1
00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:08,760
'For Victorian Britons, George
Bradshaw was a household name.

2
00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:11,240
'At a time when railways were new,

3
00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:15,720
'Bradshaw's guidebook inspired them
to take to the tracks.'

4
00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:19,040
I'm using a Bradshaw's Guide to
understand how trains

5
00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:22,400
transformed Britain, its landscape,

6
00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:26,640
its industry, society and
leisure time.

7
00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:32,000
As I crisscross the country 150 years
later, it helps me to discover

8
00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,960
the Britain of today.

9
00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:56,760
On my semi-circular route, through
the home counties south of London,

10
00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:00,600
I'm continuing with the theme of
Victorian innovation,

11
00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:03,600
some of which
was positively explosive.

12
00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:05,400
And at the same time,

13
00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:10,160
musicians and painters were also
exploring new frontiers.

14
00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:22,080
Following my Bradshaw's Guide,
I've travelled through Kent

15
00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:24,480
and am continuing through Surrey,

16
00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:27,280
where I'll be encountering Victorians
of talent,

17
00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:29,440
fearlessness and pedigree.

18
00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,480
My final destination is in
Oxfordshire, riverside,

19
00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,600
at Henley-On-Thames.

20
00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:44,120
Today's journey begins back in time,
at East Grinstead.

21
00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:48,280
There are explosions in Merstham,
sweet music in Dorking

22
00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:50,360
and art near Guildford.

23
00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:56,680
TRAIN WHISTLE SOUNDS

24
00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:01,080
'Today, I volunteer at a heritage
railway...'

25
00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:02,160
Argh!

26
00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:04,000
'..and feel the pressure.'

27
00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:05,720
Whoa!

28
00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:09,560
'I discover a 19th-century painter
who, 100 years later,

29
00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:12,120
'was to change
the course of history.'

30
00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:15,120
President Obama talks about being
converted to

31
00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:17,040
a life of political activity,

32
00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:19,760
through a sermon on Watt's painting
of Hope.

33
00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:25,200
'And I have a blast with a formidable
Victorian invention.'

34
00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:27,400
Three! Two! One!

35
00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:30,160
LOUD EXPLOSION
Whoa!

36
00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,200
That was a much bigger bang.

37
00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,800
My first stop will be East Grinstead.

38
00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:43,120
Bradshaw's tells me this was one of
the places

39
00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:46,480
disfranchised by the
Reform Act of 1832.

40
00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:48,360
It must've been very small then,

41
00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:50,880
no longer to qualify for a
parliamentary seat.

42
00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:54,440
And even in Bradshaw's time, the
population was just 4,000.

43
00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:58,920
But, for railway buffs,
it is enfranchised by a line

44
00:02:58,920 --> 00:03:02,320
that is as beautiful as it is
historic.

45
00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:11,160
Today, East Grinstead is a railway
terminus

46
00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:13,560
for one of the radial lines
out of London.

47
00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:20,880
When my guidebook was published, and
for about 70 years in total,

48
00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:27,160
the line continued on to Lewis, via a
few small, rural stations.

49
00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:31,960
After being closed in the 1950s,
it was raised from the dead

50
00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,760
as one of Britain's first heritage
railways,

51
00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:37,560
with the beguiling name of
the Bluebell.

52
00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:40,560
NEWSREEL: 'Today the Bluebell line
is run entirely by amateurs,

53
00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:43,920
'who give up their weekends to
pursue this so English hobby.

54
00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:47,720
'Where else in the world would
anyone spend every day off working?

55
00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:49,800
'But then, it's said, men never grow
up

56
00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:52,320
'and we suppose this is merely an
extension

57
00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:54,040
'of every boy's love of trains.'

58
00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:57,280
Hello. Hello, there. Lovely day,
isn't it?

59
00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:02,160
'I've donned my overalls to join
today's army of 800 volunteers.'

60
00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:08,320
But first, I'm going to enjoy the
Bluebell as a passenger

61
00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:11,880
and my travelling companion is
chairman Roy Watts.

62
00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:14,280
Hello, Roy! Hello, Michael.

63
00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:35,720
It is a rather curious line

64
00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:38,200
because it doesn't really serve any
populations,

65
00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:39,640
apart from East Grinstead.

66
00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:42,040
So why was it built in the first
place?

67
00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:45,200
It was built during that classic
heyday of railway mania,

68
00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:48,520
where everybody built a railway
line, north to south, east to west,

69
00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:51,800
simply, possibly, to stop another
railway company building a line.

70
00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:53,880
You've got a few stately homes on the
line,

71
00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:56,520
so was it built, really, by
aristocratic influence?

72
00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,520
Very much so. The good lords of the
day had their own station,

73
00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:01,760
because it was a great symbol.

74
00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:06,560
And for the passenger, what's the
joy of the line?

75
00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:09,440
Well, for a lot of them, it's a real
step back in time.

76
00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:11,760
It has rolling stock
from the mid-1800s,

77
00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:13,880
right the way through to the late
'50s.

78
00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:16,280
So you've got people who come along
and say,

79
00:05:16,280 --> 00:05:18,920
"I've travelled as great-grandfather
travelled,"

80
00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:20,760
or, "As dad used to travel to work."

81
00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:23,040
And you can see the expression on
their faces,

82
00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:25,240
when they stand in front
of the door,

83
00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:27,080
expecting it to open automatically.

84
00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:29,800
Whereas, they realise, they actually
have to turn the handle.

85
00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:31,480
Well, I'm old enough to say,

86
00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:35,120
in this carriage, that I'm travelling
as I used to travel.

87
00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:48,000
The railways carries around 200,000
visitors a year.

88
00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:54,360
I'm alighting at Horsted Keynes,

89
00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:57,400
as I can't resist a ride on the
footplate.

90
00:05:57,400 --> 00:05:58,960
Hello, may I join you? Hello.

91
00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:02,000
I'm Michael. Hi, I'm Liz.

92
00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,200
Hello, Michael. How do, how do.

93
00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,120
Who's driving the train today?
I'm driving today, yeah.

94
00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:09,760
Are you? Now, that's...

95
00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:12,040
I've been on a lot of heritage
railways,

96
00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:14,920
I don't believe I've met a woman
driver before.

97
00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:16,600
Are you quite rare, still?

98
00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,480
A little bit rare, yeah. There are a
few women at other railways,

99
00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:21,600
probably more than there are here.

100
00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:23,960
I'm the only woman here that's
driving at the moment.

101
00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:26,680
How long have you been driving
trains? Two years.

102
00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:30,440
Just two years here, but I've been
working here for about 16.

103
00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:33,920
We're off.

104
00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:44,840
TRAIN WHISTLE TOOTS

105
00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:03,600
On a day like today,

106
00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:08,600
there's no reason to feel blue on a
belle of heritage railways.

107
00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,280
TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS

108
00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:20,800
Sheffield Park.

109
00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:22,400
We're here. End of the line. Yeah.

110
00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:25,640
Smoothly done, thank you very much.
Thank you.

111
00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:27,800
Bye!

112
00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:31,600
The railway operates around 35 steam
locomotives,

113
00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,920
which need to be kept in
tiptop condition.

114
00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:37,360
I'm not wearing overalls for nothing,

115
00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:41,080
I'm meeting Andrew Sabin, known to
all as Horace,

116
00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:43,080
to help to wash out a boiler.

117
00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:46,360
Hello, Horace. Hello.
I'm Michael. Hello, Michael.

118
00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:48,600
And I believe you've got a little job
for me?

119
00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:51,520
Yes, every 25 to 35 days, we have to
wash out a boiler,

120
00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:53,440
because of all the sediment.

121
00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:56,160
All the impurities in the water,
like your kettle at home,

122
00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:57,960
get scaling.

123
00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:00,040
Now, is that fairly strong,
that hose?

124
00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,240
Yeah, you're just about to find out.

125
00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:05,920
Right, if you pick it up. Yeah.

126
00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:10,000
You put it towards your body. Into
my body? Yeah.

127
00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:13,360
Right. Stand with your legs far
apart. I'm braced.

128
00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:15,640
And Jim, behind...
Ah, hello, Jim.

129
00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:17,760
..he will turn it on and off for
you, OK?

130
00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:19,960
I'm ready, Jim.

131
00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:21,880
On!

132
00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:24,960
Argh!

133
00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:28,280
I'm really struggling just to hold
the hose down.

134
00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:31,560
That is very, very fierce.

135
00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:34,040
OK, Jim, off!

136
00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:37,280
Think you can handle it?
That's a relief.

137
00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:39,320
I think so. Good.

138
00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:44,240
My hose skills honed, I'm let loose
on the train's boiler.

139
00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:48,040
So, I stick this into...
..into the hole.

140
00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:50,160
Into the hole.

141
00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:53,520
Jim, water on, please. On? On!

142
00:08:56,440 --> 00:09:00,040
Whoa! The pressure is pushing me
back.

143
00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:03,000
I'm having to hold the nozzle in
position.

144
00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:05,960
The pressure hose flushes out the
sediment,

145
00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:08,400
which cascades from the engine.

146
00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:10,800
How long do I have to do this for,
Horace?

147
00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:12,440
Until I say so.

148
00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:16,560
OK, that'll do, yeah.

149
00:09:16,560 --> 00:09:19,920
Horace, how many of these plugholes
do you have to wash out? 25 of them.

150
00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:22,960
25? Well, I think I've got you off to
a very good start.

151
00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:25,640
I think you might've done, thank you
very much.

152
00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:31,200
I'm going back up the line
to East Grinstead station

153
00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:34,320
and to the comfort of being a
passenger, once again.

154
00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:40,280
The next part of my journey leads me
out of West Sussex...

155
00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:45,280
..to a change of train at
East Croydon...

156
00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:49,800
..with the next service taking me on
to Surrey.

157
00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:55,160
My next stop will be Merstham.

158
00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:57,040
Bradshaw's tells me that it was

159
00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:59,520
formerly famous for its apple
orchards.

160
00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:02,720
There are valuable stone quarries in
the vicinity.

161
00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:06,320
And, just a few years after the
publication of my guidebook,

162
00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:10,240
those quarries witnessed a remarkable
demonstration

163
00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:12,960
of the potency of
modern technology.

164
00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:19,040
I arrive via the Merstham Tunnel,
a feat of Victorian engineering,

165
00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:21,760
which cuts through the North Downs.

166
00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:25,480
And blasting through the landscape,

167
00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:28,160
is what brings me to my next
destination.

168
00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:34,480
In 1868, a newspaper of the day
described, "Some curious experiments,

169
00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:38,360
"at the Merstham Grey-Lime
Stone Works, with dynamite,

170
00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:40,400
"a new blasting powder."

171
00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:44,400
I'm heading to what was once a
quarry

172
00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:47,720
to meet explosives expert
Mark Wynne-Pedder,

173
00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:50,680
who's going to
give me a demonstration.

174
00:10:50,680 --> 00:10:54,920
Hello, Mark. Ah, Michael, very good
timing.

175
00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:56,480
Literally just put the fuse in.

176
00:10:56,480 --> 00:10:59,480
It looks like you're ready for some
pyrotechnics. Indeed.

177
00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,080
Who actually invented gunpowder?

178
00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:04,600
That was the Chinese, back in the
9th century.

179
00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:06,400
What were the limitations of
gunpowder?

180
00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:08,760
I mean, it was obviously
pretty effective, you know,

181
00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:11,160
they thought of blowing up
parliament with it and so on.

182
00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:14,160
Absolutely, 1605, the Gunpowder
Plot. Yes, very much so.

183
00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:16,880
Its limitations is how it's
confined.

184
00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:18,880
So, within The Gunpowder Plot,

185
00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:22,120
it was a large quantity, but in
oak barrels,

186
00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:24,640
because it needs to be confined to
work.

187
00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:28,360
If it's not, then you just get a
flash and a big puff of smoke.

188
00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:30,760
It's not particularly dangerous.

189
00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:33,800
And what've you got in here? Here
is just pure gunpowder at the bottom

190
00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:36,600
and a delayed fuse in the top, just
to make it safe for us to light.

191
00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:39,240
Right, what you need to do is light
the fuse right at the end,

192
00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:40,880
then we retire four paces.

193
00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:44,280
OK. Light and retreat.

194
00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:51,840
Whoa!

195
00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:55,440
Not much of a bang, but a lovely
plume of smoke and a flash.

196
00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:59,400
So that's not good enough, when does
dynamite come along?

197
00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:04,560
Well, dynamite, that was invented by
Alfred Nobel, back in 1866.

198
00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:09,600
Swedish chemist and engineer Nobel
came up with a revolutionary,

199
00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:12,560
new product that made the powerful
explosive,

200
00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:15,120
nitroglycerin, safe to use.

201
00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:17,600
Nitroglycerin on its own is
incredibly unstable.

202
00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,120
It's very susceptible to shock, so,
if you drop it, it can explode.

203
00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:24,200
Or compress it, it'll explode,
it's very unstable.

204
00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:27,640
So how did Nobel improve on
nitro-glycerine?

205
00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:30,200
Well, he found that mixing it with
diatomaceous earth,

206
00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:31,640
effectively a clay,

207
00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:35,440
absorbs the nitro-glycerine.
That was his formula for dynamite.

208
00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:38,280
At the time, it was Nobel's Blasting
Powder, which is strange,

209
00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:40,080
cos it wasn't actually a powder.

210
00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:43,320
And what was it, then, that forced
him to come to Merstham Quarry?

211
00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:45,800
Money, basically. He wanted to sell
it.

212
00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:47,440
It was very difficult to get in,

213
00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:49,280
there was a lot of bureaucracy at
the time,

214
00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:52,040
so he had to convince the
authorities that it was safe to use.

215
00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:55,160
He threw it off of a cliff here,
down into the quarry,

216
00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:58,640
to demonstrate both its capabilities
and its safety features.

217
00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:02,720
Nobel's invention was quickly taken
up for use in construction.

218
00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:08,240
In particular, blasting the landscape
to make way for the new railways.

219
00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:11,240
Munitions manufacturers adopted it
next,

220
00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:16,160
developing dynamite into
lethal weapons of war.

221
00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:20,600
The establishment of the Nobel Peace
Prize, by Alfred himself,

222
00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:24,080
was a reaction to the harmful
consequences of his invention.

223
00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,360
You wouldn't happen to have any about
your person now, would you,

224
00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:29,880
that we could have a go with?

225
00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:32,480
I thought you might ask that
question... Wow.

226
00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:34,560
..so that is a stick of dynamite.

227
00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:36,760
Dynamite has a shelf life of
about a year.

228
00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:38,960
You have to keep turning it, even in
storage.

229
00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:41,160
You have a regular cycle of
turning it round,

230
00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:43,040
otherwise it becomes unstable,

231
00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:45,600
again, then likely to
combust and explode.

232
00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:47,840
Well, I'm sure I'm in very safe hands
with you.

233
00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:50,880
May we have a bigger bang, please?
By all means.

234
00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:53,800
So, explosive all ready to go.

235
00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:56,400
And, judging by the amount of cable
we've got here,

236
00:13:56,400 --> 00:13:58,160
we're going more than four paces.

237
00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:01,000
Oh, yes, yes. We're going 40 metres
on this one.

238
00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:07,840
So, site is clear.

239
00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:11,200
Standing by.

240
00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:14,440
Firing in...
Three! Two! One!

241
00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:17,480
LOUD EXPLOSION
Whoa!

242
00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:19,880
That was a much bigger bang.

243
00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:29,320
We have recreated history, a blast
from the past! Absolutely.

244
00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:38,000
As I leave behind a
trail of destruction,

245
00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:40,280
I'm heading back to Merstham Station

246
00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:43,120
to complete
the final leg of today's travels.

247
00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:51,240
Winding my way west across the
home counties, I change at Redhill...

248
00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:57,080
..from the Southern to the
First Great Western service.

249
00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:02,760
I'm going to end my day in Dorking
where Bradshaw's

250
00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:06,240
mentions The White Horse
which seems worth a flutter.

251
00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:15,120
'I'm saving my exploration of Dorking
until tomorrow...'

252
00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:16,720
Goodnight.

253
00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:23,920
'..and make my way to The White Horse
which has been a hostelry since 1750

254
00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:25,960
'and provides my bed for tonight.'

255
00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:36,760
I'm starting my second day
in historic and beautiful Dorking.

256
00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:43,480
This old market town is
situated between

257
00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:47,600
the hill range of the North Downs
and the Greensand Ridge

258
00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:49,400
up whose steep gradients I'm heading.

259
00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:59,040
Leith Hill rises 294 metres
above sea level.

260
00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:02,960
And once you take into account the
18th-century folly at its summit,

261
00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:06,000
it becomes the highest point
in south-east England.

262
00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:11,520
"Dorking is situated in a valley
commanding some of the finest views

263
00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:17,320
"in the kingdom. It's a favourite
resort of lovers of rural scenery.

264
00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:22,040
"There are several very beautiful
villas and mansions around the town."

265
00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:26,040
It brings out the poetry
in my Bradshaw's and it inspired

266
00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:30,840
a resident of one of those mansions
to burst forth in song.

267
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,440
Set in this glorious landscape is
Leith Hill Place -

268
00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:39,920
a 17th-century Palladian mansion
which was the childhood home

269
00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:44,160
of one of England's great
composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams.

270
00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:46,040
Hello, Gabrielle. Hello, Michael.

271
00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:49,600
It's a wonderful house and such a
view. It is, isn't it? Fantastic.

272
00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:52,600
I'm meeting Gabrielle Gale
of the National Trust.

273
00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:56,520
Leith Hill Place is clearly
a substantial house.

274
00:16:56,520 --> 00:16:58,920
I take it then that
Ralph Vaughan Williams came from

275
00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:00,360
quite a well-to-do family.

276
00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:03,000
Yes, he was part of the Wedgwood
family and, by extension,

277
00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:05,920
the Darwin family as well, because
his grandparents,

278
00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:08,240
Josiah Wedgwood III and his wife
Caroline -

279
00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:12,160
who was sister of Charles Darwin -
came to this house in 1847.

280
00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,360
Did he begin his musical
life in this house?

281
00:17:15,360 --> 00:17:18,840
He did. His first teacher was his
Aunt Sophie and she taught him

282
00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:22,280
the piano and the violin
and also musical theory.

283
00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:25,200
And was he one of these prodigies,
like Mozart?

284
00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:27,240
Was he composing early?
He certainly was.

285
00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:29,960
In fact, the very first
piece of music that he wrote was

286
00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:31,240
when he was six years old.

287
00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:34,120
It was called The Robin's Nest
and it was six bars long.

288
00:17:34,120 --> 00:17:36,560
It would be hard to live in this
house for any period

289
00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:38,840
and not be inspired by the view.

290
00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:40,920
Was the landscape
an important influence?

291
00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:43,920
Absolutely. That peace and
tranquillity, I'm sure,

292
00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:45,880
filtered into his music.

293
00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:50,640
Perhaps Vaughan Williams is
best known for his composition,

294
00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:52,680
The Lark Ascending.

295
00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:56,560
MUSIC: The Lark Ascending
by Ralph Vaughan Williams

296
00:17:56,560 --> 00:18:00,400
It typifies the Englishness
of his work which was influenced by

297
00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:04,720
his studies at the Royal College of
Music under Sir Hubert Parry -

298
00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:08,320
the composer of the
great English anthem Jerusalem.

299
00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:11,400
'You are watching members of the
BBC Symphony Orchestra recording

300
00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:14,800
'R Vaughan Williams' interpretation
of Serenade To Music.'

301
00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:19,520
Vaughan Williams wrote prolifically
for opera, ballet and film,

302
00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:22,080
as well as creating
great choral works

303
00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:24,280
and numerous orchestral symphonies.

304
00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:31,040
He worked right up to his death
in 1958 at the age of 85.

305
00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:34,640
And if the landscape left
an impression on him,

306
00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:36,840
did he then leave
a mark on Dorking?

307
00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:39,600
He did in the form of the
Leith Hill Musical Festival,

308
00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:42,240
and he was the first conductor of
that festival

309
00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:44,120
and he conducted it for 50 years.

310
00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:49,480
In later life, Vaughan Williams
collected English folk songs

311
00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:51,120
which he incorporated into his works.

312
00:18:51,120 --> 00:18:53,360
MUSIC: Bushes and Briars
by Ralph Vaughan Williams

313
00:18:53,360 --> 00:18:57,680
# Through bushes and through briars

314
00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:02,960
# I lately took my way

315
00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:07,880
# All for to hear

316
00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:13,480
# The small birds sing

317
00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:17,840
# And the lambs to skip

318
00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:21,920
# And play

319
00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:29,480
# If I show to him

320
00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:34,160
# My boldness

321
00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:43,240
# He'll never love me again. #

322
00:19:58,120 --> 00:20:02,760
Steph... Hi. ..that was lovely. Quite
sad, quite moving. Vaughan Williams?

323
00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:04,280
Yes, absolutely.

324
00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:06,640
This was a very important
song for Vaughan Williams.

325
00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:10,120
It was the first folk song
that he ever collected

326
00:20:10,120 --> 00:20:14,800
and it was the beginning of a great
big snowball of folk song collecting

327
00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:18,600
that was going to be a really
important part of his life.

328
00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:22,400
As a young musician yourself,
are you inspired by Vaughan Williams?

329
00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:24,440
Yes, absolutely.

330
00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:27,520
I grew up here in Leith Hill
the same as Vaughan Williams

331
00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:28,960
and, like him,

332
00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:33,720
ended up being a classical composer
that is also a folk musician

333
00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,680
and so I kind of exist
in the same borderlands

334
00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:39,080
between the traditional
and the classical world.

335
00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:42,080
And he's a major source
of inspiration for me.

336
00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:45,600
Well, I hope that you, like he,
may go on innovating

337
00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,920
inspired by the surroundings
of Leith Hill. Thank you.

338
00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:50,760
Yes, I hope so too.

339
00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,960
Back at Dorking Deepdene Station,
I've hopped onto my next train

340
00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:00,280
heading for Guildford.

341
00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:05,800
This line is a little unusual
for England's south-east.

342
00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:09,280
It's a diesel, not electric and,
instead of being a radius pointing

343
00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:11,960
towards one of London's
terminus stations,

344
00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:17,000
it's an arc - a little bit
like a quarter of a railway M25.

345
00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:20,800
And at this point,
it hugs the North Downs

346
00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:23,840
which, today, are showing the
first tints of autumn.

347
00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:27,800
Afternoon. Tickets, please.

348
00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:31,040
Thank you very much indeed, sir.

349
00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:33,600
Beautiful section of line this,
isn't it?

350
00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:35,680
It certainly is,
it's a great office to work in.

351
00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:38,800
It never looks the same twice.
Thank you.

352
00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:43,720
I'm often struck by references
in Bradshaw's to things that were

353
00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:48,720
clearly famous at the time,
but which to me now are obscure.

354
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:53,040
I'm now going in pursuit of a painter
whose Victorian celebrity status

355
00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:57,080
has failed to pass down
to the present day.

356
00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:00,760
And I hope to make that discovery
in Guildford which, suitably,

357
00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:03,840
my Bradshaw's
describes as "picturesque".

358
00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:11,520
Guildford, surrounded
by lovely countryside,

359
00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:13,800
is an important railway junction,

360
00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:16,840
serving as an interchange
between four busy lines.

361
00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:20,920
Hello!

362
00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:23,320
Beyond the large station's
modern facade,

363
00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:26,680
the town's historic centre
retains its charm.

364
00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:40,720
I'm heading to the village of
Compton, just south of Guildford,

365
00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:42,440
to visit a gallery

366
00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:46,760
dedicated to the works of Victorian
artist George Frederic Watts.

367
00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:49,680
The curator is Nicholas Tromans.

368
00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:52,720
Hello, Nick. Michael, hello.
Welcome to Watts Gallery.

369
00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:55,800
Thank you very much. I don't know
much about GF Watts.

370
00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:58,760
Would you describe him
as a typical Victorian artist?

371
00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:00,040
Really, the opposite.

372
00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:03,400
He really stood aside from the
mainstream of Victorian art.

373
00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:06,160
Not very interested in the Royal
Academy, not very interested

374
00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:08,440
in the art market. Always ploughing
his own furrow

375
00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:11,520
and a furrow that really lasts
consistently for the career

376
00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:14,040
of some 70 or even 80 years.

377
00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:18,840
So, he really spans from
what artist to what artist?

378
00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:21,960
Early in his life,
he was exhibiting alongside Turner,

379
00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:25,720
as early as the 1830s, and at the
end of his life, he's influencing

380
00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:28,400
the young Picasso at the beginning
of the 20th century.

381
00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:31,320
So, you're looking at an artist
whose career spans, literally,

382
00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:33,600
the whole of the reign
of Queen Victoria and further.

383
00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:37,080
Extraordinary. I'd love to see some
stuff. Please, come through.

384
00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:47,760
Born in 1817, Watts produced
sculpture and portraiture

385
00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:50,600
and works of symbolism
and social commentary.

386
00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:03,080
Give me some idea of GF Watts'
popularity during his lifetime.

387
00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,680
In the 1880s onwards,
he was, without exaggeration,

388
00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:08,640
the most famous artist in the world.

389
00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:11,680
A lot of people don't believe that
today, but it's true.

390
00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:15,280
In the 1880s, he had the first ever
one person retrospective exhibition

391
00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,040
at the Metropolitan Museum
in New York.

392
00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:20,840
And hundreds of thousands of people
went to see it.

393
00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:24,520
Just looking at these walls, there is
obviously a variety of genre.

394
00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:28,560
This picture here, for example,
is very, very dark.

395
00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:31,400
Very dark, very traumatic,
very tragic.

396
00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:34,760
This is called The Irish Famine
and it is, as far as I know,

397
00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:40,120
the only major British painting
about the Irish famine of the 1840s.

398
00:24:40,120 --> 00:24:44,160
Watts shows himself as a furious
defender of the impoverished,

399
00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:45,920
the downtrodden, the forgotten.

400
00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:48,680
Absolutely not what you
expect in a Victorian painting.

401
00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:51,440
And so has GF Watts been taken
up by politicians?

402
00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:52,760
Absolutely.

403
00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:55,640
There's a strong tradition
in Labour politics of people

404
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:58,600
saving up their pennies to buy
a cheap reproduction of Watts.

405
00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:02,120
At a very different level,
President Obama talks about,

406
00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:07,200
in his memoirs, being converted
from a life of law to a life of

407
00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:11,120
political activism through a sermon
on Watts' painting of Hope.

408
00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:18,000
Regarded as one of the
finest portrait painters

409
00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:22,000
of the Victorian era,
he was much in demand.

410
00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:25,280
Recording likenesses of the great
and the good of the day.

411
00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:36,320
His larger more symbolic paintings,
such as Time, Death and Judgment,

412
00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:38,640
were also prestigiously displayed.

413
00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:43,000
The picture is on loan to us
from St Paul's Cathedral

414
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:46,280
where it hung in the nave for most
of the 20th century

415
00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:49,560
and, there, it became one of the
best known paintings in London.

416
00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:53,600
It actually occurs in a scene
in EM Forster's novel Howards End.

417
00:25:56,280 --> 00:26:00,960
The gallery was built after his death
in 1904 in the grounds of his home

418
00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:06,800
which he shared with his second wife,
Scottish artist Mary Fraser Tytler.

419
00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:09,680
She was responsible
for commissioning

420
00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:11,880
the now Grade 1 listed chapel,

421
00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:16,520
which is a fine example of
Arts and Crafts architecture.

422
00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:21,400
Today, the whole estate is an artist
village, where Jenny Dewitt Harris

423
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:23,600
is the artist in residence.

424
00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:26,520
Do you share things in common
with GF Watts? Definitely.

425
00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:30,520
He was very interested in the
subjects of mortality and time

426
00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:35,600
and those are the things that really
interest me and come out in my work.

427
00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:38,240
Are these here on the subject
of time?

428
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:42,920
Yes, they are. They all start their
life as pieces of driftwood.

429
00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:47,200
So, over time, driftwood gets its
history beaten into it

430
00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:49,880
and I feel that we're a
bit like that really.

431
00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:52,840
So, they're metaphors
for the passage of time.

432
00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:55,720
For the majority of people who don't
know very much about GF Watts,

433
00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:57,200
what are they missing?

434
00:26:57,200 --> 00:26:59,600
I think they're missing someone who
was a deep thinker.

435
00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:02,000
He wrote a lot about how
he worried about the world

436
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:03,800
and that comes out in his work.

437
00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:05,640
I don't think he should be neglected

438
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,200
and I don't think you should be
either. Thank you.

439
00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:20,720
Ralph Vaughan Williams' interest
in traditional folk songs

440
00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:25,480
might seem like a reaction against
change, but in fact his own music

441
00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:29,480
represented progress towards
something completely new.

442
00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:34,200
The invention of dynamite was
innovation at its most raw.

443
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:38,520
It carried the potential for enormous
construction benefits,

444
00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:40,840
such as the building of railways.

445
00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:45,360
But its destructive power made this
an anxious age,

446
00:27:45,360 --> 00:27:51,560
perhaps reflected in GF Watts'
painting Time, Death And Judgment.

447
00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:58,880
'Next time, I'll get my hands dirty
at Wisley...'

448
00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:01,720
In the long term, this will do
the plant no end of good.

449
00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:04,000
A bit of rough love. Absolutely.

450
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:06,720
'..and pitch up to see some
early camping kit.'

451
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:08,920
Probably not when it's full,
Michael.

452
00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:11,800
That is actually a washing-up bowl.

453
00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:15,720
'..and get a fright at the wheel
of a vintage racing car.'

454
00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:18,000
The throttle's got stuck.

455
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:19,640
No, the throttle's got stuck.

456
00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:23,640
Thank you very much.
That was a nasty moment.