Stirling to Falkirk Britain's First Photo Album

In the Victorian era,

Britain changed as never before. It was the time of great inventors,

great engineers, but above all, great businessmen.

Entrepreneurs.

One of the best examples was the pioneer photographer,

Francis Frith.

It was in the 1860s that Francis Frith embarked

upon a monumental mission

using the newly invented photographic camera.

He wanted to document every city, every town

and every village in the land.

I'm tracing the footsteps of this remarkable man

and his team of photographers.

Using their pictures as my guide, I will be travelling the length

and breadth of the country,

finding out what has altered and what has stayed the same.

Along the way, I will be taking my own photos

to try and capture the mood of the place as it is now.

That's great!

Welcome to Britain's First Photo Album.

The old photographers not only portrayed the world in a new way

never done before, they made people want to go to the places

where the photographers had been to.

The old photos encouraged tourism,

but also a great new interest in history.

That was particularly true here in Scotland.

Today, my photographic tour takes me

from the Western Highlands of Perthshire to the city of Sterling,

and down to the famous Forth Canal.

I'll be making a meal of classic Scottish oatcakes.

Ta-dah!

Finding out how to take a picture as Frith did over 100 years ago.

I've taken mine ages ago, we have to wait now. 30 seconds!

And, of course, adding to my own album of photographs.

It's the old and the modern, I hope, brought together in one picture.

Today, I have come to the most northerly point in my travels,

to the Trossachs National Park in Scotland.

The beautiful freshwater Loch Katrine.

In 1873, this area was opened up for the first time by train,

with the establishment of the Callander to Oban railway.

It brought in tourists in their droves

and attracted the Frith photographers

looking to sell their memento pictures.

This one is of a steam-powered boat

on one of the most picturesque of Scottish lochs.

The boat was called The Rob Roy,

after Sir Walter Scott's famous novel.

So, have things changed since the photo was taken?

Not a bit of it.

This is the sort of romantic scene which Victorian travellers loved.

Loch Katrine is not just any old lake,

it's the setting for a famous poem, the Lady Of The Lake.

It was written by one of the most popular writers

of the 19th century - Sir Walter Scott.

But you've got to imagine, for this, that it's a beautiful summer's day.

"The wanderer's eye could barely view

"The summer heavens delicious blue

"So wondrous wild The whole might seem

"The scenery of a fairy dream."

In Victorian times, people just really went for that sort of poem.

And they came to this place from all over Scotland,

but also from all over Britain,

because they wanted to capture the spirit of that Lady Of The Lake.

And since 1843 the Loch Katrine passenger steamers

have been taking those well-to-do visitors

on romantic tours of the Highlands.

The Rob Roy in the Frith picture

was decommissioned shortly after the photo was taken,

the steamer we see today is the Walter Scott.

Louise Corrieri is one of current crew,

and she's made a special study of this area.

Right, now you're going to tell me where this photograph was taken.

Yes, I think it was on the rock face. Just in front of us.

So, this bit is right, isn't it?

I think so, around about this area. Yeah.

OK, we're getting the idea, aren't we?

-So, this photograph was taken when?

-Roughly around 1898.

When did the Sir Walter Scott ship we can see,

when did that first come onto the lake?

She had her first official season in 1900.

-Right, so it's only two years after that.

-Yes.

-That's the actual boat that we can see?

-Yes, it is.

-Isn't that wonderful?

-That's great.

-Yeah.

It's Louise's job to make sure that tourists enjoy the Loch tours

as much as they did in Victorian times.

How much do you mention Sir Walter Scott?

We've got an island coming up shortly,

and that's where he used to sit to write his poems.

We tell them about the Lady Of The Lake.

It is just to point out the scenery,

to say this is why he was so inspired.

Even on a day like today, it's so mysterious and romantic.

It's never a horrible place, it always looks stunning,

it doesn't matter what the weather is.

In any case, the good holidaymaker

is always determined to enjoy their holiday, come rain or shine.

-Are you enjoying the trip?

-We are, it's lovely. Really nice.

-What do you like about it?

-It's just so beautiful and scenic around here.

A really pretty part of Scotland.

-People say it's romantic, do you think it's romantic?

-It is.

-But, I think the rain has dampened the romance today.

-Has it?

-Yes.

-It's a bit bleak.

-I think you get the mist, you get the full effect.

Yes, it is, actually. It is. It's really lovely.

-Where are you from?

-Nottingham.

-Are you?

-Yes.

-Yeah?

-Robin Hood would have liked this, wouldn't he?

-Definitely.

-Loved it!

I think he and Rob Roy would have the good mates!

They would have!

The steam engine in the boat at the time of Frith's picture

would have been state of the art.

The only way to power such a large vessel across the Loch.

Nowadays, the steam engines in the Walter Scott

provide nostalgia as well as power.

'I went down to the engine room

'to meet the chief engineer, Malcolm Stylec,'

to learn its secrets.

-Originally, it was run by coal, wasn't it?

-Yes.

How did it work?

OK, originally the coal boilers were situated in the same place

-as these oil fire boilers are now.

-Right.

-It's now running on biofuel, which is basically vegetable oil.

-Oh, really?

Yes, the steam comes down this pipe, here,

into the regulator where we control the speed of the engine.

Then it's used three times, through the engine.

That's why it's called a triple expansion steam engine.

How old is this?

This is 112 years old, it was built in 1899.

Over the years, the bearings have had to be replaced,

obviously the wearing parts.

-But, fundamentally, it's as it was in 1899.

-Gosh.

Does it ever go wrong?

-Er, not on my watch!

-No, no, certainly not!

What a lovely boat,

and what a gentle way to see this glorious scenery.

When it comes to taking a photo of the place,

I feel at one with the Frith photographer of all those years ago.

Right, this is my attempt now at a romantic picture.

The rain's always been here, but the rain, I think, adds to it.

I think it gives it that air, certainly the mist does,

makes it just a slightly bit more mysterious and interesting.

112 years old. What a lovely boat. I'm a bit soft on boats, I admit.

But the autumn colours, haven't they come through well?

And of course, the subject matter. She is the true lady of the lake.

In the mid-19th century,

large numbers of tourists were coming to the Western Highlands

for the first time.

They stopped off at small towns en route

and my next port of call is one such town, Callander,

which lies about ten miles east of the loch.

The Frith picture is of the high street in Callander,

which was flourishing with all that extra trade the visitors brought.

Souvenir shops, hotels

and cafes were springing up to cater for the growing demand.

We could do with better weather,

but this is a rather gentile resort, which the Frith photographers

came to and they took a nice picture of the main high street

where we're going and it's virtually exactly the same as it was.

In fact, the tourist trade is still going strong in Callander,

all these years later.

Local historian and businessmen Rob Kerr works in the high street.

He's pretty sure he can show me where the Frith picture was taken.

We turn this way slightly

and probably the most prominent thing on the high street

you can see here at the bottom is the Dreadnought Hotel,

which still stands to this day.

I think to give the real essence of where the photograph begins,

we have to head up the main street slightly.

It does look surprisingly similar to the street today.

Recently, they've spent a lot of Lottery money

keeping the facings of the buildings looking the same.

The buildings here have been restored to their former glory.

Apart from the obvious addition of cars,

this view has changed very little since Frith's time.

We're about here, if we have a look at the photograph now.

If we take a look, this is approximately where

the person was standing that shot the photograph.

Callander's very much... It's maintained the facing.

I suppose looking at this photograph here,

the only thing we can notice that's changed is perhaps

the clothing of the people and the introduction of tarmac on the roads.

But the main photograph content has remained the same.

And we still very fortunately have the old buildings

still being used for what they were used for in those days.

For example, the hotels and guesthouses.

The bakery that Rob runs

has been on Callander high street for over 100 years

and would have been selling bread, cakes and pies

when the Frith picture was taken.

It's still making traditional pies

and old Scottish classics - oatcakes and bridies.

I can't resist trying my hand at a bit of baking.

Rob is going to give me an oatcake challenge.

I've got to make these, have I?

Yeah. We're going to try to show you...

I don't know whether you can make them.

-They're meant to be very simple.

-They are.

That was the reason the oatcake came about. It was very cheap,

very affordable for the families to make in days gone by.

'So, here I go, then. This should be a breeze!'

You don't want to have too much whisky before you do this.

'Next, to add an ingredient

'which I'm sure is not traditional for a Scottish recipe.'

I've done this one for you, John.

All of that oil there, that's some olive oil. 250 grammes of that.

-Nice Scottish olive oil!

-Yes, aha.

Comes from the Highlands!

From the Highlands... Pressed in the Highlands!

'After a good old stir, it's time to get stuck in.'

-Just give it a little dusting.

-Can I try that?

You can give that a go, just give it a good throw on there.

-Well done. You've done that before.

-Ta-dah!

If you want to tip out your mix onto the table.

-Right.

-Get it all out there.

'I never realised so much work went in to such a small oatcake.

'The whole process has to be done with a bit of a flourish.'

To stop things falling off trays and knocking into people,

-you carry it above your head like so.

-Right. Shall I do that?

Just pop it down.

-This is quite tricky, isn't it?

-You look like a baker now!

'Into the oven they go,

'and 15 minutes later, hey presto, they're done!'

Well, look at that! And look at those oatcakes. They look terrific.

'I'm pretty pleased with the result.

'But when it comes to baking, it's the customer who's always right.

'I have to throw myself onto the mercy

'of the local Callander food critics.'

What do you think?

Very nice.

'There you go - very nice! What can I say?

Well, one thing is for sure -

Scottish baking is alive and well in Callander,

'just as it was when the Frith photograph was taken.

'My photo will celebrate traditional pastries.'

OK. Right. Are you ready? What we want here, your motivation is pride.

Pride in pies.

Here's my picture of the proud purveyor of perfect pies.

We did have a choice for my picture,

but there's no point in taking the road again

cos it's exactly the same.

But what about those pies? Bridies, haggis, steak with black pudding...

I mean, just read out those names,

you want to eat them. I certainly do.

I'm telling the story of Britain's first photo album,

tracing the footsteps of Francis Frith and his team,

using the photographs they took

to show how life has changed.

For the next stop on the Scottish leg of my tour,

I'm heading across Perthshire and east to the city of Stirling.

Our next Frith photo is of the Great Hall at Stirling Castle,

one of Scotland's most important military fortifications.

The castle sits atop a crag,

surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs.

A strong defensive position.

And with its strategic importance on the bank

of the River Forth, Stirling became one of the key cities in Scotland.

This is one of the greatest of all the castles in Britain.

The Frith photographers had a field day rushing about,

taking pictures of the dramatic exteriors.

But the photograph that we've got is not very striking,

but it is extremely interesting.

The Great Hall at Stirling Castle is one of the first examples

of Renaissance-influenced royal architecture in Scotland.

But by the time of the Frith photo, many of its original features,

including the roof and stained-glass windows,

had been removed in order to convert it into military barracks.

In black-and-white, the place looks a mere shadow of its former self.

But just look at it now, in full technicolour.

What an incredible transformation!

The striking peachy tones of the hall

make it stand out from the rest of the castle.

In fact, it looks almost new.

Gary D'Arcy's been the senior steward here for 13 years.

He tells me why the Great Hall has changed since the Frith photo.

This photograph was taken when the Great Hall was a barracks.

It was in use by the army between 1790 and 1964.

Where this picture has captured the Old Parliament Building,

as they called it, is in the middle of its life cycle.

This building started out looking as it does today.

When they left the castle in 1964,

a restoration project began to restore it

back to the way it originally looked.

We're looking at something from which century?

The building was built in 1503.

For 100 years, it bore witness

to feasts, banquets and two sessions of the Scottish Parliament.

And why does it have this lovely colour?

The colouring is called harling, it's a thick layer of lime plaster

that's applied to the building. It acts like a waterproofing.

It was also there to make the building stand out.

When the Frith photographer was taking this,

it didn't look anything like that.

Why do you think they wanted this photograph?

They titled the photo The Old Parliament Building.

I think what they were doing was connecting the history,

the governing of Scotland

and showing people that this was where parliament used to sit.

The Great Hall is now a favourite for visitors to Stirling Castle

and I'm sure Frith and his team

would have been taken by its new old look.

When the Frith team came to take their picture,

they would have been burdened

with a much more laborious photographic process than we use.

We have small digital cameras.

Frith travelled around with a cartload of gear.

Alex Boyd is a historical photographer and he's come

to Stirling to demonstrate what Victorian photography entailed.

Now then, you're going to tell me just how difficult it was

-to take this picture.

-Yes.

Aside from having to carry the weight of that, as you can see,

the camera is quite basic.

It's pretty much the same camera that Mr Frith would have used

-when he was making his images.

-And it's a bellows camera.

Yes, it's fixed at the front,

but if you want to focus, you have to move the whole camera.

The lens itself is an original,

the same type of lens Francis Frith would have used.

It's from the 1870s, 1880s. That part of the camera is original,

but it will produce the same results.

-How would it work?

-It's much more simple than digital cameras.

You cover the lens when you want to stop or start the exposure

and that's it, basically.

You expose onto the film and then close it once you're finished.

Why are you wearing rubber gloves?

The difference between modern and Victorian photography

is they used a lot of chemicals and they're quite hazardous,

in some cases, such as silver bromide, and if you get on your skin,

it will stain your hand black.

-What would the photographer be able to see? Can you show me that?

-Yes.

-Right, OK.

-If you look under it, you can see that?

-Yeah, I can see that.

-It's actually quite clear.

-And as you can see,

one of the features of the Victorian camera is it does actually

reverse the image, making it upside down.

-How very confusing!

-I know.

-You're going to work under tremendous difficulties.

-Indeed.

You're going to try and take this photograph using the old camera.

Where do you think this was taken?

I don't believe the picture was taken here.

I think it was taken in a more awkward location, on the battlements.

'Heading up to our vantage point, Alex and I

'can now get a view of the castle just as Frith did.

'We're going head-to-head -

'Alex with his Victorian camera and me with my modern one,

'to see who gets the shot first.'

'I sense I'm in with a chance here!'

-Are you ready?

-I'm ready, yes.

-We're going to time it.

-Yes.

-30 seconds, it's going to take me.

-OK, off you go.

-OK?

I've taken mine ages ago. We have to wait now, 30 seconds.

But they would have taken...

I understand that sometimes the process would have taken six hours.

-That's right.

-At least we've done that now. OK. Well done.

-Thank you.

'Alex develops the image on the glass plate

'in his makeshift darkroom.

'He fixes the image using potassium cyanide.

'Turning the glass plate around, the image appears the right way up.

'From setting up his camera to producing the negative plate

'has taken Alex the best part of an hour.

'I took my photo in less than a second.

'For a black and white print,

'the glass plate would be laid onto specially coated paper.

'But that would have to be done elsewhere.

'What a long, drawn-out business!'

Now then, what am are going to do? I'm going to press a button.

And it might work.

'It was interesting to see how Frith

'would have taken his pictures, but it's so much easier now.'

The advantage of taking the same photograph as Frith did

is we can see how much work went into this

and how much expertise in the technology of the time.

And it makes you really appreciate the Frith photographer

and his skill when you compare it with this.

It's not the same. He's had to work really hard and I pressed a button.

But it still makes me proud of my picture.

For our last Frith photograph today, we don't have to travel far.

The picture is of Stirling Bridge,

for centuries a key crossing point over the River Forth.

And once, an important Customs bridge.

Taxes on goods and livestock were collected here.

I'm heading to the spot where Frith's picture was taken,

to meet local historian John Harrison.

He knows how strategically important the bridge was

to Scotland in the past.

So why is it so important to cross at this point?

Because the river is tidal, this is the lowest possible bridging point.

You have ferocious currents going up and down here.

If you want to get a medieval army across this river,

then you need a bridge.

If there's any army coming either from or to the Highlands,

they've got to cross this bridge.

Exactly. There were alternatives,

but they were more difficult and this would always be a favoured option.

-The most famous battle here was the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

-Indeed.

In 1297, an English army attempting

to reassert English control in Scotland foolishly crossed the bridge

from this side to the north side.

The Scots sweep down, the English were cut off,

unable to defend themselves,

and the English were defeated by the army of William Wallace.

Why do you think the Frith photographer took this picture?

It was an important historic bridge and people are coming

to Stirling largely because of its ancient history.

They'd be aware of the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

And the military significance of Stirling. They want to see that.

And it's an interesting structure as well.

The stone Stirling Bridge that stands here today was built

in the 15th century and remains an impressive architectural structure.

The tidal fast-running river Forth

has always set challenges for Scottish engineers.

Even to this day, experts have been wrestling with new ideas

of getting people to and fro, along the waterways

and coming up with some radical ideas.

The Victorian period was a boom time for Scottish engineers.

They had plenty of self-confidence and lots of projects.

Nowadays, there aren't so many opportunities,

but every now and then, you come across a terrific example

of Scottish engineering design and we're going to one of them.

If you travel a short distance from Stirling Bridge,

you'll find the Falkirk Wheel - a rotating boat lift

which connects two canals between the Forth and Clyde rivers.

It opened in 2002 and replaced a series of 11 locks

that previously connected the waterways.

Falkirk Wheel mechanic Phil Martin

is enthusiastic about its radical design.

-How exactly does it work?

-What you can see there is an aqueduct,

which is full of water, and the boats come along to this dead end.

We have to get the boat from that top canal down onto this basin here.

-How high is that?

-That's about 30 metres high.

It's a wheel that has a gondola which you can see at the top and another

at the bottom and the boat moves into that gondola and the whole structure

rotates through 180 degrees, so that the boat is transferred

from the top aqueduct into the bottom basin and into the canal.

Right. So how much power do you need just to make this change?

Actually, it's very small. Equivalent to boiling eight kettles of water.

-Really?

-It's about 1.5 kilowatt hours.

If you're on a canal boat, where are you coming from,

where you've got to use this in order to go that way?

The canal that comes to this end starts in Edinburgh.

So from Edinburgh, you can come all the way to Falkirk,

through the wheel and then on to the canal, the Forth and Clyde,

which takes you all the way to Glasgow.

'The Wheel's simple but clever design

'is based on perfectly balancing

'the two gondolas that carry the boats.'

In the days when there were 11 locks here,

it would have taken the best part of a day to navigate this section.

Now, using the Falkirk Wheel,

a boat can be through here in just 15 minutes. Amazing!

-Half a million visitors come here every year.

-Just here, yes.

When you built this, did you expect it to be a tourist attraction?

Initially, it was a lock replacement.

When we realised that people love to come here,

we developed the visitor centre and turned it into an attraction,

so people could take a journey on it.

Had the Falkirk Wheel been here 150 years ago, I've no doubt

it would have attracted the attention of Francis Frith.

It's a striking bit of engineering.

It's attracting plenty of sightseers.

And like the bridge in the photo,

I feel quite sure it's going to have its place in Scottish history.

So I don't have much choice this time.

My photo has to be of the Falkirk Wheel.

Right. I'm going to try and get a bit of the old, the canal boat,

in the picture and this wonderful modern structure

to show how it's a funny old canal boat,

but it needs a fantastically modern structure to move it up and down.

It is the old and the modern, I hope,

brought together in one picture.

The shape of the Wheel takes you by surprise. A pleasant surprise.

Distinctive and challenging.

My photograph this time is in sharp contrast to the Frith photograph.

That is a bridge that takes you back 500 years.

This takes you all the way back to a millennium project.

The contrast, I think, makes the point.

Building, building bridges,

building structures that move canal boats up and down,

it has a kind of fascination and I think I've got that.

To find out more about Britain's First Photo Album, go to...

Next time, I'll be continuing my photographic tour of Frith's Britain

and travelling to the northeast of England and to Hartlepool,

where things go off with a bang.

Terrific!

I'll be finding out what lurked in the iron mines of Cleveland.

When you were a miner, how often would you come across a rat?

Every day. All the time.

And I'll be taking one of the pictures

that I'm particularly proud of.

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