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For Victorian Britons, George
Bradshaw was a household name.

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At a time when railways were new,

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Bradshaw's guidebook inspired them
to take to the tracks.

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I'm using a Bradshaw's Guide

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to understand how trains
transformed Britain -

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its landscape, its industries,
society and leisure time.

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As I criss-cross the country,
150 years later,

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it helps me to discover
the Britain of today.

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"London is the capital
of Great Britain

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"and, indeed, if its commercial and
political influence be considered,

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"of the civilised world.

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"The British metropolis contains
the largest mass of human life

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"that ever has existed
in the annals of mankind."

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I'm embarking on five itineraries
across our mighty capital

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to rediscover the wonders
and the horrors of Victorian London.

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'All week, I'll use
my usual 1860s Bradshaw's

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'and dip into other editions
to explore the tracks

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'along which Victorian London moved.

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'I'll begin outside the capital,
at Amersham,

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'follow in the footsteps
of London's early commuters,

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'make a short detour
via Hampstead Heath

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'en route to my final stop
at Regent's Park.

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'I'll scoop a cool treat
in suburbia...'

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It's sludging, yes. Keep going.
Sludging?

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Not sure I want to be known
for making sludgy ice cream!

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'..learn how the railway age was
also a boom time for cemeteries...'

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Some wag had written,
"New graves, warmed by steam!"

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HE LAUGHS

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'..and visit an exotic
19th-century attraction

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'that still draws a crowd.'

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It's a great way for people
to get close to animals.

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A bit too close, possibly!

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THEY CHUCKLE

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I begin on the London Underground's
Metropolitan line,

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which connects the city centre
with rural Buckinghamshire.

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From the start of the 19th century

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until my Bradshaw's Guide
was published,

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the population of London grew
from one million to three million.

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But it was still a city
without extended suburbs.

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They came with the trains
and, as this Metropolitan Railway

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was pushed out
into the green fields,

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it created "Metro-Land".

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The Metropolitan line was London's
first "underground" railway,

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but it's only towards
the centre of the city

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that its trains run in tunnels.

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Of its 34 stations,
only nine are below ground.

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The line's terminus at Amersham is
one of the furthest-flung outposts

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of the capital's underground system.

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I've come to hear how,
in the early 20th century,

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this pioneering railway created
the conditions for suburbia

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from author and transport historian
Oliver Green.

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Now the Metropolitan Railway, um...

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it really has two personalities,
doesn't it?

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Because it was, was it not, the
first London underground railway,

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what, from Paddington to Farringdon?

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It was. In 1863.

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It was the first underground railway
in the world

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and, as you say, it linked up the
mainline stations in central London.

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But, very soon, the railway company
found that, actually,

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it was proving very expensive

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to extend the line
within central London.

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So their rather pushy chairman
in the 1870s, Edward Watkin,

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started to plan to extend the line

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out through the suburbs
of north-west London.

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Initially underground and then
overground, through the countryside,

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and linking up
with a chain of railways

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right through to Manchester,
which is where he came from.

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Watkin's grand plan
didn't come to pass

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but, by the 1890s,
the Metropolitan Railway

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had cut a swathe
through the rural Home Counties,

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making it viable for people to
commute into the capital

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from these formerly isolated areas.

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In the early days, there was
quite a lot of concern about it.

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The novelist Anthony Trollope
said that the railways,

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instead of enabling Londoners
to live in the countryside,

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had brought the city
into the countryside.

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The Metropolitan Railway Company
soon lured more customers

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to the rural areas
served by its line.

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It owned land around the stations,

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which it began to develop with
homes for middle-class commuters.

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So did this railway get into the
business of property speculation?

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It did later on,
in the early 20th century, yes.

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None of the other companies
had done this before.

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And they christened the area
"Metro-Land".

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So Metro-Land was a name
invented by the railway itself,

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not a nickname applied from outside?

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Absolutely, yes,
they came up with it.

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And the guy in the publicity
department came up with it

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in the middle of the
First World War, oddly enough.

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Apparently, he was in bed
with the flu

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and suddenly thought
of this publicity word

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and jumped out of bed
and went back in to work

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to tell everyone about it
and they adopted it,

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and it was used throughout the 1920s
and '30s as a promotional tool.

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And that's the Metro-Land which
is then celebrated by John Betjeman.

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Absolutely.

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We called you Metro-Land

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We laid our schemes

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Lured by the lush brochure

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Down byways beckoned

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To build at last
the cottage of our dreams

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A city clerk turned countryman again

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And linked to the metropolis
by train.

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George Bradshaw, dying in the 1850s,

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had glimpsed only the start
of the rail commuting phenomenon.

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My next stop is Pinner, linked to
the Metropolitan line in the 1880s.

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"Pinner, with the trees
scattered around it,

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"and the rich foliage
of Pinner Park,

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"forms a landscape
of very considerable beauty."

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Metro-Land provided the setting
for middle-class domestic bliss

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and set up a requirement
for middle-class domestic goddesses.

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The image of the perfect housewife
was born in Victorian times,

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and one woman who did much
to promote it

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was a Pinner resident, Mrs Beeton,

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whose famous Book Of Household
Management was published in 1861.

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But, apparently,
she wasn't the only celebrity cook

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to be drawn
to this peaceful village.

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Food historian Robin Weir
will tell me the forgotten story

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of another culinary trailblazer
from the 19th Century.

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We're here to talk about
Mrs Marshall,

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who was, frankly,
the most important Victorian cook

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and was actually
a one-woman industry.

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How is it, then,
that I have heard of Mrs Beeton

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but not of Mrs Marshall,

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who apparently
was well known in her day?

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Well, she was
very well known in her day.

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But, unfortunately, she died
just before her 50th birthday.

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After her untimely death,

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Mrs Marshall's cookbooks
went out of print

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and she soon faded into obscurity.

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But, in her time, she'd been
a formidable businesswoman.

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She used the railway
to commute from Pinner

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to her thriving cookery school
in central London.

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And she gained a place
in gastronomic history

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by developing a Victorian delicacy.

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And what is it you're clutching
where I'm clutching my Bradshaw?

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Well, yes, this...

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This is a copy of Fancy Ices,

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which is one of the most important
books on ice cream ever produced.

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What she was so clever with
is she'd sell you the book.

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Then she'd sell you the machine
to make it in.

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Then she'd sell you the ice cave,
which was an early freezer.

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Then she'd sell you the moulds
to put in the ice cave.

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So she was a complete
sort of one-woman industry.

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This Mrs Marshall
is my kind of Victorian.

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The 19th century
brought ice cream to the masses.

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Imported ice became available,

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shipped in from as far afield
as North America,

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while new devices simplified
the process of making ices.

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Mrs Marshall patented
a churning machine,

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still used by enthusiasts
like Annie Squire,

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who is demonstrating
a Victorian recipe

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with a surprising main ingredient.

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We're going to mix some cream,
about a pint of cream,

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with this cucumber mixture.

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It's cooked cucumber with sugar,
ginger wine and some lemon juice.

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'The cucumber mixture and cream
are poured into the pan,

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'which is cooled over ice and salt.'

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And this is where
the hard work begins, is it?

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That's where the hard work begins.

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'The paddle
steadily churns the mixture,

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'keeping the texture
lovely and smooth.

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'In theory.'

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Gentle. Gentle?

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Well, as fast as you think you can

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without it going off
into outer space, you know?

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As fast as I can
without it going into...

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Turning it into a flying saucer!
..outer space?

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Annie, I can feel it stiffening
a little bit already, I think.

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Well, according to Mrs Marshall,

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you should be able to make a pint of
ice cream in about five minutes.

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Shall we have a look? Yeah.

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It's sludging, yes. Keep going.
Sludging?

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Not sure I want to be known
for making sludgy ice cream!

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It's getting quite stiff
to the touch. Good, yes.

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Shall we have a look?

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Whoa! What do we think of that?

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Really good. So now we serve it out.
Yes.

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Look at that!

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Mmm!

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That's really good, isn't it?
That's very nice.

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The sweetness and the cucumber
go very well. Yep.

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Portillo's ice cream, penny a lump!

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Guaranteed to make you jump!

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Having experienced the sweet
taste of Victorian suburbia,

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I'm now continuing my journey
towards the heart of the city

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on the Metropolitan line.

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Hello! Hello!

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Do you live on the
Metropolitan line?

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Do you live in Metro-Land?
Yes, we do, Pinner.

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And is it important to you
to have the access to the centre?

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Oh, yes. I mean, it's amazing.

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You can get to Baker Street
in about 15 minutes.

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I think it's the best line
on the Underground,

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the Metropolitan line. Why so?

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Well, because the trains are fast,

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easy to get to Finchley Road
for Hampstead.

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Our grandchildren are in school
in Hampstead, so it's very handy.

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00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:28,040
It sounds like you're quite
good fans of rail transport.

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Oh, especially as it
doesn't cost us anything!

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We've got our rail cards!

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While in Bradshaw's day, suburban
routes were in their infancy,

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the modern commuter has a wealth
of tracks to choose from.

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I'm now swapping the
Underground system for the lines

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recently reconfigured and
rebranded as the Overground,

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which will carry me from
West Hampstead to my next stop.

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Hampstead Heath, says Bradshaw's,

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"Is situated in the midst
of a fine open country,

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"which, from its elevated character,

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"provides many beautiful
views of the city."

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It's one of my favourite open spaces
and the point for that panorama

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has a name that appeals to me -
Parliament Hill.

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Even at the time of my guidebook,
the countryside around the capital

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was gradually being eaten up
by urban sprawl,

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00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:38,480
but thankfully the heath itself
has survived almost unchanged.

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The vista is, as promised, superb,

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and Bradshaw's comments that the
air is remarkably salubrious.

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That would be in contrast,
I suppose,

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to the miasma of sulphurous fumes

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and the smoke from
100,000 domestic hearths

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that would have shrouded the city.

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It wasn't just the living who
sought to escape to green slopes.

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My guidebook comments,

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"Cemeteries have been established
within the last few years

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"under the Burial Acts,
which compel metropolitan districts

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"to provide suitable space
for the interment of the dead."

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Then it comments that entry
to Highgate Cemetery is free.

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That would be for the quick,
I think, not the dead.

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As 19th century London's
population mushroomed,

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the problem of where to bury
the dead reached crisis point.

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In 1836, an Act of Parliament
legislated for the creation

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of vast new cemeteries
on the city's outskirts.

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My guide to Highgate
is Ian Dungavell.

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What made them build cemeteries
in places like Highgate?

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Normally, you'd be buried in
your local parish churchyard,

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00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:54,440
but those had got
very, very crowded,

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so the sextons had
to go round prodding,

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looking for space for a grave

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and oftentimes
that wasn't available.

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A shocking situation. It really
was, it was absolutely terrible,

241
00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:07,360
and on top of that there was a fear
of grave robbers or body snatchers,

242
00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:11,360
who were looking for corpses
to sell to the anatomy schools,

243
00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:13,880
so all in all, people
didn't want to be buried

244
00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:16,480
in parish churchyards any more.

245
00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:20,080
Here lie some of Victorian Britain's
most notable figures,

246
00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:23,720
including scientist Michael Faraday,
writer George Eliot

247
00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:26,600
and, most famously, Karl Marx.

248
00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:29,400
Cemeteries like Highgate
were privately run,

249
00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:32,840
and only those who could afford
the fees were buried in them.

250
00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:38,120
The headstones and tombs
are magnificent pieces of art.

251
00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:39,840
Ostentatious. Absolutely.

252
00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:41,880
You had to show off
your social position

253
00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:43,920
and also the cemetery company

254
00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:46,760
wanted to make sure you knew
this was a good place to be,

255
00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:50,440
so if you had your tomb within
a certain distance of the main path,

256
00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:52,320
you had to spend a
fair bit of money on it.

257
00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:55,240
This is all part of Victorian
commercial enterprise, is it?

258
00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:57,920
Absolutely,
these were a private speculation.

259
00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:00,760
If you look at the pages of
the newspapers in the 1830s,

260
00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:03,240
you'll see ads
for cemetery companies

261
00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:05,320
alongside ads for railway companies

262
00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:06,440
and they were both part

263
00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:08,920
of that growth in infrastructure
in the 1830s.

264
00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:12,480
In fact, on one new cemetery,
they had the billboards up saying,

265
00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:13,960
"New cemetery coming soon,"

266
00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:18,560
and some wag had written,
"New graves warmed by steam."

267
00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:21,680
So it's quite clear people
saw cemeteries and railways

268
00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:23,600
as joint aspects of modern life.

269
00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:24,760
A bit macabre. Yeah.

270
00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:28,960
What an extraordinary looking
building.

271
00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:31,280
These are the terraced catacombs,

272
00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:35,360
so they're listed because they're
the oldest asphalted structure

273
00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:37,600
in the country
and the company that did it,

274
00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:40,600
the consulting engineer
was Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

275
00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:51,640
My goodness, it's like a library
of corpses on their shelves.

276
00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:57,080
That's right. There's 825 of these
niches where coffins were placed

277
00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:59,440
and it's the most secure
part of the cemetery.

278
00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:02,760
You had three lines of defence -
the cemetery walls,

279
00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:05,600
you would come up here
with an attendant with a key

280
00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:08,160
and then your coffin
would be placed in here

281
00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:12,920
with a marble slab or a granite slab
in front with your name inscribed.

282
00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:16,400
So here, you really were
on the shelf, weren't you?

283
00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:25,480
I've retraced my steps
to West Hampstead

284
00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:28,040
to rejoin the Underground network.

285
00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:32,200
The Jubilee line's first stretch
opened in 1979,

286
00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:34,600
partly using these existing tracks,

287
00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:38,160
and now they're carrying me
towards central London.

288
00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:39,960
Bradshaw's suggests I visit

289
00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:43,160
Tussauds Wax Exhibition
at Baker Street.

290
00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:46,040
"Summer - 11 to 10,
winter - 11 to dusk.

291
00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:49,360
"One shilling, see Napoleon,
et cetera."

292
00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:51,760
After the opening of this
model attraction,

293
00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:53,560
its popularity waxed.

294
00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:57,800
Since its foundation
in the early 19th century,

295
00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:00,200
around 500 million visitors

296
00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:03,600
have beaten a path to
London's famous waxworks.

297
00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,360
In an age before
television and Twitter,

298
00:17:12,360 --> 00:17:16,120
here Victorians managed to look
their heroes in the eye.

299
00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:20,960
Matthew Clarkson is introducing me

300
00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:24,200
to this venerable
institution's founder.

301
00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:25,640
This is the lady herself.

302
00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,760
The story of Madame Tussauds
starts in about 1770 Paris,

303
00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:31,320
where she learned
to model wax likenesses.

304
00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:35,240
Early 19th century, she moved to
London with a travelling exhibition

305
00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:39,040
of death masks and relics
from the French Revolution.

306
00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:40,400
Death masks? Yeah.

307
00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:45,400
When she was 17, she became the
art tutor to Louis XVI's daughter.

308
00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:48,560
She then learned her skill there
and had to prove her allegiance

309
00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:50,800
to the family during
the French Revolution,

310
00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:53,840
where she was forced to create
these death masks of the aristocracy

311
00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:55,360
who had been sentenced to death.

312
00:17:55,360 --> 00:17:56,640
What a frightful beginning.

313
00:17:56,640 --> 00:17:59,440
Yeah, it's kind of dark, but
it's where she learned her craft.

314
00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:05,760
In 1835, Madame Tussaud set up shop
at the Baker Street Bazaar,

315
00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:09,520
where Londoners could come face
to face with figures from Nelson

316
00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:11,800
to Mary Queen of Scots.

317
00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:17,520
Then, in 1884, 34 years after her
death, the exhibition relocated

318
00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:21,120
to its present position
on the Marylebone Road.

319
00:18:21,120 --> 00:18:23,400
Today's stars now stand alongside

320
00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:25,960
the great and the good
of Bradshaw's era.

321
00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:31,520
I see here my old friend
Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

322
00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:34,640
Now, what did Queen Victoria
make of this?

323
00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:36,520
Was she keen on Madame Tussauds?

324
00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:38,400
She was fascinated by the process.

325
00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:41,840
In 1837, she was sculpted
for the first time

326
00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:43,680
and it was what we call
a "live sitting."

327
00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:47,760
Whereas now we take hundreds of
measurements of facial features,

328
00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,480
she had the moulding
medium poured on her face

329
00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:52,480
with straws in her
nostrils to breathe.

330
00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:55,080
To tolerate such indignity
of the royal personage,

331
00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:57,720
she must have been highly
amused by the whole process.

332
00:18:57,720 --> 00:18:58,800
Yes, I can imagine so.

333
00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:02,800
If Queen Victoria could
endure such hardship

334
00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:06,000
to be immortalised in wax,
then so can I.

335
00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:09,040
Hello, guys. Hi. Hi.

336
00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:11,960
So what torture have you
got ready for me here?

337
00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:13,600
So what we're going to do

338
00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:15,760
is basically dipping
your hand into the wax.

339
00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:17,680
It is really, really hot, yeah?

340
00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:20,280
Sorry, you're going to dip
my hand in really hot wax?

341
00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:22,000
Yes. First of all,
what we're going to do

342
00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:23,880
is put some cream on your hands.

343
00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:26,720
The cream helps to remove
the wax later,

344
00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:32,200
while the cold water should make the
hot wax dip less painful...I hope!

345
00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:34,360
Let's start dipping with five times.

346
00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:35,960
One,

347
00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:37,200
two... Two!

348
00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:39,480
..three,

349
00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:40,720
four...

350
00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:42,320
Nice. ..five.

351
00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:45,600
So if you come here for me.

352
00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:49,080
You might feel like I'm cutting
you a little bit, but I'm not.

353
00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:50,400
Aaaah!

354
00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:55,160
This man is taking
a knife around my arteries!

355
00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:57,280
OK, now comes the fun part.

356
00:19:57,280 --> 00:20:01,080
Just relax your hand completely
and let it slide off into the water.

357
00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:02,240
It's not going to break.

358
00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:03,440
And here we go.

359
00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:07,960
Look at that! Isn't that lovely!

360
00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:09,600
How's that looking?

361
00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:14,200
I think that that is in the most
extraordinary good taste.

362
00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:16,880
Now, do you think that
can carry my Bradshaw's?

363
00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:20,640
I should hope so. Oh, beautiful!

364
00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:23,320
That's lovely.

365
00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:27,480
Travelling with Bradshaw's -
a hands-off approach.

366
00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:35,080
London's earliest
underground railways

367
00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:37,280
were just metres below
the city streets,

368
00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:39,520
but towards the end
of the 19th century,

369
00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:43,640
the birth of electric trains
made deep-level railways possible

370
00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:45,680
and the real "Tube" was born.

371
00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:50,120
In 1906, a new
underground railway opened,

372
00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:53,360
bored deep beneath
the city's streets,

373
00:20:53,360 --> 00:20:56,480
running between
Baker Street and Waterloo.

374
00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:59,200
Although after that it was
extended to the south

375
00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:03,560
and very much to the north, it's
still known today as the Bakerloo.

376
00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:11,000
The Bakerloo line is taking me

377
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:13,760
to my final destination
on today's journey,

378
00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:17,760
known as the jewel in the crown
of the eight Royal Parks of London.

379
00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:24,840
The Regent's Park takes its name
from Queen Victoria's uncle,

380
00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:28,440
the Prince Regent,
later King George IV.

381
00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:33,360
He allowed elegant new homes, set
in ornamental landscaped grounds,

382
00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:37,160
to be built on crown lands
formerly used for farming.

383
00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:41,480
"Regent's Park," says
the Bradshaw's Guide to London,

384
00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:46,280
"and the surrounding crescents were
laid out from a plan by John Nash.

385
00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:51,720
"The zone of noble mansions
is a rare boon to the pedestrian

386
00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:55,000
"of which the Londoner
may well be proud."

387
00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,640
Was there ever a more
successful design of park?

388
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:04,200
At first, only the residents of the
exclusive new villas and terraces

389
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:06,760
were permitted to use the gardens,

390
00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:09,720
but as 19th century London's
population grew,

391
00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,480
so did the need
to provide open spaces.

392
00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:16,920
In 1835, the general public
was permitted to enter sections

393
00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:20,240
of Regent's Park on
two days of the week.

394
00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:23,880
Today, it's open all year round
for everyone.

395
00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:25,360
Hello, ladies! Hello!

396
00:22:25,360 --> 00:22:27,640
How are you? May I just
join you for a second?

397
00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:30,080
Yeah. What are you drinking?

398
00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:33,000
We're drinking a little
Pinot Grigio. Pinot Grigio.

399
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:35,760
Why do you think Regent's Park
works so well?

400
00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:39,240
I think it's got so many
interesting things in it -

401
00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:42,440
you've got the lovely flowers
and you've got the gardens...

402
00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,400
The architecture? Beautiful.
Absolutely gorgeous.

403
00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:49,040
Are you pleased it got opened up?
Absolutely. Who wouldn't be?

404
00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:50,800
A park and a good book.

405
00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:53,160
Still a good recipe?
A great combination.

406
00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:56,320
Yeah, we are clashing slightly,
with the pink and the yellow.

407
00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:57,400
It think it works!

408
00:22:57,400 --> 00:22:58,920
MICHAEL CHUCKLES

409
00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:02,320
I'd love to linger with a drink,
but I'm just passing through

410
00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:05,960
this beautiful park, en route
to an attraction built to satisfy

411
00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:09,400
the 19th century's unquenchable
thirst for knowledge.

412
00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:14,440
"The Zoological Gardens is perhaps
the most fashionable resort

413
00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:15,640
"in the metropolis,

414
00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:18,240
"an institution
which has its origins

415
00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:20,280
"in that spirit of association

416
00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:22,600
"which has achieved
so much for England.

417
00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:25,360
"Specimens of rare, curious
and beautiful animals

418
00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:27,040
"have been collected.

419
00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:31,960
"A walk through this garden is like
a rapid journey over the world."

420
00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:35,240
Now, most Victorians were not
able to travel the globe

421
00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:37,400
and photography was in its infancy,

422
00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:43,320
so imagine the experience of wonder
and joy when they came to the zoo.

423
00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:47,760
'As in Bradshaw's day,

424
00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:50,800
'London Zoo continues
to pull in the crowds,

425
00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,360
'with more than a million
visitors per year.

426
00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:56,240
'I'm meeting zoological director
David Field

427
00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:59,960
'to hear how it began
as an exclusive club.'

428
00:23:59,960 --> 00:24:02,400
David, it's pretty hot for me
in my summer plumage,

429
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,280
so I hate to think what
it's like for the penguins!

430
00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:08,680
When did the Zoological
Society of London begin?

431
00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:13,200
The society actually began
in 1826 and it was the vision

432
00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:15,440
of a wonderful man called
Sir Stamford Raffles.

433
00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:17,520
He had the foresight
to bring together

434
00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:20,480
a range of eminent scientists
and politicians of the day

435
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:25,840
to create the society that then grew
into the London Zoo as we see today.

436
00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:29,400
Created so that researchers

437
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:32,400
could study exotic animals
at close quarters,

438
00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:34,960
when the zoo opened in 1828,

439
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:37,960
it was the first
scientific zoo in the world.

440
00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,440
Among those who benefited
was Charles Darwin,

441
00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:43,960
who reportedly saw
his first ape here.

442
00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:47,440
It was a members-only club
until 1847,

443
00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:50,040
when public pressure
forced the society

444
00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:51,840
to open its doors more widely.

445
00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:56,400
Bradshaw's talks about it as being
a very fashionable place,

446
00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:01,040
so it was treated by the well-to-do
as a place to promenade, was it?

447
00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:04,680
Absolutely. In fact, a music hall
artiste called The Great Vance

448
00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:08,960
had a song in which the lyrics
talked about "The OK thing to do

449
00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:11,560
"in a Sunday afternoon
is promenade in the zoo"

450
00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:12,840
and in actual fact,

451
00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:15,800
that was the first time
the word "zoo" was ever coined.

452
00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:20,960
Some of the zoo's residents so
captured the Victorian imagination

453
00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:23,880
that they achieved celebrity status.

454
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:27,600
A great Victorian character
surely was Jumbo the elephant.

455
00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:30,560
Oh, one of the most
iconic characters

456
00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:33,320
and his name just lives for ever.

457
00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:37,640
Because "Jumbo" didn't
actually mean elephantine.

458
00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:39,800
No, not at all, and
it certainly was Jumbo

459
00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:43,000
that has given that, that phrase,
But he was an enormous animal.

460
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,160
What happened to him?

461
00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:46,680
He actually left the zoo.

462
00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:49,760
He was sold to
Barnum & Bailey circus.

463
00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:52,560
Because of his size,
Phineas T Barnum,

464
00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:54,560
he wanted the biggest
elephant in the world.

465
00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:56,080
But there was an outcry.

466
00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:57,560
There was letters to the press,

467
00:25:57,560 --> 00:25:59,840
even Queen Victoria made a request

468
00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:02,840
that surely we should
be able to keep Jumbo.

469
00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:05,080
What happened to Jumbo in the end?

470
00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:07,600
Well, one night in the States,

471
00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:10,960
when the circus was moving
from one site to the other,

472
00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:13,920
Jumbo was getting onto the train

473
00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:17,960
and unfortunately another freight
train was coming the other way

474
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:22,120
and hit Jumbo and he died
there and then.

475
00:26:22,120 --> 00:26:24,080
That was end of
the line for Jumbo.

476
00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:29,640
Jumbo's death sparked
a public outpouring of grief.

477
00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:34,400
London Zoo had prompted Victorian
Britons to take to their hearts

478
00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:37,200
outlandish species
from distant shores.

479
00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:42,600
It's a great way for people
to get close to animals,

480
00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:44,640
a bit too close, possibly!

481
00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:47,480
It must have been
extraordinary for Victorians

482
00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:51,440
for the first time to come
eye to eye with a giraffe.

483
00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:54,160
The Victorians
couldn't get enough of this.

484
00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:55,480
But the same is today.

485
00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:59,880
People love to get close and
are inspired to get this close

486
00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:01,080
to animals.

487
00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:07,920
While Jumbo's sad death was caused
by an American freight train,

488
00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:11,800
life in London has become
dependent on railways.

489
00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:20,560
This Metropolitan Railway
was opened in 1863

490
00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:24,720
and soon extended as far
as Mrs Marshall's Pinner.

491
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:27,480
London faced a population explosion

492
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:31,360
and responded by perfecting
its recreations and its parks

493
00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:35,120
and by seeking nearby green spaces
for its citizens

494
00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:36,720
both living and dead.

495
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:40,960
London was the first metropolis
to struggle with how to open up

496
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:44,920
rural paradise without
urbanising the countryside

497
00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:48,760
and, using the world's
first underground railway,

498
00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:51,480
I think my city did it pretty well.

499
00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:58,560
'Next time, I'll see the celebrated
ship that supplied Victorian Britain

500
00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:00,200
'with its national drink...'

501
00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:03,800
Every journey back from China,
she was bringing 600 tons of tea.

502
00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:06,360
That was enough tea to make
over 200 million cups.

503
00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:10,040
'..taste the by-product of
19th century global trade...'

504
00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:11,760
Mmm!

505
00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:14,880
Deliciously warm, as
though it had just come off

506
00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:17,800
a hot sticky toffee pudding.

507
00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:21,720
'..and learn about the nation's
top award for gallantry.'

508
00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:25,800
This one...is made from the barrel
you're leaning on. Really?!