In 1 840, one man transformed travel In BrItaIn.
HIs name was George Bradshaw,
and hIs raIlway guIdes InspIred the VIctorIans to take to the tracks.
Stop by stop,
he told them where to travel,
what to see and where to stay.
Now, 1 70 years later,
I'm makIng a serIes ofjourneys across the length and breadth of the country
to see what of Bradshaw's BrItaIn remaIns.
Using my Bradshaw's GuIde, I'm now pressing further into WaIes.
The fortunes of the communities of south WaIes have ridden the roIIer-coaster
of the IndustriaI RevoIution in the 19th century,
de-industriaIisation in the 20th
and are now adjusting themseIves for Iife in the 21st.
My guIdebook told VIctorIan tourIsts
where to fInd the best and the worst of the IndustrIalIsed valleys.
I want to see how much holds true today.
I'll be vIsItIng Barry Island,
a favourIte holIday spot of 19th-century mIners...
(man) They came in huge numbers.
We've got about 100,000
in the very first summer that this raiIway station opened.
..penetratIng the polItIcal heart of Wales's capItal cIty...
It's a great priviIege to be aIIowed into the debating chamber.
It's as different from the House of Commons as it couId possibIy be.
..and seeIng what's left
of thIs regIon's extraordInary VIctorIan raIlway network.
That is amazing. These are the vaIIeys of south WaIes.
RaiIway Iines going up every singIe one of them.
That is the most extraordinary picture, isn't it?
I'm over halfway through a long journey
from Oxford to the Welsh port of MIIford Haven.
The quIntessentIally EnglIsh landscape of the Cotswold and Malvern HIlls
now lIes far behInd me as I explore the valleys of south Wales,
transformed by 19th-century IndustrIalIsatIon.
The capItal, CardIff, Is my startIng-poInt on thIs stretch,
whIch takes In coastal Barry
before headIng north to the mInIng town of Merthyr TydfIl.
My journey starts In the hIstorIc county of Glamorgan.
In Bradshaw's day, thIs regIon was vItal
to the growIng success of BrItaIn's IndustrIal RevolutIon.
I'm gettIng off at CardIff Central
to explore a cIty born In the age of steam.
My Bradshaw's GuIde refers to
''the profusion of coaI, iron and Iimestone which everywhere abounds''.
''These mineraI riches have raised GIamorganshire to great importance
during the Iast haIf-century.''
It says, ''The inhabitants of Cardiff,'' where I am now,
''carry on a considerabIe trade ith BristoI
and export a great quantity of wrought iron and coaI to foreign parts.''
I'm interested to know what part the Victorians and the raiIways
pIayed in the transformation of south WaIes.
These days, CardIff Is the proud capItal of Wales.
But as recently as 1 801, thIs was a modest port of fewer than 2,000 people.
That changed
as the demand for Welsh coal surged durIng the IndustrIal RevolutIon.
By the early 20th century, the populatIon had grown a hundredfold
and the docks heaved wIth traIns,
carryIng thIs black gold to shIps for export.
To learn more about thIs transformatIon,
I'm meetIng local museum curator VIctorIa Rogers.
- Victoria, heIIo. - PIeased to meet you.
This is a great way to Iook at Cardiff's raiIway heritage.
It's great on a day Iike this.
We're takIng a boat trIp along the RIver Taff,
whIch plays a surprIsIng role In the hIstory of the raIlway In CardIff.
My Bradshaw's taIks of Cardiff in the mid-19th century as a town.
It's just the capitaI of GIamorganshire.
That's right. Cardiff actuaIIy wasn't a city untiI 1905.
It wasn't made capitaI city untiI 1955.
There were three things, reaIIy, in the space of around about ten years
that enabIed Cardiff to become eventuaIIy both of those things.
So, you've got the docks opening.
You've got the Taff VaIe RaiIway bringing the coaI down from the VaIIeys.
Then you've got the South WaIes RaiIway.
The South Wales RaIlway connected CardIff wIth Swansea and the West
and all the way to London In the east.
CardIff's new raIl lInks
were buIlt by the famous engIneer Isambard Kingdom Brunel,
but fIrst he had to overcome some thorny problems.
(VIctorIa) UnfortunateIy for him, the Taff did a reaI big cuRVe
right next to the area that he needed to buiId a raiIway station.
So what he did was buiId a cut
and diverted the river in a straighter Iine.
(MIchael) So, the station is buiIt on recIaimed Iand?
(VIctorIa) AbsoIuteIy. The station, what is now the bus station as weII,
and the site of the MiIIennium Stadium,
is aII buiIt on that recIaimed Iand from BruneI's diversion.
Aided by the network of tracks that fed the docks,
by the late 19th century,
CardIff was recognIsed to be the greatest coal port In the world.
The town's newfound confIdence was dIsplayed In grand new buIldIngs,
lIke the Coal Exchange whIch was opened In 1 886.
WhIle the wheeler-dealer coal traders are long gone,
Its fIne facade stIll evokes CardIff's heyday.
- What did it Iook Iike inside? - (VIctorIa) It was fantastic.
I've read some great archivaI materiaI about a dense cIoud of tobacco smoke.
There was a barber, so you couId have a haircut.
You couId be measured for a suit here. There was a ine merchant.
Very often, peopIe wouId buy bottIes of champagne
to toast their nely-done deaIs.
And they'd aII be here in their top hats and taiIs.
(VIctorIa) AbsoIuteIy. It wouId have been a great sight, I'm sure.
The Welsh mInes were prolIfIc.
The coal they produced
was among the most valuable to VIctorIan IndustrIalIsts.
It was perfect for producIng steam to power machInes, shIps
and, of course, raIlway locomotIves.
South WaIes steam coaI was seen as the best in the worId.
And so the deciding of the price here
was basicaIIy deciding the price of coaI throughout the worId.
ActuaIIy, this is said to be the site of the first...
..the worId's first miIIion-pound deaI in 1907.
It's an incredibIy important buiIding.
But CardIff's coal prosperIty wasn't to last.
In the post-war perIod, demand for coal nosedIved.
The exchange fInally closed In 1958.
In 1964, exports of coal ceased
and the huge dock complex lost Its reason for beIng.
We're down where the Cardiff docks used to be.
I'm trying to imagine them in the 19th century, a bustIe of ships and trains.
I know. There's an amazing statistic
about just how much raiIway track there was in the docks.
There was about 120 miIes of raiIway track in one square miIe in the docks.
There was a huge amount of coaI traffic coming down from the VaIIeys
and being shipped out via the raiIway.
By the late 20th century,
the derelIct areas of the docks had made CardIff Bay an unappealIng spot.
But In the 1990s, that began to change.
A barrage was buIlt, creatIng a vast lake and attractIve waterfront,
whIch today Is home to strIkIng modern buIldIngs,
IncludIng the Wales MIllennIum Centre
and the Senedd, home to the Welsh Assembly.
- HeIIo. - HeIIo.
- You're enjoying your coffees. - (women laugh)
Are you from Cardiff?
- Do you remember the oId Cardiff? - Yes.
Describe that to me.
WeII, you'd catch a boat down here to go to Weston.
And my father was from the docks, wasn't he? Yes.
What were the docks Iike?
- Oh, it was different. - It was a different community.
It was a community of its own.
Dark, dingy. But character.
What about these modern buiIdings now?. What about the WeIsh AssembIy?
The buiIding itseIf, to Iook at, I think it's good.
It was supposed to be very green.
I hope that's stiII the case.
I've interrupted you enough. You enjoy the coffee in the sun.
Approval from some of the locals.
I mustjudge CardIff's famous Senedd for myseIf.
It prIdes ItseIf on openness, InvItIng anyone to explore Its publIc areas.
The Iobby of the WeIsh AssembIy has a wonderfuI roof.
It reminds me of waves, or boats.
Cardiff's maritime history.
The architect has created gIass waIIs,
I suppose to give the idea of transparency.
Transparency?
Linked to poIitics?
The idea iII never catch on.
At the heart of the Senedd Is the SIambr, or chamber,
where full sessIons of the Assembly are held.
It's a great priviIege to be aIIowed into the debating chamber.
Somewhere I've never been before.
It's very striking.
This beautifuI domed ceiIing and the wood aII around...
It's about as different from the House of Commons as it couId be.
That's a 19th-century buiIding ith green benches
and you have to fight for a seat.
Here, everybody has their aIIocated position.
It just makes you think. Bradshaw's refers to Cardiff as a town.
It had a popuIation of onIy 2,000 at the beginning of the 19th century.
Now, it's grown to a city.
A capitaI city.
One that has its own parIiament.
How did it make that journey?
You guessed it.
It's aII down to the raiIways.
All through thIs part of Wales,
the VIctorIan forces of change left theIr mark.
My next stop Is eIght mIles down the coast.
I'm now headed for Barry IsIand, a puzzIing name,
since from the map, it's cIear that it's not surrounded by water.
I think there must be a historicaI expIanation.
I'm betting that it's something to do ith raiIways.
In fact, Barry's not mentIoned In my ''Bradshaw's GuIde''.
That's because In the 1 860s, there was no town worth vIsItIng.
But In the 1 880s, a raIlway and vast docks were buIlt here.
A new communIty sprang up almost overnIght.
I'm takIng a trIp on the Barry TourIst RaIlway
wIth hIstorIan Andy Croll to hear the story.
- HeIIo, Andy. - HeIIo, MichaeI.
What a wonderfuI vintage dieseI this is!
Isn't it smashing?
And this is going to heIp me to discover the mystery of Barry IsIand, I hope?
- Indeed it is. - Let's set off, then.
Barry IsIand is not an isIand.
What's the expIanation?
WeII, Barry IsIand was, back in... up untiI about the 1890s, in fact.
It's when these great docks are made.
That's when the Iand is fiIIed in.
And ith this great raiI Iink,
that's when the isIand gets Iinked to the actuaI mainIand.
These massIve dock and raIlway projects
were the braInchIld of a powerful mIne owner
who'd become IncreasIngly frustrated
by CardIff's monopoly of the coal export trade.
David Davies is the man that is the sort of power force
which drives these great docks being buiIt.
He hated paying for his coaI to go out of someone eIse's port.
Cardiff was actuaIIy getting aII that money.
David Davies wanted to buiId his own.
Work started in 1884.
It opens in 1889.
David Davies dies in 1890, but he just manages to see his great docks open.
Barry was the Ideal spot for DavIes to realIse hIs dream.
Thanks to Its posItIon, shIps could come In whatever the tIde,
a real advantage over neIghbourIng CardIff.
The docks gave rIse to a phenomenal populatIon explosIon.
(Andy) In 1881 , we've got about 85 souIs Iiving here.
By the time we get to 1891 , we're up to 700.
Most of those are here buiIding the great docks which we can see.
By the time we get to 1901 , we're up to 27,000 peopIe.
AII of that is due to coaI.
AII of it is due to the great raiI Iinks which aIIow these docks to be buiIt.
The new raIlway was constructed by the same company as the docks,
provIdIng a dIrect lInk to the coaIfIelds.
Brunel's Taff Vale RaIlway had competItIon.
Out of this intense rivaIry between Cardiff and Barry, is there a inner?
There certainIy is. Barry.
By the time we get to about 1913,
this is the peak year for the whoIe of the south WaIes coaI industry.
Barry is the greatest coaI exporting port in south WaIes.
But aIso, in the whoIe worId.
And in those years of massive coaI production and export,
the coaI wouId have traveIIed by train on the very tracks that we're using now.
AbsoIuteIy right.
We are traveIIing on the very raiIs that that coaI traveIIed on.
Although It was buIlt for freIght,
the raIlway lIne soon gaIned a surprIsIng new use.
As VIctorIan BrItaIn was transformed by rapId IndustrIalIsatIon,
even the workIng class began to have leIsure tIme.
Barry's beaches became thronged wIth day trIppers.
Here's another puzzIe about Barry IsIand.
You've been teIIing me about coaI and docks.
- It turns out it's a seaside resort. - AbsoIuteIy right, MichaeI.
This beach was formed in the wake of the Iast Ice Age.
The truth of the matter is,
hardIy anyone ever came here for aII of those thousands of years.
What makes the difference is this great raiI Iink opening in the mid-1890s.
Who is it who comes? Working-cIass miners.
They came right from the start, as soon as this raiIway Iink was opened.
They came in huge numbers.
We've got about 100,000
in the first summer this raiIway station is opened.
1896.
They keep on coming.
On one day in 1950,
we have 120,000 of them packed onto this IittIe strip of sand.
Bit of a difference between a coaI mine and this beach.
It absoIuteIy is.
There's some very moving evidence, especiaIIy from the Iate 1890s,
of working-cIass miners being seen just to stand at the water's edge,
quietIy gazing out over this great seascape.
They wouIdn't have seen anything Iike this in their Iives.
Dark, cramped, underground.
So, yeah. One can onIy guess what they were thinking.
These days, It's not partIcularly mIners,
but famIlIes from all over BrItaIn who come to enjoy thIs beautIful beach.
It's a lovely spot for me to break my journey.
At the end of a day of traveI, it's nice to reIax on the shore
and to think about those hard-working south WeIsh miners,
who, at the end of weeks of toiI,
wouId save a few pennies to traveI by train
and dip their toes in the surf at Barry IsIand.
It's a new day on my journey
and I'm travellIng north along the banks of the RIver Taff
on the Taff Vale RaIlway, one of the oldest In Wales.
I'm now venturing to Merthyr TydfiI,
which my Bradshaw's caIIs ''a great mining town''.
''BIast furnaces, forges and iron miIIs are scattered on aII sides.''
''Visitors shouId see the furnaces at night,
when the red gIare of the fIames produces an uncommonIy striking effect.''
The raiIways brought to the WeIsh vaIIeys
the IndustriaI RevoIution at its most rough and raw.
But when the mines cIosed in the Iate 20th century,
that brought unhappiness and unempIoyment.
Merthyr TydfIl's IndustrIal hIstory began wIth Iron.
FoundrIes were establIshed to exploIt the local ore
at the start of the IndustrIal RevolutIon.
As the raIlway network grew, mIles of new tracks were made from Merthyr Iron.
Coal was also mIned, fIrst to power the Ironworks,
and later for export by raIl around the world.
I'm lookIng for what's left of that legacy
In a place that once felt the full force of VIctorIan-style IndustrIalIsatIon.
Bradshaw's paints a pretty depressing picture of Merthyr in the 1860s.
''The town is best seen at night,
for by day it iII be found dirty, ithout order, management,
decent roads or footpaths, no suppIy of water
and no pubIic buiIding of the Ieast note.''
''We do hope that proper measures iII be taken
to improve the condition of the peopIe.''
WeII, Merthyr acquired a fine town haII at the end of the 19th century.
That's now boarded up.
Even here, there's cIearIy a prospect of regeneration.
Today, Merthyr's streets bear no trace
of the dIrt and smoke of the 19th century.
But the town Is stIll a place of strong emotIons.
SInce the mId-20th century,
local people have endured hIgh levels of unemployment.
So, what do they thInk of theIr town today?
- Good morning. - How are you?
- Nice to see you. - You Iook very smart.
- Are you from Merthyr? - Yes. I'm a Merthyr Iady. Yes.
Do you remember the oId Merthyr?
The Merthyr of coaI mines and iron foundries?
That wouId be my grandfather's days. My great-grandfather's days. Or my dad.
I got memories of it. I Iove Iiving in Merthyr.
It's a wonderfuI town. It's had a Iot of sIagging off IateIy.
But it's getting there now.
There's a Iot of regeneration. It's fab.
There's a Iot of history.
PeopIe come here from aII over the worId.
I know peopIe from Canada have come here.
I go up to Pontstic a Iot. We've got beautifuI reseRVoirs.
We've got the Brecon Beacons. I cycIe. I cycIe up there.
It is wonderfuI. I wouIdn't Iive anywhere eIse.
I Iove going abroad, but I Iove home.
You've got one other thing. You've got a raiIway.
Yeah. (laughs)
How are you both?
Do you remember Merthyr in the oId days?
Loads of factories in Merthyr.
You couId go from one job to another job.
- Now you can't get anything. - (man) Nothing about.
(MIchael) You haven't mentioned steeI or coaI mining.
I wasn't a miner myseIf, but my father was.
It used to be quite busy in those days, Iike.
(woman) We don't remember the steeI.
(laughs)
We're not that ancient.
Although the Iron Industry here Is long dead,
the coal trade has seen a revIval.
But It's not been welcomed by everyone.
Have you heard about the new opencast mine?
(man) We've heard about it.
We've had enough of coaI mines in this vaIIey. We don't want another coaI mine.
Think of the dirt and the muck. We've had enough muck and dirt.
We've had it aII.
Let them go to London.
- Even though it brings jobs? - No. It onIy brings jobs to a few.
Because you've got aII the... They're industriaIised.
They've got... They'II be digging it out. They don't need miners.
A typIcal VIctorIan collIery could employ thousands of men,
workIng long hours underground.
But the Industry's 2 1st-century face Is very dIfferent.
ThIs vast crater Is Merthyr's controversIal new opencast mIne.
It employs only 200 people,
because most of the work Is done by hIghly productIve dIggers.
Ground was broken In 2007.
WhIle some oppose the scheme,
the operators claIm It wIll leave the area safer and cleaner for local people.
I'm takIng a tour wIth EnvIronmental LIaIson OffIcer KylIe Jones.
That is an epic sight, isn't it? That is a momentous hoIe.
That is a pit and a haIf.
My ''Bradshaw's GuIde'' tells me that Merthyr coal Is worked
''mostly In levels, In beds two to three feet thIck''.
ThIs Is on a completely dIfferent scale.
How much coaI iII you be removing from here?
About an estimated 1 1 miIIion tonnes of coaI over the Iife of the project.
How does this reIate to mining in the days of the 19th century, for exampIe?
AII that you can see in front of you today
has actuaIIy previousIy been mined by deep mining methods.
You can see the past history of aII the mining that has gone on here
in terms of tunneIs, oId cuIverts, oId workings.
The mIne's supporters claIm that those abandoned workIngs
made the area dangerous.
The company has pledged to reclaIm the land,
returnIng It to Its pre-IndustrIalIsed state wIthIn 1 7 years.
But fIrst, the coal wIll be extracted
and used to produce electrIcIty at nearby Aberthaw Power StatIon.
Now you've reaIIy brought me to the coaIface.
I have indeed. We're actuaIIy standing on coaI right now.
And that great scoop, how much coaI is that taking out?
It's about three-quarters of a tonne per scoop.
Loading it into the Iorries
and it's going to be taken up to the disposaI point.
I mean, to me it's just amazing, the productivity of this.
You think how Iong a miner, working in a narrow seam underground,
wouId have had to Iabour to take out three-quarters of a tonne.
Here, it's going out every few seconds.
That's amazing, isn't it?
That's right.
It's a far cry from the coal Industry of Bradshaw's day.
But one thIng that hasn't changed Is how the fInIshed product Is transported.
A Iot of your coaI is going out by train, is it?
Most definiteIy. AII our coaI today has actuaIIy Ieft the site via train.
(MIchael) These are big trains.
AbsoIuteIy. We're carrying about 1 400 to 1500 tonnes of coaI
on each train that Ieaves the site.
And how many are you shipping?
RoughIy about 24 is the maximum in a week.
On a normaI week, about 1 4 or 15 trains Ieave the site.
An awfuI Iot of coaI.
I mean, it's aIways been that way.
I'm reading my 19th-century guidebook here.
It says, ''The coaI and iron of Merthyr TydfiI are the chief exports.''
''The quantity aImost doubIes itseIf every two or three years.''
Then he says, ''But great as that suppIy may seem,
it's scarceIy equaI to the demand created for it by the raiIways.''
- RaiIways have aIways been big here. - DefiniteIy.
These raiIway Iines wouId have carried coaI and iron owe away historicaIIy.
We're stiII using them today.
Whatever your vIews on the project,
the sheer scale of thIs operatIon Is awe-InspIrIng.
To loosen the rocks so that the coal can be dug, explosIves are used.
Before I leave, I'm goIng to see the mountaIn beIng blasted.
(man) Press it in.
Fire in ten seconds.
Wow.
There she bIows!
My day in Merthyr ends not ith a whimper, but a bang.
I'm now swappIng thIs man-made IndustrIal landscape
for the beauty of the Brecon Beacons NatIonal Park,
home to the famous mountaIn range.
I'm pIckIng up the traIn just outsIde Merthyr TydfIl.
This is Pant Station.
My Bradshaw's says,
''This pIace is situated in the midst of very beautifuI mountain scenery.''
''The opening of the Brecon and Merthyr RaiIway in 1864
has brought the charming scenery of the Upper Wye ithin easy reach.''
Seeing these mountains today, it's hard to beIieve
that they were once threaded ith hundreds of miIes of raiIway.
To seejust how extensIve thIs network once was,
I'm meetIng raIlway owner Tony HIlls.
- Tony! - HeIIo.
What a beautifuI train. What a IoveIy Iocomotive.
What's the Iocomotive?
WeII, it's American.
It came from PhiIadeIphia in the USA.
It spent aII its working Iife in South Africa hauIing Iimestone.
I see you're cIutching the RaIlways of Great BrItaIn HIstorIcal Atlas.
- What's that about? - SpIendid book.
It shows the raiIways aII over the country,
going back many years.
There's a typicaI page there shoing the odd raiIway.
You turn over the page and behoId.
(MIchael) That is amazing.
These are the vaIIeys of south WaIes?
And a raiIway Iine running up absoIuteIy every singIe...
That is the most extraordinary picture, isn't it?
(Tony) AII coaI and iron and so on.
A Iot of this has cIosed.
It has, yes. The main trunk routes are stiII open.
Brecon to Cardiff. Things Iike that.
But the VaIIey Iines, most of those are gone
ith the demise of the coaI mining industry.
WeII, there's one that's reopened, by the Iook of it.
- Can we take a ride? - Of course we can.
- Thank you. - PIeasure.
In Bradshaw's day,
thIs stretch of the Brecon and Merthyr RaIlway was a passenger servIce,
used by people from the remote farms and vIllages.
Now It's been resurrected as the Brecon MountaIn RaIlway.
ThIs vIntage steam engIne Is takIng me through some spectacular scenery.
Thanks to the efforts of Tony and hIs colleagues,
It's an experIence enjoyed by tens of thousands of tourIsts every year.
So, how was it that this raiIway here was revived?
WeII, we were Iooking for a pIace to buiId a raiIway.
I have to stop you there. Why did you want to buiId a raiIway?
Because we Iike steam engines.
And I'd been coIIecting Iocos for a IittIe whiIe.
And rebuiIt them.
The next IogicaI step was finding somewhere to run them.
There was five-and-a-haIf miIes of raiIway we couId obtain.
It took seven years, I think it was, to obtain the Iand.
It had been soId off to 1 4 or 15 different Iandowners.
(MIchael) Amazing.
The Infrastructure had all but dIsappeared.
Tony and hIs famIly set about
recreatIng a narrow-gauge raIlway almost from scratch.
But this is a Iife's Iabour.
WeII, we've been at it for over 30 years, yeah.
You've been at it for over 30 years?
(Tony) It's not finished yet. We've got more to do.
We've got to extend the raiIway further.
More Iocos we're buiIding. The carriages here are 30 years oId.
They're starting to get a IittIe bit scruffy.
It goes on forever, you know?.
In summer, thIs servIce runs up to fIve tImes a day,
helpIng to mInImIse car traffIc Into the stunnIng NatIonal Park.
I fIrmly belIeve there's no better way to enjoy thIs landscape.
You've had to rebuiId the whoIe raiIway Iine.
You had to do the bridges.
You had to do the stations, the engines, the carriages.
The onIy thing you didn't do was the view.
That's right.
We didn't need to do anything to that. That was aIright.
In many ways, the rIse and fall of IndustrIal Merthyr
mIrrors the story of the whole regIon.
But travellIng on thIs lIne today
remInds me that despIte the IndustrIalIsatIon of the 19th century,
the Valleys stIll offer dramatIc natural beauty.
Iron ore is no Ionger mined from these hiIIs,
the deep coaI pits are gone
and the raiIway network's been pruned back sharpIy,
but not aII trace of the past has been Iaid to rest.
Vast reseRVes of coaI are now being recovered by open mining.
They're being shifted in modern raiIway wagons down through Cardiff
on tracks first Iaid in Bradshaw's day.
On the last leg of my journey,
I'll dIscover how the 19th-century steel trade has been brought up to date...
I can feeI the heat of the bIast furnace.
I can see a stream of moIten iron.
I can see sparks fIying. I can see smoke.
Now, this fantastic train is emerging.
..goIng on a VIctorIan adventure to see a marvel of the natural world...
It's wonderfuIIy wet and wonderfuIIy thriIIing, isn't it?
It's kind of very, very romantic.
..and learnIng how Industry gave bIrth to beautIful musIc In Bradshaw's day.
So, how Iong have you been in the choir?
OnIy 53 years.
- No! - Yes.
(laughter)