0:00:03 > 0:00:07Every year, countless thousands of ordinary buildings are demolished,
0:00:07 > 0:00:10smashed down to make way for the new.
0:00:10 > 0:00:14For many, this fate is unavoidable.
0:00:14 > 0:00:19But some are so special they are saved, carefully taken down
0:00:19 > 0:00:25piece by piece, stored away until a new home for them can be found.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28They can be lovingly and painstakingly rebuilt.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32These are not grand buildings
0:00:32 > 0:00:36but always exceptional pieces of architecture.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40But preserved within the fabric are extraordinary stories.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44Stories about who we are as a nation and what we have achieved.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47About the materials and techniques that we use.
0:00:47 > 0:00:48It's not as easy as it looks.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51And why we build the way we do.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54It feels like you're making it the way it should be made.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58In this series, I'm going to uncover the hidden history
0:00:58 > 0:01:00behind these seemingly humble buildings
0:01:00 > 0:01:04to reveal that it's not just the houses of the great and rich
0:01:04 > 0:01:06that have remarkable stories to tell.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09My grandfather was probably
0:01:09 > 0:01:12- the first airman to die in the First World War.- Goodness me.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16I'll be seeing how these huge, incredibly complex jigsaw puzzles
0:01:16 > 0:01:20that were once buildings are actually put back together again.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36I'm here at Beamish, the living museum of the north-east of England,
0:01:36 > 0:01:40at the beginning of an exciting and intriguing build.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44One that promises to tell the story of our national dish.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49Down below me in the reconstructed old colliery town,
0:01:49 > 0:01:53they've begun work on an Edwardian coal-fired fish and chip shop
0:01:53 > 0:01:57where it's hoped they'll soon be serving our nation's favourite,
0:01:57 > 0:02:00cooked exactly the same way as it was 100 years ago.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06And I'm going to explore the surprising origins
0:02:06 > 0:02:11of this seemingly thoroughly British dish and I hope in the process
0:02:11 > 0:02:15to discover where and when the momentous marriage
0:02:15 > 0:02:21of chips and fried and battered fish actually took place.
0:02:21 > 0:02:27The museum covers a vast 300 acre site and is dedicated to preserving
0:02:27 > 0:02:31examples of everyday life in north-east England.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34Normally, here at Beamish, it's the building like this schoolhouse
0:02:34 > 0:02:37that is saved and preserved in the museum
0:02:37 > 0:02:40and the interiors are pieced together to fit the building.
0:02:40 > 0:02:41But in this case,
0:02:41 > 0:02:44it's the interior they are desperate to save
0:02:44 > 0:02:49and they need to create a building around it to house it.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52The challenge for Jim Reece, the project's mastermind,
0:02:52 > 0:02:57is to create a building that feels genuinely old.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01What's the thinking that's gone on in the design process?
0:03:01 > 0:03:03I think there are two Victorian...Edwardian
0:03:03 > 0:03:07chip ranges left in the world and we've got one of them.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10So that's one of the key points to start with.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14The other is that 30 years ago, we collected all these wonderful tiles
0:03:14 > 0:03:16and so we've got to get a building
0:03:16 > 0:03:21where we can put them in and make it make sense historically.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23So here we've got, if you like,
0:03:23 > 0:03:27the typical late-Victorian industrial unit.
0:03:27 > 0:03:28There's an office and a stables
0:03:28 > 0:03:33and here our guy has invested all his savings in this chip range
0:03:33 > 0:03:37and he takes this building and puts his chip range in
0:03:37 > 0:03:41and it starts to make money and in 1910, he achieves his ambition,
0:03:41 > 0:03:45which is a sit-in restaurant, and then they called them saloons.
0:03:45 > 0:03:50Even our nearby town had two fish and chip saloons by about 1905.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53Where does the kind of authenticity come from?
0:03:53 > 0:03:57You could happily beam this down in any pit village around County Durham
0:03:57 > 0:03:59and it wouldn't even notice.
0:03:59 > 0:04:04We've got colliery bricks, chimney pots from the local fire clay works.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07It's got to be the real stuff of history.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13Jim's plans are certainly ambitious and he seems very, very confident
0:04:13 > 0:04:15but I have a couple of concerns.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18The first is that he's trying to create this hybrid building,
0:04:18 > 0:04:23a jigsaw puzzle of pieces taken from here, there and everywhere.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25Bringing those together and making it feel right,
0:04:25 > 0:04:30to fit in with all these authentic buildings, is going to be tough.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34The second is he's trying to work with Edwardian coal-fired ranges,
0:04:34 > 0:04:37100-year-old technology,
0:04:37 > 0:04:39and make that into a modern restaurant
0:04:39 > 0:04:43with all the health and hygiene standards that go with that,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46producing hundreds of meals a day.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48I think that's going to be very, very hard
0:04:48 > 0:04:52and I just hope that he hasn't underestimated
0:04:52 > 0:04:54the scale of the challenge.
0:04:55 > 0:04:56And the first challenge
0:04:56 > 0:04:59is to build walls that look authentically Victorian
0:04:59 > 0:05:03using a combination of reclaimed and modern materials.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08While work gets under way, I've headed to the museum's archives,
0:05:08 > 0:05:10hoping to discover something
0:05:10 > 0:05:12about the origins of the fish and chip shop.
0:05:14 > 0:05:15Goodness me!
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Early fish fryers had a terrible evil reputation.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23The great Henry Mayhew, social observer, social reformer,
0:05:23 > 0:05:25had this to say in 1861,
0:05:25 > 0:05:30"The fried fish sellers live in some out-of-the-way alleys.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34"For even amongst the poorest class, there are great objections
0:05:34 > 0:05:40"to their being fellow lodgers on account of the odour of the frying.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44"A gin-drinking neighbourhood, one coster said, suits best,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47"for people haven't their smell so correct there."
0:05:47 > 0:05:49HE LAUGHS
0:05:49 > 0:05:51Of course, if you remember, a few years earlier,
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Charles Dickens writing Oliver Twist had the frightful Fagin
0:05:55 > 0:05:58living in an area of fried fish warehouses.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02There's a good reason Dickens had Fagin, a Jewish character,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05living amongst the fish fryers.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09Because the earliest reference to fried, battered fish I can uncover
0:06:09 > 0:06:14comes from the 1830s, where it is called "fried fish Jewish style".
0:06:15 > 0:06:19In the Jewish communities of Victorian east London,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22off cuts of any available fish were battered, fried
0:06:22 > 0:06:26and then hawked on the streets as a cheap, cold snack.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29Baked potatoes were also sold, but no chips.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34The earliest chip shops sprang up
0:06:34 > 0:06:37around the cotton mills of Lancashire in the 1860s,
0:06:37 > 0:06:40using the readily available cotton seed oil
0:06:40 > 0:06:44to fry potatoes in what was called the French method.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49It's not known for certain when Jewish fish first joined French
0:06:49 > 0:06:53chips but by the 1870s, thoroughly British fish and chips
0:06:53 > 0:06:55were spreading like wildfire
0:06:55 > 0:06:58through the country's working-class communities.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05The museum's director, Richard Evans,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08has been researching these first fish and chip shops.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12It was actually a really important source of income
0:07:12 > 0:07:15for people and often people who were down on their luck,
0:07:15 > 0:07:17they needed a second source of income.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20Perhaps the main breadwinner had been hurt in an industrial accident
0:07:20 > 0:07:23so they might have been serving fish and chips
0:07:23 > 0:07:25from a house like this, frying in the back,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27serving from the front, in the heart of the community.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30So you could plant a load of spuds in your front garden,
0:07:30 > 0:07:34- get yourself a fryer and start your own fish and chip shop.- Yeah.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37There was very little legislation in the early years
0:07:37 > 0:07:39and quite a lot of fires and accidents,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42I should think, around it. But it was a real centre for the community.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45A family or a pitman might eat from a fish and chip shop
0:07:45 > 0:07:48three or four times a week.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54These thousands of front room enterprises in the backstreets
0:07:54 > 0:07:57could be revoltingly squalid establishments,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00as another book in the archives reveals.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05Here we see an account written by a chap called Sir Shirley Murphy.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08Obviously a bit of a stickler for health.
0:08:08 > 0:08:13He says, "The conditions under which fish are cleansed and stored are,
0:08:13 > 0:08:16"as a rule, most unsatisfactory.
0:08:16 > 0:08:21"Numerous instances have been found where floors and walls were fouled
0:08:21 > 0:08:25"with decomposing fish, slime and excremental matter."
0:08:27 > 0:08:30Going out to the chippie in the 1900s was obviously,
0:08:30 > 0:08:35you were really rather taking your life in your hands!
0:08:35 > 0:08:39I just hope they're not planning to replicate those hygiene standards
0:08:39 > 0:08:41in our backstreet fish and chip shop.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47Work on the walls is already well underway,
0:08:47 > 0:08:53so I head over to offer a helping hand to Kenny, the bricklayer.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56- Where do you want them? - Drop them on top of them, Charlie.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58I'm glad to see you working
0:08:58 > 0:09:00with these nice modern, lightweight bricks!
0:09:00 > 0:09:03No, there's nothing light about these bricks!
0:09:03 > 0:09:05There's no holes in these, like the modern day bricks.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08A little bit longer, a little bit wider, little bit deeper.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11You seem to be doing a very nice job here.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15- Shall I muck it up a bit and have a go?- You can have a go, Charlie. Yes.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18I can't say I'm a great bricklayer but...
0:09:21 > 0:09:25- I am not sure I'm very good at this, Kenny.- That's all right.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28- Is that all right?- Yeah. Just tap it out. That's it.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31- You're happy for me to put some of these bricks up?- Yes.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33Everyone's going to think you built this.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35It doesn't matter. You carry on.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38When I get this back filled, nobody will ever know.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42- This is going underground? That's why you're letting me do it?- Yes.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44THEY LAUGH
0:09:44 > 0:09:47- So these are colliery bricks, are they?- Yeah.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49They were made at the old collieries
0:09:49 > 0:09:52and all the local mines used to put in,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56like you can see there, Howden. That would come from the Howden mine.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59Amazing. I had no idea collieries made bricks.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02This is one of my favourite ones. It's not that I love them bricks,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05but that's the only one I've seen with love in it.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07That's a very well made brick, though, isn't it?
0:10:07 > 0:10:11- It's a much better made brick than this? Decorative, with moulding.- Yes.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13That's fantastic.
0:10:15 > 0:10:20Within the Durham area alone, more than 50 colliery brickworks
0:10:20 > 0:10:23produced the millions of bricks that were required to feed
0:10:23 > 0:10:26the building boom of the Industrial Revolution.
0:10:26 > 0:10:31Colliery towns of the north-east, such as Tantobie,
0:10:31 > 0:10:35possess a distinct architectural charm and quality
0:10:35 > 0:10:39that's due largely to geology.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42When coal was sourced in an area like this,
0:10:42 > 0:10:46workers' housing was needed rapidly and in large quantities.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49The solution was rather brilliant.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53The shafts were sunk, searching for the coal seam.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58In the process, the overburden of clay that had to be removed
0:10:58 > 0:11:00to reach the coal was brought to the surface
0:11:00 > 0:11:05and used to provide cheap and readily available building material.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16Colliery towns can possess a great visual uniformity
0:11:16 > 0:11:20because the houses tend to be built at the same time
0:11:20 > 0:11:27to more or less standard designs and all using the same colliery bricks.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29But the bricks can possess
0:11:29 > 0:11:32beautiful, subtle variations of colour and tone,
0:11:32 > 0:11:35depending on the mineral content of local clay.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46The incredible variety of colliery bricks are on display
0:11:46 > 0:11:49in one of the tram stops at Beamish.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53That is absolutely magnificent!
0:11:53 > 0:11:58- It's wonderful, isn't it?- It is. It's beautiful.- It is beautiful.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01Incredible colour scheme, isn't it? Just like subtle variations.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03All the different clays.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06From this one here that's incredibly white,
0:12:06 > 0:12:08to these dark, dark bricks down here.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10You can see the different names, the different ages,
0:12:10 > 0:12:14sometimes the same name going from a crude impression
0:12:14 > 0:12:17like the F&L up there,
0:12:17 > 0:12:20F&L even cruder.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23Ferens & Love in that lovely accurate brick.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27It was sort of an ego thing, "Not only are you working in my pit,
0:12:27 > 0:12:29"I'm building your houses,
0:12:29 > 0:12:33"but my name is inside all of the bricks that built it.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37- Nebuchadnezzar did it, I think.- It has a history, doesn't it?- Yeah.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40I think he did it in Babylon.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43That's exactly the kind of vernacular detail and character
0:12:43 > 0:12:46that everyone thought industrialisation was killing off
0:12:46 > 0:12:48but here it was, so local!
0:12:48 > 0:12:51Here we've got a fantastic fish brick.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53When we were building this wall,
0:12:53 > 0:12:57an old lady came up to Kenny the bricklayer, and said,
0:12:57 > 0:13:00"When we were little, we used to have these bricks with fish in."
0:13:00 > 0:13:03So he rummaged about and sure enough, there's the fish brick.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06And he said, "Do you remember these?" She said, "Yes, pet.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08"We used to get lead, heat it up,
0:13:08 > 0:13:12"pour this into the brick using it as a mould and make these little
0:13:12 > 0:13:16"silver fish that they would wear as necklaces and so on."
0:13:16 > 0:13:18And that really made that old lady's day.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22She hadn't seen that fish brick for years. And there it is.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26Wonderful. Such an amazing collection.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32After three months' hard work,
0:13:32 > 0:13:35Kenny's brickwork is high enough for the windows to be fitted.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39This main section of the building will house the shop and kitchens.
0:13:39 > 0:13:44A wing for the restaurant will be built later using corrugated iron.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48Like the other Victorian materials, the windows have been reclaimed
0:13:48 > 0:13:53from various demolitions and now all these elements must somehow
0:13:53 > 0:13:56be pieced together seamlessly.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59Inside the authentic colliery brickwork,
0:13:59 > 0:14:02Kenny's building a second skin of breeze blocks,
0:14:02 > 0:14:05allowing modern cavity insulation to be added.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10I've headed across the road from the build
0:14:10 > 0:14:13to one of the reconstructed miners' cottages
0:14:13 > 0:14:16to partake in some traditional chip chopping
0:14:16 > 0:14:20with Professor John Walton, who has written a history of fish and chips.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25When do you think was the first time that fish and chips,
0:14:25 > 0:14:28fish battered or fried, came together as a dish
0:14:28 > 0:14:31and sold in a fish and chip shop?
0:14:31 > 0:14:32There is no hard evidence for this
0:14:32 > 0:14:36because nobody knew at the time it was going to be important.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39There are various claimants from the 1860s in Lancashire,
0:14:39 > 0:14:41the West Riding of Yorkshire, Mossley and Oldham.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44What's now Greater Manchester, mainly.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48There was a boom in the Edwardian era around about 1900.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50Tell me about that.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54- Really, fish and chips takes off from the 1870s onwards.- 1870s.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56It's a mixture, I think,
0:14:56 > 0:15:00of rising working-class living standards creating the demand,
0:15:00 > 0:15:03partly because of falling food prices and the supply...
0:15:03 > 0:15:07- Yes.- ..expanding rapidly because of the development of steam trawlers
0:15:07 > 0:15:11and refrigeration techniques and of course railways,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14to bring the fish quickly to inland consumers.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17So it's an almost perfect storm of supply meeting demand
0:15:17 > 0:15:18and churning things up.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24The astonishing proliferation of fish and chip shops in the 1870s
0:15:24 > 0:15:29generated a whole new industry supplying them with cooking ranges.
0:15:30 > 0:15:35The early fryers simply used clothes washing cauldrons,
0:15:35 > 0:15:38but soon companies were producing purpose-built ranges.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41They became evermore elaborate and ornate
0:15:41 > 0:15:43and by the turn of the century,
0:15:43 > 0:15:46they were mechanical marvels of true beauty.
0:15:48 > 0:15:53Only three Edwardian ranges survive. Beamish has one of them.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56John Walton has gone to admire it with Richard Evans,
0:15:56 > 0:15:58the museum director.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01Yes. Not necessarily from Newcastle, of course.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03It could have been from almost anywhere
0:16:03 > 0:16:05where there was a range-making firm.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08Every industrial town by the early 20th century
0:16:08 > 0:16:10had its range-making firm.
0:16:10 > 0:16:15It's one step up from the late-19th century basic ranges.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18You've got the tiles, you've got this wonderful decoration.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21In fact, in a lot of cases, I think these would be custom made
0:16:21 > 0:16:24to the designs the individual fryers wanted.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26- Oh, right.- That is wonderful, isn't it?- It's fantastic.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30These were the tubs in which the fish and the chips would be fried.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32That's the thing, is it?
0:16:32 > 0:16:35- There are tubs in here.- Yes. You'd get a fire under each tub.- I see.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39You've got to this equipment whereby you can regulate the air that comes through.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42And of course getting the right temperature and sustaining it,
0:16:42 > 0:16:46that was the art, wasn't it? That affected the flavour.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49You had to do that by eye and by experience.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52I think in these days of high technology, coming back to life,
0:16:52 > 0:16:56it's really exciting, isn't it? It is splendid, isn't it?
0:16:56 > 0:17:01'The question now is can we actually get it working?'
0:17:03 > 0:17:06The boom in trade at the turn of the 20th century
0:17:06 > 0:17:10produced another great leap forward in fish and chip technology.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12The mobile takeaway.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15Thousands of these horse-drawn coal-fired carts
0:17:15 > 0:17:20once plied their trade across Britain but now, only one remains.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24It worked the streets of Spennymoor for 50 years
0:17:24 > 0:17:27right up until 1972,
0:17:27 > 0:17:30when it was saved from a scrap heap by Beamish Museum.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32They are now going to fully restore it,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35to live next door to the Edwardian chip shop.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41- Is this it, here?- That's it. That was it.
0:17:41 > 0:17:46So you're seriously telling me that this was a fish and chip van?
0:17:46 > 0:17:49Because to me it looks like something you would find gently rotting
0:17:49 > 0:17:51by the side of a field somewhere.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54I suspect that's where they had it from in the first place.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58- It looks like an old farm cart they've acquired.- Look.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00- This is completely charred.- Yes.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04The actual oven itself was so heavy that over the years,
0:18:04 > 0:18:08it's physically twisted these two pieces of timber holding it.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12- What did that look like?- Would you like to see the original? That's it.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16- That's it?- These were not in this condition when we found them.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20- These are the originals? - They're the originals.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22They've come up beautifully, haven't they?
0:18:22 > 0:18:26- How does this thing work? - You have four separate coke fires.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29They're all vented up through the same central chimney.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31- So that would have gone up...- Yes.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34..through the top of the van and the smoke...
0:18:34 > 0:18:37Well, most of it would go up the chimney.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40- Because I mean, you've only got that. - Yes. They don't fit.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42There is a huge gap there so surely,
0:18:42 > 0:18:46most of the smoke is just going to come straight up into your face.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49- It's very basic, isn't it? - It's frightening.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51What's your vision for this restoration?
0:18:51 > 0:18:56It my personal dream to take this back to Spennymoor
0:18:56 > 0:18:59with a horse on the front, smoke coming up through the chimney
0:18:59 > 0:19:02and actually being able to serve fish cake and chips again.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05Well, there's a lot of work to do. HE LAUGHS
0:19:07 > 0:19:10And with so much to do, I lend a hand.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15There we go. Beautiful.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17You really see the shape, don't you?
0:19:17 > 0:19:21The cart's frame was so badly deteriorated, it's being replaced.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24But much of the cart is remaining,
0:19:24 > 0:19:29including the kitchen cupboards, made from old floorboards.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31Bingo! Like a glove. Perfect.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35So how did this bit of the operation work?
0:19:35 > 0:19:40Well, standing either side of me were two coke scuttles,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43quite a bit of coke actually survived,
0:19:43 > 0:19:45so did the original shovel.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47You would get the coke in there.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51You would lift your very, very heavy cast iron pan
0:19:51 > 0:19:53with boiling dripping in it.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55That's actually a bit of a struggle for you, isn't it,
0:19:55 > 0:19:57- without any dripping in it?- It is.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00And I'm only reaching the near one. How did you get that one?
0:20:00 > 0:20:04And then without spilling any, you put it back down again.
0:20:04 > 0:20:09And how did you not sort of cook your arm reaching to this one
0:20:09 > 0:20:13and then even more so, what did that one do?
0:20:13 > 0:20:17Yes, indeed. Certainly at some point they didn't get it right
0:20:17 > 0:20:21because there's evidence there's been at least one serious fire here.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24That piece of wood down there really clearly shows
0:20:24 > 0:20:26what happens when you get it wrong.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28That's been really charred.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32- It's just carbon.- Properly burnt, isn't it?
0:20:32 > 0:20:34It's kind of mental, isn't it?
0:20:34 > 0:20:38And you're serious that you want to get it up and running for one cook?
0:20:38 > 0:20:41We do, yes. Yes. You've got to do, haven't you?
0:20:45 > 0:20:48It's November, six months into the build.
0:20:48 > 0:20:53The walls of the Edwardian fish and chip shop are almost complete
0:20:53 > 0:20:55and work is about to begin on the roof.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59The size of the building is now becoming apparent
0:20:59 > 0:21:04and this is certainly no Victorian front room enterprise.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10That's because the early 1900s he saw a concerted effort
0:21:10 > 0:21:13by the fish fryers to escape their reputation
0:21:13 > 0:21:15as a scourge of the backstreets,
0:21:15 > 0:21:18producing food fit only for the lowest classes.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22This is a fascinating book.
0:21:22 > 0:21:27It says here, "Why on earth should a fish shop be a dark, dismal place,
0:21:27 > 0:21:31"enough to give one a fit of the blues on entry?
0:21:31 > 0:21:34"The walls," the author says,
0:21:34 > 0:21:38"Should be painted from floor to ceiling an electric green."
0:21:38 > 0:21:41"All surfaces must be tiled
0:21:41 > 0:21:45"in accordance with the strictest standards of hygiene."
0:21:45 > 0:21:50This passage is from a book called The Fish Fryer And His Trade
0:21:50 > 0:21:55and the author is a fellow who calls himself Chat Chip. Fascinating.
0:21:55 > 0:22:00We know Chat Chip was in fact a man called William Loftus from Sheffield
0:22:00 > 0:22:01who was a union man
0:22:01 > 0:22:04but, branded as an agitator, he couldn't get work
0:22:04 > 0:22:06so he became a fish fryer
0:22:06 > 0:22:12and made it his life's campaign to elevate the fish and chip shop
0:22:12 > 0:22:17and to elevate the status of the humble fish fryer.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21It's intended that our establishment
0:22:21 > 0:22:23should be one to make Chat Chip proud,
0:22:23 > 0:22:27so colourful, hygienic tiling is crucial.
0:22:27 > 0:22:32And fortunately, we have just the thing for the job.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35Well, this is a fantastic hoard that the museum collected
0:22:35 > 0:22:37from a fish and chip shop in Berwick.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40It's a really rare find, actually. These tiles, which are from Glasgow,
0:22:40 > 0:22:43from J Duncan, it's that period of history
0:22:43 > 0:22:47when Glasgow was producing tremendous decorative art.
0:22:47 > 0:22:48Mackintosh and others.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52So Charlie here is putting it all back together.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55This is the one we're working on. This lighthouse.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58- I see. So you've got a bit here. - That's right.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02- It's like a big jigsaw puzzle.- And a bit here.- That's right. The beacon.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05It's lovely, isn't it? It's beautiful.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10Before the precious tiles can be re-used,
0:23:10 > 0:23:13the old concrete adhesive needs to be removed
0:23:13 > 0:23:15and they allow me to work on one.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21First I have to slice the concrete into little columns,
0:23:21 > 0:23:24which then need to be very cautiously chipped away.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26Be very careful with these, Charlie.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30The body of the tile is very low fired, it's very fragile.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32Right, so the cement's really hard...
0:23:32 > 0:23:35The cement's hard and the tile's soft. Yeah.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40A task like this really brings home to me the staggering effort
0:23:40 > 0:23:42and attention to detail that goes into preserving
0:23:42 > 0:23:46and restoring our building heritage.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49It takes me over an hour to finish just one tile,
0:23:49 > 0:23:52and there are over 1,000 tiles to clean.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57- You've done well. - There she is.- Very nice.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00I've got these tiles here which are totally smashed up.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05I want you to remake that tile completely.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07But to complete this whole panel,
0:24:07 > 0:24:11we'll actually need three decent tiles.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15I want this corner piece replaced and this one here, look,
0:24:15 > 0:24:19has been smashed and stuck together in the past.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22That would complete that panel cos it's a lovely panel.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25- Do you think you can do that? - HE LAUGHS
0:24:25 > 0:24:28It certainly isn't something I can do on my own
0:24:28 > 0:24:31so I head to Craven Dunhill in Ironbridge,
0:24:31 > 0:24:35the last tile factory in the country still making tube lined tiles.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40Walking through the factory
0:24:40 > 0:24:43is like being in an Edwardian industrial backstreet,
0:24:43 > 0:24:48just the sort of area that would have been home to our fish and chip shop.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51Chief designer Robin Brindley is going to help me make
0:24:51 > 0:24:54the replacement tiles that we need.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57We can take the tube lining bag
0:24:57 > 0:25:00and that's filled with a liquid clay slip.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04- It's literally just brown clay?- Yes. - Very heavily watered down?
0:25:04 > 0:25:09It is called slip trailing basically because you are just trailing slip.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12- It's like cake icing? - That's correct, yes.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15- I'm sure that you will pick it up very quickly.- Great.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18You are filling me with confidence. OK.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21Ta-da! The big moment.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24The design has been traced onto a tile
0:25:24 > 0:25:28and all I have to do is follow the lines.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31I'm not looking forward to this. OK.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41- You really, you have to give it a bit of a squeeze.- Yes.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44- That's right.- Woah!- Yeah. Now it's flowing too much.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46You're squeezing too hard.
0:25:46 > 0:25:51Tube lined tiles were the creme de la creme of shop fittings
0:25:51 > 0:25:56and were 30 times more expensive than standard glazed tiles.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00The technique produces a raised design which more effectively
0:26:00 > 0:26:04caught the light in poorly-gas-lit shops.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08I think rather than fish dinner, it's more like a dog's dinner.
0:26:08 > 0:26:09What's next?
0:26:10 > 0:26:15- What we need to do is introduce some colours.- OK.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18If you apply it around the edge first. That's correct.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21That makes it easier to fill in.
0:26:21 > 0:26:26- OK? You covered it over, that's the main thing.- That's the main thing.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28Let's think positive.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33The tube lining allows deep pools of glaze to be applied,
0:26:33 > 0:26:37producing the most vibrant colours possible in ceramics.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43- Yay! Done.- Well done.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45That to me looks pretty poor.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48I mean, how does that turn into these beautiful tiles?
0:26:48 > 0:26:51- What's the next thing that happens? - Once it's been fired,
0:26:51 > 0:26:55all those gorgeous colours will actually come through in the firing.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58- OK.- So at the end, it will look completely different.
0:26:58 > 0:26:59One down, two to go.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04The Victorian obsession for walls of tiles in their shops
0:27:04 > 0:27:10reflected new scientific discoveries about the nature of hygiene.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14The concept there was a connection between cleanliness and health
0:27:14 > 0:27:16was well established by the 1860s.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19So the shop-going public wanted,
0:27:19 > 0:27:23when they went to food shops, to see the shops looking sparklingly clean,
0:27:23 > 0:27:26walls of tiles had to be scrubbed, washed down.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29No places for germs to lurk.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33This became particularly important for fish fryers.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37Their business was still under a cloud so, by 1900,
0:27:37 > 0:27:41when they were still regarded really as a smelly backstreet enterprise,
0:27:41 > 0:27:45they embraced fully the technology of tile-clad interiors
0:27:45 > 0:27:49to make their emporiums sparkle with health and cleanliness.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55The obsession for tiles extended rather predictably
0:27:55 > 0:27:57to public conveniences.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02Here we see a wonderful practical and handsome example
0:28:02 > 0:28:04of a wash-down tiled wall.
0:28:11 > 0:28:16It's January, eight months into the build and, despite a bitter winter,
0:28:16 > 0:28:21the traditionally made roof of the main chip shop is almost finished.
0:28:21 > 0:28:27The corrugated ironclad extension has also shot up.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30Designed by Jim to look like a later addition,
0:28:30 > 0:28:31it will house the restaurant
0:28:31 > 0:28:35and give the impression the building has evolved over years.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40Fish and chip restaurants, known as saloons,
0:28:40 > 0:28:42began to appear in Edwardian times.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46They were the first restaurants within reach of the working classes.
0:28:48 > 0:28:50Soon, fish and chip palaces followed.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54Most famously, Harry Ramsden's in West Yorkshire.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57With their oak panelling and wall-to-wall carpets,
0:28:57 > 0:29:00they allowed workers to escape the harsh realities
0:29:00 > 0:29:04of their normal lives, if only for a few hours.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08Our saloon is far humbler.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11In the story Jim's invented for the building,
0:29:11 > 0:29:13it's a low-cost later addition,
0:29:13 > 0:29:17thrown up using cheap corrugated iron cladding.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20I'm not sure many people would say this,
0:29:20 > 0:29:24but I absolutely love corrugated iron.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27It is the most incredible building material.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31While today, it is very everyday and very commonplace,
0:29:31 > 0:29:34when it was patented in 1829,
0:29:34 > 0:29:39it must have seemed like it was from a very bright future indeed.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42It is the most perfectly functional material.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45It's very light, very easy to transform.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48It can be bent, rolled, formed.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50It's incredibly versatile,
0:29:50 > 0:29:54so you can sling it over any simple, lightweight timber or steel frame.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57Anything, in fact - make it waterproof.
0:29:57 > 0:30:01Because of these characteristics of lightness and ease of transportation,
0:30:01 > 0:30:04millions of kit houses were manufactured
0:30:04 > 0:30:07and sent right across the world,
0:30:07 > 0:30:09from gold prospectors in California,
0:30:09 > 0:30:12all over Australia, Africa.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14In fact, there's almost nowhere in the world
0:30:14 > 0:30:19that hasn't been revolutionised by crinkly tin.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24The building may be nearing completion,
0:30:24 > 0:30:28but Richard has some bad news about the interior restoration.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31I'm afraid we've had a bit of a problem with the early range.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33What? It's broken?
0:30:33 > 0:30:36It's broken, it was adapted later in its life for gas,
0:30:36 > 0:30:40and because it's such a rare surviving example from the turn of the 20th century,
0:30:40 > 0:30:42we can't really bring ourselves to damage it.
0:30:42 > 0:30:47I see. To make it functional would mean damaging the artefact.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50So what are you going to do? Abandon the fish and chip shop?
0:30:50 > 0:30:53Well, ideally, we'd like to use an Edwardian range.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55We do have one from a slightly later period,
0:30:55 > 0:30:57a '20s range, that we've collected.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00- Would you like me to show you that? - Yes.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04Oh dear! It's in a bit of a sorry state, isn't it? The top's missing.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08You're happy to restore this one? This is not that historic.
0:31:08 > 0:31:12It is much less rare. This 1920s' range here, we can adapt.
0:31:12 > 0:31:14We can get it up in working order.
0:31:14 > 0:31:19- You're looking slightly doubtful. - It looks like a lot of work.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22Is it really a viable option, getting this thing up and running?
0:31:22 > 0:31:24I certainly hope so. Although it's looking a bit sorry,
0:31:24 > 0:31:27the fire bricks will be renewed,
0:31:27 > 0:31:32the tiling will be restored and, where possible, re-used.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34So it won't be entirely replaced.
0:31:36 > 0:31:40Fortunately, the fish and chip cart restoration
0:31:40 > 0:31:44hasn't suffered any major issues and the bodywork is now complete.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48Before the stove is finally fitted,
0:31:48 > 0:31:52the team decides a test firing would be prudent.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57But a few tweaks may be needed
0:31:57 > 0:32:01before the stove is lit inside the cart.
0:32:05 > 0:32:06Nine months into the build,
0:32:06 > 0:32:09the exterior of both the fish and chip shop
0:32:09 > 0:32:11and saloon extension are complete.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17We're now weatherproof. The weather can throw anything at us.
0:32:17 > 0:32:20Now, we've to do ranges, tiles, counters, get it going.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22But we're just running now.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24But there are some really nice little features.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26Obviously, all the windows are different.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28- That's on purpose.- Deliberately.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31To show that evolution, you've got the sash window
0:32:31 > 0:32:35with its thought-out, quasi-scientific airflow -
0:32:35 > 0:32:38open the top, open the bottom - of the Victorians.
0:32:38 > 0:32:40And you are heading towards...
0:32:40 > 0:32:42It's the first glimpse of the hideous 1970s' picture window
0:32:42 > 0:32:45with a top light opening bit.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48It's cheap, it's quick, you just whack it together.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52Tell me about the windows on the corrugated tin shed. What are they?
0:32:52 > 0:32:55The corrugated iron extension, it fascinates me,
0:32:55 > 0:32:58because those buildings are disappearing so fast.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01These tin sheds have been village halls, they've been chapels,
0:33:01 > 0:33:04they've been labour halls, they've been British kitchens.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08They've been all those things and in a way,
0:33:08 > 0:33:12they're an ominous precursor to the massive building
0:33:12 > 0:33:15of soldiers' huts in the First War.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19The army hut came out of this sort of instant building.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26By the start of the First World War,
0:33:26 > 0:33:29fish and chips had become a vital source of nutrition
0:33:29 > 0:33:31for the working people of Britain.
0:33:31 > 0:33:33Take Bradford, for example.
0:33:33 > 0:33:38In 1917, it had 303 fish and chip shops,
0:33:38 > 0:33:42selling 900,000 meals per week.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45That's two and a half portions per week
0:33:45 > 0:33:48for every man, woman and child living in the city.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51Fish and chips were deemed to be
0:33:51 > 0:33:54such a crucial source of nutrition for the war workers,
0:33:54 > 0:33:58that government never rationed fish or potatoes.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01There was even a move to exempt fish fryers from the call-up.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06So after years of shame and infamy,
0:34:06 > 0:34:11the fish fryers had come to be celebrated as national saviours.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18Work has now begun on the interior
0:34:18 > 0:34:22and the painstakingly restored tiles are being fitted.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25But they're still missing the three broken ones.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28I have brought some of the tiles.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30This is what we were...
0:34:30 > 0:34:36That's the one that was very badly damaged. The sort of seascape one.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40This was our totally had it, end of the boat.
0:34:40 > 0:34:44Obviously, there is a complete missing one.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48- It's a moment of revelation.- It is!
0:34:48 > 0:34:53I went and tried to make a replacement one for this.
0:34:53 > 0:34:57I have to say, it wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59Are you breaking us in gently?
0:35:03 > 0:35:05You've got the shape!
0:35:05 > 0:35:07Look at it. It's dreadful!
0:35:07 > 0:35:12The guy helping me realised it was so rubbish that, bless him,
0:35:12 > 0:35:18he had to go and do it properly.
0:35:18 > 0:35:19That's a bit more like it!
0:35:19 > 0:35:25So you can all relax. That's that one. The colour is perfect.
0:35:25 > 0:35:32- Then this is the missing tile. - Oh, right. The bottom of the boat.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35Look at that. That's fantastic!
0:35:35 > 0:35:39Charlie is a skilful guy. He couldn't do it.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42These people were brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45They were at the top of their game. They were famous across the country.
0:35:45 > 0:35:47Duncan's tiles.
0:35:47 > 0:35:49So...a good try,
0:35:49 > 0:35:51but we'll use this one!
0:35:54 > 0:35:58- Is this the hard bit? - This is the messy bit.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01- So what? Just stick it on? - Stick it on.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04Just twist and make sure it beds.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07That's not going to fall off, is it?
0:36:07 > 0:36:09I'll keep a hold while you get the other ones.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14- We don't want to break any. - I really don't want to break any!
0:36:16 > 0:36:18That's fine.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22So in the space there.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24This is the missing one. This is the panel...
0:36:24 > 0:36:27The one we've never seen.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29The one we've never seen.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34That...is your panel.
0:36:34 > 0:36:36It's absolutely fantastic. It is a perfect match.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38It's really, really good.
0:36:44 > 0:36:49It's only when you see these tiles restored and back on the wall,
0:36:49 > 0:36:53that you actually get a real sense of how powerful and evocative they are.
0:36:53 > 0:36:58And how bright and fresh those colours must have seemed
0:36:58 > 0:37:02to someone who's spent a day in the darkness of the mine.
0:37:02 > 0:37:06Imagine coming out of there, being filthy, washing yourself off,
0:37:06 > 0:37:09coming up and getting a lovely, hot fish supper,
0:37:09 > 0:37:13sitting down, looking at these evocative scenes,
0:37:13 > 0:37:18and for just a while, sort of being transported to a distant place.
0:37:21 > 0:37:28The 1920s' range has now been restored to full working order
0:37:28 > 0:37:31and it's being installed.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34OK, Charlie. This is our latest discovery. What do you think?
0:37:34 > 0:37:37That's beautiful. It's in amazing condition, isn't it?
0:37:37 > 0:37:40- That would have been where the fire was.- There's the fire down there.
0:37:40 > 0:37:43We haven't currently got the pans in but we've got the pans.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46- So you've got the original pans? - The original pans.
0:37:46 > 0:37:51They were preserved because they were soaked in fat, funnily enough!
0:37:51 > 0:37:55It is very beautiful. It is really quite small though, isn't it?
0:37:55 > 0:37:59I think of a fish shop today, you'll have like a whole counter thing.
0:37:59 > 0:38:03- Yes.- This is not going to have that big a capacity, is it?
0:38:03 > 0:38:05It is a problem.
0:38:05 > 0:38:07It's sweet, it's beautiful, but there's two little pans,
0:38:07 > 0:38:10two little fires and the capacity is not huge.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13The good thing is, we've found something else
0:38:13 > 0:38:16that will at least speed up our chip production.
0:38:16 > 0:38:17- Right.- Come and have a look.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25- Jim.- Yes?- What's that?
0:38:25 > 0:38:28That's a state-of-the-art chip chipper.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32- From when? - This engine is a 1909 gas engine.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35If you look in the books and catalogues
0:38:35 > 0:38:38how to do a chip shop in the Edwardian period,
0:38:38 > 0:38:41this is the exact model that was being recommended
0:38:41 > 0:38:44to the up-and-coming chip shop owner just before the First War.
0:38:44 > 0:38:45How does it work?
0:38:45 > 0:38:50The gas comes in into the cylinder,
0:38:50 > 0:38:51it's driving a little belt.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54The belt's driving a little chain.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57Inside here, the little teeth are going round
0:38:57 > 0:39:00and if you want to pop a potato down there...
0:39:00 > 0:39:04- Two holes. - The big hole. It's a big potato.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08And then push it down with your hygienic pusher
0:39:08 > 0:39:11and out should come your chips.
0:39:14 > 0:39:16Look at that!
0:39:16 > 0:39:18- French fries!- Yes.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22- Not bad, eh?- So you're going to use this, are you, in the shop?
0:39:22 > 0:39:25This is a test.
0:39:25 > 0:39:30It'll be clean and spotless and we'll have a hygienic plunger.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33It is fantastic! Absolutely fantastic!
0:39:35 > 0:39:38Although marvellous, the gas chipper alone
0:39:38 > 0:39:41isn't going to solve the chip shop's capacity problem.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45But I've discovered that in nearby Winlaton Mill,
0:39:45 > 0:39:48there's another old, traditionally coal-fired range
0:39:48 > 0:39:50that may offer a solution.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53- Evening, gentlemen.- Nice to see you. - Very nice to meet you.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57Gosh! What a wonderful range.
0:39:57 > 0:40:01Yes. It is well preserved, really.
0:40:01 > 0:40:06- But the obvious point is, you aren't frying tonight. Why is that?- No.
0:40:06 > 0:40:11The reason is because in 2007, our mother died,
0:40:11 > 0:40:14and she left instructions that
0:40:14 > 0:40:16that had to be the end of the business
0:40:16 > 0:40:20but she really just thought that it was time
0:40:20 > 0:40:24for us to have early retirement and enjoy life.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26It's incredible to meet someone
0:40:26 > 0:40:30who has actually toiled with, for years, a coal-fired range.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32Can you show me how it works?
0:40:32 > 0:40:38- What we used to do, was put some newspaper in first.- In the morning?
0:40:38 > 0:40:40Put some newspaper in
0:40:40 > 0:40:44and then you'd put some sticks on and set it alight.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48Once the sticks got alight, you started putting your coal on.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52So you've got fish there, chips in that. And that's a backup?
0:40:52 > 0:40:55Yes. That's just a backup, that one.
0:40:55 > 0:40:58It's amazing to think that for over 70 years,
0:40:58 > 0:41:00this room was at the heart of the local community.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03People coming here to meet, to feed, to chat.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05It is very haunting, really.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09Grandchildren of people that used to come to the shop years ago
0:41:09 > 0:41:12were coming in near the end of the business.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15So there's been generations served at this counter.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18It is really thrilling to be here and to meet you
0:41:18 > 0:41:21and to see this wonderful, wonderful machine.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23- Yes, it's survived. - Thank you very much.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26Since you're not frying, I think I'll pop down to the local pub.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29- Good idea. - Maybe I'll see you down there!
0:41:34 > 0:41:38Although the Davy brothers' range is 1930s rather than Edwardian,
0:41:38 > 0:41:42it has the capacity Beamish desperately needs.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45So it decided to add it to the fish and chip shop,
0:41:45 > 0:41:48meaning that one of the few remaining coal-fired ranges
0:41:48 > 0:41:52left in the country will not only be saved from the scrapheap,
0:41:52 > 0:41:55but will be fully restored and soon frying once again.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01It is an emotional day already.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03It's one of those days we'll never forget.
0:42:03 > 0:42:08It's been amazing that we were found, so to speak,
0:42:08 > 0:42:15and it's been able to find a good home and will be well cared for.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19It's there for posterity.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26It's taken nine months
0:42:26 > 0:42:28of painstaking work to restore the fish and chip cart
0:42:28 > 0:42:31and after 40 years collecting dust at Beamish,
0:42:31 > 0:42:34it is finally ready for its triumphal homecoming
0:42:34 > 0:42:37here to the streets of Spennymoor.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40What's going to be fascinating to see
0:42:40 > 0:42:45is if anyone can remember the once famous Berriman fish and chip cart.
0:43:09 > 0:43:12I think this is your fault because you were the one who suggested
0:43:12 > 0:43:15bringing it back here and cooking some chips.
0:43:15 > 0:43:19- How does it feel?- It's brilliant. I've waited a long time for this.
0:43:19 > 0:43:21The pleasure of restoration for me
0:43:21 > 0:43:24is to make something live again and breathe again.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30I think we better get out of the way!
0:43:30 > 0:43:31That's it.
0:43:37 > 0:43:41It's funny because I thought that people might not remember,
0:43:41 > 0:43:43but everyone seems to remember.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46- It was the main thing in Spennymoor. - Was it?- Yes.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49Everybody was to come out of the pub
0:43:49 > 0:43:51to get themselves a bag of chips or a fishcake.
0:43:51 > 0:43:56- And good chips?- They were beautiful. - Absolutely beautiful.
0:43:57 > 0:44:01- So are you ready to go?- I think so. - Go on then. Let's see how it works.
0:44:01 > 0:44:03Let's be brave.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06Brave or foolhardy!
0:44:07 > 0:44:09- Is it going?- Yes, it's going.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14- There's a bit of a breeze on, isn't there?- Yes.
0:44:14 > 0:44:16It's drawing really strong.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20While we wait for the beef dripping to heat up,
0:44:20 > 0:44:23the son of one of the brothers who owned the cart
0:44:23 > 0:44:26comes to pay us a visit.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30- You must be Mr Berriman?- I am.- Hello. Pleased to meet you. Charlie.
0:44:30 > 0:44:32I've brought these Tilley lamps
0:44:32 > 0:44:35that have been in the garage for 35 years or more.
0:44:35 > 0:44:37So these lit the van, did they?
0:44:37 > 0:44:40They lit the van when it got dark on a night.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45- It's a proper Tilley lamp as well, isn't it?- Yes.
0:44:45 > 0:44:50- So where do they go?- Actually up on those hooks on the back.
0:44:50 > 0:44:52Do you want to stick that up there?
0:44:52 > 0:44:56One of the hooks has gone missing, so we'll just put that there.
0:44:56 > 0:45:01- They're back home.- They're back home, where they belong.- Yes.- Yes.
0:45:03 > 0:45:08After half an hour, the first batch of chips for 40 years
0:45:08 > 0:45:11can be fried up for the people of Spennymoor.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17There we go.
0:45:22 > 0:45:23Right, kids.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27No. Don't grab them!
0:45:28 > 0:45:31How good are they?
0:45:31 > 0:45:34- Yeah, they're lovely. 1 out of 10! - Very nice.- 11 out of 10?
0:45:34 > 0:45:3711 out of 10 for the chips.
0:45:38 > 0:45:41Even the mayor turns up for a bag of chips.
0:45:41 > 0:45:43- No salt.- No salt, just vinegar.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48- There you go. I hope you like them. - Thank you. They look nice.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51Go on, have a try and see what you think.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57Was the Berriman van an iconic part of the community?
0:45:57 > 0:45:59There's no doubt about that whatsoever.
0:45:59 > 0:46:01Anybody that came into the town,
0:46:01 > 0:46:04whether it be from Spennymoor or the surrounding area,
0:46:04 > 0:46:08they always made, on a night, for the chips at that van.
0:46:08 > 0:46:10And what's this here?
0:46:10 > 0:46:15That's the Berriman's chip van done by Mr George Teasdale.
0:46:15 > 0:46:18- So you took this photo? - In the '60s.- Did you?- Yes.
0:46:18 > 0:46:21- Do you remember taking it? - Not really.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23I suppose it was a while ago.
0:46:23 > 0:46:24It was a while ago.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27- But you remember the van? - Yes. It was in the High Street
0:46:27 > 0:46:31opposite the Waterloo pub, which isn't there any more.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34In the 1900s, there were about five chip vans in Spennymoor.
0:46:34 > 0:46:36- Happy days. - That's an amazing document.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39So obviously a really important part of the local community.
0:46:47 > 0:46:52It's the final push to put the finishing touches on the fish and chip shop
0:46:52 > 0:46:55before it's handed over to the team who will run it.
0:46:55 > 0:46:57Moment of truth.
0:47:00 > 0:47:05The Davy brothers' 1930s' range has been rejuvenated
0:47:05 > 0:47:07and is being installed.
0:47:07 > 0:47:12Jim has also managed to source another authentic Edwardian gem.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15I never thought I'd need to explain but that's a toilet cistern.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18Cisterns have gone lower down the wall.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20In the old days, when people had hearty and thick diets,
0:47:20 > 0:47:23the water needed a bit of acceleration from on high.
0:47:23 > 0:47:27So you pulled the chain and it came roaring down with a wonderful noise.
0:47:27 > 0:47:28This cistern is rather good
0:47:28 > 0:47:32because it's a typical working-class housing cistern.
0:47:32 > 0:47:35It's wood, lined with lead.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38The toilet itself might look well worn but it's actually
0:47:38 > 0:47:42what they euphemistically call 'new old stock'.
0:47:42 > 0:47:47It is extremely old but it's never been used. It's never seen action.
0:47:47 > 0:47:49It is a race species of toilet
0:47:49 > 0:47:53known from workhouses and poor people's outside toilets,
0:47:53 > 0:47:56that was entirely made of salt glaze,
0:47:56 > 0:47:59rather than white, expensive glaze.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02I don't think I've ever seen one in use,
0:48:02 > 0:48:04but we're going to see one in use.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08The ranges can now be connected to the flue
0:48:08 > 0:48:12and the team has assembled for the crucial smoke test.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16If it doesn't go right, everybody's going to be looking at me.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19But there are some bushes behind.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22I will just disappear quietly into the bushes!
0:48:22 > 0:48:24It'll be fine.
0:48:31 > 0:48:33It should fire up.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38- No.- No. I am staring at that...
0:48:38 > 0:48:39He'll come running out the door!
0:48:39 > 0:48:41There she blows.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47- Well done!- There we go. - Look at that.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50- Goodness me, that's a lot of smoke. - Watch him come out, coughing!
0:48:52 > 0:48:56It's a highly accelerated Kenny flue system!
0:48:56 > 0:48:59It's more or less turbo charged!
0:49:02 > 0:49:06Three days later, the building work is complete.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09and the fish and chip shop can be furnished and spruced up
0:49:09 > 0:49:13in preparation for the grand opening, giving Dan and me
0:49:13 > 0:49:16our first opportunity to see it in all its glory.
0:49:16 > 0:49:21There's the bunting, all getting ready for the opening day.
0:49:21 > 0:49:24- Absolutely. Shall we go in and have a look?- Absolutely.- In you go.
0:49:26 > 0:49:32- Check this out! Look at it! - This is the 1910 range over there.
0:49:32 > 0:49:36- Yes. Edwardian range. - It looks sensational now.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39Look at the way the tiles have come up. It's stunning.
0:49:39 > 0:49:42That is too precious an historic object to function.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45That really is a museum display.
0:49:45 > 0:49:48- Exactly.- And this wonderful thing here.- A manual chipper.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51- You put a potato here and I see, yes, indeed.- Whack!
0:49:53 > 0:49:56Complete with comedy spring noise!
0:49:59 > 0:50:03Next on the tour, the palatial main kitchen.
0:50:04 > 0:50:09- Good Lord! This is absolutely staggering.- Amazing.- It's wonderful.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12Look at the tiles. They're absolutely beautiful.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15The idea that everything is tiled, helps reflect the light,
0:50:15 > 0:50:18because you'd have had gas lights and very dim levels of light.
0:50:18 > 0:50:22The highly reflective surfaces would have just punched the light levels up.
0:50:22 > 0:50:26And with the tube lining, the raised delineation of it catches the light
0:50:26 > 0:50:32and reinforces the vibrant, vivid, very clear defined colour fields.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35And you imagine a slightly flickering gas flame,
0:50:35 > 0:50:37how it would almost be like a living thing.
0:50:37 > 0:50:40- And the escapism. - It's like gin palaces, isn't it,
0:50:40 > 0:50:43sparkling with gasoliers and cut glass.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46This was an escape from your humble home or down the pit
0:50:46 > 0:50:48and you see this escapist fantasy world, don't you?
0:50:50 > 0:50:54The 1920s' range may look similar to the Edwardian range,
0:50:54 > 0:50:57but as it's less rare, it's been possible to restore it
0:50:57 > 0:50:59to full working order.
0:50:59 > 0:51:01Very practical, yet also ornamental.
0:51:01 > 0:51:06A wonderful marriage of art and industry and utilitarian.
0:51:06 > 0:51:10I love the little scene here. This view of a Highland loch, I suppose.
0:51:10 > 0:51:13Really for the benefit of the fish fryer, standing here.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16Just to give him a little bit of escape.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20And the Davy brothers' range
0:51:20 > 0:51:22will supply the capacity needed on busy days.
0:51:23 > 0:51:25Beautiful.
0:51:25 > 0:51:29I last saw this when it was utterly abandoned in its old home.
0:51:29 > 0:51:33Doesn't that take you back to childhood? Do you know what I mean?
0:51:33 > 0:51:37It's just all of that sort of scooping, and salt flying around
0:51:37 > 0:51:40and vinegar everywhere. It's fantastic!
0:51:41 > 0:51:44The dining saloon is far more modestly furnished
0:51:44 > 0:51:46with reclaimed timber and exposed brickwork.
0:51:46 > 0:51:48Less is more.
0:51:48 > 0:51:52Keeping it simple makes it so much more authentic
0:51:52 > 0:51:54and evocative, doesn't it?
0:51:55 > 0:51:58And Jim's obsessive attention to detail is exemplified
0:51:58 > 0:52:02by the authentically woebegone toilet.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07- And of course, it works. - It does, absolutely.
0:52:10 > 0:52:11- There we go.- Lovely!
0:52:15 > 0:52:20So now, finally, the time has arrived for the first fry up.
0:52:20 > 0:52:24And who better to show us the ropes than the Davy brothers?
0:52:24 > 0:52:26- Well...- Wow!
0:52:26 > 0:52:31- There's the range.- Dear! - What do you think?- Fantastic!
0:52:31 > 0:52:33What do you think of that?
0:52:35 > 0:52:37- Does that take you back a few years? - Goodness me!
0:52:37 > 0:52:39Are you all right, Ramsay?
0:52:41 > 0:52:47- And this is our counter and the chipper.- Who used to light it?- Me.
0:52:47 > 0:52:49Right, Ramsay, you and I are going to light it.
0:52:52 > 0:52:55Ramsay's technique is watched closely by Denise,
0:52:55 > 0:52:58who will be running the chip shop.
0:52:58 > 0:53:00Ceremonial lighting.
0:53:04 > 0:53:05That's it.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09I seize the opportunity to get my hands on that chipper.
0:53:09 > 0:53:13So do you want to be the first to use it?
0:53:13 > 0:53:16You've to keep the potato that way up. That's it.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19I'm going to keep my hands reasonably well away.
0:53:19 > 0:53:21Then straight down.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24- Then, remember to move my fingers. - That should be OK now.
0:53:27 > 0:53:31- Do you wish to do another? - That's not a bad potato. - It's a great potato.
0:53:31 > 0:53:33Doing them that way means you get a nice, long potato.
0:53:33 > 0:53:35The other way, short and fat, no good.
0:53:35 > 0:53:39I'm going to experiment the other way. Of course, I'm being very slow.
0:53:39 > 0:53:45Dan, where are the chips? We need the chips pretty soon.
0:53:45 > 0:53:46Good heavens! Patience!
0:53:46 > 0:53:49But I shall take the challenge. Let's speed up the operation.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52I might get a finger in with the chips!
0:53:56 > 0:54:00- Good Lord, Charlie! A pinafore! - It's the only apron we've got.
0:54:00 > 0:54:04Here are the chips anyway. I will stand back.
0:54:04 > 0:54:08- So I'm allowed to put these in, am I? - Yes, put them in. Just be gentle.
0:54:08 > 0:54:14- Don't throw them in.- From here?- Yes. - I will just tip it.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18- Whoa!- There we go.
0:54:18 > 0:54:20- Oh my God!- Go on.- There we are.
0:54:26 > 0:54:30- Give them a stir.- They are definitely cooking, aren't they?
0:54:30 > 0:54:33- They definitely are. - Well, we've done it.
0:54:33 > 0:54:38- We have a coal-fired fish and chip shop. Well done, everyone!- Well done.
0:54:38 > 0:54:40Well done, Ramsay.
0:54:40 > 0:54:44- It's a wonderful noise, isn't it? - There it is.
0:54:44 > 0:54:45SIZZLING
0:54:51 > 0:54:55With the fish and chip shop fully operational,
0:54:55 > 0:54:58it can now be officially opened to the public.
0:55:00 > 0:55:04Thank you for coming and welcome to a very exciting event today,
0:55:04 > 0:55:07the opening of Beamish's very own fried fish shop.
0:55:07 > 0:55:12Special thanks to this very finely dressed man to my left here, Jim,
0:55:12 > 0:55:14whose brainchild this is,
0:55:14 > 0:55:17whose head this building literally popped out of
0:55:17 > 0:55:20and is in front of you here today, so special thanks to Jim.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23APPLAUSE
0:55:23 > 0:55:28I would also like to make a special mention to the Davy brothers,
0:55:28 > 0:55:31who had a coal-fired range working in Tyneside until very recently
0:55:31 > 0:55:37and were kind enough to let us have it here for the fried fish shop at Beamish.
0:55:37 > 0:55:41To mark the event, I would like to ask the Davy brothers to cut the ribbon.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44APPLAUSE
0:55:50 > 0:55:54- Come on in. In you go. In you go. After you, Charlie. - Thank you very much.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02The honour of being served the very first portion
0:56:02 > 0:56:05goes to Kenny the bricklayer.
0:56:05 > 0:56:07Congratulations. Well done, Kenny.
0:56:07 > 0:56:08APPLAUSE
0:56:12 > 0:56:15- Wonderful!- Would you like some salt?
0:56:15 > 0:56:18Next time, we'll have to open a brewery!
0:56:19 > 0:56:21The public are next in line.
0:56:21 > 0:56:24They're cooked in proper dripping.
0:56:24 > 0:56:29- It's far better.- Better than oil and all these newfangled concoctions.
0:56:29 > 0:56:34They're just as good as what we used to have 40 or 50 years ago, when we were kids.
0:56:36 > 0:56:40It feels very good to see that finally open. Very good indeed.
0:56:40 > 0:56:42It's the smell, the taste, the sight.
0:56:42 > 0:56:44It isn't walking around,
0:56:44 > 0:56:47looking at the world's oldest chip range in a glass case.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50All of us are used to fish ranges smelling of fish and chips,
0:56:50 > 0:56:53which is not odd until you see one that doesn't.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56But to go in there and it's hot and it smells right
0:56:56 > 0:57:00and people are laughing and joking, that's great.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04I think everyone associated with this build ended up very proud indeed.
0:57:05 > 0:57:09Because they started from scratch, it's been an enormous challenge
0:57:09 > 0:57:12to bring together the ranges, the colliery bricks,
0:57:12 > 0:57:17the windows and to create a coherent building that feels right.
0:57:17 > 0:57:21I think Jim and his team have more than achieved that
0:57:21 > 0:57:23because they've created a building that clearly
0:57:23 > 0:57:28and quietly tells the story of the incredible rise of fish and chips.
0:57:28 > 0:57:32That's an important story because of the fundamental role
0:57:32 > 0:57:36that fish and chips played in working communities across Britain.
0:57:38 > 0:57:42I think, at last, I understand how this humble food
0:57:42 > 0:57:45has become of such national importance.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48Fish and chips is of course very nourishing, tasty
0:57:48 > 0:57:51and has always been relatively cheap.
0:57:51 > 0:57:55But more important, it represents a fusion of cultures.
0:57:55 > 0:57:59A fusion of the Jewish emigre culture of East London
0:57:59 > 0:58:02with the working class communities of the North.
0:58:02 > 0:58:06It represents, in a particular way, a portrait of Britain.
0:58:06 > 0:58:11And isn't it wonderful the way fish and chips started
0:58:11 > 0:58:14as a rather dubious, backstreet industry
0:58:14 > 0:58:17and then blossomed to occupy splendid,
0:58:17 > 0:58:21palatial emporia like this.
0:58:52 > 0:58:55Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd