1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:08,640 For Victorian Britons, George Bradshaw was a household name. 2 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:11,520 At a time when railways were new, 3 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:15,240 Bradshaw's guidebook inspired them to take to the tracks. 4 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:20,440 I'm using a Bradshaw's guide to understand how trains transformed 5 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:26,200 Britain - its landscape, its industry, society and leisure time. 6 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:31,640 As I crisscross the country 150 years later, it helps me 7 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:33,560 to discover the Britain of today. 8 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:59,840 I'm now over halfway through a London railway odyssey, 9 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:02,520 discovering how, with industrialisation, 10 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,960 the capital became the world's first megalopolis. 11 00:01:05,960 --> 00:01:08,800 Today, I'm bound for its very heart. 12 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:17,200 Sandwiched between the capital's political and financial centres, 13 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:20,840 at Westminster and the old City of London, is the West End, 14 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:25,480 whose theatres, emporia, eating houses, coffee shops 15 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:27,520 and public houses were a magnet 16 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:31,440 for Victorian pleasure seekers and players. 17 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,720 And they've lost none of their pulling power today. 18 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:40,600 I'm using my usual guidebook 19 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:45,240 and extracts from Bradshaw's 1862 Illustrated Handbook to London 20 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:49,240 to make a series of journeys in and around the capital. 21 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:54,800 This time, I'm exploring the West End, from Covent Garden, via 22 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:58,600 Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly, to the bustling streets of Soho. 23 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:03,960 'On today's journey, I'll discover how 19th century engineering 24 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:06,680 'made for spectacular theatricals...' 25 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:09,040 Ben Hur was produced there twice. 26 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:12,360 They staged the chariot race and the horses ran across the stage. 27 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:15,400 To make it more exciting, they actually turned the treadmills around 28 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:18,280 so that the horses were running towards the audience. 29 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:21,720 '..discover a Victorian luxury fit for a queen...' 30 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:24,920 The other area that Queen Victoria liked was rose. 31 00:02:24,920 --> 00:02:30,200 And so if I dab this behind my ears, I can smell like Queen Victoria. 32 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:33,600 '..and come face to face with my guiding spirit...' 33 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:38,920 George Bradshaw, 1801 to 1853. 34 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:52,200 First stop is Covent Garden. 35 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:56,640 Once, it was home to London's fruit, vegetable and flower markets. 36 00:02:56,640 --> 00:02:59,000 Now tourists flock here to visit the shops, 37 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:01,520 soak up the atmosphere, or take in a show. 38 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:07,680 The first playhouses appeared here in the 17th century, 39 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:09,880 but the West End's modern reputation 40 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:14,000 as the home of British theatre dates back to Victorian times. 41 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:19,720 "The Strand is a fine street running parallel with the river, 42 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:23,600 "formerly the favourite abode of our ancient nobility. 43 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,640 "Between their mansions and the river 44 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:29,440 "were gardens, terraces and steps." 45 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:33,120 But by the time of my Bradshaw's guide, this was theatreland, 46 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:37,640 and here at the Adelphi Theatre, for more than 200 years, there's 47 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:41,600 been the smell of the greasepaint and the roar of the crowd. 48 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:50,520 The first theatre on this site opened in 1806, 49 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:54,120 marking the beginning of a 19th century theatre boom, 50 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:58,640 fuelled by industrial London's pell-mell economic growth. 51 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:02,240 I'm treading the boards with theatre historian Mark Fox. 52 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,760 Well, Mark, here we are in the spotlight. Why was it that 53 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:12,880 from Shakespearean times to the beginning of the 19th century 54 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:17,160 the centre of theatre moved from the south bank to the West End? 55 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:20,880 The whole of London was developing, particularly along the riverside, 56 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:24,280 roads being built, tenement blocks being swept away. 57 00:04:24,280 --> 00:04:27,640 Sites became available, and if an impresario could actually find 58 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,400 a site that they could actually build a theatre very quickly with enough 59 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:34,720 seats and get the entertainment that people wanted to come and see, 60 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:36,880 then they could make money very quickly. 61 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:40,200 By the time of my guidebook, 62 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:44,560 this area was in turmoil, thanks to the creation of the Embankment. 63 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:47,760 Extraordinary feats of Victorian engineering reclaimed 64 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:51,240 land from the Thames and provided new sewers 65 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:54,880 and underground railways to serve the city's mushrooming population. 66 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:00,920 The advent of the railways transformed the landscape 67 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:02,880 and the reach of theatreland. 68 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:09,920 Before the railways, so before about 1830, how were the theatres 69 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:11,720 here getting their audiences? 70 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:14,560 The theatres were built to attract the people in the locality, 71 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,000 you didn't have any such thing as a long run. 72 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:20,400 They would do a play for perhaps just one day or two days, 73 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:22,760 and then they would change the bill completely. 74 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:25,200 The railways, then, must have had quite a big impact, 75 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:27,560 when people were able to travel greater distances. 76 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:30,120 It did, it changed the profile of the audience completely, 77 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:32,320 because suddenly tourists were coming in as well. 78 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:35,200 Somewhere here like the Strand... Charing Cross, when that opened, 79 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,000 that was the boat train, so people could come even from abroad, 80 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:40,400 and that changed the nature of the whole business. 81 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:43,840 It wasn't the same rough audiences that had actually been there all the 82 00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:47,720 time. It became a bit more expensive, it actually became special. 83 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:53,040 Thanks to the railways, there was now a market for long-running shows, 84 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:57,960 but to keep the crowds coming, the producers had to give them thrills. 85 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:01,880 Tell me about stagecraft - during the 19th century, how good was it? 86 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:05,080 They didn't have the technology that we have today, obviously, 87 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:08,320 but they did manage some huge technological feats. 88 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:13,960 So, Drury Lane in 1894, Augustus Harris bought in from Vienna 89 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:17,360 enormous hydraulic lifts, but that meant that he could actually 90 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:20,440 rock the stage from side to side so he could sink ships! 91 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:23,080 He could do things that people hadn't ever seen before. 92 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:26,160 Just to give you an idea of the real scale, Ben Hur was 93 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:29,760 produced there twice. They staged the chariot race both times. 94 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:33,440 The first time, they had treadmills and the horses ran across the stage 95 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,560 with a scene that moved behind them, so you could actually see the 96 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:39,720 progression of the race, but the second time they revived it, 97 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:41,680 they actually turned the treadmills round 98 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:44,200 so that the horses were running towards the audience. 99 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:46,920 Ah, people must have been absolutely mesmerised. 100 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:50,800 By the turn of the 20th century, 101 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:53,640 there were 46 theatres in the West End. 102 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:56,560 And still today, the railways deliver to the capital 103 00:06:56,560 --> 00:07:00,000 out-of-towners lured by the bright lights. 104 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:01,800 Hello, ladies. Nice to meet you. 105 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:04,480 Nice to see you, are you on your way to the theatre? 106 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:07,640 We are, yes. So, why do you choose the theatre in London? 107 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:09,160 It's my home town originally. 108 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:12,560 She's from London but she's lived in Liverpool for 50 years. 109 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:14,040 Where have you come from? 110 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:16,160 Peterborough. That's not so far! 111 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:19,600 No, it isn't, it's just down the road on the train. 112 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,360 Is there something special about the theatre scene in London, 113 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:23,920 do you think? Oh, yeah, I think so. 114 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:25,880 It's the excitement, it's different, 115 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:28,480 you know, it's not only going to the theatre, 116 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:31,120 it's walking around, people watching. 117 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:34,120 We used to go to the Wood Green Empire, Finsbury Park Empire, 118 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:36,320 you know, they were our haunts. 119 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,080 And what sort of things were you seeing? Musicals? 120 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:40,880 All the top stars, mostly. 121 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:42,520 Are you here for the theatre today? 122 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:45,160 No, I'm up here to buy railway books. 123 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:46,880 HE LAUGHS 124 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:50,840 My guidebooks can now help me 125 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:54,560 to discover how teeming Victorian London fed its hungry masses. 126 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:01,280 Bradshaw's Guide to London 1862 describes the capital as a modern 127 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:06,200 Babylon, in which there's a choice of 330 dining rooms, 128 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:10,960 833 coffee shops, 4,343 publicans, 129 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:13,600 802 beer shop keepers. 130 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:17,880 The capital apparently consumes 776,000 sheep, 131 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:22,640 270,000 pigs, and 120,000 tonnes of fish. 132 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:26,040 I hope I haven't BATTERED you with statistics. 133 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:32,840 Victorian industrialisation and urbanisation 134 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:36,680 helped to spread the quintessential British takeaway. 135 00:08:36,680 --> 00:08:40,120 Ahmet Ziyaeddin's family have been serving fish and chips 136 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:42,320 for over 30 years. 137 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:44,680 Hello, Ahmet. Michael, hello, good to see you. 138 00:08:44,680 --> 00:08:47,120 Here I am dressed in my finery, all ready for you. 139 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:49,120 Fantastic, you look ready for the job. 140 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:51,480 How long has there been a shop on these premises? 141 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:54,520 Since 1871, so that's just over 140 years. 142 00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:00,280 Although fried fish has been sold in Britain since the 17th century, 143 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:04,240 it was first served to urban workers with chips in the 1860s. 144 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:08,760 Why do you think fish and chips became so popular 145 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:10,800 in the Victorian time when this shop opened? 146 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,960 It was a massive influx of the hard work the Victorians had done. 147 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:18,120 We had modern transport trains... 148 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:20,920 With the expansion of the fishing fleet 149 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:24,240 and mechanisation on the trawlers they were able to catch more. 150 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:27,000 'Thanks to steam trawlers and steam trains, 151 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:29,280 'cheap fish flooded into Britain's cities, 152 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:33,480 'and by the 1920s there were 35,000 fish and chip shops.' 153 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:35,360 What recipe do you work to? 154 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:39,480 We were very fortunate in that there were two elderly ladies that 155 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:42,520 lived above the shop when my father arrived. 156 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:46,520 They were the daughters of the grandson of the original owner. 157 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:49,120 They put forward to my father that his fish and chips 158 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:51,040 wasn't good enough for this shop, 159 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:53,800 and he said, "Well, if you think you can do better, show me," 160 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:57,560 and they did! We adopted their methods, which date back 161 00:09:57,560 --> 00:10:01,280 to the origins of this shop, and we've carried it on ever since. 162 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:05,280 And you break it open and you see that white, flaky, fresh fish. 163 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:09,400 Simple enough to cook, but when it's done well, it's unparalleled. 164 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:13,040 It's good, honest food. Makes you proud to be British. Absolutely. 165 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:21,680 At the time of my guidebook, 166 00:10:21,680 --> 00:10:25,160 rapidly-expanding London was battling against congestion 167 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:29,200 in its streets by experimenting with underground railways. 168 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:31,440 In the first years of the 20th century, 169 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:33,800 the first deep-level Tubes opened. 170 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:39,040 I'm taking the Northern line to Charing Cross, 171 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:43,680 to visit a cultural beacon that had its roots in Bradshaw's day. 172 00:10:43,680 --> 00:10:45,920 TANNOY: 'This is Charing Cross...' 173 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:04,240 The National Gallery - 174 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:07,360 "that singularly dull, heavy-looking building 175 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:11,760 "that extends the whole north side of Trafalgar Square. 176 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:15,640 "Although this gallery is inferior to the great continental galleries, 177 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:19,120 "still it is a highly valuable collection." 178 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:22,880 Bradshaw's understood the art of faint praise. 179 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:30,640 In the mid-19th century, 180 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:34,280 the gallery's neoclassical look had fallen out of fashion. 181 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:38,920 Today up to six million visitors a year pass through its portals. 182 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:44,560 The 46,000 square metre building houses a world-class collection 183 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:47,320 of over 2,000 paintings, 184 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:52,480 but archivist Alan Crookham takes me back to its modest beginnings. 185 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:01,200 Before the foundation of the National Gallery in 1824, 186 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:03,920 what was the opportunity for the city clerk 187 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:07,320 or the steam-engine operative to see art? 188 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:10,400 Well, there weren't a great many opportunities. 189 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:13,160 The Dulwich Picture Gallery had been founded a few years earlier, 190 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:15,320 but there were problems in getting out there, 191 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:17,480 cos at that time there weren't any railways, 192 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:20,480 so the opening of the gallery really gave people an opportunity 193 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:24,080 to see great works of art right in the centre of London. 194 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:27,280 And how, then, did the collection actually begin? 195 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:29,240 Well, it was purchased by the government 196 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:33,920 from the estate of John Julius Angerstein, a financier, in 1824 197 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:36,320 for the princely sum of £60,000. 198 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:40,480 Initially there were just 38 paintings 199 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:43,800 displayed in Angerstein's house in Pall Mall. 200 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:47,960 Then, in the 1830s, work began on this gallery - 201 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:50,320 part of an ambitious building programme 202 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:55,160 in which Trafalgar Square replaced streets of slums. 203 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:58,720 There was a whole area of Trafalgar Square that was known 204 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:01,480 as Porridge Island, and it was called that 205 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:05,040 because the inhabitants of this area used to make a kind of gruel, 206 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:08,920 and the gruel stank. But that was all cleared for Trafalgar Square. 207 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:13,200 How did the public react at first to the opportunity 208 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:15,360 of spending the day in a gallery? 209 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,200 Some people, for example, came in and would actually have a picnic 210 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:21,320 here in the gallery, and would sit around having their food 211 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:23,040 and drinking glasses of gin, 212 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:25,120 and when they were told off for doing this, 213 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:27,520 they would simply offer the gallery assistant 214 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:29,320 a glass of gin to join them. 215 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:33,440 By 1853, there were over 400 paintings in the collection, 216 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:37,920 which was boosted further when JMW Turner left hundreds of works 217 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:41,720 to the nation in his will - including this one, 218 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:44,160 inspired by the wonder of locomotion. 219 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:45,520 What's the name of the picture? 220 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:47,600 It's Rain, Steam And Speed. 221 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:50,080 And, in fact, when this was first put on display, 222 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:53,280 William Thackeray, the author and critic, came in to see it, 223 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:56,800 and he wrote an article about it, where he said it was almost so vivid, 224 00:13:56,800 --> 00:13:59,480 it's almost as if the train could leap off the canvas 225 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:03,000 and then go through the wall and out, down Charing Cross, 226 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,240 and disappear into the distance. Marvellous image. 227 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:15,840 Many of those responsible for the transformation 228 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:18,840 of 19th century Britain are commemorated next door, 229 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:21,400 in the National Portrait Gallery, 230 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:25,560 founded in the 1850s so the public could admire the likenesses 231 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:29,360 of those who'd risen by their efforts and intellect, 232 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:31,040 and those born to greatness. 233 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:37,960 I've come to the National Portrait Gallery 234 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,520 to see one portrait in particular. 235 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:46,040 George Bradshaw, 1801 to 1853, 236 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:49,920 shown here with his famous railway map of Britain. 237 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:52,200 This was painted in 1841. 238 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:56,040 He was probably best known then as a cartographer. 239 00:14:56,040 --> 00:15:00,680 And his portrait hangs beside that of Robert Stephenson... 240 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:04,800 ..who was responsible for the railway line 241 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:07,200 from London to Birmingham. 242 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:12,800 And above, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who built the railway line 243 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:16,440 from London out to the west - the Great Western Railway. 244 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:18,320 And I think 245 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:22,920 something in George Bradshaw's Quaker humility would baulk 246 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:29,040 against being shown alongside two, surely, of his greatest heroes. 247 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:39,480 And having paid homage to three heavyweights of the railway age, 248 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:42,120 I'm breaking my journey for the night. 249 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:04,280 I'm continuing my exploration of London on the Bakerloo line, 250 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:08,680 which opened in 1906 as the Baker Street And Waterloo Railway. 251 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:14,360 In Victorian times, every aspect of the world's greatest city 252 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:17,600 magnetised the visitor. Having attended the theatres 253 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:19,880 and galleries, they could also take advantage 254 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:24,360 of the metropolis's enormous range of high-quality merchandise. 255 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:26,160 Bradshaw's urges that, 256 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:30,120 "proceeding up Piccadilly, the visitor should not omit Bond Street, 257 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:33,400 "to view this most fashionable promenade. 258 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:35,960 "The shops here are extremely elegant 259 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:38,760 "and their articles most recherche. 260 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:42,440 "And here the ladies of aristocracy and wealth may be seen alighting 261 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:47,440 "from their carriages and splendid equipages to make some purchases." 262 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:52,600 I'm at Piccadilly for the sweet smells of wealth and success. 263 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:01,360 A favourite purchase for the rich in Victorian London was perfume, 264 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:04,880 and to sniff out its history I've come to Piccadilly Circus, 265 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:07,080 one of the busiest stops on the network. 266 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:14,200 Passengers make more than 40 million journeys 267 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:16,080 through the station each year. 268 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:20,720 The attraction of the nearby shops hasn't changed since Bradshaw's day. 269 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:29,440 Hi, guys! What are you hoping to do in the West End? 270 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:31,440 Hopefully see The Lion King tonight. 271 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,920 Saw the Queen today in the Opening of Parliament. You've seen the Queen?! 272 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:37,360 We did! Very exciting! It was a massive moment! 273 00:17:37,360 --> 00:17:38,840 Are you shopping today? 274 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:42,000 No, we've just come from Canterbury to have a wander round. 275 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:45,120 Now, will you do any shopping while you're here? A little. A little. 276 00:17:45,120 --> 00:17:48,240 What do you like to do when you get here? 277 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:51,880 Well, usually we go for food or sometimes come out and... 278 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:55,880 Watch people and things. Watch people? Yeah! 279 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:58,440 I'm looking at perfume in the West End. 280 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:00,480 Do you like to buy perfume at all? 281 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:02,840 LOVE perfume! We just bought some perfume. 282 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:05,920 Are you into perfume yet? Yes! What do you like to wear? 283 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:08,720 One Direction perfume! One Direction perfume?! 284 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:13,400 What sort of perfume do you think One Direction wear? 285 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:15,400 Um... 286 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:17,920 probably just cologne or aftershave. Yeah. 287 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:28,920 While many of the shops familiar to Victorian customers 288 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:32,320 have long since gone, this Jermyn Street perfumery 289 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:35,400 has survived almost unchanged. 290 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:38,480 Today it's run by Edward Bodenham. 291 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:42,800 Edward, hello! Hello, Michael. Welcome to the shop, 292 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:46,520 welcome to Floris. Thank you very much, it's such an elegant shop. 293 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:49,400 I imagine it was flourishing in the mid-19th century. 294 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:53,080 But on the other hand, I suppose the origins must go back much further. 295 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:55,720 Yes, they do, actually, back to 1730, 296 00:18:55,720 --> 00:19:01,120 when my great-great-great-great-great-great- grandfather set up the business. 297 00:19:01,120 --> 00:19:04,280 He actually came over from Minorca, which was part of the British Empire 298 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:06,680 at the time. So this was another Spanish immigrant 299 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:09,040 who made his fortune in Britain. Absolutely. 300 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:11,680 And you have Spanish blood, like me, then. Certainly do. 301 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:15,080 Your shop has a 19th century look, would that be right? 302 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:17,600 Yes, all the cabinets in here were actually acquired 303 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:20,880 from the Great Exhibition in 1851, which was obviously 304 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:24,800 the largest trade fair of its day. So, originally jewellery cabinets, 305 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:29,600 but a deal was done and we were able to acquire the cabinets for our shop. 306 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:31,880 The Great Exhibition showcased 307 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:35,320 the best of British and international invention, 308 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:38,440 from silverwork to the latest steam engines. 309 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:40,920 Was there a connection between perfume and the railways 310 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:42,360 once they came? 311 00:19:42,360 --> 00:19:46,160 Yes, there was. We used to source a lot of our essences 312 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:49,480 from the south of France. Before trains were introduced, 313 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:51,680 the family, or whoever was sourcing the oils, 314 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:53,480 would have to travel by horse and cart, 315 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:55,400 so it really did make things a lot easier. 316 00:19:57,040 --> 00:20:00,600 Perfume was worn partly to mask the unpleasant smells 317 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:04,280 of 19th century London, but it also conferred status. 318 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:06,120 Members of Britain's elite 319 00:20:06,120 --> 00:20:09,600 have been buying their scent here for centuries. 320 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:15,240 Another beautiful room. This is where we keep our account ledgers. 321 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:19,360 These ones actually date back to the 1930s and '40s. 322 00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:22,960 This is the roll call of the royal family - the King, 323 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:26,560 the Princess Mary Louise, Queen Mary... 324 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:30,560 And various other well-known names - Sir John Gielgud, 325 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:33,320 Laurence Olivier, Winston Churchill. 326 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:39,640 So "28 Hyde Park Gate" crossed out, "10 Downing Street" inserted. 327 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:41,560 "10 Downing Street" crossed out! 328 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:45,400 Absolutely! It's the history 329 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:49,320 of the 19th and 20th century just there, isn't it? 330 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:53,520 The shop received its first Royal Warrant in 1800, 331 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:55,840 and when Queen Victoria ascended the throne, 332 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:58,560 she continued the tradition of royal patronage. 333 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:02,400 Perfumier Sheila Foyle is talking me through the regal fragrance. 334 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:07,760 We know that there were two particular areas of fragrance 335 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:09,400 that she enjoyed to wear - 336 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:12,120 one was the cologne notes. 337 00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:14,720 And what are the highlights of the recipe? 338 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:17,880 Bergamot oil, we have neroli... 339 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:22,040 What's that? A steam distillation of the flowers of the orange tree. 340 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:27,280 We also have myrtle. Yes, I find that quite strong 341 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:29,880 and quite heady, I would say. What would you say of that? 342 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:33,920 For me, it's light, it's fresh, quite crisp... 343 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:36,920 The other area that Queen Victoria liked was rose, 344 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:39,560 so I've also created a rose bouquet. 345 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:42,800 Mmm, very distinctive rose, isn't it? 346 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,600 And so, if I dab this behind my ears, 347 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:48,880 I can smell like Queen Victoria! You certainly can. 348 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,160 I'm now swapping the heady scent of royalty 349 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:07,040 for the earthy smells of the Underground, 350 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:10,200 as I rejoin the Bakerloo line towards Oxford Circus 351 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:14,320 and consider a grimmer side of Victorian London life. 352 00:22:16,120 --> 00:22:18,280 As the city's population had swelled, 353 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:21,800 little thought had been given to sanitation for the masses, 354 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:23,920 and in overcrowded poorer neighbourhoods, 355 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:26,240 the consequences could be disastrous. 356 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:33,160 Today, London's Soho quarter buzzes with restaurants, cafes and shops. 357 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:35,920 In Victorian times, people lived here cheek-by-jowl - 358 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:39,040 an average of 18 to a house. 359 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:44,160 The 1862 Bradshaw's Guide To London contains this comment - 360 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:48,640 "upwards of 100 drinking fountains now exist, from which flows 361 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:52,520 "a continual stream of water, where three years since 362 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:54,800 "not a single one was known. 363 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:59,560 "And although little artistic taste has been displayed in their erection 364 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:03,760 "they must be highly useful in a sanitary point of view." 365 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:08,840 Well, yes, if the water supply was clean, but if it was contaminated, 366 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:10,360 it could be lethal. 367 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:15,720 In Bradshaw's day, infectious disease was rife, 368 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:19,200 and perhaps the most feared was cholera. 369 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:21,960 Four deadly outbreaks swept through the capital 370 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:26,600 between 1832 and 1866, killing thousands. 371 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:30,320 The authorities' response was hampered by ignorance 372 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:33,280 of how the fatal illness was spread. 373 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:36,680 Peter Daniel from the Westminster Archives can tell me how the answer 374 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:41,640 came from a diligent Victorian who analysed the evidence. 375 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:45,320 Why is Britain blighted by successive outbreaks of cholera 376 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:47,960 during the middle of the 19th century? 377 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:50,600 Well, the origins of cholera were in the Ganges in India, 378 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:52,840 but with the opening up of the British Empire 379 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:56,160 and different trade routes, it can spread more easily and quickly 380 00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:58,200 through shipping, railways - 381 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:01,000 the things that had brought lots of benefits 382 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,880 but were now going to bring this deadly disease to the country. 383 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:06,480 And at the time of my Bradshaw's Guide, 384 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:10,160 what was the theory as to what lay behind cholera? 385 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:13,040 Well, the prevailing theory was miasmatism - 386 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:15,880 the idea that bad smells cause diseases. 387 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:19,320 Many influential people, those in government 388 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:22,680 who could make the decisions strongly believed in that. 389 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:25,960 Who makes the breakthrough towards understanding that cholera 390 00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:27,600 is a waterborne disease? 391 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:30,400 It's a man called Dr John Snow. 392 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:33,760 Dr Snow was something of a Victorian celebrity, 393 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:37,040 having assisted at the birth of Queen Victoria's son. 394 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:42,800 He had long suspected that contaminated water caused cholera, 395 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:46,480 and when, in August 1854, the disease tore through 396 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:50,800 his local neighbourhood in Soho, he set out to prove it. 397 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:55,840 It was a matter of doing a lot of walking and talking to people, 398 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:59,000 and he mapped out where all the cases were occurring. 399 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:01,720 There were 13 water pumps in the Soho area 400 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:03,720 and he found a cluster of the cases 401 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:06,320 around one pump that was in Broadwick Street. 402 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:11,360 But just as revealing as who had succumbed to the disease 403 00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:12,840 was who had not. 404 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,960 What other proofs were there for Snow? 405 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:22,160 Well, literally just a few yards along there was the Lion Brewery, 406 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:26,600 and when Snow was doing his investigations here for his mapping, 407 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:30,040 he found that none of the workers in the brewery had died - 408 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,240 that's because they only drunk beer! 409 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:36,040 What, and beer can't carry cholera? 410 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:39,880 Well, it's because the fermentation killed off the bacteria, 411 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:41,320 so it was safe to drink. 412 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:45,080 Snow's methodical research has earned him a place 413 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:49,680 in medical history as one of the founders of modern epidemiology - 414 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:51,800 the study of the spread of disease. 415 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:54,640 With the help of the parish vicar Henry Whitehead, 416 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:58,200 he found the evidence needed to prove the miasmatists wrong, 417 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:01,800 including the curious case of Susannah Eley. 418 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:04,360 She owned a cartridge company, 419 00:26:04,360 --> 00:26:08,720 and made so much money she'd been able to move out to Hampstead. 420 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:11,680 The one thing is, she couldn't leave her working-class roots behind. 421 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:14,880 She loved the taste of Broad Street pump water, 422 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:17,000 and she had it shipped to her every day, 423 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:19,160 to her new residence out in Hampstead, 424 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:21,880 and she was the only person in Hampstead to die of cholera. 425 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:23,960 And it was easy for Snow then to say, 426 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:27,400 "Bad smells just can't reach from Soho out to Hampstead. 427 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:31,520 Snow convinced the local parish authorities to remove 428 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:35,120 the handle of the offending pump, but it wasn't until after his death 429 00:26:35,120 --> 00:26:38,920 in 1858 that his ideas became widely accepted, 430 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:42,120 and proper sewers were built in the capital, 431 00:26:42,120 --> 00:26:44,800 eradicating cholera in London. 432 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:50,200 So Snow makes his breakthroughs in 1854, 1855, 433 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:56,640 and it comes, I'm afraid, just too late for one man, who dies in 1853 - 434 00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:58,960 George Bradshaw - of cholera. 435 00:27:04,360 --> 00:27:06,520 John Snow is a shining example 436 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:10,320 of the Victorian spirit of enquiry that transformed Britain. 437 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:13,960 Scientific advance and technological progress 438 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:18,040 would eventually bring relief even to the capital's seething masses, 439 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:20,360 living in their poverty and squalor. 440 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:25,880 Seeing the portraits of Isambard Kingdom Brunel 441 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:29,760 and Robert Stephenson reminds me yet again how much we owe 442 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:33,040 the great railway builders, but even when their work was done 443 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:35,120 here in the West End of London, 444 00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:39,600 amongst the finery of the shops and the theatres, cholera raged. 445 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:43,280 The capital is indebted to the diligent Dr John Snow, 446 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:46,760 and a new generation of civil engineers who undertook 447 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:50,640 the unglamorous work of building clean water pipes 448 00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:52,480 and leak-proof sewers. 449 00:27:57,160 --> 00:27:59,800 'Next time, I'll be getting a fresh perspective 450 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:01,640 'on a Victorian landmark...' 451 00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:03,160 Oh! 452 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:05,280 I mustn't look down, I mustn't look down! 453 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:07,880 '..learning how London's most-famous flower market 454 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:10,400 'had a darker side in Bradshaw's day...' 455 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:15,560 Flower sellers would use it almost as a cover for prostitution. 456 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:19,240 '..and discovering how the capital's 19th century railway 457 00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:21,400 'is being equipped for the 21st.' 458 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:24,040 The scale of this enterprise, the scale of this vision, 459 00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:26,480 it is positively Victorian.