0:00:02 > 0:00:05In the Victorian era, Britain changed as never before.
0:00:05 > 0:00:07It was the time of great inventors, great engineers,
0:00:07 > 0:00:11but above all, great businessmen, entrepreneurs.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15And one of the best examples was the pioneer photographer
0:00:15 > 0:00:16Francis Frith.
0:00:16 > 0:00:21It was in the 1860s that Francis Frith embarked
0:00:21 > 0:00:25upon a monumental mission, using 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.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17Francis Frith and his team of Victorian photographers
0:01:17 > 0:01:21roamed the country looking for interesting sights
0:01:21 > 0:01:24and taking photos they hoped would sell.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28Choose any region, the chances are Frith has been there before.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30On this part of my tour,
0:01:30 > 0:01:33I'm going to Gloucestershire and parts of Wales.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36Am I trying to outdo Frith?
0:01:36 > 0:01:38No. I'm trying to keep up!
0:01:39 > 0:01:42Using Frith's photos as my guide,
0:01:42 > 0:01:46I travel today to the picturesque waterways of South Wales,
0:01:46 > 0:01:49and across the border, to Gloucestershire.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53I'll be heading into the depths of the magical Forest of Dean
0:01:53 > 0:01:56to have a go at the strange business of ochre mining.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01Well, this is something, isn't it? This is a magnificent cave.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03I'll be finding out about the founder of
0:02:03 > 0:02:05the Sunday School movement,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08and learning what the children of Gloucester think about it.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11- Would you like to go to Sunday School?- No, not really.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13And as usual, I'll be creating my own
0:02:13 > 0:02:18photographic record along the way, in the spirit of Francis Frith.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21And hold that, that's great. Yeah, there we go.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25I'm beginning my travels just outside Newport.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28It's an area steeped in a rich industrial history,
0:02:28 > 0:02:30and up until the early 20th century,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34was a vital transport hub for the South Wales mining industry.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38Coal was shipped from here by canal, and by river
0:02:38 > 0:02:40to the rest of Britain.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43In the 18th century, most of the roads were no more than tracks.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47It was difficult to move goods, particularly heavy goods.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51And the practical answer remains one of the glories of our country -
0:02:51 > 0:02:53the canal system.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57The builders were so ambitious and ingenious,
0:02:57 > 0:02:59they managed to make water go up hills.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02Britain's canals and their ingenious locks
0:03:02 > 0:03:05were a miraculous feat of engineering,
0:03:05 > 0:03:10and my first Frith photo is of a place known as Fourteen Locks,
0:03:10 > 0:03:13part of what was once the Monmouthshire Canal.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17In the 18th century, canals in Britain became the transport network
0:03:17 > 0:03:20that allowed the Industrial Revolution to flourish,
0:03:20 > 0:03:24shifting heavy goods over long distances.
0:03:24 > 0:03:25At their peak,
0:03:25 > 0:03:30nearly 4,500 miles of canals crisscrossed the country,
0:03:30 > 0:03:34but with the advent of the railways, canals fell into disrepair.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38They collapsed, silted up and were forgotten.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42But in the last decade, the fortunes of Fourteen Locks has changed,
0:03:42 > 0:03:45thanks to the determination of the Canal Trust
0:03:45 > 0:03:49and Newport Council, spurred on by local historian, Phil Hughes.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51Well, here we are.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55This is the exact spot this photograph was taken in about 1895.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59- What are we looking at?- The bottom of the Fourteen Lock flights.
0:03:59 > 0:04:00A unique structure,
0:04:00 > 0:04:04it rose 169 feet in half a mile to take boats uphill.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07Now, we can see one, two, three locks
0:04:07 > 0:04:09- but it goes on and on. - Yes, to the top of the hill.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12- What are we looking at here? There are some people.- Yes.
0:04:12 > 0:04:13This is Lock Seven.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17As you can see, it was fully operational in those days.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19Lock gates are on, boats were still working,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22and boats were working here until probably 1933, 1935.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25It was all flourishing, it wasn't a mess like this?
0:04:25 > 0:04:26Oh, no, no, totally clear.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30So what's unique about this design?
0:04:30 > 0:04:34Well, it was designed in this way to save water. Water was paramount.
0:04:34 > 0:04:35Every time you opened a lock,
0:04:35 > 0:04:39theoretically you lost 50,000 52,000 gallons of water.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42So, it's designed to make sure that when the boats come through,
0:04:42 > 0:04:44you're losing hardly any water?
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Yes, because the water would spill into ponds each side of the locks.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49The theory is that when you opened the top lock
0:04:49 > 0:04:51at Fourteen Locks, you only lost
0:04:51 > 0:04:54one lock full of water by the time you got to the bottom.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56But people think it always rains in Wales.
0:04:56 > 0:04:57We're always short of water.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00They were short in summer because of droughts,
0:05:00 > 0:05:01and they froze in winter.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04When the railways came, they shut the canals down.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09When the Frith photographers took these shots in the 1890s,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13canals in Britain were already in rapid decline.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17Even back then, they were a record of a passing way of life.
0:05:17 > 0:05:22By the start of the 20th century, only a few working canals remained.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26But in more recent years, groups of enthusiasts
0:05:26 > 0:05:29have gradually started to return many of Britain's canals
0:05:29 > 0:05:30to their former glory.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33They're part of the leisure industry.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36The monumental task of restoring Newport's Fourteen Locks
0:05:36 > 0:05:38began a decade ago.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43So what's the significance of this bit?
0:05:43 > 0:05:46- This is the bit that's yet to be restored.- Yes.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49This is our next project, and when you look this side,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52this is the first of the five locks we've actually restored.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54That looks terrific.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58- How much have you spent?- Not far short of £1 million.- £1 million?
0:05:58 > 0:06:00Near enough, yes.
0:06:02 > 0:06:03You've got to say it very quickly.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05You've got to say it quickly, exactly.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09I wonder what the canal folk in the Frith photo
0:06:09 > 0:06:13might have thought of Phil and the Canal Trust's efforts
0:06:13 > 0:06:15to restore these old waterways.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18We don't know who they were, but we do know that the lock keeper
0:06:18 > 0:06:22when this picture was taken was called Henry Bailey.
0:06:22 > 0:06:27He worked here nearly all of his life, before retiring in 1922.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30His granddaughter, Mary, still lives locally,
0:06:30 > 0:06:34and she's made a study of how their lives were lived.
0:06:35 > 0:06:40So when we look at this picture, we can't see your grandfather.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42No, no, no. I have a picture of him.
0:06:42 > 0:06:43Oh, that's nice.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46Taken just after that time.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49- So just after this photograph was taken?- That's right.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51- We can't see him in the picture.- No.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55He would have known those people because it was his job
0:06:55 > 0:06:58to be walking up and down the canal bank here, yes.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00Checking everything was in order.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04- So that's a direct link between you and this...- It is, certainly.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08What impression do you get of what life was like on the canal?
0:07:08 > 0:07:10It was a very close community,
0:07:10 > 0:07:14- rural community.- And nice, from that point of view?- Very good, yes.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16- We've lost that, haven't we? - Certainly.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20After 100 years of neglect,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24the canal as at last starting to come back to life.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26So I've decided to take a picture of Mary,
0:07:26 > 0:07:30the granddaughter of one of the last lock keepers.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33She's a direct link between the past and the present.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36That's great, and hold that. That's great, there we go.
0:07:41 > 0:07:42And there's Mary,
0:07:42 > 0:07:46by the locks that could so easily have been buried and ignored.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53I couldn't take the picture in the same way a Frith photographer did,
0:07:53 > 0:07:57because that of course is now all overgrown, but I did think
0:07:57 > 0:08:02that Mary was, well, she was so good, and what a direct connection.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06Her grandfather, in charge of the lock system
0:08:06 > 0:08:08when the photograph was taken.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10And just think how exciting it is
0:08:10 > 0:08:12for her to have these locks being restored.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14She never thought that would happen.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17And, it's just a sort of, I don't know
0:08:17 > 0:08:20it's a picture of the future, isn't it?
0:08:24 > 0:08:27For canals to live again, they need barges.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30And the Canal Trust has rescued an old one,
0:08:30 > 0:08:33with the intention of returning it to the waterway.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36It's a project which has inspired the local community.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40Tom Maloney is one of the key figures.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42- Hello, Tom.- Hello, John.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44This is a great project.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47What are you hoping this will look like when you finish?
0:08:47 > 0:08:50- Well, what you see now should have a nice floor on it.- Yes, quite.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53And we'll have benches each side,
0:08:53 > 0:08:55so that when we have children on board,
0:08:55 > 0:08:58when they look out, they're seeing a real magical experience.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Any child who comes on board
0:09:00 > 0:09:02is going to be having a dream ride.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04It's going to be fantastic.
0:09:04 > 0:09:10What is it about canal boats and canals that get people, what is it?
0:09:10 > 0:09:12I think it's just something inside you, John.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14You have a love of water,
0:09:14 > 0:09:16and I think that goes back a very long time.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20They are fabulous, and they are part of our wonderful landscape.
0:09:20 > 0:09:21And we don't want them to go.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25For my next Frith picture, I'm staying in Monmouthshire,
0:09:25 > 0:09:28heading into the centre of Newport.
0:09:28 > 0:09:33These parts of Wales are now so modern, some of them.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36But we're of course driving into the past, as we usually are,
0:09:36 > 0:09:40and there's a very interesting story here in Newport.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46The Frith photograph tells the story
0:09:46 > 0:09:49of another mode of transport popular in the Victorian era.
0:09:49 > 0:09:54Horse-drawn trams came to Newport at the end of the 19th century.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58They proved a great success and were soon updated.
0:09:58 > 0:10:03An electric tram network continued right up until 1937.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08Their day passed when they became too expensive to operate,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11and less versatile than the new double-decker buses.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16Our Frith picture was taken on Commercial Street,
0:10:16 > 0:10:18which runs through the centre of Newport.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21And you can see the horse-drawn tram en route,
0:10:21 > 0:10:26with its very proper Victorian passengers perched on the top.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28Local tram enthusiast Dave Thomas
0:10:28 > 0:10:30has a collection of other tram photographs,
0:10:30 > 0:10:34and he has brought along a few of them to show me.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36Now, this marks the end of an era.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40It shows the last tram to operate in Newport,
0:10:40 > 0:10:43leaving Westgate Centre, at 11 o'clock at night.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45It was packed with passengers
0:10:45 > 0:10:49and proceeded along Corporation Road to the depot.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53- And what date was that? - September 6, 1937.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55So this is just before the war.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59I mean, that also gives it a rather sad tinge to it, doesn't it?
0:10:59 > 0:11:00That's true.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03Because people are jolly, but in two years we will be at war.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07That's right. There was a lot of affection in Newport for the trams,
0:11:07 > 0:11:10as you can see by the crowd who gathered to say goodbye.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14They all ended up at a breaker's yard on the riverbank
0:11:14 > 0:11:18in Newport, and were very quickly scrapped.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20- So this is the graveyard of the trams?- Yes.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23And all that remains is an inside door from one of them,
0:11:23 > 0:11:25which I have in my garage at home.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29Something good has come out of the tram graveyard.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35Electric trams came to many British cities
0:11:35 > 0:11:39in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43A track was laid on the seafront in Brighton, creating a sensation
0:11:43 > 0:11:47at the time and attracting hordes of visitors to the town.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51That was an 1883, and it's still running today,
0:11:51 > 0:11:52the oldest in the world.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56But the age of the tram in Newport was quickly over.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00The trams have gone, but the love affair is still
0:12:00 > 0:12:06lingering on in, of all places, the City Museum, suitably modern.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09There are, in here, echoes of the past.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16We've got models of trams, at least,
0:12:16 > 0:12:19and I must wear special gloves, because these are valuable.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Isn't it nice? Built by a local enthusiast,
0:12:22 > 0:12:26and these are the regulations for the conductors.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Now, some of them were lady conductors,
0:12:29 > 0:12:32some of them were men, but they had all sorts of tasks,
0:12:32 > 0:12:34and this is the one I like.
0:12:34 > 0:12:39This is very strict instruction about "Keep cars tidy.
0:12:39 > 0:12:44"Conductors must keep cars clear of paper and used tickets."
0:12:44 > 0:12:46Then there's a very valuable warning.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50"This should be done when cars are stationary at the terminus."
0:12:50 > 0:12:52Quite right.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55The noisy bustle of Victorian streets is long gone,
0:12:55 > 0:12:58with all the horses that went with it.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02Our modern version doesn't seem quite so exciting.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07Now, in the original picture, we've got this tower.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11In my picture, it looks like a tower, but it's actually
0:13:11 > 0:13:13the back of a street sign.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16It has the same effect in the picture, though.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25And there we have it, my view of Newport.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27The road is much more cluttered.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31I would say too cluttered, with street signs and hoardings.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33And it's sad to see premises To Let.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39I've taken my picture in the same place that
0:13:39 > 0:13:43the Frith photographer was, so it's looking down the main street.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46We don't see here the Old Town Hall.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48Pity, but there we are.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52We certainly don't see the horse-drawn tram,
0:13:52 > 0:13:57but we do see a sort of version, well, of modern Newport.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07I'm travelling around the country
0:14:07 > 0:14:10to tell the story of Britain's First Photo Album,
0:14:10 > 0:14:12tracing the footsteps
0:14:12 > 0:14:15of the pioneer photographer, Francis Frith and his team.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19My next stop is in the heart of the magnificent Forest of Dean,
0:14:19 > 0:14:22often described as the Queen Of Forests.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25It's one of the most ancient woodlands in Britain,
0:14:25 > 0:14:27once a royal hunting ground.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30It's still a Crown forest, known for its quality oak,
0:14:30 > 0:14:35its charcoal production and its iron and ochre mines.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38This is the Frith photograph.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42Almost exactly the same, and you can see the coach here,
0:14:42 > 0:14:47turning up to what was a hotel and is still a hotel.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50But it's not just any hotel, no, it's called,
0:14:50 > 0:14:53and you can see above there, The Speech House.
0:14:53 > 0:14:58Inside the hotel is one of oldest and strangest courts in the country.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04The Speech House is home to the court, which still to this day
0:15:04 > 0:15:09regulates the use of livestock, the forest and the mining industry.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13It does so on behalf of the inhabitants of the Forest of Dean.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17The court is held at The Speech House at least four times a year.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19Bob and Morris are two
0:15:19 > 0:15:21of the elected judges of the Forest Court,
0:15:21 > 0:15:23or "verderers", as they're known.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26They govern the business of the forest,
0:15:26 > 0:15:29but don't have the awesome power of verderers in the past.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34If someone stole a sheep from the Forest of Dean, what would happen?
0:15:34 > 0:15:36Oh, yes, they could be hung.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38- Hung?- For sheep stealing, yes.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41- And the court could decide that? - Yes, yes.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44- Well, that's tough, isn't it? - I should say so.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48I'm glad we don't have that any more. I've got to be careful.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50- It's a lovely forest, isn't it? - Oh, smashing.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53I mean, it just couldn't be nicer.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55So what are you doing now?
0:15:55 > 0:15:57You're helping the forest all the time?
0:15:57 > 0:15:59In every way possible.
0:15:59 > 0:16:00- That's your duty.- Of course.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04And one other man who became a byword for duty
0:16:04 > 0:16:06was the great Admiral Nelson,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09who took a particular interest in the Forest of Dean.
0:16:09 > 0:16:14The oaks here were reputed to be the best in the world for shipbuilding.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17Nelson was shocked to see how much of the forest had been
0:16:17 > 0:16:21cut down, and he ordered thousands of oak saplings to be planted.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28This could be just the sort of tree that Nelson wanted
0:16:28 > 0:16:29planted in the Forest of Dean?
0:16:29 > 0:16:31Perfect for that, yes.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34Why did he want to do that, why did he care so much?
0:16:34 > 0:16:36Well, he couldn't get the quality of oak
0:16:36 > 0:16:39anywhere else in the United Kingdom,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43that you can get here in the Forest of Dean.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46And he was extremely upset when he came here in
0:16:46 > 0:16:48the very, very late 1700s,
0:16:48 > 0:16:51to find that almost all the timber had gone,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54mainly for smelting the iron ore.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57So he got an Act of Parliament passed to replant the forest,
0:16:57 > 0:17:00- hence the reason we have these nice oaks.- That's amazing.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03- We're looking at a bit of living history.- Oh, yes.
0:17:03 > 0:17:08Well, it's a wonderful place to keep, preserve
0:17:08 > 0:17:11and make sure that it's all right.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14The Speech House settles cases involving all sorts of local people.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18One important group are the freeminers.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20Jonathan Wright is proud to be among them.
0:17:20 > 0:17:25His family have for generations been granted permission to remove ochre
0:17:25 > 0:17:28from the caves that lie deep beneath the forest.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30- Hello, Jonathan.- Hi.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33You're going to teach me all about ochre mining.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35Yeah, I'll show you what we produce.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38We get lots of different colours, red, yellow,
0:17:38 > 0:17:42purple and brown powders that are used for making paints.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45And so how far does this go back in history?
0:17:45 > 0:17:50Well, I'm the sort of tail end of 4,500 years, at least,
0:17:50 > 0:17:51of mining here.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55- Really?- Yes. So it's a good tradition to continue doing.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59So, if you see cave paintings, ancient cave paintings,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02- the chances are, if there are any colours, they will be this.- Yes.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04Right. And you're going to show me the mine, yes?
0:18:04 > 0:18:06I'll be pleased to show you.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11You're a freeminer, aren't you?
0:18:11 > 0:18:16I am, yeah. I've been a freeminer since I was 21,
0:18:16 > 0:18:20- and it's just a family tradition, really.- What are the qualifications?
0:18:20 > 0:18:22You have to be a male, you have to be over 21,
0:18:22 > 0:18:26and you have to work a year and a day in a mine in the Forest of Dean,
0:18:26 > 0:18:28and you have to be born here.
0:18:28 > 0:18:33Right. But once you become a freeminer,
0:18:33 > 0:18:35you are allowed to mine here? That's it?
0:18:35 > 0:18:38You're allowed to mine anywhere in the Forest of Dean,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41except under churchyards and graveyards.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44- And do you meet, do you gather? - Yeah.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46Every year we meet at The Speech House,
0:18:46 > 0:18:50- as we have done for over 300 years. - Oh, right.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55- Well, this is something, isn't it? - It's a natural cave made by water.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59There was an underground river running through here.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02You can imagine it just full of water, rushing through.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05It must have been spectacular.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07This is a magnificent cave.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10There's hundreds like this, they're massive.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13- Covering what, a large area? - 600 acres.
0:19:17 > 0:19:18As we go deeper into the mine,
0:19:18 > 0:19:22I wonder what the reality of life would have been like
0:19:22 > 0:19:23for miners in the past.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31If you look here, we've got what they would have used.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33This is known as a "nelly",
0:19:33 > 0:19:36and it's a ball of clay with a stick in the side,
0:19:36 > 0:19:40and a candle stuck in, and they held it in their mouth, just like that.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44- Like a pipe.- And can we light that? - Yeah, sure. I've got a lighter.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48- You can see the difference, really. - Shall I hold that?
0:19:50 > 0:19:51Right, let's get it going.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56- Right.- So that's your light.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58OK, can you put it in your mouth, do you mind?
0:19:58 > 0:20:00Well, you're a miner,
0:20:00 > 0:20:03but I can't talk to you, because you've got your light.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06So you wouldn't have this lighter, just that?
0:20:06 > 0:20:08You've got to teach me how to mine ochre, right?
0:20:08 > 0:20:10- Yep.- What do I have to do?
0:20:10 > 0:20:13We've got a good seam of iron ore and ochre, there.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17Just collect in the ochre.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19So there's... I've got some.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22Sorry, just what, just scrape it off like that?
0:20:22 > 0:20:24- Yes.- Onto the tray? - Yes, just collect it.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27It's very satisfying, because you often work
0:20:27 > 0:20:30- next to pickaxe marks that are hundreds of years old.- Like these?
0:20:30 > 0:20:33Yeah. Some of these are Victorian.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36When would the miner know when to pack it in?
0:20:36 > 0:20:38- By the number of candles they burnt. - Really?
0:20:38 > 0:20:41Each candle would last about an hour,
0:20:41 > 0:20:43so they would bring down ten candles.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45Halfway through was lunchtime,
0:20:45 > 0:20:47and the last one was time to go home.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49- I think we've done our ten. - Probably.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51I think we've done our ten candles.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55Jonathan's solitary working life underground
0:20:55 > 0:20:59wouldn't suit most of us, but he clearly enjoys it.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03And I hope my photo, like Frith's of The Speech House, will celebrate
0:21:03 > 0:21:09an ancient tradition, which still goes on deep in the Forest of Dean.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12So, if you could be just a bit further over.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16Right. I think that's OK. That's fine.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26My photograph is of a freeminer.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29Now, they don't appear in the Frith photograph,
0:21:29 > 0:21:32but they do meet at The Speech House.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35So, there's the Frith photograph.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37Quite different, but relevant,
0:21:37 > 0:21:39is my picture of a freeminer,
0:21:39 > 0:21:42Jonathan, who I must say, I did like rather a lot.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46And this is him proudly mining in a family tradition
0:21:46 > 0:21:48that goes back hundreds of years.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52A strange sensation going to that mine, and I think we've got
0:21:52 > 0:21:56some of that strangeness and some of the excitement in that picture.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09For my final stop
0:22:09 > 0:22:10on the Frith trail today,
0:22:10 > 0:22:14I'm leaving the Forest of Dean and heading to Gloucester.
0:22:14 > 0:22:19This would have been a busy, bustling place in Frith's time.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21It was Britain's most inland port,
0:22:21 > 0:22:24and like many towns in the 19th century, benefited hugely
0:22:24 > 0:22:27from the arrival of the railway.
0:22:28 > 0:22:33I'm looking forward to Gloucester. I first went there ages ago.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35I was in a school choir, I was a treble,
0:22:35 > 0:22:39and we sang in Gloucester Cathedral.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41I can't remember the date.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44It must have been soon after that Frith photograph.
0:22:44 > 0:22:49Looking at this Frith picture, it's not obvious why it was taken.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53There's a group of old cottages and what appears to be a pub,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56but they don't seem very special.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00Local journalist Hugh Worsnip clears up the mystery.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06- Hello, Hugh.- Hello.- You're going to tell me that this is here, isn't it?
0:23:06 > 0:23:08Because it's got to be here.
0:23:08 > 0:23:09Yes, this is the place.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12- This is the Coach And Horses? - It still is.
0:23:12 > 0:23:17- But this is clearly not this building here.- Indeed.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21This is one of four original Sunday schools, which eventually
0:23:21 > 0:23:25evolved into both a national and an international movement.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29By 1880, seven and a half million children in Britain received
0:23:29 > 0:23:31their only education in Sunday School.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36The movement was inspired by Robert Raikes, editor of the local paper,
0:23:36 > 0:23:40who famously was appalled at the behaviour of the children
0:23:40 > 0:23:42on a Sunday, which was their only day off
0:23:42 > 0:23:44from working in the pin factories,
0:23:44 > 0:23:48and he and Thomas Stock, the vicar of the parish,
0:23:48 > 0:23:52drew up a list of the 90 poorest and most neglected children,
0:23:52 > 0:23:56specifically to go to the four Sunday Schools he set up.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00Right, so they worked all week, they worked in the pin factories?
0:24:00 > 0:24:03Six days a week they worked in the factories,
0:24:03 > 0:24:06from seven o'clock in the morning until six o'clock at night,
0:24:06 > 0:24:10- and Sunday was when they let off steam.- How old were the children?
0:24:10 > 0:24:14The children ranged from 7 to 14, boys and girls.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Right, so we are going to go...
0:24:17 > 0:24:20The Sunday School movement went from strength to strength,
0:24:20 > 0:24:22as word of Raikes' work spread.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24This Gloucestershire newspaperman
0:24:24 > 0:24:28became one of the world's great educational pioneers.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31His Sunday School movement was a catalyst for the creation
0:24:31 > 0:24:34of the state school system we know today.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36This was the start of something big.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41Across the road is the house Raikes lived in for 37 years
0:24:41 > 0:24:43and was his printing office.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46- How many houses did he have? - He had five.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48And three of them are still with us.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51So he was sort of a media magnate of Gloucester?
0:24:51 > 0:24:53Now that's a nice picture of him,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56he looks sort of, he looks benign.
0:24:56 > 0:24:57He looks benign,
0:24:57 > 0:24:59but he wasn't above wielding the stick
0:24:59 > 0:25:02when he was doing a school inspection.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05On one occasion, he put a child's hand on a hot stove
0:25:05 > 0:25:08because he said that liars were worse than thieves.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11That's true today. As journalists, we know that.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13- We do.- Yes, we do.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17Outside Raikes' House, I found the head teacher of a local school,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20the Robert Raikes Centre, who was here to tell
0:25:20 > 0:25:24a few of her pupils about the school's founding father.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28Raikes once famously tied down a child to stop him
0:25:28 > 0:25:32from running away, and I can see this method could come in handy.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35OK, right. How old are you?
0:25:35 > 0:25:38- Eight.- How old are you?- Six.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41- You don't know how old you are? - Six.- You're six?
0:25:41 > 0:25:46If you were eight, he would be about the right age for Raikes' school,
0:25:46 > 0:25:48- from seven upwards... - Yes, for Sunday School.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51Are they hard to discipline?
0:25:51 > 0:25:53I'm six and he's six and he's...
0:25:53 > 0:25:57- Are they easy to discipline or are they difficult?- Sometimes easy...
0:25:57 > 0:26:00But a lot of the time difficult!
0:26:00 > 0:26:04- What was he famous for?- What did he do, what was it that he did?
0:26:04 > 0:26:07- I don't know.- What? You don't know? - What did he make?
0:26:07 > 0:26:11- Did he know a lot about children? - He made Sunday school!
0:26:11 > 0:26:12That's right, Casey!
0:26:12 > 0:26:15- Would you like to go to Sunday School?- No, not really.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19When you look back at what he did, getting his children organised,
0:26:19 > 0:26:22it was a strict discipline, wasn't it?
0:26:22 > 0:26:24Very, a lot different to what it is today.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27And are we better today, or are we too soft?
0:26:27 > 0:26:29No, I think we're better today,
0:26:29 > 0:26:33more positive about behaviours than negative. Focus on the positive.
0:26:33 > 0:26:34But you think of him
0:26:34 > 0:26:36- as a great man?- Yes, I do,
0:26:36 > 0:26:38because he did great things
0:26:38 > 0:26:40for children who weren't able to access education.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43- So, Raikes - hero?- Absolutely.
0:26:43 > 0:26:48Raikes realised that to get on in life, we need to learn.
0:26:48 > 0:26:53And in my case, that's what I'm still doing, with photography.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58I like the way that the lines of the picture are all going that way,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01so it sort of gives it a bit of depth,
0:27:01 > 0:27:04a bit of perspective, that's what we're told to do,
0:27:04 > 0:27:08and makes it look a bit classier than the ordinary snap.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14Raikes' House looks pretty striking against the blue sky,
0:27:14 > 0:27:16and although it's now a pub,
0:27:16 > 0:27:22the outside at least hasn't changed much since Frith's time.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26This is Robert Raikes' home, and you might think it's odd
0:27:26 > 0:27:29that his home should have been turned into a pub,
0:27:29 > 0:27:31but just think of the journalists
0:27:31 > 0:27:33who would like to see that happen to their home.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37Because he wasn't a killjoy, he was very much...
0:27:37 > 0:27:41I suppose you would call him a modern, campaigning journalist.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44He not only took the views of his readers very carefully,
0:27:44 > 0:27:47but he also wanted to improve their lot.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56If you want to find out more about Britain's First Photo Album,
0:27:56 > 0:27:57go to...
0:28:01 > 0:28:04Next time, I'll be following in Frith's footsteps,
0:28:04 > 0:28:08visiting Liverpool to find out about a photographic club
0:28:08 > 0:28:11that the great man himself founded over a century ago.
0:28:11 > 0:28:12THEY CHEER
0:28:12 > 0:28:16I'll head to Blackpool to climb the tower,
0:28:16 > 0:28:20and I'll find out how the Victorians gave life to the seaside holiday.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23Are you certain though, David, this is not frightening?
0:28:23 > 0:28:26SCREAMING
0:28:33 > 0:28:36Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd