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 and entrepreneurs,
0:00:11 > 0:00:16and one of the best examples was the pioneer photographer Francis Frith.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19It was in the 1860s
0:00:19 > 0:00:21that 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 > 0:00:43finding out what has altered
0:00:43 > 0:00:45and what has stayed the same.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48Along 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 > 0:01:16Francis Frith founded the first
0:01:16 > 0:01:19successful photographic printing business.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21He had an eye for a good picture
0:01:21 > 0:01:23and for a business opportunity.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26A popular target for Frith
0:01:26 > 0:01:28and his photographers
0:01:28 > 0:01:30were the places people went to on holiday.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34Places they might want to remember with a photographic memento.
0:01:34 > 0:01:35I'm going to some of these
0:01:35 > 0:01:37Victorian resorts today,
0:01:37 > 0:01:40tracing the North East coastline
0:01:40 > 0:01:42from Hartlepool onto Saltburn,
0:01:42 > 0:01:44and finally, down to Whitby.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46I'll be seeing how gunpowder
0:01:46 > 0:01:48adds a blast from the past...
0:01:48 > 0:01:51- Is it very loud?- Yes.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54- You might want to step a little further back.- OK.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57..what miners thought about rats...
0:01:57 > 0:01:59So you looked at them, well, in a sort of friendly way.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01Yes, they were a man's friend.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05..and discover the choice ingredients of Whitby stews.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08- Sheep heads?- Sheep heads, they used to put sheep heads,
0:02:08 > 0:02:12and they used to run a mile when she used to say the dinner was ready.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16My first stop is at one of the most famous
0:02:16 > 0:02:18industrial ports and shipyards
0:02:18 > 0:02:20of the North East.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24You don't expect to see tourist attractions in Hartlepool,
0:02:24 > 0:02:27but look at these splendid restored ships.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30They are a reminder that in Victorian times,
0:02:30 > 0:02:35this was a major seaside resort. And whenever a town had visitors,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38you can be sure the Frith photographers weren't far behind.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42And in 1886, when our photograph was taken,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45the Frith team headed straight for the shoreline.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48They came here for one reason only.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51My first photo today
0:02:51 > 0:02:54is of a most unusual Hartlepool attraction.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57It was known, for obvious reasons,
0:02:57 > 0:02:58as the Elephant Rock.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01A weird and wonderful formation that drew
0:03:01 > 0:03:05the crowds, as well as the early photographers.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08I've come to the same shoreline to meet Hartlepool archaeologist
0:03:08 > 0:03:10Mark Simmons.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14We expect the incessant beating of the waves to change the landscape,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17but for modern followers of Frith like me,
0:03:17 > 0:03:20there's a major disappointment in store.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22Now, you're going to tell me the bad news.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25The bad news is, you can't take a photograph of the Elephant Rock
0:03:25 > 0:03:28because it was washed away by a storm in 1891.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32- So I'm a bit late for that. 1891. - Just a little bit late.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34But we can still go down onto the foreshore
0:03:34 > 0:03:36- and have a look at where Frith took the photograph from.- OK.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Part of the Elephant Rock's mystery
0:03:40 > 0:03:44was that it existed for no more than a few decades.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46A blink of an eye in geological time.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50So, unlike me, Frith's team were lucky enough
0:03:50 > 0:03:52to be in the right place at the right time.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56But can I solve the mystery of the missing elephant?
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Mark is going to show me
0:03:58 > 0:04:02how much this coastline has altered in the last couple of centuries.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06The original coastline, 150 years ago,
0:04:06 > 0:04:10was beyond where the waves are breaking against the shoreline now.
0:04:10 > 0:04:15All this area in front of us was originally solid rock,
0:04:15 > 0:04:17going out as far as about 100 metres that way.
0:04:17 > 0:04:22But interestingly, it wasn't only natural forces that created
0:04:22 > 0:04:26and then destroyed the Elephant Rock.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28This is a drawing from 1847,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31and you can see where quarrying,
0:04:31 > 0:04:34to get hold of the limestone for building work in local buildings,
0:04:34 > 0:04:39has pushed into the side of the coastline, into the cliff face.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42You can see the stacks left here, behind.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Probably this is the Elephant Rock, just in here.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47This earlier stack is starting to disappear.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50So you can see it's partly because of the quarrying
0:04:50 > 0:04:52and partly because of the movement of the waves.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54So this is where the elephant would have been.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56Yes, and you can see from the background
0:04:56 > 0:04:59the shape of the rock behind us.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02Just the feet and the very tip of the trunk left behind by the sea.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07Why would the Frith photographer have taken this picture?
0:05:07 > 0:05:09What's getting him excited?
0:05:09 > 0:05:11I think he knew that this would sell
0:05:11 > 0:05:13and in the ten years after he took that photograph,
0:05:13 > 0:05:16it was turned into numerous postcards.
0:05:16 > 0:05:17It was sold here on the promenade
0:05:17 > 0:05:20from the ice-cream shop and the bandstand.
0:05:20 > 0:05:25So profits on a photograph as a souvenir are almost limitless.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29It wasn't only Elephant Rock that vanished from Hartlepool.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33As the town became more industrial in the 20th century,
0:05:33 > 0:05:36holidaymakers too disappeared,
0:05:36 > 0:05:38choosing elsewhere for their seaside fun.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42Hartlepool's tourist industry all but died out.
0:05:42 > 0:05:43Recently, however,
0:05:43 > 0:05:46things have picked up, with the opening of a dockyard attraction.
0:05:48 > 0:05:49Here, you can be drawn back
0:05:49 > 0:05:51into the town's history,
0:05:51 > 0:05:52and experience the seaport
0:05:52 > 0:05:55as it might have been when Britain and France
0:05:55 > 0:05:59were fighting for control of the high seas.
0:05:59 > 0:06:00While the Frith photograph was of
0:06:00 > 0:06:03what the Victorian's were flocking to see,
0:06:03 > 0:06:07my photo is going to be of what 21st-century folk are keen on.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12Although it's a place where you can easily get distracted,
0:06:12 > 0:06:17especially by a mock-Georgian gentleman firing his cannon.
0:06:17 > 0:06:18What would it have fired?
0:06:18 > 0:06:22Cannon were rated by the size of the ball they fired.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24So this one was a three-pounder.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27That would be a three-pound shell?
0:06:27 > 0:06:29Yeah. It also... There's another one called chain shot,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31two cannonballs chained together.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33If you wanted to take down the rigging on a ship,
0:06:33 > 0:06:35you might not want to sink the ship,
0:06:35 > 0:06:36especially if you were going to take it as a prize.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40I can imagine being all at sea with that.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42I need some training.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47When you feel there's nothing in the barrel, you know it's safe.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50Nowadays, re-enactments are a must
0:06:50 > 0:06:53at any attraction worthy of its name.
0:06:53 > 0:06:54- The cartridge goes in there.- Right.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Here in Hartlepool, they go off with a bang.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02- Is it very loud?- Yes.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05- You might want to step a little bit further back.- OK, all right.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08We'll go after three. One, two, three.
0:07:12 > 0:07:13Oh, terrific.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19In modern Britain, elephant-shaped rocks aren't that much of a draw,
0:07:19 > 0:07:24but re-enactors Stuart and Nina do pull in the crowds,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27so they're going to be the inspiration for my photo.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30The first time I've used professional models.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33That's great.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37Frith's photo was of Hartlepool's top tourist attraction,
0:07:37 > 0:07:42and over 120 years later, so too is mine.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46What's interesting is that Hartlepool
0:07:46 > 0:07:50and this museum gets lots of tourism awards.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53So although it looked for a time as if
0:07:53 > 0:07:55it would never be a seaside resort any more,
0:07:55 > 0:07:58never attract visitors, it now really does.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07To find the subject of my next Frith photo,
0:08:07 > 0:08:11I'm heading a few miles down the coast to Saltburn-by-the-Sea,
0:08:11 > 0:08:14a spot that was transformed during Frith's career.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18One of Hartlepool's problems
0:08:18 > 0:08:20was the growing popularity of bathing in the sea.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24To do that and enjoy it, you need sand
0:08:24 > 0:08:26and Hartlepool didn't have any sand.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29And there were other resorts on the Cleveland coast
0:08:29 > 0:08:32that could do better than that. They did have sand.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35Saltburn-by-the-Sea cut the mustard.
0:08:35 > 0:08:42It had, and still has, long sandy beaches and dramatic views.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46And, of course, that other great Victorian asset - a pier,
0:08:46 > 0:08:51but that wasn't all, it even had a water-balanced funicular railway
0:08:51 > 0:08:55to take the visitors to and from the beach.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59Here, it's perfectly captured by the Frith photographer.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02In short, Saltburn was a sure-fire hit
0:09:02 > 0:09:07with even the most discerning of Victorian holidaymakers.
0:09:07 > 0:09:12I'm arriving over 120 years after the Frith photo was taken,
0:09:12 > 0:09:17but it would appear Victorian values haven't entirely disappeared.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19This is just the perfect way to get to the beach.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22Past, present and future.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26The modern surfers are out there with their wet suits,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29and the old Victorian tramway is still working.
0:09:29 > 0:09:34It is just the perfect way for people to keep up the past
0:09:34 > 0:09:37and keep history alive.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40But Saltburn didn't simply evolve into a seaside resort.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43It was carefully planned, the dream of one family.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47I'm heading to the beach to meet industrial historian
0:09:47 > 0:09:50Steve Sherlock to find out more.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54The vision for Saltburn was from the Pease family of Darlington,
0:09:54 > 0:09:57who were Quakers, and had a vision of how the town should grow.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00They decided what should be built and what shouldn't be built.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03So, for example, as Quakers,
0:10:03 > 0:10:06they were teetotal and not wanting any pubs to be in the town.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09So they were more interested in reading rooms.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12So when was the first new pub built here?
0:10:12 > 0:10:17- Well, the first new pub was only built in 1986.- Good heavens.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19That's a Quaker tradition, isn't it, in this town?
0:10:19 > 0:10:23Entrepreneur and politician Henry Pease was a visionary,
0:10:23 > 0:10:26but first and foremost, he was a businessman
0:10:26 > 0:10:30and two ventures occupied him above all others.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32Iron mining and railways.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34His family had been directors
0:10:34 > 0:10:37of the famous Stockton-Darlington railway line,
0:10:37 > 0:10:40the world's first passenger railway.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44And in 1861, he built an extension around the coast
0:10:44 > 0:10:46all the way to Saltburn.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48But is he concerned, at that stage,
0:10:48 > 0:10:50in getting as many visitors here as possible?
0:10:50 > 0:10:52No, in the first instance,
0:10:52 > 0:10:55he's thinking about it being an economic thing, a mineral railway.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59The visitors are secondary and a spin-off from that.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02- What, so he wants the mineral rights?- Yes, indeed.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04On both sides of the railway, or near the railway?
0:11:04 > 0:11:06He had spoken with the landowners
0:11:06 > 0:11:10and had secured royalties for tramways to bring iron ore,
0:11:10 > 0:11:14which is the mineral we are looking at, back to furnaces on Teesside.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17So when we get to this and what we're looking at,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20it's the great businessman, but also the person who wants
0:11:20 > 0:11:22to build a town he can be proud of?
0:11:22 > 0:11:23Yes, leaving a legacy, if you wish.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27I suppose the biggest legacy here is the funicular railway
0:11:27 > 0:11:29which we see in the Frith photograph?
0:11:29 > 0:11:31Yes, indeed, that's just ahead of us here.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34Why did it matter so much to have this railway,
0:11:34 > 0:11:36this splendid construction?
0:11:36 > 0:11:38There's no point taking people to the seaside
0:11:38 > 0:11:40and leaving them at the top of the cliff.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43You've got to get them to the beach to enjoy the facilities you offer.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47- That's where this comes into play? - Yes.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51- And it is a wonderful construction, isn't it?- It is, it's fantastic.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54The cliff lift really is incredibly simple.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57It relies on little more than gravity.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59Both cars have water tanks
0:11:59 > 0:12:02and as water is poured into the top car,
0:12:02 > 0:12:05it becomes heavier than the other car,
0:12:05 > 0:12:11so down the hill it goes, pulling the lighter car up at the same time.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14I can't wait to enjoy this special experience.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19Why do you think people like this so much? They still do, don't they?
0:12:19 > 0:12:23The views are fantastic and it's just a bit of Victoriana, really.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27It is, it's also nice that it's run by water, isn't it?
0:12:27 > 0:12:29It seems sort of natural.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32- Yeah, and not polluting or anything. - Yeah. So it's modern.
0:12:32 > 0:12:37- It's really lazy.- Yes, it is a lazy way to get up, but it's beautiful.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41There you go, folks. Thank you very much.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45Well, lazy or not, this is one form of public transport
0:12:45 > 0:12:47that is quite rightly cherished.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50It's not just a matter of nostalgia.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52Everybody likes it, don't they?
0:12:52 > 0:12:53Yeah, they seem to, yeah.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56It's just one of those things... I've never heard any complaints.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02- And how difficult is it to work? - Typical Victorian, it's very simple.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04- Are you going to show me how it works?- Certainly, yes.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11- I press the bell.- Yeah. - Reset the brakes.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13And then I start to put water in the tram.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18- We let the brake off slightly.- Right.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23Then we wait for the car to start to move.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25All I do now is control the speed.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28- It's wonderfully simple, isn't it? - It's very simple.
0:13:28 > 0:13:29It's coming into land,
0:13:29 > 0:13:32it's coming through the speed trap, so I'm slowing it down.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36- Right.- Here we go, we're coming into land now at the top.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39- Unfortunately, the brakes are binding a bit.- That's all right.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42- There it is. Into land.- OK.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46We make sure the brake's off, put the main brake on.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48- And you open the door? - And I open the door.
0:13:48 > 0:13:53The original 1880s design of the funicular was so good
0:13:53 > 0:13:56that aside from modern safety brakes,
0:13:56 > 0:13:58remarkably little has changed.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00There we go, folks, thank you very much now.
0:14:00 > 0:14:01Happy customers.
0:14:01 > 0:14:02Happy customers, yes.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05For Frith, this cliff railway
0:14:05 > 0:14:07was part of the reason for
0:14:07 > 0:14:10Saltburn's success as a seaside destination.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13Today, it's an historic attraction in its own right
0:14:13 > 0:14:18and it will make a perfect addition to my album.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20Right, that's really good.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22We've got the top of the tramway,
0:14:22 > 0:14:27we've got our driver, Bob.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30And we've got a couple on the side who look happy.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33The thing is, this is the kind of thing that cheers people up,
0:14:33 > 0:14:35and why not?
0:14:36 > 0:14:41My picture compares with Frith's photo quite well, I think.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45His was taken from below, mine is from above.
0:14:45 > 0:14:46With a bicycle,
0:14:46 > 0:14:47Bob at his station
0:14:47 > 0:14:51and a couple enjoying a walk by the sea,
0:14:51 > 0:14:53there's just enough of the modern world
0:14:53 > 0:14:55to remind us that this isn't the 19th century.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01We've also captured the enthusiasm of it. That's what I've tried to do.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03These people are enjoying themselves.
0:15:03 > 0:15:08Bob admits he's got one of the best jobs in the world.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21I'm on a trip to tell the story of Britain's First Photo Album,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24tracing the footsteps of Francis Frith and his team,
0:15:24 > 0:15:25using the photographs they took
0:15:25 > 0:15:30in order to discover how life has changed.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33Having moved south from the Port of Hartlepool
0:15:33 > 0:15:35to the resort of Saltburn-by-the-Sea,
0:15:35 > 0:15:39I don't have far to find my next Frith photo.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41In fact, I'm only taking a short walk out of the town
0:15:41 > 0:15:44to a place called Cat Nab,
0:15:44 > 0:15:46and this is what I'm looking for.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50A view that the Frith team captured in 1885.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54It shows the clash between the old rural way of life,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57represented by this farm which once would have stood here alone,
0:15:57 > 0:15:59and the new bustling Saltburn,
0:15:59 > 0:16:04with its great Victorian homes dominating the top of the cliff.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09The building boom was financed from the fast developing mining industry.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13Here, we can see exactly where he took the photograph.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17There's the farm, which we can still see here, the farm buildings.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20There's the road coming round the corner, there.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23What do we see here on the horizon?
0:16:23 > 0:16:26We see the new Saltburn, the seaside resort.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30What we're seeing along here are the poorer houses,
0:16:30 > 0:16:32these are the houses for the workers.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34What are the workers doing?
0:16:34 > 0:16:37They are going across this bridge to the mine
0:16:37 > 0:16:41because the whole of Saltburn's prosperity in the Victorian period
0:16:41 > 0:16:44is based upon the mineral rights.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46It looks a rather odd picture,
0:16:46 > 0:16:50but it's an odd picture with a very interesting story.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54The way mining transformed the local landscape
0:16:54 > 0:16:58can be fully appreciated here at the Skinningrove iron mine,
0:16:58 > 0:17:01one of the main employers in the area.
0:17:01 > 0:17:06In Frith's time, the mine was owned by, yes, you've guessed it,
0:17:06 > 0:17:07the Pease family.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09It's now a museum
0:17:09 > 0:17:14and I'm being shown around by retired miner Alan Richardson.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17This illustrates our mine in its heyday.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20It was one of the largest mines in the area.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22We employed about 860 people.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25On the picture here, we see the railway.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28You know that Pease and partners were big railway people.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30They were very moral people, being Quakers.
0:17:30 > 0:17:36Safety standards weren't high, but they weren't anywhere in those days.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40Their excuse for people dying was that it was probably an act of God,
0:17:40 > 0:17:43rather than anything to do with them,
0:17:43 > 0:17:47but other than that, they did try to look after the employees.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50Despite the dangers in the mid-19th century,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53thousands of people came from all over the country
0:17:53 > 0:17:56to find work here in Cleveland.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59With 82 different mines,
0:17:59 > 0:18:01it was one of the global centres of the iron industry.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05When Skinningrove mine opened in 1848,
0:18:05 > 0:18:08Britain was producing more iron than the rest of the world put together.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13Railways, bridges, great iron and glass buildings,
0:18:13 > 0:18:16these were being constructed at a staggering rate.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20The splendour of the finished product was in sharp contrast
0:18:20 > 0:18:23to the grim conditions in the mines.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25Conditions in those days weren't very good.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29First of all, it was very wet, there was always water drips.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32They used to say - if it rains on the surface on a Monday,
0:18:32 > 0:18:33it rains underground on a Tuesday.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35It took a day for the water to percolate through.
0:18:35 > 0:18:40We're walking down the access shaft that leads into the mine,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43a long sloping tunnel that runs for hundreds of metres
0:18:43 > 0:18:46all the way down to the rock face.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48Every tunnel grew by at least a metre a day,
0:18:48 > 0:18:50but the Pease family were organised.
0:18:50 > 0:18:55They protected the major tunnels with up to three layers of bricks,
0:18:55 > 0:18:58and where did the bricks come from?
0:18:58 > 0:18:59From one of their own brickworks.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02They owned everything, didn't they?
0:19:02 > 0:19:06- Absolutely.- They could be very tough employers, couldn't they?
0:19:06 > 0:19:09Oh, yes, very exacting, John.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13For instance, in those early days, having large families was common,
0:19:13 > 0:19:16but if a miner actually went to work and got killed,
0:19:16 > 0:19:20the clerk would go to the house as soon as it was known
0:19:20 > 0:19:23and inform the widow that her husband had been killed
0:19:23 > 0:19:25and she would get 14 days' notice.
0:19:25 > 0:19:26What, to leave the house?
0:19:26 > 0:19:30To vacate the house, because there was no longer a miner in there.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33- Well, you can't get tougher than that, can you?- Not really.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37- We would regard that as pretty well inhuman, wouldn't we?- Indeed, yes.
0:19:37 > 0:19:42Today, the deeper tunnels at Skinningrove are flooded with water,
0:19:42 > 0:19:45but to get a feel of what life was like at the rock face,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48the museum has cleverly recreated the original scene.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50What do they do?
0:19:50 > 0:19:54Both sides are mining, or are they mining from the front?
0:19:54 > 0:19:56Using one of these, which is called a jumper drill...
0:19:56 > 0:19:58- Right. Oh, it's heavy, isn't it? - Yeah.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02They would punch that at the face.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04Chop a hole,
0:20:04 > 0:20:07until they had got the thing in about one yard,
0:20:07 > 0:20:10and then they would put in gunpowder
0:20:10 > 0:20:12and explode it.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15You're moving the ironstone?
0:20:15 > 0:20:17Yes, it's been moved out.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19I notice that we have got here...
0:20:19 > 0:20:21The miner's friend, the rat.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Miners were very conscious of having rats.
0:20:24 > 0:20:30They were an aid to us because they are extremely sensitive,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32especially to foul air and gas.
0:20:32 > 0:20:37They seemed as if they had a sixth sense about the instability of rock.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39So when you were a miner, how often would you come across a rat?
0:20:39 > 0:20:41Every day. All the time.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44So you looked at them, well, in a sort of friendly way?
0:20:44 > 0:20:46Yes, indeed, they were a miner's friend.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49If it had not been for the vast profits of the mining industry,
0:20:49 > 0:20:53the grand new houses in our Frith photo would not have been built
0:20:53 > 0:20:56and Saltburn would not have emerged from a sleepy rural backwater
0:20:56 > 0:21:01into a thriving Victorian seaside resort.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05Although it was the Pease family who had the vision,
0:21:05 > 0:21:08it was Alan's predecessors down the mine who made it all possible.
0:21:08 > 0:21:13That's why, in my photo, I'm giving ex-miner Alan pride of place.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17Your life's work as a miner. OK? That's what we must think about.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24Frith captured the new world above ground,
0:21:24 > 0:21:29I wanted to go below, to tell the story behind the story.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34That's my picture, because that's Alan, a real miner,
0:21:34 > 0:21:36in what is now just a mining museum.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39It does capture that period,
0:21:39 > 0:21:43and you think of how splendid Saltburn-by-the-Sea is,
0:21:43 > 0:21:45but built on the backs
0:21:45 > 0:21:48and the hard work of the miners.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57So we come to the last Frith photo for today.
0:21:57 > 0:22:02For that, I'm moving further south, but sticking firmly to the coast,
0:22:02 > 0:22:03to Whitby.
0:22:03 > 0:22:09This beautiful fishing town has enjoyed a long and proud history
0:22:09 > 0:22:13dating back to the Middle Ages and beyond.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16My mission in Whitby is very specific
0:22:16 > 0:22:19and it concerns an intriguing Frith photo.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22It's set close to the port
0:22:22 > 0:22:25and shows the children of one of Whitby's fishing families.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27For once, it's not the location
0:22:27 > 0:22:29of the photo that concerns me,
0:22:29 > 0:22:32but who's in it and who took it.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36That photograph is unusual for a number of reasons.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39We don't normally get so many people in the picture,
0:22:39 > 0:22:41and this is one of those rare occasions
0:22:41 > 0:22:43when we can identify
0:22:43 > 0:22:46which of the Frith photographers took the picture.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50He is an interesting character in his own right.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54Frith's company became so successful that Frith alone
0:22:54 > 0:22:57couldn't possibly keep up with the workload.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01He soon employed an army of photographers across the country.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03Most of them are long forgotten,
0:23:03 > 0:23:05but one of his agents, based in Whitby,
0:23:05 > 0:23:08was a distinguished photographer - Frank Sutcliffe.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12Many of his original photos have survived to this day
0:23:12 > 0:23:15and are now in the possession of gallery owner Mike Shaw.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17One of his first commissions,
0:23:17 > 0:23:19actually, was by Francis Frith,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22to take some photographs of the abbeys
0:23:22 > 0:23:27- and ruins round Whitby.- So he got a break with Frith?- Indeed.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31In amongst the photos that Sutcliffe took for Frith
0:23:31 > 0:23:35is the picture of the children on the beach
0:23:35 > 0:23:37that I find so fascinating.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39Why do you know that that's a Sutcliffe photograph?
0:23:39 > 0:23:40The style is Sutcliffe's.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42It's not the type of photograph
0:23:42 > 0:23:44that's normally in the Francis Frith collection.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48You normally expect street scenes with the Francis Frith ones.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51So that again leads to the fact that it's by Frank Sutcliffe.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53Where do you think it was taken?
0:23:53 > 0:23:54By the look of the rocks and everything,
0:23:54 > 0:23:58I would say pretty much over there. Where those rocks are.
0:23:58 > 0:23:59Right, just over there.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03Quite a few of Sutcliffe photographs were taken of people on rocks.
0:24:03 > 0:24:04It was obviously at low tide.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08That's right, yes. This is the Peart family.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10Quite a well-known family.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12It's a good Whitby name, is Peart.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Your father bought the whole Sutcliffe collection, is that right?
0:24:17 > 0:24:19My father bought the collection when I was born.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22There are about 1,600 glass negatives which,
0:24:22 > 0:24:24in the terms of the Francis Frith collection,
0:24:24 > 0:24:26is small, but it is a superb collection.
0:24:26 > 0:24:31Mike helped me find out where our photo was taken but there's more -
0:24:31 > 0:24:35a direct connection to the family in the picture.
0:24:35 > 0:24:40We've managed to track down the descendants of the Peart family
0:24:40 > 0:24:41from that Frith photograph.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47I wonder if we'll recognise them from the photograph?
0:24:47 > 0:24:49I'm going to meet Susan Storr,
0:24:49 > 0:24:54who is still very much part of the Whitby fishing community.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57It is 120 years after her young grandmother
0:24:57 > 0:25:00was photographed on the rocks.
0:25:00 > 0:25:01Ginny, my grandmother,
0:25:01 > 0:25:03this is her, look.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05This is her as well.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10- Oh, that's nice, yes. - She was the youngest girl.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14She looks a bit, well, she doesn't look very happy, does she?
0:25:14 > 0:25:17She doesn't. Maybe because they had a very hard life,
0:25:17 > 0:25:19life was very hard in them days.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23Did she talk about the difficulties they had, the hard times they had?
0:25:23 > 0:25:25- Yes, they were fisher folk.- Yeah.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28Same as what we are now.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31What happened to her in later life?
0:25:31 > 0:25:37- She had three daughters and she outlived all her daughters.- Really?
0:25:37 > 0:25:41- This is Ginny celebrating her Diamond wedding.- Oh, yes.
0:25:41 > 0:25:46- How old would she have been then? - Ginny was about 85 there.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50- How old was she when she died? - 92, she lived until she was 92.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52So although she looks as though she could do with a square meal,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55she survived, she must have been strong.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59- She was only about four foot ten, actually.- Was she?
0:25:59 > 0:26:03She was a very hard worker and she worked until she was 76.
0:26:03 > 0:26:08- It's maybe all that sheep head soup she used to cook.- Sheep head soup?
0:26:08 > 0:26:11They used to put sheep heads and make a stew out of that.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13Do you remember that?
0:26:13 > 0:26:16I can't, but my brothers can and they used to run a mile
0:26:16 > 0:26:19when she used to say dinner was ready.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Well, something Ginny did certainly worked,
0:26:22 > 0:26:27because the Peart family has continued to thrive in Whitby.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30With Susan's help, I've been able to assemble a fascinating line-up
0:26:30 > 0:26:34for what I hope will be a special addition to our photo album.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37Right, thank you very much for coming.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39We can't take the photograph exactly where it was
0:26:39 > 0:26:43because if we do, we'll be all in the sea, won't we?
0:26:43 > 0:26:44We don't want to do that.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47So let's meet the current family.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49There's Susan's brother, David.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52Second cousins Leslie and Robert.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55First cousin once-removed Dave.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58Grandson Travis. And not forgetting
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Sue herself and her daughter Lisa.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04All direct descendants from the Pearts of our Frith photo.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10That's marvellous, and you're on the rocks where your ancestors were.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12Extra happiness, yeah, that looks good.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17So there it is, the Pearts of Whitby,
0:27:17 > 0:27:23but this time, 21st-century Pearts in a 21st-century Whitby.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25It is extraordinary, isn't it?
0:27:25 > 0:27:26The rocks are the same,
0:27:26 > 0:27:28some of the people look the same,
0:27:28 > 0:27:30a sort of family resemblance.
0:27:30 > 0:27:31But, of course,
0:27:31 > 0:27:35there's more than 100 years separating these two photographs.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40But times were hard then, times are pretty hard now.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43I can see what the photographer was doing here.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45I've tried to replicate it there.
0:27:50 > 0:27:56If you want to find out more about Britain's First Photo Album, go to:
0:28:01 > 0:28:05Join me next time, when I'll be heading to the Peak District
0:28:05 > 0:28:07and the final stretch of my journey.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11I'll be paying homage to Frith in the town where he was born.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15I'll be visiting one of Britain's most romantic stately homes.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18- And I must say...- It is absolutely stunning, isn't it?- It's wonderful.
0:28:18 > 0:28:23And I'll be having a flutter on the horses.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26- Are you a bit worried? - Not really!
0:28:41 > 0:28:44Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd