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.
I'm now coming to the end of a journey inspired by my Bradshaw's GuIde,
across the north of EngIand, from the North Sea to the Irish Sea.
The new network of raiIways
enabIed Victorians to enjoy the beauty and the history of their country,
and the most intrepid of them even ventured overseas.
On my last leg of thIs raIl adventure,
I'll be vIsItIng an Island steeped In smugglIng hIstory...
He stepped onto his ship and his trousers spIit,
discharging the tea into the harbour water beIow him.
..dIscoverIng BrItaIn's fear of enemy spIes In the Second World War...
The British Government toId the Manx Government
to teII aII the boarding house keepers and hoteIiers to move out
at ten days' notice.
..and scalIng the heIghts to vIew seven kIngdoms.
We're in the GuInness Book of Records for having
the oIdest working tram in history.
I started thIsjourney on the EnglIsh-ScottIsh border
and It's taken me through the IndustrIal heartlands of the north of England
as well as mesmerIsIng countrysIde.
Now I'm on the fInal leg, across the IrIsh Sea,
to the enIgmatIc Isle of Man.
ThIs last stretch begIns at Heysham, before crossIng the sea to Douglas,
the Isle of Man's capItal,
and endIng atop the Island's only mountaIn.
I'm headed for the IsIe of Man.
And my Bradshaw's makes it cIear how new technoIogy had made it accessibIe.
''This isIand in the midst of the Irish Sea may be easiIy reached
from the three kingdoms by a few hours' steam
as it's onIy 70 miIes from LiverpooI.''
The Victorians Iiked the IsIe of Man because it was exotic,
it was kind of abroad,
aIthough it was reassuringIy British.
I've taken the traIn west from Lancaster to Heysham
at the southern end of Morecambe Bay,
so that I can catch a ferry to the Isle of Man.
The ferry servIce has been runnIng sInce 1 830 and I can stIll feel
the excItement and antIcIpatIon the VIctorIan travellers felt
as they ventured across these waters.
Steam power shortened dIstances,
and the VIctorIans relIshed theIr new opportunItIes.
TraIns and steamshIps brought
prevIously far off destInatIons wIthIn comfortable reach.
Ships are no Ionger powered by steam,
but this is the oIdest continuaIIy operating ferry company in the worId.
And George Bradshaw wouId be deIighted that its stiII caIIed Steam Packet.
AIthough I might have to expIain to him the ''dot com''.
Packets were tradItIonally scheduled cargo and passenger shIps.
And because theIr orIgInal functIon had been to carry maIl,
the name ''packet'' stuck.
Before the advent of ferry servIces,
saIl packet crossIngs to the Isle of Man had been perIlous.
ShIps were often forced back to England after days at sea.
And durIng the wInter months, the Island could be cut off for weeks at a tIme.
Today, thankfully, In beautIful weather,
the crossIng wIll seem, If anythIng, too short.
Like a Victorian tourist bound for the IsIe of Man,
I bid goodbye to the EngIish coast.
But unIike a Victorian, I Ieave behind Heysham NucIear Power Station.
Nuclear power Isjust one of the many changes
to both the physIcal and cultural landscape
that would today astonIsh VIctorIan tourIsts,
who In theIr day vIsIted the Isle of Man en masse.
Once upon a tIme, the Island had a roguIsh reputatIon.
Author RIchard Platt has come aboard to enlIghten me.
- MichaeI. Hi. - Very good to see you.
My Bradshaw's teIIs me that at one time
the chief prosperity of the IsIe of Man arose from smuggIing. Can that be true?
The IsIe of Man was more or Iess independent of the EngIish crown
for about three centuries from the beginning of the 15th century.
And the taxes on the IsIe of Man were very, very Iow.
Enormous quantities of contraband
were smuggIed from the IsIe of Man back to EngIand.
And it wasn't just what we normaIIy associate ith smuggIing,
so aIthough there was things Iike brandy and tobacco,
there were aII sorts of commodities Iike tea, which were highIy taxed.
There was a huge expansIon of Illegal Imports Into BrItaIn
In the 1 8th and early 19th centurIes.
DurIng thIs tIme, taxes rose dramatIcally
to pay for expensIve European wars.
FarmIng was strugglIng and poverty was rIsIng.
Lawless or spIrIted cItIzens fought back wIth smugglIng.
And did this penetrate far into IsIe of Man society?
AbsoIuteIy, it went right from the very, very top of society
to the Iowest IeveIs.
There's a story about a schooI teacher caIIed MyIes Crowe,
who was smuggIing contraband in the earIy Victorian times.
And he was an incompetent smuggIer.
It was very fashionabIe at that time
for men to wear baggy trousers buckIed beIow the knee.
And he was a sIim, gaunt sort of figure, so what he did was
he bought a pair of these baggy trousers and fiIIed them up ith tea.
And he was discovered when he stepped onto his ship and his trousers spIit,
discharging the tea into the harbour water beIow him.
Just add water, that's how you make tea. That's how it's done
ExactIy right, that's just what happened.
Tobacco was a favourIte luxury targeted by smugglers,
many of whom were well-to-do merchants who could deprIve the BrItIsh Treasury
of hundreds of thousands of pounds In lost revenue.
Contrary to the romantIc Image
of a strIped-jersey-clad smuggler rollIng barrels up a moonlIt beach,
most smugglIng was well organIsed and took place on pItch-black nIghts.
But wIth so much money to be made, even by lone IndIvIduals,
smugglers lIke our IntrepId school teacher were undaunted.
When he tried to smuggIe tobacco,
tobacco at that stage was wound into ropes or ribbons,
and what he did was to undress and wrap the tobacco around him.
This was quite a common technique,
but smuggIers usuaIIy had the sense to wrap it over their underwear
and MyIes Crowe made the mistake of stripping compIeteIy naked
and wrapping himseIf in tobacco.
And the resuIt of this was that when he got on the ship,
the nicotine from the tobacco was permeating through his skin
and it sent him into a compIete narcotic fog.
He was having a nicotine high.
He was having a very big nicotine high
and a member of the crew discovered the tobacco
and the captain was outraged
that he might be prosecuted for this smuggIing activity,
so he turned MyIes Crowe over to the customs authorities
and there's a description of him being unwound Iike a top.
As they puIIed the tobacco off him, he spun on his heeIs.
In the late 1 8th century,
the BrItIsh Government fInally tIred of the huge tax losses
and secretly purchased the Island from the owner the Duke of Atholl.
That brought It under the control of BrItIsh customs,
makIng It much harder for the Islanders to maIntaIn a base for smugglIng.
Fortunately for them, In the 19th century, a new source of Income opened.
Mass tourIsm.
DougIas, according to my Bradshaw's GuIde,
''is a pIeasant bathing and fishing port in front of a fine bay''.
And ith these IoveIy white terraces down at the seafront,
it has aII the feeI of a Victorian resort.
The VIctorIans are credIted wIth InventIng the seasIde holIday.
As raIlways made access to the coast fast and InexpensIve,
seasIde towns shaped themselves Into resorts.
In the late 19th century,
the workIng classes enjoyed Increased leIsure tIme and wages
and ImItated the well-heeled travellers by becomIng tourIsts.
Such holIdaymakers, clutchIng theIr ''Bradshaw's GuIde'',
mIght have alIghted from the ferry to catch a horse-drawn tram,
precIsely as I'm doIng.
My drIver, or ''tram lad'', Is Peter Cannon.
- Do go to the Regency HoteI? - We go right past the door.
- May I hop in? - Jump on.
Peter, I never dreamed that I'd be abIe to ride on a horse-drawn tram
in the 21st century.
When did aII this begin?
(Peter) 1876 it started.
So what was the point of it?
WeII, a gentIemen caIIed Thomas Lightfoot retired here from EngIand,
saw the potentiaI to make a few shiIIings, I think, and set it up.
At the time the IsIe of Man was taking off a bit at a tourist resort.
Saw a gap in the market, I think.
(MIchael) It's run continuousIy ever since?
Apart from the Second WorId War, we're in the 135th year now.
''Bradshaw's'' descrIbes Douglas, the Island's capItal,
as ''the most lIvely place on the Island,
and the horses trot brIskly the length of the VIctorIan promenade. ''
WIth tourIsm at Its heIght In the VIctorIan and EdwardIan eras,
amazIngly, the horse trams conveyed a mIllIon passengers each season.
It's the world's oldest survIvIng horse-drawn tram servIce
and It runs on tracks, makIng It, In my book anyway, a raIlway.
How Iong have you been ith the tram?
Erm, some peopIe might say too Iong.
1975 I started, so I've been here for 35 years.
(MIchael) And was it busier in those days?
(Peter) Yes.
At the moment we run a 20-minute seRVice.
When I first started we'd probabIy run a two-and-a-haIf minute seRVice.
So, erm, that wouId be 16 trams. Now it's onIy two.
And how many horses today?
Today we've got 20 working horses
and some younger ones who are just going through the training process.
Easy, Iad, easy, easy, easy.
(MIchael) What sort of horses do you use?
BasicaIIy, they're CIydesdaIes.
Shires wouId be too heavy,
so CIydesdaIes are just about right for this sort of thing.
This is your stop, MichaeI.
- Thank you very much, Peter. - You're weIcome.
- Thank you then. - CaII again.
Thank you.
I've descended from the charmIng tram onto the grand VIctorIan seafront
In order to fInd my lodgIngs for the nIght.
For once, George Bradshaw Is less than complImentary
about some of the Island's accommodatIon.
According to Bradshaw's, in the IsIe of Man,
''there are no roadside inns worth the name,''
and ''the aIe is wretched stuff''.
But then he says that Iiving is toIerabIy cheap here
and the Iodgings moderate.
He says, ''ExceIIent board and Iodging being had for £30 per annum.''
ActuaIIy, I wasn't thinking of staying that Iong.
After a fascInatIng day's travel, I plan to get an early nIght
and rIse wIth the lark,just as my VIctorIan forebears mIght have done,
as I sense that there are many more treats to come on thIs quIrky Island.
The Regency has served many vIsItors over Its 150 year career.
But I understand that the Second World War brought long-term guests
who weren't vIsItIng of theIr own free wIll.
IntrIgued, I'm meetIng local radIo presenter
and voIce of the Isle of Man for 30 years, Terry CrIngle.
Good morning, Terry.
Good morning, MichaeI, weIcome to the IsIe of Man. (translates Into Manx)
Very good to see you.
I beIieve you come from this very spot, more or Iess?
Yes, this is my home territory.
Behind you, you see that bIock of apartments.
Before that was buiIt, there was a bIock of boarding houses,
private hoteIs, if you ish.
My parents' one was right in the middIe of it.
That's where I was born.
The shore down there was my adventure pIayground.
I Ioved it and I stiII do, actuaIIy.
- So, your parents had a boarding house? - Yes.
- Made a good Iiving? - Oh, yes, they did.
I mean, taIking about the '30s now, that was when thousands of peopIe
came to the IsIe of Man on hoIiday, not Iike today.
It was known as the pIayground of Lancashire.
What's your most enduring memory of chiIdhood?
ObviousIy the war. I was eight years oId when it started, 1939.
And everything changed dramaticaIIy.
EspeciaIIy when it came to 1940.
That was when the British government toId the Manx government
to teII aII the boarding-house keepers and hoteIiers
to move out at ten days' notice.
Get out compIeteIy, find somewhere eIse to Iive.
Find another way of making a Iiving.
- And it was very drastic. - Why was this?
This was because the pIan was to turn aII these buiIdings
into internment camps for enemy aIiens.
They were German, Austrian, peopIe who happened to be
Iiving in Britain at the time and found themseIves on the wrong side of the war.
And they were swept up and brought over here, thousands of them,
because they might have been a potentiaI threat to nationaI security.
WorrIed by the possIbIlIty of spIes InfIltratIng the war effort,
the BrItIsh government sent 1 4,000 enemy alIens
to be Interned on the Isle of Man.
The hotel where I stayed last nIght
was one of the many used as an Internment camp.
One of the Internees, ItalIan SIgnor GIovannellI,
gIves an ImpressIon of a very seIf-suffIcIent communIty.
''In the basement was the barber shop, the carpenter's shop
and the weIfare offIce
and an ItalIan elementary school, whIch I ran for the saIlors
who couldn't read or wrIte, even In theIr own language. ''
- What happened to your parents? - They were fortunate.
Their boarding-house was handy
and that was not requisitioned, they didn't have to get out.
But it was turned into biIIets for the British army guards,
who guarded the prison camps.
But for me, the soIdiers in the house was tremendous.
Khaki uniforms and bayonets and Short Lee-EnfieId rifIes.
That was great.
The Isle of Man Isn't part of the UnIted Kingdom, but a Crown dependency
and Its parlIament at the Tynwald
has been In exIstence for over a thousand years.
The Island's known as a tax haven because It's able to pass Its own laws
and to levy taxes at much lower rates than BrItaIn's.
My Bradshaw's GuIde teIIs me about the history of smuggIing on the isIand.
That was a time when peopIe didn't want to pay the British taxes.
Today it's a Iow tax regime.
Is there a kind of anti-estabIishment feeIing amongst Manx peopIe,
that they don't want to pay too much over to government?
That's true enough.
They beIieved, as far as they were concerned,
this was their isIand, they wanted to run it their way. That stiII appIies.
I think, to this day,
because we stiII have a IittIe troubIe over taxes ith the UK.
I think down there in London they stiII say,
''The IsIe of Man is a smuggIing centre, you know.''
I know it's 250 years ago, but I think the spirit is stiII there.
The Islanders' fIercely Independent character
has brought It to occasIonal frIctIon wIth the UnIted Kingdom.
And I ImagIne that when the VIctorIans were flockIng to the Island to holIday,
the encounter wIth a dIstInct cultural IdentIty was IntrIguIng.
It's one of the thIngs that even now rewards the traveller.
In Bradshaw's day,
the Island wasn't wholly relIant on tourIsm for Its wealth.
VIctorIan engIneerIng success
allowed the Isle of Man to exploIt Its mInes, too.
In the entry for Laxey, my Bradshaw's says,
''Kirk Lonan is on a stream which passes mines of Iead, copper and sIate.''
So, it's time to put on the hard hat.
Laxey Is a small vIllage, just seven mIles north of Douglas
on the east coast of the Island,
where lead and zInc mInIng began In the 1 8th century.
My guIde In the tunnels Is local hIstorIan Andrew Scarf.
Bradshaw's GuIde teIIs me they mined copper and Iead here. Is that right?
(Andrew) That's right, MichaeI, yes. Lead was the main mineraI.
It was a very vaIuabIe ore at the time.
Was this a fairIy extensive mine?
It was indeed. The section we're in now
is onIy reaIIy a very smaII portion of the mine.
OriginaIIy it went down to about 2,000ft deep.
Once the raIlways arrIved from the 1 830s onwards,
excellent buIldIng materIals could be carrIed around the country.
WhIlst lead was popular as a roofIng materIal,
Iron provIded the superstructure for monumental buIldIngs,
such as the Kew Gardens greenhouses
and the spectacular spans at raIlway statIons,
such as Newcastle Central and London St Pancras.
I see we're waIking on tracks. Was there a raiIway system in the mine?
There was. There was a smaII steam raiIway
that ran in for about two miIes underground. As far as I'm aware,
it was the onIy mine in Britain that had a raiIway
that went in such a manner underground for such a Iength.
That was used to bring the mine mineraIs out to the surface.
OrIgInally, ponIes hauled the wagons full of ore,
but In 1 877, two mInIature steam locomotIves named Ant and Bee
replaced horse power.
The raIlway ran the full length of the maIn level of the mIne,
carryIng ore out to the washIng floors above ground,
where It was prepared for shIppIng.
But the mIne's IngenIous steam raIlway wasn't the only feat
of VIctorIan engIneerIng brIllIance developed here on the Isle of Man.
We came in just now from what appeared to be ground IeveI
and yet this mine is sopping wet.
We've been dripped on aII the way through.
Water's obviousIy been a probIem here.
It was a major probIem right through the history of the mine,
ith the water seeping in, fIooding the Iower workings.
(MIchael) And so what did they do about that?
There's no coaI on the IsIe of Man
to buiId a traditionaI steam pumping engine,
so they actuaIIy used the water,
which was the probIem, to drive a water wheeI.
And notjust any water wheel.
Lady Isabella Is the bIggest workIng water wheel In the world.
Way ahead of Its tIme as an eco-powered pump,
thIs dramatIc example of VIctorIan engIneerIng, buIlt In 1 854,
pumped an astonIshIng 250 gallons of water per mInute
from the mIne 1500ft below.
It reaIIy is a fantastic piece of machinery.
How big is it?
It's 72' 6'' in diameter, six feet ide and 227ft circumference.
It's the worId's biggest working water wheeI.
WhIlst the wheel operated nIght and day
to keep the water-logged tunnels safe for the mIners,
It also became Immensely attractIve to tourIsts,
an astoundIng 13,000 vIsItIng In 1 877 alone.
Was this created by one of the great Victorian engineers?
It was created by a chap caIIed Robert Casement,
who was born here in Laxey. He was a seIf-taught engineer.
Because I wouId say this was one of the great Victorian engineering wonders,
but it was created by a IocaI man.
It was indeed, yes. SeIf-taught man, engineer and miIIwright.
This was a very famous opening in its day.
I've got here an IsIe of Man £20 note.
And this shows the opening ceremony.
A wonderfuI iIIustration of aII these Victorians gathered around.
Yeah, September 1854 and there was about 3,000 peopIe who came out to Laxey
to itness the officiaI opening ceremony of the new water wheeI.
Both the water wheel and the raIlway
have been restored to theIr full VIctorIan glory.
The locomotIves ply agaIn along the route
where the metal ores once travelled,
a quarter of a mIle up the valley to the mIne entrance.
- You aII Iook spIendid. - Yes, thank you.
(MIchael) Very smart.
Never desIgned for passengers, It's perfectly formed but small.
It's quite Iow, isn't it? WeII, in I go.
(whIstle toots)
The IsIe of Man seems to be Iaced ith raiIway Iines.
It's a kind of train spotters' paradise.
And unfortunateIy during my brief stay on the isIand,
I've onIy had the chance to visit one, two, three of the many that there are.
I'm comIng to the end of both my ''Bradshaw's''journey
and my vIsIt to the Isle of Man.
But I don't Intend to leave before usIng the thIrd raIlway on my wIsh-lIst,
whIch promIses to be the most spectacular.
I'm about to go up the mountain of SnaefeII,
and according to my Bradshaw's,
''the view from the summit embraces the isIand and the sea in which it is set''.
''As far as the shores of EngIand, WaIes, ScotIand and IreIand,
if the air is sufficientIy cIear.''
According to IocaIs, if the air isn't sufficientIy cIear,
Iike on a wet day Iike today, you can't see your hand in front of you.
By the mIddle of the 19th century, the VIctorIans had overcome theIr fears
of the revolutIonary raIlway technology
that they'd once thought mIght suffocate or boIl Its passengers.
In fact, the majorIty of the populace had fallen In love wIth raIl travel,
so the thrIvIng tourIst Industry on the Isle of Man
encouraged the development of 70 mIles of steam and electrIc raIlways
to satIsfy thIs thIrst for adventure and exploratIon.
One example Is about to take me to the peak of the only mountaIn on the Island.
HeIIo.
I've chosen to travel on the Snaefell MountaIn RaIlway,
whIch ascends fIve mIles from Laxey
to the summIt of Snaefell, 2,000ft above sea level.
RaIlway worker RIchard LIttle Is my fellow passenger.
- Richard. - Hi, MichaeI.
This is an eIectric raiIway, a fairIy earIy eIectric raiIway.
I was intrigued when I was up there
that there's a raised third raiI in the middIe. What's that?
(RIchard) A feII raiI.
That's necessary for the tram to cIasp it
to protect it from the inds and turbuIence,
which, as you can see, are quite strong on this mountain.
- Stop us bIoing off the top? - Yes.
Snaefell ElectrIc RaIlway was buIlt In 1 895 Injust seven months,
fIve mIles straIght up the mountaIn.
It's the only electrIc mountaIn raIlway In the BrItIsh Isles,
and It relIes solely on raIl adhesIon to overcome the steep gradIents.
And rIdIng on It more than a century later,
It's ajoy to experIence a VIctorIan desIgn
so lIttle changed sInce Its InceptIon.
You've got a very picturesque fIeet of cars.
Are they reproductions?
No, no, aII our roIIing stock is aII the originaIs.
So, we're taIking about 1890s roIIing stock?
Yes, yes. In fact, we're in the GuInness Book of Records
for Manx EIectric RaiIway
for having the oIdest working tram in history, so... doing weII.
You can just imagine then that in these very cars,
Victorian tourists wouId have taken this trip up to the top of SnaefeII.
Yes. In the tourism peak,
we had around 900 tourists traveIIing up and down in one day,
which is a very impressive amount,
stiII achievabIe today during speciaI events,
and of course good weather heIps.
(MIchael) Now, I suppose on a cIear day,
we'd be having a fabuIous view from here?
(RIchard) Yes. At the summit, on a cIear day, you'II see the seven kingdoms,
which is EngIand, IreIand, ScotIand, WaIes, the IsIe of Man,
Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of the Sea.
Today, however, you're Iucky enough to see a fine exampIe of Manannan's cIoak,
which is part of Manx foIkIore.
Manannan, being the God of the isIand,
uses his cIoak to hide the isIand from Viking invaders and attackers.
So, as you can see, the isIand's getting shieIded niceIy.
It seems that, today, the God Manannan fears InvasIon very much
because the top of Snaefell Is wrapped In a cloud
and deluged from the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Victorians fIocked to the IsIe of Man for the thriII of venturing abroad.
And indeed, they do things differentIy here.
But those earIy tourists aIso found raiIways
and exampIes of engineering exceIIence that were reminiscent of home.
And they aIso encountered an indomitabIe spirit,
which is characteristic of aII of us born in these isIands.
On my nextjourney, my ''Bradshaw's'' Is leadIng me across the IrIsh Sea.
StartIng In the RepublIc of Ireland,
I'll travel on the Island's very fIrst tracks,
then head up the east coast and on to Northern Ireland.
Along the way, I'll be meetIng
some unusual traIn passengers at DublIn Zoo...
If I were a ticket coIIector and I came across a crocodiIe on the train,
I wouIdn't seek to extract the fare, either.
..puttIng myseIf In a traIn drIver's shoes...
(gasps)
Oh, dear. I think we're aII dead.
..and takIng a whIte-knuckle tour of the stunnIng north-east coast.
I read the Bradshaw's description of this bridge,
but nothing prepared me for what it's reaIIy Iike.