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In 1840, one man transformed
travel in the British Isles.

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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,

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I'm making a series of journeys
across the length and breadth

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of these isles to see
what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.

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I'm now on the second stage
of my journey from London to Devon.

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Today's leg takes me across
Wiltshire and Somerset

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starting with some of
the most iconic images of England.

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On today's leg,

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I visit a tourist hotspot
that's been captivating visitors

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since the Victorian era.

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This is the granddaddy of all castles
and cathedrals

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and skyscrapers, this is
the beginning of architecture.

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Thank you very much.

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I take to the air...

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I think George Bradshaw would have
loved this machine,

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but he would have been even more
amazed to find out

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that there would be trains that
went faster than this thing does.

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And I try my hand at cloth making,
the 19th century way.

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This is more difficult than it
looks.

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You're horsing around with me,
aren't you?

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On this journey, I'm tracking
the master engineer

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of the Great Western
Railway, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

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I began at one of his greatest
successes,

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London's Paddington Station,

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and I'll end my journey
in Newton Abbot,

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the scene of one of his most
brilliant failures.

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This leg covers 51 miles.

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From Wiltshire, I'll venture into
Somerset, finishing up at a station

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that for most of the year is
a picture of peace and tranquillity.

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My first stop is Salisbury,
whose cathedral

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with its slender spire,
has attracted the admiration

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of visitors over centuries including
the author of my Bradshaw's guide.

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"It has the great advantage of being
not only uniform in design,

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"but offers a complete specimen
of the style of that age,

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"namely early English",

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and in my view that style is one of
unsurpassed elegance.

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The cathedral was begun in 1220 and
the main body completed in 38 years.

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An astonishing feat
when you consider its scale.

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The spire, the tallest
in the United Kingdom,

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was added over 50 years later

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and has proudly presided
over the city for 700 years.

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The artist John Constable
made this vista famous

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of what Bradshaw's describes as
"a magnificent edifice

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"begun by Bishop Poore", but then my
Bradshaw strikes a different note

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saying "unfortunately the city
lies low

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"and though its water meadows
are pleasant to look at,

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"the courts in which the poor live
are in a filthy state".

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Evidently there was more to
Salisbury than met the artist's eye.

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Despite being founded
in the 13th century,

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Salisbury could in fact best be
described as a new town,

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a "medieval Milton Keynes".

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The original settlement,
known as Old Sarum,

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was located on a hill to the north.

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However, in 1220,
deteriorating relationships

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between the clergy
of Old Sarum and the military

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led to a new cathedral
being built here

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and a new city purposefully
designed and set around it.

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The new city of Salisbury was
built on a series of chequers,

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a grid system a bit reminiscent
of a modern American city.

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My Bradshaw's says most
of the streets are laid out straight

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and regular with rilles
four or five foot broad

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running through them
from the Avon, Nadder and Wylye

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and it was these rilles
or water channels

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that gave so many health problems
in Victorian England.

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In the summer of 1849,
the medieval water system

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carrying human waste led to
a devastating cholera epidemic

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that killed nearly 200 citizens.

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I'm meeting Adrian Green, curator of
the Salisbury and Wiltshire Museum.

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Adrian, good morning.
Hello, pleasure to meet you,

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I'm getting an extraordinary
impression of Salisbury

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in the middle 19th century,
the poor in their courts

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living in filthy conditions,
what's Bradshaw's referring to?

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He's referring to the places
where people used to live

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in the middle of the 19th century,
which they actually lived in

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going right back into Medieval
Times. Filthy, filthy conditions.

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And there were these rilles,
these water channels

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criss-crossing the city -
a kind of Amsterdam, was it?

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That's right, it was often
referred to as an English Venice,

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but that was somewhat glamorising
the situation because these rilles

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were basically open sewers,
running through the streets.

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And so that gave rise to the health
problems, to cholera?

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That's right, because there was no
organised water supply in Salisbury.

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People got their water supply
from the ground, right by where
these rilles or water channels were.

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So dirt would seep into the ground
and people would then get their

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own drinking water from the very
same place that all the dirt was.

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Was it well understood that the
cholera was coming from the water?

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People were beginning to understand
that. There were local doctors

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who were beginning to pick up
on the idea that cholera

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seemed to be concentrated where
these open water channels were.

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And they petitioned the local
council to do something about it,

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but nothing happened so they went
one stage higher.

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They went to the National
Board of Health in London,
to the government inspector

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and they invited down a man called
Thomas Rammell, who did an inquiry

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to find out what the causes
were of the terrible
conditions in Salisbury.

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This enquiry was carried out in
1851 and determined that disease

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did indeed arise from the rilles,

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and recommended that
the 700-year-old waterways

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be replaced with
subterranean brick-built sewers.

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A mammoth engineering project
which would take years.

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However, in the process of removing
the old water channels,

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the Victorian workmen unearthed
hoards of archaeological treasures.

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To keep the artefacts in Salisbury,
a museum was founded

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and that's where the
collection is now housed.

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And here we have some of drainage
collection on display.

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It looks like a fantastic collection
of everyday items - spoons
and knives and forks and scissors.

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That's right.
It's a real snapshot of daily life,

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going back through the Middle Ages.

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And in particular, they have a very
fine collection of pilgrim badges

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which date back to the Medieval
period before the Reformation.

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And why are these things
so nicely preserved?

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It's basically because they
fell into the mud in the bottom

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of the water channels
and there was no oxygen there.

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It slowed down the process of decay.

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Objects made out of things like
pewter, for example,

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which would normally rot away
and deteriorate,

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in this case have survived,
and to an exceptional
level of preservation.

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Well, it's really a very fine
collection.

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Yes, it is an absolutely fine
collection.

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Let's go and look at some of the
others in storage. OK, fantastic.

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I thought I'd show you
one of my favourite pieces

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which is a fabulous chess piece.

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That is exquisite.
What's that made of?

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It's made of walrus ivory. It dates
back to the 13th century,

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which is about the time that
Salisbury Cathedral was constructed.

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It's a king piece, as you can see
he's wearing his crown,

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sitting on horseback

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and then protected by a
whole series of foot-soldiers.

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Absolutely beautiful.

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Your collection really is of a
national standard, isn't it?

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That's right, it is.

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We are designated by the Department
of Culture, Media and Sport

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because our collections are
so important

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and one of the main reasons
is because of this collection.

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For more than century and a half
railway passengers have been

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attracted to Salisbury, not
just for its magnificent cathedral,

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but also because of its proximity
to of one of the world's most
enigmatic ancient historic sites,

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to which I'm headed now.

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Bradshaw's says, "Salisbury Plain
is a turfy naked tract.

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"In the flattest and most solitary
part are the celebrated
Druids' Circles of Stonehenge."

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Bradshaw's
admits that it's ever been

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considered the greatest wonder in
west of England, but then says

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"Stonehenge is apt to disappoint
the stranger at the first sight

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"and to some it is a trifle indeed."

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Well, it may not be built
on the scale

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of a Victorian railway station,
but I'm impressed by its antiquity.

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Hello, do you like Stonehenge?
Yes!

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I'm reading a Victorian guide book,
a 19th-century guide book.

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It says, "Stonehenge can disappoint
the stranger at first sight."

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Do you agree with that?
Do you find it disappointing?

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No, not at all.
Where have you come from?

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I've come from Florida.

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Ah, well, that's very interesting
because my guidebook also says

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that in the 19th century an
American came here and looked at it,

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looked up at the stones on
top of each other and wondered that

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anyone should think anything of it
at all. How do you react to that?

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He's an idiot!

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MICHAEL LAUGHS

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So what's your reaction?
Have you been moved to see it?

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Yeah, I mean, I'm here.

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I've paid money to fly across
the country to see it.

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It's just as astounding
as a pyramid.

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So you have not been disappointed?
Not at all.

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Well, you've rescued the reputation
of your nation, well done! OK.

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I'm so relieved to discover that
nowadays an American has come here

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and expressed the proper
sense of awe.

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George Bradshaw ought to know
about this.

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One of the most recognisable ancient
monuments on the planet,

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Stonehenge has been a UNESCO
World Heritage Site since 1986.

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The true significance of this
antiquity has become

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confused in the mists of time,
but there are plenty of theories

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and I'm hoping that Blue Badge
guide and expert David Richards

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will be able to enlighten me.

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Hello, David.
Hello, Michael.

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I've been steered here as usual
by my Bradshaw's Guide,

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which tells me that this is
Druids' Circles, is that correct?

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Sadly not so. The Druids
are a Victorian construct.

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This was built by people 5,000
years ago, long before the Druids.

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And they had to bring these
stones a long distance,
that's the wonder of it, isn't it?

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It is, astonishing that these stones

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weighing 30-40 tonnes should be
dragged 25 miles from the north,

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some of them coming -
the smaller ones - from South Wales.

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And the purpose of building
this was religious?

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Yes, I'm sure it was.

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With the setting of the midwinter
sun and the rising

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of the summer solstice, I'm sure it
was used for religious purposes.

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And what else?
Well, it is one of the biggest,

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if not THE biggest ancient cemetery.
200 people are buried there.

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The place is very popular
with tourists today,

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but I think it was in the Victorian
era too, wasn't it?

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Absolutely, yes.
The railways did that.

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When the railways come to Salisbury
in 1847, everything is transformed.

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The South Western Railway
advertises in the Times of London,

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"Go to Stonehenge.
It'll cost you three and sixpence
in an open carriage",

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an open carriage,
good gracious, on a day like this!

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And the Victorians came
in multitudes.

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Day-trippers coming to party
and to picnic.

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Just like today's tourists,
they also wanted a snapshot.

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The earliest photograph
of the stones dates back to 1853

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and was owned by Prince Albert
himself,

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but by the end of the century thanks
to advances in technology

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and the canniness of one guide,
William Judd,

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an instant souvenir
was accessible to all.

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Armed with a camera,
he set up a mobile studio

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and darkroom on the site
and, for the right price of course,

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he would oblige visitors
with a souvenir print.

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Bradshaw's also tells me that
there are about 140 stones,

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but it's impossible to count them
and if you count them twice

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and get the same number twice,
that's unlucky.

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Well, that's a myth
which is still told today.

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Is it really?
But the Victorians, mind you,

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when they came they got into all
sorts of trouble

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because people had read that,
and they'd come here,

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they'd say
"I'm going to crack this,"

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and they'd go round and they'd chalk
the stones,

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so the stones were
covered in numbers,

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which local people didn't like.
Victorian vandalism. Oh, absolutely.

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It wasn't good, and so...

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but the worst vandalism of
all was that

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people would arrive from London,
I suspect, with hammers

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and they would whack the stones
and take a chunk of it back home.

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And so the railways
and Stonehenge ultimately led to

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the Ancient Monuments Protection Act
of 1882.

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What is the importance
of Stonehenge in the human story?

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00:14:13,730 --> 00:14:17,010
This is the granddaddy of all
castles and cathedrals

229
00:14:17,010 --> 00:14:19,690
and skyscrapers, this is
the beginning of architecture.

230
00:14:22,330 --> 00:14:26,010
I could linger all day by these
enduringly fascinating stones,

231
00:14:26,010 --> 00:14:27,610
but I must continue.

232
00:14:27,610 --> 00:14:31,250
I'm returning to Salisbury
to travel on an alternative line

233
00:14:31,250 --> 00:14:32,490
to the Great Western.

234
00:14:43,250 --> 00:14:45,890
I'm on my way now
to Yeovil Junction.

235
00:14:45,890 --> 00:14:49,370
My guide tells me that the
town has a fine Gothic church

236
00:14:49,370 --> 00:14:52,410
and a large market which
occurs on Fridays.

237
00:14:52,410 --> 00:14:57,090
In the vicinity is Brympton House,
the old seat of the Fane family.

238
00:14:57,090 --> 00:15:00,530
Well, the present owners
have invited me to dinner.

239
00:15:15,130 --> 00:15:19,010
There has been a manor at Brympton
since 1220.

240
00:15:19,010 --> 00:15:22,290
However, the current house
dates from the early 15th century,

241
00:15:22,290 --> 00:15:24,770
with Elizabethan
and Jacobean additions.

242
00:15:26,130 --> 00:15:29,770
It's built in its entirety
from local Somerset hamstone,

243
00:15:29,770 --> 00:15:32,810
which gives the house its mellow,
honeyed hue.

244
00:15:35,450 --> 00:15:36,730
What a beautiful house!

245
00:15:38,690 --> 00:15:42,530
I'm meeting current owner
and old acquaintance, Bill Glossop.

246
00:15:44,010 --> 00:15:45,410
Bill, how good to see you.

247
00:15:45,410 --> 00:15:48,250
Hello, nice to see you.
Long time since we've met.

248
00:15:48,250 --> 00:15:50,490
Long time. Do come in.
Thank you so much.

249
00:15:54,610 --> 00:15:57,810
One of the most interesting
things about the house is this

250
00:15:57,810 --> 00:16:01,290
wonderful terrace which...people
who come here for weddings

251
00:16:01,290 --> 00:16:04,130
love to come straight out
of the wedding room

252
00:16:04,130 --> 00:16:06,530
and have a glass
of champagne on here.

253
00:16:06,530 --> 00:16:11,370
It was built by Lady Georgiana Fane
in Victorian times

254
00:16:11,370 --> 00:16:15,330
and it was she who sold
the land for the railway

255
00:16:15,330 --> 00:16:20,130
which runs between Yeovil
and Taunton which has
now been made into a road.

256
00:16:21,370 --> 00:16:25,010
The spread of the Victorian railway
network was largely dependent

257
00:16:25,010 --> 00:16:27,850
on local landowners
like Lady Georgiana

258
00:16:27,850 --> 00:16:30,170
agreeing to sell their land.

259
00:16:30,170 --> 00:16:34,170
Whether they championed this new
mode of transport or held out

260
00:16:34,170 --> 00:16:37,410
in order to make substantial gain,
without their agreement,

261
00:16:37,410 --> 00:16:41,050
large swathes of countryside
would have remained inaccessible.

262
00:16:43,730 --> 00:16:46,930
Thank you so much, Bill, for having
us. Lovely to see you all.

263
00:16:46,930 --> 00:16:47,890
And you. Cheers!

264
00:16:59,770 --> 00:17:02,410
It's a new day and before
I leave Yeovil,

265
00:17:02,410 --> 00:17:04,410
I have further exploring to do.

266
00:17:08,890 --> 00:17:11,730
Bradshaw's tell me
that Yeovil is an ancient town,

267
00:17:11,730 --> 00:17:14,250
the seat of a considerable
glove trade.

268
00:17:14,250 --> 00:17:17,450
Nowadays the town has its finger
in a bigger pie

269
00:17:17,450 --> 00:17:21,530
and for a rural county,
manufacturing here
has really taken off.

270
00:17:24,130 --> 00:17:30,330
Yeovil is now home to the UK's sole
helicopter producer, AgustaWestland.

271
00:17:30,330 --> 00:17:33,850
The company's origins can be traced
back to the late 19th century

272
00:17:33,850 --> 00:17:37,730
when it was founded by the Petter
brothers, Ernest and Percy.

273
00:17:40,490 --> 00:17:42,730
Westland helicopters
has a particular place

274
00:17:42,730 --> 00:17:47,090
in my personal experience
and indeed in political history

275
00:17:47,090 --> 00:17:50,170
because an order for helicopters
led to a massive row

276
00:17:50,170 --> 00:17:54,210
in Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet,
the resignation
of Michael Heseltine

277
00:17:54,210 --> 00:17:56,250
who stormed out of the Cabinet room,

278
00:17:56,250 --> 00:17:59,450
and very nearly the demise
of Margaret Thatcher herself.

279
00:18:03,730 --> 00:18:07,570
'Today I'm meeting up with
employee of 20 years, Ted Udall,

280
00:18:07,570 --> 00:18:10,650
'to find out how this firm
took flight.'

281
00:18:10,650 --> 00:18:12,490
Ted, good morning. Morning, Michael.

282
00:18:12,490 --> 00:18:16,130
I believe this Westland goes all
the way back to Victorian times?

283
00:18:16,130 --> 00:18:17,490
Yes, indeed - the 1860s.

284
00:18:17,490 --> 00:18:20,610
It started off as a little hardware
shop in centre of Yeovil.

285
00:18:20,610 --> 00:18:26,290
It gradually expanded
from there into stoves,

286
00:18:26,290 --> 00:18:29,410
and then later on into
agricultural machinery.

287
00:18:29,410 --> 00:18:31,370
When did they get into aircraft?

288
00:18:31,370 --> 00:18:34,610
Well, it wasn't until the start
of the First World War

289
00:18:34,610 --> 00:18:39,850
when Lloyd George made
a speech in the House where
they needed more armaments,

290
00:18:39,850 --> 00:18:43,730
and more support for the war.
And the management of the company

291
00:18:43,730 --> 00:18:47,610
decided to write off to
the Admiralty and the War Office

292
00:18:47,610 --> 00:18:50,690
and the Admiralty said,
"Well, please come and see us."

293
00:18:50,690 --> 00:18:54,530
From that they said,
"Well, you're a high-tech company,
why don't you build aeroplanes?"

294
00:18:56,770 --> 00:19:01,650
The firm was originally commissioned
to build 30 Short patrol seaplanes.

295
00:19:01,650 --> 00:19:06,330
Production was so successful
that by 1918 the Petters
had built their own airfield

296
00:19:06,330 --> 00:19:11,690
and 1,100 planes
had rolled off the production line.

297
00:19:11,690 --> 00:19:15,650
With the end of the war, they
diversified into civil aircraft,

298
00:19:15,650 --> 00:19:19,410
but peace was to be short-lived
and during the Second World War

299
00:19:19,410 --> 00:19:23,650
they manufactured the most iconic
of British fighters - the Spitfire.

300
00:19:24,810 --> 00:19:27,090
But now the business is helicopters.

301
00:19:27,090 --> 00:19:29,490
Yes, indeed, since 1946.

302
00:19:29,490 --> 00:19:33,130
So give me a quick rundown of
which helicopters you deal with.

303
00:19:33,130 --> 00:19:35,650
In here we've got Sea Kings
which are being refurbished.

304
00:19:35,650 --> 00:19:38,010
They've been in service quite
a long time now.

305
00:19:38,010 --> 00:19:40,330
We've got Merlin helicopters
on this side

306
00:19:40,330 --> 00:19:42,370
which are the current
Royal Navy ones.

307
00:19:42,370 --> 00:19:46,530
And we've got the Lynx
and its replacement, the Wildcat.

308
00:19:46,530 --> 00:19:50,170
My Bradshaw's guide mentions
that Yeovil was once
famous for glove-making.

309
00:19:50,170 --> 00:19:52,810
It really is a long way
from glove-making to aircraft.

310
00:19:52,810 --> 00:19:55,730
Yes, it certainly is, but of course
that was one of reasons why

311
00:19:55,730 --> 00:19:59,130
the company decided that they could
go into aircraft making anyway.

312
00:19:59,130 --> 00:20:03,010
One of the local skills, part of the
glove-making industry, is sewing.

313
00:20:03,010 --> 00:20:05,810
And aircraft,
in those very early days,

314
00:20:05,810 --> 00:20:09,090
you had to spread canvas over
the wooden frame and sew it together.

315
00:20:09,090 --> 00:20:11,330
So that gave the company
that confidence.

316
00:20:11,330 --> 00:20:16,330
'The early success of the factory
was very much linked

317
00:20:16,330 --> 00:20:19,450
'to its proximity to Yeovil's
complex rail network,

318
00:20:19,450 --> 00:20:23,570
'so I'm taking to the skies
to survey how it looks today.

319
00:20:23,570 --> 00:20:31,490
'My lift - a twin-engine AW109, used
for VIP travel and air ambulances.'

320
00:20:31,490 --> 00:20:33,370
Riding alongside the train now.

321
00:20:33,370 --> 00:20:37,290
It seems that Yeovil once was pretty
much criss-crossed by railways.

322
00:20:37,290 --> 00:20:42,570
Yes, indeed it was. The original
railway came in from the west

323
00:20:42,570 --> 00:20:46,730
and then the other line came in
from the north to the south.

324
00:20:46,730 --> 00:20:50,490
And there were, at one point,
four separate railway stations,

325
00:20:50,490 --> 00:20:53,170
including the one on the main
east-west line

326
00:20:53,170 --> 00:20:57,010
which runs a couple of miles
south of the town. Amazing.

327
00:20:58,810 --> 00:21:03,090
I think George Bradshaw, who loved
engineering and innovation,

328
00:21:03,090 --> 00:21:04,610
would have loved this machine,

329
00:21:04,610 --> 00:21:06,930
but he would have been
even more amazed to find out

330
00:21:06,930 --> 00:21:11,530
that there would be trains that
went faster than this thing does.

331
00:21:11,530 --> 00:21:14,810
He certainly would, yes.
The technology has moved on a pace.

332
00:21:16,210 --> 00:21:21,770
Sadly, it's back down
to earth for me as I continue
the journey westwards.

333
00:21:21,770 --> 00:21:24,890
I'm leaving Yeovil from its only
other surviving station,

334
00:21:24,890 --> 00:21:29,010
Pen Mill, where I've rejoined
Brunel's Great Western railway.

335
00:21:32,770 --> 00:21:36,450
My next stop is Castle Cary
which my Bradshaw's tells me

336
00:21:36,450 --> 00:21:41,490
has the remains of a castle
built by William de Percheval
in the reign of King Stephen.

337
00:21:41,490 --> 00:21:44,010
I've always thought
it a very beautiful name

338
00:21:44,010 --> 00:21:48,370
and I assumed that it must be one
of England's sleepiest stations.

339
00:21:52,450 --> 00:21:55,490
It's certainly a picture of peace
and tranquillity.

340
00:21:56,570 --> 00:21:59,250
And I'm told that on any normal day,

341
00:21:59,250 --> 00:22:03,050
Castle Cary is used by fewer
than 800 passengers.

342
00:22:03,050 --> 00:22:05,770
'However for a few days in June
most years,

343
00:22:05,770 --> 00:22:08,530
'that figure rises dramatically.

344
00:22:08,530 --> 00:22:13,570
'I'm going to meet station manager
Dave Martin to find out why.'

345
00:22:13,570 --> 00:22:15,210
Dave, hello.

346
00:22:15,210 --> 00:22:19,250
Congratulations on a lovely station,
and a very quiet one too.

347
00:22:19,250 --> 00:22:21,130
Thank you very much.

348
00:22:21,130 --> 00:22:24,210
It seems to be quite quiet today,
but it's not always.

349
00:22:24,210 --> 00:22:28,610
We're the closest station to the
site for the Glastonbury festival

350
00:22:28,610 --> 00:22:31,850
so it turns into quite
an entertaining place to be.

351
00:22:31,850 --> 00:22:33,490
Lots of people coming by train?

352
00:22:33,490 --> 00:22:37,530
Absolutely. About 18,000 people
coming through the station
to go to the festival.

353
00:22:37,530 --> 00:22:39,610
It's hard to imagine in this
little station.

354
00:22:39,610 --> 00:22:41,810
It is. It takes a lot of organising,

355
00:22:41,810 --> 00:22:44,290
and they all want to go
back on the same day as well.

356
00:22:44,290 --> 00:22:46,130
And they'd all be well behaved,
of course.

357
00:22:46,130 --> 00:22:48,370
The majority are.

358
00:22:48,370 --> 00:22:51,570
One or two seem to think
they can turn up without a ticket.

359
00:22:51,570 --> 00:22:53,130
So, what ploys do they try?

360
00:22:53,130 --> 00:22:57,490
Occasionally, a few people will
come from very local stations

361
00:22:57,490 --> 00:23:00,490
that aren't that well populated.

362
00:23:00,490 --> 00:23:03,170
And somebody came along who'd
obviously glanced out of the window

363
00:23:03,170 --> 00:23:06,330
at Bruton station that
they'd gone through, but not
quite caught the name.

364
00:23:06,330 --> 00:23:09,850
We asked him where he'd come from
and he said Buxton

365
00:23:09,850 --> 00:23:12,570
so we were quite happy
to charge him £96.

366
00:23:15,330 --> 00:23:18,250
Long before the music fans
began to pass through here,

367
00:23:18,250 --> 00:23:21,810
Castle Cary was better
known for its textile industry.

368
00:23:23,970 --> 00:23:25,490
By the 19th century,

369
00:23:25,490 --> 00:23:28,410
the town specialised in producing
a hard-wearing

370
00:23:28,410 --> 00:23:32,650
luxury fabric made, remarkably,
using horsehair.

371
00:23:32,650 --> 00:23:37,250
And one company survives
manufacturing the material

372
00:23:37,250 --> 00:23:39,530
just as it did 140 years ago.

373
00:23:41,090 --> 00:23:44,210
Anna Smith is the managing director.

374
00:23:44,210 --> 00:23:46,690
Anna, hello. Hello, hi.
It's good to see you.

375
00:23:46,690 --> 00:23:47,850
So this is horsehair.

376
00:23:47,850 --> 00:23:50,890
I wondered whether I would recognise
it, but I certainly do.

377
00:23:50,890 --> 00:23:53,930
Yes, that's right. It's the tail
hair from horses, working horses,

378
00:23:53,930 --> 00:23:57,370
live animals that
have their tails cut.

379
00:23:57,370 --> 00:24:01,090
And what do you actually do with it?
We weave it into upholstery fabric.

380
00:24:01,090 --> 00:24:03,490
And what are the advantages of that?

381
00:24:03,490 --> 00:24:06,130
It's a very durable,
hard-wearing fabric.

382
00:24:06,130 --> 00:24:09,770
It'll last more than 100 years
if it's properly upholstered.

383
00:24:09,770 --> 00:24:11,570
And how long has this
factory been going?

384
00:24:11,570 --> 00:24:15,450
The company's been going since 1837.
It was started by John Boyd,

385
00:24:15,450 --> 00:24:18,210
he was a travelling Scotsman
who came down to this area.

386
00:24:18,210 --> 00:24:20,530
How unusual is it now
to produce horsehair?

387
00:24:20,530 --> 00:24:22,770
There's only two of us
left in the world, that's us

388
00:24:22,770 --> 00:24:25,690
and there's a company in France
and that's it now.

389
00:24:25,690 --> 00:24:27,850
I'm intrigued to see this
industrial process.

390
00:24:27,850 --> 00:24:30,090
Can we go in and have a look at it?
Yes, certainly.

391
00:24:31,210 --> 00:24:33,450
'First, the hair has to be
straightened.'

392
00:24:34,810 --> 00:24:38,410
That looks like a bed of nails.
I'm not required to lie on it, am I?

393
00:24:38,410 --> 00:24:43,490
No, but we pull the hair through it.
It's called a hackle.

394
00:24:43,490 --> 00:24:45,330
What's the technique, Duncan?

395
00:24:45,330 --> 00:24:49,370
Hold it tight there, start with the
ends, gradually pull them through.

396
00:24:49,370 --> 00:24:51,010
Mind if I have a go at that?

397
00:24:51,010 --> 00:24:53,410
Start with the ends. Yeah.

398
00:24:55,250 --> 00:24:57,570
Ooh, that's not so good, is it?

399
00:24:57,570 --> 00:24:59,650
This is more difficult that it
looked.

400
00:24:59,650 --> 00:25:01,570
You're horsing around with me,
aren't you?

401
00:25:01,570 --> 00:25:04,010
It takes a little bit of practice.

402
00:25:04,010 --> 00:25:06,010
So how long do you do this for,
Duncan?

403
00:25:06,010 --> 00:25:07,650
Just a couple of minutes.
It depends.

404
00:25:07,650 --> 00:25:09,810
You can feel
when it goes through easily.

405
00:25:12,530 --> 00:25:17,690
It's tougher than it looks,
actually.

406
00:25:17,690 --> 00:25:20,410
Ah, that's better.

407
00:25:20,410 --> 00:25:22,890
I'm getting better, aren't I?
Oh, yes.

408
00:25:24,290 --> 00:25:27,970
How I learned to hackle.
Thereby hangs a tail. It'll do.

409
00:25:27,970 --> 00:25:32,170
It needs a little bit more work
before the weavers get it!

410
00:25:33,250 --> 00:25:35,450
'I think I had better leave
it to the pros.

411
00:25:36,570 --> 00:25:39,970
'The hair is then dyed, a process
which takes a week.

412
00:25:39,970 --> 00:25:42,610
'The length of the fabric
is made up from cotton,

413
00:25:42,610 --> 00:25:46,730
'silk or linen threads
wound on what's called a warper

414
00:25:46,730 --> 00:25:50,970
'whilst the bundles of horsehair
are placed directly on the loom

415
00:25:50,970 --> 00:25:56,410
'and each single tail hair
is picked out to make up
the width of the fabric.'

416
00:25:56,410 --> 00:25:59,610
I've stepped into the 19th century.
This is amazing!

417
00:25:59,610 --> 00:26:02,690
Yes, not much has changed.

418
00:26:02,690 --> 00:26:05,010
It's like a museum,
but it's in production.

419
00:26:05,010 --> 00:26:09,650
Historically, children were used to
pick the hair out of the bundles,

420
00:26:09,650 --> 00:26:14,690
but the 1870 Education Act abolished
child labour in favour of schooling.

421
00:26:16,330 --> 00:26:20,370
So Boyd diversified by inventing
and patenting special looms

422
00:26:20,370 --> 00:26:22,810
to mimic the skills
of little fingers.

423
00:26:26,250 --> 00:26:29,410
Remarkably, those
machines are still in use today,

424
00:26:29,410 --> 00:26:32,490
now powered by electricity
in place of steam.

425
00:26:35,210 --> 00:26:38,130
So you have the
horsehair across the width

426
00:26:38,130 --> 00:26:41,450
and the yarn to give you
the length direction.

427
00:26:41,450 --> 00:26:45,370
Can I touch that?
It's a lovely feel to it, isn't it?

428
00:26:45,370 --> 00:26:48,410
I don't want to
put my fingers in there, though.

429
00:26:48,410 --> 00:26:50,810
It's a beautiful pattern.
This is really lovely.

430
00:26:50,810 --> 00:26:53,490
Yes, the pattern dates
back to about 1900

431
00:26:53,490 --> 00:26:55,370
so it's still the original pattern.

432
00:26:55,370 --> 00:26:59,450
The looms are the same speed
as hand-weaving,

433
00:26:59,450 --> 00:27:03,490
so they only weave two-three metres
per day, per loom.

434
00:27:03,490 --> 00:27:08,130
Each hair is put in individually
and we have 90 hairs in one inch,

435
00:27:08,130 --> 00:27:14,010
so the loom has to go backwards
and forwards 90 times just
to produce one inch of cloth.

436
00:27:14,010 --> 00:27:16,650
You're producing something
really special here.

437
00:27:16,650 --> 00:27:19,890
What kind of uses did it used to be
put to in Victorian times?

438
00:27:19,890 --> 00:27:21,650
It was used mainly for upholstery,

439
00:27:21,650 --> 00:27:25,050
but it was also used in railway
carriages because it was so durable.

440
00:27:25,050 --> 00:27:27,170
Well, I think this would have been
fit for use

441
00:27:27,170 --> 00:27:29,850
in the royal railway carriage
of Queen Victoria.

442
00:27:29,850 --> 00:27:30,850
Definitely!

443
00:27:36,970 --> 00:27:40,610
George Bradshaw might be amazed
that in the 21st century

444
00:27:40,610 --> 00:27:43,090
we're still using Victorian sewers

445
00:27:43,090 --> 00:27:46,330
and there's a factory still
producing horsehair.

446
00:27:46,330 --> 00:27:51,610
But more astonishing is
that engines that once powered
agricultural equipment

447
00:27:51,610 --> 00:27:55,850
have evolved into helicopters
employed in our national defence.

448
00:28:00,930 --> 00:28:02,890
On the next leg of my journey,

449
00:28:02,890 --> 00:28:06,410
I'll explore a church that
moves in mysterious ways.

450
00:28:06,410 --> 00:28:10,690
That's extraordinary. It really
is moving from side to side.

451
00:28:10,690 --> 00:28:15,570
I'll find out just what it takes
to run a 19th-century signal box.

452
00:28:15,570 --> 00:28:18,810
I had no idea that what a signalman
had to do

453
00:28:18,810 --> 00:28:21,570
was so responsible
and so physical.

454
00:28:21,570 --> 00:28:28,730
And I'll summon all my strength to
shift a 110-tonne steam locomotive.

455
00:28:28,730 --> 00:28:29,970
She's moving.

456
00:28:46,610 --> 00:28:49,490
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