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MICHAEL PORTILLO:
'For Victorian Britons,


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'George Bradshaw
was a household name.


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'At a time when railways were new,


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'Bradshaw's guide book inspired them


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'to take to the tracks.'


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I'm using a Bradshaw's Guide to
understand how trains transformed


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Britain - its landscape, its
industry, society and leisure time.


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As I crisscross the country
150 years later,


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it helps me to discover
the Britain of today.


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I'm now completing my journey
from the East Midlands


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to England's North East.


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Those fathers of the railway,
George and Robert Stephenson,


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were Tynesiders, and many of their
early locomotives, including Rocket,


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were built in their Newcastle works.


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Today, I'll look at engineering


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not so much on the Tyne
as over the Tyne,


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and see the works that grace
the banks of the river now.


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'Following my Bradshaw's Guide,


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'my journey this week has taken me
up the spine of England,


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'from the East Midlands
to the rugged Pennine hills,


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'and across the West
Yorkshire Riding.


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'Heading up the coast,


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'I visited the conurbations
neighbouring the North Sea.


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'I'll end my journey on
the island of Lindisfarne.


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'On today's leg, I explore one
of England's most beautiful


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'and rugged counties -
Northumberland.


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'Beginning in Newcastle, I'll travel
up the coast to Alnmouth,


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'before taking a boat
to the Farne Islands.


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'My final stop will be Lindisfarne.


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'I discover the earliest-surviving
water-powered swing bridge....'


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Yeah. We have no brakes,
so it's a guessing game.


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'..I'm humbled by the courage
of a Victorian heroine...'


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All of this in the tumultuous sea
and wind and rain? Absolutely.


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'..and learn about
the science of lime burning.'


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MAN: The temperatures are anything
between 1,200 and 1,500 degrees
centigrade at this level.


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Bradshaw says that, "Newcastle has
rapidly increased in its dimensions


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"since the commencement
of the present century.


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"Its situation,
on the navigable river


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"and in the greatest coal district
in the world, are the chief causes."


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I want to see how Victorian
engineers applied their expertise


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not only on the banks of the Tyne,
but to the torrent itself.


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'Newcastle's history stretches back
almost 2,000 years, during which


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'time it's been controlled
by the Romans, Saxons and Danes.


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'Its pride and prize
is the River Tyne.


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'In the 19th century,


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'its shipbuilding yards were
some of the busiest in the world.'


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Hello. Sir. I'm a great, great fan.
Thank you. Brilliant.


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Just keep it up. Thank you.


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'In the mid-19th century,


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'Newcastle engineer Sir William
Armstrong harnessed the power


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'of water to develop
the first hydraulic crane


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'and hydroelectric light.


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'A visionary inventor,
scientist and businessman,


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'he employed over 25,000 people
at his Elswick works


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'on the north bank of the Tyne.'


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'I'm meeting biographer
and historian Henrietta Heald,


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'who's written about
Armstrong's life.'


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My guidebook has an interesting
description of the Tyne


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in the mid-19th century.


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"The coal, being brought to
the waterside by railway,


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"is shot through staves
into the holds of vessels


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"or carried down-river in barges
and shovelled on board."


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Apparently, then, the process of
getting coal onto the ships


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was cumbersome and I believe William
Armstrong did something to solve it.


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Yes, he certainly did.
He invented the hydraulic crane,


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which completely revolutionised
the loading and unloading of ships.


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Hydraulic implies water. Yes.


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He was fascinated,
all the way through his life,


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with the use of water
as the motive power.


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And so, once he found a way


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of getting water
to the Newcastle quayside,


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he then persuaded the
city fathers to let him


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experiment with the crane.


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And he'd already worked out
the technology for it,


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which was really concentrating
the water into a single column.


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So, if he could get a good head
of water coming through a pipe,


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it would give him the means of then
using the weight of the water


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to lift very heavy weights.


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'Some of Armstrong's experiments
were carried out


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'at his country home at Cragside.


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'He used the water from his lakes
to drive his household machinery


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'hydraulically, including
the kitchen's roasting spit.'


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How significant was the invention
of the hydraulic crane?


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Well, I mean, it was revolutionary.


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And not just in Britain, but it was
actually all over the world,


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when you think of the processes
that it could make more efficient.


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'Armstrong's hydraulic crane
was then rapidly adopted


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'by railways and ports
across the world.


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'The decks of London's Tower Bridge


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'were raised by development
of his hydraulic technology.


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'But perhaps he's most famous
locally for the Swing Bridge,


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'which he invented and subsidised.'


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He wanted to have a shipyard
at his works at Elswick,


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which are 12 miles from the sea.


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And he had to go beyond Newcastle,
upriver from Newcastle.


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And the bridge that
was here at the time


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was an 18th-century
stone arch bridge,


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and there's no way you can
get a ship through that.


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So, he persuaded Newcastle
to demolish that bridge


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and replace it with a swing bridge,
which would just swing open,


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and a ship could go either side.


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'The Elswick works
began production in 1847,


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'and business developed swiftly.


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'The works made everything,
from hydraulic machinery,


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'ammunition for field guns
and warships,


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'and later the ships themselves.


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'When Armstrong died on
27 December 1900 at the age of 90,


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'the Times wrote in his obituary,


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'"With his death, Newcastle
loses her greatest citizen."


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'I'd like to pay tribute
to this visionary


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'Victorian engineer
by visiting his swing bridge.'


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Steve. Hello. Michael. Hello there.
Very good to see you.


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A wonderful array of old machinery.


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Is the thing much as it was
in William Armstrong's time?


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It certainly is.


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Everything's original,
down to the pipework,


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the engine, the gearbox,
the whole lot.


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Wow. It was originally
steam-powered.


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I imagine it isn't today. Electric.
Electric? Yeah.


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We've moved from steam in 1956,
I believe, to the electric motor,


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which is obviously more efficient.


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I don't quite understand.


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How do you convert
the weight of water


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into a bridge that
swings around a circle?


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Well, we'll have
a water accumulator,


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which funnily enough you're actually
standing on the lid of. Oh, right.


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So, we pump a large weight
to the top of a ram -


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it's about 65 tonnes, actually.


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This weight's held with
a valve at the bottom,


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and as soon as you open that valve,
you have 65 tonnes of hydraulic


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water pressure acting through
the pipework onto this engine.


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Any chance we could have a go with
it? Certainly. Why not?


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Ha. Well, Steve,
even though this is


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one of the lower bridges
on the Tyne,


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you have a wonderful view from here,
don't you? Yes. Commanding.


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It's quite nice. You can see the
Tyne Bridge, etc. It's pretty good.


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And you make the bridge work with
these really quite small levers?


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Yes. These three levers here,
and that one there,


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and that's all we'll have
up here to work this bridge.


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I'll now lift the bridge ends up.


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And you can feel
when they're there...


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..just by the handle. They're there.


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Blocks clear. If you would like
to move that one to there,


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that'll pull our blocks out.


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You can sense what's happening...


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WATER FLOWS


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..as the system fills.
Gurgling sound.


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Excellent.
Now, let's spin her round.


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So, we'll check the coast
is clear, which it is.


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And we shall go for a swing.


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WARNING ALARM


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The bridge has begun to move. We're
OK. Quite fast. I'm quite surprised.


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Yeah. We're OK.


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We have no brakes,
so it's a guessing game.


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MICHAEL LAUGHS


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This is amazing, isn't it?


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To be spun around
in the middle of the Tyne,


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getting all these tremendous views.


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I'm just a little nervous as to how
we're going to dock. So am I.


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The bridge appears to be
slowing a bit,


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so I would put a bit more gas on.


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You're bringing it right back to its
resting position. That's correct.


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And you've got to
get it just spot on.


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This is quite a difficult bit of
parking, isn't it? It can be.


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And I believe we may have missed.


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HE LAUGHS


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I overshot six inches. Eight inches.


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So, we will have to go in reverse
a very small amount.


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And off.


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And we'll be home there.


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Steelwork matches, kerbstones match.


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And that's it. Beautiful job!


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'I have great admiration
for the simplicity


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'and beauty of
Victorian engineering,


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'and I believe that we should
celebrate this colossus of a man.


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'At the time of my guidebook,
the signs of Newcastle's great


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'industrial and engineering
heyday were everywhere.


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'The river would
have been crowded with ships


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'carrying coal and supplies
up and down the Tyne.


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'150 years later, Newcastle's famous
bridges still span the river,


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'but the coal and shipbuilding
industries are gone.


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'In their place, Newcastle and
Gateshead have reinvented Tyneside,


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'with the help of striking
modern structures.


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'On the Gateshead quayside,
in what was formerly a flour mill,


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'is the Baltic Centre
for Contemporary Art.


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'Director Godfrey Worsdale
knows about its transformation.'


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Godfrey, a superb view over some
of the old buildings of Newcastle,


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and some of the very strikingly
new ones of Gateshead.


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And, of course, the river with
now its magnificent bridges.


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What was the scene here at
the time of my Bradshaw's Guide?


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This was the old Gateshead
ironworks, where the


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materials were created to construct


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Robert Stephenson's High Level
Bridge, which is the third along.


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And, yeah, really a place where a
lot of the Industrial Revolution


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was pushed along.


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I was rather staggered
to discover that this building


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is actually not a great
deal older than I am.


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00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:19,640
Mm-hm, correct.


199
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The flour mill was constructed
either side of the Second World War,


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and is one of a number of
flour mills that Rank Hovis


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built around the British coast.


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How did anyone have the idea of
making an arts centre


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out of this vast space?


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Well, I think Gateshead Council
need to be recognised


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as one of the most visionary


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00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:40,280
in terms of its culture-led
regeneration program.


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00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:41,840
So, we have the Angel of the North.


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We have the Sage Gateshead
concert hall.


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00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:48,760
The idea to exploit this massive
piece of architecture


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for a creative purpose was one that
Gateshead invested real belief in,


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00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:55,360
and I think that's been repaid.


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00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:59,680
Today the Baltic is preparing
to show an international


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00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:02,800
installation by the French artist
Daniel Buren,


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00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:06,200
who's created a striking effect
by mixing films


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00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:08,280
of different colour with daylight.


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Do you have in your mind a sense
of continuing to trade here?


217
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Absolutely.


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The way in which the mill used to
bring grain from all over the world,


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now we bring art, we bring culture,


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and we show the people
of this part of the UK -


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and, actually,
across the whole of the UK -


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terrific examples of
the best art in the world.


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'Throughout the four floors
of the flour mill,


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'artworks playfully
colour the Baltic.


225
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'Its large spaces
remind us of its history


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'and make ideal galleries.'


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What strikes me - what might have
struck George Bradshaw, perhaps -


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is that on Tyneside, where the
artisans replaced the artists,


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it is still on the industrial scale.


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That's absolutely right, and I
think this building enables us,


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as it enabled industry before,


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to do things in an impressive


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00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:03,680
and ambitious way.


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00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:11,160
Tyneside's ambition is evident
in its Millennium Bridge,


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known affectionately
as the Blinking Eye.


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00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:19,680
I've headed back to
Newcastle's Central Station,


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and the East Coast Main Line,
heading north to Alnmouth.


238
00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:33,960
Thanks very much.


239
00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:41,960
TANNOY: Ladies and gentlemen,
in a few moments


240
00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:43,560
we'll be arriving at Alnmouth.


241
00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:44,880
Alnmouth, next stop.


242
00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:53,840
'Situated on the estuary
of the River Aln,


243
00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:55,480
'and close to the sea,


244
00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:58,800
'it's been an important settlement
since Saxon times.


245
00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:02,560
'But it's also a peaceful setting
to enjoy the evening


246
00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:06,800
'after a day of appreciating
the Tyne old and new.'


247
00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:22,720
'I'm up early, and I'm reminded that
until the arrival of the railway,


248
00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:24,960
'travel by boat would have
been the fastest way


249
00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:26,920
'of getting around the country.


250
00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:32,240
'But in 1898, the North Sunderland
Railway Line was built to connect


251
00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:34,440
'the East Coast Main Line
with Seahouses,


252
00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:36,640
'a village further up the coast.


253
00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:40,440
'The four-mile line, used to
transport the fishermen's catch,


254
00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:42,640
'closed in 1951.


255
00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:50,200
'Seahouses today retains
the character of a fishing village,


256
00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:54,560
'but most of its boats now ferry
tourists to the Farne Islands.'


257
00:15:56,160 --> 00:16:00,000
My travels have brought me
close to Bamburgh Castle,


258
00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:01,640
which Bradshaw's tells me is


259
00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:04,360
"a Saxon fortress,
recently restored,


260
00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:06,840
"serving now as a beacon for seamen.


261
00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:08,960
"Not far off are the Farne Islands,


262
00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:12,200
"where that courageous heroine
Grace Darling


263
00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,320
"saved the crew of the
steamer Forfarshire.


264
00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:19,040
"She and her father had charge
of the Longstone light."


265
00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:21,720
So, I'm going to exchange
my train for a boat


266
00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:26,040
and go in search of that
Darling of the Victorian press.


267
00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:45,680
This is a fine crossing.


268
00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:47,720
There's rain in the air.


269
00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:51,120
A cloudy sky creates
a slate-grey sea.


270
00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:54,520
Bamburgh Castle
looming over the strait,


271
00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:59,080
and the Longstone Lighthouse
looks like a mighty lonely place.


272
00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:04,080
George, hello. Hello there.


273
00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:07,760
What should I expect of the
Farne Islands? What are they like?


274
00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:10,280
At this time of year,
it's very busy with birdlife.


275
00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:12,320
There's over 120,000 pairs of birds


276
00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:14,600
nest on these islands
at this time of year.


277
00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:17,200
How extraordinary. Yeah.
Half of them being the puffin.


278
00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:18,360
I love puffins.


279
00:17:18,360 --> 00:17:21,640
Yeah, well, should see a lot
this morning as we go along.


280
00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:24,640
And there's also
guillemots, razorbills,


281
00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:26,480
kittiwakes and shags as well.


282
00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:28,360
So, we'll see lots of birdlife.


283
00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:37,880
This is a glorious sight.


284
00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:41,920
A metropolis of wild birds sitting
there on their crags and rocks.


285
00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:45,440
A Hong Kong of guillemots,
and razorbills,


286
00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:47,920
and cormorants, and puffins.


287
00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:58,840
'The setting for an exceptional
colony of birdlife,


288
00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:02,160
'these windswept islands have also
been a danger to shipping.


289
00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:09,280
'Rocks along the coast have claimed
hundreds of ships and lives.'


290
00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:14,080
Thank you, George. OK, sir.
Wonderful trip. Thank you.


291
00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:16,240
'I'm meeting Caroline Aldridge,


292
00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:18,760
'who knows about the islands'
most-famous wreck


293
00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:21,440
'and its connection
to Grace Darling.'


294
00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:23,760
After the most glorious boat trip,


295
00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:28,360
I've arrived here in this lonely
spot, the Longstone Lighthouse.


296
00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:33,240
I'm just trying to imagine,
who was this Grace Darling?


297
00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:35,160
She was a lighthouse keeper's
daughter,


298
00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:37,000
and she was living here
at Longstone,


299
00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:40,440
and in 1838,
a terrible storm blew up,


300
00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:45,760
and a ship called the SS Forfarshire
was swept onto the rocks over there,


301
00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:48,560
and at that time there was only
Grace and her mother


302
00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:50,200
and father in the lighthouse.


303
00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:54,600
And so, Grace and her father
took the coble, the boat,


304
00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:58,360
out to rescue the survivors from
Big Harcar rock over there.


305
00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:02,440
'The Forfarshire
was a paddle steamer


306
00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:04,240
'built in Dundee in 1834


307
00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:08,160
'to carry passengers and cargo
between Hull and Dundee.


308
00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:13,680
'She weighed 450 tonnes, and was
built to sail under steam or canvas.


309
00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:18,960
'On 7 September 1838,
with some 60 people aboard,


310
00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:20,680
'her engines failed.


311
00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:26,200
'Battling near gale-force
north-easterly winds,


312
00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:28,760
'the ship hit the rocks
and broke in two.'


313
00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:32,160
A few survivors,
nine people in total,


314
00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:35,320
managed to scramble
onto Great Harcar rock.


315
00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:38,760
Another nine people managed to
scramble into a lifeboat,


316
00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:41,720
and they were then picked up
and taken to North Shields,


317
00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:45,760
and the Darling family rescued the
survivors who were on Great Harcar.


318
00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:49,880
'The rescue was risky,
but with lives at stake


319
00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:52,000
'and no-one but Grace to help him,


320
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,520
'William set out to do his duty.'


321
00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:58,960
Normally it was a boat that would
be rowed by at least three men,


322
00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:00,800
and William had to go out


323
00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:04,480
with his sort of 5'2",
22-year-old daughter


324
00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:08,480
into this storm to try
and carry out this rescue.


325
00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:11,640
And so, they approached the rock
with people clinging onto it.


326
00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:13,000
What do they do then?


327
00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:17,040
William scrambled onto the rock
to assist the survivors,


328
00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:19,720
whilst Grace held the coble steady,


329
00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:22,480
which meant she had to row it
back and forth by herself,


330
00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,640
making sure she didn't
hit the rock, but equally


331
00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:27,360
that she wasn't swept out,


332
00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:31,840
literally leaving her father
and the survivors on the rock.


333
00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:35,760
And all of this in the tumultuous
sea and wind and rain. Absolutely.


334
00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:38,320
William said it was one of
the worst moments of his life,


335
00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:40,440
leaving his daughter
literally in this boat


336
00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:42,600
and not knowing what on earth
was going to happen.


337
00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:45,280
'Grace managed to hold
the boat in position,


338
00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:48,560
'and she and her father
saved nine lives.'


339
00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:51,000
What was the reaction
of Victorian society


340
00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,120
when they heard about this rescue?


341
00:20:53,120 --> 00:20:56,040
The story spread. It was picked
up by the national papers,


342
00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:59,520
and Grace really became
a massive heroine


343
00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:02,560
because it was something
that a young woman


344
00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:05,280
was not expected
to be able to do.


345
00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:08,560
The name probably helped as well.
I mean, Grace Darling.


346
00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:11,360
How wonderful a name
for a heroine can you get?


347
00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:15,840
Um, and so it just became
more and more massive.


348
00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:19,960
Within about seven weeks
of the rescue,


349
00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:24,280
Grace was receiving invitations
to appear in an exhibition,


350
00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:26,720
probably at a theatre or something.


351
00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:31,320
'Queen Victoria sent Grace £50
to reward her bravery,


352
00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:33,720
'and her name became known
throughout the world


353
00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:35,440
'because of the daring rescue.'


354
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:39,960
Did she live long after
the incident? No.


355
00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:41,440
Tragically, she didn't.


356
00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:44,920
She carried out the rescue
when she was 22 years old,


357
00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:50,160
and only lived another four years,
dying just before her 27th birthday.


358
00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:54,000
'Our heroine was
a victim of consumption.'


359
00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:59,280
Possibly, in a way,
because she died so young,


360
00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:03,560
that also, sort of, kept her memory
as this amazing heroine.


361
00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,400
It seems to me that even if
there has been some mythology,


362
00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:09,360
even if there has been some
exaggeration around her deed,


363
00:22:09,360 --> 00:22:13,480
it was an act of extraordinary
bravery which, luckily,


364
00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:15,480
is remembered
in my Bradshaw's Guide.


365
00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:20,920
'Today, the wreck of the Forfarshire
is still visited by divers.


366
00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:27,640
'As for the lighthouse,
more than 170 years later,


367
00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:29,440
'it's still saving lives.


368
00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:32,240
'Though, with automation,
it's no longer manned.


369
00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:44,160
'Whilst the North Sea coastline
holds its dangers for shipping,


370
00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:46,760
'it's also one of Britain's
most beautiful.


371
00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:50,720
'In the sixth century,


372
00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:55,320
'the kings of Northumbria chose
Bamburgh as their royal capital.


373
00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:57,640
'And in 1894,
Sir William Armstrong


374
00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:03,720
'bought Bamburgh Castle for £60,000
to create a convalescent home.


375
00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:08,120
'I won't linger at Bamburgh
on this occasion.


376
00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:11,000
'I'll push on to the final stop
of my journey.


377
00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:16,760
'To travel to Lindisfarne, I must
first consult the tide tables.'


378
00:23:18,360 --> 00:23:22,320
Today you can reach Holy Island
across a causeway,


379
00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:24,440
'but only at low tide.


380
00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:27,720
In days of yore,
the monks used to cross the sands


381
00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:32,080
when the water allowed on what's
known as the Pilgrim's Way.


382
00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:35,760
And today, the faithful
occasionally retrace


383
00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:38,520
their wet footprints in the sand.


384
00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:42,880
'It was at Lindisfarne
that St Aidan chose to build


385
00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:45,960
'a monastery in 635 AD.


386
00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:48,440
'From there, he helped
to spread Christianity


387
00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:49,920
'through northern England.


388
00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:55,000
'It was the seat
of 16 bishops until 875,


389
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,240
'when it was overrun by Vikings.


390
00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:03,480
'The present ruins date from around
1150, and are magnificent.'


391
00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:07,000
I see you're visiting Holy Island.
Indeed.


392
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:10,120
I wondered whether you'd had
a feeling of holiness here today.


393
00:24:10,120 --> 00:24:13,240
Absolutely. Very restful. It's very
restful, isn't it? Very peaceful.


394
00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:14,720
It's a tranquil environment,


395
00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:16,640
and it's lovely to be here
on a beautiful day.


396
00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:18,880
The view from here is pretty
spectacular, isn't it?


397
00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:20,240
SHE SIGHS
It's so beautiful.


398
00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:21,680
It's a beautiful area, isn't it?


399
00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:24,480
This morning at nine o'clock it
wouldn't have given you that view,


400
00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:26,280
because it was throwing
it down with rain,


401
00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:28,920
but at this stage of the day,
it's absolutely magnificent.


402
00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:31,120
Why do you think the place
is spiritual?


403
00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:34,400
From my point of view,
because I'm not religious,


404
00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:39,160
it's just a sense of well-being.
It's tranquillity. It's isolation.


405
00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:42,920
It's the beauty of the countryside.
It's a fantastic building.


406
00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:46,600
It just has so many
wonderful properties.


407
00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:49,200
It's difficult to express it.
I think I agree with my husband.


408
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:51,560
That's a good thing to do. Indeed.
That's a first.


409
00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:52,960
He has to drive me home.


410
00:24:55,120 --> 00:24:58,040
'Peace and tranquillity now reign,


411
00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:01,480
'but the island has
a busy industrial past.


412
00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:04,960
'I'm meeting Nick Lewis
from the National Trust.'


413
00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,400
What did the Victorians
make of Lindisfarne?


414
00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:09,560
Generally, they weren't
too fond of it.


415
00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:11,200
Some saw its potential as a place


416
00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:13,360
for soothing waters
and things like that,


417
00:25:13,360 --> 00:25:15,960
but certainly some people
saw its potential


418
00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:17,880
from an industrial point of view.


419
00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,560
There are vast lime quarries
on the north shore of the island,


420
00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:23,640
and they were exploited
as part of a lime industry


421
00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:26,120
which developed in the second half
of the 19th century.


422
00:25:26,120 --> 00:25:29,840
Lindisfarne as an industrial site.
That is a new thought to me. Yeah.


423
00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:33,880
Well, I suppose everyone associates
it with the spiritual side,


424
00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:35,560
and peace, I suppose.


425
00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:37,600
So, industry is kind of
the opposite to that,


426
00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:40,200
but it absolutely would have been
an industrial site


427
00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:42,760
for most of the second half
of the 19th century.


428
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:46,880
'Monks began lime burning
on Lindisfarne,


429
00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:49,880
'using the product for building
and to nourish the soil.


430
00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:55,840
'Very much later, the Victorians
built six open-top lime kilns


431
00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:59,080
'close to the Tudor castle
and the water.


432
00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:01,840
'Ships would unload
coal and limestone,


433
00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:04,800
'and depart with burned lime.'


434
00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:08,840
Well, it seems to me even the lime
kilns have an ecclesiastical feel,


435
00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:10,400
with their pointed arches.


436
00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:13,200
Yeah. They do bear a resemblance
to a church or a cathedral.


437
00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:15,960
And the architecture is
so spectacular and so strong.


438
00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:18,880
It's one of the reasons it survived
so well. And what was the process?


439
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:21,640
Well, basically, they were
bringing in vast quantities of coal


440
00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:23,640
and limestone into
these kilns via railways.


441
00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:25,880
In fact, one ran on this
very route we're taking.


442
00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:28,120
And they'd be burning it,
the limestone,


443
00:26:28,120 --> 00:26:31,200
at hugely high temperatures to
extract that finished substance.


444
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:34,000
And, of course, it would then be
taken away on these same railway


445
00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:36,640
lines to the jetty, where
it could be exported for profit.


446
00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:39,080
Ah. As far as the Victorians
were concerned,


447
00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:40,960
nowhere was too holy for profit.


448
00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:45,160
Well, I think this
is a first for me.


449
00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:47,840
I don't think I've ever
stood in a lime kiln before.


450
00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:49,440
What was this like
when it was in use?


451
00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:52,000
I should think it would be
unpleasant for us to stand here.


452
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:56,080
The temperatures were anything
between 1,200 and 1,500 degrees
centigrade at this level.


453
00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:59,680
But that was a required temperature
to produce the lime
that they were after.


454
00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:01,920
And so, on the Holy Island
of Lindisfarne,


455
00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:06,120
there was this burning
cauldron of Hell.


456
00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:13,640
The English adopted
Christianity early,


457
00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:17,720
and some of their holiest shrines
were in the north-east.


458
00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:20,800
During the course of my travels with
the Quaker George Bradshaw,


459
00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:25,440
I've seen some of the country's
finest ecclesiastical buildings.


460
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:27,560
Right into the Victorian period,


461
00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:32,560
entrepreneurs and reformers
were motivated by religion,


462
00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:38,120
but the age of science brought its
doubts and challenges to orthodoxy.


463
00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:39,520
In the railway age,


464
00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:44,080
it was more difficult to maintain
the pure faith that once motivated


465
00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:47,640
the Anglo-Saxon monks
here at Lindisfarne.


466
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:54,520
'Next time, I'll visit the dockyard


467
00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:57,680
'that built Queen Victoria's
royal yacht,


468
00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:01,000
'discover a 19th-century
rural railway


469
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:03,240
'being given a new lease of life...'


470
00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:05,400
It is the most beautiful
summer's day,


471
00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:07,480
and this lovely restored track


472
00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:11,160
threads its way along the scenic
valley of the Gwili River,


473
00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:13,360
and I'm on my own private train.


474
00:28:13,360 --> 00:28:15,200
What bliss!


475
00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:19,160
'..and learn how to pose
for a photograph, Victorian style.'


476
00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:21,360
Try not to smile,
because in Victorian times,


477
00:28:21,360 --> 00:28:23,400
if you're smiling,
you seemed a bit of a buffoon.


478
00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:24,640
THEY LAUGH


479
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:26,600
I wish someone had told me
that long ago.