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00:00:04,560 --> 00:00:09,600
For Edwardian Britons, a Bradshaw's
was an indispensable guide

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00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:11,600
to a railway network at its peak.

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I'm using an early 20th-century
edition to navigate

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a vibrant and optimistic
Britain at the height of its power

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00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:23,000
and influence in the world.

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But a nation wrestling with

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political, social and industrial
unrest at home.

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Trains have brought me from the
northern coast of Norfolk

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to the Home Counties
that border London.

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Here, idealists planned modern towns
far from the urban sprawl.

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Meanwhile, in the metropolis,
engineers tunnelled

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while, in the streets above,

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the proletariat sped along on
their bicycles.

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The King pursued his fast
life at the Ritz Hotel,

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and there I will hurry after him.

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My journey began in the
coastal resort of Cromer,

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pointed south via Norwich to the
university city of Cambridge.

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And now I'm heading for the capital.

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I'll wend my way along the
South Coast

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and cross the Solent to explore
Edward VII's childhood

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on the Isle of Wight.

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Returning to the mainland,

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I'll experience a
turn-of-the-century seaside resort

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and end on Brownsea Island
near Poole.

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This leg of my trip starts around 30
miles outside London,

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in Letchworth Garden City.

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I'll be exploring Edwardian London
on the Underground,

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beginning at Green Park,

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stopping at a ground-breaking
transport project

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and finishing at the home of British
track cycling near Brixton.

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Along the way, I'll dig
deep into the future of the Tube...

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Every 45 minutes, we can get
another 1.5 metres completed.

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..tip the scales at an
historic wine merchant...

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I've obviously misjudged you,
Michael, because I can see that,

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actually, you're a lot lighter than
I thought you were, and I apologise.

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..and follow the old political
advice to get on my bike,

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clad in Lycra.

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That was great.

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Whoa!

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I have here the programme for the
official opening

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of the Cheap Cottages Exhibition at
the Garden City, Letchworth,

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opened by the Duke of
Devonshire in July 1905,

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and sooty city-dwellers could
travel from King's Cross,

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have their third-class rail fare,
their lunch and their conveyance,

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their tea and their admission
to the exhibition

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for seven shillings and sixpence.

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All aboard for rural -
or at least suburban - utopia.

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Arriving in Letchworth, I find
an Arts and Crafts-inspired station,

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fully in keeping with the ideals
of the world's first garden city.

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These tranquil streets were part
of a radical vision for the future.

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I'm meeting town historian,
Josh Tidy.

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Hello, Josh. I'm Michael.
Pleasure to meet you.

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I'm very happy to be in Letchworth.

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Josh, how does
the idea of Letchworth start?

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So, Letchworth started with one
man, Ebenezer Howard,

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and he was a social reformer who
sought to solve the problems of the

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late Victorian era, chiefly that
people were living in

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overcrowded towns and
squalid conditions,

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paying extortionate rents.

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How did he sell his idea?

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So, he puts all his ideas
together in a book,

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which was published in 1898,
and in it he sets out what

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a garden city should be, so it's a
combination of the best parts

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of town and country, so fresh
air and the beauty of nature,

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jobs and social opportunities,
but without any smoke and smog.

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Construction began in Letchworth
just five years after

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the book's publication.

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The new town was to be
self-sufficient,

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a community within which inhabitants
would both live and work.

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Two architects were responsible
for the look of this utopia -

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Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker.

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This museum was once
the architect's drawing office.

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Josh, I'm very struck
by the furnishings.

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This would be Arts and Crafts,
would it?

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That's right, so this is
Barry Parker's private office

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and it's done up, really, to give
a prospective client an idea

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of the sort of house they might
expect if they commissioned him.

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And this, then, is the town plan.

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That's right, this is one
of the development plans that were

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published sporadically
as the town grew.

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This is from 1912.

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And what it shows is the current
level of development at that point,

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set against the original masterplan,

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so you can see what's been
developed so far is here in orange

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and then in white, not built, but
still very much part of the plan.

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At the heart of the town was
the railway station

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and, next to that, the town's hub.

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Zones for housing and for industry
radiated from the centre

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and green space was planned
throughout.

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Does any of this have lessons for us
a century later? I think so.

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Lots of things that were radical
and revolutionary here

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have been adopted as
standard practice since.

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So, this Ebenezer Howard
perhaps should be

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better remembered than he is?
Absolutely.

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00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:39,240
Howard's garden city ideas have
spread around the world

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and are still
cherished in Letchworth,

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especially his belief in the
benefits of shared outdoor space,

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which is apparently
wholeheartedly embraced.

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Hello, gardeners. Hello!

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Good morning, Michael! Do not
despair, help is at hand.

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Please come and join us. What are we
planting? Red cabbage. Red cabbage?

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We have quite a mixture of crops
which are rotated around the beds.

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We have quite a big
group of volunteers that

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come on a rota basis
and do watering and weeding.

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So, I expect Letchworth to be quite
a community-minded place.

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Is it, in fact?

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Very much so, yes.

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For me, it encompasses the best of
the town and country.

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00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:22,480
Denise, does your family go back
a long way in Letchworth?

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Indeed, in fact, my
great-grandfather came down

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00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:27,560
from Hull and he was a great
friend of Ebenezer Howard

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00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:29,200
and Ebenezer Howard
would go and stay,

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so they used to have great
discussions about the garden city.

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Now, Jani, you're of a
different generation.

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30 minutes away by train are the
bright lights

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of the West End of London.

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Are you not tempted to go
and live there?

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Hmm... It may seem nice, but it's a
lot different to Letchworth,

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a lot busier, more pollution,
and I prefer it here, actually.

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You all seem very keen and loyal
citizens, would that be right?

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Absolutely.

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We do actually have the feeling as
though we all own Letchworth,

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that was really Ebenezer Howard's
idea, was that the people

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should feel that it was their city.
And you do feel that?

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And I do feel that, definitely, yes.

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My dear Letchworthians, my job is
done here. Thank you so much.

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Bye-bye now. Thank you. Bye-bye.
Safe journey.

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Welcome aboard this service to
London King's Cross.

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In Irving Berlin's song,

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"putting on the ritz" meant
getting on your gladrags,

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getting all togged up.

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A gossip column from 1907
tells me that

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"a married women's ball
is the latest to social sensation.

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"Lady Colebrooke and Mrs George
Keppel, the twin hostesses,

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"chose the Ritz Hotel as
their scene of operations.

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"It would be interesting to know
whether bachelors were excluded."

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Or, indeed, a married monarch.

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The next station is
London King's Cross.

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I'm heading underground.

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Originally known as Dover Street,
Green Park station

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opened in 1906, in the same year as
one of London's best-known hotels.

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Very good to see you.
Thank you very much.

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00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:33,600
Hello. A very warm welcome back
to The Ritz London, Mr Portillo.

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That's so kind of you. Michael,
how long have you been here?

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Almost 44 years. Started here as a
pageboy on the 30th of July 1973.

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What celebrities that you're
allowed to mention can you

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tell me about? I've met you many,
many times, Mr Portillo.

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You know, in the Ritz, we are
very discreet. We have to be.

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With the lips of the concierge
firmly sealed...

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00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:00,000
David. Hello, Michael,
how great to see you.

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00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:01,560
..I'm hoping to find out more

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00:12:01,560 --> 00:12:05,040
from architectural historian
David Watkin.

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00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:08,160
David, here we are, meeting
in the splendour of the Ritz.

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Why is it that we feel it to be
so grand and so welcoming?

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Well, it is grand, partly because of
the height of it, which is

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quite imposing and unusual.

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00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:22,520
And then it's full of the most
beautiful details

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of French 17th and
18th-century grandeur.

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00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:28,800
The whole thing is
so exciting architecturally,

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00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:33,160
to have a promenade like this,
so long and so high,

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00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:37,000
and going from one end to the
other of an enormous building.

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00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:44,640
Swiss hotelier Cesar Ritz is
credited with creating

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00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:47,080
the concept of the
modern luxury hotel.

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He pioneered ensuite bathrooms
throughout and the kind

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of perfectionism that we now
associate with top establishments.

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00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:02,720
So what is it that makes this room
so French, David?

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00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:05,360
We have these great
mirrored walls,

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which come from the
Galerie des Glaces at Versailles

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00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:12,280
and the sculpture behind us, again,
could be found

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00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:16,040
anywhere in the grounds of
Versailles cos of Louis XIV.

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Had London had hotels
like this before?

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It had nothing on this scale
or quality.

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They were beginning to come
in in the 1890s,

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but it was pretty rare to
have anything like this.

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When the hotel opened in 1906,

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it became an instant
favourite of the King.

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He came here to pursue his passions
for food and wine,

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00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:41,840
and to enjoy the company of women,

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00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:44,720
in particular of his mistress,
Alice Keppel.

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Do you think that part of
Edward VII's relationship with

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00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:52,800
Mrs Keppel was played out
here in public, lunch, dinner?

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00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:55,960
I think they did, yes,
which was pretty unusual.

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00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:59,200
That's one of the reasons why
hotels hadn't, I think,

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00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:02,880
been very successful
before in England, because it was

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00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:07,240
thought very bad to see women,
certainly alone, in a restaurant.

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00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:08,400
Was The Ritz, then,

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00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:12,720
a bit of a pioneer in allowing
women to come on their own?

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00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:17,000
Yes, I think because it was
a pioneering hotel. Splendid.

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00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:31,680
Sadly, I won't be staying at
The Ritz tonight, but will take

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00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:35,680
advantage of being in my home city
and sleep in my own bed.

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00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:41,040
But before I leave
the St James's area,

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00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:44,040
I'm curious to visit another
historic establishment.

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00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:49,680
Welcome to Berry Bros & Rudd.
Ronnie.

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00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:52,800
with the sloping floor
and the wood panelling,

195
00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:54,480
it's a wonderful old institution.

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00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:55,960
How far back does it go?

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00:14:55,960 --> 00:15:00,360
It started in 1698 by somebody
called the Widow Bourne,

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00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:04,400
and it became a retail
store for coffee and spices.

199
00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:07,040
It's still a retail store,
but instead of coffee,

200
00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:09,680
we now sell wines.
And spirits, of course.

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00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:11,920
And, Ronnie, I notice you've got
a contraption here

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00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:14,360
for weighing people.
Is that because you're afraid that

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00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:16,280
they'll go through your
old floorboards?

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00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:17,800
LAUGHTER

205
00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:20,280
This originated as the
coffee scales.

206
00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:24,040
Up until about 1760, that was,
because in about 1760,

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00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:26,120
people became much more
health-conscious and they

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00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:29,880
wanted to be weighed, so we started
weighing our customers as part of

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00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:33,440
the service that we would offer when
they purchased a bottle of wine.

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00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:36,560
So, if you like, you can
actually experience this,

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00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:42,040
and be very careful because it does
move and swing as any balance would.

212
00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:44,920
Now, I've obviously misjudged you,
Michael, because I can see

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00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:47,440
that, actually, you're a lot lighter
than I thought you were

214
00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:48,880
and I apologise.

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00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:52,120
So I'm going to remove one of these
weights in the hopes that

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00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:57,280
that balances you out,
which I think it does.

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00:15:57,280 --> 00:15:59,360
Yes!

218
00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:03,440
In its 300-year history,
this company has served many a VIP.

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00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:08,720
It gained its first
Royal Warrant in 1903

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00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,880
when it created a unique
tipple for King Edward.

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00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:17,320
Ronnie, I think the clue must be
in the name - The King's Ginger.

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00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:20,120
This product was
invented for King Edward VII.

223
00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:22,960
He had a passion for cars.

224
00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:24,840
He was the first European monarch

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00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:27,240
ever to drive the
horseless carriage.

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00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:28,680
Usually the early motor cars,

227
00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:31,400
they had no canopy on the top and
the wind-chill factor was

228
00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:34,360
affecting him to such a degree
that his physician came to us

229
00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:38,200
and said, "We need something to
revivify His Royal Highness.

230
00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:40,040
"Have you got something?"

231
00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:42,680
So this is the result -
The King's Ginger liqueur.

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00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:45,120
It's a very edifying drink.

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00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:49,200
Soft on the palate, uplifting
at the same time and very warming.

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00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:50,600
So, your health.

235
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Ooh!

236
00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:57,560
I don't know about revivified,

237
00:16:57,560 --> 00:16:59,760
I think I shall sleep
pretty well after that!

238
00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:00,800
LAUGHTER

239
00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:03,200
I'm sure you will, Michael.
I hope you will.

240
00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:19,040
This morning,
I'm returning to the Underground.

241
00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:27,800
My next stop is Vauxhall station,
south of the River Thames.

242
00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:30,920
To my surprise, my Bradshaw's 1907

243
00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:33,560
lists the City and
South London Railway

244
00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:36,520
running from Angel through Bank
to Clapham.

245
00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:39,760
Londoners will recognise
that as the Northern Line,

246
00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:41,400
so, since Edwardian times,

247
00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:45,600
there have been electrified railways
running deep underground in

248
00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:47,120
round tunnels, and since then

249
00:17:47,120 --> 00:17:49,480
they've been threaded
throughout the capital

250
00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:52,720
and I don't think the process
of construction has finished yet.

251
00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:03,160
1.37 billion journeys are made
on London's Underground every year.

252
00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:08,200
Today, it has 250 miles of track
and 270 stations.

253
00:18:10,360 --> 00:18:14,280
And as the rapid development
of London continues above ground,

254
00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:16,520
the network below is responding.

255
00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:24,080
The Northern Line is London's oldest
deep-level tube line, which today

256
00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:30,240
is being extended and I'm meeting
Sam Mullins of Transport For London.

257
00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:32,600
Sam. What a sight.

258
00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:36,160
We're standing in front of the hive
of activity that's creating

259
00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:40,080
a new station box for the
Northern Line extension to

260
00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:41,560
Battersea Power Station.

261
00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:45,600
With 20,000 homes in this area,
the new American Embassy

262
00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:47,720
and everything else that
goes with it,

263
00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:51,080
a new quarter for London enabled
and shaped by the railway.

264
00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:54,320
In the 1860s, London built cut and
cover railways

265
00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:57,960
quite close to the surface -
the Metropolitan Line for example.

266
00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:01,640
When do we first get the deep-bored
ones in the little round tunnels?

267
00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:04,480
Well, the building of the cut and
cover railways

268
00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:06,920
in the 1860s was
incredibly disruptive,

269
00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:09,960
but by later in the 19th century,
there are new technologies

270
00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:13,200
available, which enable
tube railways to happen.

271
00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:15,960
You've got lifts,
you've got electric traction

272
00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:19,320
and safe tunnelling technology,
which enabled you to take

273
00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:21,120
the railway deep
beneath the streets.

274
00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:24,320
A massive expansion of the railway
capacity of London

275
00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:26,600
in quite a short period of time.

276
00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:28,880
What impact does it
have on Edwardian Britain?

277
00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:31,360
I think it's remarkable
that Edwardian London

278
00:19:31,360 --> 00:19:33,760
kind of acquires all
the characteristics of what

279
00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:36,800
we would think of as a modern metro,
a network of tube lines,

280
00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:39,040
all common ownership, common
ticketing,

281
00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:41,240
there's a map that helps you get
around it,

282
00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:44,280
predictable timetables,
before the First World War,

283
00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:46,200
which always strikes me
as a generation

284
00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:47,960
earlier than you would expect.

285
00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:50,440
And that, really, is the making of
our metropolis,

286
00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:53,480
and the metropolis is so influential
in the making of Britain.

287
00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,240
Well, it shapes London.
We go on, of course,

288
00:19:56,240 --> 00:20:00,000
in the '20s and the '30s to see
the extension of the Northern Line,

289
00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:01,760
extension of the Piccadilly Line,

290
00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:05,000
to create huge suburbs well
outside the old bounds of London.

291
00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:11,560
The ambition to connect new
areas for Londoners is the same

292
00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:15,800
today as it was a century ago
and modern technology offers

293
00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:18,200
engineers some powerful
tools for the job.

294
00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:29,400
I'm meeting Jonathan Cooper,

295
00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:33,000
project manager for this
multi-million pound undertaking.

296
00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:36,800
Jonathan, with all the noise just
shortly ahead of us here,

297
00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:39,360
it looks like we've reached
the business end of your tunnel.

298
00:20:39,360 --> 00:20:42,000
What's going on ahead of us?
So, what you can see here is the

299
00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:44,840
back end of the tunnel-boring
machine, so the total length

300
00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:48,320
is 100 metres in all, so 100 metres
from what you see here is

301
00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:51,360
where you have the cutterhead
pushing into the London clay.

302
00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:56,520
Now, as your machine goes along,
it's placing these

303
00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:59,480
pieces of concrete against the
tunnel wall, is that right?

304
00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:02,920
Yeah, that's correct, so we
excavate a 6m diameter hole

305
00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:05,640
and then we build a slightly
smaller tunnel within that

306
00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:08,080
and the ground is immediately
supported by a shield

307
00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:11,560
and that prevents the ground above
settling, so we've obviously got a

308
00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:13,240
lot of buildings above us

309
00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:15,120
and we want to make sure they don't
get damaged.

310
00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:17,520
How fast will you progress
when you're running at your fastest?

311
00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:20,800
It takes about 20 to 25 minutes
to actually excavate the ground

312
00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:23,640
and then 10 to 15 minutes to
actually build the ring,

313
00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:26,480
and then we can start up again,
so every 45 minutes,

314
00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:29,440
we can get another
1.5 metres completed.

315
00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:31,760
Tremendous rate of progress.

316
00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:33,080
You seem very enthusiastic

317
00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:35,200
and rather young to be
a project manager.

318
00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:37,400
What made you
interested in tunnelling?

319
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:40,600
My parents took me to the
Channel Tunnel Rail Exhibition

320
00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:43,560
when I was a small boy
and it was there which I first saw

321
00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,600
a tunnel-boring machine and that
really got me inspired to

322
00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:50,200
go into engineering and I'm really
fortunate today to be involved

323
00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:53,280
in a sort of once-in-a-generation
project to benefit Londoners.

324
00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:54,280
Hear, hear!

325
00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:05,960
For the final leg of
today's journey,

326
00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:09,080
I'm taking the Victoria Line
further south to Brixton.

327
00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:17,960
I'm hoping to get the wind
in my hair on a hugely popular mode

328
00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:22,440
of transport that took hold
at the turn of the 20th century.

329
00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:29,960
The Standard newspaper, dated
April the 22nd 1905,

330
00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:33,120
tells me that the Southern Counties
Cycling Union

331
00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:36,160
held its annual race
meeting yesterday,

332
00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:40,080
which was Good Friday, in the
presence of 7,000 spectators

333
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,400
at the London County Grounds,
Herne Hill.

334
00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:46,920
7,000 is a very large crowd,

335
00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:50,920
particularly given that the bike
was quite a recent invention.

336
00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:55,680
I had no idea that the sport was
that popular century ago.

337
00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:58,120
But then again,
these things are cyclical.

338
00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,880
The Herne Hill Velodrome is
considered the honorary home

339
00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,480
of track cycling in the
United Kingdom.

340
00:23:13,120 --> 00:23:16,560
It's one of the oldest
and arguably the best hidden,

341
00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:19,400
reached from a quiet,
leafy street in South London.

342
00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:26,920
I'm meeting expert cyclist
Peter Cattermole.

343
00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:31,720
Peter, I had no idea about
Herne Hill Velodrome and here it is,

344
00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:33,600
hidden amongst suburban housing.

345
00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:35,080
How long has it been here?

346
00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:39,240
It's been here since 1891,
so 125 years or so,

347
00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:42,800
but it was here before the housing
so it was basically farmland.

348
00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:45,600
Did it have this impressive - and I
must say, rather intimidating -

349
00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:46,960
banking from the beginning?

350
00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:49,720
The banking was a bit shallower,
maybe half of what it is now,

351
00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:51,680
but then the surface was
made of wood back then.

352
00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:54,080
I was reading a press
cutting from 1905.

353
00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:56,360
It talks about 7,000 spectators.

354
00:23:56,360 --> 00:23:58,440
Where would you have put them?

355
00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:01,880
It's 500 metres round,
so if you imagine the crowd

356
00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:04,520
two, three, four deep,
that would be about right.

357
00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:08,360
I think the highest crowd they've
had in here is 15,000 in the 1950s.

358
00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:12,200
The cutting from 1905 talks
about a meeting on Good Friday.

359
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:14,520
Was that a custom? Yes,
and it still runs today.

360
00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:17,320
Why do you think there was such
passion in the Edwardian era,

361
00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:19,320
both amongst cyclists
and spectators?

362
00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:22,520
I think it was human endeavour,
so someone under their own power,

363
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:24,480
under human power,
being able to go fast.

364
00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:28,880
As the 19th turned
into the 20th century,

365
00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:33,880
a boom in cycling saw velodromes
opening across the city.

366
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:36,520
By the First World War,
most of them had shut

367
00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:38,440
and today there are just two.

368
00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:42,480
The 2012 Olympic Velodrome
and this one at Herne Hill.

369
00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:48,200
How can people who train here
on this old-fashioned track

370
00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:50,480
hope to compete with others
who are training

371
00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:52,640
on more modern,
high-performance tracks?

372
00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,480
One of the methods is, in fact,
we've almost gone back to the past.

373
00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:56,920
Where they used to be
paced by tandems,

374
00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:59,760
we now use a small motorbike called
a derny to paste them.

375
00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:01,200
And what do the cyclists do?

376
00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:04,640
They sit behind in the slipstream
and so it enables them

377
00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:07,440
to ride faster than they would
if they were pushing the wind

378
00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:10,080
themselves and they can do
40, 50, 60mph

379
00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:11,320
behind one of these bikes.

380
00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:17,840
Cycling superstars
such as Bradley Wiggins, Chris Hoy

381
00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:21,720
and Laura Trott have
all cycled here.

382
00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:25,120
Now to add my name to that
illustrious list.

383
00:25:25,120 --> 00:25:28,800
I'm getting some tips from coach
Joseph Alberti.

384
00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:31,920
Hello, Joseph. Welcome to Herne
Hill. It's a great privilege.

385
00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:33,120
This is your bike. Uh-huh.

386
00:25:33,120 --> 00:25:35,320
The best way to climb
on the bike would be to hold it

387
00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:38,560
with your left and have your right
hand over here so you can climb

388
00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:41,960
easily over the saddle, then
I'll help you strap in. Thank you.

389
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:44,640
You have probably noticed
there are no brakes. Ah!

390
00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:47,600
Fixed-gear bicycle,
so no brakes, no gears.

391
00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:50,120
All we're doing is controlling
our bike with our legs,

392
00:25:50,120 --> 00:25:51,960
that's why we need to be
strapped in.

393
00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:55,840
You need to use your legs to go fast
and you use your legs to go slow,

394
00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:57,840
so to start, you will
need the right hand

395
00:25:57,840 --> 00:25:59,600
to give yourself a little momentum.

396
00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:02,040
You need your gaze to go
and look forward

397
00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:04,000
so the bike will
ride in a straight line.

398
00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:06,560
When you want to stop, using your
legs to slow down,

399
00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:08,200
you've got a whole fence here

400
00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:11,280
and when you're walking, basically
just grab it with your right hand.

401
00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:13,720
That is your first stage
of the Olympic dream.

402
00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:16,880
OK, no gears, no brakes,
no experience. What could go wrong?

403
00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:18,240
Well, we'll soon find out!

404
00:26:56,120 --> 00:26:59,000
Very good. Ahh...

405
00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:02,600
Well, I enjoyed that. Very good.
Congratulations. Well done.

406
00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:04,680
That was great.

407
00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:05,640
Whoa!

408
00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:08,480
LAUGHTER

409
00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:19,520
The social reformer Ebenezer Howard
conceived garden cities outside the

410
00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:25,040
metropolis where people could escape
from overcrowding and foul air.

411
00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:28,240
But improvements during the
Edwardian era gave us

412
00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:31,480
some of the distinctive
features of London today -

413
00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:34,760
a network of underground
electric railways

414
00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:38,960
and hotels so stylish that
they were fit for a king.

415
00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:41,240
Pollution is still a problem today,

416
00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:45,480
but I'm more likely to do my bit by
riding the new Northern Line

417
00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:47,320
than by jumping on my bike.

418
00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:55,360
Next time, I spruce up some
rolling stock...

419
00:27:55,360 --> 00:27:59,120
We're going to clean this Class 700,
are we? We are indeed. Very good.

420
00:27:59,120 --> 00:28:01,760
What are your tips?
Try and stay dry.

421
00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:05,200
..encounter a progressive group
whose private lives would have

422
00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:06,560
scandalised Edwardians...

423
00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:09,280
They were living in still very
restrictive times and they couldn't

424
00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:12,440
be publicly open about their
sexuality or their relationships.

425
00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:15,360
..and go up-tiddly-up
in my flying machine.

426
00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:18,040
We are away!