1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:09,280 For Victorian Britons, George Bradshaw was a household name. 2 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:11,480 At a time when railways were new, 3 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:15,680 Bradshaw's guidebook inspired them to take to the tracks. 4 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:21,120 I'm using a Bradshaw's guide to understand how trains transformed Britain. 5 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:25,360 Its landscape, its industry, society and leisure time. 6 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:30,320 As I crisscross the country 150 years later, 7 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,560 it helps me to discover the Britain of today. 8 00:00:53,840 --> 00:01:00,000 My rail journey from north-western to eastern England has brought me to Lincolnshire, 9 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:05,840 where I'll encounter yet another example of 19th-century industrial ingenuity, 10 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:11,320 and consider the contribution to English literature made by Britain's 11 00:01:11,320 --> 00:01:14,120 longest-serving Poet Laureate. 12 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:16,040 In Ely in Cambridgeshire, 13 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:20,560 I'll be reminded that some of the era's loftiest achievements were 14 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:23,240 inspired by Victorian godliness. 15 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:34,160 My route is taking me on a diagonal across England towards East Anglia. 16 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,400 From Blackpool, I took in the mighty northern conurbations, 17 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:39,800 developed in the industrial age. 18 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:43,760 Leaving Manchester, I cross the Peak District using the route of the 19 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,760 North Country Continental Rail Service. 20 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:48,600 I'll soon traverse the Fens, 21 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:52,200 finally to arrive in Essex, gateway to Continental Europe. 22 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:59,440 This part of my journey starts in Gainsborough and heads to Lincoln. 23 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:03,360 From there, I'll travel south-east to March in Cambridgeshire 24 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:06,120 before finishing in the Fenland city of Ely. 25 00:02:08,920 --> 00:02:14,160 'On this leg, I have my reaction times challenged by a mechanical marvel...' 26 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:16,760 This would drive you mad if you did this all day. 27 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:19,280 '..get carried away by the cadences of conflict...' 28 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:24,160 "Half a league, half a league, half a league onward into the valley of death rode the 600." 29 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:29,200 'And I see how today's railway is regenerating its past.' 30 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:33,200 We recycled around 46,000 tonnes of steel last year, 31 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:35,960 which is actually the equivalent of six Eiffel Towers. 32 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:49,640 My first stop of the day will be Gainsborough. 33 00:02:49,640 --> 00:02:55,360 This is how Bradshaw's presents it - "agreeably situated on the eastern bank of the River Trent. 34 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:02,760 "An elegant stone bridge of three elliptical archers forms a great ornament to the town." 35 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,400 That's Gainsborough in a nutshell. 36 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,280 But should you judge a town by its packaging? 37 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:11,400 In the case of Gainsborough, perhaps you should. 38 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:17,160 - TANNOY: - Next stop is Gainsborough Lea Road. 39 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:23,680 Situated on the River Trent, Gainsborough is Britain's most inland port. 40 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:30,640 Here a pioneering company invented a process which at the time constituted a breakthrough. 41 00:03:30,640 --> 00:03:34,960 And has since become an indispensable part of our daily lives. 42 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:37,360 Wrapping and packaging. 43 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:41,680 The company was founded by William Rose. 44 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:46,920 I'm meeting sales director Andrew Mann. 45 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:51,160 An impressive sight. 46 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:54,520 - Thank you. - Andrew, I can't imagine a world without packaging. 47 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:56,520 What was it like? 48 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,440 Well, it didn't exist, it was all completely manual. 49 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:05,480 It was literally take the sweets out the jar and place it into a bag, and that was it. 50 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,800 And who was William Rose, who made a difference to that situation? 51 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,280 He was working in a tobacco shop. 52 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:18,800 It was his job to measure out, weigh and pack the tobacco. 53 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:23,080 So that was his inspiration to develop an automated machine. 54 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:25,040 What, he became fed up with having to do it? 55 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:27,080 He became fed up with having to do it, absolutely. 56 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:30,280 Did he realise fairly soon that this could be applied to other products? 57 00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:35,320 He did. He very soon got into packaging things like chocolate bars, 58 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:38,160 soap tablets, anything similar. 59 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:39,320 Any consumer goods. 60 00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:44,040 William Rose's invention changed the retail world forever. 61 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:48,720 A chance visit by an American businessmen, Richard Harvey Wright, 62 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:54,040 to London tobacconist in 1892 gave Rose the chance to sell his machines 63 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:56,120 to the United States. 64 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,640 His business rapidly grew to employ more than 50. 65 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:04,720 Did Rose's stick to doing just packaging machinery? 66 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:06,560 No. In fact, in wartimes, 67 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:09,320 they were there much involved in the military and RAF, 68 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:12,000 making turrets for Lancaster bombers, for example. 69 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:14,320 That's quite a leap from packaging machinery. 70 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:18,600 It is. It is, but they were well ahead of the game in their engineering 71 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:20,040 skills in Gainsborough. 72 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:23,280 And they turned to William Rose for his expertise. 73 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,240 Today the company no longer wraps products, 74 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:31,240 but it continues to make and service the machines that do. 75 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:34,480 You've got a busy shop here. 76 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:36,480 We have, yeah. This is the machine shop, 77 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:38,440 where we produce all the components. 78 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:41,240 Those components get designed in the design office. 79 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:42,600 They produce the drawings. 80 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:45,960 And in here, we manufacture the components from the raw metal. 81 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:49,680 - And all of that then goes into your machines? - Some of the best packaging machines in the world. 82 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:56,720 Some even say that Rose's branded packaging may be how Cadbury's famous chocolates got their name. 83 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:01,280 A lovely-looking vintage machine. Looks a bit like a 1950s jukebox. 84 00:06:01,280 --> 00:06:05,800 It is a bit. It was built in the 1950s by Rose in Gainsborough, 85 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:08,240 and it was designed for wrapping sweets. 86 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:09,760 Don't tell me it's still in service. 87 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:12,560 Still in operation today in a factory in Leeds. 88 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,640 Well, it looks like a bit of a challenge, but might I give it a go? 89 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:17,840 Just press the start button. 90 00:06:17,840 --> 00:06:19,920 MECHANISM RATTLES 91 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:21,800 The machine is moving really fast. 92 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:25,440 Much faster than I can do, sliding them in. 93 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,160 The people who operated this machine didn't miss a one. 94 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,920 This would drive you mad if you did this all day. 95 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,640 - Definitely getting better. - Yeah, you're getting the hang of it. 96 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:46,160 Ah! Enough of that, end of scene, it's a wrap. 97 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:47,200 Brilliant! 98 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:56,160 From Gainsborough, I'm rejoining the Sheffield to Lincoln line, 99 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:59,360 and travelling 19 miles south-east to the county town. 100 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:13,040 I'm on my way to Lincoln, 101 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:18,160 which Bradshaw's tells me is a cathedral town and capital of Lincolnshire. 102 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:22,760 The Roman Lindum, from which the present name is derived. 103 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:25,160 Thinking about science and engineering, 104 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:29,320 it's clear to me that the Victorians applied their reason, 105 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:31,920 but they weren't immune to rhyme. 106 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:36,680 They lived their lives in prose, but they were moved by verse. 107 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:41,520 I'm on the trail of a melancholy poet who brought Queen Victoria 108 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:44,560 great comfort during her long years of widowhood. 109 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:52,120 - TANNOY: - We will shortly be arriving at Lincoln Station. 110 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,720 Lincoln's fortunes have ebbed and flowed. 111 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:05,760 During the 13th century, it was the third-largest city in England. 112 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:10,120 But by the beginning of the 18th, it was described as a one-street town. 113 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:15,480 "I cannot rest from travel. 114 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:18,320 "I would drink life to the lees." 115 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:22,280 I can empathise with those words from the pen of Lincolnshire's most 116 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:24,840 famous native, born in 1809. 117 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:36,040 When I was last here, I missed this fine statue of a Lincolnshire man. 118 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:39,000 Alfred Lord Tennyson, a great Victorian. 119 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:43,880 He is honoured now by standing in the shadow of Lincoln Cathedral in 120 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:48,920 perpetuity, although he entered the valley of death back in 1892. 121 00:08:50,680 --> 00:08:53,840 Today the city is home to the Tennyson Research Centre. 122 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:57,720 Grace Timmins is the collections officer. 123 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:02,240 Welcome to the Tennyson Research Centre. 124 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:04,000 And all this is to do with Tennyson? 125 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:05,800 - It is. - This is really quite a collection. 126 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:09,240 It is. It's the most significant collection of Tennyson-related papers in the world. 127 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:10,680 Where was he from? 128 00:09:10,680 --> 00:09:13,520 He was born in Somersby, which is a hamlet in the Wolds. 129 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:16,680 He was one of 11 children born in 13 years. 130 00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:18,640 Do we know a lot about Alfred's childhood? 131 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:22,520 Yes. He did have formal education between the ages of seven and 11. 132 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:25,120 But it didn't suit him at all, he didn't like it, 133 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:27,960 and his father took him out of school to home-educate him. 134 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:32,280 So these books over here are the books that really furnished his mind 135 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:34,680 and his imagination. 136 00:09:34,680 --> 00:09:39,760 Over here, there's a book that his father set him as homework. 137 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:42,200 It's Virgil's Aeneid, 138 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:46,200 and you can see all the work that has gone into translating it. 139 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:51,040 But what you can also see at the front is Tennyson's own doodles. 140 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:53,840 And this is a picture of his beloved homeland. 141 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:56,600 There's little bits of music coming out of it there. 142 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:00,360 And there's also, he's done here the address that many of us I think have 143 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:05,360 put into books, "Alfred Tennyson, Somersby in Lincolnshire, in England, 144 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:09,160 "in Europe, in the world, in the air, in space." 145 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:12,320 Isn't that extraordinary? Did he achieve early fame with his poems? 146 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:14,280 Some of the poems that he wrote at this period, 147 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:15,520 such as The Lady of Shalott, 148 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:18,920 remain some of his most popular and most well-known today. 149 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:24,040 In 1827, Tennyson had entered Trinity College, Cambridge, 150 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:26,880 and became friends with fellow student Arthur Hallam, 151 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:29,040 who became engaged to his sister. 152 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:34,120 In 1833, Hallam died of a stroke at the age of only 22. 153 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:39,360 His big breakthrough was with In Memoriam AHH, to give it its full title, 154 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:43,200 which is a collection of poems dealing with the grief that he felt 155 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:45,240 at the death of his best friend. 156 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:47,560 It took him about 14 years to write. 157 00:10:47,560 --> 00:10:48,880 And this is in his own hand. 158 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:51,680 This is a gem, and you can actually see where he's altered things. 159 00:10:51,680 --> 00:10:56,880 Absolutely. It's a marvellous object of Victorian culture. 160 00:10:56,880 --> 00:10:58,760 And with this comes fame and success. 161 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:03,480 Absolutely. It becomes the favourite poem of a whole range of people. 162 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:05,400 Prince Albert loves it. 163 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:09,160 We do actually have a letter from Prince Albert here, 164 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:13,920 where he is asking Tennyson to put his name in the front of a later volume. 165 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:17,280 "Will you forgive me if I intrude upon your leisure with a request 166 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:19,800 "which I have thought for some little time of making? 167 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:23,880 "That you'd be good enough to write your name in the accompanying volume of your poems." 168 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:25,400 A royal autograph hunter. 169 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:27,720 Absolutely, it's funny! 170 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:31,120 In 1850, Tennyson was appointed Poet Laureate, 171 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:34,400 and wrote In Memoriam, recalling Hallam, 172 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:39,040 but from which Queen Victoria would draw comfort after the death of Prince Albert. 173 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:43,800 After what the Times reported as a "hideous blunder" during the Crimean War, 174 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:47,360 Tennyson wrote the Charge of the Light Brigade. 175 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:49,560 What does he do while he's Poet Laureate? 176 00:11:49,560 --> 00:11:53,520 Well, the third thing that he does is write The Charge of the Light Brigade. 177 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:57,640 What we've got here is evidence of how difficult he found it 178 00:11:57,640 --> 00:11:59,480 to get to a final version. 179 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:05,320 He has crossed out the "half a league, half a league, half a league onward" verse, 180 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:07,320 and put it up to the top. 181 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:09,520 He moves it back down again here. 182 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:11,800 Isn't that remarkable? 183 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:13,720 And then he moves it back up there. 184 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:15,240 MICHAEL LAUGHS 185 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:16,880 This is absolutely fascinating. 186 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:18,880 This is very typical of Tennyson, isn't it? 187 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:20,440 This sense of rhythm. 188 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:25,600 "Half a league, half a league, half a league onward, into the valley of death rode the 600." 189 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:28,920 - I mean, obviously you can feel the horses galloping towards the guns. - Yes. 190 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:32,920 'Tennyson's life spanned every decade of the 19th century, 191 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:35,200 'and he bore witness to the birth of the railway.' 192 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:37,720 Did he write about trains? 193 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:41,960 He uses the train as a metaphor for progress in his poem Locksley Hall, 194 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:43,880 but he gets it slightly wrong. 195 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:44,960 Let me read it to you. 196 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:47,120 "Forward, forward, let us range, 197 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:52,160 "let the great world spin forever down the ringing grooves of change." 198 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:56,760 Now, he realised he'd got this wrong, that trains don't run in grooves. 199 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:02,640 And his son explained it as being the result of his seeing the train, 200 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:07,960 the very first train that went from Liverpool to Manchester in 1830. 201 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:11,400 And because of the increasing twilight, 202 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:15,480 and because of the crowds of people, and because of his own short-sightedness, 203 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:18,760 he couldn't see exactly how the train was working. 204 00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:21,080 And he thought it ran in grooves. 205 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:24,200 It strikes me that Tennyson has passed out of fashion a bit. 206 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:26,440 What was his popularity like during his lifetime? 207 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:28,640 He was incredibly popular in his lifetime. 208 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:31,680 He was as popular as Charles Dickens. 209 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:40,040 My route now takes me up a street voted Britain's Best Place in 2011. 210 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:42,200 It's aptly named Steep Hill. 211 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:49,320 I'm skirting the walls of the Norman castle on my way to a refreshing ale 212 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:50,440 in the Victoria pub. 213 00:13:53,560 --> 00:13:56,000 The pub hosts a group of enthusiasts, 214 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:58,800 who are keeping Tennyson's legacy alive in Lincoln. 215 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:06,440 Good evening. Do I have the pleasure of joining a group of Lincoln poets? 216 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:08,560 - Yes. - Yes. - And what you call yourself? 217 00:14:08,560 --> 00:14:10,600 Lincoln Creative Writers. 218 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:12,800 Very good. And you meet here in the pub. 219 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:14,640 And what do you do apart from drink pints? 220 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:17,720 We have a workshop, we do a bit of writing together. 221 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:21,080 Have you been inspired by Lincolnshire in the way I think Tennyson was? 222 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:24,320 Yeah, definitely. I think, obviously living here and writing contemporary 223 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:27,400 stuff, you can't help but be influenced by where you live, so... 224 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:29,480 Would you mind giving me a sample, please? 225 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:30,920 It's called Peregrines Nest. 226 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:34,000 "I live in a city where peregrines nest on angels' wings, 227 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:38,640 "where the exhaled breath of a thousand travellers up its hill hangs in the air with its history, 228 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:40,960 "seeping into every cobble, 229 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:44,360 "flowing into glasses in bars held up by our veteran souls, 230 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:48,320 "where men tell tales of older times, of forgotten times, 231 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:50,320 "where our city continues to grow, 232 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:53,440 "fields of rye and rape make way for houses, 233 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:56,280 "where new stories are born and raised and schooled, 234 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:59,840 "because this is a city that for a thousand years has never slept, 235 00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:01,760 "although at times is sleepy, 236 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:05,200 "a city that bends a king's knee, a city that changed the world. 237 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:06,720 "This is my city. 238 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:08,280 "This is our city. 239 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:11,440 "This is a city where peregrines nest on angels' wings." 240 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:14,640 I found that very beautiful. 241 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:18,200 I particularly sympathise with the exhaled breath of the people struggling 242 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:21,040 their way up the hill, which is something that I did this afternoon! 243 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:41,920 I'm rejoining the root of the North Country Continental Rail service and 244 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:45,240 travelling 60 miles south-east into Cambridgeshire. 245 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:02,040 My first stop on this new day will be March. 246 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:05,880 Bradshaw's tells me it's a village in the parish of Dodington. 247 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:10,960 "Numerous Roman coins and other antiquities have been discovered." 248 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:15,160 But my currency is different - industrial archaeology. 249 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:27,200 Set amongst Fenland, March boasts the 11th-century St Wendreda's Church, 250 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:31,560 about which John Betjeman enthused that it was worth cycling 40 miles 251 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:33,000 in a headwind to see. 252 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:36,240 In the 1920s and '30s, 253 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:39,960 the London and North Eastern Railway built the Whitemoor freight 254 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:41,560 marshalling yards. 255 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:45,640 They became the largest in Britain, and second largest in Europe. 256 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,280 I'm meeting Joanna Clarke from Network Rail. 257 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:51,680 Well, Joanna, an impressive sight. 258 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:53,160 Tell me about it in its heyday. 259 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:55,760 Back in the 1920s, 260 00:16:55,760 --> 00:17:00,560 London and North Eastern Railways created a huge marshalling yard. 261 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:03,080 This is where all the trains would have been marshalled, 262 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:07,520 a strategic point for the whole of the supply chain out to Anglia and 263 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:12,200 the rest of the country. It would have had around 3,000 wagons here. 264 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:17,800 Around 25% of the inhabitants from March and the local area would have 265 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:19,280 been employed here. 266 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:20,520 So it was huge. 267 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:22,440 Nowadays with motorways and lorries and so on, 268 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:25,720 it's quite hard to understand how strategically important the railways were. 269 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:29,160 But I suppose every sort of good and freight went from here. 270 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:30,480 It did indeed, yes. 271 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:32,680 We would have seen coal, steel, 272 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:38,320 all types of materials being taken by rail from March. 273 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:42,040 During the war, of course, strategically it was very important, 274 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:48,240 and they actually built a decoy site to the south of this site so that 275 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:52,520 the German bombers were diverted, so that this place stayed intact 276 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:55,000 because of its strategic importance. 277 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:59,240 'As increasingly freight switched to the road network in the 1960s, 278 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:01,160 'the yards fell into decline. 279 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:03,160 'And closed in the 1990s.' 280 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:06,320 Part of the old site did get sold off, 281 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:11,320 so this is only a small part of what would have been here back in the '20s in the heyday. 282 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:15,280 'In 2004, a renaissance began at Whitemoor, 283 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:20,080 'as Network Rail reopened part of the old yards as a distribution centre 284 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:23,680 'from which to transport maintenance materials across the network.' 285 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:27,840 Today, in terms of everything that the railway needs, 286 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:29,640 this is the core of its supply chain. 287 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,720 Whitemoor here is the biggest of three of our depots. 288 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:36,560 From here, we will ship everything that we need for the railway, and 289 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:41,360 that could be sleepers, concrete sleepers, timber sleepers, rail. 290 00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:45,400 Any material that we need to upgrade the railway. 291 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:50,240 'Seven years later, the once-abandoned Whitemoor yards expanded again.' 292 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:52,640 The other part of the site, 293 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:54,960 which is the really interesting and exciting part, 294 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:57,080 is the major recycling that we do here. 295 00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:02,080 Since 2011, this has been the National Track Materials Recycling Centre. 296 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:06,120 So all of the materials that come back from work sites come back to 297 00:19:06,120 --> 00:19:09,240 Whitemoor to be sorted, graded and recycled. 298 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:12,240 - Well, that's what we need to look at. - Absolutely. 299 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:15,320 'Each year, over 500 miles of used rail, 300 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:20,360 '800 switches and crossings and 50,000 tonnes of contaminated ballast 301 00:19:20,360 --> 00:19:21,800 'are processed at Whitemoor.' 302 00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:24,800 A remarkable view from here. 303 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:26,560 It is, it's fantastic. 304 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:29,160 What actually is this tower about? 305 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,520 So, this is a ballast washer. 306 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:36,320 'Ballast is the stone and gravel bed on which the track sits. 307 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:40,880 'It helps to drain water and hinder weeds, but becomes soiled.' 308 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:43,120 We bring in our hazardous ballast, 309 00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:46,360 the ballast that is covered in contaminants, oil, 310 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:47,560 all of the nasty stuff. 311 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:49,120 It comes up on the conveyor belt. 312 00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:51,600 This acts as a washing machine for the ballast. 313 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:56,000 It comes out that side into different-sized aggregate, 314 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:59,400 which we can then sell into the construction industry. 315 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:01,080 You've got a tremendous site here. 316 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:02,520 What else are you able to recycle? 317 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:04,960 We recycle all of our sleepers. 318 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:07,360 So timber sleepers, we will grade them. 319 00:20:07,360 --> 00:20:10,200 If we can use them back in the rail network, we will. 320 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,240 - What about the rails? - Where possible, if we can re-use the rail, 321 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:16,880 we'll re-use it again in the rail network. 322 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:22,120 Otherwise, it gets chopped up and it gets sent to the furnace as scrap. 323 00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:26,280 We recycled around 46,000 tonnes of steel last year, 324 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:29,480 which is actually the equivalent of six Eiffel Towers. 325 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:31,640 May we see your ballast washing machine in action? 326 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:33,360 Yes, follow me! 327 00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:36,960 'The controls to turn the washer on are below the ballast tower.' 328 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:40,600 Here we are. And if you want to just press the start button on the screen. 329 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:42,680 Press the green start button. 330 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:52,200 Vast quantities of contaminated ballast are cleaned every year with this machine. 331 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:55,200 It would otherwise be sent to landfill, 332 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:57,960 so thousands of lorry journeys are saved. 333 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:03,640 And here we are at the end of the process now, with lovely. clean ballast. 334 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:06,600 - I must say, you scrub it up really nicely. - Thank you! 335 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:15,120 The final leg of my journey takes me 13 miles south-east, 336 00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:16,640 into the heart of the Fens. 337 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:24,240 I'm on my way to Ely. 338 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:27,880 My guidebook tells me that, "the principal object of interest is its 339 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:31,760 "venerable cathedral, founded in 1070. 340 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:37,160 "510ft-long, and the Norman nave 270ft-high. 341 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:42,520 "Bishop Allcock's perpendicular Chapel, Northwold's tomb, the Lady Chapel, 342 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:46,560 "Lantern Tower and Scott's screen should be noticed. " 343 00:21:55,920 --> 00:22:00,040 Ely is built on a 23-square-mile clay island, 344 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:02,520 the highest land in the Fens. 345 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:05,240 The Fens were drained in the 17th century, 346 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:10,880 but the city had already been named after the area's most popular catch - eels. 347 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:14,720 Ely grew up around the magnificent 11th-century cathedral. 348 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:18,960 The enormous structure known as the ship of the Fens towers above the 349 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:23,560 city, its marshy surrounds and the river, the Great Ouse. 350 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:26,160 Will Schenk is a guide at the cathedral. 351 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:29,960 - Good to see you, how do you do? - Welcome to Ely. 352 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:31,560 A fantastic prospect. 353 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:35,600 Bradshaw's tells me that the foundation of the cathedral is 1070 AD. 354 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:36,960 When would you date it to? 355 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:38,160 I date it much further back. 356 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:40,040 It does go back a lot further. 357 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:43,240 The original foundation is from the seventh century, to 673, 358 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:45,360 but he's probably referring to the Norman structure, 359 00:22:45,360 --> 00:22:47,440 which is maybe 20 years after the Conquest. 360 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,200 So about 1085, 1087. 361 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:51,480 What happened to it after that? 362 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:53,800 Well, during the Vikings, it would have been destroyed. 363 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:57,040 It would have been refounded in the tenth century. 364 00:22:57,040 --> 00:23:01,000 And when you have the Normans coming in 1066, about 20 years later, 365 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:04,000 they pulled down whatever Anglo-Saxon church would have existed and they 366 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:05,640 rebuilt this great Norman church. 367 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:10,040 What we look at now, is that substantially a Norman cathedral? 368 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:13,760 The nave, the two transepts, the entire west end, this extraordinary tower. 369 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:15,720 So yes, the bulk of the cathedral is still Norman, 370 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:17,200 which takes people by surprise. 371 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:20,600 Bradshaw's lists a whole number of things that I need to see in the cathedral. 372 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:23,560 - Yes. - I was intrigued by Scott's screen. 373 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:25,960 Can that be a reference to George Gilbert Scott? 374 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:29,440 Almost definitely. George Gilbert Scott was the architect in charge of 375 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:31,840 essentially the Victorian restoration. 376 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:37,440 'In 1322, the central cathedral tower had collapsed and been rebuilt by medieval craftsmen. 377 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:41,520 'By Victorian times, further work was needed. 378 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:45,200 'George Gilbert Scott was chosen to oversee the process.' 379 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:48,080 He was first employed by the Dean, George Peacock, 380 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:49,920 in 1847 to move the choir, 381 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:53,320 and subsequently went on to restore the entire octagon tower. 382 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,800 So he constructed a new choir space for the chapter. 383 00:23:56,800 --> 00:24:00,240 And the screen is part of that, very integral to that space. 384 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:04,000 Scott was born in 1811, 385 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:07,040 and became one of Britain's most prolific architects, 386 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:09,920 designing or restoring over 800 buildings. 387 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:13,440 Fascinated by medieval structures, 388 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:16,720 he was known for his work in the Gothic Revival style, 389 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:19,200 and designed the Albert Memorial in London. 390 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:22,840 What astonishes me, Will, 391 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:28,080 is that such a perfect and massive building was constructed in the 11th and 12th centuries. 392 00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:31,800 Yes, and you have to imagine it also looked quite different. 393 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:34,160 It was painted, plastered and painted, even gilded. 394 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:35,960 So as you would have come in from the west, 395 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:38,480 - it would have been as if you are seeing an image of paradise. - Wow. 396 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:44,600 Now, the floor that we've been walking over, 397 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:46,440 that's George Gilbert Scott as well. 398 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:50,000 And if you look up, you have this marvellous ceiling from the 1850s. 399 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:53,920 And then above us, a most unusual and remarkable thing. 400 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:55,440 That's the octagon lantern. 401 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:58,800 That is what is unique, extraordinary, the masterpiece, really, of Ely. 402 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:02,120 It is dating to the mid-14th century and is a wooden construction built 403 00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:03,800 out over this space. 404 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:06,280 And that also has some Victorian influence? 405 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:08,400 Oh, it has a great deal of Victorian paintwork. 406 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:12,360 So Scott, one of the responsibilities he had was to restore the octagon. 407 00:25:12,360 --> 00:25:14,920 Originally, the actual lantern would have been much plainer. 408 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:18,320 So now you're looking at something that is really a work of the high Victorian style. 409 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:20,040 - And the screen? - Oh, yes. 410 00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:21,480 The screen is just here behind you. 411 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:23,120 He's working in the Gothic style, 412 00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:25,960 but he's not imitating any known actual screen. 413 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:27,360 It is a work of genius, 414 00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:30,280 because you see through it all the way to the reredos at the very back, 415 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:32,080 which was the focal point that he created. 416 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:35,560 Was George Gilbert Scott, who designed so many churches, actually religious? 417 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:36,760 Very much so. 418 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:38,640 Church of England, his father was a rector. 419 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:40,080 So were many of his brothers. 420 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,160 They'd studied for divine orders at Cambridge. 421 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:45,080 In fact, he was the black sheep of the family. He went into architecture. 422 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:48,320 So George Gilbert Scott is mostly associated with religious architecture, 423 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:51,080 but in point of fact, he also designed St Pancras Station, 424 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:53,320 which might interest you, the Midland Hotel. 425 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:56,520 And there is something here that I think I'd like to show you that relates 426 00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:57,960 to your interest in railways. 427 00:25:57,960 --> 00:25:59,320 - I'm in suspense. - Thank you. 428 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:09,440 Now, this is a memorial to two individuals who died in a tragic railway accident in 1845. 429 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:13,280 They were first the driver, Pickering, and there was the stoker Edger. 430 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:16,840 What's particularly tragic is that their names are misrepresented. 431 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:19,480 It was not William Pickering, it was Thomas Pickering. 432 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:22,960 And it was not Richard Edger, it was Richard Hedger. 433 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:26,480 They died in a tragic accident on the Thetford to Norwich line. 434 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:29,240 The engine exploded, it came off the line. 435 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:31,040 The driver and the stoker were 436 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:33,560 crushed to death underneath the engine. 437 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:34,600 - Ghastly. - Yes. 438 00:26:36,360 --> 00:26:38,480 They had this poem, The Spiritual Railway. 439 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:41,280 "The line to heaven by Christ was made. 440 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:43,560 "With heavenly truths, the rails are laid. 441 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:48,040 "From Earth to heaven, the line extends to life eternal, 442 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:49,320 "where it ends." 443 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:50,560 Gosh, a bit dated, isn't it? 444 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:53,720 Well, not really. At the time, it would have been very contemporary. 445 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:56,680 The railways would just have arrived in Ely in 1845. 446 00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:58,840 So something like this would have seemed very modern. 447 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:00,680 Nothing more modern than the railways. 448 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:14,960 A statue of Alfred Lord Tennyson stands in the shadow of Lincoln Cathedral. 449 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:17,160 And here at Ely Cathedral, 450 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:19,160 the work and influence of 451 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:22,440 Sir George Gilbert Scott are writ large. 452 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:24,480 Each was the son of a rector, 453 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:28,960 at a time when God loomed large in the affairs of men. 454 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:34,200 The railway age was also an era of assertive Christianity, 455 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:38,800 when poets permitted themselves to see life as a train journey, 456 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:42,160 away from sin and towards heaven. 457 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:43,200 All aboard! 458 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:53,480 'Next time, I uncover an industrial pioneer in Suffolk...' 459 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:55,800 I've never been in a building like this. 460 00:27:55,800 --> 00:27:58,280 It is absolutely extraordinary. 461 00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:01,960 '..discover that train companies didn't always win their battles...' 462 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:06,440 The plans of the Great Eastern were so huge that the town council objected to the 463 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:09,280 idea of having half their town demolished. 464 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:12,240 '..and witness a railway renaissance.' 465 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:16,640 The Middy closed before I was born, and yet the Middy rides again!