0:00:02 > 0:00:05In the Victorian era, Britain changed as never before.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08It was the time of great inventors, great engineers,
0:00:08 > 0:00:11but above all, great businessmen, entrepreneurs,
0:00:11 > 0:00:16and one of the best examples was the pioneer photographer, Francis Frith.
0:00:16 > 0:00:21It was in the 1860s that Francis Frith embarked upon a monumental mission
0:00:21 > 0:00:25using the newly invented photographic camera.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29He wanted to document every city, every town,
0:00:29 > 0:00:31and every village in the land.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34I'm tracing the footsteps of this remarkable man
0:00:34 > 0:00:36and his team of photographers.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39Using their pictures as my guide,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42I'll be travelling the length and breadth of the country
0:00:42 > 0:00:45finding out what has altered and what has stayed the same,
0:00:45 > 0:00:48and along the way, I'll be taking my own photos
0:00:48 > 0:00:52to try and capture the mood of the place as it is now.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54That's great.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57Welcome to Britain's First Photo Album.
0:01:15 > 0:01:21Back in 1860, the newfangled way of making pictures was all the rage.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24The trouble was that the cameras were expensive
0:01:24 > 0:01:27and difficult to use.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29Francis Frith seized the opportunity,
0:01:29 > 0:01:33setting up the first photographic publishing business.
0:01:33 > 0:01:38He and his team combed the country looking for interesting landscapes,
0:01:38 > 0:01:42townscapes, and of course, people.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44And the results were snapped up.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49My photographic journey today takes me along the North Kent coast,
0:01:49 > 0:01:55from the historic town of Gravesend along the river to Faversham,
0:01:55 > 0:01:59and finally to the seaside resort of Broadstairs.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03En route, I'll be catching a ride on a beautifully restored Thames sailing barge.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05Ah, the power of sail.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11I'll be finding out what Victorians thought was a good day out.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13If I do do it, I want a bit of a cheer,
0:02:13 > 0:02:17if I don't get it right, I don't want a boo, OK?
0:02:17 > 0:02:20And I'll be meeting the owners of the seaside home of Charles Dickens.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23You look absolutely great.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26My trip begins in Gravesend.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30In Frith's time this was a thriving town,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33an important stopping-off point for travellers,
0:02:33 > 0:02:37for those on their way to London, going by road or on the river.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43Our first picture today from the Frith collection is one of the best.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46There it is, Gravesend, a Thameside scene.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49We have a sailing barge,
0:02:49 > 0:02:51we have a very proud owner,
0:02:51 > 0:02:54we've got something going on here, past the wall.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58We've got a lot to find out, so, let's get going.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05To me, it's the boats which really stand out in this photograph.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09Thames barges were a vital feature of Gravesend life
0:03:09 > 0:03:10for hundreds of years.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15These majestic sailing boats with their distinctive red sails
0:03:15 > 0:03:17were once the workhorses of the river.
0:03:17 > 0:03:22And perhaps the finest example that still survives is the Cambria.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25It's just had a very comprehensive refit.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27And its captain, Richard Titchener,
0:03:27 > 0:03:31is about to take on a new member of the crew, me.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34I'm a keen sailor, not that you'd really notice.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37It's a bit of a knack, really, you've got to concentrate.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39Oh, dear.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41OK.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44This is the entire crew now, very...
0:03:45 > 0:03:48The first Thames barges took to the river in the 17th century.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52By the 1890s, they were at their peak.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54Their wide, flat-bottomed hulls
0:03:54 > 0:04:00meant they were perfectly adapted for carrying heavy loads up and down the Thames estuary.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03- Now, if you're svelte like me...- Yes.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06..you can get round this wheel, round behind it.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09- So can I, yes. No, I can get round.- Oh, well done.
0:04:09 > 0:04:10I'm not that podgy.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12- Oh, I see, I can now see what I'm doing.- OK.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14So, we want to go a bit that way?
0:04:14 > 0:04:15Only a little bit.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18But the real problem without an engine,
0:04:18 > 0:04:20is that when you've got no engine, you've got no wind.
0:04:20 > 0:04:25What you've got to bear in mind is that you're on the tidal Thames here at Gravesend.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28The tidal Thames is an eight-lane motorway
0:04:28 > 0:04:32running straight through the centre of the capital of the Empire.
0:04:32 > 0:04:37That motorway has a tide that runs six hours in, and six hours out.
0:04:37 > 0:04:42So, if you could drop an item in the water here at Gravesend at low tide,
0:04:42 > 0:04:45it would be in London on the next flood tide,
0:04:45 > 0:04:47and that's all free, isn't it?
0:04:49 > 0:04:50At the end of the 19th century,
0:04:50 > 0:04:54there were over 2,000 registered Thames barges.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56But the development of the diesel engine,
0:04:56 > 0:04:59and the advent of large lorries,
0:04:59 > 0:05:03brought the demise of these handsome sailing ships.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10But through the astonishing hard work of a charitable trust,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12the Cambria is still on the water.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16And what a thrill it gives.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20Right, this is my Kate Winslet moment, where I just...
0:05:20 > 0:05:23MUSIC: "My Heart Will Go On"
0:05:28 > 0:05:30Not very convincing, but fun.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37Ah, the power of sail.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40It's wonderful, it really is,
0:05:40 > 0:05:43there's something about sailing that is just...
0:05:43 > 0:05:47It's, it's obviously dramatic,
0:05:47 > 0:05:49but it's also kind of romantic too.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51I'm not really crying,
0:05:51 > 0:05:56it's just the wind, the wind's coming into my eyes.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59All right, it is emotional, but these aren't, they're not real tears.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07I can see why the Frith photographer was keen to picture a Thames barge,
0:06:07 > 0:06:10they have such presence on the water.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13It's a shame there are so few left.
0:06:13 > 0:06:19The Cambria herself would not be here today without the Cambria Trust,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22and her shipwright, Tim Goldsack, who gave her a new lease of life.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27So, you had to build, you had to build all this?
0:06:27 > 0:06:28Yes, we did.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33There's only, probably, about 3% or 4% of the original barge left.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36There's some of the parts of the machinery of the vessel
0:06:36 > 0:06:38that are original bits that we've refitted.
0:06:38 > 0:06:39And how long did it take?
0:06:39 > 0:06:42It took just over three and a half years.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44- Three and a half years?- Yes, yes.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46And how much did that cost?
0:06:46 > 0:06:50Well, the total budget for the job was about £1.4 million.
0:06:50 > 0:06:51Goodness me.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54And what was it like after all that time working on it
0:06:54 > 0:06:56when you finished it, what was the feeling?
0:06:56 > 0:06:59Oh, I mean, a feeling of pride for myself
0:06:59 > 0:07:02and the rest of the team that were working on her.
0:07:02 > 0:07:08I think the pride that Tim and the crew of the Cambria feel is thoroughly justified.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Thankfully, at least one part of our Frith photo lives on.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15But what about the gardens here on the right of the picture?
0:07:15 > 0:07:20This area hasn't fared as well as it might in the past hundred years or so.
0:07:20 > 0:07:26Sandra Soder is honorary secretary of the Gravesend Historical Society,
0:07:26 > 0:07:31and we're meeting at the spot where our Frith photo was taken in 1898.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35The view now is very different.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39These, with the, sort of, like, Turkish minarets on the top,
0:07:39 > 0:07:45that was the Clifton Baths, and the Baths started in 1797.
0:07:45 > 0:07:50An entrepreneur bought some second-hand bathing machines from Margate
0:07:50 > 0:07:53and one came to Gravesend to take the waters.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56Right, so this was a beach, was it meant to be?
0:07:56 > 0:07:57Well, yes, there was.
0:07:57 > 0:08:02At the time, there is a description that said the river was so clear
0:08:02 > 0:08:04that you could see the beach beneath.
0:08:04 > 0:08:05Right.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07And people did actually come to Gravesend,
0:08:07 > 0:08:12because at Gravesend you've just the right amount of salt to do you good.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14And where were they coming from to come here?
0:08:14 > 0:08:18Well, from all over, but from London, but from all over,
0:08:18 > 0:08:20they were coming down to take the waters.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23- Right, so this was a kind of resort? - Yes.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26- It doesn't look like it now, does it?- No, not at all.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29It doesn't strike me as being a perfect holiday destination.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31- But it was then?- Yes.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34- Fashionable?- Yes.- Right.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36What would be the attraction when they got here?
0:08:36 > 0:08:38It would have been Rosherville Gardens,
0:08:38 > 0:08:43and in there they would have been all sorts of attractions - archery,
0:08:43 > 0:08:45animals, bear pit, ballroom...
0:08:45 > 0:08:47like the Alton Towers of its day.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55But Gravesend's glory days were numbered.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58The first blow came in 1878,
0:08:58 > 0:09:03when the Princess Alice paddle steamer collided with a 900-tonne cargo ship at Woolwich,
0:09:03 > 0:09:05on her way to Gravesend.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09She split in two, and sank within four minutes.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12650 people lost their lives.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17Up till then, the paddle steamers had been one of the most popular ways
0:09:17 > 0:09:20for the well-to-do to travel from London to Gravesend.
0:09:20 > 0:09:25But this terrible disaster, the worst in the history of the Thames,
0:09:25 > 0:09:28threw the future into doubt.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31And with the rapid expansion of the railway network
0:09:31 > 0:09:32from the mid-19th century,
0:09:32 > 0:09:34tourists and day-trippers
0:09:34 > 0:09:37started to go further afield for their holidays.
0:09:37 > 0:09:42As time went on, it was not the moneyed middle classes,
0:09:42 > 0:09:45the shopkeepers and those people coming down here,
0:09:45 > 0:09:50it was then going to more lower classes of people coming in
0:09:50 > 0:09:52and they were getting drunk here.
0:09:52 > 0:09:57So it was losing its appeal to people to come to.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59- Rough trade, yes.- Yes!
0:09:59 > 0:10:02- The old class system exerts itself. - Yes, that's right!
0:10:02 > 0:10:07Sandra has painted a vivid picture of Gravesend's changing fortunes
0:10:07 > 0:10:10as a Victorian holiday destination.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13I can't help feeling a pang of remorse
0:10:13 > 0:10:16as I look at what was once the jewel in its crown.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20This is where the famous Rosherville Gardens were,
0:10:20 > 0:10:24all the entertainment and pleasure and now look at it.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27It just could not be worse, could it?
0:10:34 > 0:10:37In every place I visit on this trip, I capture my own picture,
0:10:37 > 0:10:40my take on what it's like now.
0:10:40 > 0:10:41Rosherville is no more,
0:10:41 > 0:10:44but the proud barge captain of the Frith photo
0:10:44 > 0:10:48certainly does have a modern-day equivalent.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51And so I'm heading back to the Cambria to record
0:10:51 > 0:10:54an equally proud captain and his crew.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58We're going to photograph you across here.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00Me and the captain will be in the middle.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03- Can you go on the other side?- I can. - OK.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05You are the real captain,
0:11:05 > 0:11:08but you'll notice a lot of attention will come onto me.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10LAUGHTER
0:11:10 > 0:11:12OK.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Are you already? Right, off we go.
0:11:15 > 0:11:16CAMERA BEEPS
0:11:20 > 0:11:22So here's my photo.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25The Cambria fully restored and shipshape,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28back in her rightful place on the Thames.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31And we've got the crew, who are doing such a marvellous job,
0:11:31 > 0:11:34keeping the Thames barge tradition alive.
0:11:34 > 0:11:39And I'm being cheeky, taking quite an undue share of the limelight!
0:11:45 > 0:11:46Back on the road,
0:11:46 > 0:11:50I'm heading off to investigate my next Frith photograph.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54I'm staying in Kent, but travelling a few miles east along the river
0:11:54 > 0:11:57to the old market town of Faversham.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01Nestling between the river and the rich farmlands of the Garden of England,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05Faversham has always been well placed for industry.
0:12:05 > 0:12:10London bricks were made here. Most of Britain's explosives came from here.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14And it's still home to one of the country's oldest breweries.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18But it's Victorian leisure activities that have brought me here today.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21This is the Frith photograph we're looking at.
0:12:21 > 0:12:28Faversham's recreation ground, known as the Rec, taken in 1892.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32Every town in Britain today has a public park like this
0:12:32 > 0:12:34and it's the Victorians that we have to thank.
0:12:34 > 0:12:39But some of our parks have stood the test of time better than others.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41Local historian Arthur Percival is here to tell me
0:12:41 > 0:12:47what the Faversham Rec is like now, almost 120 years later.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52- It's a great big park, isn't it? - It's a big park.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55It's about 20 acres, I believe, yes.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58And when was it at the height of its popularity?
0:12:58 > 0:13:02I think probably in the late 19th century, early 20th century.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05It was meant to be providing open air and green space,
0:13:05 > 0:13:09because a lot of them were living in very confined quarters.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11They were living in small houses.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14Cottages just with backyards.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16So this is providing the lungs of the city?
0:13:16 > 0:13:18A lung, absolutely, is the word.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22- Now, here is our picture from the collection... - Yes, it's a gorgeous picture.
0:13:22 > 0:13:27- And, er... It is lovely, isn't it? - A lovely picture.- So where are we?
0:13:27 > 0:13:29Well, we're looking at the cottage,
0:13:29 > 0:13:33what was the park-keeper's cottage in those days.
0:13:33 > 0:13:38Oh, yes. Actually this pavement here, this is this track.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41It's a footpath, actually. This existed before the Rec was open.
0:13:41 > 0:13:47- It is remarkably similar. - Oh, yes, it's virtually unchanged.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51- But they look different from the modern people.- Yes, they do.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53The schoolchildren on the right, the boys.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57The girls, I think, are just out with their governesses or nurses,
0:13:57 > 0:14:01probably middle-class children. The ones on the right perhaps not middle class.
0:14:01 > 0:14:06The park is bringing everyone together, so although you see
0:14:06 > 0:14:11- that perhaps these kids aren't as well off as these kids, well, they're all together.- Yes.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14So that's probably progress, isn't it?
0:14:14 > 0:14:15It is progress. Totally.
0:14:15 > 0:14:20Frith and his team took numerous photographs of the public parks
0:14:20 > 0:14:24that sprang up across Britain throughout the 19th century.
0:14:24 > 0:14:30Many were generous gifts to local communities by landowners and wealthy industrialists,
0:14:30 > 0:14:35who sought to make their towns and cities better places to work and live.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40The parks soon became places where local people would gather to play organised games.
0:14:40 > 0:14:45And here in the Faversham Rec, very little has changed.
0:14:45 > 0:14:51What is so nice is that there's all this activity going on
0:14:51 > 0:14:56in the way that the people who started this park in 1860 would have liked.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00This is recreational activity, organised games. It's wonderful.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06And, purely for educational purposes, of course,
0:15:06 > 0:15:09I think it's time for me to show them how it's done.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12Now, you'll notice, the way I'm holding it, it's very expert.
0:15:12 > 0:15:17- Do you think I can do it? - Yes, have a go.- Are you?
0:15:17 > 0:15:19If I do do it, I want a bit of a cheer.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23If I don't get it right, I don't want a boo, OK?
0:15:23 > 0:15:27Just a bit of polite clapping if I don't get it.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30OK. Here we go.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36- That wasn't bad.- Pretty good.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39APPLAUSE
0:15:39 > 0:15:41- Well done.- Ah. It's nothing.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43It's nothing, please. No, no, it's nothing, honestly!
0:15:43 > 0:15:47- But look, am I the right age to start this?- Of course you are.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49Really?
0:15:49 > 0:15:53- Don't you think I'm a bit young for this(?)- No, we don't mind. Nine to 90.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57'90! What's he trying to say?
0:15:57 > 0:16:00'I think I might have shown them up a bit!
0:16:00 > 0:16:06'I've decided I want my photo here to be the spitting image of our Frith photo.'
0:16:06 > 0:16:10OK, come over here a bit. You come a bit closer there. Right.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12You stand there. That's fine.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17'And I've recruited some kind passers-by to help me out.'
0:16:17 > 0:16:21Everybody look at the camera. Everybody smile. Very good.
0:16:21 > 0:16:22OK. Excellent.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27And here's my picture.
0:16:27 > 0:16:32120 years later and the Faversham Rec has hardly changed.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35It's still used by families to get some fresh air
0:16:35 > 0:16:37and give the kids a bit of fun.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40All those years ago, they enjoyed this park,
0:16:40 > 0:16:43and people are still enjoying this park.
0:16:48 > 0:16:54I'm tracing the footsteps of pioneer photographer Francis Frith and his team,
0:16:54 > 0:17:00using the photographs they took, in order to find out how our country has changed.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04My next port of call is the charming seaside resort of Broadstairs.
0:17:04 > 0:17:09Steam ships were bringing tourists here from the start of the 19th century.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12But when the railways arrived in the 1860s,
0:17:12 > 0:17:16the place really took off as a popular holiday destination.
0:17:16 > 0:17:21Our next Frith photograph is of the main beach at Broadstairs,
0:17:21 > 0:17:22Viking Bay.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25And it was taken in 1887.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28The idea of holidays by the sea
0:17:28 > 0:17:31was an idea virtually thought up by the Victorians.
0:17:31 > 0:17:36But how did this new fashion affect what had been a tiny fishing village
0:17:36 > 0:17:39with a population of only 300 people?
0:17:39 > 0:17:42Local historian Barrie Wootton has entered into the spirit
0:17:42 > 0:17:48of our whole enterprise by bringing a very rare, original Frith album,
0:17:48 > 0:17:51documenting Broadstairs in the late 1800s.
0:17:51 > 0:17:56What's nice is you can see the way it was a fishing village
0:17:56 > 0:18:00and there are still the fishermen and their boats.
0:18:00 > 0:18:05- And, on this page, we're getting the beginning of the resort, aren't we? - We are.
0:18:05 > 0:18:06What are these here?
0:18:06 > 0:18:10They're local bathing machines.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13- What did people do in the bathing machines?- Obviously, they disrobed.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16So you took your clothes off in there.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18You put on some kind of costume.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20In the beginning, no costume.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22No costume, right.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24Later, there were knitted costumes.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26In 19th century Britain,
0:18:26 > 0:18:30people believed that sea water was an all-purpose remedy.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34Hanging out at the beach became suddenly acceptable,
0:18:34 > 0:18:36even for polite society.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39The Victorians couldn't get enough of it.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41What would people do on the beach?
0:18:41 > 0:18:44There'd be seaside entertainers on the beach.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46Magic tricks, singing, dancing.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48They have even been known
0:18:48 > 0:18:53to get a grand piano down on the sands in the 1890s.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56- Just down here?- Just down here.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58Let's look across the beach.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01That house at the end is very important, isn't it?
0:19:01 > 0:19:05It is. That was the place where Charles Dickens, the great author,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08penned some of his works.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12To people down here, he was really quite anonymous.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15He'd sit in the pubs, like the Tartar Frigate,
0:19:15 > 0:19:19and he'd listen to the people and watch the people and what they did.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22He thought it was wonderful. Then it got more successful.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25As the trains came, so more people came.
0:19:25 > 0:19:30There were now hundreds of people, rather than just a select few
0:19:30 > 0:19:32and he just couldn't think.
0:19:32 > 0:19:37It was getting very noisy and, in the end, sadly, he left.
0:19:37 > 0:19:42- But still, all these years later, still people think about Charles Dickens.- Absolutely.
0:19:44 > 0:19:49For more than 20 years, Dickens and his family
0:19:49 > 0:19:51would come to Broadstairs in the summer months to escape
0:19:51 > 0:19:55from the crowded, often oppressive streets of London.
0:19:55 > 0:20:01It was this imposing cliff-top house that became their holiday home.
0:20:01 > 0:20:06It was renamed Bleak House in honour of Dickens after his death in 1870.
0:20:06 > 0:20:11This grand building is now privately owned by Richard and Jackie Hilton.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16Well, there we are, the proud owners of Charles Dickens's house.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18- You are proud, Archie? - Oh, yeah, very much.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22Were you pleased to take on the Dickens side, all the stuff in the study?
0:20:22 > 0:20:24Oh, yeah, sure.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27To be honest, I'd always been a fan of Charles Dickens.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30I love his ones what he does what are on the TV,
0:20:30 > 0:20:33like Bleak House and others, Oliver Twist, all that sort of thing.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40Built in 1816 as a residence for the local Captain of the Guard,
0:20:40 > 0:20:44Dickens discovered the house by chance while out walking.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49Thrilled to find it was up for rent, he usually stayed for a month.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52Parts of the house have been maintained as a museum,
0:20:52 > 0:20:56including the room where Dickens spent most of his time.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59This is the dream study, isn't it? We'd all want to be here.
0:20:59 > 0:21:00I think so, yeah.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04Anyone who comes in here, they sit there and go, "I can't believe it,
0:21:04 > 0:21:07"I'm sitting in the chair where he wrote some of his novels."
0:21:07 > 0:21:09Why do you think it was raised up?
0:21:09 > 0:21:11- So he could see the views.- Yes.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15Because he wasn't a very tall man, was he? About 5'8".
0:21:15 > 0:21:19If that had been on the ground, he would not have been able to see over there.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22- Also, everyone wants to be near the sea.- Oh, yeah.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24You want to look out and see the sea.
0:21:24 > 0:21:25Oh, it's lovely.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30Our Frith photo was taken in 1887,
0:21:30 > 0:21:3417 years after the great author's death, and, by then,
0:21:34 > 0:21:40Broadstairs had become inextricably linked with the name of Charles Dickens.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44So I've decided to take my photograph of the two people helping to preserve his legacy.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47So here's my picture.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50Richard and Jackie, the happy owners,
0:21:50 > 0:21:53sitting at the very desk used by Charles Dickens.
0:21:53 > 0:21:54What a nice couple.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56Just the kind of lively characters
0:21:56 > 0:21:59I suspect Charles Dickens would have liked to have written about.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08And we go from one very popular part of British culture
0:22:08 > 0:22:11to another - quite different, but very interesting.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15Today's final Frith photograph takes me
0:22:15 > 0:22:18about a mile further along the coast to North Foreland,
0:22:18 > 0:22:23the most easterly point in Kent, which overlooks the English Channel.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29Taken in 1887, it's the North Foreland Lighthouse,
0:22:29 > 0:22:31which is still working today.
0:22:33 > 0:22:38Some of these pictures look very different from what it is today.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40This looks exactly the same.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46Lighthouses hold a special place in our national life.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50They're a symbol of reassurance and safety - lights in the darkness,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53guiding the weary seafarer home.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55The North Foreland Lighthouse
0:22:55 > 0:22:59still helps ships to navigate the busy coast of north-eastern Kent,
0:22:59 > 0:23:05stopping boats from running aground, as it has done for 500 years.
0:23:05 > 0:23:10Gerry Sherwood was one of the last lighthouse keepers in the country and he worked here.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15Right, so here we go, I think... We can see it all there, can't we?
0:23:15 > 0:23:18- That's almost exactly...- It is, indeed.- ..where it was.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20So what have we got here?
0:23:20 > 0:23:23On the right-hand side, we have the principal keeper's cottage.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27On the left-hand side, the assistant keeper's cottage
0:23:27 > 0:23:30and the very significant porch on the outside.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33That's this, which you can see in the picture.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37Now, the oldest part of the lighthouse is this bottom bit.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41That's right, yes. Up to this first course in the middle of the tower,
0:23:41 > 0:23:44that's where the old platform was for the coal brazier.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46What you have to imagine in those days
0:23:46 > 0:23:48is that the coast was completely dark,
0:23:48 > 0:23:52because there was no street lights or any ambient light whatsoever,
0:23:52 > 0:23:54even moonlight.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56A small fire would have shown up quite a long way.
0:23:59 > 0:24:04The lighthouse was extended to its current height in 1793.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09But the final alteration happened as recently as 1998.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17So this lighthouse was the last one to be automated?
0:24:17 > 0:24:20It was indeed, yes, the very last in the country.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23- And once this ended, a whole era ended?- It did.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26And no more keepers left in the entire UK.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29That meant a lot to you because you were a keeper here.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32I was actually here for three years as principal keeper.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36What was it like for you to be a lighthouse keeper?
0:24:36 > 0:24:40It was great here. You can imagine. Coming up here, this is like a palace.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42- It's still one of my favourite stations.- Yes.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44'Looking at our Frith photo,
0:24:44 > 0:24:48'the exterior of the lighthouse has changed little.'
0:24:48 > 0:24:50'But, inside, it's a different story.'
0:24:50 > 0:24:53This is what superseded all the keepers.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57- It's the GPS monitoring system. - And it's all completely automated?
0:24:57 > 0:25:00- Completely automated. Nothing to do with keepers.- No romance?
0:25:00 > 0:25:03Nothing nice about it, just click, click, click.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06'The North Foreland Lighthouse served
0:25:06 > 0:25:09'a special purpose during the Second World War.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13'The Germans didn't target British lighthouses because they needed them, too.'
0:25:13 > 0:25:15Not many people know
0:25:15 > 0:25:19that this actually was a radar-jamming facility.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23Where you're standing now, there was a bank of electronics
0:25:23 > 0:25:25going across this room.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29- So this equipment here is jamming the German radar?- Yes.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32- And it's all completely secret, nobody knows it's here?- No.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36- At the time it was all secret. - Just an amazing facility. Again in this old, old building.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41- OK, John, here we are in the lantern.- Right.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45- And the light's going.- This actual lens dates from the 1860s.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48- Does is it really?- It's been adapted over the past couple of hundred years
0:25:48 > 0:25:50with different illuminants.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54When our picture was taken, this would have been here?
0:25:54 > 0:25:55This would have been here
0:25:55 > 0:25:58and in the centre would have been a multi-wick oil burner.
0:25:58 > 0:25:59How extraordinary.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01As we look out here,
0:26:01 > 0:26:04we can see on this day how many ships there are.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08- This is a very busy shipping area. - It is.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10It marked an important turning point
0:26:10 > 0:26:13for vessels coming in and out of the Thames over there,
0:26:13 > 0:26:18coming through the Dover Straits, going up into northern Europe.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20Of course, out towards Scandinavia
0:26:20 > 0:26:24and up to the north-east coast ports in England.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28- All the trans-continental shipping would come past. - Why do you think in Britain
0:26:28 > 0:26:31we're so fascinated by lighthouses? What is it?
0:26:31 > 0:26:33I think because we are a maritime nation
0:26:33 > 0:26:35and they are very iconic.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39Wherever you go, a lighthouse is designed to be highly visible
0:26:39 > 0:26:43- against the background. - This is it. "We're coming home."
0:26:43 > 0:26:48- That's right.- I think I would have liked to have had a lighthouse.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51You'd be very good at it, I'm sure.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53'In my picture of the lighthouse,
0:26:53 > 0:26:56'I'm trying to show it representing the end of an era,
0:26:56 > 0:27:00'now automated and unmanned.'
0:27:00 > 0:27:03An exciting, dramatic picture is the idea,
0:27:03 > 0:27:07with this, the last of the manned lighthouses in the country,
0:27:07 > 0:27:11but now, empty and the windows blocked in.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15So this is going to be my shot.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17It's a very fancy camera, this,
0:27:17 > 0:27:20I've just got to press on the top and that'll be it.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26And there is my lighthouse picture.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33It looks mysterious, which is appropriate,
0:27:33 > 0:27:36because there is something about lighthouses which...
0:27:36 > 0:27:38Well, it's mysterious.
0:27:38 > 0:27:39Why do we like them so much?
0:27:39 > 0:27:41And that's the joy of this series.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45We're finding out parts of the British psyche
0:27:45 > 0:27:49based on our history, which are very difficult to understand.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57Next time on Britain's First Photo Album, I'm off to Surrey
0:27:57 > 0:28:00to find out what's left of Francis Frith's beloved house.
0:28:01 > 0:28:06So, we know that Frith would've walked into the swimming pool?
0:28:06 > 0:28:09Exploring smugglers' hidey-holes in East Sussex
0:28:09 > 0:28:12and singlehandedly taking on the Napoleonic army.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Cor! That's something, isn't it?