:07 > 0:14:10# Sing blow away the morning dew
0:14:10 > 0:14:18# Sing blow, blow, blow. #
0:14:19 > 0:14:21Bravo, bravo, bravo!
0:14:22 > 0:14:25After his initial interest in collecting folk songs,
0:14:25 > 0:14:29Cecil Sharp turned his attention to traditional dances.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32MORRIS DANCE MUSIC PLAYS
0:14:32 > 0:14:35BELLS JINGLE
0:14:38 > 0:14:43Brian Heaton is a member of the West Somerset Morris Men.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47Bravo, bravo, bravo!
0:14:47 > 0:14:50So, how far back does Morris dancing go, Brian?
0:14:50 > 0:14:52Well, nobody really knows, Michael.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55It's lost in the mists of time.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57What's it all about, then?
0:14:57 > 0:15:00Well, it's fertility rites, and things of that kind, you see?
0:15:00 > 0:15:02- No?!- Absolutely, yes.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04Now... I'll give it a go!
0:15:05 > 0:15:07Hello, do you mind if I step in?
0:15:07 > 0:15:10So, what are the basics here?
0:15:10 > 0:15:13Basic step is a single step in front.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20Yes. And you dance that to the beat of the music.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23- That's the tricky bit. - That's all the step is.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26Right, OK. But what about this swordplay, then?
0:15:26 > 0:15:29The swordplay! The chorus, as we call it!
0:15:29 > 0:15:32It's like a sword or sabre.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36We swipe at the top, carry through,
0:15:36 > 0:15:38round the bottom...
0:16:15 > 0:16:16Thank you!
0:16:18 > 0:16:19Thank you.
0:16:36 > 0:16:37As evening draws in,
0:16:37 > 0:16:41this train is taking me towards the historic city of Exeter.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44Its diocese dates back to the 11th century,
0:16:44 > 0:16:48and the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter to the 12th.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51I'll have to leave my visit there till the morning,
0:16:51 > 0:16:53but nothing buttresses my good humour
0:16:53 > 0:16:55like a good English cathedral.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16This building, at the time of my guidebook,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19was the newly opened eye infirmary in Exeter.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22Look at the size of it.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25It was second in importance only to Moorfields.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29It's now a hotel, somewhere for me to get 40 winks.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50I'm beginning my day at a spot visited by Her Majesty the Queen
0:17:50 > 0:17:55on her Golden Jubilee tour of the country in 2002.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57She was greeted by crowds of well-wishers
0:17:57 > 0:17:59outside Exeter Cathedral.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04I'm here to find out how the city prepared for another royal occasion
0:18:04 > 0:18:06exactly a century earlier.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12Whose mug is this?
0:18:12 > 0:18:18It is Edward VII's, and it was made for his coronation in 1902.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21Most people had known no monarch other than Victoria,
0:18:21 > 0:18:24who had reigned for 64 years,
0:18:24 > 0:18:26and she was much mourned.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29But, then again, it was a new century.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33There were motorcars and telephones, and soon there would be aeroplanes,
0:18:33 > 0:18:37the possibilities of the future were untold.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40It was time to ring in the new.
0:18:40 > 0:18:41BELLS PEAL
0:18:45 > 0:18:50Exeter Cathedral's history stretches back almost 1,000 years.
0:18:50 > 0:18:55145 feet tall and 383 feet long,
0:18:55 > 0:18:58it's a shining example of Gothic architecture.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06What you see when you enter this cathedral is a sight
0:19:06 > 0:19:09that you'll have in no other medieval structure.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12And it is the length, almost the infinity,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15of this beautiful, vaulted ceiling.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19And what is so miraculous is the lightness of the whole thing.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24Those stone struts that hold the roof aloft,
0:19:24 > 0:19:26they're almost like fingers in prayer
0:19:26 > 0:19:30that have separated and been locked in place.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38Hello, Ian.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42I'm meeting long-serving ringing master Ian Campbell
0:19:42 > 0:19:45to find out how this ancient building was updated
0:19:45 > 0:19:47to usher in the Edwardian era.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51Gosh, Ian, how many steps are there?
0:19:51 > 0:19:53There's a lot, but if you take them two at a time,
0:19:53 > 0:19:55there's only half as many.
0:19:55 > 0:19:56Ah, good point.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03We're ascending the South Tower, up to the belfry.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08Ian, what a very impressive space.
0:20:08 > 0:20:09What bells do you have here?
0:20:09 > 0:20:12- How many?- There are 14 bells.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17And the biggest bell, Grandisson, the tenor, is 72 hundredweight,
0:20:17 > 0:20:20that makes it the second-heaviest bell in the world
0:20:20 > 0:20:25- that will ring in a full circle. - And that's about four tonnes?
0:20:25 > 0:20:27Just about four tonnes, yes.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29What was it that happened here
0:20:29 > 0:20:31around the time of the coronation of Edward VII?
0:20:31 > 0:20:32Grandisson was not a very good bell,
0:20:32 > 0:20:37so it was recast, and at the same time, Fox, the seventh, was cracked,
0:20:37 > 0:20:39so that was recast, as well.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42And when they recast it they put an Edwardian penny in the mould,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45and you can see it on the side of the bell now as part of the casting.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48And can we hear the bells today in their glory?
0:20:48 > 0:20:51If you're feeling very brave, we'll have a go.
0:20:51 > 0:20:52Brave? Hmm!
0:20:54 > 0:20:58I've heard that it usually takes four people to ring Grandisson.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01- Right.- I suggest you climb up on the box.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05But I'm taking on this beast of nearly four tonnes
0:21:05 > 0:21:08with just a little assistance from Ian.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14Stretch up high and pull it very gently down and let it go up again.
0:21:14 > 0:21:15But you'll feel it's quite heavy.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19So, let it go up as far as it wants to go and then pull it down.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22And then in a minute you'll be off the bottom of the sally,
0:21:22 > 0:21:24which is the furry bit.
0:21:24 > 0:21:25BELL CHIMES
0:21:27 > 0:21:29Right, so it's chiming.
0:21:29 > 0:21:30Isn't that lovely?
0:21:31 > 0:21:34What a great, deep sound.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41I've made Grandisson chime.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45But really to ring an English church bell,
0:21:45 > 0:21:48you need to swing it through 360 degrees.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51- Shall we give it a go? - We'll give it a shot.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55Perhaps I'll have more luck with its smaller sibling, Fox.
0:21:55 > 0:21:56BELL RINGS
0:22:08 > 0:22:11With bells ringing in my ears, there's just time
0:22:11 > 0:22:14to pick up a newspaper before continuing my journey.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24I'm leaving Exeter and heading south.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31WH Smith was a man who realised
0:22:31 > 0:22:36that the railways transformed the national distribution of newspapers
0:22:36 > 0:22:42and he established a near monopoly of bookstalls on railway stations.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44Those who had traditional money
0:22:44 > 0:22:47regarded people who made their fortunes in commerce
0:22:47 > 0:22:51as the new rich, the nouveau riche -
0:22:51 > 0:22:54people who had to buy their own furniture.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59Nonetheless, that new wealth cascaded down the generations.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17Well-heeled Edwardians used this stunning route to reach
0:23:17 > 0:23:21the fashionable Devon seaside resorts of the English Riviera.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40But I shall alight at the inland stop of Newton Abbot,
0:23:40 > 0:23:42bound for Dartmoor National Park.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48My destination is the imposing Bovey Castle.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57Author David Parker has studied its Edwardian roots.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02- Hello, David.- Hello, Michael, nice to speak to you.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05David, Bovey Castle is certainly quite a pile, isn't it?
0:24:05 > 0:24:07- It is, indeed.- Who built it?
0:24:07 > 0:24:11It was built by a man who went under the name of Freddy Smith
0:24:11 > 0:24:14to his friends, but his father was William Henry Smith,
0:24:14 > 0:24:18of WH Smith & Sons, the celebrated stationers,
0:24:18 > 0:24:22so he inherited in 1891 all his father's wealth.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25- A considerable fortune? - A considerable fortune -
0:24:25 > 0:24:28many, many hundreds of millions in today's money.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30Freddy built this in 1907,
0:24:30 > 0:24:36as Bovey Manor, at the height of the Edwardian prosperity of his company.
0:24:36 > 0:24:41What was it that the Smith family aimed to do with such a house?
0:24:41 > 0:24:44He built this purely as a shooting lodge,
0:24:44 > 0:24:48where he could bring all of his friends, show off his wealth,
0:24:48 > 0:24:50and show off the countryside, and entertain them,
0:24:50 > 0:24:52hunting, shooting and fishing.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56It was the height of the period of Edwardian conspicuous consumption.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00Did the Smith family face snobbery from aristocrats?
0:25:00 > 0:25:04The celebrated WH Smith had been on the receiving end
0:25:04 > 0:25:07of a lot of snobbery at the time. Freddy, his son,
0:25:07 > 0:25:11did not seem to have so much snobbishness attached to him.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15He had the advantage of going to Eton and Oxford.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17So, with a couple of generations they were there,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20- firmly into the aristocracy?- They were firmly into the aristocracy.
0:25:20 > 0:25:26The Edwardian years of pleasure and indulgence were cut short in 1914
0:25:26 > 0:25:29by the First World War. As an officer in the Devon Yeomanry,
0:25:29 > 0:25:33Freddy Smith fought at Gallipoli and in the Middle East.
0:25:34 > 0:25:35He died in 1928,
0:25:35 > 0:25:39and the manor was sold to the Great Western Railway
0:25:39 > 0:25:41to pay off a million pounds' worth of death duties.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45What did the GWR do with it?
0:25:45 > 0:25:47They turned it into a hotel.
0:25:47 > 0:25:48Nobody else wanted it.
0:25:48 > 0:25:53It was just a huge aristocratic pile that nobody wanted.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00Bovey Castle is no longer owned by the GWR,
0:26:00 > 0:26:03but it remains in use as a hotel.
0:26:08 > 0:26:09Thank you.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13Head chef Mark Bard has been busy preparing a feast
0:26:13 > 0:26:18fit for the lavish tastes of the nouveau riche and, indeed, the King.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23His pot roast white chicken stuffed with truffles and poached
0:26:23 > 0:26:28in Sauternes wine is a modern variation of Poularde Edouard VII,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31served at King Edward's coronation gala dinner.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35- Please enjoy. - Thank you very much indeed.
0:26:35 > 0:26:36- My pleasure.- Looks delicious.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43So, truffles lurking here under the skin.
0:26:47 > 0:26:48Mmm!
0:26:49 > 0:26:52Chicken is very, very flavoursome.
0:26:52 > 0:26:53It's very, very rich.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57It is, um, it is a great Edwardian dish.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00This was the time of ostentation.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02I'm going to enjoy this.
0:27:12 > 0:27:17Exeter Cathedral's new bells rang out to mark the arrival
0:27:17 > 0:27:18of the Edwardian age.
0:27:18 > 0:27:23In gardening, Gertrude Jekyll abandoned Victorian formality
0:27:23 > 0:27:27in favour of looser splashes of colour.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31After railways and factories had transformed this country,
0:27:31 > 0:27:34Cecil Sharp toured the villages
0:27:34 > 0:27:37in search of traditional songs and dances.
0:27:37 > 0:27:42But in truth Britain was no longer a rural society.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45To the horror of the Edwardian landed classes,
0:27:45 > 0:27:50this Bovey estate was built up on the proceeds of trade.
0:27:50 > 0:27:51How vulgar!
0:27:57 > 0:27:59Next time -
0:27:59 > 0:28:02I rediscover a stylish Edwardian author...
0:28:02 > 0:28:05A little bit racy, I would have thought, wouldn't you?
0:28:05 > 0:28:07..have a bash at creating
0:28:07 > 0:28:09turn-of-the-century Cornish collectables...
0:28:09 > 0:28:10And there we are.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13There's our image starting to come through on the front.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16..and boldly go where no railway traveller has gone before.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19Even Bradshaw never went to the moon.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21RECORDED MESSAGE: Even Bradshaw never went to the moon.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25That is fantastic! My voice has gone to the moon and back.