Great British Railway Journeys (2010–…): Season 5, Episode 18 - llford to Rochester - 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 halfway through a journey
that began in Norwich
and will end in Chichester.
Today, I'll be running along
the Essex bank of the Thames
before crossing the river into the
so-called Garden of England, Kent.
My journey began
in a cathedral city in Norfolk.
I travelled south through East Anglia
to Ipswich and Chelmsford.
Now I'll cross the Thames at Tilbury
and continue through Kent to Dover.
After heading inland to Tonbridge,
I'll return to the coast at Brighton,
before ending my journey
in another cathedral city,
this time in West Sussex.
On this leg,
I'll start in Ilford in Essex
before travelling to Tilbury
on the Thames.
After crossing by ferry to Gravesend,
I'll continue into Kent
and end in historic Rochester.
Today, I'll try my hand
at lowering a massive container
onto a freight train...
(bell rings)
That bell means Michael Portillo
is at the controls. Stand aside.
I'll discover the work oi
a renowned Victorian philanthropist...
Each of the images
has a before and after photograph.
And I'll ask myself,
"Who the Dickens are these characters?"
No doubt about you. You've got the iron
around your leg and a rag on your head.
You're the convict, Magwitch,
from Great Expectations.
My first stop will be Ilford.
Bradshaw's tells me
about Sir Charles Montague,
"a 17th-century member of parliament
who's buried in St Margaret's Church".
But had the book
been published any later,
it would surely have mentioned
another eminent citizen,
Dr Thomas John Bernardo.
By the hie-Nth century,
the industrial Revolution
had made Britain wealthy.
But there was a gulf
between rich and poor,
which troubled the conscience
of some Victorians.
A significant number of those who'd
made fortunes became philanthropists.
One of the most celebrated
left his mark
here in Barkingside
just outside Ilford,
and I'm meeting Diana Tickell
from Bamardds
amongst this unusual group of cottages.
- Welcome to Barnardo's Barkingside.
- Thank you very much.
So, who was Dr Barnardo?
Well, Thomas Barnardo
came over from Dublin in 1866.
He was actually a very Christian man,
was on a missionary expedition
to plan to go to the Far East.
But when he arrived in London,
he visited the East End,
and was so appalled
by the conditions that he found,
particularly for the children,
that it changed his whole life course
and he decided to stay and create
what is now Barnardo's the organisation.
The London that Thomas Barnardo
encountered in 1866,
particularly in the East End,
presented harrowing sights.
Overcrowded slums, unemployment
and disease were rife.
Gangs of destitute children roamed
the streets scrabbling to survive.
What's Barnardo's attitude to the poor?
Well, he is a very philanthropic man,
and believes that
the children that he finds
really should have a better chance.
He believes that they are not waifs and
strays that should just be left to die.
He wants to transform their lives
and give them a future.
In 1861,
lust a year after arriving in London,
Thomas Barnardo set up a ragged school
in the East End,
where destitute boys
could get a basic education.
(Michael) What's the connection
between Barnardo
and this rather idyllic
housing development?
Well, this lovely site here
is the actual homes for girls.
Victorian morals decreed that it wasn't
proper for Barnardo as a bachelor
to open a home for girls.
But in 1876,
three years after he married,
he converted a lodge
received as a wedding present
into this charming group
of 12 cottages.
His aim was to provide family homes
for penniless girls
who were particularly vulnerable
on the streets of the East End.
I mean, it seems beautiful even now.
It must have been revolutionary
in its day.
(Diana) Absolutely.
To create an environment like this
so far away from the Victorian East End
slums was really quite different.
(Michael) How did he get the money
that he required?
Well, he wasn't a rich man
so he had to set about fundraising.
He made everybody understand
that they were responsible as well
for the plight of children
in Victorian Britain.
And he was very successful.
By 1905, Barnardo's charity was looking
after 8,500 children in 96 homes.
He raised the money using some
rather modern marketing techniques.
So, Michael, what we have here
is one of the first volumes ever
of the register for boys
from Dr Barnardo's homes.
- Just after my Bradshaw's.
- Yes, so right on time.
(Diana) Here we have some lovely
images of some of the children.
Each of the images
has a before and after photograph
where you record how the boy arrived,
and how they developed once they had
grown and been supported by Barnardo.
We have a story of the child
and the reason for their admission.
We also often have the child's
own statement, which is quite unique.
(Michael) What were these photos for?
These photographs originated
for fundraising purposes.
He took the photographs for the records,
but also so that he could fundraise,
and in particular
was able to show Victorian Britain
the difference that he could make.
Barnardo understood
the power of these pictures.
Using them to advertise and raise funds
put him ahead oi his time.
Over the decades,
some of the children in Barnardo's homes
said that they weren't very well
treated. What led to that, do you think?
I think often in those days, children
were sort of seen and not heard.
We now know that some children
didn't have the best of upbringings,
and we regret that when that's happened,
but actually what's happened today
is oft the back of those stories
that children's lives
are now supported in a different way,
and children's voices
are really, really heard.
And I think the majority of children
had a very good upbringing
and have gone on to have
very successful lives.
Barnardo's devotion to
the wellbeing of children
can be seen in this unusual church
at Barkingside.
(Diana) This is the first church
ever built for children,
and we think it's the only one
in the country still.
For example, we have the low level
bell pulls here for children.
(bells rim!)
- I am a child at heart.
- Absolutely.
(Michael) Religion was important
lo Dr Barnardo.
The organisation
clearly has Christian roots,
and today we embrace those roots
and they are enhanced
by those of many other faiths.
When did Dr Bernardo die?
Well, Dr Barnardo died in 1905.
He had become a very popular man,
particularly amongst
the people of the East End
for all the effort that he had made
for the children in particular,
and when he had his funeral procession,
which went from Stepney
to Liverpool Street,
the streets were thronged with people
wanting to well wish him on his way.
His coffin then went
from Liverpool Street
to Barkingside Station on the railway.
So like Queen Victoria just before him,
his last journey was by train.
Absolutely.
This site is still part of
the Barnardo's estate,
and his organisation has survived
to become one of the biggest
children's charities in the country.
I'm continuing my journey
from nearby Upminster Station.
I'll now be travelling on
the London, Tilbury and Southend line.
It wasn't built by Brunel or by George
Stephenson or by Robert Stephenson,
but by Thomas Brassey,
the least well remembered oi
Britain's railway engineers.
But by 1847, he was responsible
for one in three miles of
the British railway system,
and by the time of his death in 1870,
for one mile in 20 of
the world's railways.
My next stop will be Tilbury.
Bradshaw's reminds us
that it was there,
when Britain was threatened
by the Spanish Armada,
that Queen Elizabeth,
"by a spirited harangue,
inspired her army
with dauntless courage“.
That's when she said, "I know I have
the body of a weak and feeble woman,
but I have the heart and stomach of
a king. And a king of England, too!“
Even in Bradshaw's time, a sturdy fort
discouraged potential invaders
from venturing further up
the River Thames towards the capital.
In 1854, the railway arrived, with
enormous consequences for the town.
The London, Tilbury
and Southend Railway
opened a station at Tilbury Riverside
to profit from the passenger steamer
services across the Thames
from Kent and beyond.
Today, the station is chased,
but Jonathan Carton has kindly agreed
to explain how it transformed Tilbury
into one of the country's
most important ports.
- Hello, Jonathan.
- Welcome to Tilbury Riverside Station.
(Michael) As mentioned in Bradshaw's.
It says, "Steamers ply between
the station and the pier at Gravesend
at the departure and arrival of every
train.“ So that was happening from here.
Well, we're standing on top of it,
but it was superseded in the 1930s
with the new railway terminus.
(Michael) And lots of railway heritage.
The booking office here.
(Jonathan) Over four million tickets
sold in 1941.
(Michael) How on earth
could it have been so many?
(Jonathan) Because there were
so many stevedores and dockers,
and of course,
all the people arriving on boats
were all coming in and out,
so it was very vibrant.
With the empire at its peak
and manufacturing booming,
by the 1880s, the London Docks
were increasingly overcrowded,
so Tilbury provided an alternative.
Now, Bradshaw's mentions
the fort alright,
but it doesn't really mention the port.
How was it that the port came to exist?
It was only in 1882 that
the East and West India Dock Company
decided to build a new downstream dock.
And they were looking
and saw that there was
a fantastic railway line already here,
and so on the back of that,
the docks were built and opened in 1886.
So the railways made it all happen.
They were the catalyst
for the whole development.
- And how's the port doing now?
- Oh, doing very well,
and a very vast, diverse set of services
which we ought to go and have a look at.
Today, Tilbury Docks is the United
Kingdom's third largest container port.
About 3,000 cargo ships a year
use the port,
handling over
12.5 million tons of cargo.
Well, it's an amazingly busy port today.
What were they doing here
in Victorian times?
When the dock first opened,
of course it was a bit sluggish,
but there were general cargos coming in.
And for instance, strangely,
sausage skin was one,
but jute and timber products
were also coming in.
One of the oddities
was the arrival of zoos.
Whole zoos had been packed up,
well, the London Zoo indeed,
and been brought here,
so there were strange pictures I've seen
of elephants coming off on cranes,
and also quite wild animals
like leopards and lions.
How is it that Tilbury
has done so well?
Well, it has maintained the railway
and the road link,
and therefore if is efficient.
And by comparison with
the old Port of London?
Doesn't exist, does it?
(Michael) All these containers,
they're using trains?
Absolutely. You see all around us,
there's something like 50 miles of
rail line within the docks originally,
and obviously freight liner services
are still taking out 80% of containers
around Great Britain,
and it's absolutely amazing.
(Michael) Well, that I have to look at.
These immensely powerful cranes
whisk the containers along
as though they were weightless.
Looks like there's nothing to it.
I'll give it a try.
- Hello, Ron!
- Hello, Michael. Come on up, sir.
We're going to
pick that container up there
and put this
in what we call a pocket wagon.
Oh, yes, look at that lovely hole
wailing for our container.
(bell rings)
That bell means Michael Portillo
is at the controls. Stand aside.
(Ron) That's it, forwards. Down you go.
(Michael) Right, one notch
and it is beginning to lower.
That's about right.
Now we're well over the target.
We're going to drop it into that hole.
- (Ron) Job done.
- Thank you very much indeed.
One container down.
I think I'll leave the rest lo Ron.
- Are you driving the train?
- I am indeed.
- Where's it headed for?
- It's going out to Leeds.
(Michael) Well, a tip for you,
I loaded the first wagon there...
- Oh, OK.
- So careful on the bends.
- I'll keep my eye on that one then.
- Thank you.
It's time for me
to continue my journey.
I'm heading now to Kent,
so I need to cross the Thames.
Bradshaw's tells me that,
"Steamers ply between this station
and the pier at Gravesend at the
departure and arrival of every train.“
Sadly, there are no more trains,
but the ferry still runs.
The ferry is still used
by dock workers,
and provides the most
easterly crossing of the River Thames.
Gravesend, says my guide,
is "a capital starting point
for a series of excursions
throughout the finest parts of Kent.“
None should neglect Cobham,
where, in the old wood and hall,
a day's enjoyment
can be most fully ensured."
Well, it should therefore be good enough
for what remains of the evening.
Cobham Hail was the seat
of an old Kentish aristocratic family,
the Darnleys.
"Bradshaw's" mentions
a family mausoleum
grandly situated on Williams Hill
in the grounds of the estate.
David Standen
is going to show me around.
Bradshaw's says that
this is "a spacious mausoleum
erected in 1183 by Lord Darnley,
but never was consecrated".
What's the story there?
There are a number of stories
as to why it wasn't consecrated,
ranging from the Bishop
running into a storm
crossing the channel the day before
he was due to consecrate it,
but the most likely reason, the reason
that it is sitting here empty today,
is probably an argument between the Earl
and the Archbishop about funding,
and particularly the amount of money
that the Darnley family
put into the church.
The Third Earl oi Darnley
ordered the mausoleum to be hum
after his family ran out of
burial space in Westminster Abbey.
Completed in 1186, the design was
inspired by the classical architecture
that the Earl had admired on
his grand tour of Italy as a young man.
It must have been considered
extraordinary, architecturally speaking.
Bradshaw's devotes
a lot of space to it.
It tells me that it's built of
Portland stone, in an octagonal form,
and that it cost £9,000.
(David) An incredible piece
of architecture of the time.
(Michael) We're very lucky then
that it's survived to the present day.
Quite a miracle
that it's survived to the current day.
It has gone through
some very turbulent times,
particularly during the '70s and '80s.
This crypt itself was filled with
car tyres on bonfire night,
petrol poured on it and set light to,
which caused the collapse of
the roof that's above us now.
And so how is it that it's been restored
to its present very good condition?
The catalyst was the impact of
the high-speed rail link
on the edge of the historic park.
The rail company agreed to put
forward £750,000 in compensation,
and that acted as a seed funding
for the restoration of the park
There's no limit to what
the railways can achieve.
Absolutely.
It's the end of the day,
and I'm fortunate to be
staying the night at Cobham Hail.
Today, I'm back in Gravesend
pursuing a recommendation
from my trusty "Bradshaw's".
The guidebook tells me that,
"The terrace gardens on each side of
the entrance to Gravesend pier
are really very creditably
and tastefully laid out.“
Unfortunately, they haven't survived,
but thanks to a military hero
who lived in Gravesend,
there's another delightful open space.
- How are you?
- (man) Very well, thank you.
- Good. Can I join you for a moment?
- (Man) Yes, you can.
- (Michael) Who's this?
- (woman) Lily.
Hello, Lily. Lily, do you walk
sometimes in the Gordon Gardens?
Oh, yes. Every morning we're down here.
(Michael) I wanted to ask you
whether you knew who General Gordon was?
(woman) Yes.
He was the chap that led
the British army at Khartoum.
The natives there
look a little bit of a dislike to him,
and pulled him out
and, bump, that was it.
General Gordon was one of Queen
Victoria's favourite army officers.
Born in Woolwich,
the son of an artillery officer,
he distinguished himself in the Crimea,
and in 1860 was posted to China
to fight in the so-called Opium Wars.
Upon his return to Britain,
he had become a popular figure,
and was posted here to Gravesend.
I'm meeting Tony Larkin in gardens
named after Gordon to find out more.
Now, Gordon of Khartoum, I think of.
He died in the Sudan.
What's he got to do with Gravesend?
He was in Gravesend for six years.
It was the longest posting
he's ever had in one place.
- What was he doing here?
- Redevelopment of the forts.
They were falling to pieces,
needed a bit to be doing.
Was he already quite well known?
Probably not in Gravesend, but around
the nation as Chinese Gordon, yes.
Why was he called Chinese Gordon?
Because of the squashing of
the Taiping Rebellion.
In May 1862,
Gordon's corps of engineers
had been assigned to strengthen
the defence of Shanghai.
This free port,
so valuable to British trade,
was threatened by an uprising,
the Taiping Rebellion,
which had raged for 12 years.
During 18 months,
troops under Gordon's command
helped to suppress the insurrection,
and to keep the port open.
This man was so used to warfare,
to action,
and then he's sent to,
forgive me, Gravesend.
Doesn't he get a bit bored here?
Yes, because at the end of the day,
when you've been in action
for something like seven years
from one place to another,
fighting and fighting and fighting,
and suddenly come to
a place like Gravesend.
Did he warm to Gravesend eventually?
Oh, yes. I think he really
genuinely loved the place.
Probably not the town itself,
but its people.
And it seems that
the feeling was mutual.
Tony has led me to an impressive
statue commemorating General Gordon.
Why were the people of Gravesend
so keen to remember Gordon?
- What had he done for them?
- It's the good works really.
Gordon had spent six years here
looking after the poor and needy,
and of the parish really.
General Gordon became the chairman
of the local ragged school
where he insisted on
a far-sighted new code of practice.
He made laws that any child
that came to this school,
whatever their religion or creed,
they were fed with food.
Because there were still
these demarcation lines about faiths.
And Gordon said,
"You will feed any child
or any person that comes to this place.
You will give them soup and bread."
And that became known as the Gordon Law.
Ifs been estimated that he gave away
00% of his army pay of £3,000 a year
to the poor of Gravesend,
and kept up his generosity
in the years after he left.
In 1884, Gordon was sent to the Sudan
to help the Egyptians
deal with a rebellion.
He died at the Siege oi Khartoum.
- What led to Gordon's death?
- (Tony) Basically, he was trapped.
On a personal level,
he could have got out I believe,
but he would not betray his people.
He was the father, he was
their governor, he was their boss,
and basically,
he decided that he would stay with them
because it would look morally bad
for him to run away.
Gordon was a national hero,
and news of his death
led to an outpouring of grief.
Nowhere more than at Gravesend.
From here, I'm embarking
on a railway journey across Kent,
and it sounds as if I'm in for a treat.
My guidebook enthuses about Kent.
"From the diversity of its surface,
the noble rivers by which it is watered,
the richness and variety of
its inland scenery,
and the more sublime beauties of
its sea coast,
this county ranks amongst the most
interesting portions of our island."
According to Bradshaw's, this is
not so much the Garden of England
as the Garden of Eden.
I'll be getting out at Rochester,
which Bradshaw's reminds me was 'a
British town before the Roman invasion“.
"An amphitheatre of hills
encircles the beautiful landscape."
"The Medway serpentines
round the castle and cathedral,
to render a complete
picturesque panorama."
I have great expectations.
I'm told there's
a tale or two of this city.
You can barely tum or twist
without spotting a reference
to a truly great author...
(woman) "This bleak place,
overgrown with nettles..."
“Charles Dickens.
(woman) "And that Philip Pirrip,
late of this parish,
and also Georgiana, wife of the above,
were dead and buried."
(applause)
- (Michael) Well read!
- (woman) Thank you.
You must be very keen Dickensians
to get dressed up like this.
Now, no doubt who you are,
because you've got the iron around
your leg and the rag around your head.
- (man) And my pork pie.
- And you've got a pork pie.
You're the convict, Magwitch,
from Great Expectations.
Why is Dickens so great in your view?
I think it was just the characters
he had. Such marvellous characters.
This is why I like doing Magwitch,
but also you have Fagin
and Miss Havisham,
- and there's just so many characters.
- (Woman) He was an artist.
He painted these stories so well for us
and gave us
such great descriptive language,
and you're drawn into it straight away.
Charles Dickens grew up near Rochester,
falling in love with a house
at Gad's Hill Place when he was a boy.
He never forgot it, and came back
to live there in his mid-forties.
With his photographic memory,
he could pepper his works
with descriptions of people and places
drawn from the Rochester
of his childhood.
Steve Martinis giving me a tour
of this Dickensian city.
Does Rochester
make its way into the novels?
All the way through his major works,
he uses the buildings
that he knew from his youth.
Behind us you've got the lovely clock,
which when he was a small boy,
he was frightened of.
In later life he wrote,
"Why on earth was he frightened of
such a thing as that?"
Another major feature
along the high street here
is Rochester Cathedral and the castle,
and the town of Rochester in Edwin Drood
was called Cloisterham,
and the centre of the story
is based in Rochester Cathedral.
(Michael) How did he feel
about railways?
Wherever he went, he went by railway,
and even when he was in America.
But that all changed when he was
involved in the Staplehurst rail crash.
The Folkestone to London boat train
derailed on a viaduct
in Staplehurst in Kent in June, 1865.
Dickens was in
a first-class compartment
and narrowly escaped with his life.
(Steve) Charles Dickens
was seen to wander around the scene
giving people brandy and water
from his top hat.
So did he not use the railways again?
Reluctantly he did use the railways,
but it did change his opinions of it
and he was very reluctant to use them.
Tucked away off the high street
is another gem of Rochester's
Dickensian heritage,
which was moved here
from its original site in Gad's Hill.
(Steve) This, of course,
is Charles Dickens's writing chalet.
On Christmas Eve in 1864,
Charles Fechter,
the actor friend of Charles Dickens,
said he had a Christmas present
waiting for him at Higham Station,
but he'd have to collect it
because it was heavy.
When they eventually went down there,
there was 56 packing cases
containing 94 pieces,
the early flat-pack,
and it was this Swiss chalet.
The story goes he used all his guests
and his staff to go down and collect it
and spend the Christmas festivities
trying to put it together.
What use did Charles Dickens
make of his Swiss chalet?
He furnished the upper floor as a study,
and did some of his most famous
and most serious work in there.
What do you think was Dickens's
contribution to Victorian society?
Charles Dickens was one of the most, or
the best, social reformers of his lime.
He was asked to stand for parliament
a couple of times,
but he turned it down
saying to the effect of
he can do more by writing one book than
he could for a lifetime in parliament.
Charles Dickens was laid to rest
in Poets' Comer at Westminster Abbey
after his death in June, 1810.
His wish to be buried in a simple grave
at Rochester Cathedral was ignored.
General Gordon of Khartoum fought
a battle against poverty in Gravesend.
Dr Barnardo, with evangelical zeal,
created a national institution
for the relief of destitute children.
Charles Dickens was perhaps the greatest
Victorian social reformer oi all.
His novels revealed the horrors of
the slums and the workhouses,
and he spread the word on speaking tours
making use of the new railways.
Next time, I'll deliver bee!
With old-fashioned directness, “
Anyone in need of a drink?
"Learn about some old balls...
Now, that is the oldest cricket ball
known to exist anywhere in the world.
It was used at a match
at Lord's in 1820.
And ruffle some feathers in Dorking.
I quite like a wash and blow-dry myself,
so we're birds of a feather.
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 halfway through a journey
that began in Norwich
and will end in Chichester.
Today, I'll be running along
the Essex bank of the Thames
before crossing the river into the
so-called Garden of England, Kent.
My journey began
in a cathedral city in Norfolk.
I travelled south through East Anglia
to Ipswich and Chelmsford.
Now I'll cross the Thames at Tilbury
and continue through Kent to Dover.
After heading inland to Tonbridge,
I'll return to the coast at Brighton,
before ending my journey
in another cathedral city,
this time in West Sussex.
On this leg,
I'll start in Ilford in Essex
before travelling to Tilbury
on the Thames.
After crossing by ferry to Gravesend,
I'll continue into Kent
and end in historic Rochester.
Today, I'll try my hand
at lowering a massive container
onto a freight train...
(bell rings)
That bell means Michael Portillo
is at the controls. Stand aside.
I'll discover the work oi
a renowned Victorian philanthropist...
Each of the images
has a before and after photograph.
And I'll ask myself,
"Who the Dickens are these characters?"
No doubt about you. You've got the iron
around your leg and a rag on your head.
You're the convict, Magwitch,
from Great Expectations.
My first stop will be Ilford.
Bradshaw's tells me
about Sir Charles Montague,
"a 17th-century member of parliament
who's buried in St Margaret's Church".
But had the book
been published any later,
it would surely have mentioned
another eminent citizen,
Dr Thomas John Bernardo.
By the hie-Nth century,
the industrial Revolution
had made Britain wealthy.
But there was a gulf
between rich and poor,
which troubled the conscience
of some Victorians.
A significant number of those who'd
made fortunes became philanthropists.
One of the most celebrated
left his mark
here in Barkingside
just outside Ilford,
and I'm meeting Diana Tickell
from Bamardds
amongst this unusual group of cottages.
- Welcome to Barnardo's Barkingside.
- Thank you very much.
So, who was Dr Barnardo?
Well, Thomas Barnardo
came over from Dublin in 1866.
He was actually a very Christian man,
was on a missionary expedition
to plan to go to the Far East.
But when he arrived in London,
he visited the East End,
and was so appalled
by the conditions that he found,
particularly for the children,
that it changed his whole life course
and he decided to stay and create
what is now Barnardo's the organisation.
The London that Thomas Barnardo
encountered in 1866,
particularly in the East End,
presented harrowing sights.
Overcrowded slums, unemployment
and disease were rife.
Gangs of destitute children roamed
the streets scrabbling to survive.
What's Barnardo's attitude to the poor?
Well, he is a very philanthropic man,
and believes that
the children that he finds
really should have a better chance.
He believes that they are not waifs and
strays that should just be left to die.
He wants to transform their lives
and give them a future.
In 1861,
lust a year after arriving in London,
Thomas Barnardo set up a ragged school
in the East End,
where destitute boys
could get a basic education.
(Michael) What's the connection
between Barnardo
and this rather idyllic
housing development?
Well, this lovely site here
is the actual homes for girls.
Victorian morals decreed that it wasn't
proper for Barnardo as a bachelor
to open a home for girls.
But in 1876,
three years after he married,
he converted a lodge
received as a wedding present
into this charming group
of 12 cottages.
His aim was to provide family homes
for penniless girls
who were particularly vulnerable
on the streets of the East End.
I mean, it seems beautiful even now.
It must have been revolutionary
in its day.
(Diana) Absolutely.
To create an environment like this
so far away from the Victorian East End
slums was really quite different.
(Michael) How did he get the money
that he required?
Well, he wasn't a rich man
so he had to set about fundraising.
He made everybody understand
that they were responsible as well
for the plight of children
in Victorian Britain.
And he was very successful.
By 1905, Barnardo's charity was looking
after 8,500 children in 96 homes.
He raised the money using some
rather modern marketing techniques.
So, Michael, what we have here
is one of the first volumes ever
of the register for boys
from Dr Barnardo's homes.
- Just after my Bradshaw's.
- Yes, so right on time.
(Diana) Here we have some lovely
images of some of the children.
Each of the images
has a before and after photograph
where you record how the boy arrived,
and how they developed once they had
grown and been supported by Barnardo.
We have a story of the child
and the reason for their admission.
We also often have the child's
own statement, which is quite unique.
(Michael) What were these photos for?
These photographs originated
for fundraising purposes.
He took the photographs for the records,
but also so that he could fundraise,
and in particular
was able to show Victorian Britain
the difference that he could make.
Barnardo understood
the power of these pictures.
Using them to advertise and raise funds
put him ahead oi his time.
Over the decades,
some of the children in Barnardo's homes
said that they weren't very well
treated. What led to that, do you think?
I think often in those days, children
were sort of seen and not heard.
We now know that some children
didn't have the best of upbringings,
and we regret that when that's happened,
but actually what's happened today
is oft the back of those stories
that children's lives
are now supported in a different way,
and children's voices
are really, really heard.
And I think the majority of children
had a very good upbringing
and have gone on to have
very successful lives.
Barnardo's devotion to
the wellbeing of children
can be seen in this unusual church
at Barkingside.
(Diana) This is the first church
ever built for children,
and we think it's the only one
in the country still.
For example, we have the low level
bell pulls here for children.
(bells rim!)
- I am a child at heart.
- Absolutely.
(Michael) Religion was important
lo Dr Barnardo.
The organisation
clearly has Christian roots,
and today we embrace those roots
and they are enhanced
by those of many other faiths.
When did Dr Bernardo die?
Well, Dr Barnardo died in 1905.
He had become a very popular man,
particularly amongst
the people of the East End
for all the effort that he had made
for the children in particular,
and when he had his funeral procession,
which went from Stepney
to Liverpool Street,
the streets were thronged with people
wanting to well wish him on his way.
His coffin then went
from Liverpool Street
to Barkingside Station on the railway.
So like Queen Victoria just before him,
his last journey was by train.
Absolutely.
This site is still part of
the Barnardo's estate,
and his organisation has survived
to become one of the biggest
children's charities in the country.
I'm continuing my journey
from nearby Upminster Station.
I'll now be travelling on
the London, Tilbury and Southend line.
It wasn't built by Brunel or by George
Stephenson or by Robert Stephenson,
but by Thomas Brassey,
the least well remembered oi
Britain's railway engineers.
But by 1847, he was responsible
for one in three miles of
the British railway system,
and by the time of his death in 1870,
for one mile in 20 of
the world's railways.
My next stop will be Tilbury.
Bradshaw's reminds us
that it was there,
when Britain was threatened
by the Spanish Armada,
that Queen Elizabeth,
"by a spirited harangue,
inspired her army
with dauntless courage“.
That's when she said, "I know I have
the body of a weak and feeble woman,
but I have the heart and stomach of
a king. And a king of England, too!“
Even in Bradshaw's time, a sturdy fort
discouraged potential invaders
from venturing further up
the River Thames towards the capital.
In 1854, the railway arrived, with
enormous consequences for the town.
The London, Tilbury
and Southend Railway
opened a station at Tilbury Riverside
to profit from the passenger steamer
services across the Thames
from Kent and beyond.
Today, the station is chased,
but Jonathan Carton has kindly agreed
to explain how it transformed Tilbury
into one of the country's
most important ports.
- Hello, Jonathan.
- Welcome to Tilbury Riverside Station.
(Michael) As mentioned in Bradshaw's.
It says, "Steamers ply between
the station and the pier at Gravesend
at the departure and arrival of every
train.“ So that was happening from here.
Well, we're standing on top of it,
but it was superseded in the 1930s
with the new railway terminus.
(Michael) And lots of railway heritage.
The booking office here.
(Jonathan) Over four million tickets
sold in 1941.
(Michael) How on earth
could it have been so many?
(Jonathan) Because there were
so many stevedores and dockers,
and of course,
all the people arriving on boats
were all coming in and out,
so it was very vibrant.
With the empire at its peak
and manufacturing booming,
by the 1880s, the London Docks
were increasingly overcrowded,
so Tilbury provided an alternative.
Now, Bradshaw's mentions
the fort alright,
but it doesn't really mention the port.
How was it that the port came to exist?
It was only in 1882 that
the East and West India Dock Company
decided to build a new downstream dock.
And they were looking
and saw that there was
a fantastic railway line already here,
and so on the back of that,
the docks were built and opened in 1886.
So the railways made it all happen.
They were the catalyst
for the whole development.
- And how's the port doing now?
- Oh, doing very well,
and a very vast, diverse set of services
which we ought to go and have a look at.
Today, Tilbury Docks is the United
Kingdom's third largest container port.
About 3,000 cargo ships a year
use the port,
handling over
12.5 million tons of cargo.
Well, it's an amazingly busy port today.
What were they doing here
in Victorian times?
When the dock first opened,
of course it was a bit sluggish,
but there were general cargos coming in.
And for instance, strangely,
sausage skin was one,
but jute and timber products
were also coming in.
One of the oddities
was the arrival of zoos.
Whole zoos had been packed up,
well, the London Zoo indeed,
and been brought here,
so there were strange pictures I've seen
of elephants coming off on cranes,
and also quite wild animals
like leopards and lions.
How is it that Tilbury
has done so well?
Well, it has maintained the railway
and the road link,
and therefore if is efficient.
And by comparison with
the old Port of London?
Doesn't exist, does it?
(Michael) All these containers,
they're using trains?
Absolutely. You see all around us,
there's something like 50 miles of
rail line within the docks originally,
and obviously freight liner services
are still taking out 80% of containers
around Great Britain,
and it's absolutely amazing.
(Michael) Well, that I have to look at.
These immensely powerful cranes
whisk the containers along
as though they were weightless.
Looks like there's nothing to it.
I'll give it a try.
- Hello, Ron!
- Hello, Michael. Come on up, sir.
We're going to
pick that container up there
and put this
in what we call a pocket wagon.
Oh, yes, look at that lovely hole
wailing for our container.
(bell rings)
That bell means Michael Portillo
is at the controls. Stand aside.
(Ron) That's it, forwards. Down you go.
(Michael) Right, one notch
and it is beginning to lower.
That's about right.
Now we're well over the target.
We're going to drop it into that hole.
- (Ron) Job done.
- Thank you very much indeed.
One container down.
I think I'll leave the rest lo Ron.
- Are you driving the train?
- I am indeed.
- Where's it headed for?
- It's going out to Leeds.
(Michael) Well, a tip for you,
I loaded the first wagon there...
- Oh, OK.
- So careful on the bends.
- I'll keep my eye on that one then.
- Thank you.
It's time for me
to continue my journey.
I'm heading now to Kent,
so I need to cross the Thames.
Bradshaw's tells me that,
"Steamers ply between this station
and the pier at Gravesend at the
departure and arrival of every train.“
Sadly, there are no more trains,
but the ferry still runs.
The ferry is still used
by dock workers,
and provides the most
easterly crossing of the River Thames.
Gravesend, says my guide,
is "a capital starting point
for a series of excursions
throughout the finest parts of Kent.“
None should neglect Cobham,
where, in the old wood and hall,
a day's enjoyment
can be most fully ensured."
Well, it should therefore be good enough
for what remains of the evening.
Cobham Hail was the seat
of an old Kentish aristocratic family,
the Darnleys.
"Bradshaw's" mentions
a family mausoleum
grandly situated on Williams Hill
in the grounds of the estate.
David Standen
is going to show me around.
Bradshaw's says that
this is "a spacious mausoleum
erected in 1183 by Lord Darnley,
but never was consecrated".
What's the story there?
There are a number of stories
as to why it wasn't consecrated,
ranging from the Bishop
running into a storm
crossing the channel the day before
he was due to consecrate it,
but the most likely reason, the reason
that it is sitting here empty today,
is probably an argument between the Earl
and the Archbishop about funding,
and particularly the amount of money
that the Darnley family
put into the church.
The Third Earl oi Darnley
ordered the mausoleum to be hum
after his family ran out of
burial space in Westminster Abbey.
Completed in 1186, the design was
inspired by the classical architecture
that the Earl had admired on
his grand tour of Italy as a young man.
It must have been considered
extraordinary, architecturally speaking.
Bradshaw's devotes
a lot of space to it.
It tells me that it's built of
Portland stone, in an octagonal form,
and that it cost £9,000.
(David) An incredible piece
of architecture of the time.
(Michael) We're very lucky then
that it's survived to the present day.
Quite a miracle
that it's survived to the current day.
It has gone through
some very turbulent times,
particularly during the '70s and '80s.
This crypt itself was filled with
car tyres on bonfire night,
petrol poured on it and set light to,
which caused the collapse of
the roof that's above us now.
And so how is it that it's been restored
to its present very good condition?
The catalyst was the impact of
the high-speed rail link
on the edge of the historic park.
The rail company agreed to put
forward £750,000 in compensation,
and that acted as a seed funding
for the restoration of the park
There's no limit to what
the railways can achieve.
Absolutely.
It's the end of the day,
and I'm fortunate to be
staying the night at Cobham Hail.
Today, I'm back in Gravesend
pursuing a recommendation
from my trusty "Bradshaw's".
The guidebook tells me that,
"The terrace gardens on each side of
the entrance to Gravesend pier
are really very creditably
and tastefully laid out.“
Unfortunately, they haven't survived,
but thanks to a military hero
who lived in Gravesend,
there's another delightful open space.
- How are you?
- (man) Very well, thank you.
- Good. Can I join you for a moment?
- (Man) Yes, you can.
- (Michael) Who's this?
- (woman) Lily.
Hello, Lily. Lily, do you walk
sometimes in the Gordon Gardens?
Oh, yes. Every morning we're down here.
(Michael) I wanted to ask you
whether you knew who General Gordon was?
(woman) Yes.
He was the chap that led
the British army at Khartoum.
The natives there
look a little bit of a dislike to him,
and pulled him out
and, bump, that was it.
General Gordon was one of Queen
Victoria's favourite army officers.
Born in Woolwich,
the son of an artillery officer,
he distinguished himself in the Crimea,
and in 1860 was posted to China
to fight in the so-called Opium Wars.
Upon his return to Britain,
he had become a popular figure,
and was posted here to Gravesend.
I'm meeting Tony Larkin in gardens
named after Gordon to find out more.
Now, Gordon of Khartoum, I think of.
He died in the Sudan.
What's he got to do with Gravesend?
He was in Gravesend for six years.
It was the longest posting
he's ever had in one place.
- What was he doing here?
- Redevelopment of the forts.
They were falling to pieces,
needed a bit to be doing.
Was he already quite well known?
Probably not in Gravesend, but around
the nation as Chinese Gordon, yes.
Why was he called Chinese Gordon?
Because of the squashing of
the Taiping Rebellion.
In May 1862,
Gordon's corps of engineers
had been assigned to strengthen
the defence of Shanghai.
This free port,
so valuable to British trade,
was threatened by an uprising,
the Taiping Rebellion,
which had raged for 12 years.
During 18 months,
troops under Gordon's command
helped to suppress the insurrection,
and to keep the port open.
This man was so used to warfare,
to action,
and then he's sent to,
forgive me, Gravesend.
Doesn't he get a bit bored here?
Yes, because at the end of the day,
when you've been in action
for something like seven years
from one place to another,
fighting and fighting and fighting,
and suddenly come to
a place like Gravesend.
Did he warm to Gravesend eventually?
Oh, yes. I think he really
genuinely loved the place.
Probably not the town itself,
but its people.
And it seems that
the feeling was mutual.
Tony has led me to an impressive
statue commemorating General Gordon.
Why were the people of Gravesend
so keen to remember Gordon?
- What had he done for them?
- It's the good works really.
Gordon had spent six years here
looking after the poor and needy,
and of the parish really.
General Gordon became the chairman
of the local ragged school
where he insisted on
a far-sighted new code of practice.
He made laws that any child
that came to this school,
whatever their religion or creed,
they were fed with food.
Because there were still
these demarcation lines about faiths.
And Gordon said,
"You will feed any child
or any person that comes to this place.
You will give them soup and bread."
And that became known as the Gordon Law.
Ifs been estimated that he gave away
00% of his army pay of £3,000 a year
to the poor of Gravesend,
and kept up his generosity
in the years after he left.
In 1884, Gordon was sent to the Sudan
to help the Egyptians
deal with a rebellion.
He died at the Siege oi Khartoum.
- What led to Gordon's death?
- (Tony) Basically, he was trapped.
On a personal level,
he could have got out I believe,
but he would not betray his people.
He was the father, he was
their governor, he was their boss,
and basically,
he decided that he would stay with them
because it would look morally bad
for him to run away.
Gordon was a national hero,
and news of his death
led to an outpouring of grief.
Nowhere more than at Gravesend.
From here, I'm embarking
on a railway journey across Kent,
and it sounds as if I'm in for a treat.
My guidebook enthuses about Kent.
"From the diversity of its surface,
the noble rivers by which it is watered,
the richness and variety of
its inland scenery,
and the more sublime beauties of
its sea coast,
this county ranks amongst the most
interesting portions of our island."
According to Bradshaw's, this is
not so much the Garden of England
as the Garden of Eden.
I'll be getting out at Rochester,
which Bradshaw's reminds me was 'a
British town before the Roman invasion“.
"An amphitheatre of hills
encircles the beautiful landscape."
"The Medway serpentines
round the castle and cathedral,
to render a complete
picturesque panorama."
I have great expectations.
I'm told there's
a tale or two of this city.
You can barely tum or twist
without spotting a reference
to a truly great author...
(woman) "This bleak place,
overgrown with nettles..."
“Charles Dickens.
(woman) "And that Philip Pirrip,
late of this parish,
and also Georgiana, wife of the above,
were dead and buried."
(applause)
- (Michael) Well read!
- (woman) Thank you.
You must be very keen Dickensians
to get dressed up like this.
Now, no doubt who you are,
because you've got the iron around
your leg and the rag around your head.
- (man) And my pork pie.
- And you've got a pork pie.
You're the convict, Magwitch,
from Great Expectations.
Why is Dickens so great in your view?
I think it was just the characters
he had. Such marvellous characters.
This is why I like doing Magwitch,
but also you have Fagin
and Miss Havisham,
- and there's just so many characters.
- (Woman) He was an artist.
He painted these stories so well for us
and gave us
such great descriptive language,
and you're drawn into it straight away.
Charles Dickens grew up near Rochester,
falling in love with a house
at Gad's Hill Place when he was a boy.
He never forgot it, and came back
to live there in his mid-forties.
With his photographic memory,
he could pepper his works
with descriptions of people and places
drawn from the Rochester
of his childhood.
Steve Martinis giving me a tour
of this Dickensian city.
Does Rochester
make its way into the novels?
All the way through his major works,
he uses the buildings
that he knew from his youth.
Behind us you've got the lovely clock,
which when he was a small boy,
he was frightened of.
In later life he wrote,
"Why on earth was he frightened of
such a thing as that?"
Another major feature
along the high street here
is Rochester Cathedral and the castle,
and the town of Rochester in Edwin Drood
was called Cloisterham,
and the centre of the story
is based in Rochester Cathedral.
(Michael) How did he feel
about railways?
Wherever he went, he went by railway,
and even when he was in America.
But that all changed when he was
involved in the Staplehurst rail crash.
The Folkestone to London boat train
derailed on a viaduct
in Staplehurst in Kent in June, 1865.
Dickens was in
a first-class compartment
and narrowly escaped with his life.
(Steve) Charles Dickens
was seen to wander around the scene
giving people brandy and water
from his top hat.
So did he not use the railways again?
Reluctantly he did use the railways,
but it did change his opinions of it
and he was very reluctant to use them.
Tucked away off the high street
is another gem of Rochester's
Dickensian heritage,
which was moved here
from its original site in Gad's Hill.
(Steve) This, of course,
is Charles Dickens's writing chalet.
On Christmas Eve in 1864,
Charles Fechter,
the actor friend of Charles Dickens,
said he had a Christmas present
waiting for him at Higham Station,
but he'd have to collect it
because it was heavy.
When they eventually went down there,
there was 56 packing cases
containing 94 pieces,
the early flat-pack,
and it was this Swiss chalet.
The story goes he used all his guests
and his staff to go down and collect it
and spend the Christmas festivities
trying to put it together.
What use did Charles Dickens
make of his Swiss chalet?
He furnished the upper floor as a study,
and did some of his most famous
and most serious work in there.
What do you think was Dickens's
contribution to Victorian society?
Charles Dickens was one of the most, or
the best, social reformers of his lime.
He was asked to stand for parliament
a couple of times,
but he turned it down
saying to the effect of
he can do more by writing one book than
he could for a lifetime in parliament.
Charles Dickens was laid to rest
in Poets' Comer at Westminster Abbey
after his death in June, 1810.
His wish to be buried in a simple grave
at Rochester Cathedral was ignored.
General Gordon of Khartoum fought
a battle against poverty in Gravesend.
Dr Barnardo, with evangelical zeal,
created a national institution
for the relief of destitute children.
Charles Dickens was perhaps the greatest
Victorian social reformer oi all.
His novels revealed the horrors of
the slums and the workhouses,
and he spread the word on speaking tours
making use of the new railways.
Next time, I'll deliver bee!
With old-fashioned directness, “
Anyone in need of a drink?
"Learn about some old balls...
Now, that is the oldest cricket ball
known to exist anywhere in the world.
It was used at a match
at Lord's in 1820.
And ruffle some feathers in Dorking.
I quite like a wash and blow-dry myself,
so we're birds of a feather.