Great British Railway Journeys (2010–…): Season 6, Episode 11 - Derby to Grantham - full transcript
[OPENING THEME MUSIC]
For Victorian Britons, George Bradshaw
was a household name.
At a time when railways
were new...
Bradshaw's guidebook inspired
them to take to the tracks.
I'm using a Bradshaw's guide to understand
how trains transformed Britain.
Its landscape...
its industry, society...
and leisure time.
As I arias-cross the country a hundred
and fifty years later...
it helps me to discover
the Britain of today.
Until the 20th century, Britain was an
intensely Christian country...
and the first to experience
an industrial revolution.
George Bradshaw, a Quaker, seems to imply that
Britain's virtues were responsible for its prosperity.
Its perseverance in serious
study had overcome mysteries...
in science and challenges in engineering.
And its international trade policy
was liberal.
Today, I'm beginning a journey that will take me
from the noisy workshops of Derby...
to the mystic tranquility of one of Britain's
earliest Christian sites at Lindisfarne.
Following my Bradshaw's guide, my journey starts
in the heart of the industrial East Midlands.
Then continues to Nottinghamshire,
before heading north...
towards to the rugged foothills
of the Pennines.
Crossing the gritty Yorkshire
West Riding...
I'll take in the history of the county
before heading up the coast...
to the industrial cities
of the north.
My journey will end on the part-time
island of Lindisfarne.
On today's leg, I'll start in the
railway hotspot of Derby.
Then travel to the city
of Nottingham...
before heading out to Sherwood Forest
and the beautiful Newstead Abbey.
My last stop is one of Lincolnshire's
best-known markets.
On the first leg of this adventure, I help to
give an old engine a fresh start.
Ooh, my goodness! George is getting
appallingly damaged here.
Discover the macho side of
the poet, Byron.
He was a fantastic boxer. He had the
champion of England...
Gentleman Jackson, actually teach
him how to box.
And find that my cooking skills aren't
What they're cracked up to be.
There's a bit of eggshell in there, Michael,
so point deducted.
According to my guidebook, "various
manufactures are carried out in Derby"...
"the most flourishing being silk, stockings,
ribbons, tape, cotton and porcelain."
The first silk mill in England was
built here in 1718...
and manufacturing has been a thread running
through Derby's history ever since.
Between the dawn of the 19th century and
the time of my Bradshaw's guide...
Britain's population doubled.
But Derby's multiplied five times - from
10,000 to 50,000 souls.
The railways played no small part in
that extraordinary transformation.
As my guidebook points out, this
industrial town was also the...
chief depot of the Midland
Railway Company.
To steer me through its illustrious history, I'm
meeting Engineering Director, Pete Erwin...
at What was affectionately known as
the "loco" works.
Nice to meet you.
It's a fantastic railway territory, this.
And I think you're celebrating 175 years
of railways here in Derby.
How did it all start?
It really started with the bringing together
of three railway companies...
into What was the
London Midland region.
And, typically at that time, if we look
over there to the new buildings...
that was originally the
Derby Locomotive works.
And, throughout its history - the growth and supply
of traction and rolling stock for the area...
it was identified that they really needed a separate
place for the locomotives and the carriage...
and, over the back of What is
the old research buildings...
there, is the Derby Carriage
and Wagonworks...
which today is occupied by Bombardier-
building trains, still, in the area.
From humble beginnings, the Midland Company
grew into a major national network.
It connected Leeds with London...
and the East Midlands to Birmingham,
Bristol, York and Manchester.
During the 1860s, the company created
London's mighty St. Pancras Station.
And with business booming, its first Locomotive
Superintendent, Matthew Kirtley...
persuaded the directors to build
their own rolling stock.
Why did the Midland Company decide to
build its own locomotives?
I mean, why not "buy in the market",
as it Were?
I think a lot of the things at that time
were really route-specific...
because of, obviously, our bridges and the horse-
drawn carriages that used to go through them.
What happens today is, we try to get as many
"go anywhere" routes as we can...
given the constraints of the
infrastructure on our railways.
The Derby site has continued to play
its part in railway history.
In the 1960s the British Rail Research Centre was
based here - and built the first tilting trains.
The Engineering Research
Centre also designed the...
high-speed Inter-City125s
that run on our railways today.
I joined the railways in 1971.
I'm the third generation of my family
to work in the industry...
and I came to BR Research in
late '78, and spent...
thirteen years of my career
with BR Research.
It's my forty-third year this year, and I
owe the industry a lot.
It's a fantastic industry to
work in.
Today, Railway Vehicle Engineering uses its skills
to give tired old trains a new lease of life.
So, historically, What Went on
in this Workshop?
This was the original
APT building...
so the Advanced Passenger Train was
developed and tested in this building.
Where We're standing now and, today, the work
undertaken by Railway Vehicle Engineering...
is very much the maintenance and overhaul
of various amounts of rolling stock.
This is part of the Northern Belle train - very
much ah overhaul and a refurbishment...
to give it its next six/eight-year life,
typically, Within the industry.
Lovely to see rolling stock in the old cream
and chocolate colours, isn't it?
Our pride and joy is just here, now.
This is the Class 73 locomotive.
This is for one of our major
customers in Network Rail.
Its getting christened the "Ultra 73", because the
important thing about this locomotive...
is that it has two modes
of operation.
It was a diesel locomotive and it
also operates off the third rail.
But, typically, the diesel element of it
was very much underpowered...
for the kind of operation that's needed.
But the important... the gauging of this...
the structure gauging - makes it a
go-anywhere locomotive...
so, to our customer -
very important.
There's something extremely satisfying about
seeing engines being given a fresh start.
- Oh, We're going on here, are we?
- Yeah.
And it's an honour for me to be allowed to help
with the finishing touches to Ultra 73.
Oh, my goodness! George is getting
appallingly damaged here.
So it's going to go where?
About there, is it?
Yep - seems about right.
The last time I applied a transfer it was
to a plastic model aircraft.
This is on a bigger scale!
It's remarkable that after 175 years, the
site constantly reinvents itself.
Whoops.
I name this a new Class 73 - Ultra.
As I re-join the East Midlands
main line...
I'm reminded that this area
has a Viking past.
"Derby" is in fact an
Old Norse name.
The "by" at the end means
"village" or "farmstead".
My next stop is Nottingham. According to my
guidebook, "near the beautiful River Trent"...
"which is well known
to the angler."
It's situated on a rocky eminence
of red sandstone"...
"and is one of the most picturesque and
healthiest towns in England".
It spawned a chain of health
stores, to boot!
Mid-Victorian Nottingham was a
severely overcrowded city...
with a population of 50,000 packed into
its cramped, medieval centre.
Death rates were high: smallpox, typhus
and tuberculosis were endemic...
and cholera alarmingly epidemic.
Against that backdrop, in 1849 John Boot
opened a small herbalists shop...
selling home-made remedies to
poor factory Workers.
And over the next 160 years his business grew into
the UK's best-known high-street chemist.
I've come to their manufacturing site
to meet archivist Sophie Clapp.
John Boot: Where had he come from?
What was his background?
So he was ah agricultural worker, and he
had a very humble background.
And he was too ill, really, to work on the land
so he came to the centre of Nottingham...
to start supplying these
herbal remedies.
So What was the next stage in the
development of Boots?
So, unfortunately, John died quite young.
From then his son, Jesse...
took over the shop, and he really
developed the business.
And he started to really challenge the established
trade of the pharmacy business by offering...
traditional medicines at a
much-reduced rate.
Central to building the business was
his extraordinary range of products.
Bestsellers were "Lobelia Pills", said to remove
obstructions from every part of the system!
"Ointment of No Name" was recommended
for a variety of skin complaints.
One of Boot's most popular products
was "Fluid Beef".
Manufacturing obviously began at
some point. Did it begin here?
No, it was in the centre of town, actually -
on Station Street and Island Street.
Very close to the station, for
obvious reasons.
So, like many factories in Nottingham, they were
based close to the railway and to the canal...
and to the main road networks.
But this site was acquired in the late
'20s as a manufacturing site...
because we were running out of
space in the centre of town.
In 1890, Jesse Boot had
ten stores.
And by 1914, the number had
multiplied to 550.
To service his shops, this huge
manufacturing building opened in 1933...
part of a SOD-acre site.
I'd taken this to be a much more modern
building. Tell me about its features.
It was designed to look
like an ocean liner.
You can tell that from the porthole-style
glass discs in the roof...
which allowed the daylight to come in. So this
was the first daylight factory in the UK.
Was it a success?
It was an absolute success. And it was
proving to be so efficient...
that we were having an excess of stock, so
What the company did was quite unique...
and it started, really, the manufacturing
Weekend. So it gave people Saturday morning off...
which was What most people would have to
work - with no reduction in pay...
which was obviously a great
initiative for the staff.
The company's high productivity was
due in part to its own railway.
Puffing Billy brought raw materials
into the heart of the factory...
and the wider rail network was used for
distribution and for workers' social outings.
In our very early days We're using the
railways to enable us to take our staff...
to the countryside or
to the seaside.
And on one occasion, we decorated
eight trains and we took them...
5,000 members of staff - down to the
British Empire Exhibition in 1924.
Down to Wembley. They were all hanging
out of the windows, smiling!
Today, the company has a workforce
of 60,000 people.
And, thanks to Jesse Boot's
philanthropy...
research into naturally occurring medicines
continues at Nottingham University.
Chris Moody is the seventh "Sir Jesse
Boot Professor of Chemistry".
- Hello, Michael.
- Good to see you.
What sort of things were they
making in Victorian times?
What sort of drugs could they
make in those days?
Well, a lot of stuff came from nature. If you look
at the Victorian adverts, they're advocating...
cocaine, morphine and all
sorts of things for treatments.
They all come from natural sources.
Aspirin was discovered in 1897.
So those are the sorts of simple synthetic drugs
that Boot and his scientists would have been making.
Aspirin comes from the
willow tree...
whose curative properties had been
known since ancient times.
But it was only in the late
19th century that a German...
firm developed the medicine
we still use today.
What have you done there -
you've added What?
I've added something called
acetic anhydride...
which is related to acetic acid, which most
people would know as vinegar.
Ha! Willow trees and vinegar! You're
making it sound very simple.
Yep. And then we add What we call a catalyst,
which in this case is a few drops of acid.
So a catalyst is something which
speeds up the process...
without being changed itself,
if I remember?
That's correct, yes.
And then we have to put it to heat
for ten to fifteen minutes.
I shall be very intrigued to
see What comes out...
because it's obviously not going to
be a little packet of tablets, is it?
No, it's not!
Once heated, the final product
looks like this.
The Boots of Nottingham are a fine
example of how the ordinary man...
in Victorian England could
stride ahead.
Time to raise my glass to them, at my
rest stop for the night.
I'm up early...
and it lifts my heart to see the newly
restored Nottingham station.
Built at the end of
Queen Victoria's reign...
the station has been spruced up,
and freed from clutter.
So it's possible to appreciate this
marvellous brick and glass building...
which expresses the pride and the
affluence of the old Midland Railway.
I'm directed now to Newstead Abbey
which, my Bradshaw's tells me...
was formerly Lord Byron's seat - to which he
succeeded when he was only ten years old.
- Good morning!
- Morning.
I'm on a pilgrimage to find out about Lord Byron.
Do you know much about Lord Byron?
Um, not really -
only What I've read.
Just apart from, obviously, there's
being in the marching band, and...
we are actually named
after Lord Byron.
We're the Mansfield Woodhouse
Byronaires marching band.
Heavens! Do you know why you're
named after Lord Byron?
I think it's just about the area, really,
because Mansfield Woodhouse...
is probably only five miles away
from Newstead Abbey itself.
So we were just named after him
really - after Lord Byron.
How fantastic. What sort of
music do you play?
Well, it's basically a kazoo and marching
band with marimbas and bells...
You know, the ones that
started off in the...
- pit villages years and years ago, with the miners.
- Yeah. Absolutely.
Er, We're quite successful, as well - we
go to the World Championships...
in a few months now.
We've won the Best Midlands' Band on
several occasions now.
Hopefully We're going to do well
this year, as well.
But you don't strike me, yourself,
as overly... Byronic.
No. No, perhaps not. If you'd seen some of my
tempers though, at the band practice sometimes...
I believe he had a bit of a temper.
So I think there's maybe that bit
lives in me a little bit!
- Oh, good... Have a great day.
- Thank you very much.
- And keep winning!
- Hopefully, yes. Thank you.
Newstead Abbey, near Sherwood Forest,
was founded in 1163...
as an Augustine Priory.
It remained a religious house for
nearly 400 years...
until its dissolution by
Henry VIII.
I'm meeting Diane Turner, one
of the house stewards...
to learn more about
Byron's connection.
So how did this religious building eventually
become a private house?
It became a private house due to the
dissolution of the monasteries.
So, Henry VIII comes on the throne and he asks
for all the religious buildings to be taken down.
And one of the ancestors of our poet Byron, John
Byron, actually purchased this for £810..
Having supported the King loyally in his
royal fights - and this was his reward.
A bargain! And then the poet Lord Byron
is descended from those Byrons?
He comes down from
those Byrons...
and he comes to inherit it from his
great uncle, the fifth Lord Byron.
But his great uncle managed
the estate very badly.
So, in 1798, when the young Byron came into
his inheritance, it was very run-down.
But I can imagine that a Romantic poet
would be inspired by a Gothic ruin.
I think he was. We see that if we
read some of his poetry.
We see that melancholy and the "gothichess"
that comes out of his poetry...
and I think that really does echo,
probably from his first view.
And he does write about his
"beloved Newstead".
So, George Byron inherits this
tremendous pile, albeit a ruin...
and, of course, he inherits a title. But
then, he's a man with a limp...
so What sort of personality
does that produce?
Well, I think probably the limp
did define him.
But I think one of the interesting things is
how good a sportsman he was.
One of the things that he did, was
that he was a fantastic boxer.
He had the champion of England - Gentleman
Jackson - actually teach him how to box.
He did sword-fighting. In this room
he did pistol practice.
The only thing he didn't
do was dance.
I sympathise with him!
But that's quite a social
disability in those days.
Apparently he would stand quite aloof,
at the side of the room...
and look that Byronic look -
as he did.
And I think that's What people
became used to seeing...
not realising that perhaps he
didn't Want to dance.
I have that image of, y'know, Mr Darcy in
Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
standing haughtily to
one side.
Yes. Actually we have heard that
perhaps the character of Darcy...
was actually based on Byron
by Jane Austen...
when she was actually at one
of these gatherings.
By 1813, Byron was at the
height of his fame.
- Byromania took off, didn't it?
- Yes.
And that was a new phenomenon
in those days?
Yes, I think he was the biggest
celebrity of the day.
One of his quotes is that he woke up one
morning and found he was famous.
And his success with Women would not
have disgraced a modern rock star.
NO, I don't think it did.
And a lot of the Women used to request
snippets of hair from Byron...
but, by all accounts, he used to take a
snippet off Boatswain the clog...
so that he didn't land up bald!
The romantic poet's energy for
writing and loving...
contrasts with the Abbey's
tranquil air.
He had a lust for life and, considering
how many mistresses he had...
the boxing may have come
in handy, too.
It's a most remarkable monument to a dog. He
must have been very, very fond of this animal.
I think he was. And I think if you read that,
it tells you how much he did love his animals...
and especially his dog.
"Here are deposited the Remains of one,"
"Who possessed Beauty Without Vanity,"
"Strength Without Insolence,"
"Courage Without Ferosity,"
"and all the virtues of Man
Without his Vices."
"This praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery
if inscribed over human Ashes"
"is here a just tribute to the Memory of
BOATSWAIN, a DOG."
So... all the human virtues and none
of the human vices.
No. And I think it shows from his poem how
much he really did love his animals.
I think it sums it up
in that poem.
I've rejoined the East Midlands
line, heading east.
I'm now crossing from Nottinghamshire
into Lincolnshire.
My next stop will be Grantham.
According to Bradshaw's, "a Parliamentary
Borough near the river Witham"...
"with some long Wolds."
"At the free school founded by Bishop Fox,
Sir Isaac Newton was educated."
I feel myself attracted to Grantham as if by
some gravitational force!
[TRAIN TANNOY ANNOUNCEMENT]
Shortly this train will be arriving...
into Grantham Station.
Grantham, situated alongside
the Great North Road...
has roots going back to
Roman times.
It's famed for having produced some of the
nation's most powerful minds.
This fine building, dating back to 1497,
is the King's School.
One of its most celebrated
17th-century scholars...
was the scientist who discovered
gravity, Sir Isaac Newton.
If Isaac Newton is Grantham's
most famous son...
then Margaret Thatcher is certainly the
town's most famous daughter.
I think, when she was growing up here, there
were three strong influences in her life.
The first, that Britain was then at war,
alone against the dictators.
The second was the example of public
service given by her father...
Councillor Roberts. And the third
was that she was...
born above her father's corner grocer's shop
in which she used sometimes to serve.
And even when she was
prime minister...
she would recite to me the price of a
half-pound of butter, or a pint of milk...
which made her considerably more in touch
than some holders of her office.
Whilst Grantham has produced a great
scientist and a prime minister...
I'm here to discover more about a delicacy
highlighted in my guidebook...
which has become an osession for local
entrepreneur Alastair Hawken.
Hello, Michael. How are you?
Good to see you.
Er, I'm intrigued by this, in Bradshaw's,
that "Grantham is noted"...
"for the manufacture of
Grantham cakes...
"a very superior sweetmeat sold
in boxes at a shilling".
Very superior, indeed, as a shilling
was a lot of money.
It certainly was, back then.
It's the oldest commercially traded
biscuit in the United Kingdom...
as far as the history books
are concerned.
And it really was a product that was first
created, y'know, when biscuits were biscuits!
[LAUGHTER]
In the 1700s, Grantham was a halt for
coaches on the Great North Road.
Passengers and drivers would stock up
on Grantham Whetstones...
which were hardy,
rusk-like biscuits.
They were some of the first biscuits
made for sale in this country.
So how did that Whetstone get
converted into a gingerbread?
Well, William Egglestone, who was one of the
bakers of Grantham Whetstones...
mistook one ingredient for another one dark
Sunday morning in his bakery.
And, hey presto, a very sweet ginger
biscuit was created...
which latterly became known as
Grantham Gingerbread.
Is it still manufactured in the
town today?
It is, absolutely. By my own fair hands and
a good team that I've got behind me.
And I think that's something special.
It needs to be created.
It's a product of Grantham.
- Are you using an original recipe?
- Yes, we are.
It's in my trusted book, here.
- You have your own trusted book!
- Exactly, just like yours!
This is a recipe book that's
been passed down...
from the family of William Egglestone,
over the generations.
And would it be like certain well-known fizzy
drinks, that the recipe is an absolute secret?
Absolute secret.
Everyone knows it.
Given that Alistair's book is about the
same age as my Bradshaw's...
it feels appropriate to
try it out.
Ah, there are the magic ingredients.
Ah ha!
- You good with eggs?
- I'm very good with eggs.
You've got some eggshell in there, Michael.
So it's a point deducted.
- Oh...
- I'll forgive you.
The biscuits hadn't been made commercially
for more than fifty years.
So, What we need to achieve is a
13g ball of dough.
- You can't be serious?
- I can be absolutely serious.
[LAUGHTER]
Many recipes claim to be
"the original"...
all with differing quantities of flour, ginger,
butter, sugar and eggs.
Finally, William Egglestone's
great-great-great-nephew...
came forward and produced the
definitive 1740s version.
- Oh! Lovely!
- Look at those!
They've spread out beautifully -
and they've got a nice dome.
And they are really a
superlative sweetmeat.
And I'm sure they're worth all
of a shilling a box.
Well, I think it would be entirely unfair to
keep these to ourselves.
I think you're right.
I'm heading back to Grantham station.
I wonder What the locals will make
of my batch?
Have a go at that.
Mmm.
- D'you like it?
- Delicious, mm.
It is Grantham Gingerbread.
Oh, right. Okay.
As made by my fair hands. Do you think
your friend here would like some?
Betty, would you like some?
I think that gets the seal of approval,
don't you?
I think so.
- How'd you find it?
- That's all right, that.
- Is it?
- Yeah.
Would you like another one,
would you?
No. I'm all right.
I've been drinking that -
I'll be feeling sick!
[LAUGHTER]
Very good. Thank you!
- Would you like to try one?
- Thank you.
Mmm. They're good.
- You like that?
- Yeah.
Good!
- Tell you What, have another one then.
- Thank you.
There we go.
- They're still warm, I think.
- They are, yes.
On this first part of my journey I've encountered
some great names from history.
Sir Isaac Newton - the genius founder
of modern science.
George Byron - who left a trail of verses
and lovers in his wake.
And Margaret Thatcher - one of the world's most
powerful women, who helped shape modern Britain.
But none of their memories is evoked by a
million last-minute Christmas presents...
nor by an outlet in almost every
major railway station...
as is the name of Jesse Boot.
Next time, I put my culinary skills to the test
using the nation's favourite cooking apple.
Quite good, that. That's a new technique, I
think. I've never clone that before!
Learn about forgotten lives in a
Victorian lunatic asylum.
There are 2,861 women, men and children buried
three-deep in unmarked graves.
And take the Wheel of a surprisingly
speedy steam engine.
I had no idea you were going to go so fast!
[LAUGHTER]
[END THEME]
For Victorian Britons, George Bradshaw
was a household name.
At a time when railways
were new...
Bradshaw's guidebook inspired
them to take to the tracks.
I'm using a Bradshaw's guide to understand
how trains transformed Britain.
Its landscape...
its industry, society...
and leisure time.
As I arias-cross the country a hundred
and fifty years later...
it helps me to discover
the Britain of today.
Until the 20th century, Britain was an
intensely Christian country...
and the first to experience
an industrial revolution.
George Bradshaw, a Quaker, seems to imply that
Britain's virtues were responsible for its prosperity.
Its perseverance in serious
study had overcome mysteries...
in science and challenges in engineering.
And its international trade policy
was liberal.
Today, I'm beginning a journey that will take me
from the noisy workshops of Derby...
to the mystic tranquility of one of Britain's
earliest Christian sites at Lindisfarne.
Following my Bradshaw's guide, my journey starts
in the heart of the industrial East Midlands.
Then continues to Nottinghamshire,
before heading north...
towards to the rugged foothills
of the Pennines.
Crossing the gritty Yorkshire
West Riding...
I'll take in the history of the county
before heading up the coast...
to the industrial cities
of the north.
My journey will end on the part-time
island of Lindisfarne.
On today's leg, I'll start in the
railway hotspot of Derby.
Then travel to the city
of Nottingham...
before heading out to Sherwood Forest
and the beautiful Newstead Abbey.
My last stop is one of Lincolnshire's
best-known markets.
On the first leg of this adventure, I help to
give an old engine a fresh start.
Ooh, my goodness! George is getting
appallingly damaged here.
Discover the macho side of
the poet, Byron.
He was a fantastic boxer. He had the
champion of England...
Gentleman Jackson, actually teach
him how to box.
And find that my cooking skills aren't
What they're cracked up to be.
There's a bit of eggshell in there, Michael,
so point deducted.
According to my guidebook, "various
manufactures are carried out in Derby"...
"the most flourishing being silk, stockings,
ribbons, tape, cotton and porcelain."
The first silk mill in England was
built here in 1718...
and manufacturing has been a thread running
through Derby's history ever since.
Between the dawn of the 19th century and
the time of my Bradshaw's guide...
Britain's population doubled.
But Derby's multiplied five times - from
10,000 to 50,000 souls.
The railways played no small part in
that extraordinary transformation.
As my guidebook points out, this
industrial town was also the...
chief depot of the Midland
Railway Company.
To steer me through its illustrious history, I'm
meeting Engineering Director, Pete Erwin...
at What was affectionately known as
the "loco" works.
Nice to meet you.
It's a fantastic railway territory, this.
And I think you're celebrating 175 years
of railways here in Derby.
How did it all start?
It really started with the bringing together
of three railway companies...
into What was the
London Midland region.
And, typically at that time, if we look
over there to the new buildings...
that was originally the
Derby Locomotive works.
And, throughout its history - the growth and supply
of traction and rolling stock for the area...
it was identified that they really needed a separate
place for the locomotives and the carriage...
and, over the back of What is
the old research buildings...
there, is the Derby Carriage
and Wagonworks...
which today is occupied by Bombardier-
building trains, still, in the area.
From humble beginnings, the Midland Company
grew into a major national network.
It connected Leeds with London...
and the East Midlands to Birmingham,
Bristol, York and Manchester.
During the 1860s, the company created
London's mighty St. Pancras Station.
And with business booming, its first Locomotive
Superintendent, Matthew Kirtley...
persuaded the directors to build
their own rolling stock.
Why did the Midland Company decide to
build its own locomotives?
I mean, why not "buy in the market",
as it Were?
I think a lot of the things at that time
were really route-specific...
because of, obviously, our bridges and the horse-
drawn carriages that used to go through them.
What happens today is, we try to get as many
"go anywhere" routes as we can...
given the constraints of the
infrastructure on our railways.
The Derby site has continued to play
its part in railway history.
In the 1960s the British Rail Research Centre was
based here - and built the first tilting trains.
The Engineering Research
Centre also designed the...
high-speed Inter-City125s
that run on our railways today.
I joined the railways in 1971.
I'm the third generation of my family
to work in the industry...
and I came to BR Research in
late '78, and spent...
thirteen years of my career
with BR Research.
It's my forty-third year this year, and I
owe the industry a lot.
It's a fantastic industry to
work in.
Today, Railway Vehicle Engineering uses its skills
to give tired old trains a new lease of life.
So, historically, What Went on
in this Workshop?
This was the original
APT building...
so the Advanced Passenger Train was
developed and tested in this building.
Where We're standing now and, today, the work
undertaken by Railway Vehicle Engineering...
is very much the maintenance and overhaul
of various amounts of rolling stock.
This is part of the Northern Belle train - very
much ah overhaul and a refurbishment...
to give it its next six/eight-year life,
typically, Within the industry.
Lovely to see rolling stock in the old cream
and chocolate colours, isn't it?
Our pride and joy is just here, now.
This is the Class 73 locomotive.
This is for one of our major
customers in Network Rail.
Its getting christened the "Ultra 73", because the
important thing about this locomotive...
is that it has two modes
of operation.
It was a diesel locomotive and it
also operates off the third rail.
But, typically, the diesel element of it
was very much underpowered...
for the kind of operation that's needed.
But the important... the gauging of this...
the structure gauging - makes it a
go-anywhere locomotive...
so, to our customer -
very important.
There's something extremely satisfying about
seeing engines being given a fresh start.
- Oh, We're going on here, are we?
- Yeah.
And it's an honour for me to be allowed to help
with the finishing touches to Ultra 73.
Oh, my goodness! George is getting
appallingly damaged here.
So it's going to go where?
About there, is it?
Yep - seems about right.
The last time I applied a transfer it was
to a plastic model aircraft.
This is on a bigger scale!
It's remarkable that after 175 years, the
site constantly reinvents itself.
Whoops.
I name this a new Class 73 - Ultra.
As I re-join the East Midlands
main line...
I'm reminded that this area
has a Viking past.
"Derby" is in fact an
Old Norse name.
The "by" at the end means
"village" or "farmstead".
My next stop is Nottingham. According to my
guidebook, "near the beautiful River Trent"...
"which is well known
to the angler."
It's situated on a rocky eminence
of red sandstone"...
"and is one of the most picturesque and
healthiest towns in England".
It spawned a chain of health
stores, to boot!
Mid-Victorian Nottingham was a
severely overcrowded city...
with a population of 50,000 packed into
its cramped, medieval centre.
Death rates were high: smallpox, typhus
and tuberculosis were endemic...
and cholera alarmingly epidemic.
Against that backdrop, in 1849 John Boot
opened a small herbalists shop...
selling home-made remedies to
poor factory Workers.
And over the next 160 years his business grew into
the UK's best-known high-street chemist.
I've come to their manufacturing site
to meet archivist Sophie Clapp.
John Boot: Where had he come from?
What was his background?
So he was ah agricultural worker, and he
had a very humble background.
And he was too ill, really, to work on the land
so he came to the centre of Nottingham...
to start supplying these
herbal remedies.
So What was the next stage in the
development of Boots?
So, unfortunately, John died quite young.
From then his son, Jesse...
took over the shop, and he really
developed the business.
And he started to really challenge the established
trade of the pharmacy business by offering...
traditional medicines at a
much-reduced rate.
Central to building the business was
his extraordinary range of products.
Bestsellers were "Lobelia Pills", said to remove
obstructions from every part of the system!
"Ointment of No Name" was recommended
for a variety of skin complaints.
One of Boot's most popular products
was "Fluid Beef".
Manufacturing obviously began at
some point. Did it begin here?
No, it was in the centre of town, actually -
on Station Street and Island Street.
Very close to the station, for
obvious reasons.
So, like many factories in Nottingham, they were
based close to the railway and to the canal...
and to the main road networks.
But this site was acquired in the late
'20s as a manufacturing site...
because we were running out of
space in the centre of town.
In 1890, Jesse Boot had
ten stores.
And by 1914, the number had
multiplied to 550.
To service his shops, this huge
manufacturing building opened in 1933...
part of a SOD-acre site.
I'd taken this to be a much more modern
building. Tell me about its features.
It was designed to look
like an ocean liner.
You can tell that from the porthole-style
glass discs in the roof...
which allowed the daylight to come in. So this
was the first daylight factory in the UK.
Was it a success?
It was an absolute success. And it was
proving to be so efficient...
that we were having an excess of stock, so
What the company did was quite unique...
and it started, really, the manufacturing
Weekend. So it gave people Saturday morning off...
which was What most people would have to
work - with no reduction in pay...
which was obviously a great
initiative for the staff.
The company's high productivity was
due in part to its own railway.
Puffing Billy brought raw materials
into the heart of the factory...
and the wider rail network was used for
distribution and for workers' social outings.
In our very early days We're using the
railways to enable us to take our staff...
to the countryside or
to the seaside.
And on one occasion, we decorated
eight trains and we took them...
5,000 members of staff - down to the
British Empire Exhibition in 1924.
Down to Wembley. They were all hanging
out of the windows, smiling!
Today, the company has a workforce
of 60,000 people.
And, thanks to Jesse Boot's
philanthropy...
research into naturally occurring medicines
continues at Nottingham University.
Chris Moody is the seventh "Sir Jesse
Boot Professor of Chemistry".
- Hello, Michael.
- Good to see you.
What sort of things were they
making in Victorian times?
What sort of drugs could they
make in those days?
Well, a lot of stuff came from nature. If you look
at the Victorian adverts, they're advocating...
cocaine, morphine and all
sorts of things for treatments.
They all come from natural sources.
Aspirin was discovered in 1897.
So those are the sorts of simple synthetic drugs
that Boot and his scientists would have been making.
Aspirin comes from the
willow tree...
whose curative properties had been
known since ancient times.
But it was only in the late
19th century that a German...
firm developed the medicine
we still use today.
What have you done there -
you've added What?
I've added something called
acetic anhydride...
which is related to acetic acid, which most
people would know as vinegar.
Ha! Willow trees and vinegar! You're
making it sound very simple.
Yep. And then we add What we call a catalyst,
which in this case is a few drops of acid.
So a catalyst is something which
speeds up the process...
without being changed itself,
if I remember?
That's correct, yes.
And then we have to put it to heat
for ten to fifteen minutes.
I shall be very intrigued to
see What comes out...
because it's obviously not going to
be a little packet of tablets, is it?
No, it's not!
Once heated, the final product
looks like this.
The Boots of Nottingham are a fine
example of how the ordinary man...
in Victorian England could
stride ahead.
Time to raise my glass to them, at my
rest stop for the night.
I'm up early...
and it lifts my heart to see the newly
restored Nottingham station.
Built at the end of
Queen Victoria's reign...
the station has been spruced up,
and freed from clutter.
So it's possible to appreciate this
marvellous brick and glass building...
which expresses the pride and the
affluence of the old Midland Railway.
I'm directed now to Newstead Abbey
which, my Bradshaw's tells me...
was formerly Lord Byron's seat - to which he
succeeded when he was only ten years old.
- Good morning!
- Morning.
I'm on a pilgrimage to find out about Lord Byron.
Do you know much about Lord Byron?
Um, not really -
only What I've read.
Just apart from, obviously, there's
being in the marching band, and...
we are actually named
after Lord Byron.
We're the Mansfield Woodhouse
Byronaires marching band.
Heavens! Do you know why you're
named after Lord Byron?
I think it's just about the area, really,
because Mansfield Woodhouse...
is probably only five miles away
from Newstead Abbey itself.
So we were just named after him
really - after Lord Byron.
How fantastic. What sort of
music do you play?
Well, it's basically a kazoo and marching
band with marimbas and bells...
You know, the ones that
started off in the...
- pit villages years and years ago, with the miners.
- Yeah. Absolutely.
Er, We're quite successful, as well - we
go to the World Championships...
in a few months now.
We've won the Best Midlands' Band on
several occasions now.
Hopefully We're going to do well
this year, as well.
But you don't strike me, yourself,
as overly... Byronic.
No. No, perhaps not. If you'd seen some of my
tempers though, at the band practice sometimes...
I believe he had a bit of a temper.
So I think there's maybe that bit
lives in me a little bit!
- Oh, good... Have a great day.
- Thank you very much.
- And keep winning!
- Hopefully, yes. Thank you.
Newstead Abbey, near Sherwood Forest,
was founded in 1163...
as an Augustine Priory.
It remained a religious house for
nearly 400 years...
until its dissolution by
Henry VIII.
I'm meeting Diane Turner, one
of the house stewards...
to learn more about
Byron's connection.
So how did this religious building eventually
become a private house?
It became a private house due to the
dissolution of the monasteries.
So, Henry VIII comes on the throne and he asks
for all the religious buildings to be taken down.
And one of the ancestors of our poet Byron, John
Byron, actually purchased this for £810..
Having supported the King loyally in his
royal fights - and this was his reward.
A bargain! And then the poet Lord Byron
is descended from those Byrons?
He comes down from
those Byrons...
and he comes to inherit it from his
great uncle, the fifth Lord Byron.
But his great uncle managed
the estate very badly.
So, in 1798, when the young Byron came into
his inheritance, it was very run-down.
But I can imagine that a Romantic poet
would be inspired by a Gothic ruin.
I think he was. We see that if we
read some of his poetry.
We see that melancholy and the "gothichess"
that comes out of his poetry...
and I think that really does echo,
probably from his first view.
And he does write about his
"beloved Newstead".
So, George Byron inherits this
tremendous pile, albeit a ruin...
and, of course, he inherits a title. But
then, he's a man with a limp...
so What sort of personality
does that produce?
Well, I think probably the limp
did define him.
But I think one of the interesting things is
how good a sportsman he was.
One of the things that he did, was
that he was a fantastic boxer.
He had the champion of England - Gentleman
Jackson - actually teach him how to box.
He did sword-fighting. In this room
he did pistol practice.
The only thing he didn't
do was dance.
I sympathise with him!
But that's quite a social
disability in those days.
Apparently he would stand quite aloof,
at the side of the room...
and look that Byronic look -
as he did.
And I think that's What people
became used to seeing...
not realising that perhaps he
didn't Want to dance.
I have that image of, y'know, Mr Darcy in
Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
standing haughtily to
one side.
Yes. Actually we have heard that
perhaps the character of Darcy...
was actually based on Byron
by Jane Austen...
when she was actually at one
of these gatherings.
By 1813, Byron was at the
height of his fame.
- Byromania took off, didn't it?
- Yes.
And that was a new phenomenon
in those days?
Yes, I think he was the biggest
celebrity of the day.
One of his quotes is that he woke up one
morning and found he was famous.
And his success with Women would not
have disgraced a modern rock star.
NO, I don't think it did.
And a lot of the Women used to request
snippets of hair from Byron...
but, by all accounts, he used to take a
snippet off Boatswain the clog...
so that he didn't land up bald!
The romantic poet's energy for
writing and loving...
contrasts with the Abbey's
tranquil air.
He had a lust for life and, considering
how many mistresses he had...
the boxing may have come
in handy, too.
It's a most remarkable monument to a dog. He
must have been very, very fond of this animal.
I think he was. And I think if you read that,
it tells you how much he did love his animals...
and especially his dog.
"Here are deposited the Remains of one,"
"Who possessed Beauty Without Vanity,"
"Strength Without Insolence,"
"Courage Without Ferosity,"
"and all the virtues of Man
Without his Vices."
"This praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery
if inscribed over human Ashes"
"is here a just tribute to the Memory of
BOATSWAIN, a DOG."
So... all the human virtues and none
of the human vices.
No. And I think it shows from his poem how
much he really did love his animals.
I think it sums it up
in that poem.
I've rejoined the East Midlands
line, heading east.
I'm now crossing from Nottinghamshire
into Lincolnshire.
My next stop will be Grantham.
According to Bradshaw's, "a Parliamentary
Borough near the river Witham"...
"with some long Wolds."
"At the free school founded by Bishop Fox,
Sir Isaac Newton was educated."
I feel myself attracted to Grantham as if by
some gravitational force!
[TRAIN TANNOY ANNOUNCEMENT]
Shortly this train will be arriving...
into Grantham Station.
Grantham, situated alongside
the Great North Road...
has roots going back to
Roman times.
It's famed for having produced some of the
nation's most powerful minds.
This fine building, dating back to 1497,
is the King's School.
One of its most celebrated
17th-century scholars...
was the scientist who discovered
gravity, Sir Isaac Newton.
If Isaac Newton is Grantham's
most famous son...
then Margaret Thatcher is certainly the
town's most famous daughter.
I think, when she was growing up here, there
were three strong influences in her life.
The first, that Britain was then at war,
alone against the dictators.
The second was the example of public
service given by her father...
Councillor Roberts. And the third
was that she was...
born above her father's corner grocer's shop
in which she used sometimes to serve.
And even when she was
prime minister...
she would recite to me the price of a
half-pound of butter, or a pint of milk...
which made her considerably more in touch
than some holders of her office.
Whilst Grantham has produced a great
scientist and a prime minister...
I'm here to discover more about a delicacy
highlighted in my guidebook...
which has become an osession for local
entrepreneur Alastair Hawken.
Hello, Michael. How are you?
Good to see you.
Er, I'm intrigued by this, in Bradshaw's,
that "Grantham is noted"...
"for the manufacture of
Grantham cakes...
"a very superior sweetmeat sold
in boxes at a shilling".
Very superior, indeed, as a shilling
was a lot of money.
It certainly was, back then.
It's the oldest commercially traded
biscuit in the United Kingdom...
as far as the history books
are concerned.
And it really was a product that was first
created, y'know, when biscuits were biscuits!
[LAUGHTER]
In the 1700s, Grantham was a halt for
coaches on the Great North Road.
Passengers and drivers would stock up
on Grantham Whetstones...
which were hardy,
rusk-like biscuits.
They were some of the first biscuits
made for sale in this country.
So how did that Whetstone get
converted into a gingerbread?
Well, William Egglestone, who was one of the
bakers of Grantham Whetstones...
mistook one ingredient for another one dark
Sunday morning in his bakery.
And, hey presto, a very sweet ginger
biscuit was created...
which latterly became known as
Grantham Gingerbread.
Is it still manufactured in the
town today?
It is, absolutely. By my own fair hands and
a good team that I've got behind me.
And I think that's something special.
It needs to be created.
It's a product of Grantham.
- Are you using an original recipe?
- Yes, we are.
It's in my trusted book, here.
- You have your own trusted book!
- Exactly, just like yours!
This is a recipe book that's
been passed down...
from the family of William Egglestone,
over the generations.
And would it be like certain well-known fizzy
drinks, that the recipe is an absolute secret?
Absolute secret.
Everyone knows it.
Given that Alistair's book is about the
same age as my Bradshaw's...
it feels appropriate to
try it out.
Ah, there are the magic ingredients.
Ah ha!
- You good with eggs?
- I'm very good with eggs.
You've got some eggshell in there, Michael.
So it's a point deducted.
- Oh...
- I'll forgive you.
The biscuits hadn't been made commercially
for more than fifty years.
So, What we need to achieve is a
13g ball of dough.
- You can't be serious?
- I can be absolutely serious.
[LAUGHTER]
Many recipes claim to be
"the original"...
all with differing quantities of flour, ginger,
butter, sugar and eggs.
Finally, William Egglestone's
great-great-great-nephew...
came forward and produced the
definitive 1740s version.
- Oh! Lovely!
- Look at those!
They've spread out beautifully -
and they've got a nice dome.
And they are really a
superlative sweetmeat.
And I'm sure they're worth all
of a shilling a box.
Well, I think it would be entirely unfair to
keep these to ourselves.
I think you're right.
I'm heading back to Grantham station.
I wonder What the locals will make
of my batch?
Have a go at that.
Mmm.
- D'you like it?
- Delicious, mm.
It is Grantham Gingerbread.
Oh, right. Okay.
As made by my fair hands. Do you think
your friend here would like some?
Betty, would you like some?
I think that gets the seal of approval,
don't you?
I think so.
- How'd you find it?
- That's all right, that.
- Is it?
- Yeah.
Would you like another one,
would you?
No. I'm all right.
I've been drinking that -
I'll be feeling sick!
[LAUGHTER]
Very good. Thank you!
- Would you like to try one?
- Thank you.
Mmm. They're good.
- You like that?
- Yeah.
Good!
- Tell you What, have another one then.
- Thank you.
There we go.
- They're still warm, I think.
- They are, yes.
On this first part of my journey I've encountered
some great names from history.
Sir Isaac Newton - the genius founder
of modern science.
George Byron - who left a trail of verses
and lovers in his wake.
And Margaret Thatcher - one of the world's most
powerful women, who helped shape modern Britain.
But none of their memories is evoked by a
million last-minute Christmas presents...
nor by an outlet in almost every
major railway station...
as is the name of Jesse Boot.
Next time, I put my culinary skills to the test
using the nation's favourite cooking apple.
Quite good, that. That's a new technique, I
think. I've never clone that before!
Learn about forgotten lives in a
Victorian lunatic asylum.
There are 2,861 women, men and children buried
three-deep in unmarked graves.
And take the Wheel of a surprisingly
speedy steam engine.
I had no idea you were going to go so fast!
[LAUGHTER]
[END THEME]