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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,
I'm making a series of journeys

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across the length and breadth
of these isles

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to see
what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.

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Steered by my Bradshaw's Guide,
I'm now at the halfway point

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of my journey from London Paddington
to Newton Abbot.

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Today, I shall complete my crossing
of the county of Somerset.

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On this leg, I'll be exploring
a church that moves

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in mysterious ways.

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That's extraordinary! It really is
moving from side to side!

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I'll find out just what it takes
to run a 19th-century signal box.

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I had no idea what a signalman
needed to do

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was so responsible and so physical

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And I'll summon all my strength

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to shift
a 110-tonne steam locomotive.

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HE GROANS

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She's moving!
I can't believe it, she's moving.

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On this journey, I'm paying tribute
to Isambard Kingdom Brunel,

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master engineer
of the Great Western Railway.

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I started at Paddington station,
one of his finest monuments,

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travelled west through Wiltshire
and into Somerset,

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and I'll finish at Newton Abbot
in Devon -

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the scene of
one of his magnificent failures.

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I'm covering 25 miles on this leg,

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travelling north-west
through Somerset

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ending on the coast at Minehead.

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My first stop today is Taunton.

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My Bradshaw's tells me
that it was successfully defended

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against the Royalists during
the English Civil War

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and also that, there,
the ill-fated Duke of Monmouth

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proclaimed himself King in 1685.

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Legend has it that Queen Victoria
was so incensed

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by this history
of anti-monarchic feeling

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that whenever she crossed Taunton,

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she would draw the curtain
in her railway carriage window

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so as not to see
her disloyal subjects.

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Looks like Taunton is trying to make
up for its anti-Royalist past...

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"Somerset's county town,"
says my Bradshaw's,

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"has a most pleasing appearance,
situated in the central part

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"of the luxuriant
Vale of Taunton Deane."

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The guidebook's also captivated
by one church, St Mary Magdalene.

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Bradshaw's tells me that
the tower of Taunton's gothic church

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is of Henry VII's age,
153 feet high,

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of light and elegant proportions,

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and set off with pinnacles,
battlements and niches

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in the elaborate style of that day.

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And I'm hoping the vicar
can tell me more.

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BELLS PEAL

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Hello, Michael. Welcome.
Lovely to see you.

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My Bradshaw's tells me that the
tower here is of Henry VII's age,

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so it's very historic.
Ah! But it isn't quite.

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It's not strictly true -
it's a facsimile of the original.

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The original was 1508, but in
Victorian times, they rebuilt it.

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They've rebuilt it very faithfully
because it doesn't look Victorian.

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Well, you know what the Victorians
were like, they always liked to add,

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but they resisted that temptation.
They didn't put a clock face there.

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They just built it as it was
because it was so magnificent.

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The restoration of the church
and tower was overseen

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by renowned Victorian architect
George Gilbert Scott.

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One of Britain's
most prolific architects,

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over 800 buildings in the UK
were restored or designed by him,

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including, in London,
the St Pancras Midland Hotel

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and the Albert Memorial
in Kensington Gardens.

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So, St Mary Magdalene's tower
is in esteemed company.

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Out into the glorious sunshine.

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MICHAEL PANTS

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As we came up, my heart was pounding
more and more.

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The steps were getting steeper
and steeper,

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and also, thinner and thinner!
I have size 11 feet!

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MICHAEL SIGHS
Not easy... Not easy.

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Rod, having walked up
all those steps,

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gives you an appreciation of the
task of building this tower in 1508

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and the Victorians rebuilding it.
What do you know of the rebuilding?

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There is a lovely story
about the Victorian rebuild.

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In those days, of course,

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it was before they had
a lot of mechanical help,

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so the building was done by pulleys,
blocks, tackles

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and a donkey.

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The donkey went backwards
and forwards for several years

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down Hammet Street, pulling
the heavy stones up the tower.

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Then, right at the end,

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when the tower was finished
in its magnificence,

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the builders took the donkey all the
way up, to here where we stand now,

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to give him a good view
of what he'd helped to build.

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The donkey must have thought it was

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an "Eeyore-some" view. Goodness me!

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HE CHUCKLES
Yes, I'm sure he did!

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There is something else about the
tower and that relates to the bells.

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There are 15 bells -
12 are regularly rung -

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but they are infamous
in the bell-ringing world.

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They are not terribly good,
they need replacing.

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Well, you just watch what happens
when I call them up.

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OK, folks, ready to ring.

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BELLS RING

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BELLS RING, MICHAEL LAUGHS

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I know what happens!

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The tower sways!

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I am standing in the centre
of the tower and it's going...

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..wobbly...

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BELLS CONTINUE

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That's extraordinary, it really is
moving from side to side.

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I was once in a skyscraper in
an earthquake and it felt like this.

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Luckily, I trust Victorian builders.
Yes.

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BELLS PEAL

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The Victorians' appetite for railway
building meant that

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by the end of the 19th century,

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whilst mainlines joined
the country's major cities,

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branch lines had penetrated
almost every corner of the country.

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One such line, engineered by Brunel,
was the West Somerset Railway,

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which ran from Taunton
to the Somerset coast.

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Today the line starts
five miles out of town.

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When my Bradshaw's was written,
the West Somerset line was new.

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"14 miles long, It runs through
Bishops Lydeard, Crowcombe,

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"Stogumber and Williton,
to the market town of Watchet."

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Today, it runs
from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead,

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a distance of 20 miles,
making it the longest stretch

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of standard-gauge heritage railway
in the United Kingdom.

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I'm going on it,
and I'm steaming with excitement.

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I've done a lightning change,

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because on this trip,
not for me the passenger carriage.

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No, I'm headed for the footplate.

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Hello. Pleased to meet you, Michael.

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Can I come on?
Please do. Come aboard.

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Driver Merv Hebditch
has invited me to travel up front.

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Always an exciting moment when your
steam locomotive leaves the station.

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TRAIN HISSES AND CHUGS

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TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS

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WHISTLE BLOWS

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What a glorious sound
this locomotive is making!

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TRAIN HISSES AND CHUGS

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Brunel was commissioned
to build the line.

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It was operated by the
Bristol & Exeter Railway Company

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and opened in 1862. Over a decade
later, the line was taken over

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by that most famous
of railway companies

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and one very close to
Brunel's heart - the Great Western.

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To be in England
on a summer's day is bliss,

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but to be on a steam locomotive
in West Somerset is heaven.

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Like other small rural branches,
the line closed in the 1970s.

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However, it reopened as a heritage
railway some years later,

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and is enjoyed today by passengers
who like a ticket to nostalgia.

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We've got quite a crowded train!

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Why do you think the British people
are so fascinated by steam engines?

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They're just a living thing.

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We put the fire in the morning,
it comes to life, creates steam,

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it makes a noise.
I've been doing this 52 years,

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and I still get a buzz out of it.

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I'd like to stay on, but this is
my stop. It'd be nice if you could.

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I'm disembarking at Williton,

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although it's only mentioned
in passing in my Bradshaw's Guide.

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I'm here to visit something that's
a magnet for rail enthusiasts -

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a signal box that's nearly as old
as the line itself

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and still operational.

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'Signalman Nick Budd pulls
the levers.'

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Hello! Hello, Nick,
that looks like hard work.

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It is. It's nice and warm today.
Are you a signalman, born and bred?

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No, I was an airline captain,
would you believe?

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Then I gave it up,
and decided to come here.

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What did you used to fly?

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Boeing 747s.

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It just shows
the railways attract allsorts.

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So, in those days, you had 400 lives
under your supervision,

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and you do today. Absolutely.
The only difference is speed.

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In those days,
I was flying planes at 650mph,

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and today I'm controlling trains
at 25mph.

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When's our next train?
The next train is in 20 minutes.

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That doesn't sound like much time
to a trainee signalman like me!

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First, you set the route,
and then the signals.

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Now...

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These levers are colour-coded.

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The black ones are the points.

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The blue ones LOCK the points.

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The red ones are for signals.

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The white ones are spare levers.

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The one and only brown one locks
and unlocks the gates

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on the level crossing.

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I think I'd rather fly a 747!
That sounds pretty complicated!

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Well, that's only the beginning.

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'My first job
is to close the gates.'

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Hope we are still in time.
I think, just.

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'Next, they need to be locked.'

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And home.

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Time to put off the signal now.
Number 23, please.

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It is quite pressurised, isn't it?

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The very idea that you're
responsible for people's lives.

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Usually, there's a train coming
the other way at the same time.

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'Thank goodness there isn't today!
This is complicated enough!'

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Signal.

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Back.

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Gates...

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unlocked.

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With the train in the station,
now I have to open the gates again.

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Oh, dear! How do these open?

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Ah...

198
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No.

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There's a lever the other side.

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Thank you, that was a helpful tip.
There we go.

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I had no idea
that what a signalman needed to do

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was so responsible and so physical.

203
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OK, the train's here.
The gates are open,

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the signal's on. What next?

205
00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:29,320
Now we need a token for the train
to go to the next signal box. Right.

206
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Three and one? Three and one.

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KEY RATTLES

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Take it out. I have to take that out?
That's it.

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'This Victorian token system
was a safety measure to ensure

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'that no two trains could ever be
on one stretch of single track

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'at the same time.

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00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:59,040
'Only a driver with the token
in his possession could proceed.

213
00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:01,440
'Let's hope I've got this right!'

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00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:03,280
I think you're expecting this.

215
00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:07,520
You're not the signalman!
I am for now.

216
00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:10,840
Safe journey! Thank you very much.
Bye, now.

217
00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:12,840
That went smoothly.
All we have to do now

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00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:14,680
is put that back in the machine,

219
00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:17,680
so that we can get another one out
sometime.

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A kind offer, but I think
that's my lot for the day.

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For now, it's onwards.

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I'm looking forward to experiencing
the ride as a passenger.

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My final stop of the day
is Watchet,

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which my Bradshaw's tells me has

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00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:44,360
"a coastguard station
prettily seated

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"in a secluded creek
on the Bristol Channel."

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00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:51,440
It sounds like a delightful place
to watch the last rays of the sun.

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In the 19th century,
Watchet was a busy commercial port,

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shipping locally mined iron ore

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across the Bristol Channel
to the Welsh furnaces.

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00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:04,320
The only ships docking here today
are sailboats and yachts,

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as the port is now an active marina.

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A beautiful sunset
on the Somerset coast,

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and I'm lucky to be in Watchet
to watch it.

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The sun has risen
on another beautiful morning.

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I'm continuing my journey north
on this wonderful heritage line.

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My Bradshaw's tells me that

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00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:42,280
"Dunster Castle, standing
on the cliff to the south,

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"is within a very short distance".
But when my guide was published,

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00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:47,320
you couldn't get there by train.

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00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,000
Now you take
the Dunster Castle Express.

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00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:00,960
For wealthy landowners
in the rural wilds,

243
00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:04,760
the arrival of the railway presented
huge financial opportunities.

244
00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:11,880
Some sought profit by allowing
the rail companies to build tracks

245
00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:15,080
through their estates,
whilst others saw the potential

246
00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:17,560
in bringing tourism and trade
to their area.

247
00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:22,680
One such champion
was George Luttrell.

248
00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:26,520
In 1867,
he inherited the Dunster estate -

249
00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:29,960
at the time,
one of the largest in Somerset.

250
00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:32,800
So keen was he to revitalise
his corner of the county

251
00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:35,320
that he backed plans
to extend the line

252
00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:37,880
from Watchet via Dunster
to Minehead,

253
00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:40,920
and he became the first director
of this new railway.

254
00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:47,640
And now, appearing
out of the smoke from the engine

255
00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:49,720
as though it were looming
out of a mist,

256
00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:52,880
is the magnificent sight
of Dunster Castle,

257
00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:55,320
brilliantly lit on this sunny day.

258
00:16:56,640 --> 00:16:58,360
What a sight!

259
00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:22,760
Today, Dunster is in the hands
of the National Trust,

260
00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:27,400
and volunteer guide Martin Harborne
has kindly agreed to tell me more.

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00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:32,560
What a wonderful room.
How old is the castle?

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00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:36,240
The castle, 1,000 years old.
Originally there was
a Saxon castle here,

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00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:40,640
then when the Normans arrived,
they built there big stone castle.

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00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:45,520
Then the Luttrells took it over?
Indeed. In 1376, they purchased it.

265
00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:48,360
They were here an awfully long time.
Was it 21 generations?

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00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:50,600
21 generations, 600 years,

267
00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:54,080
right through until 1976, when
the Luttrell family handed it over

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00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:56,480
to the National Trust
for their custody.

269
00:17:56,480 --> 00:17:58,720
I'm interested in
one particular Luttrell,

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00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:01,560
a Victorian, George Luttrell.

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00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:04,640
George Fownes-Luttrell,
that's his portrait up there,

272
00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:08,080
and he was involved in the total
alteration of the castle,

273
00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:11,480
by the well-known architect
of the day, Anthony Salvin.

274
00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:14,040
What sorts of things did he do?

275
00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:18,120
He completely transformed the castle
from an Elizabethan-style castle,

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00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:22,040
where the family lived at one side,
the servants lived on this side

277
00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:24,320
and they entertained in the middle...

278
00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:27,760
He turned it into a Victorian
comfortable gentleman's residence

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00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:31,640
with an upstairs and downstairs.
And using the latest technology?

280
00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:34,280
Absolutely, yes, he wanted
all the latest technology,

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00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:37,120
things that were almost unheard of
down here -

282
00:18:37,120 --> 00:18:41,000
bathrooms, and gas supplies
and those sorts of things,

283
00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:43,760
which, in the 1870s,
was really cutting-edge stuff.

284
00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:50,320
The remodelling took four years
and cost over £25,000,

285
00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:53,800
which was more than Luttrell's
yearly income from the estate -

286
00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:57,600
'a sobering £2.5 million
in today's money.'

287
00:19:02,120 --> 00:19:07,000
The billiards room was an important
part of a Victorian household?

288
00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:08,760
A most essential part.

289
00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:12,160
This was a gentlemen's room.
During the Victorian period,

290
00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:15,160
this would have been full
of the smells of cigars and brandy

291
00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:17,720
and only the men were allowed
in here.

292
00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:20,720
Was this another innovation
of George Fownes-Luttrell?

293
00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:23,640
It was. Prior to the alternations,

294
00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:26,800
this was the kitchen
of the main house.

295
00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:28,920
Unheard of in Victorian times,

296
00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:33,160
parts of the house had central
heating, and the new kitchen,

297
00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:37,000
which was built in the basement,
was well ventilated with windows.

298
00:19:38,120 --> 00:19:43,960
It was also state-of-the-art.
Mod cons included a two-oven cooker,

299
00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:48,080
a built-in bain-marie
and a dumbwaiter.

300
00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:52,920
This pioneering attitude towards new
technologies continues unabated.

301
00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:57,520
In 2008, it became the first Grade I
listed National Trust property

302
00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:00,560
to have solar panels installed.

303
00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:03,640
George Luttrell would be proud!

304
00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:07,080
Can you think of anything you'd
rather have than a beautiful castle?

305
00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:11,240
I can - a beautiful castle
with a view of steam trains.

306
00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:19,680
And that's where I'm headed.

307
00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:23,240
Back to Dunster station to pick up
the extended line,

308
00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:26,960
which so helped invigorate
this rural corner of Somerset.

309
00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:43,600
My journey continues through
stunning Somerset toward Minehead,

310
00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:47,240
which my Bradshaw's describes
as "a beautiful watering hole".

311
00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:51,120
But when the railway reached
there from 1874,

312
00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:55,040
then holiday-makers began
to arrive by the train load.

313
00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:01,120
Formerly a small fishing port,
Minehead was already popular

314
00:21:01,120 --> 00:21:04,360
amongst the wealthy
as a fashionable sea-bathing resort

315
00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:07,000
from as early as 1752.

316
00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:12,080
However, it wasn't until
train travel

317
00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:16,920
that it became easily accessible and
affordable for the middle classes.

318
00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:19,640
The West Somerset Railway
should have linked

319
00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:23,880
across the Porlocks with
the Lynton to Barnstaple line,

320
00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:28,360
but even for the Victorians, those
hills proved too great an obstacle,

321
00:21:28,360 --> 00:21:31,360
and so,
Minehead is the end of the line.

322
00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:55,360
Hello. Hello! How was the train
journey? Wonderful, stunning.

323
00:21:55,360 --> 00:21:57,600
Do you know Minehead? Not at all.

324
00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:01,680
Are you going in to have a look?
Yes. Where do you suggest we go?

325
00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:05,600
All I know is my Bradshaw's calls it
a beautiful watering hole.

326
00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:10,240
Oh! So, sounds like we've got
something to look forward to.

327
00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:16,160
A pint or a gin and tonic? Could be
either! Enjoy your day! Bye-bye!

328
00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:21,360
Today the station is packed
with steam fans,

329
00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:24,440
but in Victorian times,
it was tourists from the Big Smoke

330
00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:26,600
and South Wales
crowding the platform.

331
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:32,560
I'm meeting General Manager of this
heritage railway, Paul Conibeare.

332
00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:35,400
Paul, hello.
Michael, welcome to Minehead.

333
00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:38,880
It's a vast station
with these great, long platforms.

334
00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:42,280
That emphasises how important it was
in its heyday.

335
00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:44,640
Yes, it was a very busy
Great Western terminus,

336
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,760
and it's very long to cope with the
visitors it anticipated on the day.

337
00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:50,840
It is the terminus.
I can see hills ahead -

338
00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:54,480
presumably the Porlocks are what
prevented it from going further.

339
00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:57,720
There were plans to go to Porlock and
Lynmouth, but Sir George Newnes,

340
00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:00,160
who was involved
in the Lynton-Barnstaple railway

341
00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:02,800
didn't want the riff-raff
in their part of the world.

342
00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:05,040
The riff-raff from Minehead? Yes.

343
00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:10,240
I notice, on your trains, that
you have the engine on the front.

344
00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:15,400
That must imply that you have
some way of turning them around?

345
00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:19,440
Luckily, we've invested in a new
turntable, which was fitted in 2008,

346
00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:22,480
to provide the ability for the first
time since the early '60s

347
00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:25,120
to turn the locomotives
so they face the right direction

348
00:23:25,120 --> 00:23:27,800
for the cameras
and the visitors to the railway!

349
00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:31,920
The turning-around of extremely
heavy locomotives was a problem

350
00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:36,120
that confronted rail companies
until the dawn of the diesel era.

351
00:23:36,120 --> 00:23:39,560
At Minehead, they had to be turned
in a locomotive shed

352
00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:41,400
some distance from the tracks -

353
00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:45,080
a slow process, which ate
into the efficiency of the line.

354
00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:47,120
The shed was demolished
in the 1960s.

355
00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:52,920
This new turntable - a Victorian
original for the most part -

356
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:57,440
was purchased in 1974, but
due to lack of funding and space,

357
00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,560
it wasn't put in place until 2008.

358
00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,680
We now have a locomotive
weighing 110 tonnes,

359
00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:06,880
which our driver, David,
will show you how to turn.

360
00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:10,480
I'll just use my little finger.
Hello, David.
Reporting for duty, sir.

361
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,240
We're just going to push it, are we?
Just push it. OK, here goes.

362
00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:18,720
HE GROANS

363
00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:22,040
She's moving. I can't believe it.

364
00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:25,080
Don't know about you, David,
but I'm putting quite a lot of...

365
00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:28,960
effort into this.
I have weight on my side!

366
00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:33,200
And now...that it's...in motion...

367
00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:36,600
it gets a little bit...easier,
because...

368
00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,280
it...has...momentum.

369
00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:41,920
Somebody tells me
that stopping this thing

370
00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:46,800
is even harder than getting it
going. I'll do the stopping. OK.

371
00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:52,840
We're arriving...at our end point...

372
00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:56,360
I'm ceasing to push, cos it's moving
on its own momentum

373
00:24:56,360 --> 00:24:58,360
and you're now braking it.

374
00:25:00,360 --> 00:25:02,040
And, ohhh...

375
00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:03,840
Overshot a tiny bit.

376
00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:07,960
Just easing it back.

377
00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:10,720
You're learning to do that
pretty well.

378
00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:12,360
Ah...

379
00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:15,800
Next time, I'll do it alone.

380
00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:22,960
APPLAUSE
What can I say?

381
00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:30,360
Thanks to the likes
of George Newnes,

382
00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:33,840
a key player in establishing the
twin resorts of Lynton and Lynmouth,

383
00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:36,760
the rail link was never built.

384
00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:39,840
So I can go no further by train.

385
00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:43,480
Instead, I'll cross the impenetrable
Porlock Hill by road

386
00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:46,960
to reach the next notable attraction
mentioned in my guide.

387
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,560
Bradshaw says that tourists
"should proceed to the far-famed

388
00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:55,200
"valley of the rocks on foot,
along the cliff wall,

389
00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:57,360
"whence the scenery is very fine.

390
00:25:57,360 --> 00:26:00,720
"The view in the valley
is exceedingly grand.

391
00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:05,560
"He should employ a guide to
accompany him on his first visit,"

392
00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:07,960
and mine is called Terry.

393
00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:15,760
Hello. Hello, Michael. What gave
rise to these formations of rock?

394
00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:20,520
One time, the river ran through
here, carving out this valley,

395
00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:24,600
then the river diverted to its
present course running into Lynmouth.

396
00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:26,120
The crags you can see here

397
00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:28,760
were mainly caused
by the weathering action

398
00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:33,760
over thousands of years, leaving
complicated and intriguing shapes.

399
00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:39,720
Beautiful view.
It does take your breath away.

400
00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:43,520
At this point,
we're about 500ft above sea level.

401
00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:46,440
Whoa, it's a long way down. Yes.

402
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,480
So, who created this path?
It was one of the hotel owners.

403
00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:53,480
He wanted it for his tourists.
He wanted a romantic walk,

404
00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:55,560
something that was sensational.

405
00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:58,640
It must've attracted painters
and writers over the years.

406
00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:02,480
It did. Some of the early visitors
were Keats and Shelley.

407
00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,880
They went home
and romanced about this place

408
00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:08,600
and they nicknamed it
"Little Switzerland".

409
00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:12,400
At one point, it was said it was
the grandest walk in England.

410
00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:29,480
I've had a wonderful journey
from Taunton,

411
00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:33,040
enjoying travel, Victorian-style,
by steam train.

412
00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:37,000
I've filled my lungs with smoke
and my eyes with smuts.

413
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:40,280
What better place to blow them away,
than here on the Devon cliffs

414
00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,520
where the romantic poets
drew inspiration -

415
00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:45,600
one of the finest views in England.

416
00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:55,480
On my next journey, I get up close
with a piece of natural history...

417
00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:58,760
It's a moa egg, it's
an extinct bird from New Zealand.

418
00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:04,120
There's only 36 specimens of a decent
size been catalogued in the world.

419
00:28:04,120 --> 00:28:08,840
I visit a garden used as a viewing
platform for public hangings...

420
00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:11,120
We've got three tiers going up,

421
00:28:11,120 --> 00:28:14,000
and according to the records,
they were full.

422
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:16,560
It was shoulder-to-shoulder,
line-to-line of people.

423
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:19,480
..and encounter
a timepiece like no other.

424
00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:22,880
In my political career, Peter,
I met a few two-faced liars,

425
00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:25,360
but this is my first experience
of a four-faced liar.

426
00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:28,000
One of them's correct, though!
THEY LAUGH

427
00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:46,440
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