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For Victorian Britains, 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
to understand how trains

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transformed Britain - its landscape,
its industries, society

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and leisure time.

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As I crisscross the country
150 years later, it helps me

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to discover the Britain of today.

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All week, I've been using
Bradshaw's to rediscover

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London as it was
in the Age of Steam.

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I'm now concluding my rail
journeys around the world's first

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metropolis. Today, I want to look
at great institutions born in

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or which flourished during the reign
of Queen Victoria -

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a variety of cultural, charitable
and popular organisations

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that to this day define the capital
more than rhyming slang

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or the sound of bow bells.

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Alongside my usual guidebook,
I've been delving into other

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historic Bradshaw's publications,

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including a later edition from 1875,

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to shine a light
on Victorian London.

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Today, I'm tracing a route
from affluent Kensington

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to Battersea and Vauxhall,

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finishing up at one of Britain's
busiest stations, London Bridge.

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'On this stretch, I'll be getting
a fresh perspective

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'on a Victorian landmark...

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Oh, that is a long way d...
Oh, I mustn't look down.

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I mustn't look down.

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'..learning how London's
most famous flower market

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'had a darker side
in Bradshaw's day...'

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Flower sellers would use it almost
as a cover for begging

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or at worst prostitution.

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Oh, so to be a flower girl had a
sort of double meaning? Absolutely.

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'..and discovering how the
capital's 19th-century railways

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'are being equipped for the 21st.'

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What we see here
is the new platforms

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that we're just preparing
at the minute.

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And the scale of this enterprise,
the scale of this vision,

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it is positively Victorian.

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I'm on the Circle line, heading
for High Street Kensington.

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This stretch opened in 1868

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and was soon being used
by well-to-do commuters,

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who might well have passed the
journey flicking through the pages

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of an irreverent publication.

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"Ascending Fleet Street,

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"we pass on the left the office
of the inimitable Punch

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"and a few doors beyond,
that of Bradshaw's Guide."

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I'm not at Fleet Street, but near
the home of a Punch cartoonist,

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who, as reliably as my handbook,
steers us through the Victorian age,

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albeit sardonically.

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Today's popular satirical television
and radio shows can trace roots back

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to the lampoonery
of the magazine Punch.

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I'm unearthing its Victorian
origins in Kensington,

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where,
encouraged by the new railway,

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19th-century property developers
built smart homes by the hundred

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for the burgeoning middle classes.

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In 1875, artist and Punch cartoonist
Edward Linley Sambourne

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moved in to number 18,
Stafford Terrace.

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His home has been beautifully
preserved as a museum,

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and I'm taking a tour with cultural
historian Clare Horrocks.

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Clare, politicians had been
satirized and caricatured

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long before the invention of Punch.
What is special about Punch?

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I think what's special about Punch
is that it's reaching out to a much

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more middle class audience. It's much
more of a family magazine,

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particularly as you move through
into the 1850s and 1860s.

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But it does pack a punch, doesn't
it? I mean, it's something

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that the ruling class
have to be wary of?

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Very much so.

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Before the advent of Punch in 1841,

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satire often took the form of crude
pamphlets, bawdy in tone

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and frequently libellous.

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Employing top artists and generally
skirting around libel,

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Punch became the respectable face
of the genre.

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Alongside biting
political commentary,

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Sambourne and his colleagues
gently lampooned the preoccupations

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of the weekly's refined readership.

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What we can se here is the use of
the spider to satirise the chignon

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and female fashion.

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What's quite interesting is you can
see the flies as earrings. Ha-ha.

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An early version of Spider-Woman.

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A keen observer of the changing face
of Victorian Britain,

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Sambourne took advantage
of modern technology

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including photography,
which by the late 19th century

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had reached the mass-market.

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Sambourne's studio.

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Indeed, this is where he worked
from 1899, and here's some examples

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of how he would use the photography
to help him get the shape

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of the characters
that he was sketching

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and an example of one of his cameras.
Ah, an unusual camera.

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It's got lenses on two sides.
This was the secret side panel,

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which gave him a secret and more
genuine view, it could be argued,

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on subjects, such as the schoolgirls
walking along that we have here.

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Punch took a keen interest in
the railways, which were then

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transforming Britain and even my
guidebook found itself subjected to

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the magazine's playful wit.

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As we can see here, from September,
1877, we have a piece about

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The Continental Bradshaw,
which has an initial letter

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by Sambourne himself.

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"Oh, shall we take a circular ticket
carrying us everywhere,

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"over everything in all sorts
of conveyances?

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"Shall we not consequently be
haunted with the regret

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"that wherever we may be going, we
would far sooner go somewhere else?

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"Will the Continental Bradshaw be
of the least use to us?"

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What a heretical question! Ha-ha.

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I have never regretted following
my trusty Bradshaw's,

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and it's now leading me back onto
the Circle line.

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I'm heading south to learn how
royal passions shaped this part

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of London in the mid-19th century.

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The relationship between
Queen Victoria

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and her husband Prince Albert
could be stormy.

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He doubted that the duties of
a monarch could be performed

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by a weak and feeble woman,
and her efforts to perform them

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were hampered by nine pregnancies
and bouts of post-natal depression.

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But after his death, she devoted
her life to worshipping him,

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and London enjoys the monuments
built to Prince Albert.

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An 1870s version of Bradshaw's
talks about the Royal Albert Hall

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"being 150 feet high to the lantern

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"and 800 to 900 feet round,
it is an oval

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"ranking next to the Coliseum
at Rome for size."

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Ah, yes, but this wasn't built
by a Caesar but by a queen.

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TUBE PA SYSTEM: The next station
is South Kensington.

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With the Natural History, Science

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and Victoria & Albert Museums
nearby,

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as well as Imperial College and
other educational institutions,

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the Royal Albert Hall is
at the heart of a cultural

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and scientific quarter.

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The area owes its origins to
The Great Exhibition,

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the international industrial
showcase,

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which had been the brainchild
of Prince Albert.

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I'm hearing the story from the
Hall's archive manager Liz Harper.

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Liz, what a stunning auditorium.

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So in 1851, there's The Great
Exhibition, in the Crystal Palace

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in the park. Yes.

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Now, what role does Prince Albert
play after that in this area?

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So, with the profits from
The Great Exhibition, his dream was

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to buy up land in this area
to promote the arts and sciences

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as The Exhibition had done.

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And so, with the money,
they bought up 86 acres

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and bought what's nicknamed
Albertopolis.

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And he was the driving force
behind that,

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including the Royal Albert Hall?
Exactly. Building a central hall

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for further exhibitions and for music
events was part of that ambition.

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And what we see here today,

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this 5,000 seat auditorium,
was that his original concept?

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Erm, originally, the plan was
to build a much grander theatre

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for almost 30,000 people,
but the plans were reduced

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because they felt that it could never
be filled.

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Alas, Albert didn't live
to see his vision made reality.

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Aged just 42, he died of typhoid
in 1861.

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But Victoria ensured that his name
lived on in this building.

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This illustration shows
Queen Victoria in 1867,

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laying the Hall's foundation stone.

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But it was at this ceremony in front
of 7,000 people that Queen Victoria

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decided without telling anyone at the
hall that it would be changed from

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the Central Hall Of Arts And Sciences
to the Royal Albert Hall.

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Ha-ha. That's what they call
a 'fait accompli' - a royal edict!

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The Hall finally opened in March,
1871, and a year later,

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just across the road, it was joined
by the lavish Albert Memorial,

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whose considerable expense Prime
Minister Gladstone was reluctant

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to fund from the public purse,

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thus deepening his rift
with Queen Victoria.

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The Hall required a million bricks
and 80,000 blocks of terracotta.

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Its most remarkable feature was
the 185-foot-wide dome of glass

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and wrought iron
that crowns the building.

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Oh, my goodness,
this fantastic span!

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At the time, it was the largest
unsupported dome in the world

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and it was made in Manchester
and brought down to London

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on horse and cart.
What on earth does it weigh?

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Well, including the glazing, the roof
weighs an astonishing 600 tonnes!

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Liz is leading me to the apex
of the dome,

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suspended high above the auditorium.

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Oh, that is a long way d...
Oh, I mustn't look down.

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I think I might have to ask
for your arm. Right. Let's tr...

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Oh, my goodness! This is weird.

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Let's walk across the poles.
(Oh, dear.)

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Ah!
HE GROANS

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How high above the auditorium
are we?

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We're 44 metres to the arena
floor. Oh, my goodness.

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Now why was this built?

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This was built really as Victorian
ventilation for the Hall,

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so the hot air would rise
and come out the top. Hmm, yes.

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The Victorian engineering
is extraordinary,

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but I'm thankful to be returning to
terra firma to continue my journey.

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I'm boarding the Underground for
the last time on this London tour

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because, to reach my next stop, I
need to join the mainline network

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at Victoria.

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I'm bound for Battersea,
where the railway arrived in 1867.

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TUBE PA SYSTEM: Next station
is Battersea Park.

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My 1870s Bradshaw's notes its
gardens, park and old church,

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but this quiet village was turning
into an industrialised suburb.

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Between 1841 and 1901,

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the population grew from 6,500
to nearly 170,000.

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And as Victorian London's
human population soared,

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so did the numbers of stray animals
on its streets.

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I'm hearing from Claire Horton
how this situation gave birth

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to a Battersea institution.

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00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:07,400
So, Battersea Dogs Home was actually
found in Victorian period, was it?

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00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:12,360
Mm-hm. We were founded in 1860
by a lady called Mary Tealby,

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who came to London after her divorce
and was just really concerned

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by the numbers of stray, starving
and lost dogs on the streets

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00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:25,240
and wanted to do something about it.

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00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:30,120
The Home moved this site in 1871,
and from the early 20th century,

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00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:33,200
there have been kennels
in these railway arches.

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00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:36,600
They're now being refurbished
to improve the dogs' accommodation,

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00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:41,000
but in Victorian times, not everyone
saw the necessity of treating

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stray animals kindly.

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00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:48,320
There was a rather scathing article
in The Times in the very early days

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00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:52,480
in 1862 saying that it felt
our founders had taken leave

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of their sober senses.

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00:13:54,600 --> 00:13:57,960
But we were pretty much
saved by Charles Dickens,

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00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:02,760
who came to the rescue of the Home
by actually writing an article

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00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:07,440
really almost contrasting the lives
of pedigree dogs

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00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:11,360
and their aristocratic owners with
the lives of stray street dogs

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00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:15,080
and the people who lived in sort of
the poorer areas of London.

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00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:20,000
And he was very, very positive,
very supportive of the Home.

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00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:24,280
And so the whole attitude to animal
welfare really started to shift

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00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:26,440
as a consequence of that.

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00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:30,480
By the late 1880s, the problem of
stray dogs was so bad

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00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:33,480
that the police were authorised
to impound them,

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00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:38,840
and soon up to 25,000 animals a year
were being brought to Battersea.

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00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:41,320
People would often have their dogs
seized from them,

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00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,600
from railway stations if they were
trying to travel with their dogs

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00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:47,720
and they didn't have a muzzle
on the dog as was a legal requirement

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00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:52,760
at that time. And at one point
during 1898, in 50 days,

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we took almost 11,000 dogs.

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00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:00,480
Thankfully,
London these days has fewer strays.

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00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:05,360
Even so, the Home admits
about 9,000 animals annually.

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00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:11,440
Hello. This is Lucy. Lucy's
actually a typical stray come in,

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00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,440
found at Pimlico railway station.
Ah, were you, Lucy?

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00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:17,080
She's about 18 months old.

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LUCY BARKS
Good girl.

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00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:25,440
Before a dog can be given a new
home, it is carefully assessed

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00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:30,480
and given much-needed affection
by staff and volunteers.

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00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:33,040
DOGS BARK AND WHINE

234
00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:36,080
And who's this? This is Sheba.
Hello, Sheba.

235
00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:40,640
She's one of our current residents.
She's now ready to find a new home,

236
00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:44,600
so we're giving her a bath.
Hey, sweetheart.

237
00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:47,040
Is she enjoying it? Yeah.

238
00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:51,160
That's a good girlie. It's a thick
coat, isn't it? It is a thick coat.

239
00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:58,560
Good girl.

240
00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:03,360
Former politician comes off
the tracks and goes to the dogs.

241
00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:08,520
Lovely!
THEY LAUGH

242
00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:16,560
With a bit of luck, spruced-up Sheba
will soon find a new home.

243
00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:19,000
Home's where I'm bound to sleep

244
00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:22,360
before embarking on the last day
of my tour of London.

245
00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:37,360
A new dawn, and I'm back
on the South Bank of the Thames

246
00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:40,800
to track down the story of
an industry that was blooming

247
00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:43,400
back in Bradshaw's day.

248
00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:47,560
According to Bradshaw's, "Covent
Garden is celebrated as being

249
00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,920
"the mart for the most delicate
and choicest flowers grown

250
00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:53,040
"or imported into England."

251
00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:57,520
A visit to a flower market,
now wouldn't that be lovely?

252
00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:08,320
The Central London market described
in my guidebook dated back

253
00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:12,600
to the Middle Ages, when it was the
convent garden of an abbey.

254
00:17:12,600 --> 00:17:15,640
But 40 years ago,
it was relocated here,

255
00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:19,080
down the line from Vauxhall Station.

256
00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:22,320
Helen Evans has researched
its history.

257
00:17:24,120 --> 00:17:28,200
Now, the image I have of Covent
Garden based on My Fair Lady,

258
00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:30,880
a poor flower selling girl,

259
00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:33,240
that's typical, I suppose,
of the late 19th century,

260
00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:34,680
even the early 20th century.

261
00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:39,240
Yes, you would have had two types
of girls selling flowers.

262
00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:42,640
You'd have had the waifs who were
very much on the breadline,

263
00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:47,160
just selling and making very,
very small amounts on the posies,

264
00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:53,480
but you would also have others
who would use it almost as a cover

265
00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:57,320
for begging or at worst prostitution.

266
00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:02,440
Oh, so to be a flower girl had a
sort of double meaning? Absolutely.

267
00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,280
For middle and upper class
Victorians,

268
00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:08,040
fresh flowers were a mark of status.

269
00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:12,080
No gentleman would venture forth
without sporting a buttonhole.

270
00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:16,200
And city-dwellers gained access
to a wider variety of blooms

271
00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:18,240
than ever before.

272
00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:21,560
Pre-railway, it would have
all been locally grown.

273
00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:25,880
And it was only with the onset of the
railways that they were able to bring

274
00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:29,280
in product from further afield -
from the south-west,

275
00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:33,440
the Channel Islands even,
and particularly France.

276
00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:37,520
In fact, I have luggage labels here.
Oh, my goodness.

277
00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:41,560
This is from a grower who, in
Provence, who was growing violets

278
00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:44,560
that they'd send up to markets
in wicker baskets.

279
00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:48,400
And these are the luggage labels
for the Boulogne boat train,

280
00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:50,440
and they would have come
on into London.

281
00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:56,240
From London's various stations,

282
00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:58,920
the flowers were transferred
by horse and cart

283
00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:01,560
and later lorries to Covent Garden.

284
00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:05,480
By the 1960s, this traffic
was clogging the streets.

285
00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:09,160
And in 1974, the market
finally moved to the site

286
00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:11,040
of the former goods yard

287
00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:14,160
of the London
and South Western Railway Company.

288
00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:19,440
The modern market is carefully
temperature- and light-controlled

289
00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:21,640
to keep the flowers at their peak.

290
00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:24,720
But traders like Bob Cooley
have fond memories

291
00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:26,640
of the rough-and-ready market

292
00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:30,000
that readers of my Bradshaw's
would have known.

293
00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,800
How do you do? Hello, Bob. My name's
Michael. Hello there, Michael.

294
00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:36,440
How long have you been
in the business?

295
00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:39,360
43 years. No?! Yes!

296
00:19:39,360 --> 00:19:43,080
Anyone before you in your family?
Grandfather. Yeah. Dad. Really.

297
00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:45,440
Had a brother up here. One time,
I had two uncles up here.

298
00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:47,760
Yeah, there's quite a tribe of us
at one time, Michael.

299
00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:50,360
Obviously, you remember
the old Covent Garden? Very much so,

300
00:19:50,360 --> 00:19:53,920
love it. When we had the three-day
week, which your opposition...

301
00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:57,480
In the early 1970s. ..which your
opposition made available for us,

302
00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,680
we put all lanterns up. So if you can
imagine old Covent Garden,

303
00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:05,000
Dickensian, with Tilley lamps,
it was like going back in the day.

304
00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,480
Do you miss that place?
Ah, it's a different world.

305
00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:09,200
This is business business.

306
00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:13,360
I once found from the Opera House,
I'm sure it was a fella's skull,

307
00:20:13,360 --> 00:20:17,840
I took it home, wrapped it up and
gave my mum it for her birthday!

308
00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:21,800
She wasn't too pleased, but you used
to find all sorts of things

309
00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:24,000
like that from all the different
theatres.

310
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:26,200
The stars used to get over there
and you'd see them.

311
00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:28,520
My dad would point out to me,
"See that man over there?"

312
00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:30,360
And I was some 15-year-old boy.

313
00:20:30,360 --> 00:20:32,720
"That's Lionel Bart,
he wrote Oliver!"

314
00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:36,560
Fantastic, you're rubbing shoulders
with very famous people, aren't you?

315
00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:37,760
It was great!

316
00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:41,520
Bob also remembers the days
when lorries filled with boxes

317
00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:44,800
of flowers left New Covent Garden
three times a day,

318
00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:48,200
bound for the London termini,
where trains would carry them on

319
00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:50,600
to destinations across the land.

320
00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:54,000
You can write 'Sym's of Aberdeen'
on there. Is that with an 'I'?

321
00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:57,600
Whatever. My spelling might be
different to yours!

322
00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:00,760
I'll put it with a 'Y'. Sym's.

323
00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:04,080
Aberdeen. Yeah. And a special word
at the bottom,

324
00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:07,360
I'll tell you what it is. Oh, I
hope it's a nice word! It is.

325
00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:11,400
TBCF.

326
00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:15,040
To be collected? Called for.
Called for. That's right.

327
00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:17,920
There we are. There you go.

328
00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:20,960
Would you like to take it out to
the loading bay now? Deliver it?

329
00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:22,520
Absolutely.

330
00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:25,440
Shall we pop your book on there,
Michael,

331
00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:28,240
so you can take that with you?

332
00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:36,840
Since the 1990s, the trains
no longer play a big role

333
00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:40,880
in the flower trade, but who knows
what the future holds?

334
00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:53,000
Right now, London is in the midst
of a railway renaissance,

335
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:56,960
and the very last leg of my London
itinerary takes me to a station

336
00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:00,480
with a crucial role in the capital's
future development.

337
00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:10,040
Bradshaw's tells me that
"the London terminus

338
00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:13,720
"of the Southeastern railway
is situated on the Surrey side

339
00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:17,400
"of London Bridge. It's been
enlarged to meet the requirements

340
00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:20,960
"of the various lines of which
it is now the conjoint termini."

341
00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:23,880
That's been one of the problems
for London Bridge.

342
00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:26,560
It has this dual personality
as both a terminus station

343
00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:28,840
and a through station, too.

344
00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:31,600
And Bradshaw's remarks
that it's not spectacular,

345
00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:34,080
but I have a feeling
that's about to change.

346
00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:47,240
As suggested by my guidebook,
since Victorian times,

347
00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:50,840
London Bridge has stood at the nexus
of railway lines feeding in

348
00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:52,840
from across the South East.

349
00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:57,760
But the tangle of tracks
that grew up in Bradshaw's day

350
00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:02,680
was not built with 21st-century
commuter traffic in mind.

351
00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:05,960
Today this vital junction
is a bottleneck

352
00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:11,600
and the station is ill-equipped to
handle the 277 passengers per minute

353
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,160
who arrive here at peak times.

354
00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:18,160
London Bridge station, at a point

355
00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,560
where, what, six or seven pedestrian
tunnels converge in one place,

356
00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:23,640
and people just kind of
bump into each other

357
00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,000
like chaotic streams of ants.

358
00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:33,600
Thanks to a chequered past,

359
00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:36,320
with competing companies
running services here,

360
00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:39,200
for much of its history,
London Bridge has effectively

361
00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:40,400
been two stations.

362
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:45,400
Until recently, there were six
through platforms in one half

363
00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:49,960
and nine terminating platforms in
the other, linked by a footbridge.

364
00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:53,760
But now, as part of the
£6.5 billion Thameslink Programme

365
00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:57,000
to expand London's north-south
railway capacity,

366
00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:58,240
that's all changing.

367
00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:03,760
Andrew Hutton has been working
on the project for five years.

368
00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:05,440
What a mammoth building site!

369
00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:11,240
What we've got to do is get a lot
more trains through London Bridge,

370
00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:15,040
so London Bridge unlocks the whole
of the Thameslink project.

371
00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:19,360
So the work going on now really is
to create more through platforms

372
00:24:19,360 --> 00:24:22,280
and thereby reduce some
of the terminating platforms.

373
00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:25,040
This enables us to put
the 18 trains an hour extra

374
00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:27,640
we've got to put through
for the Thameslink Programme.

375
00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:30,840
At the minute,
there's just no room to do that.

376
00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:33,680
The Victorians ran the first
North-South through services

377
00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:37,960
via London Bridge,
crossing the Thames at Blackfriars.

378
00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:41,880
Nowadays, a maximum of four trains
an hour ply the route,

379
00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:45,280
with barely one an hour
at peak times.

380
00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:48,400
To rectify that severe shortage
of capacity,

381
00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,720
the platforms are being
completely reconfigured

382
00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:53,680
to provide nine through lines -

383
00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:57,840
all while London Bridge
remains open to passengers.

384
00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:00,960
It's a huge game of chess really,
which I always describe to people

385
00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:04,040
in some sense is brilliant, makes you
come into work every day and think,

386
00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:06,880
"Wow," and in the other sense, it
keeps you awake at night thinking,

387
00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:08,560
"How on earth are we going
to do that?"

388
00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,040
MICHAEL LAUGHS
It's leaving you apparently

389
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:13,440
with a lovely big...what,
kind of underpass here.

390
00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:14,760
What's that going to be, then?

391
00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:17,920
Well, basically this is a brand-new
concourse that we're building.

392
00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:20,400
It's bigger than the size of Wembley
Football pitch.

393
00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:24,320
We have this huge area
that will link the whole station,

394
00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:26,480
so for the first time in its history,

395
00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:30,440
you'll be able to access any of
the platforms from the same level.

396
00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:34,560
So that little warren that I came
trough earlier, that disappears?

397
00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:36,000
All that goes.

398
00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:43,280
The new concourse must be carved out
of the Victorian architecture

399
00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:45,720
that underpins the existing station.

400
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,440
It's a real labyrinth under here,
isn't it? Indeed, I think actually

401
00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:54,440
this is a very good place to just
to stop, to show you an idea

402
00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:57,600
of how the station's been developed
with different sets of arches

403
00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:00,320
depending when they were built.
If you look into the distance,

404
00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:03,520
you can see about three different
variations of arch,

405
00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:06,800
and behind that,
the new concourse is starting.

406
00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:10,200
So it'll work its way,
gnawing through all these arches,

407
00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:12,440
right through to the other side
on Tooley Street.

408
00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,120
So alas, we're going to lose
these Victorian arches?

409
00:26:15,120 --> 00:26:17,320
Well, yes, you'll lose some.

410
00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:21,400
We have to take arches out to enable
us to put the big concourse in,

411
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:23,200
but leave them all around the edges.

412
00:26:27,120 --> 00:26:29,640
The new concourse
will be spectacular,

413
00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:34,800
and the project also addresses the
nuts and bolts of railway operation.

414
00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:37,640
Every last rail and sleeper
is being replaced

415
00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:42,440
in one of the largest track renewal
and re-signalling projects ever.

416
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:45,160
Right, Michael, what we see here
is the new platforms

417
00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:48,720
that we're just preparing at the
minute. We've got about a month left

418
00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:51,120
to get this ready to give over
to the track guys,

419
00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:53,760
put all the ballast down,
put the tracks in.

420
00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:56,840
The scale of this enterprise,
the scale of this vision,

421
00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:58,920
it is positively Victorian.

422
00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:08,320
The Thameslink project
is one of many

423
00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:10,560
that are refashioning the capital.

424
00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:13,560
Where better to take stock
of the transformation

425
00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:16,800
than from London Bridge's
newest neighbour, the Shard?

426
00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:24,760
As a Londoner, I try to sense the
excitement that the Victorians felt

427
00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:28,760
as they built the cathedrals of
steam like London Bridge station,

428
00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:32,360
800 feet beneath me,
and The Royal Albert Hall.

429
00:27:32,360 --> 00:27:35,760
But in truth,
it takes little imagination.

430
00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:38,520
Standing at the top
of Europe's tallest building

431
00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:41,080
and having seen the works
that are being done

432
00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:44,920
to create new railway lines from
north to south and east to west,

433
00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:48,960
I believe the metropolis is
undergoing its greatest renewal

434
00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:51,640
since Queen Victoria
graced the throne.

435
00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,880
'Next time, I help to give
an old engine a fresh start...'

436
00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:09,560
Ooh, my goodness! George is getting
appallingly damaged here.

437
00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:13,000
'..discover the macho side
of the poet Baron...'

438
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:16,160
He was a fantastic boxer.
He had the champion of England,

439
00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:18,760
Gentleman Jackson,
actually teach him how to box.

440
00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:20,920
'..and find that my cooking skills

441
00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:22,640
'aren't what they're cracked up
to be.'

442
00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:25,680
There's a bit of egg shell in there,
Michael. That's a point deducted.