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For Victorian Britons,
George Bradshaw was a household name.

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At a time when railways were new,

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Bradshaw's guidebook inspired them
to take to the tracks.

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I'm using a Bradshaw's guide
to understand how trains

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transformed Britain,

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its landscape, its industry,
society and leisure time.

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

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to discover the Britain of today.

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I'm continuing my journey
through Surrey.

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Today, I hope to discover how
the Victorian middle classes

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created beautiful homes and gardens.

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And, by the end of the 19th century,

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demanded a revolution
in personal transport to match that

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in public transport
represented by the railways.

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The pace of change in
Victorian Britain altered

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everything in life, including death.

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Following my Bradshaw's guidebook,
I travelled through

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the county of Kent and took a route
south of London into Surrey.

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Passing through the Home Counties,
I'll visit racetracks

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and royal residences before ending
riverside in Henley-on-Thames.

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Today, I make a sombre
start in Woking.

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I then put down some roots
in West Byfleet,

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before racing through Weybridge

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to an intense end
in Walton-on-Thames.

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I get my hands dirty at Wisley.

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You're being quite rough with that.
I'd be frightened to do that.

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In the long term, this will do
the plant no end of good.

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So a bit of rough love? Absolutely.

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Pitch up to see some early
camping kit.

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This looks handy.

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Probably not when it's full,
Michael.

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That is actually a washing-up bowl.

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THEY LAUGH

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And get a fright at the wheel
of a vintage racing car.

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The throttle's got stuck.

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The throttle's got stuck.

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No, the throttle's got stuck.

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Thank you very much.
That was a nasty moment.

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I'm passing close to the enormous
Brookwood Cemetery,

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opened in 1864,
the year of my guidebook,

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to cope with burials from London.

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But towards the end of the 19th
century, with the enormous increase

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in the metropolitan population,

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the ingenious idea of exporting
bodies from London

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to suburban cemeteries
was running out of steam.

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And the city was about to lose
the plot.

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My first stop today is Woking.

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A busy interchange station
with fast links to London,

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as well as mainlines to the
South Coast and the South West.

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Just west of Woking,

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the Brookwood Cemetery is
the largest in western Europe.

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Built to inter the capital's dead,

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it was supplied by trains from
Waterloo with corpses and mourners.

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A decade after Brookwood opened,

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a movement began to promote a
controversial alternative to burial.

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Professor Hilary Grainger is
a member of the Cremation Society.

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Hilary, I suppose with cemeteries
like Brookwood filling up,

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that would lead to an interest
in cremation. It did indeed.

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And it was not simply
a question of space,

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but it was also
a question of hygiene.

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Cremationists in the 1870s became
very concerned about the miasma,

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the gasses that they believed
were being emitted

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from overcrowded cemeteries,
spreading disease.

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So the Cremation Movement
was historically secular,

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concerned with health and hygiene.

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And also, of course, was underpinned
by advances in Victorian technology.

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Had it not been for Victorian
engineering in terms of

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furnace developments, then
cremation couldn't have taken place.

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Cremation had been
the most common way

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to dispose of corpses
during the Roman Empire.

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But for almost 2,000 years,

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the Christian church had
stipulated that they must be buried.

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Despite religious opposition,

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the movement to promote cremation
was established in 1874.

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And four years later,

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it constructed Britain's first
purpose-built crematorium at Woking.

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The Cremation Society was
founded by Sir Henry Thompson,

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who was the surgeon
to Queen Victoria.

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He, together
with 15 like-minded people,

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signed a declaration
in favour of cremation.

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And one of the early advocates
made the comment that they were

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seeking purification
rather than putrefaction.

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So, then, the cremations began?
Um...no.

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Sir Henry Thompson
and colleagues cremated a horse,

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but that caused a huge uproar
in Woking, led by the vicar.

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And he, together with a
number of residents,

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made a deputation to
the Home Secretary,

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who declared that cremation
was not a legal act

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until there was some sort
of parliamentary authorisation.

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A curious court case in 1884
effectively changed the law.

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After a Welsh druid,
Dr William Price,

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had cremated the body of his child,

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a judge ruled that it was not
criminal if no nuisance was caused.

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That made cremations legal.

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And they began here
at Woking Crematorium in 1885,

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with three taking place
in the first year.

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Given the religious opposition
to cremation,

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it's quite surprising
that this building,

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which is clearly 19th century,
looks ecclesiastical.

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That is because a crematorium posed
a real problem for an architect.

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It was a new building type,

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for which there was no
architectural precedent.

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And in that sense,
rather analogous, I think,

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to early Victorian railway stations.

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And so architects, I think,
in the early years,

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designed crematories
that looked like churches.

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But, of course,
they're not churches.

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And many people find it surprising

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that they're not
consecrated buildings.

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Since cremation was
regarded as unconventional,

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the building was designed to be
reassuringly traditional.

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So now we've come inside,
we find this splendid catafalque.

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Again, lots of religious symbolism.

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Indeed, the catafalque is not only
the structure upon which

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the coffin sits, but it's also
the means by which it's removed

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mechanically and horizontally
through to the cremator room.

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In many early crematoria, coffins
descended in an imitation of burial.

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The early adopters of cremation

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were typically drawn from
the realms of science, medicine,

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arts and literature.

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Here we have Thomas Hardy,
the novelist, who was cremated,

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and his ashes were taken
to Westminster Abbey for internment.

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Very striking. He's come all the way
from Dorchester, that's a long way.

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It is, but you have to remember
there were very few crematoria

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built at this time.

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Well, I'm just the far side
of the catafalque,

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and on the other side
is that beautiful brass door.

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Here, it's just plain wood,
and what a contrast,

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this is a stainless steel table,

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and here's the handle
that winds the coffin through.

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Hello, Phil. Hello, Michael.

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So, this is where the cremation
actually takes place?

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Yes, this is what we call
a cremator.

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What is the process
that goes on in there?

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The process is basically
the lighting of the coffin

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from the heat of the chamber,
and from then on it's combustion.

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And then all that matter is reduced.

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How long does that process take?

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Approximately 90 minutes.

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It wasn't until 1968 that the number
of cremations began to exceed burials

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and today, cremations make up
well over 70% of funerals.

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What looks like a graveyard
but is not a graveyard?

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This.

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In the early days of cremation,

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Victorians and Edwardians
clung to the idea of burying ashes.

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It was as though they could
not let go of an ancient ritual

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in an age that prided itself
on its rationalism.

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Back at Woking Station,
I'm taking a London-bound train.

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But I won't be going
anywhere near the capital,

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as this leg of the journey takes me
just three miles along the tracks.

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I'm now passing through what Bradshaw

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describes as "a succession
of picturesque views

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"which will delight the traveller,

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"affording pleasing specimens
of English forest scenery."

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In the 19th century, the middle
classes wanted to bring nature

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closer to their homes,
to their gardens,

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and they did so
with Victorian earnestness,

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and they benefitted from an explosion
in the number of available specimens.

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I'm alighting at West Byfleet,
which is the station closest

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to the Royal Horticultural
Society's garden at Wisley.

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Across its 240 acres
of decorative flowerbeds,

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glasshouses,

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laboratories and an arboretum,

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it displays species
from around the world.

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Throughout the 19th century,

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the RHS educated
the Victorian gardener

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as interest
in horticulture bloomed.

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I'm meeting the director
of horticulture, Tim Upson.

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I believe the origins of the
Royal Horticultural Society

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go back to the beginnings
of the 19th century.

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What was going on in that period

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to make people want to found
such an organisation?

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We were founded in 1804.

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Seven gentlemen proposing
a new horticultural society,

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really just to understand
this vast wealth of new plants

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which were coming in
from around the world.

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And to promote the practice,

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science and art of horticulture is
really what we're still about today.

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These people were, I take it,
gentlemen with substantial estates?

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Yes, John Wedgewood
of the Wedgewood pottery family,

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Sir Joseph Banks, one of our great
scientists, and an explorer.

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What's the history of
this particular site at Wisley?

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This was actually the estate
of George Fergusson Wilson.

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He was a chemist by profession,

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but what he wanted to do
was to experiment

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about how to grow
some of these new plants

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which were being brought
into the country.

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And this site offered the
opportunity, as he described,

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to grow some of these new plants in
half a dozen different conditions.

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So, it's about experimenting

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and trying to understand
what these new plants needed.

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A successful Victorian businessman,

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Wilson sowed the seeds
of today's experimental gardens,

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which passed to the RHS
in 1903 upon his death.

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We've met in the rockery,

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which strikes me as a particularly
Victorian sort of garden.

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Yes, very much of that era.

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In fact, they used a light railway
to move these big Sussex sandstone

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boulders around the slopes here,

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and it's one of the fabulous
features of this garden.

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Do you think the British today
are more or less passionate

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than the Victorians were
about their gardens?

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There's still a lot of passion.
We're a great gardening country.

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I think we're beginning to realise
how important horticulture

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and green spaces are
to our general lives.

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It makes you feel better.

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Get a bit of soil under your nails.

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That's right,
that's what it's all about really.

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The gardens were initially
only open to RHS members,

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of which there are now 440,000,
but today Wisley is open to all.

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What brings you to Wisley?

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A walk.
It's a very pleasant morning.

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Is it a good place for a family day
out? Fantastic. We come here a lot.

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What do you enjoy about it?

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They love being
in the big green house.

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And they like building the dens.

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Why do you think the British
are so crazy about gardens?

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Very therapeutic. Gardening
is very therapeutic.

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I suppose we have
the weather for it -

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a lot of places are very dry,
so it's difficult to grow plants.

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Whereas we have... I suppose
it's easier to grow a variety.

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Growing the many thousands
of varieties of plants,

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and educating the public about them,
is a team of up to 200 gardeners.

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Hello, Stewart. Hello, Michael.

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I gather we're going to plant a tree.
That's right.

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I'm hoping to learn a thing or two
from gardener Stewart Hall.

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Stewart, the leaves are on the turn
and there's a chill in the air.

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Is this a good time
to be planting a tree?

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That's right, autumn is always
the best time to plant trees.

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If you plant in summer, you have to
think about watering continually,

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so yes, autumn
is always the best time.

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Right, if I do that, you'll be
able to pull the tree out.

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Comes out quite easily, and we can
have a look at the root system.

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It's got a healthy root system,
it's not too pot bound.

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But it can always do with quite
a nice rigorous breaking up.

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This will encourage
the roots to spread outwards.

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You're being quite rough with it.
I'd be frightened to do that.

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00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:23,520
When we're demonstrating
to the public,

239
00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:26,280
they get quite surprised
that you can be quite ruthless

240
00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:29,720
with this, but in the long term this
will do the plant no end of good.

241
00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:31,520
Bit of rough love. Absolutely.

242
00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:38,160
This tree is a type of acer
called October Glory,

243
00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:41,600
and should have a lifespan
of around 100 years.

244
00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:45,400
So, we'll give it a nice good soak.

245
00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:48,920
What I'll do is I'll give it
a nice thick cover of compost.

246
00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:52,000
Well, Stewart, I've enjoyed
getting my hands dirty.

247
00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:53,680
Thank you so much. My pleasure.

248
00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:55,640
Thank you for helping. Bye! Bye-bye.

249
00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:03,200
As the day ends, I feel I've left my
mark on these beautiful gardens.

250
00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:12,840
It's a new day and I'm rejoining
the tracks at West Byfleet to

251
00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:17,120
make my way along this busy London
commuter line to Weybridge.

252
00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:20,880
Throughout Queen Victoria's reign,

253
00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:24,840
trains were the only form of
high-speed transport.

254
00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:29,240
But all her successors have witnessed
the irresistible rise

255
00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:32,920
of private high-speed transport on
the roads.

256
00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:36,000
I hope to appreciate the moment of
transition

257
00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:38,640
when I leave this train at Weybridge.

258
00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:51,000
Within walking distance of the
station is Brooklands Museum.

259
00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:54,160
It charts the rise of motor racing
from the early

260
00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:57,640
prototypes of the Victorian era,
through to today.

261
00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:03,320
Brooklands is the birthplace
of British motorsport,

262
00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:07,120
as it was the first purpose-built
race track in the world

263
00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:11,800
and was crucial to the development
of the British motor industry.

264
00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:14,960
Alan Wynne is the director
of the motor museum.

265
00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:20,240
So, when does motor racing
really get going?

266
00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:24,360
On the Continent, in the latter
years of the 19th century.

267
00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:29,160
In this country, with the exception
of very few hillclimbs and sprints

268
00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:36,040
on private ground, nothing until
1907, when Brooklands track opened.

269
00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:39,600
Why the big difference between the
Continent and the UK?

270
00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:42,280
It was all down to legislation,
originally.

271
00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:46,640
Speed limits, in particular. Up
until 1896, you've got

272
00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:49,880
a speed limit of 4mph, a man with
the red flag walking in front of
you.

273
00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:53,800
Then we went to 12mph
and then to 20mph,

274
00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:55,560
but that's not the stuff of motor
racing.

275
00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:57,880
So what happens to change that?

276
00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:02,040
It's really down to Hugh Locke
King, an enthusiastic motorist.

277
00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:04,520
He owns all this land around here,

278
00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:09,680
goes off to Sicily to see the Coppa
Florio motor race on public roads,

279
00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:13,400
laments the lack of British motor
cars and drivers

280
00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:16,800
and is told that the reason is,
there's just nowhere where the

281
00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:20,040
British manufacturers can develop
fast motor cars.

282
00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:24,440
So he comes back, resolved to build
this track and we end up with

283
00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:28,480
a two-and-three-quarter mile
concrete racetrack, 100 feet wide,

284
00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:31,880
the first purpose-built motor racing
circuit in the world.

285
00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:33,720
Shall we go and have a look at it?

286
00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:37,400
Yeah, come aboard an earlier car
and we'll show you what it's all
about.

287
00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:47,040
Given how dominant trains were in
meeting Britain's transport

288
00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:49,240
needs when this track was built,

289
00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:54,160
only a visionary could have imagined
how far the motorcar would develop.

290
00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:58,880
Brooklands cost £150,000 to build.

291
00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:02,880
The equivalent to £16 million today.

292
00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:05,000
And it nearly bankrupted Locke King.

293
00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:12,640
Steep bankings at each end allowed
the cars to corner at great speeds.

294
00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:17,480
Because there was no precedent to
how you would run a motor race

295
00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:20,560
on a closed circuit, the Brooklands
Automobile Racing Club

296
00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:22,720
just borrowed the rules of horse
racing.

297
00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:26,920
So to this day in motor racing we
have the cars assembling in a
paddock

298
00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:30,120
under the control of the clerk of
the course, indiscretions of

299
00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:32,960
the drivers are dealt with by
stewards, all of the things

300
00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:37,040
that pertained in motor racing right
now will come straight from horse
racing.

301
00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:38,920
Fantastic.

302
00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:44,920
This iconic track hosted the Junior
Car Club's famous 200 miles races

303
00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:47,200
in the 1920s and '30s.

304
00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:51,600
And staged the first ever British
Grand Prix in 1926.

305
00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:57,320
Racing ceased at Brooklands on the
outbreak of the Second World War,

306
00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:00,720
when the site was used to build
Vickers military aircraft.

307
00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:06,080
Today, sections of the track remain

308
00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:11,320
and I'm throwing caution to the wind
to take this beauty out for a spin.

309
00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:14,600
What is this car?

310
00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:17,800
A 1929 Bentley 4.5 litre,

311
00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:22,080
as raced by legends of motor
racing like Tim Birkin.

312
00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:25,840
He raced this car in the double
12 race in 1929.

313
00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:27,200
Still going strong.

314
00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:29,000
Still going extremely strong.

315
00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:35,520
Right, so all three switches on the
right-hand side down. All down.

316
00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:37,720
Ignition to fully retarded.

317
00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:40,800
Press the starter button here.
ENGINE IGNITES

318
00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:54,560
Takes a bit of getting used to. The
throttle is in the middle,

319
00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:56,480
the brake's on the right...

320
00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:03,560
You imagine streaking along the
course, 100, 120mph,

321
00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:08,160
the crowds going crazy, racing green
streaking past them.

322
00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:11,760
This car can easily go over 100mph,

323
00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:14,280
but I'm not aiming for a track record
today.

324
00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:16,560
I'm enjoying this!

325
00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:21,160
Well, I'm glad you're getting to
learn a vintage motorcar

326
00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:23,840
in such a wonderful, evocative
place as this.

327
00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:25,560
Ah, could be better, could it?

328
00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:34,880
The world's first purpose-built
motor racing circuit.

329
00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:37,880
One of the finest cars ever built in
Britain.

330
00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:39,480
How lucky am I?

331
00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:45,960
But sadly, I'm no expert at driving
this vintage vehicle.

332
00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:50,400
I've cut the... The throttle's
got stuck.

333
00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:52,280
The throttle's got stuck.

334
00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:54,120
No, throttle's got...

335
00:20:54,120 --> 00:20:57,000
Yes, sorry, you knocked the hand
throttle. Oh, OK.

336
00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:01,800
Thank you very much, that was
a nasty moment.

337
00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:05,600
As I leave the racetrack,

338
00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:08,200
I make my way back to the train
track at Weybridge.

339
00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,960
My next stop will be
Walton-on-Thames.

340
00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:28,440
I want to look at a Victorian who
brought together in one activity

341
00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:30,720
many of the fashions of the day.

342
00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:35,480
An interest in nature, a wish to
escape from the urban grime,

343
00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:40,440
a concern for fitness and for
manliness and on a dull and damp day

344
00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:44,520
like this, what better time to think
about camping?

345
00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:53,000
Walton-on-Thames is situated on the
south-west mainline

346
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,120
and served by fast trains,

347
00:21:55,120 --> 00:21:59,480
some of which stop only once between
here and London Waterloo.

348
00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:03,600
It seems a most unlikely
place to find a campsite.

349
00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:07,440
Owned by The Camping and Caravanning
Club, it's the oldest

350
00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:12,600
remaining site in their network
and was established in 1913.

351
00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:16,560
I'm meeting Candy Evans who writes
for their magazine.

352
00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:20,400
So people have been pitching their
tents here for more than 100 years.

353
00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:22,760
How did camping as an activity
get going?

354
00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:25,720
It dates back to a gentleman by the
name of Thomas Hiram Holding,

355
00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:28,200
the gentleman that is sitting in
this tent here.

356
00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:32,360
He had spent his early years,
the 1840s, in America,

357
00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:34,120
part of the wagon trains.

358
00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:38,480
And as he got older, he then went
into making tents for his own use

359
00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:42,360
and for his friends and in 1901, he
combined that

360
00:22:42,360 --> 00:22:46,960
with his love of cycling and started
the Association of Cycle Campers.

361
00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:53,440
Born in 1844, Holding was 57 when he
formed the association,

362
00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:55,760
which started out with just 13
members.

363
00:22:57,360 --> 00:23:01,640
By 1906, the association had several
hundred members and would

364
00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:06,280
later go on to become The Camping and
Caravanning Club that we know today.

365
00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:11,520
And as far as cycling and camping is
concerned,

366
00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:14,960
did they have special bikes to
do that? They did, yes.

367
00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:18,200
And you can see on here that he has
special carriers for

368
00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:21,680
his Primus stove and another one for
his milk bottles.

369
00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:24,120
And we have actually got a Primus
here,

370
00:23:24,120 --> 00:23:26,320
which dates back to those sort
of days.

371
00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:29,720
I must say, I think I remember what
to do with this.

372
00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:35,520
Put down the feet for it to stand on,
and you put the supports in here...

373
00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:38,520
..which is going to...

374
00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:40,720
keep up your saucepan.

375
00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:42,120
That bit screws in there...

376
00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:46,440
..burner sits on top...

377
00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:50,000
And then I seem to remember that you
have to prime it like mad.

378
00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:54,080
What else have you got here?
This looks handy.

379
00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:55,880
Probably not when it's full,
Michael.

380
00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:58,320
That is actually a washing-up bowl.

381
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:01,000
But obviously... I see.

382
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,360
Once a year you would waterproof
that

383
00:24:03,360 --> 00:24:06,000
and you would carry your water in
this water carrier here.

384
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:09,040
Again, it would be waterproofed,
waxed once a year

385
00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:11,080
and that will do you for the season.

386
00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:14,040
At the turn-of-the-century,

387
00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:18,000
camping as a leisure pursuit was very
much in its infancy.

388
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:19,920
Equipment had to be improvised

389
00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:24,280
and the novice camper needed guidance
on how to survive the great outdoors.

390
00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:27,720
Holding wrote a seminal book,

391
00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:31,560
The Campers' Handbook, to impart
his many tips.

392
00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:34,960
It was extremely important to
possible new campers of the day,

393
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:37,200
because it told you absolutely
everything,

394
00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,560
everything from what to take with
you, how to transport it,

395
00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:42,560
the food you might like,

396
00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:46,280
through to how to deal with snorers
on the campsite.

397
00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:48,960
One of the most important things
is the clothing.

398
00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:52,720
I mean, here for example is
the lady with her skirt on.

399
00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:55,960
"The best kind of skirt for camping
is one that finishes three inches

400
00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:59,640
"off the ground and it should not be
less, nor need it be more."

401
00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:03,520
So what did he think people could
get out of camping?

402
00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:06,720
Well, for him, I think a lot of it
was about health.

403
00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:10,200
Holding maintained that if you had
a cold when you went camping,

404
00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:11,920
it would go immediately.

405
00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:15,440
I think he was very much of his
time, a Victorian man for whom

406
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:18,720
the outdoors was a very important
part of life and it was very much

407
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:21,760
a case of getting people out of the
cities and into the countryside.

408
00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:25,960
In those days, there were no
statutory holidays and in fact,

409
00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:28,320
most of the people who could
afford to do this would

410
00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:30,600
have been the upper middle class
and it was very

411
00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:34,080
much a case of those people getting
out and doing what felt right.

412
00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:37,400
So once he's got all this going,
how does it catch on?

413
00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:39,760
Remarkably rapidly, actually.

414
00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:43,360
By the time Robert Falcon Scott
goes on his ill-fated expedition

415
00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:47,000
to the Antarctic, he was the
president of the club.

416
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:51,360
And by the 21st birthday of the
club, Baden-Powell of the

417
00:25:51,360 --> 00:25:53,640
Scouting movement was very heavily
involved

418
00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:56,120
and had become the president.

419
00:25:56,120 --> 00:25:59,680
And there's a lovely picture there
of him, obviously very relaxed

420
00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:03,800
and in his element, being surrounded
by other fellow campers.

421
00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:07,960
Today, The Camping and Caravanning
Club has over half a million members

422
00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:11,800
and over 100 campsites the length
and breadth of Britain.

423
00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:13,320
Hello!

424
00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:14,960
Sorry to trouble you.

425
00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:18,960
And it's come a long way from the
sheets and poles of a century ago.

426
00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:22,560
Do you mind if I just sit down for a
moment? Not at all. You're welcome.

427
00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:25,280
You've got a very smart motorhome.
Have you been touring long?

428
00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:27,000
Over two years now.

429
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:29,720
Our three children, who we raised
in Sydney,

430
00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:34,560
have all put down their roots here
and when we retired, they said,

431
00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:38,400
"Mum and Dad, you've got to come
over and join us, the family's
moved."

432
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:42,960
So we're partly enjoying retirement
and partly looking for somewhere

433
00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:44,960
we might ultimately settle.

434
00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:47,560
Are you are getting near to making a
decision?

435
00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:48,480
Um...

436
00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:50,120
Well, no. Not really.

437
00:26:50,120 --> 00:26:52,720
We came over the with a list of
things we wanted to do

438
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,200
and after two years, the list is
even longer now,

439
00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:58,160
so we haven't ultimately decided
where we're going to settle.

440
00:26:58,160 --> 00:26:59,720
We enjoy this life.

441
00:27:01,120 --> 00:27:04,200
Today's campers might have
fancier equipment

442
00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:08,240
and more home comforts, but the
spirit of adventure that ran

443
00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:11,400
through Victorians like Thomas Hiram
Holding, endures.

444
00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:17,800
During the Victorian era, those who
could afford leisure visited

445
00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,040
the countryside using the train.

446
00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,120
By the end of the century,

447
00:27:22,120 --> 00:27:26,800
some were using bicycles to go
camping or motorcars to tour.

448
00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:31,440
The middle classes imported nature
into their urban gardens.

449
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:33,840
But they added to the
pressure on space,

450
00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:39,360
as reflected by the desperate search
for places to bury the dead.

451
00:27:39,360 --> 00:27:42,240
Cremation was the obvious answer,

452
00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:47,880
but it required the overthrow of two
millennia of Christian theology.

453
00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:56,640
Next time, I'm let loose on the
longest vine in the world.

454
00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,560
Have you ever allowed an incompetent
like me to do this?

455
00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:01,600
No! No.
HE LAUGHS

456
00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:06,480
I get fired up, like an early
Victorian gent.

457
00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:08,800
I've hit my man!

458
00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:13,840
And I find how the course of British
history was set in Esher.

459
00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:17,480
If Charlotte had not died, Victoria
would never have been conceived

460
00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:19,880
and we'd never have had
the Victorian era.