Great British Railway Journeys (2010–…): Season 6, Episode 12 - Boston to Hensall - 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.
I'm now crossing Lincolnshire -
continuing my journey...
towards one of Britain's most ancient
Christian sites at Lindisfarne.
In the decades before my
guidebook was published,
religious tolerance had
made great advances in Britain.
The bars against Catholics,
and Protestants who didn't...
conform to the Church of England,
holding public office...
had been lifted in the 1820s - and Jews could
take their seats in the House of Commons...
without swearing a Christian oath
from the 1850s.
But my Bradshaw's reminds me
that in previous centuries...
some religious minorities had
preferred to travel abroad...
rather than stay at home
and face persecution.
My journey, which began in the
East Midlands city of Derby...
continued on to Nottinghamshire...
and will now work its Way through to
Wakefield in West Yorkshire.
It will then head east to the mighty
Humber Estuary...
catch the sweet smell of
success in York...
then continue up the coast to the
industrial cities of the North...
reaching its conclusion on
Northumberland's Holy Island.
Today's leg begins in Boston in the
flatlands of Lincolnshire...
slices into Nottinghamshire, stops off at
a South Yorkshire stately home...
and weaves through West Yorkshire before
finishing with a ghostly ride to Hensall.
I'll put my culinary skills to the test...
using the nation's favourite
cooking apple.
Just putting a bit of vigour into
this - show it who's boss.
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'd no idea you were going to go so fast!
- We're ticking over!
[LAUGHTER]
"Boston", says my guide book "is a port in
Lincolnshire on the Witham, near the Wash".
"Its namesake - one of the most polished
towns in the United States"...
"was founded by settlers from this place - who
fled thither for conscience' sake about 1630."
So that's how Boston, Lincs. links with
Boston, Massachusetts.
By Bradshaw's time Boston, Massachusetts, was
one of the world's wealthiest trading ports...
far outstripping the original Boston - which
had had its heyday back in the 13th century...
thanks to a then-booming
wool trade.
Victorian visitors to Boston, Lincolnshire, would
not find a great city to compare with its namesake.
But they would have a prospect of it from afar,
thanks to a very prominent landmark.
Visible from many, many miles away
across the Lincolnshire plain is the...
enormous tower of
St. Botolph's church.
The church being known, I suppose ironically
and affectionately, as "The Stump".
There's no definitive explanation
for its long-held nickname...
but getting off at Boston, I can
take a closer look at it.
- Morning. Are you from Boston?
- Yes, yes.
Now, you've got a lot of history here -
are you proud of it?
Oh, very much.
"The Stump"... I mean, it's one of the
tallest churches I've ever seen.
- Oh, it's lovely - and I got married there.
- Did you?
Yes. We've had our ruby
Wedding last year, so...
Congratulations. So marriages made
in "The Stump" last?
It must be the Water in Boston!
[LAUGHTER]
Perhaps it was the landscape or the way
of life that back in the 17th century...
drew its people to religious
non-conformity.
During that time, hundreds of Puritans from
the area tried to flee the country...
in order to profess their Christian
faith in their own way.
One group, including those who were later
to be known as the Pilgrim Fathers...
was imprisoned at the Boston Guildhall
during its efforts to emigrate.
I've come to meet Boston's Museum
manager, Luke Skerrit, to learn more.
What was it that made some people so desperate
that they would leave the country...
under the burden of the
established Church?
The established Church had a really
prescriptive method of worship...
that they Wished everybody
to ascribe to.
Parts of that reflect in the Book of Common Prayer,
which sets out how you conduct the Worship.
It was long-winded, so ministers didn't
actually have time to preach as part of it.
That's What they really
reacted against.
I'm Wondering why Boston - why
Lincolnshire - was a hotbed of dissent?
The Fenland area - there's some isolation
from the main parts of the country.
The people here are used to being independent.
And that Fenland, it stretches down...
all the Way to Cambridgeshire.
And a lot of Cambridge - it was a breeding ground
for quite important vicars who were really...
questioning the Bible
at that time.
One of those Cambridge-educated
clerics is the connection...
between this Boston, and
the one in the United States.
His name was John Cotton and he became
vicar of St Botolph's in 1612.
And for 21 years, his legendary three-hour
sermons filled the pews.
John Cotton was a very
charismatic individual.
He was very passionate about.
His interpretation of the Bible...
and was quite a strong non-conformist. They
wouldn't use the sign of the cross in Baptism...
he wouldn't have people kneel
for Communion...
and the church authorities didn't like,
at all, What was going on.
How does this lead to an expedition
to America?
He invokes his congregation to aspire to
having new faith in new lands...
and they take the opportunity to sail as
part of the Massachusetts Bay Company, in 1630.
The Massachusetts Bay Company was a
joint stock trading association...
set up to colonise a tract of
land in New England.
The flotilla of ships that set sail for
Massachusetts in 1630...
carried around 700 colonists, who were to
found their new model Christian community...
and the settlement that was to become
the city of Boston, USA.
Like Boston, my next destination also has
associations with unconventional Worship.
To get there I need to head west - to
pick up a connection in Grantham.
I'm on the East Coast mainline,
headed for Newark.
My destination is actually Southwell, and Bradshaw's
says "a Christian church was founded there"...
"as far back as 62AD by Paulinus,
Archishop of York"...
"and it has a large and ancient
collegiate church, or minster."
It's a stained-glass Window in that church
which is at the core of my expedition.
Southwell once had a station, but
thanks to the Beeching cuts...
the final whistle blew
there in 1964.
So I'm getting off eight miles east
at Newark Northgate.
Southwell is an elegant market town, fifteen
miles north-east of Nottingham.
Its centrepiece is a massive and
austerely beautiful minster...
considered by many to be one of
England's finest medieval churches.
Stained-glass windows are normally devoted to
the Madonna and child, the Trinity, saints.
This one is devoted to the
Bramley apple...
meaning there must be something sacred, holy,
or at least celebrating that it's a gift from God.
Indeed, this humble fruit is held in deep
reverence by the people of Southwell.
They named their library after it -
and their newspaper.
And each October there's a festival
to celebrate its greatness.
And the root of this fervour took hold
at the beginning of the 1800s...
in an unassuming cottage garden, Where
I'm meeting Adrian Barlow...
the Chief Executive of English
Apples and Pears.
- Adrian, hello.
- Hello, Michael. How are you?
Very Well!
That's a Bramley apple, I assume?
But not any old Bramley apple?
You're absolutely right - this is the original Bramley
tree. And it really is an extraordinary story...
because the cottage was owned
by the Brailsford family...
and young Mary-Ann was watching her mother
prepare some apples for cooking.
And she took a pip and planted it-
and here is the tree that it grew into.
And so, this seed that got planted, was
in some way, a new variant...
- something that had never been seen before?
- Absolutely right.
It was just a one in several million
chance that this tree...
turned out to produce apples which are absolutely
unrivalled in terms of their cooking abilities.
It has a Wonderful taste - it's a mix
of tartness and sugars...
and that taste comes right through the
cooking process undiminished.
And who first recognised that this
was such a special apple?
Well, a local nurseryman,
Henry Merryweather...
said "I've heard about these apples -
Where do they come from?"
And, by this time, the Brailsfords had moved
out and Matthew Bramley lived here.
So Henry Merryweather said to him "I would like
to take some cuttings from your tree"...
"and to propagate the variety".
Matthew Bramley said "Fine, but you must
call it the Bramley seedling".
And so you're telling me that all the - I suppose,
by now, millions of - Bramley apple trees...
- originate with this one here?
- Absolutely.
Bramley became a firm
Victorian favourite...
winning first-class certificates from
horticultural societies.
And its popularity hasn't waned...
because today 95% of apples sold
commercially for cooking are Bramley.
To gain first-hand experience of this famed
fruit, at the aptly-named local pub...
I'm helping chef Jack Arkless to
make one of his specialities.
A classic Bramley apple pie.
We need to just cook the apples slightly
with a bit of sugar and lemon juice.
Really good squeeze of
lemon juice.
Now, I don't like too much sugar
in my apple pie.
Normally put about two tablespoons in
for this amount of apples.
I'd probably say that's
about perfect.
Mmmmm!
- Doesn't that look good?!
- Smells rather good as well, actually, doesn't it?
I have a feeling that the difficult bit comes now!
[LAUGHTER]
Yes, it does, indeed!
Just putting a bit of vigour into this -
show it who's boss.
Think you're doing quite
well, there.
Just to check the size of it -
because that looks about right.
We'll just lift the pie over it - just
going to hover over...
- I'd say that's about right.
- About right.
This is the moment that sorts out
the chefs of talent...
from the mediocre.
Whoops!
[LAUGHTER]
Let's see, then.
That's it... holding the rolling
pin up a little bit.
- That's it.
- Mmm!
- That's not bad!
- Hmm...
just a... just a couple of strategic
holes here and there!
Now, if you wouldn't mind, Jack -
I think you'd better take over.
Absolutely no problem.
Outside, a crowd of locals has gathered -
hungry for a slice of the action.
- Hello everybody!
- Hello!
- Here is one that somebody else made earlier.
- Oh, I say!
- Let us celebrate the Bramley apple together.
- Yes, that's lovely!
- Shall I be mum?
- Yes.
Very good.
What do you think of that?
Perfect!
So, do we think the Bramley
apple is pretty good?
- Yes.
- The best, I would have thought.
It cooks soft, but it doesn't fall flat -
it sort of goes fluffy.
How would you compare it with other apples?
I mean, it's better than French apples, is it?
Of course it's better than French apples!
[LAUGHTER]
So, Ladies and gentlemen,
I propose a toast...
to the lady who discovered the Bramley
apple, Mary Anne Brailsford...
and I would like to couple the name of
George Bradshaw - who led me here...
to your excellent company today.
Cheers!
[GLASSES CHINKING]
Reluctantly leaving the delicious Bramleys
of Nottinghamshire behind...
I'm heading north-west to Sheffield
in South Yorkshire...
where I'm going to pick up a train that will
take me two short stops to Chapeltown.
Last train of the day.
Nearly time for my rest.
From Chapeltown, on the northern
fringes of Sheffield...
my guidebook is leading me four miles
into South Yorkshire countryside...
to What I'm hoping will be a suitable
place to break my journey.
What would I do Without Bradshaw's,
which has brought me to Wortley Hall...
the beautiful old seat of
Lord Wharncliffe.
And, since I'm not here at Lord Warncliff's
invitation, I'm guessing that it's changed ownership.
A changeover did indeed happen
in the early 1950s..
When a group of trade-unionists
re-established Wortley...
as a recreation and education centre
for working people.
The Hall also operates
as a hotel.
And, this evening, I'm fortunate enough to be
receiving some South Yorkshire hospitality...
from General Manager
Jonathan DaRosa.
So was this a bit like the Workers Education
Association that my parents used to belong to?
Absolutely. Trade Unions used this, the Co-op used
this; the Labour Party's got an office here.
ASLEF also have a room sponsored by them,
but still the primary goal...
is to provide education for
Working-class people.
So, I've come to a stately home of
the Labour movement!
You have indeed. You have! You're in
enemy country, some might say!
I think I'm going to stand out
a bit in my blue jacket!
Absolutely, but you're more
than welcome!
Cheers!
After a restful and - I'm pleased to report -
completely altercation-free evening...
I'm ready to resume
my journey.
From Chapeltown, I'm heading twenty
miles north through Yorkshire.
My next stop will be Wakefield.
Bradshaw's tells me that the town contains...
"several important public buildings,
viz. the House of Correction"...
"and the Pauper Lunatic Asylum
on the York Road"...
"originally intended for 400 - but now
capable of accommodating 800 patients."
On my travels I sometimes consider
Victorian attitudes to mental health...
and today I'd like to think about those people
set aside from Victorian society...
and largely forgotten in death.
During the 1800s the approach to mental
illness underwent significant reform.
Legislation was passed that meant that every
county was obliged to provide asylum.
As well as that in Wakefield,
mentioned in my Bradshaw's...
three others were created
in the area.
One of those was built north of the city,
in Menston, in 1888.
And there I'm meeting writer Mark Davis, who's clone
extensive research into the imposing institution...
and has written a book about some of
the many patients who stayed here.
Tell me specifically about this
magnificent building at Manston.
When it was built, certain people said
that it was far too magnificent...
far too much money
had been spent.
You go in and there's intricate
mosaic tiles...
there's beautiful stained glass and
there's a magnificent ballroom.
Most of these places were built on curved...
driveways - did you notice
it curved as you came up?
Coining the phrase
"going round the bend".
So, we'd have these beautiful buildings...
but hidden from the gaze
of the public.
That is extraordinary!
No railway station, alas.
Well... there was a railway...
and it was joined by the Midland Line,
down on Buckle Lane...
and it actually came round the
back of the hospital.
It was used, basically, to
bring in goods...
because What we had here was, quite literally, a
self-contained village for the apparently insane.
Confused about the Victorians and mental health.
Do you think of them as progressive or primitive?
I think there was certainly a vision and an idea
for people to do something better for mankind.
However, everything Went wrong...
quite simply, because of the sheer volume
of people coming through the doors.
So, from being a place Where
people could recover...
it became the administration of
people - of large numbers.
And, of course, we have to remember-
in Victorian times...
“madness was deemed to be hereditary and,
therefore, families abandoned people.
They didn't Want to be associated.
The institution evolved dramatically...
and the buildings were dedicated to mental
healthcare right up to 2003.
Since then, they've been developed
for residential use.
But in one corner of the grounds is a very
significant pan of the original Asylum...
which is cared for by Mark and a
group of local volunteers.
So We're a little distance from the Asylum, now.
What is this ground here?
This is land set aside for the disposal
of the Asylum dead.
Across this great expanse there are buried
2,861 men, women, and children...
three-deep, in unmarked graves.
When Mark and his team took on the
custody of this site in 2010...
they fully restored the then-derelict chapel
into a place of remembrance and reflection.
So these are photographs of patients
from the 19th century?
But you have managed to find out the
life histories of some of these people?
Yeah. This John Constantine.
He was admitted when he
was just ten years old.
Deaf and dumb. His mother
couldn't handle him.
And he lived for fifty years under care and
treatment before dying, aged 65.
And when you look at some of his notes,
they really are quite derogatory.
He's referred to as this "dummy patient"...
"a good imbecile worker".
He may not have been
insane at all?
Unable to communicate,
more than anything.
And Where does
John Constantine lie, exactly?
John's out there with the rest -
identified quite simply by...
a row number, and a
grave number.
But you've given that number,
now, a name.
And a voice, hopefully.
To continue my travels, I'm
re-boarding the train at Wakefield...
and heading eleven miles west.
This train will take me as far
as Knottingley.
As Bradshaw's reminds me, "here the
line branches off to Goole."
I'm keen not to miss my connection, as the train
onwards runs just once every twenty-four hours!
As railways proliferated during
the 1800s, competition between...
rail companies was fierce
and regulations minimal.
But in 1844, a law imposed duties
on railway companies...
instructing them to run certain services -
known ever since as "Parliamentary trains".
In some parts of the country today, there are
services that run only because the law requires it...
sometimes known as "ghost trains".
And one of those links Knottingley
and Goole.
I'm hoping to continue my journey by
catching one of these elusive trains.
But I've enough time before
it's due...
to find out from author and journalist
Michael Williams about their history.
The origin goes back to the middle
of the 19th century...
when passengers were treated very badly by
the railway companies: fares were high...
people buying cheap, third-class tickets
had to travel in terrible conditions.
So along came the president of the
Board of Trade - one William Gladstone...
who you would hardly think
of as a Socialist...
and said to the railways, unless you improve
conditions for the working classes...
he would do all sort of dire things.
So he created a minimum standard...
for the third-class passenger.
On every route...
there had to be a minimum standard of the train
running a minimum of twelve miles an hour.
The cost had to be no more than a penny a
mile, the train had to stop at every station...
and there had to be some degree of
comfort in the carriages.
How did the companies react?
They squealed. They howled.
They hated it!
And What they did, in the end,
they circumvented it...
by putting these Parliamentary trains on at
the most inconvenient times of day.
And, actually, I mean, a train that maybe was
travelling only twelve miles per hour...
and stopping in every single station may not have
been a great experience for the passenger, either.
It wasn't. But, actually, as the century wore on,
trains got much more comfortable.
It certainly did something to encourage
railway travel, though...
and by opening rail travel
to the masses, really.
The painfully slow Parliamentary
trains were satirised by...
“Gilbert and Sullivan in "The Mikado" in 1885.
"The idiot who, in railway carriages
Scribbles on window-panes"...
"We only suffer
To ride on a buffer"...
"In Parliamentary trains."
Ah! My ghost train has
materialised.
The people piling off are leaving a
regular hourly service from Leeds...
and it's from here at Knottingley that the
token once-a-day service commences.
And it's looking decidedly empty!
Today's Parliamentary services have little
commercial appeal to the rail companies.
But, being specified by law...
their withdrawal would require a legal process
with opportunities for objectors...
which can be long and expensive.
So running a very limited service,
even if comically infrequent...
avoids all that controversy
and cost.
So how come you take the ghost train?
Are you quite regular on it?
Yeah, my dad lives in Hensall, so... only station
there, really. I'm working in Leeds.
I mean, this is pretty much like having
a private train, isn't it?
It works perfectly!
Are there many regulars
on the train?
It varies day to day - but maybe half a
dozen of us from Snaith.
- So you must know each quite well by now?
- Yes.
- You never get lonely?
- No, I don't mind it.
There's the paper to read and it gives
me a bit of time to relax...
before I get home and my dad gets
on at me about something!
- Thank you very much!
- Thank you very much.
- Bye bye. Enjoy your journey.
- You too.
I'll get off at Hensall Station to meet a man
who's something of a celebrity...
well known to the Parliamentary
train regulars.
A special train to a delightful station...
and a rendezvous with a very
particular person.
For the last thirty-six years Keith Collins has
lived in What was once Hensall's station.
And having spent much of his life
as a locomotive engineer...
both in East Africa and in Britain -
he knows a thing or two about engines.
Hello, Keith.
Hello, there.
Splendid engine!
- You think so, do you?
- Oh, I do. I do!
What made you want to live
in a station?
Erm... well, when you've something like this,
you're anti-social in a normal environment.
[MICHAEL LAUGHS]
And so I moved out here, where I can bang and
clatter Without disturbing the neighbours.
Tell me about this beautiful engine.
Well, it's a 1917 John Fowler
steam tractor.
When I got it, it was all in bits.
So I rebuilt it...
and made it into this
marvellous-looking machine.
It has a nice, easy turnover
sound, doesn't it?
- Music. Music is the word.
- Music to your ears.
Absolutely. Yes.
It's just a pity it doesn't
go anywhere.
Well... that can be arranged.
I was hoping you'd say that!
[LAUGHTER]
Shall we take a little ride?
Oh... it'll cost you a pint.
Down to the pub!
- We're ready, are we?
- We're ready.
Okay. Wait a minute. Engine room?
[LAUGHTER]
Prepare engines.
Okay.
Right, turn like mad, now. Go on!
Go on! Turn like mad! Go on!
Right, other Way. Other way!
Like mad!
Other way! Other way!
Other way! Other way!
Wow! This is exciting!
Over the railway!
We're only doing fifteen miles
per hour...
but from up here it feels like
breakneck speed!
- Are you getting the hang of it?
- Yeah.
I'd no idea we were going to
go so fast!
We're ticking over!
[LAUGHTER]
This is fanastic.
[STEAM WHISTLE]
How satisfying to take an old engine
like this and to bring it back to life!
What an achievement-
well done, sir!
It's in the blood.
Well, it's hot only in the blood but in the
eyes and all over the skin!
[LAUGHTER]
If you don't fancy Waiting twenty-four hours for
the next Parliamentary train to chug into view...
then a steam engine may be a
viable alternative.
During this part of the journey, I have
encountered people excluded from the mainstream...
non-conformists who emigrated in order
to worship as they chose...
and 19th-century lunatics sent to
asylums on the edge of the city.
But, Whereas for the insane there isn't even a
headstone by which to be remembered...
for the Pilgrim Fathers, they're commemorated
by Boston, Massachusetts.
[STEAM WHISTLE]
Next time, I step inside a record-breaking
feat of engineering.
Douglas, you people built a bridge
on an extraordinary scale.
This is a massive chamber.
Learn of the conditions endured
by a prisoner of conscience.
The soldiers stole his bread
and his water.
He was treated something like
an animal in a zoo.
And brew up a Quaker-approved
Victorian cuppa.
Well, it looks as appetising as mud.
[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.
I'm now crossing Lincolnshire -
continuing my journey...
towards one of Britain's most ancient
Christian sites at Lindisfarne.
In the decades before my
guidebook was published,
religious tolerance had
made great advances in Britain.
The bars against Catholics,
and Protestants who didn't...
conform to the Church of England,
holding public office...
had been lifted in the 1820s - and Jews could
take their seats in the House of Commons...
without swearing a Christian oath
from the 1850s.
But my Bradshaw's reminds me
that in previous centuries...
some religious minorities had
preferred to travel abroad...
rather than stay at home
and face persecution.
My journey, which began in the
East Midlands city of Derby...
continued on to Nottinghamshire...
and will now work its Way through to
Wakefield in West Yorkshire.
It will then head east to the mighty
Humber Estuary...
catch the sweet smell of
success in York...
then continue up the coast to the
industrial cities of the North...
reaching its conclusion on
Northumberland's Holy Island.
Today's leg begins in Boston in the
flatlands of Lincolnshire...
slices into Nottinghamshire, stops off at
a South Yorkshire stately home...
and weaves through West Yorkshire before
finishing with a ghostly ride to Hensall.
I'll put my culinary skills to the test...
using the nation's favourite
cooking apple.
Just putting a bit of vigour into
this - show it who's boss.
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'd no idea you were going to go so fast!
- We're ticking over!
[LAUGHTER]
"Boston", says my guide book "is a port in
Lincolnshire on the Witham, near the Wash".
"Its namesake - one of the most polished
towns in the United States"...
"was founded by settlers from this place - who
fled thither for conscience' sake about 1630."
So that's how Boston, Lincs. links with
Boston, Massachusetts.
By Bradshaw's time Boston, Massachusetts, was
one of the world's wealthiest trading ports...
far outstripping the original Boston - which
had had its heyday back in the 13th century...
thanks to a then-booming
wool trade.
Victorian visitors to Boston, Lincolnshire, would
not find a great city to compare with its namesake.
But they would have a prospect of it from afar,
thanks to a very prominent landmark.
Visible from many, many miles away
across the Lincolnshire plain is the...
enormous tower of
St. Botolph's church.
The church being known, I suppose ironically
and affectionately, as "The Stump".
There's no definitive explanation
for its long-held nickname...
but getting off at Boston, I can
take a closer look at it.
- Morning. Are you from Boston?
- Yes, yes.
Now, you've got a lot of history here -
are you proud of it?
Oh, very much.
"The Stump"... I mean, it's one of the
tallest churches I've ever seen.
- Oh, it's lovely - and I got married there.
- Did you?
Yes. We've had our ruby
Wedding last year, so...
Congratulations. So marriages made
in "The Stump" last?
It must be the Water in Boston!
[LAUGHTER]
Perhaps it was the landscape or the way
of life that back in the 17th century...
drew its people to religious
non-conformity.
During that time, hundreds of Puritans from
the area tried to flee the country...
in order to profess their Christian
faith in their own way.
One group, including those who were later
to be known as the Pilgrim Fathers...
was imprisoned at the Boston Guildhall
during its efforts to emigrate.
I've come to meet Boston's Museum
manager, Luke Skerrit, to learn more.
What was it that made some people so desperate
that they would leave the country...
under the burden of the
established Church?
The established Church had a really
prescriptive method of worship...
that they Wished everybody
to ascribe to.
Parts of that reflect in the Book of Common Prayer,
which sets out how you conduct the Worship.
It was long-winded, so ministers didn't
actually have time to preach as part of it.
That's What they really
reacted against.
I'm Wondering why Boston - why
Lincolnshire - was a hotbed of dissent?
The Fenland area - there's some isolation
from the main parts of the country.
The people here are used to being independent.
And that Fenland, it stretches down...
all the Way to Cambridgeshire.
And a lot of Cambridge - it was a breeding ground
for quite important vicars who were really...
questioning the Bible
at that time.
One of those Cambridge-educated
clerics is the connection...
between this Boston, and
the one in the United States.
His name was John Cotton and he became
vicar of St Botolph's in 1612.
And for 21 years, his legendary three-hour
sermons filled the pews.
John Cotton was a very
charismatic individual.
He was very passionate about.
His interpretation of the Bible...
and was quite a strong non-conformist. They
wouldn't use the sign of the cross in Baptism...
he wouldn't have people kneel
for Communion...
and the church authorities didn't like,
at all, What was going on.
How does this lead to an expedition
to America?
He invokes his congregation to aspire to
having new faith in new lands...
and they take the opportunity to sail as
part of the Massachusetts Bay Company, in 1630.
The Massachusetts Bay Company was a
joint stock trading association...
set up to colonise a tract of
land in New England.
The flotilla of ships that set sail for
Massachusetts in 1630...
carried around 700 colonists, who were to
found their new model Christian community...
and the settlement that was to become
the city of Boston, USA.
Like Boston, my next destination also has
associations with unconventional Worship.
To get there I need to head west - to
pick up a connection in Grantham.
I'm on the East Coast mainline,
headed for Newark.
My destination is actually Southwell, and Bradshaw's
says "a Christian church was founded there"...
"as far back as 62AD by Paulinus,
Archishop of York"...
"and it has a large and ancient
collegiate church, or minster."
It's a stained-glass Window in that church
which is at the core of my expedition.
Southwell once had a station, but
thanks to the Beeching cuts...
the final whistle blew
there in 1964.
So I'm getting off eight miles east
at Newark Northgate.
Southwell is an elegant market town, fifteen
miles north-east of Nottingham.
Its centrepiece is a massive and
austerely beautiful minster...
considered by many to be one of
England's finest medieval churches.
Stained-glass windows are normally devoted to
the Madonna and child, the Trinity, saints.
This one is devoted to the
Bramley apple...
meaning there must be something sacred, holy,
or at least celebrating that it's a gift from God.
Indeed, this humble fruit is held in deep
reverence by the people of Southwell.
They named their library after it -
and their newspaper.
And each October there's a festival
to celebrate its greatness.
And the root of this fervour took hold
at the beginning of the 1800s...
in an unassuming cottage garden, Where
I'm meeting Adrian Barlow...
the Chief Executive of English
Apples and Pears.
- Adrian, hello.
- Hello, Michael. How are you?
Very Well!
That's a Bramley apple, I assume?
But not any old Bramley apple?
You're absolutely right - this is the original Bramley
tree. And it really is an extraordinary story...
because the cottage was owned
by the Brailsford family...
and young Mary-Ann was watching her mother
prepare some apples for cooking.
And she took a pip and planted it-
and here is the tree that it grew into.
And so, this seed that got planted, was
in some way, a new variant...
- something that had never been seen before?
- Absolutely right.
It was just a one in several million
chance that this tree...
turned out to produce apples which are absolutely
unrivalled in terms of their cooking abilities.
It has a Wonderful taste - it's a mix
of tartness and sugars...
and that taste comes right through the
cooking process undiminished.
And who first recognised that this
was such a special apple?
Well, a local nurseryman,
Henry Merryweather...
said "I've heard about these apples -
Where do they come from?"
And, by this time, the Brailsfords had moved
out and Matthew Bramley lived here.
So Henry Merryweather said to him "I would like
to take some cuttings from your tree"...
"and to propagate the variety".
Matthew Bramley said "Fine, but you must
call it the Bramley seedling".
And so you're telling me that all the - I suppose,
by now, millions of - Bramley apple trees...
- originate with this one here?
- Absolutely.
Bramley became a firm
Victorian favourite...
winning first-class certificates from
horticultural societies.
And its popularity hasn't waned...
because today 95% of apples sold
commercially for cooking are Bramley.
To gain first-hand experience of this famed
fruit, at the aptly-named local pub...
I'm helping chef Jack Arkless to
make one of his specialities.
A classic Bramley apple pie.
We need to just cook the apples slightly
with a bit of sugar and lemon juice.
Really good squeeze of
lemon juice.
Now, I don't like too much sugar
in my apple pie.
Normally put about two tablespoons in
for this amount of apples.
I'd probably say that's
about perfect.
Mmmmm!
- Doesn't that look good?!
- Smells rather good as well, actually, doesn't it?
I have a feeling that the difficult bit comes now!
[LAUGHTER]
Yes, it does, indeed!
Just putting a bit of vigour into this -
show it who's boss.
Think you're doing quite
well, there.
Just to check the size of it -
because that looks about right.
We'll just lift the pie over it - just
going to hover over...
- I'd say that's about right.
- About right.
This is the moment that sorts out
the chefs of talent...
from the mediocre.
Whoops!
[LAUGHTER]
Let's see, then.
That's it... holding the rolling
pin up a little bit.
- That's it.
- Mmm!
- That's not bad!
- Hmm...
just a... just a couple of strategic
holes here and there!
Now, if you wouldn't mind, Jack -
I think you'd better take over.
Absolutely no problem.
Outside, a crowd of locals has gathered -
hungry for a slice of the action.
- Hello everybody!
- Hello!
- Here is one that somebody else made earlier.
- Oh, I say!
- Let us celebrate the Bramley apple together.
- Yes, that's lovely!
- Shall I be mum?
- Yes.
Very good.
What do you think of that?
Perfect!
So, do we think the Bramley
apple is pretty good?
- Yes.
- The best, I would have thought.
It cooks soft, but it doesn't fall flat -
it sort of goes fluffy.
How would you compare it with other apples?
I mean, it's better than French apples, is it?
Of course it's better than French apples!
[LAUGHTER]
So, Ladies and gentlemen,
I propose a toast...
to the lady who discovered the Bramley
apple, Mary Anne Brailsford...
and I would like to couple the name of
George Bradshaw - who led me here...
to your excellent company today.
Cheers!
[GLASSES CHINKING]
Reluctantly leaving the delicious Bramleys
of Nottinghamshire behind...
I'm heading north-west to Sheffield
in South Yorkshire...
where I'm going to pick up a train that will
take me two short stops to Chapeltown.
Last train of the day.
Nearly time for my rest.
From Chapeltown, on the northern
fringes of Sheffield...
my guidebook is leading me four miles
into South Yorkshire countryside...
to What I'm hoping will be a suitable
place to break my journey.
What would I do Without Bradshaw's,
which has brought me to Wortley Hall...
the beautiful old seat of
Lord Wharncliffe.
And, since I'm not here at Lord Warncliff's
invitation, I'm guessing that it's changed ownership.
A changeover did indeed happen
in the early 1950s..
When a group of trade-unionists
re-established Wortley...
as a recreation and education centre
for working people.
The Hall also operates
as a hotel.
And, this evening, I'm fortunate enough to be
receiving some South Yorkshire hospitality...
from General Manager
Jonathan DaRosa.
So was this a bit like the Workers Education
Association that my parents used to belong to?
Absolutely. Trade Unions used this, the Co-op used
this; the Labour Party's got an office here.
ASLEF also have a room sponsored by them,
but still the primary goal...
is to provide education for
Working-class people.
So, I've come to a stately home of
the Labour movement!
You have indeed. You have! You're in
enemy country, some might say!
I think I'm going to stand out
a bit in my blue jacket!
Absolutely, but you're more
than welcome!
Cheers!
After a restful and - I'm pleased to report -
completely altercation-free evening...
I'm ready to resume
my journey.
From Chapeltown, I'm heading twenty
miles north through Yorkshire.
My next stop will be Wakefield.
Bradshaw's tells me that the town contains...
"several important public buildings,
viz. the House of Correction"...
"and the Pauper Lunatic Asylum
on the York Road"...
"originally intended for 400 - but now
capable of accommodating 800 patients."
On my travels I sometimes consider
Victorian attitudes to mental health...
and today I'd like to think about those people
set aside from Victorian society...
and largely forgotten in death.
During the 1800s the approach to mental
illness underwent significant reform.
Legislation was passed that meant that every
county was obliged to provide asylum.
As well as that in Wakefield,
mentioned in my Bradshaw's...
three others were created
in the area.
One of those was built north of the city,
in Menston, in 1888.
And there I'm meeting writer Mark Davis, who's clone
extensive research into the imposing institution...
and has written a book about some of
the many patients who stayed here.
Tell me specifically about this
magnificent building at Manston.
When it was built, certain people said
that it was far too magnificent...
far too much money
had been spent.
You go in and there's intricate
mosaic tiles...
there's beautiful stained glass and
there's a magnificent ballroom.
Most of these places were built on curved...
driveways - did you notice
it curved as you came up?
Coining the phrase
"going round the bend".
So, we'd have these beautiful buildings...
but hidden from the gaze
of the public.
That is extraordinary!
No railway station, alas.
Well... there was a railway...
and it was joined by the Midland Line,
down on Buckle Lane...
and it actually came round the
back of the hospital.
It was used, basically, to
bring in goods...
because What we had here was, quite literally, a
self-contained village for the apparently insane.
Confused about the Victorians and mental health.
Do you think of them as progressive or primitive?
I think there was certainly a vision and an idea
for people to do something better for mankind.
However, everything Went wrong...
quite simply, because of the sheer volume
of people coming through the doors.
So, from being a place Where
people could recover...
it became the administration of
people - of large numbers.
And, of course, we have to remember-
in Victorian times...
“madness was deemed to be hereditary and,
therefore, families abandoned people.
They didn't Want to be associated.
The institution evolved dramatically...
and the buildings were dedicated to mental
healthcare right up to 2003.
Since then, they've been developed
for residential use.
But in one corner of the grounds is a very
significant pan of the original Asylum...
which is cared for by Mark and a
group of local volunteers.
So We're a little distance from the Asylum, now.
What is this ground here?
This is land set aside for the disposal
of the Asylum dead.
Across this great expanse there are buried
2,861 men, women, and children...
three-deep, in unmarked graves.
When Mark and his team took on the
custody of this site in 2010...
they fully restored the then-derelict chapel
into a place of remembrance and reflection.
So these are photographs of patients
from the 19th century?
But you have managed to find out the
life histories of some of these people?
Yeah. This John Constantine.
He was admitted when he
was just ten years old.
Deaf and dumb. His mother
couldn't handle him.
And he lived for fifty years under care and
treatment before dying, aged 65.
And when you look at some of his notes,
they really are quite derogatory.
He's referred to as this "dummy patient"...
"a good imbecile worker".
He may not have been
insane at all?
Unable to communicate,
more than anything.
And Where does
John Constantine lie, exactly?
John's out there with the rest -
identified quite simply by...
a row number, and a
grave number.
But you've given that number,
now, a name.
And a voice, hopefully.
To continue my travels, I'm
re-boarding the train at Wakefield...
and heading eleven miles west.
This train will take me as far
as Knottingley.
As Bradshaw's reminds me, "here the
line branches off to Goole."
I'm keen not to miss my connection, as the train
onwards runs just once every twenty-four hours!
As railways proliferated during
the 1800s, competition between...
rail companies was fierce
and regulations minimal.
But in 1844, a law imposed duties
on railway companies...
instructing them to run certain services -
known ever since as "Parliamentary trains".
In some parts of the country today, there are
services that run only because the law requires it...
sometimes known as "ghost trains".
And one of those links Knottingley
and Goole.
I'm hoping to continue my journey by
catching one of these elusive trains.
But I've enough time before
it's due...
to find out from author and journalist
Michael Williams about their history.
The origin goes back to the middle
of the 19th century...
when passengers were treated very badly by
the railway companies: fares were high...
people buying cheap, third-class tickets
had to travel in terrible conditions.
So along came the president of the
Board of Trade - one William Gladstone...
who you would hardly think
of as a Socialist...
and said to the railways, unless you improve
conditions for the working classes...
he would do all sort of dire things.
So he created a minimum standard...
for the third-class passenger.
On every route...
there had to be a minimum standard of the train
running a minimum of twelve miles an hour.
The cost had to be no more than a penny a
mile, the train had to stop at every station...
and there had to be some degree of
comfort in the carriages.
How did the companies react?
They squealed. They howled.
They hated it!
And What they did, in the end,
they circumvented it...
by putting these Parliamentary trains on at
the most inconvenient times of day.
And, actually, I mean, a train that maybe was
travelling only twelve miles per hour...
and stopping in every single station may not have
been a great experience for the passenger, either.
It wasn't. But, actually, as the century wore on,
trains got much more comfortable.
It certainly did something to encourage
railway travel, though...
and by opening rail travel
to the masses, really.
The painfully slow Parliamentary
trains were satirised by...
“Gilbert and Sullivan in "The Mikado" in 1885.
"The idiot who, in railway carriages
Scribbles on window-panes"...
"We only suffer
To ride on a buffer"...
"In Parliamentary trains."
Ah! My ghost train has
materialised.
The people piling off are leaving a
regular hourly service from Leeds...
and it's from here at Knottingley that the
token once-a-day service commences.
And it's looking decidedly empty!
Today's Parliamentary services have little
commercial appeal to the rail companies.
But, being specified by law...
their withdrawal would require a legal process
with opportunities for objectors...
which can be long and expensive.
So running a very limited service,
even if comically infrequent...
avoids all that controversy
and cost.
So how come you take the ghost train?
Are you quite regular on it?
Yeah, my dad lives in Hensall, so... only station
there, really. I'm working in Leeds.
I mean, this is pretty much like having
a private train, isn't it?
It works perfectly!
Are there many regulars
on the train?
It varies day to day - but maybe half a
dozen of us from Snaith.
- So you must know each quite well by now?
- Yes.
- You never get lonely?
- No, I don't mind it.
There's the paper to read and it gives
me a bit of time to relax...
before I get home and my dad gets
on at me about something!
- Thank you very much!
- Thank you very much.
- Bye bye. Enjoy your journey.
- You too.
I'll get off at Hensall Station to meet a man
who's something of a celebrity...
well known to the Parliamentary
train regulars.
A special train to a delightful station...
and a rendezvous with a very
particular person.
For the last thirty-six years Keith Collins has
lived in What was once Hensall's station.
And having spent much of his life
as a locomotive engineer...
both in East Africa and in Britain -
he knows a thing or two about engines.
Hello, Keith.
Hello, there.
Splendid engine!
- You think so, do you?
- Oh, I do. I do!
What made you want to live
in a station?
Erm... well, when you've something like this,
you're anti-social in a normal environment.
[MICHAEL LAUGHS]
And so I moved out here, where I can bang and
clatter Without disturbing the neighbours.
Tell me about this beautiful engine.
Well, it's a 1917 John Fowler
steam tractor.
When I got it, it was all in bits.
So I rebuilt it...
and made it into this
marvellous-looking machine.
It has a nice, easy turnover
sound, doesn't it?
- Music. Music is the word.
- Music to your ears.
Absolutely. Yes.
It's just a pity it doesn't
go anywhere.
Well... that can be arranged.
I was hoping you'd say that!
[LAUGHTER]
Shall we take a little ride?
Oh... it'll cost you a pint.
Down to the pub!
- We're ready, are we?
- We're ready.
Okay. Wait a minute. Engine room?
[LAUGHTER]
Prepare engines.
Okay.
Right, turn like mad, now. Go on!
Go on! Turn like mad! Go on!
Right, other Way. Other way!
Like mad!
Other way! Other way!
Other way! Other way!
Wow! This is exciting!
Over the railway!
We're only doing fifteen miles
per hour...
but from up here it feels like
breakneck speed!
- Are you getting the hang of it?
- Yeah.
I'd no idea we were going to
go so fast!
We're ticking over!
[LAUGHTER]
This is fanastic.
[STEAM WHISTLE]
How satisfying to take an old engine
like this and to bring it back to life!
What an achievement-
well done, sir!
It's in the blood.
Well, it's hot only in the blood but in the
eyes and all over the skin!
[LAUGHTER]
If you don't fancy Waiting twenty-four hours for
the next Parliamentary train to chug into view...
then a steam engine may be a
viable alternative.
During this part of the journey, I have
encountered people excluded from the mainstream...
non-conformists who emigrated in order
to worship as they chose...
and 19th-century lunatics sent to
asylums on the edge of the city.
But, Whereas for the insane there isn't even a
headstone by which to be remembered...
for the Pilgrim Fathers, they're commemorated
by Boston, Massachusetts.
[STEAM WHISTLE]
Next time, I step inside a record-breaking
feat of engineering.
Douglas, you people built a bridge
on an extraordinary scale.
This is a massive chamber.
Learn of the conditions endured
by a prisoner of conscience.
The soldiers stole his bread
and his water.
He was treated something like
an animal in a zoo.
And brew up a Quaker-approved
Victorian cuppa.
Well, it looks as appetising as mud.
[END THEME]