1
00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,840
I don't think
there are many better pastimes

2
00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:56,520
than spending time
in the back garden doing this.

3
00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:58,520
RIVETING

4
00:01:11,320 --> 00:01:14,200
Yeah,
you can't beat a bit of riveting.

5
00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:20,240
Of course, if you get 'em wrong,
they're a hell of a job
to get one out!

6
00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:24,120
I don't suppose riveting

7
00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:27,200
would be everybody's idea
of a good time.

8
00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:32,960
A day at the seaside
or an amusement park would be
a bit more like it for most people.

9
00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:40,360
What people enjoy doing
in their spare time varies a lot.
In this programme,

10
00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,200
we're looking at different places

11
00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:46,880
that have been built for leisure
and pleasure.

12
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As well as Blackpool, I'll be going
to places like theatres and museums.

13
00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:57,600
Starting with one of
our earliest and best-preserved
places of pleasure.

14
00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:01,920
The city of Bath is very important.

15
00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:06,160
It has the only hot springs
in the country.

16
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And this is what made it
very important to the Romans.

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The Romans developed Bath

18
00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,120
into a city of leisure and pleasure.

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They built around the hot springs

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a wonderful system of baths...
and what we can see here, in fact.

21
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The thing is,
along with Hadrians's Wall,

22
00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:30,720
it's one of the grandest monuments

23
00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:33,200
that the Roman Empire left behind.

24
00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:38,280
The main feature is the great bath,

25
00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:42,000
which is still fed
from the hot springs

26
00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:44,960
by the original Roman plumbing.

27
00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:48,120
A masterpiece
of early civil engineering.

28
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The hydraulics
that control the water flow

29
00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:55,360
show a detailed knowledge
of the art of taming springs.

30
00:02:55,360 --> 00:03:02,040
The channels
that carry the hot water through
the baths still function today

31
00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,960
as the Roman engineers
intended them to do.

32
00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:07,280
The baths were a meeting place.

33
00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:11,080
Roman Britons would come here
in the afternoon to chat.

34
00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:13,440
They knew how to enjoy themselves,

35
00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:15,440
all that time ago.

36
00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:21,920
Another amenity that Romans
introduced to Britain were theatres.

37
00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:25,160
When they left,
the theatres disappeared.

38
00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:29,200
They never really made a comeback
until the Tudor age.

39
00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,200
In Tudor times,
this area south of the Thames

40
00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:34,320
was London's Theatreland.

41
00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:36,360
It was known as Bankside.

42
00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:39,400
It was the home
of Shakespeare's Globe.

43
00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:43,680
The theatre was destroyed by fire
and no trace of it was left.

44
00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:50,600
What we see today is an authentic
reconstruction that's only
200 yards away from the original.

45
00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:56,560
It was the vision
of an American actor, Sam Wanamaker,
who was involved in the project

46
00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:59,280
from the cutting of the first trees.

47
00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:03,160
To get the wood, they had to travel
all over the country

48
00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:06,000
to find trees
of the right size and shape.

49
00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,160
Peter McCardy is the carpenter

50
00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:13,720
who was responsible for
the whole timber-frame construction.

51
00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,560
If we look
at the timber structure here,

52
00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:22,400
these posts
actually reflect the bays inside.

53
00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:24,920
The basis of timber construction

54
00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:28,560
is breaking the structure up
into a series of bays.

55
00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:30,600
If we look at these joints,

56
00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:33,640
we can see
we've got these curved braces.

57
00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:36,680
We look for a tree
with that natural curve.

58
00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:39,000
This is good, this lovely angle.

59
00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:42,240
In buildings that are polygonal,
like this,

60
00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:46,040
or indeed, in buildings
that weren't square in plan,

61
00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:50,480
and quite a lot of medieval
buildings weren't square in plan,

62
00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:54,960
they would shape the posts
to the angle of the building.

63
00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:59,040
This is shaped approximately
to 162 degrees.

64
00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:02,040
Peter, when you started,

65
00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,760
there couldn't have been much left
of the original.

66
00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:09,160
The Globe theatre
suffered from fire.

67
00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:12,080
Being timber... The thatched roof.

68
00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:16,680
The thatched roof led to the demise
of the first Globe theatre.

69
00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:21,000
They fired a live cannon
during a performance of Henry VIII.

70
00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,040
Some of the wadding
went onto the thatch.

71
00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:28,280
It caught light and the whole thing
was razed to the ground.

72
00:05:28,280 --> 00:05:33,400
That created a problem for anybody
who wanted to do a reconstruction.

73
00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:38,880
There was nothing to work from
in the way of any tangible
physical evidence.

74
00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:44,720
There's a number of drawings
of the theatres that were done
at that time.

75
00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:47,640
I've got one here
on the end of a peg.

76
00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:53,120
That shows you
how big the illustrations are
that we've had to work with.

77
00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:55,240
The building as we see it,

78
00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:58,360
and the timbers and joinery details,

79
00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:03,000
have had to be based on
careful research of other buildings

80
00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:07,440
which have got similar features
and characteristics.

81
00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:10,520
Like the joints
for the mortice and tenons

82
00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:13,360
and all the usual joints
pegged together.

83
00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:16,000
Quite interesting, how you've...

84
00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:21,720
how it really looks as though
it's been sawn with a pit saw.

85
00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:26,960
In 1987 they discovered
the archaeology of the Rose theatre
foundations.

86
00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:31,000
And then in 1989 they excavated
the Globe theatre site.

87
00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,360
And it's from those two pieces
of information,

88
00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:39,400
and these drawings,
that we've got the overall size
of this building.

89
00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,640
100ft diameter
and a 20-sided polygon.

90
00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:45,040
Each of these bays represents

91
00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:47,320
a facet on the building.

92
00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:50,120
There are 20
around the whole circle.

93
00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,600
The building is really dealt with

94
00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:56,880
in two-dimensional planes.

95
00:06:56,880 --> 00:06:59,080
So you don't fabricate

96
00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:02,720
a 3-D structure,
you simply fabricate flat walls.

97
00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:07,000
Once they'd done this,
they'd have to take it all apart

98
00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,480
to transport it to the site.

99
00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:12,520
And then piece it
all together again.

100
00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:17,800
It must be one of the biggest
timber prefabricated buildings
ever made.

101
00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:23,880
There are various,
really interesting refinements
that these carpenters evolved

102
00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:27,520
to ensure that
when the timbers were put together,

103
00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:30,600
they came together
with the right angles.

104
00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:37,120
If you didn't have the right angle
in this building, they wouldn't
meet. Too long or too short!

105
00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:39,240
You might miss, like this.

106
00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:44,960
I spent from being 15 years old
till I were 22 as a joiner.

107
00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:48,240
It's wonderful, how it's been done.

108
00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:54,360
I don't think it could have looked
a heck of a lot different
when it were first built.

109
00:07:54,360 --> 00:08:01,440
The principles in Sam's conception
for this project
were to do as accurate

110
00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:03,760
a reconstruction as possible.

111
00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:06,360
Peter Street
was the original builder

112
00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:10,840
and I like to feel
that if he was standing here
instead of me,

113
00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:13,800
that he would feel comfortable,

114
00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:17,440
as though
it was one of his buildings.

115
00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:20,520
What would have made him
feel at home is not just

116
00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:24,000
a structure
that would have been familiar,

117
00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,800
but the whole design and decoration
of the building.

118
00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:30,800
The curtains,
the painting of the stage

119
00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:34,560
and the marbled columns
have been recreated

120
00:08:34,560 --> 00:08:40,240
by craftsmen and women to make it
look as it would have done
in Shakespeare's day.

121
00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:44,680
By the 18th century, the design
and decoration of buildings

122
00:08:44,680 --> 00:08:49,360
had become so important that
a whole city was built in one style.

123
00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:53,640
It was at this time
that the old Roman city of Bath

124
00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:58,520
was transformed into the most
popular leisure resort in England.

125
00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,960
It became the summer capital
of polite society.

126
00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:05,440
The place to go
to take the waters and socialise.

127
00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:10,600
Towns have usually grown up

128
00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:13,720
in a fairly higgeldy-piggeldy
sort of way.

129
00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:17,200
But Bath is an example of a town
whose whole look

130
00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:19,920
was designed for gracious living.

131
00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:25,120
It was a Yorkshireman, John Wood,

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00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:28,680
whose vision
helped to change the face of Bath.

133
00:09:28,680 --> 00:09:32,720
Queen's Square is a perfect example
of a design layout,

134
00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:37,320
with all the houses in it
built to the same proportions

135
00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:39,360
and of the same stone.

136
00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:41,760
His grandest project,

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the Circus,

138
00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:48,520
has 30 houses built on a curve,
and a paved square.

139
00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:51,520
When he died,
his work was carried on

140
00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:55,200
by his son, whose
greatest work, the Royal Crescent,

141
00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:58,640
has been called
the finest crescent in Europe.

142
00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:02,360
Like his father,
the young John Wood was influenced

143
00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:06,680
by the classical style
of Ancient Greece and Imperial Rome.

144
00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:13,280
Another imperial age
left us with some of

145
00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:15,320
our grandest monuments.

146
00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:17,920
The age of Victoria

147
00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:20,760
and the British Empire
was at its peak.

148
00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:24,440
The Great Exhibition
was held in 1851

149
00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:27,480
to demonstrate
the industrial supremacy

150
00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:30,160
and the prosperity of Britain.

151
00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:32,680
It was a great success.

152
00:10:32,680 --> 00:10:35,320
The profits were used to establish

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00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:37,640
an area of museums

154
00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,200
in South Kensington.

155
00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:42,200
The grand facade

156
00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:45,680
of the Victoria and Albert Museum

157
00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:48,240
was built between 1899 and 1909,

158
00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:51,120
to bring uniformity
to a group of buildings

159
00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:54,040
devoted to the decorative arts.

160
00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:57,160
Aston Webb, the architect,

161
00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:02,040
wanted to bring the outside into
the museum in quite a clever way.

162
00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:07,000
What he wanted to do was to create
a buffer zone, if you like,

163
00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:09,520
using Portland stone,

164
00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:12,640
which he used
on the outside face.

165
00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:18,120
He decided to bring
what is normally used outside
into this first area.

166
00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:20,920
It works quite well.

167
00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:23,160
In the other part of the entrance,

168
00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:25,360
you have the walls rendered.

169
00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:29,520
The soft plaster brings you
into the envelope of the museum.

170
00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:31,880
All this lovely marble, as well.

171
00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:36,040
In the entrance here,
he wanted to use several marbles.

172
00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:38,360
The floor is Carrara marble,

173
00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:40,640
also with black Italian marble

174
00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:42,920
and also Romanian red marble.

175
00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:47,320
I've got a table in my back kitchen
with that pink marble on.

176
00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:50,760
Believe it or not!
When we take it up,

177
00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:53,000
we'll let you have that slab!

178
00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:55,120
As you get into the museum,

179
00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:59,200
you can see the way the decoration
and the materials used

180
00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:02,520
were designed
to complement the exhibits.

181
00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:05,800
So this staircase
was the one that led up

182
00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:08,640
to the original ceramics galleries.

183
00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:12,080
As we walk up the staircase,
the whole structure

184
00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:14,120
is clad in ceramic tile.

185
00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:17,800
If you look on the staircase,
the decoration here

186
00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:22,240
endlessly repeats the marrying
together of science and art.

187
00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:25,400
S and A, not V and A
for Victoria and Albert.

188
00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:28,920
That's what S and A is there for.

189
00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:31,160
If we carry on up the staircase,

190
00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,240
you can see above the handrails

191
00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:37,280
are the painted panels.

192
00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:40,120
It's almost like a jigsaw,

193
00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:42,160
how it all fits together.

194
00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:44,280
Little hexagonal pieces.

195
00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:47,640
They're cut up
into smaller pieces that look like

196
00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:50,960
mosaic tesserae.

197
00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:55,760
The vitrified tiling was also
carried up into the ceiling, too.

198
00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:02,280
You can spend a day
just admiring the decoration

199
00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:04,920
without looking at any exhibits.

200
00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:06,920
For me, the most exciting bit

201
00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:09,960
was being able
to get up into the roof

202
00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:13,000
to see what some of
the original buildings

203
00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:15,080
would have looked like.

204
00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:19,320
We've now got inside the roof void
of the south court.

205
00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:24,200
As you can see, it's had inserted
into the south court, in 1952,

206
00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:26,440
a modern suspended ceiling.

207
00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:29,280
Getting into the void, you can see

208
00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:31,800
the original roof structure.

209
00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:34,160
Yeah. And the beautifying.

210
00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:36,200
And the beautifying.

211
00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:40,000
It was a bolted iron structure
with a glass roof.

212
00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:44,320
Very similar to the construction
of the Crystal Palace.

213
00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:47,360
The walls are still decorated

214
00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:49,680
with the original paint scheme.

215
00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:53,880
Gold leaf.
Highly decorated. Yeah, beautiful.

216
00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:55,880
See the plaster there,

217
00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:57,920
how it's stuck to the laths,

218
00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:01,800
which are all the gentle curve
of the arch.

219
00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:06,440
Even down to the decoration
running along the eye sections

220
00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:08,480
of the girders.

221
00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:13,160
Every single surface has been
gilded or painted or stencilled.

222
00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:16,200
You see the flanges there, riveted,

223
00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:19,480
joining the pieces together. Yeah.

224
00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:23,920
They were certainly good
with the rivets! Absolutely.

225
00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:26,560
One of the original aims
of the museum

226
00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:30,840
was to inspire British designers
and manufacturers.

227
00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:34,320
So there's a collection of

228
00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:36,400
plastercast reproductions

229
00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:38,960
from some of the world's greatest

230
00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:41,600
buildings and monuments -
put together

231
00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:43,840
for the benefit of art students

232
00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:46,240
who couldn't afford to go abroad

233
00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:48,280
to see them for themselves.

234
00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:50,800
They include the door
of a cathedral

235
00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:53,400
and Trajan's column from Rome,

236
00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:58,760
which they had to chop in half
to get in here.

237
00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:02,320
At building monuments,
the Victorians were best.

238
00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:06,760
From London I went to see

239
00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:08,840
one of the most famous.

240
00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:13,080
This magnificent monument
on Princes Street in Edinburgh

241
00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:15,120
was erected in remembrance

242
00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:18,480
of Sir Walter Scott,
the famous Scottish writer.

243
00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:25,960
I don't know why - there's 287
steps to t'top of this monument -

244
00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:29,680
through all my career
of being a steeplejack,

245
00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:31,760
I've always found it easier

246
00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:34,800
to go up a straight,
vertical ladder

247
00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:37,040
to t'top of anything, really.

248
00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:40,960
Shortly after
Sir Walter Scott's death,

249
00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:45,960
it was decided that they should
build a monument in his remembrance.

250
00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:49,600
So it were put out
for a competition.

251
00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:53,960
There were quite a few eminent
architects who wanted the job.

252
00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:57,600
But George Meikle Kemp,
a joiner from Midlothian,

253
00:15:57,600 --> 00:15:59,880
submitted his first drawing.

254
00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:03,120
Of course,
because of his humble beginnings

255
00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:05,880
and the fact
that he were only a joiner,

256
00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:07,920
they turned him down.

257
00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:11,800
But there were nobody really happy
on the committee

258
00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:15,240
with what they'd received
on the first attempt.

259
00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:20,120
So a second batch of drawings were
put forward by all the architects.

260
00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:23,640
But Mr Kemp applied again
under an assumed name.

261
00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:26,640
They picked his drawing
and he got the job.

262
00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:31,520
He supervised the whole thing from
the beginning but not to the end,

263
00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:36,200
because when it were halfway up
he went to see the main contractor.

264
00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:38,800
It was a terrible, foggy night.

265
00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:41,760
Whether he'd had a wee dram,
nobody knows.

266
00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:44,360
But he fell in the canal
and drowned.

267
00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:48,960
His brother-in-law actually
finished off the construction.

268
00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:53,520
The capstone were placed on the top
by Kemp's son.

269
00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:57,440
Mr Kemp would have been proud
to see the end product.

270
00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:00,320
But it weren't finished
after four years.

271
00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:02,360
The 30-ton block of marble

272
00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:06,200
that had to come from Italy
for the statue of Sir Walter,

273
00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:09,480
they dropped it in the harbour
in Italy.

274
00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:13,520
They managed to get it on a boat
and when it got to Leith,

275
00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:16,640
in Scotland,
they had no gear to get it off!

276
00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:21,240
It took another two years
before the statue were completed.

277
00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:26,040
Recently, there's been quite a lot
of restoration work done on it.

278
00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:28,960
They used exactly the same stone,

279
00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:34,280
but of course it will never get
as black as what the rest of it is.

280
00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:39,120
There won't be the same amount
of smoke in Edinburgh as there was.

281
00:17:39,120 --> 00:17:41,560
I'd have daubed a bit of mud on it

282
00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:44,480
to make it blend in with the other.

283
00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:47,960
It's something I tried
when I was redoing

284
00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:51,600
some of the stonework on my house.

285
00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:54,640
When I bought this house
about 40 years ago,

286
00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:57,800
it basically
were a two-up and two-down.

287
00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:01,880
As my family got bigger,
I'd got to do something about it.

288
00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:03,960
So I built as much on it again.

289
00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:07,760
In all the wonderful buildings
we've been looking at,

290
00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:09,800
even castles and all that,

291
00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:14,760
they've all been messed about with
and extended one way and another.

292
00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:17,040
Even kings were great DIY men.

293
00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:22,000
Extensions were done to the house
in the days of the Earl of Bradford.

294
00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:24,040
But they didn't do a good job.

295
00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:27,560
They omitted all the beading
and the fancy work.

296
00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:31,040
When I did it,
I thought I'd try and reproduce

297
00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:33,360
what they did in 1854.

298
00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:39,960
When I first did the moulding
and the fancy bits,

299
00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:42,280
the little square pieces

300
00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:44,640
were a very white material.

301
00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:47,000
They stood out like a sore thumb.

302
00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:50,840
So I made a mixture of mud
and water out of the garden,

303
00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:54,600
and painted them.
God and the rain has done the rest.

304
00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:59,160
They're now quite a good match
with the moulding.

305
00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:03,800
Not far from me is a Victorian
monument of a different kind.

306
00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:05,840
And one that's become one of

307
00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:08,560
the country's most famous landmarks.

308
00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:15,120
Blackpool Tower were built in 1894.

309
00:19:15,120 --> 00:19:18,920
It's really an imitation
of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

310
00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:21,280
It helped transform Blackpool

311
00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:27,240
into one of the biggest and busiest
tourist resorts in all of England.

312
00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:30,320
The tower is 518ft high.

313
00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:34,560
And what you've got to remember is
when it were built in 1894,

314
00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:38,560
there were no aeroplanes
and no skyscrapers.

315
00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:40,800
Most Victorian people

316
00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:43,240
had never been far off the ground.

317
00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:48,120
To actually have the experience
of being 500ft up in t'sky

318
00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:50,240
and being able to see 30 miles

319
00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,600
must have been
an unbelievable attraction.

320
00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:59,480
The tower were completed by
the famous railway bridge builders

321
00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:02,000
Enan and Froud, from Manchester.

322
00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:07,280
On this maintenance level,
it gives you some idea
of what it's all about.

323
00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:09,560
It's four latticework towers,

324
00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:12,000
all leaning inwards.

325
00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:14,520
And braced together with these big

326
00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:17,480
three-inch diameter
diagonal tie rods.

327
00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:20,200
They stabilise the whole structure.

328
00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:22,440
They tell me, in a 70mph gale,

329
00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:25,000
it only moves an inch at the top.

330
00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:35,040
The North pier
is even older than the tower.

331
00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:39,080
It were designed by a gentleman
called Eugenius Birch.

332
00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:41,120
That's some name, innit?

333
00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:45,560
He decided that he would build it
out of cast iron stanchions,

334
00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:48,640
instead of the much stronger
wrought iron.

335
00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:51,480
His argument
against the wrought iron

336
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:55,760
were if a ship crashed into it,
it would bend and twist it.

337
00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:59,640
If a ship crashed into
his cast iron stanchions,

338
00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:04,080
it would bust a few
and they'd be able to replace them.

339
00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:06,960
I think that were a good idea.
I do indeed.

340
00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:12,040
The pier was opened in 1863.

341
00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:16,680
In 12 months, it attracted
a quarter of a million punters

342
00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:20,160
who paid a penny a piece
to get on it.

343
00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:22,600
The pier company tried to attract

344
00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:25,640
a higher class of holidaymaker.

345
00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:28,280
They only had two kiosks.

346
00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:33,160
One sold tobacco and the other
sold boots. There were no beer.

347
00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:36,400
Not long afterwards
came the Central pier,

348
00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:42,480
which catered for the working
classes who came here on trains.

349
00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:44,920
A great venue for open air dancing

350
00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,560
and loud music
that went on into the night.

351
00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:52,640
A stark contrast to the
middle classes on the North pier.

352
00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:59,120
By the beginning
of the 20th century,

353
00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:02,600
Blackpool had become
firmly established

354
00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:06,240
as Britain's favourite
seaside resort.

355
00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:09,200
It attracted millions every year.

356
00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:16,600
After fresh air, the piers
and the promenade during the day,

357
00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:20,240
the evening was the time
for the fun of the theatre.

358
00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:24,520
Blackpool became a centre
for popular entertainment.

359
00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:28,160
Theatres were springing up
all over the place.

360
00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:32,440
This is the grandest of all
the grand theatres, the Grand.

361
00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:36,720
Designed by Frank Matcham,
it took only nine months to build.

362
00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:40,520
How did he do it
with all this beautiful plaster?

363
00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:46,640
Very quick. They'd be hard-pressed
in this day and age
to accomplish the same thing.

364
00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:52,920
It's amazing how Matcham
managed to get 1,200 people
in such a small space.

365
00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:56,000
His great thing
were his lavish interiors.

366
00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:59,280
All this beautiful
ornamental plasterwork,

367
00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:02,080
and lots
of different sorts of styles.

368
00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:04,520
Matcham used the cantilever design

369
00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:06,600
to support the circles.

370
00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:11,040
Basically, what that means
is the girders came out of the wall

371
00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:14,680
and radiated into the centre
of that great curve,

372
00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:18,160
which gives the whole thing
great strength.

373
00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:20,280
It must have bent a bit

374
00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:25,240
when a pop band were on
and kids were jumping up and down.

375
00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:28,920
They've been pulling in the crowds
in Blackpool

376
00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:32,360
for over 100 years.
The latest attraction

377
00:23:32,360 --> 00:23:35,720
is as impressive
for its engineering

378
00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:39,560
as it is
for the excitement of riding on it.

379
00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:44,520
This is the latest engineering feat
here on the front at Blackpool.

380
00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:49,120
The Pepsi Max Big One is the
biggest rollercoaster in the world.

381
00:23:49,120 --> 00:23:51,160
It's 235ft high.

382
00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:54,400
And the carriages go at 85mph.

383
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:57,760
That's fast.
I think I'm going to have a go.

384
00:23:59,360 --> 00:24:01,560
Goodbye. I'll see you later.

385
00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:03,760
In about two minutes.

386
00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:17,040
I don't know
whether I'm going to like it.

387
00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:19,080
You might see my breakfast!

388
00:24:22,120 --> 00:24:24,680
I nearly gulped!

389
00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:52,400
It would be better
if it had strings on.

390
00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:09,000
You don't need a hair brush!

391
00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:19,400
I want to meet the man
who first commissioned it.

392
00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:21,640
He must have been very brave.

393
00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:23,600
Aye.

394
00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:28,760
One of the mechanics told me...

395
00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:33,000
I said, "It's a bit bumpy.
It could do with some springs."

396
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:38,200
He said, "As the morning wears on,
it gets smoother.
The wheels get soft."

397
00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:42,320
Polystyrene or polypropylene.
Poly summat or other.

398
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:48,880
Having just got off
the Pepsi Big One,

399
00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:55,760
it must be a nerve-racking business,
being in charge of a place
like this and a machine like that.

400
00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:57,840
This is Jim, who's in charge.

401
00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:02,680
Them lot up there don't really know
what's going to happen to them.

402
00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:05,320
They're going to love every minute.

403
00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:07,360
And as for nerve-racking,

404
00:26:07,360 --> 00:26:09,800
it tests you at times, I tell you!

405
00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:11,960
It's quite scary, really.

406
00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:15,360
That's the idea.
To scare the pants off people.

407
00:26:15,360 --> 00:26:19,600
But do it safely.
That's what it's all about.

408
00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:21,880
How many tons of iron is there?

409
00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:24,560
There are 2,700 tons of steel
in that.

410
00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:26,880
Most of it was manufactured

411
00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:29,720
and supplied not far from here,
in Bolton.

412
00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,360
Robert Watson's.
The structural steel fellow.

413
00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:37,400
All the steelwork came from
a company in Southampton.

414
00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:40,040
The biggest and best in England.

415
00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:43,080
I can't see anything in Europe

416
00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:46,360
going bigger than that
at the moment.

417
00:26:46,360 --> 00:26:49,440
Frightening
to think of anything bigger.

418
00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:51,840
We'll hold the record for a while.

419
00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:54,480
The track's two pieces of tubing.

420
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:56,520
A little bit more than that!

421
00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:58,960
A steel tube track, that's right.

422
00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:01,960
Our engineers
walk that track every day.

423
00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:04,240
You were on the first run.

424
00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:07,000
The wheels take a while to warm up.

425
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,080
But it will be better now.

426
00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:11,120
Let's go back.

427
00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:15,800
Then it gets to stage where
it just keeps going. Let's go back!

428
00:27:22,120 --> 00:27:26,560
This is the third time round
on here this morning.

429
00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:29,560
That's it. I'm ready.

430
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:44,040
My hat's gone!

431
00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:46,080
I should have riveted it on.

432
00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:57,080
It's funny, wherever I go, whether
it's a place of entertainment,

433
00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:59,440
or somewhere much older

434
00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:03,400
and quieter and more peaceful,
I always look at things

435
00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:06,760
and wonder about
the men who built them.

436
00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:10,840
And about the great vision
of the architects and engineers

437
00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:15,520
who helped to create that wonderful,
rich heritage of buildings

438
00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:18,080
that we have in this country today.

439
00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:21,600
What a credit they are
to the men who built them.

440
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:37,720
Subtitles by Sally Gray, ITFC,
for BBC Subtitling - 2000

441
00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:40,720
E-mail us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk