1 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:08,680 In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain. 2 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:12,120 His name was George Bradshaw, 3 00:00:12,120 --> 00:00:16,640 and his railway guides inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks. 4 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:20,680 Stop by stop, he told them where to travel, what to see 5 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:23,760 and where to stay. 6 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:29,880 Now, 170 years later, I'm making four long journeys across the length and breadth of the country 7 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:33,720 to see what remains of Bradshaw's Britain. 8 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:55,440 Steered by Bradshaw's, my 150-year-old guide 9 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:57,320 to railway travel in Britain, 10 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:01,120 I'm headed north again to the Borders. 11 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:11,280 Today I'll be finding out about the wild Border clans of Carlisle. 12 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,520 The stone is the Archbishop of Glasgow's curse on all these families, 13 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:17,240 because we got up to wicked deeds. 14 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:19,560 I'll be crashing a wedding. 15 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,920 Does Gretna Green have a special feeling for you? It does now. 16 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:25,320 It definitely does. After today it will, yes. 17 00:01:25,320 --> 00:01:28,240 And I'll be visiting a top-secret munitions factory. 18 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:31,320 What was this thing called devil's porridge? 19 00:01:31,320 --> 00:01:36,880 Devil's porridge was a mixture of cordite and explosive, mainly mixed by hand by women at the time. 20 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:48,160 All this week, I've been heading north from Preston, 21 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:50,080 up the west of England. 22 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:53,760 I'm now travelling into the once-lawless frontier country 23 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:55,240 around Carlisle, 24 00:01:55,240 --> 00:02:00,720 before crossing into Scotland and moving on to Kirkcaldy. 25 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:03,440 Today I'll stop in Carlisle, 26 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:05,520 then carry on to Gretna Green, 27 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:07,760 before ending my journey in Glasgow. 28 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:15,520 I often visit Scotland, frequently by air, 29 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:20,360 but even when I go by rail, I rush through the Borders. 30 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:22,440 I never think of stopping there. 31 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:27,520 Today I'll be intrigued just to linger and see what's there. 32 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:34,360 When the first trains arrived in 1847, 33 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:36,600 passengers had to change at Carlisle, 34 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:40,880 making it one of the busiest stations in the country. 35 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:48,240 This magnificent station, with its Gothic arches 36 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:51,240 and with the plaques from locomotives 37 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:53,360 and different railway lines, 38 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:57,800 it's a Victorian wonder and a railway museum 39 00:02:57,800 --> 00:02:59,960 and gateway to Scotland. 40 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:12,400 In Carlisle, even the public buildings are built like castles, 41 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:16,400 suggesting that this has long been a warlike place 42 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:18,680 with fearsome peoples. 43 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:26,600 For over 700 years, the English and the Scots 44 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:29,960 battled for control of Carlisle and its castle. 45 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:37,160 It wasn't until 1745 that the last Scottish uprising was put down. 46 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:40,240 Do you know why the buildings in Carlisle are like castles? 47 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:45,240 Because it was needed to be a defence from the Picts and the Scots, wouldn't they? 48 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:46,480 The Picts and the Scots. 49 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:50,080 There were vicious people in those days. Vicious? Very vicious. 50 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:53,840 Battling it out. Yeah, battling it out, really, oooh, terrible. 51 00:03:56,240 --> 00:04:00,920 I've come to Carlisle to find out more about its troubled history 52 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:02,520 from artist Gordon Young. 53 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:04,520 Morning, Gordon! Good morning. 54 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,600 Do you know, I'm delighted to be in Carlisle. 55 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:10,880 I had no idea it was such a beautiful city. 56 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:12,560 I think it's a really bonny city. 57 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:14,320 It's been fought over. 58 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:16,560 It's been fought over time and time again. 59 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,680 Both countries have laid good claim to it. 60 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:22,120 Scottish kings crowned in Carlisle. 61 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:24,680 An English parliament's been in Carlisle. 62 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:27,480 Strategically, it had importance and significance. 63 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:33,160 Loyal to the English crown, was it? No, loyal to whatever army's in it that particular time. 64 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,760 But there was another group that was neither English nor Scots. 65 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:43,000 I hadn't heard of the Reivers living along the border 66 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:46,240 until I read about them in my Bradshaw's guide. 67 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:48,160 Gordon is one of their descendants. 68 00:04:51,280 --> 00:04:56,440 In 2001, Gordon was commissioned to make this stone sculpture 69 00:04:56,440 --> 00:04:59,400 as a tribute to his ancestors, a forgotten people. 70 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:03,920 Who were the Border Reivers? 71 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:08,960 They were the families that lived either side of what we now acknowledge as the border. 72 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:13,280 The border, centuries ago, wasn't a single strip. 73 00:05:13,280 --> 00:05:16,960 It was within 70 miles of what we currently know. 74 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:19,320 400 years ago, 75 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:23,400 the frontier between the English and the Scots shifted constantly, 76 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:25,720 as they vied for territory. 77 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:30,080 The Reivers operated within that no-man's-land 78 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:33,240 and took full advantage of its lawless state. 79 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:36,200 What kind of people were they? 80 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:38,320 Well, it's not good agricultural land. 81 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:40,680 It was hard land with hard people, 82 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:44,440 and they were pillaging, raping, robbing, thieving, 83 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:47,160 the Reivers were bereaving 84 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:51,880 and blackmailing and stealing and, of course, 85 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:55,680 to enforce English law would be a war. 86 00:05:55,680 --> 00:05:58,240 To enforce Scottish law would be a war, 87 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:00,520 because where's the border? 88 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:02,800 Therefore this banditry was in the area. 89 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:06,440 This was our Border heritage, which was rough, tumble and bloody. 90 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,160 Neither Scottish nor English, 91 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:12,800 each Reiver swore allegiance only to his clan. 92 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:16,600 So these were the families and the family names 93 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,000 from specific valleys, towns, villages, 94 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:23,320 whether it's Irvine, Carmichael, Johnston, Nixon, Dixon, 95 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:25,240 Trotter, Blackadder. 96 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:26,560 Here's your name, Young. 97 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:29,720 Yeah. There's about 90-odd names 98 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:34,520 that are recognised as the families of the Borders, the Reivers. 99 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,000 There are also some very famous descendants, 100 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:40,480 like Richard Nixon and Neil Armstrong. 101 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:43,640 And then this stone. What's that about? 102 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:48,320 The stone is the Archbishop of Glasgow's curse on all these families, 103 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:51,040 because we got up to wicked deeds. 104 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:56,920 The Archbishop wrote his 1,000-word curse in 1525, 105 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:01,440 hoping that disease and misfortune could avenge the Reivers' crimes. 106 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:06,560 As somebody with a good dialect would say, it curses them standand and gangand and sittand and rydand. 107 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:08,840 It curses cabbages, it curses their heads. 108 00:07:08,840 --> 00:07:12,120 This is really a pretty comprehensive curse. 109 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,320 Oh, there's pages of it. This is a fragment. 110 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:16,800 That's a fragment. 111 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,840 It goes on and on and on. He was very thorough. 112 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:23,840 There wasn't many things where he wasn't giving this great curse, 113 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:27,080 and it is an incredible piece of, I think, European literature, 114 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:29,880 let alone Scottish or northern British. 115 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:38,840 Bradshaw refers to the Reiver clans by their ancient name, 116 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:41,000 the Moss-troopers, 117 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:45,240 who lived in a wild landscape of rugged, rocky mountains 118 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:48,400 thrown together with beautiful valleys. 119 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:52,520 Many Reiver families still live here, 120 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:55,280 and through Gordon's Reiver grapevine, 121 00:07:55,280 --> 00:08:00,480 I've found out about a party taking place in the village of Hallbankgate. 122 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:06,800 A few centuries ago, this would have been the very heart of Reiver territory. 123 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:09,960 I've come to sample Borders hospitality, 124 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,800 and to find out how the fearsome Moss-troopers sounded 125 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:15,760 when they were in party mood. 126 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:21,880 FOLK MUSIC 127 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:26,200 Good Lord, an amazing display of giant vegetables. 128 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:29,240 Hello! Hi. How are you doing? OK, thank you. 129 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:31,640 So what - obviously a competition? 130 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:35,440 Bizarrely, the locals are engaged in a gentle vegetable contest. 131 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:39,080 Not the behaviour I associate with bandits and robbers. 132 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:43,800 But these are amazing! Do you weigh them or do you measure them or... 133 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:47,880 No, we measure them. What they do, they measure them from this point here. 134 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:50,280 It has to be no longer than six inches, 135 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:54,360 and it has got to be as thick as you can get them. 136 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:57,840 These are the winners. Mr Starkey is the winner. Mr Starkey. 137 00:08:57,840 --> 00:08:59,960 Mr Forster. That's Mr Forster there. 138 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:02,760 He was second. Congratulations to you. Thank you. 139 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:06,160 What an amazing effort! Have you been growing them for a long time? 140 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:07,960 Trying to, yeah. Ah, right! 141 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:09,720 20 or 30 years. 142 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:12,880 I'm here for a Reiver song. The Reivers' song? 143 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:16,840 Do you know anything about that? They're going to be singing very shortly. 144 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:20,960 The Reivers' songs were first made popular by Sir Walter Scott, 145 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:23,400 himself from Reiver stock. 146 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:25,600 Thank you very much. Cheers. 147 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:29,480 He travelled the Borders collecting battle songs and ballads. 148 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:32,480 Good evening! Hello. Hi, how are you all? 149 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:35,440 So you're going to do us some Reiver music this evening? 150 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:37,920 We're going to play a ballad about the Reivers. 151 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,520 Are you in the group, are you fearsome Border Reivers? 152 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:44,360 I'm married to a Reiver. You're married to a Reiver? I am. 153 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:46,640 In fact, he's out reiving at this very minute. 154 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:49,880 What's the song called? The song's called Lock the Door, Lariston. 155 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:54,840 and it's about a feud between two of the reiving families. 156 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:56,600 I look forward to it. Thank you. 157 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:26,000 For such a fearsome people, they had very, very jolly music. 158 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,840 I think the Reivers have got an unfair reputation. 159 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:30,400 They were clearly fun lovers. 160 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:37,160 Although some of the Reiver traditions still seem pretty scary to me. 161 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:39,000 I've been asked to ask you to dance. 162 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,280 No, I'm not going to dance. He won't dance with me. 163 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:47,320 I heard you were a very good dancer. 164 00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:49,000 No, you're wrong, you're wrong. 165 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:57,520 Bravo! 166 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:08,240 After a very good party, it's time for a new day, 167 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:12,560 and a new country. Crossing the border into Scotland. 168 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:18,840 Despite the slightly bleary head, 169 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:22,160 I'm glad I took time to stop in Carlisle. 170 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:27,680 So farewell, Carlisle. The Borders are interesting, beautiful and fun. 171 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:31,200 But now it's time to move on. 172 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:35,400 Next stop Gretna Green, 173 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:38,320 and Bradshaw's guide puts it finger on 174 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:40,880 why most of us have heard of that Scottish town. 175 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:45,560 "It's been for more than 80 years a place of the celebration of marriages 176 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:48,840 "of fugitive lovers from England." 177 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:52,720 Well, Gretna Green has gone on being celebrated for its weddings 178 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:55,560 for another 150 years too. 179 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:00,520 The marriage laws in Scotland 180 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:03,720 have always been more liberal than those in England. 181 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:07,840 When the railways arrived in Gretna in 1848, 182 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:12,760 the steady stream of young lovers crossing the border to wed turned into a flood. 183 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:15,280 Today marriage is big business here. 184 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:18,760 This is really an extraordinary sight. 185 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:26,120 This is a tourist haven. This is the Las Vegas of Scotland. 186 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:31,760 This is a reminder that Gretna Green is a town built on love. 187 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:37,560 Alasdair? How do you do? Hello, I'm Michael. 188 00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:39,200 Alasdair Houston's family 189 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:43,160 have been farmers and blacksmiths in the area for generations. 190 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:45,800 What's it got to do with blacksmiths? 191 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:48,280 Well, it's not so much blacksmith per se. 192 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:51,560 The blacksmith, the fisherman, the weaver - a number of trades 193 00:12:51,560 --> 00:12:54,760 could have conducted a quickie wedding in Gretna Green, 194 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:57,000 but it's location, location, location, 195 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:01,080 and the blacksmith's workshop was on this important crossroads, 196 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:06,720 so this rush of eloping couples who would be trying to escape from the English law, 197 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:09,400 they would get here and this was the first building. 198 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:13,480 It quickly developed into the anvil becoming such a strong symbol of weddings, 199 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:15,960 because... Forging on the anvil. 200 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:21,280 Just so. I mean, as the blacksmith would use the anvil and heat the joint to join metals together, 201 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:24,280 so it was said that he would join lives together in marriage. 202 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,600 But just as the train loads of lovers 203 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:29,920 began to arrive here 160 years ago, 204 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:32,080 the law changed. 205 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:36,560 My Bradshaw's Guide, which was probably written in the 1860s, 206 00:13:36,560 --> 00:13:41,040 says that Parliament has recently passed a law 207 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:45,320 which requires residency in Scotland before you can get married, 208 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:50,640 and he says, "The blacksmith will now find his occupation gone." 209 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:54,400 That would be referring to an 1856 act 210 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:56,760 by the then Lord Chancellor, Lord Brougham, 211 00:13:56,760 --> 00:13:58,760 and it was called the "cooling off" act, 212 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:02,160 because what it said is that one of the parties to the marriage 213 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:07,560 had to spend 21 days in Scotland before they could have a legal ceremony. 214 00:14:07,560 --> 00:14:10,120 Still the same ceremony, simple declaration. 215 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:12,880 So that cooling off act was expected 216 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:15,640 to completely stop this flow of newlyweds. 217 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:20,920 Now, what, in fact, happened, is it sprung up all sort of guesthouses, an early form of B&Bs, if you like. 218 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:25,920 My grandparents remember the farm workers pitchforking hay and straw out of sheds, 219 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:29,160 and, "Ow! Ow!" There'd be somebody lying out rough in the area, 220 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:31,360 being woken up in the morning. 221 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:33,440 In Scotland, unlike in England, 222 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,000 you can marry at 16 without parental permission, 223 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:40,320 and these days you don't even have to be resident for three weeks. 224 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:45,440 So Gretna is still the most popular place for quickie weddings. 225 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:48,280 Bradshaw's predicted, 150 years ago, 226 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:51,720 that the blacksmith was going to be extinct, 227 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:55,000 but you're still banging out the marriages. 228 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:59,360 Yeah, I mean Gretna Green is still an important wedding destination, 229 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:01,800 happily for the area and for the whole region 230 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:05,560 because of this ripple effect, so Bradshaw, I'm happy to say, was wrong. 231 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:09,200 # Love is in the air. # Are you going to sing? Yes. 232 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:14,120 Today over 5,000 couples a year get married in Gretna Green. 233 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,520 That's one in six of all weddings in Scotland. 234 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:20,640 I guess you're here to play for a wedding, are you? 235 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:23,160 Er, I've got three weddings on today, yes. Aye. 236 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:26,440 And is that fairly typical? Do you do three weddings a day often? 237 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:29,560 Three weddings very often. Aye, sometimes four, five, six. 238 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:33,040 Sometimes seven. Very busy. It's a kind of industry here, isn't it? 239 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:34,200 Oh, yes, very much so. 240 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:36,360 Why do they go to Gretna Green? 241 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:39,280 Oh, this is the romantic capital of the world. 242 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:41,280 Without a doubt. 243 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:44,000 BAGPIPES PLAY: "Scotland The Brave" 244 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:45,520 Lots of excitement, now 245 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:48,960 and people in their wedding best are pouring out. 246 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:52,480 It's very, very exciting and it's very, very British. 247 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:54,960 I see the bridesmaids in their lovely dresses. 248 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:56,320 Shivering. 249 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:10,760 You're a very lucky man indeed. Thank you very much. 250 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:13,200 May I ask you, why did you choose Gretna Green? 251 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:18,920 Um, well, we wanted to elope, but my family found out about it and they ended up coming with us. 252 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:20,600 You're English? Yes. Yes. 253 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:23,200 And so it was originally going to be an elopement? 254 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:24,760 Yes, yes. How very romantic! 255 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:27,040 I didn't know that stuff happened any more! 256 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:30,560 Does Gretna Green have a special feeling for you? 257 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:34,280 It does now. It definitely does. After today it will, yes. Yes. 258 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:36,760 Have the most fantastic marriage. Thank you. 259 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:39,080 It started beautifully. Thank you. Bye-bye. 260 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:48,200 Gretna Green is nationally famous, internationally famous, 261 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:49,400 for its weddings. 262 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:51,840 But there's another part of this town 263 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:54,320 which played a really significant role 264 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:56,160 in Britain's military history, 265 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:59,320 and which, even today, is so secret 266 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:04,400 that very few people have had the peep inside that I'm about to get. 267 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,320 This strange landscape of bunkers and hills 268 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:14,920 was built to handle the explosives made and stored here. 269 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:20,480 The site was once key to Britain's survival, 270 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:24,440 although these days it's mainly a Ministry of Defence depot 271 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:27,320 managed by David Watt. 272 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:31,000 Why was this enormous site brought into existence? 273 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:34,120 During the Battle of Loos in 1915, 274 00:17:34,120 --> 00:17:35,920 during the First World War, 275 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:38,640 the British army found itself very short of shells. 276 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:41,520 In fact, we almost lost the war due to the lack of shells, 277 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:46,800 so this huge ammunition manufacturing facility was built in 1916 278 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:49,920 and in fact, at one time there was 30,000 people worked here, 279 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:53,040 almost all of them women, making and packing shells, 280 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:55,560 in order to support the British Army offensive. 281 00:17:55,560 --> 00:18:00,840 The factory was built at Gretna because it was remote. 282 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:04,120 But also, it had a fast rail link 283 00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:06,720 to deliver shells and bombs to the Western Front. 284 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:13,160 Another internal railway carried the munitions around the vast site. 285 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:16,880 How much track do you have through the site? About 20 miles. 286 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:18,960 It's quite an extensive facility 287 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:21,960 and this site here is mainly served by narrow-gauge rail. 288 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,680 At that time, there wasn't any motorways 289 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:32,080 and one of the main methods of moving heavy objects was by rail, and ammunition is very heavy. 290 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:36,520 The women toiled around the clock, mixing devil's porridge, 291 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:39,880 a lethal paste of nitroglycerine and cotton. 292 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:45,320 At its peak, the factory produced 800 tonnes of the deadly stuff every week. 293 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:48,000 What was this thing called devil's porridge? 294 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:50,680 It was a mixture of cordite and explosive, 295 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:53,560 mainly mixed by hand by women at the time. 296 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:56,880 Very dangerous mixture. Some of the chemicals in it are such 297 00:18:56,880 --> 00:19:01,560 that their teeth were discoloured, their hair turned orange. 298 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:03,600 It was not a nice substance at all. 299 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:06,320 And they were literally mixing it by hand? 300 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:08,680 They were literally mixing it by hand, yes. 301 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,200 And this devil's porridge was used in what? 302 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:12,560 The filling of shells. 303 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:17,040 More explosives were produced here than anywhere else in Britain. 304 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:21,120 It involved extremely dangerous work. 305 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:24,080 So what was that tunnel? 306 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:27,280 The tunnel there was the escape tunnel between the traverses. 307 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:31,440 The whole idea of this area here is to protect the people who work here 308 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:33,120 and to protect the explosives. 309 00:19:33,120 --> 00:19:36,520 If you can imagine a town full of explosives, the idea being, 310 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:39,680 if that blew, the blast goes up the way and not across the way. 311 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:43,000 And then if anything goes wrong, you escape through the tunnel. 312 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:46,200 Through the tunnel and hopefully you'll be safe through there. 313 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:52,280 After leaving the MOD site, 314 00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:55,200 I'm catching my next train from Lockerbie, 315 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:58,040 a name remembered for tragedy. 316 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,720 Lockerbie is sadly known to all of us 317 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:08,440 because of the terrorist outrage against Pan Am 103 in 1988, 318 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:10,800 but a few miles down the track, 319 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:16,280 in 1915 there occurred Britain's worst ever rail disaster. 320 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:19,760 A troop train carrying soldiers bound for Gallipoli 321 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:24,120 collided with a local train that in turn was hit by the night sleeper 322 00:20:24,120 --> 00:20:25,920 coming in the other direction, 323 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:28,840 and an enormous ball of fire engulfed the trains 324 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,800 and freight trains on either side of the line. 325 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:34,600 227 people were killed, 326 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:38,400 a figure never matched in railway history since. 327 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:42,320 The ball of fire engulfed three trains 328 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:44,920 and took 23 hours to extinguish. 329 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:47,000 Because of wartime censorship, 330 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:49,920 the terrible disaster went unreported at the time. 331 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:55,040 From then on, gas lighting on trains was banned. 332 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:00,960 So one important reform resulted from the dreadful death toll. 333 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:07,560 I'm now catching my last train of the day 334 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:11,680 to Scotland's largest city, Glasgow. 335 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:15,000 Hello, there. Can I have a cup of coffee, please? 336 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,120 Is it milk and sugar for you? 337 00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:19,920 Er, just milk, please. 338 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:22,240 So what's better, Glasgow or Edinburgh? 339 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:24,760 Ah, well, I've got to say Glasgow, haven't I? 340 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:28,560 You ask anybody else on the train, and they'll say Edinburgh. 341 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:30,480 And what shall I eat in Glasgow? 342 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:33,720 Fish and chips. Fish and chips! 343 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:40,040 'Ladies and gentlemen, now arriving at Central Station. 344 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:43,400 'Make sure you have all your belongings and luggage with you.' 345 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:45,880 Bradshaw talks about the famous rivalry 346 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:47,600 between Glasgow and Edinburgh. 347 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:50,160 He says, 348 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:53,480 "The ancient city of Glasgow is one of the most splendid in Europe 349 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:58,040 "and is not surpassed for beauty of architecture in its public and private buildings, 350 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:02,760 "the length, breadth and elegance of its streets, squares and crescents, 351 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:05,120 even by Edinburgh itself." 352 00:22:05,120 --> 00:22:08,240 BAGPIPE MUSIC 353 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:12,520 Feel the buzz of the city. 354 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:16,480 After all those lakes and hills and sheep and cows, 355 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:19,600 it's good to feel the throb of urban life again. 356 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:21,680 A city boy like me is never happy 357 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:24,880 unless I've got the whiff of carbon monoxide in my nostrils. 358 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:31,440 Today Scotland's two great cities still jostle for pole position. 359 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:34,840 How are you enjoying Glasgow? 360 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:39,120 It's a beautiful city with beautiful buildings. 361 00:22:39,120 --> 00:22:41,640 Have you been to Edinburgh yet? Yes, yes. 362 00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:43,920 And which is better, Edinburgh or Glasgow? 363 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:49,560 Glasgow. Ah! 364 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:52,120 He's intimidated you, I know. 365 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:54,280 He's got you under his thumb. 366 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:55,480 Glasgow is wonderful. 367 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:57,000 Edinburgh is wonderful too. 368 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:03,040 The centre of Glasgow still pleases the tourists. 369 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:06,840 But I'm intrigued by another part of the city described by Bradshaw. 370 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:10,400 In a Victorian version of poverty tourism, 371 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:12,600 he sends visitors to the Calton, 372 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:15,760 which was and is one of its most deprived areas. 373 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:18,960 Hello. Hi, Michael. 374 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:21,440 So this is the Calton. This is the Calton. 375 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:25,840 Janey Godley ran a pub in the Calton for over 15 years. 376 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:29,240 Let me read you this from my Bradshaw Guide. Good. 377 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:33,360 "Glasgow is supposed to offer few attractions, but this is a mistake. 378 00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:35,920 "Old Glasgow, with all its dirt and discomfort, 379 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:39,880 "the swarming wretchedness and filth of the celebrated Saltmarket, 380 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:43,680 "the Goosedubs, the Gallowgate and the Cowcaddens 381 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:49,200 "is well worthy of a visit, if it were only to see how quaint and even picturesque in misery 382 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:51,600 "are the haunts of the poor population 383 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,280 "of one of the richest cities of the world." 384 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:56,880 Would it do as a description of the Calton today? 385 00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:59,760 Partly it is still a description of the Calton today. 386 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:02,240 There is still some resonance with the poverty 387 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:04,240 and how people manage their lives, 388 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:08,200 although whether it would make a tourist attraction, I'm not very sure. 389 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:10,920 In the 19th and early 20th centuries, 390 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:13,200 the Calton was a wretched place. 391 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:18,360 Several families would be crammed into each small house. 392 00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:21,080 Cholera was a permanent threat 393 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:23,520 and killed thousands every year. 394 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:27,800 It's shocking to find that now, as in Bradshaw's day, 395 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:30,760 the area is notorious for its social problems. 396 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:35,120 The age expectancy is still incredibly hard to swallow. 397 00:24:35,120 --> 00:24:37,760 I mean, the age expectancy round here is 55. 398 00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:40,040 In Fallujah, Iraq, it's 65. 399 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:44,600 Now, that statistic you've given is not a very happy one, is it? No. 400 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:48,080 I expected to find an area of narrow little streets and tenements 401 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:49,360 and I don't know what... 402 00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:52,920 No, that's clearly not been here a long time. 403 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:55,200 I mean, the oldest buildings in the Calton 404 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:58,680 are just a couple that are dotted on the outskirts of the streets, 405 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:00,520 but by and large, it is all very new. 406 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:04,200 You wouldn't know that you were in an ancient area, you're right. 407 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:06,000 It doesn't really lend to itself. 408 00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:11,760 In an attempt to deal with these difficulties, 409 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:15,160 the Calton was rebuilt in the 1980s. 410 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:23,440 But I'm glad to see that some of the great Victorian buildings 411 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:27,240 from Bradshaw's time have survived. 412 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:32,320 Janey, we've only come 100 yards from your old pub 413 00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:34,120 and we're in a different world. 414 00:25:34,120 --> 00:25:36,360 Yeah. Well, this is the People's Palace, 415 00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:38,560 dedicated to the people of Glasgow, 416 00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:41,840 and over there, of course, we've got the Doulton Fountain. 417 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:46,560 This is, um... the empire of Glasgow is right here, 418 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:48,400 personified in brick. 419 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:52,200 The one place where there is so much death and destruction 420 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:53,920 and yet, there's all this beauty, 421 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:57,000 and that kind of represents what the Calton is to me. 422 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:02,640 There is a backdrop of pain and difficult lives, 423 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:08,120 yet there is still the will to go on and a sense of regeneration. 424 00:26:08,120 --> 00:26:09,840 I came out of the Calton 425 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:13,360 and a part of me makes me who I am that I lived here, 426 00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:15,840 and I think I'll live forever because of it. 427 00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:20,720 Glasgow has been through some dark times 428 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:22,760 and the Calton struggles still. 429 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:27,840 Elsewhere in the city, a renaissance has been apparent in recent years. 430 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:32,320 Sleek, contemporary museums now line the old docks. 431 00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:37,680 The grand Victorian buildings of the West End have been restored. 432 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:41,680 George Square, Glasgow, 433 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:47,960 set out on the grand scale with its columns and towers and statues, 434 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:50,400 feels like a continental city, 435 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,000 as though Glasgow is saying, 436 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:54,400 "Well, we may not be the capital, 437 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:58,760 "but we will remind you that we are the biggest city in Scotland." 438 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:04,680 Glasgow is a top tourist destination with four million visitors a year. 439 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:07,760 A city that became truly great in Victorian times 440 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:11,920 retains its civic pride, spurred on by the competition from the capital. 441 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:16,480 A handbook 150 years old 442 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:20,640 is turning out to be a pretty good guide to Britain today. 443 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:23,600 It showed me how to crash a wedding 444 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:26,280 and led me to a good night out at the pub, 445 00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:28,000 and here in Glasgow, 446 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,120 it's been a guide not only to the fine buildings of the city, 447 00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:34,040 but even an insight on some of its social problems, 448 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:39,360 but for the sake of balance, I must now go towards the Scottish capital. 449 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:52,360 On my journey tomorrow, I'll be braving the weather in Carluke 450 00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:55,360 to see an industry being brought back to life. 451 00:27:55,360 --> 00:27:57,120 Is it apple juice you make or cider? 452 00:27:57,120 --> 00:28:00,440 Both. You might have to come back in a year for the cider, though. 453 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:04,280 I'll be searching for a famous Scottish basement. 454 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:06,560 I'm looking for a cellar 455 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:10,840 where the Act of Union may have been signed, according to my guidebook. 456 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:13,680 Right. Um, it's actually our ladies' toilets. 457 00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:16,960 And I'll be realising a lifelong ambition. 458 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:20,360 It gives you an idea of the scale, 459 00:28:20,360 --> 00:28:22,560 the complexity, 460 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:25,400 the height. It's a beautiful thing, isn't it? 461 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:47,600 Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd 462 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:50,560 E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk