Great British Railway Journeys (2010–…): Season 3, Episode 22 - Enfield to Drogheda - full transcript
In 1840, one man transformed
travel in Britain and Ireland.
His name was George Bradshaw,
and his railway guides inspired
the Victorians to take to the tracks.
Stop by Stop
he told them where to travel,
what to see and where to stay.
Now, 170 years later,
I'm making a series of journeys across
the length and breadth of these islands
to see what of Bradshaw's world remains.
I'm in the middle of a delightful
journey that will take me
from the Republic of Ireland
into Northern Ireland,
following my Bradshaw's Guide
across tracks that were laid
in the 19th century,
when there was one Ireland, living
under the reign of Queen Victoria.
On this leg, I'll be unravelling
the mystery of Ireland's pagan past...
That is a most extraordinary
set of stones.
I suppose, Stonehenge-like.
Seeing the technology
used by Victorian stargazers...
Now, John, that I do recognise
as a telescope.
And travelling
on a 19th-century country railway,
lovingly restored to life.
I might think I was in the wrong place,
if it weren't for
the tell-tale drift of smoke.
I'm almost halfway through exploring
the history of 19th-century Ireland.
Having seen the railways' birthplace
in Dublin,
I'm following their expansion north,
towards the industrial powerhouse
of Belfast
And my final destination
of Derry/Londonderry.
Beginning in Dundalk,
this stretch takes me over the border,
where I'll see how
this region's complex history
Has shaped the railways,
finishing up in rural County Down.
I'll be getting off at Dundalk in search
of what my Bradshaw's Guide calls
"rude vestiges of antiquity,
which consist of earthworks,
chiefly designed
for sepulchral purposes,
cromlechs, and other relics of
pre-Christian ages,
still numerous and in several instances
extremely curious."
And that has, indeed,
excited my curiosity.
The cromlechs referred to in my
guidebook means "crooked stones".
One of Ireland's finest examples
is close to Dundalk.
I'm getting off
at Dundalk's Victorian station,
designed by the famous engineer
William Hemingway Mills,
and opened in 1894.
What a beautiful station.
Dundalk, wonderfully preserved
and beautifully kept,
with its lovely flowers,
just looking great on a summer's day.
The Victorians were fascinated
and somewhat obsessed by death.
Ancient pagan monuments like cromlechs,
which honoured and interred the dead,
drew artists and scientists alike
to these mystical stones.
In Bradshaws day,
tourists from Dundalk
could stroll up from the station,
but, to follow in their footsteps,
I'm using
a more modem form of transport.
The cromlech I want to visit
is on the edge of a golf course,
so a buggy is the way to go.
Normal train service will be resumed
when possible.
The cromlech is easy to spot, standing
out incongruously amongst the golfers.
Well, that is a most extraordinary
set of stones.
I suppose, Stonehenge-like.
No idea what it does, what it is.
Hugh Smyth knows the story
of this curious structure.
- Hugh. This is a cromlech, is it?
- It's a cromlech, yes.
And what is a cromlech?
(Hugh) It's actually an ancient tomb,
dating back to the Neolithic people,
approximately 4,500 to 5,000 years ago.
This is where they would have buried
their people.
- That's extraordinarily old.
- Older than Stonehenge.
Older than the pyramids of Egypt.
The stones' true purpose
hasn't always been understood.
They've even found a place in Irish
mythology as a bed for giants.
White some Victorians correctly
associated them with tombs,
others believed they were used
for human sacrifice.
My Bradshaw's Guide
describes it as "curious".
I think the Victorians did actually
find it interesting, didn't they?
They found it very interesting,
because they had resurrected
a belief and an interest
in spirituality and paganism.
They would have come here,
on many occasions,
to look at this curiosity.
In the 19th century, poets and artists
of the Romantic movement
narked back
to pre-industrial innocence
and were fascinated by ancient beliefs.
But at the same time
the Victorians were making
great strides in scientific study.
The foundations of modern archeology
were laid,
while geologists began to unlock
the secrets of rocks.
Hugh, these are clearly massive stones.
What do we know about them?
We know that the three standing stones
are native to the mountains here.
The top capping stone
is not native to here at all.
It is native to the Mourne mountains,
which lie across Carlingford Lough
in County Down.
A theory is that these ancient people
transported this 46-tonne stone
more than ten miles,
bringing it across the 2.5 mile-wide
Lough, using rafts.
It tops what was once probably
the rocky gateway
to a much bigger structure,
covered in earth or stones.
Victorian visitors
could test their skill here,
spurred on by a local legend.
If you can manage
to land a stone on top,
good luck will follow you
all the days of your life.
That's well worth trying for,
isn't it'?
Yes. You have to try.
- Brilliant!
- Very well done!
I think ifs time for me to quit while
I'm ahead and return to the rails.
I'm back at Dundalk Station,
close to something which didn't exist
in Bradshaws time, the border.
But whose existence,
from the early part of the 20th century,
mightily affected rail services
and people living either side of it.
Tn Bradshaws day,
the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland was a single state,
governed from Westminster.
As the 19th century drew on,
calls grew for Irish independence,
but those demands met dogged
resistance, especially in the north.
In 1922, after decades
of sometimes violent dispute,
the Irish Free State was established,
but Northern Ireland remained
part of the United Kingdom.
Suddenly, the island of Ireland was
divided by an international border
and Dundalk became a frontier town.
Retired station master Brendan McQuaid
is showing me how this left its mark
on the station.
I'm guessing this gate
is of some historic significance?
It's very significant, yes.
That fence there was erected in 1922.
People disembarking had to be
customs cleared here at Dundalk.
So this gate was closed all along.
That barrier ran the whole length
of the station.
People couldn't exit the station until
they had been cleared by the customs.
Partition changed life overnight
for people living near the border.
A shopping trip to Belfast
became an international journey.
Border controls were set up
and duty levied on goods
brought across the frontier.
For railway passengers, that meant
customs officers searching the train.
So, what son of things
were they looking for?
Anything.
Virtually everything that was bought
in the north would be dutiable here.
Things like butter were cheaper
in the north than the south,
so people going to visit in the north
brought back butter with them.
Copies of the News Of The World, which
wasn't sold this side of the border.
Tide washing powder, Mars Bars,
anything.
It wasn't until the 1990s and the
creation of the Single European Market,
that the customs controls were removed.
For the people of Dundalk,
they were a way of We for 70 years.
What did people think of it?
People were very disgruntled,
Michael, and very annoyed.
Of course, they did everything that
they possibly could to hide the goods.
The stories that we hear about people
hanging goods
from the door handles of trains,
ladies buying clothes in the north,
putting them on top of the clothes
they were wearing going down.
As regards what people thought about it,
there was nothing
they could really do about it.
It was the system at the time
and people just accepted it.
Partition failed to bring peace
to the region.
With the advent of the so-called
Troubles in the late 1960s,
security was tightened further
and services were often disrupted
as the railway Kine became a target.
How long might the interruptions last?
Some might only last two or three hours,
depending on where the device
was supposed to be.
I remember one Christmas, around 1980,
and it went on for about three weeks.
The railway line was closed
for approximately three weeks.
That was the longest that we had.
The express service from Dublin
to Belfast was renamed the Enterprise
in 1947 and I'm about to experience
just how seamless
crossing the border has become.
- Hello, are you the station master?
- Yes. Anthony Monaghan is my name.
I'm taking the Enterprise in a moment.
When I get to the border,
what will I notice?
There's actually no real difference
in the crossover.
There's a signal post
and the signals change.
There's no signage,
it's just straight on in.
So, when I go over the border,
I'm going to change country,
I'm going to change currency.
You use kilometres here in the Republic,
they use miles in the North.
But there's no stopping,
just straight through?
Straight through, yes. Straight into
Newry and then, as you say, that's it.
Do I need that?
Oh, you won't need your passport,
you're OK.
- Just all the way through?
- All the way through.
A great relief. Thank you.
- No problem, Michael, thank you.
- I love your station.
The Enterprise. Beam me north.
My next station is just 15 miles
and 20 minutes away
There's barely a clue
that I'm crossing a frontier.
This is the Enterprise
crossing the border.
I've had a wonderful time in the
Republic, so, farewell, Republic,
I'm going back to the United Kingdom.
I don't need my Euros any more.
I can put them away.
My Northern Ireland adventure begins
at the first stop north of the border.
Newry Station. So, my journey continues
now in Northern Ireland.
It's time for me to find my bed
for the night
and I'm heading out
towards the east coast
in search of a slice
of Railway Age opulence.
Unfortunately, ifs no longer possible
to get there by train,
so it's the bus for me.
Buses are all very fine, but when
you're on them, you do miss the train.
My bus journey is taking me towards
the seaside resort of Newcastle,
backed by the splendour
of the Mourne mountains.
In the 19th century,
railway builders had grand plans
to transform this town
into a magnet for the tourist.
The old railway station at Newcastle
County Down has no more trains.
But the railways have left their mark
on the place
in the form of this 19th-century
resort hotel, the Slieve Donard.
This is where I'll spend the night.
This ornate Victorian hotel was built
by the Belfast and County Down Railway
Company and opened in 1898.
The hope was to lure businessmen
from Belfast to a luxurious retreat,
and before I turn in, I want to hear
about the hotel's heyday
from manager John Toner.
What was the standard
of accommodation when it opened?
Very high. Every room had its own fire
and it had the highest public areas,
like billiard rooms.
It also had a drawing room,
reading rooms and writing rooms.
There were Turkish baths
and hot seawater baths.
It really laid the path well.
And wonderful views of mountain and sea?
Yes, it's in the heart of Dundrum Bay,
looking out to the Irish Sea.
You can see it to your left. On a clear
day, you can see Scotland to your right.
You can see the Isle Of Man.
I think I've chosen well. I'll sleep
well, with this wonderful sea air.
- I'm sure you will.
- Thank you.
- Good night.
After a good night's rest,
it's time for me to rejoin my route.
An uplifting view of sea and mountain
puts a spring in my step,
as I go back to the rails.
We retraced my steps to Newry,
to continue my journey north.
Its had a station ever since 1855,
but the latest incarnation
is this modern building,
opened just two years ago.
Newry Station has the feeling
of an airport terminal.
Very new indeed.
Hello, how you doing'?
Oh, you're for Belfast?
Yes, going to Portadown.
Platform Two.
The train's coming in now, OK'?
Upstairs, over the bridge.
- Thanks. Bye.
- Bye.
Once again, I'm travelling
on one of the smart express trains
That speed between Dublin and Belfast.
But train travel hasn't always been
this comfortable, or this safe.
I don't know about you,
but when I get on a train,
I never think about
the possibility of an accident.
But let's face it. Over nearly
two centuries of railway history,
there have been
some appalling disasters.
The consolation, perhaps,
is that the worst of those
lead to improvements in procedures
and regulations.
I'm leaving the train at Portadown.
These days, ifs as close
as you can get by rail to Armagh,
the site of one of the 19th century's
most shocking accidents.
Track inspector Urban Magee
has been researching the story.
- Urban, hello.
- Hello, Michael. Pleased to meet you.
It's good to see you. I'm interested
in the Armagh rail disaster of 1889.
It's gone down in history.
What was the cause of it?
What happened was, there was a large
number of passengers
coming out of the train at Armagh,
in 1889.
As a result,
they put extra coaches on the train.
The engine provided wasn't capable
of pulling the train up the hill,
coming out of Armagh Station,
so the train stalled
and the driver decided to hook
the first four coaches off the train
and bring those on to a nearby station.
At the time, carriages didn't have
their own continuous braking system,
so to stop the remaining eight coaches
rolling down the hill,
the crew placed stones
beneath the wheels.
It was a technique
that was to prove fatal.
When he had come back, the stones had
crushed from underneath the wheels
of the rear eight and they had rolled
back down the hill into Armagh Station
and collided with a train coming out.
How big was the disaster?
At that time, 88 people died.
Several hundred were injured.
There was a total of 1200 passengers
on board the train.
It was Ireland's worst disaster
since the birth of the railways
and revealed some serious flaws
in the system.
Would the signalman not have known the
train hadn't cleared out of the patch,
when he allowed the next train through?
No. At that time, that section of track
was controlled by time interval.
So, the signalman just let the train out
at a certain amount of time,
usually an hour
after the other train had left.
He was confident that train had left
the portion of track and it hadn't.
Soon after the disaster,
an Act of Parliament was passed
requiring railway companies to introduce
better braking and signalling
and setting in train railway safety
features that we now take for granted.
A modern signal box contains
sophisticated technology
designed to ensure
that such an accident could not recur.
On this board,
I would still be able to see
these different sections of line
controlled by a signalman?
Yep. There's block sections
all along this panel here.
Trains would not be permitted to pass
this signal,
unless the section of line is clear.
So, I guess, when we have these
really appalling disasters,
in the worst cases at least,
some kind of good comes out of it,
some improvement?
Well, there's usually lessons learned
from everything.
Armagh lost its station in the 1950s,
but my 19th-century guide
gives the town's fine buildings
an approving review.
It singles out
“the well-organised observatory,
containing transit, zenith sector,
mural circle, telescope,
electro-meter, etcetera”.
As telescope is the only word
I recognise, I've come to look for that,
helped by observatory librarian,
John McFarland.
He's leading me to the observatory's
oldest instrument,
one of the very few such devices
left in the world.
What a magnificent object, John.
Yes, this is the so-called
Troughton Equatorial Telescope,
manufactured in 1795
by the firm of John & Edward Troughton,
of London.
Here's the actual telescope. Quite small
by modern standards, of course.
But large enough for the purposes
of the astronomer in those days,
working out positions of stars
on the sky.
The observatory was founded in 1789
by the Archbishop of Armagh,
Richard Robinson,
who had a vision of turning Armagh
into a university town.
And his observatory, thereafter,
pushed forward our understanding
of the universe.
The Victorians were very keen
on acquiring scientific knowledge.
- Did it have a practical value?
- Indeed it did, Michael.
The work of the astronomer in those days
was calculating the positions
of stars on the sky,
for the use of navigators and sailors.
For example,
in crossing the vast oceans,
you had to know exactly where you were,
otherwise you could crash into rocks
or be miles out
at the end of your journey.
Mapping the stars was a mammoth task
that kept the astronomers busy
for most of the 19th century.
But in the mid-1800s
this vital project was threatened
by a proposed new railway.
You had to have absolute steadiness
in your instruments.
They couldn't move, in any way,
while you were making your observations.
The astronomers feared that
vibrations from passing trains
would ruin their results.
Although they couldn't prevent
the arrival of the rails in Armagh,
observatory director Thomas Robinson
successfully blocked the line from
coming within 700 yards of the building.
In your professional opinion,
would that be a safe distance?
No. I think Robinson eventually
regretted that short distance.
He thought it should have been
much further,
once he had completed his experiments
on the disturbing forces
of the locomotives.
Despite their precautions,
the astronomers ended up throwing out
a great many results
due to vibrations from trains.
Luckily, it didn't force
the observatory to close.
Astronomers here today work
on state-of-the-art astrophysics.
But they haven't entirety abandoned
their Victorian instruments.
Now, John, that I do recognise
as a telescope. What vintage is this?
(John) This dates from 1885.
It was built by the firm
of Howard Grubb, of Dublin.
This is the telescope we'd use nowadays
for making our visual observations.
- (Carmichael) You're still using it today?
- Very much so.
As and when the weather permits,
of course.
For example, you can rotate
the dome here right around,
by pulling on this rope over here.
- May I have a go?
- Yes, please do.
(Carmichael) That operates amazingly
smoothly, doesn't it?
- (John) Yes, it's cooperating today.
- That's a great design in itself.
But I'm just so impressed
that you're still using a telescope
which is, let's face it, nearly as old
as my Bradshaw's, and just as useful.
Yes, indeed.
For the last leg of my journey,
I'm taking a detour from my route.
I've been following the mainline
that links Dublin and Belfast,
but in Bradshaw's day,
there were other, smaller lines
radiating from the island's
second city.
We come to the County Down
countryside
to see what's left of
a celebrated Victorian service.
(cow moos)
A remote platform,
set amongst fields and cows.
I might think I was in the wrong place,
if it weren't
for the tell-tale drift of smoke.
I'm catching a steam train on the
Downpatrick and County Down Railway.
It's Northern Ireland's
only full-size heritage line
and it runs on a route
created in Bradshaw's day.
The original Belfast & County Down
Railway
was built by the famous engineer
William Dargan,
the man behind Ireland's
very first railway, back in 1834.
But like so many Irish lines,
it's had a chequered history.
En route to Downpatrick,
I'm getting the story
from volunteer Robert Gardiner.
Was this built for passengers
or freight?
Passengers. The Belfast And County Down
Railway was primarily a commuter line.
This line to Downpatrick was
specifically for the legal profession,
so that judges and barristers could get
from the crown court in Belfast
down to the courthouse here
in Downpatrick,
which was a major legal centre
in the county.
A silky-smooth ride for them?
Absolutely. If you compare
the stagecoach ride from Belfast
in small, pitted roads
versus this brand-new marvel
of wondrous technology,
there would be no comparison.
But the lawyers had to wait
for their commuter line.
The route was first proposed in 1845,
when Ireland was in the grip
of the Great Famine,
which began with the potato blight
and went on to kill
around a million people.
There's a myth that Ulster
wasn't as badly affected
as the rest of the island
of Ireland was.
But it was affected and the Irish
famine did have a severe impact
on the construction of this line.
The famine delayed construction
of the line for a decade.
But by the end of the 19th century,
Ireland's railways
had spread impressively.
They reached their zenith in the 1920s,
when the island was criss-crossed
by nearly 3,500 miles of track.
But it wasn't to last.
(Michael) When did this lovely line
close to the public?
1950. It was one of the first lines
in Northern Island to be closed.
The line had been run into the ground
during the Second World War.
At that time,
the Stormont government decided
it wasn't worth the while
keeping it open.
"And we'll close it.
Sure, buses will do the work instead."
This pattern was repeated
across the land.
Today, fewer than half the lines in use
at the peak remain in service.
Here in County Down,
the track was lifted
and it was thought that
the line was history,
until, in the 1980s, a group of
enthusiasts decided to revive it.
1982, that was a pretty troubled moment
in the history of Northern Ireland.
It was at the height of the Troubles,
and, I suppose,
it would be an unlikely time
for a heritage railway to be set up.
I think we were just lucky,
in terms of the politics of this area
were very favourable
to promoting tourism
and, basically getting on with life,
at that time,
and ensuring that something kept
going on, beyond the Troubles.
The heritage project had a stow start,
with little funding
and barely any facilities.
Now ifs popular with
Downpatrick's tourists.
They come to where St Patrick,
who introduced Christianity to Ireland,
is believed to be buried.
The heritage line is run entirely
by volunteers like Robert,
who do everything from driving trains
to restoring vintage coaches.
Oh, dear, this is a poor old wreck
of a thing, isn't it?
(Robert) It is, but it's pretty much
a gem in our collection.
We found it in a field
near Hillsborough,
being used as a chicken house.
But if I mentioned the names
King George V, King George VI
and King Edward VII
and a bunch of chickens,
what do you think they'd have in common?
- They all used this carriage?
- They've all used this carriage.
This was the Belfast & County Down
Railway's royal saloon.
It was built in 1897,
for Queen Victoria's jubilee.
And, one day, you will restore it,
to regal splendour.
We a labour of love
for the volunteers
and reminds us of the railways'
important pan
in this region's history.
For the first time, my railway journey
has taken me across
an international border.
During my lifetime, relations
across that border have been strained
and rail services have been disrupted
by political issues.
But, since Bradshaws day, whenever
peoples were able to live at peace,
the train was there to smooth trade
and to link families and friends.
On the next leg of my journey,
HI be taking a step back in time...
This is like making a visit to the early
stages of the industrial Revolution.
Seeing what gave pleasure-seeking
Water/ans the thrill of their lives. ..
(woman) Being 30 to 70 feet
above the sea crashing below you.
A big change from city life.
And taking to the tracks in the latest
high-tech train simulator.
(gasps) on!
Oh, dear! I think we're all dead!
travel in Britain and Ireland.
His name was George Bradshaw,
and his railway guides inspired
the Victorians to take to the tracks.
Stop by Stop
he told them where to travel,
what to see and where to stay.
Now, 170 years later,
I'm making a series of journeys across
the length and breadth of these islands
to see what of Bradshaw's world remains.
I'm in the middle of a delightful
journey that will take me
from the Republic of Ireland
into Northern Ireland,
following my Bradshaw's Guide
across tracks that were laid
in the 19th century,
when there was one Ireland, living
under the reign of Queen Victoria.
On this leg, I'll be unravelling
the mystery of Ireland's pagan past...
That is a most extraordinary
set of stones.
I suppose, Stonehenge-like.
Seeing the technology
used by Victorian stargazers...
Now, John, that I do recognise
as a telescope.
And travelling
on a 19th-century country railway,
lovingly restored to life.
I might think I was in the wrong place,
if it weren't for
the tell-tale drift of smoke.
I'm almost halfway through exploring
the history of 19th-century Ireland.
Having seen the railways' birthplace
in Dublin,
I'm following their expansion north,
towards the industrial powerhouse
of Belfast
And my final destination
of Derry/Londonderry.
Beginning in Dundalk,
this stretch takes me over the border,
where I'll see how
this region's complex history
Has shaped the railways,
finishing up in rural County Down.
I'll be getting off at Dundalk in search
of what my Bradshaw's Guide calls
"rude vestiges of antiquity,
which consist of earthworks,
chiefly designed
for sepulchral purposes,
cromlechs, and other relics of
pre-Christian ages,
still numerous and in several instances
extremely curious."
And that has, indeed,
excited my curiosity.
The cromlechs referred to in my
guidebook means "crooked stones".
One of Ireland's finest examples
is close to Dundalk.
I'm getting off
at Dundalk's Victorian station,
designed by the famous engineer
William Hemingway Mills,
and opened in 1894.
What a beautiful station.
Dundalk, wonderfully preserved
and beautifully kept,
with its lovely flowers,
just looking great on a summer's day.
The Victorians were fascinated
and somewhat obsessed by death.
Ancient pagan monuments like cromlechs,
which honoured and interred the dead,
drew artists and scientists alike
to these mystical stones.
In Bradshaws day,
tourists from Dundalk
could stroll up from the station,
but, to follow in their footsteps,
I'm using
a more modem form of transport.
The cromlech I want to visit
is on the edge of a golf course,
so a buggy is the way to go.
Normal train service will be resumed
when possible.
The cromlech is easy to spot, standing
out incongruously amongst the golfers.
Well, that is a most extraordinary
set of stones.
I suppose, Stonehenge-like.
No idea what it does, what it is.
Hugh Smyth knows the story
of this curious structure.
- Hugh. This is a cromlech, is it?
- It's a cromlech, yes.
And what is a cromlech?
(Hugh) It's actually an ancient tomb,
dating back to the Neolithic people,
approximately 4,500 to 5,000 years ago.
This is where they would have buried
their people.
- That's extraordinarily old.
- Older than Stonehenge.
Older than the pyramids of Egypt.
The stones' true purpose
hasn't always been understood.
They've even found a place in Irish
mythology as a bed for giants.
White some Victorians correctly
associated them with tombs,
others believed they were used
for human sacrifice.
My Bradshaw's Guide
describes it as "curious".
I think the Victorians did actually
find it interesting, didn't they?
They found it very interesting,
because they had resurrected
a belief and an interest
in spirituality and paganism.
They would have come here,
on many occasions,
to look at this curiosity.
In the 19th century, poets and artists
of the Romantic movement
narked back
to pre-industrial innocence
and were fascinated by ancient beliefs.
But at the same time
the Victorians were making
great strides in scientific study.
The foundations of modern archeology
were laid,
while geologists began to unlock
the secrets of rocks.
Hugh, these are clearly massive stones.
What do we know about them?
We know that the three standing stones
are native to the mountains here.
The top capping stone
is not native to here at all.
It is native to the Mourne mountains,
which lie across Carlingford Lough
in County Down.
A theory is that these ancient people
transported this 46-tonne stone
more than ten miles,
bringing it across the 2.5 mile-wide
Lough, using rafts.
It tops what was once probably
the rocky gateway
to a much bigger structure,
covered in earth or stones.
Victorian visitors
could test their skill here,
spurred on by a local legend.
If you can manage
to land a stone on top,
good luck will follow you
all the days of your life.
That's well worth trying for,
isn't it'?
Yes. You have to try.
- Brilliant!
- Very well done!
I think ifs time for me to quit while
I'm ahead and return to the rails.
I'm back at Dundalk Station,
close to something which didn't exist
in Bradshaws time, the border.
But whose existence,
from the early part of the 20th century,
mightily affected rail services
and people living either side of it.
Tn Bradshaws day,
the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland was a single state,
governed from Westminster.
As the 19th century drew on,
calls grew for Irish independence,
but those demands met dogged
resistance, especially in the north.
In 1922, after decades
of sometimes violent dispute,
the Irish Free State was established,
but Northern Ireland remained
part of the United Kingdom.
Suddenly, the island of Ireland was
divided by an international border
and Dundalk became a frontier town.
Retired station master Brendan McQuaid
is showing me how this left its mark
on the station.
I'm guessing this gate
is of some historic significance?
It's very significant, yes.
That fence there was erected in 1922.
People disembarking had to be
customs cleared here at Dundalk.
So this gate was closed all along.
That barrier ran the whole length
of the station.
People couldn't exit the station until
they had been cleared by the customs.
Partition changed life overnight
for people living near the border.
A shopping trip to Belfast
became an international journey.
Border controls were set up
and duty levied on goods
brought across the frontier.
For railway passengers, that meant
customs officers searching the train.
So, what son of things
were they looking for?
Anything.
Virtually everything that was bought
in the north would be dutiable here.
Things like butter were cheaper
in the north than the south,
so people going to visit in the north
brought back butter with them.
Copies of the News Of The World, which
wasn't sold this side of the border.
Tide washing powder, Mars Bars,
anything.
It wasn't until the 1990s and the
creation of the Single European Market,
that the customs controls were removed.
For the people of Dundalk,
they were a way of We for 70 years.
What did people think of it?
People were very disgruntled,
Michael, and very annoyed.
Of course, they did everything that
they possibly could to hide the goods.
The stories that we hear about people
hanging goods
from the door handles of trains,
ladies buying clothes in the north,
putting them on top of the clothes
they were wearing going down.
As regards what people thought about it,
there was nothing
they could really do about it.
It was the system at the time
and people just accepted it.
Partition failed to bring peace
to the region.
With the advent of the so-called
Troubles in the late 1960s,
security was tightened further
and services were often disrupted
as the railway Kine became a target.
How long might the interruptions last?
Some might only last two or three hours,
depending on where the device
was supposed to be.
I remember one Christmas, around 1980,
and it went on for about three weeks.
The railway line was closed
for approximately three weeks.
That was the longest that we had.
The express service from Dublin
to Belfast was renamed the Enterprise
in 1947 and I'm about to experience
just how seamless
crossing the border has become.
- Hello, are you the station master?
- Yes. Anthony Monaghan is my name.
I'm taking the Enterprise in a moment.
When I get to the border,
what will I notice?
There's actually no real difference
in the crossover.
There's a signal post
and the signals change.
There's no signage,
it's just straight on in.
So, when I go over the border,
I'm going to change country,
I'm going to change currency.
You use kilometres here in the Republic,
they use miles in the North.
But there's no stopping,
just straight through?
Straight through, yes. Straight into
Newry and then, as you say, that's it.
Do I need that?
Oh, you won't need your passport,
you're OK.
- Just all the way through?
- All the way through.
A great relief. Thank you.
- No problem, Michael, thank you.
- I love your station.
The Enterprise. Beam me north.
My next station is just 15 miles
and 20 minutes away
There's barely a clue
that I'm crossing a frontier.
This is the Enterprise
crossing the border.
I've had a wonderful time in the
Republic, so, farewell, Republic,
I'm going back to the United Kingdom.
I don't need my Euros any more.
I can put them away.
My Northern Ireland adventure begins
at the first stop north of the border.
Newry Station. So, my journey continues
now in Northern Ireland.
It's time for me to find my bed
for the night
and I'm heading out
towards the east coast
in search of a slice
of Railway Age opulence.
Unfortunately, ifs no longer possible
to get there by train,
so it's the bus for me.
Buses are all very fine, but when
you're on them, you do miss the train.
My bus journey is taking me towards
the seaside resort of Newcastle,
backed by the splendour
of the Mourne mountains.
In the 19th century,
railway builders had grand plans
to transform this town
into a magnet for the tourist.
The old railway station at Newcastle
County Down has no more trains.
But the railways have left their mark
on the place
in the form of this 19th-century
resort hotel, the Slieve Donard.
This is where I'll spend the night.
This ornate Victorian hotel was built
by the Belfast and County Down Railway
Company and opened in 1898.
The hope was to lure businessmen
from Belfast to a luxurious retreat,
and before I turn in, I want to hear
about the hotel's heyday
from manager John Toner.
What was the standard
of accommodation when it opened?
Very high. Every room had its own fire
and it had the highest public areas,
like billiard rooms.
It also had a drawing room,
reading rooms and writing rooms.
There were Turkish baths
and hot seawater baths.
It really laid the path well.
And wonderful views of mountain and sea?
Yes, it's in the heart of Dundrum Bay,
looking out to the Irish Sea.
You can see it to your left. On a clear
day, you can see Scotland to your right.
You can see the Isle Of Man.
I think I've chosen well. I'll sleep
well, with this wonderful sea air.
- I'm sure you will.
- Thank you.
- Good night.
After a good night's rest,
it's time for me to rejoin my route.
An uplifting view of sea and mountain
puts a spring in my step,
as I go back to the rails.
We retraced my steps to Newry,
to continue my journey north.
Its had a station ever since 1855,
but the latest incarnation
is this modern building,
opened just two years ago.
Newry Station has the feeling
of an airport terminal.
Very new indeed.
Hello, how you doing'?
Oh, you're for Belfast?
Yes, going to Portadown.
Platform Two.
The train's coming in now, OK'?
Upstairs, over the bridge.
- Thanks. Bye.
- Bye.
Once again, I'm travelling
on one of the smart express trains
That speed between Dublin and Belfast.
But train travel hasn't always been
this comfortable, or this safe.
I don't know about you,
but when I get on a train,
I never think about
the possibility of an accident.
But let's face it. Over nearly
two centuries of railway history,
there have been
some appalling disasters.
The consolation, perhaps,
is that the worst of those
lead to improvements in procedures
and regulations.
I'm leaving the train at Portadown.
These days, ifs as close
as you can get by rail to Armagh,
the site of one of the 19th century's
most shocking accidents.
Track inspector Urban Magee
has been researching the story.
- Urban, hello.
- Hello, Michael. Pleased to meet you.
It's good to see you. I'm interested
in the Armagh rail disaster of 1889.
It's gone down in history.
What was the cause of it?
What happened was, there was a large
number of passengers
coming out of the train at Armagh,
in 1889.
As a result,
they put extra coaches on the train.
The engine provided wasn't capable
of pulling the train up the hill,
coming out of Armagh Station,
so the train stalled
and the driver decided to hook
the first four coaches off the train
and bring those on to a nearby station.
At the time, carriages didn't have
their own continuous braking system,
so to stop the remaining eight coaches
rolling down the hill,
the crew placed stones
beneath the wheels.
It was a technique
that was to prove fatal.
When he had come back, the stones had
crushed from underneath the wheels
of the rear eight and they had rolled
back down the hill into Armagh Station
and collided with a train coming out.
How big was the disaster?
At that time, 88 people died.
Several hundred were injured.
There was a total of 1200 passengers
on board the train.
It was Ireland's worst disaster
since the birth of the railways
and revealed some serious flaws
in the system.
Would the signalman not have known the
train hadn't cleared out of the patch,
when he allowed the next train through?
No. At that time, that section of track
was controlled by time interval.
So, the signalman just let the train out
at a certain amount of time,
usually an hour
after the other train had left.
He was confident that train had left
the portion of track and it hadn't.
Soon after the disaster,
an Act of Parliament was passed
requiring railway companies to introduce
better braking and signalling
and setting in train railway safety
features that we now take for granted.
A modern signal box contains
sophisticated technology
designed to ensure
that such an accident could not recur.
On this board,
I would still be able to see
these different sections of line
controlled by a signalman?
Yep. There's block sections
all along this panel here.
Trains would not be permitted to pass
this signal,
unless the section of line is clear.
So, I guess, when we have these
really appalling disasters,
in the worst cases at least,
some kind of good comes out of it,
some improvement?
Well, there's usually lessons learned
from everything.
Armagh lost its station in the 1950s,
but my 19th-century guide
gives the town's fine buildings
an approving review.
It singles out
“the well-organised observatory,
containing transit, zenith sector,
mural circle, telescope,
electro-meter, etcetera”.
As telescope is the only word
I recognise, I've come to look for that,
helped by observatory librarian,
John McFarland.
He's leading me to the observatory's
oldest instrument,
one of the very few such devices
left in the world.
What a magnificent object, John.
Yes, this is the so-called
Troughton Equatorial Telescope,
manufactured in 1795
by the firm of John & Edward Troughton,
of London.
Here's the actual telescope. Quite small
by modern standards, of course.
But large enough for the purposes
of the astronomer in those days,
working out positions of stars
on the sky.
The observatory was founded in 1789
by the Archbishop of Armagh,
Richard Robinson,
who had a vision of turning Armagh
into a university town.
And his observatory, thereafter,
pushed forward our understanding
of the universe.
The Victorians were very keen
on acquiring scientific knowledge.
- Did it have a practical value?
- Indeed it did, Michael.
The work of the astronomer in those days
was calculating the positions
of stars on the sky,
for the use of navigators and sailors.
For example,
in crossing the vast oceans,
you had to know exactly where you were,
otherwise you could crash into rocks
or be miles out
at the end of your journey.
Mapping the stars was a mammoth task
that kept the astronomers busy
for most of the 19th century.
But in the mid-1800s
this vital project was threatened
by a proposed new railway.
You had to have absolute steadiness
in your instruments.
They couldn't move, in any way,
while you were making your observations.
The astronomers feared that
vibrations from passing trains
would ruin their results.
Although they couldn't prevent
the arrival of the rails in Armagh,
observatory director Thomas Robinson
successfully blocked the line from
coming within 700 yards of the building.
In your professional opinion,
would that be a safe distance?
No. I think Robinson eventually
regretted that short distance.
He thought it should have been
much further,
once he had completed his experiments
on the disturbing forces
of the locomotives.
Despite their precautions,
the astronomers ended up throwing out
a great many results
due to vibrations from trains.
Luckily, it didn't force
the observatory to close.
Astronomers here today work
on state-of-the-art astrophysics.
But they haven't entirety abandoned
their Victorian instruments.
Now, John, that I do recognise
as a telescope. What vintage is this?
(John) This dates from 1885.
It was built by the firm
of Howard Grubb, of Dublin.
This is the telescope we'd use nowadays
for making our visual observations.
- (Carmichael) You're still using it today?
- Very much so.
As and when the weather permits,
of course.
For example, you can rotate
the dome here right around,
by pulling on this rope over here.
- May I have a go?
- Yes, please do.
(Carmichael) That operates amazingly
smoothly, doesn't it?
- (John) Yes, it's cooperating today.
- That's a great design in itself.
But I'm just so impressed
that you're still using a telescope
which is, let's face it, nearly as old
as my Bradshaw's, and just as useful.
Yes, indeed.
For the last leg of my journey,
I'm taking a detour from my route.
I've been following the mainline
that links Dublin and Belfast,
but in Bradshaw's day,
there were other, smaller lines
radiating from the island's
second city.
We come to the County Down
countryside
to see what's left of
a celebrated Victorian service.
(cow moos)
A remote platform,
set amongst fields and cows.
I might think I was in the wrong place,
if it weren't
for the tell-tale drift of smoke.
I'm catching a steam train on the
Downpatrick and County Down Railway.
It's Northern Ireland's
only full-size heritage line
and it runs on a route
created in Bradshaw's day.
The original Belfast & County Down
Railway
was built by the famous engineer
William Dargan,
the man behind Ireland's
very first railway, back in 1834.
But like so many Irish lines,
it's had a chequered history.
En route to Downpatrick,
I'm getting the story
from volunteer Robert Gardiner.
Was this built for passengers
or freight?
Passengers. The Belfast And County Down
Railway was primarily a commuter line.
This line to Downpatrick was
specifically for the legal profession,
so that judges and barristers could get
from the crown court in Belfast
down to the courthouse here
in Downpatrick,
which was a major legal centre
in the county.
A silky-smooth ride for them?
Absolutely. If you compare
the stagecoach ride from Belfast
in small, pitted roads
versus this brand-new marvel
of wondrous technology,
there would be no comparison.
But the lawyers had to wait
for their commuter line.
The route was first proposed in 1845,
when Ireland was in the grip
of the Great Famine,
which began with the potato blight
and went on to kill
around a million people.
There's a myth that Ulster
wasn't as badly affected
as the rest of the island
of Ireland was.
But it was affected and the Irish
famine did have a severe impact
on the construction of this line.
The famine delayed construction
of the line for a decade.
But by the end of the 19th century,
Ireland's railways
had spread impressively.
They reached their zenith in the 1920s,
when the island was criss-crossed
by nearly 3,500 miles of track.
But it wasn't to last.
(Michael) When did this lovely line
close to the public?
1950. It was one of the first lines
in Northern Island to be closed.
The line had been run into the ground
during the Second World War.
At that time,
the Stormont government decided
it wasn't worth the while
keeping it open.
"And we'll close it.
Sure, buses will do the work instead."
This pattern was repeated
across the land.
Today, fewer than half the lines in use
at the peak remain in service.
Here in County Down,
the track was lifted
and it was thought that
the line was history,
until, in the 1980s, a group of
enthusiasts decided to revive it.
1982, that was a pretty troubled moment
in the history of Northern Ireland.
It was at the height of the Troubles,
and, I suppose,
it would be an unlikely time
for a heritage railway to be set up.
I think we were just lucky,
in terms of the politics of this area
were very favourable
to promoting tourism
and, basically getting on with life,
at that time,
and ensuring that something kept
going on, beyond the Troubles.
The heritage project had a stow start,
with little funding
and barely any facilities.
Now ifs popular with
Downpatrick's tourists.
They come to where St Patrick,
who introduced Christianity to Ireland,
is believed to be buried.
The heritage line is run entirely
by volunteers like Robert,
who do everything from driving trains
to restoring vintage coaches.
Oh, dear, this is a poor old wreck
of a thing, isn't it?
(Robert) It is, but it's pretty much
a gem in our collection.
We found it in a field
near Hillsborough,
being used as a chicken house.
But if I mentioned the names
King George V, King George VI
and King Edward VII
and a bunch of chickens,
what do you think they'd have in common?
- They all used this carriage?
- They've all used this carriage.
This was the Belfast & County Down
Railway's royal saloon.
It was built in 1897,
for Queen Victoria's jubilee.
And, one day, you will restore it,
to regal splendour.
We a labour of love
for the volunteers
and reminds us of the railways'
important pan
in this region's history.
For the first time, my railway journey
has taken me across
an international border.
During my lifetime, relations
across that border have been strained
and rail services have been disrupted
by political issues.
But, since Bradshaws day, whenever
peoples were able to live at peace,
the train was there to smooth trade
and to link families and friends.
On the next leg of my journey,
HI be taking a step back in time...
This is like making a visit to the early
stages of the industrial Revolution.
Seeing what gave pleasure-seeking
Water/ans the thrill of their lives. ..
(woman) Being 30 to 70 feet
above the sea crashing below you.
A big change from city life.
And taking to the tracks in the latest
high-tech train simulator.
(gasps) on!
Oh, dear! I think we're all dead!