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In 1840, one man transformed
travel in Britain.

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His name was George Bradshaw

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

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Stop by stop,
he told them where to go,

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what to see and where to stay.

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And now, 170 years later, I'm aboard
for a series of rail adventures

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across the United Kingdom to see
what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.

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My journey continues through
Suffolk.

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This flat terrain produces a big,
beautiful dome of sky

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and beneath it the green land

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and the rivers that run between it
are rich in food.

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'On this leg, I discover that
19th century engineering
was pretty sharp.'

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And there it goes.

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The extraordinary thing is
a Victorian would recognise that

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because it was made in much
the same way. Absolutely.

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'Shell out for seafood
near Mersey Island.'

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Enormous. So this is the sort of
oyster that once cleaned up,

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could appear on my plate.
Certainly is, yeah.

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'And I'm tainted
in an Essex orchard.'

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That's where the phrase
"caught red-handed" came from.

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Indelible stain of crime.

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My journey, which began in Norwich,

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now continues south-west
through Suffolk,

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past Chelmsford in Essex,

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then across the Thames at Tilbury,

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through the Medway towns of Kent
and its largest port, Dover,

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before moving west to Tunbridge,
down to the Sussex coast

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and ending in the cathedral
city of Chichester.

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Today's leg begins in Ipswich,

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moves south-west to crack open
the Essex delights of Colchester

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and Witham, and picks up
radio waves in Chelmsford.

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Bradshaw's tells me that Suffolk
is one of the best cultivated
districts in England,

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almost exclusively a farming county,

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being conducted upon
the most improved principles.

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There was innovation in agriculture

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long before
the industrial revolution

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and East Anglia
was in the forefront.

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Set on the bank
of the Orwell estuary,

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Ipswich
- one of England's oldest towns -

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has been an important trading centre
since the Saxons settled here.

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It became one of the richest
ports in medieval England

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and thrived on shipbuilding.

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When the railways
arrived in Ipswich in 1846,

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they ran to the new docks,
from where the town's iron goods

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and farm machinery
could be moved easily

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to customers around the country.

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Here I am at Ipswich,
which Bradshaw's tells me is a port,

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borough town and capital of Suffolk.

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Then it tells me
that Ransomes & Sims

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machine and implement works
cover 14 acres.

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Could that be instrumental
in the agricultural improvement

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that Bradshaw's tells me about?

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Founded in 1785 by Robert Ransome
during the agrarian revolution,

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Ransomes of Ipswich has been making
agricultural equipment ever since.

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The company was originally
situated at the docks,

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where it also built
its own railway sidings.

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I'm keen to find out just
how important Ransomes was

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to the economy of Ipswich
in Bradshaw's day.

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Richard Comely is the company's
marketing director.

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Hello Michael, welcome.
Very good to see you. Thank you.

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Bradshaw's tells me that Ransomes
& Sims covered an area of 14 acres.

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That's in 1864 -
it must have been enormous.

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Some 3,500 people were employed here,

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making ploughs, mowing machinery,
all kinds of agricultural equipment.

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In 1832, Ransomes won the licence
to manufacture a brand new product.

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Engineer Edwin Budding's invention,

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based on the napping of cloth
in cotton mills,

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would revolutionise
19th century gardening.

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Until such time as
the mower came along,

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people were cutting grass
with scythes,

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and obviously, that had limitations,
especially with short grass.

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What's the breakthrough
about the lawn mower?

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The principle is we have these
rotating blades that are in a spiral

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and we have this bed knife,
which is the stationary part

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that the rotating blades
rotate against.

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The reason they're in a spiral
is to feed the power in more evenly

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and to eliminate the kind of
chopping motion

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you would get if the blades
were all in straight lines.

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This is fundamentally
what Budding invented.

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Actually, that's a fantastic
thought isn't it?

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That a fellow came up
with this idea 180 years ago

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and really, it's recognisable
to this day. Exactly.

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In 1867 the company produced
more than 1,000 lawn mowers

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and Royal recognition followed
when Queen Victoria acquired one

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to tend the lawns
of her beloved Balmoral.

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Might I have a go at that?
Absolutely.

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Give it a whirl.
Thank you very much.

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Let it catch the second roller
as you go through,

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press the button there.
Look at that! Curving away.

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That's basically what you've got.

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Isn't that beautiful?
It's formed a spiral.

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And there is goes.

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And the extraordinary thing is that
a Victorian would recognize that

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because it was made in much the
same way. Absolutely.

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In the 21st century, Budding's
blades are fitted to mowers

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that cut sports fields
all over the world.

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The factory is unexpectedly
surrounded by top quality grass

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and each model has to meet
green keeper Jamie Hughes'
standards.

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This is a golf course attached
to a factory. It is.

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It's unusual to come onto
an industrial estate

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and see a golf course.

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Gosh, you've got machinery old
and new here. This is what?

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We've got the Budding here,
the original.

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This is the original?
Can I have a go at it? You can.

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Do you mind holding
my book for a while?

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Oh, look at that, it actually works.

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It does. It takes a push.
A Budding patent.

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It really was a budding patent,
wasn't it?

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Never was a truer word said.

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Now, this one I guess is a little
bit easier is it?

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This one is far easier, yes.
And we will have a go on this.

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Oh, good. Does that mean me?
That means you, exactly.

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ENGINE STARTS
There we go. These are your arms.

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You know, this invention
is really cutting edge.

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Resuming my journey,

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I'm heading south-west
on the Great Eastern mainline

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out of East Anglia and into Essex.

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My next stop will be Colchester,
which my Bradshaw's tells me

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is formerly an important town
of the Romans on the River Colne.

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"Silk from umbrellas
is made here, and velvet.

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"Excellent oysters at Pyefleet.

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"I sense there's important history
to be prised open here."

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Replete with its vast
Victorian brick water tower

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Colchester,
once the Roman capital of Britain,

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is a bustling market town,

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world-famous
for the oysters harvested

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from its nearby waters since 48AD.

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To find out why its oysters
are so renowned,

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I'm meeting Graham Larkin on nearby
Mersey Island at the confluence

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of the Pyefleet Channel
and the River Colne.

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Why is it that these waters
give us such good oysters?

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It's a very high salinity area,
which means water is very salty,

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and we've got all this marvellous
agricultural land around us

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that's giving us all the nutrients

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and all the food being washed
into the creek by the rain

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and it's being filtered through by
the oysters and fattening them up.

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Give me an idea of how many oysters
you are dredging up?

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On a weekly basis between 60,000
and 65,000 rock oysters per week.

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That's like a small town's
worth of rock oysters every week.

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Yeah, it's quite a lot.

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Colchester oysters were sought-after
delicacies in Roman times.

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Archaeological excavations
have found evidence that they were

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even exported to Rome in nets
trailing in the water from the boat.

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But by the 19th century,
the coming of the railways

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made oysters a plentiful
and cheap food for the urban poor.

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In 1864, more than 700 million
oysters were eaten in London alone.

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During the Victorian times,
the oysters would have been taken

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from where they were gathered
by boat to Brightlingsea

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in barrels and then they would have
been transported from Brightlingsea

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by rail into London,
where they would have been sold

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on street corners
and in restaurants.

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Oysters are in demand again today.

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Although no longer cheap, they are
harvested in much the same way

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as in Bradshaw's day - by dredger.

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We're going to tow this dredger
just over a walking pace

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for about 100 yards, 150 yards,

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and then you can haul it up
and you can see what we've got.

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Here it is.

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Oh, we've got some
stuff in there, that's great.

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We've got some nice oysters here.
Enormous.

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So this is the sort of oyster
that once cleaned up,

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could appear on my plate.
Certainly is, yeah.

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I'd be extremely pleased
to find him in a restaurant.

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OK, Michael, shall we head back
with your haul?

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Yes, let's get underway.

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'The oyster fishery was granted
to the people of Colchester

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'by King Richard I.'

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Now owned by the council,
the fishery is leased to Graham,

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which ensures that every
one of its rock oysters

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is made fit for human consumption
by placing it in fresh sea water

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for at least 42 hours
to flush out impurities.

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Is it possible to have
one of these lovely fellows?

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Of course it is, yeah.
So, down the hatch.

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Mm, talk about the taste of the sea.

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Wonderful burst of flavour.
Don't get any fresher than that.

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Today you can enjoy one type
of oyster or another

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throughout the year,
but historically

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it was thought safest to avoid
oysters in the heat of summer

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so they were eaten only in months
whose name contains the letter "R".

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On this balmy Colchester evening,

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I want to find out
whether such caution persists.

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Good evening. Evening.

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Evening. I see that you're enjoying
a lovely glass of champagne.

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Very, very civilised.
Lovely summer evening isn't it?

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Are you celebrating?
No, not really.

186
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Just a daily occurrence.
No! Just going out for a drink.

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Well, I wondered whether you would
have oysters to go with it?

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Because Colchester
is famous for oysters.

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Yeah, but no R in the month,
is there? No, no R in the month.

190
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So you don't like having an oyster
when there's no R in the month?

191
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You don't eat them then.

192
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You like to have your oysters?
I love oysters yes, yes.

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So are you longing for there
to be an R in the month?

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November, October, November,
December. Yes, I am.

195
00:12:51,915 --> 00:12:55,355
Tell me, are you a chewer
or a swallower? A swallower.

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Really? No chewing? No.

197
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Oh. I like to give them a good chew.
Oh, no!

198
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Anyway, cheers to you both.
Bye-bye. Bye.

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Bradshaw's promised me fragments
of the ancient town walls.

200
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In fact, they seem to be
pretty well preserved.

201
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The pub is called The Hole In The
Wall, which a seems a strange way

202
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to refer to such
a beautifully formed Roman gate

203
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but anyway, I feel thirsty.

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'I'm meeting local historian
Patrick Denney

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00:13:29,675 --> 00:13:33,635
'to find out how a pub
came to sit on an ancient ruin.'

206
00:13:33,635 --> 00:13:35,995
Welcome to Colchester.

207
00:13:35,995 --> 00:13:38,835
Thank you very much.
The Hole In The Wall pub.

208
00:13:38,835 --> 00:13:42,155
I assume it's a reference to that
rather lovely gate out there, is it?

209
00:13:42,155 --> 00:13:44,395
Well, not actually, no.

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The name Hole In The Wall dates first

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to when the railways arrived
in Colchester in 1843.

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This pub, and it was called
the King's Head in those days,

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commanded the best view of the
railway in the whole town, really.

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So the landlord in this pub smashed
a big hole in the Roman wall,

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which is just behind us here,
extended his pub,

216
00:14:02,035 --> 00:14:06,035
put a window in so his
customers could come and have
a lovely view of the railway.

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00:14:06,035 --> 00:14:07,675
He smashed a hole in the Roman wall!

218
00:14:07,675 --> 00:14:09,875
Yeah. Today he would probably
be thrown in prison

219
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for picking up
a little bit that fell off,

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but he got away with it at the time.

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And the town's cabbies
did a roaring trade.

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They'd see a train come in,

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they'd leave their pint and off
they'd go down to the station.

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Well, I have found it
a wholly appropriate place

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to end the day, cheers.
Cheers, Michael.

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00:14:39,795 --> 00:14:41,875
Looking forward to the day ahead,

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00:14:41,875 --> 00:14:45,475
this morning I'm travelling west
into the Essex countryside.

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00:14:50,635 --> 00:14:53,995
This first train of the day
will take me to Witham.

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Bradshaw's draws my attention
to Tiptree Heath,

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on which is Alderman Mechi's

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celebrated model farming
establishment.

232
00:15:03,115 --> 00:15:05,635
There is a corner
of an English field

233
00:15:05,635 --> 00:15:07,995
that is forever linked
to an Italian name.

234
00:15:14,115 --> 00:15:18,155
The station at Witham,
a fashionable 18th century spa town,

235
00:15:18,155 --> 00:15:20,195
is close to Tiptree Heath,

236
00:15:20,195 --> 00:15:23,235
a once infertile,
marshy corner of Essex.

237
00:15:26,075 --> 00:15:28,115
I'm hoping Ian Thurgood,

238
00:15:28,115 --> 00:15:31,555
joint managing director
for the farm's current owners,

239
00:15:31,555 --> 00:15:33,835
will know how a London alderman

240
00:15:33,835 --> 00:15:36,595
turned it into a successful
19th century farm.

241
00:15:36,595 --> 00:15:40,715
Hello, Ian. Hello, Michael.
Welcome to Tiptree Hall.

242
00:15:40,715 --> 00:15:44,995
Thank you very much indeed.
Who was Alderman Mechi?

243
00:15:44,995 --> 00:15:48,795
Alderman Mechi was the son
of an Italian immigrant

244
00:15:48,795 --> 00:15:51,275
who made his fortune in London.

245
00:15:51,275 --> 00:15:53,715
He was a cutler, a silversmith

246
00:15:53,715 --> 00:15:58,395
and very good in commerce,
but turned his attention finally

247
00:15:58,395 --> 00:16:00,555
to Tiptree Hall
and experimental farming,

248
00:16:00,555 --> 00:16:03,955
trying lots of different things
to see if he could make sense

249
00:16:03,955 --> 00:16:06,075
of farming anywhere in the country.

250
00:16:06,075 --> 00:16:09,955
He had a couple of particularly
revolutionary ideas at the time.

251
00:16:09,955 --> 00:16:13,475
One was that he would irrigate
and drain the soil

252
00:16:13,475 --> 00:16:18,355
across the whole farm and it's said
that he laid some 80 to 90 miles

253
00:16:18,355 --> 00:16:21,195
of drains just on Tiptree Hall farm.

254
00:16:21,195 --> 00:16:24,795
The second was he decided that his
cattle would stand on grids.

255
00:16:24,795 --> 00:16:27,635
They wouldn't stand
in a courtyard in the mud,

256
00:16:27,635 --> 00:16:30,275
so the grids were used and then he
was able to collect the manure,

257
00:16:30,275 --> 00:16:34,555
return the manure to the
fields and thus improve the soil.

258
00:16:34,555 --> 00:16:36,715
I'm guessing that he was successful

259
00:16:36,715 --> 00:16:39,915
because Bradshaw's refers to it
as a model farm establishment,

260
00:16:39,915 --> 00:16:43,315
so people were coming to
learn from this, were they?

261
00:16:43,315 --> 00:16:46,155
Mechi was successful,
there's no doubt about that.

262
00:16:46,155 --> 00:16:48,835
In fact, it's said that at one point,
here at Tiptree Hall,

263
00:16:48,835 --> 00:16:51,955
he was bringing in 600 people
from Witham station

264
00:16:51,955 --> 00:16:54,475
coming in for Mechi's
Agricultural Day,

265
00:16:54,475 --> 00:16:57,035
where they could look at the
wonderful things he was trying.

266
00:16:57,035 --> 00:16:59,715
The first place they'd see
steam ploughing, for many of them,

267
00:16:59,715 --> 00:17:01,555
was here at Tiptree Hall.

268
00:17:03,275 --> 00:17:05,635
Mechi's annual agricultural shows

269
00:17:05,635 --> 00:17:10,075
and his modern techniques
became so renowned that in 1852

270
00:17:10,075 --> 00:17:13,555
Charles Dickens reported on Tiptree
in his weekly journal.

271
00:17:18,995 --> 00:17:21,675
Did his ideas spread far and wide?

272
00:17:21,675 --> 00:17:24,795
Yes they did,
through the publication of his book,

273
00:17:24,795 --> 00:17:26,955
How To Farm Profitably.

274
00:17:26,955 --> 00:17:31,275
Bradshaw's calls him Alderman Mechi.
Alderman of what?

275
00:17:31,275 --> 00:17:34,035
Mechi was Alderman of
the City of London.

276
00:17:34,035 --> 00:17:36,875
He was actually in line
to become Lord Mayor of London.

277
00:17:39,115 --> 00:17:41,955
Sadly, Alderman Mechi
failed to become Lord Mayor

278
00:17:41,955 --> 00:17:43,955
because he lost his fortune

279
00:17:43,955 --> 00:17:46,435
in the collapse of the
Unity Joint Stock Bank,

280
00:17:46,435 --> 00:17:48,475
of which he was a governor.

281
00:17:49,675 --> 00:17:52,635
12 days after being forced
to liquidate his affairs,

282
00:17:52,635 --> 00:17:54,795
Mechi died here at Tiptree -

283
00:17:54,795 --> 00:17:58,275
some say of diabetes,
others, of a broken heart.

284
00:18:03,075 --> 00:18:06,755
It's a sad story, but not, I think,
the end of farming at Tiptree.

285
00:18:06,755 --> 00:18:09,235
That's not the end
of the farming story

286
00:18:09,235 --> 00:18:12,715
because eventually Tiptree Hall
was bought by the Wilkin family.

287
00:18:12,715 --> 00:18:17,915
Local jam makers Wilkin & Sons
bought the Tiptree estate in 1913.

288
00:18:19,235 --> 00:18:21,395
It now covers a square acreage

289
00:18:21,395 --> 00:18:24,035
equivalent to around
300 cricket fields.

290
00:18:25,235 --> 00:18:27,555
We're in the mulberry orchard now.

291
00:18:27,555 --> 00:18:29,955
This is the oldest orchard
in the estate,

292
00:18:29,955 --> 00:18:34,355
planted in Victorian times, in fact.
Not planted by Alderman Mechi?

293
00:18:34,355 --> 00:18:36,475
Not planted by Alderman Mechi, no.

294
00:18:36,475 --> 00:18:39,515
In fact, just a little while
after he'd departed Tiptree.

295
00:18:39,515 --> 00:18:42,955
Hello. Hello.
Is it difficult to pick mulberries?

296
00:18:42,955 --> 00:18:46,995
A little bit because you need to be
on the ladder and a bit high.

297
00:18:46,995 --> 00:18:51,035
Could I try one, please?
Sure. Thank you very much indeed.

298
00:18:51,035 --> 00:18:54,955
Wow, look at you!
You're absolutely covered in juice.

299
00:18:54,955 --> 00:18:58,315
Look at these red hands,
I look like a scene out of Macbeth.

300
00:18:58,315 --> 00:19:01,595
They say that that's where the phrase
"caught red-handed" comes from.

301
00:19:01,595 --> 00:19:04,475
If you come in the mulberry orchard
and scrump some mulberries,

302
00:19:04,475 --> 00:19:06,675
you're not really
going to get away with it

303
00:19:06,675 --> 00:19:09,115
cos that's going to stay
there for three or four days.

304
00:19:09,115 --> 00:19:11,155
The indelible stain of crime.

305
00:19:14,995 --> 00:19:21,275
In 1885, fruit grower Arthur Charles
Wilkin had become so frustrated

306
00:19:21,275 --> 00:19:24,635
with the damage his immaculate fruit
suffered on the train journey

307
00:19:24,635 --> 00:19:29,195
to market that he turned his
attention instead to making jam.

308
00:19:31,435 --> 00:19:34,075
Wilkin & Sons factory
now supplies conserves

309
00:19:34,075 --> 00:19:36,955
of many flavours to 60 countries.

310
00:19:36,955 --> 00:19:40,395
But the mulberry, a fruit which,
according to Greek mythology,

311
00:19:40,395 --> 00:19:43,675
was turned deep red by the blood
of Pyramus and Thisbe,

312
00:19:43,675 --> 00:19:48,515
is the queen of the Tiptree crop
and requires special attention.

313
00:19:52,595 --> 00:19:55,315
What is it that you're
doing to the fruit?

314
00:19:55,315 --> 00:19:57,955
We're taking out
the stalk in the mulberry.

315
00:19:57,955 --> 00:20:00,755
I guess you don't want
that in the jam. No, no.

316
00:20:00,755 --> 00:20:04,995
Wow. And this happens to every
mulberry that goes into the jam?

317
00:20:04,995 --> 00:20:08,115
Every single one that's picked,
the stalk's taken out.

318
00:20:08,115 --> 00:20:11,275
That must make it a really
special jam, I think. Yes.

319
00:20:15,955 --> 00:20:18,395
From its humble Victorian
beginnings,

320
00:20:18,395 --> 00:20:22,235
the company's 21st century
turnover has hit £35 million -

321
00:20:22,235 --> 00:20:26,315
a thoroughly modern sounding revenue

322
00:20:26,315 --> 00:20:29,435
married to an age-old
production process.

323
00:20:31,075 --> 00:20:33,915
Like any good kitchen,
jam needs a bit of a stir.

324
00:20:33,915 --> 00:20:36,395
The mulberries
are being boiled up here.

325
00:20:36,395 --> 00:20:39,115
Do you want to have a go at stirring
the mulberries?

326
00:20:39,115 --> 00:20:41,515
May I take your paddle for a moment?
Mind your hands.

327
00:20:41,515 --> 00:20:44,115
Mind my hands. Keep your hands
as high as possible up there.

328
00:20:44,115 --> 00:20:46,235
That's a good tip.
Backwards and forwards.

329
00:20:46,235 --> 00:20:50,275
What temperature is that boiling at?
104. 104?

330
00:20:50,275 --> 00:20:52,275
So you don't want to get
too close to that.

331
00:20:52,275 --> 00:20:55,715
Think I'll let you take over,
I don't want to spoil the broth.

332
00:20:55,715 --> 00:20:57,195
Thank you. Thank you.

333
00:21:09,355 --> 00:21:11,595
What's happening here, Ian?

334
00:21:11,595 --> 00:21:13,635
The fruit comes up
on the conveyor system,

335
00:21:13,635 --> 00:21:16,275
just fruit sugar and some pectin,

336
00:21:16,275 --> 00:21:18,435
if we're going to need
to make it set,

337
00:21:18,435 --> 00:21:21,675
close the lid, 15 minutes
later we've got some jam ready.

338
00:21:21,675 --> 00:21:24,635
How long before that ends up
in a jar?

339
00:21:24,635 --> 00:21:27,795
That will end up in a jar in about
20 or 25 minutes from now.

340
00:21:27,795 --> 00:21:29,715
Amazing.

341
00:21:37,995 --> 00:21:42,075
Come and try some mulberry jam.
Mulberry jam, I'd love to.

342
00:21:42,075 --> 00:21:44,475
A lovely scone to put it on.

343
00:21:44,475 --> 00:21:46,955
Lay it on thick.

344
00:21:46,955 --> 00:21:49,595
A little clotted cream. Perfect.

345
00:21:51,675 --> 00:21:55,035
Ideally, I won't get it
all over my nose.

346
00:21:59,115 --> 00:22:01,995
Mm. It's exquisite.

347
00:22:01,995 --> 00:22:04,235
You know, I'm so lucky to get
to sample things like this

348
00:22:04,235 --> 00:22:06,315
doing the Railway Journeys.

349
00:22:06,315 --> 00:22:08,355
Some people think I'm really jammy.

350
00:22:11,915 --> 00:22:16,715
Fortified by that cream tea,
I'll continue my journey south-west

351
00:22:16,715 --> 00:22:19,235
toward this leg's final destination.

352
00:22:31,075 --> 00:22:33,235
For many places
in the United Kingdom,

353
00:22:33,235 --> 00:22:35,955
Bradshaw's lists
a telegraph station.

354
00:22:35,955 --> 00:22:38,555
In those days,
towns were linked by wires

355
00:22:38,555 --> 00:22:42,195
down which people could send
telegrams or cables.

356
00:22:42,195 --> 00:22:44,235
The idea of communication
without wire

357
00:22:44,235 --> 00:22:46,235
would have seemed extraordinary.

358
00:22:46,235 --> 00:22:48,275
But since, as the book says,

359
00:22:48,275 --> 00:22:52,555
"Essex composes part of the largest
connected space of level ground

360
00:22:52,555 --> 00:22:55,995
"with not one lofty eminence
or rocky ridge,

361
00:22:55,995 --> 00:22:59,675
"this was a good place
to test wireless communication."

362
00:23:06,475 --> 00:23:11,635
Wireless technology has assumed a
new importance in the 21st century.

363
00:23:11,635 --> 00:23:14,275
Chelmsford, the county town
of Essex,

364
00:23:14,275 --> 00:23:16,715
benefited from the first
wireless revolution

365
00:23:16,715 --> 00:23:20,595
when in 1912 an Italian named
Guglielmo Marconi

366
00:23:20,595 --> 00:23:23,595
established the world's first
purpose-built

367
00:23:23,595 --> 00:23:26,635
radio equipment factory
in New Street,

368
00:23:26,635 --> 00:23:29,555
on the site of the town's
old cricket ground.

369
00:23:32,995 --> 00:23:37,035
Much of the old works has been
demolished, but to find out more,

370
00:23:37,035 --> 00:23:41,075
I'm meeting Chelmsford Museum
science curator Dr Geoff Bowles

371
00:23:41,075 --> 00:23:44,035
in one of the surviving
factory buildings.

372
00:23:46,395 --> 00:23:48,595
Hello, Geoff! Hello, Michael.

373
00:23:48,595 --> 00:23:51,835
Did Marconi actually invent
wireless technology?

374
00:23:51,835 --> 00:23:55,715
His fundamental breakthrough
really was to erect an aerial

375
00:23:55,715 --> 00:23:57,755
and an earth connection.

376
00:23:57,755 --> 00:24:00,555
Whereas others were trying it
without those two things

377
00:24:00,555 --> 00:24:03,395
and they could make wireless waves
go across the laboratory.

378
00:24:03,395 --> 00:24:05,435
With an aerial and earth,

379
00:24:05,435 --> 00:24:07,995
Marconi was suddenly
sending it hundreds of metres.

380
00:24:07,995 --> 00:24:10,955
And that's what he was after.

381
00:24:10,955 --> 00:24:14,035
Frustrated by Italy's
lacklustre attitude

382
00:24:14,035 --> 00:24:18,315
to technological innovation,
Marconi settled in Chelmsford,

383
00:24:18,315 --> 00:24:21,235
beyond the area of
the General Post Office monopoly

384
00:24:21,235 --> 00:24:24,475
on telegraphic communication.

385
00:24:24,475 --> 00:24:26,795
In 1901, the immigrant scientist

386
00:24:26,795 --> 00:24:30,035
sent the first wireless signal
across the Atlantic.

387
00:24:31,075 --> 00:24:34,715
His high quality Morse code
transmitters and receivers

388
00:24:34,715 --> 00:24:37,555
were sold to maritime fleets,
governments

389
00:24:37,555 --> 00:24:40,195
and radio hams across the world.

390
00:24:42,395 --> 00:24:46,235
And, in 1920,
the Nobel Prize-winning physicist

391
00:24:46,235 --> 00:24:48,795
achieved another
communication milestone -

392
00:24:48,795 --> 00:24:52,395
a voice broadcast
with edifying content by George.

393
00:24:54,915 --> 00:24:58,675
One of the things they did was
actually read Bradshaw's timetable

394
00:24:58,675 --> 00:25:01,915
very, very slowly
and clearly over the air.

395
00:25:01,915 --> 00:25:06,235
A great deal more interesting than
many broadcasts that we get today!

396
00:25:06,235 --> 00:25:09,955
And when did we actually move to
broadcasting in the fullest sense?

397
00:25:09,955 --> 00:25:14,115
Really as a result
of a very famous concert.

398
00:25:14,115 --> 00:25:17,395
Dame Nelly Melba,
the Australian prima donna,

399
00:25:17,395 --> 00:25:23,835
her voice went out from the enormous
450-foot mast which had been set up

400
00:25:23,835 --> 00:25:27,435
above the factory and she was heard
all over the world.

401
00:25:27,435 --> 00:25:30,155
And suddenly it became clear that

402
00:25:30,155 --> 00:25:32,995
you could also broadcast
entertainment to people.

403
00:25:32,995 --> 00:25:35,955
That was a totally new idea.

404
00:25:38,315 --> 00:25:41,195
The early factory studios
no longer exist,

405
00:25:41,195 --> 00:25:43,995
but three miles east
of the city centre

406
00:25:43,995 --> 00:25:48,715
at Chelmsford's Sandford Mill
Museum, I'm meeting Peter Watkins

407
00:25:48,715 --> 00:25:53,555
who has first-hand experience
of using early Marconi equipment.

408
00:25:53,555 --> 00:25:56,955
Hello, Peter. Hello, Michael.

409
00:25:56,955 --> 00:26:00,275
A bit of personal nostalgia for you.

410
00:26:00,275 --> 00:26:04,155
Yes. I was doing this about 55 years
ago. You were on ships?

411
00:26:04,155 --> 00:26:07,635
Yes, I joined a ship in London docks

412
00:26:07,635 --> 00:26:10,115
and from there
we went out to the Far East.

413
00:26:10,115 --> 00:26:13,595
You were employed by whom?
I was employed by Marconi Marine.

414
00:26:13,595 --> 00:26:17,555
I realised Marconi put equipment
for radio signals onto ships,

415
00:26:17,555 --> 00:26:21,195
but they put the people on as well,
did they? Yes, it was a package.

416
00:26:21,195 --> 00:26:26,115
I imagine putting the equipment
onto ships improved safety at sea.

417
00:26:26,115 --> 00:26:29,075
Oh, yes. The Titanic, for instance,

418
00:26:29,075 --> 00:26:31,515
would have had a range,
with its transmitters,

419
00:26:31,515 --> 00:26:33,555
of at least 1,000 miles.

420
00:26:33,555 --> 00:26:36,435
So when they collided with
the iceberg,

421
00:26:36,435 --> 00:26:39,235
the radio officer would have
sent a distress signal,

422
00:26:39,235 --> 00:26:44,715
and without that message,
many of the people who survived

423
00:26:44,715 --> 00:26:45,755
just wouldn't have done.

424
00:26:45,755 --> 00:26:48,195
And that was totally down to
Marconi operators.

425
00:26:48,195 --> 00:26:50,835
Would you like to have
a go at sending some Morse?

426
00:26:50,835 --> 00:26:54,035
I would love to but I don't know the
signals. Well, we have this here.

427
00:26:54,035 --> 00:26:56,515
Oh, I see. I just follow that, do I?

428
00:26:56,515 --> 00:26:59,555
OK, what would you like me to send?
How about Marconi?

429
00:27:01,155 --> 00:27:03,395
Dash. Dash, dash is M.

430
00:27:03,395 --> 00:27:05,515
Dot, dash is A.

431
00:27:05,515 --> 00:27:08,195
Dot, dash, dot.

432
00:27:08,195 --> 00:27:09,715
C.

433
00:27:09,715 --> 00:27:12,995
Dash, dot, dash, dot. O.

434
00:27:12,995 --> 00:27:16,395
MACHINE BEEPS
Three dashes. Very simple.

435
00:27:16,395 --> 00:27:20,195
N...I've lost. N is dash, dot.

436
00:27:20,195 --> 00:27:22,915
And I. Dot, dot.
MACHINE BEEPS

437
00:27:22,915 --> 00:27:26,595
Well done! A bit slow, wasn't it?
THEY LAUGH

438
00:27:32,875 --> 00:27:35,315
Some industries
that I've seen on this journey

439
00:27:35,315 --> 00:27:38,315
are as old as the Romans,
like oyster dredging,

440
00:27:38,315 --> 00:27:41,195
but others, like lawn mowers
and wireless,

441
00:27:41,195 --> 00:27:44,915
required Victorian breakthroughs
in technology.

442
00:27:44,915 --> 00:27:48,435
John Mechi and Guillermo Marconi
showed that people

443
00:27:48,435 --> 00:27:52,915
with foreign-sounding names
could make useful British citizens.

444
00:27:52,915 --> 00:27:55,995
But then Michael Portillo
would say that, wouldn't he?

445
00:27:59,875 --> 00:28:03,755
On the next leg, I'll try my hand
at lowering a massive container

446
00:28:03,755 --> 00:28:05,955
onto a freight train.

447
00:28:05,955 --> 00:28:08,395
Now, the moment of truth.

448
00:28:09,435 --> 00:28:13,035
Discover the work of a renowned
Victorian philanthropist.

449
00:28:13,035 --> 00:28:16,555
Each of the images has a before
and after photograph.

450
00:28:16,555 --> 00:28:19,355
'And ask myself who the
Dickens are these characters?'

451
00:28:19,355 --> 00:28:21,435
No doubt about who you are,

452
00:28:21,435 --> 00:28:24,715
because you've got the iron on your
leg and the rag around your head.

453
00:28:24,715 --> 00:28:29,115
You're the convict, Magwitch,
from Great Expectations, aren't you?