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In 1840, one man
transformed travel in Britain.

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His name was George Bradshaw,

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and his railway guides inspired the
Victorians to take to the tracks.

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Stop by stop,
he told them where to travel,

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what to see, and where to stay.

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Now, 170 years later, I'm making
four long journeys

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across the length and breadth
of the country

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to see what remains
of Bradshaw's Britain.

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I'm now on the last stage of my
rail journey from Buxton to London.

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I've found my Victorian Bradshaw's
guide has given me useful pointers

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to people and places of interest
in locations that I hardly knew.

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Now I'm intrigued to see whether
it can also light up for me

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the capital where I've lived
all my life.

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On my journey today,

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I'll be visiting one of the
country's grandest railway hotels.

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When I was a child, I believed
that the witches lived in here.

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It was so a dark and dingy, and
very scary, actually, as a child.

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I'll head to one of the oldest
markets in central London.

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Do they behave nicely with you?

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Watch their P's and Q's?

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Sometimes, not always, no.

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If you were single,
you would have a good time.

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BELL RINGS

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And I'll be discovering how the
capital has rung in the changes
since Bradshaw's day.

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BELL CHIMES

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All this week I've been
travelling from Buxton

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along one of the earliest
railway routes in England,

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first built to transport freight
from north to south.

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I've stopped off at towns and cities
recommended by Bradshaw's guide,

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and now I'm reaching London.

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Today I'll be arriving
at St Pancras,

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taking the country's first
underground line to Smithfield,

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ending up in the part of
London I know best - Westminster.

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Bradshaw's guide says of London,

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"The British metropolis contains
the largest mass of human life,

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"arts, science, wealth, power
and architectural splendour

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"that exists or ever has existed
in the known annals of mankind'"

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There in a nutshell
you have Victorian self-confidence -

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Victorian bombast.

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St Pancras, in Bradshaw's time,

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was the gateway to the most
powerful city in the world.

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Britain ruled over a massive
and growing empire,

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and London was at its heart.

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St Pancras is a classic
Victorian station

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but where I'm arriving
has only recently been built.

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This is the vast new
Thames link station,

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deep beneath
St Pancras International.

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And with its neon lights
and its electronic signs,

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it offers no hint
of the Victorian splendour above us.

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One edition of Bradshaw's guide
describes that as,

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"the vast and magnificent terminus
of the Midland Company,

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"eclipsing every other,
having a roof 240 feet across
and 150 feet high,

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and faced by a splendid hotel."

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And climbing up into the station
today, it's every bit as inspiring.

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As a Londoner, I felt really excited
at the restoration of St Pancras,

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a station that once was threatened
with demolition,

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which has now been restored
in all its glory.

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I think of the excitement
they felt at the time
of Bradshaw's guide,

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as one after another of these
massive cathedrals to steam

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was built around
the ring of the city,

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revolutionising the cityscape,
and transforming people's lives.

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A London terminus was often
designed to accommodate
what its railway transported.

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The line to St Pancras carried beer,

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so the station was
built on 800 columns,

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carefully spaced so that barrels
could be stored underneath.

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To the old St Pancras has been added
a starkly modern glass extension,

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to provide cover all along
the quarter-mile length
of a Eurostar train.

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Everybody talks about the
Victorian bit, but what do you
think about the new bit down there?

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It's simple, nice and simple.

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It's only four platforms.

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It just does the job?

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And what do you think
of the way they've done it?

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It's a nice plate to work.

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It's nice and bright,
nice and clean, hopefully.

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It looks very, very clean indeed.

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In 1868, this was the largest
enclosed space in the world.

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St Pancras was designed to
outshine the neighbouring stations.

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The modern redevelopment
is no less ambitious,

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at a cost of £800 million.

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The roof has been
faithfully restored,

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with the ironwork
in the original sky blue colour.

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'And it's still a crowd pleaser.'

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Look at what's going on behind me -
tour groups, one after another,

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being shown around
St Pancras station.

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Being shown around a station!

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Do you know when tourists
last bothered to look around
a British station?

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Back in the time of
Bradshaw's guide, that's when.

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Don't you think it's marvellous
that railway stations

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are now a focus for tourists?

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I do, and I am so pleased it wasn't
pulled down as they wanted it to be.

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It's wonderful.

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And do you know who saved it?
John Betjeman.

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Learnt that this morning
from our guide!

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In the 1960s the station and hotel

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wore the soot
of a century of steam travel.

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They were scheduled for demolition.

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The poet John Betjeman mounted
an emotional campaign to save them.

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He was successful -
just ten days before demolition day,

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the station and the hotel
were made listed buildings.

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The hotel is now undergoing a
£170 million transformation.

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Whilst it sat empty,

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it was protected by security guard
Royden Stock,

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during which time he became
an affectionate expert.

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Royden, I remember this building
when it was virtually black.

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How long have you known it?

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I've been connected with the
building for about 13 years,

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but I've known it all my life.

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When I was a child I believed
that the witches lived in here,

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cos it was so dark and dingy and
very scary, actually, as a child.

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The great thing from here is to be
able to see these romantic details

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that I have never been able
to see from the ground before.

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Yes, this as the signature
of Sir George Gilbert Scott,

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designed during three weeks in
1865, towards the end in September.

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He designed the whole
thing in three weeks?

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In three weeks he did the competition
drawings which won him the contract,

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which was awarded in January, 1866.

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You've got different detail
on each window as well,

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which is something
that most people miss.

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The capitals of the columns
are different,

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the roses either side of
the windows are different,

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the design around the
arches is different.

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It's not symmetrical, like most
Gothic revival buildings are.

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The Midland Railway wanted to build

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the most impressive station
and railway hotel in the country.

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The extravagant Gothic style
fitted the bill,

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though much of it has been
hidden away for decades.

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What historical discoveries
have you made?

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Many. This is one of them, of course.

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This ceiling has been uncovered.

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This was covered for
probably the best part of 100 years.

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Were you surprised to find this
in such beautiful condition?

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Yes. It is amazing,
because there were quite
a few layers of paint over this.

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Once the ceiling is fully repaired,

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it will actually be covered over,
so you won't see it again.

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Not like this, anyway. It's covered
firstly in a protective coat,

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so that it's always there,

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then in an intumescent coat
to make it fireproof,

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and then we have artists
coming back in to repaint it all,

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so it will eventually
come back to life.

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So, it's a bit like Lost and Found.

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The hotel catered
for the wealthiest travellers.

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At 14 shillings a night,

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its rooms were amongst the
most expensive in London.

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But, over time,
the lack of en suite bathrooms

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drove the guests elsewhere,
and it failed to make much money.

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We have got something behind this
screen that should surprise you a
little. If you would like to go in...

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HE LAUGHS

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Yeah, it's wonderful, isn't it?
The lovely, sweeping staircases.

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I thought it was going to remind
me of Parliament, but actually,

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there is nothing quite as
magnificent in the parliamentary
building as this floating stair.

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It's just floats, doesn't it?

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It does. It's cantilevered out from
the wall with interlocking treads.

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The thing is, what we have
got with this building is
quality, rather than quantity.

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I'm seeing all the way
up to a ceiling...

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..of stars.

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The hotel will reopen
for business in 2011.

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And, before I catch my next train,
there's one last bit I must see.

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On my journey I've often paused to
admire railway clocks, which I love.

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But, this one tells a story.

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King's Cross was there first,
St Pancras comes later.

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It's built unnecessarily high.

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The clock looms down
over King's Cross

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saying,
"We're bigger, we're better."

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This is commercial rivalry
in architecture.

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It may seem strange that
the stations were built
right next to each other,

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but in 1846, Parliament had decreed

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that all new Lines in the capital
had to stop short of the centre.

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It protected the historic
buildings in the heart of London

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and resulted in a revolutionary
new transport system -

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the world's first underground.

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So, I am about to get
on an Underground train,

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but not any underground train.

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One that's running
on the original line,

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the first underground railway
in the world -

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the Metropolitan Railway that ran
between Paddington and Farringdon.

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It was was built in 1863

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to bring passengers from
the railway termini into the city.

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It was also a commuter line,

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with two special trains a day
for the poorest workers,

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charging a third
of the normal fare.

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Today, the Metropolitan line
is one of 11 routes

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ferrying three million of us
across the city every day.

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What is interesting about
this section of line

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is that every now and again,

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we pass from being underground
to being above surface.

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That's because these
original railway lines

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were not dug in tunnels.

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A huge trench was dug and, in
most places, it was covered over.

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But, gaps were left here and there
because they were steam trains,

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and there had to be somewhere
for the smoke to escape.

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'The next station is Farringdon.
Change for national rail services.'

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Bradshaw guides were published
monthly from 1839 onwards.

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They're not dated, so you
need a bit of detective work

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to discover the age
of any particular edition.

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This is Bradshaw's map of London.

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What's interesting is the
line I'm travelling at the moment,

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between Paddington and Farringdon,
isn't shown.

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This map must be before 1863.

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And, of course, much of London, the
suburbs, isn't shown here at all.

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But the central bit,
the West End, the City,

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these are absolutely recognisable
from a map that is 150 years old.

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The next day, I'm heading somewhere
that requires a very early start.

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It's not yet five in the morning

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an I've walked through
deserted streets of London,

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and I've come across a place

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that is absolutely humming
with activity and noise.

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This is Smithfield Market,

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a meat market built around the time
that Bradshaw's guide was published,

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and looking,
to all intents and purposes,

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like an Italianate
Victorian railway station.

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00:14:17,100 --> 00:14:21,100
Bradshaw says of the new market,

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"It's 631 ft long and 246 wide
and covers 3.6 square acres."

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00:14:28,100 --> 00:14:32,220
But what made Smithfield Market
exceptional was the direct link

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from the building to the brand
new underground railway.

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Morning, Alan. How are you?
Morning, Sir.

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'Alan Elland
is a traditional market trader.'

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Have you worked here long?

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On the market, 40 years.
40 years? Yes.

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In the very early days,
I wasn't actually working here.

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Where the car park is
was a railway system.

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And the main transport was rail.

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The underground station
transformed the market.

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Before that,
animals were slaughtered on site

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and conditions were filthy.

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But with the trains, the meat
could be slaughtered elsewhere

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and transported
quickly to the city.

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The market cleaned up its act.

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I used to come up as
a little child and see it all

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and you can't believe
what it was like then.

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It was just so...

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buzzing and lively.

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Smithfield was the hub of the meat
industry. There's no doubt there.

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To a new comer like me
it seems pretty buzzy anyway.

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Well, it is, but in a different way.
How much has it changed?

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Obviously it is a Victorian
building and that's unchanged.

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Dramatically.
About ten years ago it was upgraded.

237
00:15:48,740 --> 00:15:51,220
This part is the same but the shops,

238
00:15:51,220 --> 00:15:55,060
the interiors, dramatically
changed ten years ago.

239
00:15:55,060 --> 00:15:56,860
Everything was open and now,

240
00:15:56,860 --> 00:15:59,700
well you'll find out,
this is all refrigerated.

241
00:15:59,700 --> 00:16:03,460
But the basic process,
I guess, is the same.

242
00:16:03,460 --> 00:16:06,100
Meat is coming from
all over Britain, is it?

243
00:16:06,100 --> 00:16:10,660
Yes. And people are coming here
bright and early to buy it?

244
00:16:10,660 --> 00:16:12,620
Yes, the idea is the same.

245
00:16:12,620 --> 00:16:15,140
We get the meat, cut it, process it.

246
00:16:15,140 --> 00:16:16,660
It comes in, goes out.

247
00:16:16,660 --> 00:16:22,260
'There's another thing
I'm guessing hasn't changed
since Bradshaw's day.'

248
00:16:22,260 --> 00:16:24,340
Morning. Morning.

249
00:16:24,340 --> 00:16:26,580
'There's barely a woman in sight.

250
00:16:26,580 --> 00:16:29,100
'So I've had to look
hard to find these two.'

251
00:16:29,100 --> 00:16:31,420
Good morning. Hello. Good morning.

252
00:16:31,420 --> 00:16:34,260
Morning. You're up bright and early.

253
00:16:34,260 --> 00:16:35,580
SHE LAUGHS

254
00:16:35,580 --> 00:16:38,700
You don't look like
professional meat-buyers.

255
00:16:38,700 --> 00:16:41,820
Are you buying for yourselves? Yes.

256
00:16:41,820 --> 00:16:45,380
Why have you come down so
early to buy meat at Smithfield?

257
00:16:45,380 --> 00:16:47,380
She's having a party.

258
00:16:47,380 --> 00:16:49,300
I can see your bags on the floor.

259
00:16:49,300 --> 00:16:51,700
You're really going
for it, aren't you?

260
00:16:51,700 --> 00:16:53,700
What time did you have to get up?

261
00:16:53,700 --> 00:16:58,940
I got up at half three,
because we live in Kent.

262
00:16:58,940 --> 00:17:01,980
Half past...? Yes. Wow.

263
00:17:11,220 --> 00:17:15,300
'Eventually, I find a woman
who actually works here.'

264
00:17:15,300 --> 00:17:16,900
Good morning! Morning.

265
00:17:16,900 --> 00:17:18,940
I can see you're the money lady!
Yes.

266
00:17:18,940 --> 00:17:21,460
What time do you have
to get up in the morning?

267
00:17:21,460 --> 00:17:24,100
I get up about twenty past one.

268
00:17:24,100 --> 00:17:26,700
And I get home about ten o'clock
in the morning.

269
00:17:26,700 --> 00:17:29,620
It's just so nice to see
a lady's face in the market,

270
00:17:29,620 --> 00:17:31,940
because there aren't so many,
are there?

271
00:17:31,940 --> 00:17:33,740
No, it's very male orientated.

272
00:17:33,740 --> 00:17:35,140
Why do you think that is?

273
00:17:35,140 --> 00:17:38,420
Now we have a lady train drivers,
but drivers, taxi drivers.

274
00:17:38,420 --> 00:17:40,660
Why not work in the meat market?

275
00:17:40,660 --> 00:17:43,900
I think it's always been male
and it is always going to be.

276
00:17:43,900 --> 00:17:45,980
I think it's a strength thing
as well.

277
00:17:45,980 --> 00:17:48,980
They think that you probably
can't lift up the boxes,

278
00:17:48,980 --> 00:17:50,620
because they're quite heavy.

279
00:17:50,620 --> 00:17:52,380
Do they behave nicely with you?

280
00:17:52,380 --> 00:17:54,060
Watch their Ps and Qs?

281
00:17:54,060 --> 00:17:56,100
Sometimes. Not always, no.

282
00:17:56,100 --> 00:17:59,260
If you were single, you
could have a good time.

283
00:18:10,820 --> 00:18:13,460
Well, I confess
that when I finish work

284
00:18:13,460 --> 00:18:16,780
it's quite nice to go
somewhere and have a drink.

285
00:18:16,780 --> 00:18:20,620
And just because you begin work
at two or three in the morning,

286
00:18:20,620 --> 00:18:22,940
no reason why
it should be different.

287
00:18:22,940 --> 00:18:26,860
And so here, for Smithfield,
there are special licensing laws

288
00:18:26,860 --> 00:18:30,820
to allow people to have a tipple
when they knock off work at 6am!

289
00:18:32,140 --> 00:18:33,500
That's early!

290
00:18:33,500 --> 00:18:34,900
MICHAEL LAUGHS

291
00:18:34,900 --> 00:18:37,420
When the long night's work is done,

292
00:18:37,420 --> 00:18:40,540
the market traders
come to the Cock Tavern,

293
00:18:40,540 --> 00:18:43,500
which has been here
for around 150 years.

294
00:18:43,500 --> 00:18:45,700
Thank you.
That looks lovely. Thank you.

295
00:18:45,700 --> 00:18:47,580
Are you the famous Carmen?

296
00:18:47,580 --> 00:18:51,020
I am. I don't know about
famous, but I'm Carmen.

297
00:18:51,020 --> 00:18:53,100
Have you got time to sit down...

298
00:18:53,100 --> 00:18:57,260
'Carmen Leslie is a chef at the pub
and works from before dawn,

299
00:18:57,260 --> 00:18:59,580
'feeding hungry market traders.

300
00:18:59,580 --> 00:19:02,940
How long have you worked here?
I would say 43 years.

301
00:19:02,940 --> 00:19:05,420
43 years is a very long time
in one pub.

302
00:19:05,420 --> 00:19:08,780
Yeah, but it's a famous pub.

303
00:19:08,780 --> 00:19:13,660
At one time I wouldn't have been
allowed to come in here because
I wasn't part of the market.

304
00:19:13,660 --> 00:19:16,460
No. Nobody. Well, you are different.

305
00:19:16,460 --> 00:19:20,420
They'd probably let you in because
Prince Charles was here...

306
00:19:20,420 --> 00:19:22,220
The Queen Mother was here.

307
00:19:22,220 --> 00:19:24,660
Quite a few famous people actually.

308
00:19:24,660 --> 00:19:26,740
You've brought me
a very nice breakfast.

309
00:19:26,740 --> 00:19:29,900
Do you think this all comes from
the market, one way or another?

310
00:19:29,900 --> 00:19:31,980
They're all from the market,
everything.

311
00:19:31,980 --> 00:19:33,420
Even the eggs. Even the eggs?

312
00:19:33,420 --> 00:19:36,420
The hens didn't lay the eggs here.

313
00:19:37,740 --> 00:19:40,500
But it comes from the market,
everything.

314
00:19:40,500 --> 00:19:43,500
I don't normally have a pint
at this time of the morning

315
00:19:43,500 --> 00:19:46,780
but I'm kind of thinking, well,
it's like I didn't go to bed.

316
00:19:46,780 --> 00:19:50,020
I've been partying all night.
Have you?

317
00:19:50,020 --> 00:19:52,260
No!

318
00:19:52,260 --> 00:19:54,540
After my trader's breakfast,

319
00:19:54,540 --> 00:19:59,300
it's time to leave the market
for the final part of my journey.

320
00:20:01,220 --> 00:20:03,580
Following in Bradshaw's footsteps,

321
00:20:03,580 --> 00:20:06,820
I'm heading off on his walking tour
of the capital,

322
00:20:06,820 --> 00:20:08,500
to take in the best sights.

323
00:20:16,260 --> 00:20:21,180
And I'm starting
with one of the most impressive.

324
00:20:23,100 --> 00:20:25,940
You know the great
thing about St Paul's?

325
00:20:25,940 --> 00:20:29,580
It's huge but it's elegant.

326
00:20:29,580 --> 00:20:31,500
It's sophisticated.

327
00:20:31,500 --> 00:20:35,860
It's the idea of a single man,
Sir Christopher Wren.

328
00:20:35,860 --> 00:20:41,500
And I love standing here
because you realise its size.

329
00:20:41,500 --> 00:20:46,140
But now with all the skyscrapers,
we're in danger of forgetting

330
00:20:46,140 --> 00:20:50,900
just what a massive achievement
this cathedral is in every sense.

331
00:20:59,460 --> 00:21:02,100
Bradshaw's guide recommends
that you stand

332
00:21:02,100 --> 00:21:04,100
in the middle of Waterloo Bridge

333
00:21:04,100 --> 00:21:10,140
and pick out St Paul's, Somerset
House and the Houses of Parliament.

334
00:21:10,140 --> 00:21:15,100
It's striking to me that we've
had 150 years of development since

335
00:21:15,100 --> 00:21:18,180
and, to me at least,
those three buildings

336
00:21:18,180 --> 00:21:22,460
are still the outstanding
features of this riverscape.

337
00:21:24,540 --> 00:21:29,580
The river takes me to a part
of London I know extremely well.

338
00:21:29,580 --> 00:21:34,060
So my rail journey from Buxton
to London has brought me home,

339
00:21:34,060 --> 00:21:35,860
in a rather literal way.

340
00:21:35,860 --> 00:21:38,740
This is Whitehall and at one time,

341
00:21:38,740 --> 00:21:43,180
I used to live in a flat up there
in Admiralty House.

342
00:21:47,620 --> 00:21:53,340
But just a few yards further on
is a place I know better than most,

343
00:21:53,340 --> 00:21:55,820
having spent 20 years here.

344
00:21:55,820 --> 00:21:58,620
The new Houses of Parliament
were opened

345
00:21:58,620 --> 00:22:01,300
just as my guidebook
was going to press.

346
00:22:01,300 --> 00:22:06,380
And it refers to this
as the most important building
in London since St Paul's

347
00:22:06,380 --> 00:22:10,220
and talks about it as the most
perfect thing ever planned.

348
00:22:10,220 --> 00:22:13,820
The most striking thing of all
was the clock tower.

349
00:22:13,820 --> 00:22:17,420
And from what I remember
from my last visit there

350
00:22:17,420 --> 00:22:19,540
during my last days as an MP,

351
00:22:19,540 --> 00:22:24,220
there's an important link between
the clock and the railways.

352
00:22:24,220 --> 00:22:27,580
The clock tower isn't
generally open to the public.

353
00:22:27,580 --> 00:22:31,300
One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven...

354
00:22:31,300 --> 00:22:32,900
23, 24, 25, 26...

355
00:22:32,900 --> 00:22:35,140
But a great privilege
of being a former MP

356
00:22:35,140 --> 00:22:37,020
is that I'm allowed to climb up it.

357
00:22:37,020 --> 00:22:38,980
271, 272...

358
00:22:40,180 --> 00:22:41,900
I know why you're here.

359
00:22:41,900 --> 00:22:43,980
273...

360
00:22:43,980 --> 00:22:45,540
'And with 334 steps,

361
00:22:45,540 --> 00:22:49,660
'I'm glad I had that breakfast
back at Smithfield's.'

362
00:22:49,660 --> 00:22:52,460
Ah, that's quite a flight
of stairs you've got there.

363
00:22:52,460 --> 00:22:54,460
'Finally, I've reached the top

364
00:22:54,460 --> 00:22:57,340
'where I'm meeting
Ian Westworth and Paul Roberson,'

365
00:22:57,340 --> 00:23:01,180
who maintain the
Palace of Westminster's clocks.

366
00:23:01,180 --> 00:23:05,300
They're doing a job that hasn't
changed since Bradshaw's day.

367
00:23:05,300 --> 00:23:09,180
We've got to keep the clock
within two seconds of time.

368
00:23:09,180 --> 00:23:11,580
And we do this by adjusting.

369
00:23:11,580 --> 00:23:17,220
By putting one penny on
speeds the clock up by two-fifths
of a second over 24 hours.

370
00:23:17,220 --> 00:23:20,940
If you take it off, it slows the
clock down by the same amount.

371
00:23:20,940 --> 00:23:24,340
What it does, it actually
lifts the centre of gravity,

372
00:23:24,340 --> 00:23:27,220
and that effectively shortens
the pendulum itself,

373
00:23:27,220 --> 00:23:29,580
just by putting a penny on
or taking it off.

374
00:23:29,580 --> 00:23:33,060
That's how we can keep it in with
the so-accurate of timekeepers.

375
00:23:33,060 --> 00:23:35,740
Those are pre-decimal pennies. Yes.

376
00:23:35,740 --> 00:23:39,660
We have about 11 pennies on there at
the moment just to keep it in time.

377
00:23:39,660 --> 00:23:43,140
Why was it so important
to have an accurate clock?

378
00:23:43,140 --> 00:23:45,500
It is because of the
railways, basically.

379
00:23:45,500 --> 00:23:49,180
Britain had time zones
all over the place,

380
00:23:49,180 --> 00:23:51,540
up to 16 minutes away,
down in Plymouth.

381
00:23:51,540 --> 00:23:53,780
So they wanted
to standardise the time.

382
00:23:53,780 --> 00:23:56,620
So if they had one very
accurate timekeeper here

383
00:23:56,620 --> 00:23:57,940
and one at Greenwich,

384
00:23:57,940 --> 00:24:01,460
and that was the way they could
come about Greenwich Mean Time,

385
00:24:01,460 --> 00:24:04,460
and standardising the
whole of the time for Britain.

386
00:24:04,460 --> 00:24:09,820
Standardised time made the whole
business of running railways

387
00:24:09,820 --> 00:24:13,100
and catching trains
very much easier.

388
00:24:16,460 --> 00:24:19,380
The pendulum is 15ft long.

389
00:24:19,380 --> 00:24:21,100
And it ticks every two seconds.

390
00:24:21,100 --> 00:24:26,300
It's such a relaxing sort of sound,
the two-second tick. It's fantastic.

391
00:24:26,300 --> 00:24:29,740
It's often said, "Doesn't
the ticking sends you to sleep?"

392
00:24:29,740 --> 00:24:34,060
But we always reply that it does
but only for 15 minutes at a time.

393
00:24:34,060 --> 00:24:35,180
MICHAEL LAUGHS

394
00:24:43,260 --> 00:24:49,740
Big Ben rang out its first chimes in
1859 and, having come up this far,

395
00:24:49,740 --> 00:24:53,100
it would be crazy not to go
all the way up to the bell chamber.

396
00:24:54,740 --> 00:24:57,100
Although there are five bells,

397
00:24:57,100 --> 00:25:02,100
the famous bongs which chime the
hour are rung by the biggest one,

398
00:25:02,100 --> 00:25:06,100
all 13 ½ tonnes of it.

399
00:25:06,100 --> 00:25:08,460
And this is properly Big Ben.

400
00:25:08,460 --> 00:25:12,740
So many people call the clock tower
Big Ben. But that bell is Big Ben.

401
00:25:16,180 --> 00:25:22,300
When Big Ben sounds, what's it like
to be standing here?

402
00:25:22,300 --> 00:25:24,740
Loud.
That's why we give you ear defenders.

403
00:25:24,740 --> 00:25:28,580
It's about 117 decibels when it's
up here but it's a lovely tone,

404
00:25:28,580 --> 00:25:31,100
slightly flat because
of the cracks in it,

405
00:25:31,100 --> 00:25:33,540
but a lovely tone.
Really distinctive.

406
00:25:33,540 --> 00:25:36,980
What you're going to see
in about 30 seconds

407
00:25:36,980 --> 00:25:40,740
is the hammer on the third quarter
bell will move

408
00:25:40,740 --> 00:25:45,980
and that's the signal for the start
of the 16 notes for the chime.

409
00:25:45,980 --> 00:25:48,380
Then there's a pause of eight seconds

410
00:25:48,380 --> 00:25:50,620
and the hammer on the
great bell will go.

411
00:25:50,620 --> 00:25:53,460
So if you keep your eye on
that hammer across there,

412
00:25:53,460 --> 00:25:55,860
it doesn't come as a shock, then.
Here we go.

413
00:25:55,860 --> 00:25:58,100
BELL RINGS

414
00:26:09,740 --> 00:26:15,460
There is certainly plenty
of vibration and we've only
had the small bells so far.

415
00:26:15,460 --> 00:26:19,420
Now we're waiting for the big daddy
of them all. Do your stuff, Big Ben.

416
00:26:19,420 --> 00:26:21,660
BELL CHIMES

417
00:26:40,780 --> 00:26:43,780
BELL CONTINUES TO CHIME

418
00:26:52,140 --> 00:26:54,180
The iron structure all around us

419
00:26:54,180 --> 00:26:57,380
is absolutely shaking and
vibrating and humming still

420
00:26:57,380 --> 00:27:00,260
and I don't think there
would be an amusement

421
00:27:00,260 --> 00:27:02,500
that you could take in the world,

422
00:27:02,500 --> 00:27:06,460
there's no big dipper that would
compare with the excitement -

423
00:27:06,460 --> 00:27:07,980
I can take these out now -

424
00:27:07,980 --> 00:27:11,260
of being next to that great
big bell when it goes off.

425
00:27:11,260 --> 00:27:14,820
It's fantastic, isn't it? And
it's been doing that for 150 years.

426
00:27:14,820 --> 00:27:16,420
It's awesome.

427
00:27:23,420 --> 00:27:27,620
Sometimes, during the course of
my rail journey around Britain

428
00:27:27,620 --> 00:27:32,300
using Bradshaw's Guide, I've scoffed
at its 19th-century arrogance.

429
00:27:32,300 --> 00:27:36,460
Those people were so confident
that they were the greatest.

430
00:27:36,460 --> 00:27:39,380
But as I stand here
by the Victorian building

431
00:27:39,380 --> 00:27:41,460
where I spent most of my career,

432
00:27:41,460 --> 00:27:44,460
I realise that without
their architecture,

433
00:27:44,460 --> 00:27:48,980
their science and their railways,
we would not be who we are today.

434
00:27:48,980 --> 00:27:53,020
And during my travels, I've
discovered that the things we do

435
00:27:53,020 --> 00:27:57,180
best today are inspired by passion
and a commitment to quality

436
00:27:57,180 --> 00:28:01,260
for which the inspiration
could be Bradshaw's generation.

437
00:28:01,260 --> 00:28:05,900
And for the last leg of my journey,
I've no need for Bradshaw's Guide.

438
00:28:05,900 --> 00:28:07,380
I'm on my way home.

439
00:28:38,060 --> 00:28:41,140
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440
00:28:41,140 --> 00:28:44,140
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