0:00:20 > 0:00:24I'm on a journey along the edge of London, in rural Hertfordshire,
0:00:24 > 0:00:27beginning here, in a field soon to become a forest
0:00:27 > 0:00:30and ending at the countryside home
0:00:30 > 0:00:33of one of the 20th century's greatest sculptors.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42'My journey starts near St Albans in a forest of the future.'
0:00:42 > 0:00:47- This ground is incredibly tough, isn't it?- It is jolly hard.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49We've got to get down deep enough for these roots.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52'Then it's off to Scott's Grotto in Ware,
0:00:52 > 0:00:56'a puzzling remnant of 18th-century high society.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58'I'll visit the gorgeous home
0:00:58 > 0:01:01'of the late Barbara Cartland, queen of the romance novel.'
0:01:01 > 0:01:05- So, we're in the very room that your mother used to write in.- Indeed.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09I'd like to say welcome to Camfield Place, the home of Barbara Cartland
0:01:09 > 0:01:12and the romance capital of the world.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17And then it's onto Knebworth and a story of another inspirational lady.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20She joined a delegation to rush the House of Commons
0:01:20 > 0:01:21with lots of the other women.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24Many of them were arrested, taken before the magistrates.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27She wanted to be treated like one of the Suffragettes.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31'And my Hertfordshire journey comes to an end in Perry Green,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34'yet another famous home. That of the late Henry Moore,
0:01:34 > 0:01:36'a Yorkshire man who settled here
0:01:36 > 0:01:40'and became one of the world's most celebrated sculptors.'
0:01:40 > 0:01:43And along the way, I'll be looking back at the best of the BBC's
0:01:43 > 0:01:45rural programmes from this part of the world.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49This is Country Tracks.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54'Much of Hertfordshire is part of the London commuter belt.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57'I'm less than 30 miles away from Marble Arch right now.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59'But parts of it are very rural.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03'Huge areas of this home county are given over to agriculture.'
0:02:03 > 0:02:06This was once an arable field
0:02:06 > 0:02:10and you could be forgiven for thinking that it still is.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14But in fact, it's England's largest new native forest.
0:02:14 > 0:02:15Or at least it will be.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19'Give it a couple of hundred years
0:02:19 > 0:02:23'and Heartwood Forest will be a dense, diverse woodland.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25'It's a major project.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28'At the helm is Louise Neicho from The Woodland Trust.'
0:02:28 > 0:02:31It seems such a contrast. In here, established woodland
0:02:31 > 0:02:34and out there, to me, it looks like arable fields.
0:02:34 > 0:02:35Well, it is at the moment.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38One of the reasons we bought the land in this location
0:02:38 > 0:02:41is because of these pieces of ancient woodland.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44Ancient woodland means it's been around for at least 400 years.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49So the equivalent to our rainforest in the UK, basically.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51And very few left in Britain today.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55Something like 2% of the landmass in the UK is ancient woodland.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58That's all that's left. And they are actually still being destroyed.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02So one of the things this project will do is buffer it
0:03:02 > 0:03:05and extend these pieces of ancient woodland.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09We can never replace them, but we will be able to protect them.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14So, Louise, why is the forest being planted here?
0:03:14 > 0:03:17The Woodland Trust have been looking for a large site
0:03:17 > 0:03:21in the south of England to create a really big project
0:03:21 > 0:03:25that would have a huge impact on wildlife, as well as people.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29So one of the reasons it's right here in Hertfordshire,
0:03:29 > 0:03:30in St Albans, is that.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33It must be pretty expensive land in the southeast of England.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36It is, but we've got a very good reason for choosing it.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38Within a 15-mile radius,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41there's over two million people we can connect with.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43We probably could've bought a piece of land the same size
0:03:43 > 0:03:47in Scotland or Wales, but it wouldn't have had the same impact
0:03:47 > 0:03:50in terms of people engagement, getting people involved.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52That's what the project's all about.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56It's going to take us 8-10 years to plant the forest.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59We could probably do it quicker if we did it with contractors.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02We could probably do it cheaper. That's not what we want.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05We want a community forest that people really feel a part of
0:04:05 > 0:04:08and really want to get connected with.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12So, where does this new forest fit into the bigger woodland picture?
0:04:12 > 0:04:15Believe it or not, the UK is one of the least wooded countries in Europe.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18There's about 12% of woodland cover.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22With an average in Europe of about 44%, which is quite incredible.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25So one of the aims in The Woodland Trust
0:04:25 > 0:04:29is to double woodland's native cover in the UK in the next 50 years.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35'That's a big ambition indeed.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38'But Louise tells me that here in Hertfordshire at least,
0:04:38 > 0:04:40'there's an army of eager volunteers
0:04:40 > 0:04:44'bringing determination and passion to this project.'
0:04:58 > 0:05:02The Woodland Trust are planting 600,000 trees
0:05:02 > 0:05:05across nearly 900 acres.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08And what's even more impressive is that every single sapling
0:05:08 > 0:05:12is being planted by hand, by volunteers.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16No machines, no contractors, just a lot of goodwill.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31What's in the line-up?
0:05:31 > 0:05:36Today, we've got white willow, spindle, purging buckthorn,
0:05:36 > 0:05:40wayfaring tree, blackthorn, hazel,
0:05:40 > 0:05:44hawthorn, ash, field maple,
0:05:44 > 0:05:50rowan, hornbeam, goat willow and an oak.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52You passed the test! You got them all!
0:05:52 > 0:05:54- That's quite a variety, isn't it? - Yes.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57And any particular order? Are they all going in today?
0:05:57 > 0:05:59Yeah. They'll all be going in today,
0:05:59 > 0:06:03but what we try to do is get the tall species, so the oak,
0:06:03 > 0:06:06the ash, the hornbeam, in the centre of the woodland.
0:06:06 > 0:06:07That will create the forest.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11But, then, along the edges, we want to create woodland edge habitat.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13That's where the hedging-type shrub species go in,
0:06:13 > 0:06:15such as the hawthorn and blackthorn.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17I think you'd better put me to work.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19- Yes, absolutely. - There's trees to go in.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35This ground is incredibly tough, isn't it?
0:06:35 > 0:06:36It is jolly hard, isn't it?
0:06:36 > 0:06:39We've got to get down deep enough for these roots.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41You've got to go as long as the roots?
0:06:41 > 0:06:42As long as the root, yes.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46And if you pick a tree with a big, wide spread of root,
0:06:46 > 0:06:48then you've got to dig a big, wide hole.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51I think I've got loads of flint in here.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54I think we've got a Roman road under here somewhere.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57There has been Roman occupation on this ground,
0:06:57 > 0:06:59but now we're not going to interfere with that.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01It's all about the trees now.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04All about the trees and the people and the nature
0:07:04 > 0:07:05and the flowers and the mosses
0:07:05 > 0:07:08and the butterflies and the everythings.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12- Have you got a favourite tree? - No, I haven't.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14It just happens to be the one I'm looking at sometimes.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17They all have different characteristics.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20- So you like them all, then? - I do, yes.- That's not deep enough.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22This is going to take me a while.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24Yes, I think we're onto a job here.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26So, have you been up here in all weathers?
0:07:26 > 0:07:30Yes. And believe me, some of the all weathers were all weather.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32- Were they really?- Yes. - I'm ready. How about you, Pat?
0:07:32 > 0:07:36Well, I think so. I've got a nice little rough bit at the bottom there.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38- Excellent.- Let's see what we can do.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42- It's looking good. - Oh, perfect. Perfect!
0:07:44 > 0:07:47Lovely soil, you see. It's nice and crumbly, isn't it?
0:07:47 > 0:07:49It may have been hard to dig,
0:07:49 > 0:07:51but it's beautifully crumbly to put back in.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06- Right, what's next? - Here we've got an oak for you.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09These are supposed to be the hardest ones.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11They can be. Some of the roots are quite big.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14- Thank you!- Mind how you go.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17- Oh, this ground is brutal!- I know.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27So, a good way to see if your roots are going to fit in that hole is...
0:08:27 > 0:08:29We often tell the children this.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Put your hands across like that,
0:08:31 > 0:08:33and if the palm of your hand hits the ground,
0:08:33 > 0:08:36you know that your hole is going to be deep enough.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39Mine's actually not quite there!
0:08:39 > 0:08:41I've only gone about halfway, so...
0:08:41 > 0:08:45That was a disappointing exercise. Keep going.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49How long until it starts to look like a forest and feel like it?
0:08:49 > 0:08:53Between 8-12 years. The trees will be above your head.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56You will start to feel like you're in a forest.
0:08:56 > 0:08:57So it's quite quickly.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00That's much quicker than I expected, actually.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04The people who've volunteered will see some fruits of their labour.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Yeah. Absolutely. Particularly the schoolchildren.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11I often say to them, when you're going off to uni,
0:09:11 > 0:09:13when you're getting married, come and see it.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17- It will be a woodland by then, which I think is fantastic.- Love that.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20'Heartwood Forest may need a helping hand to get started,
0:09:20 > 0:09:25'but nature will soon take over and the land will become wild once more.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28'In other parts of Hertfordshire, Mother Nature is being shaped,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31'sculpted and styled.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34'And Alan Titchmarsh knows a thing or two about that.'
0:09:41 > 0:09:44In 1625, Francis Bacon wrote,
0:09:44 > 0:09:48"God Almighty first planted a garden.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52"And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures."
0:09:53 > 0:09:55'The century was one of massive change.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59'Six monarchs, a civil war, the Puritans and the Plague.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03'Garden design reacted to these social changes in a dramatic way.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07'The garden became a refuge of order and calm.
0:10:07 > 0:10:12'An opportunity to control nature in a chaotic world.'
0:10:12 > 0:10:15It was a time when Britain began to garden for pride,
0:10:15 > 0:10:16not just for purpose.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19Hatfield House in Hertfordshire
0:10:19 > 0:10:25is, for me, a fine example of this new passion for the aesthetic.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38'From 1497 until the early 1600s,
0:10:38 > 0:10:42'Hatfield had been a royal garden.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45'The old palace still remains in the grounds.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50'Elizabeth I grew up here
0:10:50 > 0:10:54'and first learned she was to be Queen under Hatfield's old oaks.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00'Her successor, King James I,
0:11:00 > 0:11:04'planted these mulberry trees to help kick-start the silk trade.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09'But it was Sir Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury
0:11:09 > 0:11:14'who, in 1608, took over the estate and built the large Jacobean house,
0:11:14 > 0:11:17'around which, the famous gardens were designed.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22'Unlike many of the estates from this period, Hatfield is unique.
0:11:22 > 0:11:28'Because here, you find a century's worth of ideas in one place.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32'Whether it's the innovative use of the hedge...
0:11:33 > 0:11:36'..an obsession with sculpted topiary,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39'fruit trees that are both ornamental and functional
0:11:39 > 0:11:41'or the clever use of perspective,
0:11:41 > 0:11:44'these are some of the classic ideas of the time.
0:11:44 > 0:11:49'But cleverly adapted, they can suit any contemporary garden.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58'Now, there's one thing you can't escape at Hatfield.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02'Something that goes on and on for 26 miles.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06'Much underrated today, it was a revolutionary design feature then.
0:12:06 > 0:12:07'The hedge.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13'What I particularly like about Hatfield
0:12:13 > 0:12:17'is that it has four gardens set around the house.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19'And by looking at each one, we can actually see
0:12:19 > 0:12:22'how the role of the hedge evolved across the century.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25'No other garden I know can show this.
0:12:25 > 0:12:30'Hatfield's private archive offers the key to how it all began.'
0:12:32 > 0:12:36This is one of the very earliest gardening manuals.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40One of the first to be published, in 1594, by Thomas Hill.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45It's called The Gardener's Labyrinth.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48And it's dedicated to Lord Sir William Cecil,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51the father of Robert Cecil, who made this garden.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53So you can tell how old it is.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56In it, wonderful, wonderful pages
0:12:56 > 0:13:03of patterns for you to copy, all of knots.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06If you have a formal part in your garden
0:13:06 > 0:13:08and you want to know how it came about,
0:13:08 > 0:13:12then the answer is that it probably had its ancestors in Tudor times,
0:13:12 > 0:13:18almost 500 years ago, in a knot garden like this one at Hatfield.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20No flowers in this part.
0:13:20 > 0:13:25Clipped box or Santolina, cotton lavender, was the height of fashion.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29Woven into these intricate shapes, or knots.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33'Up to this point, hedges were grown high to protect man from danger.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37'Now they were clipped low and designed to compliment
0:13:37 > 0:13:39'the architecture of the house.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43'But the English knot was to go out of fashion during the 17th century.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46'The French thought they could do better,
0:13:46 > 0:13:50'so they created a larger and grander version, the parterre.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54'It became a gardening must-have.
0:13:54 > 0:13:59'And at Hatfield, it appeared on the south side of the garden.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02'Like the knot, the parterre is a symmetrical formal garden
0:14:02 > 0:14:06'with a box-hedge border and a pattern within.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08'But it's more extensive than the knot
0:14:08 > 0:14:12'and the hedge is shaped into elaborate curves and curlicues.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14'But this was just the start.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18'By now, Britain's landed gentry were travelling abroad
0:14:18 > 0:14:21'and being exposed to new plants and ideas.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25'The designers at Hatfield saw how these could work with the hedge
0:14:25 > 0:14:28'and created a new formal garden in the east parterre.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35'As the century progressed, the role of the hedge changed further.
0:14:35 > 0:14:41'You can see how in Hatfield's west parterre.'
0:14:43 > 0:14:47So this really, then, David, is the final development of the parterre.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50Yes. I mean, the garden still had the formality,
0:14:50 > 0:14:52the sharp lines, crispness,
0:14:52 > 0:14:55but inside the beds was quite chaotic in some ways.
0:14:55 > 0:15:01So all that remained of that parterre is the shape of the beds
0:15:01 > 0:15:04and one or two lumps of box and yew topiary.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07But, inside the beds, this effusion, this ebullience,
0:15:07 > 0:15:10this complete organised chaos, if you like.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13- Why did this happen?- Plants were a lot more important in them days.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16We now have plants introduced almost weekly.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19But of course, in them days, they weren't.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22They were being brought from all over the world.
0:15:22 > 0:15:27And the more important plants you had, the more important your garden was.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30So this was the ultimate in showing off?
0:15:30 > 0:15:33Exactly. And that's what these gardens were for.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38'Here we can see how the role of the hedge has evolved into what it is today.
0:15:38 > 0:15:43'What began as a focus, gradually retreated to become a boundary,
0:15:43 > 0:15:45'a framework for our gardens.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48'We owe its evolution to the 17th century.'
0:15:53 > 0:15:57Alan Titchmarsh exploring the roots of gardening at Hatfield House.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02I've headed northeast to Scott's Grotto in Ware.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05It's a bizarre and beautiful place.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08Behind a door on an ordinary residential street,
0:16:08 > 0:16:14lies an extraordinary link with Hertfordshire's highfalutin past.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24It's the biggest grotto in England.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28Built in the 1760s by a Quaker poet called John Scott,
0:16:28 > 0:16:31it's as stunning as it is strange.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38"Grotto" is said to come from the word "grotesque",
0:16:38 > 0:16:43and they were originally fashionable in Italy as places to go on balmy days.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46But since we don't have that problem in Britain,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49John Scott built it as a place to show off to his guests.
0:16:49 > 0:16:54When Dr Johnson visited, he declared the place "the perfect habitation for a toad".
0:16:54 > 0:16:57It is feeling a bit damp so I'll get my coat on.
0:17:05 > 0:17:10Not only is it cold, but it's dark and empty.
0:17:15 > 0:17:21No-one is certain why John Scott built such an intricate network of tunnels.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23One theory is he was a great philanthropist
0:17:23 > 0:17:26and the grotto was a job creation scheme.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30On the other hand, it may have been the ultimate fashion statement.
0:17:30 > 0:17:35After all, how many people could boast an underground treasure trove in the garden?
0:17:41 > 0:17:45It's funny. These dark, flint-lined corridors
0:17:45 > 0:17:49give me that slightly claustrophobic feeling.
0:17:49 > 0:17:54It's 30 feet underground here, so that's not helping much.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57I feel like I'm having to talk myself down a little bit.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59Oh...
0:18:08 > 0:18:10Wow.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13These warm-water shells were originally brought
0:18:13 > 0:18:16in the ballast of ships returning from the New World.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20There's some from the Indian Ocean, some from the Caribbean.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23There are some whopper barnacles up on the roof
0:18:23 > 0:18:27and the whole grotto was restored in 1990 after a campaign to save it in the 1980s -
0:18:27 > 0:18:33to bring back John Scott's vision from 250 years ago.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42It's widely agreed that John Scott's poetry wasn't that good.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46His grotto is certainly more famous than his work.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48One writer who did make a huge difference
0:18:48 > 0:18:51to the world of literature was EM Forster,
0:18:51 > 0:18:57and the house which inspired his classic, Howards End, is not far away.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02Rural Hertfordshire.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06The inspiration for EM Forster's literary classic, Howards End.
0:19:06 > 0:19:11Published in 1910, it's the story of three different families
0:19:11 > 0:19:17from three different classes of English Edwardian society.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19The setting is Howards End,
0:19:19 > 0:19:22the house that connects all the characters in the book.
0:19:22 > 0:19:30And the inspiration for Howards End, EM Forster's own childhood home, Rooks Nest.
0:19:30 > 0:19:35"It is old and little and altogether delightful. Red brick,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38"and standing on the boundary between the garden and the meadow."
0:19:38 > 0:19:42'Margaret Ashby is a local author and expert on EM Forster.'
0:19:42 > 0:19:44So, this is Howards End?
0:19:44 > 0:19:49This is the original Howards End of EM Forster's novel.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52He spent his childhood here, from the years of four to 14.
0:19:52 > 0:19:57Loved the place and said he never wanted to leave it.
0:19:57 > 0:20:03His father died, so the widow, Mrs Forster, decided she wanted to live in the country.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07She brought her little boy here and we know from his letters
0:20:07 > 0:20:09and his mother's letters,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12how important the house was. At one point he called it,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15"My abiding city."
0:20:15 > 0:20:18There were two central elements to EM Forster's childhood -
0:20:18 > 0:20:22one, his mother, and the other, this house. I want to go inside.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26"To be parted from your house. It oughtn't to be allowed.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28"It is worse than dying."
0:20:28 > 0:20:30This a complicated family saga
0:20:30 > 0:20:34involving three groups of people from differing classes
0:20:34 > 0:20:38and the house is the place where these three classes come together,
0:20:38 > 0:20:42mix and...part.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44That is absolutely right.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46It's very clever of Forster to make this happen.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50It's leading towards his vision of an England
0:20:50 > 0:20:53in which there is no separation,
0:20:53 > 0:20:55that we don't have division by class.
0:20:55 > 0:21:00But, for Forster, this novel is about more than connecting the classes.
0:21:00 > 0:21:05The idea of connection is explored on many levels.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10Something that was important in his literature but also in his personal life.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14Adrian Barlow from the Institute Of Continuing Education at Cambridge University
0:21:14 > 0:21:18has spent years studying Forster - his life and work.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22Adrian, Forster's connection with the house is very clear.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26But the idea of connection, connecting, is key to the novel.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30I mean, there on the title page are the words "Only connect!..."
0:21:30 > 0:21:32"Only connect!" - dot-dot-dot.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37That leaves the way open for a discussion of exactly what he's trying to connect.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42Whether it's an individual level, a social level, or even a political or ecological level.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46In Howards End, what are the key connections?
0:21:46 > 0:21:50The connections between the families - the Wilcoxes, the Schlegels and the Basts.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54But, more importantly, a connection between the city and the country,
0:21:54 > 0:21:58between past and present, and a sense that the world is changing very rapidly,
0:21:58 > 0:22:00or is on the verge of changing very rapidly,
0:22:00 > 0:22:04and we mustn't lose a sense of where we're coming from or going to.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08"In these English farms, one might see life steadily and see it as a whole.
0:22:08 > 0:22:13"Connect, until all men are brothers."
0:22:13 > 0:22:17Was he, from childhood onwards, trying to make connections personally?
0:22:17 > 0:22:20He was someone who valued friendship enormously,
0:22:20 > 0:22:22but found friendship very difficult.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25He was someone who, because of his sexual orientation,
0:22:25 > 0:22:29found a position in society on one hand quite difficult to establish,
0:22:29 > 0:22:34but on the other hand, found it something he wanted to be honest and open about.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37Once he became emotionally connected, he stopped writing.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40After the 1920s, where he's established the relationships
0:22:40 > 0:22:43which will sustain him for the rest of his life,
0:22:43 > 0:22:47the imperative to keep writing fiction disappears.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51It would've been better for literature if he hadn't found happiness!
0:22:51 > 0:22:54That would've been unfair on Forster.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58"Only connect!... Only connect the prose and the passion and both will be exalted.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02"Live in fragments no longer."
0:23:02 > 0:23:08The book ends on an optimistic note. Spring has arrived, there's going to be a marvellous crop of hay,
0:23:08 > 0:23:15and the families are connected through birth and marriage to their beloved Howards End.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21Gyles Brandreth at Howards End.
0:23:21 > 0:23:27I'm near Hatfield on the next leg of my journey, at the home of another famous author.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29Far more prolific than Forster,
0:23:29 > 0:23:33and some might say, more widely enjoyed.
0:23:35 > 0:23:43EM Forster wanted to connect, and the writer that lived in this house wrote hundreds of books
0:23:43 > 0:23:46and connected with a massive worldwide readership.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49She was the one and only Barbara Cartland.
0:23:53 > 0:23:59She was the queen of romance. Her first book, Jig-Saw, was published in 1925
0:23:59 > 0:24:03and she went on to write another 643 romance novels.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07She died in 2000 at the age of 98,
0:24:07 > 0:24:10leaving 160 unpublished manuscripts.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14Her son, Ian McCorquodale has christened them, "The Pink Collection"
0:24:14 > 0:24:19and Barbara Cartland fans all over the world are reading new stories
0:24:19 > 0:24:22more than ten years after her death.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26I'm privileged to be here, getting a rare insight
0:24:26 > 0:24:31into the real world of Barbara Cartland with her son Ian, who still lives on the estate today.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38Ian, we're in the very room that your mother used to write in.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41Indeed, and welcome to Camfield Place...
0:24:41 > 0:24:43- Thank you. - ..the home of Barbara Cartland
0:24:43 > 0:24:45and the romance capital of the world.
0:24:45 > 0:24:51All romantic things happen in this house and in this room, my mother wrote all her wonderful books...
0:24:51 > 0:24:55- Tell me how the room was arranged? - ..lying on the sofa there, just behind us.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57The secretary was sitting behind her.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00She didn't like to see them, cos she said they always fidgeted.
0:25:00 > 0:25:05- Too distracting.- Yes, there was a tape recorder behind her so not a word was missed.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09In two hours, she always started at half-past one, having had lunch,
0:25:09 > 0:25:13and she would write up to 8,000 words. It was a chapter in a book.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16Most journalists can manage about 1,000 words now.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20But she could write 8,000 words in two hours.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23- That's incredibly fast.- She could write a book in a fortnight.- Wow.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26That was one of the great things about Barbara Cartland.
0:25:26 > 0:25:31She said, "When you're a writer, don't wait for the muse to arrive, sucking your pencil,
0:25:31 > 0:25:34"cos the muse never comes. Writing is a discipline.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39"You start at 1.30, not 1.35 or 1.40. You start at 1.30 and get on with it."
0:25:39 > 0:25:43How do you fit them all into the library here, all these books?
0:25:43 > 0:25:47We can't fit them all here. That shelf over there
0:25:47 > 0:25:51are the original English language first-edition Barbara Cartlands as they came out.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55But she was translated into 38 different languages,
0:25:55 > 0:25:58and the library is not big enough for all those books.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01- They're in boxes all over the estate.- Fair enough.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04Do you know how many of her books were sold?
0:26:04 > 0:26:08We reckon, and we're never quite sure about these things,
0:26:08 > 0:26:11she's sold over a billion copies, a thousand-million books in her lifetime.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15- That must be a record. - She's up there with the Bible. - It is! How extraordinary.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18People's hunger for romance in life, I suppose.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22- Were they always happy endings? - Always happy endings. She did write one book,
0:26:22 > 0:26:24which had an unhappy ending,
0:26:24 > 0:26:31and it was a disaster because all her fans from all over the world sent her telegrams and letters,
0:26:31 > 0:26:35"Please, please, let Amy..." - the girl's name - "..marry the hero!"
0:26:35 > 0:26:38Cos she went into a convent and he went off on a big, white charger.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40That was a great mistake.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44So when the book was reprinted, she changed it all around and they had a happy ending after all!
0:26:44 > 0:26:48She said, after that experience, "I'm never going to write a book with an unhappy ending."
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Every one's got to be a Barbara Cartland happy ending.
0:26:53 > 0:26:59Barbara herself found true love in 1936, when she married Ian's father, Hugh.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03It was her second marriage and they had 27 happy years together.
0:27:03 > 0:27:08Hugh died in 1963 and Barbara never remarried.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15What was it like for you, being the son of Barbara Cartland? She was so famous.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18It was great. We used to do everything together.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21People always ask me, how did your mother find time, being so busy -
0:27:21 > 0:27:26she was an incredibly busy person - to look after the children?
0:27:26 > 0:27:31She always found time as she'd write in the afternoon. Tea-time was children's time.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34Then my father would come back from the office and she'd look after him.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38She had a great adage - "If you want to get something done, ask a busy person."
0:27:38 > 0:27:42- Did your father read many of her books, or any of her books?- I don't think he read one of them.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44Oh, dear!
0:27:44 > 0:27:47- It wasn't quite his style of literature.- No.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49He liked war books.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53She wrote in this beautiful room in this gorgeous house, in lovely grounds.
0:27:53 > 0:27:58- Was the countryside, the Hertfordshire countryside, important to her?- Very important to her.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02She used to sit in the drawing room looking out over the garden.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06She loved the garden. She used to walk around it. Whatever time of the year, the garden looks different.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10She loved the garden. She liked to commune with nature.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14She loved the Hertfordshire countryside and she loved Hertfordshire too.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24This is Jig-Saw.
0:28:24 > 0:28:32It's Barbara Cartland's first romantic novel, published in 1925 when she was only 24 years old.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36"It was early April, one of those fresh spring days when the air itself
0:28:36 > 0:28:39"seems to glitter in the sunshine.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43"The new green of the trees shines almost transparent,
0:28:43 > 0:28:48"as the sea in the early morning or a Scotch burn trickling over rocks and fells.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52"The slight wind was whispering of adventures."
0:28:55 > 0:28:59Barbara Cartland spent many happy hours in this garden, walking her dogs
0:28:59 > 0:29:03and thinking up ever new and exciting stories.
0:29:03 > 0:29:07If she sat long enough, she may have caught a glimpse of a new visitor to Hertfordshire.
0:29:07 > 0:29:09Miriam O'Reilly certainly did.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17Grey squirrels have been a part of our landscape
0:29:17 > 0:29:21ever since the 19th century when they were first introduced from North America.
0:29:21 > 0:29:26They may be endearing, but they're running riot amongst our woodlands, eating our flowers
0:29:26 > 0:29:29and more alarmingly, they're carrying a deadly pox
0:29:29 > 0:29:34which is threatening to wipe out our native red squirrel population.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38To try and stop them, landowners have resorted to culling large numbers of greys.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41But it now seems they have company.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44Up until now, the grey squirrel has dominated the species,
0:29:44 > 0:29:46but a newcomer has arrived.
0:29:46 > 0:29:50It's black, it's fast and it could overtake the greys.
0:29:50 > 0:29:56The first black squirrel was reported to have been sighted in Hertfordshire in 1912.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59Since then, they've spread into other areas
0:29:59 > 0:30:02and their numbers have been increasing over the years.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05I've never seen a black squirrel before,
0:30:05 > 0:30:07but apparently they can be spotted here,
0:30:07 > 0:30:09in the town of Hitchin in Hertfordshire,
0:30:09 > 0:30:11especially in this churchyard.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14I'm here bright and early to see if I can spot any,
0:30:14 > 0:30:18and joining me is local ecologist, Brian Sawford,
0:30:18 > 0:30:22who's been studying and photographing black squirrels for years.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25Were you surprised when you saw your first one?
0:30:25 > 0:30:28Certainly was. The first thing that went through my mind,
0:30:28 > 0:30:32"There's a squirrel, it's gone down a chimney and got covered in soot."
0:30:32 > 0:30:35But I soon realised it was in fact a black squirrel,
0:30:35 > 0:30:37and that was in excess of 30 years ago.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40Where do the black squirrels hail from originally?
0:30:40 > 0:30:42They came from North America.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45That is their native territory.
0:30:46 > 0:30:51And in North America there's quite a lot of black variants
0:30:51 > 0:30:52amongst the greys.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57We weren't sure we would actually see any on this cold morning
0:30:57 > 0:31:00but we hung around the graveyard for a couple of hours,
0:31:00 > 0:31:02and it turned out to be worth the wait.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04There's one just over there,
0:31:04 > 0:31:07just coming down from the tree. Feeding.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09It's really pretty.
0:31:09 > 0:31:10Yes.
0:31:10 > 0:31:12It's so cute.
0:31:12 > 0:31:14It is very fluffy looking, very black.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16It's got its winter coat on.
0:31:16 > 0:31:21In the summer they are rather less fluffy, particularly on the tail.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23There's another one over there.
0:31:23 > 0:31:24Yes, that is slightly larger.
0:31:24 > 0:31:28Notice it's much more chocolate brown in colouration.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31- Does that mean it is older?- Yes.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34It is running now to join the other one.
0:31:34 > 0:31:35They are playing up the tree.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37Exactly the same as the grey squirrels,
0:31:37 > 0:31:39they'll chase around like that.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41There is no real antagonism between
0:31:41 > 0:31:44the two individuals, they're just chasing.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47It is believed black squirrels now make up about half
0:31:47 > 0:31:51the entire squirrel population in parts of Hertfordshire.
0:31:52 > 0:31:56Two years ago, Helen McRobie carried out the first UK study
0:31:56 > 0:31:58into their unique colour.
0:31:58 > 0:31:59We were looking at the genetics
0:31:59 > 0:32:01of the grey squirrel and the black squirrel,
0:32:01 > 0:32:03looking for the genetic difference,
0:32:03 > 0:32:06and what we found out was that the black squirrel
0:32:06 > 0:32:09has got a big chunk of DNA missing from the gene for fur colour.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13The jet black squirrel has got two copies of that mutated gene,
0:32:13 > 0:32:15so it's mum and its dad
0:32:15 > 0:32:17both have this genetic mutation.
0:32:17 > 0:32:20Are there any other differences, apart from colour?
0:32:20 > 0:32:22There is a little bit of evidence
0:32:22 > 0:32:26this gene could be involved in improving their immunity
0:32:26 > 0:32:30so they might be better able to survive.
0:32:30 > 0:32:34In northern Scotland, the largest mammal cull ever is underway
0:32:34 > 0:32:37to stop grey squirrels from wiping out our native reds.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40But are the black ones as much of a threat?
0:32:40 > 0:32:43Do the black squirrels carry the squirrel pox as well?
0:32:43 > 0:32:45In every way that we know,
0:32:45 > 0:32:48they are exactly the same as the greys in that way.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51They totally interbreed, they are the same species,
0:32:51 > 0:32:54and as far as we know they carry the disease as well.
0:32:54 > 0:32:56Are they the same species as the red squirrel?
0:32:56 > 0:33:00Now, the red squirrel is a totally different species of squirrel.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02They are smaller and they have got tufty ears.
0:33:02 > 0:33:06They have a more specialised diet. They tend to eat nuts,
0:33:06 > 0:33:08whereas the grey squirrel,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11including the black squirrel because they are the same species,
0:33:11 > 0:33:13will eat a much wider range of food,
0:33:13 > 0:33:16which means they are better able to survive, really.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18They are less fussy.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21We also did some research to see if this black squirrel
0:33:21 > 0:33:24was the same as the black squirrel in America,
0:33:24 > 0:33:27and we found the genetic mutation is exactly the same.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30So it seems these black ones started off in America
0:33:30 > 0:33:33and somebody has brought them over and released them into Britain.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35As of yet, black squirrels
0:33:35 > 0:33:38haven't spread further north than Cambridgeshire.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41The latest estimates suggest there might be
0:33:41 > 0:33:45as many as 25,000 black squirrels in England today.
0:33:45 > 0:33:47If their numbers continue to increase,
0:33:47 > 0:33:50then, like the greys, they might pose problems in future,
0:33:50 > 0:33:56but for now, these little fellows are really quite fun to watch.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04Miriam O'Reilly on the trail of the black squirrel.
0:34:04 > 0:34:09I've moved on from Barbara Cartland's magnificent country house
0:34:09 > 0:34:13and headed north to another Hertfordshire pile, Knebworth.
0:34:13 > 0:34:15The house was first built in 1490,
0:34:15 > 0:34:18but the grand, Gothic appearance we see now
0:34:18 > 0:34:20dates from the early 1800s.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23It has long held royal connections.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26Queen Elizabeth I was a visitor here in 1571.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35These days, Knebworth is just as famous
0:34:35 > 0:34:39for hosting the kings and queens of rock.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41# Look me up in the Yellow Pages
0:34:41 > 0:34:43# I will be your rock of ages
0:34:43 > 0:34:46# Your see-through fads and your crazy phrases, yeah. #
0:34:46 > 0:34:50I'm here to investigate the story of a woman who, in her day,
0:34:50 > 0:34:53was every bit as rebellious as Robbie Williams.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00Her name was Lady Constance Lytton,
0:35:00 > 0:35:03the third child of the 1st Earl of Lytton.
0:35:03 > 0:35:05She was born in 1869,
0:35:05 > 0:35:07had a kind and intelligent nature,
0:35:07 > 0:35:10and was dearly loved by her family.
0:35:10 > 0:35:12She was a gifted writer and journalist,
0:35:12 > 0:35:16spent many years caring for her widowed mother, and never married.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18She had fallen in love
0:35:18 > 0:35:20with a career soldier called John Ponsonby,
0:35:20 > 0:35:22but her family did not approve the match,
0:35:22 > 0:35:25and she accepted their decision.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30Constance was gentle and dutiful, frail even.
0:35:30 > 0:35:32So it makes it all the more surprising
0:35:32 > 0:35:34that in 1906, at the age of 39,
0:35:34 > 0:35:38she became a Suffragette.
0:35:40 > 0:35:44The Suffragettes wanted votes for women and penal reform
0:35:44 > 0:35:46and Constance was ripe for a cause.
0:35:46 > 0:35:51Archivist Clare Fleck has spent many hours researching her story.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00So, Clare, why did Constance become a Suffragette?
0:36:00 > 0:36:03She was introduced to the cause by Mrs Pethick Lawrence,
0:36:03 > 0:36:05a notable lady in the cause.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08And she considered it very carefully,
0:36:08 > 0:36:12and decided this was something she could support, a very valid cause.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16What did her particular arm of the Suffragettes do?
0:36:16 > 0:36:20She joined the WSPU, the Women's Social and Political Union,
0:36:20 > 0:36:22which was the militant arm of the Suffragettes,
0:36:22 > 0:36:26rather than the Suffragists who held meetings and rallies and lectures,
0:36:26 > 0:36:30but they didn't actually indulge in militant action.
0:36:30 > 0:36:32So what did Constance do, by way of protest?
0:36:32 > 0:36:35She joined a delegation to rush the House of Commons,
0:36:35 > 0:36:37with lots of the other women.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40Many of them were arrested, taken before the magistrates,
0:36:40 > 0:36:42and sent to Holloway.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45But as Lady Constance Lytton, she was given special treatment.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48She wanted to be treated like one of the ordinary Suffragettes,
0:36:48 > 0:36:51but as an aristocratic lady she had a medical check,
0:36:51 > 0:36:53her weak heart was detected,
0:36:53 > 0:36:57and in fact she was put on a hospital wing, rather than in the cells.
0:36:57 > 0:36:58And this wasn't what she wanted.
0:36:58 > 0:37:00She actually protested
0:37:00 > 0:37:03and asked to be put on the ordinary cells with the Suffragettes
0:37:03 > 0:37:06which she achieved for the last few days of her imprisonment.
0:37:06 > 0:37:08How did she go from being treated well in prison
0:37:08 > 0:37:10to really tough prison?
0:37:10 > 0:37:13She didn't really see the real side of prison
0:37:13 > 0:37:16until she took drastic action of her own.
0:37:16 > 0:37:20After two lots of fairly gentle imprisonment,
0:37:20 > 0:37:22she took herself off to Liverpool,
0:37:22 > 0:37:24joined a demonstration there,
0:37:24 > 0:37:26disguised her appearance,
0:37:26 > 0:37:28she wore a very cheap coat,
0:37:28 > 0:37:30had her hair cut in a very unattractive way,
0:37:30 > 0:37:32wore very uncomfortable eyeglasses,
0:37:32 > 0:37:35and as just Jane Wharton, a poor seamstress,
0:37:35 > 0:37:37she had no special treatment.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39She didn't have a medical inspection,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42and went on to the ordinary wing with the ordinary Suffragettes,
0:37:42 > 0:37:44as third-degree prisoners.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47And what kind of treatment did they get in prison?
0:37:47 > 0:37:51After a few days they went on hunger strike to make their point,
0:37:51 > 0:37:55and were brutally force-fed after hunger striking for a few days.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57- Wow!- Which was a brutal process.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00She wrote about her experiences in prison, didn't she?
0:38:00 > 0:38:03She did. She wrote a very moving book called Prison And Prisoners.
0:38:03 > 0:38:07She does say a little bit in here about the process of force-feeding.
0:38:07 > 0:38:09- Shall I read a bit?- Please do, yes.
0:38:09 > 0:38:10She says,
0:38:10 > 0:38:13"Two of the wardresses took hold of my arms, one held my head,
0:38:13 > 0:38:16"one my feet. The doctor lent on my knees
0:38:16 > 0:38:18"as he stooped over my chest to get at my mouth.
0:38:18 > 0:38:21"I shut my mouth and clenched my teeth.
0:38:21 > 0:38:23"The sense of being overpowered
0:38:23 > 0:38:25"by more force than I could possibly resist was complete.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28"But I resisted with nothing except my mouth."
0:38:28 > 0:38:31It goes on but it is fairly graphic.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34- Gracious, it's brutal treatment, isn't it?- It is, yes.
0:38:34 > 0:38:38She wasn't particularly strong, wasn't made of stern stuff, physically.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40No. Afterwards, the doctor said
0:38:40 > 0:38:43it was one of the worst cases of force-feeding he'd seen
0:38:43 > 0:38:45and she was nearly asphyxiated each time.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48She suffered that eight times before they rumbled her
0:38:48 > 0:38:51and realised she wasn't who she said she was and she was released.
0:38:51 > 0:38:53- She did her time then, didn't she?- Mmm.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56And did she ever get to see women getting the vote?
0:38:58 > 0:39:03She saw the extension of the suffrage in 1918,
0:39:03 > 0:39:05but she herself died in 1923,
0:39:05 > 0:39:11which was before the complete suffrage of women which came in 1928.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13But very much a part of the cause.
0:39:13 > 0:39:14Oh, yes.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18"February 6, 1918.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21"Four years after the publication of my book
0:39:21 > 0:39:23"by the Representation of the People Act
0:39:23 > 0:39:27"about six million women of 30 years of age and over
0:39:27 > 0:39:30"obtained the parliamentary vote."
0:39:42 > 0:39:46Being a Suffragette and early feminist
0:39:46 > 0:39:50placed not only great emotional and social demands on its supporters,
0:39:50 > 0:39:52but also great physical demands.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55And I consider myself to be a feminist,
0:39:55 > 0:39:56and I would love to think
0:39:56 > 0:39:59that I would suffer as much for such an important cause,
0:39:59 > 0:40:01but I couldn't be sure.
0:40:01 > 0:40:02What amazing women.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12Constance experienced the best and worst
0:40:12 > 0:40:14of early 20th-century prison treatment.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17Dan Snow has been investigating some of the tactics used
0:40:17 > 0:40:19in medieval crime and punishment.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26A fortress, a royal palace, and even a zoo.
0:40:26 > 0:40:27Over the centuries,
0:40:27 > 0:40:31the storehouse of the Crown Jewels has had many purposes.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33It is most famous as a prison,
0:40:33 > 0:40:38but in fact only the highest status prisoners ever got sent to the tower.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40And really, until the 19th century,
0:40:40 > 0:40:43the idea of prison as punishment was quite unusual.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47It was just a safe place to keep them until they could stand trial.
0:40:47 > 0:40:51But away from the Tower, right across the country in medieval England,
0:40:51 > 0:40:54criminals were punished by humiliation.
0:40:54 > 0:40:58In 1351 it became the law that every town and village
0:40:58 > 0:41:00should have a set of stocks.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03Now, you could be locked here in the stocks for crimes
0:41:03 > 0:41:06such as swearing, drunkenness, or homelessness.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08Then people come along and laugh at you
0:41:08 > 0:41:11and even pelt you with whatever came to hand.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17Mountfitchet Castle in Hertfordshire is a re-creation of a Norman village.
0:41:17 > 0:41:19Curator Jeremy Goldsmith
0:41:19 > 0:41:23believes the period was a high point for humiliating punishments.
0:41:23 > 0:41:25Swearing would be one hour in the stocks.
0:41:25 > 0:41:29Thieving could even have your hands chopped off.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34They were mainly really for drunkenness, disorderly behaviour,
0:41:34 > 0:41:37and then you were put in the stocks for maybe an hour, two hours,
0:41:37 > 0:41:38even three days.
0:41:38 > 0:41:42But you were at the mercy of the mob once you were in the stocks,
0:41:42 > 0:41:44because you had your head and hands and feet chained down
0:41:44 > 0:41:46and they could do anything.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51Whipping. Flogging. Flagellation.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54Some of the oldest forms of public punishment.
0:41:54 > 0:41:56Boudicca was flogged by the Romans
0:41:56 > 0:41:59and of course, sailors were flogged using one of these,
0:41:59 > 0:42:01a cat-o'-nine-tails,
0:42:01 > 0:42:05which is where we get the expression, "no room to swing a cat".
0:42:05 > 0:42:07In 1530, Henry VIII's infamous Whipping Act
0:42:07 > 0:42:10made it a particularly bad time to be homeless.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13The act said that vagrants were to be carried to a market town
0:42:13 > 0:42:15and tied to the end of a cart naked,
0:42:15 > 0:42:17and were then to be beaten with whips
0:42:17 > 0:42:19until their bodies were covered with blood.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26Branding with a red-hot iron
0:42:26 > 0:42:29meant that people were forever marked with their crime.
0:42:29 > 0:42:31Often the first letter of that crime
0:42:31 > 0:42:35was branded on the hands, chest and the forehead
0:42:35 > 0:42:38so that people would always know what they had done.
0:42:38 > 0:42:4017 years after the Whipping Act
0:42:40 > 0:42:44branding became another punishment extended to the homeless.
0:42:44 > 0:42:49Blacksmiths were also responsible for conjuring up this humiliating device.
0:42:49 > 0:42:51It is called a scold's bridle,
0:42:51 > 0:42:53it was designed to be worn round the head
0:42:53 > 0:42:55with this bit covering the mouth.
0:42:55 > 0:42:59It was to punish women who scolded or gossiped too much.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02But in the mid-18th century, one mob attack
0:43:02 > 0:43:06on criminals in the stocks was a prelude to huge social change.
0:43:06 > 0:43:08Egan and Salmon were two highwaymen
0:43:08 > 0:43:12and they were put in Smithfields stocks in 1751.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14So quite late on, really.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17And they were literally in there for two or three days,
0:43:17 > 0:43:18and they were beaten to death.
0:43:18 > 0:43:22So the punishment meted out by the public was final.
0:43:22 > 0:43:25They obviously felt that passionate about it
0:43:25 > 0:43:27that they pelted them with rocks and killed them.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30The incident meant that as the century ended,
0:43:30 > 0:43:34this kind of extreme public punishment was being questioned.
0:43:37 > 0:43:42In the late-18th century, new ideas started to circulate through society.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44They emphasise that everybody had rights
0:43:44 > 0:43:46and should be treated with respect.
0:43:46 > 0:43:51In this context, some of the older kinds of punishment seemed barbaric.
0:43:51 > 0:43:53And new kinds of prisons were encouraged.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55They started with the building of one
0:43:55 > 0:43:58on the banks of the Thames here in 1816.
0:43:58 > 0:44:01This was a prison which emphasised rehabilitation
0:44:01 > 0:44:05and learning, not just punishment.
0:44:05 > 0:44:10Dan Snow unearthing some grisly forms of punishment.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13I've come to the final stop on my Hertfordshire journey.
0:44:13 > 0:44:14After visiting the homes
0:44:14 > 0:44:17of a romantic novelist and a political author,
0:44:17 > 0:44:20I've arrived at yet another artist's residence.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23I'm in Perry Green, the home of Henry Moore.
0:44:24 > 0:44:28He was one of the greatest sculptors of the 20th century.
0:44:28 > 0:44:30He died in 1986,
0:44:30 > 0:44:33but his reputation and his work has stood the test of time.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38The Henry Moore Foundation was set up in 1977
0:44:38 > 0:44:42to encourage appreciation of the visual arts, particularly sculpture,
0:44:42 > 0:44:46and to preserve Moore's legacy at his Hertfordshire home.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49Curator Anita Feldman has been working here for 15 years
0:44:49 > 0:44:54which makes her something of an authority on all things Moore.
0:44:59 > 0:45:01Anita, what's this sculpture called?
0:45:01 > 0:45:03This is Two Piece Knife Edge
0:45:03 > 0:45:06and its name comes from that very fine knife edge like a blade
0:45:06 > 0:45:09which comes down through the middle of the sculpture.
0:45:09 > 0:45:14And Moore really enjoyed the contrast between these very smooth surfaces
0:45:14 > 0:45:17and very rough textures.
0:45:24 > 0:45:26In 1951, a film-maker working for the BBC
0:45:26 > 0:45:31obtained unprecedented access to the sculptor, his work and his studio.
0:45:31 > 0:45:35The result was an intimate documentary which changed the way
0:45:35 > 0:45:37television approached the arts
0:45:37 > 0:45:39and changed the public perception of Moore himself.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44'Henry Moore is the most important
0:45:44 > 0:45:46'of living British sculptors.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49'With the strange and impressive shapes that fill his studio,
0:45:49 > 0:45:52'he picks up and carries on a tradition
0:45:52 > 0:45:54'that has been extinct in England for 400 years,
0:45:54 > 0:45:58'a tradition of expressiveness and truth to material.
0:45:58 > 0:46:04'The studio is a workshop in which he turns his ideas into tangible forms.
0:46:04 > 0:46:07'Here are Henry Moore's hands and his tools.
0:46:15 > 0:46:17'Sculpture is the art of cutting,
0:46:17 > 0:46:20'carving or modelling various materials
0:46:20 > 0:46:23'such as the hard crystalline stone on the left
0:46:23 > 0:46:26'or the stringy wood on the right.
0:46:27 > 0:46:29'Stone is worked with chisels,
0:46:29 > 0:46:31'each one giving a characteristic effect.
0:46:39 > 0:46:45'Wood is worked in quite a different way and with different tools.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48'But sculpture can be modelling as well as carving,
0:46:48 > 0:46:51'building up as well as cutting away,
0:46:51 > 0:46:55'and for this the artist uses clay, wax or plaster.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59'Henry Moore often works out his ideas for metal figures
0:46:59 > 0:47:03'by making small models in a softer pliable material
0:47:03 > 0:47:06'before translating them into metal.'
0:47:06 > 0:47:09It's quite unusual to get a great insight
0:47:09 > 0:47:11into an artist's personal life,
0:47:11 > 0:47:14but the documentary made about Moore was really quite in-depth.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17Was that typical of his character, to allow that?
0:47:17 > 0:47:21He was a very open, very humble person.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24He welcomed visitors to his home
0:47:24 > 0:47:26and his studios to look at his work.
0:47:26 > 0:47:30He was always very engaging with students. He was never elitist.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32He turned down a knighthood
0:47:32 > 0:47:35and he came from a very working-class family,
0:47:35 > 0:47:38from coal miners in the north of England.
0:47:39 > 0:47:45So for him, I think he really wanted art to be a part of modern life
0:47:45 > 0:47:46and a part of everyday life.
0:47:46 > 0:47:48The central tradition of sculpture
0:47:48 > 0:47:52is rooted in a primary respect for the materials of sculpture.
0:47:52 > 0:47:58One can learn from all sorts of natural forms such as these.
0:48:00 > 0:48:02Take, for instance, this stone.
0:48:02 > 0:48:04It has a hole right through it.
0:48:04 > 0:48:11It has a strong, slow structural rhythm
0:48:11 > 0:48:17which perhaps shows nature's way of working stone.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37A year before that film was made, Henry Moore was commissioned
0:48:37 > 0:48:41to create a piece of art for the 1951 Festival of Britain.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45The documentary captures the process involved with making the sculpture
0:48:45 > 0:48:49and offers a fascinating insight into one of our greatest artists.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53Moore's practice was to construct full-size plaster models
0:48:53 > 0:48:56from which the mould could be made for casting.
0:49:01 > 0:49:05'The completed model now had to be cast in bronze.
0:49:13 > 0:49:16'At this stage, the skill of the artist
0:49:16 > 0:49:19'depends upon the skill of the craftsmen
0:49:19 > 0:49:22'who carry out his intentions.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25'When the mould is finished, the wax evaporates
0:49:25 > 0:49:28'in the heat of the kiln, leaving a cavity
0:49:28 > 0:49:31'into which the metal can be poured.
0:49:31 > 0:49:35'The molten bronze is lifted white-hot from the furnace.
0:49:37 > 0:49:41'It must be poured quickly before it loses its temperature,
0:49:41 > 0:49:43'and this calls for a precision of eye
0:49:43 > 0:49:47'and deftness of handling that only come with long experience.
0:49:48 > 0:49:52'It is part of a sculptor's trade to be able to conceive his work
0:49:52 > 0:49:56'in forms that can be divided into sections for casting.
0:50:04 > 0:50:09'The various sections are assembled and riveted together with great care.
0:50:11 > 0:50:14'When it is finished, even an experienced sculptor
0:50:14 > 0:50:19'would find it hard to discover where one section ends and the next begins.
0:50:21 > 0:50:24'It was spring when the finished figure
0:50:24 > 0:50:26'was returned to Moore's studio.
0:50:26 > 0:50:31'After six months of intensive labour, a new work had been completed.
0:50:32 > 0:50:37'Henry Moore's sculpture is at its best when seen in the light
0:50:37 > 0:50:39'and setting in which it was born.'
0:50:47 > 0:50:49The reclining figure was a form
0:50:49 > 0:50:52that Moore returned to throughout his career.
0:50:52 > 0:50:56A great example is a sculpture called Large Reclining Figure
0:50:56 > 0:50:59which sits on the hill overlooking the sheep field in Perry Green.
0:51:09 > 0:51:11Indoors, the Sheep Field Barn Gallery
0:51:11 > 0:51:16is home to the first ever exhibition of Henry Moore's plasters.
0:51:16 > 0:51:18It shows them as works of art in their own right,
0:51:18 > 0:51:22not just as moulds for the more famous bronze sculptures.
0:51:25 > 0:51:27Right after the weather,
0:51:27 > 0:51:30I'll be finding out how this was sculpted with sheep in mind
0:51:30 > 0:51:34and seeing the full-size bronze version just outside.
0:51:34 > 0:51:37I'll also be meeting a man who worked very closely
0:51:37 > 0:51:39with Henry Moore himself.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42But first, here's the Country Tracks weather for the week ahead.
0:53:50 > 0:53:57.
0:54:08 > 0:54:11I'm on a journey through Hertfordshire.
0:54:11 > 0:54:12I started near St Albans,
0:54:12 > 0:54:15planting trees in the new Heartwood Forest
0:54:15 > 0:54:18before heading to Scott's Grotto in Ware.
0:54:18 > 0:54:22I visited the home of Barbara Cartland near Hatfield
0:54:22 > 0:54:23and heard the fascinating story
0:54:23 > 0:54:26of an aristocratic Suffragette at Knebworth.
0:54:26 > 0:54:30My journey ends at the Henry Moore Foundation in Perry Green.
0:54:33 > 0:54:38Henry Moore and his wife Irina moved here to Perry Green in 1940
0:54:38 > 0:54:42when their home and studio in Hampstead was damaged in the Blitz.
0:54:47 > 0:54:52Moore's work moulded beautifully into the surrounding landscape.
0:54:52 > 0:54:56His sculpture Sheep Piece was designed to be decorated with sheep.
0:55:00 > 0:55:04It was actually written into the lease that only sheep are allowed
0:55:04 > 0:55:07to graze on this field because pigs and cows
0:55:07 > 0:55:09would be all wrong for the art.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17Henry Moore was persuaded to buy this land
0:55:17 > 0:55:19by his friend Frank Farnham.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22Frank's son John went on to become Moore's assistant
0:55:22 > 0:55:23in the early 1960s.
0:55:23 > 0:55:28Today he's back in Perry Green to remember his former boss.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33John, what was your job for Henry Moore?
0:55:33 > 0:55:36As an assistant, I suppose it was a bit of everything.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40You would enlarge the sculptures for him, work with the foundries.
0:55:40 > 0:55:44Also, the exhibitions, you used to have to compile
0:55:44 > 0:55:46and travel with those.
0:55:46 > 0:55:49- What was a typical working day like? - Quite routine, really.
0:55:49 > 0:55:52You'd start first thing in the morning.
0:55:52 > 0:55:54There was always a break at 11 o'clock,
0:55:54 > 0:55:56one o'clock and four o'clock for tea, coffee, lunch.
0:55:56 > 0:56:00And what was Henry Moore like as a character?
0:56:00 > 0:56:02He was quite easy as a person to work with.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05As long as you got on with the work.
0:56:05 > 0:56:08He'd always give you two or three jobs to do now,
0:56:08 > 0:56:11but in the end, you'd have to say, well, which is the most important?
0:56:11 > 0:56:16Because he would want everything done quickly.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19And you just couldn't do everything quickly, especially these things.
0:56:19 > 0:56:23- You were working on them for weeks on end.- Was he a hard taskmaster?
0:56:23 > 0:56:28- Not really. He was fine. - A good boss?- Yeah.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31And now this one's grounded right here in the landscape,
0:56:31 > 0:56:33and what a cracker it is as well.
0:56:33 > 0:56:37Yeah, this is a very nice piece. I like this piece.
0:56:37 > 0:56:41It was an early piece that he'd done in '38 as a maquette
0:56:41 > 0:56:44that was enlarged straight from the maquette to the size.
0:56:44 > 0:56:48It's a work that as you walk around it, it becomes different.
0:56:48 > 0:56:52You always see a different view whichever angle you look at it.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55Up here on the skyline, it's a really nice site for it.
0:56:55 > 0:56:59- It's a great viewing platform up here as well, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:56:59 > 0:57:02- Nice place to sunbathe. - Yeah, exactly!
0:57:07 > 0:57:10'My journeys on Country Tracks have explored'
0:57:10 > 0:57:12some of the most beautiful landscapes in Britain,
0:57:12 > 0:57:15but today's has been a different type of adventure,
0:57:15 > 0:57:19a privileged peek through the keyholes of some amazing homes
0:57:19 > 0:57:22and into the lives of those who've lived there,
0:57:22 > 0:57:26characters who brought their talents to the countryside
0:57:26 > 0:57:29and left a lasting impression on the Hertfordshire landscape.
0:57:40 > 0:57:45Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:57:45 > 0:57:49E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk