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For Victorian Britons,
George Bradshaw was a household name.

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At a time when railways were new,
Bradshaw's guidebook inspired them

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to take to the tracks.

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I'm using a Bradshaw's guide

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to understand how trains
transformed Britain,

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its landscape, its industries,
society and leisure time.

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And, 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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My journey continues through
the open countryside

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and industrial heartland
of north-west England,

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where leafy Victorian suburbs
grew around polluted urban centres.

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On this leg, I find out how
the Industrial Revolution created

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new social classes, and about
its wider impact on leisure

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and popular culture of the day.

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I began in Cumbria,

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headed south through the dramatic
landscape of the Lake District,

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and the mill towns of Lancashire,

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onto Merseyside's historic docks.

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I'm now travelling towards
my final destination

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in the heart of Staffordshire.

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On today's leg, I take
a trip to middle class suburbia,

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head to the Victorian centre of silk,

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visit a Cheshire market town,

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steam my way through
the Churnet Valley,

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and end my journey at Alton Towers.

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'In this episode,
I'm blown away by beauty.'

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Just soared over the valley.
Absolutely beautiful.

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'I work up a sweat,
the Victorian way.'

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Stoking up the fire,

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giving the locomotive a bit of oomph.

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Builds good biceps, that.

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'And experience
the thrill of the rollercoaster.'

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THEY SCREAM

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I am now completing my journey
through north and north-west England,

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and my first stop
today will be Ashley.

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Bradshaw's tells me that, "The Valley
of the Bollin about this locality

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"is particularly attractive
to the denizens of Manchester.

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"We should not be surprised

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"if, in a few years, it is studded
with handsome residences."

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Ashley is a leafy commuter
village in Cheshire,

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close to the border
with Greater Manchester.

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By the time of my guidebook,
rail links with the city

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were well established and the area
was becoming gentrified.

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Newly moneyed middle class
professionals

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and industrialists fled
the pollution of the city

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in favour of grand suburban villas,

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befitting their new social standing.

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Tremendous demand for domestic
service followed,

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and women found work cooking and
cleaning in middle class households.

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Thousands of chimneys
needed to be swept,

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and those skills
are still practised today.

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Martin Cavanagh has offered
to show me the tricks of the trade.

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How did you get into
chimney sweeping?

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My father was a chimney sweep.
He did it for 50 years.

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I've been sweeping chimneys
since I was 16.

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We used to run about
knocking on houses,

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and canvassing for chimney sweeping
when I was about eight years old.

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But when you were eight years old,
you weren't actually made to go

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up the chimney like a Victorian?
No, no. Thank God!

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Martin's brought me to a typical
Victorian middle class house

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which would have seen its fair
share of sweeps in Bradshaw's day.

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Unlike my forbears, I'll be keeping
my feet firmly on the ground.

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Why is it Victorians had to send
people up chimneys?

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Why couldn't they just use
the brushes, as we're doing?

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They didn't have this kind of
system. They hadn't invented these

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till probably the 19th century.

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When they started using coal,
they found that the chimneys

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sooted up a lot more,
so they had to invent some

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type of way of getting up there,

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and the young kids
were the ideal thing.

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The Industrial Revolution
brought a housing boom,

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and the numbers of properties
with chimneys grew rapidly.

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Buildings were designed to greater
heights with chimney pots

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grouped together.

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Did Victorians have twisty
and turny chimneys?

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Certainly. Yeah.

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Sometimes they went up 45 degrees,

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some of them were 90 degrees.

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Because there's more than one flue,

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so if there's two chimneys
directly above each other

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one has got to bend around
the other one further up.

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And so these children would go up

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through these narrow, narrow
chimneys, would they?

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Nine inches by nine inches,

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sometimes nine inches
by four inches,

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where they corbel over in the stack.

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And did kids get stuck in chimneys?

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Several cases where children have
been trapped

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and they've died.

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Master sweeps sent boys
as young as four up hot flues.

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The children propelled themselves
by their knees and elbows

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which were rubbed raw, brushing
and scraping out the tar and soot

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until they reached the top.

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If an accident didn't kill them,
the carcinogenic soot might.

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Where did the chimney sweeps
get their children from?

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Families. Sometimes poor families
sold them to the master sweeps.

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And were the sweep masters
kind or cruel to the children?

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Some masters were kind.

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When they got a bit older and could
not do chimney sweeping any more

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and they got them into other jobs.

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Some of the cruel masters, they
even lit fires underneath them

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to get them to go up the chimney.

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Orphaned and poor children
were indentured to master sweeps

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in return for board,
food and clothing.

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Employers did well
by selling the soot.

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Was the soot valuable then?
They used to sell it for dyes,

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they used to sell it for farming.

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So it was a valuable fertiliser?

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Yes, it used to be sold
abroad by the bushel.

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Martin, the brush appears to
be at the top of the chimney,

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should I bring it down now? Yes.

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So just reverse the process?
Yes.

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Hold on tight, and unscrew.

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I could have made it easier for
you by using smaller canes,

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a smaller brush. That would be
too easy. Wouldn't it just!

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Despite successive laws to regulate

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and later to outlaw child sweeps,
the practice continued.

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The publication in 1863 of Charles
Kingsley's The Water Babies

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highlighted their plight

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and fuelled the demand for change.

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But it took a further decade
of campaigning for a ban.

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Have you thought, Martin, every time
you send one of these up the chimney

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that's a child that doesn't need
to go. That's definitely true.

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I've enjoyed my lesson from Martin

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but there's no time to
perfect my newly acquired skill.

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I have a train to catch.

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My next destination is Macclesfield,
and to get to there

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I must change at that great junction
of north-west England, Stockport.

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The approach to the station
will take me across the impressive

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27-arch Stockport Viaduct
built of 11 million bricks.

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At 110 feet high, it was
the biggest in the world

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when it was completed in 1840.

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From here, it's a ten-mile trip
south through Cheshire countryside

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to Macclesfield.

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Bradshaw's says of my next
destination that

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the silk and cotton factories
should be viewed.

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From my travels, I know a little
bit about the history of cotton,

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but not of silk.

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I'm hoping that at Macclesfield,
I'll find someone to spin me a line.

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By the time the railway arrived in
1849, Macclesfield was perhaps

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the largest producer of finished
silk in the world.

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150 years later, pharmaceuticals
and digital businesses dominate here

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and just two silk factories remain.

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One of them is a couple
of miles south-east of the town

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on the edge of the River Bollin
in Langley.

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I'm meeting design director
Jo Ratcliffe.

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Very good to see you.
Welcome to Adamley.

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So, Jo, to begin at the beginning.

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Silk comes from silk worms,
is that right? It does, yes.

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And where are these industrious
silk worms? They're all living
quite happily in China.

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That's always been the case, hasn't
it, because there used to be

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a Silk Road from China to the UK.
There did.

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In actual fact, Macclesfield is
the official end of the Silk Road.

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During the late 18th century,
high prices in London prompted

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merchants to turn to cheaper
provincial centres like Macclesfield

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for finished silk, and by the early
19th century, business was booming

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The Industrial Revolution created
a new class of wealthy entrepreneur

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with expensive tastes.

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Silk gowns, ties,
top hats and bonnets

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became important
middle class status symbols.

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The more extravagant the attire,

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the clearer the message that
the wearer was not a manual worker.

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And in the old days,
in the 19th century for example,

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was the silk coming in
as cloth or as thread?

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It would have been
brought in as thread.

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There would have been several mills
in Macclesfield

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where they wove the silk.

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As time has gone on, the silk has
become too expensive

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and we buy it in now, we buy
it in loom state

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and we do all the other processes
here, the after processes -

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the dying, the printing,

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steaming, finishing.
Everything is done here.

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Over the years, the company has
acquired a rather special

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collection of original designs.

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These books date back
to the mid-1800s,

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and they're all actually
hand-painted designs.

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Beautiful work.

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Now, today you use computers,
I suppose? We do, yes.

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But can you still do
this sort of stuff?

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We've used this design
quite recently to create this hank.

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So that is our same lady?

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It is, I have given her
a little bit of a face-lift!

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00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:21,920
Yeah, you have. And, obviously,

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you can make anything you like
of the colours,

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but isn't that beautiful?

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So that's the sort of thing that you
can buy today? It is yes.

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Wow, that's really beautiful.
Lovely.

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In the early 19th century,

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around 10,000 people worked in
Macclesfield's silk factories,

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which numbered 70
in the 1820s and '30s.

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Today, it's a niche industry,
with Jo's company employing

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a staff of 32

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and printing around 2,000 metres
of silk a week.

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Some of your machinery looks quite
ancient, but still doing the job?

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00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:57,920
It is. In fact,
some of it's Victorian.

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Is it really?

197
00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:01,120
So how does the process begin?

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00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:04,440
The first process that we do
is boil the cloth,

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00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:06,800
then it goes through
the dyeing process.

200
00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:10,160
When we're dying wool, can we dye
it in rope formation like that.

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00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:14,520
But silk, because it's a more
delicate fibre, has to be dyed flat,

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00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,040
and that's dyed in the machine
over there.

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00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:23,040
Once the silk is dry
it's ready for screen printing.

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00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:26,560
The method for creating the stencils
that make up the pattern

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00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:30,200
has moved on considerably
since Victorian times,

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00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:33,080
when hand carved blocks
were in use.

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00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:35,440
'It looks simple
but it takes years of practice.

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00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:38,480
'One mistake and a whole
length of silk may be ruined.

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00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:40,040
'Terrible thought.'

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00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:44,920
Today, Jo uses a computer
to split the design into individual

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00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:48,760
colours, and lasers each one
onto a separate screen,

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00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:51,400
ready for printing.

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00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:55,440
But the final process
is reassuringly lo-tech.

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00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:58,080
Now it's time to get my hands dirty.

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00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:01,040
Graham Cooper, a printer
and screen engraver,

216
00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:03,000
is to guide me through the process.

217
00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,760
You're printing this lovely bit
of red silk are you? I am.

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00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,680
The colour's in. If you'd like
to go round the other side

219
00:13:09,680 --> 00:13:11,280
and give me a hand.

220
00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:13,760
Get hold of the rubber.
Pull it towards you.

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00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:17,160
Drawing a rubber blade over
the screen pushes the colour

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00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:20,600
through the exposed sections
of the stencil onto the cloth.

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00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:26,440
The process is repeated for each
colour until the image is complete.

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00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:31,120
Graham, how many colours
can you put onto a silk?

225
00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:35,000
We have printed up to 19 colours
before. Lovely stuff.

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00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:37,440
And we'll have a look at what
we've just printed.

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00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:39,760
Wow. If it isn't our lady again.

228
00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:42,400
Going to be very, very beautiful.

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00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:45,800
I would of course stay
and help Graham finish the job,

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00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:48,200
but Jo has something to show me.

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00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:49,440
Before you leave, Michael,

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00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:52,160
I thought you you'd like to see
a selection of handkerchiefs.

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00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:55,600
They are absolutely wonderful, aren't
they? Beautiful, bright colours.

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00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:59,280
Can I have the lady we've been
looking at? You certainly can.

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00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:00,840
There she is.

236
00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:02,440
She makes what I've got at the moment

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00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:04,800
look quite dull, doesn't she?
Let me get rid of that.

238
00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:11,080
It's not every man who has
a secret lady in his pocket.

239
00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:13,680
That looks marvellous. Thank you.

240
00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:18,320
Feeling the Victorian dandy

241
00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:21,800
I'm ready to embark
on the final leg of my day.

242
00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:27,520
Bradshaw's tells me that, "the route
from Macclesfield to Congleton

243
00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:29,840
"is rich in natural beauties,

244
00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:33,640
"and furnishes various objects
worthy of attention,

245
00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:38,760
"amongst which is a stupendous
viaduct across the Dane Valley."

246
00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:42,120
Oh, happy Dane!
I'm looking forward to this.

247
00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:48,600
The journey to my hotel in Congleton
is less than ten miles south

248
00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:50,520
and doesn't disappoint.

249
00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:05,760
We just soared over the valley.
Absolutely beautiful!

250
00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:13,360
Bradshaw's describes Congleton as,

251
00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:15,600
"a municipal borough and old town

252
00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:19,000
"with manufactures of silk
and cotton".

253
00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,680
Today, most of the mills
are long gone.

254
00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:24,480
I'm heading to the heart of
the town to find a hotel

255
00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:27,840
called the Lion & Swan,
as mentioned in my guidebook.

256
00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:37,040
It's the final day of my journey

257
00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:40,120
and I'm hoping that the inclement
weather will clear

258
00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:42,360
before I arrive
at my next destination.

259
00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:49,360
I've left the north-west of England
and travelled 12 miles south-east

260
00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:52,920
to a rural village station
on the edge of the Peak District

261
00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:54,600
in the West Midlands.

262
00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,760
Cheddleton Station opened in 1849.

263
00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:01,240
Now it's the headquarters

264
00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:04,200
of North Staffordshire's
Churnet Valley Railway.

265
00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:09,640
According to Bradshaw's,
"The Churnet Valley railway line

266
00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:14,080
"passes through one of the loveliest
valleys in England".

267
00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:17,800
And thanks to the achievements
of railway enthusiasts,

268
00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:20,480
it's still possible today
to appreciate

269
00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,240
the wonders of the vale
from a steam train.

270
00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:26,880
Originally, this branch line

271
00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:29,600
crossed nearly 28 miles of valley
and moorland

272
00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:33,320
between North Rode in Cheshire
and Uttoxeter in Staffordshire.

273
00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:37,360
Connections at either end
created a direct link

274
00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:39,160
to Manchester and to London.

275
00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:45,920
Over 150 years later, just over five
miles of track are still in use.

276
00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:50,080
And one of the people
responsible for its preservation

277
00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:53,200
is David Kemp, Director
of Churnet Valley Railway.

278
00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:58,880
David, the Churnet Valley,
according to my Bradshaw's,

279
00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:01,840
is one of the loveliest in England.
What makes it so?

280
00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:05,120
Well, it's essentially a rural line.

281
00:17:05,120 --> 00:17:08,440
And when it was
running its original length,

282
00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:11,840
joining the Manchester line
ten or a dozen miles north of here

283
00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:15,080
and the Derby line to the south,
it was a very useful line.

284
00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:17,760
But most of the countryside is very
attractive all the way down.

285
00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:19,560
It follows the river
all the way down.

286
00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:21,560
Why was it a useful line,
what was it carrying?

287
00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:25,160
Back in the 19th century, lots
and lots of industry around here.

288
00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:27,560
Iron smelting, copper,
all sorts of things.

289
00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:29,000
Coal and what-have-you.

290
00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:31,480
There's quite a lot of quarries
around here, as well.

291
00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:36,040
The railway first carried freight,
but soon opened up

292
00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:39,680
one of the most scenic parts of
the country to passengers, too.

293
00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:44,000
Leisure-seeking Victorians
travelled from all over Britain.

294
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,080
But a century later,

295
00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:49,520
tourists and freight traffic
weren't enough to sustain

296
00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:55,000
the Churnet Valley line and sections
of track were closed in 1963.

297
00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:58,360
What's the modern history
of the railway?

298
00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:00,120
When was it rescued?

299
00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:03,440
What you see in terms of the lines
that we're involved with

300
00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:08,080
and going down to Froghall,
um...are all left, basically,

301
00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:10,480
because they served
quarries at the time.

302
00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:13,080
If it hadn't been for that,
then it'd all have gone.

303
00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:14,840
Now, all that traffic stopped,

304
00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:18,520
um...about 20 years ago
in the early 1990s.

305
00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:21,520
And that's when the preservation
movement started.

306
00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,200
I suppose,
like all these heritage railways,

307
00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:27,760
it rests very heavily
on the enthusiasm of volunteers.

308
00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:30,560
Yes, it's the guys who
turn up at 5:00 in the morning

309
00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:32,800
and get the engines fired up
in the middle of winter

310
00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:36,320
and, er...you know,
wander about under engines,

311
00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:39,000
trying to sort of defreeze them
and all the rest of it.

312
00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:41,760
Yeah, you've got to be pretty
dedicated to do this job.

313
00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:47,720
David has certainly whetted
my appetite for the journey ahead.

314
00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:51,080
I'm ready to step into the shoes
of a Victorian tourist

315
00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:52,600
and lap up the scenery.

316
00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:54,240
WHISTLE

317
00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:55,920
TOOT!

318
00:19:07,360 --> 00:19:09,720
The Churnet Valley
sort of tells the story

319
00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:11,440
of Britain's Industrial Revolution.

320
00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:13,600
Of course, there's a river
running through it

321
00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:15,280
which was used for navigation,

322
00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:18,040
then, in the first part
of the Industrial Revolution,

323
00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:20,400
a canal was built to carry minerals.

324
00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:22,720
Then the railway company took over
the canal

325
00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:25,160
and finally, bits of the canal

326
00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:27,840
were filled in
to lay down railway lines.

327
00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,480
As we reach Consall Station,
set deep in the valley,

328
00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:38,480
I've a treat in store.

329
00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:42,480
Engineer John Peake has invited me
to ride with him to the next stop.

330
00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:55,720
But apparently, there's no such
thing as a free ride.

331
00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:02,480
Tremendous heat now coming out
of the boiler!

332
00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:04,480
Stoking up the fire!

333
00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:09,120
Giving the locomotive
a bit of oomph!

334
00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:14,360
This is good exercise, isn't it?

335
00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:15,800
Yeah. Keeps you fit.

336
00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:19,120
Builds good biceps, that!

337
00:20:19,120 --> 00:20:22,280
Was this a Churnet Valley Railway
locomotive?

338
00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:24,320
Yes. Originally, it was built
in Poland.

339
00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:26,000
It was imported into the UK

340
00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:29,800
by a gentleman
at the Spa Valley Railway.

341
00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:31,160
Then, for various reasons,

342
00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:33,400
the gentleman decided
he wanted to sell it,

343
00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:35,840
so a group of volunteers
at the railway

344
00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:38,080
raised the money and bought
the steam loco,

345
00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:40,240
just like when they first started
preservation.

346
00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:41,760
How old is it?

347
00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:43,720
It was built in 1952.

348
00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:45,280
1952!

349
00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:50,720
So, little Polish locomotive,
you're even older than I am

350
00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:52,480
and you're a long way from home.

351
00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:53,840
Yes.

352
00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,480
After all that exertion,
I'm ready to return to my carriage

353
00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:04,440
for the remainder of the journey.

354
00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:06,360
TOOT!

355
00:21:06,360 --> 00:21:09,640
The Churnet Valley
is indeed beautiful.

356
00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:12,480
And I think it's beauty is enhanced

357
00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:15,320
by the smoke of a steam locomotive.

358
00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:19,080
This is pollution Victorian style!

359
00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:22,280
And I think it's pollution
that we can forgive.

360
00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:29,480
The Churnet Valley line
ends at Froghall,

361
00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:31,240
but at the time of my guidebook,

362
00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:35,120
it would have continued to my final
destination in Alton,

363
00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:37,880
just four miles south-east.

364
00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:43,760
Opened in 1849, Alton station
served an established noble family

365
00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:46,960
travelling to and from
their nearby stately home.

366
00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:51,320
Bradshaw's has brought me to the
princely seat

367
00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:53,520
of the Earl of Shrewsbury
and Talbot.

368
00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:57,480
"Built in 1814, a magnificent hall

369
00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,440
"with an armoury 120-feet long."

370
00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:04,600
And its gardens
are a picture of tranquillity.

371
00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:06,800
But this is Alton Towers.

372
00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:10,800
And I think my visit
will be worth the ride.

373
00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:15,920
The country estate was first taken
on by the Earl of Shrewsbury in 1412

374
00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:19,560
and remained in the family
for over five centuries.

375
00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:22,280
To find out more
about its fascinating history,

376
00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:23,840
I'm meeting Liz Greenwood,

377
00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:26,760
who's been with Alton Towers
for 25 years.

378
00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:30,360
The house appears to be pretty much
gutted.

379
00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:32,800
Is anything from my Bradshaw's
Guide still there?

380
00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:35,000
I mean, for example, the armoury?

381
00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:38,000
The armoury's there, although it's
perhaps not quite as you'd expect.

382
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:40,640
Come and have a look. Ha! Thank you.

383
00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:44,640
In the early 20th century,
the cost of war,

384
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,800
death duties and the burden
of income tax

385
00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:52,680
forced many upper-class families
to abandon their country houses.

386
00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:57,640
In 1924, Alton Towers was sold
to a group of local businessmen.

387
00:22:57,640 --> 00:22:59,760
And over the following
three decades,

388
00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:04,080
the house was gradually stripped
bare and its contents sold off.

389
00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:08,440
Ha-ha-ha! And here we are
in the armoury.

390
00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:14,680
Liz, it's a very impressive room
indeed.

391
00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:19,120
It seems there are just a few
pikestaffs and suits of armour left.

392
00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:21,600
Presumably, this would have been
filled with such things.

393
00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:24,360
Originally, each of these plinths
would have a suit of armour.

394
00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:27,160
If you think about it, the whole
intent of these sorts of buildings

395
00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:28,360
was to impress the visitor.

396
00:23:28,360 --> 00:23:30,800
It was to show the wealth of
the earls that owned the house.

397
00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:34,640
How has this historic
and, I must say, rather gloomy

398
00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:38,640
and rather ghostly house
lent itself to being a theme park?

399
00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:40,080
This is the first area of the house

400
00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:42,160
we've been able
to incorporate into a ride.

401
00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:46,440
This armoury now forms part of the
queue line into a ride called Hex.

402
00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:49,560
No other theme park has got
an 18th-century mansion
in the middle of it.

403
00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:52,320
It also lends itself brilliantly
to Halloween activity.

404
00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:54,720
So people are lapping up the gloom
and spookiness.

405
00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:57,640
People lap up the atmosphere
of the house, which is just amazing.

406
00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:01,240
Outside, the estate once laid claim

407
00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:04,360
to some of the most magnificent
gardens in Britain.

408
00:24:04,360 --> 00:24:08,120
Today, much of the parkland
is occupied by the theme park,

409
00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:11,680
but the gardens have remained true
to their original design.

410
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:14,480
When I thought about Alton Towers,

411
00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:17,680
I assumed it was just a modern
theme park, but actually,

412
00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:20,320
it has a history going back to
the 19th century, doesn't it?

413
00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,360
Yes. Originally, it was open to
the public in about 1860.

414
00:24:23,360 --> 00:24:25,640
And guests were allowed to wander
around the gardens.

415
00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:28,240
So it's always been open
to members of the public.

416
00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:30,800
And in fact, the original earls
were very keen to have

417
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:32,800
original and unique features
in the gardens.

418
00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:35,440
And they laid them out,
essentially, in small themed areas.

419
00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:37,480
So, even then, it was
a kind of themed park?

420
00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:40,320
It was kind of the precursor
to the modern theme park, yeah.

421
00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:44,040
Urbanisation and the arrival
of the railways

422
00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:46,720
changed popular culture and leisure
forever.

423
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,000
By the time of my guidebook,

424
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:53,400
rail travel was reconnecting
middle and lower class Victorians

425
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:54,800
with the countryside

426
00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:57,840
and bringing entertainment
to the masses.

427
00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:04,080
I came across this flyer from
the 1890s

428
00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:07,000
advertising stuff
that was going on here.

429
00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:09,000
"Alton Towers Illuminated.

430
00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:11,720
"Horse leaping for £100.

431
00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:13,800
"Ella, Zuila and Lulu.

432
00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:17,400
"These are apparently ladies
who walk on a wire over the lake

433
00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:21,000
"500-feet across, 75-feet high."

434
00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:24,640
And then,
"Sante, the man with the iron head.

435
00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:26,760
"Granite blocks,
which were obtained locally,

436
00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:29,520
"broken on his head
by sledgehammers.

437
00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:32,000
"£200 forfeited if a fraud."

438
00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:35,000
So this stuff has been going on
for a very long time.

439
00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:38,720
Yes. And in fact, the fetes
often attracted up to 30,000 people.

440
00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:40,960
They were very popular,
very common across the UK.

441
00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:43,000
And they attracted acts from all
over Europe.

442
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,600
It was where you came to see
something unique and original

443
00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:48,120
that you wouldn't get the chance
to see anywhere else.

444
00:25:48,120 --> 00:25:50,640
Alton Towers' appeal lives on.

445
00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:54,720
And it's one of the most-visited
theme parks in the United Kingdom.

446
00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:59,920
People flock here each year to enjoy
over 50 rides and attractions.

447
00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:05,600
What have I let myself in for?

448
00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:10,240
Oh!

449
00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:13,200
SCREAMING

450
00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:14,640
HE LAUGHS

451
00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:18,480
Are you scared?
You have those butterflies!

452
00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:21,480
It's better if you haven't seen it
before, isn't it?

453
00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:22,720
Yes. Oh, dear!

454
00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:25,160
Is it too late to get off?

455
00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:29,560
SCREAMING

456
00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:33,960
SCREAMING

457
00:26:49,360 --> 00:26:52,720
EERIE TANNOY: Undo your safety belt
and exit to the left.

458
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:56,680
Ensure you collect
all your personal belongings.

459
00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:58,920
I've been on many tracks in my life,

460
00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:03,480
but never have I been accelerated
to 60mph in 2.5 seconds

461
00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:07,840
with 4.5 Gs of pressure on my body,
and I'm wrung out!

462
00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:12,120
All this week, I've enjoyed
a rollercoaster of a ride,

463
00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:14,000
thanks to Bradshaw's.

464
00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:19,600
At the beginning of my journey
through north England

465
00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:23,440
at the Honister slate mine,
I was struck as so often before

466
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:26,400
by the suffering of working men
and women

467
00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:28,480
during the Industrial Revolution.

468
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,040
And it came home to me
that industrialisation

469
00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:32,880
and the spread of the railways

470
00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:36,680
took a heavy toll
on England's blessed plot.

471
00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:39,600
The artist Lowry painted the effects

472
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:41,680
and aesthetes like John Ruskin

473
00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:45,920
set out to protect
this green and pleasant land.

474
00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:48,480
To all the other achievements
of the Victorians,

475
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:52,080
we can add a dawning concern
for the environment.

476
00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:03,000
'Next time, inspired by a brave
Victorian, I take the plunge.'

477
00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:04,800
I can't believe I'm doing this.

478
00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:12,880
'Enjoy the exhilaration of steam.'

479
00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:15,880
At the moment, we're doing 18mph.

480
00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:18,840
That is basically the equivalent
of doing 75 on the main line

481
00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:20,640
because we're nearer to the ground.

482
00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:23,640
'And scale the heights
of the operatic world.'

483
00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:27,520
# Yah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah! #