Great British Railway Journeys (2010–…): Season 5, Episode 14 - Chippenham to Gloucester - full transcript
In 1840, one man
transformed travel in Britain.
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 go,
what to see and where to stay.
And now, 170 years later,
I'm aboard for a series of rail
adventures across the United Kingdom
to see what of Bradshaw's Britain
remains.
I'm now more than halfway through
my journey from Hampshire
to Wolverhampton
and my serpentine route
has brought me out west,
where I can presently enjoy
the honey-coloured stones of Wiltshire.
Today I'll be discovering more about
technology and engineering advances.
On this leg, I discover the origins
of Victorian photography,"
Talbot made the world's first
photographic negative.
- A shot of this window.
- That is a feeling of history.
I visit Britain's longest rail tunnel
and its worrying water feature,"
(Michael) Torrents of water.
That is unbelievable.
And I receive Bristol Zoo's
seal oi approval.
Michael, if you just want
to raise your right hand.
And your left hand.
(Michael cheers) Well done!
This journey has taken me from
Southampton, through Hampshire,
on to Berkshire and into Wiltshire
from where I'll head west to Bristol,
across the Severn and through the
Cotswold, to finish in Wolverhampton.
Today's leg takes a snapshot in
Chippenham,
heads west to Bristol,
crosses over to Wales
and ends in Gloucester.
My first stop will be Chippenham.
Bradshaw's tells me that
it has two tanneries, a foundry,
and a long bridge on 23 arches
which I fear is no longer there.
"In the neighbourhood is Lacock Abbey,
seat of Talbot, Esq.,
the inventor of photography.“
In a flash
I see how my journey will develop.
I'm alighting at Chippenham
because there's no station at Lacock.
Before his house and the village
that he owned were given to the nation,
William Henry Fox Talbot MP
refused Isambard Kingdom Brunei
permission to run his railway
through his land.
But the man is better known
as the father of photography.
The curator oi the Fox Talbot Museum,
Roger Watson, knows more.
- Roger.
- Michael, very nice to meet you.
The house is absolutely superb.
What's its early history?
It starts out 1232, it was founded
as an Augustinian convent.
And remained a convent until the last
year of the dissolution of the abbeys
when it was sold off lo one of Henry
VIII's friends, William Sherrington.
In the mid-Nth century,
the Fox Talbots owned the house
and in 1840, Henry, who had
a passion for all things scientific,
invented a much-heralded
photographic process.
I want to know just
how significant that discovery was.
Is Talbot properly to be credited
with the invention of photography
as my Bradshaw's says?
There's two inventors of photography.
In England, Talbot was the inventor.
In France, Daguerre was the inventor.
But, actually, their processes
were somewhat different,
they came from different directions. I
think they both actually deserve credit.
(Roger) This is the South Gallery.
And here in the middle,
this is the latticed window
- where photographic history was made.
- How?
Talbot made the world's first
photographic negative,
- a shot of this window.
- Well, that is a feeling of history.
Using these machines?
Well, we've got a couple of things set
up here. One of them is a camera obscura
which is the pre-photographic
type of camera
and it's basically just
a box with a lens on it.
You can have a look though here.
I'm seeing an image
of what is outside,
the trees,
I can see the green grass,
but that is just a function of light.
That's not giving me an image
that I can keep and take away.
(Roger)
It's as fleeting as the light itself.
What was the vital technology in
being able to capture the image?
The vital technology was photo
chemistry. Light changes the paper,
changes it from white to black,
and that's what's important.
I've got a little camera here.
They were the first cameras he had made
by a carpenter in the village.
He would put a piece of
sensitised paper in the back
and he would end up with a nice little,
as he called them "Lilliputian images",
postage stamp size.
Patented in 1841,
Fox Talbot's innovation was
the first negative-positive process
used in photographic development.
Treating paper with light-sensitive
silver compounds and other chemicals
allowed, for the first time, the
production of an unlimited number
of identical prints
from a single negative.
It's the basic chemistry oi photography,
which is that silver nitrate,
when it mixes with sodium chloride
or table salt,
becomes a very sensitive material, so
that's what we try and use on the paper.
This is the printing frame here.
That's a proper 19th-century one.
Lift the back off
and we've got a feather inside
which usually makes a nice picture.
Lay your sensitive paper face down.
Put the backing on.
Turn it over and
see how your picture is going to look.
- (Michael) Hmm. Quite nice.
- Now out into the sunlight.
So, Roger, in a few moments
of stepping outside
into the not very bright light today
the paper has undergone
a thorough change of colour.
It's just starting now. It'll continue
on for the next ten minutes or so
and get darker and darker.
Al some point it'll be a very dark brown
and you know that it's done.
Into the darkroom next.
So we're going to move it from just
a plain water bath into the salt bath.
He found that a lot of salt
would keep it from turning dark.
And so this was one of Talbot's
breakthroughs:
how to stop the image continuing to get
darker as it was exposed to the light.
(Roger) Forty years before, people
knew how to gel the image there,
they just didn't know how to stop it.
How quickly did the Victorians
lake to photography?
It was almost immediate
and at all levels.
The day that Queen Victoria
proposed to Albert
she also bought him a photograph
at an exhibition in London.
When do you think it begins
to change society?
It changes society in a couple of areas.
One is the Crimean War, certainly.
Images coming back from that, people
saw the battlefield for the first time.
But also just the fact that people
living in faraway places
could see their monarch.
It brought the world closer, it made
the world available to everybody.
Thank you so much for this snapshot
of the early days of photography.
It's a pleasure.
In 1944, Matilda Talbot,
William's granddaughter,
gave the abbey and Lacock village
to the National Trust.
Strict rules mean residents' properties
remain unchanged,
maintaining the medieval feel of
the place, and its popularity today.
Every house in Lacock is exquisite.
It is the most beautifully preserved
village.
And although I am a great fan
of the railways
I shudder to think what would have
happened if Isambard Kingdom Brunel
had been able to bring his Weymouth
extension through the Lacock estate,
cutting dangerously close
to this lovely village.
- Why do you come to Lacock?
- Because we love the place.
It's a lovely atmosphere.
It's a very friendly place to come to.
Beautiful buildings, lovely history.
- It's extraordinarily well preserved.
- Yes, it's beautiful.
- Hello.
- Hello. How do you do?
It's very nice to see you.
I was thinking,
you live in such a charming village
but you are besieged by tourists.
- Are they ever a bit oi a nuisance?
- On the whole they're extremely nice.
- How long have you been here?
- Twenty-six years.
(woman) I still get pleasure from the
village because it really is beautiful.
It is lovely and I'm sorry that this
tourist has come and disturbed you.
- Not at all.
- I'll be on my way.
Would you like to come in
and have a drink or anything?
You're so kind, but we must be on our
way. What typical Lacock hospitality.
Thank you very much indeed. Bye-bye.
Back to Chippenham Station,
where I've spotted
an irresistible piece of
Victorian engineering history.
Here at Chippenham Station
this little plaque tells me
that this was the site office used
by Isambard Kingdom Brunei
during the construction of
the Great Western Railway.
I think nowadays a site office
would be a Portakabin,
but in Brunel's time
even the site office was beautiful.
I'd like to see what's going on inside
today.
And Gareth Jones
is going to show me around.
This is the room we believe
that most oi the work took place
when Brunel was designing.
These are the original flagstones.
Most of the ceiling is supported
by these pieces of railway line,
which have come off the actual
Great Western Railway itself.
They jolly well have. That's a rail.
Well, well.
And what you do from this office now?
We look after the car parking
for First Great Western.
I'm on my way now to
Bristol Temple Meads,
where I shall change towards Avonmouth.
I shall be leaving the train
at Clifton Down.
Bradshaw's is enthusiastic
about Clifton,
calling it "a beautiful watering place".
"The highly romantic
and picturesque country
in the midst of which it is situated
provides on every side the most
varied and extensive prospects."
And in the 19th century they
added a zoological gardens
which, according to Bradshaw's, is
near Cooks Folly on Durdham Down.
With Iron Age hill forts
overlooking its gorge,
Clifton is much older than Bristol.
The area first prospered
thanks to its medicinal hot springs,
and the upmarket suburb was already
firmly on the 19th-century map
even before Brunel's magnificent
suspension bridge opened in 1864.
Victorian zoos were about
much more than animals.
They were places suitable for
promenading and entertainment.
At Bristol Zoo, which opened in 1836,
I'm meeting Sarah-Joy Maddeaux.
- Hello, Sarah.
- Hi.
I've come through Clifton, which is
beautiful and beautifully preserved.
It must have been quite a place.
What activities were there here?
(Sarah) There was the spa at Hotwells,
but then the zoo was founded in 1836
as one of the really key attractions.
It is the oldest provincial zoo
in the world.
For £25 you could purchase
a share in the society
and that enabled you to come into
the gardens whenever you wanted.
In fact, Isambard Kingdom Brunel
was one of the first shareholders.
I've come on the railway. Does it
play any part in its development?
It does, yes. Once Clifton Downs Station
opened in 1874,
it really was key to opening access
to the zoo.
So people coming by railway to the zoo,
any animals?
We know that in 1894 the zoo
sent a tiger to London by train.
We also know that they acquired
a polar bear from Dundee
- which travelled by train.
- I don't think I'd wish
to share a compartment
with a polar bear or a tiger.
Modern loos concern themselves
very much with animal conservation
and I'm keen to find out how far
that was the case in Bradshaw's day.
Were the Victorians interested
in animal welfare?
(Sarah) This was a period
when you have the foundation of
the Royal Society for
the Prevention oi Cruelty to Animals
and the Royal Society
for the Protection of Birds
and campaigns against bear baiting
and other blood sports.
But generally they were happy
to come to the zoo and see animals
from across the globe, across the
Empire, in order to learn about them.
Now, from across the Empire,
so was there a feeling of Imperial pride
that these animals came from parts
of the map that were painted red?
Yes, I think that was very much key
to the founding of zoos
in the Victorian period.
Animal welfare has come a long way
since Bristol Zoo's
Victorian beginnings
and I'm meeting keeper Rob Goodchild
to find out more.
- Hello, Rob.
- Hi.
Just admiring your seals,
they're wonderful creatures.
Zoos have had to change a lot.
How's Bristol doing in that regard?
Nowadays it's about sustainable
breeding programmes,
mental stimulus for the animals.
We've got a seal here,
seems to be expecting something.
Yes, he knows he's going to get
some reward now.
OK, Michael, if you just want
to raise you right hand.
And your left hand.
(Michael cheers) Well done!
Now that enables you to have
a good look under there
- and make sure everything is alright?
- Yes, if he didn't raise them for us
it would be almost impossible
for me to check his flippers
because he's not likely to do it
just out of pure kindness.
A simple spin around allows me to see
that he's using all the muscles
in his body.
Fantastic.
He is a really healthy-looking specimen.
(Rob) Atari is a brilliant specimen.
He's also a fantastic father,
so his bloodline is extremely
well represented in captivity.
Just a mile away, Clifton's grand
terraces are another of its charms.
This is truly spectacular.
Bradshaw's says,
"The range of buildings
known as York Crescent
affords an agreeable southern aspect,
but the elevated situation leaves
the houses much exposed to high winds."
Of course, Bradshaw
had never heard of double glazing.
Clifton is probably most famous
for Brunel's suspension bridge.
Here I'm meeting Peter Davey,
chairman of a group which looks alter
a slightly less well-known piece
of Victorian engineering.
- Peter.
- Michael.
- A glorious view, isn't it?
- Absolutely amazing.
A wonderful piece oi engineering.
I've come here in pursuit of a railway
because there used to be
a rocks railway, didn't there?
The Clifton Rocks Railway
for getting people up and down
Hotwells to Clifton.
On the first day they arranged
to have medallions issued
to the people who travelled on
the opening day, 11th March, 1893.
- (Michael) What a treasure.
- Absolutely delightful.
Victorian publisher and funicular
railway entrepreneur Sir George Newnes
built the railway. it took two years
because local conservationists
insisted it be hidden in a tunnel
rather than scar the cliff face.
It closed in 1934, and although
evidence of its railway past remains,
the tunnel was more recently used as
a Second World War air raid shelter.
(Peter)
This is shelter number one, Michael.
You can see down here
where the people slept on those slabs.
(Michael) How many people
might have been in here?
(Peter) On this one, probably 100,
but the two other ones are bigger,
so they reckon about 300
could have slept in here.
- (Michael) You bring your own bedding?
- Bring your own bedding, your own food,
your Thermos flask,
as long as you had a ticket.
There you are, look,
and this one was to a Mr Wade.
(Michael) So this was
a member of the public
and he gets this pass and that means
he can come in here and sleep.
For the whole war or for one night.
With its stunning view,
the Avon Gorge Hotel
is the perfect place
for me to end my day,
and I love Brunel's suspension bridge.
Tomorrow, I'll go in search of
other engineering wonders.
The day has dawned bright and sunny,
but I will shortly head off
to the dark and damp
in pursuit of railway engineering
heritage.
To reach it,
I'm back at Bristol Temple Meads
to catch the First Great Western
towards Cardiff.
A much quicker journey today
than it was in the 1860s
when my "Bradshaw's" was written.
During the early decades of the railways
the only way from Bristol to south Wales
was a huge detour via Gloucester
or by ferry.
Then, in 1886,
the Severn Railway Tunnel was built.
It was more than four miles long
and remained the longest tunnel in the
United Kingdom for more than a century.
It was an enormous engineering feat
to build it,
but another one is to keep it dry,
and that remains the case
to the present day.
Passengers may appreciate
the shorter journey time
but this tunnel wasn't built
for that reason.
This extraordinary piece of
Victorian engineering
was driven by the enormous profit that
the Great Western Railway foresaw
in the transportation oi coal from the
Welsh Valleys to industrial England.
I've emerged in Wales at Severn Tunnel
Junction to meet Dai Fuller,
who's worked at the tunnel's original
pumping station for 27 years.
(Michael) Great to see you. Very
elegant pump house you have here.
Why is it necessary to pump water
out of the Severn Tunnel?
Under the construction of
the actual tunnel itself
an underground river broke through,
a fresh water river.
(Michael) A lot of water?
(Dai) If you go back to Victorian days,
they would have been pumping about
32 to 36,000,000 gallons of water a day.
Do you think people
going through on the train
have any idea that you're pumping out
millions and millions of gallons a day
- to keep them safe?
- I don't think so.
Passing underwater for over two miles,
the project cost £1.8 million.
The chief engineer, Charles Richardson,
designed the tunnel 50 feet
at its deepest, 26 foot wide
and with a roof up to 3 foot thick.
But even such an enormous structure
couldn't be engineered to keep
the surrounding water at bay.
(Michael) How did the Victorians
pump the water out?
Cornish beams were operating the pumps
to draw the water up.
I can remember as a schoolchild
fascinated by looking across here
and hearing the noises
coming from this building.
And back in '62, that ceased.
That's when it went onto electric.
A new railway delivered almost
80 million bricks and other materials
for the tunnel
and for the new village of Sudbrook,
where labourers were housed.
Miraculously, the eight-year
construction was completed
without a single fatality,
even when Richardson's men
breached an unexpected water source
dubbed "The Great Spring".
(Michael) So what is this cosy space?
This was actually built to cope with the
underground river that broke through.
If I lift this board up now you can
actually see the volume of water
that we're actually standing above.
(Michael) Torrents of water.
That is unbelievable.
(Dai) You're looking at between
four and five fool of water there
going past us.
- Four or five foot deep?
- Yes.
(Michael) That is a mighty flow.
Confident in the pump's ability
to keep the tunnel dry,
I'm keen to get trackside
to catch sight oi one oi the eight
trains per hour which pass through.
I just heard my ears go. I think we're
going to witness a train going past.
Feel that wind.
It's got a little bit colder, I think.
Here it comes, here it comes.
And a great gust of wind
as it goes past. Thai was very exciting.
That was an HST 125 inner-city
off to London.
This train will take me to Gloucester
and I shall remember on the way
that that is the route that many
passengers would've had to take
before the Severn Tunnel was built.
And there they would have changed trains
to go down the other side of the Severn
to continue their journey in England.
Ranked the tenth wealthiest town
of medieval England,
Gloucester grew rich on
the trade in woven Cotswold wool.
And when the railways arrived in 1040,
my guidebook tells me that
Gloucester regained its place
amongst the elite oi English cities.
I'm meeting local historian
Philip Moss lo find out why.
- Phil, hello.
- Hello.
Gloucester, according to Bradshaw's,
"is now the central point of
communication
between the north and the south,
the east and the west of the kingdom".
"From Plymouth there's an uninterrupted
run through Bristol and Gloucester
into the furthest points of the north
where the Iron Road
has pierced its way."
- So Gloucester was very important?
- Ll was indeed,
but in the early years the journey
was very far from being uninterrupted.
It was here at Gloucester where we had
the great change of gauge.
From 1840,
the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway
came with a standard gauge to
Gloucester.
In 1844, the Bristol and Gloucester
Railway came with a broad gauge.
The Birmingham train came in
on the southernmost platform
and the train to Bristol left from
the northernmost platform.
Consequently, everybody
had to decamp from the train.
They carried far more luggage
in those days than we do today
and it was absolute chaos.
It has been said that when anything got
lost on the railway system anywhere
people said,
"Oh, it was lost at Gloucester."
So there was a campaign really to
reduce the number of gauges to one.
- Is that the point?
- That's right.
(Philip) About 1892 the whole rail
system was one standard gauge.
Back In 1327, King Edward II
was buried at Gloucester Cathedral
and, guided by my "Bradshaw's",
that's where I'm headed next.
Here is the line east window
which is commended by Bradshaw's.
79 feet long, it tells me, 35 foot wide.
It is extraordinary.
It's an entire wall of glass
with these beautiful figures.
Very, very elegant, very unusual.
Spectacular.
Commissioned around 1350
by King Edward's son Edward Ill
as a tribute to his father,
this was once the largest
stained glass window in the world
and, incredibly,
WI» oi the original remains.
The Victorians lei! their mark
on Gloucester Cathedral, too.
The railways meant they could easily
transport heavy stone
from both York and Bath
for painstaking restoration work.
Craftsmanship that master mason,
Pascal Mychalysin, continues today.
How long have you been working as
a stonemason on Gloucester Cathedral?
Twenty-three years, Michael.
I started on the tower,
then we went to the west end
and then we went to the choir.
And then...
Well, pretty much all around
(they laugh)
- This door, did you work on that?
- Yes, we did the canopies.
Otherwise, all that you see here
is Victorian, actually.
Do you recognise the stone, Michael,
particularly at the lower stage?
If you're putting it that way,
it's probably used in Parliament.
Yes, exactly. It comes from
Anston in Yorkshire near Rotherham.
And it was brought here
with the railway.
Gloucester's master mason is French,
and these day the stone
that he works so expertly
is sourced from France as we“.
(Michael) And who is this?
She is the first abbess of
Gloucester Abbey, the Saxon Abbey.
- And she was the sister of King Osric.
- And where will she end up?
(Pascal) Inside the church
at the end of the south aisle,
just before the south concept.
And what are you working on now?
This canopy here. In effect, it could go
over the head of the statue here.
Yes. What tools do you use for this?
Well, we use practically the same tools
as medieval masons were using.
Old chisels or mallets. I can show you.
For example,
I am working with a pickaxe here.
Doing the vaulting of the canopy.
So I am removing the waste...
with the pickaxe.
(Michael) How long would it take
to do what you've done?
(Pascal) A full month of work and there
will be another three weeks full-time.
- You must be incredibly patient.
- To be a mason you have to be patient.
You have to be Zen.
Would you like to have a go?
What, and ruin your beautiful canopy?
Well, I'm sure I can trust you.
You're going to be careful?
(Michael) I'll be very careful.
I'll do exactly what you tell me.
So put your hand a bit higher
to have better control.
(Michael) Yeah.
- (Pascal) Yes.
- Is that OK?
Not bad. Give it another seven years
and I'm sure you will do good.
I've enjoyed that, Pascal,
but I really am scared of touching
such a beautiful thing on which you
have spent so many weeks already.
This stone is not needed,
so you could have a wild go if you want.
(they laugh)
Whenever I go to Bristol
I find myself surrounded
by reminders of Isambard Kingdom Brunel,
including his elegant
Clifton Suspension Bridge.
But partly we remember him
because of that iconic image
with top hat and cigar.
The Victorians will live for ever
because of photography
and for that invention we thank
William Fox Talbot of Lacock Abbey.
On the next leg, I drive a car powered
by the technology of the Victorians...
This is real motoring.
This is the way it was.
I visit the castle of
the king of salt...
It's as though a French château
had landed in
the Worcestershire countryside.
You've got to take it
with a pinch of salt.
And I fight a losing battle
in the Wars of the Roses.
Ready for the slaughter.
(man) Harder, come on.
transformed travel in Britain.
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 go,
what to see and where to stay.
And now, 170 years later,
I'm aboard for a series of rail
adventures across the United Kingdom
to see what of Bradshaw's Britain
remains.
I'm now more than halfway through
my journey from Hampshire
to Wolverhampton
and my serpentine route
has brought me out west,
where I can presently enjoy
the honey-coloured stones of Wiltshire.
Today I'll be discovering more about
technology and engineering advances.
On this leg, I discover the origins
of Victorian photography,"
Talbot made the world's first
photographic negative.
- A shot of this window.
- That is a feeling of history.
I visit Britain's longest rail tunnel
and its worrying water feature,"
(Michael) Torrents of water.
That is unbelievable.
And I receive Bristol Zoo's
seal oi approval.
Michael, if you just want
to raise your right hand.
And your left hand.
(Michael cheers) Well done!
This journey has taken me from
Southampton, through Hampshire,
on to Berkshire and into Wiltshire
from where I'll head west to Bristol,
across the Severn and through the
Cotswold, to finish in Wolverhampton.
Today's leg takes a snapshot in
Chippenham,
heads west to Bristol,
crosses over to Wales
and ends in Gloucester.
My first stop will be Chippenham.
Bradshaw's tells me that
it has two tanneries, a foundry,
and a long bridge on 23 arches
which I fear is no longer there.
"In the neighbourhood is Lacock Abbey,
seat of Talbot, Esq.,
the inventor of photography.“
In a flash
I see how my journey will develop.
I'm alighting at Chippenham
because there's no station at Lacock.
Before his house and the village
that he owned were given to the nation,
William Henry Fox Talbot MP
refused Isambard Kingdom Brunei
permission to run his railway
through his land.
But the man is better known
as the father of photography.
The curator oi the Fox Talbot Museum,
Roger Watson, knows more.
- Roger.
- Michael, very nice to meet you.
The house is absolutely superb.
What's its early history?
It starts out 1232, it was founded
as an Augustinian convent.
And remained a convent until the last
year of the dissolution of the abbeys
when it was sold off lo one of Henry
VIII's friends, William Sherrington.
In the mid-Nth century,
the Fox Talbots owned the house
and in 1840, Henry, who had
a passion for all things scientific,
invented a much-heralded
photographic process.
I want to know just
how significant that discovery was.
Is Talbot properly to be credited
with the invention of photography
as my Bradshaw's says?
There's two inventors of photography.
In England, Talbot was the inventor.
In France, Daguerre was the inventor.
But, actually, their processes
were somewhat different,
they came from different directions. I
think they both actually deserve credit.
(Roger) This is the South Gallery.
And here in the middle,
this is the latticed window
- where photographic history was made.
- How?
Talbot made the world's first
photographic negative,
- a shot of this window.
- Well, that is a feeling of history.
Using these machines?
Well, we've got a couple of things set
up here. One of them is a camera obscura
which is the pre-photographic
type of camera
and it's basically just
a box with a lens on it.
You can have a look though here.
I'm seeing an image
of what is outside,
the trees,
I can see the green grass,
but that is just a function of light.
That's not giving me an image
that I can keep and take away.
(Roger)
It's as fleeting as the light itself.
What was the vital technology in
being able to capture the image?
The vital technology was photo
chemistry. Light changes the paper,
changes it from white to black,
and that's what's important.
I've got a little camera here.
They were the first cameras he had made
by a carpenter in the village.
He would put a piece of
sensitised paper in the back
and he would end up with a nice little,
as he called them "Lilliputian images",
postage stamp size.
Patented in 1841,
Fox Talbot's innovation was
the first negative-positive process
used in photographic development.
Treating paper with light-sensitive
silver compounds and other chemicals
allowed, for the first time, the
production of an unlimited number
of identical prints
from a single negative.
It's the basic chemistry oi photography,
which is that silver nitrate,
when it mixes with sodium chloride
or table salt,
becomes a very sensitive material, so
that's what we try and use on the paper.
This is the printing frame here.
That's a proper 19th-century one.
Lift the back off
and we've got a feather inside
which usually makes a nice picture.
Lay your sensitive paper face down.
Put the backing on.
Turn it over and
see how your picture is going to look.
- (Michael) Hmm. Quite nice.
- Now out into the sunlight.
So, Roger, in a few moments
of stepping outside
into the not very bright light today
the paper has undergone
a thorough change of colour.
It's just starting now. It'll continue
on for the next ten minutes or so
and get darker and darker.
Al some point it'll be a very dark brown
and you know that it's done.
Into the darkroom next.
So we're going to move it from just
a plain water bath into the salt bath.
He found that a lot of salt
would keep it from turning dark.
And so this was one of Talbot's
breakthroughs:
how to stop the image continuing to get
darker as it was exposed to the light.
(Roger) Forty years before, people
knew how to gel the image there,
they just didn't know how to stop it.
How quickly did the Victorians
lake to photography?
It was almost immediate
and at all levels.
The day that Queen Victoria
proposed to Albert
she also bought him a photograph
at an exhibition in London.
When do you think it begins
to change society?
It changes society in a couple of areas.
One is the Crimean War, certainly.
Images coming back from that, people
saw the battlefield for the first time.
But also just the fact that people
living in faraway places
could see their monarch.
It brought the world closer, it made
the world available to everybody.
Thank you so much for this snapshot
of the early days of photography.
It's a pleasure.
In 1944, Matilda Talbot,
William's granddaughter,
gave the abbey and Lacock village
to the National Trust.
Strict rules mean residents' properties
remain unchanged,
maintaining the medieval feel of
the place, and its popularity today.
Every house in Lacock is exquisite.
It is the most beautifully preserved
village.
And although I am a great fan
of the railways
I shudder to think what would have
happened if Isambard Kingdom Brunel
had been able to bring his Weymouth
extension through the Lacock estate,
cutting dangerously close
to this lovely village.
- Why do you come to Lacock?
- Because we love the place.
It's a lovely atmosphere.
It's a very friendly place to come to.
Beautiful buildings, lovely history.
- It's extraordinarily well preserved.
- Yes, it's beautiful.
- Hello.
- Hello. How do you do?
It's very nice to see you.
I was thinking,
you live in such a charming village
but you are besieged by tourists.
- Are they ever a bit oi a nuisance?
- On the whole they're extremely nice.
- How long have you been here?
- Twenty-six years.
(woman) I still get pleasure from the
village because it really is beautiful.
It is lovely and I'm sorry that this
tourist has come and disturbed you.
- Not at all.
- I'll be on my way.
Would you like to come in
and have a drink or anything?
You're so kind, but we must be on our
way. What typical Lacock hospitality.
Thank you very much indeed. Bye-bye.
Back to Chippenham Station,
where I've spotted
an irresistible piece of
Victorian engineering history.
Here at Chippenham Station
this little plaque tells me
that this was the site office used
by Isambard Kingdom Brunei
during the construction of
the Great Western Railway.
I think nowadays a site office
would be a Portakabin,
but in Brunel's time
even the site office was beautiful.
I'd like to see what's going on inside
today.
And Gareth Jones
is going to show me around.
This is the room we believe
that most oi the work took place
when Brunel was designing.
These are the original flagstones.
Most of the ceiling is supported
by these pieces of railway line,
which have come off the actual
Great Western Railway itself.
They jolly well have. That's a rail.
Well, well.
And what you do from this office now?
We look after the car parking
for First Great Western.
I'm on my way now to
Bristol Temple Meads,
where I shall change towards Avonmouth.
I shall be leaving the train
at Clifton Down.
Bradshaw's is enthusiastic
about Clifton,
calling it "a beautiful watering place".
"The highly romantic
and picturesque country
in the midst of which it is situated
provides on every side the most
varied and extensive prospects."
And in the 19th century they
added a zoological gardens
which, according to Bradshaw's, is
near Cooks Folly on Durdham Down.
With Iron Age hill forts
overlooking its gorge,
Clifton is much older than Bristol.
The area first prospered
thanks to its medicinal hot springs,
and the upmarket suburb was already
firmly on the 19th-century map
even before Brunel's magnificent
suspension bridge opened in 1864.
Victorian zoos were about
much more than animals.
They were places suitable for
promenading and entertainment.
At Bristol Zoo, which opened in 1836,
I'm meeting Sarah-Joy Maddeaux.
- Hello, Sarah.
- Hi.
I've come through Clifton, which is
beautiful and beautifully preserved.
It must have been quite a place.
What activities were there here?
(Sarah) There was the spa at Hotwells,
but then the zoo was founded in 1836
as one of the really key attractions.
It is the oldest provincial zoo
in the world.
For £25 you could purchase
a share in the society
and that enabled you to come into
the gardens whenever you wanted.
In fact, Isambard Kingdom Brunel
was one of the first shareholders.
I've come on the railway. Does it
play any part in its development?
It does, yes. Once Clifton Downs Station
opened in 1874,
it really was key to opening access
to the zoo.
So people coming by railway to the zoo,
any animals?
We know that in 1894 the zoo
sent a tiger to London by train.
We also know that they acquired
a polar bear from Dundee
- which travelled by train.
- I don't think I'd wish
to share a compartment
with a polar bear or a tiger.
Modern loos concern themselves
very much with animal conservation
and I'm keen to find out how far
that was the case in Bradshaw's day.
Were the Victorians interested
in animal welfare?
(Sarah) This was a period
when you have the foundation of
the Royal Society for
the Prevention oi Cruelty to Animals
and the Royal Society
for the Protection of Birds
and campaigns against bear baiting
and other blood sports.
But generally they were happy
to come to the zoo and see animals
from across the globe, across the
Empire, in order to learn about them.
Now, from across the Empire,
so was there a feeling of Imperial pride
that these animals came from parts
of the map that were painted red?
Yes, I think that was very much key
to the founding of zoos
in the Victorian period.
Animal welfare has come a long way
since Bristol Zoo's
Victorian beginnings
and I'm meeting keeper Rob Goodchild
to find out more.
- Hello, Rob.
- Hi.
Just admiring your seals,
they're wonderful creatures.
Zoos have had to change a lot.
How's Bristol doing in that regard?
Nowadays it's about sustainable
breeding programmes,
mental stimulus for the animals.
We've got a seal here,
seems to be expecting something.
Yes, he knows he's going to get
some reward now.
OK, Michael, if you just want
to raise you right hand.
And your left hand.
(Michael cheers) Well done!
Now that enables you to have
a good look under there
- and make sure everything is alright?
- Yes, if he didn't raise them for us
it would be almost impossible
for me to check his flippers
because he's not likely to do it
just out of pure kindness.
A simple spin around allows me to see
that he's using all the muscles
in his body.
Fantastic.
He is a really healthy-looking specimen.
(Rob) Atari is a brilliant specimen.
He's also a fantastic father,
so his bloodline is extremely
well represented in captivity.
Just a mile away, Clifton's grand
terraces are another of its charms.
This is truly spectacular.
Bradshaw's says,
"The range of buildings
known as York Crescent
affords an agreeable southern aspect,
but the elevated situation leaves
the houses much exposed to high winds."
Of course, Bradshaw
had never heard of double glazing.
Clifton is probably most famous
for Brunel's suspension bridge.
Here I'm meeting Peter Davey,
chairman of a group which looks alter
a slightly less well-known piece
of Victorian engineering.
- Peter.
- Michael.
- A glorious view, isn't it?
- Absolutely amazing.
A wonderful piece oi engineering.
I've come here in pursuit of a railway
because there used to be
a rocks railway, didn't there?
The Clifton Rocks Railway
for getting people up and down
Hotwells to Clifton.
On the first day they arranged
to have medallions issued
to the people who travelled on
the opening day, 11th March, 1893.
- (Michael) What a treasure.
- Absolutely delightful.
Victorian publisher and funicular
railway entrepreneur Sir George Newnes
built the railway. it took two years
because local conservationists
insisted it be hidden in a tunnel
rather than scar the cliff face.
It closed in 1934, and although
evidence of its railway past remains,
the tunnel was more recently used as
a Second World War air raid shelter.
(Peter)
This is shelter number one, Michael.
You can see down here
where the people slept on those slabs.
(Michael) How many people
might have been in here?
(Peter) On this one, probably 100,
but the two other ones are bigger,
so they reckon about 300
could have slept in here.
- (Michael) You bring your own bedding?
- Bring your own bedding, your own food,
your Thermos flask,
as long as you had a ticket.
There you are, look,
and this one was to a Mr Wade.
(Michael) So this was
a member of the public
and he gets this pass and that means
he can come in here and sleep.
For the whole war or for one night.
With its stunning view,
the Avon Gorge Hotel
is the perfect place
for me to end my day,
and I love Brunel's suspension bridge.
Tomorrow, I'll go in search of
other engineering wonders.
The day has dawned bright and sunny,
but I will shortly head off
to the dark and damp
in pursuit of railway engineering
heritage.
To reach it,
I'm back at Bristol Temple Meads
to catch the First Great Western
towards Cardiff.
A much quicker journey today
than it was in the 1860s
when my "Bradshaw's" was written.
During the early decades of the railways
the only way from Bristol to south Wales
was a huge detour via Gloucester
or by ferry.
Then, in 1886,
the Severn Railway Tunnel was built.
It was more than four miles long
and remained the longest tunnel in the
United Kingdom for more than a century.
It was an enormous engineering feat
to build it,
but another one is to keep it dry,
and that remains the case
to the present day.
Passengers may appreciate
the shorter journey time
but this tunnel wasn't built
for that reason.
This extraordinary piece of
Victorian engineering
was driven by the enormous profit that
the Great Western Railway foresaw
in the transportation oi coal from the
Welsh Valleys to industrial England.
I've emerged in Wales at Severn Tunnel
Junction to meet Dai Fuller,
who's worked at the tunnel's original
pumping station for 27 years.
(Michael) Great to see you. Very
elegant pump house you have here.
Why is it necessary to pump water
out of the Severn Tunnel?
Under the construction of
the actual tunnel itself
an underground river broke through,
a fresh water river.
(Michael) A lot of water?
(Dai) If you go back to Victorian days,
they would have been pumping about
32 to 36,000,000 gallons of water a day.
Do you think people
going through on the train
have any idea that you're pumping out
millions and millions of gallons a day
- to keep them safe?
- I don't think so.
Passing underwater for over two miles,
the project cost £1.8 million.
The chief engineer, Charles Richardson,
designed the tunnel 50 feet
at its deepest, 26 foot wide
and with a roof up to 3 foot thick.
But even such an enormous structure
couldn't be engineered to keep
the surrounding water at bay.
(Michael) How did the Victorians
pump the water out?
Cornish beams were operating the pumps
to draw the water up.
I can remember as a schoolchild
fascinated by looking across here
and hearing the noises
coming from this building.
And back in '62, that ceased.
That's when it went onto electric.
A new railway delivered almost
80 million bricks and other materials
for the tunnel
and for the new village of Sudbrook,
where labourers were housed.
Miraculously, the eight-year
construction was completed
without a single fatality,
even when Richardson's men
breached an unexpected water source
dubbed "The Great Spring".
(Michael) So what is this cosy space?
This was actually built to cope with the
underground river that broke through.
If I lift this board up now you can
actually see the volume of water
that we're actually standing above.
(Michael) Torrents of water.
That is unbelievable.
(Dai) You're looking at between
four and five fool of water there
going past us.
- Four or five foot deep?
- Yes.
(Michael) That is a mighty flow.
Confident in the pump's ability
to keep the tunnel dry,
I'm keen to get trackside
to catch sight oi one oi the eight
trains per hour which pass through.
I just heard my ears go. I think we're
going to witness a train going past.
Feel that wind.
It's got a little bit colder, I think.
Here it comes, here it comes.
And a great gust of wind
as it goes past. Thai was very exciting.
That was an HST 125 inner-city
off to London.
This train will take me to Gloucester
and I shall remember on the way
that that is the route that many
passengers would've had to take
before the Severn Tunnel was built.
And there they would have changed trains
to go down the other side of the Severn
to continue their journey in England.
Ranked the tenth wealthiest town
of medieval England,
Gloucester grew rich on
the trade in woven Cotswold wool.
And when the railways arrived in 1040,
my guidebook tells me that
Gloucester regained its place
amongst the elite oi English cities.
I'm meeting local historian
Philip Moss lo find out why.
- Phil, hello.
- Hello.
Gloucester, according to Bradshaw's,
"is now the central point of
communication
between the north and the south,
the east and the west of the kingdom".
"From Plymouth there's an uninterrupted
run through Bristol and Gloucester
into the furthest points of the north
where the Iron Road
has pierced its way."
- So Gloucester was very important?
- Ll was indeed,
but in the early years the journey
was very far from being uninterrupted.
It was here at Gloucester where we had
the great change of gauge.
From 1840,
the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway
came with a standard gauge to
Gloucester.
In 1844, the Bristol and Gloucester
Railway came with a broad gauge.
The Birmingham train came in
on the southernmost platform
and the train to Bristol left from
the northernmost platform.
Consequently, everybody
had to decamp from the train.
They carried far more luggage
in those days than we do today
and it was absolute chaos.
It has been said that when anything got
lost on the railway system anywhere
people said,
"Oh, it was lost at Gloucester."
So there was a campaign really to
reduce the number of gauges to one.
- Is that the point?
- That's right.
(Philip) About 1892 the whole rail
system was one standard gauge.
Back In 1327, King Edward II
was buried at Gloucester Cathedral
and, guided by my "Bradshaw's",
that's where I'm headed next.
Here is the line east window
which is commended by Bradshaw's.
79 feet long, it tells me, 35 foot wide.
It is extraordinary.
It's an entire wall of glass
with these beautiful figures.
Very, very elegant, very unusual.
Spectacular.
Commissioned around 1350
by King Edward's son Edward Ill
as a tribute to his father,
this was once the largest
stained glass window in the world
and, incredibly,
WI» oi the original remains.
The Victorians lei! their mark
on Gloucester Cathedral, too.
The railways meant they could easily
transport heavy stone
from both York and Bath
for painstaking restoration work.
Craftsmanship that master mason,
Pascal Mychalysin, continues today.
How long have you been working as
a stonemason on Gloucester Cathedral?
Twenty-three years, Michael.
I started on the tower,
then we went to the west end
and then we went to the choir.
And then...
Well, pretty much all around
(they laugh)
- This door, did you work on that?
- Yes, we did the canopies.
Otherwise, all that you see here
is Victorian, actually.
Do you recognise the stone, Michael,
particularly at the lower stage?
If you're putting it that way,
it's probably used in Parliament.
Yes, exactly. It comes from
Anston in Yorkshire near Rotherham.
And it was brought here
with the railway.
Gloucester's master mason is French,
and these day the stone
that he works so expertly
is sourced from France as we“.
(Michael) And who is this?
She is the first abbess of
Gloucester Abbey, the Saxon Abbey.
- And she was the sister of King Osric.
- And where will she end up?
(Pascal) Inside the church
at the end of the south aisle,
just before the south concept.
And what are you working on now?
This canopy here. In effect, it could go
over the head of the statue here.
Yes. What tools do you use for this?
Well, we use practically the same tools
as medieval masons were using.
Old chisels or mallets. I can show you.
For example,
I am working with a pickaxe here.
Doing the vaulting of the canopy.
So I am removing the waste...
with the pickaxe.
(Michael) How long would it take
to do what you've done?
(Pascal) A full month of work and there
will be another three weeks full-time.
- You must be incredibly patient.
- To be a mason you have to be patient.
You have to be Zen.
Would you like to have a go?
What, and ruin your beautiful canopy?
Well, I'm sure I can trust you.
You're going to be careful?
(Michael) I'll be very careful.
I'll do exactly what you tell me.
So put your hand a bit higher
to have better control.
(Michael) Yeah.
- (Pascal) Yes.
- Is that OK?
Not bad. Give it another seven years
and I'm sure you will do good.
I've enjoyed that, Pascal,
but I really am scared of touching
such a beautiful thing on which you
have spent so many weeks already.
This stone is not needed,
so you could have a wild go if you want.
(they laugh)
Whenever I go to Bristol
I find myself surrounded
by reminders of Isambard Kingdom Brunel,
including his elegant
Clifton Suspension Bridge.
But partly we remember him
because of that iconic image
with top hat and cigar.
The Victorians will live for ever
because of photography
and for that invention we thank
William Fox Talbot of Lacock Abbey.
On the next leg, I drive a car powered
by the technology of the Victorians...
This is real motoring.
This is the way it was.
I visit the castle of
the king of salt...
It's as though a French château
had landed in
the Worcestershire countryside.
You've got to take it
with a pinch of salt.
And I fight a losing battle
in the Wars of the Roses.
Ready for the slaughter.
(man) Harder, come on.