1 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:17,640 I'm using a Bradshaw's guide 2 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:21,000 to understand how trains transformed Britain, 3 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:25,080 its landscape, its industry, society and leisure time. 4 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:30,120 As I crisscross the country 150 years later, 5 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,720 it helps me to discover the Britain of today. 6 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:58,280 I'm continuing my journey from the Midlands towards Dartmoor, 7 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:00,080 now passing through Gloucestershire. 8 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:04,520 'In this most rural of counties, 9 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:08,080 'I'll discover how Victorian innovations revolutionised 10 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:10,000 'the practices of agriculture, 11 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:14,120 'creating new industries and paving the way for social change.' 12 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:23,480 My route, which began in Birmingham, 13 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:25,960 now winds south through the Cotswolds, 14 00:01:25,960 --> 00:01:28,400 before striking out for the coast 15 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,480 and the ancient spas and port cities of the South West. 16 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:36,000 Ending up in one of Britain's most glorious national parks. 17 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:42,640 This third leg begins in Stroud in Gloucestershire, 18 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,560 then on to the market town of Cirencester before arriving 19 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:51,040 the next day in time for tea in elegant Georgian Bath. 20 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:54,840 'On this journey, I take potluck with an early snooker cue.' 21 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:58,720 Oh! A bit askew. 22 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:01,760 'Hitch a ride with a farmer of the future.' 23 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:05,280 Just being out in the field getting wet and muddy is absolutely wrong. 24 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:07,200 It's highly technical these days. 25 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:11,280 'And hone my conversational skills at a Victorian tea party.' 26 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:14,280 The cucumber this season is extremely crisp. 27 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:29,440 My first stop will be Stroud, which I'm informed is situated, 28 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:33,880 "near the confluence of the River Frome and the Slade-water. 29 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:37,240 "Woollen cloth forms the staple manufacture." 30 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:42,640 So today, I will put the history of that important textile on the table. 31 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:48,280 Bound for Stroud. Lovely. Thank you. 32 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:51,000 Stroud's peaceful appearance today 33 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:56,160 gives little hint of its history as an industrial town making textiles. 34 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:58,880 The town was well supplied with wool and water 35 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:03,240 and became a refuge in the 17th century for immigrant Huguenots 36 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:05,800 and in the 19th century for Jews. 37 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:09,760 'Both communities renowned for their skills as cloth manufacturers.' 38 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:11,480 Morning. 39 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:13,880 'In its heyday during the Victorian era, 40 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:15,640 'there were over 100 mills here 41 00:03:15,640 --> 00:03:19,240 'producing the woollen broadcloth for military uniforms. 42 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:23,120 'WSP Textiles, named after its founding owners, 43 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:25,800 'Messrs Winterbotham, Strachan and Playne, 44 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:27,480 'is one of the few survivors. 45 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:30,880 'And I'm going to meet European Sales Manager Stuart Gardiner 46 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:35,760 'to hear how the business has changed since Bradshaw's day.' 47 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:38,800 Stuart, why is woollen cloth made in this area? 48 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,920 Geographically, it's positioned on the five valleys. 49 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:44,400 So you've got the water coming down off the hills 50 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:47,400 and good quality water in the rivers. 51 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:50,600 And that water is used, what, both for treating the cloth 52 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:53,560 and then, I suppose, later, actually for powering the mill. Exactly. 53 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:56,360 Powering the mill via the waterwheel, which was located here. 54 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:58,160 What products do you make today? 55 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:01,160 Predominantly, snooker and pool cloth and tennis ball fabric. 56 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:03,720 The tennis balls are used at Wimbledon 57 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:07,840 and the snooker cloth is used at the World Championships in Sheffield. 58 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:10,640 Any connection between the modern products 59 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:12,920 and what you were making traditionally? 60 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:16,120 Yes. The modern snooker cloth has a nap on it. 61 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:18,440 That evolved from the old coaching cloths, 62 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:23,200 where the coachmen used to wear these broadcloths with a napped pile 63 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:24,960 so that the water wouldn't stick on it 64 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:27,200 and it would just run off their cloaks. 65 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:29,880 Um...would that do for a snooker table? 66 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:33,960 Maybe some of the cheaper ones, yeah. 67 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:35,480 MICHAEL LAUGHS 68 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:37,040 Let's have a look at your process. 69 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:42,720 There have been many changes. 70 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:46,280 The factory is run on electricity rather than water power 71 00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:50,400 and the wool that will eventually be transformed into snooker cloth 72 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,360 comes from New Zealand, rather than the Cotswolds. 73 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:58,360 'But the production process remains much the same.' 74 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:02,840 What is happening here, then? OK. 75 00:05:02,840 --> 00:05:05,680 This is the first process that happens at Lodgemore, 76 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:08,160 and it's a mending process, or burling. 77 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:12,240 So what they're looking to do is remove any defects from the fabric, 78 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:14,040 take any knots out. 79 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:17,360 If there's any yarns or threads that are missing or broken, 80 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:19,360 they get repaired here. 81 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:24,400 Having passed muster, the cloth is then passed through a chemical bath 82 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:28,080 before being dyed, washed and dried. 83 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:31,680 So that is the most extraordinary transformation. 84 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:33,440 What process has that gone through? 85 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:35,640 It's been shrunk, or fulled. 86 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:39,280 You shrink about a third of the overall dimensions off the cloth 87 00:05:39,280 --> 00:05:41,160 to give you a given thickness. 88 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:43,840 Much like shrinking your fine-woollen jumper in a hot wash. 89 00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:45,680 And what's critical about the thickness? 90 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:49,240 The thickness dictates the speed of the ball when you're playing snooker. 91 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:53,640 'These days, workers are protected from the chemicals 92 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:57,000 'used in fulling, but at the time of my guidebook, 93 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:00,920 'everything was done by hand on an open factory floor.' 94 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:05,560 Well, this is a very attractive, I imagine, Victorian factory building 95 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:08,560 but conditions weren't necessarily as attractive, were they? 96 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:11,800 No, absolutely. The conditions in here would have been fairly horrendous. 97 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:14,040 There would have been huge amounts of steam in here - 98 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:16,840 specifically in the winter, it would have been really bad. 99 00:06:16,840 --> 00:06:18,720 There would be a lot of acid processes, 100 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:22,800 so the condensation would drip with acid in it onto your head. 101 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:25,280 It was horrible. How long have you been with the company? 102 00:06:25,280 --> 00:06:27,000 I've been with the company for 30 years. 103 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:29,560 I remember steam waist-high, 104 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,320 so you'd have to be sort of looking under the steam, you know. 105 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:33,440 It was fairly grim. 106 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,880 The company's snooker cloth now sells all over the world, 107 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:41,560 thanks to the advent of colour television, 108 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:45,360 that took the game from barroom sport to mass entertainment. 109 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:48,680 But the mill's records date from when it was the gentleman's 110 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:51,680 game of billiards that was all the rage. 111 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,840 So, Michael, I thought you'd be interested in seeing this. 112 00:06:54,840 --> 00:06:58,040 This is a ledger dated 1897, where we sold cloth with a table 113 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:01,760 to the Queen for her full-size number five mahogany table. 114 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:04,240 Now, she was quite short, Queen Victoria, and I imagine her 115 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,080 having to sit up on the table to take those awkward shots. 116 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:10,440 What do you think? I'm sure she would've stood on a box. 117 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:13,240 'I'm keen to find out more about the game of snooker' 118 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:15,800 and how it developed from billiards. 119 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:17,800 So leaving the factory behind, 120 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:20,480 I'm off to meet snooker expert Peter Clare. 121 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:24,000 Hello, Peter. Very nice to meet you. 122 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:26,400 What was the origin of the game of snooker? 123 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:29,320 The origins date it back to 1882. 124 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:31,160 It was said that Col Neville Chamberlain, 125 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:35,920 who I believe is the uncle of the peace-in-our-time Mr Chamberlain, 126 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,200 he wrote down the rules in the Ooty Club up in the Highlands in 127 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:43,000 India for his other fellow officers to play the game of snooker. 128 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:45,240 And why do they call it snooker? 129 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:49,320 We believe it was because young recruits were called snookers 130 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:53,560 and because the game was new and everybody was new to the game, 131 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:55,480 the game was called snooker. 132 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:59,680 Peter's brought along a set of ivory balls that date from the end of the 133 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:04,240 19th century, as well as a curious implement known as a mace, the 134 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:09,160 antecedent to the modern snooker cue, which takes a bit of getting used to. 135 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,560 One hand...one hand on the cushion. How strange. 136 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:16,120 And you've got a sighting line to use. Oh, I see. Yes. Oh, sorry. 137 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:18,040 And just push. 138 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:20,600 Oh! Now, a bit askew. 139 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:25,640 Eventually, someone had the bright idea of turning the mace 140 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:30,800 around to use the other end and so the modern snooker cue was born. 141 00:08:32,680 --> 00:08:37,800 How did the game make the leap from the gentry to the ordinary man? 142 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:39,960 Prior to World War II, 143 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:43,760 we would have one set of snooker balls in the billiard hall. 144 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:47,840 After the war, as the troops came back, it was a popular game to play. 145 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:50,760 And nobody's found anything better than the baize. 146 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:55,000 Yes, I think you'll get into trouble calling it baize. It's pure wool. 147 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:57,160 Baize is a mixture of wool and cotton 148 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:00,640 and probably sells for about £12 a running metre. 149 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:04,760 This snooker cloth will sell for about £50 a running metre. 150 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:05,960 Well, Peter. 151 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:10,280 I have a while before my next train. Shall we continue the frame? Why not? 152 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:13,000 I think it's my shot now. 153 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:14,200 Ooh, my God. 154 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:18,080 Not bad! 155 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:24,800 I'm returning to Stroud station. 156 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:28,640 But sadly, there's little time to admire the flowers before I pick up 157 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:32,520 the first Great Western service to continue my journey south-east 158 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:33,920 through the Cotswolds. 159 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:47,720 I shall be leaving this train at Kemble in order to reach 160 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:49,280 Cirencester, which is 161 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:52,640 described as one of the greatest marts in England for wool. 162 00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:57,640 I'm told that the Gloucestershire downs which formerly lay open, 163 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:00,200 producing little else other than furs, 164 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:05,200 are now converted into arable enclosed fields. 165 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:09,440 In the Victorian period, agriculture was becoming more productive 166 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:15,320 and more scientific and farming was a suitable subject for academic study - 167 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:17,960 not just something to be picked up on the hoof. 168 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:23,800 There used to be a station at Cirencester 169 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:26,880 designed by the great Isambard Kingdom Brunel himself. 170 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:32,560 But it was closed in 1964, a victim of the Beeching cuts. 171 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:44,080 Kemble station benefits from this lovely garden, which was built by 172 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:48,640 and is maintained by students from the Royal Agricultural University. 173 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:53,600 And with its beds of lavender and of rosemary, it's full of summer scents. 174 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:03,600 The Royal Agricultural College of Cirencester opened in 1845 175 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:07,040 and received its Royal Charter from Queen Victoria. 176 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:11,320 Her husband, Prince Albert, was one of the early shareholders. 177 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:15,600 Built in the Victorian Gothic style, it resembles an Oxford college 178 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:21,040 and the first intake comprised 25 sons of local landowners. 179 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:26,840 The college became a university in 2013 and now 1,200 students study here. 180 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:34,040 The motto of the college is Arvorum Cultus Pecorumque - 181 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:36,080 a quote from Virgil's Georgics, 182 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:39,760 which means "caring for the fields and the beasts". 183 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:41,320 A noble aim indeed. 184 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:45,440 Prof Chris Gaskell is the principal. 185 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:50,160 Chris, how very good to see you. Hello. Welcome to the RAU. 186 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:52,120 Thank you very much indeed. 187 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:55,840 Before there was an agricultural college here, what was there on this spot? 188 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:57,320 It was a farm. 189 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:00,160 Here's the farmhouse, the old farmhouse on which they built 190 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:04,040 the iconic college and behind it is the tithe barn, the original 191 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:07,200 tithe barn of the farm where they stored grain and kept animals. 192 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:10,320 Dating back to what time? Oh, 16th century. 193 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:13,760 You became relatively recently a university. 194 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:16,160 Is that an important thing? I think it is very important. 195 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:18,280 I think it's important for agriculture to have a 196 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:20,360 university with agriculture in its name. 197 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:23,880 I think it's very important because agriculture as a career went through 198 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:28,720 something of a doldrum in the late 1990s, when excess production meant 199 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:33,200 that society didn't value its food and its farmers as much as it could. 200 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:35,960 But I also think it brings agriculture into a more 201 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:40,520 technological age and people's concept of agriculture as just 202 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:43,240 being out in a field getting wet and muddy is absolutely wrong. 203 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:45,240 It's highly technical these days. 204 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:49,080 The mid-19th century was a pivotal time for the teaching 205 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:52,360 and understanding of agriculture. 206 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:55,920 Early students learning about new fertilisers would also study 207 00:12:55,920 --> 00:13:00,000 the science behind traditional methods of crop rotation 208 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,280 and soil management and how they might increase yield. 209 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:11,520 'To find out more, I'm heading out to the fields to meet Tom Overbury...' 210 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:12,960 Good to see you. 211 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:16,760 '..organic expert and director of farming at the university.' 212 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:19,320 How much difference is there between agricultural methods 213 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:23,800 when the Royal Agricultural College was founded in 1845 and today? 214 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:25,600 Some of them will be fairly similar. 215 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,600 The basic principles in terms of crop production, in terms 216 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:32,880 of preserving forage for the winter, they would be much the same, but 217 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:36,160 obviously, the methods that we are using are probably fairly different. 218 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:38,640 In this case, we're making silage as opposed to hay. 219 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:41,640 Sometimes in some of the cropping, we're growing oilseed rape, 220 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:43,680 which they would never have heard of then. 221 00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:45,960 Well, there have been huge technological changes - 222 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:49,960 in tractors instead of horses, but chemicals, for example - big changes. 223 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:53,080 Our chemicals have allowed us, and pesticides have allowed us 224 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:56,640 to do quite a lot of monoculture and pushing things 225 00:13:56,640 --> 00:13:59,360 forward from that point of view but we're almost getting to the 226 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:02,360 stage now where we're needing to go back and think, well, actually, 227 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:05,320 some of the things, those old rotations and things like that, we 228 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:08,600 must make sure that we don't forget those basic lessons that we learnt. 229 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:11,320 Well, I think I might talk to one of your students about these 230 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:13,160 issues - if I can flag her down. 231 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:18,160 These are challenging times for farmers and I want to find 232 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:22,480 out what the next generation thinks about a return to Victorian values. 233 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:25,360 Hello, Megan. Hi, Michael. 234 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:28,920 Megan Berryman comes from a Cornish farming family 235 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:31,640 and this is her final year at the university. 236 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:33,720 Now, I'm an old townie, 237 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:36,520 so tell me what it is you're actually doing here. 238 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:39,880 We're baling up some silage here. And silage is what? 239 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:42,640 Wettish grass, is it? Yes, it is. 240 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:44,400 It's, um, grass which has been preserved. 241 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:48,440 Important to you to get a proper university education in agriculture? 242 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:53,600 Um, I think so. I'm female, so it allows me 243 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:57,280 a better chance in trying to find a job somewhere out there. 244 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:00,760 Do they actually teach any history of farming? Yes, they do. 245 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:03,760 They cover quite a lot of history at the um, at the Ag University. 246 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:05,880 We should really look into the history 247 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:09,080 and remember the way which farmers used to do it. 248 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,800 It was good to them, like by keeping some of their techniques and their 249 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:18,200 skills going, um could help the agricultural industry go further. 250 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:22,800 I wish you all the very best. Have a wonderful career in farming. 251 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:25,680 Bye-bye, Megan. Nice to meet you. Good luck to you. 252 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:34,520 After all that fresh country air, I need a place to rest my head. 253 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:38,560 So I'm going into Cirencester town to find a bed for the night. 254 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,840 I've been attracted to this 14th century coaching inn 255 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:52,280 by a mention in my Bradshaw's Guide. 256 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:55,720 During the English Civil War, Lord Chandos came here, 257 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:58,960 recruiting on behalf of King Charles I. 258 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:01,360 But this was parliamentary territory 259 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:05,280 and a mob murdered his supporters, burnt his coach 260 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:09,600 and he had to take refuge here in the King's Head. 261 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:13,600 The irony of the name of this hotel must have struck him, 262 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:18,360 when shortly after, his beloved monarch lost his... 263 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:32,160 The next day, I'm up early to continue my journey 264 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:36,360 from Chippenham, where I join up with the main line service going west. 265 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:55,640 I've rejoined the railway at Chippenham in order to get 266 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:59,040 Bath, titillated by this reference in Bradshaw's. 267 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:02,800 "A striking campanile tower built by William Beckford 268 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:07,280 "who died here in 1844, and is buried in a cemetery. 269 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:11,440 "He wrote Caliph Vathek, a most original story, 270 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:15,440 "which created quite a furore in those days." 271 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:18,040 It all sounds novel. 272 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:21,720 Do you know Bath? I know Bath. 273 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,040 And what do you think of Bath? I love Bath. 274 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:29,000 I'm going to see something today that I've never seen before. A campanile. 275 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:34,520 Built by a kind of eccentric British novelist and millionaire. 276 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:37,280 Well, that's what Britain is all about, isn't it? 277 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:42,120 Look at the way you dress! Couldn't be more eccentric! Moi? Yeah! 278 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:51,360 Bath with its peerless neoclassical architecture is most often 279 00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:55,200 associated with the Georgian period, when eccentricity 280 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:59,760 and bawdy behaviour were tolerated or even actively encouraged. 281 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:03,160 But I want to get a flavour of what the city 282 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:07,280 was like at the time of my guidebook, when Victorian values 283 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:11,680 and a strict moral code dictated behaviour - in public, at least. 284 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:17,440 So before I head off in search of Beckford's Tower, I'm going 285 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:21,840 to learn about the social graces of the Victorian upper class. 286 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:26,960 Few things are more closely associated with the British 287 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,160 than the custom of taking afternoon tea. 288 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:34,680 But when did the tradition begin? And what are the rules of etiquette? 289 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:41,080 I've come to meet Grant Harold, former royal butler 290 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:42,520 and etiquette expert. 291 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:46,800 Grant, good afternoon. Michael, good afternoon. Welcome. 292 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:49,160 When was afternoon tea invented? 293 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:53,720 Afternoon tea was invented around about 1840 by the Duchess of Bedford. 294 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:57,880 She felt that there was a long gap between lunch and dinner. 295 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:01,160 So she felt that something had to kind of fill this gap and 296 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:06,200 she came up with this idea of asking for some tea and some sandwiches. 297 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:09,280 Afternoon tea developed as a private social 298 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:13,320 event for ladies in the higher echelons of society. 299 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:16,000 But when Queen Victoria adopted it, 300 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:20,280 the ritual became a formal occasion on a larger scale, 301 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:23,360 known as a tea reception. 302 00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:27,160 I wanted to see you alone because I've got a tea booked with 303 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:30,160 some ladies and I'm a little bit worried about etiquette. 304 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:33,840 I'm a grammar school boy myself and I don't want to get anything wrong. 305 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:36,720 Could you give me some pointers, please? Yes, of course. 306 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:39,640 Milk in first or second? Well, it depends which class you're from. 307 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:41,640 The lower classes would put the milk in first, 308 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:44,720 because they had clay cups, which sometimes couldn't resist the 309 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:48,800 heat of the tea, so they would crack but the upstairs, they had fine bone 310 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:52,160 china which could resist the heat, so they could put the milk in after. 311 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:54,400 Now, what about topics of conversation? 312 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:58,280 With topics of conversation, there was four subjects which I could say were taboo. 313 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:00,560 That was sex, religion, money and politics. 314 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:03,560 So you'd keep clear of those. Those are my four special subjects! 315 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:06,640 But the problem is, a lot of people do discuss these but what 316 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:09,760 I would say, is in somebody's home, don't you bring them up. 317 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:12,160 Go with your host. Let them take the lead. 318 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:14,200 Whatever the discussion is, then you engage in, 319 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:18,320 but if they don't discuss it, then you haven't brought it up, either. 320 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:20,480 Fortified by Grant's advice, 321 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:24,760 we're off to join a group of ladies from the Bath Preservation Trust. 322 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:27,800 Good afternoon, ladies. ALL: Good afternoon. 323 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:30,440 Do join us. Thank you so much. 324 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:34,400 I really don't recall a time when it was so unseasonably hot. 325 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,640 Have you observed the hot weather? It is very hot, yes. 326 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:40,240 I hope you had a comfortable journey here. 327 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:43,880 I myself came on the railway from Chippenham. 328 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:46,600 It was a very convenient journey. 329 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:50,320 I've learned today that the milk goes in second. Yes, indeed. 330 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:56,520 And the gaze is maintained on the cup of tea until it reaches the face. 331 00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:59,720 HE WHISPERS: Grant, how do I eat the sandwiches? 332 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:02,320 You pick up the plate and bring it towards you. 333 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:09,840 The cucumber this season is extremely crisp. 334 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:12,600 It must be something to do with the unseasonably hot weather. 335 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:17,320 It's been such a joy to attend such a very reactionary tea party! 336 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:19,880 And a pleasure to have you with us. Thank you. 337 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:25,280 Revitalised, I step out into the streets of Bath to soak up 338 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:27,960 some more of the sandstone splendour. 339 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:32,360 I'm standing in front of the Royal Crescent, 340 00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:35,320 which Bradshaw's tells me was a work of John Wood 341 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:39,760 the Younger from the second half of the 18th century and apparently, 342 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:45,000 Tobias Smollett called it an antique amphitheatre turned inside out. 343 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:46,720 I think it's one of the most successful 344 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:51,680 pieces of architecture in Britain and I think, if I lived in Bath, 345 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:53,680 and I saw this every morning, 346 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:58,400 particularly kissed with this wonderful light, my heart would soar. 347 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:04,680 Not far from here, in Lansdown Crescent, 348 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:08,000 lived one of Bath's most notorious characters. 349 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:10,520 William Beckford was born in the permissive 18th century 350 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:16,360 and inherited a huge fortune founded on Jamaican sugar plantations. 351 00:22:16,360 --> 00:22:21,400 He moved to Bath in 1822 and promptly purchased all the land leading 352 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:26,000 up to Lansdown Hill, giving himself a mile-long garden. 353 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:32,440 On the summit, he built an extraordinary 120-foot-high neoclassical tower. 354 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:35,200 Amy Frost is the curator of Beckford's Tower 355 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:37,960 and an expert on its contents and its owner. 356 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:42,800 I get the impression that William Beckford was a larger-than-life character. 357 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:45,760 Yeah. It all starts really, I think, cos he's born into this immense 358 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:48,000 wealth and he inherits when he's nine and a half. 359 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:51,040 And it's very well known how much money he has, 360 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:52,800 because, you know, for example, Byron, 361 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,040 when he writes about him in Childe Harold, 362 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:57,480 refers to him as "England's wealthiest son". 363 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:00,800 So it's an obscene amount of money and just can indulge himself 364 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:05,280 in collecting paintings, furniture, objects - books, above all. 365 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:09,000 What about his private life? Just as interesting, actually. 366 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:13,040 He has a rather kind of infamous affair when he's in Venice, 367 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:14,520 when he's on his grand tour, 368 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:18,080 with the son of one of the leading families in Venice. 369 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:21,800 At the same time, he's very sort of feted in society. 370 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,080 People, particularly women of a certain age 371 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:27,480 with much, much older husbands, find him incredibly appealing. 372 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:30,200 Shall we look inside? Yeah, come on in. 373 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:34,280 Every morning, Beckford would ride out from his house in the centre of 374 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:38,600 Bath to spend the day in his tower, which he used as a study retreat. 375 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,240 How did Beckford decorate these rooms? 376 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:46,960 So originally, these rooms would have been full of furniture 377 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:51,320 and above all, lots and lots of objects on every surface. 378 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:55,760 The sort of objects that you can see in these paintings and he constantly 379 00:23:55,760 --> 00:24:00,040 writes about his collection, saying it's about where things are placed. 380 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:03,360 He didn't sleep here. This was not his house. This was his retreat. 381 00:24:03,360 --> 00:24:06,880 It's his treasure chest and he would move objects around. 382 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:10,080 And you get the idea of him sort of putting a vase on a particular 383 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:13,320 table or surface and then not sleeping at night, 384 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:16,520 because he knows he's put that vase in the wrong place. 385 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:21,160 By the time he arrived in Bath at the age of 62, Beckford's lifestyle 386 00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:24,720 was distinctly out of step with the new Victorian morality. 387 00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:30,560 His scandalous past was bad enough but back in 1786, 388 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:34,720 he'd also published an infamous novel, Caliph Vathek, 389 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:39,280 a tale of an Eastern potentate of vast wealth, whose antics 390 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:43,320 still have the power to shock and horrify 200 years on. 391 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:46,960 Why did the novel cause a furore? 392 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:50,760 Partly because of the content itself - very decadent lifestyles 393 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:53,640 inside it - there's a palace of the five senses, there's all 394 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:58,040 these incredibly elaborate parties and affairs and then this 395 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:02,920 extraordinary scene involving 50 beautiful young boys, which - 396 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:06,120 best thing for you to do is to read that part for yourself 397 00:25:06,120 --> 00:25:07,560 and make your own mind up. 398 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:14,600 "Vathek, who was still standing on the edge of a chasm, called out, 399 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:17,440 "'let my 50 little favourites approach me.' 400 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:22,120 "The Caliph undressed himself by degrees and raising his arm, 401 00:25:22,120 --> 00:25:24,960 "made each of the prizes glitter in the air. 402 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:28,000 "But whilst he delivered it with one hand to the child who sprung 403 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:30,520 "forward to receive it, he with the other 404 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:33,600 "pushed the poor innocent into the gulph." 405 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:35,440 Mass murder of children. Yes. 406 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:37,920 So you can see why it caused quite a scandal. 407 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:39,800 Am I able to go to the top of the tower? 408 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:42,680 Yes, of course, but, um, you must go on your own. 409 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:47,120 It was a tower built for one man, built for Beckford alone so 410 00:25:47,120 --> 00:25:51,440 that one person could go to the top, look at the view and read a book. 411 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:53,760 I have such a book. Amy, thank you so much. Bye-bye. 412 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:02,080 Beckford had no qualms about giving free rein to his lurid 413 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:06,160 and disturbing imagination and ultimately, society ostracised him. 414 00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:13,360 He died in 1844 and is buried in the cemetery at the foot of his tower. 415 00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:16,000 In the end, he'd gone through most of his fortune, 416 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:20,320 but his great architectural legacy is still maintained for public use. 417 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:35,760 This tower is a monument to a man who could have whatever he wanted. 418 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:41,320 He collected women and men the way he collected vases and paintings 419 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:46,400 and from all the things that he loved and owned, he's bequeathed me 420 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:50,640 just one thing - this exquisite view of Bath. 421 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:14,880 William Beckford was born into the naughty 18th century 422 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:19,240 but died during Queen Victoria's reign, 423 00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:22,240 by which time the outrageous lifestyle 424 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:26,560 and novel of his youth would not have been tolerated. 425 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:31,360 The Victorians were serious people who applied science to agriculture 426 00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:33,880 and devised etiquette for taking tea. 427 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:40,360 Had I wandered into a 19th-century tea party with all my social gaffes, 428 00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:44,080 I would soon have found myself snookered. 429 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:55,640 'Next time, I enter the foul-smelling world of a Victorian tannery...' 430 00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:58,560 I find myself well out of my comfort zone here. 431 00:27:58,560 --> 00:27:59,680 Is it dangerous? 432 00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:01,400 Is pretty dangerous. 433 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:05,880 '..soak up the splendour of one of Britain's finest Gothic mansions...' 434 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:09,640 Hah! A gentleman's library indeed. 435 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,280 The staircase is really a gem, isn't it? 436 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:14,080 Absolutely magnificent. 437 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:17,720 '..and get in touch with my spiritual side in Glastonbury.' 438 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:20,040 Stay bright. Yeah, absolutely. And you.