1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:04,800 In between the wars, a Bradshaw's was an essential guide 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:08,240 during a golden age of rail travel, 3 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:12,160 when glamorous locomotives travelled at world record speed. 4 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:17,280 I'm using a 1930s edition to explore a discernibly modern era of mass 5 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:23,800 consumption, when Art Deco cinemas and dancehalls entertained millions, 6 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:28,320 while industrial Britain was thrown into unemployment and poverty, 7 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:31,320 and storm clouds gathered across the Channel. 8 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:56,720 My railway journey continues, exploring the south west of England. 9 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:01,600 On this leg, I'll discover how the region became a haven 10 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:04,960 for holiday-makers, authors and political refugees 11 00:01:04,960 --> 00:01:07,560 in the turbulent times of my 1936 guidebook. 12 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:16,040 I'll experience a novel form of 1930s transport... 13 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:21,160 With the wind and a spring tide, it can get quite choppy. 14 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:25,000 ..express myself via modern dance... 15 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:29,480 Into the briny water! 16 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:32,680 ..and take the plunge. 17 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:37,320 It really is a lovely feeling, sea bathing without seaweed, 18 00:01:37,320 --> 00:01:39,400 or jellyfish, or waves. 19 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:46,040 On this journey, 20 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:50,440 I've toured the holiday hotspots of Cornwall at St Ives and Newquay. 21 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:54,120 My route will take me into Devon, via Plymouth and Paignton, 22 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:58,480 before heading further east to Bath and finishing on Salisbury Plain. 23 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:02,400 Today, I begin at Bodmin. 24 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:06,120 In search of Art Deco attractions, I'll make stops at Plymouth 25 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:10,040 and Ivybridge. I'll end at Totnes. 26 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:19,000 My journey continues in Cornwall, approaching Bodmin, 27 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,120 which according to the guidebook gives its name to a large moor, 28 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:28,520 on which is the highest peak in the county, Brown Willy, 1,376ft. 29 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,560 That notorious piece of high ground 30 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:36,040 can give rise to freak torrential rain, a phenomenon 31 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:40,400 so dangerous that only the most inexperienced or foolhardy 32 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:43,440 would venture out in a desolate place, 33 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:48,000 where it's claimed men's deeds can be as foul as the weather. 34 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:01,560 Bodmin is the only Cornish town recorded in the Domesday Book. 35 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:08,080 But today, it's the moorland to the northeast which draws me. 36 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:11,840 In the same year as my Bradshaw's Guide was issued, 37 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,840 the author Daphne du Maurier published Jamaica Inn, 38 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:20,920 a Gothic novel set against the dramatic backdrop of Bodmin Moor. 39 00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:25,120 The mysterious coaching house at the heart of the book still exists 40 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:27,240 and Alan Jackson is its landlord. 41 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:30,320 Alan. Hi. 42 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:33,200 What a pleasure. Michael. Good to see you. 43 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:36,520 Now, this is not what I expected, with its pretty flowers 44 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:41,000 and people enjoying their drinks out here, with its fearsome reputation. 45 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,840 How old is the inn? Well, it was built in 1750 46 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,880 when the stagecoaches started running from Bodmin to 47 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,160 Launceston for the first time and it was extremely bleak then. 48 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:52,200 As we understand it, 49 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:54,480 there were no other buildings anywhere in the area. 50 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:55,880 Of course, Daphne du Maurier 51 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:58,280 describes that in her book wonderfully. 52 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:04,520 Du Maurier's novel opens with the heroine, Mary Yellan, beginning 53 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:08,880 a new life with relatives, the proprietors of the Jamaica Inn. 54 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:11,880 Alan, you have the distinction of 55 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:14,000 being the landlord of the Jamaica Inn, 56 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,080 but in Daphne du Maurier's novel, who was the landlord? 57 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:20,200 Oh, technically, you could say my predecessor. 58 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:23,800 She called him Joss Merlyn. Some of the descriptions she gave of him 59 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:26,840 in her book were quite remarkable, a pretty evil man. 60 00:04:26,840 --> 00:04:29,600 She describes that he did a lot of smuggling, which is 61 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:32,520 the minor part of his misdeeds. 62 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:35,080 He was out robbing, he was out killing, 63 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,880 he was just about doing everything, according to Daphne du Maurier. 64 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:42,520 What truth do you think there really was about the smuggling 65 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:43,800 in these parts? 66 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:47,240 Oh, without doubt, there was smuggling going on and of course, 67 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:51,800 when she wrote the book, she added an extra dimension to it 68 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,920 by making up that the ships were lured onto the coast 69 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:59,680 and the sailors that were trying to get ashore were murdered. 70 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:01,040 That was all fiction. 71 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,520 As the novel unfolds, out on the moors, 72 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:13,520 Mary discovers the extent of the smugglers' crimes. 73 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:16,240 Hello, Kate. I'm Michael. Hello, Michael. 74 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:18,440 Lovely to meet you. Welcome to Bodmin Moor. 75 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:24,000 I'm meeting Dr Kate Montague from the University of Exeter 76 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:27,000 to explore Daphne du Maurier's inspiration. 77 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:30,320 Kate, today, it's not easy to imagine the moor 78 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:33,240 when the rain's coming down and the mist and so on. 79 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:36,720 This can be a pretty bleak place. It can be very bleak. 80 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,240 You can see the sort of rugged landscape. 81 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:41,320 We're in Daphne du Maurier country here. 82 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:44,800 I think this is what she loved about Cornwall as well. 83 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:48,560 It throws up all this sort of grey, dark imagery. 84 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:50,800 And how does Jamaica Inn get into it. 85 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:53,600 She visited Bodmin Moor throughout her life. 86 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:55,200 The first time, she got lost, 87 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:58,840 on a rainy November night with her friend, Foy Quiller-Couch. 88 00:05:58,840 --> 00:06:00,880 They became completely disorientated 89 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:03,480 and the only way they were able to find their way back to 90 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:05,880 Jamaica Inn, where they were staying, 91 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:10,480 was to let the horses intuitively lead them back there. 92 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:15,840 And what impact did that have on her imagination? It was enthusing it. 93 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:18,200 She was reading novels by Robert Louis Stevenson, 94 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:19,760 in particular Treasure Island, 95 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:22,960 this is all feeding her imagination around adventure, 96 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:25,200 pirates and buccaneering, 97 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,360 and intersecting then with the actual local histories around 98 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:32,720 smuggling and shipwrecking that took place around the coast here. 99 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:38,160 Daphne du Maurier fell in love with Cornwall 100 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:42,360 when her family bought a holiday home in Fowey in 1926. 101 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:47,080 The young author soon moved to live in the county 102 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:50,600 and used its wild landscape as the setting for her sinister 103 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:54,760 Gothic romances, including her greatest success, 104 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,560 the psychological thriller Rebecca, which has never been out of print. 105 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:03,160 But it was Jamaica Inn that first established 106 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:06,240 Du Maurier as one of the best-loved authors of her generation. 107 00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:11,000 How do you account for its great success? 108 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:15,680 It comes, I think, again, to her craft as a storyteller. 109 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:17,000 The atmospheric... 110 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:20,960 The mood she creates around these really well-rounded plots is 111 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:23,840 part of her craft and I think her love of Cornwall as well, 112 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:26,880 just infuse the entire narrative. 113 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:43,920 I've rejoined the rails to cross into Devon. 114 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:48,840 I'll make a stop in Plymouth, 115 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:53,440 so strongly associated with great events in our national past. 116 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:58,880 Bradshaw's reminds us of the repulse of the Spanish Armada in 1588 117 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:03,120 and the sailing of the Pilgrims for America 118 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:06,080 in the ship Mayflower in 1620. 119 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,160 Holiday-makers were attracted by this history, 120 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:14,800 but they wanted their experience of the sea to be kept within bounds. 121 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:36,560 The port city of Plymouth has a long history with the Royal Navy. 122 00:08:36,560 --> 00:08:39,800 Her Majesty's naval base, Devonport, 123 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:43,000 is now the largest operation base in Western Europe. 124 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:49,280 And at the public park that overlooks the English Channel, 125 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:53,000 there's further evidence of the area's seafaring past. 126 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:59,040 Bradshaw's tells me that Plymouth Hoe is a lofty plateau 127 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:03,240 overlooking the spacious natural harbour of Plymouth Sound. 128 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:07,000 It's been described as the finest promenade in Europe. 129 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:10,600 This place is also famous because Sir Francis Drake, 130 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:15,720 a vice-admiral, heard on the Hoe of the approach of the Spanish Armada. 131 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:18,600 He was playing bowls at the time. 132 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:21,800 And with marvellous British sangfroid, he said that he would 133 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:25,400 finish his game before responding to the attack. 134 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:28,120 In fact, he had to wait for the tide anyway. 135 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:31,880 Ah! The story is apocryphal. It's almost certainly not true. 136 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:33,520 It's a load of...myth. 137 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:41,000 Plymouth attained city status in 1928 and in the following decade, a 138 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:45,920 new Art Deco landmark distinguished it as an important seaside centre. 139 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:55,560 The beautiful Tinside Lido opened on the seafront to serve residents 140 00:09:55,560 --> 00:09:59,240 and visitors looking to participate in one of the 141 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:01,720 '30s' most fashionable activities. 142 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:05,280 David Greenwood is manager of the pool today. 143 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:10,280 David, it is a very, very attractive pool. Dates back to when? 144 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:14,040 Tinside Lido was build in 1935, it opened in October. 145 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:16,800 They must have been a much more hardy bunch in the 1930s 146 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:19,520 because it would have been quite chilly back then. 147 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:22,160 An attractive design. Who was responsible for that? 148 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:25,040 The architect who designed the beautiful Art Deco building we 149 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:28,360 see today was the borough engineer, a man called John Wibberley. 150 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:31,600 I must say, I'm very impressed. Now, what sort of water is this? 151 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:34,280 Well, this is saltwater. We bring the water in from the sea. 152 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:35,840 When the lido was built originally, 153 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:38,040 it would have just poured in when the tide came up, 154 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:41,200 but now, we run this like a normal indoor modern swimming pool. 155 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:43,120 It's open just before the Second World War. 156 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:47,480 Was this part of a trend of lidos at the time? Very much so. 157 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:50,320 The trend of having a pier 50 or 100 years earlier moved on to 158 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:51,480 having a lido as well. 159 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:54,600 We know there were 300-odd lidos built around the seaside resorts of 160 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:56,520 the UK, of which this is one of only 12 that 161 00:10:56,520 --> 00:10:59,240 remain in anywhere near like their original condition.. 162 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:02,200 That came as the explosion of people with more leisure time, 163 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:04,440 with more income and the evolution of public transport 164 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:06,800 to get them to come and enjoy the sunshine at the seaside. 165 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:09,520 I suppose people's attitude to the sun 166 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:12,640 and sun-tanning has changed in this period, too. 167 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:15,760 People started to enjoy the sunshine and above the changing block, 168 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:18,440 we can see opposite us, you will see there is the sun terrace 169 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:22,040 and that's an original feature when this lido was built. 170 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:27,160 The years between the wars saw a reversal of the Victorian view 171 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:29,840 that a tan was a sign of low class. 172 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:33,840 It became associated rather with healthy outdoor activities 173 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:38,240 and aided by images of bronzed celebrities, like Coco Chanel, 174 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:40,520 sunbathing became fashionable. 175 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:45,240 Seaside lidos like Tinside offered an opportunity for sun worship. 176 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:50,320 Now, not many lidos have survived. 177 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:52,400 How come this one has? 178 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:56,640 Well, over time, the usage declined and it actually closed in 1992 179 00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:00,520 and lay unused for quite a number of years, until a local petition got 180 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:03,480 the support of the City Council and of English Heritage 181 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:07,000 and the lido was regenerated and renewed and reopened again 182 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,280 in 2003, and has been going from strength to strength ever since. 183 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:13,000 Now, that has not happened in many places. 184 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:15,160 Why do you think it's happened in Plymouth? 185 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:17,480 Because there was a huge local support group. 186 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:20,360 I don't know many people in the city who don't have a family anecdote 187 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:22,360 about being taught to swim in these pools 188 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:25,120 or taking an illicit dip in the winter when it was closed, 189 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:27,480 but these pools are part of the culture of the city. 190 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:28,920 When you look down from the top 191 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:31,280 and you see the beautiful pool with the sparkling water, 192 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:33,600 the blue sea beyond, you could be anywhere in the world. 193 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:36,080 It could be the best of Sydney or Rio or the Mediterranean, 194 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:37,560 but it's here in Plymouth. 195 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:53,120 The spirit of Sir Francis Drake lives on! Into the briny water! 196 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:04,120 I should have said the cold, briny water, 197 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:08,920 cos even on an English summer's day, the water remains stubbornly chilly. 198 00:13:18,680 --> 00:13:22,200 The saltwater is incredibly buoyant. 199 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:25,600 It feels like floating in the Dead Sea or something. 200 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:29,680 With the ocean all round us, it really is a lovely feeling - 201 00:13:29,680 --> 00:13:34,760 sea bathing without seaweed, or jellyfish, or waves. 202 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:03,400 BLOWS WHISTLE 203 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:06,880 This morning, I'm leaving Plymouth to travel east. 204 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:17,800 My journey continues in Devon. The 1930s was an era of design. 205 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:19,560 As we look back on the period, 206 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:23,040 we conjure those posters with elegant aeroplanes, 207 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:24,680 ships and locomotives, 208 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:29,360 culminating in Sir Nigel Gresley's Pacific Class Mallard, introduced 209 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:36,000 in 1938, possibly the most beautiful steam machine ever constructed. 210 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:39,200 Architecture did not exist on an island 211 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:43,800 and was impacted by this obsession with sleek lines, 212 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:46,640 as I hope to discover when I alight at Ivybridge. 213 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:12,160 Ivybridge Railway Station is on the main line that connects 214 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:14,160 Plymouth and Exeter. 215 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:18,280 The town itself is situated between Dartmoor National Park 216 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:22,080 and the South Devon coast, which is my destination today. 217 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:28,480 At the time of my Bradshaw's Guidebook, this stunning landscape 218 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:33,120 was home to a glamorous new hotel in a rather unusual location. 219 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:40,000 Giles Fuchs is the co-owner of the Burgh Island Hotel. 220 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:44,880 Giles, what a wonderful view! Isn't it amazing? 221 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:47,840 Amazing! What is that white palace over there? 222 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:50,920 Well, what white palace is correct, built in 1929, it's a house 223 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:56,440 by Archie Nettlefold, playboy, as his party place away from London, 224 00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:00,240 and his friends used to come down for the summer and not leave. 225 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,400 So he started charging them and it became a hotel. 226 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:05,640 And it's been a hotel all that time, 90 years. 227 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:10,080 Periodically cut off from the mainland, 228 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:14,320 Burgh Island was the perfect escape for the London theatre owner 229 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:17,720 and film-maker Nettlefold with his fellow bright young things. 230 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:23,680 Now, what about this contraption? I love it. What is it? I know. 231 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:25,760 Well, it's for getting through the tide. 232 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:29,160 This is a causeway, tide comes in and out twice a day, 233 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:32,680 so sometimes you can walk, sometimes you have to take the sea tractor. 234 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:36,720 At high tide, the sea tractor is a necessity. 235 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,200 How long have they been using a tractor here? 236 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:48,600 So the sea tractor was first built in the 1930s. 237 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:51,960 In those days, it had tank tracks, but the sand, the sea water, 238 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:55,320 meant that they were constantly failing, so some time, I think, in 239 00:16:55,320 --> 00:17:01,400 the late '30s, they put tyres on it, which is much, much better, 240 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:06,600 but it's a precarious instrument, especially when the wind's blowing. 241 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:11,760 Moving forward at a very sedate pace. There have been times when... 242 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:15,320 The tide comes in from both sides. Yeah. 243 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:18,840 And if there's also a wind, and a spring tide, 244 00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:20,360 it can get quite choppy. 245 00:17:20,360 --> 00:17:25,040 Hold on to hats, etc. I think we're set fair today. 246 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:26,560 I think we're OK. 247 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:38,080 Archie Nettlefold commissioned architect Matthew Dawson to 248 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:41,880 design him a house in 1927. 249 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:45,120 With its clean lines and white concrete exterior, 250 00:17:45,120 --> 00:17:49,000 the building that resulted owes much to the fashionable Art Deco 251 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:53,160 style, which first emerged in Paris in the 1920s 252 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:57,000 and soon became inextricably linked with the glamour of the age. 253 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:00,240 We're in the Peacock Bar 254 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:04,480 and this dome was designed to look like a peacock's plumage, 255 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:08,280 you can see the feathers, plumes of the peacock, radiating out from the 256 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:13,600 centre of the dome and this was the centrepiece of the hotel, actually. 257 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:15,720 What are your favourite Art Deco features? 258 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:17,680 Well, there are so many, aren't there? 259 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:21,760 I obviously love this dome, but there are some original pieces, 260 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:23,080 for instance the radiators, 261 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:27,080 the mosaic in the pond, as you can see just behind us. 262 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:29,880 Although from the outside I thought it felt like a palace, 263 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:32,080 I now feel that it's quite like a ship. 264 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:34,040 Yes, funny you should say that, there are... 265 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:37,480 There's lots of readings I've done about the building where 266 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:40,680 the architect tried to design it as a seagoing steamer. 267 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:42,920 Like many Art Deco buildings, 268 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:46,880 the architecture of the hotel celebrated the modern age of ocean 269 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:51,920 liners and aeroplanes with geometric motifs and streamlined silhouettes. 270 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:58,840 But the design also took advantage of Burgh Island's singular location. 271 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:03,600 The Mermaid Pool, Michael. Not at all what I expected. 272 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:06,040 I was thinking another bit of Art Deco was coming up. 273 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:07,960 Isn't that superb? 274 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:11,160 And you can see the bathing platform and the beach, 275 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:13,920 where they'd sun themselves and swim. 276 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:15,800 I mean, that really is magical, isn't it? 277 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:18,840 A wonderful use of the natural features. Yes. 278 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:20,920 Now, which celebrities were attracted to 279 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:22,600 this splendid place in the 1930s? 280 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:25,680 Well, people you may have heard of, Noel Coward, Coco Chanel. 281 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,680 Just behind my left shoulder, you'll see a beach house where 282 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:31,840 Agatha Christie famously wrote some of her novels, 283 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:35,400 including And Then There Were None, Evil Under The Sun, 284 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:38,080 which was based here and the island is mentioned 285 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:41,280 and the murder happened just around the headland. 286 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:45,120 Um, you clearly have a passion for Art Deco, is that right? 287 00:19:45,120 --> 00:19:49,520 Yes, such a huge change from the Victorian and Edwardian era 288 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:54,600 and those Gothic buildings to what is the straight lines 289 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:56,880 juxtapositioned with the curves, 290 00:19:56,880 --> 00:19:59,320 so it is a fabulous change in direction. 291 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:16,920 For the final leg of this journey, 292 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:21,080 I'm travelling just 12 miles, one stop, along the line to Totnes. 293 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:27,360 The town is now known for its Bohemian character, 294 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:31,200 the origins of which can be traced back to the time of my guidebook. 295 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:38,160 Bradshaw's comments that in the south of Devon, 296 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:43,280 hundreds of feet above sea level, is the vast expanse of Dartmoor. 297 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:45,920 Now, the moor and the naval college at Dartmouth 298 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:50,200 take their name from the River Dart, as does Dartington, 299 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:54,280 whose medieval hall fell into disrepair. 300 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:58,160 And in the 1920s, when it was rescued, that constituted 301 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:02,880 not just the reconstruction of a building, but a cultural revival. 302 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:08,320 At the time that my Bradshaw's was published, 303 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:12,000 dictators in Europe were tightening their grip on power. 304 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:13,400 Free thinkers at home 305 00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:17,160 and abroad sought havens from authoritarianism, in which 306 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:23,240 they could use art and new ideas to attempt to build a better world. 307 00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:27,400 The 14th century Dartington Hall became one such utopian refuge. 308 00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:33,840 Rhodri Samuel is CEO of the Dartington Hall Trust. 309 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:39,200 Rhodri, how was it that Dartington Hall was rescued in the 1920s? 310 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:43,880 Well, it was bought by a remarkable visionary couple called Dorothy 311 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:48,600 and Leonard Elmhirst. She was one of the most prominent heiresses 312 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:51,040 and social activists in America, 313 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:55,320 he was the poor son of a Yorkshire vicar, and they bought this 314 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:58,920 estate to begin what they called their English Experiment, 315 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:02,200 where what they called a many-sided life could find expression, 316 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:05,720 and they were also seeking to have an influence on society at large, 317 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:10,320 in terms of creating a more just and humane society. 318 00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:13,360 So, what sorts of institutions came into existence here? 319 00:22:13,360 --> 00:22:14,720 Well, they created first of all, 320 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:16,960 actually, something called Dartington Hall School, 321 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:20,120 which was one of the most progressive schools in the country. 322 00:22:20,120 --> 00:22:24,920 They believed that the purpose of education was learning by doing. 323 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:28,400 They didn't have organised forms of discipline 324 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,440 and the curriculum was unbelievably diverse. 325 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:33,880 What role in the arts did Dartington Hall play? 326 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:35,920 Well, the arts were always a fundamental 327 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,360 part of the original concept of the many-sided life 328 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:40,840 and the place attracted major figures in the arts, such 329 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:45,120 as Yehudi Menuhin, Igor Stravinsky and all sorts of other musicians. 330 00:22:45,120 --> 00:22:46,640 Also, in terms of dance, 331 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:50,640 Dartington has been a major centre from the 1930s for dance, 332 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:54,200 hosting characters such as Kurt Jooss, Rudolf Laban, 333 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:57,760 for whom the Elmhirsts built a dance school here in the 1930s. 334 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:02,640 A reaction against the strict rules of traditional ballet, 335 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:05,360 modern dance blossomed between the wars 336 00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:08,320 and Dartington Hall was to become home to 337 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:12,920 two of its great choreographers, Kurt Jooss and Rudolf Laban. 338 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:18,880 I'm meeting Dr Sue Smith, director of the charity Dance In Devon. 339 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:26,720 Sue, could you tell me more about Kurt Jooss and Rudolf Laban? 340 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:29,680 Mm-hm. Kurt Jooss was a German choreographer. 341 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:33,880 He was well-known for making dance theatre, 342 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:39,720 so he used quite strong, dramatic ideas, often political. 343 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:42,440 What brought him to Dartington Hall? 344 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:46,560 Well, his work was drawing attention. 345 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:51,640 He's particularly well-known for making the Green Table. 346 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:54,280 The Green Table was very controversial 347 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:58,240 because it was looking at some of the themes around war 348 00:23:58,240 --> 00:23:59,920 and peace negotiation, 349 00:23:59,920 --> 00:24:03,960 and that was the year before Hitler became Chancellor. 350 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:09,320 It was a dangerous time to be sharing these ideas in the theatre. 351 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:14,360 And when he was ordered to dismiss his Jewish performers, 352 00:24:14,360 --> 00:24:19,280 the Elmhirsts invited Kurt Jooss to Dartington. And Rudolf Laban? 353 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:23,720 Rudolf Laban had been one of Kurt Jooss' teachers. 354 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:26,640 Laban was incredibly important 355 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:30,640 in the development of European modern dance, 356 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:34,600 and he himself also had to make a swift exit. 357 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:40,280 Until the Nazis seized power, Germany had been 358 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:43,960 one of the great centres of the modern dance movement. 359 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,560 Rudolf Laban had choreographed 360 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:51,640 a large dance demonstration for the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, 361 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:54,200 but Joseph Goebbels banned its performance. 362 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:58,200 In fear, Laban fled to Dartington, 363 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:02,000 where he and Kurt Jooss continued their work. 364 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:07,040 Today, we've brought some local dancers together 365 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:11,320 and we've been exploring some of the themes from the Green Table, 366 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:15,480 but also drawing some inspiration from the culture of free thinking 367 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:17,720 that the Elmhirsts developed here. 368 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,480 Would you like to come and see what we've been doing? 369 00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:21,640 Certainly, thank you. 370 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:26,680 So, if you're ready, shall we just go for a walk through? 371 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:28,200 So, off you go. 372 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:31,680 You see this movement here, this is almost like a mirror, 373 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:34,560 reflecting the face back at you. 374 00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:38,720 These fingers running down the leg, this is the moment of fleeing, 375 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:42,560 so the hands are people running. 376 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:46,080 And this movement, this open movement, this is referring to 377 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:50,280 freedom of expression, which was encouraged here at Dartington. 378 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:55,920 And then, the turn into the body, just showing the care and refuge. 379 00:25:55,920 --> 00:26:01,440 And then they find each other's hands and then off they go. 380 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:05,840 A moment of solidarity, as they walk on ahead... 381 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:09,800 Mm. ..leaving their homes behind. It's very moving. 382 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:16,080 The choreography of Laban and Jooss emphasised expressive movements and 383 00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:21,520 dance that was open to everyone, so even I should be able to have a go. 384 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:24,320 OK, so come into the line here. 385 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:26,840 And then the line will start moving 386 00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:31,520 and the first movement will be this, the hand and the mirror. 387 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:33,760 OK. OK? 388 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:38,240 VIOLIN PLAYS 389 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:24,160 Daphne du Maurier's Gothic novel Jamaica Inn, 390 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:28,200 a last hurrah for Romanticism, sits oddly in the 1930s - 391 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:34,840 a decade dominated by unemployment, but also by sleek, modern Art Deco 392 00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:38,360 and the rise of the dictators abroad. 393 00:27:38,360 --> 00:27:41,520 Britons might lose themselves in an adventure book, 394 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:45,200 but there was no escaping political reality. 395 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:50,560 At least Kurt Jooss and Rudolf Laban fled Nazism, the first of 396 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:55,920 a wave of immigrants who did so much to enrich life in the democracies. 397 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:00,960 Next time, I ride a railway 398 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:04,600 used by the creator of the modern murder mystery... 399 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:07,600 Agatha Christie, she did write about trains quite a lot. 400 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:09,560 They were centrepieces to stories. 401 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:13,280 I mean, Murder On The Orient Express is probably the most famous example. 402 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:15,880 ..discover an agricultural robot... 403 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:18,480 It's the most extraordinary thing I've seen in a long time. 404 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:21,720 ..and receive a floral tribute. 405 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:26,240 I'd like to start off by popping in one of our beautiful Dianthus. 406 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:27,840 Thank you very much. That's all right. 407 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:30,320 Obviously a spy had told you what colour I was wearing today!