Episode 3 Britain's Heritage Heroes

-We're travelling across the UK on a mission.

-All over the country

our heritage is at risk.

Ancient buildings and monuments are under threat of demolition.

Valuable arts and crafts are on the brink of extinction

and our rich industrial heritage, is disappearing fast.

We're scouring town and country

in search of the nation's unsung heroes

determined not to let our heritage become a thing of the past.

Today, we see what's being done

to save an industrial mill in Halifax...

This place resonates history, people.

..and find out how our historic waterways

are being restored to their former glory.

We are an island nation. We are surrounded by water.

Whatever it is, we love water.

On this journey, we're uncovering hidden treasures of our country,

treasures that are certainly worth fighting for.

And meeting heritage heroes saving Britain at risk.

So do you want the yellow or the green.

-Green, please. It's the last one.

-Yeah, last one.

-We'll have to make an emergency stop...

-Oh, my God.

..at some village shop,

if there is one round here.

On this journey we started at the top of the Pennine Way,

then headed to the Northern Lake District

and now we're in the heart of the Yorkshire/Lancashire borders.

Our journey ends beyond the southern tip of the Pennines - Derbyshire.

John, we've left the North Pennines behind us,

-and here we are in Lancashire.

-Yes, the Red Rose county!

Now, as a Yorkshireman...

Well, yes...it's not a bad place, Lancashire, really.

It's rather pretty, it has to be said.

-It has some nice features to it.

-Lovely features,

but the good news is, we are going to finish today

-in Yorkshire.

-Yeah!

-So you're going home.

Today, we're taking in the stunning landscape

on both sides of the Pennines

and exploring two proud counties with firm roots in our industrial past.

And we're pushing off by looking at one of the transport legacies

of the Industrial Revolution - canals.

At the turn of the 19th century, the Lancaster Canal

was a thriving artery 41 miles long,

carrying boats laden with coal and limestone.

But to make way for new roads and railway lines,

parts of the canal were drained and blocked off.

Today, 14 miles of the original canal bed are completely dry,

and I'm here to see what's being done to bring it back to life.

The thing that really strikes me about canals,

they give you access to bits of the countryside you don't get to by road.

Look at that!

A family of swans enjoying the sunshine!

Peter is part of the Lancaster Canal Trust,

a group of committed volunteers,

who are determined to re-open the full length of this historic waterway

for the benefit of the local community.

It's a huge job, though Peter, isn't it?

Keeping on top of these networks and keeping them viable.

The maintenance alone is a huge job,

but to get this restored is massive.

But so worthwhile.

Yeah. When you can access bits of landscape like this,

where wouldn't you?

It's the entrance to the Lake District,

and the further north you go on the canal, the more beautiful it gets.

At the top end, where we're coming up to,

it's barriered off at the moment. There's an earth dam,

and a dry bed beyond that for several miles up into Kendall.

Our peaceful meander along this beautiful stretch is short lived,

and the Trust face a massive task clearing the overgrown canal bed.

Patricia Buzzard's worked to restore the canal for the past five years,

and her dream is to see the waterway

reach its northern most point in Kendal.

Patricia, we've left the water-filled canal behind us

and we're looking at this very surreal scene,

this lovely bridge with the canal empty,

full of weeds and goodness knows what.

This is true. What we're looking at is the canal bed.

Where you see it dipping right down is what we must fill with water.

We're talking tens of millions of pounds here,

this isn't money that's going to come from a few coffee mornings.

I'll need more than a sugar daddy to get this lot sorted!

Other canals have done it. There is money around and we will do it.

Once we can get the water in

and the water level stays, and we can maintain it,

we can then say to people,

"Look, not only can we do bridges, we can put water in.

"Now we can do that, can we please apply for a large amount of money?"

So many people just enjoy being around water.

We are an island nation, we are surrounded by water.

Whatever it is, we love water

and coming along here on a Sunday afternoon,

stopping for a picnic, would be so much nicer

if that was full of water, boats going up and down, wonderful!

-Let's go cut down some vegetation!

-Get your hands dirty, Jules!

It must be quite a bit of fun, then, apart from the hard work,

You're down here and putting some time into

something that you believe is worthwhile.

Yes. It's, eh... I've hoped all my life that this canal would have water in it once again.

I was born right next to it and grew up next to it.

This is a really personal story for you.

A labour of love as much as anything else.

I spent my first 21 years living next to the canal.

Aside from the voluntary effort, though,

how realistic do you think it is,

that this is going to ever reopen in the near future?

There's no reason why it couldn't.

It is just a question of money and the political will,

I mean, the one from Glasgow to Edinburgh reopened,

the Huddersfield Canal, the Rochdale Canal.

Do you honestly think, Trevor, it's going to happen in your lifetime?

I hope so,

but I am in my 60s now, so I hope so.

I hope I live long enough to see it.

This is clearly a labour of love for all involved,

and their passion and drive is wonderful to see.

But it's going to take an injection of serious amounts of money

if the Northern reaches are ever going to return to their heyday.

We're back on the road and continuing our journey south,

and although we've not yet crossed the border into God's own county,

I think we've earned a pitstop and I've spotted a perfect place.

How about that, Jules?

-Hudson's Home-Made Ices.

-Come on, we're going in here!

-Any family connection?

-No, no, sadly not!

But that's priceless, isn't it? In you go, John. Vanilla, please.

I'll do the honours.

-Hello! Could we have some ice cream? All home-made?

-It is.

-On the premises, here?

-Definitely. Been made here since 1947.

The Hudsons have made traditional hand-made ice cream

in their Chatburn dairy for over 60 years.

Current owners Mark and Mandy are following a secret recipe

passed to them by the Hudson Family,

who've kept it under wraps for three generations.

Today, it's as popular as ever.

-I've got a Hudson out there. No relation, I think.

-No relation.

He's very traditional, so he just wants a vanilla.

That's real gooseberry fruit in there, is it?

-Gooseberries from a village called Gisborne.

-Double gooseberry, please.

It's fresh milk, cream, in here, is it?

Fresh milk from the farm just up the way here.

Pasteurise it myself. It's all straight from the cow.

-None of that arty ice cream like bacon and egg?

-No.

Just traditional ice cream.

Stick with gooseberries! Stick with gooseberries

Thank you very much. I'd better pay you. How much is that?

Look at this! Craven with ice cream!

Here you are! That's yours. Your double vanilla.

-Look at that.

-I've got the gooseberry.

-Have you tried yours yet?

-Not yet.

Wonderful!

-Absolutely delicious.

-And I got sweets.

-Fantastic!

-Fruit pastilles.

-Sweets, ice cream, doesn't get much better, John!

-Na.

-Cheers.

-Cheers.

With the ice cream quickly polished off, we're ready and raring to go,

travelling south-east towards Halifax.

This is an unusual looking border, John, isn't it,

-between Lancashire and Yorkshire?

-Yes. No guards on duty!

A few centuries ago, there might have been.

You'd certainly know which side you're on then,

-particularly during the Wars of the Roses!

-Yes, I'd have to keep my head down.

-You would, indeed!

All those miles on uncluttered roads, here we are, stuck in traffic.

I know. Look at it. You're going to queue jump there, John.

There you go. Thank you. Brilliant.

-Not used to this town driving!

-Any gear, John, that's it!

Here we are in the middle of Halifax.

-This is a bit of a change, isn't it?

-Isn't it?

And what are we looking for in Halifax?

Looking for a mill, which, on the face of it,

shouldn't be too difficult, this being a famous mill town.

Shaw Lodge Mill was founded in the 1820s

and quickly became a world leader in textiles.

At the height of production, 3000 people worked within its walls.

But the last loom fell silent in 2008.

Since then, much of the building has remained unoccupied

and major sections of the mill need restoration.

Dina Holdsworth left post-war Amsterdam

when she married into the family who founded the original textile company.

She carried on the business after her husband's death,

and spent recent years battling hard to save the mill.

-All very echoey now, isn't it?

-Yes, it is, yes.

-Look at this, wow!

-It's quite a space, isn't it, here?

-What was this space then?

This is where, after the material came off the looms,

it was inspected here on long tables,

and then passed to the girls who were sitting on the other side.

They were the menders. They came all the way along here.

When I first came here,

they had old looms, which were called shuttle looms,

-and the clatter of the shuttle going backwards and forwards, you can imagine it.

-Yes.

And it was so loud, that's one of the things I remember

when I first came here was the noise and the smells

and the horror of it, really.

Wasn't it so noisy that people had to actually use sign language to communicate?

Yes because you couldn't hear each other speak.

At the height, textile mills across the north employed over 500,000 workers.

Until the 1960s, when manufacturing on this large-scale

became unsustainable, and one by one the mills shut down.

It must be quite strange for you coming in here now

when it's so quiet and empty and spacious,

when you were presumably used to walking through here most days?

I walked through here very often, yes.

It was nice because you saw people, you know,

you'd have a chat with them about how was their family

and how was their daughter, and did they have the baby yet, that sort of conversation.

Don't forget, the people who worked here often had worked here for many years,

and had worked here probably since their mother was here.

It only closed a few years ago, which is remarkable,

because most mills around here closed in the mid-'60s.

Yes, we hung in there, so to speak,

and literally did sometimes hang in there.

But in the end it wasn't possible to keep going under the circumstances.

It must have been a very difficult decision, having been in the family for so long.

Yes, nearly 200 years.

It was a very difficult decision, but we felt it was the right one.

The mill has always been at the heart of the local community,

and today the developers who've taken on its restoration

want to continue its tradition as a community hub.

Already, there are creative endeavours thriving within its walls.

John Ross is heading up one local business, crucial to its success.

John, this is a fantastic use for this building, isn't it?

-Wonderful, isn't it?

-I do love an art room.

This smell that takes me back to my schooldays,

and just seeing all this mixture of material,

and all this activity going on.

-This place resonates history.

-Yes.

People crashing about, muck, oil, and that's what's so good about it.

You can feel that in the way people are working. It's got history.

Show me more. Show me how I can get my hands a bit dirtier.

-Yeah, my old pal Stan is doing a life drawing class down here.

-Is he?

Yes, and I'm wondering whether or not you'd like to join in.

Well, if Jules is going to be a life model,

I wonder if he's going to strip.

Hope not! Anyway, I'm exploring a very different use of mill space.

John Hendy runs an adventure centre in what used to be the powerhouse,

and he's transformed it into an area used for rope courses, bouldering, and climbing.

What's the whole idea of this place then?

It's kind of the outdoors indoors, so we took the mill space on

to create activities throughout the season.

-What did this used to be then?

-It used to be the boilerhouse.

-Really?

-Yeah!

14 and a half tonnes of soot and muck we cleared out of here!

So there must be lots of, well originally, lots of tunnels here with the pipes?

Yes, absolutely, for the steam

and also for the drive shafts to drive the looms within the mill.

-Yes, a lot of tunnels.

-Can you make use of those, eventually?

We'd hope so, eventually, we'd hope to make an artificial cave.

It could be the world's biggest artificial cave, our research shows,

if we're ever successful!

Well, you've got an indoor climbing thing there, I can see.

Yes, we've got a bouldering area and a climb, would you like a go?

All right, yes, I'll have a go.

It's a long time since I went climbing, I'm telling you.

But us older people have to have a go at these things.

Absolutely, definitely.

Stay still! What have I told you about moving?

-He's got a life of his own, hasn't he?

-I think that's better.

Right then, so, no drawing from me, just sitting and modelling.

How's it done then?

-Yep.

-Then do the strap.

-OK?

-OK, that's fine.

-Ready to climb.

-Here we go.

-You choose the holes and I'll use the ones that are left.

Not too many wrinkles there, Stanley.

No, Jules, I'm keeping you quite youthful.

What about using the outside of the building rather than the inside?!

You may have seen the big chimney as you came down?

-Yes, don't tell me you're thinking of climbing that?

-We are, yes!

-OK, so we just touch the metal.

-How about that!

I made it to the top!

-Right then, Jules, do you want to come over and have a look?

-Yeah! Are you done?

-More or less, yes.

-More or less? I'm keeping on my artistic beret. Hey!

-I think that's really good!

-What do you reckon?

That's fantastic. I really... I really wasn't sure what to expect.

-I love it.

-There you go. Quick sketch.

-That's beautiful.

Hold the knot, stand down, that's it, that's the way to do it!

-That was great fun, John.

-Good, glad you enjoyed it, it's a pleasure.

Well, tell you what, Jules is having it easy.

He's sitting being an artist's model. I've been on an adventure!

OK, Jules, let me see what those artists have made of your striking features.

-Ready?

-Yep.

-There you go.

-Yes, that is a pretty good one of you!

I knew you'd say that! I think they haven't done a bad job, actually.

Is that going up on your wall then?

I think it'll go somewhere, probably in the downstairs loo. I imagine!

What a great place.

I've really enjoyed it, and I think the nice thing about it,

as this building really shows us, is that it is beginning to happen.

They're making a difference, things are being turned around. I think it's got a great future.

-It's escaped the risk list, hasn't it?

-It absolutely has.

-Off we go!

..Thanks to real heritage heroes.

On our journey, we're exploring the Pennines.

John, an awful lot is made up here

of the difference between the west side and the east side of the Pennines.

As a Yorkshireman, without being biased...

Oh yes, I'm never biased on these things.

-..just put me in the picture, what's it all about?

-It's...

There's no doubt about it, there's a difference between the two counties,

and, you know, we're both fiercely proud of being what we are.

What would you say were their two distinguishing features,

other than a sense of territory?

Is there anything physically different that you'd put your finger on?

I just feel, basically, it's as simple as this -

it's much better in Yorkshire!

You see? I said without bias and look what's happened!

And it's not true that, you know, we've got short arms

and deep pockets, and things like that.

-We're just careful with our money in Yorkshire.

-Yes, I've noticed!

Driving through Yorkshire, you get a real sense of the breathtaking beauty of the natural landscape.

Hackfall Wood appears at first glance a natural woodland,

but was actually landscaped in the 18th century

by John and William Aislabie, better known for their landscape gardens at Studley Royal estate nearby.

With its follies, castle and fountain,

the woodland enjoyed great popularity until the 1930s,

when large-scale logging operations began

and it was feared the unique landscape would be lost forever.

James Ramsden, who's now in his 80s,

rediscovered the woodland pass over 20 years ago

and has been the major campaigner for Hackfall's restoration.

We used to live just down the river from here.

We used to enjoy the place without knowing what it had been at all,

and we used to walk in it, ride in it, and so on.

You could see traces of old paths, and we did a bit of clearing and so on,

and then at last, somebody wrote it up

and we learnt that it had been a famous 18th-century green garden,

done by the same family who did the fountains at Studley,

now a World Heritage Site.

So that woke us up a bit!

In the past five years, £1 million of lottery funding has seen follies restored,

lost ponds brought back to life, and original paths cleared.

Paul Foley is the Woodland Trust manager for the area,

and, together with his team of volunteers,

is completing the final clearing of overgrowth.

For me, personally, Hackfall was amazing when I saw it before the restoration.

You'd come down it as a real important natural wilderness ecosystem.

Now I think we've got the best of both worlds.

We've got these amazing historic features,

like this folly here, Fisher's Hall,

we've got the ruin of the banqueting house at the top, restored by the Landmark Trust,

and we've got a fountain, a gravity-fed fountain, which people can see.

All that would've been completely lost, and all the evidence

and remnants of it being a landscape garden would have been lost without the restoration.

I feel lucky to help with something,

such a big project like this, cos I remember five, ten years ago

when there was no real management here

it was such a beautiful place but it would be overgrown,

now with the pathways clear, seeing the views, the waterfall,

the water features, it just makes it much more of an attraction,

even a beautiful place to be.

It's nice to be outside in the outdoors, nice weather like this.

I think it has changed a lot over the last few years,

it's great that it's now much more accessible to everyone.

It's nice that everyone can come and enjoy it,

I think that's going to mean that more people come down

and get to enjoy the countryside, especially here.

With such beautiful surroundings it's really worth it.

Hope it continues.

It's like why do you climb Mount Everest?

When something's there you have a go at it.

And it's just about right now,

because you can go here and walk round and not see anybody.

Not feel overcrowded, and that's what it should be.

Our road trip across the Pennines wouldn't be complete

without a stop in the Yorkshire Dales.

Its National Park includes some of England's finest countryside

and attracts nearly ten million visitors every year.

Well, John, the rain has finally caught up with us.

Yeah, here it is again.

But many of the landscapes we're driving through,

it doesn't matter what the weather's doing, it's still gorgeous.

And what always strikes me is that the fact that the National Parks,

like the one we're travelling through now,

aren't really owned by the nation, are they?

Unlike, say, in the United States.

They're a patchworks of private ownership

with the umbrella of the National Park Authority looking after things,

making sure it stays it.

The key thing for me,

is how do you keep people living and working in these National Parks

who want to adopt the skills necessary to, you know,

keep the landscape looking as it does?

Uh, you know, that is a problem across the UK,

not just here in the Dales.

Yeah, it is, it's that social fabric of the countryside

that really is at risk, isn't it?

The main problem facing the Dales

is the dramatic loss of 16 to 24-year-olds,

as they go in search of work in other areas of the UK.

The Dales countryside trainee scheme is helping tackle this problem

by giving young people the chance to develop crucial, rural skills.

Trainees can learn anything from beekeeping to dry stone walling,

and are given the confidence to become the future custodians

of this stunning environment.

Alan Hume has been supporting projects like this

for the past ten years.

Without it, do you think a lot of these rural skills would disappear?

I think the rural skills are still with the older generation,

but it's important that we have these people up and coming to replace them,

because there is a migration away from the Dales of the younger people.

And this scheme was set up for 17 to 24 year olds,

specifically to try and give them an opportunity to stay where they live,

and they love it just as much as I do.

We're off to have a look at a dry stone wall being rebuilt

by two local trainees, James and Josh,

who are both ten months into a two year apprenticeship.

It's a nice way to commute to work, isn't it?

Ah, it's a fantastic way to commute to work.

It's a 600 square mile office.

Ah, what a ride.

Everybody should have one of these.

It's a great way to get up here and see this extraordinary landscape,

it's pretty dramatic, the mist and the cloud rolling in over the hills.

It is quite a place to call your office.

Ah, it's fantastic, best office in the country.

-It's going to be a very wet one soon, looking at that lot.

-Yeah.

-Where are the lads, are they over here?

-Just over here.

This wall will join the staggering 125,000 miles of dry stone walls

right across the UK.

So, there should be plenty of work ahead for these young trainees.

What persuaded you to take this up as a living, as a course?

Uh, well, I was unemployed at the time.

Ha ha! That's always a pretty good motivator.

Yeah, and I saw the ad in the paper,

I thought it sounded like a really good opportunity for young people

to get practical and hands on experience.

Well, you're obviously very practical,

or have a practical aptitude for it.

And having this as a backdrop,

as somebody who was born and bred up here, presumably,

it must be wonderful to be working up in this landscape

that you've grown up with.

It's really rewarding, satisfying job,

it's definitely a good lifestyle choice.

But for you, Josh, the opportunity to come up here

was a very vocational decision, wasn't it?

I very nearly went to uni, and, to be honest,

I saw this and I realised I was going to please other people,

you go to school and you're driven towards university

as if it's the only thing.

-Ticking boxes.

-Well, yeah, basically, for them.

I saw this and I thought, oh, that's brilliant,

it's, kind of, my opportunity, really,

it's what I really want to do,

I'm going to say no to uni, it's not really for me.

Now I'm here, I wouldn't really swap it for it, to be honest.

I mean, the Dales is a huge area,

could you find yourselves working in any part of it?

Um, yeah, I mean, James is up in the north of the Park

and I'm in the south, but we do,

we move around a bit every now and then.

I can go and help up there and he comes and helps down there.

Look, we've got a couple more satisfied customers

who are coming to use your new style. Hello!

Everyone is enjoying the weather.

We're the first ones over, are we?

Is it usable?

Let's hope so.

Well, sir, now's your chance. Here we go.

Have you been over it yet?

-I haven't yet.

-HE LAUGHS

I'm quite heavy, you know.

There we go, the proof is in the trying.

I'm not the first over, I can see, I'm not the first over.

Well done, are you having a nice walk despite the weather?

Yeah, pretty good.

-Brilliant.

-The last leg.

-Enjoy the rest of it.

-Thanks very much.

Brilliant, guys, I'll let you continue.

-All right, cheers.

-Take it easy.

You know, I always love coming up here to the Dales,

the and though projects like this may seem fairly small scale,

there's no doubt they are having a huge impact,

making the very best of this impressive landscape.

What a day, we've had a fantastic journey across the Pennines.

I was struck by the efforts being made to address

the plight of Britain's abandoned waterways.

And I've been back on home ground in Yorkshire, seeing how

a former mill is once again becoming the hub of the community.

Next time, we meet the craftsmen fighting to keep the country's

first stainless steel works at the heart of Sheffield.

The locals who are putting their 1920s picture house

centre stage once again.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd