1
00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:09,400
For Edwardian Britons, a Bradshaw's
was an indispensable guide

2
00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:12,040
to a railway network at its peak.

3
00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:18,200
I'm using an early 20th century
edition to navigate a vibrant

4
00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:20,000
and optimistic Britain...

5
00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:23,040
..at the height of its power and
influence in the world.

6
00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:28,120
But a nation wrestling
with political,

7
00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:31,240
social and industrial
unrest at home.

8
00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:00,840
My rail journey that began in
North Norfolk continues south

9
00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:03,040
and has now cleared London.

10
00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:07,360
On this leg, I'll discover that
Hiawatha came to Croydon,

11
00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:10,560
that Bloomsbury descended
on Charleston,

12
00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:13,680
while a Hummingbird
landed in Shoreham,

13
00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:16,560
and how Cambridge will be
joined to Brighton.

14
00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:23,800
I'm following a route
that has taken me

15
00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:28,160
from a Norfolk holiday resort to
Cambridge's venerable university

16
00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:32,000
and onward to the delights of
Edwardian London.

17
00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,000
Having continued south
and reached the coast,

18
00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:40,360
I'll wend my way westwards via
the Isle of Wight

19
00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:42,840
towards my final station, Poole,
for Brownsea Island.

20
00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:47,720
The third leg of my journey begins

21
00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:50,600
with a musical interlude in Croydon,

22
00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:54,040
then moves to a hi-tech rail hub at
Three Bridges.

23
00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:57,080
I'll pursue the
avant-garde in Lewes,

24
00:01:57,080 --> 00:01:59,800
and take flight at Shoreham-by-Sea.

25
00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:06,120
Along the way, I'll dress up to
spruce up some rolling stock...

26
00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:09,280
We're going to clean this Class 700,
are we? We are indeed. Very good.

27
00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:11,920
What are your tips?
Try and stay dry.

28
00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:14,520
..encounter a progressive group
whose private lives

29
00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:16,600
would have scandalised Edwardians...

30
00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,360
They were living in still very
restrictive times, and they couldn't

31
00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:22,880
be publicly open about their
sexuality or their relationships.

32
00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:25,440
..and go up-diddly-up in my
flying machine.

33
00:02:26,920 --> 00:02:28,880
We are away.

34
00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,880
If I were to ask you,
"Who was Samuel Coleridge-Taylor?",

35
00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:50,280
you'd probably say a poet, but that
I'd got my tongue twisted

36
00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:53,280
and produced the names in the
wrong order.

37
00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:56,160
But no, here is a cutting from
the Globe newspaper

38
00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:58,400
of September, 1912, telling me that,

39
00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:01,480
"Large crowds assembled in
Croydon yesterday

40
00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:05,120
"to witness the funeral of
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor,

41
00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:07,120
"the well-known composer."

42
00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:29,000
To find out about this now
little-known figure,

43
00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,360
I've come to the church where that
service was held.

44
00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:35,600
I'm meeting conductor
Jonathan Butcher...

45
00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,680
Welcome to St Michael And All Angels
West Croydon. Thank you very much.

46
00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:43,920
..singer Paul Sheehan and
pianist Michael Papadopoulos.

47
00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:47,320
# Onaway

48
00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:52,600
# Awake beloved

49
00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:57,680
# Blood of my beating heart

50
00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:01,640
# Behold me

51
00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:04,240
# Oh awake

52
00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:10,160
# Awake beloved

53
00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:14,160
# Onaway

54
00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:19,240
# Awake

55
00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:24,920
# Beloved. #

56
00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:33,000
Thank you, Paul. I think you
probably awoke your beloved there.

57
00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:34,480
Yes! No-one can sleep through that.

58
00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:35,920
THEY LAUGH

59
00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:37,360
And Michael, thank you so much.

60
00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:40,280
One can imagine that this was being
performed in the drawing rooms

61
00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:42,880
of Edwardian Britain.
Oh, absolutely, yes.

62
00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:46,280
This particular song, very,
very popular in its time.

63
00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:48,880
It's a song of love
and a song of longing.

64
00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:51,720
The singer, his beloved, Onaway,
is asleep,

65
00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:55,240
and he sings to wake her because he
is bereft without her,

66
00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:58,640
and to pre-empt Barry Manilow,
he can't smile without her.

67
00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:00,320
THEY LAUGH

68
00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,600
Coleridge-Taylor may have been
virtually forgotten today,

69
00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:07,000
but at the turn of the 20th century
he was a celebrity

70
00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,480
in Britain and America.

71
00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:13,520
Always elegantly dressed,
Coleridge-Taylor wasn't afraid

72
00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:16,880
to stand out from the crowd
in Edwardian Croydon,

73
00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,160
despite suffering racist abuse.

74
00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,920
The Globe newspaper tells me
that in this magnificent church,

75
00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:28,520
there was a crowded funeral for
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.

76
00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:30,760
Who was this man?
Where had he come from?

77
00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:35,040
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
was a mixed-race composer

78
00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:37,440
whose father came from Sierra Leone

79
00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:40,200
and whose mother was English. Mm-hm.

80
00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:42,480
And he was born out of wedlock,

81
00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:45,400
and he went to a school
just down the road here.

82
00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:48,960
He showed musical promise from a
very early age,

83
00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:51,880
and he got a place at the
Royal College of Music.

84
00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:55,760
His peers at the college included
the future famous composers

85
00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:58,400
Ralph Vaughan Williams
and Gustav Holst.

86
00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:04,720
And Coleridge-Taylor himself was
soon celebrated.

87
00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:06,520
What was he famous for in Britain?

88
00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:09,240
Well, he was really famous in
Britain for writing

89
00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:12,240
his secular oratorio
Hiawatha's Wedding Feast.

90
00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:15,760
It really only contains about four
or five melodies.

91
00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:19,000
Four or five absolutely
cracking melodies.

92
00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:24,960
MUSIC: Hiawatha's Wedding Feast
by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

93
00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,400
It was based on the poem
The Song of Hiawatha

94
00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:37,640
by the American
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,

95
00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,400
who was inspired by
Native American stories.

96
00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:45,720
This was at a time when
choral societies,

97
00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,440
which were numerous in England,

98
00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:51,040
this was a really popular pastime,

99
00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:56,120
their mainstay works were Messiah,
Elijah, that sort of piece.

100
00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,360
And so something that
had a narrative

101
00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:03,000
and was a secular work, like
Hiawatha's Wedding Feast,

102
00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:04,440
they just lapped up,

103
00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,240
and suddenly they were being
performed all over the country.

104
00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:09,800
How well-known was he in his day,
do you think?

105
00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:14,360
He was absolutely a celebrity.
He was instantly recognisable.

106
00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,360
Was there interest in his music
in the United States?

107
00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:18,840
Very much so.

108
00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:21,480
When he went to America,
it was, I imagine,

109
00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:24,880
something like Michael Jackson
arriving off a boat.

110
00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:27,880
There were crowds to greet him.

111
00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:30,840
Coleridge-Taylor's remarkable
life was cut short

112
00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:33,520
when he died at just 37 years
of age.

113
00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:35,480
Surely this forgotten, black,

114
00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:39,000
British composer deserves to be
rescued from obscurity.

115
00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:49,640
In the early 20th century,

116
00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:55,240
Britain's rail network reached
its zenith of some 20,000 miles.

117
00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:58,120
Since then, it's shrunk to half
that size,

118
00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:01,880
but in some parts of the country,
a railway renaissance is afoot.

119
00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:13,320
For some years now,

120
00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:16,720
trains like this have run a service
called Thameslink,

121
00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:21,000
which connects towns to the north
of London, like Bedford and Luton,

122
00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,080
with Gatwick Airport and Brighton
to the south, running through

123
00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:28,120
the City of London, making
use of an old Victorian tunnel.

124
00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,800
Now there are plans to vastly
increase the service,

125
00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:35,040
bringing in cities like
Cambridge and Peterborough.

126
00:08:35,040 --> 00:08:37,240
I'm on my way to Three Bridges,

127
00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:40,080
which scores a number of mentions
in my Bradshaw's Guide,

128
00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:43,680
to see how the enormous new fleet
will be kept ready for service.

129
00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:00,400
Once a small hamlet,
Three Bridges grew

130
00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:03,280
with the arrival of the railway in
the 1840s,

131
00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,560
and has now merged into the town
of Crawley.

132
00:09:06,560 --> 00:09:09,440
To get the inside track on its new
train depot,

133
00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:12,440
I've come to meet engineering
director Gerry McFadden.

134
00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:17,080
Gerry, hello. I'm Michael.
Hello, Michael.

135
00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,160
So, you've got behind you here this
vast range

136
00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:23,480
of brand-new train facilities, and
this is part of a new Thameslink.

137
00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:25,160
What's the big picture?

138
00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:28,800
The demand on this railway has
doubled over ten years.

139
00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:31,120
So, we're creating a tunnel
under London.

140
00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:33,960
We've designed trains that can
operate through that tunnel

141
00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:35,760
astonishingly quickly,

142
00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:39,200
and the trains hold enormous
numbers of people.

143
00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:43,000
Each train holds the equivalent
of 21 London buses.

144
00:09:44,680 --> 00:09:48,040
The rebooted Thameslink service
will expand capacity

145
00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:51,240
for north-south travel across
the capital,

146
00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:54,200
just as Crossrail will for
east-west routes.

147
00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:59,160
You've got to pass trains through
that tunnel in central London

148
00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:02,280
at rates that are like a metro.
Yes, we do.

149
00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:05,800
And that's where the train design
has effectively delivered

150
00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:08,440
both a metro train,
an underground train,

151
00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,120
as it goes through London,
automatically operating,

152
00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:13,520
automatically stopping,
automatically opening

153
00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:16,600
all of its doors, as well as a
suburban train

154
00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:20,760
linking up Cambridge to
Brighton, linking up Luton to Kent.

155
00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:23,600
So, providing fantastic new
journey opportunities

156
00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:26,480
and cutting down some journey
times extraordinarily.

157
00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:34,840
The roll-out of the fleet of new
Class 700 trains has started.

158
00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:39,720
Three Bridges is one of two new
depots which will keep

159
00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:42,760
the hi-tech rolling stock
working efficiently.

160
00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:49,160
Ian McLeod is responsible for
train maintenance.

161
00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:53,360
Hello, Ian. Hello.

162
00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:56,160
Ian, when you've got your full
complement of trains,

163
00:10:56,160 --> 00:11:00,240
how many are you required to
supply to the system each day?

164
00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:03,480
So, we are required to
supply 109 out of 115 trains,

165
00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:05,720
leaving six spare for maintenance
each day.

166
00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:07,760
Tell me about the passenger
features of the train.

167
00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:10,040
Well, let's go and have a
look. Good.

168
00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:13,640
These trains are really doing
a number of different jobs,
aren't they? Of course, yeah.

169
00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:16,920
Because they're like Tube trains
in the centre of town, but they're
also sort of

170
00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:18,920
quite long-distance travel
for some people.

171
00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:21,880
I notice that it's two-by-two
seating, so you've got a much

172
00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:25,240
wider passageway between the seats
than on many trains. Absolutely.

173
00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:27,280
And of course, we're getting used to
this nowadays,

174
00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:30,360
but a long tube with no
interruptions at all.

175
00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:34,240
Yes. From 2018 onwards, 24 trains an
hour through the centre of London.

176
00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:36,760
We need to get a huge number
of people on and off the train,

177
00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:38,640
and being able to pass through in
the gangway

178
00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:42,520
and between seats is very
important for the train operator.

179
00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:46,000
What passengers won't see are the
workings tucked beneath

180
00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:48,120
these state-of-the-art trains,

181
00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:52,200
which are accessed via an
inspection pit 12 carriages long.

182
00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:58,560
Trains today are much more reliable
than they used to be.

183
00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:00,960
That's true, yeah. If some equipment
fails on the train,

184
00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:04,040
other systems are there to take over
to allow the train to continue

185
00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:06,680
in operation until the end of the
day, where it can be repaired.

186
00:12:06,680 --> 00:12:09,120
So, what work needs to be done under
the train?

187
00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:11,080
For example, what are these guys
up to?

188
00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:14,960
They're doing a general inspection,
looking for any damage that might
have occurred, stones,

189
00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:16,640
or things that might have hit
the train

190
00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:18,560
from the underside during
operation.

191
00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:22,120
Working on the trains is
specialised stuff.

192
00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:25,560
But there is a job that can be
tackled even by somebody

193
00:12:25,560 --> 00:12:28,640
with my woeful lack of
technical skill.

194
00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:32,680
You look the same species as me.
What's your name? My name's Vince.

195
00:12:32,680 --> 00:12:35,720
And we're going to clean this
Class 700, are we? We are indeed.

196
00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:37,280
Very good. What are your tips?

197
00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:41,000
Try and stay dry.

198
00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:50,840
Attack it with vigour.

199
00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:54,800
You've done this before.

200
00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:58,840
Argh! Take that, you Class 700!

201
00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:06,400
Vince, don't tell me

202
00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:09,600
you do the whole of the side of the
train this way as well. We do, yeah.

203
00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:12,440
What? We do, yeah.
That must take you forever.

204
00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:14,920
Yeah, well... Not really.

205
00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:17,520
About six hours.

206
00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:18,960
Six hours?!

207
00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:20,800
Six hours both sides.

208
00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:22,760
Well, don't they have, like, a...

209
00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:26,080
Like, a carwash? We do, yeah.

210
00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:28,920
Unfortunately, some of the
brake dust doesn't come off

211
00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:32,200
with the carriage wash, so we have
to hand brush like this.

212
00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:34,040
So, it still needs the human
touch? Yeah.

213
00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:37,200
The human touch is needed
every 56 days, in general.

214
00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:39,080
Sometimes more often.

215
00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:47,640
Vince. Yes?

216
00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:51,640
As clean as a train whistle.
Very nice.

217
00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:53,880
Good job, Michael. Good job, Vince.

218
00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:01,800
I feel I've certainly
earned my bed for the night.

219
00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:06,320
This manor, now a hotel, once
belonged to the family

220
00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:10,240
of the Duke of Norfolk, then to
Queen Elizabeth I,

221
00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:13,680
and to the poet
Percy Bysshe Shelley.

222
00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:15,680
I wonder whether they'll have me.

223
00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:38,720
A new day, and I've crossed
the breathtaking

224
00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:42,520
Ouse Valley Viaduct to
continue my journey south.

225
00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:46,080
I'm following in the footsteps
of early 20th century Londoners

226
00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:49,920
who sought to swap the city
smoke for the Sussex countryside.

227
00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:54,240
At the time of my Bradshaw's Guide,

228
00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:57,640
the Bloomsbury group of artists
and intellectuals

229
00:14:57,640 --> 00:14:59,320
was becoming known.

230
00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,800
Their lives were high drama,
and part of it was played out

231
00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:06,760
at Charleston in East Sussex,
to which I'm now headed.

232
00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:10,120
I hope to discover how the
band that included

233
00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:14,680
Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell,
Duncan Grant and Lytton Strachey

234
00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:18,440
scandalised,
entertained, influenced,

235
00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:21,440
and above all fascinated the
outside world.

236
00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:41,960
I've left the train at Lewes,

237
00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:45,720
tucked among the undulating
chalk hills of the South Downs.

238
00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:50,800
It's known for its ruined
Norman castle

239
00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:52,920
and its Georgian brewery.

240
00:15:55,640 --> 00:15:59,200
But I'm making a beeline to nearby
Charleston House

241
00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:01,520
to meet curator Darren Clarke.

242
00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:05,760
Darren, hello. Hello, Michael.
Welcome to Charleston.

243
00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:07,960
Well, thank you. And it is the most
beautiful house.

244
00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:11,440
I'm absolutely stunned by it.
Who was it who lived here?

245
00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:14,560
So, this was the home of the artists
Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant.

246
00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:16,480
And what had brought them
to Charleston?

247
00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:19,080
They came in 1916, so the height
of the First World War.

248
00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:21,760
Conscription had been introduced
at the beginning of the year,

249
00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:25,040
and Duncan Grant and his lover
David Garnett were both
conscientious objectors.

250
00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:27,640
So, they needed to find work on
a farm or go to prison.

251
00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:30,080
So, one day, in September,
Vanessa Bell came down

252
00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:32,200
and found them a local farmer that
would employ them,

253
00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:34,000
and a house that they could all
live in,

254
00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:35,840
and they moved here in October
of that year.

255
00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:37,720
And they had been, before the
First World War,

256
00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:40,480
part of the Bloomsbury Group
in London. What was that?

257
00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:42,720
So, this was a group of young people
all coming of age

258
00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:44,360
just as the 19th century was ending,

259
00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:46,200
just as the Victorian age
was ending.

260
00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:48,440
And they were looking forward to
new ways of living

261
00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:51,040
and new ways of thinking.
What was new about it?

262
00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:52,680
They were looking at new ways...

263
00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:55,080
Pretty much new ways of perception,
new ways of seeing things,

264
00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:57,160
new ways of representing things.

265
00:16:57,160 --> 00:16:59,800
Virginia Woolf was looking at that
stream-of-consciousness,

266
00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:02,440
of really getting inside
the character's head.

267
00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:04,280
Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant,
the artists,

268
00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:07,520
were looking at how you look at
things and how you represent things.

269
00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:11,160
And Clive Bell talking about how you
appreciate art, and how appreciation

270
00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:14,200
of art crosses different cultures
and different classes.

271
00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:18,880
As well as breaking new
ground artistically,

272
00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:23,320
this avant-garde set rejected
Edwardian morals.

273
00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:26,920
Some of them were homosexual,
bisexual, they were promiscuous.

274
00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:30,000
Was this also a new way of living?
I think it was.

275
00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:31,560
It was all about honesty.

276
00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:34,320
Honesty within your relationships,
honestly with your feelings.

277
00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:37,160
So, even though they were living
in still very restrictive times

278
00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:39,440
and they couldn't be publicly
open about their sexuality

279
00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:41,800
or their relationships,
within their friendships,

280
00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:43,360
they believed in honesty.

281
00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:45,440
Were there jealousies?
Lots of jealousies.

282
00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:46,520
When they arrived here,

283
00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:50,360
you had Duncan Grant being
in a three-way relationship with

284
00:17:50,360 --> 00:17:52,200
David Garnett and Vanessa Bell,

285
00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:55,000
almost torn in two by the pressures
of that relationship.

286
00:17:56,760 --> 00:18:00,200
Over the years, Duncan Grant and
Vanessa Bell

287
00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:04,560
painted every nook and cranny of the
interior of Charleston House.

288
00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:08,880
Though now a museum open to the
public, it's filled with

289
00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:12,480
personal possessions, as though the
group of friends still lived there.

290
00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,600
Darren, I'm mesmerised by the
whole house.

291
00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:20,280
It is so homely,
so beautifully preserved.

292
00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:22,880
I noticed every surface seems
to have been

293
00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:25,960
decorated by the inhabitants.
They were very industrious.

294
00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:29,360
So, it's 60 years of creativity
here, from 1916,

295
00:18:29,360 --> 00:18:32,720
when they moved in, until
Duncan Grant died in 1978.

296
00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:35,440
And it covers the walls,
the fireplaces, the tables.

297
00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:38,080
They would design their own
textiles, ceramics.

298
00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:40,720
And it's very much of that idea
that art

299
00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:42,200
doesn't stop at the picture frame,

300
00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:44,600
that it spreads across your whole
life, your whole room,

301
00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:47,240
what you eat your dinner off,
what you have on your curtains,

302
00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:51,160
what you have on your bed is all to
be beautiful and lively and lovely.

303
00:18:54,120 --> 00:18:57,200
And the creativity continued in
the garden,

304
00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:00,400
where the original design has been
brought back to life,

305
00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:02,280
tended by Fiona Dennis.

306
00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:07,600
Fiona, how lovely to see you.
Lovely to see you.

307
00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:11,600
And what a beautiful garden.
Thank you. This is really lovely.

308
00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:15,640
Is this Vanessa Bell's and
Duncan Grant's garden, in essence?

309
00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:18,000
Yes. In essence, it absolutely is.

310
00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:21,360
The actual layout was designed
by Roger Fry, the art historian,

311
00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:25,200
but it was Vanessa and Duncan who
really selected the plants.

312
00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:26,880
The garden is abundant.

313
00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:29,880
I think this is a style that many
people like to emulate today.

314
00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:32,760
Yes. Was it rather revolutionary
in their time? I think it was.

315
00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:35,080
Remember, they were following on
from the Victorians,

316
00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:37,240
so they were very anti-formal.

317
00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:39,080
So, the front of the garden
was originally

318
00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:41,080
quite Victorian and evergreen.

319
00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:43,480
They wanted things to be
really colourful,

320
00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:46,160
and they were looking for plants to
paint, because they didn't tend

321
00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:48,800
to go out of the garden much,
they tended to paint in the garden.

322
00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:52,320
They were painters, not gardeners,
and I think that's really important.

323
00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:10,520
My journey continues
towards the west,

324
00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:13,560
stopping briefly at Brighton to
change trains.

325
00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:19,280
I have time to admire the cast-iron
and glass station roof

326
00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:21,680
that follows the curve of
the platform.

327
00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,080
My destination is seven
miles down the track.

328
00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:45,160
I have here the original
programme for an air show

329
00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:50,000
at the Brighton Shoreham
Aerodrome in December, 1913.

330
00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:54,160
I'm promised upside-down flying
and looping-the-loop

331
00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:56,240
by Mr BC Hucks,

332
00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:59,880
who is prepared to fly in almost
any weather.

333
00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:01,920
When you think that
the Wright brothers

334
00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:05,080
had flown for the first time
just about ten years before,

335
00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:09,520
and here is Mr Hucks performing
aerobatics, you have to say,

336
00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:12,920
"Those magnificent men in
their flying machines."

337
00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:16,280
I will go to Shoreham to the
scene of that heroism.

338
00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:32,720
Today, Shoreham-by-Sea is part
of the continuous ribbon

339
00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:35,840
of urban development that stretches
along the coast

340
00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:37,640
from Brighton to Worthing.

341
00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:43,440
There's been a port here since the
days of the Norman conquest,

342
00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:45,960
and in the 1840s,
the railway arrived.

343
00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:50,680
But just after the turn of the
20th century,

344
00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:53,280
a new form of transport was
making its mark.

345
00:21:55,360 --> 00:21:57,960
I'm exploring Shoreham's
historic airfield

346
00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:00,400
with airport historian Tim Hogben.

347
00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:05,920
Hello, Tim. Oh, Michael.
Welcome to Shoreham Airport.

348
00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:10,280
Tim, what then is Shoreham's
place in British aviation history?

349
00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:11,640
Oh, goodness.

350
00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:15,560
We are one of the original
flying grounds.

351
00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:18,800
We are the oldest licensed airport
in the country.

352
00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:21,320
And as far as I know, we are
the only one of the original

353
00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:25,400
client groups that is still used
day-to-day for aviation.

354
00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:29,880
How did it all start?
It started in 1909.

355
00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:32,800
There was a local solicitor,
George Wingfield,

356
00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:36,360
and he basically saw
an opening in the market.

357
00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:38,520
And he found this piece of land

358
00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:44,280
which was low-lying, rough
pasture land, liable to flood.

359
00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:46,880
But, I guess at the time it
was cheap,

360
00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:48,760
and that suited him admirably.

361
00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:55,160
It was just six years since the
first-ever sustained, powered

362
00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:59,240
and controlled
flight by the Wright brothers,

363
00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:02,720
who'd then flown their plane in
Europe, winning over many doubters.

364
00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:08,360
Who were the customers
in those days?

365
00:23:08,360 --> 00:23:12,120
Well, Shoreham's first tenant,
customer if you like,

366
00:23:12,120 --> 00:23:15,800
was a London-based artist,
Harold Hume Piffard.

367
00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:18,200
He arrived in the early
months of 1910,

368
00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:21,160
put up a shed in the southeastern
corner of the field,

369
00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:23,880
and in there he
erected his flying machine.

370
00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:29,000
An old boy of Lancing College,
the public school adjoining

371
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:34,280
the field, Piffard was the first
to fly from here in 1910,

372
00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:37,120
In his Hummingbird plane.

373
00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:43,400
Soon he was joined at Shoreham by
an assortment of flying enthusiasts.

374
00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:47,080
Then, in the 1930s,
the town councils of Brighton, Hove

375
00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,520
and Worthing clubbed together to
build

376
00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:53,440
a striking Art Deco terminal
building, still in use today.

377
00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:57,400
And could you fly to the world from
Shoreham in those days?

378
00:23:57,400 --> 00:23:59,640
Well, not quite.

379
00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:03,720
We were still low-lying grass,
and after a few days' rain,

380
00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:07,400
the whole site would simply
turn into something like porridge.

381
00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:09,880
So you could turn up for your flight
to be told,

382
00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:12,680
"Sorry, delayed a week while the
ground dries out."

383
00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:14,760
So, not a huge success.
Not really.

384
00:24:17,120 --> 00:24:19,520
Though unsuitable for large-scale
passenger flights,

385
00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:22,280
this is still a busy airfield today,

386
00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:24,760
used by private pilots, the police,

387
00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:28,080
coastguard and businesses,
and home to a flying school.

388
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:35,240
I've been promised
a private flight,

389
00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:38,160
but the weather has turned
pretty grim,

390
00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:44,120
and even with modern navigation
aids, my trip is uncertain.

391
00:24:44,120 --> 00:24:47,600
But finally there's a gap
in the blanket of cloud, so pilot

392
00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:52,440
James Piper and I slip into the
cockpit of a twin-engined aircraft.

393
00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:01,200
I'm just going to get the weather
for the airfield before we depart.

394
00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:04,480
I can save you the trouble,
James. It's filthy.
JAMES LAUGHS

395
00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:06,920
We'll be all right, though, will we?
Oh, absolutely.

396
00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:09,320
Normally, if you learn to fly,
you'd learn in good weather,

397
00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:11,800
but, however, as you advance
through your flight training,

398
00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:13,800
you'd go up in weather
very similar to this.

399
00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:15,520
INDISTINCT

400
00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:17,640
All right,
so we are cleared to taxi.

401
00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:19,840
We're going to head out towards
the start of the runway.

402
00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:21,720
So we're going to take off.

403
00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:24,160
We'll try and maintain
visual flight. However,

404
00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:27,000
if we do enter any cloud then
we will have to adopt instrument

405
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:30,360
flight rules and then go through any
necessary procedures as a result.

406
00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:33,880
You need a hand any time,
just let me know. No problem.

407
00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:36,760
The wind sock is puffing out there,

408
00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:39,960
telling us that we've got quite
a strong headwind as we take off.

409
00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:41,680
That's it.

410
00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:48,120
So James has now lined up the DA42
Twin Star at the end of runway 20.

411
00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:55,440
A surge of power as we zoom on.

412
00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:57,640
UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS

413
00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:02,800
Flawed takeoff, but we are away.

414
00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:08,600
Now at 400 feet.

415
00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:12,680
The view back there over
the aerodrome.

416
00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:18,800
The runway points directly
towards the English Channel,

417
00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,200
and within moments we are
approaching the beach.

418
00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:35,040
Coming back now over
the English coast.

419
00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:47,800
There on my left now is Lancing
College's enormous chapel.

420
00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,720
Runway is in sight.

421
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,520
We can see the white
lines on the runway ahead.

422
00:26:57,200 --> 00:26:58,880
And down we go.

423
00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:02,880
And we are down.

424
00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:04,680
Thank you so much.

425
00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:24,800
Some creative Edwardians,
such as Samuel Coleridge-Taylor,

426
00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:27,840
have now been largely forgotten,

427
00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:32,200
but those in the Bloomsbury Group
continue to fascinate us,

428
00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:36,200
as much for their way of life
as for their work.

429
00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:40,040
Their bohemianism presented
an avant-garde affront to

430
00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:42,920
Edwardian conventions.

431
00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:45,560
But a trip to Shoreham Airport would
have given a better

432
00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:47,360
indication of the future,

433
00:27:47,360 --> 00:27:52,640
because the aeroplane would play
a major role in mechanised warfare,

434
00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:55,520
in which the Edwardian
style of life would perish.

435
00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:05,400
Next time, I encounter an Edwardian
duo who made motoring history...

436
00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:08,880
Excuse me,
I'm off for a little R&R.

437
00:28:11,360 --> 00:28:13,560
..learn the secrets
of the royal nursery...

438
00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:18,080
Albert Edwin would fly into rages
and got very sort of frustrated.

439
00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:22,040
..and for one night only,
I tread the boards.

440
00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:26,040
You are real thespians!
LAUGHTER