0:00:17 > 0:00:21Fred Dibnah's grand tour of Britain's industrial past
0:00:21 > 0:00:24has brought him to the heart of the Pennines in Yorkshire.
0:00:24 > 0:00:30For his steersman, Alf Molyneux, the day starts with the two hour routine of getting steam up.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32Right, the ash box is empty now, Fred.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34Is there much more in?
0:00:35 > 0:00:40You can tell how they ended up all filthy, can't you?
0:00:40 > 0:00:42An inch of muck stuck to them, like.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46Yeah, it'll not be like that in half an hour.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49- Eh?- It won't be like that in another half hour.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52Will you give us a lift, Fred, with these ashes?
0:00:52 > 0:00:53Yeah, all right...
0:00:58 > 0:01:00Has it been dead long?
0:01:03 > 0:01:09Then there's the tarpaulin that covers the engine at night to pack away.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12Right, we can start polishing now, can't we?
0:01:12 > 0:01:16Aye, well, not polishing, rubbing the dust off.
0:01:16 > 0:01:21This'll get the dust off, then we'll go over it again and shine it.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25Fred, ever the perfectionist, insists that the engine is always gleaming.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28It works. look how it's bringing that horrible...
0:01:28 > 0:01:31It must be for fish and chip shop proprietors.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33Yeah, look at that.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35I'm nearly through the bloody pipes!
0:01:40 > 0:01:42Where are we going next?
0:01:42 > 0:01:44Well, we're heading for Sheffield,
0:01:44 > 0:01:48to go to a forge and see how they used to do it, you know?
0:01:48 > 0:01:53- Oh, right.- And how they made steel when they first invented it.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55And how far is it?
0:01:55 > 0:01:57- It'll be nice, that.- How far is it?
0:01:57 > 0:02:00I don't know, we'll just keep going till we get there.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02It's not very far, I don't think.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Iron and steel form the vast majority of Fred's engine.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25When it was built, iron was relatively easy to work,
0:02:25 > 0:02:31and could be cast into intricate shapes like the cylinder block and front forks, but it's weak.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41Steel is much stronger, but more difficult to make.
0:02:41 > 0:02:46It's used in the plate work of the boiler and the moving parts like the axles and gears.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50Doing well this morning!
0:02:52 > 0:02:56But first, Fred's got an ambition to achieve.
0:02:56 > 0:02:57Just down the road,
0:02:57 > 0:03:01there's a rather spectacular bridge that goes over the M62.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03And every time I go up the M62,
0:03:03 > 0:03:07I get this urge to cross it with the traction engine.
0:03:09 > 0:03:14But thirsty as ever, they couldn't pass a pub without stopping.
0:03:17 > 0:03:18Whoa!
0:03:22 > 0:03:24TOOT-TOOT!
0:03:26 > 0:03:27TOOT-TOOT!
0:03:27 > 0:03:32- The bridge.- Is that the bridge? It looks high up, this bridge.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34Yeah, it is high up, mate, I'll tell you.
0:03:34 > 0:03:39Scammonden Bridge is the biggest single-span bridge in Europe.
0:03:39 > 0:03:44And it crosses the M62 - the highest motorway in Britain - in spectacular style.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46It's got a bit of a dip in it, hasn't it?
0:03:48 > 0:03:50They look like Dinky cars, look at them down there.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52It's a long way down.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57You're not so bad. I've 18 inch further to fall than you.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00Can we stop a minute here?
0:04:00 > 0:04:02TOOT-TOOT!
0:04:02 > 0:04:05- Belting views of the countryside. - Yeah.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08It's rather exciting up here.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10When you're down there,
0:04:10 > 0:04:15you don't quite realise where you are in relation to this bridge.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18You can see the road to Halifax over there, you know, and the reservoir,
0:04:18 > 0:04:23which you see all that when you're coming down the hill onto the other side,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27then it disappears. And then from here we can see all of it.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32Concrete bends, you know!
0:04:34 > 0:04:38Every time I've come along the M62 and seen this bridge,
0:04:38 > 0:04:41it's always fascinated me.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45I've often thought, "I wonder if it'll hold a traction engine's weight?"
0:04:45 > 0:04:47It's so high up, you don't realise how big it is.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51If you're in any doubt about it holding weight, we'd best bloody get going!
0:04:51 > 0:04:53No, no, no, you're all right.
0:04:53 > 0:04:58I've seen a few six-leggers full of rock going across, so we're all right.
0:04:58 > 0:05:06The... When you think, they must've shifted a few thousand tonne of rock to make this M62 just here.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Shall we get going before the cracks start appearing?
0:05:10 > 0:05:13If the cracks appeared, there'd be nowt for us!
0:05:13 > 0:05:16We could fall on the motorway and get run over!
0:05:16 > 0:05:18It'd go down with a thunderous roar.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22Aye, a thunderous roar and that's only us screaming!
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Blow your whistle.
0:05:24 > 0:05:25TOOT-TOOT!
0:05:25 > 0:05:26WHISTLE SPLUTTERS
0:05:57 > 0:06:01And now it's full steam ahead for Sheffield.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12There's a lot of steel in an engine like mine.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16And so therefore, we're heading for Sheffield to have a look round there.
0:06:16 > 0:06:22And of course, Sheffield is known all over the world as the city of steel.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33Taking in so much scenery in one afternoon is thirsty work.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36But at last they find a pub that's open.
0:06:36 > 0:06:37Are we sitting here?
0:06:40 > 0:06:43I'm getting too old for these sort of trestles.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45I'm glad, I'm glad for a sit down.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49We're all right. I'm enjoying this trip, really.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53It's very tiring, but it's good fun.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56Easier than working, but in some ways harder.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59I'll tell you what though, all these, er,
0:06:59 > 0:07:03you know these beautiful things we've been and...
0:07:03 > 0:07:07- Places.- ..you know, these nice places we've seen and that.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10If I was asked what was outstanding,
0:07:10 > 0:07:14I'd say the warmth radiating from the people we've met.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18- Aye, it's nice that.- You know, kids at school railings waving,
0:07:18 > 0:07:22and people coming up every time we stop to put coal on.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26You know, we've been made welcome everywhere, haven't we?
0:07:26 > 0:07:30That, that really, that's the highlight for me.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32Yeah, yeah, mmm, mmm, yeah.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41ENGINE CLANKS NOISILY
0:07:41 > 0:07:45But some of these hills can still be a bit of a problem for the engine.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47They really slow things down.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49Ready when you are.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56And Sheffield is very hilly.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00To make matters worse, it's started to rain.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03And Fred and Alf are running late for a meeting.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06- We'd better get the map out. - Let's have a look at the map.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15It's other way.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17Well, I think it's down there.
0:08:17 > 0:08:22- Down there?- Yeah. - Well, we might be running out of the rain that way with a bit of luck.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27Apart from owt else it looks like it's brighter that way.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29Get out this bloody rain!
0:08:29 > 0:08:32And it's downhill as well! Right, fold the map up.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39Bloody map's wet through and it won't fold up!
0:08:43 > 0:08:46They're looking for a World War II tank
0:08:46 > 0:08:49in a district of Sheffield called Tankersley.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52At the tank, they've arranged to meet someone
0:08:52 > 0:08:54to help them find their way.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05It's crudely made, isn't it?
0:09:05 > 0:09:07No rivets.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10By 1940, they'd done away with rivets.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12Bet there was a bumpy ride on that.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15Good morning. Hello!
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Peter Machan is a local historian.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20His father worked in the steel industry.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24- No, no. He were a traction engine man who invented tanks you know?- Was he?
0:09:24 > 0:09:29Yeah, there were hundreds made by Rushton and Hornsby.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Not them, you know, I can't... I'm going a bit senile.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35You know, I can't put my name on it, but very famous,
0:09:35 > 0:09:39you know, traction engine company made the first tanks for the '14 war.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41You know, millions of rivets and all.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43Not one rivet on this, is there?
0:09:43 > 0:09:45More like the crudest of welding.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49Well, this is a Churchill Tank, these were made in 1940 here.
0:09:49 > 0:09:54- Quite modern.- Aye, they were, and these were the workhorses of the Royal Engineers, you know?
0:09:54 > 0:09:58They made 1,100 of these in just a few months here at Newton Chambers.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01The big ironworks, all round here, you know?
0:10:01 > 0:10:02We'll let you be our guide.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05You can ride in our luxury, mechanical transport.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07Excellent, it'll be a thrill.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09Well, we'll go down to Wincobank Hill
0:10:09 > 0:10:12- where we can look down over the Don Valley.- Yeah.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16It's not losing any steam, you know?
0:10:16 > 0:10:20Good, good. That's what we want.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24All right, underneath the railway bridge there, Fred.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28The tank factory has long since gone,
0:10:28 > 0:10:31along with much of Sheffield's steel industry.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35Get away from...
0:10:35 > 0:10:36from t'trees...
0:10:40 > 0:10:42This the steepest one?
0:10:42 > 0:10:44Oh, no, there's much steeper than this.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53That's a long drag that up there, you know, uses a lot of water.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56Right, left at the lights, Fred.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59- Eh?- Left at the lights.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08'We're going up Wincobank Hill with Peter Machan
0:11:08 > 0:11:11to get a bird's-eye view of Sheffield.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13'And from this vantage point,
0:11:13 > 0:11:17'you can really see how the steel industry took off here in Sheffield.'
0:11:17 > 0:11:20Unfortunately, progress is slow.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23What the plan didn't take into account
0:11:23 > 0:11:26is the traction engine's ability to climb hills.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30It's stopped raining now.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35- The view's going to be all right. - Eh?
0:11:35 > 0:11:38- The view's going to be all right, it's clear enough.- Aye.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51Magic that, absolute magic.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53You got up there well, Fred!
0:11:53 > 0:11:56We've been calling it for a month, haven't we?
0:11:56 > 0:11:58It wouldn't go up hills, but it got up here all right.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01Did we want to go up this track?
0:12:01 > 0:12:04Yeah, apparently we can turn round up there
0:12:04 > 0:12:08when we get our panoramic view of the steel city.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12All this way, for an aerial view of Sheffield.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20But when you're travelling, not all expeditions are successful.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23- Is there a pub on the top of this hill?- I doubt it.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26There's nothing worse than going to the top of a mountain,
0:12:26 > 0:12:30only to find the weather's got so bad, you can't see a thing!
0:12:33 > 0:12:36I think we'll go in the van, out the way for a bit.
0:12:38 > 0:12:39Get out of the rain a bit?
0:12:39 > 0:12:42Yeah, till it stops raining. Yeah, I've had enough.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46So much for our panoramic view of Sheffield!
0:12:48 > 0:12:50Put the kettle on.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54Look at the state of it in here!
0:12:54 > 0:12:56That's it, there.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00- Is this the coffee? - I don't know, but we'll have a bit.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02The weather wasn't about to improve.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04So, they gave up.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08No time to hang around up here waiting for it to clear,
0:13:08 > 0:13:10because Fred and Alf have to get to a Sheffield forge
0:13:10 > 0:13:12before the shift ends.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20But there's always time for another quick pint.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23Fred reckons there's traction drivers often docked.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27- Eh? You what?- You always said traction drivers often might be docked.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34Oh, yeah, well that's a fact. It's not too bad if you've got a lid.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37It's no harder, it's just less pleasant, isn't it?
0:13:37 > 0:13:42Yeah, yeah. If it's quite light, carry on, you know?
0:13:42 > 0:13:46But, I mean, the mixture of oil and rain on your glasses,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49and it becomes... vision is impossible.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53Like, there were times when I could see better without the...
0:13:53 > 0:13:58without the glasses than you could, you know, wearing 'em. And all.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04And now, it's on to the forge.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13There's some fair pieces of iron knocking about here, isn't there?
0:14:13 > 0:14:17- Oh, aye, yeah.- What are we going to see here, anyway?
0:14:17 > 0:14:22Well, forging, really is, when the ingot comes from the steel maker,
0:14:22 > 0:14:26it's like, a bit open grain, as you might say.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30And forging into certain shapes consolidates the molecules
0:14:30 > 0:14:32and makes it much stronger, you see.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35- That's what it's really all about, you know?- Yeah.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52'Independent Forging was a specialist
0:14:52 > 0:14:55'in the forging of large steel components
0:14:55 > 0:14:57'for the aerospace and oil industries.
0:14:57 > 0:15:02'The works is the former site of Daniel Doncaster and Sons,
0:15:02 > 0:15:05'one of the oldest forgemasters in the world,
0:15:05 > 0:15:09'which date back to the 1770s.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12'The forging hammer is a seven-tonne model,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15'made by B & S Massey of Manchester.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19'They think it was constructed in the late 1800s,
0:15:19 > 0:15:21'but nobody's really sure.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24'Originally, it was driven by steam power,
0:15:24 > 0:15:28'but two years ago they converted it to compressed air.'
0:15:30 > 0:15:33- I'm going to forge this ring. - Oh, are you ready?
0:15:33 > 0:15:35Oh, right, I'll stand out your way.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00I bet in the olden days,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03there'd be a lot of men turning that around, wouldn't there?
0:16:03 > 0:16:05Getting nearer.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28I've got a massive compressed air one, 200 weight.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31Best place we've been to, this.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38That's a fair piece of tackle, ain't it?
0:16:38 > 0:16:41That's an eight tonne, that one.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45There's two eight tonnes, five tonne, a three tonne and two tonne.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49It were hard in the old days before we had them machines.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53- Big chains... - Ten men on the other end.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56- That's when you needed a sweat towel.- Yeah, yeah.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00Railway wagon wheel!
0:17:00 > 0:17:03MUSIC: "1812 Overture" by Tchaikovsky
0:17:19 > 0:17:21This is an iron tyre for a tank.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25But this is exactly the way that the axles or the crankshaft
0:17:25 > 0:17:28for a traction engine would have been forged.
0:17:32 > 0:17:37CHURCH BELLS RING IN TIME TO THE HAMMER BLOWS
0:18:04 > 0:18:08100 years ago when Fred's engine was built,
0:18:08 > 0:18:12there were over 5,000 forges like this all over Britain.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14Now, there are no more than 100.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18Yeah, yeah. For everyone who's trying to earn a living in England
0:18:18 > 0:18:22that's paid £300 a week, with a company car, saying,
0:18:22 > 0:18:24"You can't do that cos you don't wear a tin hat,"
0:18:24 > 0:18:28there'll be bloody, 20 men working and 60 looking after them.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30Quite true, that, aye.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39Funny how everybody who does forging,
0:18:39 > 0:18:41when they've actually used their bloody tools,
0:18:41 > 0:18:44they just drop them on the floor, you know?
0:18:44 > 0:18:46Aye, he's like that, puts nowt back where it goes.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49Yeah, yeah, I'm like that. "Where's it gone?" You know?
0:18:49 > 0:18:52"Where's the tongs gone? Bloody hell, disappeared!"
0:18:52 > 0:18:56- If you put everything away, you know where it is next time.- Oh, aye.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00- How long you worked here now? - About 28... 28 year, me.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03- Paul's been here about 32, haven't you?- Bloody hell, that's a lot.
0:19:03 > 0:19:08- Straight from school, like? - Well, I've been in t'industry all me life, 64 now.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11Last time we got made redundant here in 1999.
0:19:11 > 0:19:12They closed it down altogether.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14No work for it.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17Our Managing Director bought it, sent for us back.
0:19:17 > 0:19:22Somehow or other I've always been attracted to dangerous, dirty things, you know?
0:19:22 > 0:19:25You know, like, if it's heavy or dirty or dangerous.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28Women, women!
0:19:28 > 0:19:31I've had three of them, you know? Bloody hell.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38'It were fascinating, watching the forging.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41'I've never seen forging before. I enjoyed it.'
0:19:42 > 0:19:47'It were really good, I've never seen anybody making iron tyres before like them men did.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50'You know, punching a hole through the middle.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52'That intrigued me greatly, you know?
0:19:52 > 0:19:56'Might even have a do at that with my own hammer, at home, like.'
0:19:56 > 0:19:59I'd like a bigger hammer, actually, at home!
0:19:59 > 0:20:03It looks so easy, but I'm sure it takes a lot of experience.
0:20:03 > 0:20:09A lot of it seemed to be done by eye, didn't it?
0:20:10 > 0:20:12I thought it were fantastic today.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17And t'other thing that's come across is what an happy workforce it was.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20They feel they're doing something...
0:20:23 > 0:20:26I don't know, they were a good team, weren't they?
0:20:26 > 0:20:27Aye, you've got to be.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30We watched the two men at either side of the hammers.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33They can't hear each other, they're just watching one another.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37And each man knows what the other man's going to do next.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43And when the shift finished, it was back to the pub.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46Where've you driven from to get to Sheffield then on this?
0:20:46 > 0:20:49Well, we don't know, we've been halfway up a mountain.
0:20:49 > 0:20:54We went to the top of, uh, how do you pronounce it, Winstobank hill?
0:20:54 > 0:20:56- Wincobank.- Wincobank. Aye.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59That bloody big hill, to the top of the hill...
0:20:59 > 0:21:03- That's overlooking Meadowhall? - ..for an aerial view of Sheffield,
0:21:03 > 0:21:08and when we got to the top, it was raining that hard, you couldn't see Sheffield!
0:21:08 > 0:21:13So have things, like, changed over the last 30 years, sort of thing?
0:21:13 > 0:21:16When we first started it was all handwork, all done by hand.
0:21:16 > 0:21:22- Yeah.- Brought from furnace by crane. - Yeah, open the furnace door and a big spoon and hanging on like that.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25Must've been exciting, even though it were hard.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27Crazy days.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30- How long have you been here, like? - Left school at 15,
0:21:30 > 0:21:34my dad didn't particularly want me to go and work at Doncaster's,
0:21:34 > 0:21:37in a forge, which he'd done all his life.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41And unbeknownst to him I went down and had an interview,
0:21:41 > 0:21:47and got a job, purely by the fact that all my family already worked there.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49- Two uncles, me dad... - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52And in the past, during the war years -
0:21:52 > 0:21:55two aunties, three aunties and a grandma.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58Forging is in your blood and if it's not, you'll never do it.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01I've done it for 42 years and never looked back
0:22:01 > 0:22:02and still enjoy going to work.
0:22:02 > 0:22:07After five generations, Pete's the last forgeman in his family.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13On leaving Sheffield, they're half way through their grand tour.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16But Fred's illness is making the travelling hard work.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19He's going to have a few days off with some old friends in Derbyshire.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23But on the way, there's one more place to see.
0:22:23 > 0:22:28It's a museum that tells the story of early steelmaking here in Sheffield.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35Abbeydale Industrial Handworks is the site of the Abbeydale Works,
0:22:35 > 0:22:38an 18th-Century scythe-making works
0:22:38 > 0:22:43with water wheels, a tilt hammer, and a crucible steel furnace.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47A group of experts from Sheffield University
0:22:47 > 0:22:51are going to attempt to make us some crucible steel.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56That looks good.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58Preserved well, isn't it?
0:22:58 > 0:23:01They're lucky it's survived, so intact.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03I think it's had a bit of, er, treatment.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06Shall we have a look at the forge?
0:23:06 > 0:23:08These are all right, aren't they?
0:23:08 > 0:23:11They're called tilt hammers, these, you know?
0:23:11 > 0:23:15When the water wheel outside turns the flywheel,
0:23:15 > 0:23:18turns this bangle, the axle, you know,
0:23:18 > 0:23:22all those noggins hit the end of the hammer shaft,
0:23:22 > 0:23:27and it lifts up the hammer and bangs down.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31So, in this place, they made scythe blades.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35And they'd, like, get two pieces of ordinary mild steel or wrought iron,
0:23:35 > 0:23:39and forge weld a strip of steel in between.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42So, the edge were a bit of good stuff, you know?
0:23:42 > 0:23:46Because steel was difficult and expensive to make,
0:23:46 > 0:23:48it was mixed with wrought iron.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52These tilt hammers were used to forge the mixture into blades.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59A water wheel powers the hammers and bellows in the forge.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04Large bellows create a good draught in the fire
0:24:04 > 0:24:06and get the steel in the forge hot enough to work.
0:24:08 > 0:24:14- That's really good, isn't it? - You can actually see the intakes opening and closing.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Yeah, well the valves, pieces of leather.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20It's a few cubic feet of wind goes through the pipes
0:24:20 > 0:24:23every time one of them goes up and down.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25Yeah, very impressive.
0:24:25 > 0:24:271700s style this, isn't it?
0:24:27 > 0:24:31Oh, aye, yeah, yeah. You can see them with their silk stockings on in here.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35- That's right, yeah.- Powdered wig...
0:24:35 > 0:24:40Aye, all that to blow the furnaces over there, the forges.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44And now it's just a little electric motor, isn't it?
0:24:47 > 0:24:48Come on.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52What we looking at next?
0:24:52 > 0:24:55We're going to the smelting department, you know?
0:24:55 > 0:24:59Where they put the crucibles in the fire.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02- In the furnace. 1829. - Aye, bloody hell.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07- Afternoon, Rod.- Morning. All right?
0:25:07 > 0:25:10We've come to have a look at your crucible furnace.
0:25:10 > 0:25:11- Hiya.- Alf.- That's Alf.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13Yeah, how's the fire going, Rod?
0:25:13 > 0:25:17'Sheffield's success as a steel producing city
0:25:17 > 0:25:19'really took off in the 1740s.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22'Thanks to a breakthrough by Benjamin Huntsman,
0:25:22 > 0:25:24'who operated a local foundry.
0:25:24 > 0:25:29'His invention of the crucible steel process made it possible
0:25:29 > 0:25:34'to make much harder and higher quality steel in great quantities.'
0:25:34 > 0:25:36How much would you be able to make
0:25:36 > 0:25:38out of that metal you get out of that pot?
0:25:38 > 0:25:40Well, that one, probably...
0:25:40 > 0:25:42We're doing these small ingots today,
0:25:42 > 0:25:46so, probably 15, 20 pounds.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49But the large pots that were originally used here
0:25:49 > 0:25:51would be about 50 pounds.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54Crucible steel were special stuff, weren't it?
0:25:54 > 0:25:58- For edging tools and things like that.- Yeah, files.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02- Oh, aye, turning tools and all that, yeah.- Yeah, yeah.- Yeah.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04So, it was a very important material
0:26:04 > 0:26:07- to get the industrial revolution going.- Oh, yeah.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10'Before Huntsman, the quality of steel was unreliable
0:26:10 > 0:26:13'and only 200 tonnes a year were produced in Sheffield.'
0:26:13 > 0:26:17- This is how they used to do it, isn't it?- That's right, yes.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20These furnaces haven't been used
0:26:20 > 0:26:22since the Second World War.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25Though the team are suited up for protection,
0:26:25 > 0:26:26it's a dangerous process.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31'Within 100 years of Huntsman's discovery,
0:26:31 > 0:26:34'Sheffield was producing 20,000 tonnes
0:26:34 > 0:26:36'of crucible steel a year.
0:26:36 > 0:26:42'An amazing 40% of steel production in the whole of Europe at this time.'
0:26:42 > 0:26:46- I like that.- That's nice.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53Very good.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59What do you do first of all, knock it over?
0:26:59 > 0:27:03When the ingot has cooled down and solidified, it's time to break the mould.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05Down off the wedge.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09That'll drop the thing, then push it over, and it'll split open.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13- You can't break these, can you? - No, no, no.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23Our piece of crucible steel.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26- Excellent.- There we are, you can have your tin hat back.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31And that lump of steel will now go off to the rolling mill,
0:27:31 > 0:27:34and probably be made into a bar or whatever.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38You can see why they only used a bit at once, can't you?
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Stuck on the end of... lumps of wrought iron.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45I mean, everything, all lay tools and cutting tools, weren't they?
0:27:45 > 0:27:47They were all like that.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51I've actually got some where you can see the steel on one side and...
0:27:51 > 0:27:55- the softer stuff, like, corroded to alloy, you know?- Oh, right yeah.
0:27:56 > 0:28:02Thanks for that, we'll see you later. We're off for tea.
0:28:02 > 0:28:03All right!
0:28:06 > 0:28:10Next stop, Derbyshire, where Fred is going to take it easy for a few days
0:28:10 > 0:28:13as he stays with some old traction engine friends.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd - 2009
0:28:32 > 0:28:35E-mail us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk