0:00:04 > 0:00:09Fresh fish, one of our great natural healthy food sources.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13Living on an island, we Brits have had it easy,
0:00:13 > 0:00:16surrounded by stocks out at sea.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19We enjoy fish but, perhaps, sometimes, we take it for granted,
0:00:19 > 0:00:23having it on sale in shops, restaurants and cafes,
0:00:23 > 0:00:28including those that specialise in a national favourite - fish and chips.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35But getting a good piece of fish on your plate wasn't always so easy...
0:00:35 > 0:00:37TRAIN HORN BLARES
0:00:37 > 0:00:39..until the railways arrived.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41Even in the early days of rail,
0:00:41 > 0:00:46thousands of tons of fresh fish were barrelling along newly-laid tracks,
0:00:46 > 0:00:49from coastal towns to the nation's dining tables.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55The expanding network was at the heart
0:00:55 > 0:00:58of modern, powerful Victorian Britain -
0:00:58 > 0:01:01a Britain bursting with energy and confidence.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04Railways were transforming virtually everything -
0:01:04 > 0:01:07from where we live to how we do business,
0:01:07 > 0:01:11from what we eat to how we spend our leisure time.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14They gave us a new shared identity and culture.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18The railways would revolutionise not only what we ate,
0:01:18 > 0:01:22but also how we shopped up and down the country.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24And nowhere was this change more dramatic
0:01:24 > 0:01:25than in the nation's capital.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46In the early 19th century, London was the largest city in Europe,
0:01:46 > 0:01:51home to a million people and poised to expand at a phenomenal rate.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54During Victoria's reign,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57it mushroomed into a metropolis of over six million.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02But this rapid expansion came at a cost and many of the new arrivals
0:02:02 > 0:02:05in the early 1800s found themselves in overcrowded slums,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08surrounded with thousands of animals that, today,
0:02:08 > 0:02:09we would only see in farms.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14In his 1830s novel Oliver Twist,
0:02:14 > 0:02:18Charles Dickens describes in vivid detail what a stroll
0:02:18 > 0:02:22around one of the city's markets might have been like at the time.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26"The ground was covered nearly ankle-deep with filth and mire.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28"A thick steam, perpetually rising
0:02:28 > 0:02:32"from the reeking bodies of the cattle and mingling with the fog,
0:02:32 > 0:02:36"which seemed to rest upon the chimney tops, hung heavily above."
0:02:39 > 0:02:42And animals weren't confined to market places.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45They were kept in alleys, backyards and cellars.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47The noise and the stench must have been tremendous
0:02:47 > 0:02:50but, of course, these were critical sources of food and drink
0:02:50 > 0:02:53for much of the city's less well-off.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56Before the railways, people had a very limited diet,
0:02:56 > 0:02:59because they had to eat it that day.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01There was no refrigeration.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05There was very little ability to bring food in from the countryside.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09Staple foods are very simple and basic for the poor - bread,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12potatoes, milk, dried fish,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15maybe some bacon. The important thing to remember
0:03:15 > 0:03:18is it's not just that there wasn't very much food available,
0:03:18 > 0:03:21distributing food into cities was difficult
0:03:21 > 0:03:24and it meant that the quality of food was often very bad.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28An example of where quality was often poor was with milk.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31Milk was difficult to supply because, of course,
0:03:31 > 0:03:35it goes off very quickly, and it was often watered down.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39It wasn't watered down from water like we're used to - clean water -
0:03:39 > 0:03:42this would have been dirty water, water from the Thames.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48But for London's urban poor, a transport revolution,
0:03:48 > 0:03:50driven by fire and steam,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53was about to permanently alter their limited diets.
0:03:53 > 0:03:59In 1838, the first intercity train line to London came from Birmingham.
0:03:59 > 0:04:04By 1840, it had been joined by half a dozen other major rail lines.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08By the end of the century, London would be firmly established
0:04:08 > 0:04:12as the principle hub in a national distribution network.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16Lines like the Great Central, now run as a heritage railway,
0:04:16 > 0:04:18would be used for getting a whole range of goods
0:04:18 > 0:04:20up and down the country.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32Very rapidly, London developed fast and efficient access
0:04:32 > 0:04:34to faraway places.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37Coastal towns were now only hours away, rather than days.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40And farmers who wanted to transport their produce to London
0:04:40 > 0:04:42no longer had to endure long journeys
0:04:42 > 0:04:45over difficult and dangerous roads.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48Railways transformed people's whole notions
0:04:48 > 0:04:51of speed, time and distance, and this, in turn,
0:04:51 > 0:04:55had a dramatic effect on the way we consumed goods as well as food.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04Some of the first produce on the railways
0:05:04 > 0:05:05was also the most perishable.
0:05:05 > 0:05:10Milk started to flow into London as early as the mid-1840s,
0:05:10 > 0:05:15on newly-laid tracks from places like Romford and Brentwood in Essex.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21But this was no overnight revolution.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24There was no shortage of resistance to change.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29Country farmers were sceptical about sending their milk
0:05:29 > 0:05:32into new markets, where they had little experience,
0:05:32 > 0:05:36while city dwellers were suspicious of what was termed "country milk",
0:05:36 > 0:05:40often curdled and sour after long and bumpy train journeys.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45And rail companies themselves were slow to jump on board.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48They saw milk as difficult and expensive to move
0:05:48 > 0:05:50and they were reluctant to invest in new technologies
0:05:50 > 0:05:52and purpose-built infrastructure.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01In the early days, railways were popular for transporting coal,
0:06:01 > 0:06:06a vital fuel, not only for locomotives, but also for industry.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09Rail companies developed and diversified.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11They realised money could be made
0:06:11 > 0:06:13not only from transporting passengers,
0:06:13 > 0:06:17but a wide range of freight, including dairy products.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23Throughout the 19th century, demand for milk grew rapidly.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26The trade was not only helping to feed Londoners
0:06:26 > 0:06:30and other city dwellers, it was also making some people rich.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34The industry developed from the 1860s
0:06:34 > 0:06:36very rapidly
0:06:36 > 0:06:40and one entrepreneur responsible for that was George Barham,
0:06:40 > 0:06:42who established Express Country Milk Co,
0:06:42 > 0:06:44later Express Dairies, in 1864.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47I suppose he was fortunate, the following year,
0:06:47 > 0:06:51that the cattle plague struck the cow keepers in London
0:06:51 > 0:06:55and there was a fall-off in milk production as a result on that.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58Barham spotted this as an opportunity.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00And being the kind of guy he was,
0:07:00 > 0:07:02he immediately got out into the countryside,
0:07:02 > 0:07:07talked to farmers and encouraged people to send milk into London.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09To them it seemed a bizarre kind of concept,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12but the money they made from this short episode,
0:07:12 > 0:07:14in just over two years,
0:07:14 > 0:07:18convinced many of them to continue with that trade.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23As more milk was produced outside London,
0:07:23 > 0:07:27the impact was felt by those living in the capital.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29One of the biggest changes for people
0:07:29 > 0:07:33was that they no longer had to put up with cows
0:07:33 > 0:07:36living in the basement in London
0:07:36 > 0:07:39because that had been the only source of milk.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41Now, with the railways,
0:07:41 > 0:07:45they were able to transport the milk from quite far.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49Refrigerated cars soon came into use and, therefore,
0:07:49 > 0:07:53they could get fresh milk every day at a much cheaper rate than before.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00As the technology of milk transportation developed,
0:08:00 > 0:08:04trains came to London from further and further afield.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07By the 1890s, trains dedicated to moving milk
0:08:07 > 0:08:11were coming to London from as far as 150 miles away.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14Stations like Millers Dale in Derbyshire's Peak District
0:08:14 > 0:08:15were bustling hubs of activity,
0:08:15 > 0:08:19with local farmers sending their produce all over the country.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24Farmers from the local area would hurry down tracks like these
0:08:24 > 0:08:27in the early mornings, eager to be the first to unload their milk
0:08:27 > 0:08:30onto the waiting wagons at Millers Dale.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33It's said that at least one farmer was killed
0:08:33 > 0:08:36when he lost control of his horses
0:08:36 > 0:08:38and plunged off the bank into the ravine.
0:08:43 > 0:08:48Scenes of chaos also unfolded in London where milk was offloaded.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52Wholesalers clambered over the early morning trains, searching,
0:08:52 > 0:08:57often in vain, to identify the right churns from their chosen suppliers.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01One consequence of the expansion of the milk trade
0:09:01 > 0:09:03that was unforeseen was the exposure of the whole country
0:09:03 > 0:09:07to a disease called bovine tuberculosis.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09What might originally have been
0:09:09 > 0:09:12only one cow in a herd that was infected,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15this became a risk to the whole population,
0:09:15 > 0:09:18because milk was mixed in the churns
0:09:18 > 0:09:22by the traders in the rural areas and the urban areas
0:09:22 > 0:09:25and, as a consequence of this increased risk,
0:09:25 > 0:09:30my estimate is that between 650,000 and 820,000 people died
0:09:30 > 0:09:35of bovine tuberculosis between 1850 and 1960.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38But, despite the risks, by 1900,
0:09:38 > 0:09:42milk had become the most profitable product from British farms.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45In London, over 80% of the milk now being consumed
0:09:45 > 0:09:47was delivered via the railways.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52By the mid-1800s,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56customers at London's markets were able to buy a wider range
0:09:56 > 0:09:59of fresh food - from butter and bacon to fruit and vegetables.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01Fresh fish!
0:10:05 > 0:10:08And quality was key, particularly when it came to fish,
0:10:08 > 0:10:10now readily and widely available.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20But in the towns where the fish was landed,
0:10:20 > 0:10:23change would be about much more than just improved diets in London.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27The railways were turning Grimsby and other coastal communities
0:10:27 > 0:10:29into thriving commercial centres.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40So, how much of an impact did the railways have on Grimsby,
0:10:40 > 0:10:42on how it developed?
0:10:42 > 0:10:44I think it went from being quite an isolated
0:10:44 > 0:10:47sort of, like, corner of Lincolnshire
0:10:47 > 0:10:50into being a national supplier of fish to the masses.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53The railways became the catalyst for Grimsby
0:10:53 > 0:10:55to grow into the largest fishing port in the world,
0:10:55 > 0:10:58the ability to sell fish and transport fish throughout the UK.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00So, there were direct links
0:11:00 > 0:11:03into Manchester, into Liverpool, into Birmingham
0:11:03 > 0:11:06and, particularly, into Billingsgate Fish Market in London.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15With more fish being moved by train,
0:11:15 > 0:11:19the rail companies were encouraged to develop new supply chains,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22building storage facilities at stations and docks
0:11:22 > 0:11:23and attaching fish wagons
0:11:23 > 0:11:26to services running up and down the country.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29- TV REPORT:- 'In the meantime, the railway tracks alongside the wharfs,
0:11:29 > 0:11:32'disused for years, are again in operation.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35'Yarmouth serves the nation's bread basket.'
0:11:39 > 0:11:41This supply of fresh fish was responsible
0:11:41 > 0:11:45for one of the most enduring legacies of the railways.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56It's hard to imagine life without our much-loved fish and chips.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00In London, Joseph Malin, a Jewish immigrant living in Bow,
0:12:00 > 0:12:05claimed to have opened the world's first fish and chip shop in 1860,
0:12:05 > 0:12:09adapting the Jewish community's tradition of frying fish
0:12:09 > 0:12:11and pairing them with potato latkes.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15Malin's shop has gone but Rock & Sole Plaice in Covent Garden
0:12:15 > 0:12:17has now taken up the mantle
0:12:17 > 0:12:20of being London's oldest surviving fish and chip shop.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24When it opened in 1871,
0:12:24 > 0:12:27it served workers from the markets and factories around it.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Workers who'd long been accustomed to dull cuisine
0:12:30 > 0:12:33and had grown tired of jellied eels and dried fish,
0:12:33 > 0:12:37were soon queuing round the block for deep-fried fresh fish.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39It truly became a national institution
0:12:39 > 0:12:42and it was all made possible because of the railways.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54The rail network gave London access
0:12:54 > 0:12:56to specialist suppliers from far afield.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01In Cornwall, new tracks meant new opportunities.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11One of the early pioneers of the Cornish vegetable trade
0:13:11 > 0:13:14was William Laity, a broccoli farmer,
0:13:14 > 0:13:17who lived here, in Perranuthnoe, from the mid-19th century.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22By the time the area was connected to London via Bristol in 1853,
0:13:22 > 0:13:26Laity started to send small boxes of broccoli to Covent Garden Market.
0:13:26 > 0:13:31William Laity's family still farms the same land today.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34Virginia Laity has kept two of William's account books
0:13:34 > 0:13:36from the 19th century,
0:13:36 > 0:13:40one prior to the arrival of the railways and the other after.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43It's so interesting to see that here, before the railways,
0:13:43 > 0:13:46there are individual buyers listed by name.
0:13:46 > 0:13:52- So, J Williams, church rate, three shillings.- Yes.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55There's no volumes given. And, in the later years,
0:13:55 > 0:13:58you're talking about eight, nine, ten crates,
0:13:58 > 0:14:0217 crates, and that just shows you the quantity.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06Local suppliers are only going to buy maybe a few boxes,
0:14:06 > 0:14:09- whereas London, they're taking all of this produce.- Yes.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12And did everybody want to get a piece of this action?
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Yes, the farming community did, yes. They went for it in a big way.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17Other markets all opened up,
0:14:17 > 0:14:19so there was really a great competition.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25Much of the broccoli farmed by William Laity
0:14:25 > 0:14:28would have first come here, to the old Marazion station,
0:14:28 > 0:14:30just down the road from his farm.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32By the turn of the century,
0:14:32 > 0:14:34the Great Western Railway was transporting
0:14:34 > 0:14:37tens of thousands of tons of broccoli from West Cornwall alone,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40to London and the rest of the country.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44Other areas took advantage of the network
0:14:44 > 0:14:47and more people could now enjoy regional produce.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51Norfolk was sending turkeys into the capital,
0:14:51 > 0:14:54a journey which had once taken weeks on foot,
0:14:54 > 0:14:56and now only took a few hours.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59The Cheddar Valley in Somerset had the Strawberry Line
0:14:59 > 0:15:01and Hampshire the Watercress Line.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04While many farmers were reaping the rewards
0:15:04 > 0:15:09of an expanding national market, some farms were left struggling,
0:15:09 > 0:15:12as increased supply drove prices down.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14The railways operate in two ways.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18They do give advantages to cities,
0:15:18 > 0:15:23because people have greater access to the countryside,
0:15:23 > 0:15:26but they also mean that places in the countryside
0:15:26 > 0:15:29are more in competition with one another,
0:15:29 > 0:15:34so the railways actually drive down prices for the farmers
0:15:34 > 0:15:37and make it better for city dwellers,
0:15:37 > 0:15:40but sometimes make it worse for farmers,
0:15:40 > 0:15:42who find that their produce is selling
0:15:42 > 0:15:44at a lower rate because there's more competition.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52The railways also meant that livestock could be rapidly brought
0:15:52 > 0:15:56into London on trains from all over the country,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59either to be slaughtered at markets like Smithfield,
0:15:59 > 0:16:01or as pre-butchered fresh meat.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04Meat, obviously, became fresher
0:16:04 > 0:16:09and the animals no longer had to walk vast distances
0:16:09 > 0:16:13so, therefore, the meat was actually cheaper,
0:16:13 > 0:16:15since when the animals were killed,
0:16:15 > 0:16:19they were fatter and the price was less.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24But this new ability to transport more fresh meat
0:16:24 > 0:16:26was not without controversy,
0:16:26 > 0:16:28especially when food was taken away
0:16:28 > 0:16:31from places where it was needed most urgently.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34By the mid-19th century,
0:16:34 > 0:16:38Irish cattle were being shipped to Birkenhead for slaughter
0:16:38 > 0:16:41before being sent by rail to London and other English cities -
0:16:41 > 0:16:44a trade that continued even during the Irish famine
0:16:44 > 0:16:46of the 1840s and '50s.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51Cecil Woodham-Smith wrote in The Great Hunger that,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54"No issue had provoked so much anger
0:16:54 > 0:16:58"or so embittered relations between the two countries
0:16:58 > 0:17:02"as the indisputable fact that huge quantities of food were exported
0:17:02 > 0:17:04"from Ireland to England through the period
0:17:04 > 0:17:07"when the people of Ireland were dying of starvation."
0:17:07 > 0:17:09There was nothing, seemingly,
0:17:09 > 0:17:12that could stop the advance of the railways
0:17:12 > 0:17:16or, indeed, the impact this was having on cities around the country.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23With more animals coming in, both dead and alive,
0:17:23 > 0:17:27to mainline stations, the infrastructure of old was evolving.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30Cattle docks became an important feature of stations,
0:17:30 > 0:17:32as well as special cattle wagons and horse boxes
0:17:32 > 0:17:35routinely included in market day trains.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48By as early as the 1860s,
0:17:48 > 0:17:51meat traffic had increased to such an extent
0:17:51 > 0:17:53that a vast underground depot was constructed
0:17:53 > 0:17:58to connect Smithfield Market with the rest of the railway network.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04You can still see the holes in the roof
0:18:04 > 0:18:07where the hooks would have descended from the meat market above
0:18:07 > 0:18:11to pick up the animal carcasses from the train wagons below.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14These were huge tunnels and remain testament
0:18:14 > 0:18:18to the importance of food produce to the railway companies
0:18:18 > 0:18:20and the lengths to which they would go
0:18:20 > 0:18:23to ensure that they could transport more and more of it.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Tunnels like those under Smithfield's
0:18:27 > 0:18:29and specialist platforms and depots
0:18:29 > 0:18:32were the start of a whole new distribution system
0:18:32 > 0:18:35to get produce and livestock to retailers
0:18:35 > 0:18:38and, ultimately, to Londoners' dining tables.
0:18:41 > 0:18:46One of the largest depots to be built was Somers Town in 1887,
0:18:46 > 0:18:51which spanned an area the size of almost 12 football pitches.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54The site would go on to serve London as late as the 1950s.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00It was so essential that this goods yard was built
0:19:00 > 0:19:02that Midland Railway actually obtained an Act of Parliament
0:19:02 > 0:19:05which allowed them to compulsory purchase this site
0:19:05 > 0:19:07which, unfortunately, meant
0:19:07 > 0:19:09about 10,000 people had to leave their homes.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12So, what sorts of goods were coming into Somers Town?
0:19:12 > 0:19:16We know that there was a large potato market,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19which would have fed the general population of the city.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22There was a milk and fish shed.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24There was also a banana ripening station.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28So, how was food moved out of the depot around the city?
0:19:28 > 0:19:31Well, it was an enormous, complex operation.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33We know the Midland Railway company had
0:19:33 > 0:19:35over 1,000 horses at their disposal.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38Food was taken from the trains at the upper level,
0:19:38 > 0:19:41down to the lower level and loaded onto the carts.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50There is no doubt that, during the 19th century,
0:19:50 > 0:19:54the diets of many people changed and improved dramatically,
0:19:54 > 0:19:56thanks, in part, to the railways.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00There was certainly an increase in the range of food available,
0:20:00 > 0:20:03but to what extent did this benefit all Londoners?
0:20:05 > 0:20:09Where you had a very restricted diet before the railways came,
0:20:09 > 0:20:11you start to see, over this period,
0:20:11 > 0:20:14that diet expanding at certain times,
0:20:14 > 0:20:17particularly when foods are available that are not so expensive.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20So, increased vegetables, increased fruits,
0:20:20 > 0:20:23also increased, sort of, prepared foods.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26A big explosion in fish and chips, in pies, in saveloys.
0:20:26 > 0:20:32These sorts of foods start to be much more abundant in cities.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35So, it's this mixture of the variety and the quantity which explodes,
0:20:35 > 0:20:37but also the quality.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40And had that narrowed the gap at all between the classes,
0:20:40 > 0:20:41when it came to food?
0:20:41 > 0:20:45For the poor, what you see is malnutrition continues
0:20:45 > 0:20:48to be a problem, right up, in fact, to the 1930s.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52But for people with means, for lower middle class people,
0:20:52 > 0:20:56for working people with money, their diet does expand.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59And what you also see is the rise of brands.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02This is really when brands, as we know it, begin,
0:21:02 > 0:21:05Because when you've got consumers and producers
0:21:05 > 0:21:07a long way away from one another,
0:21:07 > 0:21:11you need some way to communicate trust between the two,
0:21:11 > 0:21:13and brands perform this function.
0:21:13 > 0:21:19Oxo, Bovril, Hartley's jam, Bass beer - well-known brands of today -
0:21:19 > 0:21:22started in this period, in part because of the railways.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24TRAIN HORN BLARES
0:21:26 > 0:21:27Now, thanks to the railways,
0:21:27 > 0:21:31local family-run businesses could become national
0:21:31 > 0:21:33and even international household names.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40Huntley & Palmers, the legendary biscuit manufacturer from Reading,
0:21:40 > 0:21:43was one of the first to take full advantage
0:21:43 > 0:21:48of this new era of steam and would go on to reap the rewards.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50When the Great Western Railway arrived,
0:21:50 > 0:21:54it immediately transformed opportunities
0:21:54 > 0:21:57for travel and distribution.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00By the 1860s, demand had increased so much
0:22:00 > 0:22:03that the directors hit upon the idea
0:22:03 > 0:22:07of actually introducing their own railway system.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10The company bought two black Hawthorn locomotives,
0:22:10 > 0:22:13which are basically shunters,
0:22:13 > 0:22:17so that they could rapidly export large amounts of goods,
0:22:17 > 0:22:20more than ever before, from the factory floor
0:22:20 > 0:22:23onto the sidings of the Southern and Eastern Railways
0:22:23 > 0:22:25and the Great Western Railway,
0:22:25 > 0:22:30out to the ports, into London and beyond that, into the empire.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34It became a global brand within no time at all,
0:22:34 > 0:22:39just from this little hub here, and it was something that just exploded.
0:22:41 > 0:22:42Huntley & Palmers would become
0:22:42 > 0:22:45the world's largest biscuit manufacturer,
0:22:45 > 0:22:48but the company didn't just use railways for distribution.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50It saw the network as a way to expand
0:22:50 > 0:22:53the public's recognition of its brand.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56Huntley & Palmers understood
0:22:56 > 0:22:59how the railways could raise their product profile.
0:22:59 > 0:23:04The stations were adorned with Huntley & Palmer enamel signs.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08There's even a well-known story about how first-class passengers,
0:23:08 > 0:23:11travelling from Paddington to the West,
0:23:11 > 0:23:14would be handed a packet of Huntley & Palmers biscuits,
0:23:14 > 0:23:16just a small packet,
0:23:16 > 0:23:18and told to look out for the biscuit factory
0:23:18 > 0:23:22as they arrive through Reading - this great, big, red-brick edifice
0:23:22 > 0:23:25that they would see as they passed through the town.
0:23:25 > 0:23:30So, yeah, Huntley & Palmers very much understood the new connectivity
0:23:30 > 0:23:33and means of communication that the railways provided.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41In a new age of national and global markets,
0:23:41 > 0:23:45the idea of the brand became increasingly important.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49And with goods coming from far and wide, there was a question of trust.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54So, we'd sort of begun to be a bit wary about these products
0:23:54 > 0:23:57that were still being sold loose
0:23:57 > 0:24:00and the grocer was having to weigh for us,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03was having to package for us,
0:24:03 > 0:24:07and this was the moment when the manufacturer came in and said,
0:24:07 > 0:24:13"I'm going to produce these, produce them wrapped up, pre-weighed,
0:24:13 > 0:24:16"and put my name upon it,"
0:24:16 > 0:24:19with all the credibility that they could.
0:24:19 > 0:24:24And that's what gained the trust of the consumer
0:24:24 > 0:24:28and we grew this extraordinary bond with our favourite brands.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32Wherever you were, not only did you have the product
0:24:32 > 0:24:35but you recognised the brand names,
0:24:35 > 0:24:38as they were on the hoarding posters in the railway stations,
0:24:38 > 0:24:41along the routes, even, that people were travelling.
0:24:41 > 0:24:46The strength was in a national product, nationally advertised,
0:24:46 > 0:24:48nationally distributed,
0:24:48 > 0:24:54and it was the railway system which was able to provide that.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59Stations were also becoming retail hubs.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03The first branch of WH Smith opened at Euston in 1848.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07The bookseller spread to other stations across the country,
0:25:07 > 0:25:10becoming the first chain store company in the world.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20Beyond the stations, a new type of shop was emerging.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25As the railways were so good at transporting both goods and people,
0:25:25 > 0:25:29they enabled the development of department stores,
0:25:29 > 0:25:32because the stores could get a vast array of goods
0:25:32 > 0:25:34from around the country but also,
0:25:34 > 0:25:40the railways brought people in from a wide range of places.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50Many of these early department stores are still with us today,
0:25:50 > 0:25:54such as Debenhams, Fortnum & Mason and Harvey Nichols.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56People from outside the city were jumping onto trains,
0:25:56 > 0:26:00heading into London to shop at these new attractions.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02Good news for emerging high streets, perhaps,
0:26:02 > 0:26:05but not quite so good for traditional markets
0:26:05 > 0:26:06and street sellers,
0:26:06 > 0:26:09who were seeing their customers disappear down the tracks.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19Shops started to cater not only for the rich and the middle classes,
0:26:19 > 0:26:23but also for the working poor, by stocking cheaper, branded products
0:26:23 > 0:26:25that the masses could afford.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32Grocery shop owners, including the Sainsbury family,
0:26:32 > 0:26:36were also aware of the impact that railways were having on communities.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42Sainsbury's established depots and shops near stations,
0:26:42 > 0:26:44including their first store out of London
0:26:44 > 0:26:49in rapidly expanding Croydon, an area boasting several stations.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57And for those unwilling to travel,
0:26:57 > 0:27:01the railways meant goods could now come to YOU.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Shops started to produce illustrated mail order catalogues,
0:27:04 > 0:27:06advertising a wide range of luxuries.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10Specialist goods from all over the country were being advertised
0:27:10 > 0:27:12and distributed nationally,
0:27:12 > 0:27:14from hats from Luton to gloves from Worcester.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28Railways changed the very essence of the nation's capital,
0:27:28 > 0:27:30from a semi-agricultural slum
0:27:30 > 0:27:34to a bustling metropolis with fine dining and shopping.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43Through fast connections the length and breadth of the country,
0:27:43 > 0:27:47the railways had given Britain a new national diet.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52People's diet tended to become more standardised
0:27:52 > 0:27:55and, you know, they might end up eating similar things,
0:27:55 > 0:28:00say, in Liverpool or Hull as they did in London,
0:28:00 > 0:28:03whereas, previously, they might have had quite different diets
0:28:03 > 0:28:07because of the limited range of food to which they had access.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12In London and in other cities and towns across the country,
0:28:12 > 0:28:14the railways also helped usher in
0:28:14 > 0:28:18an era of modern choice-driven consumer culture -
0:28:18 > 0:28:21a culture that still surrounds us today.